Seven billion souls inhabit this dirty mudball of a planet. Each one struggles with their divergent paths, with an itching question trapped in the back of their psyche. What keeps me going? To some, it's love. For others, it's ambition and pride. The honest answer, though, is fear. After all, it motivates practically everything we do.
We live because we're afraid to die, pop out kids because we don't want to be forgotten, and keep order, so we don't see chaos. Fear's the ultimate motivator and limiter. These two, in particular, see it's something far simpler: food. For decades, they've stalked their territories, carving their names into the hearts of any poor bastards within their hungry maws.
Unfortunately, one decided to get a little too greedy and transverse the territory of another. So our view now turns toward the putrid sewers of Derry, Maine, as though the sound of rats breeding and rust set in a single man walks through. His footsteps echoed off the rancid puddles while his clawed hands scraped across the slabs.
The sparks illuminated the sewers just enough so the world could revile at his burnt face, which still smelled from when he got burned. He's an enigma to most of the world, but to Elm Street, he's called the Nightmare: Freddy Kruger. The dream demon, against the odds, had survived to get revenge on his killers, feasting well on their fear.
Or at least, he was until a couple of months ago. Across social media, the word spread about the anniversary of several deaths in this backwater town called Derry, Maine, in the 80s. Their killer never got found to this day, but it's not like that stops any paranoid nutjob from posting their crackpot theories. Most prominent of which centered around a mysterious clown, Pennywise.
And ever since, Freddy hasn't been able to get that damn voice out of his head. It's even gotten so bad now it's starting to affect business. People are beginning to forget who the real cosmic horror is, meaning it's up to Freddy to visit Maine. Upon arrival, tracking the damn clown wasn't hard, though, Pennywise's stink was everywhere. Meaning he just had to find the place which had the most of his stench.
At the end of a seemingly endless pipe way, Freddy witnessed an underground cavern that looked centuries deep. While he couldn't see the bottom of the pit, he could still feel "It" undeniably. Even while slumbering, the dreaded being was enough to give the old killer something felt an incredible excitement, his coarse skin tightening into a sickening smile at what was sure to be his magnum opus.
Realizing he couldn't contain himself, Freddy jumped into the pit and entered the dream world. Using Pennywise's mind as a canvas, he painted the perfect picture, reading the clown's decrepit mind to create a lonely street lit up by light poles shining a pale orange light. By the time Freddy put on the finishing touches on his art piece, he had realized he'd now gained an audience.
Despite its ethereal nature, the entire dream world's temperature decreased to a razor chill. The street itself shrunk as the shadows enveloped him even further. The defeaning absence made the disarmingly alluring voice even louder.
"I've never had food deliver itself before," an unsettling voice said.
Kruger's sadistic smile grew so vast it nearly split his face open, relishing the battle to come as he turned around towards his opponent. He could feel the dream demon feverishly festering inside him as he stared down the ragged jester.
"Hmph, you're got the clown down pat. Cause the only meal here is you," Freddy said menacingly.
Pennywise then smiled, sprouting a row of serrated teeth while replying.
"Oh no, I'm much too sour for your taste. You, though, are right up my alley,"
"It's" right hand immediately grew twice in size before stitching rapidly towards Freddy. Before connecting, the killer disappeared in a puff of smoke. Pennywise got momentarily taken aback, wondering where he was before feeling ten rusty claws dig into his back. Instead of feeling pain, It turned his body around to see Freddy, keeping his grin as he spouted a river of blood from his wounds.
The sheer volume pushed the Nightmare back, forcing him down long enough for Penny to pounce with a spinning row of teeth. Kruger didn't pay it much mind, though, morphing the ground like a liquid piercing through Penny's body. The jagged stone-like spears stopped his advance cold.
Adding on to the assault, he added a solid telekinetic shove, lifting him upwards into the air before slamming him back down to earth with equal speed. A small crater indented the street, an ominous smokescreen as Freddy menacingly walked toward him.
"Damn, and I'd heard you were a threat. But you can't even touch me in this place," he said pridefully.
When his vision cleared, he saw the crater only had a lone red balloon. With creeping intent, the balloon floated methodically out of the crater, Freddy tracking its movements as Its disembodied voice said.
"Trust me; I'm most certainly a threat."
Once Freddy fully turned around, he saw the balloon absorbed into a large mass of identical copies, all forming the shape of Penny's large head. A fitting pun couldn't escape the killer's lips as the swarm of balloons enveloped him. Sounds of broken bones and squelching flesh echoed across the dream world as the balloons eventually melted into victorious Pennywise. A sense of relief washed over him as he felt the pit in his stomach give out a quiet splash. Which somehow made it grumble all the more.
"My my, guess I'm starting feeding time early this time," he said as he proceeded to "wake up." Hours after his victory, "It" from there continued his centuries-long cycle. From his ugly pit, Penny rose again to terrorize the young children of Derry. Using his telepathy, he peeked through millions of strayed thoughts, looking for that desperate wedge in their psyches.
Curiously though, he could only find one, a 12-year-old boy biking in the town square alone. Predatory eyes zoomed in, quickly peering through the phobias to see he was afraid of clowns. He might as well have gotten gift-wrapped for him. Then, through a flick of the wrist, Pennywise cast his spell upon the townspeople, coating everyone in an apathetic cloud while walking away.
He then snapped his fingers, spectrally snapping his fingers to lock up the child's bike. Upon a nearby perch, he then absorbed every delicious moment. The feigned curiosity over his unaltered course, alarm over his jammed-up brakes, and the jolting fright he felt before gravity tumbled him on the hard marble.
Like a fish on dry land, the boy awkwardly surveyed him, instinctively clutching his bleeding leg. He looked around, seeing if someone could help him in the abandoned town square. Creating Pennywise's perfect opportunity to jump in.
"Are you okay?"
The boy instantly turned around, seeing a kind elderly man. Stranger danger immediately ran through the kid's mind, subtly backed away.
"No, I'm good sir," he said weakly.
"Now, I don't know about that. You're bleeding, son. Let me take a look at it before you get infected."
"It," read the boy's expressions as quickly as a children's book, weighing his options.
"Are you sure you can make it better?"
"Of course, all you have to do is take my hand," he said while getting an unearthly pale hue.
Reluctantly, the child followed suit, reaching his hand out while Pennywise stifled back his laughs at his most gullible prey yet. Instead of juicy flesh, though, the Derry Disease tasted like a hearty knuckle sandwich. Half of his face immediately warped back to his usual clown makeup. Angrily he looked back and saw a concerned middle-aged man in a fighting stance.
"Get the fuck away from that kid, you freak!"
For a brief second, "It" could only stare in disbelief, wondering how one slipped through his control. Prompt, he tried course correcting, layering on a psychic wave, hoping he'd flee. His attempt only succeeded in getting a kick, this time from a blond woman around the earlier man's age.
"What do you think you're doing to my husband, you piece of shit!"
Bewilderment claimed It again, witnessing that he had now gotten the spotlight in the worst way possible. One by one, more adults came from across town, packing the streets to surround Pennywise in full force. Each member of said mob hurled various insults to defend a tiny insignificant boy not even the cosmic horror could name.
"What kind of brute decides to mess with a child?"
"God, do you see his face? Looks like a sex pest if I've ever seen one."
"I finally believe their faces that only a mother could love."
Soon enough, the insults seemed to morph into one long, overwhelming wave of absolute contempt toward the living void. In response did nothing but bite back, growing four times in size to reveal his true spider body.
"SHUT IT ALL OF YOU! WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO TALK TO ME LIKE THIS!? I'M A DEVOURER OF WORLDS! I'M-"
A well-aimed rock completely interrupts his speech, coupled next with a broken bottle, piece of paper, and whatever else the mob could egg on.
"And you act as if we care!"
"Yeah, you're just a big bully."
"You're worst than that. You less than nothing," the boy chimed in.
It gave out a mighty town shaking bellow before trying to squash his prey in a single blow. Marvelously the attack phased through the adolescent. Worse yet, his right arm started fading entirely, crawling his body like a virus. In shock, he fell back in alarm, the fading effect spreading toward his legs while the mob stomped him.
The blows made his body concave further, shrinking the grand monster down. Soon, Pennywise's senses began dulling, feeling utter terror for the first time in two million years. Sickening dread weakened his being further, leading him to ask.
"Is this the end for me?"
He wonders how many of his victims had to ask this same query. And panicked just like he was about to do? Finally, after half his body vanished, Pennywise accepted his fate, preferring to at least go out in a blaze of glory. In his case, he became a human bonfire. Fiery waves licked off the crowd, passing through them as easily as everything else until he saw the boy retreating, his face betraying past trauma. It quickly took note, his brain stirring.
"I get it now."
Pennywise immediately sprang forward to find newfound strength, his remaining hand blazing as he clutched his target. Rivers of fright poured out of him as Pennywise beamed.
"Hello, Freddy."
Without warning, the entire sky broke apart like glass, shattering the dream world. Now back in Pennywise pit's, the whole tide of battle has flipped. In human form, Pennywise kept Freddy in his fiery vice grip. Amidst his uncomfortable twitches, It finally saw his assailant's story in full view. From his past as a child molester, rightful death in fiery brimstone to his current existence as a pathetic parasite.
"Poor, pathetic Freddy. You never got the love you deserved. Always rejected by those around you, how said. Good thing, though, you don't have to worry anymore. I'll accept everything you are."
Pennywise then unhinged his jaw, revealing a gigantic swirling red light. To his hundreds of victims, the Deadlights represented a violent onslaught to the senses, an indescribable abomination that drives men mad. For the killer that's known nothing but violence, it was the closest he'll probably ever get to heaven.
"It's… beautiful," he said as his mind devolved into a mindless husk.
In a matter of minutes, Freddy's body went limp, plummeting to the ground with a sickening thud. Leaving Pennywise to enjoy his late-night snack.