Rise from the Ashes

Episode 5: Rise from the Ashes is an episode that was initially created exclusively for the Nintendo DS release of Gyakuten Saiban, Gyakuten Saiban: Yomigaeru Gyakuten. As such, it is the final episode of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. This episode features touchscreen-oriented gameplay that allows the player to examine evidence from any angle, spray luminol fluid to see bloodstains, and dust for fingerprints. No episode picture is unlocked from beating Rise from the Ashes.

Because, in Japan, Rise from the Ashes was released after Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations was released, the WiiWare remake of this case was released as downloadable content for the WiiWare version of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney after the release of the WiiWare version of Trials and Tribulations was released. As such, this one case was released for the WiiWare service on March 16, 2010 in Japan, May 24, 2010 in North America, and May 28, 2010 in Europe.

Rise from the Ashes is set two months after Turnabout Goodbyes. This episode is also the longest in the Ace Attorney series to date, spanning ten chapters (three investigations and seven trials).

Prologue
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Investigation
"Phoenix Wright"

- It's been two months since Maya left the office...

Two months without a single trial.

I've had offers...

But none I took.

That is...

until the day that girl showed up.

It was about 10 AM at the Wright & Co. Law Offices and Phoenix Wright pondered why he returned to the office everyday, despite the fact he had no desire to defend anyone. Despite offers, he hadn't taken any case since Miles Edgeworth's. On this day, however, a girl showed up asking for Mia Fey.

"Phoenix Wright"

- (Why do I come here to the office every day? It's not like I want to work...)

Wright told her Fey no longer "work[ed] here". The girl then recognized Wright and pleaded for his services for her sister, accused of murder, in court tomorrow. Reminded of Maya Fey by the girl's appearance, Wright decided to hear her out. The girl introduced herself as Ema Skye, a junior in high school and an aspiring scientific investigator. Wright learned from her that her older sister had gone to the same law school as his late mentor Fey had, a few years above her.

Wright and Skye went to the detention center to meet the client, Lana Skye. Lana revealed herself as the district's Chief Prosecutor, a fact Wright was unaware of. Stuck in another case of two sisters, Wright heard her story, but Lana confessed to the crime. She told Wright that the murder had occurred the previous day at 5:15 PM in the underground parking lot at the prosecutor's office. The victim had been fatally stabbed in the stomach; she had accidentally cut herself after stabbing the victim. The body had been found in the trunk of a co-worker's car and someone had witnessed the crime. To make matters worse, the victim was a detective, meaning the police would prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.

Lana also talked about Mia Fey. Fey had audited Lana's class during Lana's third year. Lana had been at the top of her class, and she admired Fey for her determination to become a lawyer and they had shared an intellectual attraction.

Lana accepted Wright's offer to represent her, but she reminded him that there was no case to investigate, as she had already confessed. Ema insisted that Lana was innocent and she did not want to lose her only family. Nevertheless, Lana ended the conversation.

Ema explained that Lana had once been quite a likable person, but she had suddenly become cold one day.

Ema accompanied Wright to the crime scene. Wright commented that he didn't think his first visit to the prosecutor's office would end up this way. They met Jake Marshall, a "cowboy" in charge of the scene who blocked them from investigating the car. Looking around, they found the wallet of the victim and the ID inside told them his name: Bruce Goodman. They pocket it and asked Marshall who owned the car. He directed them to the High Prosecutor's Office on the 12th floor. Wright and Ema bumped into Angel Starr, a traveling lunch seller who was visiting her boyfriend in Security. She revealed herself as the witness but apparently had a grudge against prosecutors.

Wright and Ema headed up to the 12th floor into the High Prosecutor's Office. Ema concluded from the fancy decor that the owner was a stuck-up jerk, but then Edgeworth entered the room. The office and the red car with the body inside of it belonged to him. Edgeworth told Wright about his troubles. He was to be the prosecutor tomorrow, but rumors of dirty tactics in court still shadowed him and his knife, hidden in his trunk's toolbox, was the murder weapon. Edgeworth also told them he had received the King of Prosecutors trophy the previous day at the police department and only got back to his office at 5:12, three minutes before the murder. He gave them a parking stub as proof. Officer Mike Meekins then arrived and tried to give Edgeworth a file relating to another case, but an irritated Edgeworth merely shooed him away.

As Edgeworth suggested, Wright headed to the police department, where officer Meekins worked. Wright noticed a "dancing machine", with someone dancing by its side. He recognized the machine as the Blue Badger, and the person as detective Dick Gumshoe. Gumshoe told Wright he had been kicked off the department, because only the highest-ranked people were working at the moment. He also advised not to take Lana's case, but it was too late. Gumshoe said that there were rumours that Edgeworth wanted to take Lana's position as the chief prosecutor, but he didn't believe. He gave a letter addressed to Marshall, asking permission for Wright to investigate the crime scene.

Marshall recognized the letter as being Gumshoe's due to a mispelling, and let Wright investigate. He also gave a copy of Goodman's autopsy report. Marshall told he was just a patrolman, not a detective anymore. Gumshoe wasn't working on this case because he was very close to Edgeworth.

Analyzing the crime scene, Wright found a cell phone and pressed the redial button. Marshall told him it was Lana's, and she called someone right after the murder. Wright said the phone that rang was his, but it was a wrong number. Wright also found a note inside the car's trunk.

Ema said to Wright that now he probably had all the clues he would need. At this point, Wright confessed it wasn't his phone that rang, it was Ema's. Ema told him that Lana had called her, but didn't speak much.

Trial
Moments before the trial began, Wright was still confused about the case; there were "a lot of gray areas." Lana resigned herself to her fate, and told Wright that he should never "believe" in his clients. Wright commented that Lana was a lot like Mia Fey, with one decisive difference: "You're not a defense attorney."

Wright entered the courtroom with no Fey family member to help him for the first time. Edgeworth commented that he would choose the judgments he believed were right, regardless of what others told him, and then he gave his opening statement summarizing the accusations against Lana. He then called Starr to the stand. Starr handed out some lunches to Wright and the judge; an annoyed Edgeworth insisted they proceed with the trial. The judge commented that a member of the police department usually testifies first, but Edgeworth revealed that Starr was once a fairly well-known homicide detective. Now remembering the "Cough-up Queen", the judge told Starr to proceed.

Starr described the crime details, and testified about what she saw. She had a photo of the instant before the murder. However, the photo contradicted her testimony, and she revealed the photo was, in fact, taken before the murder. It turned out that Starr was in the garage's security room when she first saw Lana attacking Goodman, and that it took five minutes for her to get down to where Lana was and to apprehend her. As Wright pointed out, no killer would wait around at the scene of the crime for five minutes. The judge agreed that this was too much of a contradiction for Angel's testimony to convict Lana, and prepared to suspend the trial for the day.

Before he could do so, however, Angel suddenly produced another piece of evidence: one of Goodman's shoes, which was covered in blood. Edgeworth refused to accept the shoe, pointing out that it was illegal evidence due to the fact that it had not been registered by him or anyone at the police department. However, Angel revealed that one of her former colleagues had in fact carried out all the required paperwork, making it valid evidence. Wright pointed out a large bloodstain underneath the shoe, which would indicate that Goodman stepped on a large amount of blood, yet there was no corresponding bloodstain at the scene. This worked against him, however, as Angel revealed that there were bloodstains originally at the scene, but that Lana tipped over a drum full of water to wash them away. Upon hearing this, the judge decided that the shoe and her actions in knocking over the water drum were decisive evidence and prepared to declare Lana guilty.

Wright had one last objection, pointing out that Lana had mentioned something about a "muffler" in a brief phone conversation with Ema before she was arrested, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing a muffler. Therefore, the muffler she was talking about must have been the exhaust muffler of Edgeworth's car. Edgeworth claimed that this was irrelevant, but the judge agreed that they should at least check the muffler before declaring a verdict.

Latter session
During the recess, Marshall came to talk with Wright. Marshall said that Lana was indeed using a red muffler that day, even though she wasn't at the photo.

After the court is reconvened, Edgeworth was looking rather shocked. The chief of police, Damon Gant, unexpectedly entered the courtroom after the recess, carrying what had been discovered in Edgeworth's exhaust muffler: a flick knife (or switchblade), which was tagged as being part of the "SL-9 case". He also informed the court that another detective was killed in the evidence room at the police department, at the same time, on the same day, but couldn't tell anything else because it wasn't linked to the case in trial. Wright showed him the victim's note, which contained "SL-9". The knife was stolen from a case the victim mentioned from the place the other murder had happened. Gant agreed to tell Wright only the ID number of this second victim. Using the ID number provided by Gant, Wright deduced that the murdered detective was also Bruce Goodman. Edgeworth demanded to know why no one had told him about this, only for Gant to reveal that the file Mike Meekins was trying to give him the previous day would have informed him about the "other" murder. The judge suspended the trial for another day so that things could be investigated.

Investigation
Returning to the parking garage, Wright and Ema tested the area with some luminol spray and discovered that there had indeed been some blood washed away at the scene. However, it was too little blood, considering that a murder happened there. Just then, Starr came to talk with them. She said she lied to look more convincing, but she still witnessed Lana stab Goodman. Starr told them she was fired after the SL-9 incident, and Goodman was the head detective on that case. Marshall also worked on it, but he was demoted to patrolman. She was only selling lunches so she could investigate more. Starr gave Wright a lunch, and told him to give it to officer Marshall.

Wright went to the evidence room's guard station, but there wasn't anyone there, and the door to the evidence room was locked. On their way back, they met Gumshoe, who said they should meet with the suspect on the second murder.

The suspect turned out to be officer Meekins. He told Wright that he saw someone suspicious at the evidence room, so he entered and asked for his ID card. The suspicious person pointed at him with a knife, knocked him out, then disappeared. Meekins couldn't recognize person's face, since he didn't know any detectives. Ema suggested that the person could have been someone else, other than detective Goodman. However, Meekins told them that there was a video tape showing what happened, and that was the reason he was arrested.

Back at the police department, Wright met Gant at the criminal affairs. He apparently was asking the chief of the detectives to do something for him. Talking to the chief, Wright discovered they had searched Goodman's desk and the detective was filling a lost item report on the day of the murder. Gant gave Wright a visitor's ID card and let Wright investigate the evidence room.

The ID card didn't work. In fact, the security guard turned the lock off, so anyone could enter the room. Marshall, who turned out to be the security guard, didn't want to talk to Wright. Wright gave him the lunch he had, and Marshall suddenly was in the mood for conversation. He explained he wasn't at the guard station at the time of the murder, but there was no need of him; the security cameras would register everything that happened inside. Marshall explained what a evidence transferal was and gave Wright a list of the ID numbers of who entered the room the day of the murder. Goodman had entered the room just before being murdered.

Gumshoe was in charge of the investigation in the evidence room, but he was all alone in there. The evidence room was full of lockers, each of which could only be accessed its owner via a fingerprint lock. Goodman's locker was opened, and Wright could find some evidence: a broken vase that they reassembled to find that a piece was missing, a rubber glove, and a bloody handprint on Gumshoe's locker. There was a lot of blood on the floor, indicating something happened there. There was also a locker with a white cloth sticking out, and a bloody wiped handprint was found there.

Wright went to Edgeworth's office. Wright discovered that one of ID numbers on the list was Edgeworth's, since Gant asked him to transfer an evidence from the room to his office. Edgeworth also gave Ema a fingerprinting set, since she was into scientific investigation.

Back to the evidence room, Wright discovered that the hanprint on Gumshoe's locker had no fingerprints, but the one on the other locker had Marshall's fingerprints. This could be a decisive evidence.

Trial
Wright was confused, since the same person was killed at the same time at two different locations. Lana just came back from questioning, and told him the police was also clueless. Wright said he found Marshall's print at the evidence room, so he would be accusing him for the time being.

When the trial began, Meekins was first to testify. It was proven he entered the evidence room twice, and the judge asked for a explanation. He said that the first time, he put the Blue Badger inside the room. At the second time, he went to move the Blue Badger out of the room, but he was confronted by a man who was apparently Goodman. Meekins told to the court the same story he told to Wright on the previous day, then presented a video of what went on, and it corroborated his story. However, the face of "Goodman" was not visible, making it unclear whether the real Goodman was in the evidence room or in the parking garage with Lana. Moreover, the video in fact showed that the rubber glove had become trapped in the door lock, deactivating the fingerprint sensor and meaning that it wasn't necessarily Goodman who had opened the locker. Wright asked to question Jake Marshall, saying that they should hear from him as he was the person in charge of the evidence room, and Edgeworth agreed to the request. The judge called for a recess.

When Wright was talking to his client, Gumshoe suddenly appeared. He brought some files about the SL-9 Incident, the one Goodman was encharged of. Lana had asked him to bring that, showing that she knew more than she was talking. Reading the files, Ema recognized the SL-9 as being the infamous "Joe Darke Killings". She suddenly ran away crying, and Wright entered the courtroom alone.

Latter session
Back to the trial, Marshall told the court he had entrusted the room to the security devices and had been at a "street-side saloon" (a restaurant, where he was supposedly eating spaghetti). However, Wright presented to the court a print of bloody fingerprints on Marshall's locker belonging to him. Marshall denied this had anything to do with the case. It was his locker so his fingerprints would be all over it and, "One of them just happened to be at the same place as the bloodstained handprint." Wright hit him back by examining the security tape and pointing out the white coat sleeve Marshall had left hanging out of his locker.

Marshall called Wright's "bluff" and said the murderer could have put that in. Then Wright told him about the fingerprint sensors and proceeded to pick apart his testimony. Marshall spilled out the truth about what had happened inside the evidence room three days ago; he had disguised himself as Goodman to steal some evidence from his locker. It turned out that Goodman was in charge of the "SL-9 case", a series of murders, the last victim of which was Marshall's younger brother Neil. Jake had been unsatisfied about the outcome of the case, and had still wanted to investigate while there was still time.

Wright was initially pleased to have uncovered the truth behind what happened in the evidence room that day... until Edgeworth pointed out that Wright had just indirectly proven Lana guilty of Goodman's murder, since it was now obvious that there was no murder in the evidence room. The judge was about to declare his verdict, but Ema suddenly broke into the room. She went off to try to help, but she couldn't anything. Even though, Wright managed to turn things around by pointing to the bloody handprint on Gumshoe's locker. As Wright pointed out, if Jake had left the handprint it should have been on the Blue Badger, not on Gumshoe's locker, which was behind the Badger and out of reach. Wright pointed to the unidentified fourth person that went in the evidence room and indicted them as the true killer, since Goodman could not have accessed the evidence room by himself (Jake having stolen his badge) and the amount of blood in there was far too much for what could have resulted from Meekins' injury. Edgeworth replied that they couldn't investigate the holder of that badge however, owing to the individual's high rank.

At the end of the proceedings, Jake Marshall asked Lana Skye to look him in the eye and tell him she didn't intentionally present falsified evidence during the trial of Joe Darke. She replied that she had, and this started a riot in the courtroom that forced proceedings to be suspended again.

Investigation
Back at the Wright & Co. Law Offices, Ema revealed that Neil Marshall had died saving her from Darke, leaving the evidence necessary to convict the killer and that it was her own testimony that had helped to seal Darke's fate. Talking to Ema, Wright discovered that Lana was a detective two years ago, and after the SL-9 she became Chief of Prosecutors. Wright decided to talk to Lana, discovering she shared an office with Gant and that all of the people related to this case were related to the SL-9. However, Wright couldn't believe it was a coincidence.

Heading to the police department, Wright met Marshall at the entrance. Marshall told him why he had his suspicions at the SL-9 conclusion and what happened to the people related to it after it was closed. He also told it wasn't Edgeworth the guilty party of the falsification, it was Gant.

After entering the police department, the chief of the detectives told Wright where the chief of police's office was. When Wright arrived there, he found Gant reading a list, which was promptly stuffed at his desk. Gant showed him a picture containing Gant, Lana and Neil the day of the last murder of Darke. After that, Gant simply kicked Wright out of his room.

Wright met Gumshoe, who has serving coffee at the detectives' meeting and reading the SL-9 Incident files in the break times. He gave Neil's autopsy report to Wright, and also told him a bit about the happenings of the SL-9. He said any detective ID card could unlock the chief's office, but letting civilians in there would result in a loss of job. Goodman's ID data was deleted in the day he died, and Gumshoe wouldn't borrow his own.

Wright decided to visit the prosecutor's building once more. At the room 1202, he found Edgeworth writing a letter, which was quickly drop onto the floor. Edgeworth told Wright why he had came back to his office, and that the evidence list of the SL-9 was strangely half as long as the normal ones. He told the story behind the prosecutor trophy, and said that the halberd part of it was removed due to Gant's request. Ema sneakly picked the letter Edgeworth was witring, and he read it out loud. It was a letter of resignation.

On his way to the police department once more, he met Starr at the undergound parking lot. She told him that Lana was probably being used by Gant to take control over the prosecutors too. She said everyone liked Lana, but she suddenly became cold.

Wright met Gumshoe again and showed him Edgeworth's letter of resignation. Worried about Edegworth's future, Gumshoe lent Wright his ID card. Even though, Gumshoe followed Wright until the chief's office, worried that things would went too much wrong. When Wright found a safe, he tried to unlock it by submitting the unknown person's ID; it worked. Inside of it, there was the last piece of the vase and a piece of cloth. When Wright examined it for fingerprints, he found out it were Ema's, but he didn't tell her about it. Wright also picked up the list Gant was reading the first time he got there. In the back of the list, there was a drawing, probably Ema's crime scene drawing. Gant arrived at his office. He told Ema to stay for questioning, asked for Gumshoe's ID card and kicked Wright out of his office again.

Back at the detention center to talk to Lana, she said she indeed stabbed Goodman, but she could be doing it for someone else. Wright suggested "Gant", and she agreed. Wright proved her Gant had participated in the falsified evidence, then she told him that Gant asked her to dispose of Goodman's body. She then hid Darke's knife and asked Ema to keep it safe. It was because of her Marshall got into the evidence room. Lana didn't want Wright to pursue it any further in the court, then she left.

Trial
Wright was alone at the defendant lobby, until Edgeworth came by. Edgeworth said that if it was proven the last ID was Gant's, Lana would be found guilty. Wright said he was going to make Lana confess all the truth, and Edgeworth should help him to uncover what really happened during the SL-9 Incident. Edgeworth said he would think about it.

Before the trial could start, Gant had a proposal to make. He wanted Lana to be the first to speak, and it was accepted. Lana confessed to the murder once more, wanting the trial to end and even forfeiting her right to have an attorney. The judge agreed, and was going to give his verdict. Edgeworth objected, claiming he hadn't proven the defendant guilty yet. Something must have happened behind the scenes, since the defendant suddenly confessed again. He called Ema to the court to testify, but Lana objected. Lana's objection was overruled, and Ema testified about the time she witnessed Neil's murder.

Despites Lana forfeited her right to have an attorney, Wright continued to defend her. He showed to Ema the drawing she made two years ago, on the back of the evidence list. Linking Wright's list with Edgeworth's, another part of the drawing appeared; Blue Badger's head. With the drawing, Wright proved the murder weapon wasn't Darke's knife, but the King of Prosecutors Trophy's halberd. He also managed to prove that the place where the body was found and the place where Neil was murdered was completely different.

In a tragic moment, Wright showed the court that Ema had pushed Neil onto an armor with a sword, and Neil, in his last moments, wrote Ema's name on the jar. The audience was lead into an uproar, and the judge called a recess.

Later session
During the recess, Gumshoe handed Wright a book called "Evidence Law". It contained the two rules when submitting evidence to the court, with a message from Lana: "if you want to take HIM on, you're going to need this book".

Back to the court, the judge seemed embarassed to tell Edgeworth would be getting some penalties after the trial. Edgeworth agreed, and pushed the right to call the witnesses to Wright's hands. Wright decided to call Gant to the stand.

Wright proved Gant was part of the evidence forgery. Gant claimed he wouldn't be accomplice of anyone, but Wright proved that he would indeed, if he would get benefits from it. Gant was probably controlling Lana over the past two years, and so he could control the prosecutor's office.

Wright showed to the court that Goodman had gone into the evidence room with Gant, the owner of the last ID remaining in the list. He suggested Gant killed Goodman there, then asked Edgeworth to transfer an aleatory evidence. This way, the body could be handed to his accomplice, Lana, at the parking lot.

Gant decided not to testify anymore, since he had this right on his hands. He left the court, leaving Wright in despair. Edgeworth suggested they could hear one more testimony, so Wright called Lana to the witness stand. Just then, Gant came back. He warned Lana that, if she agreed with Wright, her sister would be found guilty. The judge called the second recess of the day.

Edgeworth explained a bit about Gant's right of refusing to testify, but Wright was still confused. Meanwhile, Ema was both happy and sad. Now she knew why Lana changed that much, but she actually murdered someone. Wright then went back to the court.

Even later session
In the court, Lana testified about her relationship with Gant, denying the blackmailing and controlling theory. She said she did all by herself, including moving the body. She said she did so because there were broken jar pieces on the floor. However, if Ema's name was written there, someone must have broken it after Neil's death and before Lana arrived.

She testified that she cleaned the pieces, and because they were large, she claimed to have cleaned them all. However, Wright told Lana that, even though she cleaned all the pieces, there was one she didn't clean. It was found in Gant's locker, meaning he got there before she did. Maybe Gant had tampered with the crime scene, and Ema wasn't guilty of anything. Lana wasn't sure about that, and asked Wright to show to the court the picture she gave to him, inside the book.

Looking to the photo, Wright realized where the piece of cloth he found came from. He couldn't cross-examine Lana, though, because he was interrupted by Gant. Gant claimed Wright had decisive evidence proving who the real murderer was, but Wright denied.

Gant confessed he arrived at the scene before Lana and tampered with it. He really wanted to use it to blackmail Lana. He admitted to have cut a piece from Neil's clothes, so Wright submitted the evidence to the court. It really proved who the murderer was, since there was no blood where should have been plenty. Gant said he couldn't be accused of murder with this evidence, because it was illegal. Using Lana's book, Wright showed how this evidence was completely legal and told to the court what really happened on the day of the murder. Gant was the culprit of everything, not any of the Skye sisters.

After the trial, Ema stated it had been too long since Lana last smiled. Lana was feeling free of the chains she had until now, even though she was still culprit of forging evidence. Lana gave Ema the first book she ever bought, "Scientific Investigation". Inside of it, there was an old picture of the Skye sisters. Ema was sent to Europe to live with a coroner, since Lana would be in jail. Wright and the others went to a recently opened restaurant to comemorate.

References to other cases

 * Miles Edgeworth was asked to transfer a blue screwdriver that was evidence in an incident labeled "AI-16". In Turnabout Sisters, Phoenix Wright found a blue screwdriver in April May's hotel room. They may have been the same screwdriver.


 * The evidence room contained the metal detector and fishing pole from Turnabout Goodbyes as well as the Dick Gumshoe's bug detector from Farewell, My Turnabout.


 * Edgeworth's office contains the suit he wore during his first murder investigation and his court début inside a glass case.


 * Damon Gant's safe was a product of KB Security, a company that appeared in The Stolen Turnabout.


 * Dick Gumshoe uses the back of a flyer about to write a note to Miles Edgeworth. The flyer seems to be about Trés Bien, as it is mentioned as a recently opened French restaurant. The flyer is (much like the restaurant itself) extremely pink, and it is possible to make out a figure on the flyer that strongly resembles Jean Armstrong. After the trial, Wright and his friends pay a visit to this new restaurant. It eventually fell on hard times and became a crime scene in Recipe for Turnabout.


 * When Wright examines the ladder in the underground parking area, he and Ema have a similar conversation to the one Wright and Maya Fey have about ladders and stepladders in Turnabout Samurai.