Tainted Time

Chapter 2
Face to face


Lupin smirk faded into a look of utter confusion and disbelief as the man turned. "Zen...Zenigata?" He stuttered, stumbling backwards. Zenigata had expected himself to feel a little more, well, pleased with the shock.

Instead he found himself feeling very sorry for the stunned man. By now, Lupin was backed against the wall, eyes wide and fish mouthing. Trembling fingers lost their grip, the thief’s gun sliding out of them. There wasn’t the clatter as one would expect, but instead a gunshot echoed in the small room as it bounced off the floor.

Three things happened at once. Lupin, way keyed up already, screamed. Zenigata Jumped and looked about. And the gun sat there, quietly smoking, minding its own business. Panting slightly, Lupin calmed himself as best he could. Which wasn’t very much. It really was Pops. Pops was standing right in front of him, dressed as the alley man, sure, but it was without a doubt Zenigata. That means... His mind was trying to wrap itself around the notion, but found it too big or itself too small. "You...you...you..."

Zenigata sighed, watching Lupin fumbling with the truth. There was nothing left to do but apologize and hope he would get out of this alive. If he did, first thing he would do was quit ICPO. Not that they would be distraught or anything.

"It was me. I sold you the darts, I followed you to that clearing, I ---" He stopped suddenly, and stared straight ahead. This time the disbelief was on his face. It felt as though something was crawling along his skin, along his abdomen sneaking its way down his leg.

Something was wrong. The Inspector stopped in mid word, words Lupin didn’t really want to hear, yet at the same time prayed he would finish. But didn’t you wish, for a moment, it had been real? His mind asked. Shut up you He grumped back. Okay, whatever, its not like I’m the one arguing with himself. Well, he had himself there.

A movement from the cop brought him back to earth. Zenigata was looking at the floor, horror written on his face. Lupin followed his gaze. And gasped. Blood. Thick, dark, gathering at him feet. "Well, I was wondering where the damn bullet went." Zenigata joked, seconds before pitching forward.

"POPS!" A lunge and Lupin caught the older man, sliding to the floor with him. "Oh geeze old man.. Oh hell." Zenigata smiled a bit at the worry in his adversaries’ voice. "Leave me alone you little punk. What the hell are you doing?"

Lupin’s heart clutched at how weak his voice was, even though it was filled with a grumpy tone. "I’m sure as hell not pleased with what happened, Pops, but damn! I can’t let you die! First off, Old man, I have far to many questions just to let you keel over on me. I must say I’m impressed with the complex planning it must have taken."

And he really was. Zenigata was smarter then he let on. Lupin didn’t get it. If he could pull off shit like that, why was he still chasing him? Setting his anger aside, Lupin began to remove the outer clothes, trying to reach where ever the hell the bullet had went.

Feeling lightheaded, Zenigata pawed at Lupin’s hands, trying to push him away. He didn’t need help, he didn’t deserve it. This would be easier then retiring. All that awaited him after that was endless days of nothing. Well, noodles and booze. Smokes and newspapers. Hating his failure at every Lupin headline. He didn’t have a TV. "Leave me alone, DAMNIT!" He barked, coughs racking his body in protest. Oh hell, that hurt. "Don’t make me knock you out Pops. You know I have the stuff to do it in my--"

The sound of the door slamming open was almost louder then the gunshot, Lupin swore he heard a ceramic tile break as the handle smashed into the wall. Fingers froze in mid unbutton, eyes on the very large man whom had just scared at least 5 years out of him. The guy had to be at least 6 feet 7 and was wearing a disturbing little shirt toting the joys of running down wide life.

"Its okay Marge! No ones in here, the gun shot must of been from outside!" The man yelled, smiling down at the pair, a chilling feral thing. What the hell was going on? That bad feeling from earlier returned in full force, bringing along anyone it had ever known.

Zenigata whispered something. Still watching the newcomer, Lupin leaned down to hear him better. At the same instant, the intruder also leaned down and scooped up the Walter. "I said get your gun, you idiot." Zenigata hissed. This day was getting worse and worse. "Why don’t both of you just slide over to that far wall?"

He hated being bossed around. Loathed it. But the master thief never let it show. Sitting Pops to the floor, he stood slowly, arms up. "Sure sure, whatever you want." The smell of blood was stronger now; the air seemed heavy with it. "So what’s the deal? Do you want me to steal something for you or something?" That seemed to be all people ever pointed a gun at him for. Or he had stolen something from them.

Frowning a little, Lupin looked the man over. He seemed familiar... "Pops, we are in some deep shit now." He moved slowly backwards, and sat along the wall as instructed.

The words did little to calm him; neither did the fact that Lupin followed the orders without hesitation. Who was this clown? Squinting, he caught sight of a tattoo showing from beneath his collar. He knew that mark, but where? Hands grabbed him and pulled him back to the wall as the man whipped out a cell phone and began making some calls as he paced the room. "Hey Joe, its me Henry. Yeah, yeah, she’s fine, kids are great..." He continued on, watching both his prisoners with unveiled glee.

"Old Man, I’m sorry I got you into this." Lupin sounded panicked, truly scared. Into what? He wondered as Henry answered his thought. "Anyway," He spoke into the phone. "You know that bastard who stole our idol? Yeah, a real shame, yeah. Any way, good news. I got him right here before me. And that other guy who was hanging around the clearing. Yep, Uh-huh.. As soon as you can. Pick up Jim and Tony on the way, can you? Just tell them we are going to have us some fun." He grinned down at the two captives. They would find out where the statue of Gala-Balagal went. Anyway they had to.