Disclaimer: Guess what!! I'm a spoiled brat and my daddy bought the rights to Artemis Fowl, Detective Conan and Magic Kaito for me!!

(As if!)

I'm actually just borrowing them (I always borrow the cute ones!) though who knows; maybe something like this really did happen... You never know where Artemis Fowl is concerned (he denies all of this of course as I am an unofficial "unofficial biographer" Eoin Colfer being the real unofficial one)

Konichiwa mina-san! Or should I say oyasuminasai? Seeing as it is now half past one here…

So I finally got around to writing this chapter even though I had promised it for earlier! I thought about it this week, I really did! Hope you like it 'cause it took up quite a bit of my Monday and Tuesday evenings and nights to write and I myself am quite happy with the result…

But judge for yourself. May I present:

A Duel of Thieves

Chapter two: Getting ready, …but what for?!

Somewhere over Austria, the Fowl private jet

Artemis was very pleased with himself. More so actually than he had been in a while. He had finally set out to achieve one of his… not so legal… ventures again and had a perfect plan.

He had managed to get Butler to go with him, and Minerva too though they were not in on the plan yet. For all they knew, Artemis had been invited to a party he "absolutely had to attend for it would be social suicide not to".

What party you ask? But, that of Jérôme Lamarte in Tokyo of course! One may wonder how Artemis had been invited to this private party, but none will be surprised that he managed to do so.

It was quite simple. The previous day, he had called up Giovanni Zito, a good friend of his, telling him he was going to Tokyo and was looking for something to do while in town. Zito always seemed to know the best addresses.

" I was planning on going to France at first, but it did not work out. The minute I was about to leave, mister Dupond with whom I was supposed to be staying had to go off to some foreign country for pressing affairs, something that concerned his brother, a baby and a lady named Katherine."

Not wanting to disappoint one of his major invertors, Zito called up his good friend, the minister of foreign affairs of France, Mister Lamarte, not Jérôme, but his brother Pierre, asking him if he knew anyone in Tokyo and, by "some strange coincidence" he did.

Thirty minutes later, Artemis received a call from Jérôme this time inviting him to a small gathering that would take place at his house.

People were SO easy to manipulate.

A quick call to Minerva, a beautiful blond French woman who was now Eighteen years old, insured him the innocent look of a man showing Tokyo during the spring, just in tome for the cherry blossoms, to his girlfriend. How could any man accompanying this lovely lady have anything other than pleasing her in his mind?

But Artemis Fowl was not "any man".

Butler had come along for the trip even though he was no longer a bodyguard to Artemis ever since his return two years previously. He had continued living with the Fowls ever since as a friend and helper. Going with Artemis had the double advantage of enabling him to keep an eye on his young friend AND get away from the squeals of two very excitable thee year olds.

Minerva did not know what to think of this impromptu trip but was curious to find out what her Artemis was really up to. She had grown up to be quite the beauty, and quite the ambivalent genius.

She had been busy these past few years inventing, learning, teaching, designing… She had contributed many articles to medical reviews, wrote a thesis on the consequences of pollution on the aquatic life forms of the Galapagos, designed the new French Embassy in Dublin and had even stared in a successful French movie.

Life had been missing a little spice lately though and she welcomed the "adventure".

"Que me prépares tu Artémis?" she wondered excitedly.

Artemis was looking over his plans, which he had had a whole day to prepare. More than enough time for him though he had to admit he was out of practice. There was a time when it would have taken him half the time.

All he had to do now was scout the actual building out. Blue prints were nice and all, but nothing gave you the whole idea like the real thing.

"What would the fairies think if they knew what I was up to?"

Well Holly of course would not approve. She was convinced that Artemis had gone legit.

Mulch would just be proud of one of his two favorite mud men.

Foaly, he would just be at loss to find out how Artemis had escaped his 24/7 surveillance system.

A voice coming from the front of the plane interrupted his train of thought.

"Artémis, tu n'as pas oublié? You promised to go dress shopping with me once we go to Tokyo!" A charming (yet evil) laugh followed this statement.

The young man buried his head in his arms and purposefully hit his head numerous times on the seat in front of him. "Why me? What would I know about dresses?"

His wardrobe was not very varied to the inexperienced eye as it contained row upon row of plain tailored suits in various shades of black and brown, but though Artemis did a show of avoiding shopping, he knew the differences between all the major designers and understood his friend's need for a stunning dress to wear the

"First of Mai at 20h00 (8pm) at the Lamarte residence for a dinner party and exhibit"

Just outside Ekoda High, Tokyo

(A reminder from the last chapter)

"Kuroba Kaito was not on a regular day one to be seen sitting down calmly in class at his assigned seat. However, something in the newspaper had caught his eye and had left him speechless. It was a picture of a necklace with a very peculiar gem with a light red sheen to it on it".

Kaito had not noticed the hand waiving between his face and the newspaper. The smile he was wearing turned into a pained look when the handle of a mop made contact with the top of his head.

"Hey you! Where did you get that mop?"

"My parents gave me a name you baka, why don't you use it! Don't just call me "you". What's in the paper that could make you so happy?"

"Nothing a Kid hater like you could appreciate… so just forget about it AOKO…" he grinned again but playfully this time before transforming her mop into a toy snake.

While Aoko was chasing the "baka" around the room, (the teachers had all gotten used to this ritual) Hakuba Saguru was left thinking about the gem he had seen on the paper Kuroba had been holding. He had his doubts about his classmate.

"One hundred pounds on that being Kid's next target" he thought.

As his father was a good friend of Lamarte's, he would be attending the party. He would probably be running into the Kaitou there.

He called to the pretty girl sitting to his write.

"Hey, Akako, want to go to out with me to this dinner party with me the

"First of Mai at 20h00 (8pm) at the Lamarte residence"

"Why not." was the only answer he got.

The witch had gotten what she wanted. She would have to warn her thief though about the dangers of steeling the jewel… She had foreseen a strange adventure ahead of him. Though maybe now wasn't the time.

When class was finally over, Kaito walked home with Aoko before heading to Konosuke Jii's home to talk things over with him.

SHOW TIME WAS APPROACHING …

The Agasa residence, Tokyo

A distressed little boy was begging a little girl for something.

" But Haibara!! I NEED it!! Please!!"

No, it was not for a toy, or sweet as would be expected from the seemingly 8-year-old children, but for the antidote to the poison they had both swallowed.

The young girl/woman could only groan. "Do you have any idea how dangerous this could be?"

"I know."

"Okay then. Just wanted to make sure. It's so much easier to have a volunteer to test all these new pills."

"Have I just been compared to a lab rat?"

"You're kind of like having my own lab rat to test things on around, only better"

"Just as I thought…"

"But I must warn you, this pill should last quite a bit longer than the previous ones. It is supposed to last about two to three weeks."

"I'll send Conan on vacation with his parents"

"And that what you are doing is very risky"

"I know"

"And that you know very little about the BO"

"I know"

"Which is why Haibara is going to the US with Conan for a couple of weeks"

"What!! No, Shiho-san, they want to kill you!"

"Which is where the few things you okra-san taught me about makeup when I dressed up as you come in handy."

"Fine, fine, have it your way. Your going to do it no matter what I say anyhow."

"Bingo"

"Have you told Agasa-hakase yet?"

"Yes, and you should call Ran-san. Now."

…

"Mouri-san? (In a female voice thanks to a very special bowtie) This is Conan-kun's Ka-san. I know the delay is very short but since we were in Japan we went by to see our family, Agasa you know, and had the surprise to find Conan there. We then surprised him by inviting him and his little friend Ai to come on vacation with us for a couple weeks. Is that okay with you? … Thank you ever so much Mouri-san. And do thank your daughter for us…"

Kogoro was way to happy to be rid of the brat for a while.

The two then swallowed the antidotes and waited for the result each in a separate bathroom. They both emerged quite a bit taller that previously. Shiho had also died her hair and darkened her skin to mask the foreign features she had inherited from her mother.

Shinichi was just about to walk through the door to go and meet his new "client" Monsieur Lamarte when, just as he was walking out the door, he was knocked to the floor by a very surprised and confused Hattori Heiji.

"Come in. Let me explain…"

Somewhere below the ground, Haven

Demon mage Qwan had taken a liking to reading human newspapers. Their problems amused him.

The gem he encountered in one of the center pages of a Japanese paper knocked him off his feet. This could become a real problem. He had not seen that stone in 12 000 years.

He ran (had Number One run. A dignified ancient mage never runs) to ask for help from the LEP's sector eight.

This was bad news for heaven and all living things… the power of the stone was… unpredictable and the results often unexpected…

AUTOR'S NOTE:

So? What do you think will happen?

I guess the story isn't advanced enough for you to make any predictions yet is it?

Next chapter will be more preparations for the event and it will be more humorous, I think... I like laughing and having fun, and I hope I'll be able to make you smile or even burst out laughing in the next one. The main plot will not begin for another two or three chapters so bear with me.

Don't forget to tell me what you think! I like having advice from readers. I even appreciate constructive criticism.

Emiri-sama

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH ALL THE CHARACTERS OR JUST WANT TO REFRESH THEIR MEMORY:

(Some of it comes from wikipedia as I was a bit lazy and did not feel like writing all of it)

Just so you know, I will be using the Japanese order for Japanese names and will also be using some honorifics such as (-san, -chan, -kun,) and names (obasan, ojisan, okasan, otousan, nisan,)

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Artemis Fowl II :(Everything that happened after TLC is from my imagination)

He was a child prodigy (he is not a child anymore though is still quite the prodigy) who utilizes his mental and material resources towards crimes for financial gain. A year after his father's disappearance, Artemis took charge of rebuilding the family fortune, and put his plans into action by kidnapping LEPrecon captain Holly Short in order to gain gold, which the fairy government has set aside as a ransom for any captured officer. In spite of this beginning, Artemis later works with Holly to save their worlds from impending doom on several occasions, and little by little, his moral character and emotional disposition improves. After coming back to our world with the isle of Hybras, he has managed to maintain the magic he acquired on the journey there. He has kept a low profile for the past couple of years due to his, not quite normal, physical appearance for a man his age and at the demand of his ex-body guard/friend Butler.

(Domovoi) Butler:

is Artemis's butler and bodyguard. The Butler family has served the Fowl family for generations with a Butler being assigned to a new Fowl at birth. He has a comprehensive knowledge of numerous weapons and extensive training in martial arts, enough so to be able to survive an encounter with a troll. In the second book, The Arctic Incident, it states that there were only two men on the planet better educated in the various martial arts than Butler, and he was related to one of them. Butler is more than what he seems and follows Artemis around the world on his adventures. He is also one of Artemis's only friends.

Minerva Paradizio:

She is a second teenage criminal genius who captures the imp No1 and tries to present him as her project for the Nobel Prize award in Stockholm. She is younger than Artemis and believes she can outsmart him when he tries to save the magical world from discovery. According to Butler at the end of book five, she has developed feelings for Artemis, and due to a quirk in the time tunnel through which he, Holly and others from 'the Lost Colony' traveled through, is now about the same age as he.

Holly Short:

Is the only female LEPrecon (Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance) officer so far. She's very tough and has more field experience than most of the male officers. While Holly shares Opal's misfortunes of having her talents derided due to her gender, Holly had the guidance of Julius Root, her father figure who expected more of her, in contrast to Opal's father, who didn't. Holly has a strong sense of morals and usually works based on intuition rather than protocol, a quality that often gets her into trouble. Artemis captured her in the first book but her ability to take advantage of what she has, helped her escape her cell if not the Fowl Manor. Throughout the series Holly and Artemis come to understand each other better and eventually recognize each other as friends.

Mulch Diggums:

is a kleptomaniac dwarf with explosive flatulence. He was brought in by Julius to break into Fowl manor, having already lost his magical abilities due to entering human dwellings without invitations. Like all male dwarves, Mulch is adapted for tunneling, and his unhingeable jaw and accelerated digestion have proved vital on many of his criminal ventures. An amoral thief who loves luxury and cares little for the law or the environment the People hold dear, he nevertheless develops sentiments towards Julius, Holly, and Artemis, people that he had chose to risk his life to avenge and save, albeit grudgingly.

Foaly:

the lone centaur in Holly's department, is the LEP's technological genius. He is paranoid about discovery by humans, choosing to wear tin-foil hats to protect his brain from the mind-probing rays he believes are following him, although he knows they have yet to be invented and has stopped aver since he met a pretty centaur-ette. He is also quite vain about his work and appearance. His inventions keep Holly one-step ahead of the game. If you're having a conversation with Foaly, you can be sure to hear at least one sarcastic comment coming from him. Nevertheless, he's usually right, and his comments have saved Holly's hide more than once.

Number One:

a very powerful imp warlock (Qwan's apprentice as of Book V) who helps to save Hybras. Before saving Hybras, however, he gets involved with Artemis Fowl, and is kidnapped by Minerva Paradizo.

Qwan:

was the most powerful of the original seven full-fledged warlocks who lifted Hybras out of time. The only warlock who survived in his petrified form, he brought Hybras back to the real world outside the Limbo with help from Artemis, Qweffor (his apprentice who was thought to be deceased, but actually trapped in N'zall (a.k.a. Leon Abbot)

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Kuroba Kaito (aka Kaito KID):

Kaito is a smart, quirky, 17-year-old magician. He's childhood friends with Aoko Nakamouri, is good at all sports except for ice skating, and is absolutely deathly afraid of fish. Kaito is also Kaitou Kid, the phantom thief. He gives the police riddles describing when, where, and what he is going to steal in a heist, and returns or throws away everything he steals. Kaito constantly teases Aoko, but he seems to have feelings for her. The name "Kaito" has no special meaning, but is a pun off the word "Kaitou" which means "Phantom thief." "Kuroba" means "Black Feather;" it is also a pun on the English word "clover," which Kid sports on his monocle. Shinichi Kudo from Aoyama's Detective Conan physically resembles Kaito. The only major difference in their appearance is their hairstyles.

Nakamori Aoko:

Kaito's childhood friend. Kaito often teases her and flips her skirt, driving her to chase him wielding her weapon of choice, a mop, even though she is secretly in love with him. She is the daughter of Inspector Nakamori, so she hates Kaitou KID. Ran Mouri from Aoyama's Detective Conan physically resembles Aoko. Like Kaito and Shinichi, the major difference in their appearances is their hairstyles.

Koizumi Akako:

A girl that goes to Kaito's school. She is actually a witch with real magic, which causes her to be very critical of Kaito's "sleight-of-hand" magic. She knows that he is Kid, but has not told anyone. Akako is very much a seductress, and is "trying to make every man her slave". She is at first angry with Kaito because she cannot "control" him, but then she grows to like him. She seems to be able to summon Lucifer at will.

Hakuba Saguru:

A teenage detective from the United Kingdom. He is blond and very smart. He gets the closest to catching KID. He is almost certain that his classmate, Kaito, is the phantom thief, he even has DNA from Kaito's hair connecting him to KID, however he doesn't have enough evidence proving that theory.

Nakamori Ginzo:

Aoko's father. He is the inspector who is head of the Kaito Kid Task force. He is known for his colorful, loud curses. He mistakenly believes that the current Kaitou Kid is the one that he started chasing after more than 20 years ago. Kogoro Mori from Aoyama's Detective Conan physically resembles Nakamori.

Kononsuke Jii:

He's an old man who is a sidekick to Toichi. He starts helping Kaito, who he calls "Young Master". For an old man he is very strong and skilled. He seldom appears in the series. It appears that he has a pool bar named Blue Parrot.

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Kudo Shinichi (aka Edogawa Conan):

A 17-year-old "mystery otaku." He's the son of a mystery novelist and an actress/idol. Both of his famous parents are living abroad in America, so he lives alone. He grew up worshiping the detective heroes of mystery novels, and aspires to be the modern-day Sherlock Holmes. His detective skills are second to none, and he was on his way to becoming a famous detective when he was poisoned by two men in black of an underground crime organization. The poison didn't kill him; instead, it shrunk him into his 7-year-old body.
After Shinichi is shrunk, he's forced to pretend to be a 7-year-old named Conan Edogawa. While he hasn't figured out how to permanently return to his grown-up body yet, he does return to Shinichi form temporarily several times in the series.
Shinichi's hobbies include soccer and reading mystery novels. His romantic interest is Ran, the girl he grew up with. Ran doesn't know about his secret, and thinks he's just away on a case. Shinichi is forced to carry on this lie when he moves into Ran's house under the guise of Conan Edogawa.

Miyano Shiho (aka Haibara Ai or Sherry):

She was the young 18-year-old scientist who developed the experimental poison called APTX-4869 for the "Black Organization." Her scientist parents, Atsushi Miyano and Elena, also worked on the drug for the organization, but they died in an accident when she was four.
Shiho has been isolated from her family since childhood and was raised and educated in America, so her manners are very cold and American.
Her older sister Akemi Miyano also worked for the "Black Organization," but was killed by Gin in the "One Billion Yen Robbery" case. After her sister's death, Shiho tried to get out, so she took the drug and shrunk herself to escape. She remains hunted by the organization.
Shiho ends up living with Professor Agasa under the pseudonym "Ai Haibara."

Agasa Hiroshi:

Neighbor to Shinichi's family house. He's a good friend of Shinichi's parents. He's also a jolly inventor who designs all sorts of gadgets to help Conan with his detective work. Those gadgets include the voice changing bow-tie, the power-kick shoes, the tranquilizer watch, turbo-engine skateboard, just to name a few.
Basically, Professor Agasa is Conan's go-to guy and always ready to help. He eventually becomes Ai Haibara's guardian.
Professor Agasa drives an old Volkswagen Beetle, and enjoys taking Conan, Ai, and all "The Detectives Boys" to camping trips.

Hattori Heiji:

Shinichi's friendly rival. Heiji is a young aspiring detective from Osaka, and speaks with a Kansai accent. He's the son of Osaka's Chief of Police Hattori Heizou. And just like Shinichi, he also has a childhood female friend slash romantic interest. Her name is Toyama Kazuha.
Heiji first shows up in Tokyo to challenge his eastern counterpart, Shinichi, to a battle of detective skills. Instead, he meets Conan.
At first, Heiji would go head to head against Conan/Shinichi to see who can solve a case first. But he has since become good friends with Conan/Shinichi, so they now go solving cases together.

Kazuha Toyama

Heiji's childhood friend and love interest. Even though she and Heiji are not an official couple, Kazuha is extremely jealous of anyone who may steal Heiji away from her. She was very suspicious of Ran at first, but they've become good friends since then.
Heiji always wears the lucky charm Kazuha gave him. It has protected him and Conan on multiple occasions.
Kazuha is the daughter of Inspector Toyama of the Osaka police force.

Mori Ran:

Shinichi's childhood friend slash love interest. She's the daughter of a private detective and a lawyer. Her parents are separated, and she lives with her father, Kogorou. Their house doubles as his detective agency.
Ran's in love with Shinichi, and ever since he disappeared after their date at the amusement park, she's been missing him. Ran agrees to take care of Conan upon meeting him (not knowing that he is in fact Shinichi), and she treats Conan like a baby brother of sorts, to the point of taking a bath with him at one point; However, she has made the Conan Shinichi connection several times only to be proven wrong in the end somehow.
Ran is very kind-hearted. While many characters dismiss her as a silly girl at first, she always ends up winning them over with her big heart.
Ran plays the damsel in distress in some cases, but her expert karate skills also allows her to save Conan's butt several times.

Mori Kogoro:

Ran's father. An ex-cop turned private detective. His wife left him, partly because of his skirt-chasing and drunken ways. He does have his moments though. He's good with judo and pulls a mean Ipponzeoi.
Kogorou's deductions are almost always wrong, and it's up to Conan to tactfully point him to the right direction without arousing suspicion. Think of him as the Inspector Gadget to Conan's Penny & Brain.
Kogorou is Conan's favorite "explanation puppet." When Conan has figured out the case, he uses the tranquilizer gun on his watch to knock Kogorou out, and through the voice changing bow tie, speaks in Kogorou's voice to point out the killer and explain his deductions. Kogorou happily takes all the credit after he wakes up. After much success this way, Kogorou has gained a reputation as "The Sleeping Detective" who solves cases in a trance.

"The Detectives Boys"

Genta, Ayumi, and Mitsuhiko love to copy Conan's lead and play detectives (much to his dismay). They eventually receive "Detective Boys" transmitter badges from Professor Agasa (in the "Missing Body" case) so they can communicate with each other, and they started calling themselves the "Detectives Boys," even though Ayumi is a girl.

Sonoko Suzuki

Ran's best friend. She's part of the wealthy Suzuki family empire.
Through her family connections, Conan & Ran get invited to a lot of exclusive events, where many elaborate murders just happen to take place.
Sonoko is always on the prowl for a boyfriend, but due to her bad taste in men, she has been unlucky in love. No guy has given her the time of day, except for karate champ Makoto Kyougoku.

Inspector Megure

The police figure. He's slightly more competent at catching the bad guys than Kogorou.
Most of the time, he's there to put the bad guys away after Conan figures out the case.

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The Black Organization:

It is a syndicate that commits crimes such as illegal deals, blackmail, robberies, and assassinations. In my fic, the one Kaito is after and the one Shinichi is after are two branches of the same organization. It just makes everything much easier.