Some of these chapters involve Lupin's old crew coming back to the forefront, even though they separated years ago. This is one such case. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.

Fourteenth Caper: A Crook in Honest Clothing, Soldier's Memory

Joker shoved the last of a cannoli in his mouth as he observed the man who was noted to have one of the Memories of the Dead. The large circle embossed with a forward facing skull was quite distinct. "That's the Soldier's Memory all right," he said to Margaret, "Created in memory of Raymond Joestar, a member of the Royal Army who gave his life helping civilians during the Great Fire of London. But it's weird. Up until now all of the pieces of the Joestar Collection have been sold to those with a criminal's disposition, or kept by the original thieves. But Leopoldo Fago is supposed to have a clean record."

"Well, the man was involved in a political assassination," Margaret pointed out, "And most of the assassins he hired have been killed." Joker raised an eyebrow. "Any from the Zodiac Assassins?" "No, not this time," Margaret said, "When I heard that he hired th assassins, I made sure of who by interrogating his closest subordinates using Toxic. From what I can understand, only three are still alive right now. One is a girl named Belladonna. Another is the skilled bomber Romeo. And the third... Is Goemon." Now Joker was truly interested. "Well now... I think I need to have a little chat with our modern samurai."

As it happened, Goemon had traveled to Italy to speak with Belladonna, a young woman with short blonde hair, in her small villa just outside Rome. He overheard their conversation. "Chloe, Wolf, Sasha, all three were killed just this week. And all with the same weapon. A Winchester M70." Belladonna gasped. "Then that means..." "Right," Goemon said, "Zora is still alive." "And just who might Zora be?," Joker asked as he slipped down through the ceiling, causing Belladonna to reflexively reach for her belt holster.

Goemon sighed. "Even if you had remembered to keep your gun there, Joker is a Stand user capable of turning intangible. The bullets would just phase through him. Besides, he's a friend of mine." Joker nodded. The three of them sat around the dining room table. "It was just a few years after Lupin's first death," Goemon explained, "I was contacted for an assassination job. I agreed under the condition that it be my last. Even then I was making plans to open my dojo."

"Who was the target?," Joker asked. "Samuel Decale," Goemon replied, "The late President of The Republic of Dalia." Joker nodded. "I've heard the name. He was one of the most notorious West African dictators." "Indeed," Goemon said, "And Zora was his hired bodyguard. A man capable of hitting a target from one kilometer away. Removing him was supposed to be the key to the whole operation. Getting close to Decale would be impossible without first removing Zora from the equation."

"It was a twelve-man job," Belladonna chimed in, "I was the only new face among the group." Joker narrowed his eyes. Judging from Belladonna's appearance, she would have been no older than he was at the time. 'A teenage thief is one thing,' he thought, 'But sending her out at that age is like creating a child soldier...' He was starting to think there was more to Fago than what the public saw. "Well, despite the difficulty you obviously pulled it off."

Goemon nodded. "Decale was no idiot. He tried to learn from the mistakes of previous dictators and not make himself as public as previous ones. But he still made a trip once a year to his hometown, the oasis village of Serimu. The idea was to ambush him while he was traveling there. It was simple enough. Some fudged passports, simple nomad disguises, and we were past the border without issue. I did have to keep Belladonna from going the suicide bomber route." Belladonna looked saddened from the memory.

Goemon looked at her. "Anyway, things started wrong soon enough. Zora took out the Van Brothers first, then two more of our snipers. The only ones not to get immediately taken out were those that were smart enough not to poke their heads out at the sounds of shots, including Sasha, Romeo, Wolf, Chloe, Belladonna, and myself. But then Zora made a mistake, racing at us atop his jeep while aiming his Winchester M70." Joker narrowed his eyes. That was the same model rifle Goemon had mentioned earlier.

"He nearly got me when I raced out there trying to get a better shot," Belladonna admitted, "But Goemon was able to save me by slicing the bullet before it reach my body." "I then made my move on Zora," Goemon said, "Only for Decale and his men to move in and try to cover him. It failed. While they were able to stop me from taking down Zora, Belladonna was able to finish the job while the sniper's attention was focused in my direction. She took him down with one shot. After which I was able to complete the assassination of Decale."

"But Zora wasn't dead yet," Belladonna admitted, "He had enough strength in him for one final shot. He nearly shot Goemon, but I was able to get in front of the bullet, causing it to hit my shoulder. Romeo was able to take out the remaining pursuers." She sighed. "I keep thinking to myself, 'If only I had to gotten to him that time.'" "Did you ever have the bullet removed?," Joker asked. "I was given a patch-up," Belladonna said, "But my shoulder still hurts sometimes, so I don't know if the bullet was removed or not. Even if it wasn't it was never in a location that would be dangerous."

Joker summoned his Stand. "I remember in the visual novel Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney, how the main villain Manfred von Karma kept holding his shoulder in pain due to still having the bullet from his past lodged in there. Let my Stand take a look." W Boiled Xtreme carefully moved its hand through Belladonna's body. Joker narrowed his eyes as his shadowy Stand pulled back out, fist clenched around something. "Well, it looks like the bullet is gone. It's likely just phantom pain." Just then, a phone call came in. Belladonna answered it. "Romeo?"

"Decale was assassinated so that Fago could obtain oil rights in Dalia," Giorno noted as he and Ren stood in a crowd of onlookers while Fago was making a speed, "He's yet another politician crusading against organized crime in general. More sensationalizing based on what the media shows of us. Honestly, it's good entertainment, but what's allowed us to thrive is that we work with the community, rather than trying to take advantage of it." Ren nodded. "Still, he's handsome and charismatic. The sort who can rally the people to his side. But that means nothing if you can't follow up on your promises."

Ren noticed Goemon and Belladonna nearby. Goemon was talking to her before heading off to a nearby building. "The more I learn about the situation," Ren said, "The more I realize that Fago is exactly the sort of scumbag that would get sold one of the Joestar Collection." He showed Giorno a small device. "Is that what I think it is?," Giorno asked. Ren nodded. "I retrieved it using my Stand. And considering where it came from, I have a good idea what it was meant to be used for, and who is holding the controller for it." He narrowed his eyes squarely on Fago.

"I managed to get in contact with Romeo," Giorno said, "After I explained that I heard what he was involved in via Phantom Thief Joker, he showed me a photo he had of what seemed to be Zora's hideout. But when me and Mista went to check it out, it was clear that Zora was in no shape for any sort of revenge. He was wheelchair bound, old, and even his trademark Winchester was collecting dust and cobwebs." A shot rang out, prompting Ren to shift into his Joker outfit and leap to a nearby rooftop. He frowned when he saw Romeo dead, with Goemon and Belladonna checking out the photo in his pocket.

"This has never been about revenge," Ren noted to himself as he finished the calling card, "This was about cleaning up loose ends. Fortunately, I have a wild card or two up my sleeve." He finished photocopying the calling card. "Fago, you call yourself the future of Italy. But if that's the case, then the future looks rather grim indeed. Of course, as was once said by the band Disturbed..." He donned his outfit as Phantom Thief Joker and grinned. "Sometimes darkness... Can show you the light."

Fago frowned as Belladonna returned. "It's done sir," she said, "Goemon's dead." "But it seems there's one final leak," Fago said, "This was sent to my office. It was plastered all over the building." Belladonna gasped when he showed her one of Joker's calling cards. "Leopoldo Fago, I am the Phantom Thief Joker. This evening I will steal the Soldier's Memory from your possession." "Joker only steals from criminals," Fago noted, "And publicly my record is clean. So the only reason Joker would be targeting me... Is if he knew..." Belladonna looked concerned.

Joker arrived at the public house to great chaos. Despite Belladonna's earlier assertion, Goemon wasn't dead, and was now tearing up the place. Joker smirked. "Couldn't have planned a better distraction myself." He soon confronted Fago on the roof. "I was expecting Goemon to arrive," Fago admitted. He had Belladonna right in front of him, with a sub-machine gun aimed right at Joker. Fago smirked. "I wouldn't get too close. This girl has a small bomb attached to her heart. I'm sure as a master thief, you'd prefer not to have someone killed right in front of you."

Joker smirked. "Are you sure the bomb is attached to her heart?" Belladonna looked confused, then gasped when she remembered that Joker had used his Stand to check her body for a possible bullet. Fago grimaced. "Fine! But this one's on you!" He hit a switch on the tablet with the control program, only to get shocked when the explosion happened halfway across Napoli. "Well," Joker said, "Scratch that safe house." He smirked at Fago's look of befuddlement. "Don't act so surprised. I'm a master thief who's even stolen items from individuals while they were wearing them. For example..."

He swooped over to Fago, using his Stand power to swipe the Soldier's Memory from his finger. Fago stumbled back in shock as Joker leapt to a nearby roof. "Now you've got your good name ruined and two deadly assassins on your tail, neither of which owe you a thing anymore. This is why I only steal from criminals, Fago. Because if something happens to them during or after my theft, I can walk away with a cleaner conscience. Ciao!" He leapt away, leaving Fago to gulp as he felt the anger and presence of Goemon and Belladonna right behind him.

"Now Fago's dirty deeds are out in the open," Giorno said as he read the paper, "A bit of a cruel mercy, that. I would have expected Belladonna to kill Fago for all the misery he put her through. He thought her life was in his hands. Guess Joker stole that as well." Mista nodded. "I don't think she would have let Fago live if that bomb was still inside her. Guess the realization that the bastard no longer had any hold over her gave her a new reason to want to live. So what happened to her?"

"She traveled to Japan with Goemon," Giorno said, "Apparently, she's going to be joining his dojo." He smirked. "And there may be something more going on as well. After all, I saw it as they got on the plane together. I think somewhere deep down, she developed something of an affection for our modern day samurai. He was able to keep his promise to her, after all." Mista chuckled. "Isn't the age difference between them kinda big? Then again, they're both consenting adults, and I've seen worse." He looked out the nearby window and smirked when he saw Joker give them a thumbs-up. "So... Where will his next caper take him...?"

Next time, Joker learns that a barrel of a famous wine called the Lovesick Pig, said to make couples who share it fall deeply in love, is up for auction. Hearing that the owner of the winery has a piece of the Joestar Collection, Joker decides to join in on the party. But things get wacky when he spots Lupin, caught between his wife and his ex-wife. Read and review.