And now... for my next trick:
THE NEXT CHAPTER!
YAY!
I decided to postpone my other one, due to lack of ideas.
THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS!
Disclaimer: Standard
Without furthur ado... Onto the chapter!
Serena Sebastian quietly slipped the grate out of place inside the air duct. The room below was illuminated by a desk lamp only, and she couldn't see that far into the room.
Poking her head through the space, she took a quick glance around the room. It wasn't too fancy. More like an corner office would be. But, as she had learned, she wouldn't underestimate and think this room was exactly as it appeared. There was probably a secret compartment somewhere.
Chapter 11
A hissing sound, like that of pressure being released, filled her ears.
Not thinking, she turned toward the door. Her upside-down vision starting to make her dizzy.
But, the noise hadn't come from the door. Moments later, the wall to her right began to come at her. Thinking she was seeing things because of her dizziness, Serena flew her head back up into the air duct and shook it.
Sticking it back down again, she turned to the right wall and, upon finding a woman standing with her back turned, grimaced hastily and pulled herself back up into the duct.
She held her breath as the woman crossed hastily over to the desk on the left wall, passing right beneath her. She exhaled as she heard the woman open a drawer of the desk on the left wall.
A beep was heard soon thereafter and then, Serena was spun into vibration as the room beneath her buzzed with excitement.
From what she could see, the bookshelf turned around to become a safe, and the desk turned into a high-profile computer.
She gasped inside the vent, immediately covering her mouth to prevent anyone else from hearing her outburst.
To her relief, the woman below seemed not to notice.
Intead, Serena watched as she pressed a button on the desk-computer, sending it into a flurry of excitement. A loading bar appeared, filling fast as it made a connection to whatever was on the recieving end. As the bar reached the end, a window popped up.
Inside this window, a person was outlined by a bright white light. The light came from behind, so he was just a shadow, but Serena could tell where his eyes were, as there was a glare from the glasses he wore.
"What's the news?" the computerized voice emerged. The man was obviously speaking through a voice changer, making his or her voice sound lower than it actually was.
"I decided to let the boys take care of the girl. They deserved a good time. And it would be a shame to let her die a virgin-"
Serena froze. 'Rachel...'
"Did you get the package?" he cut her off.
"Sure I got it," she replied, shrugging. She turned, heading to the safe. Pressing a few numbers, it swung open for her.
Serena tried hard to see what was inside it. But from her current standpoint, it was impossible.
The woman closed the safe again, pressing a red button to lock it. Serena still didn't get a good look at her face, but something about her seemed familiar. She did, however, get a look at what the woman had taken out of the safe.
It was a regular box. Small, metallic, with one clasp in the middle of one side. The woman opened it, exposing eight solitary pill capsules, one side red, the other blue.
"Made the journey safe and sound," she said to the man.
"Good. Use one on the girl,"
"What! But I promised the boys-"
"She will be our guinea pig. I don't want mess-ups this time. We replaced Sherry at the lab. Those pills will now do what they're supposed to-- at least they will on lab rats. We need a human test subject.. And since you have one- or two- all ready for execution, they may as well prove useful to us,"
"But, sir-"
"Are you questioning me, Madame Sebastian?"
Whiskey cringed, holding his swollen cheek. "Who are you?" he questioned the dark figure, shrouded in shadow.
"Hmmm, maybe you've heard of me. The name's Jimmy Kudo," he said stepping out of the shadow of the pillar.
"WHAT!"
The men behind the screen pounded at it, trying to break through and help their comerade.
Kudo.
They'd heard about him.
The nosy detective that had a taste for trouble and found them in the wrong place, at the wrong time.
They'd been told he'd gotten his...
That Gin and Vodka took care of it...
...Whoops...
In moments, Whiskey was on the ground unconscious with a serious blow to the head, courtesy of Jimmy.
"Next time, keep your hands off her," he said to the unconscious man. He turned to the girl, chained and bound to a propped-up wall, and smiled at her.
Rachel was staring at him. Different emotions pulsed through her veins, conflicting with each other, and giving her an awkward feeling.
She could only stare as he came to her, taking out a swiss army knife and began cutting the chains on her arms. After that, her hands fell to his shoulders while he cut her feet free.
She leaned on him for support as he carefully lifted her from the platform and put her on the ground, never once breaking the so-important eye contact.
Instinct took over as they fiercely hugged each other, Rachel crying into Jimmy's shoulder.
"Jimmy," she said. "Jimmy Kudo, I love you too," she sobbed into him.
And, even in their current position, Jimmy couldn't help but smile. He cupped her chin and brought her face up to his, kissing her briefly.
"Hey," he said, "C'mon, you're safe now!"
She giggled, wiping her eyes.
"YOU IDIOT!" came a shout from nearby. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU MADE ME-" Kazuha cut off, now afraid she'd let something slip to the boy at whom her shouts were directed.
He looked at her quizically, the gag over his mouth not allowing him to speak. Then his eyes narrowed. He started making talking noises into his gag, which were indistinguishable, at least until Rachel came over and untied him, afterward returning to Jimmy.
"Yeah, well that little stunt you pulled in that other warehouse DIDN'T HELP!"
"I RISK MY BUTT TO TRY AND SAVE YOU AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET!" she shouted at him, taking a step closer.
"IT'S YOU THAT MADE MY BUTT IN DANGER IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he shouted back at her, coming closer to her.
"WELL EXCUSE ME FOR TRYING TO HELP OUT A FRIEN WHOSE BOYFRIEND WAS TURNED INTO A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD!"
"DON'T YOU BRING JIMMY INTO THIS, TOYAMA!"
"I'LL BRING IN WHO I WANT TO, AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!"
By now, they were really close, their noses almost touching, and Rachel and Jimmy were both rolling their eyes
"Oh, for god's sake, just KISS AND MAKE UP ALREADY!" Jimmy shouted at them, but they didn't hear.
"AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO COME AT ALL, YOU KNOW!"
"BUT YOU DID, DIDN'T YOU!"
"YES I DID!"
"WHY!"
"BECAUSE YOU WORRIED ME SICK, HARTWELL!"
"OH, REALLY!"
"YEAH!"
"THEN ONE MIGHT TAKE IT YOU LIKE ME, IF YOU WERE SOOOOO WORRIED!"
"WELL I DO!"
"OH, REALLY!"
"YEAH!"
"YEAH? WELL I LIKE YOU TOO!"
"FINE!"
"FINE!"
And the next moment, Harley had grabbed her and kissed her. Hard.
Serena's mind was in a frenzy.
'New pill... Better pill... Rachel... Jimmy... Kazuha... Harley... Mom...'
Loud noises from the door broke her concentration.
"No, sir," Mrs. Sebastian finished, her head turning to see what the commotion was. Quickly, she broke connection with the man on the screen.
The door burst open, and a solitary man dressed all in black entered.
"Ma'am!" he shouted, saluting. "Kudo and a rescue team have entered the building. They've secured both hostages,"
"What!" she shouted. "That can't be!"
"We saw it with our own eyes, ma'am. Kudo singlehandedly took out Whiskey. And that Toyama girl got Hartwell. But ma'am, didn't your readings show that one other person would be on the team if there was one?"
Her eyes flashed. "Serena..." she whispered, then looked up at the man. "Try to hold them at bay. When I give the signal, evacuate immediately,"
"Yes, ma'am!" he saluted again, and then left.
She turned back to the table, reestablishing the connection. "I'm sorry, sir. We've been found out. I'm going to get the prototype pills. I'll leave the old ones there, and then we'll have to self-destruct,"
"Couldn't you just pack up and move?" the man asked.
"Sorry, sir. We have too many things here," she said, cutting off the connection again.
She turned, her eyes flashing about the room. She went to the safe, passed the code and took out whatever was in it. This, Serena couldn't see.
But there was something she could do.
"Hello, Japan, this is Cynthia Strongarm reporting at the scene of the abandoned warehouse in Urawa. Police and others, mainly relatives of the kidnapped people, have also started showing up. From what we can tell, the van behind me is in fact, that of an ally. Namely, Jimmy Kudo. Kudo is an accredited detective and has solved many cases in the Tokyo area, disapprearing for some reason last year,"
A commotion behind her made her pause in her commentary.
"Maguire! What's happened!" a female shouted at him.
"Eva Kaden! What are you doing here!" the inspector shouted back.
"She's my daughter too, Inspector-"
"Maguire! Where's my boy!" another voice shouted. This one belonged to a man.
"Hartwell! Oh, not you too!"
"Inspector!" the ever-familiar voice of Richard Moore filled the scene.
"Three's company," Maguire stated simply.
"What happened, Maguire!" all three shouted at once.
"Easy!" Maguire shouted back.
"They're in the building," a voice from behind them called.
"Huh?" the four turned at once to see a woman with brown hair. An earpiece was in her ear and she looked knowledgeable.
"Inspector, I am Sherry," she said simply.
"So you made to call to headquarters," Maguire said.
"That is correct. But I didn't expect you to bring so many people, namely the press," she said, pointing.
Cynthia and the cameraman, flinched and sweatdropped at the sudden attention.
"Oh, Nevermind them, just tell us what happened," Maguire urged.
"Alright," Sherry said. "The basic principle is that Rachel and Harley were captured, and Serena, Jimmy, and Kazuha are going after them,"
"What! Toyama and Sebastian are in there too!" Maguire shouted at her.
"Yes. There can't very well be a rescue team with only one person,"
"Officer Maguire!" came another female's shout. Two people ran to them.
"Vivian! Booker!"
"What's happened to Jimmy?" Vivian asked.
"Nothing yet, ma'am," Sherry answered. Then she started.
"Sherry!" came a crackling voice.
"Serena," Sherry answered, holding the earpiece tightly to her ear. Finally deciding that there would be no privacy, she switched the line to speaker.
"Sherry! It's my mother! The whole thing had been my mother! She's one of the leaders of the Black Organization!"
"What!" this drew gasps from everyone.
"Listen!" Serena urged. "Right now, she's going to get some of the pills. They reconfigured them after you left. They're deadly now. They do what they're supposed to. But the other pills are in the same area as the new ones. The ones that you need as an antidote for you and Jimmy. I put a tracker on her, but I can't follow her, so I'm coming back. Tracker code 71248. Follow her and that's where you'll find the pills,"
"Good job, Serena," Sherry praised.
"But there's one other thing-" Serena said.
"What?" Sherry asked, some of her hope dying.
"She's going to make the building self-destruct,"
"...Well that was a lovely display of affection..." Rachel commented, the other two still deep in their kiss.
"...I always wondered how this would happen..." Jimmy commented back, his arm around her bare shoulder.
Loud noises from outside broke their attention. Jimmy turned, looking at the source, and then whizzed back to Rachel. He took off his jacket, tossing it over her half-naked self and buttoning it in the front.
"Kudo!" came a crackling voice.
"Huh?" Jimmy said aloud.
"No time, Kudo. Serena's informed me that she's put a tracker on the big boss. She's going straight to the pills, I'm sending you the coordinates,"
"What are we waiting for?" Rachel said, running over to Harley and Kazuha to break them up.
"One more thing. The building's gonna blow,"
Jimmy's hopes crashed.
"Thanks, Ai," he said, using her kid name. He disabled the communication
He turned solemnly away from the three people.
"Kazuha!" Jimmy shouted.
Harley and Kazuha looked at him, Harley having to lean on her from tiredness.
"Take Rachel and Harley and get out of here," he said.
"What? But Jimmy-" she started.
"Serena will meet you outside. I still have something I need to do," and he started to run, leaving three blinking teens in his wake
Celeste Sebastian walked briskly down the hall, turned a corner, and continued walking.
She knew her daughter was somewhere in this building. And if she'd been anywhere close to her, the operation was in danger.
Coming upon what she was looking for, she pressed the buttons on the keypad.
8,8,2,1,0
The door swung wide, emitting her into a brightly lit space.
The room was divided, more or less, into two equal parts. Through the center was a narrow path. On one side, a few pills with blue and red lined the walls. On the other, pills with red and white. She walked down the short hall, and came to the end, fishing something out of her pocket. Finding the key, she inserted it into a tiny keyhole on the back wall.
Sudddenly, the pills on each side started moving, and placing themselves into two, separate containers.
Turning to the blue and red wall, she waited patiently for the metallic pill case to come out.
When it did, she grabbed it quickly, completely forgetting about the case with the red and white pills, and left.
The doors closed behind her and she turned to the keypad. typing a set of numbers. Immediately, the alarm sounded, making a loud beep and flashing red lights all over the place, and a number pad flashed.
09:59...
09:58...
"What is that!" Vivian Kudo shouted at the sudden loud beep.
"It's the building! That was the key! She's set the building to explode!" Sherry shouted.
"Sherry!" came a voice from behind her.
"Huh? Serena!" she shouted back, a smile gracing her face.
The large crowd gathered around the girl, all firing questions. But serena ignored them, setting her sights on Sherry.
"That was the alarm. It's set for... ten minutes, I think,"
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Celeste needs that long to be able to get out of the building. Jimmy better get his butt in gear!"
A beep sounded from somewhere on Sherry. "She's moving again," she said.
"My mom?"
"Yeah, but don't worry. We got the position of the pill lab... now if Jimmy will make it in time,"
"Of course he will," another voice came. "Jimmy's the strongest person I know,"
"Rachel!"
"Kazuha!"
"Harley!"
"He'll make it out," Rachel continued. "Have faith,"
Jimmy cursed his bad luck. All around him, red lights blared. He followed the holographic image, noticing that the light for Kazuha wasn't present anymore. He turned left, and continued to run.
"Rachel, honey! We were so worried!" Eva said, running out of her husband's embrace to hug her daughter.
"Mom! Dad!" she shouted, hugging her mother.
"How did you get out?" he mother questioned after letting her go.
"Jimmy saved me," she said.
"From what?"
Rachel hesitated, unsure of whether to tell them about the attempted...
"Rachel..." her father spoke up. "What are you wearing under that jacket?"
And light dawned on marble head.
Rachel blushed and stared furiously at the ground.
"Rachel! You were raped!" Eva shrieked, causing strange glances from the people around her.
"Ah! No!" she shouted, "Well... almost,"
"Rachel Moore-" he mother started, but was cut off by a shout from Sherry.
"Kudo! You gotta get out of there! NOW!" she shouted into the tranciever. "Does it matter of you have to stay a child the rest of your life! It'll be okay as long as your alive!"
"Sorry, Haibara, I can't be Conan Edogawa again," came the quick reply.
As the message sunk into everyone, Sherry continued to shout.
"Kudo! The way you're going, you're not gonna make it!"
"Just tell me what the code is,"
"How am I supposed to know!" she shouted, her own thoughts sinking in. "Kudo-- if we don't have the code, you'll die for nothing! Get out of there!"
"It's 8,8,2,1,0," Serena said.
Everyone turned to look at her.
"It was always my mother's secret password. It's my birthday. February 10, 1983,"
"Thanks, Serena," Jimmy said over the line. Then a beep replaced his voice.
"The idiot!" Sherry shouted. "He cut off from us!"
"...and he's only got five minutes left,"
Jimmy sprinted faster than ever before. Even faster than when he and Rachel were being followed by that mob. The spot blinked brightly on his screen where the lab was. Another still blinked. That meant that the woman was still somewhere in the building.
He watched as his own dot neared where the solitary one was.
He turned a corner.
His eyes caught sight of a well disguised keypad.
Running over to it, he pressed 8,8,2,1,0.
The doors made a hissing sound and swung aside to admit him.
Running in, he found himself momentarily blinded by the bright light emanating from the room. He shielded his eyes with his hand as he walked forward furthur into the empty room.
'There's nothing here,' he thought, 'It was all for nothing,'
But then, his eyes caught sight of a different color. One that wasn't white, but silver. Running over to the strangely-colored object, he found it to be a case.
A pill case!
Hurriedly, he opened it.
And a wave of hope swept through him.
They were the exact pills he'd been given when he turned into Conan.
Rishing thorough the doors, he didn't bother to close them as he sprinted back the way he'd come.
"Two minutes," Sherry counted miserably. All of them were in the spacious back of the van.
"Perhaps we should get away from the building," Hartwell suggested, "After all, you did say it was going to blow,"
"I agree," Richard spoke up.
"No," all three of the teens shot down. Rachel glared hoplessly at the blinking counter. Harley put his arm around Kazuha, who turned and buried her face in his shoulder.
"Be sensible, Harley!" his father shouted. "At least we may survive, even if Kudo doesn't,"
At that outburst, Vivian Kudo broke into tears. Booker put an arm around her, shooting a glare in Inspector Hartwell's direction.
Rachel's eyes glistened, but no tears fell. He'd be alright. She'd waited for him all along when he was right there. Now, he can come back fully, and she'll still wait for him.
"Rachel," Richard tried, "Please-"
"Don't try to talk sense into a lovestruck person, Richard," Eva shot down. "I didn't when I married you,"
Richard backed down.
"Please, Harley. You have an obligation to keep Kazuha safe. You can't do that if you're dead, can you?" Inspector Hartwell was still trying to talk sense onto Harley.
"No, I suppose I can't," Harley said, turning his head to look at the girl attached to him.
She looked up at him. "I'm not leaving, Harley," Kazuha said.
Harley smiled at her. "You heard the lady," Harley said to his father in a tone that indicated it was the end of the discussion.
"But-"
He was cut off by Sherry's clear voice.
"Thirty seconds..."
Jimmy cursed again. Whizzing by another keypad, he noticed the counter at 29 seconds.
He would be spending the last few seconds of his life running away from something he couldn't avoid.
'Please let Rachel be safe,' he prayed, running his legs off.
'And let them all move on,' he continued, as if writing his will to god.
'And let them... be happy,' he said.
10...
09...
"No," Rachel said. "No, no, no!" she said, louder.
Suddenly, she turned and sprinted.
She ran from the van, and out into the open air.
"RACHEL!" they called after her.
But she couldn't listen. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing while the love of her life was blown to bits.
3...
Something hit her foot. Looking down, she saw a case.
2...
She bent down to pick it up, opening it and gasping at its contents.
1...
She looked wildly around.
BOOM!
"JIMMY!"
TBC
HAHAHAHAHA! I'm eville aren't I? Anyway, review. I think next chapter may be the last. What do you think?
Should I do a sequel?
REVIEW!
PLEASE!
YOU CAN TELL ME ANYTHING!
LIKE WHAT YOUR FAVORITE KIND OF CHEESE IS!
...although I'd much prefer that you review for the chapter...
Next Chapter: Finale!
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