A/N: I had this quite crackish idea on Monday or so. It came to me a bit before falling to sleep. I had been listening to Vocaloid songs again and this song just stuck to my mind. (after Night Series) So I wrote this up. No worries, next will be a chapter to Leap. Sometimes ideas just need to get out of your head... *Looks at the plans for Night Series* Nope!
This ficlet has some seriously whacked up timeline but I'm sure you understand. It was suprisingly hard to get appropriate characters to replace Vocas. *looks that Tsukiko, Mai and Shugo* Yeah...
But read and tell me hat do you think!
Phantom Thief F = Fullmoon
A letter that arrived by chance - how Fantastic!
A preliminary notice from an audacious phantom thief.
As the newbie journalist spies the boarding gate,
She runs about in search of the criminal...
"My dear,
I will pick it up this night.
See you at the secret banquet.
I will show you FANTASTIC drama.
At the auction party held on the extravagant passenger ship, S.S. Fantastic.
I shall come to steal the 'Diamond of Happiness'.
Tonight. I shall put on the ultimate show of phantom thievery.
-from the Phantom Thief F "
Mizunashi Rena, also known by the name Kir among the Organization she worked for, looked at the letter sitting on her desk. It was from Phantom Thief F, informing her and her alone about the next heist that would take place on a cruise ship. The target was a diamond that was to be auctioned during the journey.
"But why me? I'm a newsreader…" The woman frowned. The letter contained a ticket an there was no way she wouldn't go. After all… some people from the Organization were also coming aboard. Kir didn't know how many or why but she didn't need to.
The woman packet her things and headed to the harbor. There she had the perfect opportunity to catalogue the people coming aboard.
Did the auctioneer forget something? When he steps off board -
Just barely on time? The mechanic arrives at her own pace
The police are coming aboard? And that sick-looking businessman...
It seems he got involved with the mafia behind him?
She recognized many people. There for example was Kudou Yusaku, a famous novelist who'd been asked to be the auctioneer. Maybe people thought he could deduce the thief's ploy since he used to go neck to neck with Kaitou Kid eight years ago…
But what was going on? Why did he arrive this late? Had something happened on the way here?
With him was a high school age boy who Rena recognized as Midorikawa Shugo. It had been such a long time since she'd seen him… Back in the days when she was Hidemi… But she knew the boy was also per request according to the information she'd received. Midorikawa was a genius when it came to mechanic and datahandling. Some people called him a hacker but there had been no proof against him.
That young woman looked foreign. And she had some official looking badge on her chest. FBI? It appeared that the elusive phantom thief had attracted attention abroad too…
Masuyama Kenzou boarded next. He didn't seem to be in very good health. Could the reason be Amuro Tooru who was following the man? Had the Organization sent Bourbon to keep to eye on Pisco? Kir had heard rumors of the older agent using the Organizations money for his own ends. Maybe it would stop now…
A secret auction aboard a gorgeous passenger ship,
For a legendary diamond that brings happiness
Let the tight web of security be brilliantly disrupted
Onto the Fantastic phantom's show - shall we begin?
The auction would being any minute now. Rena took her position at the edge of the large room. People were milling about. Yusaku Kudou presented the diamond to everyone. It was a masterpiece, Prism of Dreams. Even Rena had to stop for minute to admire its beauty.
The security was tight. It appeared that the Kaitou Kid taskforce had been called to assist. KKTF, author Kudou, hacker Midorikawa… They all put their heads together to catch this person. This thief no one knew anything about.
But at the same time Rena couldn't help but feel nervous about the whole setting. The people invited to the cruise, the shadows around the thief, the entire heist! Wasn't this all just a setup for something else? If so, who was pulling the strings? The thief to ensure the heist going right or even the Organization to achieve something entirely different?
"Are you Ready?" Someone whispered near the reporter but when she turned to look around, there was no one there. Rena gulped. The plans… whatever they were… had been set into motion.
Concealed in extravagant Fakes, the Joker sets into motion
The die of a perfect, unsolved crime is cast.
Get all the cards in order, and in the moving Finale,
Let the truth be exposed through my Finder!
The thief must be somewhere here. Rena scanned the crowd. One of these people must be a fake. In disguise. But who? And were there many disguises? With the Organization around, Rena couldn't be too sure.
And why had she been invited to catch this person? To solve this unsolvable mystery. She needed an ally, quick!
The magician's sideshow; does her performance carry an omen?
Is the starting time being slightly pressed?
The police - is she tense with rigorous caution?
Is she glaring at that rowdy mafia?
A young blonde girl pulled a trick after another from the top hat she was holding. In the same pace she was also vanishing things into it. It seemed rushed. Why?
Kudou Yusaku leaned closer to whisper something to the girl. With a nod, she did one last trick before bowing to the audience. Waiting seemed to be over. The people on the ship were anxious. The auction would begin ahead of time. Maybe like this the thief wouldn't be that prepared.
The FBI woman was keeping an eye on Bourbon: She knew his identity. To amuse her, the man kept close to her as if to prove he wouldn't be doing anything suspicious tonight.
The politician spills his wine - might he be lacking sleep.
The doctor beside him says "Have your medicine".
The gentle waitress recommends wine with champagne, and...
The actress asked for whiskey on the rocks?
There was a harsh cough and wine splattered on the expensive carpet. Masuyama Kenzou took some deep breaths before a medicine was offered to him.
Doctor Araide Tomoaki was kneeling next to the CEO's chair and checking his vitals. Wait a minute… Rena turned to fully observe the pair. She remembered that face! It was one of Vermouth's disguises. If Kir remembered correctly, Bouron had mentioned that the other woman would be boarding too… Hmm…
Nearby was a waitress with long brown hair recommending champagne to the actress sitting on another chair.
"No… This whiskey on rocks is enough for me." The actress, Kudou Yukiko, laughed. Was she here as the auctioneer's wife of invited separately? At least she had arrived early. Or were all these times of arrival told to each guest in the invitations. Rena took out hers. There it was. The time for her boarding written on the letter.
"Splitting us up so they can disguise as one of us without suspicion?" The reporter breathed at the realization.
The star of the night finally debuts.
The hall is in uproar over the fascinating sparkle
The net of security has not a single gap;
Ahh, by all means, an impossible crime - shall we begin?
It was the time. The gavel hit the table and the lid was off from the diamond. 'Ooh's and 'Aah's echoed in the mids of guests.
The police officers and security were alert. The FBI girl finally left Bourbon alone. Even Midorikawa came to the auction hall.
The stage was set. The plot was written. The prelude was over. It was the time.
"Are you Ready?" And there was that whisper again! So ominous. So gleeful. So mocking!
Eight place their Bids, the hammer dancing
Greed, assets, disgraceful foolishness - a party where all is laid bare?
Suddenly, the lights go out - power outage? In the total darkness,
A gunshot echoed to raise the curtain on the show...
The gavel banged. The Auction goods found new owners. The hall was filled with offers that topped the previous one. Rena didn't let a single detail escape her. This was going to be the biggest story for a while. It didn't matter if the thief was caught or not, the amount of the rich and the famous was enough to write a whole magazine of.
And above all this was the Prism of Dreams, shining brightly until…
The lights went out. Women screamed. The gavel banged to restore the order. No one moved but some shuffling was heard.
Bang!
In ten seconds, the power's back - just a random accident?
Where did that gunshot come from...? That wasn't in luggage inspection!
It seems the window glass is broken...? Wide enough for a person...
"Someone's fainted!" Yaaah!
3, 2, 1, Action!
The blackout was over as soon as it had begun. The guests were looking around in confusion.
A gun was lying in the middle of the room, far away from everyone. The security announced that the gun hadn't come up during the security check that was concluded when people were boarding.
Salty sea wind blew in from the broken window. Had it been broken with the shot or had someone run through it? Rena frowned. It was definitely wide enough for a person to fit through.
Then a scream sounded again. Some woman from the crowd had fainted. Rena turned away from that spectacle.
It was the time to start the game of spotting what had changed.
The doctor tends to the fallen politician dyed scarlet.
Pisco was on the floor, blood pouring out of his mouth. Was it a long term poisoning administrated by Vermouth kicking in or had someone shot him in this darkness? The disguiser herself was doing what a good doctor would: taking care of 'his' patient. Now she even had the opportunity to tamper with the time of death…
Behind them the actress suddenly drops a glass, cleaned up.
Yukiko Kudou had apparently drunk all of her whiskey but now the glass itself was on the floor, smashed. The actress was worriedly looking for her husband but couldn't spot him.
By the waitress who in the spur of the moment, sends flapping doves.
The young waitress girl, Bourbon's acquaintance, hurried to clean up the shards but accidentally bumped onto the magician, making the white doves flap around the two girls.
Fleeing out the cracked window, away from the mourning, distracted magician,
The doves were flew out of the broken window. The blonde magician had tears in her eyes and was staring at the cards by her feet. What was wrong with her? Had she seen something?
At whom the teasing mafia jeers, under the police's watchful eye.
Bourbon was chuckling at her, and the FBI woman coming to the girl's defense and scolding the man. Everyone was just so distracted. The magician hopped off the stage, landed right at Bourbon's personal space and told him something quietly, making him shut up immediately. Oh, what had that been?
To which the mechanic holding a report for the breaker trouble comes,
The hacker Midorikawa was reporting to the authorities present. He was telling about breaker troubles.
"They were there when I checked once boarding but thought they'd hold until this was over. I didn't have the right tools with me." He was telling.
And beside her, the journalist stands on alert for info for a scoop,
With a bullet at her feet - now who shot it, at what, and for what?
Just as someone whispered the question,
The auctioneer's shriek roared to tell the end -
Rena was busying herself with writing notes and snapping an occasional picture. She moved a bit and her black high heel moved something on the floor. The reporter looked down. It was a bullet. How odd… Where had it come? It seemed clean. Had someone staged it?
Guests were whispering and making up theories. Rena could just see how rumors would expand from now on.
"OH REALLY?" And finally someone had enough sense to check the diamond.
The Diamond of Happiness gone, the hall is chaos.
The guards search for the culprit, one person unaccounted for - Say what?!
Broke the window, jumped out on the deck? Dove into the sea?
An eerily-drifting silk hat...
The Prism of Dreams… The Diamond of Happiness… Which one was the real name? People used both of those term about the diamond but which one was the real…?
"My thoughts are wandering. That's not the point." Rena shook her head. She seemed somewhat detached from the chaos around her. The security was running around. Guests were making sure the items they'd bought earlier were safe. Some tried to run away. But to where? They were far from any land.
The people aboard were counted but one was missing from their number. Who was it? No one was able to give the identity. Everyone just pointed at the broken window and once Rena went to look outside…
Only thing there was a black top hat floating in the ocean.
The suspect and diamond gone, the truth is in darkness.
This ends the show of the perfect, unsolved crime.
Now, the cards are all in order, so to the moving Finale.
Will you, who saw it with a front seat, show the way?
There were the facts: the diamond was gone, the blackout had covered the theft, someone had shot, the top hat was floating in the ocean and there was a bullet at Rena's feet. Oh, and Pisco was dead but that was all Vermouth's doing.
Then there were questions: who was the thief? Who had shot in the case it hadn't been the thief? Had the thied really left the ship? Where had this bullet come from and was it from that gun on the floor?
Some many questions but no real answers to them. Everyone was suspect now. Everyone must know at least something. The only problem was to get that information out of them. But Rena was sure she could do it. She wasn't a start reporter for nothing.
There was nothing she would let slip past her!
A/N: and I'm done. Please review. And don't take this too seriously okay? I just wrote this for fun. You can pass this as some sort of bizarre dream of Rena's. ;)
Oh and listen to the song. Seriously.
()
Character list in the case you didn't recognize the people:
Miku: Mizunashi Rena AKA Kir
Luka: Vermouth in the disguise of Araide Tomoaki
KAITO: Masuyama Kenzou AKA Pisco
Len: Amuro Tooru AKA Bourbon
Rin: Jodie Starling (I considered Miyoshi Takuya(my OC) for this)
MEIKO: Kudou Yukiko
GUMI: Okiya Tsukiko(my OC) (I considered Kuroba Touichi to this)
Gakupo: Kudou Yuusaku
Mayu: Midorikawa Shugo AKA the hacker Hibiki(my OC) (I considered Agasa to this)
I.A: Miyoshi Mai(my OC)