Just-Call-Me-J: Then this chapter won't help with the whole 'causing suspense'.
Dustubuni: Thanks so much!
Cenobia100: Yup I did! And here's some more!
Jeanette Violet: Awww... that's so sweet!
Ludwig was completely unfazed by the teleportation. He looked at his surroundings. He had been warped to the gallery, where King Dad hung pictures of his kidnapping attempts, predecessors, and masterpieces created by Junior. Though Ludwig knew that there one of his most famous symphonies hung somewhere in the gallery, it wasn't in a prominent spot, like his youngest sibling's paintings. Ludwig sighed as he took his place under a much older painting: the first mission he had ever been on with his father when he was much, much younger. He'd been around six when it had happened. Looking up at the painting wistfully, he decided to read the poem that Kamek had teleported with him.
A poem, by Bowser Jr.
Ludwig raised an eyebrow upon seeing the name. Figures that he'd get stuck with this one.
"Vell, I might as vell begin. Let us see vat fazur's miniature self has to vrite about."
Lemmy smiled when he realized where he had gone. He was in the completely glass side room of his circus chamber, his yellow circus ball next to him. The room was an exact duplicate of a circus tent, and was the perfect place for practice. He quickly rolled over to the door, but it would not open. Lemmy tilted his head to the side in confusion. He was… locked in?
"Help!" Lemmy called, pounding on the glass. "I'm stuck!" But no one was there to hear him. He doubted he was strong enough to break the glass. They had greatly reinforced it because of Rocket Bomb, the bob-omb who loved being shot from a cannon, and his sudden explosions when he was launched. They hadn't quite gotten his routine correct yet, as black charred marks on the walls, floor, ceiling, and seats indicated.
"I'm stuck." Lemmy repeated, but this time it was stating a fact rather than a cry for help. He suddenly looked down at his hands. A piece of paper was in his right hand.
"I wonder who's I got!" Lemmy backflipped onto the circus ball and landed perfectly, sitting cross-legged.
Larry Koopa
"Oh cool! It's Larry's!" Lemmy chirped, blinking as he tried to adjust his eyes to the page. "I wonder what it says! I hope it's as happy as mine is!"
Roy was in full blown panic mode when he was teleported to the weight room. He rushed to the door and desperately attempted to open it, but it would not budge.
"KAMEK!" Roy roared, ramming his shoulder into the door in frustration. "LET ME OUTTA HERE!"
As if he could hear him, which, considering his rage, he probably could, Kamek's voice floated through the speakers. "You can leave when you've finished reading the poem that I sent with you."
Roy did not like that answer at all. It meant that one of his siblings would be reading his poem. Possibly at this very moment. He could just imagine Ludwig or Morton reading it. He'd never hear the end of it if it was one of them. Or if it was anyone, for that matter. And if Wendy had it–!
"GRAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Roy ran into the door again, throwing all of his force against it. But, as weak as it may have looked, it did not budge. Roy rubbed his hand against his right shoulder. It was incredible that he hadn't dislocated it yet from the force he had used. Looking around the room, he got another idea to open the door. Moments later, a rack of heavy weights was thrown into the door, shattering the stand and even cracking some of the weights. The door didn't even have a scratch on it.
Eye twitching, Roy turned around and stormed to the other end of the room, and soon approached the door with a large cannon that was, for some reason, in the weight room. He cackled, took a deep breath, lit the fuse with his fire breath, and fired a blast that shook the entire foundation of the castle. Roy coughed as smoke exploded into the room, and looked up when it cleared.
"…YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME."
Elsewhere, Kamek felt the vibrations of the blast, and looked up from what he was reading.
"…Roy must have found that spare cannon," Kamek murmured to himself, before returning to his book on Magikoopa Diets.
Back with Roy, he slumped in defeat against the stubborn door, punching it in vain one last time, before glaring at the piece of paper in his hands.
Morton Koopa Jr.
"Might as well get this over with," he grumbled, getting comfortable as he began to read the surprisingly short poem.
Iggy blinked and looked around in confusion as he appeared in the throne room.
Well, Kamek, you sure have interesting tastes… why send me here? I don't care about the throne… Iggy frowned as he scanned the room. No one else was there, not even his father or the throne guards. King Dad would have a fit if he saw that his beloved chair was unprotected.
Iggy turned around to leave, placing a hand on the doorknob.
Locked… what a surprise. And I suppose I'm stuck here until I read the poem.
He looked down at the paper in his hands. He didn't even have to read the name. The flowery script gave the owner of the poem away.
Wendy. Figures… Now why give me her poem? I expected Lemmy's or something… Sure, it could be randomized, but… random isn't exactly his style. What are you planning, Kamek?
Wendy had her own surprise waiting for her when she was teleported. She ended up in the toy room. Small objects littered the floor, making it hard to walk without stepping on anything.
"Why am I here? Ew!" she whined, "Only Lemmy and Junior use this gross place… and sometimes Larry… but still… ugh. So childish in here."
Wendy disdainfully stepped over to a relatively clean pink beanbag chair, and collapsed into it.
"My makeup is going to be ruined if I stay in this icky place for too long… I'd better read this quickly."
Lemmy Koopa
"Hm… wonder why I got this one… oh well. Might as well get this over with."
Morton tumbled to the ground, head spinning because of the sudden teleportation. He blinked to clear his head, and realized that he was in an empty library.
…Ha ha, Kamek… send the chatty Koopaling to the quietest place in the castle… very funny.
It was not a well-known fact, but Morton spent a good portion of his time in the library. He actually loved to read, almost as much as he loved to talk. He greatly hoped to be a writer one day, and he figured that, when his siblings would ignore him, he would read in the library and get ideas for his own stories.
And speaking… or rather… thinking of stories… hehe…
Morton whipped out the paper that was in his hands, getting comfortable at one of the square wooden tables in the center of the room.
Ludwig Von Koopa
"Oooh! Ludwig's!" Morton grinned to himself, "I wonder if it's about music! Well I'm not gonna find out by chattering! I'd better get reading and see what my biggest brother has to say! I'm really, really, really curious!"
"SHH!"
"…Oops! Sorry Ms. Fogbottom!"
Larry blinked when he appeared in the castle vault. Of all the places, Kamek would send him here? Larry chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he slipped some coins into his shell. He didn't have his sack, so he couldn't carry as much. Larry went over to the vault door and attempted to open it; he usually kept a spare sack right outside, and he also knew that the guards were on lunch break. Unfortunately for him, the door wouldn't budge. Then he realized that he would probably not be able to get out until he read the poem. That's just how Kamek was with these things.
"Crafty Magikoopa," Larry mused, before settling down into a pile of coins and getting ready to read the poem in his hands. The second-youngest did a double-take when he saw whose poem it was.
Roy Koopa
Well… this ought to be interesting, he mused.
Junior was the last to open his eyes. He ended up in the dungeon.
"Well… this seems slightly ironic," he chuckled humorlessly to himself, "Especially considering what I wrote…"
Junior was in an empty cell, devoid of all noise or life. No insects, nothing. Just… silence. The cell door was locked, preventing him from leaving. He supposed that Kamek would come and get him when he was finished reading the poem.
Iggy Koopa
Junior cocked an eyebrow. Of all the siblings, he was the least closest to Iggy. Probably because the dude was nuttier than a fruit cake, and his insane laughter usually drove him away.
"I guess it's good that I got Iggy's poem… I don't usually talk to him, and so it'll be a good way for me to learn about the guy…"
And thus the readings began…