AN: Well, this here is a very important story. It is the twentieth story I ever published on FanFiction. I hope you guys enjoy it.

Also, in case you're wondering, I'll still be updating Soul Swap Redux. I have about two chapters until that one is finished.

Chapter 1 The Suppressor

Morton had no idea why he was holding onto the book when he entered the common room. The desire to read it had blossomed from a seed of morbid curiosity. To his complete surprise, he had found himself engrossed in the story, and he ended up enjoying it. That is until the ending. The ending of this particular story was one of the saddest that Morton had ever read. He had cried for about twenty minutes after closing the book, and even made a promise to himself to never indulge his curiosity again. Because, as everyone always said in the Koopa Kingdom, "curiosity killed the Cat Mario."

Nevertheless, when Morton walked into the common room, his eyes were as dry as a bone. He had no intention of showing his siblings that he had been crying. If the scene that he observed when he walked into the common room was any indication, they were already preoccupied.

"Give up, Lemmy!" Roy called to his older brother as they were plopped in front of the TV. Lemmy only giggled as he tilted the controller, causing his Mario Kart avatar to enter a drift. The mini turbo was fast enough to send him barreling past Roy. When he crossed the finish line, he cheered

"Woo hoo! I got first place!"

Roy, who had finished the race in second, gawked at the screen in shock. Then he dropped his controller and held up his hands.

"I'm done," he said in frustration as he stood up. "I AM SO DONE!"

Roy left the room in a huff. Lemmy, Larry, Ludwig, and Wendy laughed at his hyperbolic anger. Morton, however, just stood there observing them.

"Hey, Morton," Lemmy said. "Do you wanna play?"

"No," Morton said immediately. He walked over and sat down on the comfy couch, his face blank and completely unreadable.

"Okay," Lemmy said. He turned to the eldest sibling. "Ludwig, do you want to give it a go?"

Ludwig considered it before putting on a mischievous grin.

"Why the World Eight not?" he said happily. While Lemmy and Ludwig selected their characters, Morton just sighed. Wendy took immediate notice.

"What's the matter Morton? Is everything okay?"

"Yes. Everything is fine."

The delivery of that statement was very monotone. Morton had been saying stuff with that inflection for so long that it was almost natural at this point. Almost.

"Come on, buddy," Wendy said coaxingly. "You can tell me."

Morton cast a glance at his older sister. Part of him wondered if birth order was playing a part in her caring so much. Wendy was the third youngest at fourteen years old. Morton was the second youngest at thirteen.

"It's not that big a deal," Morton finally said. He looked down at the book in his hand. "It was just a stupid story, that's all."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course," Morton said, mixing a little bit of reassurance into his tone.

Wendy still looked a little concerned. Her eyes were shining with concern, empathy and love as she stared at her brother.

"Okay," Wendy said. "It's just I worry about you, that's all."

"Don't," Morton said. Then he murmured under his breath, "I don't want you to."

It was around this time that Iggy entered the common room. He had a giddy grin on his face.

"You guys are going to be proud of me!" he exclaimed happily.

"Uh oh," said Larry. "Did you discover another element?"

"Nope!" Iggy said with an uncontrollable laugh. He reached into his bag and pulled out what looked to be a black button. It was about seven inches in diameter and was surrounded by a silver metal. Iggy pressed it, and the metal around the button expanded and shaped itself into a vest-like outfit. Wendy and Larry got up from the couch, and Ludwig and Lemmy paused their game to get a closer look.

"What is that?" asked Lemmy.

"Only the greatest invention ever!" Iggy said. He then turned to Ludwig. "Okay Ludwig, what is the one thing that would make your life substantially better?"

"Inner peace," Ludwig said immediately. Iggy shook his head.

"No, aside from that."

Ludwig thought about it before a smile appeared on his face.

"Being an only child?" When he said this, Iggy looked absolutely horrified.

"Oh developer, no! That's just mean!"

"I'm sorry," Ludwig said with a tone and facial expression that showed he was genuinely apologetic. Iggy sighed.

"No, that's not it. Ludwig, what is that one thing that doesn't allow you to express yourself the way you want to, the one thing that makes you terrified of screwing up."

There was a slight pause. Then a look of understanding flashed across the face of the eldest.

"Oh. You're talking about my powers."

Iggy nodded.

"Yes. You're supernatural abilities interfere with how you can express your emotions. Well, I am here to help with that."

Iggy then made Ludwig put on the metallic suit. Once Ludwig put it on, Iggy punched a password onto a keypad on the front of it. A clicking sound could be heard, signifying that a locking mechanism had been activated.

"I don't like where this is going," Ludwig said.

"Don't worry, it's perfectly safe," Iggy replied. He gestured to a cup of water resting on one of the side tables. "Now, can you lift that telekinetically?"

Ludwig turned and held out his hand. He looked confused when nothing happened. The others exchanged looks of wonder and confusion.

"No. I can't!"

"Good," said Iggy. He punched in the password into the keypad again and removed the suit. "Now try again."

Ludwig directed his attention back toward the cup. His hand, as well as the object, glowed with a blue light. The cup floated into Ludwig's hand, and Ludwig took a sip of the drink.

"Mmm. Refreshing," he said nonchalantly. Iggy pumped his fist in victory.

"Yes! I did it!" he said. His other siblings were still confused.

"Iggy, how did you do that; what is that thing?" asked Larry.

"I call it the Power Suppressor!" said Iggy. "I made it out of solder, a compound formed between zinc and tin!"

"Zinc and tin?" Lemmy asked with a giggle. "I 'zinc' that sounds pretty cool."

Larry snorted back a laugh while Wendy, Iggy, and Ludwig rolled their eyes. Morton, however, stayed completely still and silent. While he did find Lemmy's puns funny, he would never dare laugh at them. At least not while Iggy, Ludwig, and Wendy were in the room.

"Anyway," Iggy continued, "Solder acts as a counterbalance to galaxium, which is the source of Ludwig's powers. When he wears the power suppressor, then his supernatural abilities are turned off, so to speak."

"Cool!" said Ludwig as he took the suit. "Thanks Iggy, I think I can make use of this!"

"No problem," Iggy replied. Suddenly, Bowser's voice could be heard calling out.

"Guys! It's pizza night!"

"Oh, sweet!" Larry said. "I forgot all about pizza night!"

Morton could feel his mouth water. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he loved pizza. He loved everything about it, from the zesty tomato sauce to the buttery, garlic covered crust…

"Let's go find Roy then," Lemmy said. Ludwig snickered.

"That won't be hard.. He's probably eating a big tub of ice cream to compensate for his Mario Kart loss."

That was when Morton felt a pang of sadness. He let this slide before, but he couldn't let it slide again.

"Wait. Ludwig?"

Ludwig turned to Morton with a curious look.

"Do you really wish you were an only child?"

Ludwig looked shocked and horrified.

"What? No, of course I don't! Morton, that was a joke!"

"Okay," said Morton. "It's just you say stuff like that all the time…"

"No I don't! And if I do, I apologize. It's probably because I was being sarcastic."

"Sarcastic?" Morton asked.

"Uh yeah, I use sarcasm all the time. Take this for example." Ludwig turned to Lemmy, and when he spoke he used a sardonic tone. "Lemmy, I love how you don't clean your side of our room. It makes my life so much easier."

"Well, if you don't like it, you can always just ask me to clean it," Lemmy said. Ludwig smirked.

"I have. Repeatedly. It is long past the point of being annoying." Ludwig turned back to Morton. "See, that was sarcasm."

Morton nodded solemnly.

"Okay."

"Look, Morton, I am really sorry," Ludwig said with a concerned expression. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad…"

"You didn't," Morton cut him off. "I was just asking for clarification."

The others didn't look so sure. Iggy was about to speak up when Junior entered the common room.

"Hey, do you bozos want to choose the pizza toppings or what?"

Iggy turned to Junior with a smile.

"We'll be up in a minute." He turned to the others. "Come on guys, I'm famished."

The others nodded as they followed Iggy out of the room. Morton hesitated for a minute before following them.