His first offer to Sportacus, after the children had gone to bed, was to remove Robbie Rotten. They'd talked in the field, the hero hanging off his rope ladder. But nothing had come of the talk but a shiny white smile and a promise to keep the villain under wraps. The mayor had left wondering and scratching his head, shrugging his shoulders only after he'd settled back into his bed. If a hero wanted a villain, it might be for the best. Some of the children were certainly stubborn. A good role model always needed something bad to be compared to, after all.
But the children had learned their lessons. They played outside, they ate well, they even always brushed their teeth. Yet Robbie remained beneath their land. Sportacus insisted ever time the mayor offered. He would smile and offer no explanation. But it was not as if he could argue with a hero. So he left Robbie alone down there.
----
Ziggy had lost his candy in unlikely places. His sucker's ability to stick to different objects, people and animals, although astounding, had often led him into odd places. But the oddest yet he had found was the silo behind the billboard when Stingy had thrown his candy off his car and onto the side of a larger, passing, truck. Though following it hadn't been easy, Ziggy had been determined not to lose the delicious striped candy he'd kept for years.
What he hadn't expected to find was Sportacus kneeling on the edge of the silo, bending into the hole and talking. The words had barely been audible, Ziggy afraid to get too close. Robbie responded, not angry but still loud. And when the hero turned away, flipped off the ledge, Ziggy had been frightened to see unshed tears in his eyes. A moment later and Sportacus was gone, leaving Ziggy to lick his candy and find a way home.
----
Pixel had listened to Ziggy's recount of what he'd seen and rolled his eyes. It wasn't anything morem he said, than the typical discussion between hero and villain regarding something heroic or villainous. And the tears, he concluded, had likely been either a trick of the light or Robbie had deicded to pepper spray Sportacus to drive him away. After all, that's what villains did. He'd been happy when Ziggy accepted that, waving the younger boy away when his candy came a little too close to his extra keyboard.
Once Ziggy was gone, though, he flipped a few switches on the computer. That was the third isolated instance of Sportacus and Robbie talking in a position not directly involved with their battle. The spreadsheet open on his computer had tracked different mentionings, rumors, whisper and generalized stories that related back to the hero and the villain. But they didn't add up. The more he studied the sheet, the less he saw of the typical dichotomy between enemies. Sportacus often went to Robbie's, hung out near that billboard and spent several hours at night floating in his airship just above the underground house. Even the mayor had been heard to mention that he'd offered to remove Robbie Rotten and been shot down. None of it added up, especially not with the traditional role of villain versus hero.
----
Trixie loved spying on Pixel. It was an amusing a past time as any and could get her some fascinating information at times. But what she hadn't expected to find out was that Sportacus and Robbie were apparently even more interesting. The spreadsheet said so, at least, and his spreadsheets never lied. So she was off to hide beneath the billboard. At least, that was her plan.
But plans were made to die fiery deaths when she heard Sportacus talking. Looking around, she was quite surprised to see him standing on top of the billboard and staring down. She couldn't quite make out what he was saying, which was disappointing. But he was obviously upset, stalking back and forth on what was almost balancing beam. Even the occasional flip seemed forced, none of his usual grace present. Robbie's voice responded. But she was astonished at how calm the villain sounded. No anger, not even bother. Robbie sounded like the more logical of the two, droning on and on until she couldn't even hear the words anymore. And when Sportacus flipped off the billboard onto his airship with a very disheartening sigh, Trixie found herself surprisingly confused. He looked very sad, almost limp, hunchbacked as he clung to the ladder and climbed so slowly up to his ship.
----
The Mayor had to wonder when the kids came to him and asked about Sportacus. They wanted to know where he was, what he was doing. Weeks without the hero hadn't broken their habits. But they missed him. Especially Stephanie, who had begun to mope when Pixel brought up his spreadsheet. Even without his long-winded and multi-syllabic explanation, everyone understood. And when they dragged a very stubborn Robbie up from his underground home to see, even he seemed to understand. Though he didn't say a word or even stay long enough for them to speak, he understood.
Because a day later the mailing tube went missing. And a week after that, Sportacus returned. His airship was anchored above Robbie's silo when the town woke in the morning. And in the following days, it didn't move. Sportacus came out, played, reminded them of his lessons, stayed the hero the town had so craved. And Robbie played the villain. But everyone understood the part he played, saw the acting when he joined their dance or laughed form behind a tree as he was insulted. And every night, Sportacus yelled good night to the ton from the top of the billboard, smiling down at the town.