Chapter 5 Obsidian

"Can you please hurry up?"

Iggy scowled as he stood over the beakers he was working with. "Don't rush me!" He stirred the contents, all while still scowling. He looked at the chair at the other end of the lab where Ludwig was sitting. "I need to get this just right."

Ludwig groaned. "I know, I know..." he shook his head and leaned forward, feeling like he wanted to scowl just as much as Iggy was currently doing. "I just... I feel like this has been taking forever."

"It's only been half an hour," Iggy said as he poured something into the mixture.

Ludwig snickered. "Time passes differently when you're invisible."

Iggy snickered as well. "Clearly." He finished stirring the mixture, which Ludwig saw was the same shade of blue as a shining sapphire. Ludwig found it pretty... while also finding it really concerning. Iggy wanted to put that in his body? He wanted to feed Ludwig an antidote with such an unnatural color? Blue colors in food indicated the presence of a ton of chemicals, and Ludwig had a feeling that it was the same for the liquid Iggy was working with. As such, Ludwig's stomach churned as he watched Iggy work. Oh man, he hoped that this didn't end poorly...

"Okay..." Iggy picked up a pipette filled with a dark purple liquid. "Now to just add a smidgen of galaxium…"

Iggy squeezed the pipette, and a drop of the galaxium fell into the mixture. The mixture fizzed and bubbled, almost like it had been put on the stove. The beaker shook in Iggy's hand, causing Ludwig's heart to pound. Just as he was getting worried something horrible was about to happen, the mixture turned lavender (a much less concerning color than the blue, in Ludwig's opinion).

"Yes!" Iggy did a fist pump. "I did it!" He put the beaker on the table, took out a syringe, and inserted some of the liquid inside. Then he turned around, his face becoming serious as he walked closer to the chair. "I will warn you, this might not feel the greatest."

Ludwig sighed. "I know, I know..." he had been dreading this possibility. He had prayed that Iggy would decide to not use a syringe, instead hoping that his brother would choose to just let him drink the antidote. But no, of course, he had to use a needle. Ludwig's stomach churned extra hard, and it only got worse when he got another glance at the needle, shining so wickedly under the lab light. "I..." he swallowed a lump. "As long as it makes me visible again, I can stomach it."

"Of course." Iggy stopped in front of Ludwig's seat. He reached out his hand and poked Ludwig's cheek, making the special annoyed.

"Iggy, that's my face!"

"Ah!" Iggy pulled back and laughed. "That would explain why it's so gelatinous."

Ludwig glared as Iggy laughed at his hilarious joke. He was halfway tempted to zap Iggy until he stopped chuckling and pulled a sticker out of his hammerspace. He handed it over, telling Ludwig to put it on his forearm. Ludwig did as he was instructed (even though his annoyance was reaching levels that were far too high).

"Okay..." Iggy muttered once the sticker was in place. He got out the syringe, holding it so that the needle pointed upward. To his embarrassment, Ludwig whimpered when he saw it. He wanted to back up just looking at it, filled to the brim and sharper than sharp. Iggy, hearing the whimper, blinked and looked at Ludwig. "Are you okay?"

"I..." Ludwig took a deep breath before extending his arm with the sticker on it. "Ye...yeah, I'm fine." He swallowed a lump. "Do your worst."

Iggy smiled warmly. "Just close your eyes. I would also recommend making yourself sneeze." Ludwig opened his mouth to question that piece of advice, but Iggy interjected before he had a chance. "Just trust me on that one." He gently took hold of Ludwig's hand. "It'll help; I promise."

Ludwig frowned. "If you say so." He closed his eyes. When Iggy put the needle in his arm, he sneezed, the action quickly and... painless? Wow, okay, so there really was some legitimate reasoning behind Iggy's advice. Once he finished, Ludwig opened his eyes. He watched Iggy's expression, internally praying that it would rise.

Thankfully, after the longest moment of Ludwig's life, Iggy grinned. "It worked!"

Ludwig's face lit up. Not wasting any time, he flew over to the mirror on the other side of the lab. When he saw his reflection, he let out the most happy and relieved laugh ever.

"Oh, I've never been so happy to see myself!" He laughed, putting his fingers through his soft blue locks before turning back toward Iggy. "Thank you so much, Iggster!"

"No problem," Iggy came over. Ludwig's happiness immediately started to dampen when he saw Iggy's face; the furrowed brow and frown told Ludwig everything about what was going on in his brother's head. "I just don't understand. How were you able to turn invisible in the first place?"

Ludwig frowned. "Oh." His joy was now completely gone, he tried his best to think about this. "I... I don't know how..."

CRASH! Both Ludwig and Iggy shrieked as beakers from across the room exploded one by one in a glassy, sharp mess. Iggy jumped with each explosion, and Ludwig was wide-eyed as he watched the rainbow-colored contents of the beakers splatter and stain the floor. By the time the last beaker exploded, leaving shards sharp enough to pierce the heart on the lab floor, Iggy turned to Ludwig. Now, instead of wearing a furrowed brow, he had a wrinkled brow and a glare.

"Why did you do that? How did you do that?"

"I...I don't know!" Ludwig held his hands up defensively as Iggy's glare grew more concentrated. "I swear Iggy, I didn't intend to do that! It's just... my powers have been... iffy."

"HA!" Iggy said. "Your powers have never been 'iffy' before!"

Ludwig sighed. "I know..." He slowly made his way back over to the chair on the other side of the lab. He lowered himself slowly, keeping his eyes wide open just to make sure that nothing else happened. "But... they have been today. I can't explain why, but somehow, I've been able to do some really strange things."

Iggy blinked, his anger transitioning into curiosity as he made his way over. "How so?"

With a sigh, Ludwig got to explaining what happened in the dining hall. Iggy listened with wide eyes, and the further Ludwig got into his explanation, the wider they got. His jaw dropped when Ludwig told him about how he stopped time, and once he was done, Iggy's expression could only really be described as stupefied.

"Woah." He took off his glasses and pinched his brow. "So... wait, let me get this straight." He gawked at Ludwig. "You caused a halt in the passage of time?" When Ludwig nodded, Iggy turned his gaze away from him for a minute. "I don't believe it. That's….that's…."

He fell silent. Ludwig gestured for him to continue, hoping that Iggy would provide him with an answer like he so often did. Much to Ludwig's annoyance though, Iggy just shook his head.

"I don't even know what that is," he said, his voice trailing off.

Ludwig's face fell. "Well, I don't either." He tried not to freak out too badly. "Which is why I want you to tell me WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME!"

Ludwig immediately regretted exploding like that, as one of the overhead fluorescent lights exploded. Iggy shrieked and put his hands to his head, standing still and trembling for about four minutes. When he finally reached a point where he was sure he wouldn't get hurt, he glared at Ludwig.

"Okay, first of all, you will need to stop doing that."

Ludwig let out a breath as he nodded. He lowered his hand, hiding it within his cloak. He tried not to let Iggy glaring at him make him feel too bad.

"And second... I think I know what's going on."

Ludwig blinked. Wait, really? There was an explanation for this? There was a reason why all these horrible things were happening? Well shit, he definitely wanted to hear it! Without another word, he got up and followed Iggy into the Chasm of Death. Iggy's eyes scanned over the shelves, completely ignoring the more dangerous and out-there items before finding the last thing Ludwig would've expected him to keep in here: a book. He opened it and browsed through it as they exited the closet. When he got to s specific pages, his face lit up

"Ah, here it is!" He set the book down on one of the lab tables and showed Ludwig the picture. Ludwig blinked when he saw the koopa, mostly because he didn't really look like a real person. He had scales the color of charcoal, eyes red as blood, and hair so orange it looked like fire. He glared at Ludwig, looking like some sort of demon or evil entity.

"Who is that?" Ludwig asked, trying to not sound too freaked out.

"His name was Obsidian," Iggy said. "He was one of the original specials. He was given his powers before birth, and he contributed greatly when it came to actually ending the war."

"Okay..." Ludwig looked back down at the Koopa. He seriously didn't look like anyone who fought for the good side. "So... what's his deal?"

Iggy frowned. "Well, he managed to survive the war and grew into adulthood. He... well, he was never what I would call 'right in the head...'" Ludwig snickered when he heard that, but another glance at Obsidian's scowling face made him shut up immediately. "He used his powers for some really scummy things. He robbed stores, he killed people; you know, that sort of thing.

"I see..." At this point, Ludwig was really scared about how exactly this monster tied back to him and his situation.

"And because he was a special, he pretty much got away with everything." Iggy looked back at the picture, and he gripped the sides of the open book. "However, he wasn't satisfied. He wasn't satisfied with his 'accomplishments at all. He wanted more power, and would stop at nothing to get it. And, unfortunately for a lot of people, who soon discovered a way to get it."

Ludwig gulped. "And... what was that way?"

Iggy cringed. "He... he discovered that, when he failed to get decent sleep one night, his powers seemed stronger the next day; easier to control, and much more destructive." Iggy's face grew serious. "So, he stopped sleeping, all together. He stayed up until the early hours of the morning, continually pushing the physical limits of his own body. The end result? He unlocked new powers and increased the strength of his existing powers. And, unfortunately, with his newfound abilities, he committed genocide. He murdered half of a town and would have murdered even more. However, he collapsed and died from exhaustion before he could complete his mission."

A pit formed in Ludwig's stomach. Looking at Obsidian now, he sweated like never before. Chills ran up and down his spine, looking into those eyes and their wicked red sheen.

"And now the same thing is happening to me." His breathing sped up. "My powers are acting up because of sleep deprivation."

"Indeed." Iggy adjusted his glasses. "And I think, if you continue on with this pattern, things will become more unmanageable for you." He smiled. "Thankfully, the solution to this problem is fairly obvious and apparent to everyone. All you need to do is sleep!"

Fear gripped Ludwig. "Sleep..." His heart pounded, and it felt as though he was just about to have a panic attack. "I…I can't do that!"

"Of course you can!"

"No! You don't understand!" He was shaking now. "I want to sleep, but I can't! Every time I try, I always go back to that stupid reoccurring nightmare!"

Iggy blinked. "I'm sorry. Reoccurring nightmare?"

Ludwig seized up. All at once, he felt as though he couldn't look Iggy in the eye. He felt as though Iggy was giving him a look of the most malicious form of judgment.

"Ludwig, last night, you said your nightmares weren't connected to each other." He took his glasses off. "Was that a lie?"

Ludwig's insides squirmed. "I..."

Iggy stepped closer to Ludwig and put his hands on his shoulders, squeezing them as he looked into Ludwig's eyes. "Ludwig." Ludwig couldn't look into his face to save his life. "What have you seen in your dreams?"

Ludwig struggled to speak. "No...nothing!"

"It's clearly not nothing; tell me what it is!"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Ludwig…!"

Blue flames erupted around Ludwig's shoulder. Iggy shrieked, bouncing back and treating his burned hands. Ludwig cringed when he saw that, but also cringed when he realized how hard it was to make the flames go out this time around.

"I... I'm sorry." He took a deep breath, and the flames disappeared. Once he was sure they wouldn't come back, he looked right at Iggy. "Look, I'll just go and try to take a nap now. If I sleep for most of the day, that should be able to help me with my sleep deprivation."

Iggy hesitated for a little bit before nodding. "Okay."

Ludwig let out a small breath. He got up from the chair, looking down at his hands. He squeezed the jasper button of his blue cloak before looking toward the door. He made his way toward it, but before he could exit the lab, Iggy spoke up.

"You know Ludwig, I worry about you sometimes."

Ludwig froze and swallowed a lump. "Why is that?"

"Well, because." Iggy stepped towards him. "You're... you're just so different from the rest of us. Not many people have the kind of challenges you face, and... well, I worry that they might become too overwhelming for you."

Ludwig thought about this. He sighed and looked down at the floor. "Well thank you, Iggy, but you don't need to turn my worries into yours."

With that, Ludwig exited the lab and headed to his room.