Chapter 4
... That he gets no defense

Stephanie ducked behind one of the short concrete walls as a ball of snow went whizzing by her head. She giggled, digging her gloves into the snow to form a new arsenal.

She and Sportacus had been joined by her friends not long after they had both decided to go outside and enjoy the snow before the weather got colder, and before the predicted snowfall came.

It was going to be a cold and miserable night, so all the kids - and Sportacus - were happily enjoying the snow before they had to head back inside to the warmth of their own homes.

Snowballs whizzed to and fro as the battle continued.

It was every-person-for-themselves, nobody taking sides, and alliances being broken as quickly as they had been formed.

Waiting for a perfect moment, and spying her target just over the wall, Stephanie stood, lobbing her snowball at the battlefield's worst offender.

Splat. "Omph!"

Stephanie was shocked she actually managed to even hit Sportacus.

Sportacus laughed, brushing the snow off of his chest with one hand. "Wow! Good aim Stephanie! I think you should play more baseball!" he praised.

Stephanie's eyes narrowed despite the compliment, because the hero had his other hand behind his back and he was approaching slowly.

Sportacus stepped toward her, and Stephanie grabbed another snowball and threw it at him.

He dodged that easily with a duck, walking closer, his hand still hidden behind him. "But maybe," he said, his eyes dancing with amusement, "You should surrender."

It was so funny to hear that coming from Sportacus' mouth.

He jumped.

With a squeal, Stephanie tried to duck and crawl away. He was far too fast for her; catching her by the waist and twirling her much like how he did in the bing-bang dance.

He held her in the dip, holding a large handful of snow right above her face.

"Ah! No!" Stephanie laughed. "No - I surrender!" She crossed her arms over her head. "I surrender!"

Sportacus still held the snow above her head in warning, his lips curled into a fake sinister smile, but his eyes still dancing with good humour.

"You surrender?"

"I surrender!" Stephanie said, trying to sound as dramatic as possible. She even made sure to put her hand on her forehead too, much like she had seen Robbie do whenever he particularly turns up the theatrics.

Sportacus lowered his hand slightly. "Oh. Well I suppose if you surrender -"

"Attack!"

Stephanie was dropped, and Sportacus was plowed over by Ziggy, Trixie, Pixel and Stingy. All of whom had joined forces to help their fallen and captured friend.

"Woah!" Sportacus fell to the snow, all the other kids on top of him.

He was then completely decimated by having four pairs of snowballs mushed into him.

Stephanie was beside herself with laughter, clutching her sides, and rolling in the snow as Sportacus was obliterated by her friends.

"We defeated him!" Ziggy cried, holding up his hand.

"It was my snowball that did it!"

"Well, my calculations say that we all equally contributed -"

"Doesn't matter whose it was - that was awesome!"

Sportacus was doing a good job of playing dead in the snow. Though his eyes were screwed up a little too tight, and the tongue he stuck out might have been sticking out the wrong direction, he was properly limp and everything.

They all clambered away from him, before helping Stephanie up.

"Thanks guys! You saved me! You're all my heroes."

Ziggy puffed out his chest, and put his hands on his hips.

Sportacus' good act of playing dead was failing quickly as his mustache twitched, his tongue retreated back into his mouth, and tell-tale sounds of snorts and chortles was emanating from the supposed 'defeated' hero.

At least his eyes were still screwed shut.

"We should do that again."

"Yeah!"

Stephanie smiled watching her friends dive down to gather more snow. Discussions that maybe they should officially have the next round with Sportacus as the villain so they could work together to defeat him again.

She felt so much better now. Had it really only been the day before when Robbie had caught her?

"Oh look! It's snowing!" Ziggy announced with excitement.

That got Sportacus to open his eyes, and he flipped back to his feet, brushing off the snow that had been impacted into his shirt and scarf.

"I think we should all head inside," he suggested, turning to Stingy who was also rather plastered from snow, and began to brush him off. "The temperature is supposed to drop."

"Aw - do we have to?" Ziggy whined, frowning.

"I think so," Sportacus nodded, brushing off Trixie's hood.

"But we were having so much fun! It's not dark yet!"

Sportacus just breathed out in amusement, Stephanie could clearly see he was glad that the other kids wanted to stay outside and play - honestly, she did too - but he was steadfast.

"I think we all need to go home, get warmed up and have lunch." He zipped up Pixel's jacket. "I think some of us could use a hot bath too."

Stingy nodded. "Now that you say that, I am cold. I need to warm up!"

"Yeah - I could have some hot chocolate."

"Good idea," Sportacus encouraged. He plopped Ziggy's woolen hat back onto his head, and pulled it over his ears.

"Hey Stephanie, want to come to my place with us to get hot chocolate?" Pixel offered.

Stephanie looked from him, to Sportacus, then back to him.

She shook her head.

"No - that's okay. I'm going to go back to my uncle's house."

"Aw, but why?"

"I promised Robbie that I'd come back."

Trixie frowned. "Why did you promise him that?"

"Because I did?" Why was that such a big deal?

"Well we're your friends. He's the bad-guy that yelled at you yesterday, remember?"

"Yeah!" Ziggy agreed.

Stephanie bristled. "Guys! He was just worried about me. If you don't remember he caught me yesterday too!"

"Yeah but still," Trixie retorted, arms crossing. "He's not your friend. We are!"

Sensing that the mood was rapidly dropping, Sportacus intervened.

"Stephanie can't break a promise," Sportacus encouraged. "And remember, I talked to you all about how important it was that Robbie was there yesterday?"

"Yeah..."

"And how you all shouldn't have been doing what you were doing?"

"... Yeah ..."

"Robbie was really worried, and he might have been loud about it, but he did not want anyone to get hurt."

"I guess..."

"So please don't be mad at Robbie. He was trying to help." Sportacus finished, tapping his chest-piece that held his crystal.

Trixie grumbled, but didn't push further.

Stephanie was glad to see that at least everyone else looked a bit sorry. Robbie had not done anything wrong, after all. Even if had been a bit... loud about it.

"Do you need me to walk you all to Pixel's?" Sportacus offered, changing the subject.

The kids shook their heads. "We'll be okay Sportacus - you probably have to go back to Stephanie's house too anyway, right?" Ziggy asked.

Sportacus nodded. "You're right."

"I think we should go to my house. My house is closer."

"That's a great idea," Pixel agreed. "You said you have a new electric blanket."

"Yes. It is mine - but... you are all my friends, so you can use it too."

"I guess we should get going," Trixie said, though she looked at Stephanie. "You sure you don't want to come, Pinkie?"

"I'm sure - I have important things to take care of."

"... sure."

"Bye Sportacus! Bye Stephanie!"

"Bye Ziggy," Sportacus waved. "Stay warm!"

Stephanie felt a hand on her shoulder, and she was gently nudged in the direction of her home.

It was good thing that they decided to head home when they did and not get tempted by the idea of more playtime outside. The snow was coming down thick, and it was hard to even see down the street once they got to the front door.

"Think we'd be able to play outside tomorrow, Sportacus?" Stephanie asked, watching the snow blanketing everything around them.

"We'll see - maybe we'll be snowed in," he laughed. "But I think so - I think it is the perfect snow for making snow-forts."

Stephanie already couldn't wait. The idea of making snow-forts with Sportacus sounded amazing.

When they opened the door, Stephanie's uncle was already there, waiting for them. Which surprised Stephanie, because she thought he wasn't even home.

"Oh there you two are," Mayor Meanswell greeted them at the door. "I was just going to call you back in, Stephanie."

"Is something the matter?" Sportacus asked, tugging off his scarf and stomping his boots on the mat outside before entering.

"Well Yes. No. The snow started to get pretty thick out there," he began to explain. "But I suppose there is something else too."

Stephanie took off her own snow gear. "What is it, uncle?"

"Well - nothing is the matter, no... Well, not exactly."

Stephanie's face scrunched up. "Did something happen?"

"Well no - nothing did happen."

Sportacus shut the door behind him. "What is it then?"

"I have to leave Lazytown for a few days."

Stephanie hung up her coat. "Why?"

"Well, there is a sort of annual meeting between the local towns, you see. All the mayors get together and talk about things. Mayhemtown, Busytown, Amourtown... you know..." He was fiddling with his hands as he explained.

Sportacus nodded.

"Well - I have to get going. Sooner rather than later - and I am off on the bus today so I can miss this weather and not be late."

"So what's the trouble? Stephanie will be fine here - I will be sure to watch her to make sure everything will be okay." Sportacus squeezed Stephanie's shoulder, and Stephanie beamed at him.

"Yeah! Sportacus will be here!"

"I'm not so much worried about you as-"

"As?"

"- Well... Our -" her uncle hesitated, before leaning in and speaking in a conspiratorial whisper, "- house-guest."

"Robbie?"

"Yes."

Stephanie looked confused. "Why are you worried about that?"

"It's just well - I am not exactly comfortable with him staying here if I am not here too - he's - he's not - he doesn't exactly have the best reputation," Her uncle began to explain. "It wouldn't look good for the mayor of a town to have the resident villain staying at their home."

"I-" Stephanie frowned. "You want Robbie to leave?"

"Not exactly - well -" the mayor dithered. "- Yes, actually."

Stephanie looked at Sportacus in alarm, before replying to her uncle. "Uncle! You can't do that! That's not fair!"

"Well, Stephanie, Robbie is an adult and should be able to -"

"You can't just kick him out!"

"- Now Stephanie, I didn't say it exactly like that -"

"You meant it like that," Stephanie retorted, stomping a foot.

"Now Stephanie," the mayor started again. He was starting to sweat, dabbing at his forehead. "You must understand -"

"Mayor." Sportacus' voice cut through the conversation. His tone was oddly serious, "Maybe we should talk?"

The mayor blinked. "Yes Sportacus?"

"Sportacus -" Stephanie started. "He can't kick Robbie out! He can't! He can't go home - you said it yourself - his house is too cold right now. Where else is he going to go? He has a broken arm and- and- and-"

"Whoa Stephanie," Sportacus lowered to her level, squeezing her shoulders. "You shouldn't have to worry about this. I will talk to the mayor, okay?"

"But Sportacus -"

"I will talk to him," he assured, "Go and visit Robbie." Sportacus' expression was soft, but it gave no room for argument.

Stephanie nodded, but gave a glare at her uncle before storming off to the guest room.

"Oh dear..." was the last thing she heard before she opened the door and slammed it behind her.

Stephanie perched herself on the desk-chair and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them.

Why was everyone being so unfair to Robbie!? First Trixie, and now her uncle.

Someone cleared their throat and clapped. "Well. That was certainly an entrance."

Stephanie jumped - only just then remembering that she had stormed into the room where Robbie was staying. She whipped her head to look at him.

He was sitting on his bed, rather than being tucked into it, his legs dangling off the edge, one crossed over the other. His hair and makeup were done, and he was dressed in his pajamas and robe.

"Oh sorry..." She moved to stand up. "Do you want me to leave?"

"When you put so much effort into being here? Don't bother. Sit."

She sat down again.

Why did she have to be miserable again when she saw Robbie?

It wasn't even his fault.

"What's eating you, kid?" he asked, looking at his fingernails .

"Uncle is being dumb."

Robbie scoffed. "What? Surely you jest - surely you mean a different mayor of Lazytown," his voice was thick with sarcasm.

"No - I mean," she frowned, "I mean he wants you to leave."

Robbie paused, and Stephanie could swear she saw his shoulders tighten slightly. "Does he?"

"Yeah. He's being dumb," she wrapped her arms around her legs. "It's all because he has a stupid meeting to go to, and he doesn't want you in the house or whatever while he's gone."

It took a moment for Robbie to reply, his nose twitched and a few expressions crossed his face before it settled to one of resolve, "Well he does have a point."

Stephanie looked at him in confusion. "What point?"

"I'm a house-guest." he gestured, "I am probably wearing my welcome pretty thin, kid. I also didn't exactly ask him if I could be here either."

"Sportacus asked - uncle said yes then!"

"And this is now," Robbie sighed. "Look, adults are complicated and weird and stuff. Sometimes they change their minds."

"Still not fair."

Robbie sighed. "It doesn't matter if it's fair."

Stephanie buried her face into her knees grumpily. "It should."

A silence dragged on for a few moments, neither talking to one another.

What made it worse was that Stephanie could tell that the news upset Robbie. Sure, he was trying to act like an adult about it all, but she could tell that he was disappointed.

"Where's Sportakook?" Robbie asked carefully, after a moment. "I expected him to come flipping in with you when you came back inside."

"He's talking to uncle."

"Well I am not staying in his blimp, if it comes down to that," Robbie argued. Maybe it was some attempt at humour, because of the pause he took after he said that. She didn't find it particularly funny.

Muffled voices filtered through the doorway at the temporary silence in the room.

The tones of the conversation were not angry, or upset, but Stephanie could tell that it was serious. Which piqued her curiosity. Sportacus rarely spoke in a tone like that.

But the voices faded away to another part of the house before she could train her ears to listen for the words. She huffed, putting her chin on her knees.

"Why is this so important to you?" Robbie asked, carefully.

"Because," she replied. "Because I know what's fair and what's not fair and how everyone is treating you right now is not fair." She said, thinking back about how Trixie spoke about Robbie.

"Nobody has ever thought the way someone treated me was unfair before."

"They should."

Robbie snorted. "Should they?"

"Yes. You didn't even do anything wrong even!" Stephanie threw her hands in the air. "It's not fair. People should treat other people better."

She looked at him, and saw his expression was that of amused confusion, but when he looked back at her his expression changed to one that reminded her of her uncle... or Sportacus.

... or her parents...

They looked at each other for a moment, before Robbie's ears went pink and he looked decidedly away, arms crossing and a false kind of sneer etching his face, "I'll be fine, kid."

The door opened.

"- Okay - I promise - yes - thank you." Sportacus said over his shoulder.

"What did Uncle say?" Stephanie asked, getting up from the chair eagerly.

Sportacus closed the door. "Robbie can stay," he announced with a smile.

Stephanie smiled, glancing at Robbie - who looked to have let loose a breath - "Really!? That's great!"

Sportacus smiled, but held up his hand. "On one condition." He continued, finger pointed in the air.

Uh oh.

"What's that?" Robbie and Stephanie asked at the same time.

Sportacus grinned. "I have to stay too."

"What." Robbie flatly asked the room at large.

"Really?" Stephanie asked. "Like, stay here? Not up in your airship?"

Sportacus nodded. "I'll be staying here until your uncle comes back. Or when Robbie can go back home. Whichever is first," Sportacus clarified.

Stephanie grinned, but it faltered a little. "Are you sure? Wouldn't that be a problem for you?"

"A bigger problem for me is Robbie staying down in his home right now."

Robbie scoffed. "There is nothing wrong with my bunker."

"It is covered in ice, Robbie. When I went to get your clothes," Sportacus explained, "There was a sheet of ice, and icicles, and snow."

"So?"

"It was snowing down there," Sportacus insisted. "Snowing."

"And?"

Stephanie looked at Robbie, horrified. "It snows in your house!?"

"I don't see why that's a big deal. It does that every year if I don't seal up all the holes," Robbie groused, crossing his arms.

Sportacus wasn't having it. "Also - Robbie - do you even own a bed?"

Robbie didn't own a bed either? Stephanie looked to the villain to hear his answer.

"My chair is a perfectly suitable -"

Sportacus effectively cut him off with a wave of his hand. "I explained the circumstances again to the mayor, and he agreed that it is for the best you stay here."

"Are you sure that uncle is okay with Robbie staying?"

"He's perfectly okay with all of this," Sportacus affirmed. "I also reminded him who caught you yesterday."

Stephanie glanced at Robbie, who looked slightly pink, looking off to the side and scratching his ear.

"Are you sure...?" Stephanie asked Sportacus, "I sort of got mad at uncle."

"I'm sure. He wasn't upset with how you reacted at all," Sportacus assured her. "He should have discussed it with me alone in the first place," Sportacus said simply.

Robbie was nodding in the background. "Wait. Were are you going to be sleeping then, Sportadork. Because we aren't doubling up."

"The mayor said I can use his bedroom," Sportacus laughed.

"Good."

Stephanie laughed, feeling lighter.

She was glad that Sportacus, at least, had Robbie's back in all of this, and even though the villain was trying very hard to not show it, she could tell he was glad too.

She sat herself down next to Robbie on the bed. "So I guess we're all having a sleepover then!"

Robbie made a gagging noise. "Gross."

But she wasn't bothered.


I love the idea of Sportacus being ganged up on in a snowball fight because he is so EXTRA all the time that is the only way to defeat him.

Also, Robbie is semi-realizing Dad!Feels at the moment - but he won't admit to anything. Even under torture.

Sportacus is also being a responsible!Dad

R&R because I wrote it for you!

Love you guys!