Chapter 3 Time Stops

That stupid melatonin didn't work!

Getting up now, and trying to gather his bearings despite feeling more tired than ever before, Ludwig couldn't help but curse under his breath. The melatonin didn't help him get back to sleep; instead, it actively kept him awake. Ludwig had tossed and turned all night, closing his eyes and hoping that sleep would eventually come to him. It never did. And what made it worse was that the tossing and turning had been heard by Lemmy, who as a consequence, couldn't get back to sleep either. And now, the smallest Koopaling looked like he was going to pass out and/or need some serious hospitalization.

Lemmy stretched and yawned, a practice that Ludwig had teased him for in the past due to how weird his yawns could sound. But now, the practice drew no joy out of Ludwig. Lemmy sounded horrible like he had been forced to stay awake for seventy-two hours straight. Which, unfortunately, wasn't too far off from the truth.

"Ohhhh..." Lemmy groaned. He put his head in his hands, all while Ludwig stared at him. As if his own case of tiredness and insomnia wasn't too hard to deal with already. "Last night was..."

Ludwig sighed. "Yeah." He gritted his teeth, and blue flames ignited around his hands. "This is stupid! Is it too much to ask that I... er, sorry, we can have one pleasant night?" He growled, the flames growing hotter. "I hate this! And I HATE my stupid, stupid brain for keeping me up!" Once he said it, the flames disappeared. He sighed, for on some level, he knew he shouldn't dismiss the contents of the nightmares as stupid.

This was because Ludwig had a secret, a secret that he had never talked to anyone about in over a decade. None of his siblings were aware of it. Bowser wasn't even aware of it. The only person in the whole world who was aware of the secret just so happened to be the harbinger of headaches, Kamek.

And thinking about that secret now, Ludwig's guilt multiplied. He felt like the whole universe was staring at him, judging him. And what made it worse was that, if that was the case, then it was absolutely warranted and deserved.

Ludwig shook his head. Brooding about the secret wouldn't do him any good. The only thing that would ever do would be giving him even more nightmares, which was the last thing that he wanted.

"I hate this so much," he muttered under his breath. Lemmy nodded in response to this, rubbing his eyes so much one would think they were irritated.

"Well... maybe you should do what Iggy said last night." Lemmy looked right at his older brother. "Maybe you should go to Kamek. I'm sure that'll help."

Ludwig bit his lip. A silence hung in the air between the two Koopalings, and Ludwig turned his head away from Lemmy. He battled so many thoughts and so many emotions. His whole being, from his soul and heart to his mind and brain, were at war with one another. He rubbed his tired eyes again before standing up. He looked at Lemmy, this time putting on an authoritative (and maybe a little bit stubborn) face.

"I don't think that will be necessary." He telekinetically picked up his cloak from off its hanger on the door and put it on. He smoothed out the folds, noticing Lemmy opening his mouth. Ludwig knew precisely what he was going to say, so he shut it down immediately by saying "Let's go down to the dining hall. I can tell you right now that I need coffee more than anything else."

Lemmy stared at him, his face taken aback. However, he probably recognized that arguing with Ludwig wouldn't do much of anything, so he put on a smile. "I hear ya. I think I'm going to get a caramel latte with a mountain of whipped cream on top."

Ludwig chuckled. "And I would expect nothing less from you."

While laughing, the two Koopalings made their way to the dining hall. Unfortunately, walking made Ludwig realize exactly how tired he was. He might as well have been sleepwalking with how much he wanted to close his eyes on this typical morning walk. He uttered some prayers to Grambi in his head, hoping that he wouldn't crash. That was the last thing anyone needed. No, he needed to conquer this day, conquer his sleep deprivation, and get himself together. Lemmy clearly wanted him to, as did Iggy. So, he would do this. He would conquer his problems. He would find a good way to get back to sleep that evening, all without the help or the knowledge of Kamek.

Within no time (and without collapsing, thank the lumas), Lemmy and Ludwig got to the dining hall. Except for Iggy, all of their other siblings were already in the room. Larry, the youngest with a sky blue mohawk, told a story to the others, his pancakes resting uneaten on the table below. Morton, the large, dark-skinned Koopaling, just nodded along with the most disinterested expression Ludwig had ever seen on him (which was saying a lot). Wendy, the only girl, just applied some red lipstick to her already colorful lips, clearly not caring enough to listen to her little brother's obvious tall tales. The only one who even looked remotely interested was Roy. For once, he didn't wear his trademark shades, allowing Ludwig to see the astonishment in his violet eyes.

"Dude, that is so cool! I've never even seen a manticore around here!"

Larry laughed, the sound saturated in wicked glee. "Yeah, they're almost unheard of. But I managed to kill one. I have its head in my room if you guys want to see it."

Ludwig snorted as he started making his way over to the coffee maker on the right-hand wall. "You sure? Your head looks so big that trying to keep any other heads in your room is an impossibility."

All eyes in the room turned over to Ludwig. While not displaying any sort of interest in Larry and his falsehoods, Wendy smiled upon seeing her two eldest brothers.

"Hey, Ludwig! Hey, Lemmy! How are you doing this morning?"

Ludwig hesitated. He was just about to answer (or to be more specific, lie) when he heard Larry burst into laughter.

"Dude, what happened to your hair?" he asked, the laughter building in volume and intensity. "It looks like you've been sleeping on top of an ant's nest!"

Ludwig growled as blue flames smothered his hands. He sent a heated expression toward Larry, glaring at him like he had just called Ludwig the most vile of slurs.

Larry backed up when he saw this. He held up his hands, putting on a smile that was beyond fake. "But...in a good way!" he said. Sweat formed all over his body. "I think that style in particular is really in right now!" He turned to his sister. "Right, Wendy?"

Wendy did a double take. She gave Larry a wide-eyed look before smiling at Ludwig. "Uh, yes! Yes, it is very much 'in.'"

Ludwig sniffed. He prepared himself to send another glare toward Larry when the most embarrassing thing possible happened; his stomach growled

Wendy chuckled as Ludwig's face grew warm. "I see someone is hungry."

"Yeah." Ludwig turned away from his siblings, hoping that they hadn't noticed how pink his face had to be. "Among other things."

"Well, don't you worry bro," Roy said, speaking up for the first time. "The chef made blueberry pancakes!"

"Yeah, and they aren't burnt," Morton chimed in as he reached for his glass of juice and took a sip.

Ludwig perked up. "Wow, it's a Koopsmas miracle two months before Koopsmas." He chuckled as he continued on his trek to the coffee maker. "I'll have some after I get some caffeine in my system."

Larry snorted. "Oh man, you couldn't get more addicted if you actively tried.

Ludwig decided to ignore that, for he didn't want to be responsible for anyone's death this morning. He started the coffee maker, the seconds crawling as he waited for his favorite drink to finish brewing. Once it finally finished, he got his favorite cup, a purple mug that said "Your Tears" on the front. He breathed in the scent of the coffee, the drink of the gods, the elixir of life. He took the first sip, feeling both energy and joy restore themselves within his curmudgeonly heart. Was there a more pleasant form of existence than drinking coffee?

"Dude, what was that for?" Larry shouted from his spot on the table.

Ludwig blinked. He turned to his siblings, noticing Larry glaring at him while everyone else looked at him in wide-eyed surprise. This made his stomach churn with nerves.

"What are you talking about?"

"You just zapped Larry with your powers," said Roy. He pointed to Larry's shoulder, where what looked like a burn mark rested.

Fear shot through Ludwig, as well as confusion. "I... I did?"

"Yeah, Ludwig, you did," said Wendy. "I saw a lightning bolt appear right above Larry's shoulder."

Ludwig's eyes grew wide. "What?" How... how could that be? He hadn't been angry at all! He hadn't even been agitated! Sure, he had been annoyed and even a little irritated at Larry's snarky comments a few minutes ago, but he had calmed himself down! Why in the world would he... he couldn't have zapped Larry!

But then again, how did he get such a fresh burn mark on his shoulder?"

"Larry," Ludwig said. He put his coffee to the side and held up his hands. "I didn't mean to, I..."

Suddenly, an electric bolt shot from Ludwig's hands. Everyone at the table shrieked, all while Ludwig's terror increased. In a blink-and-you 'll-miss moment, the electricity zapped Larry right in the chest. The youngest Koopaling yelled as the force pushed him off the chair and onto the floor. Everyone in the room gasped, with Ludwig's heart rate accelerating as he saw Larry, putting his hands to the burn mark on his chest as he grunted and picked himself back up.

"Larry, are you okay?" Ludwig asked, his voice going up an octave.

Larry glared at him. He growled, barring his teeth as the heat in his eyes reached catastrophic levels. "You... are SO gonna get it!" Within the span of point two seconds, he grabbed his plate and shot it straight at Ludwig's head. Ludwig shrieked, holding out his hands to protect himself. He sweated profusely as he waited for the hit/

But... the hit never came.

Confused, Ludwig pulled his hands back. He gasped when he saw what lay before him, even needing to rub his eyes and slap himself across the face a few times just to make sure he was fully awake.

The plate was there, frozen still in midair. Ludwig gawked at it. Even though he had confirmed that he was fully awake, he still couldn't believe this was real. This couldn't be real; surely it was some kind of prank, right?

"Woah." He looked at his siblings. "Guys, are you...?"

His heart skipped a beat. Each and every one of his siblings was completely still. Ludwig's jaw dropped as he stared at them. Lemmy perched his fingers on the table, his mouth hanging wide open as he stared at Larry. Morton and Wendy looked horrified, and Roy had gotten out of his chair and reached across the table to prevent Larry from making the move. Larry himself stared in Ludwig's direction, thoroughly pissed off as he held his hand back in a throwing position.

"What?" Ludwig put his hand to his head as he got out of the path of the thrown plate. "How..." Ludwig walked over to Lemmy. His fright and disbelief climbing, he waved his hand in front of his face. His younger brother didn't even flinch.

"Did I just... stop time?"

As if that were some kind of cue, the plate started moving again. It crashed into the wall, shattering into a thousand pieces. Ludwig couldn't help but flinch at the sound, but somehow, the Koopalings' confused expressions when they saw this made it a million times worse. Lemmy turned around, and when he saw Ludwig, he yelped and nearly fell out of his seat.

"Woah! How did you…?"

"Ludwig!" Wendy yelled, looking perfectly spooked. "Why... how... WHAT HAPPENED?"

"I... I don't know!" Ludwig stared over at the shards of the plate. "I... I think that I...stopped time."

"You...what?" Morton asked, his normally stoic face right on the border of panic.

Ludwig took a few breaths before explaining to everyone what had happened from his perspective. When he finished, there were no words available in the English language to describe his siblings' faces

"Ludwig, I didn't know you could do that!" Larry said, all anger from before gone.

"I... I didn't either." Ludwig looked down at his hands, wiggling his fingers. "I... I don't... I don't know..."

"Dude, I think you unlocked a new power!" Roy exclaimed. While he didn't smile, there was a sort of excitement present in his body language and tone of voice. "That's awesome!"

Ludwig gawked at him. "Awesome?"

"Yeah!" Now Roy smiled. "Can you imagine how OP stopping time would be in a battle against Mario?" He laughed. "Oh many, that would be really handy!"

"You know what? You're absolutely right!" said Larry. He too started to smile. "Like, imagine this. He's right in the middle of the most heated Mario battle ever. Then, he stops time, goes to relax and eat back home, and then he returns to the battlefield to thoroughly kick Mario's ass! All while not even a single minute passes!" His eyes glittered as he looked at his brother. "Doesn't that sound epic?"

Ludwig's jaw dropped. "I... I don't know." He looked at his hand again. "I mean, I guess it could be cool, but..." Fear clenched his heart. "But... but I don't understand how this happened. I mean, I've never unlocked a power before..." he whimpered as he hid his hand in his cloak. "I don't know what this means. I don't even know if this is a good thing..."

Lemmy turned around to face him. "Well, if you're concerned, maybe you should go to someone about this." He leaned in closer. "Maybe Kamek?"

Ludwig seized up when he heard that. He took a step back and breathed in deeply, telling himself that getting angry over such a suggestion wasn't worth it. He took a few more deep breaths before facing his siblings with a serious expression.

"I'll go to Iggy."

Before anyone could object, Ludwig left the room. He walked down the hallway, completely shaken. He took a few more deep breaths, trying to gather his bearings and not descend into a panicked state.

"I don't understand," he muttered as he passed some koopa troopa servants working in the hall. "How could this happen?" He grunted and put his hand to his head. His mind raced as he tried to remember the research he had done on special koopas in the past. Was there ever a time when they unlocked a new power years after birth? Was there ever a time when their current powers went completely out of control? Ludwig couldn't recall ever seeing something like that, which in turn amped up his anxiety. "Oh, what do I even do?"

Crash!

Ludwig actually jumped back at that sound. He began to panic; had he made something else happen? He was just about to have a panic attack when he saw a koopa troopa gawking at him. Near their feet was a box.

Ludwig sighed in relief and put his hand to his chest. "Oh. Hey Nelson." He walked over and picked up the box, putting it back in the servant's arms. "Gotta be more careful when lifting heavy objects, let me tell ya!"

He laughed, but Nelson didn't do the same. His jaw dropped, and his face was deathly pale. The only sounds coming out of his mouth were terrified whimpers and gasps.

Ludwig's nerves started acting up again. "Uh...Nelson, are you alright?"

Nelson screamed. "GHOST!" He dropped the box again and started running down the hallway. "THERE'S A GHOST IN THE CASTLE!"

"Ghost? What is he even talking about?" Ludwig put his head in his hands. "This has got to be one of the weirdest days ever. What exactly is going..."

He stopped, noticing a mirror on the wall in front of him. He gasped out loud when he saw it. He felt his face, panic and adrenaline filling him.

"W...where's my reflection?" The mirror didn't show Ludwig's face, or really any part of him. Ludwig's heart pounded in his chest, and he felt like he was going to pass out. What... how... why..."

Suddenly, Ludwig heard two female Koopa troopa servants walking down the hallway. Wanting to test if his suspicions were correct, he waved at them. They didn't even turn his way. Swallowing a lump, he got right in front of their path as they talked to each other about Nelson and what could possibly have gotten him so riled up. When they got to Ludwig, they crashed into him, falling right onto the floor.

"What the hell?" One asked. They turned toward their colleagues as both of them stood back up. "What was that?"

The other looked forward, right at Ludwig. However, there was no sign on her face that she even saw the eldest Koopaling. She stepped forward, and Ludwig got out of the way as she reached into the space in front of her.

"Beats me," she said with a shrug. The two resumed walking down the hallway. As they did, Ludwig's heart pounded. He felt like he was going to collapse as the reality of the situation hit him.

"Oh no!" He gripped his head. "I'm invisible!"

AN: Well! This chapter was certainly a labor of love! I hope you guys like the updated version of the story so far! :D