Night's little secret
"What do you mean by imaginary?" asked Daisuke.
"I mean digital, not flesh and bone…" said Night, embarrassed.
"I still don't get it."
"By digital I mean I'd rather kill people on a video game than for real!"
"NANI?!" said the Niwa family in unison.
"I'm a hard-core gaming addict. That's why I was never really interested in actually killing people. I had to keep it a secret for all these years 'cause Dad would have killed me the minute he found out!" said Night.
"He's a gamer not a killer. That's why he doesn't want to follow the Niri family tradition. I've been keeping it a secret from Shadow ever since I found out. That, and because Night got me hooked on playing games as well…" said Star.
Dark started laughing. He couldn't believe that Shadow never realized what was going on!
"That…is too…funny!" Dark said between laughs.
"What's so funny about my gaming addiction?!" growled Night.
Star got the joke as well.
"It's funny because Shadow never noticed that his son is a geek." Star answered.
"Night, don't think of it as a bad addiction. It saved your life from Shadow! You should be glad that you love games so much!" said Kosuke.
"You think? Huh, I never thought of it like that…"
"So Night, how good are you on video games?" said Daisuke.
"Daisuke, have you ever heard of the 'Phantom Loki' virus that wiped out nearly all data about Phantom Dark in the city?" said Night.
"Everyone's heard of that! They still haven't caught the one who created that thing. Why do you ask?"
"You're looking at the creator right now!"
"What?! You made that virus? But why?"
"So I'd have a better chance of pulling art thefts off."
"So instead of following Shadow, you'd rather follow in my footsteps?!"
"Pretty much, yeah."
"But why use the name Phantom Loki?"
"Loki is the evil Norse god of mischief, tricks and fire. He's also known as a friend to humans," answered Night.
"That sorta makes sense. But why not use your real name?"
"Do you have any idea how stupid 'Phantom Night' sounds?! I wanted an alias I could both remember and maybe even change my name to."
"How exactly were you planning on showing everyone who you are?"
"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise… You'll know in the morning!" laughed Night.
The next morning, Emiko turned the TV on like she usually did. She watched the news and nearly choked on her morning tea when she heard of an advance warning that had been sent out the night before. She turned the volume up and heard what the reporter said about the note.
"We have been getting unconfirmed reports that this warning was in fact, not sent by the Phantom Thief, but by a new unknown man that goes by the name of Phantom Loki. The police have yet to determine whether or not this is a joke, but they said that they aren't taking chances with this note. They will surround the museum and say that they hope to catch the one responsible. And now, back to the weather…"
Emiko at first was furious, that is, until she thought of Night's words earlier.
"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise… You'll know in the morning!"
"So this is the surprise he was talking about. Should I confront him, or see if he pulls it off?"
"Emiko, what's wrong?" said Kosuke.
"It seems that Night has already started to follow Dark's path. He even sent the advance warning! Should we stop him or let him go through with this?"
"Why don't we let Dark decide…"
"Let him try. I'd like to see how well this computer nerd does."
And so, Night was finally able to do what he always wanted, and followed in Dark's footsteps as a Phantom Thief. But how will he do?