CHAPTER 2
A NEW BEGINNING
Astro finished the orange floating alien in the sky, spun him around, and threw him back into space.
"Wrong planet! Ask the milky way for directions!" Astro yelled and the people in Metro City started clapping and cheering. The young robot boy smiled awkwardly and took a closer look at the mess the fight with the Peacekeeper had caused, and oh boy it was huge. He was truly terrified of what he's done. Not even a second later, he landed on the nearest building and started scanning it.
"Huh? Weird...", he muttered to himself when he realized that there was no one in there. He scanned the building one more time and jumped into another building that was leaned against it.
He did this a couple of times with different buildings until a relieved sigh could escape his mouth, but the thought that almost everyone in Metro City had lost their home and belongings left a worried and bad feeling in his stomach.
As he was about to leave the building to go search for his family and friends, he found a wallet laying on the dusty floor. Not thinking much of it, he opened it to know whose it was.
He stopped breathing for a moment and frowned.
"Hamegg," he whispered and looked around.
Astro was still furious about what he did to him, but he didn't want to stay mad at him forever, he couldn't.
Astro sighed, slightly annoyed. "Well, I should give this back to him."
The young robot jumped off the building through the hole he also entered through and rocketed towards the surface. It took him a few minutes to locate the orphanage and slowed down a bit. He quickly decided to land near the entrance door where he noticed a little girl waving at him.
"Astro!" she exclaimed while jumping from one foot to another.
He got nearer and smiled at Grace.
Barely after properly landing she came running towards him.
"Astro! Cora and Zane went to get you! The city fell and there were fireworks and smoke and I wanted to come but I couldn't and-" she stopped for a second. "-and you're not wearing any clothes!"
Astro looked down at his black boxer shorts which were the only thing he was wearing at the moment. "I already know about it, I and they were there after all. The clothes issue shouldn't be too much of a problem since-"
He couldn't help but struggle when he was ending his sentence since he still couldn't believe it.
"-a robot."
Grace shrugged. "I guess you're right. Wanna come inside? The others are there too and watching the news!"
"Actually, I wanted to talk to Hamegg," the young robot replied.
"Oh, well, I don't know where he is, probably at the back of the building," she said.
"Thanks," Astro said with a smile and made his way towards the corner of the building.
"Wait!" Grace said and he turned around. "Is it because of the robot games? Should I come too?"
"No, it's not about that and I think the others are gonna need your help with the remotes," he responded.
"Right!" she cried out at the sudden realization and quickly ran back inside.
Astro smiled slightly and walked towards the back of the building where he had talked with Cora the night before.
His smile was already faded away when he peeked from the corner and saw Hamegg sitting on the floor with his back towards the building.
Well, here goes.
He sighed and started to silently walk towards him.
"Um, Hamegg?" he asked.
The man flinched and turned his head to the young robot. Hamegg sighed heavily.
"Oh, it's you," he said and looked down again.
"How are you?" Astro asked.
"Why would you care, after what happened?" he asked.
Astro didn't answer, keeping the silence going for a few seconds, and then quietly sat down next to him. Hamegg seemed surprised and moved a bit away from him.
"Everyone deserves a second chance," Astro said. He stared at the building for a few seconds and then back at Hamegg. "Right now, you really should get those children to the hospital and get them checked."
Hamegg turned to the building. "If they still want me to take care of them." he turned away from the orphanage.
"Of course they do," Astro said. "You've saved them from dangers on the surface, abuse, and starvation. Just because you made a mistake, they are not going to hate you."
Hamegg looked at him.
"You are the father most of them never had," Astro said. "They love you."
Hamegg sharply exhaled out of his nose and leaned back a little bit.
"Thanks."
Astro smiled and stood up. "I have to go. Oh, and I found this, I suppose it's yours."
Hamegg looked over and his eyes widened when he saw his wallet. "Oh my god." He quickly took it. "The last time I saw this baby was years ago!"
"You're welcome," Astro said and took a few steps away from him. "Have a good evening."
Hamegg quickly looked up and immediately got up. "Um, wait!"
Astro turned back to him.
"You are Tenma's robot, aren't you?" Hamegg asked.
"I am," Astro said. "But you should know that it wasn't him who fired you."
Hamegg stared at him, trying to remember what actually had happened back then.
Astro exhaled with a warm smile and waved at him goodbye before he took off into the sky.
8 years before the current events
"If you behave, I might buy you that book about robots you wanted," Dr. Tenma said.
"Really?!" currently 5 years old Toby exclaimed at the other end of the line of the holophone. "When I get that book I'm gonna be just like you!"
"Well, that's gonna take more than just one," he replied and smiled slightly.
"I guess," he said and sighed. "When are you coming home?"
"I should be home soon, so we can play together," Dr. Tenma said.
Toby's eyes lit up. "Promise?"
"Promise," he assured him with a smile.
Suddenly the doors opened and President Stone walked in.
"Tenma, I'm gonna have to inform you that the Egg Ham guy had been fired."
"Huh? Do you mean Hamegg? Fired? Why?" Dr. Tenma asked.
"Nobody plays Mr. SmartyPants in front of my nouse!"
Earlier:
Hamegg quickly approached the president as soon as he entered the ministry. "Hello, President Stone! Would you like to be the first test person of the massage bed I made?"
"I-"
"Or would you rather test my massage chair? It's covered with soft pillows!"
"What if-"
"Or do you want to buy the massage couch? There's place for at least 6 people!"
President Stone frowned. "I don't-"
"I also made a massage mask! It relaxes the face cells and muscles!"
The president groaned and walked past him, annoyed.
"Wait! I also made a massage hat! You should try it out, it..."
Dr. Tenma frowned.
"So you fired Dr. Egg because he wanted you to try his newest inventions?" Dr. Tenma asked.
"Yes, he's gonna get kicked out of this city."
"What?! But we need him for our current project!" Tenma said. "Could he at least stay until the project is completed?"
"Do you want to assist him company down there on the surface?"
Dr. Tenma's eyes widened, he knew that that man would dare to do that. "Fine..."
Toby looked around, confused.
"Goodman," Stone said before he left his office.
"Dad?" Toby asked and Dr. Tenma looked at him again. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry Toby, we can't play together today," Dr. Tenma said, devastated.
Toby had a disgusted expression on his face. "You never keep your promises!"
Back to the current time
Hamegg followed the robot boy with his eyes as he flew back to Metro City. A warm smile appeared on his face and he stood up to go inside.
Astro flew through the city. A lot of people were walking around the streets, not knowing what to do or where to go.
He flew to where he had taken off and found Tenma standing in the middle of a crowd of people talking to him. Dr. Elefun waved at him and his friends looked up. He smiled and landed in front of them.
"Where have you been just now?" Widget asked.
"I had to take care of something," Astro replied and scratched the back of his head.
Tenma pushed himself past the crowd of onlookers.
"Alright, we should go home," Dr. Tenma said. "Son."
Even though they've bonded and hugged, it was still quite awkward for both of them. After all, the damage had already been done.
"Wait!" Cora said and reached into her pocket. "Sludge, where's the pen I gave you this morning?"
Sludge handed it over to her and she started writing something on a note.
"Here," she said and handed it to Astro. "We still have got to talk."
Astro took it and read.
Hamegg:
7367
Me:
93894
It was their holo- and telephone number.
"Thanks," he said. "I'll call you."
He then turned to Tenma who was already walking towards his car. The scientist grabbed Astro's hand to get there faster since the people around them were wanting to start conversations and even a camera crew was there asking them for an interview.
He opened the back door of the limousine and Astro got in. A few seconds later, Dr. Elefun sat down in front of him with his back towards the driving direction and huffed.
Tenma then closed the door and got into the driver's seat.
"Phew, we finally made it here, huh?" the old professor said and chuckled while exhaustingly laying his hand on his stomach.
Tenma turned the car on and made his way towards Dr. Elefun's place which was on the other side of the city.
"Yeah," Astro said while looking out of the window with a blanc expression.
The feeling of guilt was eating him up from the inside as he watched the hundreds of people cluelessly wandering around.
I could have done something to prevent all of this. Astro thought I could have hidden better or lured the peacekeeper to the surface or-
I could have just died and all this wouldn't have happened...
While starring at his dirty and scratched red boots, he wished he could have slapped himself in the face for even thinking about this, but not at that moment, not in front of Dr. Elefun who was already exhausted enough with what had happened today and also not in front of his creator who was emotionally devastated and exhausted.
Astro shooked his head and tried to block these thoughts out of his electronic brain.
"Are you alright?" he heard a worried voice ask.
He looked up and met eyes with Dr. Elefun, who must have noticed his strange behavior.
Tenma looked through the back mirror at Astro. He was just checking, but it felt more like a threat.
"Yes, of course," the young robot responded, nervously. "I'm just... um... quite exhausted, you know."
The old professor exhaled out of his enormous nouse and smiled slightly.
"Yeah, today was a very long day," he slightly turned his head and looked in Tenma's direction. "For all of us."
Tenma ignored him and pulled up in front of Dr. Elefun's house. It was a small house that wasn't as damaged as the skyscrapers in the middle of the city.
The car door opened.
"We're here," Tenma said, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Alright then," Dr. Elefun stood up and got out. "Good evening you two. If you need anything, just call me, okay?"
"I will," Tenma muttered before the door shut itself.
The limousine drove away and Dr. Elefun waved at them until they were completely out of sight.
Now all that was left in the car was an awkward silence which was interrupted not too long after.
"Sooo," Tenma said, Astro looked into the back mirror at the front of the car to be able to meet his eyes.
"Astro, right?" he asked and started tapping nervously on the weel, hoping he didn't say anything wrong.
"Yes, Astro," he answered.
"Astro," Tenma murmured. "Astro, Astro, Astro," he repeated, trying to get into the swing. "Did you come up with it yourself?"
"Um, no. A few... I guess friends, came up with it," Astro replied.
"Oh, okay," Tenma said. "It's pretty, it's modern, it's interesting, um... it's a good name."
The scientist nodded awkwardly and Astro nodded too to fit the awkwardness.
Silence overwhelmed that car ride again. Tenma was visibly trying to find something to talk about.
"Um," this time it was Astro who interrupted the silence. "I can still call you dad, right? Or should I call you by your name?"
"No, no, no! Call me dad!" Tenma said. "I mean- if you want to, of course. It's up to you."
"Hm," this has just gotten even more awkward.
They both didn't know whether to feel relieved or worried when they arrived at the skyscraper in which Tenma lives.
Was now time to rest or was there more to happen?
"We're here," Tenma said, even though he knew that Astro was already aware of that.
They both got out of the limousine and started walking towards the building. There was nothing to talk about.
Tenma slipped his ID over the sensor at the entrance and the doors opened. They walked into the lobby which resembled a comfy living room with a snack and drinks machine, phones, and a robot that greeted them with a friendly voice.
They walked past him and straight towards the elevators which opened automatically.
Tenma clicked on the last number since they lived on the last floor and the doors closed. The elevator went up whilst calming lo-fi music played in the background.
After finally having arrived at their floor and entering their apartment, they separated.
Tenma went into his room and Astro was left in the messy living room. He didn't know if the chaos had been caused by a mental breakdown Tenma had or by the dozens of earthquakes the fight not too long ago had caused.
He walked past the coffee table and picked up an upside-down turned photo. He stared at an older picture of Tenma with Tobio.
His face was everywhere, in every picture and mirror. Astro knew that he would have to look at his face for the rest of his life. He wonders if this is some kind of punishment.
His room, his clothes, his belongings, belonged to the one and only child Tenma truly loved.
And I'm just a cheap replica that couldn't even be that.
Astro looked over to the balcony and sighed.
He sat down at the edge of it. The balcony railing was missing, so his feet were hanging down.
That's when tears began rolling down his cheeks.
All those days of being tortured by his creator's words and the pain of being unwanted.
Even after having bonded with his creator, he returned to the same old place.
The place where he had been rejected.
More tears began streaming down his face and he wiped them away with his hands, but more tears kept coming.
He suddenly flinched when he noticed someone sitting down beside him. It was Tenma.
Astro was surprised since the scientist was afraid of heights.
Tenma inhaled deeply. "I'm sorry," he exhaled. "I'm a terrible father for having treated you in such a cold way. From now on I will acknowledge you as my son Astro and I promise that I will be a better father than I was before. I know that what happened can't be forgotten and I don't know if you'll ever forgive me, but I would like to know what I could do to make you feel better."
Astro looked up at him whilst smiling tearfully. Something Tenma has never done was properly apologizing.
Astro pressed his crying face into the scientist's chest and Tenma hugged him tightly with a warm smile.
"It's time for a new beginning," Tenma said and stared into the distance as the sun disappeared behind the horizontal line.
That's it with the second chapter!
I hope you enjoyed it and here's a question:
Do you like how the story had begun or should I change something about it? The idea of the legend of the three cores just popped up in my head during history class. ^^'
