Chapter Eight: Power, Wisdom, Courage
It was interesting, to those who met them, the similarities between the famed detectives of the east and west. While both were quite obviously different people, when it came to noticing things, they were almost on par with the other, constantly knocking heads during cases that would oddly enough be credited to either the police or the Osakan. But now, it was only the western detective, the 'Nishi no Meitantei' who was well known. With his death, the famed 'Azuma no Meitantei' almost completely disappeared from the world, remembered only by those who he'd come to know himself.
All similarities aside however, Heiji found himself frowning after getting out of the taxi, the building's location and identity almost completely blowing over him as he stared at the lock on the shop door. While Kiyoiri busied herself with unlocking the door to the house itself, he couldn't help but notice that the lock seemed... Oddly scratched.
"Neh neh, Heiji-niisan! Over here, we go in this way!"
He shook his head, nodding. "Right... I'm comin' I'm comin'..." He pushed the thoughts on the lock back in his mind, walking into the small house with Kiyoiri and Kira instead. The hall light was on, and Kiyoiri was looking in the fridge, frowning.
"Mou.... 'Tou-san ate the meat already?" As she said this, Kira disappeared into another room, Heiji himself simply staring at the slightly greasy plate in the sink.
That was recently put there... The fridge door closing behind him snapped him out of his focus however, and he turned to look at Kiyoiri. "Oi... Are yah alright now? I can just leave yah here right?"
Thankfully for him, the girl responded with a nod. "Yep! ...Though I think you still have to help Kira-chan right...?"
...Damn it! Heiji mentally groaned, turning to where Kira disappeared. "Right... Oiii, Kira-chan..." There was no sign of her.. "....Kiyoiri-chan... Did yah see where she went at all?" The girl pointed over to a door behind the curtains of the kitchen, and he waved a 'thanks' before heading that way.
"Yare yare... Now what could you be in here for?"
"W-Who?-"
Heiji wasted no time in opening the door and running in. Though what he saw was rather odd... "Kira-chan? And..." It was another kid but...
They were arguing over an ink bottle? A few seconds later the rest of the room caught his eye, the cocoons in particular standing out as he scanned the area. The sheer multitude of cables and computers here, and the target was a small stash of ink in a side table drawer? "....Righ'... Who are you?"
The girl, currently clutching a bottle of ink as though it were her life, coughed, turning away slightly. "Higurashi Karin... Sorry for intruding... But I needed some ink from Kiyoiri-chan..."
While Kira merely smirked in response to this, Heiji had a much more incredulous expression. "At 10 at night?"
Karin's face flushed crimson, and she turned away, before a fourth voice entered the conversation. "Eh, Karin-chan?" The girl turned, blinking as Kiyoiri walked in. "What are you doing here... Eh? Ink? …..Oh yea, 'Tou-san mentioned something about that..."
"Ah... Yea... I really need this um..." As the girl turned to leave through the shop door (Or what likely was), she found her path blocked by the 19 year old from Osaka.
Crossing his arms, he looked down with a stare that, had Conan been on the receiving end, would likely have been reminiscent of the ones that Kogoro used to give him when the man was suspicious. Instead, it had the effect of confusion on Karin. "Something the matter?"
"Yea. Why break in to steal ink instead of waiting for tomorrow?"
Karin froze, cogs turning in her mind as the dust within began jamming a few others there. "Ehh....."
Damn it, how was she supposed to explain that?
Meanwhile in the middle of Tokyo, FBI agent Jodie Starling was looking at her watch with a frown. "I don't understand..." She scowled, crossing her arms as she looked around. "Where are they?? They're late!"
"There's no sense getting too upset about it Jodie..." Before James Black could even finish that sentence, a car came blazing down the street, stopping in front of the two FBI agents. "Ah, this must be them..."
Jodie smiled a bit, walking over to the car as the window rolled down. "Agent Gibbs?"
"Yea?" The blank stare worked almost as well as the word really...
She held out a hand, nodding her head out of the habit of bowing she developed in the city they were at. "I'm Agent Jodie Starling, this is my partner James Black- We'll be working with you for the next bit."
"I know." Jodie resisted the urge to twitch a brow at Gibb's blunt yet straight-faced remarks, instead letting Black speak.
Walking forwards, the man held a serious gaze to match the current situation. "We understand that you have an idea as to the location of the victims?"
This time, a voice from the passenger's seat of the car answered, Gibbs leaning back uncomfortably as McGee held his laptop over him. "Eh... Sorry boss."
A short glare told him to 'get it over with', and McGee chose to listen to that look. "Right... We have a tracer on the one that was kidnapped; We lost its location in Washington, but the moment we entered the area, the signal was picked up again." He pulled the laptop back, continuing. "They stopped moving about twenty minutes ago; We've sent you the coordinates."
A shout from behind Black told McGee they'd received it. "Ooh~ Good job! This isn't far from here!!"
Black turned back to Gibbs, who was about to roll up his window. "Thank you... We'll follow you there then, and continue from that point."
As the window was rolled up and he and Jodie entered the car, Black had a feeling that Gibbs wasn't going to listen to him once they got there...
At all. Hell, maybe he already wasn't listening... He hoped that wasn't the case though.
Of course, his hopes were often dashed, weren't they?
It wasn't until they had reached the area of the building that Conan had realized just how 'screwed' they were in this situation. Looking at the large building- A hospital building, he frowned. "Oii... Hisoka... Is this place seriously..."
Koji in the meantime was staring at the building with an odd look on his face; A mix of nostalgia and regret. "Hn... I've come here from a different route before..."
"Eh!?!?" Issun hopped from the top of Conan's head, landing on Koji's shoulder and frowning up at the boy. "What do ya mean, 'come here before'?! Isn't this supposed to be the 'bad guy's lair' kind of place?"
"Hng...." Both boys turned away from Issun, Koji eventually speaking first. "Look, Megane... This is Section A's location... I didn't think we'd end up here so soon, especially since I've been avoiding it for a while but.. Next to the 'head branch', this one is probably the most dangerous one to infiltrate..."
While Issun continued to bounce in confusion ("Oi!! What are you two talking about!?"), Conan frowned, crossing his arms. "Hng... You wouldn't happen to know a good way in would you..?"
"Not one that's unmonitored..."
"Tch..."
A voice from Koji's shoulder took their attention however, and both boys were soon grinning madly when they heard what he said. "Hey... You know, last I checked birds and bugs weren't out of the ordinary..."
Koji looked over at Conan, whose gaze mirrored the other's before the latter trudged off into some bushes near by. "Hehehe... Alright Issun... Listen closely..."
As Heiji walked through the almost violet mist with wide eyes, Karin trudged forwards with a grim look on her face. Kira, who was behind her and in front of Heiji, had only just convinced Kiyoiri to stay behind in case her father questioned the broken lock, but that did nothing for the fact that the detective of the group needed an explanation.
Well... He got it... "How the hell..."
"VR..." Kira took over the explanation, Karin looking back with a face that clearly said 'how do you know?'. "Karin's ability has been transformed by the machinery of the cocoon machine..."
Heiji looked down at Kira with a twitching brow, before frowning. "That tells me nothin' kid..."
"Mhnhn~ I would expect such from the supposedly 'level' one.." She chuckled, before Karin's voice took both of the others attention.
"The things I'm doing now are the same as within the video game I played for the test of the Cocoon you saw in the shop..." She paused in her walking momentarily, drawing two lines of black in the sky again as the mist around them thickened. "I'd rather not say more than that... I don't think I can..."
The other two stared (Or rather, the one who could see did), and Heiji shrugged. "Alrigh', if you say so..." He continued to look around the mist, eyes wide again. "Still, this is pretty interesting... You can do other things with this ink?"
"....." You could practically see the flames rising from the 10 year old up front.
"Ehehe... Oi oi, I didn't mean anything by it!" Heiji's hands went into a defensive position as Karin raised the brush in a poking motion. "Oii!!!"
A few minutes later, if someone was paying attention, they might have seen an ink-black young adult rush by with and after two young children, disappearing into the mist within seconds after being spotted.
As the cars sped towards their destination, two very cramped agents sat in the back of the FBI van, unnoticed by the FBI agents inside. Crouched in beneath the seat, Tony struggled to keep completely silent as his ear flopped in front of his face.
Stupid... Long... Ears... ".....fff!" He blew at it, watching as it flew away from his face only to fall back again. "....Fff!" … "Fff! Fff-"
"Tony!" Ziva's hissing voice could be heard just barely by himself, and he turned to where the woman was hiding as she scowled at him. Putting two fingers to her lips, she went back to her own 'comfortable' position, going over how she was to hold a standard gun now.
Frowning, Tony glared at his guilty ear as he attempted to move it out of his face. So itchy... Attempting to bat it away again, he succeeded only in moving it slightly to his right and into his nose. "Hnnn...... Fff!" The ear flapped up, and a few hairs flew into his nose, the ottsel tensing as it began to twitch. "Ah... Ah..."
Ziva turned to him immediately, a wide eyed stare almost threatening immediate death if he were to do what he was about to do.
"Ah..."
There was rustling noises up above them... Ziva quickly began shuffling over, hand held over as she stretched her arm to reach Tony's nose. "Tony...!"
"AH-CHOO!"
Ziva's expression went from one of murder to one of fear as her hand froze in midair, almost tempted to change its course for her own face as people scrambled about in the van. Damnit...
There went getting filled in by the FBI without being discovered...
"CAW!" A large raven could be seen flying around the 'Ekoda Hospital', and those inside were rather amused by what was seen as 'animal antics'. The raven was flying up, down, back and forth, first floor to even the top floor as it perched atop the building or the trees.
In the basement levels however, were some very confused security guards. As each camera fizzled out, all that they saw was black... But not a single trace of any person, computer signal... Anything! As people , ran back and forth from the room to a familiar office, almost crying as they delivered the message, even more cameras would fizzle out into a grey, white and black fuzz.
-zakuzaku!- With the flash of a blade, and a drop of ink to Conan's surprise the first run, Issun crushed the camera with out getting even a hint of them on film. Black ink covered the screen from seemingly nowhere, and a few seconds later the plastic crushed inwards by the force of his blade and Conan's own talons. That was the first one.
Then the number rose to two. Four. Eight... Each time, they returned to Koji, who quickly located the next one through a combination of scent and memory. Finally, the bird and poncle returned to the boy and collapsed, both gasping for air after the quick run through. "Hah... hah... hah... That's... All of them right...?"
Koji nodded. "That's all of the ones we need down yea..."
That was only a few!? These thoughts were stopped as Koji crouched down and threw some clothes to Conan, who quickly began taking his normal form and putting them on. "If we just got rid of the ones near the chutes we're entering, it'd attract too much attention... As it is, we'll have to go through the ventilation first, and they'll probably catch the blockage within a few minutes of entry." The boy sighed, before uncrossing his arms and looking at the other two with a stern expression on his face.
"You've destroyed the few that will draw their attention away from us- But we need to move fast. Follow me, alright?"
Neither of the other two argued as they followed behind- It would probably be best to let the 'tiger' guide them through this 'jungle'.
The mist was still thick as they arrived at the hospital, Karin holding a few silvery violet hairs in her hands while Heiji turned to look around the parking lot. "This is the base... A hospital...?"
Karin nodded. "That's where the trail leads..."
Kira as well scanned the parking lot, a small frown on her face. "Hmmm... We are not alone..." The mist began to clear, and within a few seconds the slow-moving forms of a series of vehicles entered the hospital area, Heiji looking towards them with a frown. "Now what would they be doing here, I wonder?"
Suddenly, the mist disappeared completely, time moving blurring to a normal pace as a small number of agents, mostly FBI, exited the van. Heiji noted that one of them was holding two cardboard boxes with holes cut through the sides, while the other, who he recognized as the high school teacher he'd met a few years back, was arguing with a man who just exited his own car. Staring at the scene with a bit of confusion, he felt a tug on his sleeve. "Eh, what?" The detective looked down, frowning at Kira. "What, What is it??"
"Ah, I merely thought you might be interested in this but..." Kira gestured behind them, where the third member of their party was now missing. "As you can see, our celestial envoy seems to have vanished..."
Celestial... Ignoring that, Heiji looked at where Karin disappeared and tensed. "Tch... We turn around for one second an' she leaves!? What does she think she's gonna do anyways!? She's only a kid!!"
Kira merely shrugged, chuckling as Heiji continued to rant to himself about the mess that he'd gotten into, along with the trouble that Karin herself could be in at that moment, before running over to the agents that were still arguing amongst each other. Ahaha... As though that would help matters...
Meanwhile at the entrance for the vents, Issun and the others were having very little luck. "Alright... This has to work..." A tiny brush, invisible to Conan and Koji's eye was drawn across the vent bars, the boys visibly becoming more and more agitated as the poncle did this. This was.. At least the fifth time. For a second, the line would glow, a small niche appearing in the bars for an instant and then...
The line glowed even brighter for a few seconds, before dissipating into a cloud of black dust, Issun bouncing up and down in his anger once more. "DANG IT! I thought I had that one!!!"
The boys sighed, Koji crouching down beside the poncle with an annoyed look on his face. "Look... We don't have time... I thought you had a sword!"
The ponle retaliated with his own glare, hissing his words violently. "And I told you, it's not sharp enough for this kind of metal! I don't know what they put in steel these days, but for some reason, Denkomaru can't cut this!!"
"Maybe 'Denkomaru' isn't as strong as you thought then..."
"Why you, I oughta-"
-SHING!-
The two boys froze in the middle of their argument, Conan moving his gaze from his position behind Issun to look in the same direction the other two were. Away from the vents. As all three stared, speechless, a small bit of laughter slowly became audible to them, before being covered by the sound of small steel bars falling to the ground.
"Hnhnhnhn! Really Issun... You're still with me aren't you? You said you wouldn't leave until you learned all of my techniques..."
Issun stared, as did the other two as Karin put the cap back on her ink bottle and grinned, red eyes flashing from the view of the poncle. "Now then," she said, pulling a small rosary necklace around her neck with a smile. "What was it you said earlier, about needing help?"
AN: Oh look, I UPDATED. 83 We're nearing the end folks... And be glad for it... You know why?
This was my 'least' inspired of fanfics... It's the one I was least inspired to write, as my plotline was 'bleh'. However, the fanfic coming next (At least, after the short story collection that will only occasionally be updated between said fanfic in chronological terms), is something I've been DYING to write, especially after seeing a trailer for an upcoming movie. 33
Only three chapters left guys... Two if the epilogue is merged with one... 3
(Also.. Yea. This one's really short compared to the last. But... Really, shouldn't expect them to be that length for this fic. |D)
