'Professor Layton' Fanfiction

Within The Game

Chapter One: Strange Beginning/Epiphany

I stared at the Nintendo DS screen, struggling to come to terms with the depth of this puzzle. This was the hardest one that I'd come across. Never mind all the hard calculation puzzles, this one really had me stumped. I narrowed my eyes and started chewing on the stylus with concentration, pondering hard on the question.

"The first is in LIPS but not it HIPS.

The second is in TOCK but not in TICK.

The third is in VILE but not in MILE.

The fourth is in BED but not in BAD.

What is it?"

I sighed deeply.

"Right, okay. Well, lips are on the face, whilst the hips aren't. And tock comes after tick, so it's the second."

An idea suddenly popped into my head.

"Oooh! So, face and second. Two-faced? Oh, yeah!"

I grinned to myself.

"Now, vile and mile. Vile means disgusting, while a mile is a unit of measurement. Hmm, well you can feel disgusted, you can't feel 'mile'. And bed and bad. So, something that isn't bad about bed? Well, sleep is good. So I've got Two-faced, Feel and Sleep."

I thought of how to re-word my findings so they would make sense to the puzzle. And then it came to me. On the touch screen of my DS, I typed in A TIRED MISTRUST, and pressed Submit. The familiar face of Professor Layton came onto the screen, his usual face of concentration. Then another face of concentration. Then a face of uncertainty. And finally, a face of disappointment, his hat tipped to hide his shame. In big blue lettering, the word INCORRECT flashed at me, and in the background, Professor Layton's voice, speaking "Oh my, how embarrassing."

"Argh! This is impossible!" I growled, burying my face in my palm with annoyance. I pulled myself together, and tried the puzzle once again.

"Hmm, let's analyse this more closely. The first is in LIPS but not in HIPS. The first what? Letter?"

I blinked once.

"Letter! Of course, it makes sense now! So that one is L. The second is in TOCK but not in TICK. Easy. O is the answer to that one. The third is in VILE but not in MILE. That would be V. The fourth is in BED but not in BAD. And that makes E. So, L-O-V-E, love? This better work."

I typed in LOVE, and once again hit Submit. Professor Layton appeared again, looking deep in ponder. Then a smile came to his face. And then he pointed out in victory. In big red lettering, the word CORRECT came onto the screen, and Professor Layton said "Critial thinking is the key to success." Now usually after completing a puzzle, the story would continue. But this time, however, the screen of the DS went black, with dark swirls moving around, like a vortex. I looked at it dumbfounded.

"Erm, okay, that's not normal," I stuttered, tapping the screen. Thinking that it might have been an error with the system, I turned off the DS. But to my dismay, the swirling was still there.

"Hey! You there!" a mechanic voice called from the DS. The shock of it made me scream and drop it on the floor. I started to back away from it. The voice began to laugh.

"No need to cower away, what's happening now is a good thing," it explained, "That last puzzle put you through quite a struggle, didn't it? Still, you showed your potential in the end. And I think you deserve something after all that."

"Oh, right. . ." I answered, uncertainty in my voice.

"I'm sending you into the game, so you can live it. A real once in a lifetime oppurtunity."

"You what? How in the name of-"

"Relax. Like I said, it's a good thing. You'll be able to meet the great Professor Layton in the flesh, instead of looking at him on a screen. And you'll be able to converse with him, I'm sure he'll like to meet you. Wouldn't it be great to join the Professor on one of his great investigations?"

I blinked. That would be good. Being in the world of Professor Layton? That would be epic. But all that aside, I still wasn't sure.

"One last thing," the voice said, "The answer to the puzzle you've just done. Keep it in mind. You'll understand why as your adventure progresses."

Before I could answer, the DS began to shudder, and the dark swirls shot out from the screen. They caressed my body, getting tighter, and began to pull me into the DS. The force toppled me over.

"ARGH! STOP, HELP!" I shouted, clawing at the floor. I was sucked into the darkness, and I felt like I was plummetting down and down. My body finally landed hard, hitting my head violently. Then my eyes started to slowly slide shut with unconsiousness.