Cover blown, I simply drew my sword, igniting it as I jumped toward my opponent. I didn't plan on wasting any time making conversation with him and instead focused on my assault. The demon grabbed hold of my blade with both of his hands as if it were nothing yet as soon as the flame began to burn him, he pushed himself away and growled. He then slung his claw to the side before lunging at me and swiping full force. I caught the knives, but his strength had grown and it was far too difficult to fend him off. I ended up doing the same thing he had and pushed myself away from his attack.

"You know, buddy," he cooed, "There's not really much sense in you fighting me. You can already tell that."

While his increased power did have me on edge, I wasn't about to give up and not put my all into this fight. I shot forward again, swinging my sword viciously back and forth, desperate to land a blow. The ferocity of my attack seemed to piss him off and he actually fell victim to one swipe when his own strike missed its parry and grazed my shoulder instead. He fell back, looking down at his torn and charred sweater, patting the tiny flame away as blood fell from the gash in his chest. I moved forward to hit him more, but he vanished and then reappeared a bit further away from me to show that his wound was entirely healed.

"Shit!" I cursed in a whisper.

"AHAHAH!" the demon laughed, "You see, I know how to fully control my abilities and you have given me time to gather the strength needed to fuel them. Face it, I'm just too far ahead of you."

"HAH!" I yelled, "Who do you think you're fooling? It wasn't but recently you were looking for me to stop chasing you because you couldn't beat me."

The demon's lips curled, "That may be, but as it stands, you haven't improved since then, but have allowed me time to gather my strength...meaning currently...you're my bitch!"

I glared at the demon as he teleported directly in front of my face, grabbing onto my shoulders and jutting his knee into my stomach before my mind was able to think enough to gather my own weapon. I cowered back, doing my best not to double over from the force as I desperately threw my blade onto him to set him afire. Once more, he growled, spinning unearthly fast several times until the flames on his clothes died. My eyes fell to the wound on my shoulder as he did this. If he could heal himself, then maybe...

I focused my will onto sealing the the small gashes next to my neck, but to no avail. Shit. If he could regenerate after what would normally be a fatal blow and I couldn't even fix a few scratches, then maybe I was at a disadvantage... Then a thought struck me. I had already put together that he was more powerful within his own domain...what if that meant I could heal if I were inside my dream instead? Perhaps then, since I was gifted in this arena, he would even find it more difficult to fix his wounds there.

I definitely had to get him back to where Maggie and Devin were. The question was if I should bring them here first or if they would tempt Freddy to just leave. I wasn't given much time to think on it, though, as he was once more upon me. The demon lunged in my direction, swiping his claw furiously. I blocked two blows, twisting and blocking three more times when he vanished and reappeared behind me. The battle kept going on like that until I finally realized that we weren't going to get anywhere. Even if he wasn't stronger than me, we were definitely on even ground right here, right now and the constant focus on fending off his blows were making it so I couldn't even try to relocate us.

My brain formulated a new plan. If I could heal myself in my personal world...then all I needed was enough time to transport the two of us. If I let him land an attack so that I could grab onto him and do this...then I could repair while Maggie pulled Freddy out into the real world. He was as easy to kill as a human there, so she would be able to finish the job herself if I couldn't wake up in time to help. Putting fierce eyes on my opponent, I readied myself to take his next hit while pretending to have been battling as normal so I didn't raise suspicion.

When I lifted my sword above my head as if to throw a downward blow, Freddy rammed each of his steel blades into my abdomen simultaneously. Somehow I hadn't expected it to hurt as badly as it did. I thought that being inside a dream, the feeling would be numb, but instead, I almost felt like vomiting when his claws sunk into my flesh, piercing my organs beneath. Blood began dripping from my mouth yet I was able to throw my arms around him, digging my nails into his skin while focusing all my intent on returning to my dream apartment.

Freddy didn't seem to catch on to any of it until I started using all of my strength to push him into the door at our side. It was only then that his evil laughter ceased, yet he wasn't able to keep me from finishing my goal. We quickly fell through the hospital door and landed on the floor of my bedroom, my eyes catching onto Maggie and Devin as they jumped up from their seats.

"You smart little bitch!" Freddy growled half-angrily and half-amused, lifting himself up off of my body and placing his sight on his daughter, "Aw did someone miss Daddy?"

"Just missed how good it felt to kill you," I heard Maggie glint.

I could only somewhat keep an eye on the battle after that. The wound in my stomach was still forcing agonizing pain on my while I tried to use my power to stop the bleeding and reverse the damage. I shifted between staring at my abdomen and closing my eyes, all the while focusing on the task. However, a worried shout drew my attention back to what was happening around me.

"MARK! KEEP HIM HERE!" Maggie cried out, having been thrown against the wall though she was regaining herself to approach her demented father again.

Looking afterward to the demon from my spot laying on the ground, I saw that his form was fading. SHIT! I removed everything in me from healing my body and instead fought with my mind to make Krueger unable to leave. I was scared that I'd fail, but gradually his figure became solid, allowing Devin to whack him over the head with my lamp so Maggie could throw her arms around him. I watched the two suddenly vanish from the room, causing Devin to step around, awkwardly searching to make sure it was no trick.

"Looks like she got him out," he came close to me with a smile that faded upon seeing me still laying on the floor, clutching onto my abdomen which continued to pour crimson.

"Shit, Mark! SHIT!" the man dropped to the ground beside me, his arms hovering over my body as his brain contemplated what to do, "Fucking shit!"

"It's ok," I choked out, unintentionally spitting red as I did so, "If I can just focus...I should be able to heal myself just like he can."

"What do I do?" Devin demanded, his eyes lit with concern, his entire face sickly pale trying to process his own fear about the gravity of my state.

"Just, sh..." I closed my eyes, reaching out and taking hold of his hand.

Doing my best to ignore the burning, stabbing pain, I gathered every bit of my inner energy and sent it to my stomach, silently ordering it to fix the damage. After a few moments without feeling change, my mind instinctively sought Devin's energy out, as if I could tap into the extra will power and achieve my goal. I mustered all of my strength, all of my imagination, and all of the intent I knew was within my friend, and aimed it toward this one desire. Slowly, the hurt in my body eased and I knew that it was working...but I was wrong.

As I tried to open my eyes to show Devin that I was right and everything was fine, I realized I was hardly capable of lifting my lids. My vision settled first on the man who was holding our hands above my chest, tears streaming down his cheeks...then I looked down at my body. The injury was the same. I could see torn tissue, the shining blood that was starting to dry... The pain wasn't ceasing because I was getting better...my body was only growing numb as death neared.

My gaze went to Devin again, "Please," I begged, "You have to get out and make sure Freddy is dead."

"I-I can't," he sobbed, "I need you. I-I-" his eyes started scanning the room, "There has to be something I can do to save-"

"Sh..." I managed a small smile, "Please...if I'm going to die, don't let him get away...don't let me die in vain."

The man swallowed hard as I could see his Adam's apple bob in his throat. He then blinked several times, drops of moisture flinging from his face with the movement. "Ok," he relented, his face scrunching as he began to sob loudly with his next words, "I promise you."

Devin leaned down, placing gentle lips onto mine. I forced my body to kiss him back despite how quickly I was losing the power to move at all, "I love you," I whispered as his tears stained my face.

The sobs only grew more intense then and he had completely lowered himself onto me, letting his chest rest on mine as his arms reached around my head and hugged me tightly, "I love you too, Mark," he cried.

Sound, touch, sight...it had all grown so weak and I knew I wouldn't last much longer. Closing my eyes, I took in a final breath and with it, set all my energy and intent on pushing Devin out of the dream world. At that moment, there was no doubt in my mind that I would succeed. Just before my body stopped moving...stopped functioning altogether, I watched Devin disappear from in front of me, taking his comforting embrace with him... Once again, I was alone...and this time...I would remain that way...forever.