I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the rights to any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 8: The better killer
"Have you got them all out of here yet? It's almost sunset!" I shouted at the chief of Springwood's finest. He had finally gotten around to evacuating the other children once he realized that Jason wasn't going to stay down for very long. He was so concerned with Freddy that he barely gave the machete-wielding psycho any credit. Apparently seeing more officers getting slaughtered helped to amend that deficiency.
"Last load is leaving now, the only ones left are you four and the two remaining counselors. Speaking of which, where are they?" the chief asked. I glanced over to see Lori fast asleep, against the side of one of the cabins. The chief grimaced slightly as he jogged over there. Judging by the way he's moving, I'm guessing she didn't take any of those dream suppressant pills.
"Lori wake up!" he shouted into her ear while shaking her arm. I slowly walked over with the others as Lori suddenly twitched a bit and a small cut opened up on her arm.
"Stand back," I said as I powered a very small amount of Psi into my finger. I touched the top of her forehead and allowed it to enter her brain before stepping back.
"What did you do?" he asked. Lori suddenly screamed and jumped up, freshly awake from the dream world.
"That," I grinned slightly. Lori was very shaken, and by the way her jaw quivered, she wasn't counting on surviving an encounter with Freddy. Then she had a very strange look on her face and looked down at her hand. In it was a bloody and ragged ear, which she dropped in surprise. When it hit the ground, it literally turned into maggots.
"Cool!" Trunks and Goten said at once.
"I pulled that out of my dream! I ripped it right off his head!" Lori exclaimed. She must have done it right as I woke her with that energy surge. Maybe I can bring him out if I go back and then wake myself again just like last time, only this time I'll need to be touching him in the dream. That might be tough…and disgusting. Lori still looked disturbed and not relieved at all.
The chief attempted to reassure her, "Hey, you made it out, its all right!"
"No, I saw Gibb in my dream and Freddy was going after her before he saw me. She was stumbling around like she was drunk again!" she said, very frightened.
"Anyone else seen her lately?" I asked straight away. Everyone shook their heads, and I resorted to scanning for her energy signal. Other than everyone in the camping area, I only sensed one signal coming towards us from the woods. Crap, I probably can't sense her weak life force if she's still asleep and far enough away.
"Well if she's still asleep I can try to find her in the dream world. But I can't sense her nearby so she's likely already dead. I do sense Jason heading this way though, so be on guard!" I ordered. Trunks and Goten saluted me on the spot and rose into the air and patrolled the area immediately.
"I see you know how to get them motivated in a tense situation little bro." Lenz added as she watched Goten chase after a frog that suddenly jumped out of the water.
"Perhaps. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some hunting to do," I said as I sat down and leaned up against the cabin just as Lori had done.
"Are you sure about going back in there, he knows how to scare you now!" Lenz pointed out.
"And he also knows that I can resist his stupid illusions, don't worry about me. I'm feeling confident," I said as I closed my eyes and lowered my power level.
I found myself in a darkened boiler room that glowed red, a very quiet one I might add. I sighed and powered up just a bit, just in case Freddy knew I was coming and had a fresh illusion ready to go. Nothing seemed off, until I heard the screaming of a girl nearby. I floated slightly off the ground and searched the place quickly without making a sound, I didn't want things to get out of hand by a mistake. I spotted a startled Gibb running towards a row of lockers on the other end of the boiler room, and Freddy was methodically stalking her. She jumped into one of the lockers when she thought the coast was clear and hid in there for a moment. Freddy suddenly vanished and then reappeared on top of her locker without a sound. After a moment or two, the locker door started to shake just a bit, likely a sign that Gibb was going to poke her head out. No, don't fall for it, don't come out! She wasn't telepathic by any means, and came out anyway, shrieking when Freddy dropped in, upside down.
"Oh, don't worry! There's nothing to fear, but fear himself!" Freddy said, clearly referring to himself in an odd way.
"Stay away from me!" Gibb shouted in fear as she jumped back into the locker and slammed the door. Freddy flipped down and ripped the door right off its hinges just as I landed and stepped towards them. Freddy looked distracted enough that he wouldn't notice light footsteps.
"You can't escape me!" he replied.
"Hey scar face!" I shouted suddenly, stopping his advance in a hurry. He turned in surprise and then slight anger.
"You, how did you get in here?" he growled.
"You tell me, it's your domain after all!" I grinned slightly as I formed my Psi sword and waved it in the air a bit. Freddy took a half step back as I stomped towards him.
"So, you still think you can beat me in here? It's my game and I make the rules!" he boasted as he turned his back to me.
"Your rules are effective, but they can't stop a good rule breaker like me. Now let her go!" I warned as I got within ten feet of them both. Gibb was in hysterics at this point, half relieved to see someone she knew to be powerful come to her rescue, and the other half very aware that Freddy was only inches away and looking right at her.
"Take another step and she dies too!" he fired back, holding up his claws at her as he glanced at me for a brief second. Gibb saw the unguarded moment and kicked him down low. Apparently even in the dream world that hurts, because Freddy went down quick. Gibb jumped out of the locker and sprinted towards me. She had only taken a few steps when she suddenly stopped in surprise with a very painful look on her face. Her chest suddenly exploded, showering my face with a decent splatter of red while she fell to the ground lifeless.
"Damnit," I glared at Freddy, but received an even more surprised glance in return.
He snarled at the body, "No! She was mine!"
"What? Are you losing it now that you killed another one? Was one more too much for you?" I spat at the ground as I wiped off my face.
"That damned hockey freak took her from me!" he claimed.
"Oh, so now you two are playing 'who's the better killer?' Well at least he isn't afraid to do it with his own two hands. Tell you what, I've got a game, it's called 'let's see who survives the next few minutes longer?' The players are you and Jason!" I growled as I dashed towards him quickly.
"You know, that isn't such a bad idea," he said with a sudden grin. He suddenly vanished as a bright light blinded me and swallowed the entire room.
I awoke with nice little jolt as Lenz was attempting to wake me up by treating me like a saltshaker. "Okay okay! I'm awake, you can stop now!" I yelled.
"Oh good, thought I lost you there for a minute," she said with a hopeful gleam in her eye.
"Did you get her out?" Lori asked as she kneeled down close.
"Nearly, but I think Jason found her first. I wasn't able to get to her, but it may not have mattered," I said in disgust.
"You think she's dead?" Lori asked this time. I turned an eyebrow up at this question, which saved me the trouble of answering when she figured that out herself.
"So what now, I'm the last one you know!" she pointed out.
"I know that, I'm trying here okay? We need a plan." I said.
"Well I really don't feel like waiting for one of those two scary mother fuckers to appear and kill me!" she shouted in anger and fear.
"It's amazing how irrational these humans get sometimes," Lenz commented.
"Yeah, like you're a model citizen," I muttered.
"Hey!" she yelled back. My thoughts on the matter were interrupted when I heard a shotgun being cocked and then fired nearby.
"Hey big brother, we've got trouble!" Trunks called out as he flew by. I jumped to my feet and into the air to see Jason staggering towards the only remaining cop car. The chief of police himself was busy shooting at him, and missing badly.
"We got him this time! He won't survive another minute with us on the job!" Trunks declared as he rushed in with Goten. Something about his words reminded me of my recent outing with Freddy.
"Hold on Trunks!" I called out as I flew towards Jason as fast as possible.
"What?" he asked as I passed him by. Jason could barely react before I phased out and reappeared behind him, knocking him flat with a knife hand to the head.
"Hey, that was my kill!" Trunks growled as he flew up.
"You can have him later," I said as the chief nudged Jason in the shoulder with his rifle.
"Is he dead?" he asked when Jason didn't move.
"No, but he won't be waking up for awhile," I said as I lowered to the ground.
"What good does it do to just knock him out?" Lenz asked.
"Well you saw how much good killing him did. I have a hunch about this. Freddy didn't seem too happy that Jason killed Gibb before he could. Look at it this way, we can keep an eye on him now," I pointed out. The chief rushed to his car trunk suddenly and nearly ripped a small case out of there. Inside were a few large needles and some sort of pink colored fluid, which he loaded a lot of into one of the syringes.
"Uh oh, he's got a shot! I don't want one!" Goten whined.
"It isn't for you," the chief said as he dropped next to Jason and stuck it in.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Tranquilizer, that should keep him down for a little while. Freddy can take his time with him," the chief said, his voice full of malice. As he said this, Jason started to twitch slightly.
"I hope they just kill each other while they're at it," Lori grumbled.
"Unlikely in the dream world. Jason may not be scared of anything at all, but he isn't going to be able to kill Freddy in his own backyard. What we should do is try to pull Freddy out of the dream world and get him here. Then he's toast," I suggested.
"That isn't a bad idea. That has made him go away in the past. But at some point he will return again just like before," the chief said.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to make sure he doesn't come back now won't we?" I said.
"How will you do that?" he asked.
"I have friends in high places, I'll make sure of it," I replied with a serious tone that seemed to startle the chief.
"Okay, now how are we going to pull him out?" Trunks asked, eager to have a part in the plan.
"A friend of mine did it once several years ago. She managed to wake up at the exact time she had touched Freddy in her dream," the chief pointed out.
"That's an idea, but there are so many things that could go wrong with it. I should go myself since I can wake myself with my power, but the problem is that he will stay away from me. I can wake someone else, but too soon or too late and it won't matter. The timing of it would have to be flawless and that is damn near impossible," I replied.
"What about me, I almost did it before?" Lori asked suddenly.
"You do realize that you could be killed before you pull him out," Lenz said sternly.
"Here just wake me up after fifteen minutes, I'll have him by then! He'll probably toy with me again!" Lori suggested as she revealed a watch and then appeared to set a timer.
"There's no guarantee you can reach dream state in fifteen minutes. And as you can see, Freddy is busy right now," I warned, pointing at Jason's prone form.
"Please let me try, I can do it! I know I might not survive, but I owe him one! If all else fails and I don't get him in fifteen minutes, just wake me and I'll try again!" she begged now.
"Just a minute ago you didn't seem so eager," Lenz muttered.
"Let her try. It's Freddy's fault to begin with. He killed her mother several years ago, let him get what's coming to him. We can give her a small amount of this and it should knock her right out," the chief said, holding up another syringe. That little tidbit of information apparently wasn't public knowledge, because Lori freaked out.
"It was Freddy? Not Will? You knew it was him, and you sent Will go up to that hell house anyway? You knew and you still blamed him?!" Lori shouted, as the chief had clearly struck a nerve.
"It was for your own good!" the chief yelled back.
"Drop it!" I growled, silencing the two of them instantly, "I don't care what you two have against each other right now, you can figure that mess out later. If you're going to do this I suggest you get going now," I ordered as the chief brought the shot of tranquilizer over. Lori grumbled a bit but complied and laid down flat. Within about ten seconds she was out cold.
The minutes ticked by slowly while Lori remained completely still and Jason seemed ready to wake up from his own nightmare at any second.
"So who do you think wins?" Trunks suddenly asked. I glanced at him in question, while Goten did the same.
"What do you mean Trunks?" he asked his friend.
"I mean between those two creeps," he replied.
"Are they going to fight each other out here?" Goten asked.
"Well of course dummy! They're fighting in there now, but I bet that Freddy jerk can't take the big one without his tricks! Once he's out here he's as good as dead! Then we can take the big one out, it'll be just like when we squashed all those Zerg!" Trunks declared in confidence.
I snorted, "Was this before or after I had to save you two from that swarm?" Trunks kept his reply to a mild grumble while Goten rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
"So who do you think will win little bro?" Lenz asked this time.
"It's irrelevant, I'm killing both of them once Freddy's out here," I said with a deep scowl.
"Oh come on, that match up would be at least entertaining!" she grinned.
"I'll humor you with something else later. Those two are going to hell first," I growled.
"What's wrong with a little gore fest? It's not like they can beat any of us anyway, right little bro?" she asked in a sweet tone, clearly trying to butter me up to the idea. Needless to say, she failed.
"Knock it off, I'm not letting either of them escape what's coming to them. I've had my fair share of blood from both of them as it is. Far too many people have died while we were around to prevent it, and I'm really fucking sick of it!" I shouted angrily. I grunted a bit and turned away, Okay, calm down. No need to blow up the whole damn camp before Freddy arrives. I'll give him the business end of my sword in time. Unfortunately, Lenz wasn't quite done.
"Okay little bro, no need to scream at me like a psycho," she said, exasperated.
"I told you to stop calling me that. I'm not your damn brother and neither is Trunks no matter how similar we look! We are all Saiyans, nothing more! So keep your stupid pet names to yourself!" I snarled, startling pretty much everyone that was awake.
"Hey, take it easy," Trunks whispered from my left as I glared at Lenz. Goten was just as surprised, but chose to remain silent.
"Lighten up, runt! I'm just trying to ease the tension! It's not my fault that you are such a stubborn little asshole!" she shouted back with the small hint of a tear coming out of her left eye. It wasn't much and she probably had a point, but it was enough to drop whatever restraint my mouth currently had.
"And a good job of that you're doing, bitch! I'm sure a whore like you is quite talented at easing the tension!" I regretted what I said pretty quickly, but once the words are out there isn't too much one can do. The look on her face fell apart as the more prominent gasp of sadness filled the air shortly before she ran off towards the dock, crying her eyes out. That hadn't been the reaction I was expecting from her, but as she often admitted, she was very emotional.
"Was that really necessary?" the chief asked.
"That was low even for you! Even dad…well I've heard worse from him, but I've never seen you go that far," Trunks pointed out.
"Trunks, when you're older, I'll show you just how low one can go when it comes to insults. That was pretty mild," I grumbled.
"You called her a whore. Mom beat my head in when I asked what that meant," Trunks pointed out.
"So, what does it mean?" Goten asked.
"Fine, to make it up to her, I'll let her beat the shit out of me later! This isn't the time to be practicing how to be politically correct!" I said sternly, silencing him. Shortly afterwards I spotted Jason beginning to stir just as Lori stopwatch started to beep.
"Great, horrible timing as usual!" I groaned as I rushed over and kicked Jason lightly, sending him rolling sideways away from her and into the bank of the lake. Once Jason splashed in, he immediately got up and scrambled out, staring at the water and shaking slightly.
"He's afraid of water, are you kidding me?" Trunks asked as he started to laugh.
I rolled my eyes slightly, "I guess the nutcases have to have something strange like that hidden away, I'll wake Lori now!" I quickly jogged over just as a large cut opened up on the underside of her wrist.
"Damnit, come on, wake up!" I said just as I transferred a tiny amount of energy just like before. Her arm suddenly came to life and reached across and balled up into a fist. She gasped suddenly as she woke up, and above her a scarred face appeared along with a body wearing a red and black sweater, which was being held by her bleeding hand.
"Now you die, you little bitch!" he shouted.
"I don't think so," I said. Freddy glanced up in surprise just as I gave him a kick to his ugly face, sending him flying until he landed near Jason's feet.
"Oh no!" Freddy gasped when he realized where he was.
"Go Jason, tear him up!" Trunks called from the picnic tables. Jason grabbed Freddy by the sweater and threw him in that direction. Trunks and Goten jumped into the air and watched as Freddy fell through one table hard. I scanned Freddy's energy sharply just in case I had missed something with our plan, and detected only a small ki signal, signifying his life force. The Psi signal was also at a normal human level. No more telepathic powers for you creep! Jason stalked up and picked up his machete, which happened to be lying there. He swung down with Freddy's head in his sights. Freddy's stunned body woke up long enough for him to realize this and rolled away from it. The blade got stuck in the table debris, and with the added weight on it, Jason wasn't quite able to swing it full force when Freddy launched at him. Freddy struck him in the side with his claws and then swung them back and forth, cutting up Jason's midsection. Jason ignored the pain for a moment and missed on a wild backhand when Freddy jumped backwards. He didn't avoid the table though when Jason hit him directly with it, splintering the wood and freeing up the machete. Freddy flew backwards from the force of the blow as the two boys cheered. I grunted at this cheap entertainment they were getting from it.
"You have to admit, it is a bit amusing to see Freddy getting knocked around by his own puppet," the chief said as he bandaged up Lori's wrist.
"Someone I know would probably agree as he gets a kick out of watching humans go at it. You two get in the car and get out of here. I'm going to blow them away!" I warned as I rose into the air. The chief nodded and helped the relieved girl into the vehicle as Jason stomped a warpath towards Freddy. Freddy backed up in slight fear until he regained his footing, then he jumped at Jason just as the huge man charged in. He avoided the swing from the machete and stabbed Jason in the upper shoulder and neck area this time, trying to slow the big man down. Jason shrugged him off for a moment, but the new wounds took their toll and left him dazed as blood squirted out. Freddy stepped around and started punching Jason in the chin several times as the big man dropped to his knees.
"C'mon Jason, mess him up!" Trunks and Goten shouted together.
"Ugh," I shook my head and started powering up a fitting ki blast for them both, one handed. Just as my blast started to drown the area in green light, Freddy stabbed two of his claws into Jason's eyes, gouging them both. Jason flopped around in pain as Freddy pulled his claws out, but regained his composure for a moment and dug the machete right into Freddy's side. It probably could have sliced him clean in half if he had enough power behind it, but due to injuries he couldn't muster the strength. With blood shooting out of both of them and forming a pool in the grass, I had seen enough.
"Hey Freddy! Get a taste of this one you sick mother fucker!" I shouted just as I finished my one-handed blast.
"Aw, just when it was getting good!" Trunks whined.
"Final Shine!" I shouted, unleashing Freddy and Jason's doom. Freddy shouted in terror as the blast engulfed him, while Jason swung his blade, continuing the battle to its bitter end. After a few moments it didn't matter and nothing but bright green could be seen. Once the smoke cleared, I could see a large and deep crater surrounded by the blown down tree line. Jason's mask lay at the center, slightly cracked but there was nothing left of either of them and both ki signals were long gone. What is with that mask? It has survived every encounter, don't tell me that's how he keeps coming back? Can't take a chance! I summoned my Psi sword as I flew towards the ground, stabbing into the mask as I landed on my knee. I sensed the odd energy from the grave building up through the mask before it rose into the air, shaking. White light sprayed out from the cracks in the mask before spreading through and exploding, destroying the mask for good.
"Man, you finish battles way too quickly!" Trunks whined again as I walked up.
"Get used to it, we aren't here for a parade. And I don't exactly see a tournament crowd around here or anything," I pointed out.
"Yeah, but I was really hoping they would kill each other! Dad and I never get to see a fight go down to the end on TV! They just bleed a bit and then they stop the match! It's like he says, the last one standing or living should be the winner, not the first bleeder or whatever those rules are! Dad said that tournaments back on planet Vegita always go down to whoever lives at the end!" Trunks boasted.
"Really? Wow!" Goten said in an excited tone.
"Well maybe you can beg Popo to use that pendulum room up at the lookout and see that for yourself someday. Those two were not gladiators by any means, just mindless and heartless killers with little to no honor or pride. They probably didn't even deserve that quick death I just gave them, but too bad. Let's grab our stuff and get out of here!" I said, pointing to the cabin. Still one thing left to do, but it can wait till morning. Still not sure I should even attempt it though.
Trunks and Goten sighed a bit and trotted off to retrieve everything while I walked towards the dock slowly, where Lenz was standing, staring up at the skies. Guess I better get this apology out of the way before she hates me for life. I suppose the "little bro" nickname isn't as bad as it sounds, she's probably just trying to be friendly, though she has an overly friendly attitude at times. I guess that would sound better than teacher or master to others who don't know the situation. Trunks was right, I did go over the line. It's Bad enough that I've been pretty negative to her ever since we met, even when I only meant to help.
As I approached, I sensed her tense up a little more, but she remained still and settled for only clenching her fists. I could still hear the occasional sniffle coming from her nose, but it was being suppressed. As sad as she was, most of her energy was generating pure anger. Nothing was said for a few minutes as I allowed her to try to calm down before I spoke.
"Look, I didn't mean what I said earlier. The nickname really doesn't bother me that much. I'm still not completely used to Trunks calling me that, and hell I've never even had a sister before," I chuckled slightly. Lenz sighed for a moment, but then seemed to hold her breath.
"Hey, I'm just saying I'm really sorry for what I said. My emotions haven't been the same since I got these powers and sometimes the littlest thing can set me off. I've been negative to you ever since we met and I shouldn't have been that way to someone so nice. I didn't mean to direct my anger over those two killers towards you. I'm very sorry for calling you that," I admitted. Lenz didn't budge or answer for the moment, but I could literally hear her heart start beating very fast as her tail unraveled itself.
"Hey, little bro. As much as I appreciate the gesture, could you drop the sentimental crap and do me a favor?" she growled with an eerie tone. I noticed a vicious shift in her ki signal and it began to rise rather quickly. Well there's an expected reaction, albeit a bit late. But that seems a little too volatile for her.
I looked at her with a confused smile, "What's that? You wanna hit me? Go right ahead, I deserve it! Free shot as hard as you can!"
"I really don't want to kill you, so could you blow that up before I do?" she asked as she began to shudder slightly, pointing to the skies. Just past her finger, in the blackened and starry skies, was the full moon. Uh oh.
A/n: Surprise! Next time on DB…Wait a second. I think you know what will likely be going on next time, there's no point in a preview…
Okay, maybe you don't. You didn't see this twist coming anyway, and don't even try to say you did. I'll leave one only because of that.
Next time on DBV: Lenz goes on a rampage in her first ever ape transformation, and its up to Goten, Trunks and Verto to stop her. When things don't go so well, Verto is faced with the difficult decision of possibly ending her life. What's that? "Just cut the tail!" Right? Ha, like it's ever that easy!
WDG: Woohoo! I get special comment space now:D But wait, what's with this 'possibly ending her life' thing? Just cut the… oh right. Well, how about 'just blow up the moon' instead, then:P
Anonymous reader: (It felt very Freddy Vs Jason, but it worked so no complaints. The most interesting parts I would say was Verto's unusual lash outs, never thought I'd see him act like that against someone he cared for.)