Yeah; I know I should be working on True Loyalty or Oh Shrooms! But whatever :P

Kamek stood in defiance on the other side of the cell door. He might have been captured, but he was nowhere near through fighting. His eyes burned holes in the back of the skull of the guard who had attacked his country... his king.

The Dark land Castle had suffered a swift and damaging attack; in less than twenty minutes they had been overtaken. The attackers (whomever they were as Kamek had yet to figure that one out) infiltrated the castle at exactly 1 am. When security was at it's weakest.
Part of him wanted to curse...The strongest military in the world, overtaken so easily. It was humiliating. Sure; Cackletta, Fawful, and Smithy had each proven it was possible, but Kamek had not been in the castle during those instances. The sorcerer actually begun to believe that nothing could harm the royal family; not while he was around.
To his dismay their attackers had leverage; all of the magic in the world wouldn't have helped Kamek tonight. He had fought well; clearly outmatching any of his foes. But silver knife when held to the throat of young prince Iggy was powerful enough a weapon to make the sorcerer set down his wand and surrender... for now.

"Would you sit down?!" And then there was this. Stuck in the dungeons with fellow members of the high council.

He snorted; they where so weak. Quivering, cold, huddled together on the dank floor... absolutely pathetic. Oh Kamek understood they'd been stripped of their shells and robes, he himself had almost all of his clothes taken, but he couldn't imagine cowering in the corner like a bunch of Toads.

"Kamek," Kammy snarled, "Get away from that door before they decide to chain us to the walls!"

"Don't give 'em any more idea's." a Ninja Koopa named Nick hissed. His hand pressed against a deep gash in his forehead. "Haven't we suffered enough?"

It was true; all of them sustained injuries, from severe burns to broken limbs. The Magikoopas had been subjected to magic draining chains known to all kind as latronum animae... Soul Thieves... illegal in most countries. These chains slowly and painfully drained the magic and, as a result, the life out those they bound. This worried Kamek, not for himself mind you, as he was advanced in all forms of sorcery. He knew the only hex to prevent himself from losing magic; but he'd never got the chance to teach the others. Looking back he sorely wished he had.
To make matters worse, once the protection spell was set he was unable to use any internal magic, including what it took to break the chains.

"It that it? You're just giving up?" His eyes fell on the group, unseeing, as his glasses had also been taken.

"I didn't say that sir," Nick continued, "But we're weak; they've taken our weapons and stripped us of our shells and robes. We need a plan."

"Agreed;" Kamek said with a low voice. The guards where speaking in a foreign language, one he had never heard before. Years of wisdom told Kamek that this didn't mean they couldn't understand his language.

Kammy sighed,"I know I've been reminded of my mortality."

The sorcerer moved deeper into the small cell as if attempting to see the others. Kamek felt a delicate hand slip into his and pull him down to the floor. "Sit." Kammy commanded. He didn't fight her; as his left hand had been crushed soon after he had been subdued. It was a crude, barbaric way to prevent him from using his wand. As if he needed it... the fools.

Kammy noted the blood on her fingers. Her brow creased in worry. "What happened to you?" Of all the group her injuries where the least severe, but until this moment, she hadn't even thought about how lucky she was. "What did they do to your hand?!"

"That's not important." Kamek said gruffly. He pulled his hand away from her grip, cringing, she didn't let him go. "They have prince Ignatius . I want to know if the other Koopalings have fallen into their hands."

Samuel, a high ranking general and Kamek's long time friend spoke. "Most of the Koopalings where with me, we reached the safety if the tunnels... but a few were unaccounted for. When I went back to find them..." The Shyguy looked down, shamefully tracing over the crack in his mask.

"Which ones where missing?"

Kammy growled; "I would think you'd be worried about our king." Her voice changed, becoming tight and small. "Who knows what they've done to him."

"He's safe." Kamek nodded sternly."I wouldn't be here if he wasn't."

"Like you'd have a choice." Kammy snarled. "You're as powerless as the rest of us."

Before Kamek could reply the door opened. He cringed and instinctively hid his face as the light burned his sensitive eyes. The others did the same, although not for the same reason.

"Well, look what we have here."

For some reason Kamek got that sinking feeling that the burning in his eyes was just the beginning of pain he would be enduring tonight.

Ludwig took a deep breath as he re-counted his siblings. "Eins, zwei, drei, vier..." He growled. "And I make five."

"Face it Luddy." Wendy O' said fiddling with her torn nightgown. "No matter how many times you count none of the others are gonna appear."

"Samuel promised us he would find Jr." The crown prince snarled back, " Roy knows the tunnels like the back ov' his hand. I know they'll make it. They 'ave to."

Lemmy began to cry. Being tough, cool, and brave meant nothing to the kid. Despite being the second oldest, it was an accepted truth that he would always be a young child. "W-wwhat about Iggy?"

"He's gone Dummy McDumberson; the bad guys out their probably killed him and Dad and Kamek and Kammy too! Although I'm not gonna be sad about her going she's a mean old hag. You know she grounded me? For "sassing"or some mamby-pamby excuse like that. And you know what, I don't care because we're all gonna die! they will find us and kill us all."

"Is Iggy really dead?" Lemmy said wide eyed.

Ludwig jumped in, "No, nobody has died and nobody is going to die!" He growled, "We need to stick together, follow me. We'll be be safe if we stay in the tunnels."

"What about the bad guys?" Larry asked, he had been silent up until now. Holding his toy dinosaur close.

Ludwig sighed. "Dad will take care of them... He is the Koopa king. But until he sends for us we'll wait here." Ludwig then muttered under his breath."Es ist besser, als zu warten, in Ketten ."

"Say what?"

"Nothing" The crown prince replied,"Let's get going."

Is it just me... or is there such thing as a Ninja Koopa? Ah well. It adds diversity.

As for Ludwig, he's speaking in German. The last sentence he says roughly

translates: It is better than waiting in chains.

Anyway; Thanks to all the people who review.

I don't get much time to work on these because I have a full time job and I'm also full time in college, so all reviews are appreciated. Also, I am no longer accepting any plot-lines for more stories. I have more on my plate than I can handle. However, if you want to discuss a possible plot line for yourself then I'm cool with that. :)