Chapter 0 - Massacre on the Amaterasu Express

From Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE


Massacre on the Amaterasu Express is the introductory chapter of Master Detective Archives: RAIN CODE.

Story[edit]

A mysterious boy in dark blue attire wakes up in a train station's lost and found storage room, thanks to a spirit knocking a pile of books on him. Unsure of who he is, he discovers via a summons from the World Detective Organization that he's called "Yuma Kokohead", and has been invited to Kanai Ward via the Amaterasu Express. Upon discovering this, he hastily boards the train at the last second and meets with five other Master Detectives: Aphex Logan, Melami Goldmine, Pucci Lavmin, Zange Eraser, and Zilch Alexander. The detectives wonder why he's present, as only five Master Detectives were summoned, and Yuma was the uninvited sixth guest. Once they learn of his amnesia, they tell him information about their mission to investigate Kanai Ward and Amaterasu Corporation, and find that the Unified Government might be involved in the mysteries surrounding it. Using Aphex's and Pucci's abilities, the detectives verify no one else is onboard the train, and Zange uses his ability to capture a moment prior when Melami offered Yuma some coffee, unwitting it contained a sleeping drug.

The spirit from before messes with Yuma's mind, and he decides he should take a rest, leaving the other detectives behind as he moves to the end of the train. Once he enters the bathroom, he falls unconscious, and wakes up to find that spirit staring directly at him, to his surprise. The spirit introduces herself as "Shinigami", and tells Yuma that he made a pact with her, resulting in his memory loss, as she's also a death god, and a pact with one requires a price. In his case, it was his memories. Yuma's unsure why he did so, and Shinigami dismisses his questions. When he leaves the bathroom, he sees the infirmary nearby has caught on fire, with Zilch Alexander resting on the bed with a knife in his chest. After the room engulfs in flames, he breaks in using a fire extinguisher and finds "his" body charred from the flames, killing "him". Hastily, Yuma leaves the room to warn the other detectives, only to find them having been immolated too as he moves along the train. During his investigation, he finds out that the train had never stopped and that there were two blackouts that occurred while discovering their bodies.

Once he arrives at Kanai Ward, he gets ambushed by Swank Catsonell of the Peacekeepers, and his men, intending to frame him for the murder while Yuma argues his innocence. Swank doesn't listen and tries to arrest him anyway, so Shinigami summons the Mystery Labyrinth, stopping time and revealing her humanoid form to Yuma, as she needs her full power to summon the Labyrinth. Shinigami tosses Yuma into the Labyrinth without any explanation, and then tells him that the Labyrinth is a reflection of unsolved mysteries, and the truth is waiting at the end. She also tells him to relay the events of the case so they can develop Solution Keys, which serve as clues. The two of them encounter a Mystery Phantom, a representation of someone hiding the truth in the real world. The Mystery Phantom represented Swank Catsonell. To fight back. Shinigami provides Yuma with a Solution Blade, a sword he can wield to attack enemies with. By the end of the Labyrinth, they conclude Zilch faked his death, and after much resistance, they sum up the events of the case and identify him as the case's culprit. However, unbeknownst to Yuma, to get rid of a Mystery Labyrinth, the culprit's soul must be reaped, a procedure Shinigami personally took care of.

Since reaping the soul killed the culprit, once Yuma had returned to the real world, the situation hadn't changed, and Shinigami informs him much too late the culprit dies at the end of a Mystery Labyrinth. Swank once again tries to arrest Yuma, only for Yakou Furio to intervene and persuade Swank not to do so, as to prevent any conflicts between the WDO and Amaterasu Corporation. Yakou introduces himself to Yuma, and tells him he's the chief of the Nocturnal Detective Agency. He adds that the Peacekeepers were intending to frame Yuma all along, and that the "Zilch" he met was a hitman hired by Amaterasu Corporation who killed the real Zilch beforehand. Regarding Kanai Ward, he tells him that this is due to the isolation and that no outsiders are allowed entry. Yakou then tells Yuma to come along with him, and unbeknownst to them, a mysterious man arrived at the station in a stray train car, to the confusion of some Peacekeepers nearby.

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