Midnight Clashes

Chapter 6

Entering The Opposition

"Wait!" Chiaki shouted out after Red. "Stop! Don't make me use force!"

Chiaki was surprised when the other thief actually stopped on top of a rooftop, turning to face him with an impatient glare.

"What do you want?" Red said in an annoyed tone. "Why do you insist on pursuing me? You can not gain the demon anymore. It has sunk into the silver."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chiaki asked. "'Sunk into the silver'?"

"My silver orbs hold strong magic, they are 'deep', so to speak. The demon entered it and sunk in, it can't get out", Red explained, sounding more aggravated by the minute. "Now, is there something more you want or can I go?"

"Who do you work for? Hell or heaven?"

Red looked at him relentlessly, a smug smirk appearing on his face. He flipped his long braid to the side in a dismissive gesture as he said: "Neither."

"What?" Chiaki gasped out. "How's that even possible?"

"I don't make the rules", Red said, shrugging. "I simply go by them as much as my position allows."

"And your position is?"

"None of your business", Red said with a snarl before taking off again. "I hope that during our future meetings you won't turn out to be such a nuisance."

Chiaki was silently fuming to himself when he heard an unfamiliar voice from behind him say: "Quite arrogant, wouldn't you say?"

The thief whirled around to see a young man dressed completely in white. Had Maron not mentioned a person like this to him yesterday? He had a strange name.

"Have a moment to chat, Sinbad-san?"

Chiaki spread his arms in a disarming gesture.

"Sure", he said off-handedly. "What do you need to speak to me about, Kaitou Kid?"

&&&&&&&

Minazuki was moping silently because Sinbad got away so Miyako decided to ignore him for the moment. She was currently eyeing the painting Kaitou Red had taken. The picture had been wiped clean but now a new image was starting to appear, just like with the paintings Jeanne stole.

"It's the same", one of the officers said. "It looks exactly the same."

Miyako did not quite agree. The new painting did look a lot like the one that had been there before. The original one had been of a flower field, this one was a flower field as well. The difference was that the flowers were a few shades darker, like the vision that had created the picture in the first place had been changed.

The sky had been completely clear before, now it held clouds like if a storm had been coming. The time of the day in the picture had been changed; from midday to almost dusk.

"It's the same view", Minazuki said from next to Miyako, startling the girl slightly. "Just through another person's eyes."

"It's beyond comparison", the owner of the painting, a middle aged woman, spoke breathlessly. "It's just dark enough to be fascinating but still bright enough to grant hope. I love it."

Miyako let out a heavy sigh as she watched the new painting. It truly seemed more complete than the original one. She just could not help but wonder what kind of an angel Jeanne would have given the woman if she had bothered to show up.

"Jeanne", Miyako said softly. "Why didn't you come? And why did Maron know you weren't coming?"

As people began to walk out of the room Miyako left with them. Her hand was inside her pocket, playing with a slip of paper. She wondered if it was too late to make a call. She definitely could use some companionship at the moment.

&&&&&&&

Chiaki's unsuccessful night got a lot better as soon as he climbed through the balcony door into his apartment.

"Chiaki!" Maron's happy voice greeted and the boy was granted with the sight of the girl's beautiful smile. The situation really reminded Chiaki of a wife greeting her husband that was returning home from work.

"Chiaki?" Maron asked, looking confused suddenly. "Why are you blushing?"

Chiaki waved his arms aimlessly as he shouted out: "N-nothing! It's nothing!" The he rushed into the bathroom. "I'll just take a shower."

Not really understanding the situation, Maron let out a bright laugh. She felt so much better now that Chiaki was back. She did not want to be alone. Ever again.

&&&&&&&

Red held the silver marble to the moonlight, trying to peer inside the swirling depths. He had explained the orbs to Kaitou Sinbad without any trouble but that did not mean he understood them himself. He had barely started this play-acting and the only one who knew anything about his equipment was the one who had given them to him.

"Red..." Speaking of the devil. Red turned around to face the ghastly form of his only comrade in crime.

"I got it", Red said emotionlessly, offering the orb to the hazy form of a man. At least it looked like a man mostly. The figure had a habit of shifting a bit, looking like a human at one moment and then turning into a turkey the next. It seemed to amuse the shrunken human form to no end but only annoyed Red.

"Good work, Red!" the grey form cheered as he took the silver orb from the redhead. It was the size of the figure's head. At the moment, at least. The little manifestation Red considered a thorn in his side liked to change his size as well.

"How many more do I need?" Red asked as the smaller figure studied the ball. "How many demons does it take to corrupt something holy?"

"Now now, Red..." the small man scolded the thief. "You should know that we're not dealing with just something holy here. This is the holy thing, many millennia old. We need the power to kill in order to break the magic."

Red was feeling dread creep up his back as he asked the one question he definitely did not want to query about: "How many demons does that take?"

"If we keep running into these low-level ones then I say ten, at the least."

The answer did not please Red. Not the slightest bit. That meant at least ten more sleepless nights spent suffering from an adrenaline rush and a lot of research on internet and newspapers.

"I'm not going to gather the intelligence on my own", were the words Red used to form his thoughts into words.

&&&&&&&

Kaito was deep in thought as he came out of the secret room and started making his way to his bedroom. The rules had been changed that night, that much Kaito was certain of even if he was new to the thing Jeanne and Sinbad were doing. Kaito liked to consider himself the rogue card in the game but now it seemed that the appearance of Red had flipped things over a bit.

This was his last chance to back down, Kaito realized. This was the so-called point of no return. If he did not pull out of this mess now he would have to stick with it to the end.

"Oh, what the heck", Kaito said with a shrug. "This the best lead on Pandora I've had since...ever." With that decision he climbed into his bed, waiting for sleep to claim him after a very hectic night.

To be continued...