The meaning of this title will make sense soon enough. We haven't seen much of Lupin for a while. We'll get to him soon enough, but in the meantime we can start focusing more on Jonathan and Evan. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Fate series, Lupin III, Ni No Kuni, or My Hero Academia.
Chapter 29: Try To Impress Me
Pycal and his men might have been certain that Lupin was dead. But if Pycal was truly as smart as he thought he was, he'd have wondered why two of his men didn't return after carrying out their mission. Of course, even if he was that smart, Pycal never would have realized that Lupin was no longer properly human. After all, as Kiritsugu knew, when a Heroic Spirit died, they didn't leave a corpse. Kiritsugu and Maiya had bribed their way into the coroner's office to get a look at the two bodies. "Latex laced with dead skin cells," Kiritsugu noted, "Blood matches, but that's easy enough to fake. Lupin and Kirei must have been saving up for just such an emergency."
"He really went to a lot of trouble to fake his death," Maiya noted. Kiritsugu nodded. "He knew whoever was targeting him didn't realize that he really is dead. Jojo just contacted me as we came in. Seems Pycal's men are trying to capture Daisuke Jigen." Kiritsugu finished peeling off the fake skin, revealing two Caucasian men, instead of one French-Asian man and one Japanese man. "Pycal's men already confirmed the bodies," he noted, "Meaning Pycal is in the dark. Lupin knows this, so he'll be able to ambush Pycal. The idiot doesn't realize what sort of war he got himself mixed up in."
"So what can you tell me about Pycal?," Jonathan asked as he drove Jigen and Taiga away from the scene. The idea was to get Jigen to Iris so she could use her healing magic to patch Jigen up. "For starters, the bastard's supposed to be dead," Jigen said, "But we never confirmed the body, so I shouldn't be surprised. Guy calls himself the Magician. He used illusions like a hardened second skin to deflect bullets, wirework to fly, and a special concealed flamethrower hidden in a fake finger." "If he wasn't so evil he'd get along famously with my grandson," Jonathan noted, "Joseph was a big fan of sleight of hand in his youth."
They finally got to the Einzbern manor. "How are you still able to afford this place after Lupin cleaned out that bank?," Jigen asked. "You forget Kiritsugu has his own account," Jonathan clarified, "He's racked up quite the tidy sum during his career." Iris was surprised when Jonathan brought in the two individuals. "What on earth has been going on!?," she asked. "I'll explain inside," Jonathan assured her, "Right now I need you to put up a Bounded Field. We were being chased on the way here." Iris nodded. Jigen was laid down on a nearby bed as Iris got to work.
"Hey Jojo," Jigen said, "One thing I was wondering… How did Lupin get summoned anyway? I mean, I get he was famous. But isn't the whole idea of being a Heroic Spirit that you're, well, a hero?" "It's more that you become a legend than you become a hero," Jonathan clarified, "After all, Bluebeard got summoned as Caster, and he didn't strike me as particularly heroic." "Not to mention what happened during the previous Grail War…," Iris said. "What happened then?," Jigen asked. "Our family wanted to insure they won," Iris explained, "So they fudged the rules so that they could summon a different class, trading out Berserker for Avenger."
"But the Avenger they got was uncontrollable," Jonathan chimed in, "Angra Mainyu. With his power the Einzberns hoped to tip the scales in their favor. It nearly worked, but after killing five Servants Angra was killed by the seventh. This caused a bit of his corruptive influence to enter the Grail. Hopefully by now enough prana has filled the Grail that his has been diluted…" Iris' spell finished and Jigen got up. He was feeling a lot better, though still not at his best. "Thanks for the pick-me-up. But what now?" "I need to find Zenigata," Jonathan said, "He needs to be informed of what's going on."
As it turned out, Zenigata already knew a great deal. He had just overheard the chief on the phone, talking about someone borrowing police gear. He and Akimi were talking about outside the precinct, where there were less ears loyal to the chief. "We got word about false police officers attacking Jigen earlier today," Akimi said, "All of them were Caucasian men, meaning they weren't actually Fuyuki police." "Most of them were killed by a large man fitting Jojo's description," Zenigata noted, "All except for one. And that one was spouting information about a certain location in the warehouse district."
"It's always a tragedy when cops turn dirty," Akimi said. Zenigata lowered his head. "Between you and me… I almost went down that road. Until my last partner, Oscar. He saved me, brought back to the right path. And then he wound up falling in my place… I never find out what happened to him in the end…" Akimi nodded. He privately hoped the same wouldn't happen to him. "So what now?" "We have enough evidence from the suspect to mount an investigation of the address he gave," Zenigata said, "Let's get some men together and check that place out."
Having a hideout in a warehouse seemed cliche, but in reality it made a lot of strategic sense. Almost no one would look one on purpose, there were enough that they blended into the background, screams could be contained by shutting all the doors and windows, and if anyone saw a person entering or exiting they'd assume it was just a renter. Of course, Evan wasn't most people. During his travels both before and after founding Evermore he did a lot of searching in places no one would think to travel normally. That was because he had a deep desire to see the world thanks to Aranella's storytelling.
So imagine Pycal's surprise when Evan smashed right through the upper window to where he was fuming at his subordinates for losing Jigen and Taiga. "Now what do we have here," Pycal said, "Halloween isn't until the later in the year, little boy." Evan remained firm. "This isn't some sort of joke, whoever you are. You have poked your nose into something far greater than you could possibly imagine. And by now Lupin will be seeking you out." Pycal laughed. "Haven't you heard? I KILLED LUPIN THE THIRD!" Evan smirked. "Oh did you? Tell me… How closely did your men look at the bodies? And are you sure you've counted all your missing?"
Pycal chuckled. "You seem like a nice boy. Care to see a magic trick?" He nodded to one of his men, who immediately shot him. The bullet didn't even seem to touch him. Evan didn't bat an eye, which rather unnerved Pycal. "Nice trick," Evan said, "I'm sure it's great for intimidating those who take pride in their marksmanship skills." He drew Mornstar from its scabbard. "Unfortunately for you… I don't use guns!" He rushed forward, slicing at Pycal. At first nothing happened, but then Pycal felt something liquid go down his arm. He looked, and realized part of his sleeve had been cut off, and blood was dripping down it. He freaked out at the sight of this. "Don't just stand there! Kill this brat you morons!"
Yeah, Evan's seen way too much to be scared or impressed by a guy who can block bullets. Not to mention he's older than he looks (keep in mind he was summoned as a twelve-year-old, since that was when his legend was made, but he's technically in his eighties since that's when he died). Plus, I; pretty sure that while Pycal's special skin is fireproof and bulletproof, it can still be sliced apart. Read and review.
