Sherry…he thought. My beloved Sherry, I will kill you now. I will show you how much I love you and then I will kill you.

He stepped out of the red Peugeot 508 with the illegally tinted windows. He took the safety off his handgun and cocked it so that it was ready to fire. A silencer was attached to the end.

He took one step, and then another. He crept up slowly, not wanting to alert Sherry that he was approaching.

What he didn't take into account was Shinichi/Shiho's ability to smell a member of the Black Organisation.

Without turning his head, Shinichi/Shiho shifted his eyes to the left and then the right. He saw Gin, walking very carefully and quietly. He pretended not to notice, though his heart was now beating furiously like a war drum.

Just ten more seconds, he thought.

His breathing was shaky as he waited for Gin to get closer.

That he hasn't shot me yet is an encouraging sign, he thought, trying to calm himself down.

Gin got closer…

Finally, Shinichi/Shiho stood up, pushed the button on his belt, and out came a soccer ball. He kicked it in Gin's face and ran away. Gin, caught totally off guard by that, was stunned for a few seconds by the blow though he was not knocked over.

Running as fast as he could and panting hard, Shinichi/Shiho vaulted over the short fence and got onto his turbo engine skateboard. He then dashed off at 35 MPH.

Gin ran to his car. He looked at it.

No, this won't do, he thought. Good thing I brought that backup.

He opened the door to his car's trunk and took out a Winchester model 1887 lever-action shotgun. He grabbed it and closed the trunk door. He took a pair of Persol Ratti 58230 vintage sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. Meanwhile, he was wearing a Bates Custom Leathers motorcycle jacket from the 1980s/1990s.

Behind his car was a motorcycle. More specifically, a Harley-Davidson 1990 FLSTFB "Fat Boy". He got on, turned the key in the ignition, and drove off after Sherry, holding the shotgun in his left hand.

That's it, Shinichi/Shiho thought. Walk right into my trap, Gin. You killed Ran, you took everything from me…and now you're going to pay the price. DIE GIN!

OPENING:

(Ai Wa Te Saguri Kurayami No Naka De by ZARD, in the key of A Minor)

Ai wa te saguri kurayami no naka de

Odoru it's gonna be a great night, yeah!

(As the end draws near the war's fallout results in tougher and tougher cases! To save Ran's life, will I have to join the Men in Black? Perceiving the one and only truth! With the body of a child and the mind of an adult, my name is...Meitantei Conan!)

Yoake wo highway

Kono omoi to be your slave

Oh tonight and every night you'd be mine

Meutsuri ki ni naru koi no kakehiki

Ai wa te saguri kurayami no naka de

Odoru it's gonna be a great night, yeah!

Ai wa ki magure beat ni dakare

Mitsumete in your eyes

Ai wa maboroshi kurayami no naka de

Odoru it's gonna be a great night, yeah!

Ai wa furuete beat ni dakare

Kono mama in your eyes, oh yeah!

Black Gambit: Part Four!

"Huh?" Ryan Jackson said.

"Kudo-kun is on the move," Elena said. "Shuichi Akai alerted me to his plan, and also where he's headed. I'll give you the address now…"

Over the phone she gave him the address.

"Get there as fast as you can and keep tabs on the situation," Elena said. "And be wary: if Rei-kun is right, there will be a large number of other Organisation members in that area."

"Will do," Ryan Jackson said. "Thank you very much."

Then he ended the call.

"Did you get that?" Ryan Jackson asked.

"…Yeah," Yoshiteru Nichimura said. "Let's go."

Yoshiteru turned the key in the ignition and they drove off.

Scene Transition

Shinichi/Shiho turned his head for a second. Sure enough, Gin was about 200 feet behind him and getting closer.

That certain place was still a considerable distance away, so he needed to buy some space between him and Gin.

He pulled out his gun, aimed, and fired a single shot. He was a bad shot and it missed Gin by as much as a few feet, but it was enough to make Gin slow down.

After another two minutes passed the traffic around Shinichi and Gin grew thicker. Shinichi rode onto the shoulder of the road. Gin followed him. Because of the traffic Shinichi was wary of firing another shot at this point.

They quickly reached a more populous part of Tokyo, filled with busy streets and intersections.

Shinichi/Shiho was nearing a traffic light, and it had just turned red. At the same time, he knew that if he stopped he would be as good as dead.

So, taking a huge risk, he ran the red light and kept going. Gin did the same, not willing to let Sherry get away. Incoming cars braked to keep from hitting either person.

Shinichi/Shiho turned into one street and then another, yet he couldn't shake Gin.

Crap, he thought. But then, looking ahead he had an idea.

He drove onto an overpass. Underneath a train was moving from left to right. He jumped onto the guard rail and then onto the top of the train. After landing on the train he braked, but he slid several yards before coming to a full stop. In fact, he skidded enough distance that he jumped and landed on the adjacent train car. To his shock, Gin was somehow able to follow him to the top of the train, but he was on top of a different train car to the back of the one Shinichi/Shiho was on.

A few seconds later, after the train was passing by a curving road Shinichi/Shiho flew off of the train and onto that road. Gin did the same. Then the pursuit continued.

Two minutes later that road merged with the one that Shinichi/Shiho and Gin would've been on had they not jumped onto the train.

There was a tunnel up ahead. Accelerating to his maximum speed, Shinichi/Shiho entered the tunnel. Traffic was heavy, which was what Shinichi/Shiho was counting on.

At that moment, Shinichi/Shiho began an ascent up the walls of the tunnel and made a full loop, going up the left side and coming down the right side several hundred feet ahead. He was still going pretty fast, so he did it a second time…and then a third time. Finally, Shinichi cleared the tunnel.

You're not shaking me, Gin thought. His speed was pretty high too, so he did the exact same thing that Sherry did, riding up the left wall of the tunnel on his motorcycle and going across the ceiling until he came down on the right side. He did this two times and then emerged from the tunnel, only several hundred feet from Sherry.

He's really good, Shinichi/Shiho thought, turning around to see that Gin was still following close behind him.

Luckily, he had reached his destination. He made a sharp turn into the parking lot of the abandoned hotel. He got off the turbo engine skateboard and rushed towards the entrance. At that time Gin also arrived in the parking lot.

So this is Sherry's hideout, Gin thought.

"Stop running, b***h!" Gin said angrily. He pointed his shotgun at Shinichi/Shiho and fired. Shinichi's right shoulder was hit. Shinichi/Shiho winced in pain and just barely held back the urge to scream. He kept running.

The front door was made of glass, and part of it had been broken earlier to form a hole, one big enough for Shinichi/Shiho to fit through. Unfortunately, the gun wound in his right shoulder meant that he was leaving a trail of blood as he walked.

A few seconds later Gin entered the hotel through this same hole in the glass door.

Scene Transition

Throughout the hotel, the radio was playing Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland.

Somewhere over the rainbow, way up high

There's a land that I've heard of once in a lullaby

Shinichi/Shiho ran past the front desk in the lobby. He ran past the breakfast suite. He entered the stair room and headed for the top floor.

Before he even reached the 3rd floor he heard the sound of the door on the 1st floor opening. Gin was coming after him. So, when he got to the 3rd floor he opened the door quite loudly. Then he took his shoes off, covered his wound to prevent bleeding to the best of his ability, and quickly tiptoed to the fourth floor. Fortunately, the song playing on the radio masked the sound of his movements somewhat, and Gin was moving up the stairs somewhat slowly.

Once Gin reached the 3rd floor he took the bait and opened the floor, stepping into the hallway on the 3rd floor. As soon as the door closed behind the blond psychopath, Shinichi/Shiho headed back down to the lobby in order to make his preparations. He figured that Gin would search every room on the 3rd floor.

Someday I'll wish upon a star

And wake up where the clouds are far behind me

After stepping into the lobby, Shinichi/Shiho sighed and leaned against the wall, clutching his wound.

I can't rest now, he thought. Gin's going to search the 3rd floor. After that point, I don't know whether he's going to head back down or search other floors. In fact, he might be on his way down right now. I have no way of knowing how much time I've got, so I need to act fast. Where did I put that thing…?

Scene Transition

The third vehicle pulled up into the parking lot. A motorcycle. Masumi Sera turned the key and she and Eisuke Hondou got off.

"That's Kudo's skateboard," Masumi said.

"That looks a bit too big for him though," Eisuke said.

"Daijobu, it's him," Masumi said.

"But who does that other motorcycle belong to?"

Masumi shrugged. "Dunno…" Then she gasped, having seen a trail of blood on the ground.

"Is that his?!" Eisuke exclaimed.

Without saying another word both of them rushed towards the makeshift entrance.

Scene Transition

They stepped inside, only to see a strange woman in a purple shirt struggling to carry a plastic gasoline container.

"Who are you?" Eisuke asked.

Shinichi/Shiho, realising that he had company, raised his fingers to his lips so as to indicate "Be quiet!"

"Who are you?" Masumi whispered.

Shinichi/Shiho put the container down.

"It's me, Shinichi Kudo," Shinichi/Shiho whispered in reply. "Gin is on an upper floor. Get far away from here now."

"You're not Shinichi," Eisuke whispered.

"I'm in disguise," Shinichi/Shiho whispered. "I did it to lure Gin out, because Gin really wants to see this woman dead."

He winced in pain and grasped his wounded shoulder.

"You're hurt," Masumi whispered.

"It's nothing," Shinichi/Shiho whispered. "Now go. I don't want you seeing what's about to happen."

"What's about to happen?" Eisuke whispered.

"He's going to set Gin on fire," Masumi whispered. "Am I right?"

Shinichi/Shiho was silent.

"Th-that's absurd!" Eisuke whispered. "Shinichi, you wouldn't do something like that, would you?"

"If he wasn't Ran's killer then I wouldn't even think of doing this," Shinichi/Shiho whispered. "I'm not going to reconsider, so please just go."

"W-wait," Eisuke said. "T-that man upstairs is Ran's…killer?"

Eisuke and Masumi looked at each other intently, and then they grabbed the gasoline container and struggled to lift it.

"This is really heavy," Eisuke whispered.

"What are you doing?!" Shinichi/Shiho whispered.

"What do you think?" Masumi whispered. "You can't do this by yourself; not with a wounded shoulder, anyway. Where do you need this to go, and what's the plan?"

"Y-you'd be helping me kill a guy!" Shinichi whispered.

"We're preventing this monster from ever killing anyone else," Masumi whispered. "And I cared about Ran too, you know. So does Eisuke here."

Shinichi/Shiho smiled. "Thank you. Now, the first thing we need to do is…"

Scene Transition

He entered the number and clicked "Send". After about ten seconds the person on the other side answered.

"Yes?"

"Ah, Taiko Meijin-san," Subaru said. "My name is Subaru Okiya, if you recall."

"Ah, Subaru, yeah, I remember you," Shukichi Haneda said. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, if you don't live too far away, I was wondering if you could come here and enjoy some fresh-cooked curry," Subaru said. "I'm afraid I fixed too much of it, and I'm going to be gone for the next few weeks starting the day after tomorrow so simply putting it in the ice box isn't much of an option."

"I see," Shukichi said. "Are you a good cook?"

"The professor says that it's some of the best curry he's ever eaten," Subaru said. "After you try it you are free to make up your own mind."

"In that case sure," Shukichi said. "Just tell me where you live."

"Beika City, Beika Town, District 2, Block 21," Subaru said. "It should be the house that looks like it's haunted, right next to that gigantic house that looks like a research institute."

"All right then," Shukichi said, chuckling at that description. "That street is only about ten minutes away so I'll be there shortly."

Then he hung up.

Meanwhile, from the basement of Dr. Agasa's home, Haibara was listening in through a headseat…

Scene Transition

"…There, it's all set," Eisuke said. "He should be here any…"

From the elevator room there was a loud dinging noise. The elevator door opened and Gin stepped onto the lobby floor. Masumi and Eisuke rushed to hide. Shinichi/Shiho stood in place.

Gin stepped into view and looked right at Sherry. They stared at each other for a good half minute.

"Gin," Shinichi/Shiho said, holding the voice-changing bowtie to his mouth.

What's with the bowtie? Gin thought. Eh, whatever. "Sherry, it's been too long. It was such a joy to learn that you're still alive. Now I get the pleasure of killing you myself."

"Certainly," Shinichi/Shiho said, taking a step back. "But first, I have a question for you."

A…question? Gin thought. "Sure. Whatever it is, it's not like you're going to live to tell the tale."

He pointed his shotgun at Sherry and took a step forward. "Ask."

"Ran Mouri," Shinichi/Shiho said, taking a step back. "Why did you kill her?"

"Ran Mouri," Gin repeated, taking a step forward. "Oh, you mean that girl? Sleeping Kogoro's daughter?"

"Yeah," Shinichi/Shiho said, taking a step back. "Explain yourself."

"Why do you care?" Gin asked, taking a step forward.

"Just answer the *expletive* question!" Shinichi/Shiho barked.

Gin sighed. "In truth, I was going to kill her because that's what the boss ordered me to do. But before I could get to her she was killed by somebody else."

H-huh…Shinichi/Shiho thought. HUH?! WHAT?! "Y-you're lying! A man who looks just like you was seen at the crime scene!"

"Was this man's face seen?" Gin asked.

"He had long blond hair just like yours and he was wearing all black!" Shinichi/Shiho said. "Who else could it have been?!"

Gin smirked. "So who is this girl to you, huh? Don't tell me she's been aiding you this whole time spent on the run. I knew you were weak, but that's a bit too much."

Gin took another step forward, and then another.

Just a little bit more, Shinichi/Shiho thought, taking a step back behind the archway. "If you didn't kill her, then who did?"

"Who knows?" Gin said, taking a step forward. "It was probably some cowardly burglar who panicked when he saw a teenage girl. Does that really matter, though? The night she died I was out drinking in Shibuya."

T-then…Shinichi/Shiho thought.

Gin smirked again. "Honestly, Sherry, I'm disappointed. I would've thought that in your last moments you'd be concerned about more important stuff than that. Any last words?

He took two more steps forward.

"NOW!" Shinichi/Shiho shouted, diving to the floor.

Eisuke and Masumi let go of the string, and the gasoline poured onto Gin, drenching his entire body. Shinichi/Shiho then stood up, took a match out of his pocket, and lit it.

Realising that Sherry was about to set him on fire, Gin screamed and dropped his gun. He turned around and began to run. And Shinichi/Shiho didn't follow after him.

I-I can't…Shinichi/Shiho thought. I can't kill a person.

He sighed and blew out the match.

Gin's going to report Sherry's continued to existence to those men, Shinichi/Shiho realised. Before that happens I have to show him that I'm Shinichi, in order to keep Haibara safe!

He ran after Gin. "Hey, Gin! Wait!"

Gin paid no heed to Shinichi/Shiho. He got onto his bike, touched the key, and…!

There was an explosion. Gin burst into flame, the static electricity discharged upon touching the key igniting the gasoline on his body. He screamed, got off of his bike, and writhed in pain helplessly on the ground. He crawled about on the ground and continued screaming. Shinichi knew that there was nothing he could do for Gin now. In his last few moments, Gin pointed a flare gun to the air and sent up a black smoke flare that would be visible from at least half a mile away. If there were any other Organisation members in the area, they would be aware that one of their own had just died.

Within a minute Gin was dead, a smoldering carcass.

Scene Transition

From the chic café at the top of the skyscraper Chianti nearly dropped her sandwich when she saw the black smoke. That smoke could've, of course, come from anywhere, but…

Just in case, she thought.

She took a pair of binoculars out of her purse. What she saw in the distant abandoned hotel's parking lot was a charred person's remains and…

"Sherry," she said out loud. She then realised what was happening: Sherry was alive, and she killed a member of the Organisation.

She picked up her phone and began to dial the Boss's number.

Scene Transition

"So…that's it?" Masumi asked, standing behind Shinichi/Shiho outside.

"…Yeah," Shinichi/Shiho said.

He tore the mask off of his face and the wig off of his head.

"You know, it's funny," Shinichi said. "Now that he's gone, I wish that he'd still be alive."

"Hey, how can you say something like that?" Eisuke protested.

"Because," Shinichi said, "From this moment onward...I am a murderer."

"Hold on!" Masumi said. "You didn't do it, Shinichi! You blew the match out! I saw you!"

"But I'm the one who had him drenched in gasoline, wasn't I?" Shinichi said. "If it wasn't for that, it wouldn't matter how much static electricity he came into contact with."

In the past year he, Shinichi Kudo, had figured out the truth behind an untold number of murder cases. He pronounced judgment upon them and condemned them to the confines of a jail cell. In the end, they would always break down and declare their motive, generally some heinous injustice committed against them or somebody who they cared about. Standing behind a couch or a wall with a voice-changing bowtie in his hand, he was never able to truly understand how the culprit felt. Now he did, and it wasn't a pleasant feeling at all. Gin's death gave him no satisfaction, no closure, and no peace. What Gin said about not being Ran's killer certainly didn't make Shinichi feel any better either.

Was Gin being honest? Was he really innocent of the crime which he had just been executed for?

A-am I going to jail for this? he thought.

"…Well, whatever happens next, good luck," Masumi said. "I mean that."

Then she and Eisuke got on Masumi's motorcycle and drove off, leaving Shinichi alone in the parking lot with Gin's corpse.

Scene Transition

After having finished eating and paying the waitress, Chianti stepped into the black car.

"Did you hear?" Chianti asked.

"Yeah," the man in the driver seat, a big man wearing all black, said. "Our orders are to wait at any possible exit route Sherry might take if we don't take her out in a clean shot. That person is going to take the shot."

"H-him?" Chianti asked, blushing. "Are you sure he's ready to return to duty?"

"I don't see you asking that about me," the driver said.

"Yeah, but you're just driving a car!" Chianti said. "Have you no appreciation for the fine art which is gunning a person down at a long range?"

"I really don't," the driver said. "Anyway, if Sherry tries coming through here, then we are to pull the car out onto the middle of the road and form a barrier to incoming traffic."

Sound came from the walkie-talkie. The driver pushed the button.

"This is Tequila," the driver said. "Report, over."

"This is Bourbon," the guy on the other side said. "I've taken my position, over. Have you?"

"Not yet," Tequila said.

"Tequila, you need to get in position now!" the third voice ordered.

"Copy that, Calvados," Tequila said. "Vodka's covering the third escape route, right?"

"Yeah," Calvados said. "Now hurry, I'm almost in position to fire."

"Roger that. Tequila out."

With that, the black car sped out of the skyscraper parking lot to quickly go cover the escape route.

Scene Transition

"I-I see him! I'll be ready to fire momentarily!"

"Him?" Vodka asked.

"Yeah, it's a teenage boy who's dressed like a girl," Calvados said. "I even see a wig and what looks like a facial mask lying on the pavement."

"Y-you mean that isn't Sherry?!" Vodka exclaimed.

"Nope," Calvados said. "I guess this means Sherry really is dead."

Vodka sighed. "But still, this person killed one of our own, didn't he?"

"That's right," Calvados confirmed. "I can make out what looks like a dead guy's remains over there near him. If the guy before he died sent up a black flare like that, he has to be one of ours."

"H-hold on," Vodka said. "Before you shoot, I'm going to send you a picture."

After a few seconds Calvados turned on his phone and looked at the picture.

"Shinichi Kudo," Calvados said, reading the caption on the picture out loud. "Yeah, that's him over there."

"For real?!" Vodka exclaimed. "Wait, I need to tell the Boss about this before you shoot."

"Why?" Calvados snapped, frustrated.

"Because the Boss wants this guy alive," Vodka said. "At all costs."

"What's the big f***ing deal?" Calvados said. "If I kill him, the Boss can just bring him back, right? At least this way he's guaranteed to not get away, right?"

"W-well I guess," Vodka said. "But I really think that the Boss needs to know."

"Screw the rules," Calvados said. "I'm taking the shot!"

To his surprise, Shinichi Kudo suddenly noticed the red laser light, leapt onto the skateboard, and dashed off at high speed.

"You're not getting away," Calvados said.

He fired a shot, which split the skateboard in two. Shinichi was sent tumbling several feet forwards. Sore all over, he hurriedly got up and slid into a ditch, taking him outside of Calvados's line of sight and making him momentarily safe.

"Calvados? Did you take the shot?"

"I haven't had the chance yet," Calvados growled. "But don't worry. He can't stay hidden in that ditch forever."

"A ditch? Do you want somebody to go over there and flush him out for you?" Vodka asked.

"No," Calvados said. "All I have to do is wait about thirty minutes and he'll poke his head out. Geez, this is such a pain though. My favourite show starts in 15 minutes."

"What's the name of it?" Vodka asked. "Maybe someone can record it for you."

"It's called Yoko's Cooking Show," Calvados said. "That girl's almost as hot as Vermouth. Speaking of which, what happened to her?"

"Last I heard she betrayed the Organisation so a sniper put her down," Vodka said. "So you really think it's going to take thirty minutes?"

"He's not going to come out from under there so quickly," Calvados said. "Nobody would. Not when there's a frickin' sniper targeting you. Just hold your positions for a while, get comfortable, and I'll tell you if he moves. And if he's still there in 30 minutes, then you can go flush him out."

Scene Transition

Shinichi looked at his phone. He had been hiding in that ditch for 13 minutes.

I really bleeped up, he realised. Of all places to hide…a ditch?! A place where I'd be shot the second I came out? It seems like the only remaining option is to surrender. But how do I signal my desire to surrender to them? And does the Black Organisation even accept surrenders?

Well, he thought, I never imagined that I would end up dying like this. This is just like one of those WW1 movies. I might as well have joined the army if I was going to be hiding from enemy gunfire in a ditch. Maybe I should just go out in one last hurrah…there's no chance for me to live staying put, after all.

He readied his body to rush out of the ditch. On the count of three he was going to…

He suddenly heard a loud beeping noise. It was getting closer. Then it stopped in front of that very ditch with a loud thud. It was…

A garbage truck? Shinichi thought. A man in the front seat unrolled the window.

"If you want to live, climb inside," the man said.

"Who the heck are you?" Shinichi asked.

"There's no time to explain," the man said. "Hurry! If we dawdle too long it'll look suspicious."

Realising that this was his only chance, Shinichi leapt out of the trench, opened the door for the truck, and climbed inside. He lied down on the floor so that he wouldn't be visible to the sniper or any other BO agent with a good pair of binoculars.

Scene Transition

"Screw you, garbage truck! Get out of the way!"

"Calvados, what's happening?" Vodka asked.

"Some garbage truck pulled out in front of the ditch," Calvados said. "Man, now I can't see the ditch at all!"

"Do you think maybe they're trying to rescue him?" Bourbon asked.

"It's not likely," Calvados said. "You see, one of the garbagemen got out of the truck and he's headed for a dumpster."

"That could be just a front," Chianti said. "Maybe on the other side that brat's climbing inside the truck."

"Calvados, for the time being keep your eye on the ditch," Vodka said. "We don't know whether that was just a normal garbage truck or not, but now we have no choice but to go after it. Once we know which way it's going, the other two vehicles will break position and pursue. We'll fill the truck with bullet holes."

"Roger that," Tequila said.

"Affirmative," Bourbon said.

Scene Transition

"Who are you two?" Shinichi asked.

"Ah, my name is Ryan Jackson," the man on the left said. "We're with the CIA and we're colleagues of Hidemi Hondou."

"I'm Yoshiteru Nichimura," the guy driving said. "Elena Miyano sent us."

"To rescue me?" Shinichi asked.

"To take you to her," Ryan Jackson said. "That does, of course, preclude rescuing you. Hold on, we're about to enter the tunnel."

And enter the tunnel they did (it was a different tunnel than the one from before, with a different shape). As soon as they entered, they started slowing down.

"Why are we slowing?" Shinichi asked.

"They'll be waiting for us out the other end," Yoshiteru said. "We can't turn back against the flow of traffic, obviously, and even if we did they'd likely be waiting for us there too. So there's only one option."

The car pulled over and came to a stop. They all got out.

"I see," Shinichi said, seeing the tiny blue car. "We're switching midway, right?"

"Correct," Ryan Jackson said. "Now we'd better hurry up, or else they'll start to suspect that we've switched vehicles. Yoshiteru, I'll take the wheel this time."

Scene Transition

"Hey, they entered the tunnel 10 minutes ago, didn't they?!" Bourbon exclaimed, his car parked about 100 yards outside of the tunnel. "Why the heck haven't I seen a big garbage truck yet?"

"They got us," Tequila said. "They must've switched vehicles inside the tunnel and came out the other end without us spotting them. They're probably long gone by now. Hey Vodka, do we call off the chase?"

Vodka sighed. "Yeah, I don't see any point in continuing. Calvados, how's things on your end?"

"Nothing's come out of the ditch yet," Calvados said. "I think he escaped with the garbage truck, just like everyone's saying. I'm going home."

"Me too," Bourbon said.

"Wait, somebody has to go extract the body for revival," Chianti said.

"I'll do it," Vodka said. "If that dead guy is Gin then it's only fitting that his partner extract him. The rest of you can go."

Scene Transition

Subaru heard a knock. He walked over to the front door and opened it. Shukichi stepped inside.

"Hello," Subaru said.

"Hi," Shukichi said with a smile. "I look forward to trying your curry."

After they fixed their plates they sat down to eat.

"I must say, this is fantastic," Shukichi said after eating about half his plate.

"I got the recipe from a friend," Subaru said. "Speaking of friends, what do you know about Kohji Haneda?"

"Ah, Kohji? Yeah, I know of him," Shukichi said nonchalantly. "I look up to him, and he's the reason that I started playing Shogi."

"Solid story," Subaru said.

Shukichi stopped in his tracks. "W-wait, you don't think I'm being untruthful, do you?"

"Who can say?" Shuichi asked. "I've got my own story now, and I'd like for you to hear it. Tell me if you think this story is true or false."

"Uh, okay," Shukichi said awkwardly.

"Once upon a time, there was a Shogi player named Kohji Haneda," Subaru said. "He was extremely talented, and many people hoped that he would achieve all 7 major Shogi titles. About seventeen or eighteen years ago, at the age of twenty, he heard of a massive chess tournament being held in America, with hundreds if not thousands of competitors showing up. Chess was another game that he enjoyed, so he was excited by the prospect and wanted to go. There was just one problem: the trip would be prohibitively expensive for him. Fortunately for him, a wealthy American woman named Amanda Hughes had been paying close attention to his games."

"Well, well, looks like somebody has been doing his homework," Shukichi said.

"Please don't interrupt," Subaru said. "Anyways, this woman contacted him via a letter written in sloppy Japanese offering to pay for his whole trip to America, as well as the return ticket. Naturally, he accepted. Unfortunately, 36 hours before the trip he saw something. A truth that certain men were willing to kill to keep secret. And it involved a man named Rum."

Shukichi shifted uncomfortably in his seat and chuckled nervously. "Okay, I don't know where you got that part from."

"Not willing to wait for him to come back, this man named Rum purchased his own ticket to America to follow after Kohji," Subaru continued, ignoring Shukichi's remark. Kohji didn't know this at the time, but he discovered shortly after landing that someone was following him. He quickly realised that this somebody was Rum. Anyway, he tried to put his mind at ease and focus on the upcoming tournament. He met with the woman who sponsored the trip as well as with her bodyguard, Asaka Watanabe, a fairly feminine man with long hair who nonetheless was a good but not exceptional bodyguard. As he spent the next few hours with Amanda Hughes and Asaka he realised that a few things were…off."

Who the heck…is this guy?! Shukichi thought, trying hard to look calm and composed.

"The first thing was that Amanda actually did not pay for his return trip, though she kept this a secret," Subaru said. "The second thing was that she had deadly weapons inside of her suitcase at the hotel they were staying at. Granted, this is America we're talking about so that wasn't too unusual…until he realised that the hotel they were staying at had a strict no guns policy. On the evening before the tournament, Amanda revealed the truth: the real reason behind her paying for his ticket to America."

There was an eerie pause.

"It was her dream in life to murder the world's best shogi player," Subaru went on. "And so she and Asaka tried to kill him."

"T-this is ridiculous," Shukichi said, beginning to stand up. "Thank you for the curry, but…"

"Sit down," Subaru ordered with a strange authority. Not knowing why, Shukichi then sat back down.

"Now, Kohji was a pretty resourceful guy," Subaru said. "Somehow, he managed to overpower them both and stun them with a stun gun that belonged to one of the two of them. Then, he had an idea to get Rum off his back and save his own skin. He knew that he'd have to give up everything he had, but we both are in a unique position to understand that simply continuing to draw breath is in itself worth it."

Shukichi was shaking in his seat.

"What happened next would not be possible if it weren't for one extremely convenient fact," Subaru said. "Kohji had short hair and Asaka had long hair. Likewise, Kohji needed glasses and Asaka didn't. Other than this, however, they looked identical. So identical, in fact, that one had to stop and wonder if maybe they were long lost twins. In any case, however, Kohji went out and bought a long black wig for himself. Then he returned and cut Asaka's hair. Finally, he put his own glasses on Asaka and the trick was complete. He hid outside of the hotel room and waited for Rum to arrive and kill him. Sure enough, Rum showed up and entered the room. Believing Asaka to be Kohji, Rum murdered Asaka, and then Amanda, who was a witness to his crime. Satisfied with a job well done he left and presumably boarded a flight back to Japan. As soon as Rum was gone, however, Kohji emerged from hiding and re-entered the hotel room. He took a mirror and left behind a dying message that wouldn't be easily discovered. Whenever it was discovered and deciphered, however, it would implicate Asaka not only of being the killer but also of being Rum. Then, he left the hotel and used Asaka's identity to book a flight to Japan. After traveling back to Japan under Asaka's identity he went into hiding, and he's been in hiding here in his home country ever since."

"THAT'S ABSURD!" Shukichi roared, slamming his fists into the table. "You have no proof! If Kohji were still alive, I of all people would know it!"

"Ah, but he's living under a new identity," Subaru said. "He hasn't told anybody in all these years, not even his family. He built a new life for himself, a new identity. He even managed to change his appearance with a certain drug…Apotoxin 4869. Kohji, did I get any part of this wrong?"

Shukichi was silent.

In fact, Shukichi didn't speak for a good minute. Then he sighed peacefully.

"How did you…figure me out?" Shukichi/Kohji asked. "Subaru-san, just who on earth are you?"

"The woman who gave you that drug," Subaru said. "What did she say the odds were?"

"She said I had a one-third chance of surviving and being de-aged," Shukichi said. "She said that at the drug's current stage of development at the time, those were the best odds she could give me. I imagine it's practically risk-free today though. But again, who are you? You apparently know all about me but I know nothing about you."

"…You'll learn the truth one day," Subaru said. "For now, that information is classified."

"You know that isn't fair," Shukichi said.

"I never said that I'm a fair guy," Subaru said. "What's important, however, is…"

"Yeah, I know," Shukichi said. "You want to know what I saw that day, what it was that led Rum to try and kill me, right?"

Subaru/Shuichi smiled. Rum, I'm closing in on you, like a hunter corners his prey. Can you feel it?

Scene Transition

Finally, the car came to a stop. After half a minute the trunk door was opened. Shinichi slowly climbed out and stepped into the underground parking lot.

"Sorry about that," Yoshiteru Nichimura said. "Understandably, we can't let you know where Elena Miyano is hiding at."

"I already have a general idea," Shinichi said.

"R-really?" Ryan Jackson asked. "How?"

"Well, from the trunk I was able to tell the car's approximate speed and direction," Shinichi said. "To know the time I simply had to look at my phone, so I know how long the car has been traveling. We're in Beika, right?"

Ryan Jackson sighed. "You're just like they say, Kudo-kun. We are indeed in Beika. Let's go inside then."

They headed for the elevator, pushed the Up button, and waited.

"This is where we part ways," Yoshiteru said. "From this point onwards only you are allowed inside because we don't have an appointment with Elena-san."

"I just have one warning," Ryan Jackson said. "Before you can speak with Elena, you're going to be checked very thoroughly by security. It's going to be unpleasant."

"How bad can it be?" Shinichi said reassuringly.

"Pretty bad," Yoshiteru said. "Well, here they come."

There was a ding and the elevator door opened. Half a dozen armed men were waiting; Ryan Jackson and Yoshiteru abruptly pushed Shinichi inside and the door closed.

At that moment they all grabbed Shinichi.

"H-hey wait a minute!" Shinichi protested.

One of the guards pushed the button for the second floor with his free hand and the elevator began to rise.

Scene Transition

"Elena-sama is waiting past this door," the security guard said.

After having been subjected to a strip search and being forced to shower and switch into different clothes, Shinichi had cleared security and was now on the top floor.

Shinichi sighed. "Thank you."

He opened the door, stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

To his surprise, it was an office room. Elena Miyano had an oversized wooden desk with a name card on it. The chair behind the desk rotated, revealing that Elena was sitting in it. She was a woman in her mid-forties, though she was still slim and fairly attractive.

"Ah, Kudo-kun, I've been expecting you," she said. "Please, sit down."

Shinichi slowly sat down at the desk.

"Sorry about security," she said. "When you're in my situation you must take every possible precaution against listening devices or homing beacons."

Shinichi struggled to speak but no words came out.

"What, you have nothing to say?" Elena asked.

"W-wow," Shinichi muttered. "So you're…Haibara's mother."

"That's correct, though we both know that isn't my daughter's name," Elena said. "You know, you and I actually have met before."

"Huh?" Shinichi asked. "When was this?"

"A very long time ago," Elena said. "Whenever you were very little. You probably don't remember. In fact, you met Shiho on that day too."

"I-I don't remember any of this," Shinichi said.

She shrugged. "Okay. I was just making small talk. I'll get down to business then. As you may or may not know, I called you here for a reason. My condolences on Ran's passing, by the way."

"Thank you," Shinichi said.

"This past year you have simultaneously been hiding from and waging a silent war against the men in black," Elena said. "The Black Organisation. But how much do you know about them?"

"Not that much," Shinichi admitted.

"Well, if you want I can explain who they are and what they want," Elena said.

"I have a feeling you were going to tell me anyway," Shinichi said.

"Very well then," Elena said. She coughed once to clear her throat. "As everybody knows, Japan lost the Second World War. But what if I were to tell you that not all Japanese government and military officials accepted this fact? What if some of them did not accept the surrender as legitimate?"

"That would be a good plot for a thriller novel," Shinichi said derisively.

"What if these officials banded together in secret to form a resistance?" Elena continued, ignoring Shinichi's' remark. "An organisation with the objective of eventually taking power and reviving the Japanese Empire. They called themselves the Black Army, a name inspired by the ultranationalist Black Dragon Society which existed up until its disbanding at the end of WW2 on orders from the American Occupation Authorities. With time, the Black Army would become better known as the Black Organisation."

"S-so the Black Organisation wants to revive the Japanese Empire?" Shinichi asked.

"That would be true today, if it weren't for a man named Colonel Hajime Suzuki, founder of the present day Suzuki Financial Group," Elena said. "He took control of the Black Army and from at point he began to make drastic changes to it."

"Drastic…changes?" Shinichi asked.

"Hajime Suzuki was an occultist," Elena explained. "He worshipped the ancient gods of Canaan, especially Ba'al and Milcom, who is better known as Moloch. Around this time, the Black Army recovered some top-secret documents from the Japanese government. These documents changed everything."

"How so?" Shinichi asked.

"These documents revealed the existence of another species, a second type of human being that once coexisted with our own," Elena said. "Well, to say that they coexisted with us is a bit of a stretch. The Japanese government discovered the existence of these species through an archaeological expedition to Mandatory Palestine in the summer of 1932, a one in a billion find. Not only was the entire skeleton intact but also the remains of a certain internal organ."

"Neanderthals?" Shinichi asked.

"I wish," Elena said. "No, this species was just like our own, except with one key difference. They had an organ in their bodies which allowed them to replace any part of their body through cannibalism. If they ate a human heart, they could replace their own heart with the eaten heart. Or an arm. Or a leg. In theory they could even replace their own heads…or their brains. The only organ which could not be replaced by an outside part was the organ that made all this possible. This species at one point lived in one place apart from Homo Sapiens, but they quickly realised that if they enslaved the homo sapiens species then they could have an unlimited source of replacement parts for themselves. So they did. This species was making extensive use of bronze weaponry before regular humans did, so they had the advantage and they enslaved us. The gods of the ancient near east were most likely members of this other species, who modern people aware of their existence call Antichrist. They're not to be confused with the enigmatic figure mentioned in the Book of Revelation, by the way. That's just a name somebody came up with for them."

How come I've never heard about this in history class? Shinichi wondered.

"One day at an undetermined point in history, all that changed," Elena said. "The human race learned to use the bronze technology of Antichrist and they rose up and drove their former masters to the brink of extinction. Over the course of thousands of years the Antichrist species survived but in hiding. Wherever their cannibalistic abilities were discovered they were lynched by fearful mobs. Historically, the last known place where they managed to find refuge before going extinct was Europe. Many of the witches burned at the stake in the dark ages were members of the Antichrist species. They live on in modern memory only in the popular depictions of vampires, most famously Count Dracula."

"Uh, this is very interesting, but what does any of it have to do with the Black Organisation?" Shinichi asked.

"Everything," Elena snapped. "Hajime Suzuki, upon learning of the existence of Antichrist, totally changed the purpose of the Black Army. Instead of reviving the Japanese Empire, they were going to revive Antichrist and restore them to their position of dominance over the human race. That is their current objective, though only its highest ranking members know the group's purpose. Even members like Gin wouldn't know."

"B-but like you said, this Antichrist is long gone," Shinichi said. "How can they be brought back?"

"Apotoxin 4869," Elena said, dropping a metaphorical bombshell.

Shinichi was stunned. "Y-you're saying that drug can raise the dead?!"

"No," Elena said. "But it's a step in that direction. You see, the main purpose behind developing that drug was for the Organisation to learn how to program cells in the human body, even dead cells. To order cells to do or to do that. Once they learned how to do this, they would eventually be able to give cells a new command."

"Be restored from death," Shinichi guessed.

"Bingo," Elena said. "APTX-4869 was just a stepping stone towards the development of a drug that could raise the dead. Once such a drug was mastered, they could raise Antichrist."

"D-did they do it?!" Shinichi asked.

"…Yes," Elena said. "Such a drug has been developed to the point that the Organisation uses it regularly to revive its dead agents. They've had this new drug at their disposal for about a month now. So you see, whenever Gin committed suicide at the police station, he really did die. But the Organisation later extracted his corpse and used their new drug to revive him. The Organisation's name for this drug is, by the way, ELXR-0666."

I-if that's true, then that means…Shinichi thought.

"I-I killed Gin," Shinichi said. "Earlier today. I-is he…?"

"They're probably reviving him as we speak," Elena said.

T-then I'm not a murderer…? Shinichi thought, relief sinking over his body.

"Fortunately for you, there's a side effect to being revived," Elena said. "A revived person will have no memory of the one week or so prior to death. That's why Gin, even after discovering your identity, did not come after you upon being revived. He had no memory of discovering your identity."

"S-so the Organisation still doesn't know that…?" Shinichi asked, shaking.

"They still do not know that Conan Edogawa and Shinichi Kudo are the same person," Elena confirmed.

Shinichi was breathing hard. "I-I have so many unanswered questions, then. First of all, why have I never heard about these Antichrist?"

"It's been intentionally kept a secret from the people and governments of the world by the Black Organisation," Elena said. "The Black Organisation has erased any archaeological evidence pointing to the existence of such a species, and they've silenced any outside scientist who discovered evidence of Antichrist. Even so, to our knowledge a second intact part-replacement organ has never been discovered by sources outside of the Organisation. Without such an organ, even an Antichrist skeleton looks just like a normal human skeleton. In 1997, the Organisation conducted a massive expedition to Siberia to uncover intact Antichrist samples in the frozen tundra. They recovered as many as 300 intact samples, if my sources are correct. That's potentially 300 Antichrist which can be restored to life by ELXR-0666. They've also been experimenting with the idea of cloning ever since Dolly the Sheep was born in 1996. To my knowledge they have yet to succeed in creating a live Antichrist through cloning, though that could change in the near future."

"If the Organisation has a drug that can raise the dead, though, then couldn't they already revive all their Antichrist samples?" Shinichi asked.

"That is correct," Elena said. "The possibility exists that they already have, or that they will in the near future. Until revival, all of their samples are stored in liquid nitrogen at a facility in Hokkaido. However, their plans won't be in reach simply upon the revival of Antichrist. Even if they revived all of their several hundred existing samples, humanity would still be the dominant species of planet Earth. That has to change, which is why the Organisation is now devoting its resources towards developing a weapon that can destroy human civilisation."

Shinichi sighed. "By this point nothing surprises me anymore."

"I bet you're wrong," Elena said. "I bet what I'm about to tell you will surprise you."

"And what is that?" Shinichi asked, chuckling derisively.

"What if I were to tell you that I can bring Ran back to life?"

To be Continued

Ending:

(Red by BREAKERZ)

I'll never forget the moment when I realized you were gone

Your body was cold as ice in my arms, a beautiful empty shell

A burning tear streaked across my face, I could hardly breathe

They pried me away, scratch marks engraved into your flesh

I'll never forget the moment when they laid you in the ground

Walking away that day was the hardest thing I've ever had to do

I returned to my life a robot, the days coming and going like clouds

I fell into bed, begging for the day to end while dreading tomorrow

I used to think the world was black, white, and a multitude of brilliant colors

But now the only colors in my world are gray and a maddening shade of red

That man's face is burned into the back of my head, haunting my sleepless nights

I know what I have to do tonight, even if I must be no longer the man you loved

Next time on Detective Conan:

Elena Miyano makes Shinichi an offer he simply cannot refuse. A black crow is born.

Next Conan's Hint: Cognac