Chapter 9 The Root

Bowser was so tired that he couldn't possibly imagine himself in any other state. His brain was shutting off, his eyelids were so heavy that they were weighing him down. He was definitely ready to turn in for the night.

Too bad Iggy wasn't.

Bowser was just checking the throne room one last time. Before he had even entered the room though, he could make out the sound of sobs. They were sporadic, breathy, and loud. Not loud enough to cause a panic, but loud enough to hear. When Bowser actually entered the room, he could see Iggy there. He was crying his eyes out right in front of the throne. Tears were streaming down his face like miniature waterfalls, and he was wailing so much that he could be mistaken for a banshee.

"Iggy?" Bowser asked as he approached.

"Don't talk to me!" Iggy exclaimed. "I am unworthy to be spoken to by the king."

Bowser sat down on the throne. During the daytime he usually sat on it with authority, but this time he sat on it like it was any other chair.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because," Iggy said, "I am nothing but a detritivorous annelid!"

Iggy reached into his tissue box and blew his nose. Bowser stared at him in confusion.

"Uhh...a what?"

Iggy drew in a pained breath.

"I AM A WORM!"

Iggy broke down into another round of sobs. His head dipped into his lap, and he was crying very intensely. Bowser had no idea what was going on, nor what could be done about it.

"What is going on here?" came Kamek's voice. Bowser turned and sighed in relief at the sight of his magikoopa advisor.

"Oh, thank Miyamoto. Kamek, I need your help."

Kamek approached the king reverently, staring at Iggy all the while.

"What's the problem?" he asked. Bowser hesitated.

"Uhh….we appear to be having a bit of a crisis on our hands."

Kamek nodded and approached Iggy, placing his hand onto the shoulder of the Koopaling.

"What's going on, Iggy?" he asked gently. "Why are you so upset?"

Iggy sniffled and dried his eyes. He turned to Kamek distraughtly.

"It's all my fault, Kamek! I am the reason why Morton is depressed!"

There was a moment of silence. Then Bowser snorted back a giggle.

"Iggy, I think you are giving yourself way too much credit."

"I agree," Kamek said. "Iggy, you are not that powerful."

Iggy stared at Kamek. Frustration was present in his teary, foggy eyes.

"Kamek, he showed me one of his memories!" he screamed.

"And did you pay attention to it?" Kamek asked.

"Of course I did! I pay attention to everything!" Iggy sighed and hung his head miserably. "Except Morton's feelings, apparently."

Kamek and Bowser exchanged a look. They didn't say a word, but the looks in their eyes were so powerful that they were able to have an entire conversation.

"Iggy, do you love Morton?" Bowser finally asked.

"Of course I do!" Iggy said as he turned toward the Koopa King. "I love him from the depths of my heart!"

Bowser smiled. Kamek did the same, his eyes shining underneath the flawless surface of his glasses.

"Then you need to go talk to him," Bowser said. "You need to tell him you're sorry."

"Yes," Kamek agreed. "You need to tell your brother that you only have his best interest at heart, and you need to tell him that you regret every action that lead him to feeling hurt."

Iggy nodded as he considered this.

"I do regret my actions." Then he smiled as he stood up. "Many thanks to the both of you. I know what course of action I must enact."

…

The five Mortons were exactly where Iggy thought they would be; in their room. They were all sitting in front of their TV, watching Rainbow Mare. Iggy cleared his throat to get their attention, and when he did the Ethical Center stood up.

"Iggy!" He went over to his brother, stepping over the sleeping Laziness in order to do it. "I am so sorry."

"No, Morton, I'm sorry," Iggy said. "I never should have called you a show off. It was immature, unnecessary, and ultimately did more harm than good. Honestly, if I had known that my words could have caused you to become depressed, I never would have said them."

The Ethical Center looked a little taken aback.

"You didn't make me depressed."

Iggy was startled. He stared at the Ethical Center, once again doubting whether or not he had heard the words that were spoken to him correctly.

"I….I didn't?"

"No! Goodness, gracious no! What could have given you that idea?"

Iggy was flabbergasted. It seems that Bowser and Kamek were right; he had been giving himself too much credit.

"Well then if I didn't cause your depression," Iggy said, "then what did?"

The Ethical Center looked back and forth between Iggy and his fellow traits. He then let out a sigh.

"I...I don't know," he admitted. "I really don't know. I've been feeling this way for a long time, but I honestly never knew the cause."

Iggy nodded. He supposed on some level that made sense. Morton's depression was most likely multifactorial, and if that was the case, then there was probably no way to narrow down the specific cause. And even if there was one main catalyst, then Morton had probably buried it deep within his subconscious. Realizing this, Iggy felt his heart sink.

"Are you okay, Iggster?" The Ethical Center asked.

"Yes," Iggy lied. "I'm just a little tired. It's been a long day."

The Ethical Center smiled.

"Do you want to watch Rainbow Mare with us?"

Iggy looked at the TV. The show appeared to be about halfway done. Nevertheless, it still caught Iggy's interest.

"Sure."

So, the two of them sat down to watch Rainbow Mare. Unfortunately, Iggy was too deep into his own head to really enjoy what was being shown on screen.

"Isn't the animation beautiful?" Chattiness gushed.

"Hmm? Oh yeah," said Iggy. "It's very vibrant and well drawn."

"Yeah," Chattiness said. "It is also very fluid; you can tell a lot of time went into it."

Iggy glanced at the screen. He had to agree; the animation was well done both from a technical perspective and on an aesthetic level.

"Hey," Chattiness said. "I really appreciate you listening to what I have to say."

Iggy looked at Chattiness in confusion.

"Well, you are very articulate," he said. Chattiness smiled.

"Thanks." He sighed. "You know, I miss talking with you guys."

"I miss conversing with you as well," Iggy said. Chattiness and the Ethical Center turned to him in surprise.

"Really?" they said in unison. "But I thought you didn't want to hear what I had to say!"

Iggy's confusion from before doubled. He looked back and forth between the two traits.

"Why in the Mushroom World would you think that?" he asked.

Chattiness and the Ethical Center exchanged a look. The the Ethical Center sighed.

"Well, you're just so amazing," he said. "You were able to discover an element when you were four years old. In under a year, you built fifteen robots for the Koopa Troop army AND build a time machine."

"Yeah," said Laziness with a yawn. "You are pretty cool, Iggy."

"And so is everyone else," Love for Food spoke up. "I mean, Ludwig is both a special and a musical prodigy!"

"And Roy is so strong!" said Chattiness. "He can do a million reps with dumbells that weigh four hundred pounds!"

Depression let out a sigh, one of the most miserable that Iggy had ever heard.

"Why would such incredible people bother with someone like me?" he said, more to himself than anybody else.

Iggy's brain was going into overdrive, trying to comprehend all of the information that was just handed to him. Suddenly, it all fell into place.

"Oh my developer; that's it!"

"What's it?" the Ethical Center said.

Iggy jumped up and looked at the five parts of his younger brother.

"Morton, I think I know why you're depressed."

"You do?" asked Depression. He looked immensely curious, as did everyone else. Iggy nodded.

"Morton, I think you're jealous," he said.

"Jealous?" asked the Ethical Center and Depression.

"Of what?" asked the other three traits.

"Of us!" Iggy said. "You have been idolizing us so much that you've started to doubt your own self worth."

The five Morton's exchanged looks.

"That...that makes sense," the Ethical Center said.

"Oh my developer, you're right Iggy!" said Chattiness. "Why didn't I see it before?"

"Because you were so focused on him," Iggy said as he gestured toward Depression. "Once you started developing this problem, you became desperate to hide it. You wanted to make sure that nobody saw what you were going through." Suddenly, something else fell into place. "And that's why you've been suppressing your emotions! Isn't it?"

The five Mortons didn't say anything. They just nodded in response.

"Morton," Iggy said softly, "you've gotta stop doing that."

Depression sniffled back a sob.

"But...but it hurts Iggy!" he said. "It hurts to feel. I try to be happy, but I don't know how!"

Iggy gave him a reassuring smile.

"Well, then you're in luck," he said. "Because you've got six siblings who love you to death. If you need help, then you can always turn to us."

The five Mortons looked at Iggy. Then they smiled.

"Thanks Iggy," they all said in unison. "I needed to hear that."

Suddenly, all five of Morton's traits began to glow. They glowed so brightly that the light filled the room. When it cleared, only one Morton remained: the original. Iggy smiled as Morton stared at him in confusion and bafflement.

"How did…?"

"Your five traits have been existing in some form of discordance," Iggy explained. "Once they finally found a way to exist in equilibrium, they reassembled."

Morton looked at his hands, studying his body. Then he went up and gave Iggy a hug.

"Thank you so much, Iggster," he said softly.

"Anytime, Morton," said Iggy. "Now let's see if we can do something about Wiggles."