Hello again, everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took so long! I was rather busy with school, and I will be for quite some time. However, I'll try to update when I can. For your wait, you have a chapter that is a tad bit longer that previous ones... or maybe that's just my imagination. Anyway, thank you for reading!
Sportacus jumped into his hover-bike and rushed down to save whoever was in trouble. He landed in the middle of the park and looked around worriedly. Just then Pixel came out from behind one of the play structures, and Sportacus caught sight of him.
"Pixel!" he called over to him, "Is everyone all right?"
Pixel looked around confusedly.
"Uh, yeah, I think so! Why?"
"Well," Sportacus answered, "My crystal just chimed. Someone must be in trouble."
Pixel contemplated this.
"Well... I guess it could be-"
Suddenly Stingy ran out from inside the play structure, interrupting Pixel with a yell of:
"Spider!"
Sure enough, a large furry spider was dangling off Stingy's hair in a vain attempt to avoid being shaken to it's death.
"Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffme!" Stingy squealed.
Sportacus jumped to the rescue.
"Here Stingy, hold still."
In a few moments the spider was carefully extracted from Stingy's hair and sent on it's way. Sportacus patted Stingy's now spider-free head.
"There you go. That must have been what my crystal was reacting to. It was a pretty big spider, wasn't it?"
Stingy nodded.
"And in my hair!"
Sportacus laughed, then asked:
"Hey, where is everybody?"
"Oh, we're playing hide and seek!" answered Pixel. "By the way Stingy, I found you."
Stingy crossed his arms and humphed.
"It's alright Stingy." Sportacus consoled, then offered, "Hey, I can help you find them!"
After a few minutes of looking Ziggy and Trixie had been added to the group, but still no one could find Stephanie.
"Where could she be?" Ziggy sighed in exasperation, "We've looked everywhere!"
"Don't give up, Ziggy!" Sportacus reassured, "She has to be somewhere. We just have to keep looking."
~Meanwhile, down in Robbie's lair~
Robbie was sitting in his armchair again, eating candy and watching television. Stephanie sat in a small cage beside him. The cage was only large enough for her to sit up straight, or to curl up on the bottom. Robbie unpeeled a candy and offered it to her.
"Want a candy, Pinky?"
Stephanie scrunched up her nose at the sugary treat. Robbie grinned down at her.
"What, did you think I'd give you sports candy while you were here? I think not!"
He sneered victoriously and popped the candy into his mouth. Stephanie gave him her best death glare. If there was one thing she wouldn't allow it was letting Robbie think of her as a scared little girl. She was frightened, but she wouldn't let Robbie see.
"What do you want with me?" she asked, daringly. She was half afraid of the answer, but figured she ought to know and get it over with.
Robbie grinned his evil smile.
"It's not a matter of what I want with you, but of what I want with Sportacus!"
Robbie waited for Stephanie's response. She frowned at him confusedly. What did this have to do with Sportacus? But then, Robbie's plans almost always had to do with the town's blue superhero. Robbie got down next to the cage at Stephanie's face level.
"With you here, Sportacus will do what ever I tell him to!" he paused, gave her a funny look, then continued in a mocking tone, "He wouldn't want his darling Stephanie to get hurt!"
Stephanie recoiled from him in shock. It was not so much from Robbie's plan as from the suggestive comment tacked onto the end. She studied his face to make sure she hadn't misinterpreted what he meant. Surely he meant that in a harmless, "Wouldn't want one of his friends to get hurt." sort of way? But it wasn't so. There Robbie sat, with that scandalous "I know your secret" look on his face. He really did mean it in that way. The thought of Robbie coming to such a conclusion made her sick. Why him? Why did he have to figure it out?
Robbie took in her reaction with delight. So she had realized it too. Robbie got up off the floor and plopped back into his chair. This was just too good. He could keep Stephanie here, make Sportacus leave Lazytown, and have some fun teasing Stephanie in the meantime. It seemed that little Stephanie had a crush...
~Back in Lazytown~
The kids were starting to panic. They had been looking for Stephanie for almost an hour now. They'd long since given up, and yelled so, but evidently Stephanie hadn't heard. Ziggy feared for the worst.
"What if she can't hear us, and ends up hiding forever?" he worried.
"Yeah!" Pixel agreed. "Or what if she hid in a tree, and got stuck?"
"Maybe she hid in a tree and fell out again!" Stingy added.
"Maybe she died!" suggested Trixie.
Sportacus stepped in before panic broke out.
"Now, I'm sure that didn't happen. Stephanie will be fine, we just have to find her. She's probably just out of hearing range."
"Yeah!" agreed Trixie, "After all, it's rather hard to hear the words of the living from the other side." she wiggled her fingers and "Oooh"ed spookily.
Sportacus shook his head and assured them, "She's definitely not dead. Don't worry, guys."
"Still," questioned Pixel, "What are we going to do? It's getting dark."
Sportacus thought from a moment.
"You guys go home. I'll keep looking for Stephanie. Just get some sleep, and she'll be back by morning."
Everyone agreed, and after making sure they had all gotten back safely Sportacus set to his work of searching the whole town. It was going to be a long night.
~Some time later~
"Oh dear." remarked Mr. Meanswell, looking out the front window into the street, where Sportacus stood silhouetted in the glow of one of the streetlights.
"It seems Sportacus is still looking for Stephanie."
Milford sighed. He had not been able to sleep for worry. He was sure that his niece would be back soon, and the situation would be explained, but for now it was extremely worrisome.
The mayor slipped on his coat and made his way out to where Sportacus was standing.
"Sportacus, you must get some rest!" he pleaded.
Sportacus shook his head.
"No. Not until I find Stephanie!"
The mayor sighed.
"Please, Sportacus!" he insisted, "You'll never find her in this light. Get some rest, so that you have the energy to look for her in the morning."
Sprotacus thought about it. He knew the mayor had a point. His energy would be better used in the daylight. Still, he didn't want Stephanie lost for any longer than he had to, so he decided that energy used sooner was better. Sportacus glanced back at the mayor. Despite this decision he might as well go up to his airship. Then the mayor would have one less thing to worry about, and he could use his telescope to survey the town from above.
"Alright." he consented, "I'll get some rest."
The mayor looked satisfied.
"Good." he said, relieved.
The mayor turned to go, and so did Sportacus, but before either of them had gotten far the mayor turned around and added:
"And Sportacus? Thank you for taking such good care of my niece. I can't tell you how appreciated it is."
Sportacus turned and smiled.
"Thank you, Mayor. I'm just trying to do my best to protect everyone in Lazytown." he laughed hollowly, "But right now it doesn't look like I'm doing too well at that."
The mayor chuckled.
"Always coming at a second's notice? Being ready to help at any time, with anything? Staying up until midnight for a missing child? I think that counts for something."
Sportacus was surprised at this genuine thanks.
"Thank you." he answered.
The mayor went back inside, and Sportacus walked quietly back to his airship ladder, thinking about what the mayor had said. He was touched.
When he got up into his airship Sportacus went over to his telescope. Before he got there he heard a chime, and his computer system announced:
"New message."
Sportacus walked over to the computer with curiosity. He didn't often get messages this way. It was usually by air mail. He tapped the screen and the message played.
"Hello Sportacus!"
It was Robbie Rotten. He stood with his face uncomfortably close to the screen, and a ridiculous smile on his face. Sportacus raised his eyebrows. A message from Robbie Rotten?
This was obviously a pre-recorded video, and so Robbie went on, oblivious as to Sportacus's response.
"How are you?" Robbie went on. He paused as if to wait for answer.
"Good! Good!" he nodded seriously. "Now... I have a little bargain to make with you. I have something I believe is yours."
He stepped back from the camera to reveal Stephanie in her cage.
"Stephanie!" Sportacus gasped.
Robbie proceeded over to the armchair and sat down in it, resting an arm on top of the cage possessively.
"Now..." he proceeded, "If you leave Lazytown with the promise to never return, I will let her go. If you choose to stay... I guess I will just get to keep pinkie here."
Just then Stephanie interrupted, bursting out:
"No, Sportacus, don't listen! I'll be fine! Don't go!"
Irritated at this interruption, Robbie gave the cage a swift kick, rattling the bars and frightening Stephanie into submission.
Satisfied, he proceeded.
"Also, I wouldn't try to come and rescue her. We wouldn't want anything... unfortunate to befall her."
He gave a final sneer and ended with:
"Good night, Sportacus. I will await your answer with the utmost interest."
With that the message ended. Sportacus swayed uneasily. He had to grab the wall for support. What on earth? This was beyond Robbie's usual pranks. This was ridiculous. What on earth was Robbie thinking? What was he doing, fooling around like this? Sportacus shook his head. Foolish or not, it was real, and he had to do something. He sighed and sunk down to the floor, weighing his options. Oh, who was he kidding? He only had one choice.
Ooooh, what will he do? Will he have to leave Lazytown? XD It's probably pretty obvious what will happen, but still, I won't spoil it. Review pretty please! Tell me what you think!
