A/N: This is a bit shorter chapter since nothing dramatic happened in the end and I only had one heist/case here. I hope you liked this anyways.
The fifth file: The middle year
Sub-file five: Mars and Rosa
Sorry, it was apparently Marth in this case. Shugo scowled at the prochure. The differences between manga and anime interpretations… Well, it would be worth the effort anyways. Nakamori had asked Shugo to work with the officers at the electric room. Considering Shugo's reputation and skills, he was given full access to the information concerning the lights and audio system of the new theater in making. It gave Shugo the perfect scouting opportunity while Kaito was stuck as a worker fixing the stage under Nakamori's watchful gaze. But it also gave the magician an opportunity to observe the people in the theater. The officers, the actors, the staff…
"I can make a back-up program in the case of emergency." Shugo told the inspector and chief electrician as they looked at the blue prints of the wires and their routes. "If Kaitou Kid tries to shut the lights, it will automatically reroute power from elsewhere, like form back-up generator or areas where there is no movement."
The theater was fancy enough to have motion sensor on certain less used corridors so they could save in electricity bills in future.
"Sounds good, you youngsters always have so fresh ideas! With this we can surely thwart Kid this time!" Nakamori declared before going off to meet with his crew. Shugo sat down in the electric room and began writing parameters for the program he had already begun. And of course, he added a little snag to the code that would direct more power to the lights on the stage for Kaito to use. All the while observing the happenings on stage where Kaito and Nakamori were both at with the actors and actresses who were practicing their lines there.
"Everyone! This theater finally opens tomorrow!" Nakamori told his men. "It's also opening night for Marth and Rosa. That's the day our mortal enemy, Kaitou Kid, says he's going to appear!"
Mortal enemy? Dramatic much?
"Our duty this time is to protect the world's largest emerald, Green Dream, as it's being used for tomorrow's performance only!"
"Yeah!" The members of KKTF declared with enthusiasm.
Shugo glanced at the picture of the gem opened in another tab on his screen. It was just so unwieldy… Heavy and large and simply impractical…
"Don't let your guard down, even among fellow officers. He's a master of disguise! He may already be here right now, posing as one of us!"
So they're finally learning…
"Alright, I'm going to deploy you! Teams 1 and 2 take the first-floor lobby and the lobby gallery. Team 3, the fourth-floor lounge. Teams 4 and 5, the fountain plaza."
The teams left for their assigned positions and Shugo turned his attention away from the surveillance screens. There was nothing to see down there anymore other than watching Imaizumi Reiko berating Furuhata Megumi for something that was the woman's own fault.
"Arrogant bitch…" Shugo muttered when the 'heroine' left the stage after insulting Megumi for the last time. He couldn't wait until the heist was over.
Kaito had a nice chat with Megumi while Shugo finished up at the electric room. He burnt the program on a CD-ROM and doodled Kid's signature on it. With a grin, he pocketed it along with a blank CD onto which he wrote simply 'Marth and Rosa'.
"Furuhata Megumi-san is quite talented. Terribly shy and doesn't believe in her skills but very talented indeed." Kaito commented to Shugo when they were packing the equipment for the night.
"Aa… Imaizumi should be kicked out of the play completely." Shugo mused.
"I heard she only got the role because her father owns the theater. And she ad-libs so much that she even confuses the actor playing the prince Marth."
"Mitami Kouki, right?" Shugo glued a paper on top of his program CD that was identical to his 'Marth and Rosa' CDs cover. During the day he had written the program again but without the snag in it onto the previously empty CD-ROM. Now the CDs were placed on top of each other in the CD-case.
"Yeah, I guess that was his name." Kaito shrugged. "You ready for this?"
"Are you going to hit the booth with sleeping gas?"
"Yeah. And then steal your real CD after I've checked the diamond."
"Alright. I'm ready."
While Shugo used a side-entrance to get to his assigned place, Kaito got in via front entrance with tickets he obtained through Aoko. Of course that also meant that he got a date for the night.
"Aaah! What a beautiful theater!" Aoko gasped, looking around and admiring the architecture. "And it's got a retractable roof, right?"
Shugo chuckled as he listened to her gushing through the earpiece Kaito had. Himself, the boy had device provided by Nakamori with an extra link that allowed him to listen Kaito's end. He could reply to the magician naturally so that he wouldn't be found out.
"That's Tamura-san, the actor!" Aoko continued at the other end. "Look, Anan is here, too! Wow… celebrities everywhere!"
"If Aoko were on our side in these matters, she would be a wonderful distraction and assistant…" Shugo thought while scanning the camera feed from the hallways and the stage area like he was supposed to. Next to him he had two officers and one theater staff doing the same and more officers spread around the room. They had previously inspected Shugo's program and had it on the ready but not injected to the system yet. In the vents of the room was a sleeping gas canister that Kaito would activate with a whispered warning for Shugo so he could swap the discs before faining. One of the officers had a pulse meter in their wrist which had been rigged into the systems in the case they were to be gassed. Nakamori's idea. If the people were to fall asleep the Shugo's program would be run. Unfortunately, it would mean that they'd play directly into Kaito's hands.
"I can't wait, you know, Kaito?" Shugo tuned back to what was happening in the audience since Nakamori was not directing orders to them. "What kind of expression is that? You said you wanted to see the play, so I had otou-san get us complimentary tickets! Let's see a little more gratitude on your face!"
"Yeah, yeah…"
"Electric room, sound off! Any abnormalities?" Nakamori's voice crackled through the radio on the desk.
"The power and wiring are fine." One of the officers reported.
"Be careful. Taking advantage of a blackout to steal is a common tactic of his. Stay alert! You too, Shugo-kun even if you are a civilian."
"Yes, sir!"
"Understood, Nakamori-keibu." Shugo replied promptly. With the preparations both the police and Kid had done, there was no fear for a blackout happening.
"This is fun." The hacker hummed while fingering the blue stone extracted from the Adam's Smile painting months ago. It had been February then. Not it was October. Oh, how the time flew… In any case the gem was sat into a brooch frame that Shugo had clipped onto his necktie. All in all he was dressed nicely for the theaters opening night. There was a cocktail party (with non-alcoholic drinks too) after the play in the lobby after all. And it was scheduled to begin regardless of Kid's involvement. Prerogative of the owner to the place. Overruling the police. Just like Suzuki Jirokichi could overrule Nakamori and forbid mask-pulling on some heists.
The play began. It was annoyingly alike to Romeo and Juliet but with a happy ending. Disgustingly sappy actually. Disney-level sappiness with two rival kingdoms united and stuff. Of course, during the night some changes would be made to the script thanks to Kid's interference but…
Oh, it was time to show Green Dream. The light effect was a bit too much.
"What are they using in the other performances if the actual gem is only in this one?" Shugo asked the member of theater staff.
"A glass prop that has been cut similarly so the effect remains the same."
"I see."
The first act went on and Megumi had her turn on the stage too. She actually did very well with her lines. Until Reiko went to unsettle the girl again with her modified lines. Shugo bit his lip so he wouldn't comment on it aloud. He was on the job here. Heck, he was even paid for this.
In the second act Shugo couldn't keep quiet though. It was the ball scene with many actors and actresses dancing and…
"What the hell is that dress on Imaizumi-san?"
It was horrible. and Shugo was a teenager (for the second time) so sue him. The dress was of dark purple and had white… spikes? Of were those feathers? Hard to say through the monitors. Alright, is was logical that the main female character had a dress differing from the side characters just dancing around who had identical but different colored dresses but they wouldn't have needed to go that far. Especially with that neckline and black gloves.
"Excellent question…" The theater guy muttered. "Probably something she designed herself…"
The whole scene and conversation between the princess and prince was ridiculous. Getting married because she is so pretty? Proposal at the first meeting? Yeah, right…
"Shugo, prepare…" Kaito whispered. And the hacker changed the discs while everyone was staring at the monitors. The lights were lifted up on stage. The gas canister released the sleeping component. The pulse meter in the wrist of one officer told the computer to swallow the program disc and run it. Kaito had the power for his lights and moving the roof. Shugo collapsed on the floor along with his fellows in the room.
Nakamori commanded his officers to the exits to prevent anyone from leaving. Kaito, after snatching the jewel, made his way to the electric room full of dozing men. The guards posted outside of it had been removed too by the orders of the inspector.
With the gas dissipated already, Kaito could just stroll in and take the original CD from Shugo. Then he got access to the remote control of the roof and the speaker system of the theater. It was time for his act two.
"After the curtain of night closed and the moon began to tilt, there was still one girl in the palace after everyone had left the ball, and she was in love with the prince. Her name is… Maid A."
And Megumi was put into the spotlight in the darkened theater.
"She had been bullied everyday by the mean princess and couldn't tell anyone how she felt. This lovely girl just endured the pain, in her small chest, like that of a baby bird…"
The rooftop opened.
"But then a strange magician appeared from above and alighted before her." Kaitou Kid made his entrance, changed Megumi's clothes, returned the Green Dream after checking it against the moonlight and had the show to continue again after reassuring the young woman and making his exit. Later Shugo was thankful that the show had been recorded the entire time that he didn't miss any of it.
But in the meanwhile, he was just sleeping away the effects of the gas.
Shugo yawned. It was over. The play and heist alike. He had glimpsed just the few minutes of it.
"I gotta say… Furuhata-san's dress is much better than Imaizumi-san's." He stated.
"Yeah…" The theater guy agreed and yawned loudly again.
The police cleaned up whatever evidence they could. The Kid-CD had been found and confiscated. Shugo was free from any suspicions though. And thus he could go to the first floor lobby to the cocktail party where he met up with Kaito and Aoko.
"Shugo-kun, you were here too!" The girl greeted him.
"Yeah, your father requested my help with a couple of technical things… not that it helped against the thief in the end." Shugo chuckled. "Did you like the play?"
"Yes, it was wonderful!" Aoko smiled. "Even Kaito liked it!"
"You did?" Shugo gave an appropriately amused look at the young magician.
"Yeah, it ended well." The messy haired boy shrugged.
"I see. I missed unfortunately big part of it since Kid gassed the surveillance and electric room. I only caught the last minutes."
"Oh no! Stupid Kid for doing something like that. Should I found otou-san and ask how it went at his end?" Aoko mused.
"No need. Just enjoy the night." Shugo smiled. "There are a lot of celebrities to greet here and I'm sure you won't be tongue tied after such a spectacle."
"Ah, are you sure?"
"I'm sure. And Kaito can serve as a distraction if needed. His father is still a big name in certain circles."
A/N: Alright. Next chapter will be Red Tear and in that chapter I will also tie in some canon events of DC. And after that is the Clocktower Heist and then Episode ONE! I can't wait!
I'm trying to get the two chapter prior Episode ONE done before updating Leaping into Dream. Let's see how long that will take since I got other fics to work with too...
Replies to Reviews:
-Zeladious:
Typos. I have so much of them.
:D
-Tsuki:
You're welcome. :)
-claravidya96:
Thank you and welcome. Great to hear you like Shugo. As you can see from the note above, the clocktower heist is really close. ;)