Me: Chatper 6 is here.

AJ: Pyramid Head...

Me: Are you still on about that? He is supposed to be there.

Rendan: I think it's not that he's there, it's why that's got him like this.

AJ: Got it in one.

Zero: Can't say I blame you. Pyramid Head isn't exactly known for being... merciful... or anything other than an immortal killing machine.

AJ: You're fucking insane!

Me: I try my best.

AJ: You're enjoying this, aren't you, you sick bastard?

Me: Immensely so.

Rendan: I guess I'll get the disclaimer. Azard doesn't own Hey Arnold! or Silent Hill. They are owned by Craig Bartlett and Konami respectively. The only things Azard owns are the plot, his created monsters and the characters in his Blackadder series.

Me: Thanks, as always, Rendan. Anyway, let's get this show on the road! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 6: Hell's Hospital

Helga and Arnold stopped running to catch their breath. They'd run a fair distance away from the police station and now found themselves next to a large brick building. Helga dropped to her knees in exhaustion, having run faster than she'd ever believed she could. Arnold, on the other hand, merely had to take several deep breaths in order to get his second wind. He glanced around carefully, trying to get a baring on their current location.

Across the street was a small boarded up building with the words 'Post Office' scrawled above the boarded door. Taking another look at the map he determined the large building Helga and he were currently standing next to had to be Alchemilla Hospital. The hospital appeared to be far from operational. Most of the windows were either broken or boarded up. Those that weren't offered little to see on the inside. The building was huge, covering a good portion of the street, even on the map.

"If this is the hospital," Arnold mused, "then the town hall must be..." he paused, "here." He pointed to a small building on Cielo Avenue. "So we don't have much farther to go."

"Well that's great and all, Football Head," Helga began, "but what are we even hoping to find there?"

"Information," Arnold immediately responded.

"That's the problem!" Helga cried. "What kind of information? I mean, what good is knowing about things that are in this place if we don't even know what the heck's going on? I really don't think some stupid little book is going to tell us anything we really need to know about Silent Hill."

"Maybe not," Arnold admitted, "but maybe we could learn about what's behind all of this. From there, we may learn about where to go next."

"But what are you hoping to learn about?"

"The Order."

"Why would you want to learn about those crazy people?" Helga nearly shouted. "They're all completely nuts!"

"But they have the greatest understanding of what's going on in this place," Arnold said as he began to walk away. "If we learn about them, we learn about Silent Hill."

Helga said nothing and followed as the two made their way to the town hall. Sadly, once they arrived at their destination they found the door to the building was locked and the lock itself was broken far beyond repair. Arnold growled in his throat and moved around the building to look for an alternative entrance. Sadly, there was none.

"Hey, Football Head," Helga called, "I have a question." Arnold took a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"What is it?"

"That 'purification liquid' that The Order needed... Where did they get the stuff?"

"The person who wrote the note said they got some from someone named Dr. Kauffman. Maybe he worked at Alchemilla Hospital."

"Let's head there and see if he made any more of the stuff. If he did we could get some of that stuff and protect ourselves from the Guardian if he decides to show up!"

"He said he didn't have the materials to make another batch," Arnold stated.

"Well, who's to say he didn't keep a batch or two hidden from them just in case?" Arnold blinked.

"Good point," Arnold said.

"Of course it is, Arnoldo," Helga pridefully stated. "After all, it was my point!"

'She's never heard of modesty,' Arnold thought with a grin.

"What are we wasting time for? Let's go!" Helga walked off as soon as she finished, leaving Arnold grudgingly following behind her. After a short walk the two found themselves at the entrance of Alchemilla Hospital. Despite looking as it did, it was still in better shape than a majority of the surrounding buildings. The doors were open, suspiciously ajar with a trail of blood leading inside. Helga hesitated slightly.

"Having second thoughts?" Arnold questioned.

"N-no way!" Helga stuttered. Truth be told she was slightly worried about running into any monsters inside the hospital. Any reasonably sane person would be worried in some slight degree, right? Right. Helga very cautiously approached the door and opened it, watching the dark room carefully for any movement. Seeing none she walked inside with Arnold in tow.

The lobby was empty and completely intact. Nothing appeared to have been disturbed in any way for quite some time. On a bulletin board was a map of the hospital which Helga grabbed and looked at intently. She handed the map to Arnold and walked down the hallway watching the shadows as she did so. The radio remained silent, something Helga was silently thankful for. Anyone could talk a big game but actually killing something was something else altogether.

Helga glanced toward the wooden slingshot she kept handy and looked at it in some disbelief. Could such a small weapon even kill? It surely didn't seem likely. If she wanted to do any damage she'd need a better weapon and fast. From personal experience she knew that a wooden slingshot could only hurt someone, something she learned from using one on several occasions when a shot went wild and hit a bystander at full pull. By the person's reaction it just hurt a lot.

Helga groaned loudly as she began to check the rooms only to discover that most of them were locked. The only room that was open had an empty hospital bed that was distinctly different from the others a hospital would normally have. The frame of the bed was wooden and had four posts at each end with three ornaments on the posts. One end was empty and upon closer inspection there appeared to be a slot with a slit on the wooden post. Apparently something was supposed to go there. The ornaments themselves were all carefully carved into the shape of skulls, their expressions evil and malicious. Helga and Arnold felt a cold chill run up their spines as the skulls' empty eyes seemed to be staring into their very souls.

They looked toward each other and back at the skulls, getting the feeling that this room was somehow important. They didn't know know how, exactly, but they knew. The duo walked out of the room and proceeded to attempt to find the nearest stairwell. Instead, they found the elevator which was still, somehow, in order. Helga pressed the button to call the elevator which was resting on the third floor. As the elevator came down the radio began to emit static. Helga quickly readied her slingshot and Arnold tightened his grip on the bat. The elevator doors opened and the creature inside hobbled out.

The creature, at a first glance, was female based on body type. It was tall as an adult and wore a short skirt, high heeled shoes and a top that accentuated its bust with a small nurse hat on its head. Its face, however, was completely wrapped in bloody bandages, whether its blood or someone else's was unknown. This creature's weapon of choice appeared to be a bloody, rusty scalpel which it held in its right hand. It was a near spitting image of a nurse.

The flashlight on Helga's dress shone into the Nurse's face, making the creature stumble quickly toward her. Helga shot the marble at the abomination's head, stunning her for a quick second. Arnold capitalized on that stolen second by hitting the creature in the legs, bringing her to her knees before delivering a second strike to her head, knocking the Nurse to the ground.

The two rushed past the downed creature and into the elevator where they slammed on the button labeled '3' as quickly as they could, closing the elevator doors on the slowly rising monster. As the elevator rose and the static on the radio slowly died down, the two let out simultaneous sighs of relief. The ride on the elevator was spent in silence, though their thought processes were anything but.

'How long will it be...?' Arnold thought as his grip on the bat remained strong. 'How long until I spill the blood of one of these things?' The words of their temporary ally were having their effect. Having seen two monsters literally start to get back up after a full strike to the head was far from unsettling. It was downright terrifying. That thought was exacerbated by the knowledge he had of the Guardian, who apparently could control these creatures and could be sending them to kill him and his friends.

That led to more terrifying thoughts. Could the Guardian be doing this out of some sort of sick pleasure? Was he laughing at all of this? Did he want to break their minds and bodies before he came to finish the job? Of all of these, there was one question that presided above all others. How long until they end up like the bodies they saw?

No matter how Arnold looked at the situation, it seemed to be only a matter of time before they ended up like the mutilated bodies they had seen. If adults couldn't find their way out of this place, what chance did a bunch of kids have? Not much of one, that seemed certain. Helga wasn't thinking such thoughts. She found her attention drawn to the object of her affections and the way he was handling the situation.

'I never thought Arnold would ever be like this,' Helga thought upon seeing the near hopeless expression on Arnold's face. 'If he's almost lost hope, just how much is there?' Helga was more than a little concerned for Arnold, though she'd never outwardly admit it. Helga was almost scared to admit it but if she was the tough girl in damn near every other situation, she'd have to be the toughest one of the three students.

It only made sense to her, considering Arnold seemed to be losing all the hope he had. What scared her the most, though, was that he'd begun to give up so quickly. Arnold was not the type of person to give up at all, let alone this easily. What must be wrong with this place to have such an effect on the usually impossibly optimistic boy? These thoughts were abruptly ended as the elevator finally reached its stop at the third floor.

The doors opened, thankfully, to no static. The duo walked out and glanced around the hallway they'd entered. By their surroundings, they'd have at least another thirteen doors to check in this hallway alone, to say nothing about the rest of the floor. As the duo walked around checking doors, finding a good portion of them locked, they stumbled into a room that appeared to be an office of some kind. There was dried blood on the floor and some empty vials scattered around the room. The room appeared to have not been used in years.

Arnold and Helga searched different areas of the room, hoping to find something of use or hopefully confirm where they wanted to go. There was one thing they were hoping to find at this point, the office of Dr. Kauffman. As Arnold moved some things around, he found several forms, all having to do with the purification liquid the Order spoke of.

April 30th,

I seem to have misinterpreted just how far the Order was willing to go to do what they believe needed to be done. I've been having Lisa take care of Alessa for the past year or so while their God grows and now they're trying to put someone else in a similar situation like hers? These people are sick and I fear they may just try to betray me. For this reason I have created a cure to the corruption these individuals spread. I call the crimson concoction 'Aglaophotis'. If I'm right, it should be able to kill any monster that these cultist fools create or at the very least free the individual from the taint. The day may come where I will be forced to test this on one of them. I only pray that it works to my advantage. Until then, I'll keep all vials of this concoction in my office. Hopefully The Order will never see fit to search this place. I can only imagine what they'll do to me and if I go, I'm taking all of these bastards down with me!

Dr. Michael Kauffman

"Aglaophotis?" Arnold read aloud.

"Agla-what?" Helga questioned irritably from the opposite end of the room.

"Aglaophotis," Arnold repeated. "That's the name of the purification liquid the Order spoke of." Helga nodded dumbly and walked over to Arnold to see what he was looking at. Arnold absentmindedly turned to the next form.

May 16th,

I don't know how they knew, I don't know who told them, but The Order knows of the Aglaophotis. One of the cultists came to me asking for a vial of the concoction. According to them, the boy they were experimenting on has retained his free will and they need to destroy him to start anew. I don't know how they know the boy's retained his free will but if he has he'll surely seek revenge on those that have wronged him. I hope the cultists do not succeed. I would like nothing more than to see them all die for the things they've done and what they've put me though. I have a suspicion they got the information from Lisa. It wouldn't be difficult, all they'd have to do is steal some White Claudia and give it to her. She'll do anything for that damned drug. Stupid drug addicts can't do a goddamn thing right. Still, she does the work I don't want to do, so I suppose it's good that she's still around... for the time being.

Dr. Michael Kauffman

Arnold and Helga stared dumbfounded by all of this. Why would a doctor agree to work with these kinds of people anyway? It didn't make any sense. Their best guess was that he was somehow being threatened, but even then they had no idea how. Placing the form behind the first, they looked at the third and last form.

September 13th,

Arnold stopped as he read the date. He quickly reached into his pocket to pull out the form he found on the dead body they found in the school. He checked the date... September 13th. Both of these forms were written on the exact same day. Placing the old form back in his pocket, Arnold looked back at the form in his hands.

They returned again for another vial. According to the cultists they 'lost' the other vial. I only have one left and I plan on saving it for when I need it. I lied and said I had no more of the Aglaophotis and told them I didn't have the materials to make another. Another lie. I have the necessary ingredients but I will only make it if there is no other option, like the one vial I have breaking. Only an immediate need like that will force me to make another vial. I also heard that their Guardian has been going around killing their members. As bad as this may sound, I hope he succeeds in killing all of them. Maybe he can have his vengeance before I'm forced to put him down myself. He's no immortal; he can be stopped. All it would take is a little Aglaophotis.

Dr. Michael Kauffman

'So the Guardian can be stopped after all,' Arnold mused. He turned to Helga and motioned around the room. "Find the Aglaophotis." Helga caught on to Arnold's train of thought and nodded before rummaging around the office as quickly as she could. Sadly, they found nothing that could be of use, no Aglaophotis, no weapons, no ammo. With an exasperated sigh the duo left the office and searched the rest of the hospital's top floor. Only one other room was open, the room being a patient's room. The room seemed to be standard for a hospital, all except for the fact that it was dirtier than any other room they'd come across so far.

As the duo checked the room they had the strangest feeling that they were being observed by someone or something. No matter where they looked they found nothing. Soon there was only one place left to look, under the hospital bed. It was like something out of a child's nightmare, the dread increasing as they approached to take a look. They quickly looked under, ready to fight or run and found only one thing. It was a wooden ornament shaped like a skull. The skull appeared to be laughing at them devilishly which unnerved the two greatly. Feeling something about the skull was important, they grabbed it and took it with them.

As they approached the elevator again, they had a small feeling of dread. They had to go back to the ground floor and they were going to encounter that Nurse again. Arnold handed the skull to Helga and tightened his grip on the bat. They walked in and headed down as the static from the radio suddenly came back. Arnold's grip tensed as the static steadily increased. When the door opened they were confronted by the Nurse. Arnold rushed forward and slammed the bat into the Nurse's legs, dropping her to the floor. Arnold then repositioned himself behind the Nurse and slammed the bat into the monster's head, sending it crashing into the ground. The duo ran once more away from the area until the static died. If they'd stayed but a moment longer, they'd have seen the blood seep from the lifeless skull of the Nurse.

When the two stopped running as the static died down, they found themselves back in the room with the skulled ornaments. The two took a quick look at the skull in Helga's hand before looking at the one post without an ornament. She walked toward it and tried to place the skull in her hands on the post. It fit perfectly. The room suddenly began to shake as a section of one of the walls seemed to vanish from the room entirely, leading to another room. This room, however, held a truly horrifying sight.

A body had been nailed to the far wall of the room. Its chest and stomach had been cut open and there were no organs within the body. Dried blood covered the floor, but no sign existed of anything being dragged. The two stared in horrified wonder at the sight. This had to be the work of the Order. They were about to leave when something shiny caught Helga's eye coming from inside the body's stomach. She approached cautiously and stuck her hand inside only to pull out a metal slingshot that appeared to have been made for combat.

Just as she glanced at the weapon, a siren blared loudly ushering in the horror of the Otherworld once more. Sadly, the two wouldn't see the horrors the Otherworld would bring this time. A swift blow to the back of their heads silenced the two. They never figured out what hit them as their unconscious forms were dragged off by a black-robed figure.

Me: And that's the chapter.

AJ: I don't know how many times I can say you're a sick bastard until you finally get it.

Me: Oh, I knew that already. Besides, everything is falling into place.

Rendan: I can't believe you actually ended the chapter like that.

Zero: Yeah, I mean... they're basically screwed now.

Me: Maybe, maybe not. The only way to find out is to wait for the next chapter to come out. On a separate note, when new monsters are named, I will be filling in the information as soon as they're named. Namely, the bio of the monsters including their symbolic reason for being there. Pyramid Head is obvious as is the Nurse and those two are easy to figure out. The bio's will come at the end of the chapters for my created monsters only.

AJ: Did Arnold seriously...?

Me: Yes. I know what you're thinking, and yes. But he doesn't know he did. It will play a bit of a factor later as well.

Rendan: I suppose that's it for this time?

Me: Yep.

Zero: Be good and be safe, everyone!

Me: I'm outta here!