Chapter One: April 3rd - No Road is Completely Smooth

Dr. Elefun had just sat there, arms crossed, grimace crossing his features, and thoughts running through his head unevenly like a marathon.

He remembered looking out of the window, thinking about how beautifully the window had reflected the flowers of the sunset. They bloomed pink, mauve, violet, grass green, cerulean, and millions of other shades of the sunset only an artist could name. He also remembered the smile from two boys, one looking mostly like the other. They had both, at one point, warmed up the day by just smiling. The white-haired man just felt even more guilty, even though he shouldn't have. He looked at the dark sky, just above the sunset, determination glinting brightly in his large, childish eyes. He would do it, all for him.

And this time, not even Dr. Tenma would stop him.

--

The sun blazed in a sea of blue, a few small wisps of white scattered about here and there the only thing marring the sky. The people took practically no notice of the sky as they went about their lives. The many robots in Metro City, too, paid the sky no heed as they followed their programming, performing many varied jobs.

It was a typical day in the city.

The only difference was that the city no longer floated in the sky. The people, still living within the city, had adjusted quickly to living on the surface. The only thing that was different for them were the few people that came into the city that had lived on the surface before the city fell.

For Astro, life had almost gone back to the way it was before. Even though he was not really Toby, Dr. Tenma had accepted Astro as his son and Astro had happily moved back home. Orrin had eagerly welcomed the robot boy back and was glad to see the good relationship between father and son. He had been pleasantly surprised the first time Astro's friends had visited, but they had been quite friendly towards him, exactly like Astro had treated him on their first day together.

Cora, Zane and the others had been shocked at the fact that Bill Tenma was Astro's father. Hamegg had always cast Dr. Tenma in a bad light whenever he spoke of him, so they were a little nervous upon meeting him properly - in his own house, no less! Their meeting with the brilliant scientist had gone well and their slight fear of him had disappeared. They visited often and Astro had never been happier.

Things had become quite peaceful after the Peacekeeper was destroyed and that giant floating sphere with tentacles had been taken care of. Dr. Tenma had let Astro go to school after the robot had pleaded with him. Life was good.

The black haired boy walked to the school feeling a little unusual. Small glitches would appear across his visual screen sometimes, blinding him. Occasionally, he would catch Cora staring at him, and started wondering if they were visual to everyone else. The teacher had given them a timed pop quiz, and Astro had missed a question when another glitch ran over his eyes. The teacher called him over at the end of class, and, being surprised, asked Astro, "Are you okay?"

Astro looked up, nodded, and smiled, "Yes. There's no need to worry." He waved, running outside and into the air. Halfway to his home, one of his rocket boosters stuttered, making him lose altitude, and crash into a small field of violets swaying. Astro pulled himself up, grimacing. He hadn't been braced for his fall, and, in turn, had been hurt a little more than he would've liked. His right arm had lost it's sleeve, and some of the skin had been scratched off, revealing the complex wire assortment underneath.

Ow, geez, he winced. He grabbed his arm, attempting to keep hold of it, because no artificial skin was holding the wires together. Maybe... he thought, Maybe I should just... go to Dad's. He walked in the opposite direction of where he originally intended. Astro felt a little dizzy, and a few times more, he had seen the glitches. He walked to the center of the field and dropped to his knees. He looked up, feeling like maybe he should've cursed the sun and his long-sleeved shirt. Astro thought that maybe the world was spinning because he felt light-headed and saw the sun going around in circles, but he quickly realized, when his head crashed against the ground, that he was the one falling. He quickly faded when a violet touched his nose.

-
Cora, Sludge, and Zane had all promised to go to Dr. Tenma's to surprise Astro. In a few days, it would be his fourteenth birthday-April seventh. They had quickly agreed when Dr. Tenma had explained his idea for Astro's birthday present. Cora was in the lead, followed by Zane, who was followed slowly by Sludge, who, being a light person, his hoverboard wouldn't go as fast. Tears were brought to Zane's eyes from the wind, despite going slowly. He tried wiping his eyes on his sleeve, so he could see, and when he opened his eyes widely to see if they were gone, he saw a small hole in the ground.

"Cora!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He didn't know if Cora had heard him, or if she had seen the hole, too, because a few seconds later, she had come to rest at the same spot Zane was. Sludge had come a little later.

"Whoa..." Cora breathed. "Talk about crash site."

"You mean Astro site," corrected Zane. Cora looked in his direction, then at the place where his finger was pointing. Cora gasped and ran over to a small black spot nearly covered by the purple flowers.

"Astro?" Cora asked, unsure of what to do. He was lying on his left side, his left arm slacking on holding up his right. His eyes were closed, his arm was torn, and his sleeve was ripped off at the seams.

He looks so innocent... Cora thought, reaching for him, and then paused, eyes wide. What did I just think?

She had touched his shoulderblade, and a small rev of a motor started up. Astro had gotten up, supporting himself on his left hand.

He looked up at Cora, unseeing, glowing blue eyes staring through her. Then he blinked once, twice, and his blue eyes faded down to brown. "Huh?"

"What happened, Astro?" Cora asked, evident worry replacing her normal sense of humor. Astro looked down at his arm and got up, crossing his legs, and resting his right arm on his knee. He looked back up at the three humans when he found a comfortable position.

"I'm... I'm really not sure..." he admitted. "Oh, well. I'll get it checked out when I get home. After I get this fixed first. I'm sure that whatever it is, it'll just be something small that I can easily get rid of." He smiled and prepared to blast off, when Cora held him down. He screamed, his eye partially open at the pain.

"Uh-huh," Cora scolded, letting go of his arm, "I thought so. You're in no condition to 'blast off' anywhere! Now get on this hoverboard!"

"But-!"

"No 'buts'! Get on! We are driving you to Dr. Tenma's!"

Astro's eyes faltered, closing for a few seconds, and then he slid to his knees. Cora thought she had broken him for a moment. Then his eyes flickered open again, glowing... red?... and he walked a few more feet, slowly being called after.

"Astro!" Cora yelled. He stopped, and turned his head. His glowing red eyes had rested on her, glaring, and he wasn't smiling.

"What do you want?" he spat scornfully but calmly. Cora flinched at his harsh tone.

"Are you okay, Astro?" Zane asked, tugging on his left sleeve. Astro looked at him, his eyes glowing blue then brown again.

"What? Why wouldn't I be?" he asked, cocking his head to the side like a cat.

Well, that was weird, Cora thought, did I maybe make him mad? She mentally whimpered at the thought.

"Is Cora okay?" Astro asked, still holding up his arm. His arm slipped a little, and he silently screamed. "I have to go; this is actually starting to hurt." He fake-smiled and ran in the direction of the Ministry of Science.

"Wow," Sludge sighed, "What was that about? Makes you wonder what his issue was, doesn't it, Cora?"

-

"What'd you do, To-Astro?" Dr. Tenma asked. He was currently winding the wires back into place, and fitting small pieces of adhesive to the skin. It was a delicate task, made more so by the fact that Dr. Tenma was trying to avoid causing Astro any pain while repairing him.

Astro looked up at him, still slightly confused on the matter himself. "I... I don't know," he replied honestly, and added an "I'm not lying!" when his father raised an eyebrow. He just held Astro's arm.

I'm wondering myself, too... he thought. I remember those little glitches. And on my way home, my rocket boosters gave out. Cora, Zane, and Sludge were all leaning over me, I talked to them, and then blacked out... And then when I could see again, Cora looked sad. What was going on?

Astro flinched in pain, and looked at the tear in his arm. He thought about telling Dr. Tenma about the glitches and the stuttering but decided against it.

He walked out thirty minutes later, greeted by a glittering, colorful twilight. The last of the colors melted away, but he couldn't see the stars. The only place he could was in the Junkyard. He just floated over to one of the giant pile of robot parts, on the outskirts of the city, and sat down. The Junkyard was a special place to Astro; it was here that he had met his friends. It admittedly hadn't been a very good or smooth meeting, but the place held a lot of sentimental value to Astro. It was also here that he had acquired the name Astro, given to him by the Robot Revolutionary Front. Astro looked at the sky, still wondering what he had originally always wondered; what star had he come from? They all looked alike in a way, some different colors, different brightness, different shapes and sizes, but in the long run, they were alike.

He didn't notice Cora on a junk-heap just a few feet away from him, facing the city. "Why was Astro mad at me? Did I... do something wrong?" she asked herself. Cora remembered the blank look Astro had given her when he had awoken in the field; his blue gaze had frightened her. It was not the fact that his eyes had been completely glowing blue, Cora was too used to robots to let such a trivial thing bother her, it was the uncomprehending stare that the blue eyes had given her. She shook her head, not noticing that Astro was only a few feet away from her, getting up to go home.

Floating slowly off the pile, Astro landed as soon as he was able in case his jets stuttered again. A tiny glitch hit him, not only obscuring his vision for a split second, but also making his newly repaired arm twitch like a small muscle spasm. Casting a last glance at the star-spangled sky, Astro walked off in the direction his house was. Walking slowly annoyed him a bit, but he didn't want to risk flying again. Crashing once today was enough.

When Astro reached his house, feelings of guilt welled up inside him for some odd unknown reason. Shaking away the guilty feeling as best he could, Astro went to his room, got changed and gratefully flopped onto his bed. He lay under his covers, willing sleep to come so he could get up in the morning, go to school, come home, and do some afternoon activity on the spur of the moment. His eyes closed and in a faded voice, he heard a girl say, "Maybe I'll just... ask him tomorrow..." and fade into his dreams.

--

FantomoDrako: Hello fellow AB fans! I find it a shame that so many dislike the movie. I didn't like all the politics in it either, but it was a good movie. If you don't like it, that s fine, but please don't press your views onto others. Everyone has their own opinion.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this movie-based fic by XTAIGAX and myself! Please review, feedback is a great way to improve one s writing. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

XTAIGAX: Wow, good job, FantomoDrako! You actually got my crappy story to sound good... And raised it like a thousand words!