Chapter 6:

There was a large crowd gathered outside the museum. It cheered and chanted as a giant clock counted down the minutes. A tall, balding man made his way to the front of the crowd and extended his arms, someone off to the side handed him a microphone.

"What do we want!?" he screamed to the crowd.

"KIIIIID!" they answered, energetically.

"When do we want him!?" the man screamed again.

"NOOOW!" they answered, throwing their fist in the air.

The balding man spun around and pointed to the clock, it counted down... 5:59, 5:58, and 5:57. Ran reached the crowd and stayed on the outskirts, not sure what she should do. She began looking all around her for some sign that would show her where to go. A large man stepped out of the crowd and walked towards her.

"Are you a fan of Kid?" he asked standing next to her, looking toward the clock.

"Huh? Oh...No... Not really" Ran answered, the question caught her off guard.

"I see" he said smiling; he scuffed his boot on the ground and continued, "Well if you're not a fan, why are you here? It's awfully dangerous for a girl like you to be out so late". Ran's body tensed as she finally looked at him. The man reminded her of a blonde Santa, his round stomach and blonde beard that fell past his chin. She began thinking of how she could get away from him without anyone noticing, or sounding rude.

"Thanks for your concern, I should get going" she said as she cautiously moved away from the man. She began walking toward the crowd, the bright clock continued counting. 3:48, 3:47, 3:46... She had started to push past a few people in the crowd when she felt an arm on her shoulder.

"Oh come on, you really didn't think I would just leave it at that, did you?" Blonde Santa said with an evil grin. Ran stopped moving and faced him, watching his hand slid off her shoulder.

"I don't have time for a jerk like you right now!" she said, making a few people turn their heads. She brought her arms to her side and got into a fighting pose, waiting for the right moment to throw him to the ground. She watched as the man's expression changed to a grin; he began laughing. The voice sounded familiar, Ran tilted her head in wonder. The man reached up and removed his beard; he then began ripping his face. Ran watched in horror as his fat face became a familiar blonde woman. Vermouth opened her jacket and let sand bags fall to the ground. She quickly walked toward Ran and grabbed her arm, dragging her along with her.

"I really didn't think you would show up, Angel" she said, making her way to an alley way. They were alone, as the streetlight lit up their faces in a golden hue. Vermouth continued getting rid of her disguise, picking pieces of the mask off her face and removing the now baggy clothing. When she was done she gathered the remains of the costume and threw them in a nearby dumpster, quickly lighting them on fire. Ran couldn't help but watch in awe, the sequence took less than a minute as Vermouth dusted off her hands and lit up a cigarette. She noticed Ran staring at her as she flicked the lighter closed and blew out a cloud of smoke.

"You get used to getting rid of things fast, in my line of work" she said, flicking some ashes to the ground. Ran opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a huge cheer from the crowd.

"Guess that means the great phantom thief showed up" Vermouth said, looking bored. Ran looked behind her, trying to see through the darkness. The only thing she could make out was the clock, which now read 0:00 in bright red digits. There was a fluttering noise from the rooftop above her, she looked up and felt her heartbeat increase.

"What was that?" she asked in terror. 'Criminals are one thing, but ghost are another' she thought to herself in a panic. She heard a scuffle from the roof, followed by fluttering that became louder and louder before there was a loud 'THUMP' behind her. She opened her mouth to scream before it was covered by a white gloved hand.

"Easy there princess, we don't want to invite the neighbourhood to this little meeting of ours" Kid said, as Ran slowly turned to face him. He waited to make sure she was calm before removing his hand. Vermouth blew out another cloud of smoke before smothering her cigarette against the building next to her.

"Here's the deal" she began suddenly, reaching in her jacket for a box of cigarettes. "The great phantom thief here is going to be looking after you for awhile" she tapped the box until a cigarette fell out between her fingers.

"I thought I was joining the Black Organization?" Ran said suddenly upset. She hadn't left Shinichi so she could be babysat by a thief. Vermouth looked at Ran; she saw her slightly shaking knees and her clasped hands.

"There's no way you can be in the organization" she said, snorting. 'There's no way I'm putting you through that' she amended in her head.

"We just need to make your detective boyfriend believe you are. That's why until I get a job from the boss, you'll be learning the ropes from him" she pointed to Kid with her cigarette. Kid smiled and waved as Ran looked in his direction, her spirit falling.

"What about my family? And friends?" She asked facing Vermouth again "What about school? How long am I going to be away?" Ran had a ton of questions, but managed to stop them all from flooding out of her mouth. Vermouth sighed and slowly began walking.

"It shouldn't be that long before I get a job. When I do I'll tell you the details, which you will pass on to the detective. Until then you're stuck with the kid" Vermouth said, annoyed.

"Stuck doing what?" Ran asked nervously.

"Learning to be criminal" Vermouth said, on her last nerve "You can start by learning to shoot!" she called out behind her before disappearing into the darkness.

"Learning to shoot?" Ran asked facing Kid, he was busy looking at a sparkling bracelet in his hand.

"What does she mean, learning to shoot?" Ran asked, taking his gaze away from the shimmering diamonds.

"Well, that'll come later." He answered, dropping the bracelet back into his pocket. "Right now my job is to make you into a believable criminal. If we're going to trick that detective it'll take some work. Now, onto other things, what did you tell your Dad to get away?" he asked. Ran face turned white, she had completely forgotten.

"I only told Shinichi that I'd be away!" she said suddenly worried "How could I forget about telling my dad!?" she scolded herself as she stomped her feet.

Kid sighed and shook his head "Alright, calm down. Listen I'll give you until noon tomorrow to set things straight, alright? I'll come pick you up...make sure you pack light too. I don't want to carry a bunch of crap" he said narrowing his eyes at the thought. Ran nodded, feeling relieved she now had time to say her good-byes. She wasn't sure if what she was doing was right, but she knew it was better than doing nothing.