RETURN VISIT

DISCLAIMER: Hi there! My name is Arsene Francois Lupin III and boy oh boy am I in a real dill pickle and I am not alone! My good friends and partners in crime, Daisuke Jigen, Goemon Hayakawa, my sometimes girl friend Fujiko Mine and my sometimes wife Rebecca are in it with me as is my lovable nemesis Eldred 'Pops' Zenigata who is a chief inspector for the Interpol Police Force- on loan to the ISSP (Inter Solar Systems Police) and the 3WA (Worlds Welfare Works Assn) which are all under the command of the Galaxies Federation of something or other.

When I awakened this morning in my luxurious San Remo flat in Europe on Earth I was shocked to be staring not at the glorious sunrise over the Mediterranean but instead at three blazing orbs streaming into a dingy and dank and frigid cavern! More about that in the story though which will be told to you by whichever one of my unlucky compadres who loses at the ongoing poker game!

OK, I am elected to say the usual claptrap about how grateful we are to be allowed to use other folks' creations, characters and so forth and it is OK to use our own OC creations as long as we get proper credit etc. etc. etc. like that bald-headed king of Siam was always saying.

OK the poker session's over and 'Fujicakes' is the big loser so without any further ado- here's Fujiko!

Chapter the First: 'Is this any way to spend a holiday?' or 'I'm cold, Lupin!'

Greetings my friends and fellow thieves er I mean well I dunno just what I mean today. I just got roped into a 'strip poker' game w/ the big Druid (Jigen) and our dour-faced Samurai guy (Goemon) and our darling copper (Pops). Guess who lost? OK guys I did lose fair and square, OK? However, I draw the line at narrating our damned exploits 'au natural'!

While the kawaii (lovely) Miss or is it Miz? Anyway, while she is dressing, I will begin the tale. I am Hayakawa Goemon. Sorry but we Samurai always give our names in reverse. Today when we woke up and were asked by Lupin to play cards to determine who would narrate our adventures, it was our arms expert and wheelman Daisuke Jigen who suggested making the game more interesting by changing it to a 'strip poker' session.

I agreed readily because I knew Jigen would be sure we gents did not lose by his stacking the deck in our favour. NO! No Samurai agrees to cheating at anything. However, if you have ever seen our Miz Mine- Enough. We awakened not in our spacious apartment overlooking the San Remo Canals but inside of a dark cave where it was quite cold and chilly. I immediately realized that we were not on our own planet Earth anymore when I saw the triple suns overhead. Ah, you look very kawaii, my dear lady. I have set the scene for your narrations.

Thanks, Goemon. I feel a little better now that I am a bit warmer. Tell Lupin he owes me big time for this, guys. Brrr! I have on three jumpsuits, four parkas, gloves, hat and hood, two mufflers and heavy deck boots and I am still cold! Ah Choo! Thanks Goemon. Nice to know one of you three birds is polite.

The big guy has told ya where we are or rather where we are not so let me clarify-

"Ye're on 'Gysymeo' inside the same cavern where we first met in AD 2247, Honey. Whole gang's here huh?" said a very tall red-headed woman who was smoking a foul smelling cigar and holding a drink of ambre liquid in her gloved fist. I recognized her immediately.

"Captain? Captain O'Halloran? How?" I stammered and she guffawed at us. Same old Boss Lady!

"Hiya fellers, Fuji pies. It's Grand Imperial Marshall now but 'Boss' or just plain 'Kei' is fine with me, kiddo. Yeah, this is that same ice world where we first met only now it is AD 2275 and I have no idea how any of us got here but I suspect it may have been the super criminal the 3WA's been chasing across the cosmos- Time Shuffler." growled our old friend Keirran O'Halloran.

"Ah Choo!'

"Gesundheit, Dollface. Say, 'Reds', can't ya do something about the heating in this dump?" grumbled the tall rangy 'Druid'. The Boss unhooked a long glowing green wand from her belt and tossed it to Lupin.

"Here. Let's see how much ya remember about heating rocks like I taught ya, Loopy." chortled the redhead.

"Aha! I wondered if you still had laser swords, Hellfire. Pops, you and Jigen find us some big stones. Goemon will cut some for ya if ya can't find enough lying around the cave. Great! Now arrange them in a circle, Fujicakes. And Boss? Her name is Fujicakes not Fujipies, OK? Fine. Now step back and- voila. Let there be fire!" shouted the debonair thief whose grandpa was still a household word on Earth and Mars amongst other worlds.

ZAP! The 'wand' ignited and shot a green flame at the stones which glowed white hot within seconds. We needed no coaching as we gathered around the 'fire' to warm ourselves up!

"So this is AD 2275, Miss O?" I asked and Kei grinned.

"It was when I left 'Victorine' last week, kiddo. What year was it in San Remo, Loopy?" replied the redhead and I told her it had been AD 2017 and the others nodded their agreements. The Boss hauled out her PDO (Personal Data Organizer) and frowned while she tapped out controls on it. Finally she sighed and held up her gadget so we could all see the date on its screen.

"BR 0173? What in Hades is that, Miz O'Halloran, mum?" asked the always polite Samurai warrior.

"You mean when, Goemon." I corrected him.

"Before Rathelon. Lord Rathelon founded the Order of the Time Lords which had several time lords travel to ancient Terra (Earth) where they called themselves the 'True Knights' or the 'Knights of the Temples'." said a grim-faced Marshall.

"The 'Knights Templar'." breathed Jigen and he and Lupin III had suddenly gone quite pale.

"Boss Honey, just why were you chasing this arch crook time guy anyway?" demanded Lupin.

"Because he was after the Templars' 'treasure trove' and 'Gysymeo' was where I had tracked him to before I blacked out and woke up in the back of this cavern." she answered very quietly. Hoist the storm warnings when the Boss Lady gets quiet!

"Loot! Ya mean there's treasure here?" I screamed excitedly. I am a very greedy girl and my big mouth awakened Rebecca Lupin who had tied one on last night in her castle in Italy! Yup! That was AD 2017 on Earth too!

"Yo! Can't a gal get her beauty sleep around here, man? What the Hell? What are all of you birds doin' in my boudoir dammit?" yelped a statuesque blonde who must have gone to bed with a hangover and had been sleeping in the nude as per usual. Pops eyes goggled as did all of the so called gentlemen and Goemon tossed her his fur parka.

She wrapped it around her nakedness while the Boss sighed and, using her 'Replicator' she 'repped up underthings, a jumpsuit and heavy winter outer attire and gear for the blonde. I turned the gentlemen around while Rebecca hurriedly clothed herself. "OK, I'm decent now. You can all turn around again. Boss? What are you doing in Italy and where's my bed- and my castle? Oh no! Lupin? Don't tell me you stole my palace? How?" asked a very confused princess who now owned most of Europe and the UK on Earth.

"What year was it in Italy last night?" asked Jigen.

"Huh? I ain't that drunk, Druid! We were toasting in the new year- 2020! Why? Did ya forget?" giggled the blonde.

"It was 2017 on the summer solstice last night in San Remo." replied Goemon.

"It was AD 2275 when I blacked out on my starship's shuttlecraft." said Kei, crushing out her cheroot with her boot heel.

Jigen looked puzzled. "Why BR? Why not BC, Boss?" asked Jigen.

"Because there are no religions in 'Warrior Gate Time', my friend. You persons are now in existence outside of what you mortals call time and space! Didn't it ever occur to you fools why nobody could ever manage to find the Templar treasures? Because Lord Rathelon hid them on this ice world but not in any cosmic time era nor did he hide them within any Galactic dimension." boomed out an imperious voice that shook the cavern to its very foundations!

END of Chapter the First. Chapter the Second 'Beyond the Gates' or 'I Wanna Go Home!' to follow soon. Meri Kurisumasu and Happy 2020 to everyone. Please read/review/suggest and thankee for your loyalty and support all these many decades which began late in the previous century.- Story Teller Guy and keiman and kei.