Seven reviews now? Am I already that famous in the Professor Layton fandom? Thanks goes to Kjones107716, Ulrich362, mjs22mj, Lumos314, and all three of the Guests for reviewing the previous chapter!

Oh, and I'll respond to all three guests right here.

Guest 1: No, Dimitri and Bill aren't behind all of this. They're both a part of the real villains' plans (whose identities should be… obvious). I CAN say there will be a lot of seeing "dead" people in the future, though…

Guest 2: You know what? Just because you asked, Don Paulo WILL be in this. At some point. Along with a certain OTHER master of disguise… and a certain ex-assistant… ;)

Guest 3: Alright, you get an extra big thanks. I haven't received constructive criticism in FOREVER (despite me always asking for it…) so when I read your review, I was legitimately excited. For your first point, I'll try to add more detail as time goes by. For your second point, I seem to have this thing for a short prologue and a short chapter 1, and then longer chapters from then on. So the length won't be a problem, and like I said, I'll be sure to add more detail! Also, if you DO see any grammar errors at any point in time, point them out. I'm a grammar freak at heart. Good heavens, if I had a nickel for every time someone used the wrong "its/it's", I would be a rich young lady. So rich that I would be able to get my own laptop, a PS4, and the 10 to 20 games I want whose prices range from $40 to $60. But that's besides the point. I'm glad you like my story!

Chapter 2

How could they have found me so quickly? It shouldn't have been possible - they couldn't have known when he appeared. He hadn't set foot outside of the clock shop, and he hadn't been near any windows, either. The Family couldn't have known he was in here at this very moment. So then… how…?

…Luke would have to find out later. Right now, he had to figure out how to keep the others safe.

"Alright, none of you move," the first goon ordered, waving his gun between the four of them. Past Luke flinched when it was pointed at him, and Flora shuddered.

It took every ounce of him to not charge in irrationally in an attempt to subdue the two men. Thankfully his rational side won out - there was no way to get rid of both at once - and he stayed where he was. But it still hurt to see Flora shivering, and himself scared…

"Just do what we want, and no one gets hurt," the second one added.

Yeah, right. They'll do something as soon as they get it back.

"So just hand over the pocket watch, Triton."

The first goon's gun was now pointed at him, and yet he didn't waver. Deep down, he was terrified, but he had to keep a level head - like a true gentleman would.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a pocket watch."

"Wha…?" The man clearly hadn't expected the Luke of the past to say anything, but unfortunately, that confusion didn't last long enough for the older Luke to react. The goon shook his head. "No, no, I was talking to him."

"Oh. Well. This is going to take some getting used to…"

"Shut up, kid," the other goon said. He sounded really annoyed and impatient, like he had somewhere else to be. Maybe he did have somewhere to be. Maybe it was just the urgency in which they needed the pocket watch. Either way, Luke could use it to their advantage… somehow…

He looked over at the Professor, who had been oddly silent throughout this whole event. The man seemed to be deep in thought. Barely above a whisper, Luke asked, "Professor, do you have a plan?"

At first, the only reply is silence. I bet he's too deep in thought to hear me, Luke thought, and that would mean he's still formulating a plan. He let out a small sigh. If Professor Layton was planning something, then they would be free soon. He just hoped said planning would finish soon… there's only so much stalling one can do while held at gunpoint.

"…Perhaps, if we could distract them, then we could either disarm them or escape," the Professor replied, also whispering. His dot-like eyes were still looking around the room. "I just can't find anything within reach that I could distract them with without endangering us. Also… Flora and… my Luke are too far away to help."

His Luke. It was the truth, but it still stung. The Professor that stood next to him was not his Hershel Layton, and he was not his Luke Triton.

Suddenly his bag seemed a million times heavier. The distraction they needed was in there, he realized, but… but there was no way he could touch it. Besides, it was empty. Why he even kept it, when even just looking at one sent shivers up his spine, was beyond him.

…No one else knows it's empty, though.

There's no way they'd fall for it pointed at them, though. Not to mention the fact that there are two of them and only one of me, Luke thought. Every puzzle has an answer, but what's the one for this one?

It came to him a moment later, and he immediately tried to deny it. He doubted that the Professor trusted him yet, and this would no doubt break whatever small amount of it he had. It's one thing to threaten people. To threaten Layton himself…? If it was his Layton, he would probably do it in a heartbeat. But this wasn't his Layton. This Layton was innocent. He couldn't threaten him. He just couldn't.

"Hey you two! Stop whispering about… whatever it is you're whispering about!" one of the goons said. Both of them had their guns pointed at Luke.

Luke sees a spark of curiosity light up the Professor's face. He must have noticed that they aren't targeting him at all, despite him being just another hostage. Knowing him, Luke would bet that he already figured out that the "evil genius" who had taken over future London was himself. The fact that the two Family goons weren't targeting him would probably prove his deduction.

"Professor… I have an idea, but…"

"If you think it could work, then you should try it."

"I said be quiet!" the same goon from before growled, taking a few steps closer.

"There's no need for that, gentlemen," the Professor said. "I was only trying to convince him to hand over the pocket watch you seem to need so badly."

"Oh." The anger dissipates from the man's face, and he actually smiled a little. "Thanks bo-" the other goon elbows him in the side, "er, I mean, looks like your allies are turning against you, Triton." Complete with yet another glare at him.

His lips formed a scowl rather than the grin he wanted to; he could go along with that. And what the Professor said gave him the perfect opportunity to go through his bag. "Fine… I'll hand it over. But I have to get it out of my bag first."

He swings the old messenger bag off of his shoulder, kneels down, and opens it up, careful to not show the inside to their captors. A few pencils, his journal, a golden locket (he would have to move that somewhere else later), the item that they want, and finally, the thing he was going to remove from the bag. He took one look at the Professor, who undoubtedly had seen the inside of the bag. The man in the top hat nodded, ever so slightly.

His stomach felt like a million butterflies were inside of it. Wrapping his hand around the gun, he couldn't help but think of all the things that could go wrong. The Family could see through his bluff, his past self could try something stupid because he had no idea what their plan was, or his finger could slip and reveal that the gun was empty, thus calling his bluff. (He refused to acknowledge the fourth option: that the gun could still have bullets in it, and his finger could slip…)

He took a deep breath, trying not to make it noticeable. If they thought something was wrong, then he was in trouble. Of course, by the fact that he was taking so long, they might already suspect something…

No more hesitating. I have to do this. His messenger bag still on the ground, Luke stands up abruptly. At the same time, he moves over the short distance between he and the Professor, so that he's standing behind him. With that, he grabbed his mentor with his left arm, and aimed the gun at his head.

Needless to say, the others were utterly shocked. Flora screamed, covering her mouth in horror. Past Luke shouted, "I knew there was something fishy about you!" And the two goons just stared in surprise.

He made the most menacing face he could muster, and declared, "You two better back off, or he dies."

They shared a frantic look, but that quickly returned to their normal, angry looks. The first one, on the verge of smirking, said, "Nice try, but that doesn't mean anything to us."

"Oh, it doesn't?" Luke replied. He hoped he sounded confident. "Why, because your boss is still in the future?"

"Well, yeah! You can't touch him here!"

He laughed. It sounded strained, but he laughed. "You clearly don't understand the rules of time travel very well. Have you ever heard of the Grandfather Paradox?" At the blank looks on both of the goons' faces, he explained, "It means that if you were to travel back in time and kill your grandfather before he met your grandmother, then that would erase you from existence as well - since one of your parents would have never been born - but it creates an infinite loop, because if you never existed in the first place, who could have killed your grandfather?" He shook his head. "Anyways, this is like that, except a lot less complicated. If I kill the Professor - and I will if you two don't put down your weapons - then your boss would cease to exist. It doesn't matter that he's not in this timeline."

"…!" They look at each other frantically again, and seem to fall for his trick. The two put their guns down in defeat, and start to back away.

Then, a cold voice said, "You wouldn't kill him, though. You couldn't do that to your friend." The owner of the voice laughed, and added, "That's your weakness, Luke."

He couldn't spin around, but he could turn his head just enough to see the newcomer. His eyes widened in surprise. There were only two differences between he and the newcomer: their age - he was a few years younger than the other man - and the fact that Luke wore a hat. Everything else about them looked the same, it was uncanny. "Clive…? But that's… how?"

The man who looked like him grinned madly. "You only took one of the two things we needed to complete our time machine. Yours controls how far back we can go, and the one you didn't steal controls when and where, within the ten-years-only restriction."

How come I can never plan for everything…? He didn't even know that second object existed, whatever it was. "Nnn… What do you want?"

"The item you stole, of course," Clive replied. "Hand it over, or are you going to keep up that pointless threat?"

His grip on the Professor loosened slightly, and he almost dropped the gun. His bluff had been called… hadn't it? His determination returned when he realized it hadn't; there was the slightest touch of fear in Clive's eyes. "No, I won't give it up, because it isn't pointless."

"Tch…!" Clive's eyes narrowed slightly, and he looked away. They opened all the way back up when he seemed to get an idea, and his insane smile returned. "Heh… Two can play at that game."

Before he can react, Clive had already grabbed Flora and his Past Luke. With one last sneer in his direction, they disappeared, along with the Family goons. Not with a flash of light or anything. They simply vanished.

"No!" Luke shouted, releasing the Professor and running to where Clive had been a second ago. "Ngh… how could I have been so stupid…?"

"Plans can fail, my boy," the Professor answered. "I don't believe any of us could have seen that coming…"

"I guess… but still!" He dropped the gun, letting it clatter onto the floor. "I know you have a lot of questions Professor, but we need to go after them! If they do anything to your Luke… it could hurt me too. And if they do something to Flora…" he shuddered at the thought.

"Do you know where they've gone?"

He nodded. "Back to my time."

To be continued…

Okay, I think this chapter was… decent. I apologize for the lack of Layton dialogue, but I just couldn't think of something for him to say that sounded in-character before Future Luke was pretending to hold him hostage. I also apologize if I screwed up the description of the Grandfather Paradox and that whole bit. And if anyone was OOC… well, I apologize for that too.

At least you got Clive. Yes, I told you he'd have a role in this story. No, I'm not changing his backstory… at least not too much. Otherwise it will either become worse than the canon or WAAAAAAAAY too sci-fi for a Professor Layton story (fans of my story Blue Sky know how… creative my imagination can be with backstories. If you haven't read that, which is probably the majority of you, just trust me, it isn't pretty).

Well, thanks again all of you who are reading this! If you want to make me super happy and continue writing this, please review! Reviews are food for my imagination!