We open on the Bistro Jurer, where everything is running as usual. Touma works his magic in the kitchen, Umika is overwhelmed by customers and Kairi is on his break. Nothing out of the ordinary.
"Touma! A-Set for table 7!" Umika collapses on the bench in front of him as he turns to look at her.
"How did they want the steak done?" He leans over her but she's too exhausted to respond. Kairi decides to finally join them, teasingly pinching Umika's nose.
"Worn out already? It's only the start of the lunch rush." He shakes his head in faux disapproval and is met with a groan from Umika.
"Are you finally gonna start helping out around here?" She looks up at him pleadingly.
"No time for that, our special customer is here." He nods his head to the back corner where a balding man in a fancy black-tie suit is politely sipping a coffee. Umika perks up immediately as Kairi begins moving the customers out of the Bistro, many with unfinished meals.
"We're closing!" He has to shove one couple out.
"You don't have to be so rude about it Kairi" Touma brushes off his hands as he closes up the kitchen. The three phantom thieves take seats around their mysterious boss.
"I have your next target. Or should I say targets." He passes two pieces of paper to the group. On one is an old lacquered Chinese jewellery box. On the other, an aging Chinese man.
"In this box is 19 pieces of the collection, a set similar to the VS Vehicles known as the Miraculous." The sheer amount of Collection pieces shocks the trio.
"19?! How have we not found them before?" Kairi quickly stands up.
"They have been well hidden till recently, when they began to resurface. They are being used by Superheroes and Supervillains alike." He slides three pictures across the table, one of a girl in bright red and black spotted spandex, one of a masked man in formal purple and one of a smug looking feline character.
"Don't worry Kogure, we'll get the gangler who's been distributing them and get all 19 pieces back." Kairi rests his VS Changer on his shoulder and the others nod in affirmation.
"Oh no, this man is no Gangler, he's human." Although being slightly taken aback by this, the three remain determined and Kairi just smirks.
"Gangler or Human, we'll be taking his pieces of the Lupin Collection!" They turn to run out the door before Kogure stops them and passes them each a plane ticket.
"A planet ticket? Where are we going?" Touma looks quizzically at Kogure. Meanwhile Umika spies the destination on the ticket
"Paris?!"
In the briefing room of the Global Police, the three members of the GSPO Tactical Unit are gathered around the main desk, ready to receive their new special mission from Commissioner Hilltop. He clasps his hands together, elbows on the desk.
"As you know, our authority stretches all around the world, that's why we are the Global Police. And now our Paris branch is calling for the help of our tactical unit." He turns his monitor to show the message from the international unit. Keiichiro is immediately fired up, slamming his fist on the desk and startling the younger Sakuya.
"We'll get any Gangler, in Japan or anywhere else in the world." At Hilltop's calming gestures, he sits down again awkwardly.
"Actually Keiichiro, it's not a Gangler this time." This voice belongs to Police Secretarial Robot Jim Carter, not to be confused with the actor of the same name. "We've been receiving reports of destructive conflict between strange monsters led by a mysterious Supervillain and a pair of superpowered vigilantes. You're booked for the next flight to Paris. You are to rendezvous with the local branch of GP, they will give you further instructions. Good Luck" The trio of officers nod and bow before Hilltop dismisses them. On the way out, Sakuya looks up dreamily.
"If only I could take Umika-chan~ They do Call Paris the city of love!" This earns him a smack on the head from the ever professional Tsukasa.
"Sakuya! Focus, this is official business."
"Y-yes Mam." He rubs the back of his head. "Won't happen again." Once they've gone, Hilltop turns to Jim.
"Remind me Jim, who's the commissioner of the Paris Branch again?" Jim runs through his data banks before retrieving the name.
"Ok! Currently, the commissioner of the Paris Branch of the Global Police is the recently promoted Officer Raincomprix. He has an outstanding record and is known for being extremely tough and always sticking to his values" Hilltop grimaces with worry.
"Oh dear, I've heard rumours about him. He might even cause them more trouble than the villains…"
"Touma! Do we really have to go in the normal way? We're Phantom Thieves after all." Kairi flaunts his VS Changer to illustrate his point. Touma immediately grabs and hides it.
"What are you doing? What if the cops see it? And yes we do, we have tickets." He shoves one in Kairi's face.
"Ahhh, but that's boring." He snatches it regardless and sulks through the bag drop. Umika on the other hand, spends the way to the plane dreaming.
"Paris, oh it'll be so great! I can't wait! Maybe some romantic man will sweep me off my feet and carry me away from the bistro and we'll be together forever."
On the plane, Sakuya begins fantasizing about what him and Umika would get up to in France.
"I would sweep her off her feet and carry her away from the bistro and we'll be together forever." He then rolls his head to one side to look around the plane, then does a double take when he recognises the cute round face in the seat across from him.
"Umika-chan?!" Her eyes widen when she sees him before she quickly looks away and groans.
"Oh no… he's here? The police must've got the same tip as us" She then looks back at Sakuya and smiles politely. "Sakuya, how… good to see you here. What are you doing here?" He leans over excitedly
"We're cha- uhh, it's official police business." He straightens up to look more professional, the two officers beside him looking both surprised and disapproving.
"O-oh, I see." Umika forces a smile.
"Maybe if I can get some free time we can go out. I was disappointed our last date got cut short. They do call Paris the City of Love." His brash statement is met with wide eyes from both sides of the aisle. All Umika can do is smile and nod, not wanting to seem rude.
"S-sure. That sounds… lovely." She then proceeds to yawn and feign tiredness to escape from his over-eagerness. When she's rolled back over, she holds her head in her hand and groans. Kairi just giggles at her and whispers.
"You wanted someone to sweep you off your feet." This is met with a kick in the shins.
About fifteen hours, some heist movies for 'research' and a few more awkward conversations between Sakuya and Umika later, the Jurer trio step out into the warm Parisian air. Kairi takes a deep breath and stretches while Touma smirks and looks around and Umika twirls. She goes a little off balance and examines herself, something was off but she wasn't sure what.
"Kairi, is it just me or do you feel different?" She looks at him, confused. He just smiles knowingly.
"Didn't you know? Everything in France is animated, so now you are too. That's the real cause of Paris Syndrome, people just can't get used to being animated." Umika nods, appreciative of the information.
"I never knew that, thanks for the information." She claps her hands together. "Where are we going first? I want to see all the sights."
"We are here for work remember? We should scout the area." Touma reminds her. She looks dejected but brightens up when he adds "I reckon we could get a great view from atop the Eiffel Tower."
The three special officers and the new Commissioner Raincomprix cram themselves into the latter's small office
"Apologies for the cramped space. Rest assured that the man who assigned it to me has been given plenty of tickets." Keiichiro gives him a mildly confused look but dismisses it.
"It's alright commissioner, what's our briefing?" (Being global police, they speak fluent french) He folds his arms and looks very serious. Roger tries to match it but the hot-blooded policeman out stares him.
"Y-you roll out and find those supervillains and vigilantes and show them the firm hand of the law. Something like this perhaps." He stands up and starts doing karate poses. "Hya! Take that! Hah!" Tsukasa represses a giggle before the three bow and leave.
"He sure was… something." Tsukasa lets out the laugh once they've left the building. Keiichiro shakes his head.
"He's a decorated officer. His methods may seem strange to us but we need to respect them. Tsukasa, Sakuya, let's move out. Sakuya?" He's not listening, he's staring across at the Eiffel Tower. Keiichiro gives him a nudge to bring him back to reality.
"H-hm? Oh sorry, Sir. I was just dreaming about the roma- recon capability of the Eiffel Tower." He smiles embarrassedly.
"Hrrmm… I guess it does have good viewing angles. Let's move out." Sakuya wipes his brow, relieved he saved the awkward situation. They climb in their new patrol car, in which Keiichiro reaches for the wheel before realising that they've got in the wrong side and having to swap. Following this slight mishap, the trio roll out expecting a more relaxed mission free of thieves, Lupin pieces and Gangler. If only they knew.
A/N: This is just a bit of fun I've had planned for a while. I'll probably come back to it at some point but City of Miracles is my top priority writing wise. I just wanted a bit of a break from all that serious stuff. I am glad with how this turned out though, it's the first thing I've written in ages in the third person so my descriptions aren't on point, but I think I did the dialogue well. If you want more of this, just ask and I will deliver