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A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Part 07

Sparky, oblivious to the situation, grew even more excited. “Going after Kid. How ingenious and philosophical! I’ll cheer you on!”

“B-Be quiet.” Victorique tried again to hush him.

But Sparky ignored her anyway. “By the way, I’m going to climb the statue of the war goddess. You can call it my own brand of ingenuity!”

“Wh-What? The statue of the war goddess?” Victorique said, confused.

“Oh, so the tall building in Central Park you mentioned was the statue of the war goddess,” Kazuya said, then turned to Victorique. “He told me this morning that he was going to climb something again today.”

“So, you’re the Tarzan guy from the newspaper?” Kelly Sue asked.

“I’ve seen your photo before,” Doug said.

“I don’t really get it, but it sounds fun,” Nico said enviously.

Sparky beamed. “Oh, it’s a blast!”

Meanwhile, Kazuya continued to keep an eye on the group from the Brothers’ Orphanage. He caught Lysander whispering nervously.

“The statue of the war goddess? We don’t want any attention on it just yet.”
“Did he say he’s gonna climb it?”
“Is it not sealed off?”

Victorique listened while smoking her pipe, deep in thought.

Kazuya turned to her. “Victorique, I think those people…”

But before he could finish, Sparky suddenly shouted, “Attention, everyone! Attention!” and dashed down the pathway.

Kazuya whipped around in surprise. He could hear members of the Brothers’ Orphanage murmuring urgently.

“He’s heading to the statue of the war goddess.”
“Stop him!”
“How?!”

Sparky’s voice carried over the distance as he ran. ” Attention, everyone! I’m climbing the statue of the war goddess!”

Kazuya and Victorique exchanged glances, then took off after him. Doug and Nico followed, while Kelly Sue hobbled behind on her crutches, muttering, “What’s going on?”

The Brothers’ Orphanage group, still in their theatrical costumes, also joined in the pursuit.

Led by Sparky, they hurried down the path, past the grass, and toward the lake where the statue of the war goddess stood.

The statue, towering five stories tall, had a white rope dangling from its left eye, swaying in the wind like a tear. Apparently, he had already set things up beforehand. Sparky reached up and grabbed the rope with both hands.

“All right, I’m climbing now!”

“Be careful, Sparky!” Kazuya called out.

Up close, the statue of the war goddess looked old and weathered, its iron surface scarred with patches of silver and blackened spots. It stood with one foot forward, holding a flag aloft. Its face was staring solemnly into the distance.

About ten meters ahead, the blue lake sparkled under the summer sun. Small, colorful boats—orange, green, and more—floated across, drifting toward a round island at the center. On the lakeshore, a line of gentlemen in business suits and elegantly-dressed women waited near a boathouse.

The boaters on the lake and those waiting on the shore started pointing.

“What’s that guy doing?”
“Isn’t that the Tarzan man from the stories?”

Laughter and whistles filled the air.

By then, Sparky had reached the knee of the statue, about five meters off the ground, clutching the rope that dangled from its eye.

Nico, holding his camera, muttered, “Man, there’s so much to photograph. Kid’s contrail, the Lion Man, the wall-climbing guy.”

Sparky had managed to climb up to the belly of the statue of the war goddess. He was still shouting for people to pay attention.

“Go for it!” Doug cheered.

“Careful!” Kelly Sue cried.

The members of the Brothers’ Orphanage stood with tense expressions, eyes locked on the statue. Lysander whispered something to Puck.

Victorique, taking a drag of her pipe, kept her gaze fixed on them. Kazuya glanced curiously in their direction as well.

Nico, catching on, turned to the men. “What’s going on?”

Lysander grabbed the large round mirror from Puck and lifted it high, angling it toward the statue.

“What’s that for?” Kazuya wondered.

Sparky was still climbing the statue, now nearing the neck area. “All eyes on me!” he yelled.

Sunlight suddenly flared off the statue’s surface.

“Whoa, whoa!” Sparky yelped.

Victorique realized what was happening. “This is bad. Kujou, stop him! The moon…” She bolted toward the Brothers’ Orphanage group. “Lysander is using the mirror to focus sunlight on Sparky and blind him!”

“What?!” Kazuya immediately sprinted after her.

Lysander continued focusing the sunlight, aiming it directly at Sparky.

“Stop!” Kazuya tackled the man head-on, knocking the mirror from his hands. Both tumbled backward.

Sparky screamed, drawing everyone’s attention to the statue of the war goddess. He had accidentally let go of the rope with his right hand to rub his eyes. Losing his balance, he swung wildly in the air. Then, his left hand began slipping down the rope as well. He cried out in panic as he dropped toward the statue’s belly, where finally his left hand let go of the rope, and he plunged straight toward the ground.

Nico shouted, “Are you okay?!”

The area erupted into chaos.

“He fell!”
“The Tarzan guy finally messed up!”

“Sparky! Sparky?!” Kazuya rushed over to help him up.

Sparky’s eyes snapped wide open. “Ugh, my leg hurts,” he groaned. “I… I never thought I would fall. I’m… a philosophical being.”

“What are you talking about? Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Kazuya cried out.

Doug shouted to the crowd, “Is there a doctor here? Anyone?”

Kelly Sue quickly limped away. “I’ll get an ambulance!”

An older man stepped off a boat on the shore and ran over. “I’m a doctor,” he said, immediately examining Sparky. “His thigh is broken, but his head and organs seem fine. Hey, does this hurt?”

Kazuya stood up and stared at the people from the Brothers’ Orphanage.

Lysander came over and, in an overly polite tone, said, “Sir, why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t do anything.”

Puck, picking up the broken mirror, muttered, “Come on, sir. Lysander was just standing there with my prop mirror.”

“I-I saw you,” Kazuya said, his voice rising with anger. “You were using the mirror to blind Sparky!”

Just then, they heard the blaring siren of an approaching ambulance. The doctor explained the situation to the paramedics.

“We’re coming too!” Kelly Sue said, boarding the ambulance.

“Detective, I’ll give you an update later!” Doug shouted.

Soon after, police officers arrived. The members of the Brothers’ Orphanage were questioned, but they kept repeating that they were just watching and didn’t know anything.

Kazuya tried to explain what had happened, but the officer insisted he didn’t have any evidence and that they were busy with the bank robbery at the moment.

“Why did the Tarzan guy have to fall today of all days?” the officer mumbled.

As Kazuya stood there, Nico approached from behind with a scowl on his face. For reasons unknown, he rested his chin on top of Kazuya’s head.

“What are you doing, Nico? You’re heavy!”

“I took a photo.”

“A photo of what?”

“Of that guy using a huge mirror to reflect sunlight.”

“What?!” Kazuya spun around in surprise.

“Well done,” Victorique said.

Nico turned to Kazuya. “Wait, I actually did well?” he asked grimly.

“Y-Yeah,” Kazuya replied reluctantly.

“So I was helpful?” Nico pressed.

“Uh…”

“Was I?”

“Y-Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it, yes, you were a great help.”

For only god knows why, Nico jumped once. Kazuya gaped at him. Victorique gave a nod while smoking her pipe, as if she understood what he felt.

“Nico, I need you to develop that photo quickly,” Kazuya said.

“You got it. There’s a photo studio nearby.”

“And show the photo to the police afterward,” Victorique added. “We don’t have proof yet that the Brothers’ Orphanage people are Kid’s accomplices, but at least we can show they caused Sparky’s fall.”

“I can’t remember all that! Uh, first I develop the photo, then show it to the police as evidence. Did I get that right?”

Nico started walking, only to stop and turn back. He eyed the people from the Brothers’ Orphanage suspiciously.

Kazuya followed his gaze. “Yeah, I’m wondering why they did that too.”

“I have no clue.”

Victorique pulled the pipe from her mouth. “I suspect the folks from the Brothers’ Orphanage have a reason for not wanting anyone near the statue of the war goddess or drawing attention to it.”

Kazuya looked up at the blue sky. Just a while ago, it bore a message from Kid written in contrails. The summer sun was blinding.

The massive face of the war goddess statue seemed to gaze down at him. The rope hanging from its left eye swayed gently in the breeze.

“According to Kelly Sue, the statue has stairs leading up to an observation deck. Perhaps there’s something inside the statue they don’t want anyone to see. Something connected to Kid’s plan to raid the bank.”

“L-Let’s check it out, then.” Kazuya pointed to the statue.

Victorique and Kazuya exchanged glances before dashing to the back of the statue where the entrance was. Nico hurried to catch up.

“Oh.”

The statue was posed with its right foot forward. The entrance was tucked under its left foot, where three boys from the Brothers’ Orphanage stood. One of them was just putting up a sign that read “Out of Service.”

“It looks like they don’t want anyone getting near it.”

“Wh-What should we do?” Kazuya wondered aloud.

Victorique turned to Nico. “Could you be a decoy?”

Nico blinked. “A decoy? What’s that?”

Kazuya quickly explained.

“Got it,” Nico said. Then, he stretched dramatically and loudly said, “Maybe I’ll climb the statue of the war goddess too! Using the same rope. I wanna get in the newspaper as the second Tarzan!”

The boys guarding the entrance quickly moved away from the door, heading straight toward Nico.

Nico removed his yellow-green shirt, tied the sleeves around his waist, and shouted, “Attention! Attention!” as he dashed toward the front of the statue.

Kazuya grabbed Victorique’s hand. “Now’s our chance.”

They bolted toward the statue’s entrance.