"One, two, three," Stephanie counted while she faced the tree, "green light!"

All at once her friends crept forward from the starting line several yards back from her. With most of the sports equipment ruined they had to play freeform games, and Red light-Green light was one of their favorites. Today even Sportacus had joined them and tiptoed alongside Ziggy, keeping pace with the little boy as he rushed forward to tag Stephanie before she would call out—

"Red light!" Stephanie whirled around to face them. Stingy, Pixel, and Trixie froze in place. Ziggy skidded to a halt and nearly fell flat on his face before Sportacus reached out and grabbed him. Stephanie giggled.

"You're out, Sportacus. You too, Ziggy."

"Awe, gee," Ziggy said. "Thanks Sportacus, and sorry."

"It's all right, Ziggy, as long as you're safe."

"Okay," Stephanie said, turning back to face the tree. "One, two, three, green—"

"Everybody FREEZE!" Robbie boomed as he strode in, his footsteps thundering on the asphalt. The kids all stared as the skinny man stomped right up to Sportacus and grabbed his arm. "You, come with me, NOW."

"What's wrong, Robbie?" Sportacus asked, taking in the other man's clenched jaw and tightly drawn features. His whole body radiated agitation from his tensed shoulders down his rigid spine. Robbie glared at the elf before turning his dark look on the kids.

"The whole lot of you may as well come. After all, a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime."

"Crime? What happened?" Sportacus didn't resist as Robbie pulled him along. He darted a look back at the kids with a shrug and a wave of his free hand to usher them along.

Nobody protested the interruption of their game. They trailed behind Sportacus, keeping a modest distance from Robbie's angry procession. He hadn't strode with such purpose since the day of the party. There would be no detours to destroy any public property today however. He took them on a direct course to the billboard at the edge of town.

Robbie released Sportacus to flail wildly with both arms at the billboard. He shouted, near screaming. "There, you see?!"

The pastoral scene looked much the same with its green hills and purple mountain range. But the cow, standing in the foreground, had undergone a change. Its normally vacant eyes were altered by jagged black strokes of paint for eyebrows giving it a savage glare. Its muzzle was contorted by an oversized and cartoonish black mustache and big crooked buckteeth. A wild zigzag of uneven spikes ran down its back all the way to the tip of its tail. The paint was still wet, dripping down the bovine's body.

Everyone gawked at the transmorgrified animal. Ziggy's mouth hung open, his eyes wide. Stephanie clasped her hands tightly in front of her face, obscuring her grimace. Stingy wrinkled his nose at the paint fumes and Pixel adjusted his visor on his head as he stared at the state of the picture. Robbie glared daggers at each one of them in turn, landing lastly on Trixie. The pigtailed girl met his ferocious gaze with tight lips, her mouth pressed into a thin line.

"Somebody," Robbie growled, "thought it would be fun to vandalize my property. But they left something else behind." He jabbed his finger towards the base of the billboard just under the cow. The paint can sat with the brush sticking out, no attempt made to hide it. A small puddle of paint congealed on the landing beside it. Square in the center of the splotch was the perfect imprint of a shoe. "Now," Robbie snarled, "we'll see who the shoe fits, and you can wear that paint can on your head!"