Me: After another annoying wait, Chapter 15!
AJ: Meh, better late than never.
Zero: Agreed.
Rendan: Yep.
Me: ... What the hell is wrong with you three? -pause- Well, AJ I understand but not you two!
Rendan: Well, we signed a peace treaty.
Zero: We will no longer fight for your amusement.
Me: -tears up peace treaty-
Rendan: That wasn't the peace treaty, that was a copy of the peace treaty. (Zero: That joke is property of Spongebob Squarepants.)
Me: Well, I guess I'll just have to tell Zero what happens in the future. -whispers something into Zero's ear-
Zero: NO WAY! REALLY!
Rendan: What'd he tell you?
Zero: Screw you! I ain't telling!
Rendan: You bastard! -tears up peace treaty (the REAL one)- TELL ME! -attacks Zero as both are trapped in a dust cloud-
Me: And thus another peace treaty fails.
AJ: You're an evil bastard.
Me: And I love every second of being one. Anyway, I don't own Silent Hill or Hey Arnold! They are the respective properties of Konami and Craig Bartlett. Now, as my thanks for being patient, read and enjoy!
Chapter 15: An Omnipotent Enemy?
School, a six letter word that meant a building made to teach the youth of the world all of the knowledge they would need to succeed in life. Of course, different people have different definitions for the six letter word, ranging from a solitude from the world to Hell. Sadly, for Arnold, Helga and Lila, school now took on a new meaning from the one they previously had. School had now become a place of untold horrors, a place of evil and a place where their worst nightmares had first been revealed to them.
The four kids stood in front of the school for the second time, now taking a moment to look at the decrepit building. They looked around a moment, getting a baring on their surroundings and listening for any slight increase in the radio's static level. The radio maintained its ever constant amount of static. The group waited for a moment to mentally prepare themselves for whatever they could face.
Arnold tugged on the door, opening it with the slightest tug, a slightly unnerving thing considering the town. While AJ walked into the building without a second thought, the other three paused again to take in what just occurred.
"H-Hey, Football Head," Helga whispered to Arnold, "didn't you have some kind of trouble opening that thing before?" Arnold nodded his head silently.
'I-Is it opening so easily because it's welcoming us somehow? Is it welcoming us to our deaths?' Arnold thought.
"Stop over-thinking it, you idiot!" AJ's voice shouted from inside the school. "It opened easier because you've gotten stronger, nothing more! Keep thinking that other way and the town'll kill you!" Arnold scowled, then paused.
'W-Wait a minute, how did he-?' The question stuck in Arnold's mind. How had he known what Arnold was thinking? He couldn't have heard what Helga whispered to him! He... What is he? After a moment of thought, none of it reassuring, the three students followed suit and entered the school, the door shutting behind them with a resounding slam.
The hallways were dark, like they remembered. Helga moved, the small light of the flashlight illuminating small portions of the hall, revealing a few bulletin boards and the secretary's desk. Lila, remembering that she still had the flashlight AJ gave her... or didn't give her... took it and turned it on, allowing the students to see a little more of the hallway. After a moment, however, Lila handed the flashlight back to AJ, who slipped it into the pocket of his vest.
The dull roar of static continued its constant stream of static, unnerving the students. They knew for a fact the static could spike at any time, but even with the slight noise, their anxiety certainly didn't decrease in the slightest. In the end, they were the same as they were when the first monster found them, terrified and confused.
"What's the plan?" AJ asked, not turning to look at them. His eyes seemed to be focused on a certain direction. Arnold looked to him, the scowl still on his face when he saw something he never thought he would. AJ's hand remained clenched in a fist at his side, but it was shaking slightly. Was- was he trembling? A sign of fear. AJ was, in fact, trembling, but Arnold couldn't fathom why.
"We need to find the form for the Path of Victims," Arnold said. 'Wait, this can be my chance.' Arnold grinned. "So, I propose we split up. Helga, Lila and I will go down this way," he paused to point in the direction AJ was staring down, "while you go the other way." Arnold smirked. 'I will show him I'm no coward.' Granted AJ had never called him that, but he certainly implied as much.
"I'm not going with you two," came a timid voice. Arnold turned to Lila, disbelief in his expression. Lila walked over to AJ and stood at his side. "Unlike you, I trust him. I won't let him travel alone so you can stroke your ego!"
'Does she think she can protect him or something?' Helga thought. In truth, that was only one thought going through her mind. 'Does she think she's making up for running away before?' Yet another question. Helga swore under her breath, mainly for not being able to read minds.
AJ, throughout all of this, remained impassive. His eyes moved to Arnold as he spoke then to Lila when she interjected. The passive expression on his face didn't change.
"If that's what you want to do," Arnold sighed. "Fine." He looked into AJ's eyes with all the malice he could muster. "If anything happens to her, the Nurse's blood won't be the only blood on my bat." He turned and walked away, a concerned Helga following suit. Lila stared at Arnold in clear disbelief. Had he really just said that? He had. AJ, however, finally shifted his expression. In all the angst and drama he watched Arnold leave, no longer trembling and a grim smile forming on his face. He quickly schooled his expression and looked to Lila.
"We won't get anywhere by standing around," he offhandedly mentioned. Lila nodded and, tugging on his arm, led him in the opposite direction.
Arnold stormed in the other direction, his arm limply dragging along the bat as if it were some sort of intimidation method. They traveled the halls, not bothering to look in any of the rooms. With the sound of the bat dragging along the floor, neither noticed the radio's static level vanish entirely. After chasing him through several halls, Helga caught up to Arnold and grabbed his arm.
"Football Head, what the hell was that about?" Helga shouted. "What the hell's gotten into you?" Ignoring Helga's cursing Arnold shook his head.
'I'm not a coward, I'm not afraid, I'm not scared, I'm not a coward,' he repeated in his head. His expression was extremely focused, a hard stare in his eyes. Helga quickly remedied this the only way she knew how, multiple slaps to the face. She grabbed him by his collar and slapped him.
"Snap! Out! Of! It! Football! Head!" Helga shouted between slaps. Arnold finally seemed to snap out of it as he looked at Helga, disbelief and confusion adorning his features.
"What? What do you want?" He questioned almost coldly.
"You threatened him... In front of Lila! What the hell's wrong with you?" Arnold shook his head.
"I don't trust him and I know you don't either!" Arnold yelled.
"I may not but Lila does!" Helga took a deep breath. "For now, we have to keep him around, for Lila's sake." Arnold blinked. Since when did Helga care about Lila?
"Since when do you care about Lila?" Arnold asked, feeling the need to voice his thoughts.
"We're all in this together, Arnold," Helga said. For a moment, that's the way things stood. Helga held Arnold by his collar as the two looked into the other's eyes. No noise, no anything, just unadulterated eye contact. It was then the two noticed the radio was absolutely silent.
"The radio," Arnold stated.
"What about it?" Helga asked, internally cursing that he ruined the moment.
"It's silent," Arnold elaborated. Helga blinked.
"What difference does it make?" An unknown voice asked. Arnold and Helga quickly jumped apart and looked for the source. Looking around, they noticed one of the doors was open. They approached, moving slowly to the door. The static on the radio returned to a dull roar, something that made Helga panic and shut it off, if only for the moment. No reason to get found out. The two looked into the room, which turned out to be the library, to see two silhouettes, one standing and the other sitting, by a table. On the table appeared to be a chessboard with the pieces resting on either side of the board. Were the two getting ready to play a game of chess? In a place like this?
"The difference is," the seated silhouette began, "they stand a bigger chance of failing should that happen." Arnold and Helga stared at the two figures, both of them cloaked by the darkness. By the looks of their silhouettes and the sounds of their voices, the two were only children. The seated child appeared thin while the standing child appeared to be more husky, though not to the extent their classmate Harold was. Could they be Order children? The standing child sighed.
"So what's the plan?" The stander asked.
"The plan is to let things progress as they have," the seated child answered. "Why change a winning formula?"
"What makes you think they won't stray from the course?"
"I've planned for every eventuality. They've moved exactly as I've planned they would, even if they don't realize they're doing it." The two chuckled. "But, there's a problem." The standing child turned to the sitting child.
"What problem?"
"The two pawns here," the child picked up two pawns of the same color from the sides and placed them on the chessboard, "are mistrustful."
"Can't you do anything about that? You are the Guardian, after all." Arnold and Helga paled. That sitting child was the Guardian! That couldn't be right! Could it?
"I'm not so powerful that I can control other people. I can only influence them, slightly."
"Like those notes? That Path of Victims thing?"
"Precisely." Arnold paled further. Did the Guardian himself write those? "However, I find this somewhat... entertaining."
"Eh?"
"The three pawns," the Guardian picked up a third pawn and placed it next to the other two, "come into Silent Hill. They are lost, confused, and innocent. They encounter their first enemy," he picked up a pawn of the opposite color and placed it on the board, "and that enemy corners them, in a sense. However," He paused to grab a knight the same color of the three pawns and violently knocked away the opposite pawn, "a fourth party, the knight, saves them. Now, they travel together, but two of the pawns are plotting against the knight."
"I didn't think you could take your own pieces," the stander mused.
"In chess, you can't," the Guardian said. "But in life, such things do happen. They fear he is a turncoat of some kind. A traitor in their midst."
"But he's the one keeping them alive."
"Right, but they don't see that. They also don't see that with his guidance, they could become greater than they dreamed possible. However, that won't be possible if they kill him."
"How great could they possibly be?"
"In terms of chess," the Guardian paused to pick up a pawn, "the male..." he paused to put the pawn on the side and picked up the second knight, "would be a knight." He placed it next to the first knight. "Together, he and the other knight would form an unstoppable duo, cutting down monster and cultist alike."
"Heh," the stander chuckled.
"The blonde female," the Guardian picked up the second pawn and placed it to the side, picking up another piece of the same color, "possibly a bishop. Wise to the world but powerful in her own respect. She could defeat any monster, and her distance is truly deadly." He placed the bishop next to the knights.
"But what about the last pawn?"
"The red head?"
"Yeah. What about her?" The guardian laughed and picked up the final pawn.
"Oh, her. She's the most interesting. A girl with an inner darkness greater than both the male and other female combined. She has the potential to become the most powerful of the four." He placed the pawn on the side and picked up the queen. "She'll be the queen, by far the most powerful of the pieces. With her guidance and power, no enemy can stand before her or her allies."
"Just how deep does her darkness go?"
"You'll see. They all will, sooner or later." The stander looked at the board curiously. "Something still troubles you?"
"Yes. After this transformation, what happens to the first knight?"
"The boy that's been here as long as I have? I don't quite know. I suppose once he's served his purpose," the Guardian slapped the first knight clean off the board and into the wall.
"You'll destroy him?"
"Not quite. His allies may very well do that themselves if they don't smarten up. If they do kill him, they'll only be dooming themselves at this point. After the first knight has served his purpose I'll just do the same as I've always done; sit back and watch."
"And if he dies?"
"It's no longer my problem."
"Then why have you kept him alive this long?"
"I suppose you could say he saved me from becoming a mindless servant to the Order. I've more than satisfied my debt."
'The Order wasn't lying?' Arnold and Helga questioned in amazement.
"There is another problem though," the stander said.
"Oh?" The Guardian asked. "Do explain."
"It seems the piece destined to be the queen has caught the attention of the king." The Guardian laughed.
"Quite true. Her inner darkness has caught the attention of the unstoppable monster of Silent Hill."
"Pyramid Head... But why her?"
"Do you remember why you're here?" The Guardian asked. The stander hung his head. "It's not quite similar, but there is a reason. Guilt, a feeling of someone deserving punishment."
"Well, at least he'll be leaving me alone for a while... Hopefully."
"I'm sure he'll manage. For now, though, we have to be sure our pawns keep moving."
"Where do they have to go, though?"
"It's no fun if I tell you everything, is it?"
"Point. Still, I'm hoping they last, especially considering who's waiting on the red head."
"Oh, they'll wait. They'll have to. Until then though, the pawns will move to where they need to go." The stander looked as if he was about to say something but was abruptly cut off by a loud scraping noise. The noise increased in volume, sending shivers down Arnold and Helga's spines. "Seems as if the king is early. Better run."
"Yep," the stander agreed. "Time to get my daily exercise!" With nothing more said, the figure bolted through a nearby door, vanishing entirely as the door closed with a resounding click. Seconds later, a large blade slammed through the table the silhouette of the Guardian was sitting at. Helga and Arnold noted that not once did the figure flinch or move.
"You're late," the Guardian said, his voice seemingly devoid of all emotion. He pointed to the door the figure from before left through. "He went that way." Arnold and Helga were treated to the sight of a seven foot tall figure slowly trudge in that direction. It had a large pyramid like object on its head and dragged the large blade along.
'W-was that Pyramid Head?' Helga thought.
'Cold, calculating, heartless,' Arnold mentally added. 'If he's not the Guardian he's doing a damn good job of pretending he is.' Ignoring the fact that his points came from his own mental interpretation of what the Guardian would be like, he and Helga continued to watch the Guardian until he made some kind of move. Helga, on the other hand, reached into her dress and procured the vial of Aglaophotis. She was about to use it when the Guardian suddenly stood, turned and vanished into the darkened room. The two stood there for a moment, trying to comprehend what they had just seen.
On the opposite end of the school, AJ and Lila continued to search throughout the school, attempting to find anything that could help them. The small amount of static coming from Lila's walkie-talkie was the only noise they were listening to. Based on what Arnold and Helga told her or, rather, she had inadvertently heard from them, she kept her chin up, thankful for the presence of her own c- err, guardian. Unfortunately, they weren't having much luck. As they walked they were suddenly treated to a massive increase in static.
Lila quickly tensed and begin to look around. AJ stood his ground and pulled his katana from the sheath and stood ready to fight. At least, that's how it was before they heard the scraping. The loud, familiar scraping they'd heard twice before was getting closer, only this time, there seemed to be no place to hide, as every room appeared to be a dead end. Suddenly, a boy rushed through the darkness and bolted into one of the classrooms in front of them, undoubtably running from the monster that was coming from the same direction. He had moved too quickly to be fully seen and the two suddenly felt like they should follow him. Too late.
Seconds later, the monstrous form that was Pyramid Head stepped from the darkness, still dragging his insanely large weapon behind him. He stopped upon coming across the two children, ceasing all movement and staring down at them, all of his emotion, assuming he had any, completely hidden behind his enormous helmet. Lila gulped and quickly stuck herself to the wall in fear. She watched on, terrified, as the immortal killer continued to stare. Lila quickly shifted her eyes to AJ who, as of yet, had not moved. Not one inch. Suddenly, he moved, and not in the way Lila believed he would.
"He went that way," AJ said, thumbing behind him. Pyramid Head looked in that direction and back to the boy, then back to the direction and finally back to AJ. Pyramid Head stared for a moment before moving on, scraping his sword on the ground as he walked past the two and continued on down the stretch of hallway. Lila could only watch in disbelief. That had happened, right?
"A-AJ?" Lila asked. AJ didn't move. She walked over to him and stared at him, only to notice the incredulous look on his face.
"D-Did he just-?" AJ began, finding it impossible to finish his question.
"I think... he did," Lila answered timidly. In truth, she couldn't believe it either. After a moment to recuperate, the two checked the room they had seen the other boy run into before only to find absolutely nothing. He, like most things that seemed to pass in Silent Hill, completely vanished. The two continued on, not seeing a reason to stick around, not to mention the added incentive since Pyramid Head was clearly stalking around somewhere. On their path, they soon met up with Arnold and Helga.
"Did you guys find anything?" Helga asked. AJ paled while Lila took it upon her self, though she did stutter, to answer.
"Pyramid Head," she answered. "And you?"
"Same thing, we think," replied Arnold. "And we found the Guardian." It was Lila's turn to pale.
"Y-You did?" Arnold nodded.
"We think we did. It was either him, or someone pretending to be him. But then again, you know all about that, don't you, AJ?" AJ's color quickly returned.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?" AJ asked dangerously.
"You heard me. You'd know we met the Guardian, since you were there! Isn't that right, Guardian?" AJ laughed.
"I don't know where you got some White Claudia or why you're taking it but it must be some good stuff if you think that!"
"Don't give me that! The radio static is always in a dull roar when you're around. The same is true with the Guardian. The Guardian is cold and heartless, as are you."
"AJ is not cold and heartless!" Lila shouted, now stepping up to Arnold's face. She felt a hand on her shoulder, obviously belonging to the person being accused. She watched as AJ stepped forward, standing directly in front of Arnold, staring down at Arnold with the coldest eyes she'd ever seen from him.
"If you're trying to make a point, Arnold, you're doing a shitty job of it." Lila gasped. He swore! "Save your bullshit, because now's not the time or the place. Let's get out of here first, then you can spout your lies."
"None of it is a lie!" Arnold shouted. His response was met by AJ picking him up by the vest and slamming him into the wall.
"You've got a lot of guts, Arnold, I'll give you that." Arnold blinked. That sounded familiar. "But you're making a serious accusation here. So, unless you have some real proof, shut your fucking mouth." AJ dropped Arnold, unceremoniously, to the floor.
"You see?" Helga loudly whispered to Lila. "He's crazy!" Lila turned and glared at Helga.
"Arnold's the one who started it," Lila defended. Helga's eyes widened exponentially.
'She's still defending him?' Helga thought. Arnold slowly stood up, rubbing his sore head. "So," Helga began after snapping out of her stupor, "where to next?" AJ shook his head.
"We keep looking." Arnold and Helga looked to each other and nodded. At this point, they really didn't have a choice.
'We'll go along with it, for now,' they both thought. The four, now regrouped, moved along the hallway, coming to a staircase that led them to the basement. The basement, like the rest of the school, was dark and dusty. The area was dank, possibly due to leaky water pipes. As they continued on, they came upon a large hole in the floor that seemed endless.
"What now, oh knower of all things Silent Hill?" Arnold sarcastically asked.
"We go down the hole," AJ said as he hopped into the hole.
"AJ go down the hole," Helga humorously stated.
"This hole isn't very deep. It's barely a hop."
"We should leave him to his hole and leave," Arnold stated.
"We should follow him!" Lila shouted. Not giving the other two a chance to reply, Lila followed AJ's example and hopped into the hole, getting a resounding thud. Apparently, she hit something.
"Nice jump," AJ groaned. "You landed on me!"
"Sorry," Lila's voice almost giggled from out of the hole. Scarily enough, they heard AJ laugh in response.
"Hey! Are you two coming or not?" AJ yelled from the hole. Reluctantly, Helga and Arnold did follow, only to fall on AJ as well. "Dammit."
"Well, now what, genius?" Helga spitefully questioned as she and Arnold removed their bodies from atop their 'guide'. AJ stood up and walked into the darkness.
"This way!" He called. Lila, of course, was the first to follow with Arnold and Helga following shortly after. The area was pitch black. Not even the flashlights added any type of help in seeing where they were going. As far as Arnold and Helga were concerned, they were walking directly into the abyss and they were never getting out.
The situation was only made worse as a siren sounded off, the Otherworld bathing the darkness in a hellish red glow. The ground they walked on became grated, their footsteps clanking upon the now grated ground. AJ, still in the lead, reached the end of the hallway first and opened the door, leading the four into an area that was more akin to a prison cell. Dried blood and chains coated the walls. Objects of death and torture were in every corner. What they didn't notice about the room made itself present in one word.
"Lila?" Lila turned in the direction of the voice, her eyes widening in fright as she backed up. Her hands rose to her mouth as she looked at the figure in front of her. She wanted to speak, to ask the figure 'how', but no words would come out. Finally, after several moments, one word managed to escape Lila's lips.
"Daddy?"
Me: And that's the chapter as well as the first official appearance of the Guardian.
-Zero and Rendan stop fighting-
Rendan: WOAH WOAH WOAH! What the hell!
Me: What?
Zero: You sick, sadistic bastard!
AJ: As if he didn't already know and/or relish in it.
Zero: You're one to talk. What the fuck is wrong with you?
AJ: I don't follow.
Zero: What you did to Arnold!
Rendan: Dude, how would you feel being called the primary cause for hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths?
Zero: I... would hate it.
AJ: Case and point. Thanks, Rendan.
Rendan: No problem.
Me: Anyway, that'll do it for this week.
Rendan: Be good!
Zero: And be safe, everyone!
AJ: He's outta here!
Me: What're you? The umpire? ...AND THAT'S MY LINE!