Soulless Ones

Chapter 1

Bodies Wanted

"Junior... Just, hold my hand, please." The oldest of the children held out his reptilian claw to the youngest one. To be fair the red headed Koopa was good at hiding his fears and sadness. He just knew him so well. Though considering what they had just seen… It shook even the wise blue haired teen.

"Lu…OK, if you want me to." There was a moment when the only sound was their clawed feet tapping upon the stone floor of the underground passages, an unintended truce between otherwise distant siblings.

"Zis should be it…" He felt upon the brick-walled dead end with his free claw then retrieved his blue-jeweled wand. It's otherworldly glow revealing a secret writing in their old language.

"What's it say?" He said in a hushed tone, daring not to invite any unwanted ears.

"Nozing too meaningful to us. Just a warning curse to outsiders dressed up with a few vivacious vords. Perhaps I should start teaching you how to read it… Kamek von't be able to for a vhile." He used his claw to trace the line between certain bricks in quiet contemplation before throwing his fist in the air. A block appeared above it, forcing the wall to crumble open. It formed back to the original appearance once they crossed the threshold. The method was a bit crude to his taste but who was Ludwig to judge the way of his ancestors?

"Who's there!?"A red light illuminated them as they came in.

"Beenden blend mich!" Ludwig shouted as he and Junior shielded their eyes. "I mean it Larry!"

"Yeah, what's your problem 'Fin-head'!?" The littlest snapped at the second youngest as he rubbed his beady eyes.

"Yeah, it's them." The second oldest confirmed what the others thought. His red eyes scanned them from behind his dark red rimmed shades. "Those puppets can't fake that level of annoyance."

"Hey!"

"So you saw zem too?" Ludwig looked around the whole chamber. Among the altar centered room decorated with statues and portraits of the royals and commanders of old was the rest of the eight siblings. He felt a large wave of relief that dampened the horror of what he saw. "Did he attack you?"

"Yeah, never thought Luigi was that scary…" Larry shivered at the thought. His bright blue eyes showing a sort of fear he never felt before.

"Luigi?" Ludwig wrinkled his snout in perplexed thought. "Zey got him too…"

"That's nothing." Wendy didn't sound quite as shaken, but that was only due to the amount of time she had to be calmed down. "Imagine waking up to Peach at the foot of your bed!"

"You're scared of Peach?" Junior teased.

"You didn't see her!" Morton defended with an appropriately traumatized tone. He couldn't erase the image of her running out of Wendy's room like a mad chainsaw wielder. "She almost took her head off with that umbrella!"

"Hm?" Lemmy tilted his head. He was seemingly the only one that didn't see the gravity of the situation. "What's so bad? They all just came over for a 'Sparring Party' like always. They'll be gone soon, right?"

"Not zis time Lemmy."

"Are you crazy? Didn't you see how they acted?"

"Hm, hm? The more I hear…THE MORE I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN IT!" Iggy smiled his usual grin. "I wonder what has happened. Was it some sort of device or magical apparatus? I'm dying to know! What a puzzle!" He giggled at the thought. He was just counting the seconds until he could use his gadgetry to solve this conundrum.

"All I know is Roy rushing us out of bed. I had to use my wand to get dressed."

"Trust me, you're not missin' much." Roy explained yet again. "Like I said, he was acting like a Thwomp with legs trying to break our necks." He then turned his attention to his older brother. "Where the heck was BJ? He wasn't in his bed. I was heading to your room across the castle when I met up with that Galaxy Guardian, whatever her name is."

"Ve vere up late Viz Vatter discussing var tactics." He wasn't sure how he was going to tell them. "Mario burst zrough ze doors before ve even realized…"

"They're all here…" Morton frowned deeply. "I hope dad's OK. M-maybe we should-."

"No, Morton. He-." He was cut off by a large banging noise dangerously close. He dropped to a whisper. "He couldn't have…"

They all raised their wands in defense as it repeated, Junior retrieving his sacred paintbrush. A strange and unearthly glow came from each of the jewels like when they used them or when the specter King Boo was close only this time it was accompanied by a foreboding feel radiating through them. Ludwig had witnessed his wand doing it in the Throne room, just before the initial attack. The feeling became stronger until a bright blue light appeared behind them. An eerie and indistinguishable voice spoke and the wands became much more vibrant and shuddered like a rattled animal…Everything became dark after that.

Soulless Ones

'I, vhere am I?' He felt so very light-headed and foggy, like he was flying too high in the airship for the first time. "J-Junior? Roy?" He thought about the ones that were directly next to him, trying to call out to them. He tried to reach out but he felt like he was incapable. It was not like he felt bound by something, more like he did not possess limbs to do so. He was quite perplexed, had he been drugged or knocked out? Why did he feel so foggy? So free?

"Luwy?" His mind was beginning to comprehend the worst when he finally got a response.

"Lemmy? Are you alright?"

"I'm OK." He stated simply. His cheerful tone was not dampened in the least. "I couldn't move until I found it though."

"Found it?" Ludwig himself tried to look around. He realized the reason he could not see before was due to the lack of flaming torches or the glow of wands. He tried to focus, trying to solve so many questions scurrying about his train of thought.

He could feel warmth close to him in the darkness, a sort of natural and comforting heat. He tried to come closer to it to investigate it only for something bizarre to happen. It was a sensation he never felt before, like water filling up the shape of a glass. Ludwig wasn't sure what was happening, but he began to suspect it was some sort of insane dream.

Once the feeling was gone he attempted to move again figuring this is what dream Lemmy meant but he found he was bound. His struggling only proved to confine him further. The bindings were peculiarly stiff with a slight bend, pulling him to something slightly warm. Was this the warmth he felt earlier?

He nearly let out a gasp when he heard a content sigh. The teen finally noticed the light rise and fall of what he was being held against and the clear sound of a heartbeat. This furthered his conclusion this was all a dream.

"Lemmy?" He squinted his eyes to no avail. He tried to struggle himself out of the being's grasp and after some wriggling managed to do just that.

"Mm?"

"I'm over here." A lump popped up in what appeared to be covers. It could barely be made out. Light was just touching upon the air around them.

"Vhat are you doing under zere?"

"I ended up here." He spouted his usual non-answer. His fondness for exploration muffled. The lump continued to roam about until it found the edge and making contact with the carpeted ground with an almost unheard thud. "I found the end, Yaay."

"It's good to see you're still in high spirits." He chuckled to himself as he ventured over to the lump to check on him. "E-eh, Lemmy? Is zat really you?" The oldest couldn't believe what he saw as his younger brother poked his hand from under cover, a white gloved hand.

"Yes?" The creature with Lemmy's voice poked its head out. It was a red fuzzy being he's never seen before with a full red beard, a yellow fan adorned with orange double stripes on each propeller, and googly black eyes that currently had the off-centered gaze characteristic of the rainbow haired koopa. His large gapping mouth was even unusually contorted to his adorable smile. "You look tired. What happened to your hair?"

"M-Me?" He recoiled a once again. He raised his hand to see he was not quite himself. The green skin and odd circular orbs on his wrist told him as much.

"Mm hm." He nodded his head, taking in every detail to confirm. Ludwig having a mostly Godzilla type appearance…If Godzilla had a flat face, Ludwig's characteristic dental structure, a light purple and yellow stripped belly, and very large sleepy eyes. I guess the only thing reminiscent of that individual was the basic body shape. The tail was about the size as before and his shell and spikes were replaced by those dinosaur ridges along the backbone.

"I vreally need to get out of zis delusion…"

"Delusion? If this is a dream I like this part more than the first part."

"First part?...I forgot all about zat…Zat couldn't possibly have been a nightmare. It vas real and I have to get of here. I have to find out vhat's happened to us. Vhere ze ozers-."

"Mm. Gachapin?" There was a rustling behind them on the bed. The source of the warmth Ludwig felt before rose up from under the blanket. The small boy was human in appearance. Ludwig estimated he must have been around Junior's age translating to four or six in humanoid years. His green hair was short with bangs reaching his large sleepy eyes with pure green pupils. Even after he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes they retained their droopy look. "You can talk?" He looked curiously at his two 'friends' that he had woken up to. "Why do you sound so different from TV?"

"Huh? Who's that?" Lemmy looked confused yet interested in the new addition to the conversation. "Is he in your dream too Luwy?"

"I, I'm not so sure anymore…"

This will be a little side project when the other well runs dry every once in a while.

This is not connected to RBR or Teaching History so there will be slight differences...I do this a lot. e.e"