Chapter 2: As The World Falls Down

This entire place was stupid.

Robbie Rotten decided that very clearly as he came upon the latest dead end. Stupid maze. He glanced at the walls, then dismissed the idea. Too high to climb. No thanks. He sighed and turned around, ready to take a new turn.

There was no turn. He was in a forest.

"OH FOR THE LOVE OF CAKE!"

He stomped his foot furiously, then started stalking angrily forward. Whatever. He didn't care any more. So long as he was out of that damned maze. He couldn't give a damn.

When the music started, he nearly had a fit.

A brightly colored furred (feathered?) thing popped out of the undergrowth, startling him.

"What do you want?" he yelled, frustrated and frightened. The creature laughed, and it startled him further. The voice was familiar.

"Just wanna have a good time!" Trixie replied, laughing. She struck a match and set fire to a pile of firewood, cavorting around and having a grand time. A bird alighted on a branch nearby, and in the same breath she brandished her slingshot and shot it down, dead. Robbie backpedaled.

"What did you do that for?!" he yelped. She grinned impishly at him.

"So what?" she said. "It's not like I hurt it or anything, right? I'm playing!"

"You killed it!"

"Killed?" she tilted her head, then laughed again. "I don't know what that is. But everything's a game, right? Oh!" She leapt closer to him, looking up at him with glittering eyes of mischief. "Do you wanna play? All my friends, they left. They said I was too mean, but I'm not! I'm really not! I just don't want to be alone. They'd make fun of me if they knew. Mister, you'll stay and play, won't you?"

"I don't have the time!" he snapped, backing away. Trixie's decorated face turned pouty.

"No time?" she parroted. "No time for playing? What kind of excuse is that?"

Robbie turned and ran as fast as he could, and hoped his longer legs would keep the demented thing off of him. He was panting and clutching his side as he ducked into an entrance to a tunnel in a large stone wall that cut off the forest.

He leaned against the cold stone once inside and caught his breath, one hand on his side to try and press out the stitch that had developed.

"What do we have here?" a smooth accented voice crooned from his side. He yelped and jumped backwards, eyes wide.

"What the… Sportacus?"

The man lifted an eyebrow and smirked at him. It made chills go down his spine. That was not a Sportacus thing to do. Something was more wrong than before.

"How are you enjoying my labyrinth?"

"This is your stupid maze?!" Robbie yelled. He tried to loom over the damn elf, but even though he was significantly taller, it seemed to have no effect on Sportacus. If anything, it was making Robbie feel smaller, the way the sports elf was trying to suppress a grin at his tactics.

"Whatever game you're playing, you can stop," Robbie huffed. "It's stupid."

"Is my labyrinth too easy for you?" he merely answered back, a hint of teasing in his voice. Robbie glared venomously at him. But before he could reply, Sportacus shook his head.

"My apologies," he said lightly, and Robbie could practically feel the condescending tone dripping off of every word like thick syrup. "Perhaps I could offer you something of a challenge then?" He glanced up and startled Robbie with his shockingly blue eyes, but Robbie regained his composure and snorted condemningly. Sportacus grinned.

"I have a gift for you," he said. Robbie instantly perked up.

"What is it?" he asked rapidly. "It better not be any healthy junk." Sportacus quickly rewrote what he was going to summon. Apples weren't the best choice then, he supposed. Ah well. He flicked his wrist and a cupcake appeared in his hand.

"For you," he said, smiling and holding it out to Robbie. Robbie eyed him suspiciously, but the cake was right there, so he snatched it. Sportacus laughed and disappeared. Normally, Robbie would have been a little unsettled by this.

But it was a dream, and there was cake in front of him. Small and bite-sized, but sugar none the less. He bit into it happily. Opened his mouth for the next bite, then stopped.

Something was wrong.

The world grew fuzzier, and his limbs numb. The cupcake slid out of his hand and fell to the ground. He leaned against the stone wall once more, his back sliding down it until he was slumped on the floor. Everything seemed feverish. He was out of breath, and it felt like he had taken too much cold medicine. Everything was fuzzy, dream-like, and his muscles went lax.

All too soon, he found himself in the oddest place yet.

His surroundings blurred too much, so he didn't focus on them… rather, he focused on the people around him. They wore masks and elaborate suits- disguises, he noted, and looked down at himself. An elaborately formal suit. Dark purple. But it was almost drab- he blended right in to the crowd with hardly any effort. His mind was still hazy, so he drifted, not sure what he was doing… what had he been doing? Hadn't he been looking for something? He couldn't keep a grasp on his own thoughts. He turned, pushed by the crowd, and that's when he saw him.

Sportacus was in the crowd.

Robbie pushed towards the familiar face almost frantically. Sportacus. That mustached face was unforgettable, even if the man was eyeing him in a completely alien way, as if sizing him up, teasing, taunting. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was getting to him.

Robbie didn't notice the faint strains of music echoing through the room. Music had become part of his life, and this place seemed twice as full of it as Lazy Town. He squeezed between people who didn't notice him, like he was invisible. Just another piece of the group. He lost sight of the blue elf multiple times, and nearly grew frantic. Everything was too scary, on his own.

So, when he turned around and Sportacus was standing right there, soft smiles and an open hand, Robbie didn't hesitate to take it.

He didn't know how the man was leading while being shorter than him… but he was. And Robbie was too entranced to question much of anything. Sportacus looked up at him, eyes twinkling with mirth and mischief.

"There's such a sad love, deep in your eyes, a kind of pale dew," Sportacus opened his mouth and sang quietly, staring directly into Robbie's eyes. "Opened and closed, within your eyes… I'll place the sky, within your eyes."

Robbie felt heat rush to his face, and his heart sped. Sportacus was leading the dazed man in a slow dance, leisurely and gently, and soon enough all of the other members of the crowd paired up and copied their steps.

"There's such a fooled heart beating so fast, in search of new dreams, a love that will last, within your heart," the elf continued. "I'll place the moon, within your heart."

This was not the same elf who sang and danced with children, who sang upbeat pop songs about being healthy. Robbie could register that, though not much else. No, this was…

"As the pain sweeps through, make no sense for you… every thrill is gone, wasn't too much fun at all. But I'll be there for you… as the world falls down."

No, this was Sportacus singing directly to him, and him alone. There was a message.

"I'll paint you moments of gold, I'll spin you valentine evenings, though we're strangers till now.. We're choosing the path between the stars… I'll lay my love, between the stars."

The message was a love song.

What surprised Robbie more than anything was the fact that he didn't mind it at all. Sportacus had his arm around his waist, and it was warm… the elf's hand was in his (or was it the other way around?) and the man was singing, crooning, about him. And what was more… he was making promises to be there for him. What… what was going on? Was this real?

He tore his eyes from the depthless blues in front of him and glanced around. The other pairs dancing did not notice him. They were flirting, giggling, swaying from one partner to the next, but… Sportacus gripped him tighter, and it clicked into place, even through the fog in his mind.

He was invisible.

To everyone but the elf, he didn't matter. They paid him as much attention as air. Panic welled deep in his chest and swelled upwards. No. No no no. This couldn't happen.

He wasn't important.

He broke away forcefully, startling a few of the other dancers. Good. He glanced once more at Sportacus, who was looking at him almost pleadingly.

'Come back. I'll keep you safe. I'll make you feel loved.'

He couldn't afford to fall to Sportakook. He was looking for something, wasn't he? He picked up a chair and swung it. He couldn't afford to lose whatever game this was. No matter how tempting the distractions were.

How would he ever face Sportacus in the real world if he lost to him in a dream?

The wall shattered, and he had the most frightening sensation of falling before the world went black.

Sportacus twirled Stephanie once, and she laughed. He smiled at her and she smiled back up at him.

"I rather like you," he commented. He bent over and leaned in close. "You don't have my eyes, but your hair is somewhat endearing." She fingered a lock self-consciously, and he flicked the corresponding lock on the opposite side of her face with a smirk.

He flicked a wrist and a bright red apple appeared in his hand. He presented it to her, holding it in front of her face.

"Do you want it?"

"Yes," she answered automatically, reaching for it. He pulled it away. She blinked, then laughed delightedly and stretched on her toes, reaching for it.

"Papa!" she chastised, giggling. He grinned widely, showing all teeth, and dropped it into her waiting hands. She bit into it eagerly.

He laughed loudly, and she wiped away some juice that leaked from the corners of her mouth.

AN:

There's only 2 or more chapters after this, and then an epilogue. For some reason, I keep ending the chapters with Sportacus and Stephanie. I didn't do that on purpose... that's just how I wrote it and where the breaks are...

The entire dream scene needs explanation... because as hilarious as Robbie in that poofy white dress would have been, it didn't fit. Sarah's dream in the movie was a reflection of her wishes- in other words, a fantasy world that reflects adulthood. She's the only one in the room with that sugary white innocent dress. Everyone else is wearing masks, and admittedly ugly ones at that. Robbie's dream-wish, however, is different because he's a different person. He does act like a little kid trying to be an adult, but that's not his wish. That's not what he's trying for. He's trying for invisibility. Blending in so completely (disguises) that no one notices him. He wants it for various reasons- you can pick what you like as motive. But that's his wish.

Of course, he realizes at the last moment that it's not what he really wants at all, and he breaks it. What he wants more than anything is attention, he just kept denying it... until then of course.

That scene was about as SportaRobbie as it gets in this fic. (I'm sorry!)

Next chapter is one of my favorite scenes. Pixel. Robbie comes away from the experience rather... well anyway, you'll find out. Robbie's experience in the Underground is very different from Sarah's, because... well, he needs different things, doesn't he?

Reviews make me update faster. And with college kicking my ass fifteen different ways, I might forget without being reminded.