Chapter 8 Vocal Transfer

"LEMMY!" Ludwig screamed, his eyes wider than the sun. He stared at his brother, his little heart punding up a storm. "Are you crazy? Did the swap damage your brain?"

Lemmy giggled. "No, silly."

"THEN WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT!" Ludwig shook his head, put his hand to his brow and pinched it so hard that he wouldn't be surprised at al; if it left a permanent mark. Good. At least this way he would be able to convey to Lemmy that he had just made a grave mistake. "You can't perform!"

Lemmy's eyes twinkled. "You're right. I can't perform." He grinned wider than the joker. "But you can!"

This time, Ludwig's eyebrow twitched. Yep, that confirmed it; Lemmy was definitely off of his rocker. "What?"

"Ludwig, you're me! And if there is one thing that I know about me, it is that I am the Clown Prince of Koopas! You'll do just fine; there's nothing to worry about!"

Ludwig gawked at his brother. "Um, hello?" He pointed to his mouth. "Lemmy, can you tell me whose voice is coming out of this throat?"

Lemmy blinked. "Yours?"

"YES, MINE!" Ludwig stamped his foot. "If I go down there, then they will know it's me in here! Then, everyone will fly into a panic!"

Lemmy's face fell. "Oh." He put his hand to his chin, tapping it at a very quick pace. "Right, that is a bit of an issue."

Ludwig scoffed. A bit of an issue, huh? Is that what body swaps were to Lemmy; a bit of an issue? Wow. Ludwig knew that he was annoying, but now...now he was acting stupid. The swap must have really affected his brain somehow.

"Yeah, just a little bit." Ludwig sighed and massaged his temples. "Now, here's what we do. We go down to Iggy and tell him to bring the message to Shelldon that 'I' won't be able to perform. Okay?"

Lemmy still looked sad, as if he had just missed out on winning the lottery. His eyes roamed all over the room, clearly intent on finding something in particular. When he looked over at the closet, his face lit up once again.

"I have a better idea." He went into the closet and emerged a few minutes later with the spellbook that Ludwig had gotten as a present from Kamek. The koopa prodigy raised an eyebrow. What in the World was Lemmy planning?

"Lemmy…"

"Wait, hold on, hold on." Lemmy flipped through the pages of the spellbook. "It's got to be in here some...YES!" He did a fist pump and jumped into the air. "It's actually in here!"

"What; a note telling you to get your brain checked?"

Lemmy giggled. "I just need a wand now," he said, completely ignoring (or completely ignorant of) his brother's caustic comment. He went up to Ludwig and fished around in his hammerspace. "Yes! Got it!" He held his green tipped wand. The Koopalings had used wands in their youth, when Bowser and Kamek had gone through a phase where they thought that they were required to teach the Koopalings magic of some kind. They barely used them now, but they still kept the wands around as mementos of the time period. Lemmy cleared his throat and turned toward a page in the middle of the spellbook. At this point, Ludwig was extremely scared of what was going to happen. "Voce transferia!"

A bright stream of light shot out of the wand. It circled around the body swapped Koopalings, making Ludwig's heart vibrate. The light was so bright that it made the surroundings of the room appear dark. Before Ludwig could scream or react at all, he and Lemmy were glowing. He closed his eyes, if for no other reason than to not have to look at the blinding light.

And then...the light cleared. Ludwig opened his eyes, into the face of the smiling Lemmy. He looked down at his hands. They were still Lemmy's hands. He felt his body; he didn't feel physically different from before.

"What did you do?" As soon as those words escaped the confines of his lips, Ludwig's hands went flying up to his mouth in terror. No! This...this can't be! He thought.

Lemmy whooped and jumped up. "Yes! It worked; the spell actually worked!" He looked down at his wand and kissed the gemstone. "I knew that I kept you for a reason!"

Ludwig's terror only increased when he heard his brother speak. It quickly occurred to him what exactly had happened.

"Lemmy...you sound like me!"

Lemmy nodded, enthusiasm present in every single one of his features. "Yep! I used a voice transfer spell!" He put his hand to his throat. "Huh. Your voice sounds a lot deeper in my head." He giggled. "And my voice actually sounds lower when I hear it from your perspective. Neat!"

Ludwig shook his head. "No! Not neat! It was already bad enough that I look like you, now I SOUND like you too?" He approached Lemmy. "Give me my voice back!"

"Why?" Lemmy asked. "Don't you realize how perfect this is? Ludwig, if you sound like me, then no one will suspect you! You'll be able to perform for the guards without much of an issue!'

Ludwig's jaw dropped to the floor. Again, his terror was skyrocketing. It wasn't even through the roof at this point; it was so high above the roof that it was in the stratosphere.

"Lemmy…" Ludwig shook his head as Lemmy went back into the closet and rummaged around for parts of a clown get up. "I can't perform! I literally know nothing about stage art! I'm a maestro, for crying out loud!"

Lemmy emerged from the closet with a smile. "That's part of what makes clowning around so fun; you get to figure it out as you go along! Improvising, is what we call it in the a clown community. Have you ever heard of that term?"

Ludwig groaned. "Yes, Lemmy, I am aware of the definition of the term." He put his hand on his forehead. "You REALLY want me to go out there and embarrass myself in front of those guards!"

"Yes!" Lemmy's eyes lit up. "Oh! And here's the best part! Since you will be in my body, it will technically be me that the guards and servants will be seeing! It'll be me who's getting embarrassed; not you!"

Ludwig blinked. He...he supposed that was true. He had no risk of his own precious image and reputation being tainted because...well, he wasn't Ludwig von Koopa anymore. He was Lemmy Koopa, the clown master and pun maker. Sure, Ludwig himself wouldn't be caught dead with titles like that. But, again, he wasn't Ludwig anymore. For better or for ill.

"I...I guess…" he took a breath. "I don't see any harm of receiving embarrassment if it's not me who's the butt of the joke…"

"Yeah! Trust me Ludwig; I ADORE being the butt of the joke! Every failure, every mismatched squeak of the horn and every dropped juggling ball will only add to the charm of the act."

"True…" Ludwig bit down on his fingernail. "Plus, I will personally take great pleasure in making life harder for you."

Lemmy laughed. "Make it impossibly hard! Difficult experiences are what I learn best from!"

Ludwig thought about this some more before putting on a smile. "Okay. I'll do it."

Lemmy did a fist pump. "YES!"

"BUT…" Ludwig held up his finger. "As soon as I am done, I want my voice back." He cringed. "You seriously weren't kidding when you said that your voice is higher pitched in your head. It's grating."

Lemmy smiled. "That sounds like a done deal." He bounced up and down. "Oh, I am just so happy right now! Instead wearing a frown, my brother is going to be a clown!" He chuckled. "I guess that you need to watch the way you ACT on stage."

Ludwig groaned. How could someone possibly make Lemmy's puns even more unbearable? By making them be delivered with Ludwig's voice, of course! Seriously, he was cringing so, so hard right now.

"Never...just, never. That should be the rule that you live by from now on; never!"

Lemmy laughed. "As in never be sad, never look at the glass as half empty, and never frown? Sure, I can do that!"

Ludwig shook his head and sighed. "Well, I guess that I had better be off." He muttered under his breath "the sooner I am finished performing, the sooner I can get my voice back." He put his hand on the doorknob, ready to exit the room.

"Wait!"

Ludwig turned back around. "What? What is it?"

Lemmy held up the clown suit he had pulled out of the closet. "There's a reason I gave you an hour; we need to get you ready!"

Ludwig felt terror grasp him.

…

"And...there!" Lemmy smiled and pulled away from Ludwig's face, a very strong and very noticeable satisfaction on his face. "I've gotta say, I didn't do too bad considering that I was using my left hand!"

Ludwig felt like crying. The baggy suit he wore was orange with pink polka dots; two colors that did not go together. His shoes were way too big and too clunky. And his face...he didn't even want to see his face.

"Here, Ludwig!" Lemmy handed his brother a handheld mirror as opposed to making him walk all the way over to the full length mirror. "Get a load of this!"

Ludwig stared into the mirror, feeling sick to his stomach. That was him! That white face, red lipped creature that resemble his brother...that was HIM! That was the great and fantastic Ludwig von Koopa!

"Oh my word," Ludwig said.

"I know! Isn't it great!" Lemmy exclaimed.

Ludwig swallowed a batch of vomit and handed the mirror back to Lemmy. "You owe me big time."

Lemmy put on a warm smile. "I know. Considering that you doing this is a big help for me, I will be more than willing to repay you." His eyes sparkled. "Maybe I can help you write a song?"

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Nice try, Lemonade." He tried to walk, and a honking noise occurred when his feet landed on the floor. "Is that me?"

"Yep! There are honkers in your shoes! It adds to the comedy."

Ludwig groaned. This was NOT comedy. He didn't know what it was, but it wasn't comedy. It didn't even resemble it.

"Terrific," he said. "Anything else?"

"Yes, actually." Lemmy handed Ludwig his yellow ball with orange stars. "You might find yourself in need of this."

Ludwig scoffed. "Somehow, I doubt that." He couldn't balance on that thing like Lemmy could. Regardless, he still took it, if for no other reason than to satisfy his brother.

"Great!" Lemmy gestured toward the door. "Knock em dead, Ludwig!"

"Okay." Ludwig made his way to the door. He was about to turn the knob when Lemmy said something else.

"Ludwig?"

Ludwig groaned. "What?"

Lemmy smiled. "Thank you."

Ludwig nodded. "You're welcome," he grumbled. With that, he started making his way off so he could perform the glorified self torture that he had been forced into.