Taku Fujimoto felt his heart jumping out of his body; running had never been one of his favorite activities, but today he was not stopping; he did not evade the guards at the entrance in vain; Taku was determined to get there with Frank. He knew the robot on TV was him; it couldn't be anyone else. What the kid didn't understand was why was Frank acting like that? Why did he destroy everything in his path? Taku knew that Frank couldn't be capable of doing those things; someone must be controlling him or something like that.

His head thought of so many justifications that he didn't notice his feet crossed, and the boy fell to the ground scraping his knees.

"Ah!" he yelled; and examined himself; the black pants were torn, and his knees were red.

He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth as he began to cry, they burned a lot, and he couldn't get up anymore; the slightest movement caused it to hurt. But then he heard some engines; Taku looked up and saw several fighting ships heading towards the center… where Frank was.

"They want to destroy him!" he thought, scared; he raised himself with one hand on the ground, then put the other and slowly got up; as Taku did, the pain in his knees increased, but he decided to ignore it.

Frank had always been there for him; he saved him on the day of the attack. Thanks to Frank, he was alive; it was time for him to return the favor. Standing up, he began to run, following the ships.

"Don't worry, Frank, I'm coming for you."

...

The students and Midori returned to the school shortly after Astro had left, the monsters were still incapacitated, and the police had arrived, so everyone was calmer, except for Astro's friends, who looked worriedly at the city, the clouds of the spreading smoke didn't help them at all. They had seen the ferocity and strength of that last robot; it crushed Astro like a can, and now that Astro had gone after him... They feared the worst. Cora was extremely scared; she had both hands at the level of her heart.

"Why do you always have to help everyone?" She nervously thought. "Will the day come when you put yourself before everyone else?"

For his part, Shibugaki felt strange; despite how rude he was to him, Astro did not hesitate for a second to save him. Astro put his life in danger for him... Why?

While they were thinking, a ship from the Ministry of Science descended outside the school; when parking, a door opened, and Yuko, Momo, and doctors Elefun and Tenma got out, seeing the crimson monster. Elefun approached him with one hand in front. That's when the robot snapped at him, but the doctor was able to back off in time.

"Gods!" He said, scared.

Yuko looked around until she found her cousin standing alongside the other kids.

"Ken!" She exclaimed.

The boy turned to see her; he smiled and ran to her, hugging her.

"I was so worried when I heard the news," she hugged him back, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine, cous, thanks," he responded, breaking the hug and looking at her.

Yuko smiled, stroking his hair.

Meanwhile, Tenma turned to see everywhere; as his gaze passed through the yard, the more nervous he became not finding his son. When he saw Cora, he approached her.

"Where's Astro?"

The girl didn't answer; she only looked at the ground and then at the city; Tenma moved his eyes to the buildings.

"No-" he whispered.

...

Following Frankenstein's trail was not difficult; holes in the ground, overturned vehicles, and destroyed property were good clues. Astro was flying at full speed to try to catch up with him, but he was damaged from the fight at school, and his battery level had also dropped to seventy-six percent; on a regular day, it would be ninety-three.

"I can't go reload! Who knows how much more damage he could do if left alone!" He thought. He would have to find a strategy to defeat him quickly.

And to add insult to injury, the remains of his pants were getting caught in the rocket boots, and what once was his shirt obstructed his view.

"Not again!" He thought. Astro hoped he would never have to go through that in public again, but something told him that what was left of his clothes wouldn't survive the confrontation anyway; even so, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed.

Ignoring the shame, he tore off his garments and threw them away.

"I hope at least no one sees me like this. I should thank Dad for building me with shorts included."

He put both hands at the height of his waist and activated the rockets, which gave him more speed, and he began to gain ground; unfortunately, it also meant more energy expenditure.

...

In a city tunnel, a car was approaching the exit; the couple was driving until they noticed a bulge in the arch, they both screamed, and the husband hit the brake. They could barely stop before colliding with Frankenstein; the monster roared, raising both arms; the couple continued to scream as they left their car and ran to the other side. Frankenstein took the vehicle and lifted it from the ground; the cars behind also stopped; everyone got out and started to run. Frankenstein crashed the ship with another causing an explosion.

At the entrance at the other end, the policemen were already arriving; among them was Tawashi, whose vehicle looked like a dog; the forces put up a barricade and pointed their weapons in front.

"What's the situation? Tawashi asked an officer.

"Apparently, a robot has gone berserk and is destroying everything it finds," answered the officer named Nakamura, a man of small stature; with a round, bald head, black eyes, a little orbed nose, and a twirly little mustache.

Tawashi sneered before adding:

"I knew you couldn't trust robots." He pulled a megaphone from his trench coat and spoke loudly to the troops, "Shoot to kill!"

The policemen opened fire, and a burst of red lightning hit Frankenstein all over his body; the monster groaned and covered himself with both arms.

"Increase the power!" Tawashi ordered.

The officers obeyed and boosted the power of the guns, which only made Frankenstein angrier; he took one of the cars and threw it at them.

"Down!" Tawashi managed to yell before the car took the barricade; luckily, everyone dodged before the impact, jumping to the sides.

Tawashi landed face down; he was about to get up when the earth trembled again; it stopped and repeated. The inspector opened his eyes and saw that Frankenstein had come out of the tunnel. The robot raised his two fists. Tawashi gritted his teeth and braced himself for the hit.

Only that he never felt it; from the other side of the tunnel, Astro had managed to reach Frankenstein; he could see how the monster was about to crush the inspector; seeing this, he deactivated his rocket arms and put all the energy into those of his boots. Astro stopped behind Frankenstein and grabbed him around the waist with both arms; using all his strength, Astro pushed himself up, taking Frankenstein with him.

The inspector only saw surprised at how the two robots moved away through the air. As soon as his troops recovered, he would order them to follow them.

Frankenstein began to shake violently, trying to reach his enemy. Luckily, Astro was too small, and Frankenstein's arms did not catch where he was. Even so, his sudden movements made it very difficult to hold him. Astro glanced down; they were still in the city.

"I have to get him to an uninhabited area," he thought, but he had to be quick because it was getting harder and harder to hold him.

Acting on instinct, he took him to the outskirts; seeing the nature that grew around the Surface, he had an idea and advanced to where they had found Zog. There was no trace of human civilization for kilometers; upon reaching the place, he released the monster. Frankenstein screamed and tried to catch Astro with his hands, but he was already falling. A thump was heard on impact, and a cloud of dust rose into the skies.

Astro flew over the area using his X-ray vision to see through the earth; he could tell that something on the ground was moving: Frankenstein had not suffered a scratch. The monster rose from the rocks while shaking to clean the rubble over him; he turned around and saw Astro hovering over him. Astro clenched his eyebrows; and activated his arm cannons, then went towards Frankenstein, opening fire.

The monster raised both arms to cover himself from the shots. They made Frankenstein move back a little, they were more powerful than the police guns, but they still did not do much damage. With both hands, he penetrated the ground and lifted a big piece of rock.

Astro sighed in surprise.

Frankenstein threw the stone at him; Astro could shoot it, breaking it into thousands of pieces. Since his cannons had no effect, he decided on a more direct strategy.

He went straight at Frankenstein; the monster smiled, throwing a punch at the boy, but this time Astro was ready; he flew under the huge fist and then hit Frankenstein in the face. The blow was effective, as it made the monster drop his guard. Astro took the opportunity to deliver two more punches, but; Frankenstein recovered and grabbed him by the waist, then threw him with all his might. Luckily, Astro was able to stay afloat due to his rockets. He extended his two arms in front with clenched fists and activated his boots to the maximum; he went like a locomotive against Frankenstein.

He hit him in the chest, and they both went backward, opening a hole in the ground. Astro continued beating Frankenstein in the face, smashing it against the earth; when the two stopped, the boy was about to throw another punch, but Frankenstein struck him with his arm; Astro went flying, and the beast took the opportunity to smack him in the air. Astro was thrown to the right side. Luckily, he landed on his feet, although he kept sliding. When he stopped, Astro looked defiantly at his enemy.

Frankenstein roared again and jumped over him; Astro moved away before the landing. The creature looked at his hands, disappointed not to have the remains of his adversary in them. Still flying, Astro turned on his cannons and began to shoot again, but to no effect.

"I have already used up my entire arsenal! Except for" Without giving time to feel ashamed, Astro turned around and activated his machine guns.

Unlike Stone, Frankenstein did not seem the least bit impressed. Astro opened fire without discretion; unfortunately, it only made him angrier. Frankenstein roared with more anger than ever and clapped his hands; the ripples he caused were so intense that they took Astro out of flight, and the poor boy lost his balance and fell meters away from his enemy. When he recovered, Astro turned around; Frankenstein looked at him furiously.

"Nothing I do works!" He thought desperately, as if he did not already have enough problems, the alarm in his eyes appeared again:

"Battery at 68%"

And from how Frankenstein moved toward him, he could tell that his adversary still had a charge left.

"I'm running out of energy. I need to find a way to stop him, and fast!" Astro thought as he prepared for the third round.

...

Tenma was about to get on the ship when Elefun grabbed his arm.

"Let me go, Elefun! I need to help my son!"

"I am worried about him too, Tenma! But what good will it do to put ourselves at risk? Astro can take care of himself. We need to find out what's wrong with these robots; so we know how to help them."

Tenma calmed down; as much as he hated leaving his son alone, Elefun was right; if the robot was as powerful and violent as the kids had told him, he wouldn't even be a threat to him. And he would only give Astro something else to worry about.

"Okay, let's see what's wrong with these robots."

Elefun smiled; although he acted calmly, the truth is that he was scared to death for Astro. Why did there always have to be a crisis near him? Why couldn't he live his childhood as a regular child? Astro should be there in the schoolyard playing with his friends, not fighting a crazy robot to death. But he could not let Tenma see him like that; he should be thinking with his head.

Yuko had decided to analyze the plant since it was the one that put up the least resistance. Momo approached her and opened her beak; a beam-scanner came out of it and examined the plant from top to bottom; when she finished, a gate opened in her body, Yuko approached and opened it; inside, there was a screen and below a keyboard. Yuko began to read the report.

"Dr. Tenma. Dr. Elefun, I detected large amounts of red energy in the robot."

The two looked at each other, both terrified.

"But that's not possible! The blue core absorbed energy from the red; there shouldn't be any left!"

Yuko typed on the computer.

"There is no trace of blue energy, Doctor, only red."

"But this is not possible!" Tenma declared.

Elefun then noticed the remains of the giant ant; something in it seemed familiar, but he did not know what; he turned to see the city, and the skyscrapers made him remember.

"Tenma!" He called, "Come see this machine; doesn't it remind you of something?"

Tenma approached and looked at the robot seeing it was similar to an ant, but the claws...

"Oh no," Tenma said when he remembered it, he was in front of a prototype of a weapon Stone ordered him to create before the Peacekeeper, the then-president rejected it for not being strong enough, so it was thrown to the Surface.

Elefun turned to see his assistant.

"Yuko, tell me if you can find the serial number of the plant."

"On it!" Yuko typed again, and in no time, she had the results. "Unit number 1180 is a discontinued model that served as an ornament in a botanical store; it was scrapped after the store closed and thrown to the Surface."

Momo quickly examined the tank and the crimson monster, it turned out that the first was one of Metro City's first machines, and the second had been a fairground attraction, both discarded shortly before Stone's attack. To check, they called the collectors.

"Yeah, they definitely came out of the junkyard," Zane said, then pointed to the dents and peeling paint, "those marks are unmistakable.

Sludge and Widget nodded.

"The energy that Astro's core did not absorb must have gone elsewhere," Elefun reasoned, "with the explosion, the energy was released everywhere and… Oh no."

Those last words had been said with great concern, alerting the collectors, the Sky Riders, the Front, Momo, Yuko, and Tenma alike.

"What are you thinking, Elefun?"

"The red energy must have found its way to the dump, infecting these discarded robots, reactivating them; now they only move on an insatiable instinct for destruction."

"So... are they robot-zombies?" Sludge asked, taking both hands to the cheeks.

"You could say so."

That did nothing but scare them; if those things were looking for nothing more than chaos... What would that monster do with Astro?

"Elefun, we need to find a way to stop them!"

His friend nodded, and together with Yuko and Momo, they began to analyze the data; there must be something inside them that would give the key to defeat them. While Astro's friends kept looking at the city if only there was something they could do...

...

Astro countered with his finger lasers, but these had little effect on Frankenstein; they didn't even cut his skin. The boy stopped aiming and opted for direct combat: he flew up to a tree and ripped it from its roots, then headed towards Frankenstein, brandishing the log like a sword, he struck the monster twice, each time destroying the tree more and more until there was only a small part left, so as not to waste it, he struck Frankenstein squarely in the brain.

But neither impact had much of an effect. Frankenstein just reached up a hand and caught him in the air.

"Oh no!" He thought.

He slammed him hard to the ground. Astro screamed in pain; it would take him a moment to recover… he had already taken enough blows that day, and he doubted he could take more. His arms ached, and he couldn't lift them.

"I must… get back up!" But nothing... maybe a cable had broken... oh no, he was lost.

Frankenstein smiled; he would finally get rid of that annoying flea. He raised his two arms, and his shadow covered the defeated Astro, who kept his eyes closed; without waiting any longer, Frankenstein dropped them.

"Frank!"

He was about to crush Astro, but that voice seemed familiar to him; it made him stop. Slowly the monster turned around and saw him.

Astro didn't know why he hadn't felt the impact; he opened his eyes and could see why Frankenstein did not kill him: there was a boy. He seemed eight years old, standing face to the monster; he wore the same uniform from Toby's school, even a cap.

"Kid... get out of here."

But the boy ignored him, and all his attention focused on Frankenstein; the monster also had its eyes on him. Frankenstein was no longer aggressive; he just stood there, looking at the boy. Astro wondered why he changed so suddenly; did they know each other?

Frankenstein took a step forward, then another, and so on, but none was rushed or aggressive. Just slow, as if he were analyzing that little person.

...

He knew that face, those eyes, that hair, that smile that was now a grimace.

But from where?

He didn't remember anything before the junkyard; his only thoughts were of destroying, but now... that missing part was in front of him.

"Frank."

That voice was the one that sang, that had been calling him. He was his goal, his home. He had found him, and now he would never let him go.

...

Astro saw how Frankenstein reached the boy and knelt before him; even so, the difference in size was abysmal; the boy was still tiny before that colossus. The distraction had given him time to recover. Astro got up slowly, he didn't want to attack Frankenstein now that he was calm, but he couldn't let his guard down either; that thing could crush the kid in the blink of an eye.

"Frank… It's you! I knew it!" The boy jumped for joy and touched the monster's head.

Astro prepared to attack, but Frankenstein didn't react violently. Instead, he closed his eyes; as if enjoying the affection.

"Everyone said you were gone! But I knew it wasn't true! I knew that nobody could beat you!" The boy said with tears in his eyes.

"You're right about that," Astro thought.

Taku lowered his hand, and the monster opened its eyes again.

"Why are you attacking the city? This is not like you... What happened to you?"

Frankenstein looked to the opposite side and clenched his fist as if he was struggling inside, the boy noticed and grabbed the metal hand, and Frankenstein saw him again.

Astro had all five of his senses on them, he didn't know why, but he had a feeling that Frankenstein would lose control at any moment.

"Frank, tell me what's wrong with you, and we will figure it out; tell me so you can come home with me today."

Astro wide opened his eyes. Frankenstein had been a home robot; that boy was his owner.

"Please, Frank, we can get out of this together."

And the red light in his eyes disappeared; he relaxed his shoulders, and all traces of anger disappeared. Astro allowed himself to settle; it seemed that everything was over.

"AAARGH!" Out of nowhere, Frankenstein yelled and got up again.

The boy screamed in fright; the reaction had been so fast; the red returned to Frankenstein's pupils, and now they shone more intensely.

"Frank, don't!"

Frankenstein raised a fist aimed directly at the little boy. The kid's eyes widened, and he turned pale; luckily, Astro was fast. As soon as hearing the scream, Astro knew the battle would continue. He flew as quickly as he could, and with both hands, he grabbed Frankenstein's fist; then, using all his strength, Astro lifted the monster over himself and slammed him to the ground.

Frankenstein cried in surprise, his head buried in the ground before his entire body gave way under the weight.

"That will keep him busy for a moment," Astro thought, then he saw the boy, still pale with shock.

Astro flew towards him and carried him with both arms.

"Who are you?" Astro asked as they flew away from the area.

"My name is Taku Fuljimoto! We have to go back, please!"

Astro denied it with the head.

"Not a chance. I need to get you somewhere safe and..."

"Look out!" Taku screamed.

Astro barely dodged the giant rock Frankenstein threw at them; the monster was back on his feet and angrier than ever. He roared at Astro before throwing another rock. He activated his cannon and destroyed it before it hit them.

"Frank! Please stop!"

The monster began to move in their direction; it seemed that now that Taku had appeared, Frankenstein would follow them everywhere.

"I can't take Taku to the city, not anymore," Astro told himself; this just got better; now he had to protect Taku and defeat Frankenstein at the same time. Great.

"Taku! I need you to tell me all about Frank, okay?"

Taku nodded and quickly told him about the day they were separated.

"I don't know what's wrong with him! But I swear to you that Frank is not like this! Someone must be controlling him!"

Astro activated his X-ray vision and looked at Frankenstein; he couldn't see any chips, control discs, or anything like that; what had happened to Frank?

...

He wanted to stop; he wished to carry the little boy in his arms and take him home...

But something…something inside him told him to squash the kid like a bug, to get rid of it once and for all…

But why?

He felt good with the kid's presence... where had that sudden hatred come from? Why the need for blood?

No… he couldn't, but… he wasn't strong enough; he couldn't fight that urge.

He needed to kill the child!

...

Frankenstein screamed as he put his hands to his head, flailing violently and throwing punches into the air.

"Frank!" Taku yelled. "Please tell us what's wrong! We wanna help you!"

Astro asked himself if that was possible. Frankenstein looked more furious than ever; he began to receive a signal in his ear.

"Astro! Astro, son, do you copy me?"

"Dad!"

"Oh, thank Gods! Are you alright?! Where are you!?"

"I'm fine, Dad. I'm on the outskirts with Frankenstein."

"That's not good, son; listen to me very carefully. We know what's happening with these robots."

And as fast as he could, Tenma summarized Elefun's conclusion.

"There's just red energy running that robot's body."

"So that's it," Astro said.

Just what they needed, another Peacekeeper. Frankenstein remained on the ground, hitting the floor and screaming.

"Please! There must be something we can do to help him!" Taku begged, holding into Astro's shoulders.

Astro clenched his eyebrows; he couldn't defeat him in hand-to-hand combat. If he tried to unite both energies, they would both die; he couldn't even get Taku out of there without Frankenstein causing more damage. What could he do?

"Dad, do we have a plan?"

"We are working on it, son."

As if things couldn't get worse, the message appeared in front of his eyes:

"Battery at 50%"

"Not right-" but at that moment, Astro got an idea.

"Dad, my batteries are made to take energy from the core, right?"

"That's right."

"Hypothetically speaking, could a battery absorb the red energy from a robot-zombie?"

...

Back at the school, Momo also served as a communicator, a microphone installed in her mouth, and everyone was gathered around her, listening carefully to everything Astro told them.

"That... might work, son," Tenma said, looking at Elefun.

"We made the batteries to charge Astro's body; we don't know what effect they could have on another robot."

...

Frankenstein roared again. Astro put his attention on him. The monster ripped a tree with his bare hands and threw it at them. Astro dodged it, activated one arm cannon, and fired against Frankenstein.

"We don't have time! I'm almost out of energy, we need to try this!"

…

Hearing the desperation in his son's voice, Tenma knew he couldn't wait any longer.

"Hold on, Toby! I'm on my way!"

Tenma left the rest behind and went to the ship; there was a box with several cartridges; luckily, they had not gone to the ministry before; otherwise, those batteries would have charged. He opened the box and took one.

"Elefun. I need to find a faster vehicle; the ship is too heavy for this."

"I'm sorry, Tenma. Is the only one we got."

Tenma cursed and started kicking the ground; while arguing, someone in the crowd kept thinking the whole time. Shibugaki had kept quiet and away, hearing all the commotion; he still couldn't believe that Astro had saved him…

He had no reason to do it, and yet there he did.

And he couldn't even help him before when Ken and Tama came to his aid; he hid like a coward... that was him, a coward, first for not wanting to accept Astro out of fear, and then for hiding in the fight...

He was ashamed of himself; he was pathetic.

But hearing that Astro had a solution, and seeing that no one else could help him, an idea came to his head, their skateboards were fast, and if he flew in the city limits, he would undoubtedly reach Astro very quickly, but...

No! No buts!

It was time for him to apologize to Astro, not with simple words, but with actions. He was going to earn his forgiveness; he wouldn't hide anymore.

Shibugaki ran with speed uncharacteristic of him, snatched the battery from Tenma, and then dashed off toward his skateboard.

"What the fu..?" Tenma started but was interrupted:

"Don't worry, I'll take it to Astro," Shibugaki replied, as he stopped to look at him, then glanced at Ken and Tama, "The Sky Riders never abandon a friend."

Ken and Tama widened their eyes in surprise but then smiled.

"Shibugaki, wait for us! We will go with you!" Kenichi yelled.

"The Sky Riders never break part, through thick and thin!" Tamao added.

The three of them got on their skateboards and started the trip. The others stared at them: they were Astro's last hope. Cora lowered her arms and watched them slowly fly away.

"You were right, Astro," she thought. "You should never judge someone ahead of time."

…

Frankenstein kept throwing things at them, from trees to rocks ripped from the ground. Astro quickly dodged and shot, but with two cannons, he didn't do any harm; a single one didn't even tickle the beast. Besides, it was difficult to aim while carrying Taku.

"Frank- please stop," Taku said in a small voice.

"I wish he listened to you," Astro thought.

Finally, it seemed that the monster ran out of things to throw; he began to look for what else he could use as a weapon. In that, Astro heard that they called him:

"Astro! Astro!"

"Ken! Tama... Shibugaki!" He replied in surprise.

The Sky Riders were getting closer, flying on their skateboards, and in the lead was Shibugaki! That did surprise him; Shibugaki greeted him by showing his hand, and there was a battery. Astro smiled and looked at Taku.

"Don't you worry, Taku, this is almost over."

But a roar from Frankenstein interrupted them. Astro looked at the ground and saw the monster was getting ready to jump.

"Oh no," he looked at Taku and then at the Sky Riders; this was gonna be a very, very risky move.

"Listen, Taku, I need you to trust me."

"What are you gonna do?"

Frankenstein jumped, heading straight for them.

"Ken! Tama! Catch him!"

Astro began to spin on his axis while holding the boy; Taku screamed, feeling his stomach turn upside down. Using all his strength, Astro threw him toward his friends. Taku screamed even more as he flew into the air; he saw the ground and felt the bile rise to his neck, luckily the feeling of being suspended soon passed, as four arms held him and stopped him, Ken and Tama managed to catch him, each one holding him by one arm.

"Don't worry, buddy. We got you," Ken told him.

Astro sighed when he saw that Taku was safe until something covered the sun. Frankenstein was over him; Astro only had time to open his eyes, the beast wrapped him in its arms, and then they began to fall.

His comrades watched in horror as both fell; from the pressure; the robots were wrapped in a blaze. Astro screamed with more and more intensity as he got closer to the ground. They crashed, forming a crater that raised a cloud of dust.

"ASTRO!" His friends screamed.

As the cloud gradually dispersed, they saw that Frankenstein was getting up; Astro was defeated on the ground round, and bolts of electricity were coming out of him, escaping from his body. Astro grimaced as he let out groans of pain. Frankenstein raised a fist, aiming straight at the boy's head.

"Frank, don't!" Taku screamed, reaching a hand.

But before he could land the final blow, Shibugaki screamed a war cry and launched himself at the monster, hitting him on the head with the tip of his skateboard. Unfortunately, it was as if he had crashed into a wall; the skateboard flipped over, and Shibugaki was shot out.

"Ouch!" Tama said, while Ken just made a surprised/sorry sound.

Shibugaki got up, rubbing his head, he turned around to see that Frankenstein was looking at him, but he hadn't moved from his place. Astro also glanced at him; hearing his scream gave him time to get up. Shibugaki quickly took out of his pocket the battery and tossed it to him.

"Astro, catch!"

Astro jumped up, catching the cartridge in the air, then turned to Frankenstein and inserted it into his arm, the one with the wires out. Red lightning bolts came shooting out of Frankenstein's head.

The monster yelled in pain as energy was ripped from his body.

Up in the sky, Taku buried his head in Ken's chest. Frank's screams were making him nervous. Ken hugged him while watching the scene; he hoped Astro would survive.

Red energy was coming out everywhere, pushing him like an invisible force. But Astro didn't give up his attempt; he just gritted his teeth and stood his ground. He didn't know how long it was until Frankenstein's red eyes went dark; the robot froze and slowly rolled backward, falling to the ground with a crash, and then all was quiet.

Kenichi and Tamao parked their skateboards, and Taku jumped up and ran toward Frank. Astro was still in his position, taking big breaths, still didn't believe it was all over. He looked at the battery and saw that the bulb was shining red.

"Frank!" Taku screamed.

Astro turned around and saw the boy, his eyes were teary, and his hands were shaking, he stopped in front of the monster, but there was no sign of movement.

"No..."

Astro looked down… he had failed to save him. He had, he had…

One of Frank's fingers moved, then another. Taku stopped his tears and looked up. Astro also paid attention; slowly, Frank's fingers began to move.

"T… Taku," the robotic voice said.

Taku's eyes widened with joy.

Frank got up, his eyes were yellow, and he fixed them on his boy. Taku started to cry, but now he was smiling; he ran with open arms toward his friend and jumped into the air. Frank smiled and opened his arms; he caught the kid and began to spin around with him.

"Frank, I knew you were okay! I knew you would come back!"

Frank carried him to his head. Taku hugged him and began to rub his cheek; his robot friend imitated him.

Astro smiled when he saw the two reunited; and breathed in relief when he saw Frank was still alive; he would always hate having to destroy other robots. Astro was going to walk away to give them space when one of his legs hurt; he screamed and went backward, but a pair of hands held him up.

Ken had caught him by the arms before he fell completely.

"Don't worry, brother," Ken smiled at him. "I've got you."

Astro smiled back as the air was filled with laughter from Taku and Frank alike.