It was Daisy who stirred first, groaning, with a searing pain in her neck. She tried to reach up to rub her neck, but abruptly realized - her hands were bound together.
That made Daisy panic. She was always on the move, she never stopped moving. Even in class, more often than not she got into trouble for fidgeting, or tapping her pencil too much, or flinging her rubbers up and down, or pinging elastic bands, or...you get the point.
Daisy instantly began to thrash in her bounds. Her hands and feet were bound together tightly with rope, she was tied to a pole, and she had a gag over her mouth to stop her from crying out.
Under closer examination, Daisy saw that the room she was in was rather large, around the size of her school's P.E hall. It was made of stone, and almost entirely empty. There was no furniture, unless you counted the poles that scattered the room (there was around ten). Squinting into the darkness, Daisy realised with alarm that there was two other people tied to nearby poles - and she recognized them.
It was Peach and Rosalina.
Both were still slumped over, unconscious as Daisy had been moments ago. Peach was tied to the direct left of Daisy, Rosalina on her right.
Seeing her friends only made Daisy struggle more, until finally the gag slipped down.
Now, Daisy was an intelligent girl. She'd watched tons of movies where the captives had yelled for help and been brutally punished. She wasn't sure whether this situation would be the same, but she wasn't about to test it out. So she played it safe. She didn't stay silent though, oh no.
''Rosie? Peach?'' She hissed. Then louder, ''Rosie! Peach!''
Rosalina groaned, and in the faint light, Daisy saw her eyes flicker open.
''Rosie! Over here!'' She whispered. Rosalina turned to her, and Daisy saw that her eyes were wide with panic.
''Daisy! What's going on, why are we here?!'' She demanded.
''Shh! I don't know where we are, but we were clearly kidnapped! Those weird guys, remember them? They must've took us for some reason! They must be dangerous, or bad at least!''
Rosie nodded fearfully. It was well known that between the three that they each had different personalities. Daisy was not only the sporty one, but she was also brave and fiercely loyal. Offend her friends and it may be the last thing you ever do.
Rosalina was the smart, bookish one. She was generally calm about everything, and if there was ever a fight, she stayed out of it or tried to stop it. This was useful, as Daisy and Peach argued a lot, despite the fact they were the best of friends. Their personalities clashed so often, they were polar opposites.
Peach was the girl. As in, proper girl obsessed with make-up and boys and fashion magazines, and her favorite colour was pink. But, that didn't mean she was useless, quite the opposite. She had a good eye for things, and was good at reading people and their emotions. She noticed things nobody else did. She was also surprisingly good as gymnastics, she could bend this way and that.
Because Daisy was the brave one, it was clear she would be calmest about this situation.
Sure enough, when they finally managed to stir Peach, she instantly started panicking.
''Oh my god, we're gonna die here, aren't we? These freaks are going to kill us, aren't they?" She cried hysterically. If she could have, Daisy would have hit her.
"Peach, calm down! We don't know what these guys want, so you need to keep quiet, we don't want to draw attention to ourselves!" she hissed.
"They kidnapped us, Daisy. I'm pretty sure they know we're here!'' Peach snapped back.
"Yeah, but we don't want to draw attention to ourselves! Let them stay away for as long as possible. What if they want to torture us for information, huh?''
"Daisy! Don't say things like that! That's terrible!'' Rosalina gasped.
"Well, you never know!''
"Shh! Listen!'' Peach suddenly hissed. They both shut up, hearts pounding.
There were voices, coming from outside the room.
"-What we'll do if they don't come? I mean, I know those guys have got a saving people problem and all, but still! It's been two days, and they're not here!'' One said.
"They'll come all right. And if they don't come in two weeks, then we kill the hostages. Simple,'' Another voice said simply.
"I dunno…They're just three kids, doesn't this feel wrong?'' The first voice said doubtfully.
"Don't be stupid, if we leave 'em alive then they'll rat us out. It isn't like we're gonna be the ones killing them, anyway.''
"Yeah…I guess you're right.''
The three teenagers glanced at each other in horror. They were clearly talking about them! But who was that they were talking about? Who had a saving people thing?
Daisy asked this question to the other two, and they had no answer.
"Well, whoever it is, I hope they keep this saving people thing up! If they don't, we're gonna die! I'm only seventeen, I can't die! I've got to get married, and have kids, and oh my god, I can't!''
"You won't, Peach! I swear, I won't let you die! Whoever these savior guys are, they'd better come or else I'll hunt them down and slap them silly!'' Daisy growled.
There was a short silence after this. Nobody knew what to say. What could one possibly say in this situation? The silence was finally broken by Daisy.
"So, Peach…er…how's your…boyfriend?'' She asked, fishing around for a subject to talk about that might calm Peach a bit.
Peach just sighed glumly.
"I doubt Tyler will want to date me anymore,'' She said somewhat sadly.
"Why not?''
"Well, you heard them. We've been here for two days, and...well, he's the jealous type. He'll think I cheated on him or something,'' She sighed, ''Oh well. I suppose it's for the best...there's no way he was the one.''
Daisy smiled sympathetically.
''Don't worry, Peachy. You'll find your one true love someday! I'm sure of it!'' She said. Peach just smiled sadly.
''Thanks Daisy. But I doubt it.''
Daisy and Rosalina glanced worriedly at each other.
''You will. We all will. Someday, we'll all be happy. Let's cheer up, huh? Lets talk about our future. Daisy, what do you want your future husband to be like?'' Rosalina asked.
''He'll have to be a saint to put up with her,'' Peach said, giggling slightly. They all laughed quietly.
''No, but seriously? Um, I guess he'd have to be able to keep up with me. Ii don't wanna boss anyone about. And nice, and hopefully funny. Other than that...I don't know,'' Daisy said thoughtfully.
''Yeah...mine would have to love me. Like really love me, as much as I loved him. I don't want him to be an immature idiot, either. Kinda mature, but not boring. You know, for all I talk about 'The one', I really don't know what I'm looking for,'' Peach admitted. They both turned expectantly to Rosalina.
''Oh, I don't know. Anyone really. I'll need to wait and see.''
They sat in silence for a while. Until they heard voices outside, and were instantly alert.
''-you get them, Luigi?''
''Yeah, here. Got 'em of the guard. C'mon, Mar. Toad and Yoshi'll be waiting!''
''Yeah, yeah, I got it!''
They glanced at each other in surprise. Those voices...sounded like teenage boys?
There was a CLUNK, of a key unlocking a door, and it swung open.
''C'mon! Hurry, we've gotta go!'' One of the voices hissed.
''Huh? Us?'' Daisy asked in surprise.
''Yes! Do you wanna escape outta here or not! Come on!''
Two figures darted in, and easily untied the ropes holding them. They fell down, rubbing their wrists in relief.
Daisy attempted to stand, only to collapse again. One of the figures managed to catch her. She couldn't see what he looked like, but he had blue eyes, looking at her in slight concern.
The other two tried to stand too, but had to be caught by the other person.
''Ugh...thanks...why do I suddenly feel so tired?'' Daisy groggily asked, leaning heavily on the person.
''Aw, not THIS again!'' The person holding Daisy complained, ''Mar, last time someone had that dumb serum on them they couldn't walk, how are we going to get them out?''
''Hm...Hey, you. Do you think you could walk?'' The other one asked Daisy.
''Ugh...I doubt I could DRAG myself,'' She groaned.
''What if Ii said that the men who captured you were on their way here?''
Their eyes widened in horror.
''We could RUN!'' Daisy gasped.
This was an overstatement, however. The three had to be completely supported by the two as they snuck through the halls. The feeling returned to Daisy's legs several minutes before the others, so she managed to walk by herself.
''So, wait,'' Peach began, ''Who are you guys? Why are you even saving us? I mean, totally NOT complaining, but aren't you like, risking your lives for us?''
The slightly taller one who had been supporting Daisy snorted.
''Ha, they wish they could catch us. There's no chance those idiots will catch us,'' He said. Daisy rolled her eyes.
''Geez, full of yourselves, much?'' She muttered. Instead of being annoyed, the two boys simply laughed.
''It's not an exageration. It's the truth. We're just too fast and smart for 'em,'' The shorter one said with a careless shrug.
''Right. Sure, whatever. Can we all least know your names, oh fantastic saviours?'' Daisy said somewhat irritably. The two boys glanced at each other, seemingly having a conversation with their eyes before finally replying.
''The names Mario. This is my brother, Luigi,'' The shorter one, Mario, introduced.
''Are you guys from like another country? They don't sound like American names,'' Peach enquired.
''That's none of your business,'' Mario said shortly. The girls looked at each other uncomfortably, and they continued on in silence.