First everything was black, but then Lupin opened his eyes.
He looked around.
Zenigata's papers littered the floor, but there was no Zenigata. The front door was open, and there were muddy footprints leading to the outside.
"Hey guys!" Lupin called out. "He was just bluffing!"
Silence answered him. It seemed everyone had disappeared.

Lupin wandered around the hideout.
He was looking for something, but couldn't think of what he was looking for.
He opened the fridge but closed it immediately.

Lupin decided to leave the kitchen and go outside. Maybe they had gone for a walk?
At night? All together? In the span of ten seconds? Without him?

Lupin didn't know what he was looking for. Maybe the night air would clear his head.
As he walked, he thought about how the air had changed within the gang over the past few months. Without knowing, he found himself in the park.

"What am I doing here?" Lupin said to nobody in particular. "I don't even like the park."

The wind blew through the trees, whispering something Lupin couldn't quite catch.
Lupin shivered and wrapped his jacket closer to him.

Lupin had the feeling that something wasn't right. He took his jacket off, it had become balmy quickly. He sat down on the grass and thought of where to look first. Suddenly, he knew he wasn't alone anymore.
"Jigen! How long have you been there?"
"I don't know…I just sort of found myself here but-"

Suddenly, the night exploded with color and feeling. The air that had been changing-it was here. Wherever Jigen was, it was different. Lupin found himself drawn toward this man who had saved his life more than once. To a man whom he would give his life—

"Lupin!" Jigen slapped Lupin.
"Ouch! What was that for?"
"Think about what you were hearing in your head, Lupin. That's the fanfic. It somehow becomes real."
Lupin tried to shake off the strange feeling that had come over him.
"What makes you such an expert of fanfics?"
"Aside from being the only one in the gang to have actually written one?"
"You know what I mean," Lupin huffed. He had the feeling Jigen enjoyed slapping him a bit too much.
"Before I was here, I was trying to snap Goemon out of his trance. I wasn't in one because I don't take nothin' from anyone. Especially insane voices in my head. Goemon was having a harder time…I think all that meditation has warped his mind."

There was a rustling behind them, and Goemon came out of the woods. He was panting, and his kimono was slipping of his shoulders. Lupin and Jigen blushed at their friends bare shoulders—

"No, we are not! He could be naked for all I care!"
"Lupin, you really want to tempt fate like that?"
He realized what he just asked.
"Make that, he could be in a burka for all I care!"
"Just stop before you hurt yourself."
Jigen reached out for Goemon.
"Goemon, calm down and remember where you are."
"…I'm with you and—"
He grabbed his head in pain. Lupin intervened.
He grabbed Goemon's shoulders and shook him.
"You're in a fanfic! You have to remember who you really are!"
Goemon's eyes became glazed over with a blank look.
Jigen sighed. If something had to be done right, he had to it himself. Lupin didn't understand fanfics.

Jigen came closer to the samurai. They could almost touch. Goemon's breathing became heavier, more ragged. Jigen brought his hand close to the young man's face, and-

Jigen gave Goemon a slap.
"What was that for, Licorice?!"
"Good, you're back to normal."
Goemon rubbed the red mark on his cheek.
Lupin stood up, "We're going to find a way out of this, and I have an idea how."

Lupin started walking all over the park, pausing for a minute or two and then continuing. It took him an hour to get out of a park that was all of five trees and a fountain.
"Lupin, what are you doing?"
"Well, I figure I can get us out if I can find The End."
"The end of what?"
"The End! The End of the story!"
"How do you figure we'll get out?"
Lupin came up short. "Do you have any other ideas? I'd rather now spend any more time in that dark, intimate park, thank you very much!"
He stomped out into the street.
They didn't get far. The three men suddenly found themselves in a room without shirts.
They scrambled to find their clothes and put them on.
Suddenly, Fujiko came into the room.
Lupin started to undress again.
"Lupin..." Fujiko started in an unusually husky voice.

Her eyes were shining brightly, like fire. She started to unzip her dress…
"Lupin, there's been something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time…"
Lupin licked his lips. Jigen and Goemon turned the other way.
"I know you've never felt the same way about me as you have about Jigen and Goemon."

Lupin started to worry. Jigen and Goemon turned back around to face Fujiko.
Goemon was impassive. Lupin was disgusted. Jigen was enjoying himself.

"So I wanted to tell you that…"
Fujiko ripped off her dress in one violent motion of motion.

"Great descriptions, Pops."

She removed her bra—

"How dare you even imagine my Fujiko like that!"

And there was nothing.

"Aaaauuuuggghhhh!" Lupin screamed.

"Yes, Lupin! I'm really: A MAN!"

Jigen mercifully shot 'Fujiko'.
"Jigen!"
"Yeah, Lupin…?"
Lupin looked at Man-Fujiko.
"Thanks."
Goemon started breathing again. "That was a close one."
"That felt good!" Jigen laughed. "Can't think of a better way to get rid of her!"
There was a muffled scream from the closet, and out tumbled the real Fujiko.
As Lupin happily undid her ropes (and attempted to undo her dress as well) Jigen muttered, "Knew it was too good to be true."