Sorry for the wait, but let us begin the Dream Team arc now!

Chapter 25
Dreamy

It was decided that the plane would head for Pi'illo Island in order to stop Bowser from obtaining the last piece of the Superstar Armor Set, not to mentioning obtaining the Rainbow Spear in case it was needed to counter him.

As the passengers waited for the plane to reach its destination while watching TV, a particular program that caught the zombies' interest was broadcasted. It was about their concert from about a month and a half ago, when they came to the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time.

"Hey look! It's us!" said Saki in surprise while pointing at the screen.

The broadcast showed the concert they held after defeating Bowser. The scene then changed to various people weighing in on their opinions of the zombie idol group.

"I think they're great!"

"They're really zombies? But they don't look scary at all! In fact, they look attractive!"

"They're so awesome! I love them!"

"When are they going to release a new album? I can't wait to buy it!"

The zombies were happy to hear that they were receiving good reception among the people. "Even our fame and reception reached the hearts of the people here! I'm so happy!" said Sakura with a smile.

"Yeah! Because we're legendary!" said Saki.

However, not everyone had a good opinion. The scene then showed a middle-aged man with messy black hair, a large nose, a face full of pimples, and a bucktooth. According to a name tag shown on the screen, his name is Fatt Lardd, and he is a renown critic.

"Overrated..." he said in a depressed tone. "My pet rock can play better music than them. The music is a mess... The tune, beat, and all... What an earsore! They're only average at best, and even saying it's average is a stretch! And don't get me started on those dance moves. What's with those dumb uncoordinated movements? That black-haired girl who looks like she hadn't slept in years is particularly terrible. What's with her stupid dance moves that shouldn't even be called dance moves? Why is someone like that even part of the group? If I was their manager, I would've kicked her out right away. If they really are zombies, then they should've just stayed in their graves! What an embarrassment to the idol industry..."

The zombies were shocked to hear the harsh criticism. "What's with that idiot?! What right does he have to say we're terrible idols?!" said Saki angrily.

"I know people have different opinions and all, but that was unnecessarily harsh..." said Ai.

"Don't bother with him!" said Toad angrily. "Critics are all the same! They are morons whose job is to spout negative things and hurt the feelings of people! They have no sense of appreciation and think they are better than everyone else, despite the fact they can't for their lives actually do the things they are criticizing!" As he said that, his temper began to increase, as well as his voice. Soon, all those in the area turned their eyes to him as continued to rant in anger.

"F*** all critics! They think they are gods who have the right to spit on the hard work of other people and hurl insults however they see fit without regards to how people feel! They are disgusting pile of turds that should not be considered living beings at all!

"They have terrible taste in almost everything! F*** them and their criticism of the DCEU! Bat-Toad v Super Toad: Dawn of Peace, Game Over Squad, and Peacekeeper League are all great movies that idiots like them cannot appreciate! The Martha scene in the former is a powerful and touching scene that shows the power of one's love for his mother and how it can turn enemies into friends! Everyone who calls that a bad scene are emotionless a**holes who don't love their mothers at all! They may not be perfect movies, but they are far from the worst movies ever like those bastards are claiming them to be!

"Curse all critics for causing my favorite A Specific Magical Encyclopedia and My Hero University crossover fan fiction to be cancelled! That was an awesome story, but these so-called gods had a bone to pick with it and kept on harassing the author with their words of poison until he finally snapped and decided to cancel the story! One of those bastards even said that while he did not intended for the story to be cancelled, he does not feel bad and sorry at all for what he said! THAT DEVIL!

"And don't even get me started on their horribly stupid review for Dinozilla: King of the Monsters! What kind of idiot watches a monster movie and expect lengthy human drama and conversations?! Complaining about too much monster screen time and action in a monster movie?! Idiots! All of them! Words cannot even describe how idiotic they are!

"CRITICS! F*** ALL OF THEM! CURSE THEM ALL! SCREW THEM! I HATE THEM! THEY SHOULD ALL SUFFER AND DISAPPEAR FROM EXISTENCE COMPLETELY!"

With, Toad finally stopped his ranting and was breathing heavily from speaking nonstop. Everyone had his or her eyes wide open in shock as they continued to stare at Toad, trying to comprehend everything he said just now.

The silence was broken when Tae clapped her hands while making noises that sounded like "yay."

Peach's plane finally arrived at Pi'illo Island after a few hours of flying and landed at its airport, which was called Pi'illo Blimport by its locals.

The passengers stepped down and enter the main building of the "blimport," they were greeted with civilians in the form of yellow anthropomorphic blocks and brown dome-shaped beings. There were several other species as well, most of them being familiar ones such as Toads, Koopas, Goombas, and even humans.

The zombies were amazed and intrigued by the odd species here. This was their first time seeing such people in this world. "What are all those... people?" asked Ai.

"The population of Pi'illo Island consists mostly of Brocks and Hooskis," explained Mario. "Da ones that look like blocks are Brocks, while da brown ones are Hooskis."

"They look artificial," commented Lily, looking at the aforementioned species.

"They do, but they are living beings just-a like uz," Mario said to them.

"This world continues to amaze me..." said Junko. "I don't think there can be anything that can never not surprise us here."

"That is not a bad thing," said Yuugiri. "I actually look forward to discovering new things all the time!"

"So... now that-a we're here, what-a should we do first?" asked Luigi.

"We need-a a lead as to where da last Superstar Armor piece eez," replied Mario, "and I know just da person to ask."

"Surely you mean Prince Dreambert, am I correct?" Toadsworth asked him.

Mario nodded. "Indeed. Princess Dreambert eez da best person to ask."

"Let me guess: he's a royalty of this island, right?" Sakura asked him.

Mario nodded again. "Yes. When theez island was threatened by Bowsa and a villain named Antasma, Luigi and I teamed up with Prince Dreambert to defeat-a them."

"It sounds like you never catch a break when it comes to world saving..." commented Ai.

Mario shrugged. "You can say that, but honestly, I quite enjoy saving da world! Beats not having anything to do!"

"I'd ratha that-a theez doesn't happen all da time..." said Luigi, not sounding too happy.

As they were walking through the the place, they noticed one particular Brock waving at them. This particular Brock had a mustache and wore a red bow tie. "Monsieur Mario! Princess Peach! Bonjour! What a pleasure to meet you!"

The group approached them, and Peach shook hands with him. "It is nice to see you again, Broque Monsieur!"

"I was surprised to hear that the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom is coming over! Zis is unexpected!" replied the Brock. "However, you are always welcome here!"

"We're actually here for a very important reason, and we need-a to see Prince Dreambert," Mario told Monsieur Broque.

"I see," said Monsieur Broque with a nod. "Prince Dreambert has been staying in Dreambert Castle all zis time. I will take you to him. I am sure he will be very surprised and glad to see you all!"

"We're going to meet another royalty! Wow! I can't wait!" said Sakura.

Dreambert Castle wasn't located too far from Pi'illo Blimport. It took less than minutes of driving to get to that place. The group arrived at the place via bus. Stepping down from the bus, the group saw that there were a large amount of tourists walking around the castle exterior.

"Must be a very popular place," commented Ai.

"Dreambert Castle is a popular tourist attraction," explained Monsieur Broque. "It was originally believed that the Pi'illo race died out long ago, so the castle had been left uninhabited. It turned out that the Pi'illo race, including the prince himself, were alive all along! Albeit in a state of distress... Anyway, even though the prince is once again occupying this castle, he still allows zis place to be used for tourism."

"He must be a very kind person!" commented Junko.

"Prince Dreambert eez a friendly fellow for sure!" Mario told her.

As Monsieur Broque led the group towards the castle, the zombies attracted the attention of the tourists. Some of them commented on their odd appearances, despite their own appearances being odd as well, at least to those zombies, while some commented on how they were those idols that became popular in the Mushroom Kingdom a while back.

By now, the zombies were used to such gossip, and hearing people talking about how good their performance was back then made them rather proud. "We really hit the whole world hard, huh? Makes me happy!" commented Saki.

"Come to think of it, exactly how well known are we back in our own world?" wondered Sakura. "I can imagine us being well-known throughout Japan, but the rest of the world..."

"The idol industry is actually considered niche stuff usually only known in their country of origin, so I doubt we are known worldwide," replied Ai. "Compared to stuff like sports and movie industries, the idol industry still has a long way to go before it can be considered mainstream."

"Oh, you can bet that we're gonna break this barrier and become mainstream!" said Saki with confidence. "The fact that we broke the barrier of becoming famous in an entirely different universe is proof enough!"

They entered the castle and were greeted with the beautiful interior of the building that also had several people. Monsieur Broque led them into the throne room, which was off-limits, but he was able to obtain the permission from guards to enter.

In the throne room, there was a throne at the back end, obviously, and lying on it was a red pillow. Monsieur Broque went up to the pillow and said to it, "Prince Dreambert, it is an honor to meet you! I have brought before you a guest and a friend that you know well!"

"Why is he talking to a pillow...?" asked Junko in confusion.

"Becuz that's-a Prince Dreambert," Luigi told her, which only confused her and the other zombies even more.

The pillow suddenly glowed in bright light, much to the surprise of the zombies, and they were even more surprised when the pillow transformed into a person with the head of a pillow. Looking at Mario and co., the "pillow man" said to them with a smile, "Mario! Luigi! Princes Peach! It is an honor to see you all! I did not expect you to be here!"

Peach did a curtsy and said, "It is an honor to meet you again, Prince Dreambert! If we arrived at the wrong time, please forgive us for not giving a word first."

The prince raised his hand. "Fear not. Your presence here is always welcome! Mario and Luigi are saviors of my kingdom, so they are more than welcome to come here whenever they wish, and this applies to friends of his as well!"

"Thank you very much, Prince Dreambert!" Mario said to him with his hat off, and then he put it back on. "Da reason we came here eez a dire one, and we may need-a your help in theez matta."

Dreambert was going to ask what it was when he noticed the zombies, and a look of shock appeared on his face as he got into a defensive stance and said, "What manner of entities are those?! Are they not revenants, beings that came back to life from the dead?! Why are such abominations doing here?!"

The zombies were surprised to hear him say that, but Mario raised and waved his hand at the prince. "Do not-a be afraid, prince! They are with me. They are my friends!"

"Indeed, these zombies are our friends," said Peach, supporting Mario's claim. "Please do not be afraid, prince. They will bring you no harm at all!"

"Is that so? Then I apologize for my words earlier," Dreambert said to the zombies.

"It's... It's all right... We were sort of expecting you would freak out when you see us..." Ai said to him.

"You haven't heard of us before? I thought the whole world should know who we are by now after our performance a month ago or so," Saki said to the prince.

"I am afraid I do not pay enough attention to the events going on around the world," replied Dreambert.

After this misunderstanding was cleared up, Mario explained to Dreambert the reason they came here, about Bowser and his quest to claim the Superstar Armor Set. The Pi'illo prince nodded in response to what he heard. "A dire situation indeed..." he said. "I know well the Superstar Armor Set, and the last piece is located on this island, as well as the Rainbow Spear. In fact, the spear's location is in this very castle, well guarded and in safe hands."

"That's great to hear!" said Peach.

"However, the last piece of the Superstar Armor lies somewhere else, within the Dream World," said Dreambert.

"Eet'z in da Dream World?" said Luigi curiously.

Dreambert nodded. "Yes, it was placed in the Dream World so that it could not be found so easily for fear of it falling into the wrong hands. Even though I have confidence that Bowser will not be able to get his hands on it for this reason, I do believe that it is a wise decision that we look at the armor and see if it is truly safe."

"Safety precautions are important after all," said Toadsworth with a nod.

"I will guide you there and grant you access to the Dream World," said Dreambert. "We must make haste to Driftwood Shore, for that is where the armor is hidden!"

Peach turned to Mario and said, "Please hurry, Mario. We do not know where Bowser is currently, but we must obtain the last piece of armor before he finds it. I will ensure that the Rainbow Spear is safe as well."

Mario nodded. "You can trust-a me in theez, princess!"

After saying this, a group consisting of Mario, Luigi, Dreambert, Saki, Tae, Lily, and Yuugiri headed over to Driftwood Shore. The other zombies decided they want to stay at the castle.

Following Dreambert's guidance, the group came to what appeared to be a small shrine made of rock hidden in a jungle close to the shore. "This is the shrine where the Superstar Armor is hidden," said the prince.

"A bit small for a shrine, don't you think?" said Lily.

"One can say that the main shrine itself lies in the Dream World," Dreambert told her. "Come, we must make haste into the depths of the shrine's Dream World and find the armor."

They entered the shrine, which was rather empty save for some few unlit torches. There was a raised platform at the back end of the room, and the group approached it. "This is the Dreampoint where the entrance to the Dream World is located," explained the prince. He then turned to Luigi. "Luigi, it is high time that you once again serve as the gateway to the Dream World."

"Just like-a old times!" said Luigi as he adjusted his hat.

"What does he mean by Luigi serving as the gateway?" asked Saki.

"To enta da Dream World, one must-a sleep on a Pi'illo while on a Dreampoint," Mario told her. "Apparently, only certain people sleeping on them can make the entryway appear. For some reason, I am unable to make-a eet appear, but Luigi can. When Bowsa attacked theez island last-a time with da help of another villain, Luigi had to sleep on Prince Dreambert multiple times to open da gateway to da Dream World so that- I can go into eet an accomplish various things."

"Sounds neat and magical!" commented Lily.

"Let us make haste!" said Dreambert as he transformed into back into a pillow and rested on the Dreampoint. Luigi then got onto the platform and rested his head on the transformed Dreambert.

The others waited for something to happen, but it never did. Luigi opened his eyes and sat up. "Hmmm... Strange..." he said. "I should-a be asleep already..." He lied down again and tried to fall asleep, but couldn't. He sat back, and Dreambert changed back to normal.

"What is the matter, Luigi?" Dreambert asked him.

"I don't-a know... For some reason, I can't-a fall asleep..." said Luigi.

"People don't fall asleep so easily, you know..." Saki told him.

"Not when one sleeps on a Pi'illo," Dreambert told her. "We are special in that we use our magical powers to grant those who rest their heads on us sleepiness. However, as Mario explained earlier, it only affects certain people, and it appears that it only works during certain periods of time. Luigi is not affected this time around."

Lily raised his arm. "Then let Lily try!"

The others turned to him, and Yuugiri asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Lily nodded. "As long as Lily can help contribute to doing good, I am more than willing to help!"

"Then let us give it a try, young maiden!" Dreambert told her before transforming into a pillow. He laid down on the Dreampoint again, and Lily got onto it and rested his head on the pillow. Within just a few seconds, Lily feel asleep, and then a colorful portal appeared over his head.

"Mamamia! Eet worked!" said Luigi in surprise.

Dreambert, or rather, just his head, appeared within the portal. "The entryway into Driftwood Shore's Dream World has been opened! Make haste and come in here, Mario!" the prince told him.

Another Lily suddenly showed up within the portal. "Hello!"

"Huh? Two Lily?" said Saki in surprise.

"That-a eezDreamy Lily, da Dream World version of her," explained Luigi. "When you sleep on da pillow, you will also appear in da Dream World, and you will be able to do things that you normally cannot! Eet all depends on your imagination! When I wuz there, I wuz able to do things like multiplying myself and also becoming a giant!"

Hearing this, Dreamy Lily said, "Lily can't wait to try out those things!"

"All right-a! I'm going in!" said Mario as he readied to jump inside the portal.

"I wish to tag along," Yuugiri told Mario. "If Lady Lily is in there as well, then I wish to be at her side to keep her safe."

"Are you sure? Eet can be dangerous," Mario told her.

Yuugiri smirked in response. "I doubt any danger can actually bring harm to me now!" She then turned to Saki and Tae. "I hope you do not mind me entering the Dream World."

"Go ahead," Saki told her. "Have fun in there and keep Lily and Mario safe! Tae and I will keep watch out here!" Tae let out a cry as if agreeing on the same thing as Saki.

"Okey-dokey! Let's-a go!" said Mario, and then he jumped into the portal, shortly followed by Yuugiri.

Yuugiri looked around and found herself in a beach-like landscape similar to the outside, but the sky was filled with various colors. "This place has a magical feel to it!" she commented.

"Eet eez a world found only in dreams afta all! Anything can happen here," replied Mario.

Lily tugged Yuugiri's shirt and said to her, "Thanks for accompanying me, Sister Yuugiri!"

"Anything to keep you safe, Lady Lily!" Yuugiri said to her with a smile.

TO BE CONTINUED

Toad's ranting about critics are my exact feelings towards them; I share all his opinions.

I came up with Fatt Lardd, intentionally giving him a stupid-sounding name and also also intentionally making him really ugly.

Anyway, Lily will basically be playing Luigi's role from Dream Team! Let's see what sort of crazy things he can pull off here!