Wilbur Robinson hated walking home.

Even though it was a wonderful day in TodayLand, he was still in a bad mood.

The unfortunate incident with the "Bowler Hat Guy" had happened only three weeks ago. Wilbur shuddered, remembering how their bright future had almost been transformed into the horrific vision of a revenge obsessed hat, only because he'd forgot to lock the garage door.

Not only that, but Carl's bike had been stolen too.

As a punishment, Wilbur wasn't only grounded, but also had to let Carl use his bike. This meant that Wilbur would have to walk the whole way to school and the whole way back.

And that really irritated him.

Aside from that, life for the Robinsons went on as usual. Cornelius' "secret project" had apparently succeeded. Last week, he came home happily, eager to once again start working on ideas for new inventions.

Wilbur sighed. It was boring to walk home, especially since there was no one he could talk to.

With a sigh, he decided that he'd have take the bus tomorrow. Frustrated, he kicked a stone along the ground and tried to think of something to pass the time.

Then, an idea crossed his mind.

The Captain Future marathon was only two weeks away. From Friday evening until Sunday afternoon, all the episodes of his favorite tv series would be aired, even the lost episode 127B.

Captain Future was his hero. He could fly, had the coolest super suit, and had everything else a super hero like him had. He traveled through time and space, protecting the weak against the dark forces of evil.

Wilbur knew exactly how he would celebrate this marathon - with nineteen and a half bottles of Coke, twenty-one packages of chips, and sixteen bags of popcorn.

Wilbur's imagination suddenly got the best of him. He was no longer on his miserable, boring way home, but on another planet!

He pointed his hand as if it was gun, aiming at mailboxes ... no, not mailboxes, but Shmorks! Evil, hungry Shmorks! The zombie Shmorks from Season Two. And he was Future Boy, Captain Future's sidekick.

Captain Future had been caught in an insidious trap, and Future Boy was the only one who could save him! The fate of the universe depended solely on him.

Jumping and flipping from one hiding spot to the next, Wilbur glanced around furtively, making sure he would not be discovered by the Shmorks. Just then, one of the Shmorks opened fire. Wilbur ducked quickly; they had found him! Now they would have to face Future Boy's wrath! He would -

Wilbur froze in the middle of his movement - squatting, with his hand stretched ahead like a pistol. Slowly fading back into reality, he stared at a pair of feet directly in front of him.

His gaze wandered slowly upwards. Blue jeans, blue sweater, and blue-black hair covering one half of a pale, but feminine face. Only one of her deep blue eyes was visible.

The girl looking back down at him seemed distanced and slightly irritated.

How long had she been standing there and watching him?

Wilbur gulped.

At that moment, something happened that had never, ever happened before.

For the first time in his entire life Wilbur Robinson was...

...completely speechless.

His face suddenly felt very hot, and his ears felt as if they were burning.

He desperately searched for words in his brain, but he couldn't think a one single word he could say. He jumped up in panic, but lost his balance. Stumbling slightly, he passed her without a uttering a single word of explanation for his odd behavior.

Sweat formed on his forehead. As he turned, he felt her gaze on his back and forced himself not to run away.

The way home didn't seem so long anymore. Before he realized it, Wilbur arrived home.

Once the door was closed, he ran up to his room. After tossing his backpack into a corner, and riding the lift up to the second floor of his room, he threw himself on his bed in frustration.

After a while, Carl came along.

"Everything okay, buddy?"

"Mmmph ..." Wilbur mumbled.

"You looking forward to the Captain Future Marathon?" Carl asked, and began to hum the theme music.

"I hate Captain Future," Wilbur muttered into his pillow. After all, it was his Captain Future obsession that had caused this embarrassing situation to begin with.

Carl gasped, shocked to hear his little buddy say something like that.

"But why? What's wrong with you?" he asked in disbelief.

"Nothing," Wilbur grumbled. He didn't want to talk about it.

"Is it because you don't have a bike, and you have to go all the way to school on foot?"

Wilbur didn't respond.

"Well, you can have your bike back. I don't want you coming home in such a lousy mood every day, okay?"

Wilbur really wanted to tell his robotic friend that the bike had nothing to do with it, but if he did, he would then have to talk about his embarrassing experience, and he wanted to avoid that.

"Okay," he said finally. That was better than the truth.