Prolouge:
There weren't many things in this world that could scare the famous high school detective, Kudo Shinichi, except for a certain criminal organization. Right now his worst fears had come to life. That same organization had finally found him. On the other end of the phone he was holding, Haibara's voice came in desperately,
"Kudo-kun? Are you listening to me? You need to get out of there now!"
Shinichi gulped,
"Ran…I can't leave Ran…."
A frustrated sigh met his ears,
"I know, I know. Wake her up; get her here!"
Shinichi gave a shaky agreement and hung up the phone. He dashed into Ran's room, calling out her name desperately,
"Ran! Ran, wake up!"
The teenage girl didn't stir. Cursing Shinichi grabbed his voice changing bowtie from his pocket, cranking up the volume he yelled,
"WAKE UP!"
Ran started from her sleep, blinking blearily at him,
"C…Conan-kun? Wh-"
Conan cut her off,
"Get up, out of the bed, come on."
He tugged her hands and in her half asleep state Ran stood up and followed him into the living room.
"Conan-kun? What's going on?"
Her charge shook his head impatiently,
"No time to explain, come on!"
He gabbed her hand and dragged her down the stairs and out the door of the detective agency. Ran blinked in confusion, where were they going this late at night? Conan's small hand was sweaty and tense. His voice seemed to have deepened as he urgently tugged her behind him.
"Hurry! You can't drag your feet." There was a flash of headlights ahead, heading in the same direction they were coming from. Conan cursed but before Ran could reprimand him he shoved her into a dark alleyway, pressing her against the wall with his small body. The car passed them, not even noticing the two. Ran noticed that it was black and…a Porsche, perhaps? Conan cursed again and grabbed her hand,
"Run!"
Terrified, she realized, Conan was absolutely terrified. Pausing she scooped Conan up into her arms before he could ask why she had stopped,
"It would be faster like this, ne?"
Ran took off with him, holding the young boy close,
"What's going on, Conan-kun? What has you so scared?"
Conan gulped, looking up at her,
"Please," he whispered hoarsely, "Just run…to Agasa's house as fast as you can."
Ran nodded and took off. She didn't know what had scared her charge like this but she didn't protest. If it meant that much to him she would do it. They arrived at the professor's house rather quickly. It was young Ai-chan who opened the door and ushered them in. She looked out behind them, as if to make sure they hadn't been followed and then quickly shut the door, locking it.
"This way." she murmured
Stunned Ran followed her down into the basement and watched as she locked that door as well.
"Ai-chan? Where is Agasa-hakase?"
"Safe." came the reply, "As are your parents and their parents."
She jerked her thumb to the corner where the Detective Boys were huddled together. Also with them were Heiji and Kazuha, were was trying to calm the children down. Heiji got up as they approached,
"Nee-chan…glad you could make it…"
She nodded in agreement, glancing down at her charge. Conan had buried his face into her shoulder, small hands gripping her night shirt tightly. Heiji watched him in concern before placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Conan jumped at his touch but quickly relaxed when he realized who it was. He licked his dry lips,
"Hattori…They found you too?"
To his relief Heiji shook his head,
"No but I imagine it's only a matter of time until they do."
He jerked his thumb in the direction of Ai,
"That little nee-chan warned me of the same thing so I grabbed Kazuha and booked it over here."
Conan glanced down at her,
"T-Thanks…Haibara…"
The shrunken scientist shrugged,
"Don't thank me just yet…They'll find this place soon enough."
She moved toward her experiment table where a strange machine was sitting. It was small, about the size of a soccer ball and was hollow inside. Haibara placed her hand on the device,
"This is something that the professor and I have been working on. It might be able to get us away from the organization but it hasn't been tested on humans…so it could very well kill us."
Conan huffed,
"Well if it doesn't then the organization certainly will. At least this gives us a fighting chance."
He glanced up at Ran,
"You can put me down now, Ran-nee-chan."
The teenage girl nodded still confused as to what was going on. She gently placed the young boy on the ground,
"Conan-kun? Who are they and why are they chasing you?"
A shadow fell across the boy's face before he exchanged glances with Ai. She shrugged,
"It's up to you now, tantei-kun, we could die either way."
Conan nodded stiffly, taking off his glasses. He gazed up at Ran,
"Could you come closer…Ran…"
Ran nodded and crouched down to where they were eye level. Heaving a shuttering sigh Conan reached his hands to her face,
"I will always, always love you Ran. I have for a long time."
And before Ran could question what he meant her charge brushed his lips against hers. The contact was brief as Conan quickly moved away from her, blushing madly. He turned to Haibara,
"Activate it."
The shrunken scientist gave a small nod, thumbing a button on the machine's base. The hollow circle began to swirl and hum as it started up. Before long a small blue-green thread was created in front of them. Before Conan could ask what it was a bang came from the top floor. The door had been blown in. Haibara's eyes widened in horror as Heiji cursed,
"Damn it! They've found us!"
Conan quickly grabbed a hold of his shrunken comrade,
"Focus, Haibara! How do we use this thing?"
"Y-You jump in…and hope it doesn't kill you."
The young detective nodded grabbing a hold of her hand then reached out to Ran, who tenderly grasped the proffered hand. Kazuha stood ushering the children with her. She stood over next to Ran as the children crowded around Conan and Ai. Heiji took Kazuha's other side and gently squeezed her fingers in reassurance. There was pounding at the basement door, They would infiltrate the basement soon. The group huddled together and with a final nod to each other jumped into the swirling vortex, just as the basement door burst open.