"Alright Robbie, you're finished!" Stephanie shouted as they entered the throne room.
There was no reply. The room was completely empty.
"That's strange." said Sportacus suspiciously.
"Where is he?" Stephanie wondered.
"Robbie, we made it! Now come out. You're in a lot of trouble!" yelled Sportacus.
"Alright if you insist!" a voice replied from above them.
Robbie appeared out of thin air directly behind Sportacus, and pushed him with all of his might. Sportacus was caught off guard, and fell to the cold stone floor.
"See you next fall, Sporta-clutz." said Robbie, as he grabbed hold of Stephanie.
"Sportacus help!" she screamed, struggling.
Sportacus leapt to his feet and ran to her, but it was too late. Robbie grinned as he disappeared out of sight, taking Stephanie with him.
- - - - - - - - -
Sportacus climbed the final flight of stairs, and emerged on the roof of the tower. He could see the entire town from up here, and it was an absolute mess.
"Don't move Sportacus, or the girl gets it!" Robbie yelled to him from across the roof of the tower.
He had his arm around Stephanie holding a small device to her head.
Sportacus immediately stopped as Robbie had asked.
"Good choice." Robbie told him. "You might have noticed that this is a smaller version of the Zap-it. One shot and into nothingness she goes." he laughed, pointing to the device he was holding.
"So what do you want us to do Robbie?" Sportacus asked.
"Hmm, I hadn't thought this far ahead yet." Robbie admitted. "I didn't think you'd even make it up here."
"You're the worst villain ever Robbie!" Stephanie screamed from beside him.
"Stop talking little girl!" Robbie ordered, tightening his grip on the Zap-it gun. "It's been so long since anyone has tried to stop me, I've gotten rusty. I don't have to do anything anymore. Did you know I have a computer that makes up lazy ideas for me?"
Sportacus looked unimpressed.
"So now you show up, and try to ruin it all for me." Robbie continued, frowning. "I've done more physical activity TODAY, than I had in the whole 10 years you were gone!"
Sportacus looked around quickly, ignoring Robbie, and trying to figure out some way of getting Stephanie free.
"Listen Sportacus, I'm sure you're a great guy..-" Robbie continued to ramble. "..and if I wasn't so Rotten I might even like you, but I know that if I make you leave Rottentown, you'll eventually come back and try to stop me again."
"So you want him to stay?" Stephanie asked, confused.
Robbie pretended to look sad. "No no, I'm afraid I'm going to have to "dispose" of you both, if you know what I mean." he told them with a frown.
"Robbie, you've been sitting on your butt for 10 years! How are you going to be able to compete with Sportacus?" Stephanie asked him, doubtfully.
"Oh I'm not going to do it." Robbie grinned, as he pulled out a control pad from his back pocket. "This is!"
Robbie pressed some buttons, and looked out into the distance.
Sportacus turned around to see what Robbie was talking about.
"I believe it used to belong to you, Sportacus." Robbie taunted him.
Sportacus wasn't sure what he was talking about, but it didn't sound good, whatever it was.
Suddenly, a large blue airship came into view on the horizon, getting closer and closer.
It swooped down below the tower and then slowly raised itself to be on level with the rooftop.
Sportacus couldn't believe it. His former home was now covered in laser guns, and missile launchers.
"What do you think?" Robbie asked proudly. "It's my newest toy."
Sportacus clenched his fists, and gritted his teeth. This wasn't just his home, it was almost like a friend, and Robbie had defiled it and turned it into some sort of floating weapon.
"How could you?" Sportacus growled, trying hard not to risk it all and charge at Robbie.
"With this, I can travel everywhere, and promote laziness the world over!" Robbie cooed, moving his hand across the horizon.
"Sportacus, look out!" Stephanie warned, as a missile detached itself from the airship.
Sportacus turned around, and caught sight of it as it headed straight for him.
He dove forward, entered a roll and just barely dodged the resulting explosion.
Stephanie watched as part of the roof crumbled away.
"Robbie, are you insane? You're going to blow us all up!" she shouted.
"You've got a point there." agreed Robbie. "No more missiles."
Stephanie smiled in relief.
"I'll use the lasers instead!" Robbie barked, maniacally.
Sportacus looked up at the airship, as the laser guns began to choose their targets.
They all shot simultaneously, right at where Sportacus was standing.
With a side flip, he managed to evade the oncoming lasers as they sliced up a portion of the roof.
Robbie fiddled with the controls again, making the lasers begin to flail around randomly.
"One of these is bound to hit him!" Robbie snickered.
Sportacus quickly ducked to avoid a speeding laser beam that zipped by. Another one came flying past from the other way, forcing him to lay flat on the ground.
"Be careful Sportacus!" Stephanie begged him as he entered a handstand to avoid a stray beam.
Sportacus jumped using his hands, barely escaping yet another laser beam.
"I can't keep this up forever." Sportacus said to himself, and did a flip to get back onto his feet.
"Let's see how you handle this!" hollered Robbie, and pressing some more buttons.
The lasers suddenly sped up, and Sportacus began to lose his concentration. The lasers were forcing him closer and closer to the edge of the roof, as he tried his hardest to dodge them. However they were coming too quickly, and before long a laser struck Sportacus in the leg.
"No!" Stephanie screamed, as Sportacus lost his balance and fell from the roof.
"It's about time!" Robbie commented gleefully, and turned to Stephanie. "Your turn!"
- - - - - - - - -
Sportacus was already halfway down the tower, falling head first towards the ground.
He could hardly even make sense of what was happening. Everything around him was just a blur as he plunged straight down.
The ground was coming up fast and all Sportacus could do was cover his eyes and hope it would be over quickly.
Suddenly out of nowhere, it felt as though someone had jammed on the brakes. He had stopped mid fall, and was somehow being pulled back up the tower.
Sportacus curled his body upwards so he could see what on earth was going on.
It was Pixel, wearing a set of jet-boots, dragging Sportacus up by the leg.
"Pixel, thank you!" Sportacus said gratefully.
"Hey don't thank me, I'm just taking you back up so I can drop you again." muttered Pixel coldly. "I can't let Robbie take all the glory."
"What are you talking about Pixel?" Sportacus asked.
"You knew I loved Stephanie! You knew I loved her from the moment I saw her. She was all I had left to keep me going, and you went and took her from me." cried an emotional Pixel.
"Pixel, I'm sorry." Sportacus told him. "I can't control who she loves."
"Well I can." stated Pixel. "If you aren't around, she'll have to love me!".
"Not if she finds out that you dropped me." Sportacus pointed out. "Pixel, remember the time machine! It's not to late to go back and fix all of this. No one will have to have suffered. You're already full of guilt over what happened to Lazytown! Imagine how you'll feel after you kill someone!"
Pixel looked around for a moment. He knew he wasn't thinking clearly, and had been too wrapped up in his emotions to actually think about what he was doing.
He took a deep breath. "Alright Sportacus, lets do it. I really don't like you right now, but if we can make it so none of this happened, I'm in."
Sportacus nodded, and Pixel kicked the boots into high gear, blasting off towards the roof.
- - - - - - - - -
As they neared the top of the tower, Pixel let go of Sportacus, dropping him back onto the roof.
Suddenly much to his surprised, Sportacus was being hugged by Stephanie.
"You're alive!" she cried. "You've got to stop scaring me like that".
"Stephanie? What's going on?" he asked, completely confused at how she could be free.
"Don't worry Sportacus, I took care of everything." she assured him, pointing to the other side of the roof.
Sportacus turned to see what she was talking about, and was shocked to find Robbie Rotten sprawled out on the ground with his hands between his legs, groaning in pain.
Sportacus laughed out loud, and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Good job Stephanie, you stopped Robbie all by yourself. Now lets get him before he tries anything else." said Sportacus.
"Too late Sporta-puss." Robbie managed to say through clenched teeth, and pulled out a small control pad.
At the press of a button, about two dozen Robbie Robots hovered onto the roof, surrounding Sportacus and Stephanie.
"Not this again." Sportacus thought to himself.
"I know, I know, I already used this trick once before, but I've gotta admit Sportacus, you've got me in a bit of a tough spot here." Robbie declared as he pulled himself up off of the ground. "My bag of tricks is almost empty, but I figure you can't possibly get out of this AGAIN."
Sportacus frowned, and searched the skies.
"Come on Pixel, we could really use your help right about now." he whispered.
"And now for the grand finale." Robbie announced, raising his hands to the air.
"With nowhere to run, Sporta-blush and his love will die tragically in each others arms." he announced dramatically, as he activated the airship controls, pointing every one of it's weapons directly at Sportacus and Stephanie.
"It took 10 years, Sportacus, but I finally did it." Robbie stated proudly. "I won."
"Think again, ROBBIE!" Pixel's voice echoed through the airship speakers.
"What?" Robbie shouted, as the airship laser-guns suddenly shifted from Sportacus and Stephanie, to the Robbie Robots.
One by one, the robots were blown to bits, as Robbie tried unsuccessfully to regain control of the airship.
Pixel had managed to get inside, and hack the airship controls.
"Alright Pixel!" Stephanie cried out in relief.
"No! How is he doing this!" Robbie roared in frustration.
Sportacus and Stephanie hurried to get out of the way of the laser blasts.
Pixel continued blasting away, and soon all that remained of the robots was a smoldering circle of scrap metal.
Robbie dropped to his knees, as Pixel directed the laser-guns to point right at him.
"How could this have happened? I was the King! I had everything! There's no way you could have beaten me!" he moaned.
"Just say the word Sportacus, and i'll make some Robbie roast." Pixel shouted through the speakers.
"No Pixel, we'd be just as bad as him." Sportacus said, holding up a hand.
Suddenly Robbie began to chuckle.
"Sportacus... you may be strong on the outside, but on the inside, you're just weak." Robbie told him. "You can't finish me off, and because of that, you'll be destroyed along with my tower."
"What are you talking about Robbie?" Stephanie quickly asked.
Before Robbie could answer, the tower began to shake violently beneath them.
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Robbie laughed maniacally, as he laid himself down on the roof.
"Stephanie! Sportacus! Robbie just set the tower to collapse!" Pixel yelled from the airship speakers. "You've got to get off!"
"Let's go Sportacus, you heard Pixel, we have to leave!" Stephanie instructed, pulling on his arm.
"We can't just leave Robbie to die." said Sportacus as he looked over at him
"Believe me Sportacus, we can! Now lets move!" Stephanie ordered.
"I've got to save him, Stephanie. Just get on the ship, I'll be right behind you!" he told her with a smile.
"You better be!" she shouted, reluctantly let go of him, and hurried to the rope ladder that Pixel had lowered for them.
Sportacus ran to where Robbie was laying, and effortlessly picked him up.
"Lets go Robbie, I know you've done some terrible things, but I can't just leave you here."
Robbie turned to look at Sportacus, the fire gone from his eyes.
"Put me down Sportacus.. I've got nothing left. Just let me have my glory." he pleaded, in complete and utter defeat.
Sportacus thought for a moment, and then seemed to understand.
"Alright Robbie, have it your way." said Sportacus, putting him back down. "Once I go back and make sure that none of this happened, I promise i'll change you for the better. You have my word."
Robbie ignored him, and he rolled onto his side facing away from Sportacus.
"Sportacus, come on!" Stephanie and Pixel both yelled from the airship speaker.
With a quick nod, he leapt into action, running to the ladder as the ground beneath him started to crumble.
The stone floor began to give way, and without thinking, Sportacus bounded from the ground and flew through the air, as the entire roof collapsed under him.
The ladder was only inches away, and with the tips of his fingers he managed to grab it and hold on. With his other hand he made sure to get a good grip, as he looked below at the tower crumbling to the ground.
- - - - - - - - -
Meanwhile, Bessie, Ziggy and the Mayor were standing outside of city hall. After waiting for what seemed like forever, Sportacus' airship finally appeared overhead.
"They're back!" Ziggy shouted in joy.
"Oh I hope Stephanie is alright!" said the Mayor.
"I'm sure she's fine Milford." Bessie assured him as she held his hand.
"Oh my!" gulped the Mayor.
Once the airship had landed, Sportacus, Stephanie and Pixel emerged.
"Did you stop Robbie, Sportacus?" Ziggy asked excitedly.
"We sure did Ziggy. He won't be causing trouble here anymore." Sportacus assured him, as Stephanie rushed over to hug her Uncle.
"Oh Stephanie, I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried." he told her, almost shedding a tear.
"I told you I'd be careful Uncle, and you know I'm never in danger when Sportacus is around." she said, as they finished the hug.
Pixel lowered his head and began to walk away.
"What's the matter Pixel dear?" Bessie asked him with concern.
Pixel sighed. "The tower was destroyed, along with the part I needed to finish the time machine... We can't go back and change anything now."
"Oh are you talking about this thing?" inquired Ziggy suddenly, pulling out a mechanical object from his pocket.
Pixel's eyes grew wide. "That's it! That's the part! ZIGGY, how'd you manage to get hold of that?
"Oh it was nothing. I remembered you said you needed it, so I just picked it up on my way out." Ziggy explained with a laugh.
"Ziggy, you are amazing! Now I can finish the time machine!" Pixel shouted in delight.
"That's great, Pixel!" Sportacus said to him. "How long will it take to get finished?"
"Not very long, come to my house in about an hour and it'll be ready!" Pixel told them, and ran off to get started.
"Well, I guess if we're going to make it so that none of this happened, I'd better make the most of it." the Mayor declared, and grabbed hold of Bessie, kissing her passionately.
Stephanie couldn't believe it and just stood there with her mouth gaping. Sportacus put his arm around her and smiled. She smiled back, but suddenly she seemed to get terribly upset, and rushed off, her eyes full of tears.
"What's the matter with Stephanie, Sportacus?" Ziggy asked as he watched her rush into the forest.
"I think I know what it is. I'll be right back." Sportacus told him, as he headed off after her.
- - - - - - - - -
"Stephanie?" Sportacus shouted as he entered the forest.
There was no reply, but he could hear some sniffling coming from the old tree house.
In several seconds, he had made his way up the tree, and crawled through the window.
Stephanie was huddled in the corner, crying her eyes out.
"Stephanie, please don't cry." Sportacus said, as he sat next to her.
"You're leaving again aren't you?" she managed to ask through the tears.
"Well-.." he started to say.
Stephanie interrupted. "And if you manage to change everything, then none of this will have happened, and we won't be together anymore. Sportacus, I love you so much. I don't want to change anything."
"Stephanie-.. I love you too, but this isn't how things are supposed to be. Really I should be old enough to be your father, if I weren't trapped in that void." admitted Sportacus.
"But you WERE trapped Sportacus, and it lets us be together. Don't you want that?" she asked in depair.
"I do Stephanie, more than anything, but think about everyone else. You may be fine with the way things are, but what about Pixel?" Sportacus pointed out. "Everyday he lives with the guilt of what happened. Then there's Stingy and Trixie who we'll never see again, and what about the town? It's hopelessly ruined."
Stephanie just sighed and cried some more. Sportacus put his arm around her, and lifted her head up. He gave a smile then kissed her, and didn't stop until it was time to go to Pixels.
- - - - - - - - -
Back at Pixel's house, he was just putting the final touches on the time machine.
"Where the heck are they?" wondered Pixel. "We've got history to rewrite."
"I'm sure they'll be back anytime now" the Mayor assured him.
"What will happen to us when Sportacus changes everything, Pixel?" Ziggy asked.
"If all goes according to plan, this future will be eliminated completely. We'll have no memory of it at all, Ziggy." Pixel explained.
Just then they heard the door open, and Sportacus and Stephanie came down the stairs.
"Are you ready Sportacus?" Pixel asked, fiddling with the time machine.
Sportacus nodded.
"Alright, I've got it set to just the right time." Pixel told him, and pressed a switch, creating a swirling blue portal. "You'll be sent back to just before you got zapped by the gun. So just step into that portal there, and you're good to go."
Ziggy was the first to come up to Sportacus before he stepped through.
"You can do it Sportacus!" Ziggy encouraged, giving him a big bear hug.
"Make us proud, and stop that Robbie Rotten." The Mayor told him, as he shook Sportacus' hand.
"Be careful dear." Bessie said, and kissed him on the cheek.
Once everyone had said their goodbyes, Stephanie came over and hugged Sportacus one last time, and kissed him softly.
"Don't forget me." she whispered quietly into his ear.
"Never." he replied, and walked towards the portal.
"Good luck Sportacus." Pixel nodded to him.
Sportacus nodded back, and waved to everyone as he disappeared into the portal.
