Instability (Mario)

Chapter 36

"The damn security system is finally installed," Mario sighed, his fists clenching and his blue eyes shut in anger. "We're down to the last two Grand Stars. Why the fuck hasn't our search dog done anything yet?"

"Because we don't have much control over them," Pauline said wryly, placing her hand over his shoulder. "They're free to do whatever they want."

"I'm just...worried."

"I know, babe. Which is why I've arranged for dragons to be put into the Grand Star rooms and in the corridors," Pauline replied smugly, not wanting Mario to mope anymore. "Nothing's getting past those. Even if they do, we'll be able to identify the person since during the battle, that stupid pink cloak is bound to fly off. They're not destroying any more Grand Stars. Think on the bright side, too. With all this Grand Star destruction, Satsuki hasn't rampaged. We don't have to clean up that mess."

"I'm pretty sure that's only because her body is worn out," Mario muttered. "And with each Grand Star's destruction, she becomes more and more like her true self. Once this is all over, Satsuki will be going on more rampages... I know you weren't here for it, but I...I miss innocent Satsuki. I made a mistake."

"What happened?" Pauline was wildly curious since Mario didn't like to admit that he'd messed up normally. Mario looked down, and Pauline didn't want to push the man. "It's okay."

"No, I'll tell you... because it cost me my girl's happiness," Mario admitted. "Satsuki had two motherly figures in her life before everything went to shit. Rosalina, and a woman named Tsuki in this prison. I...I thought that she was taking too much of that role from Rosalina, so I...killed Tsuki. In a way, I caused Satsuki's rages. I regret it. Saiko came up to me and asked if we could stop her from killing everyone, and I sealed her in her own body, a milder version of her controlling the wheel. I miss Satsuki... Kaira is boring. She's just a shell of the girl I raised."

"So why didn't you just switch Satsuki back in?" Pauline asked, her grey eyes staring at him.

"Her rampages were a problem," Mario laughed slightly. It had been a difficult choice for him, and he'd done what was best for the prison instead of her in the end. "The numbers in our prison were going down rapidly. I had to do something..."

"I see."

"I just... miss my daughter, and since the prison's coming apart anyway, I wish I made the other decision," Mario shook his head. "Oh well."

"...Kaira doesn't love you, but Satsuki does," Pauline reminded the leader of the prison who looked broken up. "You raised her. She's probably upset that you killed Tsuki. But she loves you."

"Yeah... I guess. Saiko hates my guts," Mario chuckled. "I find it funny that she does. I programmed her to love myself, Rosalina and Satsuki, and she hated all three of us in the beginning. Still hates Rosalina and I."

"Well, we can't be loved by everyone."

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"Do you think they have a security system in place for everything?"

"There's no way they don't," Toadette answered. The group had met, minus Kaira and Saiko. There's only two more Grand Stars. In what world do you think they'd let us get away with anymore?"

"Well, how are we supposed to get past that?" Daisy frowned, her frustration apparent. "They'll know the second we step into the Grand Star's corridors. They'll also know exactly where we're coming from."

"I don't know..." Rosalina sighed, running her hands through her platinum blonde hair, her crown tilting to the side slightly until she fixed it. "It might be the end of our journey here...we've gotten so far..."

"I don't think it's over yet," Luigi said, speaking up, which he never really did. He didn't have as much experience in the prison as the others, and never felt part of the group just because of his late inclusion. "Can't we just do the Grand Stars all at the same time? They can't stop us all."

"Yes, they can," Toadette dismissed his idea, once again crushing his dreams of being known for something. "You don't know what they're like."

"He's my brother... you really think he'd kill us?"

The silence that followed was the answer that Luigi was looking for. He didn't want to believe that his brother would kill him, but...they were tearing down his work. Even as a child, Mario had been possessive...

"Well...how do we get around that security system?"

None of them had been paying attention, so when the door swung open, it surprised them and Luigi jumped up.

"Saiko thinks you all are horrible people!" The blue haired female narrowed her eyes at them. She had the keys to every room, and had snuck up on them. "Stop worrying about your own problems! Kaira has to deal with all of this pain and you don't even care about it!"

"It's not that we don't care, we just-"

"Daisy just wants to break more Grand Stars," Saiko spat, shaking her head disapprovingly. "Kaira barely gets to wake up in between her passing out! Even now, she's practically dead since she's never awake! Stop being so selfish!"

The door slammed again, Saiko stomping away and leaving the group in silence.

Hey everyone! Really trying to cram out chapters, lol...

Question of the chapter: are you more like the group or Saiko in this scenario?

Thanks for reading!