Author's Note: Hi. So I hate Ryko from the book Eona. Actually, I hate most of the secondary characters. But most of all, I HATED how he was portrayed-as a dutiful, heroic, honorable man. No. Just no. For me, that's too crazy for words. This is pretty much what I fantasized while I was reading the book, and it felt very therapeutic to write it all down. I actually wrote it a year ago, but am posting it now. I think it fits the Halloween season well.

This story also fills in the plot hole of 'What happened to Vida and Chart at the end of Eona?'

The starred items are things I got from elsewhere, either things I read or parodied or got inspiration from, and they'll be posted on my profile soon.

I have a feeling I'm going to piss off a lot of people, because (for some reason) people love Ryko! But I don't :P

Rated M for blood, gore, violence, and profanity.

Right after Ryko told Eona to use his Hua toward the end of Eona, he was pulled into an alternate universe solely inhabited by one being. It exists in all time periods, because in this universe, time itself does not exist. You can be there for hours to weeks to years to centuries, and when—if—you return to your own universe, no time will have passed at all from when you first left. There are some who do not even remember the events that took place in this universe, almost like how some don't remember being abducted by aliens. This being watches from the depths of this universe (which does not have an official name, so call it what you will), and from time to time pulls certain people in. People he loves…people he despises…people who drive him crazy. Or all three kinds. The first victim is Ryko. Here is Ryko's tale.

Ryko slid down the gravelly slope, stumbling to the ground almost hitting a giant boulder. He stood in the middle of what looked like either a forest or a jungle. There was thick shrubbery everywhere, so thick that he could not see beyond a few leaves and trees in each direction. There was no clear path, and a stench that was so foul, he had to keep from gagging as it filled his nostrils. It smelled like a mixture of sewage and rotten eggs and dead decomposing life forms. It was so thick it almost felt tangible, pushing against every pore of his skin. "What is this godforsaken place?" he murmured.

Suddenly he felt a presence behind him. He whipped around, sword in hand, ready to strike. He stopped just short of slicing Eona's head clean off. But the weird part was that she didn't look fazed a bit. She didn't even flinch. In fact, she stood there, her hands folded in front of her body, looking calm and confident. She was wearing a clean and simple tunic and pair of trousers. Her hair was tied up in a complicated bun at the back of her head.

"Eona, where are we?" he demanded. But she just gazed up at him, a tame and curious look in her eyes. It was as if she wasn't in the same area as him. She didn't even wrinkle her nose once at the repugnant scent in the air. Ryko would normally have been pissed off that she was just standing there not answering him, but there was something deeply unsettling about the way she was looking at him. About her presence, about this whole place. Still, he preferred annoyance to fear. "ANSWER ME!"

He was about to start shaking her when her eyes shifted from him to the surrounding plants. She walked past him without a word, stepping over fallen branches, avoiding sharp thorns that jutted outward, and climbing over moss-covered rocks. Exhaling a frustrated sigh, Ryko followed her, not nearly as lucky as she was when they'd reached an opening. The dreadful smell was considerably stronger here. Eona remained mostly uncut with the exception of a slight prick here and there, one leaving a red mark on the side of her cheek. She'd had an easier time fitting through all the crevices and small narrow pathways. Ryko, for all he'd tried avoiding the thorns and low-hanging branches, had them all over his face and hands.

They were standing near a steep cliff, and down below were several large rocks and the restless sea. The waves crashed repeatedly against the rocks, the saltwater spraying up and leaving a beach-like scent in the air. But this was anything but paradise. Dead and decaying plants drooped against the rocks, some being washed out to sea. The sea…Ryko thought. The ocean…is this really the ocean? It didn't look like it.

Instead of blue, it was mostly green. But it wasn't the water—the ocean was covered in kelp, seaweed, and other algae.* There were little parts here and there where the water could be seen, but only when the sunlight glinted off the surface brightly. Barely a flash and then gone, swallowed up by the mushy green thickness. And the sunlight only came out every so often. Mostly, the sky was overcast.

So this must've been where the odor came from. It had gotten considerably worse when they came out of the trees and moved closer toward the sea, the air around the cliff moist and humid. Ryko noticed Eona standing near the edge, precariously and perilously near the edge…

Eona jumped.

"Eona!" Ryko shouted, rushing toward the edge of the cliff, coming to a slippery halt. He looked around but couldn't see her anywhere. It was such a long way down that there hadn't been enough time for her to have reached the bottom yet, be it the rocks or the water. Why did she do that?!

There was a splash in the distance. He saw something move in his peripheral vision. He turned quickly, sword raised. Something felt wrong. Very, very wrong…

Suddenly there was the sound of an explosion. It occurred underneath the water, disrupting the algae. A second later, a figure shot out of the water, bursting through the air, pieces of algae and droplets of water flying around it.* It was shooting forward toward the cliff and then aimed its legs downward toward the land. It landed only a couple of feet right in front of Ryko. He involuntarily took a step back.

"I'm not Eona," it said in a male voice. He'd been crouched on the ground like a feral animal, but as he stood, Ryko could see he was the shape and form of a human, standing on two legs spread wide apart, his lean arms hanging on either side of him, unafraid. He was facing down, but Ryko could make out multiple layers of corroded flesh covering his head. There was something small, dark, and wet clutched in one of his hands—he slowly brought it to his head and put it on. It was a hat. Promptly the figure looked up, adjusting his hat, showing off all of his yellow teeth in one of the most sinister grins Ryko had ever seen. But the part that stood out most of all was his right hand. He was wearing what looked like a rubber glove, and long, thin, and pointy blades stuck out where his fingernails should've been.

"Who…what are you?" Ryko asked.

"Freddy Krueger's the name…you know my game…" * He paused. "Or maybe you don't. That's even better." He threw his head back and howled with laughter. He had a giant, pointy nose. "I am Freddy Krueger. I used to haunt the realm of dreams. Or nightmares, as most call them. Now, I have my own world…my own universe…my own dimension." He gestured his surroundings, looking at the air and the rocks and the dismal sky with awe, as if it were the garden of the gods. Ryko flinched when Freddy turned back to him with his lip curling in a sour disgusted glare. So opposite from how he'd just looked. "You are here for a reason," he growled. "It is time for your punishment. This is your punishment."

"What?"

Freddy held up the thumb of his normal hand. "First, she knocked herself out for three days trying to save you. She almost died. And then got blamed for the thirty-six people that were killed." He sliced his thumb off with his blades and let out a ferocious laugh. "Then," he said, holding up his pointer finger, "she stopped Yuso from hacking away at you and dicing you up on Kygo's orders." Freddy cut off his pointer finger, blood squirting everywhere. Once again he did that insane, jubilant laugh. Finally, he held up his middle finger. "But this, this is my favorite. She even stopped the boat out at sea from getting hit by the cyclone. You were one of many people she saved." Freddy sliced off the middle finger, and just as soon, his fingers and thumb grew back. "But you just keep on bitching."* He frowned and then looked up at Ryko, as if coming to a deep realization. "But hell…why tell when I can show?"

Ryko wrenched out his sword and started running toward Freddy with it. Out of nowhere, an invisible wall hit him, almost knocking him out. He stumbled backwards, sword still at the ready. Ready for Freddy. Ryko swung it around, the sword hitting something that he couldn't see. An invisible force field that separated him from Freddy. He tried again and again. He lowered his sword and glared at Freddy, who was standing a mere few feet away, waving mockingly. Ryko reached out with the tip of his finger and felt the place he could not pass. Then he took all his fingers and gently grazed them across the surface. It felt like glass, but there was no shine or glare or even any fingerprints left over after touching it. He hit it a couple times, kicked it, rammed his body against it, and tried stabbing it with his sword. Nothing worked. Not a single dent. He'd only exhausted himself while Freddy stood there, arms crossed, waiting patiently.

Panting, Ryko looked up at Freddy. Freddy spread his arms out, as if offering himself to Ryko. "Come and get me!"

Ryko felt around along the length of the barrier, which led through the woods, each ending at opposite edges of the cliff. The speck of land they were on seemed to have no escape. There seemed to be no way around the barrier toward Freddy's side, not that it looked like there was much over there anyway. Ryko pushed as hard as he could, with all his might, against it, but nothing happened.

"Normally, they say if you can't get it the first time, 'try, try again'. But if you can't get it the hundredth time, I say you humans are full of shit," Freddy chuckled.

"You are a gutless cowardly insect," Ryko snarled. "Why do you need to be protected from me? Why don't you try fighting? Grow a spine!"

"This is my way of fighting! You don't think it would be a fair fight between an already-burnt up guy like me against a big, muscular guy like you?" Freddy pretended to file his 'nails'—his claws. "And you want to talk about needing protection? That's a load coming from a man that needed to run to mommy because a teenage girl accidentally compelled him a few times."

Ryko could feel the veins in his neck throb. He was going to kill this rotten thing.

"But I've dealt with momma's boys before. The biggest one was Jason."*

Ryko mostly ignored him—who was Jason?—and continued pressing his hands against the barrier. "How…how the did you do this?"

"My boy. I have a wide range of powers. If you thought that the Mirror Dragoneye was one powerful gal, you're in for something real bad. And this time, she ain't her to save your sorry ass." The last thing Ryko saw before being knocked out was Freddy's claws pointing at him and the flash of a bright green light.*

Ryko had a strange dream about Vida. He couldn't quite remember what it was about or what role she played in it. It was one of those vague and ambiguous dreams that lacked any real detail, only few specific figures, such as Vida. The girl was fresh in his mind when he awoke.

Bright light crept into the edges of Ryko's vision and his face felt hot. He thought there might be a fire nearby. As he came to, he realized the blinding heat came from the sun. It must've been the noonday sun, for it was at its strongest point. He was also a lot closer to it, high up in the trees, nearing the unhidden tops that could not escape the sun's rays. They seemed to lash out at him like flaming arrows.

"Good thing you're not a vampire," Freddy called up from the ground. "You'd be toast right about now. Literally."

Ryko looked down. He tried to move but realized why he was so high in the air—he was stuck inside a net trap hanging from a tree. He maneuvered around awkwardly to look down, facing Freddy. His fingers gripped the little holes and Ryko tried to keep his breathing even, not wanting his anger to fuel the already sweltering temperature. "So the reason you knocked me out was to put me up in this net. Because you couldn't do it yourself. A cockroach has more honor than you."

Freddy mocked hurt feelings. "Aww. That really stings. We were just getting to know each other too." Freddy waved away the sarcasm. "Like I said, this is how I fight. And honor?" Freddy started off with a low giggle, which turned into a stifled laugh, eventually exploding into a fit of elated, triumphant guffaws. He held his sides, tears coming out of his eyes. "I'm having a ball here! I'm having a blast!" Freddy aimed a fireball from his fingers to a nearby tree, causing the thick trunk to rip off and crash to the ground, the thunderous impact making the entire area shake. Yet somehow, Freddy still managed to keep his feet planted on the ground in the exact spot he'd been standing in. He didn't sway a bit. "Literally," he said, gesturing toward the destruction he'd just created.

There was smoke rising up from the damage, causing Ryko to cough several times before asking, "How long have I been out?"

"Did you have a nice sleep?"

"HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN OUT?"

"Three days, to my knowledge. Hm…the same number of days Eona was unconscious after she healed you. Causing much devastation in its wake. Speaking of which…" He ran toward a copse of trees and pulled a screaming figure out by the hair. "Viva la Vida!" Freddy practically squealed, mocking her horror. Vida struggled to get free from his grasp, but Freddy's strong hold was like a vice grip. A river of green bile erupted inside her and squirted out of her mouth, dribbling onto the ground. Freddy bent over to take a look at it, looked back up at Ryko with a blank expression, and shrugged.*

Ryko quickly dug his sword through the netting, freeing himself and falling to the ground, landing with an earsplitting bang! Gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain, he got up and threw his sword straight towards Freddy. It flew right through Freddy's torso.

Wild and scattered thoughts flitted around in Ryko's mind through all of this. Had he really been out for three days, or was Freddy just messing with him? He didn't exactly feel like he'd been out for three days…he didn't feel like he'd awoken from a heavy sleep, and he wasn't weak from hunger or thirst…and what was Vida doing here? How did she get here?

How did they both get here? And what was this place?

Ryko's thoughts came to a halt when he noticed Freddy pulling the sword out of his stomach. Blood dripped from it, but Freddy just smiled and stood there, his other hand still gripping Vida's hair. He snatched a tighter handful of it. By now she was whimpering quietly, having given up on trying to get away. She didn't even seem to notice Ryko. It was like she was suffering from hysteria or delusions. She probably thought she was hallucinating the whole thing, or that it was one big nightmare.

Freddy threw the sword back at Ryko, who caught it, and Freddy wagged a finger at him like a parent admonishing their child. "Sticks and stones…may break my bones…but no sword can ever kill me."* He took a step forward. "Because I. Am. Immortal."* He paused, holding a claw to his mouth as if deep in thought. He widened his eyes and grinned. He started to nod. "Yes. Yes," he whispered. "You may not have killed me, but that's still going to cost you. So you know what? I'm feeling…generous today. I'll grant you a very special power, Ryko."

Ryko felt a jab within him and for a second felt excruciating pain. He would've doubled over and moaned, but it was gone before he knew it and he saw Freddy smile knowingly toward him. "But beware," Freddy said. "If you use it the wrong way, there could be very dire consequences."

Ryko gripped the handle of his sword, wanting with all his might to thrust it back into Freddy's body. But he knew it wouldn't do any good. And when he stepped forward, he felt that invisible barrier again. "What do you mean?" he asked through gritted teeth. "What are you talking about?"

"Your power is to pull people in and out of this world.* You've got the ability to bring someone to this land—or you can set them free and send them back to your own world. One such way of bringing them here is by dreaming about them." Freddy grinned and yanked Vida towards him. She let out a little screech. "Much like you did with her." Now Freddy was holding Vida up in the air with one hand by the neck. She hung there in his iron grip, her legs flailing, her nails digging into his arms, anything to get away. But it was like a rat trying to escape an anaconda's hold.

Ryko's stomach lurched, but he kept his face even, not giving away that Freddy was right. Ryko had dreamt about Vida. He wasn't too familiar with the girl, but she'd been with them from almost the very start of their journey. Alongside him, Dela, and many others, she was not only a resistance fighter, but also an emotionally strong girl, having lost thirty-six people in her village when Eona—

"Did you say 'emotionally strong'? HA!" Freddy snorted. "If you consider it emotionally strong to play the blame game, act like she's the first person in history to lose someone, wrongfully convict and condemn someone, and sit on the sidelines bitching like a little hyena, then sure! Vida takes first prize."

"Did you just read my mind?"

"I'm sorry," Freddy said, shrugging. "I guess that was a little mean. Hyenas aren't that whiny."

"You're lying. You claim you've just given me that power, but then how would that be possible if Vida was here long before now?"

"I can pull people here anytime I please! Only you have the power to send them back. One such way of sending them back…one such way is something you are all too familiar with."

"And just what is that? I'm in no mood to play your games, and I have no time for your crap."

"You have all the time in the world," Freddy corrected. "And your power…the one you're familiar with…compulsion." Freddy chuckled and snorted. "If you can compel Vida for a long enough time, then she will be thrust back into the real world. But you have to compel her for a good ten seconds at least. Will be nice to not be on the receiving end of something like that for a change, won't it, Ryko?" Freddy said his name cooingly, as though talking to a baby.

Ryko let out a disgusted growl. "No," he said flatly. No way would he ever put someone through something like that. It was barbaric, cruel, worse than death itself. It was pure evil. He wouldn't do it, even if he believed what this monster was telling him. "You're lying."

"Lying about what?"

"Don't play stupid with me. You're definitely lying…you're trying to get me to use compulsion on her to do your bidding, but it's not going to help her get back. Not at all. I don't believe you for one second."

"Have it your way." Faster than a cheetah, Freddy dug his claw horizontally right through Vida's cheeks. He pushed it outward, ripping apart the skin that brought together her upper and lower lips, thus creating a permanent smile. He then extended that 'smile' by slicing her cheeks up to each of her ears. The classic Glasgow grin. Freddy turned to Ryko. "Smile, Vida! We've got company!"

Vida was screeching and writhing in Freddy's arms as red spittle oozed from her mouth. Her teeth and tongue were bright red now too, matching the blood dripping right beneath each of her ears.

"No!" Ryko screamed. He lunged toward them, only to be knocked back by that invisible force field Freddy could seem to put up whenever he pleased. And with no effort whatsoever. He could do anything without effort. Such as what he did next—pull Vida's head back and slash Vida's throat as her body went limp, blood pouring from her neck. Her body slumped to the ground in a heap of blood-red cloth. Ryko watched helplessly on the sidelines, eyes wide.

"D'awww. What a shame," Freddy said sarcastically. "She looked so pretty too…in fact, she sort of resembled Kuchisake-onna."*

"You…you…" Ryko realized it was not anger holding words back. It was fear. He squashed the thought as soon as it arose, not wanting to even think about fear itself.

"Boy, your day just seems to be getting worse and worse. But don't worry, barely even a second has passed back in your normal world. That's what's so great about this one—time here can go on and on forever without a single thing happening in your own world. Forever." Freddy cackled with laughter, leaning his head back as if to laugh at the sky, holding his arms and hands out as if to encompass it all in his grasp. "This is my world…and you're just a little fly in it." He paused. "No, scratch that. You're just my little bitch."

"You control everyone and everything at your will," Ryko said through gritted teeth. He grinded his teeth so hard that he thought they would break. "You are so power-hungry and evil, even worse than Ido. And that is saying something."

Freddy pouted and then started nodding sympathetically. "You poor, poor thing…you are absolutely right. Ido ain't got nothing on me."

"Don't patronize me."

"Of course not, never!" Freddy said, walking toward him and reaching up to pet Ryko's head. "My little Ryky-baby."

Ryko swung his sword around and sliced off Freddy's head. It went rolling into a thin patch of grass near some rocks and sand. Ryko cringed when the head rolled back over to him and said, "Sorry, still not the answer Ryko-psycho. You can't beat me."

Ryko drove his sword toward the head, missing and hitting the ground as Freddy's head flew up. "H-how rich that you would c-call someone else a psycho," Ryko stuttered as he watched Freddy's head situate itself back up on his shoulders, spinning around a couple times before finally fusing itself back with the skin on his neck. Now it looked like it had never been severed in the first place.

"This is far from over, Ryko. More damage will be done that you won't be able to undo. Just wait."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you'll see," Freddy said cheerily. "You'll know soon enough. Trust me. Freddy knows best."* The smile evaporated and he leaned toward Ryko, grazing his chin with a blade. Ryko clenched his teeth. "Bring me more," Freddy said softly.* Then he held up his bloodied, bladed hand. "Until then." He disappeared in a puff of smoke and Ryko knew he'd be seeing more of this beast later on.

Ryko sucked in his breath. This was all getting unbelievably bizarre. It couldn't have been real. But it felt so real. Much like the invisible barrier that seemed to surround the entire patch of land he was on. Wary of it, he lightly touched the barrier with the palm of his hand, running it up and down and around and around, and he walked around in a large circle, probably a mile in circumference, until he was right back at the spot he began at. He didn't think about what came out of his mouth just then. It made no sense. In a normal world, when he was unhappy—whether it was anger or misery or loneliness or fright—he would never call to anyone. He had to just swallow it, choke it back, and never let anyone know it ever existed. It was never there in the first place. But if he WERE to call to someone, it would've been Dela. Hands down. She was the one he trusted the most, the one he had the strongest connection to.

So why, then, did he just call Chart's name?

It had been low and quiet, so quiet he thought he might've only thought it. But then there was an explosive BOOM! that echoed and made the entire area shake so hard that Ryko felt the earth swept out from under his feet like a carpet and his body slammed down on the ground. It was only for a moment, but some of the trees were still rattling when it was over. What was that? He got his answer when he turned and saw the boy, cowering on the ground, eyes wide and staring at all that was around him. His eyes fixed on Ryko and widened even more, as if to say, What's going on? Then he tried to stand up.

Ryko rushed over and helped the boy stand steadily on his two legs. Damn it! He'd called Chart into this world. Chart was still getting used to his newly straightened-out spine. "R-Ryko…" he said slowly. "Where…is this place?" Chart glanced around much more, his teeth starting to chatter. "I don't know how I got here. But I don't like it. I don't even know why—it just gives me a horrible feeling!" His voice shook.

"Chart, we have to get you out of here. There's more to this place than meets the eye, I swear."

"I promise," Freddy cackled.

Chart jumped around, seeing Freddy standing there behind him. Freddy waved. Chart probably would've screamed if his voice hadn't been caught in his throat. The poor kid may never even speak again after this. So much for the healing, Ryko thought.

Freddy reached out and tried to grab Chart, but Ryko was between them in a flash. "You will NOT get to him without going through me—" But before the words were out of his mouth, Freddy was gone. Ryko spun around. Freddy held his arms out and both of them grew and grew and grew before Ryko's eyes. Then, they turned into two green, slithering, hissing snakes and flew off. Toward Chart.

Each of them latched onto Chart's wrists while simultaneously latching onto tree branches with their other ends, hauling him high up in the air until he was hanging by his wrists, a blood-curdling scream escaping his mouth.

Freddy stood armless for a moment and then his arms grew back. He glared up at Chart. "Awww…how sweet. You ungrateful little shit."*

Ryko started toward a tree nearby to climb, getting his sword out, ready to cut down the snakes that were holding Chart up. Problem was, Freddy set the barrier up again before Ryko could get to the tree. This time it was solid glass.

Ryko skidded to a halt and jumped back before slamming into it, landing on his feet like a big, sturdy cat. He slammed his sword against the glass, but it would not break. It was as though it were steel disguised as glass.

Freddy grinned from the other side of it. "The only way you can save him, Ryko, is if you compel him. Otherwise, I'll rip off the bottom half of his body, so that you can see his guts flow out. But I made it easy for you. They'll blend right in with the snakes, so that you can't tell which is which!"

Ryko ground his teeth together, his eyes growing so wide he thought they'd pop out of their sockets. No…I can't. I can't do that.

"Oh," Freddy said, nodding. "But you must."

I can't do this…I can't do this.

"Think about what I just said. In fact, allow me to give you a demonstration." Freddy sliced his own stomach open, not appearing to feel a thing, and dug his hand in, creating a hole. He pulled it out, a clump of slimy, wet, stringy-looking stuff sliding between his fingers.

Ryko's body lurched forward and gagged. He tried to focus on the ground, but it seemed like it was getting closer and closer. He kept gagging, not being able to stop, so much that his sides hurt. YOU CAN'T. YOU CAN'T DO THAT, RYKO. Now he was talking to himself. IT WOULD GO AGAINST EVERYTHING YOU'VE EVER STOOD FOR, AND YOU WILL BECOME THE VERY THING YOU HATE MOST.

Ryko squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head fiercely. Sweat dripped down his face, pouring from every pore on his body. "I won't do it, Krueger. I won't!"

"That's right. Bend for me, baby. Come on, Ryko. Let's give it a chance. Let's do it together, shall we? It'll be as easy as pie. As easy as your ABC's and 1,2,3s. As easy as simply putting one foot in front of the other…"

Ryko felt his heartbeat slide under Chart's. NO! he screamed in his mind. No, no… "No!" But he felt something else inside him…something else sliding before his own heartbeat… Freddy.

Freddy was compelling Ryko…Freddy was compelling Ryko to compel Chart! Ryko KNEW he didn't choose this!

He could feel his head and body getting heavy, moving downward toward the ground. He hadn't been imagining the ground coming closer and closer to him…it was. Freddy was compelling him…but Freddy was also walking towards him. Freddy walked right through the glass as if it were air. "Well hell," Freddy said, "well hell. Why compel when I can quell you on my own?" He gripped a hold of the back of Ryko's head with one hand, and pushed it to the ground, pressing and grinding his face against the dirt and sand. Ryko's moans and curses were muffled, as he tried to get up, but Freddy was too strong. He hand was like a boulder weighing down on his head. Finally Freddy let go and Ryko sat up, gasping and coughing. He wasn't being compelled anymore. He keeled over. Then Freddy grabbed Ryko's shoulders and threw him against the barrier. Ryko slammed against the glass, sliding down slowly, trying to not pass out. There were several colors clouding his vision, creating a dense, foggy haze.

"Stupid boy," Freddy muttered, looking down at Ryko scathingly.* It was absurd how quickly this creature could change his facial expression, tone of voice, and overall personality in a heartbeat.

Freddy's face was now half an inch away from Ryko's. Freddy's tongue slithered out of his mouth, and flapped up and down at lightning speed like a snake's.* Ryko could feel Freddy's hot breath on his skin. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Chart, hanging lifeless from the tree. The snakes that had been holding him were now nothing more than mere vines. What were all of these illusions that this monster was creating?

"Who's next?" Freddy whispered.

Ryko walked through the woods, slapping his face every now and again to keep himself awake. He couldn't allow himself to fall asleep—no way would he bring anybody else to this world. How did I get here in the first place? That was the big question. If he could find out how he got here, he could find out how to get back. It had all happened when he asked Eona to compel him. She'd refused initially. "You'll die," she'd said. "We'll all die," he'd insisted. That's when it had happened…was this all Sethon's doing? Did he have some hidden, unheard of power to cast people into completely different worlds with monsters and creatures never seen before? If Ryko wasn't there to give his life force to Eona, thus breaking Sethon's hold on her and Kygo, how were they to stop Sethon?

"How is any of this possible?" he shouted at the top of his lungs. How could time go on forever here, and not ever there? Does that mean he was still there, having convinced Eona to compel him already? How could he be in two places at once?

"I'm not even thirsty or hungry…that's not right…it must have been at least a couple days since I've been here. But I'm tired…and I'm talking to myself…and I'm tired…" He grabbed hold of a tree trunk and whammed his head against it as hard as he could. He hoped it wouldn't end up defeating the purpose and knocking him out. Ryko was truly losing it.

Snap.

He spun around.

Snap.

He spun in the other direction.

Snap, snap, snap!

"Come on out, Freddy!" Ryko screamed.

"Who is Freddy?" came a confused, quiet voice. Eona emerged from some of the thick shrubbery. It was easier for her small figure to be hidden among everything. There was no cut on her face. Of course…because there never had been. It had all been Freddy earlier. She also looked alarmed, unlike Freddy's disguise of her earlier on. Still though, Ryko was taking no chances again.

He looked her up and down. "Are you the real Eona?" he demanded.

Eona's head snapped in his direction, startled, as though just noticing him there for the first time. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you weren't the real Eon, were you?" It wasn't fair to bring that up at a time like this, but after seeing the deaths of Vida and Chart, still not having a clue as to what this place was and being terrorized by a fried demon with claws for hands, he wasn't in the mood to be nice or welcoming right now.

"That's because I was going to get executed on the spot," Eona said calmly. She said it so calmly it was as if she were casually commenting on the trees or the grass. "I was kind of afraid of that. Kind of."

"My lady—"

"Shut up and listen." Now ice coated her voice. "It's not something you would ever know about because you don't have to hide what you are. Why? Because everybody fucking loves you. You're not a woman living in a world that hates women. You're a man living in a world that loves men. And I'm sorry things haven't gone your way. I'm sorry I woke up after healing you. I'm sorry I decided to heal you after Dela begged me to do it. I'm sorry I listened to her, knowing it might ruin a whole village, WHICH IT DID!" she roared. Ryko looked stunned by her abrupt mood swing.

Ryko felt a brief connection to his heartbeat, to his Hua, a brief sensation of panic and terror, but it was gone. "Are you trying to compel me again?" he hissed.

"No! I've never 'tried' to compel you!" she hissed back. She stood directly in front of him with her hands on her hips, her eyes boring right into his. She turned on her heel. "Find your own way back," she snapped.

"My lady," he said in such a grim voice that she turned back to him slowly, dreading what he would say next. "There is a menace around here that is not like anything I've ever seen. It…doesn't seem to die no matter what you do to it."

Eona narrowed her eyes. "Why did you ask me if I was the 'real' Eona?"

"Because it can morph into other people. I've seen it do it at least once." He absolutely refused to refer to it as a him, despite it being obvious that Freddy was a male of whatever godforsaken species he was from.

"So…there was an imposter of me here?" Eona asked uneasily.

"There was…" He glanced around warily. Cautioned, Eona did the same.

An explosion of fire made both of them jump and draw their swords. Though Ryko had to admit, it was more out of habit than anything.

A wall of fire was raging just a few feet in front of them and a silhouette appeared. Freddy emerged, walking right through it.* He walked toward them, clapping a slow clap. He stopped a few feet in front of Eona. Her sword was poised, at the ready. "He makes me sick too," Freddy said, gesturing toward Ryko.

"Who are you?" Eona said. Ryko could tell she was struggling to stay calm. He was by her side now, and she briefly let her eyes flit over to him. His eyebrows were wrinkled in worry.

Freddy removed his hat and bowed in front of Eona. "Frederick Charles Krueger, at your service. Pleased to make your acquaintance." He straightened back up and looked her up and down, a slow smile creeping along his face that Ryko didn't like. "How sweet. Dragoneye meat."*

Eona turned to Ryko and gaped. His mouth was a rigid, straight line. Oh, by the gods. This can't happen, he thought. Eona was the only hope the empire had left. As the Mirror Dragoneye, everyone was counting on her.

"Be careful, my lady. Swords don't work against him."

"What do you want?" Eona said.

"I quite admire your unending patience and impossible capacity to take all of the excrement thrown your way by your so-called allies, Eona, my lady," Freddy said. "But it's getting revolting. And this is coming from a guy with burnt skin who hasn't brushed his teeth in a couple decades."

"I'll ask again: What is it that you want?"

"I want to make the world go 'round," Freddy said joyfully. "I want to make the world go 'round…"

Soon, the ground started to shake, starting with a tremor and slowly working its way up the Richter scale until it reached a violent status. Ryko expected a big crack to separate the ground any minute now. Instead, the ground jerked him and Eona sideways, and they went tumbling down a steep slope. One that seemed to be getting steeper and steeper and steeper…until it was basically a wall they were sliding down. The tree trunks, on the contrary, became horizontal, making it easy for Ryko to land on one on the way down. He hung from it with his arms, gripping the bark so hard his hands started to bleed. He couldn't see anything around him except falling trees and showering debris. It was like a tornado. Finally he swung his legs up and wrapped his arms and legs around the tree trunk, staring down in horror at the now bottomless, endless earth, hanging on for dear life and praying that nothing would hit him. Freddy was doing it; he was making the world go around.

He heard Eona's screams and twisted his head around. She hadn't caught hold of a tree yet. She was still falling through the air, and he could see her hair flying out around her in all directions. It must've gotten undone sometime when the disaster started. He tried to reach or call out to her, but neither his arms nor his voice was working. She landed on her two feet like a cat on a thick mass of dirt that was now starting to slope upward again, forming horizontal ground. It was like a waterfall of dirt. She skidded down the slope, swords still in hand, until she lost her hold on them and they got stuck in a patch of dirt where the earth was solid ground again. Eona fell to her knees and rolled down the earth, landing on her back and sitting up. She tried to stand, but the dirt was coming down at a dangerously fast rate. It covered her chest and shoulders, and she was leaning her head back, trying to get in some last gulps of air. That was when Freddy, standing above her, dug his arms deep into the earth with strength that no human could possibly have, and lifted her out as easily as if he'd lifted her out of water. Dust and dirt and pebbles came raining down from her body. He shook her a little bit, and more dirt came off. Then he put her down.

Meanwhile, the tree that Ryko was holding on to made a sharp right angle and plunged itself back into the earth, throwing him into the air. He landed with a hard THUD! on the ground. Freddy glanced at Ryko, then glanced down at Eona, and shook his head.

When Ryko emerged, Freddy gave him an annoyed look, as if Ryko were interrupting something. Eona stumbled out of Freddy's grasp to the place where her swords were, yanking them out of the ground, and held both handles in one hand. With the other, she rushed over by Ryko's side, holding her hand out to help him should he lose his balance after that truly terrifying episode.

Eona shuddered. He can control the lands in impossible ways.

"You are both under my power," Freddy said. "You are under my control. You are under my command. You'll do…whatever I want." Freddy snapped his fingers and both Eona and Ryko fell to the ground, asleep.

Several hours later, Ryko sat up, forgetting the hell he was trapped in. He yawned and stretched, suddenly realizing the last thing that had happened. He jumped up, hand on the hilt of his sword. He looked down at Eona's sleeping form—maybe she could use her dragon power here to stop this thing. How long had they been out? Could he shake her from her sleep now, or would he have to wait for it to wear off? He glanced around, hardly daring to breathe, trying to use all his senses to sniff out the beast.

He heard a cough. Eona was sitting up, her face a cloud of pain and torture.

"My lady, are you crying?"

She jumped, startled. When she looked at Ryko, she wiped her eyes harshly, erasing any evidence of tears. "No. No I am not. But I dreamt about a lot of people." She took a deep breath and got her voice back on track. "I dreamt about my mother." Lillia. Ryko remembered the woman now. He'd escorted her outside of the tent before Eona could demonstrate her powers to the crowd, before healing Chart. Lillia had looked just like Eona—the spitting image of her. The only big difference was that Lillia didn't have the hardened warrior gaze Eona often wore, ready to defend anytime there was a threat. "I dreamt about Chart and Vida. I hope they're okay."

Ryko felt a pang throughout his body. Funny you should mention that. But it was the farthest thing from funny. She still cared so much about them even though she hadn't been on the best of terms with them.

"I also dreamt about Dolana, my master, and Dillon," she continued.

He recognized the second two people she mentioned, Dillon and Lord Brannon, but he didn't recognize the first. "Dolana? Who's she?"

"She was someone I grew up with on the salt farm that…my mother sold me to. She taught me some of the mannerisms of males. That was before my master came and took me in."

"Salt farm…" Ryko had heard of horrific things happening at salt farms. At best, there was only one whip master that would beat you nearly unconscious if you did the slightest thing to upset him, and give you a small ration of food two or three times a day. At worse, everyone was against you, because everyone was out for him or herself, and you either starved to death from lack of food each day or you were beaten and tortured gradually over time. Both were slow deaths.

"Most unfortunate," came a hissing voice like a snake. Freddy appeared right in front of them, visualizing before them just as quickly as he had vaporized earlier. "But does Ryko give two rat's asses? Does he even give one rat's ass? NO!" Freddy roared so loudly that it echoed off the trees, made the water in the ocean ripple, and made the ground shake so hard that Eona slammed into Ryko. Some dust particles from the dirt flew up into the air. Ryko waved it away, coughing. "And everybody wants to cry for Ryko—poor, poor Ryko—because his mommy died when he was eight years old. Well at least he got to have a family—you never got to have one, my Lady. Eona," Freddy said in a contrasting, quiet tone. It was almost a whisper. "Do something for me. Do something for me…and for Ryko. Or should I say…to Ryko."

For one horrible moment, Ryko thought Freddy would make Eona choose between compelling Ryko or having Freddy kill him. He knew Eona would choose the former—she'd rather have him hate her than to watch him die.

Ryko glanced nervously toward Eona and then did a double-take. Freddy's claw was now on Eona's right hand, fitting perfectly and fused to her arm as though it were her own hand. Freddy walked over to her and bent down so they were eye to eye. "Rest assured, it's much more effective than your swords. Don't let the size fool you—look how big ol' Ryko is over there, but is he any good?" Freddy nudged Eona playfully.

Ryko's eyes widened in fury. Or maybe fear. Eona couldn't tell which. Possibly both. "You son of a bitch," Ryko said, and he swung his own sword down in a whipping arc towards Freddy, even though subconsciously he knew by this point it was useless, proven when Freddy vaporized once again and appeared behind Ryko and Eona a split-second before they could spin around.

"Come on, Eona," Freddy hissed. "Destroy for me."*

"No!" Eona screamed. She yanked off the glove and threw it on the ground. Before they knew it, is was back on Freddy's hand again. Then she grabbed her own sword and swung it around. It went right through Freddy as if he were a hologram.

"When will you people ever learn?" Freddy sighed. "You can't beat a dead man. One that's already been burned, buried, decapitated, and rinsed with holy water. But you can do a fairly good number on this self-proclaimed 'choice' activist."

"You're trying to manipulate us into killing each other!" Ryko shouted.

"Now, why would I do something like that?"

"You won't be resting assured after I get finished with you," Eona said acidly.

"My lady," Freddy said, a saddened look on his face. It was disconcerting for Ryko to see this thing with an almost human-like emotion. "Don't you get it? These people don't care about you. This dipshit doesn't care about you," he hissed, pointing at Ryko. "He'd just as soon kill you if he was allowed to. If you weren't the Mirror Dragoneye and everybody didn't need you. If it wasn't his 'duty'…" He chuckled at the word. "…To serve you. If there was a fire, he couldn't care less if you were burnt alive in it. If there was quicksand, like the kind in the movies, he and Vida would use you as a bridge to get across." Suddenly Ryko noticed that his feet were stuck in the slightly-damp dirt and when he took a step forward, the spot gave in and it was already up to his knees.

"Oh no," Eona whispered, eyes growing wide. She took her sword sheath and held it out for Ryko. He started to sink more rapidly now, up to his stomach. It was basically a hole with more dirt piling into it the more he went down. "Ryko, don't move!"

"I'm not! Eona…you can't get me out of here. You're not strong enough."

"Yes I can! I can get you out of there! If I can get Yuso out, I can get you out too."

"What?"

"Never mind, just shut up and take the sheath!"

"And you see," Freddy continued, acting like he didn't notice Ryko's predicament at all, "if he did save you from those things, it would only be because Dela asked him to," Freddy continued. "Not because he cares about you himself. To him, you're just a lowly traitor…you're a girl." He glanced toward Ryko, a grin forming. "Oh. Speak of the devil," Freddy said in a deep, low voice. It was almost a growl, but it had a hint of triumph in it. He clapped his hands. "This is most delightful."

"The devil is you," Eona growled back, still focused on getting Ryko out without stepping in the dirt herself. His fingertips were about an inch away from the sheath. Freddy walked onto the dirt, completely unaffected by it. For him, it was solid ground.* She tried stepping forward too, but inched back when she saw the dirt did, in fact, affect her.

"Careful," Freddy said, holding up his hand. "This ground ain't too forgiving to people whose intentions are to help whatever writhing and thrashing victim is in it."

"I am not writhing or thrashing," Ryko said.

"You will be soon," Freddy said. He turned toward Eona. "You are no longer of use to me. I expected…more cooperation." He sighed. "You are far too nice to those who treat you like a sinner when you are in fact a saint. It's a good thing they don't live in my world. They'd never survive. You may go now." He held his non-clawed hand out toward Eona, his fingertips facing her direction, and blue flashes of light spiked out from them like lightning. The last thing Ryko saw was her mouth hang open in shock, and she disappeared.

"What did you do?" he bellowed.

"Do not worry about her. She is safe, back in her real world like she is supposed to be. You on the other hand…you should be worrying about yourself, Ryko. But you've always had a real problem with that, haven't you? You've always been worrying more about what others are doing with their personal lives, rather than just minding your own damn business."

The dirt was now right under Ryko's armpits and Freddy stood above him. Then, he scratched his crotch. Freddy sighed. "Oh dear. I think I may need to take a leak." He saw the horrified expression on Ryko's face and laughed. "On second thought, it can wait. There is something I need to get out of the way first." He reached down, his hand coming toward Ryko. Ryko took a deep breath, waiting for Freddy to push him under. So he was surprised when he felt Freddy's hand grip him around the neck and yank him out, dirt and mud clinging to Ryko's body. Freddy held him up, high in the air, like a he was a child.

"So how does it feel," Freddy said, "being picked on by somebody who's not your own size? Huh? Eh? Eh?!" Freddy let out an invigorating laugh, one that almost sounded orgasmic. It was a laugh that turned into a scream. It sounded something like, "HA, hahahaha! HAAAAAAAA, hahahahahahahaha!"* He stopped abruptly and looked up at Ryko, squirming in the air. "Of course, the ideal would be someone bigger than you doing this, not smaller, because god knows you love picking on people smaller than you who can't possibly fight back. You're a pro at it." He rubbed his chin, in deep thought. "I think I've found an even better way to do this."

Freddy began stomping somewhere—where, Ryko couldn't tell. His back was facing whatever direction Freddy was heading in, and all he could see was the woods moving farther and farther away from him. Suddenly he could smell salt, and it was getting stronger and stronger. They were out of the woods now…

Oh no.

"Sayonara, Ryko-san!"*

Ryko's screams echoed upward as he fell through the air, the scenery passing by him in a blur…and Freddy up above him, waving down. Even though he was now just a dot on the edge of the cliff, Ryko could still hear him in his mind whispering, "Have a nice swim."

SPLASH!

Ryko had a hard time keeping his face above the surface, but succeeded for a little while. Anytime water entered his mouth (though he tried to keep it closed for the most part), he moaned and spit it out, gagging. He shook his head back and forth, trying to rid himself of the water, and the only other thing he could see and feel was the algae. Everything was green. The smell was foul. He tried lifting his arms up but he eventually became too tired and exhausted. He finally surrendered, the water and algae rising up above his mouth, and then his nose, and then finally his eyes. He shut his eyes and let the dark waters take him in.

Ryko awoke flat on his back on a slat of wood. His wrists and ankles were bound by steel handcuffs on metal bars surrounding the wood. It was like a bed without the mattress.

"I can't believe I'm being this merciful," a voice said. "The bed should've had spikes coming up out of it so that you could suffer even more."

"Who's there?" Ryko looked around, seeing that he was inside a small empty dirty building—more like a shack—with no lights. He could see because of the sunlight filtering through the cracks and crevices and unfilled pieces of the broken walls around him.

"Hey, assfuck. Up here."*

Ryko snapped his head in the direction of the voice, and saw Freddy standing to his left, smiling down at him. "You know, that water you were just in was full of it. I mean really FULL OF IT. It's drained from sewers all over different parts. I have a friend named Pennywise* who knows all about it. He roams around those sewers, seeing all of the piss and shit and waste that go into them."

Ryko closed his eyes and gritted his teeth, letting out an exasperated exhale. "Okay. I didn't need to know all that."

"What difference does it make? You're basically the same thing anyway. So it's just shit mixing with shit. Nothing that's a big deal."

"You just…won't let me die. Will you."

"No. I couldn't do that," Freddy said. "You see, if I did that, then you wouldn't get to know how it feels to get treated like shit. Over and over and OVER again! You struggling in that sea was my third demonstration of what would've happened to you had your Lady Dragoneye Eona not saved you. The cyclone would've gotten you guys, and you'd all be dead food for the fish. You're lucky I didn't leave you in there. A pair of jaws* was waiting for you. You've got an awful lot to learn about how to be more thankful for the people who care about you no matter how much you treat them like SHIT!" The whole building shook, sand flew off the walls, and Ryko shook on the table, his wrists digging into the sharp steel of the handcuffs. He hissed in pain, and he could already feel blood on them.

At the mention of Eona, Ryko had an idea. "Eona," he said, just barely above a whisper. "Eona! EONA!" he shouted.

"No," Freddy said. "I took away your power to call and bring people into this world because you weren't doing it right. Besides, now you get to know what it feels like to have something snatched away from you so fast. Just like how you snatched away all of Eona's friends from her so that she would suffer all alone while YOU mope around acting like the victim. Pathetic fuck," Freddy spat.

Then the top part of the slat of wood Ryko was on snapped upward, like a dentist chair. He was partly sitting up now, facing forward. In front of him, Freddy pulled a blackboard over and held a ruler, pointing at a list of words written on the board in white chalk. He pointed the ruler threateningly in Ryko's direction. "You best pay attention. There might not be any hope for someone as dumb as you, but Freddy will drill these words into your brain if it's the last thing Freddy does!" He turned to the board. "Let's start with lesson number one," Freddy said gleefully. "Vocabulary." He pointed his ruler at the first word. "'Choice.'" Freddy cleared his throat. "'Noun. An option; a decision; an opportunity to choose or select something.'"* Freddy turned his head and glared at Ryko. "In other words, Eona exercised this right when she hid her identity to make sure that she could survive. But you wanted to take her choice away to do that. Also, she exercised this right when she chose to keep you alive, even if it meant having to compel you. But you tried to take away her choice to do that too. And all the while, we're supposed to be hugging you and crying over you and covering you with big smooching kisses—" Freddy bent down and landed a wet one on top of Ryko's head, to which Ryko roared in rage and attempted to lunge at Freddy, to no avail. "—We're supposed to be doing all that," Freddy continued, "due to the fact that you watched your mother die when you were eight years old. That, apparently, is the origin of you wanting to keep your ability to have a 'choice' in things. Yet, you want to put a sixteen-year old girl through that same exact torture? You want her to not have a choice too when it comes to saving someone that might be dying right in front of her? What a selfish…" Freddy wacked Ryko on the cheek with the ruler. "Selfish…" He wacked him on the other cheek, Ryko's head snapping in the other direction. "SELFISH LITTLE BASTARD YOU ARE!" Freddy slammed the ruler down on Ryko's head five times, each time the ruler making a sharp sound in the air like a sword swinging down. Each time, it also made a sound like a whip cracking. Ryko was certain his skull would crack and that his head would start bleeding any moment now.

Ryko's vision blurred a little and then it evened out again. It took all his might just to stay conscious, though he wondered briefly if maybe it would be better to just let unconsciousness take over again. He panted, straining to keep the edges of his vision from getting too dark.

Freddy tapped the ruler against the palm of his hand impatiently, waiting for Ryko to recover. "Are we ready to continue? Lesson number two: 'Honor. Noun. The state of being morally upright, honest, noble, virtuous, and magnanimous.'"* Freddy bit down on his lips. He clutched a hand to his stomach. His eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head just from the mere effort of trying to keep it inside. Finally, he couldn't keep it in anymore. He burst into some of the loudest laughter Ryko had ever heard. It echoed off the walls. Freddy was practically screeching his laughter, and Ryko could feel it pierce within his ears. "Honest? Noble?" Freddy asked incredulously. "These are things you think describe you? Are you out of your godforsaken MIND?" He stumbled over to the left wall, his knees buckling from so much laughter, barely able to stand any longer. He banged the wall with his fist several times, making sure to get every last bit of laughter out of him. A few minutes later, when he'd finally calmed down, Freddy walked back over to the board. "Oh," he said, still giggling a little, "that was good. I needed a break from all this serious stuff, you know? You're always good for a laugh, Ryko." He came over and pet Ryko on the head. "My little clown. We ought to send you to the circus so you can really show off your hilarity. Oh, and just for the record, that first part of the definition? The part that says, 'Morally upright?' Well, I don't know about morally upright, but you certainly are upright figuratively-speaking with that damn stick you always have shoved straight up your ass.

"You seem to think you're some kind of god or something. Like you're the bringer of all that is good. Well I can tell you now, you ignorant little shit, that you don't have a shred of honor in you." Freddy paused. "And if you're God, then I am the Devil, and I will seriously cut you down so fast you'll be screaming like the pussy you are.

"Now, back to business!" Freddy banged the ruler on the board, chalk dust flying everywhere. "Next word! 'Betrayal. Noun. Synonyms: Treachery, Treason.'* Hmmm, sounds kinda weird then that you would accuse Eona of such, considering she stuck by your pathetic ass throughout the whole thing, constantly apologizing to you when there was nothing to apologize for, and always worrying about you and wondering if you were okay or not. Boy, you sure do need to learn your words. You must've failed miserably in school!" Freddy whipped a claw against Ryko's cheek, drawing blood. "But that's okay…that's alright…you know why?" Freddy grinned and wrote on the board with his claw (the scratching made a hideous sound that Ryko regrettably could not cover his ears against, due to his wrists being bound),* 'Learning is fun with Freddy!'* In dripping red blood. Ryko's blood.

"I guess it's true what they say," Freddy sighed. "You can't fix stupid."

Suddenly Freddy grabbed Ryko's leg, ripped the fabric away from the shin, and pressed the tips of his blades to the leg, gently running them up and down as if to find a good spot. Once he found it, he dug them in and tore away a large chunk of flesh. Ryko could not contain himself any longer; he screamed. Freddy traced his blades to the back of Ryko's leg and sliced the skin open there too, splitting it in half, and then he dug through it as if he were digging for treasure. Ryko growled and hissed in pain, his eyes squeezed shut, sweat thick on his face. His voice went up to unbelievable pitches he never knew he had. Freddy tore off another portion of flesh.

"AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ryko screeched.

The flesh went flying through the air.

"Hm," Freddy said, looking thoughtful. He put a hand to his chin, as if contemplating what to do next in an everyday activity, like cooking or gardening. Ryko, for what he could still make sense in the world, could envision an imaginary ticking time clock in the air above Freddy's head, and then a ding! sound. Freddy's face lit up, as if a light bulb had gone off in his head, and he held one finger up. "Ah!"

He turned his back on Ryko for a minute and started rummaging around in a box near the blackboard that Ryko hadn't noticed was there. It took a couple minutes, and with each passing minute, Ryko felt more and more close to death. Only this was even slower and more painful than any compulsion could do. He was practically whimpering at this point, the raw pain in his leg going up the rest of his body. The warm and sticky blood was everywhere on his leg and dripped to the ground too. He could feel his body losing a lot of it.

"Ah, here we go!" Freddy said. He walked over to Ryko with a large bottle of hand sanitizer.

Ryko's eyes widened, and his lip quivered. "W-wha…what is that?"

"Hand sanitizer," Freddy answered. He held it up above Ryko's bleeding leg. "Lots and lots of hand sanitizer."

Ryko shook his head fiercely. "Please…" he moaned. "Please don't."

"Why not?" Freddy asked. "Because it'll hurt? I'll go search for a fuck to give…" He returned back to the box and rummaged around some more. Three seconds later he returned. "I CAN'T FIND ANY!"

"No!" Ryko cried, but Freddy was already pumping the sanitizer onto Ryko's bleeding leg.

"One pump, two pump, three pump, four. Five pump, six pump, seven pump, more!" Freddy squealed. He rubbed the sanitizer into Ryko's deep wounds.

Ryko didn't know how long he screamed and wailed. His screeches eventually died out, his voice dry and nonexistent, but his whole body still shrieked, feeling like it was on fire. Tears poured out of his eyes, dried, and then more came. He panted and gritted his teeth and kept hearing Freddy say over and over, "One, two, some sanitizer for you…Three, four, here you go, some more…Five, six, I do it for kicks…Seven, eight, you make me irate…Nine, ten, now we start again!"*

One two, Freddy's coming for you…

Three four, better lock your door…

Five six, grab your crucifix…

Seven eight, better stay awake…

Nine ten, never sleep again…

…

…

…*

He was back. He could see Eona was too. He strongly felt he couldn't say the same for Vida and Chart, regrettably. Ryko shuddered, thinking about the last moments those two must have suffered. He sent a prayer to the gods to watch over them.

Both of them were in the same places, on their knees, prisoners of war to Sethon. Ryko and Eona stared at each other for a moment, as if time froze. Neither one of them dared speak a word of what just happened. It would forever remain a mystery, the realm of Freddy Krueger. Their heads were still spinning from the experience.

Eona nodded her agreement to compel him, like he'd told her to do only a few seconds ago, even though it seemed nearly a lifetime ago.

As his Hua cut off, his life force snapping in half, he could hear in a dark distant place that laughter echoing off the walls in his head. Freddy. That was his name. He would never forget the name. And the last thing Ryko heard was that deep growling voice saying, "Have a nice sleep—your girlfriend's next."

That is the end of Ryko's tale. Tune in for Part II, where another character will be in for a whirlwind of hell and fury, all courtesy of Freddy Krueger.