Trapped in Time

Chapter 12: Dance

Before they knew it, the next day had arrived. Robbie was extremely excited for his daughter to make a grand appearance in Lazy Town, but he is nervous. His leg is bouncing up and down in an anxious manner. The kids are currently playing with Sportacus, and Robbie is trying to keep his mind occupied by watching them - well, maybe just Sportacus.

The children notice Robbie sitting outside. He isn't telling them to stop playing... or to be silent... something is up. They all collectively decide that they want to go and ask the villain why he's acting this way. Stephanie skips up to him, "Hey, Robbie. What're you doing?"

Robbie shrugs and replies cockily, "Sitting."

"Are you not here to stop us?" she questions in return. Robbie scoffs, "My life does not revolve around you brats. I have much more important things to do."

"Yeah, and what's that?" she inquires sassily. "Well, I have a very important person coming to town." Trixie smirks, "Is this another one of your plans to make Sportacus leave? And the person is actually you?" Robbie shakes his head before stating, "No, I couldn't care less about those worthless plans. I don't care if he stays, and this person is not me... it's my daughter."

Pixel's eyes widen, "You have a kid? Yeah right, that's a load of bull-"

Stephanie interrupts, "Pixel! No bad words! But he's right... I don't believe you. You wouldn't have a kid, and it's probably just another one of your lazy tricks."

Robbie crosses his arms, "Does it look like I give a shi-" Sportacus quickly interrupts, shushing the man. "No, Robbie. No bad words around the kids!"

Rolling his eyes, the villain simply replies with, "You're too PG around them."

Suddenly, an angelic voice calls Robbie's name. Everyone turns around quickly and they notice that the woman looks like a goddess. "Robbie! Hey, I brought Rottenella. She's in the car still." Robbie nods and announces that he'll go and get her.

"Oh, is that the boy-"

"Bella, that's not public information. Let's go get Rottenella..." Robbie awkwardly says.

"Oh sorry, yeah," she returns quietly. The two of them walk back towards her automobile. The kids watch from afar. A girl steps out of the vehicle. She has dark hair, almost as dark as Robbie's, and skin like a porcelain doll. All of the kids wanted to meet her. 

The girl runs towards Robbie, "Dad!" she announces. The father envelopes her in a caring hug and they begin talking about something that the other's cannot hear. The woman waves to the crowd of people before she hugs both Robbie and Rottenella, and then drives off.

Walking back towards the children, Robbie looks proud. "This is my daughter, Rottenella. Be nice." He introduces his child to the group and gives a stern glare at the children. Sportacus can't help but smile.

Stephanie smiles and holds her hand out as if she wants Rottenella to shake it. "Nice to meet you! I'm Stephanie."

She does not shake it, but she looks happily at her, "Nice to meet you too, Stephanie!" The pink-haired girl asks if she wants to dance, and Rottenella begins talking about how she'd been in multiple dance competitions. "That's amazing! Maybe we can practice dancing together sometime." Stephanie grins. Rottenella gives a polite nod as Steph walks up to Sportacus. She orders him to lean down to her height so that she can whisper something in his ear.

"She seems so nice! Did Robbie tell you all about her?" she questions him excitedly.

"He did tell me some about her," Sportacus returns. Rottenella looks at her father. She is unsure of what to do. "Well, kiddo. Let's go put your stuff up. You can chat with the other kids afterwards." He gently places his hand on her back, signaling her to move.

Sportacus pipes up, "I will come help!"

After the three leave, Stephanie comes to a realization. "Did he just call us kids? And not brats?" 

Stingy nods, "Yep."

In the lair, Robbie properly introduces Sportacus to Rottenella. "This is my boyfriend, but we keep it on the down low." Rottenella examines Sportacus for a brief moment before speaking, "Nice to meet you. Are you going to be Dad #3?" she asks smartly.

Robbie shakes his head, "Ella, that's too blunt." Sportacus chuckles awkwardly, "I hope so." The villain jabs Sportacus in the side with his elbow, "Don't encourage this." Rottenella nods, "Well I sure hope so. You seem nice. Can we go dance together now, Dad?" Robbie nods at this, "Of course. How can I say no?"

Sportacus's eyes widen, "I didn't know that you can dance!"

Robbie hesitates, but Rottenella answers the question, "Yeah! He's really good at it. Him and Mom taught me." The villain's cheeks turn red due to his secret being revealed. Sportacus smiles at this.

Robbie notices something, "I think that I need to make more room for dancing, heh... why don't you go ask Pinky to practice dancing while I clean up in here? Sportacus will take you." Rottenella nods and skips off, Sportacus following quickly behind.

A few minutes later, Rottenella asks Stephanie if she wants to practice dancing. She was excited to have someone else in her life that enjoyed dancing - someone around her age. Stephanie happily agrees and the two girls are being watched by the other children.

They both start with a simple warm up and then a basic dance. As Rottenella continued, however, it progressively got more difficult. She begins to dance too fast for Stephanie to keep up with. Rottenella finishes with a proud leap, and then notices Steph's face. "Did I do something?" she asks anxiously.

Stephanie pouts, "You started going too fast! You gave no warning, I don't even know the dance yet! You can't speed up!" Her emotions were hurt. Rottenella felt for the girl, "I'm sorry... I didn't think about it. I'm not used to dancing with people who don't already know the dance! I assumed that you were so talented that you already knew it. Want to try it again? I can teach you!"

Stephanie gets lost, "So you think I'm talented?" The other girl nods softly, "Of course I do!" Stephanie questions as to who Rottenella normally dances with. "Well, my mom for the most part. She did enroll me in a dance school. I'm top of my class and I love it, but none of those people compare to my real idol... my dad! He out beat my mom by a long shot... he used to compete and even made his own outfits! He's an amazing dancer, I think I have  video on my phone from one of the competitions that he did." she finishes.

Rottenella pulls out her phone and pulls up a video. A younger Robbie appeared on the screen, dancing in a beautiful outfit. He seemed to be performing without flaws, and he could even do a split. All of the kids, plus Sportacus, were crowded behind her to see Robbie. Watching in amazement, they all wondered the same thing: For such a lazy guy, he sure was talented!

After the dance, Robbie stalks over the group very silently. He looks at what they are all watching on his daughter's phone. "Rottenella! Didn't I tell you that I don't like having those videos around? I don't like other people seeing them!"

"Sorry, Dad..." Rottenella pouts. "I think that you're really cool, and I just wanted to show them how awesome you are." She appeared to be sad, and Robbie's tough exterior cracked. He immediately hugged her.

"It's alright, sweetie. Please don't cry... I promise that I'm not mad. Just please keep those things in mind next time - you're not in trouble." Robbie assures his daughter. Rottenella nods at this before asking if her and her dad can dance together.

"Yes, of course. Lets go back home - we can dance there." Robbie states.