I don't own Detective Conan or its characters! Never have, never will!

This story will have spoiler warnings for up to chapter 703. I took some liberties with one of the situations in the later chapters to further the story. It's fanfiction, after all.

Spoilers for Magic Kaitou…not much to speak about, seeing as there are only about 28 chapters of it.

For those that haven't read the MK manga (SPOILER WARNING in this explanation)…

…Jackal is an international jewel thief (he makes an appearance in the 4th Conan OVA), and Snake is an operative that might have had something to do with the death of the first Kaitou Kid.

I try not to use too much Japanese in my stories, but sometimes, it expresses feelings and ideas better than the English equivalent.

Japanese used in this chapter:

"Ba'a'rou" - a slurred "Baka Yarou", which basically means "idiot"

"Tantei" – Means "detective"

Rebirth

Chapter 1

Figuring out the riddle had been simple enough. So had getting to the location and being ready for a good chase. It hadn't been the first time that Conan went up against the Kaitou Kid, after all.

The easiest would have been to get to the roof of the building the Kid was going to steal from…except Nakamori had taken extra measures that night. That, or the Kaitou Kid Task Force was just overzealous. Even as a kid, he couldn't sneak past all the guards.

So, he tried to calculate the escape path, and figured he would head off Kid along there. For that reason, he had his skateboard stuck in his backpack.

He had come prepared, of course…the belt that released soccer balls, the sleeping darts, the power shoes…though, those were three gadgets that he rarely left the Agency without.

Tonight, though, as he snuck away from a cheering Sonoko and a slightly exasperated Ran, he had an ominous feeling.

Like something or someone was watching, and that someone didn't have any good intentions. The question was, who was watching, and whom were they watching.

Were they there for Kid? Or something else?

Conan frowned as he jogged away. The target of the heist isn't a gem, per say. It's rumored to be a formula to create a gemstone or something like it with glass and chemicals. Even the name is weird… "Equation for Youth".

He knew that, if he could figure out exactly what the problem was with the item, he could answer his own questions about the feeling he had about the heist.

Nobody else seemed to feel that way, though, as they stood below the twenty story building with signs to support Kaitou Kid in his newest endeavor.

Conan paused and glanced up at the sky. What's also strange about this heist is the way it was done. Two notes were sent…and from what I heard, the first was a challenge to Kid. That's never a good sign.

Though, Kid had gotten out of those kinds of situations before.

But then, why did he feel so anxious about it?

Conan rounded a bend, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Parked along the side of the road, with two shadowy figures inside, was a 365A Porche.

A black one.

A wisp of smoke rose from one of the windows, which indicated that one of them was smoking.

Conan inched forward, eyes wide as he tried to contain his trembling. He had found them…Gin's car. At an event that he least expected to.

Thoughts of Kaitou Kid and apprehending him were thrown aside as he hid himself in a nearby alleyway. He wasn't too close, but not too far. Neither were speaking, but he identified the two in the car to be Gin and Vodka.

The car was parked so it faced away from the heist building, but it was obvious that someone was watching what was happening behind them since Conan could hear the muffled voice of Gin speaking over the phone a moment after the crowd behind them cheered.

"Wait for your chance. That white bird usually takes flight. He cant dodge in the air."

Conan shivered. Their target…is Kid? Why? He's been targeted by various people before, but never by them…what's going on?

Even worse was that there was just about nothing he could do. Gin and Vodka were right in front of him, but he couldn't do a thing against them. Not if he wanted to find their boss. He had to go for the root. Even if Gin and Vodka were ever arrested, the Organization would still exist as long as the boss was out there.

Not that Conan wouldn't mind seeing Gin behind bars. If there was ever a person that deserved a cold prison cell, it was Gin.

Another cheer from behind. Conan risked a glance around the alleyway, and saw a swarm of copters that seemed to circle the roof.

A chill ran down Conan's spine. He's on the roof, then…he'll use his glider to get away. But when he does…dammit, where's their companion hiding?!

Conan scanned the area for any sign of a location where a sniper could hide as he dashed out of the alley. He would have to give up on tracking Gin and Vodka in light of finding the sniper. There were buildings all around them, and only a couple were too small to be possibilities.

Though, if it was a sniper, there was also a chance that they were aiming from a farther location. But to aim at someone in the air, that person would have to be on a high floor to ensure the bullet hitting its target.

Conan zoomed in on some of the buildings using his glasses, then halted when he saw the glint of light that reflected off of something from the helicopters in the area.

A scope.

The sniper was to far…he wouldn't be able to hit them or intercept the bullet with the soccer ball. He was on the ground, so even if he cranked the volume up all the way on the bowtie, Kid wouldn't hear him over the cheers of the crowd.

Conan cursed as he looked up. Kid was soaring towards their area, now…if the sniper was going to shoot him, now was the time.

And, if Conan couldn't hit the sniper, then maybe he could hit Kid. To avoid the copters, Kid was flying a little lower than normal.

Conan idly wondered if the Organization had hijacked one of the copters to force Kid on a low trajectory to make it easier to shoot him.

He pushed that thought aside, and when he saw the finger that hovered over the trigger of the gun he had been zeroed in on move, he made his own move.

In a split second, he released a soccer ball after powering up his shoes, then kicked it up and slightly on an angle. With the shoes boosting the power, it would hopefully fly up high enough to make Kid realize it was there.

It wouldn't look strange to the Organization, either, since Conan had stopped Kid a couple times before with a soccer ball. They would just think that the little detective was trying to knock Kid out of the sky.

Kid, indeed, had to dodge the soccer ball, and banked to the side just as the gun went off.

Still, it wasn't a perfect dodge, and the bullet hit the thief somewhere in his left shoulder and continued on to knock out one of the supports of the glider.

Thus, the glider folded a bit, and Kid was headed for a crash landing.

Conan glanced up through the glasses again, but the sniper was gone.

Their target hadn't been killed, so that left the Organization with two choices…

Either give up tonight and try again another night, or go to the place where Kid was spiraling towards and finish the job right there and then.

Conan jumped on his skateboard and tore off towards the area, taking back streets and alleyways to get there faster than taking the roads. Plus, he didn't want to run into the Organization.

He kept his eye on the white in the sky until it fell below the city-line, then made a quick mental calculation to be sure he was headed the right way.

Kid was like a rival, but he didn't want the thief dead.

And, the Organization would definitely do that should they catch him first.

Conan really didn't know what he would do when he found him…Kid was most likely injured, and might have already disguised himself. But, he figured he would think of that when he got there as he tore around another corner on the skateboard.

There was a plank of wood leaning up against the end of an alleyway, so he used that as a ramp to get over the wall that would have normally caused him to have to turn around, and landed the board on the ground on the other side.

From there, it was just a couple more turns until he found the thief.

Kid lay on the ground, unmoving, between a couple of buildings.

For a moment, Conan wondered if it was just a dummy to fool whomever was after him.

Though, when he saw the blood that soaked into the thief's left shoulder, and some that ran down the guy's face on the left hand side, he realized that it was the real deal.

Then, he was left to worry if the guy survived the crash.

Conan hopped off the board and quickly shoved it back in his bag as he ran up to the downed thief.

There was a pulse when he checked, and the guy was breathing…but they couldn't stay there.

"Hey…hey!" Conan shook the thief's shoulders. "Wake up!"

The other groaned, then opened his eyes blearily.

"Get up! You have to get out of here, or they'll come and kill you!" Conan pulled at Kid's right arm to get him up, since the guy's left had a nice stain of blood around it.

"I'm alive, then…? That was one hell of a landing……oh! It's you, tantei-kun…!"

"Shut up!" Conan hissed and again tried to pull the guy to his feet. "Are you trying to give away your location to them!? You think they'll quit after a failed attempt!?"

"They…?"

Conan resisted the urge to slap the guy upside the head. Either the thief wasn't as smart as he originally thought, or the guy was a bit dazed from the landing.

The shrunken detective banked on the latter.

Kid winced and grunted in pain when he stumbled to his feet. His right hand went to his left shoulder as rivulets of blood dripped down his arm to land on the ground. His legs almost buckled when he stood, and he practically slammed into a nearby wall to stay upright.

Conan felt a pang of sympathy for the thief, but they couldn't stay where they were. Already, he swore he could hear the sound of an approaching car. "Come on!"

Kid hissed in pain, but followed the boy around another corner with a heavy limp.

Conan didn't have to be a genius to tell the reason…there was another patch of blood that gathered on the thief's right pant leg by the knee. He doubted there was another bullet fired, so that meant it was probably an injury upon landing.

Kid wasn't having a great night, either. His vision doubled and blurred occasionally, and his head spun. Probably from the bump he got upon landing…but that still wasn't a good sign. His left arm hurt like hell, and his right leg sent up shocks of pain each time he stepped down on it.

As they ducked around another corner, he stumbled and leaned heavily against a building as his breathing came out in pained gasps.

Conan stopped and glanced behind him when he heard the lack of footsteps. "Don't pass out…I can't carry you. Do you have anyone standing by that can help you?"

"Not tonight…no…" Kid rasped.

"Damn it…" Conan then noticed the blood that ran down Kid's left hand, and swore again. "Hey…bend your arm at the elbow! No, your left arm! You're trailing blood! They'll track it and find us!"

"You mean…they'll find me…"

"Ba'a'rou! I'm not leaving someone who's injured and being targeted by some ruthless assassins behind!" Conan whispered fiercely.

Kid blinked a couple of times, startled by the conviction.

Conan swore to himself. Even saying so, what can we do? He's wounded…and worst of all, we can't walk into a hospital like this. If we stay above ground, then they'll eventually find us when his injuries catch up to him. If we go into one of the buildings, then they're sure to corner us…

It wasn't looking good, though the two continued to move.

Kid pushed back his pain as best as he could while he followed the boy. He could be leading me to a hospital or a police station. That would solve the problem of the guys on our back and my wounds…

"If you're thinking that I'm taking you in the direction of a police station or a hospital, get real. Do you think that those guys that are undoubtedly on your trail will care about the safety of officers or doctors?"

"Who are they, anyway?" Kid asked.

"I'll tell you later…" Conan glanced from side to side. There has to be a way out! There has to be an escape! Somewhere we won't be seen…somewhere they won't think to track us through. The past couple of turns, he hasn't been leaving a trail of blood, but that'll only thrown them off for so long…

Especially since the sniper might still be out there. If that person caught sight of them in their scope…

Conan gritted his teeth. They could be searching from the air, too. If I'm right about one of those copters belonging to them, then all it'll take is that beam of light that's sweeping the area to land on us, and it's over!

Kid said nothing as they stopped so Conan could peer around. He's…scared? That look on his face…he's scared. What in the world can scare this guy?

It wasn't a comforting thought. When the guy you're with who is practically unshakable, and looks death in the face all the time, starts to worry…then you automatically assume the worst.

Whomever was after him wasn't the usual scumbags that sometimes showed up on his heists. Snake and Jackal wouldn't cause this reaction from him…I doubt he even knows who they are. I'm wary of them, but not afraid of them…

Conan was sure they were dead meat since there were too many seekers trying to find them, when he spied it.

Innocently sitting on the ground where it always sat.

A sewer cap.

"This way! Try not to get any blood on anything near here…we're going to disappear under their noses," Conan stated as he rushed out towards the sewer cap.

Kid stumbled after him, but did make an effort to listen as he watched their backs.

Conan strained, but managed to move the cap. "Go down…hurry!"

Kid glanced at him, then nodded and climbed down the ladder.

Conan swung himself down, then pushed the sewer cap over their heads to slide back into place.

TO BE CONTINUED…