BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Astro moaned and reached out his hand to the alarm clock. He pressed down softly on it.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

He hit it harder.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Astro lifted his head and slammed down on the alarm.

SMASH!

The clock gave way to his fist and the clock beneath his hand was no more. Astro's eyes widened. "Opps…" he looked out his window. It was early morning, the sky still pretty dark. It was the day after the battle of the Peace Keeper and that strange octopus alien thing, but Astro was wasn't tired or worn out a bit. He threw the bed sheets off him and jumped out of bed. He was wearing his white T-shirt with the red lines down the right hand side with his black pants with red stitching. He grabbed his blue and red jacket from the side of his bed and pulled it on. Once he was ready he walked up to the window and quietly slid it open. He looked back to his room to make sure no one was looking, and with a satisfied smile turned back to the window, only to find Mr. Squeegee and Squeegee Bottle floating in front of him. "AHH!" Astro jolted back and almost fell over. When his eyes adjusted and he got a better look, he sighed. "Oh." He heaved. "It's just you guys."

"And where would a young robot like you be headed to at this hour?" asked Squeegee Bottle suspiciously. Astro walked further into the window doors.

"Nowhere. Now just let me through." He said, attempting to dodge them. But they quickly zoomed to where he would escape and kept talking.

"Would your dad be at any chance aware of your departure?" Mr. Squeegee said.

"Everything's fine guys. Now out of the way." Astro quickly made a move to the right but they kept right on him.

"Dangers lurk in Metro City at this time of day." Squeegee Bottle warned. Astro frowned at them.

"Yeah! We just wouldn't want you to get hurt. That's all." Mr. Squeegee joined.

"Look guys. I defeated the Peace Keeper only, like, A DAY ago, so I think I can handle a little mud on my shoes."

"Doesn't he wear boots?" Mr. Squeegee whispered to Squeegee Bottle. He nodded.

"And you're not my babysitter, you're my window cleaner. So leave me be!" Astro pushed them aside and felt his feet disappear and his rockets take place. He hovered away from the building and made his way along Metro City. The city was a bit beaten up, but new building robots had built most of it back up. "Yeah, and just remember how you defeated the Peace Keeper!" Mr. Squeegee called as Astro flew away.

How I defeated the Peace Keeper… The sentence echoed in Astro's head as he zoomed across the city. Others considered the battle a triumph, but even so, Astro didn't like to think about it very much. He didn't like to think about the whole being a robot thing very much either. He felt like Toby, and had all the memories of Toby. But he just wasn't Toby. He was Astro. He had thanked his dad a lot for accepting him how he truly was even through his set purpose in life was to be a replacement and to be just like someone else. Another fact that gave him the shivers was that technically, the person he is inside…IS DEAD. He remembered that night when his farther had told him he was a robot, a COPY of who he thought he was. After a while of calming down, he actually realized this fact, and it somewhat scared him. But it seemed all better, for now, anyway…

Astro smiled as he saw the familiar views of the Surface. Past the Robot Games Arena and the R.R.F "hide out" (still covered in lights), up to the old red rusty bridge and straight to Hamegg's place. Things were still a bit iffy between Hamegg and Astro (especially his dad and him), but it wasn't Hamegg Astro was there for. And there she was, sitting on the old car, poking fiercely on her phone. Next to her, Zog slept with head down, snoring softly. Astro swerved to the left and landed behind Zog's wide, stubby leg. "Stupid phone…" Astro heard Cora say angrily. He walked over to the back of the car, unnoticed. Cora held the phone to her ear. "Hello? Helloooo?" Astro poked his head up to her.

"Hello!" Cora jolted around.

"AHH!" she held the phone above her head. "Who are you? Why are you-" her eyes narrowed and she saw him more clearly. "Astro?" she called. He laughed and pulled himself up onto the car. She smiled and slid down on the bonnet. Astro joined her and they sat side by side. "You're late." She said.

"Well, I had a bit of trouble." Cora started to mess with the phone again.

"What kind?"

"A floating spray bottle."

"Ha! I bet they put up a challenge!" Cora laughed. She then frowned and stabbed the phone with her finger.

"Let me try." Astro held his hand out. Cora stopped poking the phone and looked up to Astro's big, round, brown eyes. She smiled shyly and nodded. Astro took the phone and pointed his finger at it. BlueCore energy drifted out of his finger and wafted into the phone. It started to muck up, but Astro moved his hand away before he could get zapped. He passed it back to Cora. She pressed on it and it lighted up. "Thanks." She said. "Hmm" she laughed. "I guess you've had practice!" she looked up at him. He smiled.

"Why don't you buy another one? Your parents will give you anything now they have you back." Astro said.

"I'm actually… I'm moving back in here." She confessed. Astro's eyes widened.

"W-why?" he stammered.

"Well" she sighed. "Being with them is great, but…" Astro twisted his head around, tying to face hers; turning away.

"And?"

"Well, it just doesn't feel like home. Here-" she looked up at the building. "It's all I will ever need. This it my home." They smiled.

"What did your parents say?"

"Oh, they said its fine. Whatever I want to do, really." They turned back to looking at Metro City. It was no longer floating, but it still stood out with all its glimmering lights. "Hmm."

"What about you?" Cora asked.

"What about me?"

"Where are you going to stay?" Astro thought for a while.

"Just with my dad, as usual."

"Dam." Astro laughed.

"Why?"

"You're…" she looked at him. "You're one of the things that make it home here." They looked into each others eyes and smiled. Cora edged closer to Astro, her eyes closing. Astro hesitated, but went with it and moved his face closer to hers. He closed his eyes too and their faces came closer…closer…and…

SLAM!

Cora and Astro's eyes jolted open and they looked towards the now open door near Zog. Standing there was Zane, Widget and Sluch. Their eyes widened. "ASTRO!" they ran towards him and Cora. Astro laughed and jumped off the car to greet them. Widget ran up and gave him a hug. "So, were you been?" asked Zane.

"Where do you think he's been?" Sluch turned to him. "He just saved the city its not like he's been on vacation!" Astro laughed.
"The reason I called you here is because you have some explaining to do." Cora said, sliding off the car. They all went in front of him. "What do you mean?" Sluch ran up and grabbed Astro's arm.

"Com'on!" Sluch said, pulling him.

"Come inside." Cora led the way into the building.

Inside was dark, and just the way it had been anytime before, maybe messier. Astro followed the others down to the main room. Cora walked over and turned on a small lamp, letting out a dim glow into the room. Astro turned around and looked at a massive hole in the wall. "Hmm…" he turned back to the others, only to find them all sitting on the ground, staring at him. He raised his eyebrows. "Err…"

"Well, go on!" Cora instructed.

"Tell us the whole thing." Widget said.

"Oh! I guess I kind of had that coming!" Astro laughed, scratching the back of his neck. Suddenly a sound could be heard. They all looked towards the hallway. Cora rolled her eyes. "Okay! All of you can come as well!" she sighed. Grace ran onto the room followed by many of the other children.

"Astro! How have you been?" asked one of them, the big kid who had taken Astro's pizza when he was staying there, Dean. They all sat on the floor. Astro swallowed.

"Okay." He looked up at the dim light. "It all started with a normal day at Metro City High School…"

Back in Metro City, the day was starting or some Metro citizens. They walked with purpose and determination, dressed in suits or neat dresses. More people were living in Metro City, with all the Surface dwellers joining.

Dr. Tenma still slept in his bed, tired from the previous days. Mr. Squeegee and Squeegee Bottle looked into his bedroom window. The sky was starting to get its colours of pink and light gray. They looked at each other. "Well! What do we do?" Mr. Squeegee asked Squeegee Bottle.

"What do you mean, what do we do? Astro said he was going to be fine. So let's leave him!"

"Oh, com'on! If he gets hurt, we will be the ones getting the blame for letting him go!" They looked at Dr. Tenma again. Squeegee Bottle nodded.

"Okay. But how do we wake him? And how would we tell him?"

"He probably has a robot translator. Just knock on the window." They started to hammer their heads on the glass. Tenma stirred and opened his eyes. His sight was blurry, but he could make out to window cleaning robots near his window. He yawned and was about to go back to sleep when he heard them smashing on the glass rather then cleaning it. "Hey!" he jumped out of bed. He was wearing his clothes from the previous day, too worn out to change them. He angrily opened the window. "What is the meaning of this? Shoo! Go!"

"Beep, beep, dap, beep!" They tried to get through to him but Tenma only heard little robotic noises. He was going to leave when they quickly darted into his room. "HEY!" Tenma ran over to them. They quickly searched around for a translator. Mr. Squeegee found on Tenma's desk. He quickly talked into it. "Hey! Where, beep, telling you, beep beep, where your son is, beep!" Tenma approached the robot.

"My son is sleeping."

"No, beep, he's not! Astro went out somewhere, beep, at five am and hasn't, beep, returned yet!" Tenma's eyes widened and he quickly darted into the dining area. As he passed, he knocked on a small door. "Orrin! Look after the house I'm going somewhere." The door opened upwards and Orrin slumbered out.

"Y-yes Sir- I mean Dr. - I mean, Bill." He said tiredly. Tenma raced into Astro's room. "Toby!" Tenma still called Astro Toby occasionally, but mostly only if Astro was in trouble. He looked around. "Toby?" the bed lay un-made and the window was a smidge open. Tenma frowned and walked forcefully out the room and down the elevator to his car.