Chapter 3 Can a Clown Be Dismal?

Lemmy pressed the brush of red face paint down harder on his nose than usual. He ignored the other parts of his face, for they had already been decorated to his satisfaction. His face looked like a powdered donut with the white face paint, and his eyelids were the same color as amethysts. Honestly, the art of decorating your face for a clown act was so special to him. It was like Batman donning the mask, or a king putting on his crown. It meant you were getting ready for a job, a job that you loved and were one hundred percent dedicated to.

Of course, today he did it with an extra bit of weight. Pulling the red brush away from his nose for a second, Lemmy observed the face that existed underneath all the paint. He couldn't remember seeing himself look so self-serious. Why? Was it all because of the stupid dream? Honestly, Lemmy needed to get over himself. He had a feeling that if he were to bring up his feelings to his siblings, they would agree with that sentiment. It was just a dream! It was just a silly dream, one that didn't deserve to bring Lemmy's spirits down in the way that they currently were.

Growling a little bit, Lemmy picked up the tube of pink lipstick Wendy had so graciously lent to him. His eyebrows were slanted as he did that particular part of his face. He felt weird, he had to admit, as he was more or less a stranger to these kinds of problems. He had felt sad and irate before, sure, but not because of a silly dream! This was ridiculous! This was so stupid!

Right as Lemmy thought about this, he heard whistling coming from the door that led out of the dressing room to the stage. Looking through the mirror, Lemmy saw Ludwig coming in. The tune he whistled was one that Lemmy never heard before, so it was probably safe to assume that it was new. If Lemmy were a betting Koopa, he would say that this tune was the one Ludwig had written for International Worker's Appreciation Day.

Anyway, Ludwig took a seat behind Lemmy. He made eye contact with Lemmy through the mirror, prompting Lemmy to nod at him. He pursed his lips, hoping to cover as much area as possible. After a few minutes, Ludwig came up and stood beside Lemmy. He looked into the mirror, then at Lemmy. He didn't say anything, but his expression was so weird. Lemmy couldn't pinpoint what emotion it was to save his life.

"What?" Lemmy asked.

"Nothing." Ludwig flashed him a smile. "I just hope you have fun putting on the clown act."

Lemmy smiled a tiny bit. "I hope I do too." Ludwig did a double-take when Lemmy said that, and Lemmy immediately knew why. That response was significantly less animated than what one would expect from him. Frowning, Lemmy tried to think of something else to say, something much more lively and optimistic. Nothing came to him. Sighing, he just turned back to the mirror.

"Are you nervous, Lems?" Ludwig asked.

Lemmy paused with applying the paint, looking at his own reflection as if expecting it to speak and give him all the answers. "I mean… I don't think I'm nervous. I just don't…" he shook his head. "I don't know, I guess I just have a lot on my mind."

"I see." Ludwig stood in place thinking for a few seconds. "Would you be willing to talk about it?"

Lemmy smirked and snickered. "Depends; what's your hourly rate?" Both Koopas laughed at that, an action that helped lift Lemmy's spirits the tiniest bit. At least, enough for him to say: "I'm not really THAT bad. Like I said, there's a lot that I'm currently thinking about. You know what I mean?"

"I do," Ludwig said with a nod. "I am the number one practicer of 'Paralysis by Analysis,' so I do know what you mean." He chuckled. "It sucks when you get like that, doesn't it?"

"Oh yeah." Lemmy put the lipstick down and started applying some more white powder. "Makes me wish there was a way to just turn your brain off."

Ludwig laughed. "You can go see Roy; he seems to have perfected that art." Lemmy raised an eyebrow at him, causing his laughter to die. "Sorry, that was mean." He stayed silent for a little bit. "Why don't we just pretend that I said this: sometimes, the best way to keep your brain from thinking itself to death is to give it something to do. Physical activities are great in that regard." He beamed. "Which, you know, a clown act certainly qualifies as that."

Lemmy nodded, a smile pulling his lips upward. "Yeah! You're right!" He giggled. "If there's ever a time where I'm feeling blah, I just slap on a costume and go from there!" His giggling grew even more frequent, a good sign to be sure. "Thanks, Ludwig! I feel better!"

"Good! I'm glad." Ludwig smiled as Lemmy got up from his chair. "Say, would it be alright if I watch your show?"

Lemmy blinked. "Sure. I mean, so long as it doesn't cut into anything you want to do." Ludwig gave him a puzzled look. "Like… putting on a symphony or something. You were whistling a new song when you came into the room."

"Oh!" Ludwig laughed. "Don't worry about that Lemmy. I'm going to put on a symphony much later in the evening. I have plenty of time to watch you."

"Nice!" Lemmy chuckled. "Well, if that's the case, prepare to be wowed, Ludwig! I'm going to give everyone a clown act they will never forget!"

Ludwig gave him an approving nod, and together the brothers went out on stage. Squinting through the spotlight as Ludwig walked down to sit in the audience, Lemmy grinned when he saw the crowd he attracted. It seemed every single koopa troopa servant was here. It wasn't just koopa troopa servants either; hammer brother guards, goomba foot soldiers, bob-ombs, shy guys, dry bones, sledge brothers… it seemed like everyone who played a role in running Bowser's Castle was here! Was… was Lemmy THAT popular? Did that many people think he was good? Did that many people like to see him perform?

Maybe the dream he had was just an irrational worry. Maybe he had left an impact on a lot of people. Sure, he hadn't reached the entire world, or really anyone who lived outside the castle, but… well…

"Hello, my beautiful people!" Lemmy exclaimed, pushing his worries to the side for what had to be the hundredth time today. "It is so good to see you today!"

The crowd applauded. Lemmy heard whistling, which he knew for certain was coming from Ludwig specifically. Beaming, Lemmy could feel his heart beating in an entirely new rhythm, a nice rhythm.

"In honor of International Worker's Appreciation Day," Lemmy said once the applause died down, "we Koopalings have each decided to do something special. You all work so hard every day to ensure that the Koopa Troop as a whole functions like a well-oiled machine, and that CAN'T be ignored. We love all that each and every one of you do, and we want to make sure that you guys know that." Lemmy let out a breath. "So… this clown act is for all of you. A little gift from your prince to you."

The audience applauded some more, and as they did, Lemmy took in a breath. This was going to be fine. If he just did his thing, they would have a good time. HE would have a good time; he'd be able to forget about everything. Negative emotions were healthy at times, but as far as Lemmy was concerned, they weren't welcome on this stage right now.

So, Lemmy reached into his hammerspace and pulled out his circus ball. Letting out the breath he had taken in, he put the ball on the ground and mounted it. He started bouncing, and when he landed, he pressed the ball down to the ground in such a way that it bounced into the air alongside him. The ball would land on the ground, and he would land on the ball. When he was in the air, he struck a pose. One time, he puffed himself up and flexed his muscles, just like a bodybuilder. The next time, he flung his arms around like he was an inflatable tube man, sticking his tongue out and flapping it around. He would make himself look bored enough to yawn, he went upside down, he looked like Superman… he struck a variety of different poses. And the best part of the whole thing was that with each new pose, the audience looked more and more engaged. The koopas in the front were on the edge of their seats. The goombas laughed, the bob-ombs clapped with their feet… everyone seemed to be happy.

What a beautiful sight. It really was, and it made Lemmy's burdens feel so much lighter. He beamed, doing a twirl in the air before landing on the ball again. Thinking that now was the best time to change tactics, he rolled the ball around in a circle on the stage. He giggled as he did this, deciding to flip around and stand on his hands. Doing this made balancing on the ball more difficult, sure, but the difficulty was more than welcome. This wasn't just because Lemmy had confidence that he could pull off the act, but also because doing difficult tasks gave him a form of satisfaction. They were fun to pull off. They always had been.

"WHOOP WHOOP!" Lemmy propelled himself off the ball, landing in center stage. He slid a little before twirling around. Giggling, he reached back into his hammerspace, pulling out rainbow-colored balls. They were much smaller than his usual ball, and in fact, they could fit in the palm of his hand, but they were so important regardless. He threw them up in the air and began to juggle. With each minute that passed, he increased the speed until the balls made a rainbow-colored blur. The audience oohed and ahhed, and they got more excited when Lemmy spun around. He leaped into the air and did little twirls, all without stopping with the juggling or dropping the balls. Some people clapped, laughing in the most joyous way possible. Lemmy could've sworn he heard Ludwig's signature laugh in the audience.

Oh man, this was great! This was everything Lemmy could've asked for when doing a clown act! He felt like he was on Cloud Nine! He was standing on the tippy top of the world, he was ascending into the Heavens. What had he even been worried about before? He was honestly starting to forget.

Figuring that he needed to take things to the NEXT level (as if he hadn't been doing that throughout the entirety of this show), Lemmy took a deep breath. He threw the balls up into the air and did a backflip. He landed on his feet, doing so just in time to catch the balls as they came plummeting down. He did that a second time, doing two backflips before the balls came back down. He caught them with ease, and everyone applauded. Deciding he needed to do this one more time, Lemmy bounced once. Twice. Three times, and he was in the air. He did one backflip, two, three…

And time seemed to slow down. As the world spun around him in slow motion, an icy feeling grazed Lemmy's heart. Cold sweat poured from every gland. Lemmy's heart pumped, he felt as though everything was going wrong. His breathing speeding up and his eyes growing wide, his mind flashed back to the dream. How he had done many backflips, and how the audience had mysteriously and suddenly disappeared when he did that. Would the same thing happen to this audience? Oh, if that happened… oh, what if this wasn't as important as he thought? What if he was wasting his time? The audience might forget about this clown act tomorrow. He would've reached no one, left no impact. No impact whatsoever…

BONK!