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Murdergames are a Pain in the Neck
May. 1st, 2016 09:45 amSo much for returning to his life after the murdergame was done. That was an optimistic thought Mouri had during most of the stay in the Vault, but suddenly, in the very last trial, there was an inkling of something that terrified the detective:
Murdergames are a much bigger problem he had expected. There may have been more than one in the past, there may be more in the future.
There was a lot of work in the future, and thankfully he wouldn't be alone - it seemed Bruce had the same objective, and Stan had kind of insinuated Bruce wouldn't be alone, would he join him? There could be others, too - and Mouri felt a little overwhelmed, but it was okay.
But yeah, first, a short trip to return to his world, set things back in order, and maybe relax with the stuff he'd be unlikely to have once he started those interdimensional trips. For all he knew there were worlds out there without beer, what a nightmare.
It was agreed Mouri would have a week in his world. When he arrived and he returned to his detective agency/home, he found it was empty. It was to be expected. Two months gone...and Eri wouldn't allow something like Ran and Conan living alone without an adult presence. It was true Ran was capable and mature, but she was still young and in no position to take care of anyone by herself. It hurt a bit to see his workplace and home empty. Ten long years...one gets used to a place.
Meeting Eri after two months of disappearance was something Mouri dreaded, but it had to be done. He managed to find her in her office, focused in her usual myriad of cases, which were immediately left aside as soon as she was told her missing husband was requesting to meet her. Mouri didn't see the face she made when she was told that, but the moment he stepped into her office he was immediately tackled with her. It's always awkward to have a grown woman clinging to you with enough strength to knock the breath out of you. Eri cried for a while, then changed to a few light punches while histerically shouting she had been so worried, that Ran had been immensely saddened yet managed to hold on, and that Conan, well, seemed to be quite rattled during all this time. Then she cried again.
It didn't take long to convince Eri to let him meet Ran before having to report to the police department he was not missing anymore. Ran reacted pretty much the same way Eri did, thankfully with no punching. Conan stayed mostly to the side, gazing at him as if he hadn't expected to ever see Mouri again.
"I suppose I won't be able to leave this room without saying exactly what happened, will I?" Mouri scratched his head, chuckling a bit as if this were a time for levity and not the hoped reunion with his family. Of course they demanded an explanation! There was a moment of doubt about how much he should tell them, but if he was going to leave for who knows how long then at least his family deserved an explanation.
Mouri decided to summarize the experience."Long story short: a group of twenty-seven people from different worlds got thrown into a virtual world. The way out was to kill someone and get away with it without anyone finding out. Oh, there were also trials! We gathered in a room and discussed the evidence, and the culprit always got executed. If we didn't catch the culprit then everyone else would die"
...is it a surprise the only response was dumbfounded staring and then demands for a more in-depth explanation of what the hell did he just say?
That night Mouri told them everything he remembered about the Vault. He didn't go into much detail about the people he met, that'd require staying awake until the morning. He confessed that, well, he wasn't really a respected detective for quite a while because he was stupid enough to make an accusation about who was responsible for it all, even if he had been half-right about it. The responses were obvious: Eri sighed, Conan made an expression that clearly showed he had seen that coming, and Ran muttered 'Oh, Dad'.
The longer he talked the easier it got. He described all the incentives - Ran had showed a lot of surprise when he said the Kingmaker had used false pictures of she being in a place like the Vault - the most memorable moments, a bit of detail about the cases...and his involvement in all of them, including those where he didn't really have anything to brag about. A bit of honesty didn't hurt.
"It is believed my iteration wasn't the only time something like this has happened. There are at least three known instances, and it is likely there were even more earlier than that. After what I went through I don't feel it'd be right to return here without trying to stop any games that may come. I need to find out why they started in the first place, and I know I won't be alone. There are capable people I can work with, and it may take a long time, but someday we'll end those games" he had finished his tale with that.
There was silence for a moment while they processed everything Mouri had told. It was just too much to understand just like that, and not only because of the thought people were being dragged from infinite worlds out there to kill each other.
"...you have changed" Eri said after a while. She seemed quite worn out.
"I'd like to think I have" Mouri exhaled "Ran and Conan will be safe with you. I trust you'll take care of them"
"We'll be okay. You go and...do whatever you need to do" that was as good as a heatfelt declaration of love from Eri. There was resignation, but there was also a sense of pride in her voice. Ran hugged Mouri tighly, crying again.
"Good luck, Dad..." she managed to say.
"Ran, I'm not leaving right now! I'll be leaving in a week. All I want is to rest for a while and make sure everything will be okay while I'm gone"
Eri smiled and stood up from the couch. "I'll prepare a guest room" she said before quickly leaving the room. Now that the tale had been told it was nice to be able to relax. There was a lot to do in the future, but for now it was time to rest.
...oh, right. Conan was there too. Conan hadn't said much during Mouri's tale. He seemed to be deep in thought about who knew what, and Mouri knew it was very unlikely he'd ever know. Still, a talk with that kid was needed now. "Ran, would you mind to leave the brat and I alone for a moment? We need to talk"
"Of course, Dad" Ran wiped her tears and left the room. Now that Conan and Mouri were alone, the detective cleared his throat and took the most severe stance he could manage.
"As I said one of the incentives had the deepest secrets the Kingmaker could get about us, and through it I found out something very interesting" Mouri started. The reaction was pretty much immediate. Conan gasped and waved his hands, laughing and somehow increasing the tone of his voice an octave.
"R-Really, Uncle? Was it an embarrassing secret?"
"It was more along the lines of a secret about Sleeping Kogoro. You know what I mean, don't you?" Slowly build up the pressure until the dam bursts. That was the plan.
It was going to be cathartic.
Murdergames are a much bigger problem he had expected. There may have been more than one in the past, there may be more in the future.
There was a lot of work in the future, and thankfully he wouldn't be alone - it seemed Bruce had the same objective, and Stan had kind of insinuated Bruce wouldn't be alone, would he join him? There could be others, too - and Mouri felt a little overwhelmed, but it was okay.
But yeah, first, a short trip to return to his world, set things back in order, and maybe relax with the stuff he'd be unlikely to have once he started those interdimensional trips. For all he knew there were worlds out there without beer, what a nightmare.
It was agreed Mouri would have a week in his world. When he arrived and he returned to his detective agency/home, he found it was empty. It was to be expected. Two months gone...and Eri wouldn't allow something like Ran and Conan living alone without an adult presence. It was true Ran was capable and mature, but she was still young and in no position to take care of anyone by herself. It hurt a bit to see his workplace and home empty. Ten long years...one gets used to a place.
Meeting Eri after two months of disappearance was something Mouri dreaded, but it had to be done. He managed to find her in her office, focused in her usual myriad of cases, which were immediately left aside as soon as she was told her missing husband was requesting to meet her. Mouri didn't see the face she made when she was told that, but the moment he stepped into her office he was immediately tackled with her. It's always awkward to have a grown woman clinging to you with enough strength to knock the breath out of you. Eri cried for a while, then changed to a few light punches while histerically shouting she had been so worried, that Ran had been immensely saddened yet managed to hold on, and that Conan, well, seemed to be quite rattled during all this time. Then she cried again.
It didn't take long to convince Eri to let him meet Ran before having to report to the police department he was not missing anymore. Ran reacted pretty much the same way Eri did, thankfully with no punching. Conan stayed mostly to the side, gazing at him as if he hadn't expected to ever see Mouri again.
"I suppose I won't be able to leave this room without saying exactly what happened, will I?" Mouri scratched his head, chuckling a bit as if this were a time for levity and not the hoped reunion with his family. Of course they demanded an explanation! There was a moment of doubt about how much he should tell them, but if he was going to leave for who knows how long then at least his family deserved an explanation.
Mouri decided to summarize the experience."Long story short: a group of twenty-seven people from different worlds got thrown into a virtual world. The way out was to kill someone and get away with it without anyone finding out. Oh, there were also trials! We gathered in a room and discussed the evidence, and the culprit always got executed. If we didn't catch the culprit then everyone else would die"
...is it a surprise the only response was dumbfounded staring and then demands for a more in-depth explanation of what the hell did he just say?
That night Mouri told them everything he remembered about the Vault. He didn't go into much detail about the people he met, that'd require staying awake until the morning. He confessed that, well, he wasn't really a respected detective for quite a while because he was stupid enough to make an accusation about who was responsible for it all, even if he had been half-right about it. The responses were obvious: Eri sighed, Conan made an expression that clearly showed he had seen that coming, and Ran muttered 'Oh, Dad'.
The longer he talked the easier it got. He described all the incentives - Ran had showed a lot of surprise when he said the Kingmaker had used false pictures of she being in a place like the Vault - the most memorable moments, a bit of detail about the cases...and his involvement in all of them, including those where he didn't really have anything to brag about. A bit of honesty didn't hurt.
"It is believed my iteration wasn't the only time something like this has happened. There are at least three known instances, and it is likely there were even more earlier than that. After what I went through I don't feel it'd be right to return here without trying to stop any games that may come. I need to find out why they started in the first place, and I know I won't be alone. There are capable people I can work with, and it may take a long time, but someday we'll end those games" he had finished his tale with that.
There was silence for a moment while they processed everything Mouri had told. It was just too much to understand just like that, and not only because of the thought people were being dragged from infinite worlds out there to kill each other.
"...you have changed" Eri said after a while. She seemed quite worn out.
"I'd like to think I have" Mouri exhaled "Ran and Conan will be safe with you. I trust you'll take care of them"
"We'll be okay. You go and...do whatever you need to do" that was as good as a heatfelt declaration of love from Eri. There was resignation, but there was also a sense of pride in her voice. Ran hugged Mouri tighly, crying again.
"Good luck, Dad..." she managed to say.
"Ran, I'm not leaving right now! I'll be leaving in a week. All I want is to rest for a while and make sure everything will be okay while I'm gone"
Eri smiled and stood up from the couch. "I'll prepare a guest room" she said before quickly leaving the room. Now that the tale had been told it was nice to be able to relax. There was a lot to do in the future, but for now it was time to rest.
...oh, right. Conan was there too. Conan hadn't said much during Mouri's tale. He seemed to be deep in thought about who knew what, and Mouri knew it was very unlikely he'd ever know. Still, a talk with that kid was needed now. "Ran, would you mind to leave the brat and I alone for a moment? We need to talk"
"Of course, Dad" Ran wiped her tears and left the room. Now that Conan and Mouri were alone, the detective cleared his throat and took the most severe stance he could manage.
"As I said one of the incentives had the deepest secrets the Kingmaker could get about us, and through it I found out something very interesting" Mouri started. The reaction was pretty much immediate. Conan gasped and waved his hands, laughing and somehow increasing the tone of his voice an octave.
"R-Really, Uncle? Was it an embarrassing secret?"
"It was more along the lines of a secret about Sleeping Kogoro. You know what I mean, don't you?" Slowly build up the pressure until the dam bursts. That was the plan.
It was going to be cathartic.
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