02x10 - Poe and Rampo / Where the Moby d*ck Goes

[bunniefuu]

To think I'd receive a challenge from the Guild.

Hopefully this will stave off my boredom for a bit.

It feels like a trap to me.

Looks like he wants you to fill in the correct answers.

Fraid I can't help you there.

Wouldn't happen to have a pen on you, by any chance?

Are you the mastermind who issued a challenge against me?

It's been a long time, Ronpo. Were

you able to solve the riddle? I left you at the entrance?

Of course. I'd expect nothing less from you, my worthy adversary.

I believe I've earned myself a question.

Who are you again? Oh.

You don't remember me? The reason I joined

the Guild in the first place was

so that I could redeem myself against you.

I am Po. For the past six grueling years of my life,

I have endured the crushing shame of being

bested by the likes of. Yeah.

Could you speed this up, please? You're boring me to sleep.

I'm setting up the backstory here. This is a game between detectives.

You read the mystery novel I've written,

and then use your skills to determine

the identity of the serial k*ller.

You're already losing points. You can't even

decide if you're a detective or a writer.

Oh, the plot thickens. If you can solve my mystery,

I will reveal to you the guild's weakness.

The floating fortress that is the Moby

d*ck will stand no chance against your as*ault.

Okay, now you've earned a point. But why

dole out such a silly challenge in the first place?

The guild's operations are barbaric and unbearably dull.

There's only one thing that humanity ought to have a curiosity about,

and that's your ability. Ultra deduction.

Am I wrong? Nope, you're not. Let's do this.

Allow me to set the scene of our story.

Once upon a time, a band of travelers

found themselves trapped in a mansion as

a result of a fearsome snowstorm.

On this dark and stormy night, our

protagonist is awakened by a strange sound.

Bear witness to my gift, the ability

to draw reader into the world of a novel.

I hope that you both enjoy your stay.

The protagonist opened a door with a key only he possessed.

And what he found there..

Was a victim. The windows were sealed,

making it impossible for anyone to have entered

or left in such a manner. Two doors and a matching key.

My glasses are gone. Is he really dead? Everybody stand.

. Back. I'm a doctor. Sir. Ugh. The door.

Poe stipulated that this was a serial k*ller.

If we don't track the k*ller down,

the rest of us may soon become victims as well.

Posability is a serious pain in the ass.

The corpse, the blood. Everything about the crime is disgustingly convincing.

On top of that, my healing ability doesn't appear to work here.

Cause of death appears to be hypovolemic shock.

I was told he was the mansion's caretaker.

No fingerprints on the w*apon to speak of either.

It's the quintessential impossible crime. A locked

room with no apparent way for anyone to go in or out of it.

How was the k*ller able to leave the room after the m*rder?

You're sitting there struggling with all these questions.

Why don't you use your ability already?

I've lost my glasses. They were a special

pair that the boss gave me.

I need them in order to activate my gift.

But what difference does it make? Didn't

you just mention that your healing ability wasn't working on the guy?

Well, then my powers of ultra deduction

probably wouldn't work in this place either. Oh.

So that's how it's going to be, isn't it?

Rompo still doesn't realize he's just an ordinary

person who doesn't actually have any special abilities.

Then how about the two of us investigate

the crime scene and try to piece together what happened?

Get real. That sounds so lame and boring.

I don't want to do all that tedious work.

That stuff's for suckers, not master detectives like me.

Of course I didn't off the guy.

I had nothing to do with it either, I swear.

I wouldn't do anything like that.

I don't even know why I'm under suspicion in the first place.

Do any of you have an alibi? I was still sleeping in my room.

I was gathering firewood from the kitchen to use in my fireplace.

I was in the library looking up the famous

curse of this mansion. Pluto. The one eyed cat.

Why do I have to explain myself? You're just a doctor.

Just who do you think you are to question me like this?

Is it, dear? Ha ha ha. I was only joking.

I guess it wasn't funny, but I'll

gladly tell you where I was. I had gone back to my room

for the night to arrange my wardrobe for tomorrow.

There was a painting of Pluto in the room he was found in.

It was at the curse. The key

to the locked room was found inside the victim's clothes.

So I bet you this is a trick involving strings.

The single matching key was never used

until right before the suspect k*lled the caretaker,

took the key and locked the room from the outside.

The k*ller then used a string to pull

the key under the door and returned it to his pocket.

He cut the string, collected it and disposed

of it. What do you think, Detective?

Are you a complete moron? Huh? Sorry.

Rhetorical questions are rude. You are a moron.

The key's too thick to be able to fit under the door.

Not only that, but the corpse was on his back,

and the key was in his hip pocket.

Did none of that even occur to you? Oh.

Well, then what if the k*ller removed

the iron bars on the window,

went through it, and use tools to

put the iron bars back again? That'd be quite a trick to pull

off in a snowstorm you can barely see through.

There also would have been melted snow outside the window.

You're really on a roll, aren't you, Rambo? I'm not.

I'm not.

With your abilities as a detective, you

must have drawn some kind of hypothesis.

I can't do any of that if I'm

not able to use my special ultra deduction ability.

I need to have the glasses the boss gave me.

Or are you trying to say that he lied

to me about all of that?

Of course not. You're absolutely right, Rampo.

Not even you will be able to solve this mystery.

It's a remarkably unusual puzzle. I've written

specifically for you, my dear Rampo.

Once you're in the book, it's all but over.

You'll never figure out who the k*ller is or how they did it.

This is no mere challenge. This is revenge.

Unlike you, I will never forget the day

when you defeated me in a battle of wits.

I was so thoroughly humiliated, I could

barely look anyone in the eye.

I felt like I was lost in a dark maze.

But I found a reason to press on.

And that was to receive the same

Bountiful praise and adulation that you did.

Maybe then I would attain the peace of mind I craved.

That warmth will belong to me, even

if it means taking it from you by force.

If I understand the k*ller's Mo correctly,

locking myself up in this room will

surely put me at risk of being their next victim.

They better not keep me waiting long.

Dr. Yosano. Sorry. It looks like I messed up.

I didn't see who the k*ller was.

Stop. Save your strength. I'm no help at all.

What? For the world's greatest detective. I'm sure it'll be.

One. The Armed Detective Agency was established

with the sole purpose of making use

of your gift for the sake of innocent people.

I'm grateful that I was invited to the agency.

And met.. You all.

It's.

He. That's one enemy down. Unless you solve my mystery,

you will spend the rest of eternity

wandering aimlessly through the hellscape that I've created. Hahahahahahahaha.

Mrs.. What? Impossible. You couldn't have solved the mystery.

I'll admit, it was quite an impressive piece of work.

You just made one mistake that was challenging me.

You. You actually figured out who the k*ller was?

Of course. The m*rder*r.

Was me. The locked room had nothing to do with it.

The protagonist k*lled the victim, and the author

deliberately omitted that part of the narration.

The truly ingenious element was how you managed

to conceal any evidence of the k*ller's

presence once I entered the scene.

No matter how thoroughly I searched, it seemed

like the m*rder*r never even existed.

How did you figure it all out then?

You went too far with the m*rder in a locked room.

It'd be one thing if you singled someone out.

But the k*ller had no motive to create such a puzzle.

That's when I figured it out.

The k*ller and the author were in cahoots.

The proof of that was in the glove

used for the m*rder that was hidden

behind the door under the brick wall.

The caretaker pointed to the wall just before he d*ed.

That may account for the first of the killings,

but you couldn't have found anything that pointed toward the second.

The answer to that was quite simple, actually.

You made use of a special automated contraption.

You manipulated the magnetic properties in that

room to fire the k*lling w*apon.

Do you really think that such a thing is even possible?

Anything's possible, especially in a world that you yourself created.

There were hints scattered all about

the all too pristine medical tools. Our

cast of characters wearing clothing clearly provided to them.

I'd estimate this story was set in the year .

The mansion itself is actually a rest

stop attached to a massive elevator in space.

As convoluted as a mystery novel may get

once you figure out the author's ulterior motives, you're already halfway there.

Damn it. I spent six years on this.

And your intellectual devices were much more

beautiful this time. I just saw through them.

Hold on. So then you do remember your battle against me.

There's no way I'd ever be able

to forget about a mystery I cracked open.

I remember it well. It was just

the two of us pitting one mind against the other.

It was the first time another detective's ability gave me chills.

Was the last time as well. I look

forward to seeing what you come up with for me next.

You better work hard now, you hear me?

I promise I will.

We'll need to hold a celebration for you later.

What for? Our great detective has finally learned the truth.

You don't actually possess a special ability.

You simply use your deduction to.

That's not true. I have a gift.

But you just outsmarted post trap and explained everything with pure logic.

Hey, I'm gifted, all right? It wasn't anything special.

I got lucky this time is all. It's just.

It's just. What? I'd look really stupid

if I turned out to be normal now.

Hey, no laughing aloud.

Whatever you say. Don't you patronize me.

Is it true? We have information we can use against the Guild.

Yeah. They're figuring out a plan as we speak. Mm hmm.

Oh, this is some amazing Intel we've got here.

It's worth its weight in gold. Now,

to figure out how to maximize our

efforts to take out the guild once

and for all. Infiltrate them with a b*mb.

No. Good. Our comms would give us away and we'd be sh*t down.

Huh? Yeah, you're right. Well, what if

we made use of Kenji's super strength?

That would only lead to a stalemate in a ground battle.

Yeah, I guess that's true. How about Atsushi, then..

Paired with Junichiro? That could work. Excellent.

I'll get right on it. Will we end

up in the mountains? The sea? Roger that.

Let go of me. You've got a lot of guts betraying the Guild.

I actually admire your courage. But did

you really think that we wouldn't have

countermeasures in place to deal with your ability?

Of course I knew that. But I had

to convince him that I'd be all right.

Otherwise, he would have never gotten out of there.

Look, I know it's not easy to be one of the bad guys.

Louisa, what's our chief strategist have planned for us next?

Uncle. How are you feeling? I've come bearing gifts and good tidings.

The agency has agreed to treat your injuries in house

under the care of Dr. Yoshino. You'll be as right as rain.

And what do you want in return?

One of our newer recruits was recently captured by the m*llitary police.

We'd like to get her released before

our final battle with the Guild.

Ah, the girl who k*lled people.

I'm told she's being kept on an unmanned

plane used to quarantine dangerous gifteds.

It would be in our power to make

a plea to grant her immunity.

But we could only fulfill that request if this girl

is truly an agency member. Understand?

What do you mean? Kiyoko is not a member.

Well, she's not a member yet, to be exact.

There's an entrance exam that you have

to take to make sure you're qualified.

Unless you pass the test, you can't

be officially accepted as an employee. You remember yours, don't you?

Very well, then I will accept your

offer of medical treatment in exchange for my cooperation.

But only if you tell me one thing.

When that unidentified car rammed into us that day,

for some reason, my airbag was the only one that didn't deploy.

Would you happen.. To know anything?

The exam involves observing the subject's behavior

to determine if they're suitable for the agency.

It's kept a secret from the applicant.

Whenever Kiyoka is in danger, she looks

for an escape by hurting or even k*lling the person responsible.

It may just be her nature. But if that's the case,

she may never be able to pass that exam.

Okay. We're here. A library.

I'm Junichiro

of the Armed Detective Agency. We've been expecting you.

After you.

This is our micro as*ault fighter, the Nightbird.

The plan is for me to pilot

this and deliver you to the Moby d*ck.

A solo infiltration. The Guild is in the midst

of organizing an all out ground as*ault.

You'll sneak onto the Moby d*ck while

it's sparsely staffed and move in to take control.

Are you sure it's wise to send

me out for this mission, for..

This type of job? A gifted with

combat experience is preferable due to their

innate ability to work well under pressure.

You've also been held c*ptive aboard this ship,

so you're familiar with its layout.

Furthermore, even if you do fail in your mission,

there's a pretty high probability that you'll be captured alive.

You're the most qualified man for the job. Will you do it?

Turn it down. It's too much for you.

You'll be a pathetic weakling till the day you die.

I've only ever regretted the things that

I didn't do. I'll do it.

Entering visual range of the Moby d*ck.

Understood. Are you ready to go, Atsushi? Yeah.

Special ability. Light snow.

The sensors of the Moby d*ck are disabled for just a few

seconds while their transport helicopter is docking.

We'll stay hidden and close in during that time.

Hey, how come the pilot isn't responding?

Maybe they're having some trouble with their comms device.

What the.

I made it inside. How's it looking

there? No one's around. Something's wrong.

Nah, they've already evacuated. Why would this be? You might ask.

It's because we've already reached the final chapter of this w*r.

Wasn't this the same man who called

down the Moby d*ck in the first place?

The guild's next att*ck will take all

their enemies down along with this ship.

The Moby d*ck will be no more.

Explain yourself. No doubt you thought it best

to att*ck while this ship was sparsely populated.

But did you not suspect there was

something amiss when the guild's main forces

chose to abandon this station now?

There would be terrible if we became collateral.

It's finally time for us to advance

to the second stage of our operation.

The Moby d*ck will act as a huge

expl*sive and annihilate Yokohama and its accursed inhabitants.

And the area that will be ground zero..

Are the agency and port Mafia headquarters.

This ship is set to crash in less than an hour.

If the Moby d*ck is your special ability,

shouldn't you be able to stop this?

It's understandable that you would believe that.

However, most of the ship's operations have

been placed outside of my jurisdiction.

I no longer have the ability to control it.

Did you catch all of that, Darcy?

We need to abort the operation and retreat immediately.

We are continuing as planned. What?

You have to take control of the Moby

d*ck yourself and stop its descent.

It's up to you now. You're the only person who can do it.

You predicted this would happen, didn't you?

I felt it was a distinct possibility.

That was part of our reason for choosing you for this mission.

What do I need to do to stop this ship from crashing?

You'll have to use the control terminal.

It's in the office on the highest floor,

though you should expect it to be well guarded.

Thank you.

One more thing. If everyone else has

evacuated, why are you still here?

If the Moby d*ck is to fall

on foreign soil and cause destruction,

I figure the least I can do is go down along with you.

This ship was once a beautiful creature

before its flesh became hard and cold.

The same could be said of the Guild.

What is it? How are you doing? Darci.

What do you want, Maureen? I thought we had an understanding.

The Mafia agreed not to interfere in our current operations.

Funny you should mention that. I just

received word from one of my subordinates.

That agreement isn't going to hold.

Finally, I've tracked you down. Where? Tiger? Dr. Go.