Ch17

"speech"

'Thought'

Kaishi

Shinichi glanced from behind the rock. A shot was heard and a spark flew, only inches away from his nose. He ducked back immediately. "Is that all you got?" a deep voice called sheepishly, "How pathetic, hiding behind there won't do you any good. Come out and face me!" he demanded.

The high school detective narrowed his eyes bitterly. His eyes widened abruptly as the sound of foot steps entered his ear. 'The only weak spot that my needle can still pierce is the upper portion of his neck and his face. Against this darkness, I can't even aim properly. What can I do, come on, think!' His mind searched vigorously for a solution.

He pulled to the tiny package he carried with him and opened the lid. "Paralysis was the red one," he mumbled to himself. Slowly, he loaded his watch with 3 red needles he identified with the light from his watch. "Why did you want Sherry so badly?" Shinichi asked, raising a topic.

Gin stopped his steps, "Did you not already figure that out back there?" he questioned.

"I deduced of why your boss wanted her, but why do you want her?" he said as he prepared himself for a lunge.

"What are you saying," Gin narrowed his eyes.

"You left her alive back there. I'm asking why. You had your chance to kill her, a pretty long time too, yet you kept her alive. Why…" he asked, swallowing his saliva.

Gin bit his teeth together before returning his face back to its original cold grimace, "I have my reasons," he said calmly, "Why do you wish to know?"

"I…have my reasons," he remarked. Hearing a hmph from Gin's lips, he jumped out from his hide out and took a quick aim then shot twice.

The tall blond man jumped back from the sudden attack and fell backwards in an attempt to dodge the skinny missiles. One skimmed past his ear with a whoosh and another bounced off his cloak. He landed upon the dusty floor heavily. The dust that rose forced him to close his eyes. 'Here's my chance!' Kudou thought. Then with a quick turn of his wrist, he let loose his final shot.

A piercing sting fell upon the neck of the fallen man as he immediately attempted to pull the needle from his skin. It was too late, it had already been fully absorbed. He glared furiously and shot wildly through the falling dust. Vodka jumped off his seat at the event and was running to aid his partner.

Bullets flew aimlessly in the dark. The first thing that got to Kudou's mind was, was Ran safe. He took a quick glance to where she was. From the shadows, he could see that she was a bit shaken up but did not seem injured. Another gunshot jolted him back from his relief. He got to his feet and dashed for a near by cover.

The firing stopped. He took a look from his position. He could see the shadow of a tubby man kneeling down beside his partner, a hand gun in his right hand. Vodka looked up and pressed a button on the side of his sunglasses.

'So his got night-vision too huh," Shinichi thought.

"You little bastard, what did you do to Aniki?" Vodka demanded, "I swear I'm going to shoot you down!" he screamed.

He dragged his partner to the side of the wall. Gin breathed slowly, not saying a word. The only part of his body that moved was his eyes, glaring angrily in the moon lit night.

Vodka walked quietly, looking for side to side for any movements.

'Damn, his not giving any chances for me to make a move.' The sliding of sand caught from behind caught his attention. He turned around then his eyes widened with fear.

"Shinichi…?" Ran walked toward him believing things were safe.

His head jolted back to the front. The head of the pistol reflected the lunar light as it rose silently into the air.

"RAN! GET DOWN!" he yelled.

"Eh?" the girl stopped her steps in panic, not knowing what was happening.

A dark smirk grew upon Vodka's face as he took aim upon his target.

Shinichi lunged toward the bewildered girl. She closed her eyes. A moment of silenced followed before it was broken by a single shot. Ran felt a sudden impact from her side. She opened her eyes, but everything was just a red blur. She landed upon the ground then slided a few feet back. She felt a sudden tug and felt her body leave the ground once more but this time, her head landed softly upon a warm thumping surface. She could feel something wet seeping through clothing around her waist. She did not know what it was.

Vision slowly returned to her eyes as a young man's smile formed in her focus. "You okay Ran?" he asked.

She felt his hands embracing her tightly, pushing her from the back to his chest. She blushed slightly and for a short moment, her eyes met the young detective's. She could see some precipitate erupting from his forehead. He breathed heavily but kept his cool smile upon his face. The sensation of the wetness of her shirt came back to her as she shifted her position to find the source. In the shadow of the rock, she could not see anything but a black fluid dripping from her fingers as she brushed the soaked area. Shinichi gave a groan triggered an uneasy feeling inside the young woman's chest. Her hand began to quiver as she reached toward the outskirts of the shadow.

Her heart froze as she observed blood dripping from the tips of her dangling fingers, falling to the floor with a small splattering snap. "Shin…inchi, you're…" she gasped.

"Hey, don't look so pale, I'm fine. It's just a little scratch, nothing big," he said trying to console her. Another groan shot from his throat as the pain from his abdomen shot it's way up his spine into his head.

"You're not okay, you got shot and…" a sudden chill ran through the young woman's body, "and…it was all because of me." She bit her lip and tried to hold her tears in.

"Common, it's not your fault," Shinichi pulled her in and gave her a squeeze on her shoulders.

"Yes it was," Ran shook her head. Tears flowed freely from her eyes, "It's because I was stupid enough to let myself out of that rock that let that man see me…"

"Hey dry those tears, stop sprinkling salt on my wound," he joked, trying to put a smile back upon the girl's face.

"I'm sorry," she brushed away her tears, only to allow more to take it's place.

The footsteps of their hunter closing in slowly.

"Ran, listen…" Kudou whispered. He tried to relax but each time his muscles calmed, a new surge of pain would force it to tense back up. Ran brought her teary eyes closer to his face. "I'm sorry," he said.

"What? Why are you apologizing to me? I'm the one that should be saying sorry to you," Ran said.

"I'm sorry (groans) I'm sorry for all the times I couldn't be there for you. The time you had amnesia I left you all by yourself. The time on that airplane, I could only give you directions through the phone. And now, when I'm finally together with you, I dragged you into a mess like this. You were right, I am just all talk, I'm sorry Ran," he said with a sad expression upon his face then pulled her head to his shoulders and hugged her in a tight embrace. Ran let out a small whimper then weaped upon his shoulder.

Shinichi narrowed his eyes, returning to a more serious appearance, "His coming," he whispered.

Ran's eyes opened widen then narrowed. Leaving the comforts of his hold, she leaned over to get a better look on the man's position. She turned feeling a tap upon her shoulder. A pair of sunglasses were held in Shinichi's hand as he extended them to her. "I knew you would follow me so I told the prof to make one extra pair. Wear it and press the yellow button on top. That should let you see better in this forsaken darkness,"

Ran put the glasses on and did as she was told. The area lit up with an astonishing radiance of colors. The trees, the river, the brown soil of the ground, everything was as clear as day. She turned to Shinichi excitedly but her joys quickly ended when she saw the horrid condition of the teenage detective.

The red blood poured from the side of his abs like a waterfall. Not even the dried dirt below could soak up so much and a medium sized puddle formed around the young man's buttocks. Her head jolted back, hearing the click of a pistol. She leaned over once more and saw Vodka looking in all directions, scanning every corner as he paced forward cautiously.

Through his glasses, he could see nothing but green outlines of boulders and the ledge that lead to the rocky shore of the river below. He did not know whether he actually hit anything, the only thing he remember is aiming at a girl that suddenly disappeared. He noticed a faint trail of blood, leading to one particular area behind a rock. A maniac grin flew upon his face as he approached.

"Come out! I know where you are," he called to the hiding couple.

"Damn it, he found us," Shinichi cursed. Ran gave a loud gasp and leaned closer to him with fear in her eyes.

(Elsewhere)

"Kudou Shinichi, can you hear me?" a woman called pushing up her glasses nervously, "Kudou Shinichi, answer if you can hear this message!"

"Any luck?" one of the crew asked.

"No, too much interference in these mountains," she replied, "I'm sure his fine, he can take care of himself. Did you find Heizou?" she asked.

"We've spotted him and our men are in pursuit. It shouldn't be too long before we have him," he answered firmly.

"Good, we need to get him. We have to get him! If you need more men, then take as many as you wish. Just get him behind bars as soon as possible general Headral," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am!" came a confident reply.

(Sound: oooOOOoooOOO)

"The fire department have arrived," Headral said listening to the sound of sirens.

A smile rose upon the woman's lips and she dropped her shoulders in relief. A sudden jolt erupted in her that dissipated the smile and tensed her muscles once more. "Where's Shuichi!" she asked.

Headral flipped his brow, "I…don't know ma'am, I thought he went with you guys," he said.

Her mouth opened wide with terror, "No…we separated…his still…" She spun her head to the direction of the lab. Flames now shot up high as the smoke cut it's way through the clouds. A few agents circled the burning structure and had cut down some of the vegetation in an attempt to contain the fire. It was to their luck that there wasn't any wind that night. The intense glow of heat rose up like a pillar that connected hell to heaven. The chemicals from the lab gave occasional flashes of different colors from dark blue to a bright red. It would have been a fantastic scene for if it weren't so deadly.

Jodie dashed up the hill with great hurry. She noticed that the entrance door was now gone and in it's place stood a wall of debris. "Put that fire out!" she ordered.

"We can't ma'am, one of the member said, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Shuichi!" she yelled into the flames, "Shuichi answer me," she said tapping her pair of sunglasses, "Hello? Are you there? Damn it, this thing don't even work," she cursed.

"SHUICHI!"

End…

Shinichi's climax has been reached. Next chapter, what's going on with Shuichi and Ai? Is there something going on between Jodie and the "Silver Bullet"? What's going to happen with Ran now that Kudou is down and Vodka is pointing his gun at them.

Common, I didn't think the last chapter was that bad. Only 3 reviews? (curls up in a corner)

As for the 3 who reviewed, I love you guys, lol.

The number1 case closed lover: I left a cliffy? Hmm I actually thought that, that wasn't too bad. Cliff hanger's are so fun.

Crystal Snowflake: Come on, update your stories too. Must read!

Anime Obsession:

Kaishi means to being for those who wondered what the title meant.

Remember all reviews are well appreciated.