UPDATE! Guys sorry, but I won't be able to post the next chapter on January 23 like I promised. There's too much going for me on this week, and I can't risk writing something mediocre just for the sake of updating. Please bear with me. This won't take long. The chapter will still be released this week.

(Before reading, please press the (3/4) story width button above for easier viewing pleasure.)

Author's Note: Thank you to all my faithful readers. I am in debt to all of you of course. From a whining child, I became a mature fictionist, and a part of it is all thanks to you. I'm here to announce that Part I is almost over. I won't tell when, but it's close. I don't think Part II would be as long as Part I, but I assure that there would be more action and thrills there. Let's all cheer to a fresh start to a coming end!

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan. How many times should I mention this?

The Moment Where Everything Was Lost

Part I: The Eclipse

"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit fact."

Sherlock Holmes (A Scandal in Bohemia)

Chapter XXVII: Retaliation

Silence ensued our surrounding after she whispered to my ear. I couldn't reply back. What do I even say? I tried moving my lips to force the slightest urge of me speaking, but to no avail, my tongue was tied. We were alone. My homeroom teacher was right in front of me, enjoying the few moments when I would stammer and eventually fall silent again.

"Cat got your tongue, Edogawa-kun?" she bit her lip, mocking me.

She knows! I clenched my fists and tried once more to step up.

"What am I doing here?" she said, taking the words right out of my mouth and copying the tone of my voice. "I bet those aren't the only question in your mind, Mr. High School Detective. Now, why am I here? Well, I'm tired of my subordinates' blunders. It's about time I take these matters in hand. You've become too much of a threat to us, Edogawa-kun," her words played on a quirky mocking tune yet every word she let out felt serious and profound.

She was obviously someone not to cross. She had a delicate and innocent face features, but her eyes told a different story. Along with her red hair, her deep red eyes sent shivers into my spine. Although they were melancholic, it seemed empty, filled nothing but demise and darkness.

"Now, I believe you have a murder case to solve. I'm sure you already know who it is."

Knowing this would go nowhere, I walked out back into the crime scene. "Shinichi, what's wrong?" Ran always knew when something was bothering me. It was a special ability of her. "It's nothing, don't worry," I faked a smile, but judging from her expressions, she knew that I was lying.

"Kudo-kun," it was Inspector Megure with Takagi right behind him. "Inspector, you're here."

"So, is it suicide?" he asked right off the bat.

"No, it was murder. I'm sure of it," I tried to shake of the tickling feeling from my neck. "Murder? Who are the suspects? Takagi!"

"We won't be needing any further investigation, inspector. The murderer's beside you," I pointed to the woman who opened the door in the first place.

"Me?" the woman shouted. "B-b-but, I found the body! Doesn't that make me a witness instead?"

"It actually makes you more suspicious," I looked around, seeing if Ran was still beside me. "Why is that Kudo-kun?" Inspector asked. "Why did you scream when you opened the door?" I looked at her face, trying to discern any false reaction. "Because I just saw a dead person!"

"How'd you know he was dead?" everybody gasped, turning their heads to me. She tried to take back what she said, but it was too late.

I continued, "He was poisoned. As I remember it, I heard the door open, and you screamed. If this was some brutal murder case then that would've been normal, but if you don't possess high observation skills, an ordinary person wouldn't have been able to know at first sight that he was dead. He still looked like sleeping at some point. The paleness of his lips was covered with facial hair. There were no bubbles or saliva dropping from his mouth. The veins were covered by his collar, so again, how did you find out that he was dead?"

I got her!

"T-h-the stiffness of the hands! Even if he was sleeping, her fingers should have at least been twitching or moving. And, is this even evidence? Show me concrete proof that I'm a murderer!" she panicked.

Evidence, I still can't find it.

"Do you even know how he was murdered? How was I able to put poison near him?" she continued to panic.

There's no doubt that she's the murderer, but I'm still lacking in evidence.

I turned my head to the crime scene and observed the tiniest of details that might help. "Ah-le-le, lo-," I cut myself off.

Wait, I'm not Conan.

"Shinichi, did you just imitate Conan-kun?" Ran asked. "No! It's just, I always hear that from him, so I wanted to try that out?" it came more of a question in the end.

Ran gave me an I-am-feeling-something-odd-here look. "Anyway, look at his hand. It's looking as if it held something before it paled down. It's half clutched. He must have been holding on to something."

"But what, Kudo-kun?"

I still haven't gotten the answer to that. I need to find it.

"ID," it was her.

The hair on my neck pricked up at the tone of her voice. Her voice was easily recognized even from a distance with hundreds of people talking along with her. I mustered up my courage to utter the simplest sentence, "W-w-what do you mean?"

"To go to the Archives Room above, you need to swipe your ID to get in, Mr. High School Detective," she said in her playful tone. "What does that have to do with the case?" Inspector said.

Then, like a lightning bolt, it hit me.

So, that's what she did. I got you now.

I took a handkerchief from my pocket and carefully wrapped it around my palm. I slowly tilted the man's head which was still at the murder scene.

There it is!

"There's no way out, onee-chan. You are the culprit," I laid out. "Then give me your proof," she challenged me. "You lured him out. Upstairs, there's an Archives room for storage for all the records. It's the only placed, other than the entrance gate that needs a faculty ID for it to be opened. Given that, look at sensei. He left a class who was supposed to have a laboratory experiment. If he was to have an experiment, being experience, he should have known better than to wear an ID during a risky experiment."

"Just this morning, I heard that they're going to have an experiment involving chemicals. Look at his ID. It has his keys and a flash drive. Why would he wear it for an experiment? Odd is it?" She fell silent. "You lured him out to go to the Archives room. Knowing that an ID was needed, he put it on. Of course, his door was locked since this all happened while he was alive, here."

"How did he die Kudo-kun?"

"She put a very small pin on the ID lace on the left strap, nearing his back neck. When we put on an ID, I tend to put it down or slide it down with force. Since the tip of the needle was towards down, when he pulled his ID to wear it, the needle went in his neck. Being diluted with poison, he instantly died."

"If you want proof, look behind his neck. It isn't too obvious because it when it the hair section of his back. Since she didn't have enough time, I'm pretty sure that the needle is still there. I'm thinking that she planned to mourn and cry on him to get the needle, but seeing how everything turned out, she failed," I continued.

Takagi went to observe the body, and there, they found the needle. She told us that our professor was blackmailing her for almost two years now. She couldn't handle it anymore, so she ended up taking his life. She went with the police with no struggle.

Classes ended early because of the commotion. I immediately went down, looking frantic. "Shinichi, why are you jittery? Aren't you used to solving cases anymore," Ran chuckled, grabbing onto my left arm.

"Mr. High School Detective," it was her again.

"What?" I tried to answer in the briefest way. "May I interest you in a cup of coffee? You won't mind, Mouri-chan?" she smiled at her, all innocently. "It's okay, sensei," she flatly answered. "I was always a fan of your mother, you see, so I wanted to catch up with what's happening with her," she lied but from the looks of her face, it felt true. Deception looked easy for her.

"Ran, go home. Could you also pick up the new compilation of Edogawa Rampo novels? I'll pay you later," I kissed her in the cheek. "Okay," she waved and went outside.

"You really don't trust me," she said.

"Good thing you know."

"Oh, you can finally talk to me. Smart move by the way. There is no new compilation of Rampo novels. You just wanted her to refrain from going home. You're scared that I might blow up the place," she accompanied with a short giggle. "Well, you killed James-san and a lot more. Why wouldn't you try and blow up Ran's home. You're all heartless."

"Don't generalize, Edogawa-kun. Not all of us are bad. Some of us were forced to be what we are in fact."

"I won't fall for your lies. What do you want?"

"A truce,"

"A truce? Are you kidding me? After all the things that you've done, we will never stop."

"See here, Edogawa-kun, this isn't your detective games anymore. If I get annoyed, I'll blow up the entire Japan or start a third world war. Know your place. You're such a waste. If you joined us, you'll be a great asset. Too bad your morals are deluding you."

"We will not stop. Get it into your head."

"Even if you managed to stop us, Edogawa-kun, a lot more scum are hidden other than us. You think we're the only ones who do this for a living? Open your eyes, Mr. High School Detective. The world lost its beauty long ago, so I'm giving you a chance of a truce. I'm the head of this whole organization. They follow me. If you choose to accept, we will leave you alone, for good. You will never hear from us again. Let us do what we want from the shadows."

"No, the battle has already started. It's no use giving up now."

"There is no battle. The battle already started long before any of us lived, and it's sad to say that we were the ones who lost."

"What are you saying?"

"You have a lot to learn, Edogawa-kun. I'm not in the right position to tell you all of these, so going back, do you want a truce?"

"No,"

"Your choice."

From a distance, a loud explosion echoed through the corridors. I looked at the windows beside me and saw a puff of smoke coming from a house near here. "I gave you a choice, Edo-…no, Kudo-kun. I didn't want you to be dragged down to this mess," she looked down, gazing at the floor. I looked at here and saw her expression.

Her eyes were sad as well as her expression. For some reason, I felt the urge to comfort her, but as I realized where the smoke came from, anger surged through me. It was Professor Agasa's house.

I left her to run where the large smoke was coming from.

As soon as I was far enough from the school, I took out a walkie talkie. "Kaito, do you read?" I shook the old walkie talkie. "Roger," his voice was rough. It might be due to the bad reception. "Is everyone safe?"

"Yes, we managed to evacuate everyone when we heard that you came in contact with their boss. We're at the police headquarters. Ran-chan's here too."

"Good," I sighed in relief that everything went well.

"Kudo-kun, we're you successful?"

"Yes, the transmitter's on her. Get everything ready, Kaito. We're going in," I turned the walkie talkie off, giving off again a sigh of relief, but something kept on bothering me.

What's with her? What's with the face that she made? Was she really deceiving me? Get your head together, Kudo. She killed James-san and a lot more. She was trained to deceive. Tomorrow, we're going to be one step closer to defeating them.

I walked on towards the Police Headquarters with my thoughts continuing to linger, making me doubt everything that I had in mind.

Author's Note: Hope you liked the chapter! Next chapter will be released on January 23, 2012! Reviews people! Kaito's going to be our main star in the next chapter!

Coming Soon: Chapter 28: Black Contact: Kaito's Trick