TUoC: Chapter 3
It was now 12:30 p.m. here in the little town of Peach Creek. We could see a car driving down the street, heading towards a particular neighborhood in the suburbs. Inside the car was Serena and Matthew, with Professor Layton driving the car to their destination. The two teens both looked out the car's windows from the back seat they were sitting in, widening their eyes at all the trees lined up next to the road. Layton noticed how mesmerized they were at their surroundings when he looked at them through the rearview mirror.
He could soon see their destination up ahead, slowing down the car to turn into the neighborhood. As he came to park the car close to the sidewalk near the playground, he could see two teenagers hanging around the playground nearby. It was a boy and a girl, who both looked to be about fifteen years old.
The teenage boy wore a red cap over some of his red hair, along with a long-sleeved lime green shirt, black shorts that went to his knees, and gray tennis shoes. He was sitting on a bike with a baseball bat resting on his side.
The teenage girl had short, blond hair that went to her shoulders. She wore a white tank top over a black T-shirt, a pair of dark blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. She was sitting on a bench that was near the boy she was talking to.
As Layton, Serena, and Matthew got out of the car, the other two teens noticed their presence, widening their eyes for a short moment at Layton before seeing Serena and Matthew behind him.
"Hello there," greeted Layton to the two teens as he and the twins came up to them, "Do you mind if I ask a few questions to you two?"
"What kind of questions?" the teen girl asked, widening her brown eyes, while the teen boy made a very small glare at Layton with his blue eyes; he could sense that the boy was a little on edge, more than likely due to the disappearances that happened this week.
"My apologies, my name is Hershel Layton. I was asked by the local police to help with the case for finding the missing teenagers," Layton explained to them before turning to the twins, "These two are Serena and Matthew."
"Hello!" Serena greeted them with a wave and a big smile while Matthew remained quiet but waved back anyway, "What are your names?" Serena asked.
The boy on the bike made a small, heated sigh, "The name's Kevin."
"And my name's Nazz," the girl replied with a smile.
"It's very nice to meet you," Layton stated before glancing around the area, "I'm sure you two know already, but several teenagers have gone missing this week."
"Yeah, we know…" Nazz stated sadly, lowering her head a little, "Four of our friends have vanished. We have no idea where they are or why they left."
"The first one to go missing was Jonny. We didn't really think much of it then, because he's always been a bit of a loner," Kevin started to say, "But then Jimmy went missing, then Rolf, and finally Sarah."
"… I see," Layton replied, placing his hand under his chin to think, "Where are the other teenagers that live here? I only see the two of you."
"I think all of them are hanging out at Jennifer's house," Nazz stated, "We've been trying to keep tabs on each other since the news broke out yesterday."
"Actually, we were planning to head over there to check on them soon," Kevin said, getting off his bike to stand next to it while resting his baseball bat over his left shoulder, "If you wanna talk to them, you can follow us if you want."
"Why thank you," Layton stated as he and the twins followed Kevin and Nazz to Jennifer's house.
It did not take them that long to arrive at Jennifer's house. Nazz, Layton, and the twins went up to the house to ring the doorbell as Kevin set aside his bike and baseball bat in the driveway. It only took a few seconds for someone to answer the door.
The one who answered the door was a fourteen-year-old boy. He wore a black beanie over his messy, light blond hair, a red-orange T-shirt with purple shorts that went to his knees, and a pair of light blue tennis shoes alongside some red socks. His eyes were bright green in color; a very different color green from the twins' eyes, which were a darker green.
"Hey Double D!" Nazz stated to the teen who opened the door.
"Why, hello Nazz, hello Kevin," greeted Double D with a smile before realizing that there were other people with her besides Kevin. He looked towards Layton for a moment, glancing a little at his top hat before asking, "Are the police here to ask more questions?"
"I guess so. They just got here and asked where everyone was right now," Kevin replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"I see," Double D stated before making a small smile, standing out of the doorway so they could come in, "Jennifer is currently playing a game with the others, which is why I opened the door instead."
"That makes sense," Nazz chuckled as everyone at the door came inside the house and into the living room.
They could see five more teens sitting around the living room, with four of them sitting towards the TV as they played a video game and the fifth one sitting on the couch, reading a comic book that came from a stack of comics next to him.
The teen on the couch next to all the comic books was a very tall fifteen-year-old boy. He had dark red hair that was in a buzzcut and hazel brown eyes; not to mention his unibrow. He wore a long-sleeved green jacket that was over his red and white striped T-shirt, navy blue jeans that seemed a bit baggy, and black tennis shoes. His name was Ed.
The fourteen-year-old teen boy who was playing video games with the others was sort of short in size compared to everyone else. He had very short, spiky dark blue hair, with three tuffs of spiked hair sticking out, and dark blue eyes. He wore a yellow shirt with a purple collar and sleeves with a vertical red stripe going down the left side of his shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and red tennis shoes. His name was Eddy.
One of the fifteen-year-old girls that was playing video games was about the same height as Double D, maybe a little shorter. She had medium-length dark brown hair and thick glasses that covered her dark brown eyes. She wore a long-sleeved pale blue shirt, dark blue pants, and white tennis shoes. Her name was Jennifer.
The other fifteen-year-old girl was the tallest girl there, but not as tall as Ed was. She had long, dark blond hair with a part of it covering her right eye while revealing that her left eye was a bright blue color. She wore a purple hoodie over a white shirt with a yellow star design on it, a pair of black leggings, and navy blue tennis shoes. Her name was Zoey.
The final fifteen-year-old girl was about the same height as Double D, but maybe a few inches taller than him. She had short blue hair with a bit of it going over her brown eyes. She wore a black tank top with long, slightly baggy green pants and black tennis shoes. Her name was Marie.
"Finally! I won a match!" Eddy cheered aloud as the victory screen came across the TV.
They played Super Smash Bros. Ultimate; with Eddy (Richter Belmont) winning the match. In second was Jennifer (DQ8 Hero), Zoey (King K. Rool) in third, and Marie (Cloud) was last.
"Congrats to you, Eddy," Zoey chuckled a little in a teasing way, "About time you won one, right?"
"Wha – Hey! Give me a break, will ya?" Eddy retorted to her while Jennifer and Marie only sighed at them.
It was Jennifer who noticed Layton and the twins in the room alongside Kevin and Nazz, "Oh! U-Umm… Hello?" she greeted them with a bit of nervousness.
The other teens in the room looked at the newcomers; most of them were staring at Layton's top hat.
"Greetings," Layton stated with a smile with a small tip of his hat, "My name is Hershel Layton. I was called here from London to help the police with solving the case of your missing friends," he then gestured to the twins for everyone, "And these twins are Serena and Matthew."
"Hey there!" Serena greeted with a big smile to everyone. She then shoved her elbow into Matthew's side, noticing he did not say anything, "Oh, umm, hello," Matthew stated quietly.
"They are here with me because they have both lost their memories, and the police think that they are connected to the missing teenagers somehow," Layton explained further.
"R-Really?" Ed gasped as he got up from where he sat on the couch in surprise, "You're here to help us find everyone?!"
"Yep!" Serena cheered with a smile to Ed before noticing all the comic books beside him, "Whoa! What are you reading?"
"Oh, this? It's my Evil Tim collection!" Ed replied as Serena came up to him to look at the comic books.
"… Wow, she got easily distracted," Marie stated as Ed and Serena began to talk about what he was reading.
Layton only chuckled at the two teens before turning back to everyone else in the room, "Now that we introduced ourselves, what are your names?"
"My name's Zoey," Zoey introduced herself first before gesturing to Eddy, "This dork over here is my boyfriend, Eddy."
"… Hey! Who're you calling a dork?" Eddy retorted.
"I'm talking about you, duh!" Zoey laughed a little as Eddy growled a little in annoyance at that.
"My name is Marie," Marie stated next with a small smile.
"Umm, I-I'm Jennifer…" Jennifer said in a bit of a quiet tone.
"And my name is Eddward, but most of my friends call me Double D," Double D stated before pointing to Ed, who was still talking with Serena, "Our friend over there is named Ed. He can be easily distracted by anything related to comic books or sci-fi, so don't mind him for not introducing himself."
"That's quite alright," Layton replied with a small smile before turning to Double D, "Eddward, do you mind if I can ask some questions about what's been going on in another room? We can discuss it with everyone else later."
Everyone made a baffled face at Layton for a moment, "O-Of course," Double D stated with a nod as he and Layton walked into Jennifer's kitchen, sitting down at the table in there as they did.
"So, umm, what kind of questions do you need to ask me?" Double D asked, "The police have already asked all of us a lot of questions, and we've told them all that we know to help them out."
"Well, you see… I came here to confirm something," Layton started to say as he pulled out the printed copy of the letter he received yesterday from his pocket, "As I stated earlier, Serena and Matthew both lost their memories when the police found them yesterday morning. The only thing they had on them was this," he then looked towards Double D, "This is a copy of the letter they had, and the person who wrote this mentions your name in particular, saying you can help the twins out."
Layton handed the letter over to Double D for him to read, and he started to do so. As he read the letter, his eyes grew wider and wider in both shock and fear as his face grew a bit paler; the last paragraph of the letter was especially haunting to him, and the handwriting itself seemed very familiar. It was then he noticed the initials at the end of the letter… A and W J.
That was when it suddenly clicked in his head. Aiden and Wendy Johnson.
"Wh… W-What is this…?" Double D uttered out in both fright and confusion; his body started to tremble slightly from what he read as he looked towards Layton for an answer.
"Eddward," Layton started to ask, "Is it possible that your mother was the one who wrote this letter?"
"I-I… I don't know how this is possible," Double D started to say, "But this is indeed my mother's handwriting…"
"Intriguing…" Layton stated, putting his hand under his chin to think, "Do you happen to know what your parent's occupation is?"
"… They did tell me that they retired from their jobs right when I turned six, to help raise me at home," Double D replied, "Though, to be honest, I don't think they ever told me what kind of jobs they had; or, if they did say, I don't remember. B-Because, well… I can't remember much of my early childhood," he then lowered his head, "But then, about five months ago, they both left to go to London, saying it was for something very important… I haven't spoken to them at all since they left."
"I see," Layton said, closing his eyes to think further, 'Even though no one knows what Eddward's parent's job is supposed to be, it seems they found the twins somewhere in town and helped them out… But the question is where that location is in town; it could be the place where everyone has disappeared to.'
As Layton continued to think about what this could all mean, Double D glanced back at the letter in his hands, reading it over once more, 'Serena and Matthew… Why do their names sound so familiar to me?'
Suddenly, Double D widened his eyes as a familiar pain came back to his scar. He started to clutch his forehead, which caught Layton's attention, "Eddward?"
"T-This pain that's coming from my scar…" Double D started to say in a weak tone, "It's the same pain I felt last week when my friends and I were walking to the candy store."
"A scar?" questioned Layton, remembering that Serena and Matthew also had scars on their hands, "Do you mind if I can take a look at it?"
Double D looked at him with a bit of shock before nodding his head, lifting his beanie upwards a little to show the scar on his forehead. The scar itself was very nasty-looking, going across most of his forehead horizontally. Besides how nasty it looked, nothing else seemed to stand out about it.
"Interesting," Layton started to say, "The scar you have looks very similar to the ones that Serena and Matthew have on their hands."
"What…?" Double D asked with shock, pulling back down his beanie over his forehead, "They also have scars like this?"
"They do, yes," Layton replied with a nod, "Do you recall how you got that scar?"
"N-No sir, I don't remember…" Double D started to say, "I've had it all my life. It's the reason I'm always wearing my hat, and only Ed and Eddy know about it and what it looks like… A-And I guess Jennifer does as well."
"… I see."
The two stayed silent for a short moment before Double D spoke up, "What do you think this could mean, Mr. Layton?"
"I'm not entirely sure yet, but it seems like your parents helped the twins out of a bad predicament, which could be related to the other missing teenagers," Layton stated, "Also, the scars that you three have shown that you are connected somehow. Though I'm still uncertain what that connection could be."
Double D remained silent, placing his right hand over his beanie where his scar was on his forehead, "I don't know how to respond to all of this, honestly…"
It was when Double D placed his hand on his forehead that Layton noticed something off, something that concerned him, "Eddward, are you feeling alright?"
"… Yes? I feel just fine," Double D stated with a confused tone of voice, "Why do you ask?"
"Your hand… It seems very pale," Layton stated with worry, "Almost like your body was freezing."
Double D looked down at his right hand, only to see what Layton said was true. His right hand and most of his right arm had grown pale, almost to the point of it being ghostly white. Double D widened his eyes in horror at the sight, "W-What's going on?!" he stuttered in fright.
Suddenly, both Double D and Layton could see something being produced inside Double D's palm; a small, solid ball of ice. Double D yelped in surprise as he dropped what was forming in his hands. The ice ball did not shatter or break apart when it hit the floor.
"What's happening to me…?!" Double D gasped in horror as he glanced back down at his right hand; both his hand and right arm started to return to their natural color.
"That is… very worrisome," Layton responded, "I assume you could never do that before, correct?"
"N-No! Not at all!" Double D replied with a bit of a small panic, "At least, not that I know of!"
"Fascinating…" Layton muttered a little, 'This could help us figure out how Eddward and the twins are connected; they all have some sort of hidden power in them,' he then made a warm smile to Double D, "Do not worry, I won't tell anyone about this; at least not yet. And I suggest you do the same, understand?"
Double D looked at Layton with surprise, "Y-Yes sir…"
Layton looks back towards where the living room was located, "I think that's all I need to know for now; I will try to investigate some things from what you told me. Thank you for the help, my boy."
Both Double D and Layton got up from where they sat, with Double D picking up the ice ball off the floor to put it in the sink so it could melt away.
"Oh, Eddward?"
"Yes?" Double D asked as he turned to Layton.
"Might I suggest that you put on some sort of gloves until we can figure out why this is happening to you?" Layton asked, "I'm sure you do not want to hurt anyone with this ice by accident, am I right?"
Double D widened his eyes a little before nodding his head, "Oh, o-of course. I will do just that."
Double D went to a part of the kitchen where Jennifer's parents kept their cleaning supplies, looking for some cleaning gloves to put on. He did find a pair of yellow ones, thankfully. He then put them on and the two then went back to the living room, only to see the others still there; some of them had gone back to what they were doing before, with four of them playing another round of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate to pass the time. Ed and Serena were both absorbed in the comics Ed had with him, while everyone else watched the match that had just finished.
"Nice, I got a win!" Kevin cheered a little with a pump of his fists. He had won the last match using Ness. The second was Jennifer (Sora), the third was Nazz (Lucario), and the fourth was Zoey (Joker).
"We're back now," Layton announced, which got everyone's attention.
"Oh, umm… Welcome back," Matthew stated.
The professor then started to explain to the teens what they discussed in the kitchen… Well, about half of it. Layton told them about the letter the twins had, as well as the fact that Double D's parents were the ones who found the twins and helped them. Everyone (besides the twins) was shocked about the news, to say the least.
"Wait a minute," Eddy started to say in disbelief, "Are you trying to say that Double D's parents are like secret agents or something?!"
"… You mean like a spy?" Ed gasped, "There are spies among us?!"
"D-Don't be ridiculous, you two," Double D stated with a small sigh, "There's no way that could be possible…"
"… Well, as suspicious as that is, there's something I wanna know," Kevin started to ask, "Why hasn't the FBI stepped in to help with this? This seems like a thing we could use their help on."
"From what I heard yesterday, the police have been trying to contact them," Layton stated, "But it seems their calls have been ignored."
"Wow… I find that to be even MORE suspicious," Marie said with a frown, "Why would they not answer the police?!"
Silence filled the room for a short moment before Matthew spoke up, "Umm, what's going to happen to me and Serena? Do we have to go back to Mr. Wells at the police station?"
"Hmm," Layton mused for a moment, "While I think being near someone who can protect you two is very important, I'm unsure if staying at the station would be a wise decision."
"… Then, why can't we stay here?"
Everyone turned to Serena in surprise, "The station didn't seem that far away from here, so you can always check on us when you need to," Serena stated before smiling, lifting one of Ed's comics, "Besides, I wanna see what happens next in this story!"
Layton only chuckled a little, "I see, that does seem like a good solution," he then turned to the other teens, "Do any of you have a guest room for them to stay in?"
"Oh, I do! I do!" Ed cheered with a smile, "And so do Double D and Eddy!"
"… Yeah, I have one, but I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to stay in it," Eddy started to say, lowering his head a little, "Bad memories and all that jazz."
"Eddy…" Zoey sighed to him, trying to comfort him a little, "At least the others have spare rooms, it's okay."
"I-I also have a spare room, just in case you two need to switch places for any reason," Jennifer stated to Serena and Matthew, "I'll need to tell my mom and dad about it though."
"My guest room has a lot of junk in it right now, but I can try to clean it out if you two need to stay there," Nazz said.
Layton could only smile at everyone in the room, "I guess that settles it then," he stated, "I will make sure to tell Mr. Wells that you two can stay here. Do any of you have a number I can call if an emergency comes up?"
"Oh, umm… I'm the only one here with a cellphone," Jennifer replied, grabbing her cell phone from her back pocket, "I can also give you my parent's phone numbers if you need that as well."
"That would be nice, thank you," Layton stated. He took out his cell phone to add both Jennifer's number and her parents' numbers, "Feel free to give my number to the others, just in case."
Jennifer nodded her head, "I will."
Layton then stood up from where he sat, tipping his hat and waving goodbye to the teens as he left the house. A few seconds passed by before anyone spoke up, "So… W-What do we do now?" Matthew asked with a bit of nervousness.
Everyone turned to him and Serena, with his sister going back to reading the comic book in her hands. They could tell that Matthew was a bit timid compared to his sister, who was a lot more cheerful and energetic.
"Well, we can all just hang out here until it gets dark," Nazz stated, "Not much else to do right now."
"Do you want to play a round of Smash Brothers?" Marie asked Matthew, gesturing towards the game on the TV.
"I-I guess I can," Matthew replied as he went over to sit with the others in front of the TV, with Marie handing him a controller.
Serena looked up from the comic she was reading, "Oh wait! I wanna play too!" Serena cheered with excitement as she sat by her brother, placing the comic next to Ed on the couch. She then turned back to Ed with a big smile, "You want to play?"
Ed blinked a little at her before making a toothy smile, "Sure!" he replied.
Mostly everyone else went to go watch the match that the four teens started, "Looks like everyone's getting along with those two," Eddy stated.
"Yes, it is quite a rare thing to see," Double D commented with a smile.
Eddy turned to Double D to ask him about tomorrow's plans until he noticed the yellow cleaning gloves he was now wearing, "Uh… Double D, why are you wearing those gloves?" he asked, "Don't tell me you're in that weird cleaning phase you had in the past."
"O-Oh, this?" Double D gasped a little in surprise, glancing down at his right hand, "I-I, umm… It's nothing…"
Eddy furrowed his eyes to Double D, crossing his arms across his chest; he could immediately tell something was off, "Well, whatever it is that's bothering you, you call and tell us about it whenever you want, okay?" he stated with a heated sigh.
Double D looked at Eddy with a bit of surprise before nodding his head, "Thank you."
"… Anyway, I gotta plan for us to do tomorrow," Eddy started to say, "I wanna go visit the junkyard and see if that old van with the waterbed is still there, for old time's sake."
"Ah, yes… I remember now," Double D stated, thinking back on the van and the times they spent there hanging out, "It has been a long time since we've seen it."
"Also, I've kind of been thinking about this for a little while," Eddy stated, placing his hand under his chin to think, "I've been wondering if there was a way to fix the van so we could drive it; take it on a road trip one day."
Double D glanced at Eddy in confusion, "But Eddy, none of us are sixteen yet to get a license or a permit! The only one who is sixteen is Rolf, and he's not here right now…"
"I never said we had to fix it and drive it right away," Eddy explained with a sigh, "I meant it like as a project in the future that we can all work on together; or something like that."
"Hmm…" Double D thought about it for a moment before replying, "I don't see why we couldn't do it, but we'll have to wait and see the van's condition tomorrow before committing to it."
The two teens turned their attention back to the others, seeing that the match had just finished with Matthew (Terry Bogard) taking first place. Second was Ed (Banjo & Kazooie), third was Marie (Zelda), and Serena (Kirby) was in last place.
"I'll tell the others about the plans tomorrow when we meet up," Eddy stated to Double D before he walked over to everyone else near the TV, asking if he could have a round to play this time.
Double D made a small sigh to himself as he glanced at Jennifer, who was sitting around the others at the TV, ready to play a round. He placed his right hand on his left arm in nervousness, thinking about what happened in the kitchen a moment ago.
'Why is this happening to me all of a sudden?' Double D thought to himself with worry, lowering his head with another thought, 'Does this mean I can't touch anything anymore without it freezing over? Or is it only with other people…?!'
That train of thought made Double D's eyes widen, gripping the left sleeve of his shirt in fear, 'If that is the case, I should keep these gloves on for now, like Mr. Layton says to do. I don't want to hurt anyone…'
Double D closed his eyes in sadness, "Just when I wanted things to be normal…"
Author's Note (July 22nd, 2023): Wow, this was a long chapter to work on. I don't know why it took me so long to type everything down, but this one is done now! My birthday was two days ago on the 20th. I turned 33... And, honestly, I never thought I would live to be 20, let alone 30. At least, that's what my teenage self-thought when I was a lot more depressed than I am right now. I think you could tell that if you ever read any of my past stories from that time period.
Chapter 3's Song Title: "Kids Run Through the City" - Final Fantasy VI.