While he had difficulty following Nancy in the first stretch of the journey, Luigi kept by her side after that. The cave, now that he could see it and have an opinion, had some appeal in its design; in how wide the tunnels stretched and how many twisted turns branched off the main path. He crossed a flight of stairs, not a work of man, but of nature, before reaching a door without hinges or a lock. In reality there was no door, only an outline where one should have been with torches hung on either side.
Nancy turned her flashlight off. Luigi followed her in, not expecting much, maybe a sanctuary for her to hide out in.
His eyes widened upon realising that couldn't be further from the truth. Assembled in the cave was a community of Subconians. Shy Guys, Sniffits, Birdos, all sorts of creatures in an array of bright and dark colours, sat on dirt stumps for chairs. Luigi hesitated to step in further but none of them attacked him, only looking at Nancy. And him, by extension.
He'd never seen a Shy Guy, even through their white masks, look so worried before. Or a Birdo with her head not proud and high, but low and drooped instead.
"She brings news," one Sniffit said.
"Thisssss had better be good." The unmistakable hiss of a Tryclyde.
"Find somewhere to sit," Nancy whispered to Luigi.
Only one seat in the house had been left unfilled, next to a purple Mouser who could not, for the life of him, keep still. Those seats being what they were, and his overalls dirtied enough, Luigi opted to stand to the side while Nancy went up to the podium.
"No one person ever goes missing without a reason, and whole groups of people certainly don't. But I have a theory of who's behind all this."
"Who?" One Birdo called out, clutching her purse.
"Freddy Krueger," Nancy said.
The Subconians whispered to each other, some with less than polite words to say about the girl on the podium, others plain confused. Nancy, for her part, took it well and kept an air of professionalism.
Luigi, however, did have one question, because he'd never heard of a man called Freddy Krueger causing havoc in Subcon.
"Who the hell is that?" A black Shy Guy beat him to it and spoke identical thoughts into existence.
"If you asssssk me, Wart did it," the same Tryclyde from earlier theorised.
Truth be told, Luigi wouldn't have put such deeds past the king of Subcon. He had taken the land by force before, and without the interference of some of the most daring adventurers the Mushroom Kingdom had ever known, and Toad, not much was stopping him from doing so again.
The crowd's anxiety descended into murmurs, words rolling into each other, one person's voice blending into the person's next to them. Luigi struggled to hear himself think, much less rumours that may or may not have been muttered about Wart, wherever he was now.
"You wanna know who Freddy Krueger is?"
Nancy made the crowd, save for a few stray voices, fall silent. Evidently the mention of Freddy Krueger proved a distressing topic for her, a hitch in her voice when she gave the name power.
"Freddy Krueger," Nancy continued, "is a child murderer. He goes after you when you're at your most defenceless, in your dreams. And no matter how tough you are, even if you think he's good and dead, he always finds a way to come back." One breath later, she repeated with gripping blue eyes, "Always."
The various members of the crowd stirred with different reactions. There were those who stayed down in silent terror, while others stood up, their brow (if they had one) knitted and teeth bared.
Luigi could not say he shared that same bravery. Dreams, as Nancy had said, were when one was most defenceless. Ergo, the idea of being attacked in Subcon, with Mario and the Princess unable to help him, made his heart beat with the enthusiasm of a marching band.
But Nancy's story also made him want to place a hand on her shoulder, tell her everything would be okay, even if the truth was never that simple.
Fate would not allow them that comfort, either.
Out of nowhere, a hole materialised, and the fabric of space-time tore open to make room for a man in a red and green sweater, with a face only a mother could love.
"Oh no." Nancy's voice trembled, and so did her legs, for any attempt to move netted zero results.
"Oh yes." The man flashed what appeared to be a gardening glove modified to fit a set of claws. "I'm back, Nancy. Miss me?"
Just a heads-up. There's going to be a lot more slasher-style violence and Freddy Krueger doing what he does best from here on out. You have been warned.