The crowd booed loudly.
“Astro personally told me he doesn’t think much of our fighting robots. Thinks they’re a bunch of sissies. Thinks you’re all trailer park trash!” Hamegg said, egging them on.
“He didn’t say that!” Cora protested, but nobody heard her over the boos of the crowd. They were on their feet now, shaking their fists at Astro.
“This is what we’ve all been waiting for!” Hamegg cried. “A fight between the Surface and Metro City. Let’s get it on!”
A big Kill-Bot stomped into the ring. It had a giant spiked head and long arms with spinning saws on the end.
“Sorry, I’m not doing this,” Astro said. He powered his jets and shot straight up into the open-air arena.
Zap! Some invisible force field jolted him, sending him slamming into the ground. The crowd laughed and cheered.
Groggy, Astro started to get to his feet. But the Kill-Bot loomed over him.
Pow! The bot aimed a punch at Astro. He rolled out of the way just in time.
Pow! Pow! Pow! The Kill-Bot was relentless, trying to hit Astro again and again. But Astro was too fast. Back on his feet, he powered his jets again, zipping in between the bot’s deadly arms.
Astro didn’t fight back. He didn’t believe in hurting anybody for no good reason, not even robots. But the crowd thought he was afraid.
“Fight! Fight! Fight!” they chanted.
The Kill-Bot got angrier and angrier. He could not touch Astro. He angrily flailed his giant arms. Members of the crowd screamed and ducked.
Astro knew he had to do something. The crowd was in danger! With his superstrength, he picked up the Kill-Bot, then quickly flew up, up, into the sky.
Zap! The Kill-Bot hit the force field.
Boom! His head exploded. Metal pieces rained down on the ring.
The crowd went wild.
“Bring out the next robot!” Hamegg shouted.
A robot no bigger than Astro entered the arena. Then it quickly split up, turning into two robots. One of the robots grew until it was as tall as a tree, with spiked clubs for arms. The other robot transformed into a mass of cannons.
Bam! Bam! Astro flew out of the way. He still didn’t want to fight.
He flew behind one of the robots and tapped on its shoulder.
“Hey, fella,” Astro said, trying to make friends.
The startled robot fired shot after shot at Astro, trying to destroy him. Astro dodged the blasts. One of them hit the second robot, and the second robot fired back. Now the two robots were destroying each other!
Astro used his superstrength and picked one up in each hand and smacked them together. The fight was over. Hamegg’s face turned purple with rage.
“Get him!” he bellowed.
Astro barely had time to regain his strength before Hamegg sent out a small army of robots. The crowd started to cheer for Astro as he took them down one by one. With the crowd distracted, the RRF put their plan into action.
Their new secret weapon wasn’t a feather—it was a feather duster!
“The secret weapon!” Sparx announced.
A jet of flame from the arena shot toward them, turning the feather duster into a pile of ashes.
“All right, go to plan B,” Sparx instructed.
“What is plan B?” asked Mike.
“We all run around waving our hands in the air and screaming like little girls,” Robotsky said.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!” The three robots ran and screamed.
In the ring, Astro battled challenger after challenger. He took down robots that breathed fire, robots with chainsaws for hands, and robots that spit out ninja throwing stars. The more Astro fought, the more the crowd loved him.
Finally, it looked like there were no more challengers. He gazed up at the platform, exhausted. How could Hamegg have betrayed him like this? And Cora had acted like she hated him. His dreams of joining the junkyard family were over. What would happen to him now?
But Hamegg had one more surprise in store.
“And now—the final challenger. A robot so fearsome, so powerful, even I’m afraid to watch,” he announced. “Behold! ”
A loud, mechanical roar shook the arena. Everyone looked to a metal gate. The next challenger waited there, and it sounded terrifying.
The metal gate opened up, and the crowd gasped in fear. Zog was huge!
“I give you, the mighty Zog!” Hamegg said dramatically. “Let’s see how Astro Boy does against a robot powered with the same energy he’s got.”
How could Hamegg do this? Astro wondered. Zog wasn’t just another challenger—he was Astro’s friend.
“I’m not fighting you, Zog,” Astro said.
Zog took a mighty step toward Astro.
“I mean it,” Astro said. “I won’t fight.”
Zog took another step. He was close enough now to crush him with one move of his foot. Astro looked up at him, not moving. He wasn’t going to attack Zog, no matter what.
Zog reached out with one huge hand ... and affectionately ruffled Astro’s hair. The crowd laughed.
Hamegg was annoyed. “Great! A love-in. Some big finale.”
He aimed a laser device and hit the button. A jolt of electricity hit Zog. The big robot writhed in pain.
“Fight! That’s an order.”
But Zog wouldn’t do it. Hamegg zapped him again and again. Zog was clearly hurting. He started to smoke and overheat.
But he wouldn’t give in. Astro was his friend, too.
Frustrated, Hamegg aimed the laser at Astro next. Astro gasped in pain and fell down on one knee.
The crowd roared in protest. They loved Astro now.
Cora stood up. “That’s enough!” she angrily told Hamegg.
“What’s the matter with you?” Hamegg asked. “They’re just machines. They’ll do what I tell them.”
Hamegg was furious now. He jumped off the platform and stormed across the field, brandishing the laser.
“What? I’m going to be embarrassed by some souped up hotshot from Metro City? A hundred-year-old bulldozer from New Jersey? I’m turning you both off,” he threatened.
Zog stomped his giant foot, shaking the ground. A huge crack opened up in the arena floor beneath Hamegg. It knocked him to the ground, and his laser device went flying.
Zog stomped toward Hamegg. He raised one giant foot, ready to crush him.
“Stop! The laws of robotics!” Hamegg yelled. “You can’t hurt a human! It’s been that way for fifty years.”
But Zog had been built long before the laws of robotics were in place, and he knew it. For the first time in a century, he spoke.
“I’m old school,” he said in a booming voice.
The members of the RRF watched in amazement from the sidelines.
“We’ve got to get that guy!” Sparx quipped.
The crowd froze. Was this really the end of Hamegg? Zog’s foot slowly came down ...
... and Astro flew underneath it, holding it up.
He didn’t want to see anyone get hurt—even a creep like Hamegg.
Hamegg rolled out of the way. He stared up at Astro, terrified and stunned.
“What kind of robot are you?” he asked.
But Astro wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were on the sky, where a military aircraft was about to descend into the arena.
President Stone had found him!
CHAPTER 16
The gunship landed in the middle of the arena. A swarm of heavily-armed soldiers emerged from the craft. They charged toward Astro with their guns raised.
Cora sprinted onto the field and picked up Hamegg’s laser device. More kids and members of the crowd were hopping over the barricades. They all wanted to help Astro.
General Heckler and President Stone marched up between the soldiers. “Seize the rogue robot and secure the area!” Stone commanded.
A mass of soldiers jumped on Astro, piling on top of him like they were football players and Astro held the ball. One of Astro’s red boo
ts stuck out of the pile.
The crowd roared in protest and started to advance toward the soldiers. The standing soldiers turned their guns on them.
Back on his feet, Hamegg stared at President Stone in amazement. “Dufus? Dufus Stone? Is that you?” he asked.
President Stone froze. The crowd hissed as Hamegg walked up to him.
“It’s me, Hamegg! We were in the third grade together. I used to do your homework for you, remember?” Hamegg asked.
“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” President Stone said, but it was clear he was lying.
The crowd was throwing things at Hamegg now.
“Take me back to Metro City with you,” Hamegg pleaded. “I’m begging you, Dufus. They’re going to tear me limb from limb.”
Two soldiers grabbed Hamegg.
“You can’t call the president Dufus,” one of them warned.
They dragged him away.
“He’s the president?” Hamegg cried out in disbelief. “Yeah, pull the other one. I used to forge his report cards for him.”
President Stone sidled up to General Heckler. “You told me you’d arrested everybody I went to school with,” he said under his breath.
“We went all the way back to preschool, Mr. President,” Heckler assured him. “I don’t know how this one slipped through the cracks.”
Two soldiers pulled Astro out from under the pile-up. They gripped his arms tightly. Astro didn’t even look at them. He gazed up at the clouds floating around Metro City. He remembered the first day he learned to fly. He had felt so happy, so free.
But that life was never meant to be. Dr. Elefun was wrong when he said Astro would find his place. First Metro City had rejected him, and then his friends on the Surface had, too.
Zog bellowed in rage as the soldiers dragged Astro away. He snatched up two of them like they were dolls and angrily shook them like he was about to smash their faces together.
“No, Zog! Put them down,” Astro cried. He hung his head sadly. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Zog reluctantly placed the two terrified soldiers on the ground. They grabbed Astro and dragged him into the waiting aircraft.
“Time to come home,” President Stone said smugly.
Inside the plane, they bound Astro’s hands and feet with metal restraints. Astro gazed out the window. He could see Cora and the kids running across the arena as the plane zoomed away.
The Metro City news blared from a TV inside the plane’s cabin. A female reporter with a helmet of perfect hair was talking into the camera.
“President Stone’s approval rating reached a new low today when he failed to show up for a nationally televised debate with Bob Logan, the man many pundits are picking as the next president of Metro City,” she reported.
The picture switched to an image of a handsome younger man waving at a cheering crowd. President Stone muted the sound on the set.
“No dirty hippie’s going to sit in my Oval Office eating mung beans and stinking of patchouli oil,” he said. “I’ve got the Blue Core and the Peacekeeper’s going to start a war with the Surface. That’s bound to get me reelected.”
He offered a can of oil to Astro. The soldiers laughed.
“Why the long face, robot boy?” the president asked. “We’re taking you home to your dad. Care for a drink?”
Astro didn’t answer. He gazed out the window for the rest of the trip. The soldiers brought Astro directly to the Ministry of Science. Astro saw Dr. Tenma and Dr. Elefun waiting for them in Tenma’s lab.
President Stone marched up to the two scientists.
“The experiment is over,” he said firmly. “I want the Blue Core removed and transferred into the Peacekeeper now.”
Dr Tenma turned to his friend. “Will you help me, Elefun?”
“This is where we created him,” Dr. Elefun responded sadly.
The soldiers released Astro, and the president shoved him forward.
“Well, un-create him. Unplug him. It’s a matter of national security,” he ordered.
“Let me talk to him first,” Dr. Elefun said.
Stone rolled his eyes. Dr. Elefun walked up to Astro.
“Hello, Dr. Elefun,” Astro said.
“Hello, Toby.”
“You look tired,” Astro told the scientist. “Are you okay?”
“Not really,” Dr. Elefun admitted. “This isn’t your fault, you know. You’re fantastic ... superb ... wonderful.”
“Thank you,” Astro said. “You know, I tried to find my place in the world. I thought I had found it ... but fitting in can be a lot more complicated than it seems.”
Dr. Elefun nodded in agreement. “Dear boy, if you only knew.”
“I think maybe this is what’s supposed to happen,” Astro said bravely. “This is my destiny.”
Tears welled up in Dr. Elefun’s eyes. The president groaned in frustration.
“Boo hoo!” President Stone said meanly. “It’s a MACHINE! Come on, let’s get moving, people.”
A soldier put a hand on Dr. Elefun’s shoulder to move him away.
“This is wrong, Tenma. You know it!”
Dr. Tenma looked unsure for a moment. Then he shook his head.
“The president is right. It’s just a machine,” he said.
Astro looked at Dr. Elefun. “Good-bye,” he said.
The scientist wiped away a tear. He watched, helpless, as the soldiers led Astro away.
They placed Astro on the same table where Dr. Tenma had brought him to life. The lifeless Peacekeeper loomed over the lab, waiting for the power inside Astro.
Dr. Tenma pressed a few buttons, and three holographic screens appeared over the table. President Stone looked eagerly at his robot war machine.
“Load the Blue Core into the Peacekeeper,” he said impatiently. “I’ve got a press conference in ten minutes.”
Tenma locked some cables into Astro’s body. The holographic screens began to register Astro’s pulse—the beat of the energy flowing through his body.
Thump ... thump ... thump ...
Dr. Tenma opened Astro’s chest compartment. He removed the Blue Core. Astro’s pulse slowed down.
... thump ...
The scientist looked into Astro’s eyes.
“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely.
Astro smiled weakly. “Don’t be,” he said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t have been a better Toby for you ... Dad.”
Astro’s eyes closed. The thumping of his pulse faded into silence.
Dr. Tenma fell to his knees, crying.
“Well, Tenma? Is it done?” the president asked.
Tenma mustered his strength. He stood up and carried the Blue Core over to President Stone.
“It’s done,” Dr. Tenma said sadly.
CHAPTER 17
Dr. Tenma handed the Blue Core to President Stone, who greedily accepted it. He squeezed it and leaned in close to Tenma.
“Good man,” he said. “When I’m reelected, you can have the funding to make as many little toys as you want.”
Dr. Tenma’s heart was heavy—and then something clicked inside him. As Stone turned to walk away, he grabbed the hand holding the Blue Core.
“No!” Dr. Tenma cried.
The soldiers all turned their guns on him. He didn’t flinch.
“You’ll have to kill me, then,” he said.
President Stone tried to yank away from Tenma’s grasp. The Blue Core dropped and Dr. Elefun dove in, catching it. He turned to his friend, pleading.
“Tenma, no!” he said. “I created the Core. They’re going to have to kill me.”
The soldiers listened, turning their guns on Elefun now.
“I think Metro City can learn to cope without you,” Stone said dryly. “Hand it over.”
Dr. Elefun opened one hand. It was empty. He opened the other. That was empty, too.
President Stone realized something was wrong.
“ Tenma ... ”
The scientists had fooled
him. Dr. Tenma had secretly taken the core from Dr. Elefun. Now Tenma was back at the table with Astro’s body. He had lowered a protective shield around them.
Furious, the president pounded on the glass.
“Tenma! Open this. OPEN IT!”
Dr. Tenma pulled the Blue Core from his coat. Stone’s face flushed with anger.
“TENMA!” he screamed.
Dr. Tenma put the Blue Core back into Astro’s chest. He looked up at the hologram monitors for any signs of life.
President Stone pointed a gun at Dr. Elefun. “Open that door.”
“Never,” Elefun said firmly.
“I said open the door—now,” the president ordered.
He pressed the gun into Elefun’s chest. It hit something hard. Stone pushed Elefun’s lab coat aside to reveal the scientist’s security key card. He yanked it off of Elefun’s neck.
“If you want something done, you gotta do it yourself,” Stone said.
On the other side of the shield, the hologram screen started to show the thump, thump, thump of Astro’s pulse. Tears of joy welled up in Tenma’s eyes.
Astro was alive again!
Astro opened his eyes. “Dad, what are you doing?”
Before Tenma could reply, the shield came up. President Stone and the soldiers advanced toward them.
“Listen,” Dr. Tenma told Astro. “You may not be Toby, but you’re still my son.”
Astro was overcome with happiness. “Thanks—Dad.”
Tenma and Astro hugged.
“Hold it!” President Stone barked.
“Now! Fly!” Dr. Tenma urged Astro.
The soldiers lunged. Astro’s jets powered up, and he flew across the lab. He crashed right through the window, flying outside. The window shattered into millions of tiny pieces.
“Woo-hoo!” Dr. Elefun cheered.
General Heckler found himself cheering, too. “Yes!”
“Good man, Tenma!” Dr. Elefun cried happily.
President Stone was outraged. “No!” he yelled at General Heckler. “Arrest them immediately! I want them shot for treason.”
He stormed over to the Peacekeeper.
“We’re going to have to use the Peacekeeper to get the Blue Core back,” he said.
“Don’t use the Red Core—the negative energy,” Dr. Elefun begged. “We don’t know how it’ll behave.”
Tracey West Page 7