Ran was still quiet after the murder on the roller coaster. Shinichi supposed he couldn't blame her. A body without a head was enough to make him a little queasy. He also wasn't sure what he could say to make her feel better.

His eyes searched the dark street they were walking down, as if he might see a solution to his lack of comforting words. Instead, he spotted long silver-blonde hair slipping into the parkade they were passing. The man from the rollercoaster. He and his friend had set off every fibre of Shinichi's intuition as a detective while they'd been questioned about the murder. While neither had been involved in that particular crime, the taller silver haired man's eyes had sent a shiver down Shinichi's spine. They were the eyes of a killer. The second man's sunglasses covered any ability to read his eyes, but his demeanor was still... off.

His suspicions riled up, Shinichi told Ran he'd be right back and hurried after the trail. He wasn't sure what he'd find, but it was sure to be nothing good.

Slinking between the cars, he spotted the two men in black over the hood of a van. Another pair of shadowy figures stepped out from the stairwell. It was too dark for Shinichi to tell much about them, but they were shorter than the silver haired man. The one moved in a stiff way. Almost mechanically

"You're late," one of the shadowy figures said, as Shinichi pulled out his audio recorder. It was too dark to say for sure which one was talking from this distance.

"We got held up. Some idiot killed her ex-boyfriend and we got pulled aside as witnesses," silver replied.

The same shadowy figure clicked his tongue to his teeth. "Fine. Fine. Whatever. Do you have the money?"

Shinichi tried to sneak closer, hoping to get a better recording.

"Show him," silver said.

The shorter man in sunglasses produced a briefcase, which he clicked open.

"Do you have the plants?" silver asked. "And are they actually fresh this time?"

The lead figure of the second group made a gesture and the second one lifted another briefcase. "This batch grew much better. Those scientists were right about the nutrient profile."

[Drugs,] Shinichi thought to himself. It had to be.

His hand dropped down to his phone, ready to dial for the police. He froze, though, when he heard the steady click-clack of a new set of boots approaching.

"Tuute was right about you, Geiga. Waiting for you to meet up with your friends was the smart move," the new arrival said in a feminine voice.

"You were followed!?" silver hissed at the shadowy figure (Geiga, apparently).

Geiga shouted something that sounded like a curse, though it was in no language Shinichi recognised. "If you two had shown up on time she'd have nev-bah. Never mind... You need to check your math, federation dog! We've got you outnumbered."

"Ah, so we'll do this the fun way," the woman said, walking a bit closer to where Shinichi was.

It was dark, but he could tell she had her hair held up by some sort of bandana or headband. She was also wearing sunglasses and a dark overcoat. What was most striking was how she moved, though. He'd learned to read the confidence of how a martial artist walked, having around Ran and her friends, and this was similar. Yet bolder. She almost walked like you would expect a tank to, if tanks could walk.

Shinichi had been distracted enough by her approach that he'd missed whatever weapon the others had pulled out. What he didn't miss was the explosion that followed. He was reasonably sheltered, between parked cars, but was still knocked on his rear. Scrambling back up, he glanced over to the others, but saw no rocket launcher or similar weapon. Grenades, perhaps?

He then turned back to wear the woman had been. It was engulfed in flames. Had he seen a second murder tonight?

He dropped his audio recorder in shock when the woman walked out of the flames, as if they were simply fog. Her overcoat had burnt away, as had her hairband, letting her hair drop low, but otherwise she seemed unphased. She was wearing something rather more form fitting underneath. He could pick out white and blue in the sharp light of the burning car behind her.

"I liked that coat, Geiga," she said, walking forward. "You'll pay for that."

"Y-you're no normal Federation investigator," Geiga said.

"An Ixioran," silver said, his hate filled tone slow enough Shinichi managed to register what he said.

Even if Shinichi had no idea what it meant. It sounded like an ethnic demonym, but Shinichi knew that didn't explain the woman surviving an explosion.

"Well, that just means I can't miss this time," Geiga shouted, before beginning to inhale.

Shinichi stared in yet more confusion as a ball of energy shot out of the man's mouth. It raced forward nearly as swift as an arrow, the woman barely diving out of the way in time. The energy hit a parked van and caused it to explode, shaking the parkade.

"Good try!" the woman shouted from the smoke and shadows.

As punctuation, a motorcycle flew through the air at Geiga. The man fired another burst from his mouth, destroying the motorcycle in mid air with another explosion.

At that point, Shinichi decided discretion was the better part of valour and began to race towards the exit. He kept low, hoping to escape unseen as more explosions rocked the building. Keeping low meant he couldn't look around very well, however. The fight had moved between him and exit as he'd scrambled for it. An explosion upended a car, the sedan slamming on its roof in his path.

Despite himself, Shinichi let out a yelp before spinning around, trying to scramble in another direction. As he exited from between to vans, he found himself lifted from his feet by the collar of his hoodie.

"Well, well. If it isn't the little high school detective," the silver haired man said with a sharlike grin as he held Shinichi in the air.

"H-hi?" Shinichi offered, at a loss of what to say as he stared into cold, unfeeling, eyes.

"You could be useful," the man said, changing which hand he was holding Shinichi with.

"How?" Shinichi asked, glad his panicking mind was curious to the end.

"Like this!" the man replied, before throwing Shinichi towards a wall of flames.

He was moving fast enough that the flames barely licked him. Instead, he found himself flying towards the woman from before, rage filling her eyes.

"Too slow, Geiga!" she said, hands colliding with Shinichi's torso.

He expected pain. He'd been punched in the gut by Ran once or twice. He figured he could extrapolate from that what a woman with superhuman strength punching him would feel like. That wasn't what he felt.

This was more like every cell in his body briefly screaming in pain. His torso, especially, felt like it was on fire. From the inside.

A look of shock and horror spread across the woman's face.

He fell against the ground like limp spaghetti, gasping for air. Some still rational corner of his brain filled in that his diaphragm had likely just been fried. The more primal part of his brain dominated, though, as he struggled with every still functional muscle in his body to keep oxygen moving into his lungs.

"Birdy," a mechanical voice said. "They're escaping out the south exit."

Was that the bottom of his foot? Shinichi didn't think he was supposed to be able to see that angle. Funny that.

"I... I killed a native. A juvenile native," the woman replied. "Oh gods. Tuute... I..."

"Hahaha! Some investigator you are!" Geiga's voice shouted, before the spreading flames led to another car exploding.

The explosion felt distant and muffled, though. The whole parkade seemed to be getting darker.

"He is still alive. However, there is merely a 17.4% chance that local hospitals could keep him alive, with only a 9.8% chance an ambulance would find him in time," the mechanical voice said. "Birdy, we must terminate the pursuit to treat him."

That didn't sound good to Shinichi.

"H-hey. Wait! This is the best lead we've had in months. Earthlings don't really live all that long anyhow... why don't we just pretend he died before we got here?" the woman, Birdy, replied. "Our secret?"

Shinichi tried to let out a panicked noise, though he wasn't sure it had been audible. That really didn't sound good.

"Birdy, I am incapable of keeping secrets from your superiors."

"H-heh... it was just a joke," Birdy replied. "Alright, let's-"

Shinichi lost the ability to follow things at that point, the world going dark. At least the pain subsided.

Shinichi was in a dark room. The woman. Birdy. She was standing in a cloak of some sort, illuminated from the floor.

Another part of the floor lit up and a screen... no, a hologram projected up from it. It was some sort of... insect?

Shinichi tried to turn to get a better look, but his body wasn't responding. In fact, he didn't think he could feel his body at all. Was he even breathing? Was he dead? He couldn't feel anything. His eyes didn't seem to be blinking.

The insect hologram made noises Shinichi couldn't understand. What species was it? Perhaps a cricket? No, no. A weta. He looked more like a weta. But... maybe a little reptilian, somehow?

"I... I wasn't really going to leave him, Inspector Megius, sir," Birdy replied. "You know me. I just like to use humour to cope."

More chirping speech from the insect creature. Birdy offered several 'I'm sorry, sir' replies, before eventually saying that they needed to act. The holographic insect said something else.

"I understand the impact on my lifespan," the woman said, before turning to Shinichi.

She smiled at him. He wondered if his body responded to the instinct to politely smile back.

"This might feel a little weird, Kudo-san," she said."

There was a brief wave of pain. Then nothing.

His life flashed before his eyes. He was ready to accept he was dying.

At least until aspects of someone else's life seemed to sprinkle their way in.

That was confusing.

Shinichi gasped, sitting up in a pile of rubble. Blinking and looking around, he saw roller coasters and a castle nearby. It was daytime.

Where was he again?

"We've got a survivor!" someone called out.

Shinichi blinked and turned to the man. The man was wearing a security guard uniform. Right, a Tropical Land uniform.

"What's your name, son?" the man asked.

"My na-" Shinichi began, only to be cut off by his mouth saying: "Kudo Shinichi."

He blinked, trying to look down at his mouth. He wiggled his lips into view, to make sure they were still responding to his orders. That was strange.

"You ok, son?" the man asked.

"Uh, yes?" Shinichi said, patting himself down. Only to find there was a circular hole in his jacket. And the shirt beneath that. And the one under that. All three layers he was wearing looked like they'd had a circle burned out of them.

Yet the skin beneath was perfectly intact.

Had something happened to him? He didn't remember anything after... after running off into the car park. Then... a blank.

"Let's have the ambulance look at you just in case," the man said.

Shinichi began to nod.

[You don't need to. You're fine,] a feminine voice said.

He looked around, but there was no one there.

"Uh, yeah. It might be best," Shinichi said.

The doctors had said he was fine, so Shinichi nodded along with them. The voice had gotten quiet again anyhow. Now he just had to wait for Ran to arrive to pick him up. Even if he was apparently in perfect health, the whole 'being found in a collapsed parkade' thing had the medical staff concerned about letting him leave on his own. Especially as he'd apparently been in the parkade for two days. In January. It seemed the doctors couldn't agree if his lack of burns or his lack of hypothermia was more confusing.

Right now he was alone, though. He leaned back in the bed, staring at the ceiling for a bit. His memory was a bit hazy. He'd run into the parkade after the men from the rollercoaster and... he still couldn't remember past that. Except that there'd been fire. And pain.

How was the pain when he was fine?

[Sorry again,] that feminine voice said.

He looked around. It was definitely inside his head. "Am I going crazy?"

[You're not going crazy,] the voice replied.

"Oh, that's reassuring. The voice in my head says I'm sane," he muttered to himself.

[What's that tone supposed to mean?] the voice asked back, sounding rather indignant.

"It mea-," he began, but stopped when the door opened.

Two familiar faces and a third, less familiar, one entered. Inspector Megure was finishing a sentence towards the third man, while Sergeant Takagi held the door open. The third man was a large and solidly built man with a buzz cut.

"Ah, Kudo-kun, you're awake," Megure said, walking over to his bedside.

"Mhm. I've been since this morning," Shinichi replied. "Feeling fine, really, Inspector Megure."

"Good to hear. We'd hate to lose a promising young mind such as yourself," Megure said. "This is Inspector Yuminaga from the arson department."

"Hello," Shinichi said with a small nod. It was the closest he could get to a polite bow while sitting in the hospital bed.

"Hello," the man replied. "We were wondering if you remembered anything from the night of the fire? My men and the fire department have been trying to work out what happened, and... either several vehicle manufacturers have to think about recalls due to spontaneously exploding vehicles or someone is wandering around Tokyo with explosives. Nothing else really fits what we can reconstruct, and both are deeply concerning."

"I..." Shinichi began, only to shiver at memories of flames. And eyes. Eyes filled with hatred.

"I... I think remember a streak from the sky," Shinichi's mouth suddenly began to say. "It... do you think a small meteor impact could detonate a car's gas tank?"

Shinichi's mouth hung open after it had spoken. He didn't know how to respond to what he'd just said.

"Hm, improbable, but plausible," Yuminaga replied. "We'll see what we can find."

"W-well, when you remove the impossible, and all that," Shinichi said, trying to figure out what the non-impossible explanation for what had happened to his mouth was.

"I do remember reading a woman in the US was hit by a meteorite once," Takagi offered. "Bruised and burned her pretty badly. Would make sense it could do something to a car."

"Great. We have to arrest space rocks," Megure muttered. "That crack up in Gunma will just love that explanation... anyhow, thank you, Kudo-kun. Do get some rest."

"Y-yes. Sure thing," Shinichi replied.

With that, the three officers left, leaving Shinichi alone again. He got up and stretched, wandering around the room a little. Sitting in a hospital bed did not seem good for his mental health.

He'd pace a few times when the door opened again. This time it was Ran.

"Shinichi! Y-you're..." she began, before rushing over and pulling him into a hug. She was soon crying into his shoulder. "I was so worried. You... I thought I wasn't going to see you again. I..."

He returned the hug, gently rubbing the back of her head.

"It's ok. I'm fine," he replied.

She broke the hug to stare at him. "Don't ever do that again, ok?"

"Do what?" he asked.

"I... chase people you think are criminals into a dark place all alone!" she shouted. "You reckless mystery nerd. You need to think about your own survival too! You're not a character in a book! You could actually die!"

"S-sorry," Shinichi replied.

Ran nodded. "Good. Now come on. I'll walk you home."

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

Ran led him down to the reception, where the nurse finally agreed to let him leave, as he was supervised. They then walked quietly towards Beika proper. It was a pleasant sort of silence, built on years of familiarity. Well, mostly pleasant. Ran kept staring at him every few blocks, only to look away when he met her eye.

"You really won't tell me?" she asked as they reached a small park not far from the train station.

"Tell you what?"

"What happened after you rushed off? There were explosions!"

"Oh... right. I... I don't really remember. The doctors figure it might have been trauma induced memory loss. Or I might have hit my head," Shinichi explained. "I... I just remember there was fire."

Ran studied him for a moment. Then, finally, she nodded. "Ok. I believe you, Shinichi."

He blinked. "Why would I lie?"

"Lies or not, we're very curious how you survived," a voice said from behind him. "You really should be dead."

Spinning around, Shinichi realised he recognised the man's voice.

[Geiga.]

This Geiga fellow looked... strange, up close. He seemed to lurk in the uncanny valley, not quite reading as human, when you really looked at him.

"If you're a reporter or something, come back another day," Ran said, stepping between Shinichi and Geiga. "He needs to rest right now."

"Little lady, this is between your friend and me. You should butt out if you know what's good for you," Geiga replied with a sharp toothed grin.

In fact, his teeth looked distinctly non-human.

[They're not.]

"And I'm saying whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow. If you know what's good for you," Ran countered, not moving an inch.

"Stupid girl," Geiga replied, reaching a hand forward to push her out of the way.

Ran, however, caught his hand and spun, performing one of the judo throws her father had taught her. Geiga let out an undignified (and inhuman sounding) yell, before landing on the ground with a crunch.

"Get her!" he hissed from the ground.

Three figures in long trench coats emerged from their surroundings. The assailants moved quickly, if mechanically, towards the two teens.

[Marionettes] the voice in Shinichi's head said. [Sorry, but you're going to have to sleep.]

"Wha-" Shinichi began, before blacking out.

Ran dodged a strike from one of the new assailants. Maybe she'd moved a little too brashly here, but... some people needed to learn manners. Her opponent threw another telegraphed punch, which she avoided easily.

"We should run," Shinichi said, swerving and dodging strikes from his own opponent. "They're too dangerous for us."

"They seem pretty sloppy to me," Ran said, before slipping under her opponent's punch and countering with a blow of her own to the enemy's gut.

"Ow!" she yelped, leaping back and shaking her hand. That had felt like punching a car, and the opponent was barely phased.

Body armour?

"They're marionettes," Shinichi said. "Er, advanced combat androids. A human can't beat them."

"Heh, that's right, girl," the rude man said as he stood back up. "But running won't help you. They're going to teach you a lesson for messing with me."

Ran took a breath, centring herself. That explained why they moved quickly and yet clumsily. Well, she felt the need to prove what humans were capable of, then. She dashed in low, before launching herself into an uppercut against the android's 'jaw' area.

"KIYAAH!" she shouted as her fist collided.

The crunch that followed was slightly sickening, and made her worry for a second that she'd hit a real human with a full force blow to a sensitive point. Then the head fell loose from the neck, dangling by a few wires as the body stumbled to adjust. Humans didn't do that.

"What," the man said.

"I condition my fists against concrete," Ran said, cracking her knuckles. "I'll bet your androids are just some sort of reinforced plastic. I can take them."

"Y-you're not human... y-you're that Federation investigator, aren't you? You've covered yourself in human pheromones to fool me!" the man shouted, waving a finger at her.

"Federation? What?" Ran replied, glancing at Shinichi for an explanation. The only 'federation' she could think of was Russia.

Shinichi was just staring back at her, a dumbfounded expression on his face. Though... something about him seemed off.

One of the androids tried to attack him as he was distracted, prompting Ran to yell a warning. Shinichi spun, and... grabbed the android's fist in his palm. With a couple steps and a twist of his arms he pulled its arm from its socket.

It was Ran's turn to be dumbfounded as Shinichi spun that arm like a club, knocking the head off the third android.

"Is he an Ixioran too?" the man shouted. "What is this?"

Shinichi looked back at both of them and muttered a silent 'oops'. Ran gave him a 'what?' gesture, wanting to know about his sudden display of superhuman strength. Further silent conversation was interrupted by the bot she'd knocked the head off of. It was clumsier than before, but still ready to fight. Ran ducked its punch before kicking it in the gut.

"Bah! I'll just kill you both and save myself a headache!"

Ran heard a strange crackling noise, and turned to see the man's throat swelling. He seemed to be generating some sort of a fireball in his mouth? Like he was Gomera.

She was briefly confused enough that she didn't realise she should dodge until it was too late. The crackling fireball was headed her way. She began to turn to run when she was tackled to the ground. As she and her tackler rolled she quickly realised it was Shinichi. He was sheltering her in arms that felt much stronger than they ever had before.

What had happened to him?

The explosion from the fireball hitting a wall rushed more adrenaline through her brain. Processing a mystery was not easy while her body was running on primal instincts.

"I need you to stay down, Ran," he said, as they stopped rolling. "You're a tough girl, but this is too dangerous for you."

Looking up into his eyes, she shivered. Those were not Shinichi's eyes. They barely looked human, the pupils reduced to slits. Like a cat. Or a lizard.

His voice was soft, though. She felt like whoever was behind those eyes had her best interest at heart. So she nodded.

Shinichi(?) got back up and turned to their assailant, brushing some dust off his now ripped sweater.

"I suggest you surrender now, Geiga. I promise I won't hurt you as bad that way," Shinichi said as he marched forward.

"So you're the Federation Inspector?" the man replied. "I'm curious how you're wearing that Earth brat, but... I also don't really care that much. You'll be as dead either way soo!"

Ran peaked over the planter she'd hidden behind, to see the man lob another fireball at Shinichi. Shinichi jumped, but the fireball exploded on impact with the ground beneath his feet. The flames burst out, engulfing Shinichi. Ran found herself too shocked to cry out. It was so sudden.

Before she could get over that shock, she was hit with another. The flames dissipated to reveal a woman standing where Shinichi had been. She had long white and pink hair, and was wearing... Ran wasn't sure how to describe it. The outfit was blue and white, mostly. The woman's arms and legs were covered by long gloves and boots. Her torso, though... that part seemed closer to a futuristic one piece bathing suit than anything else Ran could think of.

Her thoughts about the strange outfit were quickly forgotten when Ran watched how the woman moved. She was efficient and powerful. She leapt at the man with enough force to crack the asphalt road beneath her, and her fist slammed into the man with a thud audible from Ran's hiding place across the laneway.

The man, however, took the hit better than Ran thought humanly possible. The woman was undeterred, however, and she continued to pound away on him with more frighteningly forceful blows. He grabbed her by the shoulders, and opened his mouth to fire off another breath attack. Only to receive a knee to the gut for his troubles. Or possibly somewhere lower, Ran's vision was partially obstructed by the plants she was hidden behind. Either way, his breath weapon fizzled out.

The woman then grabbed the attacker by the back of his head, slamming his face into the perimeter wall of a nearby yard. The concrete shattered as the man's face became lodged within. Ran let out a gasp when he pulled himself out, and his features seemed to crumble away, revealing something... reptilian beneath. Or, alien?

"That mask was expensive," he hissed.

"Payback for my coat," the woman replied. "Going to surrender now, Geiga?"

"Not a chance!" he roared, before beginning to charge another breath attack.

This time the woman charged in just before the attack had finished building up, and pulled him into a headlock that forcibly clamped his jaw shut. His eyes filled with fear, before the blast broke free, sending his teeth flying with the cracking energy.

Ran shrieked and ducked back behind the planter and sharp inhuman teeth flung themselves into the concrete around.

"Well, it'll take a bit more effort to get you to talk, but you can write down your statements fine," the woman's voice said.

Ran poked her head out again to see the woman had let Geiga drop. His reptilian form was slumped against the concrete wall beside him, clutching his jaw.

"You could have surrendered," the woman said.

Geiga groaned something that seemed meant to be an insult, before falling over to lie on the ground. The woman walked over, and was halfway through pulling the monstrous man to his feet when Geiga burst into flames. The screeching he made as he burned tolda Ran it wasn't his doing. The look of shock on the woman's face assured her it also wasn't the woman's.

"K-killed... someone killed him," the woman said, her head zipping about.

She spotted one of the androids nearby, lying with its face pointed towards where she'd been. With a growl that revealed surprisingly fierce fangs, she charged over and stomped on the android's heads.

"I hate being spied one."

Hesitantly, her body still shaking with fear, Ran got to her feet. "W-who are you? And... and where's Shinichi? He was here. And then you were here... and..."

The woman let out a sigh. "Right. You saw... I was really hoping I could keep this under wraps. For your friend's safety as much as anything. I guess I'm bad at staying quiet, though..."

The woman took a deep breath. Then there was a shimmer, and her body seemed to morph into Shinichi's.

"We're kind of sharing one body," Shinichi's form said, but something about his tone told Ran this was still the woman. "I... I'll explain more when we get back to his place. Earth police are probably going to show up soon, after all that noise, and I'd rather not have to deal with them."

That definitely wasn't Shinichi.

"Why should I trust you?" Ran asked as she took a slow step forward.

"I'm a police officer for the Federation. Specifically the Special Investigations Unit. My name is Birdy. Altera Cephon Birdy," the woman in Shinichi's body said as she stepped forward, grabbing Ran's hand. "We'll discuss the rest when we get Shinichi home. But know that I am trying to keep him safe."

Ran nodded vaguely. Even if this wasn't Shinichi, Birdy had his voice and was using it so gently... it was hard to say no.

They walked in silence the last few blocks to Shinichi's house. Ran wondered how Shinichi had gotten into this situation. Whatever it was. If he was still conscious right now. If it had even been him she'd been talking to before, or if the real Shinichi was tucked away safely, Birdy here replacing him entirely. Some sort of alien witness protection system.

It had felt like the real Shinichi, though. This woman was different. Her body language was so much more forceful. Her eyes, too... they were slits, still.

Just as they were reaching the Kudo home, Ran wondered if she should be thinking of the woman as a woman still while she had Shinichi's body. It felt weird to look at Shinichi's face and think 'she'. But, well Ran felt she knew enough about gender to... on the other hand, this was an alien. Right?

As Birdy fished out Shinichi's keys from one of his pockets (they were his because the jacket was Shinichi's jacket, Ran could know that for sure), she decided to ask.

"Are you an alien?" she whispered.

"Yes. To this planet. You'd be an alien on my planet, though," Birdy said with a soft smile.

As if she'd not just beaten a reptilian man to a pulp, then had him combust in her hands. Well, Ran could handle Shinichi's oddly carefree approach to corpses. She could learn to handle Birdy's. If Birdy was going to be sticking around.

"And, um... are you a woman?" Ran asked as she shut the door behind them.

"Huh?" Birdy asked, kicking off Shinichi's shoes.

"W-well, I don't know how gender works in your society. We've got a new classmate who transferred into our gym class, and she-anyway. What should I think of you as?" Ran asked.

Birdy shrugged. "I don't really know comparative culture studies enough to say I line up totally with what you think a 'woman' is, but... it's probably the closest fit? As, well, as an Ixioran, I was raised sheltered enough from the outside world I'm not sure I fit the Altan idea of what a 'woman' is either."

"Oh... ok. It's still very weird to think of you as a woman when you look like Shinichi, though," Ran muttered, feeling a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Makes sense... speaking of, time to wake him up, and then see how he handles being in the back seat."

Shinichi blinked. He was home. When did he get there? And... why did his clothes smell of smo-when had they gotten all torn up!?

Trying to get his bearings, he spotted Ran. She was watching him with a curious expression.

"Uh... what happened? There was that... Geiga guy? And... and..." Shinichi mumbled, trying to remember more.

[I had to take over, sorry.]

He froze. That voice in his head again. "Who are you?"

[Birdy. Let's head over to a mirror and try the next step.]

"A mirror?" he replied.

"The bathroom upstairs is probably best?" Ran offered.

He turned to her, wondering why she seemed so calm. "Do you know what's going on?"

"A little," Ran replied. "Birdy told me a bit, but she wanted you awake for the full story."

Shinichi nodded slowly. So the voice in his head... it had presumably taken over his body? And talked to Ran? And... well, at least it seemed friendly. Ran didn't seem scared.

Concerned, yes. But not scared. And the supernatural tended to scare Ran easily. That probably meant he wasn't possessed by a ghost or anything. He didn't know what else to go with, so headed up the stairs towards the bathroom. Ran followed, a gentle smile on her face.

So he took the last couple tentative steps towards the bathroom. The mirror was in front of him now.

[You might not like this part.]

"What do you mea-aaaah!]

Shinichi felt like he was being sucked inside himself. It was vaguely like falling backwards, but somehow his feet lost their grip with the ground. As if his body had somehow shrank without his centre of mass moving. He was sure his stomach was doing an extra backflip, until he realised he didn't really feel his stomach anymore. Everything felt weirdly distant. Like his entire body had fallen asleep.

It took him a moment to process his eyes were still looking at the mirror. But the reflection wasn't him anymore. It was a muscular woman, her build similar to Ran's, but a little more solid.

"Why are you naked!?" Ran yelped from somewhere behind him.

He felt his head turn towards her, and that the expression of the face he was behind changed. Ran's face was bright red.

"My battle suit is 'ported back to the ship for repairs after every battle," a voice that was not his own said from the body he was currently in.

"Y-you can't just gallivant around naked in front of Shinichi!" Ran blurted, grabbing a towel and shoving it around him.

Them?

Birdy?

How was he supposed to think of himself, now? If there were two of them in one body, then plural pronouns felt apt, surely?

[Uh, once the towel is wrapped, can we get to the explanation?] Shinichi thought, hoping Birdy would pick up on it.

"Yeah, of course," Birdy replied.

"Of course what?" Ran asked.

"Uh... this is going to be an awkward conversation... well, let's just go back to the ship and Megius can explain it instead of me having questions in my head and in my ear," Birdy replied.

"How do we get-" Ran began, before there was a flash. Then darkness. Then another flash.

They were now in a dimly lit chamber. A strange hum could be heard. Odd furniture like things dotted the space. Birdy walked over and pushed a button on a strange device. A moment later a hologram appeared, revealing a strange insectile being. It was wearing clothing, whatever it was.

The insect chirped away, and Shinichi felt Birdy nod.

"There was a witness. Kudo's best friend. It hammered home that I don't think I could be sneaky about this," Birdy said.

The insect chirped again.

"Thank you, sir," Birdy replied before somehow thrusting Shinichi forward again, his sense of self rapidly expanding to fill his body.

The overwhelming nature of it led him to fall onto his hands and knees, the world still spinning.

Somewhere in front of him the insect chirped some more.

"Um... I don't mean to be rude, but... I don't understand your language, Mister Insect, sir," Ran said softly.

Shinichi looked up, in time to see the insect blink (proving its eyes weren't quite like earth insect eyes), before a shiver ran up its body. A hand dropped out of the holographic display area, before the insect let out a cough or two.

"Can you understand me now?" the insect asked, in English.

"I can, but Ran might have a little trouble," Shinichi replied.

"Oh, sorry. Sorry. Your world has too many languages," the insect said, now in perfect Japanese. "I am Inspector Megius Ruu, Birdy's superior officer. I do want to apologize for this... unfortunate situation. We had hoped to minimize the impact on young Kudo's life."

"W-what happened to Shinichi, exactly?" Ran asked.

Shinichi nodded. "Mhm, why is there an alien woman in my head?"

"Well, you see... she's not in your head. You're in her head, right now," Megius explained, gesturing to their left.

Shinichi turned, looking at the odd pod before them. Ran was closer, though, and she took a couple of steps forward. Then she screamed.

Shinichi rushed over, grabbing her shoulders to comfort her, before his brain registered what was in the pod.

Him.

Well, his body. The lower toro having had a hole bitten out of it that looked to have taken much of his spine with it. His stomach and intestines were clearly a lost cause as well. It was, in a way, impressive his legs were still attached at all.

"During the fire and darkness of the fight in the parkade, the escaping suspects used Kudo as a shield, and Birdy had not realised until the damage was done. Your body will be sent back to one of our nearest outposts at the next available date, and we should be able to return to you in working order soon after that, but... stellar conduits open on their own schedule. It may yet be some time," Megius explained. "Until then, you will be residing in Birdy's body to be able to maintain some semblance of a normal body."

Shinichi could only nod as he stared down at the testament to his own mortality. Ran grabbed onto his collar and pulled him to look at her.

"Y-you idiot," she muttered softly. "I knew you were going to get yourself killed one of these days, and you managed to really do it... you are so lucky that you were somehow saved by magical alien technology."

"H-hey... from what he said, Birdy is the one who actually blasted me, so I'm not sure how much I owe her," Shinichi countered.

[They would have killed you for being a witness anyway! So, really, you're lucky I crashed you,] Birdy protested in his head.

"I... I guess," he replied.

"You'll also, no doubt, be glad to hear that Birdy is being assigned to guard you full time. With the loss of her assistant AI unit Tuute, and your health to worry about, we've decided to put the officer who was meant as her back-up fully in charge of the case," Megius said.

Shinichi felt himself yanked back and shrunk as Birdy took control again. She spun them around, marching over to the hologram.

"Are you saying I'm off the case!?" she shouted.

"For now, yes. Especially until the disciplinary hearing has reviewed the events of that night to ensure that your injuring of young Kudo was not incompatible with your training and the Federation Police's standards of conduct," Megius replied.

Shinichi felt the wave of painful rejection that swept over Birdy. "B-but, sir..."

"My hands are tied. I will put in a good word for you, but can do nothing more," Megius said.

Birdy nodded, before saying her goodbye and shutting off the hologram.

"I, um... I still have questions about what the Federation is, and who you're chasing?" Ran said, her eyes glancing back to Shinichi's body.

"Oh. Right. Uh... well, the specifics of the case are still sensitive and confidential. I can simply say we're pursuing a terrorist organization," Birdy replied. "As for the federation... well, it's a governmental organization that controls a large chunk of the galaxy. I might still have an old civics textbook lying around somewhere if you want to learn more?"

"I... as long as you're not planning to enslave the Earth, that's probably most of what I need to know," Ran said, pailing a little.

[Civics and government studies is her worst subject,] Shinichi explained.

"Ah," Birdy said with a nod. "Well, I think it goes without saying to both of you, that everything you learned here is to stay secret."

"I don't think anyone would believe me if I told them," Ran replied.

"Good, good. Now, then, let's send you back home for the night. It's getting late."

Birdy yawned internally as she woke up. Her body being awake already was disconcerting, but she'd get used to it. Growing more aware of the outside world, she realised Shinichi was reading something. Putting a bit more effort into processing his visual stimuli, she realised it was her textbook on Federation Civics and Law.

He'd seemed curious, so she'd brought it back, expecting him to poke at it a bit. Instead, well, the coffee they just drank was strong. Yet she could still feel the exhaustion from him, their eyelids heavy.

[Were you up all night?]

"Hm? Oh. Yes. It's an... enlightening read. I have to admit to having several serious questions about your legal system, as some of the powers given to law enforcement almost make Japan look like an anarchist state by comparison," Shinichi said, judgment in his voice.

[The federation is big, and the police have a limited budget. Something needs to balance that out, I guess?] Birdy replied. [My job is mostly to be pointed at a target and then punch said target until they give more information.]

She felt Shinichi grimace. "You can definitely use my help, then."

[Your help? What does a juvenile Earthling have to offer?]

"Clearly you've not looked up my name enough. I'm Kudo Shinichi, the Saviour of the Tokyo Police Department. Otherwise known as the Heisei Holmes," Shinichi replied, grinning away. "I'll get to the bottom of this little mystery of yours in no time."

[You've got a lot of confidence in yourself for someone who got himself killed three days ago.]

"Uh... well, I recognise I was a little reckless before, but still. I have honed my deductive reasoning on dozens of cases. I'm sure I'll be of help," Shinichi said, this time pouting and crossing their arms.

[Your enthusiasm is cute.]

That made Shinichi blush.

Author's Notes:

This isn't likely to end up a full retelling, but I do expect to toss in a few other snippets now and again. I have some ideas for Shiho specifically that I think are interesting. We shall see what I end up doing.