In the monitoring room, the silence wasn't simply the absence of noise; it was a heavy and suffocating entity pressing against the eardrums of everyone present.
Donald and his team were frozen in front of the bank of screens, mouths agape, unable to process the live broadcast of the impossible.
The images before them were enough to dismantle and set fire to their years of experience.
That monster had just been treated with less respect than a trash bag. They had watched him defy gravity in a free fall, only to crash against the wall with a finality that left no room for doubt: in this world, Freddy Krueger obeyed the laws of physics, and physics had just given him a beating.
On the screen, Lief didn't give him even a second of respite.
With a terrifying calm, the young man approached the collapsed figure. He leaned down, grabbed the striped sweater by the collar, and with a sharp tug, lifted the killer as if he were a rag doll, forcing him to stand on his trembling legs.
Crack
The sound of the impact resonated in everyone's minds.
It was a clean right hand.
Freddy's head jerked violently back with whiplash that would have killed a normal man.
Several teeth flew out of his mouth, splattering the lens of the security camera with black spots.
But Lief was barely warming up.
Thud Thud Crack
His fists began to fall with a ruthless cadence, but there was no rage in his movements.
Hook to the liver. Uppercut to the jaw. A straight to the nose.
Every blow landed on Freddy's face, which was now losing any trace of humanity under the punishment.
This didn't even qualify as a street beating.
"Jesus Christ…"
A young officer, who had barely been on the force for a year, swallowed so hard it was heard in the room. His right hand went instinctively toward the holster of his weapon at his waist, but his fingers trembled so much that he couldn't unfasten the safety.
Donald felt his breakfast rising in his throat as he turned his neck stiffly to look at the girl standing beside him.
Airam was leaning against the control console, arms crossed and wearing an expression of absolute tranquility.
"This... excuse me, miss," asked Donald. "Is this how... you usually operate?"
He felt his worldview was being swept away. In his mind, an "exorcism" or a "demon hunt" implied ancient Latin, holy water, crucifixes, and a battle of wills.
How the hell had they gone from that to an ultraviolent kickboxing session in a maximum-security cell?
"Why? Doesn't it work like that in your raids, Lieutenant?" asked Airam with a tone implying it was obvious. "The objective is to neutralize the threat, isn't it? Besides, you have to admit his footwork is impeccable. He's very sexy when he gets serious."
"..."
Donald was left speechless.
What else could he say? He couldn't say anything.
He looked back helplessly at the screen.
Freddy Krueger, the terror of Elm Street, the entity that had cheated death and hell, was being used as a punching bag. He tried to raise his arms, but it was useless. His infamous bladed glove, the weapon that had gutted so many innocents, hung limp from a shattered wrist. Not only was he unable to hurt anyone, he couldn't even lift it to stop his face from being broken once more.
…
Inside the claustrophobic confines of the isolation cell...
Nancy, still sitting on the bed with ragged breathing and sweat sticking her pajamas to her body, was paralyzed by shock.
Just seconds ago, her mind was consumed by terror, praying that her plan would work and she could drag Freddy out of her nightmare.
She felt relief... but now it was buried under a layer of disbelief.
She was seeing the unthinkable.
The monster that had skinned Tina, that had almost killed Glen, the one who seemed untouchable... was being beaten in front of her eyes.
Lief, however, was barely starting to enjoy himself.
For him, fists were no longer enough to make his point. The beating needed a change of rhythm…
Fluidly, he crouched to catch Freddy's ankle with a grip of steel, ignoring the useless kicking and groans. Lief spun on his heels using his supernatural strength and, lifting the body like a wet rag doll, he swung him...
Boom
And he smashed him against the wall with such violence that dust fell from the ceiling and the entire cell vibrated.
Freddy fell to the floor in a disjointed heap of limbs.
He no longer tried to get up, while from his shattered mouth came agonizing moans that failed to form words.
His face was now an image of absolute confusion and pain.
His brain couldn't process the situation. Who was this boy? Why did his blows feel like hammer strikes?
This wasn't fair. It wasn't... possible.
In a matter of a minute, he had been reduced to a mass of flesh that could barely gasp for air, losing not only the capacity to resist, but even the dignity to scream.
Finally Lief stopped and exhaled, shaking his right hand as if shaking something sticky off his knuckles, although with an air of disappointment.
He turned toward the bed, his expression softening upon seeing Nancy, but with eyes still shining dangerously.
"Hey, Nancy," he said pointing with his chin at the whimpering lump. "Do you want a turn? This piece of shit murdered Tina and almost finished you and Glen off. You've earned the right to break a couple of his ribs."
"..."
Nancy looked at Freddy, then at Lief, and backed away instinctively, pressing her back against the cold wall, shaking her head frantically.
It wasn't fear that Lief would hit her.
It was repulsion.
It was the nausea of seeing so much raw violence, even if it was directed against a monster. She wasn't a killer...
"No... I can't," she whispered "I don't want to touch him. I just want... I want it to end. Please, just make it stop."
"..."
Lief observed her for a moment, evaluating her reaction and sighed, accepting that not everyone has the stomach for justice.
"Understood," he said without judging her. "You rest. I'll take care of the trash."
He turned his attention back toward the floor.
"Good," he said cracking his neck. "The warm-up is over."
On the other side, Donald and his team took a collective step back.
The warm-up?
Lief completely ignored the commotion being breathed on the other side and Nancy's paralysis, walking toward Freddy with steps that resonated like the end.
He stood over him and raised his right fist, altering the atmosphere instantly.
Unlike the purely physical attacks of the previous beating, now a golden light, warm but terribly intense, began to converge around his knuckles.
The power of purification mixed with a sacred light that hummed with the frequency of a miniature nuclear reactor, condensed on the front of his fist, forming a sphere of dazzling radiance.
"You've had your fun, Krueger," His voice resonated with a solemnity that erased any trace of mockery. "You have contaminated the only place where people should be safe, turning dreams into a slaughterhouse."
"As a farewell, I will grant you the only gift you deserve: an absolute purification… I am going to erase you until not even the memory of your name remains."
Freddy, huddled in the corner, felt how his essence reacted violently to that light….
He raised his head abruptly and, for the first time in his existence, his rotten face reflected the most primal fear, the terror of ceasing to be.
"No! Get away from me!" he shouted with desperation, trying to claw the floor to back away. "I am eternal! I have the power! You cannot do this to me…!"
"You are nothing."
Boom
Lief delivered the blow without the slightest hesitation.
This time there was not the dull sound of flesh against flesh.
There was absolute silence, followed by the sound of a forest fire.
The light devoured everything.
The instant Lief's fist made contact with Freddy's chest, like an ice cube thrown into the heart of a volcano, his body began to react violently.
Freddy arched his back, opening his mouth in a shriek that was never heard because his vocal cords disintegrated.
His sweater came undone in strands of smoke, his skin bubbled and peeled, revealing not blood, but a viscous darkness that vaporized instantly under the sacred radiance.
The body built of resentment and nightmares was totally incapable of resisting the purity of the light.
While his face melted like hot wax, he used his last thread of consciousness and hatred to hurl a final promise, his eyes fixed on Lief and Nancy with a consuming evil.
"I'll be back...!" He screamed while his jaw detached. "I'm going to kill... all... your...!"
The sentence died with him.
The light exploded in a final blinding flash and then dissipated, leaving the cell in a sudden silence.
In the place where the monster had been, there was no longer anyone. Only a mound of ashes remained, and atop them, intact and solitary, lay the infamous glove with the four steel blades.
"Sigh…"
Exhaling, Lief leaned down and picked up the glove. He weighed it in his hand, feeling the worn texture of the leather.
He blew softly to remove a bit of the dust covering it.
"Not bad…," he commented, breaking the deadly tension. "Although the aesthetic taste leaves much to be desired."
With a quick flick of his wrist, the glove disappeared.
"A trophy."
________
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