The vibrant colors of the Dream World took Daisy's breath away—albeit only for a moment.
"Look at this place!" she exclaimed, turning around on the spot to get a view of everything. "It looks just like your place, Peach, but different."
"It does, doesn't it?" Peach mused, looking at the shining walls and pastel-colored skies visible through the windows.
"The appearance of the Dream World is affected by the location of the one opening the portal," Dreambert explained.
"Yeah, Luigi and I got to explore two versions of Pi'illo Island that way," Mario explained.
"So… there's a Dream World version of Sarasaland, too?" Daisy asked.
"Yeah," said Luigi, as he walked over to them. "Maybe someday, we can go there and see it. I wouldn't mind."
"Glad to hear it," Daisy began, but then she paused. "Waaaaaaait a sec. If we're here in your dream, and you're here in your dream… then who's driving this thing!?"
"I am," he assured her. "Well, sort of. I'm me, but I'm not really me."
"Huh?"
"I'm a version of myself that my real self dreamed up so that I can help you guys here in the Dream World."
"We just call him Dreamy Luigi to simplify things," Mario explained.
"Oh, okay, I get it now," Daisy said. "So you're a part of this Dream World."
"Uh-huh!" Dreamy Luigi said. "Watch this!"
He flew into a constellation of himself floating above them, and soon, there were dozens of him.
"He can form a human chain, a human tower, a tornado…" Mario boasted, proudly. "Just about anything! And that's still not all—"
"Mario, this isn't an infomercial," Peach giggled.
"I have to agree," Dreambert said, in a much more serious tone. "This is not the time for impressing people and showing off; save your skills for Dream's Deep, Dreamy Luigi. We'll need them there."
The many Luiginoids now vanished, leaving just one Dreamy Luigi, looking quite embarrassed.
"Sorry," he said, sheepishly.
Dreambert gave a nod.
"Starlow, can you hear us?" he called.
"I hear ya!"
"Tell Eldream that we're ready to go to Dream's Deep!"
An instant later, a Dreamy version of Eldream appeared before them; flanked by Dreambunny, the two of them used the drill-like maneuver to dig a tunnel in the ground.
"Be careful," he advised them. "The presence has grown even more restless now that you are all here."
Mario gave a nod and led the way by jumping down into the underground tunnel. Dreamy Luigi was right behind him, and the others followed suit.
The dark, purple expanse of Dream's Deep was a harsh change from the brighter colors of the Dreamy Castle they had left behind. The atmosphere was an odd mix of both warmth and coldness—the colder areas were leading away from the tunnel they had just arrived through. This, Mario realized, was a new sensation. Even Peach, who had only been here a short time, sensed something amiss.
"Dream's Deep wasn't like this before," she said, using her parasol to float down the entrance tunnel and land gently on her feet beside the others.
"You are correct," Dreambert said. "Whatever presence that has used this place for itself is causing this chill."
"Why are there images of Luigi all around us?" Daisy wondered, seeing fleeting images of the green-clad plumber in the purple expanse surrounding them.
"Because Dream's Deep takes on the persona of the one who opened the dream portal," the prince explained. "Luigi is, right now, connected to this place—to all of Dream's Deep. See—even the parts ahead that were sealed off to us Pi'illos are opening now. It's responding to him."
Huge, heavy blocks were moving and shifting up ahead with a deep rumbling, revealing the way forward. The cold chill swept in from ahead like an Arctic wind; even Mario flinched.
"You say that Luigi is connected to Dream's Deep," Peach said. "But you also said that the presence you were sensing here was malevolent."
"That… that's true," Dreambert said, realizing where she was going with this.
There was an awkward silence, and Peach decided that it had to be broken.
"Why, then?" she asked, trying to choose her words carefully. "Why would Luigi be connected to a malevolent presence?"
"Oh…!" Dreamy Luigi let out the quietest pained exclamation as everything began to sink in. "You don't think I—?"
"Of course we don't," Peach said, hastily. "Luigi, I wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you. None of us would. But I am concerned that whatever is in here might have something to do with you in some other way—try to hurt you, for instance."
"But what if it isn't in some other way?" Dreamy Luigi asked. "What if this thing is my fault? Remember what happened during the Shroob Invasion? The… the Star Gate said that I… that I wasn't…"
"That Star Gate didn't know what it was talking about!" Mario insisted, still furious with the Star Gate for insinuating that Luigi wasn't completely pure of heart. "It even admitted that it made the whole thing up just as a test!"
If it turns out that you made this thing on purpose, I'll eat my crown," Daisy vowed. "Dreambert, back us up here!"
"I… Yes. Indeed, it's far too early to assign blame to anyone," he said, diplomatically. "The only way we shall uncover the truth is if we press onward."
"What do you say, Bro?" Mario asked.
Dreamy Luigi stared down at his shoes for a bit.
"A-Alright," he said, at last. His voice had no confidence in it.
"Aww, c'mon," Daisy said, as they began to trek forward through Dream's Deep. "Look, I know you're not the bad guy here. All of us know that!"
Peach sighed as Daisy continued to give Luigi a pep talk.
"Maybe I shouldn't have said anything," she said.
"It's not you," Mario said. "You weren't there when we were dealing with that Star Gate. Luigi's never been that confident, but any confidence he had was completely broken that day. That Gate practically tore him down—refused him entry, claimed that his heart wasn't pure, screamed at him, falsely accused him…."
"Just to test him?" Peach asked.
Mario sighed now.
"It was actually a test for both of us—for me, it was to see if I'd abandon him and move forward on my own. Of course, I didn't, and that was when the Star Gate said that it made the whole thing up. But I think Luigi's self-confidence still carries some scars from that." He muttered something in Italian; Peach didn't quite understand it, but she could tell it wasn't anything flattering about the Star Gate. "I just really, really hope that whatever's down here in Dream's Deep doesn't have anything to do with Luigi."
"Even if it does, I'm certain Luigi didn't create it on purpose," Peach said.
"I know that and you know that—and, deep down, I hope Luigi knows that, too," Mario said. "I just don't want anything to ruin Luigi's idea of what he can do here in the Dream World."
"What do you mean?"
"Well… you saw how happy he was when went through the portal back there?" Mario pointed out. "He was showing off for Daisy and having fun—even saying that he wanted to show her Dreamy Sarasaland one day. He's proud of what he can do here; his confidence really went up as he discovered all of his skills and abilities. I don't want anyone or anything taking that from him."
The princess nodded.
"If anyone or anything does try, I'm sure you'll put a stop to it," she said, confidently.
Mario was about to reply, but a sudden gust of chilly wind from up ahead cut him off before he could say a word.
"There!" Dreambert exclaimed, staring straight ahead. "Look at that valley!"
There was, indeed, a rocky formation up ahead from where the chilling wind was coming from; the rocks were of a darker purple than the rest of Dream's Deep, and no images of Luigi appeared on them as they did elsewhere. Mario took that to be a hopeful sign.
"The offending intruder must be in there," Dreambert declared. "But with only one way in and out, it could very well be a trap."
"I'll lead," Mario declared. "Dreamy Luigi and Dreambert, you stay right behind me. Peach and Daisy, you two stay back, but keep us in sight; be prepared to run." He noticed the eager look on Daisy's face and hastily added, "I mean, be ready to run away."
"Oh…" she said.
Arming himself with his hammer, Mario led the way into the valley, trying not to flinch at the cold as it increased. Dreamy Luigi looked around for a sun or heat source, hoping to be able to use it to warm the valley, but none appeared. In fact, there didn't seem to be anything he could manipulate, despite there having been Luiginoid Generators before on his prior journeys in Dream's Deep.
He was just about to bring this up when Mario stopped upon hearing a bizarre crunching noise beneath his boots.
"What's this on the ground?" he asked, poking at some dark, sparkling dust with the edge of his hammer. Some of it stuck to the hammerhead, and he raised it to get a better look at it. "They look like fragments of crystal."
"It's dust from the Dark Stone!" Dreambert exclaimed.
"The stone that Antasma shattered?" Mario asked.
"Yes; as you recall, he used the large pieces of the Dark Stone to create the Nightmare Chunks that trapped the spirits of the Pi'illos you eventually freed," the prince said. "But there must have been these fragments that were not used—and they made their way here, to Dream's Deep! I understand now!"
"You do?" Dreamy Luigi asked.
"Yes! The Dark Stone is fueled by nightmares, and Dream's Deep is powered by the dreamer," Dreambert said. "These tiny crystals of Dark Stone still had enough power to react with the power of Dream's Deep! The dark presence was created by these two dream forces interacting!"
"What does that mean for Luigi?" Peach asked. "And his connection to the presence here in this valley?"
"Well… to put it plainly, it means that the malevolent presence was born from Luigi's nightmares," the prince said. "Having been in Dream's Deep before, he must have left an impression on the Dark Stone shards without realizing it, and whatever was created waited until Antasma and Bowser were both defeated to start acting. Whatever we find here will be something that was formed from Luigi's mind during those earlier trips to Dream's Deep."
Mario's heart sank at this description; indeed, even as he turned to look at Dreamy Luigi, his brother's dream self looked mortified and upset.
"Then… then it is my fault."
"No," Dreambert said. "As I explained, it was Antasma who shattered the Dark Stone—you did not seek to create this creature, and none of us hold it against you."
"But that still doesn't change the fact that I did create this thing!" Dreamy Luigi exclaimed.
"Listen to us, Bro," Mario said. "If it hadn't been you, it would've been someone else. The very next person to open the portal to the Dream World and enter Dream's Deep would've left an impression on the shards. Isn't that right, Dreambert?"
"Correct," the prince said, with a nod. "And we had no choice but to access Dream's Deep to stop Antasma. Even if we had known that the shards were here, we would have had to come here anyway. It was unavoidable."
"Nobody blames you, Luigi," Peach said, gently.
"Yeah!" Daisy agreed. "And, in a way, you actually helped smoke the thing out before it became an even bigger problem for someone else!"
"Indeed," Dreambert said. "Now that we know what created the creature, we must find out a way to defeat it. But, before that, we must press on and discover what it is."
"M-maybe you guys should go on without me…" Dreamy Luigi stammered.
"We're going to need your help," Mario said. "You'll know what we're up against better than anyone."
"There's a dead end up ahead," Dreambert said. "Ladies, I suggest you stay back; whatever it is will be there, waiting for us." He shut his eyes for a moment. "Yes, it's there, but it's invisible. Dreamy Luigi, do you have any idea what it could possibly be?"
A loud, cackling laugh answered him, causing the prince to leap backwards with a yelp of fright. But Dreamy Luigi stared, horrified, at the empty spot. He knew that laugh; he had heard it before, taunting him as he wandered dark, ghost-filled halls, ending up nearly trapped in a pocket universe…
"Who else would it be, other than the one this wimp fears most?" the laughing voice now screeched. "It's an honor that goes to me and me alone!"
The five heroes could only stare as a large, red-eyed Boo materialized in front of them, wearing a gleaming, jeweled crown on his head.
