Blue Shadow

Chapter 5

ooo

Kaito KID held a small gem in his hands. It was brighter than any ruby, and its color deeper than blood. This was it. This was Pandora. This was everything he worked hard for. Now he has it in his grasp and he only needed to destroy it.

But somehow he couldn't.

"Umm.. Kaito?" Aoko asked hesitantly. "Are you going to destroy that too?"

He heard her, but he couldn't take his attention away from Pandora. Everything else felt distant— like there was a mist shrouding his senses. He knew in the recesses of his mind that he was shaking. And then slowly lifted the gem to his lips—

"Kaito!"

Before he knew it, Pandora was snatched from him by Aoko.

"Kaito what are you doing?" She asked a bit desperately; she was so confused. "We need to get out of here!"

Kaito snapped out of it, and shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't know what happened... I just— Aoko?"

Now Aoko was the one lost in the gem's spell. Strangely too, she looked like she was about to swallow the gem.

Kaito grabbed the damn thing and threw it onto the floor.

This is bad.

"We better get rid of this thing before-"

Kaito was interrupted by footsteps passing by the corridor. He tensed and grabbed Aoko's hand. They were at the third story of the museum. This was too low to use the hang glider.

Crap.

With the footsteps getting louder, Kaito kicked Pandora to the side and pulled Aoko close to him. "Shhh..." he told her.

The door opened. There was a pause.

"This room is clear!" Someone barked and the door was slammed shut. Slowly, Kaito lowered the black cloth he and Aoko were hiding behind. A simple trick. It worked nonetheless.

"Damn this thing," Kaito said. He kicked the gem around to the center of the room. "If we touch it, we're tempted to eat it."

"I wonder why..." Aoko said. "What is it anyway? Why do you need to get rid of it?"

"It's a long story," Kaito brushed it off. "I'll tell you when we're safe. I'll tell you everything." He looked at her, eyes begging her to understand.

Aoko swallowed, then nodded. "Let's destroy it."

Without further ado, Kaito raised the hammer and crushed Pandora.

The gem glowed as it broke. A bright red light filled the room, shining through the cracks of the door and windows. Kaito and Aoko shielded their eyes until suddenly, it was dark again.

What was left were shards that did not shine, not even under the night's full moon. It was over. It was over. Kaito could leap for joy but any celebration would have to wait. Snake and his accomplices must have seen the light as voices could be heard approaching the room.

"Well, Aoko, how do you feel about rappelling?" Kaito grinned.

ooo

Kaito and Aoko had gone down the side of the building with no complications. However more gunshots and footsteps could be heard from inside the building. The police and the gunmen of Snake were still at it.

"Dad..." Aoko whispered, worry evident in her voice.

"I'm sure he's alright," Kaito tried to reassure her. "He's not head of the task force for nothing." He winked. "Get to a hospital, Aoko," he said. "Your wounds need to be treated."

"Where will you go?" She asked.

Kaito was quiet. "I won't take long. Just gotta fix something before I leave."

"No! You can't go back in there! You'll get hurt!" She grabbed his dress shirt and clung onto it.

"Aoko..." Kaito said, surprised at her gesture.

She started crying as words flowed out. "I don't even know if you're really KID or not... I don't know why you steal then return things after... I don't know if you'll make it out alive if I let you go... I don't..."

"Aoko. I need to get back and help Nakamori-keibu. Those men in black are after me and I can't let the task force get hurt on behalf of myself."

"Don't go."

"I'm sorry," Kaito said before he dropped a bomb of sleeping gas in front of her. A cloud enveloped her and a sleeping Aoko was left when the smoke cleared.

ooo

Aoko stirred. Had she fallen asleep? She couldn't remember recent events. But wow did her body hurt. She opened one eye and found herself in a hospital room.

"What—" She sat up suddenly. "What happened?"

"It's okay Nakamori-san," a nurse said. He tried to get her back to lie down but to no avail. "You were found unconscious by one of the task force agents then you were brought here. You've must have found yourself in the middle of the cross fire."

Nakamori-san. He called her a Nakamori-san. But she was Blue Shadow... belatedly she noticed she was dressed in civilian clothes. Someone took off her suit. Someone...

"Kaito!" She said urgently. "Have you seen him?!"

"Nakamori-san please calm down. You're injured. Why don't you lie down for now?"

"But... KID... my dad... My dad! Is he alright?"

"I'm not sure but the heist should have ended by now... it's 2 in the morning."

"Two in the morning," she repeated numbly. "Two in the morning..."

ooo

KID darted across the exhibit room, dodging bullets and shooting at the men in black with his retrieved card gun. The task force covered him as he entered firing range. One by one Snake's gang was knocked out, the cops rounding them up.

But there was still Snake.

The man started shooting haphazardly and task force agents and KID took cover.

"Damn you KID," Snake growled. "Give me Pandora or next time I won't miss."

"I doubt that," KID replied as he dashed towards him, card gun aimed at Snake's hand. However, he miscalculated. He took one wrong step and then all he could hear was a gun shot echoing through the room.

Bang!

KID was aware of four things. One, he had failed to shoot Snake's gun from his hand. Two, Snake fell to the floor clutching his side. Three, Nakamori-keibu was shouting at his task force to seize Snake and call an ambulance... and four, the inspector held a smoking gun.

KID was quite shocked at the turn of events. Nakamori-keibu shot a guy to protect his nemesis, Kaito KID. KID simply observed all the evil men clothed in black get herded into police cars. For sure, they would spend a life time in jail. But before they could bring the injured Snake out of the exhibit hall, KID had one more announcement to make.

"Nakamori-keibu! Thank you for your assistance! But I'm afraid I can't return the millennium diamond."

"What?! Why you—" the inspector said before he was cut off.

"I am also announcing my retirement," KID said with a grin.

At this Snake caught on and started yelling, "Damn you, KID! Where is it? Where's Pandora?!"

"Long gone."

While the cops handling him got a little bit distracted, Snake pushed himself away and grabbed an officer's gun. He was still putting up a fight while badly injured and handcuffed. There was a struggle for the firearm and shots were fired but no one got hurt. In the end, when Snake finally got a good aim at KID, the inspector got between them.

"Nakamori-keibu!" KID shouted, but it was too late, the older man was shot.

The inspector fell to his knees. "Get that bastard out of here!" He ordered his men. The task force ushered Snake and all his accomplices out of the museum. Then a medic arrived to get the inspector.

"Nakamori-keibu!" KID repeated as he rushed to the man's side. "Why-"

"Idiot!" Shouted Nakamori-keibu. "You can't retire, I haven't caught you yet!"

"But-"

"No buts! Didn't you hear me?! I- Arghhh!" The inspector clutched his leg in pain. Snake's impeded aim only managed to put a bullet in Nakamori-keibu's leg.

"Nakamori-keibu, don't stress yourself too much!" Said the medic.

"I'll live!'" The inspector said, determined. "I won't die until I've caught you, KID!"

"Keibu..." KID trailed off, and then grinned. "I'm touched! But tonight really is my last performance. Although it was more of a mess than I could have anticipated... Thank you, Nakamori-keibu."

They had the inspector on a stretcher now, leading him to an ambulance. However, no one made a move to catch KID as he walked beside the inspector. A few newscasters were left waiting beyond the museum grounds. It was well past midnight but still some fans had stayed to see the resolution of the heist.

It was then that KID decided to officially announce to the world that he was retiring.

KID sauntered to the TV crews, journalists, and fans. "Ladies and gentlemen! It is to my great pleasure to announce that I will be retiring!" KID smiled.

There were gasps, protests, and more shouts as KID continued his farewell speach.

"The life of a thief is hard! More so a phantom thief! I have found what I was searching for, and now there is no more need for Kaito KID to appear."

KID jumped to one of the pillars of the museum gate.

"Let's meet again somewhere under the pale moonlight," KID said before bowing and disappearing in a puff of smoke.