We're near the end, my friends. Lupin and Co. do not belong to me.

Chapter 13: Close Encounters of the Absurd Kind

Around the corner, Fujiko, Goemon, and Jigen were bracing for the immanent onslaught. They had discarded their disguises. Fujiko was tinkering with the sides of the door Peters was attempting open. From the sounds issuing from the other side of the door, the defeated agent sounded like he was ready for blood.

Fujiko looked at her partners. "We're not going to make it, are we?" she said suddenly and quietly.

Goemon looked at the situation. Three guns, a sword, and three unarmed civilians against an entire military base. "I'm afraid not. We shall meet death bravely."

"I hope Eshe's friends get here, soon," Jigen grunted.

Fujiko and Goemon looked at Jigen in shock. "Wha?" they both muttered.

Jigen looked up, peering at them beneath his hat a small smile on his face. "Just an idea. Of course, hope is a poor weapon, isn't it?"

Goemon looked annoyed. "You sound like me. Cut it out."

Another loud crash and the crack between the two doors opened slightly. "Surrender!" yelled Peters. "This is your last chance! I have out here a division of the Army Elite, the finest secret warriors our country has to offer. If we get through that door, you don't stand a chance!"

Jigen aimed carefully and fired a shot through the barely open crack. There was a cry of alarm, and then another angry pound on the door. "Bastard! That's it! You've blown all your chances."

Jigen took a step back, Magnum at the ready. On either side of him, Goemon and Fujiko readied their weapons. "Hope that door holds," Fujiko said, drawing back the hammer of her gun.

The doors let out a mighty groan and began to shift open. "Get them!" thundered Peters, as the doors slid open enough to let one man through...and then stopped completely. Fujiko had attached a few spare parts to the edges of the doors. The debris now kept the doors from retracting into the walls and opening any more than a sliver.

"An advantage is an advantage," Goemon said, shrugging.

Jigen smiled. "These poor guys are about to find out what that damned 'an army of one' commercial's really about."

Lupin could hear shots fire. Rather than distract him now, they only served to hurry his cause. The thing looked finished, but for some reason still wasn't working.

"Eshe!" Lupin roared over the crash from around the corner. Eshe hurried over from where she was helping tend to Agent Hanes. She looked at Lupin, a mixture of confusion and fear on her face. "How do we power this thing?"

Eshe gave an anxious smile and brushed the board with her fingertips. Lupin looked very confused. "Mental energy," she replied quietly. "It sends the signal."

Lupin nodded, deciding now was not the time to ask complicated questions. He handed the beacon to Eshe. "Keep this safe. If it goes out again..." he warned, and left his sentence there. Eshe nodded and tucked it in a pocket of her cardigan. Lupin, meanwhile, had withdrawn his gun. Nodding at Waker and Hanes, he said, "Get them behind the ship. I'll hold off any who make it this far."

Eshe looked at Lupin for a moment. "Thank you," she said quietly, and dashed over to Hanes and Waker.

A battle raged on in the other part of the bay. While Fujiko's trap had been effective, the Elite had somehow managed to worm in enough to keep the three thieves busy. And they were still coming, Jigen noted, bringing down two more with two perfect shots. Fujiko was holding her own, and Goemon went through the guards like a weed-whacker on crack, slicing armor, blocking bullets, and destroying weapons in swift broad slices.

Two more Elite entered, replacing their fallen comrades, followed by...

"This is it!" said Agent Peters, blood in his eyes. He dashed towards Jigen, two pistols clutched in his hands, ignoring the wound Jigen had inflicted earlier. He aimed both at Jigen, just as the gunman brought around his own weapon. "Dodge this, hotshot!"

Goemon turned just in time to see the shootout between Peters and Jigen. He'd never make in time to block the bullets. Nevertheless, he made a futile dive towards the two, determined to save...or avenge...his partner-in-crime.

Three seconds later, he lowered his sword slightly in surprise, as did Jigen and Peters. Peters began to blubber. "Wha...how..." he said. The two bullets he had fired were suspended in air in front of Jigen. Jigen was equally stunned; Goemon quickly turned just in time to see a blur of red and green disappear around the corner. Two soft clinks against the ground followed; the bullets had landed without harming anyone.

Jigen looked at Goemon. "Eshe?" he mouthed.

Goemon nodded, relieved that Jigen was safe. He failed to notice the Elite running towards him, and was caught unprepared when the soldier tackled him, knocking Zantetsuken from his grip. Goemon landed on his stomach, but before he could recover and claw his way to his sword, he felt the guard press the barrel of his revolver against the back of his head. "Freeze!" the guard ordered.

"Careless," Goemon cursed. When this mission was over, he was headed back to his mountain training grounds. He had a lot of catching up to do.

"Lower your weapons!" the guard ordered. Upon seeing Goemon, Jigen and Fujiko reluctantly complied.

"Set them on the ground," Peters growled. He was still pale and shaken, but he finally had his opportunity to win the battle. Jigen gave a snort before dropping his Magnum; seconds later, Fujiko's Browning hit the ground as well.

Peters' face creased with the smile of a man deranged. Withdrawing his own weapon and pointing it at Fujiko, he called, "Lupin! Your time is up! Send yourself and the alien out here, or we'll kill your friends."

A sputtering sound came from behind Peters. "Now wait a minute, Peters. Who appointed you judge, jury, and executioner?" Zenigata slipped through the door and pushed through the Elite. "I'm to return them to Interpol alive..."

"You missed your opportunity, you incompetent fool. This was out of your hands from the beginning, anyway."

Zenigata paled. There was no reasoning with Peters, but Zenigata was going to try anyway. "Now, think of the consequences, Agent Peters. The international incidents this could cause..."

A gunshot rang through the room. Zenigata traced the path of the bullet from Peters' gun, over to a flinching Fujiko. The shot had penetrated the wall, inches from her head.

"Are you done yammering, Inspector?" Peters said confidently. Zenigata nodded, stunned. "Then I suggest you take your leave of us. Forget everything you've seen and heard. Trust me, it's a deal that's more than generous."

"But..." Zenigata said.

"Cool it, Pops," Jigen growled. "Get out of here while you can. These guys may regret that decision later."

Zenigata gave each of the three thieves a pained look, and then turned and walked out of the door. "Tell Lupin good luck," he said quietly as he exited. Jigen could see that Zenigata had his fingers crossed for luck. Normally, he would have discounted it, but right now it looked as though Lupin's gang needed all the help they could get.

"Lupin!" Peters bellowed again, the sound ringing through the uncomfortably quiet chamber. "Send it out now!" Another pause, just as silent and oppressive as the first. "Send it out by the count of three, or I blow your partners away!"

Lupin gritted his teeth. "Some concern he's showing for you two," he said, trying to be offhand, checking the bullets in his own gun.

Hanes groaned as she shifted her position slightly. "I was always concerned he'd go too far. You four may be far from innocent, but he can't just kill you in cold blood, either."

Waker stood shakily. "Let me try," he said gruffly.

Lupin shook his head. "That bastard's crazy enough to do something drastic."

"It might buy us some time." Upon seeing the looks of shock on Lupin, Hanes, and Eshe's face, he added, "From the way Peters sounds right now, there's not much hope for any of us. If we can distract him, something...anything," he said, trailing off.

Lupin lowered his gun slightly. "Fine. No tricks."

Waker nodded. He took a deep breath, gave Hanes a look of concern, and stepped out around the corner.

Peters lowered his gun slightly when he saw the general, but he did not waver otherwise. "General," he said, unable to keep all of the contempt from his voice.

"Hanes and I have overpowered Mr. Lupin and the alien. Lower your weapon and we'll bring them out to you..."

Peters didn't even pause. Instead, he swung the gun from Fujiko to Waker. "Nothing doing. This is some kind of trick. How do I know you're not Lupin in disguise?"

Waker pulled Lupin out from behind the wall. Lupin had tucked his gun behind his jacket to make him appear unarmed. "Here, you see," Waker growled. "Hanes has a weapon trained on him. Now, lower your weapon right now."

Peters lowered his gun.

"There you go. Now..." Waker began.

Peters raised his hand. With an evil glint in his eyes, he uttered a single word.

"Fire."

The Elite complied. Fujiko let off a chocked scream. But, the blinding flash that followed took them all by surprise.

Lupin rubbed his eyes, trying to get them to function normally as he staggered around, trying to figure out what the hell happened. In the process, he nearly tripped over someone. From the grunt, he could tell it was Goemon, still on the floor from where he had been captured.

"Are you okay?" Lupin said, helping the samurai to his feet. The light was beginning to fade and his vision was returning to normal.

"I think so," Goemon said. Lupin could tell Goemon was just as surprised as he was. "What just happened?"

Lupin cast his eyes to the source of the light, which had finally died down enough to make out three figures standing at the center. "I think the cavalry just arrived," he said, relief creeping into his voice.

He heard a cry of joy from behind him. Eshe, who had still been around the corner during the flash and could see perfectly well, ran towards the light.

"Eshe!" They heard Agent Hanes cry in alarm, fully aware of the danger. She staggered around the corner, trying to stop her.

Lupin and Goemon turned their heads to follow her. Out of the corner of his eye, Goemon saw a figure moving.

"Peters!" he yelled, seeing a gun being raised at Eshe. "Stop!"

"Call for backup!" Peters yelled, tears streaming down his face from where he'd been blinded. "We have an invasion in progress! We...umph!"

Before he could fire his weapon, he was tackled from three sides by Lupin, Goemon, and Jigen. The four crashed to the ground, the thieves trying to pry the gun away from Peters before another accident could happen. Lupin could hear Eshe's voice talking quickly and excitedly with one of the newcomers. Then, a loud booming voice announced, "Desist!"

The four men looked up from their scrambling on the floor to get their first good look at the scene around them. The Elite were passed out on the floor, overwhelmed by the light and the night vision goggles they had been wearing. Fujiko was standing by Waker, alternating her look between the rest of the gang and Eshe's friends. And every single bullet that had been fired was now harmlessly hanging in mid-air. Seconds later, they fell to the ground, sounding like rain striking a tin roof.

Jigen finally managed to pry the gun from Peter's hand. He stood, throwing the gun across the room. "Behave," he told the belligerent agent firmly.

"You fools!" Peters roared, leaping at Jigen. Goemon and Lupin managed to grab him and hold him back. "You've ruined everything! Our operation is useless and our planet doomed! They destroyed our first contact unit! It can't happen again!"

Struggling, Goemon shot a glance at Lupin. "Should I knock him out?"

"No," another voice answered. Lupin and Goemon finally turned to see Eshe's rescue party. They stood near the wall. All of them were taller than Eshe, but only by a few inches at the most. Like Eshe, they had fins, scaly skin, and the feathers. While their skin was all green, they varied in shades from Eshe's rich emerald to a pale sea green to a deep olive. Their solid-colored eyes and mane-like feathers were all different from each other; pale pink, shining gold, soft lavenders.

Their leader, who had the palest skin among them, along with silver eyes and deep teal feathers, stepped forward. While the gang had struggled with Peters, he turned to Eshe and conversed briefly with her in their native tongue. During the conversation, Fujiko noticed she pointed to the gang, Waker, Peters, and gestured towards the place her ship had been stored. After listening, the leader nodded, turned, and stepped towards them.

"Greetings," he said formally. "I am Tunde, head ambassador of our planet."

"Uh, hi?" Lupin said, still struggling with Peters.

"You may release him. He cannot hurt us," Tunde said.

Lupin and Goemon cast each other a wary look before letting Peters go. He stumbled to the ground in front of them, breathing heavily.

Tunde took a step towards him. Peters gritted his teeth, ready to attack.

Tunde spread his hands in a gesture of peace. "I am sorry for what happened to your people at our ship's landing. It was a technical malfunction, I assure you. Our scouting ships carry no weapons."

"Like hell!" Peters cried. He finally lost it and charged at Tunde, his hands in front of him ready to wrap around the alien's delicate frame.

And then he stopped rigid like a statue. The look of frenzy on his face was replaced with a blank look before he finally toppled to the ground.

"Um," Lupin said, poking the downed agent in concern. "Is...is he okay? You didn't lobotomize him or anything, did you?"

Tunde shook his head. "I merely induced a great desire to sleep in him. It looks as though he could use it." He sighed. "A shame. I had hoped he would listen to our side of the story. His mind was damaged during that unfortunate incident."

"We kinda suspected," Jigen snapped. Eshe let a small smile escape.

"General Waker," Tunde said, turning to the General. Although the General was shaking in his boots, the gang had to admit he was brave for simply not passing out right there. Hanes was leaning against the wall next to him. She seemed to have forgotten the pain she was in to stare in amazement at the aliens.

Waker gave the alien a shaky salute. "Ambassador."

"Allow me to apologize formally on the unfortunate loss of life that took place. We truly have no grudge against your people. It was a misunderstanding."

Waker looked relieved at these words. "I...I would like to apologize on our behalf also. We were at fault as well."

Tunde nodded. "Apology accepted."

"Likewise," Waker said. "I will include your message in the appropriate reports."

Waker looked at Eshe. "I believe we owe...Eshe, was it? I believe we owe her a proper apology also."

"I accept," Eshe said, nodding understandably. Lupin caught a sly wink at the general as well.

Tunde then turned towards the four thieves. "Of course, we owe you a profuse amount of thanks. Without the assistance of you four, our Eshe would never have escaped and found a way to contact us. We are most grateful."

Lupin shrugged. "You're welcome," was all he could say. He could see Jigen tip his hat slightly, Goemon give a nod at Tunde, and Fujiko shoot the alien a small, nervous smile.

Tunde smiled in return. "A most interesting group of people, you four," he said. "I shall look forward to Eshe telling us more of her adventures with you. And now," he added, turning to Eshe, "as much as it pains me to tell you this, Eshe, we must leave. Please make your good-byes short."

Eshe nodded slowly. She went over to Lupin and gave him a big hug.

"How come he speaks English so well?" he couldn't help but ask.

"Powerful telepath. Uses talents to learn languages instantly." Eshe gave a wry smile and pointed to herself. "Not a telepath. Just a quick study."

Lupin chuckled. "Take care, Eshe. Stop by if you're in the neighborhood."

Eshe nodded and moved on to Fujiko. She also gave her a hug. "Thank you for helping."

"No problem," Fujiko said. She looked a bit choked up as Eshe stepped away, so Lupin put an arm around her for comfort.

Eshe threw her arms around Goemon next and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you for saving me," she said happily.

"Um, it was my pleasure," Goemon said, blushing furiously. "Please take care of yourself, Eshe. I wish you the best."

Finally, Eshe came to Jigen. She paused, unsure of how the gunman would react. Jigen sighed and opened his arms; Eshe gave a big smile and gave him a hug, too. "Thank you for trusting me."

"No problem, Eshe. Thanks for, um, not killing us or anything."

Lupin leaned over and smacked Jigen upside the head. Goemon gave a snort, though Lupin couldn't tell if it was from annoyance or amusement.

"Ow!" Jigen said. Eshe giggled. She then stepped back to stand at Tunde's side.

"Farewell," Tunde said. "Perhaps it will not be very long before see us again."

"We hope not. Have a safe journey home," Lupin said.

Tunde nodded. He and Eshe joined the other aliens. "You may want to shield your eyes," he added. Seconds later, there was another blinding flash. Lupin had lowered his hand from his eyes; the aliens had disappeared.

"I'm kind of going to miss her," Fujiko said sadly. Lupin put his arms around her in a comforting gesture.

"As will we all," Goemon added.

There was a long pause. It was broken when Fujiko realized that Lupin's comforting arms had drifted down to a place they shouldn't have.

"Lupin!" she yelled, giving a smack across the face.

"Sorry, ow, sorry!" Lupin yelled. He ran from the room, Fujiko in hot pursuit. Jigen and Goemon looked after them, looked at each other, and then glanced at Waker and Hanes.

Waker sighed. "We'll take care of it. You won't have to worry about being fugitives anymore." A pause. "Er, anymore than normal."

"Thanks," Jigen grunted. With that, he and Goemon followed Lupin and Fujiko out the door of the hanger, following their battle cries to find the way.

Seconds later, Agent Roth appeared in the door, a large group of MPs behind him. He took in the unconscious Peters, the floor covered in sleeping agents and spent bullets, the injured Hanes, and a distinct lack of both aliens and thieves. "Sir?" he asked.

Waker sighed and shook his head. "Forget it. You wouldn't believe me if I tried to explain it."