Final Chapter

As it turned out, Robbie had not been on vacation, he had been designing a new series of terrifying robots, which, at his friend's request, had been set on the town. In the chaos, Crassus managed to escape. Acid, fire, and sheep (yeah, Robbie was weird) Spewed for the mouths of the monstrosities. Sportacus tried to do as much as he could, but he knew Stephanie would save her friend, and then go home, where it was safe.

He could not have been more wrong.

True to her word, the pink girl had gone and saved her friend's life. But she stopped on the way to help those in trouble. She was sure Sportacus had his hands full; his crystal was no doubt beeping constantly. Besides, she was his partner. Just because his old rival showed up did not mean she would stop being helpful. Stephanie had helped get schoolchildren inside, and locked down the hatches. Her uncle was staying at city hall, confident that Sportacus would save the day, again. She knew she was missing something… seconds ticked past as she heard a familiar 'mew' come from a nearby tree. Stephanie remembered the cat that Sportacus seemed to be forever pulling out of trouble. She thought of herself in that moment. It was a cute creature, agile, intelligent, intuitive, sweet to its friends, but with claws. Stephanie gathered the creature in her arms and ran home, dodging robots along the way.

She finally managed to get home through the pouring rain. The cat bolted from her hands the second they were inside. Stephanie went to the window, praying nothing bad had happened to Sportacus. She found her house to be cold. The storm had knocked out the power. Stephanie was confident that Sportacus did not want her help, so she changed into her pink nightgown and got into bed. It was absolutely dark when the house shook. It took her back to the day when Robbie put the house cozy over Pixel's home. Stephanie peered outside to find her window blocked. The clock on her nightstand read 8:08. Sportacus must be exhausted by now, Stephanie thought to herself. It was then that the cruel laughter hit her ears.

"Sportacus was a fool to think he could protect you, sweet Stephanie," The voice rang out, "I must admit, I've always had a taste for little girls. Trixie was a bit on the bitter side, tasting like pickles and mustard. I think you will taste far sweeter…" The voice sent chills down the teenager's spine. She swallowed. Sportacus was too busy, and there was no way she could beat Crassus. Stephanie vowed she would do her best. Looking to her left, she spotted her pink diary. Quickly jotting down what he had said, she flung it into her pillow. Even if he killed her, Sportacus would find the book, and he could take down Crassus once and for all.

Next, the pink haired girl checked for an escape. Her window was shut, but as she stepped into the hall tentatively, something squished beneath her foot. It was the cat. Stephanie muffled her scream. Sportacus had taught her, now she just needed to remember what he had told her. In a panic, calm down, the first step towards a solution was to have a sound mind. Helping Sportacus with his boot problem came to mind. Stephanie took a deep breath. Something horrible was going to happen to her, she had to accept the fact that no hero would swoop in to save her. She also realized she had no chance of beating Crassus. The man was huge. "Don't be afraid of anything," Sportacus told her. When she was being followed by a dinosaur (Okay, it was Robbie in a suit, but she did not know that) she got the upper hand by surprising him. Stephanie took a step back, only to run into a solid object. The object wrapped his arms around her, crushing the air from her lungs.

Fighting him proved futile. When he bored of squeezing her to him, he threw her to the bed, which she bounced off and hit the wall. Stephanie took a breath, and threw her sheet over his head, using the mattress as a springboard, she vaulted over him. Ignoring the cat, Stephanie made her way to the front door. It was sealed shut.

"No way out, sweet girl," Crassus whispered huskily. He drew close to her, like a predator. Sportacus was not coming. Stephanie closed her eyes, trying to bring a happy memory to mind.

She and Trixie were at a sexual harassment seminar. Her friend had been dragged their by her mother, and insisted on not going there without someone to divert her attention. Trixie had spent the first half hour making dirty jokes. Some had been pretty bad.

"I'd let his crystal beep, anytime," Trixie hissed through clenched teeth. Although virtually every woman in town had a crush on Sportacus, Stephanie blushed at the idea of any girl and the man. He was a hero; love was simply not his destiny. Sportacus asked for a volunteer. Miss Busybody came to the front.

Strong hands encircled her wrists, dragging her to the earth. Years of training taught her how to hit the ground without damaging herself. She tried to roll away, but his strong grip was like iron around her wrists. Stephanie cried out in pain and shock. Crassus was massive, at least two hundred fifty pounds. He trapped her hands over her head, and licked her face. He whispered something threatening, and ripped her nightgown open. The cold air did little to settle the knot of fear in her stomach.

"Lay down," He commanded. Stephanie was on the edge of her seat, curious to see what would happen next. Sportacus stood up straight to address his audience, "A woman's hips can thrust three times her body-weight. In the instance of an assault, you need to try and assume the following position."

Miss Busybody was laid flat on her back. Sportacus crawled on top of her. She giggled, "Oh Sportacus!" She cried struggling under him. She took her sweet time resisting him. Stephanie watched as her uncle's girlfriend allowed Sportacus to essentially dry-hump her. It was very awkward.

Stephanie could feel Crassus readjusting himself beneath her. She stopped struggling, aligning herself in the form Sportacus had been teaching. She took a breath, and thrust upward, and felt a powerful piercing sensation. Crassus went flying, first hitting the ceiling, then slamming face-first into the ground beside her. Stephanie was shocked at her strength, until she spotted a blue, bloody figure above her. "Sportacus," She cried happily, covering herself. Sportacus and Crassus collided noisily. They wrestled for precious seconds, too evenly matched. Both were damaged, both exhausted from the strain. Sportacus was illuminated by his crystal, which was beeping noisily. Beep-beep, Beep-beep…. Beep-beep…. Beep…. Beep… Stephanie knew somebody was in trouble. She watched as the glow slowed, and the beeping died out. Crassus stopped breathing. Stephanie let out a sob. She crawled away to her room. Sportacus hit the ground with a thud. He was afraid that he was too late, and, seeing the blood on Stephanie's leg, figured he was. He could no longer keep the darkness away from her. Stephanie walked back into the room dressed as Sporta-Steph. She took his crystal, laid him in her bed, and took off into the night to save people and fight monsters. She headed for the….

"Door," Sporta-Steph called as she placed Volume 9 back on the shelf of the airship. It had been two years since Sportacus had left for his retirement. He seemed to want her to stand on her own. She had read volumes one through eight with mild interest. Every hero before her had something interesting to teach her, and she had paid attention. It was humbling to think that someday soon her diary would be on the shelf next to these brave men and women. Admittedly, only two others were girls, numbers four and eight, but she was proud to be a member of this group. Volume nine had told her the backstory of Sportacus himself. (Real name; Bob Putts. No, seriously, that was his name.) She had read as he had grown from a ten-year-old soft-hearted boy into a man.

Sporta-Steph looked at volume ten with apprehension. Sportacus had left so she would be free as her own hero. It bothered him that she may not be able to do it on her own, but he left anyway. Here, on the hidden shelf, was his most private thoughts his most intimate desires. Sporta-Steph thumbed the book absentmindedly. She had to read it. But she could not unread it. Her hero would be laid bare before her, flaws, faults and failures. She would find out what had happened with Crassus (who, though only mentioned in passing, sent an unfamiliar chill down her spine) and what he felt about her training, her growth as a hero, about her. That was what scared her. Was she a real hero? Did he love her?

She thought back to her first day in Lazy Town. Sportacus had shown up and blown the town away. And now she wondered if she truly was a hero. The crystal attached to her chest beeped loudly. "Somebody's in trouble," She said absent mindedly. She took off for the door, which she had already opened to watch her friends.

Down on the playground below, Robbie Rotten was screaming at the children. Age had not been kind to him. He hobbled about noisily.

A boy with bright blue hair came flipping in. Stingy had a son. "Mine!" had been the first word out of her friend's mouth as a father. Fortunately, his son was much more generous. He was kind, loving, gentle, and quite the athlete. Sporta-Steph jumped from the airship, spinning in mid-air. She'd go down there, teach the kids something. Her actions made her a hero to them, just as his actions made Sportacus a hero to her.

She could be a true hero to them, and read volume ten tomorrow.