AN: Okay, so I decided that I didn't want to do the whole ridiculous "copy paste over current chapters" thing. I just decided that I was going to do this all from scratch and deleted all chapters after chapter five. Hopefully, that'll make things easier on me and you guys, so that way, you can know what chapters to read if you're interested in this story.

Chapter 6 Still No Switch

Ludwig began to stir. He opened his eyes slowly and sighed in relief. It was the next day. That meant that awful, God-forsaken day that was yesterday was gone. He could now relax and let out a breath, for he was more than likely back in his body.

"GRAWHYUGGGGG!"

Ludwig snickered. "Seriously, Lems? Again with the yawn?"

Lemmy chuckled from his place in his bed. "Sorry. It's just how I yawn; I'm not intentionally weird."

Ludwig laughed. "Well, at least you're honest." He sat up right around the time that Lemmy did. "And the good thing is that now we're back to…."

Ludwig's voice trailed off when he saw his brother. From the tips of his wild blue hair to his snaggletooth, he still had Ludwig's appearance. And if the look Lemmy gave him was any indication, Ludwig wasn't in his body either.

"We...we didn't switch back!" said Lemmy distraughtly.

Ludwig jumped up and rushed toward the mirror. Sure enough, Lemmy's face was there to greet him. He shook his head.

"No. No no no no no no. He turned toward Lemmy as he came over to the mirror. "Is this a dream? Am I dreaming right now?"

Lemmy shook his head as he touched Ludwig's hair. "I don't think so."

Ludwig hyperventilated again, just like he had done yesterday. "This...this can't be happening!" He turned away from the mirror, for it hurt to look at it. "What did I do wrong? I made a wish and everything!"

"I know! I heard you do it!" Lemmy's face fell. "Oh. Maybe that's the problem. You aren't supposed to make wishes out loud."

Ludwig was flying into hysterics now. He jumped up on his bed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Okay, Universe!" He shouted. "Your sick joke is not funny anymore! Can you change us back now?"

Nothing happened. Ludwig's hyperventilation grew even stronger.

"I'm serious! I'm sick of Lemmy's body, I want to be back in my own! Switch us back!" Nothing happened. "SWITCH US BACK!" Still nothing. Tears streamed from Ludwig's eyes. He grabbed hold of the koopa shell and bashed himself in the head with it. "SWITCH….US….BACK…!"

Ludwig dropped the koopa shell to the floor and cried. He cried his eyes dry, he cried until his nose and face hurt. He never wanted this, he never wanted to be Lemmy. He never asked for it, he never wished for it, nothing. He never wanted this to happen.

"Hey," Lemmy said as he came over. He placed his hand on Ludwig's shoulder and stroked him. "Don't yell at the universe, the universe didn't do anything wrong. It's the duplighost we should be mad at. They're the one to blame."

Ludwig wiped his eyes and sniffled. "You're right." He bit his lip. "That rotten creature is what did this to me."

"To both of us," Lemmy corrected. He sighed. "If only we knew where it went off to after the fight. Then we'd be able to ask it to undo this."

Ludwig's eyes grew wide. He let out a gasp a as a spark of hope was ignited inside of him. "Lemmy, you're a genius!" He bounced to his feet. "That's exactly what we need to do! The duplighost is the one who switched us, so they need to be the one to switch us back!" He ran toward the door.

"Ludwig, wait!" Lemmy called out. "A duplighost? You want to ask one of the most evil and slimy creatures for help? That's too dangerous!"

"What are you talking about? 'Dangerous.' We didn't hesitate to fight it the first time." He bounced in place. "It's the only way to remove the spell, the only way that I'll be able to write my music again. Come on, Lemmy, we have to do this!"

Lemmy hesiated, although Ludwig didn't know what there was to hesitate about. The opportunity to get themselves out of the mess they were in was knocking at the door! They couldn't just leave it out in the rain like this!

Finally, Lemmy smiled. "You're right. We have to do this."

Ludwig grinned. He allowed Lemmy to exit the room before closing the door behind him. They made their way down the halfway down the hall before something occurred to Ludwig.

"We can't fight the duplighost by ourselves. We need to ask the others for help."

…

Iggy gawked at his two brothers as they explained the situation to him. Although, in all honesty, he wasn't particularly taken aback by the explanation itself. He was more so tripped up over the fact that Ludwig's voice was coming out of Lemmy's mouth, and vice versa. That provided their claim with more than enough evidence for the lanky genius.

"I cannot believe this," he said. He leaned closer. "You guys swapped bodies!" His voice was extra shrill when he said that last part. His disbelief was just becoming too much for him to handle, even with the superior intellect that he possessed.

"I can hardly believe it myself!" Ludwig exclaimed. He looked up at Lemmy, who gave Iggy a concerned look.

"We've already spent a day like this, and we're having more problems than you can shake a stick at! Neither one of us are able to write, we gave ourselves concussions trying to swap back, and we're also scared beyond belief!"

Iggy furrowed his brow. While those were all valid concerns, he himself knew that there were probably a host of other problems that the brothers had to deal with. For instance, Lemmy and Ludwig didn't get along on a normal day. Putting them in each others bodies, where their privacy and very sense of selves could be violated? No. No, no one could be able to handle that, especially not people with such strong senses of self.

"I...I am extremely sorry; profoundly sorry." He furrowed his brow even more. "I could have prevented this! I should have prevented this; I should have known that going up against a duplighost was too dangerous of a job!"

Ludwig sighed, causing his shoulders to slump. "It's not your fault, Iggy. It's no ones fault." He cast a glance at Lemmy. "No one's."

Lemmy bit his lip and looked Iggy straight in the eye. "Iggy, we need to find that duplighost! There is no other way to fix this!" He motioned for Iggy to come closer and whispered in his ear "And between you and me, I am getting really, really concerned about Ludwig."

Iggy's heart broke in that instant. Even when faced with peril, Lemmy still cared profoundly about his brother. Iggy looked at him with not only concern, but admiration.

"I will do the best that I possibly and reasonably can." His eyes roamed around the lab. His eyes fell upon his trusty computer. He made his way over and jumped right into typing away.

"Iggy, what are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be helping us?"

"I am helping you. I am trying to locate the duplighost."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Uhh…"

"The methods I am utilizing are quite unorthodox, yes," said Iggy as he squinted at the screen. "However, there is a method to my madness." He turned away from the computer for a second. "You two are clearly not in any position to go out and fight as dangerous an enemy as a duplighost."

Ludwig sputtered. "But...but…"

"Ludwig, you barely managed to escape with your life last time, and that was mostly thanks in part to the powers that you possess. Well, now that you are in possession of Lemmy's body, I think it is safe to assume that you do not have your powers anymore."

Ludwig adorned an interesting expression as Iggy said, especially when the last part of that sentence was uttered. He looked belligerent one second, like he was going to pound Iggy into the ground for even suggesting such a thing. At the same time, however, he also looked extremely worried. Iggy could practically hear thoughts like "Oh my developer, he's right!" bouncing off the walls of Ludwig's skull.

"You're...you're right," he said quietly. The tone of voice he used broke Iggy's heart straight down the middle. He sounded like all of his worst fears had suddenly been realized, like all that made him important and special and unique was now gone. Which, when Iggy thought about it, was kind of correct.

This realization just made Iggy feel even worse. He turned back to the screen, if for no other reason than to avoid having to look at his soul swapped brothers. "So, I am not willing to put anyone else in danger. So, I will use the powers that technology has granted to me in order to figure out where exactly the duplighost is located."

Lemmy looked more comfortable upon hearing this news. Ludwig did too, but to less of an extent; he still looked like he was trying to come to terms with the news that he was technically no longer a special.

"Good idea, Iggy!" Lemmy exclaimed.

"Yeah," said Ludwig sullenly. "Good idea."

Iggy nodded and clacked away. Without turning away from the computer screen, he spoke up. "This is going to take a little while; a few days at least as I activate my drones and GPS. I would recommend that the both of you resort to staying away from people while I search."

"Staying away from people?" Lemmy asked. "But...why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Ludwig. "Lemmy, we still have our voices. If we speak to people at all, we're going to freak them out. That could cause a panic in the castle." Ludwig put on a serious face. "Do you want people to hear that we've been swapped?"

Lemmy hesitated before sighing. "No. Not particularly."

"Exactly my thought process," said Iggy. he turned away from his computer. "The safest place I can think to keep you both is obviously in your room. Stay in there and don't come out. I'll have servants bring you food, but I would recommend only speaking to them from behind the door. Does that sound like a deal?"

Lemmy grimaced. "I don't think i can handle being away from others for that long…."

Ludwig, on the other hand, snorted. "We'll be fine Lems. You can socialize with people all you want in your own body."

Lemmy blinked before nodding. "True. And with Iggy's help, that's bound to happen sooner than not." He smiled and wrapped Ludwig in a hug. "Besides, I'll still have you to keep me company, Luddy!"

Ludwig gasped for air. "LET ME GO!" He gasped. Lemmy did as he was told, but this didn't prevent the oldest from glaring at him. "And don't call me Luddy; you know I hate that name."

Lemmy's face drooped. "Sorry Ludwig."

Iggy sighed and turned back to the computer. He recognized that he had a lot of work to do, which would result in his two oldest brothers spending a lot of time in their room. Iggy knew that they would definitely go stir crazy if they couldn't come out for too long, which prompted him to hasten his search.

"Okay. The search is under way."

Ludwig sighed. "Good. Come on Lemmy; let's go to our room."

Lemmy followed right after Ludwig. "Do you think you'll want to play video games with me?"

"No."

"Do a choose your own adventure book with me?"

"No!"

"Write a song with me?"

Ludwig just sighed before closing the door the lab behind him and Lemmy.