Chapter 3 Nature vs Nurture

Aria had been all for going on the double date, which was definitely fortunate. Of course, Ludwig wasn't at all surprised that she was, as her excitement over getting to meet Bob was at an all time high. But still, Ludwig couldn't help but feel relieved when she agreed to it. Once he got confirmation that she wanted to go, he spent most of the next few days imagining what it would be like. It would be fun, definitely fun. That was a guarantee, right?

Well, that's what Ludwig hoped. And as he flew over to Sparksville, touching his neatly styled and heavily sprayed hair as he made his way over to Aria's house, he thought about the many directions that this night could go down. There would be laughter, fun stories being exchanged between the four people situated at the table. Man, there was just so much potential for enjoyability packed within this evening. He only hoped it would deliver. Oh, Ludwig couldn't even count the number of times an evening or a day went south; those events playing out were way too numerous.

He stopped and shook his head. No, no… he shouldn't be thinking like that. Sure, there was a possibility things would go wrong, but that was true of pretty much anything. Things wouldn't go wrong. Ludwig would enjoy the time he spent with Aria, Bob, and Jackie.

And maybe he could also figure out why Jackie's name was so familiar…

With these thoughts in mind, he continued on his flight. He managed to get to Aria's house fairly quickly, which did help him feel good (seriously, getting from Bowser's Castle to Sparksville in twenty minutes had to be some sort of world record). He landed in front of her door and knocked, putting on a smile when she opened it and stood in front of him.

"Hey!"

"Hey." Ludwig studied her appearance. "Man, you look amazing."

"Thanks." Aria wore a dress the same shade of purple as her eyes, one that left some skin exposed around her neck so the world could see the gorgeous sapphire necklace that she had decided to wear today. "You don't look so bad yourself."

Ludwig chuckled. "Thanks." He wore a suit, which had honestly been a debate point for him as he had wondered if wearing it would make him appear overdressed. However, those worries were gone after seeing the lovely attire Aria wore, as well as hearing that she approved of his outfit. He pushed a strand of his stylized hair out of his face, which drew Aria's attention to it.

"Man," she said, sounding absolutely awed. "Your hair looks amazing!" She looked back into Ludwig's eyes. "How long did that take you?"

"Eh… about an hour." He snickered. "A fact that Lemmy had been all too aware of, as he had been wanting to use the bathroom for about half of that time." He chuckled along with Aria. "But that's neither here nor there. I felt as if tonight was one of those nights where I had to bring my A-game." He snickered again. "If for no other reason than to separate my appearance from Bob's."

Aria nodded, all while grinning. "Makes sense." She smoothed out the folds of her dress. "So…" she paused, looking at Ludwig with an eager expression. "You ready?"

"Of course!" Ludwig held out his arm, and Aria intertwined hers with his. After closing the door, the two of them walked through Sparksville underneath the midday sun (Sparksville was probably the only place in the Koopa Kingdom at the moment where the sun was visible at all). Despite the scorching rays flying down onto Ludwig's skin, threatening to burn his skin to a crisp, Ludwig wasn't going to let anything get him down. He walked with the grace of a gentleman, but also with the pep in his step that someone experiencing an emotional high would walk with.

"So," Aria said once they were halfway to the restaurant. "This clone of yours…"

Ludwig snickered. "Oh believe me, you are going to love him, Aria. Bob is just one of these people who can act as a happy little ray of sunshine, even on the worst kinds of days." He beamed as something occurred to him. "He's kind of similar to Lemmy, in that regard."

"Lemmy?" Aria smirked. "That's weird to hear you say, considering that he's your clone."

Ludwig burst into laughter. "Well… there's a reason for that. Bob and I pretty much polar opposites in terms of personality." He adjusted his hair again with his free hand. "I can't for the life of me say why though."

"Yeah," Aria replied. "I mean he was made with your DNA…" she stopped. "You know… that actually brings up an interesting point in the 'nature vs nurture' debate."

Ludwig blinked. "You think so?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, think about it. If Bob is genetically identical to you, that means he might have inherited some of your personality traits. After all, some personality traits and types are shared by different members of the same family." Her eyes glittered. "I think that would be on a much bigger scale with Bob."

Ludwig thought about this. "Maybe… but he and I are very different…"

"Well, of course you are! Why? Because of your experiences." She looked right at him. "Bob didn't have the guilt of what happened to Frostwall hanging over his head for fourteen years. And I think it pretty much goes without saying that something like that would greatly impact his personality if it did happen to him."

Ludwig snickered. "Bit of an understatement there, don't you think?"

"Exactly!" Aria's smile kept getting bigger and bigger. "So… I think Bob is what your true nature is in its purest form, devoid of all the horrible experiences that you've gone through."

"Hmm." In all honesty, Ludwig never really thought about it that way before. Yet… it made sense. It made perfect sense in his mind. And, on top of that, it made him feel kind of good. If Bob, as sweet and as loving as he was, was what Ludwig was like deep in his heart… well, it made Ludwig view Bob in a completely different light. Heck, it made him view himself in a completely different light. A different yet very positive kind of light.

"That's a pretty intriguing thought," Ludwig finally said.

Aria shrugged. "Just something I thought of ever since you told me you had a clone."

Ludwig laughed. "Which I think speaks volumes." He patted Aria's arm. "I think we should tell Bob about your theory while we're on the date."

"I can't help but agree."

With that, they continued on the way to the restaurant, with Aria leading the way due to her knowing way more about Sparksville than Ludwig ever did. When they got to the establishment, Ludwig's heart actually fluttered. Maisy's Joint. It sounded and looked like a really enjoyable place to be. Plus, as a bonus, it was a place he and Aria hadn't been to yet, despite the numerous dates that they had gone on. They walked in the restaurant in high spirits.

Once they were in, Aria released her hold on Ludwig's arm. "Go on ahead without me; I need to stop at the bathroom really quick."

"Sure thing." When Aria departed, he let out a breath and searched around the restaurant. He found Bob pretty easily, sitting down at a table near the window. He walked over to his clone, grinning from ear to ear.

"Hey Bob."

Bob turned and gasped. "Ludwig!" He bolted to his feet and hugged his creator. This made Ludwig feel all warm and fuzzy, and that feeling only increased as he returned the embrace. "Oh Ludwig, I'm so happy to see you!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Bob." Ludwig let go of his clone, smiling at him with this almost… fatherly type of pride. "It's been a while."

"It certainly has been!" Bob looked around. "Hey, where's Aria?"

"She had to go to the bathroom really quick," Ludwig replied. "She'll be with us in a little bit."

"Oh, okay." Bob giggled. "Jackie is running a little late too." He took his seat. "I guess that means that leaves us guys to do some talking, devoid of the interference of any women!"

Ludwig snorted at that. "Gee Bob. Out of context, that could sound really bad."

Bob snickered. "I guess it's a good thing such a thing as context exists then." Both Koopas chuckled as Ludwig took his seat across from Bob. "So, anyway…" Bob perched his fingers down on the table, leaning forward with the most pure, untainted form of interest. "How've you been?"

"Pretty good." Ludwig smirked. "Although, you already knew that thanks to our phone call."

"True, true." Bob leaned back. "Even still, there are only so many details one can reveal in a phone call. So, I want to do my best to turn over the stones that I forgot about during that conversation." He leaned forward again. "Have you worked on any songs, recently?"

Ludwig was silent for a minute. "Uh…" his face grew warm. "Honestly, I've been much too focused on going out with Aria to really focus on that."

"I see…" Bob chortled. "I guess that makes sense. Ever since I went out with Jackie, most of my time and attention has been focused on her." He snorted. "Whether or not that's a good or bad thing, I can't say for sure."

Ludwig laughed out loud at that. "Man. If I didn't know better, I'd say our women are turning us into love zombies!"

This got both Koopas to laugh like loons. Many people in the restaurant looked over at them (and probably kept their eyes on them due to how similar they looked in appearance). Even still, Ludwig didn't mind. He was already having a lot of fun, which was funny as the double date hadn't even officially been started.

"They're stripping us of our individuality!" Bob exclaimed.

Ludwig tried to contain his giggles. "Bob, we're clone and creator. I think it's a debate point as to if we even have individuality!"

That got more laughter from the two. The people who had been looking at them exchanged looks of their own, possibly wondering about the two crazy koopas sitting by the window. Thankfully, they didn't interfere; just went back to eating their own meals.

Once Ludwig calmed down, he wiped his eyes and smiled at Bob. "You know, kind of on that note, Aria brought up something pretty interesting on the walk here."

Bob blinked. "Ooh, what is it?"

"Well… she thinks your existence is a pretty good point to bring up in the 'nature vs nurture' debate." Ludwig leaned back. "Since we're pretty much identical in everyway, she hypothesizes…" dang, he sounded so much like Iggy right now that it wasn't even funny… "that your personality is a reflection of my base nature in its purest form. The only reason why we're as different as we are is because you didn't live through the things that I experienced, and vice versa."

Bob blinked again. "Woah." He looked like he had just unlocked the secrets of the universe. "That… I never thought about it that way. It does make sense though." He looked Ludwig right in the eye. "Sounds like Aria is a pretty smart person."

"Oh believe me, she is." Ludwig chuckled. "One of the many reasons why I want to keep her around as long as possible."

Bob nodded. He looked like he was going to say something else, but something drew his attention. Or rather, someone. "Hey look! It's Jackie!" he said as he waved at her.

Ludwig turned around, eager to get a glance at Bob's girlfriend. However, what he ultimately saw caused more confusion than anything else. "What are you talking about Bob? That's Aria." He squinted at her. "Although, I don't really know why she's wearing a different out…fit."

His jaw dropped, as did Bob's. Ludwig did double take after double take as he looked at the person who had just come up to the girl Bob labeled as Jackie. Bob gawked with all his might, staring at the girls with shock and awe.

"No way!" he exclaimed.

Jackie and Aria looked exactly alike.