Trying something new with this chapter. This time the treasure isn't the main focus, but rather Joker trying to keep his rival out of the line of fire. It's no fun getting the title of Emperor of Thieves by default just because your rival is dead, after all. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.

Twelfth Caper: A Step Too Deep, Watch Station

Joker was having a lunch with Giorno and his closest capos at a local diner. "I've managed to locate the ringleader of that street gang you mentioned," Joker said, "The one behind all the recent kidnappings of tourists." Giorno nodded. "And of course you also confirmed that they have the City Heritage Plaque for the Watch Station." "Naturally," Joker said with a grin, revealing the calling card he was planning on sending. "Man, this is always the exciting part!," Narancia said, "It's just like something out of a movie!"

"Be careful with the heist," Abbacchio warned, "I doubt anyone in that gang is a match for you, but Moody Blues confirmed that MI-6 has been monitoring the street gangs, due to all the kidnapped tourists. My Stand already identified their top enforcer, Agent Nyx, as being involved." "Agent Nyx...," Joker muttered, "I never had to deal with him directly before today. I heard he was involved with the security for Southrye's Watch, but he was mostly keeping to the lower floors dealing with Kirei Kotomine, whilst I was monitoring Riko and Caren on the upper floors. By the time Nyx even ascended to the ground floor I was making my getaway."

"Hopefully you'll be able to avoid him this time as well," Giorno said, "From what I know of Nyx, he's ruthlessly efficient. And he has a surprising temper. Some of his enemies once tried to get to him through his family, but that only made him come at them even harder. That said, he tries to keep his private life and public life separate. All part of MI-6 regulations. It's supposed to be a counter-espionage agency, after all, so part of that is no one knowing what goes on with it." Joker nodded, finished his meal, then politely excused himself to get to work.

With the knowledge that MI-6 was monitoring the local street gangs, Joker used his contacts in Speedwagon to gain access to their satellite surveillance. He had already tracked the ringleader, Donatello Luciano. From Joker's research, it seemed the man was the younger brother of one "Leaky-Eye" Luca, a low level thug from the old version of Passione who was the first member Giorno and Rarity ever faced. Naturally since he lacked a Stand it was far from the their hardest fight. And it seemed Donatello was the same.

'Let's finish this one quick,' Donatello said, Joker hearing it from the microphone he had secretly slipped onto the man, 'We need to relocate before this calling card can be carried out.' Joker smirked when he saw the card. "Donatello Luciano, I am the Phantom Thief Joker. Today I will steal the Watch Station from your possession." "Got you via eye in the sky," Joker said with a grin. He revved up his motorcycle and made ready to tail the car Donatello was getting into, the plaque peeking out from under his jacket.

Joker carefully followed the car through the streets of Milan until they stopped and got out. 'Stakeouts are always the most tedious parts of this job,' he thought to himself, 'But my Stand controls shadows, rather than fast-forwarding time.' Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. Donatello and one of his cronies soon came back with a young teenage girl with blonde hair. She was tied up and unconscious, being placed in the trunk. "She'll fetch a high price for sure," Donatello said.

"She'll be going back to her family," Joker said as he swooped down from the nearby rooftop, landing on the thug. He turned to glare at Donatello. "And you'll be handing over the Watch Station plaque." Donatello pulled out his gun and started firing, but Joker already had his Stand active, causing the bullets to phase through his body harmlessly. He then proceeded to beat the crap out of Donatello with his own two hands. "I learned these moves from playing the Batman Arkham series," he bragged before knocking out Donatello.

He then picked up the Watch Station plaque and went for the trunk. Before he could open it, he saw Lupin and Kirei running for the car with what looked like bags of loot from a recent heist. "Nothing for it!," Lupin called out, "We'll borrow this car!" "LUPIN!," came the unmistakable sound of Zenigata screaming. Lupin stopped when he saw his second rival. "Joker? Ah, no time to question things. Quick, get in." Joker sighed and hopped in the backseat. "We have a stowaway in the trunk," he said as they drove off, "We'll need to stop at some point and get her back to her family."

"So yeah," Joker said after the car stopped, "I was doing yet another heist involving the ringleader of a kidnapping ring. You know, human trafficking. The kidnappers were smart, always targeting tourists." "Isn't that what got the villains in the movie 'Taken' in trouble with the main lead?," Lupin asked. "I said 'smart',' Joker clarified, "Not 'geniuses'. My target was one of the ringleaders, who apparently was unafraid to get his hands dirty. I was directed to him by way of Don Giorno of Passione."

"So," the girl, named Bridgette said, "Just who are you three?" "Well," Lupin said, "To put it simply, we're all thieves. And no, we're not with the guys that kidnapped you. We just happened to appropriate their car." "Well, to be fair," Joker said, "I did beat up the kidnappers before I ran into you two. I was about to untie Bridgette and escape before you suddenly came running in. Fiat running low on gas?" "No, just crawling with cops," Kirei explained, "That's why we were in a hurry."

Bridgette then got a good look at Joker and gasped in delight. "Oh my gosh! You're Phantom Thief Joker! I've read every entry on your blog! You're the biggest rising star on the internet!" She got out a notebook and pen from her bag, which Lupin noticed had a picture drawn on the back. "Can I have your autograph!?," Bridgette asked Joker. Joker smirked. "I'll do you one better." He got out a blank calling card and scribbled something on it before handing it to Bridgette. Bridgette read the card. "Glad I was able to steal your admiration. Phantom Thief Joker." Bridgette held the card to her chest before practically swooning in cartoon hearts.

"Yeesh," Lupin said, "You even have more charisma than I do." Kirei raised an eyebrow at Lupin. "You're married, and she's a teenager." "It's not like I plan on even flirting," Lupin clarified, "But I've never once had someone casually ask me for an autograph. And I've read Joker's blog, he has as many followers as I do." "It's true," Joker admitted, "Though to be fair, I do stand out in a crowd with my special outfit. Speaking of which, I hope MI-6 doesn't catch wind of this. I tracked this car by having a few contacts hack their satellites."

"What does MI-6 have to do with this?," Kirei asked. "They were on special assignment to investigate and shut down the human trafficking ring," Joker explained, "They even put Agent Nyx on the case." Joker and Kirei blanched. "Agent Nyx!," Joker asked, "Oh man, if he catches up to us..." Kirei nodded. He had only barely managed to catch a lucky break the last time they fought, managing to use Nyx's own superhuman hearing against him. "Well, considering Joker's own supernatural powers, we might stand a chance of at least escaping. But there's still the matter of getting the girl to her family."

Just then, some sort of high-tech car pulled up, and a masked man opened the door and started firing a gun. Joker quickly threw up a shadow barrier to keep the group safe. "This just got a little more complicated!," he noted, "We need to get moving! Find someone we can trust to look after Bridgette!" "I know just the person!," Lupin said, "Follow me!" The four of them started running, Joker using his pistol to maintain a covering fire. "Is that one of the kidnappers?," Kirei wondered. "Not sure," Joker admitted, "None of them seemed to bother with masks."

As the rain started to come to in, the group was stopped by a bright red sports car. Lupin smiled when he saw the driver. "Rebecca. I was just planning on finding you." Joker quickly placed his gloved hand over Bridgette's mouth. "How about I do the talking here, kid? You are way too excitable for your own good." He brought Rebecca up to speed. "So you're actually helping two of the people that have been on your target roster," Rebecca noted, "Does that happen often?" "Only with you and Lupin," Joker said with a smirk.

He suddenly sensed something behind them. "W Boiled Xtreme!" He conjured a shadow barrier with his stand as the masked gunman caught up to them and started firing again. "Good grief, what's his deal?" "Wait," Bridgette said, "How are those bullets not reaching us?" "Good question," Rebecca replied. "Oh that's right," Lupin realized, "Neither of you have supernatural powers. Joker's actually a Stand user. You know, those psychic supermen you read about on the internet?"

"Ah," Rebecca said, "Rob, would you mind giving Joker some backup?" "Not at all, madam," Robert replied. He got out of the passenger's seat and started firing an automatic rifle in the gunman's direction. "Nice work," Joker said. Lupin, Kirei, and Bridgette had already taken advantage of the cover to get running. Joker spotted the gunman suddenly running in the direction of the trio and narrowed his eyes. "Now that's bizarre... It's almost like he can hear them from a mile away..." His eyes went wide. "OH YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" He quickly called in his motorcycle and drove off.

He arrived at a nearby warehouse just in time to spot Lupin and Nyx in a stand-off. "What happened to kidnappers?," Nyx asked. "They've been trussed up for the police," Joker replied as he dropped down from the ceiling. He presented the Watch Station plaque. "They had this piece of the Joestar Collection on them, so they became my next target. I was intending to have the girl returned to her family when I got caught up in all this. Normally my MO is to get in, get the treasure, then get out with as little confrontation as possible. I normally don't get this deeply involved."

He returned his loot to his jacket. "But that just leaves you, Nyx. You seemed pretty intent on shooting to kill. Yet even so, I was able to draw enough sightlines through the bullets' trajectory to note that you were deliberately aiming away from the girl." Nyx looked taken aback, and Joker grinned. "You think you're the only one with superhuman senses? It's an aspect of my Stand, otherwise my shadow manipulation powers would be less effective. Speaking of which, I just heard a door on the outside open. And I spotted Rebecca's car driving up."

He walked outside, where Rebecca was waving at the car driving off. "So what's going on out here? And please be specific. I get the feeling our MI-6 friend is in no mood for games." He pointed to where Nyx had followed Joker outside. Rebecca sighed. "I had Robson take her on a shopping trip. On my dime, of course. Kid looked like she needed some excitement in her life. I can relate." Nyx sighed in annoyance. "Of course. She's always been like that." "And just what is that supposed to mean?," Lupin asked as he and Kirei stepped out.

"Yeah, what does that mean?," Rebecca asked Joker. "It was a rhetorical question," Joker pointed out, "I'd say both me and Lupin figured it out the moment we realized it was Nyx after us." He turned to the MI-6 agent. "Bridgette's your daughter, isn't she?" Nyx sighed. "She is. Naturally she doesn't know I'm with MI-6. She and the rest of my family think I'm a stock broker." Joker nodded. "She said her kidnappers were taking her to the 'Dream of Italy'. I may already know the answer to this, but do you know anything about that?"

"I'm sure my superiors do," he admitted, "But otherwise such information would be classified." Joker nodded. "You displayed a high level of rage earlier," Kirei noted, "But now you appear completely calm. What was that all about?" Nyx turned his eyes to Rebecca. Lupin got the hint. "Rebecca, sweetie, maybe you should go and make sure Bridgette's not getting into trouble." "Okay," Rebecca agreed. She hurried off. Nyx seemed to wait for a moment, then began sighed deeply.

"All information on MI-6 Stands is only freely available to any other supernatural entity," he noted, "The truth is... I possess what may be the most cursed Stand in all of existence. It's called Cat's in the Cradle. Whenever I become aware of a member of my family in danger, my Stand triggers and sends me into an uncontrollable rage. I can only be calmed by the knowledge that all of my family is safe and sound. MI-6 is aware of how much of a liability this Stand can be, and have set up a number of safeguards." He turned to his eyes to where several snipers were putting away their rifles.

Nyx walked off. "There goes a most pitiable man indeed," Kirei said, crossing himself for the sake of Nyx's soul, "Here's hoping he'll one day find a semblance of peace." Joker nodded. "Well, regardless of how things went down, my latest caper otherwise went off without a hitch." Lupin facepalmed. "Crap, I just remembered! We left behind the loot from our own heist!" Kirei sighed. "By now the police will have picked it up. We'll have to call this one a bust." Joker chuckled as he walked over to his motorcycle. "You'll have to step up your game, Lupin, or I'll be making good on my promise to take your title." He drove off into the rainy Italian evening, leaving Lupin and Kirei to stew in their screw-up.

Later, Joker was on a Skype call with Giorno. "Nyx downplayed his knowledge of this 'Dream of Italy'," he noted, "But I get the feeling he may know more than he's letting on. Something about it stinks of danger." 'I remember my father was once working of a dream to achieve Heaven,' Giorno noted, 'Perhaps this is something similar. But getting more information out of MI-6 would be a herculean task. After all, not even Speedwagon can get much out of those people.' Joker nodded. It seemed things were getting more intense as he continued his quest for the Joestar Collection.

Another Stand for you guys.

Cat's in the Cradle (Song by Harry Chapin)
User: Agent Nyx
Ability: This Stand will only activate when Nyx becomes aware that a member of his family is in danger. It immediately sends him into an uncontrollable rage. All of his physical and mental facilities improve dramatically, but at the cost of sending his emotions haywire. The Stand will immediately deactivate, allowing Nyx to calm down, when he is aware that his family is safe and sound.
Power: B
Speed: E
Range: E
Durability: C
Precision: B
Potential: D

Next time, Joker trails a small-time gang of crooks to a haunted hotel in Florence. Running into Lupin by chance, Joker becomes interested in the rumors of a treasure buried somewhere in the hotel, which used to be a royal castle. Read and review.