Astro couldn't understand what was happening. Hamegg was standing behind the table wearing his arena attire and was arrogantly smiling as if he had already won. From how things looked, that seemed to be the case.
All the artists had their eyes focused on the furniture as if the recording was still playing. Reno was also attentive, except that he was shaking, sweating, and clenched fists; it seemed that, at any moment, he would throw himself on top of Hamegg. Astro prepared to hold him if that happened.
Hamegg stopped looking at him and turned his attention back to the others.
"I think this will help you decide, Mr. Pannacotta," Hamegg said.
Reno looked at this father.
"What is he talking about?"
Pannacotta took off his hat and held it with both hands at the level of his stomach, lowered his head, and did not answer. Hamegg adjusted his robe and answered:
"Oh, it's nothing, young Mamoru —oh, sorry," he looked at the boy, and with a malicious laugh and a mocking tone, he added: "It's Reno, right?"
Reno got into attack position.
"I just made a proposal to your father," he continued. Then he began to walk around the room, the robots moving out of his way when he passed by, "I want to acquire this beautiful circus, and I want all of you to work for me."
"No!" Astro thought. "Everything but that."
He already knew what Hamegg did with robots. Astro did not want to imagine what he would do to that poor family.
"My family is not for sale!" Reno yelled at Hamegg.
"Oh, but you see, Reno, they are," he responded, facing the boy. Hamegg took the device to rub it in the air, "I think no one wants this reaching Tawashi's hands."
Astro looked at the gadget. Maybe he could destroy it without hurting Hamegg; a beam from his fingers would do the job. He lowered his hand and activated the weapon, the tip of his finger turning blue. He had to be very precise; he just had one chance.
"Don't even think about it," Hamegg snapped, "If anything happens to me or this little friend, a copy will reach Tawashi instantly."
Astro turned off the ray and frowned. He must have known that Hamegg wouldn't take any risks. After all, he was a manipulator. The thief smiled at his triumph and continued boasting:
"As you see, my robot friends, you are not in the best position to fight back," he rummaged in his jacket and took out a sand-colored paper, holding it in his hand as if it were a trophy. "Here is the contract, which states that all of you will become my property, just like this circus, all the profits will be for me. And we should add a new act."
Hamegg then put a hand to his chin, thinking, then snapped a finger.
"I know! A high trapeze dive between 50,000 vote charges!"
They all gasped in horror. That was a stunt in which a wheel generated the voltage, and the robot acrobat had to cross through it to land on the swing on the other side.
"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" Reno yelled, "Only a robot with split-second timing can make it through! None of them is built for that!"
"Don't worry, Reno, that's why we have six robots to try it out; one has to figure it out eventually!"
And he laughed.
Reno barked and was about to tackle him, but Astro held him by the arm.
"Reno, don't! You'll only make it worse!" he told him.
Hamegg would not hesitate to take more severe retaliation at the slightest provocation.
"Listen to it. It's smart— you know, for a robot."
But Astro would not fall for his games; there were more important things. Hamegg seemed disappointed Astro did not get offended, but he resigned and returned to Pannacotta.
"Read it carefully so you can see the clauses and everything. Although it won't change anything, you will have to do what I tell you, or I will take the video to Tawashi, and all of you will go to the oven. And little poor Reno to an orphanage."
Astro felt Reno's arm getting more and more tense; he had to use a little more force to hold him back.
"But don't worry, if you join me, well— I can make him my personal assistant," he laughed evilly and left the contract on the table with one blow, then left. "You have twenty-four hours to accept my terms. I will return, and if the contract is not signed, you know the consequences."
As he left, he looked askance at Astro. The boy could see Hamegg was enjoying everything. And worse of all, Astro couldn't hide his concern. Hamegg had managed to tie that family's arms.
"How did he do it?! How did he find out?!" He wondered frantically.
Then, everything clicked; the attack on the circus was against him. Hamegg had programmed some drones to attack him, and on the way— they overheard his conversation with Reno. Hamegg had discovered them because of him.
This was all his fault.
His realization hit him like a bucket of cold water; his body went stiff, and he released Reno, who ran off with Pannacotta. The other robots came out of their trance and approached their leader.
"Dad! We have to go!" Reno exclaimed. "Let's go to Marine City, even Metropolis if necessary! But we can't sell ourselves to that bastard! You know what he does to robots!"
"Reno is right! We have to escape while we can!" Cookie said. "If the police don't destroy us, he will!"
"We can't let him get his hands on Reno! Who knows what that monster will do to him!" Cupcake implored.
"Calm down, please calm down," Pannacotta stammered. The strong and determined personality he had shown was gone; he was nervous and couldn't think of anything. The words came out of his mouth uncontrollably.
The family was in chaos, between a rock and a hard place.
"And all because of me," Astro thought.
None of this would have happened if he hadn't opened his mouth. He had condemned those innocents; he had—
"NO!"
There was no point in self-pity; he had made a mistake, and now he had to fix it. He wouldn't go through the same situation as Metropolis; even if it cost him his life, he had to make amends. He owed it to Reno.
He approached his new friend and spoke to him in a loud and determined voice:
"Reno!" he did so well that the boy turned to look at him, "I promised you I would keep your family safe, and I'm gonna keep it."
He had spoken so firmly that everyone had stopped shouting to pay attention to him.
And before anyone could argue, he turned around and flew towards the exit. He would catch up with Hamegg no matter what.
...
The crook was already a few meters away from the circus, but with his rockets, it was no problem to catch up with him. Astro managed to fly over Hamegg and landed in front of him with such force that he raised a cloud of earth, but Hamegg did not flinch. Astro sat up and looked at him in the eyes, this time determined. He would not be intimidated.
"What an entry. I wish you had had that attitude in the games."
More attempts to provoke him were not going to work.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked him.
"Oh, why? Let's see — oh yeah! Because a stupid robot took everything from me!"
Hamegg began to walk in circles around him. Astro followed him with his head. He knew his tricks; Hamegg could have a taser with him, and Astro prepared to counterattack if necessary. This time, he would not let himself be hit.
"I'm no longer the inexperienced robot you fooled," he thought. "I have learned a few things since we last met."
"Not only did that robot destroy my business! But it also took away my children, whom I looked after for years!"
"You lost them yourself. I had nothing to do with it," Astro interrupted.
But Hamegg ignored him and continued his tattling.
"He humiliated me in front of everyone! He took everything I had from me! And if that were not enough —"
He stood in front of him.
"I soon found that that same robot is the son of Umataro Tenma, the man who fired me from my dream job."
Astro clenched his fists.
"The man I ended up in this dump because of," he said, extending both arms.
"Fine, your problems are with me; if you want to take it out on someone, let it be me. But leave Reno and his family alone!"
Hamegg laughed.
"Oh, but you see, Astro, as much as I want to destroy you, the truth is that these past months have been rough. As I told you, you destroyed my biggest source of income. I need a new business, and that robot circus is the best I have."
He took out the player and lifted it in the air.
"And as long as I have this, I have them by the neck."
Astro gritted his teeth. This was Hamegg's perfect vengeance; he hurt his friend and added more salt to the wound, knowing it was his fault. And he also profited from those poor artists who had nothing to do with anything.
But Astro knew Hamegg; he knew that he hated him more for both his actions and Dad's, and he could take advantage of that. Perhaps Hamegg wasn't aware, but he had given Astro the key to his victory.
"You're wrong."
Hamegg laughed.
"Astro, how could I be wrong?"
"Because you are wasting your time with those robots, they have been giving the same show for years, people will eventually get tired of them. Do you think they will pay to see the same show every night?"
"That's why we are adding the new act."
"And how long will it take? How much money is gonna cost you all the equipment and remodeling? And from what I see, you want a quick cash."
Hamegg frowned. He was going to counterattack, but Astro beat him to it.
"Or you could earn in one night what you would make with them in a month."
Now, it caught him off guard.
"What are you…?"
"Why have a simple robot circus when you can have the greatest robot on Earth?"
That had surprised him. Hamegg had turned pale.
"Think about it, you only need one night: "See Astro, the robot that defeated the Peacekeeper and Frankenstein! Live! Just For One Night! An exclusive event!" Can you imagine how much money you would make? Just put me in an arena and throw a bunch of robots at me. People are gonna go crazy. You might even overshadow Brando's fight with Hercules."
Hamegg took a few steps back, placing a hand on his chin.
"And as a bonus, I could get hurt; you win in this situation: you get rich while you get revenge on me and my dad. Would you miss an opportunity like that?"
It was risky, but he owed it to Reno.
The doubt on Hamegg's face dissipated, and instead, he began to advance towards Astro. He pointed a finger at him, which Hamegg waved happily, opened his mouth, and held it there for a bit before answering:
"You are good. You must have learned it from me."
"Don't even think it," Astro thought.
"You can have me, with the condition that you leave Reno's family alone, break the contract, and delete all copies of the video, and if I survive the encounter, I will return the next night and so on. Imagine how much you will win. You could destroy me eventually."
Astro hoped it bought them time while he thought of something better.
Hamegg smiled like a snake, pulled out the device, dropped it on the ground, and then crushed it with his boot.
"We have a deal," he offered his hand.
But Astro wasn't going to take it.
Hamegg was surprised but still smiled.
"What? You don't trust me?"
Astro clenched his eyebrows.
"I think you know the answer."
To which Hamegg began to laugh maniacally.
...
In the circus, everyone was still tense and quiet, waiting for Astro to return, wondering if there was something he could do to change Hamegg's decision. To their surprise, they saw both of them entering the office again. Everyone stood up and looked at them. Hamegg smiled and went for the contract.
"Our good friend Astro has made me think, and you know what? He is right. There is no point in acquiring this circus; it's old and outdated. It's better to make room for new and fresh things."
He grabbed the document and tore it in half, then shredded it into thousands of pieces that he let fall to the ground.
"You can rest assured, friends. I give you my word that I will leave you alone. There are more important businesses out there deserving of my attention."
With that, he headed towards the exit, but not before stopping to look at Astro one last time.
"I'll see you around."
Astro did not change his position and maintained the firmness of his gaze.
With that said, Hamegg left.
There was a moment of silence and then a collective sigh of relief. Even if Astro was going back to the arena, he felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Reno didn't hesitate for a moment and hugged him.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Reno repeated as he picked Astro up from the ground and affectionately shook him to the sides.
"You— you are welcome, Reno," Astro smiled fondly.
Reno stopped hugging him and placed him back on the ground but continued to hold his arms.
"How did you convince him?"
"I just appealed to his ego, that's all."
The other artists approached him and began to thank him. They offered him their hands and patted him on the shoulder. They all looked relieved that he had pushed Hamegg away. When Pannacotta approached, everyone gave him space so he could have a good word with him.
"Astro— I don't know how we could thank you for what you did."
"You don't have to thank me for anything. I just corrected a mistake, that's all."
...
Back in his lair, Hamegg was in his kitchen, pouring a glass of champagne while singing. On the roof, the drones he had sent to destroy Astro watched over.
"Today we celebrate— My revenge!"
He raised his glass, and the drones roared in support. Hamegg laughed and drank when his communicator began to ring.
"What? Who could have my number?"
He took out the device and pressed the answer symbol. A face he had never imagined seeing in his life appeared.
"You— you— you are—"
The person laughed.
"I know who I am, and if I'm not mistaken, you're Hamegg, right? A former scientist at Metro City's Ministry of Science, right?"
Hamegg nodded.
"Excellent, because I have a job offer for you, Mr. Hamegg, one that I am sure you will not be able to refuse."