AN: This is where the actual story start to take place, where the past 3 were prologue. I'll try to make it seem like an actual case in the game from here on.

Phoenix Wright walked into the Wright and Co. Law Offices, yawning loudly and stretching. He had hardly gotten much rest the night before, mostly because he had far too much on his mind to even think about a sound sleep. He was thinking back to some of his first few cases and just how exactly he managed to win any of them.

"I wouldn't even be here now if it wasn't for the help of everyone else..." Phoenix thought, looking out the window to the infamous Gatewater hotel. "Mia...even though you're gone now, you still manage to pull me out of tight spots..."

"Don't doubt yourself, Phoenix..." He ached to hear her say to him. "It will still always be your actions that has brought so many to justice..."

Phoenix sighed, knowing he wouldn't hear her again until all the chips were down, or either he or Maya was stressed beyond help. Speaking of which-

"Hey, Nick! You're here early!"

Phoenix turned to the ever sunny face of the medium-in-training. He smiled back half-heartedly and scratched the back of his head.

"Y-Yeah...just a lot on my mind lately...couldn't get much sleep last night."

"Me neither!" She nodded, almost in an excited fashion. "But that was just because they ran a Steel Samurai marathon last night!"

"...You stayed up to watch television all night?" Phoenix asked, though not surprised. Maya would travel across the world if it meant getting the very last Steel Samurai trading card.

"Absolutely! And they were advertising that Tokyo has some of the LAST Steel Samurai trading cards ever made! Nick! We have to get them!"

"...If you buy the plane tickets, I'll gladly go along with you."

"Sure thing, Nick!" Maya smiled widely, oblivious to the cost of one ticket across waters.

"HEY! NO ONE'S GOING ANYWHERE ON MY WATCH, PAL!" A booming voice shot through the Offices and a frantic Gumshoe followed it. "WE NEED YOU IN THIS COUNTRY!"

"EEK! D-Detective?" Maya jumped back as he and Maggey Byrde ran in. "Y-You scared me!"

"Eh..." Gumshoe scratched the back of his head, forgetting what the strength of his voice could be at some times. "Sorry, pal...but...we NEED your help and FAST!"

"EEE! Y-You scared me again!" Maya jumped back just as surprised.

"S-Sorry..."

Don't feel too bad, Detective... Phoenix thought. Maya on no sleep makes her twice as out of it.

Maggey Byrde stepped out from behind Gumshoe, saluting politely. They both seemed to have been rattled by something, from they way they had been acting.

"M-Mr. Wright. I...or we...were hoping you can defend somebody, sir!" Maggey stood saluting, hand shaking a little bit.

"Huh?" Phoenix responded, letting her request set in. "Wait...HUH? Tell me what happened first!"

"Well, from what we both know..." Gumshoe started. "Last night, around 8:45, there was a shooting down at the Worldwide Tastes restaurant. The victim was none other than Ali Dante, who was eating there that night."

"Ali Dante..." Phoenix thought, knowing the name sounded familiar, then it hit him suddenly. "Wait...Y-You mean that famous food critique?"

"The one and only, pal...He was shot twice, once in the shoulder and once in the chest. The shooter was out to kill and there were no signs of a struggle, so it had to have come from a distance. But there was so much of a chaos in the restaurant that no one could even tell where the shooter was. He took off away from the crowd before anyone could put two and two together."

"Wow...that's aweful..." Maya said, a worried expression over her face as she held one hand to her mouth.

"We'll need to go down to the scene...do you know where we can speak to the witnesses?" Phoenix asked.

"No need, pal!" Gumshoe grinned lightly. "You just talked to them!"

Phoenix took a moment looking to both Gumshoe and Maggey, letting his answer set in.

"...EH? Y-You were both there? Why didn't you do anything?"

"Now listen here, pal! We were already outside when this happened! I didn't even know who the victim was until after it all settled down!"

"Wow...you and Maggey were at the Worldwide Tastes?" Maya said, trying to relieve the air a bit. "You must have gotten a boost in your pay for once!"

Gumshoe looked away for a moment. "The place is pretty affordable...and one can do wonders when he doesn't buy noodles for some time."

"What? You starved yourself of noodles?" Maya exclaimed.

"T-That's not what we're here to talk about, pal!" He shouted, trying to make sure Maggey didn't realize what he had gone through to spend a night with her.

"But the reason we are here..." Maggey interrupted, trying to get the point through. "Is...well, the suspect...is an acquaintance of ours."

"Huh?" Phoenix blinked.

"And worse yet, pal...she's a trainee officer." Gumshoe admitted sadly.

"W-..." Phoenix's eyes widened. "W-...WHAT!"

After coming to his senses, Phoenix took it among himself to get to the Detention Center. He hated how painfully familiar this all rang for him. A murder at a restaurant and a police officer accused of the murder. He thought about it more and knew that was why it seemed Maggey wanted him to help. She knew about his skills as a defense attorney, but just thinking on it now made the thoughts from that morning return.

"Hopefully, this case would go smoother than the others...although, knowing my luck..." Phoenix muttered, a doom expression passed on his face.

"You ok, Nick?" Maya asked, walking into the Detention Center with him.

"Yeah, I'm alright...just worried. I feel like I'm starting to doubt myself lately..."

"Why? You haven't lost a single case you were in!"

"Well, that's mostly because of your help..." Phoenix admitted.

"Aww, that's so kind, Nick! I'm glad I could be of some help to you." Maya smiled happily.

Odd... Phoenix thought. Usually, her happiness makes me feel better, but right now...

"Hey, is this her?" Maya asked, snapping Phoenix out of his thoughts.

"Hmm?" He looked up to the woman walking up to the seat on the other side of the glass. Her arms were crossed, her right hand gripping tight at her left arm. Her head was turned a little to the left side, looking away from them both. Her short red hair was a bit straggled from a long night of questioning. And through this, she seemed to absolutely refuse to talk to either of them.

"Uh...miss?" Phoenix started, trying to get her to at least look at them.

"..." She remained resilient on ignoring him.

"Uh...I'm here to get your side of all this..."

"..."

"A-And maybe help you get out of here..."

"..."

"...C-Could you at least give me your name?"

"..."

Phoenix sighed and grabbed at his coat collar, holding forward his attorney badge.

"A-At least take a look here...I'm a defense atto-"

"Wright." The woman spoke suddenly, uncrossing her arms and looking to him.

"Huh?"

"You're Phoenix Wright, aren't you?"

"W-Well, yeah. That's my name." He replied. The woman merely looked to her left hand, where she was holding a pink paper charm of some sort. "You've heard of me?"

"Who in this city hasn't?" She gave a mocking smile. "'Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney! And his trusty medium sidekick, Maya!' I've heard plenty about you two."

"Sidekick?" Maya grinned widely. "Nick, I already like this woman. Help her with all your might and I'll stand by your side every step of the way!"

"C-Calm down, Maya." Phoenix muttered, turning back to the woman. "Uh, yeah, well...I want to help you-"

"Who sent you here?" The woman asked coldly.

"Huh?"

"Was it that detective? I've never seen such cowardly actions in my life!" The woman grit her teeth, the grip around the charm tightening. "He could have easily taken matters in his own hands! But now, him and his little cop girlfriend think I need help on something they could've easily prevented! Why, when I get out of here-" She began to seeth, glaring dangerously through the glass. "-they'll be lucky if they can afford to even SEE that restaurant again!"

"W-WHOA WHOA! Calm down, miss!" Phoenix began to sweat, knowing if looks could kill, everyone in that room would be dead now. "A-Aren't you just an officer in training? I-I don't think you can call shots on other people's salary!"

The woman calmed down again, looking back to the paper charm. "Heh...yeah, sorry...I just...I didn't sleep last night..."

Did ANYONE get sleep? Phoenix thought.

With a sigh, the woman's attitude shifted and she looked to Phoenix with a newer warmth. "Ok...go ahead. Ask me what you need to."

"W-Well...first I wanted to know your name."

"Ah, sorry. Didn't realize I'd forgotten my manners." She said, then politely saluted. "Officer Carol Ling, sir! Or...I hope I'll still be when this is done. I might just be Carol Ling after today..."

"We're gonna try to get you out of here, right, Nick?" Maya said reassuringly.

"Y-Yeah..." Phoenix replied, unsure. If she didn't do it, that is.

"Ok, now ask about what happened." Carol said, almost professionally, since she had to go through the whole song and dance twice already by previous officers.

"Alright...well, could you tell me why you were suspected? What happened in your own words?" Phoenix began.

"You're used to this I see." Carol grinned, then looked up, thinking. "Well, from what I remember, it was around 8:45 last night. I had just finished eating with a few new friends."

"New friends? Who might they be?" Phoenix asked, wondering if there were more witnesses to her innocence.

"In fact, the two I had mentioned before. Who were they...yes, Detective Dick Gumshoe and Officer Maggey Byrde. I met up with them as I was waiting in line."

Well, I guess that confirms the fact they were there...Gumshoe really DID want a special night with Maggey. Phoenix thought, then asked her to continue.

"We were walking out, when the whole restaurant started panicking. Then I heard gunshots, so I ran back in."

"W-Wait...you ran back in? Why?"

"My training instincts kicked in. I thought the two of them would back me up, but they must have gotten lost in the crowd or something..." Carol sighed, looking to the charm once again before continuing. "Once I ran in, I saw the victim falling to the ground, then something was thrown to him."

"What was thrown?" Phoenix asked.

"I was getting to that...you seem to jump to ask these questions. Ever hear of waiting your turn?"

"A-Ah...sorry, miss..." Phoenix looked down with his fail face on.

"The thing that was thrown to him...was the gun the shooter used to kill him." Carol confessed.

"What? Why do you think it was thrown at him?" Maya asked.

"You're another one I see..." Carol glanced, but smiled lightly. "But that is a good question. I believe he just wanted to make sure he couldn't be traced."

"B-But, wouldn't his fingerprints be on the gun?"

"I happened to catch a quick glimpse of him as he was running out the back of the restaurant. Not enough to see his face, but I saw his shoulder, arm and hand. It had a brown leather glove on it." Before she continued, she looked away. "What I did was stupid...I...I grabbed the gun and started after him!" Carol gripped tightly to the charm. "That's how I was tied with this! They found my prints..."

"Why didn't Detective Gumshoe or Officer Maggey try and help you?" Phoenix asked, getting more and more into this case.

"You don't think they did? They swore up and down that the gunshots were fired before I ran in...but because of the panicky atmosphere, everyone that was in there accused me...just because I'm an officer in training, they assume I just want a gun to go out and kill...What reason do I have to kill anyone? I wasn't even in a uniform or carrying a gun at the time!"

"HOLD IT!" Phoenix shouted, causing Maya and Carol to jump.

"...I heard you do that sometimes...you're about as loud as him..." She muttered, but looked back up. "What is it?"

"You said you weren't wearing a uniform or carrying a gun at the time. But that clearly contradicts what you said just a second before! How did everyone know you were an officer in training?" Phoenix pointed dramatically.

"Eh?" Carol jumped, almost dropping the charm she had been clutching since questioning began. "W-Well...because I was with Detective Gumshoe and Officer Maggey at the time...they saw how they were dressed."

Phoenix shock his head at the statement.

"I assume, if you weren't dressed in your uniform..." Phoenix slammed onto the desk of the Detention Center. "...then I highly doubt that...either of them were dressed in uniform as well!"

Carol began to sweat, the grip around the charm tightened and her eyes were glaring. "I'm telling you...I didn't kill anyone!"

"But how did anyone know you were a member of the Police Department?"

Doooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Chrararararararararara

Sheek Sheek Sheek Sheek

Phoenix's vision around Carol turned black. Suddenly, a large chain seemed to wrap around her several times. And last, four thick, red locks appeared on the intersections of the chains.

Psyche-Locks? Now? Phoenix thought suddenly, looking down to the glowing Magatama in his pocket. She's already hiding something? B-But...I don't have any evidence to break them! What am I gonna do?

"I believe we're done here, Phoenix." Carol stated.

"What?"

"Until you can prove how others thought I was a cop, I'm done talking." Carol turned her head, getting ready to leave. "Besides, I know the routine...you're going to check the crime scene, ask people questions and gather evidence...my innocence will be shown soon."

"Uhm, can I ask one quick thing, miss Ling?" Maya asked, giving Carol a quick start.

"Yes, you may. Only one though, I really need to get out of this room..." Carol said, smiling lightly.

"That charm you're holding. It's pretty cute!" Maya smiled.

"Thank you."

"Where'd you get it from?"

"..." Carol looked towards the door. "I need to get going...I'm sorry."

"Huh? I just wanted to know where you got tha-"

"Goodbye, Phoenix. Maya." Carol saluted once more, stood from her chair and walked out the door.

"What was that all about?" Maya fumed, cheeks puffed.

"I don't know...but...unless she co-operates with us, I doubt we're gonna get too far in this case..." Phoenix sighed, knowing this one wasn't going to be easy. But he made sure, for Maya's sake and curiosity, to add the charm she was carrying into his Court Record.