Chapter 16 Chaos Under Control Part 1

"Iggy!"

Ludwig didn't waste anytime. The second he and Lemmy got into the lab, he scurried over to the green haired genius. Said green haired genius had his eyes on a laptop, and was clicking away at a speed that was a little fast. Almost,..two fast.

"Iggy." Ludwig made his way over, standing in a position where he was right next to Iggy's swivel chair. "For the love of all that is holy, please tell me you made progress."

"I'm getting there." Iggy tapped the space bar with the energy of a cartoon rabbit. "I just need to beat this level."

Ludwig did a double take. Blinking in confusion and feeling a bit of disbelief, he used a loud volume when he spoke. "Level?"

Iggy noticeably seized up. "Oh…" he straightened his posture as his jaw clenched. "I mean, uh…" Sticky stress induced sweat formed on the back of his neck. "Scan this area one last…time?"

Ludwig grabbed the laptop. When he saw the colorful, vibrant palette ad the unmistakable font, his mind filled with wrath.

"You're playin Space Invaders?!"

Iggy sighed and took the device back. "I was taking a short break," he said, his voice as cool as a cucumber.

"YOU CAN'T TAKE A BREAK!" Ludwig shouted. "Iggy, I don't know if you noticed, but I need to get my body back yesterday!"

Iggy sighed. "I understand; believe me I understand that." He switched to a different tab, all while closing the one that allowed him to play Space Invaders. "I'll keep my breaks to a minimum."

Ludwig exhaled as he placed his hands on his hips. He examined the room; Lemmy was standing near the staircase. When they made eye contact, he noticeably flinched. Since he was in Ludwig's body and Ludwig was currently in his, there was a bit of an ironic echo to be found here. Ludwig was aware of it, which made him recoil as well. Now that he thought about it…did he really see Lemmy flinch, or was it just his imagination?

Anyway, Ludwig didn't keep his eyes on Lemmy for long. He scanned the lab table and supplies, taking in any major details. When he saw the right side of the room, he froze.

"Why's your TV on?"

Iggy looked up as Ludwig approached the bright blue screen. "Oh, I was using that to scan too." His apprehension distorted his chuckles. "You know; gotta cover as much distance as possible."

"Really? Cause to me it looks like you have a movie in the que." He pressed the button and threw up his hands. "Annnddd of course it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers." He shook his head. "What else?"

Lemmy perked up. "Oh, that's a good one!" He stepped into the lab. "Which version is it; the 80's?"

Iggy smiled and came over. It was a good thing he had his laptop in his hands as he did, because that was the only thing preventing Ludwig from making his life a living hell.

"I actually tried the 2014 version."

"Nice!" Lemmy stepped in a closer. The way that they were oriented made it so that Ludwig was right in the middle with both of his side profiles visible facing the other Koopalings.

"Isn't Azure Maisy great as the main character?" Iggy asked.

"She is!" Lemmy chuckled. "Do you think you could use your resources to set me up with a meeting with her?"

"Sure!" Iggy said as Ludwig's breath reeked of spite. "I can do that as soon as I…"

"OH MY GOD, SHUT UP!" Ludwig's hands had gone from laying at his side to gripping his skull to moving around so quickly that it was almost miraculous, "WILL YOU GUYS PLEASE START TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY?" He looked between the two of them. "LOOK, I KNOW THIS MIGHT NOT MEAN MUCH TO EITHER OF YOU, BUT THIS IS MY LIFE! MY FUTURE, MY IDENTITY, WHO I AM AS A PERSON: IT'S ALL ON THE LINE HERE!"

Iggy and Lemmy exchanged a melancholic look. Iggy looked down at the body that was currently in possession of his oldest brother. "You're right." He sighed. "You're right, I'm sorry' I'll try to be more productive."

"Thank you." Once he said that, Ludwig went over to one of the lab tables. Once he was situated on one of the stools, he let out a whimper and laid his head down on the tabletop. His face was no longer visible by those in the real world, those in reality. In fact, he even went so far as to hide using his brother's arms as a blockade. Lemmy's arms were Ludwig's shield, and they were protecting him from…something.

Something. He was trying to hide from something. While Lemmy wasn't entirely sure what that was yet, he did have a hunch. When Ludwig had yelled no less than three minutes earlier, the tone he used sounded…hurt. Angry. Saddened. Frightened. Desperate.

Lemmy bit his lip as Ludwig sniffled. If there was one thing that anyone should know about Ludwig von Koopa, it was the fact that he was a genius, a mastermind. A conductor of chaos and wielder of silver spades. The intellect that he cherished so much was probably killing him now. It was now a double edged sword. In terms of sharpness, it was on par with the caustic comments he would give to people when they were acting stupid.

With all this in mind, Lemmy went over and took a seat on Ludwig's right hand side. "Hey." Ludwig didn't move, so Lemmy just sighed. "I'm sorry. I really am. I had no idea how stressful this was for you. If I did then…uh…" Lemmy inhaled. "I know I would have approached the situation differently."

There was a pause as Lemmy drew back into his head, not really paying attention to anything anymore. He hoped that his words would bring Ludwig comfort. He did not like seeing his older brother suffer.

"You mean you're not?"

Lemmy blinked as he got pulled back down to reality. "What do you mean?"

Ludwig sat upright once again. "You're not stressed?"

"Oh!" Lemmy thought about it for a minute. "I don't…I don't know to be honest. I mean, our situation is…different, but I think there is some good that can be gotten out of it."

Ludwig exahaled. "Well, good for you then."

That just made Lemmy feel even worse. The way Ludwig said that…it almost sounded like…jealousy.

"You know," Lemmy said, wishing to change the subject. "I don't know if you saw this, but when the duplighost tried to take you, I stepped onto the battlefield."

There was a pause. Because Ludwig was using Lemmy's face, reading his emotions was a lot easier than it normally was. The gears turned as the eldest tried to think of a response.

"I…I didn't see that," he finally said.

Lemmy nodded. "Yeah." He bit the inside of his cheek.

Ludwig pursed his lips. "But…then again, knowing you, I shouldn't be too shocked." There was a pause before he put his head in his hands. "Seriously, I cannot believe I'm you right now." He scoffed. "Out of all the people in my life who I emulated, the one who took my body was Lemonade Natalie." He scoffed. "At least now I know that God has a sense of humor."

"Yeah. It's almost….poetic in a way. " There was another pause before Lemmy took another deep breath. "And..well, I was thinking and something occurred to me. You see…"

Lemmy never got to finish that sentence. The door to the lab burst open, and in walked four out of the seven. The three members of the septet who had already been present all felt the hearts drop.

"Hey guys, what's up?" asked Roy.

Ludwig shot Lemmy a glare. "You make one sound and you're dead to me," he whispered menacingly.

"Okay," Lemmy said with a nod. Something occurred to him less than a second later. "Wait, you mean I wasn't already?"

Ludwig gawked, his mouth hanging open. Doing the zip your lips with an angry glare, Lemmy felt his brother's heart pick up the pace.

"Right. Got it. Don't make a sound." He looked over at his siblings as the filtered in. "Don't make a sound."