Chapter 13 On the Run Part 1
Morton noiselessly snuck down the hall with his siblings and the twins. It was very quiet in the hallway. Too quiet. The only sounds that Morton was able to detect were his quickened breathing, as well as his heartbeat viciously drumming against the side of his head. The twins looked a little frightened themselves, and Morton didn't blame them. They might be King Koopa's kids, but Morton knew that little factor would not spare them from their father's wrath.
After going down various hallways and traversing through various tunnels, Hip and Hop finally managed to locate the door that would lead the party out. They opened it quietly, nervously.
"Hurry!" they said in unison to the "escaped fugitives." "We don't have much time!"
Morton didn't need to be told twice. He hurried out the door, his head starting to pound with anxiety. Ludwig and Lemmy followed him out, and they all breathed a sigh of relief once the door was shut.
"Whew!" the twins said. "We did it."
"Yeah, you did it!" Lemmy said. "Thanks guys."
Suddenly, Morton noticed that one member of their party was absent.
"Where's Roy?" he asked.
The others looked around. Roy was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh dang it, we lost him!" said Ludwig.
Morton looked back at the door. He felt more scared than he had ever felt in a long time. He could not lose Roy. Roy was his older brother; he could not lose him!
"I'll go look for him," Morton said.
"I'll go with you!" said Hip. "So you don't get lost!"
Morton nodded, and the two of them barged into the castle. They commenced with their search, making sure that not a single stone was left unturned; not one corner was left unchecked. Thankfully, they managed to find him fairly quickly, bumbling about.
"Roy!" Morton exclaimed.
"Morton!" Roy responded in joyous relief. "Oh, thank goodness! I took a wrong turn and got lost!"
Morton and Roy gave each other a quick hug. Hip tapped Morton on the shell before they had finished.
"Um, guys," he said. "I think we might want to hurry and get out of here."
Just as he said that, Morton heard somebody walk around the corner. He gasped when he caught sight of Iggy. Iggy looked angry when he saw his brothers, the anger accentuating the crimson in the center of his eyes.
"Why aren't you in your cell?" Iggy asked with a robotic, stilted inflection.
Roy gasped when he caught sight of his brother.
"Woah, Iggy," he said. "Your eyes are redder than Mario's cap!"
Iggy snarled.
"The Mario brothers should be squashed," he said, "just like you two!"
Iggy charged at them. Morton picked up Hip and placed him on his shoulders before running away.
"Let's get out of here!" said Roy in a panic.
"Wait!" said Hip quietly. "We don't want to leave immediately. Run down the different passageways first before you get to the door. That way he'll get confused."
"Good idea!" said Morton. So, following Hip's direction, he started to run in spontaneous and sporadic directions. He took a left, then a right, then another left. He and Roy traversed down so many different hallways that eventually the scenery and landmarks began to bleed together. It wasn't until Roy and Morton stopped to catch their breath that they realized that they had lost Iggy in one of the passageways. Morton laughed in relief.
"We did it!" he said. "Nice work, Hip!"
"Aww, shucks," Hip said with a cute inflection. "Now let's go before he wakes up King Dad!"
Morton nodded as he took Hip off of his shoulders and set him down on the ground. With Hip leading the way, the three of them got back to the front door. Ludwig, Lemmy, and Hop smiled when they saw Hip and Morton accompanied by Roy.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Lemmy said as he wrapped his arms around Roy's midsection in a hug. "I was so worried!"
"Hip!" Hop said as he too hugged his brother. The little Koopas giggled in immense amounts of relief.
"Okay, good, we're all together," said Ludwig. "Now all we need is a plan to get Iggy free of that mind control helmet."
Hip and Hop smiled.
"Well," said Hop. "We think that…"
"...we know the perfect people to help us!"
"Really? Who?" asked Morton.
Hip and Hop each displayed their jagged, crooked teeth as they smiled.
"The Mario Brothers!" they exclaimed.