Y/n exhaled heavily with her eyes half-lidded in boredom. She sat on an old crate with her elbows leaning on her knees while she rested her head on it. The empty lot they cleaned Zog in is turned into Astro's training ground.

"Alrighty!" Sparx exclaimed, clapping and rubbing his hands together. "Let's start our very important training, shall we?" He turned to Astro, who nodded slowly.

"Uh, sure, yeah," he smiled.

"But," the thin robot's voice dropped low, "may I ask why you brought two other humans with you?!" He gestured wildly to Cora and Zane, also sitting on crates, to watch Astro's "training".

"Hey," unbothered, Cora lifted a hand.

And Zane just gave a nod, "Sup."

Sparx snapped his head towards Astro with a disgruntled look. Astro motioned his hands for him to calm down, "Relax, Sparx, they're my friends."

"Look, we, the Robot Revolutionary Front, no longer hold grievances towards humans after your heroic act which brought humans and robots together!" He said exaggeratedly, with his fist pumped. "But they specifically don't fall under that category."

"Hey, in our defense," Zane paused, then continued, "we needed a lot of parts to collect."

A splutter came out of the robot-fridge, and he pointed his finger at Zane. "Ah! You almost turned me into minced metal!"

This time, Cora spoke, "In our defense... you're a fridge." Then they started bickering, to which the others tuned out.

"Alright," Y/n jumped from the crater to where Astro and Sparx were. "Can we just get this over with? There is an actual threat in Metro City right now, and we need to focus on capturing it or else!" she stated, trying to keep her voice calm, if not for the slight quiver in her voice. To which the two at the back didn't go unnoticed.

"Or else what?" Robotsky asked cluelessly.

Y/n groaned under her breath. "Or else! Everyone in the city will have to live out their worst nightmare!" A hand was placed around her shoulders, and she was pulled to Sparx's side. Her expression froze.

"Ah, no worries! With our training, Astro will no longer be afraid of anything and will beat that monster before it knows what hits it!" he exclaimed, before glancing down at her frozen state. "Say, wanna hear my worst nightmare?"

"..."

"AHHH! AHHH!"

The sound of metal hitting metal echoes on the surface, accompanied by pained yelling.

"Stop! Stop! Y/n! Y/n! Wait!" Astro panicked. "Y/n, stop!"

After finally getting Y/n off the poor robot, Astro found himself sitting cross-legged on the ground along with Sparx, Robotsky, and Mike in the same pose as they formed a circle.

"First!" Sparx spoke, now adorning an arm sling with fewer teeth than before. "The monster you mentioned can shapeshift into any form," he pointed at Astro, causing him to tense up. "What are you most afraid of?"

Astro's face pinched as he thought about it, his fingers tucked under his chin. After a while of waiting, he lifted his head and spoke, "I'm not sure."

"Well!" Sparx slapped his (good) hand on his knee. "No worries! The training you'll be doing will help you learn your fear!"

This intrigued the young teen, who leaned towards him. "How?"

"As we sit on this ground..." Sparx starts.

"... we will undergo the most grueling training..." Robotsky continues.

Astro sweats, and he nods. "U-uh-huh...?"

Mike continued, "We will close our eyes..."

This stunned Astro, "Wait, close our–"

But Sparx finally finishes the sentence, "... And we will do... Image Training!"

A cricket chirps on the corner. From the corner, Y/n, Cora, and Zane all held blank faces.

Astro snaps out of his stunned state, blinking his eyes. "W-wait, that's it?!"

"It's a very difficult process," Robotsky said.

"Heh," Cora scoffed with an amused smile, leaning on her hands. "I know we shouldn't expect much, but the bar was already so low that the only way was up."

"Where did they even come up with that?" Zane asked, stifling a laugh.

Y/n adjusted herself on the crate when her eyes caught something on the back of Cora's spot. Resting on the ground were stacks of mangas. With squinted eyes, she leaned down to grab it, catching the other two's attention.

"Hm?" Cora twisted her body to look. "Whatcha got there, Y/n?"

Once she grabbed one, Y/n sat up and looked at the covers, and once she read the title, her eyes dulled. "Ah..."

"What is it?" Zane asked, now more curious because of her expression.

She lifted the book to show the front. The front cover was colored in orange and a hint of blue. The main character was a robot guy with spiky hair and was in a lunged pose. Above was the title: 'Metal Ball Z.'

"That looks ancient," Cora commented.

"Guess this is where they got their idea for 'training,'" she said, rolling her eyes while throwing the manga in the air. The book rotated mid-air, the pages flapping. Zane lifted his hands and caught it. Since they don't know how long this was going to be, he might as well read it. Ah, yes, he can read now. Y/n made sure of that the second he got in the orphanage.

"Guys, I know you mean well," Astro said, "but I don't know about this."

"Hey, it might seem strange now, but trust us!" Sparx spoke. "This will help!"

"No harm in trying, right?" Mike pushed.

Though he was still doubtful, Astro guessed that there wasn't harm in just trying. "Alright," he agreed with a small smile. "Let's do it!"

"Excellent!" Sparx exclaimed. He then straightened his back. "Let's start! Everyone, close your eyes and listen..."

Astro followed and took a deep breath, relaxing his body and mind.

"Take a deep breath..." they inhale, "... and exhale."

"Now, focus! And think of your deepest, darkest fears..."

So they do. Mike grumbles at his spot, and if he had eyes and a mouth, they would be pressed tightly. They could also hear him say something. "No... stay away... I'm a working, sentient robot!"

At that, Cora, Zane, and Y/n turn to each other before looking back.

Sparx relaxed his body; a serene broken smile stretched his lips. That is, until a loud snore from Robotsky ruined his concentration. But he focuses, and focuses, and...

"Oh!" Sparx opened his eyes and glared at the sleeping post box, "Will you quiet down?! We're trying to concentrate here!" But it doesn't wake Robotsky up, causing him to sigh and shake his head. He turned to Astro and, seeing that Astro was actually deep in his concentration, he smiled and nodded. "Good, good, Astro's doing a wonderful job," he praised himself.

"Uh-huh," Y/n said dryly. "I'm sure this isn't over the fact that you overlooked the crucial part of actually having something to train Astro with."

Sparx turned to her with a displeased look. "... Why are you here again?"

—

While they bicker, Astro concentrates and visualizes his environment. The space slowly turned into a large area of greenery. The sky blue as the ocean, and the gentle breeze swayed the grass.

"Huh," Astro chuckled, looking around. "Cool. Now, where should we start?"

But then, the ground started shaking, causing him to stumble on his face. He swung his arms around, trying to regain his balance. Cracks formed on the ground and opened, with a large, black figure emerging.

"Hahaha..." his old enemy, the peacekeeper/president, laughs. "Finally! I can take your core and make myself the best president ever!"

"Ugh..." Astro scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Not much of a fear, but hey," he smirks, winding his arms. "I don't mind beating you up a second time!" Then he launches, using his boots and punches the giant flying.

"Hah, too easy," Astro puffed his chest, dusting his hands off. A large shadow then looms over him. He turns and looks up and sees the one-eyed alien he fought. "Again, not scary," the alien wiggled its tentacles. His face grimaced, "Definitely weird though." Again, he sucker-punched the alien back into space. "Guess Y/n was right. I don't need to tra–" his voice stops when he hears a scream from below.

"Help!"

His head snapped down, and upon seeing the sight, his eyes widened in horror, and his breath hitched. Y/n stood below him with those black tendrils crawling up her legs. He can she's trying to run away, but her feet were glued to the ground, and she could only struggle.

"Y/n! No!" he yelled and quickly dived, "Get away from her!"

But it was too late. The black veins surrounded her entire frame, and she disappeared before he could reach her. The hand he reached out to twitched before falling to his side. "No... not again..."

"Toby?"

Astro spun around and was suddenly face to face with his father. His heart dropped to his stomach at how he was looking at him. It was anger, disgust, frustration, all mixed into one.

Tenma shook his head slowly, stepping back with his brows furrowed. "No, you're not him..."

"Dad!" Astro panicked, his breathing heavy.

"... You're not my son. You're... a replacement. A robot."

The boy shook his head profusely, "No, please!"

And like dust, Tenma dispersed and was gone from his view.

Astro's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, his hands keeping him upright. His breath came out ragged, his eyes wide. From the corner of his eye, a bright flash of light appeared. He craned his neck to see.

—

"...man, I wish I could go to the dance," Zane whined, leaning on his hands. "I would've looked nice in a suit," he bragged, grabbing the lapel of his jacket.

"I don't think our school allows outsiders," Y/n replied, disappointing the teen further.

"But what if?" Zane perks up quickly, turning to her. "With my suit, a tie or bow? I bet the bow's better, whadd'ya think?" He asked, turning to each of them.

Cora doesn't bother to entertain his question, while Y/n has a hard time answering. "Uh, well..."

"NO!"

Y/n and Cora instantly tensed up, turning to each other with worried looks.

Zane scoffs, "I get it, ditch the bow." Before earning a whack from Cora.

"You idiot!" Cora scolded him.

Y/n jumps from her spot and races towards Astro, who had fallen on his knees, with Cora and Zane following. "Astro!" She falls to her knees in front of him and grabs his cheeks, lifting them to her face. "Astro? Are you okay?"

Astro blinked rapidly, coming back to his senses, and once he did, he finally noticed the state he was in. "Uh... hi," he said, but it came out muffled from Y/n's hold.

Y/n, Cora, and Zane sigh in relief, with the one holding Astro's face pulling away.

"Well," Sparx pipes up from behind them. "That wasn't what I was expecting."

Y/n glared at him while helping Astro up. "I think that's enough training for now."

"I agree with her," Robotsky nodded. "I think Astro's all whiplash."

"Hey, now whose side are you on?" Sparx said to him, hands on his hips. "But we can't continue on! The training was more effective than I thought."

Again, Robotsky nodded. "You're absolutely right!"

With a roll of her eyes, Y/n turned back to Astro. Cora and Zane took each of his sides with comforting hands on his shoulders. "Dude, you're okay?" Zane asked.

Astro nodded slowly, "Yeah. Don't worry, I'm good," he said through a tired smile.

"What did you even see?" Cora asked.

"I..." Astro stuttered before looking away. "... don't wanna talk about it." Cora nodded understandingly.

"Well, even if we want to continue, which we don't, we're literally out of time," Y/n reminded them.

Astro turned to her, confused, "Huh?" then his eyes widened. "Oh, right! The dance!"