Chapter 1 Mental Challenges
Creak!...BANG!
Those two sounds just so happened to be the opening and closing of the door to the dining hall in Bowser's Castle. Or, if we were trying to aim for verbs that would fit better in terms of connotation and participles that would aid the poor, helpless semantics, the "bursting open" and "SLAMMING shut" of the door. The person who had decided to torture the poor door with this passionate yet inconsiderate display of power was none other than the youngest of the Koopalings, Lawrence Octavia Koopa. Aka, Larry.
Larry mumbled under his breath, shaking his head as he made it to his usual spot in the dining hall. The mumbles and grumbles themselves were only accentuated by the fact that his jaw was clenched, his teeth were grit, fists were balled, and his face shooting daggers. The grumbles themselves suggested that he was having a conversation with himself, as the vocal tone shifted a lot and the words he spoke seemed to change in terms of…let's say levels of logic, tone, and personality. It was almost as if Lawrence was channeling all of his emotions and every last version of every last person who made him who he was, is, and will be. It was interesting, to say the least.
"You alright, Larry?" asked Iggy. He was seated on the left hand side of the dining hall. Ludwig was seated directly across from him, and right now he was reading a copy of the book Great Expectations. Now, while Ludwig was focusing on the book, he also knew how to divide his attention; he is a special after all, and his powers require him to tap into multiple levels of his existence in order for him to use them effectively. Keep that in mind, as Ludwig is going to talk to Larry in a minute.
"No!" Larry snarled. He pulled out his own chair, the feet scraping against the stone floor. If one were to look at Ludwig, you would probably see him wince in pain at this "nails on a chalkboard" decibel level. He does his best to hide it as Larry sits down to his immediate left.
"I just got finished talking with one of my friends online!" Larry said. He set his clenched fists on the table; Iggy could see the grip could potentially be tighter if the youngest desired it to be so; however, Larry could still use it in its current state and knock out someone's teeth. "They are the biggest moron I've ever met!"
Roy, seated on Iggy's left, smirks. "Bigger than me?"
"Way Bigger!" Larry rolled his eyes and shook his head. "He asked me if I could steal some rocks from Mars because he wants to give it to his girlfriend. The reason why he said that is because he knows she really likes the moon. Uh, dude, hello? The moon and Mars are completely different things! I can't just pop by them anytime I want and ask the Martians 'do you think you could loan my some of your space rocks?'" Larry scoffed, cocking his head to the side. "Seriously, what a retard."
Now, Ludwig had been listening in on this whole conversation, remember. However, he hadn't actually engaged yet; he didn't say a word this entire scene. Of course, the word "retard" is used to make fun of people with some sort of mental handicap. While it can be used, it has to be used lightly and sparingly. Now, Ludwig doesn't like his youngest brother just saying it so nonchalantly for multiple reasons, and his response will give some insight as to why. So….how does he respond?
"Gee, might want to tone down the profanity there bucko; we have feelings too you know."
Silence. Larry's brow furrows as he tries to comprehend what his brother just told him. Unable to make heads or tails of things, he turns back to his brother in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Ludwig takes his eyes off of Dickens' classic words and face his brother. "Larry, you know I'm on the spectrum, right?"
Larry does a double take. "You are?" he asks, his voice hitting a high note. Ludwig closes the book, his attention now completely focused on Larry.
"Yeah! I've got Asperger's, and so does Iggy!" He gestures to Ignatius Magnolia, who gives a little nod. Now, all seven of the Koopalings were actually at the table that day; Lemmy was seated to Ludwig's immediate right. Wendy was seated on Iggy's right, and Morton was on her right. With the exception of Iggy, each and everyone of the Koopalings stare at the firstborn in shock.
"Really?" Larry squeaks, looking back and forth to be the oldest and middle.
"Yep!" Iggy chimes in, grinning like a crook. "As you know, Ludwig and I are often referred to as prodigies, which did get a raised eyebrow from Kamek back when we were young. After all, there is a fine line between genius and insanity; if someone is really gifted, that gift is usually balanced out with a "curse," or mental illness. So, Bowser and Kamek got us tested for Aspergers Syndrome, and we both passed with flying colors."
"Correct." Ludwig's azure blue eyes glitter as he smirks at Iggster. "Although, I think you performed slightly better than I did, which is saying a lot because I did get a perfect score."
Iggy returns the smirk. "Yeah, Ludwig. How can you give a test like that to a kid with a masters degree and NOT expect him to at least attempt getting the extra credit?"
"Ha ha!" Ludwig guffaws, his face as bright as the sun. "Okay, I can't actually high five you right now because of the space between us. So…Roy, can you high five him for me?"
Roy beams goofily, and the two of them high five.
Ludwig chuckles. "Yeah, that's awesome." He picks his book back up, but puts it down again when something occurs to him. "Wait, you guys didn't know about this?"
"No idea," said Wendy. "I'm actually really shocked about that."
"Yeah," said Morton. "I mean….we talk about stuff like mental illness all the time with you guys!"
"It's kind of weird," Lemmy chirped. "Maybe we just didn't think about it that much."
"Plus," Larry said. "You guys seem to handle it well. Both of you are very discreet."
"Yeah, do you take drugs?" Roy asked.
Ludwig exchanges a sparkling look with Iggy before taking the book he was reading and stashing it in his hammerspace. "Well, we did try meds when we first got diagnosed. However, there were a few…hiccups. I was given an antidepressant, which acts as stimulant and therefore can speed up the physiological processes. While that did help, it actually helped a little too well. My metabolism was off the charts, and my energy levels were just as bad. And, my thoughts raced around A. LOT!" He smooths a lock of his royal blue hair back a little. "And, since I do have superpowers, the doctors were practically asking for a "crush your enemies and bathe in their blood" situation. I eventually got weaned off of them."
Wendy purses her lips and nods. "That's interesting. What about you, Iggy?"
"My story is more or less the exact opposite. I was given an antipsychotic, which can act as a depressant. It actually slowed down my biological processes. Now, this was helpful I'll admit; for one, it increased my appetite and slowed down my metabolism. This helped me to put on a little extra weight, which is nice because I have a small frame and a high metabolism by default."
"Yeah!" Ludwig exclaimed. "Now, since my metabolism was actually on the lower end of the scale, and I can carry a little extra girth since I have a medium frame and bone density, the antidepressant actually kind of helped! I was able to maintain my BMI!" He chuckled.
Iggy nods. "Yeah. The physical effects worked wonders on both of us. However, one drawback to my med regime was that it did slow down my cognitive function. Now, you guys know I like moving at the speed of light, so I did not like feeling like going slower than normal was a positive. I also got weaned off my meds."
Lemmy nods. "Neat!"
"Neato burrito is what I would call it," Iggy said. "Especially when you consider the other quirks Ludwig and I have."
Larry blinked. "You mean you have more than just autism?"
"Yeah," Iggy said. "You see, mental illnesses actually coincide with one another; if you have one, there is a REALLY good chance you have at least one more. And Ludwig and I have more in common than just Savant syndrome. Believe it or not, there's also another 'trait' that we both have."
"Yep," said Ludwig. "We share an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder diagnosis on our medical charts." He straightened his posture as Iggy adjusted his glasses. "Now, my OCD usually takes the form of a very high standard of cleanliness." He started listing things off on his finder. "I take great pride in my appearance and have a very complex grooming routine that I partake in daily. I like to keep my room neat and organized so that I can know where things are. I'm afraid of losing control, I always like to dress well, I comb my hair at least one thousand times in one day. So yeah, that's what my OCD does."
"As for mine," Iggy said. "It has allowed me to multitask." It was then that the others realized he was tapping his left foot underneath the table and his right pointer finger on top of it, creating a very fast paced rhythm. Think sixteenth notes mixed with eighths."This can be witnessed in multiple areas of my life, but I think I can really tap into it when I am working with anything requiring mental stimuli!"
"Oh!" Ludwig exclaimed. "We didn't touch upon the left and right brain thing; should we do it now?"
Iggy grinned. "If you want!"
"Oh believe me Iggster, I. WANT!" He laughed. "This is actually really interesting stuff, in my opinion!"
"What are you talking about?" Morton asked. "What's the difference between the left and right side of the brain?"
Ludwig grinned cheekily. "Well, this actually has a lot to do with your dominant side." He raised his left hand. "My dominant side is my left, and since there's a cross wiring thing going on in the brain, that means I like to use my right by default." He smiled. "Which, actually makes a lot of sense because that is more the creative and emotional part of the brain."
Roy's face lit up and he slapped his hand down on the table. "And you're a composer!"
"Yeah! I REVEL in my creative side. Songs are more or less just poetry put to a beat, and this is especially true when it comes to songs with lyrics. If you're anything like me, you like evocative imagery and powerful symbolism." He giggled. "That's why I like to call myself 'the Conductor of Chaos."
"As for me…" Iggy raised his dominant hand… "I'm right handed. This means I'm more in tune with my analytical side. Hard and fast rules and pattern recognitions are my cup of tea; that's why my default is science and mathematics." He let out a breath. "Now, this is where I think Ludwig and I use our autism to our advantage."
AN: Hey, everyone! I hoped you enjoyed this little character study so far! I don't know how many parts I'm going to write, but trust me. I think this will be a lot of fun for all of us :)
