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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