Nancy and Freddy took centre stage, her presence small, but his looming far beyond the four walls of the hiding hole. Luigi had no trouble believing Freddy was the sole party responsible for Subcon's perversion, converting a land of dreams into a festering ground for the nightmarish and unholy. The more emotional Subconians dropped to their knees and began to wail.

In that moment, Nancy was not the little girl anymore, instead a hardened woman standing tall.

"Everybody get out. Now."

The first one to leave, a Fryguy made of blue flame, headed into a deeper section of the cave, Freddy and Nancy blocking the door. Everyone else followed, running and screaming and clamouring to be in front.

Everyone else except Luigi, who remained stuck there like a fly on the wall, watching Nancy face off with this man whose very presence alone had the stink of evil.

"Why don't you and me have a little heart-to-heart, Nancy? It's been a long time." His withered face proved capable of grinning. She shivered, and Luigi felt a chill come across him too.

"Not long enough." Nancy glared at him with nothing less than absolute hatred.

"What are you doing here? Can't you just leave us alone?"

"Elm Street's no fun anymore. But this, this is fertile ground." He ran his tongue along, and Luigi was unable to tell which looked more dry and withered.

The conversation between Nancy and Freddy dwindled to hushed tones, ones Luigi struggled to make out above the desperation to escape from deeper within the cave. He supposed what Nancy had told them to do made sense, and joining the others meant being safe from Fredy as a result.

Which, in essence, was why Luigi had to do the exact opposite and convert the fear for his own life into hatred for Freddy.

Being quiet, non-existent, he could do that and do that well. Luigi inched closer, footsteps muffled by the dirt. By his own judgement, he had about as much presence as a mouse. Inch by inch, he approached, now able to see Freddy and all the holes on what constituted his face.

Another minute, and he'd be there on the stage. Nancy hadn't noticed him either, which suited his ambitions fine. When Freddy had his back turned, he'd give a good thrashing to the back of his head. Then they'd start getting some answers out of him, and after that, Subcon would be a place to live in without his influence. The plan seemed foolproof, even to a klutz.

And yet, before Luigi could climb onto the stage, he lost his balance on the off chance his plan didn't work out and landed flat on his face.

There always was an off chance.

Freddy turned away from Nancy and leered over him. Evil was the sort of thing you didn't need eyes to sense. Years of fighting it had taught Luigi that lesson well.

Freddy laughed; a distorted thing, a warped person's idea of how laughter sounded because they had forgotten what normality meant.

"This one's funny." A claw prodded Luigi's back. "But he's too old for my tastes."

The claw left, and Luigi could breathe again. Freddy, with a short exhale, jumped off the stage. The creak of metal clinking together gave Luigi two pieces of information. One, Freddy was sharpening his claws, and two, the noise was growing more distant, Freddy getting away.

Nancy reached out, grabbing Freddy, but he had no trouble pushing her arm away.

"No time to stick around, kid. Off to get some fresh meat." He flashed one of the bladed gloves.

"You've been a great help, Nancy."

Luigi pulled himself up from the dirt in time to see Freddy walk towards the hideaway the Subconians had gathered in. Nancy sent a stare his way, her eyes frigid daggers. If looks could kill, hers knocked his head clean off his body.

"I was going to stall for time," Nancy said, her voice shaking.

Instead of stammering and verbally tripping over himself, Luigi cleared his throat and attempted to apologise in a tone that somewhat suggested responsibility.

"I didn't mean to-"

Luigi stopped when he noticed that Nancy was no longer interested in him. She opened her mouth wide as if to gasp, only no sound left, and her face looked horribly strained.

Freddy waved, a sick sort of courtesy, before entering the deeper area of the cave.

A high-pitched squeal ran out, only to be silenced in a matter of seconds.

The nightmare had begun.