Tangze, now wearing his prepared disguise, sprinted all the way toward the Haido Grand Hotel. At the same time, another small figure was running in the same direction.
The detective's mind raced as his eyes locked onto the brightly lit hotel in the night. He smiled with confidence.
"That's right, it's here! In this direction, the only place with a view of the Beika Museum is the rooftop of the Haido Grand Hotel!"
After reaching the top floor and setting down the fireworks he had prepared, Conan stood on the rooftop in the howling night wind and looked toward the Beika Museum, which had been caught in the helicopters' searchlights.
He checked the time, answered Professor Agasa's call, and listened to information about Phantom Thief 1412 while waiting for the phantom thief to arrive.
"There was a young novelist"—that would be your dad—Professor Agasa turned the words over in his mouth, but ultimately did not reveal that Yusaku Kudo had given the man his nickname. "He was very interested in 1412, who had made fools of police forces around the world. So he altered and simplified '1412,' reading it as KID."
"KID?"
"That's right, Phantom Thief 1412, known as—"
As Professor Agasa's declaration rang from the receiver, Conan widened his eyes and turned around. Against a crescent moon, a figure in a white cape leaped down from midair.
"'Kaito Kid'!"
Kaito Kid lowered his head to look at the little boy standing at the edge of the rooftop, smiling with considerable interest.
"If a phantom thief is an artist who steals his prey through exquisite technique—
"Then detectives are, at most, nitpicking critics who trail along behind him!"
After putting on a voice-changing performance and drawing all the police over, Kaito Kid leisurely delivered his famous line while surrounded by police helicopters and pursuing officers. One hand opened his glider, while a flashbang slipped from the sleeve of his other arm.
He grabbed the hem of his clothes, preparing to quickly change disguises and blend into the police to leave.
"—I agree."
A clear voice brushed past his ear. Kaito Kid startled and sharply rolled to the side, but the flashbang that was about to hit the ground had already been wrapped up and snatched away by a passing red shadow. The blinding light never came.
"Who was that?!" Ginzō Nakamori, who had already raised his arm to shield his eyes, was equally startled by the extra voice. He lowered his arm and looked over.
A figure appeared to have climbed up along the outer wall. With a forward flip, he landed on the rooftop's edge, right where Kaito Kid had just been standing.
"—How lively." Though his plan had been disrupted, Kaito Kid did not panic. He tilted his head, looking at this sudden variable.
The person raised an arm, pulling back the red shadow that had swept away the flashbang. It coiled around his neck and became a red scarf, its two trailing ends swaying behind him in the wind kicked up by the helicopters, like a drifting candle flame.
"Where did this freak come from?" Inspector Nakamori gritted his teeth and roared into his radio. "Didn't I tell you to keep watch? Why didn't you spot someone on the outer wall?!"
Because Conan's Stealth Aura was seriously useful! Tangze smiled.
Conan took a step back, looking left and right in astonishment.
On one side stood Kaito Kid, dressed in pure white, black hair drifting beneath his top hat, monocle gleaming, cape whipping fiercely in the wind. On the other stood a strange man clad in black, white hair flying wildly, his eyes covered by a mask, scarf fluttering in the breeze...
They were like mirrored opposites.
Judging from the lower half of his exposed face, this newly appeared oddball was just as young as Kaito Kid, with smooth cheeks full of youthful collagen. He held a card in his hand, but his grip obscured its details. All Conan could see was its crimson edge...
A red card?
Conan's nerves jolted. If this were an anime, a streak of light would probably have gone biu across his background right then.
"'Phantom Thief of Hearts'?" He shouted the name that had immediately risen to his lips.
The man had been staring fixedly at Kaito Kid, as though no one else around them existed. Hearing the shout, he finally turned his head slightly toward Conan.
Without denying Conan's name for him, he smiled. "You may call me 'Joker,' little detective."
After saying that, he turned back to stare at Kaito Kid, utterly ignoring the surrounding police.
"'Phantom Thief of Hearts'... Ah, so it was you." Kaito Kid smiled as well. "You've been making quite a name for yourself lately, my copycat."
Tangze immediately caught the implication behind Kaito Kid's words.
Kaito Kid meant that Tangze had copied his method of sending calling cards. The Phantom Thief Troupe's logo also resembled the simple sketches Kaito Kid liked to leave behind, making him guilty of copying methods and academic infringement.
"That's a harsh way to put it, Mr. Kaito Kid." Tangze spread his hands innocently. P5 was just like that—what did it have to do with him? "Since you've heard my name, you must have also heard what kind of phantom thief I am, right?"
Kaito Kid smiled knowingly and folded his arms, conversing with him as though no one else were present. "A righteous thief who hunts evil and judges villains. In other words, a thief who steals hearts, right?"
Tangze snapped his fingers. "Correct."
"So this copycat has set his sights on me, the genuine article, as his prey this time."
Ginzō Nakamori clenched his fists in fury, only to realize that the two criminals were completely ignoring the heavily guarded police force and had started chatting. He waved his hand. "What are you all waiting for?! Move! Take both of them down!"
The officers of the Second Investigation Division, who had been blankly watching the show, snapped awake at the shout. They answered in unison and split into two groups, charging at the distinctly dressed phantom thieves on either side.
Unfortunately, neither of them spared the police much attention.
"You don't mind having a contest, do you, 'artist'? Let's see whether you escape safely first, or I succeed first." Tangze raised the flashbang he had swiped from Kaito Kid.
A retro phantom thief with such purist principles could never refuse that. After all, in the manga, even a public challenge letter sent through the news could make Kaito Kid obediently appear. Now someone had come right up to his face to issue a challenge—there was no reason not to accept.
"It's a deal. Then it seems that a 'critic' isn't entirely useless after all." Kaito Kid produced another flashbang. "After all, doesn't art need observers to judge its worth?"
"Cover your eyes!" Ginzō Nakamori shouted, drawing on his extensive experience battling Kaito Kid. "Don't let him use the chance to escape on his glider!"
Bang! Bang!
Two flashes erupted almost simultaneously with the sounds of impact. Conan, who had agonized internally before deciding to aim at Kaito Kid first and had already secretly raised his watch, was blinded by the lights flaring from both sides. He could only cover his eyes and stumble back again.
When everyone lowered their hands, the ground before them was empty. Neither Kaito Kid nor the late-arriving Joker was anywhere to be seen.
"Where are they?!" Ginzō Nakamori shouted into his radio. "I told you to keep watch from the air! What exactly were you watching?! Hurry up and track them with radar!"
"But, sir..." the helicopter pilot's weak voice came through. "Other than the four police helicopters, there are no other airborne objects."
Ginzō Nakamori stepped forward two paces and quickly noticed a sheet of paper bearing a rose on the ground. It was Kaito Kid's new calling card, plainly stating that he would go to the Queen Elizabeth to take the real "Pitch Black Star."
"Damn it!" He smashed his radio down in helpless rage. "Then search the hotel!"
After rapidly changing disguises in the flashbang's glare, Kaito Kid tugged the brim of his police cap and blended in behind the Second Investigation Division officers. He followed them out through the rooftop door and quietly slipped into the stairwell.
Kaito Kuroba hurried downstairs, discreetly wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Seriously, he had thought something had gone wrong with the plan and that he would really have to fly out on his glider and engage the helicopters in an aerial battle.
Luckily, that inexplicable "colleague" who had appeared later seemed to be the showboating type as well. After taking the first flashbang, he had just stood there trading lines with him. The startled police had failed to pounce immediately, allowing him to escape according to the original plan.
Thinking of that "Joker," Kaito Kuroba clicked his tongue.
Though he had some complaints about the copycat, the fact that another phantom thief had imitated his methods and even gone retro with calling cards meant that "Kaito Kid" was fairly well recognized in the business!
He was still a little secretly pleased.
He had no idea how this Joker made people "change their hearts" on schedule. Judging by his height and build, he did not seem much older than Kaito Kuroba himself.
It was no big deal. He was already an old hand at being chased by the police. Now there was simply one more colleague pursuing him from behind—nothing serious.
Full of confidence, Kaito Kuroba touched his police uniform again, preparing to change out of it on the next floor, put on another outfit, and leave the hotel safely in style.
That touch suddenly found something stiff in the breast pocket.
"Hm?" He stopped before the stairwell door and pulled out the object in the pocket.
It was a red card. On the back was a logo of a top hat, flames, and an eye mask. It was exactly the kind of calling card the Phantom Thief of Hearts often sent, and the same one Tangze had been holding in his palm just now.
Kaito Kuroba had a bad feeling. He flipped the card over.
There were none of the Phantom Thief of Hearts' usual declarations of judgment on it, only a line of letters and a symbol.
"Kuroba?"
That was the Romanized spelling of "Kuroba."
Kaito Kuroba: "?!"
Before you continue