"First though," Lupin says, looking around. "We have to get outta here." Before they could think of something, the guards returned.
"The judge will now give his verdict. Don't struggle or we'll make things worse for you." The main guard said. The thieves comply, having the handcuffs put back on them. While walking down the hall Lupin whispers to Joker.
"Don't worry, I have a plan. Well, half of one, but I'll come up with the rest when we see the judge." That unsettled Joker a bit, but he remembered reading about Arsene's tricks so he trusts him.
After a while, they finally make it to the courtroom. There, many shadows sit in the crowd, watching with anticipation. In the judge's stand was Shadow Bando, wearing a gold robe and a huge white wig.
"So we meet again, Lupin the third. Trying to steal my treasures again are you?"
"Did he see you in the real world?" Whispered Joker.
"Yeah," Lupin replied. "He's the reason we bailed."
"I don't recognize this one." Shadow Bando said, pointing at Joker. "But he must be another one of your partners if he's with you."
"He's not!" Lupin yells. "He's just a kid I met who happened to be outside your house."
Shadow Bando scoffs. "You think I trust your word? You're a lying thief, the scum of this world!"
"You jerk! At least get him a lawyer or something!" While Lupin was talking, Joker notices his hands moving. In between his fingers was a lockpick.
"You fool! I'm the one that decides who's guilty and who's innocent! And I say he's guilty by association!"
"So that's how you get your sick kicks huh?" Lupin scowls. "You prove people guilty just so you could say your superior? I think You're the one that's the scum of the earth."
"Insolent fool!" Shadow Bando roars. "Just for that I'll have your heads. Guards! Bring the guillotine!" The crowd goes into an uproar as the guillotine is brought out.
"Who goes first your honor?" The shadow guard asks. Shadow Bando thinks for a moment before pointing to Joker.
"The young one. Maybe seeing him die will teach Lupin some respect." Joker panics, struggling in the cuffs to get free. Before the guards could grab Joker, Lupin uncuffs himself and knocks out the guards surrounding him. Then, he runs to Joker and uncuffs him.
With his hands now free, Joker takes off his mask to summon Arsene, who shoots maeiga at multiple enemies around them. Back to back, the two thieves are surrounded by the shadows coming from the audience.
"What now?" Asks Joker.
"We go up!" Lupin says, grabbing a balloon from his jacket. "Blow a hole through the roof!" Arsene destroys the roof with a curse spell before he's recalled back to joker. After the balloon was inflated, Lupin and Joker jumped on and floated to the ceiling. They get to the top before the balloon pops from an attack from a shadow.
The room appeared to be a storage space.
"Hey look!" Joker shouts, pointing to a basket. "It's our weapons!" Joker and Lupin grab their weapons and run into the hall. They hear footsteps coming so they run to the nearest exit. They enter another room with a window to the outside, but before they leave, Lupin stares at the vault door across from it.
"Hey, I've seen this before. This was where he was keeping his watch collection!" Joker looks at the vault. He doesn't have the ability to detect the treasure like Morgana can, but he had a hunch that this was where Bando's heart was as well.
Then they both jump out the window and into the bushes. With the guards on their tail, Lupin and Joker barely make it to the exit. A black and red portal takes them back to the alleyway near Bando's mansion. Akira breathes a sigh of relief.
"Feels good to be back!" Lupin says, also breathing in relief. "Man, your line of work makes mine look like child's play!"
Akira chuckles. He looks at Lupin with determined eyes. "We should come up with a plan, for both here and mementos." Akira says.
"Well, to pull off something like that I'll need-" Lupin stops. "Oh crap Goemon and Jigen! I forgot about them! They must be worried sick!" Lupin grabs Akira's hand and runs.
"Woah!" The boy exclaims. "Where are we going?"
"To our hideout!" The thief says. "We can also plan our heists there!" The two run until they reach an old looking apartment building. Before they go inside, Akira grabs Lupin's arm.
"Promise me something," He said with a serious look on his face. "Promise me you'll keep mementos a secret. No one but me and the phantom thieves know about this place. If it gets out-"
"Don't worry that frizzy little head of yours." Lupin calmly remarks. "Your secret's safe with me. Plus, the guys wouldn't believe me anyways."
Akira smiles, looking relieved. They both go inside. When they get to their room, Lupin says to Akira. "I'll go in first, hide until I call you ok?" Akira nods. He steps away from the door as Lupin enters the room.
"Hey guys, daddy's home!" Lupin shouts. Akira hears two shouts of surprise.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Jigen shouts.
"I got lost chasing the guy staring at us. But then I found out he wasn't a threat so I came back here."
"What d'you mean by that?"
"He was just a kid! You really gave him a good scare, Jigen." Anyways, I'd like to introduce you to him." Sensing his cue, Akira walks into the room. He awkwardly waves to the two men. Goemon and Jigen both stood up in surprise.
"What the hell! Why'd you bring him here?!" Jigen yelled.
"Whoa whoa guys! Calm down! He's not gonna harm us! In fact, he's here to perform a heist!"
"I don't feel comfortable with this idea." Goemon says. "We already have one kid helping us, we shouldn't drag in another."
"Oh, he's planning his own heist." Lupin says, disconcerted. "I brought him back here to help with it." The two men look at Akira in worry, until they sighed.
"Alright Lupin." Jigen says. "I'll trust you. I'm just glad this isn't as crazy as the time you wanted to fly to the moon on popcorn power." Goemon nods his head in affirmation. Akira shoots a confused look at Lupin before the older thief decides to head to the table.
"I'm gonna work on my heist first, since I have it mostly figured out." Lupin says. "In the meantime, get yourself acquainted with the place, I'll call ya when I'm done." Akira nods and sits on the comfy couch across from the table. Jigen and Goemon join Lupin to discuss the plan.
"Let's be quick about this," Says Jigen. "Bando plans to leave tomorrow for America."
The younger thief stares at his phone. He wonders if he should call the others. He suddenly realizes he can't. Lupin was planning to steal the watches tonight, and if the vault is similar to Madarame's door, then it could only open if Bando sees it open. If he wanted to get the job done, he needed to steal his heart tonight as well.
You're troubled. Arsene says, his voice echoing in Akira's mind.
I've never done a mission alone before. Replied Akira. This will be quite difficult.
But you are not alone. Says Arsene. You have me, the other personas and my descendent. You're in good hands.
Thank you. Akira smiled. By the way, what do you think of him? Your descendant?
He reminds me a lot of myself. Arsene says fondly. He's a true gentleman thief.
He's really cool, isn't he? Akira smiles again. Lupin looks over to see Akira.
"Hey kid, whatcha thinking about? Judging by that smile I'd say it's a cute girl." Lupin chuckles to himself before Jigen jabs him with his elbow. Akira blushes. Afterwards, Akira sits in silence listening to Lupin plan his heist. The plan itself was well thought out. He also notes the interaction between him and his partners. They pitched in while sometimes throwing snarky remarks at one another but still being friendly overall. It reminded him of his own gang. He wondered how they were doing right now.
Suddenly, Lupin jumps up in triumph. "Alright!" He shouts. "We're done with the plan. You two go get the gear ready while I help out thief junior." The two nod and leave, Akira once again alone with Lupin.
"Lupin," Akira says with concern. "I have something to tell you. I don't actually work alone, I have a team, like you. It consists of me and seven other people."
"Whoa kid, seven?" Lupin shouts. "That's insane."
"I originally planned to only do the recon alone, then meet up with my team. But then you showed up and this happened. You're planning to rob him tonight, right?"
"Yes." Lupin replied.
"That worries me. Because from experience, in order to have some rooms in the palace open, the person has to see it open in real life. That means I have to steal his heart tonight as well, without my team."
"I see." Lupin says. The older thief smiles. "It's a good thing I like ya kid, cause I'll help. I did shake on it after all."
"Wait, you mean with-"
"Of course! I still need to pay back that asshole for nearly killing us. Plus, stealing in a new world sounds like the perfect challenge for me."
"What about your partners?"
"They can handle themselves just fine, they're good thieves in their own right."
With that, Lupin sat down with Akira and made their own plan for mementos. It took awhile to align their plan with the other one but eventually, they finished.
"Alright, now all I have to do is send my calling card." Akira says.
"Hey, you make calling cards too? I guess you really are a fan." Lupin shrugs playfully. "What's it look like?" Akira pulls out his phone and looks up the phantom thieves logo.
"It looks just like your persona. That's pretty sweet."
"My friend drew it. He's also a phantom thief."
"Let me show you mine!" Lupin pulls out a paper and hands it to Akira.
"Is that you? As a peanut?"
"Yes. It's not as fancy as yours but there's a certain charm in simplicity."
Akira grabs a pencil and paper and starts making the card. He crudely traces the Phantom thieves logo on top before writing the message. He grabs a newspaper and starts cutting out letters.
"So, what will you tell him?" Lupin asks while watching with interest.
"We usually have a theme with the seven deadly sins. For Bando, I'm thinking I should go with pride."
"Now that's spot on!" Lupin says. "With an ego that big, he's gotta be compensating for something!" The older thief laughs Akira worked on writing the message. When he finished, he showed it to Lupin.
"Wow, that's very fancy and deep. Mine are way more straight forward. But then again, I only steal things with monetary value."
"Alright," Akira says, standing up. "Now, all I have to do is send this to him. It might be difficult, I don't know their security level."
"You can leave that to me!" Lupin says cheerfully. "I know the blind spots. I can get it in there for ya!"
"Thanks." Akira says. He hands the card to Lupin.
"Ok, let's do this." Lupin says as the two walk out to deliver the letter.