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! My thanks to KrysSaiyan my first reviewer, and to Anita and everyone else who's reviewed!
Behind the Crystal
Sportacus Gets Fed Up
Robbie shrieked and pounded Sportacus on the back as the sports elf carried him into the town square where the others of Lazytown had assembled. As usual Mayor Meanswell stood behind a podium but he was flanked by police officers. A police cruiser was parked in the street just in front of the platform. The Mayor swung around and rushed down from his platform when Sportacus arrived with his noisy captive. Simultaneously the Captain of police and two officers rushed up when Sportacus dropped Robbie Rotten on the ground.
"Sportacus!" chorused Stephanie and Gretchen. They both almost knocked Sportacus over when they rushed into his arms. Reaching down Sportacus picked Stephanie up with one arm and gave her a hug of her own while Gretchen moved back. Yet then he extended his other hand and pulled the science teacher next to him.
"I didn't do it!" Robbie denied.
"Put that man under arrest!" the Mayor shouted. Two policemen flanked Robbie Rotten who sat sulking on the ground and glaring at Sportacus.
"Captain Nimrod's gone missing!" Gretchen cried. Sportacus let Stephanie slide to the ground. Still he held her hand.
"I know! The Professor took him," said Sportacus. One of his arms wrapped around Gretchen and the other held Stephanie close to his hip to hug them with relief.
"Where IS he, you horrible demented jerk!" Gretchen snarled, separating herself from Sportacus and marching over to him. Seeing the venom in her face Robbie backpedaled a bit, wincing as if she had hit him. Obviously the other hero meant a great deal to the science teacher, and Robbie had a suspicion why.
"I SAID it wasn't my fault!" Robbie snapped.
"I swear if he's hurt… you'll pay, Herr Rotten!" Gretchen narrowed her eyes at Robbie and wagged a finger at him. That schoolteacher from heck persona hit Robbie with a vengeance and he cringed. By now Stephanie had released Sportacus hand and wandered over to stand near her friends to the mayor's left.
"He took him away in his aircraft! I don't know where! But he took Rottenella too!" Robbie whimpered.
"Rottenella?" Stephanie and the others blinked.
Pixel said, "You mean that dancing girl from the contest?"
"Yes," said Robbie angrily. "Now let me go!"
"You'll have to stay in jail till we sort this all out, Mr. Rotten," said the Captain of police. "Shall I take him away, Mayor?"
"I need him to find Captain Nimrod," Sportacus said.
"Wait you don't need him for that," Gretchen said. "Surely there must be SOME other way to find out where they went. I mean Robbie invited the Professor, and they are BOTH inventors so there must be SOME way to track him!"
"Where would he take the Captain, Gretchen?" asked Sportacus.
"There's many places," said Gretchen with a weary sigh. "The problem is narrowing them down. They've got a big head start on us."
"How do you think I feel, huh? I want my doll back!" Robbie glared.
"Wait, don't you have some way of knowing where she is if she got lost?" asked Pixel.
"What was that, Pixel?" asked Sportacus, glancing at the gizmo guy.
"Well, from what you guys told me he saw the Captain in the dark. But Robbie Rotten knew where Rottenella was, and he doesn't run that fast…" said Pixel.
"So what?" Robbie glared at him.
"Maybe he has a tracking device in the robot? If he's so worried about losing her, and if I was him I'd build some way of keeping track of my inventions. I started putting microchip tracers in all of my gizmos since Robbie Rotten stole my remote control! And I'm sure Robbie does the same, right?" asked Pixel.
"So what?" Robbie snorted. He fixed his gray eyes on the boy hoping to stun him, but that didn't necessarily work on the gizmo kid. Judging from his guilty expression Robbie confirmed Pixel was right.
"Well then does that explain this phone?" asked Pixel holding up a cellular phone decorated with purple and red stripes. There was no question whose it was.
"Give me that!" Robbie reached for it, but the policemen grabbed his shoulders and pushed him down on his knees.
"It fell out of your pocket," Pixel said. He pointed with one computer clad finger to a small blinking light on the cell phone's LCD screen with the word Rottenella beside it.
"You're joking, you mean you can track that mechanical girl with that thing, Pixel?" Sportacus asked.
"All right, that's what it does! Wherever she's going is where the Professor is," Robbie snickered.
"Pixel, can you figure out how to make this give a GPS reading?" asked Sportacus.
"I think so. Just a few adjustments here… and there we go," Pixel mumbled.
"FINE! You can have the stupid phone, just don't drag ME along! And bring her back because I paid good money bringing her back into my service, the ungrateful tin can! Just hit the letters GPS and it will give you a fix!" Robbie glared resentfully at Pixel.
"Thank you Robbie. Was it that hard to be helpful?" Sportacus thanked him.
"Keep away from me all of you!" Robbie snorted. He held his cuffed hands up to block anyone who would come close. "If you're going to take me to jail, put me in a QUIET cell!"
"Oh we will, Mr. Rotten," said the police chief. "C'mon right this way sir. We've got a nice dark remote cell somewhere we can put you till you go to trial for abducting and attacking a town hero!"
"How about arresting that Captain Nimrod for trespassing?" Robbie spluttered back, flailing long legs and arms.
"The hero code says that he's allowed to do it if the villains pose a threat to the town," Sportacus said, giving Robbie a dangerous look from his glacial blue eyes. Robbie cringed to see the normally docile and fun-loving Sportacus cast him such a hateful gaze.
"I'm SORRY, I didn't KNOW he'd go to such extremes! I just brought him here to make all of you shut up so I could take a NAP!" Robbie whined.
"C'mon, this way Mister Rotten!" the police said, tugging on his arms and walking him between them. Moping, Robbie sniffled as they marched him towards the police cruiser that had parked near the Town hall.
"Robbie, Robbie, Robbie, I feel sorry for him," sighed Sportacus, shaking his head with closed eyes and arms folded over his chest, as he always did whenever Robbie was revealed as the mastermind behind a botched plot.
"How can you feel that way after what he did, Sportacus?" Stephanie glared at Sportacus. Still she kept hold of Gretchen's hand and the teacher shushed her.
"Stephanie, because his motives weren't as evil as this Professors were," said Sportacus quietly. "Right, Gretchen?"
"Robbie Rotten is a tame pussycat compared to the Professor, who is much like a tiger," said Gretchen angrily. Stephanie shivered and squeezed her teacher's hand more tightly.
"Mayor, is it all right if I leave Lazytown for a while to go after my mentor?" Sportacus asked. "With Robbie in Jail I hope things can stay reasonably active."
"Go ahead with my blessings," said Meanswell. "Of course!"
"Uncle, can I go with him?" asked Stephanie.
"I'm sorry Stephanie, but you can't. It could be dangerous," Meanswell whispered, taking her hand and pulling her to his side.
"Stephanie, the Mayor's right. You'd be safer here. As much as I'd love the company, this is a much more serious enemy I'm fighting," said Sportacus gently. Stephanie started to cry, burying her face in her uncle's chest. Gretchen felt guilt surround her and Pixel moved over to Stephanie's other side, putting a hand on her shoulder and giving it a squeeze. Sportacus dropped on one knee and reached a hand out to her. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, burying her face in his shoulder.
"Stephanie, say goodbye to Sportacus," said Meanswell quietly. "If you were older perhaps I wouldn't say no. But you're still just a little girl, and I'd be worried sick!"
"Please bring him back in one piece!" Stephanie turned to Gretchen who stood there uncomfortably shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"I… well… okay," Gretchen coughed. Stephanie gave her a big hug and then ran back to her uncle's side.
"I suppose you'll want to go with him then?" asked the Mayor. "I can have Miss Busybody fill in for your class."
"I don't know," said Gretchen nervously.
"I need your help," Sportacus said quietly. "You are the only one here that knows how the Professor thinks other then Robbie Rotten. And since taking him is out of the question…"
"I'll need a few minutes to pack," Gretchen said.
"I'll meet you in half an hour at your home," Sportacus said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She blushed as Trixie giggled and pointed, and Pixel hid his grin. Stephanie was too busy hiding her face in her uncle's shoulder to notice. Sighing, Meanswell dismissed the crowd and walked back towards his home with his arms around his niece protectively. Bessie and Mrs. Readsmore nodded at Gretchen, who swallowed hard when Sportacus flipped away from the square. As she walked to her house some of the kids chased along after her.
"Wow, you're going to go on a mission with Sportacus?" Ziggy gasped. "That's so cool!"
"Does that mean we still have to turn in our reports Wednesday?" Stingy asked.
"Yes. I'm sorry children, I'll be gone for a while," Gretchen said.
"Hey that's okay. Just take care of him ok?" said Trixie. The students shook hands or hugged her as she left to gather things together.
Her heart pounded with fear for her town hero, and excited disbelief Sportacus had chosen her to accompany him on a mission to save the Captain. After all that Nimrod had done in the service of her town and for her brothers it was only fair she would do all in her power to make sure he was free again. Even if it didn't seem like much.
"I'm not a superhero or even a slightly above average one, but Sportacus says he needs me, and the Captain would want it that way," said Gretchen, squaring her shoulders and marching into her house. Before long she had changed into hiking clothes and sturdy boots, and assembled a variety of geological tools and a change of clothes in one of her sturdiest backpacks. Swinging it over one shoulder she marched down the stairs to wait for Sportacus.