"...a half moon, She distrusted a moon like that. A full moon could only wane, a new moon could only wax, but a half moon, balancing so precariously between light and dark ... well, it could do anything."

~Carpe Jugulum (Terry Pratchett)

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It's a familiar place; another empty rooftop, distant sirens and swearing, a cold night sky full of twinkling stars hidden by light pollution. The only thing that ever changes, it seems to him, is the moon.

Sometimes it's full, or nearly, washing light over him.

Sometimes it's only a sliver of light, mostly in shadow.

Tonight it's shadows.

He picks up the jewel- he barely remembers the name, something about flowers, it's just another glitzy little thing like the rest unless it's… but he doesn't get his hopes up. He daren't hope at all, ever. He knows better than to fly too high. The burns are too severe.

Even before he holds it up to the moonlight, he knows. There will be no red glow. It only sparkles slightly in the slim moonlight, blue and cold. Crystal Bluebell. That's it.

Just as he knows that, he knows that he will be there. Probably smirking. It's what he would do, so it's what he'll be doing.

"You see?" the voice says to him, the voice of a familiar stranger. He'll be standing not far away, Kaito knows. He's never far. "You can't do it, not this way. But there are other ways."

"There aren't," Kaito says firmly. They both know it is a lie; there are no smoke and mirrors here. It is a lie that Kaito says to himself as much as him. He knows that the moment he acknowledges that path, he'll be tempted to take it.

"You'll be doing this forever," he says.

"I have the time," Kaito replies shortly. Then he flies away. He knows that it won't be enough to get rid of him, but for now, the conversation is over.

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Why does the Kaitou Kid always appear with the full moon at his back?

He can't explain why. Not because he doesn't know, but because nobody can understand.

But he has no choice once again. Just occasionally, it happens. A prospect that he can't pass up, one that won't be around on a full moon.

So he must fly with a shadow on the moon.

He'll be there again, he knows. He's always there, but on such nights Kaito can actually see him. He'll be a photo negative of Kaito. Black suit, black cape, black hat; maybe a red band and red shirt with a blue tie. Maybe even his eyes will be red, under the monocle over his left eye. A photo negative, a not-funhouse mirror.

The Kage Kid. The other side of him. The one that flies in shadows. The one that wanted to take the other path.

He simply gasses everyone in sight, this time. He can't bring himself to trick, to laugh, to dance, not when he bears a shadow which presses him to darker deeds. He can't risk breaking his greatest creed. Nobody gets hurt. But on shadowy nights, somebody just might.

It's a half-moon, in fact. They're perfectly matched, equals, facing each other across another empty rooftop. He simply watches, unseen, as Snake appears.

Kaito shoots his gun away and jumps on him, praying that there are no snipers, or that they will not shoot for fear of hitting their boss. It must be one or the other, for no shots ring out. There's only fighting, punching, kicking, base and violent. The Kage Kid smiles. It ends with Snake on the ground, Kaito's gun against his skull.

He breathes heavily, anger and exertion still pumping adrenaline through his veins. The jewel has fallen out of his sleeve. Though it is an emerald, it glows red in the moonlight.

"I win," he whispers quietly.

"Finish it," he prompts silkily. He wants to pull the trigger. So badly, he wants to pull the trigger.

Kaito looks at the prone Snake, looks to the half-moon, looks to himself, looks to the officers trying to creep up to them without being seen.

He smiles as he chooses his path. There is always another path. A magician always has an out.

He steps back, dropping the gun, picking up the glowing jewel. There is a moment of suspension, of shock, of silence.

Then the sniper bullets rip through the air, through the silence, through the flesh, through the bone. Burning him, tearing him, breaking him.

He flies, he falls.

The Kage Kid is gone.

There were police everywhere; neither Snake nor the snipers can escape. Justice will happen.

He stretched out with the jewel, so that it will hit the ground first as they rush towards his shadow.

The jewel shatters first, into a rush of red crystal light. It is the last thing that Kaito sees before he flies.

Free.

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I… don't really know what this is. I got a prompt in the form of those fanarts of Kid in colour negative, and this happened. A creepy set of Hallowe'en fics has begun…