Astro: Boy of the Stars episode 1 pt. 2

Chapter 2






*Flick.  Flick.  Flick.*  One by one, the lights in the school hallway went out, making the locker I was hiding in darker than it was before.   I waited a few more minutes before quietly opening up the locker and crawling out, dusting myself off as I did so.
“You are going to sneak into the principal’s office,” Drake had said, “and change these student’s failing grades to passing grades.  Don’t make it too conspicuous, but don’t make them lower than a C+, got it?” He had handed me a list of names, and I noticed that the students who wanted their grades changed were all the more popular students.  Figures.
They had me hide in a locker and wait until the whole school was empty, to make sure that I wasn’t caught.  It had been a long wait, sitting there, cramped in the locker, and it was made even more uncomfortable by having a strong itch on my back that I couldn’t reach.
Finally, though, the wait was over, and I crept down the halls towards the principal’s office.  When I reached the door, I took out the lock pick that Drake had given me and wiggled the doorknob.  
Wait—why wasn’t the door locked?  
Alarms went off in my head as I slowly pushed the door open.   There was a scuffling inside, making me freeze.
“Wh-who’s there?”  I whispered nervously.  The noises stopped abruptly, making me all the more nervous.  I tried to peer into the dark room, but I couldn’t see anything.
A sudden force rammed into me, knocking me flat on my back.  I gave a yelp of surprise—and the figure did, too.
“Ow, what the— oh, you’re just a kid.” The figure got up (it had also been knocked over when it ran into me) and gave a sigh of relief, “I thought you were a teacher or something… What’re you doing here?”
“I could ask you the same question,” I winced, staring hard at the black silhouette above me.  Whoever it was sounded like a girl.  A young girl, definitely not a student.
“Oh, me?  I’m trying to get back my sister’s robot dragon,” the girl shrugged, “She accidentally got it confiscated after flying it into the Principal’s window.” She gave off a giggle.  “And she’s too chicken to try to get it back.  You?”
“Oh, uh…” I stood up, brushing myself off, “I’m, er… um…”
“Oh, you’re sneaking in to change your grades, aren’t you?” the girl sounded annoyed, “That’s called cheating, you know.  Why can’t you just try to be better instead of lying about it?”
“I-I know—I mean, no, it’s not my grades I’m changing!” I cut in, “I’m being force to change someone else’s grades just because I get all good ones…”
“Ooohh, right,” the girl sounded sarcastic, “Because all you get are A pluses in every single subject. ‘Cmon, gimme a break, the only one who can do that is Einstein.”
“Well, my mom does call me Einstein for that reason,” I mumbled scratching my head.  The girl was silent for a moment.
“Oh… so you’re a geek, then.”
“I’m not a—well, I guess, but what’s so wrong with that?” I growled, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some grades to change, and I’m not in the mood to be grounded into a pulp by Dash and Jake.”  I pushed the girl aside and walked into the principles office.
“Oi!” the girl said, “Whatever happened to ‘Standing up for yourself’, huh?”
“I can’t,” I growled, waving my hand over the switch.  The holographic computer screen appeared.  Crap, there’s always a password, isn’t there?
“Whaddya mean, you can’t?” the girl huffed, “Why not?”
“Because I’m not strong enough, or big enough, or old enough—I’m freaking 13, okay?  I’ve just skipped a few grades.” I turned to face the girl, who’s form had been lit up by the light of the computer, and I was a little surprised to be facing what looked like a 12 year old girl, with short black hair that had some purple highlights in it.  The girl narrowed her icy blue eyes.
“Standing up for yourself doesn’t just mean physically fighting back, you know,” she said, “It also means doing the right thing.”
“So breaking into the principles office to take back Betty’s robot dragon is the right thing?” I countered.  The girl frowned.
“How did you know it was Betty’s?” she asked, confused.
“She said she had one that got confiscated, and you said you were getting it back for your sister, so I put together the pieces.  But that’s beside the point, Cora,” I said, ignoring the look of surprise on the girl’s face when I said her name, “How do you define the ‘Right Thing’ when you’ve just broken into the principles office?”
Cora gave another huff.
“Because the Principal was totally overreacting when the dragon bumped into the window by accident this morning, and did no damage whatsoever.  So to me, by taking my sister’s robot dragon like that, it’s basically stealing.   Oh, and she wasn’t supposed to have it back for another week, even though she said sorry.”
I crossed my arms, trying to think of something to say to that, but couldn’t.  
“Oh…” was all I could come up with.
“By the way, the password this week is “MetroPolitician”.  Weird, I know, but just in case you were wondering.” Cora gave a wide smile. “Well, now that I’ve found Betty’s dragon,” she gestured to the bag she was carrying over her shoulder, “I guess I’ll be off now.  See ya, Toby,” she winked at me playfully and walked out the door.
I guess Betty had told her about me.  I went back to the computer screen, but before I could type the words in, Cora poked her head in one more time.
“Oh, and by the way, the Right Thing to me also means doing what’s right no matter the consequences,” she said, then left for good.  I could hear her quiet footsteps echoing down the hall for a moment before silence took their place.
I don’t know how long I sat there, staring at the blank screen, waiting for me to type in the password and change everyone’s grades.   My mind was whirring, seeming to act out a scene from Hamlet.
Do it?
Not do it?
What’s the right thing to do?
I’ll get beat up for it!
They’ll get the grades they don’t deserve.
They’ll turn me into a pulp!
I can get caught and blamed for this if I do it.
I get beat up either way…
But which is the right choice?
And so, with trembling fingers… I turned off the computer screen.


* * * *


The walk home was long, and for a moment I considered taking a taxi.  But then I remembered I had no money with me at the moment, so a taxi was out of the question.  
The sky was darkening as I made my way home.  My watch told me it was nearly seven… My mom would be so worried.   What would I say to her when I got home?  I didn’t think telling her what had happened would be a good idea… would it?  And tomorrow morning….
As my mind was processing these things, I was pulled out of my thoughts as I noticed a large truck pass me, bearing the Metropolis Energy Co. insignia.  I remembered something from what my dad had told me about a comet falling to earth a few years ago, and how it held self-sustaining energy that could power the city for nearly a thousand years or more.   My dad knew that because he was one of the people working on a generator that could sustain the power source efficiently and without overheating or exploding.  
Liquid, he’d told me.  If we can just turn the comet’s energy source into liquid, it will be enough to keep the generator cool and let it do it’s job without overheating!
I wasn’t really supposed to know this stuff, seeing as it was top secret at the moment, but my dad couldn’t help bragging sometimes.   Though he did make a strong point in telling me not to tell any of my friends this… not that I’d had any friends at the time.
A screeching noise yanked me out of my thoughts as I was crossing the street.  A swerving, driverless hover-car was headed straight for the MEC truck, it’s driver obviously ejected from the front seat when it detected trouble.  The MEC truck tried to swerve out of the way, but the out-of-control hover-car rammed into it’s cargo instead, creating a massive explosion!
I stumbled backwards, screaming as I realized that the truck still had momentum and was heading straight for me!
I couldn’t move.  I was too scared.  Every inch of my brain was screaming RUN!!, but my legs seemed to be turned into unresponsive, solid rock.  But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway if I could move, for the truck was only a few feet away.
BAM!!!  
I felt myself flying backwards, then pinned underneath the cargo as it slowly screeched to a shuddering halt.  I couldn’t move.  Not even a finger.  Pain seemed to echo throughout my entire body, yet I couldn’t scream.  My head was pounding with blinding, white-hot pain.  Then my eyes started dimming… my heart slowing… was I dying?  
A bright light suddenly appeared all around me.  A blueish white light, cool and comforting.  It swirled all around me… it took away the pain.  I felt strength enter my arms, my heart started to beat faster again, and my eyes suddenly could see… everything.  From the small details of the thick, billowy clouds miles above me, to the individual stars millions of miles behind them.
I was definitely dead.   But then… why did I still feel the truck pinning my legs to the ground?  Sure, it didn’t hurt as much as before—in fact, it didn’t hurt at all—but if I was dead, wouldn’t I be flying above the clouds or something?  Wouldn’t I see angels or… demons?  Something like that?
I could hear sirens now.  I turned my head to see the direction they were coming from… and gasped.
The MEC truck’s cargo had been carrying a glowing, bluish white liquid, and it was spilling out of the large container, which had been destroyed when it crashed.  The liquid swirled in patterns I thought were both beautiful and confusing.  
So that’s the light I saw… I thought.  That’s when I noticed something else.  Something stranger.
The light was fading.  The liquid was disappearing, as if it were being sucked away or absorbed by some…thing.  It took a moment to realize the thing was me!!
I slowly sat up, but the liquid still kept swirling around me, and towards me.  I knew it was changing me somehow—my entire body was feeling different.  Stronger… limber…?  My head suddenly started feeling weird.  I put a hand to my head, then jerked it back when I realized my hand was glowing.  Not too much, but you could definitely see a distinct blue glow around my skin.  
Ok, things were starting to get a little too weird, here.
Suddenly the glow vanished.  So did the liquid, as the last of it seeped through my clothes and into my skin.  I was now sitting in the middle of a dark, pretty much empty road, trapped underneath a truck, with sirens coming closer and closer to where I lay.
“Help…” A weak voice called, “Is anyone there?…Anyone?”
It sounded like it was coming from the cabin of the truck, which was laying on it’s side, the roof facing my direction.  I instinctively jumped up and raced towards the cabin before stopping and looking down at my legs.  My pants were torn to shreds, but my legs seemed perfectly fine.  But… they had just been trapped under the giant container!  And how did I…?
“Help… I… Think my legs are broken… please help!  Someone!” the voice called again.
“H-hold on, I’m coming!” I cried, deciding I would try and figure out what had just happened later.  I reached up my arms and climbed up onto the side of cabin of the truck, peering down through the window.  A man was curled up in a ball, trembling, obviously in pain.  He looked up at me with tearstained eyes.
“Is… the ambulance coming?” he moaned, his voice muffled through the cracked window.  
“Yes, yes, I hear them coming, just hold on, okay?” I cried, panicked.  I pulled at the door, but it was locked.  I couldn’t help yanking on it out of frustration.  In the reflection of the window, though, my eyes suddenly flashed bright blue, and the door flew off it’s hinges and into the streets below.  I sat there, mouth agape, staring at the door that had just been ripped off the truck by me.  The man had obviously seen what I’d done too, for he let out a gasp of surprise.
“H-how… how did you do that?” he asked, his voice trembling.
“I—I don’t know…” was all I could say.  “Um… How bad are you hurt? Do you think you can make it until the ambulance comes?” I asked.
“I think… my legs…” he gestured to his legs, “Broken…” his voice started fading, and his eyes drooping.  
“No, no, no, stay awake!” I climbed into the cabin and grabbed the man’s arm.  He gave a start, and stared at me with bloodshot eyes, “You have to stay awake, Mr… what’s your name?  Can you tell me your name?”
“F-Fenske,” he replied, “John Fenske…” his eyes got wide, “T-the cargo… did it get damaged?  Is it spilling? Leaking?  It got hit, I know it, but is—is…”
“Hey, settle down, don’t get too excited, all right?  The cargo… uh…” I paused a moment, “It, um, uh…”
“It’s leaking, isn’t it!?” the man cried, “Oh, no, that—that—top secret—,” he started hyperventilating.
“Calm down, the leaking stopped!” I said, and looked up at the hole I had made in the cabin.  I finally heard the sirens stop right next to the truck—the Ambulance had arrived!!   I quickly climbed up and got out of the truck, waving my arms.
“Here!” I called, “There’s a guy in here—he’s hurt!”
The paramedics immediately ran forward and told me to come down off the truck so they could get to the man.  They had me stand by a Fire Truck, with other firemen and police standing around them, some putting out fires and others trying to help assess the damage.
“Kid!” a policeman called to me, “My name is Inspector Tawashi, and I need to ask you a few questions.  Also, your statements will be held as a fact, seeing as all cameras in the area were knocked out during the explosion.  First, why were you in the truck?”
“I heard someone call for help,” I replied, “I—I just had to make sure he was okay.”
The policeman jotted down something in a notebook.
“Do you know how the truck crashed?”
“Um…” something kept me from saying what I saw. “N-no…  I mean, I heard an explosion, and being the crazy person that I am, I went to go see if anyone got hurt or if they were okay.” I gave a nervous chuckle.  Tawashi jotted down a few more notes before looking up.
“Where were you when this happened?” he asked. I scratched my head.
“Um… a block or two away, I guess… I wasn’t really paying attention,” I said.  The Inspector studied me carefully.
“What’s your name, kid?” he asked.  I gulped.
“T-Toby, sir.”
“Last name?”
“Tenma.”  The Inspector raised his eyebrows.
“As in Will—,”
“William Tenma, father of all modern robotics and weaponry.  Yup, that’s my dad.” I said, shrugging.  Tawashi frowned.
“Now, what is the son of a famous scientist doing out this late?” he asked.
“Taking a walk.  What, so I can’t have some exercise?”
“Hmm…” Tawashi studied me for another moment, taking in my ripped jeans and slightly dirty clothes.  I suddenly got  a little panicky.
“Kids and their fashion, these days,” Tawashi grumbled, shaking his head.  I relaxed with relief.  “Well, you obviously aren’t in need of medical assistance, Mr. Tenma,” Tawashi went on, “Would you like me to take you home?”
“Oh, uh, sure,” I said, “Thanks.”
“Any time, kid,” Tawashi said, tipping his hat.