Mechanophobia

Mechanophobia is a serialized fan fiction by FanFiction.Net user Shalalu. The series is set within the Astro Boy (1980) series, providing origins for Skunk Kusai within the context of Kusai secretly being a robot. As of October 2021, Mechanophobia is still ongoing and in production.

Canon characters

 * Pilat
 * Skunk Kusai
 * Black Jack
 * Pinoko
 * Dr. Fooler
 * Count Walpur Guiss

Fan characters

 * Delika

Chapters

 * Chapter 1: Pilat, one of Skunk's henchmen, recoils in shock from a car crash that he and Skunk have just gone through. Pilat is relieved to know that he is alive, but realizes his boss is horribly injured - his arm is dislocated, but shows robotic parts instead of human gore. In spite of his shock, Pilat helps Skunk bundle his injured arm. The two then wait for another member of Skunk's gang to pick them up. Pilat asks Skunk why he pretended to be human for so long, but Skunk only responds, "You think any of the guys would take orders from a robot?"
 * Chapter 2: Skunk reminisces about his childhood as a robot boy. His father was a diminutive man with ties to the criminal underworld, and gradually, Skunk comes to feel that he is just a walking floor model for his father's inventions. After some coercion, Skunk's father devides yo give his son a taller, upgraded body...but a little while later, Skunk takes the opportunity to flee the home in search of starting his own life. In the present, Skunk has Pilat drive him to a special doctor he was recommended many years before: Kuroo "Black Jack" Hazama, an unlicensed but talented medical doctor. Black Jack takes Skunk's case after he realises how similar the inner workings of Skunk's arm are to a human's connective parts.
 * Chapter 3:

Allusions
The fan fiction's title, "Mechanophobia", comes from the real phobia of "machines or anything mechanical." Author Shalalu has said this title was a reference to Skunk's own self-loathing regarding robots, at least within the fan fiction's continuity.

Also according to the author, Mechanophobia originated from discussions with her friends regarding Skunk Kusai's mysterious appearance and capabilities. The group theorized that Kusai was secretly a robot, leading to one contributor to make an animatic about the theory, set to "Mr. Blue Sky" by Electric Light Orchestra. Shalalu has said that her fan fiction was meant to be a tribute to her friends' ideas.