Kamen Rider ZZZ from the American comic book world

"Mom, I'm injured and need to take a day off. Can you make a call for me?" Li Ai had no interest in going to school; he needed to find out what was bothering him.

"Injured? Is it serious?" the woman asked with concern. "Did you accidentally brush against it, or was there some other reason?"

Li Ai couldn't answer the question for the time being, and she became hesitant when she spoke.

"It's not serious, it's just that the excessive bleeding made me dizzy." He carefully considered his words before finally revealing the cause of his injury.

"As for how I got hurt, I said I was beaten up in my dream, Mom, would you believe me?"

"Are you sleepwalking? You've never done this before. Never mind, I'll make the call for you. Go back to school and fill out the leave application as soon as you feel a little better."

"Okay, Mom, please be careful while you're on your business trip."

"Take care and get some rest. I have work to do now, bye."

Then, the woman on the other end of the phone hung up.

Looking at her phone's contacts, Li Ai couldn't help but think of Nancy, who had dreamt of a similar scene with her the day before, so she gave her a call.

"Nancy, have you gone to school yet?"

“No, my dad gave me a day off,” Nancy replied.

"Ask for leave?"

“Yes, my dad told me that there was a murder in town last night, and the victim was our classmate Tina Glenn.”

“Tina?” Li Ai thought for a moment, recalling a blonde girl who always greeted people with a smile, and then asked:

"Her family was robbed at gunpoint in their home?"

"It shouldn't be. Based on my understanding of my dad's work attitude, things are probably much worse. I've never seen him so serious before."

Nancy's voice gradually grew heavy. Tina was her childhood friend, and her sudden death was a huge blow to her.

An extremely heinous method of murder...

Li Ai suddenly felt a dull pain in his shoulder. He connected his injuries with Tina's death, and his heart raced slightly. He suggested, "Could you find a way to let me go to the murder scene?"

"What are you going to do?" Nancy asked, puzzled.

“My pounding sixth sense tells me that Tina’s death might be related to our shared nightmare, so I want to go to the scene to look for clues.” Li Ai rubbed his temples, feeling somewhat lost as he encountered a supernatural event for the first time.

Not getting enough sleep for several days in a row left him feeling terrible, his mind foggy, and he felt like he was about to fall asleep any second.

It was as if some inexplicable force was influencing his thoughts, forcing him to follow a fixed path.

“The site will definitely be sealed off, and unrelated people like us definitely can’t get in. I think we should go directly to the police station,” Nancy suggested. “As long as I can see my dad, and then I can act cute a bit, I’m sure I can dig up something.”

"Okay, I'll come find you right away."

"I'm waiting for you."

The call ended, but Li Ai didn't rush to find the person. Instead, she found the car keys and a black handgun in the study.

The handgun is a Springfield XDM, capable of firing 9mm bullets, and was left at home by his mother as a self-defense weapon.

He gripped the cold polymer grip, carefully inspected the bolt mechanism, quickly cleaned away the dust, and found bullets and magazines in the safe next to him. Only after filling three magazines did he feel a little relieved.

The state where Springwood is located does not prohibit guns. Although he is only seventeen years old and has not reached the legal age to own a gun, especially a handgun, it does not prevent him from receiving training in the use of firearms. When he was twelve years old, his mother took him to practice how to use firearms.

Pistols, assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, machine guns, sniper rifles, rocket launchers... these conventional individual weapons are readily available to him.

The same applies to driving. State law allows citizens as young as sixteen to obtain a driver's license, but there is a one-year probationary period during which a parent must accompany them to drive. Li Ai, who is seventeen years old, recently completed his probationary period and is now able to drive on the road alone.

He went to the garage, pulled off the tarpaulin covering his car, opened the door, placed the magazine and pistol in the glove compartment, started the car, and went to pick up Nancy.

The distance between the two houses is already short; it usually only takes thirty minutes to walk there, and even faster by car.

Shortly after, an ordinary-looking black family sedan pulled up downstairs at Nancy's house.

In less than a minute, Nancy, who was already ready, appeared in his field of vision. He rolled down the car window and called out:

"Nancy, over here."

"I'm coming right away."

Nancy walked to the other side of the car, opened the door, sat in the passenger seat, quickly fastened her seatbelt, and then began giving directions.

“The police station is just to the east. I just subtly asked my dad’s colleagues, and they just finished collecting clues from the scene and returned to the police station. We need to hurry.”

"Don't worry, I'm a great driver." With a tap on the accelerator, the family sedan immediately pushed its performance to the limit, allowing them to get to the police station as quickly as possible.

After parking the car, the two walked into the police station lobby together.

Sheriff Thompson is the highest-ranking police officer in Springwood, so everyone in the police station knows Nancy, the daughter of the officer.

"Hello, Nancy, are you here to see your father? He's in his office," a female police officer holding a paper cup of coffee greeted her.

“Thank you, Aunt Evanna.” Nancy thanked her and led Li Ai upstairs, heading straight for the sheriff’s office.

She pushed open the office door and asked Sheriff Thompson, who was still reviewing documents, "Dad, what happened to Tina?"

“She’s been through something horrific.” Sheriff Thompson instinctively tried to hide the file. “You’d better not know.”

However, Li Ai, with her sharp eyes, spotted the photo on top just before Sheriff Thompson hid the documents.

The photo shows a dead blonde girl with lacerations on her body from which her internal organs have been removed. There are four wounds in total, similar to the ones on her shoulder, but much larger.

At that moment, Li Ai's heart raced, and a bold idea popped into her head.

The torn shadow that appeared in his dream last night was Tina!

“Tina is my friend, I don’t…” Nancy tried to argue, but was interrupted by Sheriff Thompson.

“Listen, Nancy, we’ve found the prime suspect: Tina’s ex-boyfriend. That bastard has a history of drug use and fighting, and he had a fight with Tina not long ago. We can find clues from him.”

“He’s not the murderer,” Li Ai retorted. “I don’t believe that guy has the strength to inflict such a huge wound.”

"A good student? What are you doing here with Nancy?" Sheriff Thompson only then noticed the boy who had studied with his daughter the night before. He waved his hand and urged, "..."

"You can leave now. Finding the murderer is our job."

Seeing this, Li Ai wanted to use the 'evidence' on his shoulder to persuade Sheriff Thompson, but at this moment, he suddenly felt dizzy, a wave of drowsiness washed over him, and he heard a sharp sound of a weapon scraping against the wall.

Sizzle————

Amidst the unsettling scratching sounds, Li Ai seemed to hear a voice whispering in his ear.

"No, no, no, that's not in my script. Come find me, let's get through this wonderful nightmare together! Of course, if you choose to leave, all the kids in this town will be your scapegoats!"

A series of whispers swirled in Li Ai's ears, constantly tugging at his nerves. Fortunately, Li Ai bit his tongue hard, using the pain to bring himself back to his senses.

At this moment, Nancy glanced at Li Ai, who simply closed her eyes and shook her head helplessly, indicating that this path was blocked.

"Okay, then I'll go home and wait for news," Nancy said helplessly.

"You all should go and get some rest."

After saying goodbye to Sheriff Thompson, the two left the office, closing the door behind them. They found a bench in the police station lobby, sat down, and began to share their worries with each other.

“Nobody believes us,” Nancy said, her head bowed, her voice filled with disappointment.

"It's alright, I think I'm starting to get a clue." Li Ai rubbed his temples as he began to recall his fragmented past. Combining this with his own experiences, he finally guessed who his opponent was.

"What did you guess?" Nancy looked up, placing her last hope on her friend.

"The person who wants to harm us can kill in dreams, and his name is Freddy Krueger."

He had heard of Freddy's name in his previous life and knew that the man had the ability to kill in dreams, and that he specifically targeted teenagers.

He couldn't remember any more specific details because he had only heard of Freddy in his previous life and had never seen the movie series.

But he heard that many movies had been made about Freddy, and that he even seemed to have immortality.

Chapter 3 Good Morning! Rider!

“Freddy Krueger…” Nancy murmured the name, “I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”

“We have to find a way to defeat him, or we’ll all die.” Li Ai bit his nails, sweat soaking his back. He suddenly looked at Nancy and asked:

"Can you find a way to get us into the church?"

"A church? Why?"

“There is power there that can help us defeat Freddy,” Li Ai explained.

He remembered Freddy's fear of the power of the cross, and perhaps religious artifacts could offer some help.

Nancy's family happens to be Roman Catholic and have close ties with the town's church.

“I can talk to the church director, getting in won’t be difficult,” Nancy brought good news.

“We’re going now…” Just as they were about to set off, they heard a hurried shout.

"Come help! Come help!" a chubby police officer shouted in the lobby.

The two looked in the direction of the sound and saw many police officers running towards the underground detention center. They took the opportunity to blend in with them.

The crowd finally stopped in front of a double cell. A burly man with a thick beard was trembling in a corner, while a young man wearing a studded leather jacket and tattoos was hanging in the air by a white rope. His head drooped limply, his eyes bulged, his lips were purple, and his abdomen had been cut open by some mysterious force, exposing his internal organs to the air. There was also a line of bloody words on the wall behind him.

My delicious little darlings, I'm coming to find you soon!

"Ah!" Nancy screamed on the spot when she saw such a scene for the first time. She covered her face with her hands, but the image of the dead man seemed to be imprinted in her mind and she could not forget it no matter what.

Li Ai's lips were also slightly pale, and her stomach churned. She suppressed all discomfort, took Nancy's cold little hand, and walked out of the police station.

Back in the car, he opened the armrest box, touched the pistol, and finally felt a sense of security with the weapon in hand.

Nancy, who was in the passenger seat, had already started crying.

"Did Tina suffer like this before she died?" She was saddened by her friend's tragic death.

Li Ai didn't dare mention the photos he saw at the scene. He simply put the gun back in the armrest and started the car while saying:

"There's no time left. If we don't find a solution soon, we'll die too. He's killing people in his dreams, and our mental state will reach its limit sooner or later. We have to resolve this before that happens."

The car started, and the sound of the engine temporarily dispelled Nancy's sadness. She calmed herself down and nodded repeatedly.

"You're right, we need to find a way to save ourselves."

“Give me directions, and then figure out a way to get us into the church,” Li Ai said as she drove.

“I’ll call the people there.” Nancy wiped away her tears, then took out her phone and made a call.

Shortly after, the car stopped outside the church, and an elderly priest, whose face was still ruddy, opened the iron gate.

“Nancy, it seems you and your friend need help.” The priest noticed that both of them looked very unwell.

“We just witnessed a horrific crime scene, so we wanted to pray in the lobby,” Nancy explained.

"Poor child, go in peace, the door is already open for you." The old priest didn't ask any more questions. He had watched Nancy grow up and trusted her completely.

"Thank you." The two thanked the old priest and then entered the main hall.

What the old priest didn't notice was that Li Ai's lower back was bulging, clearly hiding something.

Warm sunlight streamed through the stained glass onto the two of them, but a chill still filled their hearts as they searched for usable magical artifacts in the hall.

“I remember it was right here…” After searching for a while, Nancy finally found two silver crosses that she could wear on her chest, and she gave one of them to her friend.

"I hope this works." Li Ai said, gripping the silver cross tightly. He wasn't a follower of the Roman Catholic Church and didn't know if this thing would work, but it was one of the few things he could use.

To fight Freddy, they needed a place to sleep, so the two, who had been through thick and thin together, simply sat down in the lobby, shoulder to shoulder, as if they wanted to huddle together for warmth.

His eyelids grew heavier and heavier. In a daze, Li Ai seemed to see a nun wearing a white robe, with only her face exposed. He wanted to look up and ask her a question, but he found that he had no strength left and could only listen to her speak to him.

"Poor children, that is a demon made up of a hundred sins, but do not be afraid. When dreams are silent, only a steadfast heart can guide you. I bless you."

A silent dream? A steadfast heart? What does it mean?

Doubts arose in his mind, but he could not resist the drowsiness, closed his eyes, and fell into a deep sleep.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in the abandoned factory, only this time Nancy was with him, and he had something extra on him.

The silver cross on his chest, along with the pistol and magazine on his lower back, emboldened him.

"Are reality and dreams interconnected?" Li Ai pondered, while simultaneously drawing the pistol from her back waist, disengaging the safety, and emptying the magazine at any moment.

"Ha ha ha ha!!!!"

The arrogant laughter rang out again, and a figure appeared at the other end of the grille passage. He wore a black top hat, a red and green striped sweater, and a steel claw glove on one hand. He was thin and even somewhat hunched over.

What was most disgusting was his face. His entire face looked as if it had been poured over by molten slag from a boiler, with his skin and muscles completely melted, shrunken, and stuck together into an uneven scab.

"My darlings are here." Freddy's eyes were filled with undisguised malice, and four gleaming steel claws moved in the darkness.