Kaito Kid looked at Vivian provocatively, his tone gloating. "Now, we're both surrounded by the police. hmm? Me? Of course, I have a way to leave easily, but I wonder..."
He deliberately drew out his words, "...can this pointy-eared Miss Mockingbird also escape as calmly as I can?"
"A boring provocation." Vivian brushed a strand of hair from her ear, appearing unconcerned.
"Enough talk! Kid! And that Mockingbird! None of you are getting away!" Inspector Nakamori roared, his gun barrel moving between Kid and Vivian.
"Well then, everyone, April Fool's greetings end here! Until next time!" Kid laughed heartily, and a flashbang dropped from his sleeve.
"Bang!!!"
A specially made, powerful flashbang exploded.
Blinding white light instantly engulfed the entire rooftop platform, and everyone instinctively closed their eyes or covered them with their hands.
After the strong light, Kaitou Kid's figure had completely vanished.
"Baka! He got away again!" Inspector Nakamori stomped his foot in anger, immediately turning his gun to point at the purple figure in mid-air. "If I can't catch Kaitou Kid, then I'll catch you. Lady Mockingbird, surrender!"
The officers all raised their guns and aimed, following their leader's lead.
However, Vivian merely let out a disdainful chuckle.
Her gaze landed precisely on a medium-built police officer in the police team who was bowing his head, trying hard to lower his presence.
"Want to see me make a fool of myself? Kaito Kid, you should worry about whether you can get away smoothly first."
Vivian, with a smile that saw through everything, mocked. "Is it fun to hide there and pretending to be an Officer? Third row, fifth from the left, the officer with his hat brim pulled low, sir?"
Conan suddenly turned around and shouted cooperatively. "Inspector Nakamori, when you all came up just now, I counted the number of people, and there is indeed one more person now!"
"What?! Kaito Kid?! He's among us!" The officers were in an uproar, and their formation instantly fell into chaos.
Inspector Nakamori suddenly realized, and hastily ordered the officers to pull each other's faces to prove their identities.
Kaito Kid, who had disguised himself and infiltrated the police team to watch the show, could no longer keep up the act.
"Damn it!" Kid cursed under his breath, knowing his disguise had been exposed and staying any longer would truly be like being caught in a jar.
He unhesitatingly tore off his police hat and jacket, revealing the white tuxedo underneath, and reactivated his glider and thrusters.
"Catch him! Don't let him get away again!" Inspector Nakamori commanded frantically.
Kid, using the chaos and the instant acceleration of his thrusters, shot up from the crowd like an arrow released from a bow.
He narrowly avoided several grabbing hands and flew rapidly towards the distant night sky.
"Chase! Get the helicopters to chase him too!" Inspector Nakamori roared into his walkie-talkie.
Two police helicopters immediately changed direction, their searchlight beams tightly fixed on Kaitou Kid's retreating figure, and pursued him.
Inspector Nakamori then abruptly turned around, ready to focus his firepower on Vivian: "Now it's your turn! Mocking..."
His voice cut off abruptly.
In mid-air, the spot where Vivian had been hovering was, at some unknown point, already empty.
A crow flew by, cawing.
The night wind swept across the rooftop, leaving only the dumbfounded police officers staring at each other.
"Dis-disappeared?!" Inspector Nakamori was dumbfounded, feeling like he was being played by two phantom thieves tonight.
Just then, Hugo, who had been quite calm, picked up a white card that had been blown to the ground by the wind.
The card was exquisitely made, with gold edges, and a Q-version headshot of Kaitou Kid on the front.
"Oh? It seems Kaitou Kid left a gift." Hugo showed the card to everyone.
The card clearly read:
To the Suzuki Foundation:
On April 19th, aboard your Queen Elizabeth cruise ship,
I will come as promised to take the true black star.
— Kaito Kid, here to pay respects
At the same time, beneath Kaito Kid's Preview card, there was an additional, very ordinary, even slightly cheap, yellow sticky note.
The sticky note was handwritten with a marker, in a somewhat casual script:
Me too.
We will take the true black star before Kaitou Kid gets his hands on it.
— Mockingbird
"Pfft..." Looking at these two vastly different yet stacked announcements, Sonoko couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Although the Mockingbird's announcement was written by her left hand, putting it together with Kaitou Kid's announcement letter was truly hilarious.
Sonoko's eyes sparkled, and she excitedly clenched her fists. "This is great! Both Kid-Sama and Mockingbird are targeting my family's cruise ship! On April 19th, aboard the Queen Elizabeth, an unprecedented phantom thief showdown is sure to unfold!"
...Meanwhile, on the other side, Kaito Kid was having a terrible time.
Kaito Kid was piloting his glider, like a white dove chased by a falcon, weaving frantically through Tokyo's towering buildings.
The two police helicopters behind him clung to him like a plaster, refusing to let go.
"Kaito Kid, just give up already! You can't escape!"
Superintendent Chaki's stern voice came through the helicopter's loudspeaker, "Tonight, I will absolutely not let you slip away from under my nose again!"
"Tsk, they're like persistent ghosts!"
Kaito Kid gritted his teeth, attempting several sharp turns, diving into narrow building gaps, and even using his thrusters for instant acceleration,
But these two helicopters were clearly equipped with experienced pilots and advanced tracking equipment, always staying right on his tail.
The thruster fuel was rapidly depleting, and controlling the glider was becoming difficult; if this continued, being caught was only a matter of time.
"Damn it, am I really going to fall here tonight?"
Kaito Kid began to feel anxious.
Just as he was racking his brain to think of a way to escape, something unexpected happened.
Whirr—!
The helicopter that had been clinging to his tail suddenly started spinning in place erratically, as if it had gotten drunk.
It was no longer tracking him.
"What's going on?!" Kaito Kid looked back in surprise, unsure of what had happened.
Soon, the other helicopter followed suit, also falling into a strange state of spinning in place.
The searchlight beams swept wildly across the night sky, having completely lost their target.
The two helicopters seemed to be caught in an invisible ghost wall, spinning fruitlessly in place, unable to escape that area no matter how they adjusted their direction.
"This... what is this?" Kaito Kid keep moving slowly, scratching his head in confusion.
Just then, a dark figure riding a broom silently approached his glider.
"Oh, it seems our arrogant Phantom Thief is looking a bit disheveled tonight~"
A familiar female voice, with a hint of playfulness, rang out.