Disclaimer: Lazytown belongs to Lazytown Inc and was created by Magnus Scheving. I am writing this for entertainment only. Captain Nimrod and Gretchen belong to me as does Professor Drekspatz! My thanks to all my reviewers so far! The capsules are not my idea either, I borrowed them from Dragon Ball Z.
Behind the Crystal
From Rotten to Dirty
On the way there, the moped bearing the Professor ground to a stop. He pulled off his mask and saw Robbie and the ballerina girl Rottenella lugging a prone shape. "Wait a minute!" he called.
"Where were you!" Robbie huffed, wiping sweat from his brow angrily. He tapped a spatted foot.
"You got the Captain?" gasped the Professor, rushing over to shine a flashlight in the Captain's face. Covered in whipped cream and custard, the woodland elf was comatose and limp in Rottenella's grasp. She had him by the boots and Robbie had lugged him by the shoulders.
"Yes! How about THAT!" he laughed.
"This is far better then that pink nuisance. I'm sure the athletic elf will have a fit when he finds out what has happened to his mentor," the Professor laughed.
"It was MY idea first!" Robbie pouted.
"Well then you can help me carry him back to the hideout and we can get moving!" laughed the Professor.
"What do you mean? I thought we could use him as bait to lure Sportakook, and then force him to promise to leave Lazytown forever!" Robbie blinked back.
"My boy, let's go now!" said the Professor. Tossing him a mask, he pulled his own on, and then fired his capsule gun. A thick cloud of smoke shot up, masking their retreat. Out of the night Sportacus flipped towards the source of the voices.
He narrowed his eyes, hearing the two villains arguing. Unfortunately the smoke choked and blinded him from following. His crystal flared and beeped frantically as he tried to see what they were dragging. Then as he concentrated, his crystal flared blue and went silent. "Oh no," Sportacus gasped. He raced back towards his skychaser, leaping in and using it to fly above the smoke.
As he approached Robbie's hideout, he saw something explode out of another cloud of smoke. Then two figures followed by a third emerged from the lair, and then walked towards a strangely shaped aircraft that had arisen from the smoke. Robbie Rotten was shouting angrily and waving his arm at another shape who was dragging the prostrate form of his mentor Captain nimrod. Angrily Sportacus gunned the skychaser and leapt down.
"You can't be serious! I was the one who stopped him!" Robbie shouted, running over and grabbing Nimrod's boots.
"Let go you stupid fool! He's MY nemesis! Get your own!" the Professor shouted.
"Rottenella, help me stop him!" he shouted.
"Don't be foolish girl! Why work for him when I'll treat you far better! I'll upgrade you so you won't have to be wound again!" the Professor shouted back. The Ballerina glared at Robbie and then pushed him away with one hand. Gasping, the villain hit the ground and Rottenella grabbed the device Robbie had used.
"Stop!" Sportacus shouted. Robbie Rotten pushed himself up, and saw Sportacus flipping towards them. Aiming his weapon, the Professor fired towards the sports elf and accidentally hit Robbie with his capsule. Sportacus twisted himself and pushed Robbie aside just as the capsule exploded. Grinning, the Professor motioned to Rottenella, who grinned back. She marched over and picked up Nimrod's boots to help shove him into the plane. Soon a whoosh of a jet engine blasted the smoke away, and the craft shot across the fields to sail like a bird into the night.
From high above in Sportacus' airship, Gretchen clawed the blue and white telescope nervously. Her heart sank to see Captain Nimrod disappear, and anxiously she wondered if she should go and help. Unfortunately Sportacus had not told her how to open the ladder to get down. Effectively she was stuck although perfectly safe. Worse yet she had no idea where the ropes or other equipment were stored other then one of the closets.
Quickly she rushed towards the back of the airship. She recalled Sportacus touching his feet to various panels to get items to eat. Her eyes narrowed on the small almost invisible circles on the floor. Experimentally she touched one with a sneakered toe then heard a resulting whir and yelped at the soccer ball shooting at her. It knocked her back on her rear. Groaning she sat up and then struggled to her feet. A quick scan of the cabin yielded no phone or anything else helpful. A quick glance at her wristwatch told her it was eight at night.
"Sportacus, please come back!" she pleaded, sinking down to the bed and dropped her head into her hands. Eventually she curled up on the bed and decided the best thing she could do was try and rest, hopeful he would return.
Morning dawned and Gretchen leapt up. She raced toward the forward port again with the scope. Still there was no sign of Sportacus. However she did spot the Mayor's grandstand unfurling in the town square. People were congregating, and Gretchen focussed the scope down. If she could just move the ship somehow she could at least get a better view. So she moved over to the pilots seat and dropped into it, trying to puzzle the controls. Oddly enough the console resembled a pedal car and she grinned. Was it that simple? All she had to do was pedal the thing and somehow move it enough so people could see it, and hope Sportacus was among them.
Easier said then done when she pushed the pedals. She encountered a lot of resistance that reminded her of trying to pedal a bike in a science museum, the sort attached to a generator that would make a TV light up. Still she gave her best and was rewarded by the airship gliding forwards. Every few minutes she rested, then went to grab some orange juice out of the fridge she'd figured out how to open. Finally the ship stopped over the town square.
She stumbled over to the panel she remembered seeing sports equipment in. Reaching up she tagged the panel with her hand and it slid open. Golf clubs, baseball bats and other sports paraphernalia abounded but no rope. Another closet yielded yards of rope and climbing equipment. Gretchen smiled, grabbing lengths of rope and then some pitons. She rushed towards the middle of the floor where the pole would drop.
"Open… hey…" she shouted.
"Darn it. What did he say. Down!" she shouted. Still the craft wouldn't listen. Grumbling she narrowed her eyes and deepened her voice. Again she shouted the command varying her voice enough so it matched his. Finally the ship must have been satisfied enough because the platform opened up and she grabbed the pole to slide down. Wrapping the rope around the pole, she then fastened it to the swami belt and then tried to rappel down.
Being the daughter of a geologist had its perks. Especially when she had picked up some rock climbing. Unfortunately it had been years since she had done it. Slowly she lowered herself on the rope, praying that she could hold her own strength up. Finally her feet touched ground and she unhooked the rope. The gathered group groaned in disappointment to see her.
"We thought you were Sportacus!" Stephanie said, rushing over.
Sheepishly Gretchen moved over and rested a hand on Stephanie's shoulder. "I couldn't get down! Where is he?"
"We're trying to find him, since last night! Something terrible has happened!" said Stephanie, wringing her hands. She moved closer to the teacher and accepted the woman's arm around her shaking shoulders while putting her arm around Gretchen's waist. Both of them stood close gaining comfort from one another's presence.
"Oh my you seem fine, but er… where is Sportacus?" asked the Mayor.
"Sportacus was trying to keep me safe but I couldn't get the ship to let me down," she complained. "Where's the Captain?"
"He's gone missing!" said the Mayor. Stephanie saw the distress on her teacher's face and gave her a sympathetic squeeze.
"Oh no!" she gasped. One of the other kids rushed up, holding up what looked like the Captain's hat, and something else. Clutching it she felt her heart sink. The chief of police was there, and he moved up next to see her.
"Miss Lidenbrock, can you tell us anything?"
"I can tell you what I saw from the airship," she confirmed. Everyone was staring at her strangely and she realized it was because she was wearing a set of Sportacus pants and shirt. She related her eyewitness account which the officer wrote down on his pad of paper.
Elswhere two figures lay side by side in the light of the rising son. One of them blinked up into daylight. He blinked up into daylight. Rolling over he saw Sportacus out cold, turned on his side away from him. Long furrows left by the landing gear of the jet cast twin lines across the huge field behind Robbie's hideout and he stumbled to his feet.
"Oho my HEAD," Robbie groaned. Wildly he glanced around, unable to find any trace of his former guest.
"That UNGRATEFUL… of all the…" Robbie shouted, kicking a rock. "How DARE he take MY hostage! Is there NO justice among villains?"
Angrily he kicked another rock, but overreached and stumbled, landing on his backside. Groaning he climbed to his feet and shouted a slew of curses as he shook his fist at the morning sky. He didn't hear the rustling of the grass till Sportacus groaned. Robbie whirled his head around and dashed over to Sportacus. Dropping to his knee he shook his head.
"You stupid goon! You were supposed to STOP them! I had the perfect plan and you didn't show up in time! Some hero you are!" Robbie yelled at him.
"Stop shouting," Sportacus groaned, blinking up.
"Stupid sports elf!" Robbie snapped, grabbing Sportacus and shaking him. "Wake up! Wake up!"
Sportacus suddenly blinked up at Robbie leaning over him. Was he crazy or did the villain seem awfully worried. Frantically Robbie grabbed Sportacus by the shoulders and hauled him up to a sitting position. Shaking his head, Sportacus coughed at the aftereffects of the sweet tasting gas. "What happened… it's morning already… wait… the Captain!"
"Snap out of it, Sportanerd! Your friend's GONE, thanks to that Professor! He TOOK my hostage! How DARE he! And I was going to use him to force you to promise to leave Lazytown forever!" Robbie shouted.
"Robbie, are you actually trying to help me?" Sportacus gave him a smile. Robbie jumped back and rubbed his hands on his striped pants, recoiling in horror.
"Well… maybe I am! So WHAT!" Robbie spat back as Sportacus slowly stood up. He stumbled a bit, and oddly enough Robbie darted over and grabbed the sport elf's arm. Again Sportacus cast him a confused look and the villain snarled at him. Unfortunately he was still shaky on his feet and leaned heavily as he almost crashed into Robbie.
"Whoops… I can hardly stand up… whatever that Professor hit me with… I can hardly walk straight. I must help… the Captain," Sportacus panted, his eyes filled with pain. Robbie felt a twinge of guilt in his dark heart and struggled to push his own body under and drag the elf to his feet. Finally he swung Sportacus arm around his neck and dragged him alongside of him.
"Get up you silly idiot! You've GOT to get moving!" Robbie shouted. "You're supposed to be able to fend off whatever that smoke is! You're heavier then you look!"
"You're helping me," Sportacus laughed lightly. "You're not so rotten after all!"
"Grrr, shut up! If you tell ANYONE about this I'll drown you in custard!" Robbie growled. Sportacus had clung to the front of the villain's vest and tried as well as he could to hobble.
"If you help me stand up, and get me some sports candy… I'll be fine," Sportacus panted. Glaring at him Robbie Rotten half dragged the hero towards his hideout. Panting, he pushed Sportacus down in the shade of his billboard and glared at him.
"You stay THERE. I'll get your stupid… disgusting sports candy. But you'll tell NOBODY about this, hear me! NOBODY!" Robbie snapped, shaking a finger in his face. Sportacus laughed lightly, looking up at him in gratitude.
"There's an apple tree not far away," Sportacus pointed.
Angrily Robbie ambled off, cursing and spitting under his breath. With interest Sportacus saw a blush on the man's pallid face. He wondered why Robbie was helping him when he had been in cahoots with the Professor. Yet he didn't question his good fortune when the villain returned holding an apple by the stem like it was a poisonous beast.
"Here, here's your stupid… apple! Eat it and GO!" Robbie snarled, dangling it in Sportacus face. Weakly Sportacus reached up and took it from his nemesis, his fingers brushing Robbie's. Yelping the villain tugged his hand away and rubbed it as if he was afraid of germs.
"Thank you, Robbie," said Sportacus, biting and swallowing anxiously. Within a few seconds he had finished it. Robbie continued to glare at him, crossing both arms over his chest and tapping his foot.
"Now, you'd better go after him, and help him, I suppose," said Robbie.
"But who's going to take care of Lazytown then," Sportacus blinked. "I haven't the slightest idea where they took him! What was the Professor going to do to him?"
"Something nasty no doubt," Robbie Rotten glared at him. A cruel smile came over his face. "And the sooner you leave and rescue him, the better for me!"
"So you're not helping me because you're worried?" Sportacus asked.
"This gets rid of you for a while," Robbie laughed, clapping his hands and pacing a half circle around Sportacus. He leapt to his feet, and rested his hands on his hips. Angrily he shook his head at Robbie.
"What a shame. I thought you actually cared," said Sportacus looking dejected.
"I didn't say I didn't… I mean… WHATEVER!" Robbie shouted back. "I mean so what if you leave. You'll just come back anyway!"
"I will, Robbie. You can count on it," said Sportacus, moving over and slugging him on the back. Robbie yelped and tried to push him away.
"Ech, stop it! I'm NOT being nice, and I don't care!" Robbie shouted, his face flushing crimson.
"Well if I find you've done some awful mischief when I'm gone, I'll be rather upset. And just because the Captain has been taken doesn't mean that I will stop protecting Lazytown," Sportacus tapped his chin and paced back and forth. Then he stopped and wheeled on Robbie.
"What are you looking at, Sportaflop!" Robbie snapped.
"Unless you come with me and I can keep an eye on you," Sportacus laughed.
"Don't you DARE! I'd rather eat your stupid sports candy! I won't go! You're on your own!" Robbie spluttered.
"But you were the one who brought him here. And I can't leave you alone. And you must have some way of knowing where this Professor would take my friend. So you're coming with me," Sportacus said, grasping Robbie's arm and tugging him gently.
"You can't make me!" Robbie spluttered.
"I wouldn't say that," Sportacus said, grabbing the villain and throwing him over one shoulder.