Instability (Mario)

Chapter 40

Kaira awoke two weeks later.

Hazily, her eyes opened only to still see darkness. Confused, she shook her head from left to right, clearing her senses further. She was sitting perfectly straight, sitting in a chair with her wrists locked behind her in metal cuffs. Her ankles were locked in the same cuffs, and secured to the legs of the chair. What felt like chains were draped around her sister and fastened to the chair, leaving her no room to squirm.

"You're awake."

It was Mario. For some reason, it surprised her, although it wouldn't have been anyone else.

"What am I doing here?" Kaira grit her teeth, hoping to catch a glance of anything, but the blindfold securely secluded her vision. She figured his smirk was wide, but in reality, Mario's frown was present.

"Don't you already know?"

"I'm assuming a Grand Star was broken because of the migraine I have," Kaira replied sarcastically. She tested her cuffs, but they held tight. "So why the hell am I being restrained?"

"Well, for one, you broke my security system," Mario responded dryly, crossing her arms. "So thanks for that. Someone jumped on the opportunity to break another Grand Star. Two, you're being restrained because I have to talk to you and you're not allowed to leave."

"What do you mean I broke your security system?" Kaira narrowed her eyes, forgetting that he couldn't see her annoyance. "That-"

"-was your counterpart. I see. Then I have nothing to talk about," Mario said sharply, confounding Kaira further. The cuffs on her released, and she ripped the blindfold off only to see no one there.

"Goodbye, Kaira."

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"There's only one more! There's only one more!"

The orange haired female was jumping up and down excitedly, Luigi watching in amusement. It was just the two of them, like old times. He missed when Daisy was so upbeat and excited, so to see her like this relieved him. He couldn't believe that they were going to break out of prison soon- he'd finally be relieved of the awful hell that was the Comet Observatory. But with that, his brother would have to perish. In a way, it was like choosing between his own freedom or Mario's happiness, and he knew he shouldn't be selfish, but it felt like he didn't have a choice.

"Calm down, Dai," Luigi chuckled, slightly hating himself for not even acknowledging Mario's upcoming fate, for not doing anything to stop it. If he wanted to be free, Mario had to die. "What if something bad happens? Let's not celebrate too far in advance."

"Ugh, Luigi! Literally nothing can go wrong," Daisy smiled playfully. "I've already got another plan. We all are just gonna bomb-rush the last Star through a bunch of different exits. What are they going to do?"

"That's... a horrible plan. I hope that's not what you're actually thinking."

"Ugh, fine, no it isn't," Daisy sighed. "The problem is the security system again. While it doesn't matter if they know who we are, they'll know when we're there and they'll throw everything they can at us."

"Well... what if we all traveled as a group?" Luigi suggested. "With Kaira and Saiko, there's no way anything would be able to stop us."

"I mean.. that is true," Daisy agreed. "But they're going to throw every single thing they have at us. I mean it. What good is their monsters if we destroy the prison?"

"But we can take it all... the only thing to deter us is those magic cuffs. They're energy draining too. One touch of those and we're a goner."

"Well, we'd better steer clear of those."

Hey everyone! Short chapter. Although, I almost have the next chapter done (plane ride).

Question of the chapter: What is the best plan to proceed with for the last star?

Thanks for reading!