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Electrive detective 1 - Chapter 8 - Grace, light and strength

When the clock hit seven, Crashman arrived home; Thanks to one of his human colleagues.

"Thanks for the ride!" He said and waved goodbye.

The orange robot seemed happy after his long day of work. While he went up the stairs, dancing a bit, he sang the song: He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B from the Andrews sisters.

"He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way~
He had a boogie style that no one else could play~"

He grabbed the keys from his pocket with his metal graber and carefully opened the door.

"He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He's in the army now, a-blowin' reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of-"

But when he turned around the close the door, his friend Elec did it for him. With his other arm crossed…and didn't look happy.

"Elecman?" He asked.

"Yeah. Who else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where have you been?"

"Did you forget? Quickman asked me to assist on the next case. We were able to solve it faster with my help."

"Really? Then how come you're home at seven O'clock?"

"Didn't you hear that either? He told me that those guys were pretty smart and that it might take a while to catch them. Oh man, you should've seen the look on his face after I blew up their hide out. I was like: Boom baby! And he ran for his life! Luckily Quickman was able to get him in less than two seconds."

His story didn't change Elec's expression and a few moments of silence passed.

"...Are you alright?" He asked, still showing an innocent smile with one eyebrow narowed.

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Doing great. Splendid. I just had to deal with a dangerous snake-based robot who attacked me in a dark cellar containing animals which I thought were going to be put on the black market. Not to mention Top, Ring and Heatman got attacked by his little anaconda's, giving them bite marks all over their body. And then it turned out the robot was innocent since he was made to protect instead of killing me like he was programmed to do. How do you think I'm doing!?"

"Hey, woah, woah slow down, I don't really get it."

"Then you'll probably won't get the fact that Whily is behind this."

"How do you know for sure?"

"Because I'm one hundered procent sure that this machine doesn't know how to attack a robot like that. He was all over the place! Appearing and dissapearing, hanging upside down the cieling, wrapping his tail around my neck! You'd think he would listen to my words at first, knowing that I'm not a threat, but noooo~ You're taking everyone elses' side!"

"Alright, calm down Elec! I didn't say anyhting about taking their side and I agree with your explination. But I still don't agree about the fact that Whily is behind this."

The two seemed to enter a heated argument since Crash was begining to look a bit aggitated.

"Who else could it be? Our janitor? Gerald? Or Quickman?"

"Why Quickman?"

"Perhaps because he's been taunting me from day one. Or the fact that he's an insensative jerk who wants me out of the way by making other robots go after me. Not to mention that he's now trying to steal my best friend right infront of my face!"

"Stealing? That’s going too far!"

"Too far!?"

"Yes and I'll tell you why! When we were heading towards the hideout, he felt guilty of not letting you come with us. Knowing I'm a close friend of yours, it wasn't a problem if you'd come too! And he told me that he just likes to joke around with people."

"I'm not convinced."

"Same here since Whily is DEAD."

"Then how come I got attacked by four robots, including sniper joes who created a lie in order to cover it up!?"

"I don't know! But you shouldn't blame someone who's already gone. Nor Quickman could've-"

"FOR GODS SAKE CRASHMAN!"

He interupted loudly; The orange robot showed a surprised expression while his angry friend moved forward. Causing him to back away.

"He is an airheaded, deluded selfish narcissist who tries to get underserved respect and wants my sanity to drop so he can take over my position!"

He panted softly while staring at his friend with angry eyes. But after two seconds he realized that Crashman had stooped a bit and that he was hanging a little ontop of him; Making him feel small and scared. Elecman's breath slowed down when he realized this; looking into his friends' eyes which showed a small spark of fear. He then turned around, crossing his arms; Feeling a bit guilty but still irritated about the situation.

Crashman stood up and let out a quiet sigh.

"I wish I could agree with you. But I don't see him taking your place." Said Crashman, sounding rather quiet and steady rather than wild or emotional. His friend didn't respond and didn't even look at the mature attitude he was showing.

"I'm sorry if this case doesn't seem solved to you, but that doesn't mean I won't help. Though you probably won't be happy to hear I promise mister quick-on-a-stick to help him out tomorrow. ...I have to disable some bimbs in a wide open field. And he told me to be carefull."

After that, Crashman went upstairs; Not really wanting to see his friends' face right now. Elecman just stood there, his eyes slowly closing. Grief and shame was slightly shown when he rested his head on his right hand. Not even knowing what to say after snapping so violently. But also still irritated about the fact his best friend refuses to believe his theory.

-

The next day, conversations between the two were very short and not very happy. It scared Elec a bit since he knew Crashman didn't want to stay on the same emotion for a long time. But he still seemed disapointed in him. That day, he had to do some paper work on his own inside his office; Wearing only his gillete. Then there was a knocking noise on the door.

"Yes..." He responded, not looking up. Topman rolled in with the Search snake robot in his hand. The one that the detective wanted to investigate.

"It's settled." He said, showing the little robot.

"You can turn him on whenever you want to. Though he does still operate on voice command."

Elecman held the little snake in the palm on his hands, pressing a button located ontop of its head. The eyes were glowing red for a second and the device turned its head; Scanning the area, but not leaving his new master.

"So it will retrieve, attack of look for anything that I ask?"

"Not entirely. It depends on what he recognizes; We couldn't change that cuircitry but we were able to make it obey to the first person he gets a command from."

Elec thought for a moment and looked towards the little snake.

"Let's test it then. Uh, let's see...what did he say again...?"

"Call its name and give it a command." he replied.

"Alright. ....Searchsnake: Find pencil." He said.

The eyes flashed red again and the snake slithered across his desk. He grabbed one of his pencils and brought it back to him. Elec smiled in return.

"Well, looks like I've got a new pet."

"Very cute. Could you teach him not to bite my butt next time I visit your house?"

"I'll be strict, don't worry."

"Good. ...By the way, are you doing well?"

"Nothing I can't handle." He replied and continued on his paper work using the pencil Searchsnake gave to him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Because, you two didn't seem very happy when you walked in."

"I'd love to chat with you but I've got some things to take care of."

"But Elec-"

"OUT."

This silenced Topman for a moment; Not wanting to make him more aggitated, he turned around and left his office.

"Ok, sorry." He said politely before leaving.

The detecitve sighed while resting his head on his hand. Still stuck in this negative emotion. Instead of writting on his paper work, he looked around and saw the pictures of him and his friends hanging on the wall. A group picture with all the colleagues in order to keep the bond strong. Michel was one of them, showing a warm smile and gentleman attitude.

Everytime he was reminded of that tragedy which took place a few days ago, a shockwave of fear and grief echoed through his system, but tried not to show it. Then, he heard another knocking noise on the door.

"Yes." He replied with an irritated tone in his voice. When it opened, he was a bit surprised to see Alisa coming in.

"Am I interupting?" She asked, walking towards his desk.

"I said yes. ...As in- that you're uh, allowed to come in ofcourse. But no, you're not interupting." He replied, showing a bit of shame during his sentence.

"I heard what happened. So how are you doing?"

"...You be the judge." He said and continued writting with a bored expression.

"I know it hurts to talk about something personal. But if you don't it'll only hurt more." She stated; He looked up, knowing that he should give it a chance.

"So what's bothering you?"

"...Not only the fact that no one is willing to believe my theory about Dr.Whily, but also because Crashman is mad at me for blaming Quickman if the mad doctor isn't behind all of this.

"Why do you think he would do this?"

"Because he wants me dead in order to be the best detective."

Alisa said nothing for a few seconds, not knowing what she had to say.

"...Anything else you wanna ask?"

"No. But would it make you feel any better if I said that I agree on this theory?"

"...Not entirely." He said, still trying to hide his pain.

"Or if I acompany you with this new case about an old warehouse?" She then showed a document containing a photo of the warehouse, along with pages explaining its histoy.

"I could use a distraction from all of this." He replied and stood up, ready to go and investigate. He also took the snake with him.

"So how's the little guy doing?" She asked while he put on his jacket.

"It listens and acts on voice command, but I want to bring it with me so I won't loose it."

"It's not like he'll go away."

"He won't. Which reminds me... Searchsnake: ...uh, offline!" He commanded. The eyes flashed once again; The snake turned off and the detective put it away in his pocket.

A little later, they arrived a block away from the building.

"So what are the problems?" He asked, while both robots walked towards the location.

"There have been witnesses of unidentified people throwing rocks or other debry towards the windows. Some even managed to get in and steal valuble property so they could sell it instead. This is because the building was supposed to get repaired, or atleast, updated since its current condition was shaky and unsafe. But because of the delay, many injuries have acured; Workers were threatening to quit their job unless they were going to fix it soon."

"So our job is to get in and prepare a sting operation in order to get the thieves and have a talk with the people so we could save it." He replied.

"Exactly."

"Easy enough." He said, staring at the big sign on the building saying: "Warehouse"

"It does need some help."

Then the sign gave up and fell down on the ground. Both robots' eyes widened and were silent for a second.

"...Ok, it needs a lot of help." He said.

"Then let's start by investigating." Alisa replied.

As they both stood infront of the door, Elecman knocked to see if anyone was inside.

"Hello?" He said, putting his head on the door to hear any sound.

"No one in there because of the crisis?"

"I guess they are protesting."

"That doesn't stop me from getting in." The detective took a stance and kicked the door; But to his surprise, the entire section flew meters away into the astablishment. The two chuckled a bit and entered.

"...Well, guess I only needed to-" But then, a piece of the second floor fell right infront of them; One more step and it would've hit their heads.

"I can see why there are complaints."

"We better go look if there are any people around here." Said Alisa and they began looking around. It wasn't a giant warehouse, but it wasn't small either. The robots looked in every corner, scanning the area for any signs of life, but it felt as if the place has been abondened for years.

"Hello?" Elec said out loud; His voice echoed a bit through the giant chaimber while he walked his way through the boxes, laying un orgenized on the ground.

"We mean no harm. I'm Elecman from the detective agency; Along with my colleague Alisa. We'd like to speak to someone."

The female robot stood next to him, hoping there would be a reply in the distance...but there was only silence.

"Did you call them that we were coming?" He asked.

"No, I thought that they would be here eager to solve this problem. But it seems we're a little late for that."

"I bet they're delivering another complaint themselves. Which gives us the oppertunity to investigate how thieves manage to get in here. I'll check the left side, you the right one." He said and both walked to the walls which could show them how these people get in and out without problems.

The detectives took a close look at the windows who were surprisingly looking fine. There was no sign of any broken glass; And they couldn't be opened. The door he kicked was locked too and had no cracks or a dent. there seemed to be no clue...until Alisa saw something suspicious between all of the boxes.

"Elecman, come over here." She said out loud.

"What is it?" He asked, standing next to her.

"Warehouses contain storage material right?"

"Yes."

"Then what is this advanced cuircitry doing here?"

His eyes widened a bit when he saw three boxes containing wires and metal parts. Perhaps to build a robot with the same intelligence and capacity as them. There were parts for a leg and even parts for an arm. The wires were brand new; Though it wasn't enough to build a fully functional machine, the parts were suspicious for being advanced.

"Why would someone contain this kind of technology in a warehouse?" He asked.

"Good question. Knowing that only your creators were able to make this. Every other technician was given limited information so they could prevent reprogramming."

"I know that. So I bet all this stuff will convince everyone that Whily is still alive."

Alisa looked at him with worry and doubt, while he was certain and calm.

"Do I need more evidence?" He said.

"No, I just...I just want to be sure you're right about this." She replied while they were looking through the boxes. Unaware that a large figure was behind them.

"Trust me, I am. Perhaps there are more of this things around here. It would ne necesary to bring them to the-"

"Stay still!" A loud voice said from behind their backs. Both robots almost jumped up from the shock, with Elec almost letting one of the eye pieces fall on the ground. They turned around, looking up to a big robot who was obviously build to carry large objects; And he didn't look too happy. He had an odd chin, had orange, yellow and black colors with a a head who looked a lot like the helmet of a mettool.

"Uh...can I help you?" Elec said, nervous to have such a big machine infront of him.

"State your intentions!" He replied.

"W-we mean no harm. We're only-"

"I didn't ask you! Female!"

She frowned, insulted by such a reply.

"State your intentions!" He repeated, looking back at Elecman.

"We're here to investigate the area due to a complaint from those who work here." He explained.

"No one is allowed here without permission of the owner. Get out!"

"Listen, we are not here to cause trouble. I'm a detective and-"

"Get out or I'm forced to take drastic action!"

"You won't have to take drastic action since I'm here to help!"

"Get out or else!"

"Listen...I am here to-" But then, the right hand of the big robot grabbed his throat.

Elecman was in a state of shock as he tried to get out of this grip while chocking a bit. Then, he threw the robot to the left; Landing in another section where boxes.

"Wait!" Said Alisa, dodging an attack of his fist which slammed into the ground.

"We don't want to attack you!"

"Leave this place or I'll continue my assault!" He replied. Elecman stood up and ran towards the scene. Alisa got hit a little while she evaded another punch. Elecman quickly pulled her away before another blow could hit her.

"Rampage or not, we're still going to do our job!" Said the detective.

The robot charged towards them; But both jumped away when his fist hit the ground. When he looked up, there was no sign of them. As if they both disapeared. He looked around, trying to find the ones who disobeyed his orders.

"Show yourselves!" He demanded, throwing a group of boxes away to see if they were hiding behind them. Elec and Alisa were more than eight feet away from the robot, next to the boxes containing the wires. She had one of them in her hand and stayed low. Then, Elec decided to slowly move upwards and get his two fingers ready to shoot a thunderbeam towards his target. But his opponent noticed and quickly turned around. Not a second to loose, he fired an electric shot which stopped him...but didn't disable him. The robot stood up, as if he only got a small punch in the chest.

"What the-"

Before he could figure it out, he let out a big roar and tried to grab him. Both of them ran away.

"I've got a thin layer of rubber underneeth my metal skin!" He explained; Throwing a pair of boxes towards the detective. He fell and the robot grabbed him, holding him up by his throat.

"Which prevents me from going down by idiots like you!" His other arm was ready to give a powerfull blow.

"No! Wait!" He yelled.

"Let him go!" Said Alisa, coming from above, landing ontop of his Brachioradialis which held her friend in the air. It was enough to damage it. But that didn't mean he was not going to use his other arm. The robot then proceeded to engadge in a quick battle with the female robot.

She avoided every attack, making him hit the metal structures which contained more boxes. Imports, exports and storage was all being thrown to the ground. He started to use metal planks which fell out of his package. Using it was a weapon to hit the female robot. The end of the plank began to damage. He then started to turn, making one of the metal structures fall entirely; Boxes, metal parts and all kinds of other things fell between them.

"Stop resisting, female!" He yelled, this time aiming the plank ontop of her.

But then, Alisa stopped the side of the plank with her bare hands, not looking too happy towards her opponent who was shocked to see such strength.

"Stop using that as an insult!" She replied, stepping on the end of the plank which caused the other end to go up and hit the chin of the robot. Since there were boxes between them, one of many helped the plank to act like a seesaw.

"Alisa!" She heard from her left.

"We have to get to the second floor!" Said Elecman.

She ran towards him while the robot was recovering. Then he put a lot of pressure on the metal plank, turning it into a new form. It had a circle like shape and then threw it towards her.

"Look out!" He said.

Alisa noticed in time and ducked. Their opponent was coming in fast, enraged and determent to crush them.

Both robots reached the bent, but Elec stopped her since he had a plan with the wires. She understood and hide between the boxes surrounding them.

When the robot reached the bent, he charged forward and fell. They used the wire as a rope to trip him. He quickly wrapped it around his legs to avoid him running after them. Before he could deliver another punch, Elecman grabbed Alisa's hand and ran up the stairs. Their opponent tried to follow them, but fell like an idiot.

When they reached the upper part, Elecman closed the door and dragged a couch infront of it.

"That won't stop him!" She said.

"But it will slow him down! Quick, help me with this!"

The two grabbed any heavy object they could find.

A small safe, a heavy chair, table and more boxes. By now he had already reached the door. Both gasped shortly out of fear and backed up. Then Alisa's left foot fell through the floor a bit. It was made out of wood and appeared to be very weak in the middle. The only place where they couldn't break it was near the walls.

While the robot broke down the door, tearing his way through the blockage, he looked around to see if his targets were around. He knew they were hiding somewhere, taking silent steps while looking around. Alisa was hiding behind an old closet, while Elec was behind a piano without a wing. He could hear the robot approaching; The cracks in the floor determent where he was. Then he stopped, right next to the piano. Elec tried to stay calm and not even letting him hear his own breath.

"If you had arrived with a human along with his permission, than I wouldn't have to do this. But you leave me no choice." He explained and wanted to walk further. But then he hesitated for a few seconds. Looking back at the piano, he walked towards it and grabbed both sides, lifting the instrument upwards. Not knowing that Elec was clinging on the top of the piano so he wouldn't be seen. Or so he thought. When he lowered the piano, he spotted the detective. Punching the case, which caused the strings within the instrument to break. Elecman jumped over his head and landed gently. But the machine wasn't done yet. He grabbed the instrument again and threw it towards him. Luckily, he threw it with such force that it hit the wall on the other side instead of the floor. He ducked to avoid the incoming object; It shattered upon impact. The keys flew everywhere while the wood was completaly destroyed.

Looking back at the robot, he had to use something as a shield in order to make time until he could come up wtih something. After all, he couldn't affort getting a fatal blow; recieving heavy damage which could never be fixed. he used the objects in the room as a defendse. First he grabbed a big chair; The machine punched it, which threw Elecman towards a closed near a wall. The chair got thrown out of his hands and nearly avoid a kick which destroyed the door of the closed.

While the detective was backing up, he used every object that lay closest to him.

Next thing was a guitar, which got grabbed by its neck, trying to his his head; Scattering on impact as it hit a nightcase. Then he grabbed a Cornet, which got thrown away pretty fast. Then the hand of his opponent sliced through the reeds of an accordion. The Bass drum got kicked towards the cieling, the bellyro got smashed to pieces in one hit and finally, the old contrabas was lifted up along with the detective who clinged on for dear life. The robot threw him upwards, hitting the cieling, then falling on the floor. He then avoided the head of the instrument hitting the spot where his head was located. He began to try and hit him using the contrabas. He missed every blow, destroying more stuff during his assualt. The instrument started to break apart quickly. But then, he managed to grab Elecman's leg and throw him on the floor. Luckily, it wasn't hard enough to give him damage. But when he held him upside down, ready to give him a punch in the face, the dective defended himself.

"You're going to pay insurence for all these instruments!" He said, creating electric sparks while trying to break free. They also created a loud noise and blinded his opponent. He then threw Elecman a few feet away, which caused the floor to collapse when he landed. The detective was holding on with all his strength, but the fragile wood was cracking more and more. Now was a perfect uppertunity for the machine to strike. But when he slowly approached the doomed robot, he got hit in the face with a leverharp by Alisa. This gave her enough time to help her friend without causing the floor to collapse entirely.

"You do know that you're gonna have to pay for that right?" He teased.

"It's not a big deal." She replied.

Soon the robot recovered quickly and was out for blood.

"You have to shoot your electricity!" She said, avoiding their opponent while he was on a rampage and destroyed almost all the storage boxes.

"Don't you remember what he said? The only way I could deliver some damage is to shoot in his eyes!"

Then, she let out a short scream when the robot destroyed the wooden section next to her. He pushed Elec out of the way with a simple gesture and grabbed Alisa by her neck. She used her leg to kick him, but he grabbed a hold of it.

Seeing this, Elecman knew he had to act fast. The detective launched towards the head and used almost all of his strength to pull his head back. He also covered his sight, but he still held onto Alisa. Elecman kicked away every punch her tried to give him with his other arm and kept on pulling; Trying to make him loose his balance. Eventually, Alisa saw a chance to strike and used her shark-tooth shaped kneecap to pierce right through his chin. Leaving a nasty hole in it. He screamed in pain for a second and threw her towards the wall. It was pretty hard and she needed time to recover.

While ELecman was still holding on like a predator clinging onto his prey, the robot backed up and collided with another section which caused a few boxes that were located above to fall down on them. Finally, he managed to get the detective off of his head and on the ground. The content that fell out of the boxes covered both of them; And they were parts of a rope. But a very unusual rope since they were sticking on their bodies. Elec pulled one off with all his strength and couldn't get it off his hand.

"What the heck is this stuff?" He said. His opponent was also covered in the sticky mess, but was able to get a few of them off and walk towards his target, which tripped as he backed away. Luckily, Alisa delivered a kick on his chest, which caused him to fall a few feet away; But the rumbling of his fall made more of these boxes fall ontop of both robots. The ropes prevented the robot from getting up fast.

"Are you alright?" She asked while she helped her firend get up. He saw that their opponent was about to get up and knew to get away fast.

"I'm fine. Let's go!"

But when they took the first step, a few of the ropes had them stuck together, so both robots were now in a funny dance to keep their balance.

But eventually, they fell. Elec landed a bit ontop of the Alisa, then looked back to see that their opponent was really enraged.

"...I have a plan, but we need to get him in the right spot. Let's-" But after he pushed himself away fromt he ground, he got pulled back by the sticky ropes which was stuck to Alisa. It made him accidentally put his hand on hers and left their faces very close to each other. He showed a nervous smile, trying to hide his emberassment. “Eh…Um, sorry, I-I uh, these things are-

“It’s fine let’s just…try to get up First.”

“Y-Yeah, let’s…um, carefull.”

Both got a little shy too as they both tried to get up without loosing balance again. Alisa lost it a little bit but Elec catched her. Finally, the robot charged towards them, but they nearly avoided it by diving down on the ground again; The big robot tripped and almost caused the floor to collapse. They almost laid ontop of each other after they evaded. Standing up again, they backed away slowly towards the window.

A sticky rope was between them, like a chain so they won't separate. Their opponent stood up, hopefully for the last time since both of them didn't show any fear in their eyes anymore.

"This will be the last time I chase after you!" He yelled while running towards the duo.

"You got that right!" He said. And just beofore the robot could lay his hands on them, Elecman and Alisa dashed forward, lowering their heads to avoid the incoming hands and use the sticky rope between their legs to trip him. This caused him to crash through the window and fall down. Finally putting an end to his outrage. They catched their breath as they stared towards the downed robot.

"You alright?" Elecman asked.

"I'm fine. No heavy damage?" She replied.

"No, I'm good. But I do hope he could still be repaired. We beat him quite hard."

"We had a good reason. Not even a sniper joe would do something like this. We better go look for someone to make a phone call for the police to arrive."

"Tell them to bring the ones in charge of this wreck in order to explain all this."

-

But later, when all of the arrived, things wern't looking up for the detectives.

"Our fault!? What do you mean it´s our fault?" He said, confused and irritated about the owners' statement.

"You decided to go into our astablishment without permission and even investigated some of the content!" He replied.

"But I'm a detective! My actions are always good intended whether you like it or not!"

"Even so, you had to leave the building and call me to ask permission. Now look what happened!"

"But that robot had no right to attack us in such a way." Said Alisa.

"He litteraly tried to kill us!"

"If you didn't resist, he wouldn't have! His name is Gutsman. We asked to borrow him for a while to see if he could get those thieves which are stealing content from the establishment!"

"Alright. I understand what you mean. But how do you explain these ropes?"
The man looked confused at the ropes which were still attatched to the robots.

"Explain it yourself, I have never seen these before."

"They were located on the second floor; Which really needs to get fixed since it's too dangerous to even walk up there. When a bunch of open boxes fell ontop of us, we found out that these are covered in some kind of thick goo which made the both of us stick together. It takes all of my strength just to get one of them off of my jacket." He explained while pulling one of them off his chest.

"How did this pass your security?" Alisa asked.

"Did you forget that the building is in a dangerous condition? We're trying our best to save it so I guess that our employies didn't look at the content since they were protesting."

"Sounds reasonable enough. Though we do want to take one of your boxes to the office."

"Why?"

"Because we found advanced circuitry and metal parts which can be used to build a robot of our intelligence."

"And only a genius like Thomas or Whily are able to create such technology." Said Elecman.

"But they're both dead."

"Ofcourse you don't believe it. After all, a genius knows to put his socks on in the winter."

"I've heard enough for today. Even though you had good intentions, you're gonna have to empty your wallet for all the damage."

"The damage HE created!?"

"Don't worry, I'll pay half of it too."

"It's none of your buisniness lady."

"It is since I was with him. If I'm not paying, then he's not paying at all. Now, how do we get these things off of our bodies?"

"We're going to call someone with that knowlage. Would you also like to take a few samples with you?"

"If we can manage to put one of them in a jar."

"No worries. If some natural trick doesn't help, we'll just put the one end of these ropes underneeth a heavy stone and you pull it off without breaking a wire." Said the policeman as they walked towards the other buildings.

Unsurprisingly, it took about two hours to get all of them off. By the time both robots were fixed and payed for the damage, it was already dark. He arrived with the car infront of his house; The lights were on, so that means Crashman was already home.

"Still can't believe we had to be soaked in Olive oil along with eucalyptus and alcohol. Gotta love that smell on my jacket." He said while stepping out of the car and heading for his front door.

"I don't mind getting a little dirty." Said Alisa. "That's what showers are for."

"Nice to know you're not one of those overeacting conceited women who scream their lungs out whenever there's just a drop of dirt on their dress."

"Thanks. But I know you're not very happy with todays' result, arn't you?"

"It just doesn't feel right. Everytime I think to have found a clue which leads directly to the doctor, a clever but unbelievable cover up ruins it. I hope this won't go on for long."

"It won't. Don't worry." She said with a warm smile on her face. Elec smiled in return.

"Do you have the keys."

He searched through his pocked and his eyes widened.

"Urgh..."

"You don't have them?"

"I forgot about them. They're still in the drawer of my desk in the office. But there's no need to panic. Crashman is home."

He then ringed the bell and waited for his friend to open the door. But he didn't. A few seconds passed and Alisa began to look a little bit worried.

"Are you sure?" She asked; He tried it again and waited.

"Who's there!?" They heard behind the door.

"It's Elecman." he replied.

"How do I know it's you?"

"Because you've known my voice for over a year. Now open the door."

"What's the password?"

The detective took a deep and iggitated sigh.

"....Buttplug." He said, not very happy to say that word out loud.

Alisa giggled behind him; Though it was a stupid password, atleast no one would guess it.

"Ok, you got that one down. But what about the secret knock?"

"You've got to be kidding me." He sighed and walked towards the door. His left arm knocked one time on the door. Exactly three seconds later he knocked again.

Then they heard six locks behind the door, plus the main door lock. It slowly opened and Crashman's drill appeared, aiming towards the two robots. They let out a short gasp.

"Crash, what are you doing!?" He asked to his friend who was peeking at them.

"I'm making sure that there arn't any insane buglers standing infront of our door." He replied.

"Crash, it's alright." said Alisa. "You don't have to-"

"Who's that!?" He yelled and pointed his non-hand towards her.

"It's Alisa." The detective replied, opening the door wide open, irritated about his friends' overeacting behaviour.

"The one who helped me with a case today and why did I hear six door locks?"

"I called a locksmith to come over here and install six indoor locks so no one could get in here like last time. So you better get in here before another crazy robot ruins the house and destroys the new telivision!"

Elec and Alisa didn't look impressed. All this panic wasn't needed.

"Right. Why don't you go upstairs and put this in my drawer?" He asked, grabbing the little Searchsnake from his pocket and throwing it towards the Crashman. His friend used his non-hands to catch the little robot, almost letting it fall. Confused, he looked at it for a while.

"What is this?"

"I'll explain later. After you make sure the windows get an indoor lock so that Windowman won't sneak in."

His eyes widened in shock and was silent for a few seconds before running towards the living room.

"Be right back!" He yelled.

The two giggled a bit at his reaction. He means well after all.

"I'm sorry." He said with a smile, leaning against the wall

"It's alright."

"Yeah, but he's never been this paranoyed. Maybe stress is getting to him."

"Atleast you can handle it right?"

the detective thought for a moment, not wanting to say he was unstopable, but not a weakling either.

"If I'm not covered in anything that might get my legs stuck on the cieling, then yes I can."

The female chuckled a bit at his joke.

"By the way, sorry again for...that akward moment, with us and the ropes."

"It's alright. It's just...we're stuck together. Uh- I mean um...we were, stuck together when the ropes were uh..."

"Yes, I know." The two tried to hide their shame with a nervous smile, blushing heavily while laughing a bit during their conversation.

"I-it was funny though." She said.

"Yeah. It was."

Both of them looked down and around them, not making direct eye contact. An akward silence surrounded them; The feelings they felt inside were beginning to change.

"It's late. I should probably go."

"right. Do you need a lift or-"

"No, I'll be fine. It doesn't take long to reach my house on foot."

"Oh, ok then. So, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He watched her walk away, gazing at the female robot who he met less than a year ago. He never encountered such a kind, strong person in his life. Thinking about what happened today, still watching as she walked through the street, his eyelits lowered and let out a quiet sigh.

"GET INSIDE!" Crashman interupted, grabbing his friend with his non-hands and closing the door. He didn't hesitate to lock the six indoor locks emmediately.

"What!? It's not like one maniac will appear out of nowhere!"

"That's what they WANT you to think." Crash replied, pointing his drill towards his friend.

"What if they somehow placed hidden microphones in every corner of the house and could be listening to us right now? What if somehow they could be watching us with a tiny camera? What if there's a microphone in the bathroom!?"

"We never take a leak."

"Oh."

"Nor do I happily sing what my next move is gonna be when I'm taking a shower."

"Yeah, it sounded pretty far fetched."

"Oh, but MY theory doesn't? Guess what Crash, while you were playing with your friend, I was busy trying to stay alive while a big buff robot was trying to kill me!"

"Care to explain what happened?"

"Me and Alisa were going to investigate an old warehouse to catch thieves and save it from obsolescence. Then the owner accused us for not asking permission to enter the building."

"Then what is your problem?"

"He tried to turn me into scrap metal! That thing could easily break a wall with his fist!"

"And I bet there's a good reason behind it!"

"Good reason? A security robot will encourage you to leave. He can not be allowed to harm humans OR robots!"

"But you got in there without permission!"

"I'm a detective!"

"And I don't wanna hear this all night!" He turned away and walked up the stairs.

"Oh, very mature. Just walk away from a conversation when it gets a little too rough!"

"You mean argument? I don't want to listen to your angry yelling while overeacting about a mistake you made."

"Mistake? No. My overreactions are for a very good reason. And my anger isn't going to stop anytime soon until you believe me." he then turned away, walking towards the living room while Crashman rolled his eyes and went to his room. He sat down on the coutch, looking at all the clues he put together, creating a pile and putting it on the desk in the corner. he then noticed the little Search snake on the table. Crash must've put it there while he was busy looking at the windows if they needed a lock.

"I wonder if you will be of any help." He said softly. He layed his jacket on the coutch and began to write down his clues before heading to bed.

Description

Electrive detective 1 - Chapter 8 - Grace, light and strength

When the clock hit seven, Crashman arrived home; Thanks to one of his human colleagues.

"Thanks for the ride!" He said and waved goodbye.

The orange robot seemed happy after his long day of work. While he went up the stairs, dancing a bit, he sang the song: He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of Company B from the Andrews sisters.

"He was a famous trumpet man from out Chicago way~
He had a boogie style that no one else could play~"

He grabbed the keys from his pocket with his metal graber and carefully opened the door.

"He was the top man at his craft
But then his number came up and he was gone with the draft
He's in the army now, a-blowin' reveille
He's the boogie woogie bugle boy of-"

But when he turned around the close the door, his friend Elec did it for him. With his other arm crossed…and didn't look happy.

"Elecman?" He asked.

"Yeah. Who else?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where have you been?"

"Did you forget? Quickman asked me to assist on the next case. We were able to solve it faster with my help."

"Really? Then how come you're home at seven O'clock?"

"Didn't you hear that either? He told me that those guys were pretty smart and that it might take a while to catch them. Oh man, you should've seen the look on his face after I blew up their hide out. I was like: Boom baby! And he ran for his life! Luckily Quickman was able to get him in less than two seconds."

His story didn't change Elec's expression and a few moments of silence passed.

"...Are you alright?" He asked, still showing an innocent smile with one eyebrow narowed.

"Oh yes, I'm fine. Doing great. Splendid. I just had to deal with a dangerous snake-based robot who attacked me in a dark cellar containing animals which I thought were going to be put on the black market. Not to mention Top, Ring and Heatman got attacked by his little anaconda's, giving them bite marks all over their body. And then it turned out the robot was innocent since he was made to protect instead of killing me like he was programmed to do. How do you think I'm doing!?"

"Hey, woah, woah slow down, I don't really get it."

"Then you'll probably won't get the fact that Whily is behind this."

"How do you know for sure?"

"Because I'm one hundered procent sure that this machine doesn't know how to attack a robot like that. He was all over the place! Appearing and dissapearing, hanging upside down the cieling, wrapping his tail around my neck! You'd think he would listen to my words at first, knowing that I'm not a threat, but noooo~ You're taking everyone elses' side!"

"Alright, calm down Elec! I didn't say anyhting about taking their side and I agree with your explination. But I still don't agree about the fact that Whily is behind this."

The two seemed to enter a heated argument since Crash was begining to look a bit aggitated.

"Who else could it be? Our janitor? Gerald? Or Quickman?"

"Why Quickman?"

"Perhaps because he's been taunting me from day one. Or the fact that he's an insensative jerk who wants me out of the way by making other robots go after me. Not to mention that he's now trying to steal my best friend right infront of my face!"

"Stealing? That’s going too far!"

"Too far!?"

"Yes and I'll tell you why! When we were heading towards the hideout, he felt guilty of not letting you come with us. Knowing I'm a close friend of yours, it wasn't a problem if you'd come too! And he told me that he just likes to joke around with people."

"I'm not convinced."

"Same here since Whily is DEAD."

"Then how come I got attacked by four robots, including sniper joes who created a lie in order to cover it up!?"

"I don't know! But you shouldn't blame someone who's already gone. Nor Quickman could've-"

"FOR GODS SAKE CRASHMAN!"

He interupted loudly; The orange robot showed a surprised expression while his angry friend moved forward. Causing him to back away.

"He is an airheaded, deluded selfish narcissist who tries to get underserved respect and wants my sanity to drop so he can take over my position!"

He panted softly while staring at his friend with angry eyes. But after two seconds he realized that Crashman had stooped a bit and that he was hanging a little ontop of him; Making him feel small and scared. Elecman's breath slowed down when he realized this; looking into his friends' eyes which showed a small spark of fear. He then turned around, crossing his arms; Feeling a bit guilty but still irritated about the situation.

Crashman stood up and let out a quiet sigh.

"I wish I could agree with you. But I don't see him taking your place." Said Crashman, sounding rather quiet and steady rather than wild or emotional. His friend didn't respond and didn't even look at the mature attitude he was showing.

"I'm sorry if this case doesn't seem solved to you, but that doesn't mean I won't help. Though you probably won't be happy to hear I promise mister quick-on-a-stick to help him out tomorrow. ...I have to disable some bimbs in a wide open field. And he told me to be carefull."

After that, Crashman went upstairs; Not really wanting to see his friends' face right now. Elecman just stood there, his eyes slowly closing. Grief and shame was slightly shown when he rested his head on his right hand. Not even knowing what to say after snapping so violently. But also still irritated about the fact his best friend refuses to believe his theory.

-

The next day, conversations between the two were very short and not very happy. It scared Elec a bit since he knew Crashman didn't want to stay on the same emotion for a long time. But he still seemed disapointed in him. That day, he had to do some paper work on his own inside his office; Wearing only his gillete. Then there was a knocking noise on the door.

"Yes..." He responded, not looking up. Topman rolled in with the Search snake robot in his hand. The one that the detective wanted to investigate.

"It's settled." He said, showing the little robot.

"You can turn him on whenever you want to. Though he does still operate on voice command."

Elecman held the little snake in the palm on his hands, pressing a button located ontop of its head. The eyes were glowing red for a second and the device turned its head; Scanning the area, but not leaving his new master.

"So it will retrieve, attack of look for anything that I ask?"

"Not entirely. It depends on what he recognizes; We couldn't change that cuircitry but we were able to make it obey to the first person he gets a command from."

Elec thought for a moment and looked towards the little snake.

"Let's test it then. Uh, let's see...what did he say again...?"

"Call its name and give it a command." he replied.

"Alright. ....Searchsnake: Find pencil." He said.

The eyes flashed red again and the snake slithered across his desk. He grabbed one of his pencils and brought it back to him. Elec smiled in return.

"Well, looks like I've got a new pet."

"Very cute. Could you teach him not to bite my butt next time I visit your house?"

"I'll be strict, don't worry."

"Good. ...By the way, are you doing well?"

"Nothing I can't handle." He replied and continued on his paper work using the pencil Searchsnake gave to him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Because, you two didn't seem very happy when you walked in."

"I'd love to chat with you but I've got some things to take care of."

"But Elec-"

"OUT."

This silenced Topman for a moment; Not wanting to make him more aggitated, he turned around and left his office.

"Ok, sorry." He said politely before leaving.

The detecitve sighed while resting his head on his hand. Still stuck in this negative emotion. Instead of writting on his paper work, he looked around and saw the pictures of him and his friends hanging on the wall. A group picture with all the colleagues in order to keep the bond strong. Michel was one of them, showing a warm smile and gentleman attitude.

Everytime he was reminded of that tragedy which took place a few days ago, a shockwave of fear and grief echoed through his system, but tried not to show it. Then, he heard another knocking noise on the door.

"Yes." He replied with an irritated tone in his voice. When it opened, he was a bit surprised to see Alisa coming in.

"Am I interupting?" She asked, walking towards his desk.

"I said yes. ...As in- that you're uh, allowed to come in ofcourse. But no, you're not interupting." He replied, showing a bit of shame during his sentence.

"I heard what happened. So how are you doing?"

"...You be the judge." He said and continued writting with a bored expression.

"I know it hurts to talk about something personal. But if you don't it'll only hurt more." She stated; He looked up, knowing that he should give it a chance.

"So what's bothering you?"

"...Not only the fact that no one is willing to believe my theory about Dr.Whily, but also because Crashman is mad at me for blaming Quickman if the mad doctor isn't behind all of this.

"Why do you think he would do this?"

"Because he wants me dead in order to be the best detective."

Alisa said nothing for a few seconds, not knowing what she had to say.

"...Anything else you wanna ask?"

"No. But would it make you feel any better if I said that I agree on this theory?"

"...Not entirely." He said, still trying to hide his pain.

"Or if I acompany you with this new case about an old warehouse?" She then showed a document containing a photo of the warehouse, along with pages explaining its histoy.

"I could use a distraction from all of this." He replied and stood up, ready to go and investigate. He also took the snake with him.

"So how's the little guy doing?" She asked while he put on his jacket.

"It listens and acts on voice command, but I want to bring it with me so I won't loose it."

"It's not like he'll go away."

"He won't. Which reminds me... Searchsnake: ...uh, offline!" He commanded. The eyes flashed once again; The snake turned off and the detective put it away in his pocket.

A little later, they arrived a block away from the building.

"So what are the problems?" He asked, while both robots walked towards the location.

"There have been witnesses of unidentified people throwing rocks or other debry towards the windows. Some even managed to get in and steal valuble property so they could sell it instead. This is because the building was supposed to get repaired, or atleast, updated since its current condition was shaky and unsafe. But because of the delay, many injuries have acured; Workers were threatening to quit their job unless they were going to fix it soon."

"So our job is to get in and prepare a sting operation in order to get the thieves and have a talk with the people so we could save it." He replied.

"Exactly."

"Easy enough." He said, staring at the big sign on the building saying: "Warehouse"

"It does need some help."

Then the sign gave up and fell down on the ground. Both robots' eyes widened and were silent for a second.

"...Ok, it needs a lot of help." He said.

"Then let's start by investigating." Alisa replied.

As they both stood infront of the door, Elecman knocked to see if anyone was inside.

"Hello?" He said, putting his head on the door to hear any sound.

"No one in there because of the crisis?"

"I guess they are protesting."

"That doesn't stop me from getting in." The detective took a stance and kicked the door; But to his surprise, the entire section flew meters away into the astablishment. The two chuckled a bit and entered.

"...Well, guess I only needed to-" But then, a piece of the second floor fell right infront of them; One more step and it would've hit their heads.

"I can see why there are complaints."

"We better go look if there are any people around here." Said Alisa and they began looking around. It wasn't a giant warehouse, but it wasn't small either. The robots looked in every corner, scanning the area for any signs of life, but it felt as if the place has been abondened for years.

"Hello?" Elec said out loud; His voice echoed a bit through the giant chaimber while he walked his way through the boxes, laying un orgenized on the ground.

"We mean no harm. I'm Elecman from the detective agency; Along with my colleague Alisa. We'd like to speak to someone."

The female robot stood next to him, hoping there would be a reply in the distance...but there was only silence.

"Did you call them that we were coming?" He asked.

"No, I thought that they would be here eager to solve this problem. But it seems we're a little late for that."

"I bet they're delivering another complaint themselves. Which gives us the oppertunity to investigate how thieves manage to get in here. I'll check the left side, you the right one." He said and both walked to the walls which could show them how these people get in and out without problems.

The detectives took a close look at the windows who were surprisingly looking fine. There was no sign of any broken glass; And they couldn't be opened. The door he kicked was locked too and had no cracks or a dent. there seemed to be no clue...until Alisa saw something suspicious between all of the boxes.

"Elecman, come over here." She said out loud.

"What is it?" He asked, standing next to her.

"Warehouses contain storage material right?"

"Yes."

"Then what is this advanced cuircitry doing here?"

His eyes widened a bit when he saw three boxes containing wires and metal parts. Perhaps to build a robot with the same intelligence and capacity as them. There were parts for a leg and even parts for an arm. The wires were brand new; Though it wasn't enough to build a fully functional machine, the parts were suspicious for being advanced.

"Why would someone contain this kind of technology in a warehouse?" He asked.

"Good question. Knowing that only your creators were able to make this. Every other technician was given limited information so they could prevent reprogramming."

"I know that. So I bet all this stuff will convince everyone that Whily is still alive."

Alisa looked at him with worry and doubt, while he was certain and calm.

"Do I need more evidence?" He said.

"No, I just...I just want to be sure you're right about this." She replied while they were looking through the boxes. Unaware that a large figure was behind them.

"Trust me, I am. Perhaps there are more of this things around here. It would ne necesary to bring them to the-"

"Stay still!" A loud voice said from behind their backs. Both robots almost jumped up from the shock, with Elec almost letting one of the eye pieces fall on the ground. They turned around, looking up to a big robot who was obviously build to carry large objects; And he didn't look too happy. He had an odd chin, had orange, yellow and black colors with a a head who looked a lot like the helmet of a mettool.

"Uh...can I help you?" Elec said, nervous to have such a big machine infront of him.

"State your intentions!" He replied.

"W-we mean no harm. We're only-"

"I didn't ask you! Female!"

She frowned, insulted by such a reply.

"State your intentions!" He repeated, looking back at Elecman.

"We're here to investigate the area due to a complaint from those who work here." He explained.

"No one is allowed here without permission of the owner. Get out!"

"Listen, we are not here to cause trouble. I'm a detective and-"

"Get out or I'm forced to take drastic action!"

"You won't have to take drastic action since I'm here to help!"

"Get out or else!"

"Listen...I am here to-" But then, the right hand of the big robot grabbed his throat.

Elecman was in a state of shock as he tried to get out of this grip while chocking a bit. Then, he threw the robot to the left; Landing in another section where boxes.

"Wait!" Said Alisa, dodging an attack of his fist which slammed into the ground.

"We don't want to attack you!"

"Leave this place or I'll continue my assault!" He replied. Elecman stood up and ran towards the scene. Alisa got hit a little while she evaded another punch. Elecman quickly pulled her away before another blow could hit her.

"Rampage or not, we're still going to do our job!" Said the detective.

The robot charged towards them; But both jumped away when his fist hit the ground. When he looked up, there was no sign of them. As if they both disapeared. He looked around, trying to find the ones who disobeyed his orders.

"Show yourselves!" He demanded, throwing a group of boxes away to see if they were hiding behind them. Elec and Alisa were more than eight feet away from the robot, next to the boxes containing the wires. She had one of them in her hand and stayed low. Then, Elec decided to slowly move upwards and get his two fingers ready to shoot a thunderbeam towards his target. But his opponent noticed and quickly turned around. Not a second to loose, he fired an electric shot which stopped him...but didn't disable him. The robot stood up, as if he only got a small punch in the chest.

"What the-"

Before he could figure it out, he let out a big roar and tried to grab him. Both of them ran away.

"I've got a thin layer of rubber underneeth my metal skin!" He explained; Throwing a pair of boxes towards the detective. He fell and the robot grabbed him, holding him up by his throat.

"Which prevents me from going down by idiots like you!" His other arm was ready to give a powerfull blow.

"No! Wait!" He yelled.

"Let him go!" Said Alisa, coming from above, landing ontop of his Brachioradialis which held her friend in the air. It was enough to damage it. But that didn't mean he was not going to use his other arm. The robot then proceeded to engadge in a quick battle with the female robot.

She avoided every attack, making him hit the metal structures which contained more boxes. Imports, exports and storage was all being thrown to the ground. He started to use metal planks which fell out of his package. Using it was a weapon to hit the female robot. The end of the plank began to damage. He then started to turn, making one of the metal structures fall entirely; Boxes, metal parts and all kinds of other things fell between them.

"Stop resisting, female!" He yelled, this time aiming the plank ontop of her.

But then, Alisa stopped the side of the plank with her bare hands, not looking too happy towards her opponent who was shocked to see such strength.

"Stop using that as an insult!" She replied, stepping on the end of the plank which caused the other end to go up and hit the chin of the robot. Since there were boxes between them, one of many helped the plank to act like a seesaw.

"Alisa!" She heard from her left.

"We have to get to the second floor!" Said Elecman.

She ran towards him while the robot was recovering. Then he put a lot of pressure on the metal plank, turning it into a new form. It had a circle like shape and then threw it towards her.

"Look out!" He said.

Alisa noticed in time and ducked. Their opponent was coming in fast, enraged and determent to crush them.

Both robots reached the bent, but Elec stopped her since he had a plan with the wires. She understood and hide between the boxes surrounding them.

When the robot reached the bent, he charged forward and fell. They used the wire as a rope to trip him. He quickly wrapped it around his legs to avoid him running after them. Before he could deliver another punch, Elecman grabbed Alisa's hand and ran up the stairs. Their opponent tried to follow them, but fell like an idiot.

When they reached the upper part, Elecman closed the door and dragged a couch infront of it.

"That won't stop him!" She said.

"But it will slow him down! Quick, help me with this!"

The two grabbed any heavy object they could find.

A small safe, a heavy chair, table and more boxes. By now he had already reached the door. Both gasped shortly out of fear and backed up. Then Alisa's left foot fell through the floor a bit. It was made out of wood and appeared to be very weak in the middle. The only place where they couldn't break it was near the walls.

While the robot broke down the door, tearing his way through the blockage, he looked around to see if his targets were around. He knew they were hiding somewhere, taking silent steps while looking around. Alisa was hiding behind an old closet, while Elec was behind a piano without a wing. He could hear the robot approaching; The cracks in the floor determent where he was. Then he stopped, right next to the piano. Elec tried to stay calm and not even letting him hear his own breath.

"If you had arrived with a human along with his permission, than I wouldn't have to do this. But you leave me no choice." He explained and wanted to walk further. But then he hesitated for a few seconds. Looking back at the piano, he walked towards it and grabbed both sides, lifting the instrument upwards. Not knowing that Elec was clinging on the top of the piano so he wouldn't be seen. Or so he thought. When he lowered the piano, he spotted the detective. Punching the case, which caused the strings within the instrument to break. Elecman jumped over his head and landed gently. But the machine wasn't done yet. He grabbed the instrument again and threw it towards him. Luckily, he threw it with such force that it hit the wall on the other side instead of the floor. He ducked to avoid the incoming object; It shattered upon impact. The keys flew everywhere while the wood was completaly destroyed.

Looking back at the robot, he had to use something as a shield in order to make time until he could come up wtih something. After all, he couldn't affort getting a fatal blow; recieving heavy damage which could never be fixed. he used the objects in the room as a defendse. First he grabbed a big chair; The machine punched it, which threw Elecman towards a closed near a wall. The chair got thrown out of his hands and nearly avoid a kick which destroyed the door of the closed.

While the detective was backing up, he used every object that lay closest to him.

Next thing was a guitar, which got grabbed by its neck, trying to his his head; Scattering on impact as it hit a nightcase. Then he grabbed a Cornet, which got thrown away pretty fast. Then the hand of his opponent sliced through the reeds of an accordion. The Bass drum got kicked towards the cieling, the bellyro got smashed to pieces in one hit and finally, the old contrabas was lifted up along with the detective who clinged on for dear life. The robot threw him upwards, hitting the cieling, then falling on the floor. He then avoided the head of the instrument hitting the spot where his head was located. He began to try and hit him using the contrabas. He missed every blow, destroying more stuff during his assualt. The instrument started to break apart quickly. But then, he managed to grab Elecman's leg and throw him on the floor. Luckily, it wasn't hard enough to give him damage. But when he held him upside down, ready to give him a punch in the face, the dective defended himself.

"You're going to pay insurence for all these instruments!" He said, creating electric sparks while trying to break free. They also created a loud noise and blinded his opponent. He then threw Elecman a few feet away, which caused the floor to collapse when he landed. The detective was holding on with all his strength, but the fragile wood was cracking more and more. Now was a perfect uppertunity for the machine to strike. But when he slowly approached the doomed robot, he got hit in the face with a leverharp by Alisa. This gave her enough time to help her friend without causing the floor to collapse entirely.

"You do know that you're gonna have to pay for that right?" He teased.

"It's not a big deal." She replied.

Soon the robot recovered quickly and was out for blood.

"You have to shoot your electricity!" She said, avoiding their opponent while he was on a rampage and destroyed almost all the storage boxes.

"Don't you remember what he said? The only way I could deliver some damage is to shoot in his eyes!"

Then, she let out a short scream when the robot destroyed the wooden section next to her. He pushed Elec out of the way with a simple gesture and grabbed Alisa by her neck. She used her leg to kick him, but he grabbed a hold of it.

Seeing this, Elecman knew he had to act fast. The detective launched towards the head and used almost all of his strength to pull his head back. He also covered his sight, but he still held onto Alisa. Elecman kicked away every punch her tried to give him with his other arm and kept on pulling; Trying to make him loose his balance. Eventually, Alisa saw a chance to strike and used her shark-tooth shaped kneecap to pierce right through his chin. Leaving a nasty hole in it. He screamed in pain for a second and threw her towards the wall. It was pretty hard and she needed time to recover.

While ELecman was still holding on like a predator clinging onto his prey, the robot backed up and collided with another section which caused a few boxes that were located above to fall down on them. Finally, he managed to get the detective off of his head and on the ground. The content that fell out of the boxes covered both of them; And they were parts of a rope. But a very unusual rope since they were sticking on their bodies. Elec pulled one off with all his strength and couldn't get it off his hand.

"What the heck is this stuff?" He said. His opponent was also covered in the sticky mess, but was able to get a few of them off and walk towards his target, which tripped as he backed away. Luckily, Alisa delivered a kick on his chest, which caused him to fall a few feet away; But the rumbling of his fall made more of these boxes fall ontop of both robots. The ropes prevented the robot from getting up fast.

"Are you alright?" She asked while she helped her firend get up. He saw that their opponent was about to get up and knew to get away fast.

"I'm fine. Let's go!"

But when they took the first step, a few of the ropes had them stuck together, so both robots were now in a funny dance to keep their balance.

But eventually, they fell. Elec landed a bit ontop of the Alisa, then looked back to see that their opponent was really enraged.

"...I have a plan, but we need to get him in the right spot. Let's-" But after he pushed himself away fromt he ground, he got pulled back by the sticky ropes which was stuck to Alisa. It made him accidentally put his hand on hers and left their faces very close to each other. He showed a nervous smile, trying to hide his emberassment. “Eh…Um, sorry, I-I uh, these things are-

“It’s fine let’s just…try to get up First.”

“Y-Yeah, let’s…um, carefull.”

Both got a little shy too as they both tried to get up without loosing balance again. Alisa lost it a little bit but Elec catched her. Finally, the robot charged towards them, but they nearly avoided it by diving down on the ground again; The big robot tripped and almost caused the floor to collapse. They almost laid ontop of each other after they evaded. Standing up again, they backed away slowly towards the window.

A sticky rope was between them, like a chain so they won't separate. Their opponent stood up, hopefully for the last time since both of them didn't show any fear in their eyes anymore.

"This will be the last time I chase after you!" He yelled while running towards the duo.

"You got that right!" He said. And just beofore the robot could lay his hands on them, Elecman and Alisa dashed forward, lowering their heads to avoid the incoming hands and use the sticky rope between their legs to trip him. This caused him to crash through the window and fall down. Finally putting an end to his outrage. They catched their breath as they stared towards the downed robot.

"You alright?" Elecman asked.

"I'm fine. No heavy damage?" She replied.

"No, I'm good. But I do hope he could still be repaired. We beat him quite hard."

"We had a good reason. Not even a sniper joe would do something like this. We better go look for someone to make a phone call for the police to arrive."

"Tell them to bring the ones in charge of this wreck in order to explain all this."

-

But later, when all of the arrived, things wern't looking up for the detectives.

"Our fault!? What do you mean it´s our fault?" He said, confused and irritated about the owners' statement.

"You decided to go into our astablishment without permission and even investigated some of the content!" He replied.

"But I'm a detective! My actions are always good intended whether you like it or not!"

"Even so, you had to leave the building and call me to ask permission. Now look what happened!"

"But that robot had no right to attack us in such a way." Said Alisa.

"He litteraly tried to kill us!"

"If you didn't resist, he wouldn't have! His name is Gutsman. We asked to borrow him for a while to see if he could get those thieves which are stealing content from the establishment!"

"Alright. I understand what you mean. But how do you explain these ropes?"
The man looked confused at the ropes which were still attatched to the robots.

"Explain it yourself, I have never seen these before."

"They were located on the second floor; Which really needs to get fixed since it's too dangerous to even walk up there. When a bunch of open boxes fell ontop of us, we found out that these are covered in some kind of thick goo which made the both of us stick together. It takes all of my strength just to get one of them off of my jacket." He explained while pulling one of them off his chest.

"How did this pass your security?" Alisa asked.

"Did you forget that the building is in a dangerous condition? We're trying our best to save it so I guess that our employies didn't look at the content since they were protesting."

"Sounds reasonable enough. Though we do want to take one of your boxes to the office."

"Why?"

"Because we found advanced circuitry and metal parts which can be used to build a robot of our intelligence."

"And only a genius like Thomas or Whily are able to create such technology." Said Elecman.

"But they're both dead."

"Ofcourse you don't believe it. After all, a genius knows to put his socks on in the winter."

"I've heard enough for today. Even though you had good intentions, you're gonna have to empty your wallet for all the damage."

"The damage HE created!?"

"Don't worry, I'll pay half of it too."

"It's none of your buisniness lady."

"It is since I was with him. If I'm not paying, then he's not paying at all. Now, how do we get these things off of our bodies?"

"We're going to call someone with that knowlage. Would you also like to take a few samples with you?"

"If we can manage to put one of them in a jar."

"No worries. If some natural trick doesn't help, we'll just put the one end of these ropes underneeth a heavy stone and you pull it off without breaking a wire." Said the policeman as they walked towards the other buildings.

Unsurprisingly, it took about two hours to get all of them off. By the time both robots were fixed and payed for the damage, it was already dark. He arrived with the car infront of his house; The lights were on, so that means Crashman was already home.

"Still can't believe we had to be soaked in Olive oil along with eucalyptus and alcohol. Gotta love that smell on my jacket." He said while stepping out of the car and heading for his front door.

"I don't mind getting a little dirty." Said Alisa. "That's what showers are for."

"Nice to know you're not one of those overeacting conceited women who scream their lungs out whenever there's just a drop of dirt on their dress."

"Thanks. But I know you're not very happy with todays' result, arn't you?"

"It just doesn't feel right. Everytime I think to have found a clue which leads directly to the doctor, a clever but unbelievable cover up ruins it. I hope this won't go on for long."

"It won't. Don't worry." She said with a warm smile on her face. Elec smiled in return.

"Do you have the keys."

He searched through his pocked and his eyes widened.

"Urgh..."

"You don't have them?"

"I forgot about them. They're still in the drawer of my desk in the office. But there's no need to panic. Crashman is home."

He then ringed the bell and waited for his friend to open the door. But he didn't. A few seconds passed and Alisa began to look a little bit worried.

"Are you sure?" She asked; He tried it again and waited.

"Who's there!?" They heard behind the door.

"It's Elecman." he replied.

"How do I know it's you?"

"Because you've known my voice for over a year. Now open the door."

"What's the password?"

The detective took a deep and iggitated sigh.

"....Buttplug." He said, not very happy to say that word out loud.

Alisa giggled behind him; Though it was a stupid password, atleast no one would guess it.

"Ok, you got that one down. But what about the secret knock?"

"You've got to be kidding me." He sighed and walked towards the door. His left arm knocked one time on the door. Exactly three seconds later he knocked again.

Then they heard six locks behind the door, plus the main door lock. It slowly opened and Crashman's drill appeared, aiming towards the two robots. They let out a short gasp.

"Crash, what are you doing!?" He asked to his friend who was peeking at them.

"I'm making sure that there arn't any insane buglers standing infront of our door." He replied.

"Crash, it's alright." said Alisa. "You don't have to-"

"Who's that!?" He yelled and pointed his non-hand towards her.

"It's Alisa." The detective replied, opening the door wide open, irritated about his friends' overeacting behaviour.

"The one who helped me with a case today and why did I hear six door locks?"

"I called a locksmith to come over here and install six indoor locks so no one could get in here like last time. So you better get in here before another crazy robot ruins the house and destroys the new telivision!"

Elec and Alisa didn't look impressed. All this panic wasn't needed.

"Right. Why don't you go upstairs and put this in my drawer?" He asked, grabbing the little Searchsnake from his pocket and throwing it towards the Crashman. His friend used his non-hands to catch the little robot, almost letting it fall. Confused, he looked at it for a while.

"What is this?"

"I'll explain later. After you make sure the windows get an indoor lock so that Windowman won't sneak in."

His eyes widened in shock and was silent for a few seconds before running towards the living room.

"Be right back!" He yelled.

The two giggled a bit at his reaction. He means well after all.

"I'm sorry." He said with a smile, leaning against the wall

"It's alright."

"Yeah, but he's never been this paranoyed. Maybe stress is getting to him."

"Atleast you can handle it right?"

the detective thought for a moment, not wanting to say he was unstopable, but not a weakling either.

"If I'm not covered in anything that might get my legs stuck on the cieling, then yes I can."

The female chuckled a bit at his joke.

"By the way, sorry again for...that akward moment, with us and the ropes."

"It's alright. It's just...we're stuck together. Uh- I mean um...we were, stuck together when the ropes were uh..."

"Yes, I know." The two tried to hide their shame with a nervous smile, blushing heavily while laughing a bit during their conversation.

"I-it was funny though." She said.

"Yeah. It was."

Both of them looked down and around them, not making direct eye contact. An akward silence surrounded them; The feelings they felt inside were beginning to change.

"It's late. I should probably go."

"right. Do you need a lift or-"

"No, I'll be fine. It doesn't take long to reach my house on foot."

"Oh, ok then. So, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He watched her walk away, gazing at the female robot who he met less than a year ago. He never encountered such a kind, strong person in his life. Thinking about what happened today, still watching as she walked through the street, his eyelits lowered and let out a quiet sigh.

"GET INSIDE!" Crashman interupted, grabbing his friend with his non-hands and closing the door. He didn't hesitate to lock the six indoor locks emmediately.

"What!? It's not like one maniac will appear out of nowhere!"

"That's what they WANT you to think." Crash replied, pointing his drill towards his friend.

"What if they somehow placed hidden microphones in every corner of the house and could be listening to us right now? What if somehow they could be watching us with a tiny camera? What if there's a microphone in the bathroom!?"

"We never take a leak."

"Oh."

"Nor do I happily sing what my next move is gonna be when I'm taking a shower."

"Yeah, it sounded pretty far fetched."

"Oh, but MY theory doesn't? Guess what Crash, while you were playing with your friend, I was busy trying to stay alive while a big buff robot was trying to kill me!"

"Care to explain what happened?"

"Me and Alisa were going to investigate an old warehouse to catch thieves and save it from obsolescence. Then the owner accused us for not asking permission to enter the building."

"Then what is your problem?"

"He tried to turn me into scrap metal! That thing could easily break a wall with his fist!"

"And I bet there's a good reason behind it!"

"Good reason? A security robot will encourage you to leave. He can not be allowed to harm humans OR robots!"

"But you got in there without permission!"

"I'm a detective!"

"And I don't wanna hear this all night!" He turned away and walked up the stairs.

"Oh, very mature. Just walk away from a conversation when it gets a little too rough!"

"You mean argument? I don't want to listen to your angry yelling while overeacting about a mistake you made."

"Mistake? No. My overreactions are for a very good reason. And my anger isn't going to stop anytime soon until you believe me." he then turned away, walking towards the living room while Crashman rolled his eyes and went to his room. He sat down on the coutch, looking at all the clues he put together, creating a pile and putting it on the desk in the corner. he then noticed the little Search snake on the table. Crash must've put it there while he was busy looking at the windows if they needed a lock.

"I wonder if you will be of any help." He said softly. He layed his jacket on the coutch and began to write down his clues before heading to bed.