This is gonna be a short chapter leading into a major fight, which I hope I can do justice. In the meantime, enjoy this quiet moment. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Fate series, Lupin III, Ni No Kuni, or My Hero Academia.

Chapter 34: Time For Reflection

Jonathan sat in Hamon meditation. Before long the War would be ready to continue, and he knew exactly what would be happening next. Lupin had already sent a warning to Rider about where to meet him, but had sent a similar letter to Evan. Evan was in on it, Rider was not. The reasoning was obvious. 'Both kings have access to their entire army. Normal only a mage or demon would access to the prana needed for a Reality Marble. But with Evan and Iskandar, their followers provide them all the prana they need. Evan even more so, since he also has access to his kingdom.'

"Are you still in there, Jonathan?," Maiya asked. Jonathan nodded. "Something on your mind?" "I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that a man like Lupin III was made a heroic spirit. Especially given his selfish, hedonistic nature." "No hero is perfect," Jonathan pointed out, "Especially me. Despite my desire to be a quintessential gentleman, I've killed, I've pulled off dirty moves in the middle of a fight, I've even gone outside the law on occasion. What makes me a gentleman is that I am honest about it, I strive to protect others, and I only kill those that truly deserve it."

He smiled in remembrance. "Take my old friend Robert EO Speedwagon, for instance. When I first met him he was just the leader of a gang living on Ogre Street in London. My and Twilight, my adopted sister, could have easily killed the lot of them. But I knew they likely still had family to go back to, people who would be saddened by their deaths. On the other hand, I had no compunctions about killing Father Barlowe of the Order of Ecclesia. There was nothing redeemable about him. Same with DIO, who proved too much of a monster, or Baron Kelvin. In fact the only reason I didn't kill any of them was because Barlowe sacrificed himself to resurrect Dracula at the last minute, DIO managed to save himself by removing his head before his body could be destroyed, and killing Kelvin would have stranded me in an alternate reality."

He got up from his meditation. "The reality is that the modern age needs heroes with flaws to them. Not only does that provide more entertaining stories, it also reminds us that we are human. I'm not saying that need can go too far. Gilles de Rais and Lupin can be good examples. But even All Might and Evan, perhaps the epitome of paragon activity, have minor flaws to them. Evan was still naive during his journey, and All Might placed too much on his own shoulders." Maiya nodded. "So where is Lupin now?" Jonathan smiled. "I believe he's off to see his family."


Rika was ecstatic to see her dad again. "So how long are you staying, Dad?" Lupin grinned. "Just for the evening. I got something important to do." "Maybe you can at least stay long enough for dinner?," Fujiko suggested. "Don't see why not," Lupin said, "Never know when you're gonna get your last meal." Fujiko frowned. "Don't go talking like that now. You already died once." "Hey, that was just a fluke," Lupin assured her, "None of us could have seen that bullet coming. This time I won't make the same mistakes." Fujiko sighed. "You think that, and yet you're doing everything you can to spend time with your daughter. Well… I can't really complain."


"Only a matter of time before the tension snaps," Zenigata noted. Akimi sighed. "I hope they at least keep it quiet until the new chief can be installed. So who do you think will make the first move?" "Lupin, no question," Zenigata replied, "And when he does, he'll have two of his enemies go against each other while trying to take on a third. That's usually how he deals with these sorts of situations. This War will be ending within the next few days… You can be sure about that." 'My only concern is whether the city will still be around by the time the dust settles…'


Kariya spotted All Might on the roof of the apartment. "Going to prepare for the War's return." "Not yet," All Might said, "I don't think it'll be my turn until Lupin's done with his own plans. He's already set up Evan and Rider against each other. Now he's off to deal with Jonathan, perhaps the only Servant he could possibly take on head-to-head. It won't be easy though. Jonathan has had longer to live, after all. And he still has the benefit of that experience." Kariya nodded. "I guess we'll just have to wait our turn."


Jonathan had to chuckle when he felt the sudden presence of Lupin. "Of course he'd want to have a quick tussle. Well then, let's see how this will go." He stepped outside and saw Lupin smoking a cigarette. "Care for one?," he asked, offering the pack of Gitanes. Jonathan raised his hand in polite refusal. "My preference is a tobacco pipe. So, you already set a date for the big showdown, why come here now?" "We're gonna have to fight each other sooner or later," Lupin reasoned, "I figured we might as well get it over with. I would have come sooner, but I wanted to say goodbye to the family."

Jonathan chuckled. "I see. Well, I suppose we might as well get this over with. Unless you wanted to shoot the breeze first. You always loved the sound of your own voice." Lupin gave his usual grin. "You make me sound like a narcissist. Then again, if the shoe fits…" The two of them laughed at the joke. Jonathan then got out his sword. "So, care to pick your weapon. I'm sure that Kiritsugu has already made arrangements to get himself and his wife out of the house. Fair warning, the entire mansion is booby-trapped." Lupin chuckled. "All the more fun for me…" He drew his pistol. "Let's make this a fight for the ages!"

And here's where the cliffhanger begins. I know I haven't dealt with Rider yet, but the four main characters were gonna clash at some point. This is a zero sum game, after all. Read and review.