A/N: Here's the next chapter!
SPOILERS FOR THE END OF AZRAN LEGACY NEAR THE END! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
…
Chapter Six: The Guys in White
If there was one invention of his parents' that Danny truly hated, it was the Specter Deflector. Sure it had its uses, and of course, he's been on the wrong end of some of their other inventions, but the Specter Deflector made his skin crawl when he had to wear it.
That's why, as soon as they returned to Fenton Works, he ripped it off and shoved it back at Tucker. Sam chuckled at that, wrapping her arms around him from behind.
"You know I only did that to help you," she said. Danny sighed softly, but smiled, resting back against her.
"Yes, I know. Doesn't mean I like it anymore then normal," he replied, causing Sam to laugh again. Hershel came over to the couple.
"I apologize for intruding, but… may I see that band around your wrist?" he asked. Danny looked up, mildly surprised.
"Sure," he said, holding his left arm out. The professor studied it closely.
Meanwhile Pearl wrapped her arms around herself, her eyes welling with tears. Flora was no better.
"Those men… what if they took Luke?" Pearl suddenly asked. Everyone fell quiet, looking up at her. Flora squeezed her eyes shut.
"They seemed quite powerful. What if they… 'arrested' him?" Flora added. Without even thinking, Eric stood and walked over to Flora, wrapping his arms around her. Flora, not even realizing who it was, buried her face into his chest, her shoulders shaking.
"I am 97.5 percent sure the Guys in White didn't take Luke," Alfendi said, looking between the girls.
"There's still that 2.5 percent!" Flora whimpered into Eric's chest. Pearl on the other hand, looked closer at Alfendi.
"Why?"
"Think about it. Those artifacts were found in Luke's duffle bag, and we found two camps of his. Not only that, but those footprints showed that they were pursuing him, and he managed to get away. Finally, when we ourselves met the Guys in White, they seemed lost. If they had Luke, they could have just made him solve the puzzles and let them move forward."
"Alfendi is correct," Hershel said, gaining the attention of everyone. "Although," he cupped his chin, "I get the feeling that is not the last we will see of the Guys in White. Danny," he turned to the ghost boy, "you seem to know much of these men. Who are the Guys in White?"
"Well, they are part of a not-so-secret government organization whose goal is to eliminate all ghosts and other paranormal beings on Earth. For a while, they seemed focused on mainly capturing me, but recently, they've left me alone and focused on the actual evil ghosts. What they're doing now… it seems so off base, it's not even funny," Danny concluded, crossing his arms thoughtfully.
By this point, Flora had calmed down enough that she noticed who she was buried into, and gently pushed Eric away. Eric sighed softly, before looking over at Danny. He walked over.
"May I?" he asked, pointing at Danny's wrist. He unfolded his arms and let Eric study the band as well. Professor Layton looked thoughtful, musing over the puzzle presented to him.
"Well, it might not be too off base," he admitted, looking up at Danny. "These are Venrin artifacts, who had deep connections to the Spiritual World. If their goal is to eliminate paranormal beings, then perhaps they wish to destroy these artifacts," he reasoned, although he himself didn't sound too sure. Both Flora and Alfendi picked up on this, but neither said anything.
"Maybe," Danny said, not sounding sure himself.
"This is a Venrin Spirit Band," Eric said, suddenly drawing everyone's attention to himself. "If my hunch is correct, then this is the source of your odd behavior and black outs when you go ghost," he said. Danny looked at his wrist thoughtfully.
"So… until this thing is removed… I shouldn't go ghost?"
"Exactly."
"Well, at least you know how to use our ghost hunting equipment," Maddie said, having come back upstairs, carrying an armful of their inventions. Danny chuckled at that.
"Yeah, at least there's that."
Eric stood, walking over to Luke's bag, and digging through it, pulling out his tablet. He then searched a little long before sitting back on his heels.
"Huh."
"What is it?" Hershel asked.
"The ruins dictionary. It's still missing," he said, looking up. Layton nodded, standing.
"Perhaps Luke still has it with him. Either way, I believe it is time for a little deeper research. The library should suffice," he said.
"I'll come," Flora said.
"Same here," from Alfendi.
"And I'll show the way," Eric said, tucking the tablet beneath his arm and leading the way out. Danny and Sam exchanged glances with Tucker, who nodded. All three then stood, took weapons from Maddie's stash, and headed out, leaving Pearl behind.
…
At the library, Eric managed to find another translation book between the Venrin ruins and English. He then sat at one of the tables, dictionary, tablet, and a notebook in front of him as he got to work on deciphering the tablet once more.
Professor Layton, Alfendi, and Flora, on the other hand, looked into as much as they could on the history of the area, such as the Native Americans, Artie Digger's essays, and the founding of Amity Park.
It was in Digger's essays, the most recent, in fact, that the professor found the most interesting piece of information.
'The Venrin were a lot like humans in their physicality and intelligence, but they lived a lot closer to the barrier between the living and spiritual world. They were able to commune with the world beyond, and could even travel between the two worlds.
The Venrin built devices to control ghosts. One example, which was sadly lost, was the Crystal Ball Staff owned by Circus Gothica's ringmaster, Frederich "Freakshow" Isak Showenhower. I believe Showenhower was descended from the Venrin, which would explain why the Crystal Ball was a family heirloom.
Danny Fenton/Phantom and Vlad Masters/Plasmius were not the only half-ghosts to have ever existed. In the days of the Venrin, there were beings known as Halflings – half ghost, half Venrin. They were important to the Venrin Society, but I am unable to determine why.'
"Hm… interesting…" Professor Layton hummed.
…
Danny, Sam, and Tucker sat in Tucker's home office, watching as the techno-geek's hands flew across his keyboard.
"This is ridiculously easy, guys. I hope you know that," Tucker muttered. Sam shook her head, while Danny chuckled.
"Alright." Tucker turned to the other two. "All I have to do now is hit enter, and we'll be in. Are we sure about this?" he asked, looking at the other two.
Danny hesitated before nodding. "Yes. We have to do this. It's the only way we can figure out what the Guys in White are truly after."
"Sam?"
"Yes."
"Alright." Tucker turned back to his computer and smacked the enter button. A window instantly popped up, and all three leaned forward, while Tucker navigated to the area most of the information.
"Whoa…" Danny gasped as his eyes roamed over the information.
"So, wait, the Ghost Hunting is just a front?" Sam asked, leaning back once she was done reading, crossing her arms. "I wonder if the government even knows about this…"
"Well, look," Tucker said, pointing to another spot. "They're studying the Venrin, in an effort to control ghosts…"
All three turned pale at the next part.
"They want to find a weapon to destroy the Ghost Zone…" Danny breathed. Sam shook her head.
"Wait a minute! They've tried this, remember?" Sam said, bringing the three back down to earth. "They bought Fenton Works and were going to send that missile into the Ghost Zone."
"Skulker, Johnny 13, Youngblood, and I stopped them by lodging that bolder into the portal, remember? They didn't listen when we tried to tell them that it would destroy Earth as well as the Ghost Zone," Danny said.
"Oh, they know it now," Tucker said, having continued to read while the other two talked. "That's why they decided to use a Venrin weapon. It won't destroy the Ghost Zone itself, just every ghost inside of it."
"Well—" Danny got cut off by a loud bang, causing the trio to turn and look towards the front door.
BANG!
"What is that!?" Tucker asked, getting up.
BA-CRASH!
The door flew inwards, clinging on by only one hinge. In the doorway stood two Guys in White agents.
"Oh, come on! How am I going to explain that to my landlord!?" Tucker cried, motioning towards the door.
"FREEZE! You're under arrest for hacking our computers and stealing Venrin artifacts!" the one announced. Danny growled, crouching down.
"I'm Going Gho—" he started, the familiar ring appearing around his waist. Sam grabbed his arm roughly, distracting him and making the ring vanish.
"No, Danny! Let me handle this," she said, pulling a silver and green quarter staff from her back pocket and letting it expand to full length.
"Wait, isn't that your mom's?" Tucker asked Danny quietly, who shrugged. Sam dove forward, twirling the staff expertly. She ducked and weaved their attacks, keeping both fully engaged in battle. It was clear Maddie had trained her.
Finally, she planted her combat boot in the stomach of one before kicking him in the head. She then twirled the staff, bringing it down hard on the second man's head. Both men slumped to the ground, unconscious.
"Man, that's hot," Danny breathed, staring at his girlfriend.
…
Layton, Flora, Alfendi, and Eric walked back to Fenton Works, their thoughts full of the information they found out.
"Professor… do you think that band has something to do with the Halflings?" Flora asked.
"The band around Danny's wrist, and the one Luke found?" he asked, looking over her in time to see her nod. "I think it might. Perhaps that's why Danny—"
"FREEZE!" a voice yelled, and suddenly, they were surrounded by Guys in White.
"P-Professor?" Flora gasped, looking around at the men. The professor, however, was studying the men around them.
"May I help you, Gentlemen?" he asked.
"You four are under arrest as accomplices to Danny Phantom!" the one announced. Hershel sighed, having guessed that to be the case, and bent down, picking up a sturdy, slightly heavy stick. Seeing this, Flora quickly moved over to Alfendi. Eric placed himself close to those two, bringing his fists up in front of his face in a defensive posture.
"Resisting arrest, eh?" one asked, before lurching forward towards the professor.
Layton lightly jumped back, avoiding the attack, and bought the stick down in a overhead strike, right on the man's shoulder. He howled in pain and dropped to the cement, and Professor Layton turned to face the rest of the Guys in White, one hand holding his hat, the other holding the stick defensively in front of him, like a sword.
Seeing their companion fall did nothing to daunt the Guys in White, however, and they all rushed towards the group. Layton continued to hold them off using his stick, while Eric took on a few using his fists.
Alfendi pulled out the Ectopistol he had taken from Maddie's stash while no one was looking, and checked the safety on it, making sure it would be ready. He had never shot an ectogun before, but he knew the basic principle was the same as a real gun.
That theory was put to the test when Flora was suddenly grabbed by one of the men.
"Flora, duck!" he yelled. Flora did without a second thought, only to flinch at the bang that sounded similar to a gunshot. The man holding her cried out in pain, lurching backwards and grabbing his shoulder, green smoke snaking it's way between his fingers. Hershel quickly took down the guy he was facing and whirled around towards the source of the sound.
Alfendi's eyes were huge, his hand shaking slightly, as he stared at the guy he just shot. He understood that these weren't nearly as dangerous to humans as real guns, but it still shook him to see how much he had actually hurt someone else, despite all of his talk. His eyes grew blank as his mind flashed back to—
Hershel wrapped the boy tightly and securely in his arms, trusting Eric to take out the rest of the Guys in White.
"Alfendi. Alfendi, my boy, it's okay. You're safe," the professor murmured next to his ear. Alfendi blinked a few time, life re-entering his eyes. He dropped his arm to his side, loosely holding the gun, and tried to stop his trembling through sheer force of will alone.
"I'm okay, F-Father," he muttered, tripping over the word. The Professor leaned back slightly, studying his son, before nodding and looking around. Eric had, indeed, taken care of the rest of the Guys in White. "Come now, we must return to Fenton Works." With that, he carefully took the gun from the boy and lead the three swiftly down the road and to the large building, his arm tight around Alfendi.
Upon entering the house, however, they found that it appeared abandoned.
"Oh, dear…" the Professor sighed, looking around at the empty house.
"Now what, Professor?" Flora asked, looking around as she walked forward. As she stepped onto a circular rug, a tube suddenly dropped from the ceiling, trapping her, and sucking her upwards. She squealed in fear.
"Professor!" she cried as she disappeared.
"Flora!" the three men yelled, running towards that spot as the tube receded towards the ceiling. As soon as their feet hit that rug, the tube dropped once more, sucking the three of them upward as well. They landed in a heap on the ground, the professor's hat askew and blocking his vision. He quickly fixed it and looked up and around, before relaxing. They were in a high-tech looking room, with the Fenton's, Pearl, Danny, Sam, Tucker, and even Flora looking down at them. With a weak chuckle, he detangled himself from Alfendi and Eric and pulled himself to his feet.
"Well now, that was exciting," he said, brushing himself off, before checking on his son. Alfendi pulled himself to his feet, brushing his red and blue stripped sweater off. He felt Hershel's eyes on him and looked up.
"What?" he asked. Hershel smiled, mussing his scarlet hair. "Nothing." He turned his attention to everyone else. "I am glad to see everyone safe," he said.
"Were you attacked by the Guys in White too?" Danny asked, earning a nod from the professor.
"Indeed." He crossed his arms, cupping his chin thoughtfully. "They seem to be growing bolder. I believe they do more then just… hunt ghosts," he said.
"Yeah, the ghost hunting is just a front," Danny said, sitting on a counter. Maddie gave him a look that only a mother could muster, and he immediately slid back down to stand in front of it, causing Alfendi to snort.
"Oh? Do tell," the professor asked. For the next two hours, the two groups exchanged the results of their individual investigations.
"I believe it is time to return to the last known place of Luke," the professor suddenly announced, causing everyone to look at him.
"That Venrin monument in the woods?" Sam asked.
"Indeed."
"But Father, the Guys in White were swarming all over it the last time we were there," Alfendi pointed out.
"Yes, but I believe they are now scattered around Amity Park in search for us," the professor countered.
"You're probably right. If anything, there will be only a small amount of Guys in White there. Nothing we can't handle," Danny said with a grin. The others nodded in agreement, and prepared. Hershel turned to Alfendi, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders.
"Alfendi, my boy. I am going to ask that you remain here."
"No."
"But—"
"I'm okay now, Father. What happened earlier… it won't happen again. Promise," he said. Hershel studied his son, fighting an internal battle. Alfendi gave him a bored look.
"If you leave me behind, I will follow," he warned. The professor sighed, shaking his head with a small smile.
"So stubborn," he muttered, giving his shoulder a squeeze. He then turned to the others. "Ready whenever you are."
…
Danny, Sam, Tucker, Layton, Alfendi, Flora, Eric, and Pearl made their way through the woods, quickly finding the stone again. As Danny had predicted, there were only two Guys in White guarding the stone. Sam easily snuck closer and knocked their heads together, knocking them out. The rest of the group moved closer to the stone.
"Why, it's a puzzle," the professor said softly.
"Of course," Eric said with a smile, studying the Venrin Stone.
"Hm… there are nine ruins here at the bottom, and a nine-by-nine grid," Hershel mused. "Most of the squares have ruins that match some of these at the bottom…"
"You know," from Flora, "it kind of looks like a Sudoku puzzle, doesn't it?"
"Of course!" Eric gasped, running his fingers over the ruins in the grid. "These are numbers. Perhaps the origin of Sudoku puzzles are a lot older then we thought."
"And in that case, we don't even need to know what each ruin means," the professor said with a smile. "So long as no ruin repeats within a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal line, or within these three-by-three squares."
With this epiphany, the professor quickly got to work and finally cracked it. The stone moved backwards to reveal a hole in the ground and a flight of steps.
Just inside was an old, beat up notebook. The professor spotted it and picked it up first.
"Luke's journal," he announced. He quickly flipped through it, finding the last entry, and read out loud.
"'To my dear, old friend,
I might have made the biggest archeology discovery of the decade. The Venrin Spirit Band. The ruins inside of it reads that it was placed on 'halflings' (half-ghosts?) as babies, and the band would force them into bond-slavery to the Venrin.
However, I am afraid I can never share this with the world. The Guys in White, whoever they are, came to the dig while the others were unconscious from a ghost attack. They demanded answers, and I knew they didn't believe me when I said we were simply researching the Native Americans.
To be frank, they reminded me of Targent. I fear they may come after me or my friends now.
That is why I decided I would take all of the Venrin artifacts, and vanish. I'm sorry, Eric. I'm sorry Professor Shiner. I know you've dedicated your lives to this, but it'll be safer this way.
I'm sorry, Mum, Dad, Dr. Kingston, Professor, Flora, Alfendi… Pearl.
I will not let happen to my loved ones what happened to Professor Layton's and Professor Sycamore's birth family.
Luke.'"
"He left on his own…" Eric mumbled. Professor Layton, however, sat heavily on one of the steps, re-reading the last paragraph over and over again.
I will not let happen to my loved ones what happened to Professor Layton's and Professor Sycamore's birth family.
"It didn't work though. He didn't move fast enough," Danny said. "They found him and chased him down."
I will not let happen to my loved ones what happened to Professor Layton's and Professor Sycamore's birth family.
"He even lost all of the artifacts he was trying to protect," Flora added softly.
I will not let happen to my loved ones what happened to Professor Layton's and Professor Sycamore's birth family.
Pearl clenched her hands into fists, visibly shaking all over from anger and sadness. "That… that jerk! When we find him, I'm going to… I'm gonna..." Tears streamed down her face, and Hershel was finally able to pull himself from his own swirling thoughts and emotions. He stood, snapping the journal closed, and walked over, putting his hands on Pearl's shoulders.
"Luke was just doing what he thought right," he said. Pearl looked up at the professor, only to find his eyes hidden by the brim of his hat.
"Father…" Alfendi started hesitantly.
"Yes?" Hershel asked, though he knew what was coming.
"What did Luke mean by… 'what happened to Professor Layton's and Professor Sycamore's birth family'?" he asked. Hershel sighed, pulling a flashlight from his bag and beginning to lead the way down the steps.
"My parents were archeologist who were very advanced in the study of the Azran," he started. "My birth parents, Leon and Rachel Bronev. My birth name was Theodore Bronev, and my older brother, Hershel Bronev," he began. The others listened in silence. "While my brother and I were still young, a militant group of the name Targent kidnapped Leon and Rachel, leaving myself and my brother as orphans. In order for me to be happy, my brother gave me his name and allowed me to be adopted by the Laytons; thus I became Hershel Layton. I am sorry to say, I didn't remember any of this until months after I met my brother again. By then, everything had changed. Rachel had died while in captivity, and Leon's obsession with the Azran lead him to become the leader of Targent." The professor took a deep breath. "I met my brother once more in Misthallary, when Luke and I began working together, only this time, he was going by the name of Jean Descole, and he too, was searching for the remnants of the Azran. I don't know if he knew, at that time, that I was his brother, but he attempted to kill me a few times." The professor shook his head. "He then went by another name, Desmond Sycamore, and we worked together. When we finally did find the Azran Legacy, my brother…" Hershel trailed off as he reached the bottom of the steps and looked around. He then took a deep breath and looked back at his wide eyed listeners.
"Let's just say that if these Guys in White reminded Luke of Targent, then he had a very good reason for doing what he did."
…
A/N: And the end of another chapter! The ending is supposed to be emotional for the professor, because even though he seems to brush it off in the game, I feel it still effected him emotionally. After all, although he has the Laytons, that's another set of family that the good professor never truly got to know.
Especially since Sycamore/Descole made it seem as though he died at the end of Azran Legacy (even if the players know he didn't).
Oh Luke, you noble soul you. Now Hershel, Pearl, and Flora can't scold you for running off!
With Alfendi's moment and the gun, that'll be explained in my next tale, "Professor Layton and the Seer."
There was something else I was going to say... but I forget now...