Chapter Text
"The Wolf's Eye?"
"Yup! Sounds cool, right?"
Jigen seems unimpressed. "So what, is it some kinda fancy tiger's eye?"
"Oh no, it's way more valuable than that!" Lupin makes a sweeping gesture to emphasize his point, grinning like an idiot.
Lupin’s attitude is as infuriatingly bright as the morning sun, and even though they both agreed last night that they would go over their next heist as they left the hotel today, Jigen can’t help but feel it’s too early for this. Granted, he feels 9AM is too early for much of anything, but especially this.
Lupin keeps talking as they climb into his little yellow Fiat. "There's no gem like this one anywhere else in the world! Most people thought it didn't even exist until it was recovered just recently!"
"Recovered?"
"Well, it's got a bit of a local legend around it." Satisfied that he's piqued Jigen's interest, Lupin starts the car and pulls out of the hotel parking lot. "Y'see, once upon a time it was supposedly an actual wolf's eye that got turned into a gem."
"…What."
"With magic!" Lupin waggles his eyebrows dramatically, rather than taking his hands off the wheel. "See, the story goes, it was the eye of a werewolf who once lived in the woods near the town where the gem was found, and it contained all his power after he died!"
Jigen sighs and reaches for a cigarette. This is gonna be one of those jobs, isn't it.
Unfazed, Lupin continues. "There's tons of stories in this place about werewolves, who kept the gem in secret for hundreds of years…until now. Supposedly there's a whole bunch of them out in those woods, imagine that!" When he only gets a derisive snort in response, Lupin chuckles as his eyes scan the highway signs. "But you know, a story like that'll make it worth even more money to the right people, don'tcha think?"
He receives no answer, which is as good as an agreement in Lupin's eyes.
The rest of the drive is uneventful, with only occasional bickering over the map as they leave the highways behind and delve into a maze of countryside and backroads. However, as they draw closer to the town they seek, the roads go from nearly deserted to much too full for what they were built, with cars of all types crowding for room in the tight space. The poor little Fiat has no chance of muscling through all the crowds looking to catch a glimpse of the same treasure they’re after.
So they improvise. It isn't the first time their plucky car has had to go off-road, though usually they're fleeing for their lives when it happens, which makes this a nice change of pace. Nice according to Lupin, anyway, as Jigen complains and curses at every rock and hill they bounce over. His mood isn’t improved when Lupin misjudges the size of an embankment and nearly gets them stuck in a tree, but they break through easily enough and he can’t stay mad for long. Despite some time lost, the unconventional route gets them where they need to be, with only a few bumps as the price to pay for making it to their destination by nightfall.
It’s a small town, but not tiny. Overshadowed by the wild forest that creeps up the mountain nearby like moss on a rotten log, even all the noise of the visitors here to see the Wolf’s Eye seems somehow muffled by the trees, as though modern commotion can’t pierce such an ancient place. Clearly, this town never gets more than a handful of visitors, and as a result every cafe and hotel is full to bursting--but with Lupin, that’s not a problem. He cons them into a room at a quaint little hotel only a few blocks from the tiny local museum where the Wolf’s Eye is being kept, and by the time the moon rises he’s sitting at a small table in their room, pouring over the intel he’s gathered on their target.
“Geez, you’d think if this rock’s such a big deal, they wouldn’t display it in a place like this,” Jigen remarks from where he’s draped across the couch, absently clicking through channels on the TV. “No way they’ve got decent security.”
Lupin hums without looking up. “That’s why it’s not gonna be here long, even without our help. Next week the Eye’s supposed to be sent to a gemology lab in Switzerland for study, and from there high-end museums will start battling it out for who gets to actually display the thing.” He lifts his head to flash a smug grin at his partner. “Or they would, if not for us.”
“But why wait to send it? It almost feels too easy to snag from a place like this.”
“Well remember, it plays a big part in a lot of local lore, so my guess is there was enough fuss from the people here that they were allowed to display it for a very limited time, mostly intended to let the locals get a look.”
“Then word got out, and now everybody wants in on the brief display…” Jigen sighs, eyes on the TV again. “I get it. So we’re probably dealing with sheer manpower rather than tech as far as security goes, huh?”
Lupin chuckles. “And boy, do we know how to handle that!”
The next morning, a note arrives at the museum, stating that the infamous Lupin III is going to steal the Wolf’s Eye tomorrow night. A buzz of worry and excitement ripples through the town. People are looking all over as they traverse the streets, hoping to get lucky enough to maybe spot the legendary thief. Needless to say, the name ‘Lupin’ is on everyone’s lips, and even more attention is drawn to the museum, putting enormous stress on the already struggling local law enforcement. But only hours after the notice arrives, a police car pulls up, and a man in a trench coat emerges to be greeted by the local police chief and the museum’s curator.
“Inspector, thank you so much for coming so quickly.” The curator steps forward, wringing her hands and giving Zenigata a searching look.
The police chief nods agreement. “We’ve been stretched thin as it is with all the tourists; we’re just not equipped to handle something like this.”
For a long moment Zenigata is silent, narrowing his eyes as he regards the museum thoughtfully. It’s such an easy target, meant to house artifacts that are only truly valuable to the town’s history. There’s no way they’re ready for someone like Lupin.
But then again, no one ever really is.
“How many men do you have on duty here?” he asks, startling the curator and chief by suddenly snapping out of his reverie like nothing happened.
“Ah, we have twelve officers and four security personnel from the museum itself.” the chief answers.
Zenigata grumbles quietly to himself as he does the quick mental math. “So adding in the men I have with me, that’s twenty-one...nowhere near enough to stop Lupin.”
“Should we move the Eye to a safer location?” the curator suggests hesitantly.
“Do you have a safer location?” Zenigata turns to her as she falters, the police chief stepping in to answer for her.
“There’s the vault at the local bank, we could--”
“Lupin can crack a basic bank vault in his sleep.” Zenigata cuts him off with a shake of his head. “No, at this point we may as well leave it where it is, and get as many men in strategic positions around it as we can. I’ll stay in the room to watch the Eye personally as well.”
The curator and chief both seem relieved, but Zenigata remains tense. The odds are stacked against them even more than usual, and ever since he left the car he’s felt like something is…off. And not in the normal way when dealing with Lupin.
Sharply lifting his head to look around, he just misses spotting two figures duck out of sight on a nearby rooftop.
“Pops made damn good time, even for him.” Jigen grumbles, lying flat on his stomach with Lupin practically on top of him to stay hidden.
“Aw, don’t worry about it.” Lupin leans down so they’re almost cheek-to-cheek. “He would’ve been here in time for the job anyway, he always is.”
He finally deigns to roll off of his partner so they can crawl back to the edge of the roof where they climbed up, staying low just in case Zenigata is still watching. “Hey, what do you say we take a look around town?” Lupin suggests cheerily. “There’s not much more to do casing the place, so we’ve got plenty of time to kill.”
Jigen’s annoyed grunt does nothing to dissuade him, and he pats the gunman’s shoulder once they reach the ground. “C’mon, it’ll be fun!"
They spend most of the afternoon seeking out the least-crowded places and keeping an eye out for Zenigata’s men, who are already patrolling the streets. This involves taking a few more roof-based shortcuts, but they do manage to get their hands on some good food and hear a couple werewolf stories from the more talkative locals (“He was ten feet tall, all hair and fangs and claws! Of course I ran for my life, I could hear him snarling behind me in the trees!”).
As the sun sets they find themselves wandering to the edge of town where the old forest looms, the shadows of the trees stretching like fingers itching to envelop the town in their grasp. Lupin is still lighthearted about the tall tales, but it’s somehow harder to laugh with the actual woods the legends all come from right in front of them. Something does feel…strange about the forest. It’s impossible for either of them to put their finger on just what it is, but they find themselves almost subconsciously avoiding the trees as they walk, their conversation sputtering out into a tense silence. Whatever the feeling is, it seems to be affecting the tourists as well, as they only pass a handful actually venturing to the treeline, all of whom seem nervous.
Night falls, and Lupin is about to suggest they head back to the hotel when Jigen suddenly stops and whips around towards the trees.
“Whoa, what’s the matter?” Lupin frowns as he notices his partner reaching for his gun.
“Didn’t you see that?!”
Lupin approaches and leans in close to Jigen in an attempt to see what he’s seeing. “Uh… no?”
Jigen scowls, but doesn’t push the thief away, instead nodding into the forest. “The eyes? They were right there.”
“I hate to tell you this, Jigen, but…” Lupin sighs and puts on a tone of mock-seriousness. “It’s a forest. Lots of things with eyes live in there.”
Now the gunman does shove him back, storming off a few yards before stopping again to glower at the trees. Lupin responds with a pout. “It was probably a fox or something… C’mon, this place is making you jumpy. Let’s go back.” Truth be told, he’s a little uneasy himself. Jigen doesn’t usually spook quite so easy, and having his partner on-edge is only making it harder to ignore the totally irrational but still very creepy vibes coming from these damn woods.
Jigen says nothing, but allows himself to be steered back towards the hustle and bustle of the town.
As they walk, neither of them looks back to see the shape of a young man appear silently among the trees, bright yellow eyes watching them retreat into civilization.