Sorry this took exactly a month. School, eurgh.

Lots of small scene's to develop plot this chapter. I'll start to get onto something more in depth next chapter hopefully.

The Midland Road Clock Shop was quite a nice place to be honest. It would have been 200% better if I knew who was behind the door wasn't there.

I knew that the shop wasn't open yet, but what surprised me was there was already a four people waiting there. I'd understand if a brand new fancy clock had just been added to the stock, but the Midland Road Shop sold mostly older ones the newer shops didn't think about anymore.

"It's your fault for breaking that clock, you know."

"I know it's my fault, but it was pure accident. Why do you never believe me?!"

"Because you lie a lot and once you tell the truth, I don't believe you. Boy who cried Wolf, heard of it?"

"Yes, I've heard of it, now just shut up and leave me alone! Anyway, why did four of us need to come?"

"Because I came to make sure that you two didn't kill each other and Alice doesn't like being in the house on her own because of you know what."

"Come on Dylan! We're all adults now, so why are you treating me and Daniel like we're six or something?"

"Because that's your mental age." 'Dylan' muttered, rolling his eyes.

"You three, I'm not sure that the girl who's just joined us wants to hear you arguing, nor does the rest of the street!" A girl who couldn't have been much older or younger than me said, her blue-grey eyes staring at me under her dark brown fringe.

"Sorry young lady." The one who accused the other of breaking the clock said, suddenly acting all gentlemanly. "We are just here to see an old chum of ours and we all thought the shop was open an hour before it was. Since we live quite a distance away, there is no point in going back, and when we're bored my brother and I have a tendency to argue…"

I nodded. "My brother and I argue a lot too. Who's this 'old chum' you speak of? Surely you don't mean Spring and Cogg?"

"Nay, we've met them but we're not." The one who had broken the clock said. "We're here to see someone we knew when we lived at the orphanage for about eighteen months. Goes by the name of Clive Dove."

"Why would you want to see that bastard?!" I hissed before I could react.

"Oh, so you know him?" The accuser said.

"Unfortunately I have to know him whether I like it or not. We're brother and sister."

"Cor blimey. Clive never told us he had a little sister who's Alice's age!" The breaker said. "So, what's your name lassie?"

"Marina. Marina Swan."

"That's a nice name you've got there." He replied. "I'm Blain- well, Alistair-Blain but I hate Alistair-, and these three are Daniel, Dylan and Alice. I'm not related to any of them, but my half-brother was their half-brother too but unfortunately he passed last year of a rare illness suddenly…"

"I'm sorry for your loss, and sorry for my outburst. Is there an actual reason you wanted to see him, or is it just a catch up?"

"Eh, just a catch up really, but you seem to be having a bit of a problem with him, am I right? You look very agitated."

"I bloody am." I muttered. "Calling him a bastard isn't a pet name or anything."

"We won't pry or anything, right Daniel, Alistair-Blain?"

"Call me Alistair-Blain one more time Dylan and I'll got around and tell everyone what you did last year."

"You wouldn't!" Dylan warned, just as the clock shop door opened.

"My my," A short woman I presumed was Spring said. "Customers waiting before the shops even opened? That's a first."

She let us all into the cramped front room of the shop, before turning to us. "What would you like?"

"We were here to get a clock but it seems that our old buddy Clive seems to be here too." Daniel said. "But this young lady here seems like she desperately needs to see him."

"Ah, yes, he did say that his little sister was to be coming today. You're a very beautiful young woman, Marina. Go into the back room and you'll see a door on your left into our apartment, he'll be somewhere in there."

"Thank you." I said, already making my way into the back room.

Once I made my way up the stairs into the apartment, I noticed that Clive was sat with his legs bent on the sofa arm, reading a novel by Hans Christian Anderson. He finished his page before putting the half-read book on the coffee table and standing up.

"Marina." He nodded.

"Clive." I nodded back.

"Make sure you don't tell anyone about what is spoken in this room and say that we were just trying to get over our latest argument and it failed or succeeded depending on our relationship after this conversation."

"I promise, unless I need to get the Police involved."

He scratched his head. "The Police won't be necessary. This is just a sibling chat and we are going to be talking about things that don't need to be heard by anyone else. Right?"

I shrugged. "Can I have my diary and picture back now?"

"I'll get them before you leave." I groaned irritably but Clive just smirked, sitting up properly and patting the seat next to him.

"So what do you want." I muttered, making it sound like an order rather than a question.

"I swear down on my life that everything I say today is 100% true. Do you trust me?"

~x~

Clive POV

I could tell she wasn't truly convinced about me telling the 100% truth, but I actually was for once.

"So you're telling me that you are trying to get the only man who can save you involved in this case, and since he's a Professor you are going to come up with some mastermind plan that'll interest him so he comes and saves you?"

"I've already told you, I have the plan sorted already. I've been making a Future London for a while now to trap Bill, and I'll just pretend I'm the future version of his apprentice. Dimitri hates the Professor for taking Claire away from him so it shouldn't be too hard to convince him to be Future Layton either."

"So where exactly do I fall into this?"

"Simple, you stay out of the way. Or be a Future London resident, your choice."

"Hmm, neither thanks." She shook her head. "I'm not just going to stand there all day doing nothing."

"If you intend on doing something while the scenario is going on, then I'll have to send you elsewhere. Maybe I could get in contact with Kiki or someone since she's moved to Dover…"

"Oh, some of your friends from the orphanage are downstairs to buy a clock and they somehow found you were here so their intentions were to both buy the clock and see you."

"Do you know their names?"

"If I remember rightly, they're called Alistair-Blain, Daniel, Dylan and Alice."

"Oh, them…" I'd sort of forgot about them over the planning time. It was scary to think that little Alice was sixteen already.

~x~

Well, meeting them went terrible. Seems Marina has gained four more Allies.

I would have to go and see Richard's grave sometime, it was sad he had passed. But at least if he was around and he did take the same side as his family, he wouldn't have to witness what exactly I could do if I wanted to.

I mean, I'm not trying to do anything bar get my revenge on Bill, but be saved before I went to manic and ended up killing him or anyone else who gets in the way. Since Daniel was the genius he was, he had managed to figure out what was going on without me even saying it and managed to tell Blain, Alice and Dylan without me even noticing. Smart bastard.

I decided to go for a walk since nobody who hated me to such a degree they'd attack me or something alike would be nearby without intentions to do something, and the clock shop had closed so nobody would come in bar Cogg who had gone to go and do something. I considered taking a knife just to be one hundred percent sure, and in the end I just dropped it into my bag.

One of the first things I noticed was a young woman screaming for help. Interested in what exactly was the matter (last time I went to see what someone was screaming about I found a family member, so it wasn't as if I had no reason), I saw it was a woman being dragged by a man into an alleyway. I would never let an innocent person be scarred for life and destroyed because of someone else, so I grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him off.

I never expected Jackson Samson of all people to be the man. Though it didn't surprise me.

He sneered when he saw me, letting the woman run off with all her power.

That night Jackson and I fought with all our power, and in the end, I had one less hassle to deal with.

~x~

To be honest, I was pretty scared when Dimitri found out about what Marina was doing. And the worst part was their backstory together I didn't know of.

He actually spat into his tea when I got the guts to tell him, and nobody, nobody messes with his tea and ends up alive.

I know it was sort of my fault, but I didn't expect him to punch me in the face and break my nose, blood pouring everywhere. And while I was moaning in pain, he just sat there as if I just entered the room- in his formal, emotionless state. Sometimes I did hate that bastard, I could see why Marina didn't like him. If it wasn't for his connections to Bill then I'd probably hate him just as much as she did.

"Come on Clive, I didn't even hit you that bloody hard."

I got up, clutching onto my nose with my blood covered hand. "You know full well that you are stronger than most people think, Dimitri. And you punch harder than you probably think too."

Dimitri coughed. "That punch wasn't because of what you did."

"Why did you punch me then?!" I yelled, another spurt of blood coming out of my nose. I was starting to feel quite light headed at this point. "Surely you have a stress ball or a punch bag, you need it enough!"

"Do not talk like that to me, Clive. You know that things like that will just get you into a pickle, and I'm sure you don't want me to break something else."

I cursed under my breath, my hand covering my mouth. "So what do you think I should do? Should I just stay with Spring and Cogg or go back with Marina, Thomas and Bertram and say I just had a bit on an outburst?"

"Hmm…the latter. Though Spring and Cogg could be great use to us, so keep close to them. Just keep them from going near the shop whatever you do."

"What about Blain, Daniel, Dylan and Alice? I don't know where they live or anything!"

"I have them four covered. They live in an apartment three floors down from mine. None of them like me but Dylan and Alice sometimes pick up a polite conversation."

"I don't think they'll be the ones involved in the little 'fight' or what you want to call it. They may make friends with Marina, but moreover it'll mostly concern the likes of Daniel and Blain. The two of them are violent and overprotective, even more after they lost Damien, Sam and then Richard."

"You're missing my main point Clive. If I use them as bait for answers, then I can easily find out what they are intending to do."

"Neither Dylan nor Alice are simple, they're quiet too so you can't tell what's going on in their heads. It'll be hard to figure out how to work against them."

"How old are they exactly?"

"Sixteen and seventeen."

"If only they were just a little younger, then it would have been much easier."

"Both also have insecurities with men, another downside."

"…It seems we can't use them out of who we have then. Maybe if I try and contact Marina then I could try."

I sighed. "Dimitri, I know you're trying to help and I must seem an irritation, but I know these people and I know that they're too smart to trick so easily. We'll have to try and get a mole. That would be a great advantage to us, and I think I know just the person."

~x~

Eric was the sort of person you met and you either loved him or hated him.

He must have been in his late twenties or early thirties, and somehow got the career of a journalist, even though once you got to know him, you'd be surprised how they'd even consider taking him on.

Eric was both a hit man and a conman, but also happened to already be a mole for the other newspaper company in the area and became a good friend of mine when he realised what I happened to be planning.

When I went into work the next day he was my main priority, not my article on the Pollution levels of London rising, increasing the chance of an upcoming smog (second main article too, they must like me today). He was sat musing, muttering in his cockney accent as his typewriter seemed to be playing up and refusing to let him type an 'A'. When he saw me though, he looked up and smiled goofily.

"Hey Clive, how's it going man?"

"Sort of alright, sort of annoying."

"How come, old chum? Come on, feel free to take the typewriter next to mine, the person who usually takes it is a complete nutcase and it's be nice to have someone who has sanity next to me for once."

I pulled out the chair and sat down. "I don't really want to be having this conversation where the public, and…less crime-related people are in hearing range. How about we go to that coffee shop during lunch and somewhere more private instead?"

"Sure, mate. Just give me a tap when break starts."

~x~

"Hello pretty lady, it's a bit dangerous to be out this late when there could be criminals around. Fancy me walking you home?"

"No thanks, creep. I think I can walk home myself."

"Marina! That's rude!"

Eric had thought that trying to do something such as walk home Marina and Alice would be a good idea, so I was almost snorting with laughter at how Marina was acting since he didn't know what she was like.

"So? Normal people don't just go up to people and ask to walk them home, Alice! I'm not trying to offend you, but you should know better from what your father's done!"

"I know, I know Marina. But you could have just politely said no."

"I'm a very trustworthy man, Miss Swan, I won't do anything to you or Alice here."

"See, I told you he was a creep, he knows my surname. Come on, Alice." She said, dragging the other girl away.

"Dammit." I muttered, Eric shrugging his shoulders.

"We're young, they're young, and you have plenty of time, Clive. I have a son the same age as those two who goes to the same school as them, so I could always try and get him to help you out."

"Thanks Eric." I muttered. "You're a great help."

~x~

I had an article about Layton solving another minor case yesterday. And it brought a whole lot of new useful information to me.

I even managed to get his backstory, a big win. I was getting closer and closer to being able to create the mastermind plot that would trick the great Layton.

I just had to trigger something…personal to him. Claire being involved in time travel was a good start, but with this information I had even more chance of making him break.

The only thing that I had a problem with now was Dimitri's reaction to the idea…as well as Marina, Thomas, Bertram, Daniel, Blain, Alice and Dylan. If I weighed my playing cards right though, I would easily be able to bunk them off one by one.

Being a criminal mastermind is a hard thing, but the feeling of getting what you want is a greater one.