Daisy popped back into existence just in time to see a fireball hurtling toward her. She dove out of the way and from her new vantage point on the floor spotted Waluigi dash past her.
"Where have you been?!" he said as hopped around a volley of fireballs, "I was starting to think you were going to make me handle this on my own!"
Daisy pulled herself to her feet, her head still wobbly from the teleport. "Handle WHAT on your own?"
An ear-splitting roar shook the castle walls. Daisy looked down the corridor to see a giant lion wearing an ornate head dress standing guard. It sprayed flames from its snarling maw and tensed its body, ready to pounce.
"King Totomesu?!" Daisy recognized him immediately. "What are YOU doing here?! You're supposed to be comatose on my throne room floor!"
"That is only my body," he growled. "I am Dreamy Totomesu, the truth of my innermost heart made manifest by the mental refractions of this world of dreams and wishes!"
"Okay cool, that makes sense," Daisy said. "You want to help us take down Wart? We're down a side-kick right now and you'd be useful."
Totomesu hissed. "I WILL DO NO SUCH THING! Master Wart has tasked me with guarding this chamber and I will not shame myself by forsaking my duty!"
"He was trying to kill me before you showed up!" Waluigi said.
"Yeah, I was getting a homicidal vibe but I wasn't sure if that was just me," Daisy said. "Yo! Toto! Since when do you take orders from Wart? You know that I'M your princess, right?!"
"I am a fan of the 8-bit celebrity music band," Totomesu said. "No other loyalty matters."
Well, this was new. It had to be the result of Wart's magic. Daisy squinted and noticed a faint, smoky aura of black veiled Totomesu's head.
"He's under a spell," Daisy said.
"Mind control?" Waluigi said. "That explains it. No one in their right mind would be a fan of the 8-bits."
"No! I adore the 8-bits," Totomesu said. "They are a good band! They make music… which I also believe to be good?"
"Yeah, no. This is definitely magic," Daisy said. "Wart must be brainwashing his dreamnapped victims into becoming his fans."
"SILENCE!" Totomesu snarled. "None may question my fandom, least of all you, whelp!"
"If you're a real fan then PROVE IT!" Daisy said. "What's your favorite song by the 8-bits?"
Totomesu furrowed his brow, unprepared for this gatekeeping.
"Th…their newest one," he said finally. "Yes! It is their best yet."
"Yeah?" Waluigi said. "So, what do you like best about their music?"
Totomesu looked away. The strained look on his face grew deeper, appearing to verge on a crisis of faith. He stared into space, trying to think of any answer at all.
"Uhh…" he stammered. "Um…"
"Quick," Waluigi whispered. "While he's distracted!"
The two of them slipped by while King Totomesu sat there trying his best to come up with an answer. They pushed open the double doors to the next room and escaped. They raced down a sprawl of corridors until they came to an intersection and Waluigi hesitated.
"Do you know where we're going?" Daisy said.
"Wehh, sort of," Waluigi said. "I'm looking for the key to the dungeon. Wanda is locked up with the other sprixies and I want to get her out."
"Wait. Wanda is here? But she got zapped back at my place!"
"Alright," he said, annoyed, "If you want to get pedantic, I'm talking about Dreamy Wanda. Wart has it rigged so his victims can't wake up. I'm guessing he traps people here to siphon off their dream power or else to brainwash them like your pet cat back there. I'd rather neither happen to her."
"Aw!" Daisy said. "I didn't know you cared so much about Wanda! That's cute."
The sneer on Waluigi's face failed to hide his blush. "Shut up. This is a tactical rescue. Wart will have less power if we get the hostages out. That's all!"
It was nice to know Waluigi cared even if he was too ashamed to admit it. He was such an edge lord. Daisy could tell there was a nice guy buried under that persona and she would bet money he hated that fact. She made a note to tease him about it later.
"Where'd you go anyway?" he said as they rounded a corner. "I had to crash your plane by myself, which sucked by the way. Was starting to suspect I'd get to take all the credit. You going to tell me what happened or what?"
Daisy hesitated. Her conversation with Wart did not sit well in her mind. How much should she share? She could not admit to being tempted, unless Waluigi thought they should take the deal. But that would derail everything. They came here to be heroes. Agreeing to help the bad guy was the same as losing. There was no way Waluigi would side with a scumbag who brainwashed people, was there? What if he did? If he rejected the deal it would be like he made the decision for her and she did not know how to feel about that.
"…Um." Daisy looked around for anything else to talk about. "Hey, uh, do you think the key we're looking for is in there?"
They slowed to a halt in front of the entrance to a large vault chamber. Outside were ornate gold statues of Wart and his band members striking teen heartthrob poses. A giant, tacky, neon sign hung over the doorway flashing the words 'TROPHY ROOM' in a rainbow of colors.
"Worth a look," Waluigi said.
Inside was a plush lounge area. Dozens of display cases sat empty and expectant, with plaques that said things like 'First Published Album,' 'First Recording Contract,' 'First Industry Award,' and a small cage for their 'First Voluntary Fan.' Above the cases, red and white phanto masks lined the walls. They gave Daisy the creeps.
At the very back of the chamber, a bunch of shy guys were milling around aimlessly. A couple of them took notice of Daisy and Waluigi and ran towards them. Daisy got ready for a fight, but the minions stopped short to salute her.
"You must be our master!" they said. "Reporting for duty, master!"
"What?" Daisy said. "I'm not your—"
"At ease, soldier," Waluigi said. "Report."
"Uh, well I was created just a couple minutes ago, so I don't got much to report on yet," the shy guy said before turning to the other one. "How about you? Anything we can report?"
"Naw dude. Just hanging out and keepin' it real until we get told our reason for existing. Can we hurry that up, by the way? I'm trying not to grapple with the existential horror of consciousness here."
"I'm sorry," Daisy said, not sure she was hearing this right. "Did you say you were created?"
"Yeah," the first shy guy said and pointed at a machine in the corner of the room. "We popped out of that thing."
Beyond the group of minions was a large contraption with a control console and three large trumpet bells on top. The machine was spitting out shy guys and tweeters at a slow but steady pace. Daisy shoved her way through the crowd to get a better look. The plaque said 'The Dream Machine.'
"This looks important," she said.
"Does this mean our creator has no idea what's going on either?" the second shy guy said. "Oh man. Not sure how I feel about that."
The top of the console controls had a big dial that was currently set to 'Create Minions,' with a few other options including 'Create Vegetables,' 'Good Dreams,' and 'Control Weather.' Daisy opted to turn the thing off. It spat out one last shy guy before the gentle hum of the device slowed to a silent halt. The pool of shy guys watched her and Waluigi with rapt attention.
"So, uh," Waluigi said. "Any of you bozos see a key lying around here?"
The shy guys, frantic to be the first to answer, fought to point out a particular display. It was a glass case on a pedestal with a giant yellow key inside. A helpful sign announced this was the 'Magic Key for Subcon Dungeon.'
"Perfect!" Daisy said. "Let's grab it and run."
"Wait!" Waluigi said.
Daisy had already punched through the case, shattered the glass, and snatched the key before her brain could process Waluigi's request.
"Huh?" She said, holding the massive key over her head. "Why?"
The room rumbled. The masks on the walls shook before bursting free of their hangings. They hissed through the air, trailing shadows, and circling with their empty black eyes fixed on Daisy. Waluigi waved an arm at them in frustration.
"THAT'S why!"
"Oh. Oops."
The masks screamed towards Daisy. She ducked and dodged, but they were coming from every direction. She weaved out of the way as the masks swooped like hawks, giving her no room to breathe.
"Protect your creators!" Waluigi shouted.
The shy guys cheered and threw themselves at the masks, jumping into the air to block the barrage with their bodies.
"Hey, that's handy!" Daisy said. "I could get used to that."
"Shut up and run!" Waluigi said.
The minions bought them enough time to make a break for the door, but the masks burst through stone walls like cannon balls before they made it halfway down the hall. Daisy glanced behind her as she ran down the corridors and tried not to freak out as a half-dozen of those cursed things were gaining on her.
"AHHHHH!" Daisy said when she saw them coming from the front as well.
"The key!" Waluigi said. "Pass it to me!"
Daisy twisted to huck the key his way and he leapt to receive it like a linebacker. The masks stopped in midair and spun to face him instead. She smiled. So that was how it worked. It was a game of keep-away now. And they were good at games.
Waluigi darted ahead until the masks surrounded and cornered him. She kept herself open and he tossed the key her way. They ran past King Totomesu, who took notice.
"I like the notes in their songs!" he said. "They are high-quality notes!"
"Okay cool thanks," Daisy said.
The two raced down the length of the palace, tossing the key back and forth to keep the swarm of idiot masks guessing until they found themselves back in the dungeon. Sprixies peered through the bars of their cages to watch as the two of them worked their way to the center of the prison block.
"Where do we use this thing?!" Daisy said, dodge rolling under the onslaught of masks.
"There!" Waluigi pointed.
A massive, oversized padlock sat looped through a set of bars connecting the cells on either side of the room. Daisy charged to clear the distance, shadows of the masks gathering right on top of her, and slam-dunked the key right in the lock and twisted it.
The lock popped open, and then the key and the padlock burst apart into points and every cell door in the dungeon flung itself open all at once. The masks came to a halt in midair, scanned back and forth to look for a key that was no longer there, and then flew away.
Hundreds of sprixies in dorky bowl cuts and red pajamas poured out of the cells, dancing and cheering in celebration. A human waddled out among them. He was a stubby short guy in red cape and a crown, with blond curly hair and a bushy mustache.
"What're you?" Daisy said. "The King of the Dream World or somethin'?"
"Oh yes," he mumbled. "Hm. Yes. That's right."
"Neat," she said. "Good for you."
The sprixies crowded around Daisy to celebrate, forcing her to shove her way through the party of dorks to find the only sprixie she cared about.
"Wanda!" Daisy said as her friend zipped toward them. She gave the little nerd a hug. "You're okay!"
"Yeah, thanks to you guys!" Wanda said.
"Good. We've got the whole team back together," Waluigi said. "Now let's go finish what we started and stop Wart once and for all."
"It would appear you have learned nothing."
The merriment of the sprixies went quiet. Everyone turned to look as Commander Reverie stepped toward them.
"Enough is enough," he said. "You will not make the same mistake twice."