Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Ranma's Nightmare on Elm Street 2 [2005 Remake] ❯ Ranma's Nightmare on Elm Street 2 [2005 Remake] ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Of course I had to remake the sequel. It just doesn't seem right to do the first one and not do the second one. So, without further ado, I give you the remake of Ranma's Nightmare on Elm Street 2.
Disclaimer: We all know that I don't own anything in any of my stories unless I claim that I do (which I don't). Be prepared for some horror here, as we go back to classic, scary, evil, sadistic Freddy Krueger instead of the "I-love-Freddy-and-wanna-be-his-best-friend" Freddy Krueger. Read on.
Ranma's Nightmare on Elm Street 2 (2005 Remake)by Chris Vegvary
Freddy Krueger had faded quietly out of the minds of Ranma and his friends, as well as the memory of those who were there that night. After two years, Ranma and Akane lived semi-peacefully as a happy couple in the Tendo household. Just watching the two of them together all the time made Freddy want to puke.
He could only watch from his boiler room in the dream world, slowly building up his power by haunting the dreams of those who remembered him. By scaring them, they gave him the fear that his power was made up of. After many countless nights of this, Freddy had almost gained enough power to make a comeback.
He knew now that inhabiting Ranma's body had been a mistake; he'd grown powerful in the real world, but as a result, his power in the dream world diminished considerably. It was then that Ranma was able to defeat him. Freddy had been greedy to live once more, a mistake he would not ever make again.
It wouldn't be long now, and he swore to himself that those little fucks were going to pay. They were going to pay big time.
* * * * *
After a long day of martial arts training between herself and Ryoga, Ranko needed a nice, hot bath. She went into the house and headed straight for the bathroom, cutting her father off. Genma, in panda-form, had a towel draped over one large paw. Ranko raced past him.
"Sorry, pop, you gotta be quicker than that!" she said just before she closed the door on him. Genma-panda stood there a moment longer, then turned and went back the way he came, grumbling to himself.
That done, Ranko disrobed and slipped into the already steaming water that her father had no doubt prepared for himself. She grabbed a washcloth that was sitting on the edge of the tub and began to wash herself. After a few moments, she set it down and relaxed. A few moments more and her eyes began to droop.
A sound from the bathroom's entrance caused Ranko to jump slightly. She looked in that direction and saw Ryoga standing there, studying his surroundings.
"Ryoga! Get out of here!"
"Huh?" he replied, looking at her. He turned red, and it seemed he realized that he was lost, yet again. He covered his eyes. "Damn! Um, which way to the front door?"
Ranko scowled at him and pointed him towards the door. He nodded, getting the point, and turned to leave.
"And lock that door!"
Ryoga did as he was told and wandered down the hall. Again, Ranko sank down into the tub and relaxed. Her eyes drooped and soon she was lightly snoring. Catching herself, she jerked her head up.
She shook her head a little to clear it, and glanced off to her right. She did a double-take, as the tiles lining the entire wall there must have been recently replaced. Unlike the regular off-white color that was covering the rest of the bathroom, these tiles were red and green. A little too ugly, in Ranko's opinion. She also wondered briefly why she hadn't noticed it before; such a clash of colors surely would've been noticeable even to a moron. Chalk it up to exhaustion, she thought.
Just as she was beginning to relax yet again, she heard a small female voice coming from somewhere in the room. "One, two, Freddy's coming for you..."
"Hello?" she said aloud, wondering if anyone would answer or if she was just hearing music or a TV through the wall. "Who's there?"
"Three, four, better lock your door..."
Ranko got out of the tub and wrapped herself in a towel. She followed the sound of the voice, drawing her over to the sink. Ranko looked down at the sink and heard the voice still.
"Five, six, grab your crucifix..."
There was suddenly a bang on the door. Ranko forgot the singing voice and moved to open the door. As she grabbed the doorknob, it broke apart in her hand. She held up the piece and looked at it. It seemed as though it had been mangled by something.
"Ranko?" Ranma's voice floated through the door. "I thought I heard you yelling. Everything ok?"
"Ranma, the stupid doorknob broke," she replied, annoyed. "Help me out of here."
"Seven, eight, better stay up late..."
"Ranko? Answer me!"
"What? Are you deaf? Open the door!"
Ranko leaned down and peered through the hole where the doorknob had been. It was unusually dark out in the hallway, and she could not see Ranma. She moved her face closer to the hole and was startled when someone else's eye came into view in front of her own. She pulled back. That wasn't Ranma or Akane, or anyone she knew for that matter. Ranko stood up and began to back away from the door.
Someone began banging on the door. The banging grew louder and louder, more intense, and Ranko had to cover her ears. For some reason unknown to her, she was still able to hear the singing girl.
"Nine, ten, never sleep again."
Ranko looked into the mirror above the sink and screamed at what she saw. The red-and-green tiled wall behind her had sprouted two giant arms, and one of them was covered by a glove with massive blades sticking out of the fingertips that seemed almost familiar to Ranko. Written in blood on the wall between the arms was the message: GREETINGS FROM ELM STREET! She didn't stop screaming as the giant gloved hand moved to strike her.
Suddenly, she felt herself being shaken. She opened her eyes and found that she was still in the bathtub. Ranma was holding her by both shoulders, shaking her into consciousness. Akane stood close, looking worriedly at her. Apparently, Ranko had relaxed a little too well. She had fallen asleep in the tub.
"I'm ok," Ranko sputtered.
Ranma sighed loudly. "I wish you'd be more careful. You could've drowned."
"Save it, Ranma. I don't need any lectures from you. How did you get in, I thought the door was locked?"
"I had to break the doorknob. The door'll still open and close, but it won't latch."
"Man, that was one crazy nightmare..."
"Hmm?" Ranma said, looking at her. "What do you mean?"
Ranko was about to tell him, but she thought better of it. It was just a stupid nightmare anyway. "Nevermind. Thanks for the help, but how about a little privacy now, huh?"
Akane and Ranma nodded. After the two of them went outside the room, Ranko closed the door and looked back into the mirror. Only her reflection was there, and she waited a moment to see if anything would happen. After a few seconds, she chuckled to herself and shook her head as she dressed.
* * * * *
Ranma, Akane, Ranko, and Nabiki stood at the entrance to the bathroom. Though the damage was minimal (a broken doorknob), Nabiki had out a pen and notepad along with her trusty business calculator.
Ranma rolled his eyes as Nabiki inspected the damage. "So, how much is it gonna be this time?"
"It'll cost a bit for a new doorknob. Not too bad, I'd say...but don't quote me on that. This frame might need to be replaced, too."
"Yeah, well, sorry I had to save someone. She should pay for it, anyway."
"Hey!" Ranko said. "I was dying or some shit, remember?"
"Well, that's what you get for falling asleep!"
Ranma recoiled at his own outburst. Ranko simply stuck her tongue out at him and followed Nabiki as she walked down the hallway. Ranma, meanwhile, was thinking heavily about what he had just said to his sister, what had happened to her earlier, and realized the implications. Akane tugged on Ranma's sleeve, getting his attention. He turned to her.
"What's wrong, Ranma?"
"You don't think that maybe...y'know, she fell asleep, and..." He made a gesture with his right hand, holding all his fingers forward in a claw.
"No. Noooo, I don't think that at all. We killed him, Ranma, and that's that."
Ranma let out a small sigh and nodded. She was right, of course she was. Freddy was dead and gone and now they were free to enjoy their lives. He put his arm around her and led her away.
* * * * *
Ryoga had found the front door. Once going outside, he realized that this was not where he wanted to be; he had been trying to get inside. So how had he gotten outside?
You were inside when you walked into the bathroom, you moron, he thought, and slapped his forehead like a man who has just had a painful realization.
So, of course, Ryoga ended up in a tree. He splayed himself across the branches, leaning back and using a bunch of leaves as sort of a pillow.
Fuck it. I'll try again tomorrow.
He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. After a few moments, he opened his eyes.
Ryoga sat up in shock, looking around. He was sitting in the trunk of a broken down automobile. There were towers of junked cars stacked as far as he could see. He was sitting at the top of one such tower.
"What in the hell...?"
He tried to get up, but quickly sat back down as the stack began to buckle a little. The sound of squealing metal filled the air as his added weight took its toll on the cars underneath.
"Oh shit, please, no..."
With that, the stack buckled heavily and the trunk's hood came down on top of Ryoga, closing him inside as the car tumbled down towards the ground below. Somehow, the impact of the car smashing into the ground did not come. Ryoga tried to kick open the trunk. At first, it only moved a little, but then it flew off completely. Ryoga dived out and kept falling. He realized that he was hundreds of feet in the air, falling to his brutal demise. He began to scream as the ground rushed up towards him.
When he hit the ground, he bounced upward in the air, as if he had just landed on a massive trampoline. Falling back to the graound, it became solid again and Ryoga hit hard. After spitting out a bit of blood, Ryoga achingly pushed himself up and looked around. It was nighttime, and he had landed in the Tendos' front yard. Confused and a little scared, Ryoga began to run to the house. As he got closer, the house began to move further away, until it was only a speck in the distance.
"What the fuck!" he shouted in frustration.
His surroundings had become nothing but gray mist. Nothing was visible through the thickness of it. Ryoga wandered aimlessly, close to panic now. He looked around frantically, walking backwards...until he walked right into someone. He turned around to see Freddy Krueger standing before him, glaring at him and sneering.
"You..." Ryoga said, backing away. His mind flashed back to the origin of the scars lining his left shoulder. His hand traveled absently to it.
"You remember me," Freddy said and pointed one six-inch steel blade at Ryoga, "and you remember the present I left you. Now it's time to finish the job."
He straightened his claws and began advancing on Ryoga. Ryoga removed a bandanna from his head and sent it spinning at Freddy. It twirled in the air and passed through Freddy's left forearm, severing it at the elbow. The arm fell to the ground and twitched there. Freddy stopped and looked at his wound for a second, then turned back to Ryoga, chuckling.
"Looks like you disarmed me, pig-boy."
The severed arm sprang to life suddenly. Using the fingers, it quickly skittered over to Ryoga and latched onto his leg. Ryoga screamed and tried to shake it off as Freddy laughed loudly. The arm crawled up to the neck of Ryoga's shirt and yanked downward, causing Ryoga to drop to one knee. The arm then drew back and, using the ground to propel itself, gave Ryoga a tremendous uppercut. Ryoga saw stars and fell onto his back.
As Ryoga was recovering from this blow, Freddy had walked up to him. Ryoga noticed too late as he saw Freddy lean down and drive all four blades into the side of his calf. Ryoga screamed in pain and used his other leg to kick Freddy away. His foot connected with Freddy's face, and Freddy was knocked back momentarily. Ryoga used this opportunity to try and crawl away. He wasn't doing a good job.
"You should see yourself, Ryoga. Crawling like the filthy worm you are. Bleeding like a little bitch."
Ryoga was shaking as he struggled on, losing blood. God, how his leg hurt. For a moment, he was sure he heard someone else's voice. It felt like someone was holding his hand. He looked up, and for the briefest moment, Ryoga was positive he saw Ranma's form in front of him. He reached for it with his other hand.
"Ranma..."
His mind left the pain in his leg as Freddy leaned down again and, with a grunt, raked his claws vertically deep across Ryoga's back. Ryoga jerked upward, his mouth wide, trying to scream, but only blood came out. He felt pain like never before and then all he saw was blackness.
* * * * *
Ranma, Akane, and Ranko were in the living room watching TV. There was a marathon of horror movies going on. There had been some great American horror movies on that day, and Ranko had insisted upon watching as many as she could. They were relaxing as John Carpenter's The Thing started, and that was when they heard the scream. It was coming from outside.
Ranma was immediately on his feet, followed by Ranko and Akane. They ran for the front door and Ranma pulled it open. It was not completely dark out yet, but Ranma was having trouble figuring out where exactly the scream had come from. After a few moments, Kasumi, Soun, Nabiki, and Genma-panda appeared behind the three of them at the entrance to the house.
Genma-panda held up a sign that read: What was that?!
Ranma tried to look everywhere at once, then he heard a snapping sound. He looked straight up to see Ryoga falling out of the tree right over the house. He landed on the ground and everyone gasped. Kasumi's hands covered her face in shock for a moment, then she ran back to grab the nearest phone and call an ambulance.
Ryoga's leg was bleeding profusely, and Ranma noticed instantly the four deep stab wounds. Ryoga began to try and crawl away, not even seeing any of them. Ranma and Ranko knelt down next to him, trying to help him. Ranma grabbed his left hand and held it.
"Jesus, Ryoga, you're gonna be ok...just stay still..."
Ryoga looked up and really seemed to see him. He held tight with his left hand and reached towards Ranma with his right hand.
"Ranma..."
Only a second later, Ryoga jerked upward with a look of unbelievable pain on his face as the shirt and skin on his back disappeared in a flash of red. His blood sprayed across Ranko's face and she fell back, stunned. Ryoga's body relaxed and his hand loosened its grip on Ranma's as his head hit the ground.
Ranma could only sit in stunned silence as the others around him began screaming their heads off. Akane was the only one who remained in a similar state of shock, and they shared with each other a knowing look.
* * * * *
The authorities were all over the place. The coroner had come and pronounced Ryoga dead on the scene, and a couple of paramedics loaded him into a body bag and hauled him away. Ranma sat on the porch, his hands covered in blood, his eyes distant. Akane sat next to him, her arm entwined in his as she rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were red from all the crying she had done. The others, Ranko, Genma, and the Tendos, were making statements to the police.
Ranma had known, somehow, before all this had happened, that it was coming. He had felt it, but not wanted to believe it. He had hoped that part of his life was over, and that no one else would be hurt by this. Now his sister was having nightmares and Ryoga was dead, and Ranma felt responsible for all of it.
"Why come after Ryoga?" Ranma questioned, still looking off into the distance. "And my sister? I thought he was after me."
Akane looked at him. "Maybe he's going after the people you care about first."
He finally returned her gaze. "Akane, if anything happened to you, I don't know what I'd do."
"I'm here now, Ranma. I'm here."
They hugged each other tightly.
"What the hell are we going to do now...?"
"I don't know."
* * * * *
Kuno felt more than strange today. His first assumption was that he had somehow pissed off Kodachi, and she had slipped a poison into his food or drink or both. But now, he was not so sure, as Kodachi had gone out much earlier to buy a new ribbon, then had come home and gone to sleep before even saying hello. He was flooded with memories, memories of things he had long since put behind him. Things he only wanted to forget about.
What had Ranma said to him that night? Whatever you do, don't fall asleep. What exactly had that had to do with the situation? Kuno could not figure it out, for the answers to these questions made little, if any, sense.
He stood in his extravagant bathroom, looking in the mirror. He ran his fingers over the dark red lines that ran across his face. The scratches. They had not reappeared there until just recently.
"My God," he whispered. The memories, the scratches, and the mental picture of the scarred man's face all became too much for Kuno. He went to his room and quickly got dressed. On his way to the front door, he grabbed his wooden bokken and hooked the sheath to his waist.
* * * * *
Kuno arrived just as the last of the police cars was pulling away. The siren was still wailing through the night air. Ranma and Akane were still sitting on the porch steps and Kuno approached them.
"Akane, Saotome...what happened here?"
Ranma's eyes rolled up toward him. "Kuno..."
"It happened again?"
Ranma shook his head slightly and scowled.
"But it was him," Kuno said, rather than asked. He knew.
Ranma nodded.
"Look at me, Ranma."
Ranma shifted his head so he was looking up at Kuno. Kuno pointed to the thin red lines running across his face.
"He got Ryoga, Kuno," Ranma said suddenly. "He killed him."
Kuno knelt down in front of Ranma, holding his bokken pointed-end down. His face was utterly serious as he said: "Alright, Ranma...what do you want to do?"
"I don't know...I think...I think we have to round everyone up. Get everyone together, here, and think of something then."
"That's a good idea."
Ranma looked around suddenly, then looked back at Kuno. "Where's Kodachi?"
"She's resting at home."
His eyes widened considerably and he clutched at Kuno's arm. "She's asleep? She's sleeping?"
"Yes, wh..."
Kuno suddenly realized, as Ranma's voice ran through his mind once again: Whatever you do, don't fall asleep.
Whatever you do, don't fall asleep.
Don't fall asleep.
"Oh, God..." Kuno said, and he, Ranma, and Akane all stood simultaneously and ran back towards Kuno's mansion.
* * * * *
They were just outside the Kuno mansion now. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but the three of them knew otherwise. They quickly made their way up the front steps and pushed the front door open. A passing maid was startled by the noise, and Kuno grabbed her by the shoulders.
"Have you seen my sister?"
The maid nodded, scared out of her mind by the terror in her master's voice. "Yes, she is sleeping now!"
Kuno released her and raced for Kodachi's bedroom, followed closely by Ranma and Akane. The maid ran after them, asking what was wrong. Kuno pushed open the door and had to take a step back in shock as he looked up. Ranma and Akane did the same, and the maid simply began screaming, a high-pitched, blood-curdling sound.
Kodachi's bed was unmade, and there was a large crater in the center. The bed was currently in the process of vomiting up what must have been every last drop of Kodachi's blood, right to the ceiling. It was erupting from the bed like a geyser at Yellowstone. Kuno closed his eyes tightly and turned away from the sight.
* * * * *
Only an hour ago, Shampoo and Mousse had closed up the Nekohanten for the night. It was a couple hours before actual closing time, but they had gotten word of Ryoga's death, and they, along with Cologne, agreed that it would be best to just close for the rest of the evening.
Now, Mousse was preparing for sleep. He lay down on his bed, removed his glasses, and placed them on the nightstand next to the bed. He turned off the table lamp and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
He slept peacefully until he heard a noise coming from the restaurant downstairs. It had sounded like someone moving a table. Mousse sat up groggily. Who the hell is rearranging furniture at this hour? he thought. He reached for his glasses, put them on, and turned on the lamp. He stood up and grabbed his robe off the bathroom door, slipping into it. He walked down the stairs, not bothering to be quiet.
Mousse could hear someone humming softly. Whoever it was, they were humming some sort of children's tune, something Mousse couldn't quite place, but felt he had heard before. He looked across the dark restaurant and saw Shampoo sitting at one of the tables. She smiled sweetly at him and stopped humming. "Hi, Mousse."
"Shampoo?" he asked as he began to walk toward her. "What are you doing down here at, like, three in the morning?"
She crossed her legs and her sweet smile turned to one that Mousse felt was particularly evil. "I couldn't sleep."
"Are you...ok?"
He realized as he approached that only one of her hands was visible. The other one was positioned behind her back so he could not see it. He stopped about five feet away from her.
In Shampoo's visible hand, Mousse could see she was toying with some sort of cloth material. It looked somehow familiar to him.
"What do you got there?"
Shampoo glanced at him and tossed him the cloth, which he caught in both hands. Looking down at it, he saw it was covered with a dark red substance that could only be blood. It was one of Ryoga's bandannas.
"It's a present from Ryoga," she responded.
As Mousse's eyes widened, he looked at her. He cautiously asked: "And what...have you got behind your...back, there?"
She brought her right hand out from behind her, revealing a glove with razor-sharp knives on the tips of the fingers. She looked at it with fascination.
"This...was a present from Freddy."
She grinned and began to giggle. Soon, her voice was not her own, but deeper and more evil, a man's voice Mousse had not heard before.
"He says to tell you you're about to be one dead duck!"
She stood up and the chair tipped over. She was staring at him, her expression now completely blank. She clicked the claws together so that they were straight. Mousse backed off.
"What's wrong, Mousse? You afraid of this 'pussy'?"
She threw back her head and laughed a deep, evil laugh.
"Shampoo, take that thing off. I don't want to hurt you..."
She pointed all four blades at him. "I'm about to show you the meaning of the word 'hurt'."
Mousse blinked, and the instant his eyes opened, it was no longer Shampoo standing there; it was the scarred man with the claw and the Christmas sweater, the man who had shown up and attacked the people at Ranma's party two years earlier. And, according to later gossip and rumors floating around, Ranma was supposedly connected to this guy in some way. All that passed through his mind in a matter of seconds.
Thinking quick, Mousse reached into the sleeve of his robe and whipped out a knife. He tossed it and it landed directly in Freddy's open mouth. Freddy gasped, choking on it for a moment, then proceeded to slowly withdraw it. Blood ran down the blade and he smiled as he cleaned it off with his tongue. Mousse could only watch in disgust. When he was finished, Freddy threw the blade off to one side.
"Let your daddy show you how to play with knives," Freddy said tauntingly.
Mousse again reached into his robe and withdrew three knives with thin handles held between his fingers. He almost resembled the beloved X-Men character, Wolverine. "Come on!"
"Now...you die."
As Freddy moved to strike, Mousse tried to anticipate the attack. He swiped the blades across the area where Freddy's face would have been if he hadn't ducked right away. Freddy slashed right across Mousse's stomach...
...But it was too late. Mousse was disappearing. He looked down at himself and felt his stomach area, looked up at Freddy and gave out a small, crazy laugh just before he disappeared completely. Freddy's eyes went wide and he cursed loudly.
"FUCK!"
* * * * *
Mousse sat straight up and almost jumped out of his bed. Cologne and Shampoo stood over him, Cologne looking calm and cool as usual. Mousse looked at her.
"That wasn't just a dream," he said, panting.
"No," she said, knowingly. Mousse's expression turned to one of confusion. "It will not do to have you or Shampoo sleeping at a time like this."
Mousse happened to glance at his robe hanging down from the bathroom door. The stomach area had four long gashes through the fabric. "What the hell's going on here?"
"I will explain when we get to the Tendos' house."
"What...why the--" he began.
"Mousse!" Cologne practically shouted. "There is no time to waste!"
She hopped out of the room on her cane. Mousse looked at Shampoo, who looked very tired.
"Ranma call and say to meet at Tendos' house," she said quietly. "Kodachi Kuno get killed, too. Is very bad."
Mousse nodded in agreement. "Is very bad."
* * * * *
At the Tendo house, no one slept. Kasumi had already made several rounds of coffee for everyone at Ranma and Akane's insistance. They were all gathered in the living room. Nabiki sat with her elbow on the table, holding her head up with her hand. Clearly, she was bored and tired. She yawned loudly.
"I'm really tired," she said.
Akane spoke to her quietly. "I know, Nabiki, we all are. But please...just try really hard to stay awake...just for tonight, ok?"
She seemed to consider this a moment, then sighed in resignation. "Ok..."
Ukyo looked over at Ranko. They were sitting next to each other on the couch. "Hey, are you ok?"
Ranko seemed distant. Probably tired. She turned at the sound of Ukyo's voice and smiled slightly. "Yeah, I'll manage. This is just really weird, you know? I don't know..."
"I know what you mean. But it's real, and it kills, so we have to do whatever we can, right?"
Ranko looked off to the left and nodded. "Right."
Ranma entered the living room with Cologne, Mousse, and Shampoo right behind. All eyes went to Cologne as the other three took their seats. She sat there on her cane, staring back at them silently for a moment.
"You know something?" Kuno asked.
"I do," she replied. "I can explain what's going on."
"You mean Freddy."
"Yes. You will know the story. It began sometime ago in the United States...he was a child murderer, a serial killer. His mother was a nun who had been raped countless times by the one hundred maniacs inhabiting an insane asylum in Ohio. And from that, he was spawned."
"Son of a hundred maniacs..." Akane whispered.
Kasumi brought in another round of coffee and sat down to listen. Cologne continued on.
"Once an adult, Freddy Krueger began to kidnap and butcher young children from the neighborhood of Springwood. He was eventually caught and tried, but a technicality occurred and he was free. The parents of the town mobbed together that night and burned him alive...but it only made him more powerful. For many years, he has terrorized and massacred the children of Springwood from beyond the grave, where no one could stop him...in their dreams. And so, once he was finished with Springwood, he tried to get out, but he was defeated. Once forgotten, he concocted a flimsy plan for his return. He used another serial killer to spread fear of him, which brought him back. But his plan went awry, as the other killer did not enjoy being a puppet. And he was defeated and forgotten again, only now...someone has remembered and feared the memory. That same person has brought Freddy across the ocean all the way to Nerima, where he is now loose and spreading fear."
They all took it in. It was a lot, and it took a minute, but they were able to keep it together. Ranma was about to ask her something when Nabiki suddenly started screaming. All eyes went to her as she twitched and shook and then suddenly levitated horizontally in midair. They watched in horror as slashes appeared in several places on her body. As the others jumped back in surprise and fear, Ranma and Soun grabbed her legs, Genma and Kuno her arms, and they held her down. Soun, crazy-eyed, gave her a mild slap across the face, and she awoke with another scream. Soun immediately pulled her to him and hugged her as she cried into his shoulder.
"Someone get a first-aid kit!" Soun shouted. "Or call a doctor, or...something!"
"I'll call Doctor Tofu right away," Kasumi said in a shaky voice.
"How do we kill him, Cologne?" Ranma asked, his face determined.
She shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know."
* * * * *
Doctor Tofu had come and made a special house call on Nabiki. He gave her some Hypnocil and gave her something to help her sleep. He offered some Hypnocil to the others. Genma, Soun, Kasumi, and Cologne accepted, but Ranma and the others did not. Doctor Tofu left shortly after.
"There may be a way to kill him, but I need you all to cooperate."
"What is it, Great Grandmother?" Shampoo asked, turning to her.
"You must understand, each of you," she said, making sure she had their full attention before continuing on. "If you die in this nightmare, you will die in reality."
They all nodded. It seemed they already knew the consequences.
"What do we do?" Genma asked.
"I'm afraid you, Soun, and I are too old for this nightmare. The rest of you, listen to me..."
* * * * *
As they lay in the quiet living room, Ranma thought about what Cologne had told them. She had said that the only way they could fight him was on his own turf. Therefore, they had to learn to use their dream powers as soon as they fell asleep. If they could possibly find a vantage point, they could grab hold of him and bring him into the real world, where he could be killed.
Cologne, Genma, Soun, Kasumi, and Nabiki were all in other rooms, sleeping without dreams thanks very much to the Hypnocil. Ranma, Akane, Ranko, Kuno, Mousse, Shampoo, and Ukyo, however, were scattered about the living room, all about to fall, or already falling, asleep.
Ranma already felt sleep overtaking him. He'd been tired all day, but had not dared to go to sleep. He knew what he was up against...hell, he'd been the guy once. He was sure they could beat him. These thoughts followed him as he floated down into a very weird dreamland.
The others were there waiting for him. Mousse and Kuno were off to one side practicing swings; Kuno with his bokken, Mousse with a chain sickle that led into his robe. Shampoo twirled twin batons she held in each hand. Ukyo had her battle spatula poised and ready, looking troubled as she stared straight ahead. Ranma followed her gaze to a decrepit, boarded up house. The paint on the roof was a dirty green, made dirtier by the ages of dust and neglect. The rest of the house was a dirty brownish-white except for the door, which was blood red.
It stands out like a sore thumb, whatever the fuck that means, Ranma thought.
Akane and Ranko walked up on either side of him, looking toward the house. Ranko pointed at something in the front yard, and Ranma saw it, too. There was a group of children dressed in white. Two held a jump rope as a third jumped over it, and two others tossed a kickball back and forth. All the while, they were singing an all too familiar song: "One, two, Freddy's coming for you..."
"Guys?" Ranma asked, and they began to pay attention. "Are we ready now?"
Mousse patted him on the shoulder. "Of course, Ranma. Ready when you are."
Kuno stepped up behind him. "I am ready."
Shampoo and Ukyo looked at each other and nodded.
"Ok," Ranma said, taking a deep breath. "...let's go."
They all took a few steps forward. Suddenly, a giant zombie hand exploded out of the ground under each of them. The hands were decayed and grey, with fingers that ended in sharp tips reminiscent of Freddy's claw.
They all began to scream as they were snatched up by the hands and dragged under the ground. At the last second, Ranma was able to grab ahold of the ground before he was pulled under. The hand continued to yank at him. Ranma reached out for Akane, who was struggling similarly nearby. She also reached for him, but before their hands touched, they were both dragged into the dirt and disappeared underneath.
* * * * *
Ukyo landed on her ass and began coughing as dirt floated down after her. She stood up slowly and brushed herself off.
"Ow," she remarked, rubbing a nice bump on her head that was beginning to bleed. "Where am I?"
She looked at her surroundings and realized she was in a nightmare version of her restaurant. Everything was much darker and corroded. She looked at her oven and noticed that it appeared to be moving, twisting metal and swaying slowly back and forth. The oven door began to open and close rapidly, and to Ukyo, it looked hungry. She did not want to get any closer to it.
"Ranma?" she called. "Are you there?"
At first, she heard nothing. Then she heard a loud voice whisper from all around her: "I'm here..."
Ukyo whipped her head around in every direction. She did not know whose voice that was, but she had a pretty good idea. She snatched her battle spatula up off the floor and held it in front of her defensively.
"Show yourself!"
She heard a loud clicking sound of steel and turned around. Across the restaurant, near the monster oven, Freddy stood glaring at Ukyo, teeth bared.
Ukyo raised her spatula up over her shoulder. "Let's cook, you ugly motherfucker!"
She charged at him and he stood his ground. As she came within striking distance, she swung her battle spatula with incredible speed, aiming to cut Freddy's head off. Unfortunately, Freddy matched her speed equally, and dodged each one of her swings and thrusts. After a moment or two of this, Ukyo took a few steps back and sheathed the battle spatula. Freddy waited for her to make her move, and she did. She quickly flung several small throwing spatulas in his direction, and they started slicing off Freddy's body parts. Freddy was taken aback as his hands were cut off, his arms, his legs, and finally, his head was sheared in two, severed at the mouth. All the pieces of him lay on the floor, twitching, his eyes moving wildly.
"YES!" Ukyo exclaimed, jumping up in the air. "That wasn't so hard. Now, where are the others..."
She turned around to find a solid wall directly in front of her. She touched the wall and it felt cold, as if it were some sort of metal. Suddenly, the whole room began to shake, and she slid wildly backwards. She was no longer in her restaurant; Ukyo lay flat on her back, staring up at a gargantuan Freddy Krueger, wearing a chef's hat and grinning down at her evilly. She screamed as she slid back and forth, realizing that she was lying in melted butter. Her back began to sizzle as the area heated up.
"So, Ukyo likes to cook, does she?" Freddy's booming voice inquired. He looked down at the tiny Ukyo in his giant nightmare frying pan. She was being seared by the melted butter which covered her.
She shook her head wildly back and forth and screamed. Freddy raised his clawed hand, which clutched a large metal spatula. "DIE, BITCH!"
He brought the spatula down on the frying pan and crushed Ukyo into nothing more than a pile of bloody mush.
* * * * *
After Shampoo had been released from the zombie hand, she was dropped into some kind of long, dark corridor. She could not see either end, but there was somehow enough light for her to see where she was going. It was not a very wide hallway, but it was by no means narrow. She walked along toward what she hoped would turn out to be one end.
"Ranma?" she called out, but received no answer. "Mousse? Akane, even?"
Her answer was a laugh coming from somewhere down the hallway behind her. She turned around and saw Freddy standing not too far from where she was.
"Nobody's gonna save you, Shampoo. It's just you and me now, bitch."
She gave him a surprised and then angry look. She twirled her batons and ran towards him. He began to march quickly towards her as well, and he slashed at her. Shampoo blocked in time by raising the baton in her left hand. She used it to push Freddy's claw away and with the other baton, she brought it around and nailed him in the stomach. As Freddy doubled-over, Shampoo brought the baton up and struck him in the face with it, knocking him backwards. Freddy landed on his back and hissed at Shampoo. She took an offensive stance and prepared to strike the killing blow. She brought down both batons on him, aiming to catch his eye sockets, but the batons suddenly turned into snakes in her hands. Startled, she dropped them, but not before one bit her on the wrist.
Shampoo felt sick suddenly and Freddy gave her a mighty shove, sending her sailing through the air, and she landed on her back. She curled up, holding her wrist, which had turned an unhealthy shade of blueish-purple.
"What...what you do to Shampoo?" she screamed in pain.
"Oh, my pet, you mean? He just drained your energy, kid. Sorry. Looks like you won't be practicing moves on anyone for a long time."
She looked up at him in fear and he descended upon her. What he had meant was that she was basically defenseless, now reduced to nothing more than a scared little girl who couldn't fight back. She resisted, of course, as much as she could as he sliced at her. He sliced her legs, her arms, and then went straight down her chest, deep gashes that poured blood. She screamed as the pain went from great to intense, and from intense to extreme. Blood flowed freely from the wounds he had inflicted on her, and he continued to slash away at her. She screamed, and as she was screaming, she had the vaguest feeling that he was dragging her up the wall and across the ceiling of the dark hallway. His evil laughter was the last thing she heard before she finally died.
* * * * *
Mousse didn't exactly know where he was, but he suspected that he was in Freddy's boiler room. He was surrounded by pipes and chains. He began to wander, looking for the others.
"Hello? Shampoo?"
He stopped suddenly as he heard Shampoo's faint screams. She was screaming hysterically, as if...as if being killed. Mousse began to call for her.
"Shampoo! Shampoo!"
Her screams stopped altogether and were replaced by the squealing sound of metal on metal. Mousse looked in the direction of the sound and saw Freddy walking out of the dark, sliding his finger-blades along one of the many metal pipes.
"What the hell did you do to her?"
Freddy chuckled. "What do you think I did? I fucking killed the little piggy. Just like I'm gonna do to you, duck boy."
Enraged, Mousse withdrew the chain sickle from his robe. He grabbed the chain and began to swing the blade around back and forth in front of him. Freddy watched this display with a strange sort of fascination, until Mousse let the chain go. The crescent-shaped blade flew towards Freddy and impaled him through the chest. He looked down at it, wide-eyed, and clutched weakly at it as he dropped to his knees.
"That's for Shampoo, you wretched fuck!"
Mousse suddenly felt something tapping his shoulder. He turned around to see Freddy standing behind him, grinning and tapping him with the tip of his claw-finger. Mousse, confused, quickly looked back to see that the sickle blade was protruding from Shampoo's chest. She looked at him with pleading eyes, her face and body a bloody mess. She held her hand out, reaching for him.
"Mousse...h-help me..." she said, and then her corpse collapsed on the floor.
"No! NO! Shampoo!"
Mousse dropped to his knees and began to cry. Freddy placed his gloved hand lightly on Mousse's shoulder, and the way he talked was friendly, almost fatherly. "Aw, shh...there, there. Poor Mousse. Well, Mousse...are you ready to die now?"
Mousse sniffled, wiped his eyes, and nodded, staying on his knees. Freddy chuckled and patted his shoulder, placing his other hand on Mousse's head and grabbing a handfull of hair. "Good boy," he said.
Freddy drew back his claw-hand and shoved it right into the back of Mousse's head. Two of the blades exited through his eyeballs, knocking his glasses off his face and to the floor. Mousse opened his mouth in a silent scream and blood spewed forth. Freddy withdrew his claws and Mousse fell face-first onto the ground. His body began to dissapate, and it turned into a floating white cloud; his soul. The cloud wrapped around Freddy's legs, spiraling upward, and entered his chest. He shuddered as more power came to him. Once finished, he looked down at Mousse's empty robes.
"Good boy."
* * * * *
Kuno wandered down a similar hallway to the one Shampoo was in. There were no doors, and the hallway did not seem to end in either direction. Unknown to himself or Shampoo, they had walked in opposite directions. Kuno was hoping to come to some sort of exit. As he walked, he began to hear their screams. In unison, he heard Mousse, Shampoo, Ukyo, Ryoga, and Kodachi all screaming in pain and fear. It was distant, but he knew what he was hearing.
"I hear you!" he called.
He focused on the screams as he wandered, and he did not see the door off to the left. As he walked by it, the door swung open and someone grabbed him. Before he knew what was happening, Kuno was yanked off his feet and into a dimly lit library. He pulled away and whirled on his attacker...only to find that it was Ranko. She quickly shut the door and leaned against it.
"Ranko, wha--" Kuno began.
She quickly held up a finger to her mouth in the classic shushing gesture. Kuno obliged, and the walls rumbled slightly. Kuno looked curiously at a light fixture as it twitched and rattled, and the light began flickering on and off. After a moment, the rumbling ceased and the light stayed on. Ranko let out a sigh of relief.
"What was that just now?"
"He just walked by the door," she said, walking past him, toward the center of the room. "That's the third time. You're lucky I grabbed you, or he probably would've killed you."
"What is this place?"
"I don't know yet. I just ended up here...and there are only two doors." She pointed to the one she had pulled him through, then pointed to one on the opposite end of the room. "They both lead to similar hallways, so I was waiting here for everyone until I heard you yelling."
"I think..."
"What?" she asked, taking a few steps closer.
"I think he killed the others."
She let that sink in for a moment, then shook her head slowly. "No..."
A loud banging sound caused Ranko to look to her left. Against the far wall, several rows of books were sitting shelved, covered in mold and dust. Many of them dropped to the floor, and one of the bookcases rocked back and forth briefly. Kuno watched, too, and he held his bokken up defensively. The bang sounded again, knocking over more books and this time, the bookcase rocked even more. After tilting forward and creaking for a few moments, the bookcase fell forward and hit the floor, shaking the room with a deafening bang. The wall behind the bookcase, although covered with grime and other disgusting things, was cracked. It was as if something had rammed it from the other side, trying to break through.
* * * * *
Somehow, Ranma and Akane had landed within shouting distance of each other. They were inside what Ranma could only assume was Freddy's house. It was dark, but not too dark to see. When he'd landed, he stood up and shouted for Akane, who shouted back. They shouted each others' names and followed the sounds of their voices. At last, they came together and embraced in a hug.
"Thank God you're ok," Ranma said, and he pulled her away, looking at her. "Have you seen the others?"
"No, no one yet."
They both looked around, studying their new and strange surroundings. There were stairs nearby leading to the downstairs area. Ranma held Akane's hand as he led her down the stairs. To the left, a dining room where several large black flies were buzzing back and forth. To the right, there was a room that looked like a parlor. There was a bright light in there that was flickering, and it became hard to see as they went in.
As the light flickered, their view became something like a strobing effect. The door slammed shut behind them as they entered, and Ranma tried to pry it open. The door was stuck, but he pulled and yanked frantically on it to no avail. He only stopped when he heard a low voice whispering to him from across the room.
"Ranma..."
He slowly released the doorknob and looked to the other side of the room. Akane's grip on his sleeve tightened as she saw it.
There, standing at the opposite end of the room, was Ryoga. His skin was a grayish blue, and blood stained and encrusted most of his body. The cuts and slashes on his body were clearly visible in the bright strobing light. His pupils had lost all pigment, and his head hung forward lazily. He looked like a zombie from hell.
Ryoga's head rolled sickly to one side and Ranma felt the white eye staring right at him. "Why didn't you help me, Ranma...?"
"I...didn't know," Ranma said, fear in his voice.
"That's not Ryoga," Akane insisted.
Ryoga, very slowly, began to shamble forward. Akane gasped and Ranma tried to step back, but they were already against the wall.
"Hey..." another voice whispered, and they looked over to the left. Mousse had appeared there, his glasses off. Blood ran down from his eye sockets and his mouth, and he had the same zombie-ish look as Ryoga. "Have you seen...my glasses...?"
Mousse stumbled blindly toward them, his arms outstretched. Ranma and Akane began to back in the opposite direction, but they bumped into something. Ranma turned and let out a small cry, pushing Akane back in the direction they had come.
He had bumped into the zombie Shampoo, who was completely covered, from head to toe, in her own blood. Her wounds were numerous and hard to look at. She had four large gashes running down the side of her face, and blood still poured from the wounds as she spoke: "I'm ready for our date now, Ranma."
"Holy fuck!" Ranma screamed as the three walking corpses approached them. "Stay back!"
Akane, thinking quick, put her foot right through the door behind them, breaking the latch off. They escaped through the door and ran into the kitchen, where the Ryoga, Shampoo, and Mousse zombies were waiting for them. They again began to stumble towards Ranma and Akane.
"Alright, what now?" he asked Akane. They backed away, keeping their eyes forward.
"You're asking me?"
Ranma turned and saw the front door. With a grunt, he kicked it as hard as he could, but it didn't budge. He kicked it again and suddenly felt it give way a little. He kicked yet again, and the wood began to splinter and crack. Akane suddenly backed right past him.
"Ranma!" she shrieked.
He felt a hand close on his shoulder and he turned his head. Ryoga was right behind him, and Ranma could smell the decay on him. He grabbed Ryoga's arm and slipped underneath it, spun him around and slammed him headfirst through the front door. The door splintered and broke completely as Ryoga tumbled down into an endless black pit.
Ranma and Akane looked at each other. They looked back at Mousse and Shampoo, who were now almost within reaching distance. They looked at each other again, held hands, and leapt into the pit.
* * * * *
Ranko and Kuno both flinched as Ryoga's corpse exploded through the wall of the library and landed hard, limbs twisted. After a split second, his body faded into dust. Another split second, and Ranma and Akane came screaming from the pit. They were ejected from the large black hole as if they had been on a crazy slide; up into the air and across the room. The two of them landed on the floor near Ranko and Kuno, who helped them to their feet.
"Where are the others?" Kuno asked Ranma.
"There aren't any others," he replied, panting and looking around wildly.
"God dammit," Ranko said angrily.
"I think we better go," Akane said. She was clearly nervous. There was a strange sort of sucking sound, and they watched as the hole they had come out of magically repaired and sealed itself.
Ranma took a step forward. "Freddy! I know you can hear me!"
At first, there was no reply. Then, from all around them, they heard the sound of his laughter. "Did you enjoy the party? I know I sure did. So did your friends."
They heard the screams of all their dead friends. It was loud and horrible, but it was just another one of Freddy's mind games.
The screams stopped suddenly, and there was silence. Then, one of Freddy's claws sliced a gash down the wall behind them. They whirled as Freddy pushed the two sides of the gash outward, the wall moving simply, tearing a hole there from his head to his waist. He poked his head out at them.
"Party's over, kids!"
He grabbed ahold of Kuno's arm with both hands and yanked him towards the hole. Kuno cried out and grabbed Ranko's arm. She, in turn, grabbed Akane's arm, and Akane grabbed Ranma's. They made a crazy chain as Freddy pulled them into the abyss.
* * * * *
Freddy had released Kuno, but they all held onto each other tightly. They landed on a metal catwalk, and after a moment of silent pain, they grudgingly got up.
"I'm getting pretty sick of this shit," Ranko moaned, rubbing her backside.
Once they were back on their feet, they looked around. Pipes lined the walls and ceiling. Everything had taken on a dark reddish hue. The catwalk on which they had landed led one way: forward. And forward they went, to the end of the catwalk, which led down like a ramp to some sort of large cavern. It was reminiscent of the boiler room they had just walked out of, but different. It was much larger, and few of the pipes remained. The ground was no longer metal, but dirt. They were walking on solid earth.
The bones of so many victims were scattered and piled all over the place. It was unbelievable; they looked at the mounds as they passed. Towards the back of the cavern, sitting in a throne made entirely of human bones, Freddy Krueger watched them with amusement. They slowly made their way forward until they were a good distance from him. He stood up then and glared at them.
"What are you gonna do now, huh?" Freddy asked them mockingly. "There's only four of you now."
"Yeah, and there's only one of you," Ranko retorted. "Learn math, fuckface."
Freddy laughed as he took a few steps forward. "But there's so much more to me now."
"We've got more power than you!" Kuno said confidently. But in his mind, he wasn't so sure.
Freddy reached to his shoulder and tore his sweater open, exposing his chest. Ranma and the others looked on in horror as the faces of their murdered friends writhed and screamed, extruding from Freddy's chest.
"I've got their souls!" He laughed as the tortured faces on his chest let out piteous wails. "Looks like a full house, huh? But there's always room for more." His grin faded as he advanced on them.
Ranma suddenly heard Cologne's voice. It sounded as though she were speaking right into his ear. She told him what to do next.
He matched Freddy's pace and marched toward him as the others followed. Freddy drew back his claw to strike, but Ranma grabbed him by the neck. Freddy was caught off guard, but it didn't matter. He swung his claw toward Ranma's face...but the blades passed right through him. Freddy looked around and realized that Ranma and his friends disappearing. Then, he looked down in horror, watching as he himself disappeared with them.
* * * * *
Ranma's eyes flew open and he gasped as he realized that Freddy Krueger was poised right over him, claw in the striking position. Ranma's hand was still wrapped loosely around his neck.
"I'm gonna dance in your guts," Freddy growled.
The others awoke instantly at the same time and sat up, but they wouldn't have been able to act in time. Luckily, Cologne was perched on her cane behind where Ranma had been sleeping.
"Hey!" she shouted.
Freddy looked up and saw her, and she held out her open palm. She blew a mound of salt into his eyes, temporarily blinding him as he cried out in pain. At the same time, Ranma saw Soun and Genma standing in the kitchen entryway. They quickly nodded to Ranma, and Ranma quickly nodded back.
Freddy was unable to see at the moment, and that was all Ranma needed. He raised his right foot to Freddy's chest and shoved him backwards. Ironically, Freddy began to slip and slide across the floor as he stepped in the mess that had once been Ukyo. Freddy landed hard on his back and slid further. He stopped at the kitchen entrance, where Soun and Genma appeared above him. Freddy's eyes went wide as he saw what they were holding.
Genma held a large spear in both hands, which he quickly plunged into Freddy's chest. Freddy screamed in pain. Soun, who was holding a medieval double-bladed axe in both hands, swung the massive blade down and sliced Krueger's head clean off. Blood sprayed from his neck and his head rolled further into the kitchen, a surprised look on his face.
Ranma and the others stood up. Kuno looked around at their dead friends and then looked down at the floor, where most of Ukyo was puddled. He knew it was her because he recognized the hair ribbon that lay in the middle of the gore. He shook his head, face curling up in disgust.
Meanwhile, Ranma made his way to the kitchen and stood between Soun and Genma. They stood looking down at Freddy's severed head, which stared back up at them.
"This ain't over yet..." the decapitated head said.
Soun handed the double-bladed axe to Ranma. He took it and looked back down at the head.
"Sweet dreams, Freddy."
"No! NO!"
With that, Ranma brought the blade down in the center of Freddy's face, cleaving the head in two. the two sides wobbled on the floor momentarily before becoming engulfed in bright blue light and fading away completely. The rest of Krueger's body faded away, and they were left with his clothing; pants, shoes, hat, sweater, and glove.
Ranma left the axe embedded in the floor. Then he turned around and went to Akane. She hugged him, and Ranko joined them, wrapping her arms around them. Kuno was still looking around in disgust, as it seemed parts of Ukyo had gotten everywhere.
"Holiest of..." Kuno tried to remark. "God, that is just disgusting. And...oh God...the smell! It's brutal!"
"What do we do with that?" Genma asked, pointing to Freddy's clothing and glove. Ranma broke the hug and went to the pile.
"I'll take care of it."
Cologne looked at him. "Are you sure, Ranma?"
"Yes. I know what to do with it."
* * * * *
Hours later, as the others had a good sleep for once in what felt like a very long time, Ranma was elsewhere. He had walked all the way to the Nerima junkyard. The sun was beginning to rise, and he was happy to have lived long enough to see another day.
With a pack of matches and a large pile of kindling, Ranma had started a small bonfire. After the fire blazed big enough, Ranma threw the pile of Freddy's clothes into it. He watched the flames engulf it, stayed and watched until it was mostly burned away. The last thing he saw was the sweater.
He turned around and began to walk away. After a moment, he held his right hand up and studied it as he walked. Freddy Krueger's glove covered it, and he used one of the blades to scratch an itch on his scalp. With his left hand, he twirled the fedora around and placed it on top of his head.
As he walked, he began to whistle a familiar jump rope tune. As the bonfire raged on, it suddenly took on a strange human form...and then, the sound of Freddy's cackling emerged from it.
THE END
Author's Notes: This was a fun one to write. I tried to stay mostly original, tried to keep Freddy's jokes to a minimum. I wanted it to be scary, I'm trying to put the fear of Freddy back in you. Even though it probably didn't work, well...at least I tried. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Some humor had to be placed here and there throughout the story, or it would've been just too dark. I like it the way it is now, though. Instead of Freddy making stupid jokes and puns ALL THE FRICKIN' TIME, I just had him deliver a quick line and go straight to brutally slaughtering people.
Yeah, I guess the ending means that Freddy's not dead, and maybe Ranma's insane now...or maybe he's psychotic. I don't know, you tell me. Anyway, I don't think I'm going to do another sequel to this, not unless I think up a really good story. That's not likely, so instead, be on the lookout for more 2005 remakes!
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