Chapter 1: A Day in the Life

The stars sparkled overhead. The moon shone brightly. The man adjusted his jacket, and pulled his fedora a little more securely onto his head. There was a slight chill to the air on that Autumn night in Tokyo. Winter was coming early this year. As they had done so many times before, Lupin and Jigen were standing on the roof of a bank, dressed in all black, in the middle of the night. They were, as usual, up to no good.

"So, you ready with that gizmo, Lupin?"Jigen asked, still unsure of how this plan was going to go off. Still no sign of Pops, though. That was not necessarily a good thing.

Lupin slyly produced an odd-looking device from a small bag he was carrying. It glinted slightly in the light of the full Autumn moon.

"Just you watch, Jigen" Lupin began saying as he pried open the bank vault's super-secure sunroof. "This little baby is gonna get us past that laser grid no problem."

"Hey, whatever, man. But if that thing goes haywire and calls the cops down on us, I'm blaming you."

"Yeah, yeah. Relax a bit, Jigen. Seriously, man, you are way to stressed. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if you just snapped one day." chided Lupin as he slipped the new device in place. His terrific device worked perfectly, making the laser grid guarding the sunroof visible, while at the same time, stretching it enough to allow someone to pass through, if they were a master thief. Luckily, that's just what Lupin was.

"All right, Jigen, you might want to warm up a bit. No telling how long you're gonna have to hold the rope while I'm down there. We're dealing with a very advanced safe. Could take hours. And don't drop me, or that pressure plate will go off, summoning every law enforcement officer within a sixty mile radius."

"Yeah, I know that, man. Jeez, this isn't my first bank job, you know." came Jigen's terse reply

As Lupin tied the rope to the harness around his waist, he asked Jigen, "What's eating you today, man? You seem even more tense than usual. Something on your mind, old buddy?"

"Yeah, actually. I haven't seen him in weeks. And that troubles me."

"I know what you mean. Its creepy not having Pops breathing down my neck every few minutes. Makes the whole world just a bit too quiet." Lupin confirmed.

There was a certain tension in the air, something neither man could quite put his finger on. Zenigata hadn't been around for almost a month. Three whole weeks, and not a peep from the man who's life mission was chasing them down. It made them wonder what he might be planning. But for now, they got away without a hitch at every job they set out on. Didn't even need to trouble Goemon, who had recently taken up other interests. Fujiko was also nowhere to be found, much to the relief of Jigen, and disappointment of Lupin.

After Lupin was securely tied to the thin black rope, Jigen began lowering him down the hole created by the sunroof. He had wrapped the rope around a nearby antenna, probably used for bank communications of some kind. Jigen thought that tapping into that would probably prove more lucrative in the long term than stealing something from the vault. Sweat began forming on his brow as he strained to hold his partner off the floor so he could work.

Every minute seemed like eternity as his muscles screamed at him, begging to be freed from their burden.

"Hey, Lupin! You almost done in there? You ain't no damn lightweight, you know!" Jigen yelled down as he struggled to hold the rope.

"Relax, man! It's a piece of cake. I was kidding about this safe being a problem. Just one more turn to the left... There! Open sesame, sweetie!"

Lupin had managed to decode the combination to the safe, and slowly opened the door. Inside was a diamond. It was big for a diamond. About the right size for a football, though. Lupin's eyes sparkled at the sight of it, the tiniest hint of drool at the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, baby, come to Papa! Get over here, you big, shiny thing of beauty" Lupin cooed as he gingerly picked up the diamond, and placed it in a sack.

Jigen had to redouble his efforts at the sudden increase in weight.

"Man, that thing must weigh half as much as Lupin!" he thought to himself."Gonna make us a fortune off of that baby!"

"All right, Jigen, you can pull us up now!"

"Easy for you to say! I'm already having a hard enough time just holding you in place! You seriously need to go on a diet, Lupin." Jigen managed to grunt out as he began walking backwards, the thin black rope tearing at his hands.

"Steady now, you drop me and it's all over. One touch on this pressure plate on the floor here, and the cops will be all over this place like filth on a sewer." Lupin called up. He knew Jigen was aware of this, but no need to be reckless now.

"Yeah, I know, I know. Jeez, man, where's Goemon when I need him? The two of us together could lift you out, no problem." Hang on, I've almost got you free. Don't hit your head on that laser grid thing, man."

"I'm watching it, I'm watching it." Deftly and cautiously, Lupin curled into a ball to fit past the laser grid that guarded the sunroof of the bank vault.

"Honestly, who puts a sunroof in a bank vault? That's just asking for someone to break in. Of course, no one except me actually could break in." Lupin thought with pride. The device he procured to spread the beams of the laser grid just wide enough for him to fit through was a lucky find. Some old geezer in a lab somewhere might miss it, but at least it was going to good use.

Once safely back on the rooftop, Lupin untied his harness as Jigen sat down, exhausted. The two didn't speak for a bit, as the night air chilled them both.

Finally, after some time, Jigen broke the protracted silence.

"Too easy, man. Way too easy." He managed to say between gasps of air.

"I hear that. It's like the whole world is our oyster, but I'm sick of shellfish. You know what I mean?" Lupin replied.

"I think you've nailed the feeling exactly. I'm starting to worry that Pops is planning something big. Something neither one of us will get out of." Jigen replied, just as another thought crossed his mind.

At seeing the surprised, almost saddened look on his long-time partner's face, Lupin's curiosity was piqued. "What are you thinking about over there, chum?" He inquired.

"Well, what if Pops isn't planning anything. What if something happened to him. The kind of something you don't wake up from. I hate to say it, man, but short of the hand of God himself, what else could stop him from coming after us?"

Lupin would never admit it, but the idea of a world without Zenigata frightened him a little. What good is being the world's greatest thief if there's no one to almost get caught by?

"Nah, that old geezer will outlive all of us. You know that as well as I do. Besides, I'd hate to be the Angel of Death to tell that guy he can't chase us anymore."

Jigen wasn't so sure. He told Lupin, "I'm not so sure. Anyway, let's get back to the hotel room. We have to call the buyer, and arrange delivery.

"Right behind you, chief. Just let me get my gear in order." Lupin responded as he gathered up his new laser grid device and black rope, making sure to be extra careful with the newly acquired diamond.