Chapter 2: Make a Contract with Me, and Become a Magical Girl!
The Nishitamashi City Twin Towers.
The shrill wail of the emergency alarms echoed through the halls.
In the darkness, a pair of crimson eyes glowed from a corner near the ceiling. Kyubey looked down from its vantage point, observing the panicking crowd below. With a silent leap, it landed on another high perch, its gaze locked on the small, bespectacled boy.
The police were already on site, calmly directing the evacuation.
"Please, everyone, do not panic!"
"There's a fire on the lower floors, but the observation elevators are on a separate power source! They are still operational!"
"The elderly and children first!"
Gradually, the crowd formed an orderly line.
The artist, Kisaragi Housui, frowned. "I'll be taking the stairs." With that, he turned and disappeared into the stairwell.
Kyubey's red eyes narrowed slightly.
A strange choice...
Just then, the chat group notifications pinged in its mind.
[Non-Human Beings Chat Group]
SpongeBob SquarePants: I'M! READY! I'M! READY! I'M! READY! (Speaking in Group Voice Chat)
SpongeBob SquarePants: Whoa! Where am I?! This is so cool! Is this a new Bikini Bottom? Or am I in Patrick's dream again?!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Looking_Stunned.jpeg], [Cat_Covering_Ears.jpeg]
Kyubey: "This is the Non-Human Beings Chat Group. Welcome, new member."
SpongeBob SquarePants: WOW! A chat group! This is the best! I can make new friends! My name's SpongeBob! I work at the Krusty Krab, and I make the most delicious Krabby Patties in the whole world! Do you guys want one?!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Shaking_Head_No.jpeg], [Cat_Looking_Curious.jpeg], [Where_Are_You.jpeg]
Kyubey: I'm observing an interesting world. A world that revolves around a detective.
Kyubey: Want to watch the livestream?
SpongeBob SquarePants: DO I EVER?! I LOVE detective stories! Squidward watches them sometimes! I never understand what's going on, but it's so exciting!!!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Nodding.jpeg], [Cat_Giving_a_Thumbs_Up.jpeg]
Kyubey reactivated the group livestream.
Down below, the Junior Detective League and several others squeezed into the first elevator car as it began its rapid descent. When the doors opened on the 66th floor, a terrified mother holding a baby was standing right there.
"I-I'm so sorry!" she stammered.
"It's okay!" Ayumi said cheerfully. "We can just get off here and take the sky bridge on the 60th floor to the other building!"
"See you downstairs!" Genta added.
The Junior Detective League stepped out, allowing the mother and her child to take their place and escape to safety.
Tom Cat: [Good_Kids.jpeg], [Cat_Saluting_Respectfully.jpeg]
SpongeBob SquarePants: Oh! They're so brave! That's the power of friendship! Just like me and Patrick!
Kyubey tilted its head slightly.
"An emotion-driven decision," it transmitted to the group. "Trading four lives for two is not a logical choice."
In the second elevator car were Conan, Ran, and Sonoko. Just as Gin took aim from a distant rooftop, Conan's eyes widened. He had to do something!
"Sonoko-neechan! Your panties are showing!" he yelled.
Sonoko yelped and bent over, causing the sniper bullet to miss and shatter the glass behind her. The elevator shuddered violently before grinding to a halt, trapping them on the 45th floor.
Kyubey's gaze shifted to the distant building, where a man with long, silver hair in a black trench coat was lowering his sniper rifle.
Gin... Kyubey thought to itself. Knowing the future of the plot gave it a massive advantage.
SpongeBob SquarePants: OH MY GOSH! Are they in danger?! I'm so worried! That poor little boy!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Looks_Nervous.jpeg], [Cat_Stroking_Chin_Thoughtfully.jpeg]
With Conan and Ran's help, the group in the stalled elevator quickly made for the emergency bridge.
"This way! We can use the sky bridge to get to B-Tower!"
They rushed across the bridge. Just as most of them had made it, a deafening explosion ripped through the structure!
BOOM—!
The back half of the sky bridge collapsed into the fiery abyss below. The Junior Detective League was now trapped on the 60th floor, while Conan and Ran were stuck on the 45th. The fire was spreading upwards, blocking any path of retreat.
Kyubey decided it was time to act.
In an instant, it materialized in a dark corner on the 45th floor.
I'll use this crisis to make contact with Conan...
Its red eyes glowed in the darkness. Conan's head snapped around, his senses on high alert.
"Who's there?!"
Kyubey slowly padded out of the shadows.
"Hello, Conan Edogawa..."
Conan staggered back, his eyes wide with shock. "What kind of creature are you? How can you talk? Is it a toy with a speaker inside? No, that can't be right..."
"My name is Kyubey," it replied calmly, its voice echoing directly inside Conan's mind. "It looks like you could use some help. Make a contract with me, and become a Magical Girl!"
"For someone like you," it continued, its tone flat and tempting, "any miracle is possible with a single wish. For example... escaping this building?"
SpongeBob SquarePants: WHOA! Is that what a contract is?! That's so awesome!!!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Facepalming.jpeg], [Cat_Shaking_Head_No.jpeg], [Cat_Points_at_SpongeBob_to_Read_the_Group_Info.jpeg]
Conan narrowed his eyes, his detective mind analyzing the creature before him. Telepathy? Impossible! Is it some kind of advanced technology? Or a rare species?
A gut feeling told him this was too good to be true. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
What's the catch? He didn't trust this deceptively cute white animal for a second.
Kyubey tilted its head. "Don't you believe in magic and miracles?"
"I believe in science," Conan said, his gaze shifting firmly to Ran. "And more importantly, I believe in Ran."
With the contract a failure for now, Kyubey vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
By this point, Ran had already broken open a fire emergency box. She quickly tied one end of a fire hose to a sturdy support pillar and looped the other around herself and Conan.
"We can swing across to the other side!" she declared.
Conan stared into her eyes. "Ran-neechan... aren't you... scared?"
Ran bit her lip, her voice trembling slightly. "Of course I'm scared... but you're here with me now..." She took a deep breath, her expression hardening with resolve. "And Shinichi told me to wait for him. I have to survive and wait for him to come back. Conan-kun, I..."
A complex mix of emotions flickered in Conan's eyes. "You'll be fine, Ran-neechan."
Ran looked at Conan, and for a fleeting moment, she thought she saw Shinichi's silhouette. "I know exactly how you feel," Conan said, his voice deeper than usual. It was an illusion she'd had so many times before.
Tom Cat: [Cat_Wiping_Away_a_Tear.jpeg], [Cat_is_Moved.jpeg]
SpongeBob SquarePants: THIS IS SO TOUCHING! TRUE LOVE NEVER GIVES UP! JUST LIKE MY LOVE FOR KRABBY PATTIES!!!
Ran scooped Conan into her arms, took a running start, and leaped from the broken window. For a terrifying second, they were in freefall, the inferno roaring beneath them. Then the hose went taut, swinging them in a wide arc.
CRASH!
Ran kicked out, shattering a window in B-Tower, and they tumbled safely inside. She held Conan tightly, gasping for breath. "Conan... are you okay?"
"You were amazing, Ran-neechan!"
Kyubey observed from its hiding spot, pondering. Was the sense of crisis insufficient? Or perhaps I need to intervene to make the situation even more desperate?
SpongeBob SquarePants: THEY'RE SO BRAVE! I'M GONNA CRY! MISS RAN IS THE BEST!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Applauding.jpeg], [Cat_Giving_Two_Thumbs_Up.jpeg]
Once they reached the ground floor, Conan realized the Junior Detective League was missing. They hadn't made it out. Without a second's hesitation, he hopped on his solar-powered skateboard and sped back toward the burning towers.
He launched himself off a ramp of debris, soaring over the collapsed section of the sky bridge in a breathtaking jump. The skateboard shattered upon landing, but Conan had made it across.
Kyubey watched, intrigued. "He can do that?"
SpongeBob SquarePants: WOW! A SUPER COOL SKATEBOARD! I want one! I could deliver Krabby Patties around Bikini Bottom so fast!
Tom Cat: [I_Need_That.jpeg], [Cat_Eyes_Gleaming.jpeg], [Could_Finally_Catch_Jerry.jpeg]
In a flash, Kyubey reappeared on the 60th floor of B-Tower to continue observing.
Conan contacted Inspector Megure and arranged for a helicopter to meet them on the roof. "We have to keep moving up!" he commanded. When they reached the 75th floor, Conan told the others to go on ahead while he and Haibara went back to the ballroom to capture the real culprit behind the murders, Kisaragi, who was knocked out.
After securing the culprit, Conan went to the roof to help his friends move him, but the Black Organization blew up the rooftop, forcing the helicopter to retreat. Meanwhile, back on the 75th floor, Haibara made a horrifying discovery. Tucked away behind a stack of wine bottles was a small, blinking red light.
It was a time bomb.
Conan and the Detective League rushed back down to regroup.
"There's one in every corner! And the timer's only got four minutes left!"
They were trapped. Utterly trapped.
SpongeBob SquarePants: AHHH! ARE THEY GOING TO BE OKAY?! I'M SO SCARED FOR THEM! THIS IS TERRIBLE!!!
Tom Cat: [Cat_Looking_Terrified.jpeg], [Cat_Biting_Nails.jpeg]
Kyubey: Tom, don't forget my transformation potion. Stop getting so absorbed in the drama.
Tom Cat: [Working_On_It.jpeg]
Kyubey watched impassively. Danger makes humans more willing to make irrational choices. But this still isn't enough...
Suddenly, Conan's eyes lit up. "That car!"
The red Ford Mustang GT convertible, still sitting in the middle of the ballroom.
"If we use the force of the explosion," Conan began, rapidly running physics equations in his head, "we might be able to fly from A-Tower to B-Tower!" He finished his calculations. "Timing is everything. We have to be precise, down to the second!"
But he couldn't see a clock from the driver's seat, and his own watch was, of course, dead. The heavy responsibility fell to Ayumi and her sense of timing. Haibara, however, volunteered to stay behind with the bombs.
"How about I stay here and call out the last 30 seconds? That should reduce the margin for error."
Conan relayed the plan to Inspector Megure, and they set it in motion.
Bomb Timer: 1 MINUTE.
Everyone was in the car: Conan, Ayumi, Mitsuhiko, Genta, and the unconscious Kisaragi. Haibara stood by the nearest bomb, ready to count.
"Fifty-five... fifty-four..."
...
"Thirty... twenty-nine..."
As Haibara called out "30," Ayumi started her own internal clock. But Haibara didn't move. She stayed right where she was, continuing the countdown.
"Haibara!" Conan yelled.
"What's wrong?" Ayumi asked.
"Haibara! She's still counting down over there!" Mitsuhiko cried out.
"Nani?!"
"Haibara, what are you doing?! Get over here!" Conan shouted.
"You idiot!" she called back. "This is the only way to be perfectly accurate!"
Conan realized with horror what she was planning. She was going to sacrifice herself.
"Twenty... nineteen..."
Suddenly, Genta leaped out of the car and rushed toward her. He scooped her up in his arms.
"What do you think you're doing?!" she protested.
"My mom always says if you leave even one grain of rice in your bowl, you'll be punished by the gods!" he declared, carrying her back to the car.
"Five seconds... four... three..."
Conan slammed his foot on the gas.
BOOM!
A titanic explosion erupted behind them. The shockwave lifted the car, launching it out of the shattered window. It soared through the air in a fiery arc.
At this moment, Kyubey stood perched on what remained of the tower's spire, looking down at the airborne Junior Detective League. It had already retrieved the surprisingly sturdy pearl necklace from the crime scene. It accessed the virtual interface.
[Chat Group Transaction Confirmed]
Member [Tom Cat] has traded you: [Transformation Potion]
In exchange for: [Mio Tokiwa's Necklace] from the Detective Conan world.
As the chat group notification faded, a new one from its primary system appeared.
[Contract System has uploaded 'Transformation Potion' to the Incubator Collective Platform. Our researchers are beginning analysis. Please stand by. Uploading...]
The item it had just received vanished instantly, but Kyubey felt no sense of loss. After confirming the trade, its gaze shifted back to the car, specifically to Haibara and Mitsuhiko.
It knew its chance had finally come.
"Looks like I've found my first contractor."
The force of the landing in the B-Tower's rooftop pool sent a massive wave of water everywhere, and Haibara was thrown from the car! Mitsuhiko reached out desperately to grab her. But just as his fingers were about to close around her hand, a small white figure suddenly appeared on his shoulder.
He flinched in surprise.
That single moment of distraction was all it took. His hand missed hers by a fraction of an inch.
Haibara began to fall.
"HAIBARA!" everyone screamed.
Kyubey stared down at the falling girl, then turned its impassive red eyes to the pale, horrified face of Mitsuhiko.
"It looks like you could use some help," its voice echoed in the boy's mind. "Because of your mistake, that little girl is going to die."
"But I can give you a chance to fix it."
"Make a contract with me, and become a Magical Girl!"