Trapped in Time

Chapter 1: Sleep = For The Weak

 It's 3:00 PM and Robbie Rotten cannot sleep. What else is new? He lets out an agitated groan but quickly realizes something. The sound of silence fills his underground lair, echoing off the metallic walls. Perfect. That only means one thing to the villain... where are the brats? Smiling to himself over the sound of no children, he rolls off his chair and makes his way outside. His most appreciated park bench is calling him, and it seems like just the perfect place to take a midday nap.

Just to Robbie's luck, no one was outside. Although somewhat strange, maybe Sportadork took them somewhere for the day. He never knows what the blue kangaroo is up to anymore. He is quickly pulled from his internal thoughts due to the sound of cracking wood. Before having the time to look up and see what is causing all the noise, a tree branch hits him right on top of the head. Sudden darkness appears in his vision, and he is out like a light.

Sportacus and the children make their way back to the middle of Lazy Town. His crystal had gone off a few minutes earlier. Since all the kids were with him, he wasn't quite sure what had caused it. It could have been Mayor Meanswell, again. It wasn't too long ago when he burnt his left-hand baking a cake for Miss Busybody. (Such a simp.) After a few hours of hiking, everyone is exhausted. Everyone except for Sportacus, of course, who is still flipping around and having fun. However, he is still concerned but did not want to make the kids fret during their trip back.

The sports elf escorts the children to their homes, and it did not take him long to realize a figure nearby. After dropping off Stephanie at her house, he flips over to the unconscious body that belongs to... Robbie Rotten? "Robbie!" Sportacus exclaims, quickly kneeling next to Robbie. A tree branch lay not too far away, and Sportacus puts two and two together. He gasps quietly and picks up the town villain.

The elf brings the man to the only place that he could think of: Robbie's lair. After setting the man comfortably in his chair, Sportacus examines the unconscious, yet peaceful face of his so-called arch-nemesis. He never hated Robbie: he couldn't hate anyone. It was more one-sided than anything, but he had to help the man. Finding no significant bruising on Robbie's head, Sportacus determines that the man will be okay. He is destined to wait until Robbie awakens just to make sure that he is alright.

A few hours later, Robbie regains a sense of consciousness. Sportacus' eyes widen. "Are you okay?" he quickly speaks. Robbie freaks out, grabbing the closest item within his reach. Sportacus notices this, "Robbie..." He throws it at the man in blue. Sportacus ducks, but the villain grabs more items. "No, no, Robbie! It's just me!" Sportacus replies calmly, dodging each item thrown in his direction.

"Get out!" Robbie hoarsely yells. Tears begin to well up in his eyes. Sportacus slightly frowns and goes to speak but is quickly cut off. "I said, get out now! Leave!" Sportacus is confused with Robbie's behavior. He had never seen anything like this before. Hesitating to leave Robbie by himself, Sportacus reluctantly leaves. "Don't come back," whispers Robbie.

Robbie is fixing an old machine in his room. It's dead silent, but he enjoys it like that. A voice appears to be coming from the living room of his home. Realizing it to be Íþróttaálfurinn, or Number 8, he continues to work. He picks up a rusty screwdriver and begins unscrewing a small piece from the broken machine. "He doesn't go outside to play like the other children." Number 8 addresses Robbie's parents. "And?" Robbie's mother begins. "We already know that. We have better things to be worried about. It seems like you have more of an interest than we do." she finishes. "Take him for all we care." his father adds. Steps were heard in the hallway. Robbie quickly tenses up, dropping the screwdriver in the process. He hears the door to his room open. "Leave... please." Robbie pleads. Number 8 smiles in the kid's direction. The child did not want to hear another speech about being active. "This isn't about my so-called flippity floppity junk." he speaks quietly. "Are you okay?" Robbie is taken back to this very moment. This isn't how number 8 acts... the man was a nightmare. He is someone that Robbie despises. Why is he being nice to the child that no one wanted? "I said, get out!" Robbie cries out, throwing an oil-drenched rag at the hero.

This was not a time that Robbie wants to visit again. This memory hurts far worse than any injury he had ever received. The kid manages to let out a sob. Closing his eyes tightly, he attempts to make the memory leave.

Why is this coming back to him? When Robbie opens his eyes, he notices his lair is a mess. Things are laying around all over the place. His throat hurts, his eyes hurt, everything hurts.