Myoujin Tsukasa didn't know what she was going to find when she approached the Bistrot Jurer. After the past few days with Giwi Newzie and his boss Raimon Gaorufang she thought that she knew something that she knew would change her life forever. And when she entered she knew she was right.
There was Yano Kairi, Yoimachi Tooma, Hayami Umika, and Takao Noël. They didn't notice her yet; they were trying to pull a chair from Noël's hands like he wanted to stay here. "So it is true," she said to them.
They turned as one to see her standing there alone. "What's true? That we don't like freeloaders that haven't paid for anything all day?" Kairi asked, trying to smile at her.
"No, that you three are the Lupinranger," she said, looking at them.
"They most certainly are not the Lupinranger. I just like the atmosphere." Noël said, trying to put on his usual charm as he approached her. Tsukasa than hold back and slapped him.
"Do you think I'm an idiot? Kairi was at the same night club as Giwi. And Lupin Red just happened to know how that pendent worked. I'm not blind. I was the one that thought these three were the Lupinranger the first time. So don't patronize me. The four of you are the Lupinranger." she said in a huff.
Kairi looked defeated in a way. He knew that she wasn't going to believe anything that they said. Any lie that they could come up with she was going pursue this theory doggedly.
"But what I want to know is why did you three turn to this? And why is Noël acting more like a Lupinranger than a Patranger? Especially for this last battle?" she demanded, looking at them all one by one.
Kairi took a breath. "Oni-son," Kairi said defeated.
"What are you doing?" Tooma demanded. He grabbed him by the collar as Umika started to panic. Noël looked on calmly.
That's when Tsukasa tried to pull Tooma off him. "There is no point in hiding anything anymore. Just tell me. Why?" she demanded. As she just managed to pull Tooma off him.
"A year ago, I got into a fight with my Oni-son. I shoved him down and left him in a back alley. I then walked past a strange man that was eating ice. Oni-son screamed. I rushed back and found him encased in ice. It shattered into a thousand pieces." Kairi said.
He knew that they were caught. But what he couldn't understand, was why is she alone now. The last time that they had thought that they were the Lupinranger, she was with the other Patrangers. But she was alone.
"The same for the two of you?" Tsukasa asked, turning to Tooma and Umika and thinking about there investigation. Tooma's fiancé. Umika's possible friend.
"Yes," Tooma said, looking at her with disdain that they had been caught and his wish could never come true now. That was the only thing keeping him fighting. That he was fighting for her, and now that was gone.
"But why do you want the Lupin Collection?" she asked, looking at them.
"Because it's the only way for our wish to come true," Noël said, looking at her. Like Kairi, he was wondering why she was alone and not with the others. And why if she had thought them the Lupinranger she hadn't reported this to Hilltop. Her commanding officer.
"'Our wish'?" she asked.
"Yes, each of the four of us has lost someone special to us. We have been told that if we gather the Lupin Collection together, we can get them back," he said, looking at her with his sad smile.
Tsukasa looked at the faces of the four of them. Then she pulled up her VS Changer and VS Vehicle. She loved the day that she had gotten them. She felt helpless at the possibility of never being able to make her dream of a happy, peaceful world come true. Now she could fight to make that happen. So that she could live happily with her grandparents. But now she saw them in a different light.
"Take them," she said to Kairi. Trying to hand him her VS Changer and Vehicle.
Tooma and Umika couldn't believe their eyes as Tsukasa was handing them her Lupin Collection pieces.
"What?" Kairi asked.
"You need to collect all of the Lupin Collection right? These two pieces are part of the collection. So take them." she said with a sad smile.
"Won't you get in trouble for losing these?" Umika asked her.
"I'll worry about that. You need them more than me," she said.
"This could be a trick," Tooma said, eyeing both her and the pieces she was holding out for Kairi to take.
"I can confirm that it isn't." a voice said, from behind Tsukasa who jumped.
She turned to see an elderly man standing in the doorway. "Kogure-san?" Umika said, seeing him. He walked into the Bistro and grabbed Tsukasa's pieces and set them down on the table.
"I came to collect the piece you retrieved from Raimon," she said, looking at them.
"How can you know that she isn't lying to us?" Tooma asked of the man.
"He has his ways," Noël said with a sly smile.
"Um, who are you?" Tsukasa asked, him unsure of what was happening.
"My name is Kogure. And I am the butler for the Lupin family," he said with a smile.
"Lupin family?" she asked.
"Yes. A long time ago, Arsène Lupin collected the Lupin Collection. Then the collection was stolen by the Gangler. They now use it to do as they please. And Noël and I work for the family." he said with a smile.
Tsukasa turned to look at Noël. "You ARE a mole?" she asked.
"I prefer to think of it as an undercover worker," he said with a smile.
"I joined the GSP to do just as I said. To make the world a better place using the collection. I was trained in modifying the collection so that humans could use it. Your piece, along with the other Trigger Machines, are my creations." Noël said.
"What about their pieces?" Tsukasa said, looking at everyone else.
"Ours were modified by Arsène Lupin himself," Kairi said.
"Wait. You said you made the Trigger Machines. But weren't two of them held by the Maximoff brothers?" she asked, thinking back to where they found Drill and Crane Trigger Machines.
"Yes, I don't know how they fell into there hands all I know is that there has to be some leak or connection between the GSP and the Gangler," Noël said looking at her.
She thought about it for a second. And she remembered. How easily they had snuck into the HQ to revive the other Maximoff brother. How they just happened to be assigned to a movie that was run by a Gangler. Everything started to fall into place in her mind. There had to be someone in the GSP in league with the Gangler.
"That is why I would like you to keep these pieces for the time being," Kogure said to her.
"But they need them to complete the collection." she protested.
"And that would include your fellow Patranger. It would be better for everyone involved if we had you on the inside working alongside Noël to both protect the pieces that are still inside the Gangler safes. And help us figure out who, how, and why the Gangler and the GSP are connected." Kogure said, looking at her handing her the VS Changer and VS Vehicle just as he had with Kairi, Tooma, and Umika.
She took them. And Umika started to celebrate. "I always wanted another woman on the team. Being with these two is a handful," she said hugging Tsukasa.
"And working with you isn't a bed of roses," Kairi said, tweaking her nose like he was fond of.
Tooma still looked a little uneasy about all this. He didn't trust Tsukasa. Or how Kogure knew that she wasn't lying. But he was going to keep it to himself for the moment. But he was going to keep a close eye on her as she started laughing with everyone.
Tsukasa started to smile as she walked back to HQ. The week before she had wanted to see the Lupinranger in cuffs. And her fellow Pateranger still did. But she knew that she would protect them and their mission. She was going to help them see their loved ones again. Even if she had to steal the other VS Vehicles from her friends. But just as she started to enjoy herself with her new nakama, she got the call to return.
She was enjoying herself. She "helped" the others as they tried to evict their house guest. But what she was really doing was laughing on the inside. She couldn't remember the last time she had fun with friends. With all the Gangler that was on the loose. Even her last day off was interrupted by the Gangler. That was truly wonderful.
"What is with that smile Tsukasa-sempai?" Hikawa Sakuya asked as he greeted her.
"Nothing, I just had a wonderful break," she said with a smile.
"It was nice of Commander Hilltop to give us some time off after Giwi and Raimon. I thought we were done for," Sakuya said, with a smile.
"You are too soft, Sakuya. As long as there are Gangler and Lupinranger. We shouldn't rest." Asaka Keiichiro said to him.
Tsukasa smiled at her coworkers and friends. If it wasn't for Commander Hilltop ordering all of them to stand down for the day they would have been here working.
"Keiichiro, we were all hurt during the last few battles. And if we don't take time and rest, we might fall to the Gangler." she said, patting him on the shoulder.
"And those blasted Kaitou," Keiichiro said. It had hurt his pride to have to turn to the Kaitou to help them take down a Gangler.
"Yes them too," Tsukasa said, with a smile thinking about the fact that she was now a Lupinranger mole. She knew that she could hide her new allegiance from everyone here. That wasn't a worry. But why did Commander Hilltop call them in?
"I'm sorry to call you in everyone. There has been a development." Hilltop said. He looked a little uneasy about something.
"What is it, sir? Is it a Gangler or the Lupinranger?" Keiichiro asked, looking at him.
Tsukasa knew that it wasn't the Lupinranger she had just left them trying to throw Noël out. So she was on guard right away. She knew that it had to be a Gangler.
"Neither, unfortunately. Because of the events with Good Cool Kaiser VSX and Raimon, there has been a demand that we capture the Lupinranger and there VS Vehicles," he said.
Tsukasa looked at him, he must have been chewed out for their actions. "But there hasn't been any headway in finding their identities has there?" she asked. She hid her concern for her new nakama with curiosity.
"No, and that is the problem. They believe that we should have found them before now. And that it should never have gotten to the battle with Raimon. So they have hired the one person they think that could find out their identities." he said looking at his Patranger.
"What do you mean sir?" Keiichiro asked.
"They have hired Herlock Sholmes," he said.
"The famous detective that is making a name for himself in London?" Sakuya said with a smile.
"That's the one. He will be coming in a few days. You three have been chosen as his guards and welcoming him to Japan." he said.
"Nice. I can't wait to meet Herlock-san. I followed his work all over London." Sakuya said, excited to meet his idol.
"We shouldn't have to turn to private detectives," Keiichiro said to Commander Hilltop.
"I know, but they won't hear anything else. He is coming." Hilltop said.
Tsukasa tried to not act worried. She had heard a lot about this detective. If anyone could find her new secret, it was him.