Author: Floor
Description: The end of the story is not the end of their adaption into society.
Timeline: Post Episode 48
Characters: Everyone. Also contains slight Ayako/Dumpson and Seia/McCrane.
Rating: K

"What do you think?" Deckerd stood back and admired his handiwork.

Drillboy's grin was blurred by the sheer force of his nod. "Looks just like the real thing! Thanks for the help, Dekkado!"

The newly built contraption was just over a metre tall and sat positioned on a patch of damp grass. Its four tires (one located on each side and the other two on top) were approximately the size of Deckerd's own. The tires themselves had been purchased from the manufacturers of the Braves' own parts; Drillboy had told them, with great specificity, that half needed to be "Dumpson"-sized and the other half "Duke"-sized. The motor and framework that held them together had needed to be sourced from various other locations, one of which was the scrap bin in the repair bay (which had offered little; Chief Engineer Toudou had always taught his staff to be resourceful). With a little help from the engineers themselves – and by following a very detailed online guide they had found – Deckerd and Drillboy had managed to build a machine that could launch soccer balls. Giantsoccer balls.

That is, assuming it worked.

"Start it up!" Drillboy cheered. "Let's see if it can beat the extraordinary Drillboy!"

Deckerd started the motor and the top tires began to spin. He then waited for Drillboy to get into position before loading the soccer balls in one by one.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready!"

The machine propelled a speeding soccer ball towards Drillboy. The smaller mech promptly kicked it, redirecting it into the goal. He repeated this for the following two balls before catching the third with his foot and balancing it there.

"That was too easy! Can't it make them go any faster?" Drillboy asked, flicking the last ball towards the net.

"I guess I could try speeding it up a bit." Deckerd looked down at the control panel. Once he had located the appropriate dial he gave it a slight twist with his fingers. The motor whirred away, speeding up the rotation of the tires. Another ball flew toward the Soccer Detective. Another goal.

Drillboy laughed. "Is that the best you've got?! Give me a hard one!"

Deckerd responded with an 'are you sure?' look, prompting the young detective to yell: "Come on, then!" Drillboy followed this up by impatiently running on the spot while watching Deckerd turn the dial to its maximum setting (with some reluctance). Deckerd then set the next ball down, though not before triple-checking to see whether the brightly-coloured mech was ready. The ball was off faster than the Brave leader could track it, hitting Drillboy's awaiting shin metal and streaking toward the goal.

"Shoooooot!" Drillboy shouted when the ball hit the net. It tore a hole right through the netting before bouncing off into the trees.

"That was great!" Drillboy appeared to have as much bounce as the ball when he jogged up to Deckerd.

"It broke the net..." Deckerd observed in a quiet voice.

"I know! Isn't that cool?!" Drillboy beamed before leaning down to pat his new soccer companion on its nearest black tires. "This was the perfect way to spend my money from New Years! I wish I had some to spend all the time!"

Deckerd smiled back. "It looks like it might become a regular thing, too."

"So what are you going to do with yourfirst pay, Dekkado?"

The blue mech hummed in thought. "I might buy some new office equipment. We are running low on pencils again and our shared budget is already tight."

"But- but that's boring!" Drillboy protested with a wild flail of his arms.

"Oh? You think so? I can't think of much else to spend it on."

"Don't you have any hobbies?" The orange mech cocked his head to the side.

"Well, I occasionally enjoy cleaning. Maybe I should try out those new 'magic cloths' they advertise-"

"Laaaame."

Deckerd huffed, slightly offended. "I suppose I could get Yuut-"

"Doesn't count! Has to be for yourself."

"I don't remember there being any rules..."

"You have to find something cooler to spend it on!"

"I'm not sure what kind of answer you're looking for, Drillboy." Deckerd was truly baffled.

"Isn't there something you've always dreamed of having?" Drillboy asked him.

"No- Well, maybe something."

Azuki Tomonaga was startled from her reading by the screech of tires outside the front door. She lowered her book onto the table before standing and walking toward the sound. Upon reaching the door she opened it just enough to peer through the resulting gap. A car sat parked just next to the path leading to where she was standing.

"Good afternoon, Miss Azuki."

Azuki immediately recognised the voice. "Shadowmaru? Is that you?" She stepped outside and closed the door behind her. "What are you doing here?"

The violet car chuckled. "I have a gift for you and Miss Kurumi."

"Kurumi isn't home yet," Azuki informed him when she stopped beside his sleek vehicle form. "She would have just finished school."

"I know." Shadowmaru's passenger door popped open and a young girl stumbled out onto the pavement once it lifted. Her knees shook violently as she held onto the mailbox in order to keep herself upright.

"Kurumi! Are you okay?" Azuki worried.

"Just... give me a moment." The younger sister straightened a bit. "Not so fast next time, Shadowmaru!"

"My apologies. I tend to get carried away. Shapeshift!" The disguised mech transformed into his root form before squatting down and removing something from one of his hidden compartments.

He handed an envelope to Azuki.

"What's this?" she asked while removing the small object from between the much larger metal fingers.

"I have much to thank you for," Shadowmaru said, ducking his head a fraction before returning to a stand. Azuki looked at him with open curiosity but when Kurumi's hand came to rest on her shoulder she turned her attention back to what she was holding. She lifted the tucked flap on the unsealed envelope and pulled out a slip of paper from inside. Her eyes widened when she realised it was a cheque.

"Shadowmaru! We can't take this!" Azuki protested.

"We can't?" Kurumi asked, mesmerised by the numerous zeroes.

Azuki shook her head. "I'm sure you can find something else to spend it on." She held the slip of paper out for Shadowmaru to receive. "Why don't you buy something for yourself?"

The ninja Brave continued to stand and glanced upwards to the sky. "I already have everything I need," he replied in a soft tone, a small grin present on his face. "I want you to have it."

"But Shadowmaru-"

"Have a pleasant evening, ladies." And with that, Shadowmaru was off. The sisters weren't even sure where he had gone because to their eyes it was as if he had simply vanished. Azuki and Kurumi Tomonaga continued to stand there for a few minutes longer, both staring off at nothing in particular as they tried to process what just happened.

"What are we going to do, Azuki?" Kurumi asked once the silence had stretched on long enough. Her hand was still stuck to her older sister's shoulder.

Azuki looked up into the sky.

Power Joe walked through the door of the Decker Room. Both of his arms were filled with an assortment of paper and plastic bags, each sporting a different company logo printed on the front.

"Oh, hey Duke," he greeted the red and white mech (and the only other Brave in the room). "Still here, I see."

The Knight Detective's optics narrowed at the none-too-happy (and not to mention impolite) greeting, but he brushed it off in favour of finding out exactly what the power shovel had brought in. He stood from his seat and wandered over to where Power Joe had placed the bags on the Build Team's desk, careful not to step too close in case the Kung Fu Detective took offense to his hovering.

"Impressed?" Power Joe asked, obviously quite pleased with himself.

Duke looked over the packaged items and noticed hints of labels and text but recognised none of them. "What are they?"

Power Joe looked taken aback. "What?! How can you not know As the Kitchen Sinks?! It's a critically acclaimed series! Everybody is talking about it!"

Duke looked dumbfounded. "So you bought... DVDs?"

"DVD collector's edition box sets," Power Joe corrected. "Had to look all over the city for them, most stores had sold out."

Duke wondered if perhaps what he had neglected to say was 'didn't stock it'.

"Stores don't seem to accommodate for my... uh, stature," the yellow mech went on. "So I had Masaki, Emily and Kigumaro do the shopping for me while I parked outside."

"You had children buy DVDs for you?"

"Not all of them. Apparently they weren't old enough to buy some of these, so I had Kigumaro call Ms. Reiko. She... took a little convincing."

Duke watched as Power Joe sifted through the various bags while removing items and placing them in some kind of order. It wasn't just the one series that he had bought, Duke noted. In fact, he could swear Power Joe had purchased every TV soap to have ever been broadcasted...along with one very pink DVD case at the bottom of one of the bags.

"Emily," Power Joe sighed as he put the rogue DVD away in a drawer.

With the results of his shopping spree lined up and on display, Power Joe then turned his attention to the Brave currently gawking at it all. "So what did you get?"

"Pardon?"

"With your pay."

"Oh." Duke appeared to collect himself. "A dolphin."

"Huh, really? That's pretty cool, I guess. Where are you going to put it?"

"You don't keep it," Duke said in disbelief of Power Joe's ignorance. "Merely pay a monthly adoption fee that helps care for it and creatures like her."

"Her?"

"Yes," Duke replied sheepishly. "I've named her 'Lady'."

"Of course you have. So where is this 'Lady'?"

"Scotland."

"Never heard of the place."

"It's a... country. Just above my homeland, in fact."

"Sounds made up. So not planning a trip to see her then?"

"No. No, I think she might be hard to find," Duke answered. "But I got this." He went over to his desk and withdrew a stuffed animal from a drawer before returning with it. The dolphin plush was large for a human but comparatively tiny in Duke's hands.

"That's kinda cute," Power Joe said when he leaned down to look at it. "Can I hold it?"

"No."

"What do you want?" Toudou asked (rather bluntly) when the large mech's shadow came to rest over his workspace.

Dumpson flustered a bit and felt like he had been put on the spot when the engineer turned to look at him. "I... uh- that is," he began, "I was wondering-"

"Out with it. Did you break something again? I swear to-"

"Do-you-think-you-could-build-me-a-smaller-body?" Dumpson blurted.

Toudou blinked.

"Thought you didn't like that smaller one I made you. Why would you want one even smaller?" he teased.

"No!" Suffice to say, Dumpson did not enjoy being reminded of that experience. "No, smaller than my current body."

"You want to be shorter? Is that it?" Toudou had a pretty good idea of what Dumpson truly meant (after all, there was nothing that could fluster the Wrestler Detective quite like Miss Ayako and thoughts of her seemed to have a similar effect), but he couldn't be blamed for wanting to have a bit of fun with the Braves after the trouble they frequently caused him. "The only one shorter than you now is Drillboy. Do you want to be as short as him?"

"No! Not shorter. Smaller."

"How small?"

"Uh... approximately 1.707 metres tall," Dumpson whispered when he noticed the looks from other mechanics.

"Human height, then?"

"... Yes," Dumpson said, embarrassed. "I-I have money. I can pay you."

"Well then! Why didn't you say so in the first place! That wasn't so hard, was it?" Toudou gave Dumpson a friendly thump on the leg. The red mech looked like he disagreed. "I can get started tomorrow. I don't have much on for this week other than room for unscheduled repairs."

"Can you? That would be-!" Dumpson made a short coughing sound. "I mean, thank you."

Toudou chuckled. "No problem. But I warn you, I charge a fortune!" He grinned. "In fact, that pay you recently acquired should cover the lot."

Dumpson smiled fondly at the engineer. "Thanks, Mr. Toudou."

"Don't say I never do anything nice for you." The human folded his arms over his tan jacket. "But before you leave, can I ask a question? What gave you the idea?"

Dumpson's optics flickered slightly. "I suppose you could say it came to me in a dream."

"Huh, really." Toudou turned back to his workbench. "Well let me know if you'll be needing a suit."

"You couldn't have called anyone else?"

"I'm offended. I'll have you know, you were first on my list. I don't know many cranes."

Gunmax tucked his thumbs over his hips, his arms resting akimbo while he watched the cable attached to McCrane's hook slowly rise from the water several feet below. In his vehicle form McCrane was limited to being parked on the bridge next to the green mech as he continued to winch the heavy weight.

"Thought of what you'll spend the money on yet?" Gunmax was never one to pass up an opportunity for idle conversation.

"Not yet."

"Hmm? So how are things with your lady friend?"

"...You mean Seia."

"Yes, your lady friend. You should treat her."

"Sorry?"

"I bet she gets stressed, being in charge of all those soldiers. Get her to unwind, show her a good time."

"Gunmax," McCrane warned. "Don't you think that's a bit inappropriate?"

"Oy, get your mind out of the gutter. That's not what I meant. Take her out, buy her something."

"Oh..." McCrane redirected his train of thought. "I guess I could do that."

"You should get her something pretty, I bet she likes pretty things."

"Seia is very professional."

"But that doesn't mean she doesn't enjoy letting her hair dow- Ah ha! There's my baby!" Gunmax straightened when Gunbike was raised from the watery depths. McCrane applied more brake as the weight increased without the slight buoyancy the oversized motorcycle had in the water. He would never tell Gunmax that his bike was heavy, though.

"So any idea what you will be spending your money on, then?" McCrane started when he found himself missing the conversation. The Combat Detective had always liked Gunmax (in fact, McCrane was quite lucky in that he got along with all of the Braves). He knew that even behind the attitude the biker meant well. Despite this it wasn't often that they got the chance to talk outside of work hours, so McCrane wanted to make the most of this opportunity.

"Yep, already decided," Gunmax replied, his optics fixed on watching Gunbike. He decided to lean against the crane. "Ordered some of the highest quality oil money can buy."

"And you spent all of your money on it?" McCrane asked, a bit bothered he was being used like a piece of furniture – but that was just Gunmax's way of showing he was comfortable around him.

"You got it." Gunmax tapped his fingers against the yellow metal of the cab.

"... How much did you drink before-"

"I wasn't drunk! Some idiot was driving on the wrong side of the road, I had to swerve to avoid them!"

"That 'idiot' was most likely American," McCrane informed him.

"No way! Americans are much cooler than that."

Once Gunbike reached the height of the bridge Gunmax moved to help steady it as McCrane set the bike down on the road. After a quick inspection Gunmax discovered that the only external damage was a couple of dents. Internally, however, Gunbike had been flooded with water. The bike would need to be taken apart and thoroughly cleaned before the Motorcycle Detective could ride it again.

"Need a lift?" McCrane offered.

"Nah, but thanks for the help. I think I'll walk her home." After all, Gunbike had always been there to take him home.

Yuuta Tomonaga walked into the Commissioner's office and tentatively approached the desk by the window. In his hand was a series of plans he had drawn on paper. The careful scrawls crumpled slightly in his grip.

"Mr. Saejima?" He looked at the back of the tall chair that faced away from him.

"Oh, Yuuta." Saejima swiveled in said chair and placed the two figurines he'd been holding down on the desk in front of him. "I didn't hear you come in."

Yuuta looked over the figurines. They were both miniature models of Deckerd, but one... one was different.

"What do you think?" Saejima grinned when he noticed the boy's attention on them.

"Are those doll clothes?" the young boy asked, pointing at one of the figures. On top of being a small replica of the Brave Detective it now included long brown hair and a girl's school uniform.

"This is a custom I made myself. I call her 'Dekkako'!" Saejima picked 'her' up and held it close enough to Yuuta so that he could see the lipstick and tiny eyelashes the Commissioner had carefully painted on Deckerd's face.

"Um. Very nice," Yuuta lied in the most polite manner possible. Saejima seemed so proud of his, uh, work.

"I have more of them." Saejima apparently took that as an excuse to show the boy his entire collection. He removed various Braves from his desk drawer and posed them all on the flat surface. He even had larger figurines of Super Build Tiger and Fire J-Decker.

"Watch this." He grabbed the Shadowmaru figure and clicked a hidden button. A tiny shuriken flew out of the toy's wrist and across the room. Saejima looked delighted.

"Oh! Oh! And press the button on Gunmax's chest." He motioned towards the Gunmax figure and Yuuta reached out and pressed it as instructed.

"Make my day." The tiny Gunmax played one of the mech's trademark English catchphrases when the sudden pressure to its chest pushed it backwards, knocking the Duke figurine behind it off the desk. Yuuta made a surprised sound as the tiny Knight fell but Saejima managed to catch it before it landed on the floor.

"That was close." Yuuta felt relieved. Although the figurines didn't look very fragile the young officer didn't enjoy seeing his friends get hurt, not even when they were just tiny replicas. "Oh! Before I forget..." He placed the plans he held onto the desk. "I've decided on what I would like to do with my bonus, Mr. Saejima!"

Yuuta's pay usually went straight into his savings but after discussing things through with his sisters, it was decided that his bonus from New Years could be used to buy something for himself and the team. After all, it wasn't every day that eight of your closest friends were all deemed eligible for their first paychecks.

The Commissioner grabbed the plans and looked over them while holding his chin.

"Hmm. I still think mine are cooler."

One week later.

"What do you think, Mr. Saejima?" Yuuta asked the older man.

Saejima frowned. "It is pretty cool."

The newly sculpted statue of the eight Braves and their boss stood outside the front of the precinct. It stood roughly 3 metres tall, built with bronze resilient enough to withstand outdoor conditions. A small Yuuta sat atop Deckerd's shoulder in the middle with the rest of the team facing outwards.

"But how did you manage to get it made?" the Commissioner continued.

Yuuta smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "I know a guy."

Just then the sound of a motorcycle drew their attention to the road. Gunmax came to a stop beside them. He hopped off a spotlessly clean Gunbike in order to get a closer look at the statue.

"Oh hey, that turned out pretty cool, kid," Gunmax commented. "I think he managed to capture my likeness." He looked at the statue of himself; he'd been posed with his pistol out.

"So it's finished." McCrane crossed the street to join them and Seia Onoue walked by his side. She was wearing a long dress in rich summer colours, sunglasses and a pair of bright red heels.

"Nice shades," the biker complimented.

"Thank you, Gunmax."

McCrane leaned in and spoke to Gunmax in a hushed voice: "She picked them out herself."

"I knew there was a reason I liked her."

Dumpson and Ayako joined them not long after. The two of them were walking hand-in-hand (much to everyone's surprise).

"Dumpson!" Yuuta looked at him, shocked. "What happened to you? You're-"

Gunmax and McCrane exchanged knowing glances.

"Toudou made me a human-sized body," the red mech confessed.

"Suppose that means you won't be joining us for drinks tonight." Gunmax removed several canisters of oil from Gunbike's compartment. "My order just shipped in today." He handed one to McCrane. The dark blue and yellow mech smiled.

"No thanks," Dumpson started, but Ayako finished: "We already have the evening planned."

"I-It's not what you think!" Dumpson clarified when a tell-tale fluster lit his face.

"It's not?" The redhead looked at him curiously.

"Not bad." Power Joe had arrived and caught himself mimicking the pose of his statue. "Do you think I could get a small one of these for my desk?"

"Actually-"

"That would require modeling an entirely new statue, Power Joe," a new voice cut in. Duke appeared from around the corner.

"Oh look! It's everyone's favourite Brit-bot!" Power Joe said with distinct sarcasm.

"I got more photos of Lady today." Duke waved the aforementioned prints for Power Joe to see.

"Let me look!" Power Joe rushed to his side.

"Why does Power Joe want to see photos of Regina?" Yuuta wondered aloud while looking confused. Saejima just shrugged.

It was then that another voice materialized: "I see almost everyone is here already." Shadowmaru had appeared next to Gunmax, causing everyone to jump. "I apologise for my tardiness," he continued. "I was accompanying two lovely ladies down at the cemetery." The violet mech smiled. "Kagerou has a headstone there now. I should take you all to see him. I think he would enjoy the company."

"That's great news, Shadowmaru!" Dumpson shouted up to him.

"Now, now, mini-muscles. No need to shout, I can hear you," Shadowmaru chuckled.

"What's it like being the shortest now, Dumpson?" Drillboy walked up from behind them, grabbing for the canister of oil Gunmax had offered Shadowmaru.

"Uh-uh, not this," McCrane scolded. "You already have enough energy."

Drillboy pouted.

"Ah, sorry I'm late!" Deckerd ran up to them holding a pile of books. "They just finished my order."

"What did you get, Dekkado?" Yuuta asked him.

"Photo albums." He smiled widely and placed a giant book down onto the pavement in front of the much smaller human. He opened the cover so that Yuuta could see inside.

"Wow!" Yuuta's face brightened and the other Braves all crowded around to look. The first page had four photos, each bearing a date and short description. Once each of them had an opportunity to look, Dumpson turned the page.

"All these photos are of Yuuta..." Drillboy observed as yet another page was revealed to them.

"Oh, would you like to look at the photos of yourself?" Deckerd shuffled through the other books he'd brought and handed one to Drillboy. "I have one album for each of you."

Drillboy was in the midst of flicking through page after page of photos of himself when a sudden thought struck Yuuta. He looked up at Deckerd. The larger mech met his gaze.

"Dekkado, I don't remember these photos being taken." Yuuta glanced back down to the book and his quizzical expression grew. "And how come you aren't in any of them?"

"That's because I was taking them," Deckerd answered. "They're stills from my memories."

"But why?" Duke asked. "You can look back on your own memory recordings already."

"I know, but you can never have too many copies." Deckerd looked fondly at each of the Braves with the admission. He then returned his attention to Yuuta. "And this way I can share them with others, too."

The rest of the day was spent there, relaxing outside on the pavement as they all looked over the photos. Slowly - one by one - people began to leave, either having evening plans to attend to or duties to resume. Yuuta looked over the last page of his album and paused on a photo of himself receiving an award for his service to the city.

"Won't be long now before you start being recognised for your service, Dekkado." He looked up at the large mechanical being but saw a person, a friend.

"Thanks to you, Boss." Deckerd closed the book.