It's been a while now. A month near or so? So far, the heat was only getting worse, but the scientists were still working on the freezing rocket down at the ministry. According Dr. Tenma, the rocket would be ready by the following day.
Recently, Astro had not talked to anyone. He wouldn't even leave his room unless he had to, those occasions being sent on an errand, getting materials from outside his room, anything you'd think would make it necessary to leave. Though he tried to erase the memory, one of the most things Astro thought about was his shouting at his little sister. He'd never forget the look on Uran's face when he shouted at her to leave. The tears and sadness it brought him during the nights. There were times Astro would almost give in and try to leave the room to apologize to Uran, but when he almost reached his doorknob, he would always pull away, giving up on the idea.
That's probably Astro's strongest emotion at the moment, the feeling of lost hope. Yes he's felt that before, when he was first created by his father Dr. Tenma then later abandoned. But Astro had found a happy ending to that part of his life very easily now that he thought about it. In this current situation there didn't seem to be any way out. Astro was trapped, regretting everything. Although, he was still set on his and the scientists' ideas of shooting himself at the sun.
Astro friends tried to see him at his home, even Cora. But when the time came and they would knock on Astro's door, he would not reply. Even to Orrin. Astro and would just pretend to be asleep with his door locked, holding his breath in silence hoping that they would eventually leave and give up, just like him. He even locked his huge windows and covered them with curtains. The most natural light he'd see a day was when he'd peek out of the curtains for just a little bit, whether it be the need for sunlight or moonlight. The moonlight very much reminded him of Cora, his before-best friend.
All Astro really had to reminisce of his life before all this, were pictures, and few sentimental gifts, which he questioned why he even still kept. But somehow, Astro just didn't have the guts to throw them away. Even now during the darkest of times.
If you're wondering about Toby, he's kept to himself as well, but not as much as Astro. Toby in way has replaced Astro. He and Uran would leave in the afternoons to meet the others at the junkyard for their daily games of sports. Although those games were now recently spirit-deprived of any determination.
Uran meanwhile, on the other hand, had felt mixed emotions she never thought she could feel as a robot. She hated her brother for yelling at her so many days ago, yet she also felt sympathetic about the whole ordeal. Uran some nights could only imagine what her brother must be going through, what he felt. Unlike his old usual self, Astro wouldn't talk to anybody. And just like that, Astro would be leaving the earth tomorrow.
Everyone, knew..... that Astro would leave tomorrow.
That one final night, stars glittered above the city of Metro City. Invisibly anyway.
Astro peeked out of the curtains for just a minute. He gazed up at the few stars visible that night. He knew that this could be the very last chance he'd ever get of see them. And just like that, Astro sent the heavens a sad expression before closing the curtains for the final time.
With so many lights emitting from Metro City it would be impossible for the stars to be seen, so it must have been a miracle that Astro could catch a glimpse of some stars for his final night of peaceful slumber. But in the junkyard however, peace was not so frequent in the deep hours of midnight....
"What a gloomy day," Zane said, hanging out in Uran's room. At the moment he was playing with his infamous soccer ball, bouncing it up and down on his knees. The two young preteens had spent a lot of time together recently, with Cora and Toby being very much off on their own. "Not only is the heat so unbearable but everyone's miserable."
"I know," I said, sitting in my bed hugging my knees. "Tomorrow's the day that Astro leaves too." How could anyone forget?
Zane stopped to stare at Uran and his soccer ball fell to the floor, rolling slowly until it hit the wall.
"You think this is all meant to happen, Zane?" Uran asked, her ever-present frown still there.
"I can't really answer that," Zane said, doing his best not to upset his best friend any further. "Cora always told me things happened for a reason; how nothing bad ever happens without something good coming out of it."
"Well what possible good could come out of this mess we're all in?" Uran asked unenthusiastically. "At least I know it can't get any worse."
That's when Zane's eyebrows furrowed. "Actually, there's something I've wanted to tell you... It's about my family."
"Huh?" Uran said, snapping her head up. She was suddenly overcome with worry. "What is it, Zane?"
"My parents decided that we'd move away from the area," Zane said, picking up his soccer ball. "Probably one more too many alien invasions for them or something."
"You're moving away?" Uran asked in disbelief. "How long have you known about this?"
"A week now," Zane admitted. "I didn't want to worry you though, with everything you've been going through."
"I see," Uran said. And Zane was right. Hearing the news only made her even sadder. "When do you leave?"
"Tomorrow morning," Zane said. He half expected Uran to shout or scream at him in anger for not telling this news to her any sooner. However when he turned towards her, he saw a blank lost stare in her eyes. No anger, no tears. Just... empty. "I'm sorry."
Uran looked towards Zane. "No, it's fine. I understand. I, guess it can't be helped."
Zane could see past Uran's fake act of acceptance. He looked down at his soccer ball. "I know it's kind of a cruddy present, but here," he said, holding out the soccer ball.
Uran looked at what Zane held in his hands. She tilted her head. "What are you doing?"
"It's a goodbye present!" Zane answered with that same old mischievous smirk he'd always wear. "So you won't forget me."
"How could I ever forget you?" Uran smiled, taking the soccer ball. It wasn't long until Uran noticed a tear fall onto the said soccer ball. It didn't take long either for her to notice the tear belonged to her. "I'm sorry I'm such a crybaby," Uran said, letting the droplets of tears fall as she held the soccer ball on her lap. "I just can't help it," she said, trying to keep a fake smile on for as long as possible.
Zane, feeling pitiful for the girl, hugged her, and let Uran cry into his jacket again. He's allowed her to do this on more occasions than one. Ever since her falling out with Astro Uran's been one to burst into tears if she thought about the matter too much.
"No, don't be sorry," Zane said, hugging Uran. It was then he quickly but hesitantly placed something in her pink hood. And then he let go.
After that Zane took his final leave with his skateboard out Uran's window, Uran waving him goodbye. She starred at the basketball seated on her bed, and let a small breath escape her lips. Was life on earth supposed to be this emotional and complicated, Uran thought. Taking off her hoodie to place over her chair, she went to her bed to sleep, placing the soccer ball under her bed and taking her toy plush bunny, which she has slept with each night since she's been built. It was almost a source of comfort when she'd cry herself to sleep.
--
As Uran slept in her room, she heard something moving, rattling. Was it footsteps she was hearing, not that she could help it with her mechanically advanced robot ears. So with that she and instantly opened her eyes, shooting the darkness. a menacing suspicious glare. She
"Something's up," she murmured, wide awake.
Cleverly Uran got up out of bed, quiet not to make any sound emit from her feet. Quietly opening her door wide enough for her eye to see though, she peeked out of her room and saw Toby in a distance down the stairs. He was holding Astro's skateboard again.
"What are you doing?" she whispered to herself, narrowing her eyes at the boy that was causing her older brother so much grief.
Toby downstairs opened the balcony door with a serious look on his face, as if he was planning something. Uran then witnessed that he jumped off the balcony with the skateboard's jet engines firing up. And within a matter of seconds Toby took off in the familiar direction of the junkyard.
Uran, being the curious little robot she was, decided to follow her said 'brother'. And just as she predicted, they shortly arrived in the junkyard, Uran obviously still hidden. She landed atop a mountain of scraps in hiding, watching Toby appear out in the open down below and jump off his skateboard. He then turned his head, as if looking for something.
'He hasn't spotted me already has he?' Uran thought, bending lower in fear she's been caught.
"Toby," said an unfamiliar voice, almost making Uran jump. At least she knew she wasn't found out by Toby.
From the shadows appeared a man in long dark heavy robes. Not someone she knew. If anything Uran compared the stranger to that of a demon. The hands were as dark as black leather tatooed with neon blue, uh, tattoos. And his nails, long sharp dark claws. The hands were the only visible part of the stranger, everything covered by what appeared to be either large robes or a paranormal type of armor.
"You again," Toby said, narrowing his eyes. Did he know this stranger? "Grant."
"Tell me child, how are things going in your new home?" the stranger asked. He had a rather dark and scary deep voice, like a demon or a monster. Maybe a robot, possibly? This only intensified Uran's level of nervousness. It was troublesome moments like this Uran's friends and family would warn her of. But would she listen? No.
"It's almost the same as it used to be," Toby replied with a smile. A real smile! That is, until it disappeared, turning into a frowning scowl. "Except, for that Astro Boy," he finished sourly.
"I warned you about him, didn't I....?"
"Like it'd be so easy to believe my family would replace me with a robot," Toby glared. "I didn't think they'd actually go through with it. But seeing Astro with my own two eyes..." Uran noticed his fists tighten together. "It's like they've betrayed my existence or something."
"And you are doing everything to take back your old life, are you not?"
"I am!" Toby said with a determined tone, as if he were doing whatever he was thinking by his own persuaded will. However, seeing him talk to the demon-stranger only gave Uran the impression that Toby was tricked into being some servant. "Astro soon enough will be nothing like a figment of the past, just like I used to be," Toby said with hardened eyes. But suddenly his heavy eyebrows lit up a bit. "But..."
"But what, my child," the demon voice said.
"I still kind of find it unfair.... somehow," Toby said, as if thinking over the difference between right and wrong.
Suddenly as swift as wind itself, the stranger with a shadowy figure disappeared and re-appeared behind Toby, scaring both him and Uran. "NO IT IS NOT! Astro Boy, is the enemy! He is nothing but bad news."
"That's not true," Uran whispered with a genuinely worried expression. One of anger, but mostly of sadness, and fear.
"Astro was trying to take your life away from you," the stranger continued whispering behind Toby's ear. Toby shut his eyes and lowered his head, as if trying to block out and resist the man's hostile words.
"No he isn't," Uran continued muttering to herself with tears falling from her eyes. Lies!!
"All robots, are your enemy..."
"NO!!" Uran finally shouted, not being able to handle all of the lies the stranger was feeding Toby. Now she understood why Toby was like this! He felt lonely, alone, angry, confused. Anything a neglected child could possible feel. Uran couldn't blame him after seeing this. But now, she someone else to put all the blame on. That stranger! That demon man! However it was then she realized she had just givin away her hiding spot to the enemy. The true enemy.
Toby's head jumped and darted to Uran's direction, feeling surprisingly somewhat worried for Uran. Because In a way, she too was his little, annoying sister. And he had just begun growing fond of her.
"Looks like your brought an unexpected visitor, Toby," the dark stranger said, lifting his hands. A glowing neon blue light formed around his hand.
"What the- AH!!!" Uran screamed, suddenly inside a blue ball of energy and being lifted into the sky. The ball then flew down at a great speed, brought down in front of Toby and the stranger.
"Let me out of here!" Uran shouted. She was on her knees, pounding her fists on the blue force field at a desperate attempt of freedom.
"Uran?" Toby asked in disbelief.
"See my boy? All of the robots... they are never good news..." the stranger continued.
"Quit LYING!!" Uran screamed at the top of her lungs. She opened her desperate eyes and saw Toby starring at her, looking shocked. He didn't expect for Uran to be involved this way, in any way for that matter. Uran narrowed her eyes at the boy. "You're a traitor Toby," she said darkly.
"You never liked me anyway," Toby defended, going back to his old jerkish self.
"You're right," Uran admitted, no longer holding back her kept-in thoughts. "But this is wrong and you know it! Astro's not the bad guy here! If anything, what you're trying to do to him makes you the bad guy!!"
"Shut up!" Toby shouted as the stranger held Toby back by his shoulder, making Toby wince by the hurt.
"And you let go of him!!" Uran demanded at the taller deep-voiced stranger once seeing him inflicting physical pain on Toby. Her fingers gripped into fists. "You're the one putting all these lies into his head!"
"You're a smart little robot," the stranger said with that deep demonic voice. "But apparently not smart enough."
"I'll telling my big brother!!" she shouted, pounding on the force field yet again, trying her hardest to get out.
"Not any time soon," the man said, lifting his glowing hand again. Uran and the force field started moving downward into the ground, like quicksand almost.
"H-Hey! Let me go! You can't do this!!" Uran knew she wouldn't be getting out, so as she gave up on wasting her energy, she starred up disbelievingly at Toby. Disappointingly.
"You know, from what I used to hear from father, the old Toby would never be like this," Uran said lastly before she disappeared underground.
However what Uran said was true, and it struck a nerve in Toby somewhere. Like an annoying bug that wouldn't go away. And that statement wouldn't be leaving Toby's mind for a while.
"Just continue what you've been doing, Toby," the deep voice said, snapping Toby out of his thoughts. And for now, Toby would listen.... do as he was told... even if it was against his better judgement. "The robot girl is merely a nuisance. But now that she's away, there should be no more hardships left in your path to taking back your old life." With Uran no longer around, having been taken underground to Grant's hideout, Toby was forced to listen. And only now he began to question his 'master's' goals. Was getting rid of Astro really the right thing to do?
However, now Uran wondered from inside that blue glowing bubble; what was the plan they were trying to achieve? Who was that demonic stranger? Someone who had something against robots, Uran supposed. She knew she wouldn't be going anywhere for a while, so she took this time to think through all of the reasonable possibilities of what was happening. A possible solution to all this madness. She now understood her true purpose of being created. Not to just be a sweet young little sister, but to help her older brother, the both of them.
And there enlies the truth of Toby.
Last minute I added in that ZanexUran part becuase I felt the urge to make this chapter a bit longer than I intended it too, plus I felt these two never got a good enough moment together. I remember writing the first draft of this whole story and I intended to make Zane and Uran a couple.
Sorry to all those who oppose! o-o But I personally thought it was kinda cute.
But now I have to re-re-edit the ending so it has to do with Zane's moving away. Ooh, and what do you think he put in Uran's hood?
By the way, thanks to all who did-or-did-not review!!^^
