The game continued mercilessly.
"Question fourteen: how many legs does a wiggler have?"
Count Bleck hit the buzzer. "Eight!" The answer was wrong, and Count Bleck dropped.
"That was an easy one," said Dimentio.
"Count Bleck panicked."
"Question twelve: Where is the land of Subcon?" Chuck was no longer letting anyone else pick up the slack.
"The collective unconscious of the citizens of all worlds," said Dimentio, which was true enough. As Dimentio moved up, Luigi moved down. He whimpered pitifully.
"Question thirteen: What is the 'Dream Machine'?"
Tippi hit the buzzer. She hesitated.
"Yes?" Chuck urged.
"I... I can't..." She sniffed. Her whole body was trembling. In the cage next to her, Count Bleck reached out a gloved hand, and though he was too far away to touch her, he still somehow made contact.
Meanwhile, Chuck Quizmo laughed. "Oooh, love and loyalty, huh? I know all about that. Still, rules is rules." She dropped down, but was no longer trembling.
"Question fourteen: Goomba, lava bubble, buzzy beetle, boo. How many feet do they have between them?"
Count Bleck hit the buzzer. "Eight!"
"Uh... wrong again."
"What is it with you and guessing eight feet all of a sudden?" asked Tippi.
"Well, that's how many feet my current minions have," said Count Bleck as his cage descended. He turned to Dimentio. "Not that you ever use them."
"Walking is for those who know not the joy of floating," replied Dimentio haughtily.
"Good man."
"Question fifteen: Why did King Wart tamper with the Dream Machine?"
"Why are all the questions about King Wart?" asked Dimentio.
"Just answer them, smart guy."
"He wanted to create nightmares instead of good dreams."
"Question sixteen: what could he do with the nightmares?"
"Use them to round out his numbers for a baseball team." Count Bleck was fastest. He dropped.
"Seventeen: who was the cohost on this show until recently?"
"Ness T." Again, Count Bleck was fastest, but wrong.
"Eighteen: To get to King Wart's castle, you have to follow statues that look like... what?"
"Snifits, of course."
Count Bleck's cage dropped again. Boss Bass jumped up out of the water as best he could and snapped his mouth open and shut a few times before disappearing again in an ominous ripple.
"Nineteen: How does one travel to the land of Subcon?"
"Well, personally, I can just warp there whenever I want."
That counted as a wrong hour, and Count Bleck dropped dangerously close to the water's surface.
Dimentio could see what Count Bleck was doing. It was the same thing he was doing when he wanted to get a little closer to the water to see what was down there. But now that he knew, he couldn't imagine doing it on purpose. Did Count Bleck have a plan? He had to have... surely he couldn't be dropping into the water to spare someone who wasn't even his minion anymore. Count Bleck was far too important.
Chuck seemed to also see what Count Bleck was doing. He immediately asked a much simpler question: "Twenty: what do you get when you mix a Jammin' Jelly and an Ultra Shroom?"
"A Jammin' Shroom, of course," replied Count Bleck
Chuck narrowed his eyes. "Just what are you trying to prove?"
"Nothing," said Count Bleck. "Ask your next question."
Chuck looked at his notecards. "Okay. If you answer this one wrong, you drop the rest of the way. if you get it right, you have a chance to bring yourself back up to safety. Everyone at home is watching us on the edges of their seats... Question twenty-one: What is the name of the Princess of the Mushroom Kingdom?"
"Toadstool." Count Bleck fixed his stony gaze on Chuck. It was a dare, they all saw it.
"... Wrong."
The platform lowered one last notch. Then it dropped out down into the water and began to sink.
"Blumiere!" shrieked Tippi.
"Mr. L!" Count Bleck pressed himself to the top of the sinking cage. "Get the key! Dimentio! Get him!" Count Bleck pointed with his cane but Dimentio didn't need the visual guidance.
Luigi reached onto the catwalk and grabbed the key where Chuck Quizmo threw it. He stuffed it into the cage and it popped right open. Without thinking about the height, he jumped down and landed on Dimentio's cage. Dimentio grabbed the key from him and opened the cage himself Leaving the key in the lock, Dimentio took off after Chuck.
Chuck Quizmo tried to escape into his hat, but Dimentio tackled him. They went sprawling, Chuck's hat flying off his head. Dimentio tumbled a few times and skidded away on the floor, his momentum too much for a graceful takedown. Chuck Quizmo began inching away as fast as possible. Dimentio pulled himself to his feet and lunged at the worm, grabbing him just below his head, at what would be his neck if it weren't just as narrow as the rest of him.
Luigi, meanwhile, jumped to Tippi's cage and let her go. "Please!" she shouted. "Save Blumiere!"
He looked down at the lake below, suddenly realizing again how high up they were.
A bright purple void exploded from the water, sucking it into the abyss along with the monster fish. Count Bleck was in the cage on the bottom, holding his hands out. As soon as there was no danger of him being eaten or drowned, he dissipated the void and flopped back against the bars, panting.
Dimentio, still squeezing Chuck Quizmo's neck with one hand, held up a dazzling ball of purple and yellow light with the other. "You have twelve seconds to convince me I should not end your game, and I implore you, make it good."
"Please!" Chuck Quizmo choked. "You have to-"
Dimentio squeezed. "Oh, how trite. Begging will not sway me, you'll have to try much harder."
"You don't understand!" His voice was still strangled, and Dimentio eased back a fraction so that the worm wouldn't choke to death before he had a chance to say his piece.
"Oh, really? Explain it to me, then, with the moments you have left."
"He's got Vanna!"
Dimentio blinked. In his surprise, he momentarily lost focus and the dazzling ball disappeared.
Meanwhile, Luigi began helping Count Bleck out of his cage and the empty pit. "Thank you, Mr... Luigi, Count Bleck corrected himself."
"You can still call me Mr. L if you want to," said Luigi. "I mean, I still call you Count Bleck. Are you okay?"
"Completely and totally," said Count Bleck. "Just very wet."
Back up on land, Dimentio regained his focus. "Vanna?" Dimentio lowered his arm. "You've piqued my interest. Continue."
Chuck grunted. "Let go of my throat. Please. You know I can't escape."
Dimentio released Chuck, who collapsed into a little wormy pile on the ground. He panted for a few moments.
Tippi flew right into her husband's arms, sobbing with relief. "Oh, Blumiere, you scared me!"
"I'm sorry," he said, "I wish I could have said something, but I couldn't have him-"
"I know, I know, but you scared me," she continued. "Don't ever do that again."
"You know I can't promise that I'll never have to keep you in the dark in order to trick a mad game show host and save us all."
"I know, I know..."
Count Bleck kissed his wife. "But you know I love you."
"I know. I love you, too."
"Hey, guys," Luigi interrupted. "I think you should hear this."
Count Bleck looked at Luigi, who was pointing, and then to what he indicated, Dimentio and Chuck Quizmo.
"Vanna T.," said Chuck, looking up at Dimentio with sad, pleading eyes. "She's more than just my cohostess. She's my closest, dearest friend and he took her from me!"
"Who did?"
"King Wart," said Chuck. "I was trying to tell you... but he knows, he's watching. Not just the tapes. He has footage streaming right to his TV in his castle in Subcon. I couldn't say anything, he would hurt her if I did. Maybe even game over. But if they were just questions, it would be a good ego stroke and nothing more, as far as he knew."
"Why in the worlds would King Wart kidnap a game show hostess?"
"Because he's mad at us," replied Chuck Quizmo. "He's always wanted to make nightmares out of good dreams and have them do his bidding. But ever since my show got moved to a late time slot, he's been losing a lot of good time. So he came to my place with an ultimatum. Either I would make my show so horrifying that he wouldn't need to make nightmares, or make else I should make it so no one would ever watch it again. And... well, he took her and said if I didn't do either of those, he would make her pay.
"Please, I know that doesn't justify what I've done. But I beg you, do whatever you must with me- lock me up or end my game or- or- but please, just don't let him hurt her. Please." Chuck pointed at the cameras. "He's watching. He knows I've told you, he's watching me through every camera in the studio, and I don't know what he's going to do now. He said if I told anyone-"
Count Bleck put a finger to Chuck's mouth. "That's enough. He turned to Dimentio "Lock him in the cage. We'll come back for him."
"You don't honestly believe him, do you, Count?"
"I don't not believe him," replied Count Bleck. "It's at least worth checking out, don't you think?"
"I'll stay here and guard him," offered Luigi.
"Thank you," said Count Bleck. "Dimentio, let's pay a quick visit to Subcon."