DISCLAIMER: I do not own Lupin III… But it's a nice dream to have…
Aloha!
Can't really think of anything witty to put in here right now… Summer has officially fried my brain. But, luckily, it gives me more than enough time to do what I love to do—Write. As always, please read and review. I love to hear input on what I'm doing and not doing right, and what I could be doing better. Well, see you all around! Bye for now!
Chapter Twelve
A Few Moments Later: On the Run
'Hey,
You've got to hide your love away,
Hey,
You've got to hide your love away,'
--The Beatles, 'You've got to hide your Love Away'
Odori was the first to go into battle, facing one of the ninjas head-on. The others soon followed, leaving the ninjas too distracted to notice the absence of Fuji and Heiji. Even Max and Leo faced the opponents, completely missing the most important group member. Max was surprisingly good at martial arts, and Leo proved worthy with his gun, a suspicious looking Walther P-38. He made sure to shoot to injure or scare off the ninjas, but not to kill them. He would never kill, he swore.
Fuji and Heiji, meanwhile, busied themselves getting passed the guardsmen, and to the treasure, "Let's see…. Where would I be if I were a valuable treasure?" muttered Fuji in thought.
"Easy! In the pockets of Lupin the Fourth!" Heiji laughed in response.
"Flattery will get you nowhere, my accomplice. We have to find out where it is, before tall, dark, and creepy finds us and slices us into ribbons," replied Fuji as she climbed up a ledge and faced another door, smaller and carved out of a different sort of wood, which they soon discovered to be not wood, but stone.
"May I?" inquired Heiji.
"You may," Fuji nodded, and hid herself behind a large boulder for protection. Heiji went to work removing a small box from a shirt pocket, and set off the clock on the box. He quickly stuck it to the door with adhesive, and ran towards where Fuji laid and wait. Both covered their ears, and waited for the muffled sound of the blast, which came only moments later. It shook the entire side of the mountain, and caused everyone to stop, and look upward at the door. One ninja shouted to another in a muffled voice, and a gaggle of the black-masked warriors then began their pursuit of the duo of thieves.
"Jackpot!" Fuji squealed happily as she looked inward at the wooden chests, one halfway opened with gold coins spilling out of it, "Oh, I'm the happiest little thief in the world!"
"You'll be the deadest little thief in the world in about ten seconds," Heiji gulped as he backed himself up against a rock and nervously looked forward at the approaching ninja army. He was shocked to see a figure fall down over a crowd of ninjas, wiping out every one of them in only a few swift blows. At first, the two thought this to be Toshiro, but they soon discovered it was none other than Musashi.
"This isn't it!" Musashi muttered as he peered into the cave nervously, "This isn't all of it…"
"What?" frowned Fuji and Heiji.
"There's something more!" replied Musashi. He stopped, and gasped as he laid his eyes on a higher door, with an inscription in Japanese carved into it, "There! It's there!"
"And how do you plan we get up there?" asked Heiji.
"Heiji-chan! You forget!" Fuji smiled, and revealed a grappling hook from her jacket pocket. Heiji smirked, nodded, and watched as Fuji shot the grappling hook, and began to scale the wall.
"The fact she can do that in heels is astounding…" muttered Heiji to Musashi.
"You like her, don't you?" inquired Musashi after a pause.
"What!?" Heiji yelped, "She's my coworker! My boss, more appropriately!"
"It's just the way you said it…" Musashi smirked, and looked upward at Fuji.
"She goes for charming, nice-looking guys… Not pasty little bookworms…" said Heiji to himself as he looked upward at Fuji, who had gone to hitting against the wooden door in order to open it. She smashed it open after a few strong hits, and stepped into the well-lit room.
"Hey, Musashi, about that treasure…" Fuji called, "is this it!?" she jumped onto the rope, now with a young in a kimono woman in tow.
"Yes! That's my Kimiko!" replied Musashi cheerily.
"You have a girlfriend?" Heiji choked.
"She is my fiancée," replied Musashi, "We are to marry, to join two clans together. She is truly a great treasure."
"You're Lupin!" gaped Kimiko as she looked at Fuji.
"You're in trouble!" replied Fuji as she scaled down the side of wall with Kimiko. An arrow shot, and the rope snapped in half. Heiji quickly caught Fuji, and Musashi caught Kimiko.
"You must've played softball, Heiji, if you can make a save like that!" Fuji chuckled as she wriggled out of his grasp and stood on the floor, and faced her opponents, who were reasonably less in size, due to the cutting, kicking and shooting of the Lupin group and the inspectors. Leo went to cuff Ryo, but she turned, and glared at him.
"I know you won't kill me, so don't make me do something I'll regret, Ari," whispered Ryo.
"You—You'd never kill me, either," replied Leo, avoiding eye contact with the young dark-haired woman, "But I'm still taking you in!" he added with an increase of bravado.
"Let's do this later. I'll buy you dinner, you take me in, and I'll escape," said Ryo as she fired once more.
"I don't think so," replied Leo as he reached for her other hand.
"Just like old times, ne, Arsene?" Ryo chuckled.
"Sh-shut up," Leo sputtered. He suddenly felt a kick from behind him, and he fell to the ground. Ally stepped over the fallen figure, and quickly picked the lock of handcuff and led his sister out of the fighting. But Ryo protested, and went back to shooting, much to her brother's dismay.
"Hey, I think we've got 'em all!" laughed Ally triumphantly.
"You pointy-nosed creep!" Ally heard in a growl, and fell to the ground. Ally looked back, and saw a very angry Max glaring back down at him.
"You picked the wrong guy to piss off, buddy!" hissed Ally as he tackled Max. The two rolled into a crowd of ninjas, knocking the unsuspecting warriors against one another and against the mountain walls. Leo awoke to find Ally, his former best friend, and Max, his new friend, going at it like two middle-aged women in the middle of a Christmas sale at a department store.
"If this weren't so dangerous I'd be moved…." muttered Leo, lapsing into a Lupin-like perceptive, "Hey, knock it off! I'm fine!" Leo shouted, and rose. A ninja came from behind him, and Leo grabbed the fighter by the arm, and swung him over his shoulder, as his Uncle Goemon had taught him many years before.
"Leo! Wow!" Max gasped as he held the reasonably shorter Ally down on the ground by the head. Ally pulled Max down on the ground by the tie, and the two continued their bout.
"Who else?" Leo mumbled as he looked around at the ninjas. Another went to hit Leo with a metal rod, but Le Blanc quickly ducked this, and knocked the ninja down.
"And I thought he was an idiot!" Max cheered as he ducked a blow from Ally.
"He's only as smart as you!" growled Ally, "Which ain't too smart!"
Yukiko looked upward from a boulder she stood atop of, and saw a ninja approach the fighting inspector and thief. She bent down on one knee, and tilted her hat so only one eye could retain visibility. With the other eye, she focused, and shot. The warrior fell back, and Ally and Max looked upward, stunned.
"Watch out!" called Ally. Yukiko turned, and nearly met with the eyes of another attacker. Luckily, two swords and a samurai came to her rescue, in the form of Toshiro.
"Thanks, Buddy!" said Yukiko in a shout over the fighting.
"No problem," Toshiro replied, and jumped down off of the boulder and into the ever-thinning mass.
Soon, only one warrior, which they had not seen before. Max could still not see him, because Ally had smashed his glasses in half. Max had returned this with an extremely good shot to the stomach. Both now stood shakily, and watched as the larger ninja paced about, staring at the group with yellow eyes. He was taller than even Toshiro, who stood over six feet.
Much of the group was worn from the fight, but no one refused to show it. They all stared forward at the ninja, waiting his attack. He went straight toward Musashi and Kimiko, but he only made it halfway. The tall ninja looked down at the seemingly petite Odori, who wielded Zantetsu much like her father had.
"Come and get it…" whispered Odori under her breath as she glared at her opponent. Both struck at equal times, and for a few tense moments, the Lupin family wondered who had taken the obvious blow. They had heard someone hit, but they did not know which it was. It soon became apparent that it had been the ninja that had been injured, and who toppled over onto the ground, dead.
"All right, Dori!" crowed Fuji, who had taken the advantage of looking into the treasure and now wore a string of beads from one of the many boxes.
Odori smirked, and sheathed her sword, and turned to face Musashi, "Musashi-chan, how did you—" she stopped in mid-sentence as she realized Musashi was preoccupied with his fiancée, "Oh… Who might this be?" she inquired quietly.
"My soon-to-be-wife, Kimiko!" replied Musashi.
Toshiro watched Odori's face suspiciously, and noted what appeared to be a feigned smile, but upon further inspection proved to be a pang of pain of some sort. It was a pang he himself had felt with everyone new boyfriend Julia had brought home, previous to him.
"It's nice to meet you," said Odori, bowing slightly to Kimiko, "Miyamoto is very kind…. But I beg you not to let him around any kitchen appliances…."
"Oh, no! Don't worry about that—I cook!" replied Kimiko with a laugh.
"Can you make tacos?" called Heiji. Fuji quickly responded to this with a slap on his shoulder, and Heiji chuckled bashfully, "Sorry… This near-dying crap just always leaves me hungry!"
"We must face a lot of near-death situations, then, as much as you eat…" said Odori with a self-satisfying smirk. Bickering with Heiji always took her mind off of her problems.
"Well, if you can find me a recipe, and a kitchen…" said Kimiko with a weak smirk.
"The next meal they're having is behind bars!" said Max triumphantly, and handcuffed the next closest person to himself.
"Uh… Max?" Max heard, and looked to his left, to the handcuffed being, "How did you get a license to carry a gun?"
"Did I just handcuff you?" Max inquired, looking over at the blurry Leo-like figure.
"Here, it's no problem," Leo sighed, and Max heard a sickening pop as LeBlanc dislocated his wrist and slid out of the handcuff, "Now, how in the hell did you get a gun?"
"How in the hell did you get this job?" Max retorted quickly. Leo shrugged, and both turned back towards Fuji and company, "All right, now, time to get down to business…"
"Hey, you want some more?" Ally inquired, taking a fighting stance against Max.
"They're going to need a muzzle for you…" muttered Max as he ran directly towards Fuji and handcuffed her. Fuji did not even put up a fight, but rather smiled in amusement.
"I like them, but they clash with my earrings," said Fuij as she looked downward at the handcuffs.
"Quiet. It's time to go," grumbled an obviously tired Max, "I hope jumpsuit orange will be a better match, Lupin."
"Nah, something tells me it won't quite match… I'm more of a spring color," she answered, followed by a trip upon a large rock. Max bent down to help her, as did Leo, and when both rose, they were handcuffed to one another once more. Leo smirked, and tried to escape the handcuffs, as he had done before, but found to his surprise they did not budge.
"Sorry, Boys. These are special. Forged by a swordmaker with a lot of time on his hands…" chuckled Fuji.
"I.e., Dad ran out of crosswords and needed something to get out of the house," sighed Heiji.
"Good luck getting out of those. Let's get going, fellas!" called Fuji. The group began to run, and Max broke into a run after them, but was tripped up by Leo, who was unprepared and tumbled over Max's feet onto the ground.
"Dammit," Max hissed, "Crap, crap, crap!" he added in a frustrated yell.
"You're so much like you're dad you hurt," grumbled Leo, placing a hand over his head and sighed heavily as he watched the Lupin gang run off into the distance.
Later, the Miyamoto Residence:
"Where's Odori?" Toshiro inquired as he looked around the candle-lit room, where the sake had begun to make its rounds, and Heiji and Ally had taken to singing an old Japanese folk song, while a red-faced Yukiko laid out on the couch, and Ryo tried to restrain a drunken Fuji from doing anything stupid due to alcohol. Musashi was perhaps the most sober, and his future wife looked onward, amused at the crowd.
"She said she needed some time to reflect," replied Musashi.
"Ah," Toshiro nodded, and walked out through sliding doors into the Miyamotos' back yard. Odori was seated on a flat stone near a lake, thinking deeply to herself.
"I hear you, Toshiro," said Odori as her older brother approached her, "What do you want?"
"How are you?" inquired Toshiro as he seated himself next to Odori.
"Fine. A little tired, but fine," replied Odori, "I had no idea he had a…"
"Things don't always work out how we expect," answered Toshiro, "You should be happy, though. Miyamoto gave us quite a share of the treasure, and, I don't know about you, but my vehicle needs some body work done after that drive I took…"
"You could always pay for speech therapy," Odori retorted, opening one eye and looking towards him cynically, "Does everyone speak in New York like you do?"
"Brooklyn, at least," Toshiro answered, "Why don't you come in, and get something to drink?"
"I don't take alcohol well. I'll make myself look like a fool…" said Odori, "again…"
"We'll get you some tea, then. Just don't look so miserable," Toshiro smirked, and stood, "I'll see you inside…"
"Yeah… Bye," Odori nodded off, and continued to look outward at the darkened sky, "I guess it's the price I pay for being a good teacher… And at least I know he's in good hands…" she rose, and walked back into the living area of the house, and was immediately greeted by a wobbling Fuji.
"Hey… You wanna dance…?" Fuji chuckled, and tumbled over onto the floor at Odori's feet.
"No, thanks… You want to not throw up on my sandals-- And that request fell upon deaf ears, I see…." said Odori with a wince, "Miyamoto, where's your bathroom?"
"I'll lead you," said Musashi, who walked over to Odori and led her to the bathroom. During this time, Ryo walked towards Fuji, and busied herself lifting the raven-haired woman up onto the couch.
"How much did you have?" inquired Ryo as she propped Fuji up onto the couch next to Heiji.
"This many," said Fuji, lifting up four fingers and then giving a long chuckle. She them toppled over onto a surprised Heiji's lap, and the son of the samurai looked downward at her in horror.
"I think we better call in a night…" said Ryo.
"Cagliostro…" slurred Fuji, "Letter…."
"Woah, Cagliostro?" Yukiko spoke for the first time, and lifted her fedora from over her eyes, "What about Cagliostro?"
"What's Cagliostro?" asked Ryo.
"Nothing," said Yukiko shaking her head and looking over at Toshiro worriedly. He exchanged the glance, and then turned his attention back to Fuji, who was being led out by Ryo to the driveway.
"Cagliostro…" muttered Toshiro.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Yukiko asked Toshiro.
"Yeah. I've got to hit the Jiffy Lube before it gets too late," replied Toshiro as he approached the opened front door.
"Get me some beef jerky!" called Yukiko as he exited.
"Are we married? Last time I checked, it was no," retorted Toshiro as he walked towards his vehicle, "Thank you for the wonderful meal and the doctor's appointment!" Toshiro yelled to Musashi's future wife.
"Guys, Dumb and Dumber are outside!" shouted Odori, running out of the bathroom with Musashi, "We've got to run!"
"Such is life," Yukiko sighed as she rose from her comfortable position, "Hope to see you lovebirds around! Bye!" she ran out to catch up to Toshiro, and jumped onto the back of his Vespa, which was already speeding up. Ally and Heiji quickly followed, and Odori hesitated before running towards the door.
"Sensai, thank you!" said Musashi with a deep bow, "We'll name our first daughter after you, in honor of your assistance to our clan."
"Do me a favor, and don't allow anyone to call her Dori. Trust me, children are cruel, and the fish jokes will be abound," replied Odori. With that, she ran out of the residence, and jumped into the gang's getaway car.
"Dori, it wouldn't have worked," said Ryo, "He's an idiot, you would've killed him."
"No, if you killed idiots, you would've tried to kill me long ago, knowing what a genius you think I am…." chuckled Heiji.
"Fuji, what's Cagliostro?" inquired Ally, leaning forward to her.
"Clarisse…" muttered Fuji, "Cag… Ca… I'm drunk, aren't I?"
"Extremely," replied Ryo, "Now, just rest, Buddy. We'll get in a nice warm bed in no time, and you can tell us all about it in the morning…"
"Letter…" muttered Fuji, "Cagliostro…"
Later, the hotel:
"Out of the frying pan, and into the fire…" mumbled Toshiro as he sat drinking a warm bottle of scotch with Yukiko, his closest comrade, and the only other one with any strong notion as to what Cagliostro was.
"I wonder…. Could it have anything to do with your dad and my dad?" inquired Yukiko as she set her shot glass down on the table. Fuji, in honor of their success and her drunkeness, had ordered individual rooms for the group, a rare treat for all. This left Yukiko and Toshiro plenty of time to converse with one another in private, without the watchful eye of Ally over them, as it usually was. Jigen had actually gone to bed early due to a fowl mood; the Southern team had one the Stanely Cup, and he had given serious thought to committing honorable suicide with Zantetsu before lulling off to sleep. All were tired from the battle, and even though it was almost daytime, nearly everyone was asleep.
"Perhaps," Toshiro glanced downward at his shot glass, and gave a weak smile, "My father told me that the Lady was quite the looker…"
"I'll bet anything that you're a pervert…" grumbled Yukiko.
Toshiro smirked, and moved a little closer to Yukiko, whom he was already close to, "You really think I'm…."
"Uh, yeah…" Yukiko leaned back a little from him, "Are you feeling okay? You're looking really weird…" Toshiro continued to look at Yukiko strangely, until there was a knocking upon her door.
"Door!" Yukiko yelped, and rose to run to the door. Toshiro, broken out of a trance he had been in, fell out of his chair onto the ground, and put a hand over his face as he looked upward at Yukiko, who continued to walk to the door. She opened it, and a waiter with a cart stood in front of the door, smiling at her cheerily.
"You ordered the breakfast for two?" he inquired.
"Toshiro," Yukiko looked back at Toshiro, "did you…"
"No," he shook his head, "Did—"
"No," she darted her eyes back to the waiter, and noticed he was now brandishing handcuffs. Another set of hands had also popped out from beneath the cart, also wielding handcuffs.
"Hope we didn't come in the middle of something," chuckled Max, who was the officer under the cart. Upon further inspection, they realized that the waiter was none other than Leo LeBlanc.
Toshiro gave a look of shock, and shouted in anger, "I would never do anything like—"
"Save it!" snapped Max, "Now get in these handcuffs, and tell us where Lupin is!"
"Oh, I could tell you," replied Yukiko, glancing at Leo, "but I won't." she added to LeBlanc's dismay and relief.
"Fine—But there's no escape," Max called to Toshiro, who had walked over to the window to run. Toshiro looked out, and saw what appeared to be the entire Tokyo police force, heavily armed. A few bullets zoomed past him, and he shut the curtains, and turned back to Yukiko.
"And there's more behind us," added Leo, with less zest than Max.
"Crap, now what?" Yukiko whispered to Toshiro as she looked at their blocked exits. There appeared to be no escape in sight.
"I have a plan," whispered Toshiro.
"Well, I'd love to hear it about now!" Yukiko hissed in a low tone.
Toshiro drew out his swords quickly, and before Leo and Max could utter any words, the two had fallen through the floor, Yukiko screaming the entire ride down. Her white fedora floated slowly downward, and landed on the dazed girl's stomach.
"Hey, it worked!" Yukiko laughed in disbelief.
"That's terrific…. Now could you get off my spine?" asked Toshiro pleadingly. Yukiko looked downward, and realized she was sitting atop the samurai.
"Sorry," Yukiko smirked, and lifted herself off Toshiro. She then helped Toshiro up, and both turned to the horrified newlyweds whose room they had invaded.
"I don't believe it," Toshiro muttered, wide-eyed in horror.
"It's that pervert from our vacation!" cried the woman.
"Oh, I'm prepared, this time!" the man shouted, revealing a gun. Both looked wide-eyed in horror, and ran out of the room, just as the inspectors popped their heads down into the hole. The woman let out another scream, and both jerked their heads back in, narrowly avoided gunfire.
"We're the good guys!" Leo shouted.
"Come on. We'll get them later. They'll be helpless without their other members," Max reassured him. Leo nodded, and both walked out, and down to the next room. There, they heard no human sounds, but what appeared to be chirping.
"That sounds… Like a squirrel…" Max frowned.
"Er, we'll come back to this one," Leo reassured him, and led him down to the next door. There, they heard not one, but two voices. After their banging on the door went unanswered, Leo went to picking the lock, which he did with great ease. After picking the lock, Leo opened the door, and he and Max entered.
They found Fuji in the room, along with a male friend who had probably arrived their only minutes before but had intended to stay a while. Both Fuji and Leo exchanged looks of shock, and Fuji's eyes wandered over to her guest. Leo pushed his way past Max, and walked straight over to the man, his gun drawn.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked in a hiss of a whisper, "What are you doing?"
"No-Nothing Mister Officer, Sir…." replied the terrified man, looking downward at Leo's gun barrel.
"I could kill you now and get a medal of honor for it, but I don't kill anymore," replied Leo in a deeper tone which gave way to a voice very much like his father's, "You could go to jail for this, you realize…"
"No—I have a family, man!" the man protested.
"Then get the hell out!" Leo screamed, and threw him towards the door of the hotel room, all while Fuji looked onward, stunned.
Leo turned back to Max, who had not noticed LeBlanc's small outburst, and he turned to Fuji.
What's wrong with him? Fuji wondered as she looked at the shaking Leo. He looks like he's going to cry….
"Lupin, you're under arrest!" Max shouted triumphantly to her. Just then, a blade jutted through the through, and before they knew it, Fuji had vanished, floor and all. The two inspectors looked downward, and watched as she ran out of the room, with Ally, Yukiko, Toshiro, and Ryo all intact.
They got to Heiji and Odori's room as well, but too late. Even after sending troops down to the floor below, they had not captured a single one. But they found many of their officers tied up.
"I want a search of this entire hotel!" Max ordered, "Check the rooms, the laundry room, the kitchen—Anything! If there's a large group of tourists, ask for passports! Get moving!" Max, at that time, then realized Leo was no longer with him.
"Where on earth is LeBlanc?" Max wondered out loud as he looked about. He grew more and more worried as he failed to find LeBlanc in any of the rooms that were under investigation.
He found Leo on the roof of the building. He approached LeBlanc silently, but his shoes made enough noise to let Leo know he was present.
"Leo, what are you doing?" Max inquired as he looked downward at LeBlanc.
"Nothing… Just keeping an eye out for Lupin…" replied Leo, "They found the treasure they stole from Miyamoto in Ryoko's room, so we can file that under evidence when we get back… They took two officers to the hospital to get rabies shots… Apparently Allen Jigen had squirrels in his room for some unknown reason, and they bit the officers… That guy Fujiko Lupin was with has vanished…"
"Are you okay?" Max asked worriedly.
"Yeah," Leo nodded, "I just…. I think I need a vacation, that's all…"
"I agree. You've been working hard…." answered Max.
"No, I haven't," Leo shook his head, "I'm weak…. You've been the force behind this operation, and I've just been the backup… I don't mind, though…. There've always been stronger people than me…."
"No—Hey, I saw you with that guy in Lupin's room! I thought you were going to kill him!" Max laughed in response.
Me too, Leo thought to himself.
"Now, come on. We've got to get that stuff back to the evidence room, and then I'll get us breakfast!" Max smiled, and patted Leo on the shoulder.
"I'll be down in a little," Leo replied. Max nodded, and exited back down to the top story of the hotel.
"Dammit, Fujiko!" Leo said to himself, "Who in the hell do you think you are—Mom!? I tried everything to protect you from turning into our parents… I guess I failed, huh?"
During his berating of himself, Leo failed to notice the group of suspicious-looking police officers exiting the building, among them one with numerous bracelets, one with one sword, one with two swords, one with black glasses, one with a white fedora tucked away, one with a shaggy haircut over his eyes, and the other with a surprisingly large bust. The group ran towards a pink Alfa Romeo and a yellow Vespa, and quickly headed out.
"Ah, Ari…" Fuji muttered as she noticed her brother sitting on the roof of the hotel, "Sorry it has to be like this, but you'll have to learn to accept some things… Like the fact that I'm not the little girl you were always protecting and tormenting when we were kids…."