For the rest of the day, Astro felt bad for Shibugaki's words, he continued to help his friends with doubts they had, but that did not stop the insults from ringing in his head like hammers hitting a nail.

"Just a bunch of microchips…"

"Just a bunch of microchips…"

"Just a bunch of microchips…"

"Just a bunch of microchips…"

"Just a bunch of microchips…"

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't think of anything else, and the furtive glances from his other classmates did not help; Astro knew that they all thought the same thing: they did not stop seeing him as a weirdo.

He would never be one of them.

If he was honest, Astro wanted to leave that place and never return, but... He could not leave Cora, Zane, Sludge, and Widget behind; it wouldn't be fair to them if he left everything just because of how others looked at him. Also, Ken and Tama showed him their full support, but he did not wanna affect their friendship with Shibugaki; the last thing Astro wanted was to cause trouble. Perhaps the best thing would be to tell Ken and Tama that he appreciated their attention but that it was better if they did not get together so as not to alter their reputations. Ken had already won everyone at school, and Astro did not want to ruin that; a person like Kenichi did not deserve it. Yes, it seemed the best way to proceed, and he would tell them when it was time to leave.

For her part, Cora had noticed the sudden change in Astro's attitude; even if he seemed to behave normally, she noticed that when Astro thought no one was looking at him, he would stop smiling and look miserable. What worried her the most was how easily she recognized that face: the one she had had in her school days when Trixie bullied her, when Yoko betrayed her...

"I bet one of those idiots from Metro City told him something!" She knew they could not be trusted, now she would have to find a way for Astro to tell her what happened, although knowing him, Astro would not do it until they were alone... maybe if she invited him over, Astro would confess it to her.

While she was orchestrating her plan, time passed, and classes ended.

"Okay, children, that will be all for today; see you tomorrow, and do not forget to do your homework."

"Yes, teacher Midori," they all thanked in unison.

"Well, at least the rehearsals paid off," Cora thought tiredly.

The students took their things and began to leave. Astro was behind his friends wondering what he should do, when he was at the door he heard the teacher:

"It was a pleasure having you in my class, Astro. I hope to see you again tomorrow."

Astro stopped and turned on his feet to look at Midori, she smiled at him, and Astro felt happy again... How could adults like him but not his age? With all that, seeing Midori's smile made his stomach knot with the simple idea of missing tomorrow, her heart would be broken, and Astro could not imagine a grimace on that beautiful face.

"Of course, teacher, you can count on it."

Saying that, he followed his friends, heavens, he had to stop making promises he might not keep.

Meanwhile, at the exit, the Sky Riders had already gathered, waiting for Astro; Kenichi felt so embarrassed by Shibugaki's behavior that he needed to apologize to Astro; he was not sure if Astro had heard their conversation or if the boy sensed the hostility when they introduced themselves, but whatever the case, he wanted to make sure there would not be any more problems.

Kenichi was confident that if Shibugaki met Astro, the two would become friends, it was difficult to explain, but in the short time they spoke, it was clear to him that Astro was a child like all the others; the fact he was a robot was an insignificant detail, he just had to make Shibugaki see that. Besides, how could he behave like that with him? Astro had saved them all! Or maybe Shibugaki did not feel it so personally because his parents were not close to Stone when he attacked. Ken remembered that day very well; he was playing soccer across town when they felt the tremor; what worried him most was not his own safety but his uncle's and Yuko's.

At that time, his uncle should be leaving work, and his route back home passed through the Ministry of Science, where Yuko had her job interview. Ken knew that he would not bear to lose all the family he had left.

He could never thank Astro enough, and after meeting him, he sincerely wanted to be his friend.

Too bad his other friend was not doing his part; Shibugaki was still frowning and arms crossed, still thinking this was complete nonsense.

"Shibugaki, you said you would make an effort," Kenichi demanded, taking both hands to his waist.

"Sorry, Ken, but I already told you this seems like a bad idea; what will become of us if we allow this madness to continue?"

"That humans and robots can be friends?"

Shibugaki just looked the other way; humans and robots being friends…sounded scary.

"I seriously think you are exaggerating this, Shibugaki. You haven't even given Astro a chance," Tamao said as she adjusted his glasses.

"You two just met him! How can you trust him more than me! We've been together since kindergarten! I can not believe this!"

Ken rolled his eyes.

"Because you are our friend, we want you to give him a chance; if you do, you will see we can all get along. And I remember that you were the one who said it would be nice to have a new member," Ken said.

"Besides, Astro is the kind of person you like instantly," Tama shrugged.

Shibugaki only responded by looking away in resentment. Ken raised a hand to his head; how difficult he could be to deal with!

Then Ken noticed Astro was leaving school, accompanied by a girl, a boy, and two small children that seemed to be twins. Astro saw them and smiled as he greeted them, Ken did too, but the robot noticed that Shibugaki was also there, and he kept looking at him with the same cold look and frown. Which caused Astro to stop smiling and lower his hand slowly. Ken was surprised at this sudden change, he angrily looked at Shibugaki, but the blonde had already turned away.

"Astro, are you okay?" Cora asked.

Astro shifted his gaze to the ground; if Cora noticed or thought that the Sky Riders had hurt him in any way, she would go on a rampage; and that was the last thing Astro wanted.

"Yes, Cora, all fine," he separated from the group and turned around, "I remembered that I have something to do. Will you go to the orphanage or Cora's place?"

He raised both hands.

"You know what? Don't worry about it. I'll catch up with you later."

Saying that, he walked towards the trio; his friends were confused and looked at each other.

"What just happened?" Zane asked.

"I don't know," Cora replied, then looked at where Astro was headed; with the Metro City boys, "but I have an idea."

He started to follow Astro without his noticing; as he walked, Astro mentally prepared the words he would say to them.

"I appreciate everything… but I think it would be better if you weren't seen with me." No, that wouldn't help. "Thank you, but I already have friends," No, there was no need to be rude.

Ah… it was so hard! Maybe he should tell them the truth...

Finally, he reached them, looked up, and sighed; here came the roughest thing.

"Astro," Ken greeted, "you left before we could finish."

"Oh yeah, I remembered that- I had to go back to my classroom," he said, putting a hand behind his head, always avoiding looking at Shibugaki, but Astro could feel his disapproving eye.

"Well, the important thing is that you are here," Tama said, "there are so many things we wanna show you; of course, if you don't have anything else to do, we'd like you to come with us."

That idea was great, but… at that, Ken punched Shibugaki in the stomach.

"Right? Shibugaki," he growled.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, but with such a cold and disinterested manner that it immediately alerted Astro to his true feelings.

It was better to get away from them at once, things were already tense because of him, and he was sure the children were watching them.

"Thank you for the invitation."

Cora was about to catch up with them, ready to start the fight if necessary.

"But..."

The ground began to shake, the whole building trembled, and the children fell off their feet.

"What's going on?!" Shibugaki yelled.

Everyone started screaming and crying; the last time they felt a tremor of that magnitude was when the Peacekeeper attacked. Cora was about to fall, but Astro noticed her and quickly grabbed her waist as she held on to his shoulders.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked.

Cora nodded.

"Nice catch."

Astro smiled.

In the classroom, the seats and desks were moving up and down. Midori clung to the wall as everything collapsed. On one side of the school, there was an explosion on the ground, which caused a cloud of dirt to rise into the air. After that, a huge hole was formed, and something was coming out.

The first thing they saw was an enormous claw, color metallic black, and it was rusty; another appeared next to it. The two leaned on the ground and pulled out an entire body, it seemed to be a giant ant, but it only had two legs that resembled those of a reptile and possessed a sting similar to that of a bee; its color was black but rusty and with some dents, its eyes were completely red.

The monster roared, causing a collective cry; Astro released Cora and flew, stopping when he was meters above the ground and turning to his friends, both those from the Surface and the city.

"Cora, Zane, Sludge, Widget, get everyone to safety."

His gang nodded in agreement; they quickly got to the sides of the crowd and began to guide them away from the monster; it was lucky that Cora was seen as the older sister because her authority was undoubtedly serving to maintain order. Astro looked at the Sky Riders.

"Ken, Tama, Shibugaki, make sure no one has stayed inside," he pointed at the school, then turned to the monster. "I'll get him away from here."

At first, the boys were scared, but Ken immediately raised a fist and nodded.

"You got it, Astro!"

Before Astro could answer, a scream was heard: it was Midori. The monster had destroyed the wall and was holding the woman with its claw above its jaws.

"NO!" Midori screamed in terror, frantically hitting the metal claw.

"Teacher Midori!" Astro yelled, pointing a finger and shooting a blue laser.

He hit the ant in the eye, causing it to explode; the monster howled in pain and released her. Midori screamed as she fell, but Astro flew towards her with all his speed; he stretched out both arms in front and managed to catch her.

"Don't worry, miss. I have you."

"Astro!" she exclaimed in relief.

He took her to his friends and carefully set her on the ground.

"Change of plans go to a safe place."

Ken nodded, but at that, he looked behind Astro and got scared. He pointed a finger.

"Astro, look out!"

Astro turned just in time to see that the monster had recovered and had its paw on top of him, ready to crush them. Astro caught it before it passed, but the weight had been more than expected, causing his arms to bend, and he almost fell to the ground.

"Astro!" They all yelled.

"Don't worry about me! Get out of here!"

Astro pushed the monster with all his strength; the ant had not expected such power and could not hold his balance, so he fell on its back; Astro flew even higher.

"Go! I will cover you!" Astro then looked at the monster still lying on the ground. "I do not wanna fight you! But if you don't leave these people alone. I will have no choice! Stop, and we can solve this another way!"

But the monster didn't give in; it opened its jaws, shooting red lightning. Astro couldn't react in time and was hit.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" He screamed as he fell to the ground.

"Astro!" his friends yelled.

Astro went down with a big blow, his whole body ached, but that would not be enough to knock him down. With a groan of pain, he slowly got up, looking at his adversary again, he would have to fight, but then he noticed something terrifying, the energy of those jaws was red... just like the core.

"But that's impossible! Doctor Elefun said the cores were one again!" he thought, terrified. "Unless... my core only absorbed a bit of the red energy, and the rest... the entire core... oh no!"

Could it be possible that the Red Core had survived the fight? And now it was inside that robot?

"I can't talk to him. It will be better to immobilize him."

The monster fired again, but Astro was ready, he flew before he could be hit, activated his cannon arms, and fired, hitting it in the head, which caused screams of discomfort from the beast, but it did not seem to do much damage. The ant covered itself with both pincers as he backed away. Astro was advancing further in his attack when he heard a scream.

Another monster had appeared, this one was just as big, but its appearance was much weirder: its body was round, and it seemed to have three humps; its legs were like those of a dinosaur, and it had a big trunk with three spikes at the end, on its sides, it had small ovals that seemed to be windows, as well as a row of small pincers. Its face and mouth resembled an elephant, it had a tail that ended with a roller, and it was crimson in color. Like the other one, its skin looked rusty with several dents and red eyes.

The monster was at the exit, blocking the way for the children to escape. Astro got scared; they were surrounded, and to make matters worse, the new one was swinging his trunk, trying to catch the children; Astro looked at the giant ant again; he could not wait any longer; he had to act immediately, as much as Astro hated it, he had to destroy the other robot. The ant was recovering from the shots, but Astro flew straight at it, reaching out an arm in front, piercing the robot's chest, and splitting it in two before it could fight back. The ant screamed in pain as it fell with a crash and stopped moving. Astro did not even have time to see the remains as he flew towards the thing activating his cannons again.

The beast had two children trapped in its trunk; the poor were crying uncontrollably, and it was ready to eat them; but before it could take them off the ground, Astro fired, breaking the trunk in half; the monster backed away while howling in pain. Midori came over and helped the two children to escape.

"Come with me. I will keep you safe."

Astro, still floating, stood in front of them, extending both arms in defense until Midori and the kids escaped. The beast stopped waving its shattered trunk and glared at him; seeing it, Astro knew he couldn't talk to it either, he rushed forward. He was going to take it away from there, to a place where they could fight without worrying about the others, but something held him back; tentacles had wrapped around him, sticking his arms to his waist.

Astro yelled as he flailed to free himself, but the tentacles held on tight; he looked down and saw an unopened robotic plant cocoon. It was red with purple spots around it, while the tentacles, or better said, roots, were dark pink and had the same unkempt look as the other two. The plant laughed, and red energy ran through its roots, electrocuting Astro.

"AAIEEEEEE!"

When the discharge ended, the plant hit Astro against the ground, and some cracks opened at the impact site; this time, Astro did not scream but gritted his teeth to contain the pain. The crimson monster was not far behind, and when Astro was down, it crushed him with the roller of its tail, burying the poor boy. This time Astro couldn't help but yell, and his enemies laughed; the plant released him momentarily, and the boy put a hand on the ground.

"I can't give up... my friends are counting on me. I'm not gonna let them down!"

He tried to get up, and although the pain was spreading in his body, he did not allow that to stop him; Astro leaned on one foot, and then on the other, the roots held him again. Astro quickly looked at the street and saw that another monster had appeared. This was a dark-mustard tank with two cannons, the plant threw Astro into the air, and he screamed as he rose. Astro couldn't activate its rocket boots because the tank fired a missile; the boy could only watch as the projectile approached him. There was an explosion, and the poor boy fell to the ground with his clothes scorched. Astro groaned as he leaned on one arm to get up again, but the pain was too much that he collapsed on the ground again. The monsters laughed and got closer; the collectors and the Sky Riders were watching the beating from the ledge of the building; the other students had escaped with Midori.

"We can't leave him alone," Cora said, clenching her fist.

Ken stepped forward.

"I'm with you; we have to help him."

Cora looked at Ken quickly, recognizing him as the boy from Metro City; she would prefer not to have him around, but... he seemed sincere in his intentions. Tamao also leaned out and saw the situation; the three giants were approaching Astro for a final attack. If they managed to distract them, maybe Astro would have a chance to get up... but how?

The answer came when he saw his skateboards.

"I have an idea!"

He told the plan to Ken.

"Well thought, Tama! Let's go!"

They ran for their boards while Shibugaki hid against the wall.

"We will distract the big one! Take care of the plant!" Ken instructed.

"What is he you talking about?" Zane asked, then he noticed the two get on their skateboards and head towards the monster, "oh."

The crimson monster was about to crush Astro when Kenichi stopped by his eye; the creature ceased and looked at the boy. Ken stuck out his tongue and raised both hands to the height of his head while moving his fingers, then gave him a kick in the pupil. The monster roared and backed away; Cora smiled, so those from Metro City did use their heads.

"Come on, gang, I have an idea," she told them as she came out of hiding, and the others followed her. "Grab all the stones you find."

The crimson monster shook its head aggressively; when the iris stopped burning, it calmed down and looked up; Ken was still flying over. The creature roared and threw its tail at him, but Tamao arrived and hit it with the tip of his board in the other eye. The monster roared again and began to throw its tail randomly, but the boys managed to dodge it and hit it again.

The plant noticed the new intruders, prepared to reel them in when something hit it.

"Hey, ugly, it's this way!" Cora yelled at it, throwing rocks.

Before the plant could attack her, more rocks hit it on the right side; Widget and Sludge were throwing, while Zane was on the left front. The plant roared and tried to catch them, but the collectors were fast, dodging its roots.

"Turn around in circles, now!" Cora instructed.

They obeyed her command; starting to run around the plant, still trying to catch them, the plant threw her roots all around, but what caused it to become entangled with its own roots. They oppressed its body and made it impossible to move.

"This is for messing with Astro!" Widget and Sludge yelled at the plant as they kicked it.

Little by little, Astro regained consciousness; he noticed that the plant was out of action and that the crimson monster was trying to catch Ken and Tamao, which was enough to make him react. Astro got up and was about to take flight when he heard that the tank reloaded; he quickly turned around with his right arm turned into a cannon. Before the tank could fire, Astro did it first. The beam flew into the muzzle, and the tank exploded, causing the collectors to fall to the ground; Ken narrowly lost his balance; Tamao was not so lucky and fell off his skateboard.

"AAAAIIIIEEEEE!" He yelled; luckily, he managed to grab the edge, but the boy was left hanging.

The monster smiled, got under him, opened his mouth, and leaned on his legs while flexing them.

Astro wasted no time and fired at the legs, exploding both before the monster could jump, the robot toppled over, and Astro raised up and fired another beam at the tail, which was blown into a million pieces; the monster was left as a caterpillar, writhing and screeching but unable to move.

Ken came over and helped Tamao up on his skateboard; seeing that the robot had been defeated and Astro was fine, they returned to the ground.

Astro did one last check, the ant was squirming, the tank was history, and the plant and the monster were knocked out; it seemed that everything was over, but he noticed something was coming out of the ant's broken chest. Astro went to investigate.

When Ken and Tama hit the ground, Cora and the others joined them.

"Awesome moves!" Zane congratulated them.

"Thanks, you did well, too," Ken replied.

"Good strategy," Tama commented as he examined the plant, "mine was a bit more… improvised."

"A life living on the Surface teaches you a few tricks," Zane shrugged.

"Well, if you ever want us to teach you a few tricks on these things, just ask," Ken added as he waved his skateboard.

"Oh, really?!" Sludge and Widget asked excitedly, appearing out of nowhere.

Ken laughed and replied:

"Absolutely!"

But Cora wasn't talking as she was looking everywhere.

"Where's Astro?"

At that moment, he arrived, carrying Mike (covered in drool) in his arms.

"Mike?" the kids from the Surface asked, while Ken and Tama just looked at each other in confusion.

"It was horrible!" The refrigerator yelled, clutching Astro's shirt. "Those things came out of nowhere and destroyed the barracks!"

"Calm down, calm down, Mike," Astro comforted him, "we took care of them; you don't have to worry."

Astro patted him on the back.

"You don't understand Astro; they also ate Sparks and Robotski!"

In that, they heard sounds coming from the plant; they turned to look at it, its body was inflamed, and it turned its mouth backward as if it wanted to vomit, and that is what it did, it regurgitated Robotski in a sea of slime. All the kids made disgusted faces but then went to help him.

"Oh… the things I saw in there."

"We are fine without knowing, Robotski, thanks," Zane said quickly.

And finally, Sparks crawled out of the crimson monster's mouth.

"Do you think you could take on the great Sparks?" he yelled as he pointed a finger at himself, then kicked the monster.

The monster roared, making Sparks scream, it tried to eat him, but Sparks ran to hide behind Astro.

"Protect us, Astro!"

Astro looked at his friend, then at the monster, its eyes glowing red, the same as the core, but he couldn't find any explanation. Sparks by while looking terrified to all sides, as if afraid that something else would appear.

"Calm down, Sparks; they can't hurt anyone else."

"But Astro… There's still one!"

Astro's eyes widened in concern.

"What are you talking about?"

A roar arose behind them, they turned and saw him, covered by a curtain of smoke from the tank, but they could see the enormity of his body and the intense red of his eyes. Astro swallowed hard; it was a scary silhouette, but he wouldn't be intimidated; he put Mike down on the ground.

"Go with the others; find shelter," he told them.

"But Astro..."

"Don't worry, Mike, now it's one against one," Astro smiled at him, although he wasn't sure he could beat that thing.

Sparks and Mike met with the rest of their friends, who looked worried as Astro flew to where that thing was. The boy landed in front of the new intruder, a three-meter-tall robot, and one of its arms had lost its protection superficial, the cables could be seen, while in the other arm, the lines were protruding from his shoulder, he was rusty in some parts of the body, such as his feet, hips, chest, and hands, his skull was rectangular, and as ears, it had two headphones that looked like screws.

It was certainly intimidating.

"Listen, we just immobilized your friends; this doesn't have to end with more violence, so please tell me what you are looking for. Why did you attack us? I'm sure if we talk, we can solve this peacefully."

The monster lowered its head to look at him, then tilted it to the side; Astro clenched his fists; he had a bad feeling about this. With an earth-shaking roar, the robot made it clear to Astro that he didn't want to speak; he raised both arms and let them fall over Astro; the boy acted fast and flew away before being crushed. The blow generated a wave that broke all the windows in the school and caused Astro's friends to fall to the ground. Astro looked at his downed comrades and then at the monster.

"Okay, you leave me no choice."

The monster saw him and roared; with both hands, he took the remains of the tank and threw it at Astro; the boy managed to catch it and tossed it back like a volleyball; the monster hit it before getting hurt, splitting it in two. Astro opened his eyes, yelping in worry; he was strong.

"It's Frankenstein's monster!" Sludge and Widget yelled.

"That name suits him," Astro thought.

Frankenstein advanced to the school grounds. Astro prepared to face him when he noticed that someone had not escaped; Shibugaki was still in the yard, the wave from the blow took him out of hiding, and now he was lying in the yard.

"Please stop! Please stop it!" Shibugaki prayed as the tremors returned again and again.

When the earth stopped shaking, he opened his eyes and got up; he found himself face-to-face with Frankenstein. Shibugaki's scream was only drowned out by Frankeinstein's roar; the monster launched a punch. Astro arrived in time to intercept it, putting himself between the two. Shibugaki had covered his forehead with both arms as if that could make any difference. Not feeling the impact, he opened his eyes and saw Astro had saved him.

"I don't know… how much can I hold him!" Astro said tiredly; he was using all his strength, and Frankenstein was powerful. "Get out of here, Shibugaki! Now!"

Out of pure instinct, Shibugaki obeyed and ran away; he couldn't believe it, despite everything... Astro saved his life.

Frankenstein noticed that the boy was giving him too much trouble; if he wanted to get to the origin of that song, he would have to get rid of him. With his other hand, he held Astro; the boy screamed when he felt the pressure. Frankenstein violently hit him against the ground, opening a huge gap. Astro yelled at the moment of being crashed; the monster didn't stop there and kicked him with such force that he was thrown inside the school, destroying several walls while flying. Astro landed unconscious in one of the classrooms, littered with rubble and his clothes in shreds.

...

The intruder was out of combat; if his friends weren't strong enough to finish the boy, they didn't deserve to follow him. He turned towards the buildings that could be seen on the horizon, the music had stopped, but he remembered the direction.

Now with no flying kids and no distracting companions, he could make it home...

The place where he would find the answers.

He began to move towards the city with the same thought in mind; he would do the same as he did to the boy to anyone who got in his way.

...

"Astro!" Cora yelled as she entered through the gaping hole in the wall.

Inside, the school looked like a war zone; the walls were smashed, full of rubble everywhere, and the benches and desks were either broken or upside down; the girl pushed her way through the wreckage.

"No, no, no, no! Please, Gods, not again!" She was terrified; she didn't think she could bear to see Astro dead again, the mere memory of… No! She wouldn't even think about it.

After passing three halls, she finally found him lying in a hole, resting on his back.

"Astro!" she cried in relief, running with him and kneeling beside him.

The boy slowly opened his eyes and looked at her; he couldn't help but smile. Cora sighed with relief and hugged him, then Cora separated from him and wiped her tears with her sleeve.

"I'm sorry... it's just... I thought I was losing you... again."

Astro smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"You will never lose me."

His body ached like hell; Cora put her arm around his shoulders and helped him walk to the exit; when they left, they could see that smoke was coming out of the city.

"Frankenstein... is heading to the city, right?" Astro said.

Cora bit her lip; she knew that if she told him… there was no need, as her silence was more than enough. Astro gently withdrew her arm and moved away from her side.

"Astro, I beg you… please don't do it."

Astro looked away, then into her eyes.

"You know I cannot stand aside... I'm sorry."

Before she could protest, Astro had taken flight into the city. Cora was left alone, with a sad and worried look, asking the Gods to protect her friend.

...

Taku Fujimoto moved through the corridors of his school with the rest of the students; ever since the Peacekeeper rampage, new security measures had been implemented, for example, a protocol in case of another attack, that morning they had a drill, and now they were really applying it.

The alarm sounded, and red lights were activated throughout the school, indicating to take refuge; everyone would go down to the basement to hide until the crisis passed. What a way to go back to school. While walking, Taku noticed something on one of the monitors installed on the wall; it was a live report of the situation. From an aerial view, a robot was seen advancing through the city. Taku thought something was familiar; he stopped following the group and approached the screen as the image zoomed in on the robot while he was destroying a car. Taku's eyes widened, and his mouth formed an O. The robot was somewhat changed, but Taku recognized him; he couldn't be anyone else.

"Frank," he whispered.