END CLIP:

"I fink it's a…" Ash gave the wrapped box another shake. "PONY."

Astro snorted from his seat on the couch. It was Ash's 3rd birthday and a mountain of presents was piled in the middle of the lounge room. Z and Tenma were in the dining room with Rose, Elefun and Mr and Mrs Jade. Cora was sitting next to him with Zane and Zoran was lying next to the present pile, watching their little brother with a grin.

"I don't think a pony could fit in there, Ash." Cora smirked. Astro smiled at her, looking at her long black hair that now reached her collar bone. Cora was now sixteen years old. Her and Astro broke it off a few months back when Cora started to fancy some of the older boys in her grade. Astro was fine with it. He'd still always be there for her as her best friend. Ash blew some of his light blond hair away from his deep brown eyes. They all found it peculiar how his hair had turned from a deep brown to an almost angel blond. It suited him though.

"I tink a pony could fwit in eet!" he argued in a slur of un-needed vowels.

"Yeah well put it down- you can open them later." Astro told. Ash lifted his chin, clutching the present closer.

"Make me!" Zane snorted.

"Feisty."

"Ash, Mom and Dad want to see you open them." Astro tried to reason with him.

"I wanna open tem now!"

"Well you can't so give it!" Zoran joined, latching onto it and tugging. Ash gasped and pulled all his weight on it.

"Let eet gooooooo!" he cried.

"No, give it here!"

"It's MINE!"

"I WRAPPED IT!"

"YOUR WAPPING SUCKS, ZORWAN!"

"*GASP* TAKE THAT BACK!"

"NO! I DON'T EVEN WIKE PINK!"

"SHUT UP, PINK IS FABULOUS!"

The trio on the couch simply watched the ordeal with raised eyebrows.

"Zoran?" the robot looked up.

"Hmm?"

"Uhhh, super strength? Against three year old?"

"Oh yeah, right!" She narrowed her eyes at Ash who was pulling on the now almost torn present. With a small tug of her arm, the three year old went tumbling forward face-first and Zoran held the present up in triumph. "YES!"

She stopped smiling when Ash begun sniffling into the carpet. He dragged himself up on to his knees and the sniffles turned to sobs. "Aw, Ash…" Cora picked the crying toddler up and onto her lap. Zoran's face clenched in worry.

"I-I didn't mean to! I swear!"

"Its okay, Zoran," Astro comforted.

"Yeah, it was Astro's idea." Zane's eyes narrowed at him. "TRAITOR."

"Not now, Zane." Cora scolded, stroking Ash's hair as his crying quieted. They all looked around as Mrs Jade walked into the room with a bright smile.

"Hey guys!" she said. "Could all but Ash just pop into the kitchen for a minute, please?" Ash's watery eyes met hers and he hugged his knees.

"Don't all leave…can I stay wiff Astrwo?" he asked. Mrs Jade smiled warmly.

"Of course dear." Cora, Zane and Zoran all stood, walking out the room. Astro smiled as he heard Mrs Jade harshly asking what happened to make Ash so upset as they walked through. Ash wiped his nose, climbing onto Astro's lap. After adjusting himself onto his back he wiped his eyes and the crying stopped. Astro smiled as he looked up to him.

"Astrwo?" he mumbled.

"Hm?"

"…Could Dad make me a wobot?" Astro paused a few seconds before dropping his head.

"Ash, we've been through this. There is nothing better about you and me-"

"But you're stwrong and powerfool and-and everyone loves chu and-and I wanna be loved by everyone too-"

"ASH." Astro clenched his shoulders firmly. "You are amazing. There is no-one else in the world as unique as you."

"But that's the probwem! I'm too uni…uni…"

"Unique?"

"Yeah!" he crossed his arms. "You were weely smart when you were my age. I can't even count to twenty right. I'm useless…" Astro's brows scrunched at the disappointment in his little bother's eyes. It was the worst kind- disappointment in himself. Ash surely wasn't a genius like they all had expected. He struggled with math and science when Tenma tried to teach him anything and to be frank, he didn't have any interest in robotics. Well, besides his obsession to become one.

"Well, maybe you're not too good at math, but Ash, your drawings and stories are incredible! Your mind is like a magical palace full of all this stuff that…that..."

"That's like a magical dragon that breaths pixie dust and creates dreams?" his eyes lit up with each word.

"Yes! See? Your imagination is your talent. And do you know what could only bring that imagination?" Ash frowned, tilting his head to the side.

"What?" Astro smiled and poked his forehead.

"A human brain. Sure Zoran's is a bit out there, but us robots are just calculating. We're all numbers and equations. Would you like to do math all day?" Astro chuckled as Ash scrunched up his nose and quickly shook his head.

"Yuck!"

"Exactly."

Z popped her head into the room with a wide grin. "Okay! Common Ash." Ash looked to Astro who nodded and smiled, getting up from the couch and carrying him over to the dining room. Ash's eyes sparkled at the sight of a giant cake on the table with everyone surrounding it. Zoran leapt in font with arms spread wide.

"I MADE A CAKE!"

"I-I helped…"Orrin stuttered from the other end of the room. Ash, face still cast in awe, took everything in. The cake was half strawberry, half chocolate with blue icing and the words 'HAPPY BRITHDAY ASH' in pink were written on it. Ash was shaking with excitement, his grin reaching his ears.

"WHOOAA! Tat's so cooooool!"He leapt out of Astro's arms and ran up to it, all three candles lit. Everyone laughed and began singing the birthday song, all while Ash stood beaming with hands behind back. After it was finished he took a huge breath and attempted to blow out all the candles at once, but succeeded only for two.

"Oooo, Ash's got a girlfriend!" Zane teased. Cora dashed up to him, leaning down and giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek. His face looked like he'd just bit into a lemon and Cora laughed when she got a glance of it.

"Ewww!" He was quick to wipe the slobber off his cheek, making everyone chuckle.

"Now, now, Cora. We don't want to scar the man," Astro smirked, earning a punch on the shoulder. While Z and Tenma helped Ash cut the cake and make a wish, Astro quietly left the room as he felt his phone go off. He flipped it open and held it up to his ear as he closed the door, looking out to the soft rain pelting against the windows.

"Hello?"

"Astro. Happy b-day to your bro, first off, but I really gotta tell you something." Astro frowned at the strange tinge to Ember's voice.

"Ember? What's going on?" He heard a shuffle on the other end.

"A guy just called me and I have no idea who he is. The number didn't show up and he was the creepiest creeper ever."

"Wait, wait, wait…what? What did he say?"

"I'm not really sure what he was going on about. He just kept asking for you, saying you were his 'buddy' or something. I have no idea." Astro's frown deepened and he began pacing.

"Well…you can't trace it at all?"

"Nope. I'm just calling to warn you, okay? He just sounded…creepy." Astro nodded.

"I appreciate it. Thanks for calling."

"Give Ash a birthday bro-fist from me."

"And you stay away from any strange looking people."

"Will do."

He hung up, his mood not lifting. What? A strange man…asking for me? He flinched out of his thoughts when the phone rang again. He wearily lifted it to his ear.

"…Hello-"

"ASTRO, I THINK SOMEONE IS OUT TO KILL YOU."

"Conner? Wait did a-"

"A MAN JUST CALLED ME AND I'M SO FREAKED OUT RIGHT NOW." Astro blinked. First Ember now Conner. What the…?

"Conner, calm down. Ember just got the same call-"

"OH GOD WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"

"No-one's going to die. Look, did any number show up?"

"Uhhh…" he heard a few beeps and clicks. "N-no…" Astro bit his lip, thinking. "Do you think it's a stalker? Or a killer? Or a maniac?"

"Conner, please. It might just be a bored man with a phone. Was he asking for me?"

"Y-yeah…creepy stuff…" He frowned down to his phone as another call came in.

"Just a sec, Conner. A got another call coming in."

"WAIT I DON'T WANT TO DI-"

"Hello? Bruss?" Astro cut off Conner's frantic wailing.

"Astro…dude, you know we're friends, but if someone randomly comes in the middle of the night and slits my throat, I'm holding you responsible." Astro sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Let me guess- you got a creepy call from a creepy sounding man asking for me."

"Whoa…psychic."

"Ember and Conner just called me with the same problem."

"Hey Conner as well? Ember just told me, but I didn't know everyone was getting the call."

"Not everyone…" he mumbled to himself. "Just all my friends…" He rolled his eyes as his phone signaled another call. "Just a sec, Bruss, Conner's probably calling back."

"Okay, don't die." He smiled and clicked the disconnect and accepted the new caller, lifting it to his ear.

"Okay Conner, just-"

"Astro…?"

Astro froze on the spot. The voice was of a man, probably in his late twenties, but it had a slight whiney edge to it. There was a small static in the back ground as well, yet he couldn't figure out where the man was. He swallowed.

"Astro?...buuuuddyyy….awww….common…Assstttrrooooo….?" He twitched his fingers, wondering what to do. Looking around and hearing the laughter coming from inside the dining room he walked down the hall and into his bedroom, closing the door and walking up to his large windows.

"Astro? Buddy? Answweeeerrrr…please. I find it very rude when people don't answer."

"And I find it rude when someone stalks my friends." A surprised, over the top gasp sounded form the other end, as if the man wasn't expecting him to pick up.

"Buddy!"

"I'm not your 'buddy'. Who are you and how did you get hold of this number plus all of my friends?"

"Heh…'friends'…we don't have 'friends', Astro…silly."

"I do have friends, thank you. And you've been stalking them. I'd like to know why and how."

"Aww…mommy doesn't want her babies touched…" Astro's brow furrowed and he winced as a wailing siren screamed through the static. He froze and felt his limbs numb when the same siren sounded from below. He inched towards the window, looking down to the streets as an ambulance screeched past. The sirens disappeared. The sirens in the static disappeared.

"Sorry about that! People getting murdered everywhere…people's friends dying everywhere…"

Okay…so this creepy supposedly insane man is standing somewhere on his street…

"Who are you?"

"Ah! Now you're asking the right questions…" He was practically pressing his nose up on the glass trying to scan the people below. Finally, standing still as a statue as a crowd of people pushed past him, Astro spotted him. The only man without an umbrella. The only man wearing a shaggy brown leather jacket that reached his knees. The only man with dark hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in days.

The only man looking straight up at him.

He grinned, eyes lighting up when Astro spotted him. "The name's Skunk." A long moment passed when they just stared at one another, Astro too shocked to say anything. "And you better be thinking about your friends, Astro. Because…sometimes…your enemies are the ones closest to yooouuuu…" Skunk shrugged his shoulders. "And let's face it- everyone's within shooting range."

With that, he flipped the phone shut and left. Astro watched the deranged man leave, waving his arms beside him as if dancing and sometimes twirling in the puddles.

Astro let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, his forehead leaning against the glass as he closed his eyes with exhaustion. "Can I get a BREAK?"