AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry about the confusion between the two Rowland's. As requested by the Mocking J, evil Rowland will now be called Robot Rowland. Hopefully that will help:)

Chapter 29:

"Luke! Flora!"

Layton ran for the tunnel, dragging Emmy who still held his shoulder with him.

"What happened?" Nalah's voice was heard closely behind.

Inspector Rowland was not far behind them. "Professor, slow down! It's pitch black down here, and I can't see a thing!"

The professor ignored her request. All That mattered at the moment was Luke and Flora's safety. They ran a little further and noticed a faint light ahead. Emmy made out Flora's silhouette. The poor girl was on her knees with her hands hiding her face. There was no sign of Luke.

"Flora, what's wrong?" Emmy asked, though she was pretty sure she knew the answer.

Flora sniffled. "W-we were walking and Luke s-said that the tunnel was cold and then he- he- he fell down that hole!" Flora pointed to a large opening in front of her, barely managing to say the last part before she burst into tears.

Emmy quickly walked over, making sure to watch her step so she wouldn't fall as well, and wrapped her arms around Flora. Layton crouched next to them, trying his best to help comfort the girl.

"It's okay, Flora. I'm sure he's fine." Emmy soothed.

"B-but he hasn't answered m-me." Flora stated pitifully.

Emmy was about to say something else, when she heard a faint voice below them.

"Flora! Are you alright?" Luke called out.

Flora gasped. "Luke! Yes I'm fine. But what about you?"

"I can't see much, but I think the tunnel continues down here." Luke explained.

"Wonderful, then shall we continue down?" Robot Rowland now stood above them. "You all go first."

Flora frowned, but she was more concerned about Luke at the moment. Flora carefully made her way to the mouth of the hole and fell down. Layton and Emmy followed her example, and soon found that the hole went down in a slope as they slid down to the bottom.

When they made it to the bottom, Flora was already hugging Luke, who let out a sigh of relief. He took the flashlight from Flora and shined it in front of him. "Yep, the tunnel continues this way."

"How long is this thing?" Emmy asked while patting some dirt off her dress.

Nalah slid down an landed with a yelp as she ran into Emmy. They were then joined with the other three members of the group, now covered with mud.

"Keep walking!" Robot Rowland snapped.

Luke, being the one with the light led the way. "How far is it to this treasure anyway?" he asked.

Flora sighed. "It will probably be at the far end of this tunnel, and who knows how long it is."

"I hope it's not too long, or we may never reach the-" Nalah stopped short as she heard something ahead of them.

"What the-" Luke began.

"Watch out!" Flora screamed.

Layton and Emmy quickly pulled Luke and Flora back, as they were met by the ground crumbling in front of them. "What is this?" Emmy asked.

Robot Rowland frowned. "Apparently the ground will collapse unless you walk the correct path."

"But, we don't know the path." Nalah said with a sigh.

Philip took a slight step forward to test Robot Rowland's theory. The ground fell below him, nearly taking him down with it. "Looks like she's right. Now how are we supposed to reach the treasure?!"

"Miss Altava, I believe you are the most agile of us. Why don't you go ahead?" Robot Rowland smirked.

"Why don't you? You are the only one that's not a living being." Emmy muttered.

"Nice try." Robot Rowland replied sarcastically. "Now move it."

Emmy huffed and took the flashlight from Luke. 'Where do I even start?' Emmy thought to herself. She tried stepping on a random spot in the middle of the ground in front of them. The ground immediately fell with the contact. "Not there..."

Emmy tried three steps to the left, and ended with the same result. She tried the same to the right and nearly fell with the crumbling ground.

"Hurry up already! We don't have all day!" Robot Rowland fussed.

Emmy shot the robot a dangerous glare. She examined the ground, hoping something would stick out. She noticed a tiny line at the far right of the tunnel. Emmy tried standing there, bracing herself for a fall. To her surprise, nothing happened.

"Well, here's where it starts." Emmy stated. She glanced around her and noticed many more marks surrounding her. Two spots directly in front of her showed "II", one leading forward and one to the left.

"Oh... I think it's Roman numerals." Emmy realized.

"Well, follow the numbers then!" Robot Rowland snapped.

Emmy tried the "II" in the front, which thankfully was the correct step. She moved on to "III" which led to the left. She was then met with three "IV's".

Emmy glanced ahead in search of the "V", though she wasn't able to see it. "Some of the letters are faded." Emmy called back to the others.

Robot Rowland shook her head. "I don't care. You will continue that way if you ever want to see your friends again!"

"What could you do?" Luke asked.

"You're not that threatening, lady." Nalah added.

"Oh really?" Robot Rowland smiled, showing a line of sharp teeth and glowing eyes. "I can kill you with one hit if I chose to."

Flora backed up behind the professor, shaking at Robot Rowland's words. "Is all this really necessary?" Layton asked.

Emmy glanced back once more. She didn't want to leave everyone with that crazy machine for too long. She stepped forward, praying she took the right path. The next thing she knew, she was holding on for dear life, and attempting to pull herself back up.

"Emmy!" She could hear Luke yell. She scrambled to get up, nearly slipping off in the process. "I'm alright!" she managed to say.

She swiftly swung herself back up, happy to feel solid ground beneath her feet. She then tried a different route, and thankfully chose well. she still couldn't see the next set of letters. She could barely make out the other numerals, which she noticed led to ten. She followed the last bit of the path, and happily made it to the end.

"Happy robot?" Emmy yelled.

Robot Rowland smirked. "Yes. Thank you, missy."

"Missy?" Emmy questioned.

The others were making their way to where Emmy now was, being extra careful not to misplace their footing. The professor was the first to make it to Emmy. "Are you alright, my dear?" Layton asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Emmy replied. 'Only wishing that stupid robot would blow up.' Emmy mentally added.

"Move along you two!" Robot Rowland commanded.

Emmy rolled her eyes and lead the way, with everyone in pursuit. They walked for a few minutes, when Emmy heard a click. She spun on her heals and found Philip standing of a now glowing button. "Uh-Oh..." He muttered.

"Look! The walls are closing in on us!" Nalah announced.

Gasps of realization filled the air. Everyone began to run forward as fast as they could, all afraid of getting crushed. Layton made it past the walls first, and was soon followed by the others, all except for Robot Rowland.

"What happened to-" Emmy began.

"Get me out!"

All heads turned to the robot's form. Her left arm was now crushed between the walls. "Help me!"

Flora and Nalah looked horrified, and even Emmy looked disturbed. Luke stood dumbfounded with his mouth open, and Layton couldn't find any words to say.

Philip smiled. "No. I think I'll leave you there. It suits you."

"What?! You idiot!" Robot Rowland screeched, rattling the whole tunnel.

"No words can express how wrong that is..." Inspector Rowland stated.

Philip turned to them. "Let's move along, shall we?"

They began to walk away, leaving Robot Rowland to scream at the top of her lungs. "Come back here! You will regret this! YOU WILL PAY!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry it's been taking so long for updates lately. It's currently my last week of school before summer break. (YAY!) I have been studying for exams for a few weeks and have not had any free time for writing (Or anything for that matter.) Next week I am out of school, which means plenty of free time! If everything goes as planned, I should be able to update a lot more soon. Again, sorry for the wait!