DISCLAIMER: I still don't own LazyTown, nor am I getting any type of monetary gain from this story. And seriously, there's not much I would change if I did. Oh, a few things here and there…but, there's not much you can do to perfect brilliance. 'Cept add kisses (:squees:). And not the chocolate kind, because Sportacus wouldn't like that...although Robbie would be thrilled.
A/N: So here's chapter two. Sorry it took so long. I had it written a while ago, but I was avoiding it for some reason. Anywho, thanks to Razothredfire to beta-ing for me. And thanks to everyone who reviewed my first chapter: Razoth, LA Suka, Chewing Gum, Kytten, and Jareth-King. You're all wonderful. Cookies all around! Hee.
A Slippery Slope
Chapter 2: A Plan is Hatched
Sportacus felt horrible about the whole thing. For one, he couldn't figure out what he did wrong. And second… Well, the fact that he did something wrong in the first place. It seemed like he could never do well when it involved Robbie Rotten. Everyone else loved him, adored him even. But not Robbie. Sportacus only wanted to know why Robbie disliked him so much. He certainly tried to treat the semi-villain kindly, extending his hand in friendship time and time again. Sportacus rescued him just as much, if not more, than the rest, whether or not he knew it was Robbie he was setting out to rescue. Robbie seemed grateful after the fact, but only for a few brief moments, when he seemed too dazed to dish out his usual spiteful remarks. After the haze cleared he was just as petulant as ever. He would grudgingly accept that he had been saved by the town hero once again, and then slink away back to his home, wherever that was. Sportacus let him go because that's what he thought Robbie wanted. But now he wasn't so sure. Robbie had said he was lonely. Sportacus didn't like that. He needed to make Robbie feel happy and loved, not lonely.
At the moment, Sportacus was wandering around LazyTown, searching for the MIA Robbie. He had stormed off earlier after Sportacus had wiped away the wet trails from his face. But Sportacus was worried. He couldn't find Robbie and it was late. He was functioning on borrowed energy obtained from the apple tree and there was no telling how long that energy would last. Robbie could get into serious trouble and Sportacus might be too tired to save him this time.
"I can't let that happen." Sportacus set a determined expression on his face and continued his search.
oOoOo
Robbie was a bit lost...but he really wasn't overtly worried. It was only LazyTown after all, population: nine. That's what it seemed like most of the time anyway. The only people Robbie ever noticed were the people that bothered him. Namely those kids and the blue jumping bean, and the Mayor, who never listened to his complaints about the rising noise level of the town, and the idiot mayor's secretary, who had accidentally telephoned Robbie more times that he could count. Talk about false hope. Although she wasn't the worst of the bunch, since she was fairly lazy when she wasn't making a phone call.
A window box full of sickly sweet smelling flowers pouring out of it caught Robbie's eye. He looked through the glass panes above it into the room beyond.
A shining nightlight lit up the room so brightly that Robbie wondered how the occupant could sleep. He couldn't stand having a light on while he was trying to rest. That was why he lived underground. So he could stay unconscious all day long without that pesky sun sneaking in through his eyelids.
Robbie wondered only briefly who the occupant of the room was, before he noticed the main color scheme of the room. It was pink. Horribly pink. It looked like the inside of a Pepto-Bismol coated stomach. Robbie gagged.
It was Stephanie's room, the pink kid that Sportacus seemed to have such a soft spot for. She was also well on her way to becoming just as active and noisy as the blue elf himself.
"If she was only slightly older she would have snatched all of Sportacus' attention away already..." He growled at his reflection. "Why do I even care?" He smacked his hand on the glass, yelped, and quickly ducked underneath the window box, lest someone catch him hovering outside of an eight-year-old's bedroom in the middle of the night. A few moments later he heard the latch click unlocked. The Mayor's weary voice drifted out of the now open window. Robbie held his breath.
"There's nothing out here, Stephanie, see? Now, won't you go to sleep? It's after midnight and Sportacus is always saying how important sleep is, you know."
"Yes, Uncle..."
The window slid shut and Robbie started breathing again with a gasp.
"Silly little girl, afraid of loud noises." He felt the urge to carry out a devious plan against her. It just wasn't fair that Sportacus liked her so much. Robbie tried to be liked, sometimes. Okay, not really. But the pink nymph didn't try either. All she had to do was be herself and the blue pixie adored her. Sportacus had said he liked Robbie the way he was, but "liked" was probably stretching it. He tolerated him, at best.
"Maybe I want more than just toleration." He made a face. "I can't believe that she actually called me a softie..." He peeked back up over the window sill. Pinkie seemed to be back asleep. "Maybe...if she wasn't so adorably pink, Sportacus wouldn't like her so much." He rubbed his hands together; a malevolent smile crept onto his face.
"Time to get some supplies."
---
A few minutes later Robbie was back with a can full of lime green paint and a pair of scissors.
"Good thing I keep a few necessary items stashed in most of the mailboxes around town. Now let's see..." Robbie tried to force open the window. "It's locked. Of course she'd be too scared to keep it open after I accidentally attacked it. Let's see...ah! The Mayor's ladder." Robbie grabbed the ladder and set it against the house, trying to make as little noise as possible. "Don't want to wake up the pretty little princess again, do we?"
Robbie struggled up the ladder, juggling the paint can and shears.
"These do not make for an easy climb," he huffed. "But I can't leave them behind." He looked down at the instruments he was clutching fiercely and caught sight of the ground. "This ladder had better be sturdier than that fence was." It shifted as Robbie prepared to continue up. "Guess not," he whimpered.
Taking a few deep breaths, and reminding himself how much he did not like the little pink chit, he found the strength to continue up to the next rung.
---
Sportacus was close to panicking now. He knew that Robbie wasn't always able to take care of himself. He needed both hands to count the number of times he had saved Robbie in the short while he had been at LazyTown. And it was even more dangerous this late at night. Sportacus could barely see the skateboard he just managed to hop over, too tired to pull off a flip. He couldn't imagine what trouble Robbie might be getting into. Luckily his crystal hadn't lit yet, which was why he was only close to panicking, and not actually throwing a fit.
The slight moonlight reflected in Sportacus' eyes as he looked up to the sky. It was such a quiet night that the sudden beeping of his crystal sounded as loud as a car horn. A rush of adrenaline flowed into his bloodstream. His chest blazed so brightly he almost missed the vision that flashed before his eyes.
Sportacus sprinted towards Stephanie's house.
oOoOo
Robbie was finally up on the roof. It had taken him longer than he had planned, but that was fine, he had all night.
"Better safe than sorry," Robbie murmured while tip-toeing across the roof. "Now I just need to slide down the chimney, find Stephanie's room, and give her a haircut and color she won't ever forget." Robbie laughed loudly. "And then, because the pink sprite is no longer adorable, Sportacus will leave LazyTown, forever!" He paused. "Maybe not." He sighed. "But I'm still going to mess with Pinker because... I. Don't. Like. Her," he gritted out. "She's too...bouncy." And way too close to Sportacus...
"Now, to get in and ruin her--" Robbie's foot slid on a loose shingle and he tilted precariously towards the edge. His feet scrambled to get his body balanced, but the dew that had started to form on the roof's surface kept them from stabilizing. As Robbie felt himself lean past the point of no return, it occurred to him that the shoddy roof work of the Mayor would be the end of him. He always knew it would. Ever since I knocked down his fence...I knew his work wanted revenge...and now it has it.
He plummeted towards the ground.