Me: FINALLY! Chapter 16! *rockets go off, streamers fly from the ceiling (there's a ceiling?) and fireworks explode in the sky (now there's a sky?)*

Rendan: You're not dead!

Zero: HE LIIIIIIIVES! Wait... where were you keeping those?

AJ: Who cares? Seriously, life must be a bitch.

Me: Oh, she is, but there are new developments as well.

Zero: Care to share?

Me: Oh hell no, I'm not telling you shit.

Zero: Dick.

Me: I am what I have.

Rendan: Can we please get this one started before the mob attacks?

Me: What mob? *looks out, a tumbleweed bounces along*

Zero: Nice use of an overplayed joke.

Me: I thought so.

AJ: Meh. Anyway, Azard doesn't own Silent Hill or Hey Arnold. They are the proporties of Konami and Craig Bartlett respectively. The only things he owns are the OCs, the monsters he's created and the mindfuck that is the plot.

Me: Thanks as always. Read and enjoy.

Chapter 16: A Life At Risk

Lila couldn't move, couldn't think, after what she saw. All of her fears about this place, all of her worries, were exacerbated one hundred fold as her eyes took in the sight before her. It couldn't be possible! How could her father be here? He wasn't on the trip with them! He wasn't anywhere near this place! He should've been at home, probably resting on the couch after a hard day of work. This shouldn't be happening!

Mr. Sawyer was a portly man. His head was covered with fiery red hair and a mustache of the same color. It seemed pretty clear where Lila took after, family wise anyway. He had on a green sweater with beige pants. His eyes were widened with fright. Apparently, his worst fears about this place were realized just by seeing his daughter here.

"Mr. Sawyer?" Helga questioned, not believing the sight before her either. Mr. Sawyer nodded gravely. He was bound by cuffs and what appeared to be barbed wire. A cuff rested around his wrists and ankles, pulling them apart and keeping him suspended in mid air above them. Another cuff seemed to be wrapped around his neck, the barbed wire reaching up into the ceiling. He hung there, his head down in sorrow. No parent would want their child to see them in such a state.

"Well, in light of this, there is some good news," AJ remarked. The three students looked at him, confusion, and in Arnold and Helga's cases, anger, plastered on their features. "Take a look at the cuffs. There are keyholes in the center. It's possible to free him." Lila's face lit up hearing that. There was a way to save her father!

Mr. Sawyer, on the other hand, was wondering just who the fourth kid in the group was. He'd heard Lila talk about Arnold on more than one occasion and could easily pick him out, and he'd met Helga before when she had come to give Lila her homework, but he had no idea who the fourth kid was. He seemed to be observant, to say the very least.

"Hello," Mr. Sawyer said, trying to remain upbeat despite the situation.

"Daddy, how'd you get here?" Lila questioned with worry.

"I don't know, honey," he replied. "The last thing I remember was lying on the couch to take a nap. When I woke up, I was hanging here." His gaze again shifted to the fourth child. "And I don't believe we've ever met. I'm Lila's father."

"Nice to meet you. Name's AJ." Well, he was certainly informal too.

"Are you one of Lila's friends?" AJ was about to shrug before Lila spoke up.

"Yes, he is, daddy! We met him here in Silent Hill and he's been keeping me safe."

"You have?" AJ nodded. "Listen, I have a favor to ask. Keep my baby girl safe. She's all I have left."

"Don't worry, Mr. Sawyer, she's in good hands," AJ answered, giving the man a thumbs up. Helga and Arnold looked to AJ skeptically. The man nodded appreciatively, a few tears dripping from his eyes, though from fear or sorrow, or both, the kids would never know.

"Hey," a dull voice droned. The four kids turned their heads to see another figure hanging right next to Lila's father in a similar situation. He had a football shaped head just like Arnold, though the figure's features were more bulbous. He also wore a small hat on his head with a little spinner on it. The hat lied slightly to the side on his head, parting his dull blond hair. The primary difference between this figure and Mr. Sawyer's predicament was that there were no cuffs on his wrists or ankles. The only thing holding him up was barbed wire wrapped tightly around his wrists.

"Arnie!" Arnold shouted.

"Hey," Arnie replied dully. Seriously, how had they missed him before? Arnie was garbed in a plaid shirt with blue overalls. Simple, just like the boy himself. Lila turned from Arnie to Arnold, curious to see how the two would react, seeing as both were once objects of her affection. Arnie didn't seem too bothered, his dull expression never leaving his face. Lila was shocked to see another set of eyes watching Arnie as well, though his stare was more analytical if anything. AJ gave Arnie a hard stare before his expression shifted to pity, possibly.

"What're you doing here?" Arnold asked, hoping to get some kind of a response from his apparently dull-witted cousin.

"Hanging," Arnie simply responded.

"You don't say?" AJ added in his two cents.

"Yep," Arnie replied without necessity.

"And sharp too," AJ commented in a sarcastic tone. He turned his head to Arnold. "Who's he?"

"My cousin."

"I pity you, Arnold. I really do."

"You're not the only one in this case," Helga added.

"Thanks a lot," Arnold sarcastically said. "How did you get here, Arnie?" Arnold's question caused both Helga and AJ to roll their eyes.

"Dunno," Arnie responded. "I was reading the ingredients on a pack of plain flavored gum when I suddenly fell asleep. When I woke up, I was here."

"Does he have another tone besides dull?" Helga complained. Lila watched curiously as Arnie's gaze seemed drawn to not only hers but suddenly to the fourth member of the group until the two seemed to watch each other, neither saying a word. In a strange way, it seemed as though they were speaking to each other without a word needing to be said.

"He's doomed." That comment shocked every student out of their trance as they looked at their combat trained ally.

"What do you mean he's doomed?" Arnold shouted, barely restraining himself from strangling AJ. AJ merely raised his hand and pointed to the wires keeping Arnie suspended off the floor.

"What do you notice about his bindings that are different from Mr. Sawyer's?" Arnold blinked and took another look at the two, paying careful attention to the bindings. It was then he noticed, but he didn't know what it meant.

"Arnie's not being held by cuffs," Arnold said.

"Meaning," AJ continued, "there's no way to free him. He's here to serve a purpose, for sure, but what that is, I haven't the slightest-" he was interrupted by a massive spike in static. Unfortunately, the static was soon drowned out by a very familiar loud scraping sound that grew louder with each passing second. The sound seemed to be coming everywhere, causing the four armed kids to spin around rapidly, trying to find out where the monster they all feared was coming from. Suddenly, the noise stopped, but the walkie-talkie's static didn't.

The sound again changed, from a loud scraping to massive footfalls. Each step crashed down with a boom. The pace, like everything else, was terrifyingly slow. The only major difference was the direction the sound was coming from. It came from behind Arnie and Mr. Sawyer. They turned in the direction to see a massive figure stepping out of the shadows, his unwieldy large weapon held up in one of his powerful hands, the other resting against the side of the blade, keeping it steady as he walked. The four students began to walk backwards, trying to place some kind of distance between them and the immortal slowly closing in on them.

The figure finally stopped and thrusted his blade forward, piercing Arnie's chest and nearly tearing him in half. Arnold looked into Arnie's eyes, for once seeing something other than dullness in them. Fear. Pyramid Head lifted his blade, perfectly slicing the boy in twain, each side now lazily hanging by the wires coming from the ceiling.

"NO!" Arnold cried at the top of his lungs. He couldn't believe it. His cousin, his only cousin, was gone. Dead at the hands of a monster deemed immortal. Why? Why did it happen! In Arnold's shock, he hadn't noticed Pyramid Head's gaze shift to him. The monstrosity planted his blade into the ground and easily slid it down, lodging it into the floor as he began his slow walk toward the boy. Arnold looked up, now seeing Pyramid Head looming over him as his massive arm now reached down to grab him.

"Move, you idiot!" Arnold heard someone shout as he felt someone slam into him, knocking him away with what felt like a full body tackle. After hitting the floor, Arnold looked up onto to see that Pyramid Head had indeed caught someone, the someone that knocked him to safety. Pyramid Head lifted AJ up by his vest, holding him well above his head as he seemed to study the child in his grip. A low groan came from the monster as his arm moved before chucking the boy in his grip, full strength, to the opposite end of the room.

Lila watched in horror as AJ slammed into the wall, having ricocheted off the floor four times with each bounce landing on a different part of his body. The first bounce hit his right shoulder. The second scraped up his back even through the vest. The third struck his collarbone and the fourth hit both his neck and head. The slam itself seemed to break the very wall behind him from the sheer force of impact. His head fell limp as blood seeped from his mouth though, somehow, he was still alive. Though he kept coughing out blood, he was breathing, though he was also gasping in pain with every breath he took.

Lila rushed over to the injured boy, determined to stay by his side, even as the monstrosity approached them. Pyramid Head, still seemingly targeting the boy, began his ever slow stride toward the two. Lila watched as Arnold rushed over, placing himself between the unstoppable force and his friend.

'Arnold?' Lila thought with horror. 'Get away! He'll kill you!' Unfortunately, Lila found herself incapable of speaking. 'Arnold... why are you risking your own life? Have you... had a change of heart?'

'What the hell am I doing?' Arnold questioned himself. 'That monster just threw someone across the room! I can't stop it! Why am I doing this?' He looked back for a second, seeing Lila trying to tend to AJ's wounds as she watched on in horror. 'That's why... I won't let my friends die!' Arnold stood his ground, watching as Pyramid Head reached down to, presumably, crush his head when the most unusual thing happened.

Nothing. Pyramid Head stopped in mid reach. Nothing was said, no movements were made, no one even breathed, as the unstoppable monster of Silent Hill retracted his hand and retrieved his blade before slowly trudging away. Arnold quickly rounded to look at the two behind him. Lila was looking at AJ's nigh destroyed body, trying to figure out just how much damage had been done. AJ continued coughing, his blood violently leaving his body with every cough. Very slowly, he beckoned Arnold over with his left hand, the only one that seemed willing to work.

As Arnold approached, slowly, he observed the condition the other boy was in. At a glance, he seemed incapable of lifting his head. A fair amount of blood was dripping down the wall his back impacted. His right arm seemed to sag, as if there was no bone there. Looking at his neck, there appeared to be several bumps protruding from his neck. Arnold dipped his head, curious what AJ had to say.

"It's pretty bad, isn't it?" AJ whispered, coughing afterward. Arnold blinked.

"Yeah. How bad is it, actually?" Arnold questioned. AJ coughed out more blood.

"For a guess? I'd think scraped back, shattered shoulder, broken neck, broken collarbone, fractured skull and maybe a fractured or shattered spine." Arnold gulped and moved back a few steps.

"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU STILL ALIVE?" Arnold shouted.

"Who knows?" AJ lowly replied. "I don't care how I'm still alive. I just care that I'm alive." Helga pulled Arnold back to her.

"Maybe the Order is right about this," Helga suggested. "Maybe the Guardian really is watching out for him. Either that or the Order's God seems to like him."

"That can't be it," Arnold reasoned. "Remember when we saw the Guardian before? He said that AJ's fate meant nothing to him."

"He said it wouldn't later, after he's apparently helped us with who knows what." Arnold turned back to Lila who was desperately searching for some way to help AJ.

'Could it be that I was wrong about him?' Arnold thought. 'The Guardian really didn't seem to care about anyone other than himself and... AJ saved my life. There's no way... no, there is a way. He could've done that to try and throw me off the trail. How else could he survive what just happened? Though... it's possible that Helga's right.' The duo walked over to the other two still at the wall.

"I guess your adventuring is over," Helga said. The next thing shocked them. AJ began laughing. A hallow, raspy laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

"Not even close," he rasped out. "Th- there is a first-aid kit over there, by Lila's dad." Every few words, the boy had to stop and cough again. "It's up to you. Use it on me, and I can keep helping you... Take it for yourselves, and you're on your own. I... won't survive much longer without help." Lila wasted no time and ran over to the kit, grabbing it and running back to where she previously was, attempting but failing to open the kit. Not giving up after the first few failed attempts, Lila persevered only to fail at each and every attempt.

'Why isn't it working?' Lila frantically thought as her fingers stumbled over the latch.

"It won't work for you, Lila," AJ lowly rasped out, chuckling again. His left hand, again, pointed to Arnold. "It's his decision." Arnold pointed to himself in disbelief.

"My decision?" Arnold barely uttered. In truth, he was shocked. It was a massive decision being placed on his shoulders. To save the life of someone who, quite frankly, put Arnold on edge every minute. He couldn't place why but something about the second male in the group didn't sit right with him. It bothered him to no end. There was something not right about him! 'He could be the Guardian... but he did save my life... but then again, he could just be trying to trick us so we'll let our guard down... But, if I let him die, what will that say about me? Would I be just like Eddie? Or James? Would I be worse than them?' Arnold shut his eyes tightly for a moment, thinking hard on the decision he should make.

Lila watched on in great anticipation. In truth, Arnold's behavior had worried her some, now more than ever. Was he seriously hesitating when it came to saving someone's life? He was, and that worried her. What could be wrong with Arnold, the one who selflessly helped others at any given opportunity, to make him seriously hesitate to help someone?

Helga wasn't much different, though she understood Arnold's trail of thought better than Lila did. She knew Arnold's concerns, his paranoia and anxiety in this place. Not to the extent Arnold did, of course, but enough that she understood far better than Lila could.

Arnold sighed and, with a quick snap, flipped open the first aid kit. "Use it." Lila smiled brightly as she reached into the kit to reveal... nothing. It was empty! Lila stepped back, terrified. Her friend was going to die and there was nothing they could do!

"It's empty!" Lila cried. Arnold and Helga stared back at Lila in a mixture of shock and concern, mainly for Lila. If she fell into a depression after AJ'd apparently died once...

"Congratulations, Arnold," AJ said, his voice lacking the raspy and quiet qualities. The three turned to him as his body suddenly started to change. His sagging right arm seemed to just move back into place. Several loud cracks were heard as the bumps sticking out of his retracted into his body. After a moment, he lifted his head, smiling broadly at the three. "You passed."

"You mean this was all some kind of test?" Arnold shouted.

"You were faking it?" Helga yelled angrily.

"You're alright?" Lila hopefully questioned. AJ sighed.

"Okay, in order: Yes this was a test, no I was not faking it, that kinda stuff is impossible to fake, and yes, Lila, I'm okay now. Opening a first aid kit here heals all wounds. The odd thing is, there isn't a single thing in it. It's like the health drink."

"How is it like the health drink?" Arnold skeptically questioned.

"Do you really want me to hit you so you can find out?" AJ replied with a question of his own. Slowly, taking care not to rise too quickly, he reached his feet and rotated his neck. "Trust me, you'll want to save those for later, but it'll shock you. I can guarantee that." He turned to Mr. Sawyer. "What's the poem that'll help us free you?" Mr. Sawyer stared at the boy in shock.

"How did you-?" He began.

"That's how things are in cases like this," He smoothly replied without missing a beat. Arnold shivered slightly. That uncomfortable feeling he had just shot through the roof, figuratively of course. "So what is it?" Mr. Sawyer sighed and recited the poem.

"From the halls of education; To the massive walls of prison; We've planned your situation; For heathens will not listen; The hallowed halls of God save those from perturbation; Or travel toward truth and seek the truest wisdom."

"Well, that helps," AJ mused.

"How does that help, Army Brat?" Helga queried.

"Each verse... they seem to point to a location," Lila wondered out loud. She lost her curious expression when she'd noticed everyone staring at her. She immediately seemed to shy away from them until AJ spoke again.

"She's right. Each verse points to a location. That's where we'll find the keys to free her father."

"How'd he know that poem?" Arnold wondered.

"When I woke up, I saw a black figure standing in front of me. He looked to be about your size and sounded like a kid. He told me the poem and told me to remember it, since it would be vital to my survival, so I did," Mr. Sawyer explained.

"Then we should get started," Helga stated. The group nodded and walked off. As AJ took the lead, the three noticed the back of his vest was now stained with blood.

Me: And that's the chapter.

Zero: I've said it before and I'll keep saying it until this ends, YOU ARE INSANE!

Me: And that's the magic word of the day!

Zero: Wha-? *gets catapulted out of the window (Seriously? Where the hell did THAT come from?)*

Rendan: You think he'll ever learn to keep his mouth shut?

AJ: I hope not. He's the main source of our entertainment.

Rendan: I have to admit, most of the wacky antics that occur are thanks to him.

Me: And now you see the light!

Zero: *comes back in sopping wet (Now there's a lake or something? You know what? Screw this! Screw you guys! I'm going home!)*

Rendan: ... How the hell did you get the voiceover to say that in Eric Cartman's voice?

Me: I am the god of this realm.

Zero: That's it, I'm done for the day. Be good and be safe everyone. *leaves*

Rendan: He's done. Whatever. What he said, be good and be safe.

Me: We're outta here!

Unknown person: ME GUSTA!

AJ: Mushi, cut it out.

Mushi (Formerly Unknown person. Yeah, I said I was leaving, but he's got a contract.): No! NEVA! *is pulled away by AJ*