I wanted to give Violet a little more spotlight for this chapter. Although as usual, Joker and Violet only intersect with Lupin briefly. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the Persona series, Lupin the Third, or any other referenced media.

Forty-Third Caper: Girl's Night Out, Rutting Out of Season

To say that Sumire was a little nervous was no exaggeration. "This is going to be my first real job without Joker," she noted to Alibaba. 'Well, it's not like Ren could easily infiltrate a girl's boarding school,' Alibaba pointed out, 'We have information that indicates a known terrorist group is targeting the school for whatever reason. And they have a painting from the Joestar Collection called Rutting Out of Season. Just try and make some friends.' Sumire then heard a familiar voice say, "Hello, Underworld." Sumire smiled. "I think I may have an old one already here."

She walked over as a group of girls ran away from a familiar red-head. "Hey Ami." Ami turned her head and her eyes widened. "Vio-Mmph!" Sumire held a hand to Ami's mouth. "Sumire. Sumire Yoshizawa." Ami nodded. "It's good to see you again." Before they could get to talking, they heard the girls that had just run off cry out again. They turned to see a young girl with slightly dark skin and long dark hair with a bow already drawn and aimed at something they couldn't see. The girl aimed near Sumire and Ami and fired. Sumire casually tilted her head as the arrow missed Ami by inches, hitting a crow just behind them.

As the other girls ran off, calling the bow girl a savage, said girl walked over and started tying the corpse to the nearby fountain. Ami looked at her tablet. "Search, crow, corpse, hanging." The girl turned to the duo. "Did you say something?" "You know superstitions don't keep crows away," Sumire said, "They're smart animals, after all." "I'm trying to keep them away from the flower beds," the girl stated. "Tell that to them," Sumire said, pointing her thumb to indicate the girls that had just walked away.

The girl shrugged dismissively. "I don't particularly care what people think. I am the only one who decides what brings me joy." Ami was looking at this girl with a sense of admiration. "This girl..." Sumire smiled. "Anyway, my name's Sumire Yoshizawa. I'm a temporary transfer. This is Ami... Uh... Come to think of it I don't know your last name." "Enan," Ami replied, "Ami Enan." The girl smiled. "I am Dolma Sinha." After some talking, she agreed to enjoy lunch with the two girls. "Yeah, most of the girls here seem to ignore me," Sumire said, "Just the new Japanese transfer. By the way..."

She looked at the cooking pot Dolma had set up. "Are you sure this isn't going to be a fire hazard?," Sumire asked sheepishly, "I mean I'll all for hot pot but this might get brought up with the school board..." She then noticed Rebecca walking in with another teacher. She was wearing less makeup than normal, and the teacher was calling her by a different last name. 'So Lupin is also up to something here... And he sent his wife to scout the area. Perfect thinking. With her looks she'll get preferential treatment...' She noticed Rebecca was still wearing her wedding ring. 'But that will ensure no one tries to get too close...'


Meanwhile Joker was looking in on a bus full of terrorists. He had to be ready to alert Violet when it was time to start the operation. 'Just because she's doing the heist solo doesn't mean she can't have some backup if she needs it.' He saw the bus drive up to the school and activated his visor. "The wild card is in the deck. Going all in. Contact Violet." 'What's up?,' Violet asked. "Target has entered zero hour. Shall I provide him with your personal calling card?" He could practically see Violet's grin. 'Please do.' Joker grinned as he slipped the calling card into the window. "Rodrick Ryans, I am the Phantom Thief Violet. Today I will steal Rutting Out of Season from your possession."


Sumire slipped into the bathroom just as the group known as the Whales of Liberation, which Sumire thought was a stupid name, started to storm the school. With them only focused on the classrooms, Sumire was able to shift into her Violet persona. 'One minor blind spot,' she thought as she went invisible, 'But they have just about everything else set up. Faces covered so they can't be identified. Signal jammers so no phone calls or e-mails can get out. And they're spread out in two-man teams in case someone...'

She winced when heard a gunshot and cries of distress. 'Gets any ideas. Really hope a student or teacher wasn't just killed...' "Of course they didn't count on one thing," she said aloud, "A group of thieves with enough brains to figure out their scheme." Dolma had earlier showed Sumire and Ami her family's treasure, the Bloody Teardrop, a sapphire necklace passed down through her royal bloodline, which explained why Rebecca was there. "Speaking of which," Violet said, "I should locate Rebecca and let her know. And try to identify Rodrick's location while I'm at it."

She quickly slipped through the patrols. One of the lessons Joker taught her, don't cause a scene until you have the prize in hand. Only then can the stage be set. So there was no reason yet to start taking out patrols unless they were planning on killing someone. "With how well though-out this takeover is, I'm betting most of the hostages are in the auditorium. I'm guessing I'll find Rebecca there." She didn't have to look very hard, since it seemed Rebecca had managed to convince one of the terrorists to escort her to the bathroom. "Come to think about it," Violet said, "Where's Ami in all this? She would have been the first to think something was wrong."

She decided she'd leave that for a bit, and slipped behind the guard to slam the hilt of her rapier into his head. "Violet?," Rebecca asked, "I could have taken him out." "Yeah," Violet said, "But if Joker is Lupin's rival, then that makes me your rival." Rebecca smiled. "I think I know where they took Emmy..." "Ami," Violet corrected. Rebecca cleared her throat and continued. "They singled her out first, knowing her history. They also took several girls who are daughters of high-ranking officials."

Violet nodded. "So it's a ransom. Stupid criminals thinking they don't deserve to be in jail. These sorts of scenarios only wind up with the so-called 'freedom fighters' losing all credibility for their cause and losing more men, either by getting killed or arrested. Instead of trying to get members out of jail they should consider a recruitment drive. Let's get Ami first." They found her trying to seduce a guard set to watch her, only for it to go horribly wrong. Rebecca knocked the man out before he could get much farther than man-handling Ami's face. "You have a lot to learn about seduction," Rebecca said, "Some guys have no morals. Those are not the sort of men you want to try that on."

Violet got Ami free. "Not to worry, we happen to know where Dolma is. Though this woman..." Her eyes turned to Rebecca. "Is only interested in Dolma's necklace. Speaking of which, where's Lupin?" "By now he should be aware of the situation," Rebecca assured her, "He'll have a plan to sneak in. What about you? Where's Joker?" "This is a solo heist for me," Violet explained, "You want Dolma's necklace, but I want the painting those terrorists brought with them. So, care for a daytime version of Girl's Night Out?" She winked at Ami, who smiled. "But we don't just save Dolma. We save the other girls too." Rebecca and Violet nodded.

Violet had a laptop set up so Ami could start mapping out the area and identifying the patrols via the security cameras. "Soon enough Interpol is going to get involved," Ami noted, "Zenigata has been keeping tabs on me to make sure I'm alright." "He's kinda like a surrogate father in that regard," Rebecca noted. "Phone lines are ringing," Violet noted as she tied up the goon, "But no one is there to answer, not even the patrols." "How much ammo do you have?," Rebecca asked. Violet sighed as she tossed her rifle to Rebecca. Rebecca pulled the trigger only to get sounds. "Model gun," Violet pointed out, "So I use my Stand to load it. It's the same trick Joker's uses." "I found them!," Ami exclaimed, "They're in the principal's office!"


Rebecca had clearly been taking some lessons from Fujiko, using her own womanly charms to weasel her way in and completely stifle the youngest of the lot, not to mention convince the lot of them that she was unarmed, due to being half-naked, and that she was actually a bodyguard sent by the Kingdom of Padar to protect Dolma. While they were distracted, Violet slipped in. She caught the attention of some of the girls, but placed a hand to her lips to ask them to keep quiet for at least a little while. Dolma caught the hint and nodded.

As Rebecca finagled her way closer to Roderick, and it was clear these guys weren't culture savvy if they didn't recognize a former celebrity, Violet found the painting depicting an old man with antlers, which Roderick had hung up as a sign of potential victory. Violet quickly cut the painting out of its frame and waited. Rebecca was aware that there was likely a bomb under the auditorium, so they needed to grab the detonator and make sure to stop it. Though Violet was sure that Lupin and Joker would likely find the bomb and disarm it even if they failed. And with how much of a eunuch Roderick seemed to be even in the face of Rebecca's sultry nature, Violet was thinking they might.

Fortunately, Rebecca was even prepared for that. The lights quickly went out, thanks to Ami's work, and Roderick found himself run through by Violet's rapier. Rebecca had also tagged the other guards with luminescent paint, easy to spot in the dark, during her flirting, letting Violet find them easily. Unlike Joker, she couldn't see in the dark since her power was more based in light, so the marks were necessary. Her rifle found each mark, disabling the other terrorists. 'Come in, Violet,' came Alibaba's voice. "Oh, Alibaba," Violet said, "I take it Joker's in the building?"

'Yeah, and he dealt with the sudden signal jam,' Alibaba replied, 'Gotta give these guys credit, they know their tech. I was pulling my hair out trying to find a way in. I managed to contact Ami, and I have the security feed. Lupin's gang is in the auditorium dealing with the terrorists there.' "Good," Violet said, "Let Joker know about the bomb. His phasing power should let him find and disarm it quickly." 'Got it,' Alibaba replied, 'What about the painting?' Violet smirked as she held up the rolled up painting. "I already have it well in hand."

She grabbed the detonator out of Roderick's pocket. "A world changed by fear is not a world that can last. If you want a changed world to last, you need to provide hope." Another teacher came rushing in and soon took charge of Dolma. "Princess, these two are nothing but thieves. You can't trust them." "Hey, that's not a fair statement!," Violet said, "I can't speak for Rebecca here, but my only concern was dealing with a dangerous group of terrorists! And just who are you, anyway?"

"My name's McQuire of the CIA," the man said, "And it seems I wasn't the only one undercover here. Princess Dolma, you must come with me to save Padar." 'Seems like this is no longer our scene,' Joker said over the comm. "Yeah, unless we need to do something in Padar," Violet decided, "I already have the prize, so I'll meet you outside." She fired off her grappling hook and leapt out the window, surprising the soldiers in a helicopter just outside. With perfect grace she landed in the courtyard before disappearing from sight, meeting up with Joker outside school grounds as they headed off to their next caper.

Next time, Alibaba notes a strange information blackout in Paris, and rumors of supervillains running around only to get beaten by two heroes, one with a ladybug motif and the other a black cat motif. Having only been to Paris once, Joker decides to investigate alongside Violet, and finds a type of magic he had only heard of second-hand. Read and review.