Chapter 14 When Life Gives You Lemmys….
Larry and Morton stared at the Lemmys populating the courtyard. There was one that had a pink shell and mohawk, and he was grinning from ear to ear. There was another with a lime green shell, and he was juggling bowling pins while balancing on top of his circus ball. The one with a yellow shell was giggling uncontrollably, and the one with a gray shell appeared to be shivering in worry.
"Morton, what the goomba squishing heck is happening?" Larry asked in complete bafflement.
Morton just shook his head. This was not good, not good in the slightest. The gray Lemmy approached Morton and Larry, all the while chewing ferociously on his fingernails.
"Oh, thank the lumas you're here!" he exclaimed. His inflection was laden with so much worry that the voice almost didn't sound like Lemmy's at all. "We need you guys' help!"
Morton nodded solemnly as the gray Lemmy started to whimper and shiver. He reckoned that this trait was Lemmy's worry.
"We'll help you out," he said. "Don't worry, Worry."
It wasn't until that phrase escaped his lips that Morton realized how funny it sounded. He chuckled as a smile spread like acne across his face. The yellow shelled Lemmy laughed along with him.
"That was a good one, Morton!" he said. "Do you think you can repeat that?"
Morton chuckled as he made eye contact with the trait. The trait's eyes were glowing with good humor, searching the world for something to use in a joke. There was no doubt in Morton's mind which trait this was.
"Jokester?" he asked.
"Yes siree Bob! I am a jokester!" Jokester laughed. "And I certainly hope that you 'trait' me well."
Jokester laughed up a storm, and Morton would be lying through his teeth if he said he didn't join in. Suddenly, the pink shelled Lemmy started to bounce up and down, clapping his hands in a swift rhythm. His smile was so bright that it was the very definition of contagious.
"I'm guessing that you are Lemmy's happiness?" Morton said.
"Yep!" Happiness said as he started to do a little dance. The green shelled Lemmy rolled up to Morton and Larry on his ball.
"And I'm Love for Circus!" Love for Circus did a backflip, landing on the ground in a handstand. Morton clapped happily as Love for Circus took a bow.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" Love for Circus said. Jokester started to giggle.
"Hey. That trick really came in 'handy!' I almost couldn't 'stand' it!"
Love for Circus, Happiness, and Jokester all burst into laughter. Worry, however, stood on the sidelines, looking at his fellow traits with the gaze of an outcast.
"Okay, seriously, WHAT IS GOING ON!" Larry shouted.
The Lemmys stopped laughing and all looked at Larry. It was then that Morton realized how bizarre this must look to an outsider.
"I'm sorry, Larry," Morton said. "I should have told you earlier. Iggy's dark side got separated from him."
"Wait, what?" Larry exclaimed in fright.
"Yeah," said Happiness. "He used the personality splitter us up into Lemmy's five core traits."
"He was accompanied by Ludwig," Jokester said. He chuckled. "He was wearing a red cloak, so I asked him if he had 'red' any good books lately!"
Morton's heart sank. The only cloak that Ludwig owned was royal blue. If he was wearing red, that could only mean that he got split too.
"Wait a minute," said Larry. "You said that Dark Iggy split you guys up into five traits, but there are only four of you."
Worry's countenance became all the more anxious.
"Yeah," he said. "Brotherly Love went with Iggy's Dark Side!"
Morton and Larry exchanged a confused look.
"Brotherly Love?" Morton asked.
"Why would that of all traits turn to the Dark Side?" asked Larry.
"Because," said Love for Circus, "Lemmy loves all of his siblings. Especially Ludwig; he would follow him into the depths of the Underwhere if he had to."
Morton could only nod gravely. Then he heard Wendy's shriek. He exchanged a look with Larry and the Lemmys.
"Uh oh," Larry said. "That doesn't sound good."
"Well then let's go help her!" the Lemmys declared in unison
…
Iggy carefully made his way down the hall with the four Ludwig's. He had heard Wendy's shriek, and instantly knew what it meant. He had to get to his sister before Dark Iggy did.
Determination lead the pack, trailing ahead and gesturing for the others to hurry up and pick up the pace. Sarcasm was going at relatively the same pace as Iggy was, and Fear was cowering behind Iggy like a shield. Finally, there was Musical Inclination in the back. He was humming to himself, trying to string together notes into a song. Sarcasm rolled his eyes at his fellow trait's lack of speed.
"Yeesh. If he were going any slower, he'd be going backwards," he said to Iggy at his side.
Iggy was about to say something when Determination gestured for all of them to halt.
"Wait!" he said. He glanced around the corner, and everyone else did the same. There was Dark Iggy, along with Rage and the magenta shelled Brotherly Love. Fear let out a gasp.
"He split up Lemmy!" he exclaimed.
"And he's about to do the same to Wendy as well," said Musical Inclination.
Dark Wiggles' chain was wrapped around Wendy's body like a vine. She struggled to get free, but Wiggles grip around her was too strong.
"Iggy, don't do this!"
"Wendy, it's gonna be alright," Dark Iggy said. "I promise you that this won't hurt a bit."
Dark Iggy aimed th personality splitter in Wendy's direction. Everyone gasped when they saw the five traits that Wendy had gotten split into. There was a gray shelled Wendy, an indigo shelled Wendy, a teal shelled Wendy, a beige shelled Wendy, and a red shelled Wendy. The red shelled Wendy glared at Dark Iggy, Rage, and Brotherly Love.
"What was that for?" she demanded to know.
"It was for your best interest, dear sister," Dark Iggy said. "I plan on making a world where all of the deepest desires of a person's heart can be expressed fully. And that includes you, dear sweet Aggression."
Aggression's eyes grew wide.
"Expressed, you say?" she asked.
"Yes," said Rage. "Traits like us don't have to put on the back burner anymore."
"He's absolutely right," Brotherly Love said. "Wendy, I don't want you to feel anymore pain. Please come with us!"
Aggression looked back and forth between Dark Iggy and her fellow traits, who all seemed to be in shock. Then she smiled bullishly.
"Alright. I am in."
"Wait, Aggression!" said the indigo shelled Wendy. "You can't..."
Aggression growled at her fellow trait, not too dissimilar to how a lion hisses at its prey. This caused the trait to shrink back. Aggression turned to Dark Iggy with a smirk.
"Make that all in."