A/N: This was fun to write~! It's kind of short, but it'll do. XD There's a lot of detail, so beware. XDD And I should be working on Mage&Magician…. (Hides Behind Rock) …but I'll do that tomorrow. (Snickers)

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito in any way or form.

Chapter Thirty Eight

I was incredibly frightened – almost to the point that my legs wouldn't move. But, that just wouldn't do. If I didn't move – I would fall, I knew. My hand clutched the black-and-white fedora to my head, annoyed that it would fall if I didn't, and my other hand was wrapped tightly around the mountain climber cord I was currently dangling on. My hand burned underneath the glove, having caught the rope several floors up and only managing to break my fall now. Though, now, I was beginning to think I would have rather fell.

My ankle felt like it was being strangled and I just knew that I had broken or sprained something.

My eyes flitted to the ground, several floors down, and I changed my mind. I could deal with the pain, but it would've been completely stupid if I had died on my first heist. Still, this was all his fault (kinda) – damn brat…

ooO–earlier that night–Ooo

"How will I know if the gem is the right one, Akako-neesan?" I began in mumbled before my voice switched to a cooler, smoother, voice in a mock-comparison to Akako's. "'Oh, don't worry, you'll know exactly which gem it is, trust me'." My face immediately turned sour as I frowned to myself. "What does she even mean by that? Always being so evasive, that witch likes playing with people." I grumbled, looking down at the blueprints of the building in the niche of an alleyway, my heart pounding underneath both of the shirts I was wearing underneath the black cloak I was drowning in.

The building of my heist had forty three floors – the museum covering the first three floors, as the rest were other areas; food courts, stores, and other businesses (the map I had gotten from the museum a bit ago had all the floors on different pages). The building wasn't simple, in fact quite complex, but the security sucked. From my spot, I could only see a couple guards and police officers, black-and-white cars parked close by as the sirens flashed silently off to the side. They didn't seem too worried about the note of theft, though.

Which was good – for me.

Thankfully, I knew where guards were and where police officers were stationed due to Akako. It had cost me a bit of magic – again, I didn't know what she wanted it for – but it was worth it. Red dots of waterproof marker were sprinkled on the web-gloss brochure, marking the spots of all the people stationed as guards, and the vent system was charted out in blue while exits were marked with orange. It made me feel a lot securer when I had this with me.

My eyes flitted down to an orange mark behind the crisp, white, mask fitted over my eyes and skimming over the bridge of my nose before stopping at my ears and a thin, black, thread tied it taut to my face. There was no red dot in front of this particular entrance – exit? – and I grinned sharply to myself, my heart restarting at a faster pace than before. Adrenaline was already rushing in my veins, making me break into a cold sweat. Well, here goes nothing…

My gloved hand slipped the now-folded brochure into the pouch on my belt and I let my fingers glide over the objects in it; my eyes narrowed as I located a flash bomb – courtesy of the things I had stolen from KID's lair a while ago. With a decisive breath, I stepped out of the shadows of the alley and swung my arm around, releasing the small device in the opposite direction. It arched in the air – a baseball pitch – before it hit another alley to the left of mine. I looked away quickly as light exploded, brightening dark spots and gaining the guards attention quickly – I'm sure I heard a 'what the – an explosion?' and I stifled a laugh.

My mismatched boots were silent against the ground as I dashed to the opposite side of the building, immediately squeezing between the tiny gap between the heist building and an adjacent one, arms up at my side as I slid through. Here, I was safe from the guards eyes and they hadn't stationed anyone here, either, due to the space being so small – plus, no one would be able to get here without passing the front, which would have caught the guards attention. Would have – they had been thoroughly distracted by the flash bomb though.

The cold wind flowed between the buildings, chilling me slightly as I reached the door – it was an emergency exit that apparently had been somewhat 'abandoned'. Dust spiraled in the air as I brushed my black gloved against the dirty surface and cobwebs fell to the ground – I twitched as I watched a spider make a getaway from his home wrecker – and I steadied my breath before pushing it opened. Except, it didn't move.

Blinking in confusion, ignoring the sounds of the guards returning to their posts with some grumbles, I shoved harder at the door, willing it to open. The door stayed firmly shut. This could not be happening…

My mind flashed through different ideas before I finally landed on the most reasonable – the door probably opened outward with a crash bar or was locked. But, anyone stupid enough to lock an emergency exit probably wouldn't have checked this one, being careless, since the space between the buildings kills the fact that it's supposed to open outwards. It would probably only open a crack, at best. I clicked my tongue in annoyance, mouth twisting downwards in a thoughtful frown.

Trying to force it to open backwards would take all night, but there wasn't really anything I could do – it was the only thing to do, even if it was somewhat nuts. Then again… My mouth quirked up in an ironic smile, this whole plan was nuts.

I pressed my back against the brick wall of the other building and lifted one leg to brace my foot against the cool metal of the door. I quickly lifted the other and pushed. My neck pressed painfully – at an awkward angle – into the brick wall, but I pushed harder, willing the door to give in; if it was abandoned, it should be somewhat worn out without proper care. I braced my hands on the wall near my head, palms flat against the surface before giving my all to kick in the door.

My arms thrust outward and I straightened my legs – the muscles pulling and protesting at the rough treatment as I forced myself to keep my knees straight – and then I was falling forwards as my foothold gave in (my arms still thrusting outwards), the old, rusted, hinges creaking as the door twisted strangely before falling to the ground with a loud thud, stirring up dust. I landed on top of it, standing, and I blinked before grinning in accomplishment.

My accomplishment was short-lived, however, as a loud, piercing, alarm suddenly rang out – slightly delayed due to my less than normal entrance. I tensed before breaking into a run, steps silent as I skidded around the corner. I immediately took out the map to get a good look at it, flipping to the first floor layout. Unfamiliar running came from my left, the hall filled with paintings glowing dimly in the distance as flashlights neared – without much choice, I turned heel and darted down the hallway to the right.

My eyes had long adjusted to the darkness, so I was able to see the marks on the web gloss page and I scanned the layout hurriedly, hearing footsteps closing in from behind. Down the hall I was running – filled with paintings I didn't spare a second glance –, blue marks began on the page a little ways down, signaling that a vent was just up ahead. I unclipped the cloak I was wearing and rolled it up in a jumbled ball before stuffing it into my skirt's zip-up pocket. My eyes then darted up to the ceilings and I skidded to a stop – sliding a bit; perhaps gluing fleece to the bottom my boots was a bad idea, after all – and swapped the map for a tiny adjustable screwdriver from my pouch (really, if I didn't know better, The Den had been occupied by a criminal before; a lot of the things I was using now were from there).

I stood on my tip-toes and quickly undid all four screws with the drill-like tool and took off the cover, gripping it tightly as I grabbed the edge of the entrance. With a frantic, scrambling, hop I vaulted myself inside the large vent, turning to put cover back over it. With a click, it slid easily back into place and I army crawled (more like slid to keep even weight on all parts) further in as the light grew brighter and I could eventually hear people talking right in front of the vent, the sounds rebounding in the small, metal, space I was in.

"They disappeared!" One officer exclaimed, sounding frustrated. Someone clicked their tongue in annoyance, "How did they even get inside?! That door opens outwards!"

My grin had leveled to the Cheshire cat grin and I ignored my heart pounding loudly through my ears – absently, I wondered if anyone could hear it; it felt like it was going to burst. Despite feeling chilly in the cold air return ventilation shaft, I wiped sweat from my forehead as I moved forward, visualizing the map in my head as I headed for the point where the shaft would go upwards to converge with the second floor system. The gem was on the third floor and from there, I would make my way up before deciding a safe place to scale down the wall. Mountain climber's cable was looped around my belt, looking much like a very, very, long lasso.

My ears rung painfully in the vent as the alarm – still going off – echoed in it louder than before. Sensitive ears, darn it! With some effort and more sweat, I finally reached the upwards vent and I laid there for a moment to recollect myself; breathing harsh in the small spot. Come on, come on, I willed myself as I closed my eyes tightly – don't get claustrophobic now, idiot! You can freak out after you get back to The Den! There was a minute of shrilling silence before I pulled myself back together, wiping more sweat from under my chin, before turning onto my back and carefully sliding forward.

My back connected with the end of the vent and I was forced into a sitting position and I connected my boots with the other side and I carefully inched my way up and up. The vent was tall and I couldn't exactly tell when it ended due to the darkness, but I knew that I'd eventually make it to the second floor; or, if I was lucky, this would also lead up to the third floor and I could speed up this whole trip.

The crunched up position made my legs ache slightly and my back curl into myself awkwardly – making me feel oddly like the Grinch as he had when he'd gone down the chimney – and the whole event was overall unpleasant. I had almost slipped on several occasions due to the fleece – sure, it helped quiet footfalls, but I really hadn't thought of this well enough – but I was finally here after about ten minutes of climbing. By now, I was panting and I practically collapsed in the third floor ventilation shaft when I reached it – the upwards shaft had gone up to the third floor, after all.

With a heaved breath, I straightened out and army crawled further in before I finally reached another opening. I peeked out of it, seeing a few officers standing around the spacious room. Podiums were standing around the room, all having a small gemstones hidden in, what I'm assuming was, bulletproof glass. My eyes immediately spotted the exhibit I was targeting – a banner above it proclaiming its existence loudly. There were no officers too close to it, so I'm guessing that they didn't decode my note. I chuckled thinly.

I looked around the room for a minute, gathering my wits, before I finally slid a small stun grenade out of my pouch and turning so that my feet faced the opening for quick exit. Sucking in a deep, calming, breath, I began.

My feet kicked out the vent cover, screws scattering around the floor loudly, and all hell broke loose. Officers immediately look towards the disturbance and I slid out quickly, flicking my bangs out of my eyes in annoyance and offering the officers a large grin. They looked unnerved before advancing forward in runs and I swore my heart stopped for a moment in panic. Then I was running forward, startling the officer there, and I brought the grenade to my mouth to pull the pin out with my teeth and then I hurled it behind me.

I didn't look behind me and ducked up an officer's grabbing arm and plugged my ears as I continued running forwards. There was a flash from behind me, lighting up the already lit room for a second and I could dimly hear a small explosion occur but I ignored it, knowing that the stun grenade had gone off – leaving the officers blinded for 5 seconds and disoriented and off-balance. I uncovered my ears and reached the podium, knocking on the glass in testing.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't bulletproof glass, instead just regular glass casing. The security here, I mused with an amused grin. Not wasting any time, I checked around the case quickly before deciding to just break the glass the easier way. I backed up a bit – chuckling madly when I heard people groan behind me and someone fall to the floor with a thud – and then judged the distance before pivoting and hitting the glass powerfully with a kick. It wasn't so much my karate skills as much as it was my soccer muscles; even though I'd quit, I'd gotten quite a lot from it in the time I had been doing it.

The glass crashed loudly and scattered around the floor and I stepped forward again, glass crunching underfoot, as another alarm – louder this time; my ears… – rang out. The oddly shaped gem was immediately in my grasp with a quick snatch – almost as big as my palm – and then I was dashing out of the room, the officers stumbling after slowly. I fetched out the map and flipped three pages inwards and scanned it, turning sharply to head to the staircase nearby.

By now, I had lost the officers on the third floor and there weren't any officers as I continued my journey up the stairs – they probably thought that a thief wouldn't escape from the top, or had been overly confident that they wouldn't even let me get inside the building. Oh, how wrong they'd been to not guard that one emergency exit…

I glanced down to the gem in the dim lighting as I continued up; the shape was sharp and awkward to hold in my palm and the color wasn't baby blue like I'd thought before, but appeared to be a greyish blue, but maybe it was just the perspective you looked at it from. I gently wrapped it in a handkerchief and placed it in another of my skirt's pockets, zipping it up tightly to make sure it wouldn't fall out. Several floors below, I could hear officers clambering up the stairs, trying to catch up, but I had endurance on my side. As long as I didn't give up, I'd be fine.

Hopefully.

I discarded the thoughts, continuing my dead sprint up the stairs, blinking painfully as the lights suddenly came on, flooding my senses – I was on floor fifteen by now and counting (sixteen, seventeen, eighteen…) and I had long stopped hearing the police below. I blinked several times consecutively and quickly adjusted and saved myself from a stumble by pushing off the railing. Once I reached the twenty-first floor, I slowed and turned into the floor, flipping pages of the map to get to my current location.

My footsteps were heavy with tiredness, but I continued striding on, knowing that the cops probably would use the elevators to get up to my floor – though, they'd have to check all the floors, not knowing exactly where I was at the moment. Though, it'd be pretty easy once they check the security room, but I brushed off the disturbing thought that I was being watched by cameras and, possibly, officers. I couldn't stop grinning, though – the thrill of this whole thing was amazing!

The floor I was on was a business floor, cubicles littered around the room and sleeping computers all around on personal desks. It was obviously the type of job that I had vowed to avoid in the future; the kind where you do the same thing every single day, over and over and over again. Looking around, I realized that there were no security cameras in this place, anyways. With another sigh at the careless security of this place, I chuckled. I really had chosen a good place to do my first heist.

I let out a slight sigh of relief as I headed to a window at the back of the building, glad I'd be going home soon. I unclipped the cord on my belt and pried open the window, not caring that I was kinda-sorta damaging it as it creaked in protest at my rough handling. Cold wind brushed against my face, drying my sweat and I breathed it in, appreciating it for a moment. My grin lessened to a content smile and I looked around for a place to tie the cord, humming absently to myself.

Find no place, I shrugged before opening the window next to the one I was going to make my descent from and securing the cord tightly around the junction between the two windows. I pulled on it, making sure it was taut, and just as I was about to clip my belt to the cord, a voice ran out from behind me, making me freeze in place as blood drained from my face.

"Leaving so fast, Jester-san?" The voice was very familiar, with an edging of cockiness and mocking lilt. Don't tell me…

Heart in my throat, I turned sharply and low-and-behold, as expected, Conan was there, looking casual in the face of a criminal, hands shoved in his pockets as he walked a bit closer cautiously. Before I could help it, my words flew off my lips on instinct as I gave him an ironic grin – it figures he'd be here. "Oh, so you've figured out my code, I see~!" I cooed, holding back the Osakan-ben that wanted to slip off my tongue with some effort. I gave him a playful applaud.

He smirked sharply and I barely contained a shiver. That hunter's look was so damn creepy! I turned to face him fully and I put my hands up at my sides in mock-surrender. "You win, meitantei-kun~! I give, I give." Not really, but he already knew that by the look bemused look on his face as he peered at me from his height, judging me behind his cerulean eyes framed by oversized glasses. I felt like I was being scrutinized like a bug under a microscope and I gazed at him behind my mask in slight panic.

Why, oh why, did Edogawa Conan – of all people – show up at my heist?!

…Was my luck just that bad?

Review Replies:

To: Iriss-sama – Yay~! I'm glad you like new chapters~! 8D (Laughs) Yeah. XDDD Ayumi and the others are always very amusing when they interrupt Conan's deductions with their innocent questions. XD And he is, isn't he? XD It'll just escalate from here, too~! (Evil Laughter) He totally would send her to a mental hospital! XDDDDDDDD And yeah. XD Yay – I'm not the only one like that! 8D (High Fives) And yeah, I knew that. ^^ When I first saw it, I was like – oh my gosh! XDD It's pretty cool when you find things like that. XD And yup – the heist! 8DDDDD And thank you for the extra luck~! I finally got my inspiration back after a few days dwaddling and really doing nothing except listen to Pendulum's music. XD And that's okay – I like long reviews, they're fun to read! o^^o Thank you, Ri-chan~! (Gathers Lots Of Luck and Creates A Giant Lucky Castle) :D

To: Kudo Shinichi Tanteisan – (Laughs) I was hungry when I was writing that, so I was like, "wow, this is a long deduction, I'm hungry". XDDD I kept getting a bit annoyed with Megure, since he kept asking unnecessary questions instead of just listening to the whole deduction. XD And I've been eating grilled cheese a lot, so that's where that came from. XD And yes! THE HEIST~! 8DDDD E-chan! (Grins as snowflakes fall and eats cyber cookie) *blinks as you slump again and rushes over* E-chan! (XD)

-Whoo, this was fun to write! 8D I felt like I did a bit too many details, but meh. I kind of wanted a two part heist, too, so I'm splitting it. XD Next up is the deduction and other stuff! 8D

Heist target: (www dot) ( famousdiamonds).(tripod )(dot com) /ruspolisapphire (Remove parentheses and add dots)

"Next Revolver Hint: Marius Scotus!"