This will be one of several trips to a certain other Persona series town that might be familiar to you all. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.
Tenth Caper: The Killer's Copycat, The Keep
"I believe I may have found one of the City Heritage Plaques," Igor said to Ren, "Special memorial plaques dedicated to the Joestar family in general for helping to restore certain locations within London after the Great Fire in 1666. In this case, the memorial plaque for The Keep, a former prison now turned tourist attraction. The original plaque is part of the Joestar Collection." Ren nodded. "Where do I look for it?" "In a small town that I chanced upon in the past," Igor said, "Named Inaba. It seems a certain tragedy that once occurred there threatens to repeat itself."
The small town seemed almost a utopia. All of the small businesses worked together making local products for a major chain, which Ren noted was the popular department store chain Junes. There was a particularly cheery attitude about the place. But ever as always, Ren could see the darkness that was creeping up just underneath. 'I'd better keep my eyes open. This community could crumble if someone took out just the right building block.' He decided to get a room at the Amagi Inn, a popular tourist attraction.
As he got settled in his room, he narrowed his eyes. He could feel things through the shadows, and sense something with an energy signature identical to that of a Stand. "Looks like I have something to check out already. Someone's hollowed out the underground of this place." Making sure no one was checking in on him, he donned his phantom thief outfit and slipped down through the various floors. It turned out there was a massive cave dug out somehow, likely due to a powerful Stand user. And in addition, a massive castle had also been constructed inside this place.
"Who the heck are you!?," came a curt voice. The middle-aged man glared at Joker. "Is this castle you're doing?," Joker asked. "No, it's the leader of our gang," the man said, "He wants to finish what was started here from a man he deeply admired. And to start, he's going to kidnap the owner of the Amagi Inn." Joker chuckled. "Is that a fact? I'd imagine that's a plan that's going to take time. As for your question... I am the one known as Phantom Thief Joker." The man laughed. "You? Joker? You don't look like a clown."
"It's named for the trump card," Joker retorted, "So just who are you?" "Name's Momo Jiraiya," the man replied, "And if you plan on setting foot in here, then you'll have to deal with my Stand... Crazy Frog!" A large frog with a humanoid torso sticking out of the top appeared. Smoke suddenly began emitting from it, leaving Joker blind as the Stand shot forth a tongue to try and swallow him. Jiraiya laughed when it looked like he'd succeeded, only to get shocked when Joker phased out of the Stand to punch him out.
Jiraiya managed to pick himself up and tried fighting with the humanoid torso, but Joker proved the more powerful Stand user, W Boiled Xtreme striking Crazy Frog with a series of powerful slashes as it cackled madly. With Jiraiya out cold, Joker was able to slip inside the castle and start searching. However, it wasn't long before he ran into another obstacle. This one was a young woman with bright blonde hair and wrestler-type muscles. "So you took out Jiraiya. But now you'll have to deal with me! Name's Big Bertha, a member of the Rumble Roses league!" "And apparently a fan of Mario," Joker noted.
Big Bertha scoffed. "So what if I am? Anyway, now you'll need to deal with my Stand! Whip Me Hard!" A yellow female humanoid appeared from the ground sitting atop twin male statues. Joker quickly dodged out of the way as the Stand launched a powerful lash at him. "Just one hit from that," Big Bertha said, "And I can compel you to leave this castle forever." Joker smirked, then let the lash reach him, only for it to phase through him harmlessly. "Only if it can really touch me. I also notice that your Stand is completely immobile. In other words... A sitting duck! W Boiled Xtreme!"
Big Bertha was batted around as the phantom Stand lashed out with its claws, striking Whip Me Hard over and over before causing it to topple over. "That should do it," Joker said, "Once I've finished here I'll see about sending the police their way." The castle had long, winding hallways, and more than once Joker found himself having to rely on a hand-drawn map just to make sure he was going the right way. It also seemed to be several stories high. It was up on the fifth floor that he found something interesting.
The man was donned in a knight's armor, with a shield attached to his left arm. "You go no further, foul knave!," the man stated, "I, the might Sir Fortesque, forbid it!" "You do realize that the people here have less than reputable goals," Joker pointed out. "Says the thief in our midst," Fortesque retorted. Joker held his hands out like a balance scale. "Let's see, theft or kidnapping? Which sounds like the more heinous crime to you." The would-be knight took a step back at those words. "You... You shall not waver my conviction! Rather, you shall face justice at the hands of my Stand... Angus McFife!"
A large suit of armor sitting astride a barding, basically armor for horses, appeared carrying a lance in hand. "Try all the agile thief tricks you have!," Fortesque boasted, "My Stand can track you anywhere! And its mighty durability insures your weapons will never breach its armor to find its true form underneath!" Joker smirked as he dodged the lance swing. "So the true form is under the armor, eh? Good thing I can phase through shadows, and I'm seeing plenty inside the armor." To Fortesque's shock, Joker slipped inside the armor and struck the spherical core, breaking the armor apart.
He placed his hand under the sphere as Fortesque started to sweat. "They say most knights are strong and noble even without the armor. That being said, Fortesque, I'd say the title of knighthood doesn't suit you. I'll be on my way, but first... W Boiled Xtreme!" Joker's Stand raked its claws across the core, damaging it and knocking out Fortesque. "Now to find out who's in charge of this place," Joker said, "They must have a grudge against the Amagi Inn to want to kidnap its owner."
Somehow the upper levels kept warping Joker around the place. Clearly someone knew he was here, but didn't really know who he was. He was eventually able to bypass the trick, however, thanks to some well-placed shadows. This let him reach the top, where he found a way back up to the surface. It was here that he found a young woman talking on the phone. "So, I kidnap this girl for you, and handle the rest? Good. I'm sick of Yukiko Amagi and her family. My own family wanted to start an inn here back in the day, but Yukiko's became more popular."
Joker peeked at the nameplate on the desk, which clearly belonged to the woman since a picture of her with her family was on it. The nameplate read, "Nagisa Tachibana." 'I'll have to look into that name,' Joker thought, 'If this is the woman behind the castle, and the planned kidnapping, then the police will want to have words with her. In the meantime, I need to find the other entrance, the one leading below the Amagi Inn.' He backtracked through the castle until he found a trapdoor, likely meant to be one-way.
Ryotaro Dojima was a local detective, credited with the arrest of the one behind a double homicide several years ago, perpetrated by his own partner. He never thought the events of that year would resurface, until an anonymous tip sent him and his men down below the Amagi Inn. Tied up at the entrance were three people, two men and one woman, all of which had known priors to their names. A sign was attached to their ropes, which read, "Contact Speedwagon." "Looks like we got Stand users," Ryotaro realized, "Get Speedwagon on the horn. These three will find a cell with their names on it."
Nagisa watched the news and was a little surprised at the top story. Someone had found the special castle that was built for her, the same one she hoped to have Yukiko dragged inside and killed. Now the police were on the lookout for the one who built that place, on the grounds of the individual not having the proper permits. 'Damn it... He knew this would happen. He deliberately set it up like this so we'd be in for the long haul. Well, it doesn't matter. He made sure it couldn't be traced back to me in any way. I mean, I didn't see anyone enter my office at the end of the dungeon.'
Ren had been able to confirm that The Keep was hanging in Nagisa's office. And he had all the information he needed to make sure his target was the right one. "I'm only just now hitting my stride," he said, "Can't let myself get sloppy as I reach the top of my game. So... How do I want to do this? I've already identified Nagisa's office. It might be best to just leave my calling card there. Also, it might be best to strike quickly. She could try for her little kidnapping scheme at any time." He got to work photocopying the calling card he finished writing out.
Nagisa turned out to be the owner of a small-time hotel that once rivaled the Amagi Inn before the latter started to pick up steam. Now Nagisa gasped when she saw the exterior plastered with calling cards, all bearing Joker's signature logo. By now she had heard about the mysterious phantom thief, but never thought in a million years that he would target such a small town. She picked up one of the calling cards. "Nagisa Tachibana, I am the Phantom Thief Joker. Today I will steal The Keep from your possession."
Nagisa was confused at first, until she remember the plaque now hanging on her wall. "He wants the plaque? But why? It's just a rusty old piece of bronze." She decided the details didn't matter. Instead she took the plaque down and hurried inside to her little castle. She had a feeling that Joker would simply try to ransack the office, which would leave plenty of evidence of his presence. "He is a thief, after all. I'm willing the bet the police will find any excuse to prioritize him."
"I wouldn't be so sure," came Joker's voice. Nagisa gasped as a clawed hand swiped the plaque out of hers. She turned to see Joker standing in the rafters. "I'm not sure what your boss is thinking, but I'll be happy to dismantle part of his organization before leaving." Nagisa growled. "You won't be going anywhere! Free Bird!" A large red bird manifested from Nagisa. It started warping the area, prompting Joker to keep to the shadows to avoid getting shuffled around too much.
"Don't think hiding will help you!," Nagisa called out, "Free Bird can attack just as easily!" The large bird Stand started flapping its wings, trying to blow Joker into a nearby wall. Joker smirked, using W Boiled Xtreme's own wings to glide around, dodging or phasing through Free Bird's sharp talons. "Sorry, lady, but my Stand is just far more versatile. And with that in mind..." He leapt down and delivered a deft kick right to Nagisa's shoulder, knocking her to the ground and causing her Stand to vanish. Joker smirked. "Adieu!" He leapt through the ceiling and disappeared as police burst into the room.
Ren smirked as he got on the plane. Obviously he couldn't bring stolen loot with him, especially after airport increased due to the 9/11 attacks. But the beauty of it was that he didn't really have to, since he could just hand off his loot to a Speedwagon representative. As he checked his blog, he caught a glimpse of the in-flight movie and nearly busted a gut laughing. The male lead was supposed to represent Lupin, but some sort of copyright action must have happened, because the character was wearing zombie makeup. "Good grief, Lupin...," he muttered, "What do you get up to when I'm not around?"
Been a while since I got to introduce more Stands. So here's some more Stands.
Crazy Frog (Swedish CGI-animated Singer)
User: Momo Jiraiya
Ability: Crazy Frog can emit smoke from its body, as well as swallow anything it can wrap its tongue around. Those that get swallowed are instantly transported to another location of Jiraiya's choosing, but certain Stand powers can prevent this. The Stand can also fight hand-to-hand using the humanoid torso sticking out of the top.
Power: B
Speed: A
Range: C
Durability: B
Precision: B
Potential: C
Whip Me Hard (Song by DJ Sota Fujimuri)
User: Big Bertha
Ability: Whip Me Hard is completely immobile, but makes up for it with a long-range lash that can break solid objects. If any human gets hit by it, they only feel a small amount of pain and are compelled to obey Big Bertha's every command.
Power: A
Speed: E
Range: B
Durability: C
Precision: B
Potential: D
Angus McFife (Song by Gloryhammer)
User: Sir Fortesque
Ability: A levitating Stand with strong defenses, it provides a near impenetrable wall that can only be broken by somehow reaching its inner core, the Stand's real physical form. Hitting that will cause all the armor to break apart, and further damage can render the Stand inert from there. That said, while intact the armor is capable of powerful swift strikes.
Power: A
Speed: B
Range: C
Durability: A
Precision: C
Potential: D
Free Bird (Song by Lynyrd Skynyrd)
User: Nagisa Tachibana
Ability: Free Bird can shift the dimensions of any building its user is inside, causing hallways to alter themselves, rooms to shift about, and people inside to be warped to wherever Nagisa wants. It can also launch powerful winds with its wings and strike with its powerful talons.
Power: B
Speed: B
Range: B
Durability: C
Precision: A
Potential: B
Next time, Joker is asked to help a young girl when a conspiracy against her threatens to prevent her epic movies from seeing the light of day. Joker takes a keen interest when he learns that the ones behind the conspiracy may have several pieces of the Joestar Collection. Read and review.