Mediziner's Notes: So as I've said before, all of the chapters from here on out until later chapters will be random natural-disaster-of-the-week/crime-of-the-week thing or random. I tried a slightly different approach for this chapter but I'm not sure if it's executed right but I felt like trying something a little new than my usual startup. I think it could possibly maybe help with the other themed chapters, too if I tried something like this a bit more. This one I felt wasn't touched upon before but This has never been touched on I think by others... At least as far as I've seen but yep! There's going to be quite a lot of generic stuff in this to flesh some things out, so forgive me if this one might not be as great. Best news is that I'm actually getting better at remembering Azuki's love interest Kashiwazaki on spelling his surname without needing to glance at where the spelling is, yay!
Also I don't think many people know, but the white cat we see next to Urunyan at the end of the show with their kittens? That's Shiroi, her official name.
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!
...
Urunyan had just scurried up a stone fence, casually making his way onto his next destination after having dealt with another cat that wandered into his territory. He surveyed his surroundings then proceeded to groom himself momentarily before he continued on to where he needed to go. He scaled fences and other obstacles alike with relative ease, his acrobatic agility unmatched. He'd evaded any stray dogs along the way to where he needed to be, outsmarting them while avoiding unruly people whom either threw things at him or attempted to grab him. Once he'd arrive at his destination, he'd just scaled up the roof of a house to take in the sights even if it didn't seem to be all that attracting to the human eye, for Urunyan he was used to this sort of thing. His ears flicked when he'd heard a dog barking, but soon followed by a scared whine. Urunyan found it strange, wondering what was scaring the dog until he heard someone yelling at it to hold still. With his keen eyes, he quickly spotted who the voice belonged to, a human whose face he couldn't see, quickly scaling up a fence clumsily with an unconscious dog he'd seen earlier over their shoulder. The sight made Urunyan scared, quickly scaling down the roof, onto the fence and back down on the ground into someone's yard ensuring he wasn't seen. He wasn't sure if the human was targeting that dog out of spite, or even went as far as targeting other fellow cats.
While not as graceful as before, Urunyan scrambled up another fence, he could only focus on getting away from the incident area as quick as he possibly can. Along the way, he noticed some of the other stray animals also doing the same. Now on the main walkways, he managed to catch a glimpse of one of the stray dogs getting struck with a strange shiny object that only made him want to run faster, followed by another dog behind him falling and tumbling upon getting hit. Urunyan was terrified, quickly ducking into some nearby bushes and refused to move let alone make a sound.
He had no idea if they were animal organisations intending to rescue animals, but he was too scared and stressed to process what he had witnessed.
Urunyan lost track of how much he'd waited underneath that bush, but he eventually felt it was safe to come out when all was silent and get back before dawn. Taking note of the position of the moon, there was still time left to get back before his owners worried. He soon sprinted out and refused to slow, making his way towards the Tomonaga residence as he could tell he was almost home...
But the moment he turned onto the street where his owners lived, he was caught completely off guard when he'd run into a trap cage. The sound of something beeping made his panicking even worse, trying to find some way out but couldn't. He quickly picked up the sound of footsteps, seeing that it was the same face covering human from before.
"Hm, you're nothing fancy... But, I'm sure with the right person you might still fetch a high price... Yes, I think you'll still be something of worth even if you're not a purebred." The criminal said as Urunyan growled and hissed. "Now, we can't have you making a fuss, so let's put you to sleep my little friend." They added, bringing out a syringe.
Fearing for his life, Urunyan swiped at it when the criminal tried to jab him with it, continuing to do so until eventually they lost all patience and with a bit of quick wit, managed to hold the cat down with a few objects and quickly jabbed the syringe and injected the contents in one go. It didn't take long until Urunyan started to feel weak, starting to stumble as he tried to fight what was going through his system, until finally collapsing.
"Now, to collect my other sprung traps."
Later, as the morning rays spilled over the neighbourhood Deckerd had already long awakened from his snooze the moment he heard the two sisters talking, noting that they were both awake. Deckerd was just about to reach for the bucket he'd used after greeting Urunyan after walking all over him for a brief moment, but noticed something different. 'Uh? That's odd, normally Urunyan would be here long before the girls woke up.' Thought Deckerd, double scanning himself if there were any traces of paw prints in the case the cat might've passed by earlier but there was nothing, save for his scans picking up a thin layer of dust. 'Hm, perhaps he might be taking a nap in someone's yard nearby... Oh well.'
Wondering why Yuuta hasn't greeted him good morning, he began contacting Yuuta on his badge, but was met with a groggy, tired response. -Deckerd, it's Sunday... That's our day off, remember? I...- He could hear the teen pause with a yawn. -I'll wash you later, just let me sleep a little more...- This puzzled Deckerd for a moment, fearing Yuuta might be late for school but upon double checking his clock, he felt embarrassed that today was Sunday, of course it's a day off, he'd been so used to going to work every single day. Even when other days that Yuuta has school that he was told he has a day off, he still couldn't help but come to work. "Sorry Yuuta, just a few more minutes then." He eventually said, cutting the call as he slumped on his wheels with a sigh, his headlights focused on the ground.
It wouldn't be until the door opened, his visions shifting to the left as he pulled out of the garage a little to see who came out, spotting Azuki. "Ah, good morning Azuki."
"Good morning Deckerd." Azuki smiled, then noticed something. "Oh? I thought Yuuta would be already here washing you."
"No, he said he was going to sleep a little while longer." Deckerd said as Azuki looked a little unhappy. "I don't mind, yesterday we had a lot of paperwork to sort out so I'm letting him rest a little while. Anyways, where are you going? Are you going to see Kashiwazaki?" His question managed to distract Azuki, to which she became shy saying that she would but today she's going to buy some groceries, explaining that they were running low on a few things. It then struck her mind that today was a relatively special day.
Azuki couldn't help but giggle. "Deckerd? Do you know what today is?"
"Eh? Today's a special day?" His response surprised Azuki, leading him to believe that he'd forgotten something important... Was it something related to work? He scanned his memory banks, wondering what day could be special. "Um... Nothing's come to mind other than within a few months from now, we're going to have our 4th Anniver-"
"Really, Deckerd." Kurumi said, having overheard the conversation, nibbling on some toast as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "For you and Yuuta to be close like Brothers, how could you have forgotten Yuuta's Birthday?"
"Eh? Ah, I remember now." His visuals focused upwards for a moment, then back to the girls, who were giving him a look he was familiar with. "Er... I'm going to assume you want me to distract Yuuta like before?"
"Yep, just like every other birthday he's had with you in the past." Kurumi smirked. "Sorry Deckerd, but you're better at that than we are. Could you please keep him distracted when the afternoon rolls in? The others alongside Azuki and I will need time to get everyone invited and set everything up." Deckerd was about to give his answer when someone at the gates drew his attention, an elderly lady he's seen a few times. "Is there something I can help you with, miss?" He watched the lady take her time pulling something out of her bag, a rolled up piece of paper as she unrolled it, revealing it a lost dog flyer.
"My little dog had gone missing about two days back, I asked a friend of the family to watch him while I spent those days seeing my grandchildren but when I got back to come pick up my dog, he was gone without a trace. They last saw him in their yard playing in the grass, we were at first under the belief that he dug under the fence and escaped but I know my little precious boy wouldn't do that..."
"That's terrible..." Azuki frowned as the two of them looked at one another as Yuuta came out of the house, perking up on seeing his neighbour speaking with his sisters. "Could it be why Azuki and I saw so many lost pet flyers? People's beloved animals are going missing so suddenly...?"
"Is something wrong?" Yuuta asked as he approached his neighbour, noticing the flyer. "Another missing pet so soon...?" This was enough to concern Yuuta. It wasn't just one pet missing but he'd noticed more and more lost pet flyers were stacking up over the couple of days. "I know we're not on duty but I'm really worried about seeing more of these showing up around the city..." His attention turned to Deckerd. "What do you think, Deckerd? Should we look into them?"
"You can't!" Azuki suddenly exclaimed as Yuuta looked at her, surprised that she was saying no to going out to check. "Azuki? Is something wrong?" He watched as his sister trying to say something, pausing to find her words until eventually she explained that today was his day off, but the others should be fine looking into the case. "Azuki, sometimes these things happen... Even when Deckerd and I have a day off... What if we have to deal with a really nasty criminal the standard police can't handle?" Kurumi was uncomfortable, seeing how Azuki was looking more and more distressed, wanting to de escalate the situation. "Ah, but Yuuta! You know Deckerd has been waiting patiently for you to give him his Sunday wash! I know these things happen but you should know to trust your friends. They haven't asked for any help yet, have they?" This had Yuuta stop and think for a moment. "It might be better to let the others know what's going on so they can look into it. Remember, today's a very special day! You two almost never relax so you should take this chance!" Kurumi then turned her attention to her neighbour. "Don't worry miss, we'll let our friends know and they can help keep an eye out for your precious dog, okay?"
"Oh thank you, young lady. I hope my precious little boy will return home safe and unharmed. You three be careful, alright?" The moment the elderly lady left, Deckerd slumped on his tyres at being excluded, to which Yuuta smiled a little sadly. "It's okay, Deckerd... She didn't mean to exclude you..."
"We don't see her too much but she's actually really sweet, Deckerd." Azuki said, having perked up from earlier and trying to help cheer Deckerd up. "She's getting old, so her memory isn't the strongest. Sometimes she forgets our parents since they've been out overseas a lot of the time doing their job... But we should go and buy some groceries, we'll see you and Yuuta later."
"Yes, of course..." Deckerd didn't pay too much mind when Yuuta busily prepared a the bucket of water, sponge, and the squeegee he'd often use to wipe away Urunyan's paw prints that'd sometimes get on his hood or windshield. With his task done, Yuuta heaved the bucket of water in front of Deckerd. "Maybe we can ask Shadowmaru or Kagerou if they're available to look into the case." Yuuta told Deckerd, applying the soap into the bucket.
"I suppose we could..." Deckerd idly replied. The lost pet flyers he took note of and the one the elderly lady brought over earlier was now on his mind. His attention snapped back to Yuuta sloshing the water with the sponge. Thinking back to Urunyan, he couldn't shake not seeing him earlier this morning. "Yuuta, have you seen Urunyan today?" He asked just as Yuuta began to scrub him down. "Urunyan? I haven't seen him when I came downstairs. He might be having a nap in someone's yard again since he likes to do that. If you were thinking about if Shiroi worries about him, she knows he does this from time to time."
"I see..." Deckerd began closing his headlights when Yuuta neared them with the sponge.
"Don't worry, Deckerd. Urunyan will be fine, he likes to spend time with some of our neighbours who he's grown fond of, it's normal for him to make some friends with the others." Yuuta smiled, moving to the other side of Deckerd's front to scrub him down. "Just relax, you shouldn't be so tense over Urunyan being a little late." Deckerd did as told, but remained slumped on his tyres, rather than lean into the scrubbing, he remained quiet and still. Yuuta didn't take notice since he was now at his sides scrubbing his windows and roof. His wandering thoughts were soon interrupted when the sound of loud jet engines caught the attention of both him and Yuuta, causing the teenager to look up to see that it was Radiant Prism having a mock dogfight with Kagerou, easily telling their colours and shapes apart even from on the ground. They were much easier to distinguish from the jets he'd seen from the Japan Air Self-Defence Force.
"I'll let Radiant Prism and Kagerou know about the case of missing animals. Maybe they can look into it together." Yuuta said, reaching for a nearby rag to dry his hands. "Deckerd, could you open your door please?" He asked his friend. "Of course, Yuuta. Here." Opening his door, Yuuta climbed in and reached for the walkie talkie, with his other hand pushing a few buttons, switching from police radio chatter to communicating with the other Braves. "Radiant Prism, Kagerou, this is Yuuta."
...
"I'm not as easy to lock on, Kagerou." Radiant Prism said, easily maneuvering out of Kagerou's lock on sights just before the red and dark blue Brave could get a lock on her. "You and Shadowmaru can easily lock onto one another but I spend plenty of time in the air dealing with flying criminals on a daily basis long before I flew all the way here." She further added.
"Perhaps not, but Shadowmaru and I can easily read out and make the according response to counter and outwit." Kagerou replied. "Even if I'm still new to using my jet form, I can quickly adapt much faster than Deckerd and the others can."
"I doubt Shadowmaru would be pleased to hear you saying that." Radiant Prism said, managing to gain on Kagerou's tail and proceeding to start locking onto the Shadow Detective. "Wouldn't he be jealous considering he's your little Brother?"
"He's proven to be just as independent and strong on his own even if he can't adjust just as quick as I can." Kagerou chuckled. "He has no reason to continue walking in my shadow, and I've seen that time and again even before he and the rest of the Brave Police brought me back."
"Brought you back...?" Radiant Prism's distraction was enough for Kagerou to get out of the way of the crosshair just before she could get a lock-on as Radiant Prism tried to follow, but couldn't lock onto the Brave. She was about to try and gain on his tail again but the sudden contact caused her to slow to a cruise when Yuuta contacted her and Kagerou. "Sir! Is there something we can assist you with?" She asked as Kagerou joined her, both being in the wingman formation so that he could hear.
-Can the both of you return to the station and look into a case about missing pets? I'm worried it might be a serious case when my sisters said that they've seen so many lost pet flyers build up around the neighbourhood.-
"Alright, we'll head back to the station immediately." Radiant Prism cut communications and addressed Kagerou. "Let's head back and get to work." She said as the two gunned their thrusters back in the direction of the city itself, arriving back at the station in a short time. They changed form as they landed near the entrance, Gunmax was off to the side impatiently waiting. "Gunmax? What are you doing out here?" Radiant Prism gestured Kagerou to go in ahead of her as he left. The Motorcycle Detective turned away. "Gun Bike suddenly stopped working while I was patrolling." He said unhappily. "Just as I spotted some speeding trucks causing trouble, that happened."
"What? Did you inform someone to go chase after the speeding trucks?"
"Drill Boy and Duke are dealing with it, haven't heard anything else after I hauled Gun Bike all the way back to the station. You should get inside and resume whatever it was what you're doing, you and bird brain came here in a hurry, right?" Radiant Prism hesitated at this, wanting to help Duke and Drill Boy but nodded and entered the building to catch up with Kagerou. Once she was up on the correct floor and entered the office, she asked Kagerou if there was anything. "According to what I've found, this week over forty or more pets had gone missing without a trace. This is an unusual amount of pets suddenly just disappearing like that. I'm thinking we should question the pet owners if we can find any clues in case this might be the work of a criminal."
"Let's hope they clumsily left a clue behind..." Radiant Prism frowned. "What about Shadowmaru?"
"He's with the Commissioner looking into something secretive." He told Radiant Prism, switching to private comms due to the presence of McCrane nearby, and cameras that were equipped with audio. The German Brave nodded and the two began to leave, but before they could start work, Radiant Prism paused and spoke to McCrane asking if he had paperwork or was assigned to patrol. "I'm assigned to paperwork today, is there something you need?" He asked as Radiant Prism asked if he could be on standby in case they need to look into something if he's able to free up a bit of his time for this. "Please McCrane? It would be handy to have someone look into something in an instant."
"Alright, let me know if you need to look into something. I just can't do anything that's more along the lines of what Shadowmaru and Kagerou can do." Radiant Prism nodded, thanking him as she left the office following after Kagerou. Once they were outside again, they discussed about which part of the residential districts to start with before splitting up and got to work. They spent a little while talking to the people of interest that owned some sort of pet while some approached them willingly to talk about how their pets went missing. Kagerou at some point suggested to Radiant Prism that she should investigate the owners' yard in case there could be any clues. After about two hours, nothing seemed to bore fruit and Radiant Prism frowned after she'd ask Kagerou if there was any luck on his end but was just about as empty handed as she was.
'What are we going to do...? There's not a single trace, and no one saw any suspicious people with a familiar dog or cat...' Radiant Prism thought to herself as she walked along the path, stopping to let others get past due to taking up most of the walk space. 'Unless...' Her attention drew towards one of the powerline poles, spotting a CCTV camera. "Kagerou, try checking the cameras mounted on the powerline poles. Maybe they could shed further light on who we're looking for."
-I'm already doing that, someone suggested I check the CCTV cameras. In the meantime, return to my location.- Radiant Prism just did that, following paths as if she were in a maze until she found her way to Kagerou a few minutes later. When she'd approach him, he'd just finished looking into a camera. "There you are, I was just about to start looking into the next camera." He told her, earning a nod in response. They searched from camera to camera, having been unable to find anything of interest, until when Kagerou investigated one particular camera that contained something of interest, seeing what appeared to be a slim figure whose face he couldn't see moving a little wagon stacked with pet trap cages. "I found something, the camera caught someone in baggy clothing, but unfortunately even if I enhanced the quality, I'm unable to see what the criminal looks like, they're wearing something that's covering their face but that's all I can find in this one... There's another one not too far from here, give me a moment..."
Kagerou concentrated his circuitry to abandon the camera he was hacking into and directed his attention into another nearby CCTV camera, sifting back to the same amount of hours he'd check in the previous camera, but quickly noticed something and fast forwarded it just a few minutes after and replayed the recording. The Shadow Detective was able to see that with some of the animals being caught, they were shown motionless in the cages which made him uncomfortable. "...This is bad." When Radiant Prism asked what was he seeing, he began to explain hesitantly in private communications of what he saw. Stacked upon stacked trap cages were animals, motionless and not stirring. He made sure to point out that all of them contained purebreds of both cats and dogs, some looked clean while some were dirty. "I believe we're dealing with an animal abuser, I cannot find anything about where they're taking the animals but there's a recording I found in this camera that they-" He stiffened at seeing the figure hold up a weapon and pointing it at the animal on the other side of the fence, then climbed and disappeared over the fence. Just a few minutes in, he sees the same figure climb out with the cage in hand and seeing some slight movement from inside followed by something shining. '...I see, it was a tranquilizing dart, but still... Going as far as stealing pets...'
He ejected himself from the camera after putting everything back the way it was. "I... Need more cameras to shed further light. There might be an incident where that criminal could have revealed their face, this way."
Camera after camera, Kagerou continued to search each one he could find, some yielded results while others didn't... But it wasn't enough. Radiant Prism decided to do her own searching while he continued to focus hacking into and sifting through camera footage. He'd just moved onto another and just as he was rewinding the footage, he noticed a familiar cat, ceasing the rewind and replaying it as it's coat markings were unmistakable. 'That's Mini-Boss' cat... Where is he going...' He jumped through another camera, following the cat if possible, finding that Urunyan had hid himself in some bushes. Kagerou fast forwarded the video until he noticed some movement, quickly rewinding at the time and replaying it, seeing the cat start moving again, jumping to one last camera where he dug for the footage and found that Urunyan had run straight into a trap. '...Mini-Boss won't be happy to hear about this.' He thought, but perked when he noticed the same figure had approached and picked up the cage. 'Tch, I still can't see their face. ...I think I can understand this, they're even hunting mixed breeds, if Urunyan is mixed or pure-bred...'
Leaving the camera system, Kagerou sighed. Digging through so much footage took a toll on him especially using that particular skill far longer than he anticipated. "Radiant Prism, I'm going to seek out the Commissioner and ask what's the best course, I'll ensure I inform Duke of our findings since Deckerd is off-duty."
-Alright, I'll continue my patrol and see if I can spot anything unusual from up in the skies.- Replied Radiant Prism.
It didn't take long for Kagerou to get back to the station, immediately spotting Saejima the moment he entered the office where he was having a talk with Shadowmaru. "Commissioner, I have something of interest you'll want to look at, you too Shadowmaru." He announced. Saejima gave a nod and Kagerou seated himself at Shadowmaru's desk, logging in and adding the information he copied from hacking into the CCTV cameras he'd hacked into, piecing them together expertly all while inputting the command to drop the screen down from the ceiling. Quick as he was, Kagerou finished compiling the footage together just as the screen was fully extended. Before he replayed the footage, he explained what he and Radiant Prism did in that they questioned some pet owners on how their pets went missing, and that Mini-Boss asked them to look into if a criminal was behind the reason for so many pets disappearing in large waves. He'd also pointed out that the information he'd just pieced together were footage of various CCTV cameras he'd made copies of, and was suggested by one of the pet owners to check the cameras. "...They're searching for pure-bred dogs and cats primarily, but worse of all they have Mini-Boss' cat, too. I'm not sure how I can bring the topic to him about that his cat has been caught... But I suggest we figure out a plan to ambush the criminal by using a pure-bred domestic animal of interest, possibly a breed unseen here in Japan may just do the trick because we can't just use a mixed breed..."
"Mm..." Saejima replayed the footage from Yuuta's desk and rewatched it once more, needing to get a better look at it again. When it finished, he was still silently thinking.
"Commissioner." Shadowmaru addressed. "Any ideas?"
"Mmm hmm..." Both Shadowmaru and Kagerou silently wait for whatever Saejima had to say, before he began to chuckle, his eyes now focusing on them with a devious grin. "...Commissioner, what's with that look." Kagerou asked.
"You two just gave me the perfect idea. But it won't be just you two, we'll need Yuuta's help." He said.
"Mini-Boss? But he's off duty on Sundays..." Shadowmaru frowned. "We can handle-" Saejima waggled his finger. "Mm mm mm mm... This plan I have in mind needs Yuuta, when we explain why we need his help, he'll know exactly what to do. I know just the person who can help the three of us out." Both of them looked at one another, then back to Saejima, wondering what he had in mind. "We're going somewhere, I'll provide the address once we're out of the station. Let's go, I'll meet both of you downstairs."
...
With the Commissioner in tow, the two ninjas were guided to the same building that once housed Drill Boy when he was being built in secret, which was now converted into a private area meant to experiment with bio-machine creations intending to be used for good things rather than being commonly used for cruel ideas criminals have often used them for. Once they were inside, both Shadowmaru and Kagerou were tasked with a plan that was more or less vague but did as told and laid on the slabs as the mechanics powered them both down and their Super A.I. was relocated within some bio-machine animals of choice that Saejima picked personally. "'Guv, I don't think they'll be happy about this once we reactivate them." He told Saejima, running double checks to make sure everything functioned perfectly. Saejima gave him the order to bring them back online, and he did as told reluctantly. It didn't take too long for the ninjas to awaken, and immediately Shadowmaru tried to stand up on his two feet, but wobbled and collapsed. "Ow, my-" He paused upon noticing that instead of his own servo, he noticed a paw. "Wh-Wha... What am I!?" Shadowmaru tried to get up again on two feet, but stumbled down onto four feet as he looked over himself. "GEH!? Wh-Why am I a dog of all animals!? I'm a wolf!" He further added, looking at himself, looking unhappy in particular that he resembled a Doberman Pinscher, with the ears cropped and the tail docked.
"Mm mm mm, Shadowmaru we can't put you in a wolf's body. Our criminal is searching for domestic animals, right? We can't put you in the body of a bio-machine wolf, that's a wild animal and you'll only scare our criminal away. We'll want to catch them, not scare them off." The fact only made Shadowmaru grumble even further. He looked over to where Kagerou was, who'd just managed to get up on his feet. The Shadow Detective looked like that of a Lear's macaw, looking at himself in a nearby mirror, relatively displeased. "Hm, the length of my beak does not match like that of my flying form..." He commented unhappily. "And I feel... Vulnerable without my spy circuitry." He further added, looking at both of his wings, then tucking and folding them neatly against his body.
"That unfortunately wasn't possible to work with, I tried many times but I just can't fit the spy circuitry into those bodies and I've ultimately decided it was better to keep the bio-machine bodies limited to looking as realistic as possible." Toudou told the two. "As for this... Plan 'Guv put you two up for this, I can't say I really like the idea. But I made sure to install a special cloaking device in the body to prevent the criminal from suspecting you're both fakes, the best program I've made thus far. You two just need to act the part of the respective animals you're disguised as." Saejima explained to Shadowmaru that he's to look and act like a real dog, earning him a growl of annoyance in return.
"Well, I suppose that's a start." Saejima said with a slight pout, but soon perked up at something he just remembered. "Ah, but we can't forget the key ingredient you'll both need for this mission." With a snap of his fingers, one of the mechanics approached, carrying a slim box. Upon opening the box, Shadowmaru couldn't help but gawk, inside was a dog's collar which only infuriated him. Next to it also contained a small leg band, meant for Kagerou. "COMMISSIONER, WHAT IS THIS!? YOU EXPECT ME TO WEAR THAT!?" Fumed Shadowmaru.
"B-But this isn't just your ordinary c-collar." One of the mechanics pointed out, intimidated by Shadowmaru's anger. "Th-The collar a-and leg band... Th-They contain small tracking devices inside them."
"So if the criminal takes the bait and captured you two, we can follow the signal to where they're taking all the animals they've been stealing." Saejima explained. "Both of you will be with Yuuta acting as a friend' of mine's prized pets."
"...Sometimes I don't get why you enjoy torturing any of us Braves in such a manner." Kagerou commented idly, extending one of his wings as he looked at the realistic details the mechanics have done to make feathers look so real. He started to wonder if maybe he could... Fly in a bio-machine created body. Extending his wings, he tried just that but only fluttered to the ground. "You don't have thrusters assisting your flight in that body, you might want to put in effort and maybe flap your wings rather than expect that you'll be propelled into the air like your original body." Shadowmaru pointed out, his attention drawn from scowling at Saejima and watched his Brother attempt to fly. Kagerou chose not to say anything and tried again, this time with flapping. It was wonky and clearly he wasn't used to doing something a real animal would do, but did manage to fly up onto Shadowmaru's head. "This... Will take some time getting used to." The Shadow Detective commented.
Shadowmaru and Kagerou spent most of their time mimicking the animals they're supposed to be, knowing they need to put in the effort to convince the criminal otherwise they'd suspect something's not right much to their dismay. Shadowmaru was having a hard time really mimicking a dog, and barking was something he'd been refusing to do as his belief of being a wolf is that they don't bark... At least that's what he believed while Kagerou improved his flying while also knowing he'd need to scale certain things using both his feet and his beak. Both of them stopped what they were doing upon hearing a familiar voice a couple of meters away, spotting Yuuta the moment he entered the room with another mechanic having guided him inside.
Deciding to agree to something both of them discussed earlier while adjusting to the bodies they were put in, they decided to roll along with that they're to look like the real animals they represent. Shadowmaru pretended to look curious at Yuuta, casually approaching while Kagerou sat himself comfortably on his back. When they were close enough, Yuuta immediately spotted them, surprised at seeing a dog breed in person, they looked way bigger than in the pictures he'd seen, and wondered what kind of bird was sitting on it's shoulder. "Wow, Mr. Saejima you never told me that you guys had some pets here!"
"Actually a close friend of mine enjoys pets that you rarely see among common owners. He's... Mostly fond of pure-bred dogs and exotic birds. He's currently overseas so he asked me to look after his prized Doberman Pinscher, and this is also his prized parrot, a beautiful Lear's Macaw." Yuuta was astonished, things he'd only seen in pictures and seeing them as the real deal was incredibly amasing. "He's trained them really well, normally dogs would jump up on people or bark, but your friend's dog is really well trained, the same goes for his parrot who isn't just flying off at random!"
"Mm, he spends time training his pets. They're very close friends." Saejima nodded. "So, Yuuta. I'd like to task you with something very important." With the teenager's attention, he briefly looked towards Shadowmaru and Kagerou, then back to Yuuta. "We're very busy working on a couple of projects and I was wondering if you could take them back up to the surface on a walk? Sh... Maru has been a little antsy and is aching to go out and stretch his legs. Kai- The parrot, is going to stay with you two, but don't worry he's very well trained and won't fly off as you've pointed out." Yuuta had a hard time believing that parrots were capable of being trained to not fly away without warning but shook that thought aside, nodding. "Sure, I can take them outside for a bit. But... Where can I find Maru's leash?" Saejima only wagged his finger, smirking as he explained that Maru's also trained to be off the leash, and doesn't need that sort of thing.
'He's having way too much fun with this...' Thought Shadowmaru, becoming more annoyed. 'But, at least that spares me the extra humiliation of wearing a leash.'
When Saejima sent Yuuta off to go back up to the surface with the two pets, unknown that it was Shadowmaru and Kagerou who were actually with him. The three of them reached the surface in a short time and once they were out, they began their walk. Yuuta was concerned, walking the prized dog and parrot of Saejima's friend made him nervous. He wasn't sure if the criminal would strike in broad daylight but being far from the city, the chances of having the animals taken away from him was way too low... At least he hoped so. 'The criminal only went after people's pets in the neighbourhood, so they wouldn't know that I'm here, right...?' They walked for a while until when Yuuta decided to stop and rest, Shadowmaru decided to sit down next to Yuuta, looking around for a moment wondering where was Kagerou until noticing him just up the tree above them. "Ahh, I really should try to walk longer distances, I'll need to improve on that with Dumpson..." He noticed Maru approaching closer, nuzzling his hand. "Don't worry, Maru. I'll be fine. I'm a police officer in training... Well, not a real one yet but I have good friends who are helping me shape up to be like a real one when that time comes and I'm old enough!" He told the dog, petting him.
"Oh, I never thought I'd run into another fellow dog lover." Came a feminine voice as Yuuta perked up, looking around until he saw a lady appear from around a large tree. At her side was a large black dog, curiously looking at him. "I can't believe my own eyes, is that a Doberman Pinscher? They're so rare and hard to acquire here in Japan! Likewise with my precious Black Russian Terrier here." Yuuta was surprised, he'd never thought that terrier dogs could come in big sizes compared to smaller breeds he's known. "That's a terrier!? I thought all terriers were all small little dogs you can pick up... That's a surprise that some can be so big as that one..." The woman could only chuckle, stating that many people get that impression. But as the conversation jumped back and forth, the lady clearly didn't look like they were interested in leaving, which made Yuuta uncomfortable and Shadowmaru instinctively growled, the need to protect his Boss radiating strongly, especially when he could pick up scents like a real dog that warned him of real danger, just not as strongly as he could in his original body.
"Ah, no Maru it's okay... We're going to continue our walk, okay?" Unknown to Yuuta, the woman was internally smiling, her eyes hidden by a pair of sunglasses focused on the Doberman Pinscher with great interest. She wasn't sure if it was smart in knowing what was going on, but nonetheless the breed greatly interested her. "Are you lost by chance, young man? The forests can be quite difficult to navigate from here."
"Oh no, I know where I've traveled, but we'll be on our way now. It was nice to meet you." Yuuta said, getting up as he motioned for 'Maru' to follow, and he did. Once they were away from the lady, Shadowmaru seemed to calm but only momentarily, when he sensed something nearby and growled in defence, body posture shifting. "Maru, what's going on? We're going-" Just before he could finish his sentence, Yuuta could hear a bunch of dogs and cats growling as they slowly came out of the bushes, some of them even descending from trees, all surrounding Yuuta in a small ring. "Why are there so many dogs and cats!? They're-" As Yuuta looked around for a way out, he then noticed one familiar cat that caught his complete attention. "Wh-Wha!? Urunyan!?" The teenager was shocked to see that Urunyan was also behaving the same way as the other animals around him. He could tell his mind wasn't his own, and was being controlled against his will. He could hear a woman laugh, turning to see the same lady again, but this time in a different attire. "Well done, my little pets. We have another collection in our hands. Now, seize that dog and pin the boy!" Acting on command, Yuuta was immediately pinned to the ground as a lot of the bigger dogs easily knocked him to the ground while 'Maru' tried to fend himself, but didn't dare hurt the animals as he snarled and snapped his jaws, tussling with the other controlled dogs until he was overwhelmed himself.
Upon seeing what's happening to Shadowmaru and Yuuta, Kagerou swooped dowards, attacking the lady with a few strikes. The dogs pinning Shadowmaru became distracted with what was going on with their master, which gave the doberman an advantage and used all of his strength to break free when his Brother then distracted the dogs, but would soon be overwhelmed. Kagerou intended to go in for another swoop, but something had hit him as he fell to the floor in front of Yuuta, a tranquilizing dart sticking out of it's little body as it flailed trying to get up, but soon passed out. "Kai! Damn you, you're not getting away with this!" It took all of Yuuta's strength to reach in his trousers pocket, intending to call for the Brave Police but the lady quickly commanded her Black Russian Terrier to retrieve the badge once he'd manage to pull it out, biting Yuuta's hand as the teenager yelped, dropping it as the dog snatched away his badge in one swift move, bringing it back to it's master loyally. "Well done my pet, hmm..." She paused to get a good look at the badge. "Yes, I figured you were that very boy who tags along with those unsightly robots, but..." Dropping the badge onto the ground, Yuuta watched as the criminal crushed it under her heel as it broke, sparks flying out of the now destroyed badge. "We don't want to attract the attention of your friends now, do we? Nor would I want to let you go free now that you know my identity."
Yuuta paled as the dogs and cats inched closer, particularly the more larger ones baring their teeth. "N-No! Don't come any closer!" The boy shook as he tried to be brave. "Someone! Anyone! DECKERD!"
The sound of roaring jets could be heard as J-Decker, Duke Fire, Aerial Radiance, and Super Build Tiger flew overhead, slowing as they hovered over the forest. The presence of the large robots made some of the animals back away, the loud noises making them uncomfortable. "J-Decker! Everyone!" He called out as their presence forced the dogs to back away even further.
"When something happened to your badge, we knew something was wrong." Super Build Tiger called out, as Radiant Prism withdrew her ranged weapon, training it at the woman. "You there, come quietly. Now!"
"Damn you, Brave Police! I'm not going to let you unsightly robots rob me of my plans! The police may have ceased operations of my beautiful pet hotel years ago, but I'm not letting you take my dogs away!" cursed the woman, bringing out a remote. "Come out, my beautiful darlings! Come out and defend your alpha!" She called out, pressing the button. The ground began to shake, and soon after, a large number of wolves began to emerge from the ground. "I'll have lots of fun fun ripping your friends piece by piece, little boy! Go, attack them!" The Brave Police immediately went into action as the wolves attacked, but were quickly taken by surprise that they had incredibly high jumping capability as they leapt and leapt at the Braves, some successfully biting into them as they crippled the areas in particular that kept them airborne. J-Decker was left with a clipped wing, Duke Fire's thruster was torn up, Radiant Prism's legs were damaged, Gunmax's propellers breaking when the wolves' teeth obstructed them to the point of breaking and the wolves chewed into Super Build Tiger, their severe injuries causing the Build Team to separate and fall to the ground. The woman laughed at seeing the Braves injured as they were forced to land.
"Don't think of us as pushovers, criminal!" Radiant Prism growled, kicking one of the wolves off of her, flinching as her feet ached from the damage.
"Perhaps not, but you robots don't even care about the lives of animals."
"What!?" They all exclaimed.
"Inside all my little darling pets, a portion of the dogs and cats keep them safe from the likes of you! Harm them, and you're harming the little things inside... Not that you robots seem to care."
"Th-That's low, u-using them as shields like that...!" McCrane groaned, Power Joe continuing. "What... Kind of person does that to any animal!?"
"We're aware of the other previous laws you've broken, and this one you're going to see yourself behind bars- Nngh... Permanently." Dumpson growled as Drill Boy glared. "Y-Yeah! Ow... Ow..."
"You think you understand how the animals feel when none of you possess that sort of thing? Tear them apart until they're no longer operational! I want to see them in pieces!" Yuuta watched in horror as the Brave Police were attacked from all around, unable to fight back without the risk of hurting the animals inside the bio-machine wolves. He was at a loss of what he could do to help his friends, and felt powerless at how he could save them from their attacks. "Mini-Boss!" His attention turning to the Doberman, Yuuta was surprised that it spoke... Not only did it spoke but it sounded just like Shadowmaru. "Shadowmaru? Why are you a dog...?"
"I'll explain later, but you should try to wrestle that control device that criminal has, and quick! I'm not sure how long the others have since I lack my spy circuitry, but please Mini-Boss, grab what she's holding and destroy it!" Yuuta hesitated at first, but his expression grew more determined and nodded. Turning to look at the woman whom had moved further away upon hearing Shadowmaru finding out the source of her weakness, he muttered a silent apology and didn't like the idea that he had to get rough with a lady, but he needed to save his friends no matter what. "Get back here...!" Yuuta cried out as he broke into a sprint, running straight for the woman who quickly spotted him running her way and she quickly commanded the animals to attack him as a means of restraining him, to which Yuuta easily dodged a couple of incoming animals, but some already latched onto his sleeves and even his legs, causing him to cry out in pain as some of them bit into his flesh. Despite the pain, he continued to go after the woman, easily catching up and tackling her to the ground. The two of them fought for the remote as Yuuta had to get it away from her but after managing to overwhelm them to some degree, Yuuta managed to pry the remote out of the criminal's hands, managing to somewhat toss it away from the both of them before she could free an arm to grab it from him again.
"Get off me you brute- No! Get it my pets!" Shrieked the criminal. On command, the mind-controlled animals went after the remote, Shadowmaru tried to beat them to it but was pinned down by some of the larger dogs. He watched one of them grabbing the remote, but then saw a familiar streak of blue swoop down and snatch the remote away. "Kagerou! You're back!" Motivated now that the remote has been seized, Shadowmaru struggled until he eventually broke free, quickly avoiding the other dogs attempting to pin him once more.
"Kagerou, give me the remote, I'll crush it!" Cried Shadowmaru.
"NO! STOP THEM MY PETS! DON'T LET THEM DESTROY MY DEVICE!" Shrieked the criminal who continued to try and break free from Yuuta.
"Destroy it, Shadowmaru!" Called out Yuuta. "And hurry!"
Shadowmaru quickly broke into a sprint to get away from the mind-controlled animals now chasing him, Kagerou gave chase and informed Shadowmaru that they're going to have one shot at this. "I'll fly ahead of you and drop the remote, be sure to catch it with your teeth since you don't have servos!" Kagerou warned, earning a slight nod from Shadowmaru. "Go ahead, I'll be in position!" As expected, Kagerou flew just further ahead of Shadowmaru while the latter picked up speed as fast as he could. The mind-controlled dogs were easily catching up, particularly some of the dog breeds known for their agile and speed. "Get ready Shadowmaru, I'm about to let go of it!"
The doberman pinscher lined himself up, ensuring he was directly behind Kagerou and ready to catch. When the latter released his grip, Shadowmaru leapt into the air, and caught the remote with his teeth. Once his feet met the ground, he quickly stopped and spun a full 180, crushing the remote with his strong jaws as bits and pieces of the crushed remote sparked, and the animals under the mind control soon returned to normal. Once the deed was done, Shadowmaru spat out the pieces, his face wrinkling somewhat. "Blegh, that was horrible- ...Wh-Why do I have taste buds in this body!?"
Their attention soon turned towards the wolves, the lights from their optics started to dim out, and eventually tumble to the ground.
"You did it, Shadowmaru! Alright!"
"Damn you Brave Police! This won't be the last time!" Shrieked the woman as she managed to break free and start running. Quickly getting back up, Yuuta struggled to catch up since he'd used all his strength to keep the lady from both trying to escape or to go after the device and was a little fatigued. Fortunately, he didn't need to worry as the sight of Duke diving forward and seized the woman, ensuring she couldn't get away. "You're under arrest for multiple accounts of animal cruelty and theft!" He told the woman who struggled to free herself from his grasp, but soon gave up. Duke slowly lowered the woman but didn't let go, allowing Yuuta to apply the cuffs to her wrists. "Now that we've got our criminal..." Yuuta turned to look over at the hundreds of dogs looking very clearly lost and confused. "Uh, we're... Going to need a lot of animal rescuers and volunteers to help get these pets back to their repective owners." He told Duke worryingly. His attention was drawn away when he felt something against his leg, looking down to see it was Urunyan. "Urunyan! You're alright!" He exclaimed happily, kneeling down to pet his cat, who meowed and purred in response.
...
It didn't take long for police cruisers to arrive and collect the criminal, while a little after, vehicles of animal rescue organisations rounded up the animals which took hours due to some becoming sensitive and stressed from their current environment, and many especially missing their owners. With the organisations doing their work, there wasn't much else to do other than let them get to work. Deckerd and Yuuta were currently on their way back to the city. "Deckerd, are you sure you're alright?" Yuuta asked worryingly as they drove back to the city.
"Yes, I only sustained some minor damage but my support vehicle will need extensive repairs, the same can be said for Duke and Radiant Prism's respective support vehicles. The Build Team and Gunmax however..." Both of them went silent, knowing they took the most damage compared to the others who weren't all that scratched up. "They'll be stuck in the human-sized bodies for a couple of days until they're fully repaired." Yuuta nodded at this fact, but noticed that as they got back to the city, Deckerd wasn't driving him home, but instead the streets they were turning into made him realise that they were heading for the station instead. "Eh? Deckerd, the direction we're going..."
"Sorry, Yuuta. Ah... The Commissioners told me directly that he wanted to speak with us before we head home."
Yuuta was puzzled. "Mr. Saejima and Mr. Azuma needs to see us? For what reason when today we were supposed to have the day off?" It then dawned on the teenager and he perked up, realising something. "Ah! Thinking about it, I needed to talk to Mr. Saejima and Shadowmaru about the bio-machine animals disguise. That was a pretty nasty lie he pulled on me... Shadowmaru didn't even tell me that he was acting as Mr. Saejima's best friend's 'prized Doberman pinscher' either! Deckerd, were you made aware of this?"
"Eh? No, none of us were made aware of this idea the Commissioner conjured." Replied Deckerd, noticing that Yuuta seemed suspicious of his response. "Yuuta... I'm telling the truth. You and I both know that whatever he plans involving Shadowmaru and Kagerou in particular aren't discussed with me and the others." He further added slowly, if the Brave Detective could express through his dashboard, he would give his best friend a worried look. "Ah, we're here." He announced, glad the station came into view as he slowed to turn into the station. Immediately they could see the Build Team's bodies were already hooked up onto the docks, at the human sized doors were the Build Teams themselves, already relocated into their human-sized bodies as they waved at Yuuta, approaching when Deckerd came to a halt.
"There you are, Boss!" Drill Boy grinned as Yuuta climbed out. "Come on, we have to get to the office! There's a-" Drill Boy was unable to finish as Dumpson suddenly pulled him under an arm as he flailed. "The Commissioner has some exciting news to share with you, he's asked us to take you to the office." The Wrestler Detective said, keeping his grip on his little Brother for a little longer until letting go. "That hurt, Dumpson!" Exclaimed Drill Boy. "I was about to tell Yuuta that-"
"Come on, Boss. Let's go before Drill Boy spoils it for you." Power Joe interrupted as Drill Boy now snapped at Power Joe saying he wasn't going to spoil anything. Yuuta couldn't help but laugh, finding the banter between the Build Team so amusing. 'They really are like Brothers.' He commented to himself in his thoughts, noting McCrane shaking his helm at Power Joe, Dumpson, and Drill Boy's playful banter. Following the four members, they went up to the top floor and through the corridor until they got to the door leading to the office. Power Joe was about to open the door, but McCrane stopped him from doing so. "Boss, you go in first." The Combat Detective told Yuuta. The teenager was puzzled, as he noticed that there was no light seeping from the frames of the door. 'Strange, normally the lights wouldn't be off unless it's time for everyone to go and recharge, but why are the Build Team leading me inside?'
Nervous, but deciding to enter, Yuuta reached for the door knob and entered, he couldn't see all that much but once he was fully inside the room, the lights suddenly flashed on all at once.
"SURPRISE!" Exclaimed everyone as confetti and streamers flew everywhere. Yuuta was taken aback so suddenly, yelping as he fell backwards as the others chuckled. "Yuuta, you always jump whenever we surprise you on your Birthday." Kurumi managed to say. Yuuta saw that all of the invited guests consist of his sisters, Coach Omura, Mrs. Itohata, Mudra, Kashiwazaki, Ayako, Seia, Makoto, Masaki, Kikumaro, and Emily. The other Braves were also present with some still in their original bodies or in human-sized bodies. Saejima was also present, alongside Azuma, who was reluctant to involve himself in any form with the teenager. "Thank you everyone." Yuuta chuckled as he got back up. "This was a real surprise. Normally I'd easily catch on to what my sisters have planned but this time... I've noticed it's a little different."
"It was a successful surprise. Duke actually suggested we try a more western-like party, both he and Radiant Prism explained to us how the west celebrates birthday parties and both Kurumi and I thought it was a nice idea to change things up a little." Azuki giggled, then became shy as she looked in a direction. "Isn't that right Kashiwazaki?"
"H-Huh!?" Gunmax exclaimed, realising Azuki was addressing the wrong person, his antenna drooping just slightly. "It's me, Gunmax..." He said slowly. "Kashiwazaki is over... There..." As he gestured in the direction of where the man was, Kashiwazaki couldn't help but sweatdrop at the mistake.
"Whoopsie!" Azuki said, flustered she made the same mistake she was known for.
"With everyone here, I guess we can finally start the party, right?" Drill Boy asked eagerly.
"Not so fast!" Saejima exclaimed. "We cannot start the party just yet." Yuuta and the others were puzzled by this, but Saejima continued with a more serious look. "Yes, Yuuta is here, but we're forgetting the guests of honour! Alright, you guys can come inside!" The door then opened as Yuuta turned to see who was entering and was just as shocked. "Mom? Dad?"
"Yuuta! We decided to take the day off to visit our son on his birthday." Grinned Yuichiro, pulling his son into a hug. Amami couldn't help but chuckle. "It's incredible that you're already now fourteen, you're growing up so fast." She added.
"I... I honestly thought you two wouldn't make it, since you guys are always overseas and all and I know how the job keeps you two so busy..." Yuuta slowly said, surprised that they've made the time to come home and see him.
"It wasn't easy, but we managed to free up a whole day by working extra hard." Replied his Father.
"Hey, hey, hey! Yuuta, why don't you come over here and blow the candles out before all the wax drips onto the frosting!" Coach Omura called out to Yuuta, planting the palm of his hand to his nose. "The party won't start until those candles are blown out, 'ya know!"
"Ah, alright! Sorry for keeping everyone waiting." Yuuta laughed as he made his way over to his desk, pausing for a moment then blew out the candles as everyone cheered and clapped. Yuuta admitted to himself that today was the greatest birthday he'd ever had. Not only did all of his friends he's known over the years all came together for his birthday party, but even his parents making time to fly all the way home for his birthday was even better. Everyone had a blast as people and Braves alike interacted and talked. Everyone's attention was soon drawn to Radiant Prism who was fiddling with a party popper inbetween her large digits, managing to grip the string and gave it a slight tug, exploding with a popping noise that sent confetti and streamers flying. At the loud sound, it made her flinch back just slightly before looking at the used device with confusion as everyone laughed. When asked if she's seen a party popper before, Radiant Prism only shook her helm saying she's never experienced such a thing, but found it amusing nonetheless. Duke and Deckerd had to get her to stop using up all the party poppers in case the others wanted to use them too. McCrane, Seia, and Makoto were off to the side talking, watching the others have their fun while Kikumaro and Emily were telling Masaki to save the rest of the cake for Yuuta since they can't just have more than two slices. Mudra happened to surprise everyone with a feast, having rolled a table with dishware covered over the entire table with a cloth. Everyone was amased at how much cooking Mudra did, with Azuki saying she and Kurumi also helped out. Ayako was up to her usual craze with her camera, taking plenty of pictures, wanting to capture as much of the moments as possible for everyone.
After a few hours into the party, many of them were starting to get ready to head out back home, but Ayako announced to the others that the grand finale of the party would be a group photo with everyone included with Yuuta, something everyone agreed to and got into position, making sure whoever was tallest would be in the back while those shorter were in the front. Ayako personally made sure that everyone was included, and weren't obstructed by someone just because they were taller than the other.
"Alright, I hope everyone's in position! I'm going to start the countdown to let the camera take the photo after ten seconds!" Ayako told the others. Once everyone announced they were ready, the red-haired reporter pressed the button to start the countdown and quickly moved to her spot, and just as a few seconds remained, everyone posed for the photo as the camera shuttered.