Layton ran his hands over his forearms for the thousandth time during the car ride. They had their plan, they had their tools, and now all they could do was let the scene unfold and hope there were no hidden variables they had yet to find out about. Hidden underneath his sleeves, a contraption held snug to his arms, ensuring he would be okay in the worst possible scenario.

"These babies could keep you safe even if you fell off a cliff." his intellectual rival, Don Paolo, had told him about the invention, "Try throwing someone who can defend themselves with this!"

"Professor, they aren't coming off." Emmy turned a corner as she drove, "You don't need to keep checking."

"To be fair, they do feel kind of loose..." Luke's gauntlets were a lot more obvious under his sweater, especially due to his size.

"Really? They feel tight on me." Flora's sleeves did even less to hide the somewhat bulky electronics.

"Alright, everyone." Emmy pulled into a parking space and shut the car off, "We're here."

Layton got out and waited for the other three, and Emmy took his arm to lead him in the right direction. This ended up being quite the event, where everyone around them stepped out of padded limousines in fancy silk dresses and suits.

Luke's eyes swept the entrance nervously, "I can't help but feel a bit under dressed..."

"You can say that again." Emmy paused at the entrance, "You got your tickets ready?"

Inside was more of the same, except if anything the pagoda was even more exquisite than the guests. Nothing suspicious so far, but Layton checked his gauntlets one more time just to be safe.

"Am I the only one feeling incredibly out of place?" Flora tried not to let her boots scuff the ground.

Luke kept an eye out among the red velvet and gold, "Flora, your father was a baron. Didn't he throw parties like this?"

"No, not like this." Flora brushed her dress down, "I can't help but feel just one of these dresses is more expensive than my father's entire estate."

"Yikes. That's saying something."

Layton held onto Emmy's arm, feeling the machine concealed there, "Anything strange so far?"

Emmy lifted her camera, "Not yet, but I'm looking."

The room was one detail away from looking like a classic fairy tale, but the room had no windows, and it was lit entirely with light bulbs and not candles. It struck Emmy as an odd detail somehow, but she wasn't sure why.

"Well well well..."

The ball quieted, and Emmy zoomed her camera through the crowd to find the source of the voice, but as she discovered, the voice wasn't in the room at all. It was coming from speakers around the room.

"It seems Professor Layton took me up on my offer. You should be grateful, as if he had been a no-show, all of you would be dead!"

Layton squeezed his eyes shut as a gasp tore through the crowd. Stop. Be quiet.

"I'm glad you four could make it." the voice became more sinister as time went on, "Now, let's play a little game. Every five minutes, I will kill one guest of this stuffy party, unless and until the distinguished Professor Layton can find me. The catch is..."

A switch was flipped, and all the lights shut off.

"You'll be doing it in the dark."

Layton's head was spinning. The missing variable. The one he'd spoken extensively with Don Paolo about, and he still didn't end up being prepared.

"Professor! I can't see anything!" Luke reached out to grab his arm.

Wait a minute. It was dark.

It was dark.

"Emmy, wait here. Luke and Flora, stay with her and do as she says."

"No way!" Luke held on tighter, "I'm coming with you!"

Layton didn't have time to argue, "Fine, but don't let go for any reason!"

"You got it!"

Layton grabbed his wrist to push through the crowd, which was still panicking from the loss of light. And the threat.

"Be careful, Professor!" Emmy pushed through the darkness, one arm around Flora.

"Professor!" Luke laughed excitedly, "You can still see! You don't need the light!"

Layton found the wall, running along it to find any kind of doorway, "Precisely."

This was familiar, moving through the dark. Normally, someone else helped him as there are some things you simply can't do without sight, but now Luke clung to his arm, relying on his experience to get them through. Of course, they ended up running into a lot of people, and he was sure to apologize every time he did.

Layton made it to the corner of the room to continue onward.

"What are we doing, Professor?"

"I simply need an idea of the size of the room." Layton hated how slow his pace was, but it couldn't be helped, "I didn't get that when the lights were on. The first step is figuring out if he's hiding here, and then we can check the rest of the floor."

"But what if there isn't enough time? Surely there's a faster way!"

"I'm working on that." Layton came to a doorway, so he made mental note of it and kept moving, "There is a quick way to search this room, but unfortunately it will take longer than five minutes. I only hope this man doesn't intend to follow through on his threat to kill people."

Luke cringed, "He tried to kill you."

Layton's hand on the wall stilled. No, he couldn't panic now.

If they spent too long trying to figure out the best way to search the building, it could last too long, and people would be hurt. He would have to compromise.

It was at this point when they heard the first gunshot.

Layton froze, a cold icy dread sticking to his bones. He strained his ears, but they were ringing from the loud noise. All was quiet, until one person screamed, and others followed suit, running to find doorways to take them out of the building though it was too dark to see.

"Luke!" Layton squeezed his arm, "Are you hurt!?"

Luke's voice came out as a squeak, "No. I'm scared."

"I know you are. I am, too." Layton hurried to follow the wall all the way to the far corner, "But we need to keep moving. Come on. Deep breaths."

Luke's legs were hardly obeying him, but he tried his best to keep pace.

Layton finally found the other corner, and his hands began to shake.

"Professor? What's wrong?"

Poor Luke was in tears. Layton lifted his free hand to touch Luke's face, brushing a tear away with his thumb, "This room is too large. It will take a long time to search it. Hey, Luke, it's okay. Hush."

Luke took several long breaths. Each one was strained, but he kept trying to breathe.

"Good. Let's go."

Layton found the third corner, sticking to the wall as much as he could. By now, the room was mostly empty, as everyone was in the hallways trying to get out.

Ten minutes after the ball began, the second shot was heard.

Layton paused again, trying to calm his nerves, "Luke?"

"I'm okay."

"Professor!" Emmy's voice came from a few feet in front of them.

"Emmy! Flora!" Layton paused in the darkness, "Are you alright!?"

"We're fine." Emmy said, "I've been through this room with Flora. We need to cover more ground."

Layton had suspected that the man wasn't on the first floor at all, but they needed to be certain, "Can you find a way to search this floor for me? Luke and I will take the second floor. We'll come back down if we don't find him."

"I'll do you one better. If we don't find him, we meet at the entrance over here. The one we came from? Then we can discuss a new plan."

"Alright." Layton turned to leave with Luke, "Stay safe! Both of you!"

"You too!"

Luke blinked when a sudden blinding light hit the room, then just as suddenly disappeared. It seemed Emmy was using the flash on her camera to help navigate in the darkness.

"Let's find the stairs." Layton took the first open doorway he found.

"I can't climb stairs in the dark!"

"I'll help you. Just keep your wits about you, and we can-!"

Layton's foot slid. He didn't fall, but he did halt in his tracks. In that same moment, the two of them caught the strong smell of blood in the air.

The victim of the first shot.

Layton closed his eyes. Twenty, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen, sixteen...

"P-P-Professor...?"

"Deep breaths." Layton whispered, "We keep moving. Deep breaths."

Luke covered his nose with the neck of his sweater, "Okay. L-Let's go."

The second floor was completely barren. After they climbed the stairs, they gave the whole floor a quick sweep. Layton heard no footsteps aside from their own, and so all it took was one broad search which came up empty.

Fifteen minutes now. The third shot.

"Hm? What's this?" Layton's hand found a metal door, and it was unlocked.

"Professor?"

The room had tiny lights inside. Not enough to shine on anything, but it indicated electronics. Luke reached for a particular switch, recognizing some of the controls.

"AH!" Luke let go of Layton to shield his eyes.

"Luke! What happened!?"

"The lights are back on!" Luke squinted, his eyes having adjusted to the darkness, "Whoa, at least for this floor. I think we've found a control room of some kind!"

Layton roughly exhaled, "Don't scare me like that. I thought you'd been hurt."

"Sorry." Luke flipped a few other switches, "Okay, that'll make things easier for Emmy and Flora. You were right, this floor is empty. I can't control the higher floors, though. It looks like there are more control rooms on higher floors, so that's six floors including this one."

"He must be on a higher floor." Layton brought a hand to his mouth in thought, "Luke, I want you to go back to the first floor to meet the girls. I'm going up."

"By yourself!? No, Professor! We talked about this!"

"We can't light the higher floors without getting to them first. I'm used to moving with no light and you aren't, so taking you with me will only slow the search. Get to Emmy and flora, the three of you will be safer together."

Luke rolled his eyes, "Fine, but I'm finding you after!"

He grabbed a flashlight off the dashboard before he left, leaving the door open as his footsteps echoed across the floor.