Ch16

"speeches"

'Thoughts'

Caught up

"There they are!" Shinich yelled out, locating the three figures in front.

Three heads turned at the voice as they made their dash for the opening up ahead. All breathed heavily from their marathon and their paces fell slightly. Sweat trickled upon their faces as the cool night wind from the exit clashed upon their face which applied slight comfort.

"Damn it, they caught up!" Gin narrowed his eyes.

"The exit is just up ahead, split up there into the forest," Heizou ordered.

"Understood," Vodka replied firmly.

The three pursuers kept their paces to match the criminal's so that they won't run out of energy when they do finally catch up to them. The three dashed outside, into the darkened forest. From their distance, Shinichi could only see 1 going to the left and 2 to the right.

"Damn it, they've split up! Mrs Jodie, you go chase the 1 and Ran and I will go after the other 2. I got a thing I have to settle with Gin," he glared bitterly.

"Alright, good luck to you," she acknowledged with a nod.

"Also, contact the back ups and any teams that aren't doing anything. Once we're out of this place, we should be able to establish connection with the satellites again, if we don't already have it now," said he.

"Let's see, 'calling all teams, calling all teams. Give me an answer if you are able to hear this communications, answer if you hear this,'" she called.

"We…he..you. Sligh…disturb..ce but we..understand," a breaking voice came over.

"Listen carefully, seal off this entire area. Get the Japanese police if you need to, just surround off all exit or no exit on an 100m radius, did you get it?" she ordered.

Silence.

"Did you get the message?" she asked once more.

"A..Affirmative, …firmative," the voice returned.

Oosaka A few minutes Later

"Today, the major corporation Ikazu inc. had declared bankruptcy after last month's huge decline in investor support. Because of it, many believe that there maybe the biggest crisis since great depression of 1929 in the United States of America," the news reporter said.

Heiji nearly fell asleep upon his bed as he watched the night news. 'Boy, is this ever boring. Don't they got some murder case or something more exciting then some rich guy getting poor again?' he thought.

The news reporter flinched slightly when he was giving a white paper. He glanced through it then looked up with a questioning look. Seeing the cameraman's nod, he cleared his throat and continued.

"This just in, the FBI has called the Japanese Police Enforcement in catching a criminal of a major crime syndicate. The head man's name is…Hattori Heizou, and he is on the run," the reporter said with disbelief.

Hattori's eyes jolted open and crawled over against the TV. He turned the volume up slightly but kept it low enough so that it will not wake his sleeping mother.

"Though not much information has been given out, this Oosaka's chief of police is said to be a very dangerous man. Though the police are sealing off the area to where he is believed to be, they tell the citizens of northern Chiba (Shows location and picture of place) to be on the lookout for this man (Picture shows behind him) or any suspicious characters in they see."

"That's B.S.!" he exclaimed. 'My father? No, there must be some mistake! Crime syndicate, didn't Kudou say something abou…(Gasps)' his eyes flared with shock as he jumped off his bed and grabbed his jacket. He changed the channel on the TV before bursting out of his door.

'Damn it, how can this be. What the hell is going on…' he clenched his eyes shut for a few seconds as he dashed down the street for the train station.

(Back to the hide out)

The crackling of the fire now raced up the walls. Even the stone pillars that supported the heavy load above had been heated glowing red. Droplets of salty water fell to the floor from the exhausted man's face as the small girl he held breathed heavily, gasping for air, though each inhale burned her lungs. They kept their height low in an attempt to get away from the dense smoke that circled above. The man would occasionally stretch to the side to relieve the pain from his back, all the while taking his struggling steps through the firry

Abyss.

"You can't keep this up," Ai whispered weakly.

"I have to," he replied looking from side to side.

"Leave me here and run, it is because of me that you must drag your feet isn't it?" she struggled from his grip but the pain on her head quickly stopped her.

"You're a fool, you know that I will never leave you," he answered with a smile.

"Why…"

"What d'you mean?"

"That day, that final day that ended our relationship. You hated me then, you pointed a gun to my head,"

Silence

"You told me that the next time you see me, you were going to put me behind bars. So then why are you saving me now?"

Shuichi narrowed his eyes in a lonely expression. "Truthfully, even I did not know what I was going to do if I saw you again. I had thought how I should confront you, I had practiced them in my head, ever since I was told by Julie about this plan. I knew if I was to come, I could not avoid seeing you once more."

"You practiced?"

"You know how a guy would practice what he will say to a girl before he goes on his first date with her, but then when the time comes, he would forget everything and words would just seem to come to him?"

Ai nodded, then smiled in her heart.

"The words I said to you when I saw you faced down on the table just came randomly."

"You still haven't answered my question, why did you save me. Furthermore, why are you trying so hard to save me?"

"I…I…" he hesitated before speaking, "I guess I still loved you."

Ai opened her eyes wide. Tears formed under the bottom arc of her eye. She snuggled her head upon his shoulder and smiled comfortingly facing her face opposite of his.

Some say that love never dies, perhaps they are right. Or perhaps love do die, but can easily be revived. Through acts of hatred, isolationism, or conflict, love may die. As the years flown by, even time itself have nearly forgotten about the two's affections to one another. Yet it still come back, though their sincere attitude they had once before had faded away, their bonds remained strong.

A door caught the attention of the tired agent. "Can that be a way out?" he exclaimed with hope.

"not sure," Ai replied. Something about the door seemed familiar. Not only that, ever since she had entered this place, a distinct since of familiarity was running through her mind. She did not know what it was, she had never been here and yet, she feels as though she has.

(In the Mountain)

Gin stopped his steps upon a rocky opening in the mountains. A small waterfall sounded in the background. Vodka stopped beside him, bending his back down as he gasped for air. "Why have we stopped Aniki, they'll be here any second," Vodka questioned.

"Fool, they'll catch up to us eventually anyways. We might as well face them," he replied with a chuckle. 'Kudou Shinichi, get over here. You want me? Well here I am, let's finish this once and for all.' He gave a evil grin and stuck his hand in his pocket and grabbed his pistol.

A giant rocky wall stood to one side as the road slightly curved from one side to another. A few boulders stuck it's head out from the ground where a small river trickled a few feet below. The mist from the fall chilled the night air and washed the men's faces. The tubby one wiped his face repeatedly while his partner stood without any unnecessary movement as he glared coldly at the corner.

The sound of the steps grew louder. Shinichi's eyes widened suddenly, then extended his arm to signal Ran to stop.

"What's going on?" Ran asked.

"They stopped," he answered.

"Why?"

"I don't know? What are they planning…"

"Kudou Shinichi!" a voice exclaimed from ahead, "I know you're there. Why not just finish this now, you and I!"

Shinichi narrowed his eyes. "You sound confident," he chuckled.

"and you, not a sign of fear in your voice," he congratulated.

Shinichi gave a smile and walked toward the voice. His hand reached down to the knob upon his belt while twisting the switch upon his new blue sneakers. The shoe showed no sign of change, not even the sound of electricity charging, not even the unusual glow it gave like the last model.

The moon was unusually bright that night. It seemed to give the glow of day. The ground reflected every detail under its silver light. He could even see the details upon the trunks of distant trees. The road turned to reveal a cliff. He could tell it was not too high, 10…15feet? He could see a line of bright lights that surrounded the base of the mountain.

Ran followed him closely, looking in all directions nervously. He took a quick glance around the corner, a large boulder blocked his view of the road ahead. The smile upon Gin's face grew slightly larger.

"Come out Kudou Shinichi!" he demanded, "I can hear your steps."

Kudou made his way behind the boulder cautiously, holding Ran's hands as he leaned his back against it. "Gin," he chuckled, "I've finally caught up to you. It makes me happy just thinking that I could take you down today, here, right now."

"You are welcome to try," Gin laughed, then turning to his partner he whispered, "Do not interfere, he is mine…" he shot a glare.

Vodka gave a nod of fear, 'geeze, I've been with him for 18years and I still can't get use to his glare' he shivered then sat down upon a ledge.

Kudou turned the knob upon his belt. A ball inflated before him and bounced upon the ground. He stopped it with his feet and readied his watch. Ran shot him a questioning look before assuming that it was probably best not to ask about his gadgets. She guessed that it was probably just another few inventions of the professor and shrugged her shoulders.

The young detective peeped from the boulder slowly. He could see two men, one standing and the other sitting ahead. A few more rocks zigzagged along the road between him and his enemy. Turning back, he closed his eyes. Then with a sudden jolt, his eyes popped open and he tapped the top of his ball with his foot. He pulled Ran in and squeezed her to his chest with one arm and shot a smile. A small blush came across the young girls cheeks as she raised her eyes to his. The ball bounced slightly into the air and he kicked it up a bit more for height. Then with a deep breath as the ball lost it's will to gravity, he gave it one final hard kick.

Gin's eyes widened as he saw a circular object bouncing off the rocks toward him. The speed was incredible, it was like a giant bullet. It was pure reflex that made him jump back. Kudou rolled out from behind his shield and raised his wrist. A needle flew through the air and pierced itself upon the man's left arm. 'Did I do it?' he thought to himself.

A smile grew upon the Gin's face as he raised his gun and took aim. Kudou was still recovering from his roll. "Do you think your cheap tricks will work on me every time?" he laughed pulling the needle out of his jacket.

PSHOOT!

Shinichi dropped to the ground at the sound of the fire. The bullet narrowly missing him as it skid the top of his head. He them leaped behind a separate boulder and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

End…

And so, the showdown begins. Will Ai make it out alive from her pit of fire? Who will live and who will die? And what will happen to Hattori? Next chapter, The Climax!

Good drama? Bad drama? Not enough drama? Please read and review!