The circus may be a dying form of entertainment, but stage magicians seem to still be going strong. But even magic is a business, and competition is rough, as this next caper proves. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.
Ninth Caper: The Magician's Left Hand, The Octopuss
Ren was in the audience of a circus as the lights shown down on a magician. "The man they call 'The Magician', Antonio de la Castro once said, 'My right hand has the magical power to move, but my left hand has the power to deceive.' It is ten years since the passing of Antonio, my father, and tonight, we witness his magic come back to life." Ren narrowed his eyes as the lights turned to Riko, daughter of Lupin and Fujiko, tied to a wooden post by iron chains, fiery arrows aimed right at her. "Time to make some real magic," Ren said. As he changed into his Joker outfit, he spotted Caren and a young man race in to stop the show, and he mused on how this whole thing got started.
It was a few days earlier, and Fujiko had actually met up with Lupin to discuss their daughter. "So it seems our little girl has met someone," she said, "And decided to fall in love with him." Lupin spat out his wine. "Riko!? I mean she's at the right age, but considering both of our histories with the opposite sex you'd think she'd be just as flirtatious with the concept of commitment. Then again... Maybe it's something she picked up from Grandpa. He only fell in love seriously. So who's the lucky duck?" "Well, don't take this the wrong way," Fujiko said, "But the young man's name is Luca, and he works at a local circus." Caren was just outside the door, and got concerned. She immediately contacted Phantom Thief Joker's blog.
"I was hoping the first woman to share my bike would be a permanent partner!," Joker said as they drove out to the circus, "If you catch my drift!" Caren was sitting on the back of the bike, her arms around Joker's waist purely for balance. "It's not my fault you drive like a madman!," Caren pointed out, "I would suggest you take lessons from Father or Lupin, but they're no better!" "Gotta drive crazy to outrun the law!," Joker reminded her, "Or they'll catch you every time!"
They started pulling up to the fairgrounds. "After all, police these days have all kinds of tricks to track down pursuers! Long-range communication, aerial surveillance, spike strips, road blocks, and that ever annoying PIT maneuver! You gotta be unpredictable to avoid all that! I see cases like that all the time on shows like World's Wildest Police Videos!" "Those only feature dumb criminals!," Caren pointed out. "Exactly!," Joker retorted. He pulled up to the fairgrounds, where it looked like the circus was in full swing.
Joker broke off so that he could change back into Ren without Caren spotting him. If he was going to be an effective thief, then not even his rivals could know who he really was. He soon spotted Riko, wearing a circus outfit and acting as a knife thrower. It was clear that time had given her a figure that her mother would be proud of. He spotted Riko heading backstage, where she met with a young man whom she took a towel from, and a kiss as well. 'That must be Luca. Think I'll have a quick look-see around the trailers for the performers.'
The next day, Riko ran into Caren, shocking her. "Caren? What are you doing here?" "Wondering if my best friend is running away with the circus," Caren replied. Riko sighed. "Look, don't get me wrong, I'm crazy for this guy. I really am planning a future for him. But right now the only reason I'm even staying here is to help maintain his inheritance." Caren tilted her head in confusion. "You ever heard of the master magician Antonio de la Castro?," Riko asked. "Yes," Caren replied, "What about him?" "Luca inherited all of de la Castro's secrets," Riko explained, "All of his tricks and how to perform them. But now someone is trying to steal those secrets from him. And he hired me to help keep them safe."
"Which is how you wound up falling in love," Caren realized. "Yeah, that's how it happened," Riko admitted, "How did you even get here? I didn't see a sign of Dad's old Fiat anywhere on the fairgrounds." She then spotted Joker phasing through the wall of one of the trailers and facepalmed. "You got help from Dad's rival? Caren, you little traitor..." In spite of her words, it was a good-natured rib, and her tone of voice made that clear. "I'm just concerned about you," Caren admitted, "Unlike my father, I don't take joy in the suffering of others. Well, unless they deserve it."
Joker was in the trailer of the circus magician, who happened to be the son of de la Castro. He narrowed his eyes when he saw something on a nearby shelf. It was a large specimen jar containing two cats, one with the tail and rear cut off, the other with the head cut off. The two had been stitched together and preserved. "The Octopuss," Joker noted, "One of the treasures of the Joestar Collection, purchased from the Noah's Ark Circus by George Joestar I. If there's a Joestar Collection piece here, then I might want to look a little deeper into this magician. He may have secrets after all..."
He turned his head and leapt through the ceiling as the magician entered his trailer. 'Everyone across the world would pay handsomely for the secrets of de la Castro,' Joker thought, 'Luca's probably been hounded for weeks ever since his inheritance was discovered. But the fact that he was to inherit should be a secret in and of itself, right? I wonder who could have leaked it... I'd better keep an eye on this magician. Some of the other circus people think Luca's the one who killed de la Castro. But the ones who stole the Joestar Collection have only ever sold them to criminals like themselves. I'll need to investigate further.'
"I know he didn't kill the old magician," Riko said, "He's too kind and honest for that. It's so easy to blame the inheritor, isn't it? Maybe they should be looking more at the one who didn't inherit. Luca may have stood to gain, but de la Castro's son stood to lose." "Then why won't he tell anyone the secrets?," Caren asked. "He tried," Riko admitted, "But then de la Castro's words returned to his ears. His only goal right now is to fulfill the old man's last wish, and become a great magician."
She smiled. "Actually, I was the one who helped him gain the courage to do just that. After all, who better than a thief to remind a magician that there's no reward without risk. Honestly, the guy wouldn't hurt a fly, though he'd be willing to put himself on the line if it ever came down to it." She walked off. "Anyway, I should get going before anyone starts getting suspicious. Like they're not already." Once she was out of sight, Joker appeared behind Caren. "She might in danger."
He recounted what he had learned. "Antonio de la Castro once said that his right hand had the power to move but the left hand has the power to deceive. His son, Antonio the Second, saw his father grasp Luca's right hand with his left, and thought at first that his father was playing another trick. Imagine his shock when it turned out that all he was getting was a cash inheritance so that he could find a different career. Tony Junior, as it turned out, wasn't that good of a magician, but Luca proved very capable with his hands. Enough to catch Antonio's attention."
"And decide that he would make a better heir to his magical secrets," Caren realized. Joker nodded. "The only person who knows a magician's secrets better than the magician himself, is the assistants he works with. After all, nine times out of ten they're the ones doing all the work behind the scenes. Luca already knew much of Antonio's magic secrets, so the old magician decided he might as well go all the way. And then that fateful night..." "The one where Tony died during his act," Caren noted.
"The circus workers are right about one thing," Joker said, "That was no accident. Antonio was murdered. But they forget that it was ten years ago, and Luca was just a boy. He might not have realized just what he was inheriting. Besides, Antonio always checked and double-checked all his equipment personally. A lot of escape tricks are dangerous, after all, so a good magician makes fail-safe upon fail-safe to insure that he can get out alive. Only someone close to Antonio could have rigged the machinery to fail. But here's the problem... Just letting the death trap close would not have worked, so it couldn't have been Luca."
Caren's eyes widened. "Tony Junior!" "That's right," Riko said. It turned out she hadn't gone far. "De la Castro's son was livid that some 'outsider' had inherited what he felt was rightfully his. Nevermind that circuses never keep the same family for more than a decade or two. Heck, the Noah's Ark Circus has been through at least a dozen iterations of its all-star cast. And because of his actions, the circus has been slowly falling apart these last ten years. All because Junior couldn't handle it that someone other than him got his father's secrets."
To say that Ren was disgusted by Tony Junior's actions was an understatement. The circus was meant to be a community where everyone could trust each other. When one person betrayed that trust, especially when they tried to foster suspicion onto someone else, it spelled a death sentence for that community. "Time to remind this conniving maestro of where true magic lies. After all, who better to steal from a wannabe master magician... Than a true master thief!"
"What is the meaning of this!?," Tony Junior called out as he stormed onto the common grounds where everyone was eating. "What's going on, Tony?," asked Rodriguez, the manager of the circus. "I've just received two dozen copies of this card all over my trailer!," Tony Junior yelled, slamming the card on the table. "Antonio de la Castro the Second, I am the Phantom Thief Joker. Tonight I shall steal the Octopuss from your possession." "Does he mean that weird piece of taxidermy Tony has in his trailer?," asked Marta, the female clown/acrobat/strongwoman.
"Something you want to tell us, Tony?," asked Gopal, the Indian animal tamer, "I've seen the news reports on this Phantom Thief Joker." "That's true," Marta replied, "He only steals from criminals." "What about Rebecca Rossellini?," Tony pointed out, "She had not been a criminal prior to her thief of the Royal Crown of Libertas." "Not unless you count her association with Lupin prior to that," Rodriguez pointed out, "There's not something you're hiding from us, right? I'd hate to find out that I was needlessly tormenting an innocent woman." Earlier Tony had convinced Rodriguez to help him weasel a magic secret out of Luca by suspending Riko over a tiger cage.
Tony scoffed. "I assure you, this is just a copycat. Why would the famous Phantom Thief Joker even bother to steal a simple piece of taxidermy in the first place? All of his other heists have involved ancient artifacts and valuable jewelry. Not some worthless preserved animal straight out of PT Barnum's circus. Now let's get ready for the show tonight. I have something special prepared for this." He took out the paper, not realizing that what Luca had handed him was a fake.
That was what led up to that night. Joker now leapt at the wooden post via shadows, grabbing Riko and phasing her through the setup just as it was lit ablaze. "Good work," she said, "Just like we planned it. The Octopuss was placed backstage. In the meantime... I have a show to steal." Joker smirked, then dashed for the backstage and found his prize. "The more you try and hide it, Tony, the more suspicious you look." He smirked when he saw Marta spot him. "You might want to stop Luca from making a big mistake," he said, "Ciao!" He slipped through the circus tent and off into the night.
Riko smiled as she watched Luca finish signing on with the Noah Ark Circus. 'Looks like he'll be okay now. Antonio de la Castro's magic was the best, and it deserves to be showcased with the best. The world deserves to enjoy his magic.' In time Luca and Riko would take over for Joshu Higashikata and Trixie Lulamoon as headliners of the Noah's Ark Circus. But in the meantime, Riko still had a job to do. After all, her father's legacy was still under fire from the new rising star, the Phantom Thief Joker.
Next time, Joker learns that someone's been trying to remake the killings in a small town in Japan. Learning that this person works with multiple people, and that they have several pieces of the Joestar Collection, Joker works with Margaret to see if they can't discover who these people are. Read and review.