Chapter 16 I Trust You

Morton followed behind his siblings as they made their way out of the store. When they got outside, they either screamed or froze in place. Motley stared at the lot of them, his face stuck in the same maniacal grin. But despite his frightening appearance, Morton remained unfazed. He looked at his siblings as they watched Motley bounce through main street, causing tremors and squashing children all the way.

"What are we gonna do?" Larry yelled at the top of his voice.

Bowser looked at them. "Duh! We fight it! That'll prevent it from destroying the town!" He took two steps toward the monster. "Hey, clowny! There is only room for one big bad boss around here and it's me!" He took in a deep breath, preparing his flame breath.

"Wait!"

Bowser turned around at the sound of Morton's voice. All of the Koopalings stared at him with shocked expressions stuck to their faces. Even still, Morton remained unfazed. He took a deep breath.

"We can't fight the monster."

Larry gave him a raised eyebrow. "Why not?"

Ludwig gestured to it. "Don't you see the thing? It could destroy the town if left to wander for too long." He looked toward Motley with a determined expression. "Besides, I should be able to stop it with my powers."

"NO!" Morton yelled just as Motley sent his fist straight toward a building. He grabbed hold of Ludwig's shoulder. "That thing is fireproof; it won't work." He looked around at his siblings, trying to keep the same level headed demeanor. If there was one thing that he wanted to do, it was prevent them from going through the same nightmare he experienced, especially the one during the last loop. "We need to get out of here. There's nothing that we can possibly do to combat the monster. At this point, bolting is really the safest option."

Roy's brows scrunched up. "But it's a GIANT MONSTER! It needs to be taken down a peg!" He looked over at Iggy. "Iggster, you're the brains of this operation; do you think we should fight it?"

Iggy froze. Morton turned to him with not just a hopeful expression, but an expectant one. He knew that Iggy couldn't deny the time loop possibility now (or at the very least, he hoped he couldn't). If Iggy had enough common sense, he would go along with what Morton was suggesting.

"I….I…."

Morton's heart skipped a beat. No. Iggy wouldn't deny the time loop possibility now! He couldn't! Morton had literally offered him the most damning piece of evidence that could possibly be! He placed his hands on Iggy's shoulder, frightened and worried.

"Iggy," he said, "listen to me. That. Monster. Is. Dangerous! We have no hope with fighting it; you've got to trust me on this one!"

Iggy looked Morton directly in the eye. His own expression looked apprehensive at first, like he was trying to choose which version of reality was the one he believed in. He looked at Morton. Then at the monster, who was eating candy it had grabbed out of a candy store.

"Please, Iggy," Morton said.

Iggy's expression softened up a little bit. Finally, he let out a breath and put on a serious, determined expression.

"I trust you."

Morton felt his spirits soar higher than they ever had before. Iggy trusted him! He actually managed to get his brother on his side! He nodded his head and backed up as Iggy took a step forward.

"Morton is correct. We need to enact a tactical retreat, otherwise we would potentially cause more collateral damage than is necessary."

The others raised their eyebrows, clearly questioning whether or not Iggy wasn't insane. However, they soon nodded, and the Koopa family made their way out of Stonebrim.

Morton let out a breath and smiled at Iggy. "Thank you."

"You are ever most welcome, but now is not the time to discuss this in full." He pointed toward Motley, who punched another building. Debris fell down like hail, and the Koopas had to move out of the way before they got hit. "We'll discuss this back at the castle, okay?"

Morton nodded, and together, the two bolted out of the town.

...

Morton let out a sigh of relief once the Koopa family entered through the throne room door. Bowser did the same thing and flopped down on his throne, looking like he was going to pass from one world into the next.

"Whew," he said. "That was an exhausting run."

The others nodded. Their expressions were grim and exhausted at first, but eventually they all looked a little more happy. They gave each other smiles, filled to overflowing with relief.

"Well," said Wendy. "That was an experience."

"Yeah," said Junior. He crossed his arms. "But I still think we could've beaten that monster."

Roy chuckled. "Tell me about it!" He flexed his right bicep. "That baddie would've been no match for my awesome strength."

Morton let out a sigh. "I'm just happy we all made it out of that situation alive."

Bowser nodded. "Me too, Morty. Me too."

Morton then turned to Iggy, who gave him a serious nod and took a step forward.

"If you do not mind my relatives, I have some information I need to discuss with Morton about in the lab."

Bowser nodded. "Okay, Iggy. You two go do that."

With that, the two Koopas made their way out of the throne room. Morton couldn't see Iggy's face while in the hall due to walking behind him; however, he could see him fidgeting with his hands, as well as hear his breathing growing more and more noticeable by the second.

When they got to the lab, Iggy closed the door behind them. He let out the breath to end all breaths, pinched his brow with his thumb and forefinger, then looked at Morton with an expression that was frozen in fear.

"You're actually stuck in a time loop."

Morton nodded, feeling relieved once again. He took a seat at one of the lab tables. "Yes."

Iggy shook his head and took a seat right across from him, his mouth hanging open. "That is unbelievable."

Morton nodded. "Yeah."

"How many times have you repeated the day?" Iggy asked as he leaned forward.

"Only twice," Morton responded.

Iggy blinked. "Twice? That's it?"

"Mmhm. It wasn't difficult to figure out what was going on."

"Understandable," Iggy said. His brow furrowed. "Although, you repeating the day again would not be the most desirable thing." His eyes grew wide with fright. "Oh man, if you repeat the day for the rest of eternity….the day where our family experienced a traumatic event….oh man, who knows what effects that could have on your mental health?"

Morton nodded. He hadn't really thought about that, but it was a valid concern.

"Personally, I just really want this time loop thing to stop. Preferably, before the day repeats itself again."

"Have you gone to Kamek about this predicament?"

"I have, during the last loop. He said that there is no spell he can use to help me."

Iggy looked down at the table, the gears turning in his head very visible. "So that means we are dealing with extremely strong magic."

Morton nodded. "Yes! That's exactly what I thought during the last loop!" He leaned forward. "If that's the case, how are we going to stop this?"

Iggy looked toward the door. "We need to do some research. There has to be some book in the castle library that has the information that we seek."

Morton nodded. "Okay. Let's do that."

…

Morton groaned in frustration and threw another book on the pile. He and Iggy had checked all the reference guides in the castle library. They had checked fiction, nonfiction, historical fiction, science fiction, and even fanfiction. They had not come up with anything that could give them any useful information regarding Morton's time loop problem.

"Ugh!" Morton groaned. "This isn't helping!" He looked over at Iggy, who had his nose buried in a book. "Did you find anything yet?"

Iggy didn't respond; he just flipped the page. Morton made his way over and read the title. When he did, he sharply exhaled and raised the volume of his voice.

"IGGY!"

"Huh, what, huh?"

"We're supposed to be looking for information about the time loop. How are we going to find that in an Anatomy textbook?"

Iggy cast his brother a glare. "For your information, this just so happens to be a very fascinating read."

"Iggy, I don't care!" Morton batted the book out of Iggy's hand. "We have to find what we need to find before the next loop starts! Otherwise, your memories are just going to reset!"

Iggy paused and nodded thoughtfully. "Yes. You are right. You are absolutely right. My apologies, dear younger brother."

Morton nodded and picked up another book. They searched for about another hour before Morton groaned and threw the book down to the floor in frustration.

"I give up!" He took a seat on the ground. "This is impossible!"

"Do not give up so easily, Morty; there has got to be some answers within this library." He came over and looked down at him. "Perhaps it would help if we knew the catalyst. Do you remember doing or saying anything that could cause the loop to commence?"

Morton sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I don't know, Iggy. It's been a very long past couple of days. Remember, I died during one of the loops."

"Ah. Yes. I can imagine that stress would cause some memory loss." He put his hand to his chin. "Well, we will just have to keep looking."

Morton nodded and rose to a standing position. He pulled another book out of the bookshelf. When he didn't find anything, he just threw that one onto the ever expanding pile.

"You know," he said with a snicker. "There is one advantage to being in a time loop."

"Really? What is that?"

Morton smiled. "I won't have to clean up this mess tomorrow."

Iggy laughed. "That is true. That is true." He looked down at another book before throwing that too onto the pile. Then, he looked up at the clock and froze. "Uh, Morty, when does the loop usually reset the day?"

Morton blinked. "Well, I think it does it whenever a new day starts."

"So midnight?"

"I...I think so. Why?"

Iggy turned around and pointed at the clock, a strong fear emanating off of him. "It is 11:59. We have exactly ten seconds until midnight."

Morton's heart stopped. "What!" He put his hand to his head. "Oh no, what are we going to do?"

Suddenly, Morton noticed that his hand glowed with a white light. He shrieked as the light spread throughout his body. The room around him was starting to grow bright too.

"Iggy!" he screeched.

"Oh my developer! Do not worry; I'll help you, Morton!" Iggy rushed toward his brother and tried to grab his hand. However, they phased right through each other. Morton stared at Iggy in fright as his surroundings continued to grow brighter.

"What do we, Iggy! WHAT DO WE DO!"

"Do not worry!" Iggy repeated. His own expression was wide eyed and worried, and his voice shook. "We will figure something out!"

With that, the entire room went completely white. Morton screamed as he felt a falling sensation. Then, all of a sudden, the light faded away, and everything went black.