Robbie Remembered

4:11

Sportacus slammed into Robbie with his head down, tackling him around the middle and throwing them both off their feet. They skidded across the stage and smashed into the generator. The Forget-Me-Naught 6000 crackled and snapped, every last light fixture bursting in a synchronized explosion.

The power banks crumpled under the impact and combusted. Valves and prongs shot off of the arch's framework from high pressure spouts of steam. Wires snapped and crackled. The grinding machine trembled and swayed on the stage, malfunctioning systems shaking it down to every circuit. It self-destructed, breaking apart in fits and seizures, raining down chunks of metal on the stage in a fiery hailstorm.

The obscene archway was no more. All that remained were heaps of rubble, scorched metal and fragments of glass, broken hardware sputtering out fast fading traces of electricity, all of it shrouded in foul smelling smoke weighed down by the ensuing silence. It was slow to dissipate, invading everyone's lungs so that they gasped and wheezed, waving away the choking atmosphere in a bid to breathe.

"Is everyone all right?" the mayor coughed out. Nobody knew for sure. They had to wait for the smoke to clear before they could see.

Sportacus and Robbie lay buried within the tangled rat's nest of wires on the edge of the stage under the broken parts of the generator. They could only be seen for the bright blue of Sportacus' uniform showing through the wreckage and a few streaks of purple pinstripes from Robbie's pant leg.

Everyone ran up to the stage at once and started pulling away the bits of debris. "Sportacus! Sportacus, are you okay?" the kids cried and shouted.

The stage creaked and buckled under everyone's collective weight and Milford ushered all of children back down the steps before it should collapse under their feet. Bessie put a hand up to her forehead, swaying from the noxious fumes and the sight of the blue suited man lying prone on the floor, and leaned against Milford for support.

Sportacus shifted. Frayed wires and chips of metal rolled off his shoulders as he raised his head. He squinted at Robbie still pinned beneath him. Where he had thrown his arms haphazardly around the other man before now he tightened his grip. He lowered his head back down and squeezed, every muscle tensing in his body.

Robbie twitched and groaned. He groped at Sportacus' arms with battered and jittery hands. Sportacus raised his head again to look at him. Through the smudges of accumulated smoke and singed skin Robbie's face was still pale and harrowing, balanced precariously between dread and panic.

"Do... you know me?" Robbie asked, his voice hoarse.

Sportacus stared into his eyes. He sat up, letting more stray bits of the broken archway ramble off his back and sides. He unwrapped his arms from around Robbie and planted his hands heavily on his shoulders.

"Robbie," Sportacus said. Robbie's brow furrowed deeply into trenches and his mouth contorted in a grimace. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"No..."

Robbie's shoulders hunched and tensed under Sportacus' hands. A tremor ran through him, making the villain's whole frame shake. He ducked his head down and drew in breath sharply. It scraped out of him through a choked sob.

"It didn't work...!"

Sportacus clenched his jaw. He dug his fingers into Robbie's shoulders so hard it made the man wince and gasp, screwing his eyes shut all the more. He shook Robbie with a sudden and furious bout of energy.

"Are you out of your mind!?"

The children drew back further behind the mayor, quailing at Sportacus' outburst. The gleam in his eyes was unlike any look he'd ever favored the townspeople with before, something maddened and frightful. He shouted at Robbie as he shook the man like a rag doll, his agitation only increasing with every exclamation.