Disclaimer: See previous chapter.

Chapter 11 (Beginning of Part 2)

Dr. Sarukara grabbed a clipboard from the nurse's station and headed down the corridor to room 304. He knocked twice and entered. The officer seated by the bed quickly stood, "Sorry, but I will need to see your identification before you can continue."

"My ID?" Sarukara frowned, "You were on duty when I came here yesterday!"

The officer nodded, "I know, but I have my orders from Megure-keibu. No one but officers and hospital staff are allowed." He sat down after the doctor sighed and pulled out his identification card.

Sarukara began his routine examination when he suddenly stopped, and ran to the phone on the other side of the room.

"What is it?" asked the officer.

"We need to get this patient to the Intensive Care Unit right away – his condition has worsened."

The officer frowned. "What are his odds?"

"Hard to say. Some patients come out of comatose-states right away. Others might take weeks, or months, maybe even years. Unfortunately, not all are lucky enough to come out of one. Based on his previous injuries, I'd say he has a...maybe forty-percent chance. I would contact his family and his division if he is critical to a case."

The other officer nodded as the nurses hurried into the room, "What about Satou-keiji?"

"Her injuries aren't as severe. She's not in a life-threatening situation right now. Now, if you excuse me, I need to check on my other patients and get this one to ICU."

The officer waited for the doctor and nurses to leave before picking up and dialing the room phone. "Hello, Satou-san? This is Matsuhaki-keiji. I'm sorry to bother you at this hour, but your daughter has been injured while on duty…."

"Satou-san? Are you alright? Satou-san? Satou-san!"

Satou opened her eyes and looked around. She and Shiratori were lying in a grassy meadow. "I'm fine…I guess we made it."

Shiratori helped her up, "Where exactly is this Oz and how were you and Takagi-kun here before? And why was Kaitou Kid stuck in a mirror?!"

Satou sighed, "Long story short," she began, "Takagi-kun and I were knocked unconscious in that warehouse, and when we came to, we were here. We left some old farmhouse – don't ask how we even got inside – that some Munchkins said we fell from the sky and landed on an old witch. The only way for the two of us to get back to Tokyo was to travel on a yellow brick road to see the Wizard of Oz who lived in the Emerald City…and why are you laughing?"

Shiratori shook his head, "Sorry…it's just…the way you're describing it sounds like bizarre dream. Or something a suspect would make up in an interrogation."

Satou bit her lip, "...I suppose it does sound a little crazy, but the fact that we're here now proves this place must be real!"

Shiratori looked about, "I guess so. So where do we need to go from here?"

"Our best bet is to find the Yellow Brick Road. It leads to the Emerald City. The Wizard…or Kaitou Kid…said there were people in there that could help us."

"So where is this road supposed to be?"

Satou frowned, "Well, I'm not exactly sure. If we can find Munchkinland, I can remember the way from there."

"Just don't rush yourself," said Shiratori, "You'll only injure your ankle more, and I am not going to carry you all the way there."

Satou rolled her eyes, "We'll be fine." She limped off towards the trees, "Come on, Shiratori-kun, we've got a road to find!"

The inspector followed after her. As he passed by a large boulder, two black scratches along its surface seemed to follow the two, as if they were eyes. Once Shiratori had completely disappeared from view and into the trees, the scratches rotated around the backside of the rock and vanished…

…and reappeared again on an inner wall of a snow-covered mountain on the other side of Oz. A third scratch appeared under the other two, forming a mouth.

"You're majesty," said the rock, "She has returned to Oz…and with a new companion this time."

"I have no doubts as to why", said a new voice, this one much more cunning and deeper than the first. It came from somewhere in the mountain wall. "But it is sooner than I expected. Keep an eye on them. Blasted woman could ruin everything. …You…didn't see any more doves around, have you?"

"No, your majesty. Ever since the Wizard vanished, no doves have been seen around Oz."

"Excellent. Most excellent…."

…Satou leaned against the nearest tree, slightly exhausted from both walking, and retelling her story in detail to Shiratori. "I thought we would have reached the road by now."

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Shiratori asked, "Your story didn't mention many forests."

"We have to find Munchkinland," said Satou, "That's the starting point for the Yellow Brick Road – it's also where we met Kobayashi-san and the Witch of the West in the first place." She pushed herself off of the tree and pressed on, "I'm positive this is the right way!" She looked back and called over her shoulder, "You know, for someone who's not hurt at all, you're quite the slowpoke."

"You're not going to be able to keep up this pace for long, Satou-san. Your ankle is going to eventually give out."

"I hope to be in the Emerald City by then!"

Shiratori sighed, "Injuring yourself won't get you there. You told me that your trip from Munchkinland to the Emerald City was longer than a day's journey. Do you plan on walking the entire way?"

Satou paused and looked back, "We stopped to rest because Takagi-kun was hurt."

Shiratori's eyes trailed from a bandage half-hidden under her bangs to the wrappings on her ankle and raised an eyebrow, "Takagi-kun isn't here. You are, and this time, you're filling his injured shoes. When it gets dark, we'll stop for the night. No exceptions."

Satou scowled, "Fine. But it won't be light for much longer so let's go."

Shiratori sighed and began to follow her when something caught his eye. Clearly visible off to the side were rounded buildings, enough to make out a small village. "Satou-san!"

She made her way back, "What?"

He pointed towards the rounded rooftops, "Have you seen those buildings before?"

She followed his gaze and gasped, "That's it! That's Munchkinland!" Grabbing his arm, she yanked him forward, "No time to waste now!"

As they got closer, her heart sank bit by bit. The once-vibrant and cheery town looked rather deserted. The happy inhabitants were nowhere to be found.

"Are we looking for someone here?" Shiratori asked.

"Well, the mayor Edogawa Conan might know what's happened since I initially left."

"This place looks like a ghost town," said Shiratori, looking around. "I don't know how much help you will find here."

"Psst! Satou-keiji!"

They turned to see Ayumi, one of the ballerina girls peeking out from around a corner.

"Ayumi-chan!" Satou cried, "Are you the only one here?"

Ayumi shook her head, "We're hiding!" she was barely above a whisper, "Hiding from the Wheelers! They come and terrorize us because we're so small!"

"Wheelers," Satou frowned, "I don't remember them…where's the mayor?"

"Conan-kun and Ai-chan said they had business in the Emerald City and left the day after you arrived here. Genta-kun and the others have been keeping charge since their absence, but since the Wheelers arrived, we've lost all contact with the Emerald City!"

"Well, Shiratori-kun and I need to get to the Emerald City. Takagi-kun might still be there, and we've come to find him."

Ayumi opened her mouth to speak but then turned her head sharply to peer behind her. "I have to go," she squeaked, "Be safe!" she called as she disappeared into the alley.

Satou turned to Shiratori, "I don't understand…Munchkinland is such a cheerful little place…or at least it was. I don't get what could have happened!"

"Obviously these Wheelers destroyed any remainder of quaint normal life here," said Shiratori, "Are you sure you've never heard of these people?"

"I'm positive," she shook her head, "Originally, the only ones Takagi-kun and I encountered here were the Munchkins and the Emerald City citizens."

"We need to find our way to the City then, it seems all the answers we need are there." He turned back to Satou to find her standing in front of a farmhouse that looked very out of place. "Satou-san?"

"This is how we got here," she said quietly, barely above a whisper, "It was a warehouse on the inside, but this house on the outside. That gap over there is where it landed on the Wicked Witch of the East."

"That was what started this whole adventure of yours, wasn't it?"

She nodded, "I guess it's also the reason we're back." She looked down and gasped, "Oh no…."

Shiratori looked down, following her gaze, "What…yellow bricks?"

Satou looked along the path, "This…this was the Yellow Brick Road!"

Shiratori frowned, "He could see where there was once a road, but now the bricks had been separated and tossed about, as if a tornado tore the road apart.

"Come on, Shiratori-kun! This leads to the Emerald City!" She started down the battered path, running alongside the remains of the road.

She's going to sprain her other ankle at this rate. "Slow down, Satou-san!"

"Look," he said, once he caught up with her, "It's at least a two day journey to the Emerald City. If you keep exerting yourself like this then you won't even make it there."

Satou looked away.

Shiratori put a hand on her shoulder, "I know you want to get there in a hurry, but you'll do yourself no good if you rush like this. You shouldn't be walking on that ankle at all, let alone nearly running like you have been."

Satou looked back at him, "But –"

"Takagi-kun wouldn't want you to risk yourself in this manner for him. Look, I'm not ordering you as a senior officer; I'm asking you as a friend. Let's just slow down a bit and handle whatever comes as we get there. Whatever happens, we'll face it one step at a time, alright?"

"We should probably stop soon, there's no lamps along the road," said Satou after a long pause.

"Do you remember if there any places to find shelter?"

Satou bit her lip, "There was a farmhouse…but it's pretty far along. We didn't pass it until the second day of the trip."

"Where did you sleep then?"

"On the ground under a tree, Mouri-san watched over us."

"Mouri-san?" Shiratori asked, "Tantei-san?"

"No," she shook her head, "He's a scarecrow. We found him in a cornfield not too far from here."

"Oh that's right. I remember you telling me about that; Mouri the scarecrow, a tin man who looked like me and Chiba the lion?"

Satou nodded, "I think we'll pass that cornfield after we go around the next hill."

"Do you think this Mouri-san is back in the cornfield?"

Satou shook her head, "I don't think so. He's probably still in the Emerald City. I hope he isn't getting himself into some sort of trouble. He's not very coordinated."

Shiratori frowned, "...Satou-san...has it ever occurred to you that the people you've met on your journey here are all familiar to you? Mouri-san is a detective, who here becomes a scarecrow. Someone with my name is a tin man, and always-hungry Chiba-kun turns out to be an always-hungry lion."

Satou just stared at him.

"...You never noticed, right?"

Satou slowly shook her head, "No...I guess not." She cracked a small smile, "That is pretty funny, isn't it?"

By the time they had passed over the next hill, the sun had completely set. The moon was their only source of light, and to their relief there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Shiratori pointed off the beaten road, "There's a farmhouse over there. I can see a light in one of the windows."

Satou shivered; she didn't remember Oz being so cold after dark, "Maybe they can give us shelter for the night."

The house was small, hidden behind a fine line of trees. From the moonlight, a cornfield was visible. Shiratori hesitated for a moment, but rapped hard on the wooden door. They could hear someone shuffling around before the door opened a crack.

"Who are you?" the man on the other side growled, "What do you want?"

"My name is Shiratori Ninzaburo and this is Sa –"

"What is your business here?" While they could only see no more than half of his face, the man's eye seemed to be scanning the area.

"We need a place to stay for the night," said Shiratori, "We're on our way to the Emerald City, and Satou-san is injured –"

Satou opened her mouth to protest, but stopped after seeing Shiratori's hard glare.

"I can't," said the man, "It's too dangerous these days to aid strangers." He began closing the door.

"Wait!" Satou cried, shoving her foot into the open crack, "Please! The Wizard sent us here to help, and it's just for the night."

After a moment, the man opened the door just a bit wider. The two detectives could see a large crisscross scar covering over the man's left eye. "You say the Wizard sent you?" He narrowed his eye, "Who did you say you were?" He eyed them carefully.

"I'm Satou Miwako, and this is Shiratori Ninzaburo."

The man opened the door, "Get in, quickly. No telling who is lurking around out there."

Once the door was firmly locked, he turned to face them, "So you've come back, eh? About damn time." Now that the wooden door was no longer in the way, the two officers were able to get a look at the man. Aside from the scar over his eye, his hair was tied into a short ponytail and he was leaning on a crutch. He gestured to them to sit down.

Satou took a seat in a comfy armchair, "Who are you?"

"Yamato Kansuke. I was an inspector in the Emerald City Police, under Nakamori-keibu. Everything changed though, once you left Oz. At the time you were facing off the Wicked Witch of the West, I was out of the city. I returned to find the place in ruin, with a group of jokers holding law."

"Jokers?" Shiratori gasped, "You mean these Wheelers?"

"Yes. Their job is to scare everyone back out. They're not good for anything else. No one who enters the city nowadays stays very long. There's just no point anyways, everything is gone."

"That's where we need to go," said Satou, "We need to find the Wizard and my partner Takagi-kun. He wasn't able to leave with me the last time."

Yamato closed his eye and shook his head, "Good luck. You won't be able to get into the city long enough to reach the Wizard's Hall before the Wheelers chase you out. And based on that ankle you've got, you won't get far on the way out either. Oz is dangerous, and it's not just the Wheelers you need to look out for."

"What else is there?" Shiratori asked.

"Princess Mombi, if that's even her real name."

"Princess Mombi?" Satou frowned, "I don't remember her…."

"You wouldn't," Yamato sighed, "She rose to power soon after you left. No one knows where she even came from, it was all very sudden. She runs the Emerald City and keeps the jokers under control…albeit very loose control. She's the one you need to watch for," he said, and looked Satou in the eye, "Especially for you."

"Me? Why?"

"You'll see if you enter the city – something's happened to the women there, and it's not pretty. No one knows why, but they know Mombi was behind it. You could say she's a collector. …It's hard to explain, you'd have to enter the city to truly understand."

"She sounds like a weird one," Satou muttered.

"She is…but that's beside the point," said Yamato, getting up. He slowly crossed the room and disappeared around a corner, "I'll get some blankets. You can stay the night, but I advise you not to go to the City tomorrow. Obviously the Wizard sent you here to fix this damn mess, and if you go there tomorrow, odds are you won't make it out, and then Oz will be screwed."

"We can't not go," said Satou once Yamato was out of earshot, "Takagi-kun and the Wizard are depending on us to help Oz. This Princess Mombi must have some idea what happened to them."

"She also doesn't seem like the kind who could be trusted either. For all we know she could be the reason they've disappeared."

"I've got to try," she said, as Yamato came back inside.

"Yamato-keibu, have you been in the City since all of this happened?"

"I went looking for my partner, Uehara. She was helping the mayor with some sort of investigation. …She never made it out during the takeover." He eyed them critically, "I can tell that nothing I've said is going to sway you…I'll go with you to the Emerald City tomorrow, if anything to get through and past those damn Wheelers."

Satou gasped, surprised, "You…you will? I didn't expect…."

"If the Wizard sent you back here – after he vanished, of all things – then he must think you're able to right the wrongs Oz is being plagued with. All of my fellow officers have been lost in the city. As the only member of the force left, I feel obligated to go with you, if anything to offer protection."

Satou smiled, "Thank you. Do you know where we'll find this Princess Mombi?"

"She has a palace on the other side of the city. You'll never make it there without being stopped by the Wheelers at least four times." He handed them some blankets. "Rest up. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." He turned to leave the room and then paused, "There should be someone left in the city that can help you. If we leave early enough, we might find him, if Mombi hasn't gotten to him first."