Mediziner's Notes: Here we go! I'm a bit late but I managed to get this next chapter up! Reminder to new readers that I submit these chapters once a month. Due to the fact that these take me a long time to work on and I like to keep my chapters nice and chunky for a lot of people, especially speed readers like myself. ...I won't lie, I'm pretty damn proud about about the last part of this chapter... I had a massive brainfart from a dream I had and felt the need to bring it to life as a little bit of spice!
The Leader within Cover Art is drawn and commissioned by Erilmadith-Everyoung on DeviantART. You can also find Radiant Prism's full reference there along with fan profile references she's made for the main Brave Police robot characters, including the Scotland Yard!
Enjoy!
...
Patrol continued well into the night and there were no reports let alone updates if anyone sighted their target. Deckerd assumed that after McCrane had shot it with one of his stun grenades, it caused it to not only retreat but take a lengthy amount of time to heal itself of the pain caused by it. Out of concern that it might cause a ruckus overnight, he assigned Gunmax, Dumpson, and Kagerou on night patrol duties while the rest of the others went down to the repair bay to recharge for the night, all except for Deckerd who had just come back from having dropped off Yuuta at the house. "Hey Deckerd, what are you doing back so soon?" Power Joe greeted. "Normally you would have already gone to recharge by this point."
"Yes, but first I need to speak with Regina and the Scotland Yard." Deckerd replied, thinking for a moment. "Anything from the others?"
"You just assigned the others to start patrolling two minutes ago, just give them time to report every now and then." Replied the yellow Brave, changing form as he positioned himself inbetween McCrane and Dumpson, parking himself.
"Ah, right... Apologies..." His attention soon fell onto Radiant Prism with concern. As if expecting where he'd look, Shadowmaru raised his dog form's head with a slight shake. "No breakthrough unfortunately." He said, lowering his head down. "I'm have no doubt the Chief's going to call for Regina's help since he and his mechanics had quite the struggle during a few tests that unfortunately made no changes." It was shocking to Deckerd that Toudou wasn't able to find a way to painlessly rid of those cluttering firewalls. He's done and made all sorts of things, but these firewalls in particular... Pushing his thoughts aside, Deckerd made his way over to the lift and up to the office floor, heading inside and preparing to make a call to the Scotland Yard.
It was only just a few minutes until finally the answer was called. King and the rest of the Scotland Yard were displayed on the screen, including Regina. "Good Evening, Deckerd." She greeted. "Is there anything we can help you with?"
"Good Morning, Regina. Actually... I've decided to update you and the others personally, it's easier for me to explain than sending an email about it in detail. Yesterday not long after speaking with King, I've sent the others to the four main airports of Japan to investigate any sightings of illegally smuggled robotics as he explained." He paused for a moment, inputting some commands until a screen displayed on their end. "From Power Joe's sighting, we discovered this when he and McCrane were looking into Haneda International for any evidence for what you and the others are looking into and found this strange creature that managed to damage Power Joe's visual and balancing circuitry. Worse... We believe that it was trying to control Power Joe, but it seems to be sensitive or weak to electrical charges. McCrane fired a stun grenade into it, causing it to let go of Power Joe and retreat."
"Have any of them managed to track it to wherever it fled to?" Ace asked.
Deckerd shook his helm. "No, we discovered that it's slime-like body is equipped with radar masking systems. Incredibly powerful that not even Shadowmaru and Kagerou can trace it's location. We're still looking for it, I've already sent three of my teammates on night patrol to find it. But, have any of you found anything on your end at Heathrow Airport?"
"Not a single thing." Pawn said with a frown, crossing his arms. "Every single luggage bag we traced, there was only parts. Unfortunately from what we've gathered before they departed onto the next flight to wherever they're going, we haven't figured out what they're for since it seemed to be just useless scraps of metal."
As the others talked, Regina had remained silent as she took the time to think about what has been said about their investigation thus far. A few minutes later she patiently waited until she could see an opportunity to speak, then spoke once she saw that opportunity reveal itself. "Deckerd, I'm going to have three members of my team to help you and the others with this case. Since we're technically involved in this case, it's better to have more more of us working on this case."
"I agree, however neither of you have authority to act here in Japan, so your chosen team members will need to work alongside my team under supervision."
Regina took a moment to pause, needing to consider who she will be sending and what they're dealing with. She felt that the information would most likely change about their culprit and she would need to pick the right members she feels they could help Deckerd and the others take care of it efficiently. She also could see her team looking at her, wondering who will she pick to send over to Japan. "I'll need time to think about who I'm sending, but I'll let you know that I'll be personally making a trip over in Japan once I've picked out the three members I'm sending over to help. Toudou sent an email not too long ago asking for my help in removing these firewalls from your friend, Radiant Prism." Deckerd nodded as Regina continued. "However, I want you to keep in mind that I can't promise any immediate form of breakthrough... But, we both know that those firewalls need to come off before they deal anymore damage to her." It was clear that some of the Scotland Yard members were a little puzzled or startled by this, wondering who would lace someone's Super A.I. with unnecessary firewalls that weren't related to protecting important, if not vital parts of them from being hacked into.
"Thank you, Regina. I'll make sure that the others are-" Deckerd suddenly went silent as his comms badge came to life. -Hey Patrol Car, you awake? Because we could really use your help right now!-
Quickly excusing himself then muting the communications between him and the Scotland Yard, Deckerd took out his badge. "What is it, Gunmax?" Deckerd replied.
-Remember that thing that attacked Power Joe? It's out here in the junkyard! I think it might be eating most of the scrapped useless stuff here because it looks a lot bigger than the last time it was seen.- Deckerd jolted at hearing the announcement about the bio-machine having come out of it's hiding place. He didn't answer right away, instead closing his badge and turned his attention back to the Scotland Yard, unmuting their communications. "Apologies, that was Gunmax... I'll make sure the others are aware that of the members and yourself included are on your way here, at the moment I must unfortunately depart to deal with the creature Gunmax just found."
"Whoever gets chosen to go, we'll make preparations to set off right away as fast as how travelers are quickly moved to their next flight in a timely manner just like how Heathrow gets that done in a professional manner!" Rook announced happily. "The earlier we get there, the better!"
"It better not be me going... Because I really hate being off the ground or off the water for that matter..." Ten complained unhappily, his expression like that of someone who's about to purge their tanks.
"We'll keep you posted." King told Deckerd. "Go help your teammates. By the time you guys get back, I should have an email already sent to you."
The Brave Detective nodded as communications ended. Wasting no time, Deckerd made his way back down to ground floor. "Everyone, there's trouble at the junkyard. Gunmax has found the bio-machine!" He ordered as everyone acknowledged. Drill Boy had to be nudged awake, eventually waking up and getting ready to follow the others out. One by one everyone filed out of the station and towards their destination, not taking long to reach the junkyard where they could get a good view of it. Kagerou and Dumpson were already there backing up Gunmax. "Look, it's absorbing the ammunition they're firing at it!" Exclaimed Duke. "We might need to try a different approach."
"It might still be weak to electricity." McCrane said. "I've brought a stun grenade with me. Unfortunately I haven't received a shipment of new ammunition yet so I've only got one ready. If we waste this shot, we won't have any means of dealing with it efficiently."
"Alright, we'll distract the creature as much as possible and we keep at it until McCrane's finds the right moment to shoot!" Deckerd ordered.
"Understood!" Acknowledged everyone, getting to work once they've arrived.
"Ah, so you've all come. Good, the scrap here isn't as... Exquisite." Chuckled the creature, speaking in German. "But you are!" At incredible speed, it extended parts of it in an attempt to grab any of the Braves as they quickly reacted, avoiding the tentacle shaped appendages. "Run all you like, you won't last long!" It continued to extend and thrash it's limbs at the Braves, slithering towards each Brave as they struggled to avoid the incoming tentacle-like appendages.
"Don't let any of those touch you!" Deckerd exclaimed, understanding the language clearly. The others began to uncomfortably comment about how it spoke like as if it were like one of their own, Deckerd was surprised himself as he quickly dodged another attack, wanting to use his handgun or even combine but none of those would have an effect and it was far too risky to even combine. The Braves weren't sure what they could do other than keep it distracted. For Deckerd, he was getting flashbacks from when he couldn't fire at Kagerou when his Super A.I. years ago had been replaced with that horrible destructive A.I. chip Shinjo Ken had installed. The case was different for when he and Duke battled the two Chieftains that formed into that strange combination sequence extracted , but this bio-machine... It's shapeless body was too dangerous to risk trying to attack. He felt certain it lacked a black box to shield it's Super A.I. from whatever damage it would sustain. Instead, it's shapeless body would act as a means of 'defence' where it's traded for an agile, bio-machine body, even if it's a shapeless being.
Continuing to dodge the attacks, he realised the tentacle-like appendages were retreating, changing course towards a different target. Upon McCrane calling out for Dumpson to get back, he immediately saw it latching partially onto Dumpson, beginning to electrocute him. "Yes, I can tell you have just what I need!" More of it's appendages were now directed around the Wrestler Detective, lacing around his frame until up to his neck and the entirety of his head remained exposed. "But don't worry, it'll all be over very soon... I can tell you that much." Dumpson struggled, trying to break free, but could feel something eating at him as he yelled out in agony.
"Guys! Guys get it off of me! It's eating me!" Dumpson screamed, struggling even more. "I-I can no longer feel one of my legs!"
In the background, McCrane had just attached the stun grenade to his shotgun and took aim. Lining up his shot, he fired the stun grenade as it hit the creature, as it shrieked in agony from being electrocuted, which also unfortunately knocked Dumpson out completely, yet it was enough to force the bio-machine to release him, revealing the extensive damage it caused. Angered, yet greatly weakened, the bio-machine turned it's attention to McCrane, seeing he was the one responsible for the shot. "I'll see you violently torn apart and absorbed!" It shrieked, lunging at the Combat Detective.
"McCrane! Watch out!" Power Joe cried as he and Drill Boy quickly recovered Dumpson before it could think about trying to consume Dumpson.
McCrane didn't move, but kept his shotgun trained. As his target was coming towards him, the Combat Detective noticed something moving on it's slime-like body, and took aim shooting at what seemed to be a solid part of it's body. As if knowing where the shot was directed, the creature moved that part of it's body before it made impact with it, causing it to screech as it slithered away. "Damn you! You'll all regret what's coming soon... Very soon! I'll make sure of that!" It bellowed, slithering away at an incredible speed.
"No you don't!" Shadowmaru and Kagerou immediately changed their respective flying forms and took to the skies, quickly finding it in it's sights. A rumble of laughter could be heard as the creature suddenly split into ten parts of itself, moving away from one another and in all directions except towards where the other Brave Police members were, easily disappearing into the thicker parts of the surrounding environment. They flew around the area for a while, trying to find any sight of the smaller pieces of the bio-machine's body, but they couldn't spot anything.
"Tch, it's gone..." Shadowmaru then took note of Kagerou flying over to him. "Anything on your end?" He asked his Brother.
"No, I lost it as well. I can't even pinpoint it's location... Whatever it's made out of, it's been engineered carefully with all of us in mind, taking into everything that makes all nine of us what we are... What skills we have that the others don't." Kagerou frowned.
"Let's should return to the station for the time being. The others are returning back to the station with Dumpson in tow."
A little later, the Brave Police had just returned to the station where they carefully helped Dumpson dock into one of the vacant docking cradles after moving it down into a laying position. Duke was currently looking to see what he could do for Dumpson while he assessed the damage. "This is really bad... Not only did it eat the entirety of Dumpson's right lower leg and a little bit of his left shoulder, but it mostly consumed most of his circuitry in both areas. You can see how normally the joint here in his shoulder would've been full of more than what you see now... It's been devoured by that thing." Duke frowned as he was looking over what he could do to help Dumpson.
"And I can't move my arm at all. It ate into my motor circuitry in that arm." He said with a frown.
"I think for now, all I can do is give you something to temporary relieve the pain that will last throughout the night and most of the morning. This isn't something within my expertise that I can fix since most of the circuitry is far too delicate for me to work with but I'll make sure the mechanics know exactly what happened the moment they step foot in the station." Duke told him, retrieving something from his leg compartment and then applying it to Dumpson, who began to relax within seconds as the pain slowly diminished temporarily.
"Guys, I hate to say this but I think it's too dangerous going up against that creature if we combine to beat it." Drill Boy pouted. "What happened with Dumpson, it could happen to us too..."
"Shooting it won't help, either." Gunmax added. "Guns won't work, Build Team's weapons won't work, ninja boys over here would have their throwing stars, sickles, swords and whatever else eaten whole."
"Hm..." Deckerd tried to come up with conclusions, but considering that everyone has seen and witnessed how it moved, behaved- And even displayed clear evidence that it possesses Super A.I. just like them... Deckerd wasn't sure how he could figure this one out, but with whomever Regina's choosing to send over while she's planning her flight to Japan hopefully will help tip the tide in their favour. Whatever that thing was, it must be stopped before it could put the city- Or even the entire country into fear of confirming that Super A.I. were indeed in the black markets... Hunting down any of them was already hard enough to do on the side, but this was far worse.
"For now, we'll need to increase our patrols while either one or two of us will remain to ensure those three criminals don't try to attack Radiant Prism since we're a team of nine." Deckerd explained. "By now, the Scotland Yard should be on their way here within hours."
"Understood." The acknowledged as they watched Deckerd take his leave, heading for the lift as he remembered that King told him that he should have an email prepared for him when they got back.
Seating himself in his office chair, Deckerd booted up his desk computer and immediately noticed the indication that he indeed had an unread email. 'Let's see what's written...' He thought, proceeding to open the email. Reading through it. "I see... Regina's sending Paul Rook, Jack Wild Club, and Ten Hearts." A part of him was concerned primarily with SY-202 in particular... His antics were something he couldn't really put into words, but he could still remember the few times he would sometimes cause a skirmish between himself and his teammates... Especially with Gunmax when they're in the same room together.
That said, he hoped that he wouldn't need to find him dented all over by either McCrane or Dumpson whenever Jack would spot either of their respective girlfriends. '...At least he's much more tolerant with Yuuta than the first few times we worked with him years ago...' He thought, remembering it all over again as if it happened yesterday.
Sometimes it left him wondering why he could still remember it all so clearly. The very first time when the Scotland Yard Team and his own Team had to work together with an incredibly difficult case at the time over in the United Kingdom and it's neighboring countries. That said, Jack had changed somewhat from before, not much but at least he was more tolerant in a sense around others.
"Now that I think about it... Regina should have sent John Bishop over." Deckerd muttered to himself quietly as he relaxed back in his seat. "His control over the elements would've come in handy while dealing with the bio-machine, but it can't be helped. She's already picked who's coming here. But, as for the ones coming over... If I calculated the time correctly, they should be arriving either by late afternoon or sometime in the evening..." He glanced over at the clock on the opposite side of the office. 'Well, I better head back to the Tomonaga residence. If we're lucky, we might be able to spot it again. But what Drill boy said earlier... He's right. It's far too risky to combine to attack it otherwise we're going to be it's meal... All we can do is hope we can find something to deal with it efficiently and avoid contact with it.'
Powering down his desk computer, Deckerd got out of his seat and pushed his chair in, stretching his joints as he made his way out of the office, then eventually out of the station and was on his way back to the Tomonaga residence.
The following morning, Deckerd had just pulled into the station shortly after dropping Yuuta off at school. He couldn't wait to hear if anyone that patrolled overnight may have picked up some clues and ideas of the creature's whereabouts. The first thing he was greeted with were the sounds of tools at work, the mechanics working on repairing Dumpson's damage. He looked around, immediately spotting the Wrestler Detective in his human sized body talking with Ayako as he watched the two of them enter a room. 'They must be heading to the offices.' He thought, proceeding to change out of his vehicle form. He greeted the Chief Engineer and his fellow mechanics while making his way towards the lift and up a floor to the offices. By the time he came in, Ayako and Dumpson were already there, speaking with Gunmax about a particular case while everyone else were currently out patrolling.
"Yo, Patrol Car." Gunmax greeted, having drawn his attention away from Ayako and Dumpson. "Good timing, the two of us could go look into some evidence Ayako here has for us."
"Evidence?" Deckerd approached Ayako and Dumpson, curious to know what sort of case would they be looking to on the side. When he approached the loft, Ayako showed the small picture in front of him as the Brave Detective zoomed his visuals on the photo. Not needing to properly analyze what's shown, the image alone was enough to tell him that Ayako spotted one of the parts of the slime creature's bodies. "That's... Ayako do you know where it's gone? What were you doing at the time of taking this picture?"
"Other than having a shower, not much." Replied Ayako, putting the picture away. "Hmm... I wasn't feeling all that tired so I decided to see if there was anything interesting on T.V. while I was glancing every now and then out at the city until I heard a noise down below. This strange slime creature was eating the apartment complex's gates and a couple of street lights, but luckily my camera was never far away. Sorry that the image is blurry, it moved the moment I snapped that photo. It probably sensed that I was going to take a picture and it fled."
"I can't go and investigate, but maybe you could go and check with Gunmax, Deckerd." Dumpson spoke with a frown. "I can't leave the station anyways since I'm too much of an easy target for it, but I'll make sure to keep an optic on Radiant Prism despite being in this smaller body." Despite the Wrestler Detective's words, Deckerd still seemed hesitant considering Dumpson's small size. He was about to ask him a question, but Gunmax placed a servo over his shoulder, insisting he'd tag along since they did have to work in groups of two and a lone Brave could be caught off guard. "C'mon, Deckerd. Dumpson's got this."
"B-But-"
"We can't leave the evidence Ayako provided unchecked. Who knows, there could be something that could help us pinpoint it's whereabouts." Gunmax continued. "Unless you want me to go on my own, at the risk of that bio-machine's slimy-"
"Gunmax..." Deckerd stared with a frown, then sighed in defeat. "Alright, let's go see what we can find." He looked over at the red headed reporter. "Ayako, I'd like to ask if you could join us. We may have more questions to ask you."
"Sure. Oh, and don't worry about keeping me from work, I already told my boss ahead of time that since I was a witness to something, I'll answer whatever questions to the best of my abilities. Besides, it never hurts to miss out on a possible scoop while I'm outside of the building." Ayako smiled. Dumpson couldn't help but ask how many times she'd been going out and about rather than staying at her desk working, which made Ayako laugh. "Dumpson, I couldn't stand to just go in and sit in an office all day. Being a journalist at my current job gives me more of the opportunity to be outdoors more and at the same time keep myself in shape. If I sat down at a desk all day long for years, I wouldn't be quick enough to catch possible scoop material."
She turned her attention back to the two Braves. "Okay, I'll be downstairs whenever you two are ready." The others nodded as the journalist made her way out of the office.
...
"I won't lie, Hans... Seeing how much damage this thing's fixed up, I feel like it's hard to believe that our machine getting fixed this fast." Uwe commented. "...It's collected so much material and... Converted it all to what we need." Both he and Hans were watching the creature work it's magic, shaping and molding things to repair and fix their machine. Overnight, the creature had provided them with a few means of being entertained, yet Hans in particular didn't seem all that impressed. As helpful as their intelligent 'helper' is, the lingering possibilities of how the Brave Police would deal with it weighed on him greatly.
He hadn't really registered anything else his friend had said afterwards, he had too much on his mind that while they would have another go to try and finish off Radiant Prism, he still didn't like this... Something just doesn't seem right to him. Even though they'd endure with long days and weeks of getting their butts kicked, it just annoyed him that they're being ordered around which meant little to no fun to learn new things about the Brave Police, and especially overhear something that might be of interest. 'I really should be out under disguise to learn about what else is new, yet I can't thanks to our 'ally' preventing me from performing what I'm the best at among the three of us.'
"Hans? Hey, Hans!" With a fairly strong pat to the back, Hans snapped out of his thoughts, realising Uwe was still there. "You alright? You've been spacing out."
"Yeah, I'm fine... I'm just thinking about what kind of plan. Been trying to figure out what we'd do while we're going up against the Brave Police." Hans dismissed. "I just can't think of anything that would otherwise be beneficial to turning the tide in our favour. It's asked me to think of something that involved parts of it's plan but... There's just nothing I can think of. The Japanese Brave Police are far more clever..."
"You'll just have to try harder, Hans!" Eberhard announced, having just finished his shower as he proceeded to bring the towel over his hair. "The longer they figure out how they can fix that blasted thorn in our sides, the longer we have to stay here and continue to gamble for our freedom in trying to destroy her."
"I-" An audible splat could be heard as the creature slithered to them. The trio had to admit that compared to the first meeting to current, it had grown in size, most likely from eating various amounts of metal to keep itself sustained much like how the Brave Police need to consume fuel to keep themselves running. "The Brave Police fear us now, knowing I can feast on their bodies. However I have conducted my own research into how the Brave Police function." Shifting it's form, the intelligent creature had shapeshifted into a human being. "This mock up you see is a boy that seems to hold control over the Brave Police. I've been conducting a plot he will be a target in particular." It would soon return to it's shapeless form.
"He will serve nicely as a hostage. While I'm keeping the Brave Police away, all you'll have to do is attack while they're far enough away and it'll be too late. Then, once the deed is done, you can destroy the Brave Police of Japan along with Radiant Prism! The silhouetted man will be very pleased."
"So let's attack them now since you've fixed up all of our damage!" Eberhard boomed.
"And allow you three to go and damage your machine? Tsk, you are a foolish human. We will not begin our attack until later in the afternoon. I've calculated the red one's repairs will not be completed until this afternoon, have you not seen how the Brave Police have been doubling their patrols? The smell of fear lingers in the air, and it will only increase when the one I've snacked on is able to patrol, or come out when I have the kid in my grasp."
"...Red one? Ah, you must mean... Ah, here it is. It's BP-303 according to the information, they call him by 'Dumpson'. Odd choice of name..." Uwe pointed out, having brought a clipboard with information. "The information is all in the computer and printed on some paper I've clipped here. Let's see... One of the 'Build Team' robots, more built for strength rather than speed which means he's the strongest of the entire team. I'm assuming since you consumed most of his circuitry when you got back, that's where some of the 'important' components you were missing had come from him to repair the damage the one with the drill did."
"Hrm. No matter, when the child they call 'Yuuta Tomonaga' finishes school, that's where I'll inform you to get into position to strike. It's not worth attacking right now until it's confirmed the one I've damaged has been fully repaired."
"I hate having to wait around." Snorted Eberhard. "There's no time to wait when she's right where we want her when you-" Eberhard was suddenly surrounded by the creature, lifted just by one leg and dangled with one tentacle firmly wrapped around him, alarming Hans and Uwe as the scene unfolded. The two latter intended to avoid as much of the creature's anger as much as possible, but for it to suddenly bolt into action without an attack, but a threat was enough to see what would happen if they tried to oppose him. "Let go of me you... You... I will go on the attack as I please!"
"And allow the one they call Dumpson who's undergoing repairs warn you of your presence at their station? I think not." Snorted the creature. "If you blindly continue to attack at your own leisure, you're only going to get beaten over... And over... And over... I know you three want to see Radiant Prism destroyed, and so does the silhouetted man. But, there are always other opportunities and chances to strike- She relies on the assistance of the Japanese Brave Police to keep her safe, having gone so far from the others. Not even the famous Scotland Yard would be of any help either you see."
"Before you came here, actually, the Scotland Yard had come to their aid before in the past." Uwe pointed out just as Eberhard was dropped onto it's gooey body. "When we collaborated with a criminal organization, we've seen two of their members. SY-230 King, leader of the Scotland Yard and a magic wielder known as SY-231, or Bishop as he's called."
"Speaking of which, before we continue, I hate to say it over and over, but since you lack any proper name, I'm just going to call you 'Shapeshifter' to make things easier for the three of us." Hans chimed. "The reason being that it's easier to identify you with a given name... Even though you're not a robot in the same manner as the others. Besides, it matches your ability to shape your body to whatever you make yourself look like."
"Shapeshifter...? My name-" It ceased for a moment, as if it remembered something but knew it would need to put up with it. "Very well, I find it... Reasonable. It's not my real name, but I will never tell you what it truly was."
"Damn you-"
"Eberhard stop. I'm actually agreeing with what Shapeshifter here is telling us." Hans stepped forth. "I don't like it either, but if we're going to make this work, we have to follow along. In fact..." He and Uwe looked at one another with a devious grin as Uwe continued. "When we finally get this thing pulled off successfully, we'll let you deal as much destructive damage as you'll once we've fully confirmed Radiant Prism's death, we'll even let you destroy the rest of the Brave Police and we won't lift a finger or warn you about anything... Except of course if we need to pull back if we're on the verge of our machine taking severe damage to the point of... Well, exploding. But I have no doubt that they'd be completely devastated by the loss of their own friend to really put up much of a fight."
"Destruction..." Eberhard took a moment to let it sink in, and as he played it out all in his head a grin slowly began to surface. Causing as much destruction as he'd like and send the people of Japan in terror? The sounds of people screaming as the Brave Police are torn apart by them? "A tempting choice, I like it. Fine, I'll agree to wait until that stupid wrestling obssessed robot gets repaired, but how the hell are we going to know when to strike when afternoon does roll in!? We could miss our chance!"
"I have a part of myself spying on the station." Shapeshifter paused for a moment, then shapeshifted into a perfect accuracy of Dumpson, save for parts that looked exposed still. "This is his repair status thus far. Unfortunately I'm incapable of showing visual proof like security cameras, but I can see through the other parts of me which would then allow me to adjust my shape accordingly into what I can see from it."
"You... Really are full of unusual surprises, Shapeshifter. I expected you to somehow 'see' through this body but... The thought that you could see by splitting parts of yourself... That's..." Uwe frowned, unable to continue, feeling uncomfortable. 'The silhouetted man sure took a lot of time to think things out in mind when he designed this guy.' He turned his attention towards their repaired machine. "Well, I guess with repairs completed, we'll have to pass the time repainting over what you've fixed. Most importantly, I'll need to make sure everything's working properly before we launch our upcoming attack."
...
Morning rolled into afternoon, Deckerd was becoming increasingly worried. The earlier case he and Gunmax investigated into about the bio-machine eating particularly the street lamps, the circuitry inside them were absent while having left most of the metal behind intact without any signs of much chewing other than an indication of where it made a hole to reach into the circuitry. 'It seems to be targeting circuitry more than the metal itself... It's the same with other damaged sightings reported to us by other people... What is it's motivation for this...?' It dreaded him the most that it was highly likely their own bodies might be at a high risk... Worse, he had heard that some police cars and even some of their combat robots had been found partially eaten into rather than devoured entirely not long after he and Gunmax extracted what little information the evidence had near Ayako's place. For now, he had to wait for Power Joe to escort the Scotland Yard members whom have reportedly touched down in Haneda International. Gunmax had offered but knowing a certain someone among the group had been assigned with the others, it had forced him to pick someone else. The last thing he needed right now was another headache.
The sound of familiar engines could be heard followed by a jet as Power Joe had just returned from Haneda International Airport with the three Scotland Yard members in tow, catching a glimpse of Rook coming down to a descend after changing form. It was only just a minute had passed as Deckerd came downstairs to greet the three Braves.
"Hey Deckerd, we've just arrived." Rook greeted. "Let's head on upstairs so we can talk without getting in the way of the mechanics."
"Glad you three made it, come let's go back up to the offices." Replied Deckerd.
"I'll be continuing patrol, just give me a shout whenever you need me, Deckerd." Power Joe told him as he watched the four Braves head over to the lift, then turned the other way and continued with his patrol as usual.
In the offices, Deckerd explained everything that he and his know about the bio-machine, getting them up to date. He made sure to point out certain additional information about it that was vital, that shooting it or even using one's signature weapon on it has no effect on it.
"So how are we supposed to deal with this thing?" Jack frowned in irritation, polishing his boomerang. "You're saying it eats metal, has no shape but can form whatever shape it bloody wants and if it touches us, it'll eat us. How can we defeat something without touching it exactly...?"
"I'd think knowing how you guys are far more experienced than any of us, you guys would have a plan already, right?" Rook asked as Ten lifted his helm from his handheld game, also wanting to know.
"Yes, McCrane knows that it's weak to electricity due to it's metallic nature." Deckerd explained. "Unfortunately none of us can risk combining because that means it'll take advantage of us while we're combined or docked into our respective forms so we have to fight as ourselves." Reaching for his ammunition compartment, he brought out a special case that was different from the usual ammunition he carried. "The mechanics have provided us with some special ammunition that by appearance looks like our standard ammunition, but inside of them are full of supercharged electricity that when they make contact after being fired, will electrify whatever it hits. However, as with all bio-machines, we have to be very careful we don't hit anything dangerous such as-" Deckerd paused as he heard the sound of pacing footsteps, followed by the doors opening and Gunmax making his appearance known.
"Deckerd! There's-" Gunmax ceased mid-sentence upon spotting Jack, orange optics glowing through his visor. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
"Did it look like I had a choice?" Snorted Jack. "Regina picked me along with Rook and Ten here, but if you're going to have a go at me I'll gladly take you on!" Jack stood from his seat, boomerang at the ready.
"Enough! Both of you!" Deckerd snapped, standing up. "Gunmax, what were you going to say?"
Gunmax, seething at Jack forced himself to focus on Deckerd. "It's the bio-machine, he's got the kid."
"What!?" Without warning, the Brave Detective suddenly bolted out of the office, leaving everyone stunned. Rook had tried to ask what would he and the others do... But Deckerd and Gunmax had both left. Rook took a moment to think, then grabbed Ten and Jack, telling them that they should go help the others. Ten displayed no resistance but Jack, who shook his arm free out of the jet's grasp.
"Tch, You two can go but I'm staying put." Jack narrowed his optics, speaking in English. "I refuse to take orders from blue and mighty and I certainly will not let Knight of all Braves order me around." Jack snapped.
"But Jack, we've gotta go out and help deal with this bio-machine!" Rook exclaimed. "All three of us are involved, didn't you hear Regina's orders when we were dismissed to prepare for the journey!?"
Jack felt like something in him was going to snap, but managed to keep his cool somewhat. He then glanced at his boomerang still in his servo, then had a slight clever idea. "Actually, the mechanics called me downstairs to make some adjustments to my boomerang. I forgot about getting it proper maintenance and I'll see if they can offer me some tweaking to it." Rook was about to argue but hearing faint rumbling in the distance caused by the metallic creature prevented him from uttering even one single word out.
"We should go, Paul." Ten frowned. "As much as I want to get back to my video games, I'd rather not let the city take anymore damage from that bio-machine if it is damaging the city other than having taken hold of Yuuta. The others won't probably be able to use their electrified bullets, but we could always help find another way to stop that bio-machine..." It took Rook another moment until he finally then left the office with Ten following behind him. Meanwhile Jack couldn't help but stare at his boomerang once again, putting it away and then made his way downstairs to the repair bay while overhearing an update about the bio-machine moving towards the business district of the city, followed by someone else warning about that everyone needs to avoid damaging the skyscrapers. The moment the lift doors open and Jack stepped out, Toudou was alarmed Jack had chosen to remain at the station.
"Jack!? What are you doing still here in the station!?" Toudou exclaimed. "You should be out there helping the others recover Yuuta!"
"I'm not taking orders, old man." Jack snorted. "I'd rather see you guys bringing this beautiful lady back online."
"Radiant Prism will be out for an indefinite amount of time I'm afraid." One mechanic told Jack. "We've been struggling to no avail getting these cluttered firewalls out of her Super A.I."
"...Cluttered firewalls?" Jack raised an optic ridge at the mechanic, about to ask what did he mean by that but then overhears a loud noise coming from outside. "What in the-!?" Upon seeing a mechanic investigating the source of the noise, Jack could see a large machine on the screen that hadn't been mentioned in the Japanese Brave Police's report... He could overhear some people speaking, but it wasn't Japanese, but rather the attackers were speaking in another language. 'Oh crap... I can't make out what they're saying but I'm certain I heard Radiant Prism's name in there... Others aren't here so does this mean... They were waiting to attack Radiant Prism while everyone else was distracted helping that kid Boss of theirs?' "Tch!" Jack pulled up the large door and rushed out of the building, boomerang out and at the ready despite Toudou warned him not to engage, but his warning had fallen on deaf ears.
"One of the Brave Police robots is still here!" Eberhard boomed.
"Wait, that's a different robot! Looking from the yellow coloured crest on his chest... Ah, this is one of the Scotland Yard's members." Uwe said. "It's just one, so let's make this quick, then we can tear apart the Brave Police's Headquarters and destroy Radiant Prism. I should have information on this one shortly."
"I have to wonder why did the British pick this awful set of colours. His colours look like something you'd see with children's toys. Well, here goes then." Hans then switched to speaker. "You really think you can take us on all by yourself? You remind us quite a lot like a certain someone, but it won't matter once we're through with you!"
"I don't know what the hell you're saying, nor do I care but I won't let you come any closer!" Jack warned, switching to English once more as his posture shifted, ready to confront the criminals. "Show me what you've got, because I'm eager to kick your sorry arse back from wherever you crawled out from!"
"Heh, you think a puny little boomerang's going to save you!?" Eberhard yelled through the microphone. In a swift movement, Jack threw his boomerang, the trio casually dodged out of the way while wires flung themselves with the intention of grabbing Jack. What caught them off guard however was the moment they saw Jack smirk, his boomerang had flown in the direction of the wires, followed by the tri-coloured Brave snapping his digits. Long, sharp blades emerged from both sides, from the grip to the tip of the boomerang, easily slicing through the wires as if they were mere parchment. Completing it's job, the blades retracted back within the weapon, hidden out of sight once more. Rather than catching it, Jack kept his concentration on his boomerang, guiding it silently through simple commands built into his weapon as it circled around him in an angled, oval motion. When more of the criminals' wires came crashing down on him, he quickly leaped out of the way. Directing themselves towards his feet, Jack could only smirk as he guided his boomerang once again and with proper timing, he snapped his digits once more to command his boomerang to retract it's blades, but only a few had been sliced as others dodged the incoming weapon.
"Tch!" Bringing out his handgun, Jack quickly made short work of the other remaining wires as he controlled his landing, combining both his handgun and the use of his boomerang coming back with yet another timed snap of his digits. ensuring he doesn't land on a car or other things he shouldn't be landing on. With his free servo, he caught his boomerang. He could hear the criminals emitting angered noises, clearly they were cursing at him as he smirked. "And that's why they don't call me the Wild Club of the Card Fighters for nothing, criminals." He grinned. "I'm not like the others where I stand around waiting to get hit or shot!"
Despite showing off and taunting his targets, Jack internally knew that what he was currently fighting was no ordinary machine- Unlike any he and the others have faced over the two years they've been first activated. He had a bad feeling about this one...
'It's risky but if I can stall them enough to keep them at bay until the others get back here with that kid...' He quickly reacted to another incoming set of wires attacking him, followed by being shot at. Immediately he threw his boomerang again, going on the attack once more. 'Nngh! Need to hang on long enough...! I'm not letting them lay even a wire on Radiant Prism!'
The attack began once more, Jack easily avoiding and dealing with anymore incoming wires. What he didn't expect however was the moment he was in the air, the criminals quickly reacted and shot at him, knocking him clear out of the skies. Quickly recovering before he impacted with the ground, but cringed when he saw the boomerang impacted with a building. As much as he'd hate the idea of destroying something, Jack removed it from the building and threw his boomerang once more and began his attack. However this time he noticed that they were focusing on both him and the boomerang at the same time. 'Bloody hell their attacks are much faster... I won't give up though!' He quickly avoided another stream of bullets coming his way, firing his handgun at the machine's vulcan cannons, cursing to himself that his shots had no effect. The moment he stood still under the belief he could have some breathing room, he tri-coloured Brave felt an impact on his helm which caused him to stumble but quickly recovered before he could leave himself open to any other attacks. "Agnk! What in- Bloody hell, that was-"
With the control unit for his boomerang destroyed, Jack quickly recovered his weapon before it hit the ground. 'Damn it, I can no longer use the wild boomerang-handgun combo... But I won't let that stop me even if I have to resort to a more close ranged attack!'
Despite being crippled somewhat, Jack continued to deal with the trio to the best of his abilities. Toudou meanwhile had managed to catch a glimpse of what's going on and had just caught the moment Jack's control mechanic had been shot, he knew that the tri-coloured Brave wouldn't be able to perform well without being able to control his boomerang. Knowing things were tough on both sides, he reluctantly called for the Brave Police to spare a member to assist Jack, explaining the situation that the criminals Radiant Prism is after is targeting the station with the intent of destroying Radiant Prism, but also mentioned Jack's struggling to hold them back. He had informed them previously but their servos were full, but the news about Jack's struggling was enough to make someone speak up.
Rook announced that he's going to head back and help assist Jack while Ten was told to stay put and help Deckerd and the others.
Having suffered moderate damage, Jack cursed to himself. It was as if their machine was reading and predicting every single one of his moves. Despite his damage and his crippled state, he refused to go down as his instinct to keep going was running on overdrive. "I'm not... Going down... That easily...!" He strained, standing back up again. "I'm the... Wild-" He could hear the sounds of the criminals getting angry as he was suddenly grabbed and thrown into a building right near the station.
Despite this, Jack quickly pulled himself out from under the rubble and stood in front of the station. "Like I've said... I'm not going... Down that easily. No matter how much you trash me, you aren't laying a finger on the mechanics- And Radiant Prism!"
"You annoy me more than ever!" Eberhard growled, commanding the machine to focus it's weaponry on the tri-coloured Brave. A grin across his face, knowing he won't be able to dodge this attack. "This game ends right here and now Brave Police, die!"
Just before Eberhard could launch his attack, the sounds of roaring engines filled the skies as Rook swooped down at the criminals' machine, firing a stream of shots near the visuals before ascending back into the skies to avoid an incoming set of wires. Turning around again, Rook repeated the same method again before this time circling around to rejoin Jack at his side.
"You should've warned us that the station was under attack, Jack." Rook said unhappily, drawing out his cutlasses.
"Shut up, I could've finished him off if I hadn't had my controls for my weapon shot out." Replied the tri-coloured Brave, ready to start dealing some damage. "But you better strike as fast as you can fly, Paul. That machine of theirs? It's gonna start reading your moves in a few minutes so don't complain if you get shot or tangled in their wires."