Chapter 13: The Pain of Destiny
"You know, Angelina, you are quite strong. Most pass out from the pain of losing the captive souls."
"If you pass out in a dream, does that mean you wake up?"
"I don't know." It smiled.
"It just occurred to me… Paradox, are you male or female?"
"Well… technically I am neither, but I must say I tend to lean toward male in my appearance and voice, don't you agree?"
"Yeah, it just kept me confused." I said, sitting up on my own.
"Well, now that the souls have been released to their proper resting places, now you must be given the powers of a guardian. This pain will be as all of those you have killed at once. Can you handle it? Are you ready?"
"Yes, I'm ready." I said.
Paradox had me lay flat on the floor and he put one hand over my forehead and the other over my torso. Again I closed my eyes as he started to do his thing.
"This one has chosen to become a Dream Guardian. She has passed all the tests and released the souls of those she has killed. Now, will you give her the power?" Paradox's voice echoed in a loud boom as I felt heat wash over me.
But the relaxing heat quickly turned to blazing fire. I felt as though flames were eating away at me. I let out a horrible scream from the pain as it changed from fire to extraordinary gashes. I felt blood ooze out of my body, but I was blind from the fire. I tried to move away from the pain, but I was paralyzed both in mind and body. My voice stopped, lost to me. All I heard was Paradox's gasp.
When the pain stopped I inhaled deeply. My skin was tingling. When sight came back to me, I sat up. I felt so odd. My power was back, but it was different and stronger. I didn't recognize it exactly at first, but then my mother's words came back to me.
"If you remember anything I ever tell you, Angelina, remember that love and peace is what our world needs, not hate and prejudice..."
That was my power. Before, hate and death had fueled my strength. But now, love, peace, and life filled my soul. Knowledge filled me as well. Knowledge of how to use the power.
"Well… I have to admit… that was still better than a root canal or algebra homework." I sighed, resting a bit from the pain. Paradox smirked and helped me to my feet.
"There is one last thing, Angelina." He said.
"Oh, now what?"
"The Marking." He said.
"Sounds fun." My voice was dripping with sarcasm
Paradox opened his hand to reveal a dagger. It was gold, even the blade, and intricate markings of ivy wrapped around the entire dagger, even the blade.
"I must mark you as a guardian." He said, "Give me your right arm."
I gave him my arm quickly, waiting to get it over with. It really didn't hurt too much, but I couldn't watch as he cut into my skin, going all the way up to the shoulder. When he quit, I looked down. I had 'chaos' scribed onto my upper arm entwined in ivy, the ivy starting around my wrist and continuing all the way onto the shoulder blade and collar bone.
"Half done?" I asked, wincing as he made one final cut. He nodded.
"Now your left arm." I switch arms and looked over my bloody artwork. When he was finished, I had a similar branding, only scribed with 'order'.
He let go of my arm and waved the bloody dagger over my head. The bloody wounds healed as the remaining blood dripped from my hands.
"That's it?"
"That's it, and now, this dagger is yours." He handed me the golden dagger, which as soon as I touched it, it disappeared, "It's inside of you, like a… core I guess. You must use your power to defeat Krueger. But please Angelina, don't lose. If you do, Krueger will gain all of your power and become truly unstoppable. He will no longer be held to this realm. It's the same when you kill him though, you'll gain his power."
"I'll stop him, Paradox. Even if I die to do so, he will not haunt anymore dreams. When I kill him, I will erase his existence utterly and entirely."
"Very good. Now go." Paradox said.
XxX
Krueger was at a desk, tapping his claws against the wood. When I appeared he seemed bored.
"There you are, my angel."
"Good evening, master." I said, bowing my head. I was in my slasher attire once again. I smirked as Jake appeared next to me. I grabbed him by his throat with my ungloved hand. I held my index claw under his chin.
"Oh! Who is this, then?"
"A sinner of fraud. He is my last victim, number seven. I thought perhaps you'd like a show tonight. You must be so proud of your first pupil."
"Oh yes, a great show indeed. Tell me though, how has he committed fraud?" Krueger asked, standing and the desk disappearing.
"He didn't tell me who he was when we first met." I growled.
"And who is he?"
I let Jake go, and he rubbed his throat for a second before looking to Krueger. Krueger looked a bit confused as I had let Jake go.
"Krueger, I'm hurt! I can't believe you forgot me, dad." Jake said.
"He's Jacob Johnson. He's been here with me twice before and you still never figured it out?" I asked. Krueger sneered.
"Damn you bitch!" he sneered.
"Krueger… you trusted me? But remember what you told me about trust. I wasn't on your side at all. I'm not a Dream Demon, I'm a Dream Guardian."
"DAMMIT!" he roared, shaking the room.
"You killed my mother… I know you did… and you've killed so many people… now you'll finally get what you deserve."
I stripped my slasher guise for something a bit more suiting. Black leather pants, knee high boots, and a white tank that showed my marks. I had new gloves as well, one on each hand, fingerless, and the claws were set back on the knuckles. I could clench my fists and keep the claws out. It looked a bit like Wolverine from the X-Men, but still it would work.
Krueger started to laugh, throwing his head back and shaking the nonexistent room. Jake nearly fell, but I took my fighting stance and stood firm.
"You think being a guardian means anything! I've killed every guardian that's come my way!"
Before I could react, Krueger had me by the neck, my feet dangling off the floor. His hand burned my neck as he held me.I grabbed his arm in an attempt to get free, but it was no good. Jake tried to move toward me, but he was stuck in the gray goop at his feet, the ground swallowing him up.
"Jake!"
"Jake! Jake!" Krueger cried, mocking me, "My angel… you think you know all about me now, don't you? You think you've figured it out? You think you can defeat me. Stupid bitch!"
"I'll do it! I'll defeat you!"
Krueger laughed again, throwing me to the floor hard enough to crack the false tiles, along with the bones in my right arm.
"That's what the last guardian said. You might know him. His name was… oh, what was it? Right, right, it was Robert Cline."
"What?" I gasped, standing and nursing my arm.
"Yeah, the bitch was your dad." Krueger said it like it was no big deal.
"You… you killed them both…."
"Your father… such a gift he had. So creative. So unique. You're just like him. He had fought me twice and got away. He was so scared to sleep anymore… so when he fell asleep at the wheel… well, I just had to hold him there until he crashed." He said, now circling me.
"But… why my mom…?"
"She was for my own reasons. Once old Bobby-boy was dead, she came back to my town to hunt me. But you know how that ended."
"You knew…?"
"I knew exactly who you were from the beginning. But I couldn't read your mind completely. Granted from your father no doubt. I couldn't tell if you were after me or if you wanted to serve with me. But then… I had planned it all from the beginning."
"Damn you!"
"Too late. All I had to do was wait for you. I knew our paths would cross. You'd either try to kill me, or want to learn from me. You would be just so dark after losing you mom in such a bloody way. No one believed you. No one even thought I could have returned… after all… Jason Voorhees had killed me. Right?" he paused for a second, then leaned in close, "WRONG! He could never kill me… once I came to the real world, and I was killed, I simply came back here. And now I'll return to the real world, once I steal the power from you."
"That won't happen!" I screamed, using the sound waves to throw Krueger back. My arm was healed now, so I got into another fighting pose and kept my guard up. He wouldn't get to me. He was trying to scare me.
The room shimmered, and I was on an iron rail, high above city streets. I was so high up, and a gust of wind nearly knocked me over. I couldn't sense Jake anywhere, but I wasn't really trying. This was one of my greatest fears; acrophobia.
I carefully looked around and saw that a steel column was right behind me. I backed up into it so I'd have better balance.
"Watch your step, my angel!" Krueger laughed, making the tower shake. I let out a small yelp from fear.
"I'm not your angel anymore!" I snapped. I took a free step forward and closed my eyes.
This isn't real… it isn't real… go away… go away… go away… I'm safe on the ground… right now!
I opened my eyes, and sure enough I was on the ground, in Krueger's boiler room. I laughed when Krueger tried to intimidate me with his claws scraping on the metal, so I did it right back.
Skrrreeeeeech--ekkk!
Skrrreeeeeech--ekkk!
Two echoing scratches hit the pipes and seemed to go on forever. Using my will, I changed the boiler room to a locker room.
"Visiting team gets to choose the battlefield, Krueger!" I called.
"Fine with me! It will become your tomb!" Krueger's laughed sounded like it was right behind me, but when I turned I saw nothing but steam.
Okay… I have to use fear against him, just as he has against me. What is Krueger scared of…
Fire was the first thing that came to mind. So what else could I do but light the locker room aflame? I heard an enraged cry from the side, so I headed that way, the flames moving out of my way as I stalked.
"Oh Krueger? Guess what… you sinned. Do you know what that means? That means I have to kill you now."
"Not if I kill you first, bitch!" Krueger howled. I made the flames shoot up higher, and another yelp escaped from my old master. Somehow I felt like I should laugh, but I just couldn't. Maybe hunting death wasn't supposed to be funny.
My fists shook at my side as I walked on, flames clearing my path as I found my new prey, huddled against a wall, stuck due to the flames. I smirked at him as I stood in front of him. I made all but a ring of fire vanish, trapping Krueger against the wall while the rest of the room looked fresh.
"What an ironic twist, eh Krueger? You killed kids… their parents killed you… you killed my parents… you train me… I kill you. Makes a good story, wouldn't you say? The only difference is this time; one of us will go down for good."
"It won't be me!" he screamed.
"I think it will be. You've been here long enough. You sinned very badly… and now you die!" I shot the knives on the back of my glove out at him, pinning him to the wall. New knives took their place as I blinked away the fire and stepped closer. I tapped a claw on the side of his head.
"Bitch!"
"Is that all you can think of to say? By the way, thanks for the demon training. It allows me to do this!" I pushed a claw into his temple, just as I had done to the football player. Millions of thought raced around his sick head, and as of now, many were ways of killing me. I snorted as I dug deeper, Krueger's eyes tight from pain. I found what I was looking for, the only thing that could keep Krueger down for good. It was the only thing he had never told me, but now I knew it all too well.
Not so gently, I yanked my claw out of his head. I was satisfied, and he knew what I knew. This fight, the fight I thought for sure there was no way I could win, the fight I figured would at least last longer, was nearly over.
AS22: who will win, Krueger or Angel? Well, review to find out.