Afterlife

Disclaimer: To Own or not to Own? That is the Question. Unfortunately for most of us, there is no question. It's not to own. (Like me.)

Chapter 7 - Gone Forever?

Shinichi looked at Kaito. "On three, we charge her," he told the thief. Kaito nodded.

"One…two…three…" They both charged at Vermouth who, for once, was stunned as she saw two almost identical, determined teenagers coming at her from the same direction.

"Abaiyo tantei-san," Gin smirked as he squeezed the trigger. Heiji jerked quickly to the side, hoping to move out of the line of fire.

BANG!

Heiji felt himself spin around and land on the hard, cold cement floor. He could feel the blood flowing out of him and staining his shirt. The world started to grow dark as he slipped from consciousness. He mind echoed only one thing as the darkness claimed him.

Kazuha…

Shinichi stopped abruptly, his left shoulder suddenly blossoming with pain.

Kaito slowed, stopped and looked back at the detective questioningly. "Shinichi? What's wrong?"

"Something's happened to Heiji," Shinichi whispered in quiet shock. He turned around and started running away from Vermouth. "Take care of her," he shouted back at Kaito. Both the thief and the agent were stunned as to what had happened to make the detective ignore Vermouth.

I've got to hurry! Shinichi thought in panic as he raced down the corridor. Otherwise, Heiji might not survive! His shoulder still hurt him, but the adrenaline made the pain into a dull ache. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that if his shoulder still hurt, Heiji was still alive. If he ever stopped feeling the pain… No, I don't want to follow that train of thought! Shinichi yelled at himself bitterly.

For some reason, he could feel himself being tugged down a side corridor, and into another room. He entered at a full sprint and stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him, Gin was holding a smoking gun while Heiji lay on the ground in pool of blood, not moving.

"HEIJI!" Shinichi shouted, taking off at a run straight for the gunman.

Gin turned around and was once again met with a running detective. Shinichi saw the rare expression of surprise on Gin's face as he grabbed a hold of the killer, letting his momentum take them away from the injured Osakajin. Once they'd landed, Shinichi immediately got up and kicked the gun out of the older man's hand.

"You'll pay for what you did!" Shinichi shouted.

In response, Gin grabbed Shinichi's legs, toppling him over. Shinichi rolled and when he sat up, he found himself staring down the barrel of another gun from a few feet away.

"This ends now. Abaiyo tantei-san," Gin said with a smirk.

Shinichi shut his eyes, knowing he couldn't move in time to take the gun or get out of the way. Gin's finger tightened on the trigger.

Click

I'm sorry Ran! Shinichi thought as he waited for the noise and the pain of the bullet ripping through his body. It never came.

Opening his eyes, Shinichi was treated to the even rarer sight of a confused Gin. A quick glance at the gun gave him the source of the confusion. Sticking out of the barrel was a pole with a flag. It read, BANG! Shinichi started laughing so hard his sides hurt, the relief he felt from almost dying fueling the laughter.

"KAITO!" he managed to shout out between fits of laughter, "You're going to give me a heart attack!"

"Actually," he heard Kaito respond. "That was to give him a heart attack. Now, for my finale…" Shinichi saw Kaito jump down, steal the gun from the confused operative's hand, kick Gin between the legs and proceed to beat the living daylights out of him. When he was finished, Gin lay unmoving on the ground where he had been moaning only a few seconds earlier.

"I think that about does it," Kaito said with a smile, wiping his hands together. "Now, how's Hattori-kun?" He quickly walked over to where Heiji lay.

Shinichi walked over and bent down to check his friend. "He's alive, but I don't think he'll last for long. Can you do anything?"

"Let me see…" Kaito gently turned the unconscious detective over. "The wound's in his shoulder. If we can get it to stop bleeding, he might survive a trip to the hospital."

Shinichi nodded, ripped his own shirt for bandages and handed them over to Kaito. Kaito proceeded to wrap them tightly around the detective's shoulder, being careful not to disturb the already clotting blood. After a few moments, Kaito tied off the last remaining bandage.

Shinichi then pulled out his portable intercom. "Nakamori-keibu, we need an ambulance at the warehouse now! Hattori's been shot and may not survive long."

"Alright, one will be there in a few moments. Have him outside waiting," the inspector's voice came back over the intercom.

Shinichi nodded again, put the intercom away, helped Kaito lift Heiji and proceeded to run towards the exit.

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Aoko dodged the fist coming towards her head and when the arm and side followed it, she turned around, giving the agent a nice knee in the stomach. He fell, clutching his sore abdomen. Aoko put her arms down and took a breather for a second before gearing up to attack some more. During this time, another agent decided to have some fun with her. Before she knew he was there, the agent had his hands around her stomach, squeezing her breath out.

"You know, it's not nice to attack a lady," Hakuba's voice came from behind both of them. The pressure suddenly lessened and she pulled herself out of the offending grasp. Turning around, she saw Hakuba standing over the crumpled operative with a metal bar in his hands. "Be glad you are unconscious. I don't think you would have enjoyed her retaliation," Hakuba retorted as he turned around and went back into the fray.

Aoko, too, entered into the mist of the battle; attacking another agent that was trying to remove Kazuha from the game. She deflected a blow aimed at her side and returned with an upper cut to the jaw.

"Thanks, Aoko-chan," Kazuha told her as they both readied to knock out yet another agent. "Nice upper cut, by the way."

"Thanks," Aoko said as she once again launched herself at a Black Operative.

Ran, who had just knocked out her opponent, watched as Kazuha and Aoko teamed up to knock out another one. She smiled at them and returned to find another agent stupid enough to underestimate her. It didn't take her long.

"You're such a weak girl. I'll use you as a hostage," the agent said as he faced her, ready to battle.

"You might want to take back those words after I'm done with you," she retorted, ready to attack.

"We'll see."

And see he did. When she was done, he had 2 black eyes, a bloody nose, many bruises, and a very sore spot between the legs. All in under seven seconds. (She'd secretly been taking lessons from Heiji.)

"That will teach you to underestimate me," Ran told the agent just before he lost consciousness.

She walked over to Akako, who was having fun by directing different objects to attack her enemies. Ran watched as a deformed wheel started chasing after one operative, sending him all over the battle trying to get away from the possessed object. Ran could barely hold in her laughter at the sight of a grown and dangerous man just running from a small wheel.

"I think that I'm getting good at this type of entertainment," Akako commented with a smile as she sent a shovel after a different agent.

This agent, it seemed, was smarter. He ducked, let the object pass over his head and grabbed the handle. Ran didn't think he expected what happened next. Instead of pulling him along, it turned right back at him, making him let go and start running, shouting, 'AAAAAHHHHHHH!'

Ran turned away, for fear that watching would make her laugh so hard that she'd be unable to defend herself. She soon found another opponent that was giving Shiho a hard time.

"You're supposed to be a man," the agent was laughing while not so gently pulling Shiho's hair. "And yet, you're letting the girls fight your battles. You're so weak."

"HEY!" Ran shouted, getting his attention. "You leave her alone." OPPS! Ran silently cursed herself. I shouldn't have said that.

"'Her'?" The agent was bewildered. "Wait a minute, if the Kaitou Kid was Sherry, then that must mean…that Sherry's Kaitou Kid!" He pulled on Shiho's arm. "Hey, boss. I found Sherry!" he shouted in the direction Vermouth and Shinichi had once been.

"I don't think they'll hear you," Ran said, striding forward.

"That doesn't matter." He let go of Shiho. Instead of running away like Ran had expected, Shiho stood up and walked behind the agent, picking something off of the floor.

As she watched the agent pull out a gun, Ran knew that he was too far away for her to disarm him without a chance of getting hurt, so she kept him talking. "Why do you want her?"

"It don't matter. Say good-bye."

Ran wanted to close her eyes, but her fear had other ideas. She watched in shock as his finger started to squeeze the trigger.

BONK!

The operative suddenly went limp and fell down, landing next to a surprisingly calm Shiho holding another metal bar.

"Good-bye," Shiho told him. She then looked at Ran. "I couldn't let them hurt you guys anymore. I had to act. After all, you'd do the same for me."

Ran smiled. "Thanks Shiho-chan."

Shiho was surprised with Ran. "Mouri-san?"

Ran shook her head. "Please, call me Ran-chan. If not for you, then I'd never have Shinichi back. I'd also not be alive right now. I'd like to call you my friend."

Shiho smiled back. "I'd like that."

They both rejoined the fight, giving their all. It took a while, but slowly and surely, the teenagers beat back the agents until there was only 2 left.

"Surrender, or I'll have to hurt you," Hakuba told them, holding a metal bar ready to throw at them.

The agents just laughed. "Do you expect us to give into you that easy?" one operative said, laughing. "We planted a bomb in this warehouse just in case. It is set to go off in another 5 minutes. Find it if you can. Either way, we'll kill you."

A small 'eep' sounded through the silence and everyone looked at Akako, who was visibly paling. "They're not lying," she said in shock. "They plan to kill us, even though it means taking themselves along with us."

Hakuba snarled. HOW DARE THEY PLAY THIS LOW! IT WOULDN'T MATTER AS MUCH IF THE GIRLS WEREN'T HERE. Hakuba chucked his pipe as hard as he could right at the agents' heads. It connected with a loud 'THUMP' and both sank to the floor, knocked unconscious.

"Koizumi-chan, you and the others get out of here right now! Leave, I'll find the bomb," he forcefully told the girls. All of them shook their heads.

"THIS IS NO TIME TO ARGUE. GET OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!" Hakuba shouted at them.

"Saguru-kun…" Akako started but Aoko cut her off. "Come on, Koizumi-chan. Let's leave him to his work. Take care of yourself Hakuba-kun," she told the British Detective before she turned and pushed all the girls out the door.

"Take care of Koizumi-chan, Nakamori-chan," Hakuba quietly told Aoko, turning around and heading deeper into the warehouse.

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The bomb sat on the ground, its timer slowly ticking off. 4m 25s…4m 24s…4m 23s…It continued to count down the seconds until the warehouse would burst into a flame, killing all who were inside.

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Aoko continued to push Akako, who seemed to be in shock. Never in Akako's entire life had a boy, who was not under her control, sacrificed himself for her well being. Akako felt very sick and scared for Hakuba. Was this love? She never had felt this way about anyone before. She almost wondered if she could stand the pain if Hakuba didn't make it out of this one alive. NO! I definitely don't want to think about that possibility, she told her self stubbornly. Saguru-kun will make it out of this one alive. He has to.

Aoko watched as the emotions played across her friend's face. She understood what Akako was feeling, for she had felt the same way about Kaito a lot. She put her arm around Akako, giving her a hug to let her know that she'd always be there for her.

Akako smiled, returning Aoko's hug. "Thank you."

Aoko smiled back. "Your welcome."

Walking side by side, the 5 girls exited the warehouse. What they found outside surprised all of them. Police cars were everywhere. Some were talking to one another, some answering calls on their com systems, and some were just simply waiting for the time to act.

On one side of the warehouse, an ambulance had its door open, loading someone on a stretcher, someone who was very familiar.

"HEIJI!" Kazuha shouted, running over to him. Two paramedics intercepted her, holding her back a few feet from the detective. Tears started to form in her eyes as she looked at the broken and bruised body of her friend.

He looks so tired and sore lying there, Ran thought as she watched her friend. It almost looks as though he might be dead. Ran didn't want to think that it was true, but it still was a possibility. Because of her father's and boyfriend's jobs, she could accept death a little easier than Kazuha.

"Miss," one of the paramedics said, trying to reason with Kazuha. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you past this point."

"NO! HEIJI!" Kazuha continued to shout, tears fall down her face. She struggled against the two men that were holding back from reaching her best friend's side.

"Let her go," someone else said, but Kazuha didn't care. The only thing she thought about was reaching her friend. The paramedics released her and she ran the rest of the way to Heiji's side.

"Heiji, please don't…don't…" she couldn't finish what she wanted to say. She just collapsed on the edge of his stretcher, crying hard. He can't die! He can't! She stubbornly told herself. He'll live through this. He always has before. Kazuha jumped slightly as she felt an arm reach around her shoulder, pulling her away from Heiji. She tried to shrug it off, but it refused to leave her alone.

"Kazuha-chan," Ran's voice came from behind her. "Please, let them take care of Hattori-kun."

"NO!" Kazuha shouted again. "THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO!" Kazuha knew what she was saying wasn't very true, but right now she didn't care. "I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HEAL HIM!"

Ran held onto Kazuha even harder. Despite all of her struggling, Kazuha eventually gave up and buried herself into Ran, her sobs louder than ever. "He can't…he can't go," Kazuha managed to speak between the tears. "I…need him." Ran hugged Kazuha even more, herself close to tears because of her friend's pain.

"Ran." Ran turned around at the sound of her name. Behind her were Shinichi and Kaito. Both looked worn out and a little dirty, but they were otherwise unharmed.

"Shinichi," Ran said, hardly believing that he was here and safe.

"Ran, let Toyama-chan go with Hattori to the hospital. In fact, I'd like for all you to go with him," Shinichi told her, refraining from moving closer to her.

"Why?" Ran asked, not for sure why he was doing this.

"Kaito and I will take down the rest of the Black Ops. You've done a great job, I thank you for your help. The rest is between them, Kaito and I."

"Kudo-kun," Shiho interjected. "They have a bomb in there that is set to go off in the next 5 minutes. If it does, no one inside will survive. Hakuba's already in there looking for it."

Shinichi nodded. "Sounds like something Vermouth would pull. All of you get out of here." He didn't know why Shiho wasn't scared out of her mind like before, but he was glad she wasn't. It made their work a lot easier.

He turned back to Kaito, who as hugging Aoko. She had tears in her eyes and Shinichi guessed that it was because she didn't want Kaito returning to the warehouse where he might be hurt or worse. Shinichi continued to watch as Kaito pulled out of her embrace, put his hand on her cheek and spoke softly. He was quiet enough that Shinichi couldn't hear what he said. Aoko nodded and walked back over to Ran.

Kaito walked back over to where Shinichi was waiting for him. "You ready to go?" he asked the famous detective.

Shinichi nodded and they took off back into the warehouse.

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The bomb continued to count down. 2m 24s…2m 23s…2m 22s…Time was running out for the teenagers.

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"I take it you heard about the bomb," Shinichi asked the thief as they ran through the warehouse.

"Yeah, Aoko told me. We should concentrate on stopping the bomb first. Then, we can deal with the rest of the Black Operatives," Kaito told him, turning down one of the hallways. "My guess is that it's in the basement. Somewhere near a vital part of the structural integrity or like a boiler."

"I agree. Let's head down there. Hopefully, we'll met up with Hakuba-san somewhere down there."

They continued to race around the first floor, looking for the stairs down.

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1m 49s…1m 48s…1m 47s…Time still counted down to the fateful moment.

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Hakuba had found the stairs down. He'd been spending the last few minutes looking out for the bomb and trying to avoid the operatives. He suspected that anyone who was still in their right mind was gone, but he wasn't for sure. He didn't want to take any chances, so it was taking him a bit longer than if he didn't check for traps.

Still have half of the basement to search, Hakuba thought to himself. I have to hurry. Time is running out.

He pressed on, searching the next room quickly. He leapt over boxes, checking behind doors and in other less conspicuous areas. He didn't spend much time searching, for he knew that the bomb would have to be pretty big for it to destroy the warehouse, even if it did use a boiler as a jumpstart.

It wasn't in the room, so he proceeded on to the next one. It wasn't in that one either, and Hakuba started to get worried. What if I don't find it in time? he thought to himself. He quickly berated himself for thinking that way. I AM going to find it before the time runs out and be able to disarm it too.

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1m 10s…1m 9s…1m 8s…The bomb counted down the time until it let loose a bonfire.

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"Kaito," Shinichi spoke, breaking the silence that had been between them. "If we can't find the bomb in time or are not able to disarm it, I want you to get out of here. Take care of Ran for me, if it comes to that."

For once, Kaito didn't have a funny comeback. He simply nodded. "I understand, Shinichi. Though, Mouri-san most likely will hate you for leaving her again." Kaito spoke plainly and Shinichi knew it.

They entered another room, looking once again for the bomb. Just when they had been about to give up and search another room, Kaito heard a soft ticking noise. A noise…that a bomb makes! Kaito could have shouted for joy. He quickly ran to where he heard the sound coming from, ignoring the surprise from the detective.

There, in a small cove, was the bomb. It wasn't too big of one, but it was planted right on the biggest beam of the structure. If it went off, Kaito supposed, the entire building would collapse.

"Did you find it?" Kaito heard Shinichi ask.

Kaito nodded. "You'll have to disarm it. I have no skills in that field."

"Alright. You get out of here. That way, incase if I don't make it, someone will be there for Ran."

Kaito nodded again and moved out of the way. "Take care of yourself, Shinichi."

"You too."

Kaito ran back out of the room, heading back to the first floor and back to the girls. Make sure that you comeback Shinichi. If Mouri-san loses you, I think it will be the last straw. She'll just collapse on herself, never to come out again. She even might think about suicide. You must survive this one.

Shinichi watched the bomb as the time continued to tick down. 0m 49s…0m 48s…0m 47s…He pulled it off of the wall slowly, so as not to disturb any wires that might be connected to the beam. He almost smiled when there was none. Good. The easiest part is done. Now for the harder one. He opened the front of the bomb very carefully, checking for any sort of trip wire that would explode the bomb prematurely. He found it and quickly rendered it unusable.

0m 36s…0m 35s…0m 34s…

Shinichi could feel sweat come down his forehead as he continued to work on the bomb. He was glad when he recognized the configuration as one similar to a bomb that he'd previously helped Ran disarm successfully. Not that we'd be here if I hadn't done it right.

"Kudo-san!" A voice sounded from behind him, almost making him mess up as he was picking a wire to cut. He quickly turned around.

Hakuba ran up to stand beside him. "I see that you've found the bomb."

"Yeah, but I'm having trouble with disarming it a little bit. It's similar one I did awhile ago, but it's different enough that I'm not for sure if I'm doing it correct. Please feel free to offer any suggestions."

Hakuba looked at the time remaining. 0m 24s…0m 23s…0m 22…"Um, Kudo-san, you'd better hurry up."

Shinichi shook his head. "Get out of here. I don't think that I can disarm it in time." He put down the bomb for a few precious seconds and pushed Hakuba towards the door. "GO!" Hakuba took his initiative and ran back out the door.

Shinichi returned to the bomb and continued where he'd left off. Hesoon was left with three wires. Clip the wrong one and the bomb would explode immediately.

0m 9s…0m 8s…0m 7s…

God, let me make it out of here alive! Shinichi silently prayed as he picked a wire and put it between the blades of the scissors he was using.

0m 4s…0m 3s…0m 2s…

He took a deep breath, reading himself for whatever happened next.

SNIP!

I'm sorry, Ran!

The scissors cut the wire…