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You know the declaimer drill: I don't own Detective Conan, Magic Kaito, and Lupin the Third.

If I did, Conan would have cracked a long time ago, Kaito would have found Pandora in the most stupid of places, and Lupin would be more action-y. All three would have some angst. Angst is one of my favorite genres, that and Sci-fi.

Chapter 14: Kaito's Plan; Lupin's Behavior

"You met him?!" cried Megure-keibu.

The officers were rubbing their heads, arms and legs in pain and frustration. Sitting on a chair behind a desk was the infamous Lupin the Third. He was just sitting there, arms folded, leaning back with a small smile. To make matters worse, he was wearing the same suit as one of the other officers in the precinct. He had disguised himself as one of them, for reasons unknown but only to him. Zenigata wasn't sure whether what he was doing here was ruined inadvertently by Mouri-kun, or was helped. What bewildered him the most was that Mouri-kun knew him.

The detective nodded to the keibu's question. "It was earlier today. I was picking up the Osaka kid and his girlfriend from the airport. I happened across his friends first; they were waiting for him. Their names were…"

"Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko, right?" Zenigata asked. Mouri-kun slowly nodded, eyes widening. Zenigata gave an inner sigh; he wasn't surprised. Even though Lupin was an international criminal, much of his exploits were now outside Japan. The Japanese populace has more or less forgotten about him and his crew… until he does something big, like this one. Personally, the Interpol inspector was unsure why Lupin was being anonymous; he usually sent flyers proclaiming his heist with his name all over, sending panic and anticipation for the upcoming moment. "Daisuke Jigen, Goemon Ishikawa and Fujiko Mine are also wanted criminals and are his nakama." He would let the detective get over the shock; Lupin was always quick to take this advantage of chit-chat to bolt. But he was surprised at what he saw when he glanced Lupin's way.

Lupin was still sitting in the chair, eyes slightly downcast, muttering, brooding … wait, brooding?!!! Lupin never broods! He was more of a goofy childlike kind of guy. What the hell? Lupin stopped muttering as his face turned into a grimace. Something more is going on here. This he pushed aside. The heist comes first; Deal with the other insignificant thought later.

But many other annoying thoughts surfaced in his mind; only one he paid attention to. His mental thief detector sensed another thief in the room. Years of chasing Lupin had enabled him to detect other thieves; this much, he was proud to say, was one of the few good things about the pursuits. He couldn't sense much from the newcomer, just his existence. So Kaitou Kid's here too. Perfect.

"Lupin-san… did you find that woman?" Zenigata came back from thinking to hear Mouri-kun ask that … question. He couldn't think of the right word. 'Unusual' would be one, but Lupin was a playboy, through and through. Another would be anticlimactic, only because a thief is here and the first things that should be said are 'how can that be?' not… hold on… what is Mouri-kun talking about?

Lupin was caught off guard by that question, too, raising an eyebrow in the detective's direction. The grimace was gone, as well as any hint of his happy-go-lucky expressions that he usually shows. With a chuckle, he said, "Yes." Zenigata flinched. That insignificant thought at once came up. Something's going on with Lupin!The insistent voice cried, along with alarm bells ringing in the background, double time. Double because Lupin's voice and chuckle was dry, very dry and because the only other person in the room to flinch was Nakamori's daughter's best friend, Kaito Kuroba. Why he flinched?

Once again, Zenigata placed the still insignificantthoughts to the back of his mind. He could figure them out later. This was more important. Lupin, sitting, not moving, in the middle of a room, fully surrounded by police! He chuckled. He would not make the same mistakes again. The cuff trick and his mental ceiling calculations Zenigata did not fully account for. Mouri-kun, although wrong about the culprit, was probably right about the process. Zenigata gave secret hand signals to some of the officers to slowly surround the desk. The officers gave quick nods and gradually did as they were told.

Megure-san immediately took out his badge. Nodding to Zenigata, he said, "Lupin the Third, you're under—."

"Do you want to know why I'm here?"

Zenigata did a double take. Everyone else was frozen in their spots. Lupin! This isn't like you at all!

"I'm here to see all my competition," he began, a mocking smile on his face. "The detectives, cops, and good old Tottsan." Lupin started to dig into one of his pockets. "As for competing with Kaitou Kid, I actually wanted to meet such a fascinating character." He closed his eyes as he continued, rummaging through his pocket. Zenigata was on high alert. He could be bringing out capsules filled with cover smoke, or worse, sleeping gas. He saw all the other officers tense. The thief suddenly took out that something, a black rose. He twirled it in his hand, suddenly saying in an icy voice, made harsher by his cold smile, "And to find who I have lost and to kill who I have found." He threw the rose in the air. Thick white smoke came out of it, covering the entire room.

"GET HIM!!!" Zenigata cried before following a lot of people into fits of coughing.

A lot of things happened at once. The moment when Lupin-san threw his rose in the air (Do black roses really exist? He has to check that out.), Kaito immediately grabbed Aoko and placed her behind the skyscraper desk.

"Don't move from there, okay?" Kaito asked. He didn't think the thief would do something horrible to Aoko but it was a just-in-case scenario. With the cops falling all over each other, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"Where are you going?" asked the skeptical girl.

A face-spitting grin graced his face. "I'm gonna see that thief! What else?" Staring at her frown, he countered, "Daijoubu, Aoko! I'll be fine." She sighs and nods. He took a few steps back as the thick white smoke enclosed the room, blinding everyone. Kaito quickly donned a gas mask that doubled as a vision enhancer, enabling him to see beyond the smoke as if it wasn't there. Looking around, he couldn't help but laugh.

The police were once again in a dog pile on top of the desk, with Lupin-san nowhere in sight. Takegi-keiji was pulling Satou-keiji away from the carnage. Mouri-san was pretty much sitting in a chair, who along with Megure-keibu and some other remaining officers were coughing. He was still in shock apparently. The only person he still didn't see was Lupin-san. Where did that thief go? He was then grabbed by the arm and gently shoved into a room. Slightly dazed, the magician found himself in an interrogation room. He heard a click meaning the door was closed and locked, signaling no escape for the boy.

Kaito's Poker Face slammed down as he searched for escape routes. His eyes fell upon a figure leaning on the other side of the wall. The only light was coming from the dim lamp hovering over the table. Kaito could not see the man's face.

"Sit!" the man said sternly, pointing to a chair on the other side of the table, his voice sounded suspiciously like Nakamori-keibu's. He grabbed Kaito's face mask and pulled it off. "Don't bother…Kid. I've made sure you won't escape from me." Kaito complied, still thinking of ways to get out of this situation. IT was not looking good. He was inwardly panicking. How did he know? I was careful in front of him.

"I can't believe YOU of all people were that thief!" He muttered in disappointment.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Nakamori-keibu?" Kaito said calmly, the panic in the inside going on overdrive.

"Don't play dumb, you rotten thief," he cried. "I've known for a while. I just don't know whether to tell Aoko or not." He shook his head and gave a mirthless chuckle. "There is one thing that I want to know." He grabbed the lamp and shoved it near Kaito's face, which in turn exposed his face. Kaito's jaw dropped, Poker face saying ta-ta for now. "What do you want, Kuroba-kun?" he asked in a different male voice.

"Lupin-san!!" he cried.

"Expecting someone else?" Lupin-san said. He let go of the lamp and sat on the table. "You were the one who asked me to come to the precinct." He gave a glance at Kaito. "Kami-sama, you look like Kudou-kun, before he turned into a kid."

The magician-thief blinked. Wait… how did know know that Kudou-kun is Edogawa-kun?He gave him a questioning look.

He dismissed the look with a wave. "We're here for your challenge to me; those questions can wait till later." Kaito allowed a frown to lace his face. Suspicious. "What do you want to talk about?"

With a cocky grin, Kaito answered, "A competition."

"Competition."

"Yes. One of tricks. To be held tomorrow at…" Kaito told Lupin-san the place. And to finish it off, he made a small stack of papers appear on the desk with a snap of his fingers. The older thief took them and gave a quick glance over. He chuckled.

"Just like your old man," he said simply.

"HOW DID YOU KNOW MY FATHER?" Kaito cried. Lupin-san blinked before smiling faintly.

"That, Kaito-kun, is also for another day, when we have the time." He looked at his watch. "Since that is the battleground, I'll make sure that we'll have a wonderful time…" He was silent for two beats. Lupin-san leaned close to Kaito's face. "You can ask me all the questions you want after the competition," he whispered. Kaito's eyes widened. The older thief's eyes gave a sad glint before once again becoming unreadable. The expression that he now held reminded him of Oyaji's Poker Face, the same one that Kaito uses. Did he know my father? He has the same 'face' as me. What is going on?

"He will get the shoes but has a darker aim."

The annoying witch's word now rung in his ears again; he wondered if Lupin-san was here for more than the heist. Probably the woman he and 'Nemuri no Kogoro' were talking about had something to do with it. He didn't have to worry about that, yet.

"Okay, Ojisan." Kaito grinned. Lupin-san burst out laughing, the first, Kaito realized, genuine laugh he gave the entire time he was here.

His chuckling decreased, as he said, "Don't call me 'Ojisan'. It makes me feel old. Call me what you said before… or 'Lupin-kun'."

"Lupin-san it is," Kaito concluded. Lupin-san pouted. Hey, Kaito looked up to Lupin-san's grandfather. He pretty much respects the man sitting in front of him. Kaito didn't really wanted to call him '-kun'. He was older and more experienced than Kaito. Besides, they were still rivals.

"Hai!" The thief said, dejected. He rose from his seat on the table, gesturing Kaito to precede him. Kaito complied, noticing the papers he gave Lupin-san mysteriously vanished. Opening the door, Kaito was assaulted by the smoke. He felt something in his hand, as Lupin-san walked past him, muttering, "I'll see you tomorrow, then." The boy no longer could see his face.

He immediately placed that something over his face. It was his gas mask. Lupin-san was already halfway out the door. He threw something down and Kaito immediately heard a whir. The smoke was beginning to disappear.

"Jaa ne, Tottsan, Megure-keibu, Mouri-san! Oh, Takegi-keiji, I'm glad you're taking the first initiative," Lupin-san said in a female voice. He strolled, not ran, out the door, just as the smoke dissipated.

Kaito immediately removed his mask. He became aware that the 'Takegi' mask was on the floor, swelling, absorbing the smoke. When the smoke was fully absorbed, it exploded, shooting confetti all over the room, covering everyone with strings and pieces of paper.

"Kaito!" He saw Aoko leaving the safety of the desk to meet him; she was the only one not covered. "Are you alright?" He slowly nodded. The officer pile on the desk was once again slowly decreasing as every officer was getting off each other. Zenigata-keibu was mysteriously on the floor (He probably tripped on a chair, trying to find Lupin-san. (Kaito suppressed a chuckle.)). Satou-keiji and Takegi-keiji had long since nervously moved apart to help the other officers (Again, Kaito suppressed a chuckle.). Megure-keibu was slowly coming out of his coughing fit, as well as Mouri-san, who still had that shell-shocked expression. And with good reason.Nakamori-keibu (one of the officers who were in the dog pile (Once again, Kaito was barely putting up a front with his suppressed chuckles.)) noticed the detective's expression and walked towards him. Aoko grabbed Kaito by the arm and dragged him there as well.

"Megure-keibu, Mouri-san, what's wrong?"

"That voice," muttered Mouri-san. "That was Ran's tomodachi, Kiyone's voice. Then…." He stared at the pudgy inspector, look of resigned realization on his face.

Megure-keibu nodded slowly. "Yes Mouri-kun. The Kiyone that was with you was actually Lupin in disguise. The person who shot and killed one of the thugs was Jigen." He shook his head in disbelief. "We knew that Jigen was the shooter because of the information about him that Zenigata-keibu gave us. We didn't know about Lupin being Kiyone-chan until we told Zenigata-keibu about this incident."

Mouri-san frowned somewhat. "What happened to that other one?"

"We interrogated him," The inspector blinked a bit. "He confessed, weeping and blubbering, about how 'Kiyone' beat them up, even going so far as to throw the suspects' knife at him."

"Naruhodo, that wrist wound," Mouri-san said, now deep in thought. Kaito understood his shock; he did witness the entire thing, after all.

Aoko leaned in her father's ear and asked, "What's happening?"

Nakamori-keibu whispered, "Yesterday afternoon, that high school girl and a little boy were attacked by two thugs. When it was all over, one of the thugs was dead, a gunshot to the back, the other had a stab wound on the wrist, the little boy was fine, and Kiyone-san had minor injuries. When Megure-keibu was going to interrogate her, she vanished without a trace. As the inspector said, we figured out the shooter was one of Lupin's nakama from Zenigata-keibu's info on him, Daisuke Jigen. When they told him about the thug—"

"I said that Kiyone could be Lupin in disguise." Kaito saw the thinner inspector halfway across from them, dusting himself off, with an obvious scowl. "I knew that sometimes when one of his friends was around, Lupin wasn't far behind." He became silent with a frown. He muttered something, the only thing Kaito was able to catch was "… this isn't like him at all. Why was he here? …."

Kaito hid a wide grin behind an impassive mask. I contacted him through my pigeon to come here so we can meet unofficially. How his bird managed to find Lupin-san's hideout, he wasn't too sure; it was the same bird that was used in the Kiyone incident. Something about his behavior bothered him, though. He looked at articles that shown him as something of a childish prankster with a mocking smile.

"He will get the shoes but has a darker aim."

Kaito closed his eyes for a second. Is that so? He smirked.

"I have to go home," Mouri-san said suddenly. He rose from his chair.

"Will you be fine, Mouri-kun?" asked Zenigata-keibu.

The detective gave a confident grin. "Now that I know who 'L' is…" He gave a light punch into his hand, surprising everyone. "I'll bring him down!" He bowed to the cops, giving a slight frown in Aoko's and Kaito's direction. Then, he left the room… but not before patting Takegi-keiji on the back, winking at him. The ice glare daggers were once again felt, and the poor officer shrunk into himself.

"We need to go to, Otousan," said Aoko. With a determined look on her face, and a kiss to her father's cheek, she added, "Those thieves will be defeated by you, Otousan." He beamed and nodded.

"Yes you will, Nakamori-san!" Kaito echoed (For the fourth time, Kaito had to suppress another chuckle.). The high school kids walked past the Interpol inspector.

"So Kid was here, too?" he muttered in a low voice.

Kaito blinked in shock. Aoko grabbed his hand and they both rushed out the building.

"How the hell did he sense me being here?" he muttered. Another question that he can ask Lupin-san after their battle. This made the magician feel giddy with huge grin on his face.

"Why are you grinning Kaito?"

He gave a quick glance Aoko's way. He needed to burn some energy, after trying and nearly failing to suppress his chuckles.

He looked around to see that there was no one around, and grinned wider.

Flip! "Plaid, nice choice."

"KAITO! YOU...!" She took something out of her purse, and his laughing face was replaced by sheer horror and terror.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He ran like he was in a marathon, the goal: home and away from the stuffed, hellish creature of the sea.

"KAITO, GET BACK HERE!" said the vengeful girl with a malicious chuckle. "IT'S JUST A TOY FISH!"

A) Nakama, tomodachi (noun) - Both mean 'friend'. Nakama though is something akin to 'comrade' or 'work friend' and could also mean 'circle of friends'. The kinship-closeness is about the same in both words, but their main difference is distance. Tomodachi, you know almost everything about that person, and you would lay down your life for that person. Ran and Sonoko would be an example of Tomodachi. Nakama, you probably know the basics or next to nothing about that person but you would still lay down your life for that person. Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko and Goemon are examples of nakama.

B) Daijoubu (adjective) – safe; ok.

C) Oyaji (noun) – another term for 'father'

D) Jaa ne (expression) – See you!

E) Naruhodo (Expression) – I see.

F) Nemuri (Noun) - sleep

F) We will now dive in to the minds of the Great Sleeping Kogoro, and ... a woman, with familiar blond hair? Stay tuned!