Sportacus wasn't sure what had happened, or how long he had been unconscious, but he seemed to be waking up.

"Where am I?" he asked, to no one in particular. He couldn't see properly yet, but things were slowly starting to become clear again.

"Stephanie? Are you alright?" he shouted, suddenly remembering trying to save her from the Zap-it gun.

There was no reply. Sportacus tried moving, but there was nothing solid to grab or put his feet onto. He just felt like he was floating, and he felt very alone.

"Something isn't right, that's for sure." he told himself.

Finally his eyes were working again, but there was nothing to see. He was just floating there in what seemed to be a spacious void of nothingness.

"Of course! I was hit by the Zap-it gun. This is where things must go when they disappear." Sportacus concluded, as some car keys and a tennis racket went sailing by.

"Well, now that I know where I am, I've got to find a way out."

Sportacus began swimming through the emptiness, hoping to find an exit of some sort.

Several minutes went by with no progress. Sportacus couldn't tell if he had even moved at all from the place he had started. It all looked the same. After another hour elapsed, he stopped trying to get anywhere.

"Whew, I need a rest. I may not be getting anywhere but this is great exercise!" Sportacus said, retaining his positive attitude even in this seemingly hopeless situation.

Suddenly he felt strange. The blurry vision he had earlier started to return, as well as the purple light that surrounded him back in Lazytown. Before he knew it he was pulled from the void, dropping onto what felt like solid rock.

"Now where am I?" he asked himself again.

"Sportacus! You're back!" exclaimed an excited voice above him.

Sportacus shook his head, regaining his vision quicker this time. He could see he was in a cave of some sort, with an extremely obese figure standing in front of him.

"Sportacus, it's me! Ziggy! Don't you recognize me?" the figure worriedly asked.

"Ziggy? No, Ziggy's only little, you can't be-.." stated Sportacus as he rolled over and sat up.

"It is me Sportacus." the fat young man insisted. "A lot of time has gone by, but just a few weeks ago Pixel made a reverse Zap-it gun, that brings things back instead and he tried to use it, but it didn't work, so he just gave it to me. Then today I was exploring this cave just now, and accidentally dropped it and it just started to work all of a sudden, so I pressed the switch and here you are!"

Ziggy gasped desperately for air when he had finally finished his rambling.

Sportacus could see properly again and was surprised to find that this was definitely Ziggy. He talked the same amount, and he was wearing the exact same clothes, only bigger, since he himself was much much bigger.

"Tell me Ziggy, how long was I in there?" asked Sportacus, dreading the answer.

"Ten years, and Sportacus... it's been awful! Without you around, Robbie turned everything lazy, and won't let us leave. We have to do what he asks or he sends his robots after us!" cried Ziggy.

Sportacus climbed to his feet, and couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Ziggy, are you sure? It only feels like I've been gone for a few hours."

He hadn't aged a day, but clearly much more time had gone by in Lazytown.

"I'm positive Sportacus!" Ziggy answered with certainty. "Stingy is Robbie's partner, and they've got Pixel making machines for them, and Stephanie and the Mayor are held prisoner, and I don't know where Trixie is. You have to help!" he pleaded.

"Okay, Ziggy calm down. Everything will be alright." Sportacus assured him, and put his arm on Ziggy's shoulder.

"We should go see Pixel." Ziggy suggested excitedly. "He'll know what to do."

"Okay Ziggy, lead the way." said Sportacus, still unsure if things were really as bad as Ziggy was saying.

- - - - - - - - -

Meanwhile, at the very top room of the massive tower on the edge of town...

"Ahh what a wonderful day. Nice and LAZY, like always!" Robbie said, sliding into the seat of his giant orange throne.

"With my robot-making machine, I have robots to do whatever I want. No one can leave, and no one can be active. This is the life. The only thing that could bring me down is if that Sporta-cat came back. But that's impossible, why would I even think of something crazy like that?" Robbie chuckled.

"Skunky, where are you?" he yelled suddenly.

"I'm here, I'm here King Robbie!" said an out of breath Stingy, as he entered the throne room.

"and um-.. it's Stingy." he corrected.

"Sure. Anyways, how are you today?" Robbie asked.

"Well, uh-.." Stingy started to say.

"Ah really, that's great." an uninterested Robbie replied. "I have some things I need you to do for me. First, check to make sure all of my Robbie Robots, that are surrounding the town are in perfect working order. We can't have anyone escaping. Then I need you to go check on that computer-loser Pixel. He should be done building the Jet-boots I asked for."

"Ok, I've got it, anything else sir?" Stingy asked as he finished writing down his tasks for the day.

Robbie continued, ignoring the question. "I mean, why walk when you don't have to? Eventually no one will have to walk ever again when I get those babies mass produced."

"Um, is there anything else?" Stingy asked again.

"Hmm-.. let's see-.. " Robbie said, thinking. "I think that's all for today, you may leave."

Stingy bowed, and turned to leave the room.

"Ah right I almost forgot, there's one more thing." Robbie added slyly. "I'm going to need you to break up with that girlfriend of yours. Oh what's her name.. Trixie?"

"B-but why?" Stingy asked, visibly upset.

"I'm afraid all of this lovey dovey stuff is getting in the way of both of your duties to me, King Robbie of Rottentown. Plus it's just way to icky, I don't like it." Robbie explained, making a face.

"Yes sir." a disappointed Stingy replied, and headed towards the exit.

- - - - - - - - -

Sportacus and Ziggy had made their way back into town, and were just about to reach Pixel's house. Sportacus couldn't believe what had become of Lazytown. The once beautiful blue skies were now a purple and gray mess, and many of the trees had wilted.

"How could Robbie have done this?" he wondered in horror. "Sure he was a little bit of a grouch, but I didn't think he was capable of something like this."

"Pixel!" Ziggy yelled as they reached the house.

Sportacus tried to look inside, but all the windows were sealed shut.

"Maybe he's out?" Sportacus suggested.

"No, he never goes out. His house is always like this." Ziggy told him. "Pixel open up!"

Finally the door swished open and a computerized voice told them to enter.

They made their way down a dark stairway to the basement. Sportacus could only see a bit of light at the very bottom.

"Pixel, I've got a surprise for you!" Ziggy shouted suddenly, startling Sportacus.

Finally they reached the bottom, and there was Pixel, building something, surrounded by hundreds of inventions. He had weeks worth of stubble, and his hair was down past his shoulders.

"Pixel, look!" Ziggy told him enthusiastically.

Pixel slowly pulled off his goggles, looking extremely tired. However, his eyes opened slightly wider when he saw the blue figure standing beside Ziggy.

"Oh hey Sportacus.." Pixel said in a dull uninterested tone.

"I brought him back, just like I said I would. Now we can stop Robbie!" Ziggy said excitedly.

"Have fun." Pixel grumbled, returning to his work.

"Pixel, we need your help." Sportacus tried to tell him.

"What would you need me for?" Pixel asked. "I'm the whole reason this happened. I was so stupid to build another Zap-it gun. I should have known Robbie would get his hands on it."

"It's alright Pixel, you didn't mean for this to happen." Sportacus assured him.

"No, but it did, alright?" Pixel yelled, almost bursting into tears. "After he made you vanish, Robbie threatened us all, saying he'd do the same to us if we didn't do what he wanted. Then he made me build him a machine that built robots, and I did it. He took Stephanie away, and I didn't do anything about it. It's all my fault, and nothing I can do will change that!"

"Pixel, together we can stop him. If you feel responsible for what happened, then do something about it." suggested Sportacus kindly. "You know what Stephanie would say?"

"What?" asked Pixel, wiping away a tear.

"There's always a way." Sportacus told him, putting a hand on Pixel's shoulder. "If you believe in yourself, you can do anything!"

Pixel thought for a moment, then stood up, nodding.

"She's in the prison on the other side of town. If we take the back way around, we can make it without being spotted by any robots!" he enthusiastically explained, motivated for the first time in years.

"Now you're talking!" grinned Sportacus.

- - - - - - - - -

Back in the tower, Robbie was sitting down to enjoy a delicious dinner.

"Yummy, what's for dinner this evening?" Robbie asked a robot wearing a chef's hat. In a slow mechanical voice, it started to give him a list.

"YOUR APPETIZER IS.. CAKE. YOUR MAIN COURSE IS.. CAKE, AND YOUR DESERT..."

"Cake? Please oh please be cake!" Robbie pleaded.

"CAKE." it finished saying.

Robbie started to raise his arms up in delight, but the giant doors to his room burst open, interrupting him.

"Sir Robbie, we've got a Sportacus sighting." a figure in the doorway told him.

"A WHAT!" Robbie suddenly got extremely serious, and walked towards the doorway.

"If this is some kind of sick joke..." Robbie warned. "I'll string you up by your pigtails Trixie."

"I saw him sir, with Ziggy. They were heading to Pixel's house." Trixie explained.

"We'll see about THIS!" Robbie snarled, as he headed towards his periscope.

"Sportacus back, HAH, no way, not a..." Robbie started to say, but was lost for words at what he saw through the lens. He rubbed his eyes, and looked again. Sure enough it was Sportacus, alive and well.

"No! This can't be! How did he come back? I zapped him away for good!" Robbie yelled furiously.

After stomping around angrily for several minutes, he finally stopped.

"I don't care how he got back, but I want him gone, forever this time!" Robbie ordered.

Trixie nodded.

- - - - - - - - -

Across town, three silhouettes crept through the shadows.

"This way." Pixel motioned. He seemed to know the patrol routes of all of the robots.

"He's been planning on doing this for years." Ziggy told Sportacus.

They stopped at the edge of a house.

"There it is." Pixel pointed, to the prison on the other side of the street.

It looked like a small fort, and was surrounded by robots.

"Those robots look just like Robbie!" Sportacus noted, somewhat disturbed.

"Yea he wanted me to make them in his likeness." explained Pixel.

"Okay Pixel, what should we do now?" Ziggy whispered, eager to get started.

"Hmm." Pixel thought. "If they see Sportacus, it'll be all over. Ziggy, if you can create a diversion and get those Robbie Robots out of the way, we might be able to completely avoid a confrontation with them."

"And we can sneak in and grab Stephanie before they get back." Sportacus added.

Ziggy agreed, and headed over. Pixel turned to Sportacus.

"Sportacus, you know how I said before that there was nothing I could do to change what happened? Well that's not completely true." he admitted.

"What do you mean Pixel?" Sportacus asked in confusion.

"Well, I don't know if it will work or not, but the thing I was working on when you guys showed up, is a time machine. I was hoping to go back and stop this whole thing from happening, but I don't have the final part I need. It's in the robot machine I made for Robbie, and I can't find another one. We need to get it. Then maybe, just maybe we can change the past!" a hopeful Pixel explained.

"Okay Pixel, but let's take things one step at a time. Right now, Stephanie needs our help." said Sportacus, staring intently at the prison.

"Right." Pixel agreed.

Ziggy had gone up close to the prison, and winked to Sportacus and Pixel.

"Get ready, cuz Sporta-candy is back in action. Ready to save the day, and stop the evil robots!" he exclaimed, raising his hand into the air.

Pixel and Sportacus shook their heads.

Ziggy began to do as much physical activity as his weight would allow. Starting with jumping jacks, he moved into pushups. The Robbie Robots soon noticed this lack of laziness, and rolled over to him, on the wheels they had for legs.

"STOP, STOP, ACTIVITY IS FORBIDDEN, YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW." they ordered.

"You'll have to catch me first!" Ziggy taunted, breaking into a slow, but effective run. The robots followed, leaving the prison completely unguarded.

"Good Ziggy!" praised Sportacus as quietly as he could.

"He got rid of them all, this is great!" Pixel exclaimed, as he and Sportacus left the side of the house, and snuck towards the prison.

But he had spoken too soon. A dozen or more robots spilled out from inside of the building, pointing their fingers at Sportacus and Pixel.

"Stay still!" Pixel warned Sportacus. "They've got laser-guns on their fingers."

"It's okay Pixel, I've got a plan." Sportacus said confidently.

Suddenly he leapt into the air, entering a flip, and then landing on the shoulders of two robots.

"STOP ACTIVITY, APPREHEND SPORTACUS!" the Robbie Robots exclaimed.

They shot their lasers at Sportacus but he was too quick, backflipping off of the robots he was standing on, just as the lasers meant for him knocked their heads off.

"Yeah!" Pixel shouted, pulling out a laser-gun of his own, and blasting off a few robot heads.

Sportacus pulled out his tennis rackets, as he ran to avoid some laser fire. He dove, rolled, and stood up beside two more robots. He quickly swung his rackets, taking them out of commission. He immediately leapt into the air, doing the splits to avoid the laser-fire coming his way.

Pixel took out a few more, then ran over to Sportacus, pressing some buttons on his arm-pad. A transparent green rectangle shot out acting like a force field, deflecting several laser blasts.

"Thanks Pixel!" said Sportacus, out of breath. "You go get the door open. I'll take care of the rest of these Robbie Robots".

Pixel nodded, and Sportacus bounded over the force field, landing backwards in front of one of the robots. He jumped up, doing his famous quick flip and a kick, knocking it's head right off and into another robot. Sportacus turned around in time to see them both fall over. The last two robots began to roll straight at him.

"Uh oh." uttered Sportacus, and began backing up.

As he stepped back, he hit something with his leg. He looked down to see a robot head lying there. Without hesitating, he hit the head into the air with his heel, and swung his racket, knocking it into one of the oncoming robots.

"One down, one more to go." professed Sportacus, as it spun out of control.

Sportacus got himself ready for his next move, but the Robbie Robot stopped and looked around. It realized that it was the only one left, and zoomed away as quickly as it had arrived.

Sportacus laughed as he returned the rackets to their place on his back.

"Door hacked and ready for opening!" Pixel announced, removing a device from the door's keypad.

Sportacus came over, grasped the door handles, and pulled the giant metal doors open with all of his might.

"Stephanie?" Pixel yelled desperately, running into the pitch black prison.

"Pixel, wait!" Sportacus called, but he was already gone in search of Stephanie.

Sportacus shrugged, and decided to go the other way.

It didn't take him long before he found a door with a bit of light shining from the cracks. He walked over to it, and knocked. There was no reply.

"Stephanie?" he whispered quietly, and tried to open the door. He expected it to be locked, but it opened easily.

As the door creaked open, he looked around the room. There was a barred up window allowing a little bit of light in, and he could see the outlines of someone in the shadows.

"Stephanie?" he asked again.

"Who is it?" a quiet voice asked.

"Stephanie, it's me, I'm here to rescue you." revealed Sportacus.

Suddenly a head emerged from the shadows, looking at him.

"Sportacus? Is that you?" wondered the voice, much livelier now.

As soon as he saw a touch of pink, he was sure it was her, and rushed over, yanking her chains off of the wall.

Before he could say another word, she leapt right at him, squeezing him with all her might.

"Sportacus!" Stephanie cried, tears streaming down her face. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too Stephanie!" Sportacus said, unable to take his eyes from her. He couldn't believe how beautiful she had become.

"I.." he started to say, but couldn't finish before Stephanie started to kiss him.

He was in shock. This was the first time he had been kissed in this way, and by Stephanie of all people. He had always cared deeply for her when she was younger, and now-.. now she was beyond beautiful. He felt like his heart stopped, and couldn't bring himself to pull away from her. It was too wonderful.

"What the hell!" an incredibly angry voice yelled from the doorway.

Sportacus turned to look, and saw Pixel standing there watching. He looked like he was about to explode with rage.

"How could you Sportacus?" he screamed, suddenly going from anger to sadness.

Sportacus didn't know what to say. He was still in shock from the last few minutes.

"Pixel..." Stephanie said, breaking the silence.

"Shut up." he told her harshly. "I knew this was a bad idea. Go stop Robbie yourself, you backstabbing jerk. I'm outta here." Pixel glared at Sportacus in disgust, and stormed out into the darkness.

Sportacus lowered his head, but Stephanie pushed it back up.

"Sportacus.. thank you for rescuing me." she told him and hugged him again, more gently this time.

"Is anyone going to rescue me?" another voice sounded from the other side of the room.

"Mayor?" Sportacus asked.

"Uncle Milford and I were both put in here, because we refused to follow Robbie's orders." Stephanie explained.

"Yes yes, indeed, but can we please get these chains off of me?" the Mayor asked.

"Sure, no problem!" Sportacus said, as he and Stephanie headed over to free him.