I.

Hogarth was lost for words. The Giant was stripped clean of his outer iron, there wasn't one cord that wasn't exposed or one strip of inner metal that wasn't silently moving mere inches beneath circuits intertwined so tightly together that they resembled human muscles.

"What's wrong?" The Giant asked as he stomped forward.

He seemed less worried that he was a robot again and more worried about Hogarth.

"Giant," the man stepped back, his blue eyes widening with each passing moment.

"Not again." The Giant said in resignation to his friend's reaction.

Hearing this, Hogarth stopped short. "No, worse."

The Giant looked down at himself curiously and saw that his disproportionate iron body was now only a skeleton of it's former self. He touched his face and felt the sunk in areas and gaunt grooves. Further examination revealed just how much thinner and taut he was.

"How did this happen?" He was horror-stricken.

"I…" Hogarth caught himself and fibbed. "Sort of, tried changing us back." he couldn't look the Giant in the eye. "I saw your iron body lying there and, well, it's a part of you."

The Giant's white eyes humbled, "What's it look like?" he smiled slightly, embarrassed.

Hogarth tugged at his shirt, also embarrassed and smiling. "Like the Terminator without his face and Jack Skellington combined." He admitted. "You don't know them, do you?"

The Giant nodded with a hilariously grim look.

"It is that bad?" he asked.

"Eh… gruesome." Hogarth muttered.

"Hideous."

There was a sharp change to Hogarth's tone. "No," he refuted. "You look beautiful."

The Giant was confused.

"I made that mistake before and I'm not making it again."

With those words he prevented what could have been another emotional breakdown, Hogarth was certain that this time it would have been the both of them.

"I know you love me, but don't be scared to tell me how you feel. Even if it hurts me."

The Giant's bass voice was gentle as he said this.

Okay, maybe it would have just been Hogarth.

He rubbed at his neck and looked away. "It'll…"

"It'll take some getting used to."

They looked at each other and smiled.

The Giant suddenly held out his arms with a hopeful expression.

Hogarth gladly went into them and snuggled up against the Giant's chest. The automaton, for the first time ever, held a human being against him while he was in his robot form; even if it was only half of his former self. He then raised Hogarth up to his lantern-jawed cheeks and hugged him against the left one. There was an obvious relaxing the two felt doing this.

"That's more like it," the Giant said with his eyes closed.

"Mmm." Hogarth agreed.

As the Giant helped the now sore-legged Hogarth onto his shoulder they could both see how much freer the robot moved. He met Hogarth's curious eyes with his own and let his head fall back as he rustled the cords in his body. In giddy discovery, the Giant held out his arms and moved them back into place. He noticed Hogarth's balance issues and tried offering his assistance to a piece of metal that didn't move to which he was shooed away.

"Don't give me that," Hogarth grinned at him, "Keep your paws back and your tail tucked ."

" 'Don't get excited.' " The Giant rephrased in disappointment.

"No, get excited. Just don't help me move." He sighed haggardly and shifted his weight so that he could sit down comfortably. "We have to find those kids." Hogarth motioned over at his backpack with the sleeping bag mysteriously missing. "You don't want it, trust me."

His belongings were returned to him anyways.

"We should go further into the city," the Giant suggested. "Abba could assist us."

"All right, sounds good." Hogarth stood up. "Let's just-," and then something stuck out… in his pants. He and the Giant were pleasantly surprised. Gently but without hesitation, the bigger of the two reached out his now slimmed cord hand and pulled down the big tab of the overalls which contained the small but large rod head. Then the fingers unscrewed the left bolt holding up the Giant's jaw. Hogarth pulled out a small bottle and lubed his cock.

They turned to look at each other with a smile before coming together. It fit in easier then either of them thought it would, though there was never really any doubt it would. There was a stiffening of the Giant's body and he let out a gravelly sigh, his legs began buckling as even his lessened weight suddenly became too much. Instinct took over and the Giant rotated his jaw as Hogarth clasped the bolt he had taken from his fingers, clinging to his friend's exposed wires for support. He released a sigh of pleasure of his own and tugged the shirt out of his pants. Hogarth then pressed himself closer to the Giant and revolved himself – huge gut and all – against the thick wiring. There was a earth-shaking collapse.

The Giant was on his knees. He barely held it there, his body shifting from side-to-side.

Hogarth was ruthless as he dug in deeper, but the Giant balanced himself and shoved his jaw gently with his free hand. The other holding Hogarth's back pushed him in closer to the Giant's cheek and he finally felt himself go limp. With the last amount of strength in him, Hogarth did a quick side to side that brought the Giant out of his realm of control and caused him to bury his shoulder into a pile of antiques. He copied Hogarth for the final time and slid his loose jaw from side to side. His friend nearly fell face first off of his shoulder but the Giant caught him carefully. Than he, himself, fell flat on his back.

The two were immovable for the next ten or so minutes.

Finally, though, Hogarth rolled off his back and nudged his giant wiry friend.

"Kay, pal. Time to get up." He actually located where the Giant's antenna was lodged midway inside the slot on his head, fully exposed. "I'm going to give this thing a tug."

Hogarth somehow managed to successfully yank it out of his friend's cranium.

A little reluctantly, the Giant rose to his feet. He tapped Hogarth's shoulder for his screw – who in turn handed it to him with a sheepish grin – and the two secured their respective fasteners while turning away awkwardly but modestly. There was no shame for what they were doing but neither of them derived a perverse pleasure from their actions. They were simply calm and even a little bit proud that they could come so close together physically.

"The kids." The Giant looked down at Hogarth and noted matter-of-factly. "Pygmy."

"Yep." He turned uneasy. "We have to find them… do you think we got carried away?"

His friend grew concerned as well. "I hope not." he was about to say more when a familiar rumble in his gut sounded. Hogarth laughed out loud and gestured over at a big red couch.

"Better get your sentiment from me and not your antiques, pal, or you'll go hungry!"

The Giant chuckled in his wire-ringed throat before kneeling for the sofa. He was about to collect the springs sticking out when a pair of fingers identical to his old ones plucked the silver strings out and brought them up to a clone's mouth; Hogarth and he were shocked.

"Uh, Giant."

"Hogarth?"

"Say summin," he muttered, "He's your clone… kid."

"Um… Pygmy?"

It started munching on it's find.

"Boys?" Nothing. "Abba?" The Giant thought for a moment. "Hogarth, the Iron Giant?"

"Giant?" It spoke after a quick swallow.

Hogarth could still feel his translator from long ago. "Can you take us to her?" he asked.

It turned to him. "Hogarth." it said plainly as the man messed with his aluminum retainer.

"You must be Sputnik, the droid that was left for her." The Giant enthused.

Hogarth didn't comment. "We need to get there right away." The clone "Sputnik" lifted up the Giant's lanky arm and tapped at it's chin like a tailor unpleased with the sleeve of a suit.

"Um…" The Giant tried to be pleasant. "We need to find some boys and another clone."

"Boys and Abba. Pygmy!" It replied as it examined it's own iron metal.

"Somehow I don't think he's as socialized as you." Hogarth said to his still wire-bound pal.

"We should probably move on." The Giant agreed, growing more serious as they headed into what was left of the city. "This place has been demolished. Look at this odd tubing."

Just as they were about to examine what looked to be gigantic titanium snakes spiraling out from everywhere, Sputnik caught his father's arms and started snagging at his wires. Hogarth flew into a panic and reached for his friend to transmute but he simply couldn't stop the much younger droid with his own strong iron hide, he was horrified and on the brink of screaming when the antenna on the Giant's head slid out: Beep… Beep…Beep…

Hogarth almost laughed, it was like a renaissance greater than him being in his twenties again for a night. The metal seemed to slip away from Sputnik in a liquid blue and then reshape itself in a strong compound of metal. It was then, as the Giant had been several times before, that he was restored to his former glory. He looked up at his donor, which he now saw resembled his internal self, without the words to summon his deepest thanks.

The Giant then turned to Hogarth, expecting the same reaction. There was something in his friend's eyes that made him look longer than he normally would. Hogarth had run the gamut of horror and joy with him but now he was just dead silent. He stood staring back

at the Giant as if he were accusing him without knowing he was. The Giant remembered this look; it was the look he got whenever he brought up the missile incident so long ago.

"We need to reach Abba, can you take us to her?" When Hogarth spoke he was formal.

The Giant's stomach sank; he was too formal, robotic. He was… an adult.

Sputnik nodded and jetted off.

"Hogarth?" the Giant tried to coax his friend back to life. This couldn't be happening.

"Let's just get going," the man whispered. He wouldn't look the Giant in the eye even as they followed the dematerialized clone in flight. Whatever Hogarth knew he wouldn't say.

II.

There were a lot of things to be concerned about and Abba's home was an immediate one.

Pygmy became positively smitten with the layout of the castle. In fact, so did Taylor.

"Wow, look Jean." He touched one of the rough gilded banisters that bordered a wide staircase leading up to a one-level expanse of foyer surrounded by pillars of matching color and texture. His fingers traced a cracked green jewel. "It's like a Disney castle."

"Yeah, sure." The older boy started up the stairs. "If you're into the junkyard version. Look, Jean." he tapped on red and blue jewels several steps up. "These gems are off of some guy's cop car and hey, look, the rest of them look like reflectors off a kid's bike."

"Geez," Taylor puzzled over the strange architecture. "Remember what Mom said about Grandpa Dean and how he was an artist?" he asked as they walked up the stairs together.

"Yeah, something about working with junk or something. Real weird. Listen, we gotta go home." Jean reasoned and his little brother nodded. "Don't do nothin' to upset this Abba woman. Just let me talk to her and be calm and reasonable. Maybe she can send us back."

"To the past?" Taylor ventured.

Jean swallowed slightly. "Yeah, the past."

The two finally arrived at the top. "Maybe we could like, go tell everyone about what we have in 2000 and, like, prevent all the wars and everything." The five-year-old spread out his arms and began weaving and bobbing through the pillars even at his brother's warning that he'd fall off. "Or maybe, maybe we could find cures for diseases and cancers, Jeanie!"

"What'd I say about calling me Jeanie?"

Taylor stopped pretending to be a plane. "Uh… not to."

"Correct."

Jean walked over to take his brother's hand and the two entered the warm atmosphere of a tall chamber room. Taylor ooed and awed over the beautiful ceiling of a blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. The older of the two brothers was instantly wondering where the Sistine Chapel was when a woman dressed in a long flowing green robe suddenly appeared from across the room. She touched her cheek and then floated over to greet the two boys.

…

"Well, are you not two funny little men." Abba said as she approached her guests.

These men had the clothing of Lower Middle Zephyron citizens but as she drew closer the woman could see that their faces resembled hers in her youth. She had been the last known child born on earth and was in fact the youngest person in existence. Abba stalled, the little men covered in dirt had hints of red, blue and tan under their begrimed apparel. Their tiny knees were showing – unusual – and their hair was tousled in a way Abba could remember her own hair being as a child. She covered her mouth and stared to shake with enthusiasm.

"Uh, Abba?" Jean asked as his brother hid behind him.

The vibrating woman let out a shriek as she jumped up and down excitedly. Her straight auburn hair bounced with her and fanned out over the clearly freaked out brothers as she wrapped her arms around them. "Oh my! You cannot be!" Taylor whimpered as she kept getting louder. "Are you two…?" Abba rubbed her hands together, kneeling, "Children?"

"Yes." The smallest boy spoke, though he still tried to conceal himself behind Jean.

"EEEEEEEEEE!" She squealed in delight. "Oh, I've always WANTED children!" Abba gathered them up in her arms again but Jean managed to fend her off and protect Taylor.

"Can you get us back home or what?" he spat.

"Please, tell me." The woman kept talking, unaffected. "How are children made?"

Both brothers stared at her with wide eyes.

"We don't know." Jean finally said woodenly.

Abba's face fell slightly. "Oh." she recovered and tried to mask her deflation with a kind smile. "Well then, can you at least tell me who your parents are? Where you come from?"

"We're from the past," Taylor appeared beside his brother. "From the year 2000."

He ignored Jean's glare.

"Well, are you not just a dearie!" Abba took the boy under the arms and lifted him up into the air. "I do not suppose…" she paused and held him at her level. "The past? You are…"

"Hogarth's nephews? Yep. That's us."

"And you're his daughter," Taylor added gleefully. "That makes us cousins!"

Abba was stunned into silence. Jean tried to reason with her as Ivan had with Tress.

" 'K look, there's this evil robot named Gold who's like the Giant's wife or something and she's trying to take control of Pygmy and conquer the world and stuff. We need you to, I don't know, stop her and save the world. If you can get us home that'd be nice too. A guy named Tree or something is in trouble too and he's your guys' friend. So, can ya help us?"

"Tress?" Abba backed away. "Oh, God." she caught her heart.

"Sorry, lady." Taylor mumbled as Jean tried to steady her, apologizing.

"I-I-I, I cannot help you." She turned away from them.

"Why not!.?" The oldest boy yelled at her and his brother started crying. "We're hungry and we're tired and we wanna go HOME!" When Abba turned back to look at them she seemed saddened over her resolution not to assist, even Jean was crying over this news.

"Because Hogarth Hughes is not what you think, despite the good things you have been told." She approached them, speaking coldly and forcefully. "He took advantage of my birth mother Kina! My cousin Trina told me this herself. He forced himself on another teenaged girl from his own time too, a personal close friend of Trina's. I am the result

of forced birth! Do not be fooled children, by his loving nature and kind words. There

was a point where he even attempted to annihilate my true father, the Giant, at what you and I would call a wormhole to the past." her eyes burned hot with tears as she informed the terrified boys all of this, she tried to conceal her hostility but it still simmered over as she finally composed herself. "Garth Hughes is a liar, a skilled manipulator and he shall do anything in his power to invade the privacy between your legs. Do not fall for his acting!"

"That explains what Mom said on the way up to Grandma's," Jean muttered.

"That's not true, Jean." Taylor tugged at his arm. "Uncle Garth's-,"

"We can't trust'im, Taylor." The boy glared into his eyes. "We can't trust anyone here."

"I am sorry boys," Abba approached the one with medium brown hair and blue eyes. Her hand stroked along his cheek. She smiled, wistful. "What I would not give for a son." Jean didn't pull away but Taylor kept his distance. "I believe what you say about Gold, Jeanie."

"Ivan's in trouble." The child backed away, he spoke seriously. "We've gotta help him."

"I am afraid…" Abba laced her fingers together. "That too is out of my control, dears."

"You don't understand," Taylor tried reasoning. "The Giant's in trouble too. Everyone."

"She…" the woman was struck in realization. "She is going to try to use the Marketer's project for her own personal use, if she has not already." There was suddenly a floating white scooter at her side. She and the boys turned to see a middle-aged woman with a vibrant gray streak running along her roots. Her long, straight brown hair draped over what could have been a twenty-year-old's body in tight mint green. "Trina? I cannot-,"

"I have kept you here long enough, dear cousin." She placed the scooter's handles firmly in Abba's grasp. Her hazel eyes were wet but warm. "Go. Go see your little friends off."

With a grateful smile, Abba gave her second cousin a big one-armed hug – who gave her one in return with a smile – and turned to her other second cousins. The boys raced over quickly and hitched their legs over the 'antique' floating scooter. Pygmy was ignored as they ascended rapidly through the pillars. Trina walked over to stand at the castle's edge.

"Arrow," She said the first name that came to her mind as her dark green droid walked up to stand behind her. "I am going to direct Hogarth's goddaughter to a safe location, than I would like for you to come with me for a… a little trip." Destiny glittered in her eyes now.

III.

"Some of you are afraid," Golden moved like a general in front of her new draftees. She in no way, shape or form had any trouble in keeping these former Omega citizens in line. The ones who were scientists or other more intelligible citizens were indefinitely silent. No one defied her. "But I would like to appease your fears. Your time on this earth will either end or begin again, I am not quite sure which will happen. However, you are not to revolt. The Giant is your genetic donor, not your father or your maker. He is your model. Kina, as I know you all remember her or have at least heard about, is the reason you are alive here today. The reason why she is dead is her own doing. But," Gold stopped amongst all of the wreckage and her voice was unbelievably chipper. "I am the source behind what was once thought to be a legend; the Android Marketer's project. I had my own reasons for making it which will soon become clear." she was dramatically lethal. "I dare anyone to challenge me." They did not. "Than we have only to wait. Our guests will arrive soon."

Hogarth, the Giant, Abba, Pygmy or, even better, Trina herself.

Either way, Gold knew that they would fight tooth and nail for Ivan. She unfolded her digits and saw what had become of little Ivan Grant after she had used the Marketer's project to scan the Iron Giant's endoskeleton; he was small, deformed and shriveled as what was left of him lay in her cold brass palm. Even wearing the warm clothes he had shrunk out of did not help him. Gold merely covered him again and stared out fatefully.

To be continued…

~ Lavenderpaw ~