Ryuki tumbled out of the mirror and hit the wall, knocking two of the photos off the wall. He caught them in his hands and looked upon them. It was a picture of him and Alex looking very happy. The other picture was of him and Caitlin, looking equally happy.

"What should I do?" Ryuki asked himself.

"Follow your heart," he heard and turned towards the door to see his mother leaning against the doorframe. His mother was trying to give him advice. "It must hurt to love two girls at once."

"Hai," Ryuki nodded in agreement. "But what can I do? No matter who I choose, someone is going to get hurt."

"It hurt you most of all when you had to erase Caitlin-chan's memory too, didn't it?" Emiko asked. "Why did you do it?"

"To protect her because she was precious to me," Ryuki confessed. "At the time she meant everything to me. It broke my heart but I think my heart would shatter if she got hurt because of me. I couldn't allow that to happen."

"How she must've felt when she got her memories back, to know a boy she loved just up and left without a word?" Emiko questioned.

"I know…" Ryuki nodded. "Do you think I made a mistake?"

Emiko shrugged. "I'm not a secret agent. For all I knew, you had to make a call. You made a choice to protect her and you thought you were doing the right thing."

"The right thing? Or was I being selfish?" Ryuki asked.

"Who knows, but you must make a choice, Ryu-chan," said Emiko. "You can't have both of them."

"I know. I'll try to think of a solution," said Ryuki.

"We've searched this place already," huffed Clover. "Face it, there aren't any clues."

Ichijyo, of course, disagreed, and scanned the factory. As far as he knew there were more clues to be found. The Spies and Riders just never found them before because of what'd happened to Ryuki. "Things can be overlooked." He knelt down and touched the floor. "Interesting…"

"What?" asked Sam and she stepped back in shock when she saw his eyes glow but she shouldn't be too surprised since all the Riders had special abilities.

"Tazuka, I need your ability right here," ordered Ichijyo. Tazuka nodded and removed his glove. "Touch this spot right here." Ichijyo stepped back to allow the fortuneteller to do his work. Tazuka's eyes glowed as soon as his palm touched the spot and he pulled his hand back immediately. "Secret entrance?"

"Secret entrance," confirmed Tazuka. "But I'm not sure how it's supposed to open."

"Who says anything about opening it?" smirked Ichijyo. He held out his hands, "Hold hands and close your eyes. I sure hope you didn't have a big meal before this."

"Should we be worried?" Sam asked Britney.

"If I know my cousin all we need to do is just do as he says," said Britney. They all held hands and stood at the spot.

"Here we go," said Ichijyo as his powers activated and they phased through the floor. Once they'd been phased completely through, they found themselves in a metal tunnel. This just brought back bad memories for Clover and Sam. The last mission that involved a steel tunnel had the Riders nearly crushed between walls.

"Wait," said Takada warily. "There might be booby traps."

"Yes, I agree, which is why you're going first," said Ichijyo, volunteering Takada.

"Hey, why me!?" Takada snapped.

"You're the only one here who's invulnerable," Ichijyo pointed out logically.

"Oh, right," Takada snapped his fingers. Clover kissed his cheek.

"Be careful," she said.

"I'm always careful," said Takada confidently, which made Ichijyo roll his eyes. He was about to step forward when he stopped. "Hey, wait a minute." He spun around to glare at Ichijyo.

"What is it, mongrel?" questioned Ichijyo.

"I'm not going to do this. I mean you always use me as a human shield or make me trip all the booby traps. Well, no more!" Takada answered.

"You don't have much of a choice," Ichijyo said.

"Oh, yes I do!" Takada shot back.

"Um…no," Ichijyo said before waving his hand. Takada floated off the floor.

"Oh, crud," grumbled Takada before he was thrown down the tunnel. Suddenly, the booby traps were set off. The girls winced as Takada was blasted, shot, stabbed and burnt. When Takada reached the end, he shouted, "I'm okay! All traps have been set off!"

"At least he's being useful," Ichijyo murmured, "For once." He turned to look at Tazuka and the Spies. "Let's go. It's safe."

"You just used him!" Clover accused.

"He had a high chance of survival anyway," Ichijyo shrugged. "Now, let's go. We can't finish this mission just standing here." He strode forward. They followed.

"Jerk," muttered Sam.

"Oh, he's not all bad," said Britney in Ichijyo's defence.

"Name one time he's been nice," Sam said.

"Er…" Britney wasn't sure what to say. She wasn't all that close to Ichijyo and knew little about his life. She was from his mom's side of the family.

Ryuki walked back downstairs to see Alex and Caitlin talking. He'd been horrible to her. He did care and maybe a part of him still held strong feelings for her. However, he made a new commitment with Alex.

He erased Caitlin's memories for a reason. She was a normal girl, with normal friends, a normal job, and a normal life. Being with him would just take her from that nice and normal world and put her in danger. She deserved the peace of normalcy. He didn't want her to think anything weird was going on. He just wanted to be safe.

Alex was a different story. She was a girl of action. She was also cute and athletic. Unlike Caitlin, Alex's life was filled with danger. In her missions she faced super-villains and fought their henchmen. She was no stranger to danger.

Both girls were attractive in their own way. Maybe he was attracted to Caitlin because he wanted to have a normal life again. He wanted to just hang out with friends and not worry about fighting to save the world. With Alex, on the other hand, he didn't need to hide his secrets. She herself led a double-life. They had so much in common too.

Breaking up with Cailtin like that had been harsh. He had to let her down gently. He took a deep breath and walked over to them. It was the right thing to do. He needed to let Caitlin go. She would understand.

"Ano…Caitlin-chan," began Ryuki.

"I'll leave you two alone," said Alex. She rose up from the couch and walked past Ryuki. He then sat down next to Caitlin.

"So, are you alright?" he asked.

"A little," said Caitlin. "Alex and I talked a little."

"I see."

"Leo, did you love me?" she asked.

"Yes, I did," he told her, sadly. "And I never stopped loving you."

"Then Alex is lucky to have you," said Caitlin.

"Caitlin-chan…" He saw the tears in her eyes. She wiped them away.

"I just don't know if I can ever get over you. You're amazing. You're not like any guy I ever met. Not because of your powers or your job, but because you're…nice," she told him. "Most guys break up with me for some silly little thing or vice versa, but you never found a fault in me and I never found anything wrong with you. When you showed me your powers, I thought you were amazing." She closed her eyes and continued, "I just wished things could be different. I want the good times we had in the Galleria Mall to come back."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. She then hugged him close. "Caitlin?"

"I just wish for you to be happy," said Caitlin.

He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. "I hope you find happiness too."

Alex watched the embrace, feeling a little jealous, but calmed down. Ryuki was just letting go of an old girlfriend. Nothing was going to happen between them.

The Operatives and Spies reached the end of the tunnel to find a sealed door. Ichijyo rolled his eyes and said, "As if this could stop us. I could just phase us right through."

"Oh, no you don't," said Takada in protest.

"What not, mutt?" Ichijyo scowled.

"I think it's my time to shine," said Takada. "I'll crack this door open with my gadgets."

"Or we can just use the combination," said Tazuka, pointing to a numeric keypad. He removed his glove and touched it. His eyes glowed briefly before he smiled. "I got it." He then started to key in the access code.

632778

Access Granted

The door slid open and Takada grumbled, "Damn powers."

Sam smiled. Tazuka was amazing.

"OK, let's go in," said Ichijyo.

When they entered, what they found was a lab and several TV's all lying about. Some had been taken apart and others looked like they were in the middle of being put together. What intrigued Takada were the parts that were being put into them.

"OK," said Takada as he picked up an odd device, "This so does not belong in a TV."

"How can you tell?" asked Clover.

"Because he took mine apart," answered Ichijyo, frowning.

"Hey, I put it back together, right?" Takada said.

"OK, we've found the bad guy's lair, so where's the bad guy?" asked Britney.

Out of the corner of his eye, Ichijyo saw a dark figure running off. "Not this time!" He threw his arm forward and his shadow extended before bursting out in the form of a hand. It wrapped around the runner. He struggled in the shadow hand's iron grip before being pulled into the light. The man was clad from head to toe in black with a pair of goggles covering his eyes.

"Let me go! Let me go, damn you!" the figure shouted.

"No way!" said Tazuka sternly. "You've been making people go blind. We want you to tell us how to reverse it."

Suddenly, the man's goggles released a blinding flash. Ichijyo had to shield his eyes but his concentration was broken. The man got free and took off.

"You will never stop me!" the villain cried. "The world must pay!"

"Pay for what?" Sam demanded.

"For being able to see!" The man was obviously deranged. He whipped off his goggles to reveal he had pure white eyes. He had no irises or irises. They were just white orbs.

"OK, that is creepy," said Clover.

"You dare insult me!?" the blind villain cried. "That is why everyone must pay! They must all suffer living in the dark!"

Of course something wasn't adding up. "OK, you're blind, so how were you able to set all this up?" asked Takada.

"Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm helpless! For years I have trained myself to use my other senses to compensate! I do not need sight! Of course, before that I was helpless! I was laughed at, made fun off by cruel people with sight! I was treated like a freak! Do you know what that's like?"

Ichijyo, Takada and Tazuka knew that very well.

"So, just because some people made fun of your blindness you think you can just make other people blind?" questioned Sam.

"Of course! It's the perfect punishment for those ignorant fools! Let them walk in a blind man's shoes and see how they like it," the villain said.

"Well we won't let you get away with it!" Sam frowned. "Get him girls!"

The three Spies took the attack to the blind villain. However, as they tried striking him, they just kept missing as he bent out of the way. Every strike missed him completely. Finally, he went on the attack by using effective moves to send all of the girls flying with just a few well-timed kicks. They all landed with thuds and groans.

"Not bad," Takada blinked.

"I told you!" the Blind Man laughed. "I don't need sight! I can sense you all coming a mile away! I'm untouchable!"

"So you say," A voice from behind spoke.

"Huh?" the Blind Man grunted as he turned…

KRACK!!

And went down like a ton of bricks. Ichijyo finished materializing out of a shadow behind the villain. He just sighed. This was a waste of time. This man, despite his skill and training, was still a normal human. He said, "I'll handle this."

"What are you going to do?" asked Britney. She and the other girls were groggily getting back onto their feet.

Ichijyo's grin turned evil as he focused his eyes on the blind villain. "Nothing much…" The girls gasped as Genosnaker slithered out of a TV screen. The massive cobra hissed as it gazed around. "There, take him." Genosnaker slithered towards the unconscious Blind Man and grabbed him in its jaws before slithering back into the screen. "I'll see you all later." He then teleported away.

Alex continued to watch the scene when her X-Powder beeped. She picked it up and flipped it open. "Alex here."

"Alex, great news! Quick, come to WOOHP!" said Jeremy.

At WOOHP, Ryuki removed the machine that was on his head, opened his eyes and smiled. "I can see!" He gazed at Alex's face and she smiled when she saw his emerald eyes back to normal. On impulse she hugged him, happy to see those emerald orbs of his.

"Oh, than goodness!" said Emiko, relieved.

Tazuka reported, "We were able to find the villain and swipe his devices."

"Then all we had to do was reverse its effects," added Takada who was holding the weapon used to blind Ryuki. "It was no sweat for me."

"The cure is also being used on all the victims," added Jerry. "Well done." He then asked, "By any chance do you know where Ichijyo is?"

"Well, after he knocked out the baddie, he just took off," said Takada.

"I think its best we don't know what he's doing," advised Tazuka.

Ichijyo was standing in front of a cell as the blind villain was tied to a chair, screaming.

"You wanted to see so much, right? Well, take a long hard look," said Ichijyo cruelly.

"MAKE IT STOP!!! MAKE IT STOP!!! I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYMORE!!! NO!!!"

Ichijyo walked off, smiling to himself. The villain got his sight back, but now could only see endless pain and suffering. It was what he deserved.

It was several days later. All the blind victims had been cured. Caitlin and Ryuki managed to clear some things up about their relationship. They weren't together anymore and would remain as friends. They did promise to write to each other. Alex was happy about that.

"You want me…to sing?" Ryuki questioned, wondering if he was hearing things right.

"We just got a gig at this nightclub," replied Takada. "The Snake arranged for it."

"You did?" Ryuki wondered.

"Well, of course I did," said Ichijyo with a shrug. "I cut them a deal." He was a genius when it came to business. No wonder he was the CEO of their home's branch of Smart Brain. "And I think this song would be perfect." Ichijyo reached into his coat and pulled out a sheet of paper with the lyrics on it. Ryuki took it and scanned it.

Ryuki blinked. "Hey, isn't this the one about…"

"I thought it'd be perfect," said Ichijyo.

"But…I'm usually on drums," blinked Ryuki. He'd never sung in public before except among friends and only when they went for Karaoke. "I can't…"

"Ryuki-kun, you have a great singing voice," said Tazuka with an encouraging smile.

Ryuki still wasn't so sure. Did he really have a great voice? His mother was a great singer and had won many competitions with her choir back in her school days. He didn't think he had inherited her talent in singing but the others felt he did. "If you're sure…"

"Well, let's rehearse first," said Takada as he picked up his bass guitar. Ichijyo picked up his electric guitar and plugged it in. Tazuka was already standing behind his keyboard.

Ryuki picked up the microphone and said, uncertainly, "Let's do this then…"

The Spies were dressed their best and standing in front of the club, which was dubbed "Club Moebius". It looked like a good place for some fun.

"Are you sure this is the place, Clover?" Sam asked.

"Of course it is," replied the blonde. "This is the address and it's in Shibuya."

The girls had asked Jerry to send them to Shibuya where the Riders were currently.

"Well, let's go in," said Alex as she pushed the doors open and entered.

"Hey, wait for me!" called Britney as she went in after. Sam and Clover shrugged before they too went in.

There were a lot of teens in there, listening to the band play, enjoying the music and dancing to it. Alex felt like dancing too but she was trying to spot the guys. As soon as the band finished up their song, the manager came up on stage giving a few words. The girls turned on their translators and listened in.

"And we have another band called "The Knights"!" the manager announced. Knights? He walked off stage and The Knights came up.

"Ryuki!?" Alex yelled, seeing Ryuki on stage dressed in a black leather jacket, red t-shirt and blue jeans.

"Takada!?" Clover yelled out as she saw him in a blue denim jacket with a black shirt underneath and blue jeans, holding a bass guitar.

"Cousin Ichijyo!?" Britney yelled out as she saw her cousin come up stage in his usual all black ensemble. He had on a matching black turtleneck shirt with black slacks and had his coat on too. In his hands was an electric guitar.

"Tazuka!?" Sam yelled out as she saw him dressed in a three-piece suit but minus the tie to look more casual. He stood behind a keyboard.

"Alright, hit it!" Ichijyo shouted and they started to play. Unfortunately, Ryuki was feeling nervous. He was more used to playing the drums than singing in front of a crowd and he was starting to feel some stage fright as he froze. The crowd started to boo and jeer them as Ichijyo, Takada and Tazuka continued to play, waiting for him.

"Why isn't he singing?" Clover asked. "He's just, like, standing there…"

"He must have stage fright. Poor guy," Sam frowned. He could fight monsters and evil Knights without flinching but being on stage scared him.

Alex looked towards Ryuki and shouted, "YOU CAN DO IT, LEO!!!"

Ryuki heard her voice over the yells of the crowd and saw her. 'Alex-chan…she believes in me…like the others.' He then heard his spirit partner's voice.

'Oi, aibou, let's give these kids a show they'll never forget!' said Yaminekoryu.

Ryuki nodded, not wanting to let his friends down, and grabbed the microphone before he started to sing…

And well the girls were shocked. He was GOOD! Better than good! There was just no way to describe it! The crowd turned from upset to enjoying the music, now cheering on the band instead of jeering them as Ryuki gave the best performance of his life. Ichijyo, Takada and Tazuka all smiled at their friend who was feeling confident again.

ZK Chromedragozoid: And that's the end of Blind Sided! Sorry it took so long. I had writer's block.