-Do something about that giant blob..."
Time flew by fast. Four weeks ago, she had locked away the giant monster in Makai, in fear of it absorbing everything in Gensokyo. She wasn't quite sure how to handle it back then, but now, she had some sort of idea. Just a few more days until she had all she needed to handle the monstrocity...
No, Reimu's biggest problem right now was the thief. The smug thief who thought he had gotten away for good, only to find out that Reimu lived right in the neighborhood. The phantom magician that, even now, played tricks upon the girls of Gensokyo. It was almost embarassing to see a gaggle of magical girls crowd around him as he performed his magic tricks: conjuring doves from nowhere, reading their minds, plucking roses from their ears...
Honestly, she should have expected this. When the entire world and its chaotic ways are controlled by girls with powers beyond comprehension, its a relief to see a guy every once in a while. Rinnosuke hardly got out of his shop at all, and he was hardly the exciting type. Now girls had a real thrill-seeker here, someone adventurous. Reimu had to make sure one of them didn't kidnap him for any devious purposes.
As she sipped her tea, Reimu Hakurei reflected on the one thing that brought them together here in Gensokyo, until Vegas called out her name...
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TOUHOU 14.7: Eastern Towers of Avarice ~ Golden Concerto
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Stage 1: Modern World Under the Moonlight
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The gem still sleeps under the moonlight...
Does the thief wish to awaken it from its slumber?
--DECEMBER 27TH, 2014
GENSOKYO: HAKUREI SHRINE, EARLY MORNING---
Reimu stared at the various newspapers the Lilliputian had gathered and laid them out for her to see. Each one was turned to a page where the shrine maiden could see the familiar smug face of a certain thief she met earlier in the year.
"Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaitooooooooooooooooo!" she yelled as she grabbed one of the newspapers and ripped it up in a rage. "I thought we fucking told you to not to try to steal more shit you fucking shithead!"
"You shouldn't make a mess of things, Reimu," said the inchling, as she cleaned up all the bits and scraps of paper. "Besides, maybe you should look a little more carefully at the articles!"
The shrine maiden stared for a moment before turning back towards the articles. All of them had headlines like, "Phantom Thief: Missing?!" and "Kaito Kid's Disappearing Act: Thief Hasn't Appeared in Months". They spoke of how there wasn't a heist in a while and how there were absolutely no notices, even after several rare jewels and gems were exhibited in Tokyo's museums. She then helped out with cleaning, her cheeks a tint of red.
"So he was keeping to his promises, huh, Sukuna?"
"Maybe! I mean, you did say that he does it for a thrill and trying to find his father, who was Kaitou Kid before he was!"
Reimy sighed and sat back on the floor, unamused. "How long is he going to honor that, though?" she asked. "One of these gems that shows up might be a bit too shiny and big enough to hold another gem in it: the Pandora Gem. The Kobbers aren't gonna be around to convince whoever owns it to let them see it, and hell if they'd actually listen to a Miko who exists in a world where vampires and flying ships and hell ravens are a thing."
"Utsuho's a kobber, though! They'd have heard of her and stuff! And nobody's going to really argue when you're friends with someone who holds a ton of nuclear power!"
"Sukuna, we're not trying to threaten them, we're trying to borrow a gem to see if they have this stupid eternal life granting gem thing. Which is pretty damn unlikely, so Kaito might be running out of patience." She glanced over at another page, showing off a giant, full-colored page of a brilliant sapphire at a different exhibit. "This gem might end up being his next target..."
Sukuna sat beside Reimu as they both read the details: The Blue Behemoth was being exhibited at the Beika Museum, and was rumored to once be a part of a fearsome beast. Legend had it that this beast, which stood 18 meters tall, once threatened the lives of people until a brave samurai warrior had carved out the gem that was its heart. Rumors go on to say that it pulses under the moonlight, like the still-beating heart of the behemoth.
Reimu also took a peek at another article, which spoke more of sights of a "Golden Kaiju" in the city. Witness reports say that it was huge and toted around an entourage of imps, but police and reporters alike dismissed them as being untrue. This worried her a bit, as she knew as well as anyone else that Godzilla was a thing; why the heck were they dismissing this out of hand? That's what an investigation was for, anyhow!
With a grunt, the shrine maiden closed the papers and sighed. "I forgot computers weren't much of a thing here in Gensokyo," she grumbled, "so I can't exactly track Kaito down, unless I asked for Nitori's help. What to do...?"
The little inchling princess smiled at the maiden and hopped onto the table in front of her. "When all else fails, bait him out!" she said enthusiastically. "Why not just wait for him at the Blue Behemoth! I wanna see this in action and see if he's as much of an outlaw as Seija!" She paused for a moment, her smile turning into a grin as she motioned for Reimu to pick her up. When she did, she added, "Besides, I have a great idea!"
Reimu blinked for a moment before putting Sukuna to her ear, allowing her to whisper her idea. Her grin must have been contageous, as it spread across Reimu's face.
"Oh, I'm liking this already. Guess we better get a move on, then!
Next stop... Beika Museum!"
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-----DECEMBER 27TH, 2014
BLUE PARROT BILLARDS BAR, TOKYO, JAPAN, SUNSET-----
"This just in! The Phantom Thief, Kaitou Kid, has sent notice to the Beika Museum, stating that he would steal the Blue Behemoth at 10 PM! While an uncanny thief, fans all over Japan come down to see his heists, which are like a magic show in action! The Police Department begs to differ, as they have failed several times to capture him, even before his disappearance a few months ago... as well as 8 years prior. Inspector Nakamori, whose specialty is completely in capturing Kaitou Kid, issued a declaration: 'This time, I will definitely catch you! This time is the time I will succeed! Hahahaha!'"
Kaito Kuroba casually watched the news as he enjoyed a scoop of chocolate ice cream, his heart thumping in excitement at how many people were eager to see him in action. He neglected to mention this to anybody else, but he usually refused to do a heist that didn't allow spectators to enjoy it. It was just a bigger magic show, wasn't it? And now, they were all crowding the museum, ready to roll.
There was a pang of guilt, however. He had already slipped up against the Kobbers and got nailed for it. He really, honestly wanted to wait everything out, wait until the Kobbers came back so that they would help him find his father's murderers... and the Pandora Gem, rumored to give eternal life if you drank the tears it made under certain circumstances. He promised to make it all up with the community service and even kept quiet for all these months. But the Blue Behemoth was huge, big enough to hold the Pandora Gem inside. And if the bad guys got to it before he did...
"Young Master?" asked the bartender with a worried look.
Kaito turned to him, eyebrow raised. "Yes, Jii? What's up?"
"Are you absolutely certain you wish to do this? I worry that you may come across those who nearly killed you when you stole the Blue Birthday. If this gem truly is one of the wonderous gems of the world, they might already be here, waiting to steal it for them before they take both the gem... and your life!"
The thief smirked and replied, "You worry too much! Everything will be fine! I tricked them back then, and I'll trick them again this time!"
"But if they are truly the ones that killed your father...!"
Silence. Kaito sighed and took out a white cape, covering himself with it. The moment it was removed, he was in his Kaito Kid outfit, monocle and all.
"The notice is already out, Jii," he said. "And I can't let the fans down, can I?"
As dusk arrived and the full moon began to rise, he closed his eyes and thought.
Yes... the show must go on.
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----BEIKA MUSEUM, TOKYO, JAPAN: 10 PM---
Onlookers crowded the halls, holding up signs for Kaito Kid and cheering loudly. Rows upon rows upon rows of policemen were everywhere in the five story building, keeping an eye out for the phantom. Inspector Nakamori, especially, was on the top floor where the Blue Behemoth was held, a crowd of police officers in tow. The room itself had artistic depictions of the monster and the samurai as they fought, with the rumored armor and weapons the samurai had, as well as possible bones of the monster, were on the right and left sides. Only the gemstone sat in the middle of the room, shimmering in the light, guarded by a glass cage.
"There's no way I will let Kaito get away this time!" the Inspector said with a grin. "With this many officers, there's no way he can slip away unnoticed! They even have cameras recording everything!" He put his hands on his hips and let out a hearty chortle. "Rest assured, this phantom thief won't-"
A small canister rolled lazily across the floor, bumping into the Inspector's foot. He turned towards it and raised an eyebrow before picking it up.
"What's this?"
He may have asked a little too soon, as it exploded in his face, releasing a gas all throughout the room. In the blink of an eye, all of the officers that were in the room collapsed in a sleepy heap, A tile from the ceiling shifted away, allowing the phantom thief to drop in, a mask covering his face.
"So much for a challenge," he said to himself as he removed the glass casing and snagged the gem. Its sheen was indecribable. Truly a gem to behold. He pocketed it and bowed to his slumbering audience before taking off into the halls.
More police spotted him. Even with their leader incapacitated, they knew the chase was on. Kaito smirked as they followed him through the halls, like something out of a Scooby Doo cartoon. When they had cornered him, they all jumped at him at once, wrestling each other to try to keep Kaito down and be the ones to proudly proclaim that they were the ones who caught him. One police officer crawled out of the pile and headed on up to the roof, allowing the others to claim their glory. He wasn't particularly interested in it.
When he reached the roof, he removed his masked, revealing the cocky Kaito in all his glory. "Fell for the dummy again~" he said cheerfully, plucking the gem out of his pocket and holding it up to the moonlight. "The police are a joke here! So glad that none of them bothered calling Conan or some other detective; they'd see through my trick like nothing, and that'd just ruin the magic, wouldn't it?"
The Blue Behemoth shimmered brightly. A bit too brightly. His eyes narrowed as he examined the gem more closely: too oily... A fake?!
Before he could wonder this further, something hit his face, knocking him over like a lone white mage going up against a fearsome knight. "KAITOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a voice boomed before he found himself smacked again and again.
Thank goodness the smacking stopped soon, but now the blood was draining from his face as he saw who was there.
"You better thank me!" Officer Reimu said, crossing her arms and glaring daggers at him. "I was waiting here the whole time to stop you before you went and get yourself arrested for real!"
"Geez, couldn't you have been a little more gentle?" Kaito grumbled, getting up off the ground and rubbing his cheek. "And where's the real gem?"
"None of your business. If you took the real gem, you'd earn yourself a one-way trip to jail. Thankfully, my partner managed to replace it with a fake. Not telling you where the real one is, but it's in safer hands than yours."
"Hey! I was going to return it after I saw if there was a gem inside!"
Reimu stared at him before tilting her head and replying bluntly, "The Pandora Gem isn't there. Trust me, I checked when I had a chance. You wasted your time and mine, so you might want to hurry the hell back home."
Kaito rolled his eyes, stripping off the police outfit and revealing his costume below it. He hasily put on his top hat and monocle before he crossed his arms and grumbled, "At least tell me how you got here so fast. Weren't you on the ZFS?"
"I never mentioned it? I'm actually-"
She stopped mid-sentence as the ground seemed to shake below her. Screams echoed through the night, the people below scattering about like ants. The shrine maiden's instinct to fight switched on, a terrible feeling lurking in her gut. Kaito must have noticed it, as he pulled out his trusty Card Gun and turned towards the source of the chaos.
Thump.
Thump.
THUMP.
The loud moan, the thunderous footsteps, and the glints of gold told the duo all they needed to know about their opponent.
The Golden Kaiju is here... Here, of all places!
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