Chapter 6 You Need a Name
Ludwig groaned. How long had he been out? He didn't know, and supposed that he never would. His last cognisant moment was when he stepped in front of the magikoopa's blast in order to protect Lemmy. He trembled just recalling that; icy cold and striking heat had hit him at the exact same time, he felt as though he was both alive and dead. Thank goodness that time had passed. The only question he had now was what had become of him afterward. What kind of spell was he under? Where was he?
He hoisted himself up, prepared to stand up and take in his surroundings. When he did, his head rammed into a very low ceiling.
"Oww!" He looked up, wondering what the heck was going on when, suddenly, he noticed a door made out of bars right in front of him, locked up tight. That was when it occurred to him; he was in a cage.
"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!" In a panic, he pushed against the cage door, desperate to get out, desperate to escape. The cage fell forward, toppling onto a shag carpet floor and damaging the door enough so that Ludwig could freely walk out. He crawled his way out of the cage, his breathing shallow as he examined his surroundings. He wasn't anywhere particularly dangerous; just a house. A really nice looking house, but one that struck him as odd due to the fact that…well, the furniture was HUGE!
"Where am I?" Ludwig asked. He tried to stand, but had trouble finding his balance. He fell right back down onto four feet. "What is this place?" He tried standing once again, only to fall once more. "Why can't I stand up?" He looked down at his body, and when he did, his heart stopped beating.
He was covered in fur! Silky, white and blue fur! His fear increasing, Ludwig examined his entire body. His hands had turned into feet; paws, as a matter of fact. He felt his face as his breathing grew quicker. He, of course, felt more fur. But that wasn't all; whiskers protruded from his cheeks, and his nose was a completely different shape than the snout he was accustomed to. On the top of his head, he felt ears. Pointy, soft ears that had no business being on top of a Koopa's head.
Of course, Ludwig wasn't a Koopa anymore, now was he?
"WHAT'S HAPPENING!" Ludwig noticed a bowl full of water just a foot away. He ran over to it and peered inside. He screamed when he saw a cat's face in the reflection.
"It's okay."
Ludwig nearly had a heart attack. "Who's there?" His hairs stood on end, including the hairs on his new cat tail. "Who are you?"
From just around the bend, a whole posse of cats came. Ludwig's heart pumped as about thirty or so of them came out into the room where he now stood. He noticed a few of them smiling. Now, Ludwig didn't know the first thing about cats, but he knew that the little beasts didn't typically smile.
"Who are you?" he asked. Normally, he would be embarrassed to admit that he was asking a group of cats a serious question, but that thought barely crossed his mind now. "Where am I? Why am I a cat? How do I get back home? How do I…?"
"Shh," one of the cats, one with black fur and golden yellow eyes said. He came over to the eldest Koopaling, his steps slow and gentle. "It's okay. No one here is going to hurt you; everything is alright now."
Ludwig shook his head as he gawked. "How can things be alright?!" He looked back down at his new body. "I could barely handle being in my brother's body, now you expect me to be in a cat's body?" He looked back at the group. "On top of that, how are you guys able to talk? I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!"
"But you will," said the black cat. He put his paw on top of Ludwig's. "But for right now, I supposed we should get some introductions out of the way. My name is Hermie."
Ludwig could barely breathe now. "H…Hermie?"
"Yep." He gestured toward the rest of the cats. "And these guys are my friends." He smiled. "We're Aida's cats. We came from all over the Koopa Kingdom in order to provide her comfort."
The other cats nodded. "True."
"We're very effective comforters."
"We eve give each other comfort, in case you're interested."
Ludwig shook his head. This was strange. So very, very strange.
"Are…" he could barely get the question out. "Are…you guys…Koopas too?"
Hermie smiled. "We used to be." He stood up as straight and tall as someone on four legs could possibly stand. "But that life is behind us now. We all have a new life, a new sense of purpose."
Ludwig felt as if he was going to throw up. A new life? A new sense of purpose? This was insane! These people had been turned into cats, and they had somehow come to accept it? This was borderline creepy! These people were deranged, they were lunatics! How could they be okay with this? How could they be okay with giving up their freedom, their bodies, their lives?
"And I'm sure you'll find your sense of purpose here too," Hermie said. "After all, you'll be staying here for a very long time."
Every last aspect of Ludwig's being shuddered when he heard that, so much so that he almost threw up right then and there."No," he said shaking his head. "NO!' He rushed over to the door. He banged his entire body against it, terror causing him to tear up. "LET ME OUT! SOMEONE! ANYONE! LET ME OUUUTTT!"
"Is everything alright?"
Ludwig didn't even stop, but he didn't need to in order to know that the magikoopa in magenta had just walked in. He continued ramming himself against the door, regardless of how futile the practice was. It wasn't futile. He vehemently refused to believe it was futile.
"Sweetheart, please stop hurting yourself like that," said Hermie. "Magnus is here to take care of you."
Ludwig didn't care. Tears streamed from his eyes, a bruise formed right on his face as he continued ramming against the door. He had to get out. He had a family! He had a life!
"There there," Magnus the magikoopa said. He picked him up. "It's okay, little one."
Ludwig nearly threw up looking into that face. "You." He struggled against Magnus' hold. "How could you do this to me?! How could you do this to all these people?!" He increased the intensity of his struggles. "You're sick! Honest to goodness sick!"
Magnus just put on a smile and scratched underneath Ludwig's chin. "Silly little cat," he said. "I imagine you're chewing me out. Well, save your breath; I can't understand a word you're saying."
Ludwig froze. What? He couldn't understand him? This was awful! How was Ludwig going to communicate with people when…if?...when he escaped?
"I think someone could use a little quiet time," Magnus said. With Ludwig in his arms, he walked out of the room. Ludwig sent a pleading look down to the cats. They had to do something! Fight Magnus, make him put Ludwig down! They couldn't just sit and watch idly as Ludwig was being dragged away by this…this…psychopath!
Unfortunately, that was what they did. None of them moved a muscle; their tails didn't even twitch. Ludwig felt like crying all over again.
"It's all going to be alright," Magnus soothed. He pet Ludwig on the back. "You're going to love it here. I promise."
Ludwig shuddered. That was more like a threat than a promise. He couldn't stay in this prison. That's what this was; a prision, and the guard was someone who had no regard for koopas and the lives that they had lived.
"Okay," Magnus said. He placed Ludwig into another cage, this one up on a shelf. He locked the door, smiling as he did. "Get some rest…" Magnus hesitated before chuckling. "Oh, silly me. You need a new name." He put his hand to his chin. "Hmm. I'm thinking…Lovebug. You look a lot like a Lovebug to me."
Ludwig cringed. Lovebug? He had gone from Ludwig von Koopa to Lovebug?
Magnus chuckled and leaned forward to get a better view of Ludwig in the cage. "Anyway, get some rest, Lovebug. Soon, you're gonna be introduced to Aida."
With that, Magnus walked away. Ludwig whimpered. There was no point in fighting. Even if he got out of the cage, there was no way for him to open the door and get out of this cat-filled house.
"How am I going to get out of this?"
