Scene Two: The Heist (Must Learn More On Balance)


Before we go any farther into the story, I just want to quickly say that you should never believe a word Kudo says. He just never likes being the one who did something wrong. XP

Ah. The scene that I loved to see every time I went out on my heists. Crowds of fans all cheering, screaming, holding up "Kaitou Kid, I want your baby" signs--okay, even I have to admit that's way disturbing, but flattering, nonetheless--while the 1412 Taskforce scattered themselves within the crowd and the building where the object that I would steal sat, waiting for me to swoop in and snatch under everyone's noses. Nakamori-keibu standing there in the building near the jewel, chewing on the butt of his cigar, swearing to himself as he watched a clock impatiently with his hands stuck in his pockets, was always a welcoming and amusing sight to behold.

Especially whenever I went up to him and gave a quick bow.

"Nakamori-keibu," I said in a low voice of the 250-pound, 6 foot 2 inch officer I was impersonating. His name was Watsabe Kento and was a newbie on the Taskforce. I had decided to give him an small taste of what to expect from Kaitou Kid that night, and I impersonated him, he was happily resting in the backseat of an empty police car in the crow-filled parking lot. "The perimeter's secure, and we're awaiting orders."

The Inspector gave his usual vocal response to this. A grunt.

I mentally grinned to myself. You really should let your men know what you're planning, keibu, I thought to myself as I remained beside him. "Sir?" I asked in a vaguely confused tone that seemed to wake the Inspector from his thoughts.

"What the hell do you want!" he snapped, nerves obviously on end from the waiting. "Are you #$ing new here or something! Why don't you just #$ing wait for the #$ to start!"

I sweatdropped.

I could never get used to his temper or his language, really.

"Sorry, sir," I responded with a bit of a stammer before rushing off into an empty hall, leaving him scowling and cursing Kaitou Kid's riddles and making them wait all of the time, completely forgetting about Watsabe ever being there.

I pulled off my mask and mentally patted myself on the back. I had managed to do all of that while Hakuba and Hattori were in the room, too. Very good, though it was Kudo I was most concerned about. I hadn't seen him the whole time in my disguise, and it was making me a bit uncomfortable. Frowning, I managed to get my monocle and top hat on when I heard Nakamori-keibu suddenly yell, "Kaitou Kid's in the hall!"

I froze.

Kudo did not just use his bow tie.

He did.

I could see him grinning from his hiding place right behind Nakamori-keibu, who looked vaguely confused until he spotted my head sticking out from around the corner. "THERE HE IS!" came the inevitable bellow, along with the finger pointing.

I blanched as I saw the entire 1412 Taskforce focus on me. Then I laughed sheepishly, putting a hand behind my head in supposed-embarrassment.

As soon as they came to the entrance of the hallway, I pulled a cord that I had concealed in my disguise just for this purpose.

POOM!

A cloud of pink smoke enshrouded the hall, making the officers back away, some of them coughing. I emerged only a second later, flipping over their heads and landing on another artifact's case. My white suit was perfectly devoid of any incriminating or otherwise filthy marks as I had just gotten this suit recently as my other one had been ruined in the Black Organization conflict. (I made sure to send the bill to Kudo, as he was the one who messed it up.) My cape, though, was the same one as before as I had to leave it behind during the entire episode. I smirked over to the detectives and Nakamori-keibu, giving them all a small greeting with a salute.

It felt good to be back at a normal heist. Something that I hadn't been able to go on for the past few weeks.

"Good evening, gentlemen," I said politely, grinning the whole time as I looked on all of their faces. Oh, how they hated me when I was in this suit. Even Nakamori-keibu liked me a whole lot more as Kuroba Kaito. "I hope you've been enjoying yourselves. I do aim to please, always."

Nakamori-keibu bristled as his temper boiled. "You're #$ing early!" he exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at me. "And you gave yourself away! What the hell are you up to by doing that, anyway!"

I couldn't help but to laugh at that. "But, Nakamori-san," I said, deciding to have a little fun with him, "I wouldn't be Kaitou Kid without something up my sleeve, now would I?" And as soon as I said this, I proved my point by making the Daughter of the Sky gem appear in my gloved hand, grinning all the while.

They were all outraged.

Especially Kudo.

Oh, the look on his face was especially priceless.

Then, the moment was ended by Nakamori-keibu managing to splutter out, "GET HIM!"

Dog-pile on the bandit.

...I love that game.

I jumped off the case and somersaulted over the detectives and Inspector's head, laughing the whole while as I heard the men of the 1412 Taskforce fall on top of the display, causing more of a mess than I did. I knew that the detectives and Nakamori-keibu wouldn't give up the chase, and so I continued to run to the roof, where I was greeted by the sight of my escape route.

Just as I started to head over to it, I heard a whizzing sound. Never a good sound in my professor, so I dropped to the ground just as a large object slammed into the air conditioning unit that sat on the roof. I looked up at it and saw that it was one of those soccer balls that Kudo had used whenever he was Edogawa Conan. I looked behind me, knowing I had a frightened look on my face.

The four men were all right behind me. Kudo looked especially smug.

"You can really hurt someone with those things, you know!" I called back at them before pulling out a smoke bomb and detonating it just as they reached me.

POOM!

Whoos--

YOINK!

"GYA--!" I said without meaning to as I felt someone grab hold of my cape just as I tried to run toward the edge of the building. The person who was holding onto it was the unlucky one as I fell back onto him, causing his breath to leave him in a oof! I quickly leapt off of him just in time to discover that he still had a hold of it without it being attached to my shoulders anymore!

Hattori grinned up at me, even though he was gasping for breath.

I mentally kicked myself as I leapt up on top of the air conditioning unit, getting away just as Hakuba and Kudo came to tackle me. They both hit the ground, landing on top of one another in a not-so-graceful manner. That's when I got suspicious.

"Not your usual ways of doing things, detectives," I called down to them with a more serious tone to my voice. "You know, I never appreciated an audience that mocks me."

Hakuba looked up from his position on top of Kudo--

...yeah...forget I wrote this. No innuendo, please...

--and smirked as he responded, "Oh, we take you seriously, Kid. We just decided to take a new route to get where we want to go."

Feeling slightly uneasy, I began retreat a few steps, ready to try any way to get out of the situation I was now in. What a time for the detectives to try new tactics. Should have expected it, I thought to myself. The first heist after our working together...they obviously learned new things from my civilian persona. "And just where is it that we're going, Hakuba-tantei?" I asked, hoping to keep the conversation going until I could figure out what they were up to.

Hakuba didn't respond but stood up, allowing Kudo to sit up and grin up at me. "Behind bars, Kid."

I felt a chill go up my spine as I realized someone was missing. I knew just who it was, but where Nakamori-keibu went was a different story all together. "So how do you go about taking this new route?"

Conversation was coming to an end, and Hattori came up beside Hakuba and held up my cape. "You should know that tactic the best, Kaitou Kid," he said, taking a more formal approach to this, seeming to be more grim about the situation now that the climax was approaching. "Distraction."

Only the sound of a footstep alerted me to Nakamori-keibu's presence behind me. I spun around, pulling out my card gun and shooting at the ground in front of his feet. He stopped, freezing with a suddenly freaked-out look on his face. I could understand why. Kaitou Kid never allowed violence, but he would do whatever necessary to get out of a situation.

And I couldn't afford to be caught off-guard like that.

"My apologies, keibu," I said sincerely to him, "but I'm afraid that it's too early for me to be going with you right now..."

Nakamori-keibu fumed at this. "I've got you fair and square this time, Kid!" he shouted angrily. "Don't you dare say that I didn't! And I'm not about to let you go when I've got you!"

I smiled darkly at this, not the lest bit amused. I hated confrontations like this. Nakamori-keibu was like an uncle to me, caring about me and allowing me to treat his home like a second one. He was the reason I had the chance to meet Aoko, to know her and care for her. To constantly be his enemy this way...it was one of the things that I detested about my life as Kaitou Kid.

"I concede to the point that you've cornered me fairly, Nakamori-san," I told him after a brief pause. "However, I do not necessarily think that I am caught yet. You'll just have to try harder next time, I suppose."

And with that, I pulled a special card from my vest pocket and loaded my card gun with it. Then I turned and fired it at my cape, knocking it out of Hattori's hands. With another push of a button, the cape came flying back toward me, being pulled by the wire attached to the card. As soon as I got my cape again, I had to dodge Nakamori-keibu, who tried to catch a hold of me. He stumbled to a stop right near the edge of the unit we were standing on and turned back toward me, livid.

I flipped my cape back onto my shoulders and gave a mock-bow before activating my glider.

Nothing happened.

I suppose I went bug-eyed at this as I looked down at the button that activated it. "Come on," I hissed under my breath, careful not to let myself be heard. "Why won't you work?"

"Sorry, Kid." I spun around to see Kudo standing there with his hands placed neatly in his pockets. "Hattori managed to cut off the wiring to your glider. Looks like you're grounded like everyone else is."

I clenched my teeth, sweating uncertainly. It was so much easier to think of him as my ally that when it came down right to this, pulling out all of the stops was more difficult for me to do. How could he possibly be so calm when he knew he was going to put a friend in jail? Ah, but I knew he wasn't calm. I could see his fists clenched in his pockets. It was as much of an act as all of the my other stunts were.

I looked down to the ground and smirked. It was all an act, no matter which way you looked at it. The only one not a true part of the act was Nakamori-keibu. He was just the audience we were dressed to impress. So impress him I would.

I looked back up at Kudo, holding up my hands--the right one holding the card gun still--and shrugging. "Well, it seems like I'll have to make do without it tonight. But be assured, Kudo, that I will be in the air next we meet."

"I don't doubt it," he responded coolly.

That was my cue. I slid my card gun back into its holster just as I started to run to the edge of the unit and then leaping, knowing the secondary escape route was right beneath me. Kudo, Nakamori, Hattori, and Hakuba all seemed shocked that I would take such drastic measures, but it really wasn't as drastic as they all thought.

I landed perfectly on the round pipe that ran from the rooftop to the neighboring building's rooftop. I looked back to the others and laughed loudly at their expressions.

Really, did they not remember who I was?

"Like I said, Nakamori-san!" I called back to him, a large grin on my face. I was going to have a chance to go on a heist another night. "This isn't the night that I'll be caught! Ja matta ne!"

I started walking off, thinking it would be safe to do so since none of the detectives or the Inspector could balance as well as I did. I honestly had no idea Kudo would do something so idiotic.

"Just a minute, Kid," I heard him say from behind me.

I turned and saw him balancing on the pole, his hands out to his sides to help him keep his balance. Eyes were straight on me, keeping away from the fall below. I nearly fell over in a panic. What the hell was the thinking? He was going to get himself killed. Ran-chan wouldn't have her wedding if he got killed. Hakuba and Hattori would kill me if anything happened to the idiot tantei!

"This is dangerous ground, tantei!" I warned, so as to have an argument in case this incident would be brought up against me. "Just call it a night and I'll see you again in two weeks!"

"Two weeks?" he asked with a smirk, confident in his balancing. "That's your next heist then."

I watched his feet warily, just waiting for the wobbling to become more erratic. "Well, if you must know, I plan to have a message delivered tomorrow," I responded carefully, not wanting to startle him and cause him to fall. I suppose that was when the crowd's cheering suddenly began to register to me. Usually when I was on a heist, I tuned out all of the cheering unless it served a purpose.

Right then, it was a distraction.

"Kudo Shinichi, I think it's time for you to give up the case tonight," I said in a firmer tone, not at all liking how he was putting himself into so much danger so soon of getting out of it. "I wouldn't want misfortune to befallen you before you're big day. Not on my behalf."

Kudo smirked. "Oh, it won't be on your behalf."

I noticed he was looking behind me and saw the 1412 Taskforce on the other roof. They were all waiting for me to make a choice on where to go. With Kudo on one end and my inability to fly, there wasn't much choice to it.

I was going to have to jump.

But I also had to play my role. "Well thought out," I commended Kudo and the others standing on the roof I had just left. "I'm sorry it didn't work out."

Kudo realized what I was doing at the last second. "Kid!"

"I'll see you in two weeks!" I called cheerfully before stepping to the side and dropping off of the pole like a stone.

Planning ahead is a marvelous thing. I planned ahead to where I would have that pole if my cape malfunctioned. I also planned falling into the neighboring hotel's pool if I was trapped on the pole.

But Kudo didn't know I planned ahead.

Right before I hit the water of the hotel's pool, I realized that Kudo had fell off the pole and cursed myself for breaking his concentration. Then I hit water.

SPLOOSH!

When the second splash came, something I didn't expect to happen happened. I would have thought it was one of my smoke bombs going off if I hadn't known they were waterproof. How was I supposed to know that the legend surrounding the Daughter of the Sky gem was real? How was I supposed to know that I would spend the next twenty-eight days in the body of my rival--the detective who chose to blame the situation on me when it could have just as easily not have happened if he hadn't wanted to be the daredevil that night?

...then again, I could be the one to blame, because I decided to take an interest in Edogawa Conan. If I never met the twerp, I would have never done half the things I ended up doing--mostly getting switched with his adult persona. How wonderful. Perfect way to end one of my more challenging heists.



Author's notes: -sweatdrops- Well, that was a lot more than I originally had planned. Not as funny as the other two parts, but hopefully just as fun. Anyway, the legend behind the Daughter of the Sky gem will be explained in the next chapter, so be patient! Until next time, ja ne!