Four points of the same star.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Detective Conan.
-...- transceiver talk
I forgot to mention one thing in the last chapter's note. The heading quote. I'm sure it didn't make much sense to any of you; as a matter of fact, it doesn't. It makes sense in this chapter.
At the beginning, the chapter 'Final Confrontation' was meant to be one: one long, action-packed chapter and not the two that you are all reading . But due to my lack of time, lack of concentration, occasional writer's block and life in general, I decided to split it in two rather than waiting God knows-how-much to see it complete and whole. Anyway, I've put the quote another time so it should make sense again.
All right, off we go...
FOUR POINTS OF THES SAME STAR Chapter 26: Final confrontation(B)
"Courage isn't about being the strongest or the bravest. It's about believing in your heart no matter what anyone else says and it's about facing your fears head on, even if you know you can't win in the end." -Author Unknown (A.N: Actually, I don't remember.. Anyway, not mine.)
-
Ryu whipped around, leaving Vodka's shirt collar and making him crash back down to the ground.
"Where did that come from?" Matt exclaimed, turning to the source of sound.
"The mansion.." Shinichi answered, "You don't think..?" He turned to Ryu, alarmed.
"It was so obvious.." the blonde whispered, "Where else..?" He turned back to Vodka who was smirking. For maybe the first time in his life, Ryu felt the savage desire to kill someone; he grabbed the man's collar again.
"Tell me immediately what is your plan." he demanded in an icy tone.
"What's the girls' fate if you are cornered?" Shinichi asked.
Vodka smirked at them but was slightly surprised to see Ryu smirk colourlessly back at him. The boy's brain was working at full-speed.
"Oh, I see..." he remarked, "Rei and Shiho are important for you only till your own safety is not harmed, right? Now that FBI has taken the Bay, the order is to run away. Koizumi, Gin and, probably you, if I hadn't injured you . But not the girls: they know too much by now and are dangerous.."
Shinichi had his eyes fixed on the other boy and followed on.
"They are probably the only ones that could track you back if you escaped." he said, "Shiho has been working for you and knows you better than anyone else; Rei, on the other hand, could find you anywhere thanks to her computer skills." The detective looked at the man with the most disgusted of expressions. "You just wanted to use them for your purposes. Just like you have done with Shiho in all those years she worked for you, hoping that she would one day be free; just like you did with Akemi till the day she was murdered."
Vodka didn't seem guilty at all; on the contrary, he laughed evilly.
Ryu had been quiet for a while, thinking.
"Shinichi." he said suddenly.
"What?" the boy replied.
"Go after Shiho."
"What?"
"Listen to me." Ryu got up still wrenching Vodka's collar in his hands and not minding to the fact that he was half choking. "I don't think Rei's in danger as much as Shiho is at this moment. If she's in that old house, then we still have some hope: that explosion was small. It couldn't have brought down the entire building so I'm sure that there are more time bombs set to explode at a determinate length of time from one another. But the point is that Shiho is with Gin. That madman will not wait: he's being dreaming to kill her and surely he won't waste this chance. Go and save her!"
Shinichi stared at him for a second; then, without saying a word but just nodding at his friend, he sprinted away, past the others behind him and down the trail they had just come from. He didn't even bother at the look of concern on Ran's face.
The moment he was out of sight, Ryu snatched the transceiver from Matt's hand and looked up.
-Kid, do you hear me?-
-Sure.- the thief replied.
-Follow Shinichi: Gin's too unpredictable. But be sure not to be seen.-
-What about Kudo? Does he know?-
-No but I doubt he'll notice you even if you were right on top of him.- A faint smile crossed his face. -When it comes to Shiho, Shinichi isn't himself anymore.-
-All right.-
He saw the hang-glider turn gracefully and go in the same direction Shinichi had gone. As soon as Kid was out of sight, Ryu tossed the walkie-talkie back to Matt.
"What now?" the American asked, pocketing the device.
Ryu turned back to Vodka.
"How many bombs are there?" he asked, "How are they set up to explode? At what time-length between each other?"
Vodka smirked. Matt was getting impatient.
"Listen to me." he said angrily, stepping in front of Ryu, "If you don't collaborate, I swear I will..."
"Kill me?" the man remarked sarcastically, "You FBI cowards don't have the guts to do it."
Matt actually growled but a sudden click from behind him made him turn around.
Ryu had loaded his gun and was pointing it to Vodka. The American boy was startled to see his expressionless face and his emotionless eyes; he was finally seeing Martini, his brother's alter-ego in the Organisation. For the first time, he understood how it was possible that Ryu, the honest, loyal, gentle Ryu, could have been accepted in the Black Organisation. Unconsciously, Matt stepped back towards Chris and the others who were looking at the blonde boy with frightful, alarmed and worried looks.
Vodka was the only one who looked calm. He still had a smirk on his face.
"Martini." he said, "You won't fire: you never killed." A flash of anger crossed his face. "I knew you had to be a spy: you never killed a person. Never went in mission."
"That's not relevant." Saying that Ryu's voice was cold was an understatement. "Tell me what I want to know."
"Why should I?"
Ryu fired. A loud gasp came from Ran and Kazuha while Chris was about to step up and stop Ryu but a hand grabbed her wrist; she turned and saw that it was Matt. He shook his head imperceptibly, so she decided to stay still. Heiji, Detective Satou and Takagi were going to do exactly like the American girl but stopped as they noticed Matt's attitude and they decided to wait and trust Ryu.
Vodka had blanched. His sunglasses were dangling on the left side of his face, revealing his right eye. Ryu had fired at the right side of the glasses and had merely broken them; if he had wanted, he could have killed the man easily.
"As you see, I have no restraints in killing you." Ryu stated, loading the revolver again, "I suppose that nobody here would bother if I killed you either." He tilted his head and looked at Matt who nodded. Both boys ignored the looks on the others' faces. Ryu turned back to Vodka, his eyes now showing anger and hatred. "You belong to the Black Organisation, you are among the people that have ruined my life and the ones of the people I care. You and your blasted friends have murdered my parents and killed my sister; you have murdered Rei's parents making it look as an accident; you did the same with Shiho's parents and have executed her sister; then, you started to go after us. You tried to kill Shinichi because he saw you during an illegal activity but he survived and had to live a hidden life for a year; you condemned Shiho to death but she escaped, you found her and tried to kill her but she fled away again. You wanted to kill me me and Rei but we left America before you could have the chance to do it." Ryu stepped closer to Vodka, gun still in his hand. "After all of this, do you really think that I wouldn't kill you?"
An uncomfortable silence answered his question. Vodka didn't move so Ryu pressed on.
"If you don't tell me if Rei is in the mansion and how many bombs have been placed there, I swear that I'll use all the bullets I have on you."
The threat seemed real so Heiji decided to speak up.
"Kazama, you can't do it." he remarked firmly.
"This shouldn't concern you." Ryu replied coolly, "And, by the way, I don't care what will become of me if I kill him. If something happens to Rei..." He paused, trying to find the right words that could explain his feelings. "Without Rei, I don't care a damn of my life."
His statement was so firm that nobody would even dare to think that he was lying: Ryu would have really killed Vodka if he didn't cooperate. The man seemed to be thinking on the same terms because he looked slightly troubled.
"Well?" Ryu asked, looking at him. His ice-cold blue eyes made the man flinch: he felt as though he was facing Gin or Vermouth when they were in a particularly foul mood.
"Ikeda is in a room of the second floor." Vodka muttered at last, "There are four bombs placed in the house: the one in the attic has just exploded; then there's the one at the ground floor; then, the second floor and at last, there's the one connected to the gas lines."
"What's the difference of time between every explosion?"
"Ten minutes."
Matt's eyes widened.
"Wait.. the explosion took place more or less three minutes ago!" he exclaimed, "Then the next.."
"It's due in seven minutes." Ryu remarked; he turned to Vodka. "Who took Rei there?"
Vodka didn't reply.
"Who Took Her There?" he repeated menacingly.
"The Boss."
"Koizumi.. I should have known." Ryu said; then, without warning, he fired and a bullet hit Vodka's arm. The man crumpled to the ground, motionless.
Matt approached Ryu.
"Hypodermic bullet?"
"Yes, he''ll be knocked out for a couple of hours." The blonde faced the dark-haired, "Matt, you deal with everything, I'm going."
"What? Alone? Have you lost your mind?" Matt demanded and before Ryu could say anything, he knelt down, checking Vodka's pockets for any hidden weapons; he surprisingly found a rope and used it, tying it around his thigh to stop the slow but continuous bleeding due to the shot. He looked up. "Come on, let's go."
Ryu dashed forward before Matt had barley gotten the word 'Come' out of his mouth. Matt was going to follow him when Chris called him.
"What about him?" she asked, pointed at Vodka's unconscious body.
"He won't wake up for a few hours. Let's leave him here: I'll send someone to take him later." he replied, "Now let's move!"
He ran after Ryu, despite his leg. Chris was right behind him. Detective Satou and Takagi were after the two FBI agents, both still holding their guns. Ran, Kazuha and Heiji who had Ryu's gun in his hand but had also picked up the assault rifle, putting it on his back, followed at the back.
Ryu in the meanwhile was running as fast as he could with only one thought in his head.
'Rei..'
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Shiho's head jerked back as a sudden explosion shattered the silence.
She looked in front of her and saw smoke and flames coming from the roof of the old house she had seen hours ago.
'What..?' she thought, puzzled but a cold, mirthless laugh made her turn to the man in front of her.
Gin was sneering; he looked like a cat that had cornered a particularly fat and tasty mouse.
"Time has come." he said, "I'm sorry for you, Sherry."
"Sorry?" she remarked, "For what? Why did the house's roof blow up?"
"It seems that your new.. friends have troubled us more than we ever expected. Your death sentence has been proclaimed with that explosion."
Shiho's cool mask didn't show the dread that was quickly flooding her body.
So that's what happened. The Organisation had found out about FBI's attack and now, they wanted to get rid of all the possible obstacles to their escape. If Gin wanted to leave before the arrival of the police forces, he had to kill her otherwise she could help them find him and the criminal group.
'It's his mission since I escaped.' she thought darkly, 'To get rid of the traitor.'
Just then a sudden thought crossed her mind.
"What about Rei?" she asked, "You said that she would have been killed too."
"Oh, her life is already compromised." Gin drawled, "You just saw the starting signal of her death sentence. But it's the sign for yours as well."
Shiho failed to suppress a shudder and paled, making the man's sneer widen. She whipped around and looked in horror at the mansion, from which large columns and puffs of smoke were rising.
"At the third explosion, there will be no chance at all for Ikeda to survive." Gin stated, "And when it will happen, you will follow her suite. As I told you: in life or in death, you will be together." He smirked. "There won't be much to wait; only twenty minutes."
Rei was in the house, probably immobilised, knowing what was going to happen and waiting for death to come. Shiho didn't know whose fate was worse: Rei's to die for a bomb explosion, burnt in the fire or for smoke intoxication or hers to die shot by the man that had haunted her life for sixteen years and had murdered her sister.
'The third explosion..' Shiho thought.
If no one arrived, if no one helped them, Rei and Shiho's lives would have come to an end in less than half an hour.
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Shinichi skidded to a stop and looked at the two trails in front of him.
He wiped the sweat and blood on his front with his jacket's sleeve and took a few deep breaths. He turned on his glasses and saw a small yellow point glowing at the very edge of his right lens; he swiftly turned the glasses off and sprinted down the right trail.
He didn't know why but he felt a strange sense of foreboding and also a terribly familiar feeling.
It was happening again: he was hurrying to save someone, fighting against time, praying that he will be there before it was too late.
Last time, he had been late and the person had died.
Masami Hirota.
Akemi Miyano.
Shiho's sister.
He had failed to save her but he wouldn't let it happen again. He wouldn't allow another Miyano to die especially when he cared for her more than for anyone else.
He hadn't saved Akemi and he still despised himself for that but he couldn't even immagine what he would do if the same fate occurred to Shiho. He didn't dare to think of it.
'I will get there and help her.' he thought firmly, speeding up, 'I won't make the same mistake twice.'
As he shot passed a couple of tall oaks, ignoring the stabs of pain coming from the cut on his head, he reinforced the thought in his mind.
'I will save you, Shiho.'
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Dust, ash and debris littered the dusty wooden planks of the mansion's second floor.
The roof hadn't collapsed but it had broken down quite a bit: most of the wooden beams have given away and part of the ceiling had fallen on the attic's floor. It was only a question of time and the attic would have come down on the second floor.
The walls were cracked and the flames that had developed after the explosion were stretching to the doors, windows and every odd furniture that were stored in the attic. An old coat hanger fell down and the fire started to attack the staircase leading to the second floor.
In the amidst of crackling and creaking, a cough was heard.
Yes, a cough.
-
Rei had instinctively shielded herself with her free hand when she heard the explosion.
She felt as though the entire building was moving: the floor shook and a few wooden planks cracked and broke, leaving holes here and there. The old door was cracked and was hanging off it's hinges and the stools and the chair where Koizumi had sat down had fallen over.
However, Rei registered all of this in a second moment. Her first thoughts were different.
'I'm still alive.' she thought, coughing for the dust, lowering her arm and wincing as her hand throbbed painfully, 'Why am I still alive?'
She knew that it wasn't possible for the Organisation to make such an elementary mistake. They wanted her dead so it couldn't be that they had placed a bomb in the wrong place. Unless..
'Unless, there are more bombs that don't explode together but at a certain difference of time from one another.' Rei frowned, 'Really great!' She calmed down. 'The explosion has taken place upstairs... How many floors does this place have? If only I knew where I am.'
A noise from above made her snap out of her thoughts. A loud thud and a long creak.
'I just hope that the ceiling doesn't come down.. I have to free myself before anything else happens.'
But Luck wasn't with her.
There was another thud from above, much louder than before and a cloud of dust and debris fell down on her. Rei closed her eyes a second too late. When she opened them again, she cursed under her breath: her sight was blurred. She could see the vague outline of the things in front of her but nothing else. In this state, she couldn't free herself from the other pipe; what if she broke it accidentally? Rei could smell smoke: what if she blew up for the gas?
Panic was slowly trying to overtake her but she fought against it.
This was not the moment to loose her calm: she had to get her composure back.
After a couple of deep breaths, she decided to work on getting her sight back. She opened her eyes and tears began to stream down her face; she used her sleeve to dry them and tried to focus.
However, after a couple of minutes of this, she still saw through shades of gray. She realised that the dust or whatever it was, must have gone deep inside her eyes and that using her tears as a cleaner to get rid of it was not enough.
Rei sighed and coughed again. The scent of smoke was getting stronger.
But what could she do?
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'Where is that damn house?'
Ryu dashed past the wall of trees and bushes where he, Rei, Shinichi and Shiho had hidden when escaping from the ambush. He was running as fast as he could, not knowing when the second explosion would occur. Then, he knew he was near.
He saw the flames. He smelled the acre scent of the smoke.
It was all so terribly familiar for him..
Ryu shook his head and ran forward. He found himself at the open space in front of the house.
The remains of Gin's and their rented car were there but among the bits of glass and metal, there were also wood splinters, some of which were still burning.
He looked up.
Vodka hadn't lied: the first explosion had occurred in the attic. He studied the situation for a minute. A part of the roof was dangling, willing to collapse to the ground: it was the right side of the house. The flames were quickly consuming the old wooden beams that held the rooftop. He was still analysing these details when he heard the fast approaching steps from behind him. Matt was by his side a second later, followed by the others.
"Well?" he asked, panting. Ryu merely pointed and that very moment, the unstable bit of roof and a bit of the façade's wall fell down to them.
"GET BACK!" Matt shouted and they hurried away, near the trees. With a enormous thud, the portion of the house crashed to the ground, a large cloud of dust rose high.
Dust from broken cement marred Ryu's vision as he walked to the front. He carefully treaded across the broken plaster, splintered dry wall and shards of sharp tiles; here and there, there were small flames and ash and soot were mingled to the dust.
If this was the doing of just one bomb, he didn't dare to think what would be of the house after all four explosions. One thought was in his mind now.
Find Rei.
Matt eyed Ryu and knew what he was thinking; he also knew that stopping him was impossible. His gaze turned to the entrance. It was a large door that must have once been of polished wood but that now was dusty and broken down with vines creeping on its sides; it was flanked by two thin stone pillars covered with moss and vines. Anyway, the entrance was half-blocked by the roof's debris and the front door had caught fire along with the vegetation that had grown over it and the pillars.
The only way into the mansion was through that door but if one crossed it through the flames, there were no chances of getting past without sustaining several burns. He adverted his gaze to the right and saw something by the wall that made his eyes light up.
In the meantime, Takagi and Satou had received calls from their men.
It seemed that they and the FBI agents had caught the remaining Organisation agents and gathered them in one spot. They were waiting for orders. The two detectives decided to make them stay in their position, guarding the captives and wait till the forces at the Bay came to help them. Chris had said the same, on Matt's order, to the FBI agents that called.
Heiji, Ran and Kazuha were standing under the shade of a large tree, watching the burning mansion in front of them. Heiji gritted his teeth and tightened his fists in frustration.
What had he done to help? Nothing. Was it possible that his role in the plan Kudo had exposed him was just to call his father?
Ran and Kazuha were thinking on the same lines. They had forced Xanders in taking them but they had been nothing more than a burden; a burden that had to be protected from enemies without mercy and against whom their skills were not enough to fight against.
Ryu suddenly moved and walked towards the front door not caring about the flames that were surrounding it. A shout made him turn to his right.
The next thing the engineer knew was that he was hit by a jet of cold water; the blast lasted for a dozen of seconds and when it stopped, Ryu was drenched to the skin. He looked in front of him and saw Matt holding a hose and closing the tap of the water pipe that was sticking from the ground right in front of the wall.
"Now you can go." the lawyer said, rushing to him, "And you shouldn't burn yourself too much."
Ryu smiled.
"Thanks, brother." he said and dashed to the entrance.
All the ones outside the house held their breath as they saw the boy get close and then jump past the flames. They dared to breath only when he was out of sight.
However, hardly a few minutes had passed and they hadn't even the time to decide what to do that the ground shook and another explosion took place.
Takagi managed to place himself in front of Satou and Ran while Heiji stood in front of Kazuha; Matt and Chris, who were a bit ahead of them and closer to the house, threw themselves on the ground and the boy shielded the girl with his jacket and his arms.
The boarded-up windows of the ground floor exploded, showering the ground with glass shards and wood splinters; flames erupted high and thick lines of black smoke reached the sky.
Matt and Chris got up, shaking the debris of their cloths. The boy looked at the entrance and the colour drained out of his face.
There wasn't an entrance anymore.
The explosion had made part of the façade cave in, covering the front door; the latter was burning intensely and Matt could see high flames behind it's frame.
They hadn't realised it but the seven minutes had passed and the bomb on the ground floor had set off.
"Ryu..." he muttered, running his fingers through his hair, "Rei..."
If Ryu had managed to get away before the explosion, if he found Rei alive, if everything went well, how the hell were they going to get out of that fiery building now that the only entrance and, much to Matt's horror as he realised it, the only exit didn't exist anymore?
How?
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Ryu ran towards the front door and jumped past the flames, without bothering too much to the sudden heat that caressed his body. He found himself in a long hallway that was fire-free. Ryu remembered that the first bomb was in the attic, so that explained it.
He walked on and noticed that the mansion was bigger than he thought from the outside.
There were three large rooms and a kitchen, or at least what had to be one, on this floor. The house must have been inhabited for decades because it had gone.. wild: vines, moss and even small clumps of bushes poked out of the wooden floor's gnarled holes. As he passed near the decadent kitchen, Ryu stopped, remembering that Vodka had said about the last bomb connected to the gas lines. He checked the old cupboard under the rusty sink and then the long cupboard by the grimy window; here he found the old gas pipes and attached to them with some grey tape was a small black box.
A small smile appeared on Ryu's face: he had already seen a bomb like this; dismantling it wouldn't be a problem. He reached for the inner pockets of his jacket and pulled out a small penknife, one of the first gifts he had received from the Xanders. He cut the tape and put the box on the rickety table next to him; he unscrewed the lid and found a dozen coloured wires inside. Knowing what to do and without hesitation, Ryu cut a wire and disabled the bomb.
'If I find the other two..' he thought, 'It would be most better.'
He walked out of the kitchen and noticed the staircase leading to the second floor; as he turned to go to it, he froze on the spot.
A soft and fast beeping sound that he hadn't noticed before, reached his ears.
It came from somewhere behind him.
Ryu suddenly realised that ten minutes had passed from the first explosion. Without thinking any longer, he ran towards the stairs but he knew that it was late.
He had hardly reached the first step when the bomb exploded.
The shock wave made him loose his balance, practically throwing him against the wall and then on the stairs; he hit the ground face front and felt blood pour from his nose down to his mouth. He hastily wiped it away and got to his feet. He heard glass going into pieces and saw a whirl of fire coming out of the first room next to the front door; the flames were heading towards him. Ryu ran up the stairs, avoiding to be hit by the falling debris; as he was going up the second flight of steps, he dodged to his right as a fiery wooden beam swung towards him. But as he did so, he didn't notice the dangling bit of plaster and wood above him; it fell down and hit him on the shoulders and the head, making him pass out.
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Rei squinted trying to regain a proper vision but her efforts were vain: she still saw in shades of grey. In addition to the her already complicated situation, she could tell that the fire from the upper floor was spreading to this one: smoke was clearly overcoming air.
As she coughed, she thought again if there still was a way for her to free herself and get away. She was desperately trying to find a hint, an idea or anything similar in her fear-fogged brain. But the last sparks of hope left her shortly after.
The floor shook under her feet and the reverberating sound of an explosion echoed throughout the house again. The far corner of the room she was imprisoned in, exploded from below and a tower of fire spurt out; Rei let out a scream, startled by the event. If there had been gas lines there, she would be dead. Fire spread to the dangling door, to the floor and, much to Rei's horror, to the wood panels that adorned the walls and that she hadn't noticed before.
It was the end.
There couldn't be a way out now even if she spent all her remaining time mulling on it. That room, now cage of fire would be the last place she would ever see.
Tears of desperation streamed down Rei's face as she took in her fate.
Waiting immobile for death to come.
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Shinichi stopped abruptly as he heard another explosion.
Shiho whipped around to look at the house in the distance.
The boy didn't know that two other explosions were expected nor he knew that they were signs. The girl knew all about it and also knew that at the third one, she and her best friend would have died.
The detective ran desperately, repeating to himself that he would be able to be at the right place at the right time. The chemist turned to face her soon-to-be murderer, feeling resigned but a tiny shred of hope continued to resist in her heart.
Both thought simultaneously of the person they most cared of.
'Shinichi..'
'Shiho!'
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Fire..
Great flames enveloped the floor, the smoke was so thick that he couldn't see properly and he couldn't breathe well either. The heat was unbearable.
But then, he heard her again.
She was screaming in terror, asking his help. He ran towards her room and stopped at her door. She was on her bed, hurdled in a corner, terrified with her face wet with tears. The fire had spread everywhere: the furniture, the curtains, the carpets.. The flames were slowly edging to the bed and the sheets. She looked up and noticed him outside the door and her light blue eyes lit up with hope.
"Oni-chan!" she shouted, "Help me!"
"I'm coming!" he yelled back, "Don't worry, I will save you!"
The little girl nodded, trusting him completely. He covered his head with hands ready to cross the door despite the flames on the top of it when he heard a loud creaking sound coming from above him; he only had the time to jump back as a few beams of roof crashed in front of him, obstructing the doorway. Some splinters of wood hit him on the face and arms and he started bleeding from the cuts but he didn't bother to them that much. He looked with horror as the beams caught fire.
The only way to get into the room was through that door...
He stepped closer but couldn't go past it.
The pleas and cries became louder.
"Oni-chan!"
He steeled himself: he had to save her. He had to get past that fiery door, no matter how badly he would get burnt. But as he decided to step forward, the fire crackled and a few sparks flew towards him. He jumped back, trembling as he looked at the fiery door frame.
His mind and heart were telling to go but his body didn't want to listen. He was rooted on the spot.
With fear.
He began to cough as the smoke was filling the hallway and then he heard her again.
Her scream of terror would never leave him again.
"ONI-CHAN!" Terror and fear were clear in the child's voice.
"FRANÇOISE!" he shouted back.
He didn't remember well what happened afterwards. He finally got himself to go past the door but the flames were too high. He had a coughing fit and then, slowly, everything went black.
In the utter darkness he continued to hear the heartbreaking pleas of his younger sister but suddenly he heard something different.
Another scream...
From a girl.
But it wasn't Françoise.
He knew that voice...
"Rei!"
Ryu's eyes snapped open.
He was lying on the floor, by the wall, covered with cement and dust; he felt his head sore and his shoulders were aching painfully. He got up and saw that the lower banisters and stairs were on fire and a thick cloud of smoke was rising. He looked up to the second floor.
That wasn't a dream. He had really heard her voice.
"Rei.." he whispered and went upstairs. As he walked, he realised that the dust, cement, soot and whatsoever had mingled with his soaked clothes, making him look frighteningly ghost-like.
As he got to the upper floor, he realised that the house was much more bigger than he imagined: there were at least six rooms here, three to his left and three or so to his right.
'Where are you, Rei?' he thought, turning left and looking in the first room that was empty.
He had to be quick. He didn't know how long he had been knocked out but the third explosion hadn't still occurred and he didn't know how much time he had left.
Ryu had finally grasped the reason of the strange time combination for the explosions.
The first one was in the attic: it had to destroy or partly destroy the roof; the second one was in the ground floor: it had to block the entrance and unable any attempt of entering or exiting the mansion; the third one was in the middle floor: it was meant to make the entire structure unstable. The last bomb was connected to the gas lines. Surely, the lines went through the whole mansion because of the heating system; if one line exploded, the others would have followed suite and nothing would have remained of the building except for a mount of rubble and dust.
No clues would have been left.
No bodies could be collected.
No way to identify or have a hint of the culprits.
It was all so typically Organisation-like.
'And this is Koizumi's idea to hide Rei's murder.' Ryu thought with anger as he sprinted past two empty rooms.
Time was passing.
'Where are you, Rei?' he wondered, 'Where the hell are you?'
He began to cough as a cloud of dust fell on him from the ceiling. The building was old and the inner structure attacked by the fire was giving away; it was only a question of time before the roof would fall down along with the floor's ceilings.
On his right, Ryu noticed a room not far from the staircase leading to the attic. The fire was burning fiercely and had consumed most of the staircase but it had also attacked the nearby wall and the room's door.
He walked to it with a sense of foreboding.
It was all so terribly familiar...
As he approached the door, the wooden frame collapsed, blocking the way inside with a large fiery cross. He stopped in front of it and saw her in front of the wall.
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Matt watched the flames as they were devouring the ground floor.
Every cell of his body was praying that Ryu had got away before the explosion. A growing sense of uselessness was overcoming him. Was it possible that he had to wait for Ryu and Rei to get in danger without helping them in anyway? Again?
"There has to be a way.." he muttered. Chris, who was next to him, turned her head.
"What?" she asked.
"We have to do something." he said, "I don't know what but.. something." He looked at her: frustration and concern clear in his green eyes. "We can't just wait here."
Chris looked at him and then at the burning house.
"The last bomb was connected to the gas lines, right? Heiji pitched in the conversation, speaking in English so that Chris could understand as well.
"Yes." Mat said, "But what..?"
"These kind of old houses have the main gas line outside. If we close it.."
"The bomb won't bring down the whole building." Chris completed, "The last explosion should be the most devastating but if there's no gas.."
"The mansion will not collapse." Matt remarked.
"And the firemen could be here in time to set it off." Heiji said.
"Firemen?" Matt and Chris asked together.
"Detective Takagi called them a few minutes ago." Matt turned around to look at Takagi who smiled sheepishly, "They said they would try to get here as fast as possible."
Detective Satou approached them.
"We'll set out to find the gas line." she said, pointing to her and Takagi, "We can use our weapons if necessary."
"All right but be careful." Matt said. The two detectives nodded and ran to the back of the house. "As for me, I know what to do."
He removed his black jacket, threw it on the ground, next to th rifle that Heiji had left there and headed to the hose. He turned it on and aimed the jet of water to the nearest window to extinguish the flames. Chris walked past him towards a small shed, hidden by the vines and bushes; she tried to open it but the doorknob seemed to be blocked. After a few attempts it opened, revealing a spare hose and a few rusty buckets.
She looked around; if her deductions were correct, then nearby there should be...
Chris smiled as she saw a vine covered large stone with a metal cover on it. She turned to Heiji, Ran and Kazuha.
"Hey, can you help me?" she asked. The three hurried towards her and they pushed the metal cover, ripping the vines that bound it until it fell on the ground; it was the cover of a well. An ancient rope was attached to an old bucket that was down in the dark pitch black hole. Heiji pulled the rope up and saw that the bucket was full of water. Chris appeared, carrying the rusty buckets and put them on the ground.
"Fill them up." she said and he nodded, pouring the water in one of them. The American girl took of her blue jacket and sweater, revealing a dark blue t-shirt and put them on the ground; she took the bucket, walked close to the nearest window and threw the water against the flames. Ran and Kazuha did the same, both taking a bucket each while Heiji kept filling them with water. Matt moved to another window and worked on extinguishing the flames.
"Be careful for any falling debris!" he yelled to the others who nodded.
This was their only way of helping the others. Putting out the fire and trying to free the entrance.
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Rei was waiting.
She waited death to come and take her. Tears were pouring down her eyes as she realised that she would never see her friends and dear ones again.
Yukiko-san and Yusaku-san, Agase, Shiro-san, Chris, Matt, Shinichi, Shiho and.. Ryu.
Rei cried at the thought that she would never see him again. Talk to him. Nothing.
She realised that he had always been there for her.
Every time in America. Before an examination at university, during the training tests at FBI and even when she had to work on the Organisation's files, Ryu was there. If she didn't count the months when they had lost contacts, the period when the Organisation had just found out of MYSTERY, forcing Ryu to leave America, she realised that he had always helped her. It was a word or just that smile of his but it was enough to calm her down and let her do what she had to do. But she couldn't blame him for not being there, could she? She didn't want him to die in the attempt of saving her.
The only consolation she had was that she would meet her parents again. It was the only good thing she could think of, the only ray of light in the darkness that was enfolding her.
She coughed again: the air was unbreathable with the increasing amount of smoke. She was also sweating because the fire was getting closer to her and the heat was rising alarmingly.
Rei looked around: her sight hadn't got better. It was cruel that she had to live her last moments looking at the world in shades of grey rather than in all it's colours. She closed her eyes, thinking that it was better waiting like this when something happened.
Rei's head jerked up.
'That was.. no, impossible.' she thought, 'Maybe I'm hallucinating.'
Did she just hear... a cough? Who would be there?
The small spark of hope that had persisted in her heart, without her knowing, shone brighter. She turned to the door and saw the door frame collapse. When the flames and sparks steadied, she saw a figure, standing outside the room. She couldn't tell who it was due to her blurry and unfocused sight but she recognised the voice immediately.
"REI!"
He was there for her once again.
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James Fabian was driving his car at top speed; behind him were two other cars and three mini-vans. A total of forty FBI agents, fresh from the raid at the Bay of Tokyo. They were the ones that didn't sustain serious injuries or wounds and that had been chosen by Inspector Xanders to join his son and help him out. Fabian had volunteered to go and Xanders had made him chief of the group.
He smiled slightly as he remembered the Inspector's last words before leaving.
FLASHBACK
"There should be some captured agents. I don't know if you can manage to bring all of them back.. Call me when you get there so that I can send you more vehicles and, James..." Inspector Xanders lowered his voice so that only Fabian could hear him. "As soon as you see him, call me and tell me if Matt's fine. And same for Ryu."
"All right, Mark." James answered, "It'll be the first thing I do."
END FLASHBACK
James and Mark were friends since high school and they had attended the courses to enter FBI.
The pair of them couldn't be more opposite.
James was impulsive and aggressive but with a natural charisma that made him nearly impossible not to like. Mark was calm, cool and well adjusted. But together they were a potent force. They had been partners for years and not one criminal had ever managed to get past them. Their ability was widely renown and many believed that the two agents would have had the most brilliant of careers. As a matter of fact, after five years of service, they were both offered a promotion to become Inspectors. At this point, the two found themselves in a dilemma: if they accepted the promotion, their 'duo' would have been split up forever for one of them would have been sent to another headquarter. In that occasion, James did something that Mark would have never forgotten and that showed that friendship was not just a word.
James refused the promotion and asked to be put in Mark's working squad. When asked the reason of such a decision, he would laugh saying that a hot-head like him couldn't resist behind a desk or giving orders to newbies; Xanders was better for that role and it was also better if he earned more since he had a wife and a small son while he didn't.
Never had been choice more right.
Inspector Xanders quickly earned his collaborators and colleagues' respect: his resourcefulness and intellect added to his leadership qualities made him a grand commander. Detective James was, as in past, his right hand: he was the hands-on man, the one that lead the actions on the ground. His indomitable will and outstanding courage, or recklessness as Mark had more than once pointed out , were widely renown. Their squad was one of the most efficient in New York.
And two years ago, other worthy additions had come. Matt and Ryu, Mark's sons and Reila Ikeda.
James was proud of the three because, despite their young age, they were very talented. He was particularly fond of Matt, his godson.
He seemed to have inherited his father's best qualities and many said that there would be two Inspector Xanders in another few years time. James was among the ones that were sure of it.
He snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed smoke coming from somewhere in front of him. Experience had taught him that it was never a good omen. He sped on as an unknown sense of dread coursing through his body.
A few minutes later, he heard a muffled boom in the distance. This was it.
'Some thing's going on down there..' he thought and reached for his transceiver. Holding the steering wheel with a hand, he turned the device on and tried to make a connection.
-Fabian here.- he said, -Matt, do you here me?-
A low buzzing sound replied to his question so he tried again.
-Matt, answer me.-
This time he heard something: a female voice that he vaguely recognised. Wasn't she the computer scientist that was in Scott's squad? The girl that was a friend of Matt?
-Evans speaking. Who is it?-
-Fabian here.-
-Detective Fabian? What is it, sir?-
-Where's Matt, Evans?-
-Right here, sir. I'll pass him to you.-
James the buzzing again and shortly after Matt's voice.
-Who is it?- he asked. James noticed a hint of anguish and tiredness in his tone.
-Matt, what's going on there?-
-Uncle James?- Relief was audible in his tone. -Oh, God.. you have no idea..-
The boy quickly explained what had happened: the mansion, the bombs, Rei trapped in, Ryu inside to save her and trapped as well.
-The Japanese police officers here with me have called the firemen but I don't think they'll be here in less than twenty minutes; Chris, I and the others here are trying to put out the fire in the meanwhile with what we have.-
-We'll be there shortly. Wait another couple of minutes.-
-All right.- Matt said. After a bit of silence he resumed to speak. -Uncle James, try to have an helicopter and an ambulance come here.-
-Why?- Fabian asked in alarm. -Is someone hurt?-
-No.. not badly at least but... I have the feeling that it might happen soon.- His tone was serious and full of concern, -Just do it, please.-
-All right, see you later.-
-Bye.-
James reached for his mobile phone. Matt's feelings have more than once turned out to be true.
He sincerely hoped that he would be wrong this time.
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Shinichi kicked a stone with badly suppressed anger. It flew down the ravine he was standing in front of and hit a few rocks below with a sharp click.
What had gone wrong? And most of all, where was he?
He had followed the signal of Shiho's device through a maze of trees and had stopped cautiously only when he was a few steps away; he had drawn out his gun, making sure that the silencer was applied and had also charged his stun-gun with a hypodermic needle. He had crept past a few trees and peered out from behind a log, sure to see Gin and Shiho but instead he saw..
Nothing.
Nobody was there.
He was in a small open space, coasted by trees and with a deep ravine below him.
In the distance he saw tall trees and lines of smoke; he presumed they came from the mansion. But there was no sign of Shiho or of any other person; judging by the blank, dry ground, he also realised that no one must have been there for ages.
Shinichi clicked on his glasses: two yellow dots were nearly touching each other.
'She's here..' he thought, 'Somewhere close.. but where?'
He had thought for a heart-stopping moment that she might have lost her chain; maybe Gin had forced her to take it off, suspicious of the small star on it but his fears were canceled when he saw her signal move a bit. If it moved it meant that she was still wearing it.
But the point was, where was she?
He looked up and noticed another cliff poking out of the rocks; he couldn't see the top of it but only the lower part. He also noticed that it was perpendicular to his position. What if she was there?
Shinichi didn't know how to get up there; if he started to find another path, Gin might have killed Shiho by the time he arrived. He had to get up there in some other way.
"Yeah, but how..?" he muttered to himself.
"I can help you, meitantei-san."
Shinichi jumped, startled by the sudden voice behind him. He turned and saw Kaitou Kid leaning on a tree log, hands crossed on his chest, top hat covering his monocle-free eye and his trademark smirk on his face. The detective stared at him.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded, approaching him.
"Kazama thought I could help you." the magician replied.
"He sent you after me?"
"Yes."
Shinichi shook his head.
"No, you should go back and help him." he said, "Rei's trapped in that mansion and your hang-glider could be helpful. By the way, I just heard another explosion; God knows how many more there will be."
"I do." Kid replied with a dark face, "I heard Vodka telling it to Kazama through my transceiver."
He quickly told Shinichi about the bombs and everything; the detective paled.
"Kid, you have to go there." he repeated, "Ryu and Rei definitely need your aid more than I do."
"I'll go back but first, I'll take you up to Miyano."
"Shiho's really up there?"
"I saw two figure standing there but I couldn't be noticed so I got down before seeing exactly who they were. Anyway, I think one was Miyano."
"All right but remember: you just have to leave me there, Kid. Afterwards, you just fly off to the mansion. Am I clear?"
"Yeah, I got it."
The two boys looked at each other and then up at the cliff.
Now they just had to get there.
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Takagi and Satou were walking side by side, looking for the main gas pipe.
They occasionally looked around, making sure that no one was following them and were careful not to be hit by the bits of rubble and flaming wood that fell from the roof.
Only now, as they were alone, they were finally taking in the situation they had so suddenly found themselves mingled in. The thought that everything had started only that morning seemed incredible: it was as though it had happened days ago.
Anyway, that morning they were both at work in Beika's Metropolitan Police Headquarters as usual. They had gone into Inspector Megure's office to hear if they had to do something when the phone rang. It was Detective Mouri who wanted to speak to Megure about a very important matter and asked him to come to his agency as soon as possible. Megure thought that they should come with him too and when they got there, they found out that Kogoroh hadn't called.
Takagi shook his head slightly.
'The Black Organisation..' he thought, 'I never heard of it but it seems that nearly every mysterious or unsolved crime was related to them.' He suppressed a shudder as he recalled what he had read about their activities on the report Agent Xanders had given them. 'But that was just a summary.. It was not even all of what they have done.'
"Takagi?"
The man looked up and turned to Satou.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Do you know Shinichi Kudo well?"
Quirking an eyebrow at the question, he nodded.
"Not that well." he remarked, "Inspector Megure introduced us; I know he got to know him through his father, Yusaku Kudo. You know him, don't you?"
"The mystery novelist? Of course, I do." Satou replied, "But him, Kudo Shinichi, I have never seen him before if not through the papers or for the rumours about his exceptional deductions and sharpness during murder scenes."
"That's an understatement." Takagi observed, "You should see him in action: he's amazing. Really."
"Well, what I was saying is that I never met before but I have this strange feeling of reminiscence.. as though I know him already." She looked at her partner who shrugged. "It's strange but I also noticed that he looks oddly alike to.."
"Conan." Takagi finished. Satou nodded.
"Yes, him." she said, "When Kudo put the glasses on, I thought that I was looking at the teenage Conan Edogawa. I guess that's because the two are cousins."
Takagi looked at her in surprise.
"They're not." he said.
"What? Conan's not related to Kudo?" Satou stared at him."That's what I had always assumed. I mean, look at the way he behaved during the murder scenes, his sharpness, his knowledge and his deductions."
"No, I don't think so. Otherwise, I would have known, don't you think so? Maybe, he knew all of that only because he lived with Detective Mouri and learned a bit from him."
"Yes. But what about that other girl? Ai Haibara?"
"What about her?"
"She was a lot like Conan-kun even though less cheerful and more brooding. She often came up with sharp pointing-outs just like him."
"Well, surely she's not related to Kudo-kun either. Maybe, to Professor Agase.. He helped solve some cases too." Takagi furrowed his brows as another thought crossed his mind. "Coming to think of Ai, don't you think that she looks like that girl.. Shiho Miyano?"
Satou thought this over: he was right. The same guarded expression, the same peculiar reddish-blond hair, the same cool light blue eyes.
"You are right." she said, "They are alike. Nearly like sisters."
"And... do you remember, when they left?" Takagi pressed on, eyes widening. "We were all in front of Agase's house and the kids' relatives came to pick them up: one was Conan-kun's mother while the other, Ai's relative.. if I'm not mistaken, it was.."
"Matt Xanders!" Satou stopped and looked at Takagi in awe, "That why I thought I had seen him before! He came to pick Ai!"
"I'm sure that two can't be related. I mean, they don't have any feature in common and their surnames are different."
"Then why..?"
"And there's also the codename business: two of them used the names Conan and Ai."
"Yes, but who..?"
The two detectives looked at each other.
They were both remembering what Agent Xanders had told them that morning about Kudo and the last year's events. A vague outline of the truth appeared in their minds but they had to admit that it was.. bizarre. Something that wasn't, couldn't be possible.
Satou was the first to pull herself together.
"We have to find the main gas line." she said.
"Oh.. yes." Takagi replied, "Anyway, I suppose we'll get answers soon."
They walked on and found the pipe shortly after. Satou was going to reach for it but Takagi stopped her; at her questioning look, he took of his jacket and used it to close the pipe that had reached a high temperature for the fire. When they were sure that it was closed, they hurried back to the mansion's entrance and saw Agent Xanders and Evans, Hattori, Toyama and Ran working to put out the fire of the ground floor. The two detectives joined to help, too: Takagi took Heiji's place to pull up the water and the boy and Satou took a bucket each and helped the girls.
Shortly after, two cars and three mini-vans appeared from the main road and a good number of FBI men hurried out of the vehicles to help them.
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Ryu looked at the fiery cross burning in front of him.
It was as though he had gone back in time, exactly to five years ago. He felt as though he was a twelve year old child again: a terrified, weak child that wanted to save his sister but couldn't bring himself to cross the fire and that was still too shocked after having witnessed the brutal murder of his parents.
That time, he had survived but they had all died.
Ryu looked inside the room and saw Rei, handcuffed to a pipe, unable to move; he clenched his fists tightly.
'It won't happen again.' he thought firmly.
He wouldn't let history to repeat itself. He wouldn't allow another person he cared for to die without doing anything. No, not again.
Gritting his teeth and steeling himself, Ryu got closer to the door, kicked the burning roof beams and jumped through the door. As though in slow motion, he saw the flames caress his body, he felt an unbearable heat but not pain due to burns or anything; he presumed that his water-soaked clothes were protecting him from getting seriously burnt. However, he did smell the sharp smell of burnt leather and of scorched hair. But he forgot all of this when his feet touched the ground and the temperature decreased a bit.
He was inside.
Without loosing time, Ryu got to his feet and rushed to Rei.
"Rei!" he said, "Are you all right?"
The girl looked at him. She was sweaty, covered in dust, blood trickled down her head and she looked exhausted; he noticed that her eyes were not bright as usual but were oddly unfocused as though she could not see well.
"Ryu.." she whispered, "What are you doing here?"
"A crash-course to become a fireman." he replied dryly and cupped her face with his hands,"What happened to you, Rei? What's wrong with your eyes?"
"Nothing, just some dust.. I think." she replied, "But without hands.."
At this, Ryu looked at her right hand handcuffed to a pipe and turned his gaze to her left; he saw a handcuff dangling from another pipe and he looked down at her left hand. It had turned a strange shade of purplish-red and had swollen twice it's normal size.
He felt anger boiling inside him at the thought of what Rei had to do to try to free herself.
"Stay still." he said, "And open your eyes wide."
Rei did as she was told and felt his breath across her face but mostly on her eyes; she instinctively shut them close but he urged her to open them again. He blew a few more times and then stopped. Eyes watering, Rei looked up at him.
"You should be able to see a bit better." he said, "Rei, turn to your left. I'll get you rid of this cuff."
She turned her head, tears streaming from her burning eyes and she heard a metallic click. Knowing what he had in his mind, Rei warned him.
"Ryu, these are gas lines." she said, coughing as she inhaled some smoke. "Be careful to where the bullet hits or we'll blow up."
"All right." he replied. He aimed his revolver at the handcuff, careful not to hit the pipe and also taking care that the bullet wouldn't bounce and hit them or another pipe. He fired and Rei's arm fell down, limp.
The girl felt as though, after the hours spent bound to wall, her limbs had lost their strength; she stood up but swayed slightly. Fortunately, Ryu caught her.
"What happened to you?" he asked again.
She looked up and finally got a good visual of him. She gasped.
"Me?" she asked incredulously. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing.." he replied in a reassuring tone, "Don't worry."
She reached out to his face with her good hand, wiping one of the lines of blood that was oozing down his front. He was covered with blood, dust, soot and some odd sandy, cream-like substance that she presumed was dust and cement mixed with water. "Why are you wet?"
"Matt. He soaked with a hose pipe. I should thank him: I managed to get here without being burnt to a crisp or worse."
"What's the situation?" Rei asked, somehow knowing that he had to know what was happening.
"It's a long story." he replied, "But what should concern us at the moment is getting out of here. There's still one explosion scheduled and right on this floor."
Rei looked at him.
"Another one?" she asked, "Geez, Koizumi really didn't want to let my body to be found." She gasped. "Koizumi! Ryu, he's escaping! He received a call saying that FBI was here and he..."
She got caught in a coughing fit: the room was filling with smoke and the flames were advancing.
"Breathe slowly." he said, lowering her down on the ground, "And don't worry of him now."
"Is.. is there... a way out?" she asked between coughs.
"The entrance's blocked from the debris of the second explosion and by the flames." he replied, "If you want the truth, I have no idea of how to get out from here and we don't have much time. How much has passed since the last explosion?"
"I don't know. Five, six minutes I think."
"Damn it, then we have less than five minutes before the next one."
Ryu got up and walked to the window: he couldn't open it nor see anything because the panel was covered by a thick layer of grime. Gritting his teeth, he turned to the door: the fire had devoured the door and the door frame and was now attacking the walls; the room's far corner was already blazing with high flames. Smoke had filled the room to half it's height.
Rei was sitting on the ground where Ryu had left her, leaning on the wall and coughing loudly. She was exhausted, she felt as though there wasn't an ounce of energy left in her body.
The physical and emotional strain of the last hours had overcome her more than the months she had passed hiding from the Organisation.
Her weakness was noticed by Ryu who was concerned. He realised that they had split up in the woods hours ago: if Rei had been bound to that wall since then, he wasn't surprised to see in this state; the tension added to her attempts to free herself, her swollen hand and her other wounds were getting over her. They had to get away soon.
He looked around the room again as a rather loud creak from above was heard.
Yes, but how?
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"Understood how to use it?"
"Yes."
"Are you sure, Kudo?"
"Yes."
"Look it's not that I can find that everywhere nor can I get it repaired so..."
"For the tenth time, Kid: I understood how to use it!"
"All right, all right! Cool down, man! Geez, aren't you touchy."
"Touchy? Me?"
"Never mind.."
"Shouldn't you be going to the mansion? The next explosion is due in a few minutes."
"Yes." Kid walked to the edge of the ravine, hidden to the upper cliff and opened his hang-glider. He turned around. "Listen: as soon as I'm done there, I'll get back or ask someone to get here."
A smirk crossed the other's features.
"Worried for me, Kid?" he asked.
"I'm wondering why now, meitantei." the thief replied with a frown. He was ready to leave.
"Hey!" Kid turned around and saw a small smile on the other's face, "Help the others and take care."
"Same for you. Get Miyano back and try not to get killed by Gin." A smirk appeared on his face. "Or I'll loose my only worthy challenger."
"Don't worry. I won't give you that pleasure." There was a moment of silence. "Thanks.. Kuroba."
"Don't even mention it. See you later, Kudo."
And the magician flew low on his hang-glider towards the burning mansion, leaving the detective on the lower cliff.
Shinichi looked up.
'I'm coming, Shiho..'
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Ryu coughed as the smoke began to fill the room more and more.
Time was passing and he didn't have a clue of how to get out of that fiery hell; the ceiling was giving ominous creaks and was threatening to fall down any second; moreover, the next bomb was going to set off soon.
If they didn't get out soon, they would have died in the worst of ways.
He glanced at Rei and saw that she was still leaning to the wall but with her eyes closed and she was motionless. Fear swelled inside him and his heart stopped beating for a few seconds as he dashed to her, crouching down and taking her by the shoulders.
"Rei!" he called, shaking her, "Rei, don't sleep! Don't close your eyes! Stay awake! Please, don't
give up now: stay awake!"
The girl's eyelids flickered and his heart leapt.
"Ryu.." she whispered feebly.
"Rei.." he said in relief, "God, you scared the hell out of me. Don't close your eyes, understood?"
"Yes... but.. isn't it getting too hot in here?"
"What? Yes, but not that mu.." He stopped, realising what was happening. He didn't feel the heat because of his drenched clothes but Rei did. And it was another thing that undermined her already weakened strength: she was slowly loosing all liquids from her body. Without thinking of it any longer, Ryu took off his leather jacket and draped it on Rei's shoulders. She looked at him with mild puzzlement and weariness.
"You should feel a bit cooler now." he said, "The leather's a bit burnt but the fabric still soaked. It should help you."
"Thanks." she whispered and he smiled slightly and got up. Now, he did feel the heat of the room: his grey shirt was wet but not as much as the jacket and the water was quickly evaporating; wiping a trickle of sweat and blood from his face, he looked around the room again as though hoping that a door with the sign 'Exit' on the top would pop out of nowhere.
Rei glanced at his back as he stood in front of her. She knew that there couldn't be a way to get out of there and he must be aware of that as well; nevertheless, he was trying the same, trying to find a loophole in the Organisation's plan. A small smile grazed her faced.
It was all so typical of Ryu: determined to the core and always sure that there's hope. It was one of his qualities that she admired, envied and loved the most: seeing a point of light, hope, even in the darkest of moments, even when no other seemed to believe in it.
She was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts by a loud creak coming from somewhere above them. She looked up and saw, much to her horror, that the fragment of ceiling was cracked: flames were visible through the holes and it seemed that it was going to fall down that very moment.
Right on top of Ryu.
Gathering all her strength, Rei got up and still leaning on the wall for support, she called the boy.
"Ryu!" she shouted, "The ceiling!"
The boy turned to her the second he heard his name and then, looked up. A large chunk of ceiling got unstuck with a loud creak and fell down. Ryu had barely a second of warning: he jumped back, joining Rei by the wall. The fallen fragment crashed on the floor, lifting a cloud of dust and soot that made the two teens cough their heads off.
Ryu looked at Rei.
"Remember me... to treat you a dinner... once we're out of here." he said between coughs. Rei shook her in amused disbelief, coughing as well.
But that wasn't the worst..
Through the hole on the ceiling, burning bits of wood and every odd flammable item came flying down, showering them with sparks; it was like a storm but instead of water, the drops were of fire.
The intensity of the flames increased with the continuous arrival of flammable material and the fire extended to the room's first fire-free areas because of the sparks. The level of smoke was unbelievable: it seemed that there wasn't any air left.
Ryu and Rei found themselves side by side in the only remaining spot where the fire hadn't yet come while a flamy ring surrounded them and a thick black cloud hovered over them.
As Rei coughed hard again, Ryu realised that they only had one way to get out of that situation. He eyed the window in front of him. It was an utter madness, they could die in the attempt but it was the only way.
The only one.
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"Careful down there! That piece looks like it's going to come down any minute!"
"More water over here!"
"Work harder with those spades!"
The front side of the mansion was full of FBI agents working to put out the fire along with Matt, Chris, Heiji, Kazuha, Ran and Detectives Satou and Takagi. The firemen were yet to come and they had decided to try their best till their arrival; a couple of spades were found in the shed and were used to shovel sand; a few rather ingenious men had created a rudimentary pump that they had quickly connected to the well with a rubber tube and that allowed now them to use the spare hose.
Since not all the men could help, Detective Fabian sent them to retrieve the captives, guarded by their colleagues, and bring them to the cars; with Matt's help and with a map in hand, he sent the men in the forest. Then, he took a spade himself and started to work, shoveling large amounts of sand inside the nearest window while Matt put out the flames with the hose.
However, the boy realised that their work was fruitless. The flames rather than lessening were increasing minute after minute and he also realised that the next explosion was due to be in a couple of minutes more or less.
He was still mulling over this thought when the noise of glass shattering to pieces and a few shouts made him abruptly come back to reality. He looked around wondering what was going on and saw something flying out of a window.
"GET BACK!" he yelled. The object crashed to the ground, breaking in different pieces not far from where Matt was and he approached it.
The boy stopped next to it and blinked. Twice.
It was a chair. An old wooden chair that, he noticed, didn't seem to be burning or anything. At this point, Matt looked up.
"Where did this just come from?" he asked to a nearby agent.
"Second floor." he replied.
'The second floor..' Matt thought, 'Wait a minute.. Rei's in the second floor! So, Ryu has got to her! But.. this.. Don't tell me that.. No, that's not.. is it?'
He stared at the window, eyes widening.
"No way in hell..." he muttered, "That idiot has lost his mind!"
Quite a few people turned to him since the last sentence had been nearly shouted.
James Fabian got near him.
"Matt, what the hell's wrong with you?" he asked sharply.
"Ryu!" he exclaimed, "He and Rei are going to get out of that bloody house through the window!" And before the man could say anything, he turned to the men around them. "Hey, stop working! We'll think of the fire afterwards! All men get below that window: we have to catch those two!"
The men did as they were told though they were a bit confused. Matt in the meanwhile, looked at the window again. Lines of thick smoke were coming out of it.
"Ryu, I'm sure this idea comes from you." he muttered, "Make sure to make it through alive because we'll have to have a chat about these sudden, mad brainwaves of yours, brother of mine."
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Rei watched through burning eyes as Ryu dashed forward through the fire, seized the fallen chair on the ground and threw it against the window. She heard the glass shatter to pieces and felt a breeze of clean, fresh air caress her. Unfortunately, it didn't last long because the dense smoke overtook the little air. She coughed again and found herself taking small, sharp breaths rather than long ones because breathing was becoming painful to her. She realised that she must inhaled much more smoke than she thought and that she was lacking of oxygen; this would explain the dizziness that had been torturing her for a while. She didn't voice this loud though because she didn't want Ryu to worry about her now: he was too concentrated on trying to save them.
In the amidst of crackling of fire, burning wood and creaks she heard a familiar beeping noise. Rei froze: it was stronger than the one she had heard before.
Ryu turned to her, tensed as well: he had heard it too.
"Rei, we.." he said, coughing, "We don't have other choice but throw ourselves out the window."
The girl nodded, unable to speak: a sudden lump was caught in her throat and she was sure that it wasn't due to fear. Rei looked up and saw that her sight was slowly dimming as her dizziness increased more. She felt Ryu take his jacket off her shoulders and cover her head with it; he bent down to look at her.
"I swear that it will all go well." he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone and with a faint smile. Rei forced a smile, taking in his features as her sight was blacking out; she felt him carry her in his arms, burying her face in his chest.
"Off we go, Rei." he whispered and put her hand on her head, bringing her closer to him. She didn't reply but Ryu didn't notice that detail. He heard the beeping sound accelerate.
Without waiting anymore he ran towards the window, holding Rei tightly in his arms and didn't bother much as the flames caressed his body though he did feel the heat.
He dived out a second later.
-
Matt, Fabian, Heiji, Takagi and the ten or so men that were there, were all hurdled under the window from which the chair had flew out. They hadn't found anything to soften Ryu and Rei's fall so they decided to catch them themselves. At least, they hoped so: the window was a good seven- eight meters high and putting together Ryu and Rei's weight and the force of gravity, it was like trying to catch a falling piano.
They suddenly heard glass shattering again and Ran and Kazuha screamed. Everybody's head jolted upwards and they saw Ryu jump out; he seemed to be carrying Rei but the thing that shocked most was that his shirt was on fire.
"BE READY!" Detective Fabian roared. Every man was ready to catch the fiery human ball that was falling towards them. As he was doing so, something caught Matt's eye.
From somewhere from east, a white blur appeared; it looked like a large, white, overgrown bird. Only when it drew closer, he recognised who it was.
"Kid!" he exclaimed, "God, I've never been so glad to see him!"
-
Kaito was flying at top speed, not bothering to hear the yells from below him but only looking at the fiery figure of Ryu and Rei. He tightened the grip on his hang-glider's steerer and pushed forward, diving down to them.
Ryu saw him coming and held out his free hand. Kaito saw that he was sweating profusely and his face was kind-of screwed in pain due to his burning shirt. The magician balanced himself on one hand and stretched out his other hand to grasp the other boy's one.
Below them, there was an unnatural eerie silence.
Everyone was holding their breath as they saw the two boys hands extending to touch each other; Ryu and Rei were still a meter or so below the window when Kaito managed to grasp Ryu's hand tightly in his own.
There was a roar of delight from the ones on the ground but it died instantly.
No longer than a second later, the third bomb exploded and Kid, Ryu and Rei were thrown away by the shock wave, far from the men waiting under the window who had to instantly protect themselves with their hands to avoid to get hurt by the shower of dust, glass shards, wood splinters, rubble and debris that fell over them.
-
Kaito and Ryu were still hand in hand as they were thrown away: a wave of hot air seemed to be pushing them far away. However, Kaito still had a bit a manoeuvrability on his hang-glider; steering it so that they wouldn't go crashing on the ground at that speed, he managed to slow them a bit. Unfortunately, he couldn't let them avoid the obstacles: the cars parked there by James' squad.
Ryu managed to turn so that he would have taken the hit instead of Rei and steeled himself: he crashed against Fabian's car, breaking the front mirror into pieces, making an impression on the metallic surface and modifying the car's elegant structure quite a bit. He gasped in pain and left Kaito's hand but he didn't leave Rei.
The magician flew fast forward and crashed against the side of one of the mini-vans; his hang-glider pretty much crumpled against the vehicle, the strong material that covered it was ripped and the metallic structure penetrated into the van's door. Kaito hit the doors with his shoulders and back : he gasped in pain and fell to the ground, his monocle and top hat flying in different directions.
Neither of them moved.
-
Matt swore a string of insults as he saw Kid, Ryu and Rei crash against the cars.
He dashed towards them, wincing as his leg had decided that this was the right moment to remember him that he was injured, and was followed by Chris, James and the other people.
"Chris, get to Kid." Matt whispered hurriedly, "No one must know his identity."
The girl dashed past the first car and hurried to the magician: he was still lying motionlessly on the ground. She immediately crouched down beside him.
"Kid!" she said, shaking him gently. "Come on, wake up wake up!" She breathed in relief when she saw him move his hand and groan. Kaito slowly sat up and looked at her. Chris was visibly surprised to see his face: he looked amazingly alike to Shinichi Kudo; however, she quickly brushed the thought away and picked up his monocle and hat and handed them to him.
"Here, put them on." she said.
"Thanks, Evans." he replied softly in English, getting up.
"How are you feeling?"
"As though I've been trampled by a herd of horses."
Chris smiled and helped him up; when he swayed a bit out of balance, she held him up, putting his hand over his shoulders.
"Come on." she said, walking slowly.
"Thanks, Evans." he said again.
"It's Christine, Kid." she corrected him, "Chris for friends."
The boy smiled slightly.
"Well..Chris... then, don't call me Kid." he said, after a bit, "It's Kaito. Kaito Kuroba."
Chris looked at him. Revealing her his real name, he endangered himself very much. She smiled at him, as though telling him that she could trust him.
"All right, Kaito." she whispered and he smiled back.
They walked slowly to the group of people hurtled around Detective Fabian's car.
-
Matt skidded to an halt in front of James' car.
Ryu was spread-eagle on the car's front with blood trickling down his head, Rei in his arms in the same position, half-covered by a burnt leather jacket.
Dread washed through him as he approached them.
"Ryu! Rei!" he called, "Come on, wake up!"
He slowly untangled Ryu's arm from Rei, lifted her up and put her on the ground; Chris, after having left Kaito standing nearby, knelt down beside her. Matt reached for Ryu, heaved him down on the ground and ripped off his shirt, that was still burning in certain points, leaving him with a white, blood stained t-shirt on, and tried to reanimate him.
"Ryu! Ryu!" he called, "Come on, brother, wake up!"
The blonde opened his eyes slowly.
"Matt..?" he whispered.
"Thanks God, you're alive!" the lawyer exclaimed, "You... you.. you fool of a brother! What the hell were you thinking to jump out of a seven meters high window?"
Ryu slowly got up, wincing as every bone of his body seemed to be aching.
"At least, we've managed to get out alive, didn't we?" he asked with a ghost of a smirk on his face.
Matt looked at him for a whole minute; then, he broke into a smile.
"Sure." he replied, "As usual your mad ideas work."
Ryu slowly shook his head, trying to shake off the low whistling in his ears, due to the explosion he presumed. Then, his eyes widened.
"Rei!" he said, turning to Matt, "How is she?"
The boys turned to their left and saw Chris crouched over Rei.
"Chris, how is she?" Ryu asked in English, "Why didn't she wake up yet?
The girl turned around and the boy knew that something was wrong. And so did Matt.
"What's wrong?" he asked, "Chris, what's wrong with Rei?"
The girl glanced at the two with fearful eyes.
"She's not breathing."
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The third explosion echoed throughout the silent woods.
Shiho didn't even turn to look at the house this time; she stayed still and faced Gin colourlessly.
The man looked almost gleeful, if you can say so. He caressed his gun and aimed it towards her.
"As promised, my dear Sherry, I will let you join your friend Ikeda." he drawled, "And also your dear sister."
Rage coursed through Shiho's body at the taunt on her sister; rage that nearly cancelled her fear.
"Don't you dare speak of her." she hissed.
Gin sneered.
"Why? Does it matter now?" he asked tauntingly, "You are going to die, Sherry. You should care of yourself not of who's already dead." He loaded his gun and pointed it to her. "Goodbye, Sherry."
Shiho waited, knowing that there wasn't anything else to do. He would have pressed the trigger, the muffled shot would have been heard and the bullet would have hit her.
'And I will die.' she thought, helplessly, 'One-chan, we'll meet soon... I'm on my way.'
But it didn't happen.
She did hear a shot but it came from somewhere else.
Under them?
Gin tensed, clearly waiting to be attacked and saw a sudden movement behind a bush; he fired but it turned out to be a rabbit.
In the same moment, when he had his back turned, Shiho heard something from her behind her. She tilted her head and her face couldn't show more surprise.
Hovering in air, was non other but Shinichi Kudo.
He aimed his gun straight in front of him and fired, hitting Gin's arm; the hypodermic substance had
immediate effect and the man crumpled to the ground. He then landed on the ground.
"Are you all right?" he asked, turning to her, "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?"
"How did you do that?" she asked, recovering from the shock of seeing Gin neutralised so easily and from being saved from death.
"Do what?"
"You were floating in air. Flying."
"Sorry, milady, but that's a secret that belongs to Kaitou Kid's vast arsenal of tricks and surprises." he remarked with a smirk; then, noticing the look on her face, "But since I'm not Kid.." He turned and she noticed a metallic box on his back, attached to his belt with two small rockets sticking from the bottom. "Kid uses this when he can't use his hang-glider. You know, in small spaces."
"Where is he?"
"Down to the mansion. Ryu and Rei are there."
"Ryu? He's in the house? But the explosions?"
"They'll make it. And if they need help, there's Kid and the others."
They looked at each other. Shiho felt a wave of emotion wash through her.
"You really came." she whispered.
"I promised it, didn't I?"
As they talked, they didn't notice Gin moving. The man wasn't still knocked out: he was lots more tougher than he seems. He slowly loaded his gun and quickly turned around.
Shiho caught the sudden movement a second too late. Shinichi noticed it right after her.
Gin fired. Twice. And so did Shinichi. His shots hit the man on the other arm and his shoulder; this time, Gin was really knocked out cold.
Shiho realised that Gin's bullets were not heading to her.
The bullets were going towards him.
-
Before Shinichi even realised what was going on, a hand grabbed him, pushing him aside.
He turned and looked in utter shock as a bullet hit Shiho square in the chest and the other sliced through her arm.
"SHIHO!" he yelled. He barely noticed that the second bullet had hit his arm too.
He dashed forward and grabbed her before she fell to the ground.
Shiho was breathing heavily, gasps of pain escaped her lips. He didn't dare to move her: blood was soaking her white blouse and he saw the small black hole near her heart.
Shinichi felt.. desperate.
It was his fault: she was in this state because of him. Hadn't he said that he would have protected her? Why did she do such a thing?
"Shiho..." he breathed; he felt tears filling his eyes but angrily wiped them away. He had to do something. Anything.
"Sh..Shinichi."
The boy looked down and saw her gazing at him. He forced a smile.
"You.. you will be fine." he said, hoping that his voice wasn't trembling as he heard it. "I'll take you to the first hospital I'll find and then, you'll be fine. Fine."
Shiho gave him a faint smile.
"You are not good in lying, you know?" she whispered softly, "No wonder you became a detective: you only know how to say the truth."
"I'm not lying." he retorted, "You will be fine."
But as he bore into her light blue eyes, he realised that he didn't believe his words as much as he thought and she knew it.
Suddenly, Shiho gasped in pain; Shinichi held her closer to him, getting drenched with her blood.
"Don't give up." he whispered, "Don't, Shiho. Please, don't."
He kept calling her continuously, trying to keep her conscious. Shinichi didn't dare to leave her alone: what if she..?
He shook his head furiously. No he didn't, shouldn't think of that.
'She will be all right." he thought and kept repeating this to himself as though a mantra. 'Shiho will be all right.'
He realised that he needed help but how to get it? Maybe Kid would be back soon? But what if he didn't? What if he had problems down at the mansion?
'If only I had brought my earring phone..' he thought bitterly, 'I could call Matt or someone. But I don't have it!'
And then he remembered.
'Shiho has it!'
The girl was breathing heavily in his arms, sliding from consciousness to unconsciousness and back. Careful not to hurt her, Shinichi slid his hand in her jacket pocket and retrieved the small phone; he was startled to find it and his fingers sticky with blood.
He put it on his ear and dialed a number, hoping, praying that he would answer and send someone to help him.
"You will be fine, Shiho.." he whispered, holding her with a hand and dialling the number with the other one. "You will."
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Ryu felt the blood freeze in his veins when he heard Chris' words.
"What?" he breathed, "No.. no.."
He crawled to Rei, not bothering anymore to his injuries, ignoring the stabs of pain that he felt. His thoughts were all concentrated on her.
"Rei.." he whispered when he got to her. She was pale, extremely pale under the sweat and dust.
"Ryu, the pulse's weak and her heart is still beating but she's not breathing." Chris explained, "I think she has inhaled a large quantity of smoke and this has compromised her respiratory system."
"So she needs oxygen." Matt said, getting up. "Where the hell can we find oxygen?"
Ryu didn't reply; he merely sat up straighter, took a deep breath and bent down, holding Rei's nose, closing her mouth with his and blowing all his air in her. He did the operation another few times.
As he did this, Chris kept on checking Rei's pulse while Matt wandered to the cars, opening every trunk to see if any had a well-equipped first aid kit with, maybe, an oxygen supply.
After five blows of air, Rei didn't stir and Ryu felt a dreading feeling in him. He coughed suddenly and felt his throat dry.
"Don't you dare, Rei..." he whispered to her as he blew another mouthful of air in her, coughing again, "Don't you dare leave me." He took another deep breath despite the urge of coughing and bent down again. "Not like my mother, my father and Françoise. I wouldn't bear to loose you." He got a coughing fit, tears of desperation streamed from his eyes.
"Ryu, stop it." Chris said, not understanding a word of what he was saying, though she had a vague idea, "You have breathed smoke too, didn't you? If you go on like this, you'll go in lack of oxygen."
The boy didn't even listen. He managed to take another deep breath and blew air in Rei's mouth another time.
"Rei, I love you." he whispered on her lips, "Don't give up. Stay with me.. Don't leave me."
He blew another mouthful of air inside her, his tears dripping on her face and began to cough hard. Chris looked at Heiji, Ran, Kazuha and Kaito with concern; the FBI agents and Detectives Satou and Takagi were busy closing the captured Organisation members in the cars and vans while Matt was still savagely looking for a oxygen bottle.
"Nothing!" he yelled angrily, rummaging madly through the contents of a first aid kit he had found in a van and slamming the trunk close. His hand phone began to ring but he didn't bother to answer as he dashed to check another car.
Ryu struggled to fight a cough back down. He took a deep breath and bent down to Rei again, ignoring Chris' worried protests; as he was blowing his air in her, he was caught in another coughing fit; tears blinded his eyes as he felt his throat and lungs on fire but he managed blow all the air he could into Rei's mouth. As he pulled away, coughing like mad, he heard another person cough too and his heart skipped a few beats.
Rei rolled on a side and began to cough hard; she opened her eyes slightly, breathing harshly and Chris sighed in relief: her pulse was still very weak but at least, she was conscious. Ryu crawled close to her and took her hand: he couldn't talk through the coughs and this was the only way he knew to show how glad he was to hear her.
Matt showed up with a defeated look on his face: he hadn't found what he was looking for. As he caught sight of Rei coughing, his eyes widened and he hurried to them.
"How is she?" he asked Chris.
"She's conscious but we have to take to a hospital. She needs treatment and so does Ryu." she said and glanced at the other boy who was coughing harshly. "Didn't Detective Fabian send for an ambulance and a helicopter? They should be here by now."
"Yes, they should and so should the firemen." Matt remarked, "Even though the gas' turned off, there's still another bomb ready to explode. I suppose I'll have to make everyone get away from here or we'll be involved."
"N..no." Matt turned and looked at Ryu who was leaning on Fabian's wrecked car's door, trying to suppress another coughing fit. "I... disabled the.. bomb... before."
Saying that the young lawyer was impressed was an understatement.
"You are great!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, "Now we have a problem less."
"Matt, the ambulance. The helicopter." Chris remarked again.
"Oh, yeah." the boy hurried to Fabian who was standing by the vans, supervising the operation of locking as many captives in a vehicle along with a few agents as guard.
"Uncle James, when will the ambulance and the helicopter be here?" he asked as he got closer. As an answer, Fabian put his hand in his pocket and tossed him his hand phone.
"They said they'll call when they are close." he said shortly and went on with his work. Nodding, Matt returned back to his friends. He hardly had the time to tell them what he knew that James' hand phone began to ring. He quickly answered it.
"Hello? You're from the helicopter? Great.. where are you? All right.. Yeah, the fire's right next to us... Oh.. Of course.. but, wait a second.." Matt pulled a map from his trouser's pocket and opened it. "Er.. there's an open space nearby.. I think you should be able to land there." He paused, hearing the pilot's reply. "So, all right? You'll be here in a few min... Hey, what...? Hello? Hello?" Chris, Ryu, Heiji, Kaito, Kazuha and Ran looked at him. "Hello? Oh, there you are! What..?" Matt paused again and his eyes widened. "WHAT? Who are they? Yes, I know you can't know them but... I meant.." He rolled his eyes. "Who sent us this idiot?" he muttered and then resumed to talk on the phone. "All right describe them."
He stayed silent for a few moments and his eyes widened more. At the same time, his hand phone rang for the fourth or fifth time; muttering at the pilot to wait on line, Matt cursed under his breath and took his hand phone with badly suppressed annoyance and answered.
"Who the hell is it?" he bellowed, "I'm busy and I can'.. Shinichi?" The others looked up. "What? Yes, I know.. I'm sorry but I had my own trouble here... I didn't think it could be you calling me! Well, later about that, there's an helicopter there.. You saw it? Good. Listen, I'll tell the pilot to get you two and then he'll come here... Shinichi, I understand! But the ambulance hasn't still come here and Rei and Ryu have to go there as well. All right? See you in minute or so."
He hastily put his phone away and went back talking to the helicopter's pilot.
"Hello? Listen, you have to pick up that two.. yes, pick them up. Then come here because you have take another two people and then get to the closest hospital. Did you understand? Ok."
He closed James' phone. One look at his face and the others knew that something had happened.
"What's wrong?" Heiji asked.
"What happened to Shinichi?" Ran asked fearfully.
"Matt." Ryu managed to say clearly, "What's.. going on?"
"The pilot spotted three figures by a cliff." he said.
"Kudo, Miyano and Gin" Kid remarked.
"Yeah, he described them and well, Gin seems to be knocked out cold. As for Shinichi and Shiho.." Matt was very concerned, "It seems that they're both injured; Shinichi said that Shiho's particularly serious: she got hit by a bullet on her chest." A few gasps were heard. "The helicopter will take them and then come here to pick up Rei and Ryu. It'll be here soon."
The other teens nodded numbly.
-
Five minutes later, an helicopter landed in an open space next to the mansion; inside besides the pilot was a paramedic and Shinichi and Shiho. Only Matt, Ryu and Rei who was being carried by the blond got closer to the vehicle. They caught sight of Shinichi and saw that he looked devastated. They turned there gaze to Shiho and failed to suppress a gasp of shock. She was soaked with blood, extremely pale and looked to be in pain. The paramedic had done his best to stabilize her conditions, applying her an I.V tube but he knew that she urgently needed treatment. When he caught sight of Rei's unconscious figure, he practically dived to the door, helping Ryu put her in and, after knowing what had happened he put an oxygen mask on her. Ryu sat next to the pilot and the paramedic passed him an oxygen supply, noticing his harsh cough.
The pilot talked with Matt, saying that he was heading to Tokyo General Hospital.
"Be fast." Matt said to him as the helicopter was about to leave.
The pilot nodded and so did Ryu who was slowly breathing through the oxygen supply: he felt as though his lungs were turning back to normal again. Shinichi was too busy worrying about Shiho and also Rei's conditions.
The helicopter took off and Matt stood there till it wasn't but a black point in the dusking sky. It had been a long day but he still couldn't see it's ending.
As he was walking back to join the Chris and the others, his hand phone rang again. He answered immediately and was relieved to hear his father.
"Dad. Yeah, we've almost done here.. oh, good, you're sending more men? Yes, we didn't know where to put all of them. Ah, you heard... Uncle James told you, didn't he? Yes, the helicopter has just gone away; as soon as I'm done, I'll go down to the hospital to see them. You're going there? Oh, we'll meet there, then. What?"
Matt's eyes widened as he heard his father's words.
"That...that's great, Dad. Really. Ok, see you later."
He put his phone away and looked at the burning mansion.
Right in front of his eyes, the roof caved in, collapsing inside on the floors. The firemen had come a few minutes ago and had set to work immediately helped by a few agents.
The ambulance was going to be there any minute.
As he looked at the flames and smoke rising from the building, Matt recalled his father's last sentence on the phone.
"We have caught him, Matt. The Boss is in our hands."
He should feel glad of his capture.
He should feel exhilarated of having contributed to bring down the Organisation.
He should be happy that it no longer existed.
But he wasn't.
He only felt dread and a great sense of let-down.
More than a year's work had finally given it's results. The Organisation had been destroyed but at what cost? Matt had heard from Fabian about the men that had lost their lives at the Bay: they were heroes now but how could that soot their families' pain? But what concerned Matt most were his four friends on the helicopter.
'I hope that they will all be fine..' he thought.
It just wasn't fair.
They were the ones that had worked most to bring the Organisation down, they were the ones that put most efforts in the plan. They were the ones that risked most, exposing themselves, risking to be recognised or worse caught.
And now that it was all over, they were the ones that were risking their lives.
It just wasn't fair.
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Well, another chapter is done.
I've been quite quick, haven't I? I took advantage of a few mornings and afternoons that I spent on my own without anyone around: I sat in front of my laptop and just let the story come to life. I do hope that you'll like it because there are a lot of little things that I said here that will be important in the coming chapters and in the second part of my story.
Oh, by the way, just three chapters left to the ending of Part 1!
Anyway, I'm quite satisfied with this chapter; maybe I could say something about Shinichi's arrival to save Shiho and how I kind of finished Gin so easily.. I swear I didn't know how to put that bit and I think I hurried up. I hope you'll like it.
The next chapter will come, I hope, soon. I'll try to settle down and write as mush as I can.
REVIEW!
Bye!
A.N: Corrections made
