32Liberating Liberty
words: 1095
Dear America,
On the day of your birthday
When red glare and ephemeral jewels
Grace the bedazzling stage of the stars
I will steal your most precious lady.
Kaitou Kid (doodle)
When they first got the notice the NYPD thought it was someone's idea of a great prank, at least until they contacted the experts in Japan who confirmed that, yes, that was a real Kaitou Kid heist note; have fun with the riddle (It was an easy one, Kid must be testing the waters. Or having a lark. Either way...), good luck, don't take the loss too badly.
Of course, being American they took the challenge personally. At first they thought that the note was targeting the First Lady who was in New York for some charity event. At least until a rookie officer pointed out it could also mean the Statue of Liberty.
Everyone got a good laugh over that, at least, until they realized the rookie was serious. After that the department was split on what to do. Even if they doubted Kid could steal the Statue of Liberty (Who was he? Some cartoon thief like Carmen SanDiego?) they still had to cover all their bases. This was America after all, this thief wasn't going to pull one over on them!
So, on the days leading up to the Fourth of July, security was stepped up around the First Lady, and on, and around, Liberty Island. New York Harbor was swarming with police boats, helicopters, and crowds lined the piers, overlooks, bridges, nearby roofs... Anywhere a person could stand; this event had a higher attendance rate than the fireworks display had had for the last two years.
The chief of police stood, bristling in annoyance, as the crowds waved home made signs, cheered, and screamed. Kaitou Kid fever was just as bad in America as it was in Japan. The American people loved him; a suave, gentleman thief who seemed to embody being free to do whatever the hell you wanted.
Just what kids these days needed to idolize.
"What do they think this is?" he grumbled, glaring through his binoculars at the crowds. "The god damned Today Show?"
A whistle screamed through the air, followed seconds later by a resounding crack. Brilliant red light flowed over the scene as the sparkling star dust fall of a firework bloomed across the night sky. As a second one streaked skywards, all attention was riveted on the statue were a small plume of vividly white smoke had appeared near Lady Liberty's outstretched hand. The wind whipped the smoke away it revealed the white clad thief clinging to the Lady's fingers, his cape flapping like mad.
Turning away from the obnoxious sight the chief waved to one of the officers, "Get him off that god damned thing! I want his ass arrested before he has a chance to do any of his hokey pokey, fancy schmancy, Houdini shit!"
"Sir!"
Even as he said it, though, one of the officers at his side made a choked sound. Turning back around the chief put his binoculars to his eyes again, and focused on the thief. Kid, apparently aware he was being watched, waved, flashed a victory sign, then pointed down.
Directing his gaze downward, as a loud hissing filled the air, the chief found copious amounts of smoke spilling up from the base of the statue. Lady Liberty was quickly disappearing behind the cloud. It was too much smoke, too fast, for the wind to send it all away.
More and more smoke began to hiss into the air from random points all along the statues body.
The helicopters couldn't get in close due to it either.
Swearing loudly the chief flicked his binoculars back up just in time to see Kid become engulfed in the thick cloud.
It seemed, as the torch disappeared, that the entirety of New York had gone quiet. Even the whistle and boom of fireworks seemed to have been muted. They waited, holding their breathe, to see what would happen next.
The wait stretched on, and on, and on... Slowly the smoke began to clear away. Drifting off in wispy tendrils to reveal...
She was gone.
"HOW THE FUCK?! It's a trick. It's just a trick!" Snatching the radio from a nearby officer the chief roared, "GET YOUR ASSES OVER THERE AND FIND OUT WHAT HE DID!"
Somehow, Kid really had done it. The statue was gone.
In his home in England Hakuba Saguru spat the tea he'd just taken a sip of all over and sat, gaping, at the TV he'd been watching the international coverage of the heist on.
Two days later Lady Liberty was discovered, by a construction worker, hidden inside the frame work of an up and coming sky scraper in Tokyo. She had a huge sheet attached to her with the message: Sorry America, you'll have to come get her back. The air fare is hell! Kaitou Kid (doodle)
Kudou Shinichi sat in his kitchen, ignoring the article in the paper that proclaimed 'Authorities still baffled! Statue of Liberty found in Tokyo!'
He'd learned long ago that the best way to deal with Kid's antics was to ignore them and move on.
Kaito sauntered into the kitchen, grinning like a loon, and draped his arms around Shinichi's shoulders to peer at the paper he was reading. "Honey, I'm hoooome!" he cooed.
Shinichi gave a noncommittal sound, and rustled his newspaper.
Pouting, Kaito reached out and flicked it back to the front page where the picture of the statue and the Kid note on her was splashed. "This story's much more interesting!"
"Your ego never ceases to amaze me," Shinichi drawled. "Criminal psychologists all over the world, no doubt, have hypothesized that Kid enjoys reading about his own antics and would love to know they're right."
"I can't help it if I'm entertaining. Besides, look at all the amusing things they say about me!" Then, turning up the power of his pout, Kaito asked in a wheedling tone, "Aren't you even a bit curious...?"
Sighing heavily, and knowing if he didn't ask (even though he already knew the answer) that Kaito would just continue to bug him until he did, Shinichi said, "Alright, Kaito... How did you do it?"
Kaito beamed at him and, in a poof of smoke, relocated himself, sitting sideways in Shinichi's lap, arm around his neck, and completely blocking the detective's view of the newspaper. "Why, by magic of course!"
A/N: Came about from a conversation with Sera-chan. No, I have no idea how he managed it either. o_O
