Sorry for the wait everyone! This chapter has been in the works for a long, long while. I've written this chap little by little over the past year, and it's finally done!

Actually, soon after I released the last chapter, I started working on this one. But after I was about 4000 words in, I realized that it wasn't what I wanted for the story, so I scrapped it and restarted writing the whole chap from scratch. And this is that new chap! :D

Haha, I had a dream where I was Kudo Shinichi once. There were no murders though, don't worry, he/I was just chillin in a cool log cabin restaurant in the mountains UWU Just fluff!

FYI, I've now got a doc with 1000 words of cool ideas for this chap so hopefully the next chapters can come out a little faster than the last few XD

Reviews:

The Kid Forgotten by God: I'm glad you enjoyed the first two chapters! And haha, Hakuba is in for more than that, the poor guy…. No wonder Kaito messes with him so much XD And here's your update! Sorry for the wait!

SakuraKoi: Thanks a bunch!

SkylarkRequiem: KaiShin it is! It won't be TOO much, but you'll definitely see it haha

isis424: MORE IT IS, AND YOU'RE WELCOME! Glad you're loving it so far!

Disclaimer: I don't own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito, as always.

Hope you enjoy the chapter! And that it was worth the wait! :)

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Hattori Heiji would just like to put it out there that he wasn't the biggest fan of Kaitou KID. And really, could you blame him? The guy was on the opposite side of the law, the law in which it was his job to make sure wasn't broken. And that thief broke it every single month. It was getting pretty annoying by this point, if he was being honest. And Heiji hardly even went out of his way to chase him (mostly for the fact that Kudo seemed to get a kick out of it, for whatever reason, and he felt like that wasn't something he should get in the way of. Call it… detective's intuition).

So why is Heiji mentioning this fact, anyhow? Well, if last night was any indicator… There seemed to be plenty of reason to bring it up.

Last night, Kudo was berating KID and telling him to rest for a month… If what he heard was right. He could deduce that much, at least; he wasn't a detective for nothing, after all.

Now comes the real question: what was that whole thing even about? Why was Kudo talking to KID like that? He had questions, and, as he stopped in front of the Kudo manor, he was going to make sure that they were answered.

It turns out that the other detective had predicted his arrival, as the door opened before he could even raise his hand to knock. Despite the late night, Kudo hardly even looked tired, although the coffee in his hand probably explained his current level of wakefulness.

Before the Heisei Holmes could even say anything, though, Heiji decided to beat him to the punch. "Hey Kudo, what the hell happened last night? And you're gonna give me answers because I dunno what that was, but I know that you have an explanation for it." Heiji made sure to add on an extra scowl to up the guilt factor.

To his disappointment, Kudo only sighed, and he raised a single eyebrow in response. And then, in the most deadpan voice that Heiji had ever heard in his life, "Are you sure it just wasn't one of KID's illusions?"

"What are you-"

His best friend cut him off. "He could've used it to get you off his tail. You two got there when he was 'talking to me' right? And you didn't do anything."

Heiji could feel his own eyebrow twitch in irritation. "Which means…"

"Yep, His plan worked. You fell for it. Congratulations, you played yourself. And now that that's over with, goodbye, I've got stuff to do."

Before Kudo could close the door in his face, Heiji grabbed it. "Then what did happen last night, then?"

Kudo's voice didn't change. "I was running after him on the roof. I guess you guys just didn't see it. Like I said, illusion. Now, goodbye."

And before the Osakan detective could do anything else, the door was slammed decisively. Kudo must've been pretty exhausted then, huh?

...damn, he came all the way from Osaka just for that? Time to head back, then… this was gonna be a long day.

The murder on the train back home didn't help.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few weeks had passed since then, Heiji thought as he put down the phone.

The reason he was thinking about the encounter? Well, it was another heist night, and it looked like Kudo wasn't going. Which was a little weird, since he was usually so excited about them. However, what the other detective had planned for today was fairly reasonable.

What Kudo just told him over the phone was that he's been busy helping the little nee-san with some research on some of the stragglers from the Black Organization, and since they were really close on some sort of breakthrough, he wouldn't have time for the heist later.

Heiji believed him. Or, at least, he would've believed him, if he didn't call bullshit first.

The reason? Kudo almost never skipped a heist unless he absolutely needed to. And that's basically never happened, now that the detective was back to his normal size. Honestly, maybe he's been enjoying himself a little too much chasing Kaito KID… then again, Heiji couldn't truly blame him, due to the amount of cunning and smarts that's usually required at a heist.

Anyway, yeah, he didn't believe what Kudo said for even a second… Okay, maybe he believed him for a few seconds. But his point still stands.

On the other hand though… Haibara can be pretty threatening and surprisingly menacing. If anyone could keep Kudo from doing anything, it was her. Besides, Kudo would almost never throw away the chance to find out more about the Organization, due to his own traumatic experiences with them and to help prevent them from reforming and doing something even worse and involving even more innocent people in that mess.

To choose between a heist and the Organization… Heiji figured that, of those two, Kudo actually would be more likely to choose the Organization. After all, there were always going to be more heists, but information on the Organization? Might be gone before you know it.

Ok, ok, so that seemed to be the case. However, his detective senses were detecting something fishy… so, of course, he called Haibara for confirmation on those plans.

And, well, what do you know? She confirmed them all right. The little nee-chan even got Kudo on the phone (and he didn't seem too surprised at the call either, to Heiji's expectation. Honestly, the guy was too smart for his own good). After a short hello and a resigned but somewhat fond sigh, the phone was returned to Haibara, who promptly excused herself from the conversation and hung up before Heiji could even say good-bye. Rude.

It looked like Kudo really wasn't going to the heist this time around. It was going to be pretty close by, too, as it was another challenge by the famous Jirokichi Suzuki. From Kudo's recent complaints, Sonoko was only too ecstatic at another chance of seeing her favorite Phantom Thief, fangirling about him at every chance she got, mostly to Ran, though, to Kudo's relief.

The gem that the old man obtained this time around was the famous Blue Star Sapphire, which was currently the largest sapphire in the world. It got its name from the six-pointed "star" that appears on the stone when reflected in the light, and is said to be quite beautiful.

How the old man was able to borrow the gem, and for Kaitou KID no less, was basically a miracle in itself. The owner of the gem was not known to many, and the gem itself was rather expensive, one of the most in the world clocking in at three million American dollars. Then again, old man Suzuki was one of the richest guys in the world, and he was quite well-known and popular too. And adding onto that, KID himself was famous in his own right, and he even returned the gems he stole, which Heiji thought was insane, but was admittedly glad for, in the end. He could hardly imagine how bad it would be if he actually took the gems…

That aside, this was turning out to be an interesting heist already, considering the circumstances, and it hadn't even started yet. And honestly? Heiji was kind of interested to see how it'd turn out.

Now, he wasn't usually one to go to a KID heist, especially if Kudo wasn't around for it, but he figured that it could be a good experience for him, and, hey, maybe he could even catch the thief and then brag to Kudo later. Ah, that would feel great, actually. Finally, he'd get the one-up on him!

Oh, he was determined now. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ugh, he was so bored! There was nothing to do before a heist, and he swore he got his face painfully pulled at least a dozen times at this point, although he supposed the scrutiny was necessary with how well Kaitou KID was able to disguise himself as almost anyone. He stood stiffly in who-knows-where in the museum, basically over it at this point.

He checked his phone. Ah, it was actually almost time for the heist now, just a few more minutes left. He should probably try and find his way back…

"Ah, Hattori-kun. I didn't expect you to show up today. Does that mean Kudo is here as well?"

Heiji really should've expected this. He gave a sigh and turned around to see the one-and-only Hakuba Saguru, in all of his blonde-haired, arrogant glory. Great. He plastered on a faux smile. "Hakuba, I didn't see ya there! And nah, he couldn't make it today, he had something else come up. Why are ya wonderin'? 'Fraid he'd show you up again?" Heiji made sure to give an extra condescending smirk at that last statement.

At first, Hakuba looked rather perplexed at his words, and then his face turned into one of irritation as he seemed to digest all of what Heiji said. "No, I was just… curious, is all. He is a fellow detective, after all, and I admit he's far more pleasant than, *ahem*... some people."

Heiji ignored the obvious jab and just gave another sigh, and he made sure that his current conversation partner heard it out and clear. He turned around and waved his hand, starting to walk out of the room. "Yeah yeah, he's not that bad of a guy, I get it. That shouldn't be what you're worryin' about right now though. Isn't tha heist gonna start soon?"

After a beat or two, and what Heiji would assume to be the click of a pocket watch, there was a short gasp behind him. "I hate to admit it, but you're right. We must hurry if we are to try and catch him. Let's go."

The two detectives hurried to the main room where Kaitou KID would most likely appear. A lot of his audience was there, after all, because if there was anything that KID loved to do, it was to put on a show. Most people weren't even allowed in the other rooms, but Suzuki had made an exception for the teen detectives (and the Task Force, of course). If the thief could be caught during one of his challenges, then, even if he had the help of a few outsiders, he would be known the world far and wide as the man who finally caught Kaitou KID.

Heiji wondered what else would happen, then, if the thief were to finally be captured?

The two detectives made it to the main room with half-a-minute to spare. Inspector Nakamori was already there, spouting orders to anyone who was within yelling distance, though it was a bit difficult to hear what he was saying over the crowd's growing energy; the time of appearance was upon them.

And before Heiji could even check his phone for the time, the infamous Phantom Thief appeared before them in an illusion of shattering, colored glass.

He stood atop one of the balconies in the room, the glass turning into sparkles that surrounded him and exploded across the room with a flourish. The crowd screamed his name as he gave a large bow, a wide grin on his face all the while. "Ladies and Gentleman, hello there! It is an honor to be with you on this beautiful night. I would like to thank the old man for inviting me to steal the Blue Star Sapphire, and on such a perfect night, in fact! Your challenges sure are a joy to overcome, but I'm afraid I'll have to surpass them this time around as well." Despite his words, his face betrayed the fact that he didn't feel very apologetic at all.

Heiji could practically feel Suzuki's smugness from across the room. The man looked way too confident… he wondered what he had planned this time around?

Kaitou KID continued to talk, piercing through his thoughts. "Of course, no star could ever be as beautiful as the Blue Star Sapphire itself. Being the largest sapphire in the world, and one that reveals its true form in the light, there was no way I could pass up this chance to see it with my own eyes." The thief's eyes sparkled in excitement, and his grin grew ever impossibly wider.

Heiji could feel Hakuba tense up next to him at those words, which caused him to frown. What was up with him?

Suzuki's laugh echoed throughout the entirety of the room, despite Nakamori's yells and the murmur of the crowd. "You wish, Kaitou KID! Today's trap is extra special, just you wait and see."

KID gave a challenging smirk. "You say that every time, old man."

Suzuki gave one back. "Oh, you'll see, you'll see. I'm sure that this time, I will not fail."

A slight scoff escaped from the thief's mouth as he gave a shrug. "If you're so sure, I guess." Then, a devilish grin took over his face. "Just don't be too disappointed when I win tonight."

Heiji shivered at that look. There was something so scrutinizing about that look. Something that seemed to tug at his memory… Eh, it was probably nothing. He had more important things to worry about.

Like the fact that the screams of what Heiji could only assume to be the Task Force overrode the noise in the room due to some circumstance that must have been caused by Kaito KID. Who else, after all? Both him and Hakuba turned the corner around the crowd, and there, at least half of the officers were completely covered head-to-toe with sparkling rainbow glitter, with only their shocked, blinking eyes visible through the thick layer of dazzle. They also seemed stock-still with shock.

Inspector Nakamori, who was one of the unaffected lucky ones, roared with impatience at his officers. "Come on, get a move on! KID is right up there and you're still standing there like a bunch of idiots!" He pointed to where KID was, still on the balcony, except this time he had taken a seat himself. There was even a container of fresh popcorn in his hands, which he was eating with gusto as he looked to the scene with a sort of amusement that he did not care to hide.

All of the officers yelled back a "yessir!" before they all scrambled to their assigned directions. Well, all except for those that were covered in the glitter. Nakamori growled at them. "What's going on here?!"

Several of the task force members twitched in place, and a few muffles escaped, but otherwise it looked like they weren't able to move. The inspector muttered a few obscenities before he got out his radio. "Change of plans! Everyone, move into position for Plan G! We'll get Kaitou KID this time!" He then ran off to the side where KID was chilling, glaring as he disappeared through the doorway under the phantom thief.

Kaitou KID then seemed to decide that it'd be an excellent time to continue with the heist. With a snap of his fingers, his popcorn disappeared, and he gracefully stood up and waved to the crowd, gaining their attention once again. "I appreciate your support, everyone! Now, I apologize that you won't be able to see too much of my wonderful show tonight, since it'll be held more indoors, and Suzuki has blocked off the way for most of you, and I'd hate to see my adoring fans get hurt because of something dangerous! So, in the meantime, I leave you a little gift to entertain yourselves."

His manic grin somehow grew even wider, and with another snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a puff of rainbow-colored smoke.

And in his place were fireworks, already lit up and about to burst.

This whole time, both Heiji and Hakuba had watched the scene, a little intrigued by everything going on, but now that the Phantom Thief was gone, it was time to do what they came here for.

First things first, they needed to get to the room with the gem. They'd have their best chance at catching Kaitou KID there, since he has to get the gem. That's what he was here for, after all, and they couldn't let this opportunity slip by again.

Heiji took a look at Hakuba as they made their way to the room where Suzuki kept the gem. The other teen detective seemed pensive, in a way. There was this look on his face that suggested that he was deep on thought. About what, Heiji didn't really know.

Hakuba, who was now a few steps ahead of him, made it to the room first, but before he got much further than the entrance of the room, he stopped. Curious on why, Heiji picked up his pace and made a stop right next to him.

And what awaited the two was something unexplainable. Well, not really.

The whole room was almost pitch black, the contents of the room basically invisible and impossible to make out. Scattered across the room were what looked like stars, rotating slowly around the room. Whether it was because of a projector or some other kind of mechanism, it was hard to tell. The stars were iridescent, sparkling in a pastel rainbow.

They were the only sources of light besides the open doorway behind them. And even that light didn't penetrate the dark room all that well. The room must be quite large…

"Ah, hello detectives! I see that you've found the room as well," a familiar voice echoed around the room. Before the two could move, the door behind them closed with an ominous slam, leaving them in a room as dark as night.

Ah. Heiji didn't like the feeling he was getting. Hakuba seemed the same way, if the slight but annoyed huff that came from beside him was anything to go by.

The voice continued to speak despite their discomfort. "You two have impeccable timing. Kaitou KID arrived just a moment before you did, and just as I was closing all exits, you two arrived. Well, I can definitely say that this will prove to be a very interesting heist indeed!" Suzuki Jirokichi's laugh crackled loudly over the speaker he was using. "And KID, do I have a surprise for you!"

KID's voice responded confidently, seeming to come from the other end of the room. It was a little hard to tell. "And what might you have planned for me this time around? Because I assure you, I am not one to be taken lightly."

"Oh, I know. That is why I went to extreme lengths to make sure that my challenge would be the perfect counter to your usual tricks! Seeing as you're a nationally wanted and widely recognized criminal, I have been given the careful authorization to use an EMP device to disable any electronics in this room. It won't be enough to destroy any of your devices, but the pulse should be just large enough so that most, if not all of your tools will be basically unusable for the entire night."

"Wouldn't that mean that the security system in here would also be disabled? Quite cocky, aren't you?"

"Hahaha, don't worry, even if I can't use anything electronic to capture you today, there are still many methods that I can use! Of course, I'll never tell you what I have in store. While using an EMP leaves us both at a bit of a disadvantage, it's all going to be worth it in the end! Good luck, Kaitou KID. You'll need it!"

As the last note of the old man's voice faded away, the lights flickered off for a minute or so, and Heiji used this time to try and think of what to do next. He assumed that Jirokichi used something like a funnel in order to project his voice, as what he thought what sounded was a speaker was actually the way his voice bounced around the room. And seeing as an EMP device was used, he wouldn't have been able to use an actual speaker system anyway.

So… they were stuck in this room with Kaitou KID. Heiji didn't doubt that KID used a lot of devices in his work, whether it was to pull off a "magic trick" or lure the Task Force away from him. He wasn't sure how much the thief would be affected by the EMP device, but Jirokichi seemed confident enough that it would greatly slow him down.

Either way, with the room shut down, it would still be difficult for KID to find a way out, considering how dark it was in here. And maybe Jirokichi was right. If it's enough to stop KID for just a little while, both he and Hakuba had a good opportunity.

Now seemed like a good chance to take it before KID found a way around the trap again. Which meant they didn't have a lot of time. After all, the thief was not one to be underestimated.

As the projected lights turned back on, he prepared himself for whatever might come next.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You know, Shinichi's day had actually started out pretty good.

First off, he was able to stave off Hattori's suspicions. The other detective seemed to have this odd intuition that something was up (but then again, all detectives seemed to have that ability, himself included), and today was not the day he needed to be found out.

Now don't get him wrong, Hattori was a great best friend and an excellent sleuthing rival. However, he didn't think the actual KID would appreciate the secret being spread around. Plus, come on, he knew how bad of a liar Hattori was, if the constant "Ku-nan"s while he was Conan was anything to go by.

In addition to that, he had no idea how Hattori would react to the news. "Hey Hattori, I've actually been Kaitou KID a couple of times over the past few months and-"

"You WHAT?!"

Yeah, he didn't think it'd go down all too well. Plus, telling him that would put KID's own identity in danger, which was not something either of them either wanted or needed. If he did tell Hattori, he'd have to tell him that he was Kaitou KID the entire time, and that would already be incredibly suspicious, since he and KID have been in the same place at the same time (a lot of times), and that didn't even consider the period of time that he was Conan. Even if he and the thief did share an uncanny amount of physical similarities, there was no way he could've been Conan and KID at the same time.

He was lucky Haibara was in on everything. She had already known of the Organization's search for immortality and wasn't surprised when she found out that they were after the mystical gem Pandora. She doubted the gem actually existed, but nothing was really impossible, especially considering the fact that it was possible to have one regress in age through the use of a drug (example: herself and Conan).

And hey, it wasn't like he had been lying when he said they were doing research on the Organization, considering the black-clad snipers that have been showing up more and more often to heists.

Anyway, with Hattori out of the way for now, he needed to focus on the heist. With the original KID out of the picture due to his previous wound, it was his job to fill in for him. The thief still set up a slew of traps all over the building (thanks to a visit earlier in the month, as, despite it previously being private property, Suzuki went through the trouble of opening up the place publicly as a sort of pseudo museum, probably to brag and get as much as he could out of Kaitou KID's guaranteed response to his challenge. Shinichi had actually gone with him to the place, since he needed to check it out for himself to both memorize the floor plan and to discuss how the heist was going to go.

He also used the opportunity to make sure KID didn't go overboard like he had been doing before, because he didn't need the thief to be off his shoulder for yet another month. Doing this thing a second time was already less than ideal).

At any rate, even with the pre-set traps, he had to do the heist by himself, for the most part. There was no predicting what Suzuki had planned. Which meant he had to be careful.

Like the start of his day, the beginning of the heist had gone off without a hitch. Earlier, he had modified one of KID's stickier traps (which left the poor victim stuck to the floor or the wall for a solid hour) so that, a short time after it touched air (maybe about 7 seconds), it would harden. Of course, glue wasn't all that entertaining to look at, so he applied the glue to as much glitter and sparkles he could get his hands on. He didn't have enough glue or glitter to cover the entire Task Force, but half of them was all he really needed to make an impact.

He had to admit, they looked kind of funny as glitter statues; their attempts at escape were simply laughable. At first, he tried to hide his humor, but then he remembered that he was currently Kaitou KID, who didn't care who saw how utterly insane he was, and so he let the smirk overtake his face. He had the care not to laugh in their faces though…. Yet.

As he relished in the chaos and confusion, he took the time to sweep his eyes across at the competition. Hakuba was there, no surprise. The blonde detective was giving him a bit of a glare. He supposed he wasn't too surprised to see Hattori there either, though he didn't know whether he was happy to see his friend or apprehensive. Perhaps a bit of both. His Osakan friend was still taking everything in, from the crowd to Hakuba's slightly off behavior.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he could just barely catch Sonoko screaming to get his attention, with Ran right next to her, looking a bit flustered but otherwise a little interested in what was going on. He chanced a small wave in their direction, which resulted in a frankly frantic Sonoko, who soon swooned on the spot as Ran caught her. The rest of the girls in the area weren't much better.

...Shinichi didn't know how to feel about that reaction to him. Despite being used to having more than a few fangirls from his detective work, this kind of reaction was kind of uncomfortable.

Deciding to decidedly ignore whatever happened, he went on with the heist, blasting off some carefully-aimed fireworks to keep the crowd entertained (because KID would be pretty disappointed if Shinichi didn't appeal to his fans).

And then it was time to really start the show.

He already knew which room Suzuki put the gem in, as the man had kept the gem in the room during the entirety of the time the building was open to the public. However, it was soon emphasized that, while the gem would always be in that room, it's true position during the heist was not to be revealed. And while it would have been nice to steal the gem before the heist even began, both he and the other KID agreed that it would be dishonorable to do that during a proper challenge, even if the gem actually was a good candidate for Pandora.

Going through the front door would be just stupid and didn't even match KID's eccentricity, so he quickly jumped out an open window (wow the security was worse than usual) and, using a piece of rather sturdy rope, swung his way around the building to the other window, which actually wasn't unlocked (good, he was starting to lose hope). Not like it was hard to open though (aaaand he was disappointed again).

He noticed the room was dark, but just how dark didn't register to him until he was already in the room, at which point, the window had already shut behind him, along with something else like a mechanical door that shut out the moonlight outside.

Ok, he could admit, he was pretty impressed with the look of the starry night across the entirety of the room. It was done well enough to where the lights wouldn't reveal a lot of the shapes in the room, while also being just bright enough to almost be mistaken as stars. With that, it seemed as if the room had almost no dimension, leaving the inaccurate illusion that he was standing in the middle of the endless and ever-expanding universe. The entire ensemble moved slowly, rotating with a sluggish confidence which, while neat, wouldn't help him find the gem.

Problem was, Shinichi knew that the stands and platforms that were used to display items in this room were all portable. Not a single display was cemented into the ground, and he knew that Suzuki already took advantage of that fact, mostly for the fact that the display usually just in front of the window was gone.

The only other light he could see was far across the room, where an open door stood waiting for someone to enter. It was an obvious trap… Or maybe not, if the two detectives that just ran into the room didn't even so much as pause. Seriously, he thought they were smarter than that. Then again, Hattori did have a one-track mind (sorry Hattori, but it was true), though he wasn't sure if that even applied to Hakuba, since he didn't know him that well.

And there goes that door too, closed with a slam as Suzuki's voice made an appearance.

Despite being a little apprehensive about what was happening, he made sure to keep his voice calm and confident as he exchanged words with the enigmatic challenger. As more information was revealed, however, it became more difficult to keep his voice even. He felt his face pale a bit as he learned what the old man had up his sleeve.

He stifled a curse as the old man's laugh echoed away. Ugh, he knew that something was going to go wrong today. He tried to think of what to do as Hattori and Hakuba started to whisper conspiratorially. If those two were working together instead of belittling each other, that meant that they saw this as a real opportunity and were setting aside their differences just this once, for the sake of catching Kaitou KID.

An EMP device, huh? Neither he or KID had even thought they'd go so far to catch him. Which meant that neither of them had even thought of any sort of contingency plan to counteract it. Just Shinichi's luck that he had to substitute during a troublesome heist like this. Then again, if he was actually KID, he doubted this would've happened anyway, due to how incredibly lucky the thief seemed to be. While Shinichi wasn't the biggest believer in luck, KID made that belief practically impossible. Sigh… as always.

...ah, it got really quiet all of a sudden. Crap, that meant the detectives already had a plan. That was fast. Ok, he needed to think of something, and quickly. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

...Alright, he's got this.

He snapped his eyes open, a strategy already in mind. First, to get to a place Hattori and Hakuba most likely wouldn't be able to reach him. It's a good thing that grappling hooks didn't need electricity to work. The unfortunate thing though was that it was bound to make a lot of noise to whatever it attached, as the only sounds in the room right now were the nearing footsteps of his current opponents.

Shinichi knew where he was, thanks to the window he had entered through earlier. And he knew some of the other landmarks in the room, by extension. Just because the displays could be moved didn't mean the rest of the stuff in the room could be moved too.

A good example would be the large, crystalline chandelier that hung from the ceiling. Something that large would need an unnecessary amount of work, effort, and money in order to remove it, and, while he knew Jirokichi could be capable of it, he didn't think it warranted enough thought to actually do something about it. After all, what could a (currently technologically crippled) thief do with a chandelier, of all things?

He shot the grappling hook and, true to his calculations, it hit the chandelier with a slight clang. While usually the sound would be muffled by the crowd of people, in here, the room was almost completely silent, which meant that the slight clang was more like a loud CLASH.

He didn't waste any time. As he lifted himself up with the grappling hook, he swung across the room.

The detective-turned-thief could hear the gasps of the other two detectives as he raised himself up to the top of the chandelier. Away from any danger for the time being, he took the opportunity to rake his eyes across the room, searching for any kind of clue as to either the room's layout or, even better, the location of tonight's target.

Let's see… he closed his eyes so he could better visualise the large room. The window he had come in through was at the very back of the room and, in turn, at the very back of the museum. This room also technically had two floors, although the second floor was more of a balcony than a floor, and it circled (or rather, squared, since this was a square room) the entire perimeter of the area. His window was located on the second floor, while the door that Hattori and Hakuba had entered through was directly opposite of that, on the first floor. Though if Shinichi remembered correctly, that wasn't the only door.

He distinctly recalled the location of all the other doors, two on each side perfectly parallel to each other, although none of them led outside of this exhibit; rather, it led to other connected rooms that all held different materials and gems sparkling under glass boxes, although many of them tended to be rather small in size. The main room housed similar artifacts, although they were bigger as to leave a greater first impression on the many patrons that came and went through the museum when it was opened to the public. Without the displays, however, the room would be left completely barren because, as he had noticed earlier, all of the said displays were able to be moved around to the owner's content, including the ones in the smaller rooms.

It was a good possibility that the display holding the Blue Star Sapphire could be hiding in one of those rooms, although it was hard to be sure with the soft, dancing lights circling around. It made it difficult to tell the dimensions of the room and its objects. And who's to say that those doors were even open? To check, Shinichi opened his eyes once more. His visualization was done anyway.

And of course, it was incredibly hard to make out. The door closest to him looked open as usual, but… he cursed under his breath. If that was the case, then he'd have to check all of those rooms too, and in this darkness? That was going to be a very difficult task to complete. It was a good thing he was almost alone, sans the two teen detectives that had followed him in here. But even though they were only two, he was going to make sure not to underestimate them. Of every person that attended the heist tonight, they were the most dangerous, besides the eccentric Jirokichi Suzuki himself, of course.

He heard the slight slam of a door nearby. Welp, it was time to finally go through his plan. It wasn't their original plan for this (in fact, they didn't even have a plan for this), but he had some stuff that would be able to do the trick. Besides, he thought as he pulled a metal canister out of his suit jacket. I'm sure that the real KID would get a real kick out of this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was a good thing that both Hattori and Hakuba had memorized the entire layout of the gem exhibit. Without it, their plan wouldn't have been able to get off the ground (although Hakuba was sure that they would've been able to figure something else out if that was the case).

Although they didn't know the location of the gem KID was after tonight, it didn't actually ruin much of their scheme. In fact, it probably helped.

The reason? If they knew where the gem was, Hakuba had no doubt that the thief would be able to figure it out before much else happened. As Kudo was an extremely observant person, Hakuba figured that, even in near darkness, Kudo would be able to figure it out just due to their voices or their movements.

And wasn't that a scary thought.

Hattori's voice whispered next to him. "So, are ya ready?"

Was he ready, indeed. On one hand, he had attended the heist for a reason: to gain more information about Kudo's situation. He wouldn't be surprised if he heard the whole story once he was caught for good. In fact, at first, that's what Hakuba had wanted to happen today. Perhaps with the aid of the police, and knowing that Hattori knew his real identity after the capture, the Heisei Holmes would be able to share his knowledge of… whatever he was going up against, and finally put this KID charade to an end once and for all.

Then again, there was that thing he had thought a while ago. If Kudo was captured, and he was put behind bars for the foreseeable future, how would the whole world react?

He assumed that it wouldn't be pretty. At that point, people might lose a lot of trust in teenage detectives, if the best of them was a criminal himself. Additionally, the criminal world would go absolutely haywire, especially with those that Kudo had previously placed behind bars. And with the great Modern Holmes gone from the scene, it would be that much more likely that people would attempt crimes, knowing that there wouldn't be a chance that they'd get caught by the great detective.

Hakuba had to admit, Kudo had an ever-growing reputation as an amazing detective, even going so far as to becoming well-known in places outside of Japan. It's said that there has never been a crime that he hasn't been able to solve, and that kind of track record was virtually unheard of. If Hakuba took him from the world…

He shook his head. This was getting tough. Maybe he'll just go along with the plan for now, and, if they caught him, then he'd cross that bridge when he got to it. He's not usually that kind of person, but then again, this was an extremely unusual situation, and one that required him to do more thinking than usual, too.

Hakuba whispered back to Hattori, doing his best to keep his voice steady and confident. "Ready when you are."

It must've somehow worked, because he didn't even have to see the other detective to sense the large grin that was probably on his face. "Then let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Heiji was incredibly excited for this plan. Sure, he'd have to work with Hakuba, but if it meant the capture of Kaitou KID, well… he could bypass their mutual dislike for each other. He was gonna catch KID for Kudo, and there was nothing that was going to get in his way.

As soon as Hakuba had given the confirmation that he was ready, Heiji lept to action, making his way to the left side of the room while the other detective went right. As soon as he made it to the wall, he turned and placed his hand on it, letting it slide along as he briskly walked forward. He found many displays pushed against said wall, but they weren't what he was looking for. Now where was it…

Aha! He pulled on the handle, and he was able to easily open the double-doors without so much as a creak. The projected lights from the room he was in leaked beautifully into the smaller room he just opened, and with it, he could tell that there would be no exit from it. He grinned. Perfect!

He continued along the wall to find the other door, and after only a few moments, he reached it. They weren't far apart from each other at all, which made their plan even better than he had hoped for. Now, all he had to do was wait.

And not a moment too soon, because KID's voice finally spoke up for the first time Suzuki's voice had echoed away. "Ah, what have I been doing? I forgot to entertain my current audience! Silly me, it looks like I'll have to remedy that now." Heiji can hear the insane joy in the man's voice, but the Osakan detective didn't let that hinder him. After all, what could the thief do to them?

"I hope you didn't forget tonight's theme~"

The theme? It was stars and night, most likely themed after the Blue Star Sapphire being shown today. What was so dangerous about that?

"I know what you're thinking, but there's a lot more to the night sky than just stars. Planets, distant suns, the entire galaxy… black holes."

Black holes? Wha— He yelped in surprise as something (he assumed KID) moved towards him, but it was really hard to make out. He tried to move out of the way, but all he accomplished was crashing into the wall behind him. Heiji closed his eyes out of surprise and slight pain, but he was able to snap out of it pretty quickly. But when he opened his eyes again…

Nothing changed. But didn't he just…? He blinked to make sure. Yeah, his eyes were open all right. So that's what he must've meant when he said 'black hole.' He couldn't make out a single thing! Did KID turn off the lights? In all honesty, it probably wouldn't be that improbable for the experienced thief to pull off. But with the lights all off, wouldn't KID be at a disadvantage too?

He heard a slight chuckle. It was a bit more mellowed out than Heiji had expected, but it was a chuckle nonetheless. Why did this guy's mannerisms feel so similar?

"Unlike you, my lovely detectives, I came prepared. Don't worry, you two are safe, but seriously, just because I'm not a critic doesn't mean I can't figure out your little plan. I'll give you this," Heiji can hear the thief walking away from him, to… somewhere in the room, the thief's voice briefly pausing as he did something. "You two are pretty smart. But, well… I'm smarter~"

The confidence in his voice was unmistakable: this guy really knew what he was doing. Not that Heiji had ever doubted it before. It was just that he'd hardly ever seen this side of KID, this side that really showed that he could outsmart everyone else and knew that he could overcome any obstacle that stood in his way. It wasn't arrogance; it was the confidence of having experience, of going against the impossible and succeeding.

He didn't stand a chance.

He heard a slight noise, the movement of glass as it was slotted back into place. "Ok, aaaaand my work here is done! Phew, that took longer than I would've liked, but oh well, being a genius takes time sometimes. Now time for the finale! You can take your blindfolds off now." With a snap, Heiji's vision was immediately cleared, and he could now see the starry room once more.

He was wearing a blindfold this whole time? How did he not notice that?

A tsk came from across the room. "Nuh-uh-uh, tantei-han~ I won't tell. A magician never reveals his secrets!" He could imagine the condescending wink quite well, even though he's hardly ever faced off against the thief before. And that was saying a lot about how distinct this personality was.

But wait, wha... did he say that thing about the blindfold out loud? Or… oh hell, KID couldn't read minds, could he?

All he heard was maniacal laughter as Heiji felt himself pale just a bit. He didn't think it impossible but… well, this was Kaitou KID they were talking about.

"Ah, and tantei-san! Stop thinking for once in your life and just relax." The thief's voice became serious, which was a rarity in and of itself. "You'd never be able to catch me, even if you tried. I'd usually consider it pretty rude for you to go easy on me, but I'll let you go for tonight. Don't try it again though, and I'm serious about it. If you don't heed my warning, well…" And the humorous tilt was back, as if it was never gone. "You'll regret it~"

Ok, so what was that about? Did… what did Hakuba do?

"And now that you are both rather shaken, as well as thoroughly distracted…" Another snap, and all of the windows and doors in the room opened with a resounding slam, and Heiji had to blink to get used to the sudden brightness. Granted, it wasn't that much brighter, but being stuck in such a dark room for so long, and with a lot of that time being spent in a blindfold, well, it sure felt bright.

And when he finally opened his eyes and got used to the lighting, he was left speechless for the second (or was it the third?) time that day.

Apparently, while KID was monologuing, he had taken all of the gems in the room and rearranged them in a way that sparkled in no way he's ever seen before. They were positioned all around the room, on the chandelier, on top of displays, hanging from the ceiling, placed on walls… Every single one was glittering at its full potential, all iridescent sparkles that bounced across the room as if they were sunbeams.

He didn't even notice that the Kaitou KID, along with the Blue Star Sapphire, was gone, not until the leader of the Taskforce had finally entered the large room and demanded to know where the enigmatic thief had run off to.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As soon as Hakuba had gotten home, he went straight to bed. He barely even gave an answer to Baaya as he made his way to his room. She must've heard the exhaustion in his voice, so mercifully she didn't ask or follow him up to his room to figure out what happened. Maybe in the morning she would, but… for now, he was glad for it.

But even so, sleep did not find him. Instead, he lied wide awake, staring at the ceiling, his mind full of thoughts and questions.

He didn't think Kudo would notice. The original plan was for him and Hattori to open up the side doors and then, when KID came to investigate, they'd close the doors on the thief. There would've been no way out of a room that had no exit, after all. But, as Hakuba had opened the last door silently, he thought, perhaps he'd give a hint to the thief as to what they were doing, because what if the plan succeeded?

And so he made sure that the door hit the wall. Not too loudly, but just enough for the phantom thief to hear.

Apparently, it was completely unnecessary. KID even chewed him out for attempting such an act, and wasn't that just something? You would think that KID would appreciate the help. As much as Hakuba had wanted him caught, there was just something in him that screamed no.

But then again… the thief had always enjoyed a challenge. For example, when he'd face off against Conan, there was no denying the pure joy on his face whenever they went head-to-head during whatever heist the KID Killer was able to attend. Without the young (yet scarily smart kid) there, he was sure that the phantom thief was feeling rather antsy. And Hakuba would admit, even he wasn't as good as Conan Edogawa when it came to capturing him.

So maybe he hoped that Hakuba would be able to fill those shoes in? Granted, he wasn't as good, but perhaps, as time went on, he'd finally be able to be on par with his previous opponent. The fact he was even competing with a kid in this field was honestly pretty surreal, but he knew how smart Conan was. There was no way that he could plausibly deny it.

And that made him think of something else: did Conan know who Kaitou KID was? If he did, he never showed it, though Hakuba supposed that he shouldn't be surprised. He was sure that, even if the kid did know, he'd still go one chasing the white-clad thief through heist after heist, because you know what? It looked like he was having fun too (even though that was nowhere near anything a child should find 'fun').

Maybe he should take a page out of the little detective's book.

So don't worry, Kaitou KID. Now he was sure not to give up on his initial goal: catch Phantom Thief 1412!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

KID: can i just say how proud i am of u? That last touch was just amazing, perfecto! And u had a great idea to use those night vision goggles we had saved for spying on the BO, and it was a good thing it was disconnected just in case. u smarty!

Meitantei: You would be impressed by that, wouldn't you?

KID: of course! What do you take me for, a critic? :0

Meitantei: What if I said yes?

KID: hey, i was complimenting you! ur so mean tantei-kun! my big heart is gonna break into small little pieces and its gonna be all ur fault :/

Meitantei: Oh nooo, what will we ever do?

KID: i could hear the sarcasm in that text meanie!

Meitantei: And I can feel your pout just radiating through the screen.

KID: good! mission accomplished then

Meitantei: Your pettiness aside, we're going to have to hold the gem until the full moon in two weeks. You've also got another heist planned for then, correct? Please don't tell me I'll have to pose as you again. Twice was already more than enough for one lifetime.

KID: of course, who do you take me for, i'm the pettiest in the business! but ya, i've got something special planned for next time! and my favorite tantei (you) will be the esteemed guest of honor~

Meitantei: ...Why do I have a bad feeling about this?

KID: hehehe u can never escape the great Kaitou KID! also, side note: good job with hakuba. i know he was feeling iffy about everything but somehow u talked some sense into him. who would've imagined he'd actually listen? must be a holmes-connection thing or somethin

Meitantei: Despite how much of a people-person you seem to be, you just don't know how to talk to people.

KID: b-but you're talking to me now right? QWQ

Meitantei: Yes, I am, but only out of pity. Who knows what you would do without me?

KID: ...i admit, you do have a point there. Thanks, meitantei. And I mean it. It probably would've been fine, but yeah, you made this waaaay easier! Congrats on being an official KID accomplice~~ :D

Meitantei: Ugh, don't remind me. Anyway, I gotta go, Haibara was able to get some footage of the snipers from the last heist. So see you later.

KID: ok, good luck! u better come to my next heist, or else!

Meitantei: Ok, ok, I will, sheesh.

KID: Then it's a date! I'll send the note to you soon~ :P ttyl!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kaito leaned back in the chair back in his workshop, putting his phone away as he wondered about something. He kinda forgot to talk to Kudo about it but…

What was he going to do about Hattori?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Aaand scene! Whew, that was an incredibly long chapter, and I finally, FINALLY got it done. 8700 words? Wow, I can't remember the last time I wrote so much, if I ever have.

Sorry if some of this just feels like filler and embellishment though lol. I tried, but don't worry, I've got some pretty entertaining ideas ready!

This took me so loooong.

QUESTION: Should Shinichi know who Kaitou KID's real identity is, or should I have an actual identity reveal chapter? That could be fun but idk lol

Anyways, thanks for sticking around! See you guys later, and lemme know if you've got any ideas for this fic! :D