Merry Christmas everyone. I am feeling much more inspired now, and after this chapter I will try to work on Masks. I hope to have it out for a NYE present, starting the year off right. Also, I have been asked if this is a Kaishin. I had intended for this to be strictly friendship, no romance, unless you imagine it, which I will not stop you.

Kaito nodded as he saw that all the media, and his fanclub disperse into the night, after Jirokichi's proclamation that he was not coming. He silently apologized to the old man, but this was too important to play fairly. He was about to step out of the door himself, trying to get a head start on his way to the Kudo mansion, when the lights cut out, leaving just the building in total darkness. Kaito took a moment to consider the option of a power outage, but looking at the street lights fully lit, he discarded the idea. No, this was planned, and not by him. In less than half a second he had changed from his Ran disguise into his full KID regalia.

His heart hammered in his chest as he retreated slightly farther into the museum, eyes open for any nefarious criminal. They were here, earlier than expected. He had to take down as many as he could because as far as he knew, neither Conan nor the task force had left yet. This was his battle, and he wouldn't allow anyone to get hurt on his watch. Even if he cancelled the heist, it was still a heist, and his rules were still in place.

"KID!"

He froze, before slamming his poker face on with a grin as he turned to the man that materialized out of nowhere.

"Snake, was wondering when you would show up."

Snake leered, gesturing and around twenty men stepped out of the shadows also, brandishing machine guns and pistols with silencers. Kaito raised an eyebrow, even though adrenaline shot through his veins.

"Is that supposed to intimidate me?"

Snake sneered.

"Your foolish life will end tonight Kaitou KID, whether you like it or not. Where is the jewel?"

Kaito folded his arms, chuckling.

"Didn't you hear? It is a fake."

Snake growled.

"You just said that to get the masses out of here, so we don't use anyone as hostages. You and I both know Pandora is up there."

Kaito shrugged.

"Maybe, maybe not Snake, but you definitely are not going to get it."

Finally becoming serious, Kaito frowned.

"I will stop you and your entire syndicate. You will not get Pandora."

Snake hummed.

"Boy, you haven't even seen our full might, and you are alone. You cannot stop us."

Kaito gestured to the sides, smirked, and flicked his wrists.

"You are desperate Snake. Attacking me with a whole squad of policemen upstairs? Very bold of you."

In between his fingers materialized three red balls, which he casually tossed them at the group of men. They recoiled in shock as the balls exploded into bright pink smoke, leaving them covered in glow in the dark dust and glitter. As they collected themselves, Kaito sprinted off further into the museum, mind whirling with ideas. When he last checked, all Jirokichi's traps were on the second floor.

POP Kaito instinctively ducked as shots rang out behind him, skidding around a corner and darted partway up the stairs to the next floor. He turned, spotting a familiar antenna sticking out of the wall. He waited on the steps up to the next floor, grinning at a memory as four men sprinted around the corner. He shrieked in horror.

"What's that?!"

He turned and pointed at the antenna. The men turned, pistols pointing toward the supposed threat, and instantly lightning like the wrath of God zapped the criminals, leaving them convulsing on the floor. Kaito cackled as he sprinted the rest of stairs. He thought they looked familiar to the tasers from the Lady Sky heist. He would have to thank Jirokichi later. Now let's see what else he could use to trap the goons foolishly trying to kill a phantom.

Conan's hand immediately came up to turn on the night vision on his glasses on. Adrenaline flooded his system as he looked around frantically, looking for assailants in the semi darkness, only the pale milky light of moon providing any sight. Nakamori Keibu shouted.

"Keep alert men. Protect Conan-kun. Take cover."

Instantly five officers surrounding him, including Nakamori Keibu, looking around the room. Instantly everyone froze, guns drawn, or in Conan's case, his shoes were sparking in the darkness. He wanted to put his hands on Anesidora's Heart to make sure it was still in his possession, but he didn't want to give away the position of it to any possible enemy nearby.

The room was enveloped in dark stillness, the anxiety and tension palpable. Was it KID, or was it KID's attackers? Everyone remained alert, trying to pick someone foreign to them out in the blackness.

Suddenly bangs that sounded like fireworks sounded off down below, followed by an alarm. Everyone jumped, looking toward the control panel Jirokichi had set up; someone had set off a trap on the lower floors.

Conan was the first to react, sprinting toward the emergency stairs. No way KID had set it off; he was too good for that, which meant, finally these guys were in their grasp. After all these months of waiting, of planning, they could be caught. They would be off guard and disorientated, perfect opportunity for law enforcement to sweep in and capture them. They couldn't waste the opportunity. Nakamori Keibu was also quick, rallying his officers to go down the three different staircases to spill into the floor below.

"Let's go men!"

Every officer present was ready to defend the territory of a KID's heist that they had claimed as their own, and to protect the phantom thief that was obnoxious, but human.

Conan slammed the door open, leaping down the stairs three at a time, pausing at the bottom as he listened to shots happening on the other side of the door. He hoped he wasn't too late. Pictures of KID bleeding out on the floor distracted him for a moment. No, he was going to keep that from happening, no matter what. He took a deep breath, watch ready to shoot and shoes ready to kick, as he inched the door open.

The second floor was in complete chaos. Several sticky traps, pitfalls, nets, and the lightning sensors Jirokichi had used during the Lady Sky heist had been operated, leaving at least half of the twenty men incapacitated. The other half were currently coughing on a smoke bomb, and covered in bright neon dust and glitter, shooting randomly.

There in the middle, orchestrating the anarchy, was KID, looking more serious then he had in a long time, shooting cards at the men who had currently had him outnumbered. He never stood still, always moving impossibly fast and gracefully around the instant death that surrounded him, a ghost of a whirlwind as he moved from one man to the next, taking another three out in the blink of an eye. Conan was almost impressed he had almost taken down the small force by himself, but this was the ridiculously uncatchable KID.

A man shouted from the dark.

"KID you obnoxious brat, where is the jewel?"

KID smirked calmly, but his body language was rigid and tense.

"I don't have it yet. Why don't you leave before you regret it?"

The warning was polite, but a warning nonetheless. Conan decided that was enough, and wasted no time bursting onto the scene, minute calculations racing through his head as he kicked as hard as he could the soccer ball that was ejected out of his belt. The sparking death ball ricocheted off the wall like lightning, catching two men in the face and they fell in rapid succession. KID whirled around, a look of terror and relief on his face.

"Tantei-kun, thought you had already left."

Conan raced forward, putting himself at KID's back, looking around at the other men. The best thing for him to do is to continue the façade that the fake jewel was the real jewel.

"Was in the process of. The jewel is upstairs, and the rest of the force should be here—"

He was interrupted by doors slamming open.

"Police! Hands up and surrender."

KID tensed barely before relaxing. He would rather there wasn't a firefight when people he cared about were in range of a bullet, but he knew that Nakamori and his officers could take care of themselves. If they could almost keep up with him, these much more predictable men should be much easier, minus the real weapons of course.

The criminals did the opposite of what the police asked, gunfire becoming more frantic and rapid. Officers dove to the sides, looking for any sliver of cover behind exhibits and corners. Kaito's first instinct was move; which was quickly squelched when he saw another soccer ball bounce off the wall to his left. Right, he couldn't move and leave Conan by himself. KID reflexively crouched and flipped around, grabbing onto the boy sleuth behind him. He had to get him out of the line of fire. He pulled out his dark cloak, swirling the material around both him and Conan.

Conan took a breath, ready to fire another soccer ball, when suddenly he was enveloped in a dark cloth and movement. He swiped aside the dark material in a panic and looked up to see KID. He had switched his white, easily seen outfit to pure black, and he had pulled Conan off behind a statue. Conan had a small flashback to the teleportation trick, remembering that white to black was a common magician's trick. KID crouched, holding on tightly to Conan, not trusting him not to run off and get himself killed, captured, or hurt. Conan struggled in his grip.

"KID, let me go."

Conan hissed softly, tensing at every bullet shot in the darkness. There were wild yells along with the bullet fire, and neither of the boys could tell if it was friend or foe, pained or angry. KID shook his head, mind whirling. What was his priority right now? Conan, with the jewel. That was his top priority. He needed a swift get away. However, he couldn't just leave the police alone. He needed to help them somehow. KID slightly lessened his grip.

"Don't sprint out."

Conan nodded as he squirmed out of the Phantom Thief's hands and peered around the statute.

"Any ideas?"

Kaito winced as a gun went off right by his ear he turned, seeing a shocked face of what looked like an enemy, who looked like he didn't expect to see them hiding there. Before he could react, he heard a small sound, like a puff of air, and the man slumped to the ground. Kaito turned, looking at Conan lowering his watch. Conan murmured.

"What do you have?"

But Kaito was already working on an idea, thanks to Conan's swift actions. Conan fumbled as KID shoved an object into his hands.

"Put this on."

Conan inspected the object, a gasmask, and KID's plan was easy to figure out. He struggled with the straps as he shoved it over his head. KID stood up, flicking his dark cloak out of sight, leaving him in his full white and easily seen suit, distracting every eye in the room. He shouted as he flicked more objects into his hands.

"Gas masks, now!"

Not a millisecond later he tossed the gas bombs to different corners of the room. The task force had trained themselves, practicing many times putting on their gas masks that they had at every heist on perfectly in a matter of milliseconds. They followed the order blindly, not really thinking about it as their hands flew to their equipment. The syndicate members were caught unprepared, and when KID's sleeping gas bombs filled the room, the rest of the criminals were down in a matter of thirty seconds.

Kaito wobbled slightly as he inhaled some of the gas; he had given his only gas mask to Conan, and he didn't have a spare so he did the best he could do by covering his mouth and nose with his cape, hoping that would stop most of it.

Suddenly, Snake jumped in front of Kaito, raising a pistol, a look of pure rage on his half covered face. Seemed like he had also used some cloth to black the gas. Kaito stumbled forward, falling flat as a bullet shot by over him, half in an effort to dodge, half in the fact that his legs gave out from his potent anesthetic. Now though, from his place on the floor, he couldn't move fast enough out of the way from the next bullet. He watched in defiance as Snake pointed the pistol right at his head.

Conan's eyes widened as he saw KID prone on the floor. Instantly he leapt forward, right in front of KID, hands outstretched in a desperate attempt to shield him from the bullet.

"Stop!"

Snake sneered as his finger started to pull the trigger. Kaito's mind snapped back into full focus quickly. Stupid heroic Tantei-kun. He was going to get himself killed. Kaito reached up, intent on grabbing Conan by the jacket and tossing him to the side, praying he wasn't too late. Luckily for both boys, someone else was privy to their situation.

Nakamori Keibu materialized out of the darkness, slamming into Snake like a train, grabbing onto the gun with a precise grip that caught Snake off guard. They grappled over the gun for a few moments. Kaito reached down, grabbing his card gun, pulling it out and letting off a shot.

The card caught Snake right in the face, enough to disorient him. Nakamori Keibu wrestled the gun out of his grip, yelling angrily.

"You crazy—Hey!"

Snake decided facing down an entire task force unarmed was too much for him and fled, sprinting across the way to the stairs down to the first floor. Kaito dropped his head onto the floor in relief, his heart pounding and he tried to fight off the rest of the sleeping gas. He, and Conan, were a split second away from getting murdered. All for this one stupid gem. If this jewel wasn't Pandora, he was going to be furious.

"KID!"

He was instantly brought back into focus as he was hoisted up and forward by his collar by a yelling Nakamori Keibu, who shouted in his face.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Kaito blinked sluggishly. Ah, this was bad. He was in the clutches of the man who was going to lock him up in jail for the rest of his life. Suddenly the jewel fled from his mind; he couldn't check it if he was going to jail. He felt a smaller hand on his knee as Conan stepped up.

"Nakamori Keibu, we have got to get these men in handcuffs before they get up."

Nakamori Keibu gave him a glance, before turning his eyes back toward KID. They had a strange, sad look in them.

"KID, you…you aren't going to disappear again are you?"

The thief stepped back slightly, smiling.

"No Nakamori Keibu, not yet. You will be the first to know about my retirement. I am close however."

Nakamori smirked, and he seemed to stumble back toward the wall.

"You better not let anyone else catch you, you damn thief."

He slumped to the ground, falling flat on his face. Kaito's face paled as he noticed the sizable blood stain on the back of Nakamori Keibu, right around where his shoulder was.

"No, Nakamori!"

He rushed forward, hand already trying to staunch the flow. No, how had this happened? Had Snake managed to get him? When? None of that mattered as every first aid fact flitted through his mind. He was about to lose his father all over again. Tears pricked at his eyes, threatening to fall. No. he wouldn't cry. He couldn't let his poker face fall, no matter what. He felt his hands shake as Nakamori chuckled slightly.

"If you stay around here any longer, I will handcuff you to me."

That did nothing to deter the thief as he refused to move. Nakamori sighed.

"He had a knife on him, managed to graze me. Nothing that won't heal with a few stitches. Consider this payback for the roof."

Kaito took a deep, calming breath and poked and prodded the wound, checking just in case. Sure, enough it was a small gash across the man's shoulder, nothing life-threatening. He felt a smaller hand shake his shoulder.

"KID, I called the ambulances, let's go."

KID looked up, surveying the scene. The rest of the task force was scattered about, half were tending to the thankfully small group of wounded while several others were handcuffing the criminals and dragging them to a corner.

He couldn't do anything else; it was time to leave. He met eyes with Nakamori Keibu.

"Are you sure you will be ok?"

Nakamori Keibu snorted.

"You are more obnoxious then this is."

Kaito smiled faintly; if he was already in that good of a mood, it really was a small injury. He nodded matter-of-factly and stood, and in a moment changed back into civilian clothes and Ran's disguise. He smiled down at Conan.

"Let's go Conan-kun."

Conan huffed, before taking off through the wreckage. 'Ran' was quick to follow, but stopped, turning slightly.

"Nakamori Keibu, would it be all right if I used your resources for stuff like this in the next few days?"

Nakamori Keibu grinned from his place on the floor.

"We only got so many jail cells KID, but I will gladly fill all of them up."

Kaito smiled; another very unexpected ally, but a welcome one. KID tipped an imaginary top hat, and in a puff of smoke, the phantom thief and the young detective vanished into the night, leaving massive pandemonium in their wake.