More Human Than Human

"Talking"

'thoughts'

"Recordings, talking on the phone or singing"

"Speaking another language besides Japanese"

:Talking through the comm. links:

Rated T for language, slash and anything else I might have missed.

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. This chapter refers to the episode "My Fairy".

Meanwhile, with Drill Boy

Drill Boy transformed into his jet mode and flew away from the precinct as soon as he was outside. The only other mechs that could fly was Shadowmaru so as long as he avoided him he should be able to get away.

Okay, that wasn't entirely true; not only was it damn near impossible to escape the Ninja Detective once he was on one's trail but if the others united into Build Tiger, J-Decker or Gunmax Armor they would be able to fly after him too.

Then again, if they didn't have time for a simple joke they probably wouldn't bother coming after him unless they needed him.

Drill Boy snorted to himself. 'Even if they did, why should I help them? They treat me like a stupid kid and expect me to act like an adult.'

He kept flying until he saw the one thing he really wanted to see right then; a soccer field, it was at the edge of a local park and it didn't look like anyone was using it.

The Soccer Detective grinned to himself. 'Perfect'

He landed nearby and transformed, took his soccer ball out of his chest and dribbled it ahead of him as he made his way up the hill to the field.

Drill Boy stopped and looked around to make sure no one else was about; he really didn't want to get yelled at again if it turned out someone else was using the field. The thought of what happened in the Decker Room made him frown and he shook his helm. 'Forget about them, they're probably glad you left… and so am I!'

Seeing no one, Drill Boy kicked the ball out to the middle of the field where he picked one of the goals to practice shots at.

He chose the one closer to the woods—so that his back was to the city—and charged at it like it were an enemy and kicked the ball right into the net, relishing in the swoosh sound it made.

Normally, Drill Boy would say something along the lines of "GOOOAL! and the crowd goes wild!" and imitate the sounds of a cheering crowd into his servos but today he didn't feel up to it.

Instead, the orange mech went and retrieved his ball, kicked it back to center field and repeated the process multiple times. He started with simple shots at first, but then he gradually worked his way up to more complex drills and eventually imagined actual opponents trying to keep him from the goal.

After a few moments though, his pretend opposition took the form of his team mates. "Dumpson" ran up to him and tried to steal the ball. "Stop that, Drill Boy,"

Drill Boy dodged him, only to see "Power Joe" coming towards him like he was going to tackle him. "You're just a pain-in-the-butt kid,"

Drill Boy kicked the ball behind him so he could double back and go around him. When he turned, he tripped over his ped but in his mind's eye he could see "Gunmax" tripping him and sneering "Watch where you're going, you clumsy brat,"

Drill Boy snarled and drove himself and the ball towards the goal, which was being guarded by "Deckard" and "McCrane", with "Deckard" being the goalie while "McCrane" was the wing-back who stood beside the goal and rushed out to meet Drill Boy when he got within range of the goal; not saying anything but glaring at him coldly, like he wanted his little brother to disappear or wished he never existed to begin with.

Just before "McCrane" could reach him, Drill Boy faked left and went to the right when the imaginary opponent took the bait.

He knew he had to move fast before "McCrane" collected himself or any of the others caught up to him so he went straight for the goal and stared down "Deckard" as the mech held his servos ready to catch the ball.

"Drill Boy…"

He heard that cold, uncaring tone in his audios again and let out a harsh war cry as he kicked the ball into the air and jumped up to do a mid-air somersault and kick the ball right into the net.

As soon as that lullaby-like swoosh reached his audio receptors, all of Drill Boy's imaginary opponents disappeared and he vented heavily as he went to retrieve his ball for another go.

As he picked up the ball rather than kicking it out like he had all the other times, Drill Boy muttered to himself. "I swear, I hate those guys,"

"Whoa, cool!"

Drill Boy looked around to see where the voice came from and saw a young boy with dark hair and brown eyes wearing a red zip-up hoodie and gray sweatpants watching him from the edge of the field where the boy had parked his wheelchair. "Um… hello?"

The kid wheeled himself closer. "You play soccer?"

Drill Boy grinned from audio to audio; he finally found someone who seemed to like soccer as much as he did. "Yeah, do y… um…"

He had been about to ask if the boy played too, hoping they could have a quick game, but he belatedly realized that the boy wouldn't be able to kick the ball if he was in a wheelchair. And how could someone play soccer if they couldn't kick the ball?

Thinking quickly, Drill Boy changed the subject. "I'm Drill Boy, what's your name?"

The boy parked himself next to the goal. "I'm Tor, Tor Toudou. You're one of the Brave Police, right?"

Drill Boy went over to sit next to Tor. "Yeah," then he remembered that wasn't true anymore and flopped down on the grass next to Tor's chair and let his servos fall in his lap. "Well, I used to be,"

Tor looked concerned. "Did they kick you off the team?"

Drill Boy shook his helm and looked away. "No, I quit,"

The boy's eyes widened. "What, why?"

Drill Boy looked at Tor and fell back to look up at the sky. "'Cuz everyone hates me and 'cuz I'm always screwing up or goofing off, that's why," he pouted. "Everyone thinks I'm just a stupid kid,"

Tor looked down at him then turned his wheelchair around so he could lean forward into Drill Boy's peripheral vision. "I don't think you're a stupid kid,"

Drill Boy looked up at him. "You don't?"

Tor grinned "Are you kidding? You're a robot and a cop and you play soccer. Three of the coolest things in the world rolled into one, what's so stupid about that?"

Drill Boy looked at the boy for a moment before snorting. "Yeah right, soccer is the coolest thing in the world!"

Tor turned his chair back to where it had been before. "Yeah, I used to play too," he frowned sadly. "Well, before the… accident,"

Drill Boy looked at the kid next to him and realized he used to be just a normal boy like Yuuta… that is, until something bad happened.

The two of them leaned back to look up at the sky for a moment before something set off Drill Boy's periphery sensors and he sat up, looking around for what it might have been. "What was that?"

Tor looked at him. "What was what?"

"Thought I saw something," Drill Boy's scanners zeroed in on an unidentified flying object that just landed in a nearby tree.

He zoomed on it with his optics and saw it was a small humanoid creature; her top half was that of a human female but he could see that her bottom half was a fish tail and she had little pixie wings on her back.

"That must be the fairy they were looking for," Drill Boy stood up and ran over to the tree for a closer look.

"Drill Boy, wait!" Tor wheeled himself after the orange mech.

Meanwhile, in the tree, the fairy heard heavy footsteps heading her way and looked up to see an orange robot running towards her. Afraid, she flew away from him as fast as her little wings could carry her.

Drill Boy saw the fairy flying away and reached out to her. "Hey, wait up,"

"Seriously, dude, take your own advice!" Drill Boy looked back and saw Tor struggling to keep up with the mech's longer strides with his wheelchair.

"Oh, sorry Tor," Drill Boy picked the boy up in his servos, wheelchair and all, and carried him as he caught up to the fairy just as she flew up to an old looking shed and slipped through a hole in the window.

Drill Boy stopped running. "What's that?"

Tor looked over the building. "That's the shed we… they keep all the extra sports equipment,"

Out of habit, Drill Boy raised a digit to his comm. link. "I'd better call the guys…" then he remembered he had quit. With a huff, he crossed his arm-servos and puffed out his cheeks in a pout. "Yeah, right, we'll catch this fairy on our own. I'm not telling anyone,"

Tor looked up at the mech nervously. "Drill Boy…"

The Soccer Detective smiled down at the young boy. "It'll be okay. It's just one fairy, how much trouble can she be?"

Drill Boy set Tor down so he could open the sliding door and crawl inside while Tor wheeled himself inside. Luckily the ceiling was just high enough for Drill Boy to stand as the two of them looked around. "I could have sworn I saw her come in here,"

Tor nodded as he used his arms to raise himself higher in his chair for a better look around. "Yeah, where could she be?"

Just then the fairy, irate that the two had followed her, flew out from behind a crate full of soccer balls and began emitting a blinding light as she hovered in front of them.

"Ah, can't see!" both Drill Boy and Tor shouted while they covered their eyes and optics and Drill Boy fell to the ground.

The loud crash from his fall was followed by a much softer thump and the blinding light was gone. They uncovered their eyes and optics to see the fairy crumpled on the ground.

Drill Boy crawled closer to check on the fairy. "Are you okay?"

The fairy looked up at him and crawled away. Drill Boy gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't be afraid, we don't mean any harm,"

The fairy just flinched away from him until he pulled his servo back and then hugged herself as she shook with fear.

Tor saw this and slowly wheeled himself closer. "Poor girl, something really bad must have happened to you, huh?"

The fairy looked up with him with little brown doe eyes and looked away as they started to brim with tears.

Drill Boy thought for a moment on how to get the little fairy to trust them then he realized something. "Oh, I know. Are you hungry?"

Tor and the fairy both looked up at him as the little metal claw arm came out of his chest and reached into his subspace compartment to take out Yuuta's pudding, still hidden there, and set it down where the fairy could get it.

The fairy looked confused so Drill Boy explained. "We call this 'pudding'. It's really good…" he belatedly realized he had never actually tried pudding before and blushed. "Well, it looks good at least,"

Tor held his hand out for the little plastic cup. "Here, let me get the lid off for her," he pulled the lid off and set it back down so the fairy could get to it.

The fairy looked at the little plastic cup full of sweet smelling white mush and sniffed it. 'I wonder what this is,'

Drill Boy and Tor watched the fairy inspect the pudding cup for a moment before the latter tried reaching behind him to grab a back pack that was slung over the back of his wheelchair. "I think I might have a spoon for her to eat that with in my lunch box. If I could just…"

The fairy dipped her finger in the pudding cautiously. When nothing bad happened she licked it off and smiled. "Mmmm!" It was delicious! She grabbed the edge of the plastic cup and pulled it closer so she could eat the pudding right out of the container.

Tor saw she was already eating and gave up his search for a spoon with a laugh. "Whoa, you were right, she was hungry,"

"Yeah," Drill Boy propped his elbows on his knees and let his chin rest in his servos as he watched the fairy eat, smiling to himself.

She was his first real friend outside the Brave Police… scratch that, she and Tor were his first friends outside the Brave Police; the only other friends he had were either members of the Brave Police or one of their friends that included him in their little circle.

When the fairy was about half way through the pudding she leaned further into the cup to get to the stuff at the bottom.

Curious, Drill Boy asked "How is it? Is it good?"

The fairy leaned forward for another bite but she leaned too far and ended up tipping the cup over and it landed on top of her. She couldn't figure out how to get it off and immediately she panicked, thrashing about as she tried to get the impromptu trap off of her.

Tor wheeled himself closer to grab the cup while Drill Boy helped the fairy up so she was half sitting in his servo. "Are you okay?"

The fairy looked up at him dazedly for a moment before she went about getting the pudding out of her curly blond hair.

Just then Tor gasped and covered his eyes. Drill Boy looked down at the boy. "What's wrong?"

Tor blushed as he peeked between his fingers up at Drill Boy. "Um… I didn't notice before because her hair is long enough to cover her up but she… uh…" he looked at the fairy to make sure she wouldn't hear him before he whispered. "She's not wearing anything,"

Drill Boy tilted his head to the side in confusion so Tor elaborated. "Drill Boy, she's naked, boys aren't supposed to see girls naked!"

Drill Boy realized that this was true and blushed. "Oh right, I forgot," he looked around, "Let's see if we can find something she can cover up with,"

Once again, Tor tried to reach behind him to grab something out of his backpack. "I think I still got that plastic bag in here somewhere, we can cut holes in it to make a poncho. It won't be pretty but it will work,"

"Here, let me help you," Drill Boy set the fairy down and pulled the back pack off of the handle bars on the back of Tor's wheelchair, only to discover something underneath it when the object fell on the ground. "Um, Tor… What is this?"

Tor tried to turn around and then looked up when Drill Boy held up a doll with brown hair wearing a blue dress that had pink trim.

He face palmed when he saw it. "That's my sister's doll. She wouldn't leave it at home like mom told her to because she 'needed' it at school today but she got tired of carrying it on the way home so she wanted to stick it in the big pocket on the back of my wheelchair,"

Tor glared up at the doll. "She must have snuck it in there when I wasn't looking,"

Drill Boy looked at the doll and then at the fairy and realized they were about the same size, the fairy being longer because of her tail. "What if we gave her this instead?"

He pulled the skirt of the doll's dress and Tor thought for a moment and shrugged. "Ok, Meg's going to be mad when she finds out her doll's dress is missing but the fairy needs it more,"

Drill Boy handed the doll and back pack to the boy and Tor removed the doll's dress and put the doll in his back pack before opening the dress up in his lap. "Okay, let's see if she'll let us put it on her,"

After much coaxing and reassurances, they got the fairy to come to Drill Boy who held her so Tor could carefully slide the dress onto the fairy, starting at the tail and working his way up to where he could guide her arms into the sleeves until the dress was on.

They couldn't fasten the dress in the back because of her wings but luckily the sleeves held it up so they don't need to.

"There we go," Tor slowly pulled his hands back and Drill Boy shifted his servos so the fairy could sit up.

The fairy looked down at herself and fluttered her wings so she hovered in the air, running her hands over the soft fabric curiously.

The dress was pretty, it was soft and warm and she couldn't help but turn this way and that and smile as the skirt of the dress swirled around her.

Drill Boy smiled at seeing the fairy so happy after being so scared. "I think she likes it,"

A flash of color in the corner of the fairy's eye got her attention and she turned to see a butterfly fly past the open door of the shed. Curious, she flew after it, much to the confusion of her new friends.

"Hey, where is she going?"

Tor and Drill Boy followed to see the fairy chasing a butterfly until she lost it in some tall grass.

Tor saw she was after and wheeled himself over to a nearby picnic table. "She's just chasing a butterfly. She should be fine as long as she doesn't go too far,"

Drill Boy watched the fairy to make sure he kept her in his sight as he went over to sit on the ground next to the picnic table. "Ok,"

After a few minutes, Fay gave up on the butterfly and saw her friends were sitting together and flew over to sit on the edge of the picnic table they were at.

"Give up already?" Drill Boy teased but then he realized the fairy didn't even know their names yet. "Oh, that's right. We haven't introduced ourselves yet,"

Tor face palmed. "Where are our manners?" he looked at the fairy "I'm Tor,"

The fairy looked at him blankly and Tor pointed to himself and repeated himself slowly. "Tor…"

The fairy looked at him for a moment and tried to sound out his name. "T… To…Tor?"

Tor nodded. "That's right, Tor,"

Drill Boy pointed to himself and said "And I'm Drill Boy,"

The fairy looked up at him and he repeated his name slowly. "D-R-I-L-L B-O-Y…"

The fairy titled her head to the side, this name was harder than the other one. "Boy…" she couldn't figure out the first part so she shortened it. "Boy!"

Drill Boy was surprised by this. "Boy?"

Tor laughed "Well, your whole name is kind of a mouthful…"

Drill Boy saw how this made sense. "Ok, I guess that works," he looked at the fairy. "What's your name?"

The fairy realized she didn't have one, the people that made her never gave her one; they just called her "the fairy" or "my fairy". She hung her head, feeling left out that she didn't have a name like her friends.

Tor realized she probably didn't have one and looked at Drill Boy. "I don't think she has one,"

Drill Boy looked down at the fairy and said "Well, how about we give you one?"

The fairy looked at him as if to say "What did you have in mind?"

Drill Boy tapped his chin in thought. "Now, what would be a good name for a fairy?"

Tor thought for a moment before suggesting "Titania?"

The fairy thought for a moment before shaking her head; it was a nice name but it didn't suit her.

Drill Boy looked at Tor. "Where did you get that name from?"

Tor looked up at the Soccer Detective. "Titania was the queen of the Fay, or fairy folk. We learned about it in school,"

Drill Boy looked at the fairy. "Fay…" he smiled as an idea came to him. "Well, you're a fairy, how about we call you Fay?"

The fairy mulled the thought over and tried the name herself. "Fay…" the fairy smiled; she liked the sound of that. "Fay!"

Fay took off and flew in circles around them cheering her new name. "FAY! FAY! FAY!"

Worried Fay might hurt herself, Drill Boy stood up and got ready to catch her if she fell. "Careful, don't overexert yourself,"

Fay didn't hear him, she just continued flying in excited circles. Tor laughed at the fairy's antics. "I think she likes it,"

Fay was so excited about finding her new friends and how great everything was now she didn't see the tree in front of her until she crashed into it, disappearing into its branches until she fell out of them.

Drill Boy lunged forward to catch Fay before she hit the ground.

Tor wheeled himself closer to them and tried to see Fay from where he was on the ground. "Is she okay?"

Fay just blinked up at Drill Boy until she realized her hair was full of little bits of leaves and went about picking them out of her hair.

Drill Boy sighed from relief. "Yeah, she's okay," he looked down at Fay "We told you that you would wear yourself out. Geez, you're impossible,"

Drill Boy froze when his brothers' voices from earlier echoed in his mind. "Oh, I was called that too," he smiled sadly at Fay, who was obliviously picking foliage out of her curls. "I guess we're a lot alike. I mean…"

The harsh reality finally hit Drill Boy, without his team he really had no one. "…We're both alone,"

Tor looked up at him and elbowed the Soccer Detective's shin guard. "You guys aren't alone. You've got me, and we've got each other,"

Fay fluttered up to Drill Boy's line of sight as if to remind him there were three of them there. "Boy, Tor, Fay,"

Drill Boy looked down at Tor and smiled. "Yeah, the three of us,"

Tor threw up his fists and cheered "THE THREE MUSKETEERS!"

Drill Boy held up his fist and echoed him while Fay also copied them with a wordless cheer of her own.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Fay jumped at the new noise and tried to hide under the drill bit half on Drill Boy's shoulder. Tor looked around to locate the source of the noise. "What was that?"

Drill Boy saw it was him comm. link beeping. "Oh, that's my friends calling…" he frowned "…or, I guess, my former friends…"

He was about to answer the call and hang up to silence the beeping but Tor looked up at him like he caught him raiding the cookie jar. "Aren't you going to answer that? What if something is wrong?"

Drill Boy hesitated, Tor had a point; yes he was mad at the others but that didn't mean he wanted something bad to happen to them.

Drill Boy answered the call to see which of his team mates was calling but said nothing. He could hear Yuuta asking him to come back to the precinct. He didn't sound angry so Drill Boy sent a ping to let him know he was on his way back.

"Alright, I'll go see what's going on,"

Tor smiled up at him, glad to see his friend was doing the right thing. "Alright, Fay and I will wait for you here,"

Drill Boy hesitated; the Brave Police were searching for Fay as well as Dr. Madoh, who was also most likely looking for Fay. Was it wise to leave them there alone?

Drill Boy considered his options for a moment before he struck genius; maybe while he was back at the precinct he could ask if they could keep Fay, that way she would be safe and Drill Boy wouldn't have to lose his friend. "Okay, I'll be right back. Wait here,"

He transformed into his drill tank mode and drove away.

Tor and Fay watched him go before the boy turned to the fairy and asked. "So, what do you want to do now?"

Fay tore her eyes away from the trail of dust Drill Boy left behind and looked at Tor, wondering why the Soccer Detective left them. Then she looked around and saw the butterfly from earlier, hovering over a patch of wild flowers.

With a giggle, Fay flew after the insect, determined to catch the colorful little thing.

Tor saw she was flying away and wheeled himself after her. "Hey, wait…"

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When Drill Boy got back to the precinct, he went through the maintenance bay on his way to the Decker Room. There he saw Shadowmaru helping the femmebot into her cradle.

Unseen by Drill Boy as he passed the Ninja Detective, Shadowmaru smiled to himself and said "There you are, Mr. Soccer"

Drill Boy jumped, Shadowmaru hadn't turned around to look so how did he know it was him?

Drill Boy stiffly turned to look at Shadowmaru and smiled nervously at the older mech "Oh, uh, hi Shadowmaru… w-where's everyone else?"

Shadowmaru turned around to give Drill Boy a look that said "If I had the authority to do so you would be SO grounded" with one servo on his hip. "Aside from Deckard and Little Boss, everyone else is out looking for Dr. Madoh, his assistant and their 'fairy' creation,"

Shadowmaru's glare softened slightly "…and you as well," he rubbed the spot on his forehead just below his head band like he had a headache before looking at Drill Boy between his digits. "Where have you been?"

Drill Boy stiffened and had he been capable of doing so he would be sweating profusely; he wasn't sure if he wanted to everyone about Fay yet in case they tried to take her away.

"Oh, uh…" Drill Boy tried to come up with a cover story but he had worked with Shadowmaru long enough to know there was no way he could lie to him… even if he said nothing the Ninja Detective would know something was up.

So he told a half truth "I went to the park, played some soccer until I calmed down and…" he looked at the floor and nudged a bolt someone had dropped with his toe. "I spotted something suspicious and I thought it was Dr. Mad…"

Shadowmaru looked at Drill Boy "You didn't try to go after Dr. Madoh on your own, did you?"

Drill Boy looked like his eyes, if he had any, would be shifting about nervously. "Um… no?" he got defensive and pointed at Shadowmaru. "Wait, don't you go after criminals on your own a lot?"

Shadowmaru held up a digit and was ready to either justify that statement or deny it but hesitated before simply saying "Do as I say not as I do. I'm actually trained to handle those situations,"

Drill Boy grinned as he turned away. "That's not what you said when you were fighting those giant bug-bots,"

Shadowmaru shoved Drill Boy. "Alright, enough of that," he turned back to finish hooking the femme up to her cradle.

When he turned, though, Drill Boy saw a flash of light moving from the femme's servo to the new mech's shoulder.

Drill Boy reset his optics to see if he was seeing things but the light disappeared. 'Must have been light glancing off of Shadowmaru's armor when he turned,'

Shadowmaru looked out the corner of his optics at Drill Boy. "By the way, Little Boss wants to see you. He and Deckard are in the Decker Room,"

Drill Boy looked at Shadowmaru and nodded "Okay," he turned on his heel and walked down the hall leading to the Decker Room.

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Yuuta looked at the floor to make sure he or Deckard didn't miss any of the muddy footprints they had just mopped up. "Gunmax really needs to learn how to clean up after himself,"

Deckard saw that Yuuta was rubbing his side where his stitches were from last night's surgery and held out a servo for him to climb on. "Why don't you go put your mop and bucket away while I finish up here?"

Yuuta looked up at him "You sure?"

Deckard smiled at the boy. "There's only a little bit left. I'll probably be done and have mine put away by the time you get back,"

Yuuta smiled up at his friend "Ok,"

Deckard lifted the boy onto the human's platform so he could leave through the human's section, watching him go.

When he turned to resume his task, however, Deckard slipped in a puddle of water left behind by his and Yuuta's mops and fell on his aft with an "Oof!" and a thud.

Deckard looked up at the ceiling as he ran a self-diagnostic; his skid plates stung from the impact but otherwise nothing was damaged.

'"Wet floor" signs… we need "wet floor" signs,'

As Deckard carefully rolled over and got on his hands and knees, he heard the door open and someone come in.

He couldn't see who it was because he had fallen behind his desk but after a moment, whoever came in said "Huh, doesn't seem to be anyone here,"

"Drill Boy?" Deckard stood up to look over the desk to see Drill Boy jump at the revelation he wasn't alone.

After seeing it was just Deckard, Drill Boy calmed down "Oh, Deckard, you were there the whole time,"

Deckard stood to his full height and Drill Boy tensed. 'No sense in asking him for any favors if he's still mad'

Deckard saw that Drill Boy seemed nervous about something. 'He must still be upset about what happened earlier,' "Drill Boy, we were too harsh on you before. Please forgive us,"

Drill Boy was surprised by this unexpected turn of events and quickly waved him off. "Oh, don't worry about it, it's fine,"

He smiled at the older mech but thought bitterly to himself. 'Like he actually means it'

Deckard picked up his mop and bucket in one servo and pressed his other fist into his side, which still stung from landing on it. "By the way, where did you go just now?"

Drill Boy shrugged "The park, they got a soccer field. Met a new friend there,"

Deckard somehow knew that wasn't the whole truth but not a lie either but didn't pry in case Drill Boy stormed off again. "Oh, that's good to hear,"

Drill Boy looked at Deckard, more at ease now that he saw he wasn't in trouble anymore. "So, uh, any luck on the search?"

Deckard sighed, Gunmax and Power Joe had checked in a few minutes ago to report they couldn't find anything. "So far we haven't been able to locate Dr. Madoh. His assistant is missing too,"

"Oh," Drill Boy thought for a moment, trying to choose his next words carefully. "Any sign of the fairy?"

Deckard shook his helm. "Either he or his boss has the fairy,"

Drill Boy sighed with relief, no one had any idea where Fay was. 'Guess again, Deckard'

Deckard noticed Drill Boy was awfully interested in the fairy and offhandedly asked "I don't suppose you have found the fairy?"

Drill Boy hesitated and stuttered. "N-no, no I haven't"

Deckard stared at the mech as he folded his arm-servos behind his helm and turned to the side. Now that was a lie; Drill Boy had puffed up his cheeks slightly when he spoke just now and the only time he did that was if he was mad or he was lying and since he was smiling…

Before Deckard could call him out on it, however, Drill Boy asked. "Say, what would happen if we did find her?"

Deckard hesitated. Her? No one had ever said whether or not the fairy was male or female so either Drill Boy was assuming it was female or he knew more than he was letting on. "What do you mean?"

Drill Boy held up a servo and tried to keep the hopefulness out of his voice. "Well, would we be able to take her home or something,"

Deckard shook his helm, face plates grim; he could tell Drill Boy was interested in the fairy but there was no guarantee he would be able to keep her. "No, this fairy is a product of illegal means. So we would have to follow procedure in accordance to the law,"

Drill Boy froze; when Deckard said that he couldn't help but think of all of the robots and bio-creatures that they had destroyed because they were used for, or created by, illegal means. "But, that means…"

Deckard nodded and all of Drill Boy's rage from earlier returned, this time with a protective edge. "NO! YOU CAN'T!"

Deckard jumped; he had never seen Drill Boy this angry before. "Drill Boy, what has gotten into you?"

Drill Boy realized he had just lashed out at Deckard; something the blue mech didn't deserve for just doing his job and also made Drill Boy seem suspicious. He forced himself to calm down. "Nothing, it's nothing,"

He forced a smile on his lip components and said in a chipper voice "Well, I'd better go help the guys search. See ya" he turned and ran out the door.

Deckard reached out a servo. "Wait, Drill Boy…" too late, the mech was already gone.

Just as Drill Boy left the room Yuuta came back in. "Was that Drill Boy just now?"

Deckard nodded. "Yeah, but he's acting strangely,"

Yuuta looked at Deckard. "Let's follow him,"

Deckard smiled at Yuuta as he stashed the mop and bucket in a corner of the room to be dealt with later. "You read my mind, Boss,"

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Drill Boy drove to the park in his drill tank mode, unaware that Deckard and Yuuta were following him as they stayed just out of range of his periphery scanners.

Yuuta figured out where he was most likely going. "He's heading for the park,"

Deckard hummed his acknowledgement. "Drill Boy did say he went there after he went earlier… and met a friend while he was there…"

Yuuta looked at Deckard's console; he had told Yuuta about the conversation he had with Drill Boy and the suspicions it had spawned. "You think he was talking about the fairy?"

Deckard was quiet for a moment before answering "I don't know, Yuuta. We're just going to have to see where he's going,"

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Drill Boy pulled up to the shed where he last saw Fay and Tor and transformed. "No one is taking Fay away!" he grumbled to himself.

He looked around for his friends but saw no one. 'Maybe they're inside,'

Drill Boy went to the shed and smiled as he opened the door "I'm back!"

Once Drill Boy went inside, however, both of his friends were nowhere to be found. The only sign they were ever there was the empty pudding cup sitting on a platform by one of the windows.

In a worried panic, Drill Boy ran outside, calling their names as he searched for them. "Tor! Fay! Where are you!"

When he received no answer, Drill Boy's worry increased "Had Dr. Madoh found them?"

He knew the scientist most likely would have wanted his fairy back but there was no telling what he would have done if he found Tor in possession of said fairy if he was willing to shoot Shadowmaru for simply recognizing his car.

"Boy!"

Drill Boy spun around to see Fay fly up to him with her hands behind her back and Tor wheeling himself after her, struggling slightly with the uneven terrain. He would have sighed from relief if he hadn't been so stunned by their sudden appearance.

Fay just smiled and pulled a sprig of wild flowers out from behind her pack and placed them in Drill Boy's servos.

Drill Boy looked at the flowers and then at Fay. "Are these for me?"

Fay nodded and Tor finally made it to where they were. "After you left Fay saw the butterfly she was chasing earlier and tried to catch it again,"

He held up another pink bloom almost identical to Drill Boy's. "She lost it so she decided to pick flowers,"

Drill Boy suddenly felt angry again; he had been worried out of his mind about them and they were acting like nothing was wrong. "IDIOTS! I TOLD YOU TO STAY PUT!"

Fay lost altitude as she flinched at the shout. Tor wheeled himself closer, cautiously so he didn't accidently set the distraught mech off, and reached up to be ready to catch Fey if she fell any further. "Calm down, we didn't mean anything by it… and we did stay, you just didn't see us right away because we were on the other side of the shed,"

Drill Boy saw how upset he made his friends and took a deep intake to calm himself as he knelt down to their level. "I'm sorry, I was just really worried about you guys," he looked at the flowers in his servos and smiled at Fay. "Thanks for the flowers,"

Fay looked like she could jump for joy at seeing that her friend wasn't mad anymore. "Boy!"

She flew up to hug his neck and Drill Boy nuzzled her in an attempt to hug back as he whispered. "I won't let anyone hurt you, Fay. I promise,"

Tor heard this and looked up at Drill Boy. "Why would anyone want to hurt Fay?"

Before Drill Boy could answer, someone jumped out from behind a nearby tree and they all jumped as Fay screamed in fear.

A.N.: Quick shout out to the people that reviewed and/or added; 2016 (Guest) and TFAN Override.