Chapter 32 I Still Have Hope

With a gentle opening of the window, Lemmy and Ludwig landed in their bedroom. Ludwig let out a breath as he hopped off of Lemmy's back. He looked at the clock. It read 6:30am, a fact that was supported by the rising sun just outside. He rubbed his eyes, doing his best to not yawn. He failed.

"Man." He chuckled as Lemmy yawned. "Who knew that having soul searching conversations could be so exhausting, am I right?"

Lemmy didn't even chuckle. His shoulders drooped; the dark circles under his eyes made him look older by a thousand years. Ludwig's heart sank.

"Oh, Lems." He hugged his brother. "Don't worry; it's gonna be alright."

Lemmy sniffled. "I…I…" he shook his head. "I hope you're right. I mean, if you aren't…"

A sharp sting lodged itself in Ludwig's heart. The fear he had experienced before returned. He couldn't stay like this. This was a fact he was very much aware of, and Lemmy was aware of by extension. If he were to stay in this body for much longer….

A soft wet tear landed on Ludwig's head. He looked up and saw Lemmy crying, trying in vain to dry the tears from his eyes. Ludwig let out a sigh. He was the older brother. Older brothers shouldn't be responsible for making their siblings cry.

"Hey come on." Ludwig forced on a smile. "It is going to be alright, Lems. It's going to be just fine. I mean, Iggy's now had five days to find the duplighost, and he's been doing his best to be more efficient. He'll find it, and we'll be back in our bodies before you know it." He placed his hand on Lemmy's shoulder. "Believe me; I know this sucks. But we've gotta have hope."

There was a pause. "Well, I am good at hoping." Lemmy put on a smile. "I mean, I did hope to spend more time with you, and that paid off."

Ludwig laughed. "It certainly did." He patted his brother's arm. "You shouldn't worry about me Lems. Regardless of whose body I'm in, I'm still your older brother. It's my job to worry about you."

Lemmy stopped crying. "I guess you're right." Ludwig could tell that there was still some negativity there. His own guilt increased; he really shouldn't have let Lemmy see how he was feeling. It didn't help him feel better, and neither did talking about it. He let out a breath and rubbed his eyes.

"Well, anyway…" he made his way over to his bed. "Might as well try and rest."

"Yeah." Lemmy inched his way closer to his own bed. He pulled the covers up over his chest. "Well, good night Ludwig."

"Night Lemmy." He lowered his head and closed his eyes. He started to think, as he so often did right before he went to sleep. Hope. That's all he could do in this scenario. Under normal circumstances, he would be able to overcome his fear and move forward without so much as batting an eye. He had to do that now too, and not just for his sake. He and Lemmy were stuck in the exact same conundrum. Ludwig had said that he was no better than a zombie? Well, neither was Lemmy. They were zombies. Forsaken. Undead. They had no life of their own; they were actively taking someone else's life away. No person should exist in such a state. That was why Ludwig had to stay strong. He needed to have hope.

That was all he had left at this point.

Ludwig pulled the covers up closer to his head. His breathing was speeding up. He needed to stay calm. He needed to…

Knock knock knock.

Ludwig opened his eyes and sat up. He made eye contact with the tired and confused Lemmy. Who in the world would be visiting them so early? Breakfast wasn't served until around eight. Ludwig turned his head toward the door.

"Come in."

The door opened. Ludwig's heart skipped a beat when he saw who it was. The green haired Koopaling's hands shook. He had a smile on his face.

"Guys," Iggy said, "I found it."

…

Ludwig's heart pounded. The other Koopalings were busy getting ready for the rematch with the duplighost. As he watched Wendy practice her aim with her rings on a training dummy, he couldn't help but smile.

"I can't believe it!" He wiped a joyful tear from his eye. "It took us five days, but we actually found it! We found the duplighost!"

Wendy smirked. "Well, technically speaking Iggy found it. We did absolutely nothing."

"Oh please," Ludwig snorted. "Like you of all people are one to care about technicalities." He shook his head, smiling as he did. "I'm gonna get my body back! I'm actually going to get my body back!" He laughed. "I can finally put this awful week behind me once and for all!"

Larry came over, a wicked grin on his face. "You might put it behind you. But I know that I am going to get as much mileage out of it as possible."

Ludwig flashed him a glare. "Larry…" He paused before shrugging. "Well, that's fine. I am out of practice with my powers; now I know exactly who my first candidate for target practice should be."

Wendy laughed as Larry trembled. Before he could say anything though, Lemmy came over, smiling up a storm. Larry gave him one look before bolting behind his back. "Lemmy, please protect me from this murderous psychopath before he brutally murders me."

Lemmy giggles. "Just because Ludwig wants to murder you doesn't mean he's a pyschopath." He smirked at the youngest. "I know a LOT of people who want to murder you."

When Larry spoke, he did so in a high pitched squeak. "I can be a good person when I want to be!"

Everyone present laughed. Lemmy took a step closer to his older brother. "You ready for this, Lutz?"

"Do you even have to ask?" He smiled, his entire form trembling and shaking. "Oh, I've never been this excited in my life!" He grinned at his younger brother. "What about you?"

Lemmy beamed. "I know I'm looking forward to this!" He laughed. "I'll be able to do circus tricks again!"

"Circus tricks? Please. I've been down that rabbit hole and it is definitely less than desirable!" Ludwig chuckled. "I'm personally excited about being able to compose again." His eyes glittered. "And I'll get my powers back! I'll be able to fly again!"

"Yeah!" Lemmy gave him a warm expression and patted him on the shoulder. "I'm really happy for you."

Ludwig gave him a warm expression of his own. Just as he did was when Iggy came into the garage. Right by his side was Kamek.

"Okay guys! Gather around!" Iggy exclaimed.

The other Koopalings gathered around Ludwig did his best to keep his excitement from bubbling over as Iggy cleared his throat.

"Okay, now listen closely everyone. We have a lot to lose if this fight does not go well, so we need to be at the top of our game." He squinted at Larry and Roy when he said the next part. "No goofing off and absolutely NO messing around. This is a dangerous enemy we are dealing with."

"Yeah yeah, be a good fighter, whateves," Larry scoffed.

"No, Lawrence, your brother is serious," Kamek stated sternly. "Duplighosts are strong enough to take even ME down. They can steal your body and destroy it from the inside out with just a snap of the fingers. They can kill you with just a bat of an eye." Larry's eyes grew wide, he couldn't even keep up with his earlier display of confidence and trembled uncontrollably.. Kamek faced the whole group, his mouth in a firm line. " You guys will have an advantage since I will be joining you guys this time around, but you NEED to be careful. The last thing I want is for any of you to get hurt."

The others nodded. Ludwig himself could feel chills running up and down his spine. Everything Kamek said was true; the odds were NOT in his and Lemmy's favor right now. But they needed to do this. They had to do this; Ludwig would not accept being under this spell forever.

Kamek sighed. "Okay." He looked over the group. "Are you ready?"

"YES SIR!" Each of the Koopalings replied.

"Very good," said Iggy. "Then make your way to your Clown Copters. Next stop: Toad Harbor."