Astro Boy: The Movie (10 page)

Hamegg and the kids surrounded Astro’s fallen body.

“It worked! I don’t believe it,” said Hamegg. He was obviously pleased with himself.

“What are you doing?” Cora asked in disbelief.

Hamegg waved the laser device in the air. “I swiped this from Dr. Tenma after he fired me from the Ministry of Science.”

“Who cares?” Cora cried. “Why did you do that to Astro?”

“He’s our friend!” Zane said, balling his hands into fists.

Hamegg shook his head. “I thought I raised you better. Smarter. Are you blind? He’s a robot.”

The kids all stared at Astro. Cora shook her head.

“It’s not true. It can’t be true,” she said.

“Somebody programmed him to be nice,” Hamegg explained. “He’s not really nice. He’s just an incredibly powerful machine.”

Cora still couldn’t believe it. “But he was so ...”

Hamegg put an arm around her. “I know, sweetheart. It’s got to be tough.”

“What are you going to do with him?” Zane asked.

Hamegg grinned. “Take a wild guess.”

Nearby, the three robots disguised as cardboard boxes had witnessed the whole scene.

“Poor little comrade,” Robotsky said sadly.

“Never fear, the Robot Revolutionary Front is here!” Sparx said bravely. He clutched the briefcase in his hand.

The RRF’s secret weapon was about to be unleashed ...

Astro opened his eyes, finding himself in complete darkness. He realized he was in some kind of box. He used the light from his eyes to light up the darkness. Astro saw he was dressed in a pair of black pants and a white and red shirt with a giant letter “A” on the front.

Through the box, he could hear Hamegg talking to the crowd.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, all you riffraff who snuck in without buying a ticket, have we got a treat for you!” he cried. “Allow me to present ... ASTRO BOY!”

The door to the box opened, and Astro walked out into the arena, confused. Hamegg sat on a platform above him with Cora and the others. Astro looked up at Cora, but she turned away.

“I know, you’re wondering what a nice-looking kid like that is doing in a place like this,” Hamegg said. “That ain’t no kid, folks. That’s a robot from Metro City.”

The crowd booed loudly.

“Astro personally told me he doesn’t think much of our fighting robots. Thinks they’re a bunch of sissies. Thinks you’re all trailer park trash!” Hamegg said, egging them on.

“He didn’t say that!” Cora protested, but nobody heard her over the boos of the crowd. They were on their feet now, shaking their fists at Astro.

“This is what we’ve all been waiting for!” Hamegg cried. “A fight between the Surface and Metro City. Let’s get it on!”

A big Kill-Bot stomped into the ring. It had a giant spiked head and long arms with spinning saws on the end.

“Sorry, I’m not doing this,” Astro said. He powered his jets and shot straight up into the open-air arena.

Zap!
Some invisible force field jolted him, sending him slamming into the ground. The crowd laughed and cheered.

Groggy, Astro started to get to his feet. But the Kill-Bot loomed over him.

Pow!
The bot aimed a punch at Astro. He rolled out of the way just in time.

Pow! Pow! Pow!
The Kill-Bot was relentless, trying to hit Astro again and again. But Astro was too fast. Back on his feet, he powered his jets again, zipping in between the bot’s deadly arms.

Astro didn’t fight back. He didn’t believe in hurting anybody for no good reason, not even robots. But the crowd thought he was afraid.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” they chanted.

The Kill-Bot got angrier and angrier. He could not touch Astro. He angrily flailed his giant arms. Members of the crowd screamed and ducked.

Astro knew he had to do something. The crowd was in danger! With his superstrength, he picked up the Kill-Bot, then quickly flew up, up, into the sky.

Zap!
The Kill-Bot hit the force field.

Boom!
His head exploded. Metal pieces rained down on the ring.

The crowd went wild.

“Bring out the next robot!” Hamegg shouted.

A robot no bigger than Astro entered the arena. Then it quickly split up, turning into two robots. One of the robots grew until it was as tall as a tree, with spiked clubs for arms. The other robot transformed into a mass of cannons.

Bam! Bam!
Astro flew out of the way. He still didn’t want to fight.

He flew behind one of the robots and tapped on its shoulder.

“Hey, fella,” Astro said, trying to make friends.

The startled robot fired shot after shot at Astro, trying to destroy him. Astro dodged the blasts. One of them hit the second robot, and the second robot fired back. Now the two robots were destroying each other!

Astro used his superstrength and picked one up in each hand and smacked them together. The fight was over. Hamegg’s face turned purple with rage.

“Get him!” he bellowed.

Astro barely had time to regain his strength before Hamegg sent out a small army of robots. The crowd started to cheer for Astro as he took them down one by one. With the crowd distracted, the RRF put their plan into action.

Their new secret weapon wasn’t a feather—it was a feather duster!

“The secret weapon!” Sparx announced.

A jet of flame from the arena shot toward them, turning the feather duster into a pile of ashes.

“All right, go to plan B,” Sparx instructed.

“What is plan B?” asked Mike.

“We all run around waving our hands in the air and screaming like little girls,” Robotsky said.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
The three robots ran and screamed.

In the ring, Astro battled challenger after challenger. He took down robots that breathed fire, robots with chainsaws for hands, and robots that spit out ninja throwing stars. The more Astro fought, the more the crowd loved him.

Finally, it looked like there were no more challengers. He gazed up at the platform, exhausted. How could Hamegg have betrayed him like this? And Cora had acted like she hated him. His dreams of joining the junkyard family were over. What would happen to him now?

But Hamegg had one more surprise in store.

“And now—the final challenger. A robot so fearsome, so powerful, even I’m afraid to watch,” he announced. “Behold! ”

A loud, mechanical roar shook the arena. Everyone looked to a metal gate. The next challenger waited there, and it sounded terrifying.

The metal gate opened up, and the crowd gasped in fear. Zog was
huge
!

“I give you, the mighty Zog!” Hamegg said dramatically. “Let’s see how Astro Boy does against a robot powered with the same energy he’s got.”

How could Hamegg do this?
Astro wondered. Zog wasn’t just another challenger—he was Astro’s friend.

“I’m not fighting you, Zog,” Astro said.

Zog took a mighty step toward Astro.

“I mean it,” Astro said. “I won’t fight.”

Zog took another step. He was close enough now to crush him with one move of his foot. Astro looked up at him, not moving. He wasn’t going to attack Zog, no matter what.

Zog reached out with one huge hand ... and affectionately ruffled Astro’s hair. The crowd laughed.

Hamegg was annoyed. “Great! A love-in. Some big finale.”

He aimed a laser device and hit the button. A jolt of electricity hit Zog. The big robot writhed in pain.

“Fight! That’s an order.”

But Zog wouldn’t do it. Hamegg zapped him again and again. Zog was clearly hurting. He started to smoke and overheat.

But he wouldn’t give in. Astro was his friend, too.

Frustrated, Hamegg aimed the laser at Astro next. Astro gasped in pain and fell down on one knee.

The crowd roared in protest. They loved Astro now.

Cora stood up. “That’s enough!” she angrily told Hamegg.

“What’s the matter with you?” Hamegg asked. “They’re just machines. They’ll do what I tell them.”

Hamegg was furious now. He jumped off the platform and stormed across the field, brandishing the laser.

“What? I’m going to be embarrassed by some souped up hotshot from Metro City? A hundred-year-old bulldozer from New Jersey? I’m turning you both off,” he threatened.

Zog stomped his giant foot, shaking the ground. A huge crack opened up in the arena floor beneath Hamegg. It knocked him to the ground, and his laser device went flying.

Zog stomped toward Hamegg. He raised one giant foot, ready to crush him.

“Stop! The laws of robotics!” Hamegg yelled. “You can’t hurt a human! It’s been that way for fifty years.”

But Zog had been built long before the laws of robotics were in place, and he knew it. For the first time in a century, he spoke.

“I’m old school,” he said in a booming voice.

The members of the RRF watched in amazement from the sidelines.

“We’ve got to get that guy!” Sparx quipped.

The crowd froze. Was this really the end of Hamegg? Zog’s foot slowly came down ...

... and Astro flew underneath it, holding it up.

He didn’t want to see
anyone
get hurt—even a creep like Hamegg.

Hamegg rolled out of the way. He stared up at Astro, terrified and stunned.

“What kind of robot are you?” he asked.

But Astro wasn’t looking at him. His eyes were on the sky, where a military aircraft was about to descend into the arena.

President Stone had found him!

The gunship landed in the middle of the arena. A swarm of heavily-armed soldiers emerged from the craft. They charged toward Astro with their guns raised.

Cora sprinted onto the field and picked up Hamegg’s laser device. More kids and members of the crowd were hopping over the barricades. They all wanted to help Astro.

General Heckler and President Stone marched up between the soldiers. “Seize the rogue robot and secure the area!” Stone commanded.

A mass of soldiers jumped on Astro, piling on top of him like they were football players and Astro held the ball. One of Astro’s red boots stuck out of the pile.

The crowd roared in protest and started to advance toward the soldiers. The standing soldiers turned their guns on them.

Back on his feet, Hamegg stared at President Stone in amazement. “Dufus? Dufus Stone? Is that you?” he asked.

President Stone froze. The crowd hissed as Hamegg walked up to him.

“It’s me, Hamegg! We were in the third grade together. I used to do your homework for you, remember?” Hamegg asked.

“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” President Stone said, but it was clear he was lying.

The crowd was throwing things at Hamegg now.

“Take me back to Metro City with you,” Hamegg pleaded. “I’m begging you, Dufus. They’re going to tear me limb from limb.”

Two soldiers grabbed Hamegg.

“You can’t call the president Dufus,” one of them warned.

They dragged him away.

“He’s the
president
?” Hamegg cried out in disbelief. “Yeah, pull the other one. I used to forge his report cards for him.”

President Stone sidled up to General Heckler. “You told me you’d arrested everybody I went to school with,” he said under his breath.

“We went all the way back to preschool, Mr. President,” Heckler assured him. “I don’t know how this one slipped through the cracks.”

Two soldiers pulled Astro out from under the pile-up. They gripped his arms tightly. Astro didn’t even look at them. He gazed up at the clouds floating around Metro City. He remembered the first day he learned to fly. He had felt so happy, so free.

But that life was never meant to be. Dr. Elefun was wrong when he said Astro would find his place. First Metro City had rejected him, and then his friends on the Surface had, too.