Chapter 36: Meet James
"You know who we are then." Victor said to the sad man.
"Of course." Sunderland nodded. "You're it. The final Sacraments. The Mother Reborn, Julia Stormson." he pointed at her. "And Victor Rosencrantz, the Receiver of Wisdom. 20 and 21. At last, they will be complete. At last, you will wake up." he said to the empty space on his right.
"Who are you talking to...?"
"My wife...Mary. She was sick and...I brought her here to get better."
"Yeah? How's that workin' out for ya pal?"
"She's dead. Always was. But we're almost there..." the blonde man breathed. "She looked so peaceful..."
"Is that why you're doing this? For your wife?" Victor demanded.
"The Old Gods have not forsaken this place." he explained absently. "Those who honor them are given power...power to do anything..."
"The Power of Heaven." Julia uttered.
"James, we have to stop you. There's a lot more at stake than your wife." Victor told him.
"I know. I don't care." Sunderland said and angled his face to the light coming from above him. "Yes dear, I'll tell them. She says I'm too close now. Too close to stop. Come forth, Mother Reborn. With your blood I will be free."
"Come and get it, Jack." Julia put her fists up.
"Careful." Victor muttered. "We're in his dream now. There's no telling what he could do."
Standing up Sunderland raised his arms and simply disappeared. Reappearing at the bottom of the pillar with a gigantic, rusty knife just like Pyramid Head's he calmly stalked forward. Sweeping his free hand to the right Chuck flew away from Julia like he'd been hit with another spell. She could only gawk at his sudden exit before the green jacketed menace swept his hand left and Victor too was tossed aside like a doll. The pilgrim kept her gore covered gloves protecting her chin as Sunderland came for her, dragging the heavy weapon behind him. For some reason when he was almost in striking range she chose to smile in that moment that could be her last.
The ghost stopped in his tracks and even backed up a few steps. He started looking around for something she couldn't see just before the lone circle of light coming in darkened and the entire cave creaked under enormous pressure being exerted on it. "You...monster...you...demon." Sunderland breathed in astonishment. "You brought the darkness in with you."
A pair of foot steps came echoing from behind her and Sunderland backed up another few feet. Julia did not have to turn around to know who it was and she smirked at the sudden reversal of fortune.
"Fooooour-score-men-and-ten-thooousand-beasts." Nothing hummed to a tune. "Yooooou're-not-the-ones-to-chaaaaaallenge-me..."
"Fiend. You are not welcome here." Sunderland glowered and showed a granule of emotion, the most so far.
Coming around her to plant himself in between them the Fater traced a rune in the air with his fingers. It was an incredibly intricate and gracefully curving design formed as his digits left a red trail of glowing light in the air. Sunderland appeared in front of him in an instant and whipped the giant knife down at blinding speed to produce a shower of sparks but it bounced harmlessly off the sigil. Unfazed the Fater continued finishing the rune while the other shade repeatedly hit it with blows that would have cut a mountain in half.
When he was done Nothing took a step back and Sunderland darted from the glowing crest as it hovered in the air. The pressure in the room changed and Julia felt something shift but she could not identify it.
"What have you done..." Sunderland said with a thin layer of disbelief.
"There will be no outcome, save victory." Nothing declared. "You cannot run from me, James Sunderland."
"Nor you." the man in green said and turned to walk away. "Yes dear, I will show them."
Raising his hand in the air he snapped his fingers and the cave lit up like day time. The gloom of the cave, the pillar and carved wall had obscured an army waiting behind them. Rows upon rows of shiny, slick mannequins, faceless tar throwers, floating squares of flesh trapped in bed frames idling ten feet above the floor and towering battering rams stood still like statues. The cave held hundreds of them and went back farther than Julia could see.
From behind the wall carving something colossal began to move. Some twenty feet high and just as wide it was a rusty, cube shaped piece of metal that contained something hideous even by Silent Hill standards. Two oversized, vaguely humanoid figures fused together in a slimy mass of gray and white filled the cube as it moved along with a slug like foot. Onyx, oily tendrils extended from it by the dozens as thick as palm trees and they rustled anxiously as it crept along.
Julia did not mind cowering behind the Fater as Sunderland took his place in front of the pillar and rested his knife point on the cave floor at his feet. "We settle this then." he said with finality. "Do you truly think yourself a match for me now?"
"You want to play?" the Fater cocked his head to the side. "Very well."
Taking Julia by the hand he led her back to the entrance of the cave. The pilgrim was confused and for some reason did not think to resist as Nothing took hold of her shoulders and set her just a few feet from where they had come in.
"What are you doing?" Victor asked worriedly.
"Stand aside." Nothing warned. He leaned to Julia's ear entirely too close and whispered, "Don't be afraid, my dear."
She turned her head just in time to see a blur coming down as the Fater stabbed her with a wicked black knife that sank down to the hilt. The pilgrim's eyes popped open in surprise and white hot pain as he yanked the blade out. Gurgling, she fell to her knees as the wound seemed to be pulsing with a life of its own and after a half second blood exploded out of her back. Spraying in a far too large stream her life essence showered the back wall of the cave as Julia teetered on the edge of passing out from the intense agony. Straining to turn her head even a little she forced herself to look behind her.
Gallons of red blood mixed with what looked like tar were coming out of her back at fire hose pressure and some of it spattered on her face as she saw more than she could physically contain burning into the cave wall. Remaining halfway upright she looked around while her shoulder burned as if someone were rotating a red hot coal into it. So incredible was the pain that she was unable to scream and she glimpsed Victor's aghast face in her daze. Chuck's was borderline indifferent as the blood pumping out of her finally slowed to a halt. The pain gradually subsided and the pilgrim slumped down towards the cold floor.
She was caught before hitting the ground by Nothing who lifted her gently in his arms. Confused and traumatized she reached behind her to feel her the gash but there was no wound there. The fabric of her shirt had been ripped and the entire area was wet but her skin was smooth and intact. Bewildered she looked up at the hard faced Fater who had his eyes locked on Sunderland.
"What madness is this?" the blonde man said and Julia craned to see the cave wall over their benefactor's shoulder. It was still hissing and burning but she could not comprehend why. Looking back to Sunderland a puzzled look came over his face before it turned to horror. "Wait...no you can't! Impossible!"
"Stay very still." Nothing instructed her and the wall where her blood had touched faded away into a strangely out of place, black oval. A familiar cacophony came out of it that was soft at first but quickly grew into a mighty explosion of noise.
"Julia Stormson. So glad to see you well." came a voice in her head.
"Tower!?" she said aloud and then she realized what was going on. From the portal a roaring, thunderous pack of muscle cars with plows attached to the front came screaming out of the wall and swerved around where Nothing was holding her by mere inches. A horde of disparate foot soldiers Julia had seen fighting each other in Nowhere came pouring out en masse into the cave ready for war. Trojans, werewolves, samurai, marines and robots streamed in howling like Ragnarok as the mannequin army charged forward to meet them. The cars at the front plowed into the slimy masses with enough force to knock down thirty at a time and armored knights came out of them with chopping medieval weaponry as all hell broke loose in the cavern.
With seemingly the whole of Nowhere stampeding past them Nothing calmly set Julia down as their allies parted around the two of them the way a river parts around a jutting rock. The Fater pointed at Sunderland who was already hacking enemies to pieces with his rusty knife and yelled, "I will deal with that one! Survive until I take from him his link to this world!"
Brandishing a second of the black knives he had stabbed her with the Fater joined the stream of monsters headed towards Sunderland. Unable to see her comrades in the chaos Julia assumed the best and gleefully followed Nothing into the wildest battle of her life.
Chuck watched the events unfold before him in shock and only caught a glimpse of the black clad Fater surging forward into the absolute pandemonium occurring in the center of the chamber. He knew that he was not capable of wading in to help his comrades even if he wanted to. The killer had been far more seriously injured by the Order's adepts then he had been letting on. The kevlar had blunted some of the trauma but slivers of glass and metal had been deeply embedded in his torso. Blood had been running down his spine and pant legs the entire time since Victor pulled him from the crate. It took nearly everything he had to get back to his feet when Sunderland knocked him down and he wasn't sure how much longer he would last.
Breathing as steadily as he could he stumbled his way to the right along the cave wall. The columns of Nothing's people were going straight forward into the swarm of white bodies which were coming from behind both sides of the wall carving. Not sure if he could damage the gargantuan, lumbering box creature with mere bullets he opted to fire on the enemy's right wing. Easing himself slowly to one knee while monsters killed each other by the score mere dozens of feet away Chuck forced himself to breath as the pain lanced through his insides.
Taking aim with the rifle he started to empty his magazine into them just before they collided with the strange assortment of friends the Dark Man had called in. He could barely hear the sound of his own bullets but the jack hammer kickback from the shots rattled the glass in his body and clenched his teeth almost to the point of breaking. He would not go down without a fight, no way. The killer refused to die as long as he still had ammo and when the clip was out of fumbled for a new one. Some things were more important than living and he had one very special gun that his allies would need before the end. Only when he fired it he would allow himself to sleep.
Julia hit the wave of enemies fist first and dropped a mannequin where it stood. Her shoulder, though healed, pulsed and ached but she barely felt it as she threw punishing strike after strike. The waves of slimy, disfigured monsters crashed on the unfocused but savage Nowherites in total carnage and she was right in the thick of it. The pilgrim did not loose a single punch that failed to break bones or split skulls and she reveled in the joy of the slaughter. Perhaps she had been Nothing's unwitting pawn after all but at the moment she was having far too much fun to care. Tearing into the endless enemies in front of her she trampled over the bodies that fell below with her bare feet.
The knight had heard Julia's story of Nowhere but he was not prepared for the unbridled anarchy before him. The cave only served to amplify the bedlam as the two groups met each other like rivers colliding. If that wasn't astonishing enough seeing Julia rush into battle behind the Fater headlong disturbed him more than watching her tainted blood open a portal to another sphere. There would be some explaining later but there was no time for hesitation now.
Ahead Nothing was staring down the other shade and the immense, tentacled monstrosity was inching closer to the fray. Victor would have to put himself where he could do the most good and at the moment that meant keeping the Fater standing at all costs.
Pulling his sword free and bringing his shield up he rammed into the abominations Sunderland had summoned as hard as he could.
Their respective forces battled around them and the Fater almost skipped to where his true enemy was busy cutting everything that came near him in half. His movements were relatively slow and deliberate to Nothing's eyes but whatever was in the path of his terrible knife was rent to pieces. Snapping the neck of a pirate with one hand Sunderland tossed the body away as he regarded the other shade.
"And so here we are." Sunderland said and he was already covered in blood. "You did not learn your lesson the first time."
"Says the coward who struck me in the back." Nothing said flippantly. "You have yet to truly face my wrath instead of hiding in Stone's sanctuary. Did you think the pit would hold me?"
"I don't give a damn about you or your Order." the blonde man spat. "All that matters is Mary and not you or anyone else will keep her from me."
"I would pity thee, had I any to spare." the Fater shook his head. "You are guilty of crimes against the misty land. There is only one castigation and I am its executor."
"To hell with you and Silent Hill. I'm going to burn it down when I take over." Sunderland threatened.
"Tahrodiis mey! My teeth in your neck!" the dagger wielding shade cursed. Screaming as he leapt forward with his black blades Sunderland raised his rusty, oversized knife in the air to meet him.