SHOTARO

Shotaro hated the paranormal. As one of the world's leading (probably the very best but got to have some modesty here) private detective, he had his fair share of supernatural happenings. As Kamen Rider Double, he had fought countless Dopants. Some had been ridiculously bizarre – one had tried to bite off his partner Philip's head like some puppy playing with its chew toy. There was even one who had the power to poison its enemies with smelly fart-like gas. Sick.

But nothing gave Shotaro the worst chill like the dead. Once, he had fought against a Dopant with the ability to take the form of a person's closest deceased. That very Dopant became Kamen Rider Skull – Shotaro's mentor (and the only person he would ever reckon as better than him, although it's largely debatable now) who gave his life fighting to protect Fuuto – their beloved city.

Dealing with an actual ghost – now that was a completely different kind of spooky. The day had begun in quite a normal fashion – as normal as being a Kamen Rider could get. Shotaro was comfortably tucked behind his desk, typing away in his favourite typewriter to fill out a recent missing iguana case he solved. Philip was engrossed in his research on spicy yakisoba, his latest fascination. It was a peaceful, quiet afternoon – after all, it's not everyday that they're left alone by Akiko, their very loud and aggressive chief. She and Terui had been busy prepping for their child's first birthday. They had named the boy Sokichi in honour after Akiko's father and both Shotaro and Philip were made his godfathers.

With Museum defeated, the Dopant threat had been minimal ever since. Months had gone by without a single Dopant incident. Fuuto was peaceful at last, but Shotaro couldn't shake away the dreadful feeling that it was only temporary. He had had nightmares about Fuuto being thrown right back into chaos. He hadn't spoken to anyone about it, not even to Philip.

Shotaro was at the finishing sentence when a loud knock came upon the door. Usually, he would be all geared up and excited at the anticipation of a new case – but not today. He had hoped to wrap things up early and went over to help Akiko with the preparations.

Whoever was at the door banged impatiently three times more. 'Hold on,' Shotaro called as he made his way to the door. He was greeted by four men dressed in identical black military outfits and behind them stood a middle-aged man in purple suit.

'Hidari Shotaro?' one of the military guy asked. He had a close-cropped hair tucked neatly underneath a black hat.

'One and only. What can I do for you lads?'

''We have come with a request.' Before Shotaro could say anything, the men in black pushed past him and made their way into the room.

'HEY!'

'Your reputation precedes you, Mr. Hidari,' the man in purple said. He had a wide smile plastered onto his face; his eyes gleamed with excitement.

'Who are you people? You can't just barge in here without permission!' Shotaro was normally very polite to his clients but these guys already got on his bad side.

'Come, young man. Let us take a seat,' the purple man said, ignoring Shotaro's protest. He made his way across the room to the large sofa couch and sat down, gesturing for Shotaro to do the same. Instead he held his ground, glaring at these men with utter dislike.

'Sit,' the close-cropped guy ordered.

'I prefer to stand, thank you. And I don't take orders from trespassers in my own Agency. Now tell me, who the heck are you guys supposed to be?'

The purple man chuckled, as if somehow entertained by Shotaro's defiance. 'Such fire in you, Mr. Hidari. I like that. We are your clients and we need you to help us to retrieve a prized possession.' His unwearied smile gave Shotaro the creeps.

'Clients? We'll see about that. First off, you people need to learn some basic manners. Customer service doesn't work that way. If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it's –' he was interrupted by Mr. Cropped-Hair who grabbed him by the shoulder.

'Nobody shows disrespect to Mr. Koji,' he said sternly. These men all wore black shades so Shotaro couldn't see their eyes but he could safely assume this one was giving him the death stare.

'Get your hand off me. Now.'

'Now now, boys, there's no need to get rough. Let go of Mr. Hidari,' Mr. Koji ordered, still smiling. What's with this guy and his never-ending smile? Shotaro wondered silently. The man did as told and stepped back. Shotaro straightened his waistcoat and shifted his focus back to the purple man.

'What kind of request, exactly?'

'An important one. The fate of the world depends on it,' he said, his smile grew ever wider.

#####

Philip was highly unaware of the commotion upstairs, which didn't surprise Shotaro one bit. When the kid was obsessed over something, it took most of his concentration and the surrounding world fades away. Many times he had to fight alone as Kamen Rider Joker because his most reliable partner was enthralled by the most common of delicacies. Best. Partnership. Ever.

It took Shotaro a lot of persuasion to get him out of the RevolGarry and it took even more effort to shut him up from his grumblings and complaints about the disruption of his near breakthrough discovery on the secret of producing the world's best spicy yakisoba. The creepy-smiling Mr. Koji chuckled delightedly at their nonsensical bickering.

When they have all settled down, however, Mr. Koji's request immediately got Philip's attention.

'First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Koji Murai, president of Sigma Corporation. I have heard many stories of your.. excellent accomplishments. Hence, I believed the two of you would be best suited for this particular assignment I had in mind.'

'Sigma Corporation? Never heard of it,' Shotaro said.

'How intriguing,' Philip remarked.

'We are not from Fuuto, so to speak. We came here long and far to seek out your expertise. Particularly you, young Philip, or should I call you by your real name, Sonozaki Raito?' Mr. Koji said with a smile so wide it reminded Shotaro of a dental commercial.

Philip's body tensed upon hearing that name. It was Philip's real name, the name he went by before he fell into a well connecting to the true Gaia Memory when he was a child. Despite gaining back his memories, he never returned to using that name, preferring to go by Philip. Nobody else knew about his past other than Shotaro and their closest friends.

'How did you know of that name?' Shotaro asked before Philip could. He did not like these men at all.

'We at Sigma Corporation know many things,' Mr. Koji began. 'We know the two of you form the single Kamen Rider Double. We know about this Agency, about your friends; your entire life story so to speak. How we got these information is irrelevant for now. What's important is this request we have for you.'

Shotaro wasn't going to let this rest but Philip grabbed hold of him before he could say anything else.

'Continue on, Mr. Koji. What is this request you speak of?' he asked, surprising Shotaro at how calm he sounded.

The middle-aged man adjusted his indigo coloured bowtie and straightened himself as if he was about to give a lecture on how-to-maintain-your-smiles-twenty-four-seven. 'To retrieve the Jewel of Hekate, is what I ask of you.'

'The Jewel of Hapipi?'

'Hekate. The ancient goddess of magic, witchcraft and necromastery. Legend has it that she once gave her blessing to a young man in the form of a black jewel, which contains a portion of her powers. I want you to retrieve that very jewel.'

'Whoa. Hold it right there, Purple-Man. I have heard about a lot of crazy things but goddess of magic? We are private detectives, not hocus-pocus relic chaser.'

'Well, you chased after lost pets,' Mr. Koji protested.

'That's different. At least they're real living things, not some fairytale I haven't even heard of until you showed up. Philip, let's get these guys outta – ' his voice trailed off when he saw his partner's eyes closed, his body still and barely breathing.

Shotaro knew what that meant. Philip's mind had entered the Gaia Library.

'Interesting..' his voice whispered in Shotaro's mind. 'It does exist.'

'You found it?'

'Yes. But the pages are empty. Not a single line of information.. however if the book exists, so does the jewel.'

'You're not suggesting that we take this job and look for it, are you?'

'Why not? I'm intrigued by it. Such mystery. Are you not, Shotaro?'

'I have a bad feeling about this. I don't like these guys. Something about them doesn't feel quite right.'

'I sensed it too. But let's play along, Shotaro. Find out what they're up to. If they turn out to be the bad guys..'

'I'll take them out.'

'You mean we will take them out.'

'Now that's a plan.'

The president cleared his throat. 'May I know the meaning of this silence?'

Shotaro gave the man the coolest look he could conjure. 'You got yourself your detectives. Now let us know more about this jewel and where you want us to start looking.'