Mediziner's Notes: Whew, it's been a while hasn't it, folks? I'm sure some of you who started watching or following me might've noticed I hadn't posted anything in forever, but now I'm going to try and post new fics... Anyways, I'm trying to come back to this and what's to start my return with a little Brave Police fic? This one's Dumpson x Ayako as I actually do not see any of that when I searched it up, so I guess maybe the first fanfic of the two? I didn't want to focus on them entirely, but mix in a bit with a few chars here and there, just casual stuff.
Once more, please be gentle with me, this is my first written fic of this show and I'm aware that there are some things I may not get right. But I hope you- The reader, will enjoy this! 3 Beta-read by the wonderful and awesome MaXedCats on DA!
It was early afternoon and all members of the Brave Police had just defeated and arrested a small gang of criminals for rampaging around in illegally made piloted robots. Most of the Brave Police were critically damaged from the fight while some had minor injuries that were put last while the critically damaged were put first. The Build Team in particular had mainly taken the brunt of the damage in which they shielded Fire J-Decker from a powerful blast which in turn was enough to force Super Build Tiger to disassemble despite Yuuta hadn't given the command. Fortunately with their shielding, Fire J-Decker had managed to defeat the gang of criminals before they could charge up another shot. With the criminals rounded up and taken away to prison, Fire J-Decker then focused his attention to his unconscious teammates. The Build Team were unconscious and scattered on the ground in a critical mangled mess. Next, he then glanced at the roads and then a command was given. "Let's bring them in, the roads are too damaged to bring the trailers here without them getting stuck along the way." Gunmax Armour and Shadowmaru acknowledged, helping Fire J-Decker carry the Build Team back to the station.
Back at the station, Shunsuke Toudou and his mechanics were currently examining the damage of McCrane, Power Joe, Dumpson, and Drill Boy. Deep in thought, he knew that the damage in parts of their bodies were far too great, and some of the limbs would even need to be rebuilt as a result due to most of the parts were irreparable- Horribly mangled. When he finished carefully examining the damage, he then gave his orders to the other mechanics. "We'll move their A.I. chips into temporary bodies. Unfortunately, they will need to use the figure sized bodies Saejima had me build, even though they won't be so happy about it." He sighed, knowing that they won't like the idea of being so small, especially considering the little adventure both Dumpson and Drill Boy had almost a year ago that nearly left them dead when the two of them had to go through routine maintenance checks, and disappeared in the process not too long after.
It didn't take long for the mechanics to remove each of the Build Team's super A.I. chips and one other mechanic was quick to retrieve the figure sized bodies from storage, and soon each member had been carefully placed into their smaller bodies. It only took a minute or two for them to awaken, and both McCrane and Power Joe were slightly disorientated from the size difference while Dumpson and Drill Boy immediately realised that they were in the very same tiny bodies.
The latter was quick to react, and began to panic and complain.
"No! Anything but this small body again!" He whined.
"We've got no choice, I don't like it either." Frowned Dumpson, having sat up.
McCrane didn't seemed to react much to the difference in size and point of view, but upon looking at his own body and his teammates' body, he knew that they were going to be out of commission for a while. He prayed that Deckerd, Duke, Gunmax, and Shadowmaru can handle any other incoming crime without them for a while, as there was no way to speed up repairs, and he couldn't think about seeing himself asking them to work faster.
Power Joe meanwhile seemed to be deep in thought, as his guess was that he was figuring out what he could do since they can't technically use a lot of things in this form. Then as he stood, he then began to transform, catching the attention of both Dumpson and Drill Boy.
"We can't exactly drive in these bodies, Drill Boy and I tried before." Dumpson told him with a shake of his helm as he watched his teammate attempt to drive forward, but remained in place.
Transforming back, Power Joe seemed to gape at this in disbelief and confusion. "Then... Why could we still...?"
Dumpson and Drill Boy both shrugged in response.
The doors slid open as Deckerd with Yuuta in tow on his shoulder entered. "Oh! You're all awake!" Beamed the young boy as Deckerd lowered Yuuta down on the ground so that he could get a more closer look at them.
"Yes, but it seems we will be out of action for quite a while." McCrane replied with a frown as he sat up, crossing his arms over his chest. "Right now we're figuring out what we could do in the meantime while our bodies are undergoing repairs. We can't use our desks in this size, nor can we properly use our computers..."
"Sorry, boss." Frowned Power Joe.
Yuuta only shook his head with a sad smile. "No, you guys did great despite the tough fight. It's fortunate that none of you had your A.I. chips damaged when you defended Fire J-Decker from that attack, I was so worried."
The Build Team were touched by their boss' care for them, but soon the moment had been interrupted when Drill Boy managed to get Toudou's attention.
"Heeeeeeey... Can't you guys build us a more bigger body than these tiny ones?" Pouted the small 'bot, however he soon perked when an idea came to his thoughts. "Oh! What if you made all of us human sized bodies? This way we won't get lost again!"
"Hmm... A lot of the materials will be needed to repair your original bodies, but I'll see if we have enough to construct some. I can't promise that I can make all four of you a human sized temporary body." Replied Toudou. Despite the uncertainty, Drill Boy seemed to be thrilled regardless.
"I also have an idea, maybe you guys could help me spot some things in some of the current open cases. It would be helpful to spot some things out that I may not notice right away." Yuuta pointed out happily.
"Sounds like a good idea!" Grinned Power Joe as the others nodded in agreement.
...
Back in the office room, the Build Team were seated on Yuuta's desk as their boss sifted through the pictures and security footage on the active case they were currently looking into. Deckerd, Gunmax, Duke, and Shadowmaru had already left not too long ago to patrol the city looking out for their suspect. So far there didn't seem to be any clues they've noticed from both pictures and written reports. They were looking into a case of people reportedly turning up from out of alleyways, all the victims being that of wealthy people. "I don't get it, all of the victims said the same thing about being 'eaten' by some invisible being, yet they can't even remember what they felt like as they would pass out upon being grabbed within seconds." Sighed Yuuta as he slumped against the backrest of his chair, folding his arms behind his head as he looked up at the ceiling. "They don't remember anything after that when they wake up and it even sent some of them scared for their lives when they came around." Frowned Yuuta as he then replayed one of the security footage's recordings. What was being shown was a wealthy person "disappearing" shortly after being lifted in the air by seemingly nothing.
"There are no footsteps indicating it was there." McCrane said, thinking on the situation. "Possible leads can be either it has systems built to avoid leaving any tracks behind or it simply can hover noiselessly.
"If it's something we can't see, Shadowmaru can. But the invisible thing could be hiding anywhere." Drill Boy said.
"Well, all we can hope is to hear word from anyone at this point." Power Joe shrugged, lounging on his side as he watched the case being sifted through.
There was a long silence as they weren't sure what to do from now, but when Toudou stepped into the room through the human sized door, everyone's attention focused to the older man.
"It just so happened that we did have enough materials to create human sized bodies-"
"Yay!" Cheered Drill Boy, running towards the edge of the desk as the chief mechanic approached, and eventually leapt and clung onto his clothing. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting! I was starting to get bored of looking at the screen."
"However..." Continued Toudou, removing Drill Boy and placing him gently back on Yuuta's desk. "While we haven't started yet, we only have enough to make two human sized bodies. We lack the materials to make more than two and we would need to wait for the next shipment of to come in in order to make the other remaining two." He allowed the Build Team to sink it all in, knowing that they'd have to come to an agreement on whom could have these temporary bodies first. Drill Boy however was eager to take one of the bodies in a heartbeat, and before he could start saying anything, Power Joe planted a firm servo on the top of his head, forcing him to look in his direction.
"Deciding already, Drill Boy? I don't think Toudou has said anything about picking you." The shovel excavator pointed out, grinning as Drill Boy's expression became like that of a pouty child as he squirmed to get himself free of his grip.
"If you're going to take one of them, that's fine by me because I'll take the other body!"
"Actually, I have a better idea." Power Joe released his grip on Drill Boy as he turned to the rest of the Build Team. "Because there's four of us, and only two bodies, we make an agreement by having a little simple competition on who gets the rights to be in those bodies. I'm more than happy to compete with Drill Boy." He paused for a moment, then looked over to Dumpson and McCrane. "While you two have a friendly competition for who gets the other body."
"If that's how it's going to be, I'm going to beat you at a game of soccer!" Drill Boy declared.
Power Joe couldn't help but laugh at this, the realization that the smaller Mech has absolutely no idea that he's unable to play soccer in their current bodies. He was just about to remind him about their limitations but he had no chance of doing so as the latter simply became more irritated and as he was about to bring out a soccer ball... But only for nothing to happen.
"Eh? Why can't I..." This only worsened the excavator's laughter as Drill Boy glared angrily at Power Joe. "If you intended on keeping your mouth shut and not telling me ahead of time! It's not very funny! Okay, so I can't use my soccer balls, what about you?" He crossed his arms with a bit of a smirk. "If I can't use my things, I have no doubt you can't use your kung-fu weapons." As Power Joe and Drill Boy chattered away, Yuuta had tried to resolve things and attempted to calm both Mechs down, yet his words fell on deaf ears. Dumpson and McCrane quietly watched their two teammates chatter away back and forth at one another for a minute or two until eventually not long after they turned away to talk to one another, they overheard Power Joe and Drill Boy come to an agreement on how they could compete against each other: An arm wrestling match, and both have asked Yuuta to be their starter all while Toudou warned them not to go overboard as their small bodies aren't durable enough to take on such a performance.
Dumpson and McCrane spoke to each other privately through their communications, but at the moment both were silent as they thought things out. Being the more mature and level-headed ones of the Build Team, they were deciding on their own part in a more peaceful manner than a mere competition. For McCrane's point of view, while he would've loved to take the chance to walk about freely in a more bigger body to remove the risk of getting lost or worse; stepped on. He thought on it a bit more and decided that perhaps Dumpson would be more better off in it than himself, as a specific thought he recalled had wandered into his memories. He recalled how the wrestler told him some time back that he wished to interact with Ayako on her level rather than the usual size differences, and thinking back on it made him feel that it would be better off that his teammate take this chance instead of him. -I've decided.- He said. -Dumpson, I'd rather we do not have to settle this by such things, but I'm offering to let you freely take the vacant body.-
-Huh? What made you decide on that so quickly?- Dumpson wasn't all that surprised as he knew the combat detective was very generous and considerate of others, aside from being the leader of the Build Team, but also the most mature and caring of the entire Brave Police.
-I've considered taking something in mind you told me about some time back, and it's a reasonable point to decide on this.- Replied McCrane with a smile. -I recall you've told me that you wanted to be on Ayako's level.-
Dumpson immediately stiffened. McCrane was right, if he were to take the human sized frame, he could do what he had wanted to do for quite some time. The Mech was mildly in a fluster, seeming to figure out what he should do if he does meet the news reporter face to face, on the same level. Shaking those thoughts away, Dumpson wanted to be extra sure that McCrane was really okay with this choice. -Are you really sure about this, McCrane? Wouldn't you want to be on the same level as Seia?- The Mech was aware that McCrane and Seia are a couple, but wouldn't want to take this chance away from him if he did take up the offer.
McCrane shook his helm in response with a mature smile. -Yes, but sadly because Seia-san is part of the military, I'm unable to see to see her as much as you would see Ayako on many occasions. I'm more than happy that you take it than I would.-
-Alright, thanks McCrane.- The two Mechs then shook servos, confirming their arrangement. Their attention returned to Power Joe and Drill Boy, whom were seemingly on their final arm wrestling match. It was then Power Joe managed to beat the younger 'bot, claiming his victory and rights to take the other body.
"Looks like you won, Power Joe." Yuuta chuckled as the excavator performed a few kung-fu poses all while Drill Boy remained on the floor grumbling to himself and glaring daggers at his teammate. His attention then turned to McCrane and Dumpson. "Ah, were you two going to compete who gets the other body?"
"No, we instead came an agreement on more peaceful terms." McCrane said as Dumpson followed suit with a nod in response. "It's Dumpson whom I've decided should take the offer instead of me.
"It's settled then, we should let Toudou know since while you guys were figuring out who gets the bodies, he went back to the repair bay to check on the other mechanics." Yuuta got up from his seat, then as Power Joe and Dumpson stepped forth, he carefully picked up the two and was about to walk out through the doors, until Deckerd surprisingly enough just came back at the right moment as he greeted everyone. Turning around happily Yuuta greeted then asked Deckerd if he could take them over to the repair bay, in which the blue Mech nodded and held out his servo, Yuuta climbing on carefully. Before they left the room, Yuuta then looked at McCrane and Drill Boy with a bit of worry in his tone. "Stay in the room, we don't want to lose you guys, especially you Drill Boy." He warned them gently, not wanting another disappearance to occur like last time.
"Okay boss..." Replied Drill Boy with less enthusiasm, still laying on the floor sulking, and he felt even worse as he wasn't happy about being reminded of the little misadventure he had with Dumpson back then.
As Deckerd left with Yuuta and both Dumpson and Power Joe in tow, they passed the time on the way to the repair bay exchanging conversations and figuring out some ideal guessing puzzles for the crime they were looking at, but then cut it short when they finally reached the repair bay. Looking around, they spotted Toudou helping a fellow mechanic move some a part of one of the members' damaged armour that was badly mangled. At the sight, Power Joe seemed a bit ill to his tanks, looking away as he felt fortunate he wasn't in his original body by now, otherwise he would really feel sick to his tanks.
"Toudou! We're back!" Called out Yuuta as Deckerd lowered him to the ground, the young boy hopping off of his friend's large servo and went up to the chief engineer, mindful not to run nor jog as he knew to be gentle with his friends. "Power Joe and Dumpson came to an agreement."
"Oh? Is that so?" Toudou then looked over at both Power Joe and Dumpson who remained in place in the comfort of Yuuta's arms holding them securely.
"McCrane and I talked things out peacefully." Dumpson responded casually.
"And I've beaten Drill Boy in a few rounds of arm wrestling. Don't worry, nothing's broken." Came Power Joe's reply.
Looking at the two Mechs, Toudou then nodded. "Very well, they should be ready by tomorrow, I'll inform some of my mechanics whom are currently on break to begin when they return." He finished with a smile.
"Okay!" Exclaimed Yuuta happily, excusing himself as he returned to Deckerd's side as he climbed up into his friend's servo, holding tight as they the repair bay and were on their way back to the office.
...
When the next day flew by, the human sized bodies were near completion. Power Joe began talking about the things he'd want to do, such as visit a few places where he would participate in martial arts, despite Yuuta wasn't sure what to say, not wanting to hurt his friend's feelings while Dumpson was eerily quiet, sitting against the wall far off to the left with his arms crossed as he thought about what he should do when he visits Ayako at her apartment or happens to run into her. He knew that he should at least look impressive if he chooses to visit her, but what could he do to look more presentable? The thoughts of wanting to confess to her were a stressful one, as he worried that she would turn him away. 'Should I or should I not tell her how I feel... But how can I when she immediately teases me?' The more he stressed himself out thinking about it, the more and more worried he became, and even started to think maybe it wasn't such a good idea.
The Mech simply sighed, maybe it probably wasn't a good idea.
Dumpson wasn't afraid to tackle on anything head on no matter the situation, but it seemed to be a different case whenever Ayako manages to tease or flirt with him as he immediately begins to lose all manner of being able to form a full sentence, or let alone words altogether. Thinking back on something however, he knew just the 'bot to ask for a bit of help. Immediately, he began to contact McCrane via private talk.
-McCrane, I... Need your help with something.-
-Of course, what is it?-
There was a bit of a long pause, then Dumpson began speaking. -How should I approach the situation? With Ayako I mean... How did you approach Seia?-
-Simply be yourself, Dumpson.- Came McCrane's response. -Being yourself matters more than anything if you truly plan on telling Ayako how you feel about her.-
Taking the combat detective's words into thought, Dumpson wasn't sure but simply replied that he'll keep that in mind. However he did get a small idea that would help spice up his impression, but for now, all he could do was wait. He watched quietly as Power Joe was roughing up Drill Boy, and McCrane was reading a book Yuuta had left behind for him to occupy himself with while he was out with Deckerd patrolling. Some clues that Gunmax had managed to find when he was patrolling late at night with Shadowmaru showed up, and were already investigating into the matter.
Dumpson felt that he was going to get used to being stuck in this small body even though he'll finally be rid of it and into a more reasonable size. At least Toudou found it reasonable even though it will take a while for the others that they would have a more reasonable size. He often wondered how would the boss feel about them being human sized...
As the human sized doors slid open, Toudou had just walked in.
"Dumpson, Power Joe, the bodies are complete. Are you two ready to relocate into them?"
"Always ready." Grinned Power Joe, while Dumpson nodded quietly in response as they let the chief engineer pick them up and take them to the repair bay.
It only took mere seconds to remove both Dumpson and Power Joe's A.I. chips after powering them down and moved them into the newly constructed human sized bodies. Once properly and carefully installed into them, it took a bit for them to awaken. Immediately both Mechs were disorientated from the sudden size change due to the fact that while they can no longer see, they still had some sense of awareness and could hear, but unable to see what's going on. To them it felt like they were hit with a device that would either grow or shrink it's targets hit by the beam yet somehow losing sight temporarily in the mix, then find themselves a lot more bigger or smaller than before. Power Joe grinned when he could finally look at Toudou at his level. As he began to get up and off the berth and stand up straight, he wobbled then his legs gave out and fell on his aft with a grunt to the floor, it was as if he briefly lost control of his body.
"Slow down, I can tell you're still a bit disorientated with the size adjustments since we moved your A.I. chips into these new bodies." Toudou told him as he watched Power Joe pull himself up onto the berth, but simply was sitting on it. "Give yourselves a moment to adjust before you go." He said, then began attending to other matters.
Dumpson took things slow as instructed, slowly getting off the repair berth as he stood wobbly, but managed to regain his balance after a second or two. He saw Power Joe did the same thing, though he seemed to be a bit more disorientated than him, his teammate's eagerness to show off was making him rush as he shook his helm at the sight.
Then again, there were times where the excavator often sometimes got on his nerves.
"Hey Toudou." Power Joe paused for a brief moment as he looked at his teammates' original bodies. "Looks like you fixed us all in a day too."
"Actually, no. We only just replaced the exterior damage with new armour. The real challenge is where we have to replace the ruined wires and joints. Ah, before I forget... Power Joe, hold out your left arm." When Power Joe did as instructed, he then came over and showed a small knob built discreetly into his forearm, and upon turning it, made a panel slide open that showed his current battery percentage. "The effects of what happened if you run out of power in those smaller figures are a bit more smarter, and when you're dangerously low on power, you shut down and your body emits a signal indicating something's happened." Explained Toudou.
The two Mechs didn't seem all that surprised that they were going to be stuck in small bodies for the time being, as they were aware that such an attack did a large amount of damage, which would take longer than normal to repair. They both spent a minute or two getting used to the new bodies and adjusting to them, walking around occasionally making sure everything was alright and functioning perfectly while making sure not to get in the way of the other busy mechanics. It was then Toudou gave them the okay to return back to their office once he finally could see they were walking and moving around fluidly without falling. At first they tried to use the main doors meant for their original bodies out of instinct, but because they were still relatively small, they couldn't.
When they used the other entryway which was through the small opening humans used, it was the first time that they'd go through these doors, but once they were finally back at the Brave Police's main office, Yuuta spun slightly in his chair, and upon seeing that it was both Dumpson and Power Joe, he got up eagerly running over to them. "Amazing! You guys are really human sized!"
"Took us both a while to get used to, but we managed!" Grinned Power Joe as he spots Drill Boy who was playing with what seemed to be a miniature yet unusually bouncier soccer ball.
As the excavator wandered over to Yuuta's desk to mess with Drill Boy, intending on annoying the younger Mech by bragging about how he doesn't have to worry anymore about being stepped on and other sorts of things figure sized 'bots had consequences to. Dumpson began to think about that since he and the rest of the Build Team are out of action for days, he could use this idea to think of how he could impress Ayako. For now, what he could do is head on out, intending on figuring out how to make such an approach. As he drove on the road, despite getting a bit of attention due to his small size, he chose to ignore it all while focusing on both the road and thinking of what he could do. Whenever he was waiting for the red light, he would glance at the shops he could see, which he did often every time he came to a stop at other red lights, until that was when he noticed a small floral shop upon one of his many stops.
Now there was the idea he was looking for.
A little while later after making a trip to the small floral shop, Dumpson had made the purchase on a nice bouquet of flowers. He wasn't sure if Ayako liked this sort of thing but he hoped she'd like the ones he picked out for her. As he waited at the red light, he thought about how he was going to tell Ayako how he felt, and the more closer he was on the way to her workplace, the more nervous he became. He told himself that he needed to straighten himself up, and that this was not how a member of the Brave Police should act.
When he finally reached Ayako's workplace after finding a nearby spot to drive out of the busy roads where he could transform safely, he gave himself a moment then made his way on over.
Fortune seemed to favour him when he saw the red haired girl had just stepped out of her workplace, and judging by how she had more than just her iconic camera, she had just finished work. Becoming nervous all over again, Dumpson started walking towards her, and just as he was about to talk to her, he then stopped in place when he saw someone, a human male, come out of the same building and ran up to Ayako, carrying what seemed to be document folders, some of the opened ones threatened to spill it's contents onto the floor.
He froze in place.
Dumpson couldn't tell what they were talking about, the way he saw them both laughing made him feel confused and perhaps a little jealous. As he hid out of sight, he wondered to himself if he was wrong about Ayako, that he suspected overtime that she might have a thing for him.
He knew that he shouldn't have come here, he had been horribly wrong about the whole thing. Without noticing, his grip loosened and the bouquet of flowers fluttered to the ground at his side, and left back for the station.
...
As the doors slid open, Yuuta turned around from his desk to see that it was Dumpson who came through the doors. Smiling, he greeted his friend back, but immediately his smile fell upon seeing how sad the Mech looked. "Dumpson, are you okay?" He asked his friend, worried that something happened to have made him look so sad.
"Yeah... I just... Need time to myself." Came the dump truck's response and walked off to the far right, away from everyone else. The other members of the Build Team watched as their fellow teammate walk away.
"I wonder what's up with Dumpson..." Drill Boy muttered quietly, rather bemused at this.
"Give him time." Shrugged Power Joe. "He'll come back around eventually."
"Yeah..." Replied Yuuta, looking at Dumpson with concern for a bit longer until his focus was then back to his desk computer.
Sometime later, it was now late evening and Dumpson had moved from the corner and onto his desk, having decided to occupy himself with one of the large pencils that he was using as a lifting weight to occupy himself with. Deckerd meanwhile stood up from his desk, knowing it was time to call it a night as the investigation had lingered on for quite some time, and he could tell how tired Yuuta was starting to get. "Yuuta, we should head home." He told his friend, turning around to face him.
"But... We still have to find more clues..." Yawned Yuuta, rubbing one of his eyes.
"Yes, but we'll resume tomorrow, you have school in the morning."
"Okay..." With a moment of stretching, Yuuta then got out of his seat and walked over towards the edge, Deckerd having held his hand out so that Yuuta could climb in.
Once settled in, Yuuta then spoke sleepily. "Good night everyone."
"Good night, boss, Deckerd." Called the Build Team, Gunmax, Shadowmaru, and Duke. Everyone but Dumpson watched as the two leaders left, and soon it was quiet. One by one, everyone else eventually began to retreat to the repair room, knowing they'll need to recharge for the night. McCrane, whom was being carried by Power Joe alongside Drill Boy noticed that Dumpson wasn't coming with them to go recharge, and knowing that Dumpson may not have much power left in his battery and with how long he had been sulking for, he knew that something wasn't exactly right.
"Power Joe." The excavator stopped when McCrane addressed him. "Please bring me over to Dumpson, I need to have a talk with him." He told him.
Frowning, Power Joe turned around to look at Dumpson. "He's still sulking back there? If he doesn't come back to the repair bay to recharge, he's going to be out of power with what remaining battery percentage he has left."
"Yes, please bring me over so that I may speak with him, I'll be along shortly if you can give us about five minutes." Said the combat detective.
"Alright." Walking over towards the edge after setting Drill Boy back down on Yuuta's desk despite he was yelling at him to not leave him behind, then simply hopped down to the floor with a bit of a thud. Fortunately, the human sized body was durable enough to take the impact of the fall as it wasn't too high of a jump to cause any real damage, then settled McCrane on one of his shoulders and began scaling the desks in the far right corner of the office room albeit with a bit of a struggle. After a few shuffles, unsure as to how easy it was for Drill Boy and Dumpson to scale such tall structures back when they were stuck in the figure sized bodies, he didn't make any comments about it, but when he got to the top as best as he could, but couldn't really pull himself up all the way.
"H-Here you- Whoa!" Before he could finish his sentence, Power Joe found himself being picked up by Gunmax, who had noticed that the Build Team weren't at the repair bay.
-What are you three doing still here? We should all be in the repair bay by now.- The motorcyclist told them through private communication.
Looking up at Gunmax, -Yeah I know that, but McCrane asked me to put him up on the desk with Dumpson so he could talk to him.-
-Oh? About what?-
While english wasn't exactly a language spoken among the group, they had become used to Gunmax occasionally speaking English from time to time as he knew how he had passionate interest in the language, having understood some of the words he'd commonly say. -No clue, and it's probably best we leave the two alone to talk.- As Gunmax lowered his servo onto the desk Dumpson was on, Power Joe stepped off for a brief moment to carefully set McCrane down, then returned back to Gunmax's servo to be carried off to the repair bay.
-Give us about five minutes.- McCrane told Power Joe and Gunmax.
With a silent nod, Gunmax went over to Yuuta's desk with Power Joe in tow, picking up Drill Boy along the way before he made his way out and towards the repair bay.
Once the two Mechs were gone, McCrane turned his attention to Dumpson, who hadn't moved from his spot. The combat detective was worried for his teammate, and he hoped to find out what the problem was, provided if Dumpson is willing to tell him.
As McCrane walked over towards and then around Dumpson, stopping when he was now standing in front of him, he spoke.
"We should recharge soon, I have no doubt your battery percentage is getting relatively low." At McCrane's words, Dumpson turned the knob on his forearm with a soft click, the small thin panel opening to reveal his battery percentage, which showed at twenty two percent.
Frowning, he was about to ask what happened but before he could do so, Dumpson spoke up, looking away.
"Ayako... Is seeing someone else... I don't know why I even bothered to go and confess to her. I saw her with a man." He told McCrane, looking at his leader for a moment then looked away once again. "What I don't understand the most is why would she go out of her way of throwing teases and flirts in my direction when she has someone in her life right now..."
"Dumpson-"
Sighing, Dumpson continued. "Who knows how long she must have been with them..."
"You're overreacting. It may not seem like what you think it is." McCrane told him slowly. "What you may have seen may not be completely accurate to what you're thinking. Judging something right away without putting more thought into it isn't good. It's possible you could be highly wrong."
There was a long pause of silence.
A little while later, McCrane then breaks the silence and gently reminds Dumpson that they should be heading to the repair bay to recharge, having heard the large doors slide open as Gunmax entered the room.
Dumpson checks his battery percentage once more and noticed it had gone from twenty two down to sixteen percent. Turning the knob to bring the panel back down, he nodded as he reached over, offering his servo for his leader to climb on as McCrane climbed in, while Gunmax then scooped up Dumpson and brought them out of the office and in the direction of the repair bay.
The next morning, it was just another usual day looking into more crime cases that had recently shown up. Dumpson had cheered up a bit more after having another talk with McCrane not too long ago just before Yuuta and Deckerd came into the office, and soon he was with the rest of the Build Team at Yuuta's desk. "Looks like you've cheered up, Dumpson. I was pretty worried." Smiled Yuuta.
"Yeah... Sort of. Still a bit down but I'm more better than yesterday." Replied Dumpson with a bit of a sad smile. "Sorry, I guess there was just so much on my mind."
Curious, Drill Boy couldn't help but ask. "So... What did happen exa- Ow!"
"Best you drop it before you finish." Power Joe warned, having pinched Drill Boy by the helm, both his index and thumb digit clamped on the poor Mech. Before he could say anything, he then sees Dumpson having leapt off the edge of Yuuta's office and onto the floor. Letting go of Drill Boy, he walked over towards the edge and looked down below. "What are you doing?"
"Just moving back over to my desk, using the large pencils as lifting weights is rather fun to pass the time."
By the time Dumpson made the climb back up onto his desk, he was just about to begin lifting one of his pencils until when he paused, noticing the human sized doors coming to an open, and seeing who came through that door as he focused as to whom had entered, it was none other than news reporter Kimizuka Ayako. Not wanting to be seen, he quickly dropped the large pencil and ducked down behind it to avoid being seen by her.
"Incredible!" Exclaimed the red-haired news reporter, getting a good look at Power Joe, then McCrane and Drill Boy. "I never thought you guys had smaller bodies built!"
"Ah, yeah. Two days ago because they were so badly damaged in the last big fight, Toudou moved them into temporary bodies, the figure sized ones at first like you see with Drill Boy and McCrane while he and the rest of the others began repairs on their bodies." Yuuta explained. "But then Drill Boy asked him if they had any spare materials to make human sized bodies. He made them but he only had enough material to make two bodies instead of all four, and Toudou then said the next shipment of supplies needed to repair them wouldn't come in until the next day. But I think they have the next shipment should be either here already or coming soon."
"I competed with Drill Boy in a little game of arm wrestling for one of them and won." Power Joe smirked, and seeing Drill Boy beginning to pout, he then shrugged as he continued. "While Dumpson and McCrane made some sort of agreement for the other one, and Dumpson was the one who took it."
At the mentioning of Dumpson's name, Ayako immediately noticed that she hadn't spotted him anywhere since she came in.
"That reminds me... Where's Dumpson? I haven't seen him around since I came in here..."
Drill Boy then perked up. "Ah, he's-" Before he could finish, he immediately flinched as if he were startled by something. "He's... Somewhere?" He told Ayako slowly, turning around as he looked scared out of his armour. However it was obvious to his two other teammates that Dumpson was saying something to him through private communications. McCrane and Power Joe were about to say something until they too were silent before a single word was made, Both Yuuka and Ayako were confused at this, wondering what were they talking about.
When neither Power Joe, McCrane, nor Drill Boy gave an answer after a few minutes, it was Yuuta who spoke next.
"Dumpson's at his desk, I think he said something about using his pencils as weight lifters. At least I think that's what he said." He told Ayako casually, pointing in the direction to where Dumpson's desk was.
Glancing over at Dumpson's desk, she focused carefully to see if she could spot the wrestler detective, and soon enough she could see what appeared to be a part of his pauldron armour sticking out from behind his large computer's monitor.
"Dumpson!"
When she saw the speck of red disappear further behind the monitor, she was confused. Was he not in a good mood?
"Is something wrong with him?" She asked Yuuta and the rest of the Build Team.
Power Joe and Drill Boy shrugged, while McCrane wasn't sure whether if he should answer and tell the truth what exactly happened, but eventually he decided to not say a single thing. Yuuta on the other hand wasn't sure himself, shaking his head but did speak. "Dumpson yesterday was pretty sad about something, but I'm not sure what. He wouldn't tell any of us about what was wrong. Ah, but he did say he was better than before which is good."
"Or... It might be possible that he's just too shy to see you in his human sized body." Power Joe couldn't help but point out with a devious grin, and by sheer luck he seemed to have hit the nail when Dumpson came out of hiding.
"Power Joe!"
Hearing his voice Ayako quickly spun around in the direction of where Dumpson was, as she managed to get a lucky yet brief glimpse of him before he ducked back behind the monitor.
Without either Yuuta nor Ayako knowing, there was a brief private conversation between the three Build Team members, and Deckerd.
After a minute or two, Deckerd stood from his seat and offered his hand for Ayako to climb onto. At first the news reporter was confused, until when she looked back at Yuuta and the others, and only Power Joe encouraged her to go ahead. As she climbed in, Deckerd walked her over to Dumpson's desk, while the other three Build Team members then looked over at Yuuta.
"Boss, why don't we stop by at the repair bay to see if Toudou's got that shipment brought in? Who knows, maybe Toudou might be working on making human sized bodies for McCrane and Drill Boy by now. We should go look." Suggested Power Joe.
"Eh? Okay." Came Yuuta's hesitant response, getting up from his seat as he carefully and gently picked up both McCrane and Drill Boy when they approached him at the edge of his desk, all while Power Joe lead him out of the room once he's gotten hold of his two teammates.
By the time they left, Deckerd had just set down Ayako onto the far row of desks, then excused himself as he made a bit of a lie telling them that he's been called for a routine maintenance check.
Now it was only Ayako and Dumpson in the office room, and the dump truck only tensed when he heard Ayako's footsteps getting louder as she got closer. When the sound stopped, Dumpson became nervous. He knew that she was very close, and all it needed was for him to peek around the corner to see her. Knowing there was little to no places to hide, he braced himself to come face to face with Ayako as he peeked around the corner...
But she wasn't there.
Confused, Dumpson slowly stepped out of hiding as he looked around for her, he could have sworn that he heard her approaching from this direction yet...
"Dumpson!"
Flinching, the Mech quickly turned around and was suddenly met with a flash of Ayako's camera. "Dumpson, I never thought I'd see you in a smaller body! Think of the many possibilities we could do together when you're in that size! You're even small enough to enter buildings, too!" She exclaimed happily, fiddling with her camera a bit.
"A-Ayako! How did you..." He stuttered, wondering how did she disappear then reappear, though mentally cursed himself for stuttering his words as he hadn't forgotten when he saw her with that one other person, beginning to look away as his expression turned from a flustering mess to more of a pained one.
Her attention peeling away from her camera and onto Dumpson, she noticed how he seemed to have quietly walked a few steps away from her. Strange, he had never done that before.
"Dumpson? What's wrong?"
"No... Nothing... But please don't let that picture fall into the hands of the public if you're going to keep it, it would be bad especially if criminals saw me or anyone else in human or even figure sized bodies." He told her slowly, not looking back at her.
Knowing that this wasn't like him, Ayako knew that she had to get it out of him.
"Something's on your mind, isn't it?" She asked him, beginning to approach him a bit more closely, which startled Dumpson when he heard her walking closer, and now was standing at his side. As Ayako reached over to have Dumpson look at her, it only made him flinch and back away from her touch, his back almost completely to her.
"Dumpson?"
"A-Ayako, we shouldn't... See each other anymore..." The Mech's voice growing more and more sad and hurt, unable to look at her in those beautiful jade coloured eyes of hers. "I've se- Heard from others that you're-"
"Wait a second, what are you talking about?"
"I've heard you... Recently got together with someone..." He reluctantly told her with a silent heavy sigh, though he couldn't bring himself to say that he was the one who saw the scene yet at the same time he hated to lie, but he imagined various scenarios of seeing her angry if he told the truth that he saw her with someone else.
Ayako was confused, she wasn't sure where or how Dumpson learned about that, but the way how he was behaving towards her and his words gave her enough of a hint that it made her smile.
A small smile formed on her lips. "Dumpson..." As quiet as she could be, she leaned up and whispered near his ears. "Would it make you feel better if I told you that whatever you heard isn't true?" She asked him, running a teasing hand along his bicep as the Mech stiffened at the closeness of her voice and touch. There was something that Ayako liked most about the wrestler, despite that he sported a tough and gruff personality, deep down he also had a side that only she knew about rather well, though she was aware that because he's close with the rest of the Build Team like brothers, she had no doubt that they'd know about it as well. She knew very well despite that he tries to keep a straight face around her, but with the right choice of words, she'd turn him into a stuttering mess.
She did find it rather adorable.
When Dumpson finally turned to face her, he hadn't expected her to be suddenly so close to him that it was enough to cause him to stutter, backing up nervously about how close she was. However, the back of his legs bumped into the large pencil and as he fell backwards, Ayako instinctively grabbed onto one of his servos, bracing herself to keep him from falling. Unfortunately because robots were far heavier than even an average adult male, she ended up falling with him. In a quick, fluid movement, Dumpson carefully pulled the woman closer and wrapped both of his arms around her so that she wouldn't injure herself in the fall just as his back impacted with the floor of the desk.
Loosening his arms, he slowly looked at her as he spoke. "You oka-" Immediately his faceplates went red as he looked away when he was able to see a rather clear shot of her cleavage from this angle, seemingly unaware that she was moving just slightly. "A-Ayako, y-your shir-" He hadn't been able to finish his sentence as he flinched at the gentle touch of her hand on his cheek, and then froze when her soft, coloured lips made contact with his. Green optics brightening, his thoughts were racing as he wasn't quite sure how to react to this gesture. Hesitantly he wrapped his arms around her, relaxing when she didn't jerk away and eventually deepened the kiss, dimming his optics in a manner of 'closing' his optics.
When the two separated from the kiss, Dumpson was at a loss for words but felt incredibly happy, great even as he sat up once Ayako got off of him, getting up as he helped her up to her feet next. "Ayako... D-Does this mean...?" He asked hesitantly with a light shade of red on his faceplates, holding onto her hand lightly.
"Yep." She teased with a wink.
As Dumpson was about to say something, she took yet another photo of him with her camera. After that, she then took out a handkerchief, bringing it to his lips.
"Wha...?" He froze, confused about both the flash and the cloth she brought out of her pocket.
"You had a bit of my lipstick on your lips." She pointed out teasingly with a gentle laugh, pulling the handkerchief away so that he could see the smudged colour of red on said handkerchief as it left him completely red, looking away.
"Y-You-" Before Dumpson could say anything, the sounds of both doors opened as Dumpson quickly turned almost a full 180 to see who was entering. The rest of the crew who had left had just come back, only this time Drill Boy and McCrane could both be seen more easily, no longer in figure sized bodies, but in the newly constructed human sized bodies.
"Well, looks like you've finally told her how you feel." Power Joe grinned.
"Eh?" Dumpson thought for a moment, and soon enough he then glared at his teammate, clearly embarrassed. "Y-You were spying!?"
"Yep, he was spying alright." Drill Boy blurted out casually. "He didn't want to go to the repair ba- Ow! That hurts you know!" He whined as he dropped to his knees on the floor with his servos over his head as Power Joe gave him a harsh whack on the head.
This didn't go unheard as Dumpson was clearly starting to get both angry and confused, balling up a fist but he then calmed as he didn't want to scare Ayako nor leave a bad impression as having just becoming her lover, seeing as she didn't seem to mind about the others spying on them all that much. But he could see that aside from being a cheerful, upbeat person who can at times occasionally be a tease to him, Ayako also had her mature side and she didn't seem to mind at all that they were found out.
Letting it go, he would have to have a talk with Power Joe later for spying on him. For now, he was happy that he and Ayako were officially a couple, bringing his arms around her from behind happily.