Mediziner's Notes: I didn't feel quite happy about the early half of this chapter but I'm also feeling much happier that I'm getting much closer to the end. I think about 2-3 chapters remain now, depending on how I've executed it. I'm really sorry again if my stuff has been degrading with the fillers and probably this too but I do confess that I've been burning out quite a lot with the chapters... I can't say if the next chapters will be any easier, but we'll see. I will warn readers that this includes a death much like how there were others in previous chapters, hence why TLW has eventually evolved from a T rating to an M rating... I wanted to have a few more mature, dark themes every now and then since I'd reckon that there would've been some points in BP where they could've been too late for things and whatnot.
The Leader Within Cover Art is drawn and commissioned by Erilmadith-Everyoung on DeviantART. You can also find Radiant Prism's full reference there, too. The remaining chapters are also being beta-read by them, too.
Enjoy!
...
Months had passed since the incident, Radiant Prism and Rook had just returned from having dealt with a couple of sky criminals that have been causing trouble for people across London and in large sections of the outskirts. "That was brilliant, Radiant Prism!" Exclaimed Rook as the two aerials were heading towards the office. "How did you know when to pull that stunt off!?"
"Erm..." Radiant Prism frowned as she wasn't sure how to explain. "It's... Really nothing special. If you feel like you've gotten hit or a bullet scrapes your armour, you just feign as if you've been truly shot down as they attempt to chase and fill you with even more lead. Though, it doesn't always work, but one of them made an exception that allowed me to execute the move: Wait until they get close enough, and then open fire."
"But in the end, Radiant Prism, your trick still worked regardless!" Rook replied. "Maybe if I try to sneak this more often, I could catch a lot of them off guard! You have to teach me the next time you and I are free!"
"I don't know how long I'll be staying in England, Rook. If you consider the criminal's movements are becoming more and more aggressive, it's only a matter of time before he decides to either flee this country and move on to another... Or worse, back home." The German Brave pointed out. "I'll see, but I can't make any promises. I can't allow myself too much rest when I still have to put Bruno behind bars."
When the two of them walked into the office, King peeled his attention away from his desk computer, addressing the two of them congratulations on dealing with the sky gang. "Speaking of aerial combat, Radiant Prism you received an invitation from the Royal Air Force. I told them that I'd pass over your response when you returned from your assigned job and I'd like to ask you now if you're able to give a response?" Radiant Prism was puzzled by this sudden invitation and asked King to give her more details as to what the invitation was about. King read everything from the list, in that they've recently obtained some shiny new advanced aircraft and have asked her personally to help them test out their capability with some mock dog-fighting sessions.
King was about to further add more to what else the invitation offered, but Radiant Prism interrupted him. "Apologies King but... Why me specifically? I'm not a member of the Scotland Yard- Well, not a permanent member to be exact. This is... I doubt that this is something the Royal Air Force would've sent."
"Normally I train with them to be prepared for dangerous threats, but my guess is that they might have seen and asked us about you." Rook spoke up cheerfully. "Every now and then I'll train with them. Because I'm the only aerial among the Scotland Yard, I help them out whenever they'd need to test something out or if they need my skill to help shape up the pilots for any dangerous criminal threats. Because you're with us for an undetermined amount of time, they could've heard about you and wanted to try testing their new aircraft, and you should know that your country is known for having the highest tech out of Europe."
Radiant Prism felt extremely awkward about it, it wasn't a lie that her country was known for it's historic record of incredible technology but she couldn't confirm it herself. She'd seen how high tech Japan was when she was there previously. She then sighed in defeat. "Very well, King. Tell them I said yes."
"Are you sure?" King asked with concern.
"I... I'm not used to having my country complimented by foreigners, even with others laying out the facts said about it." Radiant Prism frowned, looking away. "It's just really awkward for me since there's still a lot of things I'm not fully yet comfortable with. But yes, I'm willing to help the Royal Air Force."
"Well, if you're sure, I'll go ahead and forward a reply saying you agreed. In the meantime, you should go down to the rec room to refuel if you haven't yet."
"Yes sir." Radiant Prism saluted and took her leave. Rook followed behind her, letting King know that he'd come back after he'd refueled to finish up his paperwork. When they left, King turned his attention to Ace, addressing his Second-In-Command. "Ace, let's talk."
"Of course, what's on your mind, King?"
King began to ponder for a moment, then straightened himself. "I'd like for you to watch over Radiant Prism tomorrow, meaning I'm giving you tomorrow off to ensure there aren't any other sky criminals that may still be lurking. Considering we've put a number of them behind bars, there might still be a few left that may foolishly target her."
"The Royal Air Force are capable of dealing with a threat, I can't be over there and warning everyone to drive all the way to-" Ace then noticed the look King was giving him, and he wasn't going to back out of this one. "Very well, but I warn you that I won't be of any use. I will allow Radiant Prism to hand over the criminals if she manages to catch any. I am not a lion interested in plane watching."
Meanwhile in the rec room, Rook explained that the Royal Air Force won't go easy on her, to which she replied saying she doesn't expect them to go easy. "Foreigner or not to this country, I enjoy a challenge to keep my flight skills sharpened, and to better hone my targeting system." She explained, taking the canister of jet fuel when Rook grabbed two cans and gave one of them to her as they moved to go sit down at a vacant table. "You know, thinking about it more, I think it'd be not just a challenge, but also quite fun."
"Well good luck at least, but I doubt you'd last very long." Rook smirked. "First few times I helped them out, I was not prepared for what the humans can be capable of in the air, even if it's just a mock dogfight. But I did start to adjust and learn how each individual pilot performed. I can tell you each has their own quirk, but then you've got what others have called 'Jet King'." Radiant Prism could only raise an eyebrow at this, sipping her canister as she listened to Rook continue to talk about the pilots and the top of the top. His words seem to drown out when her thoughts wondered as to what Bruno was planning to do, after the incident and a few times that he'd been leaving simple devices around that were meant to attract their attention. 'Of course King won't allow anyone to investigate alone, not after what happened to Ace.' She thought, recalling when she'd pick up a few near her location but did not engage immediately, even when she was told not to.
"...But other than he's the top of the top, you're going to have a tough time locking on to him." Rook finished. "I can't even lock onto him myself."
"Well, if you were able to catch him previously before becoming this 'great ace of a pilot' as you quoted, then there wouldn't really be too much of a change I don't think. Once more, we're both aerials. Nothing can escape our lock-on systems that easily." Finishing up the rest of her fuel canister, Radiant Prism stood up. "Thank you, but I think I'm going to go and freshen up then recharge early. If I'm going to help the Royal Air Force with their little training session, I'll need to look presentable for the following morning."
Rook could only laugh. "No no no, they're not asking you to look nice for the training. ...Unless you mean you're going to wash up?"
"Correct. I need to get rid of the seawater after those criminals had splashed me with it, and I'd rather not stink for too long." Radiant Prism turned to leave after she's recycled her empty canister, heading off for the main showers.
When Radiant Prism reached the showers, she kept her footsteps quiet, pausing to hear for any other Braves that might be present, or were nearby. When she heard no one, she casually walked into the showers, picking the closest shower stall to begin rinsing off all that seawater, making sure to get the spots that still had some leftovers hidden in the crooks of her armour. 'I'm glad we have something like this... I don't think I'd want to know how long the mechanics would take to get me rinsed off, considering I have more spots seawater can get into that might be hard to reach with deep cleaning.' She thought, unaware that someone was approaching the showers.
Bishop, who had intended to get a bit of deep cleaning paused on spotting the foreign aerial showering as if she had no care in the world that someone was watching. He let out an uncomfortable squeak and sped right out in the blink of an eye, not wanting to be caught for doing such a nefarious thing. Radiant Prism paused on hearing a strange sound, but the rushing water had muffled most of it for her to really identify who it was that made the noise. She continued her cleaning until she felt she'd gotten a lot of the seawater rinsed off. After shaking out what leftover excess water she had, the German Brave walked right out of the showers, leaving watery footprints behind to go turn for the night.
The following morning, Rook and Radiant Prism were on their way towards their destination but were stopped at the exit when Bishop showed up. Puzzled, Rook asked Bishop what was going on, but the light blue Brave said there wasn't any problems but intended to speak to Radiant Prism privately through the comms. It was Radiant Prism's turn to be puzzled, and even when Bishop explained about that she needs to be more conscious of what she does because of her gender-programming, especially being the only female Brave. "And how is this exactly a problem, Bishop?" She asked, which made the small Brave stunned. "But, you can't just... Expect us to just- Oh, nevermind... We'll talk about it later when you get back." Bishop immediately skittered off to head back towards the office, the situation itself was too awkward for him to try even further.
"Well, let's get going!" Rook encouraged shortly after.
"That was unusual... Not sure what happened to Bishop but whatever he asked you about, I hope you didn't do something to scare him off. He is pretty sensitive."
"It's nothing important." Replied Radiant Prism. "He was... Just wishing me good luck on the experience I'll be trying out."
"Oh, makes sense."
Unaware that they were being followed, Ace reluctantly had begun to follow them from on the ground. Unlike the aerials who don't exactly need to worry about getting in the way of things, Ace had to weave around things and get to his destination in the fastest yet safest route possible, needing to make sure he wasn't stepping on things he shouldn't. A part of him regretted on agreeing to this, to him it was a complete waste of time just chasing after two Braves that could fly.
...
Back at the station, King was in the midst of replying to emails being sent by both Surge and Blazer. Why they didn't choose to combine their messages together, he couldn't understand. Though he wasn't all that happy about Surge responding in a more hostile manner, Blazer had cleared it up to him that the automatic translation isn't always perfect and it still set Surge off every now and then. "...Something tells me that Radiant Prism will have to deal with Surge rather than Blazer when she has to head back." He muttered to himself with a frown, his optics glancing at the folded map he'd been using earlier, something made him wonder and he opened it back up. "Let's see... There's no point in flying south and crossing through France even though she could get a nice look of the Eiffel Tower. Hm, I don't know how sensitive the lockdown measurements can extend, and I certainly don't want the people of France to start making complaints..." He continued to mutter to himself, trying to figure out routes that would work best, but nothing seemed to work other than for the one where she'd travel over the North Sea and then start turning more into Germany just before she could reach Denmark.
His attention was ripped away from the map when his notification went off, checking the reply as Surge and Blazer's question, once translated into English, had asked him where or how was Radiant Prism getting back and what was she doing at this exact moment. Making his response, he informed both Blazer and Surge that he's going to have to direct her to fly along the North Sea to get to Hamburg. Something told him in the back of his mind that Surge was not going to be happy about this, even though to him she seemed to never be happy with anything. The tall red Brave made sure to also include that Radiant Prism was at the moment at one of the RAF's bases as per an invitation to help some of the members with testing out their shiny new aircraft, sending his reply.
With the email sent, King had turned his attention back to the map he was looking at. After he'd ensured that the route he'd thought of was the best choice he drew a quick sketch of a portion of the North Sea and where parts of England, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark were, and then busily wrote down the coordinates he deemed was safe to travel through. "Directly northeast, continue along there but not too far from the coast where she can't see them too much... Then start slightly leaning more towards east. Hm... I hope Radiant Prism has a map built into her systems... Or we could have a small map of the world installed to show where she is, if she needs it." Finishing his map plan, he sighed and relaxed against his chair. 'The only problem is that she won't leave unless Bruno leaves if we don't successfully catch him, or he decides to flee elsewhere.'
The email notification went off once more, and once the email translated itself, Surge's reply clearly showed she was furious. King would also receive Blazer's response shortly after, but what Blazer explained in his letter after agreeing it was best to send Radiant Prism over through the north, something he said was alarming, very alarming. He was about to open up a new email to send but when he heard someone walk through the small human-sized door, it was Regina.
"King, I'd like for you to come down to the repair bay, it's time for your routine maintenance."
"Oh, I forgot that was today." King frowned, internally cursing to himself that he'd have to wait as Regina wouldn't let him wait longer to have his checkup as he shut down his desk computer and made his way to the repair bay. When the mechanic spotted him enter, they directed him to a vacant dock he can attach himself to. Once the proper attachments and cables were placed on him, he quietly listened as the mechanics began their work, overhearing some of them being surprised that some of his parts either had worn out, or had fractures in that a singular heavy performance would've otherwise make them snap. "We're going to have to replace some of your parts, King." One of the mechanics told him. King asked how long it would take, to which he answered would take an hour or two as other minor things needed to be entirely replaced.
'Bloody hell, I have to wait that long!?' King internally cursed to himself and reluctantly waited to be finished. A part of him wished that he and his team weren't so busy having to keep an optic sharp for any signs of Bruno. As he was becoming the largest threat to the country, it was hard for the entire division to relax. On another note, he knew that Regina wanted to ensure everyone was at peak performance and, if they should encounter him again, they wouldn't be crippled by fractured or worn parts giving way that could leave them easy targets. Not sure what else he could do to pass the time, he chose to recharge through the whole thing, yawning as his green optics dimmed.
Sometime later, however, his optics brightened at being woken up by a familiar sound, turning his helm to see a firetruck and the firefighters calling out for the mechanics, asking for King's assistance as there are fires in several buildings. Alarmed at this, King asks Regina and the mechanics if his routine maintenance is complete, which they confirmed that they just finished shortly after the firetruck arrived. Eager to get to helping others, King carefully detached some of the parts and cables used for maintenance from himself, while others he had to get some help from the mechanics to remove. Once everything was off, he carefully made sure to not step on any of the mechanics' equipment and joined the firefighters in dealing with the fires, internally cursing to himself along the way as today seemed to be against him at every turn.
Upon arriving at the scene, King got straight to work. A large group of firefighters were already at the scene doing their best to put out most of the fire, or at least keep the fires away from people awaiting rescue. The scene made him pale to some degree, there were more people to rescue than he'd like. He then overheard one of the firefighters calling out to him. "Hey King! Try using this box we designed, it should help bring a large group of people to safety! We made it just for you to use! Okay everyone, get that rescue box assembled!" Moving as if they're dealing with a simulated emergency, the crew quickly assembled together a fairly sized box, then moved away for King to approach it. He noted how sturdy it felt, clearly too heavy for even a group of humans to move around, but not only was it sturdy, but it felt comfortably light when he picked it up. "Thank you, I'll use it right away."
King asked the citizens if there were anyone else in there pinned but once they said that they hadn't seen anyone else with them, he moved on to carry another group out the window right next to them. He would have to stop periodically to set the box down to let others climb out towards the firefighters and ambulances who were quick to assist them. He would then repeat the process while occasionally spraying water with a well placed aim to make a temporary clear path for some blocked by fire. When he'd gotten the last remnants of people out from the top floors, he could hear someone call out to King, followed by a few small missiles pelting him and the building, yelping in agony as he gripped onto the box to prevent it from slipping out of his servos. Slowly crouching, he set the box down as people scrambled out. Turning to face who was the one attacking, he quickly had to shield himself when another set of missiles rained down on him. "Take that, Brave Police!" called out a criminal flying by on their aircraft. "This is what you deserve, Brave Police, for capturing all of my buddies!" They screamed as they began flying a certain distance, before looping around to spray bullets and missiles. Knowing his rapier won't be of any use, King withdrew his handgun and fired at most of the incoming missiles. Needing to call for Rook and Radiant Prism to help him out, reaching for his badge.
...
"That Radiant Prism sure is something, Rook." One of the pilots said as they watched Radiant Prism manage to 'take out' another jet successfully with the lock on system and was now focused onto the ace pilot of the squadron. "She's a fine fighter in the skies, and she's hard to lock onto. About time you guys got yourselves another sky buddy to help you out, huh?"
"Actually, Radiant Prism isn't part of the Scotland Yard, she's a temporary member. She's actually the leader of the western section of Germany, stationed in Dortmund." Rook smiled sadly. "As much as it'd be nice to have another sky buddy instead of just me, I doubt Regina has any plans of adding more aerial support." He further added with a shrug. "I'll miss it, but I think even Ringo thinks that it's not right to have her transferred permanently. She's only here temporarily, because we've got a nasty foreign criminal on our servos she's helping us with."
"That bad? Ouch..." The pilot replied in surprise. "Well, hopefully you guys put a stop to them. I know we don't normally get involved in the affairs of the police, but I know some of the military force will act if things get too dangerous. But... Well, you've seen what happened back then. I'm just hoping these babies and the other similarly equipped A.I. driven vehicles won't be affected by whatever waves that giant floating thing in the sky was emitting."
"It's a long shot, but I doubt we'd see something like that again." Rook shook his helm. "Those two people who were responsible for making such an advanced A.I. system aren't around any-"
-Rook, this is King.-
Getting his badge out, Rook answered. "What's going on, Ringo?"
-There's a sky criminal you and Radiant Prism missed, and I'm pinned down at the moment. I need both of you to deal with and arrest this criminal, immediately!-
"On it!" Putting his badge away, Rook told the pilot he has to go. After moving a fair distance from the pilot, Rook took to the skies and changed into his vehicle mode, informing Radiant Prism that the mock fight has to come to an end, they've got work to do.
"Understood." Replied Radiant Prism, informing the ace pilot that they will continue this another time before leaving to join Rook in flying back to London. Both aerials could see the smoke rising, followed by a few explosions that were directed towards King down below. Rook exclaimed they both need to hurry and gunned their thrusters. When Radiant Prism noticed Rook was about to use his gatling gun, she quickly broke into her element. "No, Rook! Don't fire, we can't risk adding more to the damage!"
Rook moved just slightly at her command. "What? Then what do you want me to do, Radiant Prism!? We can't just let this guy bombard Ringo until there's nothing left of him!"
"Let's first get his attention. Fly by him really close and that should draw his attention to us. Considering we're the ones who caught his buddies he's going to go after us more than King. Then, we lure him away from the city, understood?"
The green jet acknowledged, encouraging they begin now.
...
As they got closer, both Rook and Radiant Prism witnessed what was going on, and Rook immediately began retracting his gatling gun, aiming to shoot. "Wait, don't fire!" Radiant Prism called out. "At this angle, you'll be firing into the city!"
"Wh-What do you want me to do then!?" Rook asked hesitantly. "We can't just let him fill King's body with lead!"
"Indeed, but I have an idea. Follow my lead, but don't fire. Not yet, at least."
The sky criminal laughed, continuing to fly around and open fire at King. "Yes, dance for me, Brave Police! Dance before I see you taken down!" The criminal cackled as King continued to avoid getting hit, firing a few rounds in response but clearly missing due to the range the criminal was at. "But fun's over, I'm going to litter you with- Wha!?" As two jets flew by, they were quick to identify just who they were, quickly getting angry. "So you two were the one putting my boys behind bars! I'll show you what I'm made of as revenge for taking them!" Gunning their jet's thrusters, the criminal began their pursuit of both Rook and Radiant Prism, quickly targeting Rook as he couldn't pick between two targets. Radiant Prism broke away, making the criminal cackle out at Rook that his wingman is too much of a coward to fight."
Rook's systems immediately warned him that the criminal was locking onto him, trying his best to evade being locked on.
-Fly up, Rook.- Radiant Prism instructed him through the comms. Rook wasn't sure what sort of plan she had in mind but he did as told after seeing an opportunity that allowed him to do so without being locked on immediately. As he ascended, so did the criminal. "Wh-What do I-" The sounds of Radiant Prism's gatling gun interrupted him as the criminal took evasive maneuvers, and the green jet could hear some of the shots having scraped the aircraft, but not enough to do any serious damage. Once the firing stopped after breaking away from Rook, they turned their attention onto Radiant Prism.
This meant Rook was up next to repeating the same thing that happened just then.
"If you think I'm going to let you get away scratching my baby I just buffed, I'll scratch you as well, Brave Police! No, destroy you instead!" The criminal shouted, refusing to let Radiant Prism break away or maneuver her way out of him trying to lock onto her. Angered as he is about his aircraft, he had entirely forgotten about Rook which proved to be a fatal mistake in the green jet's optics. Even when he was very sure the criminal's aircraft was warning him about being attempted to lock on, the criminal was too enraged to even flinch. "I've got a lock on, Radiant Prism! Try to shake him off, I don't want you getting shot."
-Just shoot.- Came Radiant Prism's reply.
Rook was surprised, surprised enough that he managed to successfully lock on. "Wait, why-"
-That's an order! I'll be fine!- Radiant Prism urged Rook. The English Brave was uneasy about this decision but opened fire as instructed. Some of Rook's shots had not only struck the criminal's aircraft, but also scraped or even landed direct hits on Radiant Prism. Despite this, he kept going until when the criminal then attempted to flee after his aircraft took too much damage to continue fighting.
-Good work you two, now quickly capture him before he gets away- King complimented over their comms as both aerials moved in to capture the criminal, only for the aircraft to suddenly explode without warning, the blast knocking them both slightly. Recovering, both Radiant Prism and Rook were stunned that someone deliberately shot the criminal to their demise. "Wh-What? What just..." Rook stammered, trying to form words as he and Radiant Prism changed out of their vehicle modes, unable to believe what just exactly happened. "I-I didn't even directly shoot at the fuel tanks or other parts that would've otherwise-"
A much larger figure flew overhead, immediately causing Radiant Prism to narrow her optics. "It wasn't you, Rook. It's Bruno of all criminals."
-Rook, Pawn, Bishop, I need you three right now! Our target has decided to show himself and we're not going to let him get away!- King could be heard shouting through the comms as Rook began to break away from Radiant Prism, but his flight protocols instinctively told him to stay with his wingman.
"Go, King's orders would override mine." Radiant Prism shook her helm with a small smile. "A foreign leader's orders come second to the primary leader's orders, whose orders go first."
Rook nodded, descending to rejoin King while Radiant Prism decided to figure out what she could do to some degree to Bruno's mecha, even though as she is now knowing there's no way she can damage the thing, being able to find weaknesses shouldn't be a problem. 'This machine is massive- Wait... Oh no... This is a bio-machine! King and the others won't be able to tackle this thing head on!' Sensing movement, Radiant Prism quickly got out of the way before she was crushed by wires that emerged from the side of its body in an attempt to grab her. She accelerated far from it, dodging each wire until they began to stop pursuit and retreat. "Tch... King-" She fell silent on seeing the four Braves combine into Chess Master in such a short time. "Chess Master, be careful, this thing Bruno is piloting, It's- AGGHHHKKK!"
-Radiant Prism? Radiant Prism! Radiant Prism, what is Bruno piloting!?- Was all Radiant Prism could hear before falling unconscious, crashing down back to earth.
Chess Master took notice of where she fell, but the exact location he couldn't see as the buildings of the city obscured her exact crash location from his normal visuals. Unfortunately, his primary focus was on Bruno. The man was adding more and more to his crimes, and destroying an aircraft with the pilot still inside was one of them. Just as his mecha was brought low to the ground, he noticed that it wasn't a full transformation of the mecha, but rather it seemed to be something more of it folding in its own way. 'So this thing is a bio-machine with tough plates for armour.' He thought, bringing out his Chess Lance just as the mecha brought out its own weapon. The appearance of the bio-machine looked more animal-like, the entire being was sleek, clearly a being made more for speed than power itself. Chess Master knew that this was going to be a tough fight, but he wasn't going to let him get away again.
-Chess Master, I'll be helping you pin-point where the criminal will strike. You won't be able to predict entirely where it will strike on your own.- Ace told him through the comms.
Gripping his weapon, ready to attack, Chess Master began galloping at full speed, intending to attack head on, but just as the criminal blurred out of sight, Ace quickly told him to keep going and not to stop. Chess Master did as told, but chose to gallop out of the city as it was no place for him to fight with too many things surrounding him, jumping into thruster mode to glide himself out of the city despite having to position his legs in an awkward position to get out. Just as he'd made it to the outskirts, the moment he touched the ground, he was suddenly slammed into the ground when Bruno slammed into his hind quarters, causing him to slam on his side but quickly picked himself up with the aid of his thrusters. Right away, Ace told him to use his back legs and he did, managing to strike Bruno before he could land a hit. "Th-This guy is so fast!" Bishop cried out, followed by Pawn replying that this criminal isn't fooling around but they should all be thankful Ace is helping pinpoint when to attack, dodge, or defend.
"I don't think I want to know what would happen if King went with Royal Flush rather than Chess Master... Sure Royal Flush is more built for speed but this is speed on a different level- Bio-machine speed to be exact!" Rook shuddered in response.
-Wait! Chess Master don't rear!- Ace called out, but it was too late as Chess Master reared in an attempt to better turn around, but had been knocked over. Once more, getting back up using his thrusters. "I don't have the exact turning behaviour we have, Ace. What else was I supposed to do unless circle around!?" He replied, continuing to listen to Ace's instructions. Chess Master swung his Lance every chance he saw an opportunity, but the attack did not make contact. The bio-machine was fast, and he needed to think of something to at least stun it to do some damage in return. He was quick to do a sideways kick when Ace instructed him to, spotting the brief moment of stun that gave him a rough idea.
"You fight well, Brave Police, but how long can you last against my superior mecha?" Bruno laughed. His taunting, while not understood by the Scotland Yard, was enough for Chess Master to know that Bruno was starting this off as a prey versus predator game, he was being seen as the prey, and Bruno was seeing himself as the predator. He struck again when Ace gave him a cue to attack, doing so as he felt his weapon lightly scraping against something. Not a full blown hit, but it was still something. However, he was then knocked over without warning, struggling to get back up using his thrusters, only for them to be shot out individually.
'Tch!' He cursed to himself, now forced to get up using his legs.
'I can't use my Lance at it's maximum potential, not without wasting energy... But there has to be a type of opening where I can land a hit, but how...?' He thought, defending a surprise weapon attack. Something that did bother Chess Master was that while Bruno had a weapon of his own, he pondered as to why he wasn't using it as much, or equally, like his bio-machine's claws. He'd defend or deflect it a few times, but he wasn't seeing too much of the unusually shaped sword. He slowly came to the conclusion that Bruno intends to 'play' with him in some sick game but he seems to be a lot more aggressive than his last fight. All he knew is that he could not fail this time, and it was time to put an end to Bruno and stop him once and for all. As if a fire within him had ignited but with a brighter flame than before, he began to charge and the fight began, Chess Master ensuring he kept the distance closed every chance he got.
As the two fought, Radiant Prism had managed to recover and was trying to find a way to somehow slow the criminal down even she couldn't catch up to him. but knew that if she could find a window of opportunity to cripple Bruno somehow, then she'd allow Chess Master to land the final move. As she was chasing the criminal around, something caught her eye as she spotted from afar, police setting down flares to warn that a particular path to the city was closing down to clean up the mess both Chess Master and Bruno- Along with the criminal he'd shot to his demise had otherwise given her an idea. "Regina, this is Radiant Prism." She began, flying a distance away from the colossal fighters. "Do you happen to have any flare guns, or even flares I can use?"
-Flares? What for?- Regina asked.
"For Bruno's mecha. Bio-machines are vulnerable to fire. It's a long shot but there are multiple vulnerable parts in the armour that I should be able to penetrate.
-Are you insane!? Get caught in that fight and you'll be torn apart by Bruno and Chess Master's fight! Absolutely not, I won't allow this!-
"It's a risk I'm willing to take. I may not be the leader of the Scotland Yard, but we both know that bio-machines are far too fast for us Braves made from pure machinery." Radiant Prism explained, her tone serious. "You can lecture me later all you want about the risks I've taken today when this is all over, but right now I need to know if this is possible."
Regina went silent, knowing Radiant Prism is having a discussion with her mechanics. After about half a minute, she spoke once more. -King has a set of flares he keeps when he needs to better signal others should they somehow miss the sight of the flares already set up by the police. If you think these will help for whatever you have planned, then I advise hurrying up and gathering what you can, we'll have them unloaded and ready for you to take by the time you get here.-
"Understood!" Acknowledged Radiant Prism as she flew back in the direction of London, and towards the direction of where the Scotland Yard station was.
As the fight continued, Chess Master had just given himself some room. He internally cursed to himself when Bruno picked up that Ace was transmitting moves to better counter his attacks and had managed to cripple the lion. Now fighting blindly without knowing when to strike, counter, or defend, he continued to fight. He didn't see Radiant Prism anywhere, even when he'd moved the fight in the outskirts near where she landed. 'I hope she wasn't captured by Bruno's men, knowing they're after her...' He thought, suppressing his worry to keep his focus on the fight. The fight had become incredibly difficult, far difficult than he's ever imagined. He wasn't sure if this was far more dangerous than the Hamelin waves he and his team were under the influence of years ago that forced the team to turn on each other. His grip on the Lance tightened, not wanting to let his strength falter. He could watch as Bruno stopped zipping round, and this time having brought out his sword.
Chess Master could only narrow his optics, he then charged forward, lance at the ready.
Blades clashing upon impact, both sides struggled to overpower one another. The combiner could react when he heard a deep chuckle emit from the speakers of the bio-machine. "Did you really think that machinery could easily overpower a bio-machine? Blood always beats machines!" With a sudden burst of strength, Chess Master tried to keep his ground, but found himself being thrown upwards.
"AGGGHHKKK!"
Before the combiner could recover, Bruno had sent the combiner a few meters away with a lightning fast kick, leaving a horizontal trail behind him as he quickly stopped himself before his entire body could plow down a few obstacles he was about to slide into and cause even more damage. Quickly scrambling back up onto all four legs, Chess Master charged once again, galloping at full speed towards Bruno. When the bio-machine moved out of the way, he was quick to avoid being slashed by quickly meeting the sword with his lance. He held for a few more seconds before quickly twisting his body in an attempt to land a sideways kick into Bruno, managing to land a kick, but felt something wrap around it and was sent sailing over and slamming into the ground as the surrounding area shook at the impact.
"Not bad, but not good enough Brave Police!" Bruno shouted, charging at Chess Master who quickly defended himself, blades meeting once more but this time Chess Master was pinned to the ground, struggling to keep his strength of being overpowered, but at the angle his body was at, it was near impossible that he could keep this up.
"Chess Master!" Called out Radiant Prism as the roar of her engines alerted the two. Bruno wasn't too bothered by it, quickly attacking Chess Master when he'd noticed the Scotland Yard combiner had allowed himself to be distracted. Bruno's bio-machine jolted when an explosion erupted, followed by more explosions in different parts of the body as Radiant Prism switched between vehicle mode and normal form to plant explosive rigged flares, then opened fire on the explosives from a distance with her gatling gun striking the bombs, with the multitude of flares adding to the damage. Fire had started onto the bio-machine, and while it looked like both Radiant Prism and Chess Master could celebrate, knowing it would be easy, they noticed the fire had been snuffed out. 'What!? How can this be!? Bio-machines are supposed to be vulnerable-' Laughter could be heard as Bruno began attacking Chess Master, not only that but he'd sneakily sent wires to grab Radiant Prism, restraining her movements and suspending her in front of his body like a shield.
"Did you really think that my bio-machine could be so easily set on fire compared to those petty criminals that pilot them? I've taken the precaution to ensure that my creation cannot easily ignite like many inferior criminals that pilot such bio-machines without the extra precautions, I'm just as difficult as to ignite like that of a poplar tree. Radiant Prism here has proven my test to be a success, you cannot stop me no matter what you do, Scotland Yard." Bruno laughed. "You want to attack me? Go ahead and try if you can, you stupid robots won't even hesitate to harm let alone kill your own kind!"
He mocked, straightening his bio-machine's body to make sure that he can't be directly attacked without bringing harm to Radiant Prism.
The combiner cursed to himself, at a loss of what to do. He can't risk injuring Radiant Prism when she's being used as a shield. Taking advantage of this, Bruno began attacking Chess Master, unable to bring himself to attack back. Radiant Prism could see he couldn't bring himself to do anything in return, narrowing her optics. "Chess Master, I want you to gain distance and use your Charging Lance at a distance. Throw it as hard as you can.
"What are you saying, Radiant Prism!? If we did that, you're going to get sliced in half by the Chess Lance!" Pawn could be heard expressing.
"I don't want you to get hurt because of a risky move!" Bishop could be heard voicing right after.
"There's no way we can do that!" Rook shouted.
"Chess Master, just do it!" Shouted Radiant Prism, managing to take out one of her handguns and fired at the face of the bio-machine as best as she could under restrained movement. "Don't worry about me, focus on taking Bruno out!" At her words and seeing the fruitless effort she was doing in trying to shoot at the criminal, the combiner remained silent after shoving Bruno's bio-machine back to give himself breathing room, standing there when Bruno backed away, ready to make his move. "Go ahead and try, Scotland Yard. Go ahead and prove me wrong that you all can't bring yourselves to kill your own teammates." Chess Master gave himself a moment, then as his optics flashed a bright orange, he shifted his position just slightly.
"CHARGING LANCE!" He roared out as the blade of his lance began to glow a bright light blue, sparks flying all around it. Once he knew the weapon was charged at 100%, he knew he only had one shot at this, and he can't dare to miss. He readied the weapon to be thrown, focusing on Bruno. He began to hesitate once more on seeing Radiant Prism, fearing he might really kill her.
"Just do it, don't worry about me!"
Refusing to falter nor hesitate anymore, he hoped Radiant Prism knew what she was doing and let loose the Chess Lance, throwing it with all of his strength. As he saw it neared the target, he watched as Radiant Prism quickly gunned her thrusters at maximum.
"CHECKMATE!" All four Braves shouted as the Lance made contact with Bruno's bio-machine as the electricity emitting from the blade was given an extra boost of power, Bruno's bio-machine jolted and shook from the attack, then slumped as if it powered down from having short-circuited and sizzled. Chess Master walked over to retrieve the Chess Lance from the criminal. With it all over, Radiant Prism could relax now that the most dangerous threat had been finally defeated, descending back onto the ground in exhaustion as she'd worn herself out by gunning her thrusters at max to avoid the oncoming attack of Chess Master's finishing move.
"Bruno Ackermann." Chess Master grabbed a hold of his Lance. "You are under arrest for the use of illegal Super A.I., murder, illegal border-crossing, theft, child kidnapping and assault, and committing various crimes- AAGGGHHHKKKK!" Without warning, something had particularly shot Chess Master in one of his arms, followed by Bruno managing to deliver a powerful diagonal slice across him before he could react. Fuel and hydraulic fluids spurted out of the combiner as the severe damage caused him to split back into four Braves as they crumpled to the ground. "Yes! Finally! Chess Master and Royal Flush's information! Did you all think that I could be so easily defeated!? I had special absorbers that prevented my machine from overcharging in case I had to take a hit! But now that I have both your combiner's information combined with the data information of those in Japan. None of you will be capable of stopping me, not even the German Brave Police! I will personally see that all of you Brave Police as a whole will go extinct!" Bruno laughed as he took off, flying off into the east.
"NO! Rook! Bishop! King! Pawn!" Radiant Prism quickly scrambled over to where the four had fallen, most of them were in pieces while King and Pawn remained largely intact, but clearly all sustained heavy damage. "Stay strong, everyone!" The German Brave had to suppress her panicking, what Bruno was capable of doing and even pulling such a trick to defeat them in one sweep of his bio-machine's machine made her tanks churn at the sight. "I'll just notify Regina to have you guys repaired and-"
"Nngh... I was not expecting f-for Bruno to pull that on us..." King coughed, unable to move much due to the amount of damage inflicted on him. "Radiant Prism, I think... I think it's time you head back to Germany. It's up to you and both the Northern and Southern German Divisions to put a stop to that criminal."
"But King, what can we possibly-" Radiant Prism didn't get the chance to finish as King weakly pulled out a small sheet of paper, handing it to the German Brave. "Follow these directions I've sketched out earlier. S-Surge is waiting for your- Nngh! Arrival... There's nothing more that I can teach... Teach you to be a leader, you're already a fine one y-yourself. Go, I think I'll be... T-Taking a nap... Good... Luck..." As King shut down, Radiant Prism lowered her helm, putting the paper away in her compartment as she detected movement approaching her, seeing Ace was running on all fours in her direction, skidding to a stop when he saw King and the others in terrible condition. Radiant Prism stood up when Ace moved closer to inspect the others, silent at first, then addressed the lion by the time Ten and Jack caught up.
"Ace." At being addressed, the green Brave looked up at Radiant Prism. "Stand up."
Doing as told, he was still in a panic seeing his teammates as both Jack and Ten could only pale as the traumatic flashbacks of seeing all four in a crumpled mess similar to the Fahrzeug attack all those years ago. Radiant Prism moved to bring out the Scotland Yard badge she'd been using, extending her servo to give it to Ace. "I'm leaving, it's time that I head back home to Germany." She said, expression like that of a stern leader. "I don't expect to win this fight, but I intend to ensure Bruno doesn't go through with his full plan."
"Plan?" Ace repeated, taking the badge back. "Radiant Prism, what sort of plan are we talking about?"
"Bruno intends to destroy all of us. He won't just stop with just the German Division, but he will eventually target both the Scotland Yard, Japanese, and the upcoming South Korean and American Divisions, along with any others in existence that I may not be aware of yet. I don't know how I, along with Surge and Blazer's respective teams can stop him, but we won't allow a criminal like Bruno to commit a crime unlike any other. This is going to be our biggest case yet, but I won't give up. No more running away, no more cowering, I... Am a Leader, just like King, Deckerd, Surge, Blazer, and Redlight. It may have taken such a long time to awaken the leader within me, but I'm glad Deckerd's team, along with yours, helped me to become what I am now."
Ace was stunned at Radiant Prism's level of talk, not expecting her to behave so similar to Deckerd and King when they had serious situations going on. He then slowly straightened into a salute, Ten slowly followed suit and so did Jack after a long pause. Radiant Prism saluted in return, then backed up to give herself space to leap into the skies, change form, and took off northeast. The lion felt that perhaps because of how Radiant Prism was, she could have gotten some additional training with King behind curtains, but all they could do now is wish her good luck on her safe journey back home to Germany.
"Jack, Ten, let's get to work and clean up... We're going to have a lot on our servos with King, Rook, Bishop, and Pawn out for what looks to be weeks considering the damage they sustained..." Ace ordered.
...
Having flown over a good portion of the North Sea, Radiant Prism could see the very northern part of Germany that connected to Denmark in the distance which meant she was almost home. She greatly missed her home country, and while she would've been happy to be back home, there was still the looming threat of Bruno. She couldn't see where he'd gone, but chose to follow the sketch that King had given her before he'd shut down from the severe damage. Unsure if she was within range to contact Surge, she began to contact them. "Surge, this is Radiant Prism, I'm still ways away from Hamburg but I think it should take me within an hour and a half to get there." She paused for a moment to look down. "I'm near... What is this island."
"Heligoland, just let me know when you're over German soil and I'll get someone to pick you up." Grumbled Surge. "I'm not exactly an aerial, idiot." Surge disconnected the call right after, which Radiant Prism wasn't impressed by this but let it slide. Soon after, her comms went off again. "This is Radiant Prism, who is this?"
-Radiant Prism! It's me, Dieter! Remember!?- At hearing Dieter's voice once more, Radiant Prism lit up intensely, of course she'd remember her first human friend. "Dieter, it's been too long! Where are you? Are you okay? I've been worried ever since I was forced to flee Germany."
-I'm alright, but at some point a while back I had to flee Dortmund. It turns out the things Gustav had been doing were against what we stood for. I tried to warn the others about it but they wouldn't believe me. I wasn't going to be a part of whatever Gustav's been doing that the police seem to not bat an eye at, so I fled up here to Bremerhaven.- Radiant Prism internally cringed at learning what Gustav had been doing behind so many peoples' backs. Gustav was going to have to be dealt with sometime depending on what she can do after getting updated in Hamburg. There was a bit of a pause, before Dieter spoke once more. -Can you come over for a little while?-
"Right now?" Radiant Prism replied, feeling conflicted. "I-I have to go meet up with Surge in Hamburg. It's urgent, Bruno Ackermann has returned to Germany and he's plotting something dangerous to me and the rest of the Brave Police not just in Germany, but others worldwide, too!"
-What!? Let's talk about it, I'll send you the coordinates of where I'll meet you so we can have a private talk.- Acknowledging, Radiant Prism changed course in the direction of Bremerhaven, informing Surge that she's making a quick stop there to briefly meet up with Dieter whom fled Dortmund to there. Surge, who was alarmed by this informed Radiant Prism not to change course, but her voice was drowned out as Radiant Prism gunned her thrusters, eager to see her best friend again. Unaware to Radiant Prism, someone or something was following her from a distance. By the time she arrived at the given coordinates, Radiant Prism looked around for any sign of Dieter, but found none. 'Hm, he's probably just late...' She thought. 'But normally he isnt-' "Agghk!" Struck from behind, Radiant Prism was knocked unconscious, the figure revealing itself as it caught Radiant Prism before she could hit the ground.
"Gustav, I have the target." A familiar voice called the man.
"Excellent work, now bring her back to me in Dortmund, 'S'. Or should I say..."
"Shadowmaru."