Author's Note: And here's chapter 3! I'm warning you, there is mild language and darkness in this one. XD Good luck and enjoy!
Chapter 3: Overwhelmed
Astro blinked as Lila just smiled at him. "Uh…what exactly are you asking?"
"I asked where your Core was." Lila smiled. "Your stomach?" she guessed.
Astro smiled and shook his head, chuckling a little. "No, guess again."
Blaze answered for Lila. "Is it in your head?"
Astro laughed. "No. Lila? Any more guesses?"
"Abs?" she joked.
"I don't have any abs," Astro laughed. "Fine, do you give up, Lila?"
"Yes." she replied in defeat.
He laughed. "It's where your heart is." Astro pointed at his chest on the right side. "Right here."
Lila face-palmed. "Well… Can't believe I didn't guess that."
"Haha, loser," Blaze laughed. "That was my next guess!"
Lila just glared at her brother, and then turned back to Astro. "Can I see it?"
"I don't know if that would be wise, children," Mr. Mustachio said from a few feet away. "After a scare like that, I don't think his Core should be exposed."
Lila pouted, not hearing Mustachio's comment. "Can I, Astro? Pleeeeaaaaase?"
Something snapped in Astro at that moment, and his eyes narrowed at Lila. "Didn't you hear Mustachio? He said no!" he said flatly.
She raised her hands slowly in mock surrender. "Okay, okay…" Under her breath, she muttered, "Touchy…" But Astro didn't seem to acknowledge it.
Astro grabbed his head and looked at the ground. What is wrong with me?
Blaze held out his hand for Astro to grab. Astro looked up and grabbed for Blaze's hand. Pulling the robot up, Blaze stepped back to his sister. The robot boy rubbed at his temples with his eyes closed for a moment, before opening them again and dropping his hands to his sides. "I'm going to get to class now, and you guys should too."
Lila bit her lip. "Okay…"
Hurrying down the hall, he rounded the corner and quickened his pace. I feel strange... I think I'm malfunctioning. Coming to the hall that lead to his classroom, Astro slowed down. I really need to tell Dad about this, but he won't listen... He sighed and looked around. Where is my class, again?
Locating his classroom, he entered through the door, and was greeted with silence. Well…at least they're not crowding me now… he thought. Very slowly and quietly, he slipped into his desk and sat down, instantly putting his head down on his desk.
The teacher looked at him. "It seems we have a new student…" Astro lifted his head, his face grumpy. "What's your name?"
Astro opened his mouth to answer, but a boy with dark brown hair answered. "Duh! That's the famous Astro Boy!" he replied.
Angry, Astro stood up and glowered at the boy. "He asked me, not you! Got it?!"
The boy nervously nodded as quickly as he could, sinking in his seat as soon as Astro sat back in his desk.
"Well that behavior won't get you anywhere, kid," the teacher told Astro. "Brighten up, will ya?"
Astro just scowled in response to that. What's wrong with me today?! he asked himself angrily. This has definitely got to be a malfunction... Sighing to himself, he added, That's it. I'm telling Dad about this, whether he wants to talk or not.
He sighed and looked back up at the teacher as he began his lesson on science and agriculture. I have to wait until I get home though... I can't ditch class again, Dad would get really upset... Astro scowled. Ah, why should he care?! He didn't care this morning!
Astro's emotions continued to cloud his judgment up until lunchtime. Exiting the room, he sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. I'm not hungry at all today... Even though I only need to eat just a little food a day in order to keep myself growing, 'cause Dad said even I can still grow... He broke off his thoughts and pushed open the door to the lunchroom. I just...don't have an appetite...
He bit his lip. Maybe just a little. For show so people don't worry… Oh, why should I care if people worry?!
Glowering some more, Astro walked in the room with his head down. Sitting down at the table he sat at yesterday, he sat his head on his hand and sighed. So much for that theory...
Lila and Blaze sat with him again, but Lila kept her head down.
"Hi…Astro," Blaze said quietly.
Astro kept ignoring him, staring out the large window on the other side of the room.
Lila shrank in her seat and timidly ate her pizza.
"Hi…" Astro replied through his teeth.
Blaze looked at Lila, who just shrugged and continued chewing. "Are you…okay, Astro?"
"I'm fine!" Astro snapped.
Blaze flinched back, and Lila nearly choked on her pizza. "Dude, what the hell?"
Astro said nothing.
Blaze looked at Lila as she regained her breath. "Something's clearly wrong with him," he murmured to his sister.
Lila scowled. "He can take it away from us, then."
Astro glared at the two of them out of the corner of his eye, and got up with his head down. "I'm going for a walk."
"Bye," Lila replied.
Sending a nasty look back their way, Astro hurried out of the lunchroom and down the hall.
Blaze looked back at Lila with a clear but confused look on his face. "Is he supposed to act that way? Because he wasn't like that before…"
"Don't care," Lila snapped. "We were being nice to him and then he goes and fricking treats us like dogs. Good riddance."
Blaze sighed and sat his face in his hand, watching the door.
Astro hurried down the hallway, his head down and his fists balled up at his sides. What the hell is wrong with me?! Then he stopped dead in his tracks. What did I just think?! Did I just swear? he asked himself. I am definitely malfunctioning…
Looking up, he realized that he had walked outside and was standing on the second set of stairs. I should go to the Ministry and tell Dad…but then again, I don't want to skip any class… He scowled and looked to the ground once more. Who cares if I miss class? What's the point? I already know everything they're teaching… Maybe that Emily girl was right, maybe I do already know everything…
Speaking of Emily, I wonder if she got suspended? He scoffed to himself and smirked. Serves her right.
He blinked. What am I saying? Scuffing his foot on the sidewalk pavement, he looked into the sky. I'm going to the Ministry. He took a deep breath. And I don't care if I skip.
With a huff, Astro jumped into the sky and flew towards the Ministry, his bright blue flames trailing behind him. He's going to listen to me, this time, Astro thought. I'll make him! Flying forward with a burst of speed, Astro raced towards the Ministry building.
We will become one… a voice echoed in his ear.
Astro's eyes slowly turned a dark gray, and his rocket flames slowly became black.
Let us join together… the voice echoed.
"Join…together…" Astro mumbled as he sped towards the Ministry of Science that loomed in the distance.
Yes! We shall be one and you shall finally get the respect these filthy humans owe you!
As Astro reached the building, he plummeted as fast as he could towards the ground, landing with his fist in the pavement, pieces of the ground below him showering down on him. Astro stood up and brushed off his hands while a few scientists looked on in complete and utter shock. "I do deserve respect! I'm more powerful than them," he muttered to himself, his eyes beginning to swirl with a darker black.
You're smarter, too.
"Yeah…smarter." A wide grin threw itself onto Astro's face as he burst through the doors to the Ministry. A dozen scientists immediately stopped what they were doing and stared as he stomped his way inside.
"A-Astro, what's going on?" Dr. Elefun asked from the other side of the room next to the elevator.
Astro simply ignored him and walked past, entering the elevator and going up until he reached the eleventh floor, which his father always worked on. "Dad!" he called sternly.
When his father didn't answer or appear from the room, he became angrier. Dammit! Answer me! He decided to try a different approach. "Tenma!" he shouted.
The large door opened and his father stepped out. "Astro?" he asked.
Astro just stomped over to him. "I've been trying to tell you this for a long time, and you've been ignoring me. I've had enough of it! You treat me like crap!"
Tenma's eyes widened. "A-Astro…"
This man doesn't care for you. No human does! Only I care… You must eliminate this man! Immediately! Before he corrupts you! Remember, Astro, this man is below you. He's dirt! Trash! Human! the voice snarled.
Astro zoned out once more. "Humans…trash…" he murmured.
Tenma furrowed his brow. "Astro? What's wrong? What are you saying?"
Astro's eyes slowly trained onto Tenma's face, and his father finally realized that they weren't normally colored. "A-Astro?! Your eyes! What's going on?!"
"Humans are trash," he said, his voice sounding more robotic-like. "You must be eliminated!" With lightning-fast speed, Astro lifted his arm - which in turn changed into an arm cannon - and took aim at Tenma. A dark black energy surged in the cannon, and quickly, Tenma leaped to the side. Astro's cannon blast ripped a hole in the laboratory doors, causing debris to fly everywhere and the fire alarms to go off.
Tenma panted. This wasn't like Astro… He had to snap him out of it! "Astro! Stop it! This is nonsense!" his father shouted above the alarm.
Astro turned his head and aimed for Tenma again. His father scrambled to his feet and missed blast number two by a hair - literally. Tenma brushed off the smoke coming from his head.
"You are not worthy…" Astro mumbled. "Must eliminate!"
Before Astro could fire, a few scientists came up behind Astro and whacked him over the head with a fire extinguisher. Unfazed by this attack, Astro whipped around and aimed for the scientists. All three of them panicked and ran off, while another black energy blast surged through the window and shattered it to pieces.
Tenma snuck up behind the robot and grabbed his shoulders. He forced him to look at him. "Astro! This is not you! Calm yourself!"
As his father shook him, Astro just continued to stare blankly into his eyes. "Broken…" his voice rang out, distorted. "I'm broken…"
Tenma frowned. "Let's get you fixed up." Tenma grabbed a hold of Astro's hand and pulled, but he wouldn't budge. "Astro, come on!" But the robot continued to be a statue. "Snap out of it, son! Do I have to hit you?!"
Astro whipped his head up to stare at Tenma, his eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare touch me!" Astro hissed, removing himself from his father's grasp and pointing the cannon at his face.
Tenma didn't budge as Astro powered up his cannon. "Is this what you truly want, Astro?"
Astro's cannon continued to power up, but his eye twitched a little. "Eliminate…humans…broken…"
"To kill your own father? And then slowly begin to kill off the entire human race?" Tenma continued.
Astro's eye began twitching more, and his arm faltered, his cannon slowly powering down. "I'm sorry, Dad…" he whispered. His eyes closed abruptly and he fell to the floor. Astro's father held out his arms to quickly catch the robot.
With a sigh, Tenma stood. "Let's see what's wrong, shall we?" Turning around and going back into the lab - despite the broken-ness of the eleventh floor of the Ministry and the alarms going off - Tenma held his robot son with a fatherly gentleness as he brought him over to the lab table on the other side of the room.
Tenma hadn't found anything strange in the boy's circuits. Nothing that could possibly have caused his odd behavior… Currently, Astro was in a jail cell. He had been put in police custody.
Tenma entered the prison escorted by a guard. The guard took him straight to Astro's cell. Astro sat in the back of the cell facing the wall in the corner, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees, his head down. "Astro?" his father called gently.
Astro turned his head slightly, revealing his tear-filled eyes. Seeing his robot son cry made Tenma's heart break. Tenma pressed his hands up against the cell doors. "I'm going to get you out, don't worry, son," he murmured to him. "Your bail is a little higher than I'd like, but I'm trying to get the money."
Slowly, Astro got to his feet and turned to face Tenma. "Don't even bother, Dad. I belong in here."
Tenma shook his head. "I'll fix whatever's broken…"
Astro looked at the ground for a moment before replying, "I think I'm malfunctioning… I've been having these weird…voices in my head, and every time I do, I just…black out." Astro returned his gaze to his father, who looked at him with sad eyes.
"Don't worry," his father repeated. "I will get you out of there. A hero of Metro City shouldn't be in a jail cell."
Astro gave him a small smile. "Th-thank you…"
Tenma returned the smile. "Don't thank me, son. It's a promise." And with that, Tenma left Astro alone in the cell.
Astro sighed sitting back down in the corner, but this time he was facing towards the bars of the cell. A cockroach crawled over him, but he didn't mind it. The prison was on the Surface after all; of course there would be bugs. I just hope that whatever those scientists claimed I did doesn't happen again… Astro thought to himself.
Are you sure? What you did was honorable. The voice was back…
Astro grabbed the sides of his head, the ringing returning. Why won't you leave me alone? You're making me hurt the people I love! And you made me go to prison for it!
You love humans? It's a shame you love at all.
Astro frowned. What do you mean? I know I'm a robot, but I have emotions just like normal humans. He sighed and wrapped his arms around his knees again, lowering his head onto them. I just…wish I wasn't…so weird. I wish I were normal. I wish I were human…
The voice cackled. You want to be human? Haha! That's a good one!
Astro scowled at nothing in particular. What's wrong with wanting to be human? I was human once, but it…just wasn't me, but yet again it was…He broke off and looked out the small window to his left, seeing Metro City outside with all the hover cars driving on the highway, and the high-speed train zooming past on the tracks. He sighed. When you're human, you're actually treated like a person, and not some machine… Thinking back to Emily in the class the other day, he looked back at the ground. And no one will hate you because you're a machine…
Emily was a damn fool. Forget her.
But how can I forget? She called me a filthy robot… Astro's eyes began to tear up. I just wish I were human…then maybe people would get along with me better…
Haha! Humans are fools!
Astro just ignored the voice, his tears falling onto his knees. My father… I miss my father… he thought, sobbing to himself.
Your father is a fool.
My father created me! Astro shouted at the voice. My father loves me!
The voice snorted. Your 'father' doesn't love you. Look at the way he treated you before!
Yes, but that was before he finally accepted me, Astro replied.
And you're going to believe that now? the voice asked.
Astro simply ignored the voice and continued sobbing in the corner of his cell.
Blaze sighed as he sat in class, doodling on his deskpad. It had been a day since he saw Astro last, and he was getting worried. Of course, Lila was still angry. Blaze looked over at his sister as she scowled to herself. She seemed really upset…
"Okay, kids. Go ahead and work on your projects," the teacher said with a smile. "Pick your partners and remember, have fun and work hard!"
Blaze rolled his eyes and looked back at Lila. Opening his mouth to say something, he was interrupted by his sister.
"I don't want to work on the project," she grumbled. "And I don't want to work with you."
Blaze frowned. "Jeez, what did I do to you?"
"Shut up!" she hissed.
Blaze flinched. "Are…are you still upset about…Astro?"
"What do you think?!" she snarled.
Blaze sank in his seat and frowned sadly. I don't really understand why she's so upset… he thought to himself as he glanced in her direction once more. Just then, an idea occurred to him, and he rose his hand.
"Yes, Blaze?" the teacher asked.
Lowering his hand, Blaze asked, "Could I use the restroom, please?"
The teacher nodded slightly, and Blaze took off from the room. Heading down the hall and passing the bathrooms, he continued towards the supply closet where he and Lila found Astro at least twice before. There's got to be something there that's causing Astro to act like this. Even Lila said there was something bad in that room, and I've been wanting to check it out ever since.
But when he pressed the button to open the door…it didn't open.
Blaze pressed his face up against the Plexiglas to look into the room. Come on, you piece of junk! Blaze growled to himself, continuously pressing the button.
Yet the door still remained closed.
Scowling, Blaze pressed his face back up against the glass and looked around. There was nothing peculiar about the interior, although he did receive a strange feeling from the room. Something told him he should leave, but he was way too curious to leave his mission. Pressing the button on the door once more, it finally slid open. Finally! Blaze shouted in his head.
Cautiously stepping inside the storage room, he looked around curiously. About a hundred boxes were still in the large closet, all rotting and full of dust. Sheesh, now I can understand why this place was scheduled for demolition… The feeling grew stronger, but he still ignored it.
Hesitantly, he continued forward until he was near the back of the closet. He saw what looked like a pale light. He blinked and it was gone.
That was…strange… Blaze thought, blinking again and again to see if it would come back. Curious, he headed over to the box where he saw the pale glow come from, and looked inside. There was a container inside with a dark, black ball inside it. Blaze curled his hand into a fist, looked at it, and compared it to the ball. Wow, it's almost as big as my hand… he thought. I wonder what it is? Blaze reached down inside the box and grabbed the container from the box, bringing it out into the open and observing it.
It shocked him. Literally.
"Ow!" Blaze yelped, nearly dropping the container. He caught it just as it almost hit the ground. What is with this black thing?!
Blaze studied the black ball some more, looking at it at every angle. It was interesting to look at, because it was a dark gray with black swirls, and looking at the black swirls made Blaze think of shadows. It certainly had a strange pull to it.
I wonder why the people that used to work here just left this thing in this box… Blaze thought, tipping the container upside down to see if it had any writing on it - which it didn't. I better hold onto it, just in case. And with that, Blaze hid the container in his hoodie and hurried out of the closet.
As soon as he got back to class, Lila scooted away from him. "There's a dark aura coming from you…"
Blaze glanced at Lila and swallowed nervously. "Wh-what do you mean?"
Lila scowled. "Take off the hoodie."
Blaze's eyes went off in every direction. "U-uh…no! I'm chilly."
"Misfortune will come to you until you take it off," Lila hissed.
Blaze protectively held onto his chest. "No! I'm not taking it off." Just then, rain began pounding onto the roof of the building.
Lila frowned. "You'll bring misfortune to us all."
"How?!" Blaze nearly shouted. "Because I won't take off my hoodie?!"
"Settle down, children," the teacher sighed, continuing on with her reading.
"It's something in your hoodie! I don't know what, but it wasn't there before!" Lila hissed.
"No!" Blaze hissed, pulling away from his sister.
"You look fat! I know there's something in there, and I will have it!" Lila hissed back, tugging on her brother.
"Get off me!" Blaze shouted, jumping out of his seat. "God, you're such a brat!"
Lila's mouth hung open as Blaze continued. "I'm sick of your dumb cards, and I'm sick of your stupid bratty attitude. Just leave. Me. ALONE!"
As soon as Blaze shouted the last few words, thunder rumbled directly overhead, shaking the entire building and scaring everyone but him. Frowning with hatred, Blaze scrambled from the room and ran down the hallway.
Lila scowled. First Astro was acting weird, and now her own brother… Something was very wrong about this.
And she was going to find out what.
Author's Note: :o Oh jeez, what's up with Blaze? He be angry guise. XDDD And Astro! He almost hurt a human! :o
Review! :3 Please?
