Mediziner's Notes: Not really much to say about this one other than there is some development with King that I thought would fit. Not much action in this one either but probably next month we will see some stuff.
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. The remaining chapters are also being beta-read by them, too.
Enjoy!
...
A couple of weeks had gone by since the incident, and Regina had been busying herself with the other mechanics, experimenting on a tighter and more refined versions of the anti-radar and other functions that were all a key part of Royal Flush's defences from being scanned. While some improvements were made, the blonde had felt that they weren't enough and the improvements felt like tiny fragments of progress rather than the big leaps of improvement that she aimed for. She felt what King and Card Fighters did was reckless, using Royal Flush at the price of low durability was risky and yet they had been able to maintain that form for so long despite taking severe damage, an impressive display. 'At least we're fortunate that Bruno didn't get his hands on their data ...' Regina thought uncomfortably, looking at the Card Fighters who were undergoing their weekly maintenance. 'If we're going to be fighting that criminal, it's crucial that we work on the system that will prevent him from scanning Chess Master's data. However, ..." Regina paused to look through the information on her clipboard. "...The major problem is when we do get this data to be compatible with Chess Master, it's going to be strenuous on King's output. We need to try and minimise this issue as best as we can before we can install it onto King."
Regina sighed as she straightened the paper. Not only was she on edge, but she could tell her team was after that terrible encounter, and the sight of how much damage Bruno had done in such a short time looked like a miniaturised version of that dreadful day four years ago, only minus the presence of a horde of Black Chieftains or that incredibly massive mother ship that was responsible for turning her team against one another. "Regina." The woman snapped back into reality, seeing as Ace had crouched down to examine her. "... you look rather in distress."
Regina looked away, not saying a word. Normally she would brush away that she was fine, but the memories of what Royal Flush had gone through was still gnawing the back of her mind. "I'll be fine." She managed to tell Ace. "I'm still trying to figure out solutions to what we're working on."
"This is about making the anti-detection and scan upgrade for King, is it not?" The green lion asked, stepping from the dock as the mechanics had just finished his maintenance checkup.
Regina's eyes widened in surprise. "How did-"
"It's not that difficult to read your expressions. I mean no offence but this is normally something I'm... Relatively good at, but I never told anyone." Ace explained. "I can always tell, to some degree, what someone is going through, how they're feeling... I know you worried greatly about Ten, Jack, King, and I when we took that much damage when we both know that Royal Flush isn't meant to fight the same way as Chess Master. In truth, I do admit that it was a terrible idea, and while I would've refused to combine..." Ace looked away, ready for Regina to scold him for doing something that would've otherwise been right, but when the blonde spoke, he made only a slight bit of movement in a mild flinching manner, but barely when Regina explained that he didn't have a choice, neither did the others as they couldn't fight as they are.
"...Bruno Ackermann was unlike any we've seen in such a long time." She explained. "The circuitry that I intend to give to King will not be permanent I'm afraid. This is only going to be applied during when Bruno is at large somewhere here in the United Kingdom. We're still trying to ensure that it's not taxing for King and ultimately Rook, Pawn, and Bishop when they combine, but I can only hope he doesn't show up so suddenly for a long while because I don't think I can stand seeing you and the others try to stop the criminal as Royal Flush again..."
Ace nodded, excusing himself as he took his leave to join his teammates in the office.
In the office, King had been sorting out his paperwork. He'd been stressed and felt like he could lose his mind over the buildup of more and more paperwork. Jack had been talking his audios off, behaving a lot more reckless than usual and often lashed out at anyone within range. Ten had somewhat chosen to shut himself in his quarters, no sound of his usual video game habits, only utter silence. "Bloody hell..." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he could feel a helmache coming on. His attention was drawn to the doors opening, expecting to hear Jack waltz in and talk his audios off again, but instead he was greeted by Ace.
"Something I can assist, sir?" Ace asked.
King was about to say something, he could use a break or at least an extra pair of servos. However, he didn't make an immediate response after he'd notice the time. "Have you seen Radiant Prism?" He asked after a pause. "It's been some time since I've last seen her."
"Last I saw her, she informed me that she was going to patrol with Rook but if I were to calculate the current time, she might be in the station's firing range refining her skill. Speaking of which, it's been some time since Regina reminded us that we were due for an accuracy check. I advise that perhaps to take some sort of break, we should practise our aim for perhaps an hour." King couldn't help but chuckle that it has been quite a long time since Regina had requested that everyone, save for Bishop, report to the firing range to see their shooting accuracy. After he'd thought more about it, he stood up from his seat.
"Yes Ace, a break is probably what we need at this point." King told Ace, pushing his chair in. "When you think about it, we can't let the entire police force think that we've let our skills rust. Even though we should only use our handguns for dangerous situations, it doesn't mean we should slack off on refining our aim, and Radiant Prism's practise is proof of that." Ace nodded, the two Braves leaving as they made their way out and in the direction towards the firing range. Along the way, Ace asked King if he'd seen the news about South Korea launching their own Brave Police team and that the United States had started their own Brave Police team, with the first Brave being stationed to work alongside the FBI. "...Sounds like I'll have a lot more work on my servos, especially when I'll have to either visit the leader of the South Korean Division or if they choose to visit us." Chuckled King. "As for the United States, it's good that they decided to try again with the Brave Police project, however I heard they seemed unwilling to collaborate with Regina and the others."
King frowned when Ace asked about what he thought about their decision to not start their own team, and King shook his helm. "Well, technically they started the project in California long before we were built when the Americans collaborated with the Japanese, the project was top secret at the time. Gunmax was the result of that collaboration, but something caused the Americans to change their mind, and requested they take Gunmax with them back to Japan within days after his activation. But why they chose to suddenly abandon the project so suddenly is something no one seems to know. Perhaps Gunmax would know but knowing how he is, he isn't someone who likes to talk about his past very much. Hm... I assume after the Fahrzeugs attacked and left hundreds of people injured, or even killed, it was probably enough to rattle their heads about the choice they most likely regretted."
"Hm... The only problem is if someone tries that similar trick on us like what they did..." Pondered Ace.
"No, after Deckerd and Yuuta defeated the Fahrzeugs, Shadowmaru immediately began work to destroy any and all traces of information regarding that giant mother ship of theirs and anything related to triggering that hidden circuit in our Super A.I. once they were back to work as usual." King shook his helm. "But while we could have learned about how to prevent that same program in our Super A.I. chips from triggering again and forcing us to do someone's bidding against our will. I think Shadowmaru did the right thing in destroying all traces of information regarding it in the end. Even if..." He paused with a sigh, trying not to think about the worse scenario too much. "Even if it meant at the cost of learning how to prevent that particular scenario from happening again. Most everyone doubts any criminals could stoop to their level, not even Radiant Prism's current criminal as powerful and intelligent as he may be."
The sound of gunshots indicated that there was someone training in the firing range. Knowing Radiant Prism was there, they'd caught her having just unloaded her ammunition into the target. "King, Ace." Greeted Radiant Prism, turning to face them partially. "I'm assuming you're both taking a break?" When King acknowledged that yes, they were on break, his attention was drawn to the number of magazines on the floor telling him she'd been here for some time. She hadn't been using her own handguns, but she was borrowing a pair of spare handguns used by his team. "How long have you been practising your aim?"
"For about half an hour, taking a break so the handguns I'm borrowing don't overheat over my sessions." Replied Radiant Prism, ejecting the empty magazines and quickly reloading both handguns efficiently in a short period of time. "I can perform with a singular handgun, but dual handguns are more my specialty. Rook has shown me more of this country, and I admit that while it's not my real home... Europe to some degree is still my home." She watched as King and Ace moved over to occupy one of the spots as they began practising themselves. Intrigued, Radiant Prism set the handguns down on the small shelf next to the set of unused magazines and watched them. Once they finished unloading a magazine into the targets, she looked at their accuracy result. "98.3%? King, you-"
The towering red Brave chuckled. "We may primarily fight with melee weapons, but we always keep our accuracy up to standard. As you already know with other petty crime we dealt with, we primarily use our melee weapons over our handguns. The only time we use them is when the situation is incredibly dangerous, such as Bruno's attack on the city for example." King explained. "Not just that, but we've had other dangerous situations that forced us to switch to our handguns." Next up, Ace fired his own handgun into the target. Radiant Prism's optics were drawn towards the accuracy result when the lion had used up all his ammo, noticing the result turned out to be at 97.9% which was slightly less than King's but still good regardless. "Very good, Ace." King acknowledged as the lion stiffened for a moment, then start to become flustered at the compliment. "I see you've taken my advice."
"Yes..." Ace quickly hid himself by the divider which confused Radiant Prism, but in a private comms King explained that Ace often got like that when anyone compliments him, and even a human could get him like this. "I tried blocking out as much of the sound as possible, as you told me that should help me improve my performance. I'm not too fond of using my handgun primarily because of the loud sounds considering my hearing is far more sensitive than Shadowmaru's and Kagerou's."
"It's still good regardless, Ace." Radiant Prism complimented. "Don't put yourself down over a small disability. Just keep going just like how I've kept going after my... Problematic discovery." Shaking her head, Radiant Prism turned her attention to her spot, grabbing the handguns and unloading the magazines into the target in a fast paced series of shots, one bullet after the other from each gun in a repeated pattern until the magazines were both empty. This drew King and Ace's attention as they looked at the scores which displayed 98.1% as the final result. "Bloody hell, how do you fire so fast? Each shot fired together looked like you would be firing double submachine guns." King couldn't help but ask, impressed by how fast she could fire.
"Practise. Since the start of my life and the first criminal case I worked on, I never felt happy with using one handgun." Radiant Prism explained. "After I got that case done, I asked the mechanics to make a spare handgun which confused them at first, but with the spare handgun I then proceeded to give them a try together during the next case I got. I admit, I performed better. Of course, if one of them gets damaged or even shot out of my servo, it doesn't mean I'm at a disadvantage but I won't be happy performing with one as much." As the three conversed, King had to admit that she was performing well and she'd adapted quite well to readjusting herself in the west again. While he had no qualms about Japan's more compact living, he had no doubt that Radiant Prism missed being a place that had plenty of space. 'I doubt I'd ever be able to drive around the city considering how long my vehicle form is.' He thought. 'I should inform Deckerd later that she's doing much better than anticipated, and everyone should be returning for the evening in a few hours.'
King and Ace spent almost about an hour practising but didn't use the firing range as much as Radiant Prism did, and eventually their break time was up and had to return to their duty. Radiant Prism had spent most of her time just relaxing, having finished with her practise and was going over today's scoreboard. Her aim wasn't fluctuating as much as years ago, which pleased her. Returning the handguns back to the small shelf after making sure she'd unload the unused magazines to store them separately, Radiant Prism made her way back towards the office, intending to check for any new messages she may have gotten. Right away, she could hear someone was talking albeit faintly, but when she got closer, she was able to identify that faint voice belonging to King. 'Sounds like King is talking to someone... But I can't make out who the other voice is...' She thought, getting closer as she somewhat sidled against the wall, peeking the door open just a crack to hear in. Deep down she felt bad for eavesdropping but she could hear King wasn't speaking English, but rather in another language.
'That voice... It's...'
"Really? That's a relief." Came Deckerd's voice over the comms. "I was worried that she might run into difficulties due to culture shock the same way I went through when I first came to the United Kingdom with Yuuta to help out in regaining the people's trust, but it's good she's a quick adapter. Hopefully she hasn't given you any trouble."
King could only chuckle as he points out that he's fortunate she was never like Knight on the first meeting and was happy to report that Radiant Prism hasn't done anything of the sort which helped his team grow quite accustomed to her despite her disliking of Rook's pranks. "We've had a sequence yesterday where she accidentally triggered one of Rook's pranks that left me and a couple of others scrambling out of the office when we saw her gun down said prank. Her reaction to harmless pranks were... Well, let's just say it discouraged Rook's pranking antics by roughly twenty-five percent. After she'd been told to not use her weapons indoors and certainly outside of the firing range, she's taken to letting someone else trigger the trap. How she sees them, I'm not sure... Perhaps an aerial thing."
"I see. Overall, I'm still glad she's adapting so well without the culture shock issue." Deckerd began to ponder something, speaking his mind. "However, I'd like for you and Ace to teach Radiant Prism about what it means to lead when needed considering she's the same rank as both of us. Unlike the time she's spent with us, Duke and I weren't able to instruct her as much we would have liked due to the repetitive attacks by common criminals, or Bruno himself with his 'creations' that had been getting in the way... We did help her when we could, but..."
"Say no more, Deckerd. Ace and I would be happy to help her out." King smiled. "From what you've told me over an e-mail, I'll make sure she gets the proper training on what she's missed out and help her out for when it's time for her to head back to Germany."
Radiant Prism was surprised by this, she wouldn't think the Scotland Yard would be the one to teach her things she believed she'd known by now but she'd been wrong. Rather than enter the office to do what she intended to do, she turned away deciding to retire for the night. What still worries her is another sudden attack by Bruno, other criminals they've run into and dealt with, but no sign of Bruno let alone those that worked with him. 'I feel like it won't take him long to find some allies among criminals here in the UK...' She thought. 'If he's managed to gain even a small number of allies among criminals in Japan, it won't be a difficult task for him to do the same here...'
The following morning, Regina had shown up to the station early to make an announcement to the entire team and by the time she made it into the office, she explained about that she and the team finished developing an update that should help prevent the criminal from scanning Chess Master's information. Some were curious, but King was skeptical about the whole thing as he wasn't keen on having updates being added to any of his combined forms as Chess Master isn't made with the type of specs Royal Flush possessed.
"King, your thoughts about this? You've been quiet the whole time." Radiant Prism asked the tall red Brave. King could only shake his helm, telling Regina that he's not interested in taking any permanent upgrades to what Chess Master already has, but Regina began to explain.
"King, this isn't a permanent upgrade." She explained. "Chess Master is fine as is, which explains why this program device is going to be temporary install, not a permanent one. I don't want that criminal getting Chess Master's information and we both know Royal Flush is by no means a combat focused form. I understand your feelings about upgrades but this is needed otherwise we're giving what Bruno wants if you, Rook, Bishop, and Pawn combine." Rook voiced his opinion that Regina was right, pointing out that the Card Fighters don't want to risk fighting Bruno again as Royal Flush. Pawn added to his brother's comment pointing out that if they took the upgrade, and that he'd be willing to take the device if King wasn't willing to, they'd be protected when they combined. As the others spoke to King, Radiant Prism remained quiet throughout the whole thing primarily out of fear that they would point out that she has no right in saying anything.
The mere thought of having something to prevent her data being collected as both herself and her combined form sounded like something she could've used before confronting Bruno in person, but that was far too late... She had no doubt that the trio would've done that long ago, likewise with the Japanese team.
'But... Would it make a difference...?' She thought to herself.
"Radiant Prism." On being addressed, the German Brave turned her attention to Ace who was the one that spoke to her. "...Might I ask for your opinion on this? We could use a second opinion."
"Wha- Wait, you two are asking me for an opinion? What for?" Replied Radiant Prism, feeling uncomfortable about how everyone is staring at her.
"King has refused to agree to the program I've made that will help in shielding Chess Master from having data collected." Regina explained. "Considering you're of equal rank as King, I believed it was best to have a second opinion on whether King needs to go with the installation, or not." This left Radiant Prism at a loss. Personally, she hadn't expected to be asked about this but after she'd taken time to think, she stood up straight and addressed the leader of the Scotland Yard division.
"I don't think my opinion really matters considering I'm just a foreigner, but... I will say this: King, if I could go back in time, I would agree to having a device to prevent myself from being scanned for information to be used against me." She explained. "I admit that while it's too late for me now, I want you to avoid what's already happened to me. Please take the device, Regina just said that it's temporary so it won't be a permanent addition to Chess Master as it is for Royal Flush." Her expression became more serious and her tone shifted to that of a leader's. "Bruno is no laughing matter, and as what we encountered first servo what he was capable of doing, we cannot let him get his servos on your other combiner's information. Don't be like me where I allowed him to easily scan my data, this part I hadn't known until it was too late. Listen to your teammates, they are advising you to take this so you don't give the criminal what he wants. Nobody wants that information given freely, no matter what. I have a feeling that he might've already scanned everyone save for Royal Flush, but I have no doubt that his main target is Chess Master, who is the strongest combiner in comparison to Royal Flush. Personally, I wouldn't want some criminal taking information on my strongest move set or my strongest form. It's better than being outmatched by a simple A.I. that would tell Bruno how to counter our every move."
"Yeah, what she said." Ten frowned. "I know I said it too many times but I don't want to form Royal Flush, we're not capable of fighting that guy!"
"Please, Ringo..." Rook pleaded. "Just take it. When we've defeated that criminal, we won't have to use it anymore."
"We may have defeated other criminals in the past without any issue, but this fight is going to be far more dangerous than in the past, King." Pawn frowned. "As I've stated, if you're not going to let the device be installed into you, then I'll be asking the lass to install it into me. Or better, we can install it into Bishop."
"M-Me...?" Bishop paled slightly at this. "I... I couldn't... Someone else needs to take that."
As the others began to talk, King went silent as he took the time to think. As much as he hated being stuffed with upgrades, he felt conflicted as the opinions on others weighed on him. To some degree, it gave him a helmache. He knew that the criminal they were dealing with was on the tough side and they couldn't afford to have him gain more information and yet … He stood, causing everyone to go silent as he quietly told Ace to get everyone their patrol routes set up and that he's going to isolate himself for a while to let all the information digest and reach a proper answer. After he'd said what was needed to be said, they watched as King quietly left.
After a long pause, Ace could only sigh and do as told, giving everyone their patrol routes. Once everyone had gotten their respective patrol routes, Regina then stated that she had to head back to the repair bay to conduct tests to ensure the device is ready to go and asks Ace to give her a heads up once King has made up his mind.
"I will make sure you are notified, Regina." Ace nodded, watching as the woman left the office then turned to head out himself needing to take care of some business he had to attend to.
...
King had been in his personal quarters for hours, still trying to think things out. A part of him wanted to storm out and tell Regina no is no, but then there was Radiant Prism's opinion and what she said about that if she could go back in time to undo her mistake, she would. But what still bothered him was the past when he and Duke were at odds with one another. He'd believed that the upgrades that Duke kept receiving would make him better at just about any Brave and to some degree, he did. Months and months of data upgrades, tweaks, everything all solely focused on Duke Knight of all Braves left him with a disgust for any form of upgrades even if it meant having an advantage over his enemies. He and the others have had no need for such things, yet for this particular criminal now they suddenly did. A part of him wanted to vent out his frustrations yet kept himself in check. He vented out a sigh, at a loss of what to think.
He then heard a knock at the door, thinking it might be Regina having asked one of his teammates to tell him to come out.
A few minutes after, there was another knock at his door.
"Leave me be, Ace. I don't want to talk right now." He called out to the one at the door, figuring it must be Ace as he knew no one else who was that ridiculously loyal to him as he was the only one who often checked on him every few minutes.
"It's me, Radiant Prism." Came Radiant Prism's response. "King, can we talk? Please?"
Surprised, King stood up from his bed and approached the door, opening it. "My apologies, Radiant Prism, I thought you were Ace... He normally comes to check on me."
"It's fine, but King... Can we speak? I know you're not in a preferable mood to speak but this is important... However, I don't want to speak here, but I'd figured that both of us could do with some fresh air in our systems." Confused about this King then tells her to follow him, as he knows a place away from any curious folk.
The two traveled out of the city and into a rural area that stretched for many kilometers, something Radiant Prism herself found beautiful as they traveled. From the air, she made sure to keep King in her sights as they traveled, and it wouldn't be until a few more hours of flying that he informed her that they've arrived at the place. Their current location was open fields of land that stretched far, but otherwise it was kilometers away from any civilization, away from any signs of human life. "So then, what was it that you wished to discuss with me, Radiant Prism?" He asked her when she came to land. The German Brave hesitated for a moment, then internally sighed as she was prepared for King's reaction to her questions. "So... King, I understand that you dislike the whole idea about upgrades but..." She began, her posture straightening like that of a leader's... Or at least what she'd seen Redlight do in the past. "Ringo Diamond King, please... I'd like to inquire about why the topic about upgrades- Even temporary ones, are a sensitive discussion. Why were you opposed to something when your teammates clearly voiced desire about taking it in."
King's expression quickly fell, of course she wanted to ask about this. But the way how she suddenly just changed and addressed him in full, this was something he did not expect out of Radiant Prism as she seemed to be relatively calm and collected, at least not in an excessively like that of Duke Knight. "To address me in full like that..." King muttered to himself, trying not to feel so overwhelmed. "If Ace or anyone else asked you to pick out the reason why I was-"
Radiant Prism held a servo out. "No, I wanted to ask on my own accord. I feel like if I can help in some way... I don't know how, then maybe-"
"Then maybe what, Radiant Prism?" King interrupted, optics narrowing. "You can't help with something that I strongly disagree with. Regardless of what you intend to say in the stead of my teammates, I won't change my mind."
"King-"
"I can't!" Snapped King, his expression shifting to a more distressed expression. "Neither you, nor my teammates, not even bloody Regina knows how I feel about anything related to upgrades! I may not know what your criminal's motives are in full detail, but I do not want to be given something that I hate!"
Radiant Prism stared unphased throughout King's rant, letting him finish. She didn't speak right away in case King might have more to say, but when he nothing else to further add, she spoke next. "That's why I want to understand you better. If you feel that no one understands how you feel, then help me understand." This question left King a bit stunned as Radiant Prism crossed her arms, ready to hear whatever he has to say in response to what she just said. The taller Brave looked away, unsure of how he could explain. "King, you're the leader of the Scotland Yard. While I don't have a full understanding just yet of how you and the rest of the division functions, Deckerd once told me that it's okay to listen to the opinions of teammates. A leader doesn't always have the answers or solution to what they're dealing with and having an extra set of minds to suggest a solution to something is a good idea. Not always, but most are meaningful and genuinely want to help improve what would happen in the next encounter. In truth, I have no experience with a team like what you and Deckerd have. I never even had one at the start, when I was first activated which is why I always want to learn and take advice so when that time comes, if I ever get a team of my own, I'll know what to do. King, your teammates aren't asking you to hold the entire world on your shoulders, they want to help too in either way they can."
"In truth... Because I haven't heard from Redlight in so long, I feel lost myself on what to do since he was, to some degree, my guide away from what Gustav has nearly made me be, and I would've been probably beyond repair personality wise." Radiant Prism explained. "I may not like what's going on and it bothers me to no end, but back on the topic if I had to confront Bruno again had he not learned about my data information on how I move, how I attack, how I counter, and other sorts of things... I would take the advice of my teammates and never allow him to take what he should never know, so that he doesn't overwhelm me and dishearten the public." As the female Brave continued to explain, King still felt uncomfortable about the whole thing, the more he thought about it, the more it wasn't changing his mind. "I don't mean to offend or try to change the way you should lead others, but-
"It's because of Knight." King finally said, the rain slowly building up as it lightly drummed against their frames.
"...Excuse me?"
"I doubt Knight has told you this story, but the reason I abhor anything related to upgrades is Knight." King replied, looking away as his optics narrowed. "Years ago, when the Japanese collaborated with the British in making their own Brave Police team, Regina... Wasn't at all what you see now." He looked at Radiant Prism as he continued. "Her desire was to make all of us the 'perfect police officer' image in how she saw fit. I was the first one to be activated, but weeks would roll in, and eventually months, I found that Regina's vision of what it means to be a 'perfect police officer' was both impossible, and personally, inhumane. We had a severe fallout after I voiced my opinion on what she was trying to do was impossible, and that she had no right to shape our personalities to her desires as if we were mere toys. I spent months patrolling and, because I'm also built for search and rescue, I helped people from disasters that happened. But then I caught word about that there would be another like me that was almost ready to be unveiled ... The day that I finally had a teammate to help me out on the field..."
King looked away. "That Brave was Knight, and when I greeted him for the first time... He was acting in that disgusting vision Regina had attempted to instill onto me previously. This created a rift between us that would slowly grow over the course of weeks, months, showing no signs of dying out. It continued even when the rest of the team was built and activated for the first time. I could only watch as Regina had gradually upgraded Duke as she saw fit, and not once did I see a shred of rebellion against this ideal! I believed Knight would've come around overtime to see what she was having us do was inhumane! ...But he did not, I believed him to be a lost cause." King sighed, the whole ordeal made him uncomfortable remembering everything in full detail. "Many times he scolded me as if he were suddenly made leader on Regina's approval, but I refused to allow Knight to walk over me. It was difficult in getting to know my teammates properly and it was difficult to work because the others knew what we were both going through. What was even more difficult was Knight constantly seeking a fight. Well, perhaps not exactly a direct fight as in throwing punches, but he would nitpick everything I did that felt it was out of order."
King paused as he sat down, putting a servo onto his helm. "I still get helmaches thinking about that day, when enough was enough for me. While I could have been more proper about the entire thing, Knight's constant nitpicking of what I did and how I perform eventually got through my head, and..."
"...You two threw fists." Radiant Prism replied, sitting down.
"I can't confirm if this was what caused Regina to decide that Knight would be transferring to the Japanese Division, but even the others grew to dislike how Knight treated me, and most likely how he was treating them. But this is what I felt could be why after we had that brawl. But I knew in my heart that Knight would be met with the same dislike I felt towards him, and I was right. After I'd heard that Deckerd had fallen to a pair of robots with Super A.I. known as the Hyper Chieftains, he attempted to replace Deckerd as leader, but that was a poor move on his end. You can't replace someone that others have cherished dearly, otherwise you would be met with extreme resistance even if one waits for them to 'come around'. Of course, thankfully Knight isn't like that anymore thanks to being exposed enough by Deckerd's team, and Regina finally dropping her vision altogether, but even if Regina doesn't inject countless upgrades into anyone like she did with Knight long ago, I still get traumatised by... Well..."
Radiant Prism remained quiet, thinking for a moment, then spoke. "Then, it's okay." Radiant Prism gave a small smile, she didn't look directly at King, but continued. "As I've said before, Pawn will be willing to be the bearer of that temporary installation. He forms one of the parts for Chess Master, right? Then it can work if it's carried by another, rather than you.
At her explanation about who will be the one carrying the program, King couldn't help but burst into laughter. This left Radiant Prism confused as King gave himself a moment to recollect himself. "Sorry, I just... The idea of where the program will be is quite funny."
"...How is this funny in any way?" Radiant Prism asked, bemused at this.
King brought out his badge, opening it and pressed a combination of buttons onto it until it showed a picture of Chess Master, then showed Radiant Prism. "Here, this is what Chess Master looks like. You can see that I form the body, Bishop forms the arms. Rook forms the front legs, and Pawn forms the back legs." King then couldn't hold it back anymore and ends up in yet another laughing fit. "It's priceless!" Unlike King, Radiant Prism wasn't phased let alone really get any inkling of how she could find this funny. She believed King would've been probably having some sort of error but didn't say and waits for him to straighten himself out.
King was about to say something else until when the picture displaying Chess Master would soon change to Ace, who had contacted King. "King, I need you to come back to the station. I could use your assistance in interrogating a group of people I found from a few days back."
"A group of people?" King repeated, confused by this but shook his helm. "On my way." King got back up, stretching his joints as he tells Radiant Prism that they should head back.
"Yes sir." Radiant Prism replied, taking notice as the rain began to die down to just mere light sprinkling.
...
"I told you, we can't say anything, you damn walking machines think you can walk all of us like you're all superior!?" One of the criminals rambled in a panic. "How many times do we have to get it through your thick brains or whatever robots even have for brains!?"
"I will ask one last time, where can we find the location of this man!?" Ace growled, trying not to lose his patience. "You lot certainly know something about his whereabouts!"
The door opened as King and Radiant Prism entered, their attention drawing towards the latter in particular on noticing the German flag on the crest. "So, we meet for the first time, Radiant Prism." One of the criminals grinned. "While we are but mere lackeys, you won't be able to stop the big boss no matter what you do." This alarmed Radiant Prism immediately and she narrows her optics, approaching Ace as she lightly moved him out of the way, slamming both servos near the edges of said section meant for humans to stand and walk on. "Where is Bruno Ackermann?" She began. "If you mentioned this man's name-"
"You can ask all you want, but you'll be getting the same response the cat has continuously gotten." Another criminal mocked. As the men continued to rant, Ace privately commed both King and Radiant Prism that they are hiding something, as he could detect levels of distress and discomfort. He couldn't put his digit on it but something told him that if perhaps they keep trying a bit more, it could finally cause them to cave in. He made sure to point out that he found them spying on him in an attempt of trying to scan him with some crudely made devices. Radiant Prism glanced briefly at Ace for a moment, then back to the criminals immediately as she switched to German. "If I have to take some severe action to get any sort of information out of you guys, I will-"
Without warning, the criminals began to glow a brightly colour. "GET DOWN!" King shouted as the three took cover. The men screamed in panic until they exploded, shortly after the explosion had occurred and things were no longer being flung in different directions, their comms lit up as Regina contacted them.
-What's going on? We heard an explosion!- Regina echoed through their badges.
"Apparently the criminals we were interrogating were loaded with explosives." Ace answered grimly, being the first to answer. "I... Don't recommend coming in here, the sight might be..." When Ace, King, and Radiant Prism stood back up, rather than expecting a mess of gore and blood, instead they found machine parts and globs of synthesized skin. "...Nevermind, it turns out these people were cyborgs. If most of their A.I. is intact, then we may need to look into seeing if we can triangulate Bruno's location. They seemed to know him."
-Alright, I'll make sure to inform the others to clean the interrogation room once you find those A.I. if they're hopefully still intact.- As they searched, Ace couldn't help but narrow his optics, stepping away when King used his hoses to lightly spray the debris that were on fire. 'I hate to compliment criminals, but this... This is lower than what I've seen from criminals using their own lackeys to do their dirty work...' He thought, beginning to search alongside the others for the cyborgs' A.I., managing to find one. "Tch... I've found one but it's destroyed." He told the others, looking over his shoulder. "Have either if you found any? Since there were five of them, one of them should have survived the self-destruct system."
"I've found two but they're in pieces like the first one you found." Radiant Prism pointed out. "That makes three destroyed."
The three would search around the room for a few more minutes until finding a fourth that was charred while the fifth one, found by King, was fairly intact, save for a few scratches. Ace examined it for a moment then states that some parts were scratched but overall, it looks fairly intact. "Regina should have no problem looking into this." Ace said, using a small grabber built into one of his digits to grab the A.I. and store it away. "I'll go get this to her right away." King nodded, stating he and Radiant Prism will clean up before returning to the office.
"Tch, whatever material is in this stuff sticks to any surface it melts onto... Hard to come off." King cursed to himself, struggling to clean up some burnt synthesized skin that wasn't coming out of the floor. "I don't think this is the same exact material built our faces... The contents might be slightly different than ours."
"Perhaps. But I wouldn't know." Replied Radiant Prism, positioning the rag neatly. King asked what she was doing with her feet that was so important, until when she saw her do that one sweeping technique he'd seen once with Drill Boy and Power Joe after they'd been asked to run up and down the corridor outside the office cleaning the floor as punishment for an incident both of them caused. "Uh... Radiant Prism...?"
"Sir."
"Erm, we don't... Clean the floors like that here." The red Brave explained awkwardly, jabbing a thumb towards the mop leaning against the side. "We use a mop, we don't do quite what you're doing right now."
"Ah... Apologies, sir. I suppose the amount of time I've been exposed to Japan's culture has left me with some old habits." Radiant Prism frowned. "I should try to study the cultures of Europe again so I know what to do and what not to do."
King could only chuckle at this and tells her that it's fine, passing her the mop after she straightened herself again. "No don't worry about it, I'm no stranger to the culture of Japan. I've been there a few times myself in the past. Come, let's finish up and then head back to the office."
"Yes sir!"
About an hour had passed with no success of cleaning the melted synthesized skin, King had to ask for the cleaners if they could help get the stuff out and afterwards asked Radiant Prism that they should get back to the office. They talked along the way, King giving Radiant Prism some advice on leading a team and what she should expect to do if she had to help take over if any of the leaders in whichever country she's visiting. As Radiant Prism made her response, she was quick to pick up that King had stopped in his tracks, just a few meters from the door. "King?" Radiant Prism stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Is something on your mind?" The English Brave looked away, clearly not wanting to talk about it. Turning around entirely, Radiant Prism figured that the discussion from earlier was bugging him again as she approached. "King, we can just-" She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence as the doors slide open, Bishop exiting the office and spotting the two.
"King! There you are, I erm... I wanted to speak to you about something."
"I don't want to talk about it, Bishop." King slowly told the lightly blue Brave.
"Oh... Well..." He approached his leader. "You don't have to, I talked about it with the others and-"
"Bishop, I said I don't want to get that installed. I don't want anything in my systems except for minor updates."
"And that's okay!" Bishop said happily, King could only stare wondering how Bishop had come to accept King's choice on that temporary upgrade. "I talked about it with Rook and Pawn... I said that I wanted to take on the upgrade."
This took King completely by surprise, he didn't expect his teammates to actually decide that either of them taking on such a task. He'd hoped they'd refuse as well but then he shook his helm, stating that he would speak of it no more, turning away and leaving. When King was out of earshot, Bishop was puzzled by this and idly asked Radiant Prism if he said something wrong. "...I can't say for sure, it's not in my place to say." She replied, shaking her helm. "I need to head inside and see if I have any updates. Hm... Judging from the way you ran out of the office like that, you're going to meet Regina in the repair bay, aren't you?" Bishop nodded, politely excused himself and turned towards the direction of the repair bay. Radiant Prism continued towards the office, just about to enter but quickly stopped when she'd trigger something. Sensing what's coming, she drew out her pistols and shot at the device just as Rook shouted not to shoot, but it was too late. The shots had echoed throughout the room and caused the others inside the office to jolt.
"...I told you that was a bad idea, Paul." Pawn grumbled to himself as he could see the green jet cringe as Ace gave him that look that told him this was his fault to begin with.
"I didn't think she would be the one to walk in! How was I supposed to know the lass was going to be my target!?" Rook said as he moved in the direction of the closet containing cleaning tools the moment Ace pointed a claw towards it.
As Rook gathered the items needed to clean up after his prank, Ace greeted Radiant Prism and informed her that despite King's reluctance in the temporary program Regina originally wanted to install in him, Rook, Pawn, and Bishop had just finished not too long ago the discussion for who gets it installed in King's place. "...The reason for Bishop taking this program is that I feel it was better to center the system as much as possible, however I do hope King will consider giving it a test run before Bruno shows up again, whenever that happens. I'd like to request if you could discuss this with him, please. I would myself but as you can see, my desk is full of paperwork, most of it is King's..."
A bit unhappy that she was unable to check for any updates, Radiant Prism could only sigh and nod, leaving the office again. It didn't take her too long to find where King was, finding him in the back of the supplies when she'd spotted some movement, moving towards. 'Hm... I've seen what Royal Flush looks like, but not Chess Master... Well, that is if King will agree to this. Here goes nothing...' Stopping right in front of King, Radiant Prism crossed her arms over her chest, but didn't speak right away needing to think her words out first. "Erm..." Hesitation tugged at her circuits, unsure if what she's saying would have King agree to Ace's request. "Ringo Diamond King, I do apologise for this inconvenience in that you need some space but... Ace requested that I let you know that because Bishop is... Well... He's asking you to help Bishop, Pawn, and Rook give the system a test, he wants to make sure it works before we encounter Bruno again."
When he didn't respond, Radiant Prism wasn't sure if she should get his attention again. Not wanting to risk him shouting at her, she turned away to leave him be figuring it would be best to try this again with him. "I know a place." He said after a few steps, causing her to stop. She looked over her shoulder as King looked into her optics. "I know an area away from a lot of curious eyes. I doubt the criminal knows it as much if he's still new to the United Kingdom as much as you're new to here. Inform them that I'll meet them at these sets of coordinates I've just passed onto your comms badge. Send it to them."
Radiant Prism's optics narrowed, her expression becoming sterner at the given order. "...Yes sir!"
...
A couple of hours have passed and the four had just arrived at the given location, one by one everyone immediately changed out of their vehicle modes, quickly spotting King in the center of a wide, open space. "This looks like a good spot, considering the space and the location, it would be a bit rough for humans to make their way here." Bishop pointed out as both Rook and Radiant Prism landed next to him and Pawn. King immediately greeted them as Radiant Prism moved out of the way.
The German Brave didn't listen into the conversation but watched as there was some talk between the four original members of the Scotland Yard, before the command was given to form Chess Master. All four of them leapt into the air, Rook and Pawn were the first to shift into what appeared to be a horse's body but lacking the entire head while King and Bishop followed suit. The former turned into what appeared to be mostly a humanoid upper body, while Bishop folded down into a pair of arms that connected to the sides of King's torso form as the two halves merged into one. Radiant Prism was surprised to see this, she'd expected something to be straight out of Greek mythology. "So, what do you think, lass? Chess Master's impressive, isn't he?" Rook called out, beginning to point out that they're not just a human on hooves, but they also have the capability of kicking like a horse, and just before he could finish saying anymore, Pawn had told him to shut up.
"I guess it's amazing." Radiant Prism shrugged. "I mean no offence but... I'm not too impressed by combiners all that much, especially because I was never given any code for that when I was developed so this may seem a bit strange that I didn't come with... Complete data information related to possessing a combined form."
The others weren't sure how to respond, but King was quick to talk, explaining that Chess Master is capable of doing what Royal Flush couldn't, and they have the strength and combat to do so in this than the other. He then proceeded to privately ask Bishop if everything is working fine as normal, Bishop gave his reply that everything is running fine. The combiner couldn't help but look at his own servos, clearly King was showing great distaste in such a program needing to be used, then turned to Radiant Prism. "While you aren't built like Shadowmaru, can you still detect me to some degree?"
"Negative." Replied Radiant Prism. "I can't say for someone with advanced circuitry, as you said I'm not built with spy circuitry."
"It's working as intended." Ace suddenly announced, approaching from the other side. "Apologies, I knew that I had to test it myself. Regina sent me to make sure it's fully working, and I admit it's quite difficult to get any data information even when I put in all of my effort to try and pry. She and the others have done a good job on this." Chess Master nodded at this, glad that it was working just fine. "Considering this is meant to be a test run, there doesn't seem to be anymore we can do from here on out." The combiner pointed out, then gave the command to disengage.
"I can't wait for us to have a go at Bruno, he won't be getting our data information this time!" Rook grinned, determination flowed through his circuits and even felt highly confident after that test. Radiant Prism could only narrow her optics at the green jet.
"Rook, even if it works properly, we still need to be on guard for any sort of tricks Bruno might pull on us." Radiant Prism said. "It's not a celebration until he's defeated and arrested. Even if it must take an eternity or when that criminal starts to turn old and grey, I will steel myself for whatever he throws at me."
"H-Hey... Take it easy, Radiant Prism." Rook said, putting his servos up.
"Lass, we get you've got some issue with this criminal but it doesn't mean you have to shout us into the ground." Pawn pointed out.
King couldn't help but frown at this display. While Deckerd had told him that Radiant Prism may have moments where she focuses too much on her target, he could see it coming out right here and now. 'He also said that she might get a bit reckless and have a go at him, regardless of if she's in her combined form or not... This is going to get dangerous considering she does not have a combined form.' He thought uncomfortably. The last thing he needed was the capture of a fellow Brave, let alone the death of one if the former suddenly happened rather than capture. Ace, in the background was feeling conflicted, because Radiant Prism bore the same rank as King and she was also given the permission to take lead if something happens, he wasn't sure if he should say anything or keep it quiet.
"Radiant Prism." The argument seemed to cease on hearing King's voice.
"You need to stop acting reckless for once and try to relax. Getting heated up like this or suddenly just go on high alert just because there could be a possible advantage doesn't mean we should do nothing and wait for Bruno to show up. Getting riled up about tackling him head on in one go is only going to turn things for the worse, you need to know to keep a cool helm especially considering your rank."
Radiant Prism could only take a step back, looking away as she said nothing. Rook added that there's nothing wrong with taking a breather since no one is telling her to just shut herself away from the world and do nothing until she's needed. This somehow triggered Radiant Prism and without warning, she flew off. "W-Wait, Radiant Prism-"
"Rook, leave her be. She needs to cool her helm." King ordered. "For now, let's return to base."