Dark deductions

"Fuck!"

Heat rose in his cheeks, while the Heiji's fingertips became freezing cold, as he risked a glimpse out of the open window.

'From the window sill, down to the roof of the conservatory, and she's gone.' He cursed, closing the window with so much force that the handle cracked beneath his fingers.

For a brief moment, he paused and stared out at the twilight.

She could be anywhere by now!

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"

"HEIJI!"

His wife's voice let him turn around, his hands still buried in his uncombed hair, while he looked at her in annoyance.

"WHAT?"

Kazuha's telling look at the three-year-old by her side was all the officer got in response to his question. But Haikuro's confused gaze, as he clung to his mother's pajama pants, was enough to cool his father's temper. The detective just sighed, looking to the floor, while he heard the banging of approaching steps.

But even before the voices could reach them, Kazuha began to comprehend what was going on while he looked through the room.

"Where is-..."

Heiji swallowed, turned his gaze away from her.

"Gone."

"WHAT?" Pure panic fueled Kogoro Mori's voice. With a shrill sound, he stumbled into the room, checked, like Heiji had, the bed and window, while everyone else, also dressed in pajamas or morning coats, stood paralyzed in the door frame. Mori, however, cursed and instinctively searched for his mobile in his pajama pants. Unsuccessfully, of course, so that Heiji offered him his own. It took only a few seconds before Ran's mobile phone's cheerful melody made the group flinch. Kogoro followed the sound and found her phone in the small drawer. He stared at it for a while until his wife stepped by his side and canceled the call so that the phone went mute again. Her hands trembled, the lawyer bit her lips, forcing her husband to look at her, while her rough voice barely reached his ear.

"She's gone."

Eri's words electrified the air before Stuart David's tense tone cut through the silence. The FBI agent made Heiji look up, the two men's eyes met.

"She's gone?"

But before either of the two could have said anything, the former "sleeping" detective threw himself between them, grabbed Stuart by the collar, and pressed him to the closet with a growl.

"You! You're here to take care of her, aren't you?! How could she simply disappear? How could you allow that?" The green eyes of the agent looked at him in surprise. Stuart did not even resist, so the policeman let go of him with a huff when he realized that the guy probably didn't even understand the words he was throwing at him.

"Mori-..." But he waved off, went back to his wife, who had settled on Ran's bed, holding the pillow in her arm, and looked silently out of the window. Heiji only sighed and turned to Stuart again. He could see that Stuart had a good idea of what the upset father accused him of despite the language barrier.

"Yes, she's gone." He swallowed, drove his fingers through his hair.

"Of course she is. Out of the window, a jump to the little porch below and off she went. It's Ran! You must have been a fool thinking that simple doors and a few men watching her would be enough to keep a girl like her."

The Osakan's gaze fell to the floor again, his voice barely audible.

"And I was an idiot as well..." He turned to the Moris but didn't look up as he explained himself.

"I realized that something was wrong; I should have known better..." He swallowed, shaking his head with a grim face.

"We shouldn't give up so easily."

The eyes of the little group went to Yusaku, who hid his hands in his dark green dressing gown before his eyes searched Tracy's face. The author noticed the deep dark rings beneath her eyes, as well as the fact that she was already - or perhaps still - wearing her lab.

"I assume that the clothes that the FBI has brought us have been prepared for such a case?"

"They've bugged us?" Tracy swallowed as Stuart dodged the professor's questioning gaze.

"Of course, they did. We're well... not really easy to watch over. If they catch one of us, they have another tool to pressure the police or the FBI. It would have been careless not to take such a precaution."

But the modest smile on the chemist's lips didn't appear. She just nodded, while her look briefly wandered to her fiancé before she answered.

"It's true; we should be able to locate her."

"Damn, then why are you still standing here! Find her..." Eri's voice trembled, unmistakably the tone that had made Japan's courtrooms shiver so many times.

Kogoro, too, rose from his seat and approached her.

"I will come with you..."

"Mr. Mori, she-"

"What? Do you really think I'll keep on sitting on my hands while my daughter is running around out there? These guys are just waiting to get a hold of her! This is about Ran! I will no longer let you tell me what I'm allowed and what not!" The vein at the policeman's temple throbbed visibly; his loud voice revealed the worry of a father.

"Whether you keep us here or not, it doesn't matter anymore when she is out there! Ran is their ultimate weapon against him; even you should know that by now. I'm a police officer, and I have every right to take part in this case, so don't even think-"

"It certainly matters, Mori-kun." The officer paused, blinked in surprise, and felt how his mustache still twitched in rage.

"We can't let you go. What would be the purpose of finding Ran if you fell into their hands instead?"

Mori, however, only pinched the bridge of his nose and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"I'm not Ran, Kudo would never -..." But once again, Tracy interrupted him, her brown eyes fixed on him alone so that for the first time, Mori got a glimpse as to why the FBI had hired someone like her.

"Do you really believe that? Shouldn't you know him better? Why do you think we took you all here? Out of pure fun? Certainly not." She sighed, turned her gaze away from him to look out the window, towards the cloudy sky. Her voice had become quiet.

"We're following his instructions, Mori-kun. And if we want for Shinichi to survive, we should find Ran and keep up following his plans." She took a step towards him, trying to pronounce the next words as carefully as possible and in her finest Japanese.

"And we will find her. I promise you that."

Mori swallowed, damn, he hated the FBI, hated women, with their tender eyes. He hated THIS woman from the FBI. With an annoyed sigh, he turned his head away.

He waited until she had apparently understood his silence as 'yes', and she left the room along with the other agent. But before the two were through the door frame, the voice of the "sleeping" Kogoro reached her again.

"You better do find her… as soon as possible."

He saw how Stuart swallowed. Apparently, the threat in his voice was multilingual. But Tracy just looked at him before she nodded briefly.

"We'll start the search right away. Stuart is going to questions the guards around the house. Maybe one of them noticed something or saw her."

But Heiji laughed bitterly, shaking his head as he stared holes into the floor.

"If so, they would be lying in the dirt with a fractured skull if they'd tried to stop her."

A tense silence spread among the group. No one took the first step to continue the daily routine they had built up until a bright voice ripped them from their thoughts.

"Otosan, where is Ran-neechan?"

The shaky words of little Heikuro ripped everyone out of their daydreams, but instead of Kazuha, it was Yukiko who found her voice first. She bent down to the little one she'd had so often in her care during the Hattori's stays in Tokyo.

"Your Neechan is trying to help someone, you know? She's really, really brave.'

Heiji raised his eyebrow.

'Brave? Ya mean stupid?' He rolled his eyes, but his son didn't notice his silent comment.

"Brave?" The former actress sighed, looking into the big green eyes, which stared at her in amazement.

"Yes, but it's too dangerous for her. Do you understand, Haiku-chan? That's why we have to find her." But the little boy only blinked, pressed his beloved teddy-o-saur firmly to himself.

"Neechan is in danger?"

Yukiko swallowed, nodded slowly, and brushed one of his dark curls from his temple.

"Don't worry, Haiku-chan, your dad and the police are already looking for her."

"I'm also good at playing hide-and-seek!" Haikuro's enthusiasm made Yukiko flinch, while he still looked at her with big eyes.

"I can help to find Ran-neechan!" She heard how Kazuha took a sharp breath.

"But who would take care of your mom, Haikuro? Don't worry, your dad will definitely find them."

The little boy nodded silently and then gnawed around on his lower lip as he watched the adults start talking again.

'But Dad is so bad at the game...' He always searched for him in the strangest places. Mum's hatbox, or the biscuit tin while he hid under the living room table.

How could he find Ran?

XXX

Shinichi opened his eyes and blinked to get rid of the dark shadows in his vision before he pulled himself from the ground with a groan.

'Oh man...' he rubbed his face, grabbed his pounding forehead.

'Anyone got the number of that truck?'

The detective swallowed, put his hands in the soft grass under him, and looked around slowly.

Trees, winding paths, a small streamlined with meadows and flowers.

'A park.'

He got up, knocked the grass off his pants, and only now realized that the green oasis was encircled by houses, and the facade of some of them seemed strangely familiar to him.

'New York? The Central Park...'

"But how-?"

But a more than familiar sound broke through his rather useless question.

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

The detective frowned, listened again, and only now noticed that it was the only sound he could hear at all - no rustle of leaves and no splashing of the stream. Even the colors in this place seemed strange to him. A little too pale, almost grayish, as if a dense veil of fog was lying like a shadow over the scene.

'What's going on here?'

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

Slowly, his steps carried him across the grass, towards one of the paths. He started to follow it, getting closer to the strange sound.

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

Then, at the next clearing, he finally saw what had strained his nerves with this uneven beat.

A tired smile crept on his lips for a moment, so that's how he knew the sound.

A soccer ball.

Shinichi swallowed, an evil foreboding crept beneath his skin while he watched a kid playing soccer. He took a few steps towards the boy.

The ball rolled back in front of the elementary schooler's feet, who eyed it before he sent it back with a firm kick. It bounced against a tree trunk then came back to the boy with small jumps before it slowly rolled towards his feet.

Shinichi's blood froze in his veins when he saw who was standing before him. He took a step back, heard the gravel crunching beneath his feet, and he wasn't the only one.

The elementary schooler stopped in his movements, turning around with a curious look in his blue eyes, which grew wide when he saw who was standing in front of him.

Kudo Shinichi.

Edogawa Conan.

'How is this possible?'

Shinichi swallowed, felt how the headache in his temples started to knock at his mind's door until he finally found the courage to speak.

"I'm rather certain that this isn't good."

He saw Conan swallow and sigh, picking up the ball before he stepped towards him with the toy tugged under his arm.

"No, I guess not."

His short legs stopped, and his gaze slowly moved up to his older alter ego.

The silence around them grew tense. Somehow the colors seemed to blur for a second while they simply stared at each other in silence.

One at the other, and each at himself.

XXX

Shinichi sighed, holding his forehead that felt like someone was smashing nails through his skull.

"So you finally remember?"

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

Shot, tree, back.

"Yeah…" The high school student sighed, letting himself slip further against the uncomfortable park bench.

"But at least I know now where these damn headaches come from."

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

"Tell me about it," the primary schooler muttered while his attention had switched to the ball again.

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

Shinichi frowned, observing how the ball flew through the air again.

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

And again.

Thum..., dup, dup, dup.

Okay, that was enough.

"Would you stop that, please!"

The annoyed voice of his older counterpart brought the elementary schoolers doing to a halt. He looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Of course…, but it helps me thinking- I mean us, oh whatever."

But Shinichi just sighed, rubbed his tense neck.

"Yes. But it doesn't really help me right now, except for my headache getting worse. So please…" Conan sighed, left the ball where it was, and went back to the high schooler, climbing onto the park bench next to him. He tried not to notice the distance between his feet and the ground.

But even the silence could not calm Shinichi's headache. His thoughts were swimming, slipping through his fingers so that he could not hold one of them. It was Conan's voice that broke through the silence.

"This is a dream, right?"

Shinichi swallowed, turned his gaze to the elementary school student, and briefly marveled at the strange way to look down on himself.

"Well, I, I think so, or do you have a better explanation?" But Conan just shook his head and remained silent. Instead, he crossed his arms in front of his chest before he looked up skeptically from the corner of his eye to Shinichi.

"So… who of us is real?"

Shinichi looked at him, bit his lip, and shifted his gaze away from him, looking back at the little forest in front of them.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Conan swallowed but frowned while he let his gaze drop from the high school student's edgy face.

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't been thinking about how you might get rid of me. Since it's clear you're getting crazy, talking to yourself." Shinichi next to him flinched, but Conan just sighed, shaking his head, crossing his arms behind his head, and leaned against the back of the wooden bench.

"Now I'll tell you something, Shinichi-nichan, I've been thinking the same since I saw you."

This obviously broke the high school detective's stride. Thoughtfully, he put his finger on his chin, finally forgetting the annoying throbbing in his temples for at least a few minutes.

"Maybe none of us is a fake in this case?" He swallowed, felt the sharp eyes of the elementary schooler slowly wandering up to him.

'Well, at least I now know why Hattori always thought that I was creepy.'

But the high school student shook the thought off, leaning his chin into his hands as he tried to formulate a plausible explanation for this dream.

"Our mind might have divided us, presumably to be able to process the last few minutes better. Our brain split us into individual compartments to be able to sort out what has happened before putting everything back together."

But Conan rolled his eyes, hiding his little hands deep in his pockets.

'And that's why Conan had to show up? Thank you very much.'

"How reassuring."

The tone of the seven-year-old was bitter, but they didn't have a better explanation right now. He sighed, turning his gaze up at Shinichi again.

"So it's just the two of us?"

But before Shinichi could answer him, another voice got in between.

"Well, more like three…"

XXX

The too-sweet tea calmed her nerves and soothed her accelerated breathing. With a long sigh, Ran reached for her purse to get an overview of her finances. There wasn't much left after she'd re-dressed herself.

Nevertheless, it was the first thing she had done after arriving in Tokyo because in recent years, she had learned enough about the FBI and its methods to know how they worked. Of course, the cashier had been surprised by the young woman, who apparently was so in love with her new clothes that she wanted to keep them on right away. While she'd left her old belongings in the next best garbage can behind the shop, this maneuver had burned a large hole in her already slim wallet. Using her card was out of the question, so she had to go with what she had until she found him.

'And how do you imagine to do that?'

The young teacher swallowed, stirring her tea, and watched how the sugar crystals melted in the vortex of hot water.

She had planned to stop sitting on her hands to act.

'Done.'

She'd planned to escape the FBI's grip.

'Done.'

She'd planned to track him down, here in Tokyo, out of millions, while she was hiding from the FBI, the police, and not to mention the organization.

But somehow, she never planned how to do all this.

'Damn, you're still behaving like the simple high school student back then. What's wrong with you?' The young woman sighed, buried her head in her hands, and tried to ignore the noise of the TV that hung in the corner of the small café, robbing her of the last nerve since she had entered it.

Only a few subway stations separated her from Beika, the place where she wanted to start her search. But to figure out how and what to do, she needed a quiet place to think, just for a moment. And thanks to Shinichi, she quickly managed to find a place where no one would find her so easily. A bitter smile crept onto her features as she remembered his words. Public areas, places crowded with people were perfect to merge with the mass, so her first idea had been a shopping mall if it wasn't for the cameras. That's why she had moved to a small café in one of the many side streets. Even if there was not enough going on here to simply disappear, she'd found a dark spot in the corner, near to an old couple who were sharing a piece of cake.

As she watched the two, she could see the looks they gave each other- it was nice to know that this kind of love still existed.

"Can get you something else, sweetheart?"

Torn from her thoughts, Ran looked up, staring at the aging waitress's crumbling smile, and immediately turned red when she noticed that she'd been caught daydreaming.

"No thanks, just the bill, please."

The lady's ill-drawn eyebrow was way too close to the hairline of her fake blonde curls, skeptically watching the young woman in front of her lonely cup of tea.

"Sure? You don't have to hurry, sweety. Besides, you look like you can use something stronger than that."

Ran's cheeks burned while she stared in her cup in embarrassment, but before Ran had the chance to answer, the lady had turned her head towards the TV. Her eyes slowly grew large so that the teacher could see small crumbs of the too thickly applied blue eye-shadow fluttering over her cheek to the ground.

"Can you believe it?"

The waitress shook her hand, hiding her hand in the pockets of her bright pink apron, as she watched the show on the screen. Ran sighed, biting her lips. Of course, she had already known that she couldn't avoid news about what happened.

Pictures of Conan and Shinichi flickered across the dusty TV, even though she had no idea where they got these old photos. Ran swallowed, watching Shinichi's face while an animated time-lapse transformed Kudo Shinichi to Edogawa Conan in just a few moments. With every passing second, Shinichi's sharp features disappeared more and more. She could feel goosebumps crawling up her spine while she watched how his face lost its shape. His jawline softened while the sharp and knowing eyes seemed to grow bigger, giving him a childlike character. The high schooler's features grew round, sharp edges disappeared until only the elementary schooler was left.

She froze; a lump was growing in her throat while the sweet smell of her tea suddenly stung in her nose.

'Shinichi...'

But her newly acquired friend left Ran no time to fight the burning in her eyes, or at least to swallow the lump in her throat so that she could breathe again. No, the shabby-looking waitress had other plans.

"This guy finds the fountain of youth and selfishly hides it from the world."

She shook her head, letting the bubble of the gum pop she'd been chewing on before she looked at Ran again. "Unbelievable!"

The fake blonde's look made it clear to Ran that she was waiting for an answer. The young woman swallowed, nervously kneaded her hands in her lap while her tongue carefully formed her response.

"He was in danger... and I don't think he was particularly excited about... this effect."

But the lady didn't seem to notice the distress of her counterpart, looking at her with indignantly big eyes, so that her mascara-smeared lashes almost hit her eyebrows as she bent down to her table.

"Not excited!?"

Ran swallowed, watched as the brittle lips turned into a derogatory grin.

"Sweety, if they'd put this stuff on the market somehow, I'm the first to sell my apartment to buy at least a year's supply of this miracle cure."

But Ran could do nothing but stare at the waitress. Blinking, she wondered if she had even understood what "origin" this side effect actually had. However, the still surprised lady only straightened up again, looking at the young thing before her while she shook her head thoughtfully, making her large earrings sway.

"Probably it's because of your age that you don't understand that yet, and who knows, maybe what some people say is true, and it's all just a stupid plot to promote this American's book."

Ran was shocked; that's her second guess? Was it true that people's opinions were so divided when it came to the truthfulness of Shinichi's story?

She watched as a dreamy smile tugged on the lips of the aging waitress, who winked at Ran with a mascara-heavy eyelid.

"But let's be honest... who wouldn't dream of eternal youth?"

But the young woman only stopped, forgetting the smile that was supposed to be on her lips. Any acting talent had somehow left her in the last few minutes. Her gaze wandered back to her teacup, looking at her own face in the amber liquid when she responded with a pale voice.

"Yes,... who wouldn't."

XXX

He watched how his other selves jumped from the park bench and looked at him with calculating eyes.

Bell himself couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the two sitting there, chatting about which of them was real and who was not. He himself was pretty sure that he wasn't the fantasy of anyone, but the other two seemed to think the same. So, they had to go with Kudo's theory, at least for now.

The criminalistic professor sighed and slowly approached the two.

"Let's just hope that our brain will manage to patch all of this together again."

But the bitter smile he'd expected on the lips of the two didn't appear. The little boy looked like he'd seen a ghost, a spark of fear hiding in his eyes, while Shinichi also seemed to have trouble pulling himself together.

Bell swallowed. His voice - of course.

"Sorry..."

But the brief apology was enough to free the high school student from his trance. Shinichi shook his head, swallowed, and took a step toward him.

"Well, I suppose you can't just-..."

But Bell just sighed, shaking his head with a bitter smile.

"No, I can't take it off, and believe me, I've tried. But at least it makes sense now, because who do you think I would find underneath it?"

Shinichi frowned briefly but then nodded.

'Of course,...'

The American saw how the little boy gulped as his tense muscles slowly loosened. For a moment, none of the three raised their eyes. Again it was Bell's voice that broke through the tense silence.

"Okay... this is really awkward."

"No kidding."

The comment came in synch from the other two's mouths and made all three of them shiver, while Shinichi and Conan looked at each other in surprise.

Conan sighed, hoisted himself back onto the bench, staring into the grey sky.

"So, what now?"

Shinichi swallowed, also retook his place while Bell stood in front of them. He could feel how a lump formed in his throat when he saw his two identities sitting next to each other.

"Wait until we wake up, I suppose."

"We?"

Shinichi just sighed, rubbing a hand across his forehead with trembling fingers. Was he really so annoying?

"We, you, he, I... I don't think that makes much of a difference, does it?"

But Conan's gaze was stuck on the clearing in front of them, murmuring his answer into his non-existent beard.

"Well, no..."

Bell took his glasses from his nose and started with his useless habit to clear the glass.

"I think we should do something with this..." He pointed to his surroundings.

"... as long as our mind is still clear enough to think." But Shinichi only raised his eyebrow, looking down at little Conan to see if he thought the same.

'Of course, he does. Man - he's you!'

The detective moaned, massaging the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

'It's not like I already have a headache.'

"That's what you call a clear mind?"

Bell frowned, hiding his hands in his pockets before his bitter voice echoed through the park.

"At least it's better than being disturbed thinking by those damn drops every time. I'm afraid it'll only be worse when we wake up."

His other two counterparts swallowed before Conan looked up, raising a skeptic eyebrow at the American.

"Probably. So, what are you suggesting?"

"Well, we clearly can't get out of there by ourselves, so it would be useless to plan an escape. It's either we'll be found, or he'll get bored with us." Bell shrugged beneath the high school student's gaze; he knew exactly why the two had a problem with him being here. Jeez, it wasn't like he was a fan himself. After all, it was quite unusual that your own voice gave you goosebumps.

In the end, however, it was the voice of the primary schooler that broke the silence between the three.

"I wonder who he is..." Conan had put his fingertips onto each other. His eyes were rigid, looking serious and yet kind of empty through the far too large glasses. Bell and Shinichi's eyes met briefly.

'Creepy...'

Bell smirked as an invisible wind pulled at his clothes, while the trees around them remained mute, even though they were supposed to be rustling.

"You're probably not the only one." Shinichi also nodded, folded his hands in front of his chest, and let himself sink against the uncomfortable backrest.

"I just wonder how we could have overlooked that when we know him. Why didn't we immediately know that something was wrong with him?"

Conan swallowed, formulated his next words as carefully as possible.

"He's the boss of this organization; it is logical that he's not walking with a sign on his chest, right?"

Shinichi next to him just sighed, let his gaze wander over the elementary school student, and wondered if he had really been that small.

"Sure... but I can't get rid of the feeling that we're overlooking something." Bell nodded, his voice sounding heavy as he spoke.

"Something is missing, something to solve this riddle. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I just can't..." The tense voices of the older two let Conan look up at them. God, he hated that he had to look up at people. And to look up into his own face from this angle – well, better not to think about this any further. He sighed, his gaze fell into his palms, which were far too small, and thoughtfully turned his fingers back and forth. He swallowed, shook his head, and looked up again. Watching the small clearing in front of them, he could see the wind playing with the grass, making it sway.

The other two's discussion about who the boss might be spilled over him, even though it seemed strange that his mind couldn't focus on their words. The throbbing headache was also returning, probably not a good sign. The elementary schooler swallowed, felt goosebumps forming on his arms, thinking about how and where he would wake up afterward. He took a deep breath, looked up, and directed his gaze past Bell to the small clearing where leaves and grass were dancing together in mute rhythm.

'Well, I guess wishing not waking up isn't a good idea either…'

While the other two were almost arguing with each other now, the little detective saw something he hadn't noticed before. A bitter smile appeared on his lips.

"And how is that supposed to help?"

"Huh?"

Bell and Shinichi's eyes wandered down to him, following his gaze, so that the American slowly turned around to see what was going on behind his back.

"Crows?"

Bell's question only earned criticism from the high school student.

"Well spotted, Grate Detective."

The elementary school student rolled his eyes, got off the bench, and slowly walked towards the birds. The other two looked at him briefly, then followed his example and approached the crows, getting as close as the birds allowed them to.

It must have been a strange sight for the black-feathered animals when the three suddenly approached them. Three completely different people with the same thoughtful sparkle in their blue eyes. However, the birds weren't disturbed by them for long before they began to bicker over a worm, while others curiously strut around in the area.

Shinichi's gaze wandered over them, Their loud croaks scratched in his ears, but the detective didn't waste any thought on why the birds next to them were the only creatures to make a noise in this place. After all, it must have been his mind creating these images, but when he looked at the individual animals, he felt that something seemed to be wrong.

"Six? Shouldn't it be seven?" Bell nodded, then carefully adjusted his glasses.

"Yes, since these birds are probably representing our thoughts on the song."

"But why is one missing?" But no one knew an answer to the elementary schooler's question, so they silently watched the birds doing their business, not knowing that they also were being watched from a dark corner of the small forest.

It wasn't until Conan took a step toward the birds that another shadow emerged from the darkness with a loud scream.

The three detectives flinched, had to calm their heartbeats, and banish the images of the well-known Hitchcock strip from their heads as they watched the last crow land with a gentle flap of its wings.

Conan, who had stumbled back when the crow had flown over him, cursed as he slowly pushed himself from the wet grass back to his feet.

"Crap."

Bell just laughed, offered the kid his hand to help him up while he looked over the rims of his glasses.

"Language, young man."

The boy just frowned and knocked the dirt off his pants.

"Ha ha... "

But even before the little boy had the opportunity to make a counter-attack, the high school student's voice broke through their beginning argument.

"If you could stop teasing yourself, I have a question."

The two detective's faces flushed. Even on Bell's cheeks, a hint of red was apparent, but Shinichi just briefly frowned at the sight before he pointed to the bird who'd last joined the others when he had their attention again.

"Does any of you also see that this bird has three legs instead of two?"

"What?"

But even before the other two had uttered this question, dense fog suddenly crept out of the forest around them, slowly devouring the crows, while the eyes of the three-legged one lay on them glowing red in the suddenly forming vortex.

The headache became stronger, and the ground seemed to disappear underneath their feet, only leaving their voices and thoughts behind, while their world seemed to disappear.

"A three-legged crow.

Emperor Jimmu-tennô.

Head of a great war, while the crow leads his army.

Crows a symbol for darkness and evil."

But Bell's voice was interrupted by the Conan's, which had a strange echo and sounded strangely distant.

"No, the three-legged crow is a symbol of the sun, of the light, of good.

Light and darkness.

Good and evil."

Suddenly, it was Vermouth's voice that shook the three of them.

"We can be both - God and the devil..."

Until Shinichi interrupted her, his voice was muffled by the thick fog.

"Black and white.

Red.

Doctor Matsudo.

The police.

Farmers."

One last time Vermouth's voice appeared, echoing from everywhere.

"The boss recognized this opportunity right away..."

The fog became denser, the vortex getting faster and faster until it swallowed Bell's, then Conan's, and finally Shinichi's voice.

"Losing."

"A leader."

"Ten years ago..."

XXX

What was left was the pounding in his temple and a raspy voice in his dry throat.

"No!"

Drip


Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, since it's basically a teaser about what's about to come. Of course I still need Shinichi in this fanfiction and while he isn´t ... mobile right now, I thought that his master mind would find a way to continue working- even if it's a little strange. But I always wanted to write a Scene with Shinichi and Conan- crazy I know, but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did writing it.

Thank's to everyone for your support so far! And of course a big thanks to Tobina who isn´t just an amazing writer herself but also an amazing beta!

Thank you for your patience everyone,

I'll see you next month!

Of course reviews are welcome!

~ Shelling