Time to continue the battle from last time. And we'll really be splitting from my inspiration here. You'll see why soon enough. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Fate series, Lupin III, Ni No Kuni, or My Hero Academia.
Chapter 17: Major Battle
Kirei soon found where Kayneth was waiting. "Kayneth Archibald," he noted, "I should have guess you would be Lancer's Master. So tell me, how did you learn of my presence in this War?" "That is my secret to keep," Kayneth said as he unveiled his Mystic Code, Volumen Hydragrum. Kirei smirked. "An amorphous blob of solid mercury, guaranteed to be lethal even if it only draws the smallest amount of blood." He summoned his Black Keys. "Amusing, but do not forget that I am a former Executor, and my retirement was not so long ago that I have grown rusty in my skills."
"Any reason why you're confronting Kirei directly?," Jonathan asked as he and Kiritsugu drove to where Kirei was supposed to be living. "Better to get it out of the way quickly," Kiritsugu noted, "Kirei might be less inclined to do anything serious if he learns the truth about my past." He then heard sounds of combat coming from the apartment. "I feel another Servant's presence," Jonathan noted, "It's Lancer." "Looks like you'll get round two," Kiritsugu noted, "Lancer's Master can't be too far away. I'll seek him out, you deal with Lancer." Jonathan nodded.
He hopped out of the car and ran to where he felt the prana signature. As he burst into the room, he saw Lupin fire a few shots at Lancer, who effortlessly sliced through them with his spear. Jonathan acted quickly. "Ra!" Lancer was caught off-guard by the sudden, blinding light, though Lupin had already sensed Jonathan approached and prepared himself with a pair sunglasses. "Not exactly what I had in mind for us teaming up again," he noted. Lancer blinked before realizing Jonathan had drawn his sword in defense of Lupin. "Saber! You dishonor yourself in defense of a common thief!?"
"No," Jonathan said, "I honor myself in aiding a friend and master thief. Trust me, Diarmuid, there is little about Lupin that could be considered common." Lupin smirked. "Nice to see someone gets it. Seriously, if I had a nickel for every person who ever called me a common thief… I could take Fujiko out to a nice dinner." Lancer growled at what he believed to be absolute lies and threw his spear, faster than Jonathan could react, hitting Lupin in the chest. Unfortunately for Lancer, before he could grab his spear to make another attempt to overcome Lupin's revival Noble Phantasm, he found himself having to dodge Jonathan's Sword of Luck and Pluck.
"Damn you Saber," Lancer called out, "Have you no honor as a gentleman?" "That's the thing you need to understand," Jonathan retorted, "Honor is different things to different people. For Lupin, it's leaving innocents out of his shenanigans, and helping those who truly deserve it. For me, it's fighting to the best of my abilities. In true combat, there is no such thing as fair and even. You want fair and even, perhaps you could join me for a boxing match. But in real combat, a warrior only knows victory." Lupin cackled. "That's what about this guy! Even as a gentleman, he gets how the world works! He may not be as sneaky as his grandson, but he still won't shy away from a low blow."
He slipped a bomb out of his sleeve and put his sunglasses back on, Jonathan using his Stand to shield his eyes. Lancer was not so lucky, getting a second blinding that stunned long enough for Jonathan to nail him right in the gut. "Like I said before," Jonathan mused, "Fair and even is strictly for sport fighting. The only honor a warrior should focus on is one of two… Dying on the battlefield, or coming home alive. Nothing else matters." Lancer backed up, coughing a little from the blow, and growling from the wound to his pride. 'These fools dare question my honor? Before this was just for my Master's sake, but now I must avenge this slight.'
Kirei was having some difficulty dealing with Kayneth. Luckily, Lord El-Melloi's arrogance prevented a quick victory, and gave Kirei enough time to study and learn about the Mystic Code Kayneth was employing. "Is this all a dog of the Church can muster?," Kayneth said smugly, "Tohsaka was a fool to be betrayed by you. Then again, the oriental was a fool to teach you magic in the first place." He then heard the sound of someone clearing his throat. He and Kirei turned behind Kayneth to see Kiritsugu standing there. "The correct term is Japanese," Kiritsugu stated, before firing off a bullet.
Kayneth was at first unconcerned, simply having Volumen Hydragrum move to protect him. This turned out to be a mistake, as the round turned out to be incendiary, causing the pure mercury to produce a toxic gas cloud. Kirei and and Kiritsugu quickly moved away, while Kayneth was forced to dispel his Mystic Code and focus on healing magic to avoid permanent damage. "This is the reality, Kayneth," Kiritsugu said, "You're so focused on the magic side of things, you neglect the scientific side. I bet your student Waver Velvet would have recognized the dangers of keeping a pure mercury Mystic Code on hand." Kayneth became annoyed, hoping his Servant was doing better.
Dealing with Lupin was trouble enough. The thief's endless bag of tricks would make the fight too complicated for Lancer's taste. Then there was Jonathan, with whom the problem was that his overall ability eclipsed Lancer's. This was what was going through Lancer's mind when he suddenly found his feet stuck to ground thanks to a special glue Lupin had set up, and now Saber was barreling in on him, sword drawn. 'I need to do something our I'm dead! Wait… Only the bottom of my footwear is stuck! If I can just cut it loose…'
He quickly used Gae Dearg to get himself loose. As he backed up, barely dodging Jonathan's swing, he felt himself bumping into someone behind him. He turned around to see Evan there. "Avenger? Didn't Master send you and Sola-Ui to check on Archer." "That's actually why I'm here," Evan explained, "As it turns out…" Suddenly a mass of scythe, hammers, pipes, and other simple tools, smashed into the room. Evan sighed. "Archer found where Lupin is staying." Lancer sighed. 'Why did this have to be so complicated?'
"MONGREL!," came Archer's voice, "Come out and face your just punishment!" Jonathan quickly leapt up to where Archer. "Rather simplistic for your Gate of Babylon," he noted. "That mongrel took most of my sacred treasures," Archer pointed out, "I had to make due. Besides, with Servants like, Berserker, and Assassin, my regular Noble Phantasms would be useless anyway. So, Saber, you intend to aid that worthless mongrel?" Jonathan smirked. "And you were supposed to be the one to lead mankind in wisdom? Then again, you were clearly summoned from an earlier point in your legend. The Gilgamesh I read about toward the end would never call anything worthless."
Meanwhile the chaos did not go unnoticed by the other Masters. Kayneth had managed to leap away from the damage, only to be met by Sola-Ui. "I realize this is obvious at this point," she said, "But Archer seems to have located Lupin." "Bastard must have noticed us and realized we were looking for Lupin," Kayneth realized, "And people claim I'm egotistical." Sola-Ui had to admit, compared to Archer Kayneth was downright humble. "To make matters worse," Kayneth said, "The Magus Killer's here. And he came with Saber, meaning he's the real Master, not the Einzbern homunculus. She was only a distraction. The Einzbern head must have allowed the two to marry, wanting the Magus Killer on his side for the War."
Meanwhile, Kiritsugu and Kirei found themselves running through the rubble. "I'm guessing Archer's here for you?," Kiritsugu asked. "Lupin, actually," Kirei clarified, "But I've no doubt he'll want me dead as well for associating with him. Lupin did steal several of his treasure swords, after all." "Surprised he hasn't his sights on Jonathan's Sword of Luck and Pluck," Kiritsugu noted, "Also, never thought we'd be working together again." They soon caught up to Lupin. "Where's Jonathan?," Kiritsugu asked. "Up there," Lupin said, pointing to where Jonathan was dueling Archer.
"Guy's doing good," Lupin noted, "But I think he could use a bit of help." He slammed the ground, revealing a hidden compartment with an RPG inside, which immediately fired on Archer. Archer saw the projectile coming and scoffed, grabbing sword to the slice the rocket. "I wouldn't," Jonathan warned. Archer huffed and ignored him, slicing through the rocket, only to have it explode and revealing it was filled with the same super adhesive used on Lancer earlier, smacking Archer in the eyes and blinding him. "I tried to warn you," Jonathan said, "Did it never occur to you that Lupin knew an ordinary rocket would be useless against you?"
He took a Hamon stance and breathed deep, prepping his ultimate attack. "Blazing heart!" He clocked Archer across the jaw, his Hamon letting him touch the adhesive without sticking. "Unrelenting heat!" He followed up with a rough kick to the shoulder, causing Archer to drop his weapon. "My soul resounds with pure symphony!" Jonathan's Hamon reached its peak. "Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!" Archer felt himself get pummeled over and over by what felt like dozens of fists, Jonathan's arms moving so fast it looked like he had more than two.
"While Archer's preoccupied," Lupin said, "We'd better get going, Kirei. Catch ya later, Emiya!" Kiritsugu just smiled. "Jonathan, quit playing with Archer! We need to get moving before the big surprise!" Jonathan finished Archer with a quick shot to the groin. "Alright, we'll finish this another time." He leapt down and hurried with Kiritsugu to the car. Archer recovered enough to start pulling the glue off his face, yelping in pain as it came off. "Wait… Did I hear tearing?" He looked at the glue in his hand and noticed that, while he hadn't torn off any skin, he had torn off his eyebrows and eyelashes.
His eye twitch. "First the mongrel steals from me, then Saber has the nerve to damage the royal jewels, and now this insult! I swear that I will find and make them rue-" He was cut off by a sudden explosion rocking what was left of the apartment, caused by an explosive device Lupin had planted in case of the need for a quick escape. He sighed, noting that several more of his treasures were missing, and there were speeding cars leaving the area. But he was so enraged at this point that his anger had come full circle. "On second thought… I'll wait until they come to me." It was clear trying to hunt them down was only going to result in more humiliation. Better to force them to fight on his terms rather than trying to fight on theirs.
"Well," Jonathan said as they drove back to the manor, "That didn't go so bad. And I think for the time being we've convinced Archer to back off. A shame Lancer escaped in all the chaos." "Kayneth must have felt overwhelmed," Kiritsugu noted, "Not only dealing with me and Kirei, but the unexpected appearance of Archer as well." "I saw Evan for a while," Jonathan noted, "Kayneth must have had his fiancee keep on eye on Archer. Tell me, is the war always this complicated?" "No," Kiritsugu said, "Sometimes it can get crazy." The two of laughed as they continued driving.
Lancer's sudden attack told Lupin he couldn't fool around with him any longer. The spear guy had to be dealt with before Lupin could move into his new hideout. But first he had to take care of something. Luckily, he knew where Zenigata would be sleeping that night. Sure enough, the old man was hugging his pillow tightly, snoring and talking in his sleep. "Finally gotcha Lupin… You French bastard…" "I'd normally be flattered by someone dreaming about me," Lupin admitted, "But in your case Pops, it's kinda creepy!"
"YAH!," Zenigata screamed as he woke up, seeing Lupin standing there. "LUPIN! How did you get in here!? On second thought, nevermind, I can think of several dozen ways… The better question is how you knew where I was staying." "I looked you up in the motel registry," Lupin explained, "And I'm surprised you haven't slapped cuffs on me yet." He then noticed the badge fused to Zenigata's skin. "Jeez, I didn't know you were that into law enforcement." "It's my Stand, you French idiot," Zenigata explained, though he knew full well that Lupin likely knew what it was, "Thanks to Jotaro Kujo, I'm know onto your little Holy Grail War shenanigans."
"Ah, I though that energy was familiar," Lupin noted as Zenigata got dressed, not wanting to be in just his boxers while talking with Lupin. "Let me get one thing straight with you," Zenigata said, "I won't interfere with any actions involving the Holy Grail until this war is over, and assuming you're still around when it's done, I'll be coming after you. But any actions you take outside of that, and you can expect me on your heels." Lupin chuckled. "I wouldn't have it any other way." Zenigata nodded. "Glad we have an understanding. Now, you obviously came here for a reason. So what is it?"
Lupin got a large binder out of his jacket, and Zenigata noted that his usual grin was gone. His blood ran cold when he saw pictures of a six-year-old girl with purple, naked on the floor and being violated by some sort of worm-like creatures. One look at the girl's eyes and Zenigata could tell how broken this poor girl was. "I took those pictures the other day," Lupin explained, "The girl's adopted uncle knows about this and wanted to get her out of it. He asked my help in this. But I knew it wouldn't be as simple as just grabbing her and fleeing the scene."
Zenigata understood. "You also need someone to make sure the bastards who did this are delivered justice, and can no longer lay claim to her." He then realized who this girl is. "Wait a minute… This girl is Sakura Tohsaka, legally Sakura Matou. So her family is putting her through this, huh?" "So you're in the know, then," Lupin noted. Zenigata nodded. "I found out by chance when speaking with Tohsaka about his role in the Grail War. Actions like this are outside that field of influence… I'll make sure to have a team ready to storm the place." Lupin smirked. "Knew I could count on you Pops. Sayonara!" He leapt out the nearby window, using a parachute to escape.
Zenigata didn't even bother chasing him. Right now he had bigger fish to fry. 'This poor girl. I don't what the reason for this is, this is the sort of action that even the Magus Association would consider illegal. The question is… Did Tokiomi Tohsaka know this is what would become of his daughter?' For now, he'd focus on Zouken Matou, but he couldn't rely purely on normal police for this. He decided to contact Jotaro. Having a group of powerful Stand users aiding in this raid would certainly make things easier, considering this was a magus they were dealing with.
Yep, major changes from Just an Unorthodox Thief. Here Jonathan helps out a little. We'll be seeing yet another major change coming up, but for now this is where the chapter ends. Read and review.