LIKE SUN AND MOON | Sherlock x Fictional Character

10 - Checkmate

'Have fun!' Exclaimed the White King, handcuffing Amber's hands while the tower cuffed the detective. 'I would love to see it up close, but-' He clicked a tiny switch on a little device in his hand. 'I'm afraid the force of these bombs is too great. Good luck, Black King. Save your Queen... or die.'

He laughed again.

'I wonder what will I do when you die? I guess I will have to find a new way to kill boredom. Well, I'll figure it out.'

A loud noise came from the sky and a helicopter landed on the roof a short distance from them. The man in the white suit began to move in its direction, waving his cane cheerfully. As he boarded the helicopter, he pressed a button on the small remote control and the clock on Amber's chest began to count down.

'You have five minutes.' His voice was now coming from the small radio he left on a roof.

Amber looked at Sherlock with fear in her eyes he had never seen in them before.

'You have to run.' She whispered. 'You have to get away from here. Safe yourself. Tell the police.'

There was thunder again right above them, and it started to rain.

Sherlock looked at her.

'No. I have to try to defuse the bomb.'

He approached her and looked closely at the mechanism. The counting down was on a small watch of a company that had long since existed. It was one of those old ones, not only telling the time but also the date. Focus, Sherlock, focus! There's definitely a way to break this system!

But first, don't let him get away.

He wanted to reach into his coat pocket but remembered that he had been cuffed.

'Reach into my chest pocket.' He said to Amber. 'I have the bobby pin in there.

'Time is running away. Tick tack, tick tack...' The mad voice came from the radio.

Amber hurriedly found the bobby pin and began to rummage through the handcuff mechanism. She'd done it many times before, and, although her hands were shaking from stress and cold, after a while the detective's hands were free.

He then reached into his pocket and took the phone out of it.

'How?'

'I stole it from the tower.' He gave her the phone. 'Turn on the recording, the more information this madman gives us, the sooner we catch him.'

Four minutes thirty seconds.

She quickly turned on the voice recorder in her phone, despite her handcuffed hands.

'Why are you doing this?' Sherlock asked the White King, now frantically wondering how to disarm the bomb.

'You know how it is. It's my solution to boredom.'

The detective did not listen to him, too focused on the bomb.

Three minutes.

'Sherlock.' Amber said so softly he barely could hear her. 'Why don't you just run away?'

'I wouldn't have made it.'

He did not raise his head still examining numerous cables, which was more difficult than before because of the rain now pouring down on them mercilessly.

She gently put her finger on his cheek, forcing him to look at her.

'You know I am very much aware when you're lying?' she whispered. She started to tear up. Or maybe it was just the rain.

He looked down again.

'I am close to the solution.' He only said. 'I'll disarm that bomb.'

Two minutes thirty seconds.

'Tell me how it works.' Amber wanted to help, even though she was not able to see the mechanism.

'The main mechanism is attached to the Forcher watch.'

'But this company does not exist anymore.'

Two minutes.

'We have to find the weak points of this watch, we will only defuse the bomb that way.' The detective was now almost screaming, and not only because of the storm.

'Did Sherlock Holmes use his brain?' The man on the radio said. 'I'm impressed.'

'Who are you anyway?' The detective asked, remembering that this conversation was being recorded.

'You think I'd be stupid enough to tell you my real name?'

'I'm gonna die soon anyway.'

One minute.

'Focus.' Sherlock whispered to himself. 'How can we shut the system down without causing an expulsion?'

'Perhaps by misleading him?' Amber was now trembling with cold and terror. She was already soaked, they both were. Another thunder went over their heads.

Forty-five seconds.

'But how?' Sherlock was getting more and more nervous.

I have a feeling this is going to be a beautiful explosion.

The detective closed his eyes, thinking.

'By changing the time?'

'This will more likely to cause an immediate explosion.'

Forty seconds.

'Calculators can be misled by dividing by zero.'

'And watches?'

Thirty-five seconds.

'You can change the time... to impossible! Sherlock, change the time to the impossible!' Amber cried. 'Set the date for the thirtieth of February or something!'

He looked at her through the thick rain.

'You're a genius.'

Thirty seconds.

He took the wet curls off his forehead and started to change a new date. The mechanism was fairly resistant due to its age.

Twenty-five seconds.

'Fuck.'

Thirty....

Twenty seconds.

Of February...

Fifteen seconds.

The mechanism piqued and the clock stopped indicating the number: 0:14.

'Oh...'

Amber fell to her knees, soaking her already wet pants. Sherlock was kneeling next to her. They both were breathing quickly, still not believing that they had succeeded.

'It worked.' Whispered Amber, looking at the detective. 'I can't believe it worked.'

There was thunder and a bolt of lightning flashed over their heads.

She threw herself onto him, wrapping her arms around the detective, although she still had her hands in handcuffs. She hugged him, and he held her in his arms, unable to utter a word.

They stood still for a few long moments - two wet, hugging figures on the top of a hospital in the middle of the storm.