The occupants of the Mayor's house were awoken early in the morning by the sound of shouting. Bessie had turned over to see where the Mayor was but he wasn't in bed, curious she got up and went to look for him. Bessie saw the Mayor standing in the front door and gasped to see a familiar and wholly unwelcome person who had visited the town some years before. There was no mistaking the identity of the infamous owner and general tormentor of the Crazytown orphanage, Mr Snail.
"How dare you come barging into my house! You have no business here!" The Mayor shouted his face turning red.
"There is an orphan here therefore I do have business here, sir. I have an order here that states I take immediate custody of the child objections or no. I assure you Mr Mayor that I will not leave this town without that child!" Mr Snail pointed directly at Robyn who promptly hid behind Sportacus' legs.
Unlike the others Sportacus knew what Mr Snail did to children and he would not let Mr Snail take Robyn. He couldn't let him take her; it was the worst possible thing that could happen to her aside from what had already happened. Mr Snail met this defensive display with a snarl; it was obvious he wasn't going to leave without Robyn.
The shouting had disturbed the other residents of Lazytown and the kids had come to see what the trouble was. Each of them recognised Mr Snail and felt very weary. None of them knew why they felt weary of him; perhaps it was because they knew what he'd come for or that his general demeanour was very oppressive. Mr Snail looked at each one of the children in turn and gave each of them a similar look of disdain. All of the kids flinched at the piercing, fierce looks they received from Mr Snail and none knew what to do or expect from him.
"I'm waiting." Mr Snail growled. His impatience was growing.
"My answer remains the same. Robyn's not going with you and that's final. This gentleman in blue is her uncle and is more than capable of taking care of her." The Mayor indicated Sportacus.
"Whether he is the girl's uncle, stepbrother, aunt, cousin or whatever else has no bearing. This order was placed in the event of the father dying by the mother. Whether the mother is also dead or not is also of no consequence, the order is binding and will be obeyed. That child is coming with me and you are powerless to stop it!"
Sportacus was horrified. How could Lily do such a thing? He wasn't sure if she had known about Robbie's being in the orphanage or not but all the same it was a terrible thing to do. Lily had murdered Robbie to spite Robyn, her own flesh and blood. Sportacus hated Lily even more now; she had pushed boundaries in her evil ways Sportacus never knew she could reach. Sportacus' uneasiness also grew, the order apparently couldn't be countermanded and Sportacus had no idea of what to do. Mr Snail wouldn't leave without Robyn and Sportacus certainly wouldn't let Mr Snail leave with her.
Sportacus suddenly seized upon an idea. It was very risky but was their only chance of avoiding Robyn being given up. Without turning to the girl still clinging to his legs from behind him he whispered to her to run. Robyn looked at up at him, a puzzled look in her eyes.
"Robyn, run. Run through Mr Snail's legs and make for the airship, the ladder should still be down and climb as fast as you can. Run as fast as you can. Go!" Sportacus whispered and at that instant Robyn bolted.
Mr Snail attempted feebly to catch the girl as she ran through his legs, he'd been taken by surprise and was about to run after her when the kids grabbed his legs and tried to pull him to the ground.
Hands had brushed her head as she'd run under the legs but she was too fast. Not looking back Robyn ran as fast her as her little legs would carry her, she could see the airship in the distance and it was getting closer the more she ran. With her eyes fixed on the airship Robyn hadn't noticed a stone in her path and she tripped and fell head long over it. Before she could get up to continue Robyn a strong and fierce set of hands grabbed her. Knowing that the hands belonged to none of her friends she screamed and tried kicking the person who was holding her in a panic.
Mr Snail had kicked all of the children off his legs, he was used to such 'games' at the orphanage and had not fallen for a very long time. Leaving the kids dazed at the house he took off at a fast, lengthy and backwards past in pursuit of Robyn. Sportacus had tried to give chase but in his panic tripped over the kids, he'd gotten up very quickly but the few seconds he'd been on the ground were enough for Robyn to be snatched by the orphanage master's wicked hands. If she hadn't have fallen she might have gotten away and if Sportacus hadn't fallen Mr Snail would be back at the house right now and in very serious trouble.
Sportacus had to skid to a stop in front of Mr Snail to avoid knocking into him. He saw Mr Snail's triumphant smile and it reminded him of Lily's smile. Concern for Robyn and anger at Mr Snail warred within him and he didn't know what to do. If he attacked Mr Snail Robyn might get hurt and if he did nothing then Robyn would be taken away. It was obvious that Mr Snail was waiting for Sportacus to make a decision, he was mocking him.
"I'm waiting." Mr Snail repeated but this time in a self satisfied tone of voice that said he knew he'd won.
Sportacus gave no answer, he couldn't. No one could do anything. Mr Snail smiled again and walked back to his car; he tossed Robyn unceremoniously onto the back seat and got into the car himself. The engine was started and away it went. Through the back window they could see Robyn peering over the seat, her blue eyes piercing every single person that saw them with their sad gaze.
Coming back to his senses Sportacus made to chase the car but it was too fast for him. As it vanished out of sight Sportacus fell to his knees with a feeling of utter anguish filling him from top to toe. All of his pent up emotions coming to a head and erupting with the magnitude of what he'd just done Sportacus let out a long agonised scream and fell to the ground. It felt like part of him had been ripped away and he'd failed everyone.
The Mayor and Bessie were the first to reach Sportacus. They'd told the kids to stay where they were but none had obeyed and they'd followed the Mayor and Bessie a few minutes after they'd gone. When they got to Sportacus their hearts bled for him. Sportacus was lying face down on the ground crying uncontrollably, his hands wringing and hitting the ground. The tears that Sportacus had cried had already formed a small puddle on the ground and it was more than obvious that he was in utter torment.
With the help of the kids the Mayor and Bessie pulled Sportacus from the ground and took him back to their house. Sportacus was in a very bad way, he'd been through enough the last couple of days and the events of that day were the ultimate tip of the iceberg. No one knew if Sportacus would ever recover from this and all of them struggled under their own emotions. Robyn had grown to mean a lot to all of them, she had captured their hearts from the start and had a firm grip on them. Everyone that had seen Robyn's face peering out at them from the car had the image seared onto their memories. Sportacus was also a close friend of theirs and whenever he suffered they suffered.
Robyn sat despondently on the back seat of the car. Tears still stained her cheeks and she'd not long stopped crying. She looked up as the car grew dark and noticed that they'd entered a tunnel. An extremely loud sound made her and Mr Snail jump, it was a screech followed by a loud bang. Suddenly the car went out of control; Robyn couldn't see what was happening at the front of the car or around it. Without warning Robyn was thrown into the back of the seat in front of her. Her head struck the seat and all went black.