The chapter title refers to multiple confrontations that occur within this chapter. Things are starting to heat up here. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Fate series, Lupin III, Ni No Kuni, or My Hero Academia.
Chapter 16: Confrontation
Zenigata was having a heck of a day. Just after the Joestar clan member finished his interrogation of Ryuunosuke, Zenigata learned it was Jotaro. He had heard the rumors about Jotaro's brutal temperament, meaning Ryuunosuke was likely to have been freaking out by the end of it. Jotaro had a reputation of not taking shit from anyone, but he was otherwise law abiding. Hell, the only reason he ever even saw the inside of holding cell was because of procedure when he beat up some thugs trying to rape his girlfriend. His record showed the only reason he stayed locked up, and the term could only be applied loosely, was because he was concerned about being possessed by an evil spirit.
And now said man was sitting right in front of Zenigata's desk, showing him a stone arrow that looked Egyptian. "Sir," Akimi said, "Is it me, or am I seeing some vague humanoid outline behind Mister Kujo?" "No, I see it too," Zenigata confirmed. "I thought as much," Jotaro said, "You both have that potential. This arrow can awaken that potential. You only have to scratch yourself on it." Zenigata considered it. "Fine. But I'll want some answers afterward." Jotaro nodded. It was clear he intended this from the beginning.
The surge of power the two officers felt was immense. Zenigata got a simple badge that seemed fused to his flesh, which showed through his clothes. But he felt his senses expand, even stronger than they had been in his prime. He also found he could pull his service revolver into his hand just by thinking about it. His cuffs too. Akimi found a robotic police officer, looking like the classic straight-laced policemen from media, giving a quick salute. Both of them could now see Jotaro's Stand, Star Platinum. "Most Stands are given names," Jotaro said, "Now would be a good time to name yours."
Zenigata smirked. "I think I'll just go with Badge for mine. I like to keep things straight and to the point." Akimi smiled. "With me, I think I'll name mine The Police!" Jotaro nodded. "Mine is called Star Platinum, after the tarot card. Now then, the first thing you need to understand, is just what the Holy Grail is…" He explained the whole concept of the Holy Grail War, and how Lupin was summoned to fight in it. "So that's how it happened," Zenigata realized, "I wonder what sort of wish Lupin would make." "Knowing him, he'd want to resume the chase," Akimi suggested, "Seeing you again might have brought back some nostalgia for him."
Zenigata smiled. "Yeah, I can see that. At least this explains a lot of mysterious happenings. So Ryuunosuke was also part of this war, yes?" "Oh yeah," Jotaro said, "But his interest in the war was minimal. He only summoned his Servant out of curiosity, he didn't realize what he was doing. As for the other Masters… I only have theories, but no definite answers. The War is built around anonymity, after all. I do know the three main families, the Matou, the Tohsaka, and the Einzberns are part of it. They always are. But the Einzbern representative is actually the current head's son-in-law, Kiritsugu Emiya."
Zenigata raised an eyebrow. There was a familiar name. Years ago, when Lupin had stolen the sword of Hernan Cortez, there had been a secondary target, identified as professional assassin Emiya. "What of the Matou and Tohsaka family?," Akimi asked. "I have no idea about the Matou family," Jotaro admitted, "They're notoriously secretive. But the Tohsaka representative is likely to be Tokiomi. As for the others… I believe Miss Sophia-Ri from the Laughing Peacock exhibit might be a Master. And her fiance might also have been chosen. Beyond that, I couldn't guess."
Ryuunosuke groaned as the two officers entered the interrogation room. It was clear they weren't happy about his story. "Killing all these people just because you thought it'd be cool?," Zenigata said, the anger clear in his voice, "You're lucky I'm an honest cop, or I'd slug you right here and cap you for good measure." Ryuunosuke gulped. "There's something else you should know," Akimi said, as she summoned The Police. Ryuunosuke gasped. "So you can see it," Zenigata said, "You can consider this interrogation to be an official Church inquisition. Speaking of which, the local representative of the Church should be by to make sure you don't talk about the War."
Ryuunosuke freaked. "I'm getting executed that quick!?" "Oh no," Zenigata assured him with a wicked grin, "You aren't going that easily. He'll only erase any memories you have of magic and the Holy Grail War. You'll be sitting in death row, getting time to reflect on the evil acts you perpetrated. I'm told you summoned a Servant without realizing it. Just who was that person?" "He called himself Gilles de Rais," Ryuunosuke explained, "You know, like the Bluebeard tale? He said his official class was Caster." "Recent events showed that Lupin was involved as well," Akimi said, "Was he there during the raid?"
Ryuunosuke blinked. "Yeah, I think. Bluebeard referred to him as Assassin." 'Well, he's not a real assassin,' Zenigata noted, 'But a Master Thief could certainly qualify for the class.' "He wasn't the only one to show up either," Ryuunosuke continued, "The others were a big muscly guy called Berserker, a young boy with cat ears named Avenger, and a rather large man with blue hair called Saber." Zenigata raised an eyebrow. The only person with blue hair he had seen recently was Jonathan Pendleton. Come to think of it, Jotaro's wife Himari seemed to recognize Jonathan.
"Inspector, something doesn't add up," Akimi noted, "The seven classes are supposed to be Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider, Caster, Berserker, and Assassin." "You weren't told that?," Ryuunosuke said, "Bluebeard mentioned that for the first time, this war had eight Servant classes." "Speaking of your partner," Zenigata said, "What happened to him?" "He's dead," Ryuunosuke said sadly, "The man named Saber killed him. But not before using some sort of light hypnosis to stun him. Bluebeard kept mumbling about his old girlfriend Jeanne."
The door opened, and Risei entered. "Gentlemen, my apologies. But I really must perform my duties as mediator before the other officers start to get curious as to what you are talking about." Zenigata nodded and got up. "Make sure he still remembers all his crimes. I ain't losing this bastard to an insanity plea." "Of course," Risei assured him. Once the two officers left, Risei turned his attention to Ryuunosuke. "Now, before we begin… I need to ask you a few questions." Outside, Zenigata wondered something. "Akimi, do you remember the former matriarch of the Joestar clan?" "Erina Joestar?," Akimi asked. Zenigata nodded. "What was her maiden name?" Akimi's eyes widened. "Pendleton…"
"So you are continuing your alliance with All Might then," Kirei asked. Lupin was in the bathroom, getting himself cleaned up and changed. He had grabbed a green jacket, indicating to Kirei that Lupin was taking this latest operation seriously. He hadn't worn a green jacket since his early years as a thief, before meeting his former gang. Lupin had explained everything to Kirei. He decided it wouldn't hurt to let his father know, so long as he didn't explain why the alliance was formed. After all, Tokiomi would insist on the alliance being cut off the second he learned his daughter was involved.
Kirei hadn't heard much of about the Matou magecraft beyond rumor, but after hearing about it from Lupin, even his twisted mind became sickened at the thought. "I find myself curious if Master Tohsaka really knew about the Matou magecraft," he mused. "If he did it would cause him to cross from just stuck-up to absolute douchebag," Lupin replied, "But there's no way he'd reveal what he knew. I suppose there's always the chance that Zouken deceived him, but that really doesn't matter." "I do know much about Zouken," Kirei admitted, "To call him human would be stretching the term extremely thin. The only thing left of him is his soul, anchored to this plain of existence by his family's magecraft."
"This heist is going to take extra planning," Lupin noted, "Perishables are more delicate, after all. And the timing needs to be just right. Why did Tohsaka even give his daughter away in the first place?" Kirei scoffed. "Supposedly so his daughter could grow up happy, not having to fight her sister for the position of heiress. I could never understand that practice. So, what's the first step?" Lupin stepped out of the bathroom. "We're heading for the Matou residence," he said, "We need to case the place, find where Sakura is, and start our planning. And this is one time when a calling card would be detrimental, so we need to keep this as quiet as possible." Kirei nodded, grabbing his own jacket.
"Remember," Zenigata said, "We only want to find information on Lupin. By now Tohsaka knows we're in on the secret, but that's all he knows." Akimi nodded. They were both outside the Tohsaka manor, and Zenigata knocked on the door. Tokiomi soon opened the door. "May I help you gentlemen?" Zenigata showed his normal badge, as well as Badge, while Akimi showed his own badge and The Police. "Inspector Zenigata and Detective Akimi," Zenigata said, "I believe Risei told you about us." "Ah yes," Tokiomi replied. Risei had in fact told him how the two officers had become Stand users. "Please, come in. I'm assuming you have some questions regarding Lupin's mysterious return."
The major thing Zenigata was looking for was who Lupin's Master was. Most likely it was the unidentified person driving the Fiat, but it could have just easily been a butler or something hired by Tokiomi. Zenigata would reserve judgement for after the questioning. The two officers sat down in the living room. Akimi went through his notes. "We're actually curious about something," he explained, "During the exhibit of the Laughing Peacock, you were not present among the guests. And as you are aware, the Laughing Peacock was stolen during the exhibit by Lupin."
Tokiomi's brow furrowed. 'Ah… So that's what this line of questioning is about. I could just bring in Archer to show I wasn't the one who summoned Assassin, but that could end in disaster. Instead, I think I'll stick to explaining my professionalism.' "To be honest I had some important business papers to attend to during that time," he said, "Even a magus has regular businesses, after all. And I assure you, if I was Assassin's Master, you would not have even seen a single calling card. I take this War very seriously, and am perhaps the only current participant who remembers it's original purpose."
Zenigata narrowed his eyes. Badge's power was telling him that Tokiomi was still hiding something. But he couldn't outright confront him without evidence or a warrant. He stood up slowly. "Excuse me, I need a moment alone to think about some things." Akimi nodded. Tokiomi looked concerned, but continued to speak with Akimi. Once outside, Zenigata took a deep breath. One of the things that got his suspicions up, in spite of Tokiomi's words, was that Lupin hadn't targeted him. He was certainly Lupin's favorite type of target, rich, snobbish, and self-assured of his own superiority. Lupin always loved knocking those sort's of people off their high horse.
As he was thinking, he spotted a picture of Tokiomi with his wife Aoi and his daughter Rin. The latter two had been sent out of the city, likely because of how dangerous the Grail War was. Still, it was a happy scene. But then Zenigata noticed it was glowing. The glow usually surrounded items that Badge considered important. He carefully scrutinized the picture and found something odd. The right side was creased a little, and four tiny fingers could be seen clutching Aoi's left arm. Zenigata quickly removed the picture from its frame.
He was shocked to learn that it had been folded into the frame. The folded-in part revealed a second daughter, a year younger than Rin with long black hair. Hearing the door open, he chucked the frame into a nearby vase and pocketed the picture. Luckily, it was just Akimi, looking a little irate. "Guy didn't even try to hide the fact that he looks down on everyone," he said, "And he wouldn't give up any information regarding who Lupin's Master might be." "I found something even more concerning," Zenigata said. He revealed the picture.
Akimi looked shocked. "He has a second daughter? There was nothing to suggest as much." "We need to find out who this little girl is," Zenigata decided, "Jotaro and Rise mentioned most magi aren't good with technology, so Tohsaka probably hasn't had a chance to remove birth records." He was starting to get the impression the only reason Lupin hadn't targeted Tokiomi was because he was waiting for the right opportunity. If Lupin didn't know about this, he soon would. And that would spell trouble. After all, even a magus couldn't operate openly without plenty of money to fund his operations.
Given his natural evil and his past as an Executor, Kirei found very little to turn his stomach. But the sight of the shivering, naked form of Sakura Matou certainly did. Especially seeing what the Crest worms were doing to her. "This is the sort of dark magic the Church used to accuse magi of back in Medieval times," he noted. Lupin nodded. "Look at the poor girl. She's been broken beyond all thought of rebellion." He quickly snapped a few pictures. "What's that for?," Kirei asked. "Evidence," Lupin explained, "I'm thinking of convincing Pops to help you with this little situation."
They quickly ducked out of sight as Zouken entered the room. He thought he had felt a prana signature, but it had vanished as soon as he felt it. 'Probably one of the other Servants casing the area,' he thought, 'It's no secret the Matou family has been a part of the Holy Grail War since it began. There was that annoying hidden camera in the crypt, after all. I suppose I should start keeping an eye out for unexpected guests. My plans cannot proceed if anyone interferes, after all.' He turned to Sakura and grinned. The girl's potential was growing, and once this War was over, he would start setting up the next step.
The duo returned to their apartment, and Kirei narrowed his eyes. "You feel that?" Lupin nodded. "A Bounded Field. Looks like we have company." He chuckled, having a good idea who it was. "This just got a lot more interesting." Kirei smiled. "I'll see if the Master is somewhere nearby. Have fun with Lancer." Lupin grinned. "Well, you heard him Diarmuid. Better to come out, since you do have that boring little honor on your side." Sure enough, Lancer stepped out from behind the apartment. "Assassin. As my Master dictates, we will now duel until one of us falls."
Lupin chuckled as he heard explosions nearby. Seems Kirei had found Kayneth. "Don't expect it to be that easy, Lancer. For starters, that armor of yours…" He pulled out his Walther. "Ain't exactly good against modern firearms. And unlike you, I'm good at fighting dirty. So I hope you're ready for the fight of your life. Honestly, if your Master really wanted me gone, he should have considered sending Evan in. After all, I haven't stolen anything from him yet, and his power eclipses yours." He chuckled as Lancer growled. "You will die this day Assassin!," Lancer called out as he rushed at Lupin, spear extended.
Sorry to cut it off. We'll get into the battle proper next chapter. Zenigata's new Stand, Badge, is named after the song by Cream. It basically allows him to operate at a physical level equal to his former prime, enhances his senses to let him sniff out evidence easier, and highlights anything that might be important during an investigation. It has a Power of E, Speed of E, Range of B, Durability of C, Precision of A, and Potential of D.
Akimi's Stand, The Police, is named after the British rock band of the same name. It lets him summon an entire police squadron, including vehicles, perfect for dealing with feeling perps or if he gets surrounded by criminal thugs. It has a Power of B, Speed of A, Range of C, Durability of A, Precision of C, and Potential of C. Both of these Stands will see use during later chapters in the story. Read and review.