"What is it with you bozos? Every time youse try to beat us, it just backfires." Jack hollered triumphantly at Oscar and Morris, who were groaning and grunting in pain on the cement.

"Can't-Can't blame us for tryin'." Morris wheezed out, clutching his arm.

"You-You and your friends haven't seen the last of us!" Oscar spat, struggling to stand as he held his torso.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm gonna tell ya again, stay away from my friends and family, or both o' youse will be sorry. Now get out o' my sight!" Jack shouted.

The brothers scrambled to their feet the fastest they could before making a beeline in the opposite direction of the Newsie. Jack grinned to himself. The Delancys made a huge mistake attacking him and Katherine...

KATHERINE!!!

Jack had forgotten he told her to run. He whirled around and sprinted towards Central Park. Reaching the treeline, he frantically searched for the girl in his charge.

"Katherine?! Katherine, you're safe now!" He called out, but no reply came.

As he ventured further into the woodland, he caught sight of an object stuck to a tree. Once Jack realized what was on the tree, he paled and his heart nearly stopped. It was a large knife, stabbing an envelope with Jack's name on it. Pulling the knife out and taking the envelope into his hands, Jack slowly pealed it open. A small note stuck out with a few words scratched onto it. He slid it out and read the paper.

"Your move Kelly.
~S.S."

Jack staggered and sank to his knees. Snyder the Spider had Katherine. He promised to keep her safe, and he failed to do so. A newfound fire like rage filled his chest. He was going to get her back if it killed him. Nothing and no one would stand in his way, but he couldn't do it alone.

Yes Oscar's shapeshifting and ice powers working alongside Morris' multiplication and camouflage weren't a hard challenge for him.

But Snyder's powers, his illusions, ability to manipulate and take over people's minds, and his control over electricity makes him next level dangerous.

Returning to his senses, Jack leapt to his feet and dashed out of the trees. He ran as fast as he could, not stopping once on his way back to the Lodge House.

Bursting through the front doors, he was greeted with confused looks and startled reactions from the other Newsies.

"Jack," Davey stepped forward. "What's wrong?"

He said nothing, simply standing there with everyone's eye on him.

"Jack, where's Katherine?" Spot inquired from his place in a chair.

Jack couldn't bring himself to look at Spot.

"I-I tried to keep....to keep her safe. I had no idea they weren't alone."

Spot shot up and started to cross the room. Standing right in front of the leader, even though he was a good few inches shorter, he still looked far more intimidated.

"What...happened?" The prince asked, his voice low and menacing.

Jack finally lifted his head. "We were...We were startin' to head back when Oscar and Morris came outta nowhere and cornered us. I told her to run while I fought 'em off. When I had down and 'em eatin' pavement, I went lookin' for her. That's when I found this...."

Pulling out the note, he handed it to Davey. He unfolded it and read it. His face shifted to a scowl once he finished.

"What's it say?" Romeo asked impatiently.

""Your move Kelly." It's signed S.S." Davey replied. The other Newsies gasped and grew furious.

"How dare he do dat!" Race shouted.

"No tellin' what he'll do!" Hollered Jojo.

"I can't believe he got her." Crutchie said sorrowfully.

Spot's head spun around, going from Newsie to Newsie, trying to figure out who they were dreading and why.

"Wait wait wait! What are you guys talkin' about?" He demanded. Jack, who had been silent for several minutes, was the one to speak up.

"They'se talkin' 'bout one of the worst men alive. His name is Snyder the Spider. He has Katherine."

Spot waisted no time lunging at Jack with full fury. He grabbed the collar of his blue shirt and pushed him against a wall, ready to throw a punch.

Jack wasn't putting up a fight, he knew he deserved this. He did, after all, break a promise.

The other boys bolted to their feet and hurried to get Spot off their leader. After about a minute of unsuccessful wrestling, Davey resorted to freezing him for a moment while they released Jack from his iron like grasp.

When there were four other boys between Jack and Spot, Davey unfroze him. Stunned, Spot was confused as to how he got there before remembering that Davey had done that to him before. His rage had calmed....slightly.

"Kelly, you had better find my cousin. She's the closest thing I have to a sister." He said before stomping out of the room.

"He's right. We have to find Kath. I don't know what I'd do if she got hurt because of me..." Jack confessed before sulking up the stairs to his penthouse.

Gazing out over the city, he was so worried and angry. He swore he would bring Katherine back, no matter what.

Somewhere in Manhattan...

Katherine awoke in darkness. Pure, black, darkness. Lifting her head a bit, she immediately went back down from a massive surge of pain. Her head felt like it might burst.

Deciding to push through it, she held it up again and continued to do so until she was sitting up fully. She felt the area around her and realized she was on a stone hard ground.

Finding a wall nearby, she used it as a support and tried to stand with its help. She yelped in pain upon putting weight on her right ankle.

Finally as she steadied herself, bright lights flashed on and blinded her momentarily. Her eyes eventually focused and she found herself in what she could only describe as a dungeon.

There were metal bars a few feet in front of her, a bed on made of a small blanket and pillow on the flood behind her, and chains along the walls that connected shackles. It was only just then that she realized that she herself was shackled by a set of chains.

"Hel-Hello?" Katherine asked somewhat quietly.

"I've been waiting for you to wake up." A voice said from a dark corner making Katherine jump from surprise.

"Now that I have your attention, you're going to tell me everything you know about Jack and his friends." The voice went on, it got closer and louder to her cell.

Finally coming into the light, Katherine back up into a corner, crouching down in fear of the man before her.

"Who are you?" She ask in a shaky voice.

"My name is Snyder. And I, my dear, am the reason you are not stuck in your castle." He declared. "Back to business, who are the weakest rats of the group?"

Katherine stayed silent. There was no way that this man would make her say anything about her friends. They risked their lives to save and protect her. If there was one thing Katherine valued, it was loyalty.

Snyder was growing impatient. He sent a wave of electricity through the cell, shocking his prisoner, making her scream in agony. After a few seconds, he stopped and let her catch her breathe.

"I don't appreciate your behavior. I can make your life worse than hell while you're here. Or, you can tell me everything I ask and I'll let you go free." The wicked man attempted at bribing her.

It didn't take. She simply stared at him in silent disgust. Her captor heaved a sigh, sensing he was getting no where with the princess.

"Very well. There are other, more painful ways to make you talk." He stepped away from the bars and let out a sadistic laugh before turning out the lights and leaving Katherine alone once more.

If she were any other princess, she would have dramatically thrown herself over the nearest piece of furniture and started crying. But she wasn't any other princess, she was Katherine Pulitzer.

Gathering her wits, she examined her surroundings again and devised a plan. She reached her hands behind her head and pulled out one of her bobby-pins.

She remembered seeing Spot use them to pick locks when they would sneak into the Royal Gardens at night to play hide-n-seek. He even taught her once, and she silently hoped she remembered how.

Carefully crawling to the cell door, she pulled herself to her knees and felt around for the padlock.

Finding it, she craned her head to be able to see what she was doing to the best of her ability. Jamming the pin into the lock she fiddled it around and eventually she heard the reassuring click and she released a breath she didn't know she had been holding.

Searching for something to help support her weight, she spotted a wooden rod near her cell. Hobbling over to it, she pick it up and immediately put it to use.

Katherine's cell wasn't the only on down there. Amidst an eerie low glow lighting up her path, she found a long hallway with cells as far as the eye could see on either side. She knew she had to get out of there, fast!

She followed the hallway and found a set of stone stairs going up. This was her best bet for escaping. Painstaking, she began the climb as quickly as she could with her bad ankle. She reached the top and was greeted by a door that seemed to lead outside.

She smiled and almost screamed with joy. Practically running forward, she raced unknowingly right into someone's grip. She regained her sense and saw that it was one of the brothers, Oscar, who had her in his strong grasp.

Katherine's hope diminished, she was caught. She struggled, using what was left of her strength to try and get away. She brought up the rod she was using, attempting to hit him with it. He effortlessly grabbed it and tossed it aside.

"Let me go! Please, let go of me!" She cried desperately.

"Now why would I do that? Such a pretty thing like you, it'd be a crime to just let you walk out of here." He said with a purr. That made her pull away more.

Oscar has a mischievous gleam in his eyes, but surprisingly brought Katherine back to the dungeons. Instead of her barred cell, he lead her to a different looking one. Shoving her inside, he shut the door behind her and laughed as he walked back down the hall.

Katherine had collapsed on the ground once she entered. Her ankle was now purple and swollen.

It caused her pain, but not as much as being trapped by these psychopaths. It was like she was back in her room at the Pulitzer castle, terrifying and lonely.

Despair began to set in as she pulled her knees to her chest, she sobbed.

Was she forever doomed to be nothing more than a weak and powerless princess?

(A.N. Hey hey hey!! No I am not dead, I've just been in a writers block hole the size of the Mariana Trench. Yeah it was bad.

Anyways, I'm back now!! And I've gotten a lot of inspiration for more stories. These will be worked on and published eventually. But for now, I'll work on the ones I already have.

This chapter was hard to write and I thank Katherine___Plumber for her help. Love ya girl! Y'all know the drill, vote and comment please! I love feedback!

I bid thee ado! Panda)