Sorry, I haven't updated this in a while. My internet crapped out yesterday so I had absolutely NO internet and phone service for the rest of last night. So I just decided to waste time with writing this; hopefully it came out well. I was only listening to my iTunes music and I work best when listening to music from that franchise which I don't have for Detective Conan. I've been focusing more on drawing and creating a comic lately, so yea.

Also I don't know a lot of technical stuff like bombs, so if I got it wrong. Sorry. I'm not good in that area along with medical stuff. I just write what comes to head.

Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 3: Discolour

It had been ten minutes since Kaito shook hands with Conan; making it official for their truce for the time being along with the thief to trust the two detectives. They were now waiting patiently yet also anxiously for Kaito's assistant to send another text on the coordinates of the bomb along with how much time they had.

It was mind-numbing.

Kaito kept flipping his phone open to check for any new messages along with also checking the time. "Damn, I got to stop stealing Hakuba's pocket watch and playing with it like it's toy…" he mumbled to himself.

That earned him a snort and snicker from the other two with him. "Nex' time you do t'at make su'e tah set it an ho'r late," Heiji grinned at the thief; who just blinked at him before smirking back.

Maybe he should do that just so he didn't have to see the British detective at school for one hour. Then again, he was in London sometimes which were the best days Kaito could ask for.

Conan just sighed to himself, shaking his head. 'Idiots, we've still got a bomb somewhere in the building and your casually chatting…'

As soon as Conan had that thought; the buzzing of a phone caught their attention. The teenage thief quickly took out his phone, checking the message he had received; only to wince.

"W'at does it say?" Heiji asked the thief, taking a step forward and trying to get a better look at the phone.

Kaito turned his phone around to show them the message he had received and they stiffened.

They didn't know what to think.

It felt all too real right now.

[The bomb is currently in the boiler room on the bottom floor. The timer is set to countdown from 5 mins after it hits 7pm]

The thief closed his phone and put it away, looking back to the detectives with a frown plastered on his face. This wasn't looking good at all. "Alright, it's currently 6:25pm. We still have 35mins plus the 5 from the countdown," Kaito explained to the two detectives.

"Do ya thin' we'll be able tah do t'is?" Heiji questioned, sounding slightly unsure.

"Moron, I've disabled bombs before and there was more than one," Conan responded to the Osakan's comment; glaring at him. The child sleuth's attention went back to the thief almost instantly. "We'll need someone to stakeout the boiler room to search for the bomb while the other two can stay up here."

"An' do w'at?"

"You never know who could be in a crowd, Hattori…" Conan told his friend, narrowing his eyes. The shrunken teen looked between the two taller teens; eyeing them; scanning their physiques and seeing who would be best for what job. He finally pointed at Kaito. "You're with me up here, Kuroba."

This caused a surprised noise to come from the thief. "Eh?"

"Wait, so I'm goin' af'er the bom'?" Heiji asked, pointing to himself, incredulously.

Conan nodded his head as an answer. "All you have to do is search the boiler room for it. Once you're done; come back to us and report your findings. We'll go from there."

"Wouldn't it be best if Hattori disabled the bomb while he's there?" Kaito asked, lifting a brow.

A snort was his response. "He'd probably cut the wrong wire."

"I'm righ' 'ere, ya know…" The annoyed voice of the Osakan grumbled out.

Conan rolled his eyes and hurried around the teen and pushed him back into the exhibition hall. "Whatever. We're on a time limit." There was a grunt from the dark skinned teen before he finally decided to move on his own without the aid of the child-sized Kudo and started to head into the crowd.

The boy sighed to himself, looking around the hall; eyes scanning all the visitors with narrowed blue eyes. The teenage thief came up beside him, leaning against the doorway; his eyes also scanning the many people in the room.

'You're here … aren't you, Snake…'

LOAM

Hattori made his way down the metal stairwell and along the enclosed hall; minding all the pipes as he walked. There had been a security guard at the staircase, so he had to give an explanation that he was detective Heiji Hattori and just wanted to check the lower levels. The guard had been hesitant at first until Inspector Nakamori had come by to vouch for him which allowed him access.

The teen wiped an arm over his forehead; a raspy breath leaving his lips as he looked around the area. "Damn, it's hot down 'ere…" A frown crossed his features as he looked towards where many dials and switches were. His green eyes scanned over the switchboard; eyes narrowing. "Hig'er tempera'ures cause more of an explo'ion however…"

It's normally quite humid in a boiler room.

Did whoever set the bomb up really want to blow the whole museum up?

It didn't seem right.

There was something missing.

He could feel it which was probably why Kudo left himself and Kuroba up where the painting was.

He turned around; looking for any way he could tell where the 'supposed' bomb was. The ticking wouldn't start until seven, so he wouldn't be able to find it by sound. "Where wou'd one hide a bom'?" A thoughtful look crossed his face, frowning.

It finally clicked in the teenage detective's head as he turned around; heading into one of the few rooms along the metal hall. He looked inside, eyeing the small room to check for anyone inside, noticing a large machine connected to the pipes. His eyes bugged out when he saw the bomb stuck to the machine and instantly rushed over to it. The timer was stuck on five minutes which meant it would be ready to countdown at seven. The Osakan detective clicked open the case around the bomb which was supposed to hold the wires inside.

As he opened the case the teen's eyes widened in shock; mouth agape in silent horror. "No way…" Inside the case was nothing. There were no wires or even buttons to be able to disconnect it which meant one thing to the teen. His eyes darkening slightly as a growl left his lips. "It's a decoy…"

He slammed the case shut in frustration, stomping out of the room. He took a few deep breaths before realisation finally dawned on him. "Shit. T'at means we still don' know where t'e bom' is…" He let another annoyed growl leave his throat as he started heading back down the hall with more of a hurried pace. "I 'ave tah warn, Kudo…"

LOAM

Up in the exhibition hall; Kaito and Conan had moved back to in front of the portrait to see if there would be any suspicious people around it. So far they hadn't found any. The two were beginning to get a little restless as it neared seven.

It was now 6:48pm and they had yet to hear back from Heiji.

"Do you think he found it?" Kaito tried to start a conversation as casually as he could in the situation that was currently presented to them.

A small chuckle was his answer. "You don't know, Hattori, like I do. He'll find it."

The thief looked back to the portrait before them; Kaito let out a sigh he didn't realise he'd been holding. "I hope so. I really don't want there to be a panic."

"OI!" The two turned around at the familiar tone of voice as they saw a dark hand waving at them from over the crowd of people. "KUDO! KI…" He came through the crowd and shut himself up when he received similar glares from both Kaito and Conan.

"Does he do that a lot?" Kaito questioned; annoyance on the tip of his tongue.

His response was a dark chuckle from the shrunken teen; who's glare seemed to match. "More than you know…"

A chuckle was the only thing that left Heiji's lips as he was glared at by both teenage thief and shrunken teenage detective. He didn't think he'd have annoyed both of them. Though he's slipped up with Kudo's name before; Kuroba's was a first and since he was an international thief ... that'd be a problem.

However before the Osakan could change the topic back to the bomb to explain what he'd found out; there was an exclamation that the three knew all too well; especially the two detectives.

"Shinichi!"

"Crap!" Conan exclaimed; sending a seething look at Heiji before going back into panic mode, trying to look for a place to hide.

Kaito just watched with amusement; a smirk on his face. He had never really seen the boy panic before when his 'girlfriend' was coming all because of Heiji's slip-ups. It was amusing to see and made a small chuckle escape his lips; earning him a glare in the process. The boy had no chance to hide because Ran came through the crowd almost immediately; looking desperately for the one that Heiji had called out. Her eyes flew to Kaito; who wasn't even looking at her.

"Shinichi?" Conan stopped panicking; realising instantly who it was she was addressing due to their similarities in appearance. "Why aren't you looking at me, Shinichi!?" Conan winced as she suddenly raised her voice.

Heiji noticed where this was going and held his hands up to calm the girl down. "Ah, Ran-chan, per'aps I made a mistake. It was crowded an' he looks like Kudo from be'ind." He tried to laugh his statement off.

This did not amuse Ran at all.

"Oi, do something…" Conan whispered up to the thief beside him; who looked back to him with confusion.

"Huh? Do what?"

"I don't know. A trick or something to show her you're not … Shinichi…" Conan muttered out almost sounding bitter.

Kaito looked as though in thought before his eyes caught something and a smirk came to his face. "That can arranged." The shrunken teen frowned in confusion.

"Kaito!" The flinch was noticeable on the teen as another girl came up to the group and Conan blinking; noticing a striking resemblance to Ran. "I've given Dad his bento! We should head home now."

"Geez, you're loud. You want the whole museum to you, Aoko?" Kaito groaned out, watching Aoko's face go red from embarrassment.

"Shut up! Let's just go home!" She turned around with a huff. Kaito could still hear Ran yelling at him and questioning why he's speaking so casually with another girl. Kaito bent down and lifted his childhood friend's skirt up, causing her to freeze at feeling the sudden air around her backside.

"What colour is it today, Aoko?" he asked before a bag hit him in the face, sending him across the floor. He chuckled to himself as he sat himself up and grinned at her. "So you decided to go for blue today?"

Aoko's face was now bright red at hearing this. "I'm going home alone!" She poked her tongue out at him at him before walking away from him.

The teenage thief stood to his feet with the silly grin on his face. "You just had to cause a scene like that, didn't you?" He turned his head to see Conan, frowning at him.

"Well, at least it'd get your girlfriend to realise I'm not you," Kaito gave the faux child a knowing smile which resulted in a roll of the eyes.

"T'at … was unexpec'ed…" Kaito and Conan looked over to Heiji; who was staring at him in shock. "Do ya alwa's do t'at?"

All that was needed to reply was a grin from the thief. The Osakan just groaned and shook his head. "Shinichi wouldn't do something like that…" The three boys turned their attention to Ran and realised she was having a hard time looking at Kaito due to his appearance.

"No. I'm not. I'm Kaito Kuroba." He let a pink rose appear in his hand and gave it to her. "I'm a magician not a detective." She took the rose with a hint of a blush tinting her cheeks. "Could you possibly accompany Aoko for me?"

Ran stared at Kaito for a moment before finally nodding her head at him and running off to find the magician's friend. "For future reference … don't do that again."

Kaito looked down at Conan with a confused look. "What? Flipping Aoko's skirt or giving your girl a rose?"

The boy narrowed his eyes at the thief. "You know which one."

A small laugh left Kaito's lips, shoving his hands in pockets as he approached Heiji. "Yea, sure!" Conan followed and the two looked at the Osakan with expectant looks. "So before we were interrupted because of your slip-up – did you find it?"

The Osakan detective nodded, though his expression was grim; lips set in a thin line. "Yea, I foun' it, but it had nothin' insi'e tah cut or push. It was a decoy."

Kaito and Conan felt like their blood ran cold.

Their expressions replaced with horror.

They were back at square one.

The bomb could be anywhere.

It could remote controlled or timed.

They didn't know.

"A decoy…" Conan muttered out loud, biting his bottom lip in worry. "This could go either way. The bomber wanted us to find the decoy to waste time, so they could plant the real one. If that's so then…" He looked around, scanning the room for anyone suspicious. He and Kaito had been up there the whole time yet saw no one of that type.

His eyes lay on the portrait of Toichi Kuroba and frowned when he saw a small red light on the frame, flashing. The frame was black which was probably why it had been hard to pick up on, but seeing the flashing light made him realise … this was the real bomb. The bomb encased in black and put on the black frame to hide it; the only reason he saw it was the red light.

"Shit. It's been right in front of us the whole time…" Conan growled out; causing Kaito and Heiji to turn and see the flashing light on the portrait.

Kaito slapped a hand to his forehead once he saw it. "I was here the whole time and never noticed if anyone put it there."

"Could t'ey have put it there when we wen' into t'at hallway tah ta'k?" Heji asked the other detective and thief, pointing at the darkened hallway.

The two others blinked and looked at each other then back at Heiji. "It's possible." The shrunken teen approached the portrait. "I'm going to have a look at it. Make sure no one sees me." The two nodded and bumped shoulders to cover Conan, so that the faux child could check the true bomb over. He approached the portrait, going up and under the guard-rail, inspecting the little black bomb with the flashing red light with a keen eye.

"Come on, Kudo," Kaito said, jumping from one foot to the other as if getting antsy.

"I'm inspecting it. I have to make sure this is the real thing first," He explained to the thief; earning him a groan in response. 'Seriously, this guy...'

A scream stopped the boy from even laying a finger on the bomb; causing Heiji and Kaito to turn. The thief groaned to himself as Heiji looked about ready to rush off; he didn't have to as the crowd dispersed almost instantly. The sight before him caused Kaito to stiffen; hands gripping the fabric inside his pockets.

"One move and I blow this girl's brains out!" A loud, malicious deep voice growled to the three boys. "So, don't even think of touching that bomb, boy."

Conan stiffened at hearing that the man knew he was there. Kaito's throat was dry, but he tried to swallow to make him able to speak. The one beside him beat him to it; a glare set on his features, "The hell ya wan'?"

A grin spread across the man's face. "What I want? I want Kaitou KID…" Conan and Heiji's eyes went to Kaito as his body went rigid at the mention of his alter-ego. "…if he doesn't appear." The man brought out a remote from his black trousers pocket. "I will blow everyone in here to ashes."

The teen thief gritted his teeth together; glaring at the man before him. 'I knew you were here. Damn you, Snake…'