Shall I dare test my luck?
Perhaps.
Follows along with the other stories in my series… Somewhat. If you're not familiar with them, you should be all right, still. Just think of this as the gang a little way's down the road in age.
"Feels like forever ago, doesn't it?" Jigen said with a small smile of nostalgia, glancing above his hat to Lupin.
"Yeah, yeah, I guess… Just don't go on about how long it's really been, then you'll make me feel old!" Lupin grumbled, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a lighter. He picked up a pack of cigarettes from the cheap hotel table, removed one, and tried to light it while it dangled precariously in his mouth, but to no avail. "Jeeze, even the lighter's old!" he sighed with disgust, tossing the silver zippo over his shoulder and then resting an elbow on the table. He seemed content to just keep the cigarette in his mouth while watching Jigen look out the window again. "You know Goemon's like a Christmas miracle—Shows up when you least suspect it and hopefully when you need him most."
Jigen turned and stared at Lupin, rethinking the analogy in his head.
"What?" Lupin sighed, removing the cigarette. "The wife's got me watching her TV shows—Why else do you think I'd be out here?"
"I dunno, the chance to one-up your successor?" Jigen answered, and Lupin's face grew into the familiar, wide grin Jigen had always known him for. He looked like a slightly graying eight-year-old boy for but a moment at the thought of doing just this.
"What can I say, I like to keep her on her feet! I love Fuji, but ya know, she gets a lit-tle cocky sometimes!" Lupin said happily, hopping up from the chair and walking over to Jigen's side.
"Gee, I wonder who she got that from…"
"Very funny…Still no sign of him… And you know he's not gonna come until you look away from the window. Can you even see without your glasses now?" he wondered, holding a hand up to Jigen's face. The gunman slapped it away and grumbled, lounging on the bed and tilting his hat over his eyes.
"My vision's coming back a little more every day… So do we even have the right tech for a job like this anymore? I mean… The last time you pulled off something this big, they still used microfilm on a regular basis! And the fact you just wanna fun in the front door… I'm almost thinkin' you lost your marbles, Boss!"
"Yeesh, make it sound a little more like you're going to take me out to field and shoot me to put me out of my misery, why don't you? Don't worry about it… Unlike your wife, who likes to drag you to concerts—"
"-Yeah, don't I know it—"
"—Goemon married a little tech guru. Anddddd I can't help but love him for it!"
"That, and his wife's easy on the eyes, too. Not like I'd tell him…. You open a door in here? Feels like there's a draft all of a sudden."
"No. I did," came Goemon's answer, and Jigen bolted straight up from the bed, knocking his hat off for a moment.
"Ehhhhh good to see ya, Goemon," Jigen cleared his throat and stood, feeling around for his hat and then placing it atop his head, albeit a little hastily. Goemon walked past him serenely, tipping Jigen's hat at the correct angle with the top of the sword he carried. He finally took a seat on the ground, legs folded, and Lupin clasped his hands together cheerfully.
"Looks like the gang's here—Ehehe, for the mostpart!"
"Anyone who matters is," Jigen muttered, and Lupin laughed, patting Jigen on the cheek.
"So cute… Lives with a house full of women, and still thinks he's an effect misogynist!"
"You can go piss of—"
"Now, now, gentlemen! Let's not get into arguing right away! There's so much work to be done yet…." he hopped back over to the model he'd set up on the table, the same on Jigen had been seated neat to, and looked it over. "A full-scale model of the Second National bank—"
"Twenty years ago it would've been the First National."
Lupin stopped and turned, looking to Jigen indignantly, "You know, most of the time I hang out with you two it's to get away from nagging and criticism. Now come here and look at this."
Jigen and Goemon stood and looked down at the model, Jigen picking up objects from it now and again.
"…You've been bored, haven't you, Lupin?" Goemon inquired, bending over to examine the minute details of the model.
"Yeah, well, this was a lot more constructive than putting together another model plane!" Lupin laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Plus I was running out of space for those!"
Jigen muttered the directions to himself quietly, running his hands over the model.
"You think you'll be up for it, Jigen?" Goemon asked.
"Yeah—You?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?"
"'Cause last time you convinced us you were "up for something", it was drinking, and combined with those meds you're on… It wasn't pretty."
"Yeah, we're still not allowed back at that hotel," Lupin sighed with longing, "Shame, too. Usually I'm not one for continental breakfasts, but …"
"It wasn't that bad," Goemon huffed.
"You went chasing after the bellboy screaming at him with a sword. You're lucky the kid was on the track team!" Jigen laughed, and Lupin joined in, while Goemon only quietly seethed, his eyes narrowing.
"Perhaps I was a little out of sorts."
"You were in a dress," Jigen answered stiffly. "And not one of your usual "it's my culture so I get away with it" dresses, a full Goddamn purple ball gown."
"Haha, hey, remember when we went on assignment and made you wear a dress, Jigen?" Lupin laughed. The revolver next to his head a few moments later answered his question.
"We don't…. Talk about that," Jigen replied through grit teeth, then sheathed his weapon once more.
"When are we going, Lupin?" Goemon asked gruffly, shifting the subject away from this incident.
"Right now," Lupin winked and picked up his jacket from the bed, slinging it over his shoulders and putting it on like he had never been a day without it.
"You and that damned thing…" Jigen grumbled, although there was a hint of a nostalgic smile on his face.
"It's my trademark, Jigen! Like you and your hat, Goemon and a sword—"
"Fujiko with your money," Goemon interjected. Both of the other men stopped, glancing at Goemon, surprised. "What? I have a sense of humor."
"….Tell Amaya to adjust your meds again when you get home. You having a sense of humor or the thought of you even having one scares the shit out of me," Jigen said, and filed out of the hotel room, Lupin leading the way and Goemon bringing up the rear. "…Glad you wanted to be inconspicuous, Boss…" Jigen shook his head and looked over the shiny red car. He couldn't make out much of the detail, but from the proud laugh Lupin gave, he could tell it was a pricy one.
"Oh, come on, you know there are some things I'm good at—Parcheezi, dancing, my spot-on Jack Benny AND Hitler impersonations—And some things I'm not so good at. Being low-key is one of the things I'm not so good at. Now come on!"
"Shotgun," Jigen called, hopping into the passenger seat. Goemon finally hopped into the back, and they were off.
"Ah, this is the life!" Jigen leaned back against his seat and pushed his hat down. "No kids, no having to get up on the roof and clean gutters…. This is what it's about! The hell ever happened to this?"
"Well… You got an ex-girlfriend pregnant, and her daughter showed up on our doorstep a few years later. You then, already softened by the trails of fatherhood, proceeded to fall for an ex-Triad princess who shook her miniskirt the right way at you and who at the time dressed like a circus clown from hell and couldn't cook. She's toned down her looks since then, but Jigen, she still can't cook. Goemon fell for a girl who turned out to be the daughter of lovable old Pops, and they now collect children and run a quiet little country life. I can't blame him, because…. Who knew Pops had such good genes hidden beneath those rough features of his? Amaya's still, what'd you say, Jigen, easy on the eyes?"
"Any time we can stop talking about my wife in such a way I would be most pleased," Goemon snapped, his eyebrow twitching.
"And you made a screw-up yourself and finally got that bitch pregnant, the only good coming out of that being that I finally won the pool Goemon and I had had for years on when you would."
"Hey, now who's talking about—Wait, you two had a pool going? Now that's just cold!"
"Yeah, yeah… Hey, it bought me a car, what can I say? We all went and kept the group going long as it could until it got too damned hard to balance, and now our idiot kids get to go out and make the same stupid mistakes…. Although I keep thinking your daughter will outdo you some day."
"Fuji? Yeah, she's always been one to outdo anyone she thought she could," Lupin said with a proud smile. "And Ari's not doing bad, either!"
"Your one kid is just like you. The other kid's a cop. A gay cop. With kids. And he reads. He's like… I dunno, if he didn't look like he'd been cloned from you, I'd swear he was switched at birth."
"I have no objection with my son being who he is…. He does like John Denver, though… That's been a little hard to adjust to. I mean, you think you know a guy…"
"Well, could be worse…." Jigen glanced briefly to Goemon, and the samurai gave him a plain look.
"What?"
"…Nothing," Jigen sighed, and looked forward again.
"At least Zenigata's not doing too bad, hehe! Ah, what can I say? For the hell I gave him, the old man deserves a good time! Here we are!" he announced, bringing the car to a halt.
"That didn't take long… And thank God. Few more minutes of memory lane and we'd be having a crying session," Jigen snorted, stepping out of the car first.
"Ah, well, I didn't want to have home base too far away, just in case!" Lupin answered, climbing out and looking ahead to the bank. "What do you think, guys? Once more for old time's sake?"
"If you get caught, ain't this gonna screw up that nice little deal you worked out with the government?"
"Ohhhh I'll just write it off as practice!" Lupin answered with a light laugh. "How am I supposed to act as a consultant if I don't keep up with what's new out there?"
"Reading, maybe?"
"I'm so much more of a, urm, hands-on guy, hehe… Always been like that, too! You've known me long enough for that, Jigen!"
"Ugh… Somehow you being a pervert is even more chilling now."
"All right, come on, let's split up, just like we practiced it," Lupin said quietly, handing Jigen a bag and heading towards the bank entrance. He walked in, whistling, and walked straight to the teller.
"Boy, quiet day here…." he looked about the lobby, and noted only a few more people occupying it. He stepped up to the loan bank teller, a blonde woman in glasses and a plain blue blazer. "Don't you think… Fuji?"
"Saw right through it, huh, Daddy?" Fuji Lupin smiled and removed the glasses and blonde wig she'd been using as a disguise. She shrugged and giggled it, a similar laugh to her father's, although by looks, she had inherited Fujiko's looks.
"And I'm guessing the seven other people you have around here are all accomplices in on this, right?"
"…Sort of," she answered, looking to the side.
"….So, how long ago did you clear the place out, huh?"
"Oh, we didn't! I just borrowed it!" she answered brightly.
"Borrowed?"
"Mm-hm!" she nodded affirmingly.
"Now how in the hell did you manage to borrow a bank?"
"I do all of my banking here! I'm their best customer!"
"…You're joking," Lupin blinked. "A Lupin? Banking legally?"
"Ohhhh we switch around things so it looks more legal, but hey, money's money, and they're happy to have mine!"
"I thought I'd never see the day…. Now what are you doing here? I thought you'd be holding up the place!"
"I caught wind of your new little heist, and I wanted you to be safe! And Mom said that she'd wring your neck if you jeopardized the comfy life she's grown accustomed to!"
"…Did she now? Fujiko-chan really does never let me have any fun…." he grumbled, tapping his fingers on the window sill of the bank.
"Now, that's not true, she just cares!"
"How exactly did she find out, anyway?"
"Well, there was a bit of phone telephone involved, but let's just say I've got my own connections, Daddy!"
"That's my girl. Now would you please tell me what's going on?"
"I know you sort of miss it sometimes, the old days, soooo I made a phone call on your behalf!"
"Eh? Phone call? To who, exactly….?"
"LUPIN!" he heard in a familiar bark, and Lupin's blood chilled. "You're under arrest!"
"Ze-Zenigata!" the thief shot his head over, and the old officer tossed aside the paper he'd been pretending to read, and marched toward Lupin.
"You're damned right! What the hell do you think you're doing!" snarled the ex-officer.
"M-Me? Aren't you long-retired?"
"I'll always make an exception for you, pal! Plus I can still make a citizen's arrest! Now get the hell over here!" Zenigata shouted, breaking out his handcuffs and glaring at Lupin with the same old determination as always.
"Aw, I love you too, Pops!" he turned back to his daughter, "Hehe, looks like I'll have to cut our visit short this time!"
"I figured. I'm just doing it because I love."
"I know, and, thanks! I think this is what we needed! Now I better get to Jigen and Goemon, and tell them the jig's up!" he laughed, and took off running.
"Get back here, damn it!"
"Come and get me, old man!" Lupin called, bursting out through the doors.
"Old! You're just as old now, damnit!" Zenigata shouted, following after him.
"…They're so cute when they're that age," Fuji mused, leaning forward and resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "…God I hope I've gotten it out of my system by that age…."