They started the next night. Lupin, Jigen and Goemon took flight, leaping from the top of a building near the palace. Even with the floodlights around the palace grounds, it would have been difficult to spot the gliders, which blended into the shadows that the trees around the palace cast.
The wind was good, and they landed onto the palace roof without incident.
Lupin motioned for Goemon and Jigen to stay in the shadows where the floodlights didn't reach.
"I'll go inside," Lupin said.
He snuck into a vent so quickly that Jigen and Goemon didn't realize he was gone until they saw a flash of black.
Lupin gingerly felt his way through the vents. The air system was surprisingly modern for a royal palace. Guess it made sense, since members of the royal family would work and live here from time to time.
He didn't realize the vent was taking a steep decline until he found himself slipping and unable to grip the ends of the vent. He slid noisily before the vent righted itself.
Lupin held his breath, but he didn't hear anything. Agh, he'd feel the marks on his back and ass from that slide for a while.
He peered up and found himself just below the throne room he needed to enter.
Taking a noiseless, automatic screwdriver from his body suit, he removed the screws from the vent gate and pushed the gate away just enough to slip his hand through.
He threw a small, gray ball in the air. The ball exploded in a puff of smoke, spreading fog through the room. Moving the gate away further, Lupin lifted his head and peered around the throne room. The fog didn't reveal any lasers. It also didn't reveal any wires that would indicate traps.
Lupin lifted himself from the vent and snuck noiselessly toward the fireplace, where the Horatii clock was. Even with the faint light of the floodlights outside, the throne room looked magnificent.
Face to face with the decorated clock, Lupin reached for the ends of the clock. He thought the clock would have some sort of adhesive that kept it on the fireplace. It didn't. He was able to lift it easily.
Lupin stared on either side of him. The room was empty. There were no traps. It didn't sound like there were guards anywhere near him. Could it be this easy?
He carefully moved the clock to the crook of his arm and crept toward the open vent. He slipped away from the throne room, making his way back to the roof through the vent.
The clock remained against his arm as though it belonged there. As he crawled through the vent, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. If it were this easy to break into the palace, he could have upped the stakes a bit. Maybe see if he could have filched one of the throne chairs or something. Magan got caught, but at least his break-ins were more exciting.
Lupin's hand slipped from under him. Looking up, he realized he had run into a problem. He had slipped down the vent because it was downhill toward the throne room. Now that he was going the opposite direction, the vent was now going uphill. Lupin grimaced. It would be difficult to keep his grip. The vent was among the smoothest he had been in. It only took a couple of paces before he started slipping down the vent again.
All right. He would try a different approach. Lupin stuck the clock inside of his backpack and stretched his arms and legs so that his left arm and left leg were against the left side of the vent, and his right arm and right leg were against the right side of the vent. If he could hold himself up like this, moving up the vent spider-style, he may be able to avoid slipping.
He pushed himself along like this. It was awkward and slow going, but he was making progress. Lupin got to what felt like the worst of the incline, and he started to feel the strain of having his limbs stretched out for so long. His left leg slipped. In an effort to shift his leg back into position, he lost his grip completely. He scrambled for something to hold onto but to no avail. He slid all the way down the vent.
Panicked, Lupin listened for any activity from guards who might have heard the commotion. Nothing. Lord, he thought wearily, did the guards decide to take the night off or something?
His arms and legs felt like noodles. He had slid face first, and the front side of his body felt like they were on fire. He wasn't sure he could make the trip up again spider-style. He thought about using the grappling tool. He'd thought it would grip something on the roof and he could pull himself up. However, if the guards heard the sound of the device and discovered where he, Jigen and Goemon were, he would be climbing right into their custody.
Then the idea came to him. He hadn't used this baby for a while, but it would make for a quick escape and would stun any guards long enough for the three of them to get the hell out of here.
He carefully pressed a button on the side of his backpack. The backpack shifted, jet propulsions opened from the bottom of the backpack. The backpack/jetpack had some major flying power, but kept whatever was inside the backpack safe.
Lupin braced himself as the jetpack gathered power. Seconds later, he was soaring up the vent. He heard Goemon and Jigen's yells of surprise as Lupin launched out of the vent.
"Hold on!" Lupin yelled. He struggled to control the jetpack, but he managed to stay on the roof long enough to grip Jigen and Goemon on each of his arms. They soared upward, leaving Buckingham Palace behind them.
"That got exciting," Lupin laughed, not looking at Goemon and Jigen's stunned faces. "Was worried it would've been too easy."
Goemon and Jigen eventually pulled out their gliders and flew steadily beside Lupin, who was still struggling to control the jetpack.
They arrived back at their hideout without incident, securing the clock before flopping into bed.
Lupin woke up to the sound of the news. Jigen and Goemon were already up, Jigen watching and Goemon half-watching the newscast, which turned out to be about their heist at Buckingham Palace.
Lupin caught snatches of the frenzied report: No one from the royal family occupied the palace at the time of the incident; Horatii clock missing; no evidence of property damage except slight denting in one of the air vents. There were no fingerprints, no suspects. The guard at Buckingham Palace announced increased police presence at the palace, including on the roof and the palace's throne rooms in case the thief returned.
Lupin felt a bit flattered. No suspects, huh? He was certain if Pops were on the case, he would suspect Lupin right away. The heist couldn't have gone better. No setbacks meant they'd be all the more prepared to begin their next heist.