Chapter 9 Knock Knock

Honk honk honk!

Every time Ludwig took a step, he cringed. The honking sound, caused by the horns that Lemmy had put in his shoes, was grating. It hurt him, physically hurt him. It hurt almost as much as the fact that whenever he spoke now, Lemmy's voice escaped from his throat. The one thing that he could still claim as his own now was gone. Every part of him, from head to toe, inside and out, was being loaned to him.

How positively awful.

Honk honk honk!

Ludwig grit his teeth. "I swear Lemmy, you just seem determined to torture me," he said out loud. "Just have to make the worst day of my life even worse than it was before."

"Hey, Lemmy!"

Ludwig's blood ran cold. He froze in his tracks as the person who had spoken to him got closer. Blood rushed toward his cheeks. The thing he had been dreading, the embarrassment that he had been wanting so desperately to prolong, was now approaching him sooner than he had originally anticipated. He slowly turned around.

"H...hey Larry."

Larry grinned goofily at his older brother. "Nice get up, dude. You gonna put on a show?"

Ludwig swallowed a lump. "Uh, well…"

"That's great!" Larry raced down the hall and opened up the door to Roy's room. "Dude, Lemmy is going to put on a show!"

"YEESSSSSSS!" Roy rushed out of his room at lightning fast speed. His eyes glittered, brightening up his dark shades. He grinned at Ludwig with a big, bright smile. "Bro, I haven't seen you perform in forever!"

Ludwig felt sick, honest to goodness sick. He put his hand to his stomach, but Larry and Roy barely noticed as they surrounded him.

"Are you going to balance on your ball again?" Larry asked. "I love it when you do that; it's so...you!"

Ludwig snickered at that statement. Oh, the irony. The horrible, horrible irony. "Th...thank you, Larry."

Roy laughed. "We are so going to have a ball with you today! You're going to put on the best show ever!"

"Uh, yeah. The...the best show."

Roy smiled and wrapped Ludwig in a very, very tight embrace. "Come here, buddy! Give ole' Roy boy a hug!"

Ludwig's entire being rejected this display of affection. "LET GO OF ME RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

Roy immediately let go and looked down at Ludwig in shock. "D...dude? You love getting hugs!"

Ludwig sighed and brushed some dust off of the clown suit. "You think I appreciate having my internal organs being crushed like that? I want to be able to live to see tomorrow, thank you!"

Roy blinked. "Uh...okay."

Ludwig nodded and turned back around. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" he sighed as he walked away. "I have to engage in the worst form of embarrassment ever known to Koopa."

Roy and Larry exchanged a look before following. "What do you mean by embarrassment?" Larry asked.

"Yeah. Are you okay, dude?"

Ludwig's stomach did flip flops. Should he lie? No, no, that would probably be too obvious.

"Well, you...you know…" He didn't actually answer the question, hoping that his brothers would take the hint and just let him go. Unfortunately, they just walked right along with him.

"Lems, it's okay," said Roy. "Whatever's wrong, you can tell us."

Larry snickered. "Did Ludwig give you a hard time again? Man, old sourpuss just gets crankier and crankier."

This actually caused Ludwig to pause. He gawked at Larry. "What did you call me...I mean, him?"

Roy snickered. "Oh, come on, Lems. You can't deny that Ludwig is kind of a jerk."

Ludwig's blood was boiling over. "He is not! For your information, Ludwig is a very sophisticated and very intellectual sound Koopa!" He smiled. "On top of that, he just so happens to have fantastic hair."

Larry and Roy burst into laughter. This caused Ludwig's ego to collapse in on itself.

"It's true!"

"Fantastic hair?" Roy said as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, that's rich!"

"He does!" Ludwig stamped his foot. "His hair care routine is much more complex than either of you can hope to comprehend!" He sighed and ran his hand over Lemmy's rainbow mohawk. "Man, I hope I get my hair back," he muttered.

"What was that?" Roy asked.

Ludwig shook his head. "Nothing." He turned and walked away.

Unfortunately, Roy and Larry were still persistent. They followed after their soul swapped brother, who by this point was trying to prevent himself from having a panic attack.

"Lems, you still haven't told us what's wrong," said Roy.

Ludwig twiddled his thumbs. How could he explain this? How could he possibly hope to convey to them the terror that was grasping his mind? How could he make them realize the weight of the discomfort that he now felt, as he was going to do the last thing that he wanted to do?

"Uh...um...I…"

"Lemmy, are you nervous?" Larry asked.

Ludwig sighed. "Yeah. I guess you could say that."

"Oh, bro!" He stepped in front of Ludwig's path and smiled down at him. "You don't have to be nervous! You've got this!"

Ludwig chuckled. "I've got this, huh?"

"In the bag!" Roy exclaimed. He patted Ludwig on the shoulder, causing the oldest to grit his teeth. "You're the Clown Prince of Koopas, remember?"

Ludwig snorted. "How could I possibly forget?"

"So yeah. Don't sweat this, Lemmy. You'll do great, just like you always do. Just be yourself and the show will be fantastic."

Another ironic statement. How could Ludwig be himself when he was the antithesis to himself at this point?

"Um...thanks," he said. He didn't have the heart to say anything against this. Roy meant well. He really did. It's just he was too ignorant of the situation, and there was no way in the world Ludwig would tell him it was actually him in this body.

"You're welcome, Buddy." Roy beamed. "I'm always glad to help you, little dude."

"Speaking of help," Larry said. "I was wondering. I've been in a downcast mood recently, and I was wondering if you could tell me a joke."

Ludwig blinked. "A joke?"

"Yeah. Tell me one of your famous puns!"

Ludwig's stomach felt as if it was being squeezed like a stress ball. "Ohhh...right. I...I'm Lemmy. I...do stuff like that, I...guess." Roy and Larry waited for him with glittering eyes. "Uh...knock knock?"

"Who's there?" Larry asked, trying his best to hold back giggles.

"Uh….." Crap, Ludwig couldn't do this! He didn't do "jokes," he did sonatas! "LLLLL...lazy."

"Lazy who?" Roy asked, his enthusiasm and anticipation present in everyone of his features.

"I'm...lazy cause I'm...a loser?" He closed his eyes, mentally bracing himself for the dead, awkward silence that would follow.

Except...Larry and Roy weren't silent. A little chortle escaped out of the corner of Larry's mouth. Roy bit his lip to hold back the giggles. Then, before Ludwig knew what was going on, they were both laughing like loons. Ludwig opened his eyes and stared at them. Was this actually happening?

"I'm lazy cause I'm a loser!" Roy said. He held his belly as it shook. "Oh, man, that was good Lems!"

"Yeah! You expect it to be one thing, like a pun or a rhyme or something like that. But no, it's a guy with self confidence issues!" Larry dried a tear from his eye. "Oh, I need to remember that one. I might take credit for it at family gatherings."

Ludwig still blinked. "You...you actually liked it?"

"Of course! It was funny!" Roy said.

Ludwig looked down at the floor. "Oh man. I…" he put his hand to his chest. He didn't even realize it, but a smile was also growing on his face. "I feel good. I made you laugh." He himself laughed. "That actually feels really good!"

"Yeah!" Larry said.

Ludwig laughed. "I can't believe this. I made a good joke. I made my brothers laugh. This...this is incredible!"

Roy nodded. "Do you think you can tell us another one?"

That was when Ludwig's spirits fell right back down. His face fell into a scowl. "Another one? Please." With that, he resumed walking.

Roy and Larry chuckled. "Okay," said Larry. "One is more than enough for the day." He slapped Ludwig on the back. "I feel a lot better. Thanks Lemmy."

Ludwig, despite himself, actually smiled. "You're welcome."

Who knew that making others feel good could feel so...good? Now if only he could make himself feel good about the clown act he would have to put on.

Ludwig's face fell when he thought about that. Oh. I still have to do that cursed thing, he thought. Yipee.