Chapter Text
"It's Phantom R!" "Get him!"
The stamped of officers shout as they run at the fleeing Phantom Thief, said thief runs ahead through the museum with his target in hand, the La Graine de Rubis, a beautiful red gemstone housed at the Richelieu Museum, formerly the Richelieu Manor.
"Go! Go! Go!" "Move Move MOVE!" "Faster before he escapes!"
Ahead, Phantom R can be seen bursting through a set of double doors before it closes in front of the constabulary. The constabulary arrives and burst the door open, similarly to how the thief did so, and are greeted with a fork in the road, a path going left and another going right, they are about to split up but they hear footsteps running down the right path, getting quieter and quieter. The constabulary recognises the familiar footsteps of Phantom R and they all run to the right. No one goes left, where Phantom R has been watching them going the wrong direction, he spies the last constabulary member turning a corner and he leaves his hiding space, his eyes instantly go to his phone underneath one of the long side tables in the hallway, which had played the footstep sound to misdirect the constabulary, he goes to the table and is about to retrieve his phone. Before a voice catches him off guard.
"Think you could fool me with such a simple trick Phantom R?"
Phantom R spins around, his eyes catching on Inspector Vergier whose eyes are caught on his own.
"Nice to see you, Inspector, on such a nice evening." Phantom R responds.
The pair are usually are too far away to have the usual Phantom thief and Detective Inspector chatter but the few times they do have it, well Phantom R enjoys it. Neither of the two moves, Vergier is in front of Phantom R, blocking his path to the left hallway, and the constabulary is behind Phantom R, well they are still running around like headless chickens but eventually, they will retrace their steps and find Phantom R. Though Phantom R knows of a way to get out without bumping into each of them, though. It did mean that Phantom R had to trust Vergier wouldn't use one thing, his gun, the Phantom Thief knows he has it on practically twenty-four-seven, and remember him using it against the Knights of the Chevaliers Diabolique and the True Chevaliers in the Hanging Gardens, though he had never pointed his gun at the thief. This is what Phantom R is betting on, Phantom R licks his lips as he addresses his Inspector.
"Though I'd love to stay and chat I have places to be, Au Revoir Inspector."
The second after Phantom R says his presumed goodbyes to the inspector, he dashes to the right of the hallway and onto the wall, where a portrait was, and grips the left-hand side of it and, to the surprise of Vergier, opens it like a door. Phantom R gives a tip of his hat to the inspector as he runs into the tunnel. The tunnel was how Phantom R had initially entered the Museum, the tunnel leads from the quiet and narrow west side of the building all the way to the left hallway of the first floor, close to where the exhibit holding Phantom R's target was.
Vergier, not taking nicely to the fact that Phantom R wasn't as trapped as he initially expected, ran after the thief, hot on his trail, he gets to the portrait that was slowly closing and opens it, stepping through and running after the phantom thief. They both run on the cobblestone flooring which blends into the similar cobblestone walls, their shoes can be heard clearly clacking on the ground. The portrait closes behind Vergier. The Inspector has seen the plans to the Museum many a time and doesn't remember a long strait tunnel anywhere, why wasn't it on the map? The thief has made his way to the other side of the hallway and was seemingly pushing on the exit, though it didn't seem to budge letting a small confused "huh?" comes from the thief. Vergier quickly realises that something is wrong, he looks at the thief who is pushing with all his might on the door but it is not budging, there are no other doors in the hallway except for the portrait which is now closed, presumed tight like the one ahead of him.
They have never been in a situation like this, where Phantom R was trapped, fully and completely. Even in the hallway, Vergier could see that look in Phantom R's uncovered brown eye, that look that said "I can get away, just watch." Though in this situation, that confidence and fire is nowhere to be seen, he is rapidly pushing his body onto the door to leave, but it won't move, budge or creak. Phantom R stops his attempt to move the door and catches his breath, he breathes deeply from the pushing, the running he's done already isn't helping him in the slightest, he doesn't want to turn around and face Vergier who is a few strides away from him, but he's out of options, the door he used to get in the building is now locked and the other door, which is behind Vergier, is also probably locked, how could he get himself into this situation. He is better than this, how did he mess up?
"As much as I know you would love to put me in handcuffs, there is a larger issue at hand, as I think you can guess what it is..." Raphael says as he turns to face Vergier with his hands up in surrender and his hat tipped down over his eyes.
"We are trapped in this passageway aren't we?" Vergier asks even though he knows the answer.
"Unless that door can open, we're trapped." Raphael says referring to and pointing to the portrait door.
A sigh comes from Vergier as he turns and walks the other way, with Raphael following in tow, his hands now lowered. The pair's footsteps echo in the tunnel as they silently walk, Raphael is surprised that Vergier isn't saying anything not a snide remark or a question about his ability as a thief which is nice, Raphael thinks, as a small smile appears on his face. They soon get to the other side, it wasn't a long hallway around three to four meters long, Vergier pushes the door with one hand, nothing, then another, nothing, then his body, again nothing.
"Damn it." Vergier says.
"Maybe we should both push it?" Raphael asks.
"Anything to get out of this hallway."
Vergier moves to the side and closer to the right wall as he says this, the hallway is very narrow, it's barely larger than one person and could fit two people if they stood back to back sideways. This is very apparent now, as Phantom R squeezes into the room left and puts his shoulder on the door, ready to put his weight onto the door.
"On the count of three," Vergier says.
"One... Two... Three!" They both say together.
They both push with both their body weight, hoping for something, a squeak, a creak, a shift. Nothing. They both give out after a while and they both sigh, they are fully trapped. Vergier leaves the door and paces further into the hallway damning the door as Phantom R slides down and sits by the door sighing. After a solid minute of both of them in their own stream of thoughts, Phantom R jerks his head left. "I hear someone." Phantom R says as he moves to put his ear to the door.
Vergier looks at Raphael and moves forward, and realises that he is correct, he can hear someone. But it isn't just someone, it's multiple people.
"We let Phantom R get away." "Ugh... Inspector Vergier is going to be mad..." "I swear I heard him run down that corridor." "Me to..."
It was the constabulary, the pair could hear them as clear as day. Vergier stands while Phantom R sat, with just a look in their eyes they knew what the plan was. Raphael was going to stay quiet while Vergier ordered his men, it would be simple and they can easily escape. Though Phantom R knew that doing this probably means his capture, he didn't feel like dying of dehydration in an empty hallway. Maybe on another day.
Vergier clears his throat before he speaks
"Men!" Vergier shouted.
...Though no reply came, though they couldn't see the constabulary they could guess they weren't far from the door.
"OI!" He shouts louder.
There's still no reply, not even a "Did you hear something?" from one.
"You've gotta be kidding me it's..." Raphael says shocked at the situation he's gotten himself and Vergier in.
"Soundproofed." Vergier says finishing Raphael's sentence.
Vergier pulls out something from his coat pocket which he has been lugging around the museum, Phantom R looks at Vergier and sees that he's pulled out his gun, he looks shocked at the man before he adds ammo.
"Move." He says, aiming the gun at the door.
Phantom R quickly moves away from the door and behind Vergeir a few steps.
"Cover your ears, go low." He commands looking at Phantom R, to which Phantom R does so.
He turns back and adjusts his aim, and shoots, Phantom R jolts at the sound though Vergier doesn't. Phantom R uncovers his ears and moves up to Vergier's side, both looking at the door and keeping an ear out for the constabulary. The door has a small dent in it with the bullet lodged in place, the door is made out of the same stone used in the rest of the hallway. But even after a gunshot, the constabulary didn't hear them and they continue with their usual chatter, the police leave the general area of the secret door and go down the opposite hallway, where Raphael had been hiding previously.
They both marinate in silence at the situation they are in. They are stuck in a long but thin soundproof hallway that's not on any map of the museum, in which they are only accompanied by their... well maybe not enemy but... their polar opposite. Their friendship, as one may call it, is weird, after the incident with Leonard Bonar they recognised the advantages of the other, especially when fighting the true Chevaliers and dealing with Jean-François. They worked well when taking down the True Chevaliers, they knew that each other, and Charlie, could deal with whatever stood in their path and no one needed help, and with Jean-François, Vergier arrested him after Phantom R had defeated him, and Vergier is grateful and surprised that the thief could even take him down. After Jean-François' arrest and while sorting out the paperwork, there was a note written by Phantom R, it filled in a lot of blanks from Marie's statement of events and from Vergier's own recollection. It is currently aiding in putting the man behind bars.
Vergier is grateful for Phantom R for his help with the incident, and he knows that in certain environments they can see themselves as allies. Though he doesn't agree with his profession. He has an inkling and some proof that his thievery is for the greater good, but there are different ways of going about it. He likes the drive that the Phantom Thief has though not the method, though all around, he can see that Phantom R is a good young man. The thief has a similar relationship, he's glad that Vergier handled the more press side of the incident, Vergier even made sure to reference Phantom R as the hero which he was surprised and happy Vergier did. He can get along with the detective when the going gets tough they can put their careers aside to save the city they both love.
"So... I'm guessing we're calling a truce on this one." Phantom R states, there is no way they are working by themselves, they need to either bounce ideas between each other or work together to get out.
"That's the only way I can see this working." Vergier says, putting out his hand, which Phantom R meets and they shake. They look at each other's face as they do this.
They have trust in each other that they can get out of this, both of their brown eyes lock contact with each over, and a knowing smile and a passion to escape flows between them.
Their hands stop and they both retract as they both start brainstorming. Phantom R starts combing the room to see if there is a switch or something, his hands touch the slightly cracked cobblestone walls. Vergier starts to think about the hallway, it could be unlocked from the outside but not the inside, that was odd, peculiar, absolutely weird, no one would have a room like that. Though he thinks to when they entered the hallway, especially Phantom R, and how he knew of its existence. He looks over to the thief.
"Phantom R," Vergier says making said thief look at him.
"Yes?"
"How did you know this hallway existed? It's not on any of the plans of the Museum."
"Oh, I did some investigating of the museum and read in old documents about a passageway in the building that leads from the outside in and vice versa. Said passageway was hidden behind a painting but no more information was given and after a bit of in-person investigating I found the correct one, as well as the outside entrance. Hidden behind a hard-to-find puzzle."
"Was there any other information in these 'old documents' about this passage? The purpose or anything?."
"There was a scribbled note on it which read "Safe Room" pointing to it, though the note looked a bit weird when compared it to the other writing on the page."
"Now the soundproofing makes sense as well as the lock. You could run in here and the doors would lock automatically, making sure that anyone after you wouldn't be able to enter. But that makes no sense for a museum-"
"But it does for a Manor." Phantom R finished Vergier's sentence.
"Exactly, this is a reformed manor. That also explains why it isn't on any maps, it was a secret. The document you must have looked at might have been the original plans of the manor."
"Hm. So if this is a saferoom, then there must be a way out. We just need to find it."
"Exactly, I suggest we look around carefully, you said that the puzzle was difficult to locate so that probably goes for the safe room itself."
"Thought..." Phantom R says as he continues his observation of a piece of cobble. Vergier also tilts his head to him.
"When I entered this passageway, I could easily open the door, walk through this passageway and use the portrait door to get out." Raphael says bewildered.
"Maybe you accidentally found the way out?" Vergier asked.
"I just walked through the passageway, I didn't press anything."
A hum of musing comes from Vergier as he continues to find something, he has had enough of staring at the floor and looks at the wall that is opposite Phantom R, he sees nothing out of the ordinary on the stones and when pressed they just feel like normal stones. He keeps on combing along the wall like this until he feels one which recedes at his touch, he pushes it in only to hear a ding of a bell from the other side of the wall.
"What was that?" Phantom R asks, looking at Vergier.
"This stone is connected to a bell." He replies
Getting onto his feet, Phantom R comes to Vergier's side and looks at where the other's hand is. He presses it in again to hear another ding, but nothing happens.
"What do we need to do with it?" Vergier muses under his breath.
"hmm... Can you hold it down?" Phantom R asks, and Vergier does so, making the bell chime longer before being cut off when Vergier takes his hand off of it.
"Perhaps we need to play a tune on it." Phantom R hypostasizes.
"Maybe, but I can't see any notes to play." Vergier says looking around the bell.
"Maybe it's hidden better." Phantom R leaves Vergier's side and starts to look at the opposite wall to look for clues.
Breath comes back to Vergier that he didn't know he was holding in, it only happened when Phantom R got close, he doesn't know why he held his breath. Perhaps it was due to instinct and being around the thief. Vergier goes with that explanation, he now focuses back on looking for musical notes though his mind is lost in thoughts and he can't focus on the bland wall ahead but on a particular redhead.
"Here!" Phantom R says almost ecstatic.
Vergier looks to Phantom R as he stands in the middle of the hallway looking at the wall opposite, Vergier moves next to him and looks at the wall and after a bit, he can't see what Phantom R sees.
"I don't see it." Vergier admits.
"Look at the grout." Phantom R says as he gets closer to the wall, his finger on the grout and on a crack in the grout. He soon continues his explanation.
"They're notes, see this one? This one has a single vertical line meaning that it's a quarter note, the next one also has a vertical crack but also has a slash on it so it's a half note, and this one has no cracks in the grout so it's a full note." He explains, pointing at the stones and moving on to the next when needed.
It takes a second for Vergier to see what Phantom R sees but after a second he can see the musical notes, it's a simple string of notes and not very long.
"So we have to play this on the bell? That seems easy enough, which one of us wants to do it?" Vergier asks.
"I didn't know you liked rhythm puzzles, I thought any rhythm puzzles would be left to me." Phantom R replies.
"The person who puts out rhythm puzzles to THE rhythm thoef doesn't like rhythm puzzles himself? Really?"
"Well I usually solve your easy ones." Phantom R flashes a smirk.
"Should I make them harder?" Vergier flashes one back.
"I like a good musical puzzle." Phantom R says locking eyes with Vergier.
"Well then solve this one, then I'll make my next one harder." Vergier puffs.
"Okay." Phantom R says blandly before he starts to bumble the tune of the notes.
"Dun Dun-dun Dun Dun Dun-dun Duuun Dun, got it!".
Phantom R smiles at the pattern and moves to the button, he puts his hand on it, he feels the inspector's eyes on him. He keeps the melody in his head and presses the button to the melody.
Ding Ding-ding Ding Ding Ding-Ding Diiing Ding
The last 'ding' rings around the room, and they stand there for a second then another, and another after that. They don't hear anything for a good period of time and fear that they got it wrong, Phantom R strips himself off the button and a frown appears on his face. Vergier moves to Phantom R's side and spies his moot expression, he sighs.
"Perhaps that was a misdirection, maybe there's something-" Before Vergier could finish a sound could be heard of stones grinding against each other.
Vergier and Phantom R look to where to button is and see that the stones around it are retracting, the stones and the grout disappear into the wall before then being moved to the side. It reveals a hidden pathway that leads somewhere, they both look inside and see that it leads to another room.
"Well I think we've stumbled into a rabbit hole for this Mansion and I don't think we're getting out soon." Vergier sighs, he promised Charlie that he would come home early tonight.
"Well. are you coming Inspector Vergier?" Phantom R says with a smile and a hand outstretched.
"I'm on my way." Vergier smiles faintly but doesn't take the hand and walks pasts Phantom R into the new room, he wonders why he could feel his heart louder than normal. Especially at the gestures Phantom R gave him.