Astro Boy: Loving What Is Unknown (Astro X Gender Neutral Reader)

Truth or Lie? The Battle Begins

L/n stared at Astro with a shocked expression. 'What did he say? Love?' Astro eyed L/n's movements very carefully as the two stood before each other silently.

"You... love that thing?" L/n finally spoke. Astro flinched and his face reddened. He then regained his composure and straightened.

"Yeah, I do. Got a problem with that?" He challenged. A shadow was cast over L/n's eyes as they took in this fact. A low chuckle then bubbled within their throat, alerting Astro.

"Well this is a sudden turn of events. I never expected you to feel this way. However," L/n looked up at him, their expression practically deprived of emotion. "That makes us enemies."

Before Astro could even react, L/n shot their hand out and fired a laser in his direction. Astro barely managed to dodge it and jumped back. He then aimed his rear at L/n and released a rapid fire of bullets. He felt conflicted about harming you, but he had to do it in order to defeat L/n.

L/n jumped to the side and held both of their hands out. A red orb of raw energy then began to form in their hands. Astro gasped and hurriedly fired a laser into the roof. The laser broke away at the ceiling, giving Astro a way of escape. L/n threw their arms back and fired the ball of energy in Astro's direction. He gritted his teeth and barely managed to escape this attack.

Astro used his rockets to fly through the hole in the ceiling and bursted out into the outside world. He then turned and looked back through the hole and saw L/n's watchful gaze. To his surprise, two feint spheres appeared from under their feet and they were dragged towards the sky. Astro shot back and watched as the gravitational pull in L/n's legs was shifted in multiple directions.

"W-what?" A sinister smirk appeared on L/n's face and they caught themselves on the roof of the laboratory.

"Why so surprised? What, has that thing not even discovered the abilities this body has?" They taunted and fired multiple lasers in Astro's direction. Astro gritted his teeth and shot to the side as he attempted to dodge them all. Had you always been this strong? No, it was the red core. The red core holds enough power to destroy an entire city. That is why...

"I have to destroy L/n's core." Astro whispered to himself and dodged another laser. The laser fired into the building, destroying a part of it. Astro ignored the crumbling building and held his arms out before him. It was time he fought back.

L/n jumped to the side and twisted their body in the air as Astro's lasers whizzed passed them. Steam poured out of their ears as they shook with rage. They then jumped from the building into Astro's direction with their fist raised. Astro's hand shot in their direction and he aimed an attack at them. As their face neared his, your smile appeared in his mind, making him falter.

A twisted smirk found its way onto their face and L/n's fist connected with Astro's face, throwing him back. Astro cried out in pain and winced as his body tore through the earth. L/n landed on the ground before him with a victorious grin and steadily walked over to his fallen body. Astro grunted and attempted to push himself out of the ground, but L/n's foot stepped on his back, shoving him back into the dirt.

"You really are naive. Why are you trying so hard to help it? It's nothing but a bunch of coding. It's nothing like you and I. We can feel, that thing can only copy." L/n spoke. Astro groaned and twisted his head to face them and gave them a look of anguish.

"That's...not...true...! Y/n is....their own...person....!" He gritted out. L/n grimaced and pressed their foot down harder, making Astro cry out.

"No, they're not." They spat and pressed their palm against Astro's back. His eyes widened in alarm as an intensifying heat practically melted through his clothes and singed his back. Was this it? No, it couldn't end like this.