Title: Fighting Fire With Fire

Author: Queen Serenity

Fandom: A Nightmare On Elm Street

Chapter: Four

The first thing Crimmane was aware of was the sound of frantic breathing and running footsteps. It seemed she wasn't the only dreamer here tonight…

Nightsun and Bloodmoon visibly tensed, and she reached out with her mind, telling them to either stay calm and listen to her, or leave. They weren't about to leave her alone yet, so they listened.

Crimmane looked around, taking in her surroundings. As she had expected, she was in some sort of large boiler room that seemed to stretch on and on… the room was, as was expected, very hot. Even more so, in fact, by the form she currently was using… the fur wasn't very useful right now. All over the place were pipes, level upon level of mesh metal walkways, metal platforms, metal ladders, metal stairs, and metal bars. Several of the pipes spouted steam occasionally, and were obviously really quite hot.

She knew right now she didn't have too much time. Because she'd moved where she was, in the dream world as well as the real, it would take him a while to find her. But her time was still limited.

As she cocked her head and listened, she realized that the footsteps were coming closer… and then she heard it…

…screeeeeeeet…

She cringed as the sound bombarded her sensitive ears; the eerie sound of metal scraping on metal. It seemed almost as though it were a call… akin to a hunter letting out a cry as it closed in on its prey.

She starting walking along the walkway she was on, Nightsun and Bloodmoon following her, their claws clicking against the metal.

Ahead of her, a girl right around her age came peeling around the corner ahead of her. The girl looked to be one of those bitchy beauty-queen types. She had peroxide-blonde hair done in an elaborate style which made it look like she had used a whole can of hair-spray on it, and was wearing a white sequined dress marred by blood from the gash at her side. Blood was running down her pretty face, from where the wicked-looking spiked crown atop her head was digging into her skull.

When the girl saw the three huge wolf-like creatures ahead of her, she actually skidded on the metal floor in her panty-hosed feet (she must have lost her heels in running), letting out a fearful shriek, and started running in the opposite direction.

She was quickly stopped as a man stepped into view from the shadows, and Crimmane focused on him instantly; she could see that he wore old black pants, and a frayed, tattered red and green striped sweater. Well, she thought inwardly, with a little chuckle, no one can say this guy doesn't have that good 'ol year-round Christmas spirit.

Next she noticed him… all covered in severe pinkish burn scars, it was safe to say that he was one scary-looking motherfucker. Icy bluegray eyes narrowed as Freddy leered at the blonde, his prey, revealing disgustingly yellow and decayed teeth.

And of course there was the glove. No way in hell could anyone miss that glove. A common dirty brown workman's glove underneath, slightly curved several-inch-long blades were affixed to each of the fingers of it, but not the thumb. He wore the glove on his right hand.

And right now… right now, the glove was already marked with fresh blood.

The girl, seeing that there was no place left to run, hunched down, sobbing and whimpering, cowering before the Nightmare King. "No… no, please don't kill me! I'm too young to die!" she sobbed, terrified.

Letting out a sinister chuckle, he grabbed the back of the girl's hair, dragging her to her feet. As he let her go, the tiara upon her head dug in further still, causing fresh rivulets of blood to run down her face. He let out a gravelly chuckle again. "That's what they all say. Ah, to have to suffer the pain of the burden of carrying the Springwood Homecoming Queen crown." He crooned in an only-too-mocking tone, and Crimmane noticed that his voice was gravelly with a sort of resonance behind it that she knew could only be the dream demons which rested inside him.

As the girl let out another whimper, obviously too petrified to run, he placed the blade of his index finger delicately under her chin. "Jessica, you do know that being crowned Homecoming Queen in Springwood is nothing to brag about, don't you, Bitch? What with how many bitches like you I've killed, you're probably the only one left… I guess you shoulda remember to take your Hypnocil, huh?"

Jessica shrieked; her pharmacist had told her that Hypnocil couldn't be mixed with the diet pills she was taking. She'd wanted to be trim for the upcoming election, and it had worked. She hadn't even been that worried… after all, Freddy was dead, right? Nothing had been heard about him for years. The crown grew heavier and heavier for the girl, and she moved to try and rip it from her head, but it just dug in further. With a shriek, she fell to her knees as they buckled, and then fell face-first into the walkway, unable to hold up the massive weight any longer. As her face was pressed into the mesh of the walkway, strangled whimpers could be heard. Crouching by her, Freddy spoke again. "The weight of the Homecoming Crown. Some can take it-"

With a sickening squelching noise, the crown caved her skull in, going through her brains like butter to rest on the walkway. Freddy smirked and bent down to pick up the now back-to-normal tiara, twirling it lightly on his blade. "-and some can't."

Crimmane watched all of this detachedly. Even though she knew that this was actually real, after the years of watching him kill her loved ones and torture them over and over again, watching a stranger die this gruesome death was no big deal. She supposed she should have felt bad for this detachment, this inhumanity, but at the moment she wasn't bothered by it. She stepped forward slightly, waiting for Freddy to notice her.

Freddy's maniacal grin faded soon. It had been years since anyone had dreamed of him, what with that goddamned Hypnocil, and it was good to be back… however, it would probably be a long wait before anyone else stopped taking it, or forgot. As it was, it was inevitable that he'd fade again… for who knows how long this time…

Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and he turned to see what had made that stupid bitch come running back towards him. Three wolf-like creatures stood there, the two in the back the size of great danes, their eyes glowing slightly, the one in front only a bit bigger than the average wolf, smaller than the other two behind her. The two in back showed their teeth, growling slightly at Freddy, but a look from the one in front silenced them. Freddy's eyes narrowed at them. What the fuck? Since when did my playground include a bunch of dogs?

He flexed his gloved hand, about to state his question, when the lead wolf-thing stepped forward. A moment later, there was a blinding flash and a girl was standing there instead, her green-blue gaze steadily on Freddy.

Freddy took in the image of the girl, his icy eyes narrowed. She looked to be in her late teens, as the rest of the brats usually were. She was adorned in an innocent-looking white nightgown, and her hair was a mass of reddish gold curls, partially tied back with a midnight blue ribbon, but leaving many curls to frame her face. Her face looked as though she hadn't slept in a long while, and this surprised Freddy; it couldn't be from him… he'd never seen this one. Her mouth was set in a tight line and he was pissed to find that the girl's eyes held no fear when she saw him.

Snapping out of his reflections, he leered at her. "Well, whaddya know… fresh meat."

One of the creatures by the girl raised its hackles, and she knelt to rub the top of its mane gently, calming it, never taking her eyes off of Freddy. Smiling slightly, she shook her head, and spoke in a soft, yet clear voice. "Nuh uh. I don't think so." After saying this, she stood, crossing her arms and leaning on one leg casually. "So I guess you must be him, huh? Freddy Krueger. 'The' Freddy Krueger, also known as the Springwood Slasher while you were alive, and known as the son of a hundred maniacs as a child. Child of Amanda Krueger, a nun, whom was raped by a hundred criminally insane men when she was accidentally locked overnight with them, thus resulting in her shameful pregnancy with you. Widow-husband to Loretta Krueger, who you yourself killed, and father to Katherine Krueger, who brought you to the physical world and put you to sleep with your own glove. I say put you to sleep instead of killed, since you always come back to kill more, and add to the number of your 'children'."

Anger showed in the dream-killer's eyes, and he moved down the walkway towards the girl, blades raised to strike. Just who was this bitch, coming in here and thinking she knew all about him! He'd slice her open just to show her how much she really knew! He'd see fear in her eyes and hear her beg for mercy before she died!

About a foot from her however, Freddy ran into an obstruction; it seemed that there was some sort of invisible wall there, protecting the girl. And it was then he noticed that the two wolf-thingys' eyes were glowing again. One pair of bloodred eyes, and one pair of green. If he was still human, he knew he most likely would have been scared shitless… but this girl… underneath all this other shit, he could sense that she was still fully human and oh so alive. But there was a difference… one that he found he didn't like one bit. Most of his dreamers, when they entered his playground, had minds that were completely open to him. After all, that's how he used their fears and insecurities against them. But her… for some reason, he couldn't see into her mind, and it just pissed him off further. But he decided not to show it. At least not yet.

Realizing he couldn't reach her just now, he stepped back to speak in his rough voice. "Right in one. But I guess that just leaves one question: who in hell are you, bitch! Tell me now and I might make your death slightly less painful, since daddy's already had fun tonight…"

She tsked and shook her head. "No need to threaten me, Krueger. You can't reach me right now… you should know, though. My pack members are protecting me simply because they think I deserve the chance to be heard, if nothing else… If it was up to me, I'd let you kill me and be done with it…" her voice trailed off slightly here, losing a bit of its confidence, and her gaze fell. "But even then, I don't think you could kill me. Your powers are centered on dreams, and so are his. Whenever I'm hurt in my dreams, 'he' can heal me. That's how he's brought me to the point of death so many times and back again… and so you see, even if you had your way with me now, I couldn't die, not really."

This was really starting to piss Freddy off; he wasn't used to having to sit there and listen to a bitch talk, usually he could just kill them! "What the fuck are you talking about?" he growled. "If I killed you, bitch, you'd stay dead. You're as human as everyone else that comes in here… I can smell it on ya."

The girl shook her head again, her curls bouncing slightly. "No, I wouldn't…" she smirked grimly, and continued. "As much as I would 'enjoy' being one of your 'children'…" she held up her left hand, where Freddy could just barely make out a small red scar around the center of her palm. "As you can see, Krueger, I'm already claimed. So that means that you can't have me… since I belong to 'him'…"

Freddy tapped one of his blades on a nearby pipe, giving off the appearance that he was bored; however, the nightmare king was anything but. This girl seemed to think that she couldn't be killed by him… oh, what fun he would have, proving her wrong. As soon as he got rid of her fucking mutts, that is. But for now… for now, he'd humor the bitch, and let her continue with what she was saying. He had nothing better to do, anyway. It was no fun for him when no one was in his playground; even when he was here, there wasn't much he could do other then wander around in the old house, or the boiler room. Sure, he could conjure up other things with his powers, but even that got old after a while.

It was funny to him, that she thought that some little scar some other guy had given her in her pitiful daily life would mean anything to him… so funny, in fact, that he let out a sinister chuckle. "You think that means anything to me? I don't know what you've heard about me, bitch, but I follow no one's rules but my own. You know what someone else's claim means to me? Absolutely shit. If I decide to kill you, I'll kill you, and your little dogs, too… and ain't nothin' gonna stop me."

She shook her head once more, eyes closed, and pinched the bridge of her nose slightly before opening them again. "Let me show you." And, to Freddy's great surprise, she extended her hand through the invisible shield, palm up, towards him.

Molly was glad that Jareh had taught her this little trick… because of that scar that 'he' had left her with, she could do this… and Jareh had known that it would probably be necessary for the plan. She knew she was taking a great risk, allowing him to touch her, but she was already taking a risk, so who cared?

Freddy stared at the hand for a second, assorted thoughts running through his twisted mind; one of these was to reach out and slice that bitch's arm right open, just to hear her delicious screams fill his ears. Another was wonderment that another human was actually volunteering to touch him… that hadn't happened since Katherine had been stolen from him. However, he decided to wait and, seriously doubting the girl's sanity, reached out his left, ungloved hand, and placed it in her soft outstretched hand, not knowing what to expect.

PAIN! ! Pain ripped through Freddy, driving him to his knees in its unexpectedness, and he tried to yank his hand back, only to find that the bitch's grip was iron as she determinedly hung on, set on showing him this…

Images flashed before his eyes, images of Molly's memories of the years she'd suffered with 'him' in her dreams, sapping her will with those damned green eyes, tortured in more ways then anyone could imagine and watching others tortured and killed before her very eyes over and over and over again. And, at the end of each night, she was healed once more for the most part, aside from a few minor bruises and/or cuts to remind her that he had power over her.

All at once, Molly broke contact and fell back into her shield, landing with a thump between Nightsun and Bloodmoon, leaving Freddy still crouched on the ground, icy blue eyes unfocused as his mind processed the images. She panted slightly, out of breath from the exertion of transmitting her memories…

Bloodmoon whined slightly at her, the shine in his eyes faded slightly, and Molly got the impression of what he was saying… the lupe's energy was not inexhaustible, and they could not keep this up much longer… she sat up from her sprawled position she'd landed in when she fell, and looked at each of them in turn, communicating her thought to them. Don't worry… just a little longer… She knew time was limited, anyway… 'he' would find her soon… she could feel him searching for her even now.

Shifting, she remained seated, but leaned back against the rails by the walkway, her attitude and posture relaxed, her legs stretched before her. One leg's knee was up in this position, and she just sat there, watching Freddy.

What the FUCK? What had that bitch done to him! He was used to pain, but how the fuck had she done it! And those images she'd shown him… those memories… that man in them, from her dreams…

The dream demons in him hissed angrily, and he knew only a moment later that they were as pissed as him; nightmares were their territory, and theirs ALONE! Somehow, from the memories, he knew that that guy wasn't human, possibly never had been, unlike Freddy. But that didn't mean he couldn't slice his ass up!

But the dream demons also hissed caution at him; they didn't know what this 'man' was, either, and he should exercise caution when dealing with him.

Ah FUCK IT! He couldn't be killed except in the real world, and even that was only temporary! He had nothing to be afraid of! Hmph! He was fucking immune to fear! After all, he was the King of Nightmares!

A moment later, his eyes focused, but he remained crouched where he was, and raised his head to stare unblinkingly at the bitch reclining a few feet in front of him… 'Serenity', he'd heard the guy call her in the memories.

"So," his voice was even rougher than usual when he finally spoke. "Serenity, is it?"

This spurred a reaction on her face, which, until now, had been calm since she'd entered his domain. A look of rage crossed her face, and she spoke, her voice dripping with it. "Don't fucking call me that, 'Frederick'! My name's Molly!" The only person she allowed to call her that was Jareh, and only because he'd been her friend for so long… but it was also what 'he' called her, and she loathed it.

Freddy smirked. "The name's Freddy, as you already know, bitch! Molly… it doesn't suit you." And this was true. To him, it felt like calling a cat a panda, or something like that… He tapped his blade against his chin, thinking. "Hmm… I'll call you Sere. Or bitch."

Molly scowled, but didn't object. She reigned in her emotions once more, and the calm, detached expression came over her face.

"So, as I was saying…" Freddy continued, "Why the fuck did you come here? You expect me to protect you? Hmph!"

Molly smiled; it was time to play another one of her cards… the one she was counting on most… "Not exactly…" She drawled, withdrawing a straight razor from where she'd had it hidden in her hair. She proceeded to press it to just above one of her ankles and, applying slight pressure, began to draw it up the outstretched leg slowly, blood welling up languidly in its wake. She didn't even wince as she spoke during the act of doing so. "You know, Freddy… I've spent a lot of years suffering under him… being hurt again and again by him… draining me… But there's a little something about me that even he doesn't know, Freddy. You see, it seems I've started to enjoy the pain; it cuts through the numbness I feel anymore, reminding me that I'm still alive. You could say I use the pain… to make me stronger, you know? But…" She pouted here, aware of Freddy's eyes on her, as the man unconsciously licked his lips. "…I've also built up quite a pain endurance. It takes quite a lot to hurt me, and even more to scare me, as you can see. Think about it, Freddy. Death doesn't scare me. Pain doesn't scare me. Watching pain doesn't scare me… not anymore at least… It's such a pity I belong to him…" she smirked here, her voice sort of husky. "You and I could have such fun. You, of all people, should know what I mean. About using pain to your benefit, I mean." It seemed she was finished with what she had to say. Putting down the razor, she pressed slightly at the wound, a little innocent smile curling at her lips. A moment later, she pressed a blood-covered finger to those smiling lips, and licked the blood off, the innocent smile never leaving her face.

Freddy unconsciously licked his lips again, and let out a sort of little growl as he painfully felt his arousal. He was reminded of his memories of when he'd lived with the pimp, pressing the blade to his own flesh, actually enjoying the sensation as he learned to use to pain to make him stronger… And the bitch was right; oh, what fun he could have with her! The usual brats screamed so easily… as sweet as the screams were, they came almost too easily. This girl, though, Sere, he'd have to actually work to make her scream! And when the screams finally came… oh, how delicious they would be!

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of a distant footstep, and, for the first time, a look of terror came over Sere's face. "Oh, no! He's found me!"

QS: *grinz devilishly* How's that for a cliffhanger? This, I think, is my longest chapter yet. Writing Freddy made me nervous, but I think I got his personality okay for my first try. What do you guys think?

Freddy was in this chapter, as promised, at least. I personally loved the way Jessica died… it seemed so… Freddy, ya know? The reason I had my lupes help me, btw, is because, as we all know, Freddy is usually a kill-first, talk-never sort of dude, so I really needed to make sure he couldn't kill Molly as soon as he saw her. You guys should be able to see what she's doing… she's manipulating him by plying to his perverse nature and his torturous, pain-inflicting nature both at once. She's not stupid enough to just come out and ask for help, you know? This chapter was really thought-out on my part, so please tell me what you think!

And oh, by the way, you wanna know something funny? When I wrote chapter two, where Molly was cutting herself and stuff, not minding the pain, I hadn't seen Nightmare on Elm Street 6 yet, where we see his path with him cutting himself as a teenager and stuff. So imagine my happiness when I saw it just two days ago! My pain-plan works out even better then I thought it would, you know? ;P