This was not part of the plan. In fact, there no longer was a plan.

Robbie blundered around inside the airship, tripping and skidding over a rolling mass of mail tubes strewn across the floor. He managed to make it over to one wall and slid down, his legs giving out from under him. He wrapped his arms around his bent knees and stared at the bright interior of the gondola.

He'd trapped himself up here. Robbie had plenty of experience infiltrating Sportacus' airship and he knew how temperamental the controls could be. Touch the wrong thing, make a wrong move, and he could send the ship into a tailspin. Climbing back down that spindly ladder was not an option— climbing all the way up had been bad enough for a man afraid of heights. He was stuck.

Now that he was alone and out of immediate danger, everything that had happened came rushing in on Robbie's thoughts all at once. He replayed the moment over and over again in his mind, trying to figure it out, but he didn't understand.

He had embraced masquerading as Sportacus and doing everything he could think of to ruin the hero's reputation. He'd turned LazyTown upside down with his bad deeds. The looks on those kids' faces— priceless! For a moment there it had looked like they were actually afraid of him, afraid of Sportacus. Who would want a crazy and dangerous elf hanging around after all of that?

Apparently everybody.

It wasn't fair. Why would they still like Sportacus after all the things that Robbie did today? Was it really because they were his friends? Robbie had underestimated the power of rapport between the children and their hero. Why did he ever think this would work?

Even when Sportacus managed to catch him the kids had stopped him— they stopped Robbie Rotten from helping them. Why? Did they distrust him that much? Not that he didn't give them good reason, but still… was it really because they weren't his friends?

"Stupid blue elf," Robbie muttered. He let his head drop and rest against his arms.

"Sportacus, your energy readings are low."

Robbie jerked in place, his head snapping back up. Where had that voice come from? "Hello?" he asked the air.

"You've missed your midday snack. Sportscandy will restore your energy."

Robbie pushed himself up against the wall, rising back on his feet as he looked around. He couldn't pinpoint the speaker. Was it… the airship? That would figure for Sportacus to have an AI installed on his aircraft, probably to remind him to do his stretches or eat apples or whatever. It certainly wasn't something Robbie would ever have in his lair. His lair was a place of solitude, somewhere he wanted to be alone.

Right now, though… Robbie glanced around at the blank white walls and cleared his throat. "Where is the food?" he asked, already feeling ridiculous. He was used to talking to himself, but this was something else.

The voice did not answer, responding instead with a shooshing noise as an oblong table swung out of the wall. He approached it only for his curiosity to be dampened. Nothing but fruits and vegetables covered the table.

What he wouldn't give for a giant slice of cake! He would stuff himself silly with sugary sweets if only there were any to be had on this infernal airship. Of course that would mean putting Sportacus' body into a sugar meltdown. Knocking himself unconscious to satisfy his sweet tooth probably wasn't the best idea. Especially not with the nanny AI breathing down his neck.

"On second thought, I'm not hungry," Robbie said. The airship obliged him and sent the table shuttling back into the wall.

"Would you like to engage the calisthenics program to work up your energy?" the voice asked.

"What do I look like, a jumping bean?" Robbie grumbled, and caught himself with a scowl. "At least there aren't any mirrors on this tub. I'm glad I can't see myself right now."

At his words a mirror flipped out from the wall by his shoulder. He jumped away from it before realizing what it was. Sidling back over he glared into the glass.

His reflection nearly sent him scuttling away again. First he'd seen his own face disfigured with rage today. Now the image of Sportacus' face portraying his own contempt and disgust was so far out of the hero's character that it had nearly scared Robbie right out of his head. He hadn't even thought it was possible for Sportacus to look this grouchy and nasty when he always had that silly grin on his face.

The longer he looked the angrier the face became looking back at him. The silly pencil mustache twitched on his lip. He was sick of being Sportacus! He stuck out his tongue so that the grimacing face turned impish in its severity.

"Look at me," he said, hating the voice that wasn't his own. "I'm Sportacus, Mr. Flippety-Flippety-Flippety-Flip. If I tried to just walk anywhere my feet would fall off."

Hearing Sportacus say something like that, even if it was Robbie's doing, offered a mean little glimmer of comfort deep in his chest. It was the only thing left to him that he could do.

"I have sportscandy for brains and my muscles are full of air!"

That felt better. Some of the tension eased out of his face as he warmed up to his newfound game. He pulled on an expression of feigned dismay.

"I'm not a super hero, I'm a slightly above average zero. I'm no match for Robbie Rotten. Robbie is the greatest villain! I wish I could be him..."

He stopped and stared while a hot surge of shame burned through his cheeks. Some lies were too big even for him to pull off. As if Sportacus would ever want to be Robbie. They'd been saddled with each other's bodies for a day, and Sportacus had hardly looked happy about it when they finally crossed paths.

Not that Robbie was happy about being Sportacus either. He'd never wanted to be him… Even if Sportacus had so much more than he did. Sportacus was fast and strong, insanely strong. He could even get away with being rude and downright dangerous to the rest of the people in town, and they would forgive him, because Sportacus was everyone's friend. Everyone's… except for Robbie.

It was weird gazing for so long into the mirror, staring into those steady blue eyes, as though Sportacus was actually standing there looking back at him.

He spoke softly, watching Sportacus' mouth move and hearing him talk to him.

"Hi, Robbie, it's me, Sportacus. I… want to be your friend..."

A suffocating flush suffused his face. He couldn't look anymore. Robbie slapped a hand out at the mirror until he figured out how to swing it back around so that it returned to its seat within the wall. He closed his eyes and clenched his teeth. The glimmer in his chest throbbed like a red hot coal. He clasped a hand to it as though he could pull the painful thing out. All he found was the crystal in the center of his uniform, warm against his palm.

Stupid…

Maybe he could finally do the one thing he'd been trying to do all along. He could make Sportacus leave LazyTown forever. If not in mind, at least in body. He would just have to get over his fear and figure out how to pilot the airship without crashing it. Even if it meant being stuck as Sportacus forever too.

What would become of his own body, though, and of Sportacus? It wasn't too late to switch them back into their proper bodies with the Mind-Me-Matic. But that would mean going back down there and facing those kids again, facing Sportacus… and himself. Didn't he want to go back to being himself? Robbie Rotten, the baddest guy around, someone that nobody wanted to be friends with even when he was being controlled by the most beloved person in town.

Before he could make up his mind something shot up out of the floor and struck the ceiling. Bam! A metal canister clattered among the rest of the tubes already littering the floor. Robbie stared at it, slow to comprehend its significance.

"More mail incoming."

The airship's AI gave him no further warning before the next mail tube shot up into the airship followed closely by another and another. They pinged off the ceiling and bounced off the walls in an endless barrage. Robbie picked one up and took off the cap to peer inside but it was empty. All of them were.

Robbie kicked the tubes away from himself as they rolled across the floor, their numbers burgeoning. It was impossible to ignore them but there was nothing he could do about them. The airship moved under his feet like a rocking boat. The masses of metal tubes clustered around his ankles, covering the entire floor in a rolling wave.

"Onboard cargo exceeding maximum weight limit. Sportacus, we are losing altitude."

"Then do something about it," Robbie sputtered. "Doesn't this thing have an autopilot?"

"Autopilot engaged. Preparing to land."