Chapter 7: Glaumbæjargengið

"MINE!"

Robbie grumbled and stomped over to the periscope, looking out and focusing the view until the normal pack of brats appeared. Well, not all of them… Robbie only saw the yellow child and pig-tailed brat at the moment. They were both huddled next to a bush, and peering into it intently.

"I want iiiiit," Stingy was whining. There was a small mew from the bush, and Robbie's heart stopped beating.

The kitten.

He was out of his lair as fast as he could get, and walking swiftly toward that area of town. The kitten was his, it liked him best.

Meanwhile, Stingy and Trixie were still gathered around it.

Stingy picked up a stick and poked it into the bush, hoping to get the kitten to come out. There was only an aggravated hiss, so he poked again.

"You're not doing it right!' Trixie snapped at him. "If you want to get it out, you can't be right in front like this! Here, I'll show you."

She grabbed him by the arm and dragged him a little distance away, pulling out her slingshot and taking careful aim. She wasn't aiming to hurt the precious little prize.

"Get ready," she said to Stingy, who nodded and crouched, ready to spring.

Just as she fired her shot into the bush, a furious Robbie Rotten came stalking onto the scene. Just in time to see the kitten dart out of the bush, startled by the shot, and come racing towards him. Stingy sprang, and made a grab for the kitten as she raced by. He caught her by the tail, and she yowled in such a way that it sounded like a scream, and instinctually sprang back on the hand holding her hostage, clawing and biting at it with such ferocity that Stingy screamed.

Robbie snapped at that moment.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" he bellowed. Trixie dropped her slingshot in shock, but Stingy was focused on grabbing the cat in such a way that it would stop trying to tear him apart. He was certain that, once he had a good hold of it, it would consent to being his rather amiably…

He forgot about it when a foot connected with his side.

"LET HER GO THIS INSTANT!"

Trixie was backing up, her eyes wide. They'd all seen Robbie mad, of course. It was almost a constant state of Robbie-ness, being angry. But this was a whole new level of fury she'd yet to see in her life. For the first time, she understood that Robbie was a full-grown man, much bigger than any of them, and very capable of hurting them.

She beat a hasty retreat, terrified almost to the point of tears.

Stingy meanwhile, had let go of the kitten in favor of holding onto his side. That hurt. It hurt a lot. What was going on? Grownups never hurt little kids… Robbie was doing it all wrong again. He whimpered, and curled up, still clutching his aching ribs.

Robbie was trying to pry a petrified kitten from his leg when Sportacus came flipping onto the scene.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking from Robbie to Stingy. "Who's in trouble?" Robbie opened his mouth to tell him off, but Stingy got there first.

"Robbie hit me!" he bawled out. Robbie hissed at him, still in pain from the kitten's claws in his leg and still absolutely furious at the boy. Sportacus was staring at him with hugely widened eyes.

"Robbie?…" he breathed. Robbie swung his glare from the boy to the sports elf.

"You tell these brats," he started angrily, finally managing to transfer the shivering ball of fur from his leg into his arms, and straightening up. "You tell them to stay the hell away from my kitten. And tell them it's not nice to torture animals."

Sportacus' shocked gaze went to Stingy then, who was still crying.

"We weren't!" he sobbed, looking up at Sportacus desperately. "We just wanted to get it out of the bush, so we could see, and it didn't want to come out, so-"

"SO YOU THREW ROCKS AT HER AND POUNCED ON HER!" Robbie screeched. Stingy sobbed louder, scared. Sportacus could feel the tension in the air about to snap, and knew he had to intervene. First he had to calm Robbie down before the man came to the conclusion of revenge being an ideal solution.

"Robbie, come on, sit down. She's still terrified, look, her tail's all puffed out…" he motioned over to a bench, and to his relief, Robbie went and sat down on it, whispering things (undoubtedly about revenge for her injured tail) to the kitten and petting her with his free hand. Sportacus turned to Stingy.

"Now, let's see what hurts," he said gently, and helped Stingy to stand up. After Stingy pointed out where it hurt and Sportacus lifted up the boy's shirt, he could see the beginnings of a nasty bruise on his side. Sportacus' look darkened, but he didn't risk a glance over at Robbie. He wouldn't be able to control himself at the moment.

"It looks like it'll be alright," he told Stingy gently, calling for an ice pack from his air ship and giving it to the boy to hold against the injury. He made it very clear to him that animals should not be harassed, and Stingy nodded sulkily. With that, Sportacus sent the boy home and told him he should keep ice on it, and go to the doctor as soon as possible.

After Stingy left, he focused on Robbie.

The kitten had calmed down considerably, though she was still skittish, and seemed to be hiding against Robbie as much as she could. Sportacus sat down next to the man, whose attention was still mostly on the shivering ball of fur cradled in his arms.

"They didn't mean to hurt her," Sportacus said. Robbie only scowled deeper and tightened his hold on the kitten.

"I hate them," Robbie finally muttered. Sportacus was silent for a moment, contemplating the ground.

"You shouldn't hit people Robbie." he said quietly. He could feel Robbie tense.

"They shouldn't be pestering small animals," he snapped back. The kitten mewled in distress, sensing the hostility, and Robbie instantly relaxed, going back to stroking the fur gently to show he wasn't angry at her. She purred hesitantly.

"They won't do it again." Sportacus added. "So, you promise. Promise you won't hit people again."

"I'm not promising anything."

"Please."

Robbie paused, and glanced up from the kitten for the first time. His eyes met the sports elf's bright blue ones.

"Why?"

Sportacus paused at the question.

"Because… it's bad to hit people."

"But I am bad. Everyone knows that. Try harder."

Sportacus scowled slightly at him, frustrated. Who was Robbie Rotten to order him around?

"Fine," he said, a little sharply. "Because it gets you in trouble? Does that appeal enough to your selfish side?" Robbie smiled a little.

"I always get in trouble too. You're still not answering it right. Think, for once. Why exactly are you telling me it's bad to hit people? Are you protecting them?"

"Yes," Sportacus answered automatically. Robbie made a buzzer sound.

"Wrong," he replied. "If it was for the sake of them, your answer would have been because you don't want to see anyone get hurt."

Sportacus felt the blood in his veins freeze up. Not again… why did Robbie always have to do this? Why did Robbie have to make him question everything? Was it part of his newest plan?

But for the life of him, he couldn't stand up and walk away. He couldn't stop listening.

"But instead," Robbie continued, as always. "You told me I'd get in trouble. And when confronted, you get confused and run in a circle. You know I wouldn't care about getting into trouble. I do it all the time. So, you lied."

"I didn't!"

"I didn't say you lied to me," Robbie continued, looking down at the kitten and petting her again, eliciting small purrs from her.

"You're lying to yourself, of course."

"Stop it Robbie."

"Your voice is shaking, you know. I can tell. No one else will notice, when you're lying. You lie all the time. Every time you smile when you don't want to, you're lying. No one else knows, but I do."

"Robbie, stop it…"

"Don't whimper so. It isn't that bad. You're trying to destroy what I am, so don't I have a fair shot too? If you're allowed to try and reform me and make me nice and considerate and happy, can't I do the same to you?"

Sportacus found himself frozen again. He wanted to say it wasn't the same.

"If you define yourself by being the hero, aren't I allowed to try and knock you down? That's fair, isn't it? If you're lying all the time to yourself… that's what is defining who you are, isn't it?"

The last sentence was a whisper, a sudden revelation. Robbie's eyes were almost as wide as his own.

"If you're trying to destroy who I am, Sportacus… change what defines me… I can fight back just as hard." He laughed suddenly, and it made Sportacus jump, startled.

"You said I shouldn't hit people because you're afraid I'll get in trouble. You do care about me. I hit it right on!" Robbie said happily, apparently pleased with himself. "Love really is about being destroyed!"

Sportacus abruptly felt his eyes fill with salty liquid. It felt like something inside of him was tearing apart. He wanted to curl up into a ball and sob like Stingy.

"You're wrong!" he found himself saying, though his voice cracked. Robbie didn't even look up.

"It's okay," Robbie said, gently. He rubbed the kitten's tiny fuzzy ears and she meowed her pleasure. "I'm broken too. So it's okay."

And Sportacus felt the last dam crumble like it was made of sand, and felt hot tears slide down his face.

"R-Robbie," he pleaded. He didn't know what for. But it hurt. Maybe he was pleading for Robbie to make it stop. He didn't know anymore.

Robbie looked up, and even through his blurry vision, Sportacus could see the other man's eyes were watery, even if he was smiling vaguely.

"I warned you, didn't I?" Robbie said, but it was said with a note of apology in it that Sportacus didn't miss. He sobbed then, and curled up on the bench with his forehead resting against Robbie's shoulder.

Robbie was right. He was utterly broken.

AN:

Wheeee! Second to last chapter! I did say it was going to be short.

Hmm. This was pretty much a continuation of their earlier argument about what love and loving someone is about. A twisted form of love, but that really doesn't make it less valid... at any rate, there it is. What Robbie essentially said in that entire thing is "I know you love me, and I love you too." In his own complicated evil way. Silly Robbie.

Yes, that kitten... Robbie pretty much considers her to be his now. He likes the feeling of fur (probably because of those half-surfaced memories about a dog, but who knows) and he's going to take comfort where he can.

Anyway. Next chapter is the last. Don't know when I'll start the next fic. Knowing me, it won't be long.

I love you guys! Keep reviewing!