Commander Reverie stood in his fancy purple suit and scowled through his sunglasses at his son. Waluigi stepped forward to meet his glare with his own.
"You got somethin' to say, old man?"
Reverie kept a regal composure.
"I do. When the three of you did not return, I feared the worst. I understand from Wanda that you barely escaped from the abyss of Subspace. You cannot hope to be so lucky a second time. I know what Wart is capable of better than anyone, and it is clear to me you are not equipped to defeat him."
"It'll be different this time!" Daisy said. "We have the dream gems! We can win!"
"All the more reason not to squander our chance," Reverie said. "We ought to evacuate and rally what support we can. If we call on one of the Star Children to help us, perhaps there is hope we can save the Dream World from calamity."
"You don't think we can do this, is that it?" Waluigi said. "I go out of my way to personally bail you out of prison and still you'd rather beg Mario for help than trust your own son to handle it! Typical."
Reverie adjusted his sunglasses. "I am not enough of a fool to put my faith in a blustering egotist who puts himself above the will of the Stars."
"If the stars cared about us do you think any of this could have happened?!" Waluigi said. "You think me selfish for choosing to believe in myself instead? Perhaps I would be willing to have faith in the Stars if someone were willing to have faith in me. I'm not going to waste my time wishing for someone to make my dreams come true if I can get off my knees and make it happen myself!"
Daisy stood helpless on the sidelines with the sprixies and the king, a spectator of this family argument. The drama might normally excite her, but the bitter lines of anger etched in the faces of these two men was painful to see. She could do nothing. There was no antidote for the venomous words she was hearing.
"Pathetic," Reverie said. "All this time spent out there in the waking world and STILL you refuse to accept your limits. If I have any reason to doubt the Stars it is because they chose to test me with such an impudent child. Had I an ounce of the gall you possess I would wish that you never existed at all!"
Waluigi tried not to react to the words. His sneer held, but Daisy was watching close enough to see it buckle. Under that poker face he was hurt. It was too much for Daisy to bear. She threw herself into the argument.
"What the heck is your problem?!" she said. "Your son is trying to do something good here and this is how you talk to him!? How dare you!"
Reverie's glare softened as it turned on Daisy. "I counsel only common sense, princess. If the two of you challenge Wart again, you will doom not only yourselves but everyone else here!"
"You think you get a say in this?!" Daisy said. "Were you the one who gathered the dream gems? No! It was YOUR SON and HIS FRIENDS who did that. And we'll do what we want with them! And if you don't like it then you can go pray to the Stars or whatever it is you do! You got that?!"
The two men fell silent. Waluigi's mouth hung open, a touched yet confused look in his eyes. Reverie stared in stone silence, his body rigid as a volcano on the brink of eruption. His sunglasses failed to mask the fury in his face. He conjured whatever restraint he had left and turned away.
"You leave me no choice," he said. "Fine. Go then! I will help the others escape. And if nothing else I will take your advice and pray you are saved from your hubris."
"COOL!" Daisy said, angrier than she planned. "AWESOME! Sounds like a plan!"
She grabbed Waluigi by the hand. "C'mon. Let's go. It's time we finished this. Wanda! You too!"
"O-okay!" Wanda offered an awkward smile to the other sprixies and fluttered their way. "Coming!"
Daisy marched out of the dungeon, leading Waluigi by the arm. The door clicked shut behind them and all at once there was a moment to breathe.
"I…" It was odd to hear Waluigi stumble over his words. "Sorry you had to step in like that."
"It's fine." Seeing a father like that made Daisy grateful she started off as an orphan. "I know it's none of my business, but I couldn't stand to see you treated like that. Y'know? No one deserves that, least of all you. "
"…Thank you," he said.
There was no trace of sarcasm in his voice. It was sad how genuine he sounded. Like a starving man grateful for a morsel of bread. Daisy let go of his arm to let him walk at his own pace. She looked at the lobby of the concert hall and then at her friends and took a deep breath.
"I know where the Sundream Stone tablet is," she said. "Wart's got it on stage with him. If we don't stop him quick, he's going to suck all the dreams out of my subjects and use it to brainwash the rest of the planet into becoming his fans."
"That sounds bad!" Wanda said.
"Yeah, I gave it some thought and I'd like to avoid that happening," Daisy said.
Waluigi pulled himself together and stroked his chin in thought.
"We'll need a plan of attack," he said. "If we can get the Sundream Stone all in one piece, we can wish him defeated or at least take away his powers and level the playing field."
A wisp of dark appeared in the air in front of them. It expanded into a flat black rectangle the size of a movie screen. The screen flickered on to reveal Wart's smiling face.
"Time's up lovelies," he said. "It's SHOW TIME!"