PUZZLE GIRL
Disclaimer: I don't won Professor Layton. If I did, Mask of Miracle would already be English.
"Okay Flora, we'll be back by tomorrow. Order out for dinner please. I'm afraid that if you cook a meal for yourself, you'll end up commiting accidental suicide. No offense." said Professor Layton, pulling on a coat while Luke was already sitting in the Laytonmobile outside. "Be careful while we're gone, and don't go outside late at night."
"I got it Professor." sighed Flora. The professor gave her a warm smile before leaving. Flora hated when Layton and Luke left her to go investigate things. Being alone sort of sucks...
RING
...unless danger calls. Flora ran to the telephone and picked it up. It was Inspector Chelmey on the other side. But he wasn't calling the Professor, oh no, he was actually calling her.
"Flora, are your services available today? A group of thugs have barricaded themselves inside a warehouse along with a valuable painting. We would like your assistance in the matter." said Inspector Chelmey. Under any other circumstance, asking a young girl to fight a group of thugs would sound dumb. Seriously, who would do that? However, if this girl was Flora Reinhold, than it is a valid question. You see, when the men of the house were gone, Flora would take up her secret identity, which she used to fight the scum of London. While she would be a perfectly innocent young lady during the day...
...at night, Flora was the goddamn Puzzle Girl, scrouge of evil, puzzler of fates, and manipulator of solutions.
She looked inside her closet, wondering what to wear. To go along with her confusing image, she constantly switches costumes. One day Puzzle Girl would be a Catgirl look-a-like, another she would be gothic lolica. The only way to tell she was Puzzle Girl was the puzzle piece symbol adorned on all her clothes. She chose to wear a dark cloak along with a dark suit, her insignia stitched on the back of the cloak. Wasting no time, she opened up a drawer, gathered some gadgets she would need, and bolted out of the house. She followed a trail of sirens until she found a blockade of police cars in front of a warehouse. Inspector Chelmey and Barton were waiting for her.
"Glad to see you here Flo... I mean Puzzle Girl." greeted Chelmey.
"Wait! Flora is Puzzle Girl!" gasped Barton.
"Don't be so thick Barton."
"Inspector, can you bring me up to speed?" demanded Flo... Puzzle Girl.
"The thieves are demanding a ransom for the painting's safe return. The warehouse doors are locked from the inside and the thieves are probably armed. There's a small hole in the ceiling you can enter through, but the chances of them noticing you is very high." explained Chelmey. Flora closed her eyes, thinking of a plan. She opens up her eyes, believing she found a solution.
"I'll get right on it Inspector." said Puzzle Girl. She ran to the side of the warehouse and started to climb up the ladder to the roof. While she did that, Barton was looking at the Inspector quizzically.
"Excuse me for asking, but what exactly does Flo-Puzzle Girl do?" said Barton.
"You see, since she trains under Professor Layton, she's been gifted with brilliance. She can find the solution to any problem that's presented to her. She looks at every case as a puzzle and rest assured, she will solve it. But that's not all she is..." said Inspector Chelmey. "She not only solves puzzles, she embodies them. She uses manipulation against her enemies to puzzle them, easily giving herself the chance to outsmart them."
"...Oh... wow." was all Barton could say.
Puzzle Girl stuck her head out through the hole in the roof, surveying the warehouse. There were numerous crates around the place. Four men stood in a clearing, along with an important looking box, which most likely held the painting. Flora pulled her head out and stuck her hand into her bag. She fished out several tape recorders, which was integral to her plan. She put her hand through the hole and then threw the tape recorders in multiple directions, scattering them everywhere. The noises attracted the attention of the thieves, making them look around in fright. Puzzle Girl chose this time to make her entrance, dropping out of the hole and on top of a large crate, pulling everyone's attention on her.
"Holy crap it's a vampire!" screamed one of the men.
"That's not a bloody vampire, that's Puzzle Girl! Why the hell are you here!" yelled a man, presumably the leader of the group, as he raised his gun at her threateningly. Puzzle Girl smiled, reached into her bag, and pressed a button.
"I'm not there, I'm over here." A voice came out of one of the tape recorders she threw, making everyone turn. Puzzle Girl had pre-recorded on all of the tape recorders. She had various tape recorders, all of them making combinations that could help in any situation. She jumped off the crate, landing behind the other side. She activated another tape recorder. "Now I'm over here! Try and get me!"
"Let me get her." said one of the men, walking toward the tape recorder that was last activated. Puzzle Girl moved through the crates silently and stealthily. She got a needle out from her bag, which was her only weapon. The needle was laced with a chemical that would knock out anyone it touches instantly. The man got to where he heard the voice, but was confused to see a tape recorder. "What the?"
"Good night." whispered Puzzle Girl, shoving the needle into his arm. The man immediately collapsed. She pressed more buttons and suddenly, the entire warehouse was filled with her voice, taunting the thieves.
"Argh! She's messing with us!" yelled the leader of the group. Puzzle Girl ducked behind a small crate, watching the scene, reaching into her bag to retrieve another needle.
"I'll check over here." said one of them, walking over to a maze of crates.
"What about you? You go look too!" yelled the leader at his other goon. But the man stood there, staring at his boss with glazed eyes. His knees suddenly gave way as he collapsed onto the floor, a needle stuck to his back. Puzzle Girl was already running toward the other crook. Before he knew what was happening, that man too had slipped into unconsciousness. Only the ringleader of the operation was left. His eyes darted around, gun trained on all of the boxes. "Show yourself!"
"I'm here. For real this time." said Puzzle Girl as she stepped out of the shadows with something in her hand: a revolver. She pulled the trigger and a bang echoed through the room. The leader screamed, falling over, dropping his gun as the bullet entered his body.
Except there was no bullet. The gun was fake. Just another confusing trick by Puzzle Girl. She was already running toward him. He tried to pick up his gun, but it was too late; the needle had entered his body. Before closing his eyes, he saw Puzzle Girl's smug smile...
"Flora, we're home now!" announced Professor Layton as he entered the house. Flora was sitting on the couch, sipping tea while watching a show with killer angels and blinking. Luke ran up to Flora like an excited puppy.
"Flora! Did you hear about the whole warehouse thing going on last night?" asked Luke.
"Maybe." answered Flora vaguely, but Luke didn't appear to have noticed this. He was too busy being a gushing fanboy.
"That Puzzle Girl hero was there! She beat a bunch of thieves and got a valuable painting back from them! She's so awesome! I wonder who she is..."
"Who knows, she might be closer than you think." said an amused Flora, blushing a little.
The end.
I wrote this story because this place doesn't have many Flora centric fics.
I also wrote this because I was wondering what Flora did when Luke and Layton were gone. AND NOW WE KNOW AND KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE.