Bungo Stray Dogs: An Alternative Dark Era

Chapter 10: Oguri and the Detective.

In a country far from Japan stood two detectives and their master. " A job is waiting for you. The one who solves this mystery the fastest will join an ex-assassin in establishing a 'Detective Agency.'" their master said. The master was a mysterious person with no family background. The only family that he has is these two apprentices. The older adult, by appearance, was about the age of eighty, old, yet steady. The man welcomed the strange scent of a raccoon. The raccoon was his and was just born a couple of months ago. The name of the raccoon is Karl. " What about the other person?" asked the boy with a black coat. The boy was about the age of nineteen. " Karl," the old man replied. The other boy, around the same age as the boy in the black coat, stiffened. " It's already a win-win situation, then, master Doyle." " Ranpo Edogawa, as quick as ever I see." ( Sir) Arthur Conan Doyle. Ability: The Scarlet Sign of Four. Rumored to be the greatest detective in the world. His ability is still unknown to this day. " So now, Students, go solve this murder mystery that I have planted out." Using the other boy's ability, Aurthur sent Ranpo Edogawa and Edgar Allen Poe into an ability-less world. Edgar Allen, Poe. Ability: Black Cat in the Rue Morgue. His ability allows his victims or himself to get trapped into an ability-less world. The victims can only return to the real world only if they solve the mystery first. And now, for a mystery set up by the master of magic himself. " The year is 2561. A young man named Edgar Poe wanders around a mansion with a piano playing in the background. Inside the mansion lived the owner, Ranpo Edogawa, and a body-guard force of over a hundred men. The man wandering around the mansion is caught and is mysteriously abducted. Now, the question is, who abducted Poe?" " This is absurd!" Ranpo was organizing his mansions' finances. A body-guard named Eric walks up to Ranpo. " What is?" Eric asked his master. " Organising finances!" Eric sighed. He knew that his master regularly acts like an elementary schooler, but his master must know that this mansion's life is more important than his friends. He spoke, " But, Ranpo-san, don't you think that this building is very significant?" Ranpo looked into Eric's eyes. As the two of them aren't ability-users, they're just ordinary people with everyday problems. Ranpo could understand where Eric's coming from, but Poe is his friend. He couldn't leave a long-time friend behind. " Sorry, Eric, but my friend comes first-but I know that this building is significant to you, Eric-kun." Eric Sulivan turned away from his master and exited the executive room. Ignoring this very building will be your downfall, Ranpo Edogawa. Nightfall. Ranpo Edogawa placed his head on the piles of work that needed accountability. He sighed as he thought of ways to save his friend. So far, the only thing that he knows is that Poe had been abducted, and the face of the kidnapper remains unclear. Outside, snow was pouring down so quickly that the footprints of the culprit were covered in an instant. Now for the real question. According to some passengers-by, there stood a tall man dressed in all black, only revealing his eyes, but it was too stormy to see the culprit eyes clearly. Furthermore, the eyewitnesses recall that Poe was struggling with his abductor until the culprit punched him in the face exceptionally hard-then, Poe passed out. The mysterious thing here is to note the fact that Poe's body immediately vanished after he lost consciousness. Ranpo yelled out a complaint. " And then no one knows what happened after that!" Alone in his room, Ranpo Edogawa figured out a bit of what his mansion needed. Security. The protection around his mansion was limited. Two guards at the front gate, with two guards at the back. No security at the sides of the building, and at the top. At the very worst, no secret surveillance cameras were installed. A perfect place for a kidnapping to occur. Moving on, Ranpo picked up another file of his mansion. He looked at it, expecting another huge number to appear. But, to his surprise, there's a note instead. It said the following: Your friend's life is in my hands, owner of the enormous house. My victim has around three hours left to live. Here's a hint; there are no hints. - The culprit. With this note from the abductor, Ranpo grinned. The game's afoot. How do you like my novel, lads? Authur sat on a badge, rocking chair with Karl on his lap. The raccoon, bewildered by the ever-so-turning of the pages of the novel, is staring at the mysterious book. The animal was not informed of the situation. Authur grinned. " This is the ultimate story-novel! This is entirely made for you, Ranpo-kun, so that you might take that spot by Fukuzawa's side!" ***The masked man who had kidnapped Poe stood by his victim's side. The abductee was tied among a chair. Poe bled from his forehead, his eyes, and his ears. He scoffed up the blood. The abductor scoffed back. " If that guy would've just told me the correct answer, then all of this would've not happened," Eric dropped the knife that is bound to put Poe out of his misery. Poe stopped to think about this novel that Authur had made via his ability. Ranpo's most trusted executive, Eric Sullivan, is the culprit behind all of this. Isn't that too obvious for the super-detective? Poe thought. Suddenly, a massive, loud explosion made its mark just a couple of miles away from Eric's hideout. " What?!" Eric shouted. Poe, also shocked by the explosion, suddenly came to realize the truth. Sir Doyle did this on purpose. Eric opened the door of a humongous shipping crate, and the wind that came from the explosion died down. The man named Ranpo Edogawa stood in front of Eric. " Way to make a dramatic entrance," Eric commented. Ranpo sighed. " Glad that you didn't kill my friend, Eric. If you did, then I would've killed you. Now," Ranpo got passed Eric and squatted down by Poe. " Goodbye, Eric Sullivan." Ranpo and Poe woke up to see Arthur standing below them. " So, how was it?" Authur asked, knowing who had indeed solved the mystery novel first. Ranpo sighed, " Authur. You just should've told me that you want me to be by Fukazawa's side. Now, Poe, if you don't mind-" " I mind." Both Ranpo and Authur looked at Poe in confusion. Was he angry, was he pleased? They both wanted to find out. Poe stood up and took Karl, the raccoon, away from Authur's shoulders. " Karl and I are going to have a good time together. Karl?" Karl squeaked. " That settles it." Poe smiled and left the building; that was his defeat. Ranpo sighed again and looked up to Authur. " Now what?" Authur looked at how Edgar Allen Poe exited. " I've given him a business card that would lead him to the leader of the Guild, Fitzgerald." " You want Poe-kun to join the Guild?" Ranpo asked Authur. He replied with a nod. " Karl will protect Poe, so you don't need to worry about your friend, Ranpo-kun." Ranpo smiled. " Sure, Authur-sama." *** Ranpo Edogawa stood on a ship, sailing for the city of Yokohama, Japan. " What are you doing here, Ranpo?" Ranpo turned around to find five individuals in green clothing. There was an older adult, a young girl, two swordsmen, and a gun wielder. Ranpo stiffened. " What do you want," Ranpo asked them. The older man stepped forward. " We know your specialty. You have the 'ability' that you so call Super Deduction. We want that." The woman then followed the older man to confine Ranpo in handcuffs. " What is the meaning of this?" Ranpo yelled. The older man smirked. Ochi Fukuchi. Ability: The Lion Dance. His ability is unknown. " We have plans for the Port Mafia." " Ranpo Edogawa has been terminated?!" exclaimed Tsujimura. Oguri sighed. " Only the case, not the actual person." Tsujimura approached Oguri's desk in the Special Abilities Division and grabbed the reports concerning Ranpo's capture from Oguri. " This is bad," Tsujimura whispered to herself. They were going to capture Ranpo Edogawa for themselves. If the Hunting Dogs had not interfered..." What's wrong?" Oguri asked. " If Dazai-kun knows about this, he will have worse cases to deal with other than Dostoevsky." " Other things?" Tsujimura nodded. " Nikolai Gogol, The Hunting Dogs, and Andre Gide. It all depends on who makes the first move. If anyone of them takes action first before Fyodor-" Outside, Dazai and Chuuya stood at the entrance to the Special Abilities Division's building. Tsujimura called all-clear, and the two Port Mafia executives went in. Dazai already knew about Ranpo. " The Hunting Dogs is a government-owned organization. There's nothing that we can do about Ranpo Edogawa for now." Dazai approached Tsujimura and Oguri. " Fyodor's probably going to make his move first. Nikolai Gogol and Andre Gide are probably setting things up. Fyodor, however, already has The Rats in the House of the Dead. If only Ranpo was here, we could solve all of our problems in a flash-" Dazai raised his head to find Oguri standing up with Ranpo's case file in hand. " Tsujimura, Dazai-san. Let me go find Ranpo Edogawa." Tsujimura turned to Dazai, and Dazai silently agreed. Oguri gave his thanks and moved on. The search for the missing Ranpo Edogawa begins. *** Fyodor Dostoevsky looked beyond the Yokohama bay. The ships moving towards their respective locations, seagulls flying, and the constant scent of blood. Ivan Goncharov walked towards the right side of Fyodor Dostoevsky, the demon in human skin. Ivan looked at Fyodor's face and then followed his eyes to the ocean. Ivan smiled. " You always liked birds, Fyodor-sama," Ivan commented. Fyodor smiled. " Birds in a cage are like us, humans. But death sets us free. Do you smell the scent of blood, Ivan-kun?" Ivan nodded, " Yes." Fyodor smiled harder, " The ones who have died have been set free from the cage that's called Earth." Behind them, Mafia soldiers laid dead on the ground. " What will you do on the attack on the Port Mafia?" Ivan asked Fyodor. Fyodor pulled out a list of Port Mafia executives and their abilities. " I was secretly compiling a list of abilities that the Mafia executives use. With this," Ivan smiled back at Fyodor and created a monster made out of a rock. Fyodor and Ivan walked on the hand of the rock monster, and Ivan then demolished the building that they once we're on top of. " We will crush the Mafia." *** Oguri walked across the city of Yokohama to the harbor. A harbor is a sketchy place. The Port Mafia usually resides in that area, and so they place guards there to protect their turf. The main point of that being a Mafia territory is that they could get supplies quickly if a war would ever brew amongst them. But for now, Mushitaro Oguri walks, with the file of the missing Ranpo Edogawa in hand. The waves of the Yokohama bay area were silent. In other words, it was just another day in the Japanese city. However, due to the events playing out because of Fyodor Dostoevsky, the Mafia guards were in a ruckus. " What if one of his troops ever decides to attack the harbor?" one Mafia guard whispered, panicking. " What if the Decay of Angels invade instead?" Another one whispered. This made Mishitaro Oguri uncomfortable. Oguri had one job that he placed for himself and one job only. To find Ranpo Edogawa. According to Osamu Dazai, the ship that has Ranpo and the Hunting Dogs should be inbound to the harbor at 5:50 pm- it is that time. Oguri headed for the arrival bay area of the harbor. Two Mafia guards allowed him to enter gate 8, the gate that the ship with Ranpo was supposed to arrive in. But there was no ship at all. Oguri, worried, turned to the navigation deck to check if there were some delay, but the personnel there said that there weren't any. From this, Oguri called Tsujimura. " Tsujimura-sensei, the boat has been hijacked." " Oguri, are you for real?" " Yes, Tsujimura-san." Tsujimura sighed. " All of this hard work for nothing," she turned to Dazai, who was talking to Chuuya at that moment. " Dazai-kun, what's the next course of action?" Dazai smiled. " We wait."