AN: Wow, look at that! This is the first Super Koopalings Episode I have ever written that is more than 26 chapters! Yay! Hopefully, I'll be able to get this story past 30, as that is my chapter record.

Anyway, I hope you'll all enjoy.

Chapter 27 De-Aging

The ground shook again, even this far away from the rift. Morton fell to the ground, the vibrations hurting his head. Iggy came over and helped him up once they rumbling seized. He looked beyond terrified, his brow furrowing like there was no tomorrow. Which, if they didn't figure out how to close the rift, might very well be the case.

"Hold on, buddy," Iggy said gently. Morton could tell he was trying to not sound too worried. "Do you still have the crystal?"

Morton nodded and showed it to him, pulsating with the unusual glow. Iggy nodded and led Morton along. Once they were a few feet away, Morton heard a cataclysmic crack. He looked behind and saw that the ground he had previously been standing on had split in half. A spurt of lava shot out of the crevice.

Morton gulped. "Wow."

"Yes, wow," Iggy said. He looked at Morton, doing his best to crack a smile as he did so. "It's a good thing we moved."

Morton looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow. He noticed that he was hyperventilating. His chest rose and fell like a balloon constantly being inflated and deflated.

"Iggy, are you alright?"

"WHAT THE KOOP DO YOU THINK?" Iggy shouted.

Morton, despite the fact that he had been forced to draw back a little, couldn't help but nod. This was already spiraling out of control, what little control Morton and Iggy had over the situation in the first place.

Iggy let out a cross between a sigh and a groan. "I just hope that we will be able to find our siblings relatively…" The ground rumbled again, and Iggy's eyes grew wide. "WATCH OUT!"

The two of them jumped out of the way just in the nick of time. The ground underfoot crumbled and fell away, revealing another lava geyser. The hot orange liquid burst out of the ground, sending droplets spraying everywhere. Morton shrieked as one of them got on his foot. It took a lot of hopping around to cool it off.

Iggy took hold of his hand again. "Come on."

So, the two, unwilling to stop anywhere for fear that the ground would swallow them whole. They didn't even stop when the rumbling got very bad. Every once in a while, Morton would look back the way that they came. His eyes bulged out of their sockets everytime, for he could see the rift constantly expanding. It made him fear for his life, for the safety of the world he lived in.

After they had been running for a while, they stopped to catch their breath. Right as they did, they heard screaming coming from the left hand side. Morton looked forward and saw people running away from Motley Bossblob. This was extremely odd considering that he and Iggy hadn't entered Stonebrim yet; they were still surrounded on all sides by gray, barren wasteland. But then again, considering the rift, maybe he shouldn't be too surprised.

"Morton, look!"

Morton looked where Iggy was pointing and gasped. There, floating in the air in front of Motley, was Ludwig. He threw fireball after fireball at the monster, and of course, they bounced off of his fireproof skin. Morton exchanged a look with Iggy before running toward the eldest Koopaling.

"Ludwig!"

Ludwig looked down at them, briefly stopping from shooting his fireballs. His eyes glowed with concern.

"Iggy! Morton!" He turned as Motley raised his hand behind him. "You need to get…"

Suddenly, Ludwig was slapped right out of the air. He fell to the ground, trying to pull himself up. Motley looked like he was just minutes away from stepping on them.

"Oh no, you don't!" Iggy cried. He reached into his hammerspace and pulled out a portable bob-omb. Right as Morton was questioning what Iggy would do with it, Iggy through it at Motley's foot. The monster screamed as it went sailing through the air and disappeared with a twinkle on the horizon. Admittedly, Morton was really impressed by this display.

"Nice job, Iggy." He chuckled. "Pity you couldn't do that during the last few loops."

Iggy shrugged. "I was not in possession of a bob-omb."

Morton nodded. Right as he was about to say something, Ludwig stood up, gritting his teeth and clutching his forehead.

"Thanks you guys," He said. "I don't think I could have handled that on my own."

"No problem," said Morton.

Ludwig then looked between the two of them. "Say. What exactly did you mean by 'last few loops?'"

Morton was about to open his mouth and explain. However, before he could do that, Ludwig began glitching. He screamed as the glitch like quality surrounded the air around him. To Morton's horror, his brother also appeared to be shrinking, and his voice seemed to be getting more and more high pitched the more he glitched.

He looked at Iggy in terror. "What do we do?"

"Uhhh…" Iggy's eyes darted around. Then, they fell on Morotn's hand. "Quick! Use the crystal!"

Morton looked down at the crystal, then back at Ludwig. Not even taking time to think, he touched his brother's head with it. There was a blinding flash, and when it cleared, the glitching had stopped. Unfortunately, there seemed to be one very unfortunate side effect,

"Thanks, you guys," said Ludwig. He put his hand to his throat when he heard how high his voice was. "Hey, what's wrong with my voice?" he looked down at his hands. "And my...EVERYTHING?"

Iggy exchanged a worried look with Morton before looking back down at his eldest brother. Or, the more accurate term would be youngest brother, because….

"I'm afraid," Iggy said as he pulled a mirror out of his hammerspace, "that the glitching you experienced may have set your body back a few years."

Ludwig stared into the mirror as shock grasped his features. "I'm a kid again?!" He shook his head, feeling all over his body. "Oh, no no no no no! This can't be happening!"

Morton sighed. "I'm afraid it is."

Ludwig began hyperventilating. "This is horrible! How will we be able to get me back to normal?" He gasped, his eyes grew wide. "Oh dear developer, will I have to go through puberty again?"

Iggy shook his head. "No no no. You won't have to do that. We'll figure out a way to reverse the effects."

"I certainly hope you will!" Ludwig said. "Puberty was already a nightmare the first time, I don't want to do it…"

Suddenly, the ground rumbled again, Iggy grabbed hold of Ludwig's hand and leapt out of the way just as another lava geyser occurred. Once it's settled down, Ludwig looked behind him. Noticing the rift for the first time, he looked up at Iggy and Morton in shock.

"Guys, what exactly is going on?"

Morton sighed. "It's all my fault." He looked down at the crystal. "I caused a time paradox."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "A time paradox? How?"

Iggy shook his head. "It is a long story. We will recount it to you as we look for the rest of our siblings."