Chapter 11

"Huh? Where am I? What happened?" Robbie looked around in a daze as he regained consciousness.

Remus wheeled up to the villain and gave him a taunting stare. "What happened is that I knocked you out and took some of your things."

"Things? What things?"

"Oh, just some stuff I found in your closet. I took them apart and used the pieces I needed to make my latest creation."

The old man pulled out a long, slender device from behind his seat and showed it to Robbie. He eyeballed the unique handling system and the blinking lights than ran along the device's metal casing and gave Remus a perturbed stare.

"W-what are you g-gonna do w-with it?" Stuttered Robbie.

With a wink, Remus turned himself around and rolled along the lair. "Well I'm not going to harm you, if that's what you were thinking."

"I wasn't!" Robbie lied through his teeth as he sighed and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I have no time for foolish ideals such as revenge. I must act now if I am to regain my power and restore order in this town once again."

Robbie was now confused. "Say what?"

"I can feel it in the air, Robert. The magic aura from my amulet is still lurking around LazyTown. When the gem was destroyed, it released all the raw energy and blended it with the surroundings. It's calling out to me and I intend on taking it back."

"How?" Robbie scratched his head. "You don't have the gem anymore."

"I realize that." Remus nodded. "But with this device, my energy cube and your energy drainer, I can regain my magic abilities and pick up where I left off! Of course, to do that… I will still need my medallion."

"Oh no." Robbie rolled his eyes. "Forget it! You're not getting me to do anything! Besides, I've got plans of my own!"

"I've already seen your machine, Rotten." Remus grinned. "The two chairs, the two monitors and those silly-looking cerebral links. Honestly, what were you thinking of doing? Getting your hair done while watching reruns of Dallas?"

"Not exactly…" Robbie growled under his breath. "My scheme is more mental than it is physical."

Remus just scoffed. "Oh, yes? Then why don't you enlighten me?"

"Fine. I was going to use this machine to place Sportaschmuck and Pinky LePew in a false reality using those mind-link consoles."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "The purpose being?"

"The purpose being!? I wanted to toy with their heads, man! I overheard the kids talking and I thought to myself, 'wow! Why didn't I think of that!?' If I could make them believe they were actually brother and sister, it would rock their entire world! They'd go crazy! They'd start to question their sanity or better yet—their very existence! And with this stunning revelation, they might even alienate themselves away from that pesky kid in all the green! Hahaha! What'd you think?" Robbie smirked.

The old man simply stood there, taken aback. "Wow… in all my life, I've never heard such a wonderfully mind-boggling PIECE! OF! CRAP!"

Robbie's face immediately fell. "Huh?"

WHACK!

"Ow! You know, that is really annoying!"

"Honestly, Robert." Remus shook his head as he placed his cane back behind the chair. "Must you do everything the hard way? You don't need such a ridiculously large piece of machinery to tear them apart. If you really want to get to them, aim for the heart! Not the mind!"

"Well, how do I do that!?"

"You have the perfect device! I suggest using it!"

At that moment, Remus pulled out Robbie's Hypno-Ray and presented it to him. Robbie gasped and attempted to swipe it away but the old man was too fast.

"Nuh-uh!" Remus snickered. "I use it first. Once I'm done, you may have it back to play with whoever, however you want."

Robbie then grew suspicious. "Just what are you planning exactly, old man?"


In the courtyard, Trixie and Stephanie sat around on the bench listening to music as the Track One hovered above them. The whole time, Trixie kept looking up then over to Stephanie, then up again and so on, giggling to herself because of Clyde's little predicament.

"What's so funny?" The pink-haired girl asked.

"Oh, nothing." Trixie kept her smug grin. "How's your head?"

"It's fine." She placed her hand on the small white patch. "Just another day until I can take it off."

Trixie then decided to have a little fun with Stephanie and looked back up in the sky, keeping in mind what she had promised Clyde.

"So have you spoken to Clyde? He was real worried about you." Trixie asked casually, trying to drop a hint.

Stephanie just nodded. "Yeah, I did."

Trixie snapped her fingers and mouthed the words, "Darn it." She then thought of something else to say. "Hey, what do you think of Clyde? Cute, isn't he?"

Stephanie immediately froze in place, trying to decide how to answer that question. Slowly, she turned her head over to Trixie and smiled nervously.

"C-Clyde, uh… w-well, I don't… don't…" She stammered. "I don't know. Guess I really haven't noticed."

Trixie didn't buy it, of course. "But didn't you blurt out, when you first met him, that he was--"

"No."

"…Okay. Whatever."

"What does it matter, anyway?"

Trixie simply shrugged. "I don't know. I just figured you kind of liked him or something."

"What? No! I mean, yeah but… not like that. You know? I mean there's no way I could ever—why, did he say anything?"

"Not that I know of." Trixie held back her laughter.


Elsewhere, Stingy was driving around in his little Hornet when Robbie suddenly revealed himself from behind a wall.

"Hey, Stinky!" The villain laughed. "How's it going?"

"It's Stingy!" The Joel Hodgson look-alike growled. "Now get out of my way! I'm driving here!"

"Sure, sure, no problem. It's just that, uhh… I kind of need a favor from you."

"A favor? From me? What is it?"

"You know that pink-haired friend of yours?"

"You mean Stephanie?"

"Yeah, that's the one. I need you to get something from her. It's round, it's flat and it's gold."

The little brat's face suddenly lit up. "G-gold? Really?"

Robbie simply nodded. "Mm-hmm… I want you to ask her for it and then bring it back to me."

Stingy then became suspicious. "Wait a minute. This thing wouldn't happen to be a medallion, would it?"

"Yes, it would."

"What!? No way, Robbie! We all know how much trouble that thing got us into the first time! There's no way I'm touching that thing! It's Stephanie's now and I know she isn't crazy enough to use its magic!"

"But the magic is all gone! I just want to use it as a… uh… decoration! Yeah, that's it… decoration!"

"Then why don't you ask her!?"

"Fine…" Robbie sighed. "I tried reasoning with you. But now I guess you've left me with no choice."

"What are you talking ab--"

Stingy was interrupted as he was struck by a stream of blue energy coils coming from behind Robbie. Remus slowly wheeled himself around the villain and approached Stingy, while using the Hypno-Ray on him. Stingy's eyes were now wide and diluted, therefore making him susceptible to suggestion.

"Okay, now." Remus said as he leaned in closer to the boy's ear. "I want you to do one simple thing for me."