Cackling madly Robbie picked up the football helmet and saddled it in the seat of the swing. He backed up and pulled, forcing the chain to creak and stretch, the whole swingset groaning and bending under the power he exerted.

"Bombs away!" he called out, and let go. The swing snapped back like a slingshot and the football helmet careened into the sky. It shrilled a high note from the wind whipping through the face guard, growing fainter as it disappeared over the row of houses a few blocks away.

"Sportacus? Is that you?" Pixel and Ziggy ran into the playground. They found Robbie in the middle of pulling the swing back again with a catcher's mitt loaded in the makeshift sling.

"What are you doing?" Ziggy cried. "That's not how you play with the sports equipment!"

"Who says there's a right way to play?" Robbie pulled the swing back until the every link in the chain strained.

"But it's making a mess," Pixel said. "All that stuff's falling all over LazyTown, it could be dangerous. Just let it go."

"If you insist," Robbie said. He released the swing and the catcher's mitt shot off in a blink. The children gawked, unable to do anything but watch it disappear. They turned their bulging eyes back on Robbie.

"What did you do that for?" Pixel asked.

"What? I'm only playing," Robbie said with a wicked grin.

"But how is anyone going to play any sports with all of the equipment thrown around broken everywhere?"

"Yeah, I don't understand this game," Ziggy said. Robbie glanced at him and narrowed his eyes at the Mind-Me-Matic remote still clasped in the child's hands.

"It's all very simple," Robbie said. "You don't need toys to play. Why don't you put down that ray gun and play with me instead?"

Ziggy's eyebrows did a dance between excitement and apprehension. In the end he couldn't resist an invitation from his hero. He set the ray gun down on the merry-go-round and approached Robbie.

"Good boy," Robbie said, slipping away from the swingset and moving to the seesaw. He patted the empty seat on the lowered end of the beam and coaxed him closer with a big smile. Pixel shifted his stance but held back with an uncertain mumble, yet he could voice no reason for Ziggy to return.

Once Ziggy was settled in the seat Robbie walked towards the opposite end. He stuck a finger in his mouth and pulled it out to test the direction of the wind. Nodding he continued past the seesaw to the slide. Ziggy leaned over to watch him climb up the playground equipment.

"Where are you going? I thought we were going to play."

Robbie crouched at the top of the slide. His smile twisted into a sneer. "Bombs away," he said, and jumped from the slide to the raised end of the seesaw, slamming down on the lever with all his strength.

Ziggy was catapulted out of the playground. Pixel spun in place to keep the other boy in sight. "Ziggy!" he shouted. Ziggy shouted something back but his voice was carried off with him.

Robbie stepped off the seesaw, drawing Pixel's gaze back to him. The man shaded his eyes against the sun as he tracked Ziggy's course over town. He let out a low whistle. "That might be a new record." The crystal on Robbie's chest beeped and flashed. He spared it a glance and made a satisfied sound. "That'll teach him to take things that don't belong to him."

"Why would you do that?" Pixel exclaimed, attracting Robbie's attention. "He could get hurt, you've got to go after him!"

"Maybe I will," Robbie said, already turning his attention towards the Mind-Me-Matic remote. "First thing's first, though."

Pixel stood frozen for a moment, staring wide eyed and agape as Robbie walked calmly across the playground towards the merry-go-round where the controller sat. Snapping back to his senses Pixel bolted forward and cut Robbie off, throwing himself onto the playground equipment first.

"Don't worry about some silly toy, you should be saving Ziggy!"

Robbie stopped and frowned at the boy blocking his way. He grabbed one of the handrails so that the muscles bulged in his arm. Pixel stared back at him, transfixed once more by the uncharacteristically venomous glare on his hero's face.

"I guess I'd better play with you too. All right then, hold on tight."

He wrenched the merry-go-round around and around, spinning it faster and faster. Pixel was pinned down by the centrifugal force, reduced to a howling blur. At some point the ray gun shot off of the ride but Robbie didn't see it. He was having too much fun to notice.

"We're back," Stephanie called as she opened the door to Pixel's room. Trixie and Stingy came in behind her.

"Where is he?" Trixie asked. They wandered around the empty room. "Why didn't he wait for us?"

"Ziggy's not here either," Stingy noted. He sniffed. "Huh! He took that ray gun with him, too."

"Maybe Pixel took a break," Stephanie said. "There's sports equipment everywhere outside, they could have stopped to play a game."

"It must have been some game," Trixie said. "I'm not going to help them clean it up."

"Hey guys, look," Stingy said, pointing at Pixel's desk. On the computer monitor a message had popped up reading RESTORATION COMPLETE. "What do you think that means?"

"Search me," Trixie said. "Pixel's always having computer problems."

"Here's Robbie's headband," Stephanie said. She pulled out the cords connecting it to Pixel's computer. "We'd better give it back to him before he gets any more upset."

"Let me hold it." Stingy shouldered past Trixie with his hands outstretched and making grabby motions.

"Watch it, Stingy!"

"Well, okay," Stephanie said, "but you know you can't keep it."

"I know," Stingy said, his eyes flashing as Stephanie handed the device over. Pixel had taped up the shreds of the band and Stingy immediately pulled it on over his head. "I'll just keep it warm until we give it back to him."

Trixie giggled. "You look ridiculous, Stingy."

Stingy huffed. "That's what you think."

"Do you hear something?" Stephanie asked, standing up straight all of a sudden.

"Hear what?" Trixie asked.

"It sounded like Ziggy."

"Well I don't hear anything."

Stephanie crossed the room and opened the window. She stuck her head out, cocking her ear for any more sounds. They all kept quiet but there was no disturbance. After a few more seconds Stephanie ducked back in and closed the window.

"I'm sure I heard him. It sounded like he was yelling. What if he's in trouble?"

"Like you said, he and Pixel are probably off playing somewhere and that's what you heard," Trixie said. "What could he possibly be doing to get into trouble?"

"You're probably right," Stephanie said, but cast a doubtful look at the window again.

"Let's go find them, then," Trixie said, "and you can see it's all in your head."

Ziggy flew through the air at a terrific speed. He brushed past clouds and overtook a flock of birds, scattering them in a squawking flurry of feathers. He went so high that he could look down at the roofs of the houses as he sailed over them, leaving the playground far behind.

The boy reached the peak of his arc and began his rapid descent, dropping like a cannon ball. There was no sign of Sportacus swooping in to save him. Was this part of the game? Was this fun? He might have laughed if he wasn't preoccupied with screaming. He closed his eyes when the view of all the houses and yards rushing up to meet him was too much.

Ziggy hit something relatively soft that let out a loud "Oomph!" He'd landed right on top of someone! They fell to the ground together in a heap.

"Ouch..." a deep voice groaned. Ziggy opened his eyes.

"Robbie Rotten!"

"Ziggy?" Sportacus met his eyes. "Where did you— how did you— ? Oof..." He could barely move with the child sitting on top of him. Ziggy scrambled to the side so he could sit up.

"Oh, sorry Robbie! But wow, am I ever glad that you caught me, or that could have hurt!"

"I'll say." Sportacus cracked his back with a growl, then sighed. He slipped on a thin smile. "Let's not do that again, all right? I don't think my body could take it..."

"I definitely don't want to do that again." Ziggy jumped to his feet and wobbled on his knees. "I feel really bad about landing on you. Is there anything I could do to make it up to you?"

"That's okay, you don't have to… Actually, you don't have any candy on you, do you?"

"No," Ziggy said. "But I've got lots at home. You can have anything you want as thanks for saving me!"

"Perfect," Sportacus said. He shambled to his feet. "Let's eat."