In the beginning...
"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."
"That was The Appreciative Un-Dead, with their latest hit single; 'You got me by the heartstrings.' And boy's, if you're listening, you certainly had me by the heartstrings." The tone of the radio DJ's voice was such that it would unquestionably have conjured up in any listener's mind a sassy wink. This was followed by an audible sigh, "it's a pity their scheduled appearance in the Arkham founders day celebrations will not likely go ahead. We can confirm here, folks, that due to adverse weather conditions, the entire event will most certainly be cancelled. This is very disappointing to fans of both the band and Arkham residents alike."
A black vehicle, which to the unenlightened would simply have been thought of as a very old hearse, took the next available right turn and left the main road, relatively speaking. It had, in fact, turned off the main road a few miles back and onto a narrow carriageway with barely enough room for cars on opposite sides to pass one another without either clipping wing mirrors or trading paint. However, the occupants would gladly have taken that slither of tarmac and the potential near-misses that it provided, over the dirt track whose bumps, like the rest of its surface, had turned into thick mud.
"The storm, affectionately named 'Storm Ororo', has plagued the city and surrounding area for the last 15 days. Our sources tell us that the risk of flooding, alongside the unlikely event of the storm passing over in the next 24 hours or so, has convinced organisers to all but officially cancel the event. For more information let's go to our fabulous weatherman, Hugh Ricane. Any chance we'll be able to put our umbrellas away by the weekend, Hugh?"
The weatherman let out an over-exaggerated laugh, "well I think you might be disappointed there, Sally... the front…" ~bzzzts~
"Hey! Do you mind? I wanted to hear the weather forecast. See if it can explain this fifteen-day downpour," the indignant voice of the driver said, glancing at the dark-haired man on his right, whose long, green-latex clad fingers had turned the dial to off.
"What's the point?" A melancholy sort of sigh escaped the white-clad figure, as he turned to look out the window at the lashing rain, drumming his fingertips along the door as he did so. "It's going to rain, then rain some more...then, just for a change, rain again. Besides, we're nearly there and we wouldn't have time to listen to him blather on about pseudoscience, peppered with commentary about his secret love affair with the host."
There was silence, broken only by the drum of the rain and the rumble of the old 1940s Packard ambulance, (and a strange ripping sound from the back seat that the driver didn't want to think about). This lasted only a moment before he felt compelled to say, "Hugh Ricane and Sally Thornton? Seriously?"
"Oh yeah, Sally's an Acheloide." The white-clad man paused contemplatively. "Or at least someone in her bloodline was."
Eric Gast, paramedic, turned his head to look at his employer, hoping, praying that he was kidding.
"An Acheloide? Like from Ancient Greece? You mean she's a... what do you call it...a thing...a siren?! But...but I listen to her show all the time."
Dr Vincent Morrow, Occult physician, still appeared bored. He didn't bother to look at his travelling companion, his leg bouncing on the ball of his foot impatiently. "Hmmph. Well, not powerful enough to be a threat to anyone listening, but enough to make sure her listener numbers stay high and certainly capable of luring the weatherman." Absently, he glanced at the ripping and tearing in the back seat. "Penny, be a dear and try not to get any of that on the upholstery."
In the back seats, the creature, for that was the only suitable term for the individual that did not require a degree in linguistics and the partial swallowing of ones tongue to say, known as Penny Dreadful, gave no sign that she had even heard her name, let alone the words that had been directed at her. Eyes fixed on the 'thing' clutched in her bony hands, her pointed teeth tore off another chunk.
"Why they argue this time?" a voice asked inside the female's mind.
To which a second replied, "because, they're two middle-aged men with no social lives. Arguing is the only thing that keeps them from sleeping together."
"Make them stop, spoiling food," the first voice demanded.
"You can either make them stop, or keep eating. You don't have time for both."
The discussion promptly ended there and Penny continued to eat.
Eric ignored the noises from behind him and chose instead to focus on the road, or what passed for one out here. He stared out the windscreen with the same sort of calm expression he normally wore these days when the good Doctor pointed out the supernatural bleeding into the normal world and considered. "A siren... Hugh and Sally… well I'll be damned."
"Are we there yet?" Morrow asked in an almost childish whine, blissfully ignoring the fact that part of his excuse to turn off the radio had been because he already knew they were almost there.
"Depends on what you mean by 'there'," Eric said " if you mean, are we almost at the end of this godforsaken mud track; in the middle of nowhere, then, yes; we are almost there. But I'm not sure what you expect to find. The last three sewers were clean… well of anything freaky… well of your particular brand of freaky…well except that thing you gave to Penny to ..." a crunching punctuated the commentary and caused Eric to stop talking.
Moments passed in silence . He began another right turn before he continued, "besides, I'm not sure that your 'informant' had all of his facts right. It's really easy for a traumatised brain to confuse memories and imagination, you know."
"Speaking from experience?" Morrow asked, the first note of interest colouring his tone, this time he turned to survey the driver. The only response was a visible tightening of knuckles around the steering wheel and the doctor let the matter drop. "Anyway, your facts are wrong. He wasn't traumatised. Not yet anyway. He was burnt, injured and smelly but, most importantly, he was terrified. There's a difference between being traumatised and being terrified. He'll be traumatised by the time he's through being terrified, but I was trying to catch him still in that heightened state of fear. I'm pretty sure that he was onto something. It's just a pity that idiot with the sedative muscled in on our conversation before I could get the precise location from him."
"He was screaming about tentacles and I'm not sure your presence helped matters." Eric glanced sideways for a moment at the doctor. "In fact, the conversation with you probably traumatised him more than the supposed tentacle creature. Not to mention Penny… staring at him like that..."
"Like what?"
"Like she was trying to decide the best seasoning to eat him with."
"Hmmm."
"Or as if she wasn't sure if it was a sit-down or help yourself sort of BBQ"
"Hmm," the Doctor said again, this time the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "Penny doesn't eat BBQ. Something to do with cooking ruins the meat. I think it's the part where you add liberal amounts of heat."
The track ended and Eric brought the ambulance to a stop. He pulled up the hand brake and sat with his hands still on the wheel as their headlights illuminated the entrance to one of the old, disused city waterways. The wire link fence designed to keep people out swung from its hinges, ripped as if claws had taken it apart. Machinery sat abandoned, some knocked to the side. A dozen or so big wheel tracks and hurried footfall in the mud had left the landscape a disordered mess. Police incident tape hung limply from the ruined fence but it seemed that those sent to investigate the events were now long gone, leaving things as they had found it. Either they had left having found nothing extraordinary or, had been scared off.
"Looks like you might be on the money this time, Doc," Eric said begrudgingly.
The thing about the underground areas of the world is that no matter where you are, they always tend to be a curious mix of dank, dark and creeping horrors. Back when he was a normal guy, living in the normal world, Eric Gast had only ever considered underground areas, such as these, as potential places for bugs, rats and staph infection. Now, whenever he heard the chittering of feet on a pipe above or on the walls around him, he immediately pictured some sort of Eldritch creature.
One particular sound caused him to spin around, his flashlight beam whirling to point in the direction he'd heard it; heart hammering inside his chest. And his gaze fell upon… nothing. Nothing but greywater and moulding brickwork. He heaved a sigh of relief and brought the light back around to the direction they were walking. The two figures ahead of him in the murky gloom appeared unphased. Well, no wonder, when the one in the lead was an Eldritch creature herself and the other… was mad too strong a word?
"I hate sewers," Gast muttered, shaking his left boot free of some clinging slimy substance.
It was not the bitter murmur from his companion that caused Dr Vincent Morrow's ears to prick up, rather the sound of a large water droplet, naturally amplified by the geometry of the tunnel, dripping from a pipe overhead. For once, just once, why can't my quarry pick a nice, dry spot above ground in which to make its lair? he thought to himself. My dry cleaning bill will be through the roof again this month. Hearing nothing unnatural or untoward in the continual drip, drip, drip from the pipe, he chose to comment on his employee's mutterings, "technically, this isn't a sewer; it's a storm drain. We left the sewer about ten minutes ago." His medical bag hung from the crook of his elbow; his hands clutching a pair of thin copper rods, which were swinging wildly left and right. "And would you mind keeping that light pointed in front of us, rather than chasing after every rat you hear? I almost hit my head off of that last pipe."
"Might have knocked some sense into you," Eric muttered under his breath. They walked for a few minutes in silence."I take it those things don't locate water," the paramedic asked gruffly.
Morrow paused for a moment, these are the right rods this time? Last time he'd used them, he'd wandered around a multi-story parking lot for the better part of a morning and wondered why they'd kept leading him back to a rain-filled pothole. He glanced at the thin metal rods for a moment and just managed to catch sight of a rune in the dim glow of the flashlight. "No. These are Thalmic Dowsing rods," he replied, turning to look over his shoulder. "They pick up on magical and mystic energies." Again, as he spoke, the rods swung around in his hands; seeming to bend upwards.
"Does that mean what I think it does…" Eric whispered.
The Doctor swallowed uneasily, "that there's something directly overhead?"
"Yes, that's what I was afraid you'd say." Eric turned his flashlight upwards as both he and Morrow craned their necks to look up, a sense of dread and trepidation causing the hairs on Eric's arms and neck to stand on end. The light fell onto a red and light blue-clad being, with dark hair and pale features, clinging to the rounded brick above them both. It gave them a grotesque smile.
"AGH! Penny!" Eric and Morrow yelled simultaneously. The noise echoed around them up and down the chamber.
Gast lowered the light, as the girl soundlessly dropped back to the floor, her bare feet making no sound. He leaned on the circular wall a moment; clutching his heart, as he realised they were safe. So much for the element of surprise.
"Well…" Morrow breathed, still feeling his own heart pound inside his chest. One of these days, his anesthesiologist was going to cause him to take a myocardial infarction… and then probably eat his corpse when he failed to move after a minute or two. "...at least we know they are working!"
But realisation was dawning on the other man's face. "Are they?" he demanded. "Because Penny has been in front this whole way…"
"So?" Morrow asked, genuinely not seeing the slight problem they might have.
"So…" Eric said through gritted teeth "...are you sure they are working, or have you been tracking Penny this whole time?"
The dark-haired doctor looked sheepishly down at his dowsing rods. "Ah," he said, like he had just been seen in a bathroom after an over-zealous tap had shot water all over his trousers, "yes… I see your point. But I was sure I calibrated them to the other frequency…" He wracked his brain, trying to remember if, in his haste to go monster hunting, he'd bothered to do so, as he held one to his ear and shook it.
"Great, just great," Eric fumed, throwing his hand up into the air in exasperation. "We've been walking through god knows what for nothing. I told you that guy wasn't in his right mind; there's nothing down here."
"And did that chain link fence rip itself with its own claws then, huh?" Morrow spat back, scowling at the blonde man. "Or those vehicles decide they'd work better lying on their sides?"
"In the middle of a storm!? Gee I wonder what on earth could have happened to some weak chain link gates and vehicles in gale force winds?!"
As the doctor and paramedic continued to argue like they'd been married twenty years, as opposed to employer and employee for less than two, Penny stood between them both watching the spot on the ceiling from which she had just landed.
"Why they Argue this time?" the creature hissed internally, sounding increasingly irritated with the two men on either side of them.
"Same reason as last time," Penelope replied in a placating tone. "Only this time, Eric has a point. Remember that time we wandered around that parking lot for the morning?"
"Could have told him there was no food," the creature snorted, the memory seemingly irking it further. "They spoiling hunt Again."
"Is there even anything edible to hunt?"
It took some time for Morrow to notice. When he did he held his hands up to silence the torrade from Eric.
"..and another thing, if you don't mind me saying, Doc, I think… what?"
"What are you looking at, Penny?" Morrow asked kindly, as the girl refused to meet his gaze or break eye contact with the dark brickwork above.
Both men turned their attention back upwards and froze; expressions horrified. The brickwork, or the thing that had somehow taken its place, was now a hulking, writhing black mass; a shadowy thing that resembled some sort of squashed spider, with several glowing red eyes that seemed to brighten as they looked at it. It did not move, rather dangled overhead like some sort of overbearing Eldritch chandelier.
Morrow mouthed soundlessly, unable to take his eyes off the thing above them. Finally, he managed a dull, "uhh… P...P...Penny…" but the girl seemed content to study this new thing, her head tilted to the side.
Eric shakily turned his flashlight upwards. This was a mistake. And the sound of Penny hissing was their only warning. A split second later Morrow began to yell a word in what sounded like Latin, his hand outstretched. He was cut off, however, with an undignified, "uuhmmph," when, as fast as a cobra, the thing struck out three thickening tendrils, which succeeded in grabbing each of them.
There was barely any time for a scream, as tentacles, cold and wet, surrounded them, squeezing and clamping down over their mouths. The texture was almost metallic and the smell was overbearing, like unnatural heat and rotting flesh, enough to make anyone gag. Morrow fought desperately to hold onto his medical bag, as a crunching sound from Penny suggested she was trying to, unsuccessfully, eat her way out. And despite his best efforts, Eric dropped the flashlight, which obligatorily went out. Struggling, all three were hauled upwards and into the burrowed hole the creature had come from. It was disorienting in the pitch darkness and they moved so fast to god knows where, one was liable to get whiplash.
It is difficult to describe the experience of being forcibly hurtled through the pitch blackness of a burrowed tunnel at breakneck speed; while in the clutches of some unknown Eldritch creature. Bodily dragged around through layers of dirt and grim, as the creature zoomed around tight corners and shot through sections where severed pipes now leaked a substance best left undescribed into the tunnel. When eventually they reached the fabled 'light at the end', none of the three individuals were in much state to recognise it.
Haphazardly dropping its catch onto the ground inside a cavernous chamber carved out of the rock, the creature arched its back; its multiple red eyes zeroing in on the individuals it had ensnared, as though trying to assess them in the relative brightness of the chamber. An assessment that would have revealed that all of them were both soaked and covered in dirt, filth and the occasional piece of shit.
Dr Morrow involuntarily released his grip on his doctor's bag and thalamic dowsing rods, the latter hitting the ground with a light clink. Head spinning he struggled to look up at the creature that had accosted him and his companions. Next time, I think I'd rather risk-taking a cab over that, he thought, as he spat out a mouthful of what he hoped was just dirt, then took in a much needed clean and unobstructed breath. Now, where are we and, more importantly, why are we not already dead?
Dumped onto the ground Eric gave a painful gasp feeling like the thing had cracked at least one rib. He coughed as, winded, his head spinning he tried to get up to his knees. "D...Doc?" He asked, looking around. He felt disoriented and his equilibrium was shot. Covered in grime and feeling the stinging sensation that told him there were a few nicks and scrapes to contend with later, he stumbled from his knees and ended up somehow on his ass.
Of the group, Penny was the quickest to recover. Having been released by the creature a few feet from the ground, she had rolled over a few times and quickly sprung up onto her hands and feet, like an Olympic sprinter in the starting blocks, waiting for the signal to go. Gaze darting around, it quickly fixed upon her target and she took a moment to take in the creature with its oversized gunmetal head, which had eight glowing red eyes, a multitude of short legs that protrude from it and the long, thick shadowy tendrils that sprouted from its back and which had unceremoniously dragged them around like sacks of potatoes. Needless to say, this rough treatment had not gone down well with Penelope and even less so with the creature that cohabited her. And unlike before, when they had been locked in debate regarding their companions; a common occurrence, the two were of a singular mind and their thought process amounted to something akin to, Die, you bastard!
Claws fully extended and her bestial maw on full display and wide open, Penny lunged at the unidentified being that had dragged them through the tunnel. Before the thing had a chance to react, they seized one of its tendrils and began to furiously claw at it. A few sparks flew into the air as they sliced through the thick outer armour, like they were cutting through a tin to get to the meat inside. The moment there was a wound large enough, they sunk their teeth deep into it.
Out of the corner of his eye, Morrow became aware of a hazy red and blue blur darting across his line of sight and towards an equally hazy black entity, which must have spanned about four to five feet. He tapped the side of his head a few times, as though that would help bring the scene into focus faster. Whatever that thing is, it must have pissed Penny off. Sensing no pressing need to get up, he remained on his knees in an attempt to get the dizziness to wear off and could now make out his anesthesiologist start to shred one of the creature's three-foot tendrils with her claws. A macabre laugh echoed inside his head, had that thing not just ruined my suit, I'd almost feel sorry for it.
Eric meanwhile was shakily getting to his feet. He staggered ever so slightly, one hand on his head, but managed to get to Morrow's Side. "What the hell is that thing?" He asked as he watched the Creature in the body of the girl attack the mutated cousin of the itsy bitsy spider on steroids.
Vision having now righted itself, Morrow stared intently at the creature that had accosted them and drew a big fat blank. "Umm…" he began, struggling to utter the words, "I have no clue whatsoever." Rapidly his mind started to flick through pages of besteries, almanacks and even the necrotelecomnicom, but could not place the creature in front of them. Not even in 1001 Eyes: A guide to the most mutated creatures ever sighted, could he find anything that matched it.
"You don't...know!?" The paramedic said aghast. He had never encountered a situation where the Doctor did not at least have some idea of what the creature they faced was, even if he didn't always know how to deal with them once they had been identified.
Suddenly, a deafening, metallic screech was ripped from the squid-like creature, followed less than a heartbeat later by an explosion that was accompanied by a bright flash of blue light from the tendril that Penny had been attacking. Blown backwards, the girl flew through the air, hit the wall and crash-landed hard on the damp stone floor. Her prey recoiling and writhing in what could only be described as agony.
Eric, one eye screwed up, his hands over his ears in a vain attempt to protect them against the sound the creature had made watched in horror as the girl shot over them, hit the wall hard, slid down it and landed.
"Penny!" Both men cried in alarm. Simultaneously, the pair scrambled forward and rushed head over heels towards the crumpled form of the girl-come-Eldritch-creature, Morrow pausing only to grab his bag.
Penny lay on her back, her head tilted to the side and her eyes closed. Smoke rose faintly from burns on her claw-come-hands, similar to those of the man who had guided them here. She was unconscious.
Eric knelt and pressed his index and forefinger to the pulse point in her neck. "Her heart rate's erratic, but she's alive. What the hell happened?" He glanced back at the 'Thing' to check it wasn't bearing down on them again. He did not want another ride through the rollercoaster-like tunnels. It appeared to be writhing in pain and backing away from them, however. A pitiful wailing sound emanating from it.
A dark expression had formed on Morrow's face and his features tightened, as he rummaged around inside his bag. Withdrawing his stethoscope, he roughly shoved it into his ears and then almost equally roughly brushed Gast aside; the small bell of the ornate looking device honing in on the girl's heart. What in the multiverse is that thing? Sparing no thought for where the creature might be or whether or not it was readying an attack, he listened intently to Penny's heart, quickly hearing for himself what Eric had told him moments prior. Meanwhile, his eyes caught sight of her claw-like hands and he could see how unnaturally tight they were clenched. He ran his free hand down one of her arms and when he reached her hand, tried to lightly unclench her fist. "I think somehow that thing just electrocuted her," he exclaimed, somewhat alarmed by his discovery.
Eric peered for himself. "But...how?" He asked. "Electro-telekinesis?" He rummaged inside his waterproof jacket pockets and withdrew some gauze. There was a brief moment when he wished his hands were clean before he ripped open the packaging to apply to the girl's burns for now.
Satisfied that Penny's heart would not likely give out anytime soon, if it was even capable of giving out at all (Morrow had no idea what the extent of his anesthesiologist's abilities were), he shoved the stethoscope haphazardly back into his bag. He brought both hands around her neck and shoulders, palpating and checking the area for obvious signs of serious injury. Again he was unsure how long Penny's accelerated healing factors would take to kick in and what they would likely do in the event of a spinal injury. He let loose a breath of relief and added out loud for Eric's benefit, "her neck seems fine."
"Yeah, but I'd still kill for a brace and board. She must have flown what ten feet?" the other man said as he moved to assess the girls head. He happened to glance up over the top of Morrow's bowed figure and immediately his eyes widened, his features turning pale. The Creature had stopped wailing… when exactly had the creature stopped wailing? It wasn't cowering any longer, or at least not that he could see any more through the wall of shadowy mass and glowing eyes that now surrounded the three of them. His mouth went dry and he tried to swallow. His hands, still frozen in place on either side of the unconscious girl's head. Hoarsely he managed "oh...shit."
The shaky tone of Gast's voice drew the doctor's attention far more than the stuttered words and he knew before he even turned his head that he would see nothing good. Before his eyes, Morrow took in the sight of a shadowy wall that was constructed of nearly a half a dozen creatures of a similar design to the one that had dragged them here in the first place. And while he could see they existed, he did not have time to appreciate the slight differences between them, something for the next time. This mission was a bust. Retreat was the only option. "Eric, ensure Penny is stable and get ready to run," Morrow barked gruffly, one hand already delving into his bag for the red and black sword Excalibur, which he affectionately dubbed his scalpel. "I'll try to repel them long enough for us to get back down that damn rabbit hole." Fixing his sights on the nearest target, he darted forward. It's back to Tartarus for you, you ugly bastard!
"Understood," Eric responded as he forced himself to tear his gaze away from the creatures and back to the girl before him. There wasn't much he could do for her right now, however. Cursing the fact that he had left the defibrillator backpack and his dart gun back in the ambulance, the only real thing he could do to assist was to wrap some gauze around the wound on Penny's head and pick her up into his arms; careful of the claws, while Morrow did his thing. Somehow, he didn't think hand to hand combat would work well on these things. What he didn't expect, however, when the Dark-haired mystic ran forward, crimson sword held aloft menacingly, arcing towards its nearest target with a loud yell from its weirder was for said wielder to more or less bounce off of the Smoky tendrils with a loud resounding CLAAANNNNGGGGGGG! and skid backwards toward the paramedic and unconscious girl.
His entire body vibrating, it took a few moments for the outcome of his ill-fated assault to register with Dr Morrow. Needless to say, it had not gone quite the way he had envisioned it. And his scattered thoughts could be succinctly summed up as, ut-oh! However, Vincent Morrow was not one to be deterred by one failed attempt. He was, after all, a doctor of medicine; a scientist. If he simply gave up every time something went awry, he would never have invented the bulk of the techniques he used when handling his occult patients. Granted, if he had been, he would most likely be sitting at home by a warm fire and reading a good book, not soaked to the bone; covered in… stuff he'd rather not think about and facing certain death. Re-composing himself, he tightened his grip on the scalpel and rose to try again.
"Teach it to cut through! Hurry! There are more of them coming!" Eric yelled as his boss got back to his feet.
"Can't," Morrow grunted through gritted teeth. "I can only teach it to cut through that which I can identify." Bending down he began rummaging through his bag. "One of us can try a telekinesis pill, but I doubt these guys are going to hang around long enough for it to kick in, so we can start tossing them at one another." His hand found the pillbox and while he knew nothing within it would help them in the short term, he withdrew it anyway; just in case. Dammit, he cursed internally, I need time. Time to think… time to… come up with something. He then found what he was looking for; a corked flask containing a shimmering golden liquid. Without hesitating, he threw it to the ground; shattering it and from it erupted a golden dome that spread out around himself, Eric and Penny and extended for several feet. He then opened the pillbox; withdrew two capsules and swallowed one; passing the other to the paramedic. "Just in case we get lucky," he said, before muttering to himself, "I hate dry swallowing."
Eric followed the path of the spreading golden globe as it seemed to swallow them. It met in the arche point and solidified. He looked at Morrow quizzically a moment then dry swallowed the pill he was offered. "And if we don't get lucky? What happens then?" He asked.
"Then…" the doctor said stoically. "...we die."
As he finished, the creatures reared up and with an unearthly screech echoing around them began attacking the dome.
