InuYasha Fan Fiction / Crossover Fan Fiction / Slayers Fan Fiction ❯ *What* Insertion? ❯ Blackout ( Chapter 10 )

[ A - All Readers ]

*WHAT* INSERTION?
by Curtis Wildcat


Chapter Ten --- Blackout

--------

(Cue theme)

--------

Time: 7:15pm, the Friday following Chapter Nine
Location: Moore Detective Agency

Knock, knock.

Rachel looked up from the magazine she was reading. "Conan, could you get the door, please? It's probably Phibrizzo."

"Sure!" Conan said, jumping off the couch and walking towards the door.

The previous Saturday, Conan had been unable to have Phibrizzo over to the agency; a case had come up in the morning, keeping he, Richard, and Rachel unavailable until mid-afternoon. By that time, the unusual kid had split for destinations unknown.

When they met again at school on Monday, the two of them agreed to meet tonight to finish off homework and find ways to keep entertained. Conan had hoped that nothing else would come up, but Richard had to head down to the police station after dinner and discuss something with Inspector Maguire. Basically, they were on their own until he returned.

Conan opened the door to see that Phibrizzo was indeed standing there, a full schoolbag on his back, carrying a closed umbrella and wearing his fireball T-shirt. There was someone else standing behind him, though... "Um...hello! Are you here to see Detective Moore?" he asked nervously, wondering who this blue-haired woman was. Further back in the living room, Rachel laid the magazine down and got up to see who had arrived.

The woman just shook her head, eyeing her surroundings carefully. Phibrizzo smirked knowingly. "She isn't a client, Edogawa. She came to my house earlier for dinner, then insisted on coming with me when I told her I had to leave."

"Hello, Phibrizzo," Rachel greeted him before turning to the taller woman. "Nice to meet you. Are you a friend of his?"

The woman smiled nervously; seeing this, Phibrizzo spoke for her. "Cousin Rachel, Conan Edogawa...I'd like you to meet Deep Sea Dolphin, alias Lauren Aqua...and my sister, I might add."

"Oh...that's a pleasant surprise!" Rachel remarked, smiling politely. "Come on in!"

The two of them made way for Phibrizzo and 'Deep Sea Dolphin'. If that's her real name---which isn't too unusual, compared to a name like 'Phibrizzo'---then it sure applies to her, Conan thought with mild amusement. Turquoise earrings, dark blue blouse and pants, sharp sea-blue eyes...even her absurdly-long hair was a light blue.

"Excuse me, you two," Phibrizzo said, interrupting his thoughts as he closed the door behind him. "Just thought I'd say real quick that my sister's mute..." He paused as 'Dolphin' took out a notepad and pen. "...so be prepared to receive a lot of written messages throughout the evening."

Conan and Rachel nodded, showing that they understood. "Okay," the latter said as everyone went to sit down. "So, is 'Deep Sea Dolphin' your real name?"

The woman nodded, jotting something down and showing it to them. 'As unusual as it sounds, yes. At performances, I use the name 'Lauren Aqua' to keep the general public from finding out.'

"Performances?" Conan asked.

Dolphin wrote something else. 'I can combine swimming and dancing into a single movement. Maritime grace at its finest, and so forth.'

Rachel laughed. "And ever so modest, too."

"Actually, she's not exaggerating," Phibrizzo told her as he got out one of his schoolbooks. "That woman takes her work seriously. Her sense of humor is rather peculiar, though. Her performance last Friday was the first I'd seen her in who knows how long, and one of the first things she did was fling me into the facility's swimming pool."

Dolphin angrily jotted down another message. 'And don't think I haven't forgotten about my coffee!'

"For the last time, shark breath, I didn't drink all your coffee!" Phibrizzo protested. "I took one cup---one cup---and that was it! I sure didn't throw the rest of it out, either!"

His sister turned to another page and wrote another message. 'Don't lie to me, firebrat! You did something to it!'

"Shark breath? Firebrat?" Conan heard Rachel say to herself before she began chuckling aloud.

The two siblings turned to her. "What's so funny?" the more audible one requested.

Conan began laughing a bit, too. "You two really are related," he got out. "Who else would talk to each other like that?"

The two of them stared first at Conan and Rachel, and then at each other. Finally, Dolphin's shoulders began shaking in silent laughter at some unknown joke. Not sure what she was laughing at, Phibrizzo sighed and threw his hands up, exasparated. "Fine. Laugh it up. See if I care," he fumed before settling down.

As Phibrizzo followed Conan to the couch and started to get out his books, the mini-sleuth caught an interesting detail. I only saw one umbrella with them, and it wasn't very big...only wide enough for one person; but Dolphin didn't look the slightest bit wet. A sweatdrop formed and rolled down the back of his head. If she's his sister, I can only imagine what the rest of his family must be like.

---------

Time: Ten minutes later

Conan took another look at Phibrizzo's handwriting before shaking his head. "Your English is pretty good, but your Japanese is terrible," he criticized. "Did you take a crash course before coming to Tokyo?"

"I only knew how to speak it, not to write it," Phibrizzo reminded him, looking disconcerted. "Besides, I never really needed to use it before; English is my main language. Hey, where'd Dolphin and cousin Rachel go?"

"You mean you didn't hear them going into the kitchen?" Conan asked disbelievingly.

Phibrizzo shrugged. "I was too busy trying to write this stuff down. I just hope Dolphin doesn't destroy anything in there."

"'Destroy'?" Conan shuddered a little. "Is she a bad cook or something?"

"Not just that. Where Dolphin lived before, she never really became acquainted with machinery. To quote one of my associates, she's not very 'technology-savvy'...I think that's the term for it. She'd probably destroy a telephone just by trying to dial a number. That's how bad she is."

Conan sweatdropped. "I don't mean any offense, but is your whole family dysfunctional?"

Phibrizzo blinked. "Dysfunctional? Maybe. It would explain some of my family's habits, that's for sure." He lowered his voice a tad. "Hey, have you seen the news recently? I haven't been able to watch it the last few days."

"Not too many news items," Conan said at the same volume, shaking his head, "and nothing to do with those guys in black. There's a team at the local police department that work to keep track of that Inuyasha person's actions. So far, the news hasn't had anything bad to say about him; he appears somewhere, captures a criminal or would-be criminal, then goes away. The department's paranoid about him possibly going overboard with this."

"I'd like to think that he knows what he's doing," Phibrizzo replied. "If he finds who those guys are before we do, Edogawa, then so much the better. I go around Tokyo a lot, but I'm only one person."

"One inhuman person, you mean," Conan told him, annoyed. "With that teleport thing and your attitude, you do pretty well for only being 'one person'. So, have you completed your little 'tour of Tokyo' yet?"

"Except for Ueno, yes." Phibrizzo frowned as he said this. "I've got to get over there one of these days---"

The rest of Phibrizzo's complaint would remain unheard. The lights flickered, dimmed, then extinguished themselves. The sudden outage was accompanied by a lively succession of crashes from the kitchen, startling both of the lobby's occupants.

"Okay, so the lights are out," Phibrizzo said wryly, surprisingly calm. "Now, could you tell me what's the big idea behind all this?"

Before Conan could tell him anything, the door that led upstairs opened. Rachel was standing there, a lit flashlight in her hand. "Is everyone okay?"

"Just swell," Phibrizzo growled. "What were those crashes a second ago?"

"The power going out startled your sister," Rachel said concernedly. "She dropped the pot she was holding on her foot and kicked it out of reflex. I didn't know she was that strong; the pot bounced around the kitchen a few times." She sighed. "Guess I'll have to get it fixed; it has a massive dent in it."

Yikes! "Rachel, that's nice and all, but why'd the power go out?"

"Maybe the weather outside was a bit much for one of the power lines," Rachel suggested. "The weather called for wind and rain for most of the evening, you know."

No one responded to this as Dolphin joined Rachel at the door, her arms folded. With the power out and the only available illumination coming from the flashlight, it would be difficult to tell what the woman would try to say.

As Phibrizzo dug into his pockets and pulled out a pair of glasses, there was a knock at the main door. Still holding the flashlight, Rachel arrived at the door first and opened it. Conan didn't recognize the person at first, but then it clicked in his mind regarding who the hairstyle and black coat belonged to. He'd solved the riddle that Phibrizzo had given him, and now he had a name---a codename, anyway---to identify the face.

Sherry! Conan immediately tensed himself, while Phibrizzo just fiddled with the glasses and set them on his face. What's she doing here?

"Hello," Rachel greeted her. "You here to see Detective Moore about something?"

"Yes, I am," the woman said quietly. "Is he here?"

Rachel shook her head, not paying attention as Dolphin sat down behind her father's desk. "Sorry, but my dad's away at the police station at the moment. You're welcome to wait here for him to come back, if you want..."

Sherry shrugged. "Sure. Whatever." She looked past Rachel, spotting Conan and Phibrizzo. "Well, so you two are here. Small world, huh?"

"You know them?" Rachel asked, sounding both surprised and interested as she let her in and shut the door.

"I've...run into Phibrizzo numerous times," Sherry said dryly, walking in and finding an open seat. "The other kid, too. That's not important, though. This morning before I left for work, I was informed that one of my family members here in Japan was kidnapped and being held for ransom."

"Kidnapped!?" everyone except Dolphin shouted, alarmed.

Sherry didn't seem to mind. "Yes. My sister was busy, and the others weren't returning my calls. I wasn't sure what to do. Then on my way home I remembered that Richard Moore was starting to get a reputation for himself, so I decided to see if he could help me."

"Out of curiosity, who was it that was kidnapped?" Conan asked a trifle suspiciously.

"Do you even need to ask?" Sherry told him without batting an eyelid. "I do believe your friend knows her well. It was my cousin, the female half of the Golden Pair: Azusa Shiratori."

Conan's eyes widened. Rachel gasped, and Phibrizzo's face turned white. "I'd say 'please tell me you're joking' at this point, but saying that would be rather useless!" the latter spat.

Rachel turned to him. "Phibrizzo? Are you okay?"

"Remember the words 'that psycho klepto kissed me', cousin Rachel?" Phibrizzo growled. "No, I'm not okay! It's just as well that Richard Moore's the one handling this, because I don't want anything to do with that crazy girl!"

"Good," Sherry said, probably remembering her last encounter with him. "I wasn't asking you anyway, and---" Cutting herself off without warning, she turned and stared at something past Conan's line of sight.

As one, Rachel, Conan, and Phibrizzo turned to see what Sherry was looking at. What they saw---and what the scientist likely saw as well---was Dolphin's long-haired form. Phibrizzo's sister had her arms folded, and she appeared for all the world like an angry hawk...or a shark. She didn't look anything at all like the nervous woman that had dropped in almost fifteen minutes earlier.

Phibrizzo fidgeted nervously. "Uh...Dolphin? Sister? What's with that look? I know she's an ice cube, but---"

Dolphin's left hand shot to the side, cutting him off. Her message was clear: Stay out of this.

Conan sat down again, thinking to himself. She must suspect something about her. It could be any number of things, not just Sherry's criminal status...unless Phibrizzo hasn't mentioned that to her. In that case, what would it be?

---------

I don't understand. Why's that woman staring at me? Sherry thought apprehensively, standing and locking eyes with the person that Phibrizzo called his sister, 'Dolphin'. Does she suspect something about me? I don't know what it is that has her so upset.

---------

"Is this one of those 'classic staredowns' you mentioned?" Inuyasha asked, leaning on Curtis's chair as he looked on.

"Mm-hm," Curtis grunted. "The gloomy chemist meets the cold fish. Let's see who wins."

Neither of them heard Phibrizzo's silent chuckling. 'Let's see who wins' is right.

---------

Wilt, lady, Dolphin thought, glaring at the opposing woman by the light of Rachel's electric torch...flashlight, rather. Wilt. Those who are cold have something to hide. I'm going to find out what that something is...and have a little bit of fun at your expense.

And on the off-chance that you don't have anything to hide...well, there isn't a human alive that can outstare a monster. Especially one that can't blink.

--------

A staring contest was the last thing on Sherry's mind, though; this was evident as time went on. What's with her? I don't understand! Why is she so mad? "Why are you looking at me like that?"

The woman didn't respond, instead narrowing her eyes. Sherry took a step back, starting to feel nervous. The teenage girl opened her mouth as if to say something, but was nudged into silence by Phibrizzo as beads of sweat formed on the scientist's forehead.

--------

Conan wasn't sure what to think when Sherry's visage lost some of its chill. Phibrizzo's sister knows what she's doing, apparently. That doesn't answer the question of why she's doing this, though. What's running through Dolphin's mind right now?

--------

Phibrizzo's sister was a master of the poker face, even though she didn't like playing cards herself. She could be thinking something else while she antagonized the other person, and she enjoyed this very much.

Therefore, while her face was scowling, Dolphin's mind was singing something that she'd heard on that 'radio' device recently. Girls just want to have fun...

-------

Rachel looked on, worried. She's trying to scare a client? Either she's impolite, or her sense of humor is as strange as Phibrizzo says it is!

She glanced over at her little cousin. Phibrizzo was trying his hardest to keep his grin restrained, and failing miserably; he must be enjoying this to the hilt. Adoption or not, I'd like to know how I wound up with clowns for cousins!

-------

Munch, munch. "Say, this popcorn stuff's pretty tasty," Inuyasha said around a mouthful of the stuff.

Curtis smiled as he continued watching the staredown. "Glad you think so, Inuyasha. What do you think of this, Phibrizzo?"

Remind me to save up for one of those video cameras! The humor in his tone was as plain as day; Curtis wondered how much he was trying not to explode laughing. Probably wouldn't do too much for his dignity, he guessed.

--------

It was unnoticeable even to her, but Sherry had begun trembling ever so slightly. "This is ridiculous," she stated. "Why are you so upset at me? What did I ever do to you?"

Dolphin didn't say anything; this inaction heightened Sherry's uneasiness even more. I don't get it! I just don't get it! Why's she deliberately doing this!? "Just quit it! What do you want with me?"

Still nothing.

-------

This is really starting to creep me out, Conan thought as Dolphin continued tormenting the criminal scientist. I really should put a stop to this...but if I do, either Phibrizzo or his sister'll try to keep me quiet.

One thing's for sure: this won't score any points with Rachel's father when he finds out.

-------

Dolphin didn't let it show, but she was becoming delighted. She's almost at the breaking point; I can tell. I'll turn it up a little, she thought as she sneered and tapped her foot against the floor.

Sure enough, the other lady started appearing frightened...not much, but it was enough. "This is getting both of us nowhere!" she exclaimed. "Just tell me what you want!"

Since Dolphin couldn't give an audible response, she formed the most sinister smile she was capable of. I'll just let that do my talking for me.

-------

Why? Why? She's just standing there, grinning like she's evil incarnate! I can't take this anymore! "Alright, fine! What is this about---revenge? Do you have something against me? Whatever it was, I didn't mean to hurt you! Just tell me what you want, please! Just...just stop it already!"

Dolphin finally reacted to Sherry's desperate statements, walking forward until she was about a meter away. Her angry face softened a little as she clapped one hand on her shoulder and raised the other near her head, causing her to flinch and close her eyes. What's she doing? What did I do to her?

Sherry had been expecting a slap; she didn't know if she deserved it, but the other woman probably thought she would. Instead, she felt something else: it felt like the tip of a pen, tracing patterns on her face. "What on earth are you---"

The next reactions startled everyone, and this time it wasn't Dolphin's. There was a muffled snort, and then Phibrizzo burst into laughter as if he'd just heard something funny; the second reaction was Conan's facefault. Okay...I think I've been had. "Excuse me...but what are you doing?"

Nonplussed, the teenage girl looked down at Phibrizzo, who gripped the back of the couch to keep from falling over. "I was going to tell you this earlier...Dolphin can't talk. She's mute."

Sherry's mouth fell open in disbelief as Dolphin stopped writing. "You mean that the whole time I asked her what she had against me..."

Conan nodded, recovering from his facefault. "Yeah. You wouldn't have gotten a response no matter how much you yelled. What she wrote on your face added insult to injury."

"Why? What did she write?"

The teenager focused the flashlight's glow...and nearly fell over herself. "'Got any fours? Go fish!'"

As the girl switched off the flashlight (which had been on for several minutes by now), Sherry remained where she was, unsure of how to react. "Oh, for crying out loud," she managed to groan. "Is everyone here a comedian?"

Although Sherry couldn't see it very well, Dolphin smiled triumphantly.

"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" Phibrizzo asked, trying to hold down his laughter. "Priceless. Utterly priceless!"

Sherry shook her head, then wiped her forehead with a coat sleeve. "Does she do that sort of thing with everyone, or did she just single me out?"

"She could've been testing you for all I know," Phibrizzo admitted, finally calming down. "She does like to play mind games with people, regardless. Now, would you mind telling us what happened with Shiratori?"

"I'll state this as bluntly as I can," Sherry told him firmly. "I'm looking to hire Detective Moore, not you."

"So what? You want to rescue your cousin from a kidnapper, right?"

"Yes..."

"And something like that is better off done as soon as possible, right?"

"You're trying to tell me something, aren't you?"

Phibrizzo continued speaking, sounding remarkably knowledgeable despite his youth. "Neither the kidnapper nor your cousin are going to wait, Miss. Shiratori wants to be freed, and the kidnapper wants...whatever it is he or she wants. The sooner we get to the bottom of this, the better. There are four people here besides you, and we're all talented in our own ways. Even with the power outage and the bad weather, there isn't any better time to get to work. I don't really want to do this, but if I don't I'm never going to be able to get a moment's rest again."

He sure is persistent...wish I knew why he's doing this for me. "Very well, then. Let's go. I'll tell you what I know on the way."

-------------

A minute after Rachel left a note for her father, they were ready to go. The five of them piled inside Sherry's car with Conan, Rachel, and Phibrizzo in the back seat. It made everyone a little nervous when Phibrizzo insisted on scouring the interior for any listening aids, but Conan concluded that his friend had every right to be nervous. She was an associate of Gin and Vodka, after all.

As an intimidated Dolphin warily climbed into the other front seat and sat there until Rachel showed her how to buckle up (and close the door while she was at it), Conan took note of that in his head. She really isn't any good with technology, huh? She must've really been isolated from the outside world if she didn't even know what a car was. Resolving to ask Phibrizzo about it, he waited for Sherry to begin her explanation once the car was moving.

"It started before I left for work this morning. I received a phone call from an anonymous person; the caller had to have been distorting his or her voice somehow. Since I was in a hurry, I just let the answering machine record the call. Strangely enough, I only heard one sentence: 'Half of the Golden Pair is missing.' It was disquieting at the time, but after I arrived at work I got another call. This time, I heard: 'Perfect ten. One million is the goal. Find her.' I'd heard enough to determine that Azusa had been kidnapped.

"There were several problems, though. The relatives I have here in Japan aren't on speaking terms with me, outside of my sister. My co-workers aren't too fond of my cousin. They insisted that I not do anything about it."

"Understandable," Phibrizzo muttered. "If I was being chased around by a compulsive thief who decorated stuff in pink, called them French names, and bashed obstacles with a mallet, I'd be scared too."

"Either that or highly disturbed," Conan added.

"Close enough," Sherry admitted. "Anyhow, I wasn't about to take that from them. The third call I received before I left work at 7:00p.m. warned me: 'Bright chances are slowly waning. Come quickly.' I decided that the kidnapper wanted a million yen, so I packed up what I had and stuck it in the car's trunk. Problem was, I'm having difficulty finding out where the kidnapper is holed up."

"Wasn't even aware that you had that much money to begin with," Phibrizzo said. "You don't seem like the type to have made a fortune."

"Let's not discuss that. This is my cousin I'm talking about."

"Anything about the phone calls themselves that you found unusual?" Conan asked, leaning forward a little.

Sherry nodded a fraction. "When I listened to the original call, I heard another voice talking in the background. I played back the message a few times, and heard a fraction of another sentence: '---key arena, calling to---'...and that was it. I didn't hear anything during the second call, but during the third call I was pretty sure I heard a thud, followed by: 'I don't like secur---'. Again, that was it."

There were a few moments of silence as everyone thought it over. "Any ideas, people?" Sherry prodded.

As Sherry stopped at a red light, Dolphin---who still seemed nervous about the car---reached into a pocket and pulled out her notepad and pen. Pondering for a second, she scrawled a message and showed it to Sherry, who just shrugged. "Sports arena of some kind? Perhaps, but there's no shortage of them throughout this part of Japan. How would we know where to look?"

Another message; Sherry got a good enough look at it before the street light turned green. "A hockey arena? Thanks, but which one?"

"We could check and see if any of the arenas had a cancellation in their schedule today," Rachel suggested. "I don't know what Azusa's practice schedule is, but it's still a possibility. If we find out where, maybe we can start there."

"There may not be much time," Sherry pointed out. "We don't even know if we can use our cell phones. For that matter, I don't even know what their numbers are, or where the sports facilities are located."

"Keep going another five blocks, then turn left," Phibrizzo instructed. "You should reach a recreation center after a kilometer or so."

All eyes except Sherry's turned to him. "You know where the places are? That's pretty neat," Rachel commented.

"Actually I just know where that recreation center is," her cousin told her. "I go there for tennis practice once or twice a week. There should still be someone there, even with the loss of power; the place doesn't close until nine on Fridays. We can make some phone calls there. Failing that, we can at least get the addresses we need."

-------------

As everyone made various noises of agreement (except Dolphin), Curtis kept a close eye on the various monitors in his chamber. Within the last four hours following his latest disappearance, two hidden panels near the entertainment center had opened. One had been hiding a monitor and three large dials, labeled "Frequency", "Pitch", and "Volume", plus a button that read "Normal". The other had deposited a microphone, connected to the wall via an extension cord.

Interestingly enough, the new monitor had the word "Normal" in block letters at the top, plus numbers that stood for the three large dials and a little green square in one corner. While the trio were out and about before dinner, Curtis had fiddled with the dials. After turning them at random, he was greeted with the word "Girl" on the screen instead, plus the numbers that corresponded to the dials.

Not knowing what to do at the time, Curtis just pressed the "Normal" button to bring the original settings back. This was followed by a menu asking if he wanted to save that voice to memory; shrugging, he just pressed the "Yes" button on the touch-screen.

He was tempted to tell Phibrizzo about his discovery at the time, but remained silent. His line of thinking had been: He probably knows about it anyway; it's likely another one of those abilities he hadn't used in a while. It'll come in handy, that's for sure.

Before Curtis turned to watch the viewport, he looked back and recalled how Conan's bow tie was supposed to work. He had a pretty good idea what the purpose of the new monitor was. And if we don't find out tonight, color me surprised. I am so going to enjoy this.

-----------

Time: 8:00pm
Location: Inside recreation center

After arriving at the recreation center (which had power generators up and running) the group was able to enter, thankfully. The winds and rain, which had subsided a little, hadn't taken out the phone lines along with the electricity. Being the one with the most at stake, Sherry was chosen to make the needed calls.

It took a little bit of time to contact the various facilities to see what cancellations they had, if any. One arena had a cancellation, but not for a person matching Azusa's description. Two others didn't have any cancellations at all; everyone was starting to get a little nervous by now. Finally, they were able to find the ice rink where Azusa was supposed to practice today; she had been scheduled to practice at 8:00a.m., but her partner had called to cancel about ten minutes prior.

There was one slight problem with starting the search there, though: a hockey team was on the ice, and they were going to be practicing until around 8:30. The individual on the other end of the conversation seemed pretty adamant against anyone going there.

"Look," Sherry was saying to the other person, "I realize that the practices are off-limits to the public, but...Sir, this is important...No, I never said I wanted to see the practices...A season pass to the team's games? That's exaggerating things! I don't even watch hockey!"

A motion from the corner of her eye got her attention. "Excuse me a second, sir. I'll be right with you," Sherry muttered, disgusted. She placed a hand over the receiver and turned to Phibrizzo, who was waving one hand in a 'get over here quick' motion. "What do you want, Phibrizzo?"

The strange kid pointed first at the telephone, then at himself. "Let me talk to him," he hissed. "I'll get the message through to him in a heartbeat."

Sherry shook her head. "He won't listen to me. I don't think he'll listen to you."

"Trust me," Phibrizzo uttered. "I know what I'm doing."

Why do I get the feeling that he doesn't? Sherry asked herself. She sighed. "I suspect I'm doing something stupid," she said to herself. To the stubborn receptionist on the phone, she said: "Excuse me for a minute. I'm going to turn this conversation over to someone else. Just hold on, okay?"

Not bothering to hear what the person's response was, she handed the phone to a smiling Phibrizzo. "You won't regret doing this," he murmured, holding the receiver up to his mouth and taking a deep breath.

What happened next shocked everyone in hearing range.

-------

"Listen, fool! You don't seem to realize the seriousness of this situation! A certain figure skater was kidnapped, and for all we know the kidnapper could be hiding out somewhere in that very building! You think that I'm just going to sit here while that girl may be fearing for her very life? You think that I'm just going to hang around while some lousy criminal's trying to get rich quick? You are so wrong, mister! Get up off your cozy chair and prepare the welcome wagon, because I'm coming in on a rescue mission! If you say 'no' to me or my associate one more time, I'm going to sue you like there's no tomorrow! You understand me!?"

Conan's mouth fell open. What on...!? What's he doing? How's he doing that? Did Doctor Agasa give one of his inventions to him? I mean...whoa!

Phibrizzo slowly nodded, his furious expression having toned down a little. "Thank you. I appreciate this. You won't regret this. We'll be there shortly." With that, he hung up the phone and turned to tell the others. "Well, things are...guys, what are you looking at?" he asked indignantly.

Still caught off guard by the sudden vocal display, Conan turned to look at the others. Dolphin was trying but failing to keep a cheerful grin corralled. Rachel looked completely flabbergasted, and Sherry---much to the detective's amusement---looked much the same. It was hard to believe that voice could come out of a kid, but Phibrizzo had already shown that he wasn't an ordinary child. How bizarre is that?

Despite her shock, Rachel was the next to recover. "Wha...how...you're kidding me! You can change your voice like that!? That's...amazing!"

Phibrizzo shrugged. "It's a talent."

Sherry's mind finally reset itself. "Phibrizzo...how did you that?" she asked, struggling to stay calm.

Phibrizzo turned to Dolphin. "Do I have your permission?"

Dolphin slowly nodded. With that her brother turned back to Sherry, closed his eyes, and said with a smile: "That is a secret!"

Everyone except Dolphin nearly fell over. "He's going to keep doing that, isn't he?" Sherry asked aloud, probably aware that Conan was asking himself the same question. That kid needed a keeper!

Dolphin smiled and nodded, then scribbled on her notepad. 'We should go. Time waits for no one.'

------------

Doing that was sort of fun. That 'Mr. T' person sure has a tough voice. I wonder if...Curtis? You can stop laughing now. It wasn't that funny.

"Of course it was," Curtis said after he stopped laughing. "I only showed you that 'A-Team' show a week ago; just a few minutes ago, you spoke in his voice!"

"I've heard of different kinds of people," Inuyasha stated disbelievingly, "but that's insane! You mean he actually talks like that when he's performing?"

"Well, Phibrizzo wasn't perfect with it," Curtis told him, "but it still worked."

You can say that again...and I'm planning on using this ability to the hilt. Count on it.

-----------

Time: Ten minutes later

When the group arrived at the ice arena, the receptionist that they spoke to was there to greet them. From the looks of things, he'd been expecting to see a large and powerful man there to back them up. Instead, there were three women (one of them the oddest-looking person he'd ever seen) and two children. "You're the ones, right? Where's that enforcer you had me speak with?" the receptionist asked suspiciously.

The odd-looking person scribbled a message on her notepad. 'There's no enforcer. There never was one.'

"Well, without an enforcer, you realize I can just turn you away, right? The grounds were supposed to be off-limits to the public," the receptionist reminded them.

One of the boys, the one with the fireball T-shirt, stepped forward...and snapped in that same tough voice: "You will do no such thing, fool. Get lost before I call my attorney!"

That did the trick. The receptionist stared at the boy, stammered for a moment, then fell backwards in a faint.

-----

Most of the group stared at Phibrizzo, amazed that he'd pulled the trick off again. "I don't understand how you do that," Conan murmured in a calm deadpan, "and I don't think I ever will."

"It's not meant to be understood, Edogawa," Phibrizzo told him in his normal voice. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, anyway. Now, what say we get to work?"

Sherry recovered. "Fine. Miss Moore? You, Conan, and that Dolphin woman will head left from the entrance. Phibrizzo and I will head right. Search for clues and/or any evidence that may lead to my cousin's whereabouts. We'll meet at the north entrance in fifteen minutes. Understood?"

Everyone nodded; Dolphin seemed perturbed at being referred to as "that Dolphin woman", but otherwise didn't react.

"Good. Get moving."

-----

"She's here," someone told him. "The cousin of Shiratori. She's brought another woman and three kids with her."

The man smiled as he spoke quietly into the cell phone. "You have to question her good judgement. She's here to deliver the ransom, and she brought children with her? That's not very common sense. We could very easily kidnap one of the kids and demand a higher ransom."

"We'll have to count the receptionist out, though," said the caller. "Shortly after the group arrived, he passed out on the floor. I don't know whether or not it was due to narcolepsy, or if he fainted for whatever reason."

The man's smile disappeared. "It couldn't have been narcolepsy. I've known him for three years, and he's never fallen asleep just like that before. It has to have been a fainting spell."

"I agree. Anyway, Sean, the group split up. The new woman, a teenager, and a smaller kid with glasses went off towards the west entrance, while Shiratori's cousin and the last kid is off heading in our direction. I don't think she knows where the figure skater's being held."

"As long as she never finds out, we've got an ace in the hole," the man replied. "We can keep Shiratori out of sight and blackmail her cousin into giving us some extra money. Having another captive should up the ante somewhat. Before long, we'll have enough money to continue our 'captain's' search."

"So, you want me to capture that kid that's presently with the skater's cousin?"

"Yes," the man said. "You go do that; and clue our agent in security that someone's on the way. In the meantime, I need to continue practice before anyone finds out what this is about. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright. Gotcha."

Smiling, he shut off the cell phone and shoved it back into his bag before heading back onto the ice. Until the money was received, he had a facade to maintain.

------

Sherry kept her eyes peeled for details as she and Phibrizzo paced around the arena's main corridors. "Stay alert," she said. "We don't know where Azusa's being hidden. For all we know, this could be a setup."

"Let me clue you in on something," Phibrizzo growled. "Before I moved to Tokyo, I never had a real home. You have any idea how hard life was for me back then? Don't tell me to stay alert. When I'm focused on a certain task, that sort of thing comes naturally to me."

Sherry arched an eyebrow, not looking at her escort. "And your sister never bothered to look after you?"

"My sister was in the asylum," Phibrizzo told her coldly. He folded his arms, indicating that the conversation was over.

The asylum? That would explain a lot of things. Sherry looked down at Phibrizzo for a moment, then resumed her lookout. That kid's a total mystery. I wonder why he acts the way he does. Whatever it---

"Hey, miss?" Phibrizzo spoke in English. "There was something I wanted to say real quick before I forget."

"What's that?" Sherry replied in kind, her eyes away from him.

"Duck!"

Catching the warning, Sherry knelt to the floor as quick as she could. A split second later, a person flew over her head and crashed into the wall. Turning her head, she noticed that Phibrizzo had somehow acquired a large tennis racquet; having finished his swing, he was now holding it one-handed. "Phibrizzo, what did you just do?" the scientist asked cautiously, reverting back to Japanese.

Phibrizzo smiled. "I've been playing tennis," he said.

"Yes, but that doesn't explain that!" Sherry told him, pointing out first the racquet and then the man that was starting to recover from his impromptu flight.

"If I told you, your logic-driven brain would overload," Phibrizzo said dryly, narrowing his eyes. Turning to the man that he'd just whacked into the wall, he growled: "Alright, mister. What's the idea of you sneaking up and trying to grab me?"

Fully recovering, the man stood up. Having a thick build and being taller than Sherry by about half a foot, he was a rather imposing sight. "I don't get how you just did that," he said, "but it doesn't matter. You'll be joining the figure skater soon enough."

"You're trying to set me up with her?" Phibrizzo asked angrily. "I have no intention of taking her anywhere no matter what age I am, so forget about it!"

Sherry rolled her eyes, a sweatdrop forming. I should've known! "Phibrizzo, can't you take this seriously? He's trying to kidnap you, too!"

"Trying to kidnap me and force me to like her? That's low," Phibrizzo snarled. "That's real low!"

The man was getting exasparated, too. "You don't seem to get the drift here, young man," he said. "I've been told to kidnap you and hold both of you kids for ransom."

"I know full well what you're talking about, you two," Phibrizzo answered, shaking his head. "Honestly, you people couldn't be funny if you tried. Still...I hope you don't mind if I decline your invitation, mister."

"Don't be funny, kid," the man told him, smiling haughtily as he walked towards them. He pounded a fist into one hand. "It's not an invitation, and you don't have any choice in the matter."

"You misunderstand," Phibrizzo said, his own grin forming as he put the tennis racquet away...in his pocket. "I wasn't being funny. Lady, stay out of this. I'm going to put this insignificant thug in his place."

Sherry's mind raced as she stepped back a few paces. Did he just say what I thought he said? Did he just do what I thought he did? I just don't understand!

The man issued a gruff laugh. "Insignificant? Kid, you don't even know what the word 'insignificant' means!"

"Of course I do," Phibrizzo said, chuckling. "This confrontation applies, too. You could be telling me where the klepto's hidden, and you're trying to capture me? Talk about stupid." He started rotating his left arm. "On second thought, don't. I'm getting tired of speaking to you, vermin. Move it or lose it."

The man frowned, preparing himself to charge. "I'm not going to listen to some kid tell me what I should or shouldn't do. I'll do as I please!" he declared, running forward.

Phibrizzo dodged the man's charge a few times, his arm still gyrating. "You think I'm just another kid? Try me! Gum Gum Pistol!"

With unparalleled swiftness, his arm stopped spinning and burst forward, catching his attacker unawares. Unable to dodge, the thuggish man was forcibly propelled backwards into the same wall that Phibrizzo's racquet had sent him to earlier.

Sherry gasped, her eyes widening. What's...going on? Did he just...? No, he couldn't have...! Impossible!

Phibrizzo arm, which had nearly stretched to the wall, shrunk and snapped back into place. "Yeah, I thought you needed to say that, pal," he stated, smiling. "Lady?"

A violent chill raced up Sherry's spine as she stared at the bizarre boy in front of her. This simply can't happen. It shouldn't happen! The human body was not meant to stretch like that! Who is this child? Is he even human to begin with? She looked on as Phibrizzo stuck one hand in his pocket non-chalantly; his mouth was moving, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. He's acting as if it never happened at all! That boy's breaking every law of physics imaginable! It's...it's as if his abilities go beyond the scope of logic itself!

A possibility occurred to her, and she shivered at the thought of it. The rumors of Project: Clandestine DNA have some truth to them after all! That boy's related in some way to it. He has to be! If the project was a success and someone from it survived, he could've been descended from that person! It's the one thing that makes any sen---

Her thinking was cut off in the middle as Phibrizzo approached her and grabbed her hand with the one that had been previously pocketed. Emitting a sudden shriek, Sherry pried her hand loose from Phibrizzo's grip. "What was that for?" she asked, her nerves starting to fray. "Your hand's as cold as ice!"

"Ice cube in the hand," the boy admitted. "Gets 'em every time."

Irritably, Sherry shoved her hand inside her coat. "Where'd you get the ice, anyway? It should've melted in your pocket!" the scientist protested.

"That's a secret, of course," Phibrizzo replied calmly. "By the way: if you're going to 'zone out'...I think that's the expression...wait until your freaky cousin chases me onto the ice."

Sherry's eyebrow started quivering. "And you think that's going to happen?"

"Just watch," Phibrizzo deadpanned, sweatdropping. "It will. In the meantime..." He pointed over his shoulder at the large man, who was still somewhat dazed from the unexpected---and unusual---attack. "...what do we do with this person over here? We can't just leave him."

He doesn't know it, but he's right. There will be time to worry about his origins later, Sherry thought to herself. Someone's bound to find him eventually. What do we do from here?

-------

"So, what do we do from here?" Rachel asked as she and Dolphin examined a posted map of the arena's interior. The two of them, plus Conan, were exploring the corridor opposite that of Sherry and Phibrizzo.

After a few seconds worth of thought, Dolphin tapped a room that was set off to the side of the map. The room was labeled "Security Office".

"I don't know," Conan murmured aloud. "Back when she told us about the broken sentences that she'd heard over the phone, I'm pretty sure that 'security' was one of those words. How safe is it going to be?"

Dolphin folded her arms and stared down at him, trying to intimidate him without resorting to the expression that freaked out the client. He didn't seem very intimidated, though; if anything, he just looked more determined. Really brave for a kid.

"Safe or not, Conan, we still need to check," Rachel said. "We should at least see if there's anyone working in the office."

Dolphin nodded, motioned for them to follow her, and took the lead as they continued down the corridor.

------

"Yes. I'm William Stevens, the head of security here at Icearc Arena," the blonde-haired, middle-aged man said, greeting the three of them after they entered his office. "I don't know why you entered the building when it's supposed to be off-limits, but I'm sure you have your reasons. May I help you?"

As Rachel explained the situation to the security chief, Dolphin examined the office warily. Most of the room was covered in strange machinery, such as black-and-white monitors, a computer, and a telephone. Mr. Stevens himself sat behind a large desk, seeming unconcerned for someone whose job was in jeopardy.

There was only one mechanical device that Dolphin trusted; it was clipped to the back of her head, concealed by her absurdly long hair. She didn't think that she'd need to use it, but time would tell if the reverse proved to be true.

"Inconceivable!" Mr. Stevens exclaimed after Rachel finished her explanation. "Kidnappers, here in this arena?"

"That's right," Conan chimed in. "This was the arena where Miss Shiratori was supposed to practice this morning. It's rather odd that she would cancel her practice on such short notice, right?"

Rachel nodded. "I've read a bit about her over the months. From what I can tell, she's not the type to give up on something when she's within sight of it."

Mr. Stevens sighed. "I can understand your concerns, miss. Unless you give me concrete evidence of your story, though, I can't do anything about it. I can't just have my team wander around on a wild goose chase."

Dolphin frowned. She wasn't completely sure, but she thought she detected a hint of nervousness in the man's voice. He's hiding something. She smiled. And what do we do to someone who's hiding something? She narrowed her eyes, going into full Steel Gaze mode. We make him sweat. That's what we do!

The expression wasn't lost on the man. "Look, miss, I know you're angry, but---"

Dolphin pounded a fist onto the desk, her glare intensifying. Her smile turned into a sneer. She stared unblinkingly into Mr. Stevens' eyes. In short, her expression read: 'Fear me!'

The overall effect of the stare made the man cringe. "Lady, why are you staring at me like that for?" he asked nervously.

Dolphin leaned into his face, her eyes an inch away from his. She didn't take back the glare, not even for an instant. It wouldn't be much longer now; his concentration was much weaker than that of Phibrizzo's associate. Three...two...one...

Not able to take any more, Mr. Stevens panicked. "That look...she's with the captain. She has to be!" he stammered to himself. "There must be something wrong here...he told me to help Hatter with this...to hide the skater...to mislead the arena security...what have I done wrong!?"

Dolphin heard Conan and Rachel whisper to each other for a few seconds. Finally, Rachel spoke up. "Tell us," she said calmly. "Where is she hidden? Where's Azusa Shiratori?"

---------

"Well," Rachel said as the three of them exited the security office, "at least we know for sure that she's in the building. I wish that Mr. Stevens had narrowed it down a little..."

Conan shrugged. "Yeah, me too. At least we don't need to worry about him telling his partners that we're on to them."

Dolphin wrote something down. 'Or else he'll be jailed and humiliated.'

"Excuse me. I have a question," Rachel asked, hesitating a little before continuing. When Dolphin urged her to go on, she said: "Did you perfect that stare, or does it just come naturally to you?"

Dolphin grinned innocently. 'Take some time and figure it out yourself.'

Her companions just shook their heads before continuing towards the agreed meeting place. Despite Dolphin's cryptic remark, though, Conan's mind didn't stay locked on the topic. I think we were able to get a few clues out of that encounter. Mr. Stevens made a reference to a captain, and that said captain had wanted him to help out a person named 'Hatter'. Aside from the obvious question of where Azusa is, who are these people called 'the captain' and 'Hatter'? Are they the same person, different individuals, or something else?

Conan glanced sideways at Dolphin, sweatdropping. And what's with that drawing she left behind? It looked like some odd cross between a fish and a dog!

--------

Sherry was the only one at the pre-determined meeting spot when they arrived. "Phibrizzo's back at the hallway that we investigated," she explained, trying to sound calm. "Someone tried to kidnap him a few minutes ago, so he's been trying to wring answers out of him ever since."

Dolphin merely arched an eyebrow, while Rachel and Conan gasped. "Kidnap him!?" the two blurted in unison.

A nod. "Whoever kidnapped my cousin must've wanted additional leverage. They didn't get very far in their attempt; the thug that tried to capture Phibrizzo was taken out in short order. After he taped the man to the wall, he told me to meet you three here while he interrogated his attacker."

Surprisingly, Conan and Rachel were able to get over their shock pretty quickly. "I guess it isn't too unusual," Conan admitted with a nervous smile, "considering these traits he keeps showing..."

Rachel agreed. "I guess his family's both strong-willed and stubborn."

Dolphin stared at her, her face a mix of amusement and incredulity.

Sherry sighed. "At any rate, how'd you three fare?"

"We had a little talk with Mr. Stevens, the security chief here," Rachel replied. "Turns out he's with the kidnapper. He tried telling us that he couldn't send out his agents without proof that someone else was in the building." Smiling briefly, she continued: "That didn't last too long before Dolphin scared him into submission. He confirmed that Azusa was kept somewhere in the building, but he couldn't tell us anything else. Dolphin left a message that he'd better not warn the kidnapper, then we left."

"What kind of message?"

Dolphin looked at her smugly, as if to say: "Wouldn't you like to know?".

"Never mind. Let's just see how Phibrizzo's doing at the moment."

---------

It's no good, Phibrizzo thought as he stared angrily at the thug, who'd clenched his teeth and refused to say anything important. This loser simply won't listen to the words of a 'kid'. It's times like this that I wish I could adjust my physical age.

"You're bad enough as a kid," Inuyasha remarked. "You'd probably be even worse as a teenager."

I'd like to see you acting out my life every hour, every day! I'm just thinking that maybe if I was older and more stronger-looking, he'd listen to me.

"Maybe, maybe not," Curtis said, examining something. "The ball doesn't always roll that way. Anyway, we'll need to find some other way to get Azusa's location."

Yeah, I guess so. It's not as easy as it---Curtis, what are you looking at?

"Nothing too major...just a little entertaining, is all," Curtis explained, smiling. "Something on one of these monitors started acting up when you did your 'Mr. T' impression earlier." He tapped a small device that was connected to the ceiling, then started fiddling with several controls. "If this is for what I think it's for..."

Phibrizzo frowned, seeing where this was going. Oh no, you don't. Now's not the time for one of your experiments---

As he said this, Curtis leaned towards the device and spoke into it. "Where is she, already?" he hissed...in Phibrizzo's voice.

"I'm not telling a brat anything," the thug responded, unaware of what was transpiring.

Everything was quiet for a moment, interrupted only by a distant whistle from the direction of the main arena. Curtis tapped a button, then pushed the device away from him. "Great," he said to himself. "It works."

Phibrizzo fumed silently, not letting the large man get the satisfaction of hearing his complaints. Keep in mind, tubby: I may not be able to get you out of my head, but I can still blow you away!

"Then do that after we get this whole thing dealt with," Inuyasha interrupted before Curtis could respond. "You want to rescue that weirdo, or not?"

Phibrizzo sighed mentally, not letting them know how distraught he felt. Honestly...you really have a way of taking the wind out of---

Rrring-a-rinnnggg.

The trio were instantly alert. The thug made an attempt to break free of the duct tape, but Phibrizzo smacked his hands against it and prevented his escape. "That's my cell phone!" the man cried out. "Let me answer it!"

"Whoever that is, I'm guessing it's not from outside the building," Phibrizzo snapped, reaching into the man's coat pocket and taking the cell phone. "Let me talk to this guy!"

"But---"

"Let me talk to this guy!" Phibrizzo repeated, starting to lose what little patience he had left. In the back of his mind, Curtis was fiddling with the device that allowed him to speak in Phibrizzo's voice. This doesn't bode well.

The man finally settled back, smiling. "Do what you want," he said. "But if I wouldn't listen to you, he certainly won't."

"We'll see about that," the half-mazoku promised, reaching for the phone's "Talk" button.

"Hold on a second," Curtis said, tapping a few buttons. "Let me talk to him."

Huh?

"Just turn on the phone and keep your mouth moving, but let me do the talking," Curtis suggested. "Let's get to the bottom of this."

Another mental sigh. We're going to have a long talk about this, I promise. Fine; the floor's yours; but don't expect me to make it easy for you on our "Risk" game later.

Almost dreading what was about to happen---the human could probably embarrass him for all he knew---Phibrizzo pressed the "Talk" button and turned his head slightly so that the large man couldn't see his face clearly. He held it up to his ear, and...

---------

Practice was over and done. Some of the players had already gone through the tunnel towards the locker room. Making a few excuses that he'd practiced for several hours, the man took his bag over to one side of the rink, took out his cell phone, and dialed the number for his agent. He ought to have added another captive to their hiding place by now.

There was a dial tone for a few seconds...and a few more...and a few more. He should've picked up by now. Surely he couldn't have had that much trouble, could he?

Finally, he got an answer...but although the voice was the same, he suspected that it wasn't his agent that he was talking to.

"Hello. You've reached the Hired Thug Anonymous Program. If you'd like to enroll, press One. If you'd like to make a donation, press Two. If you've hatched a hair-brained kidnapping scheme, press Three..."

"Listen, Jake," the man snapped. "If this is your idea of a joke, it isn't funny. Report your progress! Have you captured the kid yet?"

'Jake' continued his prattle unabated. "...if you'd like to surrender your captive, press Six. If you're astounded that a kid just floored one of your hired hands, press Seven. If you don't match any of the above criteria..."

At this point, there was a subtle change in Jake's voice; it became a tinge lighter, as if he suddenly became a few years younger. The man's eyes widened as he listened to the other person finish his statement in a sweet, sarcastic tone: "...and would instead like to join 'Physics for the Criminally Incompetent', please press Zero. Otherwise, please hang up and quit wasting my time."

"Would you get off this line?" the man muttered. "I need to talk to a man named Jake. Is he there?"

"Does he have a tendency to think with his muscles instead of his brain?" the other person asked. "Did he just say he was going to try to kidnap someone to join Shiratori? Did he just get his clock cleaned by someone who doesn't look a quarter of his age? Is he unwilling to listen to what the kid's requesting of him? Details, sir! Details!"

There was a short pause before the man could formulate his answer. "Get off the phone and let me talk to Jake. Now."

"Not until you answer my questions. You're the one who sent Azusa's cousin the ransom message, didn't you?" the voice said accusingly. "She doesn't take kindly to these things, and neither do I. Now, where's Shiratori?"

The man gave a short little laugh. "I don't know what you---"

"There are several things I can't stand," the voice cut in, "and lying is one of them. You tell me where Azusa Shiratori is, or we'll go through this entire building and find her ourselves!"

The man grimaced for a moment, then smiled. "I should be so frightened, shouldn't I? I'm not. You don't have a scrap of evidence that the figure skater is being kept here...or for that matter, that we kidnapped her to begin with."

"Don't need any," the voice replied smugly. "The testimony from Shiratori, her ice-skating partner, and your friends here will do just fine." There was a brief pause before the voice added: "Oh, yeah. There were a few little things I almost forgot: this arena was the only one where a figure skater reported a cancellation within fifteen minutes of practice. No skater, especially one who lives in or near the Nerima district and has something to prove, would do that on the spur of the moment. Not only is it silly, it shows an inability to keep to a schedule."

The man gritted his teeth. "And the other 'little' thing, pal?"

"Your friends were talking in the background. One of the calls had them mumbling something about hating security; the other were the opening words of the cancellation notice. Honestly, do you really call yourself a criminal? Any person with an average I.Q. could figure this out if they tried."

As the voice's statement finished, one of his hockey teammates skated back onto the ice and yelled something at him. "You coming, Hatter, or not?"

'Hatter', who was getting more perturbed by the second, held down the phone and yelled something back. "I'll be right there. Let me finish with this call, first!"

His teammate nodded and skated back towards the tunnel. Hatter, meanwhile, held the phone back up to his ear...and heard the trail end of a sinister chuckle. "That guy down there helped us out more than he realized," the voice said.

Hatter's eyes widened. No...!

"I'm standing near a doorway that leads down to the seats," the voice explained, "and we just heard that voice. Now we know exactly where to find you. Thanks for giving yourself away!"

Just then, there was a clamor coming from the other end of the line; this was followed by a *beep* as the line went dead. Realizing that whoever had answered the phone would be busy for a moment, Hatter hastily went things over in his mind. He said he knew where to find me...but that doesn't mean he knows where Shiratori is. The sooner I get off the ice, the better!

Without wasting another moment, Hatter turned and skated off the ice. I'm not going to be outsmarted. Not when I've come this far!

-----------

Dolphin, Conan, Rachel, and Sherry arrived in time to hear Phibrizzo (in another one of his voices) finish taunting someone over a cell phone. From the way that the captured man was angrily staring at the phone, Conan deduced that it was his cell phone that he was using.

That's strange...his lips don't seem to be entirely in sync with his words. I wonder what's going on?

"Phibrizzo!" Rachel exclaimed, getting her cousin's attention. "Who are you talking to?"

Phibrizzo pressed a button on the phone, assumably shutting it off. After slipping it back into the thug's coat pocket, he turned to greet them. "Hey, guys. How'd it go? You find where the klepto is?"

"No, but she's in the building," Conan told him. "Dolphin scared the security chief into giving that much away. Who were you talking to just now?"

"Another one of the guys involved in the kidnapping," Phibrizzo explained. "I think he may be the one who performed the actual deed. At any rate, I believe I heard someone yelling at him out on the ice...calling him 'Hatter', or something or other."

"So he's down on the ice? That doesn't really narrow it down," Rachel reminded him. "Anyone on that hockey team could be the real kidnapper."

"True," Sherry said. "Which is why we'll need to get down onto the ice and enter the rooms down there. We should try to---"

Dolphin reached over with her notepad and tapped Sherry's forehead with it. Annoyed, the scientist glared up at Phibrizzo's sister. "Okay, so what's your problem?"

The long-haired woman mouthed some words angrily, a few of which Conan was able to catch; Sherry got the gist of it first, though. "We can't just send Conan and Phibrizzo down there themselves, though. It would be safer if we went as a group."

Dolphin mouthed something else, and Sherry blinked. "Oh. You trust your brother that much, huh? Question is, how are those two going to get onto the ice without some extra help? That glass in front of the seats has to be at least fourteen feet high."

"Then just toss me to the top of the glass," Phibrizzo suggested huffily. "I'll get down to the ice, push one of those nets over to the glass, and Conan can land on it. What are you so worried about?"

Sherry examined Phibrizzo's expression intently for a moment, then turned to Rachel and the others. "You know, there are times I wish I was his age. I feel I could use some of his bravado right about now."

Phibrizzo abruptly spun and walked away, wringing his hands as he headed for the nearest entrance to the arena. "Don't say things you don't mean, miss. Let's go."

"Phibrizzo!" Rachel called after him. "What should we do with this person here?" She indicated the man who was still duct taped to the wall, who was glaring at them but unwilling to say anything.

In response, her cousin took a partially-used roll of duct tape out of his pocket, tossing it over his shoulder. Seeing this confused Conan for a moment until he reminded himself who exactly he was dealing with. "There you go," he said. "Use only enough to keep him there until we can get the police here. And give the roll back to me when you're done."

Everyone except Dolphin exchanged looks of disbelief. The blue-haired woman only shrugged, dismissing their expressions as if it happened everyday.

----------

The five of them descended the stairway to the seats and examined their surroundings. The team that was on the ice had departed by now, 'Hatter' included; Conan had learned that 'Hatter' was what one of the players was called. It was still a matter of finding out exactly who, though.

As they neared the glass, they came to a halt. "So, how do you plan on getting over?" Rachel asked. "Even standing on the seats, it'll be pretty hard just to get you onto the glass."

"Guess we don't have much choice," Phibrizzo remarked quietly as a glint of light reflected off his sunglasses. "Dolphin, would you mind tossing me to the top of the glass?"

Dolphin nodded. Setting her pen and notepad down for a few moments, she picked up Phibrizzo with virtually no effort and flung him towards...and over...the glass. Panicking, he was able to grab the top of the glass before he fell onto the ice.

Phibrizzo glared at her while the others just stared at her, nonplussed. "I said 'to the top' of the glass," he grumbled, "not over it!"

Dolphin picked up her notepad and wrote something down. 'You're getting down there anyway, right? I was just taking a shortcut.'

"You're sure you're not still insane?" her brother complained.

'Would I be here if I was?' Dolphin replied, miffed.

"Whenever you two are finished arguing," Sherry interrupted impatiently, "can we get on with this? We don't have the rest of our lives to spend here."

Both siblings stared at Sherry for a moment, although it was Phibrizzo who muttered: "So much for a sibling rivalry." Without another word, he let go of the glass and dropped to the ice...

Immediately upon his landing, he began struggling to keep his footing; without any traction, he simply couldn't manuever effectively. Frantically trying to keep himself steady but failing miserably, Phibrizzo finally just fell backwards and hit the ice with a thud. He turned over and pushed himself up, only to resume his unsuccessful struggle.

Dolphin's shoulders shook silently as she grinned like an idiot; Conan could tell that she found the spectacle hilarious, even if the others didn't. "Phibrizzo!" Rachel called, worried. "Are you alright?"

"It's cold down here, and I'm having trouble staying on my feet!" Phibrizzo growled, trying to make his way to the net. "Honestly, this is what happens when I try to help...*whoa!*...someone out. Next time, I'm just keeping quiet!"

"If anything, Phibrizzo, just consider this payback for rescuing you from Azusa the first time around!" Sherry replied, sweatdropping.

Phibrizzo growled to himself, tiring of struggling. "That'll be a topic for another time!" He reached into his pocket, surprising Conan and Rachel when he pulled out a goaltender's hockey stick and fit the curved tip through the net. Making sure it was wedged in place, he got to his feet---staying balanced this time---and slowly slid his way over to the glass.

"What's he supposed to be...some sort of sideshow clown?" Rachel asked, not believing what she'd just seen. "Tell me he just didn't take a hockey stick out of his pocket. The tape I can probably believe, but this?"

"You didn't see what he did to that man earlier," Sherry replied in a deadpan, "so you haven't seen anything yet."

"Whatever it was, it can't be any stranger than this," said Conan as Dolphin climbed onto a chair, grabbed him, and hoisted him to the top of the glass. After the net was nearly under him, Conan dropped onto it, bounced once or twice before settling, and climbed down safely. Of course he had to hold on to the net to stay on his feet, but that's something else entirely.

Dolphin stared back at Rachel and Sherry, then wrote a message to them. 'I'll follow along behind them. You two find a phone or whatever and call the police.'

One of Sherry's eyebrows went up. "I thought you didn't want to go down there."

'I was more concerned about what would happen if you and Rachel went into those rooms and were caught off guard. I can't protect four or five people at once."

"Well, what if that thug manages to get loose?" Rachel asked.

'My brother tells me that you're pretty good at self-defense. Failing that, I know someone who may be able to help you out.'

"Help us out?" Sherry turned her head to see if anyone else was around. "I don't see anyone else here."

Dolphin smiled and turned to the next page in her notepad. 'That's because she's been under your noses all evening. Where I live, technology and creatures the likes of which you've never seen are everywhere.'

Rachel stared at her interestedly. "You mean you're not from Japan?"

'Correct. This creature with me is my closest friend and confidant. She'll help protect you in case you run into any of the kidnappers.'

With that, Dolphin set the notepad down and reached into her hair. As Phibrizzo groaned in disbelief, the long-haired woman withdrew a red-and-white sphere about the size of a tennis ball. As she held it in front of her, the sphere split across the middle and opened, releasing a mass of red light that slowly took shape...

Conan had to stand on his toes (while keeping one hand on the net) to see what the light was about, but he nearly fell backwards at the sight that greeted him. Sitting on the floor in front of Dolphin was what appeared to be some strange cross between a domestic dog and a fish. What is that thing? Where'd it come from?

Rachel gasped in wonder, while Sherry's eyes widened. Despite being of opposite personalities, they managed to say the same thing in unison: "Wow! What is that thing?"

"Somehow, I knew everyone was going to think that," Phibrizzo said, grimacing. "That creature's native to a set of islands that don't fall under Japan's jurisdiction. Some of the technology found there is on a whole other level; as far as I know, that device that Dolphin's holding is used to either capture them or keep them safe from harm."

"Yeah, but what is it? I didn't know anything like that even existed!" Conan exclaimed, hoping he didn't sound too excited. He liked the idea of learning something new.

Dolphin knelt down near the creature's ears and mouthed something to it over the course of a minute. After taking it all in, the creature nodded and joined Rachel and Sherry on the stairway. Conan wondered how that was (seeing how Dolphin couldn't talk) but decided to save that thought for later.

"Maybe I should have her send over an encyclopedia or something," Phibrizzo groused. "It's called a 'Vaporeon'; Dolphin, for whatever reason, calls it 'Jetsam'. The neat thing about that creature is that it can blast you with a whole lot of water in mere seconds."

"Whole lot as in...?" Conan asked.

"Let's just say you'd never need to wait for rain again. Anyways, let's get moving. The chatter can wait."

Dolphin nodded, reclaiming her notepad and pen. Without writing down anything else, she jumped onto the chair next to her and launched herself over the glass, flipping once before landing just beyond the net; unlike Phibrizzo, she had no problems with staying upright on the ice. She then turned to her awestruck viewers and bowed.

"Sorry people," Phibrizzo announced, pulling loose the hockey stick and putting it back in his pocket. "If it's any comfort, you can get your money back at the door."

Dolphin tapped the back of Phibrizzo's knee with her foot. As expected, he flailed wildly before his chin hit the ice.

-------

"They're crazy...a-all of them," Mr. Stevens stammered as he watched the feed from the surveillance cameras. "The kid...the woman...the creature...by-products of the Project! What are they doing here? What do they have to gain by helping Shiratori?"

His telephone rang, making him jump several feet in the air. Calming himself down, he picked it up and greeted the caller. "Hello? Icearc Arena security..."

"Stevens," he heard, "this is Hatter. Report to me. Where are the would-be rescuers?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell," Stevens replied nervously.

After a momentary pause, Hatter asked: "And may I ask why not, Mr. Stevens?"

Stevens sighed. "Pain of humiliation."

Hatter sighed, having dealt with the chief's inadequacies before. "Tell me, Mr. Stevens. Which is worse: not listening to kids and freaks, or not listening to the captain? Whatever he says goes."

The captain... "I understand, Hatter, sir."

"Good. You'd better. Now, where are they?"

Stevens steeled himself. "They split up again. The two younger kids and the long-haired woman are heading towards the locker rooms, while the third kid and Shiratori's cousin are heading back my way, along with a strange creature."

Hatter didn't sound too pleased. "Thankfully, the team's locker room is closed up while they get ready to head home. However, if they find Shiratori, the whole plan is wasted. Where's my hired hand?"

"You're not going to believe this," Stevens said. "He's duct-taped to a wall."

Another short pause. "Come again, Mr. Stevens?"

"You heard correctly. He's duct-taped to the wall. By the amount of it, it doesn't look like he'll be escaping anytime soon."

Stevens could practically hear Hatter thinking over the phone. "Alright. Leave the office and lock the door behind you. Take a shortcut through the seating area and free the thug, then grab the receptionist and wake him up. The three of you should be able to handle them."

"Alright, Hatter. What about you?"

"Easy," Hatter said confidently. "I'm going to stuff those kids in the manager's office alongside Shiratori and make things a little less electrifying. Go."

As he hung up the phone and made to leave the office, Stevens couldn't help but think that, despite Hatter's abilities, they had some serious problems this time around...

-------------

"Is that all I am to you?" Phibrizzo grumbled, one hand on his chin as he finally stepped off the ice. "Comic relief?"

'Partly,' Dolphin wrote. 'Would I really be called "Dolphin" if I didn't have a sense of humor?'

"Don't get started on that, now," Phibrizzo muttered. "Anyhow, do you know where we're going?"

'Do I look like a tour guide? I don't know where to look, so we're looking everywhere!' Dolphin said, adding several exclamation points for emphasis.

"Everywhere except the home team's locker room," Conan pointed out. "That room's likely being used right now, and chances are Azusa's not going to be in a place where she'll be spotted right away."

'You're real smart for a kid, you know that?' Dolphin stated. 'How'd you get like that?'

"Edogawa's a detective, Dolphin," Phibrizzo said quietly, unknowingly keeping Conan from being put on the spot. "Detectives are supposed to be smart. Now, could we stop talking and start looking?"

'Good idea. I'm almost out of note paper.'

The trio continued down the hall and turned a corner, not noticing when all the lights in the main arena suddenly switched off.

-------

Pitch blackness.

She hated being trapped in a dark place, unable to move or speak. What made it worse was that it had been like this for over twelve hours. She had awakened from an unexpected ambush after a short period of time, but had been unable to escape in the three hours that she'd tried.

The only thing left for Azusa to do was bide her time...and wait.

-------

They'd never seen him move so fast, even out on the ice. The man they dubbed "Hatter" had changed from his hockey uniform to his street clothes in record time. Then, without so much as a "see you tomorrow", he'd exited out the locker room's back door.

The team's coach (who'd seen him pass by his office), as well as a handful of the players, wondered why he was in such a hurry. The coach had even gone so far as to ask him what the matter was, and the only reply he'd gotten was "personal business". They didn't like it, and the more suspicious people on the team suspected that he was up to something.

Wasn't much they could do about it. Hatter was the team's lone star player, and was the only one keeping the team in contention. If they lost him, their chances of winning would take a severe drop.

If they'd known exactly why Hatter was acting the way he was and where he was going, they would've been more motivated to take action.

After several minutes, one of the players perked up and looked at the room's main door. "Did any of you guys hear that?"

"Heard what?" asked the team's goalie, who was almost ready to head home himself.

"I thought I heard footsteps outside the door," the player said. "Where's security?"

"Calm down, Alex," the goalie told him. "For all we know, someone could be playing a practical joke on us."

The player stood up. "That doesn't comfort me all that much, Ben. I'm going to go over and see who it is."

"Alright...I still think you're being worried over nothing, though."

---------

"The light's on...the locker room's in use, all right," Phibrizzo whispered, getting up from where he'd knelt at the bottom of the door.

"Well, at the very least we can use this door as a reference point." Conan stared down the hallway, looking thoughtful. "The other rooms are bound to be locked, so it'll be pretty hard getting inside. Maybe we could see where the Hatter is, and follow him to where Azusa's being kept."

Dolphin just shrugged non-chalantly, deciding to conserve what was left of her notepad.

Phibrizzo turned away from them, taking off his sunglasses and putting them away. "Fine. It's the only thing I can think of---"

*Whang!*

Dolphin and Conan both started, wondering what just happened...then sweatdropped and winced when they realized that the locker room door had swung open and smacked into Phibrizzo's face.

"Hello?" someone asked, then poked his head through the door. "Um...you two shouldn't be here. Entering a hockey arena without permission is rather---"

Dolphin pressed a finger to her lips, cutting him off. She then pointed to Phibrizzo, whose face was pressed into the door.

The dark-haired, mustached man who'd opened the door flinched, then pulled it back a fraction. No sooner had he done that than Phibrizzo slid to the ground, a red print on his face where the door had impacted.

"Sorry about that," the man said. "You okay?"

Phibrizzo pulled himself up, his eyes angry. "I only have about three or four reasons why I'm not!"

Conan reached up and tugged on Phibrizzo's sleeve. "Calm down! It was just an accident!"

"That doesn't make my face any feel better," his friend snapped. "Hitting my head once is enough for me!"

"Seriously, I'm sorry," the man protested. "It really was an accident. Now, what are you three doing here?"

Phibrizzo calmed down, remembering what had gotten them this far. "I don't know if any of you heard, but there was a kidnapping today. Everything we've seen and heard points to this building as the kidnapper's hiding spot."

The man drew in his breath sharply, surprised. Meanwhile, Conan took up where Phibrizzo left off. "Phibrizzo was able to get the receptionist to let us in so we could look around. He also caught a phone call intended for one of the kidnapper's hired hands."

"I heard someone yelling at the kidnapper while I did that," Phibrizzo continued. "I was standing near one of the doors to the seating area, so I heard it both over the phone and off of it. There was no one in the seats when we came in, so that meant only one thing: the kidnapper's one of the guys on your team."

"Seriously?" the man asked quietly, stunned.

The three of them nodded in unison.

"Then come on in. You can tell us about it," the man said, looking crestfallen at the idea of someone on his team being a criminal.

Phibrizzo and Conan slowly entered, keeping their eyes open for anything suspicious. Dolphin took a step forward, then hesitated and stopped. Seeing this, the man chuckled. "It's okay, miss," he said. "You're not intruding or anything. It's okay."

Dolphin finally decided to enter as well, although it was clear she wasn't entirely convinced.

-----------

"So the plan is to have that security chief call the police? I thought we were just going to do that ourselves," Rachel commented as the three of them headed back to the security office.

"It would be much more believable if someone in authority did it," Sherry told her. "Now, if you'll excuse the subject change, I have a question."

"Sure. What is it?"

"Have you noticed anything...strange about your cousin?"

"Other than that mood swing he had the first day I met him, no."

Sherry shook her head. "Just keep an eye on him. There's something about him that worries me."

Rachel looked at her for a second, then turned away. "I'll try to, but I think you don't understand him as well as you think. He decided to help you get Shiratori back, even when he didn't really want to. Shouldn't that account for something?"

Before Sherry could answer, the strange creature at their feet---the "Vaporeon", as Phibrizzo called it---purred something inarticulate, bringing their attention back to the matter at hand. The scientist chided herself for losing track of time; the security door was directly in front of them...

And, as they soon found out, it was locked. Rachel tugged on the handle a few times, then sighed disgustedly. "The door's locked," she muttered. "Either he locked himself in, or he decided to leave early."

Okay, so much for having someone in authority make the call. "Guess we'll just need to do it ourselves, then---"

"Vaporrrr!" the water creature cried, quieting Sherry before she could finish. Bounding a few meters away, it turned to face the door and opened its mouth, which housed a strange bluish-white glow.

Sherry was no expert with those animals, but she recognized the warning signs; the creature was going to attack the door! "Out of the way! Stand back!" she shouted, jumping back a few feet.

Just as Rachel followed suit, the Vaporeon did indeed assault the door. It wasn't with a blast of water, as previously advertised; it was with an icy ray that seemed to chill anything near it. Within seconds, the door was covered with a thick layer of ice. It wasn't finished yet, though; stopping the flow of ice, the creature stepped back a few feet and then bolted forward at express-train speed, ramming the door and causing a spiderweb of cracks to form on the ice. The Vaporeon stepped back and charged again, and the cracks widened; a final charge demolished the door, scattering chunks of ice and metal everywhere.

Both humans did repeated double-takes, startled at the creature's display. Having already seen Phibrizzo's physics-defying stunts, Sherry was able to recover first; not used to those sights, Rachel took a few more minutes to gather herself together. "Or," she finished weakly, "we could do that."

The Vaporeon crooned again, its mouth forming a smile; Sherry suspected that it was rather pleased with what it had just done. "To think that elsewhere in the world, what it did is commonplace," she thought aloud. "I just hope I never meet others of its kind; I doubt I could get used to it."

"You and me both," Rachel said, peeking inside. "Miss, it doesn't look like the chief's inside. Do you think he took off somewhere?"

"Yes," Sherry answered, gritting her teeth. "I do. Let's check the security footage; he can't have gotten far."

"That won't be neccessary; we're standing right behind you," a rough voice told them from down the hall.

As one, the trio spun to face the source of the voice. Sherry recognized the thug that Phibrizzo defeated; pieces of duct tape were still stuck to his clothes. Standing on opposite sides of them was likely Mr. Stevens---from what Rachel told her on the way here---and the receptionist, who had recovered from his fainting spell. "You have been trespassing here long enough," the receptionist warned, his eyes narrowed. "I suggest that you leave immediately before we deal with you ourselves."

Rachel glowered at them, her hands clenching. "You're harboring a kidnapper and his captive," she said angrily. "Do you think we're going to leave while Miss Shiratori's in danger?"

"We're not giving you much of a choice," Mr. Stevens told her, gaining some bravado as he was backed up by the others. "A search is being conducted, and such a search requires money. The ransom from Shiratori alone is enough to fuel the search a while longer; we can gain more out of the venture by using you as a ransom as well."

Sherry glanced down at the Vaporeon, trying to get a message across non-verbally. The animal took enough time out of its growling to return her stare; after a second, its eyes shined with recognition. Seeing this, the woman turned to glare straight at the security chief. "Hate to break it to you, but you've already failed."

The receptionist shook his head. "Not very likely, woman. The Hatter's out and about, meaning that your little friends aren't safe. He always gets what he wants."

Sherry's smile was half-mirthful, half-chilling. "You ever hear of the old adage: 'Never underestimate your opponent'? You've made some gross errors regarding those three. It's Hatter who isn't safe."

"You're wrong," the thug argued. "What could kids do to the Hatter?"

"A whole lot worse than what we're about to do to you," Sherry responded. "Vaporeon, now!"

Taking its cue, the creature opened its mouth and disgorged a massive high-pressure blast of water. The thug and the receptionist dodged to one side, but they weren't Vaporeon's targets. Crying indistinctly at the top of his lungs, the security chief was washed away down the hall towards the north entrance.

Rachel's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow. Guess Phibrizzo wasn't joking!" she said, awed.

Sherry's ears weren't hearing this, though. "Ssssh," she hissed, trying to listen to the thug and the receptionist as they spoke in a hushed tone. They were rather surprised, but from the sound of things they were also getting frustrated. So that security chief was the only one armed? Either they're idiots, or they were just overconfident in their own abilities. Probably just as well; all the better for us.

The Vaporeon growled to itself. "If you're thinking of going after them, fine," Sherry said to it, "but let us take care of them first."

"You, take care of us?" the thug snapped. He reached into seperate pockets on his coat, pulling out two sections of pipe and jamming them together. "You can try, if you can stop hiding behind that monster!"

Sherry's eyes narrowed at the taunt, but Rachel kept her from showing any other emotion. "Why should we? You think you're so strong," she stated. "Step over here and prove it!"

The receptionist sighed almost mockingly. "We could've done this the easy way; now we'll have to do this the hard way." He reached into the sleeves of his sport coat, pulling out several half-length bokkens. "Don't say we didn't warn you ahead of time."

"So they're fighting with cliches? That's original," Rachel muttered.

Okay, so I was wrong about the armaments. I hate to have to resort to this, but... Sherry turned to face the thug. "Would you just attack already? I have better things to do than stare at your ugly face all night!"

The thug gave a start at this, bristling. "Say that again, woman."

"The big bad brute's angry at me," Sherry groaned derisively, rolling her eyes. "My hair's going to turn gray a few decades early." She turned her head aside and shielded it with her forearm. "So slow...so slow...so hopeless..."

The large man raised the pipe. "That's one line too many!" he shouted, running towards her as fast as he could.

And the big guy takes the bait. Waiting a few seconds for the man to get close enough, Sherry neatly stepped to one side...just in time, too. In the half second that followed, the man swung, missed, and tripped over Sherry's outstretched foot. The man tried to catch his balance, but couldn't...and stumbled over a chunk of ice left over from the Vaporeon's earlier stunt. The act finished when said creature turned and tackled him head-on, depositing him against the wall.

The receptionist didn't take long to react, choosing to attack the other target---Rachel Moore. He never got a chance to finish his first attack, though; a series of chops from Rachel disarmed him quickly. Immediately regretting his decision, he tried to back away and escape, but he didn't get three steps before Rachel caught up to him. "Not so fast, mister!" she declared, flooring him with a single kick. The man wasn't seriously hurt, but the sight of a growling Vaporeon convinced him that he'd better not make another move.

Sherry walked over to join Rachel. "That's another thing that worries me about your cousin."

"What's that?" Rachel asked.

"His personality's rubbing off on me. I actually resorted to juvenille insults and old junior-high acting skills. I need to be more careful."

"That was acting?"

"Took a drama class once," Sherry explained tersely. "I didn't like it. I still don't." Marching forward to where a soaking Mr. Stevens was sprawled on the floor, she stepped around a large puddle of water and hauled the man to his feet. "Alright, Mr. Stevens. You're going to go into that office, call the police, and tell them that whatever group you were in had kidnapped Azusa Shiratori. Now!"

----------

Unbeknownst to everyone, numerous lights began switching off throughout the arena.

----------

"...and that's basically it," Phibrizzo finished. "You guys get all that?"

"Yeah, I get it," the team's goalie confirmed. "I always figured that man was up to something, and now I know!"

Phibrizzo looked around at the people who were still in the locker room. Sitting around on various chairs and benches were the team's main goalie, most of the team's defensemen, and the one who'd let them in: the team's main right wing. At first he wasn't sure if anyone would believe them when he and Conan explained the circumstances, but he found out that some members of the team had always been suspicious of Hatter's actions.

"Excuse me. Mr. Lyons?" Conan asked the right wing.

"Just call me Alex," he said. "What is it?"

"I'm just curious. Is 'Hatter' even his real name? That's what people are calling him around here."

Alex Lyons shook his head. "No. That's just a nickname someone gave him; in the games that we actually win, he always winds up scoring at least three goals. His real name's William Huey; he's about my height, has thick eyebrows, and his eyes are of different colors."

"Anything...strange about him that you've noticed as of late?"

"I'll say," the team's goalie---one Benjamin Sparks---piped up. "The man likes to creep up on people and scare them for no good reason."

"Wow. Talk about a small world," Inuyasha said with a smirk. "Has that happened to you at all?"

Laugh it up, dog boy. "Oookay. Anything else?" Phibrizzo asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I was walking past him once on the way to my car," one of the defensemen said. "Couldn't tell for sure, but he was muttering something about lights, captains, and money."

"Hmm...when Shiratori's cousin got the third message, the line used was something like: 'Bright chances are waning; come quickly' or some other such nonsense," Phibrizzo uttered. "It's no coincidence, that's for sure. Any thoughts, Edogawa?"

"I'm pretty sure I know what the 'money' part's about," Conan said, trying to think while listening to the others' explanations. "But that doesn't answer anything about the other parts. Is Mr. Huey the team's captain?"

"Nope," Alex told him, smiling. "You're talking to the captain right now." The smile vanished as quickly as it came. "But outside the ice, he won't have anything to do with me. In fact, unless the team wins, he won't even give me the time of day."

"Speaking of not talking to him, is something wrong with her?" the heavyset Benjamin asked, indicating Dolphin. The woman was leaning against the lockers, looking discontented. "She's just been staring at the wall with that look on her face."

"You okay, sister?" Phibrizzo inquired.

Dolphin nodded a fraction, then tilted her head to stare at the ceiling lights. Abruptly her eyes widened, then squeezed shut. She held out her hands and stumbled about aimlessly, almost as if rendered unable to see. Her short walk ended when she stumbled over a discarded piece of equipment.

Everyone else in the room was immediately alert. "Miss Dolphin! Are you alright?" Conan asked, rushing over to her.

"I know she's not into technology," Curtis commented sarcastically, "but I thought she knew that even fluorescent lights can hurt your eyes if you look at them too close."

"Hold on a second," Inuyasha muttered in Curtis's general direction. "Dolphin's trying to tell us something. I'm sure of it."

Sure enough, Dolphin opened her eyes and pointed at the lights. Using her other hand, she reached over near the light switch and swung a finger downward, making a clicking sound with her tongue.

"Is she okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, she's dandy," Phibrizzo said, puzzling over what his sister had done. "She can't talk, so she either writes stuff out or resorts to charades to make herself understood. I'm not sure what she's getting at, though..."

In a sudden fit of anger, Dolphin grabbed her notepad and scribbled something down. Conan took hold of the message and worked out the messy writing for a minute. "'The lights, you idiots! The lights are going to turn off!'" The shrunken detective's voice shook with realization as he read the woman's message. "'Hatter's going to make it impossible for us to see!'" He gave the notepad back to Dolphin and turned to face the others. "We'll have to act fast. Can one of you please help us get into the locked rooms?"

-----------

A few minutes later, after having talked to the team's coach and gotten a spare key, the three of them were searching the rooms along the lower hallways. The other locker room and several other rooms were already deemed empty; there was no sign of Shiratori in them. However, it finally happened: on their way to one of the two rooms they hadn't searched yet---the manager's office and a storage room for assorted cleaning supplies---the lights in the halls faded to black.

Conan didn't sound too surprised, thankfully; his reaction did indicate his irritation, though. "Just great. Now what? I don't have a flashlight with me or anything."

Phibrizzo looked up, annoyed. "This is going to be really bothersome. You're right behind me, right, Conan?"

"Yes. I'm still here," was the affirmative response.

"Great. Grab my hand, would you?"

Conan did as instructed. "Okay. What about your sister?"

Phibrizzo heard a quiet sniffing, then heard some sort of dull sound in his head. "She's okay," he said. "She's not relying on her eyes to get around." He reached into subspace and pulled out his infrared sunglasses. "My senses aren't that good. Good thing I have some help of my own." Using his free hand, he placed the sunglasses on his face and pressed the button built into the frame. Immediately, his view directly in front of him was tinted in various shades of red.

"Help? What do you mean?" Conan asked.

"These sunglasses I'm wearing," Phibrizzo said. "I don't really understand how they work, but they're supposed to help me see in the dark as long as they've had some exposure to light beforehand. Everything's shaded red, but you can't win them all."

"That's neat. When did you get those?"

"Last week," Phibrizzo responded. "A little gift...compliments of that nutcase friend of yours."

"So Agasa's helping you out? What excuse did you give for wanting one of those inventions of his?"

"What do you mean, 'excuse'? He just called me out of the blue and said that he had something for me."

There was a moment of silence as the group walked on. "Well?" Phibrizzo asked. "Got something to say to that?"

"Yeah. Watch where you're going," Curtis said, speaking directly into the microphone. "The lot of you just walked right by the manager's office."

The parade grounded to a halt; while Phibrizzo was amused to notice that Dolphin nearly jumped straight up, he wasn't pleased to note the timing of the statement...and where Curtis was standing inside the chamber.

"Who said that?" Conan asked, turning his head every which way.

"If I told you, could you try not to laugh?" Phibrizzo uttered, his voice wooden.

Although Phibrizzo's head was turned away from Conan, he could tell that the detective wasn't sure what to think. "Um...okay."

"Alright...you remember how I said I had multiple personalities?"

"I'm not a personality, Phibrizzo," Curtis grumbled. "I'm as human as Conan is!"

"Yeah? I don't consume massive quantities of food whenever I'm out and about!"

"What does that have to do with it?"

Phibrizzo's eyes narrowed, although he was oblivious to this. "You're obviously a personality! I wouldn't down four servings of ramen for lunch consciously! The only way I'd do that is if another personality was controlling me!"

"You're still going on about that? We've been over this! That's the most absurd line of reasoning I've ever heard!"

"Well, I don't hear you doing any better!"

"Be quiet!" Conan shouted. "I don't know what's happening, but you're making this too confusing!"

"Who are you talking to...him, or me?" Phibrizzo asked, his voice quieter.

"Rrrrgh...what's with you!? You do these eerily accurate voice impressions, you pull large objects out of your pocket, and now you're having a conversation with a person who isn't even here! As soon as we get the lights back on, have him show himself. I'm sick of this!"

For a moment, Phibrizzo instinctively tried to take in Conan's irritation and anger. Although he felt a bit more wound up than before, a sickening feeling in his stomach came with it. Egghh...old habits die hard. "Hate to tell you this...but he is here," Phibrizzo responded calmly. "He's in my head."

"Get out," Conan said, disbelieving. Although it would explain why Phibrizzo's mouth wasn't in sync with his words earlier...

"He's right, Conan," Curtis told him. "That voice you heard taunting Hatter earlier? That was me. Now, if we're finished, could we step back a few? You walked past the manager's office."

Everyone did as asked. Phibrizzo turned his head slightly, seeing the door. He wound up a fist, ready to pound it in---

"No one take another step. All four of you just stop where you are."

-----------

Brilliant, Conan thought disgustedly, still holding on to Phibrizzo's hand tightly. He couldn't see, someone in Phibrizzo's head was talking to him, and apparently Hatter had managed to detect them. The last part wasn't hard to believe, considering the racket that everyone that the three of them had been making; but the second was supposed to be infeasible. This wasn't turning out to be one of his better evenings.

"Now, I'm going to open the door," Hatter's voice warned. "Give me the key, and step into the room...slowly."

"And what if we don't? You're just as blind as we are," Phibrizzo pointed out.

"Who says?" Hatter asked condescendingly. "The captain has...connections, so to speak. Five years ago before my professional career, I was accidentally blinded during a practice session. Through a series of coincidences, I met up with the captain. With the aid of technology years ahead of its time, he had my eyesight restored and enhanced. In exchange, I help seek out the person he's looking for. Call it a personal mission."

"So what you're saying is that your eyes are robotic?" Phibrizzo's so-called 'personality' asked.

"Indeed. My new eyes allow me to see in absolute darkness," Hatter said. "This gives me an advantage that you people don't have. Now, enough talking. Step into the room."

"I repeat: what if we don't?" Phibrizzo growled.

"I think you know."

"Whatever," said the 'personality'. "Come on. Might as well get this over with. Conan, give the man the key."

Hesitantly, Conan tossed the key forward with his free hand. "There," he confirmed. "Whoever you are, I hope you know what you're doing."

"There isn't any other alternative," Hatter spoke, likely catching the key and unlocking the door. "Stepping into that room right now is the only way to save yourself." There was a slight creaking as the door opened.

"Oh, there are other ways," Phibrizzo snickered, pulling Conan with him as he walked into the room. "Count on it."

---------

The door slammed shut and locked. Disgruntled, Conan sat down against the far wall. "Well, Mr. Personality?" he asked. "Got any ideas now?”

“Actually, I do,” the voice said, miffed, “and stop calling me a personality. I have a name, you know!”

“Curtis, just shut up and give us your stupid idea!” Phibrizzo snapped. “Dolphin, let go of my shoulders. Staring at him won’t help!”

"I know you're upset, you guys, but otherwise you wouldn't have known where the manager's office was!" the voice protested. "How am I supposed to help you around the rough parts of life if you get ticked off at me when I make a mistake or two? Conan's trusted you with something he can't tell anyone else. It's no big deal why we can't do the same with him!"

"No big deal!? I already told him what I could do! I thought we were even! Dolphin, I said let go of my shoulders!"

"Being even has nothing to do with it!" the voice---'Curtis', he was called---replied, sounding more and more ticked off with each passing second. "I knew the risks that were involved, but we've had to let someone know about your situation! We sure can't tell the Moores or Nabiki Tendo about it; the Moores wouldn't believe it, and Nabiki would probably use it for her own benefit! Can't tell Sherry about it; bending the laws of physics once is more than enough for her! It's better that we tell Conan about it; at least he can keep secrets, the impossibilities of them notwithstanding!"

"I'll say they're impossible," Conan objected. "You don't hear about people talking to someone from inside your own mind everyday!"

"And you don't hear about people being shrunk by criminal organizations everyday, either," Curtis told him, hyperventilating.

Good point. "True..."

"Look. Sorry if we're wrecking your life and work any, but we can't help what we are," Curtis said, calmer than he was a few seconds ago. "Tell you what. Someplace where no one else'll see us, I'll show up and you can talk to me face to face. Until then, we have a plan to carry out."

"That's right," Phibrizzo said, straining to get his words out. "What's your---Dolphin, I said let go!---plan, chubby?"

"Well, first we have to---"

There was a muffled shout from elsewhere in the office; Conan couldn't pinpoint exactly where it was, but apparently the others seemed to know, judging by the multiple footsteps he heard. There was an obscure squeal, the sounds of chains rattling and a rope being cut, some cloth rustling, and...

"Julien! Is that you!?" a teenage girl's voice called.

Curtis's voice sighed. "Well, I was going to say that first we'd have to free Azusa Shiratori, but it looks like that's taken care of already."

"You mean you already knew she was in here?" Phibrizzo asked testily.

"I didn't," Curtis said slowly. "But he did. He heard her moving around when we first walked in."

"'He'? You mean there's another one of you in there?" Conan asked.

"Yeah. And it's someone I think you recognize, too. Excuse me for a minute."

There was a slight pause. "What's...going on?" Azusa asked, her voice wavering a little. "Who's talking?"

"Wait for it," Phibrizzo said quietly...

Without knowing what had happened, Conan had to close his eyes reflexively as a slight breeze whistled past him and landed with a thump. "So the next step is to break out of here and turn the lights back on? Sounds easy enough," Phibrizzo's voice declared.

There's something different about his voice. It sounds a lot more confident...closer to brash than anything. I know I heard the voice used like that before...

"Take cover," Phibrizzo growled. "You don't want to get in this thing's way! Tetsusaiga!"

Conan hastily scrambled as far from him as he could go; Dolphin and Azusa were likely doing the same. There was a brief flare of light as something---sort of looked like a giant blade---appeared and slashed at the door, forcing everyone to flinch and duck away. The noise that Conan heard next was something that didn't need figuring out: the door had just been broken into multiple pieces! "Hey, who are you?"

"You've met me before, kid. I keep hearing about how I wind up on TV during the evening, if you need a hint." There was another momentary glare as the person sheathed his sword.

Wha...! "Inuyasha!? You're inside his head, too!? I knew something was off!"

"You're not just talking to him, Conan," Inuyasha said; for a second, Conan imagined the confident grin he had when he delivered Robin June's kidnappers. "This is the real deal. Now, down to business! Kid, you stay with the kleptomaniac until I have the lights back on...those switches should be in that cleaning room, right?"

"They should be," Conan said warily. "They usually keep the circuit breakers in an out-of-the-way place in these buildings."

"We'll get over there, then. Dolphin, can I count on you to distract Hatter if he comes by?...Good. Be back in a few seconds!"

A slight whoosh, and he was gone.

-----------

Dolphin could hear Azusa's happy sigh. "He's such a hero..."

"Who---Phibrizzo, or Inuyasha?" Conan asked from his spot at Dolphin's left elbow.

"I don't know about this Inuyasha person, but Julien...he's really something else!" Azusa said admirably.

Conan's reply was rather skeptical. "You do know you're around ten years older than he is, right?"

"He'll grow up eventually," was Azusa's answer. "I've never met anyone like him...except once some months ago in Nerima, but that's a whole other story."

They don't even know he's a mazoku...or at least a half-mazoku, Dolphin thought, amused. I told him off the bat it was a mistake for him to look like a cute child, but he never was too fond of listening to me. Hearing Inuyasha's distant shout, she turned her head in the direction of the door. Having two people inside your figurative mind...it's never happened to me, but I don't think it's an easy thing to live with. How did they get in there? That's what I'd like to know.

---------

Rachel continually tapped her foot on the remains of the security office's door, concerned. "I hope those three know what they're doing down there."

"Would you calm down, Miss Moore?" Sherry said for the third time, annoyed. "Being worried isn't going to restore the power."

"She has every right to be," the receptionist said from the floor. "Your friends have been captured by this point and stored away for ransom. The police won't get here in time before they get carted off to a new hiding spot. You should've given us the money when you had the---"

Without warning, the lights switched back on, forcing everyone to shield their eyes until they could adjust properly. While doing so, Sherry turned towards the receptionist and gave a thin smile. "Go on. Were you saying something funny just now?"

His response was a sour silence.

--------

WHAT!? Impossible! They couldn't have gotten loose so easily!

After locking the kids and the long-haired woman in the manager's office alongside Shiratori, Hatter had planned on going upstairs inconspicuously to taunt her cousin and coerce her into handing over the ransom money. No sooner had he reached the top of the stairs when the lights suddenly blazed back to life, temporarily disorienting him.

As soon as he recovered, he turned around and jumped back down the stairs. After yanking open the door to the hallway, the first door he came to was the one keeping the kids inside...the one scattered in large pieces all over the floor. Okay, who did this?

The three people inside stood up, their stares burning into his own. The blue-haired woman stepped out, blocking his path to the supply room. Shiratori joined her, picking up a piece of the broken door; the third kid stepped out in front of them, hands stuck in his jacket pockets.

Hatter readied himself, checking to see who to take on first. The kid in front looks like an easy target...I can capture him and use him as a---

There was a strange snap-hiss from behind him; turning just a little, he saw the final kid blocking his escape path. Where'd he come from? If he was the one to turn the lights back on, he'd have to get around the others before I could see him!

His eyes widened. "You're the one! You're the one responsible for all the trouble that my group's been dealing with!"

"I'll say, moron," the boy snarled, putting his sunglasses away. "No door's going to keep me locked up." In the light, his eyes glittered and the fireball on his shirt seemed to stand out. "The way I see it, you can either go down quietly or noisily!"

"I have a mission to fulfill," Hatter replied coldly, tensing himself. "And I'm not making plans to fail!" He turned his head back to face those in front of him, then spun around and grabbed the larger kid's arms. Before anyone else could react, he twisted around to step behind the kid, locking his arms behind him.

This was the kind of trick that earned him the 'Hatter' moniker; he was very good at deception and speed on the ice, and this often allowed him to maintain his average of two goals a game...and getting hat tricks more often than not. Of course, he often practiced this skill off the ice, as well; it had reached the point where the 'captain' had commended him for his ingenuity personally.

Immediately, tempers flared. "You let Julien go!" Shiratori shouted, heaving the piece of door at Hatter. He ducked the shot, and the piece smashed into the wall harmlessly.

Shiratori started to pick up another piece, but the kid's shout stopped her. "Watch where you're throwing those things, you crazy klepto! In case you haven't realized, he's trying to use me as a hostage!"

"Not just trying," Hatter smirked, ignoring the uneasy feeling he was getting from the long-haired woman's steel glare. "I am using you as a hostage. Sure, it's low; but I didn't get to where I am now by being a nice guy."

"Shame," the kid said, chuckling mirthlessly. "The way things are about to turn out, you would've been a lot better off being a nice fellow. It's the only thing that does turn out well for everyone involved, no matter who you are."

Hatter frowned down at him, his grip tightening. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You may be real smooth and quick when it comes to getting what you want," the kid replied, "but you fail to realize that anyone could stop you given opportunity and motive. Take me, for example. My motives are simple: I want to rescue that woman's cousin and avoid causing her undue worry. Maybe I have a soft spot in my heart, and maybe not. Whichever the case, it's more than enough for me. As for opportunity, well...heh, heh...you'll see."

"Stop speaking in riddles," Hatter told him, frowning. "You're not making any sense!"

The kid's laughter rose a few notches, sounding almost mad. "I'm making plenty of sense. You're just too dim-witted to figure things out!" He chuckled for a few more seconds, then calmed down. "You may think that you've restrained me, but you're wrong. You never realized that, did you?"

Abruptly the kid vanished with that same snap-hiss, escaping Hatter's clutches. A split second later, he rematerialized a meter off to his side, wringing his wrists. "Alright, you hockey-playing hoodlum. You kidnapped Shiratori, tried to kidnap us, and now you had the nerve to use me as a shield! You think you're tough? You're nothing compared to me!"

"Ooh, boy," the smaller kid muttered almost inaudibly, sounding tired. "He's going to snap."

At first, Hatter didn't know what the glasses-wearing kid meant by that; before he could ask him about it, the side of a foot rammed into him, propelling him down the hall towards the group. "Gum Gum Whip!" the kid cried out as he finished his kick, doing a complete 360 before coming to a stop and allowing his leg---which had stretched a few meters---to snap back to its proper length.

The group ducked their heads, and Hatter went soaring over to land five meters away from them. Having dealt with the rigors of hockey and training for the captain for several years, he was made of sterner stuff than most men; he was able to get back to his feet, albeit with slightly blurry vision as his cybernetic eyes attempted to readjust themselves. "You're kids," he muttered angrily, not admitting to himself that the odds may have been against him from the start. "There's no way you can---"

Something pricked his arm. His vision dimmed before blacking out entirely, and he collapsed to the floor.

----------

Dolphin looked on as Phibrizzo's anger cooled off. Well, that's that. Now all that's left is to drag him back on up to the main hall. Say, I wonder if there's a staircase around here?

Phibrizzo walked over to Conan and Azusa, staring down at the downed Hatter. "Thanks, Conan," he said. "One of Agasa's inventions?"

"Of course," Conan told him, smiling. "Who else would it be?"

"Well, who knows? Someone else could've made a watch with a stun dart and..." Phibrizzo trailed off, spotting Azusa's expression: one of happiness and thankfulness. He stammered for a few moments, took a few backward steps, then took off with the figure skater close on his heels.

Dolphin knew what was going to happen, and it wasn't going to be pretty. She went over and grabbed Hatter by the back of his shirt, then gestured for Conan to follow her towards where she believed the staircase was. They hadn't explored the entire area beneath the stands, after all; there was bound to be an exit.

-------

Fifteen minutes later, the police arrived with Richard Moore and Azusa's figure-skating partner, Mikado Sanzenin, in tow; apparently he was the one that Richard was speaking to at the police station. During Inspector Maguire, Richard, and Deep Sea Dolphin's interrogation session, Mr. Stevens, the receptionist, and the hired man gave the details of the scheme to kidnap Azusa. In the end, William Huey "the Hatter" confessed to kidnapping her this morning before her partner was due to arrive. However, none of them would say who exactly the 'captain' was.

Conan set his eyes on Deep Sea Dolphin, who was blushing and fuming silently near one of Icearc Arena's exits. Rachel was standing near her, trying to calm her down. After Dolphin finished her role in the interrogation and returned her Vaporeon to its hiding place, Mikado went over to her and began chatting with her. She feigned interest throughout the whole exchange, but when Mikado actually went and kissed her, she gave up the act; it took me, Rachel, and several officers to keep her from whalloping him.

Conan next turned to where Sherry was talking to Inspector Maguire. Sherry offered to pay for the broken doors that Dolphin's pet and Inuyasha demolished, using some of what was supposed to be the ransom money. It's legit, thankfully, but it still raises the question of how much her employers pay her...and how much of it is actually legal.

Anyhow, she agreed to come with the police back to the station to give them her statements on the grounds of confidentiality. It was pretty funny when someone noticed that Sherry had never gotten rid of the writing on her face throughout the whole experience; it actually got her chuckling for a few moments.

It was pretty startling to me when Phibrizzo told us about Curtis and Inuyasha being in his figurative mind; that had to be the most confusing secret I've ever heard. For that matter, it's supposed to be impossible; but he and his sister keep turning things on their heads. Oddly enough, that trick with his limbs didn't startle me as much as it should've; maybe I'm becoming desensitized to his oddities... At any rate, Curtis told me he'd show up himself and talk to me sometime. I'm kind of looking forward to hearing his take on it.

Speaking of Phibrizzo, where is he? I haven't seen him since before we went back upstairs.

Meanwhile, Maguire went over to Rachel and Dolphin. "Where's Miss Shiratori? She has to come with us to the station, too."

Dolphin jotted down a quick message on her notepad, which was almost full. 'Last I saw her, she was downstairs chasing after my brother.'

Rachel tapped her chin. "Say, you don't think---"

A tremendous, terrible scream echoed throughout the building. Hearing it rattled Conan's nerves; it reminded him of a scary movie he'd seen during a stay in Hawaii. It jolted Dolphin out of her doldrums and motivated her to race towards the main arena at full speed; everyone else, except for those taking Hatter and his group to the police cars, was motivated to do the same.

When they got there Richard and Maguire just blinked, not entirely sure what was going on. Rachel and Sherry both sweatdropped in disbelief. Mikado shook his head, used to Azusa's behavior. Conan facefaulted, and Dolphin was on the floor alongside him, lost in hushed hysterics.

Phibrizzo was propped up on the ice. His face was red, his teeth was gritted, and the pupils of his eyes had shrunk to pinpoints. A short distance away, Azusa was chastising him. "Really, Julien. You don't have to yell when I kiss your forehead; I know cute little boys are embarrassed when that happens, but come on!"

"Psycho kleptomaniac!" Phibrizzo shouted, his expression not wavering in the least.

As the discussion continued, Rachel just shook her head. "Looks like they're going to be there a while..."

-------------

Location: Unknown
Time: The following morning

"A mysterious kidnapping case came to a close last night. Professional hockey player William Huey, a.k.a. the Hatter, and several others admitted to kidnapping figure skater Azusa Shiratori before her scheduled practice yesterday morning at Icearc Arena. Miss Shiratori's cousin---who has asked to remain anonymous---stated that she had the assistance of a group of talented young individuals who were willing to take a tremendous risk in helping her out."

The reader took in the picture of a dark-haired boy before continuing to read aloud. "This young boy, who attends school in Beika, was reportedly responsible for leading the group into the Arena. With minor assistance from the vigilante Inuyasha, the group captured the Hatter and his team in short order. When questioned, the boy had this to say: 'I couldn't just sit around and do nothing. I'm not trying to play a hero, nor am I in it for personal gain; and make no mistake about it, Shiratori scares me. I'm just not about to let my conscience bother me when I know that there's something I can do to help.'"

The reader, his spectacled face in shadow, nodded as he folded up the newspaper and set it aside, deciding to read the rest of the article later. "He did well to defeat one of my weaker agents," he said to himself. "I'm not upset because a schoolboy took down someone that I favor. It takes quite a bit to succeed against me, and apparently he has the needed talent. I won't pursue him as a replacement; any child, no matter how skilled or mature, deserves his education. However, if he interferes with my search again, I will find him."

The man's glasses almost seemed to flash. "Tread cautiously, for you have caught the captain's eye..."

-------------

Chapten Ten concluded. Chapter Eleven soon to commence

Author's Notes

Altogether this was probably the hardest (and longest) chapter for me to write thus far, and it surprised me a few times along the way. For instance, I hadn't planned on Conan learning that Phibrizzo, Curtis, and Inuyasha were a triumvirate. Some parts were really fun to write, though, such as the staredown between Dolphin and Sherry. As far as things go, I've always preferred writing humorous stories as opposed to dramatic ones. Heh, heh.

Phibrizzo's not going to show everyone what he's capable of, just the people he feels he can trust.

I think I'm going to try having Inuyasha have a more major role sometime soon. His role in this chapter seemed rather low key.

For such a long chapter, I don't really have a whole lot to say. Let's move on.