The school holiday's in... but homework keeps on loading. ^^ll Well, in response to Hisakata ( )'s question... Yes, I CAN speak mandarin and I'm also a chinese. ^^ And many thanks to the ever helpful Jessica! And of course, a warm thanks to Jane from the Conan webpage(see the info after the story) And a BIG WARNING to those who wants to solve the clues by their own... DO NOT read this chapter if you're not ready! Without any further ado, here's Chapter 8! Enjoy!
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A Shinichian Conan
Chapter 8: Revelation
A Detective Conan Fanfic
After climbing a series of steps, Conan was totally out of breath. This little body of his was certainly weak. If he was in his teenage form, climbing these bit of steps would have been as easy as going against the breeze.
He could feel a hint of faint and that exhausting exercise wasn't exactly any help to ease his condition. With sweat beads all over his forehead, he straightened his back and came face to face with the huge iron doors.
Conan could feel a smile forming on his face at the sight of these. 'Just as I've thought.' Conan smiled to himself. He looked around and waited for a few seconds in order to confirm his thoughts. And true enough, there wasn't a single clue lying around the area. Most importantly, the pin access box was lying within reach of him. His hands trembled a little as he punched in the pin number which he had obtained from the previous clue.
"Affirmative." confirmed the system as the iron doors slid open, revealing a whole new path covered in total darkness.
Conan felt a tingle down his spines as he stepped into the room beyond the doors. He made an attempt to head back but it was too late as the iron doors were already shut tight. It was the pathway of no return.
The lights in the room sprang to life the next instance and Conan could hear a voice behind his back.
"Welcome, Conan. Or should I address you as Mr Kudo? I see that you've solved all the clues as expected." Conan gasped as soon as he saw the face behind the voice. Standing right in front of him was a Shinichi look alike!
"You are..." Conan started.
"Oh forgive me. I believe that I'm a striking resemblance to your true self, is it not? My name is **Sooshi Okita**. I believe that Heiji should know me quite well." smiled the stranger.
"Sooshi Okita? Heiji's kendo rival? ... so what exactly do you want with me?!" Conan glared at the stranger in anger.
"I'll tell you what I want in a moment's time. But first, let us hear your explanations on the clues." said Sooshi.
"Us?"
"Yes, us." replied a voice behind the dark as a man slowly approached them.
"Makoto?" choked Conan, more stunned than ever.
"Now, please, carry on with your explanations." hurried Sooshi as he walked towards his companion.
Conan narrowed his eyebrows and gritted his teeth as his heartbeat started to take on the pace of a wild horse, with sweat drops decorating his pale face. For a moment, he stood there with his fists clenched as he tried to steady himself, partly as a effect of the events that were taking place right in front of him, but mainly because of fatigue.
'This might just be my last deduction speech... If that's what they want, then that's what they'll get.'
"Ahem..." started Conan by clearing his throat. Every single worries which he have had before seemed to have momentarily vanished into thin air as an "aura of confidence" surrounded him. He rummaged through the backpack and retrieved all the clues which he had received so far. Slowly, he unfolded them one by one as he begun his speech.
"The first four lines of the 1st clue points out the kind of path that I would be traveling on. The last two lines are able to tell me the correct path... which is the path on the right. It's quite elementary, since the path on the right is the tunnel that has light, which means it is actually hiding the light, as the clue had suggested." Conan paused and grinned as he ended his 1st speech. He took a few breaths before going on to the next clue.
"The 2nd clue should be a piece of cake if you read it carefully. As it had suggested, DREAMS ARE TRUTH AND TRUTH ARE DREAMS. Since it states that GREEN WILL BRING YOU CERTAIN DEATH, it would mean that green is the correct exit. Moreover, the last line had stressed on REMEMBER THE FIRST WORDS THEN LAUGH THERE. That further supports my view."
Conan knelt down beside the backpack after he had finished his explanation on the 2nd clue. It seemed that he was thirsty and wanted to have a little sip. However, you only need one free hand to search for a bottle......
After finishing his drink, Conan placed the empty bottle on the ground as he continued with the 3rd clue.
"Last but not least... the 3rd clue. This is the link to two exits. The first exit is through the stairs. It can be quickly derived that the answer to the first half of the clue is the staircase to the right, downwards. This can be seen from the few lines which states IF PIGS CAN FLY, THEN HOT AIR WILL RISE, which means downwards since pigs can't fly. And everyone knows the Sun rises from the East, which is right."
Conan stopped for air once again... his vision was slowly blurring by the minutes... he just got to finish this fast.
"The second half of the clue gives away the pin number to this room. A cat is said to have 9 lives. With an additional square of 4, you should get 9+16, amounting to a total of 25. Champion of champion represents 1, which gives the pin 251, as the clue suggests that 1 is standing behind in the queue." ended Conan as he bowed gracefully to his "audience".
"Nice job, Mr Kudo." applauded Sooshi.
"I couldn't have put it better myself." agreed Kyougoku.
"Thanks. I take pride in my work." Conan bowed again, and it seemed that he had momentarily forgotten his plight.
But in actual fact, he had something up his sleeves... or rather, up his shoes...
"I suggest you guys try to... EAT THIS!" yelled Conan as he used his super-charged foot to kick the empty bottle which he had placed on the ground earlier on.
"Tsk, tsk... why, you're really looking down on us by using such a cheap trick." Sooshii shook his head in disappointment as he subdued the flying bottle with his *bokutou* easily.
"You can abandon all your tricks, Mr Kudo. We've studied your profile well enough." Kyougoku chipped in as he crushed the bottle into an unidentifiable form and tossed it into the air.
"Now, if you would please sit down and hear us out. It's time we keep our end of the bargain." said Sooshii while he hit the piece of incoming waste material with his *bokutou*, sending it on a "round-the-world" flight.
"You'll be pleased to know that we're not..." paused Sooshi.
"Members of the Black Organization." ended Kyougoku with a smile.
The glowing flame in Conan's eyes flickered. 'Did I just heard wrongly? If they're not from the Organization, then what's their purpose of kidnapping me?'
"We're actually members of ..." Sooshi stopped yet again, making it pretty obvious that he was actually enjoying the act of keeping Conan in suspense.
"Jurisdiction 3D." announced Kyougoku.
(*bokutou* = Kendo sword)
(**Sooshi Okita** ------ Heiji's kendo rival. His name is still not confirmed. Only his surname has been given in Vol 31 of the Conan manga, in "I Am The Detective Of The West". However, I came across a Conan webpage which had his name on it http://www.conan.esmartkid.com and I took the initiative of putting his name as such, hope I didn't confuse anyone)
