Astro boy the movie (the novel)

Chapter 13

The next morning, Astro lined up with the rest of the junkyard kids. Hamegg stood by the door, patting each head as the kids filed past.

Astro stepped up with Trashcan by his side.

Hamegg smiled at Astro. "Nice to have you on the team, son. Bring me home something special. Make me proud."

"I'll try," Astro promised.

At his side, Trashcan began to beep, jumping up and down.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. He wouldn't stop! Astro knew he was trying to tell Hamegg that he was a robot.

"You might need to tighten a few of his bolts," Astro suggested.

Hamegg patted Trashcan's head. "Do I have to tighten your bolts?"

Astro hurried out, glad that Hamegg hadn't caught on. The kids took off in all directions, but Cora, Zane, Widget, and Sludge stuck together. He followed them into an area he hadn't seen before. They were in some kind of meadow. There were even a few trees here and there. Broken robot parts littered the ground like bones in the desert. Huge scrap heaps loomed in the distance.

Trashcan continued to beep at Astro.

"Hey, knock it off," Astro hissed. "I'll tell them-just not yet, okay?"

Trashcan beeped some more. Then he stopped, running ahead. He stopped near Cora and started frantically digging in the dirt. Astro shook his head and caught up to Cora and Zane.

"What does Hamegg want parts for?" he asked them.

"He's a genius," Cora said proudly. "He can make cool robots from pretty much any old scrap. And then he puts them into Hamegg's Robot Games."

"Robot games?" Astro asked.

"They're a tradition down here," Cora explained. "Once a year, Hamegg puts on a big show and he always needs new performers. It's kind of a Roman thing."

"And pretty cool," Zane added.

Astro looked around the meadow. "You're not going to find much here. It's a graveyard."

Cora raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Metro City's first day and already he's an expert."

"You'd be surprised," Astro replied. "I know a thing or two about robots."

Widget called out from up ahead. "I think we've got something!"

"See?" Cora told Astro. She raised her voice. "Coming!"

She walked right past Trashcan. The dog ran up to Astro and Zane and started beeping again, jumping up on Zane.

"Hey! What's the matter, boy?" Zane asked.

Trashcan nodded to the patch of dirt he'd been digging. He'd carved out the words "HE'S A ROBOT" in huge letters, with an arrow pointing to Astro. Astro turned pale. His secret was out!

"Whoa," Zane said. He looked at Astro, then back at Trashcan, then at Astro again.

He shrugged. "Makes me wish I could read."

He ran off after Cora. Trashcan hung his head, frustrated.

"Nice try, rust-bucket," Astro said.

He started to catch up with the others, but something caught his eye. A huge, rusting robot covered with patches of grass and weeds was lying in the clearing nearby.

"Cora, hey!" Astro called out. "I think I found something!"

Cora and the kids ran over. When they saw what Astro was pointing at, they laughed.