A/N: Here we go!

…

Chapter Four: Amity Park

Professor Layton walked back to his office, having just finished his last class for the evening. He had answered more questions then anything, meaning he didn't fully get through his lesson. Ah well, another problem for another day.

Because of the late hour, Hershal wasn't at all surprised to find not only Flora, but his adopted son, Alfendi Layton, in his office as well. Flora was grading papers for him while Alfendi scribbled furiously at his homework.

"How are those papers coming, my dear?" he asked, leaning over to see which one Flora was working on. She looked up with a smile.

"They're good, Professor. Most of the students are hitting every point you asked about in your prompt," she assured him. Layton smiled with a nod before looking over Alfendi's shoulder, mussing with his scarlet hair.

"And you're homework, my boy?"

"Eh. Quite asinine, really. The teacher goes in an idiotic round about away of asking things," the teen grumbled.

"Now Alfendi, a true gentleman never speaks ill of his educators," Professor Layton scolded gently. Alfendi frowned more.

"But, Father—" he began.

"No buts," the professor added, allowing his hand to drop from Alfendi's hair and going over to his desk. Alfendi huffed slightly, blowing a lock of hair from in front of his eyes.

"Yeah, fine, whatever," he mumbled, turning back to his homework. Flora peeked up at the boy across from her, only for him to give her a dirty look, showing just how bad a mood he was in. Flora had grown used to these moods though, and stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation.

The professor had missed this exchange, however, once he spotted his mail. In the pile, there was a letter from Pearl Fey.

"Hm…" he hummed, picking up his letter opener and opening the letter. He then unfolded it, noticing dried splotches of what looked like water, and began to read.

Dear Professor,

I don't know who else to write. As I'm sure you know, he went to Amity Park for a dig. The issue is… well, his father called. Apparently, there was a ghost attack, then both Luke and all of the artifacts they found went missing!

Please… you have to help. I'm so scared something has happened to him, and you're the only person I know who would be capable of getting to the bottom of this mystery.

Please.

Sincerely,

Pearl Fey.

Professor Layton sat heavily in his seat, his mind reeling. Luke? Missing? Clark must be going mad with worry, as well as Brenda. What could have happened? Did that ghost have something to do with it? His mind tried to grasp out at anything in order to help him figure out this mystery, but no answers came to him.

"I must look at this with a clear head," Hershal muttered to himself, cupping his chin. Alfendi and Flora had noticed his odd behavior and were watching him.

"He's distressed about something. I'm 99.98 percent sure of it," Alfendi said to his adoptive sister, their silent argument forgotten. Flora nodded in agreement.

"I know. I just wonder what about," she replied.

"There was a letter from Pearl in there," Alfendi admitted.

"Luke's Pearl?" Flora asked, her head snapping around to face the boy. He scowled at her, crossing his arms.

"What other Pearl do you know?" he demanded.

"Well excuse me for making sure," she retorted.

"Ask another supid question like that, and I'll cut—"

"Luke's missing," The professor's quiet voice cur across Alfendi's threat, and both whirled to face him.

"…What…?" Flora asked, feeling a little light headed. Alfendi pushed her gently back into a chair.

"Luke. He's… missing. Pearl's asking for me to look into it."

"And we will, right?" Alfendi demanded.

"Of course we will." The professor stood, nodding to himself. "But a boat is too slow. We must take a plane. It will be much faster," he decided. He then looked back. "Book three air plane tickets to Amity Park. I must go speak to Dean Delmona." With that, he turned sharply on his heel and strode out of the office, Pearl's letter clutched in his hand.

…

As soon as they landed, Professor Layton, Flora, and Alfendi began their investigation.

"It's a tiny town that has seen too much excitement for its own good," Alfendi began, cupping his chin. "And a ghost attack happened just before Luke vanished. However… I am 89.2 percent sure the ghost didn't have anything to do with it."

"And what makes you so sure?" the professor asked, curious as to his son's logic.

"Well, to start, I've read that most ghosts are chaotic beings that usually only have one goal or purpose. This usually has to do with someone they know personally, or that has some kind of influence in the ghostly community, such as Danny Phantom. However, Luke hadn't been in Amity Park longer then a week, and had probably never met a ghost before hand, until that day, leading me to conclude that this ghost probably didn't give Luke a second glance," Alfendi explained. The professor nodded, thinking about his logic.

"Of course, if this ghost was after the artifacts, and Luke had tried to protect them, then he would make himself known to the ghost and risk being taken," Hershal countered.

"Thus the 10.8 percentage of uncertainty. Ghosts are unpredictable, and sometimes, so is Luke," Alfendi pointed out. Flora smiled slightly at the thought of Luke being unpredictable. She didn't want to voice it, but that was very, very true.

Just then, the temperature dropped sharply by about ten degrees. Flora moved a little closer to the Professor, looking around, who grabbed Alfendi, pulling him into his side under his arm.

A pale, bald figure, clothed in black robes and with piercing red eyes, rose out of the ground, directly in front of them.

"P-P-Professor…?" Flora gasped, gripping the man's jacket and moving behind him. Layton adjusted his hat, keeping a grip on Alfendi, and studying the figure closer.

"Oh my…"

"The Band… I must… find the band…" he moaned.

"What band?" Professor Layton asked, remembering Luke mentioning the same thing when he last wrote the professor. The ghost scowled at them, raising a hand surrounded with a red glow.

"Be gone from my sight, humans!" he snapped. Layton grabbed both Flora and Alfendi and dove to the side, hearing the loud sound of a small hole being blasted from the sidewalk.

"Hey Spook!" a voice suddenly yelled. The trio looked up to see a muscular guy with messy black hair and sharp blue eyes running at the ghost. "Want someone to beat up on? Try me. I'm Going Ghost!" He jumped into the air, a ring of light flashing around his waist and splitting into two, one traveling up, the other down. His clothes changed to green armor over a black jump suite, his hair turned white, and his eyes shone with an eerie green light. Flora gasped.

"Danny Phantom!" she exclaimed. The ghost froze, watching the ghostly hero in front of him.

Danny's head cocked to the side as the band around his wrist flashed.

"Something's wrong," Professor Layton said, pulling his charges up as he himself stood.

"I… I must find… him…" Danny Phantom suddenly said, his voice hollow, as he turned to the group. The professor stiffened, Flora grabbed his jacket, and Alfendi's eyes narrowed.

Danny Phantom's eyes were red.

Without even throwing them a second glance, both ghost took off in different directions. Professor Layton waited a few moments before looking down at the two young faces watching him.

"So, Luke is missing, and now the international hero Danny Phantom is acting strangely, almost as though… hm…"

"'Hm…' is right, Father," Alfendi said, cupping his chin. "Something is most definitely wrong here."

"Yes, it is. We need a lead," he said. Flora, meanwhile, had wondered over to a news stand.

"Well," she began, picking up a newspaper and showing them the front page. "What about Danny Phantom's parents and the ghost experts of Amity Park?" she suggested.

"That sounds perfect, actually," Professor Layton said with a smile, paying for the paper and leading the way.

…

A/N: A short chapter, I know. It was just set up though, with a little bit of suspense.

Who must Danny find? You'll see!