A/N: After I posted the newest update for 'New Beginnings', the writer's block dragon suddenly appeared out of nowhere and incinerated my inspiration in a burst of hell-fire. After days and weeks of righteous struggle, I managed to subdue it long enough to post this one-shot. So review, if you want me to win the final battle against the dragon son of a bitch.
But yeah, writer's block sucks. But no worries, I'm sure my inspiration will come back so I could update 'New Beginnings' soon. With that aside, this one-shot is based off on the episode, "The Hambone King." While I liked the Rori in that episode, the ending sucked, so hence this one-shot.
Disclaimer: Victorious belongs to Dan Schneider.
The Hambone King
By GallaudetLurker
"Go Robbie!"
Robbie Shapiro's heart thuds against his increasingly-constricted ribcage as it labors to supply much-needed oxygen to the rest of his body, particularly his arms.
He feels exhaustion begin to seep into him, but his willpower is resolute for the first time in his life, and Robbie is not about to give up, not right there and then.
There is a lot at stake right now.
"Come on, Robbie! You can do it!" Tori Vega's voice wafts into Robbie's ears, followed up by Cat Valentine's "Go Robbie!" This, coupled with enthusiastic exclamations of support from Andre Harris, Beck Oliver, and surprisingly, Jade West, spurs him on further.
Robbie's lips curls up in a smile as he hambones, a warm sensation beginning to well up inside his heart, one that is not caused by the exertions of his heart.
'This is it,' He thinks to himself as he continues to rhythmically slap himself in the thighs and legs in what is generally known as 'hamboning'. He is going to win.
Robbie glances over at his side to look at his friends cheering him on, his eyes resting on a particularly beautiful Latina who is looking at him, her eyes blazing in determination. 'I know you'll win, Robbie. You can do it!' Tori's eyes seems to say, and Robbie gives a small nod.
He is going to win, Robbie thinks. If not for himself, then for his friends, particularly Tori. He is going to redeem himself in the world's eyes since he accidentally hit himself in the nuts and flunked out the first time.
That jerk of his opponent, the so-called 'Hambone King', Gerald Arnpeg, is going down. Big time.
Suddenly, Robbie sees something out of the corners of his eyes, something that is coursing through him at high speed. It looks like...a piece of sushi?
Out of pure instinct, helped along by the fact that Robbie's entire body is primed to win this contest and claim the title of Hambone King and finally prove himself for all to see, Robbie manages to turn his head just in the nick of time to open his mouth wide-open and catch the sushi with his mouth without losing a beat.
As he begins to munch on the sushi, its delectable taste seeping into his mouth, Robbie could see Gerald and Merl's eyes widen a bit.
So they planned this all along, Robbie thinks to himself with a scowl as he swallows the sushi piece. These cheating bastards.
"No fair! That guy threw a piece of sushi at Robbie to try to trip him up!" Tori's voice pierces the otherwise quiet night air, and Robbie doesn't help but crack a grin. Beck and Andre yells out their agreements as well.
Tori is truly a great person, Robbie thinks to himself as he glances at his brown-haired best friend who is currently glaring a hole through Merl, the stocky blond boy who had apparently thrown the sushi at Robbie. Not only did she comfort him after the debacle, hugging him closely and whispering comforting words into his ears and afterwards taking him over to her house, but she taught him everything she knew about hamboning.
Turns out she was a hambone champion, alongside Gerald, in the past. That was a side of Tori that Robbie has never known before in the years he'd known her. And this only serves to increase his longstanding attraction to Tori, for he wants to know more about her.
The competition stretches on for what seems like eternity, with Robbie focusing so much on his repetitious hamboning that he has lost the concept of Time itself. He could feel the muscles in his arms begin to throb and burns slightly as his body begins to burn some of the adrenaline.
Still, he manages to keep up with his exertions as he completes sequence after sequence in alternation with his opponent.
There it is again.
Another piece of sushi - no doubt thrown by Merl - trajects toward him, intending to distract him out of the game once again. Robbie starts to move his head to the side to try to avoid the sushi - he is not confident in the catching-food-with-the-mouth skills this time - when Tori suddenly swats it out of the way.
He exhales out a sigh of relief as gratitude flows through him. 'Saved by the Tori,' he thinks to himself before he begins to chuckles. 'Saved by the Tori...Robbie, get your head back in the game!' He berates himself as he continues hamboning.
Finally, after what seems like eons, the long-awaited moment comes, one that would vindicate him in the history of hamboning: Gerald misses a beat and is subsequently out of the game. The crowd roars with exhilaration. Gerald lets out a barrage of curses, jumping out of his red stool with enough force to send it sprawling to the ground, whipping his arms out furiously at Merl.
As his heart pounds heavily in his chest, as his chest heaves with labored breaths, as adrenaline continues to pulse through his veins, Robbie could only form one semi-coherent thought midst the exhaustion that is overwhelming him.
He won. He has become the Hambone King.
This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to him. For once in Robbie's life, Fate has smiled upon him. Not only did he avenge his humiliating loss and redeemed himself in the process, but he has proven himself, not only to himself but to everyone around him.
Before Robbie realizes it, the roaring crowd swarms him, the loudest being Tori, Andre, Beck, Cat, and, yes, Jade. He feels overwhelmed with slaps on the back or shoulders and hugs. He feels a particular pair of arms wrap around his neck and pull him in for a tight hug.
As he struggles to maintain his balance, Robbie cranes his head to look at the person who has hugged him so fiercely. His brown orbs meets warm chocolate ones. Tori is radiating with happiness as she grins up at him, her arms around his shoulders.
Grinning at his brunette best friend, Robbie is about to say something, to thank Tori for everything she has done, when it happens.
Tori pulls him into a kiss.
Jolts of shock courses through him. Cat gasps in surprise, Beck raises his eyebrows, Jade's eyes widens slightly, and Andre lets out a "whoa."
Her lips are soft, inexplicably soft, as Robbie slowly returns the kiss, his lips meshing with hers as he closes his eyes. Although he doesn't feel giant sparks fly off their lips or see bright fireworks behind his eyelids, as he has seen in too many stories or movies, the kiss feels so...right.
He wants to kiss her some more, he faintly muses.
Before Robbie could deepen the third kiss in his life, he feels hands grab him and lift him off the ground, breaking the kiss. As he is hoisted on top of the crowd, held up by Kwakoo and Beck, Robbie feels like he is in a daze as he looks at Tori. Her cheeks are flushed, and she is smiling at him.
'We'll continue this later,' Her eyes say. Robbie smiles.
As he is carried away, Robbie feels like he is on top of the world.
A/N: I did a half-decent job, I think. But hope you liked.
Also, please pardon the rather uncreative title.