Daisy punted shyguys and ninjis out of the way as she scaled the radio tower stairs, pulse pounding music echoing around her, searching until she found a room labeled Recording Studio. She crashed through the door and spotted a rat man, a little mouser, wearing cool shades and sitting in a vocal booth surrounded by sound equipment.
"Wha-oh ladies and gents," Mouser said into the mic without missing a beat. "Looks like we got a live one on our hands. She made it all the way up to see me no thanks to you blundering roadies. But that's okay. I would be the teeniest bit worried if it weren't for the fact that I've got the dream gem on my side!"
Mouser held up a blue petal shaped gemstone just like the red one Daisy had seen in the Peaceful Woods. He hopped over to a synth keyboard and slammed the dream gem into a custom-made socket on the top. The Machine hummed to life, sparkling with light. Mouser smirked at Daisy as he laid down a sick chord on the keys.
Daisy rolled out of the way as a sound wave tore across the room, ripping through the hardwood floor and tearing the soundproof foam on the walls. Mouser played a few more notes and she leapt and dodged out of the way. He was toying with her.
"What's your game, rat?" Daisy said. She inched across the floor, ready to evade in whatever direction she needed. She needed to stall him long enough to close the gap between them. "You're wrecking this island to make a name for your band?"
"Delfino here is just the cheese curds! We got our eyes on the whole cheddar!" He blasted another sound wave attack for Daisy to evade. "The 8-bits are gonna be BIG, baby. With this little ol' stone, I can boost the gain on this equipment and let the WHOLE WORLD know to get pumped. We're going on tour and every last person is going to be a fan whether they like it or not!"
Mouser picked up the tempo, launching into a crescendo of musical movements that tore the room to shreds. It was like the stage timer was running out. Daisy hurled herself left and right to stay safe, but she could only keep that up for so long. The tail of a sound wave nicked her arm. She grabbed at the wound on reflex but found nothing wrong.
"I'm okay?" she said.
Mouser snickered. "Check again, toots."
Daisy looked down and saw to her horror that she was tapping her toes to the beat of the dance music. The vibe crept up her leg, spreading. Her hips began to sway and before she could do anything it was too late. She was caught up in the flow of the dance. The music wasn't even any GOOD but she couldn't stop herself. The sound was in her soul now and all she could do was move to the beat.
"You monster!" she screamed, swinging her arms and stomping around to the song.
"Wow," Mouser said, gawking. "You suck at dancing."
"Shut up!" Daisy said, feeling increasingly self-conscious. "I'll have you know I'm an Olympic Gymnast! That's sort of like dancing!"
"Daisy!" Wanda said, flying into the room. "Not you too!"
"And another one joins the party!" Mouser said.
"Huh?" Wanda said. Mouser pressed a synth key and a sound blast sent her ping-ponging around the room. "BWAHHH!"
"No! My side-kick!" Daisy said before turning to sneer at Mouser. "You'll pay for that, vermin!"
Mouser plopped back into his studio swivel chair and leaned against the broadcast controls. "Oh I very much doubt that, sweetie. In just a few more minutes this tower will have absorbed enough power from the dream gem that its range will be quintupled! I'm about to make lots more fans, just like you. But if it's any consolation, I'll let you be my spicy co-host while the whole world grooves on our promo reel!"
The console power cut off with a sudden WUMP and went dim. Mouser stared, pressed buttons, and thumped the controls with no success. "What happened?! It was just working!"
Wanda floated into the air holding the electrical plug to the equipment. "I'm sorry, there's been a power outage!"
"What?!" Mouser said. "Impossible! I blasted you with my strongest rave music! You should be a thrall just like the others!"
"For your information," Wanda said, as she smashed a chair over the music player, "I prefer country!"
The sound system sparked, crackled, and died. The music stopped, and Daisy felt the urge to dance fade to nothing. She was back in the game.
"Thanks Wanda," Daisy said and turned toward Mouser. "Alright, it's payback time."
Mouser snatched the dream gem and backed away in the direction the window in the far corner. "Let me ask you a question," he said. His energy had faded but that smile hinted that he still had a trick up his sleeve. "You know what special skill I bring to the band?"
"Who cares?" Daisy said, winding up to punch his lights out.
"Pyrotechnics!" He whipped out a remote-controlled detonator and pressed it. An explosion rocked the radio tower and then another. The room swayed and groaned under their feet, the whole building threatening to topple. A magic carpet swung into view just outside the window.
"Gotta bail, my ride's here!" Mouser said and hopped out the window.
"Wait!" Daisy said.
"I got it!" Waluigi charged out of nowhere and shoved her out of the way. He dove headlong out the window and dangled off the carpet just as it zoomed out of sight.
"Hey!" Daisy said, "I was going to do that!"
"We need to get out of here before this place collapses!" Wanda said.
"Oh, fine, I guess." Daisy grumbled. They retreated down the stairs and followed the panicking piantas outside just as the whole tower came crashing down. Debris and shrapnel clattered all around and smoke filled the air.
Far in the distance and high up, Daisy could see Waluigi wrestling with Mouser on the magic carpet. They exchanged eye pokes, hair pulls, and sucker punches and then Waluigi fell. Daisy gasped as she watched him tumble down toward Delfino Plaza. He disappeared into the skyline of the town, and Daisy flinched.
"I hope he remembered to ground pound," Wanda said, worried.
They hurried back downtown to check if Waluigi was still in one piece. They found him upside down, flailing his arms and legs, wedged into an abandoned fruit stand. It took a minute for the two of them to pull him out of the mess of crushed melon and papaya with a wet POP.
"You idiot!" Daisy said. "If these had been durians, you would've died!"
Waluigi sat slumped in the street with a smug look on his face, dripping in tropical juice. "Doesn't matter," he said. He held up the shimmering dream gem. "Heh, heh, heh! I got it!"
"Yooo!" Daisy cheered, clapping. "Alright! You're good for something after all!"
"That's one down, four to go!" Wanda said.
Daisy paused. She was not sure hunting for the others was even that important. They just saved an entire island from a giant rat DJ. Surely that was enough to get her into the tournament.
"Let's go check on the locals," she said. "I bet they'll want to thank us for saving their hides."
They helped Waluigi to his feet and strolled into the center of town, where all the freed locals had gathered to dance and celebrate around a somewhat befuddled Mario. It looked like he managed to escape the courthouse.
"You did it again!" The village mayor said, forcing a Shine Sprite into Mario's hands. "You saved Delfino Island from whoever those guys were!"
Mario, on autopilot, spun into a triumphant victory pose only to look confused right after.
"We can always count on you when we're in trouble!" the mayor said. "You're a true hero!"
Daisy stiffened, mortified by what she was hearing. She stomped toward the crowd ready to brawl. That black hole of a glory hog did not even DO anything, she had made sure of that. There was no way he was about to steal her thunder now.
"Excuse me," she said in the sweetest voice she could manage through clenched teeth. "Mario's not the one you should be thanking here. We're the ones who stopped Mouser!"
"Hm?" the mayor adjusted his glasses. "That seems unlikely. There are very few people as brave as this man."
"Isn't that the lady who locked us in the courthouse?" someone shouted.
"Uh." Daisy said, starting to sweat.
"Who even are you?" the mayor said. "Some sort of Princess Peach cosplayer?"
White-hot fury filled Daisy. She thrust her finger into the mayor's bulbous nose and stared him dead in the eye.
"I'll have you know I'm Daisy of Sarasaland and I'm twice the princess that prissy fungus herding debutante is! I'll prove it!" She put up her fists. "I'll take you on! I'll take you ALL on! Come on!"
Waluigi and Wanda grabbed her from behind, interfering with her show of decorum. They struggled to drag her away from the square as the idiot crowd of bumpkins continued to be wrong about everything in public.
"Knock it off!" Waluigi said, yanking her into an alley. "Do you want to look like a hero or a thug?!"
"We ARE heroes!" Daisy screamed back at him, seething with perfect composure. "If we don't do something, Mario is going to steal all the credit! Like he even needs it!"
"That doesn't matter," Wanda said. "What counts is that we helped people in need."
A curl of disgust coiled in Daisy's stomach. "Yeah, yeah, okay sure. Heroes are noble or whatever I guess."
"Forget about them," Waluigi said as her let go of Daisy. "A bunch of grateful yokels aren't going to get us on the registry. We need to play the long game here." He showed her the dream gem again.
Daisy sighed. "You mean we gotta collect ALL of those things?"
"No," Waluigi clutched the gem tight. "I mean we skip all the running around and cut to the chase."
He stepped aside to reveal one of the band posters for Wart and the 8-bits.
"We know who their leader is. Let's go straight to Wart's base in Subcon and show him exactly how much of a princess you are."