Illusionary (Mario)

Chapter 12

"I have a plan...and you all might not like it...but it has to be said."

Everyone exchanged nervous glances from where they sat. The crew of escaped criminals and Peach were still at the warehouse, and Daisy was pacing back and forth.

"What is your...plan?" Rosalina asked cautiously. Daisy bit her lip, knowing that Rosalina would at
least be on her side for the plan...right? Rosalina loved Saiko, so...

"...We all know Saiko's been imprisoned," Daisy reminded them, a tense look on her face. She could tell the others knew what she was referencing, and from the looks on their faces, they didn't look too psyched. "We have got to help her out. She's in trouble!"

"No. Saiko put herself in that situation," Toadette frowned sternly. Daisy fought the urge to roll her eyes; just once, she wished Toadette would follow her lead the first time. "If she wanted to, she could escape. It's her own fault."

"Saiko is my daughter..." Rosalina shook her head in disapproval at Toaadette's words. She tapped her star wand against the floor, gazing intensely at Daisy. "You're right. We should..be saving her. But...but even so...if we're caught...we'll be put
...in hell...again...and I...I can't..."

"We're not going to get caught," Daisy said firmly. They weren't fighting super powered beasts or humans anymore; their opponents were just normal people at this point. What even stood in their way from just marching over and destroying them all?
"Did you all forget how powerful we are? We could kill them all without a problem!"

"K-Kill them?" Peach did not like the sound of that, and she pursed her lips together in disapproval. Daisy cursed under her breath; it had been so natural to think of death as the first option. "Couldn't we just...you know, incapacitate them? Tie them up, put them to sleep...and we'll be okay?"

"Sorry. pretty princess, but that's not how things work in the real world," Toadette retorted, but not out of unkindness. She said it simply because it was the sad truth. "They'll be trying to kill us, too. We're dirty mutants, look at how quickly
the Enforcers turned against us."

"We were also branded as criminals," Luigi reminded them all. He was firmly against Daisy's plan, even though he would ultimately go along with the majority. He simply didn't have a strong enough voice on his own... "They had a reason to try and seek us all out. For all they know, w-we could be murderers!"

"Okay, well, that's not the point here," Daisy frowned. They were getting off topic, and she was not about to let Saiko's rescue disappear from everyone's mindset. "Saiko is our friend, and she's stuck with those Enforcers. They're probably doing all sorts of awful things to her. Someone has to rescue her, even if she won't rescue herself. None of us would have wanted to be stuck in her position, would we?"

"That's exactly why we can't go. Saiko wants to be in that position, clearly," Toadette crossed her arms. She didn't want to say it, but they all knew just how incredible Saiko was in a fight. If she wanted to get out, she could have. "If we get caught, then we'd all be suffering. At least like this, it's just her own choice that's ruining her life. We don't need to jeopardize all of our freedom to save someone who doesn't even want it."

"My daughter...needs our support. She'll return to normal...once we're with her," Rosalina replied fiercely, a determined look in her icy blue eyes. She had already let down her kids once; she wasn't going to do it again. "I'm...sure of it."

"Saiko never liked you anyway," Toadette countered. "What makes you think that your presence will help anything? It will probably make it worse, if I'm being honest."

"I'm sure that with our support, your friend would regain her sanity," Peach tried to say optimistically, but this only resulted in everyone staring at Peach as if she was crazy. "...What?"

"Saiko, sane? Peach, just listen to her name!" Luigi sighed. "Her lover died, and Saiko went even crazier. Saiko's not coming back to reality. Best to just leave her there; at least she doesn't have to deal with the real world."

"You don't know what she wants," Peach shook her head. She didn't even know Saiko...but she just had a strange feeling, that was all. "Perhaps she is just waiting for you guys! It's not as if she could find you all if she breaks out..."

"That's true, too," Toadette did take a moment to consider this. "But I think she would value her freedom over anything. We're mere specks compared to Satsuki."

"Even so, she's still our friend, even if she doesn't care for us," Daisy adjusted the golden crown on her head before she placed her hands prominently on her hips. "And as her friend, I don't want to see her suffer. You all don't have to come...but I am going to save her. Who's with me?"

"I am," Rosalina was as confident as ever in this decision, her voice strong and not staggered by the experiment-caused pauses. "Saiko...I will save you."

"I think that friendship holds tight no matter what," Peach nodded before worriedly glancing over to Daisy. "Friends...Friends can help each other out. We'll all keep each other sane."

Keep each other sane...Daisy knew Peach wasn't referencing Saiko there. Well, what could Daisy do? It wasn't her fault that prison had changed her...

"...I have nowhere to go if I say no," Toadette sighed. "...I'll come, but on one condition. If things start getting dicey...I'm leaving. I cant afford to be stuck in another version of hell."

"Deal."

"...I need some time to think," Luigi frowned, shaking his head before standing to leave. Daisy sighed.

"This has all been terribly hard on him, don't push his limits too much," Peach tried to warn her friend, placing a comforting hand on Daisy's shoulder.

"It has...but he needs to stand up for something. I'll go talk to him."