Ubiquitous Nightmare.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Azumanga Daioh or Silent Hill. I only own this fan fiction story.

Wow! It's been such a long time! How is everyone? It sure is good to be back. I am really sorry for the very long delay, but I am back as of today. I will be celebrating by trying to finish off the story that I left everyone with, Ubiquitous Nightmare. I may be a little rusty, but I'll do my best! On with the story!

(-o-)

Chapter Nine: Desperate predicament.

"No!" screamed Osaka, as the dull green, gel-like substance lowered itself onto her. The pain was instant, a sharp jolt through the right side of her face mostly. She fell to the floor, as the others ran over to check on their fallen friend.

Yomi leaned over her to check for any effects of the liquid, whilst the fizzing grew louder and more violent. Osaka squealed in pain, as the large creature's mouth began to gurgle once more.

"We have to move her! This is serious, it's almost like acid," Yomi critiqued, as the group quickly helped to lift her limp body out of the way. The moth once again spat, but luckily missed as it hit the previous location. A low growl accompanied the chilling wind.

"Man...this is terrible," whispered Yomi, still checking Osaka's head. The acid-like substance had seemed to corrode the flesh on the side of her face. Osaka's eye was also badly hit, as it would no longer open at free will. "We have to stop that thing before it causes more harm."

"Any ideas?" asked a hesitant Tomo, before turning to see the moth apparently fly away, out of visible sight through the fog. "Thank god..." she released, before the whole group ran to Osaka's side.

"T-this really hurts, an' I can't see too well either..." Osaka breathed, as she slowly started to drift in and out of consciousness. "I doubt this health drink will help with anything," after which saying this she feebly riffled her pocket to retrieve the bottle. The others looked in shock, with Sakaki on the verge of tears.

"You're going to make it, we'll make sure you will," she spoke, swallowing the ball collecting in her throat. Osaka looked up at her, one eyed, and smiled. She then closed it, and fell limp against Yomi's arm.

The group suddenly gasped, wondering if she had truly been hit harder then an, although large, flesh wound. Yomi began softly shaking Osaka, trying to regain her composure, yet no movement was felt. The tears were now part of the whole group, fearing the worst.

"No...surely she can't be...dead?" whispered Yomi, now retiring her efforts to revive her. Suddenly, the loud, effervescent flapping sound resumed, as the large moth creature returned.

"...why?" questioned Sakaki, who was now standing. She turned swiftly to face the monstrous creature, lifting the firearm in the process. Tomo followed, with Kagura holding the large fire hammer. Yomi still sat, crying for her silent friend, cradling her badly burnt head.

"You'll pay for this..." Kagura spoke, whilst running towards the creature. Upon closer inspection, she found that there was a large stinger on the abdominal region of the creature, but this did not stop her. When she was close enough, she swung the hammer with such force and determination, that it tore though the soft tissue, and caused Kagura to spin slightly before falling.

The moth cried loudly, making a dank echo although they were outside. Sakaki began shooting the beast, mainly aiming for the mouth. The recoil was practically non-existent, and she kept shooting. Her accuracy was not too great, but she did land almost every shot somewhere on the behemoth. A trail of greenish fluid oozed out of the holes made by the bullets flowed down it's body, which began dripping off of the larger hole left at the bottom by the hammer.

The sudden pain entrusted unto the moth made it fall to the ground in front of the small group, where Tomo took her cue to end the fight once and for all. The creature lifted its mouth, where the gurgling sound returned.

"This is for Osaka," she spoke, before shooting a shotgun shell into the head region of the beast. It flew back, now without a visible mouth. The gurgling slowly stopped, along with any movement made by it or the girls. After the tremendous battle, they returned to Osaka without paying the creature a second's notice.

"Osaka...Osaka!" Yomi shouted, trying to coax her out of her state. She felt for a pulse on her wrist, before a loud crash sounded in the area of the moth. They all looked around, apart from Yomi.

"Who's there? Come on, I'm not in the mood for jokes. Show yourself!" Tomo exclaimed, brimming with anger. She lifted the shotgun, and pointed it in the general direction, where a humanoid figure slowly walked into view.

"Wait! Please, don't shoot," a manly voice sounded, causing Tomo and the others to gasp. The man walked into view, holding a handgun and a syringe – like item in his hand. "I saw what just happened, and I'm sorry about what happened to your friend. May I see her?"

The girls, although confused, saw relief in each other's eyes as there was finally someone else who seemed normal.

"O-of course," Yomi said with a slight smile on her face. She had one for a reason. "She is still breathing, guys."

"Really!? Wow, she's more durable then she looks," joked Tomo, as the man knelt next to her.

"She seems to be affected by the enzymes in that spit, but I don't think she'll be that badly affected," spoke the man, as he took the syringe and was about to inject it into Osaka. Sakaki, seeing this, immediately started to intervene.

"Wait a minute, what in the world is that? In fact, who are you?" she shouted, thinking it as more suspicious then helpful. The man looked at her, in the eye, and smiled.

"This is what they call an ampoule. It fights toxins and numbs excessive amounts of pain in the body. The effect lasts too. I think she'll make a full recovery with it," he spoke, as he injected it. Within seconds, noises were being forced out of Osaka's mouth. Her eye opened, followed slowly by the burnt one. She breathed heavily, as she surveyed her surroundings.

"W...Where am I?" she sparsely had any volume in her voice, but the whole group began smiling, and staring at her.

She stood up, and felt the damaged part of her face.

"It feels a little...tingly, but it doesn't hurt. What happened?" She asked, as Tomo pointed at the carcass of the moth. "Oh," she responded. Sakaki rushed forward and hugged her, letting a tear slide down her cheek.

"It's good to have you back, Osaka."

The group felt a little tired, as they began to wonder where this man had come from. He reloaded his gun, and sat down, next to the standing girls. They all turned to face him, and sat down themselves.

"I'm sure you all remember me, in the past," He began, as the girls all equally looked confused. "I was the one that shot that dog earlier."

"It was you?" Kagura asked, looking a bit shocked, as well as happy. "Thank you for the help..."

"It's no problem, but please, there is one thing I need to ask you all," He spoke, before the girls were giving their full attention. "Have you seen a little girl? I'm searching for my daughter. She's only seven, we arrived in town, and she disappeared."

The girls looked at each other, all thinking that the only other person in this town was indeed Chiyo. They answered in unison negatively.

"Oh, well thanks anyway. My name is Harry Mason, by the way. May I ask what you are all doing in this...place?" Harry asked, choosing his words carefully.

"We are sort of the same as you, we're looking for a friend who seemed to up and run out of our school," said Sakaki, filling in Harry about their reasons. After the explanation about chiyo's appearances, her apparent death and resurrection and the things the group have done thus far, Harry seemed even more determined to carry on looking for his daughter.

"That seems unnatural, I'm sure of it," he responded, before continuing. "I'm going to go look for more clues, and see if I can find my little girl."

"What's her name?" asked Yomi, to which he replied, "Cheryl."

After wishing the best for each other, the two sides parted, as the man walked in the same direction from whence he appeared. Osaka, regaining more and more focus as the time passed, spoke out.

"Where will he go though? We're on the roof of a building? D'ya think he can fly or somethin'?" The others looked at her, believing the circumstance and stared off into the man's thought of direction. There was no trace of Harry now. Empty air filled the area, no sounds apart from the breathing of the girls for at least 15 seconds, after which the loud, ghostly siren began to announce its toll. The girls huddled, expectant of what may happen.

"What's going on? It's not goin' to get worse, is it?" asked Osaka, but her fears were not met. Instead, the surrounding area began to creak, as if immense pressure was placed on it. The dull, bloodied walls and horrible grated floors were slowly replaced with their more human-friendly real selves, as the area grew brighter. The tense fog still remained strong, but the girls were happy to find this fresh side, especially after what happened.

"Well, what do we do now? We have to find Chiyo, but where could she be now?" asked Tomo, looking around the large rooftop. This caused Yomi to remember that Chiyo was the one who locked the door, supposedly. After explaining this, the group proceeded to the door, yet it was still stuck fast.

"Hey, guys, look at this," Kagura announced, as she turned around. On the floor were several sheets of paper, and a photo of a young girl. "Do you think Harry dropped them?"

"Probably, what do they say?" asked Sakaki, as Kagura began reading the papers out loud. One of them was a sheet from the hospital in Silent Hill, and another was from the elementary school. They seemed to be reports of the child in the photograph. The school card reported deep drops in progress, while the hospital report showed several emergency calls made in the last two months regarding the girl's health. On the back of the photo was the word 'Cheryl', printed in ball point pen.

"It must be his," Yomi said, although worried about the child now as well as Chiyo. While Kagura riffled through the paper shortly after reading them, a small piece of paper fell from the pile. It looked crumpled, about the size of an A5 sheet of paper. It bared a shocking resemblance to the small piece of paper picked up earlier by the girls, although this one was more legible. It read:

Things needed for metamorphosis:

One: being with great power.

Two: being with great intellect.

Three: child of god.

Perform ritual when all things are in order.

Silent Hill

Nowhere

Infirmary

As the group compared the two pieces of writing, they did match where the illegible parts where on the sheet the girls found, yet the line 'Silent Hill' was not on their piece of paper. It still did not make much sense, but they all thought of one thing.

'Where do we go from here?'

"Well, standing around here isn't going to do us much good, so I suggest we find a way off of this roof," reasoned Tomo, as she looked around again. This time, she spotted a small stairwell down the side of the hospital. Beckoning the other girls, they walked down the stairs, back to the street outside the hospital.

"I had mah hopes up then too, about Harry bein' super man or something," Osaka said, as the other girls smiled. "Do ya think that he was the one who wrote the letter and left us the maps an' things way back when as well?" she asked, yet no plausible answer could be found. They checked the map that Yomi had, yet there were too many directions to pick from. They stood, silent, for a minute, before the air began to feel thicker then usual. It seemed as if the very fog was suffocating the group.

"I-I can't breathe! Help..." panicked Kagura, as she fell to the floor. The others soon followed suit. As their eyes slowly began to close, a small, humanoid figure stood in the distance, in the shape of Chiyo.

(-o-)

Man, it feels good to write again! There it is - the next chapter. It may be a little dusty here and there, and I apologise not only for that, but also the wait for you to see the next part. A close scene for Osaka, I think you'll agree! Please review and I thank you for your time. Until next time, this is Love Hina Addict signing off.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Azumanga Daioh or Silent Hill. I only own this fan fiction story.