I do not own the Fate Series or Lupin the Third.


Hisau Maiya looked down at the corpse of the men that she had thought died at her hand. Lying on top of beds of cold steel with their skin blackened and peeling, their clothes burnt shreds, and their eyes were deflated and sunk back into their sockets.

These two men were dead, no doubt about it.

These two men were supposed to be Kotomine Kirei and his Servant Assassin, otherwise known as Lupin the Third.

But that in itself was a problem.

Because as a Servant, Assassin shouldn't have had a corpse to leave behind.

"I bribed the coroner." Emiya Kiritsugu said as he circled around the body of Kotomine Kirei with his left hand brushing against the metal bed. "We won't be disturbed for about fifteen minutes."

"Will that be enough though?" Maiya asked Kiritsugu as he walked over to the 'Lupin' body. "You wished to come here to inspect the bodies. Surely that would take more time."

Kiritsugu simply shook his head. "No, this will be quick." Kiritsugu's left hand went near the face of 'Lupin'. "Lupin the Third has always been a master of disguise. Faking his own body…" Kiritsugu's left hand then grabbed onto the mouth's bottom lip, and peeled it out. The burnt piece of meat was torn off like bad latex, revealing only slightly less burnt skin.

But the thing that stuck out was that the skin belonged to that of a caucasian male.

"Would be a simple matter." Kiritsugu finished, letting go of the fake lip and wiping his hand with a small disinfectant wipe taken from his jacket pocket. "Not only that, if Assassin wanted to fake his own death to perhaps get attention off of him for a limited time he would make sure it was convincing." Kiritsugu then pointed at the burnt fake skin. "Latex laced with dead skin to fool any DNA test." He pointed at the few strands of hair. "Wigs made out of hair that falls out when it's combed, or after showers. Even some pieces of hair whenever he shaves." Then, Kirisugu pointed directly at the elbow portion of the right arm. "Finally, blood packs hidden between the two layers of 'skin' by the artery in case of blood testing. Not to mention how easy it would be to slip on a jacket or other articles of their clothing on another person's body within at least ten minutes, especially if they are in a hurry."

"This seems extremely well thought-out." Maiya admitted as she looked at the body. "And you knew his techniques?"

"To understand Assassin, you must look back on Lupin the Third's past exploits. He often used body doubles or fakes whenever he needed to slip away or make his enemies think that they'd taken him out of the picture." Kiritsugu replied with a sigh. "Not to mention that if I had the skills and resources… I would have likely implemented this once or twice throughout my career. Though summoned as a Servant, with all his talents and abilities bolstered, something like this is no trouble for him…"

"I see." Maiya nodded plainly in response to his words.

Kiritsugu being called a pragmatic man was an understatement. He had the mind of a soldier, but without any of the restraint. If there was an opportunity to twist a bad situation back to his advantage, he would take it.

Never mind how it would affect anyone else other than himself.

"Considering that it's safe to say Assassin is very much alive right now, there are two things he could be doing right now." Kiritsugu stated, grabbing a scalpel from a nearby tray and twirling it absentmindedly in his fingers. "One is that he's off trying to find a new Master."

"But the only available one would be Kayneth Archibald." Maiya muttered to herself, her eyes narrowing. "But… Kayneth had made no moves despite his Servant dying. Not even going to the church for sanctuary."

"Yes, and considering he hasn't done so is the only reason why I'm not taking action against him." Kiritsugu confirmed with a grim tone. "Perhaps he has something else planned for the war and is simply biding his time. Perhaps he has something more sinister in mind and is waiting for the other Masters and Servants to come to him when their patience has run out before implementing it. And I'm not one who is secure with so many 'maybes'."

"And what is the second possibility that Assassin is doing?" Maiya asked as Kiritsugu looked over the corpse of Kirei, stopping at its side.

"Assassin isn't dead, and is simply hiding out with Kotomine Kirei right now."

There, that was it. Maiya felt a pit in her stomach grow heavier and deeper as she looked at the corpse. "Then that isn't Kotomine Kirei's corpse."

She feared the possibility, but she hoped the priest was actually dead. Hoped that she had completed Kiritsugu's request in making sure Kotomine Kirei was dead.

"No." Kiritsugu then lifted the scalpel and cut down the arm vertically, tearing skin and bits of cloth apart with much precision. Maiya did not flinch as Kiritsugu made two horizontal cuts just before the elbow and along the wrist, before peeling back the fake skin with the blade.

And Maiya saw with slightly widened eyes that, underneath a layer of fake burnt skin, was a small thin bag filled with dark red blood. and on it was a small label in tape with the words 'Kirei K. Blood' in black marker along with a small note of the date that it was most likely drawn out from.

"Assassin probably extracted some from Kotomine Kirei while he slept." Kiritsugu noted as he put down the scalpel. "Along with collecting hair and skin samples to pull off the rest of the disguise. He wouldn't need much. Just enough to pull off the charade. These two must have been the Russians sent in to confirm the death."

"Assassin must have killed them and disguised their bodies before disguising himself and Kotomine Kirei as the Russians." Maiya reasoned aloud, cursing herself internally for her overconfidence. Overconfidence that she could successfully kill the man Kiritsugu was most worried about so easily or the Servant who was known as the greatest thief who had ever lived. "So what happens now?"

"Now?" Kiritsugu asked as he set down the scalpel and began walking to the door "Now we move onto the next part of the plan."

"Next part?"

"Currently, Assassin knows that it was Pycal that made a move against his life. Such things are taken as challenges to Assassin, if history is anything to go by." Kiritsugu continued on as Maiya followed behind him. "In all likelihood, Assassin is gathering more information about Pycal to see if anything has changed since the last time they faced one another." Kiritsugu then stopped before he opened the door, his hand on the metal handle. "He will probably kill Pycal."

"So we are to try and kill Assassin and Kotomine Kirei while they are busy with Pycal and the Russians?" Maiya asked, and Kiritsugu nodded.

"Yes. Pycal is currently holing up in his safe house, waiting to meet with Fujimura Raiga." Kiritsugu and Maiya began to walk down the morgue's hallways. "Pycal is not stupid. He most likely knows from prior experience that Assassin is alive. But while Assassin is remaining quiet after Pycal's move, the Russian has been acting up. Recently, from what my sources say, his men have begun usurping power from Raiga and recently kidnapped both his granddaughter and her bodyguard… Daisuke Jigen."

"And you will once again use this power struggle to your advantage." What mattered to Kiritsugu right now was winning the Holy Grail. Nothing else mattered. While the mob and the yakuza most likely went about killing each other, Assassin would reveal himself in another showy matter to exact revenge against Pycal while also saving his former partner and walk into their trap.

And she knew that Kiritsugu had already set a trap at Pycal's safe house. Emiya Kiritsugu was nothing if not prepared.

"But we need to hurry. Because of Pycal's actions, the police are now on full alert." Kiritsugu spoke as they head for the door.

"And if we know that Assassin is alive, so does Inspector Zenigata."


xxXXxx

Saber sipped on her tall glass of beer as the bartender continued to inspect the photo of Assassin, trying her level best to keep the loud techno music and the jeering crowd fawning over the female form from her mind. "So who is this? A cosplayer or…?"

"I can assure you, that is the actual Lupin the Third." Saber answered simply, putting down her drink for a second. "No cosplayer could capture his image that accurately. I think you should know this."

"Please, you've never seen the dedicated type, buddy." The bartender replied with a scoff. "The resemblance is sometimes uncanny. They are so obsessed with the dude that they get plastic surgery and try to mimic his accent and everything."

"Seems idiotic." Saber commented with a frown as she then took several more gulps of her beer. She meant it, too. Who could worship someone to such a degree that they try to become them? Completely ignoring the life they had been given for the opportunity to be someone else? It was worse than trying to escape reality. It was obsession to an unhealthy degree.

"Yeah, you're telling me. Sometimes they come in here to try and get into the girls' pants." The bartender handed her back the photo. "Only one actually succeeded, and let me tell you his costume was pretty convincing."

Saber raised an eyebrow while putting the photo into her pocket. "Convincing?"

"Yeah, convincing. Usually these guys have at least something wrong with their costumes. Like the wrong tie for the colored jacket, too short or too long hair… and the sideburns. Especially the sideburns. None of them can grow the things quickly enough." The bartender spoke, cleaning another glass and beginning to pour a drink inside. "So they put on fake ones which are glaringly obvious. It kind of looks stupid. But the guy that walked in here like two days ago… he got the entire look down to pat."

"Hm…" Saber gave a low hum as she drank the alcohol in her glass. There was a strong possibility that the 'cosplayer' the bartender was talking about was Assassin. It was definitely the type of place he would stop to throw away his money.

However, she would find no clue of his current whereabouts here. She was looking for the place Assassin was staying at. Where he was living at for the time being. Hotels and motels would be too obvious. One could look up the guest registry and probably find one of his aliases if they looked hard enough. But rent out a room in a bar… or repurpose an abandoned one and it would be the perfect hideout. Saber had come to realize since she began dealing with Assassin was that he had plans within plans. And plans within those plans. It wasn't too much of a stretch to think he had another place to fall back to prepared.

But she needed to find out who had seen him recently

"So what are you, FBI? CIA?" The bartender asked, breaking Saber from her thoughts.

"No, neither. Just a curious party." Saber sighed. "What makes you think I'm part of the government?"

"Well, for one you're blond, blue eyed, and ask a lot of questions for Lupin." The bartender replied. "Kind of hard not to.

"I'm not American."

"British then? I know Britain is supposed to have a lot of people with looks like that. I mean sure, we're getting a lot of Russians in this town just recently but…"

Saber simply sighed. She was technically British (Although not really, she would be considered Welsh.), but that was beside the point. People basing where you live on cultural stereotypes is just…

"Hey there, cutie!"

Saber turned around to see a young woman in her early twenties, with blond dyed hair and brown eyes and a very respectful bust dressed in skimpy clothing. The only thing blocking her areolas from view was an extremely small silver bikini that glittered in the building's light.

"You feeling lonely?" The woman giggled out as she leaned down, putting each other at eye level. "Why don't you join me? I'm willing to give you a private show for the right price."

Saber didn't react, and simply shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not interested." Quickly, as the woman groaned in disappointment, Saber took her glass and gulped down the remaining contents before getting out of her chair and leaving the area.

As she headed to the exit, her mind wandered to the woman. As a king, and because of Merlin's meddling along with her legal wife, she knew of the female form. Not that she was attracted to it… in fact she wasn't all that interested in anything sexual. At least not particularly. To keep the illusion and to be king, she hadn't been allowed to find a significant other.

Saber frowned when her thoughts suddenly turned to Guinevere, and then Lancelot, and how that whole incident had turned out before shaking her head and pushed those issues to the back of her mind where they belonged.

Saber wondered what would happen if she told the woman that she was actually female. "She would probably be embarrassed and rush off."

The other possibility was that the woman would still be interested.

She exited the strip club she spotted a group of boys, dressed in Assassin's attire. Varying coats of green, red, or pink but with no change to their faces or hair. All of them were simply smoking and talking with one another. Narrowing her eyes and focusing her senses, she caught onto their conversation.

"…telling you man… he's alive…"

"…dunno. Could be actually…"

"No way!… dad said Lupin was a badass…"

"Does take balls to steal from…"

"Wish I had those balls!"

"Pass another smoke man…."

Saber frowned and simply walked to the car next to her and got into the driver's seat.

There on the passenger side was Irisviel, laying on the seat with her eyes closed.

They fluttered open and looked at Saber. "Oh Saber…" Came her weak voice. "You're back."

"Yes, sorry to wake you up." Saber replied as she started the car and began driving. "And I'm sorry for dragging you here."

"No, it's okay." Irisviel denied with a smile. "You want to help defeat Assassin… I know it must hurt, being denied the opportunity to work with Kiritsugu."

"That's an understatement."

"So… I'm doing what I can to help you." Irisviel then blinked and asked, "Saber… what's wrong?"

Saber simply sighed. "I couldn't hide it, could I?"

"No. It's written on your face."

Saber hummed to herself as they stopped at a red light. "It's just… it's troubling. This age… and the individuals people grace with the title of hero." Saber looked at Irisviel and said, "The heroes of old… the heroes around my era… they had grand legends to tell. Legends where sometimes it may be apparent that the heroes are not perfect yes, but they strived for people to be great like them." Saber sighed as she looked forward. "Now I see, and from what the grail informed me, an era where criminals and murderers are seen as great. Seen as legends and followed with fervor. Assassin is a thief, a thief who may steal from those worse than him, but still a thief. That's not the life anyone should want to live. And yet they emulate him, they turned him into a legend."

"People might have gotten more cynical over the years." Irisviel agreed with a nod. Well, at least someone else could see it.

"The people of this time now read and watch criminals and murderers, and enjoy the spectacle." Saber pushed the gas pedal when the light turned green. "They emulate the ugliness of humanity, idolize it. They no longer focus on castles or spaceships. Now it's brothel houses and broken cities. I don't know if it is cynicism. It might be something even worse."

Was it another result of her actions as the King of Camelot? Because she created the best of times, times which never occurred again, people have grown tired of idealism over the years? To the point that they prefer the shadows of society more than the light?

It was a rather disturbing thought.

Saber then blinked as Irisviel lightly giggled. "Irisviel?"

"I can see now why, once again, you were summoned by him." Irisviel spoke, only letting out a soft cough before continuing. "He doesn't like it either. The darkness that the world has gotten caught up in. All the death, all the idealizing of it… he doesn't see himself as a good man, even if his actions are for the best. You also don't like it. And you both… the both of you want to make this world into a better place with the Grail, don't you?"

"Yes." It was the truth. She needed the grail, to correct all the mistakes she had made and make sure none of her comrades or her people suffered because of her.

Starting with her first mistake of pulling that damn sword out of the stone.

Irisviel hummed as her eyes fluttered close. "You smell like beer…"

Saber's cheeks flushed in embarrassment at that. "I-It was necessary to look casual during my investigation."

"Are you sure about that…?"

Saber bit her lip and didn't reply, opting to focus on the road and be thankful that she can't get drunk easily in this body.

"Lupin the Third, you better appear soon…"


xxXXxx

"I understood that our agreement was that none of your men would make a scene."

Zenigata frowned as he put his ear to Chief Makoto's door, listening to his conversation. He had originally arrived to deliver his report on the current investigation of Lupin's 'death'.

Namely to tell the man that Lupin was still alive.

But instead, he heard the chief muttering to someone on the phone. The 'incident' and money being involved were mentioned.

"And this just confirms it." Zenigata thought to himself as his eyes narrowed. "Bastard's a dirty cop."

"The fact that there was a scene just because your target got a second wind does not excuse anything." Makoto's voice continued on from behind the door. "Your men opened their mouths and made me have to answer some calls that I had a hard time ending. Suspicion is on me now, even if you returned what you borrowed…"

Dirty cops. In the end, they were scum. Looking only to line their own pockets rather than to serve the people like they were supposed to. "Oscar saved me before I could go that far."

But in the end, even Oscar became dirty.

Zenigata never found out the specifics, but for some reason Oscar was in on the impersonation of Mine Fujiko all those years ago. Either that or he was the imposter. Zenigata wanted to believe that Oscar might have been forced into it, but when he subtly confronted his young partner about it… his reaction said otherwise. "And I never found hard proof about it either."

The last Zenigata ever saw of Oscar was at Glaucus Park… before the entire place went down in flames…

"Inspector, what are you doing?"

Zenigata took his head off of the door and turned around to see Daisuke standing right behind him, holding two mugs of steaming coffee.

"I was…" Zenigata then coughed and said, "Picking up one of my pens that I dropped." Zenigata then pointed down the hall with a silent glare. It was to convey the message that they needed to speak to one another alone.

He only hoped that the detective would pick it up.

Daisuke blinked once or twice before nodding. He then handed Zenigata one of the mugs and said, "Kaori made a new batch of coffee. The good stuff."

Zenigata took a sip of the black liquid and gave a hum. "Damn good coffee." They then began to walk down the hallways, ignoring the other police officers as they worked on their own jobs. "Does she put anything in it?"

"From what I understand, it's from a cafe that she frequents in the town." The detective responded as they moved to Zenigata's office. Zenigata opened the door and let the detective in. "I was actually thinking of going there…" When Zenigata closed the door, Daisuke instantly switched gears. "What's wrong?"

"That bastard Makoto is dirty." Zenigata replied as he went around his desk and sat in his chair, still holding the coffee mug. "I heard him talking over the phone with someone. Something about an agreement, stuff borrowed, and what happened earlier today…"

The 'incident' as it was being called was a complete nightmare. People reported about a squad of SWAT officers being on the scene along with other police officers, who refused to answer questions and threatened to beat up people who refused to listen to them. And even before then there was a high speed shoot-out in the city streets, leaving around nine people dead and tremendous amounts of property damage. Calls had been flooding into the station, leaving officers and him to deal with questions from the press about an incident they had no idea about.

And for another level of mystery, the corpses themselves seemed to be of Russian descent… and considering the fact that they had firearms on them, they were most likely from the Russian mob. Which meant that whatever was going on also involved the reports of mob warfare in the city…

"Stuff borrowed…" Daisuke muttered as he sipped the coffee. "You think it was the equipment and cars those so called 'cops' used?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"So you're saying the Chief was paid off by these people whoever they are, so that they could use our equipment and have less suspicion for whatever they were doing." Daisuke was silent for a moment, processing all of this. After all… learning that one of your fellow cops is dirty is one thing. Having to turn them in is another.

Hell, before all this… back in the sixties… he would have never turned in his superior officer if Oscar didn't remind him about pride.

"Damn… do you have any evidence?" Daisuke asked, closing his eyes and his jaw clenched.

"No… but if he's attached to what happened earlier it won't be long." Zenigata took another sip of his coffee. "And that is attached with Lupin."

"Yeah… it only took you a second to look at that body before saying it wasn't him." Daisuke spoke, also continuing to consume his drink. "What made you say that?"

"For one, Lupin isn't that skinny or short." Zenigata replied with narrowed eyes. "Also… I saw a flash of gold in his mouth."

"So?"

"Lupin doesn't have fillings. Bastard's teeth always have been perfect." Zenigata looked back at his desk, a file opened with pictures of two burned bodies. Labeled 'Lupin Double' and 'Kirei K.' on them. "I don't know about this Kirei guy, but I doubt he's dead either."

"If they're not dead, then where are they?"

"Don't know." Zenigata placed his mug down on the table. "Usually, that weasel leaves at least some clue as to his whereabouts. Can't help it. Wants to keep the chase going for his own damn amusement. Difference here is that there was no clue. Bastard just straight-up wanted to disappear." Zenigata then sighed and looked up to the ceiling. "And when he wants to disappear… that means he's planning something. Or perhaps trying to stay hidden from someone."

"Stay hidden?" Daisuke questioned with a raised eyebrow. "From what? Or who?"

"Don't know." Zenigata sighed as he leaned a bit back on his chair. "But if he wants to keep hidden from them… they must be someone who he is against on every level. It might even have to do with the Matou Case, and these… 'Magi' for this Holy Grail." Zenigata sighed once more, leaning even further back. "Every time we try to solve this case, we seem to be stumbling into a whole new mystery…"

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal an officer. "INSPECTOR!"

"Waah!" Zenigata's chair began falling back, and Zenigata waved his arms in order to keep it stabilized before it fell back forward to the correct position. Sighing in relief, he looked back at the officer and coughed in order to regain his composure. "What is it?"

"We… we got a call from an anonymous source!" The officer responded. "It said that those responsible for the incident this morning are inside a warehouse by the docks! Said that they were most likely armed, and have two hostages!"

"Damn." Zenigata groaned out as he got out of his chair. He pointed to Daisuke and said, "Go get anyone available and form a perimeter around the place. Don't go charging in until we know for sure what's going on! And forget to tell the Chief!"

"On it!' With that, Daisuke and the officer left the room and Zenigata got up. He grabbed his coat before leaving the room.

He was seriously getting way too old for this… but as long as Lupin was involved in some way, shape, or form then he felt like a young man again.


xxXXxx

"Bodyguard…"

Taiga's voice, distorted and fading in and out, entered Jigen's ears and caused his eyes to flutter open. He was seeing triple… no maybe double. Jigen blinked several more times, and saw Taiga sitting across from him in a metal chair with her arms bound to the rests and her legs tied to the legs of the chair.

"Please be alive…" Taiga whispered, hoping in fact. Jigen didn't say anything. He wanted to say that he was alive, but the words were having a bit of trouble being actually spoken. His tongue and lips seemed to be failing him. No matter, he should regain control of that in a few seconds.

Jigen took a quick scan of where they were at. Considering the metal yet thin-looking walls, and the fact that there was a metal railing acting as a second floor with tracksuit and suited mafiosos walking around playing cards, smoking, or drinking armed with guns… they were in a warehouse.

It was a cliche, Jigen knew that. But it did have some strategic sense. After all, nobody is going to look into a warehouse on purpose. Things were usually just there, just part of the scenery. And screams made fall to deaf ears, because if someone shut all the windows and doors the sound would be neatly contained. And if people do see someone go in and out, they would be potential renters and nothing more.

Nobody was going to come looking for anyone missing in one of these places for a while.

"Please just answer me…" Taiga sniffed out, and Jigen clenched his jaw.

His other senses were coming back to him and he noticed two things.

One: his hat was missing.

Two: He was sitting and bound to a chair.

Not just bound, like he could move his hands and feet but just the limbs were tied up. But really bound. Sure his feet were free, but along with his limbs, each one of his fingers had a metal half-ring locked onto the metal arm rests of the chair he was sitting on.

"Someone doesn't want me to escape." Then again, nobody did once they caught him. Some just happened to be stupid when it came to restraining him, while others were smart and it required Lupin's assistance to get him out.

This was starting to look like the latter.

But enough of that, time to calm the kid down.

"I'm fine." Jigen coughed out, and Taiga looked at him, shocked. With tear stains under her eyes.

She had been awake for a while.

"Oh god…" Taiga gasped out. "Oh thank god… I thought you were dead…"

"Not yet." Now wasn't the time to ask the normal questions, like how long she had been awake and whatnot. She needed to know what to do. "Listen to me. Whatever happens do not say a word. Don't do anything stupid. If you don't… there's a chance we can come out of this alive."

"But…"

"I don't think so Daisuke Jigen."

A hoarse, slightly muffled voice interrupted Taiga. Jigen turned his head to the right to see a man in a white suit, whose head was covered in bandages. Flanked by the same damn suited albino woman who shot him, and a large suited man carrying a small stereo.

Jigen's eyes narrowed. No mistaking it.

"Pycal."

"Ah, I am glad…" Pycal slowly walked towards Jigen, his steps seeming to be foreboding, as if purposefully milking this damn thing. "I am so glad that you remember me."

"I am surprised that you're even still alive."

Pycal's own eye narrowed, but his voice did not change. "Yes, well I can assure you that surviving hurt. It hurt a lot." Pycal then outstretched his left hand, placing it on Jigen's right shoulder. "But not as much as my pride which you, Lupin, and that bitch decided to steal, burn, and use against me."

"That woman is trouble. If we met before I could have told you that mu-" Jigen then grunted in pain as Pycal began to squeeze hard on his left shoulder. Everything was still sore, and this just made it hurt.

"Bodyguard!"

"I had to drag my burnt body out of that river, and lick my wounds like some sort of dog. Spend a fortune on surgery to make sure I could still even operate as a normal human being… only to find out that I was now the laughing stock of the underworld." Pycal hissed out, bringing his head down and bring his face close to Jigen's right ear. "Me. The man they dubbed as the Magician! The man who they feared to get visited by! Laughed at because even I couldn't kill Lupin the Third despite my reputation! Because I was revealed to be just another hitman with a gimmick like that idiotic Mr. X when he came back in that robot body of his! Death would have been preferable. But… well… let's just say that they stopped laughing once I killed a former contact of mine and took control of his assets, expanding them better than they were before."

"Is there a point to this damn story?" Jigen hissed out, glaring back at the old foe he had faced before.

"Yes, the point…" Pycal relaxed his grip on Jigen's shoulder. "I still hate what you and Lupin the Third did to me, but I stayed my hand all these years to focus on my business. Once I was ready, I would reveal myself and kill you all. But… someone beat me to Lupin, or so I thought. And without him, well the satisfaction of me killing you or that woman Fujiko dissolved. But now he's back, and as luck would have it he's here along with you." Pycal chuckled. "I fully know that Lupin the Third is most likely still alive, and most likely in hiding like always. After all, I thought I killed him all those years ago by shooting him in the back of the head myself, and lo and behold he was still alive. And most likely, he will come to rescue you, his ever loyal partner."

"So I'm bait, huh…" Jigen thought grimly to himself. "Isn't this supposed to be Fujiko's thing?"

"And when he arrives, I'll kill him myself and then kill you." He then pointed to Taiga, who glared defiantly at the mobster. "And since I am here, I decided that now was as good of a time as any to expand to Japan. So when that fool Raiga comes to barter for your release, I will kill him and completely crush the local Yakuza famil-"

"You damn jackass!" Taiga roared out, thrashing in her chair.

"Damn it…" Jigen hissed out as Pycal froze.

"You better not touch my grandpa!" Taiga shouted, gritting her teeth in anger. "If you do…!"

"Ah, you young girls have so much spunk." Pycal walked to Taiga, stood in front of her, and leaned down to stare at her face to face. "But I'm afraid that there's nothing you can do. When I kill your grandfather, his organization will be in shambles. All of the other families that he is aligned with will not care that he is gone. In fact, I expect them to be scrambling to make treaties with me. So I'm afraid tha…"

Taiga then spat on Pycal's face.

"Shit." Jigen thought as the entire building went silent, and stared in shock at the scene. Pycal then lifted his right hand, and wiped way the spit on his forehead area. After several seconds of silence, Pycal asked.

"Tell me child… do you smoke?"

"H-Huh?"

"Smoke. Teenagers begin smoking cigarettes as an act of defiance or to look cool. Do you?"

Now Taiga seemed shocked more than anything. Probably did not expect that reaction. "N-No…"

"Good. Smart girl. You will live longer." Pycal gave a cold chuckle as he patted her head. "I don't smoke. I quit after my accident in the sixties. Now the reason I quit is a funny story…" Pycal's hand then went to Taiga's cheek and began drawing circles on it with his finger. "You see, it wasn't because of my accident. My surgeries and the amount of money I paid made sure my lungs and throat were just fine. It wasn't the threat of cancer either. That wasn't even in the back of my mind. The reason I quit was simple." Pycal grabbed Taiga by her lower jaw, causing the girl to cry out in pain.

"Damn it!" Jigen hissed out, as he tried to move his chair from side to side… but only found himself moving his body. "The damn chair's bolted to the floor!?"

"Control." Pycal hissed out, glaring at Taiga. "I hated not having control of my body. That's the reason why I quit girl. But when you spit on me… I decided that I am going to start again. Just this once." Taiga's body was now shaking as Pycal's voice dropped. "After I kill your grandfather, I am going to smoke an entire pack of cigarettes and use your face as my ashtray. I will stub each and every one on that cute little face of yours. And if you're very, very lucky I will have calmed down enough not to kill you."

Taiga's eyes were now widened in fear, and she was about to cry. She was scared, too scared.

Only one thing to do.

"You're threatening kids now, Pycal?"

Pycal turned his head back to Jigen, and let go of Taiga's face. "What was that?"

"That's the question I should be asking." Jigen answered, glaring at the man. "I never knew of anyone that would feel like such a big-shot scaring frightened little kids and threatening them. Who the hell are you trying to impress? Me?"

"Impress you?" Pecan questioned, now walking back to Jigen.

He got the man's attention. Now to get Pycal to focus entirely on him.

"That's what this is all about right?" Jigen asked, smirking just a bit. "Trying to impress me… impress Lupin… impress that woman, Fujiko. You, the Magician, some hitman we never even gave a second thought about after we thought we killed you. You suddenly make this grand spectacle of your return and for what? So that you can finally prove to us that you're such a badass?" Jigen gave a scoff. "Please, we're not even going to give you the satisfaction. Not even that bastard Lupin will be impressed. All I can see is just a pathetic wannabe Mr. X, and believe me he was pathetic."

Pycal's right hand clenched into a fist, and shook. His eyes stared at Jigen with pure hatred. "Definitely struck a nerve."

"Well, let's just say that this so-called 'pathetic wannabe' is going to do what Mr. X never could: Killing all of you." Pycal snapped his fingers, and the woman stepped forward and placed a strip of duct tape over Taiga's mouth. "This is Bruno." Pycal motioned to the mountain of a man as he set down his stereo. "He's one of my most trusted men, and very gifted in what he does. Which happens to be interrogation and torture. And since leaving you in a healthy-enough condition to potentially escape would be idiotic… he's going to make you in a more agreeable state.

"Ah shit…" Jigen thought as Pycal and the woman stepped back and Bruno pressed a button on the stereo. The sound of a guitar then filled the building, as did the sound of a bass with a tune that Jigen was very familiar with.

"Well I don't know why I came here tonight~" Bruno then silently walked to Jigen as the music played, cracking his knuckles all the while. "I got the feeling that something ain't right, I'm so scared that I fall off my chair~"

Jigen simply looked at the towering form of Bruno as he reared back his right fist and gave a very dry, "Really?"

The only thought that Jigen could make as the fist struck his cheek was a simple one.

"You better be doing something important if you're delaying my rescue you bastard."


To Be Continued…


Note: Well here's the newest chap, all betaed by Kiiam.

I know that it's mostly set-up, but I realized that I didn't put this up, the next chap (Which also wraps up the 'Pycal Arc') won't make sense.

And the end part... well that's my attempt at some very black humor while making it abundantly clear that Jigen's getting the crap beaten out of him.

Also, be sure to read and review A Different Kind of Truth! I'm working hard on that fic for it to be a celebration of everything I love about the characters and the series involved, and I want more insight to see where I can improve and do well!

Anyway, please check out the TV Tropes page and add whatever you find appropriate.

Please leave constructive criticism.