Chapter 10 More Shopping

Morton cast glances around Stonebrim. The lights it displayed twinkled just like they did yesterday, not that that was a surprise at this point. The people had smiles on their faces that were so bright they would make the north star blush. Once again, Morton couldn't help but feel as if it was all fake. Surely, once this time loop problem was resolved, Stonebrim would go back to the dreary normal that it had always known.

Of course, that would actually require Morton to get out of the time loop first. As his family laughed like the cows had just come home, he just kept his head to the ground and his thoughts focused on his problem. There had to be some solution. Magic was a definite possibility, as the science of time and space did not allow for time loops to come into fruition. Morton snickered upon thinking that, realizing that was something similar to what Iggy would say.

So, magic still was not off the table, despite what Kamek had said to him in the infirmary. That must mean that he must be dealing with very strong magic, stronger than anyone would be willing to admit existed, let alone be able to use. But when had Morton encountered magic? When had he encountered something that could act as a catalyst for this time loop problem? He did not know. He wanted to, just didn't know.

Of course, there was another problem that he had. That being that Morton felt like he should know. He felt he was forgetting something obvious. Whenever he tried to focus on what that something was, it would slip his mind and hide off in the distant corners of his subconscious. This frustrated him, as he felt that remembering what was going on would provide him with a solution to his problem.

Oh well. Morton couldn't focus on that right now, unfortunately. He had to get through….ugh, Koopsmas shopping. He remembered the catastrophe that had been brought on when the Koopa family had gone Koopsmas shopping yesterday. Just thinking about having to deal with the silver clown monster, with its beady golden eyes and wide, creepy smile, filled his stomach with dread.

"I hope that you guys buy me good gifts," Wendy said to the group.

This drew Morton out of his head. He didn't remember her saying this yesterday. Maybe he had been so focused on the dread of Koopsmas shopping and the sights of Stonebrim that he hadn't been paying attention to his siblings. Yeah, that probably made the most sense.

Ludwig snickered. "Personally, I don't care what I get." Now this, Morton was starting to remember. The only difference was that Ludwig had said this at the breakfast table instead of on the walk. "All I care about is just performing my new symphony. It's called…."

"Sparrows in the Snow?" Morton chimed in.

Ludwig turned toward Morton, as did all the other Koopalings. "Ye...yes. How did you know?"

Morton shrugged. "Lucky guess," he muttered under his breath. Ludwig stared at him for a few minutes before slowly nodding his head and turning back around. Morton, by contrast, shook his head.

Finally, the Koopa family got to JC Coin. Bowser wore the same grinning face that…(say it with me now) he had worn yesterday.

"We're here!" Bowser announced.

Lemmy jumped up and down and clapped his hands. "You guys are gonna love the gifts I buy for you! They're gonna rock your socks off!"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "But...we don't wear any socks."

Lemmy giggled. "Well, maybe we should start." He gasped. "Ooh! I know! I'm gonna buy us all some comfy cozy Koopsmas socks! That'd be the perfect gift!"

Morton shook his head. As Lemmy and Roy had been having that conversation, he had been mouthing the words to himself. This day really was going to be the death of him. There would be no surprises, nothing new, nothing stimulating. He might as well just wither away if the same day is going to repeat itself over and over. He might as well not even bother. On some level, he was envious of his siblings, for they had no memories of the previous world line. While that obviously wouldn't be the most ideal situation to be in (the most ideal one obviously would be there being no loop at all), it still would beat being aware that you were constantly repeating the same day.

"Morton?" Morton snapped out of his trance and saw Bowser staring at him in concern. "Aren't you gonna go inside?" his adopted father asked.

Morton blinked out his eyes, realizing that his siblings had already all gone into JC Coin. "I suppose I probably should," he sighed. With that, he took two steps into the store's entrance. The scene was exactly how it had been yesterday. Morton felt his heart sink when he realized that the monster attack was going to ruin it all, just as he had done before.

Although….now that he thought about it….the monster attack was conceivably preventable. Maybe, if he was quick enough, he could stop the tragedy from happening before it happened? Maybe he could make it so that this horrible day was slightly less horrible? This thought actually caused Morton to smile. Yes, he would stop the great behemoth from over taking the town. He would make sure that everyone would be safe, that no one would have to experience what he had in the previous world line. With the smile strapped to his face like velcro, he turned around.

"Hey Bowser?"

"Yes, Buddy?"

"Do you think it would be okay if I try to shop for gifts a little ways down the street? There's something specific I want to get?"

Bowser blinked. "We can buy mugs here at JC Coin."

Morton rolled his eyes. "I don't want to buy mugs this time."

Bowser blinked again before his eyes lit up. "Oh! You're finally branching out! That's great, Morty!" He grinned and rubbed Morton's head. This caused Morton to feel extra annoyed, but of course, he didn't show it.

"Yes," he said as he pulled Bowser's ginormous paw off of his head. "I want to do something extra special this year."

Bowser grinned. "Well, who am I to say no to that? You can go do whatever you want to, son?"

Morton smiled. "Thanks." With that, he turned on his heel and hurried down the street. Preventing this monster attack really would be a true gift to his siblings. Sure, they probably wouldn't thank him. But you know what? If he managed to save them the pain in the end, he really didn't care.