Me: Finally done with Chapter 23.

Zero: It's about damn time.

Me: Yeah, well, I had a bit of a sadistic streak yesterday and this just came pouring out.

Rendan: Sounds fun. Wondering what you did though.

Me: *Evil smile* You'll have to wait and see.

*Rendan and Zero look at each other and stare at me*

Rendan: You didn't... do anything too bad did you?

Me: It's Silent Hill. That alone gives me all the permission I need to do whatever I want.

Zero: Knew that was coming.

Rendan: Yeah. I'll handle the disclaimer this time. Azard doesn't own either Silent Hill or Hey Arnold. They are the properties of Konami and Craig Bartlett respectively. Azard owns his OCs, the monsters he's created, those sick, twisted, demented creatures, the core concept of this crossover, the puzzles he's made, and the monstrosity that he calls a plot.

Me: At least you didn't call me insane like Zero did.

Zero: HEY!

Rendan: I don't have to state the obvious.

Me: True. Anyway, read and enjoy.

Chapter 23: Crying and Mirrors

The silence between the four kids was deafening. Even after so long of being there, in Silent Hill, escaping death still had such a profound effect that could silence them without much issue. While Arnold and Lila remained quiet, most likely attempting in full desperation to come to terms with what just happened, Helga found herself being a little more vocal.

"Okay, seriously, we have got to stop pulling shit like this!" Helga shouted, completely ignoring her significantly maturing language. Not surprisingly, no one, not even the one who had just, yet again, barely escaped death, immediately responded. "We can't keep doing this or we'll all die from heart attacks! This place is crazy enough without one of you doing something unbelievably stupid!" Helga didn't stop just yet as she pointed to Arnold. "You need to get better at fighting, pronto. It's bad enough that only one person in this group is a competent fighter but we're going to need all the fighters we can get." Then to Lila. "You need to get a grip and realize that doing nothing isn't helping anyone! Pick up that butter knife of yours and stab a monster with it for crying out loud! Do something! You can't hide from these things forever!" Finally to AJ. "And you. You are, without a doubt, the most utterly bat shit insane person I've ever met, and coming from the family I do, with the life I lead, that's saying something."

"It's not like I had much choice," AJ muttered. "Either he was going to kill me or he wasn't. Attacking him would've turned him on you. Better to just let me die while you survive."

"But he didn't," Helga continued. "That's the point. We've all cheated death here once or twice but none of us more so than you. You literally came back from the dead and proceeded to act like nothing happened. It's as if you don't even remember being killed! And don't start that bullshit saying you weren't. Arnold and I saw your body, but I'm willing to overlook that, all of that, if you just stop being stupid! You know as well as we do where we need to go next, so just shut up, pick a place, and let's go!" The other three shared a look before Arnold found his voice.

"We've got the school and The Order," Arnold noted. "Which means now we need to get to a church, the prison, and finally back to the Lakeview Hotel. I'd suggest we go to the prison. The next key is there, as well as the next note on the Path of Victims."

"That's the second time you've mentioned The Path of Victims. What the hell is that?" AJ asked.

"Oh, right, we didn't tell you about that," Arnold remembered. "Well, apparently the Guardian's decided to have some fun with us and is sharing some of the history of Silent Hill with me. For what reason, I'm not fully sure. The first note suggested it was to show me how some of the past victims escaped or became damned."

"Considering I know of only one that escaped, it might be a cautionary thing," AJ added. "The one thing that doesn't make sense is why the Guardian would be giving you such information."

"He saved you too," Helga pointed out, "how's that for making sense?" AJ shook his head. "So I thought, there is none. Any plans on getting into the prison?"

"We need to get a key," AJ said. "That place has been locked down tight for a while, but I haven't been able to locate the key."

"Was there some kind of poem or whatever that might give us a hint?" Arnold asked. AJ shook his head again. "Great, so now we're up the creek without a paddle." Arnold paced back and forth for a while, trying to figure out some sort of course of action. "We'll go to the prison and see if there's anything there that could help us. Maybe we'll find something this time around."

"I'm sure stranger things have happened in this place," Helga muttered and, with that, the four packed their stuff, turned on their radios, and set off for the prison. Thankfully, the walk there, though long, was uneventful. Still, the deafening silence broken only by the dull roar of static on the radios wasn't much of a comfort. The prison, as expected, was massive. A tall concrete building meant to keep away the most dangerous members of society. Helga doubted anyone could escape from such a place.

"Okay, split up and take a look around," Arnold said. "If you find anything, yell for the others." The four agreed and separated, though Lila of course stuck with AJ for protection and to possibly learn to use the knife a bit better. Arnold looked around the front door while Helga walked around the prison and tried looking around the back. AJ and Lila handled the sides.

Helga looked at the door of the prison and suppressed a shudder. The door itself was caked with dried blood that seemed to have been stuck there for ages. Helga reached out and gently grazed the doorknob for a moment before attempting to turn it. Nothing. Just the sound of a lock clicking. Helga sighed and turned around. She took a step forward. As soon as her foot hit the ground, the earth beneath her crumbled to reveal a hole of indeterminate depth. Helga reached out and managed to grab a hold of the edge but, seeing as the edge was little more than dirt, her grip was slowly failing as the ground continued to crumble.

"Arnold! Lila! Somebody!" Helga shouted as loudly as her lungs could manage. To her relief Arnold was the first to arrive and he immediately grabbed onto her forearms to try and pull her up. His attempts were in vain. As hard as he pulled he couldn't find the strength to pull her up. Arnold was not a weak boy by any means, but it seemed as if the hole was drawing Helga into it and, if his weakening footing was anything to go by, he too would be dragged in soon. Arnold did get a little help, though, as AJ and Lila suddenly appeared behind him and wrapped their arms around his waist and chest to help him pull and keep him from falling in. Alas, it was no use. Arnold's grip faltered and, with his grip failing, he was forced to watch as Helga fell into the inky black abyss below them.

Helga finally hit the floor, not with a thud, but with a surprising squish. She'd landed on something soft that had broken her fall. Lucky, she thought, until she realized just what she landed on. Using her flashlight she took a look at the soft item she landed on only to realize that she landed on a pile of dead bodies. Judging by how they looked, all of them being garbed in black robes, they were all members of The Order and they seemed to be freshly killed. The Guardian might've been busy lately. Helga gulped, realizing what that possibly meant. He was somewhere nearby. Turning off her flashlight and hugging the shadows, Helga made her way deeper into the blackened tunnel.

Helga didn't even have the dull roar of static to keep the silence away. The radio itself seemed to have shut itself off, or it had died from prolonged use. She couldn't tell which in a place like this. She was afraid to turn the light on if only for the reason of suddenly coming face to face with a demented monster that was waiting to kill her. Helga found herself becoming increasingly paranoid. Was there a monster nearby? Was it hunting her? Could they find her by her scent? Worse yet, could they smell fear? Helga shuddered violently as that thought hit her. She was afraid and, worse yet, she didn't have the comfort of knowing Arnold was there with her. She didn't need him to be brave, she never really did, but in a place like this, having a constant reminder that the situation isn't hopeless was always welcome. Now, there was nothing.

Summoning what little bravery she had left, Helga switched on the flashlight that was still pinned to her dress. To her immense relief, there wasn't a monster immediately within range waiting to kill her. However, something did catch her eye. There was another light shining from some distance away. Was it another survivor? Possibly. As Helga approached the light, she was surprised to see that the light was being reflected off of a mirror. Helga looked into the mirror and saw herself, at least, it was her at one point.

The Helga reflected in the mirror was not the girl she was now, but the girl she was back in preschool, holding the flashlight in her tiny hands and looking up at her older self in wonder, at the girl she'd eventually become. The preschool Helga smiled up at her older self, and Helga smiled back. Then, the image in the mirror changed. The preschool Helga vanished, being replaced with how Helga looked at exactly this moment in time. The reflection gave Helga a cocky smile and a thumbs up. Helga found herself smiling back with her teeth showing, something that the reflection mimicked. When Helga stopped smiling, though, the reflection continued with that big, toothy smile.

Confused, Helga backed up a little to get a better look. It was then she realized that something was happening to her reflection. A strange feeling began to well up in the pit of her stomach, which made her look toward the bottom of the reflection. It started from the bottom. Small changes like her shoes changing color first caught her eye. Then it seemed as though parts of the Otherworld were creeping up her legs and under her shirt. Helga suppressed a quiver as the reflection continued smiling. The Otherworldly infection seemed to start on her hands, beginning at her fingertips before it consumed her hand and branched out upward to her arms. The infection did not stop there, however, and continued onward until her entire neck looked to have been corrupted by the Otherworld. Now only her reflection's face was untouched. Helga didn't know what possessed her but part of her reached up to touch her neck, as if checking whether or not that disgusting, crusty skin was really there. It wasn't, but that didn't make her reflection's smile any less disturbing. In all this, Helga completely missed the static on the radio turning on.

The next thing that changed about the reflection was its smile. Her white teeth suddenly began to rot and decay but in such a way that the teeth seemed to become pointed, best suited on a meat-eating monster. The reflection's eyes changed next. Helga watched on, horrified, when the Otherworldly infection seemed to come out from the corner of her reflection's eyes, slowly engulfing the entirety of her eye until it reached the pupil and covered it. The reflection opened its mouth and let out what sounded like a snarl as its stance shifted from standing to one that appeared ready to attack while the infection started to cover the reflection's face. Helga shrieked and turned around, expecting to find the source for the monstrosity in the mirror. Nothing. Nothing but darkness lied in front of her. Without her noticing, again, the static on the radio vanished.

Helga turned back to the mirror only to see her reflection there, devoid of any Otherworldly infection, looking and behaving exactly as she did. Exactly what a reflection should do. Helga didn't stay long. Before the mirror could act up again, though Helga was unsure if it would but didn't want to hang around long enough to find out, Helga ran off further into the dark tunnel while not once turning to look back. She didn't stop running until she unwittingly crashed into steel bars. Steel bars? What were they doing here? Helga backed up again and realized that the tunnel had split into two separate paths. In front of her was a large room carved from the earth and, in front of the hole, was a set of steel bars, like a prison cell.

Had she stumbled into some kind of hidden prison? Possibly. It seemed like the kind of place that The Order would use to keep prisoners... prisoners that they might be trying to convert. Helga picked the flashlight from her shirt and held it in front of her, trying to get a better look at what might be inside. At the far wall were at least thirty sets of shackles, meant to keep someone tethered to the wall. Helga didn't bother to try and figure out where she was. She clipped the flashlight to her shirt again and shuddered. It was a strange feeling that she felt, almost like the one she felt in front of the mirror. She tried to think back to what it was like but only felt that nauseous feeling in her stomach. Granted, it wasn't bad enough to make her retch, but it was not something she could ignore. Helga shook her head, trying to rid her mind of the sensation but found that she couldn't. At that moment, something arrived that broke the silence.

Crying. Someone was crying. A girl, if the higher pitch was anything to go by. Something about that cry really bothered Helga, though. It was bad enough when there is a little girl or something of the like crying, but when Helga could swear she could recognize the cry, that she should know it but she just couldn't remember where, it really aggrivated her. Helga followed the sound of the cry, which bade her to turn left at the split in the path. As she continued walking the static on the radio began to pick up. This time it was completely impossible to miss. Helga picked up her slingshot and readied a marble for when she'd need to use it. She continued on only to be stopped by a dead end. Still, she could still hear the crying, and it was coming from her left. To her left was another cell, seemingly of the same length the first one was.

Turning to face it, Helga was treated to the sight of a shadowy figure lying down on its side in the cell. Its back was turned toward Helga as the crying continued. It was a short time later when Helga realized why the cry was so familiar to her. That cry sounded just like her older sister's. It sounded like Olga. Could her sister really be down here? Lila's dad and Arnold's cousin already were trapped in this hellhole so it was a possibility. That possibility scared the hell out of Helga.

"Olga?" Helga asked aloud but got no response from the figure. "Olga, is that you? It's me, Helga!" Again she received no response from the crying figure. Of course, the fact that the radio was still going off didn't help matters. "Damn it, Olga! Answer me!" No response. "Criminy! Fine! Stay in that cell for all I care. I'm trying to help and you just...!" Helga let out a loud groan in her aggravation to end her statement. As Helga walked away, she stopped dead in her tracks. Was she really about to leave what might have been her sister back there, still crying? Helga was about to turn around again when that feeling in her gut and the radio's static got worse. Over that, Helga heard the sound of a cell door sliding open behind her.

Helga stopped standing and raced forward as quickly as her legs could carry her. When she finally stopped running, about the time the sound of the radio's static and that uncomfortable feeling in her stomach disappeared, Helga realized she'd run so deep into the tunnels that the earthen floor had changed to concrete about halfway down and she found many more rooms that seemed to be closed off by metal doors. Curious, Helga opened one of the doors and peered inside the room. Helga paled. The room was almost exactly like the room she'd woken up in when the Order grabbed her the first time. The one major difference was that instead of there being a table in the room there was a strange device that looked akin to a chair with spikes on it. The chair and the spikes were covered in dried blood. What monster would use that on someone?

Still, she figured she could at least search through the room and came back out with another health drink to show for it. Not exactly a waste of time. She spied the second door across the path and went to that one too. Another room, another strange torture device, but nothing more. Helga departed the room and found herself wandering through the hall for who knew how long, stopping at each room to check it for supplies or anything that might help. Instead of finding anything substantial, however, all Helga managed to find was a different torture device for each room, all of them either bloodied or caked in the life-giving fluid.

Helga'd long since lost track of time with how much searching she was doing. She'd reached a room at the end of one hallway, where the paths once again split into two, and checked inside it. Inside was another mirror. Helga walked up to the mirror and flinched at what she saw. It was herself, of that she was perfectly certain, but that evil smile on her face was beyond unsettling.

That uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach returned full force as Helga doubled over from the sensation, once more being unable to hear the rising static of the radio. When she looked up again, the reflection had changed yet again. Helga's reflection was now covered in blood, that same evil smile on her face. In the reflection's right hand was a knife, bloodied from recent use, and in her left was Olga's severed head, being held up by her blond hair. The expression of the severed head said it all. Shock, fear, confusion, begging, hopelessness. Helga recoiled. Never in a million years would she ever dream of doing such a thing to her sister! Olga may not have been Helga's favorite person, but Helga would never kill her! There was no reason to even consider doing something like that! Helga shuddered as the reflection moved. The reflection lifted the knife to her lips and licked some of the blood off it. Such an action almost forced Helga to empty the contents of her stomach, whatever was still in it.

Helga stepped back just as her reflection shot out an arm at her with the knife pointed forward. Thankfully, Helga had backed up enough to not be harmed by her... own reflection?! Helga took a good look at the arm that protruded from the mirror. It wasn't even human. The arm was thin, incredibly lanky, and colored the shade of dried blood, much like the other monsters. Helga realized she was dealing with a whole new kind of monster, one she'd never seen before. Helga looked around and picked up the nearest heavy object. With a loud grunt she hurled the object at the mirror, easily shattering the glass. The strange feeling in her stomach, along with the radio's static, once more subsided.

Helga turned and walked out of the room, feeling confident that she had destroyed whatever creature lied dormant within the mirror. Looking down both paths she had yet to take, Helga settled for going left. In the next room she checked was another mirror. Helga didn't want to go anywhere near it but there was a first-aid kit sitting on the floor just in front of the it. A trap, most likely. Still, it was too good to pass up. Helga cautiously approached the mirror, being rewarded with a reflection that did exactly as she did. Relief washed over her, if only for a moment, that this mirror seemed to be normal. Helga bent down to retrieve the first-aid kit and, after successfully getting her hands on it, she looked up at the mirror again but found not her reflection, but someone else's. Instead of herself, it was Arnold staring back at her.

Helga stared at the strange mirror, again being accosted by the strange feeling that welled up in her stomach as well as the static on the radio. The reflection seemed to be laughing at her for some reason. Helga didn't waste time and threw the first-aid kit through the mirror, shattering it as well. After destroying the mirror and being rewarded with the sensation leaving her again, Helga picked up the first-aid kit and went on her way. As she was about to leave the room, however, something caught her eye. Sitting on one of the tables was a handgun. It was small, didn't appear to be too powerful, had a long thin barrel, and a comfortable grip. Helga lifted the firearm and marveled at how light it was. It barely weighed two pounds. Next to the pistol were several small boxes of ammunition for the pistol, labeling it as a Ruger MK III.

Realizing that this weapon was better than her slingshot, Helga pocketed the pistol and some of the ammo and left her slingshot behind along with the marbles she'd picked up for it. Helga knew she'd have to get practice with this thing sooner or later so, for once, she hoped to run into a monster she could test it out on, if only to get a feel for how it'd work. Still, perhaps she shouldn't wish for such things. It seemed a bit too out of character for her. She continued on her way, making sure she continued to look for more ammunition for her new weapon as well as a way out. Her path soon led her to the final room on the path she'd chosen, literally a dead end.

Helga opened the door and stepped inside, hoping that this room would have something of value in it for her. The second she stepped inside, however, the door behind her slammed shut and locked. The room itself was empty but had three large mirrors acting as walls. For mirrors, though, they were doing a really shitty job of being mirrors. None of them showed her reflection. Of course, Helga couldn't help but notice the radio's static and the uncomfortable feeling in her gut.

"Mommy, I have to go to preschool!" Came the voice of a younger Helga from the mirror on the left. Helga turned to face the source of the voice and saw herself when she was younger, standing next to her mother and father while her older sister, Olga, played away on her piano. Neither of her parents were paying any attention to the small child tugging away on their pants so she could go to preschool while her older sister did nothing to aid her sister's plight. She just ate up the attention. Watching her memory play away so vividly annoyed Helga greatly and only exacerbated her already massive dislike of her parents.

"Hah! Like I could ever like someone like you!" Came another familiar voice. Arnold's. Helga turned to the second mirror on the far side of the room and saw Arnold standing in it, laughing at her. She then realized that what she was seeing was what she'd seen before, only more elaborate. It was what she feared would happen if Arnold ever found out about her crush on him. The strange thing was, Helga doubted she could really blame him if that was his reaction. She'd treated him like crap for so long, it wouldn't have been completely surprising if that was what he said to her. Helga held her heart as if she'd been stabbed there. Even if she couldn't blame Arnold, it still hurt.

The sound of crying reached her ears again, only it wasn't Olga's this time. This time the cries, the tears, they were hers. Helga approached the final mirror and saw herself curled up in the fetal position on the floor. She was vulnerable, frail, exactly how Helga knew she was at her very core. All the tough girl stuff, all the bravado, in the end it was all a mask, a way to hide who she really was. Still, though, how could Helga even say what was really on her inside? Could she say she was still vulnerable, frightened, frail, in need of love and affection that was never given to her? She'd been the tough girl for so long, could she really open up? The one other thing that bothered her about this reflection was that it was totally and irrevocably alone. No one and nothing was anywhere near her. Another fear, being alone.

Helga flinched as a siren sounded. The floor beneath her tore up, leaving nothing but a grated floor with a massive hole in the center. Out of the mirror across from her, the reflection of her younger self approached the mirror and stuck her head out, revealing her to be nothing more than a large monster. The monster looked, for the most part, humanoid. Its face was strangely distorted, almost as if it were wearing a mask. Its lanky arms hands reached out next, showing long, clawed fingers that seemed suited for grabbing attached to large hands. It didn't seem to have a lower half or, if it did, it was still within the mirror. It looked directly at her before retreating into the mirror. Helga looked behind her in time to roll out of the way as the creature lunged out of the mirror closest to her and tried to grab her. It began to move closer to her while Helga retreated to a different mirror.

"This is going to suck!" Helga groused as she took shelter by the only wall that didn't have a mirror. The monster didn't act again. It just sat there, in the mirror, waiting patiently for her to approach. Helga knew it had her trapped. Killing it was the only way for her to pass. Helga pulled out her new firearm and sighed. Well, she wanted to use it earlier. Now she'd get her chance. Helga remembered her career day training with the police force of Hillwood. Though she never actually held a firearm, she did get a quick run through on the proper technique on holding, how to aim, and brace for recoil. The only problem left was the feelings she was still suffering from thanks to this beast. To remedy this, Helga did to them what she did best. She turned them into anger. "Bring it!" Helga raced past one of the mirrors which lured the monster out. It reached for Helga only for her to roll out of its reach and turn in a crouched position. With a smirk she opened fire on the creature, empty a magazine of ammo into its head.

The monster roared but was nonetheless still active. While Helga reloaded it retreated into the mirror and tried to get at her from another angle. Helga raced forward again, making sure she evaded the creature's grip and opened fire upon turning again, this time shooting the creature in the neck. After emptying another magazine, Helga reloaded and retreated to the door, ready to move again. This time, to her surprise, the monster appeared on the opposite side of the room. A small opening appeared in its face, the monster's mouth, Helga surmised, and a green liquid shot forth from the opening. Helga rolled out of the way and watched the liquid hit the grate. It did nothing but slide through and into the abyss below. So it wasn't acid. Helga raised her pistol but before she could shoot the monster, it again retreated into the mirror.

"Afraid of me now, huh?" Helga asked, showing all of her bravado. "Can't say I blame you!" Helga raced around the room in circles, waiting for intervals for when the monster would show itself, and would open fire as soon as she got a clear view of the damned thing. The monster again attempted to get to her by launching its arm out at her while she ran by. Helga jumped out of the way and jumped onto its arm before racing up and opening fire at the monster's head at point blank range.

The monster roared and recoiled, knocking Helga off its head and almost into the abyss. Helga grabbed onto the grate before the hole and pulled herself up just in time to avoid another strike from the monster's claws. Helga dodged out of the way and reloaded again. This thing was really hard to kill. Helga figured it might be easier to fight if she kept shooting at this thing at a close range. She'd have to wait until she could get close to shoot and maybe the damn thing would be hurt more. The strategy was lengthy but, after a while, the monster was, without a doubt, showing signs of weakening. Helga smirked and kept up the close range, high danger strategy until the monster could literally be seen struggling to leave and retreat into the mirrors.

The monster made a last attempt to knock Helga into the abyss by lunging out at her while she raced past. Helga dropped to the floor immediately, letting the monster's body soar over her as she fired at its underbelly. With a loud shriek that shattered the other two mirrors, the monster leaned over and hung partway into the hole in the center of the room. It groaned one final time before it stopped moving entirely and peeled away, leaving no sign that it ever existed.

Helga cheered triumphantly at her victory and threw her arms up in celebration. As she did though, the siren sounded off again that ushered Helga into sweet unconsciousness. When she awoke, she was in the same room that she was in when the Otherworld shift first occurred. Why hadn't she been moved this time? Every other time she'd awoken from the shift she'd been in a different place than when she started. Curious to say the least and a bit strange, for sure.

Helga checked the door and expressed her relief when she discovered it was unlocked. Stepping outside, the first thing Helga heard was the sound of Olga's crying, or at least it sounded like Olga's, in the distance. Must've been that other monster again. Shaking her head, having had enough of a fight for now, Helga continued on her way, walking away from that room and hopefully toward a way out of this Order base.

Me: And that's the chapter. Finally got a Helga chapter out.

Rendan: And as an added bonus, Helga fights the first boss monster.

Me: Essentially yes.

Zero: Dude, that's some fucked up shit. Get to the monster dictionary so I can figure this fucking thing out.

Me: Fine, fine.

Monster Dictionary:

Name: Oculus

Description: A very large monster that lives in mirrors. Its body is long and lanky, mostly to allow it to attack through small or narrow mirrors. It has skin the color of dried blood, a distorted face to appear as if it's wearing a mask, and long, bony, claw-like fingers that are best suited for grabbing. It has a small opening in its face that serves both as a mouth and a form of attacking. It has no teeth and so feeds on the blood of its victims by grabbing and tearing the limbs off to drink the fluid. It is a very patient monster that doesn't mind waiting for prey to approach. It lures its prey closer by showing them their innermost desires or worst fears, creating a type of horrified wonder that often stuns the prey long enough to be captured and killed.

Speed: Medium-Fast

Attack Methods: Poisonous spit, grabbing, cutting, stabbing or shooting (if the reflection is holding a weapon), and tearing.

Symbolism: The name Oculus comes from the notion of the eye being the gateway to the soul. The expression goes that you can tell a lot about a person by looking into their eyes. The mask is synonymous with the metaphorical masks that people wear to hide their true selves. In this case, the mask represents the strong, bully, front that Helga constantly wears to keep her truer emotions hidden from the world. The poisonous spit is representative for how Helga's mask has, in many ways, poisoned the way her classmates, and even her friends on occasion, view her. The many different methods of attacking are also best representative of how a person may describe the pain that's involved with keeping the mask up, as well as reflective of their inner desires to be hurt in a similar way to how they hurt others. The claw-like appendages are best representative of the tearing feeling one may experience when they're forced to hurt someone they care about to keep their mask up. In this case, they represent how Helga feels because of how she feels forced to treat Arnold to hide her affections for him. The small hole in the face represents the small hole in a person's mask. No matter how good the mask, something about a person's inner self will always shine through. In this case, Helga's good nature does sometimes show through despite her mask. The poison contradicts this, however, as sometimes when the mask breaks, the person is still further poisoned, representing how Helga fears people will view her when they discover that her bully act is exactly that, an act.

Rendan: And here I thought you couldn't surprise me anymore.

Me: Well, I can't take all the credit. The initial idea for the monster, including how it lures its prey and some of the symbolism, was given to me by Dream Dragoness. A special thanks to Dream Dragoness for the idea and letting me twist it to better suit the story and to be just a little more fucked up. Again, thanks a bunch!

Zero: Well, that was a hell of a chapter. Can't wait to see what happens next.

Rendan: Is it just me, or was there something... strangely familiar about where Helga was?

Me: It's not just you. Anyway, that'll do it for this time. Be good and be safe.

All: We're outta here!