Tokyo: 8:45

Panay: 7:45

"Vermouth" Korn started with an edge on his tongue "let's go" Vermouth snickered and raised a disobedient hand to Korn's face

"You go, I want to see my old friend" Korn, feeling no particular attachment to Vermouth simply shrugged and preceded to enter the compound, leaving Vermouth outside to stare down the three law enforcers exiting the vehicle. Without missing a beat Jodie had her pistol out and aimed at Vermouth's head. The headlights from the car remained on, illuminating Vermouth's virtually infallible features

"Hands up!" she barked, cocking her gun. Vermouth only grinned and readjusted her posture, crossing her arms in front of her chest

"This is how you greet me after so long apart?" she asked her in a conniving manner, trying to goad a response from her

"Jodie-kun is this-"

"Hai, this is the illustrious murderer Vermouth" Vermouth arrogantly waved a hand in front her and smiled

"You flatter me"

"Shut up and let me see your hands" Jodie demanded without even a trace of amusement on her face. Kogoro, who had been in the back seat finally maneuvered his way out of the two-door vehicle and stood next to Megure

"Oh! She's almost as cute as Yoko-chan!" he bellowed out, causing Megure to understandably smack his own forehead

"Mouri-kun, that woman is an internationally wanted murderer" Kogoro swallowed hard and took a step back

"R-Really?" he sputtered out, terror painted on his features

"That's right cutie" Vermouth responded with a wink

"Last warning, put your hands over your head or I will shoot" Vermouth's expression did not falter at Jodie command. Instead she started to walk toward the trio, still grinning pompously

"But if you kill me" she started as Megure drew his sidearm and pointed at her to accompany the F.B.I agent "how will you get into the base?" Jodie's determination faltered for a second and Vermouth leapt forward, taking hold of the barrel of Jodie's pistol

"Jodie-kun!" Megure exclaimed, cocking his own gun

"Wait!" Jodie shot back, causing both Kogoro and Megure to flinch. Jodie's eyes then returned to Vermouth who seemed satisfied with her reaction "What the hell are you talking about?" Vermouth sarcastically took on a shocked expression

"You really want my help?" she asked in an exaggerated manner

"Give me a reason not have my associate over blow your head off" the two blondes locked eyes and the intensity of their interaction could be felt by the two spectators

"I can get you inside" Vermouth finally said without even a twitch, Jodie stared her down for a moment before responding

"Why should we trust you?" Vermouth released the barrel of Jodie's gun and took a step back

"Let me tell you my plan"


"Kudo where the hell are we goin'?" Heiji asked as the teen flew down the stairwell in at a frenzied pace

"Whoever killed my dad couldn't have gotten far" he replied as he threw open a door that led into the second floor under. Shinichi only glanced around before slipping back out the door and starting his descent to next floor. Before he could get down the third stair Heiji's hands slammed down onto his shoulder, effectively stopping him. Shinichi turned around angrily and glared at Heiji

"Kudo, you're not thinkin'. We need to check that floor, who knows what's in there. If we miss something here we're dead" Shinichi took a deep breath and ran his palm over his sweat beaded brow

"You're right" he stated concisely, turning back and reopening the door he had only glanced in before


After over a minute of debilitation by smoke Gin had finally started to pursue Kaito KID again. He couldn't help but feel a degree of rage as the veins snaked their way up his neck. It wasn't often Gin's cunning and prowess were genuinely challenged, and the thought of being beaten by such a flamboyant character didn't help as he trudged down the corridor

"Where are you KID!" he roared, his voice echoing through the hallway. Just as the echoes of his loud query dissipated he felt a vibration in his pocket. In a fit of rage he lifted the phone from his pocket and threw against the concrete wall at his right, shattering it to pieces


"Damn!" the security guard exclaimed as the line went dead. The overweight guard was already in a frenzy after seeing one of the Organization's most loyal members walk away with three law enforcement agents. "I need to tell someone!" he decided, rising from his seat. Sweat dripped down from his bangs as he moved, and even more so as he rushed out the door. He hadn't made it twenty meters when he came face to face with two teenage boys "What are you doing here?" he asked them, trying to sound authoritative. Shinichi and Heiji looked at each other then with a grin Shinichi flicked up the crosshair on his wrist watch

"Nothing" he replied curtly before shooting a dart into his neck. The man tumbled around for a moment but stayed on his feet

"What the hell!" Heiji yelled in a mixture of fear and confusion

"Of course, he's too rotund. Due to his body weight the tranquilizer wasn't able to concentrate into his blood stream and render him unconscious" Shinichi deduced in a level tone

"What thehelldya doto me?" he slurred, still struggling to stay on his feet. In a rash move Heiji leapt forward and punched the man square in the face, sending him tumbling backward and eventually to the floor

"Hattori!"

"I had to do somethin!" he shot back, causing Shinichi to roll his eyes

"Come on" Shinichi said, walking over the body. Heiji took one last look at the incapacitated guard then followed his partner


"This is it" Hidemi stated, pointing to a steel door, painted over in black except for the knob which remained silver

"What now?" Camel asked, representing the sea of curious gazes behind him

"We have to move stealthily. If they sense something's wrong they will evacuate and then we'll be back to square one" Camel nodded then turned around to face the group of officers behind him

"Listen, we're going to enter the building. I want you in two rows, one left one right. Left row will be Sato and Takagi, right will be Shiratori and Chiba. Do not fire unless absolutely necessary, we have to remain hidden as long as possible" the group nodded and with that Hidemi pushed the door open while withdrawing her own gun from the holster on her thigh


"Why the hell isn't he answering?" Vodka grumbled to himself as he clamped his phone shut. He shook his head as he entered the fourth floor down. His eyebrow quirked when he laid eyes on his partner who looked completely out of sorts

"Gin" he called out, trying to get his attention

"Vodka! Stay there. The KID is in here" Vodka looked at him puzzled but took him at his word and withdrew his pistol


"Damnit!" Kaito swore. In a split second decision Kaito had decided to reenter the air duct, in hopes that Gin would leave the room to pursue him. However this man wasn't the most feared man in the syndicate for no reason

"Kaito" Aoko whispered at a hardly audible volume. Kaito turned to her but said nothing. Instead he pointed to his right and nodded reassuringly. Aoko understood and began to slowly crawl through the duct. Kaito followed her, careful not to make even the slightest noise. He felt a bit of relief when Aoko's progress led her out of the hall, however it was mixed with fear because the duct was pitch black in front of them. He could sense Aoko's fear of moving forward and he moved to remedy the situation. Gently he placed a gloved hand on the small of her back which made her jump just slightly. She turned her head to look at him but her mouth was quickly covered by the hand which had caught her attention initially

"Shh" he said with his index finger over his lips. Aoko nodded and with that Kaito began to turn himself over onto his back. Aoko was desperately confused but nonetheless remained silent. Once Kaito was lying flat on his back he began to slowly inch himself forward. Aoko blushed as his head went between her knees. Before she could voice this however Kaito carefully grabbed each of her thighs and pulled them backward, dragging them across his chest. At this point Aoko was far beyond confused but she had decided long ago that the best she could do was trust in his judgment so she allowed him to move her. A few seconds later her legs were fully on top of him and his nose was buried in her naval.

"K-Kaito" Aoko's blush was now a full on inferno but she struggled valiantly to rid herself of these thoughts seeing as the situation was deathly serious. Kaito grinned as he pulled himself forward, slipping under Aoko's torso. Within seconds he and Aoko were eye to eye, their faces mere centimeters apart. After a few seconds of amorous staring Kaito dragged himself forward the rest of the way while Aoko moved herself backward and onto her hands and knees once again. After a couple seconds of position adjustment Kaito was back on his hands and knees as well and with a small gesture to Aoko they began to move forward into the dark duct


"Ready?" Vermouth asked, still amazed at her handiwork. Jodie had been completely done over to look like Vermouth herself, which wasn't terribly difficult considering there aesthetic similarity.

"Let's go" Jodie responded, snapping a pair of handcuffs onto Vermouth's wrists. Jodie then roughly yanked Vermouth up by the hair, causing Vermouth to gasp slightly

"Now now don't get too into character" Jodie's expression did not change as she pushed Vermouth forward toward the entry gate of the compound. About half a kilometer away Megure and Kogoro were submerged in a bush with a pair of binoculars, observing the progress of the plan

"What's this?" Jodie asked, looking around at the incapacitated guards strewn about the entrance of the base

"Doesn't matter, that just saves us a little trouble" Jodie nodded and she pushed the disguised Vermouth forward through the entrance


"Gin?" Vodka questioned as his partner stood completely still, trying to sense even the slightest movement

"What" Gin responded angrily, annoyed with the disturbance

"Are you sure KID didn't get out the door?" Vodka almost flinched as he asked the question, but nevertheless he felt obligated to ask it

"If that were true, wouldn't he have run into you?" Vodka thought about the idea for a moment

"What if he went the other way, down the hall to the other stairway?" a grin splayed over Gin's features and his mouth twitched. Instead of responding immediately he strode over to Vodka, bringing himself within just a meter

"So you think he ran right past me?" a streak of sweat ran down the side of Vodka's head as he mulled possible ways to answer the seemingly impossible question. After a lapse of silence Gin finally turned around and faced the direction in question "At any rate, we should go check" Gin conceded, indirectly admitting his possible error. Vodka let out a relieved sigh as Gin marched off before walking over to catch up with him

Shorter chapter, but things are still tense. Just passed 150,000 words, so woot for me. The story is coming to a head, the climax is near so remember

Reading is Mandatory

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