Chapter twenty
Descent into hell
ooOO-Oooo
"Hattori-kun, do something!" Ran pleaded fearfully. Her eyes never left Shinichi's face like she was paralyzed.
"And what?" Heiji asked, looking very lost.
"You knew about this – you have been with him when he changed before!" Her voice begged him for help.
"Yeah, but I've never actually seen it. He always dealt with this all by himself. 'am afraid all we can do is wait 'till he is Conan again," he said awkwardly.
Ran paled. 'All by himself? He had to endure this alone every single time?'
She thought back at the times she had seen him at his true age.
The day they had met Hattori-kun, and Shinichi made a sudden appearance to solve the case. He'd seemed ill that time. Feverish and in pain.
The school-play, were he had fainted on stage, but had still been himself afterwards. That had been the longest time he had been around after Topical Land.
That village where they had encountered this guy who pretended to be Shinichi. Again pain and fever, what she now knew were pointers for the coming change.
And in London.
'London – he didn't use the exact words, but he had never been closer to say that he loves me.'
Ran took a deep breath, bedded Shinichi's head in her lap and took both of his hands. "You are not longer alone in this Shinichi – you'll never be again! You can do this! Hold on to me; don't you dare leaving me now!" she said insistently with a determined expression. Their gazes met for a moment and she saw thankfulness in his eyes.
She could feel how it began. How his fingers became smaller and she had to tighten her grip, so his hands would not slip out of hers. It frightened her, but she wouldn't. let. go!
KID saw the first signs too. To give the young man as much privacy as possible in this moment, he spread his cape over his trembling, steaming body; covering it with the smooth, white fabric.
'Hang in there Meitantei.' He turned around to block the two on the floor from the last few people, who hasted down the stairs.
Heiji wasn't sure where to look at. The scene in front of him had a very intimate touch, and he felt like an intruder. Kudou was barely conscious; hissed breathes escaped through his gritted teeth. Ran was holding onto him for dear life.
'Ya could have had this support much earlier, Kudou, ya know? Better late than never I guess,' he thought with a small smile as he turned around as well and waited until the last and inevitable most painful scream signaled him that the transformation was finally over.
"He passed out," Ran said quietly, holding Conan in the folds of the cape. He looked fragile against the white cloth. "Is it always that bad?"
Heiji sighed. "Ya've heard his screams yaself before, so no point denyin' it. He doesn't always faint, but he seems ta be really worn out, so…"
"Can we discuss this later?" KID tossed in. "There is still a huge fire above us and ten floors between us and the exit."
"Come on, let me help ya," Heiji said and took the little boy out of Ran's hesitant hands, so she could get up.
KID reached his hand out to her and hoisted her to her feet. "And off we go!"
As soon as she stood, Ran pulled back. "Wait – where is the clipboard? We have to take it along. There might be important data on it," she said and searched the floor frantically. "Ah, there it is!" She reached down for it as a part of the ceiling suddenly gave in and crushed down on her. At the very last moment, KID dragged her out of the danger-zone and both tumbled towards the stairs that led down.
A second later Ran jumped up again and tried to get across the burning debris that now seperated them from the other two of their group. "Shinichi! Hattori-kun!" she shouted.
"We're fine!" Heiji's voice came through the flames. "KID – take Ran and get her out! We're searchin' for another exit route. See ya outside!"
"No – Shinichi!" Ran screamed again, now held back by KID, so she wouldn't burn herself. "Mouri-san, we have no time! They will take the stairs on the other side!" The thief took her hand and forced her to follow him. Pressing the clipboard to her chest, Ran glanced over her shoulder to catch a glimpse of the two boys; but all she could see was fire, and black billows of smoke.
ooOO-OOoo
Heiji paced down the corridor to the opposite side. From the ground plans, he knew that there was a staircase as well. This floor was spared by the fire until now, but he felt the heat radiating from above and smoke was already beginning to fill the air. At any moment the fire could break through. Feeling his friend stirring, he looked down at the white bundle in his arms. "Long time no see, Kudou," he greeted the confused-looking boy, who tried to clear his head from the cloudy darkness.
Conan surveyed his surroundings. "Hattori! Where is Ran; and was that really KID with her?" he asked. He was still dead tired and every part of his body hurt. At least he could breathe freely again.
"Uhm, yeah – ya've been really out of it, weren't ya?" Heiji grinned. "Good ta see ya awake and sane again. KID and Nee-chan are on tha way down ta tha exit. And we two my friend, are about ta do tha same. Unfortunately, we've been separated by a crumblin' ceilin', but I'm sure, KID will take good care of her."
Conan squirmed in his arms. "You can put me down now. I think I can walk myself."
"And risk ta be beaten up for it from yar neechan when she finds out? No way! Ya stay put!" Heiji ordered while running. He saw the embarrassment on Conan's face and sighed. "Even if ya can walk, we need ta be fast, and I don't think that runnin' around would be good in yar condition. Take it easy and enjoy tha ride."
Conan had no option but to admit that Heiji was right. He leaned his heavy head against the teen's chest, and decided that it wasn't so bad after all. They reached the end of the corridor and entered the staircase. Heiji put Conan to the ground and leaned over the banister. "Damn it! This one is also damaged. Tha only way left is up."
Conan nodded gravely. Running to the top of a burning building wasn't the smartest thing one could do, but it was their only option. He grabbed onto Heiji's shirt, while the latter lifted him up again and started to sprint up the stairs.
ooOO-OOoo
He watched them. The smoke covered his dark silhouette additionally in the corner where he blended with the shadows. His left hand gripped tighter around the gun; ignoring the burning sensation. The hand had been injured in the explosion, after he had shot the oxygen-tank from outside the room. It hadn't been by accident, but a well-aimed bullet.
'This nerve-wracking Akamoto; I hope he burned to a crisp! As for Sakai-san… I think collateral damages can't be avoided,' he shrugged. 'The fire will burn all evidence that could be found by the police. Order from the boss.' A sinister grin spread over his face while his gaze never left the pair at the end of the corridor. 'You and me 'detective', we are nowhere near done.'
ooOO-Oooo
As they reached the twentieth floor, Heiji was out of breath. Running twenty floors with just a short break in the middle plus the smoke-filled air drew on his strength. "We are now enterin' tha floors where tha boss seats his butt in a comfortable office chair. KID described this as 'Fort Knox'."
"Normally it surely would be, but due to the fire, the security systems should be offline," Conan mused.
"How lucky for us. Just look at tha retina scanner over there, and I've no clue what that thin' next ta it is supposed ta be. Would've been a pain in tha ass ta avoid this." Heiji straightened himself. "Okay, then let's tackle tha last three floors." With a leery glance, he passed the scanner-terminal and entered the corridor. Different from the lower floors it didn't really look like they were in an office building anymore; more like they had just entered the apartment of someone damn rich. Thick carpets swallowed every step, and obviously expensive paintings decorated the walls.
"Tha ground plans showed tha next staircase is… uhm…" Heiji looked around.
"Hattori," Conan said annoyed. "Did you forget the way? Really?"
The currently older boy laughed a bit embarrassed and Conan sighed. "Then we will have to search for it. Can't be that tough."
With Conan still in his arms, Heiji rushed through different doors, but all led into further rooms. The teen opened another one and huffed. "Are ya kiddin' me? There must be a way ta tha next floor."
Conan put his hand to his chin. "These rooms are looking private. We should check the elevators. I'm pretty sure one can use them just for these three floors. Maybe they are connected to an independent electricity supply that is not affected by the fire-alarm."
"But isn't it dangerous ta use elevators when a building is on fire?"
"Barou! This is the elevator for the boss. Don't you think it is specially secured against fire, so he can escape safely?" Conan replied.
"True. So let's go."
As they neared the elevators, Conan stiffened. "Stop, Hattori!"
"What's…" "Shhh!" Conan shushed him and whispered, "Listen – there are people in the next room."
"Shouldn't everyone be out by now – or at least tryin' ta get out? Sounds as if they're havin' a nice chit-chat in there," Heiji murmured.
Conan didn't pay attention to him. He was fully concentrated on the voices that were barely audible through the closed door. He could distinguish two; one male, one female. Right now, the male voice spoke, but Conan waited for the female one to talk again, as it had struck a chord in him. There – now he was sure about the people in the room.
'Why didn't he flee? And why is she here anyway?'
Before he could say anything to Heiji, a growling voice turned his guts to ice. "Now now, isn't it very rude to eavesdrop?"
Heiji turned around to face Gin, who pointed his gun at them. The hand which held up the black beretta was terribly burned, but the man didn't even seem to notice it. His grin was as vicious as always. "Go! Knock on the door as your mother has taught you to do."
Conan just stared at him and Gin's grin became even wider. He forced them to back off as he went to the door himself and made two loud knocks. He didn't bother to wait for an answer, but opened it right away. The gun still aimed at Conan and Heiji, he gestured them to go in.
Two pairs of eyes focused on them. One blue pair wide in shock and a green one mildly surprised.
"Detective! What a pleasure to meet you again. And this time actually eye to eye. Welcome to our little descent to hell."
A/N: Gin is back XD I knew a 'jack-out-of the box' wouldn't work, so I tried the 'sinister-lingering-shadow-shape.