A girl's walkies
An Uran fan fiction
By Dan Rush
© Zoran 2003 Astro Boy series by Sony Pictures. © Astro Boy 1954, 1960, 1980, 2003 Osamu Tezuka, Mushi Productions, Tezuka Productions. All rights deeply respected. For non-profit fandom enjoyment only.
After her brother becomes ill with overheating stress, Uran decides to go on her own version of walkies with her school mate Miko and has an adventure of her own where she's now the big hero of the day.
Metro City, Japan
Mid-day
All someone had to say was "Something's wrong." And Uran was out like a shot! She sped through the downtown streets on her Huffy zooming fast enough to make the tires smoke. She zinged past pedestrians, sailed over a few cars and left a pursuing traffic cop gasping for air as she turned onto her home street, slid to a stop and bounded up the walkway to the house.
Reno met her at the doorway waving his arms franticly to get her to stop. "It's ok! Please tell me no one got hurt?"
"Oh be quiet!" She snapped back. "What happened to my brother!?" Uran said shivering. "Did he get beat up? Is he in pieces?"
Reno shook his head. "It's nothing like that. He just had an attack of power overstress and his reactor SCRAM'd out. He's being going like a bat out of hell for a week with no rest."
Uran pursed her lips. "Would you mind not saying all that dumb technical stuff?"
Reno sighed. "He's very tired and worn out."
Uran walked past him and into the living room almost oblivious to Reno's pleading. "Hey! You can't walk in right now, he's way too tired, he needs rest Uran!"
She turned around and snorted. "You gonna stop me?"
Reno walked around her and blocked the stairs. "You gonna throw me?"
Uran frowned. Obviously she couldn't throw him aside, those dumb robot laws. "I'm going up to my room till I can see him." She stomped up the stairs and stopped in front of Astro's door. "Hope you feel better big brother!"
Feel better? As Cora dangled another glass of that blue stuff in his nose, Astro was wishing he'd just shorted out. "Not again…"
"It's not my fault you don't have any other way of getting extra coolant down there now open your mouth."
"But that stuff's…ugh….I wouldn't wish this on Trashcan!" Astro grimaced, drank the glass and contorted his face in a reaction of disgust…"Ugh….that stuff sucks."
Cora looked over the readings on her laptop and shook her head. "The cooling process might take a few days at least. You're still boarder line on the scale. Good thing this bed's lined with heat refracting materials or you'd set it on fire."
Astro sighed. "I thought the blue energy was stable."
"The energy is but your mechanics still have their limits. You pushed yourself too hard this time, I told you about sleeping."
Astro moaned. "I promised Uran I'd take her out this weekend too. I hate letting her down like this."
"Well she's not the first one to be spurned is she?" Cora said smirking. "You still owe me dinner remember?"
"Is it my fault I'm so in demand around here?" Astro replied with a weak smile. "Can Uran come in?"
"Yeah…just don't let her stress you out." Cora replied as she walked to the bedroom door and yelled. "Uran? Astro wants to see you."
Uran walked in and saw all the wires, hoses and monitors strung around Astro's bed and for the moment she didn't say anything. She pulled a chair over and pointed around the room. "Where's the plug-in for an X-Box?"
Astro smiled weakly. "Don't bother, I already tried."
"You're ok right? I mean this isn't something serious?"
Astro gasped as Cora poured another glass of coolant in front of him. "When she's pouring that crap down my throat? Yeah…it's serious."
"Boys are so impossible." Cora snorted. "You agree?"
Uran looked back with a smirk. "Yes! The only way you could have ended up like this big brother is because you're such a stubborn moron to start with."
Astro huffed. "And I was gonna take you out on a walkies this weekend? Not with that attitude."
Uran crossed her arms and scoffed. "I'm still going though. Me, Miko and Houdini are gonna go when she's back from school."
"Now wait." Astro said. "I don't think…"
"You don't think what?" Uran replied pursing her lips. "You're going to give me one of your famously long…"I am your older bother." Speeches again? I think I can take care of myself by now can't I?"
"Well…." Astro said cautiously, trying to avoid a blow-up. "We wanted to go together remember?"
"Well…that's not gonna happen huh?" Uran said smiling. "You shouldn't worry yourself big brother, I have everything planned out. I gave the Doctor all the numbers of where we're going and Reno can check on us if he wants to. You just stay in bed, get some rest, stuff yourself with ice cream and don't worry about anything."
Astro tried to beckon Uran back as she walked out of the room but looked forlornly at Cora as if trying to enlist a little back up.
"Don't look at me. I'm not getting involved." Cora said as she swished the glass of coolant in her hand.
"I don't know what's worse. Drinking that or knowing my little sisters unleashed on the world by herself." Astro said moanfully.
Cora patted his hand. "You stress on her too much. It's been what, a year since the Doctor made her? I think she's grown wise enough to take care of herself by now."
"How trusting you are." Astro snorted as he took another drink and gagged. "Ugh! You just enjoy watching me suffer aren't you?"
Cora smiled softly. "You know I don't." She bent down and gave him a tender kiss. "Relax? You deserve a nice vacation."
"With Uran on the loose? I doubt it."
Near Miko's House
2pm Friday
Uran came to a stop and walked up to Miko's front door listening to Houdini as he flew around her head and chirped into her ears…
"No…I'm not going to put his off. I had this planned for a month!"
Houdini tapped on her head as he rested on it.
"Astro won't do anything crazy because of me. What could possibly go bad?"
"Chirp!"
"My reputation precedes me? Thanks for the positive support you silly bird." Uran snorted as she pushed the door bell and waited for Miko to open up.
"Hi!" The jumpy ten year old chirped as she held the door open and snatched Uran by her hand. "Come on!
"Where's your Mom?" Uran asked as Miko pulled her through the house and up to her room.
"Still at work. She didn't say anything back so I think everything's ok with her. You have to hear this new CD though!"
Miko handed Uran her MP3 earphones. "It's the latest by Mikuyo…."squeal"…he's so, so, so, so…..cute!"
Uran listened a little then squealed herself. "His voice drives me crazy!"
"I know!" Miko replied happily. She then looked behind Uran and scratched her head. "I thought your brother was coming with us?"
"Uh uh…" Uran replied. "Nope. He's sick! Good for us!"
"Huh? Uran how could you?" Miko said as she threw a stuffed animal at Uran.
"How could I not? After all do you want my brother tagging with us through the ginza? Nothing more embarrassing then your big bother watching you browse through the underwear section. Trust me, we'll have more fun!"
"I dunno." Miko said worried. "My mother thinks Astro will be with us. She doesn't like the idea of me walking by myself all over Machida."
Uran huffed. "You're with me! Bah…just like most people. Just because I don't wear red boots, fly in circles and shoot bullets from my bum, I'm just another helpless little girl in need of a chaperone? Is that it?"
Miko rubbed her head. "Well I did promise my mother as a condition you know."
Uran put Houdini on her finger. "Well Houdini can vouch for me, you're in good hands with Uran Atom isn't that right Houdini?"
Houdini gave Uran a sort of "Sure you are".
"Isn't that RIGHT Houdini?" Uran said more forcefully. The bird wisely chirped back with a nod. "See? Experienced opinion noted."
Miko smiled. "I just know I'll live to regret this. What excuse do I use on my mom if we end up kidnapped? Or in jail? Or we owe like 50 thousand yen on something?"
Uran waved a hand in her face. "You have a run-a-way imagination. Oh yeah…I got my brother's youth hostile card too!"
Miko smirked. "You did ask him didn't you?"
Uran shrugged. "Why ask him? It's not as if he's going to suddenly jump up and use it any time soon right?"
Miko finished packing a backpack with clothes and hooked a little stuffed rabbit to one of the straps. "So he's not going to mind?"
"Nah…he's got so many days saved on it, he won't miss em. Anyway, are we going to stop in Yamanote Ginza fist?"
Miko closed her door and locked it. "That's to keep my nosey little brother out. I thought we'd go there first. My mom gave me 10,000 yen for new clothes."
Uran smirked. "Lucky you. I almost have to perform circus tricks to get Astro to take me shopping."
They walked out of the house and hopped on their bikes. "Are we taking the train?" Miko asked as they pedaled towards downtown.
"Hmph! Absolutely not!" Uran snorted back. "My brother may like being packed like a fish in a can but uh uh! I don't want someone putting their hands where they shouldn't."
The girls locked up their bikes at the Minasoku Station and hopped the 4pm "Long Rider" Blue Line cruiser to Machida. From then on it was non-stop giggling, the usual back and forth fair common to a pair of girls…
"Let me guess?" Miko said as she played with her lip. "Saito Ushikawa"
"I know!" Uran replied giddyously. "He's all over my bedroom walls! I would so hug him…I would so hug him and kiss him and kidnap him and keep him in my room!"
{Giggles and more giggles}
Uran rubbed her hair. "Oh.....you don't keep any posters out in the open in your room! This game sucks."
"Come on!" Miko goaded.
"Mmmmm….my brother."
Miko slapped her. "Not on your life! Be serious!"
Uran looked at Houdini. "A little help would be nice?"
The bird chirped away and Miko frowned. "No fair! That's cheating!"
"I'm gonna say….Yushiro Daita!"
{Giggles…giggles and more giggles.}
"I've seen all his movies! He….is…..he's just CUTE!"
(Ubber more giggles.}
"So….are we going to have time to go to Tokyo Hands before it closes?" Miko asked.
"We should have about an hour." Uran replied. "Where do we go after that?"
Miko pursed her lips. "I thought you had this planned out?"
"I ditched plan B like a mile ago." Uran replied smiling. "We can just follow our female logic and do what comes."
Miko shook her head. "I knew it…we're doomed."
"There's the movies?" Uran suggested. "The live action Last Unicorn's out."
Miko smiled. "That's good! But we shouldn't be out that late."
Uran smirked. "Ill be sure to tuck you into bed on time for your evening feeding."
"Relax." Miko replied. "Unlike you, I can lie."
Uran smirked back. "Unlike you, I have a tracking device and I'm sure Astro will do something to ruin my evening plans, like send his gang of spies to foil all my plans."
Uran snatched Miko by the wrist and ran with her out of the bus and onto the busy shopping streets of Machida.
Old Mishu Toy factory
Machida
It had been a few months since Hamegg went into hiding after losing his Robot Games to the Robo-Rights law. Of all the orphans he'd collected, only one still stayed with him. At the moment, Grace was waving her hand in front of his face trying to get his attention while he brooded over his latest abysmal creation.
"You there boss?" She asked.
"No." Hamegg replied. "No….I'm off in transcendental space, seeking the cosmic unisis, finding the truth of life…Can't you see I'm thinking?"
"It looks more like your head is about to explode." Grace said as she walked over to a table and sifted through the mountain of parts. "You're not hoping to build something to fight Astro out of this junk are you?"
Hamegg pulled a part from her hand and tossed it over his shoulder. "You should know me better than that you silly girl. I may be a little envious of Tenma, I just might be a little upset at that plastic brat of his…oh no…now why would I want to build a simple advanced robot that will just totally…"KICK THAT SNOT INFESTED LITTLE PUNK STRAIT TO HELL!"
Grace wiped her face. "Say it…don't spray it."
Hamegg groaned for a moment. "Who am I kidding? When all you got is junk, all you'll make is junk. Unless I get a little lucky and run into a robot with a little promise, I might just reside myself to the lowly job of garbage container cleaner."
Grace watched as Hamegg threw on a jacket. "I'm going for a walk to clear my head kid. Want anything while I'm out?"
Grace smiled back. "Something at 7/11 and get me some more copper wire."
Doctor O'Shay's House
Late afternoon
The Doctor had finished his days work and walked into Astro's bedroom to find the boy bot sitting up against some pillows and wincing over another dose of foul coolant.
"Feeling better Astro?" He asked.
"I would if I didn't have to keep drinking this coolant." Astro replied as he wiggled the glass in his hand. "That and the fact that Uran just went off with a friend without me."
"Oh dear." Doctor O'Shay said as he scratched his head.
Cora frowned as she walked in on them. "There you go again! You know, some one has to stand up for Uran when you start barking on her Astro."
"I wasn't barking on her." Astro said turning his head. "I was speaking from experience."
"And you think you're a perfect angel?" Cora snorted back. "Do I have to remind you of your own history of screw ups?"
Astro smirked. "When I do them, they're screw ups. When she does anything wrong? It's a disaster. There is a difference you know."
Doctor O'Shay laughed. "Don't blame him for all of it Cora. I accept my responsibility, after all I made Uran and programmed her to be a challenge to Astro. Perhaps it's time I amended her programming to match the progress of her growth?"
Astro chuckled. "Then I'll have nothing to do in my spare time. Unless….Cora stops ignoring me and takes me out on a date?" Astro slid around on the bed till he was hanging halfway off trying to give his best "cute face" smile…"Well? Tell me you can resist the blinding power of my cuteness?"
Cora smirked, reached for an open bottle of ranch salad dressing and squirted a good handful into Astro's face!
"Does that mean no Doctor?" Astro asked as he watched Cora walk out while wiping the dressing from his face.
"Actually my boy it's a sort of yes. Now if you can get her to squirt you with ketchup? Things will look very promising!"
Tokyo Hands Department Store
Machida
Late Afternoon
Uran made a pucker with her lips then stood back to look at Miko with a tilted head and a quizzling face…"I dunno…maybe I'm not the right person to talk about lip stick?"
"Do you think it matches my cheeks? Or my shirt?" Miko replied as she pointed.
"Uhhh….It's a little closer to your shirt. Is that rose pink or cherry pink?" Uran said as she played with another lip stick case. "What do you think Houdini?"
"You're asking the bird?" Miko snorted.
"I told you artsy stuff is difficult for robots." Uran said as she went around her own lips then stood back contorting her face. "I don't think Ice Blue fits me."
"That's like the twentieth color you've tried silly, let me pick one." Miko said as she did Uran's lips. "Jasmine Jade…now that looks cute."
Uran looked puzzled. "How do you define cute anyway? Girls have like multi-layer cute to think about. Should I look cute because of my dad? My brother? You? It's like you can look at it two thousand ways!"
The girls finished with the make-up isle and walked over to dresses and socks. "Boys of course." Miko said with a smirk. "You wanna look cute so boys will oogle over you, buy you things and cry when you dump em."
Uran skimmed a hand through a row of dresses, occasionally pulling one out and holding it in front of her. "Oogle or non-Oogle?"
Miko stood flicking her lip. "Uh, uh…very un-Oogly. The skirt's kinda long."
Uran giggled. "I want to look cute, not give Doctor O'Shay a heart attack." She said as she found one with a rose pink bottom and a white top with red trims. "Now this! This is so me!"
Miko showed one she picked out. "I like the Levis top don't you?"
"Too many beads and studs." Uran replied. "And your Mom might not like the "pillow kitten" embroider on the back."
"Oh!" Miko suddenly noised glowingly as she pulled out another skirt and shirt set. "Look at this! Remember the little kitten on Bugs Bunny? The one with the big bull dog?"
Uran read the wording. "Cute-e-kitten." And nodded with excitement. "Oh yes! It's got way so much Oogle factor!" Then she drooped. "How do you judge Oogle factor?"
Miko lightly slapped her off the head. "Dufus! I thought I taught you?"
"You make it sound so complicated though." Uran replied. "Let's go check out the next floor up? I want some ideas to add to my room."
On the floor above…Hamegg was comparing electronics parts in one sales section while sweeping his eyes around the floor trying to find a robot he could work with. Problem was, none of the robots he saw could match what Tenma had built. He found what grace had asked for, a spool of copper wire, and walked towards the escalator to leave when screamed erupted from across the floor!
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Screamed a young man as he ran through the aisles throwing shelves and people behind him to slow the cop that was chasing him! Hamegg dove for the floor as the guy wheeled about, pulled a revolver and let off a pair of shots that forced the cop to roll and crash into a sales bin!
Uran and Miko were about half way up the escalator when the creep bounded down the down side knocking people around as he went! He crashed into a woman holding a baby and sent them tumbling down the moving stairs as he leaped into a flying airborne run above them!
"Uran turned about and watched as the baby, wrapped in a thick woven blanket, fell to the base of the escalator and became trapped as the revolving staircase began to eat the end of it!
She was up and over the rail without another thought, her mind already deciding what to do. Uran landed on the other escalator and snatched the handrail, squeezing it into a crush grip and giving it a quick violent tug!
From inside the escalator came noises of snapping chains, shattering gear works and blown electrical fuses as the whole works came to a stop. Uran hopped up and ran down the hand railing, her eyes focusing on the thief as he ran for the front exit of the store. As she leaped off the edge of the staircase railing, Uran snatched a makeup case from a startled girl, locked onto the thief with her eyes and threw the disk shaped case through the air like a rifle bullet!
It caught him in the back and flipped him like a pinwheel to the floor! Uran was running for him as he stumbled to get back up…" Nine O'Clock express coming through!" She screamed, oh she was so going to tackle this creep!
Not so as a police officer suddenly flew in front of her face and creamed the crook from the side, plowing him into a store display and knocking his lights out.
"What?! That's not fair! He was mine!" Uran snorted as the officer stood handcuffing the thief and yanking him off the display.
"Afternoon Uran." Said Sergeant Deutadi. "Nice assist. Where's your brother?"
"My bother?" Uran replied groaning. "I do all the work and still his name comes up, don't I get any credit?"
"Don't blow a gasket, I just thought he'd be around." Deutadi said.
Just then, a man dressed in a business suit showed up and from the color of his face, he wasn't at all pleased. "Young lady! Do you know how much damage you just caused my store?!"
"Not really." Uran replied. "I was too busy stopping this dumb guy." She said as she pointed to the thief.
"I'll have you know that the escalator you broke costs ten thousand dollars!" The man snapped. "You're going to pay for it!"
Deutadi got in front of Uran. "In case you didn't see it Sir? This little robot saved a baby from being seriously injured by "Your escalator", which seems to lack a required safety guard at the base of it. Now if I were you? I'd be fortunate that you might walk away without getting your butt sued off if not being sited, fined or jailed for violating city safety ordinances?"
Deutadi looked back at Uran. "The department's been looking for this rat by the way and it just so happens that there is a ten thousand dollar reward, which will cover the escalator damage just nicely…don't you agree Uran?"
Uran frowned stiffly. "Yeah…I guess it will." She turned about and caught up with Miko as she ran up. "Hmph…I got jipped."
"That….was sooooo cool!" Miko said almost giggling. "You should have seen yourself Uran! You were like hanging in mid air when you whipped that compact! It was…it was poetry in motion…shear elegance, absolute oogleness…."
"I got jipped!" Uran snapped. "When ever my brother does anything? There's a camera! He saves a puppy, there's a camera. He stops a bank robbery, there's a camera. He helps a little old lady across the street, there's a camera!"
"Me?....Crickets….nadda….zilch….nothing." Uran stood brooding with a face like Lucy Van Pelt till a woman ran up behind her and scooped her up!
"Thank you, thank you, thank you oh you beautiful, wonderful little girl!" The woman said as she hugged and snuggled Uran like crazy. "She saved my baby!"
Camera flashes went off from several reporters and Uran turned to Miko with a look of needed support. "You were saying?" Miko asked as Uran was dying from being covered in lip stick.
"This is so embarrassing…my brother gets better pictures than this!"
"You said you wanted to be the hero for once didn't you?" Miko replied laughing as Uran talked herself away from the crowd and followed her friend out of the store.
"Well duh! But being covered in lipstick smootches wasn't what I was hoping for." Uran said as she and Miko stopped every few steps to look into the small one story shops they were passing by.
If Uran was hoping to have been noticed, she certainly was by Hamegg. He followed a few steps behind, still entranced by how fast the little girl bot moved. "Nice! Maybe this is where my luck will change for the better? A little smooth talk and I could have her eating out of my hands and into my tool box."
Doctor O'Shay's House
Dinner time
Nora was setting the table when Astro trudged in wearing a pair of silly "Loon E Toons" slippers and poked his head into the fridge behind her.
"Well…finally up and around!" Nora said as she clapped her hands together. "Are you feeling better?"
Astro looked back at her as he held a package of mini-hamburgers in his hand. "Well… sort of. I really shouldn't be up like this but I'm getting cranky being waited on."
Astro popped the burgers into the micro-wave. "Has Uran called?"
"Called no." Nora replied. "On the evening news? Yes."
"Huh?" Astro noised. "The news?"
"She stopped a robber today all by herself. Broke an escalator in the process though."
Astro glowed. "Now that's my Sister! And she complains I show boat too much. I still think I should check on her, just to make sure she's alright."
Astro had just sat down to eat his burgers when Nora slapped a set of handcuffs on his wrist. "Hey!"
"Don't you start having any crazy ideas." Nora warned. "Uran can take care of herself. You're still recovering."
Astro miffed. "A walk isn't gonna kill me."
"What do I have to do to you? Tie you up?" Nora snorted.
"You've been watching hentai again haven't you?" Astro replied smirking. Nora slapped him hard off the head.
"Get back to bed and behave yourself?" Nora replied sternly.
6pm
Machida Ginza
Uran and Miko were comparing trinkets and ear rings at a girl's accessory shop when a short dumpy man in a suit walked up to them. "Excuse me? Might you be the robot who thrashed that crook in Tokyo Hands this afternoon?"
Uran turned from the mirror she was looking into. Mister T couldn't have topped the amount of chains and excessive toy jewelry hanging on, off and around Uran's neck and ears. She gave the giggling Miko a little slap on the shoulder. "Yeah! Let me guess, you want my autograph?"
Hamegg shook his head. "No…I want you. Elmo Gluepinski, television producer. What you did young lady was impressive. You have the makings of a big star and I have the talent to get you there!"
Uran looked at his card and smirked. "There's like 50 shows on TV right now with big robots! Besides, if you want a big star, you could ask my brother."
"Astro?" Hamegg questioned. "Tell me one television show right now that has a cute little girl robot who fights crime and bad guys? You could be the next Hanna Banana, Sabrina, hmmm…Buffy would be a total wuss compared to you. I can tell you have natural born talent."
Miko stood back making faces and shaking her head. "I think he's totally lying. We better go Uran."
"Now hold on young lady!" Hamegg said as he blocked them off. "You want proof of who I am? Call this number tomorrow morning and arrange a meeting through my secretary. What harm can it do? If it's not for you just don't make the appointment, that simple."
Miko and Uran walked out of the small shop with Uran studying the business card. "Don't tell me you fell for that?" Miko said. "He looks like a creep!"
"I dunno." Uran replied. "It is a nice card. Why not look into it?"
"Why not wrap a gift bow around your head and just jump in his lap? For a robot Uran, you can be so empty headed." Miko said pursing her lips.
"Hmph! Maybe you're a little jealous that I got noticed?" Uran said crossing her arms.
"What ever. It's starting to get late anyway so are we going to the movies or are you going to stand there and pose all night?"
"Will you quit it?!" Uran protested. "Better hope I remember you when I become a television star you know."
Miko pursed her lips as the girls walked towards the theater. "Your head is way too big for your brain, did you know that?"
"Hmph!" Uran huffed back. "My cranial structure is perfectly suited thank you very much!"
Old Mishu Toy factory
Machida
Grace was welding something on a steel work table when Hamegg came walking in cheerfully singing and dancing to himself. She raised her dark goggles and smirked sarcastically…"What? The Sake was that good?"
"No my dear mechanical genius, I found something better." Hamegg replied evilly as he dropped a picture on the table. "Take a look at this cutie."
Grace snorted. "Wow. Big deal. You know you could get tossed in jail for stalking little kids like this?"
Hamegg smirked. "Grace…this little girl's a power packing piston of perpetual potential mayhem. What I saw made my toes curl and my heart jump for joy. I tell ya Grace? With my superior intellect and your nimble hands why we could take this little tike and turn her into an Astro bashing jugernaught."
Grace waved a glove. "Oh? And like Astro's gonna sit back and let this happen? Uh duh!"
"Doubtful Thomas." Hamegg snorted. "By the time he finds out, we'll have her eating out of our hands. And do you think Astro will do anything to his little sister? Oh to see the look on O'Shay's face let alone that jerk Tenma's when Astro's getting his clock royally cleaned by my newest creation."
Hamegg turned from his jovial celebration to see Grace thumbing through a phone book. "What are you doing?"
"Looking for someone to insure "acts of insanity"."
"Bah! This coming from a 9-year old with a chain saw. Give me that! I swear it's so hard to find a good confident side kick these days."
Machida Movie House
9pm
Uran and Miko left the movies with Uran still munching away on a bag of popcorn. "I really don't know why I'm eating this." Uran said as she shoveled through the bag. "Oh! Must be the prize at the bottom! Lickable tattoos."
Miko was still off in another world…"Mmmm….Brad Pitt…." She hugged her little rabbit and giggled. "Wasn't he so dreamy as Prince Lear?"
"I bet you don't remember anything about the movie." Uran snorted. "All I heard from you was your lips quivering every time he said something."
Miko slapped Uran off the shoulder. "Well look at you! Every 5 seconds you kept making stupid comments! "They can't do that, that's so illogical, that's scientifically impossible…" You almost got us thrown out!"
"Can I help it if I have to state the obvious? I'm a robot, it's a fault of my programming."
"You're an airhead and that's a fault of you being Uran period." Miko said snickering.
Just then, Uran held a finger up. "Shhh…do you hear that?"
"The air escaping from your empty head?" Miko asked.
Uran started walking around with her head craning from side to side. "You don't hear that crying?"
"I don't have radar ears." Miko said as she stood still. "You know what? I can hear it now."
Sure enough, Uran knelt down on the sidewalk and listened to a nearby sewer grate. "That's a kitten!"
Miko watched as Uran snatched the drain grate and threw it over her head. "Now wait! You're not going to climb into that are you?"
Uran did a double take and started tossing her clothes into Miko's chest. "Are you nuts! You're going to get us in trouble!"
"Oh please." Uran snorted back. "Last time I checked…hello….robot!"
"Gnah! That's not the point!" Miko paniced aloud. "You're not supposed to go down there!"
Uran stopped, looked around and smiled. "Uh….robot laws and crying kitten…blame my programming."
Miko slapped her head and winced. "Just hurry up!"
Two minutes later…all the power in the block of houses suddenly went off!
"Oops!" Uran's voice suddenly came from the sewer. "Silly me…touched a ground."
Miko was shaking sweat when Uran finally emerged again with the kitten all but wrapped around her head. "Tah dah! Kitten!"
"Tah dah….airhead!" Miko replied as she snatched Uran by the hand and ran down the street to escape the sounds of oncoming sirens.
Doctor O'Shay's house
9pm
"Fump, fump, fump, fump…..wooosh!.....swish!"
"Fump, fump, fump, fump…..wooosh!.....swish!"
Reno stood to the side and watched Astro run back and forth with a basketball in the Doctor's driveway. "You're better! Of course you still can't go anywhere till the new heat-sink dampeners come in to replace the one's you blew out so don't push it."
Astro stopped to slowly dribble the ball around. "The Captain?" He asked.
"Grounded." Reno replied.
" Ken? Timao? Abercrombie?" Astro asked.
"Uh….cram school…torture by Aunt….grounded." Reno replied.
"The Mamouchi triplets?" Astro asked.
"Hockey trumps your sister." Reno replied. "Plotting to send spies on Uran, aren't you being a serious pain in the booter?"
"You too?" Astro said as he sat on the ground. "Doesn't anybody understand that I'm only being a responsible brother to my sister? I couldn't live with myself if something seriously happened to her."
"Hey look Astro. There comes a time when you have to give a little slack, my robot parents knew that when I turned nine. The more they hovered over me, wanting to protect me from myself? I became an absolute terrorist, out right rebellion! And things turned out ten times worse that whole summer. Uran's not a new off the shelf bot anymore, she needs a little space for herself."
Astro miffed. "I'm controlling?"
Reno nodded. "You're being a jerk."
"If something bad happens, are you willing to make a bet?" Astro said smirking.
"If you don't welsh like the last time." Reno smirked. "If Uran gets in trouble and you have to go save her? I'll wear a girl scout uniform and sell cookies but if she handles it without you? You have to wear a girl's swim suit, with a skirt, and go to every swimming class at school for one day!"
Astro threw his hand out. "Practice your kirtsy daisy scout."
"Better work on those tan lines Princess." Reno snorted as he shook hands.
End chapter 1
