37: Broken Fall
Shinichi eyed him, the boss behind the organization, with something akin to fascination. This was the person he'd been chasing, a man with two different colored eyes in a sleek black business suit. He was oddly suave… in a disturbing way.
The boss, in return, was watching the detective with cool amusement.
"Who are you?" Shinichi asked, wary, but curious all the same. "Not even Sherry knew who you were or what your name was."
A smirk spread across his face, "well…" he spoke in a deep voice, "if you are the modern-day Holmes, I suppose I am the modern-day Moriarty." He grinned icily and spoke condescendingly, "so just call me that."
Shinichi frowned, he's too calm…. "You are oddly unperturbed for someone whose life's work is about to be destroyed." Shinichi said, gesturing to the door from which the sounds of struggling and gunshots could be faintly heard. "The entire organization, gone, with you at its head."
'Moriarty' shrugged, "the game was fun while it lasted, even if this is the end my actions – the actions of my organization – the ripples of our influence will continue to shape the world." He sneered, "and I've yet to be cuffed or caught, you don't have enough evidence to take me in. Everything is circumstantial."
It was Shinichi's turn to laugh, a confidant sound that immediately put the boss on edge.
Shinichi strode forward, taking a sleek black USB-drive out of his pocket. "It would have been circumstantial evidence… had I not sent these files to the police and FBI… files detailing all the dirty laundry you and your organization have amassed. Murder and torture, theft, kidnapping, human experimentation… it's all on here." Shinichi smirked victoriously, "give up quietly."
'Moriarty' hissed with realization, "so the only reason you met with me was to stall long enough for your allies to get here for the arrest."
Shinichi said nothing, but his superior expression affirmed the boss' claim.
Anokata smirked, taking long slow strides towards the detective, "that also means that until they get here… you're on your own."
Shinichi's eyes narrowed, he knew he'd be in danger doing this job, but that didn't mean that he wasn't dangerous too.
'Moriarty' lunged fro him, but Shinichi dodged back a pace and launched a powerful kick into the crime lord's side. Several crunching noises told him the hit was good. The boss was tougher than that it seemed, because he barely even grunted at his now fractured – possibly broken – ribs and instead focused on grabbing Shinichi's keg and knocking him over.
With the detective on the ground it became imperative that 'Moriarty' not trap him, so he quickly landed another kick into the man's jaw as he reverse-summersaulted back to get distance and return to his feet.
The boss stumbled back, one hand instinctively going up to defend his front as he got his wits around him again. With his vision clear, 'Moriarty' caught sight of a silver glint off his desk. With renewed energy the criminal let his momentum carry him further back so he could snatch up the gun.
Rather than freeze, now that his opponent was armed and had the advantage, Shinichi dove forward and to the side in order to kick over the conference table as cover.
Bullets flew over his head and the windows behind him shattered. Ignoring the glass raining down, the detective did his best to whip a chair over the table's edge and send it flying towards the boss.
At the movement, more shots were fired.
Shinichi felt the world slow down as the last one struck. That's eight…. He could hear the glass crunching as Anokata got within striking distance. Planning the motion in his head, Shinichi abandoned his cover and grabbed another chair, swinging the furniture as he spun.
The gun went off again, but as he had planned, Shinichi's spin meant that the rushed shot only grazed his arm rather than pierced his heart.
The chair splintered against the boss's shoulder and side with the strength of Shinichi's swing.
For a moment, both of them stood still, panting with exertion.
Blood trickled down his arm and Shinichi realized that the graze was actually quite deep. He still dismissed the pain easily; this was neither the first, nor the worst injury he'd gotten as a detective. Besides, Anokata was worse off. The crime lord's shoulder was dislocated and he was curled over his broken ribs with blood dripping from his lips.
If Shinichi weren't so sick of the Black Organization and all their crap, he might have felt bad.
The pounding of footsteps in the hall behind closed doors informed the two that Shinichi's reinforcements were quickly approaching.
Anokata wiped the spit from his chin and straightened his suit jacket. "So that's it", he said, voice slightly hoarser than before.
Shinichi nodded, "that's it."
Anokata's expression turned gleeful and he stalked forward with his arms clasped behind his back. Shinichi retreated, instinctively knowing that somehow this man had become far more dangerous.
"I recognize that the war's been won" the modern Moriarty purred, "but the battle here is one I refuse to lose." He charged and, instead of reengaging the teen detective in a fight, simply tackled him, pinning him against what remained of the window.
With his head forced to the side, Shinichi could see where the thick glass had been shattered by Anokata's earlier gunshots.
"The modern Moriarty and the modern Holmes, isn't this end fitting?" Anokata hissed and tipped them both out the window.
Shinichi struggled against his long-time opponent's death grip. Finally breaking free when he elbowed the man's broken ribs, Shinichi twisted around to watch the rapidly approaching pavement. 'Moriarty' glared at him, just a couple feet farther down. Shinichi smiled slightly, closing his eyes against the whipping wind.
It was sort of a fitting end.
The feeling of arms wrapping around his waist and Anokata's enraged snarls had Shinichi jerking his eyes open and whipping his head to look behind him.
"Let's leave the dramatic deaths to literature" whispered a voice Shinichi would recognize anywhere. Then white cloth unfurled and snapped straight, catching the air and carrying Shinichi away from his enemy, away from the ground, and away from death.
"Why are you here?" Shinichi asked, relaxing.
KID smirked, "a concerned parent of ours decided that some eyes in the sky would be useful, especially when there are no hackable cameras in mister megalomaniac's office."
Shinichi laughed giddily. Apparently his latest brush with death was making him slightly manic. "Dad blackmailed you, didn't he?"
The white-clad magician scoffed as he swooped low to land on a low roof. "It didn't require blackmail once he mentioned how you were risking your life" KID grumbled, changing into dark clothes with a poof of pink stage smoke. "What kind of ungrateful lowlife do you take me for?"
Grabbing Shinichi's arm, the thief led him to the staircase access and picked the lock in a matter of seconds. Shinichi's brow raised as KID kept leading him. "I am capable of caring for myself now" he said.
KID shot him an exasperated look. "The last time you were at the top of a building you let yourself be pushed out the window. Forgive me, but I'm getting you back to ground level before I leave you to your own devices."
Shinichi flushed, "it's not like I chose defenestration! It's also not like I plan to jump off any buildings again…. Besides, you have to admit that me dying like that would have had an amount of poetic irony."
KID scowled, "that doesn't mean that I'm going to allow myself to be caught, just so I can try to trick the jury into releasing me! You may be called Heisei Holmes, as I am Heisei Lupin, but that doesn't make us them! Leave their fates to them and decide your own future."
Shinichi grinned, his earlier giddiness returning. "Ha! I have a future! The Organization is gone!" He chuckled, practically skipping down the last steps to the ground floor.
KID smiled gently after the detective, "yours is", he murmured too softly to be heard.
When Shinichi glanced back over his shoulder, the thief was gone.
Smirking, the detective headed to rejoin the police and let them know he was alive and nearly unharmed. Normally he didn't enjoy celebrations much, but this could be an exception.