CELESTIAL SLUMBER
(FREDDY X)
A
NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET
NOVEL
By Joshua La Rue
Edited By: Jeremy Terry & William Pattison
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Foreword
Slashers In Space
By William Pattison aka Eric Morse
Between the years 1996 through 2001 there was a short lived trend in the horror was the limited trend known as slashers in space. There were three films that represent this trend, Hellraiser Bloodline, Leprechaun in Space, and, of course, Jason X.
The first film in this trend was Hellraiser Bloodline, which was actually an anthology which told the tale of the creator of the puzzle box, Philipe La Marchant, and two of his descendants, John Merchant, and Paul Merchant, and how they are all involved in a multigenerational project too close the gates of Hell and take away the power of the Cenobytes. Why is this anthology included in this list you ask? Because the final third of the story takes place on a space station in the far future. In the end Pinhead is defeated and Hell is closed off in a blaze of light.
The second film in this trend was the hilariously laughable film, Leprechaun in Space. Story goes that on a distant planet, a power hungry Leprechaun kidnaps a Dominian princess, Princess Zarina, and plans to make himself king, but not if a bumbling brigade of space marine shave anything to say about it. Their commander is a mad scientist by the name of , who's half machine thanks to one of his "experiments". Once on the planet, Leprechaun is blown up, but quickly is reborn through one of the marines (ala Alien) and wreaks havoc aboard the ship, meanwhile Dr. Mittenhand plans to use the princess for his experiments to make himself whole again. But now, after many of the marines are killed ,Leprechaun turns Dr. Mittenhand into a grotesque monster and plans to blow up the ship. The remaining marines have to stop his evil plans and blow *him* up.
This film was literally the worst film of the three, even with the fact that through the tampering of Harvey Weinstein Hellraiser Bloodline was a butchered fragment of the epic horror film itwas planned to be. Leprechaun in Space was a complete and utter mess. The sets looked like cheap Flash Gordon rip offs. The FX were amateurish and the acting was comical. This even featured the worst performance by Warwick Davis. Unfortunately it is the next film in this trend that got the most hate, though in honesty it didn't deserve it…
Amusingly Jason X was actually made so that New Line Cinema could retain the rights to Friday the 13th. Newline gave director carte blanche as to what type of sequel director James Issac wanted to do. Issac decided to hell with it. He wanted a Friday the 13th story set in a sci fi setting, thus it was decided to do Jason in space.
In the Year 2008, Jason Voorhees is cryogenically frozen in a Government Facility in Crystal Lake, along with scientist Rowan. Many centuries later, in the year 2455, Earth is uninhabitable, and humans have moved to another planet known as Earth 2. However, a team of students find the cryogenically frozen bodies of Rowan and Jason and take them on board their ship The Grendal. The students awakens Rowan who warns them about , Jason is defrosted and he begins killing the students and crew of the ship. Along the way, he is upgraded to Uber Jason. It's now up to Rowan and the surviving students to stop Jason before the ship reaches Earth 2 and a new hunting ground.
Unlike Leprechaun in Space, Jason X was actually a well-made film. The sets, Fx, characters, plot, and acting were all good for a slasher in space. The major issue is it didn't feel like a Friday the 13th story. Even the one scene they had in the movie with the holographic Crystal Lake felt more like a parody rather than a homage. In fact the actual homage in this film is more one for the works of Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek. What the hell! You it or not several of the castings have Roddenberry connects. The head professor and Grendal Chief Engineer are exact look-a-like of two characters in the classic Star Trek Robert Block written episode, Wolf in the Fold. Also, actresses Lexa Doig (Rowan) and Lisa Ryder(Kay Em) were former cast members of Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda. Amusingly, in Jason X Doig plays a human where in Andromeda she played the android Romi, aka in Jason X plays the android Kay Em while in Andromeda she played a human. I doubt this is a coincidence.
Unfortunately after its release Jason X was met with criticism from a lot of F13 fans. Yes we had gatekeepers then too. Of course in more recent years this film has thankfully garnered abit of a cult classic status. For my part I enjoyed this film and actually expanded upon the story& connected it to the series timeline in my epic F13 novel, The Mask of Jason now let us talk about the reason you are here. I just thought you needed a bit of a background to this story idea. Yes, I was being naughty and wordy. Give me a break. I'm a Boomer!
Ok, Celestial Slumber… Earlier in 2024 I had the pleasure of listening to 80s Slasher Librarian, aka Joshua La Rue's first attempt at original slasher franchise fan being Friday the 13th: Quarantine. In that story he place Jason into the zombie apocalypse. In that story he had a cameo of Freddy Krueger's head, which was very much alive. Well, after finishing listening to Josh's audiobook I contacted him on Messenger and complimented him on a good job. In his reply Joshua gave me the cryptic answer, "If you enjoyed that story, you'll really love the next one." That was all he would after Joshua released the prologue of Celestial Slumber. Then soon after Chapter one, two, and three.
It was after that that Joshua sent me the next chapter as a doc file and asked me to go over that chapter and the earlier ones and correct them. I had no issue doing the years I've helped edit other author's books as well as help screenwriters with their scripts. One of my first projects was working on a treatment for a notable producer and screenwriter. For me helping that producer changed the path of my life. I initially wanted to become a filmmaker, but because of something beyond my control I was unable to get my film degree so I changed my ambitions to writing. So, by helping other artists I'm paying the great gifts I've garnered over the years forward. So, yeah, bitches, I got to read the chapters and find out what happens before you! AHHHHHHHH! Sorry, too much?
Anyway, what I can tell you about Celestial Slumber is that it outdoes Jason X in so many ways. Most importantly in that it captures the feeling of A Nightmare on Elm Street and amazingly puts it in this future setting without compromising it. Celestial Slumber is a true Freddy Krueger tale with all the trimmings a fan can expect. In fact this story has sequences that are some of the best in the series. I don't say this lightly. Be prepared for a slasher in space experience that trumps all others. Freddy awaits you…Gore and Scares! Keep America Strong! Watch and Read Horror!
William Pattison, aka Eric Morse
June 2024
San Mateo, CA
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Prologue:
Dreaming Your Life Away
Being forgotten, waiting in limbo, being remembered, coming back and claiming more sleeping souls, rinse and repeat. It seemed this cycle would go on forever. No matter how much time went by somebody would always remember and spread the word of Freddy Krueger and then he would get to come back for more fun. But as time went on the time in between the fun got longer and longer. Freddy would seethe, grow angry, frustrated and impatient and then when he was able to come back he would kill them all so fast he didn't get to savor it like he used to. He would always tell himself next time will be different, next time he would take his time, really lean into the nightmares and get creative. But then something strange happened, something Freddy didn't plan on...
The world...moved on...the world in a sense...ended. At least life on earth anyways. The living destroyed their world. Pollution, overpopulation, wars and greed finally took it's toll.
"Hell, I could've helped with overpopulation if they'd just given me a call"
Freddy pondered the situation as he took a peek outside the dream realm. The dream people who gave him his powers long ago as he burned alive at the hands of the vigilante mob in Springwood, Ohio had also given him the ability to see into the living world from time to time. It was never an exact science. Most of the time he couldn't maintain the connection for long, but for the past couple centuries he had hardly bothered to look. All he saw was desolation, dust bowls, empty streets, overgrown cities, and lots of trash.
"All the little kiddies took their toys and flew off to a new playground and I wasn't invited"
He longed for days gone by, days when he would slip into the dreams of teenagers on Elm Street and one by one cut them down and consume their souls. Sure, sometimes they would fight back. Hell, sometimes they even killed him. Or so they thought, but Freddy was eternal. He had always looked at his immortality as a blessing but these days it felt like a curse. The boredom...
"The boredom...now that's REALLY A BITCH"
He had begun his journey to this life of desolation in limbo as a serial killer. His victims were children.
"Children...Yeah, I know what you're thinking...SHUT THE FUCK UP THIS IS MY STORY!"
The children represented everything that had been robbed from him in his own childhood. The neglect, the beatings, the...
"They get it, no need to spell it out, move on!"
He grew up in Springwood and the town knew what his foster father was, knew what the man was doing to young Fred Krueger. The townsfolk knew and they DID NOTHING! The kids at school bullied Fred on a daily basis.
"You kill two measly class pets and all of a sudden you're a freak, sheesh."
The only thing that saved young Fred Krueger was time, but instead of trying to be a better person he grew bitter and spiteful. His soul was gone, replaced by hate and evil. He decided he would show the townspeople what they had turned a blind eye to for far too long. Adult Fred began his work of preying on the innocent small children of Springwood. He took from them everything that was taken away from him and then he took their life. He enjoyed the showmanship of it all. He lulled the children into a false sense of security. Sometimes he'd claim to be a detective sent to retrieve the children because their parents had died or he'd say he was a friend of the family. Whatever role he choose, he reveled in it before whisking them away to his boiler room. There he would taunt them, show them his favorite tool, the glove affixed with four razor sharp finger blades. He would build up the fear by sharpening his blades in front of them. Hell, he even let them run sometimes.
"IT WAS A DARK BOILER ROOM...WHERE THE FUCK WERE THEY GONNA GO? HAHAHAHAHA!"
And of course he really enjoyed when they screamed for their parents and felt the helplessness he had felt his entire childhood. But the best part, the part he especially longed for in his solitude, was when he made his art. When his blades sang the song of blood, a macabre dance of death as he snuffed out the light from so many young eyes.
"JESUS! What a description! And people say I'm THE SICKO?"
He was getting the ultimate revenge on the town of Springwood but then he got sloppy.
"SOME SNOOPING BITCH GOT MY LICENSE PLATE YOU MEAN!"
They came for Freddy and arrested him. Some of the policemen and detectives were the same ones who had gone to school with Fred and called him a freak and pushed him around. But they were the ones getting laughed at this time. Freddy chuckled and grinned on his way out of the courtroom after his defense attorney was able to show a flaw in the arrest warrant that led to Krueger's release.
"Gotta love the judicial system...ha ha ha ha."
He was going to pack up and leave town. He would set up shop somewhere else.
"EVERY TOWN HAS AN ELM STREET!"
He fled back to his quarters that dark winter's night and put on a warm red and green striped sweater and fedora hat. He collected a few necessities like a certain leather glove affixed with a metal frame and four razor sharp blades, but before he could make his break they came for him. The parents of his victims, the vigilante mob. They would succeed where the legal system failed. Multiple Molotov cocktails later and Freddy was surrounded by flames on all sides. His fate was sealed, his death imminent.
That's when the dream people arrived. They offered Freddy immortality. He would become a dream demon and he would be able to continue his work. He would avenge his death at the hands of the parents of Elm Street in Springwood, Ohio. He would take his revenge even on those who hadn't turned a blind eye to his own abuse, or had a hand in burning him alive. The dream people offered Freddy a chance to...
"I WAS ABOUT TO BURN ALIVE! DOES IT MATTER WHAT THEY OFFERED? I SAID YES BITCH!"
Freddy accepted the terms of the dream people and suffered the first of many deaths as he slowly burned alive that night in Springwood. Despite the pain and suffering, that's when his fun really began. This time he would come after the teenagers of Elm Street, the kids he hadn't gotten around to killing when he was alive. He would come after them in their dreams. If they died in their dreams they died for real and their soul was Freddy's. Each soul gave him more power. Many would try to defeat him, even pulling him from the dream world back into the land of the living. They turned their back on him, taking away his power by not fearing him, but that didn't last for long. He grew stronger and returned, this time using the physical world as a means of return by possessing a young man who had moved into a certain house on Elm Street and found his glove. He used his new vessel out of the dream world to inflict pain and death upon several residents before being defeated by love.
"Do we really gotta talk about that particular time period? I was still a new immortal dream demon. I was just finding my groove! By the way, Jesse killed a lot of people with me at the wheel. Love may have saved his hide but he still spent his entire life on the run trying to avoid old sparky! But his luck finally ran out and he left this world with 2500 volts of electricity running through him, he rode that lightning bolt straight to hell hahahahahahaha!"
Freddy came back again, this time facing off against a team of Elm Street teens who discovered they had powers they could harness in their dreams. These dream warriors took the fight to Freddy.
"How'd that work out for most of them?"
Freddy would ultimately be defeated but would always return stronger than before time and time again. However after being defeated too many times the dream people even left him for a while. In that period Freddy's soul languished in hell itself, trying to find a way back, a way to once again infect the living with fear, fear of Freddy. Maybe then the dream people would give him one more chance.
Freddy's soul languished in Hell itself during that time. He searched for a way back, a way to once again infect the living with fear, fear of Freddy. Maybe then the dream people would give him one more chance. Finally, he found the way. He would use another undead serial killer as a means to be remembered...
"Yes, Yes, the Momma's boy...they know all this...hurry up!"
The legend of Freddy Krueger would disappear completely for decades and decades and then somehow somebody would accidentally uncover the history and share their new found knowledge with others in Springwood, unleashing Freddy to wreak havoc in the dreams of his victims again and again. But as the decades passed, the earth was becoming more and more uninhabitable. The people of earth had to find a new home because their current planet was dying. They found it in a neighboring galaxy. The planet they discovered would be known as Earth-2. Humanity would survive lightyears away and Freddy would be left behind in his limbo waiting for a return he would never see. There was no one left to remember him. He would try to remain hopeful and on those rare occasions when he would be able to lift the veil between his limbo and the waking world he would hope to see a new way to infect the minds of the living. He searched for a new way back to doing what he did best, hoping that this time he would see more than swirling dirt, decayed structures, desolate wastelands and that he would actually see a real...
"WELL, WELL, WELL...WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE? UP IN THE SKY! IT'S A BIRD! IT'S A PLANE...WAIT, NOPE IT LOOKS LIKE CASA DE FREDDY HAS SOME VISITORS AFTER ALL THIS TIME. I CAN'T WAIT TO GREET THEM AND WELCOME THEM TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD...HAHAHAHA!"
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Chapter One
The Serpent and The Hole
Dr. Varissa DeGennaro awoke with a start as the spaceship Beowulf rocked beneath her as if it was under fire from another ship. Varissa, a thirty year old Italian-American Archeologist and college professor from Earth-2 who had a doctorate in Earth-1 History, jumped to her feet. She stood at 5'4, 130lbs and had an olive complexion. She wore her long brown hair in a ponytail and kept a vigorous workout regime. Her body had perfect curves accentuated by her work uniform, a tight white jumpsuit that seemed to have a shine to it. All of her co-workers wore different colored jumpsuits of the same style.
She made her way out of her sleeping quarters and placed her hand on the panel next to her door. Nothing happened, the normal scan that would lead to the door opening did not activate. The room was dark with a flashing dim red light letting her know the ship was on auxiliary power.
Varissa used her hands and raw strength to push the sliding door open and entered the dark corridor of the sleeping quarters section of the Beowulf.
Every door of the passage stood open. She ran down the corridor looking into each room and calling out for her shipmates and found them all empty. The pattern of the flashing red lights changed. It was now flashing red in a series of three flashes and then a green flash then back to red. She didn't know what that meant. Varissa reached the end of the corridor and found herself again faced with another automatic sliding door that would not open with a palm scan. She forced the door open and made her way into the empty mess hall and kitchen. She passed through into the empty med bay and lab.
She began to panic as the ship rocked again, the floor slanting to the left, almost knocking her off her feet. She held onto a counter and made her way out of the lab and into the cryochamber. Again she found herself alone. Where the hell was the rest of the crew? She ran through the chamber into the warehouse where the Beowulf kept all of their scavenged finds from Earth-1 and other lost planets which once held civilization.
She had taken the job with Hawkins Salvage and Recovery to not only make easy, good money but also for a chance to visit Earth-1 and other formerly inhabited planets across the known galaxies. She had always been a very curious individual. She had just finished her second year teaching Earth-1 history at Lucent University and had joined the outfit during her summer break to help pay off her student loans and other debt. She had visited several planets that first summer but unfortunately not Earth-1 due to a tragic accident that occurred the year before. A group of students on a field trip to Earth-1 aboard a ship called the Grendel had collided with the interstellar city of Solaris. Over fifteen thousand people lost their lives that day and new stringent restrictions and red tape were added to permits on visits to Earth-1 by the New World Senate. Because Hawkins Salvage and Recovery was ran by a couple that didn't like to always play by the rules and were always looking for loopholes, legal or otherwise, the Beowulf had avoided Earth-1 until said loopholes could be found and exploited. This summer they had done just that.
Varissa was excited that she was finally going to get to visit Earth-1 again, she had been there herself on a field trip in the tenth grade and had dreamed of returning ever since. In fact, that visit was what gave her the passion for learning about and eventually teaching the history of Earth-1. She had thoroughly enjoyed her first Summer with Hawkins, visiting so many different galaxies and "dead" planets even when that meant one or two weeks in cryosleep while the starship crossed vast distances at warp speed. It was the only way to avoid certain medical anomalies caused by traveling at such speeds when not in the protective casings of the neuro cryo chambers. You literally had to get a small hard drive chip implanted in your brain for the cryo bed to jack into during these deep space travels to keep a constant appraisal of each shipmate's neural activity and vital signs. Before this medical technology had been implemented these types of travels had been hypothesized and later proven to cause what experts called "space madness." In one extreme case a pilot stricken with space madness deviated from course and locked himself in the cockpit of a large commercial passenger vessel traveling to a vacation planet in the Xion galaxy. Instead of taking the two thousand passengers on board to their destination he flew the ship into the gravitational pull of a dying star. No one survived. So, Varissa did not mind the stretches in cryo sleep compared to the possibility of going insane and slaughtering her shipmates. It seemed like a fair trade off.
But now she found herself without any shipmates to travel with or slaughter regardless. The warehouse was also without life. Rows of large boxes and shipping containers lined the warehouse floor. She ran through each row calling out the names of crewmates and friends.
No one answered.
The ship rocked again, this time so hard it knocked Varissa to the floor and containers fell around her. She barely rolled out of the way of a large wooden crate that was out of place amongst the metallic containers around it. The odd crate was from a different time. It hit the floor with a crash, the wood exploding and the contents spreading across the floor not far from where she lay. She gasped as she saw over a dozen glowing red and green snakes begin to writhe and slither in all directions. The largest of which stared directly at her and began moving towards her at a supernatural pace. She screamed, jumped to her feet and ran out of the warehouse. She glanced over her shoulder as she ran and saw the large serpent following close behind her. She decided to make a run for the cockpit and hoped that their pilot Warlock Rollins, a grizzled, scarred black retired Universal Coalition Marine in his 60's wearing his gray Hawkins jumpsuit, would be waiting there with answers for her.
Varissa's heart pounded as her footfalls echoed throughout the empty ship and the glowing red and green serpent remained steadfast behind her somehow keeping pace with her athletic gait. The cockpit door was within sight, standing slightly ajar. She reached it, forced the two sides apart, and squeezed through. She turned and began using all of her strength to push the sliding door shut. The snake was getting closer and closer. The auxiliary power lights blinked faster and faster, strobing red and green as if keeping rhythm with each beat of her pounding heart. The snake reached the door and reared back to strike. She gave a final shove and the door slammed shut in the nick of time. She felt the serpent pound against it. Varissa leaned back against the door, out of breath. She slid to the ground, staring in disbelief as her eyes fell upon the empty cockpit and what filled the window beyond. She cried out, hopeless.
The Beowulf was being pulled into a black hole.
She had only ever seen video of one and she couldn't deny the beauty of the total destruction she now faced. She looked to the controls, knowing they were already too close to escape the devouring giant's pull, but needing to try anyway. The controls were destroyed. Sparks flew from every panel. The entire command deck was in disarray. The pounding outside the cockpit door stopped and Varissa rose to her feet. She slowly walked to the window and placed her hands on the glass as the ship rocked again and again.
The Beowulf had entered the event horizon of the black hole. Varissa's fear of isolation, her fear of the glowing serpent, fear of death began to fade. A peace fell over her as the glass around her fingers began to crack and spider web. She heard a crunch as the hull of the ship began to weaken and break apart, saw plumes of vapor as the air was ripped from the ship. She saw the cockpit reflected in the glass, saw the door behind her open and the serpent slither into the room.
It wouldn't matter. She would be gone before it could reach her. In an instant the entire cockpit window exploded into a million scintillating pieces which were instantly sucked into the black hole's event horizon. Varissa followed. The world exploded into noise and chaos. She felt her lungs being emptied as she flipped over and over and each time she flipped facing the ship she saw the glowing snake somehow flying towards her. It opened its large mouth, flashing a set of large fangs. She flipped again and faced the black hole, flipped again and faced the snake which was almost upon her. Again she flipped and saw the black hole. She felt her life leaving her. Flipped again and the snake was there, inches from her face. In an instant it struck at Varissa...
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Varissa exploded out of bed, screaming. She heard a whoosh as her sleeping quarter's door opened and a very handsome man who appeared to be in his late 20's or early 30's with the physique of a model, 6'3, blue eyes and neat blonde hairwearing a silver jumpsuit, stared at her from her doorwaywith a blank expression.
Of course, he only appeared to be in said age range. In reality, he was only eleven months old. He was a fully functioning android with an evolving AI interface created by Lubdan Gallagher, Hawkin's resident scientist and engineer. Lubdan was a young Irish ginger. He was a genius who graduated high school at seven years old and college at fifteen. Now twenty two years old, he was tall, lanky and PROUDLY weird as hell, he even elected to wear a pink jumpsuit with orange seams to add to his quirkiness.
Some of the employees aboard the Beowulf assumed Lubdan had designed and created Talos-16 to be his boyfriend and or lover and teased the gay young man mercilessly.
"Are you distressed Dr. DeGennaro?" Talos-16 asked in his monotone yet soothing voice.
"Just a bad dream T," Varissa replied.
"Would you like a hot oil massage? Lubdan finds that a hot oil massage calms him after distressing events," Talos said.
"I'm sure he does T, but no I'm okay," Varissa said with a smirk.
"Very well. I am to inform you we have arrived at our destination. We are currently orbiting Earth-1 and will begin a scan for artifacts shortly. Would you like to join the rest of the crew in the lab?"
Varissa turned and faced a panel on the wall of her quarters. "Open window panel," she ordered. The gray panel began to rise revealing a window that looked out on a breathtaking scene. They were indeed orbiting Earth-1. She glanced down in wonder at the desolate planet that once housed and introduced the human race to the vastness of space. The pictures of Earth-1 from space in the times before it became uninhabitable were beautiful, so much blue and green, but now the oceans had mostly dried up and the majority of the rock was awash in a constant dust storm. Lightning streaked across the brown cloud covered atmosphere of the once vibrant planet. Varissa felt a slight sadness at how such a beautiful planet could die simply because some humans let politics, hyperbole and propaganda convince them that climate change was fiction and pollution was not a danger to their future. Too many men and women with their own agenda's viewed the future as an afterthought, something to be left for future generations to deal with. They would put it out of sight and out of mind and concentrate on the 'All Powerful Dollar.' Wealth and greed killed Earth-1, a lesson the United Earth Government on Earth-2 had learned from and would not let happen again, or so she hoped. "It is still beautiful in it's own way, don't you think, Talos?" Varissa asked.
"Lubdan says beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Talos answered. "That it is what is on the inside that matters. Earth-1 is filled with dust storms and devastation, therefor is as unappealing as it appears from space. That did not answer my question regarding the crew meeting, however."
"Yes T, I'll be there shortly, thank you," Varissa replied.
"You are most welcome, Dr. DeGennaro," Talos said. He excused himself and made his way to the lab.
Varissa, stared down at Earth-1 below, the fragments of her nightmare already fleeting, but one thing still stood out to her and sent a twinge of dread through her body. The glowing red and green snake that had stalked her. What did it mean? Varissa scanned the planet below one more time, sighed and turned to leave her quarters.
"Close window panel."
The panel slowly closed and Varissa left her quarters. Her door whooshed shut behind her as she made her way towards the lab and her shipmates.
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Chapter Two
The Impossible Artifact
An argument was ensuing between Warlock Rollins the pilot, Donella Hawkins Owner of Hawkins Salvage and Recovery, and Nyquilio, the ship's navigator as Varissa made her way into the duel lab/med bay area. Donella Hawkins or Don as she preferred to be called by her crew (though sir was acceptable as well) was in her late forties and had a very dominating presence. She stood at 5'11, weighed 230lbs, had short dark hair, sported the black jumpsuit of management and was very bossy. Nobody messed with Don. Warlock was in his sixties, retired military, was bald, grisled, didn't talk much. He was intimidating with nasty scars adorning his face. At 6'3 and 250lbs of solid muscle he could be a bit scary but truth be told he had a heart of gold and had formed a paternal friendship with Varissa since she had joined the crew. Varissa was sworn to secrecy so others didn't know Warlock was capable of being a big teddy bear.
Nyqulio was the only non human employee Hawkins Salvage and Recovery had ever employed. He was around twenty seven Earth years old, stood 6'7 and was skinny. He appeared humanoid other than having blue ridged skin, an extra eye slightly above and in between his other two eyes which was where humans also had eyes and instead of a nose he had two nostril holes slightly below his eyes and above his mouth, about an inch higher than where human's nostrils would be. He had long silvery hair that sometimes covered his elven looking ears & had even chosen a blue jumpsuit that was nearly the same color as his skin..
Nyquilio came from the planet Somnium-5 in the Somnium galaxy. His race was the Noc'tralians. His planet only had one hour of daylight in every Somnium cycle (day). Since Somnium-5 had joined the Universal Coalition more and more Noc'tralians had been finding careers amongst the stars with humans and other alien races.
"You're just not doing it right! What do I pay you for anyways, ya blue bafoon!" Donella was yelling.
"First off sir, that's racist as hell and secondly I have configured everything correctly! It's got to be some sort of issue with the Beowulf's systems!" Nyquilio responded tersely.
"This ship is in tip top shape! It's been one of the best salvage and recovery vessels in service for the past 20 years!" Donella snapped back.
"Maybe it was twenty years ago, sir, but you know how much tech has evolved in the past two decades?" He took a breath through his nostrils and slowly exhaled out of his mouth to calm himself. "Look, I'm not saying the Beowulf is a bad or old ship. I am simply saying that the navigation systems are not setting up a scan for the coordinates I am putting in. They seem to scramble then reassemble as completely different coordinates no matter what I do."
"Look," Warlock said, jumping in. "I just need to know where I am flying the shuttle to and how big the artifacts we are bringing back are. So, will somebody just do the goddamn scan so we can see what we are looking at and get this over with."
"Don, sir what's going on?" Varissa asked as she pulled up a chair next to a nano bed control panel where Lubdan was hard at work on something with Talos-16 next to him ready to help at any moment.
"What's going on is that Blue over here is wasting what little time we have on our permit for recovering possible political and religious artifacts from what was once the capitol of a country called The United States of America! He sets the coordinates for Washington D.C. to do a scan and it changes the coordinates to another part of the country entirely!" Donella said frustrated.
"I've never seen anything like this before to be honest," Nyquilio said, turning to Varissa. "Are you ok? You look like shit."
"I'm fine, just had some bad dreams," Varissa replied.
"I could help ya sleep real good at night. Just let me know the time and place," said a voice behind her. Varissa turned to see Colin Stockard AKA Butch sitting on a nearby counter smiling and giving her a wink. Butch was as thick headed, one track minded, and as big a scumbag as they came, but he was also a very strong and experienced security officer that you could trust with your life when the shit hit the fan. Butch was a white, lean but sturdy 6'1 215lb muscular soldier of fortune with a buzz cut and a dark green jumpsuit that had been with Hawkins for five years.
"Oh, thank you Butch, but I don't want to add nausea and vomiting to my insomnia," Varissa said with a smile.
"You know, Butchy, I've had some problems sleeping myself lately," said a soft female voice from the doorway of the lab. Butch turned to see nineteen year old Candilynn Aguino, a petite 5'1 110lb Asian freshman student of Dr. Varissa Degenarro who had won a classroom contest by having the highest marks in Earth-1 history. The prize was getting to visit Earth-1 by joining Varissa on her summer job with Hawkins Salvage and Recovery as an intern. Candi was indeed very smart but also very promiscuous. She was sporting a red jumpsuit that seemed purposefully extra tight for her body.
Butch smiled big and was about to reply when Varissa jumped in, "You are here to see Earth-1 and be my intern for the summer. This isn't a coed summer camp, so you two keep your pants on. We have a job to do." Varissa finished chiding them and turned her attention back to Donella, Nyquilio and Warlock. Behind her Candi made her way over to Butch and climbed up on the counter next to him and the two began talking quietly.
"We need to figure this out," Donella barked. "We don't have a lot of time! Lubdan, you're a fucking genius, right? Can you fix this?"
Lubdan had been too focused on his own project to really follow the conversation. He snapped his head up to study Donella, a frown on his young face.
"Huh?...Oh...sorry not my field, wouldn't know where to begin," he said absently in a strong irish accent and then went back to working on the nano bed control panel with Talos by his side.
"Mom! you promised I'd get to retrieve some religious artifacts this summer for my church!" a young female voice spoke up from a chair on the far side of the lab. The voice belonged to Christina Hawkins, Donella,'s sixteen year old daughter who, much to Don's chagrin, had been 'saved' while staying with a friend over spring break and was now an extremely devout Christian. Since then, she had made every aspect of her life about serving her lord and savior. Christina was 5'3 130lbs pale skinned and had shoulder length black hair. She wore very conservative clothing in lieu of a jumpsuit.. "I told them I would bring something back in the fall!"
"Christina!" Donella said. "This isn't the time! The grownups are busy. You'll get your crosses or bunnies or whatever it is. Just be patient!"
"Look," Nyquilio said, looking defeated. "I am sorry sir. I can't fix this before our permitted time expires because I honestly have no idea what the hell is going on. It makes zero sense! I did a quick diagnostic analysis of the GPS systems and there is no issues whatsoever on our end. Perhaps the dust storms and the excessive lightning are causing some sort of deflection of our probing. I can't be sure. The only thing I know is I can't fix it if I don't know what's wrong. I know it's not what you want to hear but I will never BS you sir."
"Fine, Goddamnit!" Donella began to say then glanced at her daughter who was staring a hole through her mother in that moment. "I mean fine DAMNIT! What can you tell me about the coordinates that keep showing up?"
"Let's see," Nyquilio said "It appears the coordinates are for a small town in what was once Ohio of the United States of America. Nothing of supreme historical significance is coming up when I run Ohio through the historical databases."
"Great," Donella snorted. "So it's just another hole in the ground! Okay, initiate a scan for artifacts. Maybe we will get lucky and end up with some level two's or three's and at least make some profit from this waste of time. Talos! You're up!"
Talos-16 stood from his position leaning over the panel where Lubdan was hard at work on something and made his way to Donella, Warlock and Nyquilio. "Yes Ma'am, right away. What perimeters would you like me to set?"
"All levels," Donella replied. "This is a damn hail Mary. And there ain't no damn MAAM on this ship T!"
"Ah, yes, sir. My bad, sir. Excuse me, Mr. Rollins," Talos said as he stepped past Warlock and sat down at a screen next to Nyquilio. "Scanning coordinates Latitude: 41 15' 28.80" N Longitude: -81 33' 20.39" W, location Springwood, Ohio."
Donella held her breath as the scan began and the screen flashed rapidly as Talos watched and absorbed it all. Within ten seconds the scan was over. Donella realized she hadn't been breathing and took a large audible breath.
"I don't like suspense!" Donella snapped. "Is there anything?! And don't tell me about any damn Level ones! Especially home media items! Because as my brother always says!" Donella said and pulled out a small square device and hit a small button which played a recording from her brother on a past trip.
"STOP BRINGING ME DVDS, BLURAYS, DIGI-SLIDES OR TRANCE BOX DISCS! I CAN'TFUCKING MOVE 'EM!" his voice said.
"There are indeed many level one artifacts sir as well as many level two's and three's but my scan has picked up the impossible. I believe the system may very well be in peril" Talos said.
"WHAT!? WHAT IS IT!?" Donella demanded.
"Well sir, it appears that our scans have detected something we-" Talos began.
"OH MY GOD T! SPIT IT OUT!" Donella shouted.
Nyquilio leaned his head over and looked at the scan results, his eyes going wide, "Umm sir, it says there is a level five plus in the scanned area!"
Everyone in the room's attention was automatically drawn to the android, the boss and the Noc'Tralian. Even the quiet head of security, Nero Ramos, a muscular 6'2 230lb hispanic former soldier sporting a general camoflage jumpsuit, snapped his head in the direction of the conversation about a level five plus artifact.
Nero was twenty eight years old and had been a career soldier until he was honorably discharged from the military after some palms were greased by his politician father following an altercation where Nero had beaten a fellow soldier nearly to death because he had caught him sexually assaulting a female soldier in their barracks one night. The soldier he beat up was in such rough shape that not even nanotech was able to fully heal him and he would forever have neurological problems.
"Level five plus?! How is that possible?" Nero spoke up from a corner of the room. He had been quietly surveying the crew the entire time. He was always alert, always ready.
"It's not possible. It has to be an error. Come on people!" Lubdan interjected from his nanobed control panel.
"A level five artifact hasn't been recovered in forever!" Varissa chimed in. "Hell, level four's are just about obsolete. What kind of item could survive this long on that planet and be in level five plus condition?"
"A religious item that has been anointed by our heavenly father!" Christina said. Everyone glanced at her, rolled their eyes and turned back to Talos and Nyquilio.
"Could it be something that was left behind on another trip by another crew?" Butch asked.
"That would be highly unlikely," Talos answered. "This scan is very specific on it's parameters for age and origin."
"Look," Donella said. "Impossible or not it is showing up on a scan and and we are running out of time! if we can actually obtain a level five plus artifact not only would it be historical at this point but we would all be very rich! You all have percentage clauses in your contracts. This could put Hawkins Salvage and Recovery on the map! We would be the top company! Warlock, can you get us there?"
"What is the current condition of the storms in that area?" Warlock asked, a small tinge of worry in his voice.
"Ummm, it looks like..." Nyquilio began.
"No time! It's now or never," Donella said. "Warlock, can you do it? I hired you because you were the best Godda-(Donella glanced at her daughter again)...ahem...best damn pilot in the industry. Did I make a mistake? And Nero, can you handle going into an unknown area or did I make a mistake hiring you as head of security?"
"If Warlock can get us down there then Butch and I can keep the crew safe, right Butch?" Nero asked turning to his first security officer and smiling.
"Hooah!" Butch replied.
"I can do it. It may be spotty but I'll get us down there sir." Warlock finally answered as he left the room to prepare the shuttle for take off. Butch and Nero followed him.
"Great," Donella said. "Okay, artifact team prepare to board the shuttle. Lubdan, you and Talos keep an eye on all systems here."
"Aye sir," Lubdan replied.
"Affirmative sir," Talos-16 added.
"Nyquilio, you ready to navigate us?" Donella asked.
"Yes sir, connecting to Shuttle GPS systems now."
"Okay crew look alive. We depart in ten minutes, begin boarding the shuttle," Donella ordered. She turned to her daughter, "Come on, dear. Perhaps this artifact is indeed religious and you can earn some brownie points with god or whatever."
"That's blasphemous, mom!" Christina chirped as she joined her mother and left the lab.
"Well, this is it Candi. You get to visit Earth-1. Are you excited?" Varissa asked her student.
"Very much so! I feel really safe with Butch looking after us," Candi said with a slight blush.
"I bet you do, come on lets go load up," Varissa said, ushering Candi out the door in front of her but before Varissa could follow Lubdan spoke up behind her.
"Dr. Degenarro! One second if you please."
"Yes, Lubdan?" Varissa asked.
"I've been working on something really cool! Check it out!" Lubdan lifted something off the nano bed and turned to face Varissa. She glanced at his hands which were open in front of him. A silver ball about the size of a softball rested on his palm.
"What is it?" Varissa asked.
"Watch," Lubdan said as he let go of the ball. He seemed to be concentrating and the ball was responding. It rose up before him and then floated across the room in front of Varissa.
"Hold it," he added.
Varissa took the ball and held it in her hands.
"Okay, now what?"
"Concentrate on something," Lubdan said excitedly. "Pretty much anything that can be held, like if you were in a situation where you needed to defend yourself. Think of a melee weapon! Like a bat!"
Varissa concentrated and the ball began to morph. Within seconds the ball had turned into a silver metallic baseball bat.
"Try something with an edge! A sword!" Lubdan said. He looked as excited as a school child.
Varissa thought of an ancient double edged sword and felt the handle of the bat she held turn into the hilt of a sword and then the rest of the bat morphed into a sharp silver double edged blade.
"Wow, Lubdan! That is impressive!" Varissa said with genuine awe.
"He had some assistance Dr. Degenarro," Talos interjected.
"Of course, great work T! You two are a great team!" Varissa said walking towards the pair. She concentrated on the sword turning back into a ball and it morphed back into the original softball sized sphere and she began to hand it back to Lubdan.
"No, go ahead and take it with you!" Lubdan insisted. "We have no idea what the conditions are like down there. Besides, I'm already working on a modified version that may be able to produce projectiles by using a nano ant reproduction system!"
"Well, thank you Lubdan. Keep up the good work, this is impressive!" Varissa said as she smiled at Lubdan and Talos and turned to leave the room. Lubdan spun back around and went back to working on his new sphere. Before Varissa could leave the room, Talos turned back towards her and spoke up.
"Have you tried cuddling, Dr. Degenarro?" Talos asked out of the blue.
Varissa stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me, T?" she asked, a bit perturbed.
"To help you sleep better. I have witnessed a much healthier sleep pattern in Lubdan when I cradle him in my arms at night. And also-"
"Whoa! T that'll do, let's let Dr. Varissa get to the shuttle, we don't wanna upset Don," Lubdan said spinning back around facing Varissa with a bright red flush adorning his face. "Umm, have a safe Trip, doc!"
Varissa chuckled and held the ball up, "Will do, Lubdan, and thank you for this, really!"
Lubdan and Talos turned back around and got back to work as Varissa left the lab and made her way to the shuttle.
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Chapter Three
Welcome To Elm Street
Warlock brought the shuttle in for a slightly turbulent landing. He would usually have a more clear landing plan but the chaotic nature of this particular trip denied him that luxury. Still he was one of the best and made what should have been a much more tumultuous landing into only a slightly turbulent one. The crew aboard the shuttle was a mixed bag of reactions. Some like Candi and Christina had their eyes closed tight. Candi had never been aboard a shuttle landing on a dead planet whereas Christina had been on several with her mother but had never gotten used to it and probably never would. Some had huge smiles on their face as they lived for the thrill such as Butch and Nero. The rest, Varissa, Donella and Nyquilio had done this so many times in their lives that they sat in neutrality simply awaiting the all clear to unbuckle. Warlock shut off thrusters, brought down the power without completely shutting it down. He learned a long time ago to never fully turn off a shuttle's power on a dust storm planet's surface or you may never lift off again due to the dirt and debris clogging any air intake and or thrusters.
"Here we are, first floor Men's Wear!" Warlock shouted from the shuttle's cockpit.
'Ha! Think they'll have anything in a Blue and Tall?" Nyquilio asked with a smirk as he and the crew in the shuttle all unbuckled.
"I still feel like this may just be a fluke, another error in our systems," Butch said.
"We don't pay you to think or feel Butch, just to look good and cover our asses so stick to that," Donella added.
"Yes sir!" Butch saluted with a grin.
Varissa turned to face the others, "Okay if this item is indeed real then we need to be very careful with it. This is as big as it gets when it comes to value and quality. Earth-1 has only ever had around two dozen level five plus items retrieved and because of the conditions on this rock there should not even be anything above a level three on the surface."
Nero stood to attention taking a plasma rifle off of the wall of the shuttle and put the strap over his shoulder letting it hang on his back. Butch followed suit.
"Look alive crew," Nero barked. "We are right under a click east of the site of the artifact. A small town like this should not have many if any structures still standing so I expect we will have to rummage a bit. If anything and I mean anything looks like it could be a hazard, do not touch, do not investigate! I repeat do not touch or try to investigate. You bring it to my attention and stay the fuck back, got it?"
"YES SIR!" the crew of the shuttle said in unison, most rolling their eyes and smiling.
"Aw Nero, such a good soldier always looking out for his platoon," Donella replied with a hint of sarcasm. "This is indeed a very important moment in Hawkins Salvage and Recovery's history. We may have came here for some political artifacts and a decent payday but now may end up leaving with one of the greatest finds in many decades. Set your scanners to level two or higher, people. We are here for the big money. We can leave the level one's for the wannabe lower class of salvage crews! Listen to me and Nero at all times. Now, Varissa, you haven't been here since your school days and Candi you haven't been here at all. It is rough out there. Stay with the group at all times. If you have any problems whatsoever hit the panic button on your scanner. It will buzz the rest of us and let us know you are distressed. And one more thing folks, don't fuck this up and we will all be very rich very soon!"
"HOOAH!" Nero and Butch Shouted in unison.
The crew smiled.
"I have our coordinates ready sir," Nyquilio said. "Warlock, we are good to go!"
"Okay, boys and girls, this bird will be guarding the nest patiently awaiting you worms to return!" Warlock yelled with a laugh as he flipped a couple switches above him in the cockpit of the shuttle. There was a loud hiss as the back of the shuttle began to open and lower to the ground of Earth-1 giving the crew a ramp to walk down. The wind howled and dust blew as the crew of the Beowulf put on small clear masks to protect their eyes, nose and mouth from the thick dust that blew around them. With a sense of purpose, the group of seven made their way east to claim their Level five plus artifact.
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The town of Springwood was for the most part covered in a thick layer of dirt and debris. Most of what remained of the once vibrant if not cursed town was long buried by time and the absence of humanity. Which is why Nero was shocked as he followed the scanner in his palm and came upon something that should not exist, a small faded but still legible rectangular green sign with faded white lettering protruding a few feet out of the ground. The sign swayed slightly in the harsh wind and spiraling dust. Nero put a fist into the air, hailing the group that followed him to come to a stop. He pointed to the anomaly.
"Don, sir, are you seeing this?" Nero asked in amazement.
Don, Varissa, and Nyquilio approached as Butch stayed back with Candi and Christina, talking and joking with the young women to try to calm their obvious nerves.
"What is it?" Donella asked, staring at the small sign.
"Beats me, sir " Nyquilio answered.
"Oh wow! I have only ever seen pictures of these!" Varissa chimed in, stepping forward to get a better look through the swirling dust. "This is a twentieth century street sign! These were used for people to find locations or to receive deliveries way back before internal GPS and computer piloted transportation. I am shocked this is still standing. Many of these have been retrieved but that was way before our time. They aren't worth much, barely a level one, but still this is spectacular! Especially that it is still standing! I could go-"
"Ya lost me at barely a level one, sweetie, but thanks for the history lesson," Donella interrupted. "Let's move it folks, not far now!"
"You heard the boss, everybody together now. Quit flirting Butch and let's go!" Nero ordered.
Butch shot his superior a perturbed look then motioned for Candi and Christina to follow him and they rejoined the others. Donella was beginning to get a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was damn near impossible to see much through the constant dust storm and so far all she had seen was mostly buried rubble or just more dirt. Just as she was beginning to accept the fact that her systems had indeed tricked them, the group came upon a structure that seemed to come out of nowhere as the dust storm subsided ever so slightly. Donella looked up and gulped. Nero scanned what stood in front of them with a look of awe on his face as well. Nyquilio put a hand on Don's shoulder and smiled. Varissa had to remind herself to breath. She could not believe what she was seeing. This was truly impossible. Butch stopped in his tracks as Christina sprinted to her mom's side taking her hand and Candi walked to stand beside Varissa.
"I'll be damned," Donella exclaimed.
"Is everyone seeing this?" Nero asked, sure he was seeing a mirage of some kind.
"WHOA!" Butch said.
"Mom, I don't like this. It's just...wrong," Christina whined putting her head on her mother's shoulder so she didn't have to look.
"Ms. V, is this what I think it is? How is this possible?" Candi asked Varissa.
"This is...This is..." Varissa stammered.
"MONEY!" Donella interjected. "We are going to make so much money!"
"How is this possible exactly?" Nyquilio turned to Varissa and asked with genuine curiosity. The rest of the group turned their attention to the Earth-1 history teacher and awaited her reply.
Varissa scanned what had stopped them all in their tracks, a dilapidated yet still standing two story mid-late twentieth century home that appeared to still be structurally sound. It was covered in a thin layer of dust and it's windows were boarded over. Peeling paint remained on most of the house's exterior and faded red door as if the building had been mostly untouched by the ravaged of time and the harsh environment. It seemed like the dilapidation of the residence came more from lack of upkeep than the passing of almost five hundred years and dust storms that should have turned it into dust itself long ago. Her scanner told her what she had mostly just ascertained, the structure was sound if not a bit dilapidated. She had no explanation for how it was still there. She walked slowly towards the red door stepping up two concrete steps that was all that remained of an old front stoop. She stopped at the door and ran her hand over four dark metallic numbers affixed to the right of the front door frame.
"1428," Varissa said. "I...I...I really don't know how this is possible. I mean, of course there are instances of scientists, archeologists and even other salvage crews coming across structural anomalies here on Earth-1 and it's been theorized that some places are possibly protected by gravitational anomalies and just great engineering and luck… But this is just a run of the mill home unit from almost five hundred years ago. It's...simply amazing. This is a great find. I never thought in a million years I'd get to see something from old earth in this sort of condition."
"Do you think the inside may be as untouched?" Donella asked.
Nyquilio had been running a scan on the home and as Donella finished asking her question he smiled and turned to his boss and said "Yes sir, I am picking up several Level three and up artifacts in this building and I am still picking up the level five plus."
"Nero, are we clear to go in?" Donella asked, still staring at the house in awe.
"Yes sir, my scan is showing it is structurally safe. I'm giving us the all clear to enter and-" Nero began.
"Mom! NO! No! it's wrong! The house is just wrong! There is something evil here, something unnatural! We can't go in!" Christina began to say in a panic, clutching her mom's hand in one of her own while her other hand clutched a golden cross she wore on a chain around her neck. "Please don't make me go in."
"Calm down child, what's gotten into you!" Donella chided. "This is an amazing find. Quit letting all that god mumbo jumbo work you up. I wish that god stuff had stayed behind on Earth-1 as well! It's nothing but trouble!"
Christina began to cry and seem to hyperventilate, "Mom, please...please I just want to go back to the shuttle, please!"
Donella tried to let go of her daughter's hand but Christina had a death grip. "Okay...Okay..shhh. Breath Chrissy, it's okay. Butch would you be so kind as to escort my daughter safely back to the shuttle?"
Butch seemed a bit disappointed at the prospect of not getting to go inside the home but he felt bad for the teenage girl who was in literal tears over her fear. "Aye sir, no problem," he said as he put an arm around Christina and slowly pulled her away from her mom finally getting to her to let go of her death grip of her mother's hand.
"Listen Chrissy, I love you and I'll be there with you soon okay? You listen to Butch and be safe."
"Okay Mom, I will, and mom?" Christina said.
"Yes?"
"Be safe, I really do have a bad feeling about this place," Christina said solemnly.
"I will sweetie," Donella said before turning on Butch, a stern expression on her face. "And Butch, two things. She's my daughter and she's sixteen, got it?!"
Butch shot his hands up in the air in a ya got me pose. "Of course boss, no worries"
Butch looked to Nero and nodded, Nero nodded back and Butch and Christina turned and began their trek back to the shuttle where Warlock awaited the crew's return.
"Okay, should I knock first?" Nero asked winking at Varissa.
Varissa smiled, "I don't think anybody's home. Why don't you try the door."
Nero reached for the doorknob and began to turn it. It didn't budge. He tried a little more forcefully and the knob broke off in his hands and fell to the ground breaking into several pieces.
"CAREFUL WITH THE MERCHANDISE NERO!" Donella barked.
"Sorry, sorry," he responded. Nero began running his hands over the faded red door and tried shouldering the door to no avail.
"Hey, wait a minute. Try this," Varissa jumped in. She reached into a small pouch around her waist and produced the silver sphere Lubdan had given her. She concentrated for a moment and the ball morphed into a crow bar. She handed it to Nero.
"Okay, stand back everyone," Nero ordered and as they did what he asked he began his attempt to pry the door open. It took a couple tries but finally the door gave way with a loud creak as it slowly swung to the inside. Nero reached into a pocket and pulled out a handful of small BB sized spheres. He tossed them through the doorway and they floated in place for a moment and then they lit up into vibrant light and each glowing sphere flew into each room on the bottom floor and other spheres shot upstairs also finding their way into each room upstairs. The home was awash in light for the first time in centuries. Nero, Don, Nyquilio, Candi and Varissa took a deep breath and they all made their way inside 1428 Elm Street.
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Chapter Four
One...Two...
Nero entered the house first, his weapon at the ready, pointed in front of him as he looked up the stairs then to his right and left. The house was as rundown on the inside as it was the outside. Thick cobwebs and dust rested on every board, wall and stair step. The floor creaked beneath his feet as he stepped in further. He pulled a small clear device from his pocket and studied the screen. The small spheres that were lighting up the house also scanned for any movement or life signs. The report came back negative so Nero raised a hand up and motioned the others to follow into the threshold of 1428 Elm Street.
"All clear sir!" Nero called out as the rest of the group came up behind him.
After everyone was inside, Nero closed the front door behind them and the building became much quieter as they were cut off from the ferocious howling winds from outside.
"So are we just going to ignore the fact we are standing in a structure that has no business existing that also just so happens to be the location of an artifact that has no business existing and that we are here because our GPS system just so happens to ONLY pull up these coordinates?" Nyquilio asked with a bit of concern in his voice.
"Look I don't care if our GPS system gave us the coordinates for a Leprechaun's magical rainbow!" Donella retorted. "If there is a pot of gold at the end of it we're acquiring it and cashing in! Come on Big Blue, you worry too much. What was the old earth saying, Dr. V? Don't look a horse somebody gives you in the ass."
"Ya almost had it. It's don't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I get your point," Varissa said. She was about to add to her reply when her eyes fell upon something on the ground next to the staircase. "Oh my gosh! Don, Nero, look! I can't believe what I'm seeing!"
"What is it?" Candi asked.
Varissa dropped to her knees next to a rusted tricycle that sat next to the stairs, her eyes wide as she wiped away thick cobwebs from the seat, handlebars, and wheels.
"It's a twentieth century tricycle! It was a means of playtime transportation for toddlers. I wonder if..." Varissa trailed off as she stood back up and leaned over placing her hands on each handlebar and she gently pushed it forward. The wheels squeaked and rolled as age old rust broke loose and the pedals slowly turned.
"My scan shows that as a level three, sir," Nyquilio said to Donella while holding a small handheld device in front of the tricycle.
"Good, good. Dr. V please stop. Careful with the merchandise," Donella ordered. Varissa let go and stood staring in amazement.
"Sorry, I just got excited," Varissa said. "It really is amazing that it still rolls."
"Okay team, let's split up and find this level five plus and whatever else we can salvage from here" Donella said. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity so let's not squander it!"
Nero turned to the group and said, "Okay, you heard the boss. Donella and Doc are with me. We will check the lower section of the house. Big blue, you and the honor student have the upstairs."
"Are you excited Candi? You are going on an Earth-1 scavenger hunt," Varissa asked her student with wonder in her eyes.
"Very much so! Thanks for bringing me," Candi replied.
Nyquilio looked up the stairs then to Candi. "Stay to the side of the stairs as we climb. Everything seems to be sturdy but our luck may run out."
Candi nodded and the two carefully began climbing the stairs, hugging the left side of the stairwell. Don, Nero, and Varissa watched the pair until they reached the second floor landing and disappeared down a hallway to the left of the stairs.
"Okay Nero, let's find our meal ticket," Donella said with a smile.
"Aye sir," Nero replied as he pulled out his scanner and held it up in front of him and began walking around the first floor of the home. The group found a few broken picture frames hanging on the deteriorating walls of the foyer. They entered the first open room which Varissa guessed by the looks of the old broken furniture had been a family room. A deeply rusted small bird cage hung by one chain from the sagging ceiling in a corner. Varissa moved towards it to examine it.
"Yeah, that's not creepy at all," Nero said, watching Varissa studying it.
"Fascinating, I can't believe it is still hanging here. Then again, I can't believe this entire place is still here," Varissa mused.
Donella motioned for Nero to scan the birdcage and he did so. "Less than level one, sir."
"Then definitely not worth our time, moving on," Donella said.
The group continued into what appeared to be a dining area and kitchen. Scans showed several level two artifacts but Donella insisted they find the five plus and come back to any lesser artifacts afterwards. After walking almost the entirety of the first floor they came upon a rotted door hanging from one rusted hinge affixed to the side of the stairwell. Nero held up his scanner, it began beeping.
"Boss, I think what we are looking for is in here!" He said.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Donella replied.
Nero reached out and pulled the door open. It immediately broke off it's one remaining hinge and fell to the floor in pieces. Whatever lay before them was dark. Nero reached into his pocket and pulled out another tiny sphere and tossed it into the doorway. It floated then shot seemingly down at an angle and then lit up. The three peered into the lit doorway and saw a set of stairs leading down into a basement.
"It's clear," Nero said.
Donella smiled big, "Lead the way handsome!"
Nero, Donella and Varissa began walking down the stairs into the basement of 1428 Elm Street.
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"So, is everything blue?" Candi asked as she and Nyquilio turned left at the top of the stairs.
"What do you mean is everything bl-...ohhhhh, um yes," Nyquilio said, a bit flushed.
"Is it, ya know, like humans?" Candi asked curious, biting the corner of her mouth.
"If you mean compatible, yes it is, though it may not be as enjoyable to human females due to having a much larger size than human males. Is this appropriate conversation?" Nyquilio replied, regretting his answer immediately and growing increasingly uncomfortable.
"Hmmm, how much bigger exactly? Like this?" Candi held out her hands palm facing palm and was about to begin spreading them apart to represent length when Nyquilio thankfully found a way to change the subject.
"Hey, look here! My scan is picking up a Level four!"
"How disappointing I was guessing at least a level twelve," Candi said under her breath.
"What was that?" Nyquilio asked.
"I said lead the way," Candi lied, now very curious about her blue alien partner's physiology.
Nyquilio followed the scanner into a bedroom. Long tendrils of dust and cobwebs covered the interior of the room. The scanner took the two across the room to a rusted metal table on the far side where a large wooden object covered in centuries of dust and cobwebs sat waiting. Nyquilio pulled out a small pen sized tool from his waistband and pointed it at the object. A strong stream of air shot out and within seconds the object was clean and completely visible. Nyquilio checked his scanner. This was indeed the level four artifact and with good reason.
"Wow, this is strange but very close to the real deal indeed," he chirped.
"It's a model! Ms. V said this was a hobby lots of people took part in on old Earth! Wow, it looks just like this house, like exactly like it if it didn't have all the boarded up windows and damage and everything. It's very pretty, don't ya think?" Candi asked in awe.
"Indeed," Nyquilio answered "Whoever built this was truly talented. Let's look around for anything else of value in this room and then safely get this down stairs by the toddler cycle thing Dr. DeGenarro spoke of."
Candi laughed, "Tricycle, it's called a tricycle. You're so cute, ya know that?" She said putting a hand softly on his forearm. Nyquilio looked down and pulled away nervously.
"I thank you, you are moderately attractive as well, but we have a job to do. Here use this," he replied, handing Candi another small scanner.
"Dang, Blue, you sure know how to sweep a girl off her feet," Candi said, a bit disappointed. She took the scanner and moved towards one corner.
The two began scanning areas of the bedroom. Candi found herself in what appeared to be a small room affixed to the bedroom and upon closer inspection she ascertained it to be a closet. Her scanner wasn't registering anything above a level one but her eyes fell upon a small rectangular object on a shelf at the top of the closet. She reached up and took it in her hands, shaking off ages of dust. It was a small book with a withered leather cover. Candi opened it and smiled.
"It's a diary!" Candi said. "A window into the past! Nyquilio, look at this! This was written in 1984!"
"Diaries are less than level one because so many have been found," Nyquilio responded. He had very little interest in the artifact. "Apparently people from the twentieth century were really vain and felt the need to fill countless notebooks with every aspect of their mundane lives. You might as well leave the thing. Donella will have no interest in it. Anyways, there's really nothing else in this room. Let's get this model downstairs and come back up to check some other rooms."
"Sure thing, Big Blue," Candi said, emphasizing the word big while sneakily stashing the diary in her waistband under her shirt. She then turned and helped Nyquilio gently lift the model house off the table and the two of them took it carefully downstairs.
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Donella, Nero, and Varissa came to the bottom of the stairs and stared around at the completely empty basement. They stood in several inches of dust, detritus, and cobwebbing. Nero's scanner was still beeping rapidly but there was nothing they could see in the room that could be causing it.
"I'm sorry, sir, but this may actually be too good to be true. I'm not seeing anything but dirt, floors, walls and an old rusted furnace," Nero said disappointedly.
"Well shit! Let's do a full sweep of the room. Maybe we are missing something!"Donella said. She noticed Varissa moving towards the furnace and turned to face her. "Hey doc what are you doing?"
"Maybe we aren't missing it," Varissa answered as she stood before the furnace. She tried to open a small door on the front of the rusted hulk but it was stuck tight. She then reached into her pouch and pulled out the sphere Lubdan had given her. She held it and concentrated and it morphed back into a crowbar like shape. She began to try to pry the door open but it wouldn't budge. Nero saw her struggling and stepped over.
"Hey doc, care if I give it a try?" he asked.
Varissa handed the crowbar over with a smile. "My hero," she said in mock adulation with a smile on her face.
Nero struggled for what seemed to Donella like an eternity. It seemed the door would not open.
"Come on, Nero! Use those pythons! Make momma rich!" Donella shouted.
"I'm trying," he grunted. "It is pretty damn stuck...and please don't call yourself momma, that's just wrong. Wait! I think I..." Nero strained giving it his all. "...got it...YEAH! HOOAH!" he barked as the small door swung open with a creak. He handed the bar back to Varissa who concentrated for a moment to return it to a metallic sphere before putting it away.
Donella rushed to stand with Nero and Varissa and the three looked into the dark mouth of the furnace. Some sort of object wrapped in a thick cloth with a withered dried leather strap tied around it lay inside. It appeared to be well preserved, mostly untouched by time, and Donella didn't stop to wonder why. She reached in and lifted it out feeling a nice heft to it's weight. As Nero and Varissa watched, Donella began unwrapping the item like an excited child on Christmas morning. Because she was so excited and not being as careful as she should've been, her finger ran across something sharp under the cloth and she winced in pain and instinctively let go of the item as blood poured from her finger. The item fell from her hands and hit the dust covered floor with a soft metallic clink.
"SHIT! OH NO!" Donella yelled.
"Here, let me look. How bad are you cut?" Varissa asked.
"Don't fucking worry about me! THE ARTIFACT! IS IT OK?!" Donella snapped.
Nero leaned down to pull the cloth away and lifted the item up, careful not to cut himself as well. Donella stopped holding her bleeding finger and stared at what he held as did Varissa. No one spoke for what seemed like forever. Nero held what appeared to be a leather glove affixed with a steel frame and four razor sharp blades attached to four of the fingers. The thumb did not house a blade. The supple leather was still in excellent shape, the steel shiny and new. The blades glistened, as sharp as if they were forged that very day. Blood dripped from Donella's finger to the floor but she didn't notice.
"What is it doc?" Donella asked.
"I actually don't know," Varissa said, perplexed. "I've never seen anything like it in my studies of Earth-1. But more importantly, how is it still in this kind of condition?"
"This must be why it's registering as a level five plus. This condition is like nothing I have ever seen working in salvage and recovery." Nero said awestruck.
"We are going to be so rich," Donella swooned with dollar signs in her eyes.
Varissa snapped out of her reverie and reached into her pouch and pulled out a small lipstick sized device. She pressed a small button and held Donella's hand up and pointed the device at the cut on her finger. A holographic light emitted from the device and shown on the wound. Within seconds, the wound was gone and Varissa put the small device away.
"What now boss?" Nero asked.
"We may have hit the motherload with this place. There is no telling how many high priced items may be hidden in this house. We are going to take this glove back to the Beowulf and get Lubdan and Talos on finding out exactly what we have and then we are going to come back here and strip this place for every level two, three and four we can find. This is why we do what we do kiddos. After we cash in this find and everything else we rip out of this gold mine the name Hawkins will be spoke of as the best in the business!" Donella was going to keep rambling on but in that moment the ground beneath their feet began to softly shake and then the shaking began to build in intensity.
"Boss, we need to get out of here before this quake hits its crescendo!" Nero barked. "This place could be a hole in the ground in minutes!"
"NO! We need this place! There's still so many untouched artifacts! Lets try to get everything we can first!" Donella shouted. The quake began to get even worse. Nero could see the ceiling above them crack in places.
"Sorry, sir, but there may not be a place to ransack in a minute. I apologize but we gotta go!" Nero argued and grabbed his boss by the arm, dragging her behind him. Varissa didn't need any coaxing. She ran with Nero and Donella up the stairs and out the doorway towards the front door of the house.
Nyquilio and Candi had just made it to the bottom of the stairs with the model home in their hands as they reached they emerged from the basement stairwell. Before anyone could say anything the floor to the right of the stairs broke open as the earthquake continued to intensify and the tricycle began to creak loudly as its rusted wheels rolled towards the new hole and fell through the broken floor. They could hear it crash to the basement below.
"THIS EARTHQUAKE IS BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE!" Nyquilio yelled as the stairs behind them cracked down the middle and fell in completely. The second floor landing gave way and fell around them.
"LET'S GO!" Nero yelled as he swung the front door open.
"GODDAMNIT!" Donella yelled.
Nyquilio and Candi rushed out the front door almost dropping the model home,.Varissa followed and then Nero had to forcefully push his boss through the door and pull her away from the house. The ground beneath their feet shook like it was going to open up and swallow them whole. The group moved fast away from the house and heard an ungodly groan almost like a guttural growl that made the hair on the back of Varissa's neck stand on end followed by a thundering creaking and cracking noise. The five crewmates watched in dismay as the house at 1428 Elm Street in Springwood, Ohio collapsed and fell to ruin in a thundering boom. The dust and debris of the destruction joined the dust storm that blew perpetually on the planet. Almost immediately the ground stopped shaking. Donella tried to run back towards the debris of what was once a house full of the promise of huge paydays and Nero grabbed her arm again, stopping her in her tracks.
"It's not safe sir! It's gone...I'm sorry...It's gone! But look, I got the glove, we have the five plus!. At least we got that right?" Nero asked trying to bring his boss back to reality. "The quake may have stopped but we don't know for how long. We need to get off this rock before we get stranded here."
"But...but," Donella began.
"Sir, we also found a very interesting artifact upstairs," Nyquilio, added trying to help calm his boss down. "It is a level four!"
"Yeah! Ms V. check it out!" Candi chimed in.
Varissa walked over and looked at the model of the house that had just collapsed before her eyes. It was an almost perfect replica of what the house probably once looked like centuries ago. Varissa could not wait to further examine it back on the ship. "Extraordinary! But Nero is right. We need to go."
"Fine! FINE!" Donella snapped. "Fuck this miserable shithole of a planet!"
The group of five began their half mile trek back to the shuttle where Warlock, Butch, and Christina waited. After a few minutes the group passed the street sign that read Elm Street. Nobody looked back. They were mostly all thankful to still be breathing. Had they thought to look back though they would have seen the sign seemingly be swallowed slowly into the earth and the ground fill in the hole entirely as if the sign had never stood there at all.
Christina embraced her mother as they reached the shuttle and began buckling in.
"Did the quake hurt the shuttle at all Warlock?" Nero called to the pilot.
"Quake? We didn't experience any quakes here, just run of the mill Earth-1 dust storms," Warlock answered back.
"Oh," Nero said, frowning. He thought that was strange considering they were only half a mile away but had much bigger things on his mind. "Well that's good, would've sucked if you had to leave us here."
"All clear on the homefront, soldier," Warlock chuckled back.
Butch got a full report from his boss Nero and the two helped Nyquilio and Candi secure the model house and glove in a separate small storage section of the shuttle for the flight back.
Christina was happy her mother had come back from the place she could feel was evil. She couldn't look at the small model house or the glove without her skin popping into gooseflesh. She leaned her head on her mother's shoulder as Warlock closed the shuttle door and waited for everyone to get buckled in and then he began their flight back to the Beowulf.
In the dark storage section of the shuttle the model house sat strapped against a wall, the glove in a protective case next to it. As the shuttle cleared the atmosphere of Earth-1 a small window of the model house lit up, casting a light into the dark storage room.
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Chapter Five
...Three...Four
"Alright folks, I'm preparing to dock with Beowulf. Welcome home!" Warlock called from the front of the shuttle.
Donella nodded and lifted her left hand in front of her face and pressed a small button on a band around her wrist, immediately a holographic image arose in front of her. A tinny beeping could be heard and after a couple seconds she saw the face of Lubdan apparently in bed. He wore a robe and was laying on his stomach, holding up his hand and seeing Donella as their conference connected.
"Aye, Sir. Is everything okay? I didn't expect to hear from ya so soon," Lubdan said a bit taken aback.
"We ran into some Earth-1 problems and our trip to Ohio got cut short, but we are all in one piece," Donella said.
"Ah, saints be praised! Did ya get the five plus?" Lubdan asked nervously glancing over his shoulder.
"We did, that's why I'm hailing you. We are docking with the Beowulf now. I need you and Talos to meet us in the lab so we can analyze our finds. I was hoping to go back for more artifacts but that option is out the window now. I will have to settle for the level four and the five plus we managed to get before everything went to shit. But the thing is, the level five plus is something even Dr. Degenarro has no experience with so we are going to need to research it" Donella explained.
"Aye sir! We are happy to help!" Lubdan said. As he reached to his wrist to end the conference Talos could be heard somewhere behind him. "Are you requesting a happy ending Lubdan?" Lubdan immediately looked mortified and quickly ended the conference.
"I KNEW IT! Ya owe me sixty Cred Nero! Come on, a bet is a bet!" Butch called from the seat across from Nero in the shuttle.
"Well, I never actually thought there were any 'happy endings' being given out, but I am a man of my word," Nero said with a smile as he pulled out a small scanner and pointed it at Butch and pressed a button automatically transferring the funds to Butch's account from his own. "But hey, as long as the little lab rat's happy then Mozel Tov!"
"I think it's adorable," Varissa chimed in, smiling at Nero. He smiled back with a slight blush.
The shuttle shook slightly and an array of lights came on throughout the shuttle.
"We are attached, you are clear to disembark. Congratulations worms, another safe excavation of Earth-1! Dust storm weather report from inside the Beowulf says Zero Percent Chance of getting dirt in your buttcracks," Warlock chimed in with a laugh over the PA from the shuttle's cockpit.
Everyone began unbuckling and standing as a side hatch slid open revealing an accordion type purplish corridor leading into the Beowulf. Christina shuddered as she watched Nero and Butch retrieve the two artifacts and carry them past the crew into the corridor first.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let's go find out exactly how rich we're gonna be!" Donella said with a smile. "Things are looking up for Hawkins!"
"HEAR HEAR!" the crew shouted.
As Warlock shut down the shuttle and the crew departed, Candi lagged behind everyone and pulled the diary from her waistband. She opened it and began to read as she absentmindedly stood and slowly followed the crew back onto the Beowulf.
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Twenty minutes later the crew of the Beowulf were gathered around the lab patiently awaiting an update from Talos and Lubdan who were both hard at work scanning every inch of the model house and glove into the Beowulf's system. Nero and Butch leaned in one corner chatting with Nyquilio and asking him about Somnium-5 and what there was to do there. The Beowulf was scheduled to take a four day warp speed trip to Somnium-5 the next day so Nyquilio could check in with his people there before the Beowulf moved on to their next excavation on a formerly inhabited planet in the Somnium Galaxy called Somnium-2. The Noctralians had abandoned that planet over seven hundred years prior due to chaotic volcanic activity that made life a constant battle for survival.
Varissa and Donella stood looking over Talos and Lubdan's shoulders as they painstakingly finished their task. Donella was anxious to find out exactly what they had found. Christina sat against the wall near her mother nervously biting her nails and gripping her crucifix. Warlock was in the cockpit of the Beowulf preparing the auto system for their upcoming four day warp speed trip as he and the rest of the crew minus Talos-16 would be in mandatory cryo-sleep for the trip. Candi sat at a small table on the far side of the lab, her back to the others. She yawned as she took a sip of coffee and turned the page again. So far it was just the boring diary of a teenage girl named Nancy but Candi felt there was a reason she had found the diary and though it was quite hard to continue reading she powered through.
"Why does this part take so long?" Donella whined.
"I am sorry, sir. We could do a quick scan but it could end up with missing data for our search," Talos responded.
"It's almost finished boss and then ya can cash in these lottery tickets," Lubdan added.
"That model, it is quite fascinating," Varissa chimed in, startling Donella who hadn't even noticed the doctor standing there. "The detail compared to the actual house is really quite good. Whoever made it must have studied every inch of that house, even the inside is precise. It's disappointing that the actual house stood the test of time for almost five hundred years only to fall now."
"Don't remind me doc," Donella said. "Yeah, yeah, the model is nice and all but this glove, this is our meal ticket!"
"Alright! That'll do, Talos! That'll do!" Lubdan said happily as the scan completed on both items.
"Okay, then! Run the scan through the historical databases! What do we have?" Donella said, almost salivating.
Talos waved his hand over a control panel with a holographic screen and images began appearing and changing faster than any human could keep up with. The rest of the crew overheard the conversation and made their way to where the search was being processed. Candi had not noticed and was still reading from the diary, a look of fear and disbelief now showing on her young face. After around thirty seconds the screen Talos viewed went blank. Talos waved his hand again and the screen vanished.
"Sir, the model house is not registering as anything other than old Earth hobby art, but in it's condition it is still a level four and will fetch you quite a high price," Talos began.
"I figured, but the glove, tell me about the glove!" Donella demanded.
"It is indeed a five plus but a price cannot be ascertained at this time because it is a one of a kind item. It needs some historical relevance to fetch a price margin like you hope for. However, my scan of the historical database only brought up the possibility of it being an old earth hand crafted gardening tool. Without more historical context the price range is up to the market for such tools, though the condition shows great promise for a higher than average price. Shall I put it on the auction market for you?" Talos asked.
All the air seemed to leave the room in that moment. The crew was saddened to see the disappointment bloom in their boss' face.
"Damnit! No, I refuse to believe a five plus item like this is nothing more than a run of the mill hedge clipper! Dr. DeGenarro, are you sure you don't know what this is? Nothing from your studies? This is exactly what I fucking hired you for!"
"Sir, I am sorry but I..." Varissa began. "Wait, no. This glove was kept in a safe place and was wrapped and tied. It was more than just a tool someone used. Not to mention the fact it is still in pristine condition after almost five hundred years." Varissa scrunched her nose in deep thought. "Lubdan, Talos! Run a search for Springwood, Ohio Finger Blade Glove. Maybe under the right parameters we can find more information on it. "
"Aye Doc " Lubdan said as he and Talos went to work doing just that.
The crew watched on with baited breath. Donella caught herself not breathing again. Images flew by on the screen in front and then stopped on an image of an old newspaper called the Springwood Gazette from Springwood, Ohio with a headline that read 'Krueger Walks Free.'
"Hmmm, the paper is dated May 11th, Nineteen Hundred & Sixty Eight. Fred Krueger walks free it reads. It says a man named Fredrick Charles Krueger was a janitor in the boiler room of a power plant in Springwood," Lubdan began.
"A what? Jan-uh-toor? That sounds heinous," Butch blurted.
"No Butch, a janitor is an old earth occupation where instead of robotic cleantech the humans of that time would actually do all the sweeping, scrubbing and cleaning and get paid for it," Varissa answered.
"Wow! One person to do all of what cleantech does? That's amazing! That's real talent, bet they made the big bucks," Butch pondered.
"You would think that but no. It was actually the exact opposite. They were looked down on in most social circles and made far less than most others. In fact we had a whole lesson on old earth blue collar vs white collar work force. Candilynn earned the highest marks on the final exam. Candi, want to explain the work forces to Butch?" Varissa said looking over her shoulder for Candi but could not spot her. "Candi? Where'd ya go?" Varissa spotted Candi on the other side of the room, her back to the group and was about to hail her to join them when Lubdan broke back in.
"Oh, saint's preserve us," Lubdan said with shock. "It says here he was a serial killer called the Springwood Slasher and that he preyed on the wee ones. Our treasured five plus artifact be exhibit #1 at his trial, his weapon of choice."
The crew leaned in closer murmuring amongst themselves.
"Hush, the lot of you! Let the boy read," Donella barked. The crew obeyed and Lubdan continued.
"It looks like the Earth-1 authorities came for the monster and took him down but in the heat of the moment certain important processes weren't followed and a judge ended up having to let him walk from the charges a free man," Lubdan finished.
"Wait, really?" Varissa asked. "Is there not more? I've never heard of this serial killer in my studies."
"That is all there is under those search parameters."
"Try digging deeper," Donella barked.
"Aye, I'll do a scan for Fredrick Charles Krueger Springwood, Ohio," Lubdan offered with hesitance.
Dozens of newspaper articles and police reports and court papers flashed across the screen. Lubdan and Talos began going through them. The crew waited patiently.
"Fredrick was born in May 1942 to an Amanda Krueger but from what I gather he was raised by a foster family in springwood, Ohio at..." Lubdan paused.
"What?! what is it?" Donella begged.
"He grew up at 1428 Elm Street, sir," Lubdan answered reluctantly. "Oh my, it says there was a small fire in the home in 1960. Fredrick wasn't home at the time but his foster mother and father and a wee five year old foster sibling didn't survive."
"After the fire Fredrick Krueger was suspected by some to have started it but it couldn't be proven. Frederick repaired the home and lived there alone until his death in May 1968," Talos continued taking over for Lubdan.
"Twice, twice this man gets away with his crimes," Varissa muttered bitterly.
"This is bad, mom," Christina said, her voice shaking. "I told you that house was evil."
"Chrissy, not right now!" Donella said, turning to face her daughter who was almost in tears.
"You humans and your history of violence," Nyquilio piped in with a shake of his head. "No offense but if the Noc'tralians had met the human race on old earth, I'm not sure we would have joined the alliance."
"And honestly I wouldn't have blamed you all," Varissa replied.
"Wait, you said he died in May 1968?" Nero asked.
"Yes, May 1968. Why do you..." Lubdan began and then his eyes grew wide. "Oh yes, the newspaper article about him walking free was also from May 1968! Let me see…"
Lubdan excitedly began scanning through more files. He looked annoyed as he waived his hand over his control panel moving page after page off his screen until finally settling on one that seemed to calm his annoyance. "Okay, sorry there was a LOT of redacted information but I found an in house police memo that speaks of a group of Springwood citizens that sought Frederick out after he skated on the killings and…" Lubdan's eyes widened in surprise. "They took justice into their own hands! They found him at the boiler room he worked at and burned him alive as he was preparing to flee town. He died in the fire."
"Good! It serves him right after what he did to those children and burning his family alive!"
"Mom, we have to get rid of the glove and model house," Christina whined. "No good can come from them! It's cursed! it's evil, please!"
"You don't understand Chrissy! This type of serial killer memorabilia from old earth is priceless to collectors," Donella explained to her daughter.
"Mom, it isn't worth the money! It's blood money! It's dirty! Please, I'm begging you!" Christina continued.
"I understand what you are saying but WE HAVE TO SELL IT!" Donella caught herself shouting. Christina shrunk back from her mother. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell," Donella continued. "I didn't want to say anything but Hawkins isn't doing great right now. Ever since that damn Grendel & Solaris fiasco and all the added protocols, permits, and red tape that came from that we haven't been able to secure the kind of finds we used to when we could use backdoor channels and the like. Truth be told, without this five plus popping up, I was truly depending on a miracle this summer to pull us back into the black. I will protect my family, this business, and your jobs at all costs, and if that means selling this here blood diamond to the highest bidder than so be it. I am as sickened as the rest of you at the history of this item but the fact is it will save us all."
Donella finished and looked to her daughter and crew, awaiting their response.
"Mom, I'm sorry that things are that bad but this isn't the way," Christina said turning and running out of the lab.
"CHRISSY, COME BACK!" Donella yelled.
"I'll go talk to her and bring her back " Varissa offered.
"No, it's okay, let her get it out. It's this religious kick she's been on. She will come around to understanding why this is so important. You all understand right?" Donella asked her crew.
"I got your back boss!" Butch spoke up.
"Thanks Butchy. Doc? Nyquilio? Nero? You understand right?"
"The quicker we get rid of this thing the better, and if it can help the company then fine by me as long as it's gone," Nero answered.
"It does have a nasty history, sir," Nyquilio said. "It was part of something unspeakable but you're the boss and I enjoy getting to explore lost worlds, so yeah, if this is what you think is best I will trust your judgement."
"I don't like it but you're the boss, sir," Varissa said in a small voice.
"Thank you all for understanding. What about you Lubdan? What do you and T think?" Donella asked, turning back towards the two.
"It's strange sir, the police reports, newspaper articles, website pages...everything...it doesn't stop the night he died in 1968," Lubdan gulped.
"What?! What do you mean?" Donella asked. "The bastard died didn't he?"
"Yeah, but it's strange," Lubdan replied. "In the mid eighties a string of teenager deaths started up in Springwood. Friends of the victims and even some who ended up being victims later all would say it was Freddy Krueger. This is going to sound really strange but they say he came after them in their dreams. Even stranger they all described him exactly the same, as a man in a red and green sweater, covered in burns, and wearing a black hat. And, get this, wielding a glove affixed with four razor sharp blades."
Varissa felt a shiver run down her spine at the words 'red and green' but before she could think on it more Donella was cutting in.
"Dreams? Come on, Lubdan. It's old earth superstition, a town boogeyman, mass hysteria!"
"That is the most likely scenario," Talos-16 chimed in, agreeing with Donella.
"I agree, sir but these police reports go on and on for countless years and the weird part eighty percent of this stuff is redacted, blacked out!" Lubdan said. "There's even a ton of medical records for patients at a place called Westin Hills, again mostly redacted but I dove into Westin Hills and it was a psychiatric hospital that specialized in sleep disorders. I wish I could tell you more sir but everything and I mean everything important has been seemingly scrubbed from history, redacted almost in full."
"Maybe I can fill in the blanks for you."
The group turned with a start at the voice of Candi who had been silent the entire time. She walked towards them and stood next to Lubdan and Talos, facing the group with the old diary in her hand.
"Candi, what is that?" Varissa snapped. "Where did you get it?"
"It's a diary that belonged to a girl named Nancy Thompson who lived in that house on old earth. I took it when Nyquilio and I found the model."
Donella and Varissa snapped their heads to Nyquilio. He put his hands in the air.
"I had no idea," Nyquilio pleaded. "I would have never let her take that out of there without tagging it and reporting it to you boss."
"Dr. DeGenarro," Donella spat. "I thought you explained to your student the laws governing what we do. This could've been bad if the wrong people had found out." The intimidating woman rounded on Candi, her hands held out, "Give us the book Candi so we can scan it in. What value you thought there would be in a level zero old earth diary is beyond me."
"No, please listen to me," Candi begged. "Nancy was one of the teens you spoke of that Freddy came after in her dreams! It wasn't mass hysteria and it wasn't an urban legend. I don't know how but it's all true. She documented it all! The nightmares she had, the smell of his breath. She wrote about seeing sleeping friends lifted by unseen forces and wounds appearing out of thin air. If he killed them in their dreams they died for real. He was getting revenge on the people of Springwood for killing him! He came after the teenage kids of the mob who burned him! Don't you see?! Christina was right! These items are evil. Nancy thought she defeated him but apparently she was wrong! And he kept coming back!"
"I did actually see the name Nancy Thompson pop up several times in the files," Lubdan interjected. "Her father was with the police in Springwood when the mob killed Frederick, um Freddy. I also came across her death certificate. She passed away while working at Westin Hills, but again all the pertinent information is redacted."
"What? He got her? NO!" Candi began as she looked down at the diary in her hands and began frantically flipping through the pages hoping to find something, anything to prove what Lubdan had said was wrong, but instead she made it three quarters of the way through the diary and found nothing but empty pages. Tears began to well in her eyes when suddenly she gasped as large scratchy characters began to form on the page before eyes. First the number one followed by the number two and then the words 'FREDDY'S COMING FOR YOU' and then blood began to ooze out of the passage on the page in front of her causing her to scream and throw the diary across the room.
"What's gotten into you, young lady?!" Donella shouted. Everybody snapped their heads to the diary on the floor across the lab from them then back to Candi who was almost hysterical.
"THE PAGE! IT WAS EMPTY! AND THEN IT SAID… IT SAID ONE, TWO, FREDDY'S COMING FOR YOU AND IT STARTED TO BLEED!" Candi yelled out, her hands held up over her mouth. Varissa automatically put her arm around Candi and then Varissa looked up and nodded at Nero, jerking her eyes towards the book on the ground. Nero understood and strode across the room picking up the diary.
"It's okay, shhhh," Varissa said, trying to soothe her student's anxiety. "Candilynn, you're just upset. The stuff you read in that old book freaked you out. That diary is just that, an old diary. Freddy Krueger is long gone. Nancy has been gone for almost five hundred years. You're safe, we're safe, no one is coming for you."
"Yeah, look," Nero said holding up the diary for her to see. "Nothing here but a diary, see?" Nero stood next to Varissa and Candi and flipped through the empty pages. Candi watched and saw the bleeding passage was nowhere to be seen. There was nothing but empty pages after teenage Nancy's final diary entry, but Candi knew what she had seen. She knew she wasn't crazy.
"NO! IT WAS THERE! YOU GOT TO BELIEVE ME! DON'T YOU SEE?! WE DIDN'T FIND THAT HOUSE BY ACCIDENT! THOSE COORDINATES WEREN'T A SYSTEM ERROR! HE USED US! SOMEHOW HE LURED US THERE TO FIND THAT GLOVE AND BRING IT WITH US! TO BRING HIM WITH US! HE WANTS TO START ALL OVER AGAIN WHEREVER WE TAKE HIM!" She screamed, turning and grabbing the glove off of the scanner surface. Talos and Lubdan jumped out of their chairs to avoid being knocked over.
"Candi, that is very expensive, you need to put it down. You're tired, you're stressed. Doc! Please tell your student to put down the artifact," Donella said as calm as she could muster.
"Candilynn, please put it down," Varissa asked, trying to reason with her distraught student. "I believe you think you saw something. No one is calling you a liar but this isn't the way."
"Hey, beautiful, come on, take a breath ok?" Butch tried to chime in to assist.
"Candi, I believe you. I saw how you reacted. Give the boss back her artifact and I'll make sure we lock all this stuff up in the most secure, farthest part of the ship. Then we can talk more about my planet and ...and...and I'll answer any strange questions you have about my physique."
Everybody snapped their heads towards Nyquilio with a million new questions for him as he spoke to Candi. It was obvious he was not exactly sure how to talk down a distressed young adult human female.
"I KNOW WHAT YOU ALL ARE TRYING TO DO! IF YOU WON'T GET RID OF IT THEN I'LL DAMAGE IT! MAKE IT WORTHLESS! THEN YOU'LL THROW IT OUT! WE CAN'T LET HIM WIN! I'M SORRY MS. V BUT IT'S THE ONL-" Candi stopped talking mid sentence and collapsed into Lubdan's waiting arms. Talos-16 stood beside his maker holding a tiny empty syringe. Candi's hands went limp and the glove threatened to slip from her unconscious grip but Nero was fast and he took hold of the glove before it could fall to the ground.
"Here, I'll take her to her quarters," Butch offered, stepping forward to take the young woman from Lubdan.
"Take her straight there and Butch, do I even gotta ask?" Donella said.
"Ha Ha! I'm not a creepo like Krueger I'll drop her off in her bed and hit the mess hall."
"Thank you, Butch," Varissa said as Butch lifted Candi to her feet taking her from Lubdan's arms and draping her arm over his shoulder as he carried her out of the lab.
"And thank you, Talos and Lubdan. That was some fast thinking," Donella said, smiling at the odd pair.
"Aye, sir," Lubdan said.
"Candilynn was in distress and was not thinking or acting rationally. Lubdan and I decided an old fashioned sedative injection was the best tactic to help her calm down before she could hurt herself or the artifact," Talos said.
"Good work, all of you. I do have some questions about the whole talking about your physique with her thing Nyquilio but I'll save that for later. In fact, let's table all this Freddy and artifact talk for after our trip to Somnium-5. Everybody head to the mess hall and have some dinner. We got a four day Cryosleep to prep for. Everyone is to report to the Cryochamber room at 0100 to be jacked in for the trip," Donella ordered. "And Talos?" she asked.
"Yes, sir?" Talos responded.
"I want you to do a deep dive into all this glove and Krueger business. See if you can find out anything more, maybe dig for some unredacted information or see if you can unmask any of it and give me a full report when we come out of cryosleep. We need all the information we can gather to present to collectors."
"Yes sir, I will do my best," Talos responded.
Donella turned to Nero, "Good save. I knew I hired you for more than your good looks."
"No problem, sir," Nero said, smiling.
Varissa smiled. She was concerned for her student but knew the four days in cryo sleep would be good for Candi and when they got to Somnium-5 all this boogeyman stuff would be replaced by the wonder of visiting a new planet for the first time. Though a small twinge of fear still dwelled deep in Varissa's gut, the red and green sweater...the red and green snake...She began to ponder on the two more but was snapped out of it again by her bosses finger.
"Sir?" Varissa spoke up as Donella was beginning to leave the lab.
"What is it doc?" Donella asked, turning to Varissa.
"Your finger, sir, it's bleeding again," she answered.
"Huh?" Donella said, lifting her finger and seeing it was in fact dripping blood from where the glove's blade had cut her on Earth-1 earlier. "You must not of done a full heal scan."
"Here, allow me," Talos said, walking to Donella and holding up a small gun shaped device and scanning the finger. Donella wiped away the blood revealing a normal finger with no wound.
"Thanks T! See, good as new. Alright, enjoy dinner folks. see you at 0100. I'll tell you a bedtime story," Donella said with a laugh as she left the room.
Varissa, Nero, Lubdan, and Nyquilio all made their way to the mess hall but none of them ate much that evening. Talos stayed behind hard at work digging for more information to present to Donella.
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The crew of the Beowulf were all standing in their large glass cryochambers. It looked like ten clear glass coffins lined the solid white sterile room with a lone control panel erected in the middle surrounded by the ten chambers. A crewmate stood in each chamber with electrodes and IV's attached to their bodies as Talos made his rounds, jacking in the cryosleep system to each of their neural implants. Candi had still been unconscious from Talos' injection but Varissa and Nero had teamed up to make sure she was prepped and jacked in. Now, they were jacked into themselves. Talos made his way to the final crew member to assist.
"See you in four days, Lubdan. I will miss you. I will be looking after you while you rest," Talos said to his creator and friend.
"I'll miss you too, Talos. I'll see you soon, ok?" Lubdan said with a hint of sadness. He gave a the android a quick hug.
"OH, GET A ROOM!" Butch called good-naturedly from his cryochamber.
"HaHa! Arsehole," Lubdan called back, flipping Butch off playfully.
"Okay, ladies and gentleman" Donella called. "It's bedtime. Close your eyes, say your prayers, and, in the blink of an eye, you'll be waking up in the Somnium galaxy."
"Mom, please think about what we talked about," Christina said, looking over to her mother's chamber.
"Yes, sweetie. We will talk about it more after we all wake up. I love you, Chrissy."
"Love you too, mom," Christina said tersely, thinking her mom was not taking her serious.
"See ya on the other side," Nero said, looking over to the chamber next to him where Varissa stood. "Maybe we could grab a coffee or whatever they drink on Somnium-5."
"Sure, why not," Varissa responded with a smile.
"It's called Yarvestiq and it really is quite good but we have a higher metabolism and require a much higher dose of caffeine than humans so might I suggest you take it slow at first and I think you'll enjoy it," Nyquilio began as he looked back and forth at the two. A smile stretched across Nero's face and a slight blush colored Varissa's cheeks. "But, then again, perhaps you'll be more interested in something other than the beverage."
"Auto-Warp is set," Warlock called from his chamber. "It will kick in two minutes after we are all safely in cryosleep, boss."
"Alrighty, then. Talos we're ready. See ya soon," Donella said.
"Yes sir," the android responded as he waived his hand over the control panel before him and all ten chambers hissed as a clear glass encasement slid over down to seal the crewmates inside. Talos waived his hand again and a clear fluid began flowing through each crewmember's IV.
Varissa could feel her body slowly falling into cryo hibernation. The room began to distort around her as her eyes slowly closed then opened and closed again. Her breathing slowed.
Her eyes opened and she noticed a change in the room. The other cryochambers were gone leaving only hers there in the middle of the white sterile room. She blinked and heard a strange noise like something slapping the ground in a rhythmic pattern. She opened her eyes and saw she was no longer in the white sterile room.
She was back outside the house on old earth but the area was much changed. There was no dust storm, no desolation. The house still looked rundown and boarded up but now there was grass on the ground in areas, patches of pavement with chalk drawings on it. The sky was dusky, almost dark, and from her cryochamber she could see three small girls. They wore bright white dresses with their hair tied up in pigtails with big white bows. They were on a patch of pavement near the house and they were playing. Two of the girls each held one end of a rope and they swung it over and under as the third little girl would jump over it and they began singing. The lyrics sent a chill and a spike of fear through her slowly fading body as they sang out the same thing Candi had said she read in the diary "One...two...Freddy's coming for you."
Her eyes closed again and she still heard the slapping of the rope. Her eyes opened once more and they were still there singing their song.
"Three...four...better lock your door."
Varissa tried her best to not fall into cryosleep. She fought the undefeatable urge to fall into unconsciousness with everything she had but failed. The last thing she saw was the front door to the house at 1428 Elm Street slowly creak open and then Dr. Varissa DeGenarro's eyes closed one final time and cryosleep took her and all she saw was blackness.
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Chapter Six
Space Junk
Candi slowly opened her eyes, feeling the sluggish hangover of awakening from cryosleep. She fluttered her eyes and frowned. Had four days already passed? It seemed she had only just fallen to sleep.
At first, her sight was blurry and distorted. She rubbed her face, blinking sleep from her tired eyes and found she could see clearly. She was still sealed in her cryochamber and could see Nyquilio at the control panel in the middle of the sterile white room. He smiled at her and held up one finger to gesture 'give me one second.' He then waved his hands over the control panel before him and pressed his finger against it. Candi's cryochamber hissed and slowly opened. Nyquilio rushed over to her and gently removed her IV and then the electrodes that were attached and very gingerly disconnected a small cable from her neural implant.
"What's going on?" Candi asked hoarsely.
"Before we went into cryosleep I got into the system and pulled some strings so the IV didn't feed to me. We are still in warp speed but if we do what we need to do in less than an hour and get back into cryosleep then we'll be okay. Are you up for it?"
"Up for what? What do we need to do? Are you sure this is safe?" Candi asked, disoriented and confused.
"I told you in the lab remember? About the artifacts. When you threw the book I saw blood come out of it. I was afraid to say anything. I didn't want to look crazy. I'm sorry I left you hanging out to dry but we need to get rid of those artifacts. You were right! He wanted us to find them. I could do it by myself but I knew you would want to see it done, for us and for Nancy."
Candi was beginning to feel clear headed again. "How did I get here? I don't remember..."
"Yeah, Talos and Lubdan ambushed you with a sedative and the crew worked together to put you in cryosleep with the rest of us. Very much a dick move by the lab rat and his robot," Nyquilio explained.
"Oh, but how did you wake me from cryosleep? The drugs are measured out for the exact amount of time that we are supposed to hibernate. How did you manipulate that?"
"I made sure you only received a weak sedative instead. I waited for you to wake up. It didn't take long, but we don't have much time. We need to move if we are going to do this," he answered
"You know, if anyone finds out you'll be fired right? We could face criminal charges " Candi said.
"I've manipulated the security feeds for the next hour. It's on a loop from shortly after cryosleep initiated. There's no way they will know whose to blame! Besides, I don't care. We can't let these artifacts make it back to Somnium-5 or Earth 2. Will you do this with me?" Nyquilio asked.
"Of course I will.," Candi said, feeling the anxiety rise inside her gut. "Thank you for believing me. Everybody seems blinded by greed! Freddy is real. I wouldn't believe it myself if I hadn't seen the words and blood form in the diary! It has to be true! If we let them sell these things then we are giving him a whole new playing field! What's your plan?"
"The airlock," Nyquilio answered. "We put the glove, the house, and even the diary in the airlock and launch them into space. I know you feel a connection to that diary but if we found it it means he wanted us to! We will loose them into open space, No one is ever going to find them! I thought about trying to burn them or even fire a plasma gun at them but I have a feeling it wouldn't do anything. They are in pristine shape after almost five hundred years so I don't think we are going to be able to do any damage. But if we launch them into space at warp speed then even if they aren't destroyed they will at least be lost to the void of space. That Freddy Krueger is a real son of a bitch!"
"Yes! Great idea! But, wait, what about Talos?" Candi asked climbing out of the cryochamber as Nyquilio took her hand to assist. "He might try to stop us."
"Don't worry about him. Before cryosleep I uploaded a small virus to the system he connects to. It will shut him down for three hours. I checked, he's out. By the time he wakes back up we will already have the artifacts launched and be back in our cryochambers. So do you trust me?"
"Yes," Candi answered. "We're doing the right thing!"
"Good, let's go. We don't have a lot of time," Nyquilio said taking Candi's hand.
Nyquilio and Candi exited the cryochamber room which brought them to a long corridor that ran horizontally, the end of each side represented by airlock #1 to their left and the Shuttle bay to their right.
Five doorways adorned the walls of the corridor. One door was the one they were using to exit the cryochamber room. Another door on the same side of the corridor as the cryochamber room was the lift to the bottom floor or top floor. The three doors on the opposite side of the corridor were the nanomed lab, the kitchen/mess hall, and restrooms. The bottom floor of the ship held the cockpit, and cargo bay and the uppermost floor was the recreational lobby, sleeping quarters and offices. The room they needed now was the nanomed lab. Talos-16 had been ordered by Donella to continue examining the artifacts from Earth-1 so Nyquilio and Candi intended to check there first. Nyquilio was still holding Candi's hand tight as they moved quickly through the hallway. He stood at six foot and seven inches so his stride was much longer than Candi's who stood at five foot one inch. His grip was very tight and it felt as if he was dragging her along because he moved so fast.
"Ow, Nyquilio, you're hurting my hand! Please slow down," Candi pleaded.
"My apologies, Candilynn. I am just concerned about time," he said, releasing his tight grip on her hand and slowing to her pace as they approached the nanomed lab.
"Okay, here we are," Nyquilio said, placing his hand on the scanner next to the door. A beep could be heard followed by the door whooshing open. The two would be saviors of the Beowulf stepped into the lab. Directly in front of them were the four nano med beds. Control panels spread from one side of the room to the other on the far side of the lab. To their left was some cabinets and a counter and table with four chairs. Candi had been sitting there earlier reading from the diary. To their right was the large control panel where Talos and Lubdan had pulled up the history of the Springwood Slasher, Freddy Krueger. The glove, house and diary sat on a table that had been placed next to the control panel to be scanned earlier that day. Candi gasped when she saw Talos-16 laying sprawled out on the floor in front of the artifacts, his legs bent at the wrong angle. She would have assumed he was very dead from his posture had he been human.
"Oh my God! Talos! Is he okay? Are you sure the virus didn't kill him? We need to set him up or something!" Candi said.
"Eh, He's just a robot Candi," Nyquilio responded. "He will be fine. Once we are done with everything and enough time passes he will be up and running good as new!"
"Nyquilio! He's our friend! We can't just leave him like this!"
"Of course he is, yes you are right. Sorry, I am just concerned about getting this done before too much time passes. Let's set him up at the control panel."
Nyquilio and Candi each put one of Talos' arms around their shoulder and hefted him up. He weighed much more than Candi had expected but thankfully Nyquilio took on most of the burden of lifting. They walked to the control panel, Talos' feet dragging across the floor, making an annoying squeaking noise all the way. They set Talos in a chair at the large control panel and Nyquilio pulled a shiny silver bag from a pocket of his pants. He quickly went to work placing the diary and the glove inside the bag and tying it to the side of his waistband. He then took hold of one side of the model house as Candi followed suit and took the other side.
"Alright, let's get this over with," Nyquilio said.
"Out of sight and definitely out of mind!" Candi added.
The pair lifted the model home from the table much like they had when they had initially found it on Earth-1. Candi wished like hell that she had never brought the damn thing to the ship to begin with, wished that they had just made a trip to their original planned location and brought back boring political and religious artifacts. But you can't go back in time and the damage was done. All she could do was try to right the wrong she had committed and make sure the legend of Freddy died that night on the Beowulf.
Candi and Nyquilio awkwardly walked out of the nanomed lab into the corridor on the middle section of the Beowulf. They made their way down the corridor to the very end and stopped at the door that read Airlock Inner Door. Nyquilio readjusted his grip on the house so he could hold his side with one hand as he placed his other against the scanner, opening the Inner Airlock door. He again took the side of the model in both hands and the pair carried it into the airlock and sat it down.
"Okay, almost done! I'll prep for opening the outer airlock door. Can you drag the model closer to it?" Nyquilio asked.
"Sure!" Candi said as she bent down and took hold of the model and began walking backwards dragging the model across the room until her butt bumped into the outer airlock door. She released her grip and stood up but was mortified to hear the Inner Airlock door whooshing closed. She ran back across the room to the inner door and Nyquilio stood on the other side looking through at Candi through a small glass observation window affixed in the door. He looked quizically through the window at her and asked, "What's wrong?!"
"Nyquilio! QUIT FUCKING AROUND! OPEN THE DOOR! WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!"
"Actually, I've got more time than I've had IN A LONG TIME! HAHAHAHAHA!" Nyquilio began laughing and as he laughed his voice began to deepen into a guttural deep sinister laugh. Candi beat against the door pleading with him to open it. She tried putting her hand against the scanner on the inside but since she wasn't a crew member it did not open for her. She looked back up at Nyquilio and her blood ran cold as she saw his face morphing from the blue skinned, three eyed Noc'Tralian she knew into a hideous human face covered in wet looking burns. She could make out the shape of his face, his hook nose, his sadistic smile. She had seen that face before but it hadn't been covered in burns in the pictures she had seen earlier that day on the control panel.
It was Frederick Charles Krueger.
As her heart rate began to rise she watched as he lifted his hand holding a black fedora hat and placing it on his bald burned head.
"Freddy!" Candi yelled.
"The One And ONLY!" he replied.
"Oh my god, I'm still asleep!" Candi realized in horror.
"I really do want to thank you, Candilynn. You did me such a solid."
"What the hell are you talking about?! LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Candi demanded.
"All in good time Candi. I wouldn't even be here without you. I was sitting around in my limbo, bored, lonely, and then you and your crew visited Casa De Freddy or as you call it Old Earth " Freddy said with a smile. "Others have visited before but they were out of my range. I only had so much ability to affect the living world but when you have nothing but centuries to practice you learn to master your craft. I cast my line into that ocean in the sky and you all took the bait."
"Go TO HELL YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'D NEVER HELP YOU!" Candi hissed.
"Oh, but you did Candi. You, that nerdy leprechaun, and his pile of nuts and bolts all helped me so much. It's funny, your boss didn't even question how she couldn't pull up any other location or how in a town completely buried in the ground there was still a street sign and a house standing and it was all because the only thing your boss saw was dollar signs. Your crew brought me to your ship but it was Lubdan, the robot, and you that gave me life again. They found the stories and you filled in the blanks with that diary you just so happened to find. You three spread me like a virus to your crew and I'm back, baby! Guess we won't be needing this anymore."
Freddy held up the withered leather diary in front of the window for Candi to see as it burst into flames in Freddy's hand.
"No!" Candi yelled.
"Oh, yes! But most importantly you reunited me with an old friend that has been away for FAR TOO LONG!" Freddy croaked as he held the glove in his left hand for Candi to see and then slowly slid it onto to his right hand. He wiggled his fingers causing the blades to tink against each other. He spread his hand out in a quick motion, flourishing it before the window for Candi to witness.
"Would ya look at that! Still fits perfectly after all these years! I do thank you, Candi. I couldn't have done it without you, but now we go our separate ways. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I'll give your friends your regards. Looks like you really are destined to be Varissa's STAR PUPIL!" Freddy said and then began laughing maniacally, reaching for the control panel to open the outer airlock door but before he could Candi yelled out.
"NO! YOU MAY HAVE PUT THE DIARY THERE BUT I READ IT ALL! I KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS! NANCY KNEW IT TO!"
"Oh, is that so?" Freddy said a bit amused, staying his hand for the moment.
"You only have power if we give it to you!" Candi said sternly. "I know the secret, Krueger! This is just a dream! You're not alive! I take back the fear and energy I gave you! YOU'RE NOTHING!" she finished as she turned her back to Freddy.
"NOOOOOOO!" Freddy yelled behind her with extreme fear and pain in his voice. Candi held her breath, the outer door did not open, and Freddy didn't speak again. She turned back around to see that the observation window was empty. She smiled and took a deep calming breath. Just then an unfamiliar teenage girl's face appeared at the door looking through the window. She had curly dark hair, a pretty face, and a brilliant smile.
"You did it Candi! Just like I did!" the girl said.
"Nancy?" Candi asked.
"Yes, thank you. He almost got out! But, Candi, you have to remember one important thing!" Nancy said with a deadly serious tone.
"What?" Candi asked.
Candi let out a small squeal as Nancy went to talk but instead of words Candi saw blood pour from Nancy's mouth. Nancy's face went slack, the light in her eyes went out, and her head slowly began to rise up revealing it to be a bloody decapitated head being held by a gnarled burned hand. The hand tossed the head behind it and Freddy was once again looking through the window at Candi.
"Ya gotta remember I KILLED THE BITCH!" Freddy said and began laughing as he reached over and placed his hand on the control panel next to him. Behind Candi the outer airlock door began to slowly open. She frantically tried to open the inner door with the control panel but her hand was not recognized. She beat on the inner door but Freddy just laughed harder. She looked to her left and noticed a handle on the wall. She grabbed hold just as the air began being sucked out of the room and the airlock door slowly opened completely to empty space.
The vacuum of space pulled on Candi. Her body hovered horizontally as she held onto the handle for dear life. She felt her blood beginning to heat up. She grew weaker and her grip began to fail her one finger at a time. Freddy glared at her through the hole, no longer laughing. He looked at her with pure, seething hatred and yet it almost seemed like the bastard was soaking in the moment, savoring every second. She stared deep into his burning eyes and was filled with hatred and sadness. She knew her time was up and now Freddy would be going after Varissa, Butch, Nyquilio, and the rest of the Beowulf's crew and after that...
Her thoughts were cut off by the worst headache she had ever felt. She was holding on to the handle by one finger and it too finally slipped free. Candi was sucked out of the Beowulf and into open, empty space. She floated away, feeling her blood boil, watching the Beowulf get further away and Freddy's face get smaller and smaller. Her head felt like it would explode and then she saw no more as her eyes burst like a child popping a bubble. She let out a silent scream as she felt her insides begin to expand, her bones break, her vessels pop as her expanding body pushed her skeleton through her skin and then she felt no more.
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"Gallagher Sphere 2.0 update," Talos-16 said out loud in the NanoMed Lab of the Beowulf as he recorded his progress working on Lubdan's upgraded sphere. He continued, "I have successfully manipulated and evolved the nanoant technology of Nanomed Bed #1. The Nanoants are now able to reproduce allowing for the upgrade of the Gallagher Sphere to produce projectiles. Said projectiles will deactivate and completely deteriorate after sixty seconds and will be reproduced within the sphere by new ants. In a surprise development, not only is the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 now completely self sustaining but is now capable of powering any object formed by the wielder's control. Lubdan will be pleased. I am also continuing research on the artifacts from Earth-1. I am-"
Talos stopped speaking, caught off guard as the diary on the table next to the model home and glove suddenly burst into flames and ash faster than he could react to stop it.
"Strange," Talos said to himself.
As he leaned in to examine the ashes an alarm on the screen of the control panel to his right began sounding. He rushed to sit back down and redirected his attention to the screen and saw it was a vital sign alert from the cryochamber room. Talos quickly waived his hand over his control panel and pulled up Lubdan's vitals. Everything was in normal range. He began checking each of the other crew members but before he could find out who was in distress his attention was again distracted as he witnessed the five plus artifact, the bladed glove, began to slowly dematerialize in front of him. He sprang back to his feet and tried to grab the glove before it was completely gone but his hand passed right through it and within seconds it was completely gone, as if it had never been there to begin with.
"What is going on?" Talos asked no one.
The vital sign alarm was joined by another vital sign alarm. Talos leaned back over the control panel and finally came to Candilynn's vitals. Her heart rate was off the charts and her blood pressure was rising rapidly. Talos quickly left the lab and made his way to the cryochamber room.
Talos placed his hand on the door's control and the cryochamber room opened up before him. He stepped in and did a quick glance around the room, saw Lubdan was sleeping normally in his chamber, and looked to Candi's chamber. Her breathing was extremely labored as if she were unable to draw breath. He rushed to the control panel in the center of the room and pulled up her vitals.
They were in unsurvivable levels. He heard a clank and looked up. Candi's hands were pressed against the glass encasement of her cryochamber and then suddenly her eyes shot wide open and she screamed. Within seconds of her scream Talos watched in startled fascination as her eyes exploded in their sockets and Candi began heaving. She still appeared to be screaming but her scream was suddenly cut off there was no sound coming from her but she still screamed.
Talos immediately waived his hand over the control panel to begin an SOS to home base but was distracted again, this time by the sound of breaking bones. He looked up to see what appeared to be Candi's body flattening, spreading. Her broken bones erupted through her skin. Talos waived his hand over the control panel to begin his SOS call and that was when Candi's body exploded, filling her clear cryochamber with blood and gore.
In the moment Candi's body exploded, an electrical energy colored red and green shot out from her cryochamber striking the control panel and hitting Talos square in his chest. Talos flew backwards across the room hitting the wall behind him and landing with a thud on the floor. He saw the room go completely dark and then it was lit back up in a dim red informing the android the ship was now on auxillary power. He tried to rise to his feet and realized he could not move, could not lift his hand, or even move his head. Everything began to fade to black as the android slowly shut down.
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Varissa opened her eyes and found herself suddenly standing in the middle of a strange street. She couldn't remember how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was seeing the door to the house on Earth-1 slowly opening and the girls jump-roping and singing. She looked up and saw she was standing in front of a white building on the corner of a street. She could tell from her studies of Earth-1 that she was somehow standing on a street sometime in the distant past on old Earth. The sign on the building in front of her it read, 'The Crave Inn' and to the left of that sign was another that read 'Soda Fountain.' She looked around her at the dark road, saw street lights, buildings and old earth vehicles parked along the curb but no people.
She was completely alone and couldn't remember how she had even gotten there. It was late in the evening, almost dark.
She stepped up to the door of the Crave Inn and pulled on the handle. A small bell jingled over the door as she stepped inside.
She was standing in what appeared to be a twentieth century small town diner. Empty booths ran along the wall. The front of the diner had large windows in lieu of a wall and a counter ran sideways with stools in front. A young woman with reddish-brown hair wearing a light pink uniform stood behind the counter. She wore a strange small white hat with a blue border and a white apron sporting a similar blue border around her waist.
"Come in and have a seat," the girl said.
"Where am I?" Varissa asked as she slowly walked up to the counter and sat down on a stool.
"Springwood," the girl answered. "We don't have much time."
"Wait, Springwood? As on Springwood, Ohio? What year is it? Who are you?"
'My name is Alice. Listen, you're not safe here. He knows you're here and he's coming for you."
Alice paused, her eyes widened in shock as she looked behind Varissa out the large windows of the diner's face. Alice returned her gaze to Varissa and shouted, "He's here! I'll find you again but you need to RUN!"
Varissa saw the light in the room begin to dim and turned to look outside. There was no daylight left at all. It was completely dark and right outside the window the three girls were back again, singing while jump roping.
Five...Six... Grab you're crucifix," they sang.
"GO!" Alice yelled behind her. Varissa stood and turned to ask Alice a question but Alice was gone. Varissa was alone in the diner. She could hear a maniacal laugh somewhere in the distance and heard the girls still singing.
Seven...eight...Gonna stay up late."
Varissa ran and pushed open the diner's door and ran away from the playing girls, the diner, and the laughter that was getting much closer. The last verse of the girl's song chased her into the night.
"Nine...ten...Never sleep again…"
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Chapter Seven
The Passion of Christina
Christina opened her eyes and panicked as she looked around and saw she was in a strange place. A strong smell of animal dung hung in the air, burning her nose. She was laying in the dirt with hay sticking to her clothes and palms as she pushed herself off the ground. A cold chill ran through the air.
She looked around and saw she was in a small barn like room with animals bleating nearby and a few feet away she saw and heard a woman breathing hard and screaming. A man sat beside her trying his best to calm her. They were dressed in what appeared to be simple fabrics. The woman laid on her back with her legs spread. She was obviously in child birth.
"It's okay, Mary. God will protect us," the man said.
Christina felt a chill run down her spine. Mary, the barn, and a baby on the way. Was she seeing the birth of Jesus? How did she get here? A time vortex? Did the Beowulf pass through a portal of some kind? She was very disoriented and confused, couldn't remember how she had gotten here. The last thing she remembered was preparing for cryosleep and...the woman screamed again, louder than before.
Christina saw the man jump back with a start. He let go of the woman as blood shot out from between her legs spreading across the dirt and hay of the room. She began screaming in agony and Christina saw the woman's pregnant belly moving as something pushed against it trying to get out.
"JOSEPH! HE'S COMING!" Mary screamed.
Christina almost vomited when she saw the woman's belly split open vertically from belly button to chest. Then two gnarled bloody hands pushed the split belly apart and a bald, bloody, burned head began pushing out of her opening. Christina screamed when she saw one of the hands wasn't just a hand but was adorned with a glove with four razor sharp blades for fingers and it was not a baby pushing it's way out of Mary.
Mary fell limp to the ground. Joseph backed up staring in disbelief as the figure emerged from her body and stood, his feet still inside her dead belly. The figure was a tall man whose entire head, neck, and non gloved hand was covered in severe burns and he wore dark pants and a striped red and green sweater.
He reached down into the gore covered belly of Mary and pulled out a bloody black hat. He shook it in the air sending blood flying around the small room, some of which struck Christina in the face, and then placed it on his head. He looked at Christina and pointed.
"The Messiah is born! It's a Christmas miracle! HAHAHAHAHAHA," he laughed maniacally and then turned his attention to Joseph who had closed his eyes and began muttering an inaudible prayer to himself. Freddy stepped out of the corpse he had just come from and stood over Joseph. He reached down with his non gloved hand and grabbed Joseph by his neck, lifting him to his feet. Joseph continued to mutter in prayer, his eyes closed.
"The Father!" Freddy yelled stabbing Joseph on the left side of his upper chest with one finger blade. Joseph screamed in agony. "The Son!" Freddy stabbed Joseph in the right side of his upper chest with one blade. Joseph finally opened his eyes in agony as Freddy smiled.
"And The HOLY SPIRIT!" Freddy growled as he pulled back his bladed hand and drove it forward into Joseph's face, two blades puncturing Joseph's eyes. Freddy let go of Joseph and he fell to the floor with a limp thud.
The room began to change around Christina then as she watched in paralyzed horror. The barn faded away revealing the burned man and Christina to be standing in a dark room. There were pipes and boilers and stairs leading up to an upstairs grated walkway, Christina realized it was Freddy Krueger and she was somehow in his boiler room.
"Little Chrissy! You were right. Those artifacts were evil. Too bad your mom doesn't love you as much as she loves money," Freddy growled staring a hole through Christina.
"Freddy?" Christina asked trembling, tears streaming down her face at the blasphemy she had just witnessed.
Freddy removed his hat and crossed one leg in front of the other and took a bow before putting the hat back on his head and smiling.
"This is a dream, it's not real," Christina began saying to herself.
"Never heard that one before, but don't worry Chrissy, I'm not going to kill you...yet. First, I wanted to take you through a tour of the UNHOLY TRINITY!" Freddy said with a chuckle. "ON TO ROUND TWO!" He yelled holding up ywo bladed fingers before laughing and the world went dark for Christina.
When light returned to the world around Christina she thought she was floating until she felt the grip of hands squeezing each of her upper arms. She looked down and saw she was wearing a filthy brown piece of fabric that barely covered her body, her arms and legs covered in filth, a rope tied far too tight around her ankles, one ankle laying over the other.
She then glanced to her right and saw a man wearing shiny armor, bright fabric, and a shiny metal helmet. He was holding her around her upper arm, she looked to her other side and saw another man dressed identically doing the same.
They marched forward, carrying Christina with her back facing in the direction they walked. Christina realized she could hear many voices screaming and yelling. She couldn't make it out what they were saying. There were far too many voices. Christina tried to struggle against her bindings but it was futile.
The two men came to an abrupt stop.
"Lay the bitch down!" came a voice behind her that she instantly recognized as Freddy.
She felt the men lay her down on what felt like a narrow slab. It was wholly uncomfortable. She glanced down and saw her tied feet and legs rested against a wooden beam of some kind and another soldier appeared standing at her feet. He reached down and tied the rope binding her feet onto the beam she lay on.
She began to try to break free again and the men at her side pulled with great force on her wrists and held the back of her hand against another wooden beam that ran horizontally beneath her shoulder blades to each side.
Christina looked on in terror as Freddy stood over her looking down. He was dressed like the other soldiers except his fabric and armor were striped red and green.
She looked down to her feet then to each side at her arms and at the soldiers who held her hands against the object she now knew with terror was a crucifix and screamed. She looked back up and saw two large iron nails clutched in Freddy's hand and a large ancient hammer in his gloved hand.
The son of a bitch was humming an old earth hymn that she knew all too well, 'Amazing Grace,' as he sauntered to her right side and kneeled to one knee. He placed the point of one of the large nails against the palm of her right hand. She tried to close her fingers but the soldiers held firm.
"For Don so loved her cash, she gave her only begotten daughter to die for HER SINS!" Freddy growled as he held up the large hammer and brought it down with inhuman force, driving the large nail through Christina's hand and deep into the crucifix.
Freddy stood as the crowd cheered. He then slowly walked to Christina's left side as she screamed and blood poured from her right hand. She tried again in vain to free her left hand from the grip of the soldiers but it was no use, Freddy would have his way. Freddy kneeled to one knee and placed the remaining nail against the palm of her left hand.
"That her kid shall die so she can enjoy everlasting WEALTH!" Freddy began laughing maniacally as he lifted the large hammer and brought it down again with inhuman force and it drove through her left hand into the crucifix. Freddy looked down at Christina whose scream was now a hoarse croak, snot poured from her nose, blood poured from her hands, and Freddy smiled.
"OH I ALMOST FORGOT! THE ICING ON THE CAKE!" He laughed and seemingly pulled a wreath of large thorny vines from out of nowhere, its thorns several inches long.
Freddy bent again and placed the crown on her head. The thorns pressed against her forehead, temples, and the back of her head and she felt them slowly push through her skin. The agony was unbearable.
Christina's weight shifted on to the nails as Freddy and the soldiers pulled the cross to a standing position and she shrieked. She saw the enormous crowd below her, screaming at her to die. They seemed so far away as if the crucifix she hung from was fifty foot tall. Christina passed out, her world went black, as Freddy stood laughing up at her from the foot of the cross.
Christina slowly opened her eyes sometime later. Her head no longer hurt but her hands still had large holes through them. Blood dripped slowly but she was no longer affixed to a crucifix. She was kneeling on both knees, her injured hands held together in front of her as if she had been in prayer.
She looked to her left and then her right and saw two women dressed in simple garb also kneeling with hands clutched before them in silent prayer. Christina looked in front of her and saw a large rock wall, the sun was shining directly on it. She then began to stand to her feet and the ground beneath her started to shake and she was unable to stand.
The women on both sides of her opened their eyes and in unison yelled.
"HE RISES!"
Christina felt the earth shake and then heard a large cracking noise and she realized the rock face in front of her was the side of a mountain with a large round rock rolled in front of it. The large rock began to slowly roll revealing a dark cave. The bright sun began to fill the darkness as the rock rolled away and the sun lit up more of the cave.
Once the cave was fully revealed the rock stopped rolling and the ground stopped shaking. Christina stood to her feet. The women on her sides ran to the cave opening, their hands held above their heads as if reaching for heaven.
In the too bright sunlight Christina saw a silhouette of a man wearing a robe that covered most of his body. He had what appeared to be long hair and a full beard but the bright sun hid any specific features. She watched the women fall to the feet of the man.
"The resurrection," Christina said to herself. She looked around for Freddy to appear but saw nothing except a large crowd several hundred feet behind where she stood. They watched in reverent silence as the resurrection happened.
Christina returned her gaze to the cave and heard a moaning, snarling noise come from inside and then saw the figure of the man in the sunlight lean down and reach for one of the women and then heard one of the women scream.
Christina could see now the man she thought was her resurrected savior had lunged at the woman and bit her. He tore flesh from her neck as he lashed out over and over with his teeth. The other woman stood to run but he grabbed her and began taking bites out of her as well.
To Christina's horror, she then saw the first woman rise from the ground, also snarling and moaning. Both women and the man began to shamble towards Christina. When the sunlight finally faded enough for her to make out actual features she could see the long haired fully bearded man did appear to resemble what she thought of as Jesus but his skin was decayed, his face sunk in, almost skeletal.
The two women shambled with him, their hands outstretched. Christina began backing up slowly as they approached, then she turned and ran towards the crowd.
As she approached the crowd she could hear random people in the crowd calling out to the would be resurrected savior and the two women.
"HE IS RISEN!"
"IT'S A MIRACLE!"
Christina tried to push through the crowd but it was as if they were trying to stop her from escaping.
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! HE'S NOT ALIVE! HE'S A MONSTER! YOU HAVE TO RUN!" Christina pleaded but no one listened as the zombified Jesus and two women drew within a few dozen feet. The crowd ran to them, dropping to their knees in front of them. Within seconds the three zombies were upon the crowd biting and tearing at their bodies. People screamed and then within seconds they too turned. Christina pushed as hard as she could and was slowly putting distance between her and the growing horde of biblical zombies through the crowd.
The screams began to fade slowly as she forced her way through the surging throng to be replaced by an ominous collection of moaning, growling, snarling walking dead. Christina pushed out from the crowd into an open area she and found she was in the middle of a desert. She looked behind her and the horde of hundreds of walking corpses all had their arms outstretched. They saw her and were coming.
Dark, heavy rain clouds suddenly covered the sky and the world around her grew dim. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder boomed as the clouds let go with torrential rainfall. She could hear the hungry horde's feet sliding through the mud over the growing storm, their growls and snarls growing louder and louder. Then she heard a voice.
"YA BETTER RUN CHRISSY! IT'S THE ZZZ-ECOND COMING! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Freddy laughed from seeming everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
The horde was twenty feet away and coming quickly. Christina tried to run but it was like her legs weighed a hundred pounds each, it took all her strength just to lift her feet and take a step. She knew she should be running, she was telling her brain to run, but her feet weren't listening. She was taking terribly slow steps yet her heart was racing as if she was moving as fast as she could. The sound of the horde was deafening now. She chanced a glance over her shoulder, saw the horde was on her. Hundreds of the undead surrounded her, grabbed her and pulled her to the ground, Christina screamed knowing her time was up, she prepared to be eaten alive.
And then the noise of the horde was gone. She didn't feel the weight of the undead holding her down. Heavy rain pelted her body and she opened her eyes and realized she was lying on hard pavement. She was no longer in the desert. The sky lit up with eerie streaks of lightning and she heard thunder crash resembling the roar of a giant monster as the wind howled. Her hands still ached and still slowly bled, large holes still in both of them. She pushed herself carefully to her feet trying not to put weight on the injured hands and looked around. She couldn't make out anything through the torrential rain except the dreadfully familiar house directly in front of her, its porch light flickering in the gloom. It was the house from old earth, the one she refused to enter, the evil house. It's windows were boarded shut, the paint peeling on it's face. The faded red door slowly creaked open.
Christina shook her head, "NO! I WON'T GO IN KRUEGER!"
"IS THAT SO?" Freddy's voice called from somewhere behind her. She then heard a sound rising through the heavy rain, wind and thunder. It came from the darkness behind her and to her sides. At first it sounded like a soft buzzing but then the unmistakable sound of the undead horde was back. They broke from the darkness to her sides and behind her as if from bursting from thin air, closing in fast.
"BETTER RUN CHRISSY! I RANG THE DINNER BELL! HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Freddy's voice rang out.
Christina ran for the door of the evil house.
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Talos slowly opened his eyes with a slight click, finding he was still functional. He wasn't sure what exactly had happened but he knew Candilynn was surely dead. He looked in the direction of her cryochamber and confirmed it to be true when he saw it was still filled with blood and gore.
The room was still awash in a dim red light. How long had he been down? He had to reset the system. He wasn't sure how much time was left before auxiliary power would not be able to power the cryochambers and the crew would be lost. He tried to stand but his legs still would not work. Luckily, his arms did.
"I also need to run a diagnostic on myself immediately," he said to himself. "I have to get to the lab."
Talos rolled onto his front and began pulling himself forward with his hands and arms. He looked like a man paralyzed from the waist down pulling himself across the floor.
He made his way towards the door and looked up at the scanner and lifted one hand up over it. The door beeped and whooshed open. He started to pull himself out of the room when he heard another vital alarm begin to go off.
He turned his head back towards the cryochambers and saw that Christina, the daughter of the Hawkins Salvage and Recovery company's boss was in distress, her chest was heaving as if fighting for breath.
Her arms hung at her sides and before Talos's astonished eyes he watched as large holes appeared in both her hands and blood began to ooze out. He turned his attention back to the hallway more determined than ever to get back on his feet again and return power to the ship.
He pulled himself down the corridor back to the lab and reached up to the scanner. There was a beep and the door opened for him.
AUXILLARY POWER MUST NOT BE TOO CLOSE TO DEPLETION THE DOORS ARE STILL WORKING, Talos thought to himself.
He pulled himself into the lab and made his way towards the large control panel and large table that stood beside it that held the model home. He reached up and took hold of the edge of the table's top and pulled himself up to where his face peered over the edge of the table.
He was shocked to see the model home now looked faded, worn, old. Instead of looking like the model of a home that was lived in it now had the appearance of a rundown derelict. It's windows were boarded up, paint peeled from the walls, and the front door was open.
That's when Talos' eyes fell upon something truly astonishing that he had trouble processing. Before his eyes he saw Christina. She was mere inches tall and she was looking over her shoulder as if staring straight at Talos with fear in her eyes. She screamed and then turned her head towards the model home and ran inside, the door of the model home slammed shut behind her.
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Christina stopped in her tracks as the evil house's front door slammed shut behind her, locking the undead horde out. She shivered with fear and exhaustion. She was inside the house that gave her such pause. She saw rickety wooden flooring and an old stairway going up to another floor. There were doors to her right and left that opened on to other rooms of the home and to the left of the stairs a small hallway.
Freddy's laughter rang out through the house. She heard a squeaking noise, something coming from the darkness. She held her breath, waiting, and saw a small contraption with three wheels roll out of the hallway in front of her. It was rusted and squeaked loudly. It rolled to a stop two feet in front of her. She backed away from it, sure it was another of Freddy's tricks. Her back touched the door and she felt it jolted by the horde's hammering fists beating against other side. She felt it giving way to their force.
In a panic she ran to the stairs and ran up them two steps at a time, tripping over the last step and falling to her face on the second floor landing. She placed her injured hands flat on the floor, trying to ignore the pain with determination. She lifted her head and saw two black boots step in front of her. She looked up, seeing dark pants and then a red and green striped sweater and finally Freddy's hideous face smiling down at her.
She scooted backwards against the door of a bedroom and it fell open behind her and she scrambled to her feet. Freddy's laugh echoed all around her. She spun in circles but could not find the slasher. Then the door to the room slammed shut and she heard footsteps coming from behind her. She spun around and there he stood, the gloved hand poised at his side. He glared at her, his dark humor gone.
Christina turned and reached for the door but it had vanished leaving a blank wall behind.
"Time's up Chrissy," Freddy growled behind her. "But thanks for the fun. I needed it. It's been a looooong time since I was able to let it all hang out like that!"
Christina turned to face Freddy, and closed her eyes as she reached and took hold of the golden crucifix she still wore around her neck. She began praying.
"Lord, give me your protection. Forgive me for my sins and put your protective forces around me."
Freddy paused and then began to shrink back from her as the house rumbled beneath their feet.
"Stop it! STOP IT!" Freddy growled.
"Please stop this evil," she continued. "Only your saving grace can cast a light over this darkness."
There was a loud cracking noise and she opened her eyes and looked up at the ceiling to see that it had broken open. A bright light shot down through the hole directly onto Freddy and he fell to his knees and then over onto his side, covering his burned face with his hands.
"Please...stop," Freddy croaked.
"Thank you, lord. Let your protection see me from this evil place," she begged. She heard a creaking behind her and turned to see the bedroom door was back and was wide open. Christina didn't hesitate. She let go of her crucifix and ran to the stairs and began running down them. As her right foot struck the floor at the bottom of the stairs her left foot became stuck in place.
She looked over and down and saw the bottom stair was no longer a stair. It was a thick, black liquid and her left foot was submerged in it and no matter how hard she pulled it would not come free. She looked back in front of her to see the front door of the house was wide open and on the outside was the cryochamber room. She saw herself asleep in a cryochamber. She reached and pulled with everything she had. She felt her foot start to pull free and she looked down and gave every last bit of energy she had in one final tug and watched her trapped foot break free from the step.
She pulled it next to her right foot and turned back to the door and ran for the opening. It slammed shut just as she reached the threshold. She pulled and pulled on the doorknob but to no avail. She beat her hands against it, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks, and then she felt hot breath in her ear and a cold gnarled hand holding the back of her neck.
Christina tried to push off the door but Freddy was too strong. She was held against the door, her left cheek pressed against it. She could see Freddy staring down at her out of the corner of her right eye.
"You didn't say AMEN! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cackled. He had been toying with Christina long enough, playtime was over.
Christina tried to reach for her crucifix but Freddy pushed against her harder. She felt his mouth against her ear as he licked it slightly. She felt his disgusting slimy saliva and she could feel his hot breath blow into her ear as he spoke low and deep.
"That's not gonna help you, little girl. I was just putting on a little show upstairs but foreplay is over, time for the climax"
Christina let out an audible gasp as she felt Freddy take hold of the chain that her crucifix was attached to and yank it so hard it snapped. He let it fall to the floor at her feet.
"You're god is dead, Chrissy. This," he said flourishing his glove next to her face. "THIS IS GOD!" he growled into her ear and he stepped back. She felt the pressure release her from the door but before she could move Freddy yelled.
"TESTIFY!" he barked and then a fiery pain erupted in her back and then a cold sensation ran through her chest as Freddy drove his bladed glove through her back and Christina looked down in horror at her chest where four bloody, dripping blades now protruded.
Christina tried to speak, to be defiant in death and tell the bastard to rot in hell but all that came out was an airy gurgle. Blood poured from her mouth as all strength left her and she fell to her knees. The last thing Christina heard before death took her to an empty void was a promise from her killer.
"I'll reunite you with your mother very soon," He said with a snarl.
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Talos didn't understand what he just saw. A tiny version of Christina stood on the table and ran into the now vastly different looking model home. Was his system completely damaged beyond repair? Was he really seeing the things he had been witnessing? He didn't have time to investigate more, could feel himself trying to shut down again. Talos turned to the large control panel to his right and held up his hand. His index finger opened at the tip and a small cable slithered out and snaked it's way to the control panel and connected.
Talos closed his eyes and began his diagnostic, saw raw data flash in the darkness and then a whirring noise from inside of him as he was returned to full power. He opened his eyes and finally was able to stand. He immediately sat down at the control panel and waived his hand over it. A screen appeared before him and Talos began going through the system to see exactly what had happened.
A surge had caused severe damage to the comms, auto-piloting systems, and the ship's energy cell. He did not have the equipment to fix the first two but he was capable of resetting the ship's power cell and he did it immediately. For less than a second the entire ship went black and then life returned to the Beowulf. The dim red light was replaced with the vibrant white light he was accustomed to on the ship.
Talos almost smiled at the small success but the knowledge of having no comms and a damaged auto-piloting system reminded him they were not out of the woods yet. He would need Warlock to override the Auto Piloting system manually when he awoke from Cryosleep in...Talos looked at the time. Sixteen hours had passed since the crew had gone into their four day hibernation. That left three days and eight hours until the auto-piloting system could be corrected by Warlock.
There would not be much time to spare either. Even five extra minutes could overshoot them past their warpspeed destination not to mention they would be flying blind after passing the intended moment of coming out of warp speed. They could collide with a planet, a moon, another ship or anything that might be in their path.
Of course first he had to figure out what happened to Candilynn and if it was an isolated incident. Not to mention the diary that had burned and the five plus artifact disappearing and witnessing his bosses daughter the size of a bug running into the model home. How would he explain it all to Donella when she awoke? Would she also suffer a fatality like Candilyn? Talos needed to process the events of the past sixteen hours.
Just then Talos was taken aback as he heard a liquid noise to his left. He looked back at the model home and saw a red substance filling up the inside and pouring out the cracks of the boarded windows and the door. It sounded like something was pouring into the model home from underneath. Talos looked under the table and saw there was nothing. He returned his gaze to the model home and saw the wood begin to crack and the windows break open and the red liquid that appeared to be blood oozed out of the openings. It seemed the house would burst apart from the pressure but before it could it erupted into flames.
Talos jumped to his feet as flames engulfed the only remaining artifact brought back from Earth-1. He lifted his hand again and his thumb opened at the tip and he pointed it at the model and a white gaseous substance sprayed out and covered the model home. As it cleared Talos could not believe what he was seeing.
The model home was gone. All that remained was a few tendrils of smoke rising off the table and then soon they disappeared as well.
Talos tried to think of rational explanations to explain what he had seen since the crew had gone into cryosleep but nothing made sense. He thought of the stories they had read on Frederick Charles Krueger but that was not rational, it was not reality, it was human delusions. It did not compute. Talos was pulled out of his thoughts by the vital sign alarm that had been going off being joined by the secondary emergency alarm of the same crewmate. He sprang to his feet and returned to the lab, remembering the injuries that had appeared on Christina's hand.
He walked fast through the corridor and stopped as the Cryochamber room door whooshed open. He immediately glanced at the control panel and made his way to it. Christina's heart rate alarm and blood pressure alarms were off the charts. He looked up and watched in fascinated curiosity as Christina began breathing hard, her chest heaving, and suddenly blood sprayed from her chest as four red holes appeared. Blood poured from the wounds and then blood poured from Christina's mouth as her body went limp and her alarms ceased to sound. Even if Talos took her immediately to nanolab it would be futile.
She was dead.
The cryo-sleep process didn't freeze crew members in a covered in ice frozen stiff kind of way. They were given an IV medication that would cool their bodies for a set amount of time depending on their dose and the crew had been given a four day dose this time.
Their chambers would bring their body temperatures back up when the IV medication wore off but tying to wake them sooner could kill them because their body temp would not be able to rise enough until the medication wore off.
Their chambers held them in a suspended animation and monitored their vitals for any problems. If it was non lethal or an adverse effect of the medication the chambers would react accordingly but bringing someone back from the dead was more than the technology could do.
Talos may have been an android but he had been with this crew his entire eleven months as an active evolving AI android. He had made friendships, learned loyalty. He felt the closest thing he could to sadness and concern with the events that had transpired since cryo-sleep had begun for the crew.
Talos wrestled with logic. He was not designed to believe in the boogeyman. But he had seen the diary burst into flames, the glove disappear before his eyes, the model bleed and burn, and two crew mates die horribly in their cryochamber. Still, there had to be a rational explanation. The cryo-chambers malfunctioning, holograms, he had a system virus and was having the android equivalent of hallucinations.
Talos quickly, processed through every possible explanation and still couldn't arrive at an answer that was logically sound. Every time something unexplainable happened he was not given ample time to process it. So far with each occurrence he was either distracted by another emergency or another impossible thing happening or he was having to repair himself or put out a fire or reset the power. However, he was sure he could figure it out if just given more time. There was no boogeyman after the crew of the Beowulf. He just hadn't come to the proper conclusion yet.
Five seconds later Talos revisited that thought and decided he would consider the boogeyman was real and he would find a way to stop it because now another crew member's vital alarm began sounding. Talos' eyes widened as he turned his head to see exactly which crew member was now in danger. He looked to Lubdan's cryo-chamber and was horrified to see his closest friend and creator's chest heaving as he began breathing hard. Talos felt himself feeling emotions he didn't know he was able to experience. He felt worry, hatred. A possible solution struck the android in that moment and Talos turned and moved swiftly to the lab with more motivation than he had ever had before.
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Chapter Eight
Interloper
Lubdan Gallagher awoke inside his cryo-chamber. The chamber finished warming his body temperature and his encasing hissed as it slid open. The young Irishman stepped out of his chamber and stretched his arms above his head yawning.
"Talos?" he called out, receiving no response.
He looked around the room and was mortified to see his entire crew still inside their cryo-chambers, but something was so wrong. Every crew mate's chamber had been opened sometime time earlier. Butch and Nero were very dead. Each face was covered in dried blood from their nose and the corners of their mouth. Their skin was very pale and each of their chests were broken open in the very middle as if something burst through their ribcage from the inside.
The rest of the crew were all breathing and their vital alarms were not sounding but where their face should be Lubdan instead saw some sort of creature wrapped around their faces. It looked as if its skin was completely burned. It had four appendages, two on each side that wrapped around each crewmate's head.
The appendages looked like metallic blades yet wrapped around as if made of a softer tissue. The creatures each had a tail as well and their tails were wrapped three times around each crew mate's neck.
Lubdan rushed to Donella's chamber and grabbed hold of the tail of the creature hugging her face and he tried to pull. As soon as he touched the tail it tightened even more around his boss' neck causing her heart rate alarm to beep loudly. Lubdan immediately let go.
"Saint's preserve us, I'm sorry sir," he said to Donella's unconscious body.
Lubdan scanned the rest of the room. The control panel in the center was destroyed. Sparks jetted out of it and the door that led to the corridor was smoking and a large hole had been seemingly melted into it. He called out for Talos again.
"Talos! Where are you, friend?"
Still no reply.
He was terrified about what may have happened to his close friend. Lubdan ran through the melted door and headed down the corridor to the Nano-Med Lab and found its door was also slightly smoking and a large round hole had been melted in it as well.
He ran inside and saw the lab was in disarray. He glanced to his right and saw Talos laying on the deck next to the main control panel and access screen. He had ran wires out of his index finger into the control panel and appeared to be running a diagnostic on himself. Talos' right leg was missing from above the knee down and sparks shot from it.
"Talos!" Lubdan called out and ran to his friend's side, pulled him up, sat him at one of the two seats at the control panel. "Are you ok?"
"Diagnostic complete, repairing seventeen errors," Talos-16 replied. There were a few audible clicks and Talos' head jerked twice and his eyes closed and opened rapidly followed by a loud beep and the cables running from Talos' finger disconnected from the control panel and returned back into to his finger as the tip of his finger closed.
"Hello Lubdan, I am fine but will require a repair on my right leg. I am glad to see you are okay. When those creatures began attaching to the crew one tried to attach to me but I assume it realized I was not human and went for you. I stunned it and it withered and melted. It was a very strange thing to observe, but I could not stop the rest of them from attaching to the crew. I am sorry, I failed them."
"No ,Talos! You saved me! We can work together to save them!" Lubdan said optimistically.
"I am sorry, Lubdan," Talos said. "I have tried to remove the creatures but failed. An alien creature has attached itself to them and is gestating in their chests. Their vitals are still very much in healthy ranges, but when I try to remove the creature it tightens its hold and causes their vitals to spike. I was researching what they were and how I may be able to remove them when I was attacked by a larger creature. I was able to give it an electronic shock and it ran off. I believe what I fought off was what came from and killed Butch and Nero. These creatures have an acidic spray of some kind. I ascertained they used it to escape the cryo-chamber room and to gain entry to the lab here and also to destroy my leg. If we do not find a way to remove the creatures soon then the rest of the crew will suffer similar fates. We will need a way to defend ourselves. There are two alien creatures that came from Nero and Butch and I believe they have grown rapidly since I fought one off."
"There are plasma rifles in the Cargo Bay," Lubdan said, a new found courage building in his gut. "I can go get them but let's take care of that leg first!"
Lubdan glanced at the nano-beds and saw they were all destroyed, their control panels sparking and smoking. "I assume all our work on Gallagher Sphere 2.0 is toast?"
"Yes, Lubdan," Talos answered. "I am sorry."
"It's okay, looks like we got lucky!" Lubdan said as he walked to the counter on the far left side of the lab and retrieved a small leather pouch that had been left there by Varissa before the crew went into cryo-sleep. Lubdan opened it and retrieved the Gallagher Sphere 1.0 he had given her before their trip to Earth-1.
Lubdan returned to Talos and held the sphere to where the Android's knee hinge once was and concentrated, the sphere turned into a bright silver knee, lower leg, and foot and attached itself to the android.
"There! Just like new, old friend," Lubdan said with a smile.
"Thank you," Talos said. "I will communicate with you through your neural implant's comm as I keep an eye on the Beowulf's security systems. Please be careful, friend."
"I will, Talos. I'm so glad you are okay!" Lubdan replied as he embraced his android in a tight hug and then headed for the door.
Lubdan walked down the corridor towards the lift. He passed the cryo-chamber room and saw his crewmates still had the creatures around their faces.
Lubdan prayed he would be able to help save them before anyone else suffered the same fate as Nero and Butch. He also prayed he got to a gun before one of the creatures got to him.
Lubdan scanned his hand at the lift and the doors slowly opened. He entered and selected his floor to access the cargo bay.
"How's it look, friend?" Lubdan asked.
"I am picking up one of the creatures in the sleeping quarters. I am not seeing the other one. I will continue to scan," Talos answered through Lubdan's neural implant comm.
"Aye, Talos. Thank ya."
Everything went dark as the lift started moving and the red auxiliary power light came on. It flashed red and then green in a slow pattern. Lubdan wasn't sure what the green light meant.
"Talos? What's going on?" Lubdan asked concerned.
"Something has depleted main power," Talos replied. "We are on auxiliary at the moment. I will see if I can divert power from—
Talos trailed off into silence. A second passed and then the android asked, "Lubdan, are you alone in the lift?"
"Uh, yes why?" Lubdan asked.
"Sensors state one of the creatures is in the room with you."
"Must be a glitch from power loss, friend. I am definitely all by myse—
Lubdan's eyes grew large as he heard a sizzling noise and saw a whiff of smoke coming from the floor to his left in the dim red and green light.
He glanced slowly up from the floor to the ceiling and saw a small hole sizzling above him. Before he had time to react the ceiling of the lift broke open and a large slimy hand and arm covered with burns shot through the hole, its fingertips razor sharp knives. It grabbed him by the bicep, the blade like claws slicing into Lubdan's upper arm. Pain radiated through his body and warm blood began to ooze from the wound.
Lubdan jerked his arm free before the creature had a full grasp on him and stumbled away. The lift was opening. He sprang through the widening gap in the sliding door and scanned his hand on the control panel outside to close it.
He watched in fascinated horror as a large alien creature dropped from the ceiling and landed in the lift facing him. The creature stood about two meters tall with a long, strong looking tail and four razor sharp claws protruding from each of its two hands. Its head was elongated, its teeth sharp.
The skin of the creature was like the smaller ones, covered in wet burns as if it had once had human skin that was seared off in an extreme fire. Lubdan's thoughts went to Freddy Krueger, the fire, what that diary had said he looked like in dreams. But, he didn't have time to figure it out right now. He needed a gun.
The lift door closed before the creature could escape and it began beating against the door. Lubdan ran to the cargo bay entrance and was stopped in his tracks when he saw the cargo bay door was also wide open as it also had a giant hole seemingly melted into it. The red and green flashing dim lights were disorienting, but Lubdan knew what he was looking for. He ran into the Cargo bay and headed right to where Nero kept a selection of firearms.
As Lubdan ran he almost slipped and fell. He stopped and glanced down and saw what appeared to be nine or more red and green striped eggs that seemed to have split open at some point. They were open on top and folded over on the sides like someone peeling a banana. They were covered in slime. Lubdan stared in shock and amazement. What the hell had happened while they were in cryo-sleep? How in the bloody fuck did alien eggs get aboard the Beowulf?
Lubdan took too long contemplating an explanation. Before he could snap out of his reverie the alien creature from the lift had him. It grabbed him by his arms, lifting him over its head with a monstrous screech, and threw him across the room.
Lubdan collided with the wall that held the Plasma Rifles. It felt like every bone in his body was hit with a sledgehammer as he struck the wall and fell to the floor. He sat up and backed against the wall, wincing, trying to catch his breath.
He was filled with a new dread as he heard a rapid clicking noise on the floor coming towards him. Lubdan looked and saw the alien creature running at full speed right towards him through the dim red and green light.
Lubdan looked around taking inventory of his surroundings and saw a plasma rifle to his right that had been knocked off the wall when he struck it. It was mere inches outside his reach. He stretched and let his body move just a bit and his hand wrapped around the stock of the gun right as the alien creature leapt into the air. It was coming down straight towards Lubdan, it's razor claws poised for the killing blow.
Lubdan raised the gun in front of him, pointed up, and pulled the trigger.
The alien was struck before it could land it's hit. It flew backwards across the room and landed, unmoving. Tendrils of smoke rose from where the alien landed and an alarm began to sound throughout the Beowulf.
Lubdan recognized it. It was an alarm all crewmates hoped to never hear, a sound only heard when the hull had been compromised. The alien's fucking blood was acidic and was eating through the ship.
"Holy Jesus, Mary, and fucking Joseph!" Lubdan yelled. He sprang to his feet with a new sense of purpose and ran for the lift.
Luckily, the alien had not used its acid attack to eat through the lift door and had somehow opened it instead.
Lubdan ran into the lift and scanned his hand to take him to the corridor housing the nano-lab and the shuttle. He would try one more time to save the crew. But, if he failed, he and Talos would have to leave regardless or stay behind and die as well.
"Talos, I'm coming up. Please prep the shuttle!" Lubdan begged.
He got no response. "Talos?" Lubdan asked again. Still all he heard back was silence.
The alarm blared loudly as the dim red and green light continued to flash. The lift opened and Lubdan ran for the nano-lab.
His heart sank as he passed the Cryo-Chamber room and saw every single crew mate's face was visible again with fresh blood trickling from their noses and their mouths. He watched in horror as all their chests began to pulsate at the same time as something horrible tried to get out.
"I'm too bloody late!" he cried. "Goddamnit, I'm too fucking late!"
Lubdan ran into the lab and fell to his knees at what he saw. Talos was in several pieces, smoke rising off his severed limbs and headless torso, as sparks shot from all the pieces of his beloved android that lay on the lab floor before him.
Tears began to fall down Lubdan's cheeks as he crawled to where Talos' head lay. He picked it up and saw Talos was completely shut down. Lubdan held his forehead to the forehead of his friend and more.
He kissed the inactive android's forehead and sat the head down, wiping the tears from his eyes. He stood back up, holding the rifle at the ready, and ran for the corridor and towards the shuttle bay.
He heard a chorus of shrieks behind him. Lubdan looked back and saw several of the alien creatures. Somehow they had already burst from the crewmates and grown as big as the one he had killed in the Cargo bay and they were running right at him. He turned and fired his Plasma rifle. One fell dead but the rest were still coming. He had no time.
Lubdan ran to the shuttle bay door and scanned his hand. There was a loud beep and an error message flashed across the panel.
"OH, FOR FUCK'S SAKE! AUXILLARY POWER SHOULDN'T MATTER! OPEN, YOU PISSANT FUCKING SYSTEM!"
He scanned his hand again, slower this time, and it beeped successfully and the shuttle bay door opened. He ran inside and the door closed just as the group of creatures were mere feet away. He could hear them colliding with the door on the other side. He ran through the accordion hallway, opened the shuttle's door, and ran inside. He sprinted to the control panel, began prepping the shuttle for Auto-Escape Pod Mode. Without Warlock it was his only choice.
He heard heavy breathing in his ear, felt hot breath on the back of his neck, as the engines fired. He turned around and found himself face to face with one of the creatures. It snarled and opened its mouth. A much smaller mouth like an inner jaw came out and snapped at him, an inch from his nose.
He jumped back, hands raised to ward off the next attack, and then froze. The creature was making a strange noise that seemed completely insane coming from such a freak of nature. It was a low guttural laugh.
It began to shimmer and morph and within seconds the alien creature was gone and in its place stood a man in boots, dark pants, a red and green sweater, and a black hat. He was covered in burns just like the alien creatures and on one hand he wore something Lubdan was very familiar with. It was the exact same bladed glove they had analyzed before their cryo-sleep.
Lubdan knew in that moment that he was actually still very much in that cryo-sleep. He was dreaming and Freddy Krueger was here. Everything they read was true and if he died now he died for real. But where could he go? Sorrow and defeat spread across Lubdan's face and Freddy smiled.
"Yes! YES! It's all coming together isn't it, lover boy?" Freddy crooned. "I gotta say, you people in the future took sex dolls to a whole new level!"
"It's not like that, ya arsehole!" Lubdan said defiantly. "Do your worst, Frederick! Ya don't scare me!"
"I think I'll make it nice and slow just for you calling me that fucking name!" Freddy growled, lifting his bladed gloved hand above his head. He was just about to bring the blades down on Lubdan when the shuttle door opened with a whoosh behind him.
"Hey, Ballsack Head!"
"What the Fuck?!" Freddy said, perplexed as he turned to face the real Talos-16.
"That's right, I'm not one of your deceptive illusions. Now leave my friend alone!" Talos barked at Freddy in his android voice.
"HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET HERE, ROBO BOY?" Freddy growled. "Oh, well, now you can watch me kill your little boyf—
Talos grabbed Freddy by the neck before he could finish his threat, turned around, and threw him down the corridor with astonishing strength and speed. Freddy slammed into the inner airlock door on the opposite end of the corridor and fell to a crumpled heap on the floor.
Talos turned to Lubdan and handed him a small bracelet that had a timer on the face, the numbers counting down. It currently read fifty two hours twenty four minutes and sixteen seconds.
"This is how much time until you come out of cryo-sleep, friend. You have to keep moving, you have to run. He can change the world around you and he will come for you again I may not be able to come back again after I leave but I will hold him off for you as long as I can." Talos noticed the injury on Lubdan's arm, reached out and touched it gently, then looked into Lubdans eyes with concern. "Fly the shuttle away. Once you are far enough away I suspect the dream landscape will change. At least I hypothesize it will. Do not stop, keep running, and do not look back. Do not try to fight him. He's already killed Candilynn and Christina. Stay safe, my friend and I shall see you in two days."
"Oh, saints preserve us, the poor girls. But I don't understand… Talos, you're...you're alive," Lubdan said with a smile of wonder on his face. "I saw you torn to pieces."
"That was not me. That was a deception by Freddy Krueger. I did not believe it logical that he could be real but I was incorrect. I saw you were in distress and, though it took me longer than I'd hoped, I used the neural implant tech to upload my program into your consciousness." Talos explained
"Thank you, Talos. You are a true friend, but one question...'Ballsack head?'" Lubdan asked with a grin.
"I needed to get his attention and desired to insult him and his burned epidermis does resemble the human scrotum," Talos responded as a look of humorous pride showed on Lubdan's face. "There will be time to talk at a later time my friend. I will try to visit all the crew to give them the countdown device as well. I will also continue to monitor you all from the Beowulf."
Talos paused when he heard Freddy getting up somewhere behind him. "Go friend, survive and I will see you soon."
Talos reached out, putting his hand over the scanner and the door whooshed shut.
"No! WAIT!" Lubdan yelled as he looked through a small window on the shuttle door. He saw Freddy running towards Talos.
Talos turned to face the dream demon and threw a punch as soon as Freddy was close enough but Freddy proved too fast. His claws came down on the android's hand, but instead of sparks Lubdan saw blood shooting from the stump where his android's right hand had been seconds before.
Talos shrieked in pain realizing, in the dreamscape he was no longer an android. He knew Lubdan would be concerned for him. Talos turned to Lubdan, "I will be okay. Trust me and run, friend."
Lubdan did as his friend asked him. He activated the escape pod mode, wincing at the pain in his still bleeding arm, and the shuttle took off into deep space within the dreamscape.
He put the countdown bracelet around his wrist. It now read fifty one hours fifty minutes and twenty two seconds. He guessed time moved differently in the dream. It had felt like no more than a couple minutes had passed since Talos handed him the bracelet but the countdown showed over thirty minutes had passed. He had a little over two days to try to survive, but he knew now with Freddy Krueger on his heels the odds were stacked against him.
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Back on the dreamscape Beowulf, Talos turned back to face Freddy.
"You know I'm going to catch him, don't you? They're all going to die, and I'll make your little boyfriend suffer most!" Freddy snarled. "I'll make sure you get a show back on your ship when he dies in his tube."
"You talk too much," Talos said as he swung out with his left hand but again Freddy deflected it, this time by completely disappearing.
Talos looked to his left and right to try to see where Freddy had went and then for the first time since his creation he felt real pain, first when his hand was lopped up and now as Freddy appeared behind him tapped him on his shoulder and then drove his blades through Talos' lower back and moved them around. Freddy controlled everything in the dreamscape and he had chosen to make his uninvited interloper know what it was like to be human, to feel pain and to die.
Talos fell to his knees, blood bubbling from his mouth, and Freddy yanked his blades from his lower back and walked around to stand smiling above Talos.
"I won't let ya come back, Johnny-5. I hope your trip was worth it. Because now I think it's time I turned the heat up a bit BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Freddy laughed as he grabbed the back of Talos' neck with his ungloved hand and reared back his bladed gloved hand and drove it forward through Talos' eyes.
Talos screamed out in pain as he felt intense burning and then cold steel pierce his dreamscape human brain. Then he saw darkness and felt nothing as Freddy pulled his blades free and Talos fell dead at Freddy's feet.
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Talos' eyes snapped open at the control panel in the Nano-Med Lab. He was out of the dreamscape and back in the actual Beowulf Nano-Med Lab. There were no destroyed beds and the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 was still there at the control panel of Nano Bed #1. He still had both his actual legs and the pouch holding Gallagher Sphere 1.0 was still on the counter on the far left of the lab where Dr. DeGennaro had placed it before heading off to be put in cryo-sleep.
Talos felt immense relief. It was not a nice feeling finding out what pain and death felt like, but it was an interesting experience. However, he was glad to be back in the real world.
Talos retracted the cords from the control panel he used to access Lubdan Gallagher's neural implant to enter his consciousness and access his friend's sleeping and dreaming mind. The cords retracted into the tip of his index finger.
He may have been cast out by Freddy but not before he gave his friend a fighting chance and a means of knowing how much time he had left to keep running. He hoped the time he had bought Lubdan was enough to give him an edge going forward.
The idea had struck him when he had seen Lubdan's vitals hitting critical levels in the Cryo-Chamber room earlier. Talos had felt something he didn't know he could feel until that moment. He felt panic, anger, fear and sadness. It drove him to concentrate like never before and he had looked at his friend in the cryo-chamber and by chance his eyes had fallen on the jack that connected to Lubdan's neural implant.
Talos had rushed to the nano-med lab and connected to the Beowulf's system and had spent hours creating a program that let him connect his AI interface to the neural jack monitoring system of the crew and it had worked. Shortly after Lubdan's Emergency Level Alarm joined the first alarm Talos had implemented the program in the nick of time.
But now the screen in front of him was blank, the program data that was there before was now gone, replaced by the image of a giant middle finger surrounded by the words, "GET FUCKED, ROBO BITCH!"
Talos tried to re-access the program, but every attempt was met with the program resetting and giving a message of corrupt program data.
Talos would have to build a new program if he wanted to reach the other crew members and give them a way to keep track of how much time they had left as well.
Another thought hit Talos. What had Freddy meant by 'I THINK IT'S TIME I TURN THE HEAT UP A BIT!"
Talos felt a sense as close to dread as he was capable of feeling and he tried to process an answer to what Freddy had meant. At that moment the answer came to him, not from inside his own systems or by process of elimination, but in the form of three crew mate's vital alarms beginning to sound from the Cryo-Chamber Room.
Talos moved swiftly to investigate. As he entered he immediately saw that Butch, Nyquilio, and Donella were all three showing signs of distress. If Talos didn't think of something soon he knew he would be hearing their vital alarms being joined by their emergency level alarms and then death would shortly follow.
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Chapter Nine
One Way Ticket
The last thing Varissa remembered was running from the diner. Now she found herself standing on a street facing a house while a storm pounded the earth with hammering rain. Lightning struck across the sky and thunder roared.
An old earth mail-box was inches from where she stood. There were faded numbers on its side that were hard to read in the rainy gloom followed by the words Elm Street and "The Johnsons" was written in black letters underneath.
She heard a loud creak over the storm and glanced at the house and saw the door slowly open. Alice stood on the threshold of the door motioning her forward.
Varissa took a deep breath to calm her nerves and walked up the small concrete path that led from the road to the front door of the home. She stepped through and looked around at the beautiful fully furnished twentieth century living room. A light came on in a quaint dining room to her left.
Alice was nowhere to be seen now. Hesitantly, Varissa walked to the dining room and ran her fingers on the top of a solid oak kitchen table, her fingers sliding over a small stack of papers and envelopes. She lifted them and saw the envelopes were either addressed to Alice Johnson or Dennis Johnson. She flipped through the stack and came upon three one way trip plane tickets to Florence, Italy. The first one was for Alice Johnson, the second ticket was for Dennis Johnson and the third was for Jacob Jordan. The tickets being for Italy made something stir in Varissa's mind.
A small lamp on a glass top end table next to a couch lit up by itself, bathing the living room in a soft glow. Varissa laid the envelopes and plane tickets back on the table and slowly walked to the end table. A framed picture of Alice and a handsome man with a similar olive complexion to Varissa sat on the table.
She lifted the picture to take a better look. The couple were dressed in wedding attire. The two were in an embrace, their arms wrapped around each other and were kissing.
Varissa heard a rustling to her side and glanced over. From her studies of Earth-1 she knew the item she was seeing was a newspaper. It was open on a coffee table that sat in front of the couch.
She turned, picked up the newspaper, and held it up in front of her eyes to read.
It was an engagement announcement dated July 1992 written in Italian. Due to her heritage and studies of old earth she was able to speak and read Italian and several other old and still used languages.
The paper read Alessandro Dante DeGenarro and Alice Elizabeth Johnson announce their engagement. Varissa's heart skipped a beat as her eyes fell on Alessandro's last name. Surely, it couldn't be a coincidence. How common was the name? She was going to keep reading but was interrupted by a voice behind her.
"It took me a long time to move on after Dan," Alice said.
Varissa turned to see Alice staring at her from the living room doorway.
"He was my high school love and much more," Alice continued. "He was also the biological father of my son, Jacob. We had a bond most other teenagers didn't have. We had both fought and survived Freddy Krueger. But I lost Dan when Freddy came back to finish the job. I decided to move my father and son to Italy with me to escape all the pain and memories of Springwood. The distance helped me heal and I met a wonderful man a couple years later. He was smart, funny, and he treated my son and I so well. His name was Alessandro DeGenarro and we were married for the rest of our lives. We had one more child, a girl named Lisa. Jacob loved Alessandro and Alessandro adored Jacob. He officially adopted him and Jacob took his surname. Lisa didn't have any children of her own but Jacob had four and his four collectively had eight and the DeGenarro name continued even after Earth-1 was evacuated."
"You mean?" Varissa asked.
"Yes, we are connected by blood," Alice answered.
"The odds though! How is this even possible?" Varissa said, perplexed.
"Fate, destiny. I have asked myself so many times why certain things happened to me but there is never a good enough answer. They just happen and they make us who we are. Your familial connection to me is how I was able to try to warn you about Freddy, about the danger ahead. My powers get weaker the more time that passes but I projected everything I had. I tried to fully enter your dream, to tell you and your crew to turn away before it was too late. I knew Freddy had his sights on you all and he was finally powerful enough to set his trap successfully. But he somehow intervened, twisted my warning to you and you ended up in a nightmare chased by the red and green snakes. I am sorry, Varissa. I'm sorry I wasn't able to warn you before it was too late."
Varissa was speechless for a moment, overwhelmed by her raging emotions. She cleared her throat, found her voice, "You tried, that's all that matters. But the fact is, he is back. I don't know how long I have been asleep but my crewmates and I are supposed to be in our sleep chambers for four days! That's a long time when a supernatural killer is after us. We're sitting ducks! Are my friends okay?"
"I'm sorry, Varissa, but yes he is coming after all of you. Sadly, even though he hasn't made an actual attack on you yet, he has already claimed two of your friends and another one of your friends barely escaped him. for now. He won't stop until you are all dead," Alice answered solemnly.
"Oh, god, he killed two of my friends? WHO?!" Varissa asked, dreading the answer.
"I'm sorry, I don't know," Alice said. "I can just feel that two of your friends that entered Freddy's dreamscape have been claimed by him. You are my priority. You may be the only chance your world has at defeating him. I have been keeping my eye on you and waiting for my chance to fill you in on how to stop him but he has been hot on your heels. He has been toying with you so far, but you can be sure he plans to strike."
"I don't understand why this is happening to us! How do I stop him? How can I help my friends? How long have we been here? How long have we been asleep?" Varissa asked, trying to sound calmer than she felt.
"Time flows differently in this dreamscape, Varissa. I can't tell you how long you have been asleep. By now it could have been three days or three hours. Running will not work in the end and the best thing you can do until you wake is for you and your friends to take the fight to Freddy. You can't wait for him to come for you. By then it could be too late," Alice said.
"How am I supposed to be able to fight a supernatural dream demon?" Varissa questioned.
"I have existed in the dreamscape for centuries, waiting for the day Freddy returned to power," Alice explained. "I've always stayed one step ahead of him. I died a long time ago but my spirit has been a watcher here...a guardian in his dreamscape. I still have some power and I could have passed it on to anyone if given the chance but it won't meet it's full potential until I pass it on to a living heir.
"Freddy came for me and my friends twice while I was alive. The first time I learned of dream powers, what I was capable of here in this reality and what others had been capable of before me. A girl named Kristen joined together with a group of her friends and fought Freddy, tapping into individual powers. They were the Dream Warriors and they defeated Freddy for a time. But he's like a roach, Varissa. Somehow he always survives to kill again. Kristen was a wielder of the dream warrior power and in her dying moments passed the ability to harness that power onto me and I became a dream master. I was able to use the dream powers but even then Freddy was still able to kill several of my close friends and even my brother but I learned to harness the dream powers of my fallen friends. They are powers that you can harness Varissa, powers that you must harness if you are to save yourself or your friends. If you harness the powers you will be able to pull your friends into your dream and then you can fight him together. Remember, Freddy may have unlimited power in his dreamscape but SO DO YOU! You can be whatever you want in your dreams. Listen, Freddy is going to pick you and your friends off one by one unless you unite and stand against him."
Alice paused, glanced around them nervously, "There's so much I need to tell you and we don't have much time. He knows I've been trying to reach you."
"I...I...why is he doing this? My friends have nothing to do with what happened to him," Varissa interjected.
"It doesn't matter. Freddy is eternal and eternally evil. It stopped being about revenge a long time ago for him. I hoped he would just sit on earth forever in his limbo and pout. He tried many times to trick others like you and your friends into falling for his trap, to help him escape isolation but he was never powerful enough or close enough to pull it off. I fear my presence in this dreamscape and my connection to you may have been the boost he needed to pull off his escape plan. But, the why and what's don't matter anymore. It's time to listen Varissa. I am going to pass on to you something that—
Alice was cut off by a warbling noise that reverberated through the walls and floor the women stood on. Large cracks appeared along the ceiling and walls around them, opening like yawning, hungry mouths. The ceiling above them broke open and flew away and the walls around them crumbled to dust leaving them standing in a dim, hot boiler room. Alice and Varissa stood back to back spinning in circles, trying to look everywhere at once.
"HE'S HERE!" Alice shouted.
"YA DON'T SAY, OLD FRIEND!" Freddy snorted.
They looked up and saw Freddy jumping from a platform above them. He landed nimble as a cat five feet in front of them. They all stood on a metal grated floor. Rows of pipes ran along their sides and behind Freddy a hot furnace burned, the fire inside casting and eerie light in the dank dark boiler room.
"Why didn't you invite me to the family reunion, Alice?" Freddy laughed. "Oh well, I knew this one was special when I saw you were trying to get her attention. It was too easy to let you do all the work and lead me to her. I just sat back and waited for my moment and now you've given it to me. Two bitches with one stone!"
"GO TO HELL, KRUEGER! IT'S TOO LATE! YOU WAITED TOO LONG! SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING NOW!" Alice shouted defiantly back at Freddy.
"Ohhh...I'm shaking in my boots, bitch. Nah, Hell wasn't my style! I think I'll stay right here! Your little descendent and her friends have given me a new lease on life and now that they have pulled up all my information on their ship it will all be part of the record! The name Freddy Krueger will strike fear again. I will get back to doing what I do best and I'll have a whole new planet with a lot of new Elm Streets to visit!" He growled.
"One problem, Krueger!" Alice snapped back.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" He asked sarcastically.
"We won't let you live long enough to hurt anyone else!" Alice said with fire in her eyes.
Alice knew the biggest mistake she could make was giving Freddy time to talk and distract. She didn't wait. She jumped into the air inhumanly high and flew down at Freddy with her leg extended. She connected with his chest, knocking him down.
Varissa was awestruck at what she was witnessing. Alice ran to Krueger's side and reached to pick him up but Freddy was faster. He lashed out with his glove and sliced her across her forearm. He sprang to his feet effortlessly and grabbed hold of Alice. Varissa ran to assist and tried to get Freddy in a headlock but Freddy knew she was there and backhanded Varissa knocking her to the ground. Her nose began dripping blood. She wiped it away as she slowly got back to her feet, silently rooting for Alice to defeat the child killer.
Freddy grabbed Alice by the back of the head and began trying to move her towards the furnace. Alice threw her feet out in front of her and pushed off the front of the furnace knocking Freddy to the ground and landing on top of him. She threw her elbow backwards connecting with Freddy's face and Alice copied Freddy's earlier move and with the grace of a cat she sprang to her feet.
Alice threw her hands out towards Freddy's prone form and lightning bolts shot forth, striking Freddy and sending him sliding several feet along the floor on his back. He began to pull himself up and Alice reached back into her past and thought of her brother. Alice harnessed his martial arts prowess and jumped and spun connecting with a roundhouse kick slamming Freddy back against the open furnace door.
Freddy swung his gloved hand at Alice and she side stepped his attack, gripped his wrist in both her hands, and flipped him onto his back using his own momentum. Alice lifted her leg and brought her foot down hard onto Freddy's head. Varissa smiled and let out a cheer of "YES!"
Freddy held his face and Alice didn't hesitate. She picked Freddy up off the ground and with a strength that shocked Varissa, Alice held him over her head and threw him against the row of pipes on their right side.
Freddy hit the pipes so hard it broke a large one and steam hissed out spraying Freddy in his face. He covered his face with his hands and howled in pain. He staggered back in front of the women, his back inches from the open furnace. Alice saw her shot, a chance to end this here and now or at the very least give Varissa more time to receive the powers and learn how to use them. Alice backed up, leapt back into the air and extended her leg to kick Freddy again, intent on knocking the dream demon into the open furnace.
As Varissa watched, her look of wonder at Alice's ability was suddenly replaced with one of abject terror as she saw what was going to happen. Varissa looked at Freddy as Alice began her descent to connect with another kick. Time seemed to slow down. She saw Freddy lower his hand away from his face, his scowl of pain from the hot steam gone, replaced by an insidious grin. She felt like she was going to be sick as Freddy locked eyes with her and winked. He then returned his focus to Alice and before her foot could connect with his chest Freddy reached out with both hands grabbing Alice by the ankle. He gripped her ankle tight and spun to the side using her own momentum against her, letting go of her ankle as he guided her directly into the furnace.
"FEELING A LITTLE DÉJÀ VU, ALICE?!" Freddy cackled looking into the furnace. He turned to Varissa, "Well that argument got a little heated, huh?"
"NO! ALICE!" Varissa screamed wanting to run to the furnace but fearing the undead dream killer that stood in her way. She had no choice but to watch as Alice's soul burned in the furnace before her.
"Tsk Tsk Tsk, Varissa. You mean girls gossiping behind my back, that's just rude. But hey, now anything you wanna say you can say it to my f-" Freddy began but before he could finish his sentence Alice's burning being sprang from the opening of the furnace and reached out towards Varissa.
A round orb of bright white energy shot from Alice's hand and flew through the boiler room casting the room in such a bright light that Freddy had to lift his arms in front of his face to block the blinding light. The orb struck Varissa in the chest and a white energy ran an outline around her body and then seemed to pull itself under her skin.
Behind Krueger, Alice's burning soul began to rapidly decay like a rotting corpse but in her last effort to assist her descendant she reached out her burning decaying hand and grabbed hold of Freddy's shoulder, pulling him towards the opening of the furnace. Varissa didn't know how she knew but in that moment she knew what to do.
Freddy had actual fear etched across his burnt face as he felt himself pulled backwards towards the furnace. He saw Varissa standing confident a few feet in front him, her eyes turning a solid white. She lifted her hands in front of her, pulled them back and in a swift movement thrust them forward and a bright white stream of light burst from her hands and hit Krueger square in his chest at the same time Alice's soul crumbled to ash in the fire. Krueger swayed backwards, his body threatening to fall in the fire. He jerked his head towards Varissa, his yellow blood shot eyes staring a hole of hate into her soul, the white energy pouring into him.
"I'VE GOT A PLAY DATE WITH YOUR FRIENDS! YOU'RE GONNA PAY! THIS ISN'T OVER!" Freddy growled and he disappeared before Varissa was able to use her newfound dream powers to fully push him backwards into the furnace.
The white stream of light disappeared and she collapsed to one knee, suddenly exhausted. The furnace's fire went out.
"What...the...hell just happened," she asked the empty room as she breathed hard, trying to regain her energy.
Alice's words echoed in her mind. If she harnessed the dream powers she could bring her friends to her and they could take the fight to Freddy.
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Talos stood at the control panel in the Cryo-Chamber room in deep thought. The primary vital alarms were still sounding for Donella, Nyqyilio, and Butch and had been for a very long time. How long exactly Talos couldn't be sure. He had been otherwise distracted, hard at work trying to find a way to assist the crew. Luckily so far their vital alarms had not escalated to the point of being joined by the Emergency Level alarms.
He needed to help them at all costs but Krueger had somehow destroyed his program that allowed his AI system to interface with the neural implant of a crewmate. But there had to be some other way in, something he could use to bypass whatever it was Krueger had done to keep him out.
Talos waived his hand over the control panel and a screen appeared. He opened his index finger again and a cord snaked out and connected to the panel and data began scrolling on the screen.
He tried something new but was greeted by a flashing red and green screen with the words 'FUCK OFF R2' appearing on the screen.
"I don't know what that means," Talos said aloud as he began another attempt at using a backdoor channel to sneak back into the neural implant system of his crew mates. But before he could execute his idea the Emergency Level Vital Alarms for Donella, Nyquilio, and Butch all started blaring at the same time.
"Oh, what in the actual fuck!?" Talos blurted out loud, surprising even himself.
Talos-16 turned his attention back to his screen and with unrivaled determination went back to work. Although now a new plan was growing in the android's mind. He would not only find a way to interface with the neural implant system again but he would find a way to clone and upload his own programming into the sub-consciousness of the entire crew all at once so he could give them assistance and save all their lives. And time was of the essence because Talos-16 now understood and was fully aware that Freddy was indeed turning up the heat.
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Chapter Ten
BlitzKrueger
Butch walked through the doors of the Space Bunnies Gentleman's Club. He looked around the dark club, heard loud music with heavy bass, saw strobing lights, and a large stage. A woman was dancing upside down on a pole, her legs wrapped around it while several men around the stage threw money at her or pointed their cred-scanners and tipped her account automatically by instant transfer from their own. The club was packed. He looked around the large room and saw every chair was taken. Topless women served drinks and danced at tables. A long bar was erected to his right and a clean cut man stood behind it cleaning a glass. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties with blondish hair and a big nose. He was around six foot tall and wore a nice suit that seemed to shine, the red and green motif making it seem out of place. He looked at Butch and winked. Butch couldn't remember going there and felt he needed to be somewhere else but couldn't give it further thought as a voice cut through the loud music.
"Oh Butchy, where ya been? Ya like leaving a girl hanging?" said a voice to his right and he felt an arm wrap around his. He looked to see a slender topless human female, wearing nothing but a candy apple red g-string, red high heels, and glitter, her purple hair at shoulder length and double d's on full display. Butch judged by what she displayed currently that she must be very cold.
Another topless beauty came up to Butch's left side and took his arm in hers. She was dressed about the same as the first but wore a bright pink g-string and pink high heels and her hair was green. Butch ascertained she was very cold as well. "Yeah, Butchie, we were beginning to think you didn't like us anymore!"
"Wait, no, I'm supposed to be doing something, I'm not supposed to be here…..I'm supposed to be on the…." Butch was saying as he struggled with his thoughts but his mind was cloudy and he couldn't quite remember what he was supposed to be doing but he knew it wasn't visiting a strip club.
"Ladies! Ladies! Ya didn't tell me Mr. V.I.P was here!" A man's voice came from behind Butch as he felt a strong hand rest on his shoulder. Butch turned his head to see the bartender smiling at him as he continued to speak. "See anything you like tonight, Mr. Stockard? Our selection has grown since the last time you were here! And of course as always everything is on the house!" The bartender said patting Butch on the back a little too hard.
"Wait, I think I know you," Butch said as his mind tried to clear and the bartender's face began to register with him. He remembered a control panel, a screen, something about old earth and—
Butch's thoughts were cut off again as the bartender responded.
"Ya thank ya know me?! Ya hear this guy ladies, Butch acting like he's new or something. Always the joker! Of course ya know me, Mr. VIP!" the bartender laughed, turning to go back to the bar. As he walked away he laughed again and said to himself, "He thinks he knows me."
"Come on, Butchie! We got a surprise for you tonight!" the first woman crooned.
"Alright ladies, show Mr. Stockard the time of his life," the bartender called from behind his bar as the two women pulled Butch through the floor of the club and through a beaded doorway that read "VIP LOUNGE" in flashing neon red and green letters.
They pulled Butch to a large comfy sofa and pushed him down onto it and climbed on top of him, each lady straddling one of his thighs. They rubbed the side of his face, kissed his neck. Butch tried to again remember what he was supposed to be doing but then the green haired girl blew into his ear and Colin "Butch" Stockard decided the distraction was just too nice and he decided to go with the moment and enjoy it.
"We got something we know you're gonna like Butchy," the purple haired lady whispered into his ear as a new bumping bass song began to play in the club. The two ladies caressed the side of Butch's face, ran their fingers to his chin, softly took hold of it, and turned his attention to the beaded doorway. A tall yet beautiful Noc'Tralian female also covered in glitter and wearing a blue g'string, blue high heels, and skimpy blue bra sauntered into the VIP room.
The blue of her small amount of clothing blended almost perfectly with the blue hue of her slightly ridged skin, giving the illusion of nudity. She stared longingly with her three eyes deep into Butch's eyes. Butch was breathless, he had never seen a Noc'tralian female this beautiful and wearing such little clothing. His eyes fell down her slender blue neck to the full cleavage of her very large blue breasts. He felt his heart rate rise slightly. His eyes continued downwards to her muscular abdomen and he saw she had no belly button. It was strange but Butch also thought it was sexy. The two human females slowly got off the couch as she reached them and began leaving the room.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do, Butchy," one of them teased as they left the room.
"H…h…hi," Butch breathed out, his excitement paramount.
"Hello big boy. The boss says anything you want tonight…..you get," The noc'tralian replied.
"Oh…yeah?" Butch said taking a deep breath. He noticed he was slightly shaking. This Noc'Tralian was the most beautiful thing he had seen in his entire life.
"Yessssss," the Noc'Tralian whispered in his ear as she straddled him. "What do you want?" she asked as she began rubbing her body against his, rocking back and forth, pushing her weight into Butch's lap as she did so.
"I…..I…Oh, my god…..this…..this is good," he managed to squeak out.
"You know you can touch to. You're a VIP," she whispered in his ear.
Butch's hands awkwardly made their way to her hips. He ran his fingertips up her back and held her slender frame. His large hands wrapped around her ribs, his fingers on her back, his thumbs sliding on the sides of her belly. He pushed his hands up, his thumbs rubbing against the side of her Noc'Tralian breasts. She then reached in and took his hands and pushed them down to her waist and buttocks. Butch squeezed. He had never been so excited in his life. His heart rate was faster than he had ever felt before and his excitement was growing to a crescendo as she rubbed and rocked against him. The excitement only grew more. Butch squeezed hard into the Noc'Tralian's hips.
As she began pushing down even more Butch squeezed her hips again, his fingers digging into her blue skin but this time he felt them break the skin and felt something wet pour onto his hands. The Noc'Tralian continued as if nothing happened. Butch looked down at his hands and realized he had ripped open the skin of the Noc'Tralian at the hips where the legs begin and as she continued to writhe back and forth he watched in shock and horror as the skin ripped more until there was a perfect circle of blood pouring from the very top of her legs, his hands were covered in a deep crimson that looked almost black in the dark lighting and strobing lights. Butch tried to stand up.
"OH, MY GOD! Your LEGS!" he shouted.
The Noc'Tralian only writhed harder. The sensation was no longer enjoyable. It was beginning to hurt and Butch was alarmed as the blue skin of her legs began to wrinkle as her motions caused it to push down her legs as if it were stockings she was wearing. What he saw underneath in the strobing lights looked like severe burn tissue. He put his hands on her hips again and began trying to push her off him as he finally remembered where he was supposed to be.
He was asleep on the Beowulf and the bartender was that creep from the screen in the nano lab, Freddy Krueger. Freddy had died in a fire. As the revelations hit him he looked on in terror as the blue skin of the Noc'Tralians legs fell to her ankles revealing fully burnt legs covered in wet puss and blood. The dancer was blowing into his ear but then Butch screamed in pain as he felt a white hot fire erupt in his earlobe. The bitch was biting him. The Noc'Tralian jerked her head backwards and Butch felt a stinging, burning, ripping sensation and threw his hand to his ear and felt nothing but wet gore. His ear was gone.
Butch tried to grab the alien and forcefully throw her off of him, but it was as if she weighed a ton. He jerked his head to look up and face her and saw his ear still in her teeth, a huge grin growing on her face. It was unnatural, didn't match her features. The blue skin on her face was beginning to wrinkle like the leg skin did. The Noc'Tralian spit out the ear and reached up with a hand to rip the skin from her face and throw it behind.
The Noc'Tralian was gone. The face Butch looked up at was the face of the bartender, the face of Freddy Krueger, now covered in horrible burns. His eyes, now only two of them, were yellow with red vessels running at the sides. He smiled and his teeth were yellowed and black at the tops. Below his neck he still had the body of the Noc'Tralian female except rom the waist down the burnt legs still shown. Butch struggled again but the two human females from earlier suddenly were at his sides again. They took his arms and held them in vice like grips. No matter how hard he struggled he couldn't break free.
"What's the matter Butchie?" Freddy asked. "Am I not your type?" he cackled.
"This is just a dream, this is impossible," Butch shouted. "All that old earth bullshit just bouncing around in my subconscious, trying to make sense of everything, my ear is hurting from I don't know, the medication."
"Oh, then you won't mind if I do this?" Freddy asked as he lifted one of his still blue Noc'Tralian hands and Butch saw it wore the artifact they had secured earlier, the bladed glove. The thing still sitting on him extended one finger of the glove and drug it down Butch's chest from collar bone to belly button. Fresh blood oozed from the gash. Butch grimaced in pain. "Don't worry, Butchy. It's all old earth bullshit remember? HAHAHAHAHA!" Freddy laughed.
"What the fuck?! WHAT THE FUCK!?" Butch began asking, not understanding how he actually felt the pain stinging in the wound that ran down his chest to his stomach or the extreme pain where his ear once was.
"Aww, sorry Butchie no fuck for you tonight….just a good old fashioned YOU'RE FUCKED!" Freddy growled as he extended his full glove and raised it above his head and brought it down over and over again, slashing across Butch's face, neck, chest. All the while the women on Butch's sides giggled like school girls.
Butch screamed with each strike from Freddy's glove, but after a few more slashes Butch wasn't screaming anymore.
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Talos sat at the control panel in the nano-med lab and continued attempting to find some way to bypass whatever Freddy was doing to block him from connecting to the crew's neural implants but to no avail. He had thought he had found a backdoor but Freddy appeared on his screen wagging a finger saying 'nuh uh uh…you didn't say the magic word.' The supernatural was apparently real. Talos found it very intriguing that something he had viewed as an absolute impossibility was indeed possible. What else was he wrong about? He had been watching over the Emergency Alarms of Donella, Nyquilio, and Butch for hours now.
He wasn't sure how their bodies could withstand such high heart rate and blood pressure for such a long time. Had Talos been a human he may had already let frustration push him to giving up on finding a way back into his crew mate's dreams to assist them but he was an android and had almost perfect patience. But this Freddy was definitely testing that patience. He was extremely worried for his friend and creator Lubdan. He knew Lubdan was not a fighter and he hoped that Lubdan had listened to him and was running and not looking back. Talos tried another program he had created and was greeted by a flashing red and green screen again that read 'nice try, tin man.'
Talos cleared the screen and began another attempt at getting in when suddenly Butch's Alarms shot to maximum levels. Talos waived his hand over the control panel and brought up the security feed from the Cryo-Chamber room and zoomed in on Butch's chamber. To Talos' fascination he witnessed Butch's left ear burst into flames and disappear leaving behind a bloody hole on the side of his head. Moments later Butch began screaming in his sleep as one long gash appeared down his chest, a slash that ripped through his thin white tank top from collar bone to his stomach. Blood began soaking through. A few seconds later several gashes appeared from thin air all over Butch's face, neck and chest. Blood poured and oozed from the countless wounds and moments later Butch had joined Candilynn and Christina on the list of the recently deceased employees of Hawkins Salvage and Recovery. Talos felt something akin to sadness and anger. He felt he was failing his friends. He waived his hand over his control panel and got back to work trying to find a way in.
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Nyquilio opened his three eyes and found he was lying on a very uncomfortable hard surface. He sat up and turned, letting his feet touch the floor. He found he was sitting on a metal slab, a sort of make shift bed but with no mattress or pillow. He looked around, clearing the cobwebs from his head, and realized with confusion he was in a dank dark small jail cell of some kind. It had a small window on the wall of the back of the cell and bars ran across the front of the cell with a green and red energy pulsating through them. The floor was a gray concrete surface. He rose out of bed and glanced down at his clothing. He was wearing a bright orange jump suit with no markings other than a series of letters and numbers that were printed on the top left chest of his jumpsuit that read RE1984. A prisoner number he was certain, but why was he a prisoner? Where was he exactly?
Nyquilio walked to the small window at the back of his cell. It was a solid glass window, several inches thick, and the view he saw through it took his breath away. He was in orbit above Earth-2. Realization hit him quickly as he remembered there was only one prison that orbited Earth-2 and it was for the worst of the worst criminals and local and intergalactic terrorists. He was imprisoned on Alcatraz-E2. He knew it had to be a mistake. He had been on the Beowulf, working with a perfectly nice crew of Earth-2 humans, getting to visit dead planets and collect artifacts. There had to be some kind of mix up. He couldn't remember how he had gone from the Beowulf to being in a jail cell and at the moment his thoughts were cloudy. He felt as if he had some small version of amnesia. Nyquilio walked to the bars of his cell making sure not to touch them as the energy that pulsed through them did not look inviting.
"HEY! GUARD!? SOMEBODY?! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" he called out.
As he looked out of his cell he noticed there was an aisle that ran between two sides of cells just like his, he was in the middle of the set of cells on one side of the room and across from him was another set of cells that ran the length of the long room. Strangely though, there were no other prisoners in any of the cells. Nyquilio heard a door at the far end of the room open and shut, the noise echoing through the mostly empty cell block. He heard booted foot falls approaching and looked to his left to see a burly black guard in a full black uniform approaching him. The man was tall, probably 250lbs, 6'3, jacked, and had an intimidating face with a finely manicured black goatee and short dark hair with white peppered throughout. The guard arrived at Nyquilio's cell and stopped and turned to face his prisoner.
"What do you want, alien?" the man said with disdain dripping from his tongue.
"What am I doing here? I'm not supposed to be here. What happened?" Nyquilio asked.
"As if you don't know alien! No point trying to claim amnesia or insanity, they've already made their decision about you!" the guard answered.
"Decision?" Nyquilio spat. "What are you talking about? Please, sir, tell me! I really don't know!"
"Don't you sir me, you monster! You don't get to kill an entire crew of humans in such a disgusting, depraved display of evil and then talk to me like you're not a piece of alien scum!"
"No! I didn't kill anyone! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know how I got here! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME!" Nyquilio said.
In his fear and anxiety he momentarily neglected the energy pulsing in the bars. He reached forward and grabbed hold of them with his hands. Immediately the energy shot into this hands and up his arms, knocking him to the floor with an electric sting. Nyquilio rubbed his hands and got back to his feet.
"HA! Serves ya right, shit head!" barked the guard as he spat at Nyquilio's feet. "Don't play dumb with me. Save your begging and pleading for Dr. K! I got no sympathy for you after the way you shot that poor girl into open space from the airlock and used an old earth artifact to slash and stab your entire crew to death in their sleep! Including a teenage girl! You make me sick, you blue fuck! Just shut up! I'm glad they didn't give you back to Somnium-5 when they demanded you be set free! I don't care that it started a fucking war! I never liked you blue freaks breathing our air to begin with! The rest of your kind may have got off Earth-2 before we got a chance to round them up but you, you will be giving us all the information we need! Dr. K is gonna dissect you like a classroom frog. We're gonna know what makes you blue pieces of shit tick!"
"No! I swear, I didn't do it! I wouldn't do that!" Nyquilio pleaded. He was terrified and confused. He wracked his brain but couldn't remember how he had gotten to the cell, had only a few fleeting memories from the Beowulf and the crew. The thought he might be suffering from space madness crossed his mind and he shivered. Had he done something to his shipmates? He shook his head and shot that thought down. He knew he wasn't capable of doing the things the guard said. He just needed to remember, he felt if he could just remember he could explain it all. Something was off about the whole situation, it couldn't be true.
Nyquilio's thoughts were cut off by a com on the guard's wrist lighting up and beeping. The guard touched a small strap around his wrist and a voice called out from it. "Dr. K is ready for the prisoner."
"Roger that!" the guard called back, tapping the strap and ending the communication. "As much as I enjoy watching you squirm like a little bitch, it's time to meet Dr. K. Who knows, maybe he'll take mercy on ya and make it quick! But I'm betting he'll want to take it nice and slow. He loves his work. Hell, you might even like him. He may be as sick and twisted as you!"
Nyquilio closed his eyes, panic running through his body. When he opened his eyes a mere second later he was no longer standing in his cell. Now he was laying on a hard bed in a bright white room. He turned his head and saw a silver tray table next to the bed he lay on and it was topped with arcane surgical tools, saws, rib spreaders and more.
Nyquilio tried to sit up but found he was tied down to the table. He jerked his arms but they were strapped down as well. He could not move a muscle. He tried lifting his head and realized a strap had been placed around his neck as well. That's when he noticed the large mirror hanging on the ceiling above him. He could now see the straps around his ankles, waist, wrists, and neck. He was naked except for the boxer briefs he still wore.
"Help! SOMEBODY!" he called out in desperation.
Two large white doors a few feet from the foot of the table swung open and a man around six foot tall wearing red and green pin striped scrubs, a surgical mask and cap walked into the room and stood next to Nyquilio. The man lifted a pair of white rubber gloves off the tray table and put them on. He stood over Nyquilio and stared down at him. Nyquilio could see the man's eyes were yellowed and severely blood shot, and the skin around his eyes and the bridge of his nose that wasn't covered by the mask or hair cover was covered in wet burn tissue.
"What the hell?! Why is this happening? I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! WHO ARE YOU!" Nyquilio screamed out his questions in a heated panic.
"I'm Dr. K, I'll be doing the procedure. Don't worry I have a great bed side manner," the doctor said with a chuckle.
"You can't do this! I am innocent! I have to be! And what the fuck is wrong with your face?!" Nyquilio asked again seeing the burns.
"HEY, YOU GOT NO ROOM TO TALK THREE EYES!" the doctor growled. "Don't worry, it'll come to you soon enough."
Nyquilio's head began to pound and suddenly the fog that had covered his brain blew away and everything started to come back to him. He hadn't killed his crew, in fact the last thing he remembered was going into cryo-sleep with the crew. It finally clicked and he remembered it all. The glove, the model house, the research, the child killer, the diary, Freddy Krueger, the stories about him haunting people in their dreams.
"Freddy!" Nyquilio said with contempt.
"BINGO! GET THIS BOY A PRIZE!" Freddy laughed.
"This is impossible. It's got to be just a dream. You can't be real!" Nyquilio said.
"Ya know, I was thinking the same thing when I saw you the first time. I got to say I went back and forth on how to even handle your nightmare. At first, I thought maybe I'll make myself look like Gargamel and chase you with a large net but thought, na he's too big to be a smurf." Nyquilio looked confused as Freddy spoke. "Then I considered not even killing you at all. I assumed if I did kill you then you'd just wake up wherever your Avatar bed is, hop back in your wheelchair, and call it a day."
"What the fuck are you talking about!?" Nyquilio demanded.
"Yeah, sorry, my references are a little dated. But that's okay Yondu! We gotta keep moving forward," Freddy said with his eyes smiling. "Guess I don't need these," he continued as he took off his surgical mask and cap. "I don't think we need to worry about you getting that last second infection! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Let me go! Come on! Come at me like a warrior! Take these straps off and let's see what you're really made of! I'm not some vulnerable kid, Krueger!" Nyquilio shouted.
Freddy ignored Nyquilio's demands as he looked at the tray table. He began lifting surgical instruments and then shaking his head and throwing them over his shoulder to clink to the floor.
"No, No, No! These aren't right!" Freddy said irritated, and then he looked somewhere behind the table past Nyquilio's head and his eyes lit up and he smiled. "Ah! There it is! My one and only!"
Freddy walked past Nyquilio and then returned a moment later and Nyquilio watched in panicked terror as Freddy slid on the four bladed glove from the Beowulf. Nyquilio hoped it was all just a dream, a side effect from the cryo-sleep medication but deep in his gut he knew it wasn't. His time was almost up.
"Let's see, do we go old school?" Freddy asked and lifted his gloved hand in front of his face and flicked it open spreading his fingers out and as he did the blades instantly turned into surgical scalpels. Freddy began shaking his head. "No, No, that won't do. I already showed my age with my dated references…I think it's best if Freddy finally gets with the times," he continued and flourished his blades again and as he flicked them Nyquilio could hear a sound like an energy weapon powering on and watched as the four scalpels on the bladed glove turned into small red & green glowing energy lasers.
"Now, let's see what you're made of!" Freddy snarled, all humor gone from his voice and eyes.
Freddy lifted his glove into the air and held it over Nyquilio. Nyquilio did not speak, he did not beg, just glared at Freddy defiantly. Freddy gave a slight smile with the corner of his mouth and lowered his glove over Nyquilio's chest. The Noc'Tralian did his best to not give Freddy the satisfaction of showing fear or pain. And as the lasers cut into his chest he succeeded, but as Freddy began digging deeper Nyquilio began moaning and when Freddy then lifted his hand to the Noc'Tralian's face and traced one of the lasers around Nyquilio's middle eye he couldn't hold back anymore and began screaming as Freddy pulled the eye from it's socket and held it in front of Nyquilio's face.
"Here's looking at you, kid!"
Nyquilio continued screaming as Freddy moved back to the alien's torso and drove the lasers of his glove into his stomach but the screaming and his breathing stopped soon after as Nyquilio began going into shock. He stared up at the mirror over the table, stared in horror with his two remaining eyes as Freddy began pulling his insides out while laughing maniacally.
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Nyquilio's maximum level alarm jolted Talos from his work and he quickly pulled up the security feed. A new sensation hit Talos in that moment as his AI continued to evolve. He was feeling what he perceived to be anxiety and dread as at first four gashes formed on the Noc'Tralian's chest and then his middle eye was gone, replaced by a gaping bleeding hole. His belly came next, splitting open like an over ripe melon and spilling his insides out all over the cryochamber.
Nyquilio's vital alarms stopped sounding and Talos watched helplessly as another crew member fell to the dream demon. Talos had an idea strike him, even if he did get into the dreams of the remaining crewmates there was only so much he could do. But with the right information maybe he could bring something more to the fight. Talos waived his hands and pulled up the scans of the diary that had been brought onto the ship. The physical diary was indeed gone but the scans were still stored in their system. Talos began absorbing all the data from the scans.
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Donella's eyes shot open as she felt the Beowulf rock from an impact. She heard a scream behind her and turned to see the entire crew strapped into chairs, her daughter seated directly behind her. Donella glanced to her left and saw Warlock strapped into the pilot's seat, deep concern etched on his grizzled features and sweat beaded on his brow. Donella looked down and realized she was strapped into the co-pilot's seat but couldn't remember how she had gotten there. She looked up and out the front glass of the cockpit and saw they were flying through an asteroid field.
"Alright worms, hold on to your dicks! Its about to get dicey!" Warlock yelled.
"What the fuck is going on?! How did you not see this coming when you mapped out our course?" Donella demanded. "Why can't I remember getting here? What the hell is going on?! SHIT WATCH OUT!" Donnella continued before noticing a large asteroid was about to hit their left side and she stopped her questioning to scream at her pilot.
Warlock jerked his controls to the right and barely avoided an impact.
Donella turned to her crew behind her, "Somebody tell me what is going on? Who buckled me in? The last thing I remember was we..." Donella tried hard to recall exactly what was the last thing she remembered but before she could the Beowulf rocked harder than ever and sparks flew out of the control panels of the cockpit.
"Shit, we took a hit! One more like that and we are toast!" Warlock shouted as he tried to correct their course.
"Get us out of here and I'll give you a fucking raise Rollins! Chrissy, honey! You hold on it's going to be ok!" she said as she gripped her hand rest, her knuckles turning white as a ghost. She no longer cared how she got there she just wanted to survive their current predicament.
Warlock grunted and cussed as he flew through four other near misses but then the entire crew gasped collectively when they saw a massive asteroid in their path. It was at least five times larger than the Beowulf. Warlock looked like he was going to pass out from not breathing but he went to work immediately trying his best to pull out of the path.
"Try decreasing our speed!" Lubdan called out from behind him.
"MOM, I'M SCARED!" Christina screamed over the chaos.
"Pull up! PULL UP!" Nero shouted.
"TO THE LEFT! WE CAN CLEAR IT ON THE LEFT!" Nyquilio chimed in with his own loud demand.
"We're not gonna clear it, Warlock! DO SOMETHING!" Donella shrieked as the cockpit window was suddenly filled with the vision of the giant asteroid's surface and nothing more. All anyone could see now was death coming right for them.
"SHIT! WE DON'T HAVE TIME! WE'RE GONNA HIT IT, THERE'S NOTHING I CA-" Warlock began to yell. But it was too late, a second large piece of an asteroid collided with their cockpit as Warlock tried to dodge the giant asteroid that was also seconds from colliding with the ship.
Donella screamed and braced herself, as the cockpit window exploded and alarms blared. The air being sucked out of the ship was like being inside a tornado and she watched in horror as, one after another, her crew began flying past her head as they were sucked out the broken cockpit window. She saw their silent screaming faces as they passed by, reaching for their boss in the vain hope she would save them from cold inimical death. The last person to be pulled from the Beowulf by the vacuum of space was Christina. She reached her hand out and Donella was able to take hold. She stared at her daughter with determination, her eyes telling her daughter everything was going to be okay, and then a beam from the ceiling of the cockpit snapped and penetrated directly into Christina's sternum. Her eyes projected pain and fear as she was knocked loose of her mother's grasp. Donella reached out in vain.
Then her own seat began to shake. She looked over at her pilot and almost vomited when she saw a large piece of broken cockpit window had driven into his chest and neck. Warlock was very dead. Blood poured from his wounds and immediately became small beads of red that were sucked out into space. Donella was beginning to feel light headed as she turned her attention back to the broken cockpit window just as the Beowulf collided with the large Asteroid. Donella felt it all, the collision, the whiplash and then the crumpled metal that drove into her torso severing her body into two pieces and then fire engulfed her world and everything went black.
Donella opened her eyes sometime later stared around in confusion. She wasn't in the Beowulf and she wasn't a red splotch on the side of an asteroid. No, Donella Hawkins was dressed in a very nice pant suit and sitting in an extremely comfortable chair, probably the most comfortable chair she had ever sat upon. She was sitting before a beautiful polished antique wooden desk in a bright white room. The room was empty save for her, her chair, and the desk before her. A poster on the wall to her left showed a kitten gripping a tree limb with its front paws as it's back legs dangled over a large pit with fire coming out of it with the words 'HANG IN THERE CHRISSY' at the top of it. Donella blinked her eyes to see if she read it correctly and when she finished blinking she saw the poster now read 'HANG IN THERE KITTY.'
A large black leather office chair sat behind the desk, its back facing her. Donella opened her mouth to speak and the chair gave a slight squeak as it slowly spun around. A man sat watching her. He seemed to be in his late twenties or early thirties but it was hard to tell. His face was youngish but his blondish hair was beginning to recede and he sported a slightly larger nose than most men. A pair of expensive looking glasses rested on the tip of his nose as he looked down at an open folder held in both hands. He was dressed in a fine dress shirt, a green tie and red suspenders. A suit jacket hung on the wall near the desk.
"Hmmmmm," he began as he continued to read whatever was in the folder. "Donella Hawkins, right?"
"Yes..." Donella said with a thousand questions on her face.
"I'm sure you have a thousand questions," he chimed in as if reading her mind.
Yeah, like where the hell am I? Donella thought.
"The biggest of which I am sure is just where the hell are you, am I right?" The man said, again as if he was in Donella's head.
"Yes, I was just on my ship with my crew and...wait, we had a collision…" She said as she begin to remember the crash. She looked up at him.
How did I survive that?
"Yes, a deadly collision indeed. Well, take a breath, this is going to be hard to hear. You didn't survive it," the man said, answering the question she had been thinking. She felt very creeped out by the man, not just for how he kept reading her mind but his appearance. She had seen this man somewhere before but she couldn't put her finger on it. And she had so much running through her confused mind at the moment it didn't seem as important as finding out what he meant and where exactly she was.
"What do you mean, I didn't survive?" Donella asked
"What I mean is, you died. You, your crew...all very, very dead. You are currently in processing," he said very matter of factly and professionally.
"Processing? What is Processing?" she demanded, as if not hearing the part where he said she had died.
"Pushy, pushy aren't we. Have some patience dear, time is literally ALL you have now," the man said with a small bite. "You are being processed to go north or south. Ya know, going on vacation and either hitting those slopes or going on an endless hike through the desert, haha."
"I don't know what ya mean and I'm obviously not dead. I don't know what this all about but I'm not going to sit here and take it! I need to find my daughter! Where is she?!" Donella barked as she stood up and began looking for a door. She spun in a circle and froze. There wasn't one.
"What is the meaning of this? Let me out of here!"
The man grinned, winked, and snapped his fingers and instantly Donella found herself go from standing to sitting back in the chair.
"HOW DID YOU DO THAT?" she yelled and made a run for a wall. The man let out a sigh and snapped his fingers again and instantly Donella was back in the chair.
"We can do this all day or you can let me get through this," he said. "Your daughter is quite safe and sound and she has never been happier I assure you."
"What do you know about Chrissy?"
The man flipped a few pages in the folder and smiled, "Ah, yes, Christina Hawkins! I had her here before you. She lived a righteous life and her processing was done in seconds. She took the express elevator right to the top! Come on! Smile! She's in heaven, mom!"
The reality of her situation finally began to set in. Her daughter had died in the crash along with herself and the rest of the Beowulf 's crew. She was in some sort of afterlife processing and, as miffed as Donella was over her daughter actually being correct about her beliefs, at least she knew Chrissy was in a good place.
"Okay, FINE! I understand. When can I see her?" Donella asked.
The man turned a couple pages and a look of disappointment came over his face. "Oof! That's not good. Says here you teased your daughter's beliefs constantly. Poked fun at god and all things holy? Oh wow and not long before you died you chose greed over your daughter's comfort and happiness. Oh, wow, this is not good. I never like separating families but there is no point to even try to make an appeal here." He clicked his tongue and hit a small button on his desk and a large platform came out of the floor next to Donella's chair. A large handle about the size of a pool stick stuck out of the platform.
"Wait, what?! What do you mean separate us? I loved her! I always put her first! Just wait!" she begged as the man stood up and slowly walked to the lever. He took hold of it, looked at Donella for a moment, his expression solemn, and then he broke out in a huge smile and laughed.
"KEEP YOUR HANDS AND FEET INSIDE THE RIDE AT ALL TIMES!" he called out as he pulled the lever. A circular hole opened under Donella's feet and her chair tipped forward dropping her down the hole. She landed on a large slide and began sliding down fast. Far too fast. At first she just saw white walls all around her as she went down the spiraling slide. She was going faster, the slide twisting and turning in sharp spirals that made her gorge rise. The white walls gave way to red and green striped walls and the smell a putrid burning things filled her nostrils. The scent changed again, became the odor of rotten eggs. The red and green striped walls became hypnotic as if the lines were swirling together into a spinning vortex.
Now clowns with sharp teeth cavorted on the walls, blood flowing from their mouths. Then she saw old earth images of dead soldiers piled in mass graves and cadavers having their organs removed. Her speed was so fast now smoke was rising from underneath her, her skin burning as it slid down the surface at impossible speed. The hypnotic walls showed Candilynn exploding in her cryochamber, Nyquilio's guts tumbling from his eviscerated stomach, bloody slashes appearing on Butch's face, chest, and neck.
Her descent grew even faster as smoke billowed from her clothes and skin as she slid in the sharp spirals. Her speed was making a cartoonish noise like a missle dropping to earth. She suddenly saw a burned man wearing a red and green sweater on the walls but then the wall changed to show her Christina being nailed to a crucifix and Christina screaming, and then it showed her in a cryochamber as four bloody holes appeared on her chest and blood oozed out as her body went limp. Donella's stomach threatened to shoot from her mouth. She darted her eyes down and in horror saw her legs were engulfed in flames but she couldn't feel a thing. The images of her crew dying in their cryo-chambers, seeing her own daughter crucified and dying in cryosleep, should have cleared up the fog in her brain and reminded her of the fact she was just asleep but it didn't click at the moment as the speed, the smell, and the fear had her mind otherwise distracted. Then suddenly, when she thought she must be going at warpspeed, everything went black and the noise stopped.
Donella began hearing crackling noises in the black void around her and then she saw a line of flame shoot to her left, her right, and in front of her. The flames exploded into life that banished the darkness. She had no injuries, her legs and back were untouched. She was now standing in what appeared to be a large cave. There was fire everywhere. She could hear people screaming. People pleading to be put out of their misery. The chorus of screams sounded to Donella like thousands upon thousands. The ground began to shake beneath her feet and she turned to run but a new wall of flames erupted behind her. She was completely surrounded by a giant wall of fire on all sides. There was perhaps ten feet between her and the flames no matter which way she looked.
The shaking of the ground got harder and she heard a roar as a creature stepped through the flames in front of her. It stood at least twenty feet tall with red and green leathery skin and two enormous wings. It almost looked like a dragon from fantasy stories but also greatly resembled a goat. It was almost a perfect amalgamation of a dragon and a goat, with large dark wings, huge arms and legs. Both of it's massive hands were affixed with large silvery talons. It's feet were hooves, it's knees bent backwards. It stepped forward and the flames parted before it and did not burn it.
Donella looked up in disbelief as the creature slowly approached her. She had nowhere to go. She had done this to herself. She was in hell and now she feared Lucifer himself was about to make an introduction, up close and personal.
"DONELLA HAWKINS," a guttural voice called from the beast. "Your judgement is nigh."
"PLEASE! I WAS WRONG! I'M SORRY! GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE! LET ME SEE CHRISSY! PLEASE!" Donella fell to her knees with tears in her eyes, begging the monstrous thing and in that moment something clicked in Donella's brain and she suddenly remembered everything.
She didn't die in a crash on the Beowulf. She was in cryo-sleep. That man, the processor? He was the creepo Fredrick Charles Krueger from those old earth files. Candilynn had been telling the truth and they had all dismissed her. She'd told them everything about the diary, about Freddy coming for people in their dreams. She gave them his description, told them about the red and green sweater. Donella stood to her feet and stared up at the beast.
"You're not real! This is just a nightmare! I remember, I'm just asleep," Donella began.
The large beast thrust his head down and fire shot from his nostrils and struck Donella's arm. She screamed in pain as her arm was engulfed in the fire and her skin began to burn and bubble. She used her other hand to quickly put out the fire. The palm of her free hand was also in extreme pain from the flames.
"Just a dream? Try again, sir!" the beast said in the voice of Freddy Krueger.
"No, it can't be real! I don't understand!" Donella said, gritting her teeth through the pain.
"Is this real enough for you?" Freddy asked. "Mom, please just get rid of the artifacts, it's not worth it!" the beast's mouth moved but Christina's voice came out instead of Freddy's.
"CHRISSY! I'm so sorry, Chrissy! I was wrong. Oh god, what have you done with her?!" Donella asked.
"God indeed," the beast snarled. It lifted his hand in the air in a closed fist and then tossed something down to Donella. The item landed at Donella's feet. She looked down and screamed when she saw Christina's head laying at her feet. Blood dripped from where it had been lopped from it's body and the head was adorned with a thorny wreath. "I made her a promise after I destroyed her faith and took her soul. I told her I'd reunite her with her mom very soon. It's time to make good on that promise!"
Donella fell to her knees, defeated. She looked into the eyes of her daughter and then up at the Beast.
"MOM!" the head of Christina shrieked. Donella looked down at her daughter's decapitated head in horror. Christina's eyes darted to the side looking towards her mother's hand. "Your finger is bleeding again!" Christina said with a laugh.
Donella looked to her finger that had been cut by Freddy's bladed glove back on Earth-1, the finger that had been healed twice now, and saw it was indeed bleeding again, but it wasn't a slow dribbling of blood like before. Now it was pouring out of the cut. Donella's eyes grew wide as she could see the cut itself opening and growing in length down her finger then to the side of her hand. Her daughter's decapitated head began laughing hysterically. Donella stood up and instinctively dropped the head as she watched the cut that started on her finger continue to grow in length now up the side of her arm to her elbow. Blood began shooting out of the wound like a geyser. Donella felt herself growing weak from blood loss. She fell to her knees again and heard the monster above her laughing in unison with the decapitated head of Christina who was still laughing as well.
Then The beast took a massive step forward to stand over Donella. It reared it's head back and then thrust it forward and down as it sprayed fire onto Donella. The owner of Hawkins Salvage and Recovery screamed for a moment and then fell dead to the ground as her body continued to burn. The beast laughed as it morphed into Freddy himself. He looked down at Donella and spoke, "Five down, four to go."
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Talos wasn't letting the blaring vital alarms of the crew distract him anymore. There was no point. Every living crew member's alarms had started chiming in unison mere minutes ago. They were not at emergency levels yet, except of course Donella's, which was blaring at maximum levels now. But Talos couldn't concentrate on them at that moment even if he wanted to as he watched in helpless defeat as Donella's finger began to bleed and then he saw the cut that the blood came from stretch and grow like somebody was using an invisible pair of scissors to cut her skin in a perfect line up the side of her hand and then her arm up to the elbow and blood began pouring out of the wound, moments later Talos saw Donella Hawkins burst into flames inside her cryo-chamber and moments later her alarms ceased to blare.
He wasn't going to be able to get the information he pulled from the diary to his friends after all, and what he discovered in the scans of that diary could be a game changer. Freddy had made sure he couldn't get into the neural implants of his living friends and enter their sleeping consciousness like he had with Lubdan. Talos was sure of that now. He had tried everything, there wasn't an idea he hadn't tried or a backdoor he hadn't attempted to go through. Freddy Krueger had made sure his work would not be interrupted. Talos had to face that grim reality. Then something stirred in the android, a new plan was taking shape, something he had just thought stuck out to him.
"He won't let me into any living crew member's consciousness," Talos spoke aloud. "Maybe there is indeed a way I can get in afterall."
Talos pulled up the neural implant activity of all crew member's living and deceased and saw exactly what he was hoping he would see. "I am on my way friends," he said with a smile.
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Chapter Eleven
All I Got To Do Is Dream
Lubdan had listened to Talos and he had been running for what seemed like days. Shortly after flying off from the dreamscape Beowulf in the shuttle everything had gone pitch black where he couldn't see his hand in front of his face and when light returned he was in front of his high school robotics club. He had only been six years old at the time but he had made the best robotic dog his teacher had ever seen. He named it Jason after his best friend from grade school, Jason O'neal. Thinking about Jason O'neal made him sad because he'd had to say goodbye too soon because he advanced to high school so young. Lubdan's childhood had been marked by loneliness and an absence of friends.
The memory of his presentation of Jason the dog was normally a nice memory in spite of that but this time was different. When his dream changed from the shuttle to that day in the robotics club things did not go as they originally had.
For starters, Jason was not painted red and green striped. Secondly, Jason did not have rows of sharp teeth made out of razors. Third, Jason had originally been controlled by Lubdan's vocal commands but as soon as the presentation began Jason had lunged on Mr. Greene and ripped his throat out before turning to attack the other members of the robotics club. Lubdan took his first chance to run and Jason had followed. Several times he thought Jason was going to catch him but Lubdan luckily was able to always barely get away. He'd turned a corner and ran right into another dreamscape and found himself reliving a memory from almost a year before when he had completed his work on Talos-16.
The day Talos was finished was one of Lubdan's favorite memories. Talos quickly became Lubdan's best friend and more. Yes, he knew it was strange and not the norm and that people would talk but he didn't care. He was a part of Talos, had helped Talos find his place in the world where Talos quickly became a very important crew member on the Beowulf. More than that, Talos and Lubdan grew an inseparable bond as Talos' evolving AI grew. Lubdan found he had feelings for his creation and was astonished when Talos returned those feelings and their connection grew into something beyond friendship.
But, this was Freddy's dreamscape and again when the dream changed from being chased by Jason to standing next to the table where he activated Talos for the first time things did not go as the attached memory had. Talos' eyes immediately turned bright red and he reached out and began choking Lubdan, Talos then lifted him in the air. Lubdan began feeling light headed and out of sheer luck he noticed a sonic tool laying on the side of the lab table. He reached for it and barely got it in his hands. He pressed a small button and touched it to Talos-16's wrist sending a surge through the android that gave him just enough time to break free from the chokehold and run.
Lubdan had checked the countdown device the real Talos had given him as he flew away from the dreamscape Beowulf and the timer had read fifty two hours. He checked it again as he ran down a paved road through what appeared to be an old Earth neighborhood of small houses in the dead of night. The device read fourteen hours twenty three minutes and sixteen seconds. He only needed to survive a little more than half a day longer and the nightmare would be over.
That was easier said than done though. He glanced over his shoulder and despaired as he saw both dreamscape Talos-16 and dreamscape Jason the robot dog hot on his heels. They went on and on like the machines they were. He was tiring, they were not.
Lubdan wished more than anything to have the real Talos here to help him. Or at the very least for a chance to say goodbye. Lubdan chanced a look over his shoulder, Jason and Talos were gaining ground, they would be on him soon. His luck was running out. He was never an athlete, always the academic but he was running with everything he had.
"Play time is over, nerd!" Freddy's voice came from somewhere close by. "I've been a little busy with some of your crew mates but I've cleared up some room in my calendar to give my puppy here a well deserved playdate."
Freddy's voice sent a shiver of ice down Lubdan's back and suddenly he felt like he had stepped into mud. He looked down and realized in horror that the pavement he was running on had melted. Both his feet were now completely submerged in the liquid asphalt. He tried to keep running but each step took so much effort. He tried to lift his leg to pull his foot free for another step but it was too hard. His chest felt like it was going to explode. He sagged, finally at his limit. He fell to his hands and knees in the gunky asphalt and turned to face his attackers and to accept his fate.
As he turned in the gunky asphalt to let things go the way they were going to go, he saw dreamscape Jason the robot dog sitting and saw the evil dreamscape Talos-16 changing form. Lubdan watched as the evil android morphed into Freddy Krueger. The dream demon looked down and began petting the psychotic robotic dog who sat near his feet.
"Good dog, would ya look at that, a Jason that actually knows his place!" Freddy said more to himself than Lubdan. Freddy then looked back at Lubdan sitting in the melted asphalt a few feet away. "Sorry to have kept you waiting asshole. Your tin man has been trying like hell to come back and visit Freddyland but his season pass has been revoked. But at least he'll get to see you bleed to death back in your box! I promised him that much!" Freddy said in a low menacing voice. "SIC HIM BOY!"
Jason dove into the air baring his razor teeth and he came down...down...and went right through Lubdan. Lubdan looked down at his asphalt covered hands and realized he was beginning to become see through. Jason tried to bite at him but again he went right through Lubdan. Freddy in a fit of anger marched forward and was standing over Lubdan. Lubdan looked up at Freddy, Freddy looked down at Lubdan. He swung his bladed glove and again the attack went right through the young ginger.
"What the fuck are you doing, Poindexter!?" he growled.
Lubdan was becoming so transparent that he was almost invisible. He wasn't sure what was happening but he was pretty sure Freddy couldn't touch him. Lubdan raised his middle finger and smiled as he disappeared completely. He wasn't sure what would happen next but at least for now he didn't have to die being mauled to death by his high school project or at the hands of the child killing undead maniac Freddy Krueger.
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Varissa was sitting on the boiler room floor where she'd been since Freddy had ran away. How long had it been? She wasn't sure but she sat and meditated. She could feel the power Alice had bestowed upon her inside of her body. She could feel it changing her, but Freddy had made sure she didn't get the instruction booklet from Alice and now Varissa had these powers but wasn't completely sure how to use them. When Freddy had destroyed Alice's soul and the power was cast into her from her burning ancestor something was set off in that moment and the power sort of did the work for Varissa. However now that she was alone and there was no threat she couldn't find a command or thought that made anything happen like before.
Frustration exploded inside Varissa. She needed to figure out how to access the powers so she could do what Alice said and take the fight to Freddy. She needed to help her crew. She tried again to pull a crew mate into her dream. Varissa closed her eyes for at least the hundredth time and cleared her mind. She sat that way for several minutes and nothing happened. She began to let defeat finally take hold of her and she began to cry.
She thought of Alice, all these centuries being stuck in Freddy's dreamscape as a watcher, all that sacrifice only to go out in such a horrible way and pass on her powers to someone who was apparently too dumb to do anything with them. Then Varissa began thinking about what Alice had said, that two of her crewmate's had been claimed by Freddy. She wished she knew who the two were and as she put all of her thoughts on her crew a strange feeling came over her and suddenly she felt the white energy began to sizzle around her body like it had after receiving it from Alice.
Varissa thought harder on the crew and suddenly she was seeing through someone else's eyes. First, she saw Candilynn, her star student. A young woman who was only on the Beowulf because she was a student of Varissa's. She saw Candilynn beating on a door looking through a small window into the eyes Varissa was currently seeing through. Varissa then saw through those same eyes as the head they sat in turned and looked at a scanner on a wall and Varissa shivered as she saw the gloved hand of Freddy activate the air lock on the Beowulf in this dream world. Varissa saw Candilynn hanging on for dear life until she couldn't anymore and then saw her get sucked out into open space and die horrifically.
Tears streamed out of Varissa's closed eyes. Candi was dead and if not for Varissa bringing her along she would still be alive and enjoying her life. Before she could feel any worse about Candilynne, Varissa's view changed and she saw Christina's back at the bottom of a stair well. It was in the house on old earth. Christina was trying to pull her foot out of a sludge that had replaced the bottom step of the stairs. She saw Christina finally break free and lunge for the open front door only for it to slam on her face. Then she saw through those eyes, Freddy's eyes, as Freddy pinned the poor girl against the door and drove his bladed glove through her back. Anger and sadness surged through Varissa's body. She began trembling as she then saw Butch sitting on a sofa in what appeared to be a club of some kind.
Strobing lights and loud music pounded around him and Butch sat looking up at Freddy as he slowly approached him. Freddy's eyes caught a glimpse of himself in a mirror on the wall behind the couch and Varissa saw it wasn't Freddy, but a noc'tralian female scantily dressed, almost nude. But within moments she realized it was Freddy, he was disguising himself and Varissa finally saw that gloved hand slash over and over until Butch was dead. Varissa wanted it to stop but her eyes were shut tight. She no longer had control over opening them.
She then saw through Freddy's eyes as he looked down at Nyquilio on what appeared to be an operating table. Freddy was cutting him open and then cut out his middle eye. Nyquilio was screaming as Freddy began removing his organs and finally mercy befell the blue alien as he died as well. Varissa couldn't take anymore, was the entire crew dead? Alice had only said two. Had Freddy claimed everyone else in the time Varissa had been trying to access her new powers? How long had she been here, damnit? She thought if I only had figured out these powers I could have saved them all.
Then Varissa saw through Freddy's eyes again. This time she was looking down at Donella from high above her. The eyes glimpsed Freddy's body but it was not Freddy's body but that of a large creature of some kind. The creature that Varissa was seeing through thrust it's head forward and she saw fire engulf her boss, the owner of Hawkins Salvage and Recovery Donella Hawkins. Donella was dead in seconds. Then she did not see through Freddy's eyes anymore, saw only blackness. She felt she had control over her own eyes again but she did not open them. She concentrated, maybe this meant that Lubdan, Warlock and Nero were still alive. All was not lost. She began concentrating on the three with every fiber of her being and felt herself begin to levitate off the floor. Her body reached out into the dreamscape and took hold of something. She strained, felt herself pulling it towards her. A moment later a voice snapped her out of her meditation.
"Dr. DeGenarro?" the voice of Lubdan Gallagher asked.
Varissa opened her eyes and saw an out of breath Lubdan sitting on the ground a few feet away, his hands, feet, and clothes were covered in a dark substance. She stood and ran to him.
"Lubdan! Is it really you?"
"I sure hope so!" he replied.
Varissa reached down and helped Lubdan to his feet and embraced him in a tight hug.
"Oh my god I'm so glad to see you," she said. She then saw the injury on his upper arm that he had bandaged with part of his shirt. "Are you okay?"
"It's just a wee scratch, m'dear. I'll be fine," he answered. "Where are we, how did I get here?"
Varissa told him everything she had gotten the chance to learn from Alice. She filled Lubdan in on who all had been killed by Freddy and told him of the powers she now possessed, about how she was able to pull others into her dream and the powers inside all dreamers to become a dream warrior of their own. Lubdan listened with wide eyed fascination and when Varissa finished he spoke up.
"Before cryo-sleep I never would have believed a word of any of this, but we brought something evil onto that ship and set it free. Look, Talos got into my dream a couple days ago and gave me this," Lubdan said, showing Varissa the countdown bracelet. It now showed them that they had ten hours and forty five minutes left until cryo-sleep ended. "Before ya brought me here it said we had fourteen hours. Sometimes the timer goes down fast, sometimes it goes down slow."
"Alice told me that time is different here. I also am starting to believe Freddy doesn't have limitless power. I believe he wears down and needs time to let his power build again after extreme exertion. It's the only thing that makes sense, otherwise he would have killed us all in the first day. I fought him, I hit him with pure dream energy from the powers given to me by Alice and I could see it weakening him to the point he ran from me and has not returned yet. Once he left me, I think that was when he went after and killed Butch, Nyquilio, and Donella in quick succession, I think he let his irritation and frustration at our fight fuel him into a swift revenge killing spree. I also felt very exhausted and it took time to feel rested again after I attacked him so I believe his powers like mine may weaken him when over used and that he has to rest up himself. We can use that against him. We need to take the fight to him, Lubdan. We brought him back and if we don't stop him he could spread throughout the galaxies. I know you have been using that timer as a means to know how long you need to survive to wake up but now we need to use it to know how much time we have to stop him. Waking up wont change anything. We will need to sleep again eventually and he will be waiting for us. We researched him on the Beowulf. Everything we do on the ship is part of a record when the ship returns. Others will find out about Freddy and now that he is unleashed that is all it will take!" Varissa explained.
"Oh, heaven help us, you're right. But can he even be destroyed?" Lubdan asked.
"Alice said he has been defeated multiple times before and always found a way to come back but she also said her powers wouldn't reach their full potential until she passed them to a blood heir. I don't know if I'm capable of destroying him for good but we have to try! You can reach into yourself Lubdan and be anything you want in the dreamscape. You can be a dream warrior and together we might have a chance at ending him for good!" Varissa said.
"Okay then! But we are going to need more help. We need to get to Warlock and Nero before Freddy gets to them," Lubdan said a bit hesitant.
"I'm on it," Varissa replied.
Varissa closed her eyes and began to concentrate on the pilot and the head of security, hoping she wasn't too late.
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Chapter Twelve
Dream Dream Dream
Nero laid flat against the tree, the thick jungle around him muggy and damp. The mud he had covered his body in was cool at first but now his sweat was getting it into his eyes and it stung.
Something had been hunting him and it was still out there. The night was dark, clouds covered the moon and stars. The hunter was out there, stalking Nero. He had been for what seemed like days. From his own experience in the military Nero had ascertained only a few hours ago that whoever was hunting him was tracking him by his body heat. It wasn't just his experience that made him believe this was accurate, it was also just an instinct he could not explain. He was just sure of it. That was why he initially covered himself in mud. That is why he currently had his back pressed firmly against a tree.
He couldn't stay like this forever, he needed to move. He needed to find a way to flank his stalker, to know who his stalker was. It was the only way this was going to end without him dying. Nero still didn't know how he had gotten to this jungle. All he knew for sure was he had been on the Beowulf on a trip to recover artifacts from Old Earth and then things got cloudy. The next thing he remembered was waking up in this jungle. He had been listening for what seemed like hours and hadn't heard a sound outside of insects and the slight breeze that gave him the only comfort from the muggy heat. He took a deep breath and made a run for another thicket of tall trees.
His heart began to race as he moved into an open area and glanced down at his chest to see three small red and green dots in the shape of a triangle right appear over his heart.
It was the hunter's targeting laser.
Nero ran faster and as he got close to the tree line he went to the earth and summersaulted into the thicket just as an energy weapons projectile struck the ground where he stood a moment before. The ground burst into fire. He began trying to catch his breath as he put his back against another large tree trunk and looked around. He couldn't go on like this. The only weapon he had was a large bowie knife. He had no firepower to use against his would be attacker. But if he could get him into hand to hand combat then maybe he would have a fighting chance.
Nero knew running was pointless. He had been running for what he believed was days and the hunter was relentless. He didn't want to die but he was also done running. He hoped the hunter had some sort of honor. Nero spoke out loud for the first time since he had awoken in the jungle.
"Come out! Come out and face me like a man. Let's do this mano y mano!"
He stood with baited breath, hoping for a response or a sign his challenge would be accepted.
"You want me so bad well here ya go!" Nero shouted again into the darkness as he pulled the knife from his waist band and raised his hands above his head and walked from the thicket back into the clearing looking all around. The laser scope did not shine on him this time.
After a few moments he heard a rustling to his left. He turned and got his first glimpse of his attacker in the dying flames of the small fire started from the its missed shot. He watched in fascination as a bipedal humanoid, standing close to seven foot tall walked into the clearing. It wore a red and green suit of armor and long, hair-like appendages descended out the bottom of the armored helmet.
It walked into the clearing from a different direction. It stopped and just stood. It looked at Nero and his knife and then began removing it's armor. First, it removed the armor and apparent weapon covering it's arms, then it removed its large chest piece and finally it removed it's helmet revealing itself to not be human. It had reptilian skin and it's face had arthropod-like mandibles and no visible nose and it was covered in what appeared to be wet burns. It wore some sort of under armor jump suit that appeared very alien to Nero. It raised it's right arm as four long blades protruded out.
"Alright, let's do this," Nero said confidently as he marched towards the creature. The creature nodded and marched towards Nero.
The hunter swung it's blades down at Nero and Nero raised his large bowie knife up as the hunter's blades struck the bowie knife and sparks flew. Nero lifted his leg and kicked the creature in the stomach knocking it back a couple feet. The creature swung it's blades at Nero's head and Nero ducked and hammered two quick punches to the creature's stomach and an uppercut to it's head. It didn't seem to faze the hunter. It struck out with it's un bladed hand and connected a punch into Nero's left shoulder sending him to the ground. Nero was trying to get back to his feet when the creature brought it's foot down hard on his chest knocking Nero back to the ground and pinning him on his back. Nero swung his knife towards the creature's leg but it was inhumanly fast and brought it's blades down in a swiping motion and connected with the knife blade and knocked it free from Nero's grasp. The knife flew off and landed somewhere in the thicket that Nero sheltered in earlier.
Nero tried to use every bit of strength he had to break free from the foot that held him down but it was futile. The creature raised it's bladed arm up and held it in the air and looked down at Nero and then it's mandibles began to move as it spoke. The voice seemed out of place coming from the creature.
"It's been fun Nero but this Fredator has other prey to attend to," it said in a guttural voice.
"Do your worst!" Nero said, turning his head slightly and spitting at the creature's other leg.
The bladed arm came down fast but when it should have lashed into Nero it instead went through him as if he wasn't there and buried itself in the ground he lay on. The creature began to shimmer and it morphed into a regular man wearing boots, dark pants, a red and green striped sweater and a black hat but the man like the creature before was also covered in wet looking burns. Instead of the four blades that protruded from above the creatures right hand there were now four blades attached to a glove the man was wore and those blades were stuck in the ground that Nero lay on.
Nero lifted his hand and looked at it in confusion. In that moment he remembered where he had seen that glove before, remembered the discussion on the Beowulf. Everything came back to him quickly. Freddy Krueger was real and was after Nero in his cryo-sleep. Nero would have believed it all to just be his imagination taking the events of their trip to Earth-1 and the aftermath and forming them into a crazy nightmare but he felt the cold mud, felt the trees dig into his skin as he lay against them for days, felt Freddy punch and stomp him. He had felt the dehydration, the hunger. He knew with certainty the legend of Freddy Krueger had to be real, no matter how crazy it seemed. He wondered if the fact he was slowly disappearing was part of Freddy's plan. He didn't think so because Freddy seemed irritated at what was happening.
"Okay Nero, you got lucky this time, but tell that bitch when you get there that I'm going to make her pay!" Freddy snarled as he watched Nero completely disappear.
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Lieutenant Warlock Rollins of the Unified Coalition Military was leading a charge against a race of adversarial aliens called the Kruegons from planet Elmwood. The galactic battle had raged for days now. Many of the men, women, and Noc'Tralians that served under Lt. Rollins had fallen thus far and it was beginning to look like the Kruegons held the higher number of remaining ships. Warlock was in the process of turning his small fighter ship back around to come back in for another offensive maneuver when his radio crackled to life.
"Lt. Rollins, what's the status. Are we winning?" Captain Nero Ramos of the S.S Englund asked from a small holographic screen above the controls of Warlock's ship. Nero was a tall Hispanic man wearing a blue uniform with slick hair and unusually pointy ears that gave Warlock the heebie jeebies every time he saw them. They didn't seem right and looked were out of place..
Warlock looked quickly at the captain on the screen. He still didn't know what he thought about serving under a captain that was so young and arrogant but this was his career, this was his duty. At least he thought it was because he couldn't remember the events of his life before this particular battle had started three days prior. Everything that came before was all a haze to Lt. Rollins. No matter how hard he tried to remember anything about his life outside this battle nothing ever came to him. It was almost like he had been grown in a lab three days ago and his entire life had been lived flying this fighter ship in the war against the Kruegons and wearing the red uniform he was currently dressed in.
"We are losing men fast Captain Ramos! I need backup and I need backup soon! The Kruegons are outnumbering us!" Warlock called back to the captain as he completed his turn and began flying back towards the enemy ships.
"Roger that, Lieutenant!" Captain Nero said as he could be seen on the small screen turning his attention to another screen on the bridge of the S.S. Englund. "Lubdan, we need to send another group of fighter ships out to assist Lt. Rollins now!"
Warlock could see a small young man appear on the other screen, his hair red and his uniform blue.
"I CAN'T DO IT, CAPTAIN! I DON'T GOT THE MANPOWER!" Lubdan responded regretfully.
Captain Nero Ramos returned his gaze forward and from the small screen in front of Warlock he seemed to be looking Warlock dead in the eyes.
"You heard him, Lieutenant. Looks like YOU'RE FUCKED! OVER AND OUT!" Captain Ramos said with a small grin.
Before Warlock could respond to the unbelievable statement of his captain the screen closed and Warlock saw an explosion to his right and left at the same time. His two guard fighter ships were destroyed by enemy fire leaving Warlock with no cover. He glanced at his scanners and a horrible realization hit him as he saw the Kruegons had over thirty five ships heading in his direction and he was now the only fighter ship left from the S.S Englund. He then watched in fascinated disbelief as the S.S Englund in the distance to his right disappeared into warp speed going in the other direction. He had been left behind by his captain and he didn't have a snowball's chance in hell.
"That motherfucker!" Warlock spat.
An alternating red and green light began blinking on the control panel before him, indicating he was receiving an incoming communication from the Kruegon's captain. Warlock was screwed either way so he accepted the transmission. As soon as Warlock saw the man on his screen the fog on his brain began to slowly dissipate.
He saw a man wearing a red and green striped uniform and he was covered in horrible wet burns with yellow eyes and blackened teeth and Warlock could see the man was wearing a glove on one hand with four razor sharp blades. Warlock remembered everything, how he had piloted the crew of the Beowulf to Earth-1 where they had brought back three artifacts. One of which was the very glove he saw the man holding on his screen. He wasn't with the crew when they researched the items but Nero and Butch had filled him in prior to Cryo-Sleep, telling him all about Fredrick Krueger, the killings, the glove being his weapon. They told him about how Candilynn had gone off the deep end and said the diary she had found on Earth-1 told stories of the man some called Freddy being a supernatural dream demon who could come after people in their dreams and if he killed them there they were dead for real. Warlock was a very superstitious man and being in his sixties and a pilot he had been in enough cryo-sleeps that he knew this was no ordinary dream. He had a bad feeling about the items ever since he had flown them back to the Beowulf. Something had just felt wrong and now he knew why.
"Warlock Rollins, this is Captain Fred. I just wanted to reiterate your elf eared boss' prognosis and let you know you are indeed FUCKED!" Freddy said on his screen.
"Well, Captain Fred, this is retired Marine pilot Warlock Rollins and you can go fuck yourself!" Warlock spat back and accelerated his fighter ship head on towards the squadron of Kruegons that were heading his way.
"OOOOH, NOOOO! You hurt my feelings, Rollins. Whatever will I do...oh, I know! I'll just blow your ass out of the sky!" Freddy said, laughing.
Freddy slammed his hand down on a control panel in front of him and Warlock watched as the largest ship in front of him lit up on it's front and a giant laser shot out and hit Warlock's ship head on.
Warlock was prepared for death. His had been a good life. He'd been on many adventures, fought in half a dozen conflicts and wars. If he was going out at least it was behind the controls of a fighter ship, even if it wasn't a real battle. The fighter ship exploded around Warlock but he didn't feel a thing. After a moment he was floating in the dead of space but he wasn't expanding. Instead, he noticed he was becoming transparent. He looked up at Freddy's ship defiantly. He couldn't hear Freddy or see him but as Warlock disappeared completely Freddy had something to say.
"Playtime's over, Varissa!"
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Talos was ready. He looked up at his deceased crew mate in their cryo-chamber as he waived his hand over the cryo-chamber room's control panel and finished inputting all the prompts required to gain access to the dreamscape once more. He hoped he could give the remaining crew member's the ace in the hole they desperately needed, a way to defeat Freddy and ensure he didn't get to spread his legend to Earth-2 or Somnium-5.
"You were a good friend. You may not know it but you are still helping your crew. Your death will not be in vain," Talos said as his index finger opened and a wire snaked out and connected itself to the control panel.
Moments later audible clicks could be heard as Talos-16's eyes closed and after countless attempts he finally made his way back inside to assist his friends.
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Chapter Thirteen
Melinoe
Lubdan watched as Varissa floated in the air three feet above the floor of the boiler room, white energy pulsating around her body. She seemed to be exerting an extreme amount of energy. His eyes widened as to her left and right he saw the outline of two humanoid figures begin to appear. Sweat was pouring off Varissa's brow and her skin was turning pale. He could tell it was taking a lot out of the young doctor but she was so close.
"You're doing it, V! Try to hold on a little longer," Lubdan cheered.
As he watched he saw the outlines begin to fill in and he could make out Nero and Warlock. After several moments they were completely corporeal and Lubdan spoke up.
"You did it, Varissa! They're here!"
Varissa let go of the power she was connecting to and dropped to the ground with a thud, her eyes closed.
"What the hell is going on?" Warlock asked, looking over at Varissa's prone body. "Did Freddy get to her?" he asked showing great concern. He knelt at her side and lifted an arm and placed his fingers around her wrist checking for a pulse. When he found one he breathed a sigh of relief. "Don't do that to me girl. You're gonna give your old work dad a heart attack."
Nero knelt on her other side, confused about how he came to be in a dank room covered in pipes and scaffolding. He decided that didn't matter. All that mattered at that moment was the woman that lay unconscious beside him. They had a date planned after their current trip and he intended to keep the engagement.
"Hey, hey," Nero said, shaking her shoulder gently. "Talk to me. We got plans for Yarv- something or other...eh whatever it's called, Noc'Tralian coffee, remember. Varissa, can you hear me?"
"She's got a pulse so I think she's okay. Where are we? How did we get here?" Warlock questioned directing his attention to Lubdan who had been sitting on the floor not far away but was now standing.
"It's a long story but listen, we are it. Freddy has killed the rest of the crew. Talos has been trying to help from the outside. Varissa will explain everything to you as soon as she wakes. She said this might happen after she pulled you two here. Freddy had us separated so he could pick us off easier. Varissa has the ability to take him on and there is a way we can help. We brought him off Old Earth and we got to stop him before he can spread his legend anywhere else. Talos was able to get here before and he saved my life and gave me this."
Lubdan showed the two men his count down bracelet. The timer now said one hour and forty five minutes.
"When this timer hits zero we are going to wake up back on the Beowulf. If Freddy doesn't get us first, and when we wake up, Freddy is still gonna be here in the dreamscape waiting for us. When we go back to sleep he is going to be after us again. We have to defeat him, because no matter what happens now the records of the Beowulf are going to show our research into Freddy and that glove and just the knowledge of that bastard is enough for him to spread like a virus! But if he is dead and gone it won't matter!"
"How are we supposed to kill something that isn't mortal?" Warlock asked.
"We take the fight to him and we don't stop until he's gone for good," Varissa said with a moan as she slowly sat up.
Nero immediately put his arm around her, "Hey, take it easy. Are you okay?"
"Yes, just a bit of a headache. I'm glad to see you Nero," Varissa said with a smile. Nero smiled back, a slight blush on his cheek. "Still up for that Yarvestiq when we get to Somnium-5?"
"Yep, that's what it's called," Nero said, snapping his fingers. "I definitely remembered that name and of course we will. You know it!"
Varissa turned her attention to the grizzled pilot kneeling at her other side. She looked at him and a smile grew on her face.
"Warlock, you're okay!" she said with joy.
"Gonna take a lot more than a walking scrotum with butter knives for fingers to take this old soldier out young lady!" Warlock replied. "Besides, somebody has got to be here to look out for you!"
"I'd say she looked out for you fellas," Lubdan chimed in with a chuckle.
"Yes, yes you did. I don't know how you did it, but you got me out right in the nick of time !" Warlock said, embracing Varissa with a hug. "I owe you my life. Thank you so much. You're like the daughter I never had."
Varissa hugged him back, "Wait, you have two daughters though."
"I said what I said," Warlock said with a smile as he released the hug. "Now, tell us what you need us to do."
"Of course, whatever we can do, you can count on us! Thank you for pulling me out of the fire too," Nero began and then he gave Varissa a serious look. "Lubdan told us that bastard killed the rest of the crew! He's gonna pay! What do you need from us? How do we fight him?"
"Right! Here goes, get ready because it's gonna sound a bit out there!" Varissa said, rising to her feet. Nero and Warlock stood as well both helping her as she stood with a slight wobble.
"If they've been through anything like you and I have then I think they'll just about believe anything you tell them, V," Lubdan said.
Varissa opened her mouth to tell them about Alice, about the dream powers, about the dream warriors but before she could the furnace behind her fired to life and steam began hissing through the pipes.
"Lubby Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling," Freddy sang out as he popped up behind Lubdan. Lubdan turned quickly and saw Freddy bringing his glove down to slash him. Lubdan instinctively threw his arm up to block the strike and Freddy's blades slashed across his forearm. The impact knocked him to the floor as he held his bleeding arm.
"You're going down, you worm!" Warlock said, seething.
"You picked the wrong people to fuck with!" Nero added as he and Warlock advanced towards Freddy.
"Sticks and stones, boys!" Freddy crooned as he threw his hands to both sides and an unseen force struck Warlock and Nero and knocked them to each side of the room. They both hit the pipes and fell to the floor slightly dazed.
Freddy looked at Varissa with a fire and intensity in his eyes like never before, "I waited too long for my big comeback for you and your Futurama rejects to fuck it up! This new world is in dire need of a boogeyman and I've got my application in!" Freddy growled
Varissa stood firm. She looked at Lubdan on the floor holding his bleeding arm then at Nero and Warlock who were both slowly trying to stand after being hurled against the pipes of the boiler room. Then she stared Freddy dead in his eyes and concentrated. Freddy saw her eyes turn solid white.
"NOT THIS TIME BITCH!" he yelled and with supernatural speed was directly in front of her and had his ungloved hand around her neck choking her as he lifted her off her feet. "Say goodbye, nice try, time to die!"
Freddy pulled his gloved hand back and lined the blades up with Varissa's abdomen, ready to strike.
"NOT TODAY KRUEGER!" Warlock yelled holding a large pipe over his head and running up behind Freddy to strike. With lightning reflexes Freddy released Varissa who fell to the floor and Freddy spun around completely facing Warlock and threw his gloved hand out in front of him. Still holding the pipe over his head Warlock ran directly into Freddy's blades. The blades cut into his stomach and Freddy smiled and began flicking his fingers and lifting his gloved hand, cutting up into Warlock's rib cage.
"Yes, today, Warlock. Today you die and this meddling bitch gets what's coming to her!" Freddy replied.
Varissa watched from the floor in horror as her work dad looked down at his gutted belly in disbelief. Her solid white eyes returned to normal. "WARLOCK, NO!" she screamed.
Warlock lost all strength as blood poured out of his open stomach and sternum. He let go of the pipe and it fell to the floor as Freddy continued to jerk his hand upwards a moment longer. "Get your gut off my glove asshole!" Freddy said with a laugh as he jerked his blades out of Warlock's stomach and Warlock fell to his knees and crumpled to his back next to Varissa, his stomach bleeding.
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you more, Varissa," Warlock said, breathing hard, the life draining from his body. "Listen kiddo...It's not too late, I still believe in you. Kill that son of a bitch and send him to hell" he finished, using every bit of willpower and strength he had left to finish his sentence before falling limp as life left him forever.
Varissa dropped to her knees and lifted Warlock's head and cradled it in her arm, "I will...I will..." Varissa said and then jerked her head up at Freddy. "You're dead, Krueger!"
"Look around! You're in my world! You are only alive because I wasn't done playing with my food yet!" Freddy said, holding his hands in the air. "But that ends now!"
He brought his hand down fast, his blades heading straight for Varissa's face, but right before they made contact a blue hand caught Freddy's wrist. Freddy jerked his head to the owner of the blue hand and saw Nyquilio standing defiant, staring into the dream demon's eyes. The Noc'Tralian's middle eye was still a gaping bloody hole, his stomach still an open mostly empty cavity.
"What! WHAT THE FUCK?! I KILLED YOU!" Freddy yelled, shocked to see one of his victims seemingly back from the dead and much stronger than they were in life. Freddy moaned in pain as Nyquilio squeezed his wrist. Freddy then took a closer look into the alien's two remaining eyes, seeing something familiar.
"Oh I see! Looks like Go-bot is more than meets the eye! Clever little shit, aren't you! Don't worry I'll send you packing ag-"
A beam of pure white energy slammed into Freddy, cutting off his words and sending him flying away into the darkness so far that nobody even heard him land. Nero looked to Varissa, saw her eyes were completely white. She closed her eyes and when she reopened them they were back to normal.
Nero got to his feet and reached down and extended a hand to Lubdan who took it and Nero pulled him to his feet. Varissa, Nero, and Lubdan all looked at Nyquilio.
"Talos? Is that really you?" Lubdan asked, his eyes watering.
"Yes, Freddy was blocking me from accessing any of your neural implants making it impossible to access your subconciousness but he wasn't watching the deceased crew member's neural implants. Nyquilio is dead but the neural implant is keeping a very small part of his brain alive and that was enough for me to sneak back in. I am sorry you have to see our friend like this," Talos said from Nyquilio's mouth.
"Is there any part of him still in there?" Varissa asked amazed.
"Yes, a very small part. He is not in pain and he knows when he is unjacked he is gone forever but is happy to facilitate my entry to assist you all. He apologizes he's not here to help and says…" Talos closed his eyes to receive the full message and continued, "To give the burnt bastard hell." The last part of his message came out in Nyquilio's voice instead of Talos'.
"Thank you, friend. I'm sorry this happened to you," Varissa replied. Lubdan's eyes watered more and a tear slid down his cheek.
"You got it, bud! Thank you!" Nero called out.
Talos in Nyquilio's body nodded at the three, letting them know Nyquilio got the message and then Talos began to speak, "I gathered some important data from the diary scans. You may have trouble defeating Freddy Krueger here in his dreamscape but there is a way to put him on an equal ground."
"How?" Varissa asked.
"As I'm sure you know, Lubdan has a device that has been counting down how long you have been in Cryo-Sleep. When that device hits zero you will all wake up in your cryo chambers. You need to have a physcial hold on Freddy Krueger when that time hits zero. If you can accomplish this task you will bring him into our reality and out of his dreamscape. By doing so he will be mortal again which will make him easier to defeat and destroy. The artifacts that were brought back from old earth have all been destroyed or have disappeared and no longer pose a threat of being found by others." Talos explained.
"What do you mean destroyed or disappeared?" Nero asked
"The glove vanished before my eyes shortly before Candilynn's death and the diary combusted into flame at that very time as well. The model home also combusted moments before Christina's death. I did not fully understand at the time but I now believe those items were a manipulation from his dreamscape, tools Freddy Kreuger used to lure us in and give him access to our ship and your subconsciousness and once he had that access the artifacts were no longer needed. If we can bring him out of his dreamscape then we can correct the mistake we made by falling for his trap."
"You're damn right we will! Lubdan, how much time is left?" Varissa asked.
Lubdan glanced at the timer, it seemed to be moving faster than ever before. "Fifty two minutes and twenty three seconds."
"Okay, let's find him or hope he finds us first and we'll be ready!" Varissa said. She gave Nero the fast version of events that had transpired with Alice. She spoke of the bloodline, her dream powers, and how Nero could look inside himself and find the dream warrior within. She explained that this may be Freddy's dreamscape but that they all could manipulate their dreams. After she was done Nero spoke up.
"Okay, Varissa, you use those sexy powers and Lubdan and I will hulk up. We'll kick his ass up and down his little dream world then we pull him into the Beowulf and show him who he's been fucking with!"
"Sounds like a plan," Varissa said.
Lubdan walked over to Talos/Nyquilio and stood in front of him and placed a hand on his blue cheek. "If I don't make it back, I just want you to know the past eleven months have been the greatest of my life and no matter how you came into my life I still feel like the luckiest guy in all the galaxies."
"And I the luckiest android," Talos/Nyquilio responded. He looked at Lubdan's arm with the four fresh cuts still oozing blood and seemed concerned. He kneeled next to Warlock and tore fabric from the sleeve of Warlock's shirt.
"I am sorry, Warlock. Thank you for your bravery," he said and stood to turn back to Lubdan as he wrapped the fabric around Lubdan's fresh injuries tying it tight. "Be safe my friend and I will see you soon," Talos/Nyquilio said.
"Aye, friend," Lubdan responded as he reached up and held Talos/Nyquilio's face in his hands and leaned his head in and pressed their foreheads together. He then let go and stepped back next to Nero and Varissa.
"Are you going to fight with us?" Nero asked.
"I will do everything I-" Talos/Nyquilio began but did not get to finish his sentence as the body of a gigantic red and green snake the girth of a semi trailer fell upon him, smashing him against the floor of the boiler room. Blood shot out from both sides of the snake's body. It's head was almost four times bigger than any of the three remaining humans that stood before it.
"Sorry, I found his conversation a little flat!" The snake said in Freddy's voice, flicking it's gigantic forked tongue.
Varissa, Nero, and Lubdan backed up and prepared for the fight of their lives, white energy began encompassing Varissa's body and her eyes turned solid white.
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Talos-16's eyes snapped open at the control panel in the cryo-chamber lab. He disconnected the cable from his index finger from the control panel. He had successfully delivered the information and now it was up to the remaining crew to do the rest. He had intended to stay but Freddy had snuck up on him and taken him out of the equation. He knew trying to go back in through another deceased crew member would be futile at this point. Instead Talos walked to the lift and took it to the cargo bay and returned to the Cryo-Lab with a Plasma Rifle. He would stand ready for his friends return with Freddy and he would be the one to take the child killer out for killing so many of his friends and for hurting Lubdan.
After Freddy was dead though Talos would have to inform the remaining crew of another problem that would need immediate attention. The surge Freddy had sent through the control panel and into the Beowulf after Candilynn's death days before not only caused the comms to stop working but the auto-piloting system had been affected and warp speed would not stop at the scheduled time that cryo-sleep ended like Warlock had set it to do. Now, without Warlock Rollins to deactivate the Warp Speed systems manually they would be overshooting their desired stopping coordinates with every passing second once Cryo-Sleep ended.
They would be flying blind and could collide with any number of things in space and their fight to stay alive against Krueger would have been in vain. He had thought to tell them while he was in the dreamscape but knew they were about to face a serious challenge and thought it best to wait until they were awake. They would have to come up with a plan and fast. Talos held the Plasma Rifle up at the ready. When Freddy appeared he would take him out right away so they could work on coming out of warp speed and end this nightmare once and for all.
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Chapter Fourteen
Don't Wanna Dream No More
REMAINING TIME UNTIL CRYO-SLEEP ENDS: Thirty Nine Minutes Ten Seconds
The giant red and green snake that was Freddy Krueger struck at the three remaining crew member's of the Beowulf. Varissa threw her hand into the air and a blinding white light formed in her palm. She drew her hand back and threw it towards the snake. A ball of bright white energy shot into the open mouth of the giant serpent and it recoiled. Varissa quickly took Nero's hand in one of her hands and Lubdan's hand in the other. A white energy came out of the floor around their feet and rose forming a dome around the trio. The giant Freddy serpent lifted a large section of it's tail and slammed it down on the ground violently.
Immediately, the ground of the boiler room began to rumble and shake, scaffolding and pipes were being shook loose. Freddy swung his tail swiftly at the trio and when the tail struck the dome Varissa, Lubdan, and Nero were actually jolted. The burning white light in Varissa's eyes faded slightly. Freddy was making head way. Freddy saw he was weakening Varissa and he was poised to strike again. He drew his large head back, looked down at the three soon to be victims surround by a dome of white energy and thrust his head forward with purpose. He would not be stopped this time. His open mouth struck the dome but did not penetrate it. The three inside the dome were almost knocked off their feet, but they were united, determined, and they did not let go of each other's hands.
Varissa took a slow deep breath and thought of all her fallen friends. She let anger and vengeance fill her. The white energy in her eyes was no longer fading. It grew brighter and the room shook harder.
But the fire within Freddy also burned hotter than ever, his irritation, hatred, and homicidal rage radiated from his entire being. A blood red energy began pulsating around the giant glowing serpent. Freddy manifested his own dream energy and decided he would swallow the three in one strike.
He reared his huge head back, stared through his large serpent eyes down at the three defiant humans and they stared back up at him. Varissa dared him with her eyes to do his worst.
Freddy accepted her dare and struck, mouth open wide. Varissa jerked her head up looking above the giant snake and then jerked her head back down and the scaffolding above Freddy broke loose and fell crashing onto the head of the giant Freddy snake and pressed him hard against the floor.
More pipes snapped and steam spewed from all around the boiler room. Varissa jerked her head towards the furnace and the door opened. She jerked her head towards Freddy's prone snake form held beneath a mountain of fallen scaffolding and pipes and the fire inside the furnace shot out and struck the pile of rubble and the snake below it. Freddy howled in pain and jerked his entire form up sending the rubble flying. Pipes and broken scaffolding fell to the floor like rain, pieces which would have surely hurt or killed Varissa, Nero, and Lubdan had they not bounced off the dome of energy. The giant snake was free but after the rubble stopped falling Freddy returned to his original form and stared at the protected trio before him.
"What we need is a change of venue, wouldn't you agree?" Freddy asked as he snapped his fingers.
The world went black for Varissa, Nero, and Lubdan and when light returned they found themselves in 1428 Elm Street at the bottom of the stairs. They looked up and saw Freddy smiling down at them from the top of the stairs.
"I told you, this is my world! I make the rules! And I didn't agree to a handicap match!" he shouted.
He looked towards the living room to the left of the group and a large skeletal hand and arm shot out from the darkness and grabbed Lubdan and yanked him into the dark living room. At the exact same moment from the small room to the right of the group another large skeletal arm and hand shot out and grabbed Nero and yanked him into the darkness of that room.
Varissa turned and ran towards the room where Nero had just been pulled and from nowhere a brick wall erected from the floor, sealing the room off. She spun and ran for the living room to her left and another brick wall erupted from the floor and sealed off the living room. Varissa jerked her head back up the stairs at Krueger.
"It won't work, Freddy! You tried separating us before and we came together! We will again!" she barked at the dream demon. She concentrated hard, willing her power to bring them back to her side. Nothing was happening.
"Oh, no! Are your dream powers not returning your backup to you?" Freddy laughed. "They're already in your dream, bitch, and your powers are nothing compared to mine!"
Freddy snarled as he began descending the stairs towards Varissa, "I really should call an exterminator for this old house. There's dirt and spider webs everywhere!"
Something was happening to Freddy. He took another step, his body rippling as two more arms burst from Freddy's sides and two more legs shot out from his hips. He bent backwards as his entire body and all eight limbs transformed.
"Oh, shit," she breathed.
He spun to face her and she almost shrieked when she saw he was now a huge red and green tarantula with the burnt face of Freddy Krueger. Two large dripping black fangs protruded from his grinning mouth below eight yellow eyes.
Varissa let her dream power replace the shock and fear she felt and her eyes turned white as she pulled all the power she could muster from deep inside and prepared to unleash it on Freddy.
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REMAINING TIME UNTIL CRYO-SLEEP ENDS: Fifteen Minutes Thirty Three Seconds
Lubdan found himself in a large dusty living room with broken furniture. He stood, brushing himself off, and looked to see brick walls sealing the only two doorways in the room. He heard a metallic noise coming from behind a broken couch at the rear of the room. He watched in panicked terror as Jason his childhood robotic dog leapt over the broken couch to land on the floor in front of it.
Jason stared at Lubdan, it's razor teeth beginning to spin in it's metallic jaws, it's eyes turning blood red. Lubdan felt pure fear consuming him. What could he do now? His left shoulder was still injured from the damn alien attack on the dreamscape Beowulf and his right forearm had semi fresh slash marks from Freddy's glove. He was a non athletic, frail lab rat. It's not like he even had a protective layer of muscle like Nero did.
In that instant, a thought struck Lubdan. His Gallagher Sphere, the one he had loaned Varissa and the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 that Talos was supposed to be working on while they were in Cryo-Sleep. He had designed a telepathic morphing nano ant weapon and that was in the real world with no dream warrior powers. He wondered what his imagination could muster here in the dreamscape.
Jason the robo-dog ran towards Lubdan, gnashing its spinning razor teeth. It drew within a few feet and dove into the air. Lubdan threw his hands out to his sides in a hero pose and closed his eyes and a metallic sphere rose out of the center of his chest. It rested there for a millisecond before spreading out, forming a nano-armor suit around his chest, legs, arms, and head.
He threw his forearm out in front of him and Jason bit down on his armored arm and most of the robotic dog's spinning razor teeth shattered and fell to the floor. Lubdan smiled beneath his Nano-Helmet and looked down at the now sad looking robo-dog. Lubdan glanced at his right arm and concentrated and within seconds the barrel of a laser gun rose from the back of his hand on top of the arm covering it. He pointed it at Jason and thought the command "shoot" and a powerful laser beam blasted from the barrel.
Jason leapt out of the path of the blast. Lubdan zeroed in and shot again and again Jason jumped out the way. Jason pivoted and dove straight for Lubdan and Lubdan threw a punch and struck the dog in it's snout sending it smashing against the wall of the room.
The dog turned and stared as Lubdan began to raise his arm and then two more dogs seemingly phased through the floor both exact copies of his robotic dog with bright red eyes and spinning razor teeth. All three dogs ran at Lubdan and he took a deep breath and concentrated. Power surged through the suit and blasts of energy shot from the bottom of the feet and he hovered three feet in the air.
He held out both of his hands and concentrated. The three dogs leapt in unison and Lubdan was ready. He fired his laser, the beam striking the dog on the far left, exploding it into shrapnel. He blasted the dog on the far right and it followed suit. He then quickly aimed his arm at the original Jason. It was less than two feet from him, it's missing teeth no longer looking pathetic but now strangely terrifying. Lubdan unloaded a final shot as it was less than half a foot away and it exploded into pieces on the floor.
"I could get use to this," Lubdan said to himself as he turned to face the brick wall that led back to where Varissa was having to face Krueger alone.
"I'm coming, Dr. V!"
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Nero stood in a small office room, the doorway behind him now sealed by a brick wall. He heard a cracked and jumped back as something crashed through the ceiling above him and landed five feet away. It was the creature Freddy had taken the form of to hunt him earlier. He had called it the Fredator. It had it's blades extended and was not wearing it's armor. It's mandibles moved back and forth as it stared at Nero. It advanced and raised the blades and brought them down. Nero barely dodged out of the way, feeling the wind of the attack blow through his hair.
Nero backed around the corner of the empty room. He had no weapon, no plan, and he didn't have a lot of space. The creature spun to face him and advanced again, it's blades held high again.
Nero let his fear and anxiety go as he thought about what Varissa had said about having a dream warrior inside of him. He simply needed to let it out.
The creature closed in and swung its blades towards him. Nero saw it in his mind's eye and became his dream warrior. He felt his body grow, his arms doubled in size and muscle, his legs, waist, chest, neck, and head followed suit and he threw his hands into the air and caught the blades in his bare hands before they could strike him.
Nero had hulked up in size and muscle and the blades could not even penetrate his skin. He grabbed hold of the creatures blades and ripped them from it's arm. The Fredator screamed in anger and it's mandibles opened. It lunged to bite at Nero and Nero threw an elbow to the side of its head. He heard a crack as the beast fell to the floor.
It stood quickly and came back for him. Nero held the four blades in his hands and turned them back towards his attacker. It lunged for him and he shoved the blades into its face, driving them through its eyes and out the back of its head. The Fredator fell to the floor and turned to ash at his feet.
Nero turned and faced the brick wall that stood between him and Varissa.
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Spider Freddy stopped a few steps up from Varissa and leaned back. She had expected him to strike but he hadn't. Instead, Spider Freddy reared its body back and then thrust forward and a large stream of sticky webbing sprayed out wrapping Varissa in its viscous coating. She struggled to break free but it only made her feel more stuck. She had built up dream energy but had missed her chance to dispel it.
Spider Freddy came down the remaining steps and one of its legs flicked out, knocking Varissa to the floor. The man sized Freddy Spider crawled to Varissa's prone form on the floor and leaned its head back, extending its fangs.
Now, she thought.
It struck at her and Varissa released all the energy she had built up. Light exploded from her melting the webbing that held her in place. She rolled out of the way and Freddy Spider's fangs drove through the wooden floor where she had been a half second before.
Freddy Spider jerked its body back, trying to pull its fangs free. Varissa's eyes went full white again and a ball of white energy formed around her right hand. She pulled her hand back and unleashed a punch square in the spider's face.
The white energy exploded upon contact destroying all eight of the large arachnid's eyes. Freddy howled in pain and in an instant returned to his original form. He writhed on the floor, holding his face. Varissa concentrated all of her dream energy into what she thought was the perfect foil to finally end Freddy. Varissa put all of her concentration on her right hand and watched in wonder as a solid white glove with four blade shaped shafts of dream energy formed on her right hand.
Varissa walked to Freddy and stood over him. "Dreams over, bitch. Time to wake up," she snarled, driving the energy blades down into Freddy's side. She heard a wet thick thwap as the shaft of energy penetrated the sweater and then the burnt skin of the dream demon. Freddy screamed in agony as she pulled the blades out and prepared to strike again. The four holes in Krueger's side did not bleed. Instead, a yellow light glowed from the holes and bits of the light began seeping out of the wound. Varissa drew her gloved hand back, aiming for his heart. Suddenly, the floor began to tremble beneath her. She looked up and saw the entire house was breaking apart around them.
Freddy looked up at Varissa and started laughing maniacally as she looked around at the collapsing structure. She looked back at Freddy and saw his wound was sealing back up.
"I told you," Freddy gasped. "This is my world. You're just a pesky door to door salesman and I'm not buying!"
He growled as he leapt to his feet and swung at her. She held out her white energy gloved hand and the two gloves met. She pushed against Krueger and Krueger pushed against her. The stairs beside them broke into splintered wood and fell through the rotten wooden floor into the basement. The dream demon and the dream master stood on the precipice of the large hole that fell to the basement. Varissa glanced down into the hole and saw the entire basement was engulfed in red and green flames. Freddy pushed out with his gloved hand still locked onto Varissa's, He was pushing her towards the hole. Varissa pushed back.
"Why did you let this happen to me?" Varissa heard Candilynn's voice and looked behind Freddy. Candi stood there blood dripping from her eyes.
"Why didn't you save my Chrissy?"
Varissa looked to the left of Candi and saw the charred remains of Donella, her entire body burnt to a crisp. She had one of her burnt arms draped over Christina and was holding her against her side. Christina held up her hands to Varissa and she saw each had a large gaping hole through the palm. "Where were you when I needed you?" Christina asked.
Varissa felt her heart sinking. If she had only found Alice sooner she could have saved them all. What good were her powers now that she was the last one standing? Nero and Lubdan were surely dead too. Her strength began to fade. Freddy pushed her closer to the hole, a grin growing on his face.
"Yes, that's it. Feel the failure, Varissa. They're all dead. What's the point now? All that's left is you and a walking talking computer," Freddy said low and flat.
"I'm so disappointed in you," said another voice. "I thought of you like my daughter. Hell, I loved you more than my own no good kids but you brought me into your dream to try to protect me and all you did was end up getting me killed. If you'd just left me where I was I may have survived!"
It was Warlock's voice. Varissa looked next to Donella and saw her work dad standing there, a look of disappointment on his face. He shook his head from side to side, the motion causing his spilled intestines to pendulum back and forth from his split open stomach. She her strength ebbed more and Freddy pushed her closer to the opening.
"I just wanted to see new worlds and meet more humans and look what happened to me. Where were your powers when I needed you?" Nyquilio said. Varissa scanned the room and saw him standing next to Candilynn, his middle eye missing, his stomach an empty cavity. He was covered in blood.
"Hell, at least she talked to you Big Blue. She wouldn't even give me the time of day. Even if she had her powers when I needed her she'd probably just let me die. She doesn't care about anyone but herself!" Butch said. He had walked up next to Nyquilio and put his hand on the Noc'Tralian's shoulder. She could barely make out Butch's features. His face, neck, and chest had been slashed so severely he barely resembled a human being anymore.
"I'm sorry! All of you! I'm sorry! I wanted to save you all! He was after me too! I didn't know what I was capable of!" Varissa began to plead, her distraction allowing Freddy to push her ever so closer to the hole. Her feet hung partially over the opening and she could feel the heat from the fire on her legs.
"Just let go, Dr. V! It's okay, I did," said Lubdan. He stood right next to Freddy looking Varissa in the eyes. He looked as if he had been mauled by a bear, his left cheek nothing but loose meat hanging from his face. As he spoke a small chunk fell to the floor.
"Looks like we won't be getting that Yarvestiq after all huh, doc?" Nero asked as he stepped up next to Lubdan. Four bloody gashes ran vertically from his belly button to the base of his neck.
"I was wrong about you. You didn't have what it took to defeat Freddy and now he's out. The blood of everyone that dies going forward is on your head," said one final voice. It was Alice. She stood behind Varissa and put her hand on her shoulder and whispered directly into her ear. "You might as well burn just like me. Freddy won. He always wins…"
They were all right. Varissa saw no reason to keep fighting. She prepared to let go completely. What was she fighting for anyway?
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TIME REMAINING UNTIL CRYO-SLEEP ENDS: Fifty Five seconds
As Varissa's right foot slipped into the hole she was shocked out of her almost hypnotic trance of guilt as the brick walls on both sides of the room exploded into dust. On her left stood Lubdan in a head to toe metallic silver armor suit and to her right stood Nero who looked like he had more than doubled in size and muscle. Varissa watched as each of Freddy's deceptions disappeared one by one until it was just the two of them locked glove to glove and Nero and Lubdan on the sides of the room.
"Varissa we're here!" Nero shouted.
Varissa snapped her head back at Freddy and returned her energy back to defeating him or at least taking him with them back to the waking world of the Beowulf. The white energy blazed in her eyes like two bright white fires burning in her eye sockets. Her white energy gloved hand grew brighter than ever and she began pushing back.
"If we are taking him we got to do it now!" Lubdan yelled looking at his timer.
He saw Freddy push against Varissa, their gloves intertwined. Lubdan lifted his arm and shot a blast of white energy, striking Freddy in his side causing him to flinch and move backwards slightly crying out in pain. Lubdan rushed to Varissa's left side and took hold of Freddy's wrist below the glove and began pushing with Varissa. Nero leapt over the hole and the fire below it and threw a punch into Freddy's right side with his massively strong arms and fist. Freddy cried out in pain again and almost doubled over taking another step backwards giving Varissa the ability to move away from the hole and stand back on solid ground. Nero took hold of Freddy's forearm from the right side below Lubdan's grip. They held on for dear life and pushed with everything they had.
Then the floor they stood on began to crack and shift as the floor gave way beneath them. Varissa shot her left hand out and grabbed onto Freddy's sweater as Lubdan and Nero now held Freddy's gloved arm with both their hands and they all four fell into the red and green flames together as the floor of the house came crashing down.
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Chapter Fifteen
Maybe Tonight You'll Be Gone
Varissa was preparing to feel the heat of the flames consume her when all of a sudden her eyes shot open and she was looking out into the Beowulf's Cryo-Chamber room as her own chamber hissed and its front slid open. She heard two more chambers do likewise. She was disoriented but one thing pushed through the fog and brought her to full attention.
"FREDDY!" she yelled out into the room.
"I am sorry, Dr. DeGenarro. It looks like you did not succeed in bringing him back," Talos-16 said as he lowered the Plasma Rifle he had been pointing in the direction of the cryo chambers.
Varissa looked defeated. She glanced around the room and saw six of the chambers covered in heavy canvas. Talos had made sure they would not have to see their fallen friends upon returning to the Beowulf from the dreamscape. "I can't believe they're all gone," Varissa said softly.
"Hey, hey, Talos...buddy do you mind if I hold onto that?" Nero asked as he exited his cryo chamber and crossed the room to stand by Talos, Talos nodded approvingly and handed the rifle to Nero. Nero put the strap over his shoulder and let the gun hang from his back.
Varissa stared at the big man for a moment, letting go of the threat of Freddy and her sadness at the loss of her deceased crew mates. A smile grew on her face as their eyes met. Life was short and they had all barely survived. She rushed from her chamber, grabbed Nero's right hand and pulled him into a hug and laid a kiss on him. Nero was taken aback but began kissing her as well. After a moment. he pulled back.
"Hey, it's good to see you too," he said before wrapping his arms back around Varissa and laying another kiss on her. Finally, they pulled apart as another voice rang out.
"Talos!" Lubdan called from his cryo-chamber. He tried to rush to his android friend's side and almost fell over from the disorientation of coming out of cryo-sleep
"Whoa, that would have sucked," he said as he threw his arms around Talos-16, the android returning the gesture. "I'm so glad to see you."
"And I you," Talos replied.
"Ow...Ow," Lubdan cried out, wincing at the pain in his right shoulder and left forearm. "Maybe not so tight"
"I apologize," Talos said with a smile.
"I'm glad we all made it out," Varissa said with her arm around Nero's waist and his arm around hers. "But we have to stop Freddy. Talos, put me back under. I'll try to pull him out again or kill the bastard in his own world! I was so close!"
"Indeed, Freddy is a problem we still need to solve but I am afraid we have a bigger issue at hand," Talos said solemnly, still in an embrace with Lubdan.
Lubdan released his hug on the android and stepped back. "What is it?" he asked.
"Yeah, what is a bigger deal than Freddy?" Varissa asked. She broke free of Nero and put her hands on her hips staring at the android inquisitively.
Talos-16 explained the surge Freddy had caused after Candilynn's death and how it had damaged the comms so they could not call for help and how it had damaged the auto-piloting system which in turn made it where they would not automatically come out of warp speed at the end of their cryo-sleep cycle like it had been programmed.
"Okay, well just take us out of warp speed. You're an android. You can get into the system, yeah?" Nero asked.
"It is not that simple. The auto-pilot warp speed programming was set by Pilot Warlock and because of the damage to the system it has to be shut off manually. Only Warlock holds the special pilot code to make that possible and sadly he is no longer able to divulge that information. I do apologize that I did not inform you when I was in the dreamscape but I did not want you to worry more than you already were. However we are currently flying blind and are moving further and further away from where we were supposed to come out of warp speed. Warlock had set a safe path with no obstructions. If we do not stop warp speed we could collide with any number of things at anytime and it would be an instantaneous death for us all."Talos explained.
"Oh, wow... What's the bad news, bud?" Nero asked sardonically.
"There is one possible solution," Talos added.
"And that is?" Varissa asked.
Talos-16 looked at Lubdan and Lubdan immediately knew what his friend was thinking.
"The shuttle?" Lubdan asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes, hypothetically we would have at least a thirty percent chance of successfully launching the shuttle at the right speed and angle to survive the launch while the ship is at warp speed.
"May I ask what happens if we don't successfully do all that stuff?" Nero asked with concern showing on his face.
"Basically, we'd be ripped into atoms," Lubdan answered.
"Oh, and I thought you were going to tell me it was something bad," Nero said with a dry laugh.
Varissa seemed to be deep in thought.
"Dr. DeGenarro, what do you think?" Talos asked.
"I think launching the shuttle is crazy. We can't do it," she said matter of factly.
"Well, what other option do we have, Dr. V?" Lubdan replied.
"Nyquilio," Varissa said looking straight at Talos-16.
Talos stared back blankly for a moment and then he perked up. "Of course, Dr. DeGenarro," Talos said while moving to the control panel of the Cryo-Lab. He waived his hands over the panel and a screen appeared. He scanned the screen and it flicked through several screens before landing on the one he was looking for. Talos examined it and turned to the crew.
"What? What is it? What do you mean Nyquilio?" Nero asked.
"He used Nyquilio's neural implant to gain access to the dreamscape and when he was in there he had a connection to a small part of Nyquilio's consciousness almost like a small backup of data like in a computer. Because the neural implant is still sort of powering part of the deceased crew mate's brains Talos can connect to Warlock's neural implant and hopefully be able to retrieve the information we need," Lubdan said. "Am I right?"
"Affirmative Lubdan," Talos said. He turned to Varissa, "We are wasting time, Dr. DeGenarro. You and Nero please make your way to the Cockpit. Lubdan and I will connect to Warlock through the central control panel in the Nano-Med lab. I will tell you how to prepare and once I am in what is left of Warlock's consciousness I will call out his passcode," Talos continued urgently.
"You got it bud," Nero said
"We'll be ready!" Varissa added as Nero took her hand. The two walked to the door of the cryo-chamber room, Nero placed his free hand on the scanner, and the door whooshed open and then closed behind them.
Talos waived his hand over the control panel in the middle of the cryo-chamber room and the screen disappeared. He then joined Lubdan as they followed Nero and Varissa towards the door of the cryo-chamber room that led to the corridor and on to the med lab.
"Did you get to work on Gallagher Sphere 2.0 at all?" Lubdan asked as he held his hand to the scanner and the cryo chamber room door whooshed open.
"Indeed, I was able to complete it before everything went bat shit crazy as you all would say. It actually exceeds even our expectations," Talos answered.
"Awesome, good work friend," Lubdan said as they left the cryo chamber room and turned down the corridor towards the lab and the door behind them whooshed closed.
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Nobody had noticed him hiding under the heavy canvas covering Colin "Butch" Stockard's Cryo-Chamber. He waited patiently, listening to every word, and when they had all left Freddy stepped out from behind Butch's chamber and pulled the canvas from it. He pushed on the chamber's cover and it slowly slid open. Freddy grabbed Butch's wrist and pulled on his arm with his left hand and then went to work with his bladed glove, cutting into Butch's dead arm. After a few moments Freddy had cut and pulled Butch's arm free from Butch's body from the elbow down.
"You fucks aren't going anywhere!" he growled as he headed for the Cryo-Chamber room's door.
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"Okay, we are in place," Nero said looking into the holographic screen in the cockpit. On the screen he saw Lubdan looking back at him.
"We are jacking Talos in right now," Lubdan responded.
Lubdan waived his hand over the control panel as Talos sat next to him and his index finger opened and a cord snaked out and connected to the panel. Talos closed his eyes and entered what was left of the consciousness of the deceased Warwick Rollins.
"Hold onto your dicks! As Warlock would always say," Varissa said from the cockpit.
Lubdan looked at the screen and smiled. "I know the two of you were very close, Dr. V. I am very sorry for your loss."
"Thank you, Lubdan. I appreciate it," she replied
"Alpha Foxtrot One Four Echo Zulu Two Eight X-Ray Hotel," Talos recited in a robotic monotone next to Lubdan and began repeating it.
"Did you get that guys?" Lubdan asked as he looked into the screen.
At the cockpit Nero looked at Lubdan on his screen. "I have received the passcode and I am putting it in according to Talos' instructions."
Varissa flipped three switches and pulled a lever as Talos had explained to them before going into Warlock's neural implant. Nero took hold of the manual controls with one hand as he waived his free hand over the control panel and a holographic screen appeared. A beep was heard prompting Nero to put in the passcode. He called it out "Alpha Foxtrot One Four Echo Zulu Two Eight X-Ray Hotel"
All the lights on the control panel and pilot board went out and then came back to life. A loud whirring noise could be heard from deep within the ship.
"Here we go," Varissa said.
The ship came out of warp speed. Varissa and Nero jumped to their feet and embraced in a hug.
"We did it!" Nero called towards the screen with Lubdan on it. Lubdan watched with a smile at Nero and Varissa hugging. He watched them kiss each other and then they turned towards the cockpit window and he watched as all joy drained from their faces.
"What's going on?" Lubdan asked with worry.
Beside Lubdan, Talos' eyes opened and the cord that ran from his index finger disconnected from the panel and retracted back into his open finger and the tip closed.
"Did we succeed?" Talos-16 asked.
"Um, Talos...We...uh...need you to look at this," Varissa said, a hint of panic creeping into her voice.
Varissa stared out of the cockpit window at something she herself had seen just days before when she dreamed of being chased by the red and green snakes. The snakes were terrifying yes but it was what Varissa was staring at in this waking moment that had scared her more in her nightmare.
"Is that what I think it is?" Nero asked in a small voice.
"Y...Yes," Varissa answered.
Outside the cockpit window was a gigantic black hole and the Beowulf was far, far too close. Nero waived his hand over the control panel to turn the screen towards the glass. Talos-16 looked at his screen in the nano med lab and knew without a doubt the Beowulf would not be able to escape being pulled into the black hole.
"What if we just turn the ship around and put it back into warp speed?" Lubdan asked turning to his friend, fear showing on his face.
Talos stared into Lubdan's eyes with a look of sorrow. "There is no time. It would take too long to attempt to turn the Beowulf around and then set up a warp speed trajectory. Our only hope is to prep the shuttle for a warp speed launch away from the black hole. From my calculations and our current distance from the black hole, we are already being pulled in. I would estimate we have six minutes until it is too late to escape even in the shuttle."
"Oh, god," Varissa said from the cockpit screen.
"What do we need to do?" Nero asked as the Beowulf was rocked by the pull of the black hole.
"You and Dr. DeGenarro head for the lift and meet us in the Nano-Med Lab. Lubdan and I will begin preparations," Talos answered.
"Roger that," Nero said waiving his hand over the panel to close the screen. "Let's go!" he said. He took Varissa's hand and they ran for the lift.
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"I am setting a clear trajectory for Somnium-5 in the Somnium Galaxy. It's our closest safe harbor," Lubdan said.
"Indeed," Talos said as he waived his hand frantically over the control panel to adjust the launch position of the shuttle.
The ship rocked again almost dumping Talos and Lubdan from their chairs. In that moment all the lights of the Beowulf went dark and were replaced by a slowly flickering red light.
"We have lost main power, Talos. Tell me we are still able to prep the shuttle's position," Lubdan begged.
"Affirmative, auxiliary power is at sustainable levels for our power requirements," Talos said. "I will just need to—
Talos was cut off by a voice calling to him from his screen.
"Um, guys, sorry to bother you but that power surge stalled the lift. We are in between floors and not moving," Nero said trying to sound calm.
"I'm sorry," Varissa said. "But what my ever so polite boyfriend is trying to say is—
"Boyfriend?" Nero asked.
"Sure, why not? You got a problem with that?" she asked
"No...no objections," he said, a hint of a smile in his voice.
"So," she continued. "What my boyfriend is politely trying to say is, Talos come FUCKING GET US!"
"I am on my way. Lubdan please finish setting the launch angle. It is almost complete," Talos said.
"You got it. Don't take too long. We got less than five minutes to boogey!" Lubdan called as he heard the door whoosh open and whoosh closed.
Lubdan got to work quickly waiving his hand frantically and let out a breath of relief as he finished prepping the shuttle. Behind him he heard the door whoosh back open and then felt a hand resting on his shoulder.
"Wow, that was fast," he said. He reached up, placing his hand on what he expected to be Talos' but instead he felt a cold stiff human hand lying on his shoulder. Lubdan slowly turned around and saw Freddy Krueger standing directly behind him holding a severed arm. The maniac waved the limb back and forth with a macabre smile on his burned face.
"Hiya Lubdan!" Freddy snarled dropping the hand and lunging at Lubdan, his bladed glove swinging down and connecting with Lubdan's chest. Blood sprayed onto Freddy and Lubdan's faces as the young scientist began to scream.
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Chapter Sixteen
Freddy In Space
Talos-16 stood before the lift in the flickering dim red light, his index finger opened, a cord snaked out and connected to the lift's scanner. Within seconds he heard a beep and then the lift came back to life, rising to his level. His finger cord retracted and the lift door opened.
"Thanks, Talos," Nero said. "We are cutting it close!"
"Are we prepped for launch?" Varissa asked.
"Affirmative, Lubdan is finishi—
Talos could not complete his statement as he was interrupted by a blood curdling scream coming from the Nano-Med lab.
"Lubdan!" Talos shouted, louder than he had ever spoken before.
Talos, Nero, and Varissa sprinted to the nano med lab and Talos placed his hand over the scanner and the door whooshed open, the sound of the opening door drowned out by Lubdan Gallagher's final screams as he called out for his friend and partner with his last breath.
The three stood in the doorway of the lab keeping it from closing. In the flickering red light they saw Freddy Krueger. They had succeeded in pulling him from the dream world after all. Currently he had his back to them and he was swinging his blades downwards repeatedly, throwing blood and gore from his blades with each swing. Gore streaked the ceiling, the walls. Some flew across the space between them and splashed across Talos-16's face. It seemed Lubdan's final screams masked the sound of the door opening for Freddy as well as the dream demon in the flesh did not seem aware of their arrival.
Talos felt time stand still as he stared at his friend and companion Lubdan Gallagher on the floor of the lab, blood puddled around his non moving body. Bloody gashes covered his once handsome face as well as his neck, torso, and arms. Talos stared into Lubdan's vacant eyes and they stared back unseeing. No life existed behind them anymore.
Talos caught movement out of the corner of his eye and slowly turned to see Varissa covering her mouth to stifle a scream and Nero brandishing his Plasma Rifle. Talos placed his hand on the gun's barrel and pushed it down. Nero looked quizzically at the android and froze. He had never seen such pain and rage in any face, would have thought Talos incapable of such emotion were he not staring it in the face.
Talos shook his head once and mouthed the words, 'Krueger is mine.' Nero nodded and watched as Talos stalked towards the dream demon.
Freddy still had his back to the three, was still unaware of his audience, still swinging and slashing at Lubdan's corpse and laughing maniacally. Talos lifted his hand in the air and sent out a telepathic command and from Nano-Bed #1 the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 rose into the flickering red light of the nano lab and shot across the room into Talos' hand. It began to morph into a large club the moment it touched his hand, sprouting large spikes several inches long that pulsed with electricity. Talos stepped towards Freddy with an intensity and rage he had never felt before. Freddy, made aware by the sphere flying past his head seconds before, finally noticed he was not alone and stood, still not turning to face the remaining crew of Hawkins Salvage and Recovery.
"Ah, ya got the drop on ole Freddy, huh? Go ahead and shoot me if you want. I am eternal, and I'll be back, I'll find my way to your dreams again and kill you slow. As for you Talos, I told you robo bitch I was gonna make sure you watched me kill your little boy toy! RememAAAAGGG—
Freddy's taunt was cut short as Talos swung the club with the force of a warrior and a large spike hit the back of Freddy's head and burst through his skull and out his right eye. When Talos pulled the club back to take another swing it ripped half of Freddy Krueger's skull off with it. Bits of bone and brain tissue pattered to the floor of the Nano-Med Lab. Talos, Varissa, and Nero watched as Freddy Krueger with only half a head tried to take a step forward but tripped over his latest victim and fell slouched over the control panel of Nano-Bed #1.
"I am so sorry, Talos," Nero said, putting a hand on the android's arm. "Oh, my god, I am so sorry about Lubdan but we have to go."
Talos stood firm, ignoring Nero as he stared at Freddy, making sure he had avenged Lubdan completely, and then Freddy defiantly began to raise his gloved right hand somehow. Talos stepped forward lifted the Nano-Spiked Club over his head and brought it down, a large spike driving right through the middle of Freddy's gloved hand and pinning it down into the control panel of Nano-Bed #1. The spike drove deep into the panel and immediately sparks began to fly out of it and within seconds smoke began to billow. Talos watched defiantly and with purpose as the panel erupted in flames and so did Freddy Krueger. The three watched for several seconds as the fire burned so hot it was melting the glove to Freddy's flesh. Somehow Freddy tried to squirm and move and even tried to scream but all that came out was a throaty gurgle as Freddy was missing the entirety of the right side of his head. Within moments of the hot burning fire he ceased to move anymore. Talos commanded the club to return to a sphere but it did not obey and then he felt a jolt of electricity conduct through the club and he was forced to let go.
"Talos, we are almost out of time," Varissa said. "You got him! You got him good. We need to go now."
"Goodbye, my friend," Talos said, tilting his head and looking at Lubdan. He then turned on his heels and the three ran for the shuttle bay.
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The fire continued to burn hot and bright. It had completely destroyed most of the right side of Freddy's body from the waist up. His right torso, shoulder, and right arm was a melted gory mess. Karma had burnt the child killer a second time. The glove he wore as his weapon of choice was now fused with his melted right hand in death. The Gallagher Sphere club began to soften and spread. It covered Freddy's arm, shoulder, right torso and then began to creep up to the missing side of his head as the nano-ants that made up the sphere received conflicting commands from the shorted out control panel of Nano-Med Bed #1.
01010#10101Heal01*#011010ReturnToSphere111010#101010Heal01#01010ReturnToSphere010Heal000ReturnToSphere1010Heal01Heal000HealSphereCommandInitiateHealSphereHealSphereHeal1010HealingSphere11101011ProgressComplete11011HealedSphere
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"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Nero yelled when they reached the shuttle bay door.
"Looks like Freddy left us one more fuck you!" Varissa said with defeat.
The three were looking at what used to be the hand scanner for the shuttle bay door but was now a hole in the wall with several ripped wires.
"We have two minutes to depart. Please step aside," Talos-16 said as he began connecting loose wires.
Nero leaned against the shuttle bay door looking down into the eyes of Varissa who stood facing him leaning on the door as well.
"If we survive this, you owe me a lot more than some Noc'Tralian coffee," he said with a grin.
"Be careful, I might hold ya to it," Varissa said with a wink.
Nero stood up straight "You won't hear me complai—
Varissa heard a thwack and then Nero's statement was cut off mid word.
"Nero?"
A thin red ring appeared around his throat, barely visible in the flickering red glow of the Beowulf's emergency lights. She looked at Nero's face, saw his mouth was slack and his eyes empty.
"Oh god, Nero!" she said and reached to touch his cheek. As soon as she touched his face she watched in horror as his head slowly slid forward off of his shoulders and fell to the floor by her feet. His body fell to the floor on it's knees and keeled over. Varissa looked at the shuttle bay door and saw a small round saw blade barely stuck into the door. It was slowly deteriorating before her eyes.
"HEADS UP!" a familiar voice said from down the dim red corridor.
The corridor was then filled with the sound of metal on metal. Varissa turned her head to look and saw sparks flying off the walls coming from the Nano-Med lab. Then she saw what was causing the sparks. It was Freddy but not the Freddy she had fought in the dreamscape. This Freddy's head was half burnt tissue like she was used to but the right side of his entire head was bright metallic silver. The right side of his chest looked like thin sinew that had threaded together to complete the design of his horrible sweater but it too was bright metallic silver and his right arm was completely metallic as well. A pattern of darker and lighter metallic shades ran down the length of his arm imitating the design of his red and green striped sleeve. His hand was currently a large saw that resembled the smaller one that had decapitated Nero and he was coming towards her and Talos, running the blade against the wall as he came. Talos turned to Varissa.
"Do you see these wires?" he asked. She looked down and nodded her head yes. "Good, connect them when I have him distracted. When the door opens get to the shuttle and to the cockpit and press the large red button on the console. Your warp speed trajectory is already set."
"But Talos..." she began.
"I do not wish to exist without Lubdan. No other directive makes sense to me so I will honor Lubdan by holding Freddy off for you as long as I can. It has been an honor working with you, Dr. DeGenarro. Now go!"
Talos turned and began walking towards the new and improved Freddy Krueger.
The Beowulf rocked again as it was drawn ever closer to the devastating destruction of the black hole's event horizon.
"Got to say R2, hitting a man from behind is kind of a bitch move! At least I let your boyfriend face me before I sliced and diced the little bitch. But hey, thanks for the new hardware!" Freddy shouted and laughed, his voice more mechanical than before. It was strange watching half his mouth of flesh and half his mouth of metal opening and closing in unison.
"This stuff is badass! It's like having my dream power in the waking world. You lot have done me so many favors, how can I ever repay you? I know! I'll take your shuttle and spread the word of Freddy to all the known galaxies! I don't even need to know how to fly the fucking thing!" he said and held up his metallic arm. The saw turned back into a hand and then morphed into what looked just like Freddy's glove made of the bright metallic silver metal. The blades slowly extended from it and then from his index finger the nano-sphere material morphed into a snaking cord. "See, it'll do all the learning for me! HAHAHAHAHAHA."
Varissa was twisting the two cords together but nothing was happening. She began stripping them a bit more, removing more of their casing with her teeth and revealing more of the wires inside.
"You are not going anywhere except into that black hole," Talos-16 said as he stopped walking and stood directly in front of Freddy. He swung his right fist and Freddy turned his head so the blow would land on his right metallic cheek. Talos' hand struck the nano-material side of Freddy's face and passed into it as if the solid looking metal were made of liquid mercury. Freddy instantly willed his cheek to reharden, trapping Talos' fist inside. Talos tried to wrench his fist free and found that he was stuck fast.
Freddy held up his metallic arm and it quickly morphed into a large chainsaw like blade. He held it underneath Talos' stuck wrist and then the blade of the saw began spinning and he lifted and lopped Talos' hand off. The hand was still sticking from Freddy's right cheek. Freddy softened the nano material by will and Talos' hand fell to the floor. Freddy stepped back and his Nano arm instantly morphed again into a large vice and he quickly put it around Talos before the android could move. Freddy willed the two sides of the vice to squeeze. One side was against Talos' right bicep and one was against Talos' left bicep. Freddy willed it to continue squeezing until he heard cracking from somewhere inside the android.
Talos stared into Freddy's eyes defiantly and didn't say a word. He was trying to buy Varissa time to escape and that was all that mattered now.
Freddy willed this vice arm to energize and voltage suddenly erupted into his nano arm and Talos was hit with an overwhelming surge of electricity. Smoke began coming from his ears and nose.
"Well, I'd like to stay and play but I have a flight to catch," Freddy said and suddenly the space between the vice like appendages coming from his nano arm turned into four blades reminiscent of the glove he wore in the dreamscape except now he willed the blades to begin spinning and they obeyed. As he held Talos-16 in the vice the spinning blades came forward from the middle of the nano arm and drove into Talos' stomach. Sparks flew, wires shot out and Talos' began to power down.
"See ya later, Cyber Bitch! Time to put all my problems behind me and embrace the future!" Freddy growled as he lifted his nano arm into the air still holding Talos in a vice and threw him over his head behind him down the corridor. Freddy's nano arm immediately morphed back into what looked like his original arm and gloved hand only metallic and silver. He started heading towards the shuttle bay door and Varissa as the Beowulf rocked harder but Freddy did not lose a step.
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Talos landed on his side facing the now destroyed door of the nano-lab. He still had some functions but was losing power rapidly. He saw Varissa hadn't been able to escape yet but he was not powerful enough to face this new Freddy. Where he lay in the corridor he was looking directly into Lubdan's dead eyes.
Sadness and anger coursed through him. Then something caught his attention and he looked to the left of his dead friend and sawsaw through the smoke, of the now exstinguished fire, the pouch Lubdan had given Varissa five days ago before their ill-fated trip to Old Earth. It lay on the counter on the far side of the nano-lab, Gallagher Sphere 1.0 held inside.
An idea stirred in Talos-16's dying interface. Hold on just a little longer, Varissa, he thought and he began to slowly crawl into the nano lab.
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As Freddy was throwing Talos down the hallway behind him Varissa finally connected the wires correctly and the shuttle bay door whooshed open. She ran down the purple accordion corridor and opened the shuttle door. She paused, realizing she hadn't heard the shuttle bay door close behind her. She turned and saw Freddy standing in the shuttle bay doorway only a few feet away.
"You weren't gonna leave without your old friend Freddy were you?" he growled.
"Fuck you, Freddy! I'll make sure we both go into that black hole if I have to!"
"Oh, don't worry. You'll be going into the black hole but no waking up afterwards this time fucker," Freddy growled as he morphed his nano arm into a snake like appendage. "Look familiar? It pairs nicely with black holes, don't it bitch?" he snarled as the snake appendage shot forward and wrapped around her ankle. She screamed in pain and fury as she grabbed hold of a handle affixed to the accordion hallway.
Freddy looked down at Nero's head and body on the ground behind him, grinning as a wicked idea struck him, "Aw, looks like your boyfriend will never be the HEAD of security again! Did he ever get the chance to slip you some tongue?"
Freddy then opened his mouth and stuck his tongue out. Half his tongue was metallic silver and formed from nano material. That half split off from the biological half of his tongue and it stretched out of his mouth and shot down and towards Varissa wrapping around her other ankle. Freddy's snake like arm appendage and his nano tongue yanked in unison and Varissa's hand was ripped free from the handle and she landed on her back with a hard thud, her head bouncing off the floor.
Varissa saw stars. She felt instantly disoriented but knew she had to pull it together because time was running out. The ship rocked again so hard she feared it was going to break apart in the event horizon of the black hole at any second. The entire ship began flashing dim red to complete darkness then back to red. A new alarm began to blare warning that the auxiliary power was about to fail.
She watched in horror as she was slowly dragged towards the changed dream demon, now part machine, part killer, all asshole. He looked so terrifying in the flashing dim red light, like a devil straight from the pits of Hell, and each time the ship went dark she hoped she wouldn't have to look at him again. But he was still there when the light blinked back on.
The nano snake arm and nano tongue unraveled from her ankles as she reached him and Freddy's nano arm returned to it's original form of a metallic arm and hand with a matching nano bladed glove and the bastard's half a nano tongue returned to his mouth and he smiled.
Seeing half his face still covered in the wet burns and half made up of the nano material from the Gallagher Sphere chilled Varissa. The nano half of his face still took on the appearance of being covered in burn tissue but it was metallic which made Freddy appear even more menacing, especially when he would smile that wicked smile and she'd see half his teeth yellow and black and the other half razor sharp and metallic. Varissa laid prone on the floor at his feet, the fall had almost knocked her out but she willed herself to stay awake, to find a way into that shuttle.
"Hope you had a nice trip! Time's a wasting, got places to be and I don't have time to enjoy this like I've fantasized about, bitch! I gotta fly so when ya get to hell tell Alice and all your friends Freddy SAID HELLO!" he yelled and laughed over the wailing alarm as he raised his nano arm and blades into the air. The blades extended even further with a metallic ssshinnnnk and Varissa closed her eyes as he brought the blades down. She didn't feel them connect and then heard a metallic clank hit the floor near her. She opened one eye and saw Freddy standing before her, his nano arm no longer a part of his body. She looked to her side and saw it laying on the floor at Freddy's feet.
Varissa leaned to her side and looked behind Freddy to see what had granted her clemency from Freddy's blades and in the flashing red light she could see Talos at the far end of the hall. He was severely damaged, his abdomen a mess of wires and sparks, and he looked as if he was using every bit of his will to stay standing. He had opened the inner airlock door and was standing in front of the outer airlock door. He was holding out his right arm and in place of his missing hand was a metallic silver blade in the process of shrinking back to him and morphing back into a sphere.
Freddy glanced over his shoulder and saw Talos standing in the corridor holding out a retracting blade made of the same material as his own new arm. Freddy raised what at one point in his life had been an eyebrow as he turned back to face Varissa on the ground. It looked strange and unnatural being made of metallic nano-material. "So, your robo friend has a little fight left, oh well..." Freddy shouted as he looked to his right shoulder in the slowly flashing dim red light. The nano tech making up much of his right torso and shoulder began morphing into tiny tendrils of nano material that snaked out quickly towards his nano-arm on the ground.
"I'll just kill him again after these little babies reconnect my ahhhhrrrrgggghhh," Freddy began to say arm but his word was stopped by a large metallic spike erupting through the back of his head and out the front of his mouth.
His eyes grew wide in shock and disbelief as another spike burst through his back and out his chest. Varissa looked past Freddy again and saw that now the outer airlock door was opening behind Talos-16. She smiled and turned her attention back to the finally silenced Freddy Krueger and watched with fascinated glee as the spikes that protruded from his chest and mouth morphed into grapple hooks. She looked past Freddy one final time to the end of the corridor at Talos-16 as he jerked his arm back and the grapples dug into Freddy's chest and face. Talos willed the nano material to rapidly pull Freddy from the shuttle bay doorway and through the corridor so fast that he wouldn't have the chance to reconnect his arm or think fast enough to morph the remaining nano material of his face or torso.
He collided with Talos' chest and the android draped his left arm around the front of Freddy and gripped the dream demon's right nano shoulder. Talos willed the nano material that had reeled Freddy in to then morph and spread, cocooning the android and Freddy together. As the nano material obeyed, Talos nodded towards Varissa in the flashing auxiliary light. She nodded back with gratitude and sadness as the airlock fully opened and Talos-16 and Freddy Krueger were sucked out into space, flipping backwards over and over, heading into the black hole.
Varissa acted fast. She was down to mere seconds to launch the shuttle and the vacuum of space was beginning to suck the air from the Beowulf. She watched with joy as the detached nano arm of Freddy Krueger was pulled from the shuttle bay hall doorway and sucked down the corridor and out into space following it's owner into oblivion as the now un obstructed shuttle bay door closed behind it protecting her from a similar fate.
She jumped to her feet and ran back down the accordion hallway and into the shuttle. The Beowulf shook worse than ever before as she rushed inside. She ran directly to the cockpit hearing the door close behind her. Varissa DeGenarro strapped herself into the pilot seat and hit the large red button on the control panel. The shuttle roared to life and detached from the Beowulf. Lubdan's final act before being slain by Freddy was routing a safe trip for the shuttle. The shuttle detached from the Beowulf and as the ship slowly turned, in the moments before warp speed transformed the world outside the cockpit window into tiny dots in blackness, Varissa could see the Beowulf being broken apart and exploding as it entered the event horizon of the black hole. She hoped Freddy suffered the same fate as the ship and hoped in his final moments he felt fear and confusion. Varissa mourned for the crew.
"Thank you, Talos," she said as the shuttle took her far away from the death and destruction that had been the last five days.
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Epilogue I:
Never Sleep Again
Six months later.
Varissa sat at a table in her bedroom on Earth-2 and smiled as she put the finishing touches on the model she had been working on since the investigation into the Beowulf tragedy had ended. She had been cleared of any wrongdoing. More importantly, thanks to the comms being down during their cryo-sleep and the ship being lost to a black hole, there were no records for anyone to comb through that could re-spread the virus of Freddy Krueger. It was over. After centuries of terror, it would be safe for everyone to dream again.
The investigators decided a faulty power cell caused all the problems that led to the Beowulf meeting its end in a black hole in deep space. The pull of the black hole and turbulence is what most likely killed the crew members of Hawkins Salvage and Recovery according to investigators. Varissa had encouraged this with her tale of the brave sacrifice made by a faithful android and his creator that had demanded to stay aboard the Beowulf to make sure the only other surviving member of the ship was able to escape with her life as they remotely guided the shuttle to a safe distance and set it on a proper trajectory.
Varissa dreamed of her lost friends most nights. It was as if they were actually visiting her in her sleep. Who knew? With her dream power she thought it might be so. In fact, just two nights prior, she had dreamed that Nyquilio flew her and Nero to Somnium-5 and took them out for their first ever Yarvestiq. She could actually taste it in her dream and it was delicious. Nero was so handsome and they all talked and laughed for what felt like hours until she woke up. Varissa had still never tried Yarvestiq in her waking life but she was going to very soon and somehow she felt it was going to taste identical to what she had in her dream with Nyquilio and Nero.
Satisfied, Varissa put her paint brush away and turned on her lamp to get a good look at her completed model. She smiled. It looked just right. Almost everything looked like the Beowulf down to the smallest detail, inside and out. She pretended that somewhere inside that model an android and his friend shared awkward moments that make those around them question just how serious their friendship is or in another section of the ship Butch is trying to hook up with whoever the newest hot chick crew member is. Or somewhere in the living quarters Donella and Christina are squabbling over religion or a wise pilot is giving someone fatherly advice even when they didn't ask for it. Or an alien from an ally planet is constantly asking questions to learn everything he can about humans, even if it's not always the most appropriate time. And most of all she liked to think somewhere in that model was a handsome guy who, if she'd just been given the chance, might have been the one. Varissa took one last look at her model and turned off the lamp.
She climbed into her bed, called out for the primary bedroom light to turn off and closed her eyes and hoped for more pleasant dreams of absent friends.
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{Author's Note 1: What follows is a set up for a sequel to Celestial Slumber that incorporates a certain rematch into its plot. However you hold the power to end the story here. If you want to believe Talos and the Uber Freddy were pulled into the black hole and Freddy Krueger was finally once and far all wiped from existence and that Varissa DeGenarro is living a happy life on Earth-2 and with her dream powers is able to visit with her lost friends when she sleeps at night then you can choose that ending and stop reading or listening right here. If you choose that path then I hope you enjoyed the story of the Beowulf and Freddy's final killing spree. However if you want there to be a "what comes next" then keep listening or reading and hopefully you will enjoy what is in store.)
(Author's Note 2: The following recap of Jason Voorhees activity after the events of the movie Jason X are compiled from the plots of the four Black Flame Published Jason X novel sequels Jason X #2: The Experiment, Jason X #3 Planet of the Beast, Jason X #4 Death Moon and Jason X #5 To The Third Power. The only part of the following recap that is of my own creation is what happens after the prisoner's ship is launched into space. Everything before that part of the recap is from other author's works in the official Jason X sequel books}
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EPILOGUE II:
Destiny and Destruction
The fabric of fate is woven with threads of destiny, entwining the trajectories of lives and events in an intricate tapestry. Some moments, monumental in their impact, appear to be preordained, as if the universe has conspired to bring them to pass. The inevitability of these occurrences is palpable, like the ticking of a clock counting down to a predetermined moment.
The confluence of circumstances, the alignment of stars, and the whispers of the past all converge to shape the course of history. The forces of fate, like an unstoppable juggernaut, propel events forward, unrelenting and unyielding. The path to these moments is often paved with the choices and actions of individuals, yet the outcome seems foreordained, a testament to the mysterious and unfathomable nature of destiny.
Through the labyrinthine corridors of time and space, two entities of unrelenting destruction have been forging a trajectory of annihilation, their paths intersecting like the crossing of the blades of a deadly scissor. The fabric of reality trembles with anticipation, as the cosmic clockwork aligns the gears of fate, orchestrating a confrontation of apocalyptic proportions.
Like two dark stars, their malevolent energies have been drawing each other in, gravitating towards a singularity of devastation. The threads of destiny, woven from the very essence of chaos, bind them together, ensuring their collision course.
Through the veil of time, their presence echoes, a reverberation of destruction that transcends the boundaries of space and dimension. The chronicles of their carnage, etched in the annals of history, foretell a final confrontation that will shatter the foundations of existence.
In this ultimate showdown, the very essence of destruction will be distilled, as these two forces of devastation unleash their unbridled fury upon each other. The cosmos will tremble, as the outcome hangs in the balance, poised to reshape the fabric of reality. Only one will emerge victorious, their name etched in the eternal chronicles of destruction, as the embodiment of unrelenting carnage.
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Two years before the events aboard the Beowulf...
Brodski held tight to the nano enhanced Jason Voorhees as they fell into Earth-2's atmosphere. Their bodies burning up as they fell. Brodski died knowing not only had he ensured Rowan, KM-14 and Tsunaron would survive but also that Jason would surely finally die. He was correct, for a time. All that remained of Jason after burning up in the atmosphere of Earth-2 was his mask which landed in a lake. However two nano-ants that rebuilt Jason into the Uber Jason survived the fall to Earth-2 and they began reproducing and spreading out to rebuild Jason through his mask which still held a piece of his dna and over time they did.
They used organic, inorganic, and nuclear waste runoff to finish the job and eventually Jason rose from the lake and made his way to the nearby power plant where he went on his first new killing spree. He was eventually apprehended and taken into military custody where experiments were done but eventually he again broke free and left a path of death and destruction before being launched into space where he landed on barren moon 666 until being revived by a mad scientist and his assistant who were both hell bent on creating an offspring of Jason Voorhees and in the end they succeeded in doing so. His name was Free Voorhees.
Jason again found his way from bondage, killing the mad scientist and others in his employ and once again found himself launched into space. This time landing on a populated moon where fate would have it a new old earth style summer camp had been erected. Jason was right at home and enjoyed a retro killing spree before being subdued once more and placed on a prison planet where over time he killed every last inmate and inhabitant of said planet except for one man, Free Voorhees, his biological son born in a lab from the dna of his father. Free attempted to flee the prison planet when a new ship of prisoners arrived. He attempted to launch the ship, the prisoners, and himself far away from his murderous father Jason Voorhees but in the end only succeeded in launching the prisoners and their ship as he had been injured by Jason and was unable to board the ship of with them.
Though he was not left behind to be killed by his father because moments before the ship of prisoners launched Jason Voorhees had grabbed hold of the outer hull of the ship and was launched with the ship. It had no pilot and no direct destination set.
Eventually though, five years after Jason Voorhees was rebuilt in a lake on Earth-2, the prisoner ship fell from orbit and crash landed on Moon #5980 in the Munai Galaxy renamed "Manus Dei," latin for "The Hand Of God."
In 2133 Earth-1 evacuated all humans in gigantic space vessels called "Life Boats" and took them to humanity's new home on Earth-2. One of the gigantic transport "Life Boats" holding 250,000 humans from Earth-1 passed through a spacial anomaly on their way to Earth-2 and it had somehow teleported them to the Munai Galaxy and they crash landed on Moon #5980. Not one life was lost and no one was injured and the moon was very much like a smaller Earth-1. It had an atmosphere, oxygen, wildlife, fertile soil, forests, jungles, deserts, bodies of water, etcetera. The humans on that ship had said the "Hand of God" had brought them to safety, and so it was given the name Manus Dei.
Their "Life Boat" ship was in bad shape after the crash. Its power cells and comms still were functional, but it would not fly, not without aide from their fellow humans back on Earth-2. The countless shuttles that were housed in the shuttle bay at the bottom of the ship were all destroyed when the ship had crashed. However they did constantly try to send out an but never received a response or any indication they were being searched for. They were so far away they knew it was a one in a trillion chance of rescue.
The humans of Manus Dei had no way of knowing that distance wasn't the only reason their SOS calls were in vain. True, their distance would be enough for their calls for help to go unheard, but the main reason was much more complex. The spacial anomaly may have sent them multiple galaxies away from their home but it had also sent them back in time three hundred and twenty five years.
By the year 2460 on Manus Dei the many generations that had lived and died had completely lost their true origins to time and legend. The people of Manus Dei became a theocracy and lived under a one world government. Teaching of God creating their ancestors and placing them on Manus Dei to do his will. Being smaller than Earth, Manus Dei's government enforced strict population control. Any unified partnership was granted permission to produce one offspring. To further enforce population control a lottery for humans sixty years old and up was made that chose many yearly sacrifices to Dante (What they thought of as their God). For over two hundred years that sacrifice was carried out by burning the selected humans in the fires of Dante.
Some technology had survived from 2133 such as small energy weapons and even first aid scanners but most was lost to time. The original "Life Boat" ship was buried almost entirely in the ground of Manus Dei in their capital city and the modern population saw it as a holy place, a temple to Dante and it had been decorated to serve that purpose. The name Dante was given to their god many years prior as the people of Manus Dei had seen the name "Dante" printed in many places on their "temple". In reality it was the "Dante Corporation" who had designed and built the life boat ships that had transported the population of Earth-1 to Earth-2 in the year 2133. The fires of Dante were in fact a thruster of the "Life Boat" that was activated from one of the only remaining control panels on what remained above the ground of Manus Dei of the ship itself. Sacrifices would be placed in the path of the thruster and burned alive to appease Dante.
In 2460 the prisoner ship that housed over five hundred of the worst of the worst most violent insane criminals from the galaxy where Earth-2 existed passed through the same anomaly. They also crash landed on Manus Dei. The prisoner ship also had a stow away, Jason Voorhees. When the prisoner ship crashed the surviving prisoners raided local villages that shared a giant lake on Manus Dei. The prisoners raped, murdered, and pillaged all while spreading blasphemous lies to the people about where they had come from and more. In fact they had been speaking the truth.
The Manus Dei government received the reports and was preparing to stage an attack on what they were calling demonic forces sent from enemies of Dante to kill his people. So they sent out the forces of their Manus Dei Military but when they arrived at the villages they witnessed the entire population of said villages were all dead. They blamed the demonic heathens but all the enemies of Dante were slaughtered as well and one squadron of the military witnessed a miracle. They witnessed and told of Dante himself, a tall large manlike entity who appeared to have the skin of man and machine, was in the process of striking down his enemies who had come to Manus Dei to kill his people. A solider tried to approach Dante to kneel before him but was struck down as well. The leader of Manus Dei gave the orders to stand down lest they be judged by the almighty Dante.
In the aftermath the government constructed a large barrier around the lake and its surroundings and now empty villages and they erected statues around the barrier of their savior, their god, Dante (Jason Voorhees). From that day forward all sacrifices would be sent into Dante's villages around the lake now named "The Tears Of Dante". Also instead of imprisonment, from the day Dante arrived the government enforced a new law. If you were found guilty of blasphemy, lewd acts, adultery, consumption of illegal substances, murder, rape, and many other charges you were sentenced to face Dante. Any guilty person who was sent into the empty villages that surrounded The Tears Of Dante and was still alive after three days would be forgiven of all crimes and allowed to leave the barrier around Dante's land as this would be a sign of Dante's mercy. No man or woman had yet to receive said mercy.
Jason Voorhees had a new home for a time on Manus Dei and was worshipped as the God and savior of its people. At the time of 2460 the civilization on Manus Dei resembled Earth-1's 19th century but with some surviving technology paired with the still evolving race on the planet.
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Year 2462. Five Years After The Destruction Of The Beowulf...Two Years after Jason Voorhees and Prisoner Ship's arrival…
An object streaked across the night sky plummeting to the surface of Manus Dei. The object struck the ground creating a massive crater. A local scribe, purveyor of news, and a senior messenger of the government of Manus Dei, William Attonison who was known in many villages as "Billy Boy" was trekking back to the capitol after delivering word of a government decree to a local village when he saw the object streak across the sky and crash. Billy Boy rushed to the crater. He peered into the hole and saw a silver metallic sphere resting at the bottom. He watched with curiosity as the surface of the sphere began to shimmer and ripple as the sphere began to change shape and appear as if four razor sharp blades were rising from it.
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Afterword
Daring To Dream
By Joshua La Rue
Hello readers! My name is Joshua Wayne La Rue, on youtube I have the moniker The 80's Slasher Librarian. I am currently 39 and live in Arkansas at the time I completed this fan novel.
Before writing Celestial Slumber I had warmed up by writing a Friday the 13th story that falls somewhere between short story and novella. It was called Friday the 13th Quarantine and was set in the dead of winter a couple years into a trioxin caused zombie apocalypse. I had a blast bringing my idea for that story to life. It had been born of a nightmare I had had a while back and I added some more plot elements and the product was Friday the 13th Quarantine. It was never meant to be a full novel, the entire idea was always to make it a fast paced, non stop narrative. The characters are introduced well enough but in the first chapter they escape the frying pan to land directly into the fire and once Jason is unleashed there is no slow moment all the way until the end. The characters get some growth and small back story here and there but it was always about the reality that all around these characters are different threats. Is the horde of zombies that forced them into Crystal Lake a bigger threat or is Jason?
After completing Friday the 13th Quarantine and seeing the positive feedback about the story from subscribers and listeners of the audiobook on youtube I felt I was ready to do something I had wanted to do since middle school. Write an actual novel. It didn't have to be 400 pages like the black flame books but I wanted to thread a full narrative from start to finish. Set up a wild slasher plot, create unique characters that have their own separate personalities, likes, dislikes, views, morals, their own pain and fears and then watch them grow and evolve as the book unfolds. I also wanted to write a Freddy Krueger story that would challenge me greater than Quarantine did with Jason. So I took a trope that most times NEVER screams quality and I decided I was going to put Freddy Krueger in space. I didn't want to set it in modern times because there were so many limitations. Every Freddy movie and original novel are set in the 80's 90's or 2000's with so many difering plots already. I also had a vision of my book setting up a rematch between Freddy and Jason in the distant future. So I set my Freddy In Space novel two years after the events of Jason X.
One of the hardest parts at the start of this project was coming up with a name. I did not want to name it Freddy X, Freddy In Space, A Nightmare On Elm Street The Dream Atronaut or A Nightmare On Elm Planet, haha. I wanted to give it a name that encompassed Freddy & space. I finally landed on Celestial Slumber "A Nightmare On Elm Street Story" and for fun when explaining it to people I'd say AKA Freddy X, because as goofy as that is there have been 9 Freddy films if you count New Nightmare, Freddy vs. Jason and the Elm Street Remake. I knew I was going to make this story very similar to Jason's adventure in the future but still unique in many ways. I did not want to have a modern day character somehow find their way to the future as well, that plot device was very clunky and would take a lot of work to make it fresher than Rowan's role in Jason X, but I needed a character to represent the reader/listener so I created Dr. Varissa DeGenarro and made her an Old Earth history professor with a doctorate in Earth-1 history.
I knew I wanted to include 1 alien crew member and 1 android as part of the cast but I didn't want to make the android an another KM-14. I opted to make Talos-16 a bit more stiff and rigid and still having his AI evolving as he had only been created 11 months prior. My 17 year old son actually picked the name Talos-16. Talos in my mind was a mix between Isaac from The Orville and Castiel from Supernatural. My wife would take a pen and paper when we had free time and I would start calling out the ideas I had for the story, where it would start, what would follow and how it would end and she would write it all down. Then when all the notes were taken and the outline was done we would do it again but this time separate all the notes into what chapter they would take place in. Then lastly we would take the list of chapters and what we said would happen in them and we would write out a description of each chapter and how it played out. She helped me brainstorm all the characters, I had an idea for each personality and she helped give me a sounding board.
Uber Freddy was important to set up the rematch if there is demand for a sequel to this book. I knew the transformation would happen similar to Jason X and Uber Jason but I would give Freddy more than just a suped up set of armor. He would need more to have a believable fight with Uber Jason. So the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 was added to the story, then when Freddy was pinned dead(ish) to the nano med bed where Talos and Lubdan had been building the Gallagher Sphere 2.0 it would make sense that while the bed was shorting out from the fire and voltage, the nano ants that make up the sphere and that would normally come from the bed to heal patients would in confusion heal Freddy and also rebuild the sphere but in Freddy shape.
This way if or when Uber Jason and Uber Freddy meet the fight will be more balanced as the sky is the limit for Freddy and his nano material hand, arm, right torso and right side of his head. I truly hope you enjoyed the Uber Freddy of it all. Freddy Krueger was always going to be very dark in my story, I wanted to counter the reputation of silliness IN SPACE gets with a pissed, evil, dark and blood thirsty Krueger with a dash of MTV Freddy sprinkled in here and there.
The ending was always there, it was about the journey of arriving there. I always saw Talos-16 nodding to Dr. DeGenarro as he held onto the Uber Freddy as the 2 were pulled out into the black hole. At one point there was to be a comm that Talos speaks into and tells Varissa "See Dr. DeGenarro, A cuddle will lead to a good night's sleep" before he and Freddy are pulled out into space. This was a call back to the early part of the book where Talos had made a comment to Varissa about cuddling leading to a good night's sleep because he has seen that Lubdan had slept good when they would "cuddle".
But the intensity of the scene and the hurt shape that Talos is in during the final scene on the Beowulf made that version a little too much to include. I will say that 75 percent of my original vision made it into this book and the other 25 percent happened as I sat down to write the book itself each night. It was an amazing feeling to have a story, characters and a vision to make it happen and then sit down to bring it to life and see the characters and story go in unexpected directions right before my eyes. This is the first ever full length novel I have ever written and some may say "THAT IS OBVIOUS DUDE!" but because it is my first it means a lot to me. I sincerely appreciate everyone that read or listened to it.
I never knew it would be so hard to kill off characters in a story. When I wrote the novella or short story, not sure where it lands, Friday the 13th Quarantine, I didn't really get a chance to get connected to any characters and their deaths didn't really affect me. However while writing Celestial Slumber I struggled to kill Christina, Nyquilio & most of all Lubdan. Each time I came to one of their deaths I would ask myself if my ultimate vision could be changed, but for a reason I will mention in a moment I was never going to be able to keep them around. It was motley just wishful thinking and sadness at seeing them have to leave the story.
Nero wasn't hard to kill off but I was saddened that Varissa had what could have been a great relationship ripped from her. Speaking of which, it was always my intention to only have 1 survivor and that was Varissa. What I meant before about my ultimate vision is this, I wanted a return to a "FINAL GIRL" situation. Too many slasher movies of late have multiple survivors as if the filmmakers are too scared to kill off certain characters. I wanted a return to form.
I will take this experience onto my next project. Which is looking more and more like "CELESTIAL SLUMBER 2: FREDDYxJASON" which was built up and teased at the end of the epilogue. I will end this here, I really hope I was able to entertain you with my story and characters. If even 1 person read or listened to this book and was entertained then I did my job. Freddy and all 80's slashers hold a special place in my heart and I am thankful Freddy let me put on the fedora and take an old classic out for a spin in a new setting. The In Space trope is something that is not spoken of highly but I hope that after you read or heard this book maybe I convinced you that "IN SPACE" is not always synonomous with "bad"! Thank you William Pattison & Jeremy Terry for helping me polish and edit this novel, I appreciate you both so much and can't thank you enough for your hard work! Be excellent to each other out there and as always...
PLEASANT DREAMS!
Joshua W. La Rue
June 2nd, 2024
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you to the many authors who I have narrated over the years and who have truly inspired me to pursue my dream of writing:
William Pattison
David Bergantino
Jeffrey Thomas
Nancy Killpatrick
Christa Faust
Scott Phillips
Matthew Costello
Tim Waggoner
Nicholas Grabowsky
& So Many More!
Thank you to my wife Beth, I love you more than anything and without your support and keeping me on track and not letting me let insecurity hold me back this book would never have happened.
Thank you to my kids Anthony and Alexis, you are my world and everything I do is for you! Also Talos-16 just wouldn't be the same if you hadn't named him as such.
Thank you to Shawn Campbell and Alex Vanover for being awesome Co-hosts and awesome friends on the channel and in the real world!
Thank you to everyone who read and/or listened to my Freddy in Space novel!
Finally thank you to all the patrons and subscribers of the Slash Trax Network W/80's Slasher Librarian Youtube Channel. I appreciate and love you all so much!
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joshua Wayne La Rue, a 40-year-old horror aficionado, was born in August 8th 1984 and was raised in rural Arkansas as 1 of 7 children by a blue collar entrepreneur father and devoted house wife mother.
He always had aspirations outside the small town life he grew up in. Joshua has been a dirt track stock car racer, appeared on 3 reality TV shows, has performed as an extra in 3 indy films including a choregraphed fight scene and death scene in an unfinished film "The Barbarian Poet" (the trailer for which is still on youtube) and he was an active independent professional wrestler for over a decade before a back injury in 2010 led to ending that dream when he was forced to retire from wrestling in early 2013 due to his worsening back injury and multiple knee injuries.
Joshua is now a devoted husband and father of two children a son Anthony 17, A Daughter Alexis 15 and two step-children Nikkie 25 & Viktor 18. Joshua's passion for Slasher Horror and his itch to perform and entertain has led him to create The Slash Trax Network w/80's Slasher Librarian YouTube Channel, where he's narrated over 70 out of print horror novelizations, reviewed and riffed on horror movies, interviewed horror celebrities and co-hosts two podcasts with friends Alex & Shawn under the moniker The 80's Slasher Librarian.
Joshua has always been a natural storyteller at heart but insecurities stood in the way of following that path. That is until he finally put insecurity behind him and wrote the well received novella Friday The 13th Quarantine. The feedback for Quarantine led to Joshua achieving his lifelong dream of writing a full novel - a dream he's had since 7th grade. Now, he's ready to share his chilling imagination and memorable stories with the world.
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