Chapter 28 Unnatural Disaster

"So...wait. Morton, you were stuck in a time loop?" Ludwig asked, his voice rising like a loaf of bread.

Morton nodded. He and Iggy had just finished recounting the story, every last detail. Even as he nodded, he was trying his best to not let his gloom and guilt consume him whole.

"Yes. Unfortunately, that is the case."

Ludwig's eyes grew big and buggy. "And that crystal is the whole reason why it started in the first place?"

"That is correct," said Iggy, nodding formally.

Ludwig blinked his eyes out. "And you decided to fix this by using the time machine?" His voice was even higher pitched than before. In fact, he almost sounded like he was shrieking.

Morton's heart sank. "Yes. That was my idea."

Ludwig gawked. "Don't you know how dangerous that is? Remember when I went back in time to save Frostwall, how it created a hybrid timeline?"

Morton sighed. "Yes, I remember that. Unfortunately" He looked down at the crystal again, feeling overwhelming amounts of hatred toward the blasted thing. "I was hoping that wouldn't occur a second time. I guess I just used the time machine as a last resort, hoping that it would be able to fix everything and get us out of the loop."

Ludwig snorted. "Well, you kind of effed that up, Morty!" He looked down at his body again. "Seriously, with the body of a seven year old and the mind of an adult; I'm basically a freak from a horror movie now!"

Iggy rolled his eyes. "We told you we would find a way to put you back to normal!"

Ludwig sniffed. "Yes, and you are clearly making excellent progress on that. Oh wait, no you aren't."

Morton turned to glare at his older….his brother. However, right as he did, another quake shook the ground. Morton's teeth chattered as he almost fell. Ludwig and Iggy looked beyond scared as another lava geyser burst out of the ground mere feet away from them.

"Well," said Ludwig once the shaking stopped. He eyed both the geyser and the ever growing rift in the sky. "This goes beyond the qualifications for a natural disaster."

Morton sighed. "Yeah."

Suddenly, the trio heard a scream. Alert and frightened, they rushed toward the screamer. Or rather, screamers. All of Morton's siblings turned out to be present, and they were stuck on a platform, standing on a pillar that was above a bubbling lake of lava. Morton gulped as he saw them huddling together. It was way too far for them to jump to safety.

"Oh no. What do we do?" he asked.

Ludwig took a step forward. "Step aside everyone." He held out his hand. "My powers worked even when I was a child."

With that, both his hand and the platform glowed with a blue light. The platform levitated, bringing the rest of the Koopalings to safety. They all breathe sighs of relief once safely on the ground.

"Morty!" Wendy exclaimed.

"Iggy!" said Larry.

Lemmy blinked at his brother, who was at this point the same height as he was. "Ludwig?"

Ludwig sighed. "It's a long story."

"Yeah," said Morton. He held out the crystal. "Thankfully, I know a way to make it shorter."

With that, he tapped the crystal on his siblings' heads. They each glowed white. and when all of them were tapped, they blinked and stared at Morton.

"Morty…." Wendy said, her tone expressing overwhelming feelings.

Morton nodded. "Yeah. It's kind of complicated, but I got stuck in a time loop."

"Yeah, we know that now!" said Larry. "But how does that explain the big white light of death in the sky?"

Morton bit his lip and got to explaining what exactly he had done. Larry, Roy, Lemmy, and Wendy each gawked at him when he was finished.

"So that thing is a rip in the fabric of time?" Larry asked.

"Man," said Roy after Morton nodded. "Who knew science could be so complicated?"

Iggy gave a skeptical look and raised his hand. "I did. I study the subject for crying out loud."

Wendy shook her head. "How on the Mushroom World are we gonna get rid of it."

Right at that moment, the ground rumbled again. It rumbled so hard, in fact, that all the Koopalings fell to the ground, gripping the rocks in the soil with their bellies pressed up against the dirt. Morton swallowed a batch of vomit. If he had to experience one more quake, he knew he would throw up for sure.

Unfortunately, things still managed to get worse. When the quaking stopped, Morton stood up and looked back at the rift. It had grown bigger, and it was ducking more and more people into itself.

His heart sank. "What do we do?"

"What can we do?" asked Lemmy. "It's essentially the end of the world!"

"Not essentially," said Ludwig. "It is the end of the world!"

"Oh man," said Iggy. "This is just like those dreams I had, but somehow far, far worse!"

Morton nodded. He looked down at the crystal for the umpteenth time. He wished he could stop this. He wished beyond anything else in the entire world that he could somehow fix this horrible, horrible mistake he made.

"Do not worry, Morton Junior. You can do so with my help."

Morron blinked. That voice...it was pure and serene. It was almost ethereal in a sense. He probably imagined it, or perhaps the time loop had finally driven him crazy. However, one look proved that his siblings heard it too.

"What was that?" asked Roy.

Suddenly, a glowing turquoise light appeared in the sky. While not as big as the rift, it was still glorious to look at. What's more, it was descending down to the ground. Morton watches, his mouth gaping open, as the light cleared to reveal a gorgeous young woman in a turquoise dress.

"Who are you?" he asked, feeling completely mystified.

The woman smiled. "I am Rosalina, the watcher and guardian of the cosmos," she said. "And I am here to help you."

Iggy blinked. "Help us? In what way? For that matter, how is it that you are here right now?"

Rosalina's face grew extra serious. "I'll explain everything; I promise. But first, we need to get up to my Comet Observatory."

With that, she took out a star tipped wand. Still not having any idea what was going on, Morton got in close to her as she waved it, teleporting them away.