Disclaimer - This is strictly fanfiction and I don't own any legal rights to any of the trademarked characters or properties within.

Freedom was in sight. Fumio Machii had made his way through his compound, firing over his shoulder occasionally as police officers marched down the corridors and parachuted in through the windows.

He just had to make it down this hallway to the backdoor, and then he'd shoot his way to his private jet to make his getaway if he had to.

But then a hulking figure appeared from an adjacent hallway.

"F-father?"

Goro slowly lumbered towards Fumio, as Fumio slowly approached the cyborg.

Goro held out his arms. An unusual show of affection. Fumio's father had never paid this kind of attention to him before. When they reached each other, Fumio just stood still in confusion.

Tears ran from Goro's still empty eyes and down his cheeks. And then his arms wrapped around Fumio.

Tighter and tighter.

Fumio's ribs snapped against Goro's chest. He struggled but couldn't break out of the old man's iron grip, his arms, and then finally his spine, snapping, and the two of them became just one mangled mound of broken bones and flesh.


Vitti was looking out a window at the chaos around the hideout when he spotted Jigen's reflection in the glass.

"I've been looking for you, Vick."

"I'll bet you have," Vitti said, turning slowly. "How should we settle this?"

"How about we draw on the count of three?" Jigen suggested, his hand hovering above the revolver in its holster.

"Okay," Vitti said, reaching for his own gun. "One . . ."

And then he drew his gun from its holster. But Jigen was still faster. A magnum bullet blew a hole through Vitti's shoulder and shattered the window behind it. Vitti staggered back, but managed to grab the sill as he fell.

"Help me up," he called. "I'll give you the address. A sweet little reunion with your one true love. What do you say?"

Jigen turned and fished out a cigarette.

"I say you got me all wrong," he said, lighting it. "I've put my past behind me. I don't think she's some kind of soul mate, and I'm not looking to reunite. I don't care where she is now. I just care that she's safe."

He walked away, just barely looking over his shoulder to see Vitti lose his grip.

Vitti's scream was cut short when he finally landed, a mangled corpse on the roof of a police car.


Fujiko made a necklace out of the flashdrives and spy cameras, turning when she heard footsteps.

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might need my help," Lupin said. "Guess I was wrong. Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get that footage? I had to perform brain surgery. Literally."

"There is still one thing I need from you," Fujiko said.

She grabbed him by the lapel, pulling him tantalizingly close to her lips. He breathed in her perfume as she reached into his pocket and removed the last flashdrive, adding it to her collection.

"Ciao."

She backed away, machine gun pointed squarely at Lupin's stomach.

He raised his hand and touched his wrist, and a grappling hook shot from his watch, wrapping around Fujiko's gun.

A flick of the wrist, and the gun left Fujiko's grip, flying through the air . . .

Straight into Lupin's face.

He came out of his daze just long enough to see her disappear around the corner.

They both paused momentarily, struck by the macabre sight of the head of the Machii crime family and his heir in their final, fatal embrace.

Fujiko just shook her head and ran through the next door.

Lupin paused long enough to whisper "Rest in peace, you poor bastards" before running after her.

Outside, Fujiko stole an abandoned police motorcycle and began racing up the winding path along the cliff.

Lupin found another bike and took off in hot pursuit.

They raced faster and faster up the winding trail until, at the summit, the front tire of Fujiko's bike hit a tree root, sending her over the cliff.

Lupin jumped off his bike before it crashed into hers, firing his grappling hook around a sturdy tree trunk as he rappelled down the side of the ravine.

To one side, he could see Fujiko, clinging to a protruding rock for dear life. To his other, he could see the necklace containing all the data on the Asimov Project doing the same.

He dug his feet into the side of the cliff and walked along the side towards the data, stretching his fingers as far as he could to try to free it from where it was dangling.

"I'm slipping!" Fujiko yelled.

"Just a minute," Lupin yelled back. "I can almost reach it."

"What are you waiting for? Me to offer you my body?"

"No. But an apology for trying to screw me over would be nice."

"Forget it," Fujiko said, scoffing. "I only did what I had to do-oooooooooooo!"

She screamed as the rock she was holding on to broke loose.

Lupin cursed and swung over to her, catching her as they watched Machii's research plummet down to the waters below, Fujiko distraught as it disappeared below the waves.

Fujiko and Lupin climbed back to the summit and Goemon helped pull them back over on to solid ground, Jigen waiting beside him.

"It is probably for the best that the water takes the secret formula for creating cyborgs," Goemon said. "Humanity wasn't ready to pay that price for immortality."

"I could have at least tried to ask what price they would be willing to pay for it," Fujiko whined.

"After all that, you saved her instead of the data?" Jigen said.

"That kind of dry data is just boring to me," Lupin said. "Fujiko here, on the other hand, is one of a kind."

They made their way down the cliff to see Woodcut, Chung, and their accomplices all in handcuffs being loaded into the back of police cars.

"They won't be practicing medicine again any time soon," Jigen said.

"Hey, Pops," Lupin called, noticing the inspector beaming proudly. "Does this mean we're even?"

"Not a chance," Zenigata said. "Maybe they'll knock a life sentence or two off for good behavior, but I have to make sure you're held accountable for your flagrant disregard for the law. It's my sworn purpose."

"An hour head start, then?"

"You've got fifteen minutes," Zenigata said, making a show of turning his back.

Lupin turned to Jigen and Goemon.

"I was thinking of heading to France," he said. "Visiting granddad's old stomping grounds, robbing them blind, proving his legacy is still intact. Want to come?"

"I got nothing better to do," Jigen said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Perhaps there may be honor among thieves after all," Goemon said.

"Is he always going to talk like something out of a fortune cookie?" Jigen asked.

"You'll learn to love it," Lupin insisted. "Trust me. How about you, Fuji-cakes?"

She shook her head.

"I have my own plans. But don't worry. I doubt this will be the last time we meet. Au revoir."

Then the other three climbed into the nearest empty police car, key still in the ignition, and drove up behind Zenigata to honk the horn.

"Hey, Pops! I don't even need the full fifteen minutes!"

Zenigata scrambled out of the way and climbed into the next car, chasing after them.

He and Lupin both smiled because, for all of their differences, they both had one major quality in common: they both lived for the thrill of the chase!

As they drove off into the sunset, Fujiko walked along the beach, contemplating her next move.


Lupin's note – What a long and wild journey! Well, a lot wilder for me. A lot longer for you! Nearly a whole decade long. For everyone who's come on this journey with me, thanks a lot! Toodles!