AN: Hey guys! I hope you are all staying safe during the Coronavirus pandemic! Anyway, since Mind Sweep is almost finished, I decided to start on the next story: Ludwig's Clone. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter 1 Strings and Machines

It was not the most sightly of days in the Koopa Kingdom. The scenery was dark and dreary, the sky was filled to the point of overflowing with volcanic smog. However, like most other koopas in the Kingdom, the sickening atmosphere was not affecting Ludwig von Koopa's mood. What seemed to be having the most effect on his mood was the song he was strumming on his acoustic guitar while he was sitting on his bed.

Strum, strum, strum. The strings rang like doorbells when Ludwig's sharp fingernails plucked them. The sound was very pleasing to the oldest Koopaling. Seeing how his ears were overly sensitive to noise, there were some sounds that tended to grate more than others. Fortunately, Ludwig had yet to find an instrument that was annoying. He loved each sound he had come across, from the sweet and fluttery flute to the voice of the booming, brassy trombone.

Strum, strum, twang!

Ludwig noticed that his low E string was out of tune. It wasn't terribly out of tune, but it was just annoying enough to be noticeable to the musical prodigy. He frowned at the string and started to tighten the metallic cord.

Boing oing oing!

"Dang it!" Ludwig whispered. The string had come undone. Ludwig cursed under his breath as he telekinetically brought the pliers over. He started to remove the string, all the while feeling some subtle sense of loss. He had put in these strings himself when he was ten (he was eighteen now). He wondered if he should take this unfortunate event as an omen. He was getting older, so therefore he had to throw some of his most beloved things away.

When the string was completely removed, Ludwig got up and reverently put it in the trash. He looked toward his guitar and let out a sigh. He supposed that he should get a new guitar string. Looking at a six string guitar that only wore five strings would be irksome. The only problem, Ludwig realized as he opened his drawer, was that he was all out of strings. Ludwig let out a frustrated breath before it occurred to him that Iggy might have some strings on standby.

So, Ludwig left his room and started to make his way toward his brother's lab. When he got to the door, he realized that there weren't any explosions going off or tools hacking at metal, common sounds that were signs of Iggy's presence in the lab. Nevertheless, Ludwig still entered.

"Iggy?"

The lab was completely devoid of the green haired Koopaling. In fact, it seemed that the only living thing in the room was a fly that was idiotically banging its orb like eyes against the fluorescent lights. Ludwig wondered if Iggy was perhaps in his storage closet (aka the Chasm of Death), so he started to walk through the spacious lab.

While he was doing this, Ludwig couldn't help but admire his brother's inventions. While Ludwig and Iggy were both intellectual geniuses, they were geniuses in different ways. While Ludwig cared more about music and the arts, Iggy was all about engineering and science, and the monstrous machines aptly reflected that. Ludwig noticed that there was a new machine in the lab, one that, like most of Iggy's inventions, was big and silver.

Ludwig was just about to enter the storage closet when he noticed that he had a broken nail on his left hand. He bit the tip off and flung it in the direction of Iggy's machine. After doing that, he entered the "Chasm of Death."

"Iggy? Are you in here?"

He was not. Ludwig shook his head.

Oh well, he thought. I suppose I'll have to change the string later.

Ludwig was just about to leave the lab when he heard what sounded like a chime. He turned toward the machine and noticed for the first time that it had a door. Ludwig saw that there was someone in the machine, so he opened the door, and a fog that was similar to dry ice escaped. When it cleared, Ludwig gasped.

The person who was standing inside the machine was himself.