The Curse of the Forgotten One

The Curse of the Forgotten One (Mister Katonic)

Deep in the Library stacks of Derby Manor stood Mister Katonic, sorting new aquisitions to his collection he'd recently made, and placing them in propper order on the shelves. Then, a faint ringing sound began to echo through the quiet rows, and gained his attention. At first he thought it to be just in his mind, as he often heard strange sounds that had no real origin, but soon recognized it to be the phone sitting on the desk in his study.

Not used to receiving frequent calls, he made his way to the study through the towering stacks, the phone continuing to ring at regular intervals along the way, and pondered who it might be. The curiosity sank in and his pace towards the ringing device quickened to a speedy jog until he finally reached it and lifted the clunky old receiver to his ear.

"Hello?" He said, slightly out of breath.

"Yes, I'm trying to reach Mister Katonic, this is PRIMUS Agent Peter St. Croix..." The voice on the other side responded.

"This is Mister Katonic, Agent St. Croix... How can I be of help to you?" Katonic inquired.

"Well, we've got a situation here in Downtown Millenium City that my superiors suggested you may be able to help with..." Replied St. Croix. "I've already lost four men, and still have no damn idea what we're dealing with."

"What -can- you tell me about this situation, Agent?" Asked Mister Katonic.

"It's definately Paranormal in origin, and extremely vicious." Answered Agent St. Croix. "We seem to have it contained to the top ten floors of the Barlowe Building, which have been evacuated, several civilian casualties having been reported prior."

"I see..." Said Katonic, pondering to himself about the situation. "Anything else?"

"Only that my supervisor said you're the best at figuring out what stuff like this is and how to take it down." Answered the Agent.

"Yes, but I need a bit more to go on." Mr Katonic responded. "I'll be right there."

"It'll take hours for you to get here from Massachusettes, and that's time we don't have!" St. Croix exclaimed. "I'm not sure how long we can keep this thing contained here, or what it..."

Turning from a tap on his shoulder, Agent St. Croix blinked as Mister Katonic was now standing there next to him. He put away his radio and offered a hand-shake. "Point taken."

"Now, where is this thing currently holding up?" Katonic inquired, shaking the Agent's hand.

"Scans are showing it on fourty-seven currently. I won't send any more men up there until we know what we're dealing with." Aswered St. Croix. "And I wouldn't suggest you go alone either."

"We won't know what it is until I do." Katonic boldly stated, as a green glow began to encompass his body.

"Suit yourself, you're the expert here..." Agent St. Croix said. "But I did warn ya."

"Noted my good man." Mister Katonic replied, walking off towards the stair-well being guarded by PRIMUS Operatives.

Approaching the locked steel door of the stair-well and the two heavily armed PRIMUS Agents guarding it, Mister Katonic waited patiently until they unlocked it and let him through. Their apprehension was easily noticable as they slowly and cautiously breached the staircase, perking Katonic's curiosity as to what rattled these seasoned veteran operatives so. Once he was inside, the two Agents closed the door behind him, as per their orders to keep the threat contained, and resealed it securely.

Glancing up the ten flights, Mister Katonic stood in the center of the starir-well and began to glow a brighter green to light his way. Slowly and quietly making his way up the first flight, he listened for any noise coming from above, but heard nothing but the soft echo of his footsteps. He was now on the fourty fifth floor, still climbing the stairs cautiously he stopped a moment, eyeing the metal fire door supiciously.

Making his way over to it, he slowly opened the heavy door and glanced inside. A long still hallway, offices, files and blood spilled along the floor, and silence. Proceeding to move down the hallway, Mister Katonic glanced around carefully, noticing a lack of bodies given the amounts of blood staining the walls and carpet. When he got to the halls end, it turned left past the elevator area for that floor, and so did Mister K, noticing the elevator's door had been torn open by something quite viciously.

He was about to peer inside when he suddenly had the strangest feeling of deja-vu, and took a closer look around the area. It took him a few moments, but he remembered being in this building before, shortly after his return to this Plane from the Miskatonic one. It was where he registered with the ASPRA as a person with abilities, as per the law's requirements now. An odd coincidence he thought, but at least it satisfied the curiosity of the deja-vu, and allowed him to once again focus soley on the task at hand.

Inside the elevator shaft stunk like death, reaking so much of blood and flesh that it left a copper taste in Mister Katonic's mouth as he cautiously glanced down the shaft and could see no bottom. It wasn't until he turned and inspected above him moments later the gruesome sight explaining the ripe smell, as well as the missing bodies he'd noticed before. Before him hung thirteen lifeless corpses, strewn around the top of the shaft, torn open and coating the walls of the shaft in blood and gore for three flights down.

"I've seen this before..." Katonic whispered to himself, climbing back through the hole and out of the shaft. He then removed a large piece of sidewalk chalk from his pocket and made a cryptic mark on the marble floor with it, followed by a circle around it and him. Sitting with his legs folded and completely within the sigil he then removed a small old book from his jacket and began searching for a passage of note. A second later he found what he was after and tipped his glasses downward, squinting as he read aloud quietly.

"And when I followed the beast back to its lair, I found it covered in mortal remains, the way one would hang drapes and art along the walls to fancy a place up. Human remains were among them, ranging in decomposition from a few years to perhaps centuries old, one still wearing what appeared to be a Nordic Viking Helmet from the twelvth century. This was it's nest, it's home, and it did not take long for it to notice the unwelcomed guest."

As he finished the passage from his journal, his eyes narrowed in the truth that this creature was from the Miskatonic Plane, which again reminded him of the earlier coincidence and deja-vu. This thought was quickly lost though, as movement flashed out of the corner of Mister K's eye, and got his first glance of the monster in question, as it lumbered around the corner.

It was no doubt something that crept in from the Plane Mister K knew all too well, but nothing he recognized other than being a manifestation of an Old One, and truly terrifying to behold. Its leathery green skin was covered in the burn scars of Miskatonic Energy from millenia of exposure, and its folded up wings stretched outward as if contained too long bore rips and tears through them as well. The jagged crown of horns atop it's grotesque head were stained with fresh blood, as was the front of its chest below what must be its mouth. It locked its bulbuosy yellow eyes on Mister K ahead, hunched over on all four of it's long limbs.

Releasing a god-awful roar it reared at Katonic, a slimy semi-transparent fluid spitting from the beast's tentacled maw as it did, before taking a giant stride directly towards him. Rising quickly to his feet, Mister K remained completely within the sigil still, confidently staring the charging brute down.

As it leapt at him, Katonic's hands began to glow eerily, and he took no action to shield himself, but as the creature reached the edge of the sigil, was knocked away as if it had ran into something solid yet unseen instead of the man inside. Slightly dazed from the result, the monster staggered a bit, as Mister Katonic waved his hands in a ritualistic manner, opening a small rift to the Miskatonic Plane and drawing the beast's energy into it, while still remaining within the chalk-etched sigil's protection. In a rage the greate brute flailed at its enemy, smashing each time into the invisible wall, unable to cross it, until it stopped a few moments, and took a step back. Then it began pounding on the marble floor, cracking the tiles beneath them and breaking the seal of the sigil as intended.

Mister Katonic's continued attempts to drain the creature of it's power weren't cutting it, as this thing clearly had copious amounts to spare, and now his barrier against it was gone. Perhaps he could... *WHAM* A bright light flashed as the creature lashed out again, this time landing squarely upside Katonic's head, and knocking him back a few steps. Bringing his fists up to guard, Katonic stood his ground as the creature next lurched it's head forward, the tentacles surrounding it's face flailing wildly as a mixture of blood and bone fragments spewed from the gaping maw and all over Mister Katonic. At first mearly repulsed by this act, Mr. K launched a seriers of kicks at the beast, smashing into it but having little to no effect, but then began to sizzle as the stomach contents acidic properties started to activate, and burn at his skin.

Quickly he increased the intensity of the green glow he was emitting, blinding the creature momentarily but also burning off the acidic blood mixure that covered him with his own Miskatonic energy. Once finished, the remnants of his suit hung as tattered rags on him, which angered him as his Mother had gotten him this suit many -many- years ago, and it was one of his favorites.

The beast barreling full-speed at him, Katonic shook the cobwebs off in time to remember his lessons and applied some of his Judo training, letting the raw force of his enemy work against him as he avoided the attack. The creature tumbled into a cluster of cubicles destroying the cheap walls as it toppled through them, before rising up again with yet another monstrous roar that rattled the windows around them.

Already in the process of opening a larger rift to the Miskatonic Plane in an attempt to drive the dangerous brute through, Katonic's hands moved in a distorted blur of eery green light as he recited the needed incantation. The vicious monster must have recognized the words being said however, because instead of charging Mister Katonic, it bolts off in the other direction and leaps through a window, expanding it's leathery wings and gliding off and out of view in mear moments.

Halting his incantation, Mister K slumps to his knees, waves of green and black energy washing over him slowly begin to fade as he catches his breath. His mind returning to the question about his having been here before and this creature's appearence possibly being connected seemed plausible, and if this thing indeed was here hunting him, it was his responsability to rid this plane of it's foul pressence no matter the cost.

"Agent St. Croix." Katonic says into the commlink device. "You still there?"

"Roger that Mister Katonic. " Replies St. Croix. "And surprised you are as well."

"Yes well, I have good news and bad news for you Sir..." says Mister Katonic "The bad news is that it fled the building..."

"Damn, and the good news?" Asks the Agent.

"I think I know where it's going."

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