…Five reviews. The prologue got five reviews. My goodness, I was not expecting so much response. Thanks goes to Ulrich362, fafaaf61, the Guest, Lumos314, and mjs22mj for reviewing the previous chapter! Oh, and to the guest, I'm pretty sure some of the words are missing from your review, but your questions should all be answered in time. (I WILL say that the answer to your first one is Flora.)

I toyed with several ideas for this chapter while writing it, and eventually settled on this: the majority of the story will be Future Luke-centric. So be prepared for that! Also be prepared for quite a bit of things different between the game and this, and some things pretty similar.

I still don't own Professor Layton. Go figures. Enjoy chapter one!

Chapter 1

Professor, I hope this finds you well. As for me, I am in quite a predicament. You see, the London we know and love has been thrown into absolute chaos. To complicate matters, the calamity I speak of does not take place in your time. This may be difficult to believe, but I am writing to you from ten years in the future. I know this is a lot to take in, but I'll explain it all soon. For now, I ask that you head to the clock shop on Midland Road in Baldwin. I look forward to seeing you again.

Your student,

Luke Triton

…He put the pen down and re-read what he wrote. It wasn't too long, and it didn't spill too much, but it would definitely be enough to pique the Professor's interest. If it wasn't for the fact that there was likely members of the Family even back in this time, he would just go to his old mentor himself.

But there were Family members back here, and he couldn't risk getting caught. Not when this could finally be what he needed to fix the past.

"Spring? Do you think you could get Shipley here? I have a letter I need him to deliver…"

XXX

Now all he could do was wait. Wait, and plan.

It was a rather boring job, considering it was all he'd done leading up to the break-in…

…And even that had gone horribly wrong.

He could still feel her blood on his hands, even though the first thing he'd done upon arriving in the past was scrub it all away.

This… this couldn't go wrong. He couldn't fail this time. Especially if he was getting the Professor Layton of the past involved. His past self would likely come as well, and Flora - she would probably tag along somehow.

I'll keep them all safe, Luke thought. Nothing will happen to them, other than what needs to be done to change the past.

He heard the bell ring, announcing that someone had come into the shop. It couldn't possibly have been Shipley, and both Spring and Cogg were already in the shop. That could only mean one thing…

Professor Layton had arrived.

Luke quickly pulled his jacket on, and rearranged his hat. Hopefully the rest of him looked presentable; he had already cleaned himself up after arriving in the past.

He let out a huge sigh, trying to quell the nervousness rising up in his stomach, and turned around.

There stood the Professor, in all of his former glory.

This was nothing like the last time the two of them had met in this shop. The Professor Layton he had spoken to then was nothing but a shell. Now he was here, not yet driven mad, that spark of curiosity in his eyes.

It wasn't just Hershel Layton who stood before him, though. As he suspected, his past self and Flora had come along. Still, it almost hurt to look at all three of them, for one reason or another.

"So, you're…?" Layton started, but didn't finish his statement.

Now isn't the time for sentimentality. Luke had to force himself to close his mouth. He swallowed, and said, "It's nice to meet you Professor. Or rather, I suppose I should say it's nice to see you again."

His initial surprise gone, the Professor replied, "Hello, Luke."

No. He wouldn't cry. Even though he really wanted to, because Layton had said his name without any hint of malice whatsoever. Something he had missed… for nearly ten years.

"So tell me, why exactly are you here? And why do you need our assistance?" Layton asked.

"Because all the other ways I've tried to change the past haven't worked," he replied. "Trust me when I say this… the London of my time is nothing like the one you live in today."

"I can see why…" the Professor mused, looking at Luke's head.

Oh, right. He'd almost forgotten about the injury he'd received during his escape to the past - a large gash across the left side of his skull, right above his ear. It was covered in bandages, but he probably forgot to change them…

"Yes…" Luke put a hand to the bandage, and then let it drop to his side. "But my injuries are not the focus of this."

"So… what do you mean when you say 'change the past'?" the Luke of the past asked. "What's so wrong about your London?"

"I was getting to that," he said, slightly annoyed. Was he really so impatient back then? "It started with the events of last week. The time machine demonstration."

If he remembered correctly, it was produced by someone who went by the alias Doctor Alain Stahngun. Stahngun had been about to demonstrate the time machine he had built, when he asked Bill Hawks, to assist him. The machine seemingly backfired, and exploded.

No trace of the scientist or the prime minister had been found.

Though he could still remember, the way it was originally… where Stahngun had gone by his original name - Dimitri Allen - and both he and Hawks had actually died in the explosion…

The Professor nodded. "I thought that was related to your letter."

"What if I told you those events were orchestrated by someone from my time? That they weren't how events passed originally?"

Layton adopted his signature thinking pose, one hand on his elbow, and the other curled in front of his mouth. "I would likely not believe you until you showed me proof."

He pursed his lips. "Unfortunately, I don't have that… right now." Of course his mentor would want proof. "But it's the truth. Originally, both Dr. Stahngun and Bill Hawks… died in that explosion. However, they needed both of them for their plans."

"'They'?"

"The people behind the fall of London," he replied. "Though there are two of them, the first is the most threatening. He was… a genius. An evil genius who turned the city on its ear. He's obsessed with changing the past, and creating a fully working time machine."

The three people from this time fell silent.

"But… if there isn't a fully working time machine, how are you here?" Flora asked, breaking the silence.

His eyes darted over to the brunette, in that pink dress she always loved to wear. This wasn't the Flora he'd lost back in the future… "Well, that's because in my time, there are two time machines that… partially function. One is in their control, while the other is right here." He gestured to the large clock that took up the entire wall. "Both of them have two major flaws: they cannot travel more than ten years to the past from the user's home timestream, and the user cannot control when they show up."

"That is… quite troublesome, for a time machine," Layton said. "But you still haven't answered my original question: why do you need our help?"

"I need your help to stop-"

The door burst open, drawing their attention to the short flight of stairs between the entrance and the room they were in. Two men in identical outfits - black coats with tall collars over a white button-up shirt, black pants, white shoes, and a black hat with a white ring above the brim - were the intruders. Both of them looked angry.

And both of them had guns.

To be continued…

Heh. The Cliffy Queen strikes again. *Facepalm* Did I just give myself a stupid nickname? Yes, I think I did. Um… just pretend I didn't say anything.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, favorited, or followed this story! Like I said, I definitely wasn't expecting that much feedback!

Well, if you want to keep reading, leave a review!