This is going to be a first for this story. See, while there are eighty-four pieces of the Joestar Collection, I don't intend to write eighty-four chapters. Some chapters will bunch identical pieces together. Such is the case with this chapter. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.
Thirteenth Caper: The Haunted Hotel, Whiteridge's Duty
Ren smirked as he peeked out from his hotel room, seeing the car driving up. Earlier he had plastered such a car with several calling cards for his next heist. "Boss Mamma, I am the Phantom Thief Joker. This evening I will steal Whiteridge's Duty from your possession." Whiteridge's Duty was a set of six camisoles, each adorned with a different color and embossed with an ivory image of a young woman. They were commission by Nadia Whiteridge, a member of a branch family of the Joestar clan, and the inscriptions on the back detailed her advice on how to be a beautiful lady that would catch any man's eye.
Ren was currently staying at Hotel Cielo, an ancient Italian castle that had been converted in the recent century. Once owned by the Gautielli family, it was suddenly seized during the wedding of the princess to a member of the Giuliani family, and there were rumors that a fabulous treasure lay somewhere within its walls, as well as the ghost of the princess. 'Maybe that's why Lupin and Kirei are also poking about,' Ren thought. Lupin's familiar Fiat had pulled up just a little while ago, and the duo had entered the hotel themselves.
"Well," Ren said, "If Lupin desires that Gautielli family treasure so badly, he can have it." He looked in the full body mirror and manifested his thief outfit. "But as for the famous Phantom Thief Joker, much rarer treasures await me. I had a feeling Mamma would be trying to get Lupin back for swiping that letter, which is why I came to this hotel after displaying my calling card." He chuckled. "Tonight may just prove to be a most exceptional heist. Up until now I've had to track down each piece individually, but Mamma has six. This is going to be fun."
As he walked through the halls, Ren spotted a portrait of a young blonde woman. "The tragic bride Adele Gautielli," Ren noted. "They say her ghost haunts this hotel still," came the voice of Adolfo, the current owner of the hotel. He was an elderly man with pure white hair and a gaunt appearance. "You shouldn't be wandering where a vengeful spirit may be lurking," he warned in a sinister tone. Ren smiled. "I wager anyone she might have a grudge against is long dead." What Adolfo didn't know was that ghosts were most definitely real, and were often quite harmless to boot.
The tragedy of Adele happened because of her father who was part of a secret society of Italian revolutionaries, but he broke the societies rules by having Adele married to a Conservative family, the Giuliani. The entire family was made an example, despite the fact that only the father was part of the society. "Today's freedom fighters can become tomorrow's despots," Ren noted, "How hard could it have been to convert the Giuliani family to the side of the revolution? No wonder that revolution failed."
The treasure spoken of in the rumors was actually meant to be Adele's wedding gifts. Fine china from the Song Dynasty, Asian silks, and several works from Michelangelo, including one not even included on any official listing of his work. "It'd be a great find for any treasure hunter, let alone a master thief," Ren noted, "I wonder if it really is still within this old castle somewhere..." He spotted a crack of light in one of the rooms and carefully phased through the wall. Sure enough, Lupin and Kirei were sitting inside, discussing what Ren had just been thinking about.
Lupin even had a brochure listing all the most haunted locations in Italy. 'So he's going on a bit of an archaeological treasure hunt,' Ren thought, 'I wonder if he picked up the idea from Jonathan Joestar.' He phased back into the hallway. He had only peeked inside, since his Stand didn't make him invisible, and if Lupin or Kirei spotted him using Joker's Stand they would know who he was in an instant. "By now Mamma's boys should be entering the hotel looking for Lupin. I think I'll go on a little treasure hunt myself. After all..." He shifted into his Phantom Thief attire. "With a mystery this exquisite, why not throw a wild card into the mix?"
Joker started looking through the various rooms, hoping to catch a glimpse of the treasure. One of the rooms was darkened, but the cupboard at the far end creaked open, revealing a ghastly-looking woman with what seemed to be blood streaming from her forehead. Joker narrowed his eyes and summoned his Stand. The girl didn't bat an eye, but just kept staring. 'This can't be a real ghost,' Joker noted, 'Ghosts can see Stands due to having a supernatural wavelength.' He heard the sound of armored footsteps and looked outside, nearly doubling over in laughter at the sight of a walking suit of armor.
"Good grief," he said, "Who'd even fall for something like that?" He heard the sound of two men screaming their heads off, and spotted Mamma's two goons running like a hound was on their tail. "Oh yeah...," Joker realized. The only thing that made Mamma strictly small-time was that while she was a talented criminal, her two boys were absolute morons. Between the two of them they definitely cost her plenty of loot and other expenses. It was a wonder she still kept them around.
He soon spotted the girl from before walking around. She soon approached Adolfo, and from the fact that he wasn't scared out of his mind the girl was clearly still among the living. "Papa," she said, "Those guests aren't in their room. And I can't find that one with the mask." Adolfo sighed. "I told them not to walk around. Go and find them and try giving them another scare." 'Interesting,' Joker said, 'Do they know anything about the treasure? All of the sightings involve wandering around in a drunken stupor, then spotting a girl in a blue dress before running through some sort of maze just before winding up outside. And this girl's wearing a blue dress.'
"Well well," Lupin said, having spotted Joker, "Looking for treasure as well?" "Not the one from the castle," Joker clarified, "That said, I am interested on whether or not it exists." "Funny you should mention that," Lupin said, "I think I found out where it might be." He led Joker to a small hole in a corner of the floor of one of the hallways. "Just imagine that you're drunk and wandering," Lupin noted, "And suddenly you feel nature calling. In that state, what's your first instinct?" "Answer the call of course," Joker replied. Then he realized what Lupin was getting at.
Taking a water bottle out of his jacket, Joker poured the water down the hole, causing a nearby staircase to open and reveal a different set of stairs leading down. "A water-powered contraption," he noted, "Likely involving an aqueduct system." "My thoughts exactly," Lupin agreed, "Of course, in their drunken delirium, the previous guests likely wouldn't have realized that they're weren't in the regular hotel anymore." The two thieves started walking through the hall, but stopped when Lupin stepped on a hidden switch, revealing a large trapdoor that led to the water below.
"How do you like that?," Joker said, "This solves just about all the mysteries. Even our 'ghost' is a fake. I showed her my Stand earlier and she didn't react to it. I have it on good authority that real ghosts are capable of seeing Stands." They reset the door and moved on. They soon spotted a young girl in a blue dress and wearing a tiara. "So she's finally making an appearance," Lupin noted. Joker raised an eyebrow. "Something's off. The girl I spotted was taller, she didn't have a tiara, and there was blood dripping down her face. This girl's face looks clean."
Lupin looked confused. "Try your Stand." Joker nodded and summoned W Boiled Xtreme, its appearance causing the girl to back away. "She can see it," Joker noted, "So, would you be Adele?" The girl shook her head. "That was my sister. My name's Carla-" She gasped and quickly covered her mouth. Lupin and Joker looked at each other and shrugged. "Well," Lupin said, "I'm Lupin, and this here's my buddy Joker." The girl Carla looked a little frightened and quickly ran off. "Hey, where are you going?," Lupin asked. "I think we frightened her off," Joker admitted, "W Boiled Xtreme can be terrifying to look at."
"Speaking of which," Lupin said, "Maybe we can make use of it to catch up to her." Joker nodded, grabbing Lupin's shoulder and keeping a good grip so that they could phase through the castle walls to track down Carla, managing to surprise her from the rafters while making cartoonish spooky noises. "Now that's how you scare someone," Lupin said as he dropped down. Carla looked confused. "So... You two aren't scared of me?" "Why would we be scared of a little girl?," Joker pointed out.
Lupin sighed. "Well, you should go on home. We're both busy, and we don't have time to waste on you. Sorry." He started walking off. "Don't go over there!," Carla called out. "Not falling for that," Lupin said. Joker sighed and raced over to grab Lupin as he fell into a trap door. "Never let your guard down in these places, Lupin." He pointed to a big, spiked cylinder right below them. "Yikes!," Lupin called out, "That could have been bad!" Joker pulled out his pistol. "Better to set the trap off where it can't do damage." He shot near the floor, the shadow bullet triggering the mechanism to send the cylinder rolling down an incline, hitting the bottom with a loud impact.
"Jeez," Lupin said as Joker pulled him up, "I'll bet the whole castle heard that." "This way," Carla said, opening a passage in the hall that led around the trap. "Now how did you know about that trap and this passage?," Lupin asked. "Because this is my home," Carla said, "You mentioned Adele earlier. Do you know my big sister?" "We know of her," Joker clarified, "Quite a lot, actually." Carla suddenly turned a lot more cheerful. "She told me to look after the secret until she's able to return."
Joker smiled as Lupin spoke with Carla. Apparently she looked a lot like his daughter Riko when she was a little girl. Joker then tilted his head behind him a little and smirked. He quickly pulled out his pistol and fired twice, knocking the twin guns out of the hands of Mamma's goons. "Well if it isn't Dale and Bucci. Shame on you for ruining such a tender moment. What would Mamma say?" Lupin chuckled as he stood up. "Carla, meet the two dumbest criminals in all of Italy."
"And their Mamma," Joker added. Carla looked confused, but understood what was going on when the two bozos called out, "Mamma!?" They looked behind them, only for Joker to knock their heads together. "Oldest trick in the book." Lupin smirked as he tied the two thugs up and gagged them. He and Joker soon found themselves agreeing to help Carla protect the treasure as she led them both to it. She soon led them to an opening in the castle with a chain dangling just outside.
Joker then noticed something behind him. "Looks like I'll be getting my own prize while I'm here." He turned around to see the large, middle-aged Boss Mamma, toting a minigun, her two boys right next to her. "Well well, looks I get to take out Lupin and Joker. Both of you have a lot of nerve." Joker eyed the six camisoles from Whiteridge's Duty hanging from her neck. "I could the same about you. That's Joestar property, after all." He quickly had his Stand phase through the mechanism of the gun to shut it down and prevent it from firing. "What's that spirit you have with you?," Carla asked.
"It's his Stand," came Kirei's voice. He suddenly appeared behind Dale and aimed a Black Key at his throat. "Drop you weapons right now. Joker, I believe you're here for those camisoles?" Joker smirked as he walked right up to Mamma and pulled the Whiteridge's Duty set from her neck. "My client will be grateful to have these returned. By the way, while we were walking..." He revealed a large stone pin from jacket. "I had this pulled out." Lupin chuckled. "You already mapped the entire castle, didn't you?"
A sudden rumbling was heard, along with the sound of rushing water. "Hope you're ready for the second flood," Kirei said with a smirk before fleeing up the nearby staircase, leaving Mamma and her boys gobsmacked. As they tried to outrun the coming flood, only to get swept away, Joker and Lupin ran to grab the chain, Lupin grabbing Carla as he did so she wouldn't get swept away too. The last they heard of the gang was Mamma calling, "I'll get you both for this! You hear me, Lupin and Joker!?"
"Quick," Carla said, "We need to remove the pin down there." She pointed to an iron pin keeping the chain in place against the wall. Joker realized they had grabbed onto the loose end of a pulley system. Lupin nodded and carefully pulled his Walther to shoot the pin out, causing the chain to shoot up and drag the trio up to a tower near the top of the castle. There was a large opening, which the two thieves swung for. Joker whistled once they were inside. The room was completely decked out with the very treasure Lupin had been seeking.
Joker decided to check and make sure he had everything, looking over the six camisoles. The first was a dull red. "The Constant Lady." The second was a light black. "The Virtuous Lady." The third was light green. "The Porcelain Lady." The fourth was blue. "The Observant Lady." The fifth was gray. "The Statuesque Lady." The final one was cyan. "And The Burnished Lady. That's all six." He looked around and noticed Lupin was all alone. "Carla passed on, didn't she?" Lupin nodded. "Once I promised her the treasure would be looked after. Although... There is one thing we can take out of this tower."
He walked over to a tiny little corpse, largely skeletal, but with very familiar hair and clothes. Joker nodded. "It is about time she saw her sister again. Poor girl." He noticed a parchment with the family tree on it. "I guess she wasn't considered old enough for marriage, so they didn't include her on the family tree." "There could be a number of reasons why she wasn't included," Lupin noted, "But it doesn't matter now. Come on. We have a new grave to make. And I'm sure Kirei wouldn't mind performing the funeral. He was never excommunicated, after all." Joker smiled as he wrapped up the corpse before picking it up. "Rest easy, Carla. Where you're going the shadows are few and far between."
Next time, Joker catches wind that a notable politician has a piece of the Joestar Collection, which confuses the Phantom Thief since up until now only criminals have had them and the politician is squeaky clean. But when he learns that Goemon once did an assassination job on the politician's behalf, Joker starts to have his suspicions. Read and review.