Mediziner's Notes: This one took me forever to figure out what I wanted to do... I wanted to do a chapter where Yuuta goes to another country at the request of the country's government for aid from the Brave Police. Originally I had wanted to do something with the Scotland Yard but the idea of the Brave Police dealing with a case outside of the country again like in the one where they were dealing with professional wrestlers are disappearing and being used in that one illegal robot wrestling thing was something I'd want to do too. I know it took me so long to get this chapter out since this came out in late June, but that's because I had an operation to deal with near the end of May, had something that badly disrupted my life but I got that resolved. Unfortunately at the same time it took me forever to get my writing mojo back and it's almost July by this point... Ugh... Also what doesn't help is that this particular area of Moldova doesn't have any roads/paths for around and near the area of focus within the country so I had to make some bits up a little.
With this chapter published, I'm going to be slaving over July's release immediately I'm afraid... The only free time I ever get from this is if I get a chapter out as early as possible to have the whole month of break... Yeah, I'm stubbornly dedicated to ensure a monthly chapter is released. Some may ask why just make the chapters shorter? Big fat no, I don't want to make my chapters shorter than 230 lines. While yes the older chapters were shorter at the time, that was because I didn't have a line goal yet until a few chapters later.
Probably my weakest publish considering I took so long to recover from iron deficiency and I struggled to figure out how to end the chapter... Honestly I feel like I could've done better.
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!
...
"What is that...?" Yuuta asked in awe, his gaze fixated on an image of an exotic lily flower displayed on the screen, it's colour unusually in almost all shades of various colours of reds. "That's a new species of flower discovered about two days ago." Saejima explained. "What's known about it thus far is it looks identical to the 'Lilium columbianum' otherwise known as the Columbia Tiger Lily found in western Canada, but it's petals are different from it in the way it curls inwards and then outwards." The man pushed a button, zooming the image closer. "Here's a better look of the petals in better detail, they look like curved horns don't they?" The lack of information made Yuuta curious about this new plant discovery, he was to ask Saejima a question if the discovery over a flower was all there is for him coming down here but immediately fell silent as the screen changed to Vice-Commissioner Azuma on the other end. -Commissioner, there's something you and the Brave Police need to see.-
"What is it, Azuma?" He asked sternly.
-The Moldovan Government is calling the Brave Police for aid, they'd like for them to look into a dangerous case in their country. I'll send the details to Tomonaga's desk so you can read more into it. The message also comes with a video clip attached but I don't speak Romanian.-
"Alright, send the information over and we'll have a look." Azuma acknowledged, informing the others it will be sent shortly then cut the communications. The screen now displaying what was previously shown before the Vice-Commissioner's call. It was only just a few seconds until when the desk made a blip noise indicating Yuuta had received an e-mail. Saejima opened it and quickly combed through the information, clearly skilled in reading everything out in full detail without needing to slow down. His eyes widened slightly at a particular paragraph in the information that caught his attention. "What wrong, Mr. Saejima?" Yuuta asked. Saejima explained to everyone that there's a case about a number of vineyards suddenly wilting and dying, pressing a few command inputs to display the images in a five second slideshow that displayed images of vineyards that were devoid of life, nothing but withered, dead plants.
The sight before them left everyone in shock.
"Moldova, known for it's vineyards and good wine are facing an issue with something, or someone sabotaging their vineyards belonging to the Mileștii Mici winery, worse... Whatever is killing the vineyards is also making people fall ill." He told everyone as Yuuta cringed at seeing how sick some of the people looked, and how barren the vineyards were. "Unfortunately anyone who goes near the vineyards immediately get sick, but even when people investigate with hazard suits, they can't seem to find anything that's killing them." He began inputting some commands into the keyboard, revealing the video but on pause where Saejima then inputted a few more, enabling subtitles. The video then played out entirely.
"Brave Police, we- No, all of Moldova requires your assistance. As you may have seen from the information and images provided, someone... Or something is sabotaging our beautiful vineyards and reportedly stealing their wine. Years of hard work and care have gone into these vineyards and into our wine since the beginning which is an important culture of our beautiful country. Please, we need your help in investigating this case. So far as of this video, only four vineyards have been affected yet we fear more will be targeted, or worse the wineries themselves. It's not known yet what the motive is behind this sabotage but this is where we desperately seek your help. We have heard about your good deeds assisting countries worldwide and helping them solve their cases when requested, we humbly request your assistance and request you help us put a stop to whoever is destroying our tradition of wine making and stealing the bottles." The video had finished, and the Brave Police were left wondering what to do let alone who would be going.
Deckerd paused to think as the others talked among one another, calculating who might be the best choices to send and help the country. He didn't want to send too many Braves to investigate considering the country's size and it wouldn't be too ideal to send too many. Swiveling in his chair, he turned his attention to his desk, inputting some commands to view the information after he'd translate the language into Japanese for him to understand. 'Something that's killing the vineyards... Something Shadowmaru or Kagerou could look into but unfortunately the Commissioners have plans for them to assist the Scotland Yard in Portugal on another separate case... Hm, it seems I have no choice but to request McCrane's assistance, but he's not going alone. I'll have to send Radiant Prism with him to assist...'
"Deckerd?" The sound of Yuuta's voice snapped Deckerd out of his thoughts, looking at his friend. "Are you going to go to Moldova to help the people there?"
"Not this time, no." Deckerd shook his helm, looking over at the Build Team. "Instead, I'm going to send McCrane to look into this but I'm also sending someone else. Radiant Prism." His attention turned back to his friend, but shifted towards the older man. "Commissioner, considering that something is not only killing the vineyards but is also making people sick when they approach them, do you happen to have the suit Yuuta used years ago when he retrieved Seia's Brother from Gawan?"
"Suit?" Yuuta repeated bemusedly, then recalled what his friend meant. "Ah, er... Deckerd, I don't think that's gonna fit me anymore since I'm much taller than back then."
"Hmm... Even so, I might have one somewhere in my manor. A couple of things might need replacing but I'm sure it'll fit Yuuta like a glove." At this, he noticed Yuuta glaring at him with suspicion, a glare he knew well. "Let's just say I ensure that Yuuta is prepared for just about anything."
"Jeez, Mr. Saejima... You've said that more than I can count. I don't know how you're able to get all these outfits and military-grade stuff but don't you think some things might be a bit much, or a waste of money?"
"No, helping you is always my top priority, Yuuta!" Saejima smiled. "But let's put that topic aside, there is something special that I'm going to show all of you! Something that can come in handy in future work!"
"Eh? What can come in handy?" Drill Boy asked curiously.
"We'll have to drive over to a hidden facility where the special surprise is taking place. Radiant Prism is over there right now testing something new, and I'd like for everyone to come see. Everyone, let's go, I'll provide the destination as to where it is. I'll meet you all downstairs." The others watched as Saejima left, then looked at one another and proceeded to leave the office. They would meet Saejima down in the repair bay, and soon enough everyone changed form and left, following the destination provided to them by Saejima. The travel wasn't all that far, but it took about half an hour to reach their destination, the older man glanced at how far they have until they arrived and from what he'd been told along the way, his expression shifted and his tone was more professional. "Deckerd, are you absolutely sure? I have never doubted you but this is Radiant Prism's first time on a case outside of Japan." He asked, having thought about the incidents before where he'd never sent Radiant Prism to deal with cases outside of Japan.
"I'm very sure, Commissioner." Deckerd replied, his tone in turn also professional and stern. "Radiant Prism displays promising results, and I feel like she's up to the task of experiencing her first case outside of Japan. I've been carefully monitoring how she performed particular cases I've assigned her to with a few other teammates. I feel she's ready enough to try assisting us with a case in... Somewhat familiar territory considering she came from Europe."
Not a word was said. Saejima simply closed his eyes, crossed his arms over his chest and he thought about Deckerd's words for a moment, then opened his eyes. "Very well, we'll inform her. Ah, turn here, up that path."
Deckerd did as told, his teammates following suit as they ascended the small hill until they found themselves pulling up to a small building. The building showed some signs of wear but didn't look abandoned by any means from how they could tell that it looked well maintained inside. Deckerd patiently waited for Yuuta and Saejima to climb out and give him space, changing form when they'd done so and the other Braves soon followed after giving themselves space to change out of their vehicle modes. Saejima instructed the Brave to take the path that's located at the side of the building while he and Yuuta entered through the doors of the building. It didn't take too long to get to where they needed to be, finding Radiant Prism within glass walls performing tests requested by Toudou.
"Alright, I think that's enough Radiant Prism." Toudou said, jotting down a few notes onto a clipboard. "You've done well, these upgraded human-sized bodies are going to be put to good use once we release the other Braves' human-sized bodies."
"What's the reason behind these human-sized bodies anyways?" Radiant Prism asked, approaching the Chief Engineer but stopped just short of the glass wall. "Wouldn't we normally be performing in our true sizes?"
"This is true, but with these upgraded bodies, it can allow others to perform cases in areas they normally cannot enter under normal circumstances." Toudou replied, signalling the mechanics to enter the glass room to remove the cabling from Radiant Prism. "There are some buildings and places you and the others can't fit normally, which is why these bodies come into play and help should the need call for it. 'Guv can explain, he and the others have just arrived."
Radiant Prism nodded, noticing Saejima and Yuuta entering the room from one side, while the footsteps of other Braves were heard from the opposite end, seeing the Braves come into view one by one. By instinct, the German Brave straightened and saluted. "Radiant Prism." Saejima nodded, his attention turning to Toudou. "So? How were the tests, old friend?"
"She performed well. Test results show she's performed at 108%, far better in comparison to the first human-sized bodies I've built for the others years ago."
"So, what's all this about? Why is Radiant Prism encased in this glass wall?" Power Joe asked.
"I'm glad you asked, Power Joe." Saejima grinned. "We present to you, the human-sized bodies 2.0! Toudou and I have been plotting about how we could make better improvements compared to the 1.0 bodies, and we've made extensive improvements. I didn't want to tell any of you- Not even Yuuta! But, we needed someone else who was suited for the job! Which happened to be the lovely Radiant Prism. Behold! While there isn't much difference, the body now features passive solar charge, motor movement has improved drastically, and overall performance has improved greatly with an even superior battery!" He looked over towards one of the mechanics. "Care to show?"
"Certainly." When the mechanic inputted some commands, the screen came to life as it displayed Radiant Prism's performance. Her movement was smooth and fluid, like a real human being aside from doing her usual attempt at trying to scale the glass wall. Parts of the recording would fast forward, displaying various movements such as quick weapon draw, holstering her handguns, quickly seeking cover as if she were under attack and many other high demanding movements, all flawlessly performed until it finished. "With the final results, the batteries mentioned have five times the lifespan than the old ones found in the older models, greatly reducing the need of using a charging station." Toudou pointed out.
"Don't get jealous now, everyone! We've made sure to also create better human-sized bodies for everyone else too!" Saejima eagerly went over to what appeared to be objects covered by a long loose cloth. "Here they are!" He exclaimed, pulling the cloth off.
"I... Don't see the appeal in walking around in such a small body." Dumpson frowned. "We'd be sitting ducks when going up against criminals stomping around in their machines."
"While a downside, I look forward to tackling a case where I can go into places I normally wouldn't be able to go." Radiant Prism shrugged. "This was the training I was pulled into by the Commissioner."
"And that's where you'll be doing all of us a big favour, Radiant Prism!" Saejima exclaimed gleefully. "Deckerd has requested that you and McCrane go to Moldova, by request of the Moldovan government."
Radiant Prism paused at this sudden announcement, she wasn't expecting that she'd actually step foot in European soil again, believing that even if she weren't in Germany it still somewhat left her feeling uncertain. Deckerd stepped forth, addressing her. "Radiant Prism, I've seen you improve greatly since you've been repaired long ago. After you've performed numerous jobs alongside the others as requested without issue, I felt that you've proven yourself more than ready to tackle a case outside of Japan." Deckerd slowly smiled. "I'm sure the others would have also wanted this, too."
"I'll... I'll accept and aid the country of Moldova alongside McCrane the best I can." Radiant Prism straightened once more, saluting for a brief moment. "When are we departing for Moldova?"
"Today." Saejima replied. "The details will be provided along the way to the airport."
...
"Remember Radiant Prism, you should try not to spend too much time flying. Only use it in certain cases such as if you need to slow your fall in the case you're falling or if you need to reach a certain height. Your battery will drain faster even if we have better battery lifespan in these new bodies." McCrane told Radiant Prism the moment the mechanics finished relocating her into the human-sized bodies. He gave himself a moment to take a look at the sight around him beyond Chișinău International Airport. To him, Moldova didn't seem to feel any different from Japan, other than where the vehicles drove were different. "I know, and you'll need to be careful when you drive because most of us Europeans drive on the right side, not the left side."
"I'm quite aware." McCrane's optics were focused onto the skies, his scanners detecting a few planes in the skies that have yet to land, shifting from one plane to the other after getting some basic information. "I don't see the plane Boss is on, he might have landed already so let's head inside and meet up with him."
It wouldn't be too long when Radiant Prism and McCrane met up with Yuuta inside the airport, one of the mechanics who had joined him on the plane instructed the three of them to meet with an old colleague of theirs who will happily drive them to their destination so they can get to work on the case. "Um... But what if they don't speak Japanese?" Yuuta asked nervous as the mechanic chuckled. "No need to worry about that, my colleague fluently speaks Japanese, he and I used to go to the same school and university in our youth. His job takes him overseas and fortunately he happened to be working in Moldova, the four of us will be staying at his place."
"Saves us having to use up Eur- I mean Leu since Moldova doesn't use Euros..." Radiant Prism nodded.
On the way to the man's place, Yuuta's mind was stuck just staring at what he could somewhat see on the mirror that allowed drivers to see others in the back of the car. Just peeking out in the very background of the mirror was none other than McCrane hooked firmly to the back of the car as if he were a trailer being pulled behind from said car. 'I know it uses little energy if he's being pulled along and since there's not much space in the back seat for two Braves... But... I think this is a bit much, McCrane.' He thought, feeling awkward that people outside were clearly staring at a miniature crane truck being pulled along by the car. The backseat was somewhat restrictive in terms of space thanks to Radiant Prism taking up much of it and couldn't risk flying, added her wings took up a lot of space. Deciding to distract himself, Yuuta stared out at the world going by, the two men in the front chattering were drowned out, amased at how much forest and space Moldova had for such a small country.
What did draw his attention however was what a vineyard in the distance, clearly one of the affected locations.
"We're almost at my place, this is Mileștii Mici, a small little quiet village but well known for being home to the largest winery in the world!" The man chuckled. "It's quite a shame that the tours might be set to strict open and close times, but I can't blame them that they worry one of the tourists might be the saboteurs in disguise, they've been cleaning the winery top to bottom I've heard."
"We'll do our best, sir." Radiant Prism spoke. "Whoever is destroying these beautiful vineyards, we'll look into what's causing them to die. McCrane and I are going to get a jumpstart into seeing if we can find something to start with, or maybe see about speaking with the locals."
"Hm... But do you speak Romanian? That's Moldova's primary language."
Yuuta spoke up. "We don't... But we have a translator device that can help us. It's a pretty simple one, we just set the languages, speak into it and it works... I think... Mr- Ah, the Commissioner explained to us on how it works, but he hasn't finalised it yet but we're hoping it works enough to speak with the locals and see if they can shed any light on what they witnessed... Any sort of sighting is a good start."
"Sir." Radiant Prism addressed Yuuta the moment the car came to a stop, having arrived at their destination. "You've only just arrived in Moldova-"
"And here we are! Beautiful, isn't it?" The man said, stepping out of his car once he'd parked it. Yuuta was amased the moment he and Radiant Prism climbed out of the car. McCrane, having unhooked himself from the car changed form. The village surrounded by many trees and forests with buildings peeking out from behind some just added to the beauty of everyone's surroundings, as if they were discovering a town hidden in a forest. Clearly there were some open land too due to vineyards or farmlands, but captivating.
"Sir." Radiant Prism addressed. "McCrane and I are going to start our investigation, it might be wise if you could rest up since it was a long flight-" McCrane stood up, speaking to the both of them. "Actually, Radiant Prism, I'd like for you to stay put with Boss, I think I'm going to start with the investigation. If I see anything that may need your attention, I'll call for you." Radiant Prism wasn't sure what to make of this, but chose not to argue and simply nodded in acknowledgement. "Don't forget to ask some of the locals, some of them might know something that could give us some sort of tip or lead."
"I won't. CHANGE!"
Yuuta and Radiant Prism watched for a moment as McCrane left, Yuuta expressing concern that it might go faster if he'd come over to help but until being called over by the mechanic and his colleague to come inside.
McCrane arrived at his destination, ready to get to work the moment he changed out of his vehicle form. While he would have preferred to work in his original size, he found that the smaller bodies served well to allow him to look into the vineyards without the worry of accidentally stepping on the trellises. He spent roughly five minutes combing over the entire vineyard but found nothing out of place. 'Nothing that indicates what killed the plants, no plant killing chemicals nor anything underground that could cause this...' standing up to his full height but jolted just slightly when he bumped into one of the trellis. "Ah- Huh...? What's this?" Zooming his visuals, McCrane spotted what appeared to be some sort of red powder, like the shade of colour similarly identical to paprika.
Feeling this could be a clue, he combed through the vineyards, perhaps a strong concentration of the contents were in a few spots that could allow him to collect a few samples. He took note that the soaked ground had no trace of the strange substance, if he couldn't find a good concentration of the powdery clue he found on the trellises, then the outside areas were a better choice if it could've been sprayed when the winds blew in the criminals' direction that would've otherwise easily coated the entire area.
Stepping away from the vineyard, his visuals focused along some tall plants, and his calculations were right and he'd easily found more higher concentrations of the stuff decorating the grass. He brought out a small clear box, carefully using some tools to gather enough to get what he needed without getting it on his servos or anywhere on himself. 'Alright, this should be enough to take to a scientist... Maybe what I've collected can help without risking other people getting sick. I'll have to find somewhere to soak my feet to get the powder off so I won't risk the others getting when I return... Yet I didn't see anything when the dirt around the vineyards were wet...' McCrane thought, looking at the small transparent casing of a few grass samples containing the powder on them for a moment then put it away. Right away he contacted Radiant Prism stating that he might have found something but he intends to see about if what he found might be the cause. On hearing the acknowledgement, he cut the comms and made his way out towards the roads after briefly stepping into the damp ground, seeing it was completely gone the moment he lifted one of his feet to check. 'Eh? It's gone... It seems to evaporate when exposed to water, that could explain why it wasn't on the ground... I'll have to write this down when I get back.' He began to idly ponder. 'Alright, I just need to ask a local where-'
"McCrane!" At being addressed, McCrane immediately snapped out of his thoughts and turned around to see Seia running up to him.
"Seia! What are- Are you on vacation?" He asked, genuinely surprised that he'd run into her here. "I thought you didn't have time for a vacation?"
"Ayako's idea I'm afraid, and to some extent my Brother's too." Seia shook her head as the two walked. "I'm off-duty. Ayako at first, then Mokoto insisted I take the time to see more of the world. Ayako picked Moldova from a vacation magazine she likes to read and insists I try going on a tour at the country's popular winery. I'm not too fond of alcohol, but I'm hope to bring back some wine as a souvenir for her and Makoto. But, if you're here that means you and Yuuta are looking into a case, right?" As the two of them walked, McCrane explained what he, Radiant Prism, and Yuuta planned to look into but so far they haven't found much on why the criminal, or multiple criminals are doing this. They eventually stopped once they'd found a place to sit. Seia was surprised, she'd thought that there were some people who were struggling to care for the vineyards, but unfortunately it was something much worse. "I thought that there were people that were struggling to care for the plants, or that pests were involved but I had no idea that it was something else..."
"Yes. Someone, or something is killing them. You might have seen a few of them that are dead while you were checking out some places here... Worse, at the same time people even fell sick as a result upon approaching the affected areas but I think I've found a sample that looked out of place, but I hope that there could be more to what I've found." There was a bit of hesitation on McCrane's end, a question he wanted to ask but felt conflicted that it might ruin Seia's vacation. "Um, Seia if you don't mind me asking..." McCrane began, giving himself a moment to straighten himself, he needed to be professional about this. "I don't want to intrude on your vacation but there's one question I'd like to ask you. Did you happen to see anything unusual? I'm hoping to shed further light into what we're looking at."
"No, not that I recall..." Seia pondered for a moment. "I've only been here for about two days. Tomorrow I'll be going on that tour of the Mileștii Mici winery since the chances of going on tour started to become limited due to something making people sick. I heard they said it's resolved but maybe you and the others could talk with the owners of the place and ask to investigate if there's something?"
"That could be an idea..." McCrane nodded. He watched as Seia took out a small piece of paper from her pocket, opened it up and showed him the location of where the winery was, address and everything. "Ah, I see. I'll make sure to give this information to Radiant Prism, I'm intending to have her sent for a night patrol around the primeter if I can't find anything else..." McCrane stood up from the bench. "Sorry, Seia. I'd love to talk more but I need to continue my investigation into this matter. You have a great day." With a small respectful salute, he turned around and changed form once he neared the road and drove back in the direction of where the others were staying as Seia waved goodbye.
Reaching his destination, McCrane knocked at the door of the house and the one to answer was Radiant Prism. "Er... Radiant Prism, were you sitting near the door?"
"Yes, I was waiting for your return. Yuuta's currently resting at the momenet and the two men are continuing to talk about the old days during their youth." The German Brave replied. "Have you found anything?" McCrane nodded and brought out the small box containing blades of grass, Radiant Prism was puzzled at first but on zooming her visuals, she could see why and the strange powder was more visible. "You should give it to the mechanic's friend. While they were talking, he mentioned he was a scientist before changing jobs. Maybe he might still have the knowledge to look into what you've found?"
"It's worth a try. Is Boss still awake by chance or has he fallen asleep entirely?"
"He's asleep, long plane flights can do that to humans."
McCrane and Radiant Prism approached the mechanic and his colleague, the first requesting that he could put his scientific talents to use one last time for something he'd extracted. Upon closer inspection, the colleague said that it looks like paprika, but McCrane corrected that while it may look like as such, it seems to have a strange effect when put in water. Hearing this piqued the man's interest and requests if he and Radiant Prism could help him set up his equipment while he gathered his gear. "I recommend it being done outside, for safety reasons..." McCrane pointed out with the man replying that can still be arranged. Glad the man heeded his warning, McCrane and Radiant Prism helped set everything up, and by the time they finished, the colleague had come out with his protective gear on. "Ah, I feel young again doing something like this! I should have probably remained a scientist but thinking about it more, being able to see more of the world with my current job means more than sitting in one place playing with experiments and research. Now, let's see what we're dealing with shall we?"
"Here." McCrane gave the small box to the man. Once he'd done so, he backed away to give him the space needed to research. He allowed his thoughts to drift while he waited, snapping back to reality when his attention was drawn to Radiant Prism sitting down next to him. "You're spacing out, I'm assuming it has to do with that lady from the army you visit?"
"N-No, nothing of the sort..."
"We need to focus on the investigation Deckerd assigned to us. If we lose sight of what we're doing, it could cost us our reputation... From what I've experienced." Radiant Prism sighed. "I know you and the rest of the Japanese Team have a near clean reputation save from some small mishaps over the years, but while I have no knowledge between the two of you we need to focus on what's going on right now. In this case the-" Radiant Prism and McCrane jolted slightly at the sudden miniature explosion as the colleague yelped.
Scrambling back to their feet, they both saw to the colleague, helping him sit up. "Are you alright!?" McCrane asked, helping him up.
"Phew! That was quite an explosion!" The colleague laughed. "Thrilling! But I've found out what this stuff does, but when I think about it on the news, it matches close to what I call the 'Lilium Moldovanum'- Of course there's no official name for it yet, but that plant is from Moldova itself and it's species name I've given it fits! ...I think you two know about that already. Furthermore, this flower is unusually a cave based plant... Not really growing in very damp caves but mostly dry ones and I'd assume like some cave mushrooms, will die when exposed to sunlight. But the fact that it seems to match information given to me by a friend of mine who researched this newly discovered plant... It's anthers contain some sort of powder that seems to possess a volatile reaction to water."
"This is bad..." Radiant Prism frowned. "For it to be triggered by coming in contact with water..."
"It explodes when a large concentration of the anthers' powder has water poured onto it. At the same time, it kills the plants it's been coated with. Look at the sample McCrane brought me, they're dead." This alarmed the two, and McCrane now knew why the contents that got on his feet didn't go off when he'd trek into the damp mud, it wasn't concrated enough in one place that it didn't explode. 'So the more it's gathered in a particular spot-' Immediately the Combat Detective grew alarmed that the man was starting to take off the helmet section of his gear. "Wait, no! Let Radiant Prism and I clean up the mess. If you inhale this stuff or get it on your skin, it will make you sick!"
"So that's what has been making people sick? Interesting... Alright, I'll let you two get the cleaning equipment... Hm, there isn't much of this stuff, but it seems that after it exploded, it doesn't seem as strongly volatile as it was anymore... Save for the samples you found away from the vineyards- Perhaps carried by the wind? I'm going to try something." The man then gathered some more water and applied it to the scattered powder, but nothing happened other than some slight bubbles formed. "Aha! It should be safer to wipe everything down!" Both nodding, McCrane and Radiant Prism went back inside to gather cleaning equipment and helped clean everything down, including having to mop the floor when they'd walked in and then out.
"Once we're done, I'm going to go out and investigate." Radiant Prism told McCrane. "I intend to switch to my original body."
"Actually I have a better task in mind. Can you please go see about investigating the Mileștii Mici winery? I thought about that if the vineyards are affected, it's possible that during harvest, they might have taken them to be processed, which means..."
Radiant Prism narrowed her optics with a nod. "I'll get to that immediately."
...
Night fell and Yuuta had just woken up. He didn't pay attention to the time right away but by the moment he'd gotten up and out of the room he was sleeping in, he was greeted by the two men once he was out in the living room. "Well good evening, young man! I know long plane flights can be quite exhausting. You've missed quite a thrilling experiment I've conducted!" Yuuta gave a slight tired nod, his gaze soon fell on a small clock decorating one of the tables. "Ah! How long was I asleep for!?" He exclaimed, approaching it to have a better look to make sure he wasn't just imagining it. He'd then start looking around the rooms and even outside, looking for his friends. "Where's McCrane and Radiant Prism!?" He asked, concerned crossing over his face.
"Whoa, calm down Yuuta." The mechanic exclaimed, surprised at seeing the young boy frantically looking around for his friends. "They went to the Mileștii Mici winery to start investigating, well it was only just the the darker coloured Female one then the brightly coloured one left about two hours later." It was by this time Yuuta found what appeared to be a small folded piece of paper with directions leading to the winery, he didn't completely register the colleague's words much, his concern for his friends greatly worried him. He partially wondered if they left this note for him when he'd wake up so he'd meet up with them.
'Hmm... The information written on this, I think it's not that far from here. Alright, I'll need to catch up to McCrane and Radiant Prism!' Yuuta thought, then put the paper in his pocket and set the clock down. "Sorry guys, I need to go join up with them!" He exclaimed, he'd quickly grabbed his communications badge from the room he was in earlier then ran out the front door as the men called out for him that it was dangerous to go running out due to that the place isn't as brightly lit as the big cities were. Still, Yuuta pressed on, continuing to run while reading the directions carefully needing to make sure that he didn't take a wrong turn. But just as he turned around the corner, he immediately stopped having almost run into someone familiar. "Whoa, M-Miss Seia!"
"Yuuta, is something wrong?"
"No, not at all. I'm just trying to find McCrane and Radiant Prism, sorry but... Have you seen them?"
"I saw McCrane a few hours ago but not-" The two paused when they saw three large vehicles pass by, Seia quickly identified their shape similar to that of vehicles only found among military personnel but quickly assumed there was probably a military base not far from here. Just as she was about to finish answering Yuuta's question, a large sound could be heard, one of the trucks had blown a tyre as the vehicles came to a complete stop.
"Damn it, I just replaced the tyres of this truck!" One of the men shouted, door swinging open and going over to inspect the damage, clearly it'd been destroyed. "Rotten luck, I'll need to-" Just as the man shifted behind his truck, he'd notice that he had no spare. "Hey! How the hell could anyone forget to stock up my truck with a spare!? Hey! You two! Give me your spare, I can't go nowhere with a wrecked tyre!" They called out to the men behind them as they swung their doors open and climbed out. The others grumbled and some muttered quietly about that they should have been at the winery half an hour ago but their colleague insisted that changing the tyres beforehand wouldn't take too long but it took longer than usual. Once they've removed the spare from their truck and got to work on removing the busted tyre, Yuuta gave a determined look, seeing how vulnerable and open the truck in the far back was, and because it'd popped on the right side of the second truck...
He'd gone to move but he'd been stopped. "Yuuta, it's too dangerous." Seia told him.
"I'm not afraid, but if we don't stop these criminals somehow... Sorry Seia, I need to get in the truck before I miss my opportunity to uncover something big!" Breaking free, Yuuta made a jog towards the truck, quickly climbing inside in just a few seconds. Inside, he'd found that the back was stuffed with different sizes of crates and barrels, all of them empty but some were big enough for him to hide behind. He'd then hear the truck move, quickly scrambling quietly behind one of them. 'Oh no! Someone saw me!' He thought needing to be quiet and ready to move. He wasn't trained for something like this, but it was something he'd seen out of a few shows and movies he'd watch with his family.
"It's only me." Seia called out quietly, slowly making her way towards one of the boxes opposite of Yuuta. "I'm coming with you."
"B-But- Your vacation... I don't want to ruin-" The woman only shook her helm with a small smile. "It's alright, while I'm not an official member of the Brave Police, I wouldn't want Radiant Prism and McCrane to worry-" They heard the men say that the tyre has been replaced followed by them heaving something, clearly the ruined tyre they had removed put away in the second truck. Afterwards the two felt the truck wobble slightly which meant the men climbed back into the truck and start up the engines. Now that they were moving, Yuuta opened up his badge and pressed a few buttons to switch the badge to silent mode, then pushed a button that enabled the comms badge to light up and send a tracker signal to McCrane and Radiant Prism's badges while using his coat to shield away as much of the light from the little flashing siren decorations as best as he could. He could see Seia was concerned but quietly explained. "I'm just letting the others know where I am. Since these guys might know a different route in without being seen too much, it'll allow our friends to find us."
The trip didn't take long and the two spent most of the time peeking out from the sides, seeing buildings go by on top of spotting a couple of vineyards but what they could see from peeking at the sides were that they came to what appeared to be an entryway to the winery. The truck slowed to a stop briefly where two men exchanged brief conversation that neither could understand but didn't sound good at all. Times like this made Yuuta wish he could've been able to use the translator but unfortunately he couldn't risk blowing his and Seia's cover. 'This thing doesn't have a silent mode I don't think... And Mr. Saejima said that if there's too much background noise, it won't properly translate anyways...' The young teenager thought. Seia immediately spotted cameras mounted on the ceiling, knowing they would be spotted right away. 'They're going to act quick before the police arrive.' She thought, the truck stopping as both immediately were on guard and made sure to hide.
"Alright you morons, get out and start grabbing those wine bottles, just don't drop them because the boss will want these so we can sell 'em to the right people wanting these!" One of the men ordered. "If we can avoid breaking the bottles, we'll leave less of a trail and get the largest amount of cash imagined, now get to it! Every single Moldovan Leu counts!"
-Yuuta, are you alright?- McCrane asked through the comms.
"Yes, are you guys here yet? They're starting to take the wine bottles..."
-We're almost there, even if they try to scramble for their vehicles this place is too narrow to turn around and flee... Those large trucks will prevent them from doing so.- Radiant Prism pointed out. -Just be careful.-
"Just don't shoot any of the wine bottles when you two get here, we need to make sure we don't damage them." Yuuta said, cutting the comms as he heard someone starting to climb into the truck. Yuuta didn't have much in the way of hiding, with only one large crate being enough to hide him, but on the opposite side of him, Seia had plenty of places to remain out of sight. Seia noticed Yuuta was almost discovered, and knew she had to act the moment she saw one of the crates was hauled off of the truck and picked up by the other man outside. Once she heard the footprints move away from the truck, she could see the man returning for the box Yuuta was hiding, and since his back was completely to her... Very quietly she snuck up behind him and immediately hit him from behind and the man made a small grunt noise before falling which Seia made sure to catch to avoid others being alerted to the noise of someone thudding to the floor. Yuuta on this point had seen what happened from a different angle, and was quite impressed and a little scared of Seia's quick thinking to knock out of the thugs out.
"Thank you, Miss Seia. Um, is he...?" He said as she searched the man, relieving him of his handgun. Immediately, he brought out his badge and signaled the others to deal with them. "He's only out cold, but I think I can hear McCrane and Radiant Prism's footsteps. They're here."
"HEY, IT'S THE BRAVE POLICE! OPEN FIRE! YOU GUYS THERE, HURRY UP AND KEEP PUTTING THE WINE IN THE CRATE WHILE WE HOLD THEM OFF" One of the men shouted not long after and soon a gunfight erupted. Some chose to fight back while others were covered by their colleagues in trying to collect as much wine as possible. While they're distracted, Seia slowly moves out of the truck, making sure to remain in cover. Taking a slight risk, she peeked out from the left side, spotting the shooters distracted with the Braves, three of them were firing while the other two were out of sight continuing to steal the wine. She noticed one of them had a full crate and is now hauling it towards the truck she's currently using as cover. Moving towards the front, she looked around for the other man busying themself with the task of filling another crate. She then looped around the truck and quietly took out the other thug with the same tactic as the previous one, knocking them out as she dragged the now-unconscious thug into the back of the truck. Managing to overhear one of the shooters having run out of ammo while another told the others to load up what they can back into the truck as the Brave Poilce were pushing forth, Seia could overhear them speak. "Damn, even in those tiny little bodies, they're still as dangerous as when they're massive, I would've expected them to not be able to get down here without tearing the place apart! Keep holding them back and defend the others!"
Seia carefully moved up to the first truck once, taking cover under the vehicle thanks to it's spacious underside upon hearing one of the men approach the vehicle to the left when they'd notice their colleague didn't return after loading the crate stockpiled with the wine bottles stolen. However, this time Seia didn't have much of a chance to spring an ambush, it was too risky to come out of hiding and strike seeing as they already had a handgun out. Yuuta had managed to catch a glimpse of this from one of the rear mirrors and had a rough idea of what he could do. Pressing a button on his badge, the mini sirens had went off.
"More Brave Police!? Bah, trying to sneak up behind us, are you!? Sounds like you must be the kid back there that's seen on the news! You've made a foolish mistake coming here!" The teenager stiffened nervously upon hearing the sounds of footsteps inching near him, but the sound of the thug grunting indicated that Seia had been given the distraction needed to get the criminal next. The sound of a gun clicking could be heard not long after, one of them had run out of ammo. Afterwards they could hear a loud whoosh as Radiant Prism sprinted forward with the aid of her thrusters, tackling the one that still had ammo while McCrane quickly sprinted for the other, both of them grunting upon impact and attracting the last criminal. The final one yelled at Seia to put her hands up, but his threat was empty when he saw McCrane and Radiant Prism training their weapons on him, a mistake on his part when he heard the clicking noise of a gun and Seia had already trained the handgun she had on them. "Give it up, you guys are under arrest for sabotage and theft!" Yuuta said, using the translator device which it proceeded to translate his words into Romanian, speaking once more to let the device translate. "Drop the gun!"
"Heh... You Brave Police are a bunch of morons, letting a little brat order you around and even putting them into danger... Well, I suppose the game ends here doesn't it?" The remaining criminal said as Radiant Prism quickly grabbed the front of the handgun in a quick motion in case they might shoot Seia, crushing the weapon to the point of not being usable once she'd ripped it out of the man's hands. "I'll warn you all... You're only provoking the most powerful criminal known to Europe. Continue provoking them... And they'll find you."
When the translator translated what the man said, Radiant Prism seemed to be on edge the moment she heard all that... Who was the most powerful criminal in Europe? Neither the German Team nor the Scotland Yard talked about such a thing... So where was this coming from? Was this just a big lie to put them on edge?
"Quick, let's round up the criminals before they wake up, I've already alerted the Moldovan police officers so they should be on their way right now." McCrane said upon hearing some men stirr, immediately bringing out a few handcuffs from a component in one of his legs containing them as he passed a few to Radiant Prism and Yuuta. "Seia, I'm surprised that... You..." Seia could only smile, turning to face McCrane once the criminal had been cuffed and Radiant Prism began moving them away. "I couldn't leave him to deal with this on his own, even if I was on vacation and you and the others are around, I'd try to help as much as I can. You have all done so much to help me and the rest of the world over the years I have known you and everyone else. Putting my training to the test on real foes is something I'm no stranger to, I've done this a few times even long before Deckerd was built." Just as Yuuta managed to round up two and cuff them, he couldn't help but ask McCrane and Radiant Prism. "So, what were you two looking into? Was it about the one plant?"
"Yes, but then we decided to ask the winery owners if they've seen anything unusual and we were told that thieves were breaking in at night, and wine bottles were being stolen. The breakouts weren't frequent but they've been doing it for weeks while carefully covering their tracks after they temporarily sabotaged the security camera... We suspected that they struck at night in a small number, turning out to be true thanks to yours and Seia's efforts, but I think once the police interrogate these men, they'll eventually extract the information to their organisation and shut them down."
...
The next day, the Brave Police and Seia paid the owners a visit, happily expressing that he's so glad that they put a stop to the criminals theft and sabotage, and that while it will take a long time to repair the damage they've done, they suspect it shouldn't happen again especially now that the police force is going to be on high alert until they find the location of the organisation and shut them down. "Even though a lot of our wine has been stolen, hopefully most of them will be found and returned if they haven't drank it all, destroyed them, or sent them out of the country to who knows where... Ah, and for your reward I... Well... As much as I'd present you with a reward young man, you're a little too young for our fine wines, but your relative or guardian here has performed admirably for assisting in this matter." The man then brought out two tall bags with wine bottles in them. "From us at the winery to you, Miss!"
"Ah, thank you very much sir." Seia accepted the gift with gratitude, giving a small bow after taking the gift. Yuuta didn't seemed phased at all that he didn't get anything because what mattered more was how happy people are when cases like these are solved.
"Oh well, at least doing my job is a reward in itself." Yuuta said with a small smile after the translation had finished replaying what was said in Japanese. "My sisters would probably react badly if I brought back wine anyways. Even if I did get some, I'd probably give it to Mr. Saejima and Mr. Azuma if they liked that sort of thing. I'm not even close to turning twenty either... But, it's better that Seia got it since she's on vacation." Radiant Prism turned her attention to Yuuta, helm tilted slightly. "You mean to try wine when you're in the proper age for drinking?"
His attention snapped to Radiant Prism. "Eh? Ah, no... I don't think it's really a good idea. I need to be alert and bright eyed for any criminal that disturbs the peace! If I drank even a little on the job, I'd get in trouble since we have such strict laws for having alcohol in our systems while driving. Hm... Well with the case solved, I should probably find some suitable things I can buy and bring back to my sisters before we head back home..." He paused to look at McCrane. "Is that alright, McCrane? I know we didn't come here to have fun afterwards but... It'd be nice to grab something for them."
Yuuta then noticed that McCrane didn't respond right away, to which he was concerned when he'd watch Seia been awarded some wine for assisting them. Radiant Prism eventually noticed this too and approached him, placing a servo on his shoulder. "McCrane, what's going on?"
"Ah, sorry... Did you two say something."
"..." Radiant Prism then turned back to Yuuta, stating that while not here to play, it probably wouldn't hurt to find something small but she'd point out that Deckerd would want them back in Japan after they'd solve the case. "Wait, Radiant Prism we can't just-"
"Normally you'd rank above me in some sense but seeing as we're here in Europe..." Radiant Prism's optics were drawn to the exit of the winery. "I want to... Also take in Europe a little bit more longer... Even if this is not Germany, Europe is still in some sense my home." Her gaze was drawn back to McCrane. "You and the others get to see much of your home 24/7, but I never have the pleasure to do so after I'd flown all the way to Japan seeking aid from you and the rest of the crew. Allow me this small pleasure of familiar ground before we must depart back for Japan."
McCrane would've argued otherwise, but when Radiant Prism pointed out that she doesn't get any chance to be within familiar territory again that he went silent before he could even make even a sound. In a sense she was right, she's a European Brave and he could see that this might be something she yearned for throughout the time she'd been in Japan with them and this was her first time attending an international problem at the request of the country's government. "Actually, to correct you Radiant Prism..." He began. "Because Europe is where you originally came from, I'd say to some degree you're the one outranking me while within European territory. I suppose we could allow ourselves some time here before we head back."
Radiant Prism gave a small nod. "Thank you, McCrane. I'm sorry that I request of this but-"
"No, in truth there's some things I need to talk to Seia with in private, so I would recommend using the time to go with Yuuta and find something he can bring some gifts back for his sisters."
"I'll do that." Radiant Prism turned her attention to Yuuta. "Let's go, I'd like to... See more of Moldova while we're looking for places you can find gifts for your sister." This seemed to brighten the teenager and nodded. The two of them left as McCrane watched for a moment until they were out of his sight, before turning to Seia when she'd approach him. "Seia, could we talk? It's... Important."
"Of course McCrane, let's head outside so we can talk a bit more in private."
The moment they exited the winery, a large green jet could be seen flying overhead followed by a familiar large red firetruck as they changed form upon spotting McCrane. "Ah there you are McCrane." King said. "My team and I just finished solving Portugal's problem alongside Shadowmaru and Kagerou, looks like you have everything well in servos here in Moldova." McCrane nodded in acknowledgement. "Indeed, we're just going to stay a bit longer here before we head back. Radiant Prism's orders since she doesn't get the chance to spend time in Europe." Upon sight of Seia, King could only smirk. "And I didn't mean to interrupt your date with Miss Onoue."
"Ah, no... We were going to discuss something in private..."
Unknown to the Brave Police, a large black figure high up in the skies had been observing from afar, it'd been circling above the small village before it eventually flew Northwest.