7: ANYTHING TO SAVE YOU
BRING! BRING! BRING!
Astro quickly flipped out his mobile in mid flight, soaring over the buildings of Metro City. Pulling it to his ear, he struggled to yell over the wind.
"Yeah?" he called.
"ASTRO! I NEED HELP HERE!" he jolted to Cora's desperate voice. Accelerating, he reached the massive junk mounds of the Surface.
"What's going on?" he asked sternly.
"IT'S ZOG!" she gasped out, and he could hear debris being thrown and loud smashes. He frowned.
"Zog? What's wrong with him?"
"I HAVE NO IDEA! OH MY GO-"
And the line went dead.
Body almost shaking from fear and urgency, Astro forced his rockets to go faster, and soon he was shooting past the old Robot Games arena. Flipping under the rusty red bridge, he finally slowed down just outside Hamegg's, coming to a landing by the car. Already he could hear the smashing and thundering steps from the other side that could only be coming from Zog. Stepping light-footed, Astro dashed into the building and raced down a small hall way, coming to a stop in the main room. He had to stop himself for a second, upon seeing the completely empty mess-hall. It was un-recognizable, and had an icy feel to it.
Right...Astro thought, frowning. This place shut down...
Shaking to his senses he sprinted across the room and zoomed out the door, almost knocking it out of its frame whilst doing so. He came to a stop outside as he found himself in front of the swirling slide connected to the bridge.
No noise.
No movement.
His brow creased. "I'm sure it was out her-WHOA!" he let out a yelp as he felt himself be tugged viciously down against the wall. He blinked a couple of times, looking into Cora's scared eyes. He felt himself fill with relief.
"Cora!" he gasped. She shot a hand over his mouth.
"Shhh!" she hissed. Astro frowned, moving her hand off.
"What's going on?" he whispered. "You said something about-"
"Zog! He's gone psycho!" Cora screamed, a tear streaming down her face. "I was here to give him his wash over, but when I tried he simply wouldn't wake up! But when I went to check his oil levels he suddenly activated and made me fall of his shoulder!" she grabbed her arm, wincing a bit. Astro's eyes widened.
"Your arm! It's hurt!" he gasped.
"No DUH its hurt! That thing is like ten meters tall!" she screeched. "Something's wrong- this black glow is around him," she finished with a shaky gasp. Astro felt his body freeze up.
"Black...mist...black..." he murmured. Cora frowned, edging closer to her best friend.
"What do you think it-"
THUMMM...
The two both gasped as they heard the thundering foot step. Cora's breath quickened, and Astro's arms tensed.
THUMMM...
It was just from the other side of the building. More tears flooded onto Cora's cheeks. She took a raspy breath in.
"W-what do we do?" she asked. Astro didn't answer, staring at the ground. "We can't hurt him," she whispered, her voice anxious.
THUMM...
The robot frowned more, his eyes wondering slightly. Cora froze. "Astro, we CAN'T HURT HIM," she repeated.
"We CAN, Cora. You just don't want to." He answered. The teen was horrified.
"Astro, you are not attacking Zog! He's our friend!" she hissed, clenching his shoulder. The boy finally looked to her.
THUMM...
"I'll do whatever it takes, okay? I don't want you getting hurt."
"Never mind me!"
THUMM.
They both flicked their heads towards to sharp stop to the footsteps. Cora's chest clenched with fear.
Silence.
Astro tightened his fists. Cora held her breath.
SMASH!
Suddenly Zog's fist swung across the side of the orphanage, crushing the concrete into large chunks. Cora screamed and Astro immediately took action, picking her up and boosting upwards. He quickly landed on the bridge, putting her down onto the rotting wood.
"Stay here, I'll try to see what's wrong." With that he sprinted to the edge and leaped off, converting his rocket boots once again and hovering over Zog.
It was true. The usually gold robot was swimming in a black mist, his electric blue eyes now pitch black. Zog looked up to him, his stubby legs moving forward, crushing an old car in the process. Astro swerved closer. "ZOG!" he shouted to the robot. Zog took no notice, swatting his hand at him. Astro ducked under it, trying again. "ZOG! ZOG, CAN YOU HEAR ME?"
Cora wrapped her hands around the iron ropes, watching the scene with tension running in her veins.
"ZOG!" Astro leveled out, then dropped himself down onto his shoulder. Zog didn't do anything, standing there. Astro leaned over to his head. "Zog, I know what it is! Fight it! You can fight it!" he modervated.
Cora gasped as she saw Zog slowly raise his giant arm cannon, aiming to slam it down on top of the robot boy. Her eyes widened.
"ASTRO! LOOK OUT!"
"Huh?" Astro looked up to see the hit coming for him. With a yelp he quickly flew out of the way, causing the large robot to pound down on himself. Astro winced, hovering above him. Zog's eyes flared up, his head twisting to look at Astro. With a slight roar, he pulled his arm from his shoulder and swung for the robot.
WHACK!
Without even a chance to get away Astro was smashed into the ground.
"ASTRO!" Cora cried, clenching her arm. Soon Zog's hand started to rise, and Astro arose from beneath, holding it up with all his might. Groaning, he clenched onto the metal and activated his rockets. In an out burst of flames, he rose into the sky, still holding onto Zog. The construction robot didn't know how to react, only to hum in slight confusion. Astro gritted his teeth as he rose higher and higher, Zog soon getting lifted with him. Cora's shoulders slumped in shocked amazement.
He will always surprise me...
Once Zog was fully off the ground, Astro flexed his arms, pulling the entire robot up and over his head.
SLAM!
Zog smashed into the piles of junk, flat on his back. Astro heaved out long gasps of breath, his arms dropping limply beside him. Zog, still glowing black, let out a whirring groan. Astro slowly hovered over to him, clicking his rockets off and landing on his chest. Suddenly he felt an amazingly strong force coming from him. His head spun for a few seconds, before his knees gave up and he fell onto the shiny metal. On his hands and knees, he felt his chest tighten and a wave of aggression pass through him, before a cold sensation. Slowly, the black mist started to suck into Astro, rippling across the surface of the metal before climbing up his arms and disappearing inside of him.
Astro found himself unable to breath, as he gagged repeatedly. His head was by now spinning, and his limbs grew numb.
Cora frowned, walking down the bridge to get a better look at what was going on. But a large side fence blocked her view. "Astro?" she called.
"AHHHH!" Astor screamed as s giant shock wave electrocuted him, and he went flying off of Zog. Cora gasped at the yell, sprinting up to the slippery slide and swinging down it. Astro lay sprawled on his back, groaning and squeezing his eyes shut. Cora ran up to him, kneeling down to his body and placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Astro? Astro, are you okay?" she asked softly. Astro nodded, slowly sitting up whilst rubbing the back of his neck. "What happened?" she asked, anxious to know. Astro quickly shook his head.
"N-no, no, nothing wrong- it's all better now..." he murmured. She frowned, looking over to Zog. He was still smashed down in the ground, but the black mist was completely gone from him. Her eyes lit up.
"You saved him!" she kissed him on the forehead, pulling him into an un-wanted hug. "You're amazing! Thank you so much!" she cried. Astro grunted, pulling off her and smiling.
"I'd do anything to save you, you know that." He said with a shrug. "It's my job." Cora grinned, getting to her feet and helping him up as well.
"Still," she smiled. Looking around to the night sky, she sighed. "I think I might need a ride home," she more of ordered, hugging Astro's shoulder. He glanced over to Zog. Small snores were now heard, echoing from where he lay.
"What about Zog?" he asked.
"I'll look at him after school tomorrow," Cora said. "Don't worry, he's just sleeping."
Nodding, they both walked back into the building, leaving the sleeping robot behind.
Diabolos stroked his chin, looking at the thousands of different signals arising from his location board. A diagram of Metro City was up on the screen, along with tiny glowing dots sending signals all over the place. Most were coloured black, but a few were blue and red.
As Simon swished by, Diabolos snapped his fingers. "Simon," he addressed. The lanky man looked over his shoulder with raised eyebrows.
"Hmm?"
"What are these signals? They're all over the city!" he exclaimed. Simon frowned at the map, and quickly got to work, tapping on a keyboard. After a few seconds a gasp escaped his mouth.
"Oh my god..." he muttered.
"What?" Diabolos mumbled, glancing over to him.
"Well," Simon started, pushing his glasses up. "The Black Core didn't only just reach the Blue Core..." the professor leaned forward in his seat.
"Excuse me?" he asked. "What do you mean?"
"Well...it spread. The Black Core has infected almost every single technical source in Metro City..." they both glanced to the map.
"Then...why isn't everything going haywire?"
"Because the Black Core sets off a reaction at different rates, depending on the level of tech. And how much Blue Core is in the robot."
"But at a time, will all the robots be malfunctioning?" Diabolos asked, intrigued. Simon paused for a small amount of time, before shrugging.
"In a sense, if left unattended, yes." He answered. Diabolos chuckled, grinning.
"The Black Core is more useful then I thought..." he thought out loud. "It has the potential," he said evilly, looking to the hundreds of flashing black dots on the map, "to start a war."
Simon jolted his head up from his work. "W-w-war?" he asked. The man grinned.
"And not just any war. The war everyone's been waiting for!" he laughed, stepping past his assistant. Simon shrunk down.
"And what w-war would t-that be?" he asked. Diabolos looked to him, a crazy glint in his eye.
"What are you, stupid? The war between robots and humans!"
