Robbie was quickly getting winded attempting to outrun Sportacus. Well, Robbie was jogging along, while Sportacus was flipping and bounding over objects in his way. He was gaining on Robbie rapidly.
"Robbie! Come back here! I want to talk to you!" Sportacus paused long enough to yell.
Robbie had just turned the corner of a brick wall. He stopped and glanced back to see Sportacus begin flipping down the street again. Robbie took off, vowing not to stop for anything. As he rounded the next corner, Robbie saw a bicycle in a yard. He dived for it ending up with grass and leaves in his mouth and grass stains on his suit.
Robbie grabbed the bicyle, jumped on, and began pedaling with fury, spitting grass out as he went. He could have gone faster, but he was afraid of falling off. He had climbed enough trees in the past, that he now had a phobia against heights. He considered the bicycle, a height. He glanced back and saw Sportacus gaining on him. Robbie was scared what Sportacus would do when he caught him. If he caught him, Robbie amended, if ... if... if.
"Robbie, this isn't a good idea! Stop!"
"No, I won't!"
Sportacus wasn't about to let Robbie get away. Not this time. Too many people had been hurt. Robbie had a lot for which to answer.
Robbie didn't realize he had ridden in a circle. He was coming back around to the treehouse. He was getting tired. Maybe he should just stop and give up. Where did that thought come from? Then Robbie realized where.
"Robbie, why don't you just stop and give up!" Sportacus shouted.
"Never!" Robbie turned his head yelling back, and put on an extra burst of speed. "Sportacus will never catch me," mumbled Robbie gasping for air, "at least until I die from exhaustion."
Robbie swiveled his eyes to the front. His jaw dropped and his eyes looked to pop out of their sockets. Robbie was riding straight towards a barrier of some kind.
A few seconds after Sportacus had taken off to get Robbie, Stephanie and Ziggy climbed up inside the treehouse.
"The window, Ziggy! We'll be able to see them! Open the window!"
"I can't, it's stuck!"
Together they leaned on the window cover, then beat on it. They were huffing and puffing from the exertion. But, the window cover wouldn't open. Finally, Stephanie found an old mallet left from the construction of the treehouse, and in frustration, beat on the window cover. She knocked the cover completely off the treehouse. Ziggy looked at Stephanie in awe.
"Look!" Stephanie exclaimed, pointing to where Robbie was. They could see flashes of blue catching up to Robbie. They heard Robbie holler, "Never!" Then Ziggy had an idea.
"Come on, Stephanie! We're going to help Sportacus catch Robbie!" He quickly climbed down the ladder. Stephanie looked out the window once more and could see Robbie getting closer. She hurried down after Ziggy.
Together, Ziggy and Stephanie quickly stacked some spare lumber lying around not to far from the treehouse. At the last second, Stephanie and Ziggy added what used to be the cover for the window. Grunting and groaning, they tossed it on top of the lumber pile. Then, they stepped off to the side as Robbie came bicycling towards them. Ziggy pushed Stephanie even further back, and stood slightly in front of her, his jaw set in determination, just in case. He wasn't going to let anything hit Stephanie.
Robbie, in a panic, was desperately trying to find the brakes on the stolen, er, borrowed, bicycle. He couldn't find any. In confusion, he peddled even faster. He was going to hit it. He scrunched his eyes shut and screamed like a girl.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The window cover had been teetering on top of the pile and Ziggy and Stephanie had been holding their breath that it would stay up. It didn't. The cover slid down jamming itself into the ground, tilted at a severe angle.
Which is why, when he hit the cover, both Robbie and the bicycle went flying through the air. Sportacus, Ziggy, and Stephanie ran to the barrier watching Robbie and the bike in flight. The bicycle hit the side of the treehouse, then rained down in pieces, while Robbie went through the window. First, the thud of the bike was heard, then, the thud of Robbie landing. Robbie stopped screaming when he hit the floor. He had the breath knocked out of him.
Those left on the ground looked at each other with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Spotacus leapt to the ladder and climbed up inside. Ziggy and Stephanie took turns jumping up and down all over the place, trying to see through the window to find out what was happening.
"It's terribly quiet up there," Stephanie whispered to Ziggy.
Ziggy nodded. "Do you think Robbie is dead?"
"No!" Stephanie looked exasperated with Ziggy for a moment. Then she thought about it in the silence. "I hope not."
Ziggy looked at her like she was crazy. "What about what he did to us this weekend?"
"Well...we're all right. We're all friends and take care of each other. Usually." She shrugged her shoulders. "Robbie doesn't have any friends." She continued to look at the window.
"He doesn't want friends! Look how he treated us when he could have been our friend as Stefan."
"Doesn't matter. Wishing he would go away, or even die, is like sinking to his level, it's just ignorance. Robbie doesn't know what he's missing by not having friends. We do." Stephanie looked at Ziggy trying to explain. "He really is just a big kid. We have to try to show him how much fun he's missing."
Ziggy looked back at Stephanie doubtfully, but said, "Maybe."
Both kids looked up as Sportacus climbed down the ladder.
"Is he alright?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes, he will be fine." Sportacus hit the ground and glanced back up inside the treehouse. "But, he is being stubborn. Instead of coming down to apologize he has chosen to sit up there and pout." Sportacus shook his head sadly. Then to the kid's amazement, Sportacus pulled down the ladder and carried it off a few feet away.
"Sportacus, what are you doing?" Ziggy asked. "Are you turning the treehouse into a jail?"
"No, Ziggy. Well, maybe a kind of jail, just for a little bit." Sportacus stood with his hands on his hips, chuckling.
"I thought, we should have a party to welcome home the Mayor and Bessie. We can have sportscandy, and balloons, and music ..."
"And dancing?" Stephanie interjected.
"And dancing. What do you think, guys? A party right here?" Sportacus asked them. They were nodding and beginning to bounce on their toes. Then, with a glance up at the treehouse and a twinkle in his eye, Sportacus added, "Don't you think Robbie would like to be at the party?"
They looked at each other, grinning as they caught his meaning. They both yelled at the top of their voices, "YEAH!" They took off running home, to spread the word about the party and prepare for it.
Robbie sat on the floor of the treehouse, sulking. At the kid's yell, he put his head in his hands and shook it sadly. Sportacus told him what would happen. It was going to be a loong evening.
"What about Robbie? Won't he try to escape?" Ziggy asked Sportacus as they were about to go their separate ways.
"No, I don't think so." He leaned toward Ziggy and whispered, "He doesn't like heights, remember?"
Ziggy laughed, then left Sportacus and Stephanie. They continued on thier way to Uncle Milford's house, to get ready for the party.
"Thank you, Sportacus, for catching Robbie, and saving Ziggy, and Stingy, and me. For making everything better," Stephanie blurted out.
"You are welcome. But, Stephanie, you and Ziggy are really the one's who caught Robbie. Thank you."
The thought of Robbie sitting up in the treehouse having to listen to the party, made Stephanie giggle. She looked at Sportacus. He looked at her, and just knew what she was thinking. He began chuckling. Simultaneously, they reached for each other's hand and grabbed hold, then broke into a run.
Down the street they ran, into the late afternoon sun, hands clasped, planning, laughing, and happy.
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No, not the end. One more to go. MeowMix2 - glad you enjoyed 17 soooooo much. I was hoping someone would be amused. I think of Robbie Rotten emotionally as an 11 or 12 year old boy. Gee, I wouldn't know anything about them.harhar