#(Sort of reposting from Discord but heeeeey)

[fablefan]

Lupin III -- Nutcracker AU

I am once again back on my AU bullsh/t and return with something festive for the holiday season (of which I’m sort of speed-running the description of)

This is something of an amalgamation of a lot of different versions of the story + some others, but most prominently the Barbie Nutcracker version because it is one of THE BEST and I will FIGHT people on this

So Lupin is the role of Clara in this AU, currently living with his family and cousin Albert and uncle Gaston in their manor in France. On Christmas Eve, his grandfather, Lupin I, arrives and comes bearing gifts, with Lup’s being a particularly special one: a nutcracker doll, with colorful robes and a strange-looking sword, said to protect him when Lup needs him most. Lupin doesn’t quite believe that, but it’s still a wonderful piece of craftsmanship and a lovely gift, so he keeps it close to his chest.

Midnight falls over the household, and while everyone’s in bed, Lupin, having passed out on his living room couch, is soon left dealing with a very small problem: an army of tiny ice soldiers appearing from a mouse-hole in the wall, and leading them is the North King, a man with a magic scepter and supposedly the darkest heart of them all.

Fortunately, Lupin I’s promise was right, and Lupin’s nutcracker doll -- Goemon -- awakens just in time to fend them off from his charge, and, in the ensuing fight, Lupin ends up getting shrunk in the process by the North King -- Jigen -- and his magic scepter, and is reduced to the size of a toy.

As the battle rages on, and seeing the crowd of soldiers starting to overwhelm his dear doll, Lupin ends up helping Goe fight... by smacking Jigen in the face with his shoe.

Jigen does eventually end up falling back when Goemon proves too much for him, but swears that what happened isn’t over. Lupin, scrambling down from where he made his mad dash up the Christmas tree, gets to meet his savior, as Goe explains how he’s currently in his service as a protector and guardian, on the order of his grandfather.

He also needs Lupin’s help — the North King has taken over the Land of Sweets, and even went behind the Snow Queen, to whom he had sworn loyalty to, and struck her down, stealing her magic scepter and her army. His heart, after having done so, was supposedly frozen solid, rendering him incapable of love or emotion. Even worse, the Sugar Plum Princess (Fujiko) is currently held hostage in his castle, and who knows what sort of horrendous torture he’s doing to her --

(Fujiko, up in her cell, throwing dried sugarplums at a scowling, ice-pack-holding Jigen: Can you at least bring up a coloring book or something, I’m bored to DEATH up here —) So Lup follows Goe into the Land of Sweets in an attempt to avenge his fallen masters and reclaim his kingdom, encounters a few new faces along the way, and maybe learns that there’s more to this frozen king that meets the eye.