Sorry for the wait. I have an excuse. Alright, here we go! If I owned Professor Layton, nobody would play it because I'msuchaloserkillme.

The trio stepped into Dean Delmona's office. The place was probably twice as big as your average office. The walls were decorated with newspaper clippings of Gressenheller's many, many accomplishments (Quite a few of them had a certain archaeologist on them). The room was very organized, not a thing was out of place, from the pictures on the perfectly polished desk to the box of the dean's granddaughter's puzzles in the corner.

"Ah, Hershel! Please, sit down," the smiling Dean said from behind his desk. He gestured the three chairs in front of the desk. Layton sat on the one in the far left, Alex sat on the far right, & Luke in the middle.

"Oh, you must be Alex. Pleased to meet you, dear." Alex smiled as she stood up & leaned over to shake the dean's hand.

As their hands touched, a look of shock & confusion washed over the girl. Her eyes widened, & she resembled a man who had just realized he had been shot. Something about the feel of his hand, the firm grip, was so...familiar. But that couldn't be right, she had never met this man!

"Miss, is something the matter?" Alex quickly realized that the dean had already sat down, & her spacing out hadn't gone unnoticed.

"Oh, sorry, Dean," she apologized, sitting back down.

Delmona stared at her for a moment, & then said, "Wait fight here," leaving the room.

"What was that all about?" Luke asked, his brow raised.

"I... I don't... Hm."

Just then, the dean returned with a tray that held three tea cups. "Here you are," he said, handing one to each of them. They each took their cup & thanked him.

As the professor drank it, he fell in love instantly. I mean, of course being a gentleman & all, he loved most tea, but this particular cup was so...different. In a good was, that was. He lowered the cup from his mouth & saw, to his surprise, that there was nothing left in the cup. Did he really just down the whole thing in one gulp?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a strange sound coming from his right, one that resembled a whale shooting water out of the top of its head.

Alex had spit out the contents of her cup. "What was that?" she choked, wiping her mouth.

"... What, never had tea before?" Dean Delmona asked.

"... No."

Not feeling like scolding or excusing Alex for whatever reason, Layton let his attention drift & noticed that Luke's cup was empty as well, & he seemed to be struggling to keep this eyes open. How much sleep had he gotten the night before?

"So, Dean, wha...yawn... What is it you wanted to talk about?" Why was he so tired all of a...yawn...sudden?

Luke nodded, rubbing his eye. "Yeah..."

Their strange behavior hadn't gone unnoticed by Alex, who was wide awake. "Dean, can I ask you something?"

"I don't know, can you?"

"May I ask you something?"

"You just did."

"What did you put in the tea?"

The dean just drummed his fingers on the desk. "Cream, sugar, the like."

FWAP! The tip of Alex's pocket knife stuck in the desk, right where Delmona's hand just was.

"You know, Dean, when you're living on the streets, rule #2 is know when you're being lied to. So, I ask you again, shat did you put in the tea?"

This earned her a stare from everyone. "Alex, Deam Delnona-I-I mean...yawn..."

The man smirked. "You've taught your orphan well, Layton." He stood up & pulled off his disguise, revealing a familiar black cloak.

"You!"

The Black Lady smiled darkly from under her hood. "And about your friends..." Alex stood up, knocking her chair over, as she said, "Don't worry. They'll wake up soon enough. If they wake up, that is." She turned & jumped out the window... Or more of, through it.

Alex was ready to go after her, but stopped when she remembered that someone here needed her help first. She turned to see that the professor & Luke were, indeed, asleep.

She scrambled around the room, looking for a phone. "I-I've got to call the police," she told herself as she dashed around the room, but she shook her head as she corrected herself, "No, forget the police, I need a hospital!"

At last, she found a phone. "He-Hello?! I need an ambulance!"