Chapter 2 Cloned

Ludwig stared at his look alike. For a second, he felt scared to death. He had swapped bodies with Lemmy before. He examined himself, just to make sure that that wasn't the case.

No, that wasn't the case. Ludwig was still in his own body. So then….how was it that he was standing outside the machine, and inside it at the same time?

Ludwig's look alike slowly stepped out of the machine, his eyelids closed. He did look exactly like Ludwig. The only difference was that Ludwig was wearing his blue cloak, while the look alike wasn't wearing anything. The look alike put his hand to his head and let out a soft groan. He then opened his eyes, and Ludwig felt chills run down his spine.

"Ohhh," the look alike said. "Where am I?"

The chills running up and down Ludwig's spine got even colder. The look alike not only looked exactly like him, but it also sounded like him. The look alike's eyes roamed over the lab.

"Man, this house looks odd," he said. "I wonder who lives here?"

Ludwig's mouth hung open as he gawked. To say he was shocked would be the understatement of the century.

"Uhh...what's happening?" Ludwig asked out loud. The look alike turned toward him, as if just noticing for the first time that he was there. He smiled innocently.

"Oh, hello," he said. "Is this your house?"

Ludwig shook his head while blinking his eyes out. The look alike stared at him in interest.

"Are you okay? You look a little frazzled."

Ludwig, despite the shock, tried to get thinking. He glanced at the machine that the look alike had stepped out of.

"What kind of machine is this?" he asked.

He studied the machine, all the while painfully aware of his look alike staring at him. He noticed what appeared to be a bowl sticking out of the side of the machine. He also noticed for the first time that there were words engraved on the side of the silver structure.

"Clone machine," Ludwig read. "Ah, that makes sense."

Ludwig reasoned that when he flung his fingernail at the machine, it must have landed in the bowl, thus activating the machine. He felt relief wash over him, as well as a bit of discomfort over the fact that he now had a clone. Speaking of the clone, he seemed a little bit confused.

"Hey," the clone said to Ludwig. "Who are you?"

Ludwig slowly turned toward the clone.

"My name is Ludwig von Koopa," he said slowly. The clone smiled.

"Oh, cool!" Then he scratched his head as the confusion returned to his expression. "And uh...who am I?"

"Well," Ludwig said hesitantly, "it would appear that you're my clone."

Now the confusion on the clone's face was so much more prominent.

"What's a clone?" he asked.

"Well," Ludwig said, "a clone is a duplicate made with a creature's DNA." Ludwig grabbed hold of the clone's hand and brought him over to the mirror on the other side of the lab. "And since you are my clone, that means that you are an exact replica of me."

The clone stared into the mirror. He looked over at Ludwig, then back at his reflection. He repeated this procedure over and over again

"Woah, that is weird!" he finally said as he touched his hair. Ludwig snickered.

"Yeah, you're the one telling me," he said.

The clone stared at his reflection, all the while looking both confused and startled.

"You know," he eventually said, "I suppose there are worse people that I could look like. I mean, you look pretty good!"

Ludwig swelled with pride.

"Oh. Thank you." he said with a grin.

"Well," the clone said, "except for this tooth. And this hair. And the eyes. But for what it's worth, your nose looks pretty good!"

Ludwig's ego collapsed instantly.

"Thank you," he said sarcastically.

The clone turned toward him, looking a little worried.

"Are you okay? You didn't sound very happy just then."

Ludwig chuckled. Considering that he was literally just born, he had not been expecting his clone to have the ability to pick up sarcasm.

"Well," Ludwig said. "Telling people that they don't look good isn't exactly the most flattering of compliments."

The clone's worry and surprise increased. He gasped.

"Oh no, did I hurt your feelings?" he asked in concern. He wrapped Ludwig in a hug, and Ludwig noticed that he was starting to sob. "I am so sorry, Ludwig von Koopa!"

Ludwig did not know what to do for a few seconds. This was one of the most bizarre things he had ever experienced, second only to swapping bodies with Lemmy.

"Hey, there, it's okay," he said as he patted the clone on the back. The clone unwrapped Ludwig from the hug.

"You sure?" he asked, his cheeks still stained with tears and his voice still faltering.

"Yeah," Ludwig said. "And you can just call me Ludwig."

The clone wiped his nose with his arm and smiled.

"Alright, Ludwig," he said. He smiled again, the same innocence making its presence known. "You know, I think I really like you, Ludwig."

Ludwig laughed.

"Well, I think it would be really awkward if you didn't!" he said. He then turned toward the lab door. "Okay, well I'm heading out. I have things I need to do."

"Wait, you're leaving?" the clone asked in shock.

"Oh, don't worry; I'm not leaving forever. I'm just heading back to my room.

The clone gasped.

"You have a room?"

Ludwig gave him a weird look.

"Uh, yeah," he said.

"Cool!" the clone exclaimed with a smile. "Hey, can I come with you? I've never been in someone else's room before!"

Ludwig almost laughed. The clone certainly had a lot of stuff that he needed to discover.

"Sure," Ludwig said. "Just be careful. I don't want anyone to see you yet."

The clone smiled.