Part 11: These Men, These Monsters
(Writer's Note: A nod to the author Prisionero, who helped me with this…)
For some, an introduction is needed…
Like the Fisherman, Ben Willis, who was run over by a group of partying, drunken teenagers, who, not willing to suffer the possible dire consequences of their actions, had thrown Willis's thought to be dead body into the sea. But Willis wasn't as dead as they thought, and he didn't take too kindly to what they had done…
Or Jack Frost, for that was his real name, blame the scriptwriter, who had been a vicious criminal being transferred to jail when his paddy wagon had crashed into a truck. Jack had attempted a brazen escape, until to be drenched in the contents of said truck, "genetic acid", which had melted his body right into the snow and caused him to be reborn as a truly ridiculous monster…
Or the Leprechaun…who seemed to have a different reason for showing up in every film he had. It's best not to get into the details lest you despair over the nonsense that can get made in Hollywood…
But there are those who need no introduction, except, maybe…
CH CH CH AH AH AH…"Robin, what do we do?" Beast Boy asked as Jason headed for them, walking in the determined stomp that he used when he hunting his prey (He never talked and always walked. Yet he somehow always reached the hiding place first…).
"We fight." Robin said, his staff at the ready.
"What?"
"It may take a hell of a lot, but Jason can be taken out, and considering I've been expecting him to show up since I accepted what had happened here, I believe I can and will do just that!" Robin said, and charged at Jason.
Jason swung out his machete. Robin ducked and slammed his metal staff into Jason's side. The impact rang all the way up Robin's arms, much to his surprise. He felt like he had struck a rock wall. Considering Jason's ragged shirt/pants/general outfit, the clearly decomposing flesh that showed through the holes of his clothes, and his entire scalp and visible face rotted black that set off the dirty whiteness of his hockey mask, he'd expected there to be more give.
But he didn't have time to think about it, as Jason had recovered and had shifted his grip slightly as he swung the machete back at Robin at an angle. Robin dodged as he gave his staff a quick twirl and rammed the end into Jason's forehead.
The impact rang through his arms again, and Jason didn't budge from the blow. Instead, he swung his machete back, and Robin frantically ducked again, the blade slicing off a few strands from his hair. Showing speed Robin didn't think was possible, Jason again switched directions and slashed the blade down at Robin's head, and Robin rolled forward, barely getting by Jason's form and cartwheeling away in case Jason tried to slice him when he was getting up.
He needn't have worried: Beast Boy was on the attack, as he turned into a wolf, and leapt, growling, as he seized his teeth into Jason's right arm, which happened to be holding the machete.
Bad move, as one of the most wretched tastes Beast Boy had ever experienced exploded through his mouth as he sank his teeth in. It was even viler then Aberration's flesh and blood, and he would have let go immediately…had Jason not seized him by the scruff of his neck and yanked him off, tearing the flesh from his own forearm as he smashed Beast Boy into the wall, eliciting a howling whimper from the green teen. Jason swung his machete up to finish the job, and then it was Robin to the rescue as he slammed his staff across the back of Jason's head.
Jason didn't even notice. In the right way. He noticed in the wrong way, as he whirled, again showing speed that Robin didn't think possible, as his deadly killing blade slashed out and tore into Robin's chest. His armor protected him, but not enough as the flesh over his ribs was slashed open even as the force of the cut sent him stumbling backwards with his own howl.
Jason turned back to Beast Boy, who had been dazed by the force of the slam and was now lying on the floor, the debris broken off the wall from the impact strewn around him, trying to comprehend it all…
Jason swung his machete up.
"No…" Beast Boy croaked.
The blade came swooping down in a deadly descent…
And metal fingers seized it.
"Get your STINKING hands off my boy." Cyborg growled, and then he yanked, pulling the blade from Jason's hand even as he backhanded him with the other. Jason stumbled back, and then Cyborg armed his sonic cannon and blasted Jason in the chest with a full force blast, sending the monstrous revenant sliding back along the hallway.
But he did not fall, and the sonic cannon, which had caused SUV's to go crashing down the road in flipping twirls, only shoved him back several feet before Cyborg had to stop it before he overloaded the weapon. Jason immediately started forward again, as if he hadn't been struck at all. Cyborg glanced at his best friend, knew he still needed more time, and provided it as he stepped forward to meet Jason, bringing his arms up and grabbing Jason around the shoulders and neck. Jason did likewise, and shoved Cyborg with a strength that astounded him, twisting him around as he smashed Cyborg into the wall behind him. It shattered in a crash of debris and dust.
Cyborg didn't falter though, as he cranked up his systems and shoved back, forcing Jason back and smashing him through the opposite wall. Then Jason shoved back even harder, and instead of just seriously damaging the wall, this time Cyborg went right through it, tripping on the way and falling down in the next room, a bathroom. The back of his head hit the hard tile floor, dazing him.
The machete slashed down, and Cyborg rolled out of the way as it bit into the floor. Recognizing the particular washroom, Cyborg pushed himself over to the sink as Jason tried to get his weapon free. He did so within a second, and then turned back to Cyborg…
Who had retrieved the large plumbing wrench from beneath the sink and was swinging it across Jason's head. The crack rang through the whole room as Jason stumbled from the blow, even as Cyborg advanced, hammering Jason with repeated strikes to the head and chest. Jason slashed the machete at him, but Cyborg did a little jump back to avoid it and then jumped forward as he swung the wrench down, test of strength in a carnival style. The heavy iron tool BROKE over the top of Jason's head even as Cyborg caved it in a little, and the terrible being that was Jason Voorhees staggered back and collapsed to the ground.
"Yeah! Now what!" Cyborg yelled, throwing the broken wrench aside. He had something better planned, as he fired up his systems. His chest popped open, as six mini missiles armed. Jason may have been King Badass of Ass-Kicking Mountain, but Cyborg knew even HE couldn't keep going if he was in pieces.
Too bad he didn't think that Jason possessed some amount of brains, as the creature reared up and hurled his machete. It went straight into Cyborg's chest, right through his armor, as Cyborg gasped and instinctively leaned down…just as the missiles finished arming.
"SHIT!"
The missiles fired into the floor, blowing the room to hell and Cyborg through another wall. He hit the ground on his back and slid several feet before he came to a stop, smoking and moaning, sparks erupting from the thin hole left when the machete had been knocked out. Cyborg closed his organic eye as data began to stroll across his cybernetic one.
Main power line damaged. Rerouting through alternate, system reboot in twenty seconds, movement unavailable until then.
"Come on…" Cyborg hissed through a clenched jaw.
System reboot in fifteen seconds.
And Cyborg saw the shadow fall over him as Jason emerged from the smoking ruins, machete back in hand, as he headed for Cyborg.
"HURRY! HURRY!" Cyborg yelled at his own computer.
System reboot in ten seconds…Jason came to Cyborg. He cocked his head slightly, and then he raised his machete.
The cage exploded in a blast of black power, blowing Freddy away. He bounced along the roof a bit before he came to a stop sitting on his rear, as a few bits of cage debris scattered around him. He leaned over and picked one up.
"All right Econo-Save, you just made the list!" Freddy cursed, as he got up, and looked over to see Raven floating, eyes and hands glowing. "D'OH!"
"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Raven chanted, and Freddy's glove glowed black and then was yanked off his hand.
"No! Not my glove!" He said, as Raven floated it over to her. Her right fist clenched, and the black energy crushed the weapon of death into a little ball.
"No! Ah No! Ah No! Ah well, let us move on, shall we?" Freddy said, and with a snap of his fingers his glove was back. Raven's eyes widened.
"Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye! Four and twenty blackbirds, baked in a pie!" Freddy sang, and snapped his fingers again.
Raven disappeared. In front of Freddy was a giant pie, like any a mother would put to cool on her windowsill in a fifties' sitcom, except it was the size of a large wading pool. Freddy threw back his head and roared laughter.
Raven exploded from the crust, gasping and clawing at her face. The pie filling was hot. Make that HOT, as Raven clawed the sticky, blistering gunk from her face. A tiny bit of the frantically discarded filling landed on Freddy, and he wiped it off his shirt and stuck his finger in his mouth.
"Mmmm, cherry."
Raven pulled back her hood even as she pulled the last of the cherry stuffing off her, her skin an angry red from the heat. The pain in her eyes quickly changed to a rage as potent as her scorched skin.
"ZINTHOS!" Raven yelled, smacking Freddy with a telekinetic force wave and sending him tumbling across and right off the roof. Raven flew up and spun, pulling the rest of the cherry filling off her, and flew up again…
And suddenly found herself face to face with Freddy. Upside down.
"Hello, good miss! Jolly good time, isn't it?" He said, waving, and Raven experienced an intense sense of disorientation, as she suddenly had no idea where she was.
Freddy kicked her in her chest, and she flew and found herself tumbling back across the roof. Somehow, Freddy had warped her perception so he'd been standing and she had been turned upside down and was flying towards the ground. And why not? It was as if he was in a dream, and in a dream, Freddy could do whatever he damn well pleased.
"Not doing so well, are we…normally I don't much like a fight, but considering who you are, I expected better, Raven. Come on! I didn't go to all the trouble of reading your mind if I knew I could just pluck your heart out here and now." Freddy chuckled, as he walked over to where Raven was trying to get up. He savagely kicked her across the face and then knelt; slamming his knee into her sternum as his horrifically burned face peered into Raven's slightly burned one. "My my, you already begin to look like me. But some more work is needed. Bring on the scars!" Freddy said as he raised his glove.
Raven's eyes blazed.
Freddy yelled as her hand glowed black and thrust up, slamming into and right THROUGH his gut. A vicious blast of power sent Freddy flying away, his intestines trailing out beside him as he bounced along the roof again. And again. And again. Somehow, Freddy had become some kind of bouncing human rubber ball. It would have looked comical, except this just proved Raven would have one hell of a battle ahead.
"Girl's got guts. I just wish they weren't mine." Freddy commented, as his body crashed against the ground and went flat like a pancake. He groaned loudly as he got to his feet.
Raven had floated back to hers and watched as the child killer turned dream murderer tried to get up while at the same time prevent his insides from spilling all over the roof. He wasn't doing so well.
"Ohhhhhhh…must have eaten too many green apples…" Freddy groaned, blood pouring down his legs. Then, with a wink, and a loud slurping noise, his organs suddenly were sucked back in and he was back to normal. "Ahhhhh! Better then Pepto-Bismol!"
"ZINTHOS!" Raven yelled, firing off a black burst of power. Freddy's left leg exploded at the kneecap and flew away, prompting a yell from Freddy.
"AHHH! Not my LEFT LEG! THAT'S THE ONE I KICK OLD PEOPLE WITH!"
"ZINTHOS!" Raven repeated, as she slashed her hand out. Freddy's hat flew off, as with a loud tearing sound the top of Freddy's burned head ripped off, exposing dull bone.
"Not my scalp! I was just starting to grow hair again!"
"ZINTHOS!" Raven said a third time, and there was an even louder ripping noise. Freddy's eyes went wide, and then he groaned and leaned down, clutching a rather sensitive area that was no longer there.
"Just had to go for that, didn't you?" He muttered.
Raven lowered her arms, panting heavily from the efforts.
And then with a smirk, Freddy's leg regrew. The skin returned to his head. We can assume the third wounded area was fixed as well. With a magician-like wave/jerk of his hand, Freddy produced his fedora, which he placed on his head.
Raven's heart filled with despair. She was getting tired out, and nothing she did stuck. Freddy would just keep growing it back, and when she ran out of power…
"Look, I got you all hot and bothered. Let me come over there and give you a hand with that." Freddy said.
And then he reached over, grabbed his clawed armed just above the elbow, and yanked it off. Greenish-black blood squirted from the injury as Raven gasped.
"Let my fingers do the walking!" Freddy said, as he dropped the limb to the ground.
The hand spasmed and landed on its fingers, and then the fingers began to run, carrying the hand along like Thing's evil Twin. Raven fired a bolt of black energy at the far too animated appendage but it showed remarkable speed as it darted aside. Raven fired again, and again, but she kept missing, as the hand closed in…
And leapt.
Raven shrieked with horror as the hand was suddenly on her leg, the metal blades poking shallow holes as it scurried around her thigh. Raven twisted her hands backwards and fired, but she missed as the hand leapt from her rear to her back, scrambling around to her chest. Raven tried to seize it with telepathic energy and throw it off, but the sensation of the bladed limb messed up her concentration as the hand slipped out of her vision, and suddenly she couldn't feel it any more. She whirled in a circle, trying to find it…
And then the hand landed on her head.
Raven only managed to twist her eyes up when the fingers stabbed down right at them.
Jason aimed and struck, slashing his machete down towards Cyborg's head.
The metal bo pole exploded from Jason's stomach, one end filed down to the point so it would go through easier. The sudden presence of the pole caused the base of the machete to slam into it, stopping it for just a brief second. Jason looked at the weapon now emerging from his gut, and he turned…
"HEEYA!" Robin yelled, leaping, spinning, and slamming his foot into Jason's chest with every ounce of power he had. It was enough to push Jason away a step, as he forgot about Cyborg and slashed at Robin, who ducked under the blow, grabbed his staff, and yanked it out, backflipping away as Jason slashed the machete down where he had just been. Robin gave the staff a few twirls, and even as Cyborg's reboot finally happened and he rolled away, Robin spun the staff behind him, raised his free hand, and beckoned Jason forward.
Jason started to do just that.
And Robin dropped to the ground as a baaing ram leapt over his back and slammed his horns into Jason's chest. Jason staggered back as the ram became a velociraptor and leapt, the huge toe claw slicing a huge wound in Jason's chest. Jason almost seemed to feel it, as black ooze that might have once been blood squirted from the injury.
Beast Boy darted out as Robin leapt in, swinging his staff and slamming it into the side of Jason's head. This time, the monster's head actually jerked a bit, but his recovering was lightning swift as his machete slashed again. Robin hit the ground and did a backwards somersault away, even as a growling tiger leapt it and carved a slice of meat from Jason's side. Jason recoiled a bit, more black ooze spurting from the wound.
"Damn bitch…why won't you die…" Cyborg muttered as he started getting up…
"Victor…"
The whisper made Cyborg look down, and he nearly had a heart attack as he saw Scalpel, lying on the ground, a long trail of blood from where he had dragged himself along the ground to Cyborg.
"DAMN! Scalpel, stay down, you can't…"
"Blowtorch."
"What?"
"In your body…a blowtorch…"
"Yeah, I do, but…"
"Help…" Scalpel said. Cyborg glanced over to Jason, who was paying attention to Robin and Beast Boy as they darted in and out, as they lead him out of the room and into another hallway.
"How?"
"Just…turn it on…" Scalpel hissed, as he raised one of his metal claw hands. Cyborg darted back to the battle, and then to his teammate.
"All right, but no complaining later." Cyborg said, as one of his fingers opened. A small but intense blue flame emerged, and Cyborg held it out. Scalpel thrust his hand into it, hissing as it heated up his metal hand construct. Within several seconds the palm was glowing a dull red.
"Might want to…cover your ears…" Scalpel said as he rolled over onto his back.
"What?"
Scalpel pressed the red-hot claw right onto the grievous wound Jason had inflicted, a bellow straight from the depths of hell emitting from him as he cauterized the wound shut, the drying blood on his chest catching fire and burning him more. Cyborg was lucky he'd figured out what Scalpel was doing and covered his ears, but it still felt like his eardrums had burst. Panting, Scalpel collapsed, blood still leaking from his back, but at a slower pace. Apparently, he'd sealed shut the more serious of the two wounds…
"Go…" Scalpel whispered. Cyborg listened, heading out after Jason as the Blacktrinian took a few deep breaths, and then shoved himself up. His eyes flicked down to the door that led to the hallway where his glaive lay.
Robin had finished his latest flurry of blows to Jason's chest and was ducking away from the machete when he saw a gray form dash past him.
"Can I cut in?" Cyborg asked, as he swung his fist into Jason's face, a thunderous blow that sent Jason staggered down the hall but somehow did not damage the hockey mask. Jason recovered quickly, too quickly, and was immediately slashing at Cyborg before he could even decide what his next blow would be, as he backed up next to Robin.
"Wanna bust out the Sonic Boom?"
"I don't have any boom!" Robin cursed, indicating his ransacked and empty utility belt.
"Ok, he'll just have to feel the noise instead!" Cyborg said as his arm converted into the Sonic Cannon. Instead of a sustained, powerful blast, this time Cyborg used short, intense blasts, firing them into Jason's torso and shoulder as he headed for the two. The first three blasts knocked him back, and the forth actually knocked him down.
"You know, I don't have much left here…" Cyborg said as the sonic cannon shifted to the gatling gun. "But I'm feeling generous, so, eat up!"
Cyborg fired the last few rounds he had left as Jason started to get up. A line of gore-shooting impacts ran across his legs and body, and Jason staggered back and fell again.
"Damn. Guess it's back to basics." Cyborg said as he walked forward, Beast Boy (who had appeared behind him during the sonic cannot assault) and Robin backing him up, as Jason got up once again. By now he had been pushed to the end of the hallway, where the foyer opened up into a large square room that housed a pair of elevators.
Jason swung his machete at Cyborg, who dodged and gave Jason a hammer blow with both fists to his chest. Black blood splattered from the impact. Jason didn't care, slashing again at Cyborg, who ducked and uppercutted the monster under his rancid chin.
"Not so tough when you're not facing scared, uncomprehending teenagers, are you?" Cyborg snapped, and swung out…
Jason caught Cyborg's hand at the wrist.
And tore his whole lower arm off in a shredding of wires and cybernetics and a surprised agonized scream from Cyborg. Said surprise left him totally open as Jason followed the limb removal by slashing his machete again, ripping right through Cyborg's chest armor and carving a line from one end of his broad torso to the other. Cyborg staggered back, spasming as his systems went haywire, and then collapsed against the wall.
"Cyborg! CYBORG!" Beast Boy yelled, and then his face contorted in anger. "That's it! THIS TIME, YOU'RE STAYING DOWN!"
And Beast Boy turned into a triceratops and charged at Jason. Robin's eyes widened.
"BEAST BOY NO! YOU'RE TOO BIG A TARGET…!"
Jason swung his machete up as Beast Boy's thundering form closed it, his huge horn piercing into Jason's left shoulder…as Jason brought the machete down right on the middle of Beast Boy's head. Robin heard the terrible sound, a dull "chuock!" as metal bit into armored bone, propelled by a unbelievable strength and fury that eclipsed even the Candyman.
Beast Boy's form went still, and then he abruptly turned human again, his eyes uncomprehending, as blood ran down from the skull wound in the middle of his forehead and scalp, and then he toppled backwards and lay, limp.
"BEAST BOY!" Robin screamed. He was too far away, he couldn't reach him in time…
As Jason, not sure if his first head blow had been enough to deal with the teenager, decided frugalness was best and swung his machete back up to deliver another.
Blood spurted from Raven's hands as she got them up to grab Freddy's blades, stopping them an inch from her eyes, wincing and hissing under her breath as the blades sawed slightly into her hands, cutting ever deeper. Blood ran down her arms.
Freddy looked rather surprised.
"Well, she caught them. Everyone, give her a hand!" Freddy said, raising his arms…and then realizing he was one appendage short. "Um, what is the sound of one hand clapping?"
Raven yanked Freddy's animated limb off her head and threw/telekinetically pushed it away from her. The limb bounced over to Freddy's feet, and he reached down and picked it up, snapping it back on like he was an, uh, limb snapping back on thing.
"Come on, Baby Mama." Called Freddy, with a perfect impersonation of the King of Rock 'n Roll.
Raven's eyes glowed in black fury
"Elvis is dead! Join him, bastard!"
One of the biggest force blasts she had ever conjured, even at her peak and in top shape, launched itself from her hands and against the badly burned apparition, apparently hitting him head on.
But as we all know, when it comes to Freddy, appearances are always 100 deceiving.
And proving our theory, Freddy leapt out of the cloud left by the attack.
"Hello, love!" He cheerily cried.
It took him a while to realize Raven's eyes hadn't stopped glowing. In fact, she was once again recalling the teachings Melchior had given her before the dragon was freed. And now she was ready to use one of the most powerful ones.
"Foyu Kuyher Palumb Quytersz BALUUM!" She shouted, as black mist came out of her mouth, eyes and hands.
The mist didn't stop until it had reached Freddy…and then it was lifting him up, and then it suddenly inserted itself into the man through his nose, ears and mouth, disappearing within him.
After landing on the ground, Freddy stared at her in some confusion.
"What did you…?"
The scarred man was abruptly interrupted as his head suddenly flew off, even as his arms and legs exploded off his body and his torso was vertically bisected down the middle, the parts flying all over the roof.
Raven fell to her knees, breathing heavily, as the body parts surrounding her twitched. That spell caused her a lot of pain to conjure.
"You know…." Murmured a voice on her ear. "I'd rather you don't do that again, re-building myself from scratch is a pain in the ass!"
Raven turned around so quickly it was a wonder how she didn't break her own neck.
Freddy Krueger stood there, completely unharmed and currently polishing his claws.
"In fact." he continued, smirking at the girl. "I think I might have accidentally put my left ass-cheek on my back. Wanna check for me?" He said, sneering, his voice filled with a sick flirting tone.
Half-disgusted and half-surprised, Raven used a psychic push to get him away from her person. Strangely, it worked. Her body wracked with pain, Raven telekinetically tore strips from her cloak and wrapped them around her hands and some of her other wounds, even as she glared balefully at the bastard son of a hundred maniacs.
"You shit-eating fuck." Raven snarled, which was pretty damn out of character for her: blame it on the horror movie atmosphere.
"Please! You'll make me blush!" Freddy said, tipping his hat to Raven. That just made her even angrier, as she raised her arms.
"Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" she yelled, as she picked up every single loose object she could find on the T-Tower and hurled it at Freddy.
Freddy didn't run or disappear, rather, he ran headlong at Raven, dodging in and out of the storm of debris and moving far faster then she thought he could, and before she knew it Freddy was right in her face, and suddenly he was leaping, time seemingly slowing down, as he raised up both his arms, his foot drawing parallel to Raven's face…
"Wait, what am I doing?" Freddy said, and stopped his Matrix parody to do something more pleasing to him: slashing his clawed arm out right across the top of Raven's chest. Raven stumbled back as blood gushed from the four lines that had appeared between her breasts and her neck. Freddy laughed and slashed again, and Raven frantically waved her hand out and threw up a shield to block the slash before she zipped backwards, away from Freddy, trying to recover.
Freddy licked the tip of his blade.
"Sweet like my momma's heart." He said.
One hand still clamped to her wound, Raven reached out with her other hand and sent a jumbled command out. Not knowing what to do, her powers reacted wildly.
Which resulted in a cone of force suddenly surrounding Freddy's head, and before he could say anything he was abruptly yanked backwards. Just his top half though, his bottom half was untouched, and the end result was Freddy literally being folded in half, his head touching his heels and then actually being pulled through his spread feet with a series of loud, wet cracking noises.
"…….Owtch." Freddy said from his new position. "I've heard of bending over and kissing your ass goodbye, but this…is the wrong angle, to say the least." Freddy said, and with another sick snapping noise his top half flipped back up and was back to normal. "You know, I get the idea you aren't very happy with me." He added, looking hurt. There were even fake tears coming out of his yellow eyes.
"JUST DIE!" Raven screamed, as she thrust out both her hands. Freddy leapt, almost daintily backwards, as claws of black energy emerged from the ground beneath him, trying to grab and crush him. After dodging several, he stopped and laughed.
"You thought my last trick was handy, watch this!" Freddy said, raising his gloved hand and then thrusting it down into the ground.
And Raven screamed as the ground erupted around her as huge blades emerged, followed by huge, brown leather clad fingers that closed around her, as Freddy laughed from across the roof and his giant hand began to squeeze her even as one of the finger blades drew close to her head…
The whirling bladed projectile slammed into the side of Jason's face, piercing right through the lower left half of his mask. He recoiled, just a bit.
Robin lowered his arm. That was his one and only emergency Birdarang, yanked from his boot and thrown as accurately as Robin could make such a quick throw. And all it had seemed to do was bother Jason…
Jason reached up, and with a snap he yanked the Birdarang out. But at the same time, a cracking noise was heard, and a part of his hockey mask broke off and fell at Beast Boy's feet, exposing part of the lower left side of Jason's face. All Robin could make out was rotted black teeth, clenched in an eternal grimace after the lips and flesh around them had long ago decayed away.
He looked at Robin.
"Come on mama's boy!" Robin yelled.
That did it. Jason forgot about Beast Boy and headed for Robin, who got his staff up. He had ONE last emergency tool, but he'd never be able to assemble it in time, so he'd have to settle for hitting Jason until he fell down. Though with just a staff, he could be at that until Thanksgiving…
Jason stomped towards Robin, passing Cyborg, who groaned/snarled and tried to get up, wires dangling from his shattered right forearm, as Jason stalked over to the Teen Wonder.
And then, with a scream, Scalpel swung down from the ceiling he was perched on and landed on Jason's back. Robin started: he hadn't seen the alien return.
But he was, and boy was he mad, as his clawed hands tore into Jason's back. Jason stopped, his head jerking up as he realized he was being assaulted from behind, and tried to turn around to get at his attacker. But Scalpel was clinging tenaciously, and the turning around just gave him more time to claw more festering flesh off Jason's back. Blood as black as pitch sprayed onto him, but he ignored it: he was totally lost in a rage as he leaned over and sank his huge fangs into Jason's shoulder. Jason jerked, as if it almost hurt, as Scalpel ripped at his body with fang and claw.
Jason got his machete up and slashed at Scalpel's head, but Scalpel, much like when the Leprechaun had been riding on him, was at the wrong angle for an attack like that to be effective, as Scalpel jerked his head away, ripping a chunk of moldy clothes and putrid flesh away. Jason tried to stab behind him, but Scalpel dodged away, as he reared back his right clawed hand and fired it forward, piercing deep into Jason's back. The clawed digits exploded from Jason's front, and black ooze squired from behind Jason's hockey mask as he recoiled from the blow.
Scalpel twisted his clawed hand and yanked it out, even though doing so forced him to release the grip on Jason's back, but he had a lot more where that came from, as he reached behind himself and snapped out his glaive.
Jason whirled around, his rotten fluids seeping from a dozen wounds, as he slashed at Scalpel. Scalpel whirled away from the blow and slashed the large blade of his glaive across Jason's arm, slicing the limb open to the black and brown tinted bone. Jason ignored it, walking forward and slashing again, but this time Scalpel flipped away, holding the glaive out as he did so so that it carved open a huge wound on Jason's right leg. Doing another flip before he stopped, his glaive in front of him, Scalpel looked with some surprise as Jason continued to stalk forward, utterly unaware of his injuries, so it seemed. Fine. Scalpel would give him something to REALLY feel.
Jason slashed at Scalpel again.
Scalpel didn't dodge this time. Instead, he blocked, testing his alien strength against Jason's terrible demonic strength. For a moment, the two were at a dead heat…and then Jason's blade won the duel, shoving past Scalpel's block and at his head…
Scalpel lost his hat as he went with the planned failure, the machete slicing it in two as he darted aside, spun his glaive, set his feet, and slashed out, catching Jason fully across the chest. Blood exploded from the wound, drenching Scalpel as he twisted the glaive away, chunks of flesh and a part of bone that might have been part of Jason's rib cage flying away.
And then Jason struck, as if he had planned a counter to Scalpel's counter, but more likely just his general unstoppableness, as he stabbed the machete out and pierced through Scalpel's shoulder. Scalpel screamed and tried to get away, but Jason was too fast, far too fast, as he reached out, his huge hand enveloping the alien's face as he clamped down and lifted Scalpel up. Jason yanked the machete from the shoulder and swung it back, preparing to spill Scalpel's guts on the ground…
And the disc flew through the air towards Jason.
And amazingly, he ducked.
"WHAT?" Robin yelled as Jason dodged his emergency explosive disc, which flew on and struck the doors to one of the elevators, blowing them to pieces and pelting Scalpel and Jason with shrapnel. Jason barely noticed, as he turned and hurled Scalpel at Robin. Though he hated to do it, Robin dodged out of the way, and Scalpel flew past him and struck the wall, sliding down it, leaving a smear of his own blood that hissed as it began to eat into the wall.
"Damn." Robin said, as Jason retrieved his machete from where he had dropped it to throw Scalpel and headed for Robin. "You really are a monster."
Jason swung out at Robin. Robin rolled away, Jason's machete slicing a chunk from the wall. Robin backflipped as he pulled out his battered staff, Jason stalking him like the devil himself. Robin dodged away from the following three slashes, the deadly blade whistling closer each time, as he tried to find an opening…
And found he had run out of room, as he took another small leap back and almost found himself falling. Jason had backed him all the way up to the broken elevator door, and had cut off his escape. Robin looked behind him, staring down into the darkness of the shaft (he could faintly see the elevator car several floors down). He no longer had his grappling hook: Jack Frost had wrecked it. He was caught between the devil and the deep open air…
Jason closed in, swung back his machete, and slashed for Robin's head.
Robin dropped his bo and leapt backwards into the shaft, the blade barely missing him as he grabbed the elevator cables. So great was Jason's maleficent power that he actually sliced through two of the four cables holding the elevator up, sparks shooting from the huge lines as the machete scraped on them, even as Robin spun around the cables and slammed his feet into Jason's face as hard as he could. The impact made his legs go numb up to his knees, but it made Jason stagger back, and Robin did another quick spin and launched himself out, trying to made it past Jason…
Jason was faster.
The machete didn't get as far as Jason planned, but it still ripped a long gash through Robin's side and interrupted his dive and concentration. Robin yelled as he hit the ground, rolling awkwardly and violently twisting the shoulder the Leprechaun had dislocated before rapping the side of his head on the ground. Stars exploded on his vision, and the world blurred around him.
Jason had gotten his machete stuck in the ground again with his last attack, but he quickly yanked it out. Robin was down and not moving, so Jason headed for him. Once again, he swung the machete up…
A huge green hand closed on his.
"No."
Jason looked at the green ape, its face bloody, as it tried to fight his descent. But the fight only lasted a few seconds before the ape became Beast Boy, his eyes woozy and his stance unsteady as he tottered back and fell against the wall.
"Beast Boy!" Robin said, and summoned a burst of adrenaline to roll over to where he was. He saw Jason's shadow falling over them, and he turned, still on his knees, his fists cocked, going to go down fighting.
"GET AWAY!"
Cyborg football tackled Jason, shoving the monster away, much to Jason's surprise. And Cyborg took full advantage of that as he pushed the curse of Crystal Lake back…
"CYBORG!" Robin yelled.
And right through the broken elevator door and down the shaft. Within a second they were gone, Cyborg's battle cry echoing out from the broken doors.
A few seconds later a terrific crash rang through the doors and hallway as they landed on what Robin assumed was the elevator car. He still jerked at the loud noise.
And then…silence.
"Cyborg! CYBORG!" Robin yelled, getting up. He became aware of movement to his left and nearly took Scalpel's head off with a punch before he realized who it was. "Nigel!"
"Brave. Stupid, but brave." Scalpel said, and looked at Beast Boy, who was still lying against the wall, dazed and confused. He frowned slightly.
"Is it serious?" Robin asked.
"Not sure…" Scalpel said, kneeling down. He had his own serious injuries, as marked by the fact he'd been holding his shoulder when he'd approached Robin and blood continued to dribble out his back and from cracks in his makeshift burn bandage. He looked at the blood wound on Beast Boy's head.
"I think that dinosaur armor saved him from anything serious. The skull seems a bit dented if anything, but he should live…unless the concussion makes his brain swell or something…" Scalpel said. He glanced at Robin. "I'll give him what I can. You'd best go after Cyborg. I don't think he can stop that thing alone."
"Scalpel, I wonder if we can stop that thing, period." Robin said, as he recalled a tossed off line…
Do you know what makes you so special Jason? You can never die. No matter what they do, no one can ever kill you…
"I've heard that before." Robin muttered, as he walked over to the elevator doors, retrieving his bo from their base. He leapt and grabbed the remaining cables, not worrying about them breaking (though elevators had several cables, they were designed so that just one could hold the weight of the whole elevator…and hopefully withstand the impact of two very heavy bodies crashing down on it…) and carefully shimmied down, ready in case a blade tried to leave him without a foot.
There was no blade, and almost no roof left on the elevator: Cyborg and Jason had caved two thirds of it in. Robin scanned the darkness, trying to make out any movement. He saw none, so, taking a chance, he let go and dropped down into the elevator.
It was empty.
Jason was gone.
So was Cyborg.
And the doors were pried open. Though the lights in the hallway were dim and flickering, Robin recognized the floor. It was mostly devoted to living areas.
His bo at the ready, Robin stepped out of the elevator and went on the hunt.
Though he really had to wonder who was hunting whom.
Raven struggled furiously, but Freddy's grip was absolute, his giant hand totally enclosing her. She could feel the giant blade of the index finger begin to press against her forehead, even as his fingers continued to squash her into paste.
"Hah! They say a bird in the hand if worth two in the bush…but personally, I'd just prefer your bush in my hand. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Freddy laughed. The words, and the intentions behind them, went through Raven's being like a bolt of lightning.
"AIIIIIIIIAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Raven screamed, and for a brief moment a flicker of red passed over her skin, the brief impression of two more eyes flickering across her face, and then black power tore the hand open, Freddy yelling in surprise as tendrils of black power shoved open the gigantic appendage, freeing Raven, who didn't waste any time, as she zipped over to Freddy, who had pulled his hand out of the ground, removing the giant limb from play.
"Wow, I must have really turned you on…"
Raven thrust out her hand as a tendril of black power shot from it, ripping through Freddy's torso. He yelled in pain and protest, and then he did it some more as Raven lifted him up and slammed him down into the roof, cracking the hard stone, and then up and down again, and again, and again.
"NO-ONE-TALKS-TO-ME-LIKE-THAT!!!" Raven screamed, punctuating each word with a slam, before she wound up. She didn't throw Freddy through the air: she slammed him into the ground and then shoved him violently, resulting in an erupting line of stone and metal ripping across the T-Junction as Raven smashed Freddy away from her. The line ended at the end of the Tower, and Raven floated down, and she leaned over and gasped for air. She was pushing herself too hard, making her body do things it shouldn't have tried doing when it wasn't at full strength, and as a result her power was down, her resources were down, and she didn't know how much longer it'd be until she'd be down.
"Very nice. I feel like a kid again! Or at least alive." Came a voice from the smoke, and Freddy strolled out, not harmed in the slightest, as he "rolled" his clawed hand, flexing each finger one after the other to create a wave motion. Raven looked at him in horror. "My turn."
Before Raven could react, Freddy was within an inch from her.
"You look incredibly sexy when you are terrified, you know." He muttered just before giving Raven a quick peek on the mouth.
The half-demon was so shocked, she froze on her spot, her mind numb and without a clue to what was happening.
And then the overwhelming pain struck. As soon as her brain identified the feeling, she started screaming, loud and hard. The scream was so loud it drowned out the laughter heard on the background.
Raven's brain immediately ordered her to find the source of her pain, and so she did. Jerking her head towards her right shoulder, she was struck with even greater horror at what she found: Freddy's ENTIRE clawed hand had gone THROUGH her shoulder and went in all the way to the forearm.
Raven nearly fainted.
Freddy, on the other hand, grinned insanely.
"Oh, you like it? Then prepare to be aroused!"
Once again, the perception was warped by the nightmare-man, and suddenly both of them were standing on the wall of the nearby small building that made up the exit of the stairs onto the roof.
With Raven on top. And slowly slipping towards Freddy.
She was being impaled.
For the first time of her life, Raven allowed herself to whimper silently. This was different than any kind of pain she'd ever felt before. Even when one of Scalpel's alien kind, an elite soldier called a White Hole, had shown up on earth and taken a large bite out of her shoulder…it wasn't as bad as this.
But she wasn't going to take it quietly. Violently, she thrust her right hand towards Freddy and launched him backwards, causing his arms to come out from her shoulder hole with a sickening 'pop!'.
Raven managed to float several feet away before she fell to the ground with a combination of a groan and a whimper. Slowly, she sat up and stared at her now useless right arm, from which blood now poured freely. She sighed and still sat, because she honestly had no idea of what to do now. She would probably bleed to death soon if Freddy didn't finish the job by then.
Then her anger began to return. No. She wouldn't just sit here and take it!
So she floated up…
And nearly fainted again from the combination of pain, loss of blood, and exhaustion. She could vaguely hear Freddy laughing.
"Come now! Don't fall asleep on me! We aren't even halfway done yet!" Freddy exclaimed, and then he slashed out his hand.
Invisible blades slashed through Raven, tearing through her clothes and flesh, as she flew backwards from their impact and hit the ground, her cloak in tatters and her body bleeding from a dozen new wounds. She never knew she had so much blood in her.
Freddy chuckled and walked over. When Raven tried to get up, feebly, he stomped the heel of his boot into her face.
"No one has ever fought me like you girl, but you know what they say about whores who try to play hard to get." Freddy said, leaning over, grabbing Raven's throat with his normal hand as he flicked his claw against the meat of her thigh and began tracing it upwards. "So I'll say it again. Sing for me birdie."
The green blast blew Freddy across the roof again, the scarred dream master tumbling quite a bit before he stopped himself and got back up, snarling at the interruption.
"If you want her…" Terra said, as she floated down next to Raven.
"Then you go through us." Starfire said, as she floated down on Raven's other side. A second later Gauntlet dropped down in front of her as well.
"And frankly, I don't think that's possible." Gauntlet finished.
Freddy looked at the new recruits, scratching his chin lightly with his clawed glove as if considering what to make of the three new arrivals.
The Titans all struck fighting poses, waiting for the psychopath to attack.
And so they waited.
And waited.
And waited while Freddy stared blankly at them, scratching his chin.
"Uh…" Gauntlet said, for despite the problem and situation, he was starting to get impatient "Aren't you gonna do anything?"
Freddy gazed at him instantly. His cruel grin said it all.
"I was trying to think of something original, but I now think a classic is better, so…1, 2." Freddy said mockingly, looking from one teen to another. "Freddy's coming for you."
It's different on the other end.
Or so Robin thought as he slowly lifted his leg and took one more step, moving the distance like he was taking trench territory in World War I, his senses screaming and his brain charged with adrenaline.
Nothing happened.
Yet.
Something was due to happen eventually. And sooner rather then later. Very soon. Patience was not something that occurred in these situations.
Robin had certainly learned THAT.
And so Robin stood outside Starfire's room, banged up, torn up, bloodied, but still standing and still ready to go. In his right hand is clutched his metal bo, held out in the optimum angle of his self developed fighting style. He will be ready to bring it to use.
If he even gets to.
There is a chance he will not.
He wonders where his friends and allies are, the ones he did not see. Scattered far and wide again, despite what they willed? Are they hurt? Dead? Anything has become possible in this strange world Robin has found himself in this night.
I should have listened to Noel. This never would have happened if we had gotten that damn security system fixed…
Robin slowly turns, trying to look at every shadow. As mentioned, it was different.
When it happened, as normal people knew, it seemed so obvious. Behavior seemed so stupid, and fates so deserved.
But when you were actually in it…
Robin wished he still had his mask. He could have fitted in his night vision lenses in and scattered the shadows in a piercing green glare. But it was gone. And perhaps with it his chance to survive.
For the shadows hid so much. You didn't need a certain place. All you needed was the dark. The dark to conceal, until it was his time…
I hope Cyborg's all right…Robin slowly reaches out and presses a button, and the door to Starfire's room slid open. Robin's slow form suddenly came alive as he dove forward, rolled, and came up, looking around.
Nothing. The darkness has even managed to mute the normal brightness of Kory's room.
He wondered if something worse blighted it.
He stood up, looking around, trying to keep his mind clear, fighting against mystical interference as well as his human instincts, which may aid him in survival but will NOT help him in this situation. Wondering where it was. Where HE was.
Wondering if he had friends now.
Trying to keep all that he has learned from another master of the darkness, his mentor, Robin took another step.
Nothing.
Robin makes no sound while moving. His breathing, very careful and regulated through his nose, makes no noise at all.
He doesn't think he sounds silent though. Like his peers, his thudding heart sounds like war drums to him. Maybe HE can hear it as well. Maybe he'd examine it first hand…
Robin started to breath in as he took another slow step.
And froze.
When he had started to inhale, his nose had kicked it, and he had smelled it.
The smell of evil. The stench of Jason Voorhees.
CH CH CH AH AH AH…And the fear and fury that it awoke in Robin fired up through his being and blasted into his arms, as he starts to turn, as he starts to bring the staff up…
As the blade came slashing down.