Okay, time to get into this case again. Part 2 of "Don't Lay a Finger on the M" where Yukiji makes his live action debut. Seriously though, how old is that guy even? They never explicitly mention it in Fuuto PI, which makes it frustrating to figure him out. Eh, maybe with the next season of Fuuto PI (if there even is a next season), we'll figure it out hopefully. For now, let's focus on the main storyline. (shoots the screen with a paintball gun)
Disclaimers: I don't own Kamen Rider W or Fuuto PI as they are productions from Toei and Studio Kai, but I do own any OCs that I make.
My name is Minako Sakurada, also known as Kamen Rider Skull. The current case is strange, as this is the first time I'm undercover. The clients wanted us to tail their daughter, Yuuko Izumi, to the mythical Million Colosseo Casino, which actually turned out to be true as revealed by witness Goro Murasame. But before the boss and I could get any more answers from him, a new Dopant attacked and took Mr. Murasame's life energy. After finding out how the route to the underground casino worked, the four of us decided that I'd be going undercover as a socialite while Shotaro and Phillip would try to stop the Money Dopant. But I'm worried because Phillip paused when he heard the term family, and that makes me worried for their safety as I venture in alone. And now, let us see what happens next…
Picking up from last episode's fight, we see W standing up from the explosion and seeing that his opponent was gone and out of sight.
Shotaro dehenshined and couldn't help but think to himself: 'I saw Phillip's vision. That was… his family.'
Within the base at the same time, Phillip woke up from his state and got to his feet before he stumbled around and threw some stuff off his desk with a shout, startling an incoming Akiko as she ran to the young man and shouted, "Phillip-kun! Doshita?" But not even he could answer her.
Within Million Colosseo, Minako was walking around and observing the area, accepting a drink from a passing waiter as she thought to herself, 'All these people here… do they really not care if the person running this place is a Dopant? But that leads to something else on my mind… which of the people here actually is the Dopant?' She took a small sip of the drink she had and tilted her head; it was… fruity without a doubt, possibly had some cinnamon undertone to it as well. But there was something inside it besides the alcohol that made her a little tense, and yet she couldn't decipher what it was for the life of her, even if she had spent countless days studying different types of drinks and additives that could have been poisonous.
Deciding not to question it for the moment, she walked over and joined Yuuko at the poker table, smiling at her. "Um… my apologies for earlier, Yuuko-san. I was honestly just kinda forgetful at the time." In her mind, she was thinking to herself, 'Play it cool and they won't suspect anything.'
Yuuko looked over at her and tilted her head. "Aren't you the new girl in town?"
Minako nodded. "That's right. Minako Sakurada of Sakurada Mechanics." Technically not a lie because that was the name of her father's company.
Yuuko smiled a bit. "Oh yeah, I thought you seemed familiar. You're a pretty hard worker to be fixing up my family's van, aren't you?"
The blunette giggled slightly. "That's right. And now I figured I'd come here to try and win a little extra for my family."
Yuuko nodded to her. "Well, you're in for a real treat. Tonight's my biggest game of roulette. Care to join me?"
Minako grinned slightly. "That'd be quite swell." She thought calmly to herself: 'Nice one, Sakurada! Now remember what Uncle Sokichi taught you with gambling: bet low and don't go overboard to be roped into the game.'
"Everyone, welcome…" An elder man with his hair curled up on both sides like devil's horns and a neat suit came down the steps behind them as he continued on, "... to the heavenly Million Colosseo Casino. Another member has obtained the right to challenge me."
Minako looked over and carefully observed him; his voice matched the Dopant to a tee as that was the only discerning part about these monsters outside of Phillip's research on them in the Gaia Library, but thankfully her own research had provided plenty of information for her mind. 'Taizo Kaga, life-long gambler. I'm guessing he's the owner of Million Colosseo. Seems like he's the Dopant, but I need to be certain first.' Subtly, she made sure the hidden cameras on her person were watching the man.
Taizo continued on, "That courageous challenger is… Yuuko Izumi!"
The audience clapped as Yuuko smiled, a spotlight shining on her as she took her mask off.
Minako clapped as well, her mind racing in a slight panic, 'Kuso! If I don't make sure I save her, she'll have her life taken!'
(Cue theme song: W-B-X)
W-B-X crime and the city
Mata dare ka ga Totsuzen doa wo tataku
Jiken no yokan "Welcome to Windy City"
Kono machi ni wa Namida wa niawanai ze
Yami ni hisomu keyword
Mitsukedasou! (Mitsukedasou!)
Hitori de wa todokanai yume
(Kensaku suru mugen no archive!
Kioku toiu umi e to dive!)
Kimi to nara kanaerareru, Half and Half!
(W-Boiled Extreme!)
W-B-X!
Futari no body and soul!
(Hoka ni nai sa only! Tsumari ainori)
Hitotsu ni
W-B-X!
Saikou no paatonaa,
Deau toki (Deau toki)
Kiseki okoru (so we can make it!)
Daburu wo sagase!
(W-B-X crime and the city)
(End theme)
(Don't Lay a Finger on the M/Duel with the Ace Skull)
Meanwhile, Phillip found himself stumbling around in the Gaia Library without a bookshelf in sight. 'Family… my family!' He suddenly saw a book floating in front of him entitled "My Family" and grabbed it, opening it up to see ripped pages as if they were lost memories. "Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!"
"It's about your family, isn't it, Phillip?" Shotaro's voice brought the black haired boy back to reality, making him look over as the detective continued on, "You have all the knowledge of the world in your mind, but it's the one thing you don't know. Your past, right?"
Phillip got up angrily. "Are you laughing at me?!" He walked over and leaned against the doorway.
Akiko was watching the whole thing with a saddened expression; she had never seen Phillip look so depressed in the short time she had been there. "Phillip-kun… Sho-kun didn't mean it like that."
Shotaro walked over to his desk and picked up his fedora, putting it on. "No one's perfect. Supporting each other's lives is the game of life."
Akiko's eyes widened at the mention of the word 'game'. "YABAI! MINA-CHAN!" Quickly she grabbed her phone screen and checked it.
Phillip perked up at Akiko's shout and ran over, completely forgetting his problem for the time being as Shotaro asked, "How's she doing?"
"Well, she's inside. That's a good thing." The young woman reported. "I'm getting live footage from the Bat Shot."
Phillip made a face of interest. "I'm honestly surprised she's got her own set of Memory Gadgets."
Shotaro and Akiko looked at him in confusion, to which the younger boy sheepishly chuckled. "I, uh… may have perused her bag the other night. Got curious… you know?"
Shotaro shrugged. "Well, while I appreciate the initiative, partner, let's worry about what she's hiding until later." He returned his focus to the screen.
"Black 13! Come on!" Yuuko shouted, hoping for the best but it wasn't to be; the roulette ball landed on Red 23 and made Yuuko shocked. "No way! But I had a hundred million!"
"Wanna use the last of your life as collateral?" Taizo offered her. "The final stage's rate is multiplied at 100 times. If you win, you'd get it all back at once."
Yuuko hesitated for a second before she grabbed the coin he had offered her. "I'm doing it!" She went back to the roulette table.
Minako bit her lip in concern for the young woman. "Yuuko-chan…"
"Really interesting, don't you think? How words can twist a person's way of thinking?" An unfamiliar voice spoke up behind Minako, making her look around to see a strikingly handsome man with white hair, one lock of it dyed and braided into a rainbow with a golden hoop at the end, wearing a golden mask on his face not unlike her own, and dressed impeccably in a white suit ensemble.
Minako felt her heart starting to go crazy again, not unlike when she had first seen Shotaro, but she forced down her fluster as she nodded. "Y-yeah. It is. Unfortunately, I've seen this kind of thing happen before with the wrong people." She paused before she remembered, "Ah! Forgive me! My name is Minako! Minako Sakurada!"
He chuckled and smiled at her. "It's quite alright. I expect any beauty like you would be flustered by the sight of a man like myself." He took her hand and gently kissed her knuckles. "I'm Yukiji Bando. I'm hoping I see great things from you, Detective Sakurada." He released her hand, having had slipped her a card with his info on it before he left her side.
Minako blinked in shock, her mind and heart equally racing a thousand miles an hour as she thought, 'What…? How'd he know who I really was?! And why is my heart racing even more so than when I met the boss?! Is this… love? Did I just fall for a mystery man? Ah! Minako, focus! FOCUS!' She slapped herself hard to get her attention back to the game as she watched Yuuko set up the ball again and shout, "Red 25! Come on! Come on! COME ON!"
At the base, Phillip shook his head. "That's no use. It's Red 36."
"Eh?" Akiko looked at him. "How do you know?"
Phillip pointed to the monitor. "Watch."
As it turned out, Phillip was on the money (pun intended) as the ball landed on Red 36 and Yuuko dropped to the floor in shock.
Taizo pulled out his Dopant Memory and grinned evilly. "You're finished." (Money!) He inserted the Memory into his nape and transformed into the Money Dopant.
Minako's eyes widened. 'Oh no! Yuuko-san!'
Yuuko tried to reason with him. "W-wait! Next time…!"
"All loser dogs say that." Taizo told her. "As I recall, your parents' restaurant was about to go bankrupt. At first you did this for your parents, but then the money blinded you. Heh. These stories are all too common. I'll take my payment… in full." He made his move to absorb Yuuko's life.
Faster than her mind could think, Minako turned off her hidden cameras as her feet moved her to get in front of Yuuko defensively. "I won't let you touch her!"
Taizo tilted his head curiously. "Oh? And who are you to stop me, little lady?"
Minako raised her head defiantly. "Someone who has something of interest." She pulled out her Skull Memory and held it up for the audience to see.
Taizo seemed surprised and intrigued. "That's…!"
In the corner, Yukiji smirked a bit and thought to himself, 'A Gaia Memory in Miss Sakurada's hands? Interesting. She just became a most fascinating research subject.'
Minako nodded a bit as she bravely faced Taizo. "I'll face you in a poker duel. If I win, you leave Yuuko alone and release all the lives you've stolen. I bet my life on this!" Her hand was intricately turned enough so the bosses back at the base couldn't see her Memory from the Bat Shot, a move she had planned out most effectively during the ride to Million Colosseo, and her microphone was still on so the trio could hear her at the base.
Shotaro's eyes were wide in his shock. "Is she insane?!"
Akiko pulled out a green slipper emblazoned with the word 'Baka!' on it in gold and bopped him upside the head with the sole. "No she's not! I know what she's planning. I've seen this kind of look in her eyes a gazillion times whenever my dad and I visited her. He taught her how to play poker when we were only eleven. Since then she's honed herself to be one of the premier poker masters in Tokyo!"
Phillip nodded a bit. "Considering she's still got her tracker on, we've got a shot at finding her while she buys us some time."
Shotaro nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's mobilize and get to her location!" With that, the three of them headed for the garage.
Taizo removed her mask and requested, "Might I ask the name of this wondrous challenger?"
The blunette held her head up high. "I am one of the detectives of the Narumi Agency who will never let this city cry. My name is Minako Sakurada. Incidentally, I'm also an ace poker player from Tokyo."
The Dopant laughed joyously. "Very well! A one on one poker match to discern the winner and to see if your life remains intact! I'll ensure that the casino is closed for this special occasion." He changed back to his human form and smirked at her. "I hope you're prepared to give your life for a young woman like Miss Yuuko."
Minako raised her head proudly; she had trained for a challenge like this since childhood, and she was the master of a good poker face. "Born ready."
Yukiji stepped forward. "Mind if I stay behind to observe, Kaga-san? It seems like this is gonna be a fun challenge." He smirked at Minako, causing a rising blush to appear on her face.
The gambler looked at his white haired customer and chuckled. "Alright."
Minako gulped nervously; whatever was gonna happen had to ensure that she didn't lose her Memory to this gambler of a monster!
Akiko and the boys were on their way to the area where Million Colosseo was as the former had her earpiece on to listen in to the match. "Looks like she's going for it. I sure hope we actually make it to her on time."
Phillip nodded a bit and sighed. "There's honestly no point in trying to find my real family at a time like this. Not when we've got one of our own at stake. If anything, I consider all three of you my family, and that's enough for me."
Shotaro was surprised to hear that from his partner, but he smiled nonetheless. "Yeah. You're our family too, Phillip. We'd be crazy to let anything happen to you."
"Yep!" Akiko nodded in agreement, because she was happy to call Phillip a brother.
As they arrived, they noticed the sliding door was open for them and all three looked at each other in concern before they walked into Million Colosseo together.
Taizo was waiting for them. "Welcome, friends! I expected you might be here. When Miss Sakurada mentioned the Narumi Detective Agency, I suspected she might have had backup."
Shotaro adjusted his fedora. "You guessed right."
The gambler smirked and showed them a table where Minako was sitting calmly with her face set as Yukiji was sitting next to her, spotting the new arrivals and nudging her. "Seems your friends are here, Miss Sakurada." He looked over at them calmly.
Minako turned around in surprise. "Why'd you guys decide to join in? I can handle myself in a situation like this one."
"Well, if our little poker player is gonna gamble, we might as well too." Shotaro explained, holding up the six Gaia Memories that made up W.
That got a surprised reaction from Minako and Taizo, the latter saying, "What?"
Phillip smiled confidently. "I can calculate all the winning formulas quickly and the odds of making it to each high pair. Shotaro is more of a combat master, but his cool attitude reflects on all of us."
"With that in mind, we'll raise the stakes and throw our Memories into our rookie detective's bet." Shotaro said, passing the Memories to Minako and smirking to her.
Minako got the gist of what he was proposing and nodded calmly before she looked at the gambler. "So, Taizo Kaga, ready to start our game?"
Taizo sat down and nodded. "This is what I'm betting!" He showed her seven piles of coins. "One pile of life coins for one Gaia Memory each, the final piece being your life. It'll be a seven-on-seven match with an ace-high goal." He nodded to the dealer who passed out the cards.
Meanwhile, Shotaro noticed Phillip accessing the Gaia Library and placed the W Driver on to communicate with his partner. "Whaddya got on this guy?"
"Taizo Kaga is a compulsive gambler, started at a young age and hasn't really stopped. It only makes sense that he'd let the Money Memory corrupt his mind." Phillip responded in kind.
Shotaro nodded and returned his focus to the game to watch the outcome, as did Phillip.
Minako picked up her cards and saw a pair of jack cards. 'Okay, so far, so good.' She mentally calculated her odds and moved three cards back, sliding the Cyclone Memory forward as the first bet and accepting her next three cards, checking them and containing a smirk as she looked at Taizo. "What do you got?"
Taizo smiled calmly and showed her his lineup. "Flush with a ten high. You, my dear?"
She returned the smile and laid her hand down. "I got that beat. Four Jacks."
Akiko gasped in amazement. "Sugoi! Mina-chan really is an ace at poker!"
Shotaro chuckled in amazement. "Never thought I'd actually see it to believe it."
Phillip rested his hand on his chin. "This is gonna be an interesting game."
Over the next five rounds, Minako kept getting good hands to beat Taizo's hands; a flush with a king high, a full house with queens over sixes, another full house with aces over threes, a five high straight flush which beat a three pair, and a queen high straight flush.
As she looked up and smirked at the gambler, he chuckled. "I see. Very good. I didn't expect you to pick this game. Why choose it?"
Minako shrugged a bit. "No reason in particular." She accepted the cards from the dealer and noticed a near perfect run. 'Kanpekidesu. I just need an ace and I'll have this in the bag.'
"Were you worried about all the families whining about their kids being taken from them?" Taizo asked her, and while she didn't give him a reaction, Phillip was certainly having problems behind her.
"Family…" Phillip held his head in pain, prompting Shotaro to run over quickly with the shout of, "Phillip!"
Minako heard the boys behind her, but didn't take her eyes off the game. "Nice try, but don't think you're getting me distracted that easily." She moved her hand around the cards calmly, taking note of how he was acting and keeping her cool regardless. "You know, even if my bosses give me a little trouble when they have to, they're still a two in one dream team, and they always will be."
"It's no use at this point, Minako!" Phillip tried to warn her.
Shotaro shook his head. "No, she's right. With a two in one team and a hard skull on our side, we're all invincible."
Minako smirked slightly and looked at Taizo calmly, taking one card out of her hand and placing it face down for the dealer. "Let's duel, Kaga-san. This will be my last move." She pulled out a card from the deck, using sleight of hand to give herself the winning card she needed.
"You'll be finished with your last move!" Taizo laughed at her, taking his cards and spreading them out. "Four nines."
Minako looked at her hand and gave the three behind her a smile before she looked at her opponent with a confident smirk. "No… I don't think I will." She threw her hand down. "Royal Straight Flush!"
"SHE WON!" Akiko screamed excitedly, Shotaro and Phillip hugging the ace in the group happily.
Yukiji smiled and clapped for the young woman. "Otsukare, Minako."
The gambler shouted in shock. "It can't be! Why?!"
Minako grabbed the Memories and passed them to her bosses as she explained, "Well, like my godfather once taught me, detective work is 80% determination. The payoff is just a bonus." She pulled the life coins to her side as a flashback appears to the audience where a younger Minako was using the trick to win a poker game in school whilst she explains, "He taught me an old sleight-of-hand trick that I could use in any match I had to give me the winning advantage." She turned to Taizo and pointed at him. "Kono gemu wa… owari datto!"
The gambler seethed in rage and activated his Memory once again before plugging it in and transforming.
Minako quickly got down and let the boys do their transformation, with Akiko taking Phillip's body to the back end.
Taizo growled. "I'm gonna remember this!" He took off.
"Hold it!" W took off after the Dopant, prompting Minako to get up a moment afterwards and equip her Driver before she grabbed her Skull Memory. "Glad I remembered where I could hide it." She clicked the button. (Skull!) She slotted the Memory in and pushed the side down. (Skull!) "Henshin!" Her armor equipped itself to her body before she put her fedora on and joined the boys outside.
Akiko followed her while carrying Phillip's body, both girls jumping on the RevolGarry (Minako standing on top) before it followed the two in one Rider in pursuing the Dopant, W knocking Taizo back with the HardBoilder before Minako shot the Dopant into a small space.
Both Riders landed together before all three voices spoke in unison: "Now count up your sins!"
"What?" Taizo struggled to get up.
(Cue BGM - Cyclone Effect)
The Riders started to duke it out with the Money Dopant, W switching between their various Memories like Luna and Metal before they pinned him against a railing.
(End BGM)
"You damn brat! Have you recovered from the scar of your trashy family?!" Taizo tried to get Phillip riled up again.
Phillip chuckled lightly. "I've got a good substitute for my family, though not all of them are very bright."
"Why, you!" Shotaro laughed as the duo knocked the Dopant away before switching to Heat Metal.
Minako walked over and slotted her Memory into her Skull Magnum. "Let's clinch this win!" (Skull! Maximum Drive!)
"Wakkata!" Shotaro slotted the Metal Memory into the Metal Shaft. (Metal! Maximum Drive!)
"Metal Branding!/Skull Punisher!" The heroes aimed their weapons at Taizo and unleashed their attacks, causing the Dopant to explode and the Memory to be forcefully ejected.
"Not yet… Next time… I'll be lucky! I'm sure!" Taizo tried to grab his Memory, only for it to break in front of him.
Minako scoffed slightly. "All loser dogs say that. Didn't you tell Yuuko Izumi the same thing?"
Shotaro looked at her in confusion, wondering how she could have known. "Huh?"
Minako looked at him and smirked before she tipped her hat and walked off.
"Hey, wait!" Shotaro tried to stop her, but didn't.
"How could she have known that was what he said to Yuuko Izumi?" Phillip was confused as well.
W dehenshined, leaving Shotaro standing in confusion as Phillip joined his side, both of them silently watching Skull disappear from sight.
What none of the group realized was that Yukiji had seen the whole thing and was smirking to himself. "Truly interesting. I'm sure Miss Sakurada will be an interesting woman to tend to and nurture to her fullest potential." He turned and walked off, a calm and collected smile on his face.
'And so, the life coins were returned to their owners. Yuuko's family is still dealing with a high amount of debt, but I know there's meaning in the three remaining together, much like us four detectives remaining together as a team.' Minako scribbled in her journal, closing it up before she turned to listen to Wakana's show with Phillip as the Princess did her Fuuto Mystery Tour segment: "Today's segment is… Kamen Riders!"
Minako was sipping some tea at the moment when she heard the segment name and spat out her tea in surprise. "Kamen Riders?!"
Shotaro was curious too as he walked over to listen in while the segment continued: "I received a lot of submissions about this. Riding a bike, these supermen defeated a monster! Well, I believe in this!"
"Alright!" Shotaro rejoiced out of victory.. "We were mentioned by Wakana! She called us Kamen Riders!" He shook Phillip excitedly. "We've made it to urban legend!"
Phillip nodded. "The two of us are a singular Kamen Rider, and together with the new Skull on our side, the city is safe.."
Minako smiled to herself as she thought, 'Well, it does feel good to have that recognition. Even if no one knows the truth about us, it's still an awesome feeling, like a breeze on a sunny summer day.'
The Gaia Memories encircled the trio's eager faces, closing out this case.
Next time on W: A Case of Detectives!
Phillip: Where did the enemy fire from?
Shotaro: Do you like Kamen Rider that much?
Little girl: Yeah!
Minako: Do you and your family happen to know of Yukiji Bando?
Wakana: Kinda mysterious, honestly.
Kirihiko: All we have to do is take out that woman, right?
Girl: You came, Papa!
Shotaro: Pa… Papa?!
Girl… A/Papa is a Kamen Rider
This clinches it!
Wow, that was a crazy case. If you're wondering about the decision to make Minako a poker playing ace, I kinda had the thought that it'd be fitting here and it would make sense to have it among her detective skills. I mean, if you're gonna be a PI, you gotta have some gambling skills, amirite? Anyway, next episode will be where Wakana introduces Minako to Saeko and Kirihiko, so we'll see how that pans out!