Hello there,

well, to be honest this is some kind of experiment. This fanfiction was actually written in German (a long time ago) and now I decided to translate it to English. I hope that I did an acceptable job… if there are any mistakes concerning language please let me know.

I hope that you enjoy my little piece of work. I'll post it bit by bit because I have to translate the other chapters too.

Any kind of comments would by very appreciated ^.^

Prologue

Announcement!

To the police of Beika:

Saturday evening, 9 p.m. sharp, I shall accomplish the greatest coup a thief has ever done before. I'm going to pay the "Kurai-Casino" a little visit...

Try to stop me, if you can! I am curious to see what you're going to do to prevent me from the realization of my plan – especially you, little detective.

Best regards,

Kaitô Kid, master-thief

His hand trembled uncontrollably when Shinichi crumpled up the card of the thief to a little pellet of paper. Inspector Megure, who had given him the warning, sat down next to him, looking at him sternly.

"Quite cheeky, isn't it?" groaned the older police-inspector, staring at Shinichi out of tired, tiny eyes, shaded by dark circles.

"Really cheeky… he knows that we are after him and now he is announcing, that he will perform the greatest robbery mankind can think of? He's fooling us… he makes fun of the police… What do you think about it, Shinichi?"

Silence.

Shinichi did not answer. Apathetic he stared at his closed fist with the paper in it. Such an innocent little paper but such an important message…

The greatest coup. A master piece. Something, that wasn't there ever before.

That was the statement of the warning, wasn't it? Pure scorn.

"Try to stop me!"

He knows that we are unable to do this, Shinichi confessed quite unwillingly to himself and bit his lower lip hardly.

He knows that it is anything but easy to catch him. If he wants to steal something, he steals it. Even the police are unable to prevent it… but nevertheless we have to try. At least we have to try. More than ever since I promised him.

"Kid! Stay where you are or I will pull the trigger," shouted Kudo against the blowing wind and stared with eyes wide open and shivering hands at the white figure standing right before him on top of the cliffs. Way to close to the abyss. With a thin smile on his face the master-thief turned towards him.

"What's the matter?"

Shinichi could hear the steady voice of his opponent who appeared – in contrast to him – completely calm.

"What's the matter, great detective? Well, go on then. Pull the trigger. Become a murderer to fulfill your duty. Shoot, you bloody coward!" he screamed this invitation out loud. His eyes where nothing more than two small slits. Anxiously he was lurking for some reaction of his opposite.

Shinichi suddenly felt something weighing several tons in his stomach.

I can't…. I can't do it… but somehow I have to stop him… I just mustn't let him go away…but…, the thoughts rushed like an express train through his burring head and frantically he tried to hold his hands still. They were shaking. Shaking due to the icy wind and the fear he felt crawling up inside him.
Silently Shinichi lowered his gun, head-shaking. He was unable to do what Kid proposed to him. He was afraid and Shinichi knew that Kid was well aware of his fear. It was just so terribly humiliating.

"Well… goodbye then," whispered Kid as he did not receive any kind of answer. A blink of an eye later he was about to jump off from the cliffs as suddenly a shot found its way out of the gun. Completely unintended by Shinichi, but the bullet missed its target just by a hair's breadth. Only centimeters away from Kids head it flew away into the stormy darkness.

"You stay!" croaked the young detective helplessly in a mixture of anger and inner turmoil, while he made a few steps towards the thief, came closer and closer until the gun-barrel bored itself painfully into Kaitô Kids back.

They were alone… completely alone. Nobody was there who would have been able to help one of them.

Like the gladiators in old Rome, it was the first comparison which came to Shinichi's mind. The better one would be victorious and the other one would have to live with the shame that he found his master.

But what should he do now? Could he kill someone for his beliefs? The police did it day by day, shooting people to protect others.

But he needn't to protect anyone… he just had to retrieve the silver pearl, which Kid was still wearing somewhere hidden underneath his blowing, deceivingly white coat.

"Do you really want to kill me?"

"What?"

"Do you really want to kill me, Kudo? Are you seriously about it?"

Shinichi swallowed hard as he heard the words out of Kids mouth.

Did they really sound a little concerned, sad perhaps?

"No," Shinichi eventually decided in a toneless voice.

"No, that's not what I want to do."

"All right then," Kid smiled contented and lowered his voice.

"If that's the case, could you be so kind then and take that stupid gun out of my shoulder-blade, please?"

Why have I actually done it?, asked Shinichi himself as he was remembering that certain evening on top of the cliffs where he met Kid face to face.

Why have I obeyed? I didn't need to shoot him but threatening him with it instead …

Resigned Kudo looked out of the window in the pouring rain. Like a trained dog he had done exactly, what Kid had been expected from him.

No, it was worse!

He had done what Kid ordered him to do… it was just degrading.

"Look how easy it is. Without that metal-rod in my back it is much more pleasant to talk to you," Kid joked relieved and turned around to the freezing Shinichi. Like two predators they analyzed each another. Unable to figure out if it was friend or foe they were looking at.

"I'm going to leave you now," mumbled Kid in Kudos direction, not without a certain amount of derision in his voice.

"Because you won't be able to prevent it anyway, little detective."

"One day I will be able to prevent it, Kid. You can rely on that."

Skeptically the addressed one raised one of his slim eyebrows, meanwhile looking down at Shinichi in a manner, how a father looks down on his child when he knows it is lying.

"You think so?" Kid asked sarcastically. "Is this going to be a threat?"

"No, " Shinichi replied sharply.

"It's a promise!"

He received no answer. Seconds later Kid had been disappeared. A white shadow somewhere in the starless night.

But it seemed to Shinichi like he could hear minutes later a fainting voice through the storm:

"I'm looking forward to it, little detective."