Ketchum's Twelve

03: The Night Fox

A PikaFlash's Studio Fanfiction

Disclaimer: All characters, songs and scenes belong to their respective owners...

An A/U Crossover Type fanfic...

The Next Day, CLAMP HQ, Hong Kong Branch

A CLAMP agent runs through the hallways with important news. He enters an auditorium, where Clamp Agent Syaoranwas giving a speech.

"Master thieves who have practice the long con often have separate lives as civilians, with legitimate jobs and families, making it difficult to find them. The best among them is the one we know as Clow Reed, who either died in Hong Kong 30 years ago or in England 16 years ago, or he's still alive. We may never know because he was never caught or photographed."

The agent walked towards Syaoran.

"Though he left behind some imitators, the only one worth mentioning in the same breath as Clow Reed is the one we only as the Night Fox, who leaves behind a small fox figurine with nine tails to taunt us. His string of high-profile crimes are an embarrassment to our branch. Our entire profession. Therefore, the Night Fox must be our top priority. Traditional resources will not be enough. We must also be trained to think like a thief. We must also not be distracted..."

"Someone robbed the Ikari house last night," the agent whispered to Syaoran.

"WHAT!"

Syaoran arrives at the scene of the crime and meets up with CLAMP agent Masaharu Ogata.

"Agent Syaoran, we could use a bit of your help on this one."

Syaoran looks at the house. "I hope the scene hasn't been contaminated."

In the house, Syaoran looks at some boot prints on the floor at the entrance.

"When can I speak to Mr. Ikari?" asked Syaoran.

"Tomorrow. He's heavily sedated at the moment," answered Ogata. "I can't understand how they disabled the alarm. Maybe they shorted out the system?"

Syaoran disagrees. "No, that would have damaged the circuits and set off the alarm." Syaoran looks inside the safe. A large unused drill is on the floor.

"Well, then I have no idea how they opened they did it," said Ogata.

"It's obvious. Someone other than the owner had the codes," said Syaoran.

Ogata was surprised. "What? But Ikari personally did the final steps of the system and never left the house again."

Syaoran looks at the three supercomputers next to Gendo's bed. "Three supercomputers in a closed loop circuit locked in titanium cases. Not a very bad system.

Syaoran checks the security keypad and spots something different on the wall. It was recently plastered and painted to look like the wood-colored wall. Syaoran takes out a knife and digs out the plaster. Suddenly, he remembers something...

Flashback: 3 and a half years ago, Hong Kong

Syaoran was having a coffee break when he spots Sakura walking to the same cafe with James and a blonde girl with her hairs tied into meatballs. Sakura sees Syaoran and walked towards him.

"Have we met before?" asked Sakura.

Syaoran shakes his head. "I saw you yesterday.

"Really?"

"You were being chased by the police."

"Me? Being chased? No way."

A day before, Sakura was being chased by a group of police officers, as she ran past Syaoran at the same cafe.

"I'm pretty sure you were chased."

"Can't say much about the cops," said Sakura.

Sakura sits with Syaoran.

"I love Hong Kong, but I just happen to find out about a higher position at where I work. I'm going to try it out for a bit." said Syaoran.

Sakura and Syaoran were dancing at a nightclub.
Sakura and Syaoran were sitting together in the back seat of a taxi cab.

"He lifted the whole house?" asked Sakura.

"The whole house," said Syaoran. "It's called a Lupin special, after someone named Lupin who led a group almost a couple of decades ago and lifted a house. Then, he did it against 5 years later in Istanbul."

Presently

"Syaoran? Is there a problem?" asked Ogata, interrupting Syaoran's thoughts.

Back at Gendo's house, Syaoran looks at the hole above the keypad.

"It's where the crossbow bolt hit," said Syaoran.

"Crossbow bolt?"

Syaoran points at the open window. "They fired the bolt from the rooftop to the spot above the keypad. That's how they got in."

Ogata looks at the window. "From that rooftop to this spot? That's a very difficult shot."

"No, it's an impossible shot," said Syaoran. "Until they raised the house. Check the pylons underneath the house. They should be raised. Ever heard of the name Lupin?"

Ogata shakes his head. "No."

"Well, they knew."

"Who?"

"The Japanese," answered Syaoran.

The Previous Night

The crossbow bolt hit its mark right above the security keypad. Metabee checks the line connected to the crossbow bolt has been tensioned; Metabee sets up the decoder and slides it down the line towards the keypad. As soon as the decoder disables the security alarms, Ash, Sakura and James made their way to the vault, carrying a drill.

While Ash and James tried to open the safe containing the Sword, Sakura quickly removes the decoder and crossbow bolt, cutting the lines, followed by placing some plaster on where the crossbow bolt hit the wall. As soon as she was done, Sakura paints the bit where the plaster is in a way that it looks as though the crossbow bolt never even hit that spot.

"Wait a minute," said Syaoran, interrupting the flashback.

Syaoran walked into the vault and sees the drill.

"Exactly, why did they bring the drill if they weren't planning to use it," said Ogata.

Syaoran suddenly realized what has happened and had a laugh.

The Previous Night

Ash and James were about to drill into the safe when it slowly opens by itself.

'What's going on?' silently mouthed Sakura.

'I don't know,' replied Ash.

Inside the safe was an IPod with a message saying 'Press Play' next to a figurine of a fox. Ash pressed play.

"Congratulations for being the second person to crack open the Ikari safe tonight. Like a lot of other people, they worked hard and risk a great deal, just to get somewhere second. Of course, you wouldn't have heard of them because they are now in oblivion. Do you know this word, 'oblivion'? It means to be completely forgotten by everyone forever. It was where you would have been if it weren't for the ' Kaiba Land Heist'. In a way, I was responsible for you coming to Hong Kong. I hired Neji and Neji hired you."

"How does he know who we are?" asked James.

Sakura figured it out. "It's the guy who squealed us to Kaiba."

One Month Ago, Kaiba Land

Seto Kaiba was on the phone.

"All of them? Including Ketchum?" asked Kaiba.

"Yes," was the reply.

"Who am I talking to?"

Night Fox (on phone): You can call me the Night Fox.

"The Night Fox? Ok, Mr. Night Fox, how much is this information going to cost me?"

Night Fox (on phone): Don't worry, nothing.

"Nothing? Who do you think you're dealing with? Nothing costs nothing. This information has got to cost something," said Kaiba in a business-like manner.

Night Fox (on phone): Let's just say that our interests have been temporary aligned.

Kaiba and his manager walked into Kaiba's office. "How so?" asked Kaiba.

Night Fox (on phone): The information's free, but it comes with certain conditions.

"What conditions?"

Night Fox (on phone): First, restraint on your part.

"Restraint? That's a lot to ask from me," said Kaiba. "Anything else?"

Night Fox (on phone): Give them two weeks to buy themselves out of trouble.

"Two weeks? I can live with that, even if they can't."

Night Fox (on phone): Just out of curiosity, how much are you asking them to pay you?

"For what they did to me? Everything they stole, plus interests," replied Kaiba, as he sits at his desk.

Night Fox (on phone): Didn't your insurance paid back what they stole? Are you asking them to double your money? Don't you think it isn't fair for them?

"Fair? I think not," said Kaiba. "Now, where's this information?"

Night Fox (on phone): Ok, it's on your desk.

Kaiba looks at his desk and he sees a statue of a fox acting as a paperweight on a sealed envelope.

"He was here at around 3:30 am," said Syaoran, looking inside the safe.

"Who?" asked Ogata.

"The Night Fox."

"The Night Fox was here at the same time as the Japanese? Why?"

"That's what we're going to find out," said Syaoran. "Go down to a cafe called CaféJapan and pick up a guy named Neji Hyuuga ." Then, Syaoran remembered something else. "If you don't come back within an hour, be prepared to be put in a bin and pushed down eight flights of steps."

Ogata was shocked. "What!"

"Just a friendly reminder from your old boss, Ichiro. For motivation," explained Syaoran.

Neji was being interrogated by a detective as Syaoran and Ogata watched. Neji refuses to answer any questions.

"What the hell is he doing?" said Syaoran. "Get him out of there."

Syaoran and Ogata walked into the interrogation room and the detective was pulled out of the room, leaving Syaoran with Neji. Syaoran tries to get Neji to sign a form, but Neji refuses.

Ogata and the other detective watched. The detective said, "That guy is as solid as a wall. I won't even give him a year to break him."

Syaoran whispered to Neji. No one has any idea what Syaoran said, but the moment Syaoran finished, Neji suddenly broke down. Syaoran has succeeded.

James walks out of a nail salon, admiring the manicure job he had on his nails. Suddenly, James noticed that he's being watched by a few plainclothes officers. As James tries to walk away, he meets up with Syaoran.

"Hello, Jimmy."

Sakura's hotel room.

Sakura was on her cell phone while the others were discussing on who was the guy who got ahead of them.

Yugi was rubbing his forehead. "I don't know what we did to this guy, but why is he doing this to us?"

"And how did he get that code?" asked Metabee.

"It doesn't matter, for breaking Rule Number One, he's on the List," said Ash.

"Oh, what a great time to have a turf wall," said Koichi.

Sakura finished her call and placed her phone on her dressing table. "Ok, I just spoke with James' associate in Osaka. She's trying to get us some info on this guy. In the meantime, our train leaves at 1:38 tomorrow."

"Where's James?" asked Tai.

"It's gonna get out," said Eriol. "We'll be dead and no one's gonna work with us."

A knock was heard at the door. "Housekeeping," said a voice.

As Sakura opened the door, she sees Syaoran, who happens to see Ash and Pikachu in the room. Sakura quickly closed the door.

"Turn down service for Miss Avalon!"

Sakura quickly signals for everyone to leave the room. As soon as the others left, Sakura opened the door.

"Hey, Syaoran."

"Sakura," greeted Syaoran as he entered the hotel room. "Nice room. You have it all to yourself?"

"You're here to arrest me?" asked Sakura.

"Arrest you? It's not as if you stole something. Well, it's nice to see you again, Avalon."

"Same here, Li."

Syaoran takes out some surveillance photos. "Of course, you've been seeing plenty of me."

Syaoran shows one photo to Sakura. "I call this one 'Thief àla mode'." Sakura sees a photo of herself eating some ice cream. Sakura placed the photos on the dressing table next to her phone.

"The Lupin special. I guess this is what I get for opening my mouth," said Syaoran, looking at some plans. "What about the Night Fox? Did he leave you a message? Do you still have the figurine?"

Sakura kept her mouth shut..

"I suppose it's a compliment. I guess he's threatened by you, but I can't imagine why."

Syaoran walked to Sakura.

"You have no idea who you're up against," warned Syaoran. "The Japanese Police think that he's better than Clow Reed."

"Well, he is Japanese," replied Sakura.

"Whatever it is you did to offend him, let me give you some advice. Find him, apologize to him. Beg for mercy."

Sakura stayed calm.

"Well, I got to go. By the way, if there is any message for James, he's down at the station," said Syaoran, as he collects his surveillance photos from the dressing table.

"On what charge?"

"We found a unique boot print at the crime scene. Bought with a fake credit card." said Syaoran. "From that point on, there are one or maybe two great nail salons in Hong Kong."

As soon as Syaoran leaves, Sakura peeked through a gap on her door and watched him walk down the stairs...

A few minutes later.

"Pikachu pika pikapi pika! Pika pika chupika pikapi!" yelled Pikachu.

"And you lied to us," said Ash.

"Yeah. And to me," added Eriol.

Sakura shrugs. "Well, James knew."

"How long have James knew you been seeing him?" asked Ash.

"Actually, I was more like keeping tabs on him," explained Sakura.

Ash wasn't pleased with the turn of events. "He's a cop!"

"Detective, actually," corrected Sakura.

"Where did he learn all that Lupin crap?" asked Koichi.

"Dad."

"What? He's a cop?" asked Koji.

"Thief," answered Sakura.

"Great...pissed off ex-boyfriend whose thief father taught him every trick in the book," said Eriol.

"Well, he did see Ash and Pikachu," said Yugi. "So in the next 48 hours, the three of your faces will be on the walls of every police station in China."

"Nobody looks at them," said Koichi.

"Nobody but cops," said Ash.

"Detectives, actually," corrected Yugi.

"I mean, wouldn't he have some sympathy if his old man was a thief?" asked Koichi.

"You mean sympathy? Or empathy?" said Metabee."

"Well, his dad got popped on the day before his 9th birthday. Died in jail. So I wouldn't count on much sympathy, or empathy," said Sakura.

"He's going to have the hotel under surveillance," Yugi added.

"So, we just stay here, eat room service, watch movies and wait for Kaiba to come here and kill us," said Ash.

"Who's the guy who said troublesome every time?" asked Tai.

"Shikamaru," some of the others answered.

"Fat Giovanni," said Metabee.

"He says that every problem is an opportunity in disguise," said Tai

"I'd bet he couldn't say that with a .45 in his mouth," said Koji.

"Well, we did get one good thing out of it," said Sakura. "He did give us a name. The 'Night Fox'. One phone call and we have everything we need to know about this guy."

As Sakura was about to get her phone from her dressing table, she realized that her cell phone was pinched as it was next to the surveillance photos of herself.

'Crap...' mouthed Sakura.

As Syaoran was returning to CLAMP HQ, he checks out Sakura's cell phone, checking to see what phone calls she made.
As the hotel is under surveillance by CLAMP agents, Ash and Sakura are forced to put Pikachu in a black duffel bag with a supply of snacks and some water until they leave Hong Kong. At the same time, the two had to dress themselves as band members of the group, Puffy AmiYumi, who happen to be leaving at the same time outside the hotel.

Outside, as the crew packed the luggage into the bus, Ash and Sakura easily assimilated into the crew who plays the background music without any problems (because no band would ever survive on two bubblegum-haired singers alone), with the bag ending up in the luggage.

Second Thursday, Six Days left, Hong Kong Station

The gang of eight (Pikachu and James are MIA) were waiting at the train station for their next ride.

Ash was on his cell phone. It turns out that the bag Pikachu was stashed in has been sent to the wrong place. "Yes, R. Taylor. T-A-Y-L-O-R. It's a black duffel bag."

Metabee and Tai were sitting on a bench.

"The band is heading to Singapore while the bag's in Seoul," said Tai.

"Pikachu's the metaphor of the modern man. Unconnected, frightened, paranoid, all with good reason," said Metabee. "Unusable. I could get a good 20 minutes out of it."

"Great," Tai said, sarcastically.

Ash finished his call and walked past Tai and Metabee. "I got it. The band's heading to Tokyo while the bag is in Okinawa."

"So, that means once the band is in Japan, they're only known as 'Puffy'," said Tai.

Metabee shakes his head. "No, they're only known as Puffy AmiYumi in North America."

Koji and Koichi were behind Ash, having a conversation about Pikachu.

"We're dealing with a moral issue here," said Koji. "Not to mention that we don't have a grease Pikachu anymore because he's in a bag, somewhere."

"Well, we have a bagged Pikachu," joked Koichi.

"This is no time for jokes, brother," said Koji. "You emotionless Digimon."

"I care about Pikachu. But at least he has a supply of food and water," assured Koichi. "What could be worst?

"I mean, they could have taken the bag with them when they got off the bus."

"Oh yeah, how many J-Pop bands would have a 30 year old as a part of the group?" asked Koichi.

Ash heard what Koichi said. "Excuse me, but Sakura is not in her 30s."

"Well, obviously we know Sakura isn't in her 30s," said Koji.

"You think I'm 30? Ok, Koji..." Then, Ash decides to ask the other brother. "Koichi, how old do you think I am?" asked Ash.

"29?" Koichi answered.

Ash gives a look at Koichi. "You think I'm 29?"

"What? 35?"

Ash sighed and walked off...

"Maybe he should have asked me," said Koji.

"I wouldn't ask you anything," retorted Koichi.

"The guy has a hard enough life right now."

"You're defending him?" asked Koichi. Koji nods. "They put Pikachu in a handbag."

Sakura was having a cookie when Yugi decides to ask Sakura a question.

"Hey, Sakura, can I ask you something? Have you ever..."

Sakura stops eating and interrupts Yugi. "Hold on, if you're going to ask me a question, give me a chance to answer. Unless you're asking rhetorically, in which case the answer is obviously 'Yes'!"

"Great. Can I ask..."

"Yes," answered Sakura.

"Thanks. You ever notice that Misty looks..."

"Whoa, don't ever ask that. Ever. Seriously, not to anyone, especially not to her."

"Wait? Why not?" asked Yugi.

Sakura looks around. "Well, it's not in my nature to be mysterious. But I can't talk about it and I can't talk about why." Sakura walks off, finishing off her cookie, leaving Yugi by himself.

"Ooooooooo," said Yugi in a mock scary voice.

Ash walked to Eriol, who was listening to his MP3 player. "How are you feeling, Eriol?"

"Great...for a dead guy," said Eriol.

Ash looks around. "Good. By the way, do I look 30 to you?" asked Ash.

"Yeah," answered Eriol.

"Really?"

"Well, only from the neck up," said Eriol with his usual smile.

"Thanks." Ash walked off.

Pikachu's bag finally arrives at Okinawa Airport. A customs officer carried the duffel bag and prepared to send it on its flight to its original destination.
Meanwhile, James sits in a police cell in the Hong Kong Police Department.
"Keitaro?"

At the Hinata Inn, Keitaro was sitting on his chair as his wife, Naru sat next to him.

"Is there anything wrong?" asked Naru.

"Nothing," replied Keitaro.

Naru looked outside the window. "You want to go out? It's nice."

"No."

"Do you want to watch something on TV? The game is on."

Keitaro shakes his head. "No."

"Are you hungry? Maybe I could make you something."

"No. I'm not hungry."

"Keitaro. Ever since you got back, you've been acting strange. What did Ash want?"

"Nothing," said Keitaro.

"Nothing?" Naru was surprised. She has known Ash and Misty a few times before. "How could Ash want nothing?"

Keitaro shrugs.

End of Chapter 3

Author's End Note 1: Thank you for reviewing this fanfic. Just in case you are wondering which versions of Sakura and Syaoran I have based them on in this fic, with Sakura has her CCS personality (due to the fact that she was also used in the Ketchum's 11 and Kaiba called her a 'robin hood bitch', eliminating the need for the other Sakura's personality) while Syaoran has a mixture of both his CCS personality and his Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle personality (because I read the manga). I'm surprised that no one ever made a comment about Sakura playing as Rusty, even in the Ketchum's 11.

Author's End Note 2: Why did I choose CLAMP as the agency that Syaoran works for in Asia? Simple, because having an agency named Asiapol (In the movie, it's called Europol.) is too dumb, so CLAMP was pretty much the best option, even though Sakura posed as a CLAMP detective in Ketchum's 11.