The Leader Within

by Mediziner

Two years since their battle against the Fahrzeurgs, the Brave Police haven't seen too much in the way of major crime needing their attention. During patrol, Drill Boy runs into another robot like him and the whole team is immediately made aware of Radiant Prism who came all the way from Germany seeking Deckerd and his team's help. Read to find out! Story is updated monthly.

34. Chapter 32

Mediziner's Notes: This chapter and others from now on until near the end of the story's lifespan is going to start with a timeskip into a few days or weeks rather than continue where we left off to sort of add off-screen improvements to Radiant Prism, it's mostly going to be filler too unless I come up with some brilliant plot. I went with a disaster event for this chapter but I don't know if most of the stuff written is accurate, so it's more or less brainfarted... Sorry for the inaccuracy. OTL Though I really should do more natural disaster shenanigans but I'm not the best at coming up with that sort of thing. I'm sorry if the ending wasn't as great... That was my biggest struggle.

The Leader Within Cover Art is drawn and commissioned by Erilmadith-Everyoung on DeviantART. You can also find Radiant Prism's full reference there, too.

Enjoy!

...

Days have passed since the Brave Police defeated Shapeshifter. It still baffled Deckerd that a Super A.I. had used human shields right from under their noses and even shook him how someone programmed one to result to darker methods. What was worrying was how he and the others didn't detect any heat from the shapeless bio-machine, normally the Brave Police would've used their built in thermal detection to detect any form of heat source, but they couldn't trace any heat source other than for where it's small, triangular head was located before it was reduced to a small and slightly charred black box. That bio-machine had succeeded in fooling everyone's systems that it was the only heat source and nowhere else when they couldn't detect that it held the criminals. 'It was fortunate Super Build Tiger spotted something amiss, if we'd fire off that shot we whould have... No...' Shaking those thoughts away, he was left unsure about a particular topic that he intended to ask Saejima the next time he saw him but since the recovered criminals have been brought in, he's been busy working with Radiant Prism on how to approach the interrogation when they recovered well enough to talk. This particular topic was a tricky situation for him, considering where both the criminals and the bio-machine came from, he'd never thought that he'd have to work alongside a couple of westerners to put the situation to rest... It worried him about how complicated things will get, or if the German Government will complicate things than they already are.

He glossed over a set of papers that were reports from King, Pawn, and Bishop on Radiant Prism's progress before they left back for England with Regina. He was glad the Boss of the Scotland Yard gave him and Yuuta the go ahead if her team had time to help Radiant Prism out even if it was only just for a few days, but to him it felt more than enough for King to share his knowledge with Radiant Prism, especially instructing on what it means to lead, and things she needed to note down that were important. '...When that time comes, she can know that she can rely on the Scotland Yard considering they're closer in comparison to my own team.' He thought, moving a page in front to the back to read the next line of reports.

The human-sized door suddenly opened and closed. "Ahh, what have I gotten myself into..." Yuuta muttered to himself with a frown, his words drawing Deckerd out of his thoughts and onto the young teen slumping into his chair. "Ah, Yuuta. How did your training session with Dumpson go?"

"Exhausting." He smiled tiredly. "It's only the third day since I started and I'm nowhere near used to the training police officers have to go through. But, I'm glad Dumpson is able to make time to help me train." He paused briefly with a chuckle. "You know, I feel like I have no more free time to do anything now." Yuuta sat up properly, beginning to count with his fingers. "Let's see... Wake up in the morning, go to school, go to work, train with Dumpson, then I have my schoolwork, police work with you and the others, go home, eat dinner, then bed... Rinse and repeat. I'm doing my best though, because I do want to prepare myself for all sorts of cases rather than just the ones Mr. Saejima assigns us to!" He finished with a small laugh, scratching the back of his head. "...I think I might ask Dumpson to put police training on certain days rather than every day. since I need to have some days off until... Well... That is... I just don't want to get too exhausted for everything physically and mentally."

He changed the topic shortly after. "Anyways, where are the others?" He looked around, noticing a lot of the desks were empty.

Deckerd turned his attention to the sheet of papers he had been working on, stacking them together neatly. "I've sent Power Joe and Duke to patrol, Shadowmaru and Gunmax are looking into a case about a missing vehicle carrying animals bound for Kumamoto. The city opened a new zoo recently, but the vehicle carrying the animals had gone missing somewhere between Fukuoka and Kitakyushu..." He replied, reaching for a paper clip.

"Missing animals? It's rare we get a case about criminals targeting animals..."

"Yes, it has been quite a while since we had a case like this. But with the strict protection of each exotic animal coming in or out of Japan has improved." Replied Deckerd as he put the clipped papers away, now thinking about what the other Braves were up to. "Anyways... You're already aware that Dumpson's going to join Drill Boy on patrol after your training session, then both McCrane, Kagerou, and Radiant Prism are currently interrogating the three criminals with the Commissioners now that the three of them are well enough to talk." Deckerd's mood suddenly turned grim, and Yuuta began to worry. It was stressful that they have been elusive since first coming to Japan, now they're waiting to hear for any crucial information about who were they working with, especially how they knew about Radiant Prism fleeing all the way to Japan. Those criminals have much to answer, especially with how they handled a potentially dangerous Super A.I. bio-machine. "This is one of the most complicated cases we have dealt with." The Brave Detective told Yuuta. "Foreign criminals traveling all the way to Japan to attack a fellow Brave... This has never happened before, even after we put a stop to the Fahrzeurgs."

Yuuta nodded. "I wonder if this is as stressful for Radiant Prism as it is stressful for us..."

The doors slid open as Radiant Prism, McCrane and Kagerou entered, all three of them looked very exhausted and worn out. "Welcome back, how did the interrogation go?" Deckerd asked, watching McCrane and Kagerou take their seats; The latter sitting at Shadowmaru's desk as neither of them said a thing which worried Deckerd meaning that their foreign friend will have to explain. Instead of sitting in a vacant seat, Radiant Prism walked towards the window without a word. "Radiant Prism?" The dark coloured jet pressed a small button on the window sill to raise the blinds all the way up, causing Yuuta to shield his eyes just as bright sunlight spilled into the office. The foreign Brave stared out the window for a moment then sighed, placing a servo to her helm.

"If you must know, Deckerd... They revealed that they were working with someone." Turning around, Radiant Prism explained further. "Someone that knew I was all the way out here."

"Someone?"

Radiant Prism nodded. "Yes, the criminals never knew I was here in Japan after I fled Germany nor were they the ones who built Shapeshifter. They were in the midst of keeping a low profile after eluding the military and the other three Brave Police teams. Originally the trio worked alone and never really thought about working with others save for having short-lived partnerships with other criminal organizations if they were able to benefit from them in return. At some point, they fled somewhere within the southern part of Germany near Munich, where Blazer is located." She paused to let it sink in, seeing Deckerd's expression change as she let him process everything. "Blazer's team succeeded in defeating their old machine and arrested them, but they weren't locked up for very long. A few days after their capture, they were broken out and lead by what they call the 'Silhouette Man', because they're unable to make out what the man looks like. At the time those three were driven to destroy me, and our mysterious criminal lured them into a deal that they didn't take into consideration at the time."

"A deal?" Yuuta repeated.

Radiant Prism nodded. "The deal was that if they destroyed me, they'd be left roaming free to do as they please, but..." She suddenly paused, knowing the details were far too graphic for a young man like Yuuta. She quickly had to think about what was the least darkest thing she could explain to him, but knew that Deckerd would want to know what's really going on. "Included in that deal they struck was that if they failed... They would... Erm..."

McCrane picked up on what Radiant Prism was trying to say, she'd nearly spoken the truth but taking Yuuta into consideration, he finished the sentence for Radiant Prism. "The Silhouette Man would've thrown them back into jail and find someone else more worthy to destroy Radiant Prism." He said. Kagerou looked at the Combat Detective as if wanting to know why he chose to lie, but decided not to say anything about it. "We apologise for taking so long, Deckerd." The Shadow Detective chimed, his gaze shifting towards Radiant Prism. "Someone was hesitant in letting me have a copy of the language files needed to understand our newly caught criminals so I could identify if they were lying or not."

"I don't enjoy handing out my primary language files freely, Kagerou..." Radiant Prism said uncomfortably. "I know I shouldn't have been too stubborn but I barely know you. I only gave Deckerd a copy because I've known him enough, and I rarely see you or Shadowmaru on a daily basis considering you two are tasked to work on particular cases the others and I can't do." Knowing this was not a time for this, Radiant Prism shifted back towards Deckerd. "Anyways... The Silhouette Man guided them with instructions to infiltrate and hijack an experimental machine that was meant to be used in case the Brave Police failed to deal with extremely difficult criminals... Which is what we encountered them in, and when it was discovered that Shapeshifter 'ate' it somehow... When you fired the Max Cannon, I saw it's liquid metallic hide melt away, revealing to have eaten it and somehow shaped it to it's desire."

Deckerd was alarmed at this. "We've... Destroyed the- I thought that it had fallen-"

Radiant Prism put a servo up in a motion to stop. "Even if you and Duke were the ones to destroy the machine, I told Redlight that I'm taking responsibility for it's destruction. I knew there wasn't much of a choice to keep it intact anywas despite the techs behind the machine aggressively requested it to be left as intact as possible."

"Why did they build that kind of machine anyways?" Yuuta asked. "It sounded as if Germany can't trust their own Brave Police to protect the country."

"I wasn't even made aware of it until I saw the trio first hand piloting it a year ago. As I said before, I believe it was meant to used as a last resort if somehow we all failed. I do remember Redlight gave the files and schematic to Deckerd quite a while back, so you'd be able to learn more about it if you ask him."

"Redlight would have at least told you something about it before you flew all the way here, unless he chose not to for suspicious reasons?" Kagerou asked.

Something seemed to set Radiant Prism off as her wings flared. "Don't think Redlight has caused all this, Kagerou!" She exclaimed. "Redlight has helped me when I was first brought online, I can't..." She relaxed, looking away as if hurt. "I can't think of seeing him committing any ill acts, he's the first in the entire Brave Police teams to be built... He takes his work seriously and he'd never stray from the path of justice."

Not expecting such a reaction, Kagerou spoke, servos up in yielding. "I wasn't saying-"

"Just don't accuse him of being behind all this! If you think the Silhouette Man is him, it can't be! Never!" Radiant Prism snapped. Deckerd could see she was becoming more irritated when it comes to Redlight being labeled as anything bad was clearly a sensitive topic for her, and while it can't be ruled out that Redlight might or might not be behind all this, he decided to stand from his seat. "Enough, both of you. Radiant Prism we're not accusing Redlight being the one behind all these attacks towards you, but is there anything else you can shed some light on?" He asked, needing to distract Radiant Prism from the topic that set her off.

"...No, I think that's it. But I do fear that even when the people behind the machine the trio piloted may still lack any trust in me or the other German Brave Police to keep the public safe from unruly criminals... But I intend to prove them all wrong when I get back that there's no need for any of that sort of high tech machinery otherwise other criminals may try to pull off what the trio did. The techs don't need that if the government built to tackle more difficult criminals the standard police force can't... Otherwise, why did the German Chancellor ask for us to be built in the first place?" Replied Radiant Prism, putting a servo to her face with a frustrated sigh. "I would have wanted to prove that, were I not stuck figuring out what to do about Gustav the moment I step back into familiar territory..."

There was a long pause of silence, no one said a thing even when they returned back to what they were doing. When that silence continued to linger added with the uncomfortable atmosphere, it was difficult for Yuuta to bear and seeing how the others seemed to be slightly tense from what was discussed... He thought about it for a moment, then stood up. "Yuuta?" Deckerd turned his attention to his friend, who instead focused on Radiant Prism.

"Radiant Prism, let's talk on the rooftop."

"Eh? Yuuta, what's going on?" Deckerd, McCrane, and Kagerou's attention were drawn to their Boss' sudden request. "Nothing Deckerd, I just want to talk to Radiant Prism in private." Replied the young teen after briefly looking in his friend's direction, then back to Radiant Prism. "Please?"

Trying to understand the reason for this request, Radiant Prism wasn't sure why Yuuta was asking her to speak with him in private as she was starting to hesitate but slowly nodded. "I shall make my way onto the rooftop." She told Yuuta, then excused herself as she left the office. Yuuta told Deckerd and the others that they'll be back after their talk and turned to leave. When he was gone, Kagerou stood from his seat shortly after. "Now that I have free time..." He said, pausing to give himself a moment, not liking what he has to do. "Deckerd, McCrane, I'll return later." He looked between the two. "It's time I interrogate Shapeshifter." He said, proceeding to leave.

"Kagerou, are you sure you'll be alright interrogating it on your own?" Deckerd asked. "I could-"

"No Deckerd, this is something only Shadowmaru and I can do. I can't risk breaking that kid's heart and it would twist my circuits painfully if I were to see him display such a sad expression if something happened to you... I thank you for the offer, however." Not wanting to linger any longer, Kagerou left the office.

...

It didn't take Yuuta too long to get up to the rooftop where Radiant Prism waited as he asked her to meet him for a private talk. "Radiant Prism!" He called out as he opened and closed the door behind him, running to her until he stopped just a few meters.

"Inspe- Yuuta..." She greeted with a salute. "What is it you need to speak to me about?"

Yuuta was just about to discuss something with her, but the moment he took note of the clear skies, he had a better idea. "Before we talk... Why don't we go out for a little flight first? I know you love being up in the skies so much, and maybe it might help you feel a little more at ease since I figured what Kagerou said earlier stressed you out. But, regardless of what he said, I don't think Redlight is a bad person because you two are close friends and he's been there helping you when you were hidden away from the world somewhat. So..." He paused with a smile, reaching out for her. "How about we go fly for a little bit, please?"

Radiant Prism hesitated, unsure about this as she's not sure if Deckerd would find this acceptable, but considering Yuuta's the Boss of the Brave Police... "I... But the others-"

"It will be alright, if they ask I can tell them."

There was another moment of hesitation from the German Brave, before eventually sighing with a nod. "...Y-Yes sir." Radiant Prism knelt downwards, lowering a servo palm upwards to the teenager who climbed in. Slowly, Radiant Prism stood up to her full height, ensuring Yuuta was secure in her servo. Carefully, she kicked off the ground, igniting the thrusters in her feet as she propelled herself upwards but not at max speed as she's used to commonly doing, but slowly ascending while she brought her servo still carrying Yuuta to her cockpit, the glass of the cockpit opening. "Climb in." At her request, Yuuta hesitated, but Radiant Prism told him that she has him secure, and he wasn't going to fall. When the teenager proceeded to climb in, he felt that Radiant Prism stopped ascending, he was curious to see how high up he was, but she wasn't letting him see. Doing as told, he adjusted himself comfortably into the pilot's seat, buckling in just as the glass sealed itself shut, and Radiant Prism moved her servo away.

Before he could catch a glimpse of how high he was, Radiant Prism proceeded to change form, holding onto his seat when he felt the cockpit move to a horizontal position. He heard parts and joints folding neatly as the Brave completed changing into her jet mode, proceeding to pick up speed before she felt like she could stall. "This is amasing. Even though I've been in your vehicle form multiple times, it's just so wonderful to see everything from high above."

"Surely you've sat in Drill Boy's cockpit a number of times. I'm certainly not the first."

"That is true, but because of his drill jet mode's shape, I didn't get to see too much- Even at my height now Drill Boy doesn't have much in the way of viewing since he isn't... Any particular vehicle modeled after anything like you and some of the others are."

"I see..." The two of them continued to fly into the air, with Radiant Prism making casual loops and tricks but nothing too crazy. It had been only a few minutes since neither said anything until Radiant Prism decided to break that silence. "So Yuuta, what was it that you wanted to talk to me in private about?" When addressed with the question, Yuuta seemed to hesitate, but calmed himself and braced for any answer Radiant Prism was going to give him. "Radiant Prism... What you said before, it wasn't the truth right?"

"Most of it is true... But not all of it." Radiant Prism replied with a sigh. "Forgive me, it's just... For someone at your age... I couldn't bring myself out of fear that you weren't quite ready for... Erm..."

'So that's what it's all about... I knew it was going to be dark...' Thought Yuuta, proceeding to speak. "Radiant Prism, I may still be a kid and I'm not quite ready for the more... Darker sides of policing but I can't stay a kid forever. It would've been much scarier if I was still ten years old, but I intend to start getting used to them when I get a little older. Don't feel like you have to hide these things from me."

"...You're absolutely sure, sir?" Radiant Prism asked cautiously.

Internally, Yuuta was nervous of what he's going to hear but if he's going to have to deal with these sorts of things in the future this was as best of a good start. Putting on a brave, determined face he nodded. "I'm sure. So, what was it you couldn't tell me?" His question made Radiant Prism fall into dead silence as she continued to fly, her gentle stunts ceasing into a cruise. "About the criminals... I'm left with a difficult situation." She began with a sigh. "They told me that they don't want to be deported out of fear that the Silhouette Man would send thugs to... Well, to keep it mildly, eliminate them the moment they're stepped onto German soil despite the tight security as to not risk anyone running off." She told Yuuta hesitantly. "I already talked to the Commissioners about it when I translated for them and they have yet to provide an answer but not without me telling them that what they do is up to them, because I have no authority here in Japan even if I'm temporarily a part of your crew until I go back... Because Kagerou and McCrane were with me, I know they told the truth. Both of them are far better than I at interrogations and to see whether or not they were lying."

Radiant Prism trailed slightly, yet remained conscious of where she was flying. "...I wondered if the same would happen to me-"

"No! Don't think like that, Radiant Prism!" Yuuta suddenly said, looking at her cockpit display with a stern look. "You're much stronger than you were before, you shouldn't think that you'd be caught so easily... Even if you were, Redlight and the rest of your friends will be there to help you no matter what!"

"Sir-"

"Why Radiant Prism? You shouldn't feel that Redlight would fail you... I may not have been there let alone made aware Germany made their own Brave Police, but when you said that Redlight has helped you many times behind Gustav's back and when the other teams couldn't, you shouldn't disregard that he wants to help you..." The teenager frowned. "What you said... You make it sound like you're... Lonely..."

"That's because I've always felt lonely since I was activated, Inspector... And I still feel that way even when Redlight made time to come and help me. He and I aren't on the same team even if we're in the same country together. I never even get to speak to Dieter on a daily basis like I have been doing somewhat with you and the others... Both before and after my restoration." Radiant Prism said with a sigh. "It's not an easy thing to just... Just shrug off. When you were in constant contact with Gustav and you're expected to perform at 120% or more, the pressure of feeling alone and not allowed to leave the base, or even make any friends... No one knows how I've even felt! No one..." Yuuta remained silent when she continued to rant, he wasn't mad but he could now see the full extent of just how much pain she'd been hiding from him and the others.

Despite being a teenager, the extensive loneliness she'd been feeling for so long made him emotional.

When she finally stopped ranting, Yuuta was about to say something until when communications went off.

-Yuuta, Radiant Prism, where are you?- Deckerd asked.

"We're flying around, is something wrong Deckerd?" Replied Yuuta.

-We need Radiant Prism's help. One of the skyscrapers in Tokyo is on fire and there are people stranded on the rooftop. Duke Fire and I are occupied trying to keep the blaze under control but we can't hold it back for long! It's getting too close to the people stuck up there!-

"What? I'm on my way, it shouldn't take me too long. Keep those flames stalled long enough!" Radiant prism said, her tone shifting to a more serious one as she gunned her thrusters, causing Yuuta to yelp in surprise at the sudden speed pickup. He didn't feel the pressure for too long however, feeling Radiant Prism slow as she descended and changed form, holding on tight to his seat as the cockpit tilted downwards as she descended catching a glimpse of the burning skyscraper until he felt Radiant Prism landing.

"Inspector, come out." She said, bringing a servo to her cockpit as she opened the glass. Yuuta wasted no time in unbuckling his seat belt, carefully climbing out onto her servo as Radiant Prism carefully brought him down to the ground gently where he stepped off once it was safe.

"Go help J-Decker and Duke Fire!" Yuuta Ordered as Radiant Prism stood to her full height again.

"Yes sir!" Radiant Prism nodded and after backing up a few steps, took to the skies. Flying towards the burning building she immediately whistled for her support vehicle, scanning for how many people there were on the rooftop once she could see the top where Super Build Tiger on the other side had just loaded some people carefully into a large rescue net and was in the midst of bringing them down. 'He won't get them all down in time, the fire's getting worse... Too high for the firefighters and Duke Fire can't fight it off fast enough...!' She thought, flying in closer as the Air Striker positioned itself close to the building, hovering in place.

"Everyone, come this way!" Called out Radiant Prism. "My support vehicle has plenty of space in the cargo to carry many of you down, hurry!" Many of the trapped civilians quickly scrambled to her while most of them were frozen stiff, afraid to move. In a quick movement but being careful, Radiant Prism carefully loaded people in small groups, working alongside Super Build Tiger whom just returned back up to gather more people into the vacant rescue net.

There were just a small handful of people left, but just as the last remainders were about to climb into Radiant Prism's hands, one of the windows nearby had exploded, flame bursting out violently as it shook the building due to the explosion, causing some of the few remaining people to stagger off the edge.

"Oh no!" Exclaimed Radiant Prism, attempting to catch them with her free servo but missed.

"Kagerou! Go catch those people!" J-Decker ordered hastily upon seeing what happened, calling out to the blue and black ninja down below.

Spotting what was happening Kagerou quickly took action, noticing in the corner of his optic that some of the firefighters pulling out some safety nets, giving him an idea as he blurred right next to the firefighters. "You four, my apologies but I need to borrow this, it's an emergency!" He said hastily as the firefighters allowed Kagerou to take the net without hesitation as they watched the ninja take off into the skies, alarmed when they saw people were falling. Fortunately with Kagerou's incredible speed and quick thinking, he was able catch the falling people one by one with the net he borrowed while keeping pace with their falling speed. Once he had gathered everyone that fell safely into the net, the black and blue ninja proceeded to slow his descent being careful not to stop so suddenly so he wouldn't injure them. When he finally touched down onto the ground, the firefighters and paramedics approached to greet the people climbing out of the net.

"Great job, Kagerou!" Yuuta cheered, watching as both Super Build Tiger returned back down to the ground, lowering the people in the net while Radiant Prism landed nearby with a small group in her arms. "You too, guys!"

Once Radiant Prism had set the group she had down, she stood back up. "I have to go check on the Aerial Striker, most of the other civilians are in the cargo hold." She said as Yuuta nodded, watching her take off after she gave herself space to do so.

"We're fortunate we managed to get all the people down safely, it's a shame we didn't stop the fire from destroying a lot of the building..." McCrane spoke, sad about the building's destruction. "We'll have to repair it into working order later."

"Actually we were intending to tear that skyscraper down." Yuuta and Super Build Tiger's attention were drawn to one of the workers rescued. "That building has been around for many many years. The last company that owned it had moved elsewhere not that long ago because they were complaining about smelling foul odor and they found parts of the skyscraper were coming apart where it was clearly becoming a dangerous hazard. We were tasked with figuring out the best course of action on demolishing it until... Well, the fire happened."

"Eh? How did it catch fire?" Super Build Tiger asked bemusedly, upon carefully looking at the rescued people, they were all workers rather than the common civilian.

"While we were aware the building itself became a hazard, we weren't notified about a gas leak, and my guess is that the circuitry somewhere in the building might have sparked and caused one of the leaks to ignite. My colleagues and I weren't sure where the fire started but we did hear a slight explosion." Shrugged the worker. "I thought it was someone pulling a prank but then we smelled smoke.

"I see..." As the man bid them good day, Yuuta turned to Super Build Tiger, telling him that maybe they could help the workers take apart that skyscraper later, suggesting that if they could help take apart the skyscraper, it would prevent another mishap from the building from happening. "I'll speak to the workers about it later, but for now I'm going to check on the others." Yuuta nodded as he watched Super Build Tiger disengage and the four Build Team members began attending to whatever else is needed. Looking upwards, he could see the fire had been long put out of control upon hearing the engines of J-Decker and Duke Fire growing louder as they descended.

...

Hours passed and many of the Braves returned to the station. After wrapping things up and ensuring the situation was dealt with completely, it was back to the usual day at the office. Radiant Prism spent most of her time near the window, staring out at it as if she expected something important. Deckerd was currently working on the disaster report alongside Duke, while Shadowmaru cleaned and inspected his weapons, about to leave the station soon to investigate something of interest up north as requested by Saejima himself. Dumpson was relaxing at his desk, his focus on his desk screen, clearly watching something. Most of the other Braves were currently wandering out in the city or relaxing somewhere in the outskirts of Nanamagari City. It wasn't until during when his screen displayed commercials, Dumpson noticed Radiant Prism had been standing near the window for quite some time.

"What's wrong, Radiant Prism? You've been standing there staring out the window for a while." Dumpson asked.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm simply waiting to hear back from the Commissioners on their decision about what they'll do about the trio. I'm sure they're taking what I translated for them into mind carefully." Radiant Prism replied, arms crossed. "It's something I need to know, I normally do not show sympathy for any criminal that scares and harms the innocent, but this is crucial for many reasons..."

"Wouldn't the police keep them under protection once they're back in Germany, where they'll be locked up tighter than an original jail?"

"I'm not sure, I've never dealt with more severe criminals with a high infamy. I fear this 'Silhouette Man' intends to silence them because they carry information on them about their mysterious boss." Radiant Prism shook her helm. "I know a lot of the police force close to Surge's territory had an incident like that if I remembered Redlight telling me this once... She and her teammates arrested a highly wanted criminal who managed to slip up, what would've been a peaceful arrest and into jailing turned out that the criminal had made quite a lot of enemies with various criminal organisations who wanted them eliminated because they knew too much about them. They were three large ones, too." The German Brave shook her helm. "Whether or not they managed to push back the criminals united under the same goal, I have no clue if that one criminal still lives, or have died. They joined together in trying to storm the jail said criminal was contained."

"How would you have known all that?" Duke asked.

"Most of it I've seen somewhat from the news... Some of the police officers there were interviewed when that happened before he came to visit my station. I may have not been able to leave the station unless I'm needed to deal with criminals that the force can't tackle normally but it never meant I couldn't do other things to stave off boredom by simply watching the news to see more of what's outside." Radiant Prism replied.

"I... Suppose that would-" Duke was suddenly cut off when the sound of the human sized door opened, the two Commissioners stepping inside and shutting the door behind him. Saejima immediately spotted Radiant Prism, approaching the edge of the loft, but not too close. "Radiant Prism, come over here. I think you'd like to hear what Azuma and I both decided." He said firmly, Azuma joining him at his side. Radiant Prism nodded silently, approaching the two men carefully listening to what have they decided to do. "After careful thinking and advice given to us by other fellow Commissioners of equal rank throughout the country..." He paused as Azuma continued. "We've decided to temporarily hold your criminals here in Japan, until whoever this 'Silhouette Man' person is has been brought to justice. We believed that before they started working with Hans, Uwe, and Eberhard, it's possible they have the blood of others on their hands; Others they may have previously worked with before the trio. Their lives will only add to the amount of blood spilled. Because they may carry some useful information that we may not yet have extracted entirely, I can see no other reason they wouldn't simply leave them be alive to rot."

"However, we're going to avoid the same mistake Germany has made." Saejima continued. "They won't be held in your average jail, but instead in one of the many prisons we have out in the ocean that contain our most dangerous criminals known to all of Japan."

"I thank you, Commissioners." Radiant Prism said, politely bowing. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience that this had to be decided, I-"

"Radiant Prism." Saejima addressed the German Brave. "While you're only temporarily part of Deckerd's team, we consider the four German Brave Police teams as equally as we consider the Scotland Yard our allies, we help one another when the situation is urgent. If anything were to happen, we would aid without hesitation if we're called to assist."

"We've helped all sorts of people around the world over the years way before we met you or even heard Germany started their own Brave Police team." Yuuta smiled as Radiant Prism watched Yuuta approach her, standing next to the two adults. "Difficulty dealing with a particular criminal situation? Struggling to dig people out that are stranded in many types of disasters? Needing help to look into a case? We're always happy to help others to the best of our abilities. We're... Kinda well known around the world- Ah, Scotland Yard too."

"Oh?" Saejima paused for a moment, then chuckled. "What's this, Yuuta? Your determination is like a raging fire that cannot be extinguished so easily! That's what I- No, everyone would like to see more often from the Boss of the Brave Police from now on! A fighting spirit!"

Radiant Prism smiled as Yuuta scratched the back of his neck stating it's still a long way until he's as determined and fearless like a real police officer. "Inspector, Commissioners, I shall keep this in mind in the future if there's ever a difficult situation in Germany." She paused with a smile, looking at the other Braves. "...And I can promise you all on that if it ever happens where we Germans are struggling." Turning to face back to the three males, she gave a small nod. "Even though we're four separate teams, I'll have to tell Redlight about this the next time I speak with him." She replied with a salute. "I actually intend to speak to him later tonight, it's been a while since I've last heard from him and I believe he'd want an update on the criminals' capture and what we plan to do."

"Ahem... In the meantime, why don't you go stretch your wings for a while, Radiant Prism?" Azuma addressed the German Brave. surprising both Yuuta and Saejima momentarily. "I'd like for you to check up on the others currently on patrol if you wouldn't mind?"

"Of course, Commissioner. I'll be more than happy to do as requested." Once Radiant Prism left, Saejima turned his attention to Yuuta. "We'll be leaving you to finish up your work report, it's about time that Azuma and I start taking a break and figure out what else we can do considering the current situation. We'll have a look at it later once we return back to our offices."

"Okay, see you later Mr. Saejima, Mr. Azuma." Yuuta watched as the men left, then turned his attention back to his desk and made his way to go sit back down in his seat, but froze upon hearing something behind the door. 'Eh? That's Saejima's voice... Why is he-' His attention turned to the door, but felt more dumbfounded upon managing to overhear Saejima was loudly exclaiming to Azuma that he couldn't dress him in pretty girl's clothing due to his voice had noticeably changed, having commissioned selected clothing he'd originally planned to encourage Yuuta to dress up in. 'Jeez... I'm so glad that he can't put me in that stuff anymore... Enough is enough...' He thought, going over to slump in his chair. After a short pause, he shook away those thoughts of what he heard and focused on paperwork, but realised he'd already finished his own written report. 'Oh yeah, now I've just got school work to do...' He thought, reaching for his bag and pulling it up to his desk so that he can begin working on his stuff.

Time would pass well into the night as everyone did their own thing, others alternating between different tasks or the usual thing they loved to do, from watching T.V. to wandering about the cities to find a place to relax and de-stress. Radiant Prism had been spending her time outdoors as much as possible, talking with the other Braves when she saw someone down below as she flew. With everyone starting to head back into the station, she felt the need to do so as well. Even with the looming danger of the trio gone now that they've been stripped of the machine they've stolen and they were locked up, Radiant Prism wasn't sure if she'd shake away that she would be hunted and gunned out of the skies in seconds. 'That's the past... That's the past and nothing more... They're cuffed and have no powerful machine to threaten me with...' She thought to herself, slowly repeating as if she needed to keep reminding herself that.

When she returned back to the station, Radiant Prism wasted no time in heading into the office where everyone had gathered. The others were just idly chatting about various things they liked, or were discussing work. Fortunately she wouldn't need to wait long as she could see the others looked quite exhausted. 'Then again, that fire from earlier took a toll on just about everyone...' She thought, noticing everyone starting to file out... All except for Deckerd.

"You also need to speak with Redlight?"

The Brave Detective nodded. "Ready to contact Redlight, Radiant Prism?"

"Yes... He needs to know what the Commissioners have decided. I know I won't be able to contact Surge and Blazer about this since I don't know their station comms, but I trust him to pass the message to them after we finish our talk with him."

"Alright." Deckerd began inputting some commands into his desk keyboard, preparing the screen as it descended and the call had been already established with Redlight's team. As they waited, Radiant Prism couldn't help but ask the Brave Detective a question. "So what questions do you intend to ask Redlight?"

"I'd like to propose the idea we discussed earlier about that if he needed extra servos, we can lend him our aid should he need it." Deckerd replied. "My team may be smaller in comparison to the four teams, but letting him know he can ask for our help should everyone find themselves in a very difficult situation is the right thing to do, especially in very difficult scenarios they may find themselves in that the others somehow cannot get themselves out of." Radiant Prism was alarmed by this as he continued. "Of course, King and I can trust you to help the others out when they need it since you've become incredibly confident as a leader yourself, even if you may not see it yourself."

"I... I guess...?" Radiant Prism tilted her helm, not sure how to take compliments as it was such a foreign thing for her, she'd been used to being scolded by Gustav and even if Deckerd or the others praised her for a good job she's done, she's believed those compliments were for someone else and not her at all. To Deckerd, he wasn't sure if she was happy due to her expression remaining neutral at what he told her. Fortunately their attention was drawn towards the screen flickering to life, and Redlight was displayed on the screen. "Greetings Deckerd, Radiant Prism, is there something I can help the both of you with?" The eagle asked with a smile.

Both Deckerd and Radiant Prism talked to Redlight about what they discussed, with Radiant Prism making sure to point out what the others have decided upon defeating the trio that they're to temporarily remain in Japan behind bars in maximum security, making sure to include information they extracted from the trio about the mysterious 'Silhouette Man' they worked with before being caught and arrested. "...What? That can't be possible, those three worked alone... Normally they're not the kind to pair up with other organisations let alone work with even other lone criminals. Hm... This is bad, whoever the 'Silhouette Man' is, I'll have to inform Surge and Blazer about them, tighten patrols and do a widespread search. If they're here in Germany..." He paused, pondering about the idea for a moment before turning his focus back to the two. "I'll have to look into this thoroughly but I thank the both of you for bringing this to my attention."

"Apologies Redlight, this particular topic was not... Easy to put in written form, so to speak..." Radiant Prism frowned. "It was more preferable to say it audibly than to write it out."

As they spoke with Redlight, Unknown to them and the rest of the Brave Police, just outside of the station was a man was listening in to their conversation, their own technology not only tapping into their conversation but also keeping them shielded from being detected, even by the ninjas' own advanced circuitry. "I intend to work on figuring out how I can best approach an investigation on Gustav when I get back. I'm just still not sure how I can do that safely without him and his followers detecting me the moment I enter German airspace..." Radiant Prism's voice could be heard from the machine, followed by Deckerd. "Radiant Prism, if you wouldn't mind, may I speak with Redlight in private? There's something I would like to discuss with him." Radiant Prism could then be heard expressing that she's not keen about this, but did agree to it when Redlight cleverly encouraged her to go check in with the others. "...Alright, Redlight."

"You hearing this, Boss?" The man asked, wondering if he'd need to adjust the volume.

"Yes, I hear it loud and clear." Said the Silhouette Man, his voice becoming more sinister. "So, it seems with my former 'employees' have been caught and arrested, no wonder they didn't answer... Oh well, I'll have to move onto my next step... Especially with Radiant Prism making plans to return to- Wait, listen carefully."

Both men were silent again as Deckerd inquired about if there was some way for him to contact Dieter without alerting Gustav in some form, wanting to inquire him about a couple of things related to Gustav. The man eavesdropping on the conversation was bemused, whoever this 'Gustav' was, didn't ring a bell.

"Hm, I'm not fond of adjusting the plans I have prepared, but if I must make adjustments, then so be it. Even if I won't be able to execute my plan the way I hoped for it to go, this conversation gives me a wonderful idea. Involving both Gustav and Dieter sounds like an idea that she will not avoid so easily." The Silhouette Man added. "Alright, that's enough eavesdropping, it's time to retreat before you are seen by someone."

"Very well." Replied the man, powering down his device and packing it up, quickly passing through an alleyway to keep a low profile until coming out on the other side as he walked. At first, his pace was slow to look like a casual citizen with the impression of looking like a business man on his way home, but he quickly turned and looked like he was checking a buisness card upon hearing the familiar sounds of one of the Braves, identifying it as one of the ninjas. 'Hm... What was that one again... Shadowmaru...?' The man thought, glancing towards the direction he flew. 'Regardless, my work is done... Now to get out of here and claim my promised reward... That lout better not have skimped me out of our deal... Speaking in German wasn't an easy feat. Hmph, Westerners and their fancy L's and R's...'

Changing form as he neared to a land on the rooftop. Shadowmaru sensed some form of high technology nearby but couldn't detect it again. The detection lasted a brief moment- Less than a full second. 'Odd... Perhaps I may have had a glitch in my systems, perhaps the Chief will know when I ask him tomorrow.' He thought, heading towards the lift.

"...I'm not quite sure, Power Joe, it's possible it could happen." Shadowmaru managed to overhear McCrane reply to Power Joe's question once he'd come down to the repair bay. Power Joe could be seen exclaiming that there might be others they have yet to discover aside from the Scotland Yard and the German teams. "But McCrane, we should keep our optics peeled for the next time we're sent to another country to help with a difficult criminal issue! I mean none of us knew anything about... You know... Think of the multitude of allies we'd have especially in case we run into serious trouble! Can't just be the Scotland Yard in case they're caught up in something big at the same time as we end up getting caught in a difficult situation."

"Economy is different in other countries than it is here in Japan, Power Joe." Duke pointed out. "Many of them may or may not be able to strike up a joint collaboration deal with the Japanese like that of the UK-Japan joint collaboration years ago. Or, simply choose not to in the case of Germany. But it is highly possible they could have struck a deal with the Scotland Yard considering the proximity-"

"Hey, that makes me think... We should've asked Regina when she was here if she made that deal with them." Drill Boy asked curiously.

Everyone fell silent upon this thought, then most exclaimed that they've forgotten entirely. They would turn to Radiant Prism, asking if she knows anything. "Guys, I don't know... That would've been a question for Redlight, Surge, or Blazer..." The German Brave replied. "...I don't even know if I should even state that I haven't experienced much of the outside world as much as everyone else has." She further added with a defeated sigh. "Probably not with it always falling on deaf ears." Her attention was drawn towards McCrane. "Hey McCrane, are you free tomorrow? If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to get some extra tips and techinque ideas to better refine my aim better. I feel like I'm getting a bit rusty..."

"Certainly, Radiant Prism. I'll see if I can make some time in the afternoon." Replied McCrane.

"Thank you. Schedule a time if need be, I wouldn't want to pressure you with a time that's already occupied by something else." Radiant Prism nodded.

"Hey Rookie." Gunmax called out to Radiant Prism. "You know you're getting a whole lot better than before. Don't think you really need any extra helpful tips since you've learned quite a bit from us over the time and you pick up things quite fast, as if you've been doing this since day one. ...You should continue to impress more than constantly ask for help on everything."

"I suppose that could be the case... But I'm no rookie, at least not anymore." Radiant Prism shook her helm. "Redlight once told me that asking for advice, tips, or even assistance isn't beneath a leader. Nobody is perfect, not Deckerd, nor Duke, or even King and Ace. I may be good with my own skill, but sometimes it never hurts to have to refine them alongside someone even if your weaponry may differ, too. Sometimes it's nice to train alongside someone as well." As Radiant Prism explained other things to point out, Gunmax couldn't help but internally smirk. He may have considered her being much better than before, but this certainly felt even far better than before. She didn't disappoint, and that was enough for him. A lot of her words were in the right, like a real leader.

'Not bad Rookie- No, Leader.'