DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lupin III… sigh… But, hey, I can always dream, right?
Hola!
Only about five more chapters to go (I'm heartbroken, too…) But, hey, I had to stop this monster before it hit 75 chapters, although, I'm sure some of you wouldn't have minded (and I thank you). As always, I'm open to any ideas you might have for the third installment. Well, have a good one guys, I'll see you around. I'll be toiling away in the computer area, away from sun and all other living life forms, working on the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter Forty Five
A Few Days Later: You Dropped a Bomb on Me
'When I find myself in times of trouble,
Mother Mary comes to me,
Speaking words of wisdom,
Let it be'
--The Beatles, 'Let it Be'
"Help! HELP!" a girl screeched as she tore down a private Israeli airport in the dead of night, followed close behind by a gun-wielding stalker in a familiar red jacket.
"Quit running, dammit!" Lupin snapped in reply, "C'mere, already! I just want to talk!"
"Hey, ain't that Lupin?" inquired one of the guards in front of a private airplane hanger to another.
"Yeah!" the other nodded, "That sure as hell was!"
"Do we get him!?"
"Fools! Of course you do!" both heard, and turned and looked downward to see their employer gazing back up at them annoyedly.
"Mr. Fujita!" they gasped.
"Yes?" Fujita inquired, "Well!? Are you going, or are you just going to gape at me all day!"
"Going!" they saluted, and ran after Lupin, who had disappeared around a corner since their brief meeting with Mr. Fujita.
"Weird he was out this late…" one guard muttered to another, "I heard he turns in usually at eleven!"
"Yeah," the other admitted, and stopped, "Hey… Do you think?"
"Yes, but it appears as though you don't…" they heard, and looked upward to see Lupin now holding an old wooden-handled sword.
"What the hell!? Didn't he just have a gun? And where's that girl he was with!?" one yelled to the other.
"HYA!" Lupin jumped down from his place on the rooftop, and let his blade fly in one clean stroke.
Back at the Dome:
"Now where did those idiots run off to?" one amongst several bodyguards wondered as he looked over the unguarded doors. "Well, they can pretty much kiss their asses good-bye when Mr. Fujita finds out about this…" As he turned to take guard, all shot their heads in the direction of a scream. What was even more puzzling was the fact that the Chinese woman they found screaming was yelling at her attacker, a red-jacketed thief, in Sicilian.
"Hey, buddy! Yeah you!" shouted one of the guards. The attacker turned, and all were shocked to see it was none other than the thief legends were made of, Lupin III.
"Si?" Lupin smirked.
"C'mere!" one shouted, and ran for him. Lupin retrieved a long pole from his side, and was able to fight off the guards without looking directly at them. One guard, before he was given a blow to the head, got a good look at Lupin's eyes before the thief's striking blow, and noticed Lupin appeared to be blind. There were several gunshots moments later, and the guards slumped over in dark liquid pools.
"Fujiko! What took you so long!?" 'Lupin' snapped as he threw the makeshift weapon at his side.
"Sorry, Lover. Had other things to attend to," Fujiko answered as she winked and blew a kiss to 'Lupin'.
"Yeah, well just try to be on time, next time," 'Lupin' in a very Jigen-like voice sighed, "Well, we better get back to work…. We've got a lot of guards to take care of…." With that, he unfolded a white and red cane, and began to walk to a different area of the hanger with Fujiko, as well as his lovely Chinese 'victim', in search of other guards.
On a Nearby Rooftop:
"Amaya, how're you holding up over there?" the true Lupin inquired as he, along with Remy and Natasha, carefully made their way into the main hanger.
"Great. I'm freezing, but, I can't complain…" Amaya answered as she sat on the roof of a nearby building and watched over the several split screens on her laptop, "Our three other Lupins are doing well, too. I had no idea my dad could still run that fast after all of these years! And in jeans those tight. Ouch…."
"Ahem… Yeah, anyway… How about our victims?"
"They're terrific. Fujiko was fashionably late, though—But nothing really new about that…."
"And our Fujitas?"
"They're—Uh? Uh-oh," Amaya grew pale as she saw a train-wreck of a scene unfold in front of her.
"Uh-oh? What do you mean, uh-oh? Amaya, what's going on down there?" Lupin inquired.
"There's going to be a whole lotta trouble in about three seconds…" Amaya responded.
Back Towards the Hanger:
A guard had called Yoshi Fujita out of his sleep in the middle of the night to tell him of a disturbance. Whatever it was, Fujita was going to quickly get to the bottom of it quick, while he still had time to get back to sleep before the sun rose.
Fujita thought he was seeing things due to sleep deprivation at first when he bumped into what appeared to be a mirror image of himself, but frowned in confusion as he realized the copy in front of him was indeed real. He was even more confused and angered as he saw another version of himself run into the first imposter. The two clones looked at one another, and then back at Fujita nervously.
"What the devil is going on here!?" Fujita snapped as he looked at the two clones.
"I, uh…" one Fujita glanced at another, and all turned as they heard footsteps running towards them.
"Lupin!" Fujita gasped as he watched the thief, who was busy pursuing a young American girl, run past him with a barrage of guards at his heels.
"Gotta fly!" one of the Fujita copies shouted as he took the hand of the other clone and began to run in the direction of Lupin.
Fujita's head snapped to the right as he heard more footsteps, and watched as Lupin came running once again, but from the opposite direction this time. He then watched wordlessly as Lupin ran into a wall at full speed, as if he had not seen it at all. Two women who had been running with Lupin carefully pried him away from the wall, and led him towards a separate direction, before the guards could catch up to them.
"You!" Fujita grabbed a guard by the arm, "Get to the bottom of this immediately! Somehow, there are two more of myself running around, and two Lupins, as well! And I'm willing to bet that there are more out there!"
"Yes, Sir!" the guard saluted, and ran towards the direction of the camera room. He met up with another version of Fujita in the camera room, and stopped in dead confusion.
"Fool!" Fujita snapped in an angry hiss, "I saw what happened! You were just taking orders from an impostor, idiot!"
"I—"
"Well, just don't stand there! Go catch him!" Fujita demanded.
"I—Yes, Sir," the guard nodded, and ran back out, slamming the door behind himself.
"Boy, these guys aren't big thinkers, are they?" sighed one of the Fujita lookalikes in a very Toshiro-like voice as he came out from his hiding place under a control panel.
The other Fujita removed a mouth piece, and shoved it in her pocket, "Nah, I guess not. We've really got to thank Amaya for those voice enhancers. Now, come on. Let's get to work," the other Fujita, in a Yukiko-like voice, added as she turned back to the cameras, "Now give me that disk Amaya wanted us to put in the computer. C'mon, Toshiro, while we're still young!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Toshiro sighed as he removed the disk from his pocket, "Here!"
"Perfect," Yukiko smiled, and then turned back to the computer.
In the Main Hanger:
"All right! I guess Yukiko and Toshiro were able to get into the control room!" Lupin said happily as the hanger room screechily opened in front of his brother, himself, and Natasha.
"We've got to take those kids out for burgers—My treat," Remy added as the door came to a full open.
"Which switch turns the light on, Natasha?" Lupin inquired.
"Urm… This one," Natasha replied after a brief pause for reading over the Israeli-written instructions. She flicked on the light, and all gasped in shock at the sight that lay before them.
None had ever seen a missile as large as the one that lay before them.
"Son of a bitch…" Remy gasped, breaking the pause, "it's huge…"
"And Fujita's crazy enough to use it," Lupin whispered, "I was hoping he hadn't had enough time to put it together… Guess I was wrong…" The three were knocked off their feet by a sudden rumbling, and they looked to one another in confusion.
"What the hell's going on, up there, Amaya!? Some sorta earthquake!?" Lupin yelled into his microphone, "Amaya, do you read me!?" he asked after a pause.
"No, I'm sorry to say Mrs. Ishikawa is currently indisposed…" they heard in a familiar laugh.
"Fujita! If you lay one hand on her, I swear—" Lupin started, but was stopped mid-sentence by another jolt.
"I'd get out of there quickly, Mr. Lupin… The missile, which you see in front of you, is preparing to load itself into an airplane…"
"Dammit!"
"Now what?" asked Remy.
"Natasha, you've got to get out of here!" Lupin ordered.
"What!? No way!" Natasha snapped.
"You have to tell the others about what happened, and rescue Amaya! Plus you have your baby to think about!" Lupin yelled, "Believe me, Pops doesn't need any more stress on his heart!"
"I, I—" Natasha stuttered.
"Didn't you hear him! Out, bitch, now!" Remy screamed. Natasha growled, and contemplated hitting Remy before leaving, but then decided to instead run out, before the rumbling became too much.
"Where do you think you're going!?" Remy yelled as he turned and watched his brother begin to scale the missile.
"Up, up, and away!" Lupin answered, "Are you coming, or what!?"
"Of course! Let you get all of the glory!? Been doin' that too many years!" Remy laughed as he followed his brother up onto the bomb, "Stupidity must run in our family!" he muttered.
Outside:
"They WHAT!?" Jigen yelled in shock after letting the news from Natasha sink in, "Jesus—Stupidity must run in their family!"
"Boy, don't I know…" Natasha muttered, "I've got to go get Amaya, but I want you to try and stop that plane! I think that's Plan B, right?"
"Oh, yeah, I'll just take one look at the control panel in that pitch black room in the cargo plane and have everything figured out…" Jigen replied sarcastically.
Natasha, not catching onto the sarcasm immediately, nodded, patted the Lupin-lookalike Jigen on the shoulder, and ran towards Amaya's direction. Jigen sighed, and turned to Ming, who wordlessly shrugged, and then began to run towards the airplane hanger.
"It may be too late to catch the first flight, but that doesn't mean we can't catch the second!" Ming said hopefully.
"I hope for everyone's sakes that you're right…" Jigen muttered as he followed Ming down the semi-lit runway.
Natasha, meanwhile, had finished scaling the ladder to the top of the building, where she found an unconscious Amaya lying next to an offline laptop computer. Natasha crouched down, and slapped Amaya a few times across the face, but after finding this in vain, she went to work rebooting the computer. As she watched the screen flash on, she yelled into the microphone, "Listen, I need someone up here right away! Amaya's been knocked out and—" She ducked and rolled in reflex as a heavily-booted shoe swung inches above her head and kicked the computer across the roof. She looked up, and saw another Fujita bodyguard standing over her, preparing to smash her skull in. Natasha quickly rolled out of the way, and drew her gun (a Jericho) and fired. The guard stumbled back a few paces, lost his balance, and tumbled off of the roof.
"Amaya, wake up!" Natasha yelled as she rose to her feet and shook the Japanese woman once more, "Now!" Natasha yelled with even more urgency in her voice.
"Eh?" Amaya slowly opened her eyes, which grew wide in horror after a few moments, "Watch out!" Amaya yelled, grabbing Natasha and sending her down on top of her own body. The two rolled away just in time to avoid the gunfire of an assailant.
"Thanks!" Natasha yelled as she jumped up and shot at the guard. The guard eventually fell, but not from the gunshots. Both women saw that the guard now displayed knife a mark in his back. And above the guard stood another Lupin impostor, holding onto Goemon's sword.
"How did I know you'd be the one to show first?" Natasha smirked as she watched Goemon walk over to Amaya and kneel down next to her.
"Are you all right?" Goemon asked with sincere concern.
"Never better," Amaya smirked, and then coughed harshly, "Oh, God… Can we go on vacation after this?"
"Certainly. Anywhere," Goemon replied quickly.
"Even Disneyworld?"
"Wha- Why ever would you—Well, all right," Goemon nodded, "But I refuse to ride that Dumbo ride."
"Deal," Amaya nodded. As Goemon began to scoop her up, all turned and stopped dead at the sound of someone else climbing up the ladder.
The other, third Lupin clone, found a nasty surprise awaiting him as he viewed Natasha and Goemon, both with weapons drawn, "Whoa! Relax, FB—Former, FBI!" the Lupin-clone in a Zenigata-like voice yelled, shielding his face and nearly falling off of the rusty ladder in the process.
"Oh, hi, Honey. Sorry. C'mon up," Natasha smiled, and helped Zenigata up the ladder onto the roof.
"Toshiko, are you all right?" Amaya's father asked worried as he kneeled next to Goemon in front of Amaya.
"Yeah, but I'm seeing double!" Amaya laughed. Goemon and Zenigata looked up at one another, and then removed their masks, "Much, much better… Although you in those jeans is still kind of scaring me, Daddy."
"Yeah, well they're killing me," Zenigata admitted.
"Where are the kids, and Julia, and Fujiko?" Natasha inquired.
"Fujiko's with Julia, and they went to go get the kids, last keep I checked," Zenigata replied, "Where are the others?"
"Oh, Lupin and Remy are both on a bomb, and Jigen and Ming are trying to find another airplane, for part of Plan B," Natasha responded nonchalantly.
"You told the blind man to drive at night!?" Amaya yelled, "Oh, God…" she lied back on the concrete and put her hands over her eyes in agony.
"Well, let's just pray," Goemon muttered as he looked upwards toward the sky.
Another set of footsteps was heard moments later, and all watched as Julia and Fujiko scaled up the stairs.
"Gave me a run for my money back there, Pops, when you were chasing me!" Julia panted as she seated herself on the floor, "I still can't believe this!"
"Hey, where are the kids?" asked Zenigata after a pause.
"Um…" Julia bit her lip nervously, and looked over at Fujiko.
"About… That…" Fujiko continued, and looked upwards towards the same sky Goemon had looked at moments before, "We lost them…"
"They took cover in an airplane…" said reluctantly.
"A piloted one," Fujiko finished.
"Oh, you're kidding…" Natasha muttered.
"Crap," Zenigata and Amaya gulped in unison.
In Another Hanger:
"Okay, turn the lights on for me, Ming…" Jigen ordered as he sat down at the cockpit of the large cargo plane. Ming nodded, did so, and seated herself next to Jigen, "Okay, good… Well, here we go… Looks like we're a little late for B—So we're kickin' in Plan C!"
"I was hoping that he was only joking about this one…" Ming muttered.
"I know, I know… It's risky," Jigen nodded, "But, hey, if I can take care of a baby, I can do anything! Except maybe night jogging, but there's an excuse for that." He put his hand on one of the gears, and felt another hand come over it after a few moments. He looked downward in surprise, and then looked up at Ming.
"You're acting brave, but I know you're worried. Don't be, okay? It's almost daylight—We can do it," Ming said reassuredly.
"Thanks, Doll," Jigen nodded as he pushed a few buttons of the control panel down, opening the doors of the airplane hanger. As the cargo plane taxied down the runway, Ming could see another plane in the distance. They were too late for Plan B, after all. It had gone from blocking the airplane hanger to blocking the plane in order to stop Fujita's plan from unfolding. The plane in front of them was the plane with the bomb as well as the plane with Remy and Lupin on board.
"I'm just glad the kids aren't here…" Jigen muttered.
A small figure jumped out from behind an empty crate, and called, "Hi, Daddy!"
"GWAA!" Jigen jumped in his seat, and looked behind him seat to see Yukiko and Toshiro standing behind the pilots' seats, "Yukiko! WHAT in the HELL are you and Toshiro doing HERE!?"
"We ran into some trouble, so we jumped in here," Toshiro explained, "Sorry, Mr. Jigen."
"Dammit!" Jigen grumbled.
"Now what?" Ming inquired.
"Uh… Buckle up and sit tight!" Jigen ordered as he retrieved his folded fedora back a back pocket in his red jacket, tore his mask off, and shoved his hat down on his head.
"Yeah," both children nodded, and took their seats behind the duo.
"I can't get a friggin' break. Maybe I should go to church more," Jigen grumbled.
On the Opposite Cargo Plane:
The bomb had finally finished loading just as the plane began to taxi down the runway. The two Lupin brothers jumped off of the bomb and onto the solid metal floor, and began to search around the area, both with their guns drawn. Fire was soon shot by the opposing side, and both instinctively fired back, soon disabling all of the guards.
The two worked their way up to the front of the cockpit, where they found none other than Fujita sitting the co-pilot's seat. Fujita swiveled around on his seat, and smiled at the two cockily.
"You two insects just don't give up, do you?" Fujita smirked as he cocked the trigger to his pistol that he head in his right hand.
"It's the in us French. We don't die easily," Lupin smirked.
"Well, you are persistent, I'll grant you that," Fujita smirked, "but I'm afraid we're at the end of the line."
"How do you figure?" asked Remy, "As I see it, we have you beat."
"And as I see, I have your friends locked on target to be shot at," Fujita smirked.
"Wha!?" Lupin paled in shock, "You bastard, you—"
"Insane little genius!" Remy laughed, "I tried to kill them all two years ago! God, I should hug you, you demon midget!"
"Remy, you snake! Whose side are you on?" Lupin snapped.
"I can see you fell short of your quota," Fujita smirked.
"Ah, but perhaps we could come to some sort of an agreement…." Remy started slowly.
"Ha… You really think I'd fall for that trick of pretending to trade sides, huh? It's nice, how good of a big brother you really are, Monsieur Lupin," Fujita cackled. A shot soon followed afterwards.
"REMY!" Lupin screamed as he watched his only living brother fall to the ground. Lupin spun back around, and watched Fujita's smug expression become even smugger. He kneeled down in front of Remy, and shook his brother, "Remy, are you okay? Come on, Bro, speak to me," Lupin whispered.
Lupin watched in awe as one of Remy's hands reached upward and landed on his cheek. Remy looked upward at his little brother, and smiled, "Done all I could. It's up to you now, Lupin the Third."
"I—Yeah," Lupin smirked, nodded, and rose, "Don't worry, we'll get you some help. Just as soon as I'm done here. Hold on for me, okay?"
"You got it," Remy mumbled, and laid his head back down.
"Touching," Fujita chuckled, "But—"
"Boss, we gotta problem," said the pilot of the cargo plane.
"What, what sort of problem?" Fujita inquired.
"I've got a maniac on here, yelling at me… In Sicilian…" the pilot replied in confusion.
"Jigen. Jigen's half Sicilian…" Lupin muttered in realization as the pilot switched the speakers on, and all were treated to a long string of Italian-based curses.
"Hi, Mister Fujita!" Yukiko yelled over the shouting.
"We're coming to kick your ass, now!" Toshiro added over Yukiko's father's warnings.
"Those cocky little—" Fujita started, "Come on, go! Shoot those idiots on the rooftop, and then get those interbred urchins!"
"Yes, Sir!" the pilot nodded, and began to taxi towards the group on the rooftop. The pilot did not make it the entire way, though. In one move that he was not even how he managed to perform, Lupin kicked Fujita's gun out of his hand, and with the back of his heel, knocked the pilot square in the nose, causing him to fall into unconsciousness.
"Okay, now I'm driving!" Lupin smiled, and shoved the pilot out of the way onto the floor. Lupin looked over at Fujita as he reached for his gun, and quickly drew his, "Na ah ah… That isn't good airline policy…"
"What, what are you doing!?" Fujita gasped as Lupin took the plane upward into the air.
"Dropping this baby!" Lupin answered with a smile.
"You can't be serious!" Fujita yelped.
"Jigen, you read me!?" Lupin yelled.
"Roger," Jigen answered.
"Who in God's name is Roger!?" Lupin asked, "Well, anyway, I have a little plan… I hope you don't think I'm too crazy. It's Plan D."
"Jesus, you are crazy!" Jigen yelped, "While, I… All right…"
"Come on. It's almost sunlight, practically!" said Lupin, "Now get that plane into the sky! It'll be a clear day by the time you're up there!"
"You got it!" Jigen laughed.
"Fool," Fujita smirked, "I have one more trick up my sleeve. There's a preprogram function on this plane, which, while you were busy talking with your, dear brother, I activated. You have about ten minutes before the bomb is set off… And there's no possible way to change the course. I hope you like my program, I made it just for you..."
"You…" Lupin's smile fell, "How do you stop it!? You're going to die, too, you idiot!"
"I'd rather die than lose," Fujita snapped.
"Jeeze, you're as bad as Goemon…" Lupin growled, "Jigen, change of plans. There's a Plan E, now. I want you to pick up everyone on the rooftop, over there."
"Over where?" Jigen inquired.
"The red blinky light!" Lupin yelled frantically.
"Oh, gotcha!" Jigen replied, "I'm on it!" Lupin watched tensely as the plane loomed dangerously close to the building. Luckily, though, there was enough sun for Jigen to see what he was doing. Everyone quickly boarded the plane, and Jigen awaited further instructions.
"I'm coming around with three more passengers," Lupin added, "I'm going to come up to your wing. Someone's going to have to come over and grab them."
"Who do you have with you?"
"Some pilot guy, Remy, and Fujita. Jigen, Remy's been shot—Bad," said Lupin.
"God. Lupin, what's going on? What about you? Why aren't you coming?" Jigen inquired.
"There are too many people near this place to risk— Just do it," sighed Lupin. The other end was silent as the wing tips came edge to edge, and the doors opened. Goemon, Zenigata, and Ming ran across, and each pulled out their individual body. Goemon carried out Fujita, the hardest to retrieve, due to his resistance, which eventually resorting to biting the samurai. Zenigata removed the unnamed pilot, and Ming took the semiconscious Remy on board last.
"Okay, got them. Now you, Lupin," said Jigen.
"No," Lupin shook his head, "Get going, okay?"
"What!? That bomb's going off! I heard Fujita over there!" Jigen yelled, "Like hell we're leaving without you!"
"Jigen, please," Lupin sighed, "Hey, if Fujiko's there, tell her I love her, all right?"
"Oh, I hear you!" Lupin could hear the distinct sound of Fujiko snapping the radio out of Jigen's grasp, "You're not leaving me, Arsene Lupin! Not now!"
"Fujicakes, there isn't much of an option…" Lupin sighed, "Tell Ari and Fuji—"
"You tell them yourself!" Fujiko yelled, near tears, "I'm not… I'm not… Dammit, Lupin don't be an idiot!! I'm not going to be a widow at this age!"
"I won't do anything stupid, Baby. Just trust me," Lupin reassured her, "Now, off you guys go. I just want you to know… I love all of you, even you, Pops. Okay? And Goemon, I'm sorry about all of the times I kind of flirted with your wife. Can't blame a guy though, huh? Just take care of everything for me, guys. And, Jigen—The Alfa Romeo's yours now, all right? Drive it like hell."
"You're not going to play martyr, not after I've chased you this long!" Zenigata yelled in the background, "Now get your ass on this plane, before I come over there and drag you out in handcuffs! I'll give you to the count of three! Starting now! One, two—"
"Bye," Lupin smiled sadly, and switched off his intercom. He watched as the plane with his friends and family flew off, and then quickly went to work deactivating the plane program.
Meanwhile, from the other plane, the others watched as the plane with the bomb flew off into the distance at an alarming speed, until it was a speck. They soon after heard an explosion, and saw an orange light in the distant.
"Lupin!" all screamed in horror.
"Oh my God!" Fujiko turned away, and Natasha quickly embraced her.
Amaya, still somewhat dazed, rose from her seat next to Goemon and stared down at Fujita, who was smiling intently in a seat of his own. Fujita looked upward at her, and smiled. Amaya proceeded to punch him with enough force to knock him out of his chair and onto the ground.
"Oh, that's rich, coming from a little whore like yourself…" Fujita smirked.
"Whore?" Goemon frowned.
"I—," Amaya looked back at Goemon, "It's a long story, and right now, I don't think anyone's in the mood for talking…" Goemon nodded quietly, and turned back to the still-burning bomb. He could not stand to look at it for more than a few seconds, however. Anymore and he would lose every bit of stoicism his training had ever taught him to show in such situations.
All silently agreed to this need for a quiet flight home, and the plane grew solemnly quiet. Ming looked to her left, and saw Jigen's hands shaking. She cocked her head, and peered under his fedora. He was crying as well. She rose, and embraced him, "I know… I miss him, too…. It's all right, Ally…." She mumbled to the gunman.
"That bastard… He can't just leave me like this… Not after everything we went through!" Jigen yelled.
"My Daddy's hardly ever cries," Yukiko realized numbly. She and Toshiro were still too shocked to realize what had just happened, but both appreciated the comfort a crying Julia showed them. Toshiro looked over, and saw Pops himself look out one of the windows, and silent salute the burning mass.
The speakers buzzed suddenly on, and they heard a voice over a great deal in static, "Hey, didja forget about me already!?"
"Huh?" all looked upward at the speaker in shock.
