Authors Notes:
Sorry for the wait. I wanted to do this chapter justice... It won't be long for the next couple chapters. I kind of had them written before this one. (I need to edit them and smooth out the transitions, but...)
Eather way, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The Lycanthropy of a Shrunken Detective

Chapter Twenty-Five

The first thing Ran noticed as she came to was the cold coarse feel of concrete on her legs, leaving a stinging feeling on her skin. The sound of muffled voices and dripping water. The next thing she became aware of was the soreness in her arms as they were being held behind her. The feel of plastic around her wrist. She suddenly remembered the kidnapping and how chloroform was shoved into her face after she and Sonoko were forced into a car.

Gasping with a start Ran looked frantically around the room. It doesn't take her long to spot Sonoko. Relief flooded through her as she felt a tight coil of tension seep from her seeing her friends chest rising and falling.

The sound of voices rose slightly and she felt the tension return instantly to her shoulders.

Action is the next instinct to hit her. If that loser hadn't of had a gun at Sonoko's head she would have shown them why it was a bad idea to threaten a champion black belt- but they did. Now their situation was much more tricky- but at least they were still alive.

Shifting she tested the tightness of the bindings around her arms and moved to pull her legs through. Intending to bring her arms in front of her. It was a trick that didn't always work but she figured she could pull off here. Her wrist had just cleared her bottom when there was a sharp "Snap!" sound and her arms jerked free.

She flexed her hands looking at them in shock, then scoffed. These guys were idiots. She didn't want to find out if that gun was real or how likely they were to use it, so as quickly as she could she snapped the zip tie around her ankles and moved to check on her friend.

Sonoko jolted up with a start at Ran's touch. "Ran!"

"Shh." Ran put a finger to her lips as her slight hiss caught the fashionistas attention. Sonoko slumped slightly.

A sharp sound of something being slammed down in the other room made them look anxiously to the door. It was closed off from where they were by a rickety-looking door and Ran could see two silhouettes moving across the square dirt covered window set in what seemed to be the only exit. Angry voices could be heard but neither of them could make out the words.

"What do we do?" Sonoko asked.

Ran quickly freed her friend and looked around for options. There were a few boxes to hide behind and even a rusty pipe lying in the corner. Looking at her friend Ran could see that she had made similar observations. Sonoko gingerly grabbed the pipe and the two girls moved to either side of the door.

Ran stood to the side that would allow her instant reaction to its opening. It didn't take long. Almost as if they'd planned it that way, the moment the two nodded at each other indicating silently that they were ready to move the door began to open. "I'm going to check on our guest- they should be waking up about now-

Ran didn't hesitate. In one fluid motion, she gripped the man's outstretched arm yanking him into the room and chopped the back of his neck with her other arm. The man stumbled and fell like a discarded sack of potatoes.

The other man shouted but Ran was still facing the door and could see the mans every movement. She rushed forward gripping him by the collar of his shirt. The man's hand just barely being yanked away from the pistole he was reaching for as she did so. Twisting she let out a barbaric shout as she threw the man over her shoulder on top of the other man. Ran clapped her hands together feeling much better after putting the two villains in their place.

Despite holding an arguably effective weapon in her hand's Sonoko opted to just kick the men in the sides. "You! Don't! Kid! Nap! People!" She punctuated each word with a sharp snap of her knee. Her black pumps connecting sharply.

Finally, she let out a huff. "Let's get out of here." She said looking up to Ran.

Ran started to nod, only to jump as the sound of a door further out opened. "Guys. I got the pizza. How's the ransom talk com-

The man froze as he rounded the corner seeing the two girls standing over the other two men, and Ran could hear them starting to move. Sonoko snapped the bar over one of the men's backs forcing air out of him. The one below him grunted and growled gripping Sonoko's ankle. She let out a shriek and Ran rushed forward as the newcomer glanced at the gun sitting next to the cell phone resting on a rickety old table. "Oh, no you don't!" She snarled, pushing his hand up and smashing the pizza box into his face. The man stumbled backward and Ran twisted on her heel giving a roundhouse kick to his gut.

Sonoko had begun to smack the other man with the bar in her hands but he'd managed to get ahold of her wrist and was pushing her backward with a feral growl. His temple was bleeding profusely as he shoved her up against the wall. "You little bitch!" He twisted her hand ruthlessly and she let out a cry as the bar clattered to the ground.

Giving the pizza guy one final punch to the face for good measure Ran spun and rushed the other offender gripping him by the back of the neck. Her finger's digging in. The man stiffened, his grip on Sonoko slackening. The brunet slipped down the wall with a grunt.

Sweeping the man's legs out from under him Ran pressed his face into the concrete floor. "Stay down!" She ordered dropping her full body weight onto his back.

She grinned up at Sonoko who was grinning back only to frown as her friend's face shifted with a surprised gasp. Ran turned in time to see the man she'd thrown earlier lunging toward her with a knife- she was in no position to counter. And was shifting so she could hopefully reduce the damage when a large ball of fur and growling fury tackled the kidnapper from the door.

There was growling as the beast snapped at the man's face with a snarled bark. The man let out a surprised yell and Ran blinked. It was a large… dog?

For a moment she considered letting the beast tare the now sniveling crying man to shreds but her voice rose before she could even truly process that thought. "Stop!"

It was stupid- a dog wouldn't understand- and what if she drew its attention. It might attack her. It was large enough she had doubts that she could pull it off its attack. She had to do something though. Human life was precious. Human life wasn't something to just- she couldn't just sit back and watch this man die. It was the one thing she knew she and Shinichi were on the same page about. If she let this happen- if she didn't try to save this man. She'd never be able to face Shinichi.

To her surprise, something in her voice reached the animal because it froze, a snarl still rumbling in its throat.

Ran swallowed. Something about the canine seemed… she felt like she could trust it. It was a crazy feeling. The animal was snarling showing off large and deadly looking canines. It straddled the man looking murderous with its hackles raised and it was so big she wondered if it truly was a dog. Still, it had tackled the man- the immediate threat- and seemed to recognize her command to stop. Even if it seemed reluctant to let off the criminal. "It's okay. You did a good job." The dog's tail wagged at her voice the growl slowly subsiding.

The man lowered his arms from his face, the action initiating another intense growl. The man snapped his guard back up an whimpered. "Shh…" Ran said moving closer.

"Ran what are you doing?" Sanoko's voice was a frantic stage whisper.

The dog's ears twitched at their voices. "They saved us." Ran said. "It's okay, boy." She didn't know why she defaulted to that. She did it with every dog. Based on how the eyes set or how square a dog's features were- but mainly on the emotions in their eyes, she'd give them genders in her head. It was silly that she worried that she was wrong even now- but the dog wouldn't know the difference either way. Its tail wagged a bit more. She knew that didn't necessarily mean the dog was happy, especially since it was still letting out small growls. So she moved slowly holding her hands out.

Her heart was pounding so hard when she put her hand to the dog's nose. It flinched back, almost as if it were surprised, before it sniffed her hand thoroughly. The next thing she knew she was covered in fur.

"Ran!" Sonoko's voice was panicked, but Ran couldn't help but giggle as the beast buried its head in the crook of her neck and its tail wagged furiously. She pet it as it made happy yipping noises and she gasped as the large fluff ball started licking her face. "Off!" She couldn't help but laugh. The enormous dog had sharp ice blue eyes and dark brown hair peppered with black. Its chest was covered in a soft gray color that seemed to extend to its stomach and it's ears, tail, and paws tapered off into black. It was a beautiful creature and Ran couldn't help but feel safe. "Call the police?" She suggested with a grin as she looked to the disgruntled face of her friend.

Authours Notes:
I never intended to make Ran look weak... after the last chapter I realized I kind of did that unintentionally, and all though this was more or less what was always going to happen this chapter. I focused more on the fighting than I'd originally planned. I wanted to let Ran shine this chapter... Let me know how I did. Was it okay or not?

(Words used- 1653, Date posted- Feb 6th 2019)