Author: Tiffany Swartz
Created 17th June 2001 until 3rd October 2001
Yuma looked over either shoulder as she walked out onto the concrete. She was cautious of people around her, and wanted to make sure she wasn’t followed.
Carefully, she walked up a brick wall across the road. She pushed in one of the bricks and a combonation lock appeared from behind one of them. After she entered the combonation, the wall moved aside. She opened the door behind the wall, and closed it, the wall shutting instantly behind her.
Lupin III chuckled. She’d been careful, but not careful enough. She’d find that out soon enough. But first things first. He’d have to get in there. Lupin waited a couple minutes, and then walked into the hidden part of the building. Yuma was in her room. ‘Good,’ Lupin thought, ‘that gives me plenty of time to scope things out.’ He looked around. For someone who lived in such poor surroundings, she sure lived comfortably. Even though it had a cold concrete floor and had almost no heating, the place was well insulated, and looked like a comfortable living room. On the left was a shelf. This contained the normal necessities. Clothes, weapons, computer parts, etc. He collected four pairs of clothing, but found that there was no panties. He would get some for her later. Obviously, she didn’t have the money for such trivial things. One thing that caught his eye was a curious looking box. It was one of those trick boxes that probably contained something special of hers and had to be opened a certain way. He had a soft spot for women, so because he wanted her to feel at home, he collected the box, and put it in his bag along with the clothes. He looked in her fridge. Sure enough, although she was only sixteen, she had alcohal. Rum, bourban, whisky, cognac, wine, hooch, and a certain type of homemade liquor. He took one bottle of each type of liquor and put them in his bag. He wanted her to feel at home when he caught her, so it would be necessary for him to make sure he had some of her favorite drinks. He looked at the counter. She had a whole large carton of cigarettes. He took three small packages of cigarettes, and left the rest alone. He saw that she had a zippo lighter, and picked that up, too. He looked inside her medication cabinet. Sure enough, just like her file said she had, she had two medications for pschitzopherenia he grabbed the three bottles, one of a medication known as depokote and two of a medication known as resperidal. She would need these if he were to keep her under control. He put all this in her bag. He realized that she didn’t feel safe without a weapon. Well, he’d deal with that later. He looked at the door to her room. He could hear her footsteps. ‘Better hide,’ he thought to himself. He swiftly moved over to the doorway, hiding in it’s shadow.
Yuma emerged from the doorway in her nightgown. It was a white high cut gown that stopped at mid-thigh, spaghetti strapped, and made of silk. It was the midnight hour and the prize street fighter was tired. Lupin mimed her every movement, careful not to make any sound at all. When the moment was just right… Yuma heard the click of a gun.
Her first thought was, ‘How can I get that gun out of his hands?’
“Alright, babe, drop whatever weapons you might have on you. Do it now.” The dagger she’d been holding dropped to the floor. “Alright, honey. Let’s take this dance nice and slow.” Yuma felt herself being drawn in by the waist as a hand was placed over her mouth. She struggled to fight him off, but to no avail. His strong, vice-like grip only grew tighter as he bound her in a relentless squeeze. “Don’t make it any harder than you have to, babe,” he whispered in her ear, “I don’t wanna hurt you. Besides, you won’t make it to that door. You know, you’re a beautiful woman. You’re lucky. I’ve got a soft spot for beautiful woman.”
“Rapist!” she screamed.
“Oh, on the contrary,” he whispered, “I have no intentions of violating you.”
“Then what did you come here for?” she growled.
“I came here for you,” he whispered, “All will be revealed in time.” Yuma felt a needle enter her neck as a sedative was given to her. Suddenly she couldn’t move. She felt so tired, but she couldn’t sleep because the sedative was so mild. She felt him turn her around. He caressed her face, and she saw him look into her eyes. Such honest eyes. His name was right on the tip of her tongue, and she knew he was someone she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
For the first time, Lupin had a chance to look at her true beauty, not just look at her from far off. Her skin was an angelic complexion, almost glowing with radiance. Her eyes were the deepest, bright though dark green, like those of a gypsy. She had a gold ring around the outside of each iris. She had a perfectly straight nose, voluptuous blood red lips, and beautiful light brown curly hair that fell down her back in long waves all the down to her thighs. She had a perfect hourglass figure, large, shapely breasts included with curvy thighs and a very thin waist. She was petitly small and fairy like. “My, you are a beauty!” he breathed down her neck. Gently, he picked her up, wrapped her up in a blanket and carried her out to the car, laying her in the back seat. For some reason, he wasn’t being rough with her. She didn’t know why.
‘Now I remember his name,’ she thought, ‘It’s Arsene Lupin III. Now I know why he’s being so gentle with me. Lupin’s always gentle with women. He likes them. What he plans to do with me, however, I don’t know. He must have given me a sedative because I can’t even speak.’ She saw Lupin buckle her up and lay a large garbage bag down on the floor, filled up with all her things, obviously. She wondered where she was going. She felt the car start and saw Lupin get into the front passenger seat.
1
When she arrived at her destination, Yuma was laid down on a soft bed in a warmly lit room. Lupin shut the door behind him as he walked inside. Slowly she got her mobility back. She sat up and looked around. Lupin had expensive tastes. The room was filled with hardwood furniture and flooring. It was large and comfortable, and the bed was filled with blood-red silks and had a transparent silk canopy, with the same type of curtains as the canopy. This room was obviously built for a woman. He must have been planning this. Yuma groaned in pain. She had a roaring headache. “Easy now, you’ve been under the influence of a powerful drug. Just take it easy and lay down for a couple minutes, okay?” he spoke to her gently, knowing that she was probably scared, “Just trust me. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“What am I doing here?” she groaned, “What do you want with me? What is my purpose?”
“Your purpose?” he smiled, “You are here to help me with a bit of a problem that I’ve come across.”
“What problem?” she asked, “You can get through anything. How can someone like me help someone like you? You’re the best, Lupin.”
“I need you to help me with a job. It requires the best of the best. That’s why I need you.”
“You’re thorough in your research. How much do you know about me?”
“More than you’d like to know, honey,” he caressed her face, “Let’s not be difficult. I need you, and you obviously need me. You’re not doing so well, Yumalla. You should be living better than what you have. You should be doing better, with parents that will love you and care for you, but you lost those parents when they went on an emergency move out of the city, and now you can’t find them, and they can’t find you. You need me to get you back on top of things, back into a world where you don’t always have to watch your back, and I can help you. Your parents and I were good friends. I can take care of you, Yuma.”
“How old are you?” she asked, “I want to at least know one thing about you.”
“I’m 27 years old,” he replied.
“Well, at least now I know something about you. Can you really help me?”
“Yes,” he replied, “I can. This room was built for you, Yuma. You’ll be staying here now. I can put all your stuff in storage, or we can make your old place into another hideout for the gang if you like. I don’t know how many rooms are in that place.”
“Around five,” she replied, “I wouldn’t mind you using it as a hideout, but I would have to get it ready.”
“Okay,” he said, “So it’s settled. The best hacker in the U.S.A. is going to become a part of my gang.”
“I’m more than that,” she said, “I’m the best streetfighter in America next to my mother.”
“Good. We’ll need it. Now get some sleep,” he caressed her face again, “You need the rest and it’ll be good to sleep off that headache.”
Yuma lay down on her new bed, the door of her room closed. She shut her eyes and breathed in deeply. Her past, something too horrible to explain. It was all coming back to her now. She just wanted out. So why was there no other way? She didn’t know. All she knew was that it was too painful for one person to bear alone. Tears streamed down her face. This was too much. It was time again.
She pulled out her box and opened with one solid knock. Pulling out a clean syringe, she injected herself with the dark liquid. Dragon’s Bane, one of the most lethal drugs on the market, and she just so happened to be a drug addict. She and she alone knew how to work the drugs in her blood stream, and because of this, she knew it was less dangerous for her. ‘God I need this,’ she thought, ‘I need this so badly!’ Her cravings were unbearable, but soon, with the new dose in her system, they subsided. Shutting the box and hiding it under her bed, she fell to her bed, asleep, falling into the soothing blackness. She was completely unaware of Lupin looking through the crack of her door.
Lupin crept into Yuma’s room. It was just as he’d thought. Yuma was a drug junky. She had a reputation for making illegal purchases of Dragon’s Bane, but he hadn’t known if it was true or not until now. Now that he knew for sure, he was angry that she’d kept it from him earlier. He could’ve done something about it! Oh, hell. He’d talk to her about it in the morning. For now, he needed sleep. It was almost 3:00 AM, anyway, and besides, he needed rest.
2
The next morning…
Yuma rose from her bed feeling quite refreshed. It was a good thing that she had that Dragon’s Bane on hand. It helped her relax, besides. She emerged from her bedroom and smiled. ‘What a wonderful morning!’ she thought.
She walked into the living room to find Lupin III waiting for her. “Tell me what the meaning of this is, Yuma,” he said heatedly as he held up the box.
“Oh my God!” she breathed.
“Oh my God is right, Yuma,” he said angrily, “do you even know what your doing? You’re killing yourself!”
“Whether or not I’m killing myself is my business!” she yelled.
“Calm down. You have no reason to be upset. After all, you’re not the one who was lied to, now were you?”
“I didn’t lie to you!” she growled, “I didn’t even mention the drugs.” She stormed out.
Yuma broke into a run, her head rushing and the tears running freely down her face. Now she’d done it. She was going to be out on the streets again. After all, who’d want a drug junky in their house? ‘He’s going to send me back,’ she thought, ‘He’s going to send me back into that hell, I just know it. I can’t go back to stealing for my food and health, I just can’t do it. Only one option.’ She sat down hugging her knees, and started sobbing. She picked up a dagger from her belt. Just as she was about to bring it down on her chest, Lupin grabbed it from her hand. He hadn’t realized that it was this serious. She struggled and grabbed for the dagger. He was angry with her anyway, so why was he keeping the dagger from her? He wrapped his arms around her.
“Shh, baby, it’s okay now, shh,” he whispered.
“Please don’t send me back, I just couldn’t stand it, please!” she sobbed.
“What made you think I was going to send you back?” he asked softly.
“You got angry with me! I thought you were going to give up on me.”
“I’ll never give up on you,” he said stroking her hair. Gently, he rocked her until she fell asleep.
As he held her in his arms, Fujiko came up to him. “What are you doing!” she hissed, “You’d better have a good explanation for this little stunt, Lupin!”
“Shhh, you’ll wake her up,” he said, “Don’t worry, Fujiko-chan, I’m not cheating on you. I have a damn good explaination for this, you can be sure of that.”
As Lupin carried the slumbering 16 year old into the house, Lupin explained things to Fujiko. “She was crying, and I was comforting her,” he said plainly.
“Okay, why was she crying?” said Fujiko. That just wasn’t enough. Fujiko wanted a full explaination.
“I found some drugs in her room last night and we had an argument. She ran out because she thought I was going to give up on her.”
“I’m sorry, Lupin, I didn’t know. What drugs did you find?” she asked, concerned.
“Superman, Dragon’s Bane, and Blue Ice Flower,” he said, a little angrilly.
“What are those?” she asked.
“Dragon’s Bane gives you better strength, Superman gives you ultimate strength, and Blue Ice Flower, more commonly known as Ice, gives the person faster mental capabilities. Each comes with it’s price. Dragon’s Bane can speed up or slow down the heart, send you into fevers, or make you have a seizure. Superman can wear the body down to that of an old man. Ice can do the things that Superman and Dragon’s Bane can do. All of them can kill you. As for what happened to her to make her believe that I was going to give up on her, I don’t quite know, but it may have something to do with her living on the streets all those years.”
Lupin continued on with what he knew, “I don’t know for sure why she uses the drugs, but I think it’s because she’s trying to escape her past.”
“Which would be? I mean, it can’t be that bad,” said Fujiko.
“Oh yes it can! Although up until she was six remains a mystery, she’s been bounced from home to home. Each one was worse than the last. One man even tried to molest her. Finally, when she was twelve, she resorted to a life of crime. She moved out, stole her food, and lived on the streets. Somewhere along the line, she found a pimp who would hire her for her dancing capabilities, and he took her in for profit. He paid her very little, and she did twenty jobs for him. Finally, he tried to beat her into submission, and she left after about two months. That was when one of her friends at the whore house told her about the little hole in the wall she lives in. It tapped directly into a powerline, and she could get electricity and plumbing for free. She stole everything that she owns. About seven months in, she rediscovered her family and lived with them for one year. Before that, she’d been involved with the mafia, and when they found her again, she had to run from home and back to her hole in the wall. She learned street fighting from her mother before she left, and has been doing that ever since, as well as stealing for her food and money. She became one of the best hackers and street fighters in the city, following her mother’s grand reputation. Then, two years later, we find her like this.”
“So then what?” asked Fujiko.
Lupin covered her up with a blanket, “I don’t know. The kid’s been through hell. She’s been living a nightmare, Fujiko. She’s been running from herself, from everything around her, always on her guard from people who are either trying to kill her or lock her up. The kid is never safe, no matter what city she’s in. It’s probably been at least two months since she’s had a decent night’s sleep.” It was easy to see that Lupin felt bad about the whole thing. “I obviously got the wrong message across to her, ’cause she tried to commit suicide in the garden. I was lucky enough to get to her on time. She was crying and sobbing, a real mess. That’s why I was holding her, Fujiko. I’ve never seen anyone in so much pain in my life! She was begging me not to dump her back on the streets.”
“And what did you tell her, Lupin?” she asked, “We can’t keep her here, you know that. We’d have to train her and take care of her and…”
“I know that, Fujiko, but we have to. I’ve got no other choice. I can’t just leave her there.”
“Lupin, how are we going to take care of her?” she asked immediately.
“I’ll think of something, Fujiko-chan, don’t you worry about it.”
“Okay, if you say so.”
“I’m going to do some research and see if I can’t dig up what happened to her over the first six years of her life. Maybe that might help us. After all, it could hold the key to a lot of things, like allergies and why she’s on the drugs,” he said as he walked out the door of her bedroom.
‘That’s fine by me,’ she thought, in the meantime, I’m going to do some research of my own about this drug called Dragon’s Bane. It could be of some help to me.’ She grabbed the box (which Lupin had returned to the room), and took a single syringe of Dragon’s Bane, more commonly known as DB or Bane.
After she went up to her room and researched it, Fujiko shot up on the steroid-like drug. She found out that unless you worked your brain right, you could get high off of it, so she was very careful on how she worked her mind. It was three minutes later that she found out what the consequences were. Fujiko went downstairs and checked that hall to make she no one had missed her. She was safe and the door was already closed and locked so that no one knew what she’d been doing. Not that she was worrying about it. She was just concerned that Lupin would notice that she wasn’t feeling exactly stable at the moment. ‘Dizziness is to be expected,’ she scolded herself, ‘so quit worrying about it. You’ll be fine. Just drink some water like it said and you’ll be okay.’
As Fujiko entered that living room, her world started spinning. ‘This is supposed to make me faster and stronger! So that I can work better than I normally do! So why isn’t it working!’ Fujiko heard Lupin calling her name, but it sounded a little different than usual, just echoing a little.
“Hey Fujiko-chan!” Lupin grinned. She smiled back at him, but inwardly, her stomach was churning. He couldn’t see her like this, or know what she’d done. He’d go crazy, saying that she was taking too high a risk, and she was going to blow her brains out with that shit.
‘Just a little further now,’ she thought, ‘almost there.’
“Yo, Fujiko,” Lupin had a note of concern in his voice, “You feeling okay?” Fujiko simply smiled weakly and nodded.
“Yeah, I’m feeling just fine, Lupin.” Lupin still looked worried. In fact, he was even more concerned than he was before. What was going on here? Something wasn’t right. She didn’t look as well as usual, and her skin was an unhealthy pale color. He decided to follow.
When Fujiko entered the kitchen, she could feel the blood pounding through her head. What was happening? She took all the precautions, did exactly as she had read. So why was this happening! Was it possible that she’d taken too much? Was she going to… Fujiko drove the thought from her mind. ‘I am not going to die,’ she thought feverishly, ‘I just overdid it a little. I’m going to be fine, I’m sure of it!’ But somewhere in the depths of Fujiko’s highly intelligent mind, she knew that wasn’t true. She was going to die, right there and then, on the kitchen floor if she couldn’t hold on. She had to! This was her, Fujiko, for Christ’s sake! She couldn’t die! Not now! Water-thin, boiling hot sweat coated Fujiko’s fevered body. Lupin immediately noticed that Fujiko was swerving a little, looking greatly unstable when she walked, almost as if she were drunk. That was when Fujiko began shaking. Just a little tremmer at first, but gradually, she began to quake and sway. “Fujiko? Are you alright? Look, Fujiko-chan, maybe you should sit down a while and rest. Fujiko?”
Fujiko, who was getting worse by the second, murmured, “Just a little further, just a little further now…”
Then… “Fujiko!”
3
Fujiko found that she was uncomfortably hot, and that the inside of her clothes were sticking to her body as she walked. Scratch that. Staggered. “Just a little further,” she murmured to herself, “Just a little further now.” ‘God I’m so dizzy!’ she thought, ‘Oh, my head! It hurts so much!’ Her mind was blurred now, like when you’re just about to go to sleep. She was scared now, scared and alone. ‘Somebody,’ she pleaded mentally, ‘please come get me!’ As if to answer, Lupin’s voice echoed through her mind, “Fujiko? Are you alright? Look, Fujiko-chan, maybe you should sit down a while and rest.” His voice! It sounded so far away, but it was there.
‘Lupin!’ she thought, unable to speak now, ‘I’m right here. Come get me, I’m right here!’
“Fujiko? Fujiko!” his voice fell away into nothingness, and she was alone, unable to see, or breathe. Fujiko went into a deep, dreamless sleep…
Her body hit the floor with a dull thunk, like a broken up, lifeless rag doll. She began to spasm violently and her chest heaved in the air, pumping up and crashing down onto the tile over and over. “God damn! Jigen! Help me, quick! Fujiko’s having a seizure!” yelled Lupin. Both Jigen and Goemon rushed into the room almost immediately, knowing that Fujio’s very life was in the balance. Lupin wasted no time hollering out orders: “Jigen, help me hold her down. Goemon, call Black Jack…” That was when he saw it. Amidst all the confusion, Lupin still knew Fujiko’s body very well, ever etch, every curve. It stood out like a gigantic red bull’s eye, even though it was so small that one could barely see it. A small, red mark on Fujiko’s arm, some form of scar or insert into the skin, but whatever it was, it hadn’t been there before. Only one option: “Holy shit, she’s been drugged!” he yelled, his rage at an absolute boiling point now. He looked at Fujiko’s writhing body and only became madder. This was the woman he loved! The woman he worked with on jobs, just about everything! Who could’ve done this to her! He knew Fujiko, and he knew her well. Fujiko did not do drugs! There was just no way! She was too smart, and they were out of the question for her. So why, or at least, how had she gotten something like that into her blood-stream? The only one in the house with drugs was… “Yuma,” he growled her name in a low tone. That bitch! She’d pay for this, he’d make sure of it. But first, he had to find her.
Lupin’s voice became a soft deadly sound to both men holding Fujiko down as he spoke slowly during the first sixty her seizure, “Jigen, let absolutely no one enter or leave this room unless it’s Yuma. Then, don’t let her out. Goemon, search the area. If you should happen to find her, get her in here, but don’t hurt her. I don’t care what it takes. Tie her down if you have to but find that bitch and get her back!” Both men said nothing, knowing that anyone dumb enough to mess with the boss when he was in a mood like this was bound to end up with a new orphis in his head, via bullet.
Lupin, like the calm before a grand, terrible, ocean storm, entered Yuma’s bedroom, the anger that surged through his heart making it so that he could barely keep himself from attempting to strangle the girl as he so desired to at the moment. “Quit fakin’ it, y’ little bitch. I know you’re awake,” he said, his voice soft and smooth as black velvet, but not nearly as warm, “now get up and help me. Bring that shit, too, we’re gonna need the an’nidote.” He pointed to Yuma’s moon box just as she opened her eyes.
Yuma looked at him groggilly. ‘Please tell me this is nothing more than a bad dream,’ she thought, ‘Please!’ “Help you with what?” she asked sleepilly, not having the slightest clue as to what was going on. And just why did Lupin want her to bring her drugs? Wrong question.
Lupin’s freak rage rose to a higher lever. “Listen you ungrateful little brat,” he hissed, “Fujiko’s out there having a seizure because of an overdose. If she dies because of you, I will personally track you down to the ends of the earth, and when I catch you, you’ll wish you’d never been born! And I can do it, too!” His voice was now sharp as a diamond razor’s edge and his eyes were a steely metallic black color, no longer filled with the warmth or brotherly affection Yuma had grown so accustomed to in such a short time, but filled with a different heat, a fuming hate that she was afraid of, “That’s a promise, Yuma. I will personally see to it that you will go through Hell before you die. Now get in there and give her the God Damn antidote!” He was nearly yelling at her now.
Yuma’s heart raced with fear. Fujiko? Having a seizure? Because of an… “Oh Jesus, NO!!” she screamed, grabbing her box and racing downstairs with all her very soul with a burst of almost God like speed that looked to be unsurpassable by anyone save Lupin who was right on her heels.
“Oh Jesus yes, actually, bitch!” he said, snearing, “Do you see that, you little junky? Damn you! You’d better do something about it!” Yuma was on her knees, and grabbed the collar of Fujiko’s top, ripping it off revealing her beautiful naked chest. grabbing a syringe, Yuma cleaned a spot on her left breast and jabbed the needle, with a raw viciousnesss, Fujiko’s supple, vibrant flesh.
“Quickly,” she ordered, “Give her this. It’ll stablize her. What are you waiting for? Do it now!” Lupin gave the pill to the now arrived Black Jack, who nodded, giving it to Lupin, who in turn, fed it to Fujiko.
“How did this happen? Oh, this is all my fault! I should never have brought those things into the house…”
“Damn right, it’s your fault!” said Lupin, his back turned, “And I want to know why you did it!” Yuma looked scared and confused. Not because of the promise he’d made but for something else. “Well? Speak up!” At this, she immediately got defensive.
“You can’t torture me into admitting it, no matter how hard you try. I’ve been through the nine rings of Hell, Lupin, and I know what it’s like! I’m telling you, I didn’t do it.”
Walking out the door, he motioned for her to follow him, now not saying anything at all. Ice cold rage was painted across his face, as if on a canvas, as the walked outside. “You mind telling me what’s going on here,” Yuma asked angrilly, “‘Cause I’d sure like to know!” Lupin did not utter a single word, not even turned his face to look at hers. He just kept walking, one foot in front of the other, toward the garden by the exit. It was in a corner of the estate, small enough so that she wouldn’t be able to run, or so it seemed. As soon as they reached it, he stopped so abruptly that when she, being on the edge of raw nervousness, tried to stop she fell over. Getting back up, fear was surging through her mind and completely unrational thoughts zoomed through her befuddled head. ‘What’s he gonna do to me? What’s gonna happen to me. Is he going to hurt me? What?’ Yuma hated this subtleness about the air, this feeling that something bad was about to happen.
“Why did you do it?” his words were like that of the temperature in a cold snap, at forty-below-zero, and they broke through and into her mind like ice daggers through her heart. Yuma was struck dumb as her mind began searching for words to fit into a sentence.
Frantically, she thought, ‘Give me something, anything! Just please make it quick!’ “I don’t know.” Now Yuma knew she was in the doghouse.
“You what!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” her mind still recovering from the numbness.
“Bullshit. Why did you do it?!” he said very softly. Yuma didn’t know. Her very heart went into silent fear, the kind that’s so sharp, so deadly that you can pin point it, yet you don’t know where it is at all. Had Fujiko stolen the drugs? But Lupin wasn’t going to believe that. Yuma only knew one thing: and extremely short-tempered, dangerous man was standing right in front of her, possibly one of the most dangerous in the world, and he was asking for an answer she could not give. Yuma knew it wasn’t his fault. Lupin was just trying to protect Fujiko. Most of this was pure instinct. But she was still afraid, and they would lock further into this death match if something wasn’t done quickly.
“I don’t get it,” she was almost trembling, but kept her voice in a cool, nearly careless, but not without concern, mood, “Honestly, I don’t even know what happened. Please explain how drugs were taken from my room, because I don’t apreciate people messing with my things. A medium Bane is missing and that stuff, as you’ve seen with Fujiko, is both dangerous and expensive. Please explain. It’s not the kind of stuff I would have anyone mess with and Fujiko nearly died.”
“Explain!” Lupin spat the word and laughed bitterly, “Explain? Okay then, I’ll explain! If you wanna make this harder, be my guest! Here’s the score: I’m gone for thirty minutes. A rather short time, wouldn’t you agree?” Yuma nodded, her fear rising. You could see it in her face. If she wasn’t careful…
‘NO! I must keep my cool! I can’t let that happen!’
“Yes, thirty minutes. And after I get back, Fujiko strangely ain’t feeling so good!” his voice was rising, “But of course, she ain’t sayin’ shit ’cause she don’t know what the Hell’s goin’ on!” His temper was growing to a boiling point now, and Yuma felt like it was pouring all over her, leaving welts in her proverbial skin, “Next thing I know, Fujiko hits the floor and is bending over backwards, biting air! And do you know what else I find?” He looked at her wickedly, grinning with an almost insane wrath as he yelled, “That she’s been drugged by GOD knows what and she’s about to die!!! Now that I’ve gotten that straightened out, I will ask you one last time, and this time, you’d better answer.” Yuma could not help but have her face be a look of shear horror now. She’d been through this before. There could only be one thing this would lead to and that was physical violence. “For the last fucking time, why … did … you … do …it?” he asked her very slowly, and loudly, putting his face near hers as if to insult her intelligence, “C’mon, treacherous bitch. Tell me why you did it. Did you like doing Fujiko in? Did you want to see her in fear, have that control, or did she not know until it was too late? Tell me!”
‘This isn’t him,’ she tried to calm herself, ‘he’s lost it. You have to remember what he’s been through… Yuma! Don’t lose it! Get back…’ Although Lupin hadn’t completely lost his control (he hadn’t hit her yet), Yuma had. With an animal like scream, she jumped away from him, punching him hard in the stomach. “YOU STAY AWAY FROM ME!” she yelled. A single tear rolled down her cheek and her heart raced. She tried, with much difficulty, succeeded in regaining some of her control, though it went to an extreme. Yuma was still highly scared, in truth, and her mind was working mostly on instinct. She couldn’t help it. On one hand, she knew that he wouldn’t hurt her, at least not just yet. On the other… Yuma just wanted to curl up in the fetal position and cry. But she stayed her ground. She was going to wait this battle out, no matter how wrong she was, or what it took. Lupin was only, after all, protecting Fujiko. “Please,” she whimpered, “don’t hurt me.”
Lupin could see he was losing control, and very rapidly. He’d never done anything to harm a woman. That was for the ordinary punks, and by nature, as well as by reputation, he was a gentleman, not a slob like most guys out there. By no means in any way, shape or form was it okay to beat a woman, or so his father had worked so hard to teach him. He would probably never forgive himself for doing so, had he even scratched one. Women were to be respected, and he certainly wasn’t doing that right now. Yes, that was the key. ‘Keep it under control,’ he thought, restricting himself. He was still in wrath of Yuma, though and she was definately not getting off lightly. She’d tried to kill Fujiko… but he wasn’t getting anywhere treating her like this. She wanted to play hard to get, fine. But he was going to remain at a steady level.
“What did I do to deserve this?” she cried, “Why are you threatening me?” Fear and pain rail-roaded across her face. His mind snapped to attention. She looked like…
‘An animal,’ he reasoned, ‘a scared animal. I’ve gotta calm her down. If she gets loose on those streets, she might never come back.’ Lupin didn’t like the notion. She had nowhere to go. She couldn’t survive out there. He could see that she had now lost complete control and that her eyes shook, a feeling that he was not unaccustomed to as he’d felt the same feeling before in his own life, long ago. His heart was filled with a weird kind of fear and empathy. Fear that she would leave, and empathy that she’d gone through hell. It was clear now that she hadn’t done it. She reminded him more of himself now than anything. When he was fifteen, out alone in the world, no place to go, no one to turn to, scared. He’d been wrong. He knew that now. But he had no time to beat himself up for it now. He had to make sure she didn’t escape, make sure that she was safe.
Yuma broke into a dead run, her mind absolutely shot to the ends of her nerves with pure, stupid, languageless, animalistic fear. He could let her get away. He had to keep her there, within the boundaries and safety of the hide out. Right now she was in no position to bargain. He was biting at her heels and coiled his finders quickly around her wrist. She slugged him a full throttle blow across the chest cavity and he couldn’t breathe for a moment, still not letting go. He couldn’t let go. If he did… he tried to get a better grip on her, lunging to hook her around the waist. For this, he received a cutting slap that led his nose to spurt pools of blood. Lupin still wouldn’t let go. He could handle pain, he’d done it before and now was no different. “Yuma!” he yelled, not meaning to sound angry. She finally broke his grip. She ran toward the gates, but they were locked. Then, she ran toward the doors of the hide out. Up the stairs, through the halls, just trying to get away. When she finally stopped, she didn’t know where she was. She must have been in a secret attic. She looked over to her left. A cabinet filled with guns. To her right were rations. Behind her was the door to a private bathroom. The room was large. It had a desk, and was filled with many boxes. There was a single window in which the sunlight streamed through and a bed by that window. Yuma went over to the desk, and found pages of writings. She sat down and read them. Here, she discovered, was an archive of all the capers Lupin III had ever been on. They were filled with his emotions on certain matters, like Fujiko, the lover, Jigen, the father figure, and Goemon, the friend. Finally, she came across a page written about her.
4
“Today I have found a little angel. She is a beacon of light shining among the darkness in where she lives. She is so brilliant, she almost blinds me. Her name is Yuma Avara and she is sixteen. I do not know this girl. Though I know everything about her, I don’t know her at all. She is like a magnificent bird that is both mysterious and beautiful. I would do anything to catch her. She is both whimsical and mystical, not of this world. She’s not a groupie, she has her own style of doing things. She is wonderful. She’s got this spark inside of her, a bright star that shines clear as a crystal. Her eyes are like diamonds: you can literally feel them cutting into you when she looks at you, even with your back turned. Not to say that I’m in love with her, but this strong emotion that I have for her comes pretty close. I love her like a sister, maybe even more, but I can’t be sure. She has this willingness in her eyes, one that damn near drives me insane. It’s like a fire, and it burns me alive at times. She could do anything she put her mind to as long as she put an effort behind it. She’ll never give up. She’s got a powerful mind, body, and soul, and if she’s not careful, one of these days it’s going to kill her unless I teach her how to use it.
“However, she’s been hurt too much. She’s cautious of people, never letting her guard down. Here is a girl who is always on the run, whether it be foes, or the law. She never gets any rest, and she has no one that she can truely turn to for help. She’s scared, paranoid, in fact, and she has a right to be. She doesn’t seem to have any friends, as she never hangs around one place for long. The only constant living space is the hole that she’s found, a secret hiding place. It’s a sad and lonely life, and she’s just barely surviving. She’s only sixteen, and already she has to support herself. Stealing for survival, though when she gets money, she is constantly buying Bane. I don’t know why. I think she might be an addict. But she won’t have to worry about all those things soon. I intend to rescue her from the life she leads. Many would call her the fallen angel, or an angel of sin, because she has fallen from heaven and is always getting herself into trouble. Fighting, drugs, stealing. She’s even been into prostitution, selling her body to survive. But she’s a good girl, deep down inside, though dark, wild and different. I just want to help her. She needs a shoulder to lean on when things get too much, someone to carry her. It’s been a long night for her, and she needs a place where she can lay down, sleep, and let someone else worry about the battle she’s in, and the thing she has become. Hey! I could teach her how to be a master thief, like me! The job would be perfect for her. I would love to add her as a new member to the gang. She’d be perfect.”
Yuma was finished reading the paper. There were tears in her eyes. Besides her family, no one had ever cared for her that much. He knew what she’d done, but didn’t care. ‘He shouldn’t care,’ she thought, ‘I am nothing but trouble. I will only bring him down, and yet he knows this and takes care of me. I just wish he hadn’t yelled at me. I want to be loved more than a sister, more than a friend, but he loves Fujiko and that will never happen. We can never be friends again, because he believes I tried to kill the woman he loves.’ Yuma began crying uncontrollably. She lay down on the bed as the tears streaked down her face. She howled in agony, not bothering to put her face in the pillow to muffle the sound. She just didn’t care anymore. The sound ripped itself from her throat and her chest felt tight.
Lupin couldn’t find Yuma. He’d checked the whole house for her. ‘Except for one place,’ he thought, ‘but she couldn’t be there. No one goes there except me. But maybe…’ He walked up the stairs down the hall and up to the door in the first attic. He heard muffled crying, but just barely. He opened the door. There was Yuma, in the fetal position, crying. She seemed to be in so much pain. Howls emitted from her throat as she cried. He walked up to her, sat down beside her, and to her surprise, picked her up and held her. She burried her face in his chest and just sobbed. She cried for the fear she’d felt, the friendship now lost, the fact that she wasn’t what he thought she was. She just wanted out. Out of this game, out of life. She had no one, and now she didn’t want to live anymore. And she was still afraid. “Please,” she sobbed, “don’t hurt me. I can’t stand to be in anymore pain. Please. It’s too much.”
“Shhh, it’s all over now, you don’t have to worry,” he whispered, “God Yuma, I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you or scared you. There was absolutely no excuse for what I did and I’m sorry. Oh God, please forgive me, I’m so sorry. I love you and I would never mean to hurt you. Even when I was that angry, hitting you was the last thing on my mind.”
“I’m… I’m so sorry! I didn’t think that Fujiko would use the drugs! I just use them to run from myself, I would never use them on anybody else! Please forgive me, Lupin, I never meant any harm!”
“I know, baby, I know.”
“It’s just that, they’re so hard to quit. Time and time again, I try to quit but I fail every time. It’s not just some snap thing that you can quit, it takes time, and I … I’m a failure, a drug junky. Forgive me, Lupin, but I’ll never amount to much of anything for that. I’m not the angel you think I am. I…” she started sobbing again, “I’m nothing but a junky looking for a fix!”
“Oh no, baby, you’re so much more than that!” soothed Lupin, “You mean so much to me, my fallen angel. My precious, precious black-winged angel. You’ll never be a nothing! You came down from the heavens just in the nick of time! You may think that God has forsaken you, but you are truly meant for something great! Baby, you are so much more than you think you are. I was lost, and couldn’t find my way out, and then you came, and here you are! Look at you, you’re so beautiful. You have a will, a passion, and it’s a wonderful thing. You help people that are in pain, you put others, people you don’t even know, before yourself. Even when I was angry with you, even when Fujiko had used the drugs without asking, when a normal person would have refused to help, you were there. You could’ve just let Fujiko die right there on the floor, and yet, you came in and saved her! Look at you! You’re amazing. Your heart has an awesome power of love and honor and nobility. You shine, Yuma, oh God you shine! Like a brilliant star, the silver moon, the golden sun, you shine brightly, and your future is bright. Like I said, I was lost. I needed a new job to do, a new plan, something to give my life more meaning, and God sent you down from the heavens, and although other angels may forsake you, you are more special than them, and I will never turn you away or turn my back on you or give up on you, because you are so special and I love you just the way you are, so never change, Yuma. Don’t worry, we’ll find you a way to get off the drugs. I’ll be there every step of the way, I promise.”
Yuma just started crying again. “What’s wrong, baby?” he asked gently.
“The reason why I can’t stop is because … because …”
“What, honey? You can tell me anything.”
“I was born in an institution! The same one you are trying to destroy!”
Lupin was awestruck for a moment. He felt pure horror and anger for what had happened to her. “Tell me, Yuma, what did they do to you?”
“It’s a secret I’ve been hiding all my life,” she sobbed, “I can’t tell you because then you will be disgusted with me, and you won’t want me anymore! Oh God, no! I’m transforming! I need that Bane, or I won’t be able to stop myself!” Lupin grabbed one of the syringes in his pocket and jabbed it into her skin, just as she was transforming. He saw her eyes turn to red, and when he gave her the Dragon’s Bane, it stopped.
“Yuma, I won’t hate you, not ever. It’s not your fault what they did to you, but I need to know. I’m going to carry you downstairs, okay? The rest of the gang needs to know about this.”
“NO! Please, I’m begging you! Anything but that!” she screamed.
“Shhh, everything will be okay. Let’s just go downstairs, and we’ll work everything out.” Lupin picked her up, and carried her down to the living room. There, Fujiko and the rest of the gang were waiting. Yuma looked terrified. “Yuma, you have nothing to be afraid of. Guys, sit down, Yuma has something to tell us. I would never forsake you, Yuma. You know better than that now. Please, tell us what happened to you.” Fujiko looked at the girl. Love filled her heart. She was so scared and all alone. Fujiko reached out and touched her.
“We’ll always protect you, Yuma. You can trust us.” Yuma looked at her.
“You mean that?” she asked.
“Yes,” she said, “I do.” She smiled.
“It’s okay, kid,” said Jigen, “You can tell us.”
“You have nothing to fear and nothing to be ashamed of, no one will judge you here,” said Goemon.
Yuma sighed and began her tale, still a little unsure. “About 16 years ago, there was an institution commonly known as Battle Elite, who’s general goal was to create the perfect soldier. These people did horrible experiments on live subjects, often resulting in death. The deffective experiments were thrown out. Finally, they came out with the perfect group of chimeras, the ultimate super soldiers. However, this group was not without it’s problems. They’d been born with a disease known as blood wrath. This disease, when the person was extremely angry or fearful turned their mind into that of an animal. A blood lust came upon them and they had no memory of what they did afterward. They would maimed and kill people terribly, not caring about what they were doing. What’s worse, in order to get to their target, everyone and everything else was just an obstical to them. These chimera were also made up of different species of animals, and morphed into monsters. I was one of this group. I am #155, the girl that you are searching for. Oh no!” she howled in pain. The Bane hadn’t been enough. Yuma was now metamorphosing. She began sobbing with unspeakable pain. The metamorphosis had begun. She was hunched over in pain, moaning horribly. “Get out! Now!” she screamed, “Before it’s too late!”
“No,” said Lupin, “I’m not going to abandon you.” She started to growl like a wolf. Suddenly, blood covered wings ripped from her back, like those of dragon’s wings. They were like red leather. Teeth became great diamond sharp fangs long like a snake’s. Her finger nails became large ivory claws. Her hair grew down to her thighs and a gem that changed color every minute emerged from her forehead skin. Still when the morph was over, she was beautiful, full of grace. She stood, and her wings were like a dragon’s. Her short slender figure was still covered in beautiful whit skin. Her eyes were now a magnificent ruby red. She was covered in a light down of silver wolf’s fur, just barely visible, like the down of hair on a human. The gem that graced her head was a diamond bright, shining beautifully. She had a dragon’s tale, with blood red scales, and she had ruby clusters of scales on her thighs and arms, one cluster per limb. Her eyes were filled with tears.
“Please,” she sobbed, “don’t look at me. I’m a monster.” Lupin wrapped his arms around her, protecting her from the outside world.
“You are one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my entire life.”
“I’ll hurt you! The blood wrath will…”
“Yuma, I’m not going hurt you, and you’re not going to hurt me. It’s going to be okay. I know that bloodwrath or not, nothing bad’s gonna happen to either one of us, or anyone in this room. You’ve nothing to be scared or ashamed of. This isn’t your fault. Now sit so we can talk more about this.”
“I can’t!” she sobbed, “I’m too scared!”
“Yes you can, Yuma,” he coaxed, “just come over here.” Slowly, she moved across the room. He sat her down in his lap. “It’s okay, now. Just tell us what you’ve experianced.” She nuzzled her head in his chest.
“I was born in an institution, with four other kids: Andra, Ben, Golleth, and Camron. I was created to destroy one man: Arsene Lupin III, but I could never bring myself to do it. I just couldn’t kill someone that I didn’t even know and had never done harm to me. I was created of four of the greatest thieves in the world: Cython, Masitna, Sayona, and Aison. I remember because I was born with an advanced memory. I remember my birth, the bright light.
“We were subject to all kinds of torture: electrocution, injections of strange chemicals that made us feel like we were burning, various extreme heats and pressure, you name it, we got it, even though we always healed from it. By the time we were three, we were placed under lock and key with the other competition, which could always be heard being dragged off screaming in the dead of night. Sometimes, late at night, I can still hear their cries, wishing I could do something about it.
“When we were six, one man and a gang of the world’s greatest thieves helped us escape. For the next six years I would live with my parents, then on the streets. I only wish I could see your father again. He was like a father to me. He never cared that I was a chimera. But now, now that I’ve told you, you’ll throw me out just like the defectives were thrown out.”
“How can you say that?” he said, “Of course I give a damn, otherwise you wouldn’t be here!”
“Please don’t hurt me!” she cried. He held her closer.
“Like I said earlier, I would never hurt you. I swear.”
“They used to beat me,” she cried, “I could never go through that again.” He looked at Yuma’s back. Sure enough, there were whip scars streaking all the way across it, all the way down, and burn scars were there, too. Normally, her she had an outer layer of skin that concealed them, but today was not her luckiest of days. She’d been whipped and burned for her penance!
“Oh Jesus!” murmured Lupin, “Yuma, baby, what have they done to you! Oh Yuma, I so sorry, God I’m so sorry!” Yuma just hid herself in his arms. She didn’t want to see anyone right at the moment. Lupin would personally see to it that nobody would hurt his Yuma this badly ever again.
5
It was night now, and Yuma was on the roof. She was filled with a different kind of pain now. Heartache. She loved Lupin, but she knew that Lupin could never love her like that, not ever. She was just too hideous. She howled a lone wolf howl. Again and again, she howled her agony from the rooftop, thinkng that no one could hear her. But Lupin could hear her. He couldn’t get any sleep either, so when he heard her howling from the roof, he wondered what was wrong with her. “Oh, Lupin! If only you could understand! I love you, but you will never love me back the same way as I feel about you. It can’t happen,” she cried. Lupin snuck up onto the roof. Quietly he came up behind her as she confessed her love for him to the moon. She hung her head, and he could no longer take it. He wrapped his arms around her. She sat rigid for a moment. How much had he heard? He kissed her on the cheek and she turned to face him, her face a look of shear horror, afraid of rejection. He looked at her kindly and kissed her.
“Don’t be frightened,” he said softly, “It’s okay now.” Then he said five words that she had so longed to hear: “I love you, too, Yuma.” She lay her head on his shoulder, he wrapped his arms around her, and they sat like that for the next half hour. “You’re beautiful,” he said softly, “That’s what I thought from the very first time I saw you. You’ll never be ugly to me, no matter what form you take.”
They went back inside, and Yuma slept in Lupin’s arms for the rest of the night, him stroking her hair until she fell asleep.
About an hour later, Yuma was asleep, when she let out a blood-curdling scream. Lupin almost jumped. “Yuma are you okay!” he asked.
“They’re coming! They’re coming to take me away!”
“Shhh, no one’s going to hurt you, Yuma, not as long as I’m here.”
It was morning now, and everyone had gone downstairs for breakfast, when a black van appeared in the drive. “Oh my God! It’s them!” Yuma raced up to her room and hid. Lupin pulled his gun.
“Come on, Jigen,” he growled, “there’s something we need to take care of. Goemon, Fujiko, stay here and protect Yuma.” Jigen and Lupin went downstairs. There was gunshots heard and the van squealing out of the driveway. Yuma looked out her window. Two dead men. Lupin and Jigen went back in the house. “Yuma?” he called, “You can come out now, it’s safe.” Yuma peeped out from behind the door to her room. Then she came downstairs.
“I want to get the institution back for what they did to me,” she said angrilly.
“We will, baby,” he said, “soon enough.”
“Today. It has to be done today,” she insisted, “We can’t let them hurt any more people.”
“Alright, babe. Jigen, everyone, get ready. We’re going in today.”
As the car drove up, Yuma cried, “I don’t think I can do this!”
“Yes you can, Yuma,” said Lupin, “You can do anything you set your mind to.”
Soon they were in the center of the building. Lupin planted the bomb in there. They heard footsteps and they ran. The scientists were not that far behind. Yuma kept running with a dead fear in her heart. That was all she could do. Run. “Yuma!” panted Lupin, “Don’t wait for me! Just keep running!”
“No! I’m not going to leave you behind here with these monsters!” Yuma suddenly realised that the only way she could save them was to morph. Suddenly the pain wrenched from her back and the wings and tail burst out from her body. She growled and the scientists backed off. Her eyes flashed and she let herself slip into bloodlust. Within a matter of seconds, the first one was dead, a wound straight through the heart with her claws. The second ran in terror, but Yuma focussed her mind and he burst in flames. Yuma was still in bloodlust. She needed a new target. She growled at the gang.
“Easy, babe,” he whispered, “it’s just us.” Recognising the voice and the faces, she realised that she had nothing to fear. She gave a growl of submission and lay at his feet. He stroked her hair and smiled. “The bomb!” he yelled, “We’ve gotta get out of here!” Yuma ran on all fours ahead of the gang like an animal. Climbing the wall, she broke the window and climbed out. She used her sharp tipped tail as a spear and broke the lock. Soon, Lupin and the gang were out of thereand walked away as the building exploded in flames.
It was two weeks later that Lupin and the gang had gone back to Tokyo. Yuma had reconnected with her parents but had decided to live with Lupin. Lupin, after figuring out that the Bane was what kept Yuma’s morph in check, had gone to Black Jack about the situation and he had medicated her on a limited amount of Dragon’s Bane. Everything was going well, and Lupin was planning his next great caper.
Yuma came up behind Lupin and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Hi, Yuma!” he grinned.
“Lupin?” she asked.
“Yes?”
“When’s our next caper?”
“Soon, babe, real soon,” he smiled, “I know you’re anxious, but you’ll have to wait.”
“I hope it comes soon,” she said, kissing him.
He just smirked. “I must be the luckiest man on earth.
THE END
Italiano
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