"A Nightmare to Remember" by Ryley Breen AKA Shadow Master

email : rybreen@theberries.ns.ca

Dream Plane, 9:50p.m

You have *got* to be kidding me! Elisa thought to herself as she came up on the site of the blast and saw the three on one battle going on down below her.

While she had been flying towards the source of the blast she had tried to determine what Freddy was up to and what she would find when she arrived there but she never expected to find a mishmash of Dragonball Z characters fighting each other. Not that she had any real idea of what to expect in any case but she had been almost certain that Freddy wouldn't have decided to use characters from the same TV show as he did against her a little while ago. The three aggressors she didn't have all that much information on but she was pretty sure that the two teenage looking ones were androids 17 and 18 but the third one was unfamiliar to her. The third warrior looked kinda like Picollo but he had aqua blue skin and extremely exagerrated muscles which made the round thing on his shoulders look more like a pimple than a head. As for the one they were fighting against it was clear that whoever it was was stuck in the role of Krillin and was getting the crap kicked out of him. That was not all that surprising given that according to what she had seen of the cartoon the little bald guy was the weakest of the Z fighters. That kinda got her wondering how he had lasted this long against such powerhouses considering the supposed differences in power levels and obvious size disadvantages. Could this be some sort of elaborate trap for her? Was she supposed to fly down there to help the litle guy only to be stabbed in the back later? Whatever the case was she would have to decide quick because she had a feeling that her cueball-head comrade was about five steps away from being buried.

Ah what the hell! After all this *is* just a dream and that means I can make whatever I want happen here. she thought to herself as she brought up her energy field to maximum burn and rocketed down to the battlefield.

Not even bothering to announce her prescence the way the characters in the movie did she instead went right to work and delivered a devesatating right hook to the jaw of the big blue guy. This surprised her bit since she had thought that Krueger would have made these guys a little tougher than this but disregarded it as irrelavent and took up a defensive position between the Krillin character and his adversaries. With two people to deal with the androids seemed a little hesitant to press the attack but she doubted that would last very long. Looking back she tried to measure up the state of her potential ally and was happy to see that he seemed to be reasonably alright despite the slight tremors in his limbs. Returning her gaze to the two androids she noticed that the big blue guy had gotten back to his feet and was rejoining the others. It would be only moments before they would start attacking again and she had to know if the guy was in as good a shape as he appeared to be.

"Hey, you still up for a fight kid?" she asked without moving her head.

"Elisa?" the voice exclaimed in unbridled surprise.

"Matt?!" , she exclaimed in reaction as her head whipped around to see the face of her partner stuck on the bald Krillin's head, "What the hell are you doing in my dream?"

"Your dream?! This is my dream and I'm definitly going to have stop having those extra spicy tacoes before going to bed!" , Matt replied as he continued to stare incredulously at her, "What are you doing here?"

Before she could reply to the question the goon squad was upon them and they were forced to postpone the Q&A session until later. Immediatly taking off into the air she hoped to be able to draw the bigger one away from Matt since he seemed to be the biggest threat of the three. Unfortunatly when she looked down to see if her plan had worked she found that she had instead attracted the attention of the two androids instead. Frowning at the change in circumstances she immediatly began to increase her speed, zigging and zagging all over the sky in an attempt to confuse her two pursuers. Unfortunatly they were apparently not so easily manipulated as they tried to outflank her by zipping ahead of her and then flying towards the point in the air where she would cross a few seconds from now. Knowing that there was no way that she would be able to stop in time to avoid the oncoming attack she decided to do the only thing she could do given the situation.

I just pray that this works! Elisa thought to herself as she closed her eyes and pushed herself to fly even faster than before.

It was extremely difficult, she could feel the strain it was putting on her body and was sorely tempted to slow down to a more comfortable speed but pressed on instead. For what seemed like forever she seemed to be hurtling through the air at a fantastic speed but then suddenly she heard the tell-tale sounds of a collision behind her and turned onto her back to see what had happened. It was difficult to see her two pursuers with the distance between them growing larger and larger with every passing moment but it was clear that her plan had worked perfectly. Calling up all her will power she forced her body into a sharp U-turn and streaked back the way she had come just a few moments earlier. From what she could tell androids 17 and 18 were still in the process of gathering themselves and that gave her a window of oppourtunity to pull off something daring. One option was simply to ram into the both of them and bring them back to the ground where her only back-up was. That made the most sense since neither of them had much of a chance against their respective opponants on their own despite that little bit of good luck that she had been having. The other option was to do something unexpected and use a energy technique of one of the other 'Dragonball Z' characters in the hopes that it would have the same effect as her Kameameaha wave had on Freddy/Vegita earlier. That was not quite as good an idea since Krueger would probably be expecting such a move and just dodge it before it could make contact. That might leave her open and was definitly not something that she could afford given the fate of the madman's past victims. Whatever her decision was going to be she had to make a decision quick or the two teenage androids were going to make it for her.

Well here goes nothing! Elisa thought with a ruefull grin as she realized what a stupid decision she was making.

Flying straight towards the two androids she brought her two hands up and locked them in into a closeline position like she had seen professional wrestlers do on TV and waited for the immenant impact. It didn't take long as her arms made contact with something that felt like two lead pipes at the speed at which she was travelling and almost took her arms off in the process. Gritting her teeth she forced her arms to stay firm until the two androids went in the direction she wanted them to go in. The pain was intense but eventually gave way as both androids were sent plummetting towards the ground where they made one big impact crater when they landed. Not waiting for her arms to feel better or for the androids to get back on their feet she immediatly brought her energy to its maximum and began to let loose a meteor shower of blasts on the crater the androids had made. Again and again she fired down into the crater until it seemed literally like a lake of golden energy, pulsing and glowing like hot magma. Waiting until the timing was right she stopped her barrage and raised her hands high above her head where little bolts of energy danced between them. This little maneuver was going to take just about everything she had left but if she did it just right she would at the very least put the androids out of commision long enough to help Matt with his problem. Slowly but surely a small sphere of energy began to form between her hands, not growing at all despite the energy she was pouring into it but glowing brighter with every passing moment. Within sixty seconds it was glowing brighter than a hundred headlights and she herself felt as though she were going to shatter with the strict discipline she was forced to employ. To keep all that energy confined in such a small object was nothing short of a trial of determination but she refused to waste this one chance to end her half of the fight and help Matt.

It's n-now or NEVER!! , Elisa thought to herself as he stopped pouring the energy inside of her into the sphere above her head, "Masenko-HA!"

Then, with effort equal to lifting double her own weight, she threw the sun like sphere down towards the lake of energy an watched as it was absorbed into the body of light like a raindrop. For a few moments there was no reaction and she feared that she might have performed the move wrong or that Freddy was smarter than she had given him credit for and had somehow blocked the move before it could finish. However when the lake of energy suddenly changed from a bright golden yellow to a deep blood red a smile of satisfaction blossomed onto her face as she watched the light show below. The lake for a moment simply shimmered with its red glow for a few minutes but then without warning it pushed downwards towards the bottom of the crater where she hoped the androids were recieving the brunt of the attack. When it seemed as though it could go no further the energy that had filled the crater exploded with so massive a force that it threw debris everywhere. Covering her face so as not to get any debris in her eyes and thus blind her she waited until she felt the explosion had finally subsided before lowering her arms to get a good look at what the destruction she had wrought. She smiled with fulfillment as she saw the sparking circuits and severed body parts which were scattered about the crater in various states of damage.

Two down and one to go. She thought to herself as she looked around to see where Matt and the big blue guy had gone in all the confusion.

She was somewhat surprised to see that Matt seemed to be holding his own against the big brute as he managed to avoid most of the attacks being sent his way and sending back a few of his own. This was unusual since the character he was portraying was one of the relatively weaker warriors of that show and certainly not a match for someone who was easily six times his size. Still this was a dream world where anything could happen so it wasn't impossible for her partner to stray from the stereotypes he had been dealt and come up with a few surprises of his own. Gently floating down to the ground she decided to wait and let Matt finish off this last one rather than butting in and scarring his masculine pride. Besides he seemed to have things well in hand so the best thing she could probably do right now would be to just sit back and enjoy the show. It was actually getting quite good with Matt/Krillin getting it some good shots and steadily pushing the big lug farther and farther back with every blow. Just then she thought she heard a cackle coming from behind her and quickly whipped around as fear began to bubble to the surface as she tried in vain to see where it was coming from. She then realized that on crucial plaer in this whole fiasco had still not shown himself to his victims or taken a more prominant role in this scenario. Given the gruesome remains left of each of Freddy's victims he didn't seem the type to restrain his bloodlust for this long. The fact that he wasn't visible or taking on the role of the big blue guy concerned her greatly, it made her wonder if he wasn't just playing with them. What was he up to? Where was he hiding? All those questions vanished from her mind as she heard the sounds of the big blue guy screaming in pain causing her to refocus her attention on the fight going on in front of her.

Whoa! she thought in amazement as she saw the damage done to Matt's opponant.

The Big Blue Guy was just standing there with his arms trembling at his sides and the rest of him not moving an inch. The most likely reason for this was the fact that right in the center of his chest was a hole big enough for Bronx to jump through with ease. It was so big that there was only about an inch or two of flesh present on either side of his body connecting the upper half to the lower half. There were no signs of the internal organs which would have been there had he been a real person and for that she was eternally greatful. Given Krueger's tastes she had been afraid that he would give them a disgustingly realistic battle with dismemberment and gore the likes of which she had only seen in slasher/horror films. If that had happened she would most certainly lost her lunch and tossed her cookies all over this dreamscape if that was even possible. Watching the monster for a few moments more she was thankful when he finally fell to the ground and lay there motionless aside from a few death spasms. Looking over to Matt she half expected to see him there smiling with a look of manly satisfaction on his face but instead she saw a look of concern that matched her own. Walking slowly over to him she tried to deduce what he was so concerned about since she was quite sure that he hadn't quite caught on to what was going on at the moment.

"What's wrong Matt? The guy's down for the count!" she declared as he tried to get his attention.

"That's just it Elisa, Garlic Junior shouldn't be down for the count like this." , Matt said as he looked up and stared at her with a puzzled look on his face, "In the Dragonball Z series this guy had immortality thanks to the wish he made to the eternal dragon Shenron."

"So if this was the real Garlic Junior his body would just heal itself and..." she said as she continued his train of thought for him.

"...And he would be back up on his feet laughing at us for thinking that he could be defeated so easily." , Matt finished as he looked around at the landscape in the hopes of finding a clue that would help them solve this quandry, "So what's the deal here? Has Krueger given up?"

"You mean you knew that Krueger was behind this even though you've never seen him?" Elisa exclaimed in surprise as she stared at her partner.

"Elisa C'mon! Give me a little credit okay!" , Matt replied as he walked towards her, "I may not have ever seen the guy face to face but I know when my dreams are being manipulated. I mean, Garlic Junior and the Androids weren't even a part of the same saga and I definitley wouldn't have chosen to be Krillin in this little dream of mine. Speaking of which why did you wind up being Goku? Since this is most likely my dream shouldn't I be in the leading role?"

Amused at the way he nitpicked about the inconsistancies in the way their surroundings were set-up Elisa replied "Maybe it's a reflection of your inner belief that you feel inferior to me?"

Even Matt had to crack a smile at that and for a few minutes they simply looked at each other with similar stupid smiles on their faces. It was not to last however as mere moments later the ground directly behind them exploded with such force that they were sent flying high into the air before crashing back to the ground. It took Elisa a few moments to get her head together but when she did she turned around to look for the source of the blast. To say that what she found was not encouraging would be the mother of all understatements and shocked her enough to render her speechless. There standing atop a mound of rubble was alien figure with an ivory colored body, decorated in certain areas with bits of glossy purple covering the shoulders and the top of the head. A long tail swung back and forth in an almost playful manner, like a jungle cat who had

cornered his prey and was waiting for the right moment to strike. Unfortunately neither herself or Matt would be so fortunate as to face some dumb animal because standing confidently before them was one of the most dangerous beings in the entire 'Dragonball Z' universe.

"I trust I got your attention monkey?" Taunted the tyrant known as Frieza.

"Oh crap!! We're in for it now!!" Matt said with barely restrained fear in his voice.

This was possibily the worst thing that could happen at that moment because according to facts from the show this Frieza character was supposed to be able to destroy a planet. While it's true that there had been far more powerful characters in the series this one was the best match for Krueger since both he and Frieza had a sadistic streak with no apparent end. Still there was still a chance that they could pull off the impossible so there was no reason to get hysterical just yet. When they had both been beaten senseless and could barely tell what was going on around them, that was the time to panic and beg for mercy. Not waiting for the banter that was expected to follow an opening line like that Elisa charged through the air towards Frieza with an energy bomb in her right hand ready to be rammed down the pale-faces throat. The best chance that they had to beat Freddy in his newest form was to keep him off balance by delivering blow after earth-shattering blow. By doing this they might be able to keep him from focusing and thereby mounting any sort of offense that would turn the tide of battle. She smiled to herself as the distance between her and it seemed certain that her attack would make contact but just as she was about to throw her energy bomb something rammed into her stomach knocking all the air out. For a moment she couldn't understand what had happened until she looked at where Frieza was and saw the image dissapate as if it were smoke. Looking down and to her right she saw Frieza's smiling face with Freddy's eyes glowing with all their malevolant glee as he soaked up the pain she was feeling.

Not wanting to admit defeat this early in the game she shot off with a massive burst of speed away from Frieza in the hopes that she would have a few seconds to attack before the chalk skinned butcher realized what was happening. Unfortunately no sooner did she come to a complete stop then another devastating blow was delivered to her back right on the spine. For what seemed like forever she seemed to be paralyzed as she fell towards the solid ground below her, unable to move or think or do anything that might improve her situation. Then as the ground seemed impossibly close she felt some feeling return to her body and with a strength that seemed pitiful in light of the obstacle she faced she tried to slow her descent. However all the effort did was lessen the force of the landing from one that would have killed her to one that threatened to render her unconscious. It felt like every bone in her body had been shattered but she could still move her limbs which meant that it was just lacerations and planet sized bruises she was feeling. Fighting past the pain she just barely managed to push herself onto her back which allowed her the option of looking around to see if any hope remained for her to utilize in her struggle. Unfortunately there was none, all that she saw was Frieza slowly floating down to the ground with a victorious smile on his face. When he landed he began to stalk towards her, relishing every moment of her suffering like it were a drug to him, fully confident that he could enjoy it all at his leisure. Determined to go out fighting she forced her limbs to move, first her arms to get her sitting upright and then her feet as she tried to plant them on the ground. This only seemed to amuse Frieza/Freddy further as the smile on his face grew bigger and bigger until in seemed as though his face was just a smile with eyes. By the time he had reached her she was on one knee with the other foot firmly planted on the ground while the other refusing to respond to her command to move.

"You put up a good fight sweet meat but this game is *over*." came

Freddy's burnt voice from Frieza's lips.

"I don't *think* so Krueger!!" , came Matt's voice from behind Frieza,

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON FIRE!!!"

Frieza turned away from Elisa to face the oncoming blast and for a few seconds Freddy's attention was focused on something else. Taking advantage of this distraction Maza pushed with all the remaining strength she had and jumped high up into the air until Frieza was no bigger than a action figure. She could see the thin beam of light shooting towards the form of the dream murderer and she prayed that it would make contact. If it did maybe Krueger would lose interest in them and they could awaken to the real world where they could get together with the clan and work out a new plan. Hopefully this time they would be able to come up with something other than staying awake for a week straight because she doubted she could last that long. That is why she focused on the action going on down below her praying with each second that passed by that it would be over in the next few minutes. Then all of a sudden the beam made contact and a massive explosion ripped through the air sending dust and bits of dirt everywhere temporarily blinding her. When her vision cleared all that was left of the place where Krueger had been was an impressively large crater with bits and pieces of something smoking at the bottom. She strained her eyes to determine what that something was but could not readily identify, the only thing that she could determine for certain was that it was white. For a moment she allowed herself to hope that those bits of white were all that remained of Freddy/Frieza but her common sense soon kicked in and she tried to locate the butcher before it was too late.

She turned all about as she descended back towards the ground below but for the life of her she could not see any sign of the dream stalker nor could she sense him with her dream body's abilities. That only caused the fear in her heart to grow with every passing moment as she waited for the madman to make his move. When she finally landed on the ground she could see that Matt was having similar feelings of apprehension as he looked about for the predator lurking just out of sight. It was uncomfortable not being able to see the enemy that she knew was nearbye but it was not an unfamiliar feeling given her years on the force. The discomfort came from the fact that unlike the real world this one could be altered in the blink of an eye into something she was not prepared to deal with. Back in the waking world she knew that what she saw was the way things were going to stay but in this case nothing was absolute and everything was in question. For all she knew Freddy might suddenly appear in front of her as tall as a skyscraper or change the world around her into some warped version of reality. That is what left her uneasy and made her wish that the demon would just show himself and get this over with. At least then she would no longer be straining to look in every direction at once while at the same time trying to use the abilities her dream form gave her. The silence was what was causing her to be afraid now and suddenly she realized that that was exactly what Freddy was trying to do right then, push her fear as high as it could go before he attacked. With her in such a state any defense she tried to mount to stop him would be sloppy and ineffective in protecting herself from his many blows. Closing her eyes she filtered out all the outside stimulus until all that she could hear was the sound of her own heart beating as well as her own thoughts. When she could be sure that all exterior stimulus had been removed she began to decrease the number of stray thoughts she had until all that was left was the beating of her heart. She had learned how to do this from the instructor who had taught her the martial arts at the police academy but had rarely used it after she had graduated.

Sure is coming in handy now though. Elisa thought to herself as she felt the fear slip away now that there was nothing to fuel it.

That was when it happened, like a beacon of light her energy sensing ability registered a truckload of energy coming at her at high speed and it was undoubtably evil. Preparing herself for the onrush of sensory information she opened her eyes and saw exactly what she expected to see, Freddy/Frieza streaking towards her with a look that spoke of impending pain for her. Deciding it was time to stop reacting and to start acting she charged foreward to meet him with one arm raised to block while the other was cocked back to deliver a devastating punch to the solar plexus. She could see the momentary surprise that was on his face, no doubt he was unaccustomed to his prey doing anything other than trying to run away from him. Well if she had anything to say about it there were tonnes more surprises where that came from and he would hate them all. Firing her punch foreward like a gunshot she fully expected to make contact with his face and watch him happily fly in the opposite direction but instead of hitting something she suddenly found her arms pinned where they were. In fact all her foreward motion had come to a stop and despite all her efforts to move she remained as still as a statue. Only her eyes could move of their own accord but that did her little good in her present situation unless something miraculous happened in the next few moments.

"Hang on Elisa!" Matt yelled from somewhere behind her as she continued to try and break free of Freddy/Frieza's hold.

Suddenly she was free and thought for a moment that Matt had managed to get Freddy off of her but that idea was disproved as mere seconds later she recieved a hard elbow shot right to the spine. Elisa fell to the ground like a tonne of bricks and despite her best efforts she could only force her limbs to move in small jerking motions thanks to the paralyzing blow. Turning her head she tried to see what was going on and soon wished that she had just stayed a stunned heap on the ground when she saw the scene being played out before her. Matt had engaged Frieza/Freddy in battle and despite the fact that Bluestone was giving it his all it was obvious to any observer that the bald detective was sorely outmatched. Almost all of the blows he sent Freddy's way missed and the few that managed to connect did no damage whatsoever. The madman in character's clothing merely grinned as he retaliated with blow after merciless blow, each one almost enough to knock Matt down for good. Despite the pain that he was no doubt feeling her partner fought on harder each time he got up from a devastating blow. It was if he was supremely confident in the belief that he would eventually win as long as he held on for a few more minutes. After all that was the way that these cartoon shows went didn't they, the hero would get beaten time and time again and look like he was about to fall over but thanks to the sheer power of his will he would triumph. Unfortunately what Bluestone failed to realize was that this was no cartoon, it was real, and it had reason to follow the rules binding the fictional struggles of good and evil. He could very well die in this battle if she didn't get in there and help him but she couldn't for the life of her get to her feet. All she could do was lay there and watch Matt get pounded to within an inch of his life while the paralyses of the blow she had been dealt slowly wore off.

I have to keep trying!! Matt can't last much longer and if I don't get by the time that psycho from a horror movie finishes him off I'll be next!! Elisa thought to herself as she reknewed her efforts to get to her feet.

For all her determination it seemed for the longest time that her efforts were in vain but after what seemed like an eternity her limbs began to obey her commands. First she forced her arms to push herself off the ground and then she pulled one leg beneath her and then the other until she was on her hands and knees. The next part was going to be the hardest but she had to do it because with every passing moment she could hear Matt's time running out. Her legs felt like lead weights and her knees felt like jello but she refused to let her dream body's weaknesses get the better of her when she needed it the most. Eventually she managed to get to her feet but what she could do now that she was up was most definitley the question of the hour. It had taken tremendous effort to get to her feet and she was uncertain if she had much energy left to make a contribution to the fight but she had to try. Forcing the energy to raise her into the air she took stock of how the battle was proceeding and how much time she had before it would be too late to help her partner. Matt's situation had deteriorated and she was surprised that he was still on his feet but by the wobble in his knees she knew it would not be for much longer. Thrusting her right arm out and positioning the palm of her hand so that it was aimed at Frieza she began to build up the current of energy within her. It was a difficult process since well over half the energy she had left was being invested in keeping her aloft but she was determined to pull the big save for Matt like he had done for her when she was in a fix.

She could feel the energy rising within her and despite the fact that it was going up at a highly accelerated rate she still pushed harder to get it up faster. Every second counted and she had precious few moments to waste if she was going to pull this off in time. More than a few times she felt as though she was going to faint but each time she managed to shake it off and focus on the task at hand. An eternity seemed to come and go while she prepared for her final stand but fate decided to shine on her because when she was finally finished he looked down to see Matt was still on his feet. Now that she had the energy ready for use she had to make sure that Bluestone was safe before she fired it. Unfortunately she only had a certain number of ways to warn Matt to get clear and all of them would let Frieza know at the same time that something was going to happen. In the end there was only choice but she hoped that her screaming the attack's name would give her normally red-haired detective enough time to get far enough away.

Taking careful aim she yelled "BIG BANG ATTACK---!!!!!!!!"

With the speaking of those words the collection of energy she held within her was fired down towards Frieza like fiery comet. Despite the fact that it was away Elisa continued to contribute energy to the blast in the hopes that it would be enough to stop Freddy for good this time. Even with this naieve hope she knew in the depths of her soul that the best she might be able to get with this was a chance to get the hell out of here. Maybe if they got far enough away from Frieza/Freddy they might be able to wake up and get the heck out of there but she wasn't liking the odds of that happening at the moment. In any case she was about to find out because the pondering had only taken a few seconds and in that time the blast was mere feet from Freddy who was just then turning around to see what was coming at him. Matt on the other hand had the benefit of looking in the right direction when she had fired the blast and decided to take full advantage of the distraction. With a blow that belied his size he rammed his fist right into Frieza's stomach knocking all the air from the lungs of tyrant. Satisfied that his masculinity had been proved Matt then concentrated on getting the hell out of there by leaping with all his remaining strength high into the air. It was the making of that decision at that moment that probably saved his life and he had ring side seats to see what would have happened to him if had had waited only a few moments more. It was like watching those old news reels of the testing of the first nuclear bomb out in the New Mexico desert. Only this time the mushroom cloud was much bigger and the amount of dust that was kicked up into the air was much larger. Both Elisa and Matt had to cover their faces to sheild themselves from the dirt and other debris that were kicked up into the air as a result. When it was over both were shocked and amazed at the impressive size of the crater that was left in the ground by the sheer force of the blast.

Elisa looked at her hand and thought Whoa!

Setting the act aside for the time being she settled herself back to the ground and immediately began to feel the effects of overextending herself as she found herself utterly drained. At the moment it was all she could do to stay on her feet and the fact that she could see no sign of Freddy/Frieza anywhere made her glad that her plan had worked. If Freddy had somehow managed to dodge that blast and escape she would be easily overcome by even the weakest of attacks. Her entire body felt like it had been pounded into mush and at the moment all she wanted to do was soak in a nice warm bubble bath. Yeah, that would feel nice and it would probably prevent her body from developing as many sores and cramps the next day. Looking around she could see Matt's minature form slowly getting to it's feet although he seemed to wobble a bit from the effort. Elisa cursed herself as she assumed that she had miscalculated somewhere and that Matt had caught at least some of the blast in his attempt to get clear. Still, the facty that he was still alive to begin with carried a lot of weight when it came to forgiving herself for the mistakes she may have made. Slowly and carefully she began to walk towards Matt so that they could come up with a plan of how to survive here until Goliath and the others found a way to wake them up. She had originally hoped that pain alone would be enough to wake a person up provided they were outside a specific radius of Freddy but that idea had gone down the dumper. Hopefully Matt had some ideas because if he didn't then they were in some seriously deep shit and it was only a matter of time before it all hit the fan.

"Hey Matt! You all right?" Elisa asked once she got in range of her battered partner.

"I-If you take into ..... account my bruised ribs and concussion I suppose you could say that I'm okay." , Matt replied as he turned around to face her, "Still I guess I'm better off than Freddy is thanks to you. Thanks for the save partner."

"Yeah well you owe me for this Bluestone and don't think that I'll forget it." Elisa said with a grin since she had said it in a manner that made it sound as though they did this every day.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, any idea on how to get the hell out of here?" Matt asked as he looked about for any sign of an exit.

"None. I had kinda hoped that we would wake up once Freddy wasn't around to mess with us but it appears that even after being blown up he has a way of keeping us here." Elisa replied with a frustrated frown as she continued to examine their surroundings.

"So you're basically saying that we're trapped here until he decides to let us go?" Matt asked in a voice that clearly told her he did not like that scenario at all.

"Looks like it but I'm hoping that Goliath and the others will think of something before Freddy decides to make another appearance." , Elisa replied as she tried to reassure Matt, "Until then we just have to try to keep our distance from Freddy and hope that we get rescued before we wind up as a pile of ashes."

"Not gonna happen sweet meat!" came a voice from behind her and almost as a reflex she whirled around to find the source.

Standing behind them on a small rocky outcropping was Frieza/Freddy and he had a distinctly unhappy look on his face. Most likely that was due to the fact that almost half his body was covered in burns, bruises and cuts which made it clear that he had been in one hell of a fight. It struck her as odd that he would have retained this body given that he had already demonstrated the ability to heal his dream form or jump to a new one in the blink of an eye. Had she really hurt him with that big bang attack or was he just doing this to trick them? Shaking her head mentally she decided that she didn't want to stick around to find out one way or another and immediately turned to get a running start before taking to the skies. Matt obviously had figured out what she planned on doing because he was already a few feet off the ground and climbing. She had just reached the point where Matt had roughly taken off when suddenly she felt a sharp spike in power coming from where Frieza/Freddy was standing. Daring to look back and see what he was planning she was struck with horror as she gazed upon the small sphere of energy that Freddy held in his hand. It was just barely the size of a ping-pong ball but the energy contained within it was more massive than anything she had felt so far. Seeing that he had gotten her attention Freddy looked at her and smiled in a way that made her fear almost double at what it seemed to imply. One of them was going to die soon. Either she or Matt would be dead in the next few moments and she was certain it was going to be her. After all she had been the one that had done the most damage to him so she would represent the greatest threat to this sicko's killing spree in Manhattan.

It was at that point that the entire substance of reality seemed to slow to a crawl, seconds seemed to go on forever and the motion of her body slowed down to almost nothing. Even though she was feeling completely drained she forced her body to twist to the side as fast as it could in the hopes that she could avoid the blast. With every second however it seemed as though she wasn't moving anywhere's near fast enough and she was only wasting her time. When the small sphere of energy finally flew from Freddy/Frieza's hand her mind drifted back to all the things she had not done in her life, all the people she had met but would never see again. Her parents, without whom she would never have become the dedicated detective she was today. Derrick and Beth, the two people who she had played with and experienced life with step by step the entire way. The Clan, who had opened her mind to so many possibilities and showed her that there was more to the world than she ever thought possible. She would never see them again because in just a few seconds she would be dead and all that she would have waiting for her would be oblivion. As the small ball of energy got closer and closer her mind was fighting with her heart on what to do in these last few moments. Her mind wanted to close her eyes against the light the energy ball was giving off but more than that it wanted to block out the source of its own destruction. Her heart on the other hand refused to give up even in these trying times, it wanted to face the end of her existance with eyes open. In the end though the choice was taken from her as suddenly the world around her seemed to ripple away into something completely different.

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Real World, 10:00 p.m.

What the h--?! Elisa thought as she suddenly found herself immersed in water with someone seemingly deadset on getting her soaked holding on.

Fighting against this unknown assailant she swam her way back to the surface only to find herself in the blue lake of central park. Looking down at herself she saw that her nightgown was clinging to her body and the shape of her unknown assailant coming up the bottom of the lake to meet her. She clearly recognised Goliath's bulky purple frame and for a moment wondered why he had decided she needed a dunking in the lake in the middle of the night. Then it all came back to her in space of a second and she looked up to see Matt dressed in his usual night clothes(she once had been required to get him out of bed for a case) gradually rising into the air. Lexington and Broadway were in pursuit but it looks like Matt had given them the slip earlier because they each were a good hundred yards away. Elisa immediatley began to swim for shore as fast as she could, pulling for every bit of speed that she could manage in an effort to get to solid ground. It only took her a minute but she feared that it was one minute that she could not afford to waste. She had to get back into the dream plane as fast as she could and help Matt or Freddy would tear him apart. Unfortunately as she pulled herself out of the water she was introduced to some rather unpleasant facts that would interfere with her plans. The first was the searing pain across her ribs and back that prevented her from getting to her feet and the second was the fact that she was shivering from her dip in the ice cold lake. Both of these things made it unlikely she was simply going to be able to fall back asleep right away and she couldn't waste time trying to find a painless way to fall asleep. There was only one chance of making it back to la-la land and it was going to hurt a lot. Getting to one knee while still gripping her injured ribs she turned to look at Goliath as he rose from the lake looking similarly soaken.

"Elisa! You're awake!" Goliath exclaimed with joy as he rushed to her side.

Before he could sweep her into his arms with the usual bear hug she help up her arm to signal him to stop. He stopped immediately and soon saw that she was in significant pain which he quickly felt guilty for since it was he who had tackled her into the water.

"Elisa I am sorry for hurting you but I had no other choice." , Goliath said in apology, "You were under Freddy's control and would not awaken using the usual methods."

"Listen Golaith, there will be more than enough time for apologies later but right now I need you to do something for me." , Elisa said as she struggled to block out the pain, "Hit me."

"What!?!" Goliath exclaimed as he looked at his friend in astonishment.

"Knock me out! I need to get back into the dream world or Matt is going to die!" Elisa ordered as she looked into Goliath's eyes with desperation in her own.

"No Elisa! If you fall asleep again you will be at that murderer's mercy once again!" , Goliath said in a tone that made it clear he would not change his mind, "Lexington and Broadway will wake Matt up any minute now, you need not endanger yourself to rescue him."

"You don't understand! All Freddy is going to need is a few seconds to kill Matt and every second we waste arguing is one less second we have to save him." , Elisa yelled with rage as she forced herself to her feet, "Now knock me out or I'll make you knock me out!!"

"Elisa, please!" Goliath pleaded as he watched his longtime friend hurt herself further.

"Fine! You asked for it!" Elisa said as she prepared to punch Goliath right in the stomach.

She never got the chance though because no sooner had she brought her fist back then a scream filled the air like an air raid siren. Looking up Elisa could see Matt's face twisted in agony as he seemed to simply hang there in mid-air with his arms rigid at his side. Then without warning he shot into the sky so fast that he almost became a blur and made it difficult for anyone to see him. Then all of a sudden he came to a stop and with one final blood curdling scream exploded in a cloud of flesh and blood.

"MATT----!!!!!" Elisa exclaimed in horror as her partner's lifesblood rained down from the sky into the dark blue lake.

In back of her mind she knew that this would happen.

After all that was what had happened in the show but Freddy had twisted it into something far more horrifying. Instead of the simple cloud and descending ashes there were pieces of flesh and bone soaked in dark red blood raining from the sky. Overcome by the horror of the situation she sank into Goliath's arms as she tried to block the image of Matt's bloody death from her mind. No matter how hard she tried though she saw the scene replaying itself over and over in her mind's eye, Matt's pain filled features just seconds before he died. For a moment she cursed herself for not being there to save him, for not finding a way back into the dreamworld before the final blow had been struck. Then she realized that self-recrimination was useless and that the few seconds she might have had back in the dreamworld would not have made the difference she thought it might have. In the end Matt's death had been simply fate and there was nothing she could do about that, it was done and all she could do was move foreward. The problem was what could she do against this sadistic sandman who preyed on people while they slept. They had taken their best shot at him by placing someone near the sleeper and it had blown up in their faces. In the end it was lack of information that was killing them and the few bits and pieces that Burnette had been able to provide were simply not enough. The question was: who knew more about Freddy than the Puck?