But in the End

It All Comes to an End

Twelve hours. That's how long Ranpo said it'll be before Fukuchi will receive the One Order. Meaning, we only have twelve hours to stop him before that happens.

"They don't seem to have any idea of the location of this room." Atsushi turned to us, closing the door that connected Lucy's room to a closet in the airport's baggage claim.

Ranpo nodded, suspecting as much. "Let's go over our plan. Twenty five minutes from now, a European escort team will arrive at the One Order on a camouflage passenger plane, we'll intercept it and destroy it before it reaches Fukuchi. Then with the One Order wiped out, the plan will be delayed for at least two more weeks."

"Two weeks?" I asked, taking in what he said.

"Yeah. That'll be enough time for the Special Operations Division to expose Fukuchi's scheme to governments around the world." Ranpo informed all of us. "In other words, we'll have won without having to fight Fukuchi."

"But Ranpo-" Atsushi spoke up. "Won't the enemy be trying to stop us?"

Ranpo smirked at the question. "Exactly what we want. We're going to use their aggressiveness against them."

I turned back to Ranpo, throwing an arm up beside me, shrugging slightly. "Alright, I'll bite- What ensures our victory?"

Ranpo turned his head in my direction. "Simple. The plan to apprehend the One Order has one critical weakness."

"A weakness?" Atsushi asked, confused.

"There's actually a far easier target to destroy than the One Order. We just need to kill Count Bram. They need to bring Bram's Stoker wherever they go in order to give new orders to the vampires. But unlike the One Order, Bram won't be escorted by the Hunting Dogs." Ranpo explained. "Therefore, as we're preventing the transfer of the One Order... we'll make it our true objective to kill Count Bram."

I let out a hum, seeing how that could work. "What if the Hunting Dogs know we'll try to go after Bram? I'm assuming you have that thought out as well?" I raised an eyebrow, wondering what he'll propose.

...

"Mission complete. I followed your plan to the letter and blew up the fuel truck without anyone getting hurt." Kunikida spoke into the walkie device as we hid behind a wall.

"Understood."

After hearing Ranpo's reply before it went silent, I looked over at Kunikida, tearing my eyes away from the fire. "Guess now we wait." I glanced back out the door, setting my gaze on the plane approaching, realizing it was getting closer. "What the-?!"

"This is gonna be bad..." Kunikida gasped out as the two of us watched the plane that we realized was crash landing as the sound of tires screeching could be heard.

Glancing over to the van, it began heading towards the plane, seeing it was two of the Hunting Dogs. "Damn it!"

Not even a second later, the two of us watched as the plane was cut into smithereens as the vehicle screeched to a stop.

"Not good...!" Kunikida pulled the phone back out, contacting Ranpo about the issue.

As the plane debris fell to the ground, I could see Fukuchi standing there on the runway, holding a metal cube, assumingly the One Order.

"Ranpo, things have taken a turn... The situation couldn't be worse!" Kunikida spoke up. "The plane was hurdling towards the airport- the Hunting Dogs tore it apart! And Ōchi Fukuchi retrieved the One Order from the wreckage. In other words... we've lost the fight. What do we do, Ranpo? What's our next move? Ranpo? Hello, Ranpo! Do you hear me?!"

Kunikida let out a sigh, pulling the phone away from his ear. It was silent as Kunikida knitted his eyes together, unsure of what we should do. "What'd he say?"

Kunikida shook his head, lost in thought. "He didn't say anything..."

I turned my head away from Kunikida and back over to Fukuchi, who looked frustrated as he wasn't able to open the One Order.

"Either way, it looks like our gamble played off for the time being." I replied, crossing my arms.

Kunikida let out a hum. "Yeah, but for how long?"

I let out a shrug, unsure myself. "We'll just have to trust in Ranpo and Dazai's plan."

...

I dodged an oncoming fist, kicking the man in the back just as Kunikida grabbed a hold of his arm, pinning him down onto the ground.

"Never thought I'd see the day where I'd fight a vampire." I grumbled out as the man growled on the ground, trying to break free as Jun'ichirō ran past us, scooping out the area.

"Tanizaki, you spotted Aya anywhere?" Kunikida asked him.

"No, not at all." Jun'ichirō replied, glancing around.

"Damn... Aya's ran off with Count Bram Stoker, the source of this contagious ability." Kunikida replied. "What is going on?"

I glanced around the room before dropping my gaze back on the man Kunikida was restraining. "Still can't believe a girl as young as her got wrapped up in all of this..."

Kunikida glanced behind us before letting out a shocked gasp. "Tanazaki!"

Glancing over, I saw Jun'ichirō was nowhere to be found, only a shoe left in the spot he was previously in.

I felt a prick in the side of my neck, causing alarms to ring in my head as I turned to see what was going on. My vision began to blur as I saw Kunikida unconscious on the ground before averting my gaze, barely making out the features of Fukuchi as I felt all control of my body disappear.

"Damn... it..." I struggled to speak as I collapsed to the ground, feeling my eyes get heavy before losing consciousness completely.

When I came to, I found myself in a room with Jun'ichirō and Atsushi, Kunikida beside us, still unconscious.

"(Y/N), are you okay?" Atsushi asked me in concern.

I sat up, grabbing onto my head as I let out a groan, nodding my head. "Yeah... Though, getting drugged really sucks." I grumbled.

I went to go stand up, when I felt myself stumble slightly, Jun'ichirō rushing over and pushing me back down. "Hey, take it easy."

"Please be careful." Atsushi spoke up just as we heard a grunt come from Kunikida, turning our gazes to see he was waking up as well. "The drug is still inside your system." He told the both of us as Kunikida sat up.

The man turned to where Jun'ichirō and I were, the boy sending Kunikida a wave. "Weren't we...? We were attacked by Fukuchi from behind.

"Your wounds have already been treated. This device was set so that you'd be brought back without your injuries once it was unplugged." Atsushi informed all of us. "If you were wondering, this is what the weight of thirty six years looks like."

I let out a sigh, rolling my shoulders slightly, gaining control of my limbs. "Well, safe to say everything went as planned minus the setback. We should probably go find the others."

"You're right." Kunikida stood up, pushing his glasses up.

"As we speak, Ango should be spreading the news about Fukuchi's plan." Atsushi spoke up as we began making our way through the airport.

I nodded my head, tilting it back. "Hopefully come tomorrow, the Agency's name will be cleared."

I smiled, feeling excited for things to go back to normal after all that's happened the past few weeks. But in the end... Nothing will be the same from here on out.

———
Published: 11/21/2024

A/N: I tried stalling for so long because I didn't know how I wanted to wrap up this chapter seeing as how season 6 is still unconfirmed for an expected release time. So for now I think I'll consider this story on hiatus until the time comes and either update with another chapter or write book 2!