Ropes and purple Christmas trees
Chapter two
Sportacus stared down at the two villains in curiosity, taking in the scene. Both were curled up together to keep warm, the mountain of presents towering over them. Observing the askew costumes and sleigh piled with presents, the hero quickly realized what they had been up to the night before. He crossed his arms and frowned.
His crystal was going off all over town at once and now he knew the reason. These were two villains who were definitely going to get a scolding from him when they woke up. Everyone in town was devastated, not realizing this was one of Robbie's schemes and Sportacus was torn between immediately going to them or dealing with the errant villains first. Giving another frown, Sportacus bounced lightly on his feet, as he considered which he should start with.
He looked down at Amazing Rope Guy and Robbie and saw they were just covered in a few empty sacks. The night had been cold and Sportacus wondered why they'd slept outside when they were so close to Robbie's lair. It was dangerous sleeping outside this time of year and Sportacus hoped neither of them got sick because of this. Concerned, he wondered if he should wake the villains first.
As he was pondering this, he heard a loud happy shriek from behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the children galloping towards the sleigh, huge, eager grins in place.
"There they are!" Ziggy cried out happily. "See! I knew Santa wouldn't forget about us!"
"Wow, look at them all!" Pixel exclaimed as they got closer.
"They're obviously all mine!" Stingy stated, running hard, trying to beat the other children there.
They reached the sleigh and instantly began climbing it, looking greedily at the presents. Stephanie caught sight of the two villains and stood over them, arms crossed, completely put out.
"Robbie Rotten!" she scolded loudly, prodding him with her foot. "We should have known! You took all our presents! Amazing Rope Guy too! Ugh!"
Neither villain stirred, instead shifting slightly to get more comfortable. The children looked down at them, and shook their heads with a sigh, used to such things and then turned excitedly towards their presents.
"I can't get up!" Ziggy protested, trying his best to climb up onto the sleigh. His arms and legs much too short, all he succeeded in doing was dangling uselessly.
Sportacus smiled down at the small blond boy and reached down and lifted him up onto the sleigh with the others.
"Thank you Sportacus!" Ziggy chirped, instantly diving into the presents with the other children.
The children all automatically threw all of the pink presents to Stephanie not having to even look at the nametag and went about sorting their own. Stingy had by far the largest pile and every child stared at it enviously as the brown-haired boy sat on top of the pile guarding it.
"Here's another one for you, Trixie!" Pixel yelled, holding up a gift.
The pig-tailed girl was quick to snatch it up as everyone began ripping open wrapping paper from their presents.
Mayor Meanswell and Bessie came out a few minutes later, both looking flustered and rather confused. When they approached and saw the huge mountain of presents they shot annoyed glances at the two villains. Bessie was by far the angriest and when they were standing beside Sportacus, she turned up furious eyes at him.
"Those...those brats!" Bessie cried out dramatically, pointing at them. "They messed up my house and stole all my beautiful presents! They're rascals, the both of them!"
Sportacus gave her a sympathetic look as she stomped over to the sleigh and grabbed Robbie and Amazing Rope Guy by the collars and began shaking them.
"Up! Both of you up!" she ordered in her most 'you are in big trouble' voice. "Wake up now!"
They didn't wake and instead rolled over under the empty sacks, instinctively trying to escape the annoying noise in their ears.
Bessie gave them another shake but got no response. Rather put out, she turned to Sportacus who was bending over to pick up the empty egg nog container. He looked at it curiously and saw the little post-it with 'NOT MINE' written on it.
"Stingy, is this from your house?" he asked, holding it up.
Stingy looked up from his presents and frowned. "They took daddy's eggnog? They're going to be in biiiig trouble! Daddy said no one but him is allowed to drink his eggnog!"
Sportacus unscrewed the cap and gave the jug a careful sniff. He gave a more pronounced frown then gave the two villains an incredulous look.
"They're drunk." he stated.
The adults were the only ones who heard him and were shocked. Bessie promptly stopped shaking them and asked.
"Drunk? Lazytown doesn't have liquor here! Where did it come from? Did that Amazing Rope Guy bring it here?"
Sportacus shook his head and held up the eggnog. "No, they drank some eggnog that apparently had some of Stingy's father's private collection in it."
The mayor scratched his chin. "Did they know it had liquor in it?" he wondered aloud.
Sportacus sighed and replied. "I'll have to ask them when they wake up. A little now and then is okay but overindulging is very bad for you."
"Oh, heavens, don't tell Robbie that or we'll have a town drunk!" Bessie pled.
Sportacus gave her a reassuring smile. "Once Robbie wakes up, I don't think he'll want any more. He's not going to feel very good."
Bessie crossed her arms. "Good, serves them both right, let them have a hangover! Maybe that will teach them not to destroy my house!"
Pixel paused from opening his gifts. "You think they messed up your house? They collapsed my mom's Christmas village and knocked over the tree! There's ornaments everywhere!"
Sportacus was mentally compiling a list of all the things he'd have to discuss with Robbie and Amazing Rope Guy later and gave a sigh. He didn't really want to scold anyone on Christmas but it was necessary.
Bessie gave the sleeping villains a look of death then reached for her own presents as the Mayor approached to do the same. Sportacus watched everyone open their presents with a slight smile, glad at least everyone's mood seemed to be improving now that they got their presents back. Once all of the presents were open and the children were playing with their new toys, Sportacus glanced over at the villains.
Wondering if he should wake them now or at least attempt to, he scratched his chin and considered it. After a moment, he gave a decisive nod, deciding they's slept long enough and they could just deal with their hangover. He imagined they'd be full of excuses and was prepared to listen but not accept any lies.
In their excitement, the children kept stepping on the villains and dropping toys and wrapping paper on them but neither men seemed to notice. Sportacus began approaching, listening to the excited chatter of the children with a smile.
Ziggy leaned over the edge of the sleigh and held up a red fire-truck to the hero.
"Look what Santa brought me! It lights up and the wheels turn!"
"I'll look at it in a bit, Ziggy, I need to have a bit of a talk with Robbie and Amazing Rope Guy."
Ziggy looked down at Robbie who was snoring loudly. "Are they in trouble?"
"Yes, Ziggy, they are." Sportacus replied gently.
Ziggy seemed a bit uncertain. "Are you going to send them to their rooms for stealing our toys?"
Sportacus gave a laugh. "I just want to have a talk with them." he said, with a smile.
Ziggy nodded as he respectively backed away. "Oh."
Sportacus looked down at the villains and pulled away the empty sacks, letting the cold winter air blow directly on them. Reaching out towards them, he shook both of their shoulders, firmly, trying to get a reaction. The cold air and shaking making them stir slightly, they both tried to roll away from the annoying hero. Sportacus, having none of that grabbed them both by the ankle and began dragging them off the back of the sleigh.
They both landed in a snowdrift, causing them to wake with a startled yell as snow went down the backs of theirs shirts and into their faces. Extremely cold, and also extremely hung over they looked up at him incomprehensibly. Robbie let out a loud groan and clutched at his temples with both hands, feeling like his skull was splitting open.
"Ow." he complained. "Why's my head hurt so bad?"
Amazing Rope Guy blinked blearily at Robbie for a moment then turned his attention up at Sportacus. It took his mind a few seconds to clear enough to realize what was happening and when it did, his eyes widened to comic proportions as he saw the clearly annoyed and very strong hero standing over them.
Not sure what Sportacus would do to them especially after last night, he panicked and scrambled to get away. He was half buried in a snowbank so his hands and feet were slipping as he clawed to get away. He only moved a few inches before Sportacus placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"What's the matter?" Sportacus asked in concern.
"No!" Amazing Rope Guy yelled, falling backwards placing his hands over his face.
Sportacus instantly knelt down beside him, shocked at the man's reaction. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I won't hurt you. What's the matter?"
Amazing Rope Guy hesitantly lowered his hands. "You're not angry?" he asked incredulously. "You're not here to 'exact justice'?"
"Well," Sportacus said, rocking slightly on the balls of his feet. "I want to talk to the both of you but I'm not going to hurt you. Why don't you get up out of the snow? You must be cold."
"Sportacus!" Stephanie yelled over to them. "Robbie's being sick under the sleigh!"
Sportacus looked over and sure enough, Robbie was hunched over behind the sleigh looking positively miserable. Sportacus quickly approached and knelt beside Robbie, placing a hand on the mans back as he retched. Amazing Rope Guy slowly stood up, rubbing at his forehead and brushed off the loose snow off his clothes. He sat himself on the end of the sleigh and wrapped himself in a couple empty sacks as he waited for Sportacus to finish with Robbie. He gave a shiver and wiped at his nose, trying to ignore the not so pleasant sounds coming from Robbie.
A minute or so later Robbie crawled up beside Amazing Rope Guy looking nauseous and a bit pale. He took some of the sacks and wrapped them around himself and sat hunched over, looking like he wanted to die.
"I think I have the flu." he complained. "I don't feel good."
Sportacus crossed his arms. "No, Robbie, you're hung-over. That's what happens when you drink too much alcohol."
He received two blank stares.
"But we didn't have any alcohol..." Amazing Rope Guy stated.
Sportacus held up the empty eggnog jug. "This had alcohol in it and you two drank too much of it, that's why you're feeling sick."
Amazing Rope Guy and Robbie exchanged a dumbfounded look. They had been drinking that for hours and didn't even taste it!
"It was spiked?" Amazing Rope Guy asked, staring at the jug, still not quite believing him.
Sportacus nodded. "That's why you should never take something without asking first because you don't know what's in it!"
The villains exchanged another look.
"What the two of you did last night wasn't very nice at all!" Sportacus scolded. "Stealing Christmas presents made everyone really upset. I've talked to you before about taking things that don't belong to you, Robbie."
"I wasn't 'stealing'." Robbie stated defensively. "We were, uh... we were just getting into the Christmas spirit!"
Sportacus raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"It's true, we thought it would be fun to deliver the presents ourselves! That's why we're dressed up as Santa and his elf! We weren't stealing!"
Amazing Rope Guy couldn't believe how lame that lie was. He himself gave Robbie an incredulous look as Sportacus frowned.
"Robbie," Sportacus began, his voice gentle but firm. "I know you weren't going to deliver the presents. Fibbing is not a good habit to get into, soon everyone won't believe anything you say if you continue to fib."
Robbie's expression turned sulky and he gave Sportacus a pouty look, knowing he couldn't weasel his way out of this one.
"Taking things that don't belong to you is a very bad thing to do. It upsets people and gets you in trouble. You're supposed to be good at Christmastime, it's the time of year everyone is together and happy!"
At this Robbie gave a derisive snort. "I wasn't even invited to your stupid Christmas party! No one ever invites me. It's not a time for 'togetherness', it's only a time for YOU!"
Sportacus was surprised. "Robbie, you're a part of our town too! The parties we have are for everyone, you don't need an invitation! You were always more than welcome to join us. Is that why you tried to ruin Christmas? Were you upset at us?"
Robbie looked away, his cheeks a bit red. "I didn't want to go to your dumb party anyway. It was probably full of healthy things."
Sportacus then glanced at Amazing Rope Guy. "I know you and Robbie are friends but you should not have helped him with this. You told me you were going to behave yourself over Christmas and this is definitely not behaving! You're new in town and things might be different where you're from, but here, stealing and causing mischief is wrong. There are other things you can do instead, plenty of games and fun you can join in on!"
Amazing Rope Guy wasn't impressed and crossed his arms. "They deserved it." he stated with finality.
Sportacus cocked his head in confusion. "Who deserved it?" he questioned.
"Those little brats deserved coal for Christmas." he said, meeting Sportacus's eyes directly. "I did nothing to them and they threw snowballs at my face and told me to get out of town! Any children like that deserve to have their presents taken."
Sportacus frowned openly. "I'm sorry your feelings were hurt, Amazing Rope Guy. The children were wrong to say those things to you and to chase you away from them. I spoke with them after you'd left and they're incredibly sorry for what they did. They didn't mean what they said, they just don't know you yet. They were worried about what sort of mischief you'd cause but I know you can behave yourself like you said you would."
Amazing Rope Guy didn't look convinced so Sportacus looked over at the children who were trying to pretend they weren't listening.
"Children, come here a moment." he requested, beckoning with a finger towards the end of the sleigh.
The children instantly slunk over, nervous that they were going to be scolded again.
"You heard what Amazing Rope Guy said, am I right?" he asked.
The children nodded hesitantly.
"He helped Robbie steal the presents because he was hurt by what you did. He thought you were bad children since that was the first time he met you." Sportacus explained. "He should not have taken your presents, that was wrong, but you were wrong also as you didn't exactly leave a very good first impression."
The children all looked appropriately chastised and looked at Amazing Rope Guy sadly.
"I'm really sorry, Amazing Rope Guy." Stephanie said. "Anyone is welcome in Lazytown, we shouldn't have been mean to you."
"Yeah, I'm sorry too!" Trixie put in. "Even though you seem kinda weird, I'll give you a chance."
"Me too." Pixel stated. "You can stay here as long as you want. We're not bad kids, really!"
Stingy pushed past the others and cleared his throat. "Although I own everything in Lazytown, I suppose it would be alright if you stayed here. I'm sorry I threw snow at you."
Ziggy threw his arms around Robbie's and Amazing Rope Guy's necks as he let out a wail. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"
"Ziggy!" Stephanie said in exasperation. "You weren't even there when this happened; you were building a snowman with Sportacus!"
Ziggy instantly stopped crying. "Oh, yeah...well, I'm happy with anyone living in Lazytown, lot's more people to play with!"
Staring at the children's apologetic looks and currently being glommed by one of them, Amazing Rope Guy found himself relenting. He let out a sigh and nodded.
Sportacus gave him an expectant look. "Do you have anything to say to them as well?" he urged.
Feeling extremely awkward, Amazing Rope Guy wondered if they still would have apologized to him if they knew they had been planning to rob them before the whole park incident and before he had met any of the townspeople. Not likely. He shifted slightly and looked up at Sportacus who was looking at him encouragingly, friendly smile in place.
"...sorry?" Amazing Rope Guy said hesitantly, not really sure what they wanted from him.
His halfhearted apology seemed to please Sportacus who grinned and turned his gaze to Robbie. "How about you, Robbie? Do you have anything to say? You two caused a lot of mischief last night and I think everyone deserves an apology from you too."
Robbie stubbornly crossed his arms and looked away, nose in the air.
Sportacus reached over and gave the villain a nudge. "Come on, Robbie."
Robbie gave a snort but otherwise stayed silent.
Sportacus gave him another nudge. "You stole all their presents and also made a big mess in their homes. Don't you think they deserve an apology?"
"No."
"Come on, Robbie, don't be like that. If you don't apologize, you're going to have to be punished. It's much easier to say you're sorry, then everything's better."
Robbie turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. "I'm not sorry and I know you won't hit me. There's nothing you can do."
Sportacus rolled his eyes thinking Robbie sounded more like one of the children than the town villain. "Very well, Robbie. Since you refused to apologize, you're going to join us for Christmas dinner and I can assure you I'm going to make sure you eat every vegetable on the table."
Robbie let out a horrified gasp. "You wouldn't!"
Sportacus crossed his arms. "I would and I am. Some sportscandy would do you good, you might even like it."
Robbie completely balked and stared at Sportacus with wide, alarmed eyes. "Okay fine, Sportadork! I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry I took the stupid presents!"
Sportacus gave a nod then said. "That's great, Robbie, but I shouldn't have to force you to apologize. I still think you should come to Christmas dinner. You two are all by yourselves today anyway, so being near everyone will be good for you."
Robbie looked completely scandalized. "No! I won't, I refuse!" he cried out. "You tricked me!"
Amazing Rope Guy wasn't entirely sure what the big deal over being invited to Christmas dinner was. Free food was always welcome in his opinion. Was this Sportacus fellow that bad of a cook?
Robbie clutched at his head, the yelling making his headache worse. He let out a dramatic groan and gave Sportacus an imploring look.
"I'm sick, I just want to sleep, I don't want to go to the dinner!"
"You can lay down on the couch while dinners cooking." Sportacus said with finality.
The children were now gathering up their toys into sacks, getting cold and wanting to move inside. Sportacus noticed this and said.
"Everyone's going inside now, so you should go with them and get out of the cold."
Stephanie rushed forward and grabbed them both by the hand. "Come on, the dinner's at my house! We're having lot's of healthy stuff!"
As the small pink girl tugged them off of the sleigh, Robbie looked like he was going to be sick again. They were pulled across the field towards the houses and Amazing Rope Guy looked over at Robbie curiously.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"No, I don't think so." Robbie answered. "Just thinking about that dinner is making me feel sick. Ick, stupid vegetables."
"Hangovers don't last that long, just a couple hours." Amazing Rope Guy assured him. "Your headache should get better once you lay down."
Robbie nodded with another dramatic groan.
Once they were at Stephanie's house, she led them inside and gestured around with a wave of her hand. "This is my house." she announced, to Amazing Rope Guy.
"Yeah, I know, I've seen it." he answered.
"Oh yeah..." she said, looking at him a bit oddly. "The kitchen is over there if you want breakfast, you can have whatever you want and this is the living room."
Robbie immediately flopped down on the couch, looking tired and grouchy. As Stephanie placed her sack of toys under the tree, Amazing Rope Guy went into the kitchen to inspect what was there. Feeling nauseous from the hangover and knowing exactly what to do in this situation, he headed to the fridge. Pulling out a carton of orange juice, he found a couple of glasses and filled them to the brim. Stephanie entered the kitchen and gave him a smile.
"Do you want anything else?" she asked.
"Yeah, Advil." he answered.
Stephanie cocked her head at him curiously. "Advil? Are you sick too?" she asked.
"Robbie and I just have headaches." he stated. "The Advil will help with that."
Stephanie hesitated. "I'm not allowed to touch the pill cabinet."
"It's fine, I'm an adult." he replied, hoping the girl wouldn't refuse.
Stephanie gave him an indecisive look then nodded slowly. "I'll get it for you." she said, hurrying from the room.
She returned only a minute or so later, holding a small white bottle. Amazing Rope Guy quickly seized it, and popped the top off, pouring the pills into his hand. Only four small pills rolled out and he frowned down at them. Setting the empty bottle on the counter, he picked up the glasses of orange juice and walked back into the living room. Sitting down on the other end of the couch beside Robbie, he held out one of the glasses of juice.
"Here."
Robbie opened an eye and looked at the juice suspiciously. "What's that?" he demanded.
"Orange juice.
"Yuck, too healthy."
Amazing Rope Guy held out the juice a little further. "It'll help with the hangover." he stated.
Before Amazing Rope Guy could even react, Robbie had grabbed the glass and downed half of it, wincing the entire time. Amazing Rope Guy held out two of the Advil to the other man who gratefully took the pills.
"The hangover should be pretty much gone in a few hours or so." he said, taking his own pills with the orange juice.
Robbie looked over at him with narrowed eyes. "How do you know so much about hangovers?" he demanded.
"..."
Robbie finished his orange juice and set the empty glass on the coffee table. "Are you a drunk?"
"No...I just don't hold my liquor well." Amazing Rope Guy explained.
Accepting the answer, Robbie shrugged and laid back down, closing his eyes, enjoying the quiet and dark. Amazing Rope Guy finished his own juice, set down his glass, and sprawled out on the other end of the couch hoping the pink girl would stay quiet for a while so he could sleep the hangover off, he closed his eyes and pulled a cushion closer to himself.
"He got Robbie to drink orange juice! How did he do that?"
"What do you think he looks like under his mask?"
"He covers his head with that hood, do you think he's bald?"
"Well, one way to find out!"
Amazing Rope Guy's eyes cracked open to see the pig-tailed girl pulling at his costume. Instantly fully awake, he bolted upright and tried to scramble away from her. The only thing he succeeded in doing was falling on top of Robbie, waking the other villain with a start. They stared at each other a moment and the children giggled.
"Sorry," Amazing Rope Guy apologized. "They were trying to remove my mask."
"Couldn't you have fallen the other direction?" Robbie groused, pushing him off.
Mayor Meanswell poked his head in from the kitchen. "Oh, good, you two are awake, dinner will be ready soon. It shouldn't be too much longer."
Amazing Rope Guy sat back on the other side of the couch as Robbie gave a huge yawn and rubbed at his eyes. Ziggy approached and crawled up beside the two of them.
"Where are you from, Mr. Amazing Rope Guy?" he asked curiously. "From far away?"
Amazing Rope Guy gave a nod. "I'm from Fair City."
"Is that far from here?" Ziggy asked.
Amazing Rope Guy shrugged. "I don't know."
"Why don't you know? Don't you know where you live?"
"I ended up here by accident." Amazing Rope Guy explained. "I'm not sure how far my city is from here."
The other children were now interested as well and seated themselves near his feet to listen.
"How did you end up here?" Ziggy inquired.
"I used one of Dr. Two-Brains inventions and it teleported me here."
"Teleportation is impossible." Pixel stated. "There's no physical possibility it can work."
Robbie gave a snort. "Shows how much you know, Poodle."
"There are other villains besides you in Fair City?" Stingy asked in awe.
Amazing Rope Guy nodded. "There's tons of us. Dr. Two-Brains is a mad scientist who has the brain of a mouse infused with his own. He can smell and hear things people can't and he has more energy than any scientist I've ever seen."
"That's his super-power?" Trixie asked, interested. "What can the other Super-villains do?"
"Whammer can send shock waves through the air or any surface causing a lot of damage, Miss Question has a flying question mark she rides on and had the power to make you question yourself and everything you do or say, Mr. Big has the power of mind control, Tobey is a boy genius who creates giant robots to destroy the city, Lady Redundant Woman can create multiples of herself, The Butcher can shoot any kind of meat out of his hands and Chuck the Evil Sandwich Making Guy invents his own sauces that glues people in place, burns through steel bars or even turns into a cement like goop."
"Wow!" Ziggy exclaimed. "Those are some neat powers!"
"Yeah!" Trixie agreed. "That's cool!"
"Are those all the villains in your city?" Pixel asked.
"Not even close, there's tons more and they all have their own special powers or abilities too!"
"What's your power Mr. Amazing Rope Guy?" Ziggy asked, big blue eyes looking up at him innocently.
"...erm..."
"I bet it's something really cool like laser-eyes or being able to fly!" Trixie exclaimed.
"Yeah," Stephanie agreed. "Or maybe he can run super-fast, or is really strong!"
Amazing Rope Guy coughed slightly then said. "I think I heard the call for dinner...you better go check!"
"I didn't hear anything!" Stephanie stated.
"Maybe he has super-hearing!" Ziggy suggested.
All the children hurriedly got to their feet. "Come on, dinner!" Stingy urged, as they all ran into the other room.
Amazing Rope Guy let out a breath of relief then immediately jumped to his feet as Robbie gave him a questioning look.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm getting out of here before they ask me more questions." he answered, hurrying towards the door.
Robbie instantly bounded after him. "Wait, I'm coming too!"
Amazing Rope Guy wasn't sure what it was about him, but children seemed to flock around him and it was a bit irritating at times, especially when he was attempting to be a terrifying villain.
They made it to the front door and Amazing Rope Guy threw it open, only to be met with the sight of Sportacus standing on the doorstep.
"Oh, hello!" he greeted, large grin in place. "How did you know I was here?"
Amazing Rope Guy sighed. "Just lucky I guess."
"I'm not late am I?" Sportacus asked as he flipped into the house enthusiastically.
"No."
"Great, come on then!" the hero said. "Let's go see if it's ready yet!"
Amazing Rope Guy grudgingly shut the door and both villains followed after him into the kitchen. The mayor looked up at them and smiled.
"It's all ready, I'm just setting everything on the table."
"Do you need any help?" Sportacus asked.
"No no, I'm fine, you go and take a seat in the dining room."
Robbie crossed his arms and gave the hero a dirty look. "This is stupid." he muttered. "I have perfectly good food at my house, I don't need to eat here."
"You caused the mischief, so you can handle one meal with us for retribution." Sportacus answered, ushering them into the dining room.
Everyone else was already seated and Ziggy waved at them cheerily. Sportacus sat them down next to each other then took his seat at the head of the table. Robbie was scowling at his empty plate as the mayor came in carrying the last of the feast. He took his own seat and smiled at everyone gathered, which was nearly the entire town.
Everyone instantly began scooping some of the different dishes onto their plates, passing the bowls around to the next person beside them.
Sportacus turned his attention to the two villains who hadn't yet moved. "I want you to have meat, potatoes and at least three kinds of vegetables."
Robbie looked like he was going to faint. "WHAT? No way!" he protested.
"Robbie, that is a well-balanced dinner and I want you choose which vegetables you want."
"I may sit here, but I'm not eating it! You can't make me!"
Sportacus frowned. "Choose or I can choose for you and whatever I put on your plate, you're eating. You'll be sitting there until you do."
"I won't." Robbie stated stubbornly.
"Fine, have it your own way." Sportacus stated, getting up so he could get Robbie's plate.
He plopped a scoop of potatoes on the plate then reached for the bowl of broccoli.
"Not that!" Robbie protested.
Sportacus hesitated. "Then what do you want?" he asked.
"Nothing."
Sportacus continued going for the broccoli.
"Wait!" Robbie cried. "Okay, I'll choose!"
Sportacus gave him an expectant look.
Robbie looked at the different vegetables and felt nauseated just looking at them. Having no idea what they actually tasted like, he knew anything green had to be the worst and decided to avoid those. Deciding he liked the orange colour of the carrots, he pointed at those.
"Um, those, I guess."
Sportacus scooped some onto the plate then said, "Okay, now two more."
Robbie frowned and then pointed at the corn. "That." He figured anything that popcorn came from couldn't be that horrendous.
"One more and this one has to be green."
"What? Why?" Robbie demanded.
"Green vegetables are the most healthy for you. Pick one of those."
Robbie wrinkled his nose as he looked the green vegetables over, trying to figure out which one would taste the least bad. Finally pointing at the peas, Sportacus smiled and scooped them onto his plate. Setting the now full plate back in front of Robbie, he gave him an expectant look.
"There, now eat your dinner Robbie."
"No, I don't want to." he answered crossing his arms.
"Then you'll be sitting there an awfully long time because you're not allowed to move until you've eaten."
Robbie scowled down at the plate, having no intention of trying anything on it. Picking up his fork, he rolled around some of the peas and allowed one to roll onto the end of his fork. Staring at it like it carried the plague, he gave the fork a flick sending the pea flying across the table. Bessie let out an indignant cry as the pea struck her forehead and gave Robbie a scalding look.
"Robbie, eat." Sportacus encouraged. "It's good."
"Yuck."
"No, Robbie, it tastes good if you'll only try it!"
Robbie curled his lip up in a sneer and flicked another pea at Bessie.
"Not eating it." he said sulkily.
Amazing Rope Guy was already eating his dinner and wasn't sure what the problem with Robbie was. Giving his partner in crime a confused look he leaned over and whispered.
"Why don't you just eat it? He'll leave you alone if you do."
"No."
What's wrong with it?"
Robbie turned a pouty look on him. "I don't eat healthy food; it's all disgusting. I only eat unhealthy food, like cake and sweets."
"Have you ever tried any of it?" Amazing Rope Guy asked genuinely curious. "How do you know it's gross?"
"It's healthy, I don't need any other reason than that. I won't eat it."
Amazing Rope Guy couldn't believe Robbie had never tried any of the food before just because it was healthy. He found it strange but was willing to help. After all, he didn't feel like being here all night.
"Hey," he whispered in a conspiratory tone. "Did you know if you pour salt and gravy on everything it makes it unhealthy? It makes everything taste like gravy and you can't even taste the vegetables."
Robbie raised an eyebrow. "Really? It takes the disgustingly healthiness out of everything?"
Amazing Rope Guy nodded. "It even makes it bad for you."
Robbie instantly turned his eyes on his plate again, thinking. He supposed it might be worth a try if it was unhealthy, there was no harm in it after all. If it still tasted like disgusting healthiness, he just wouldn't eat any more of it.
"Can I have salt?" Robbie asked Sportacus.
"Of course!" the hero stated, handing it to him.
Robbie shook a good amount over his food then looked up again. "I want gravy too."
Although both the salt and gravy were bad for him, Sportacus was incredibly pleased that it looked like Robbie was going to eat. He had seen the whispered conversation between the villains and wondered what it was about.
Robbie smirked and drenched every inch of his plate in gravy enjoying the way Sportacus's mouth actually dropped open.
"There." Robbie stated. "All better now."
Picking up his fork, he flashed Sportacus a cocky smirk then tried the first mouthful of dripping vegetables. He found it to be strange but not too bad considering what it was. Amazing Rope Guy was right and the gravy seemed to be overpowering the tastes.
Sportacus nearly recoiled at the sight of all the gravy on the plate but didn't say anything. Robbie was willingly trying vegetables so he didn't want to rock the boat too much. Robbie couldn't remember tasting anything like this before and decided, he still didn't like it (even with the gravy and salt )
When the dinner was finished, dessert was served, which Robbie had seconds of, and everyone was full, the children all jumped to their feet.
"Let's go play outside!" Stephanie suggested.
"Yeah!" Trixie yelled, pumping a fist. "I need to settle with you about yesterday's snowball fight."
Sportacus gave a grin. "Let's all go outside and have some fun!" he said.
Much against their will, Robbie and Amazing Rope Guy were ushered outside with the children and were once again standing outside in the bitter cold. They watched Sportacus flip around the children as they yelled and shrieked in delight, throwing snow and the villains exchanged a look.
"Escape to my place?" Robbie offered.
"Yes, yes and yes." Amazing Rope Guy stated, as both villains made a hasty retreat back to Robbie's lair to hide for the rest of the day.