Disclaimer: The TV series "LazyTown" was created Magnús Scheving and is owned by Turner Broadcasting System. This work of fanfiction is solely for entertainment purposes. I do not own the characters depicted in this story, nor do I gain any profit from using them.
Sitting high and mighty on the seesaw Stingy flapped his hand at Trixie, trying to shoo her off of the opposite end down on the ground.
"It's mine, Trixie," he said. "Go away."
"It takes two to teeter-totter, Stingy," Trixie tried to explain it to the fancy boy for what must have been the hundredth time and her patience was wearing thin.
"No," Stingy said, placing his hand on his chest, "it's mine, ALL mine."
"Okay," Trixie said and got up from the seesaw, "if you insist." She planted one foot firmly on the vacated seat to keep Stingy elevated up in the air. That got the boy to squirm and tighten his grip on the handle bars and Trixie snickered at his discomfort.
"Wait," Stingy said, "I've changed my mind. You can get back on!"
"Hey guys!" Stephanie called as she ran through the playground towards the other kids.
"Hey, Stephanie," Trixie said, still keeping the teeter-totter off its kilter, "want to play with us?"
"Not just me," Stephanie said, shrugging her pink purse off her shoulder and waving behind her, "look!"
Just arriving to the playground came Pixel and Sportacus. They all waved and greeted each other with their usual enthusiasm. But bringing up the rear there was one more. Approaching a little less confidently on long and lanky legs was—
"Robbie Rotten!" Trixie and Stingy both exclaimed. The purple suited man stopped, keeping a respectable distance between himself and the others. His nose twitched and his mouth twisted on the verge of an uncertain frown.
"Why does everyone have to shout at me?" he asked. "It doesn't sound very nice when you say it like that."
"You're one to talk about nice!" Trixie started to snap back at the man but Stephanie waved her arms around to interrupt her.
"Just a second," Stephanie said, and hotfooted it over to the teeter-totter.
Trixie finally let Stingy get down so that they could have a whispered discussion with the pink girl. The kids peered up several times to look at Robbie before ducking their heads back down to continue the conference. A few giggles came out that were quickly shushed.
They broke out of their circle and turned back to the others. The way that Stingy and Trixie looked at Robbie now made him shift his feet.
"So you really don't remember me?" Stingy asked, and Robbie shook his head. The boy turned up his nose with a snort. "Is that so? Humph!"
"No problem," Trixie drawled. "We'll just remind you about yourself. Are you ready?"
"All right," Robbie said, putting on a brave face. "What do I have to do?"
"It's easy," Trixie said, and cast her hand around them at the playground. "We play!"
"Play?" Robbie looked at all the playground equipment and didn't make a move for anything. He glanced towards Sportacus, seeking a second opinion. "I'm not sure I can."
"Anyone can play," Sportacus encouraged him with a nod, "go on."
"Yeah, Robbie," Trixie said. "You play with us ALL the time. Why, you love to skip rope!"
"I do?" Robbie looked doubtfully towards the jump rope lying in a pile on the ground. He went over and bent down to pick up the toy but his back creaked. He struggled to straighten back up again with a grimace, quickly giving up the notion.
"And you love to play ball!" Stingy said, turning Robbie's attention towards the dodge ball resting against the brick wall.
"You always jump around," Pixel offered, pulling Robbie's gaze back the other way.
"But you love DANCING most of all!" Stephanie jumped up and down, drawing everyone's gaze to her.
"That's a great idea," Sportacus said, starting to bounce on the balls of his feet as well. "Why don't we all dance?"
"I don't know—" Robbie stood rigid like a stick in the mud but all around him the kids chimed their agreement. Stephanie ran across the playground to the bench where her pink stereo sat and switched it on. A hearty bass line and techno treble pounded out of the speakers.
"Come on Robbie, we're dancing!" Stephanie twirled on her feet with a laugh.
"Yeah, we're moving," Pixel bobbed his head and stomped his feet, rocking with the music.
"Jumping along," Stingy sang at the top of his lungs to be heard over the heavy beat and electric melody.
"It's easy," Sportacus said with a wink, "just a little twist and turn, you can do it."
Robbie raised his hands up and waved them. Seeing how that went over he tried shuffling his feet around. He looked at all the excited faces, watched as everyone spun and shook and grooved in any way they pleased. He gave a small shimmy— everyone cheered. The look of consternation that had wrinkled the tall man's face for so long finally lifted as the tempo picked up in his toes, then his legs, and his arms were up again—
"That's neat!" Stingy tried to imitate Robbie as the man kicked up his feet, waved his hands, and trotted off a smart tap dance! It was impossible for the boy to keep up and he admired the fancy footwork. "I want to learn how to do that too!"
But while everyone else was dancing Trixie had sneaked over to where the stereo sat. With a mischievous giggle she pushed a few buttons and changed the music. The heart pounding percussion and blaring synths fell off into the stately pace of an orchestral waltz. Everybody tripped to a halt, their dancing disrupted.
All but for Robbie. In the same breath that his two-step stopped he plucked Sportacus' hands into his own and spun him around into the waltz!
The kids boggled at the display, murmuring and laughing in their confusion. Even Sportacus stared with stupefaction at his unexpected dance partner but he couldn't do much more than fall into step with the pinstriped performance. Robbie smiled broadly at him, an expression so out of place on the man, and it only got more intriguing as he sang along with the waltz in a playful accompaniment. Sportacus started to grin as well.
"Hey guys, what's going on?" Ziggy came up behind Trixie and tapped her on the shoulder with the lollipop he carried in one hand. The girl was so startled she jumped on the spot and knocked the stereo clear off the bench. The waltz music distorted and sputtered out. Ziggy started to apologize but as he looked around at what was going on his eyes widened and he let out a sharp cry of, "Robbie Rotten!"
Robbie jumped back from Sportacus as though he'd received an electric shock. He looked towards the new arrival with an expression both guilty and exasperated.
"Just Robbie is fine!" he snapped. Standing rigid once more he brushed the wrinkles out of his vest and tugged on his cuffs, fidgeting madly. "And you are?"
"He's another friend," Stephanie was quick to intervene. While she took Ziggy aside for a hasty briefing the rest of the kids went to inspect the condition of the stereo.
"I do have an awful lot of friends," Robbie muttered, not sounding certain that he liked it.
Pixel was able to fix the stereo and soon it was blaring music once more. Stephanie skipped back over to where Robbie still stood stolidly in place while the rest of the kids resumed dancing about the playground.
"Will you dance with me like that, Robbie?" the little girl asked. Robbie looked down at her with his arms crossed.
"You're a little little for that," he said. "I don't think you could keep up."
"Oh please, Robbie, please?" Stephanie begged.
"Stephanie's a good dancer," Sportacus vouched for the girl. "Give her a chance, Robbie, won't you?"
Robbie's lips pursed at both of them, not quite frowning. But still he declined. "I can't dance anymore," he said. "I'm too tired now. And hungry. Isn't there anything to eat around here?"
"Sounds like it's the perfect time for a midday snack to get some more energy," Sportacus nodded. "Wait here, I'll be right back."
Sportacus pumped his arms in his signature move before performing an explosive back flip out of the playground and springing away. Robbie and Stephanie both watched the energetic elf vault walls and spin through the air as he left.
"That's a lot of flipping around," Robbie observed. "Wouldn't it be easier just to walk?"
"Well you can't just walk to the airship," Stephanie said, earning a curious look from the tall man.
"Airship?" he repeated. Just then Sportacus halted his acrobatics down the road and pointed up at the sky.
"Ladder!" the hero shouted. Following the gesture Robbie's gaze rose up, and up, and up— all the way up so that he had to squint through the sunlight to where Sportacus' red and blue blimp idled high overhead. His jaw dropped, gaping in awe. A delicate looking rope ladder dropped down from the dirigible and Sportacus climbed it with a speed and confidence unlike any other.
"Is it really his?" Robbie wondered.
"Of course it's his," Stephanie said. "He's LazyTown's super hero!"
"A super hero," Robbie mulled it over, still staring. "What does that make me?" He asked it in an offhanded sort of way but Stephanie fidgeted and tugged on Robbie's sleeve to interrupt his musings.
"Say, how did you know how to dance like that anyway?" she asked him. Robbie pulled his arm free of her but not too sharply and thought about it, scratching his head for a moment. He shrugged.
"I can't remember," he said. "It all just came to me in the moment." He offered a polite chuckle. "I wonder what will come to me next."