redjacketthief | 1st Turn: [Accidental Voice/Action]

[That was definitely Fujiko. Lupin was certain of this--no other woman could go from cool to screaming at him to cool again in under a minute. He chuckled, settling himself in the dirt next to the book that was becoming more and more confusing by the minute.

He clapped a hand to his face, feeling more than a little crazy.]

Heh. You don't change, do you Fujiko-chan? I wake up in a wierd place feeling like I've been hit by a truck, with nothing but a book, clothes that aren't mine, and these itty bitty annoying wings. I don't have my gun, my shoes, my phone, or my jacket, and I'm still getting yelled at for being late.

Late for what, Fujiko? I'm in the woods, and have been here long enough to be be cold and get over a hangover. Do you know something I don't?

No. [It's a bad lie. Which just means she babbles to try to fix it.]

Except the usual. And the obvious. And I always know more than you. Well, half of the time. But you are late. REALLY late.

Che... where are you? In the forest? Anywhere near the river or something? Do you see buildings?

What's normal and obvious about this, Fujiko? I got drunk last night, and I woke up in the woods with no clothes. And, do you have any idea how wierd it is to be talking to a book? And what am I late to? It's not like I was invited to a party or anything!

[He was babbling. He knew he was babbling, but at least hearing Fujiko was better than hearing nothing. Lupin takes a pause, and breathes.]

Okay. that was an exaggeration. I do have some clothes, they're just very plain and not warm at all. Anyway, I see trees to the left of me, trees to the right of me, dirt underneath me...and air.

[He knew he couldn't literally see air, but that was beside the point. He shrugs, mostly for his own benefit.]

Guess that means I'm in a forest. I've been walking North for a while, if that helps. At least, I think it's North. It's so easy to get turned around in here.

I think that in itself might be almost normal for you darling. [Sarcastic as hell, but she's ping-ponging between lots of emotions.]

North is still pretty vague. Luceti is kind of a big place, even if it feels small as hell usually. Couple hundred miles, think of it like a tiny European country.

If you hit any rivers or streams I'll give you better directions, but right now you could be north of the town and then you'd just have to hit the barrier before you knew it.

[She's still irrationally mad at him, both for being late and for even getting himself kidnapped instead of magically rescuing her or something, but she's not completely stupid. It snowed, and they drop off the new feathers shirtless.] I'll go check the shop for your shirt and jacket and the weaponry for your Walther P38. And if we're lucky for once, you'll be south of the town and I'll meet you there. What color's your jacket? [She will whack him if it's pink.]

Pink.

[Beat.]

Nah. I joke, I joke. I'd rather not talk about that again. I dunno what I was thinking...

But yeah, my jacket's red, of course. I went back to it. Thanks for asking.

[Joking aside, Lupin is perplexed by Fujiko's words. He rubs his arms, willing warmth back into them, and frowns in thought.]

What you're saying doesn't make sense, Fujiko. Luceti? Barrier? Fujiko, where and what is this place? Does this have anything to do with how we're talking through a book and these itty bitty wings?

[He takes a deep breath, and exhales in a puff of mist. He wonders briefly if the cold was making him go crazy...at least it was a good crazy. He was talking to Fujiko and not himself. The conversation would at least be interesting.]

For the record, I thought I heard water earlier, but didn't really investigate. I...didn't feel steady enough to swim at that point. But I'm not hungover any more.

Fujiko, what's going on?

[Laughs quietly at that. For a bit.] Just nice to know you're from the same time as me.

Mad scientists called the Malnosso kidnap people and bring here here, give us those wings and a barcode and a journal. They use some people for experiments, some for random drafts, and some for missions -- or well, supposedly they're going to start doing that.

Sometimes they use invincible robots to individually kidnap people -- I mean really invincible. Even gods and idiots with superpowers get dragged away.

It's a terrible place Lupin. [Mirth gone now.] Everything's free though. That's weird. But it's hardly the weirdest.

This is all wierd, Fujiko. It's cheesy 80s cartoon wierd, and not even the good kind that actually had a plot. I'm talking about the glorified toy commercial ones. Mad scientists, robots, superpowers..gods? Fujiko, you never struck me as the religious type.

[Lupin pauses, his thoughts racing at more miles a minute than he could easily compute. It takes an effort to slow down, to think.

Yeah. He could do that later. ]

Eh, Fujiko. I'm pretty cold here. Do you mind telling me where to go?

Not real Gods obviously. They just think are. And have powers to do almost anything and get worshiped back in their worlds.

Did you find the water? If it's the lake, go East. If it's rivers, go upstream, they just about all go through the village.

And I got your jacket. I'll see if I can find something warmer too.

Yeah, it was a river that I heard. [Lupin takes a moment to watch it, to figure out where upstream is. He starts walking.]

Superpowers, Fujiko? People who think they're Gods? You're sure we aren't dreaming we're in a videogame or something?

Eh. Who cares? We can talk later.

...and, thanks.

It pretty much is a video game. Wait until you see the Battledome. That literally is.

See you in a bit Lupin. Don't freeze to death first. [She's so kind.]

I love you too, Fujiko.

[Lupin deadpanned. Through the trees, he thought he saw something--lights?]

I think I'm getting close. It might not be too long now. [He chuckles.] And if this is a video game, then I'm trusting you to be help me through the tutorial.

[Awkward pause. She knows he's kidding and being sarcastic, but there's still a small skip to her steps and heartbeat that she tries to force down immediately and ignore. That idiot... joking about things like that... at a time like this no less!]

Yeah yeah... [Mumbles and just goes dashing into the forest carrying his clothes and gun.] You're just lucky I've been here awhile. [Finds him and shoves the bundle of clothes at him.] Some things to know. That journal is like a magic laptop. Literally magic, they have that here. You can learn some too if you're patient. [The only one Fujiko had focus for was wind because she had Val as her teacher.] You're a new feather. You can get any open place to stay you want. Or if you promise to be good, you can share my place, but I'm not disarming the traps. [Implied: And if you try to jump into my bed, you'll get a boxing glove on a spring to the face.] Everything's free like a video game, but outside of the Drafts, the only people to fight are everyone else here and that's pretty frowned upon.

We should steal the fountain though. No one else has ever even tried before.

[He would have clapped his hands on her shoulders if they weren't full. He would have kissed her into silence if he were sure he wouldn't get a fist to the face in return.

Lupin III instead leaned forward, and rested his forehead on top of hers.]

Fujiko. Breathe!

[He said those words softly, verbally raising a stop sign. He chuckled, and took a step back. That punch might still come.]

Now, slow down--slow down. That's a lot to process, Fujiko. Magic? Drafts? Fountains? You need to be more detailed if you want me to understand anything here.

[She's tempted to punch him anyway. Just on the principle of it, but the suddenly close contact temporarily froze her. Until he pulled away and gave her a lecture. Then she decided to try to stop on his foot with her high-heed boot.]

Those stupid wings. They let you do some limited magic in this place. People from worlds with magic are actually limited. It's weird.

There's a fountain in the center of town, I'll show you. [Spreads her hands in a shrug.] What do you want me to be more detailed on then?

[The thin stilhetto jabbing into his cold foot was the last thing he wanted. He yelped, dropping the clothes that Fujiko had just passed to him, and leapt backwards on one foot.]

Owwwww! HEY! What was that for!? [He rubbed his foot with his hands, trying to listen to Fujiko as he did so. The magic part was interesting...but so were the people from other worlds part. Alternate dimensions were something that belonged in fiction, after all.

But so did wings.

Lupin gingerly set his foot down, and easily put his weight on it. He wasn't sure if it was the cold, or her, but that stomp hurt more than he remembered. It was easiest to blame the cold.]

All of it, Fujiko. Drafts? Everything's free? How can they have drafts if they have no money? How do we keep our day job?

[Forget waiting, he was cold. He was getting dressed as he spoke. Shirt was shoved on, buttoned up, yellow tie was properly tied...]

I can get behind the laptop thing, and maybe the magic thing. Maybe. But...Fujikoooo! How have you managed so far?

[Grins at his pain. Maybe she's just a bit of a sadist, when it comes to him, but she gives him a quick ginger hug. At least she's soft and warm. When she's not being violent, that is.]

It's been terrible. [Not all of it, but most of it. And besides, she was fully certain that he owed her for having to deal with all of this without him. Usually if she had to put up with that much nonsense at least it was his fault and thus she could hold him responsible for being the one to fix it. Not that she wouldn't hold him responsible to fix things that aren't his fault.] There's no day jobs. People just do stuff because they're bored. It's like being in a permanent prison camp where they don't want to enslave you to work, just to run weird tests. I've been turned into a wolf, and made to think I was married to an old ninja rat, and all sorts of weird things. Last year Halloween they gave me a Catwoman costume though, that was kind of fun except Batman kept getting pissy that I'm not really Selina Kyle. [Implied: "That big baby."]

The Drafts are to fight the Third Party. The Malnosso haven't ever taken me for that, but I guess most people hate it. [Fujiko thinks they're all pussies though. As far as wars go, it doesn't sound like that big of a deal to her, but then she's seen more things than most.] With the Drafts, you don't have a say. [Pouts but goes about fixing his tie and helping him get his jacket on.] They just kidnap you with their invincible robots, the same way they do other times too.

Having everything free is actually really nice though. If you can get to the stuff before everyone else, it's yours. And they're kind of saps here. If something is yours from back home, they don't usually take it. [Usually. There are exceptions of course.] Oh, but some people still steal for the sake of it. Be careful around Blackbeard and Jack Sparrow, okay darling? It's not the Blackbeard we've met, but he's got magic so that's never pleasant to fight.

[Lupin is listening to her, even if he doesn't watch. He is pulling on his pants and shoes instead. He was glad to have his Walther, but he had no patience for the holster at the moment. It was shoved into the back of his waistband instead.

He frowned at her torrent of words. They were nonsensical...but the wings were there, the book was there.

He never really a man of faith, outside of faith held in himself and his friends. Given that derth in supernatural explanation--fate, 'God's plan'. He had to believe the words laid out before him.

It was insane and nonsense, but Fujiko's lies were usually at least plausible.]

Prison camps, Fujiko? Drafts? Is there a war going on? And 'tests?' Even dreams make more sense than this!

[He pulled on his jacket. The fit was perfect, complete with the wear that it had endured through the years and everything. It was his. Lupin ran a hand over his head, straightening his messy hair. He didn't feel right with it mussed like he had just rolled out of bed. It cramped his style.]

I don't like what I'm hearing. I don't like it at all. [He's frowning, a glimmer of anger burning in his gaze. Just because he hadn't experienced it first hand doesn't mean that it doesn't bother him. The magic, the no currency, and the boredom he could deal with. The experiments and drafts? Not so much.]

Yes. War with the Third Party. They want to "free" us all by permanently killing us and taking the wings. It's like some cult or something -- so I hear.

The Shifts really run the gambit of strange. One time they were going to do something, but they messed up their Battledome so their fake video game monsters came to life. So to make up for that they gave us an amusement park and super spa hotel. Other times they do... such weird things. This last Halloween the moon decided to crush us. Literally. Ask anyone around, it was scary. And there were these weird masks everywhere.

[Tilts her head watching him coolly. So he didn't believe her. She was half-tempted to drag him off by the ear to meet someone who could prove her right. The one time she told the truth.... jeez.]

The...moon?

THEY CAN DO THAT?

[And last Halloween...that was just a couple of weeks ago! Lupin looked at Fujiko, at the surrounding forest. Neither looked like they sustained death-by-moon.

It was absurd. But he had those wings to account for...]

Fujiko. [His voice was hard, tense. He wasn't playing.] What are the people who have been here doing about all of this?

[A quiet snort. What is she supposed to say? She wanted Lupin to rescue her. He always did, no matter what crazy ass end of the world scheme was going on. She wasn't about to admit they could be out of their league here.]

Some of the people really are basically gods in their own worlds. And they're still trapped like the rest of us. People try to get out all the time, but the barrier is impossible to bypass. Michelangelo and I stalked some of their robot kidnappers when they took Raphael, but they disappear into nowhere. No smoke bomb, no anything. There was this thing recently where someone got one of their bots to cut open and so they were trying to scavenge the technology from it, but swarms of the buggers came to get it back. People only get sent out when the Malnosso feel like it.

[Bites her bottom lip in thought. It's trembling a little. She's genuinely scared, and for all her tough act, it's still leaking through here and there.] I'm going to go on some of their missions. Not really compliance, but they're not always terrible. Some of it seems like they just have a twisted idea of humor. And they reward decently. [Casts eyes downward. She doesn't want to hear him yell at her for giving up. She hasn't, but what's the point of shooting the walls continuously?] Sometimes it's better to make the most of it, right?

There's a few factions here. People who want to disrupt their experiments, but that's basically impossible. Besides, if the experiment isn't concluded successfully, they'd just repeat it and that's even more annoying. Most people are focused more on how to deal with the drafts. Everyone's got some idea or another, each more ridiculous than the last. Like signing a petition asking the Malnosso to only take volunteers. Or just laying down to die. [Shrug.] Actually, who knows. Maybe the petition did work after all. They have those missions now and stuff. And the Shifts... most of them are kind of funny afterwards. Most of them.

You can talk that weird Malnosso named Charlotte. Whenever he decides to show his face that is.

[Lupin saw her emotions flicker through the chinks in her armor as she rattled on, and he managed to get relevant information from the almost incoherent streams. He understood about the robots, the drafts, and the missions...but he also heard of prior attempts, and factions.

It was heartening to know that, even though they were in the hands of people who could throw moons around at will, their jobs weren't easy for them to do.

He did touch her this time, and held her shoulders firmly in his hands. Lupin made eyecontact, and matched the serious tone of the words she was saying.]

This sounds like a mess, Fujiko. I'm still not sure I totally get everything yet, but I'm here now. We can figure something out.

And...for the record. I am sorry.

[For what, he couldn't entirely say. He had no fault in this, and no control. But, he could see where Fujiko would have problems with it, and saw where he would have some himself. Whatever her thoughts, whatever her deeds...he didn't blame her. He may have come to the same conclusion if he were in her shoes. He may very well end up repeating some of the things she had already done.

It was too much to think about. Their meeting shouldn't be burdened with this heaviness. It made him want to watch Casablanca again.

He cracked a smile, trying to lighten the mood.]

Michaelangelo and Raphael, huh? So they nabbed some Renaissance painters. Did they at least grab Leonardo da Vinci? It sounds like you might be able to help him rig up a flying machine. Did they grab Nikola Tesla too? It sounds like we could use that death ray of his right now.

[Oh... an apology... and suddenly just like that, even it was so stupid, so simple, and he just shouldn't be allowed to have that kind of effect on her, Fujiko felt better. Lupin was here, which meant he'd fix it. Maybe not in a day or even a year, but it'd get fixed. Somehow, someway. And even if it just meant making Luceti more livable, that was fine too.

He should really watch Casablanca with her. It was the first dvd she nabbed when they started getting such things in Luceti. Besides, she could use a good cry for the 30th time.]

Not quite. [Grins at the joke anyway.] They were turtles named after the painters. Named by that rat I mentioned actually. It's a long story. Donatello is still here. He's dating that Robert kid. It's kind of adorable. [Don't ask Lupin, just don't ask.]

Turtles. Named after painters.

[He considers this for a moment, and bursts out laughing.]

You know? I don't thik I wanna know!

[Turtles...Gods...Fujiko being there, wings, and a book that was a magic laptop...thing. This was a lot to think about. But the night was still young, and he saw that he would be there for a while. That's enough time to figure things out.

He breathed again, and pulled away before Fujiko could change her mind.]

Anyway, you know what's up. Lead the way, ma cherie!

[Oh god damn it. Calling her that in French. Now he was just cheating. She started walking back to the village letting snowflakes crunch under her boots before she turned around over her shoulder to glance back at him flirtatiously.]

You just want the excuse to grope me don't you? [Teasing of course, however true it might be or not.]

[Lupin pouted, equally playful. He drew his hands to his chest as if he had been stabbed.]

Ah! You wound me with your words! Why would I ever do that?!