Chapter 15 Side Effect

Lemmy's jaw dropped, and he couldn't take his eyes off of Chattiness to save his life. He blinked multiple times within a single minute before laughing. The sound was twinged with worry, but at the same time, there was a dash of hope nestled within it.

"Ha ha, very funny Morty!" Lemmy giggled and took a step closer. "How can you not know who I am? That's like the very definition of impossible!"

Chattiness opened his mouth as if to say something, but just as quickly, the confusion returned to his face. He stared at Lemmy, clearly trying to wrap his head around both his brother's presence as well as his words.

"I'm… sorry, but I really don't know who you are." Chattiness adjusted his position on the bench, all while the confusion was as prevalent as ever. "Maybe it would help if I knew where we met before?"

Lemmy's eyes grew wide. "But… but…" he sputtered, his heartbeat racing. This was… ridiculous! This was absolutely ludicrous! It was like cats suddenly gaining the ability to talk, or volcanos spitting out hot fudge instead of lava! Seriously, what was going on here? Chattiness had to be lying! There was no other explanation as to why he was saying these things. This had to be some kind of messed-up prank!

"Morty, it's me, Lemmy!" Lemmy took a step closer. "I'm your brother!"

Chattiness blinked. "Brother? I have a brother?" He thought about this before laughing. "I think I would remember if I had a brother. Especially someone who is as colorful as you." He chortled. "It'd be pretty awesome if I did have a brother though! There's so much that I could do if I had a brother! I'd have somebody to talk to, and I could potentially show them Rainbow Mare! Oh man, Rainbow Mare; it would be so special if I could convert people into fans of that show! In fact…"

Chattiness went on and on, but Lemmy hardly heard any of it. He drew back into his own, dealing with the mountain's worth of confusion and hurt. The fact that this trait didn't recognize him… it felt as though they had actually stabbed him in the heart. While battling a round of tears just on the brink of falling, Lemm backed up. Chattiness laughed at some of the jokes he told and some of the words he said, but they rang completely hollow for the smallest Koopaling. Sniffling, he turned away from the bench and walked away. He walked until he couldn't hear Chattiness's voice anymore before getting out his phone.

Roy, I found him.

The text back was sent instantly. Awesome! Where are you?

I'm on… Lemmy looked up at the street sign. I'm on Seashell Drive. Please come quickly, there's… there's a bit of a problem.

A problem? There was an audible fear in Roy's words, even though they weren't being spoken out loud. What kind of problem? Is everything alright?

Lemmy took a deep breath. I'll tell you when you get here.

And with that, Lemmy put his phone away and waited for Roy to find him. Maybe this was because of the emotional wounds Lemmy had received, but it felt as though Roy was taking forever to find him. He knew he shouldn't let his impatience get the better of him; he realized it was probably because Roy was struggling to find Seashell Drive. He even sent his shades-wearing brother some directions because of this, all while praying that he would have the strength to not burst into tears when Roy did find him.

Finally, after what felt like an eon, Roy found Lemmy. When he set his eyes on his big little brother, Roy's brow furrowed and he wore a very deep frown. He didn't even take the time to celebrate finding Lemmy.

"What's going on?" he asked, his voice soft but no less worried. "What happened?" When Lemmy explained the situation to him, his jaw dropped (in a way not too dissimilar to how Lemmy's did when he confronted Chattiness). "What? How is that possible? Chattiness should absolutely know who you are! Unless… wait…" he took a step closer. "Are you sure that you didn't mistake a Morton for someone else?"

"I didn't do that, Roy," Lemmy said. "Believe me, who he was was absolutely unmistakable." Lemmy sighed. "I just don't understand how this could be…"

"I don't either!" Roy put his hand to his chin. "Maybe we should call Iggy. I bet he would have an idea of what the problem is."

"Good idea." Lemmy dug his phone back out and went to call his younger brother. He put the phone on speaker so that Roy would be able to hear too.

When Iggy picked up, he had both enthusiasm and nervousness in his inflection. "Greetings, Lemonade. Have you located the Morton?" There was silence as Lemmy took deep breaths, which affected Iggy in a less-than-desirable way. "Oh no, is everything alright? Are you hurt? Is Morton's trait hurt?" Lemmy didn't answer yet, which no doubt made the lanky genius's heart pump. "Oh, what is wrong? Tell me, tell me, tell me, TELL ME!"

Lemmy let out a breath. "Um… well, we ran into a problem when we found the trait. You see… well, the problem is… um, it is…"

"The trait didn't recognize Lemmy," Roy said, his tone matter of fact.

Iggy was silent for a minute. "Wait, what? How could they not…" he gasped. "Oh dear. Oh, dear oh dear oh dear."

"What?" Lemmy asked. He held the phone closer to his face. "Do you know why this is?"

"Know? I would not go so far as to use that term. However, I do have a theory."

Lemmy's heart raced. "Well, whatever it is, tell me!" He wiped the tears from his eyes, telling himself that he shouldn't cry unless there was something worth crying about.

"Okay." Iggy paused for a second. "My theory is that this might be a side effect of the split. You know how the Personality Splitter was broken, and how that sent the traits to various parts of the world?" Lemm nodded, only realizing Iggy couldn't see it after the fact. Thankfully, Iggy must've realized that's what happened, as he went on explaining without missing a beat. "Well, I think it's possible that the Splitter did more than that. I think the unorthodox split may have caused some of the traits to have gaps in their memory, to not recognize or remember everything that had happened to them when they were together." Iggy paused again. "Come to think of it, that would kind of line up with how Morton's trait Foodie described how he remembered the time when he was part of the whole…"

"I… I see," Lemmy said, feeling more relieved than anything else.

Roy, however, seemed actually aggravated. "If that's the case, Iggy, then you really shouldn't have split Morton up the way you did! I think you created more problems than we needed because of that!"

Iggy sighed. "I… I am aware…"

Lemmy bit his lip. "Well, that's neither here nor there. We need to find a way to get the trait to come back with us to the Castle. Iggy, do you have any ideas?"

A silence fell over the scene, one that was unbearable in so many ways. Lemmy's stomach twisted into more knots than he thought possible and sweat streamed down his body in waves. He was almost ready to pass out before Iggy finally spoke up.

And unfortunately, Iggy's answer didn't provide Lemmy with the reassurance he wanted. "I… don't know."

Lemmy did a double take. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"I mean I don't know! I was not expecting this sort of problem to occur! As such, I do not have an adequate way to get the trait to go with you."

Both Lemmy's heart and his spirits sank. "Dang it," he said. He dried more tears, hoping that he didn't turn into a puddly mess. "Well…" he bit his lip and sniffled. "I… I guess we'll figure it out on our own. Th…thanks for your help, Iggy." With a goodbye from Iggy, Lemmy hung up the phone. He stood still for a brief period, thinking about what they could possibly do. Like Iggy before him, he couldn't find the answers, which frustrated him more than anything else. "Well… we need to figure this out fast." He turned toward Roy. "What do you think we should…" He stopped. He blinked, panic filling his mind. "Uh… Roy?"

…

Roy saw the Morton, sitting on the bench and talking to himself. His heart did something interesting when he saw the sight of his brother. On the one hand, it filled with joy, for it had been a while since he had seen any semblance or remnant of his little brother. On the other hand, he felt extremely bad. Not necessarily because of the problem that he and Lemmy were dealing with, although that was certainly a big issue. No, he was more so feeling bad because of something he realized.

It must be so hard to be the Morton right now. Without any idea of who he was, what his past was, or if he had anybody willing to love and take care of him. Instead, all he had was himself, and he probably had a lot of conflicting emotions and ever-growing terror building in his mind. What kind of existence was that? It sounded horrible!

As such, Roy wasn't interested in just standing back and leaving the Morton alone. He needed someone. He needed someone willing to listen. Someone willing to be there for him.

So, Roy walked over to the bench. As he got closer, he was able to pick up on the trait's words much easier. "I don't know what the deal was with that little Koopa earlier. I mean, he seemed really worried, but I don't know him! At least, I don't think I do…" he scratched his head. "Man, I don't know anything, do I?" He stopped talking before sighing. "It's all so… weird."

That last sentence was all the motivation Roy needed to sit down on the bench. "Hey buddy," he said to the trait, smiling as he did.

The Morton did a double take before looking at Roy. "Oh. Hi. Who… you aren't someone I'm supposed to know, are you?"

Roy thought about how to answer this for a second. "Um… that's not important right now. What's important is that I help you to feel more comfortable with things." He extended his hand. "My name is Roy."

The Morton only hesitated for a second before smiling. "It's nice to meet you, Roy." He shook his hand before discomfort returned to his face. "I wish I could tell you my name, but the problem is… I'm not one hundred percent sure what it is…"

"That's perfectly fine." Roy smiled, leaning back in the chair. "You don't have to worry about it. You don't need to worry about anything; I'm sure everything is going to work out in the long run."

The Morton smiled. "Wow. That's… actually really reassuring." He laughed. "It really does help me, because I feel like absolutely nothing is going my way at the moment. Everywhere I turn, I find something new and confusing. Nothing about what or where I am adds up. I feel like I'm one thing, and at the same time, I feel like I'm something completely different. It's so bizarre; it's kind of like I'm an alien that touched down on this planet by complete accident." He gasped. "Wait, maybe that's the case! Maybe I am an alien! It would explain a lot of things!" He turned toward Roy. "Do you think I'm an alien?"

Roy laughed. "No. You aren't an alien. But I do understand how you feel. Sometimes, I have trouble making sense of things too. Like, when I was in school, Kamek had to explain things to me multiple times so that I could understand them." He leaned back. "I totally get it, man."

The Morton chuckled. "Well, it's nice to know that I'm not alone in this world." He was silent for a minute before sighing. "I really wish I could figure out what's going on with me…"

"I hope you do too." Roy stopped to think about this before smiling. "Hey, would you like to go on a walk with me? I'm sure that could help clear your mind."

The trait thought about this before the largest smile grew on his face. "You know what? That sounds lovely!"