Morning came much too early, and already Ryan Hawk was running twelve minutes behind schedule. He had hoped he would be able to get in breakfast, but with time ticking away with each step he would have to settle for coffee and a bagel. Ryan swiftly made his way down the carpeted halls of the hotel. He made a quick stop at the street corner to pop .50 cents into a red newsstand for a copy of the Osaka Globe.
With his newspaper firmly clasped in his left hand Ryan ducked into a small cafe for a quick bite to eat. After ordering bacon, egg and cheese bagel Ryan pulled out his paper. The front page headline was printed in bold letters, "Fukuoka under siege! Newly discovered crustacean destroys fish canary!" Ryan continued to read his paper discovering that the giant lobster, or shrimp as the eggheads had classified it, had been terrorizing Japan's coastline, adopting the name Ebirah from the local fishermen. Ryan rolled his eyes, with Godzilla trapped at the bottom of the ocean with Kiryu the news front was starving for any Daikaiju related events.
It was real strange actually, for the past 4 months thousands of strange inexplicable phenomena had shaken the world. Not a day went by that papers, television and radio were not endless sources of the paranormal and the bizarre.
Ryan's own chief editor even brought in a group of psychics predicting the end of the world. It was everywhere; everyone knew someone or experienced something that was odd. Then suddenly it stopped, and the world grew quiet, no more spaceships, no more prehistoric monsters crushing cities, no nothing. Ebirah was the first Kaiju to appear in over a month; Ryan couldn't help but wonder if it was all connected somehow.
"Your bagel sir" Ryan snapped out of his thoughts, "Uhh, yeah thanks."
Ryan rolled his news paper back up so that he could grab the bagel and a coffee cup. He sat down at a small table. Ryan could hear an argument erupting between the cashier and another man with an incredibly thick French accent. Ryan ignored the two men, sitting down with his paper taking a slight glance at his watch that told him he had less than 20 minutes to eat and go, plenty of time for a quick scan of the remainder of his paper. He skimmed over the article about the Cybersaur's grand unveiling to the general public, and he barely noticed that the Giants had lost their most recent game. It wasn't until he reached the third page when he slowed down to read an article about the infamous jewel thief that called himself the phantasm.
Ryan sighed at the unoriginality of the name, but his attention was quickly diverted to a computer sketch of the perpetrator that was based on a theoretical image based on various bits of information. The black and white sketch could only give so much detail, but the light haired Caucasian man in the sketch looked frighteningly similar to the French man arguing with the cashier, right down to the mole on the left side of his chin. The only thing that seemed out of step was the fiery red hair that dangled down to his shoulders.
Ryan watched as the Frenchman slammed his money on the counter and scooped up his bag. The bagel shop's bell rang as the red haired Frenchman stormed out the door. Ryan waited until he saw the man leave his immediate field of vision then bolted out the same door, leaving behind his untouched food and crumpled paper.
Following the Frenchman was no easy task, he obviously did not want to be tailed, ducking in this alley, turning around that corner, but Ryan had been taught enough of the in's and outs of journalism to be able to track a potential story without being discovered. The Frenchman finally slowed down. He cautiously entered an abandon alley-way, though Ryan noticed several lines of laundry hanging out to dry, so it apparently wasn't all that abandon. Ryan crept silently behind the Frenchmen, awaiting the foreigner's next move. The Frenchman stopped and looked out towards the forest of laundry at a tall shadow that slowly crept up the white sheets which billowed in the wind.
"Are you the Saradian agent? SSS10?" The Frenchman asked suspiciously.
A rather tall man tore down the white sheets revealing a white complexion with a roughly shaven beard that was the same color as his black hair. The man also wore a pair of dark shades and a emotionless expression.
"Yes." Was all the man said.
Ryan watched silently as the man called SSS10 scanned his surroundings, he then looked back towards the Frenchman," You were followed!" Ryan's blood froze.
"That's impossible! The Frenchman spat back, " I took every precaution! So before you go accusing me of ..."
The Frenchman stopped as SSS10 pointed a revolver at his temple, "Please Mr. Aston , keep quiet."
Ryan closed his eyes hoping he would not be discovered. A shot rang out, echoing throughout the hollow alley-way. Ryan slowly opened one eye giving himself a one over. Confident that he had not been shot Ryan carefully peaked out from his hiding place behind a collection of garbage. He could see SSS10's right shoulder splotched with red.
The Saradian agent though did not seem to be in much pain, instead of cradling his arm he carefully aimed his revolver away from Ryan's hiding spot and pulled the trigger. Ryan heard a man's cry as a body wearing a black trench-coat smacked into the cement. Ryan couldn't make out his face, at least until the Saradian agent kicked his ribs causing the body to flop over in Ryan's direction. The man wasn't Asian that much was sure; Ryan figured he was probably English.
"Is he dead?" The Frenchman asked.
SSS10 did not look in the Frenchman's direction, "No Mr. Aston, it is only a flesh wound. This man will live another day."
The Frenchman sounded agitated, "So kill him and be done with it, we have business to discuss."
SSS10 picked the man's body up and flung it over his shoulder, "No. This man is bait for a much more rewarding prize."
Mr. Aston rolled his eyes, "whatever, shall we now as the Americans say talk shop?"
SSS10 nodded and pulled out a map, "Your target is the statue of the Shisa lion located here." The agent pressed his finger on a part of the map that was not visible to Ryan.
" let me see if I understand, you are saying that you want I, Jasper Aston, the greatest jewel thief in all the world, to steal a mere statue?"
SSS10's voice was cold and unfeeling, "You have your assignment Mr. Aston, and if you wish to be paid you will do what we ask."
Jasper Aston waved of the Saradian agent, "Alright, alright. I will fetch your boring statue, no need for such threats."
"When will you perform the assignment?" SSS10 asked.
"Twelve o'clock midnight is when I pull all of my jobs; I must still keep up the reputation of the Phantasm even if the assignment is rather droll."
Ryan leaned over the trash can's trying to get a better look at the two conspirators; he lost his grip, slipping into the trash cans with a loud crash. SSS10 and Jasper Aston both turned around to face the noise. Only one thought raced through Ryan's mind, run! It was almost like a dream, he scooped up the fallen man in the trench coat and began barreling down the maze of alley ways at such a speed that the Saradian agent barely noticed him pass by. A gun shot was heard but the sound was muffled as Ryan had already escaped harm's way.
"What on earth was that?" Screamed the Frenchman
SSS10 stared in the direction Ryan hawk had run, "We continue on, as scheduled."
