Practicing with the powers of weather was not an easy task, since it cause Daisy to use so much of her energy. Yet, the more she practiced the better she'd be able to endure as far as she believed. Waluigi was now sulking beside a tree stump that remained from a tree he pulled apart as his wolf form. Iggy and Mona were in their own places not far while Rango was off doing his own thing.
As for Heaven and Mario, both were sound asleep by the same rock. As Daisy watched them, she studied their twitching faces and shifting eyelids. "It's strange seeing them sleeping so soundly," Daisy whispered as Waluigi sulked over to her side. With their lives and Rosalina's on the line, the thought of them sleeping was hard to believe. "You'd think they'd be more active."
"It's alarming," Waluigi replied, "It's almost as if they're having nightmares right now." Could a demon be making them sleep? In Hell, anything was possible, a concept she was forced to grasp. "Daisy. Do you really think we can win this fight?" She pulled her lip back into a frown and closed her eyes, exhaling softly.
"Samil is strong, but we're stronger. We have to be." She leaned her head onto Waluigi's shoulder and moved her hand to his back, curling her fingers into his black fur. "You don't doubt us, do you? I know I jumped in because I wanted to help them get Rosalina back-but all of you? You jumped in for me, Waluigi. Rango jumped in after Mona -who I know jumped in for Heaven and Rosalina. Iggy just followed you in because he follows you everywhere. He's a follower more than a doer."
She felt him move behind her and hug her waist. His chin set on the tip of her head and his strong arms held her protectively. She melted back into him and her heart began to race. "I don't doubt anything, Daisy. I'm just making sure you really want to do this. I mean…Our souls are on the line for Rosalina -and to be perfectly honest, none of us have been friendly to her until at least last year." She rolled her head to the side, her eyes drifted to the ground and her lips fell into a frown. "And of all people, you were the last to be friends with her…so is she really worth our souls?"
"Waluigi, what are you saying?"
Something didn't feel right-how could Waluigi just decide to question this when he didn't question it before? Had he been questioning it all along, or was there something else afoot? Daisy lifted her hand to her shoulder, curling her finger around his. "You're a lot calmer now Waluigi. Why…are you still the wolf? I thought you didn't like the form?"
"It's growing on me." Her eyebrow arched up and her head moved upright. Her nostrils flared out as she begin to notice a fog surrounding the area-a fog she had not generated. Her eyes drifted towards Mario's and Heaven's sleeping bodies and her face tightened. "They're probably not going to wake up anytime soon-we could just continue on and find Samil, tell him to let us go back."
"But Rosalina's counting on us."
"She doesn't care. She's counting on her sister and her friend…"
"He's her fiancé, Waluigi." Her heart continued to pound as she searched for a source of these ominous clouds. Doubt. The clouds of doubt. "Waluigi…would you think in Hell there might be a demon of doubt?"
"Come again?"
"A demon…that plants clouds, seeds of doubt…" Mario and Heaven had their mouths wide open and their chest was beginning to convulse as though they were struggling to breathe. "Where's this fog coming from? Also…why would we tell Samil to send us home?"
"It isn't too late. What do you really care for Rosalina ? You and the others never liked her." For a long time this was true, but she started befriending Rosalina on the basis of common ground-through an experience she'd never spoken to Heaven about. Hell, she was learning self-defense from her.
"Trina was teaching me martial arts, you know that. She was mentoring me. We shared stories, started a friendship…" Waluigi let out a light scoff and Daisy slid her eyes into narrow slants. Throughout the heavy haze, she could make out the figures of all her friends. Something was dreadfully wrong, however, for each one looked as though there were two shadows instead of one. "Of course I care about Rosalina , and I want to save her. You should know that…"
"You don't have to. Fighting Samil is just pointless-we're all going to die, Daisy . It's useless. Besides, we can make new friends…" She whined and shook her head while clenching her fists tight. "I think you know in your heart what's right."
"Yes. I do." Heaven was counting on her as well. Heaven and Mario both needed them, all of them. She understood why this was happening, however, this test. It wasn't just her-the entire place was filled with demons of doubt, tempting the friends away. "If we leave them, Waluigi…they'll die." The two bodies on the ground continued to twitch and were slowly turning purple. These weren't her clouds of doubt-they were the friends-running the risk of succumbing to their own doubts. "This haze is killing them anyway." Not to mention, she had a suspicion that if they gave in, they would all die as well.
"So let them, we'll be able to go back to earth and live our own lives. Just think of your family."
Her eyelids sealed over and a light scoff drifted from her lips. Now her own concerns were confirmed, but why would a demon slip up so badly? Waluigi, of all people, knew that her 'family' was terrible. The whole reason they ever became friends at first was because their common ground was how terrible their mothers were. Hers was physically abusive, and his did everything in her power to shove her religion down his throat and repeatedly tell him he was going to go to Hell if he didn't do what she said.
"Okay Waluigi, you're right." Her lip tucked into a smirk and she spun around, peering into his golden eyes. "I should think of my family, except…" She took a step back from him and narrowed her eyes as he dropped his arms. "My mother would want me as dead as Waluigi's. You can't tempt me, I know why I want to save Rosalina . She is my friend as much as Heaven is." She slammed her foot on the ground, causing the ground below them to rumble.
The demon fell onto it's back, changing away from Waluigi's form. It looked up with wide eyes as she lifted her arms up into the air. Thunderclouds formed in the sky and lightning bolts shot down at the creature. "I'd say go to hell, but you're already here, so just go away!" The creature screamed in anguish as she electrocuted him multiple times.
Her eyes shot over to Heaven and Mario, a gust of wind blew over them, blowing away the clouds of doubt that surrounded them. Their bodies then relaxed and the color slowly began returning to them as their chests rose and fell. The haze of doubt was still thick, which meant her work was not yet.
"I cannot believe they're giving in! They're stronger than this, better than this…" Hell, they were on friendly terms with Rosalina before she was. " Mona." Mona , of all people, was first and should not be giving in. " Mona! Where are you!"
As she looked around frantically, she heard Mona's voice utter her name. Moving to the right, she ran in the direction of her friend. It was there she found Mona on her hands and knees before a Demon of Doubt in the form of the girl's roommate, Pauline. Tears were streaming down Mona's face and her body was trembling.
"I can't do it, Daisy. I'm not strong enough, I want to go back to Pauline …"
"No! You can't! Don't listen to it, it isn't Pauline !" The demon looked over to her and narrowed her eyes.
"Stay out of this, Sarasa . You cannot interfere."
"The Hell I can't!" A lightning bolt shot down, striking through Pauline. Daisy'seyes widened and she quickly looked at her hands, whimpering softly as realization dawned on her. "Shit…" This was Mona's test. She couldn't kill Mona's doubt demon like she had her own, but in the very least, she could let herself be heard. "Mona! Mona listen to me, this is a demon of doubt-they're killing Mario and Heaven as we speak! If you give in, we're going to die."
Mona began to whimper, looking up helplessly at the demon. "D-Daisy?" The demon knelt before her and moved her hand under Mona's chin.
"Oh sweet Mona, don't you worry. Come back home and everything will be fine."
"W-What?"
"I'll make your favorite dinner, I'll babysit for you while you go spend time with Wario . You don't have to worry, besides, you don't spend as much time with the others anymore anyway."
"No!" Instantly Mona rose to her feet, shoving the demon away, much to Daisy's surprise. " Pauline would never say that! She wouldn't talk like that! You're not Pauline and I'm not going anywhere until we save Rosalina." The demon scowled for a split second as Mona staggered backwards. " Pauline doesn't make dinner-I cook. She's also too lazy to babysit without me, so I know better! You can't tempt me…"
"No, Mona, you don't understand-"
"It's over!" Mona immediately shifted her form into Rosalina and leaned back to lift her leg up and strike the demon sharply in the neck. She then performed a backflip over the demon, spun in the air, and came crashing down into it, slamming her knee into its groin and her fist into its jaw. As the demon faded away, Mona returned to her true form and looked over shamefully. "I'm sorry, Daisy …I-I almost gave in."
"You're okay. The others are going through the same thing, I think. We need to hurry." Daisy looked over her shoulder and narrowed her eyes. "You go for Rango, I'll find Waluigi."
"Okay."
It did not take long to find Waluigi on his knees before the image of his mother. The woman had The Book of Mormon in her hand and was pounding it into the palm of her other hand, scolding her son. "What are you doing here? Eighteen years I've spent trying to keep you out of hell."
"I'm sorry mom…"
"This is the influence of that girl of yours, isn't it! She's always been the demon seed! But I forgive you-I will forgive you if you leave. This Star girl doesn't mean anything to you, does she? You've only just become friends with her. As far as her little sister goes…well, she was a demon seed too." Waluigi clenched his eyes as the woman reached out and caressed his cheek. "See what they did to my baby? Come home. Everything will be fine."
Daisy took a deep breath and closed her eyes, putting aside her own feelings of sorrow. The words the demon said matched what his mother would say, and they hurt, but she wasn't going to let them affect her. "Go ahead Waluigi-if the Stars truly mean nothing to you, if I mean nothing to you, go on and go home." Waluigi looked away from his mother, bewildered. His jaw fell as the woman scowled.
"But Daisy?"
" Heaven and Mario are dying, Rosalina's dying-we're all going to die-but I'm not going to give up." Waluigi rose to his feet, staring dumbfoundedly at her. "Maybe it's best if you leave." She didn't want him to go, but her words were the only way she was going to get through to him. "I mean, you need to listen to your mother some time in your life, right? But still…" She looked over to the demon and shrugged again. "I don't know how your mother got into hell, do you?"
"Wha-" He turned his head to the demon, his chest expanded and his lips curled into a scowl as a low growl vibrated from him. "It isn't her-and I will never listen to her. Daisy and the Stars are not 'demons', you're the demon!" With a mighty roar, Waluigi swept his claws through the air, slashing through the demon's face.
He continued to pummel the creature, roaring with each strike. "I'm not leaving them to die, wench! I refuse-I didn't lay my soul on the line just to give up now and lose!" The demon vanished away and the heavy fog began to clear some more. With a smile, Daisy moved forward and set her hand to Waluigi's shoulder. He looked up at her with a frown and pain filled eyes. "Daisy, I-"
"You know I don't want you to give up, right? What I said-it was all to get you thinking in the right place again."
"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened." He rose up and threw his arms around her. She took a deep breath and hugged him back.
"Demons of Doubt, they've been trying to make us give in-it's creating this heavy fog that was killing Heaven and Mario. I think they're also the reason those two are asleep."
"The others? They're all caught too?"
"Well Mona's actually gone after Rango . We can't interfere, I couldn't kill anyone else's doubt demon. I can just help them to think on a more rational side, I guess."
"Okay, so we need to go find Iggy, then."
"Yeah. Where was he last?"
"Just a few feet from me." Waluigi sniffed the air and chuckled. "Benefits of being a wolf come with heightened senses-he's this way." He ran off and Daisy followed him. "You know I do want to save Rosalina too, right? I really do."
"I know Waluigi. We all do, it's just easy to tempt us because our hearts weren't there years ago. The demons are trying to reach the part of us that didn't give two cents about Rosalina-the parts that would be willing to just not care…and I know that's all in the past."
"It is."
When they found Iggy, Rango and Mona had already beat them to him. Iggy was standing in front of his demon, who had revealed its truer form. "You're too late," Iggy growled at the creature. "I already made my decision when the others made theirs." Iggy pointed his blade gun at the creature and smirked dangerously. "I'm not too afraid to help them, so goodbye."
With one shot, the blade shot from the gun and sliced through the demon's skull. As the creature dropped to its knees, the final bit of clouds faded away and the area was clear once again. "Iggy, are you all right?" Daisy asked to make sure. He holstered his gun and nodded at her, smiling sadly.
"It made me doubt that I would be a help at all, saying I was too afraid to be any use…"
"Well you're not. We're all a team, okay?" The others agreed with her and followed her gaze over to where Heaven and Mario lay. "Those two need us. If we stick together we really can do this-but if any of us doubt whether we're an asset to the team, then we really will be, and we'll end up being the death of Heaven, Mario, and Rosalina . There's no room for liability, guys…think about it like a car, right? If one wheel goes out, what happens?"
"The car stops functioning properly?"
"Exactly…so if any of you start to feel like you're not a worthwhile part of the team, let us know so we can talk about it and help each other out."
"Right."
"Let's check on the others." Daisy led them over to Heaven and Mario, standing over them as the two began to wake.
"What happened?" Heaven moaned. Mario sat up and rubbed his head, groaning loudly.
"My head feels like someone dropped a load of concrete on me-and my lungs are on fire."
"You guys are okay now though," Daisy said with a smile. Heaven and Mario raised an eyebrow as the group nodded in agreement. "We probably need to get moving though. You've been sleeping for a while now."
"What?!" Heaven froze as Mario grew horrified. "How long!"
"Probably not too long, but we need to keep moving-or at least we need to get away from this area." The others helped them to their feet, then began guiding them away. Daisy hung in the back and glanced over her shoulder at the barren field once more.
She felt like they were a stronger team now, or at least she hoped they would be. They had to look after one another, and hopefully, avoid these fatal doubts from here on out.
Author Note: It's a good thing they were able to not be swayed by their doubts, but it was pretty close. Very likely if they had, Heaven and Mario would have died. Indeed they need to remember they are a team.