DISCLAIMER: I didn't own Lupin III on writing anniversary number one, but hey, maybe by my 5th I will!
Shalom!!
Pardon the updates for being perhaps a little sparse, dear readers, but, you see, this author has the grand misfortune of being located dead-center in the middle of hurricane country (and that's all I'll say on that subject). Well, enough of that, now on to the part where I stop blabbering. I hope you enjoy the following chapter, and remember that questions and comments are always welcome.
Chapter Twenty Eight
A Few Seconds Later: Rescue Me
'And these mem'ries lose their meaning,
when I think of love as something new.
Though I know I'll never lose affection,
for people and things that went before,
I know I'll often stop and think about
them,'
—The Beatles, 'In My Life'
"Victor! You jerk!" Yukiko growled, drawing her gun, "You let go of my sister, now!"
"Oh, is this the part where I say something cliched, like 'make me'?" Victor chuckled, "You know, you're just like an old Western hero, Yukiko… The samurai bitch is more to my liking, but this one isn't half-bad, either… Although I do shudder at the fact that she and my dear turncoat cousin were once a couple… How in the hell that happened, I don't know, but I guess if they can find someone for your dad out there, anything is possible…"
"I'm gonna shoot him!" Yukiko hissed.
"Yuki! No!" Toshiro shouted, grabbing onto one of her shoulders firmly.
"I can make it! I have a draw of 0.3, he has a draw of 0.6," replied Yukiko.
"How'd you know that?" Victor wondered aloud.
"I'm a good observer," Yukiko smirked, "Now let go of the dame before you get one right between the eyes!"
"We'll have to say what Miss Ishikawa says to that…" Victor chuckled, and disappeared from sight with Ryo. In his wake he left a small figure clad in a gi with an unsheathed blade.
"Crap! She's the one I'm scared of the most!" Fuji yelped, "He's cockier than I thought if he's using her first!"
"Is there some weakness for her we could use, Toshiro?" Yukiko inquired.
"Not unless we can get Musashi on a plane and here in five minutes!" Toshiro responded as he unsheathed Izanami, "Girls, you get away, I'll take her. Go get help from someone…"
"No way, man. I've lived with you and worked with you, now I'm gonna die with you," replied Yukiko, cocking her fedora to a side and drawing her pistol.
"Yukiko, no!" Toshiro snapped firmly, "You and Fuji run. I'll take her!"
"Would you two both quit arguing and just get her under control!?" Fuji inquired worriedly as Odori jumped from the second-story window and landed in front of the three with a kind of demonic air about her as she rose and stared at the trio with a glare.
"Listen, I'll take her, you go with Fuji," said Toshiro as he moved glances back and forth to Yukiko quickly, "I ought to be able to take her…"
"What if you can't, huh!?"
"Take on my family name and name one of your sons after me," replied Toshiro.
"What!? What in the hell kind of request is that!?" Yukiko yelped as Toshiro ran from her and towards Odori, one of his swords drawn.
"Hey, give her this!" Fuji called, tossing him a small bottle. Toshiro caught it and nodded as he ran into battle.
The two samurai struck in unison, making an 'X' with their blades, and Odori worked her way out of the lock, and backed up from Toshiro, who took this time to unsheathe his second, longer blade, Izanagi. Odori lunged for him, and knocked him to the ground, but he placed his swords one over the other in a protective stance, shielding his face from her blade. He kicked her down to the ground and pinned her, but Odori rolled, and pinned him down before she rose to sink her sword into his skull. She dove for his face, but Toshiro rolled out of the way, barely missing her attack.
As the older samurai rose to his feet, Fuji and Yukiko busied themselves with undoing the lock to Victor's mansion.
"Hey, what's that noise?" Yukiko whispered to Fuji as she continued to pick at the lock.
"Toshiro and Odori yelling, mainly…" Fuji replied, glancing back at the fighting duo anxiously.
"And, what else? I'm hearing something like panting…." Yukiko muttered.
"Oh, that'd be the two guard dogs staring at us," Fuji gulped. Yukiko snapped her head back and sure enough there were two drooling mutts in their wake.
"Run!" Fuji ordered, bounding for a fence. Yukiko ran, and easily cleared the fence.
"Can't I shoot them!?" Yukiko wondered out loud as she and Fuji continued to run.
"Having Victor for a master is enough of a punishment! Don't you dare shoot those mutts!" Fuji yelled in response as she stumbled through the wooded area, Yukiko running behind her.
Back at Max and Leo's Hotel:
"Woah, how long was I out!?" Max wondered aloud as he rose from his bed. He looked downward at Leo and moaned, "Oh, don't tell me I—If I did, thank God I can't remember it…."
"Wha… Fuji!" Leo gasped, bolting up from his sleeping position, "Oh my God, what time is it!?"
"Why? Hey, where's Lupin?" Max wondered aloud as he looked about the room, "And your cure's gone, too!"
"Damn it, I knew it!" Leo grumbled, rising from the bed, "I knew she'd go off and do something stupid!"
"What'd she do?" inquired Max.
"She went to go face Victor by herself!"
"What!? That's suicide!"
"I know…"
"Well, we have to go get her!"
Leo turned to him, and chuckled wryly, "I would, but I have no idea where his place is! We were never really close."
"Crap, crap, crap!" Max fumed, "We have a maniac controlling a bunch of killers, our top case is on a one-way trip to the afterlife, and we have no idea where any of them are!"
"Good thing I used that bug…" Leo muttered, turning away from Max.
"The what?" Max blinked a few times in disbelief, "What bug?"
"The one I put on the car," replied Leo, "I guess I have a little of my dad in me, after all… It was Fuji's, but I snatched it off of her and put it on the car. I didn't have time to get the tracker, but luckily she left her purse here…"
"What good's that gonna do us? Not like we need lipstick right now or anything," Max muttered as he spilt the contents of Fuji's purse onto the table.
"It's no ordinary purse," Leo explained, opening the bag and picking out a random object, "Take this lipstick—It's got a bullet in it that she could fire and kill someone with…"
"Why didn't you tell me that, then!?" Max growled.
"Because I know Fuji, and she doesn't even like the sight of blood!" Leo replied as he continued to look through the purse with Max.
"What's this? Perfume?"
"Nerve gas…" Leo replied.
"And this looks just like a pen…"
"That's a microphone."
"And how about this lighter?"
"Flame thrower."
"And what's this thing?"
Leo sighed, "That's a Tampon…"
Max's face flushed, and he sputtered incoherently as he tossed it back onto the table, "Ur… I'll leave the rest of this to you…."
"Good idea," Leo admitted, continuing to shuffle through the contents until he came upon a flashing compact, "Huh, the compact! Why am I not surprised?"
"Well, where is she?" asked Max intently.
"Follow me!" Leo said, jumping up from his seat and bounding out of the hotel, Max following close behind.
After 'borrowing' another vehicle in the name of Interpol, Max drove through the Dutch streets like a madman while Leo called out directions to him on the compact. They arrived at Victor's foreboding mansion, where they saw first Toshiro fighting with Odori, and then two figures running towards them, one in blue and red and the other in black and white.
Fuji pried open the door to the back seat of the car and slid in. Yukiko rolled over the hood of the car and opened the driver's side, sliding in next to Max and Leo. She floored on the gas, and watched as the two dogs which had chased them suddenly broke into a run for their lives. Toshiro and Odori both stopped briefly as Yukiko zoomed by them, gun drawn. A shot sounded, and Zantetsu flew out of Odori's hands and landed upon the ground, sticking straight upward. A loud crash resonated after this, and both snapped their heads in the direction of Victor's house, where a borrowed car now made its parking lot.
Odori was stunned into pausing, and Toshiro took this time to grab her from behind and pull her to the ground, all while Odori struggled, clawing at his face and kicking him. He gave a hard pull to her hair, and Odori let out a loud call. While she had her mouth open in a yell, her shoved the bottle down her throat. Odori coughed and spattered wildly, and Toshiro patted her back while she ingested some of the vile liquid.
"What are you doing?" she coughed, wiping her mouth with her gi sleeve.
"Odori, you're back!" Toshiro gasped happily.
"Yes… Where am I?" she wondered aloud, "And what in God's earth did you make me drink!?"
"Hey, guys, I got us a way upstairs!" Yukiko crowed happily, kicking open her car door.
"I don't believe this…" Max muttered, tiredly tumbling out. Soon followed Leo, who leaned on the roof of the car and sighed.
"She's been doing stuff like this since she was a kid… Ask my dad about his red Mini Cooper sometime…"
"What a ride, huh guys!?" Fuji laughed, punching Leo in the shoulder playfully, "Hey, what's wrong, Zenigata? We've got Odori back on our side now!"
"How… in the hell…. Can you be this CHEERY!?" Max yelled in frustration, waving his hands in a violent shaking gesture as he spoke to Fuji.
"What else can I be, Zenigata?" Fuji smirked in response, "Well, let's follow Yukiko's lead!"
"Toshiro, what exactly happened?" Odori inquired as she pulled Zantetsu out of the earth and inspected its blade. She gasped as she saw blood upon it, and in the blade's reflection, she saw a dark spot form around the area of Toshiro's right shoulder. She spun around, but could not find the words to speak.
"Let's get going… I'm sure we're expected," Toshiro said, sheathing his swords and walking towards the house. Odori followed, a still-horrified look upon her face.
They met up with Heiji and Ally on the second floor of the house, guarding Victor's door. Heiji had been given a sword, and Ally carried a heavy firearm, but also brought his martial arts skills to the table. He made sure to put good use to these as soon as he laid eyes on Toshiro. He jumped to deliver a kick to Toshiro, but Yukiko raised her arm up in defense of the samurai, and the two remained in a lock for a few moments before Ally jumped back, and this time swung at Yukiko. Yukiko's fedora fell to side, and she glared downward at it. She removed her jacket, loosened her tie, and placed a cigarette from her pocket as she spoke to Ally.
"I don't want to kick your ass, Ally, but you ain't Ally right now, are you?" she grumbled as she rolled up her sleeves and giving a very Daisuke Jigen-like presence, "I'm not gonna shoot at you—That just isn't right… So I'm offering you the option to fight me hand-on-hand…"
"She doesn't know martial arts…! Does she?" Leo wondered aloud, turning to Fuji. Fuji shrugged in response, and turned back to the Jigen standoff. Fuji saw in the corner of her eye that Heiji had disappeared from the area at which he had stood, and wildly looked around at either side in search of the hacker.
"Hey, where's Heiji? Has anyone seen Heiji!?" Fuji wondered aloud. She snapped her head in the direction of Yukiko and Ally as she saw a blur of white fly past her and land against a railing which kept one from falling down to the first story.
"Oh, you're in such deep crap when Mom and Dad hear about this!" Yukiko muttered, wiping some of the blood away from her nose. Ally went to make another kick, but before he could make impact, someone grabbed his legs, sending him crashing to the ground. Max, who had been the one to grab him in the first place, then proceeded to turn him onto his back and kneel down upon him, one of his knees upon Ally's back and the his hands clasping Jigen's together.
"Where in the world did you…" Leo started.
"My mom taught women's self defense. She pulled this move on me a couple of times over the years when I got too out of hand. Dad was pretty good, too…" replied Max, pressing down upon Ally's arms, causing Jigen to let out a groan, "Someone give him that damn drink! I don't know how long I can hold him like this!"
"Here!" Odori slid down to his level, and put Ally in headlock, and shoved a newly filled bottle down Jigen's throat while she held his nose closed. Ally sputtered, broke out of Odori's choker hold, and flipped Max onto his back.
"What are you doing!?" growled Ally, slamming Max down onto the wooden floor.
"Watch out!" Leo yelped as Heiji jumped from a ledge, his sword drawn. He fell upon Fuji, and Fuji let out a yell as Heiji missed her neck by inches, landing his sword into the ground. Fuji turned around on the ground to face Heiji, and saw a look of great confusion upon his face… What could possibly be going on in his head?, she wondered.
"Just…. Stop me…. Okay?" Heiji begged, sounding the words out with difficulty, "I don't care…. How…." Fuji nodded, and paused a few moments before lunging her head towards his and ramming him with her skull.
"At least she did something with that thick skull, finally," Odori muttered.
Toshiro placed one of his sword sheathes under Heiji's neck, and Odori fed him the potion while he struggled the entire while. Heiji panted in exhaustion as the antidote took its effect, and he fell into a relaxed state.
Fuji sat up, crawled over to Heiji, and picked up his glasses, which had fallen on the floor in their struggle. She chuckled as she pushed him up the bridge of his nose, "You think I don't know how to fight off a guy who has me on my back when I don't want it?"
"Huh… Oh, hee hee… I gotcha…." Heiji smirked, "Are you okay, Fuji?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…" Fuji nodded.
"Toshiro!" Yukiko gasped as the oldest Ishikawa son let out a moan of pain and fell onto his knees, "Oh, wow… How'd you get this?"
"I know that cutting style…" Heiji muttered, turning around to face Toshiro. He pulled down a side of Toshiro's gi, and lost all sense of speech as he laid eyes on the deep gash. Both heard a stifled gasp, and looked onward to see Odori, her head turned away from the two. She rubbed her eyes as she realized she had an audience, and cleared her throat, "Come on. Let's get going… We still have to get Ryoko…"
"Here, here," Yukiko muttered to Toshiro, removing her flask of alcohol and pouring it onto the wound.
Toshiro let out a howl of pain, "What sort of a sadistic bitch are you!?" he managed to yell in his pain.
Yukiko smacked him across the face with minimal force, "One who'll never go out with you if you call her that again!"
"I—" Toshiro stopped, too surprised to continue his rant.
"Guys, I hate to break this up, but Dori's right. We still have to worry about Ryoko, and God only knows what Victor has in store for her…" said Fuji as she rose and straightened her jacket, "It freaks me out just thinking about it, personally!"
"I'll stay here with him," said Yukiko as she moved closer to Toshiro and raised him up onto her lap, "This is a deep wound…"
"Ur, here…" Ally cleared his throat, and removed his jacket, "You… You can use it to stop the bleeding…"
"Huh, does this mean you like me now, Ally?" Toshiro inquired with a weak laugh.
"Hell, no. I just don't want you to die and hurt my sister again!" snapped Ally, spinning the chamber of his gun around and then sticking it in the back of his pants between his trousers and belt.
"We'll be back guys," Fuji said as she gathered the others, and approached the third story of the household.
"Dammit, come on, man… You've had worse than this!" Yukiko chuckled as she went to tending his wounds, "This ain't nothin' compared to some of the other stuff we've gone through!"
"I've had better, too," Toshiro admitted, "How is it, whenever I'm with you, I seem to always have some sort of physical punishment done unto my body…?"
"I guess it's just the luck of your clan…" Yukiko chuckled, "You want a light?"
"Sure, what the hell? It's not what's gonna kill me, at any rate," Toshiro grumbled. Yukiko smirked, placed two cigarettes in her mouth, lit them, and placed one in Toshiro's mouth, "I sure hope that they make it…"
"Don't worry, it's Fuji. Of course they'll make it… What else would they do?" Yukiko reassured him as she took a drag of the cigarette. She looked downward questioningly as Toshiro grabbed onto one of her wrists and pulled her down to his level.
"Listen… I just want you to know that I really do want you to marry me, okay?" Toshiro whispered.
Yukiko chuckled tiredly, and shook her head, "You get better, all right? Don't worry about that right now… We'll both worry about that when you're not bleeding everywhere…."
"Hm, that's good…"
"What is?"
"You didn't say no," Toshiro smirked, "That mean that I have a chance?"
"Just calm down, buddy… We'll fix this up soon, and then we'll straighten this all out when you aren't trying to play a pity card because you're wounded…"
"Damn, saw right through me…"
"It's always been like that, though," Yukiko said playfully.
"…. I love you, Yuki…"
"Hpmh… Need to tighten your bandages," Yukiko muttered.
"All right, I'll bring it up again when I'm better…. You wouldn't believe anything I said now, would you?"
"You're just a bumbling maniac with blood loss, as far as I'm concerned," Yukiko replied as-a-matter-of-factly as she tightened a few of his bandages.
Meanwhile, the Lupin gang and inspectors had made it up to the third story, and Fuji was now working on picking the lock to the door. Ally pulled out a gun, and shot the lock off, sending it flying and opening the door.
"I would've figured that out!" said Fuji.
"Sure you would've…" Ally snorted skeptically, "C'mon, Fuji… Let's kick your cousin's ass so I can get home and sharpen my skates and call my girl…"
"Agreed," Fuji nodded, placing her lock-picking kit back into her jacket and following in with the others, her gun drawn. A bullet fired, barely missing Heiji, who jumped back in surprise. They looked to an opened window, where Victor stood, Ryo at his side.
"Ryoko!" Leo gasped, taking a step forward. Max grabbed onto Leo, and pulled him out of the way just as Ryo fired a shot at him. It winged past both of their heads, and landed in a painting, straight through the eyes of a 15th century countess.
"I could get a shot of cuffing her," Max mumbled.
"What, are you sure?" Leo whispered.
"Yeah. You and your sister keep Victor out of my way, and I'll get her under control…" Max said, gripping onto a set of handcuffs he had kept concealed in his jacket.
"Psst! Fuji!" Leo nudged his sister, "I've got a plan…"
"About damn time!" Fuji sighed in relief, "What is it?"
"I'm going to distract Victor…" whispered Leo.
"We could just have Dori flash him…." said Fuji.
"Hey!" snapped Odori.
"Are you ladies done with your knitting circle yet, or do I have to start shooting to get the floor here!?" snapped Victor with annoyance.
"We're calling a five-minute time out to think of our next plan of attack, Coach," Fuji smiled widely.
"Wha--, I… You little bitch… I'm going to love chopping you up into little pieces and stuffing you into a box!" growled Victor, cocking his gun. Ryo did the same, all while still in her trance, "She shoots your brother, you shoot her, I shoot you… We all win…"
"I would never shoot her! She's Jigen and I'm Lupin—We'd never do anything like that!" said Fuji.
"We'll see how true you are to your word when your brother's corpse is lying at your feet…" grumbled Victor.
"Hey, Victor!" he heard called to him. Before he knew what had hit him, Leo had grabbed his gun out of his hand, and went running towards the open window where there was a balcony. Fuji went to run after the two, but Ryo stopped this by firing at her feet. Max threw his handcuffs, but Ryo shot at these, and they broke in half in midair.
"She's got one bullet left… We can grab her, then…" whispered Odori.
"Nah, that what's got a reserve…" replied Ally.
"A what?" inquired Odori.
"A seventh bullet… She has two left… One for Fuji, one for Ari…" added Heiji.
Leo gulped as he looked down at the two stories below him. It was a windy night, and it was also black out, save for the moon and stars and a distant city in the background.
Victor had followed him out, another gun drawn, and smiled as he laid eyes on Leo, "I have hardly any bullets left in that thing!"
"Hey, what do you know, I have great aim, so I don't need that many to begin with," replied Leo.
"Try as you might, you'll never be able to run from who you really are, Arsene… Your friend knows, and soon your place of employment will know, and then the world…" chuckled Victor, "And then you'll be up Crap Creek without a paddle…"
"Yeah, but you know what, there'll be people there along for the ride with me, Victor… Not even you can say that… You have to brainwash people to get them to work for you!" snapped Leo, gripping onto the gun and gulping dryly, "I can think of at least two dozen people off the bat who love me and miss me… And I know I've hurt them, but I also know that they'll still love me, know matter how much I screw up!"
"Charming… Enough with the banter, let's get to business," Victor smirked, raising his gun and aiming at Leo. Two shots fired, and Leo flew off of the balcony, while Victor simply slumped down onto the concrete balcony.
"Ari!" shrieked Ryo and Fuji, who ran out to the balcony.
"Oh no, oh no… Leo!" Max muttered numbly, following them out.
One story below, Toshiro and Yukiko shuddered as they heard a shot and then a splash from down below, on the ground level.
"I hope what I think happened didn't happen," Yukiko whispered to Toshiro, who only continued to worsen in his condition.
By this time, Odori, Heiji, and Ally also joined the others out of the balcony. Max was the first to begin to run downstairs in search of Leo, followed by the others. Heiji was the only one to stay in, by Victor.
"Please be alive, Pal… Please…" Max prayed as he scaled down the steps.
Heiji turned, and looked downward at Victor, who had received a wound in the arm. He kneeled down in front of Victor, and glared as Victor began to speak.
"Hm… You, you're the intelligent one out of them, I can tell… How about you help me, and I help you, eh?" Victor inquired hopefully, "Anything you want at all could be yours…."
"Sorry, I don't deal with scum," said Heiji coolly, "This is a warning… If you ever come near Fuji, or Dori, or anyone of us again, you'll regret it…"
"Big talk for a big guy," Victor chuckled wryly, "Hey, hey, what the hell are you doing?" he asked worriedly as Heiji revealed a syringe which held a clear, almost water-like liquid.
"Microchips… In your bloodstream… Their destination—Your heart, your brains, your lungs…" said Heiji calmly, "Something I've been working on a while… When I'm not playing Quake, that is…"
"What will they do?" asked Victor in a choke.
"What do you think?" Heiji smirked, "I have the controls to it… If you so much as breath near us again, I turn it on, and you can kiss Mr. Circulation bye-bye," snapped Heiji, injecting Victor.
"You lousy son of a bitch! That's blackmail!" growled Victor.
"Hey, I'm only playing by your rules… Have a nice day, and get that arm checked out," Heiji smiled almost too cheerily for Victor's liking, and exited, "Oh, one last thing…" he turned, and removed the diamond from Victor's pocket, "I'll be taking this…"
"This won't the last you'll be hearing from me, you understand!?" Victor growled, "I'm going to have your ass buried in lead!"
"Yap, yap, yap," Heiji sighed as he exited, "The things I do for love…" he muttered with a roll of the eyes as he walked down the steps to Yukiko and Toshiro, "How's he doing?"
"Running a fever…." replied Yukiko worriedly, feeling Toshiro's forehead once more, "He's breaking into a cold sweat, too…"
"Get your fedora, we'll get him out of here," replied Heiji.
"What happened upstairs?" asked Yukiko as the two lifted Toshiro up and began to transport him down a flight of stairs.
"I'd rather not talk about it, honestly," replied Heiji as they walked through the rubble of the first floor and eased Toshiro into the back of the Alpha Romeo, "It'll be okay, Bro… We'll get you some help, soon…"
"Take him now!" they heard. Heiji caught a set of keys, and looked upward in surprise to see Ryo.
"Hey, what happened to…." Heiji started.
"I don't know," Ryo shook her head, "All I know is we…. We still haven't found Ari…"
"We'll go together. You make sure Fuji destroys this, not keep it," Heiji said, tossing her the diamond.
"Such an amount of trouble for such a tiny thing…" Ryo said in awe as she stared at it. She shook her head, and walked back to the others, who were still searching for Leo/Ari at this time. Yukiko and Heiji drove off with Toshiro, leaving five to search for the missing Lupin.
"Leo!" Max called.
"Ari!" Fuji shouted.
"Over here!" they heard. Both broke into a run, and found Leo sitting at the pool wringing out his purple jacket, "That water hurt to jump into, let me tell you! It's freezing in there!"
"Ha ha! You're okay!" Max crowed happily, embracing Leo. He then realized what he was doing, and let go of his hold on the confused LeBlanc, "Um… Good job, back there… Officer LeBlanc…."
"Thanks… I took a tumble off of the balcony when he shot, figuring I could land in the pool safely," said Leo.
"You did that before, too…" said Ryo as she sat next to him, "When you were at my house… Hm, you jumped out the window as my dad came in to wish me a good night… Ally caught you and nearly bludgeoned you to death with one of his hockey trophies…"
"That's why you grew your hair out… You still had knots from it weeks afterward," Fuji chuckled, scruffing his hair playfully, "How're you doing, Leo? Hope I wasn't too big a pain in the ass…"
"No more than usual," replied Leo with a chuckle, "Where're the others?"
"Yukiko and Heiji went to the hospital with Toshiro… I'm not sure where Ally and Odori are…" admitted Fuji.
Another part of the woods:
"Dori, that you?" Ally inquired as he heard a shuffle in the woods. He saw in a clearing that Odori was seated on the hearth of the clearing, her sword drawn, "What in the hell are you doing!?"
"I am the cause for my brother's injuries…" explained Odori, "I could have very well killed him!"
"You could have, but you didn't!" replied Ally, "He's going to be all right… Just… drop… the knife…"
"I must make up for this great fault in my judgement… I was a fool to fall under the spell of a shining object…"
"No bigger than the rest of us!" said Ally hurriedly, "Dori, we need you! And if you think Toshiro's hurt now, he'll be even more hurt if you off yourself! He already thinks he's the reason for the death of Julia and his kid, you want to put that burden on him, too!?"
Odori paused, "It is sad when the one known as being crazed is trying to talk sense into me…. We shall see how he fares… I shall stay by his side as I stayed by Heiji's… It is what any samurai would do…."
"You're wrong… It's what any sister'd do," replied Ally. Odori chuckled under her breath, rose, sheathed her blade, and followed Ally out of the clearing. They left on Toshiro's Vespa, headed towards the hospital. This left Fuji, Ryo, Leo and Max alone at Victor's home.
"Here, Zenigata. I was told to give this to Fuji, but I think you could handle it better than I could…" said Ryo, pulling the diamond out of her pocket and tossing it to Zenigata while Fuji looked onward, stunned.
"Ryo, Ryo-san!" she gaped.
"I'll buy you something pretty to make up for it, Princess, okay?" Ryo smirked, patting Fuji on the back.
"Aw, hell, give it to them, and with bells on your heels, for God's sakes! It's been nothing but a pain in the ass for me!" Fuji sighed flippantly, "It's so pretty, though…" she moaned sadly.
"We have to head out, now, too," Ryo said, "Ari, are you coming?… Ari?"
Leo sighed, and rose, "He'd answer you if he were still here, Ryoko… But he isn't… It's just me, now, and I know it's hard for you to accept, but he's going to be gone for a while…"
"Well, do you know if he'll ever be back?" Ryo asked.
Leo shrugged, "Who knows… It could be a long time…"
"Well, Mister LeBlanc… I'd like to ask a favor of you, then," said Ryo with a smirk.
"Ur, um… Wh-what?" Leo asked as his face began to rouge.
"Would it be okay if I kissed the brave inspector who saved me?" Ryo inquired.
"Um… Well, I…"
Ryo leaned downward, and pecked Max on the cheek, "Good job, Zenigata…. See you boys around…. Come on, Fuji… I'll buy you some ice cream…"
"Oh, and a pony—Please say yes to a pony!" said Fuji with mock excitement.
"Smartass…. C'mon," sighed Ryo as they both strolled away from the pool.
"Aren't we going to arrest them?" Leo inquired as he seated himself next to Max.
"I'm out of handcuffs and I'm out of energy," Max yawned.
"Well, I guess this closes your case, then… I have no idea where to go from here, honestly…" Leo admitted, "Well, yeah, I do, actually… You kept your part of the bargain, now it's my turn… Could you make sure they put me in a jail with good food, at least?"
"I want you to do something for me," Max said after a pause.
"Ur, sure, anything," replied Leo.
Max removed the diamond from his pocket, "Use this on me, and then get rid of it…"
"What!?"
"I… I want to go back to the way it was before, Leo…." replied Max, "I know that I'll find out about you someday, but I don't want to now… I'll find out when I'm ready…. Just make it how it was before, okay?"
"Max, I…."
"I know you know how to use that thing, so use it," said Max sternly.
"Okay," Leo nodded, and removed the diamond from Max's grasp, still in shock over Zenigata's strange request, "Anything else?"
"Yeah, I wanted to tell you something earlier…" Max replied. He leaned inward, and whispered to Leo. He smirked as he noted Leo's shocked expression as he pulled away from LeBlanc, "Please don't tell me I said that to you… I'd never be able to live it down…."
"Yeah," Leo nodded numbly, "I can't believe you…Well, let's get this done with…"
"Nice working with you, Lupin IV…." said Max as Leo lifted the diamond upward to the ever-approaching sunlight.
A few weeks later, a local hospital:
"Hey, you ready to go, Buddy?" Yukiko inquired as she tossed Toshiro's suitcase onto his bed.
"As ready as ever… I'll miss the cute nurses in the short skirts, though," Toshiro sighed as he finished tying his gi together. He rose from his hospital bed, and followed Yukiko out of the hospital. Outside, Ryo was at the driver's wheel, with Fuji at shotgun. Ally, Heiji, and Odori sat in the backseat, and his Vespa sat parked behind them, "How'd it get here?"
"I drove it," replied Yukiko as she tossed his luggage into the drunk of the Alpha Romeo and slammed the door shut. She hopped onto it, and smiled cockily, "You ready, Mr. Isaac?"
"Well, with such a lovely chauffeur, how could I possibly hesitate?" Toshiro laughed as he mounted the back seat of the bike.
"Cute… But allow me to warn you know, if your hands travel any more south or north than they already are, I'll start taking limbs…" said Yukiko as she revved up the vehicle.
"Oh, you mean like this?"
"Bastard! Why I—"
"Hey, are you kids ready?" Ryo called as she adjusted her rearview mirror and glanced at the duo in her reflection.
"Lupin! Get the hell over here, right now!" all heard in a familiar growl.
"Oh, crap, it's Blondie!" Ally choked, "Step on it, Ryoko!"
"Hey, Zenigata, you and LeBlanc enjoying the honeymoon!?" Fuji laughed as Ryo and Yukiko both started up their vehicles.
"Very funny! Now get over here! You're all under arrest!" Max shouted, sticking his torso out of the window and waving a set of handcuffs while Leo desperately tried to maneuver through the busy city streets.
"I'll bet you say that to all of the girls you want in handcuffs!" Fuji howled with laughter.
"Why you—LeBlanc, floor it!" Max demanded.
"Ah, I love my job…" Leo sighed happily as he pressed the gas pedal to the floor and sped away with Max, who remained oblivious to any of the doings of weeks past. Although he now knew that it would not stay like this forever, Leo, personally, would have it no other way.