Mediziner's Notes: I focused on Kagerou for this one because the poor guy doesn't get enough love... I'm also one of the few who see Shadowmaru and Kagerou as Brothers. Likewise with the Build Team seeing one another as Brothers. This chapter in particular needed a lot of refining... Meaning that I had to redo large chunks of this chapter back then when I was uploading it... Yeow... Scotland Yard involvement because I acknowledge them.
This Chapter was originally uploaded: 20/3/2020 on DeviantART.
The Leader within Cover Art is drawn and commissioned by Erilmadith-Everyoung on DeviantART. You can also find Radiant Prism's full reference there, too.
Enjoy!
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"The location is around here." Kagerou told Deckerd, descending towards the location. After setting Deckerd down, the prototype shapeshifted out of his flying mode while Radiant Prism and Drill Boy landed next to them. "I don't see anything anything as far as I can see." Deckerd said after giving himself a moment, looking around. "Kagerou, are you su-" He stopped upon realising that something was poking at his foot, lifting up to see something shining. Curious, he picked up the object in question, immediately identifying that what he was holding is a broken piece of Shadowmaru's shuriken. "This is Shadowmaru's..."
"Hey Deckerd, look." Drill Boy pointed along the floor. "There's another piece over here a few meters away from the one you're holding. Do you think the trail would lead us to where the criminal's hiding?"
"We'll need to keep alert for any traps the criminals may leave behind if we do this, because I have no doubt that they may have picked up on what Shadowmaru is doing considering the intense technology put into it." Radiant Prism pointed out. "Our respective equipment isn't exactly small to the human eye..."
The others nodded as they followed the trail. Kagerou quickly took the lead making it clear to the others that he was clearly worried about Shadowmaru and Yuuta, hinting at his wings folded tightly against his back. Somehow, at the same time Deckerd couldn't shake this feeling that there was a possibility that there was more to the criminal responsible for the armoured tank than what they're dealing with. The four continued to follow the trail for some time until when Kagerou suddenly stopped. "Eh? Why did we stop, Kagerou?" Drill Boy asked, looking down at the ground but couldn't see anymore pieces of the shuriken. When Kagerou didn't answer or say anything, Drill Boy took a step intending to ask if there was something wrong, but jumped when there was a sudden flash of movement as Kagerou threw a shuriken. "Kagerou! What was that fo- What!?" In the blink of an eye, Kagerou quickly blurred out of sight while a large net sprang at them, effectively capturing Radiant Prism, Drill Boy, and Deckerd in one go. Immediately upon it's successful catch, the net electrocuted the three caught Braves, rendering them unconscious.
'As I suspected, the criminals have set up a trap to catch us if we followed the trail Shadowmaru left behind.' Thought Kagerou, having took cover out of sight nearby. He narrowed his optics as he eyed the unconscious Braves trapped in the net. 'I'm not going to fall for the same trick again, but according to the condition of that trap, it has been set very recently...' His attention then noticed a small beacon that was flashing, indicating it's function for a successful catch. 'If I'm correct, that beacon will inform the criminals that their catch is successful. In that case, I'll have to wait for them to take the others away and when they do, I'll be following them to their hideout.' At that moment, he could hear the others trying to contact Deckerd but were becoming concerned at the lack of a response. Kagerou couldn't answer one of their comms badge himself, otherwise he would compromise his intentions to infiltrate the criminals' hideout.
-Deckerd? Deckerd come in!- King's voice could be heard from the comms. -Deckerd, please respond!- Came another contact attempt a minute later, followed by McCrane trying to contact Drill Boy but also getting no answer. More chatter could be heard when King proceeded to request everyone to say something. They would then confirm that Deckerd, Drill boy, Radiant Prism and due to Kagerou lacking a communications badge, all four were deemed unresponsive to the rest of the others. 'Sorry everyone, but I can't risk missing my chance, not while Shadowmaru has been taken away... And that child's life could be in grave danger if everyone...' Kagerou couldn't dare think of what would happen to Yuuta knowing how Shadowmaru and the others valued him greatly. It wasn't until sometime later, he began to detect nearby life readings nearby, followed by vague chattering voices and kept low. Kagerou quickly double checked that his systems were all functioning properly and that he couldn't be detected by any sort of radar they have equipped. After ensuring everything worked perfectly, Kagerou enabled his newly installed chameleon mechanic that allowed him to blend in with the environment around him in seconds. 'Hm, this chameleon mechanic is working perfectly well for a prototype...' Thought Kagerou, relatively pleased with the new system since the criminals didn't seem to take notice once they were closer to the net, observing the criminals. 'I just need to make sure I don't move too much otherwise I'll be seen.'
"Well, I was expecting that we'd only catch one Brave or none at all but look at that, we've caught three! of those accursed Brave Police!" One exclaimed as they were securing the tow's hook onto the net, another following suit from the other side of where he was. "The shoulders on that orange robot look like they could be worth a fortune, look at how unusually pristine it's condition looked. Some sort of tough metal worth millions."
"Screw that, we're more lucky that we got this blue fella over here. I've seen 'em on the news everywhere and as long as we have him, there's no way the other Brave Police robots can touch us now that we've got the one who's lead them for years. They wouldn't even think about harming another machine that talks and thinks like they can." Another criminal said, patting both hands together after finishing his side of the work, taking notice of one of them with a confused expression. "But look at this dark coloured one here, I've never seen this one around the others." They said, jabbing a thumb to the crest. "I bet fifty thousand yen that this one's loaded with all sorts of advanced tech according to rumors told by other fellow criminals, but I'm going to take a gander that this is probably a new Brave they've just recently built."
"Must be because of how much more powerful we criminals have gotten that they're starting to release newer models. But, as long as we keep it up we'll eventually find various ways to wipe out the Brave Police and nothing would stand against us. The boss has been tinkering with all sorts of things, but they've wanted one of the Braves for their grand experiment- Whatever it is." They began heading towards their truck, climbing in. "Gotta wonder how long we can keep 'em busy with all the hydrogen peroxide we've been hauling and using."
"Beats me, but the boss is sure going to pay us a whole lot for hauling not one but three Brave Police robots! let's hurry and tow them back to the hideout before they wake up. The net's electricity will keep them out for some time but not forever if we take into mind that they're not like any average robot that shuts down entirely upon being electrocuted."
Kagerou watched as the two men worked together to tow away the three Braves with their tow trucks. He immediately could tell that these criminals in particular weren't exactly the brightest as in dragging the three captured Braves off, they were leaving quite a large trail that could easily be spotted by the others. But since this was his only chance to learn where they're taking them, he would proceed to tail them back to the hideout, hoping that with any luck it would lead him to where Shadowmaru is being kept. Occasionally along the way, he would detect the comms badge go off and more attempts to contact the others were being made. 'So it seems the badges are built to resist as much electricity as possible-' Immediately, Kagerou froze in place, seeing as one of them stopped. The criminal in turn grumbled as they climbed out of their truck while the other one was forced to stop, witnessing his partner walking up to the net..
"Hey hey! Quit stalling for time and get back in the truck! Those Brave Police robots are going to be on our asses if we don't get these three back to the hideout where they can't find 'em!"
"Tch, the voices I keep hearing are driving me nuts, I can't stop thinking about the more they try to communicate with them, the more I feel like they're getting closer and closer!"
"Forget it, your stalling is going to make them start finding us faster if we don't get a move on! We'll figure out a way to shut 'em off anyways once we're back."
It took some convincing but eventually the criminal reluctantly agreed, moving back to their truck and continuing on helping his partner drag the three Braves back. Kagerou continued following until he found that the trucks were going into the forest which proved to be a relatively delicate problem for him, scanning for how thick the forest was, he needed to be careful knowing that damage to forests was taken seriously as with many other laws. 'Hm... There are mild signs of deforestation made by the criminals but it only seems to be leading to a particular area.' He thought, seeing how there was only just some slight deforestation that formed a path according to his scanners.
'...No good, my wings will prove to be a problem and I can't move with the chameleon technology even in my vehicle mode. But how can I get in without being detected...?' He began scanning around the vicinity looking for something that could help increase his chances. Soon enough, he spotted a couple of stolen cargo that seemed to have fallen off to the side just a little bit into the path, and a large sheet of tarp that appeared to be large enough to cover up a vehicle alongside a couple of crates. Taking the objects into account, he had an idea.
'Considering that I'm not all that known to the public quite yet, I could infiltrate by looking like some mishandled cargo that fell off and was forgotten... The content of those crates seem to be equipment ideal for modifying or repairing cars.' He thought, scanning the crates. 'Then if-' Immediately he could detect a nearby vehicles coming in the direction and knew he had to act fast. With incredible agility and careful planning, he managed to set things up in time, disable his chameleon mechanic and shapeshifted into his car mode, quickly shapeshifting an arm out briefly reach over and drape the tarp over himself before he was seen by the incoming humans. Because he had the tarp inadvertently cover most of his visuals, he had to rely on radar as he listened to the sound of the vehicles stopping, followed by a couple of people climbing out and rustling footsteps approaching him.
"Well well, whoever was in charge of hauling our goods back to our hideout earlier must've either poorly secured the goods, causing some of this cargo to fall out." One of them said.
"I'm betting they were terrible drivers or didn't secure the goods properly and fell out without their knowledge." Another said, pulling the tarp aside and exposing most of Kagerou's front. "Nothing like I've seen before, must've been someone's custom made car but look at the strange golden marking on the hood... What is that supposed to be? An eagle or a lion?"
"Who cares, let's haul it up with the rest of our stuff and see if it still runs whenever we get back to it." Another man snorted. "With any luck it could be a perfect getaway car with some fixing and a new coat of paint if the Brave Police get in our way again. Whoever originally owned this car has really poor taste in colour." By now, the criminals have removed the tarp off of Kagerou completely to get a better look at him, though wasn't all that pleased about how they talked about how his colours were a 'poor choice' but seeing as they've decided to take him in, Kagerou internally smirked to himself as the criminals covered him once again with the tarp and prepared to get him hauled up along with the other stuff that they were carrying in their vehicles. He was pleased that he managed to get into the facility undetected and it would only be a matter of time that he'd begin searching for Shadowmaru, Yuuta, and the other three Braves that were recently captured after he's unloaded. For now, he'd need to wait as he could still feel that he was still being carried.
The doors of the truck opening, Kagerou listened as criminals unloaded the truck, eventually they'd unload him and made completely sure that the criminals couldn't think about hot-wiring him so that he'd be more of dead weight that needed a battery change. When they gave up, they pushed him into a storage container which took a group of people to complete this task. Having been stuffed to the back, he'd listen as criminals unloaded and hauled cargo into the containers nearby, listening to the sound of them shutting the doors once they've finished unloading. While he would've gotten out by now and put his chameleon ability to use but there were still too many people according to his readings hanging around the area nearby... He'd need to find something that could cause an incident. Overtime he could hear people would load things in other containers, but unfortunately there wasn't any opportunity yet that he could take advantage of.
What he wasn't expecting was that he suddenly jolted forward, registering that someone had crashed their vehicle into the back of the container, causing a couple of stacked crates behind him to topple over and bang against his frame. One of the boxes having shattered and the contents spilled out in the process while some dangled in the broken crate. Scanning the items that spilled out, Kagerou could see that these crates in particular weren't car parts being stored, but could see that this appeared to be some sort of modified smoke grenade, but from what he found in his scans was that the contents contained chemicals inside that was made to knock someone out entirely rather than something as a means to obscure vision on a particular person or object of interest. Most likely the criminals must've stuffed him and the other contents in the wrong places, not relatively organised.
Considering the spray cans, an idea came to mind and considering there isn't other options he could consider... He had a plot that involved the smoke grenades, that the next time a round of criminals approached the container he was in to store more stolen things, they'd be in for a surprise when they inhaled the fumes upon opening the doors.
Fortunately it didn't take long until he could detect that more vehicles were approaching the containers, which gave him the chance that he had been waiting for. He noticed that there were less people around than before, probably called to attend to other things... He began changing out an arm carefully, and began to break open the smoke grenades as much as possible to make the air thicker and thicker inside. Because of all the noise outside, it served to drown out the sound of the smoke grenades breaking under his strength. He'd only manage to shatter about five in such a short time and quickly folded himself back up again the moment he heard them open the doors to his container.
As expected, Kagerou could tell that the criminals were coughing, trying to wave the fumes away from their face. "Ugh, what the hell...!" One exclaimed, flailing their hands trying to move the smoke away from their faces. "Who... Mishandled the... Cargo..." Another slurred as one by one, everyone had been knocked out and thudded to the floor. Because it didn't seem anyone noticed, Kagerou took this chance, ripped the tarp off of himself and quietly drove out of the container and relocated himself elsewhere out of sight.
Once he found a nearby suitable place, he shapeshifted out of his vehicle mode and immediately reactivated his chameleon mechanic, glad to be able to get around on two feet instead of his tyres. Now to start the search for his Brother, and the others...
...
Yuuta watched in horror as the criminals electrocuted Shadowmaru constantly as they poked and prodded at him. He had been placed in a transparent container, having been extracted from the Ninja Detective's cockpit sometime ago, angry that they purposefully gave him a front row seat to watch them torment his friend. Earlier, they attempted to try and hack into his Super A.I. but found that after managing to make a slight crack in his anti-virus, their efforts had been all but wasted when they discovered that Shadowmaru contained yet another anti-virus in his systems. The angry conversations that could be heard made Yuuta feel relieved that Toudou and his mechanics were smart to put who knows how many layers of anti-viruses, but had no doubt that they always wanted to ensure that even if Shadowmaru had been in some way captured, no one would be able to get to him easily. He began to wonder if his friends also had the same amount of anti-viruses installed, but hearing Shadowmaru screaming in agony again regained his attention, continuing to try and get him to lower his guard yet the Ninja Detective continued to take in the damage.
The sight of seeing Shadowmaru being constantly tortured in various ways was too much for him and could bear no more. He had been told before he had been extracted to be brave and not to let the criminals get what they want. 'I wish I could help Shadowmaru in some way... But, I won't betray Deckerd and my friends!' He glared at some of the nearby criminals, he couldn't dare think what else these horrible people wanted him to do, but knew fully well it wasn't good.
When the torturing stopped, Yuuta could see just how groggy Shadowmaru looked. All that prodding and electrocuting they did had really exhausted him and he feared for what would happen. Even if Shadowmaru had told him to be brave, he couldn't stand seeing his friend in such a condition no longer.
"How the hell did the police have this much technology behind them!?" Grumbled one of the criminals, clearly trying to figure out what else would make the Ninja Detective yield and submit as they pushed away at buttons and inputting various commands. "Normally we could easily crack open A.I.s but for this one to be littered with so many anti-viruses..."
"Deckerd and the others will be sure to arrest and lock you guys up once they find this place!" Yuuta cried out. "They're not like anything else seen!"
"We'll be ready for them." One of the criminals chuckled. "As long as you don't have that little toy of yours, there's no way the police's robots stand a chance against us! And if things get ugly on our end..." Yuuta flinched when they shot a devious grin his way. "They won't even think about making a move as long as we have you." The words were enough to cause Shadowmaru to struggle against his restraints, another voice calling out and the Ninja Detective screamed in agony again. However he didn't let up as he continued to struggle against them even further.
"Shadowmaru!" Yuuta cried out.
"Don't you criminals dare hurt Mini-Boss!" Shadowmaru growled, feeling the electricity's intention intensifying but he didn't dare let up. "This... Is nothing...!"
"Maximum intensity, now!" A criminal called out and soon enough they intensified the charge, which was enough for Shadowmaru to scream in agony once more, then fell limp. Yuuta watched in horror, desperately calling out for him as he pounded on the glass walls but no answer would be heard other than a nearby criminal yelling at him to shut up, waving the remote control about. "You wouldn't want to receive an electric charge now, do you?"
Up above, Kagerou had been watching. The Prototype had managed to make his way into this room upon hearing Shadowmaru's exclaiming that he wouldn't let them hurt the child but by the time he managed to see what happened was when they intensified the charge and knocked out his little Brother entirely. He was enraged, because it felt almost like a similar repeat of what happened years ago when he was captured, but he wanted to be sure that he'd not lose Shadowmaru the same way as Shadowmaru had lost him long ago. Not only did he have Shadowmaru to save, but also Yuuta, and the other three. He was sure that none of them know that they have the three of them.
He watched and waited for his chance. While a proper invisibility cloak would've made things much easier, such technology was still beyond their reach and the chameleon cloaking he was testing out was as close as they could get to, provided the user doesn't move too much. Despite this, he enjoyed the challenge this new system offered and was pleased to have made it this far undetected. 'A foreign criminal...? That's unusual...' He took notice of a man in sunglasses speaking in a foreign language to the other criminals, one of them acting as the translator. Kagerou scanned the criminal of interest, using his technology to reconstruct the person's face if the sunglasses were removed. 'I could be wrong...' He thought, pulling up a file that he had taken a copy of when no one else was looking due to not being a full member of the Brave Police yet.
'...Hm, I'll have to show the results to the others later on or if I'm lucky, I can present the criminal of interest to the Brave Police...' He listened as the foreign criminal seemed dismissive about Shadowmaru, apparently according to the translator they seemed to be looking for a particular someone of interest, and these criminals believed Shadowmaru would've been the one, but it doesn't seem so. Strange, normally he was aware that Shadowmaru and even himself would've been more desired targets of interest in attempting to capture but this one in particular didn't seem interested, leaving him wondering why they didn't seem to express interest as most criminals normally would?
He watched as the others one by one start to leave the room. 'They seem to be content that there was no way the child would escape, and that Shadowmaru would be knocked out long enough for him to come back... But that's where they're wrong. We recover relatively fast from being knocked out unconscious...' While his memory about what happened after he had regained consciousness was unknown, the last thing he recalled was that he knew that he was captured. He did manage to calculate the time it took him to reawaken, and recalling Shadowmaru would soon reawaken much sooner, having a slightly more faster recovery time than him. He began maneuvering along the rows of pipes that acted almost like that of a catwalk, taking note of the security cameras as he used his abilities to add mock screenshots to the visuals. When he noticed that Yuuta moved and upon looking at the camera, the image didn't update nor move, he had successfully masked the cameras with false imagery.
Satisfied with his little handiwork but well aware that it won't last forever, Kagerou quietly made it down to the floor and silently made his way over to Shadowmaru for a moment, but turned his attention immediately over to Yuuta.
"Tomonaga." He whispered.
"Wh-Who's there!?" Yuuta asked hesitantly.
"Shh, it's me Kagerou. Keep quiet, otherwise you'll be heard on the security cameras."
"Will Shadowmaru be okay...? They shocked him until he was completely out..."
Kagerou was working away at undoing the glass container Yuuta was contained, having found it was rigged to set off the alarms if anyone attempted to get it open without proper authorization. Something that wasn't much of a challenge for the prototype. "He'll reawaken momentarily, Shadowmaru and I have a faster recovery time than the others." Having run scans to ensure that Yuuta wasn't injured in any manner, but did detect a few marks from the criminals' tight grip to ensure that he wouldn't escape. "You're also lacking your badge."
"The criminals took it from me after prying Shadowmaru's cockpit open and getting me out." Replied Yuuta, climbing out when Kagerou finally got the glass container opened. "I quickly tried to initiate the command but they stopped me before I could... I'm really worried about Deckerd and the others getting beaten by the criminals since they've got a lot of strong, stolen technology... One of them even said they're prepared to fight them and I'm scared of what they might use against them."
"He's somewhere here in this facility along with two others." He explained, hearing Shadowmaru stirring and waking up. "There isn't time to explain, but I have no doubt they will do the same to what they tried to do with Shadowmaru. We need to move, quickly." He then proceeded to privately communicate with Shadowmaru, asking if his equipment is still functional to aid him in finding the others and putting a stop to this organisation.
Yuuta nodded, seeing Shadowmaru getting up though clearly looked somewhat out of it. "I'll be fine, Mini-Boss." He smiled. "I'm just a little... Overcharged."
"Let's go and-" Yuuta ceased when the alarms sounded off, thinking that Kagerou's 'mock screenshot' technique would've worn out but then a frantic voice over the speaker talked about the Brave Police having found them. Upon hearing that every able body should get to their positions and ready the weapons system, Yuuta shivered at the thought of what happened, holding on when Shadowmaru gently scooped him up into his servos. "Kagerou, Shadowmaru, we need to disable those weapon systems!" He said, holding onto one of Shadowmaru's digits when the ninjas carefully leapt back onto the pipes near the ceiling. "If we don't turn them off, the others will get really hurt or worse! They're also planning to use some sort of machine somewhere in this facility where they'll spray the hydrogen peroxide they talked about earlier on people at night with it!"
"Kagerou, can you find where the controls for the systems are located? I'm still waiting for the extra charge of energy to wear out so I can use my own systems properly again." Shadowmaru asked quietly.
"I've already done that beforehand, it's this way." Kagerou replied, taking the lead.
...
"Looks like they targeted more than just the hydrogen peroxide... Tch, right under our noses!" Power Joe cursed, trying to come out of cover to land a few returning shots, but was immediately forced to duck back into cover when the criminals shot at him upon sight. "Damn it, if only we'd become Build Tiger, we'd stand a chance!"
"Power Joe, don't take any dangerous risks, Dumpson has already been hit and we can't risk another attempt like that." McCrane ordered. "There needs to be a way to break into their defences and disable some of their weaponry.
"Their attacks seem to be unusually coordinated from what I've managed to catch a glimpse of before ducking back into cover." King said. "I've seen some of them on standby. I could be wrong but I believe they might be waiting to attack until one group runs out of ammo. That can't be good for us at all, and knowing they've stolen all sorts of things, they may have quite a large amount of ammunition on hand."
"Which means that Shadowmaru, and most likely Deckerd, Drill Boy, and Radiant Prism would have their Super A.I.s extracted and..." The light blue Brave began to pale, thinking about what they could do to them and their Boss. "Oh no..." He flinched when Gunmax Armour briefly came out of cover to launch a few precise shots with his magnum. "Guys, we need to get through them somehow, especially before the human police force gets here. I have a bad feeling that- If I'm right, they could get rid of Yuuta after they've gotten what they need from our friends."
"No one's going to lay even a finger on our Boss!" Power Joe snapped, optics narrowing as Bishop shrank under his serious gaze. "Anyways, can't you use your fancy magic or something on those criminals? Something that can give us some sort of an advantage over them?"
"It's... I-It's not that simple!" Bishop frowned. "If I get hit trying to cast a spell- Especially if my staff gets hit, who knows what disastrous event I'd conjure up!? I need to concentrate if I'm going to cast a spell! I-If we're talking about the various attacks I can use: If I called upon lightning, that could be fatal for the humans and lightning strikes in turn can cause fires." He frowned, continuing. "Added, fire isn't an option and I have enough knowledge about your country to know that you guys take damage to forests and wildlife very seriously... The last thing I need is for the Scotland Yard- No, all of the United Kingdom to be fined by Japan for my actions. Finally, water- Or preferably ice..." He paused to think, flinching when the others ducked out of cover momentarily to return fire. "Ice is a bit delicate to use, and requires careful precision to conjure it where I need it to be, it would've helped immensely were it to rain- Naturally. I also can call up one last element but it's far more dangerous than any other- Look out!"
With quick reflexes, Bishop quickly conjured up a water spell, forming a layer of ice in the air above them as a rocket projectile was coming straight down at them. Unfortunately, because he failed to concentrate properly and had to cast his spell in such a quick time, the ice proved to be far too thin to stop the incoming projectile, piercing through it as everyone scrambled to get out of the way when the rocket impacted with the ground, causing some of the Braves to crawl out of their cover. The moment some of the Braves were out of cover, the criminals immediately rained bullets on them. McCrane immediately shielded Dumpson when he detected that some criminals were trained to take him out, taking a large majority of the damage himself.
"McCrane! Dumpson!" Power Joe, enraged at seeing the criminals pick at his Brothers, quickly fired a couple of shots amidst his rage, managing to hit one of the turrets. However despite his success in disabling the turret he had hit, some of the functioning ones shifted their target towards him, forcing the Kung-Fu Detective to take cover.
'They've really pinned us down...' Thought Duke, having managed to drag both McCrane and Dumpson to a new hiding spot while the criminals focused on Power Joe, making it just in time before he was shot at next. The new hiding spot he found wasn't relatively good but it was what he could find in such a short time, slightly shorter in height compared to their previous one they used. With the criminals' focused shifted away from him, he peeked out from cover and spotted the turret Power Joe took out had been then replaced with another functioning turret. Whatever they had hiding deep within their hideout, they were keeping them at bay no matter what. He thought about if a possible alternate route but being unable to combine put him at a disadvantage should he decide to go and look but there wasn't any choice he had but to defend both McCrane and Dumpson... 'Without that command, there's no way we can penetrate through their defences as we are now... We'd need our combined forms-' He glanced over at McCrane's severe condition, dents made from bullets as well as some holes in his back made him look pretty beaten up. '...Or at least I'd need it. Minor injuries but still functioning perfectly...'
But then, without warning, the shooting stopped.
Curious about this sudden cease fire, he noticed the criminals trying to restart their weapons and yelling among one another to quickly fix the power before the police fight back. At that moment King gave the order to take out their turrets while they're distracted but to avoid hitting the criminals before they could start them back up again. With the criminals now scrambling off of the turrets, King then called for Bishop to use his magic to encase the fleeing criminals.
Because he wasn't still completely focused, he noticed that the criminals realised the icy wall was relatively thin and breakable. "H-Hurry, grab the criminals quick before they break through it!" Bishop cried out, struggling to reinforce the ice wall the criminals are chipping at with things they have on them.
Working together, King, Power Joe, and Gunmax Armour, quickly rounded up the criminals in their servos while some had unfortunately managed to break free and flee inside the building, shutting the large doors behind them. In the distance police sirens could be heard.
"Just in time." Power Joe smirked, keeping his grip on the criminals he had bundled up in his servos as their struggling became more desperate, trying to break free.
Some criminals ended up surrendering willingly while a couple required some police officers to restrain and cuff them. With the criminals collected and being sent off for the jail, Saejima had also arrived on the scene congratulating the Brave Police on a successful victory. "However, there are still more of them inside. Getting those blast doors shouldn't be a problem for you guys, however..." He looked over at the state McCrane and Dumpson were in. "Both of them require immediate repairs."
"Commissioner." Duke spoke. "Can you initiate the unification command? I'm aware that in the case Boss is unavailable, you might have a backup badge to initiate it."
"Uh oh..." Power Joe frowned, seeing the man's expression change just slightly. 'I forgot that we could- Ugh, Duke why the hell did you have to open your big mouth!? The Commissioner's going to-'
"That, I can do." Saejima smirked, relatively happy that he had been asked about the command, pulling out the comms badge from his pocket. Deep down he was surprised that the others had forgotten that in case of emergencies, they could already independently combine, but he didn't question it as the opportunity to be asked to initiate the unification command was too good to pass. "A few members and myself carry these in case of emergencies, however Azuma and myself have badges that can allow the commanding sequence." His expression beginning to change, clearly he was eager to begin. "But let's delay no longer, BRAVE UP!"
Being given the command, Power Joe watched as Duke combined with his support vehicle, becoming Duke Fire as he couldn't help but frown. He had been hoping to do some extra damage with his Brothers as Build Tiger but thanks to a couple of cheeky moves by the criminals they just captured and sent off to the jails, that wouldn't be happening until both of his Brothers were repaired. "Power Joe, King, Bishop, Gunmax Armour, I'll pry open the blast doors to allow you both to enter, I'll need to ensure that McCrane and Dumpson return back to the station for repairs afterwards." Duke Fire told them, proceeding to pry open the large doors open.
"Sounds good to me, I'm hoping that we'll find something that could relate to that armoured tank that took Boss and Shadowmaru." Power Joe nodded, watching as it took quite a bit of effort on the combiner's end until finally bending the doors open wide enough for them to get inside.
Having completed his tasks and the four Braves were inside followed by a small group of police officers joining them, Duke Fire began focusing his attention to his two injured teammates, picking them up carefully and took flight back to the city. "Even if I don't look that bad, I can still stand and help the others." Dumpson said, clearly trying to hide his pain but failing to do so.
"Neither you or McCrane are fit for dealing with the criminals." Replied Duke Fire, optics focused to the skies. "You'll need to be repaired, Commissioner's orders. The Chief Engineer wouldn't approve of you trying to fight in your current condition if I allowed you to fight."
The fact only made Dumpson grumble in defeat, but didn't attempt to protest any further as he remained quiet throughout the flight trip back to the station.
...
Following the sound of a skirmish and shouting voices, the four Braves found themselves in a spacious room. There, they spotted their missing five Braves fighting a colossal-sized machine. The group instantly identified that the machine they were fighting matched like that of the same armoured tank from before that took Shadowmaru and Yuuta, with the exception that it's appearance is different than before. Immediately, King give the order to assist the others, charging towards the target. Rather than join the others, Bishop immediately stopped in his tracks upon taking one step, registering something wet as he looked at the floor. 'The floor... This must be spilled hydrogen peroxide... Or is it water...?' Bishop thought, his attention shifting to where the others were as he could see there was more water. 'If I'm correct, I think I can take advantage of the situation in a sense, I think I might have an idea in mind but I'll need the others' help.' Glancing at a nearby platform, he scaled up onto it where he could get a good view of the fight.
Because the area was so big and wide, Bishop had to figure out how everyone could take part in this that could help them defeat the criminal. After a brief moment of studying the situation, he proceeded to ask the others to first keep the criminal distracted for as long as possible while he prepares himself for what he's about to do. "If I remember correctly, in this case this is spilled hydrogen peroxide this should still be able to freeze entirely. Okay, here goes nothing..." He began muttering to himself, preparing to concentrate before casting his desired spell.
Having whacked away most of the Braves, the criminal quickly turned around to strike at Kagerou. At that moment when the prototype evaded his attack, the criminal immediately spotted Bishop emitting a bright blue light. Seeing him as an easy target with him standing around like that, they were on the attack. Shocked at the criminal's attention towards him, Bishop quickly dodged the incoming strike as he fled, calling out for his teammates. "Someone regain this guy's attention!" He cried out urgently. "I won't be able to do what I need to do if they're attacking me!"
"You're not getting away, little blue robot!" The criminal spat, continuing to repeatedly strike at Bishop. "You'll be a perfect example as to why my machinery possesses the most powerful technology and machinery in the world!" Quickening their striking pace, Bishop could hear the others trying to direct the criminal's attention away from him but nothing seemed to be working as their attacks were still focusing on him. 'This is bad, the criminal must know what I'm doing...' He cursed to himself, needing to find another place to cast his spell safely. 'I certainly can't risk trying to use my magic if I can't see the target nor can I cast it when I'm not focused... The last time I tried an unfocused spell resorted in not only freezing the criminal's machinery but also freezing my teammates in the midst of doing so. Ice is a very delicate spell within the water element if I'm not careful...'
Continuing to dodge and evade as the attacks kept coming, Bishop was quickly learning that the criminal was clearly losing their patience as he heard wires spew out of the machine's body, immediately wrapping around him and the others. "Enough games!" They laughed manically as he held the Braves in the air, wires spewing out of the mecha's torso. Bishop watched in horror as he watched Shadowmaru and Kagerou specifically struggle to free themselves using their bladed weapons. Immediately, he used his ice ability to freeze the wires around himself and break free. Seeing as a new set of wires were coming after him, he quickly fled, using a few simple fire spells against the oncoming wires, burning them away.
The criminal's attention focused to Shadowmaru in particular, having restrained the Ninja Detective's arms tightly. "Since you've managed to escape from your little containment, I'll have the most fun figuring out what makes you tick! I look forward to opening you up and see what sort of technology you possess."
"You will not harm my Brother!" Kagerou snapped, retracting a shuriken after he managed to loosen a servo, throwing it expertly in the direction of the wires that held Shadowmaru, successfully severing a large majority of them. The moment that the Ninja Detective started to cut away the remaining wires and landed back on the floor, he was about to back away when another set of wires managed to grab him once again from behind, having appeared from another captured Brave while the wires that held Kagerou was quick to adjust and hold his arms down more securely.
"Ah... Clever. But don't think I'd let you Brave Police get away with the same trick again." The criminal said, having managed to recapture Bishop shortly afterwards. At that moment, the armoured mecha's wires began to tighten their grip, crushing the Braves' bodies as everyone cried out in agony, struggling to free themselves. "Since my original plan won't be coming into mind, I'll just have to dent and dent your armour to see what's underneath to make it all the easier to find ways to make all of you tick!"
Without warning, beam projectiles pierced through the bundles of wires. One by one, the Braves were being freed, quickly landing on their feet and backing away. Deckerd was the last to be freed, landing on his feet and backed away immediately to avoid being recaptured. He followed the direction of where the projectiles come from, immediately spotting Duke Fire, Fire Buster at the ready. "Duke Fire!" He called out.
"Apologies I'm late, everyone." Duke Fire said, firing at more wires retracting with the intention to recapture the Braves again. "It was quite difficult to navigate a place like this with the limited space in this form." Right away, at the appearance of Duke in his combined form gave Bishop the idea he had thought of that sounded much better than what he previously thought. Brushing away the leftover wires, he considered the seemingly endless bundle of wires it continued to spat out that this was certainly bio-machine under it's armoured appearance that could regenerate and produce multiple wires, behaving like that of how some species of salamander could regenerate it's arms and legs. Knowing this was his chance, he instructed the others to follow along with his plan while he was readying up his ice spell, glowing a bright blue. Everyone worked together, making it difficult for the criminal until when Bishop a few seconds later finally began casting his spell, taking control of the liquid on the floor and wrapping it around the mecha's legs. More effort was then put in when Bishop proceeded to point his staff at the water, freezing the liquid in mere seconds, immobilising the tank mecha.
"H-Hurry, destroy it before they break free!" Bishop cried out, concentrating to keep the ice reinforced.
Working together as a team, the others began their work, quickly finding out and figuring out the best courses to shred or find some sort of chink in the armour. Drill Boy was especially doing his work of distracting the criminal, setting his soccer balls to their 'bomb mode' for a little extra firepower. Duke Fire meanwhile waited for his moment to strike, switching out his Fire buster for his Fire Sword. He had calculated at first that he mostly found it possible to use Max Cannon Mode but deemed it too dangerous with it's power in enclosed spaces. When the opportunity revealed itself to him once King and Power Joe worked together, managing to loosen the torso plating, exposing a vulnerable spot. He waited until when Drill Boy kicked another soccer ball he had set to 'bomb mode', then charged forward while the criminal had been stunned by the attack.
Sword ablaze, Duke Fire swiftly impaled his weapon into the criminal's newly exposed weak spot, immediately catching on fire. The moment he pulled his sword out, the criminal ejected from his destroyed mecha and attempted to fly off. "He's getting away!" He exclaimed, quickly getting clear of the abandoned armoured robot, exploding shortly afterwards.
In the blink of an eye, Kagerou quickly threw the blunt end of his Kusarigama, the chain wrapping around the criminal's escape ship and gave it a slight yank, disorientating it entirely and catching the stalling ship in his free servo.
"Curse you Brave Police!" Growled the criminal. "I'll enjoy seeing you all destroyed one of these days!"
"You did it everyone!" Yuuta cheered. "Now we just need to round up the other criminals hiding somewhere-" Without warning, the facility began to rumble and shake. "Wh-What's going on!?"
On instinct, Deckerd and the others quickly stood near Yuuta, wanting to ensure that no one tried anything should they have some sort of backup plan. When the ceiling of the room suddenly caved in, a large, familiar machine made it's entrance. On alert, Radiant Prism drew her handguns. "Well well, looks like our little client has failed as expected." One of them said as a string of wires began wrapping around the destroyed mecha, pulling it towards itself while the remainders of wires plucked the pieces having already fallen out of it. "Know this, Brave Police: This is only a fraction of our power you've faced. when facing us in the future, we will not be so easy to defeat. The technology we possess is far more greater than anywhere else in the world!" Said another.
Without warning, Radiant Prism took off after the criminals with the intention of fighting them but was forced to stop in place when a flash of light engulfed the room, blinding her and the others. When the light faded away shortly after, the criminals were nowhere to be seen as anger rose within the foreign Brave, cursing to herself as she landed back down on the ground. "Radiant Prism, correct?" At being addressed, Radiant Prism turned around coming face to face with Ringo Diamond King. "I understand your frustration that they fled but I think right now all we can really do is celebrate the fact that Deckerd and the others not only managed to recover both Shadowmaru and Yuuta, but the main fact is that this criminal organisation has grounded to a halt. All that's left is to gather the stragglers hiding and return back to the station afterwards."
Radiant Prism said nothing, turning away with a frown. "You have no idea how long I've been trying to deal with them." She said coldly in her language, putting away her handguns and walking away towards the exit.
King was taken aback by this sudden attitude, he wasn't expecting this sort of cold treatment. He didn't understand what she said but did get the feeling that it was more or less a negative sentence, he wanted to speak to her further but decided it would have to wait until they'd start rounding up any criminals hiding, confiscate all stolen goods, and head back to the station after everything's been secured to work on reports of the incident and put it all to a close. While the information given to him wasn't complete, Deckerd had been sending him messages about the three criminals and their piloted machine as he figured from the German language he heard from that large machine recovering the destroyed mecha. 'So because of those three criminals, she's stuck here until she's dealt with them... Yet he has told me that she's somewhat odd in some sense but I never expected the cold attitude... Perhaps it must be due to those criminals earlier...' He thought, trying to figure it all out.
...
Having just completed their checkups, the Brave Police were now filing one by one into the office with the exception that McCrane had been relocated to the human sized body due to his repairs still needing time to finish. They had just returned not too long ago after completing their task of scoping out the area, securing all the stolen goods and rounded up all the remaining criminals that went into hiding. Right away, Kagerou took notice that Yuuta wasn't in the office and Shadowmaru quickly picked up on this, turning his attention away from his desk monitor. "Mini-Boss went to speak with the Commissioner, he'll be back shortly." He told him. "I can tell you have questions to ask. ...Hm, is it about what he said previously?"
Not answering right away, Kagerou's attention was to the other Braves conversing about the results of the work they just finished up. Feeling that they'll be distracted with the topic for sometime, he turned back to Shadowmaru, this time speaking quietly. "Yes, I'd like to speak with him once he's finished business with them. I'd like to know what-"
"Kagerou." Deckerd spoke, causing Kagerou to flare his wings out in startle, having failed to detect the Brave Detective approaching him. "Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you but there's something I- No, we would like to talk to you about once Yuuta comes back."
"What is it?"
Deckerd gestured to the others. "Join us with the others, we'd like to prepare something special for you."
Kagerou was bemused, not sure what was this all about but stood to his full height after Shadowmaru gave him a nod. Folding his wings tightly against his back as to not bump them into the other Braves accidentally, he followed Deckerd back to the rest of the others, clearly uncomfortable with being too close to so many other people and Braves alike. Something else was on his mind, something that he felt needed to be addressed before anything else could be said. "Deckerd, before we begin, I must apologise for earlier..." He began with a polite bow. "When I triggered that trap left behind by the criminals that allowed you, Drill Boy, and Radiant Prism to be caught, I expected that trap to come from the ground when triggered but not thrown..." Deckerd wasn't sure what to say to this, but the moment Drill Boy had heard what happened, he immediately got angry, just about ready to say something about it but Radiant Prism stepped forward.
"While others would've expected you to free us immediately, I admit I found it very clever that you instead chose to tail the criminals from a distance to learn the location of their hideout." Radiant Prism looked at the other Braves. "If all four of us had been caught at the same time during that part of investigation, it would've been too late by the time the others managed to locate their facility and free us. I can't think of what they would've done to us if you had been captured alongside Deckerd, Drill Boy and I."
"You knew the great risks, but you saved the others." Shadowmaru spoke next. "It makes me really happy that not only did you save me from becoming whatever those criminals would turn us into, but you also saved the others."
"Wait... None of you are mad?" Kagerou tried to understand this, having expected that everyone would be so angry with him about having allowed the criminals to take in Deckerd, Radiant Prism and Drill Boy upon their capture. "I... I would've contacted the others but I lacked a communications badge... But..."
"Which is exactly why we're giving you one now." McCrane said as Deckerd stepped forward. "We feel that because you expertly infiltrated their hideout undetected and saved the others, all of us feel that you've proven yourself more than enough to become a full official member of the Brave Police. You'll still need to try and learn to get used to learning how to trust humans again but we'll help you along the way as you work alongside us." The Brave Detective then brought out a comms badge, handing it to Kagerou with a smile. "Here, your badge."
Gently taking the badge, Kagerou looked at it with a bit of disbelief. He couldn't really believe it, having felt that despite at the time he was unofficial until now... He'd often believe that he'd never become a full member of the Brave Police like Shadowmaru because of how he started off as a Prototype years ago.
"Kagerou." Turning to face Shadowmaru the moment the Ninja Detective placed a servo on his shoulder. "We can share my desk when we're working on independent cases together should the Commissioners ask us to look into more complex cases. I look forward to working alongside you, Brother."
"We all look forward to working with you, Kagerou." Yuuta said, having just come back from his talk with the Commissioners. "Sorry about that, Mr. Saejima and Mr. Azuma were discussing something with me about something because of what happened. But I hope you're happy to work alongside Shadowmaru and the rest of us!"
Upon hearing and spotting Yuuta, the Prototype slowly approached the young boy, wanting to further confirm what's been on his mind throughout the whole time since the last time he talked to him. "Tomonaga- No, Mini-Boss... Do you still mean what you've told me previously?"
"What do you mean?" Replied Yuuta bemusedly.
Hesitating for a moment, Kagerou continued. "About... Wanting to be my friend."
At being reminded, Yuuta's confusion immediately turned into a bright smile. "Of course! I meant it when I said that I wanted to be your friend! I'm sure everyone else wanted to be your friend too!"
Relieved to hear that, Kagerou was delighted. For the first time in a long time despite he didn't really openly express as much as the others did, the prototype was so happy to hear that. Shadowmaru had been right when he'd tell him so much about this child in front of him. He was wrong about when he said that Yuuta was just like every other child, he was certainly special in many unique ways. "Thank you, I'm glad to hear that." Everyone then gathered more close, talking to Kagerou as they began asking questions, wanting to get to know him better all while celebrating about him becoming a full-fledged member of the Brave Police.