Chapter 4

"Are you sure you can do this Dark?" Daisuke asked, fussing with Dark's outfit while the thief pulled his gloves on.

Dark sighed, pushing at Daisuke's hands again. "I've been doing this for centuries Daisuke; I can certainly do it now. Just because I won't have you with me doesn't mean that I'm completely useless."

Daisuke snorted. "I'm not sure about that one."

Dark glared at his other half, and then ran his fingers through his bangs. "I hope there will be some girls there tonight; I feel the need to pick up some chicks." He waggled his eyebrows. "The police women tend to wear really short skirts too!"

Daisuke rolled his eyes. "You are such a pervert Dark."

The thief turned to glare at the redhead. "I am not."

"Are too."

"Are not!"

"Are too!" Daisuke stuck out his tongue at the thief.

"Are not!"

As Daisuke got ready to open his mouth to reply once more Emiko walked through the room, a look of exasperation on her face. "Yes you are Dark."

Dark gaped like a fish, and then wilted. "Yes Mother…"

Daisuke burst out laughing, clutching his stomach. He fell on the ground, rolling on the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks. Dark glared at him from where he was standing, his arms crossed and a faint blush across his cheeks.

Emiko chuckled slightly, and then looked at the clock. "You're going to be late Dark, you'd better get going."

Dark nodded, kissing Emiko on the cheek and giving Daisuke a comforting hug as the redhead seemed to get more worried again. "I'll be alright Daisuke, I'll be safe. I promise. Watch me on TV, okay?" Dark asked, giving a wink to the redhead.

Daisuke nodded with a grin. "I'd go, but it's kind of cold out tonight."

Dark rolled his eyes. "Geez, you didn't care about it before…"

Daisuke smirked. "Back then, I didn't really have a choice, Dark. No go, you're going to disappoint all your fans."

Dark waved, and then disappeared out the window. Daisuke heard as the thief called for Wiz, and then there was a rush of wings, and then it was silent. Daisuke walked into the living room, turning on the TV, where there was a broadcast of the museum that Dark was heading for. Daisuke chewed his lip. 'Please be safe…'

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It was too much! Dark swore again as he darted through a doorway, narrowly avoiding the bullets as they sprayed the area where he had been standing an instant before. The thief poured on speed, tightening his grip on his prize and attempting to lose the squad of cops following him. Though he had easily escaped cops before, this time it was different.

They had been well prepared this time, electricity wired throughout most of the place and cutting off all of his normal escape routes. He had nearly been electrocuted twice already, his clothes singed from being so close to the energy. Without Daisuke as his other half to pull strength from, Dark's body was beginning to protest his actions as he lost energy.

"Wiz!" he cried, trying to get out that way.

To his dismay, for once in his life, Wiz did not answer his call. Dark, confused, looked around, and discovered that they must have completely isolated this entire location. Wiz may be able to find him whenever he called, but the small creature couldn't walk through walls.

Dark burst though a door, turning and slamming it an instant later, blocking it with a conveniently placed chair. Though it wouldn't hold them for long, it may just give him the advantage that he needed.

Darting to the window, the thief looked outside, and indeed saw that Wiz was attempting to find a way in. Dark prepared himself to burst through the glass, and then realized that it was barred. 'Dammit all!'

Dark turned, and then spotted another door that he hadn't seen before, running to it; the thief yanked it open to see that it led into a closet, one with a trapdoor in the roof. Dark grinned. 'Alright!'

Dark easily slipped into the attic of the place, moving as quietly as a shadow over the floor so he wouldn't be heard. He could hear the cops in the rooms below him, trying to figure out where he'd gone. Meanwhile, he looked for another trapdoor that would give him the chance to get around the cops and get out.

There was suddenly a soft click, and Dark's extremely sensitive hearing instantly picked it up. He whirled around, trying to find the source. A brilliant light flashed, and Dark hissed, throwing up a hand to cover his eyes. Just as his eyes got used to the darkness again, the light flashed once more.

Successfully blinded and unable to see at all, Dark fumbled through the attic, his fingers scouring the floor for a way out. As he did his chest began to tighten, and then Dark found himself coughing heavily. 'What… is going….on?'

"Well now, amazing to see the great thief finally brought to this…"

Dark looked up in the direction of the voice, though he was still rendered mostly sightless by the light, he knew where the voice was coming from. He didn't need to see this opponent to know who he was though. "Ah, Chief Commander, it's been a while."

"Even now, you still retain your attitude. Amazing."

The soft voice was muffled, and Dark wondered why that was so, his mind too muddled to really think about it and analyze the situation correctly. Body shaking coughs interrupted him, and he sank to his knees, clutching his chest as the coughs rattled his entire body. His head swimming, the thief stumbled to his feet, staggering away from where he knew Satoshi to be standing.

"Come now Dark, why don't you just give up? I know that by now your head must feel… a little light. And your vision is swimming… You can hardly breathe…"

Dark growled softly under his breath as Satoshi described what was bothering him. 'Must be some kind of gas…' Dark stumbled again, nearly falling in the process. 'Got to get out of here…'

As Dark hit the ground on his knees his hands met a trapdoor. He pushed it open, and then shoved himself over the edge and towards the ground. The drop was longer than he expected, and his eyes were still blinded by the constant flashing light in the attic. Dazed and disoriented by the gas and no sight, Dark hit the floor wrong, his right ankle twisting painfully beneath him.

The thief cried out in pain, tumbling to the floor. He grasped at his ankle, which now felt as if it were on fire, hissing softly in pain. There was a shout, and, his sight muggy from the gas, Dark struggled to his feet, limping painfully down the hall with his ankle screaming at him the entire way.

By now the thief had dropped his prize, now only concerned with making it out alive. Every step sent pain screaming through his body, and Dark could feel hot tears of pain streaming down his cheeks. His body wailed for him to stop, but the thief pushed onward, struggling to find a way out.

A gunshot sounded, and Dark gasped as a bullet passed smoothly through his left shoulder, hitting the wall in front of him with a splatter of blood. The next thing he knew his left cheek met the floor, and then the world fled.

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Satoshi Hiwatari let himself down from the attic slowly and carefully, his feet meeting the floor. He walked calmly forward, following the trail of blood that led into the hall where he could see the police squad standing silently, the quiet interrupted by the sharp report of a gun.

The blunette walked through the group, which parted to give him passage to the front, where he got there in time to see the bullet hit the wall in a spray of blood, leaving behind a falling body that hit the floor and lay still. Satoshi moved forward confidently, examining the unmoving form of Phantom Thief Dark.

The thief's right ankle was already swollen, and Satoshi could see the white of bone through the bloody skin. Dark must have broken it on the fall, and then walking on the limb had worsened the condition of it. The boy let his eyes move upward to Dark's face.

Dark's face was stark pale, pain etched across the sharp features and tears of pain staining the skin. The violet hair was spread like latticework over the chalk-white features, the skin barely stained with the blood that was forming a pool beneath the thief. Satoshi saw that the blood was coming from the hole that was clean through the thief's left shoulder, which had no doubt been stressed more when Dark had hit the floor on it.

Satoshi sighed, leaning down and checking the thief's pulse. He didn't want a dead Dark, he wanted a live one. A shaky and rapid beat met his fingertips, and the blunette smiled softly. 'I've finally captured Dark…'