Title: Action Figure
Fandom: Brave Police J-Decker
Rating: G
Length: 1140 words
Content notes: no content notes apply
Author notes: Gunmax's English is in italics. NB: I used to speak Korean. The Korean accent here is just a total nostalgia trip for me, done from love.
Summary: Drill Boy meets his double: It's small, injection molded and speaks Korean.

 

“But this is boring!”  Drill Boy pouted.  “We are Brave Police. We have better thing to investigate than something like this.”  He scuffed a foot against the macadam outside the San Teuk So Convention Center. 

“Not every investigation involves a gunfight,” Shadowmaru said, dropping off the convention center’s roof, landing almost soundlessly next to him.

“Ehhh, only the fun ones,” Gunmax said, stepping off his bike. “But hey, Drill Boy.  At least these are toys. You should feel right at home.” 

Drill Boy frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Gunmax laughed.  “You know you. All about games.”

Drill Boy scrunched up his face. 

“We have a job,” Shadowmaru cut in, quickly.  “Saja Toy Company claims that their top secret plans have been stolen. From this very toy exhibit.”

“The culprit is long gone, if you ask me,” Gunmax said.

“Perhaps. One of the prototypes is big and difficult to move, though. So there’s a chance it’s still here, hidden.”

“But maybe the other stuff has flown the coop,” Gunmax countered.

Shadowmaru nodded. “Your job, then, see if you can pick up a trail. Me. I’ll check out the Saja back offices.”

“Right.”

“What about me?” Drill Boy said.

“Walk the floor, Drill Boy. Keep your ears open.”

“Awww, that’s going to be stupid!”  Kid stuff.  They got the exciting jobs, but they were always treating him like a kid! One day he’d show them. He was one of them, too.

“No, no,” Gunmax said. “Cultivating assets, baby.”  His optic glinted behind his visor. “Come on. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

OoOoOoO

The floor was crowded, a maze of booths, toy companies of all sizes, divided by age groups: big blocky plastic toys to complicated video games, stuffed animals with huge, round plastic eyes and model weapons. And behind each table, with blinking lights, bright colors, and perky music, stood earnest-faced men and women, looking uncomfortable in their ill-fitting suits.

“Look at all this!” Drill Boy said. 

“Not so boring, eh, kid?” Gunmax said.  He ambled down one of the aisles, optics shifting from side to side. 

Drill Boy shook himself, wrinkling his nose at Gunmax’s green back.  So there was a lot of stuff here.  Compared to the Brave Police bay, this was crowded and noisy and full of things to see.  He tried to keep Gunmax’s focus, falling into step behind the other robot. But there was just so much to see!

“Hey, hey!” Gunmax stopped, picking up a package. “Look at this.”

“A clue?” Drill Boy pressed in closer and then blinked. “What is that?”

Gunmax grinned, reading from the package. “Dlil Bo.” He held it out. “It’s you.” 

“Dlil Bo? That’s not me! That’s not even my name!”  He snatched the package from Gunmax’s hand.

“You want to see?” A man in a light grey suit popped up at their elbows. “We love Brave Police here in Seoul.” He cracked open a package of the toy. “See? Like this. Pull string.”

“Dlil Bo imnida!”  A high, tinny voice squeaked from a small speaker.  The man pulled the string again, and a small soccer-ball colored marble plopped from its chest. “Jukuga chemi!”  

“Soccer is fun,” the man translated, helpfully.

“Soccer is fun? When have I ever said that!?” Drill Boy said, outraged.

“All the time,” Gunmax said, elbowing him in the shoulder. 

“Wait. Wait. You like this.”  The man nodded eagerly, pulling a string the third time. 

“SHOOT!”  the little toy screeched, its right leg kicking out in a straight line.

“Hey, that’s just like you!” Gunmax said. 

The man nodded, bobbing his head eagerly. “We studied many, many videos for this. Much footage.”

“He looks great,” Gunmax said, holding the toy up, waggling it. “Should be worried, Drill Boy; Boss might want to replace you.”

“That’s not funny! It’s just a toy!”  Drill Boy stamped his foot.

“Hey, it’s cute,” Gunmax said.

“We’re not here for that,” Drill Boy muttered. “We’re on a case, remember?” He knew he sounded petulant, but he didn’t care. 

“Don’t be like that, baby,” Gunmax said.  “Just a toy. Lighten up.”

oOoOoO

Lighten up. Right.  They’d finished their tour of the floor in silence, Gunmax rolling his eyes every time he saw Drill Boy’s set, pouting face.  The motorcycle detective had taken off, scanning the streets for suspicious vehicles just before the show ended.  Drill Boy had nothing to do but wait, outside the Convention Center, humans pouring out of the doors. He kept trying to tell himself someone in that crowd might have been a suspect, but they all came out in jumble.

Come on, he thought. If you were Shadowmaru, what would you be looking for?  There had to be something. 

Still nothing. Maybe around back, he thought, suddenly. Maybe they were waiting and the crowd was a distraction, and they were moving the stolen designs out the back. 

Good idea. He headed around the block, toward where he was sure he’d seen truck bays.

“Oooooaaaaah!” 

He stopped, hearing the strange noise.  Could this be the thieves?  He ducked down, pressing his shoulders against the side of the convention center. 

“Aigo!  So cool!”   Young voices, he realized.  He peeked around the corner. Sure enough, four boys and one girl, faces pressed against the convention center’s glass front, where posters of toys were pasted.

“I can’t believe they’re making one!” 

“Let me see!”  One of the kids elbowed the others aside. “Dlil Bo! He’s my favorite!”

“I like Gunnumakse,” a taller boy said, making a little gun with his fingers. “Stop right there, baby.”

“Gunnumakse is all right,” the first boy said.

“I like Chadomallo,” another boy said. “Ninja!”

“Ninjas. Ninjas everywhere,” the first boy said, rolling his eyes.  “Ninja turtles, even.”

“Dlil Bo is better. Dlil Bo likes soccer!”  the girl piped up, bouncing on her sneakered feet.

“Shooooooooot!” another boy yelled. “Dlil Bo is the best! That’s why they made him first.”

“I wanna play soccer with him.”

Even the second boy, the Gunmax fan, glowed. “That would be so cool! Soccer with the Brave Police.”

“We could tell everyone! Take lots of pictures so we’d never forget,” the girl said, her black pigtail bouncing.

“Yeah, but…the real Dlil Bo has important crimes to solve,” the last boy said. “He’s not going to take time off an important case just to play soccer with some little kids.”

A whisper of sound beside Drill Boy: Shadowmaru landing next to him. The ninja gave a small nod.  “Any leads?” Shadowmaru asked.

Shadowmaru.  Drill Boy thought of the boy’s mocking ‘ninjas everywhere’. Yeah, there were lots of ninjas.  There was only one soccer detective, though. 

“Yeah, I got a lead. I need to go follow it.” He peeped around the corner, where the boys were still clustered around the poster. “You know where I can get a human sized soccer ball?”