Honestly, this plot bunny refused to go away no matter how many times I shot it. This started out as just a blurb I wrote down and it just mutated into this.
This should be another short one, and I'll admit, it feels nice to give Professor Layton a try (considering most of the Layton fanfics I find are complete shit) Anyway, I hope you like the Wizard of Oz cause we're about to go on a journey!
Oh, and this fic takes place a number of months after Miracle Mask (so, spoilers), and just before Azran Legacy. And minor spoilers for future games as well. (Looking at YOU Unwound Future)
Hope you like it and I apologize in advance if characters are OOC since it's my first time writing these guys!
The sun rose, marking another peaceful day in Monte d'Or. Months had passed since the Masked Gentleman incident and the city was as peaceful as ever. Repairs had been made, people had adjusted to the new raised levels of the city, and everything was back to normal.
Luke stretched as he, the Professor and Emmy exited from the Dromedary hotel. They had all been invited to visit by Randall now that the city was no longer threatened.
"It sure is nice to see the city booming again." Emmy said, as they walked out to the busy streets.
"Yes, the repairs done to the city have been very well done." The Professor agreed.
"Mr. Ascot said he wanted to meet us at the racetrack, right?" Luke asked.
Layton nodded. "That's correct Luke; we never got a chance to watch the races the last time we were here." he said.
"Do you think we'll get to see more sights while we're here?" Luke asked, remembering Tingly Town and the Stellar circus.
The Professor chuckled, "Knowing Randall, that might be the case." They continued down the street when Luke suddenly stopped. He glanced around; he thought he had heard something. His eyes were drawn to an alley way when he heard what sounded like a crash.
Glancing at the Professor and Emmy one last time, Luke jogged into the alley. His eyes widened when he stumbled upon a rusty bucket that was upside down. Luke heard what sounded like whimpering from inside it and he slowly lifted it up. Under the bucket was a tiny puppy. It had dark red fur that was quite scruffy and unkempt. It had no collar and looked quite thin and lanky. He was so small that he barely passed Luke's ankles on all fours.
The dog whined and shivered as Luke knelt down in front of him, "Hello." he said with a small smile. He reached towards the dog, who shied away. "I'm not going to hurt you." Luke said, his heart going out to the terrified creature. "My name's Luke, what's your's?" he asked.
The dog let out a small yip which Luke translated into "Trevor".
"Your name's Trevor?" Luke asked. The dog seemed to brighten at being understood so Luke took that as a yes. "What are you hiding from, Trevor?" Luke asked. Trevor whined and a deep growling filled the air. Luke and Trevor looked up to see a giant dog staring at them.
At first Luke thought it was the big dog belonging to Mr. Dalston, but judging by it's growling, that was not the case. The big dog's words were just downright cruel from what Luke could pick up. It sounded something like, "Get over here you little pipsqueak so I can rip you to shreds!"
Luke frowned as Trevor cowered in fear and stood up. "Why don't you leave Trevor alone?" he asked. The big dog growled again, trying to scare Luke off. Luke tried to keep from shaking in fear and stood his ground, but Trevor wasn't sticking around. He took off, prompting the big dog to go after it.
Luke yelped and ran after Trevor and back into the streets. Luke caught up to Trevor as they ran down the sidewalk and into another alley, the big dog right on their tails. They ran all the way down until they came to the end, but a wooden gate was blocking their way. Thinking fast, Luke scooped Trevor up and began climbing the gate, "Don't worry," he said. "I won't let anything hurt you, I promise."
Luke reached the top of the gate and jumped down on the other side, Trevor jumping to the ground once they were safe. Luke smiled as he heard the bog dog scratching at the gate, his efforts to get through futile.
Trevor barked and wagged his tail. "That was fun!" Was what it translated into.
Luke couldn't help but chuckle, "Yeah, that was kinda fun!" Luke put his hands on his knees to catch his breath and Trevor came up to him and licked his hands, giving a few more barks that translated into, "Thanks a lot for helping me out!"
Luke waved his hand and pet the dog, "It was nothing Trevor." he said. "You should probably get home now, so you don't run into anymore bullies like that." Trevor's tail stopped wagging and he sat down, whining a bit. Luke's eyes widened as he picked up what he was saying. "You don't have a home?" Luke asked.
Trevor whined again, but before Luke could translate they heard loud barking. Luke looked up to see the big dog round the corner before bolting after them. "Run!" Luke cried and he and Trevor took off. Luke ignored the confused stares of passersby and focused on running. "What did you do to upset him so much?" Luke asked as they ran.
Trevor let out a few barely audible whines and yips but Luke managed to make out, "I was just trying to get some food."
"Did you steal it or something?" Luke asked, glancing back to see that the dog wasn't getting closer, but he wasn't tiring either.
Trevor barked and Luke translated, "I accidently found his territory and he doesn't like intruders."
Luke could feel his lungs tiring as they continued to run. Luke turned another corner and BAM! Luke fell to the ground, Trevor slamming into his back right after.
"Luke, what are you doing?" Luke looked up to see Emmy on the ground in front of him, an irritated look on her face.
The Professor stood behind her, looking curiously at Luke with his arms crossed, "Where were you Luke? We were looking for you." Luke opened his mouth to explain when he heard the growling. He scrambled to his feet and backed towards the Professor as the dog rounded the corner and bounded towards them.
Emmy got up as well and the dog suddenly skidded to a halt as Emmy's glare bore into him. "Beat it." Emmy said sharply and the dog yipped before running off. Luke sighed in relief as well as Trevor. "You always manage to find trouble wherever you go, don't you Luke?" Emmy said.
"It wasn't my fault!" Luke protested.
"Where did you wander off to Luke?" Layton asked, no accusation in his voice, only curiosity.
"Trevor was hiding under a bucket in the alley, I heard him." Luke answered, gesturing to the little dog. "He was scared so I wanted to help him."
Emmy sighed and smiled, shaking her head, "It's always you and animals, Luke." she said. "Go on little guy, go home." she said, shooing Trevor away. Trevor ran off before Luke could stop him, not wanting to get Emmy angry like with that big dog.
"You know better than to run off like that Luke." The Professor said.
"I'm sorry." Luke said, his head down.
Layton smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, "Come now, we don't want to be late."
They arrived at the racetrack where Randall, Angela and Henry were waiting for them. "Glad you all could make it!" Randall said, enthusiastic as ever. "The race is supposed to be a big one today!"
"Randall's promised that he wouldn't gamble anything." Angela reassured with a smile.
"I don't gamble that much." Randall protested.
"You are known for taking risks Master Randall." Henry pointed out with a smile and Randall lightly shoved him. "I thought you were on my side!"
Luke turned away from the slight bickering and looked at all the horses being led around. His eyes fells on the stable, the doors wide open as horses came and went to be prepared for races. He had always wondered what race horses were like up close instead of on the track. "Professor," he said, tugging on his mentor's sleeve. "Do you think we could see the horses?" he asked.
Randall shrugged and glanced at the clock. "I don't see why not; we have some time before the next race starts."
"Right this way." Henry said, leading them to the stable. Once they entered, Luke marveled at all the stalls, each one holding a respective horse. They were all well cared for and it in peak condition. Every one of them was probably a phenomenal racer. Luke wandered away from the group to get a closer look. From their whinnies they were all very happy here.
He eventually came to a bright tan horse tied in an open area, probably waiting to be brushed or shoed. "Hello there," Luke said, stroking the horse's nose. "Excited for the race today?"
The horse whinnied. "A little nervous actually; I don't really like people watching me." Was what Luke picked up.
"Really?" Luke asked. After hearing that, he could feel her slightly shivering under his touch, and he was pretty sure it wasn't a chill. "Well, I'm sure you'll do great out there."
"She's one of our fastest horses." Luke looked up to see Henry walking towards him. "She's never come in last place once."
Luke looked at the horse and continued stroking her as it seemed to calm her. "But isn't she timid?" he asked.
Henry shrugged, "That's probably why she's so fast." he offered. "She seems to get spooked by the tiniest of things." Luke nodded and he and Henry stepped aside as a dark brown horse was led by them. At that moment, a stable hand had entered the tan horse's stall and gotten ready to brush her.
Luke took his hand off her nose for a second just as the stable hand got out his brush. He pulled out a hose to water down the brush so as to brush her tail easier, but his grip slipped, causing the hose to fall right on the horse's behind.
The horse started and lurched forward, her muzzle slamming right into the dark brown horse passing her. The brown horse whinnied loudly causing everyone to jump as the brown horse began rearing, waving his hooves dangerously. Henry quickly grabbed Luke who was between the offending animals and pressed them against the wall out of harms way.
The stable hands tried to calm them, but they were too afraid to get close to the brown one. Luke spied his reins flapping around and glanced at the brown horse's trampling hooves. "Be careful!" Luke cried going towards the brown horse, "You're going to hurt yourself!"
"Luke, get back!" Henry said frantically.
Luke quickly snatched up the reins and pulled at the horse. Because of his size he couldn't pull very hard, but he managed to keep his grip. "Calm down, it's okay!" Luke said firmly. The brown horse stopped rearing but still snorted and squirmed in agitation. Luke saw his chance and touched the horse's neck. "It's okay, you just got scared." Luke said. "Nothing's going to hurt you."
"What's going on here?" Emmy, Layton, Randall, and Angela ran on the scene to see Luke gently stroking the brown horse in front of him as well as the tan horse nearby.
He faced them, "It's okay." he said, gesturing towards the tan horse. "Spirit just got a bit spooked and upset Gallant here."
Randall frowned, "Spirit and Gallant?" he asked.
"Those are their names." Luke clarified.
"Henry!" Angela gasped, spying the other man. Randall and Angela went to his side, as he was breathing heavily and clutching his chest in fright against the wall.
"Are you alright?" Layton asked.
Henry took a deep breath and nodded, "I'm fine," he swallowed, "Just a bit startled, that's all."
Randall smirked, "Why Henry, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're afraid of horses."
Henry looked at the ground sheepishly, "Ah, I've never really been...comfortable around them." he said, straightening his clothes.
"Well, I guess it's a good thing Luke is good with animals." Emmy said.
"Well, that was an exciting start to a day, wasn't it?" Randall said.
"Master Randall, I believe the race is going to start soon." Henry said.
"Come along Luke." The Professor called as they headed out of the stable.
Luke gave Gallant and Spirit a few final strokes. "Good luck out there." He said. The horses whinnied their thanks and Luke ran to catch up with the Professor.
The race went on and it was as exciting as to be expected. Luke cheered the loudest as Spirit ran like the wind and easily overtook the other racers, leaving them in the dust. Once it was over, the group headed back to the manor.
As they walked down the streets, a small ball of fur caught his eye in an alley. He stopped as he heard something bark his name and looked to see a familiar little dog. "Oh, hello there." Luke said, kneeling in front of the dog, "You're Trevor, right?" He pet the little dog and was surprised as it jumped into his arms.
Trevor seemed quite excited to see him as his tail was wagging very hard. "Do you want to walk with me?" Luke asked. Trevor barked an obvious yes and Luke continued towards the manor, carrying the little dog. Despite having only met twice, Trevor seemed quite attached to him already, more than any other animal he had met. Maybe it was because he was so lonely.
As they approached the manor, Luke stopped outside the gate. After what happened before, Luke wasn't sure if the Professor and Emmy would be too pleased at seeing the little dog again. And he didn't just want to take a random stray into the manor.
Sighing, he knelt in front of Trevor, "Sorry Trevor, but I have to go now." he said. Trevor whimpered and looked at Luke with big eyes. Luke managed to resist how cute he looked and gave the little dog a scratch behind the ears to cheer him up, "Don't worry, we can play later; I'll be out soon and then I'll come find you." he said. Trevor seemed to like that idea and barked happily.
"Luke! C'mon!" Emmy called.
"Coming!" Luke responded. "I'll see you later, boy." he said, giving Trevor one final pat before running into the manor with the adults.
Yes, Trevor is an OC dog. Why? Because no other animals could fit the part of Toto. I mean, Luke has no pets (surprisingly considering it's Luke), there are hardly any animals in Monte d'Or, I considered Dalston's dog, but he's too big and I realized that he has no name so that was a bust.
Also, am I the only one who wanted Randall, Angela and Henry to come back in future Layton games? It's one of the few times I actually wanted side characters to come back and help! It would've been awesome! (Or that's just because I want more love for these guys...)
Anyway, review please and tell me what you think!
