Instability (Mario)

Chapter 29

"Everyone, return to your cells!" Mario's sharp voice sounded on the intercom, instantly causing panic as the mastermind's voice was appeared. Normally it was Pauline who spoke.

"What's happened?" Samantha was perplexed, but remained calm. She rose from the cafeteria, glancing around as everyone seemed to be running out quickly, besides Bunny, who was being dragged along with her friends to avoid getting in trouble. "Alexis, what is going on?"

The brown haired girl shrugged, worried herself. The announcement "Code Red" hadn't been made, so she had no idea what could be going on.

"I'm not sure," Alexis admitted, running her hands through her brown hair, a nervous habit she had. "But I think it is for the best if we both go back to our cells. I don't know about you, but I don't want to get in trouble for something that is so bad, Mario had to say something."

"You're right," Samantha agreed, her white hair ruffling despite them being inside. "Goodbye."

She stepped through a portal, leaving Alexis behind. Confused, the brown haired female turned around, and promptly ran to her cell like her life depended on it.

It pretty much did.

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"Dammit!" Mario slammed his fist against his desk, Pauline, Birdo, and Wendy sitting across from him. Splinters went flying. "Everyone's in their cell. Not a single person is anywhere else!"

"In their cell, or someone else's?" Wendy raised her brow suspiciously. "I bet they're all holed up in one room, whoever it is."

"The problem is that there's so many entrances into these Grand Star rooms," Mario snarled. "That was the price we paid in order to make the path there extremely confusing. Dammit!"

"Calm down," Pauline said coolly, and it was as if the two had switched roles. Normally, Pauline was the more explosive of the two. However, the thought of his prison being unraveled set Mario off. "We'll find who it is. We've got a search dog, remember?"

"You're right," Mario calmed down slightly, but was still extremely frustrated. It irritated him that he was flustered in the first place, his calm nature replaced by frantic and annoyed antics. "We'll station more guards at each Grand Star. It's been a hammer each time. Eventually they'll succumb to whatever we throw at them, especially since it's a long walk."

"Why don't we just put Kaira and Saiko as guards?" Wendy mused, not realizing the dangers of such a simple move. "Nothing's getting past them."

"Because they aren't completely trustworthy either," Pauline told her female warden. Wendy and Birdo didn't normally deal with problems such as the ones that occurred in Pauline's area, since she didn't have to deal with Kaira and Saiko. "I doubt they would, but given their past..."

"I don't trust either of them with guarding that Grand Star," Mario told them firmly. "Kaira broke a star already, which is worth punishing, but suffered the consequences after. While I'm pretty sure she wouldn't break another one since she literally died after breaking one, I'm not sure. Saiko is a complete wild card, so I'm not completely sure, but she's probably already plotting with Toadette or something."

"Do you think the whole crew is involved?" Birdo questioned. "Toadette, Rosalina, and the other two..."

"It's only been one or two people," Pauline reminded them, her meticulously painted red nails glinting in the light of the prison. "But perhaps they only sent two of them."

"Too tall to be Toadette, both of them," Mario deduced, crossing his arms. More than anything in the world, he was afraid of losing the prison he'd made- his haven for those with the powers. It would not be destroyed. "Ugh..."

"Don't worry," Pauline reassured him, a vicious smirk plaguing her face before washing away. Wendy and Birdo watched the head warden in amazement at her confidence. "We'll figure it out."

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Daisy had invited Luigi to Toadette's room, despite Toadette not being there. Since the Star had been broken, Toadette had to go to a warden meeting along with Kaira, Saiko, and whoever Pauline had picked as a warden. She'd left Daisy with the keys. Rosalina has long past arrived and hurried to her own cell quickly, without a word.

"So... home," Luigi said awkwardly. Unlike Daisy, he hadn't been at the prison for a long time, and while he understood the gravity of the events, it all just seemed so fake. It still hadn't really sunk in that he had powers, or that he was actually in a prison. He kept thinking it was a horrid dream or nightmare that he'd wake up from. "Honestly, I don't know if I...if I want to go back."

"What?" Daisy was confounded- of all her friends in the prison, Daisy thought Luigi would want to leave the most with her. "What do you mean?"

"Well... with Mario," Luigi averted her eyes. While Daisy had said they would try not to hurt him, she knew it was an empty promise as well as he did. "I don't want him to die, but what he's done..."

"I know," Daisy said softly, placing her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "It's going to be really hard... but he's trapped all of us here. We have to get free."

"What if he's keeping us here for a good reason?" Luigi was still in denial of the truth. "We're all dangerous, right?"

"Perhaps, but we wouldn't have been if they didn't cut open our birthmarks."

Luigi looked like he wanted to argue more, but he turned away and sighed.

"Okay. You're right."

Hey everyone! Look, such fast updates...

you guys are going to hate me LOL

Question of the chapter: who's your favorite/least favorite characters?

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