Aaagh, I'm sorry for the lack of updates on this story, I was hoping to finish the murder mystery before adding to this one. (note to self: NEVER start two stories at the same time.)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN DETECTIVE SCHOOL Q.

Chapter 3: Bases Loaded

"We're here," said Mr. Hongou as he pulled up a few meters away from the abandoned military base. "Get out of the car."

As Class Q piled out of the car, Mr. Nanami's car pulled up next to them, along with what was left of Class A.

They left the cars in a patch of nearby trees.

"This is it?" asked Shishido.

The base looked as though it had been untouched for a long time. No signs of life at all.

Kazuma looked at his computer. "Yeah, the signal's coming from here."

"But there's nothing happening there, no one's even around," said Saburamarou.

"Nothing's moving at all," said Gouda.

"That's impossible. This base looks as though it's been abandoned, but I'm detecting a great energy source coming from it…" said Kazuma, trailing off.

"It probably has another way of harnessing energy, like a generator or something, that's hidden," said Ryuu. "Maybe it's…underground."

"The generator, maybe. But Yuki and Hayato are somewhere on the surface," said Kazuma, adjusting the image on his computer to trace Yuki's signal from a standing point of view.

"Forget tracing," said Kinta. "We have to get in."
Ryuu came to the high, chain-linked fence. "They obviously don't want visitors," he said, touching the rusty, thick wires.

"How do we get in?" asked Kyu, coming up to Ryuu.

"There's a gate somewhere near here," said Meg.

"We can't use that…" said Shizuko. "Not unless we want to get captured…"

She looked at the nearby trees. "Does anyone have any rope?"

Gouda raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"There's a building next to the fence…and a ladder is built on it…so if we can climb the tree, use the rope and get it around that ladder attached to the building…"

"We can slide into the base without having to break down the fence," said Kyu.

"There's rope in the car," said Mr. Hongou impatiently. "Kinta, go and get it."

"Me, me, me. It's always me," muttered Kinta as he made his way to Mr. Hongou's car.

Kinta returned moments later with the rope. Shizuko took it from him, and picked up a rock. She tied it onto one end of the rope and, swinging her improvised contraption over her shoulder, she climbed the nearest tree. She scrambled onto a thick branch and sat there, balancing her weight. Using the rope, she swung the attached rock in circles and released it, causing the rope to wrap around the ladder of the building opposite. The rock served as a brace. Shizuko pulled the rope taut, ensuring that it was secure. She tied the other end of the rope to the tree.

"Here goes nothing," she gulped nervously. She took off her coat and swung it over the rope. Holding on to it with both hands, she slid down the rope….

And landed on the other side of the fence.

Class Q sighed in relief as Shizuko climbed down the remaining steps of the ladder.

"Ladies first," said Kinta to Meg and Kuniko.

"Be careful, Meg," Kyu said, looking a bit concerned.

Meg blushed. "A-all right."

(For once, Kyu did not attempt to peek at Meg's underwear as she landed on the other side of the fence.)

Kuniko went behind Meg, looking nervous.

Kinta followed, sliding one-handed, since Kazuma's computer was tucked under one arm. Kazuma went after him.

Kyu slid after Kazuma, albeit a bit clumsily.

Ryuu came down the rope, undaunted, as though he had done it numerous times.

Saburamarou crashed into the building, causing the rest of the Class A members to look incredibly embarrassed. (read: sweatdrop)

Gouda slid down the rope next, followed closely by Shishido.

Mr. Hongou got in after the students, while Mr. Nanami, with a flourish, slid down the rope, one-handed, holding on to his hat, never messing up his fresh white suit.

Mr. Hongou rolled his eyes at Nanami's display. "Show-off…" he muttered.

Mr. Nanami, with a smile that was intended to annoy Hongou, straightened out his hat.

"Class Q, you're with me," said Mr. Hongou in a much more rational voice than usual.

"Right," said Class Q.

With a quick tip of his hat, Mr. Nanami nodded to Class A and led them in a different direction.

Mr. Hongou began leading them to the main building in the base.

They slipped in through the back door...only to come face to face with a handful of Pluto members.

"INTRUDERS!" yelled out one of them.

"Aaaaaaahh!" screamed Class Q.

Mr. Hongou immediately sprang into action, taking out a couple of thugs. Kinta tossed his jacket aside and jumped into the fight with Mr. Hongou.

"Keep going!" Mr. Hongou yelled out to them. "I'll handle this!"

Kyu nodded. "Right!" The rest of Class Q charged right through the throng, Ryuu occasionally punching out a couple of them and Shizuko elbowing some.

However, as soon as they got through the pack of Plutonians, another bunch stood before them, looking threatening.

"We're trapped!" said Kyu.

Shizuko took out something from her coat and smashed it on the floor. A cloud of smoke engulfed them, obscuring them from the view of the Pluto members.

When the smoke cleared, the Pluto members were confused. Class Q had gone.

Kyu, Ryuu, Meg, Kazuma, Kinta and Shizuko were crawling in a ventilation shaft. While the smoke covered them, they had crept into a nearby air vent, making it seem like they had vanished.

"I hope Mr. Hongou can take them out," said Kazuma.

"Shizuko, what was that thing?" asked Kyu.

"A smoke bomb," answered Shizuko. "I got it from a joke shop."

"Well, it worked. We got away from those thugs," said Meg.

"Kazuma, do you still have Yuki's signal?" asked Ryuu.

Kazuma struggled to open his computer in the narrow vent. "Yup, still going strong."

"Are we any closer to where she is?" asked Kyu.

"I can't tell exactly where…we need to get to the control room of this place so we can find them," said Kazuma.

"What if there are more Pluto members in there?" asked Meg worriedly.

"I'll take care of that," said Kinta, cracking his knuckles.

"So which way to the control room?" asked Kyu.

"Uh, wait," said Kazuma, trying to type in the cramped space. An image of the schematics of the building appeared on the screen. "We take a few turns down this vent, and then we can get to the hallway where controls are. Straight ahead. But I can't memorize this…"

"Meg, take a look at the plans and lead us there," said Kyu immediately.

Meg nodded. "All right. Kazuma, let me see."

It only took a moment's glance for Meg to memorize the plans. "It's this way," she announced.

Kyu followed after her, accidentally catching a glimpse of her polka-dotted underwear.

"Whoa, look, Meg's got polka dots on her—"

SMACK!

Meg had kicked out with her foot.

Ryuu looked a bit awkward to see them fight. "Shizuko, maybe you'd better go in front of Kyu...you're the one not wearing a skirt…"

"Those two…" Shizuko muttered as she eased herself behind Meg, blocking Kyu's view of polka-dot land.

Kyu rubbed the mark that Meg's shoe had left on his face. "Ow, that hurt…"

"It's the only way you'll learn not to peep at girls," said Meg from the front.

"But I didn't mean to peek! And you didn't have to hit me…" complained Kyu.

Their bickering voices floated over Shizuko's head.

"You could avoid telling everyone what you see," said Meg.

"I can't help it! You just have to have that kind of…"

"Stop it, you two," Shizuko sighed. "I'm in the middle here, and they might hear us out there."

Ryuu looked slightly amused nonetheless. He hid the smile forming on his face. This is a serious situation and they still keep fighting. Those two…

Kyu and Meg stopped their squabbling immediately, looking a bit uncomfortable in the cramped space.

Meg continued to lead them through the maze of tunnels. They reached another air vent. "We're here," declared Meg.

"You're sure?" asked Kyu.

"Positive. That hallway out there is where the control room can be found."

"So how do we get out of here?" asked Kazuma.

"I'll push it open," said Shizuko. Reaching out, she gave a strong shove to the vent's grilled opening.

Meg crept out first, followed by Shizuko, then Kyu. Ryuu slipped out and assisted Kazuma, who was cramping up because he had to hold on to his computer all the way through the shafts.

Kinta pushed himself out of the vent, dusting himself off.

Kyu took the time to look around the hallway. "There doesn't seem to be anyone around…"

"For now," Ryuu remarked.

Kazuma was looking at the doors. "Equipment…Uniforms…here it is. Control Room."

He twisted the doorknob. "It's locked."

"Let's break it down," said Ryuu.

Kyu, Ryuu, and Kinta heaved themselves against the door.
It didn't budge. Kinta sighed. "It's no use…"

Ryuu was rubbing his shoulder. "There has to be another way in…"

Shizuko took something from her pocket and went to the doorknob.

The rest of Class Q raised their eyebrows.

They heard her fiddling with the door knob, twisting it in different directions.

Shizuko pursed her lips.

"It's not working…" she mumbled, wrinkling her eyebrows.

She stepped back. Using all her strength, she kicked the doorknob…

And it clattered to the floor.

There was no hole where the mechanism was supposed to be.

"It's a dummy," Ryuu muttered. "Figures."

"So how do we open it?" asked Kyu.

Meg leaned against the wall. "If we can't get in…"

A hidden niche suddenly slid open next to her.

Kinta was stunned. "Look!"

Inside the opening was a small black box with an alphanumeric keypad.

"A password encoder," said Kazuma. "I'll handle this."
He connected his computer to the device and began typing at incredible speed. The light on the little machine blinked red, then turned green.

The door creaked open.

Kyu shook his head. "They just had to complicate things…"
Kinta slipped inside. "No one here," he announced, sounding disappointed.

The rest of them piled in.

"This is your kind of place, Kazuma," said Kinta. "Buttons everywhere, lights going on and off, all this high-tech stuff…"
Kazuma rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Kinta," he said.

A bunch of screens were in front of them, along with about a thousand different colored switches, knobs, and dials.

Ryuu gestured toward the screens. "Footage from surveillance cameras..."
"Yeah," said Kyu.

Ryuu gave a start at the image on one of the screens. It showed a person in a long brown coat, with bleached blonde hair. Although the individual was turned away from the camera, they could tell that the person had deathly pale skin: the hand that held the cell phone to his ear was whiter than snow.

A single black rose was on the desk behind him.

Anubis, thought Ryuu to himself. He's still alive, dammit. WHY didn't he just die on the DDSunrise and disappear from existence?

His anger at Pluto only intensified. WHY DON'T THEY JUST GIVE UP?

He clenched his fists. WHY DID THEY HAVE TO DO THIS?

Shizuko's voice broke through his heated chain of thought. "Ryuu, are you okay?"

Ryuu snapped back into reality. The rest of Class Q was discussing something in a corner. Apparently Shizuko had noticed his trancelike gaze and came up to him.

"You okay?" she asked again. He found himself staring into her piercing dark eyes, all seriousness at the moment.

He nodded. "I'm fine," he lied.

Shizuko furrowed her brow. "Doesn't seem like it."

He forced himself to look into her persistent eyes and said, "Nothing's wrong."

I'm lying again, darn it, he thought as Shizuko, who nodded (though disbelieving), walked back to the rest of their classmates.

If only I could tell them the truth.

He watched as Kyu suggested something and they all shook their heads.

I can't…I can't put them in danger. If they knew…Pluto would target them.

Ryuu shut his eyes. I can't let Pluto take them… no…no, not again, he thought as a familiar feeling of anguish coursed through him. It made him feel sick to his stomach.

He pushed it away, trying to keep his emotionless façade up. I…I can't let them see that it affects me…

From somewhere far away, someone called his name. Ryuu…

"Ryuu…"said Kyu, waving a hand in front of his face.

Ryuu didn't even notice.

"Ryuu!"

His plethora of thought was shattered. "What?" he asked, regaining his composure.

"What's the matter with you? We've been trying to call your attention for the past few minutes," said Kyu.

"Aa, it's nothing. I was just thinking of something," he said. It wasn't a lie…he just wasn't telling the whole truth.

"Well, in case you didn't hear, Kazuma's found Yuki and Hayato. They're in a room somewhere on the second floor."

"I see. How are we to get there?"

Kyu grinned. "Take a guess."

"The vents? Again?"

"Yup," said Kyu cheerfully.

"All right then," said Ryuu. "Let's go."

The rest of class Q nodded their heads, Meg a bit reluctantly.

Shizuko had a strange feeling as they crept through the vents again. Ryuu wasn't himself earlier. There's something he's not telling us.

She continued to follow Meg, at the same time keeping Kyu from peeking under Meg's skirt.

Ryuu followed Kyu absent-mindedly, not really paying much attention to the ongoing argument that had ensued between Meg and Kyu.

While Shizuko was playing referee, he let his mind wander again.

I didn't see Yurie on the screens, he suddenly recalled. Is it possible that she's still alive? And why would she be here? What does she have to gain?

Too many unanswered questions, he decided. He watched again as Shizuko resolved Meg and Kyu's little squabble.

At least they're being light about this whole thing. I can't help thinking this way…

With that thought, Ryuu shook his head, clearing his mind.

rants: hmm. Does this chapter sound a bit like angst to you? I thought so.
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