Chapter 18

Frantically, the Gizmo Guy tried to reach all of team. The FBI agents were beamed out first followed by Sportacus, Trixie, and Stingy.

“Where is Ziggy?” The miser asked upon his return.

“I’m working on it.” Pixel said as he tried to pick the candy-loving kid up on the radio. Sportacus pulled Robbie aside and gave this look. The ex-villain couldn’t figure out whether it was a look of fear or grief.

“How much longer until IAC blows?” He asked.

“Poodle has one minute to reach Ziggy and Pinky or…” Robbie let the sentence hang there. As much as he hated to admit it, he was starting to like the missing kids, especially Pinky.

“One minute?” Sportacus looked like he was going to lose his lunch when Pixel interrupted him.

“I’ve got Ziggy!” Within moments, the youngest of the group made his appearance on the Teleporter pad.

“Where’s Stephanie?” Sportacus was frantic now.

“I can’t reach her. She isn’t responding.” Pixel told him as he continued to try to contact the pink one. The clock on a secondary computer screen read thirty seconds.

“Stephanie come in!” The Gizmo Guy shouted.

“Wha… ing… on?” Her transmission was garbled but readable by the computer. Pixel didn’t answer as he pushed the buttons. The Teleporter picked up her signal as the computer counted down from five. The Teleporter pad lit up and started receiving her signal when the clock reached zero.

The pad went dark but Stephanie did not stand where she was supposed to be. The platform was empty. Sportacus ran over to where she should have been and frantically tried to search the area but Stephanie was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is she?!” He shouted. Pixel was too busy punching the keys on the keyboard trying to recover the signal he had lost.

“Answer him damn it!” Trixie shouted at the Gizmo Guy as well.

“I lost the signal just as she left the building. The explosion disrupted the Teleporter’s beam. I…” Pixel trailed off. The worst had to be assumed. They had never had the signal interrupted before and there was no telling what would happen to Stephanie’s body. At this point, Trixie collapsed to the floor and started to cry. Stingy tried to comfort her the best he could. Sportacus had gone pale and silent. Grief was nothing new to him but he wasn’t sure his heart could take it. Robbie helped the above average hero to the big fuzzy orange chair. The ex-villain wondered if LazyTown would ever be the same again. The worst part would be explaining to Milford that his niece was gone. She was the last of his family and now he would be alone.

The Ministry of Villains and Downright Naughtiness’ headquarters disappeared beneath the ground above it leaving nothing but a giant crater in the earth. Smoke and clouds of dust plumed in the air creating the illusion of a dark and stormy day. In the distance, sirens could be heard undoubtedly called by people who saw the giant clouds.

From the dust a new era would arise. The FBI agents had gotten enough information to shut down The Ministry’s bases in the United States. From there, they could get the bases in Europe, Asia, and Africa with the help of there international counterparts. Evil had been snuffed out but for LazyTown things had changed forever. They were unaware of the rescue made just outside the crater. Unaware that hope still had a chance.

The End

See the continuation of this story next week in “The Long Journey Home”. Hope you liked it and thank you for all your support. :)