More Human Than Human

"Talking"

'thoughts'

"Recordings, talking on the phone or singing"

"Speaking another language besides Japanese"

:Talking through the comm.s:

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my O.C.s, Starts after the events in "The Masked Brave, Dumpson" and goes from there with a few twists.

After Mil Amigo was loaded into the back of a squad car and taken away from the scene, the Brave Police gathered around Yuuta and Ayako.

McCrane looked at the red headed woman. "Miss Ayako, what exactly were you doing here?"

Ayako shrugged. "Work. We heard there was a wrestling circuit here getting into some shady stuff and I asked if I could come here and get the scoop. As luck would have it you guys were on the same case,"

Dumpson crossed his arm-servos and leaned down. "And once again, you've gotten yourself in trouble,"

Ayako rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously.

Deckard looked down at Yuuta. "Well, mission accomplished, Yuuta. Just need to grab your things and we can go,"

Ayako remembered something and looked at the two. "Alright if I come with? I left my stuff in the room when you let me use the shower,"

Dumpson transformed and open his door for her. "Get in, Ayako. Follow me, Deckard, I'll show you where to go,"

McCrane led the others in a different direction. "We'll wait at the edge of town so no one spots us,"

"Alright, see you there," Deckard followed Dumpson to the dwelling Yuuta and the other "robot pilots" had been staying.

Luckily, the locals were used to their own brand of weirdness no one gave the cop car or the dump truck it was following a second glance and they parked in the alleyway that ran along the adobe brick building.

When the humans came back out with their bags, Deckard opened his door for Yuuta to get in. "Come on, let's go home,"

Ayako climbed up into Dumpson's cab, without asking first as usual but Dumpson didn't mind; if he didn't want her to do that he could have locked her out.

Ever the reporter, Ayako started peppering everyone with questions as they drove. "How did you guys know we were in trouble? And how did you all get here? I mean, I know Shadowmaru, Drill Boy and J-Decker can fly but how did the rest of the Build Team get all the way to Mexico if they couldn't form Build Tiger to fly without Dumpson?"

Deckard chuckled. "I didn't come here as J-Decker, Commissioner sent us all here on a jet. Turns out the lost athlete that was found and linked to the robot wrestling ring wasn't the only one that went missing under those same circumstances. We figured you two were in deeper trouble than we originally thought and came to help,"

Dumpson smiled internally. "Good thing you did or we'd be in deep sh-"

Just then everyone's comm. links went off. Yuuta got out his badge and, seeing it was Commissioner Saejima, answered it. "What is it, Commissioner?"

:I have another mission for you, Brave Police.:

Deckard drove faster. "Roger, Commissioner. We're on our way to the plane now. We'll be back soon,"

:Actually, the mission involves you guys stopping somewhere on the way back. Think you can do that? :

McCrane's voice also came over the comm. link; the others were also listening to the call, apparently. :If I may, Commissioner, what exactly is this new mission?:

The Commissioner paused before answering. :Apparently, the U.S. government wants to discuss matters with us pertaining to the Brave Police and prefer that you be present. I'm saving you a trip by having the plane's pilot take you to a military research base in California, go there and I will explain more via video conference when you arrive.:

Deckard flashed his lights at the others when they passed them and everyone formed a line behind him since the roads were too narrow to drive side by side. "Roger that, Commissioner,"

:Commissioner out.: the call ended with a click.

Yuuta put his badge away and leaned back in his seat as he looked at Deckard's dash. "What do you think the U.S. government wants to talk to us about?"

"I don't know, Yuuta,"

Drill Boy flew lower above the others—he had been flying overhead in his jet mode since his drill tank mode was slower than the others' vehicles—and piped up. "Maybe they heard about us and want our autographs?"

McCrane kept his response level despite his urge to sigh exasperatedly at his younger brother's antics. "I highly doubt that,"

Power Joe lifted his shovel upward as though he were looking up through it. "Yeah, if they wanted us to sign something we could have just sent it to them. Why would we have to travel to the other side of the world for that?"

Yuuta tried to keep everyone from fighting. "Guys, come on, no fighting. The Commissioner said he would tell us more when we get there so how about we just enjoy the trip on the way there, okay?"

There was a unanimous "Ok, Boss!" as they turned onto the road that led to the small airport where the plane was waiting; and by small airport, it was a dirt run way with a control tower and a hanger where the planes that were there long-term were kept.

Shadowmaru deadpanned as everyone lined up to be loaded up into the plane's cargo bay. "Just don't sit too close to Power Joe, he got air sick on the way here. I think he's just like that with planes,"

The Kung Fu Detective let out an indignant squawk. "That's not true!"

Dumpson scanned at his brother and rolled closer to Shadowmaru and whispered. "A drum of oil says he loses it halfway there,"

Shadowmaru smiled internally and whispered back. "Really? I think it says he's going to lose it as soon as the plane takes off,"

"Deal,"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Half an hour later

All of the Brave Police had been anchored down by cargo nets in the cargo hold in their vehicle modes so they wouldn't slide around during take-off while Yuuta and Ayako sat in their seats close to the front of the plane.

As soon as the plane stabilized enough that anything that wasn't bolted down wouldn't flip over, Power Joe transformed and pulled off his net and crawled to a corner, dry heaving.

Dumpson groaned when he heard gagging and the sound of something splashing. "Ah, come on, Power Joe. Couldn't you have held it a little longer?"

Shadowmaru laughed from where he sat in the corner in his wolf mode—he and Drill Boy were riding on the plane with the others to save their energy—and said. "Hey, Dumpson, pay up!" he said the dump truck's designation in a sing-song voice to further goad him.

Power Joe leaned out of his hiding spot, wiping his mouth. "You… you guys bet on whether or not I'd puke?"

Shadowmaru shook his helm and answered honestly. "No, we bet on when you would puke,"

Deckard sensed that this could very well escalate into a fight—he did not like the way Power Joe was slowly reaching to the holster in his hip where he kept his nunchucks as he glared at the Wrestling and Ninja Detectives—and spoke up. "Guys, let's not fight while we're on a plane somewhere over... where are we anyway?"

Shadowmaru craned his neck to look out a window. "We just flew over the coastline. We're above the ocean now, on our way to California,"

Power Joe crawled under his cargo net—not like there was anything better to do—and transformed, previous angst forgotten for the moment. "I wonder if it's as cool as it is on T.V.,"

Drill Boy squealed excitedly. "I hope so! Hey, think the Commissioner would let us stay for a while and take a mini-vacation?"

McCrane sighed. "I doubt that, we are needed back in Nanamagari City and shouldn't be gone for too long,"

They all turned their attention to the front of the cargo bay when they heard the steel door leading up to the front of the plane open. Yuuta stepped out from behind the door and closed it behind him.

"Yuuta, what are you doing back here?" Deckard was happy to see the boy but he couldn't help but be curious.

Yuuta smiled as he walked further into the cargo bay. "Ayako fell asleep so I asked the pilot if I could come back here with you guys," the smile disappeared as the boy wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. "Brrr, it's cold back here. Aren't you guys cold?"

Shadowmaru's wolf mode smiled at Yuuta. "Sorry, Little Boss, it's always cold this high up and it never seems to occur to anyone that cargo holds might need heating,"

Power Joe made a shooing motion with his scoop shovel, cargo net swinging about him since it wasn't bolted down anymore. "We're fine, go back up front before you catch a virus or something,"

Yuuta hesitated and inched closer to Deckard. "Is it alright if I…"

Already knowing what the boy was going to ask, Deckard partially transformed so he had an arm-servo free to pull up the cargo net over himself so he could open his door enough for Yuuta to slip through. "Get in,"

Yuuta crawled under the net and into Deckard's front seat where the Police Detective turned up his heater as soon as the door closed. "Thanks Deckard,"

"You're welcome," Deckard let the net fall and transformed the rest of the way back into his alt. mode. "So, Yuuta, how was Domingo Republic?"

Yuuta grinned and immediately started recounting his entire adventure for his friend who listened intently, asking questions and giving the appropriate reactions at appropriate intervals.

Deckard could never explain how much he missed the boy when he was gone—he made the others swear to never tell Yuuta he buried himself in his work so he didn't have time to mope, because he so obviously didn't—but now that Yuuta was back he felt whole again.

The boy chatted until he started to nod off and Deckard gently tightened the seatbelt around him to give him an impromptu hug. "Go to sleep, Yuuta. I'll wake you when we get there,"

Yuuta curled up in the seat and pulled his shirt over his legs and closed his eyes; for some reason, being in Deckard's vehicle mode, it felt like he was already home.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two hours later

Drill Boy groaned "Are we there yet?"

McCrane sighed. "No,"

A few seconds later. "Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

Dumpson answered this time. "No!"

Power Joe saw what his younger brother was getting at and grinned, joining in. "Are we there yet?"

Dumpson hissed. "Oh, don't you start,"

Deckard whispered softly "Shh, don't wake him,"

Everyone remembered Yuuta was sleeping in Deckard's front seat and whispered apologies before going quiet.

Shadowmaru yawned and rest his chin on his paws. "Might as well follow our boss' lead, we've got about another four hours of flying ahead of us,"

Everyone groaned. "Four hours?"

McCrane spoke up; his patience with his brothers was obviously waning. "An excellent idea, Shadowmaru. All of you, take a nap,"

Dumpson grumbled. "We're not children, McCrane,"

Drill Boy contradicted his brother's comment by jokingly asking. "Can we have a story first?"

Power Joe turned his cab around to "look" at Drill Boy. "Once upon a time, a little Brave Police bot went on a plane ride with his big brothers and their friends. The little bot was really annoying so his big brother threw him out of the plane and everyone else lived happily ever after. The End,"

Drill Boy squeaked and shrunk away from everyone else while the others scolded the power shovel. "POWER JOE!"

Deckard scanned Yuuta to make sure he wasn't woken up—the boy stirred for a moment but went back to sleep—before speaking up. "I also agree with Shadowmaru's notion. We're all probably just tired from the mission. Let's take the opportunity to catch up on some recharge while we can,"

Everyone grumbled and powered down for recharge, after making sure their nets were secure in case they hit some turbulence while they were powered down.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sometime later

Deckard was roused from a light recharge by someone tapping on his window. He activated his scanners and saw it was Ayako. "Oh, hello Ayako,"

Ayako smiled and said "The pilot said we'll be landing soon. He asked me to come back here and make sure you all were ready to land. Oh, and he wants me and Yuuta in our seats when we do,"

Deckard checked his chronometer and found they had been dosing for just over three hours. "Oh, alright, thank you for telling me Ayako. Let me just wake him,"

Ayako smiled and went to help Dumpson wake up the others, she had obviously gone to him first before talking to Deckard.

Deckard raised his voice from where it was when he was trying to avoid waking Yuuta up as he tried to wake him gently. "Yuuta, time to wake up,"

Yuuta mumbled sleepily so Deckard rocked his seat back and forth to shake him. "Wakie wakie, Yuuta!

Yuuta jerked awake and looked around, he knew automatically he was in Deckard but he didn't recognize where they were. "Huh, what?"

Deckard chuckled. "Morning, sleepy head,"

Yuuta looked at the dash. "Deckard, where are we?"

"Still on the plane, we're going to be landing soon so the pilot wants you back in your seat," Deckard partially transformed his arm-servo to lift up the net so Yuuta could get out and helped the boy refasten said net before changing back.

Then Dumpson remembered something. "Everybody be careful driving out of here. Don't want to slip in Power Joe's… mess,"

Power Joe scoffed. "Cut it out, I didn't purge that much. And I got it all in a bin,"

McCrane hummed to himself. "I didn't see any bins in here when we boarded, except…" realization dawned on him. "The one we put those tacky costumes that Commissioner made us wear in?"

Power Joe snickered. "Yep,"

Quiet cheers and sighs of relief came from the Brave Police mechs; none of them liked those costumes, they looked ridiculous and the fabric kept getting caught in their joints and seams.

Once all the mechs were ready, Ayako and Yuuta went back to their seats and fastened their own seat belts.

Ayako looked out the window then at Yuuta. "Next stop, California,"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Instead of landing at an airport like they had originally thought, the plane landed right on a military base.

A soldier jogged up to meet them. When he was close enough he asked. "Where is…" he looked at a clip board he was holding. "… Inspector Tomonaga?"

Deckard whispered to Yuuta, who was riding with him. "Yuuta, he's asking for you,"

Yuuta gulped and unbuckled his seatbelt, wishing once again that the Commissioner had picked someone older for this sort of thing.

Deckard opened the door for him. "Do you remember your English lessons?"

Yuuta had been learning English in school as a second language and the Commissioner had gotten a tutor to teach him English prior to the Domingo Republic mission since there were quite a few people that spoke English there.

He wasn't fluent but since he didn't have a translator like the mechs did he had to work with what he had; which was, luckily, enough to get by.

"Yes, kind of," Yuuta climbed out of Deckard and tried to remember how to introduce himself as he took out his badge and showed it to the man. "I am Yuuta Tomonaga,"

The soldier looked him up and down and mumbled something in English, Yuuta didn't quite catch all of it but he recognized the word "kid"; he knew that one all too well from all the times Gunmax called him that.

The soldier spoke again. "I am Sargent Matthews. If you will follow me I will show you to the Captain's office,"

They followed the soldier to an office building in the middle of the compound. However, Deckard and the others couldn't go inside so Ayako was going to go with Yuuta but…

Sargent Matthews stopped Ayako. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I'm going to have to see your I.D.,"

Ayako was confused and struggled slightly until Shadowmaru used his translator to ask what the problem was and said. "Calm down, Ayako. He just needs to see your I.D. first,"

Ayako huffed as she dug in her purse. "He didn't need to see Yuuta's," she showed the Sargent her passport, since it was the only identification she had on her that wasn't written in Japanese, but the man frowned. "And what business do you have here?"

By this time all of the mechs had activated their translators—all of them had them since they have had quite a few international cases—and Dumpson said. "She's with us. Since we cannot enter the building she will accompany our young boss inside,"

Sargent Matthews frowned. "I'm sorry, but unless she is his translator or has actual business here other than being someone's babysitter I'm afraid I can't let her in just like that,"

Dumpson snarled at the man who spoke of his Ayako or their boss like that, but Drill Boy—of all bots—held him back.

Yuuta held up his hands. "It's ok, guys, I'll be fine,"

McCrane looked at Yuuta. "Hold on, Boss," he switched to English and asked the Sargent. "If I may, Sargent, would the Captain's office happen to have a window?"

The Sargent looked up at him. "Yeah, why?"

"Would it be alright if we opened the window so one of us can listen in and translate for Inspector Tomonaga? His English is still… how you say, iffy?"

While McCrane let the Sargent mull over his offer, Deckard looked at the Combat Detective. "What are you doing, McCrane?"

McCrane muttered back. "Trying to get him to let us listen in on the meeting. I asked him if it were possible to leave a window open so one of us be a back-up translator and help Boss with terms he is not quite familiar with,"

Dumpson shrugged "So, who gets to go?"

Deckard nodded "I will,"

Shadowmaru shook his digit at everyone else. "Actually, Deckard, maybe McCrane should be to one to listen in. I imagine he knows more military terms with all the time he has been spending at the Defense Forces base,"

Power Joe snickered. "I don't think McCrane and Seia are talking combat strategies when they're together,"

McCrane blushed, the lower part of his optics turning red to cast a rosy glow over his faceplates, and he looked away. "What we talk about when we have our conversations is none of your business, Power Joe,

Sargent Matthews looked up at them. "Alright fine, which one of you is going to sit at the window?"

Deckard pointed at McCrane. "Shadowmaru has a point, this is a military base and McCrane has more experience with military personnel. McCrane, watch out for Yuuta,"

McCrane nodded and saluted the Sargent. "I will, Sargent,"

"Alright, go around the side of the building, I'll let you know which window it is when I get it open,"

McCrane walked around the side of the building like he was told while Yuuta followed the Sargent inside after looking up at the others. "I'll be back soon, guys. Behave yourselves,"

As soon as the door closed behind him, Yuuta wanted to run back outside—he was in way over his head here—but he gulped nervously and marched on; determined to not lose Sargent Matthews in a maze full of offices and strangers speaking a foreign language.

Sargent Matthews brought Yuuta to an office at the end of a hallway and open the door. "Captain, Inspector Tomonaga from Nanmagari City, Japan here to see you,"

A tall man with "salt-and-pepper" hair and tan skin with blue eyes looked up from the paper work he was filling out and stood. "Ah, Inspector, welcome to California, I…"

The Captain seemed to notice just how young Yuuta was and said. "Forgive me if I stare, when they told me you were young I never…"

Yuuta hesitated. "Umm…"

The Sargent remembered the window and went to open it. "One moment sir," He opened the window and leaned out it to look around for McCrane until he spotted him.

"Hey, buddy, over here," he waved McCrane over and the Combat Detective knelt down to salute the Captain.

"Pardon me, Captain, I'm just here to help with translations so there are no misunderstandings,"

The Captain took a few steps away from the window but covered his trepidation by acting like he was merely stepping back to get a better look at the bigger robot. "Oh, of… of course. As I was saying I am Captain Wilde. Now then, let me just contact Commissioner Saejima on a video conference call and we can get started,"

After a few minutes of messing around with the Captain's computer, Commissioner Saejima's face appeared on the screen and saluted. "Captain,"

Yuuta went around to the Captain's side of the desk to see the monitor and saw that there were English subtitles at the bottom of the screen translating what the Commissioner said into English.

Captain Wilde saluted back. "Commissioner,"

Commissioner Saejima lowered his hand and smiled at Yuuta. "Hello, Yuuta. Did Captain Wilde tell you the surprise yet?"

Yuuta was confused and suspicious as he looked at the Commissioner; last time he said that was when Deckard got J-Roader so he could combine into J-Decker, he thought Deckard was keeping it a secret to surprise him but the mech didn't know anything about it either… that didn't turn out well. "No, we just got here and you didn't tell us anything on the way here,"

Captain Wilde looked at the boy and then at the Commissioner. "We were waiting until you were able to join the conversation, Commissioner,"

Commisioner nodded "Alright, whenever you are ready, Captain,"

Captain Wilde looked at Yuuta. "Alright, we're all busy so I'm just going to cut to the chase here. Long story short, I have no idea what you did to that 'Deckard' robot, kid, but if you could do it for the robots we have built here we would be much obliged,"

Yuuta was about to say something and the Captain seemed to think he was going to ask what they got out of this and quickly added. "…and in your debt,"

Yuuta pointed to the window, indicating the Brave Police who were somewhere outside. "Um, ok, I don't know if what I did with Deckard will work the same way with other robots but…"

Then Yuuta realized what they were talking about. "Wait, you mean you have robots like Deckard and the others here?"

The Captain nodded. "Yes, I will take you to them as soon as we are done here… if you accept the offer,"

Yuuta hesitated and looked at the screen with Commissioner Saejima's face on it for guidance.

The Commissioner could see the boy's trepidation and spoke up. "Captain, would it be possible for the team to see the new robot's first? Not to insult your engineering teams but it would be better for them to know what they are getting into before they agree to anything,"

The Captain considered a moment and nodded. "Fair enough, I shall transfer your call to one of the computer's in the maintenance hangar so we can continue our conference,"

Commissioner Saejima smiled. "That won't be necessary, I trust Yuuta's opinion as well as his team's. They know more about Super A.I. and the potential of them than anyone. By your leave, Captain,"

He saluted and the Captain returned the gesture before turning off his computer.

Yuuta stood there quietly but jumped the military man looked at him and smiled nervously as he looked him up and down, sizing the boy up.

After a moment of this, the Captain stood to his full height with his hands behind his back and walked out of the office ahead of Sargent Matthews. "This way,"

Yuuta trotted to catch up to the men and followed them outside where the others were waiting for him.

Deckard immediately went up to him like a puppy that had been waiting for its master to come outside. "Yuuta, what's going on?"

McCrane came around the side of the building. "Apparently, the technicians here have been trying to build mechs for an American branch of Brave Police,"

Yuuta smiled. "They're trying to make more robots like you guys but they can't figure out how to give them hearts so they want us to help them with that part,"

This got the Brave Police's attention and they started whispering among themselves.

"More robots?"

"Like us?"

"Here?"

Deckard looked down at Captain Wilde and Sargent Matthews. "Can we…. See them?"

Sargent Matthews nodded and Captain Wilde smiled and said. "We were just on our way over there now. If you would follow us,"

A.N. This is my first "Brave Police J-Decker" story. What do you guys think?

Comments, questions, suggestions and predictions welcome. Any flames will be dealt with accordingly.