"Let's find the cake!"
"Find it!"
In a panic, the kids looked around the room, dumbfounded at how such a large cake could just suddenly disappear.
Their attention was soon caught by the front door slamming open, and a tall detective standing in the doorway. "A stolen cake! Bakery burgalars?"
"Mmph! Mm!"
The detective noticed the mayor trapped behind it and pulled it back so the puppet man could unstick himself from the wall.
"Who are you?!" Mayor Meanswell asked.
The detective proceeded to slam the door back in the mayor's face, "AHA! I am Henchlock Foams-" he said, showing an agent-like I.D. card, "-private eye."
"What?" Pixel asked, confused as the rest of the kids.
"The first step to detecting a cake thief is to find..." Henchlock took out a magnifying glass and held it in front of his mouth "... cake clues!" he concluded in a sing-songy tone.
"Ah!" The children, with a better understanding of what was going on, were now more excited to get to the bottom of this case.
"Walk this way," the detective instructed as he put the magnifying glass in front of his eye and walked out the door.
Stephanie was among the last to leave. Remembering her uncle behind the door, she opened it to let him out from behind it. "Aren't you coming, Uncle?"
"Be right there..." the door must have hit him a time too many, given that a second later he fainted.
Meanwhile, a freshly-cleaned Sportacus jumped down from the ladder, ready to go back and check on everyone. Well, he was almost freshly cleaned: the pink substance ended up on his hands when he grabbed one of the lower rungs before landing.
The Hell? he thought. I just washed this stuff off!
"You!"
Sportacus looked up to see the detective with the rest of the group.
"You with the funny blue hat, let me see your hands." Henchlock grabbed Sportacus' hand, which of course had frosting all over it, and gasped as if shocked to see it there. "AHA! Frrrosting!"
The rest of the group gasped as he showed Sportacus' hand to them.
"Hands up, Mr. Cake Thief!" Henchlock continued. "You are under arr-est!"
Okay, that's it: I'm so done with this town, Sportacus thought. I'll just take Stephanie and Robbie and leave now, thank you. But of course, since that couldn't happen, he instead went on to say, "I don't even eat frosting!"
Henchlock laughed. "Then what's this?" he asked, grabbing Sportacus' hand again. "Finger-paint?"
Ziggy took some of the frosting off of Sportacus' hand and tasted it. "I know frosting, and that's frosting!"
"We've never had a cake thief in LazyTown before," the mayor commented.
Henchlock triggered the lever, which hit him right in the stomach. He coughed. "That didn't hurt," he claimed though his voice was clearly strained with pain.
The detective struggled to pull the lever, but once he did, LazyTown square was set up. He, the mayor and Sportacus went up to the stage, while the children watched from a short distance.
"Court is in session! The honorable Judge Mayor presenting," Henchlock put a powdered wig onto the mayor before jumping off the stage and made Sportacus sit down on the edge of it. "Isn't it true no one saw you not stealing the cake?"
"How could somebody not see me do something?!"
"So, you admit that nobody didn't see you not do it?"
Sportacus could feel his blood starting to boil. "... What?!"
"That doesn't make any sense," Stingy said.
Stephanie agreed. "No."
Ziggy only shook his head.
"I rest my case!" Henchlock declared.
"Well, the mayor's not gonna believe this, is he?" Stingy asked.
Henchlock held up an eye exam sign. "Cover your right eye and read this," he said to the mayor.
So he did: "uh, Sport-acus is guil...twy."
"... I didn't catch that. Read it again!"
He tried again: "Sportacus... is... guilty!"
Henchlock tossed the sign aside. "THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! Hahaha!"
As he stood up, Sportacus took a moment to question his life and the choices that led him to this moment.
"And... guilty boys go to jail!" Henchlock said, invading Sportacus' personal space on that last word.
"Really?" Sportacus asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"No!" Stingy and Pixel exclaimed together.
Ziggy and Stephanie could only stand there in shock.
"But, we don't have a jail in LazyTown," the mayor said.
"Try to keep up with me, genius," Henchlock growled to him. He tried to push Sportacus along, but failed.
"What's he doing?" Ziggy asked when he tried again.
Henchlock went to go get a running start but fell flat on his face when Sportacus walked off in said direction by himself.
"Who is this detective anyway?" Stingy asked.
Stephanie and Pixel seconded that: "yeah."
Truth be told, there was a jail in LazyTown, but like the hospital, library, grocery store, and other businesses, it had been shut down due to lack of funding long before Mayor Meanswell's time. Besides, last Robbie checked on it, its cells were rusty, ineffective, and even unsafe. Even so, said cells wouldn't have been used for something as petty as a stolen cake. Thankfully, Sportacus took being locked up like a pro, something which he was grateful for.
This plan had been used before, but last time it was a stolen pie. Stealing Bessie's birthday cake was a risky move, but he had to use something to frame the hero for, or this would never work. This cell was to serve three purposes for today's plan:
The first, if Sportacus has done a crime and needs to go to jail, the mayor could decide that Sportacus shouldn't be a hero anymore and might even ban him from the town to keep him from thwarting Ms. Busybody.
Secondly, the small size of the cell greatly restricted Sportacus from moving around very much. He might not be able to consume the sugary, drugged food in LazyTown, but he was by no means immune to the fumes. The stiller he held, the more of an effect it would have on him.
But if the mayor wouldn't ban Sportacus, and the drugs shown no effect by the end of the night, then locking him up would make it easier for Bessie to dispose of him when no one was looking. Robbie was sad to say this was how she had gotten rid of poor Number 5.
Sportacus would typically find Robbie's sassy nature amusing if he weren't so pissed off at the moment.
"Ta-ta!" He gestured to the tiny cage. "Step in, my friend."
Are we friends?! He wanted to shout. Because you'll say that one moment, then stab me in the back the next!
But instead, Sportacus said nothing, trying to keep in mind what Robbie said about coming back to Sportacus' assistance if he could just have patience with him.
Robbie opened the heavy cage door for Sportacus (though he could've gotten that himself). Sportacus stepped down into the cell, and Robbie gave his signature evil laugh as he closed the door. Robbie walked away and brushed his hands.
"Detective?" Sportacus asked, kicking the door open. "Don't you have to lock the door?"
Robbie ran back over, pulling the door shut, and using the lock this time. The slight glare he gave Sportacus as he did told the hero he had a missed opportunity to use that as an escape.
Once the crowd had dispersed, Robbie took the lollipops he had previously stolen from the cake, and began to make a trail. He also left a trail of cut-out footprints and a whole top of a cake for someone else to find, but in case those didn't work, Ziggy, the closest thing to a hero on the puppets' end, would surely find this candy, and be led to the real cake thief. Either way, someone would figure it out sometime soon, he was sure of it.
On the back of his neck, Robbie felt that usual stare of judgement, coming from the direction of the cage.
"You know, kid," Robbie said, not looking up from the lollipop trail he was making, "I get enough of those stares for what I do every day. I'd really appreciate it if you don't add to those stares."
It took Sportacus a good few seconds to realize Robbie was addressing him directly; something he hadn't done unless he was pretending to be the villain. Whether it was out of guilt, or whatever fluctuating respect he had for him at the moment, Sportacus obliged in looking at the clouds instead as Robbie finished what he was doing.
Under the assumption that Bessie would want to keep an eye on him until nightfall, Robbie, pretended to be asleep on the hammock next to the cage. He became slightly more alert however, when he noticed a series of scrapes and taps:
Scrape, tap tap tap tap, tap... tap tap tap, scrape tap scrape, scrape tap scrape scrape... tap tap, tap tap tap... scrape tap tap tap, tap scrape tap tap, tap tap scrape, tap.
The sky is blue.
What may have sounded like a random and out-of-context message on Sportacus' end, Robbie knew what he was doing: this was a special form of communication taught in hero school in which the other party would first use body language to answer an obvious "yes" or "no" question, before answering later "yes" or "no" questions that were a bit more specific.
For "yes" Robbie chose to yawn.
Scrape scrape, scrape tap scrape scrape... tap tap tap tap, tap scrape, scrape... tap tap, tap tap tap... tap scrape tap, tap, scrape tap tap.
My hat is red.
For "no", Robbie scratched his face with the lollipop he was holding.
Tap scrape scrape, tap tap, tap scrape tap tap, tap scrape tap tap... tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap, tap... scrape tap scrape, tap tap, tap scrape tap tap, tap scrape tap tap... scrape.
Will she kill me?
Unfortunately, that answer was more complex than a "yes" or "no", so Robbie yawned and scratched his face at the same time.
Scrape tap tap, scrape scrape scrape... scrape tap scrape scrape, scrape scrape scrape tap tap scrape... tap tap tap tap, tap scrape, tap tap tap scrape, tap... tap scrape... tap scrape scrape tap, tap scrape tap tap, tap scrape, scrape tap.
Do you have a plan?
That could've meant anything, but Robbie assumed that was in the context of a plan to help him out, so he responded with a yawn.
Sportacus was fairly quiet for a while after that. Thinking of just "yes" or "no" questions was harder than he thought. Especially when there were more specific questions he wanted to ask him, like what that mini-crystal was supposed to do. But asking too many of these questions might've given something away, and so he decided to stop. Instead, he took the time to exercise a bit within the cell, both to pass the time and try to lessen the effects of the fumes, which he could smell in the air somewhere.
"Lollipops!" Ziggy's voice came from the distance. "This must be a clue!" His voice got louder as he came closer to the two. "More lollipops! Wow! These look exactly like the ones from the cake!" Now Robbie could hear him right next to him. "A piece of the cake! Huh?! Wha?"
Well, it seemed the trail of lollipops was enough to get him to where he needed to be, but Ziggy was so focused on the candy, it wasn't enough to get him to figure it out. Robbie rolled over in the hammock and smacked Ziggy in the head, making him fall over.
"What was that?"
Apparently, that wasn't enough either. Robbie wiggled and a lollipop fell from his lap onto Ziggy's head.
"A lollipop!"
Robbie wiggled again and another lollipop fell closely behind him.
"Another one!"
Clearly he wasn't getting it, so now it was time for more extreme measures: Robbie gripped the side of the hammock and dumped all of the lollipops that were on his lap onto Ziggy.
"Hm... all these lollipops..." Ziggy finally looked up. "He stole the cake!"
Ziggy ran to where his friends were waiting: on the other side of the half-wall. "Guess what?! Guess what?! Guess what?!"
"You ate a lot of sugar?" Stephanie asked.
"Yes! Uh, I mean no! It's the detective! He stole the cake! Look at these!" Ziggy held up the lollipops that he had collected in Henchlock's detective's cap.
"Lollipops! From the cake!" Stephanie exclaimed.
Ziggy nodded. "Mm-hm!"
"Data update: Sportacus is innocent!"
"Then he shouldn't be in jail!"
"No!"
Did these kids really think he would be able to sleep through all of this? Whether they knew it or not, they could wake him from a sound sleep when they were halfway across town. Even if they didn't, they certainly weren't being as quiet as they thought they were. He could hear everything from where he was.
"Target acquired. Objective: get that key!"
"Yeah!"
"Stephanie, put this remote antennae on Stingy's car."
"Okay."
Stingy spoke for the first time since the news. "Wha- what're you doing?"
Ziggy sat down on the car, which began to move backwards.
"Careful!"
"Oh, Ziggy! Don't scratch it- I can't watch," Stingy buried his face in the cloth he'd been using to polish the car.
Pixel began to steer the car towards the key. "Activate microcontrol!"
"Pixel, be careful with my car!" Stingy whimpered.
Ziggy was briefly positioned under the key, but then it drove past the tree. "Too far!"
"Stop, stop."
Ziggy wasn't even trying to be quiet anymore: "Back up! Back up! Back up! Kay closer, closer... I think I can reach now!" Ziggy stood on top of the car. "Steady.. steady..."
"He's reaching for the key! He's almost there!"
He was, but then he fell down.
"Missed it!"
Ziggy returned to his feet and tried again, but missed that time, too.
"Oh!"
Suddenly, Ziggy had an idea! He took a lollipop from his back pocket...
"No!" the kids exclaimed in unison.
... He licked said lollipop...
"NO!"
... Then used it to stick to the key.
The others cheered.
Ziggy moved over to the cell to go and unlock Sportacus.
Sportacus shushed Ziggy. "Let's go!" He then did a flip over Robbie, the slight breeze that gave off letting him know he successfully escaped the cell. "Ziggy! Ziggy!" Sportacus motioned to him.
"Sportacus! Sportacus!"
"Thank you very much!"
"You can always count on me!"
"I knew it. Ziggy..." Sportacus motioned a thumb at Robbie. "... He ate all the cake, too."
"I know a cake we can bake for him..." Ziggy gave an evil chuckle.
The mayor walked through the front door of his house. "Has anyone seen Ms. Busybody?" He noticed the hero with the kids and two seperate cakes readily baked. "Oh! Sportacus! You broke out of jail!"
"No," Sportacus said, "the kids found out who really took Bessie's birthday cake."
"Yeah, it was the detective!"
"Yeah! We baked a surprise for Bessie, and the cake thief," Stephanie added. "We'll catch the real one, this time!"
Ziggy placed the cake inside the open cell. "I'm gonna put it right here," he chuckled.
Everyone watched from behind the half-wall as Robbie began to stir.
"I smell a cake!"
"He's falling for it!"
"Yeah, it's working!"
Of course, Robbie could hear them loud and clear, but he continued to play dumb: "I thought I ate them all." Sniffing the air, Robbie fell out of the hammock, and found a piece of a cupcake on the ground. "A cake!" Then he found another one right next to it. "Another cake!" He began to follow the trail of cakes. "More cake! And more cake! Come to Daddy!"
Sportacus had to bite his thumb to stifle a snicker. Even if he were completely sober, he could still admit he loved Robbie's sense of humor.
Robbie then arrived at the biggest cake of them all: "A giant cake!" Getting into the cell, he triggered a trap that closed the door behind him.
"Robbie Rotten!" The kids shouted together.
Robbie then 'realized' he was 'trapped'. "Oh no!"
"It was you who was swiping the sweets!" Stephanie said, pointing at him.
"Yeah!"
"No it wasn't!" Robbie protested.
"But your face is covered in FROSTING!"
"Yeah, I can see it!"
Bessie, who had noted the commotion in her camera room a few minutes before, left to see what all the fuss was. "Now what's going on?" she asked the group.
Unfortunately for Bessie, she happened to be right in the path of the frosting that Robbie flicked off of his face, which now landed on her. "Now it isn't!"
Sportacus just stood there, stunnned. Did he really just do that? And without breaking a sweat? How was she going to react?
The same way she always did was humiliated and angry but other people were watching: she fake cried and started to storm away.
"Ms. Busybody! Come back!" the mayor called to her.
Sportacus shook it off and reached for the bigger cake. "Mayor..." he said, handing him the cake, "... don't forget this!"
"Thank you, Sportacus! Oh, Ms. Busybody!"
Robbie waited until the adults weren't looking to show any nervousness. "Well," he said, sticking his head through the upper bars, "gotta go, bye-bye!"
The kids only laughed as he took the cage with him while he ran away.
"Ms. Busybody," the mayor presented the giant, meticulously-made cake to her. "Happy birthday!"
"CAKE?! YOU MUST BE JOKING!"
The mayor could only stand there in fear and shock.
"... Only kidding. This way, I've got forks."
Forks, huh? Sportacus thought. Something tells me you don't like surprises.
A/N
As for why Trixie isn't in these last couple of chapters? I don't know. You do briefly see her during the investigation... we'll just say Bessie singled her out for different testing because she didn't react well to the last batch.
So, that's it: the last chapter for 2021. I can't guarantee anything, but my New Year's Resolution is to post at least 2 chapters a month (roughly 1 chapter every 2 weeks), versus the 1 a month I'm doing right now.