Chapter 3: Mokuba

Ran and Conan were dropped off at the Domino Amusement Park early in the morning. Conan ran up to the ticket counter and purchased their tickets, mentally noting the one good thing about being a kid again: lower ticket prices. It was a warm sunny day and the amusement park was packed with people. The only place that was off limits was the Ferris wheel site, still blocked off for repairs. So that's where the bomber was found, huh, Conan thought.

Ran dragged him towards several rides, mostly kiddy ones. Conan tried to maintain as much dignity as he could on the mini roller-coaster and spinning tops as Ran cheered like a mother would from the crowd. At least she doesn't have a camera, Conan thought.

-00000-

Around noon, Ran and Conan stopped by the restaurant in the park. Ran was happily eating her meal when Sonoko called her and they chatted away, not noticing Conan slipping away.

Conan wished he knew where Kogoro was at and what type of clues he was missing. A case like this was well out of Kogoro's league and would probably take all of his detective skills to solve it. He walked aimlessly through the crowd. He knew it was best to stay in the park so Ran didn't have to worry so much; not that she wouldn't already be worried once she noticed that he was gone.

After walking for some time, Conan stopped and found himself in front of the closed Ferris wheel. He noticed the two damaged gondolas and another one that looked halfway repaired. He looked around and noticed a drop tower close by as it took a group of passengers high into the sky in a matter of seconds. That must be the ride that kid used to see the flower clock, Conan said to himself.

He was musing to himself when a girl stopped by him and stared at the Ferris wheel with a strange expression. Conan looked up and noticed that it was a similar expression some people make when visiting a site that they nearly died at. He remembered that there was a girl in the gondola that was to be blown up in the bomber's game. This must be the girl, he thought. While he knew what the survivor expression was there was another look in her eyes that he couldn't quite figure out: it was almost like she was remembering something happy, but what person has a happy memory of nearly being killed.

To prove his point, a tall blond boy ran up to the girl, "Anzu, what in the world are you doing here?"

Anzu didn't look at him, "It's just… that this is a special place for me now, that's all."

The boy looked at her like she was crazy, "You do know that this is where you almost died in that bomber game."

"I know," she replied simply.

The boy just shook his head, clearly not wanting to even try to figure out what was going through her head. He turned to leave, calling behind him as he went, "Well, you better hurry or we'll miss the movie. Besides, I want to see how Yuugi reacts when the ticket counter rejects him because he looks like an elementary student."

"Jounouchi!" Anzu yelled as she chased the boy, away from the wheel.

"What a bunch of weirdoes," Conan said staring after them.

-00000-

Conan was walking around the park when he noticed a large crowd gathering near the gaming building. Using his small size, he managed to make his way through the crowd until he reached where all the commotion was coming from. A massive crowd gathered around a single game console where a little boy dressed in expensive clothes was playing at. Conan, confused, asked, "What's going on?"

A little kid turned to him with a shocked look on his face, "Don't you know who that is?!"

"No, who is he?"

"That's Kaiba Mokuba. The younger of the Kaiba brothers?"

Conan tilted his head, "Kaiba? As in KaibaCorp?"

The kid nodded his head, "That's right, but that's not what's important." Conan's face was a question mark. "The Kaiba brothers are master gamers. Mokuba here is trying to break the high score for this game."

"What's the high score now?"

"864,792,567 points."

"And where is he at?"

"863,986,073"

Conan just stared at the kid, and then slowly turned to Mokuba who was playing the game with a stuck-up, arrogant smile. Just how in the world could a little kid like that be so good at this game? The kid was probably only a few years older than him in his present condition. How could he do that?

In just a few moments, the crowd gasped as Mokuba broke the high score. There were cheers and praises all around, particularly for the younger children. Conan just looked at him, amazed. The kid was good. The final high score was 936,782,374. Mokuba put in the letters KAI into the score log and his score was displayed prominently on the game. He got up and the crowd parted as he went, two bodyguards following him. Conan followed them out and maintained a good distance with still being able to eavesdrop.

"That was an excellent game, Kaiba-san," one of the guards praised.

Mokuba scoffed, "That game? Too easy. I'm could have broken that high score blindfolded."

Well, at least he's humble, Conan thought sarcastically.

Mokuba looked out into the distance, a small scowl on his face, "Of course, I doubt Nii-sama will notice." He paused for a moment, and a dark expression appeared on his face. "Ever since Nii-sama got a draw with that Yuugi guy, Nii-sama has been obsessing over nothing else. He's so focused on defeating Yuugi, he's hardly even notice me." He clenched his fists, "If I run into that guy, I'll beat to a pulp and Nii-sama will have to acknowledge me for once."

Conan standing a few feet away behind a tree had his head reeling. Just what kind of crazy town is this? Before he could do anything, a loud voice came from behind him.

"Conan!" Conan jumped nearly a foot from the tone alone. Walking toward him with one the scariest expressions on her face was Ran. Conan gulped.

"Just where have you been young man?" Ran asked icily.

"I-I… Well, I was- I was," Conan stuttered desperately, trying to stall the inevitable as long as possible.

"He was with me, Oba-san," Mokuba said, walking up to them.

"Who are you?" Ran asked.

"Kaiba Mokuba," he introduced himself.

"Kaiba? As in-" Ran started.

"KaibaCorp? Yeah, that's right."

"Conan, how do you know him?" Ran asked.

Before Conan could even try to come up with an answer, Mokuba replied, "He met me in the game center."

Ran was going to say something when Mokuba turned to Conan and said, "Hey, Conan-kun, what come and play at my house?"

Conan looked at Mokuba shocked and confused. This kid doesn't know who I am, Conan thought, why is he bailing me out and asking me to hangout?

Uncertain, but curious, Conan said with great excitement, "Sure" Turning to Ran, "Can I go Ran-neechan?"

"Well, I don't know," Ran said concern obviously in her voice.

"Don't worry, Oneesan, I'll bring him home when we're done," Mokuba said.

"But we're not from here. We're only visiting for the weekend."

"Then we'll bring him to your hotel."

Ran thought it over, sighed knowing that the boys wouldn't give up, and agreed with the promise that Conan would be back at seven.

"Thanks Ran-neechan!" Conan said while she gave the guard the number of their hotel. As she walked away, Mokuba started to walk towards a limo waiting in the parking lot.

He called out to Conan, "Well. Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming!" Conan called back, running towards the limo. Whatever this kid's game was, he was ready.

Originally, I was going to have this chapter be when Conan meets Yuugi, but then I thought of Mokuba and figured that would be an interesting duo as well. Plus it would be a good way to have Conan to start getting clues and wondering about this Yuugi character.

Also, if the honorifics are off, sorry about that, I'm still learning them and kind of having a hard time to get them all straight. So again sorry if they're wrong. ^^;

Hope you enjoyed!

Disclaimer – I don't own Yugioh or Detective Conan

Please review and suggestions would be awesome