AN: Hey, StarlitDuck here. I just want to let you guys know that I won't be posting tomorrow or Saturday. I have been a little sick over the past few days and I need to rest. Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying the story.

Chapter 3 Hip and Hop

For the second time in less than ten minutes, Lemmy was screaming with fright. Unlike his experience in the wormhole, this chute that he was sliding down was completely dark. Lemmy was seriously debating which of the two experiences was the more terrifying. When the chute finally opened up, Lemmy found himself sprawled out on the tiled floor. Feet, which had been the first part of his body to hit the floor, felt like they would explode from the pain. Luckily, they were not broken, so Lemmy was able to stand up. And when he did, he could hear impish giggles coming from behind his back.

"That was…"

"...incredible! We really out did ourselves, Hip!"

Lemmy turned and gasped. The two koopas that he was staring at were the exact same koopas that he had seen in the first portrait. The only difference was that their faces were triumphant in real life, whereas they were creepily stoic in the painting. Lemmy approached the one who looked like him and started to examine the koopa from head to toe.

"Woah," he said. "It's like looking in a funhouse mirror!"

The little koopa looked immensely confused. His bespectacled brother appeared to be the same way.

"Hey, Hip," said the brother. "Who is this…"

"...guy? I don't know." The little koopa smiled deviously. "He looks like he could be a good target, though!"

"I was thinking the same thing!" The two koopas giggled like gremlins. Lemmy stared at them like they each had four heads.

"What are you guys talking about?" Lemmy asked.

"Oh, nothing," the koopa brothers said in unison. The little one extended his hand toward Lemmy. "My name is Hip Koopa!"

Lemmy smiled. Hip. It had a nice ring to it. Hip also seemed to be a nice guy.

"It's nice to meet you, Hip," Lemmy said as he reached out to grab Hip's hand. "My name is Lemonade…"

Lemmy felt a stunning shock travel throughout his body when he grabbed Hip's hand. When he finally pulled away, he felt absolutely frazzled. Hip and his brother resumed with their laughter.

"Oh, that's what you meant!" Lemmy said. He himself let out a giggle. "I guess you could say I was 'shocked' by your actions!"

Hip smiled, a surprising amount of welcoming warmth present in his eyes.

"So you like puns," he said. "That's neat."

"Not as neat as your love for pranks!" Lemmy said with a laugh. "Anyway, as I was saying, my name is Lemonade, but you can just call me Lemmy for short."

"Okay, Lemmy For Short," Hip said with another giggle. "As I said, my name is Hip."

"And I'm his twin!" the bespectacled koopa said.

"Ooh, twins!" Lemmy said. Lemmy loved twins. He didn't run across them very often, but he always found them fascinating. "So since you're twins, I bet you guys have names that go together?"

"Yep!" the twins said in unison.

"Cool!" Lemmy squealed in delight. "Wait, give me a minute; I want to see if I can guess your name." Lemmy put his hand to his chin, trying to think of names associated with the word hip. "Umm...Replacement! Hip and Replacement! Is that it?"

The twins exchanged a look. Since they were twins, Lemmy wondered if they were having some sort of telepathic conversation.

"No!" Hip finally said with a snort of a laugh. "His name is not Replacement! It's…"

"Hop! My name is Hop!"

"Ohhh," Lemmy said with a smile. "Like hip hop! Okay, that makes sense." He giggled, if for no other reason than to deflect from his embarrassment. Hip and Hop laughed right alongside him, and eventually they were all laughing merrily together.

"So, Lemmy," Hip said once his laughter died. "Why exactly do you look like me?"

"Well, I think that's because I am you."

Hip and Hop simultaneously raised an eyebrow. Hip raised his left while Hop raised his right.

"How can you be Hip?" Hop asked. "Hip is Hip!"

"I know that," Lemmy said. "But I think I am Hip too. You see, I'm from another dimension."

Hip's eyes grew wide.

"Another dimension?" he asked in awe.

"Yeah!" lemmy replied. "My brothers and I got sucked into a wormhole that brought us here!"

Hip's mouth gawked open in wonder.

"That's incredible!" Hop exclaimed, as his brother was having difficulty closing his mouth. "That must mean that Kooky's machine works!"

"Kooky!" Lemmy asked. "Who in this world is Kooky?"

Hop giggled deviously again. Lemmy was starting to pick up that was a habit of the twins'. While he didn't find it annoying or aggravating, he did find it a little odd. Normally, giggles like that usually proceeded an action that most people would deem immoral. It was like maniacal laughter, but a lot more...subtle, let's say.

"Kooky is our brother," Hop said. Lemmy made sure to pay attention to his tone, trying to detect any possible fabrications. "He is a mad…"

"...scientist!" Hip finished the sentence. "He has been working on an invention over the past few days. It's supposed to teleport…"

"...people into other dimensions!" Hop said.

Lemmy studied the body language of the twins. They did not appear to be lying, and if they were they were skilled enough to cover up their tracks.

"That sounds cool," Lemmy said after a decent study of them. Then he thought of something else. "Wait a minute. If Kooky made a device to bring us into another dimension, that must mean that he can send us back home." Lemmy smiled at the twins. "Can you guys take me to Kooky?"

"Sure!" Hip said. "He's probably in the throne room with King…"

"...Dad!" Hop said. "We can take you to both of them. I'm sure King Dad would love to meet you!"

With that, Hip and Hop took Lemmy's hand and started leading him away. While Lemmy had a slightly bad feeling about this, he was relieved that the twins were leading him to someone who could help.