It had finally happened.
Stephanie stood in front of him, arms crossed, mouth in a frown. Just STARING at him, and waiting for an answer. He sighed. Just because he'd known that it was going to happen didn't make it easier.
"Well? Are you an elf or not, Sportacus?" Her voice wavered slightly, and Sportacus could hear the expectancy in it. She wanted to believe…. She really did….
Sighing, the hero lowered himself to his knees and looked at the little girl, unsure of what to say. Should he lie? No, he reprimanded himself. Not to Stephanie. Sportacus smiled weakly and opened his mouth, just to close it again. Her face fell slightly. "You… ARE an elf, aren't you?"
He nodded slightly, and took off his trademark hat. "I…. Yes, Stephanie, I am."
Her eyes widened at the sight of his long ears (who were very grateful for getting out of the hat). She reached out a hand, then recoiled slightly. He smiled and guided her hand to them. "Go on, it's ok. Touch. They're real." She ran her fingers up and down the length of the points, mouth agape. Sportacus giggled slightly, and wiggled them. Stephanie laughed, then frowned.
"Sportacus, why didn't you tell us? Why did you hide them?"
"Well… People don't believe in elves anymore." He looked away. "They don't want to believe that magic exists. My Pabbi told me that it would be too dangerous to tell people, because they're so used to thinking that 'our kind' are just myths."
She thought about that for a moment, then hugged Sportacus tightly. "Sportacus, you're our friend. We love you no matter WHAT you are." Stephanie smiled at him. "You were my hero before I knew, and you're STILL my hero." He hugged back tightly, relieved. She poked him suddenly. "Now that I know, though…." Stephanie grabbed his hat. "You aren't allowed to hide anymore. The tips of your ears are all red." He grinned sheepishly, and carefully put his hat back on around his ears.
Stephanie was, predictably, full of questions. Where did he come from? What was his village like? Did he know magic? And Sportacus, who usually never talked about his past, found himself telling her all about his home and their traditions. He even showed her some of his magic, a simple air spell that lifted her off the ground for a minute or two. She had screamed at first, then found that flying was every bit as fun as she had imagined. Stephanie shrieked with laughter as she dipped and twirled, landing safely in the strong arms of her hero. She was soon called away for lunch, but Sportacus caught her jumping and twirling her way back to her house, humming one of the folk songs he had taught her. Sportacus had never been more relieved. She accepted him! Perhaps the rest of the town would be the same…
Just then, Robbie ran up in a panic. "Sportakook!" The villain grabbed his shoulders, eyes wide. "Have you seen Sportaboy? I can't find him anywhere!"
"You LOST him?!"
"No I didn't lose him!" Robbie sniffed indignantly. "I just can't find him!"
Sportacus narrowed his eyes. "Robbie, that means you lost him." He sighed and looked around. "Alright, alright…. Come on, we'll split up. You look in the north side of town, and I'll take the south. Who knows how much trouble he could cause…."
----
Pixel had never been so upset at a piece of machinery before.
"Come on you stupid time machine, STOP SPARKING!!" He whacked it with his wrench angrily, and sat down next to it, grumbling. What had happened? It had worked fine before his trip… Pixel rubbed his temples. The stupid thing hadn't worked right all week. He had sent home more than ten different very confused people from various points in history, and his room was STILL a mess from those Mongolians yesterday. What worried him the most was how much of the time stream was getting messed with because of this. What if he erased Lazytown forever?!
"I never should've created you!" Pixel yelled at it, and threw a hunk of metal, striking the side of the gaping doorway. The machine sprung to life, spewing something out of its portal. Pixel frowned. "Oh GREAT…. Who came out this time, Attila the Hun?" He turned around. "Alright, whoever's there, come on out. I'll get you back home."
What he saw knocked him for a loop.
A little boy, roughly his age, stood up from the mess of his room and looked around. He was very thin, dressed in a deep purple vest and pants, and his deep black hair was slicked back into a mock pompadour. His light grey eyes darted around nervously as he got used to his surroundings. Pixel rubbed his eyes. "I can't believe it…. Robbie Rotten?"
The little boy jumped. "How… How do you know my name?" He backed away from Pixel, frightened. "Where am I? H-How'd I get here? Who are YOU!?"
Pixel held out his hand out. "Hey… it's ok. I'm Pixel." His head swam. THIS was Robbie?! He looked like a frightened Chihuahua!! " Listen, I'm gonna get you home, ok?" The little villain sniffled and nodded slightly, taking Pixel's outstretched hand nervously. Suddenly, Pixel's door burst open and a little boy in blue bounded in.
"Wow! What is THIS place?!" The little boy looked around excitedly and jumped up on Pixel's couch to get a better look. In the process, he scared the living daylights out of little Robbie. He screamed and ducked underneath Pixel's bed, whimpering pathetically. Curious, the little elf peeked under the bed and smiled at the quivering boy. "Hallo! What's YOUR name?"
"Alright, that's IT!" Pixel grabbed both of them and threw them out of his room. "Get out and STAY out till I finish fixing my machine, got it?!" With that, he slammed the door.
Little Sportacus looked over to his companion and smiled again. "You never answered my question. Who are you?"
The little boy puffed out his chest and said, "I'm Robert Montgomery Rotten the second, heir to the Rotten estate and owner of a pony." He eyed the blue elf skeptically. "Who are YOU?"
The little elf beamed. "I'm Sportacus! It's nice to meet you Robbie. You know, you have the same name as my other friend!" He laughed. "Funny coincidence, huh?"
Robbie Jr. nodded slowly. He then noticed Sportacus's ears. "Hey, why are your ears all pointy?"
Sporty touched his ears. "These? Well, I'm an elf!" He beamed proudly.
"REALLY?"
He nodded. "All my life!"
Robbie Jr. gasped. "Wow! That's amazing!" He looked down. "There's no elves where I live."
"But we're everywhere!" Little Sportacus nodded emphatically. "You just gotta look." The two stared at each other for a while, then Sportacus grabbed Robbie's hand. "Hey, you wanna play with me?"
Robbie thought about that for a while, then smiled back. "Sure! You're it!" He took off running, with Sportacus in hot pursuit, both laughing wildly and forgetting their troubles for a little while.
Meanwhile, the grown up Robbie held his head and groaned. "Woah… S-Something just changed. I KNOW it…"
Sportacus nodded. "I know… Something BIG this time, too." He faced Robbie. "We have to hurry, before anything else changes."
---
Little Robbie had never met anyone like Sportacus.
He was so full of energy, bounding around, pulling handstands and flips and running faster than anyone Robbie knew! The little elf was also nicer than anyone he knew. Robbie sat down on the wall to catch his breath. He'd been it fourteen times already, only because Sportacus was so much faster than he was, and he was WIPED. "Hey, flippy-pants, I'm tired. Let's sit down for a while."
Sportacus laughed and leaped to Robbie's side, leaning back on the wall. "Robbie, where do you live?"
Robbie frowned. "I live in a place called Lazytown, that kinda looks like this town." He sighed. "There's a lot of kids there, but I never play with them."
Sporty gave him a funny look. "Why not?"
"Well, because they don't like me." Robbie pulled his legs in to his chest and sniffled lightly. Sportacus thought for a minute, then pulled Robbie in for a hug, catching the taller boy completely off-guard.
"I like you, Robbie…" He smiled. "As long as I'm here, you won't be lonely, ok?" His companion nodded happily and hugged back. They stayed that way for a while, and then Robbie made a move to get up. Sportacus stayed put, eyes closed, and snoring lightly. Robbie gaped at his friend, then giggled, patting the little elf's head before leaning back and falling asleep himself.
That's how their adult counterparts found them.
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A/N: REALLY short, I know, but I've been busy and my writer's block won't go away.
