Conan rolled on the ground, cringing with pain. Gagged and tied with his hands behind his back, he almost had no chance of escape. He paused and took a look around. "Where was he? Who did this?" He had absolutely no idea what had happened. As far as he could recall, Ai and he were walking along a busy street, talking to each other. They wanted to grab something to eat, but then… what? Conan had absolutely no idea.
He looked over to see what else was in the room. Conan saw Ai, ragged and limp, handcuffed to a pipe running out of the wall. Suddenly, a memory flashed in front of Conan's eyes. It was imagined, of course. He remembered Ai relating the story of her capture to Conan. They had cuffed her to a pipe, similar to the one he was looking at right now. He recalled her saying that she had taken the drug that shrunk Shinichi so that she might put an end to herself, but instead, shrinking her. Her hands had slipped free from the cuffs and she was able to get away.
Conan felt like he had looked back in time. But his mind was unclear for that moment. Why had they chained Ai while just tying up Conan? Wouldn't handcuffing Conan be better since a boy, like him, could probably break the bonds anyways? He wondered whether anybody was going to help them or not. Dr. Agasa will probably think something's wrong after Ai doesn't come back for the night, or would he? Conan wasn't sure. He hoped his fear would turn out wrong.
Under the locked door of the small room, Conan saw light shining from the other side. Hushed voices traveled to him. "We'll get a lot of money and recognition once we hand them over!" A man's deep voice said. "I don't think we should. I don't mean that we shouldn't hand them over, but you've heard of what they do to the captors…" Another man's voice was heard. "Oh, don't be afraid! We'll set a trap for them. If they refuse, the trap will spring into action! Then, they'll be like trapped tigers!" An evil laugh came from the first man. Conan didn't like it at all. Then he heard footsteps on the wooden floor traveling away from the door. The front door closed with a bang! They were gone.
Conan had rolled on his back and stared at the ceiling. Who were these people? Why did they 'want to hand us over?' These were the only thoughts occupying his mind. For once, he didn't think of escaping. He had an urge to find out where this was all going to lead to. He heard Ai wake up with a groan, the handcuffs jingled lightly. "What…" was all Ai could manage to say. Ai felt like a rock concert had been going on when she was asleep and that she had been right in front of the amplifiers. "Kudo…you here?" Ai managed a hoarse whisper. Conan couldn't reply in words, but a few "umph's" did the job. "Crawl over…I'll try to…get…the gag…" Ai said. Conan thought she had been running the marathon and she had just stopped. He inched over like an earthworm and got to the pipe. Pulling himself upwards, he got the pipe to cradle his head. Ai's hands came over and removed the cotton gag. As she threw them away, the cuffs had brushed by Conan's face and caused a cold sensation in his cheek that didn't leave for a while. "So…" Conan wanted to think of something to say that would get them out of there. "So…" Ai replied.
Conan had looked around for anything that might get them out. There was absolutely nothing in the room except the pipe and the two, trapped children. There was no way getting out with Ai. His bonds were cutting into his flesh, making it extremely uncomfortable. "The one who caught us is planning to turn us over…" Conan had nothing else to say to lighten their situation. "Are you thinking who I'm thinking?" Ai asks. Conan shrugs. "The Black Organization…" Ai replies. Conan looked at her sternly, only half believing this answer. "Might be…" Conan says. That was all the conversation the two had.
After what seemed like ages, Conan finally manages to ask, "You got anything that might get us out?" "No, I never carry anything anyways…" Ai replies as a-matter-of-factly. "You know," Ai continues, "It's not like you to ask things like that. You always figure out the answer first and the one who always leads it. What's happening to you, Kudo? Losing your touch to solving hard cases?" Ai taunts. "No, it's just that always solving the case is exhilarating, but this one is exceptionally interesting. I want to see whose doing this and who they want to hand us over to. It might finally prove as a challenge that I might not figure out. I'm willing to risk it." Conan replies. "But what if you really can't solve it? What if they kill both of us before we're even through to the hands that we were intended for? What of…" Ai stopped. "…Ran?"
Conan had to think it over for a few minutes. He loved Ran deeply, and his features showed that to Ai before he even answered. "I know, that I WILL be able to solve it. If I can't, I wouldn't deserve her then." Ai thought that this was a weird conversation, but they couldn't leave themselves space to think what might happen to them now. A few moments lapsed when they heard the front door shut again. The captors were back. Hurriedly, Conan grabbed the gag with his teeth and passed it over for Ai to replace it on. Then, he silently fainted back into his position. Ai just made her body sag against the wall. The captors opened the door. Through half opened eyelids, Conan could see their faces, not their real faces, of course. They had masks on. One had a wolf and the other had a bear. The wolf was a lean man about 5'11" The bear was a rather chubby man about 5'7". Both had on brown trench coats. The man with the bear masks says, "Seems alright to me. They still look knocked out. I'll unlock the girl and bring her to the car." As the man sauntered towards Ai, the wolf-man stops him. "Can't be too sure with these two. Might be pretend faint. Better safe then sorry." He produces a white handkerchief with white powdery stuff and placed it in front of Conan's face, with the gag pulled off, for a full minute.
During that time, Conan had tried really hard not to breathe the stuff in. He nearly passed out trying to do so. But in the end, his lungs had threatened to burst, so he took a big whiff of the stuff and went limp. Ai had been watching with half closed eyes at the wolf-man. She didn't like him one bit. He was smarter than the fat man by a long way. "He's going to be the most troublesome," thought Ai as she saw the wolf-man walking closer by the second. A few moments later, she passed out from the stuff. Contented with the way things were going, the wolf-masked man says, "Bring them both out. Now they're truly out cold." He snickers as he walks out at a brisk pace with the plump man walking slowly with the burden.