I told you once that Henry was experiencing a recurring nightmare, didn't I? Yes, I believe I did. It was a not-so-sexual-but-not-so-plain dream that Henry, in reality, wasn't actually a part of to begin with. It began, and continues to begin, with a scream…

Joseph Schreiber—or to his friends, associates, and fangirls, Joe—uttered a sharp bark and nearly fell from his bed. He blinked once, twice, and after realizing he had not urinated in his pants, breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

If there was one thing Joseph expected to see, it was his bedroom covered in tomato paste and red crayon scribbles. Much to his bewilderment, this was not the case, despite him having gone through the hole and having left the room in such a condition. He reached for his head to tilt his bowler cap, recalled that it had fallen after a heated chase between him and a pack of hounds, and stole another glance at the bedroom. It was sparkling clean, void of any unhealthy black patches, "ghombies", or dust particles, amazingly. Whistling quietly, Joseph left the room and walked into the den.

Here, it was the same, as if a whirlwind had spiraled through the apartment and whisked away all of the tomato sauce. He treaded forward and snatched up a pack of papers that sat upon the coffee table, a pack of papers that was queerly familiar to him.

Once upon a time, the Holy Queen of Happiness gave birth to a Son.

The Son was always connected to the Holy Queen by a magical string of happy thoughts.

All the residents of Happy Place were very happy for their Queen.

But one day, a very dreadful plague struck Happy Place.

This sickness was called Sadness.

The residents of Happy Place were suddenly filled with gloom and despair,

And they began to think negative thoughts.

Most horrible of all, the Holy Queen was stricken gravely ill by the disease,

For all of her people were suffering, and thus she was sad.

But the happy Son did not understand what was wrong.

Soon, there no more happy thoughts to sustain the magical string,

And the Son and Holy Queen were separated.

The Son was very sad that his Mother was gone, so he desired to help her,

But, alas, the Holy Queen succumbed to her illness, and Happy Place became truly sad.

The Holy Queen, however, had told her people she would one day return,

To grant them their salvation, so the people believed her.

But the Son went far, far away,

Where he found a magical Sock.

The Sock told the Son he would be able to be with his Mother again,

But he would have to help twenty-one people,

So that the Sock could be filled with enough happiness to share it with everyone.

So the Son went off on his journey, whilst—

Joseph dropped the papers, gasping in shock as his apartment was suddenly overtaken by tomato sauce. Before his very eyes, the substance meshed into a message on the wall, reading, "Sucker!"

"Nut-bunnies," Joseph cursed, turning back to find an escape in the hole. However, behind him, the word disappeared in a swirling black void from which came forth a most gruesome entity.

"Willy!" the journalist cried out, flabbergasted at the "ghombie"'s penetration of the wall. "Willy, you silly goose!" Nevertheless, the ghost took hold of Joseph and the man let out a horrible scream…

Now then, where were we?

…

Silent Hill 4: The Not-So Parody-(Escaping unto Reality—Struggle to Fight the Darkness)

Henry and Irene's footfalls were muffled by the carpet as they entered the apartment. The place reeked of a very unfamiliar, bodily odor, but, aside from that, it was very much like Henry's Room 203. Irene dragged the other sword along and made an extremely slow, irritating moan of amazement.

"Henry… this looks like your apartment."

"No shit, Goldilocks."

What interested him the most, though, was the fact that the entire apartment was caught in perpetual black-and-white. It was as if all the color—all the life—of the apartment had been drained. He stepped forward and ran his finger along the kitchen counter.

"Everything's the same… I mean, sure, I got my own furniture in instead of this gaudy, retro shit that's all over the place here, but it's the same apartment. There's no doubt about it. I'm getting a really gay feeling about it, though…"

Henry pulled back and into the hallway, where photographs displaying arranged fruit adorned the walls. Receiving a disgusted look from Henry, the photos gave him the cold shoulder as he moved down the hall and into the bedroom.

Here, he bore witness to a multitude of red leafs of paper, all scattered around the room. 'They're like the ones at my room…' he thought, hunkering down to examine one.

I dunno what to do anymore lol i swear LOL

I've managed to narrow it down, though. Walter whatever-his-name-is… it was the cult that made him do it, but, all the same, there's got to be another player in this. Someone—or maybe something—has got to be involved to have let this get as far as it did, since the Happy Japanese Club Yes-Yes! was destroyed a couple of years back…

He's planning on harnessing the power of the "Twenty One Kanji". I don't think it's even possible to defeat him, now that he's become so powerful… Still…

Joe S. :(

"Joe…" Henry murmured as he let the paper fall to the carpet. "This has got to be his apartment, then… We're in the past…" He got to his feet and returned to the den, where Irene was busying trying to touch the tip of her nose with her tongue.

"Look, Henry!" she squealed. "I almost got it!"

"That's great," he replied sarcastically, before hearing a disturbing squelch. He looked down and saw that he had stepped in a previously unnoticed puddle of suspicious black liquid. A wet drop landed on his nose, and he hurriedly swept it away and moved to the side in order to turn his attention to the ceiling.

His blood ran cold.

A head was protruding, upside-down from the plaster, and it was apparently bleeding. To top that off, Henry saw that there was a pointed draping surrounded the head, which gave it a very phallic semblance.

Thus, he could not be blamed for mistaking it as such.

"Holy shit-on-a-stick, there's a dick"—Irene burst into a fit of asinine giggles—"sticking out from the freaking ceiling!"

Henry brandished Richard's revolver in hopes of vanquishing this heinous abomination, but a sudden scream stopped him at the last second.

"Wait, wait, I'm not a phallus!"

"W-What?" Henry's brow shot up. "The goddamn phallus spoke to me!"

"No, no, I'm not a penis!" the supposed phallus cried back. "It just so happens there's a sock on my head and the sock looks like a condom and so my heads looks like a phallus!"

"Liar!" Henry shouted. "That's what Tim said, and look what happened to him!"

"Hello, Mr. Talking Phallus!" Irene said, waving excitedly.

"No, no, I assure you," the phallus went on, "I'm not a phallus! Willy put this on me! He's got a pretty weird sense of humor."

Henry very slowly lowered the gun, but kept it at the ready. "What… What are you? A "ghombie"?"

"…Um, what's that?" the alleged phallus asked, but shrugged metaphorically and said, "I'm the famed journalist and ace detective, Joseph Schreiber, or, as my friends, family, dermatologist, and rabid fangirls prefer, Joe."

Irene snorted. "Why'd you turn into a phallus, Joe…?" she queried, looking up at him with huge, gleaming eyes. Henry cast her a concerned glance.

"So you're Joe," he said, sticking the revolver back into his pants(:3). "It's kind of fitting—you sounded like a dick in all your journal entries!" Henry began to crack up at his comment, and Joe chuckled nervously while awaiting him to stop.

"Well, uh, anyway… I'm impressed that you two have made it this far," he said once Henry had finished. "But even still, you won't be able to escape from him. This is his world, and once he finds you, he will kill you."

"Who? Walter?" Henry smirked. "It'll be the other way around, buddy. I'll kill him, Jasper, and his stupid sock, and this time they won't be coming back." He ground his teeth in rage. "They're damn otaku—they don't deserve the air they breathe."

"If they even still breathe…"

"Shut up!"

"Okay, okay…"

"Anyway," Henry said, averting his gaze to the rest of the apartment. "Why are you up there?"

Joe cleared his throat dramatically. "Ah, this was Willy's idea after I died. He trapped me up here and put a sock over my head, and it just so happens to look like a condom. Well. On to some more serious matters…"

"Yeah, do you have any food in here?" Henry asked.

"Um, I've got some parfaits in the freezer…"

Almost immediately the brunet was throwing open the freezer door and thrusting his arms in savagely for his prize. He withdrew three plastic containers of wondrous delight and took a spoon from the cupboard. Irene watched him with hungry eyes.

"Henry… Can I have one?"

"No."

And so, as Henry dug into the first parfait, Joe began to speak.

"…I don't think you quite understand what you're up against," Joe said as white cream dribbled down Henry's chin. "Walter is only a puppet, and even the puppet has transcended beyond reality. He's like a Super Saiyan now, or something like that."

"Yeah, okay," Henry belched as he threw the empty container over his shoulder. It conked Irene. "I'm still going to kill him, regardless of spiky blond hair or not."

"You don't get it," Joe replied. "He's already dead, and he possesses incredible powers within this world. You see, while you may not be able to drag him into your world, you could possibly induce him into such a state here…"

"You mean, like, make him human again?" Irene mused, and the head nodded excitedly.

"Yes, yes! But it won't be easy, which is what I'm getting at. Even if you manage to make him vulnerable, he still retains control over his sock, and, if you didn't know, with each sacrifice he's made the sock has grown more powerful."

Henry plucked a strawberry out of the parfait and bit into it, draping his mouth with red. "What's your point, then? Blow the sock to holy hell, make him human again, and then it's 'game over, biotch'." He aimlessly swirled his spoon inside the parfait. "And I already know the sock is controlling him. Mr. Sock, or whatever."

"Yes, but did you know that the sock is Walter?"

Henry cocked an eyebrow. "How do you mean?"

"Long ago, Walter's conscience split. There were two Walters residing within that one mind: Mr. Sock and Walter. Don't be fooled, though—Mr. Sock has complete control, he has only been allowing Walter to be dominant."

"So the sock isn't real?" Irene sobbed, breaking into tears. Henry gestured the spoon at the head.

"What's the deal with the sock, then?" he asked, plopping another spoonful of heavenly goodness into his mouth.

"The sock is merely a medium through which Mr. Sock can converse with Walter. It is also the chosen sacred item for the Happy Japanese Club Yes-Yes!. Truthfully, any item can be used to harness the incredible powers granted by the Twenty One Kanji."

"Wonderful," Henry remarked before finishing off the last of the parfait. "So, then, how exactly do we go about making Walter human again?" he asked, reaching for the final parfait.

Joe blew a bubble. "You'll have to re-connect him with the real world, and that can only be done by using the flesh of his actual body. As to how to acquire that… I haven't a clue."

Meanwhile, Henry was busy examining the parfait. Instead of ravaging it as he did the others before, he simply threw it behind his head, where Irene was subjected to a face-full of lemon-y bliss.

"Okay, then, Joe, please enlighten me as to what the hell we're supposed to go from here. Oh, by the way… you wouldn't happen to have any alcohol lying around this godforsaken place, would you?"

"Um, no, but—,"

"Fuck!"

"Yes, of course, well, at the end of the hall, imbedded in the wall is a sword." Henry cocked an eyebrow and peered down the corridor to in fact see said sword. It seemed to be yet another one of the series he had been finding. He began to head for it, Joe's words at his back. "That sword should be the key to finding the true key. Using it, you should be able to locate Walter's real self, and perhaps his flesh."

Henry fastened his hands around the hilt of the sword and yanked it out with a forceful heave. Its inscription read: SWORD OF LOVE AND HATE, and its tag: Number 1 of 1! Collect them all!

'I have,' he thought blandly. "Irene, give me the sword. I'm going back to the apartment."

She quietly handed him the weapon, and he threw Joe a casual glance. "We'll see what happens, eh?" Henry walked into the restroom and saw what he expected—a hole. Drawing a breath, he crawled through.

ZERO SHOT!!1!11

"What was that?" Henry cried as he was ejected from the hole and subjected to the laundry room floor. Standing, he dusted himself off and headed into the dim light of the apartment den. It was still night, apparently, but Henry didn't doubt that morning would soon be coming. Regardless, he ventured into the hall and was surprised to see a ghoulish red wall of demonic force barring the back wall.

"Never noticed that before…" he murmured, when suddenly a familiar hum emanated from his pants. The lid of the storage chest flew open, revealing a swirling whirlpool of light. The channeling stone vaulted from his pocket and into the chest, and it was soon followed by the two swords he held in his hands. The chest emitted a powerful shockwave that sent Henry sprawling over his sofa. Crouching behind it with wild, fearful eyes he watched the light slowly fade, and the chest cease to convulse.

Seized by trepidation, Henry slowly approached the open chest as a golden, oblong nimbus rose from within the dark depths. The shimmering light subsided to reveal a magnificent sword, and it spoke.

I am the holy sword, Homuranagi, keeper of the seven heavenly virtues. Your will has called forth the five lesser fragments of my being to reassemble my true form. My might is yours.

Henry was dumbstruck, his jaw slack, his eyes wide, as the glowing weapon floated into his hands. Upon touching it, he felt a surge of power jolt through him. How fantastic it was!

"The sword talked…" he muttered, still a bit awed. Giving it several test swings, he grinned. "But it's so light—lighter than the rest!" Cackling, he approached the red aura that was blocking the back wall. "Something is telling me I must use this sword!" Training it on the wall, blue flames ignited over the blade. A golden beam shot forth and pierced the aura, dispersing it. With the hallway cleared, the back wall crumbled into dust.

Feeling rather triumphant, Henry advanced and saw that there lay another, hidden room behind the destroyed wall. "Frank didn't tell me about this," he said, and entered.

It was dingy and odorous, and to his immediate right were racks of medicinal bottles and similar paraphernalia. His eyes trailed over the small room, and he gasped. Hanging from the ceiling by ropes and nailed to a board was a coated corpse. The carcass' hair hung over its face in clumps, but one glazed eye still shown. Henry treaded forward, holding up the sword should the dead body spring to life.

It did no such thing, however, and Henry snarled. "It's… It's Walter. The bastard's been here the entire time!" He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "But, if that's true, Walter really is dead, then. He's a ghost!"

Something glinted in the light of the sword, and Henry snatched the something from Walter's coat pocket. It was a key of sorts, twisted into a shape the brunet had never laid eyes on before.

"A key… but a key to what?"

And so Henry stood in the back room, pondering what in the world the key could be used for. At last, he realized that there was only one thing that could possibly be unlocked—the chains barring his door!

Excited, Henry rushed to the front door. "This is it!" he cried joyously. "Now I can buy all the alcohol I want, and no one can stop me!" He jammed the key into the padlock and turned it. Instantly the chains untwined and dropped to the floor. The door to Room 203 squeaked open and very slowly pulled back, revealing a dark corridor. Henry smiled and ran out, slamming the door away—only to moan in defeat.

"Oh, fuck me."

The walls of the apartment building were covered in a squirming, red mass, similar to Henry's previous adventure through North Ashfield Heights. Rising shakily to his feet, he sighed. "Here, too? This is ridiculous…" A form approached from the darkness, shuffling towards him and giggling excitedly.

"Henry, Henry…! Look, Henry, the walls are moving!" She snorted obnoxiously.

"Irene…" Henry said, despondent. "Fine, let's go. There's got to be a way out of here, and if this place is like this… then Walter should be here, too."

They started down the hall to the left, for the right was barred by a sturdy, steel gate. Shaking with anxiety, Henry nudged open the door to Room 201, but instead of finding Mike's disgusting domain of perverseness, there was a dank stairwell. Suddenly Irene stumbled and fell down the first flight of stairs. "Good job," Henry sneered, and Irene giggled a "thanks".

Henry used the glow of the Homuranagi to illuminate the stairwell. Coming down on the first landing, a disgruntled moan alerted him to another presence besides Irene and himself. He spun around and faced a stubby creature, holding itself up on its hands. The creature's skin was wrinkled and crusty, and it advanced. Henry quickly struck it down, cleaving it in two with the swords.

"One-hit kill!" he cheered, brandishing the sword. "What now, biotch? New enemy you may be, but you're still no match for me!"

"That rhymed, Henry!" Irene remarked with a laugh, and Henry flashed her a smirk before exploring the rest of the hallway. At the end of it, suspended above the metal grating that served as the floor, was a body. Henry angled his head at it, seeing that it was bound by what seemed to be a straight-jacket. Greasy blond hair obscured the man's face, but his voice was clear and concise.

I told you we should have gotten rid of it, didn't I? Hurry up, get your stuff!

The body vanished into thin air, and Henry shrugged and returned with Irene to leave through the nearest door. They came out into the main lobby of the apartment complex, and he hurried to the entrance door, but it was in vain. The double-doors were locked shut.

"Surprise, surprise," Henry grumbled. "Looks like we'll have to find another way out…"

"There isn't one, I'm afraid," came a sinister voice from above.

Henry and Irene whisked around to see Walter standing above them on the second landing of the main stairs. He held his katana firmly in one hand and a bong in the other. The sock was strained over his head.

"Walter!" Henry yelled, whipping out Richard's revolver and firing off four blinding shots. In a fluid flash the four bullets were scattered across the room. Walter sheathed his katana.

"Now, now, now, Henry, I only came to greet you. You and Irene have proved to be tenacious, so much so that—ah—look at where we are." He spread his arms outward, gesturing to the whole of the apartments. "However, I'm afraid the final two sacrifices have had enough recess time."

"Final two…?" Henry whispered, gritting his teeth. "What are you talking about?"

"You'll see soon enough," Walter replied, raising his hand. He snapped his fingers and the surrounding door blew open, revealing several troops of creatures similar to the ones Henry faced at the hospital.

Walter grinned maliciously and beckoned to them. "Just one more thing. The Mother has no place with you, Henry. She belongs with me." Snapping his fingers again, Irene gasped. Henry turned to her, only to find her eyes vacant. She steadily began to ascend the stairs to join Walter.

"What did you do to her, you sick bastard?" demanded Henry, but Walter only laughed mockingly.

"I thought she was a burden to you, Henry," he said. "You should be thanking me, but don't be too worried. We will meet again very soon. I'll be waiting for you—waiting where it all began." Laughing again, he turned and departed, and Irene followed.

"Wait, goddamn you!" Henry raced forward to give chase, but the monsters intercepted him and surrounded him. They raised their weapons and prepared to attack. "Alright, then," Henry said, holding up the Homuranagi. "I'll kill you all!" He leapt towards the nearest enemy and decapitated it swiftly. Blue flames engulfed the blade and he spun around, delivering a wide horizontal swing. An arc of azure fire struck a number of the monsters, incinerating them.

One of them attacked, but Henry ducked and impaled it, raising it above the rest. A gush of golden light shot into and entrapped it. Henry swung down and completely obliterated the monster. He faced the rest, and, enraged, threw himself at them and began ravaging them, slashing left-and-right, dismembering the heinous creatures.

When there was only one left remaining, he pinned it down with the sword and stomped on its head, crushing it brutally. "That's what you get… biotch." Sighing, Henry turned and saw that the stairs had been blocked by gates. He grimaced and headed into the nearest corridor. Hanging in the immediate corner was another body.

Hurry up! We need to leave before the super gets here! There's just something that doesn't seem right about him…

"Who is this guy?" Henry queried, turning his head to see several "ghombies" floating towards him. "…You biotches will pay!" he screamed, hewing the first one in half. "First my room," he cried, decapitating the next, "then my alcohol," while impaling the third, "and then my bimbo!" He set the lingering spirits ablaze in a cobalt inferno and found another body at the end of the corridor. The rotting corpses behind him writhed in agony.

Don't go blaming all this on me! You're the one at fault, here!

Henry disregarded it and continued down the hall. He came upon Frank's room, but the door was made out-of-his reach by three looping chains. Our brunet hero blinked and noticed a nearby door ajar. He checked inside, killed a Wall Man, and found yet another hanging body.

What is that? Fuckin' smoke coming out of his ears?

He returned to the super's room and was now only impeded by two chains. 'I see,' he thought. 'The hanging guys correspond to the chains. I guess I've got to get to the last two in order to get into Frank's room.'

The next hallway was darker than the rest, but a fifth body was present at its end.

Little cry baby! He won't shut up!

Henry moved back and found that the door to his left was unlocked. The room itself, however, was completely barren—even the walls were stripped of their paper. He stepped into the bedroom and found a ragged hole in the wall. He went through and discovered the final body. Stepping over a broken chair, Henry approached it.

Fuck.

"…Um, okay." Henry sighed, but determinedly retraced his steps back to the superintendent's room. All of the chains had faded, leaving only the door. Henry opened it and entered the room, looking around. Not much was present, just some discarded cartons of Chinese food and ramen noodle containers. A stench lingered in the air, however, a horrible stench that made his skin crawl. Henry pinched his nose and followed the smell, finding himself before Frank's bed. He carefully removed the pillows and unearthed a small red box, which seemed to be the source of the odor.

"What is this, now…?" Licking his lips, Henry read what had been written in Sharpie on the top: UMBILICAL CORD. "Umbilical cord?" He pulled off the lid and coughed fervently from the powerful smell that burst forth. A withered piece of skin lay in a crusted tissue, and Henry studied it quizzically.

"What the hell? Could this be… Walter's flesh?" From afar, a bell tolled once, twice, thrice, and silenced. Henry looked in a rather badass fashion in that direction while tucking the box into his pants. "Whatever. Walter said to meet him where it all began, and he can only mean one place…" Shouldering the Homuranagi, he headed out, determined to settle the score once and for all.

---

"That camera… Did you see how it absorbed the spirits of those ghosts back there?"

Eileen held the archaic camera out at arm's length and squinted at it. "Yeah," she said, "it's pretty useful." She glanced at Townshend, brushing away some strands of stray chestnut hair. "Who would've thought the apartment would lead to that mansion, though?"

The man shook his head. "I don't think it did. I think what's happening here is so powerful that it's causing this entire place to become even more unstable." He tightened his grip on the axe as Eileen heaved the rocket launcher. "It might be even more dangerous down there… but we have no choice. Let's go." The couple descended into the massive hole that had taken residence in the lobby of North Ashfield Heights.

Meanwhile, Henry shot up the short flight of stairs that had become accessible after the tolling of the bell. "This is it, kiddies!" he shouted while encountering a mob of double-headed beasts. "It's the final penetration! The last stretch!" The group rushed him and Henry ran to meet them.

"Special skill: Zantetsuken!" Henry slashed forward as his sword glowed a bright blue and cut through all the enemies at once. He hurried on, leaving the monsters to literally fall to pieces behind him.

The way to the second floor of the lobby was relatively clear, but a trio of monkey-men stood in his path. Henry skidded to a halt as they lunged for his crotch. Henry jumped back and sent out a wave of blue fire to halt the attack. As the creatures struggled on the floor in the flames, Henry quietly snuffed them out. Not wanting to waste time, he fired a beam into the hall and blew it open. The blast destroyed several monsters that were lurking in the hall, and so Henry was left uninterrupted on his final return trip to Room 203.

The apartment was the same as always. In fact, there was no evidence whatsoever that anyone had even entered. Henry took a moment to gather his bearings and draw a breath. He sat on the bar stool he had sat on twelve hours ago and grimaced. "I need a drink. Why did I have to finish off my Merlot this morning…?"

Chuckling to himself, Henry stood up and walked into the back room. He was dismayed to find that Walter's corpse had been spirited away, leaving only a small hole where it had once hung. Henry knelt down beside the hole and felt oddly lightheaded. Something called to him from within, something that churned a yearning in the back of his mind to return. It felt queerly warm and safe down there, but common sense told him otherwise.

"They must be down there." Henry hopped down into the hole, and was suddenly enveloped by light. Slowly, very slowly, he opened his eyes to a room tinted red. The Homuranagi hummed at his feet, and he grasped it. The room was circular, and lining the walls were ten slabs of stone, each one containing the crimson imprint of a person. Henry looked down to the greater hole that resided in the center of the room. He gritted his teeth and rushed in.

The next chamber was in the shape of a dome, with a high ceiling and a vast area. In the center of it all was a pool of blood, in which sat a rotating spiked sphere with numerous spiked rings encircling it and looping around it. Beyond the peculiar mechanism at the back of the atrium was an enormous, ghastly torso harnessed to the grand wall. It roared and flailed its arms, and Henry wondered what it could possibly be. To either side of the monstrosity were four stone slabs, exactly similar to those from the previous room.

At the opposite end was a long walkway that ended at the ball of death. At the end of that walkway stood Irene, blank and drooling. Henry looked to her as he stepped onto the circular cobblestone floor that circled the pool. A voice hailed him from the other side of the atrium.

"At last!" Walter exclaimed. Henry pointed the Homuranagi in his direction, but a far-off voice captured the attention of both of them.

"Mom, open up! Please, Mom! Open up!"

Walter chortled and motioned to the entire chamber. "Just a little long now, Wally! Soon the Twenty-One Kanji will be completed and we can see Mother!"

"Mother?" Henry asked, and Walter nodded.

"Yes. I wish to free my mother from the restraints of this disgusting world. The power of the Twenty-One Kanji will allow me to do so."

"What are you saying? That this whole stupid ritual was for your mother?"

"Of course," Walter answered. "My goal was to be with my mother, for I was denied that chance as a child. The other Walter does not remember, but I do quite well. The holy powers of the Twenty-One Kanji… with them I will ascend and free her!"

"You're fucking crazy," Henry said, then snickered. "Although, to think big bad Walter is a momma's boy!" He laughed shortly. "Whatever. It's time to end this. Where's Jasper?"

Walter shrugged. "Jasper is gone, I'm afraid. His soul was devoured." The blond took a long drag from his bong. "Do you understand now, Henry? You're it. The twenty-first sacrifice. The final piece of the puzzle."

Henry chuckled halfheartedly. "I guess it makes sense, but you've got it backwards, nonetheless—I'm the one who's going to be killing you."

"Can you, though?" Walter questioned. "Even with the strength of the holy sword, Homuranagi, you are still only human." He drew his katana and threw the sheath into the pool to be crushed by the death device. "The legendary Yamato, fabled to cut through even darkness itself against the holy Homuranagi, the god-slaying blade that was lost to the torrent of history? How poetic."

With dazzling speed Walter dashed towards Henry, angling the katana for a slash. Henry strafed to the side, just avoiding the attack as it cut through the stone and hewed the nearest slab into two. Henry brought his own sword down, but it was guarded against easily. The two locked blades, Walter laughing quietly.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Henry?"

"What?" He looked beyond Walter and saw Irene, still vacant, begin her trek down the walkway towards the death device. "You bastard!" Henry cried, breaking away as Walter executed an unexpected slash. The Yamato drew blood and Henry was knocked back into the damaged slab. His blood was splattered on the cobblestone between them, and he coughed out a complementary amount before standing.

He pulled out Richard's revolver and burned through the final rounds. Walter smirked and simply stood there, allowing each hit. He began towards Henry, the bullets dropping out harmlessly. His bloody wounds healed immediately. "I'm disappointed, Henry, but not surprised." He glanced back at Irene, who was halfway through her fateful journey. "You can do better, can't you? Are you willing to let her die?"

Henry ground his teeth and charged, but Walter merely flicked the revolver out of his hand with the blade and slashed the brunet's palm open. He screamed and stumbled to his knees, dropping the Homuranagi. Walter sighed and proceeded to drag. Afterwards, he took Henry by the throat and raised him off his feet. "I am going to kill you now, Henry. Your pathetic adventure is unfortunately going to end here, but first, I am going to force you to look upon your damsel in her last moments."

Walter moved to allow Henry the sight of Irene entering the pool. She seemed to walk faster towards the death ball, but just as Henry was about to give up hope, he reached into his pocket and withdrew the umbilical cord.

The effects were instantaneous. Walter recoiled, protecting his nose with the crook of his elbow. The smell quickly filled the chamber, reaching Irene. Her nose wrinkled, and she screamed, the light returning to her eyes. "Stinky!" she screamed. "Stinky!"

"Irene…" Henry cried in relief. As Walter was stunned, he turned towards the giant restrained creature, and, in a burst of insight, ran up to it, removed the umbilical cord from the box, and thrust it into the monster's flesh. It roared in what could only be assumed to be pain, and Walter gagged while falling to one knee.

Henry took hold of the Homuranagi with both hands and let its shining aura engulf him. "Special skill: Renzokuken!" He launched forward and performed a series of quick, rapid slashes on Walter. "Final attack!" he yelled, and Walter poured out streams of gore and choked out a mouthful of blood as the brunet rushed past him.

"Irene!"

"Henry!" Rather than embrace upon meeting each other, Henry introduced the girl to the back of his hand. She was knocked back silly.

"You damn bimbo!" he said. "What's your problem, getting enchanted like that? Do you know what a pain it's been?"

While Henry berated Irene, Walter struggled up, furious. "Henry Townsend!" he bellowed, "This is not over!" Henry turned back to his nemesis and smiled.

"Irene, let's finish this!" he said, and the girl nodded. They planted their hands on the hilt of the Homuranagi and let its golden light spread out around them. Walter backed away, repelled by the light of triumph and virtue. "Ultimate Combination Attack!" they hollered in unison, swinging the sparkling sword in his direction. "Vanquishing Blade!"

!! 重大な打撃 !!

A gigantic wave of positive, altruistic force erupted from the blade in the form of golden light and azure fire. The fantastic blast completely swallowed Walter and obliterated the monstrosity and most of the chamber. The light faded, and soon the atrium was returned its dark, foreboding atmosphere. Henry dropped the sword and fell forward, but Irene managed to catch him with her good arm and keep him standing.

"We got him, Henry!" she squealed wildly, and he groaned, taking a seat on the ground.

"And that's…" he breathed, "game over, biotch." His words hung in the air, their finality crushing. Irene did an exciting little jig, and Henry closed his eyes, hoping to rest for a moment, when a feminine laugh caught their attention.

"The game isn't quite over, Henry."

Henry's head snapped up at the sound of the new voice, and he looked up in shock to see a familiar face floating down to meet them. "Gods be damned, it's you!" Cynthia smirked devilishly, her hair floating around her. She stopped and hovered above the death device, placing her hands on her hips.

"You know, Henry, you've proved pretty useful. I told you I had discovered the ability to break the fourth wall, and therefore I saw what I had to do. Everything has happened the way it was meant to, and now all the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place."

Behind her, the rubble shifted and out came Walter, holding Mr. Sock in his fist. "W-What's happening?" he asked, and Cynthia laughed, gently lolling her hand at him. Mr. Sock flew from his hand and leisurely fit around hers.

"What?" demanded Henry, but Cynthia only laughed again.

"You two have successfully weakened each other to the point where you're no longer threats against me, don't you see? And now that I have the sock, I can channel the almighty power that is rightfully mine!" The atrium began to tremble with absurd force, a ring of many colors rising into the air behind Cynthia. Henry, Irene, and Walter strained their eyes to see that the ring was composed of nineteen keychains, each one a small figurine resembling a Chibi-fied person.

"It wasn't until I died that I saw my true destiny! That bucket—to think such a feeble thing could sustain the power of the Twenty-One Kanji! I am the true messiah of Black Cloud of Death! This wonderful power… There are only two things more things needed to complete it!"

"No!" shouted Walter weakly, unable to even stand. "Give Mr. Sock back!" But it was to no avail, for in the chaos of the atrium, Irene began to rise into the air unwittingly. Henry reached for her, but Cynthia chortled.

"Kanji Twenty: the Mother Incarnate! Irene Galven!" Irene looked about herself in dumbfounded amazement as she was suddenly hurled into the death machine. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as she was torn to shreds.

"Irene!" Henry yelled, the remains of her body floating up and merging together into a small, white orb that transformed into a cute little nurse figurine with a silver chain protruding from her head. The keychain joined the others above Cynthia's head, and she now turned her sights on Henry, who got to his feet and hoisted the Homuranagi.

The blade was once again caught in a swirling cobalt inferno. "Cynthia!" he roared, running at her to strike her down. The deceased woman simply raised the sock to intercept the blade and an explosion of lights occurred at the sight, the Homuranagi stopped inches away from her hand. "How…? How are you…?"

Cynthia giggled. "Henry, Henry, Henry… Did you really think your silly little toy could match the fabulous power of the Twenty-One Kanji?" She laughed and forced him away with such power that he was thrust into the air and against the high wall of the atrium. The Homuranagi loop-de-looped in the air and plunged itself into his abdomen, impaling him and pinning him to the wall. Henry vomited out a spew of crimson. It ran down his chin and chest, and he snarled at her defiantly.

"You… bitch!" he shrieked with his remaining strength.

"I love you, too," she mocked as he died and fell still. Henry's body melded into its keychain counterpart and joined the rest of its brethren. The ring gleamed a brilliant white, and Cynthia beamed. "The Receiver of Wisdom—Henry Townsend!" The light surrounded her, and when it dispersed, Cynthia had been rejuvenated. Her body was alive and perfectly immaculate, and her hair waved around her extravagantly. Her clothing had been replaced by a long, shocking black dress which revealed her legs and spread out around them.

"Such amazing power… I have ascended! I have realized my destiny as the Otaku Queen!" Cynthia floated upwards, possessing both Mr. Sock and her ring of collected souls. With a mere swish of the hand the atrium was ripped apart, creating a vast, gaping hole that led even deeper into the unknown.

"I will create a new world… piece by piece…" Laughing, Cynthia disappeared into the darkness, and Walter stared on fearfully.

"Henry and Irene… Mr. Sock… I…" he trailed off, sobbing. "This is all my fault…" He sat there, alone in the void, when suddenly he rose. "…But I made a promise to Bob, a long time ago… to protect Mr. Sock… and I have to save them." He took up both the Homuranagi and Yamato, and approached the maw of the great hole. Fading lights rose from below like fireflies.

Walter gulped and leapt into the blackness.

To be continued…

"All elements of unrelated Silent Hill media are owned by their respective copyright owners."