(A/N: Okay guy's, here's Chapter Six. I know the book and movie references are getting old for some of ya. I can't help it though, being such a nerd. Plus, a lot of the movie's I mentioned in the past two chapter's really do remind me of some moment's that took place in all the different Astro Boy series, and the movie. And seeing as how I'm writing a side story about Dr. Tenma and Hoshie, I just had to throw in some other film stuff. Astro should know something about his mother shouldn't he?)

Chapter Six: Metal Head Through And Through

Tenma and Astro

"Dad could you please….please wear anything but that?"

Astro's shoulders slumped, as his chocolate brown eyes took in the tall, trim, cream-colored suit wearing figure in front of him. Cora, Zane, and the other kids were going to be inside his house in less than half an hour, and here his dad was, dressed to the nines in one of the six hundred and fifty dollar Armani suit's he'd bought on their shopping trip a week ago. He was even wearing a Gatsby Fedora Panama hat with blue banding to match.

Tenma folded his arms, and pulled his face into a look of mock offense at having had his oh-so snazzy attire referred to simply as 'that'.

"You mean to say you don't like my classic three piece, butter cream suit that I picked out just for this occasion? I thought you'd like the idea of having a well-dressed handsome man receive your friend's in our spit and polish foyer…hmmm?"

"Dad c'mon! You promised you'd just stay in your bedroom or watch a movie or-!"

"And you promised you'd introduce me to your friends and not pretend you're a parentless waif did you not?"

"Well yeah, but if they come in and see you dressed like that they're gonna think I'm spoiled and…and pampered!"

"You are spoiled and pampered son."

"I might be spoiled but I am not pampered! And the spoiling part isn't my fault! You've been buying me butt-loads of stuff since before I could shake a rattle dad!"

"Yes! Yes I have!—And while you're blaming your inadequacies as a person on my inadequacies as a parent-you might want to watch what Nora's doing with those finger sandwiches."

Astro turned around and looked at Nora, newly fixed, and hovering over the deep burgundy cherry wood dining table preparing the little platters of miniature sandwiches, and colorful array of fruit's and snack cakes. Nora had knocked over the jar of mayonnaise she had been using to lightly coat the small pieces of wheat bread in front of her, and there were thick gobs of it running down the leg of the table and down the bottom front of her chasse. She had steam coming out of her robotic ears expressing embarrassment at her bungle, and her round, shiny green eyes were looking at him apologetically. Astro turned back around and glared at his dad. All he'd wanted for everyone to eat was a big jug of Hawaiian Punch and two large pizzas's….maybe some nacho's and a box of Debbie cakes. Not a four course meal! One of the platter's actually had caviar on it for crying out loud!

"Dad it's not a fancy dinner party! I'm just having friends over!"

"And one of them happens to be a girl. A girl you like."

"DO NOT use Cora as an excuse for all this! I just wanted pizza and punch!"

"Pizza and punch…hmm. Not real 'lady getters' from my experience. Unless you're shopping in a trailer park."

"Shut up dad—and go change! I'm getting rid of all this! I can't believe you're trying to make this suck for me after you promised!"

Astro hurried over to the table and waved the discomfited Nora away from the table while he picked up all the platters of finger foods, and began shoving them in the refrigerator.

Tenma leaned up against the stove and watched him. Ever since that girl..Cora …had called the week before and said she and her other associate's would be coming to visit the following Friday, his son had been running around the house like a chicken with his head cut off putting away all the good china, the bear skin rug, and all manner of other luxuries' in the house, all to prepare for their…or rather her arrival. He had attempted to try to talk him out of it on several occasions…but Astro had avoided him like the plague every time he mentioned the girl's name or tried to give him advice about what to do to entertain his friends when they got there. It was likely due to the violent, three-day sickness he'd experienced after having given him all the gory details about child-labor during their 'where-do-babies-come-from' talk a few years ago. But he had a genuine understanding of what it was his son was going through at the moment that he really wanted to try to help him with..if he would ever stop running around and give him the opportunity.

Astro ran past his father over to the phone hanging on the opposite wall next to the kitchen door once he was done stuffing the unwanted fancy-foods away, and began dialing the number to the nearest non-peacekeeper destroyed Domino's Pizza, and without looking, stuck his arm out behind him and wiggled his fingers, signaling for his father to stick some form of currency in it. Be it credit card, or fat stack of bills. He bristled when he heard his dad laugh from behind him, and then stick his credit card in his outstretched hand. He looked back over his shoulder up at his father, bottom lip poked out and eyebrows knit together.

"You try so hard to act unspoiled by the copious amount of money I've spent on you for most of your life, son. Why not just embrace and enjoy the wealth?"

"Leave me alone! And take off that stupid suit! You look like a pimp!"

"Love you too, Tobio."

When the receptionist picked up, Astro ordered two large pizzas. One with pepperoni and sausage, the other with everything on it, and then paid for it with the credit card. He handed it back to his dad after giving the three digit number on the back, and getting the total price.

Astro looked his dad's butter-cream colored suit, and panama fedora over again after turning around and sighed. Being wealthy presented way too many problems. For him anyway. It wasn't that he was totally averse to living in a big house, or having nice stuff…it was just that he didn't want Cora, and Zane and the other kids, his friends, to feel uncomfortable staying once they actually came in. He wasn't sure exactly what Cora's life was like, or how she lived, but he did know Zane and Grace and the twins had been in an Orphanage the past six months..and no one ever said anything good about any of the one's in the city. He was going to try to do his best to make sure his house didn't seem like somewhere else they felt out of place, and unwanted in. Whether his dad chose today to be in one of his 'eccentric-rich-guy' moods or not.

Astro looked up at his father imploringly.

"The suit dad…please?"

Nora floated over behind him, cleaning off her front with a couple of quilted napkins, looking at him just as imploringly as he was looking at his father for a new task to be given. Nora had been operational for three solid days now, and upon waking up, had been directed in what to do around the house solely by Astro..who at first…she hadn't recognized at all as the little boy she'd once taken care of at all…due to the lack of brain signals and high heat signatures she'd always associated with him. The only thing recognizable about 'Little Master Tenma' now, was his voice. Everything else, Nora noticed, upon doing the customary scan of him that all robots' do to seemingly foreign objects, and people…was like her…purely electronic.

"I'll take it off if you'll come up stairs with me and listen to what it is I have to say before your company arrives. And give Nora a little praise, and something else to do. She looks like she's about to die of idleness."

"If it's about boy and girl stuff dad-I don't wanna hear it okay? I've got enough to deal with without you trying to-!"

Tenma waved a hand to silence him, taking in the expression on Astro's face. It was the same one he always had right before he went into one of his screaming, ranting tantrums. He shrugged off his suit jacket and nodded curtly towards the kitchen door. Astro poked out his bottom lip irritably and walked out, after pointing Nora in the direction of the freezer which still needed to have the newly bought meats within it organized. He headed for the staircase; Tenma rolling his eyes behind his back at how much Astro took after his mother when it came to throwing hissy fits over silly things.

Astro pushed open the Sumatran rosewood double doors to his father's bedroom, and went over and hopped on the California king size bed, rumpling the freshly laundered sheets and blanket. The house looked almost as good as it had before he and his father both, had left it, and it sat empty and derelict for seven months straight. Astro cringed and instinctively rubbed his hands over the jeans he was wearing. Never again would he attempt to do so much dusting all on his own. Almost an hour after starting, his father had needed to go outside to get air because of the havoc the dust had begun to wreak on his allergies. At one point he'd sneezed so hard there'd been a bit of blood in his mucous, which, after about thirty minutes of trying to 'tough it out' had turned into a full blown nose bleed with watery, itchy eyes to go with it. It ended up with him finishing all the dusting by himself, and his dad outside stretched over the hood of his Rolls Royce with a big wet towel over his face to keep out any dust that floated to him from the inside of the house.

"What?"

Tenma strode in and tossed his suit jacket and vest on the bed next to his son and went into his closet to get one of his less ornate, cooler in color, sweater vest's to wear over his dress shirt.

"Why not put the bear skin rug and piano back son?"

"I don't want my friends to come over and be freaked out."

"You don't think the name of our neighborhood is enough of a give-away? 'Green Acres' ?"

Tenma pulled his deep purple sweater vest on over his shirt, and raked his fingers through his hair to neaten it, and then shrugged out of his pants, and tossed them out of the closet. Astro caught them and draped them over the headboard along with everything else.

"Yeah..but still…we don't have to be as showy looking on the inside as everybody else is around here. I want them to want to come over more than just the one time."

"And you think they won't want to if they find out you've got money?"

"Nobody really wanted to be friends with me back when I was at school, save for one. Especially after show-and-tell."

"You went to a private school. Rich kids get sent to private schools, and everyone in the class hates the richest one out of the bunch because he gets the best of everything."

Astro frowned, and glared at his dad when he came out of the closet, tightening his belt.

"What're you trying to say dad?"

"I'm trying to tell you that if these kids are really your friend's they aren't going to care whether you live in a lean-to, or a mansion. They're coming to see you because you're their friend, and they like you. Not to make their final judgment on you based on what kind of life you lead…or at least that's why they should be coming over. Who knows? They might be impressed rather than uncomfortable or resentful as you seem to think they might be."

Astro tried as hard as he could to maintain eye contact with his father, but he found it just as hard as Dr. Elefun did. They were such a dark blue, they almost seemed black at the right angle…and it didn't help that he was just standing in front of the closet…barely blinking….in sort of a slouchy position looking like a serial killer in gentleman's lounge-wear. It was weird.

"I get what you mean. And you're right…they'll know anyway-and if they're my friend's they won't care-but I still wanna leave everything put up. At least this first time. I don't want them to be…like…"

"Overwhelmed by our fabulously decorated house and expensive possessions?"

"Uh….yeah."

"Alright then…but Toby?"

"Yeah dad?"

"I'd at least put out the fruit salad and cake's Nora made up."

"I really don't-."

"Trust me, son. Put them out."

"Why?"

"Because I've got twenty-seven year's more experience with women than you do. Put them out."

Astro snapped his head back up to look at his dad who was now standing over him next to the bed with his arms folded, trademark smirk in place. Astro's face screwed up in utter shock, confusion, and embarrassment. He had no idea how to respond to a comment like that. Not that it really warranted a response anyway, but still. He should never have said anything to his dad about Cora. Every time he opened his mouth about anything concerning her or his other friend's…his dad made him regret it by making remarks like that. And what did a man who spent most of his time absorbed in robotics, and trying to appear as emotionally detached from everything as possible know about girls anyway? The only thing female he knew for certain his father had ever associated with outside of his mother was women he used to bring home from long, drunken nights out at the bar, and the Gentlemen's Club with some other men from the Ministry. He had heard Dr. Elefun yelling at him about consorting with 'loose women' and 'the dregs from the Biology Department' on more than one occasion when he'd come to rouse him from his heavy, alcohol induced, coma-like snoozing in various rooms all over the house when he was too drunk to make it up the stairs to his room.

Astro pushed himself off the bed, and fixed his facial expression. He walked out of the room without saying a word...a deep, eerie chuckle from his dad following him on his way out. No one could possibly have a more complicated man for a father. He was absolutely sure of it.

Astro and Cora

"Hm…his father must be one of the ones at the very top."

Cora stared out the foggy window of her mother's pick-up truck at literally the biggest house she had ever seen in her entire life.

"Yeah…he must be."

She swallowed and looked down at her beat-up, raggedy old pair of vans. She'd had these same shoes since she was twelve. She'd had the hunter green sweater, and the ratty jeans she was wearing since she was twelve too. And there Astro was…standing on the porch waiting for her to get out, wearing a pair of what looked like Doc Martens with blue flames on the toe…and all new clothes. There was a rule about not letting a guy you liked see you in ugly clothes in a magazine she had read after talking to her mother last week, and now that she was in the same position she understood why. The nice clothes were more for the girl than the guy. They helped boost confidence..and she had very little confidence noting the huge gap between her's and Astro's lifestyles.

Demimia nudged her, and she looked up into her mother's face, everything she was thinking evident in her expression.

"Mom…my clothes suck."

Demimia rolled her eyes. "Don't start this Cora. Get out and go see your robot boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend! And quit reminding me about him being a robot!"

"Quit being silly and get out of my truck. Your clothes are fine."

"What should I say?"

"You say hello, and thanks for having me over. Now get out. He'll walk over here to see what's wrong and then you'll be really embarrassed about your old, dirty shoes."

Cora nodded and pulled on the latch to open the door, chewing her lip and dragging her little canvas bag behind her. She watched her mom pull out of the driveway after closing the door back, and the trudged up the little earthen pathway that lead up to Astro's porch. Glancing up, she noticed a couple of other things about the house that she hadn't when they'd first pulled up. It wasn't anything like most houses or apartments in Metro City. And it wasn't just the sheer size of it either.

It looked a lot like one those big Victorian mansions you saw in paintings at the museum. With the wrap around porches, gas lamps on either side illuminating the front door, and the high windows with deep burgundy floor length curtains hanging from them. There were a lot of trees and bushes in the yard too. She had heard her mom say to some of her co-worker's on several occasions that real estate in Metro City that hadn't had a whole lot of its original foliage cut away was supposed to be outrageously expensive and rare, and seeing as how it prided itself on being one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world they had to keep bull dozing everything over to make room for new building's and manufacturing companies. It kind of made her wonder what they'd do to the Outland's after everything else was fixed up, what with all the extra potential building space out there.

Astro pulled the front door shut behind him, making sure his dad didn't come out too early and embarrass him, and met Cora half-way. She looked a lot different from the last time he'd seen her…and she was wearing a green sweater. He'd always thought she looked nice in green. Purple too…and blue. And pink. Any color really.

"Hey Cora!"

"Hey…long time no see."

Demimia was right. She did feel more embarrassed about her old dirty shoes now she was up close to him. She fought it off though, and held out her arms for a friendly hug. She was offended when he didn't take her up on her offer, and looked back toward the door like he'd just heard someone shuffling around behind it.

"What is it?"

"Um…nothing. Do you wanna sit out here on the porch until Zane and everybody else gets here? I mean if you're not too cold already or anything.."

Cora frowned and looked back toward the door…then at one of the curtains in the window which had just swished closed. It was chilly out, being fall, but it wasn't unbearable..and Astro looked like he really didn't particularly want to go in right then. He hadn't said much about his dad over the phone when she'd asked him….maybe he was really excessively creepy and weird and Astro was embarrassed or scared of him or something. He'd looked creepy and weird the day he'd walked off dragging Astro behind him after the fight with Stone.

"Yeah sure…you've got a nice yard. Why not?", she said shrugging, and then followed him over to the white, hanging porch swing and sat down on it. She didn't notice the big, puffy, blue and white pillows arranged on it until she felt the coolness from them underneath her legs.

Astro leaned back into the back of the swing and kicked his feet lightly, staring down at the grooves in the wood of the deck, trying to think of something to talk about. He didn't have to think about it too long though. Cora had been thinking of a ton of question's the week prior that she'd wanted to ask him when she saw him again, and the question she asked first made him forget all about the light, airy foot-steps of his father behind the curtained window's that his sensitive hearing was picking up.

"So...this is gonna sound really weird…and you don't have to answer if you don't want to…but…do robots have their own porn? Like on Futurama? And femme-bot hooker's?"

Astro's head shot up immediately, and his jaw dropped in shock.

Cora held up both her hands, an apologetic look on her face.

"You totally don't have to answer that if you don't want to!"

"Out of all the stuff we could be talking about after not getting to hang-out for so long-you ask about that?"

"I'm sorry! I've just been watching a lot of 'Roboty-stuff' lately—and I wanted to know if there was really stuff like that!"

Astro stared at her. There was no way that could have been a serious question. There was just no way. Robot porn? He had never even watched regular porn for crying out loud! And robot hooker's?

Cora waved her hand's frantically. "Okay—okay! You don't hafta stare like that! Forget that one! You ask me something, and I'll think of a better question!"

Astro shook his head and laughed, then brought his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them in his favorite sitting position.

"Mine question is simple. And it doesn't have anything to do with porn or robot hookers."

Cora rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "What is it Rocket Man?"

"How have you been?"

"Fine. Mostly anyway. It took me a while to find out where Zane and the kids were."

"Oh…where'd you find them?"

"At this Orphanage for kid's called St. Elmo Mc" Guire's. They left the place they were originally for there."

"And it's a good one? My dad told me a lot of the orphanages in the city aren't particularly good ones…"

"Well…Zane says it's a lot better than where they were before. We talk on the phone a lot….so I can always keep tabs on them all. I'm pretty sure he'll say something if it ever turns into a child labor camp like the last one he was at."

Astro nodded and rested his chin on the top of his knees, looking at a strand of Cora's hair on the top of her head that was blowing in the wind. It was good to know Zane, and the younger kids especially…were somewhere where they were being taken care of. Maybe Grace would forget having given him the nickname 'Tootsie Roller of Doom' because of the damage she'd seen him do the Peacekeeper's left eye during the battle.

He heard the foot-steps and the faint swoosh of the curtain being pulled back again and narrowed his eyes. He'd put machine guns in his butt…tortured him for a whole week about adding various other hilarious and un-needed weapons and now he was spying on him through the curtains like some nosy old-lady neighbor. Was this how Dr. Elefun felt on a daily basis dealing with his dad 24/7 at the Ministry?

"How have you been, Wonderboy? You look…kinda different. What happened to your little red bootie thingies?"

Astro snapped out of his reverie, and forced his super hearing as far down as it would go. His father was a monumental, class A, asshole for doing this to him. Maybe he'd stop…maybe that was the last time he'd hear the curtains move. Maybe…just maybe.

"My uh…dad made some changes. I don't have to wear them anymore. I can wear any pair of shoes I want to as long as I remember to get em' off before I fly."

"Cool. What about those..um..black speedo things you wear?"

Astro smiled. "What about them?"

"I mean…are they..like, glued on or something?"

Astro's eye's narrowed again and his smile faded. Cora held up her hands again in apology thinking she'd asked too personal a question for the second time around, but Astro didn't say anything about it. He just sat looking back behind him at the window like he wanted to punch the shit out of it.

Astro looked away from the curtained window and back over at Cora. He may as well get it over with now, before his dad-no—Dr. Tenma—came out smoking one of his Turkish cigars pretending like he was surprised to find they had company, and then saying something completely horrible that would mortify and embarrass him. GOD! Why had the lord cursed him with an eccentric, moody, insane middle-aged man for a father? Why couldn't Dr. Elefun be here to preoccupy him with something?

"Do you wanna meet my dad?"

Cora blinked, and nodded.

"Uh..yeah..sure…but..are you okay? You look kinda mad. Is your dad the one messing with the curtains?"

Astro sighed, and nodded, standing up off the swing. "Yeah. I told him I'd introduce him to you and everybody else when you got here. He's…getting kinda impatient I guess. It's probably best anyway..it's a little windy out and I don't want you to like…freeze or anything cuz I kept you out here talking too long. There's some snacks in the kitchen we could get out afterward, too."

"Okay. Cool."

Cora stood up, and followed him to the front door, which he didn't even have to twist the door knob on due to it already being cracked open. She snickered at the infuriated look on his face when he pushed it open with his bottom lip stuck out like a five year old. The only time she had ever seen him look like that, was the time Zane had given him a wedgie during one of their trips out looking for robot parts. Other than that, and a couple of their back and forths over who had better taste in music, Astro almost never got angry. It was interesting to see what it looked like on him. And it was going to be especially interesting seeing what his father looked like up close…and at the inside of his Hugh Hefner lookin' house, too.

Astro stepped in over the threshold, and Cora looked around after shutting the door behind her. It looked….really empty… save for the gilded mirror's and paintings on the wall in the little room they were standing in. She followed him through the archway into the next room, taking in the marble flooring and minimal amount of decoration. A tall, black haired man, Astro's dad, was wearing a dark purple sweater vest and was puffing away on what looked like an old fashioned tobacco pipe, sitting in a big leather arm chair mumbling something to the pink house service robot hovering next to him. Cora stopped and waited where she was by the arm of a large red, velvet couch while Astro went round it,and the coffee table over to where his he was reclining.

"Cora's here dad."

The man's eye's popped open in what looked like an almost purposefully comical attempt at pretending to be surprised, and looked past Astro over at her. Cora lifted a hand and waved timidly. He had scary looking eyes. They looked like black holes. He didn't look anything like Astro; accept for the dark, wavy hair. He was kind of tan too. Like one step away from being Jersey Shore tan. And that goatee thing made him look a lot like Dick Dastardly from that old Wacky Racer's cartoon.

"So that's Cora then? Hello from way on the other side of the living room Cora! I've heard so much about you!"

Astro looked over his shoulder and motioned for her to come over to where he was. She walked over, trying not to let on how completely creeped out she was by his dad. It was ten times worse up close. Up close he looked like Jersey Shore Dracula.

"Hi. Nice to meet you Mr..um?"

"Tenma."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Tenma…sir."

He smirked, and Cora, looked over at Astro to try to look for any queue's as to what she should say next. He didn't offer one. He just looked back at her with a severely apologetic look on his face.

"Nice to meet you too, Cora. Astro tells me you enjoy listening to metal. That true?"

"Um..Yes?"

"Hm. Tell me…do you think you'll always be a metal fan?"

Astro spoke up, and the horrified look on his face made Cora even more uncomfortable.

"Me and Cora are gonna go up to my room now and play some video games dad-if that's okay?"

"Certainly…but let her answer. Do you think you'll always like metal Cora?"

His right eyebrow rose up slowly on the word 'always' and Cora looked over to Astro again for what to do. But he just looked back at her again, half apologetic, half horrified about something his dad was saying but that she wasn't getting. She looked back and forth between the two, trying to get Astro to give her some kind of hint, and let him know she didn't know what in the Sam Hill was being said here! He looked down at his feet , and Cora gave up. Hopefully… just maybe he wasn't asking her some kind of weird, deranged question, and trying to cover it up by asking her about her favorite genre of music.

"Yes sir. I'm pretty sure I'll always like metal."

"Excellent. You can both run a long now. Nice meeting you again, Cora."

He smiled, leaned further back into his chair, and lazily tapped out the tobacco residue in his pipe onto the end table next to him, letting the house service bot sweep it off into her little dustpan. Cora looked over at Astro again, and this time he was glaring openly at his dad. They exchanged looks with one another. Astro's expression one of indignation, and ''s' one of contentment mixed in with a tinge of mischievousness. Cora frowned. She was almost sure that if she knew what all was going on here she would be pissed too, but all she could do was just stand and be confused. Like Zane in a room full of books with no pictures…love him like a brother though she did.

(A/N: Okay…sorry about this one being so short and taking so long, but I just had to have Cora get a taste of the 'Dark Side' of Tenma before moving on into the whole reunion with Astro and all his other friends. Plus, I thought it'd be a good idea for Astro to get to be by himself with Cora before everyone else showed up. Anybody wanna take a guess as to what good ole' Doc Tenma was talking about when he asked her if she'd always be a metal fan? LOL.)