Trashcan had not failed in his mission, as Tawashi had arrived with what seemed to be half of the city's police force; the theater was surrounded by patrols, spaceships, and officers who managed to capture some of the spectators while they tried to escape.

For their part, Astro, Cora, and Reno were sitting outside the theater on old boxes, accompanied by the robot dog. The police had brought blankets for the humans but didn't even offer one to Astro.

"Trashcan told you?" Astro asked once the officers had walked away.

The dog barked in response, Cora smiled and caressed his head, and Trashcan smacked the ground with one paw while sticking out his tongue.

"Yeah, right after you left."

"I just had a bad feeling, so I asked in some places to see if Hamegg had something up his sleeve; thank the Gods I did," was Reno's response.

Astro looked at the dog with a frown. Trashcan lowered his ears in sadness, but Astro changed his grimace into a smile. Maybe Trashcan had disobeyed him and put Cora in danger, but because he did, he escaped the arena and caught Hamegg, so Astro was grateful.

So he gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks, buddy."

Seeing Astro wasn't angry, Trashcan regained his cheerful attitude and barked. The boy smiled and looked up to see Reno, who looked calmer. Astro called him by name, and the redhead turned to look at him.

"We searched all the place from top to bottom," Astro said, "don't worry, that video is gone."

"Yeah, I smacked it myself," Cora added.

Reno sighed in relief.

"Thanks— both of you."

"I told you I would protect them," Astro responded; after all the trouble he had caused them, he was happy to do something for them.

Reno smiled; finally, things could return to normal, and hopefully, his family would leave the whole "move to Metro City" thing behind; he was gonna add something else when a deep voice was heard through the crowd:

"Prisoner coming!" It was an agent who, along with another one, held Hamegg by the arms and scolded him out of the theater with Tawashi behind them.

"Did you think you could get away with it?" Said the inspector sarcastically, "Things are gonna change a lot around here now."

Hamegg grimaced at him before settling his gaze on the kids.

"If you want to enforce the law, Inspector, maybe you should ask the robot who the redhead over there is," Hamegg said, nodding at them.

Tawashi looked in their direction.

Cora and Reno's blood ran cold while Astro stood up; he still had to make sure Hamegg went to prison without harming Reno.

"What is he talking about?" Tawashi asked.

"Don't listen to him, Inspector," Astro quickly responded, "he's Hamegg; he used to organize the Robot Games before the incident. He's a scammer and a liar."

"I know who he is," Tawashi said a little impatiently, "I did my research when the Surface became my jurisdiction; the answer I want is, who is he?"

He pointed with a finger at Reno; Astro gritted his teeth while Reno held his breath, and Cora moved closer to him.

"He's a friend from around here," Cora quickly answered.

"Liar!" Hamegg shouted but was silenced by a stern look from Tawashi.

Although the scammer was hushed, that did not prevent the inspector from beginning to advance towards the children. Astro wanted to put himself between Tawashi and Reno, but he felt it would make them look ten times more suspicious.

"I don't remember seeing you before," Tawashi commented.

"I don't usually leave my house," was Reno's only response, "my name is Mamoru Murakami."

Tawashi continued examining the boy, not really knowing what to think.

"Why haven't I seen you in school?" was Tawashi's next question.

Astro wished he had saliva so he could swallow it.

"I'm home-schooled, just like the old times when Metro City gave up on us," Reno answered with resentment, "my father likes to keep his old traditions."

"Reno—" Astro thought, fearing his friend was taking it too far.

"Who's your father?" Tawashi continued.

But before Reno could respond, Cora stepped in.

"Excuse me, inspector, but can we know why you are interrogating my friend? Is he suspect of anything? Are we?" She pointed to herself and Astro.

"Not yet," Tawashi responded without emotion, "but I find it very off that you three were here tonight."

"Robots were in danger, so I came to help them; that's what I do," Astro said; there was truth in that he only hoped Tawashi would not look deeper into his motives.

"There's more to it," Hamegg once again interrupted, "ask him how he found out about my little show."

"Can't you take him away?" Cora asked, "Besides, he's a liar, you can't trust him."

However, Tawashi only sent her a severe look, and Cora knew it would be best to keep herself quiet. The inspector did listen to her.

"And you shut up! Every word adds another year to your sentence!" He shouted at Hamegg.

That seemed to have an effect as Hamegg cowered among the officers. However, Tawashi soon returned his attention back to the trio.

"You're right," he says to Cora, "there's no reason to suspect you; you are just children. Besides, we know Hamegg was behind everything; all his clients are very cooperative."

Hamegg clenched his fists and cursed them.

The kids sighed in relief; the cops had their culprit, there was no need to take them in, and they could go home.

"But there's something suspicious about all this ordeal," Tawashi continued, alerting everybody, "That theater is filled with remains of drones," he looked at Astro, "You said the attack on the circus the other night was probably committed using drones."

"No!" Astro thought this was not what he wanted.

"And if I recall correctly," now the inspector put his eyes on Reno, "one of the robot performers looked very much like a teenage boy."

Reno did his best to not put up a face; he wanted to clench his teeth and fist, but no, he needed to act calm. Tawashi had nothing on them.

"But you're right," the inspector said, "you are minors, so I can't interrogate you without an adult."

Once again, the three felt relieved, hoping that Tawashi would let them go with a warning. And in that, Tenma's limousine arrived.

"That's why I called your parents."

Astro's oil froze. No— no, no! Above all the people he wanted to leave out of this, his father was at the top! Not only would all his lies come to light, but he was also sure Dad would never let him play the superhero again. Not to mention, Tenma had seen Reno closer; if someone could tell the difference between a human and a robot, that was Umataro Tenma.

Astro needed to find a way to convince his Dad to keep the lie to protect the circus.

Then, he could deal with the consequences of his actions.

The limo parked behind the patrols, and Tenma came out as fast as he could; he was wearing the same clothes as that afternoon, but they were dirty and wrinkled, plus his eyes were red with blood.

"Astro! Astro!" He yelled as he made his way among the officers, "Let me pass, that's my son!"

"Oh, oh," was Astro's only thought.

Even Cora looked scared of Tenma's look.

Tenma was making his way toward Astro until he came to Hamegg. The doctor stopped on his track and looked at his former worker. Hamegg tightened his eyebrows and showed his teeth.

"Tenma," he said with hate.

"Hamegg?" Umataro asks, before looking at Astro, then back to Hamegg and later to his son again, "Astro... what is going on here?"

"That's the same thing I'm wondering," Tawashi added.

"Dad," he said, walking towards him, putting himself between his friends and the adults, "I can explain anything—"

"Yeah, listen to your tool, Tenma!" Hamegg shouted, "It has a fun story to tell."

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?!" Tawashi yelled at him.

However, Hamegg's hatred for Tenma surpassed his fear because he fought to escape the officers.

"Ask him where he met that redhead! Or how he found out about my little spectacle!" Then he squinted at the doctor, "Do you really know what your robot does at night?"

Astro held back a sigh; even if he lost the physical fight, Hamegg was all in for running their lives at any level. Tenma, for his part, was out of words; his gaze went from Hamegg to his son, to Reno to Cora, and then back at Astro.

"Take him away!" Tawashi demanded again, "This is not how we handle this thing."

The officers pushed Hamegg into the patrol, but the cheater never stopped looking at Tenma.

"You have no idea what you have unleashed into the world, Tenma! That robot is gonna be the ruin of all of us! He hates! Like a human! I saw it with my own eyes! He's gonna kill us all!"

Traschan, who until then had been silent, turned around, growling, then began to bark at the sky. Astro was facing Hamegg, and he didn't feel like contradicting him because what happened back inside was— a moment of weakness.

And it would never happen again.

But Trashcan's yells put him on alert, and he turned to look at him.

"What is it, boy?"

Small metallic balls fell from the sky and opened from the top, releasing a powerful light.

Everybody screamed as they covered their eyes to protect them from the rays. Astro had just time to look through his fingers to see everything around him was bright and white, but still, he could recognize shapes; he looked back at Hamegg. Whatever it was, he must be behind it.

But when he saw him, Hamegg was curled up between the officers; he looked as confused as everybody else. Astro raised an eyebrow; if this wasn't his attempt at escaping, then what?

A mechanical claw descended; it wrapped around Hamegg and then pushed him up to the sky; the man screamed until he arrived at a drone, one very similar to the one he used in the arena but bigger; a mechanical door opened from the bottom, and Hamegg entered on it, then he appeared on the superior part, alongside the pilot.

The lights went out, and everybody could see what madness had unfolded.

The drone was being piloted by a man— or that seemed to be the case; the figure had a human shape but was dressed in a suit that was half black and half white, with white buttons in the middle; he also wore a dark cape, his face was covered by a case which had the same division of colors, and a single eye immobile in the middle.

It was impossible to tell if it was a human or a robot.

Everybody stood frozen at its presence; who was it? What did it want? And most importantly, what did it have to do with Hamegg?

Tawashi was the first to react, as he unholstered his weapon and pointed it at the figure.

"Hold it!"

All the officers did the same; all the guns were pointing at it; however, the figure didn't look afraid as it only stood still and quiet.

"Hamegg, tell your partner to give up! We have you surrounded!" Tawashi demanded.

"He's not with me!" cried Hamegg, looking terrified at the figure.

Astro opened his eyes; if it wasn't with him— why the trouble of rescuing him? He looked at Reno, who had the same uncertain face; it looked like they finally won, and then this, what did this thing want with them?

He then gazed at Cora, but she denied it with her head; she had never seen it before.

Astro made a face and stared back at the figure; whatever it was, if he wanted to help Hamegg, it would have to pass through him first.

"Why are you treating us like the criminals, Inspector?" the figure questioned; it had a mechanical voice that sounded male, "when the criminals are right there."

He pointed a finger at Reno, who immediately took a defensive position.

"You freak!" Reno shouted.

Tawashi quickly looked at the boy before gazing back at the figure.

"What are you talking about?! He's just a kid!" Yeah, he could question the boy, but because he was the law, this thing, on the other hand, was, as far as he knew, a menace.

"A kid illegally raised by robots," said the figure with a laugh before putting out a hologram projector.

"NO!" Reno screamed,

A collective gasp was heard; Astro looked in all directions, and everybody had the same reaction; horrified and stunned by the revelation, he looked at his father; he was just as astonished as everybody.

Trashcan kept barking at the figure, and Cora was as worried as everybody else; she walked to Reno's side, holding him by the arms to prevent him from falling; the boy looked as pale as a vampire.

Astro clenched his fist; no, after everything they did to save Reno and his family... No! No! This was not supposed to happen! He didn't care what or who the figure was! He was not gonna get away with this!

"STOP!" Astro screamed before activating his rockets and flying straight at the drone.

"ASTRO!" His father screamed, trying to catch him, but it was useless.

"Don't shoot!" Tawashi ordered his forces.

Everybody obeyed.

Astro raised a fist, ready to drop it on the drone; he wasn't going to kill them; he was just going to push them far enough away from Reno and Tawashi, and then he could "talk" to them.

He punched the drone, but an invisible force made him back away; he gasped as he was thrown back.

His friends and father screamed his name, but Astro stood flying and faced the drone and its crew again.

"Force field," the figure mockingly said, "you are all brawl and no brain, right?"

Insults did not work on him; he had more important things to worry about.

"Who are you?!" Astro asked, raising both fists.

The figure stared at Astro as if he was indeed thinking the question; an uncomfortable silence began among the presents, and no one moved even a finger; everybody was too afraid of what the figure could do.

Finally, he answered:

"Your Shadow."

Astro opened his eyes; that was not the answer he was preparing for. And before he could react, Shadow took out a gun and aimed right at him; a red beam was shot and hit the boy.

"AHHHHHH!" Astro yelled as he fell.

"Astro!" all his loved ones screamed.

"Open fire!" Tawashi ordered.

More rays impacted the drone, but the force field prevented any damage. Astro fell to the ground, hitting the floor three times before landing. Tenma, Reno, Cora, and Trashcan wanted to run to help him, but the shots made them jump to the floor, covering their heads.

"This was not how I expected the night to end," Cora thought.

Astro was still on the ground, his whole body hurting; he had already received too many hits that day to know it was red energy.

"Gods, how is every bad guy in the city getting that?" He thought as he got up. When he was, he saw the beams hitting the force field without results; finally, Tawashi seemed to come to his senses as she ordered them to stop.

They did, and Shadow laughed.

"As I was saying, we are not the criminals here."

He pressed the button on the device, and it began to project the footage of Reno's and Panacotta's unmasking, the same one Hamegg had previously recorded.

Astro opened his eyes; he tried to fly, but every circuit of his body screamed in agony.

"No! I must stop him! I must—" but then the pain became too much to even think that he fell on his knees.

Everybody saw the video; there was no point in hiding it anymore; all the eyes were on the record. While Reno was still on the ground, he slowly raised his head and saw his worst nightmare come true.

"No," Unlike Astro, he wasn't mortified, just— His whole world was crashing down; how was he supposed to react? Scared? Angry? Worried? There were so many emotions going through his head, but he couldn't express any of them; he stared at the video with his knees on the ground; he wanted to fight back, but no muscles responded to him.

This also proved Hamegg was not with Shadow, as he looked just as surprised as everybody to see his recording in the hands of another.

The footage ended, and the hologram disappeared. Shadow threw the device at Tawashi, who caught it with one hand.

"There's the evidence," Shadow said, "search that circus tent, and you will find much more."

"That doesn't change anything! You are helping a criminal! You attacked the police! So we are also taking you in!" Tawashi yelled.

Maybe Shadow was right about Reno and his family, but still, he was in charge, so those two were also coming with him.

But Shadow only laughed.

"Sorry, Inspector, but we got places to be!"

Shadow raised a hand, revealing he had another control; Shadow pushed it, and the metallic balls began to flash.

Beep, beep, beep.

The sound alerted Astro, who opened his eyes and saw the gadgets and immediately knew what it meant.

"Oh no," he thought. Even if every inch of his body hurt, no one would be hurt.

He witnessed Shadow, and Astro could swear he was smiling under that hood.

"See you around, robot."

Astro clenched his teeth; first, every one into safety, then he would go after those two; he flew towards the front, quickly grabbed the orbs, and threw them into the sky.

"Take cover!"

The gimmicks exploded, the wave caused those present to be thrown to the ground again, and even the patrols were shaken.

Astro covered his eyes with both arms; he made a face while the explosion passed.

"Okay, with that out of the way, Shadow and Hamegg, you are mine!"

He turned around, ready for battle, but the drone was gone.

"No—"

He looked to every side, but they were nowhere to be found. Tawashi quickly recovered; once the impact passed, he inspected his area and noticed the two baddies had escaped.

"No!" He whispered and took his communicator, "Nakamura, code red! We have two suspects on the run!"

As the inspector told his partner all the details about the runaways, Astro turned to see Reno, who was still lying defeated on the ground. He narrowed his eyebrows; things were terrible, but they would not give up that easily.

He ran to him, but his father stood in his way; Astro stopped and looked at him.

"Astro!" His father crouched to be at his height, "are you alright?"

Of course, he wasn't; he had been tossed around, bitten, punched, electrocuted, and had fallen from heights, but he didn't have time to complain.

"I am, but Dad, we have to help Reno!"

Tenma seemed surprised at his commentary, but then he looked behind his back, where Cora was helping Reno to his feet while Traschan was barking at the sky, probably the direction the two villains had escaped. Umataro looked confused at the scene, but his eyes opened at remembering the other night, and he looked back at his son.

"That video is real."

Astro could only nod. His father sighed and looked at the ground, then back at his son, giving him a sad smile.

"I'll do what I can."

Astro returned the smile; as things were, that was the best they could go.

Tawashi finished informing the rest of his forces and returned to the group. Cora was the first to notice as she alerted Reno by pushing his elbow. The boy glanced at the inspector; luckily, he was out of his trance.

"You need to help your family," he said to himself; that was the only thing that mattered.

"Inspector, please!" He begged as he walked to him, "I know this looks bad, but just let me explain!"

"It's true!" Astro added, going to stand beside his friend, "Reno was abandoned as a baby; he would have died if the circus hadn't adopted him!"

"If you think about it, it's what Hamegg did with us!" Cora also entered in, standing beside Astro.

"They hadn't done anything wrong!" Reno continued, with both fists at his chest.

Tenma stopped to look at the kids; he had to admit he felt— moved, seeing the three standing shoulder to shoulder, not fearing how much taller Tawashi was. At that moment, Tenma could understand why his son would go so far to rescue Reno's family; he would still be grounded for sneaking out of the house, but that could wait.

"Tawashi, come on," Tenma said, standing behind the children, "Even if that footage is genuine, Hamegg must have obtained it illegally."

"He did; he sent his drones to spy on my home," Reno added.

"And he was the one behind the attack," Astro finished.

They were speaking the obvious, but it didn't matter; they were trying to gain time as much as possible, for— There was really no reason for it; the group just needed to try everything they could.

Tawashi inspected the device and then looked at the group; whatever he was thinking was unclear. Everybody was anxious at his response; even Trashcan stopped his barking.

Finally, the inspector closed his fist on the gadget.

"I'm sorry, but despite Hamegg's crimes, what you have done is equally illegal."

"No!" Reno screamed, and Astro held him by the arm to prevent him from attacking the inspector.

"Tawashi, please," Tenma tried to intervene.

"I will have this analyzed," Tawashi continued, showing the apparatus, "in the meantime," he saw Reno, "I'm afraid I need to take you in."

"No!" Both Astro and Cora yelled, while Reno only made a fist.

"Tawashi," Tenma continued.

"The law is the law, Umataro! No one is above it! I know you have trouble understanding that," the inspector dared to look Tenma in the eye with the same friendliness as usual, "but not me."

He glimpsed back at Reno.

"I'm sorry, but this is the procedure— And we need to register the circus."

"STOP!" Reno screamed, freeing himself from Astro's hold, "YOU ARE DESTROYING MY LIFE FOR A STUPID LAW THAT IF MY FAMILY HAD FOLLOWED, IT WOULD HAVE GOTTEN ME KILL AS A BABY! DON'T YOU SEE WHAT BULLSHIT IS ALL THIS?!"

Reno was no longer restraining himself, facing Tawashi with both fists up. Astro quickly intervened and stood in front of his friend.

"Listen, kid," Tawashi continued, surprisingly calm, "I'm trying to go easy on you, so I suggest you cooperate and do as told. If you, I may help you."

Astro raised an eyebrow; was Tawashi, the inspector known for his hatred of robots, trying to help a kid raised by robots? Maybe he wanted to help Reno but not his family, but Tawashi would probably know by now that wouldn't go well with Reno.

"There must be something we can do," Tenma stepped in, putting aside from Reno.

Things were going too fast, but he knew one of Astro's friends was in danger, and Tenma needed to do everything he could to help.

"Yes, get the kid a lawyer," responded Tawashi.

He didn't say with malice, but it was clear this would be a long, complicated, and even painful process. Tawashi looked at Reno again.

"Let's go."

Reno was still shaken, but in the end, he lowered his hands and head, accepting defeat.

"No," thought Astro, but even if he went through all the data, he couldn't find any way to help Reno that didn't involve violence and attacking the forces.

Maybe— they should do as Tawashi said.

Astro was about to ask if he could at least accompany Reno to the station when another vehicle approached in the distance; the officers pointed their guns at it, but Tenma and Astro recognized the car.

"Dad—"

"I know," answered Tenma, "don't shoot! That's Elefun's car!"

Tawashi raised a hand.

"Hold it!"

The vehicle parked just behind the police tape, and Elefun got out; this time, he wore a brown jacket and a hat.

"Hold it right there!" He demanded as he walked to the group.

Some officers got in his way, but Tawashi shook his head.

"Let him pass."

The men moved, and Elefun resumed his march.

"Elefun— What are you doing here?" Tenma asked, surprised; he genuinely didn't know what his partner was doing here.

Astro and Reno looked at Cora and Traschan.

"I did tell him to get the doctor," Cora said.

But Traschan denied it.

"The dog came to my office, interrupting dinner," Tawashi responded, "the doctor was never mentioned, so yeah, why are you here, Doctor Elefun?"

"I'm here to take Reno home," was his only response.

No one expected that answer; everyone looked astonished at Elefun, who only maintained a firm posture.

"That's right," Elefun looked in his pocket and took out a paper he handed Tawashi.

He took it to examine it while Elefun turned to the others.

"Don't worry, we have a plan," he whispered to Reno.

Reno relaxed for what seemed to be the first time that day, unclenched his fists, and breathed.

Elefun smiled.

"I will explain everything, but first, we must solve this," he said before facing back the inspector.

Everybody else could only look confused at each other.

"I don't know how you found out, doctor, but am I glad you did," Astro thought, feeling relaxed about this new help.

Tawashi finished reading and kept the paper in his raincoat.

"Is legit," he said, "by now, you are Reno's legal guardian."

There was a sigh of relief from everyone; at least they had taken care of one problem, but—

"But we still have to arrest the robot circus."

Reno was about to argue, but Elefun took his hand; in a weird sense, Reno felt as if Panacotta was the one doing it, a gesture that assured him that everything would be fine.

They exchanged glances, and Reno could feel that warmness coming from the doctor.

"Trust me."

Reno felt that was what the doctor wanted to tell him with his gesture, so Reno could only smile back.

"We know, but I'm sure you are gonna give them a fair trial; after all, isn't a robot's primary function to preserve human life? For me, that's what the circus did for this boy."

Everyone smiled, finally! Elefun had given them something to fight back; with that reasoning, they could build a strong case at the court; Reno's family stood a chance!

"This is a special case, not gonna lie," Tawashi said, turning his back on them, "so I can not promise you anything; cooperate with me, and I will do everything I can."

He began to walk to his patrol while Astro stared at him; why was he so willing to listen to them? To help? In all their previous encounters, Tawashi seemed to strive to not shoot him. Not to mention the hatred between his Dad and the inspector.

Tawashi stopped on his track as if he could hear Astro's thoughts because he looked over his shoulder.

"I am not a monster," he stated, "but I got a job to do."

He entered his car, not before some final words:

"I need to take your statement, all of you."

"First thing in the morning," Tenma said.

Tawashi was lucky this time; if Reno's safety wasn't at stake, he would have said some things to his big nose.

The inspector seemed satisfied with that as he closed the door of his vehicle, and it took flight.

Officer Nakamura approached once Tawashi was gone and spoke to the doctors:

"That basement is crawling with robot zombies; at least two dozen of them."

"We're gonna call our people to help," Tenma said tiredly, "it's gonna take hours to remove them all out— and even more to discharge them."

"I'll let Yuko know," Elefun also counted.

Nakamura nodded.

"We will get started," Nakamura said as the other officers entered the theater.

"Please be careful; those robots have suffered enough," Astro pleaded.

"We will, don't worry," was the officer's last words before getting to work.

Once the cops were busy with the inspection, Astro ran to Elefun and hugged him.

"Doctor, thank you! Thank you!"

Elfun smiled as he hugged him back.

"Oh, we were so screwed before you came!" Astro broke the hug, "but how did you find out?"

"Yeah," Tenma entered the conversation, "Don't get me wrong, friend, we appreciate your help, but how did you know?"

"My family," Reno whispered, "are they alright?"

Elefun looked serious and glimpsed around, ensuring no one else was listening.

"Not here," was Elefun's only response.

Everybody got the message as they nodded; Elefun checked his surroundings before pointing at his car with the head.

"Follow me."

They split up in two; Reno, Cora, and Trashcan went with Elefun while Astro rode with his father; however, before entering the limo, Astro examined the sky, looking for them.

"Son," Tenma said, worried about him and maybe— worried that they indeed returned.

"Sorry, Dad; I'm coming."

In a way, he did feel relieved about that, as this probably meant they were not going after Reno's family.

But Astro knew that wasn't the last he saw of them.

Still, he decided to worry about that later and entered the limo.