This chapter has a small cameo by characters from Elfen Lied. Just some minor world-building in an increasingly supernatural society. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.

Forty-Second Caper: Next Generation Samurai, The Siren's Rest

A small rural town in France was in the middle of a cosplay event. Joker and Violet were there as well, taking advantage of their extravagant Phantom Thief costumes to hide in plain sight. "Wow, there's a lot of different cosplayers here," Violet noted, "Like that samurai and the pink-haired girl." Joker looked to where Violet was pointing. "Actually, I think those are our contacts. The students Goemon mentioned. Looks like we can get started with our latest job." Violet nodded as the two walked over to talk to the couple. "Ah, there they are," the girl said.

The young man bowed as the two thieves approached. "Hello there. I'm Kouta, a student of Goemon. This is my girlfriend Kaede." Kaede bowed. Joker noticed the small horns on Kaede's head. "Ah, a Diclonius. You don't see one too often." "We tend to hide because of how many governments fear us," Kaede said sadly. Joker nodded. "You're among fellow supernatural wielders here. But let's get on to business." He got out the photo he was given by Lupin. It depicted a pretty young woman with long, blonde hair. "Chloe Cazal," Joker noted, "A rather unassuming young woman... Who happened to have been good friends with recently deceased Belgian billionaire Andre Regnie."

"She was given a necklace from him," Violet noted, "A rather unassuming one at first glance. But open it up and you'll find a valuable ruby, once crafted by nobles during the Russian Revolution. It's said to be worth a fortune." "But Andre's relatives want it back, right?," Kouta asked. Joker nodded. "Oh yes. And they've hired some dangerous men to try and force the issue. So she took the necklace and fled Belgium. Now of course, Lupin is hoping to get the necklace itself. Chloe might be inclined to hand it over without issue given how much trouble it's given her."

"And she's somewhere in this city?," Kaede asked. "Maybe," Joker said with a shrug, "She has parents here who own a bistro. But she also has a friend living in Geneva, and a hotel made under her name in Sicily. Lupin and Kirei are checking Geneva, while Rebecca and Riko are looking into Sicily. Lupin asked us to help in investigating this place since that group we mentioned is also searching here. And their leader has a piece of the Joestar Collection." Kouta and Kaede looked at each other. "That's convenient," they both said.

"Stop it!," a young woman called out, "Let go of me!" Kouta looked to see the woman getting harassed by two burly guys and walked over, drawing his bokken. "I was wondering how security let him bring a sword in," Violet noted. Joker was too busy getting a good look at the woman in question. He snapped his fingers. "Well well. Look's like we've found our girl." He dashed forward and slammed his palm into the huge gut of the bigger thug, causing him to lose his grip on the woman's arm and knocking him to the ground.

The other guy tried to pull out a knife, only for Joker to kick it out of his hands before throwing the man over his shoulder in a perfect judo move. Soon enough the two men were being carted off by security. Kouta sighed as he sheathed his bokken. "I was gonna step in." "Sorry," Joker said, "But that woman turned out to be Chloe." "Hey, you guys know Chloe?," came the voice of a young boy dressed up like a ninja. The four of them looked at him. "We've heard of her," Violet said.


The boy explained a few things regarding Chloe, and set them up so they could stay at his family's bed and breakfast. Apparently they had been trying to set up the rooms to match the event, but couldn't finish in time. Kouta and Kaede were given a room that looked out over Chloe's bistro. Kouta had to sigh as he saw random animals just up and grab Chloe's baked goods right off the table. "She comes off as clumsy but well-meaning," Kaede said, "Like this one girl I knew from preschool. She and some others were telling off the mean boys that tried to kill my pet dog. She was the only one who stumbled while the others were ganging up on the bullies."

Kouta nodded. To this day he didn't know how such little kids could be so cruel as to do a stupid dance at the attempted murder of a little puppy. Their parents were certainly furious at their actions. It was 1 AM at night, and Kouta noticed two guys trying to break into the bistro. "You ready?," he asked Kaede. She nodded, and the window seemed to open on its own. This was a special trait of Diclonii, invisible hands known as Vectors. Harmless at lower frequencies, which made them useful as extra limbs, at higher frequencies they could slash through any material.

Moreover, Kaede was a Diclonius queen, capable of reproducing to make more Diclonii, and through training had learned how to specifically target her Vectors' frequency so that they could slash through one thing without harming another. Goemon had been a very patient teacher in that regard, and he was not one to judge a person based on appearance or species, but rather their disposition. That was likely why he was friends with Lupin. In any event, his teachings had really helped Kaede lessen how dangerous she could be.

The two of them hurried down to where the two thugs were trying to break into the back door. Kouta slammed the hilt of his bokken into the bigger guy's jaw, knocking him out, while Kaede hit the slimmer one with a low-frequency Vector, essentially giving him an invisible punch. "Is someone there?," they heard Chloe say through the door. "Cheese it," Kaede muttered, grabbing Kouta with her Vectors so they could leave without drawing local attention and return to their rooms. Half an hour later they saw Chloe speaking with several police officers.


The duo was surprised, as was Joker and Violet, that the young wannabe ninja had brought Chloe to see Kouta and Kaede. They noticed that she was wearing the necklace. "For some reason Chloe's bistro never gets any customers," the boy said, "So I came up with a great idea." The idea involved Kouta, dressed as a samurai, and Kaede, dressed as a cat girl, to draw in customers during the cosplay event. Kouta looked a little embarrassed, but Kaede looked like she was having the time of her life.

"Business is certainly booming," Joker noted. He and Violet were hidden among the crowd inside the bistro. Violet, however, noticed a man dressed like a bunch of grapes narrowing his eyes at Kouta before heading off. "I've seen that guy several times so far," she noted, "Think we should be concerned?" "Yes," Joker said bluntly, "Even if he's not up to anything suspicious, that simply means he's a legitimate security officer. Thus, extra caution should be taken around him." Violet nodded. "Right. I forgot that important rule of being a Phantom Thief... Always be wary around law enforcement, no matter what the context."


That night, Kouta and Kaede slept in shifts. Kaede was the one up at 1 AM, and spotted more men looking around the bistro. "Jeez, it's like they don't even sleep." She quickly got Kouta up and they hurried out. They noticed a man fallen in the alley, and realized quickly that he wasn't moving. Kaede jerked her head up. "Kouta! Look out!" Kouta spotted the gunman on the roof, and revealed that his bokken was concealing a very real katana, which he used to deflect the bullets. The gunman was shocked, but quickly tried to reload, only for Kouta to jump up to the roof to meet him.

Kaede saw the man fall off the roof in a spray of blood. When he landed, Kaede took out a photo she had observed in his pocket. It showed a middle-aged woman with a thicker body, but the same blonde hair as Chloe. It even had the same name on the back. "Okay... What's this about?" "Look out!," came the voice of a man. Kaede recognized the same security officer, who leapt behind her just as the seemingly still man had gotten up and tried to fire on her. Quickly she launched her Vectors at a high enough speed and frequency to slice the bullet right out of the air. The gunman then collapsed again.


The next day the officer, named Bruno, explained why he was frequenting Chloe's bistro so often. "I work for Sirena Security," he explained, "Chloe's bistro is in my jurisdiction. I've seen a number of people pretending to be tourists targeting that young woman, sometimes all at once. So I got suspicious." Joker handed Bruno the photo and a few euros. "I don't supposed you know this woman." Bruno looked at the woman. "This is Chloe Cazal, alright. She couldn't renew the lease on her bistro and so she moved out to Belgium. But that leaves the question of who the other woman claiming to be Chloe might be."

"Everyone here is calling her Chloe," Violet noted, "So either Cazal isn't her last name, or she's the daughter of the Chloe in this picture, and is thus Chloe Cazal the Second." Bruno took a look at the photo. "Well, the locals would easily see through that sort of lie, so I have to figure you're onto something. Of course, it would certainly fool people from out of town. I do know that Chloe definitely had a daughter before she left. And that woman looks like she might be related." "One more thing," Joker said, "These false tourists... Do they happen to have a ringleader?"

"Oh yeah," Bruno said, "He registered himself at the event as Michio Tsukui. I thought the name was familiar so I looked it up. It turns out it's the Dog from the Zodiac Assassins." "You know about them?," Kouta asked in surprise. Bruno nodded. "You work long enough in security and you know those twelve bastards just by reputation. His current contract according to the website has him with Marcel Regnie, a black sheep of the family." Joker and Violet looked at each other. They now had their target.


Michio grumbled when he saw the calling card that had been sent to his current employer. "Marcel Regnie, we are the Phantom Thieves Joker and Violet. This evening we will steal The Siren's Rest from your possession." The Siren's Rest was a tavern founded by some member of the Joestar clan, he wasn't sure which. 'So now it's my turn to face the Phantom Thieves. This will make only one left who has yet to fight them.' He had heard how the others wound up losing to the mysterious Phantom Thieves, and while he would certainly fight to the best of his abilities, he wasn't particularly keen on his chances.

"I've already sent out my men to straight up attack the Bistro," Marcel noted, "Can I count on you to handle the Phantom Thieves?" Michio put on a brave smile. "They won't stand a chance against my Shiro Inu." Shiro Inu was the name of Michio's Stand, a set of sharp fangs capable of piercing metal. But their real ability was that they could inject certain compounds into the bloodstream, especially poisons. And they rendered him immune to any poison, toxin, or venom. Marcel nodded. "Good. That necklace should belong to blood. I don't know what my father was thinking."

"While I can't speak for the rest of the family," came Joker's voice, "In your case he was thinking you didn't even deserve an ounce of the family fortune." Marcel whirled his head around and spotted Joker phasing through the wall, the plaque in hand. Michio leapt at him, only for Violet to suddenly appear into view, Michio's fangs digging into her arm. Fortunately, it was no longer solid. "Ever bite into a flashbang?," she asked with a smirk. Michio's eyes widened as Violet's body lit up brightly, blinding the entire room. By the time the light died down, Michio was out cold and the thieves were gone.


"I thought the picture looked old," Violet noted as the two drove off. "Yeah that was Chloe when she was younger," Joker noted, "We were right about that other woman being her daughter, though. Inez Cazal, as it turns out. She was acting as a decoy until her mom could sell off the necklace, Andre even giving her permission to do so in his will. Seems he knew that Chloe was falling on hard times and wanted to help her as a way of repaying their friendship. The necklace Inez had turned out to have been a fake." Violet smiled. "Looks like we came out the winner again!" The two of them laughed as they rode off into the sunset.

Another new Stand to showcase.

Shiro Inu
User: Michio "Dotsuku" Tsukui
Ability: Taking the form of a set of fangs, this Stand gives Michio immunity to poisons and toxins, and can transmit various compounds into the bloodstream of living beings. The fangs are strong enough to pierce through metal. The Stand also renders Michio immune to harmful compounds such a poisons and toxins.
Speed: D
Range: E
Durability: B
Precision: B
Potential: E

Next time, Violet learns from Alibaba about a terrorist group targeting a local school, the leader possessing a piece of the Joestar Collection. During her first solo heist, she runs into Ami, Rebecca, and a young princess named Dolma, who seems to be a prime target of the group. Read and review.