Our little party of three had just reached the end of the alley behind Heaven's Night when we heard the ominous rumbling of the dumpster reach a breaking point, the dumpster falling over. The three of us turned all at once, watching the lid swing open. Having always been a fan of animals, I felt sick when I saw what stepped out. A large dog, seemingly either a pit bull or a rottweiler, stepped out of the dumpster, dripping with blood that seeped from its skinned body. Its muscles stretched and contracted visibly with every movement, its head turning to us. Josh stumbled back as we saw the horrific injury it had suffered: a knife was plunged into its skull, gleaming silver in the dim light of the fog world. "Gah! Kill it with fire!"

"Josh, we don't have any!" The dog padded towards us, its body low and hackles raised in a snarl. I held my katana at the ready, backing up a step. "Shit… Walking dogs at the shelter is gonna take on a whole new meaning now…" As the dog got closer, it leaned back onto its haunches, launching forward at Josh. I lashed out with a punch to its shoulder, knocking it off course. Josh stepped forward, giving it a few good whacks with his board and nail, a final mournful whine escaping the felled beast. I winced, looking away. "Get the knife from its head." I couldn't stand to look at it longer, especially after it had cried so pathetically upon death. Just like a real dog would. I felt sick. Josh stepped to my side, the knife in his left hand. He patted my shoulder with his right.

"Hey… It wasn't even a 'real' dog. Okay?" I looked over to him, nodding a bit.

"Right. It was just… Just Alessa was afraid of them. That's why it's here. Right?"

He nodded. "Right. Come on, let's keep moving." He gave my shoulder a nudge. I nodded to him, walking onward.

South Vale, as it was called on the map, was a pretty area of Silent Hill, even in the fog world. As we reached the edge of town, the city gave way to thick woods, through which we could barely see Toluca Lake. Just as we thought we were going to see nothing but forest, though, up ahead was a light post, lit and piercing the fog with a soft glow. The Silent Hill Historical Society was ahead, behind which was a boat launch noted on the map. Bypassing the building itself, we trudged out back to the boat launch, finding it to be a modest sized dock with a row boat. I looked around to the group. "Alright. I think PH should sit towards the bow, then Josh and I should sit towards the stern. Who wants to row?"

"Well, if you and I row, we'll be using up strength we may need later." Josh looked to Pyramid Head. "I don't know how well the two of us could move our combined weight…"

I nodded. "Good point. Neither of us are exactly athletic, and I'm not particularly known for my stamina…" I looked to Pyramid Head as well.

PH looked from Josh to me, then to the boat. He tossed his hands up, groaning. As he stepped to the boat to load the paddles into it, a bright light overtook us from overhead. We all looked up, seeing nothing more than more white light. PH quickly grabbed us and yanked us away from the dock, huddling against the wall of the historical society building. Out of the ray of light, we could now see clearly what was happening. The boat lifted slowly from the water, dripping as it ascended into the light. The rope unwound itself from the dock and followed the boat up into what could have been nothing except a flying saucer. "What the-" PH quickly slapped a hand over my mouth, silencing me immediately. As sudden as it arrived, the light disappeared and the UFO zipped away with a whirring noise. PH finally relaxed, letting go of us. I stepped over to the dock, looking down at the paddles still left on the dock. I dug around in my bag, retrieving the map. "…We got a long walk ahead of us, gentlemen." I sighed. "What the hell do they even want with a boat?"

Josh shrugged. "Space fishing?"

Thoroughly disgusted, I turned and stomped away from the dock, heading back to the road. The boys followed and we continued on, traveling along the long, arcing road that circumvented Toluca Lake. I grumbled to myself about the time we could have saved had we simply gotten the boat, knowing it would make no difference in the end if I complained or not. Still, it felt good to complain. As we continued along, we reached a bridge. From above the water, I peered down, spotting shapes moving about below. "Shit. Guys, more Lurkers." As obvious as it was that they saw us, though, they didn't attack, instead simply crawling around each other in the shallow stream.

Leaning over as well, Josh frowned. "Uhh… That's weird. What d'you think we should do?"

I backed away. "Well… They don't seem to be interested. Let's keep going."

The further we went from the bridge, however, the darker the scenery around us became. Light faltered as it traveled through the trees, reaching less and less toward us. PH held his knife in both hands, ready for anything. "This can't be good…" I frowned, shaking my head. "Not good at all." I looked down to the pavement, watching as the asphalt began to drip through a mesh of metal below it. Cursing Valtiel under my breath, I readied my katana, Josh doing the same. As we continued along the road, the darkness got even worse, the only light we could see emanating from the lake through the trees. To make matters more intense, the road was blocked by a rusted, chain link fence. Bound to the fence with barbed wire was a mutilated corpse, its head covered by a helmet composed of goggles, a light on top, and a breathing apparatus. I stared at the corpse, stepping back. "Ho-ly shit…"

Josh tore his gaze from the corpse, pointing to the woods near the lake. "I think we might be able to go around… Let's try." We agreed, setting off at a run into the woods. As we ran into the woods surrounding Toluca Lake, the light shifted colors, becoming orange before changing to bright red. The fence indeed ended, but as we turned to pass by it, the trees collapsed into a ring around a clearing, fencing us in. We backed up against each other, watching our surroundings. Soon, we heard it. A crashing noise, branches snapping and leaves crunching as dry as if it were fall. From the fence, we heard the sound of metal dragging across metal, screeching and echoing in the abyss under the transformed road. The trees obscured our view from the sound's source, but the red glow persisted all around us.

I stared at the fence, my hands gripping the katana tightly. "Okay, Josh, I'm stumped. What the hell boss is this?"

"I hate to say it but, well… Y'know how Silent Hill two had James fighting TWO Pyramid Heads?"

I nodded quickly. "Yeah? But… Wait, seriously?"

"I think so…" His board and nail raised beside my katana. "Get ready." PH lifted his knife onto his shoulder, prepared to bring it down at the first sign of trouble.

The dragging metal noise subsided, crunching resuming again. An eerie quiet overtook the area just before the tree limbs in front of us shuddered and crumbled under the slicing power of a great knife, its wielder gripping the fence tightly with his free hand. It was another Pyramid Head, the red light casting a dead, maroon hue to his skin. His helmet was higher, sharper, and more industrial than our companion's, and his body was slimmer to boot. The three of us backed up as he yanked his knife back, dragging it behind himself. Unlike our companion, he twitched and shuddered as if every movement brought him excruciating pain. I glanced to Josh as we continued to back up. "Josh? How the hell do you beat this thing?"

"I… Hell, I don't know if we should even try to fight it! I don't think any of our weapons are strong enough. Other than…" He looked to PH's knife. "Maybe we should distract it while he goes in for the kill?"

I nodded quickly, picking out the pins from my hair to remove my nurse's cap. "Sounds like a plan." As the boss lurched towards us, I gestured for PH to move to the side. Stuffing the pins in my bag, I waved the bright white hat around. "Over here! Hey!" The boss paused for a moment, then yanked his feet into position to start moving towards me.

"Careful…! We don't know how fast this guy can move! He may have some surprises up his sleeve-" Josh grabbed me by the arm, yanking me out of the way of the great knife as it suddenly swung like a murder machine at us, lodging into the ground where I had just been standing. Getting a clear view of it, I saw it was shaped like a bowie knife, half of its normally blunt edge serrated.

"It's the one from Homecoming." I gave the boss another full look. "He's definitely the one from Homecoming. But… But you never fight that one! He just looks at you and leaves!"

"Yeah, well, I don't think this one is going anywhere. And this definitely isn't the game." We continued to back up, keeping the boss fixated on us as PH moved closer as quietly as possible. We watched as he gripped his knife tightly in both hands, prepared to bring it down on the boss's back. At the last second, the boss turned his head slightly, following our gazes and managing to bring his own knife up at the last great knives were locked, neither wielder willing to back down as they both pressed each other for dominance of the situation. Though PH seemed stronger, the boss was holding his own, their hands both pressed to the blunt edges of their blades.

"If either of them let up, the other one will be cut open…" I bit my lip. "Neither of them can move!" I turned to Josh, lowering my voice to a whisper. "Still got that knife?"

"Yeah, I-" Josh stopped. "Wait. You're not thinking about attacking that thing yourself, are you…?" He paused, looked to the ground, then looked back to me, a determined expression suddenly on his face. "I'll do it."

I shook my head. "Josh, no, come on-"

He lifted a hand to point at me. "YOU'RE the protagonist, after all. If you die, we're ALL screwed."

I grabbed Josh, hugging him tightly. "You stubborn jerk… You sure about this?"

"Absolutely." He pushed me away gently, his smile barely concealing his shaky nerves. He turned, storming off toward the battling Pyramid giants, the knife in his hand. The two continued to grapple with their knives, their heads pressed to the metal of the blades now as well. The space between them had grown considerably, however, as they spread to wedge themselves against the ground, trying for the advantage. Both were exposed, however, even though neither could actually attack. Luckily for PH, he had allies. Josh approached the two monsters, crouching down slightly in order to slip himself between the two of them. Keeping himself low, watching for either of the giant knives to slip, he crept in front of PH's doppelganger. The helmeted beast rumbled in anger, unable to prevent his fate. With a strong, forceful thrust, the knife was lodged into the monster's chest cavity. Josh attempted to pull it out, but after realizing the knife was stuck, he let go. Not wanting to get caught beneath the beast, Josh bolted behind Pyramid Head for safety. As the boss faltered, he lost his grip on his knife, the serrated edge quickly shoved into his shoulder. Pyramid Head leaned back after the parry was finally broken, slamming his blade into the boss's abdomen. With a jerk and a yank, the great knife was pulled out of the boss's body, leaving it to fall over onto its back. I breathed a sigh of relief as the body remained on the ground, never moving.

Hundreds of insects skittered out of the tree branches, swarming over the body. Though the amount of insects increased dramatically, the size of the pile never increased, and in fact diminished considerably. A minute passed before the insects finally dispersed, ignoring us completely, leaving behind nothing but the boss's helmet and weapon, along with a ripped piece of paper. I stepped over to the paper, picking it up and smoothing it out. It was old, very old, but still held together without any rips or tears. I cleared my throat, reading the printed text aloud.

"In the pursuit of creating a more perfect Way, rules must be followed and rules must be enforced. Any member who ignores this command shall be dealt with swiftly and in view of all. This shall ensure continued prosperity.

It is, therefore, imperative that the effective Master of Arms not waive in the responsibility of enacting this power until the last day in his life.

In God's Name, so shall it be."

I looked up from the paper to Josh and PH. "So… We killed him with the dagger we found, we found some sort of love note along with some wedding vows…" I frowned. "And all those Homecoming monsters…"

"What are you thinking, Jane?"

I peered down at the helmet, folding the page up. "I think… I need a look at that helmet." After sliding the page into my bag, I stepped over to the helmet, inspecting it. Sure enough, there were multiple industrial dials on the back, seeming as though they had some connection to whatever mechanism kept the helmet shut tight. I prodded it with my katana, turning it on its side. The end of the bottom plate was short, leaving room apparently for air to be drawn in and escape from. The helmet's inside, however, was lined with thick, harsh spikes of metal. I nodded to myself, nudging the helmet back down flat. "…I think that was definitely the one from Homecoming. But the page from it… It describes the duties of the Shepherd family."

"Oh! You're right!" He rubbed his bristly chin a moment. "You don't think… The end of the game…?"

I stood up from the helmet. "Don't forgive dad, don't kill mom, don't save Wheeler. The worst ending." I stared at the helmet a moment. No forgiveness, no mercy, no hope. That's what that ending had symbolized. I thought back, remembering a past love. It had only lasted five months, but I had placed so much trust in him. He had broken it seemingly without remorse, without regret. I told him I could have forgiven him, that I could try to understand him and his decisions. The longer I thought it over, the less I felt it could ever work again. I divorced him as soon as I could, cutting off communication from him, even changing my phone number. But he had broken me, and in effect, had broken Josh and me up. I couldn't feel love for Josh. Not for anyone.

Josh raised a brow. "You think that was Alex? Where… What happened to him, I wonder…"

I shook out of my reverie, stepping back over to the boys as the trees rustled again. Fortunately, the nightmare was over and they were merely raising back up to their proper positions, the fence melting into the ground. "Well… Well I guess he's gone for good. I don't know." I looked back to the great knife and helmet as they sat idly on the ground, an unfinished duty I now felt I had. I sighed softly. "Hold on. We gotta finish this right." I stepped back over to the two items, kneeling down to pick up the great knife by the handle. It was heavy, far too heavy to lift as easily as the boss had done, but I managed to pull it upright. "PH, gimme a hand here." With PH's assistance, we pushed the knife's blade into the ground just enough to keep it standing. Then, once we were sure it was stable, we lifted the helmet, placing it on the handle of the blade. We then stepped back, viewing the makeshift grave marker. I nodded a bit, turning back to the road.

"Always did think he was a soldier."