Ryuki was currently in the gym, lifting some weights and working out. He just didn't want to become too focuses on the mission just yet. He hadn't really been to Canada for awhile since that day when he had his secret discovered and he had to erase the gang's memories of him. It just hurt to know that nobody remembered him ever being there.

He got up and grabbed the towel from a hand. "Arigatou," he muttered as he wiped the sweat off his brow.

"Are you okay, Leo?" Alex asked. She'd been the one to give him the towel. He smiled at her.

"I'm fine, why shouldn't I?" Ryuki asked. She maybe naïve, but she could still see he was a little upset.

"Well, this mission is gonna bring you back to see them," Alex said, referring to the gang back in Canada.

"We'll only interview Ron and then we'll leave," he said, facing away from her. "Don't worry about it."

"But, you know, if you wanna see them and all…" she said nervously. She then felt him kiss her forehead.

"It's okay. I'm fine. Daijoubu," he smiled at her. She blushed a bit. "We'll be going on a mission soon so I need to take a shower. See you in a few minutes." He headed towards the shower room.

Meanwhile, Takada was giving both Sam and Clover a tour of the R&D lab where various technicians and engineers were busy designing and testing out new gadgets. They were standing on a conveyer belt in a hallway as they passed between several windows that were showing them what was going on in them.

"And here you can see them testing out the new Sonic Boom-Box," Takada showed as a technician aimed a seemingly harmless looking radio at a brick wall before he and his assistants put on some earmuffs. He then activated it and the radio released a sonic blast that caused the wall to crumble. "Now that's pretty good. Next, you'll see the new Knuckle Duster Cameras." The girls could see several people holding what looked like digital cameras before a handle popped out of them and then they strapped them on. One of them then swung a fist with a camera strapped on and annihilated a target. "You see, we disguise our gadgets as normal everyday items. Now, none of these things are for the open market. These are weapons we use on our missions." Takada then pointed towards several technicians testing out a new combat droid which was going berserk. "Oh, man, not again." Takada stepped off the belt and opened a door into the room. "Excuse me, ladies." He went into the soundproof room and confronted the robot before getting the crud beaten out of him. Sam and Clover winced and flinched as Takada was getting clobbered before he finally found the switch. He then walked out, seemingly fine. "I hate it when that happens."

The two girls were understandably surprised at what they had just witnessed. The robot had been punching with enough force to break bones, if not kill. Takada had just taken those blows almost like they were nothing before he managed to shut it down.

"You know," Clover spoke up. "I keep forgetting that he's invincible."

"You and me both," Sam nodded.

Takada walked over to the girls and rubbed his ribs and fixing his hair. Despite being invincible, the boy genius could still feel pain. Every time he got hit with something, he still felt it. It gave him a high pain threshold, but no one would see him willingly put himself in pain unless it was in an experiment or he thought the results would be really cool.

"Now, where were we?" Takada asked the girls.

"Um, you were giving us the tour?" asked Sam uncertainly.

"Oh yeah!" Takada grinned. "You two have got to meet Prof. Murata."

"Who's that?" asked Clover.

"My mentor," Takada answered with his grin growing even bigger. "She taught me everything I know."

Both girls felt a shiver run down their spines. Someone that Takada looked up to in the realm of science. Either she was a real genius, or she was an even madder scientist than he was.

Ryuki heaved a sigh as he dried his hair while stepping out of the boys' locker room. He needed the shower to help calm his nerves. The memories of Canada were still fresh and he really needed some space.

"Hey," came a familiar voice from beside the door.

Ryuki turned around and saw Alex leaning on the wall. Her face was solemn and patient. Ryuki personally didn't think that it fitted the bright and cheery girl.

"Hi, Alex-chan," Ryuki smiled weakly.

"Now do you feel like talking?" Alex asked. "I can get your hair tied back while you do."

Ryuki reached to his wet hair which he left untied. Alex sure picked a good excuse to get him to hold still. He wanted to say no, but Yaminekoryu was whispering to him again.

'Don't push her away, Aibou,' the demon warned. 'She's only trying to help. If you want her to leave you alone then lay her worries to rest.'

Ryuki sighed and sat down on a nearby bench. Alex stood behind him and began to tie his hair back into a braid. He enjoyed the soft feeling of her hands running through his hair.

"So, where do we begin?" she asked.

"Well…to be honest, the beginning," Ryuki said. "Tazuka-niisan and I were on an important mission. We were sent to Canada, undercover, to investigate in a mall."

"What were you investigating?" Alex asked. Ryuki had to keep some parts of the mission a secret so he had to lie. Unfortunately, he was a pretty bad liar…except when he had his demon's help. He tapped into Yaminekoryu and continued the story.

"An enemy of ours, Asakura, was sighted around the area and we had to find him," Ryuki explained. "Asakura is a murderous evil psychopath who takes pleasure in the pain of others. Also, he has the power to turn into sand and create sand storms."

"No way," Alex gasped.

"Yes way," Ryuki said. "We were sent to catch him. Unfortunately, he also has a suit of armor like ours."

"You mean there are more?" Alex asked.

"Lots more," Ryuki said. "I don't know where he got it but maybe it was made by the same people who made ours." He was feeling really crappy from having to make this all up. Sure he wasn't exactly lying and sure some parts were true but he wasn't telling her the true reason for the mission which was to close off the portal in the area. "Anyway, while I was there, I met Caitlin and in turn met her friends. We became very close." It hurt to remember. "We hung out together and I even got a job at a bookstore."

"Then what else happened?" Alex asked, getting interested.

"A lot," Ryuki chuckled, "Let me tell you about this one time Jude…"

He began to talk freely, finding it easier to talk about the friends he'd left behind. Both he and Alex laughed at some of their misadventures and even Ryuki was feeling a little lighter inside.

"Finally, Asakura captured them and had me choose one person to die in their place," Ryuki said.

"That's horrible!" Alex responded.

"I chose myself, and nearly got killed," Ryuki frowned. "Luckily, Ichijyo and Tazuka-niisan arrived just in time. Unfortunately, Asakura got away."

"You'll get him, Leo," Alex smiled, placing a hand to his shoulder. "Someday."

"Arigatou."

Alex finished one last twist in his braid before taking his hair tie to secure the braid.

"There," she smiled. She reached up and let her hands rest on his shoulders. "Now lean back a little."

"Nani?" Ryuki blinked.

"I'm going to be your shoulder to lean on," Alex explained. "So just do it."

Ryuki obeyed and he found his head planted in Alex' lap as she stroked his hair. She could tell that he was feeling some remorse and sadness about what had happened. Well, she wasn't going to sit by and let him feel that pain.

"You still miss them?" she asked.

"Yes," Ryuki nodded. "I miss them very much. Even though it was for the best, I still hurt from it."

"We're only human, Leo," Alex whispered as she continued to stroke his hair. "It's normal to feel that. Just remember that they are all safe and happy because of you too."

"Hmm," Ryuki sighed as he closed his eyes. "You have a point with that." He started to purr from her stroking his hair.

Over at the entrance of the gym, one could almost see Tazuka observing the two. He had been worried that Ryuki would begin reverting to his sadness from just after the Canada mission. Thankfully, Alex seemed to have the situation in hand. Now he had one more reason to be thankful for her and her friends.

"Sensei!" Takada greeted as he approached an elderly brunette lady wearing a lab coat, glasses and had her hair in a ponytail. She looked to be in her late 30's to early 40's and seemed to be in charge of the lab.

"Oh, Takada-kun!" Prof. Murata greeted as she hugged her student. "How have you been?"

"Well, been going on a few more missions and stuff like that," Takada said nonchalantly. "I saw all the new gear. Really great."

"Oh, it's all thanks to you for letting us study that armor and your powers," Prof. Murata laughed and then noticed Sam and Clover. "Oh, who are your friends?"

"These are Sam and Clover, agents of WOOHP," Takada introduced.

"Hi," the two girls greeted. Prof. Murata looked sane enough, but looks could be deceiving in the mad science business.

"Oh, I've heard so much about WOOHP!" Prof. Murata said. "I heard that all your gadgets are top notch!"

"Well, that's Jerry's department," Sam admitted.

"We just use them on the field," Clover added. Takada had told her that he looked up to Prof. Murata like a mother. Strange…he never mentioned his real mother.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Prof. Murata said, "Come with me, I want to show you the upgrades we did in the simulation room."

"Simulation room?" Clover asked as she followed with Sam and Takada.

"A training chamber where we put our operatives to prepare them for future scenarios on the field. Anything is possible in this line of work so it's better to be prepared than dead," Takada spoke up.

"Shouldn't it be 'better safe than sorry'?" Sam corrected.

Both Takada and Murata shared a laugh.

"Hey, in this line of work, it's never safe," Prof. Murata said. "And the only time you're sorry is when you're dead."

Clover and Sam blinked.

"I trust you're enjoying the tour," Ichijyo spoke from behind the two Spies, causing them to jump in surprise.

"Geez, don't sneak up on people! Clover yelled as she placed a hand to her chest. She had been spooked.

"I'm just very used to being sneaky," Ichijyo shrugged. "Now, you all should be ready to go to Canada. You all leave to interview Ron." He held up a briefcase, "Jerry sent me these gadgets for you girls. He says that they'll come in handy." Sam took the case into her hand before Ichijyo turned away. "You'll be flying on one of our stealth jets. They're fast and undetectable by radar."

"And-" Takada began before he was interrupted.

"You're not piloting it!" Ichijyo cut him off. "Tazuka is."

"Aw, crud!" Takada crossed his arms and frowned. "Is this because I nearly blew up your office the last time?"

"Among other things," Ichijyo responded without turning around. "Now, get to it!"

The stealth jet itself looked like it was made for just that; stealth. It was smooth and sleek. The only way you could tell that it was a part of Smart Brain was the logo painted on the side.

"You guys sure know how to pick planes," Clover admired from the runway.

The girls were in their usual spy outfits. The boys were also in their Rider uniforms. They had a long way to go before. They would be in Canada. They would also have to worry about the time change so a hotel had been prepared for them on their arrival.

"We pride ourselves on that," Takada nodded. He was still sulking a little about being unable to pilot the machine.

"I didn't know you could fly an airplane, Tazuka," Sam spoke up next to the older boy.

"No one asked," Tazuka shrugged. "Besides, it's not that impressive anyway."

"Says you," Sam smiled.

Ryuki and Alex had their things ready and the tanned girl was holding him by the arm. He was doing noticeable better than before, but he didn't want to be by himself just yet.

"So, Leo," began Takada. "Anything we should know about this Rent-A-Cop guy?"

"Ano," Ryuki frowned. "Well, he doesn't like teenagers very much. He calls them maggots a lot."

"I never really met the man myself," Tazuka added. "He did seem to have military background from the way he was talking when I heard him."

"Just expect him to call you 'maggots' a lot, but don't take it too personally," Ryuki said. "He calls everyone under the age of 20 'maggots'."

"Won't that be nice," Sam said sarcastically.

The 6 agents then boarded the jet. Tazuka went to the pilot seat and checked all the gauges.

"Alright, fuel tanks are full, batteries are fully charged, stealth generators at maximum proficiency, radars and sensors are good, and engines are ready to go," Tazuka said.

"No bugs in the systems either," Takada said. He was an engineer and he did help build this jet. Unfortunately, he wanted to fly it too. "OK, strap yourselves in. We're ready to take off!"

All other staff cleared away as the take off sequence was being initiated. The stealth-jet then, without warning, shot forward before it took off into the air, the wheels folding inside the vehicle at the last second.

The agents were being pressed against their seats at the time. Man, the jet was fast!

"He's going too slow!" Takada managed to cry out. "We haven't even broken the sound barrier!"

"I don't need to break the sound barrier, Takada," Tazuka's voice rang from the intercom. "I don't feel the need to test the limits of every machine I get my hands on."

"Sure," Takada frowned as he crossed his arms. "Be boring."

Clover giggled. Takada could be cute when he was pouting.

"We're reaching normal speeds now," Tazuka reported. "I'm putting it on auto-pilot." He then unbuckled his seatbelt and walked over to the others. "That intercom wasn't exactly necessary," Tazuka said.

"It is if you're planning to break the sound barrier," Takada replied.

"You do remember the last time you attempted to break the sound barrier, right?" Tazuka reminded. "There was a lot glass to clean up that day."

The girls turned towards Ryuki for an explanation. Ryuki said, "Takada tried to break the sound barrier but he broke a lot of windows too along with it. It took weeks to clean up all that glass."

"Wow," Alex said, amazed, "You guys sure don't have boring lives."

"Well, when you're secret agents, life is never dull," Takada grinned. "I mean, we get to go on missions to exotic locations, fight villains and meet hot girls." He winked at Clover who giggled. Tazuka rolled his eyes.

"We also help maintain the peace, Takada," Tazuka reminded, "That is the most important."

"Right, that too," Takada agreed. "But it doesn't hurt to meet hot girls."

"Oh, brother…" Tazuka groaned.

"So, why do you guys, like, work for that jerk anyway?" Clover asked, referring to Ichijyo.

"Clover, you're only mad because he nearly ruined your hair," Sam said.

"Well, this style does not come cheap," Clover pointed out.

"Still, why do you work for Ichijyo?" Sam voiced out Clover's question. "He doesn't seem like a very nice person."

"Well, you don't know him like we do," Ryuki said. "He's more than he seems."

"Definitely," Takada agreed. Ryuki grumbled. "What?"

"We're not talking about the time you followed him for a whole week to prove he was a vampire," Ryuki said.

"Hey, the evidence would've proved he wasn't," Takada said.

"Vampire?" Sam asked. "But everyone knows vampires don't exist."

"We've seen a lot of weird things, so vampires aren't exactly something too unbelievable anymore," Tazuka said.

"Makes sense, I guess," Clover shrugged.

"Anyway, Ichijyo is actually very kind, though he doesn't show it. He actually means well. Why do you think he's the head of Smart Brain Tokyo? Why do you think he sends operatives all over the world to help?" Ryuki said. The girls stop to think. "I know, deep down, he cares for others."

Takada shook his head. Ryuki was still awfully naïve but some of his words did hold some truth.

"So, he's a nice guy?" Sam asked.

"A nice guy wouldn't try to ruin my hair!" Clover complained.

"Oh, can't you shut up about the hair, Clover?"

"I know," Alex said. "Why don't we hook him up?"

The Riders blinked.

"Hook Scaleface up with a girl?" Takada asked before bursting with laughter. "Yeah, right!"

"Why not?" Alex asked.

"Ichijyo is…not exactly a very sociable person," Ryuki said. "He's attractive, but he doesn't care for girls."

"Is he gay?" Clover asked. Takada laughed louder.

"Oh, man! That's a good one!" Takada laughed. Tazuka slapped him upside the head. "Hey!"

"Can you please stop laughing?" Tazuka threatened. "Anyway, Ichijyo's too busy for all that. He's managing a branch of Smart Brain after all."

"So he doesn't do anything for fun?" Sam asked.

"He reads," Ryuki and Tazuka answered in unison.

Ryuki continued, "He likes to read, a lot."

"Mostly Gothic books," Tazuka finished. "We've seen him enjoying himself when he reads a book. Engrossed, actually."

"Trust me," Takada said, "Fun and him don't exactly mix. Well, not what our ideas of what fun is."

"Ichijyo just has a different idea of what fun is," Tazuka spoke in his employer's defense.

"Yeah," Takada snorted. "He enjoys making me suffer. He bans me from experiments and working with machines. I'm surprised he hasn't banned me from missions yet."

"Uh…didn't you, like, blow something up every time he did that though?" asked Alex. "I mean, judging from the stories I heard."

"She has a point, Takada," Ryuki nodded. "You were only banned after some kind of accident occurred, which caused massive destruction and chaos."

"I still don't see why he had to get all uptight about it," Takada growled. "No one got hurt and a few buildings were blown up. Big deal."

"No one got hurt, true," Tazuka nodded. "But remember that the majority of the things you blow up, school buildings, labs, pieces of technology, they were all in possession of Ichijyo and his family. You were blowing up his property, technically speaking."

"Really?" Takada blinked. "Wow. You think that's why he hates me?"

"Doubtful," Ryuki shrugged. "But it doesn't help."

Tazuka sighed. Takada seemed to be completely oblivious to the amount of damage he'd caused and the consequences. Then again, all those explosions must've jarred his brain loose. He went over to the radar and examined it. "Alright, we're almost above the Galleria Mall. Put on the parachutes."

"Well, looks like it's the same as WOOHP," Sam said, sighing, as the door on the side of the jet opened. "Ready, girls?"

"Ready!" Alex shouted.

"Alright, we're flying above the Galleria Mall!" Tazuka announced as he and the rest of the Riders were putting on their parachute packs as the girls all jumped out.

"Shopping spree, here I come!" Clover screamed as she fell down and released her red parachute. Sam and Alex released theirs too.

The three girls had their parachutes working perfectly. Alex looked up and saw that Ryuki and Tazuka had also opened their chutes with ease. However, a black and blue blur fell past her.

"WAAAAHHHHHHGGGHH!" the blur screamed as it fell past.

"Was that Takada?!" Clover cried in shock.

"I think it was!" Sam exclaimed.

WHAM!

The five teens landed on the roof of the mall with ease. Clover detached her parachute quickly before running over to where Takada had made impact with the roof.

"Takada!" she cried as she reached his body. "Takada, speak to me!"

"Ugh," the boy genius groaned. "I'm OK." He slowly began getting up from the indent in the roof he had created. He looked almost like the living dead, but he was okay. "What happened to my chute?"

"Takada!" Ryuki cried as he and the others came running to their friend.

"Hey, guys," he sighed. "I'm okay. Nothing's broken."

"Wow," Alex blinked. "He really is invincible. How handy is that?"

"Saved my bacon more than once," Takada agreed. He winced as he moved. "Doesn't mean I can't feel it though. Ow."

"That had to have hurt," Tazuka frowned. "Why didn't your chute open?"

"I dunno," Takada sighed as he shrugged the item in question off his back. "I'll look at it later. Right now, we have a mission to do."

"He's right," Sam nodded. "Normally I'd be concerned but since Takada seems to be okay, we can get a move on."

"Agreed," Tazuka nodded. "Let's go."

As they all got into more civilian looking attire, running through Ryuki's mind was what he was going to do once he met up with the old gang again.