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VOLUME 2: WAR ACROSS THE LANDS

_Cthulhu Dream 3: Charles Dexter Ward_

The view opens on a large obstruction clouded by sickening water. The water becomes grayer as the vision clears. The contours and bulges of the obstruction become more distinct.

The orbital borders, the slimy scalp, the festering worms.

We realize the vision is moving up and down with our breathing.

Our fluctuating slows to a stop. Cthulhu's face remains still.

[We move closer] Still.

[Closer] Still.

Still.

A few air-pockets jolt through its feelers.

---

An overview of a farm: the plowed field lies to the west, a simple farmhouse sits off center, and a small creek runs near the eastern edge. The vision is saturated through a tan-pink filter.

Along the river, a ferryman-shrouded in a tarp-approaches with large crates in his inventory.

We now stand on the ground with the house behind us and the creek's edge in front. Three guards pass us and approach the ferry. The whispered talk indicates a delivery as the guards load the long crates and wheel them inside.

---

Cthulhu begins to stiffen uncomfortably, his breaths short and sharp.

---

[inside the farmhouse] The crates are laid on long tables. Though the guards are well-covered, the inside laborers remain bare and look at us with rotten faces from bygone years.

The tools come out, unpinning and prying the flat covers. Up close, we see they are primitive caskets.

[outside] The ferryman stares at the guard whose head is turned towards the house.

[wide view of the farm] We travel over to the ferry and sink down. Below the rotten and moldy planks, swimming deep within the bedrock, is that mutant colossus.

---

As little as able, Cthulhu tenses and squirms. "(Look back! Look Back!)"

---

Without distraction, the ferryman raises his 500 Magnum revolver to the crown of the near head.


[perspective 1]
Blam!
The head blows apart, revealing the two guards in shocked attention behind it.

[perspective 2]
The workers inside shock at the deafening blast.
Knowing its their cue, the 3 bodies attack from the open caskets.

[perspective 1]
Blam!
A stomach explodes.

[perspective 2]
[1st casket POV] Our arms wrap around the worker's wrists and elbows. Our legs pummel the locked corpse with bicycle stomps until its rotting body breaks apart.

[perspective 1]
Blam!
The neck and head explode, leaving thin layer of bone and scalp gliding away.

[perspective 2]
[2nd casket POV] Our iron and bronze mallets crush the elbows of the leaning worker. They rebound to scissor-crush both sides of the head.

[perspective 1]
Blam!
The last guard's chest explodes, still connected by weak walls on either side. The gunman punches the head with the gun, causing the top to bend over its remaining bracket.

[perspective 2]
[3rd casket POV] Two military knives stab into the forehead and center-waist of the last worker. The knives carve to the middle, leaving a huge slit to pass through.

[perspective 1]
The tarp comes off to show Big Ben. He reaches for his sniper rifle.

[perspective 2]
With little time, the brothers break the trap door and go deep underneath. Rad, Duke, and X are waiting for them.


Kaboom!

The farmhouse explodes. A few of the resurrected monsters scatter about the countryside. Big Ben shoots them with ease. The semi-auto feature is much appreciated.

---

Cthulhu breathes shorter and sharper.

---

With the complete army in the underground catacombs, Rad uses the Transparency vision (like x-ray vision) of his visor to scan the area.

"Rad, call it."

"[…]"

"Good strategy. Make them think they have a way out."

X steps aside for Rad to give the orders. "Duke," pointing to the first tunnel, "collapse the entry and exit." Duke shoots twice from his grenade launcher. Pointing to the second tunnel, "Entry only." One round is shot. Rad continues overseeing the closure of all entrances and some exits.

After the last, all the tunnels to the once-farmhouse are sealed. There are only a few exits out of the town. X opens his cloak, transferring the entire army inside. He dives into the ground and swims to the other side of the catacomb system (far ahead of the surviving monsters). X releases the army into the open space between tunnel paths. Three pairs of soldiers take the bottlenecks:

Mash and Duke:

Mash and Duke boarder the west tunnel. Mash takes the left side. Duke takes the right. The rotten, resurrected beings come clamoring towards the end. Duke readies some plastic-cased dynamite with electronic fuses. They roll silently and unlit through the passage.

Kaboom!

Three of the minions are repelled into the open with the chard bits of others.

[perspective 1]
One comes at Mash with a vintage knife. Mash steps in close, pitting his hand's edge against the attacker's wrist. Riding the circular motion of the force, Mash redirects the energy into his chopping hand, which drives deep into the neck.

[perspective 2]
A rotten monster approaches Duke feebly with one arm and half a missing leg. Duke shoves a baseball grenade in its mouth and pushes it back into the tunnel.

[perspective 1]
The second hand retracts the knife from the fist and shoves it into the brain. Another comes at him. Mash's arms wedge between the reaching limbs, grab the head, and jut it down. The force break the neck while a rising knee is added. As overkill, the relieved hands reposition and shatter the ribs with near-supinated palms.

[perspective 2]
Duke looks in and sees a few more of the minions severely injured but functioning. Before the grenade explodes, he tosses in 2 stick of dynamite.
Kaboom! Boom! Kaboom!

Bash and Big Ben:

Bash and Big Ben sideline the east tunnel: mallets and magnum ready. Curwen's minions rush out.

[perspective 1]
Bash breaks the first one's back and crown simultaneously.

[perspective 2]
Big Ben shoots one in the side of the head. It splatters into gory paint on the wall.

[perspective 1]
He turns and shatters the reaching claw, continuing multiple strikes up the limb to the chest and neck.

[perspective 2]
Immediately, another beside him thrusts his arm down. Taking a tip from the three brothers, he follows the force and shoots at the available target: an ankle.

Blam! The foot and half the calf blow apart.

[perspective 1]
The third comes with a sword. The mallet contacts the steel and twists to the other side (exaggerating the pressure outward) while the bottom mallet butts into the guts like a fat spear. Bash juts the top end into the guts repeatedly while keeping the sword arm secure. The mashed guts begin leaking out the mouth and ruptured tissues.

[perspective 2]
None left inside, but one did make it for the exit. He takes aim and fires. It goes down quickly. Not taking any chance, he approaches it and puts two in the chest. Blam! Blam!

Gash and Rad:

Gash and Rad take the central tunnel. Gash readies his machetes; Rad ejects his drills.

Drills: Three retractable drills with serrated grooves align on each forearm device. The lengths can be adjusted up to 10 inches.

The minions fly out with only one noticing their surroundings.

[perspective 1]
The one to notice points his vintage rifle at Gash, but a side-blocking machete wedges him outside the fire. The second machete stabs through the heart. The first machete's wrist flows in a pivot and side-strikes through the neck. Plop, plop, plop

[perspective 2]
With a hint of Tai Chi gracefulness, Rad sweeps his hands together in a high-low position, severing the knees, neck, and collarbones.

[perspective 1]
He jumps for the second escapee before he can reach the next tunnel. The machetes go into his shoulder and down to his waist. The body separates like an artichoke.

[perspective 2]
As the first falls, Rad steps forward and sweeps his hands apart, severing the second's targets in abduction.

[perspective 1]
The third has already made it past the open space. A flung knife in the back stops him. Gash cross-stabs the machetes into each side by the spine (one in the heart). He pulls his machetes apart to separate the body.

[perspective 2]
The final one runs into the further regions until a grappling hook spears him and jolts him into the drills that rip through his mouth to the waist.

The army gathers, proceeding back through the central tunnel. In the heart of the catacomb system is a metal door. Duke blasts it with his grenade launcher. Only the surrounding debris moves.

X explains, "It's magically sealed."

Rad turns while asking, "What do you sugges-" only to see he is talking to the air above a crater.

We follow X traveling through the earth like a sandworm. He bursts out of the ground mere feet away from Joseph Curwen.

---

Cthulhu's breath seizes.

---

Curwen turns and nearly trips as he staggers backwards. "P- p- p-"

X reminds him. "Per Adonai Eloim."

"P-Per Adonai Eloim, a- a- a-"

"Adonai Jehova."

"A-Adonai Jehova."

---

The tentacled face breathes quickly in shallow breaths.

---

X: "Adonai Sabaoth, Metraton"

---

Blood begins trickling through the feelers as the head twitches.

---

Curwen: "A-Adonai Sabaoth, Metra-"

X interjects: "ton Ogthrod Ai'F Geb'L—Ee'H-“

---

Blood flows from the hemorrhage as the head shakes violently, pulling the body with it.

---

X: “-Yog-Sothoth 'Ngah'Ng Ai'Y Zhro!"

---

Cthulhu's head lets out a blast of bubbles, then fully collapses. The blood runs profusely from the cephalic carnage and clogs the watery view.

---

"AAAaaaaahhhh!"

[outside Curwen's base] Rising to high alert, the army looks intensely at the door, then at each other.

[inside Curwen's base] The bluish-gray dust padding the room is all that remains of Joseph Curwen. The auxiliary hoses detach from X's back and syphon every particle before reattaching.

Auxiliary Hoses: Level 1

[outside Curwen's base] A powered limb punches the door away. A thick, blurry, bluish-white aura surrounded its presence. Now, all of X's limbs resonate with this aura when striking with power.

---

Cthulhu's consciousness drifts away into darkness with vague interruptions.

---

The army resides in J-S2. The fins retract like a machine, and the body shoots through the entire catacomb system like a bullet train. As the shark consumes the tunnels, it expels fine dirt from its numerous rear pores.

The vision keeps fading as the travel continues down the path. There's a vague, dizzied glimpse of Rad speaking to someone on his wire radio.

[Fading, fading, fa...]

---

The disgusting mountain sinks lifelessly into his original pose.

_Herbert West, Reanimator_

08/03/20XX: 2000hours

In the middle of a large acreage is a lone mansion, 10 stories tall with several active lights. Surrounding the mansion, a mile away on any side, is a blocky, bordering wall. One road leads to the lone gate. Around it is a plaque:

West Mansion
Private Property
Entry by invitation only
Violators will be dealt with accordingly

Watching above the barrier, J-S2 rises straight through the wall. With its head pointed to the sky, the army exits the silo onto the surrounding wreckage of steel and concrete.

Rad scans the ground with his Transparency vision. X also reads it with his natural eyes. Rad finishes and waits for X. X responds, "Call it."

"[…] Meanwhile, we'll enter through the catacombs. You'll take the left, and I'll take the right."

"Hm, interesting strategy."

"General, what would you have done?"

X smiles with a facetious look. "I would have let you take the left, and I'd have taken the right."

CLOSING THE LABYRINTH

In the catacombs below, the shark's base forms a rounded wall. X and Rad leave the base to go into the fork (the two remaining labyrinth paths).

Rad:

The path is simple. There's a blocky tunnel that goes straight, right, straight, left, straight. Beyond it is the cellar to the mansion. Filling the middle of the tunnel is a bed of murky water. Rad sets his visor to scan.

The drills extend from his right hand, nearly to scouring the ground. The left shoots his grappling hook, and he flies to the wall with his drills in the water. The agitated pool ends in a roar as a horrible deformity rises.

Bearing the body of some giant lizard (an artificially enhanced komodo dragon?) with three dragon-like necks made from patches of human flesh. A foot thick and many feet long, they snake and creak with mangled ends to devour.

Rad darts with a hook to the following wall, facing the deformity's side. One boot-claw latches to the wall while the second holds the monster's base. Both drilling arms attack.

The hybrid turns to attack as Rad tracks over the monster with rending boots and swift strikes. On the other side, the soldier drills off a stiffened neck. The monster turns while Rad sprints off one wall to the other, destroying the second appendage. One head left, but it is much swifter, especially without its crowding brothers.

Rad combines wall sprints with his mechanical hooks to return to the entry and escape. The nauseous rotter pursues him until the fire-flood challenges it. Unable to see anything except a kaleidoscope of flames, it retreats slowly until it senses buzzes and sharp pains severing the final it scurries under the water.

Rad pursues it with the flamethrower, dissolving the water and all remains within.

The soldier slings the flamethrower over his back.

creep

Turning towards us, the drills stop only hairs away.

[Rad's POV] In front of the drills is a little creature. It walks on four fingers with a thumb for a tail. Its innocent eye means no harm. The drills stop and lower.

Rad picks it up like a curious pet and places it on his shoulder. The finger-creeping spider takes a liking to its new home.

X:

The path before him is the mirror-reflection of Rad's. Not bothering with turns, X walks through the walls like a tank. Another West perversion rises from the pond. It is similar to the other, though it seems entirely made of human flesh and has two extra necks in the rear.

X walks without stopping, his legs naturally lifting it in stride while he punches through it. The melting, unwinding whisks of flesh blur in the presence of the aural pistons.

X continues towards the incinerator, and Rad follows right behind him from the opposite corner.

---

Big Ben and Duke wait by the shark. The radio frequency fuzzes on.

Rad: "The incinerator is set. We will be breaching the surface as soon as you are ready."

"We're ready."

Mash, Bash, and Gash hold out at the house corners, weapons ready. "Roger that. We're ready."

Rad: "Engage."

Big Ben raises his long-range, semi-auto sniper rifle. He sets the scope to his eye.

Duke has his hands on the mortar tube. "Ready. Five, four, three, two, one."

pop -- whiiiiiiiiiiiistle

[the front to the mansion] Kaboom! (Clang! Rumble! Clang!)

The front door and most of the wall are blown open. Big Ben quickly starts firing at all denizens, both human and inhuman.

---

"Alright, Major. Are you ready?"

"Yes, General!"

X's mech arms fire a rapid series of miniature missiles. They nearly slow to a stop as they tilt upwards. Then they fire in quick succession.

---

The central floor to the entryway ruptures and falls, leaving only a slight ring (fanned with pillars) of a stable ground. The wreckage seals the labyrinth as the incinerator self-destructs. X flies out through the rubble as Rad's hooks bring him to a standing pillar. Below them, the blockade catches fire, exactly as planned.

INSIDE THE WALLS

Mash, Bash, and Gash rush in and spread around the new ledge.

Rad radios in: "Big Ben, Duke, the labyrinth is locked. Proceeding to seize floor 1."

---

The long-range duo move aside, allowing J-S2 to clear out and flatten for the barracks. Ascending the vessel's surface, they set their weapons from higher ground.

---

Amid the broken fan of pillars, Bash sees X has left him a gift of two pillars, both wrapped in chains for grasping. The first is 7-feet long and 1.5-feet thick. The other is a heavier 4 x 5-foot base. Securing the long one around his arm, he senses how X's increased powers are affecting them. With the other hand assisting, he begins breaking the other pillars and baseboards before continuing up the enormous stairway and royal carpet.

---

Gash proceeds down the right wing. Slashing through a few stragglers, he comes upon an armory room full of collectibles. " 'One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own.' "

---

Mash begins his voyage down the left wing. The path leads to an exquisite dining room for large parties. A group of reanimated corpses await.

Mash cross-steps to the left to align them. He dashes for the closest one with a simultaneous wedging arm and neck chop > arm bar > centrifugal body throw to the group > (group falls down). Mash pursue the next with a chop > the same arm elbows > head grab > throw with neck snap > (an adjacent, recovering corpse is knocked down). Mash rushes another corpse squatting on one knee. He stomps the knee > (shattered knee) > stomps the back > (broken spine) > turning sidekick to intruder > (broken hip) > (the monster pulls his arms down) > lets arms bend and recoil > palms to ribs > (shatter) > loose hands trace up > rising palms to head > (broken neck).

A final corpse with no lower body grabs Mash’s leg. Mash performs a rear stomp > pivot on standing leg > lifting kick with extended leg > (corpse launches) > vertical series of death blows to head and torso.

Mash exits to the short hall and its stairs. A guarding corpse attacks with a fencing sword. Mash steps in deep and quick through the center, simultaneously securing the arms and palming the head back. Snap.

---

Outside, Rad flies on his jet pack by the walls. He stops his chainsaw for a second to give the coordinates.

---

Duke and Big Ben cling their shot glasses while enjoying cigars. The radio gives another order: "3rd floor, Beta."

pop -- whiiiiiiiiiiiistle -- kaboom!

Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam! Blam!

Rad: "How is that new rifle working for you?"

"It's working great. I love not having to pull a bolt lever after every shot, just like I appreciate having an M60 that doesn't overheat in the field. You're the best, Major."

"Well, thank you. Keep up the good work."

---

Bash beats through another corpse while breaking the mansion's structure. The walls shake around him again from outside forces. "(This place is going down!)"

At the turn of the hall, another room explodes. Some escape. Some are shot. A few come his way.

Bang bang bang

Those still alive-still struggling on the ground-witness Bash's intense face as he heaves an enormous base overhead. Then everything goes dark.

---

Several others run the opposite way, but when they look back, there are less and less. The few who make it to the other side of the mansion stop and watch each other. Something breaks through the floor and pulls one in. Immediately, the same happens at the opposite end of the room. The last one flees our way, then sinks out of sight.

---

Mash continues down the hallway, most prey coming to him as he passes the rooms.

One reaches out the door. Mash grabs the arms > continues its trajectory with a pivot > (the body ejects from the room circularly) > reverse-pivot while adding a reverse elbow > reverse chop > [next arm] palm > forward elbow. The corpse’s head is twisted 360 degrees. Only pulled muscle keeps it attached.

Gash joins beside Mash with a samurai sword. They weave positions down the hall.

A corpse with reptilian claws and teeth lashes at Mash. Mash grabs the fingers > hyper- extends the palms in a rise > (palms break) > turns the palms > thrusts down and forward > (wrists break). In crossing paths, Gash decapitates it through the mouth.

[perspective 1]
A mangled monster jumps at Gash. Gash slices left > reverse-stabs > pivots the hand > slices upward > reverse slices to the hilt (the arteries gush).

[perspective 2]
A head encircled with many arms flies at Mash. Mash performs continuous spiral hands until the exposed brain and heart appear. He crushes them with a dual vertical punch.

[perspective 1]
Gash jumps off the wall to the right.

[persoective 2]
Mash jumps off the wall to the left.

[perspective 1]
Mash lands with a double chop through the collar bones > lifting knee > (broken pelvis) > stomp low > (broken ankle) > dual palms to cranium > (terminal brain trauma).

[perspective 2]
A two-headed, dual-torso giant attacks. Gash lands with a downward slash, separating the stitching and making them collapse. He flings a throwing knife in each head.

[central perspective] Gash gives another monster an uppercut swipe, launching it into the air. Mash jumps with a 1-2 knee attack to the spine.

[perspective 1]
Gash throws his sword (tip forward) into the hands of another. It's surprised and confused as Gash grabs the hilt, shoves the blade into the guts, then slices through the rotten meat.

[perspective 2]
Mash faces a double corpse, merged back-to-back and ready on both sides. Mash approaches with rapid, continuous spear-chops. It starts on the ground to the neck. Then Mash forward-flips over to the other side, tracking the body and attacking the corpses the whole time. The arteries burst on both corpses.

Mash and Gash reach the end of the hall, where the flying head of Dr. Hill waits.

"Are we having fun yet? Ha ha ha ha."

Gash jumps with a downward, upward slash. Both the wings and the head fall. Mash lifts it with a quasi soccer-kick and uppercuts through the severed neck into the brain.

---

[aerial view] Looking over the mansion, we see many bombed room on fire. Rad flies into a higher ruptured room. Within seconds, flames exit the cavity.

---

Dr. West returns to his top room as another explosion rocks the already shaking mansion. He loses balance and grabs a table for support. His assistant, a corpse beyond recognition, asks, "What's happening? Is it the cops?"

"No! It's not!"

"Is there any way out the back?"

"There's fire in all the exits."

Kaboom! (Shake)

Dr. West pulls himself up. Still disoriented, he goes to the window. All the ladders are gone, but that's not the strangest part. "There is no way out!"

The assistant looks out the window. The wall ledges have been carved into rising, razor-sharp claws.

---

Big Ben and Duke have taken to a higher level. The redeemed church from Hobb's End is now manifest on J-S2. They run along the top walls to meet the new coordinates: "9th floor, Delta."

The mortar shell hits a wall near Rad. Rad flies in quickly, burning the floor and working his way down.

---

Bash runs into his brothers while breaking the structures. Rad enters from the flaming staircase above. "I see we've reached the end of the line. Most of them are gone. Let's take out the rest of them. Bash, you know what to do."

Bash raises the stout pillar overhead and beats it into the ground. Again. And again. And again.

Nearly the entire floor breaks from the wall and lands on the next floor. The weight compiles, breaking to the next, and the next, and all the way down to the bottom.

---

[unknown POV] From our tiny deck, we watch the floors fall. We look below to see so few of the reanimated beings with a secure ledge or area to hold. The rest fall to the bottom where that army continues their war on the survivors. There is nowhere to go; just wait.

[view of the ledge] We see the reanimated corpse that's observing all this. A few more are behind him, but he doesn't sense that something within the walls is taking them one by one. The corpse just waits for the danger before him to-

Snatch

---

While the others attack on the ground, Rad uses his mechanical hooks to sling up and down the floors like an elastic bungee cord. He rises up, using his free hand to sweep the walls with the chainsaw. Some cling to walls and protrusions. Others have a tiny ledge. But they have nowhere to go.

Rad continues up and down, clearing the walls while sweeping through a few on the floor. Something nips him from the back. He turns as something else jabs him. He disengages the hooks, allowing his body to fall freely away from the intrusion.

Falling backwards several floors, he sees a swarm of Dr. West's mixed reanimations with wings. He engages his jet pack to stabilize and roasts them on their way down.

---

The lights go out. Only the emergency lights engage. Dr. West and his assistant glance without words. They have some weapons, for what it's worth. The corpse grabs a shotgun and huddles in the corner away from the door and any windows. Nothing is getting in without it knowing.

Coarse, abrasive arms break through the walls behind him. A shotgun blast hits the ceiling.

Dr. West surrenders his reflexes. He knows it's not human. He knows he can't stop it. The dragonesque tower passes the laboratory table and injects the solution. The bio-cables extend and pierce the air with shrill excitement.

Fluid: Level 1

"L-l-l-look. This is all scientific research. People are just materials. That's it!" Dr. West-always so composed and stoic-is sweating and shivering like it's the first time he's ever felt this sensation. He swears he can hear a tense, foreboding choir singing in his bones. X approaches closer. "People are yours to use. 'The strong should prey on the weak.' There's, there's nothing else out there." Dr. West backs away from the table as his body bends over, stuttering. "There, there is no greater meaning. There is no greater purpose, no spiritual presence…" The doctor falls to one knee; his voice cracks. "no universal good, so we should just do whatever we enjoy to pass through this meaningless existence." He falls onto one hand. "I didn't do anything wrong! There is no wrong! There is no right! Wh-wh-why can't you see that?! I, I-I-I…" On his knees, Dr. West cuddles into a wet ball. "nu-nu-n… se, i-ii… pl-pl-pl-pl-"

X kicks the body, leaving wet waves to disintegrate through the air. Only the rolling head remains. [overhead view] It rises towards us and retreats.

[Dr. West POV] Looking up at this immense tower, a massive base from a pillar-leg comes closer and blocks out everything.

---

The army enters Dr. West's lair to find that it is empty, except for a crushed mess on the floor.

FROM BEYOND

In a wooden attic, the door creaks open. A stretched shadow runs over the floor and ends on the machine. The elongated face howls; its fangs magnified greatly.

---

Everything saturates with a color that can only be acquainted to violet. What has always appeared as air solidifies into jellyfish creatures sliding around and through each other. Some are carnivorous.

The cinctures and stole slacken as the mouths loose open. A strong wind pulls the flying creatures out of the air. The flagella amassed along the worm-appendages elongate and writhe.

Worm-Appendages: Level 1

The resonator fork increases to further levels. X allows the rich mysteries of his voice to stun and infect the further beings. Some explode, some melt, and some just fade away.

The resonator comes to the end of its journey. At the end is the something that took Tillinghast and his body.

X's girth obscures most of the view. We see only his flowing cloak from behind. In the corner is a far-away monster, like a dinosaur with elephant skin rotting from radiation. The flagella of the worm-appendages wriggle as the mouths excite.

---

From a mile away, we see the West Mansion collapsed and burning. The view tracks down to reveal the 6 soldiers close before us, the firelight brimming off their clothes. The finger-creeping pet looks on from Rad's shoulder.

After several minutes, something walks through the fire and wreckage like a slow train. The ruins bend and break around it.

Finally approaching, Rad says, "That didn't take long."

X's tail flogs about a few times, showing the strange, radiated, skinned covering-now stretched and cooled like rock. The casing opens around the tail spikes.

Tail Armor: Level 1

The whole army stands together, embracing the warmth of the fire and the light of the moon in the midst of the darkness

_Henry Armitage: Entry 5_

Entry 5

August 05, 20XX

Today I met with several parties for prearranged interviews.

My first interview was with Nahum and Theresa Gardner in Littlefield, just on the edge of Arkham. When I called them to arrange the interview, they seemed very eager to tell their story to someone who wanted to listen. They informed me that other people considered their story just another "tall tale."

Having not had lunch that day, as well as wanting to get a feel for the local area, I decided to stop by the local grocery store. Upon my arrival, I noticed people huddling around the produce section. Investigating it myself, I saw some of the largest and most appetizing fruits and vegetables I had ever seen. I grabbed a few tomatoes, which were bigger than my hands. The cashier told me that they had come from the Gardner farm and were the talk of the town-that and their "tall tale" about how they came about. She speculated that they just didn't want to give away their secret. Tasting one on my drive, I must say it was the best I'd had in a long time.

When I reached the Gardner farm, it was what I can only describe as a "wonderland of gardening." Both the amount of the produce and its sheer size were a sight to behold. (Picture are available in Appendix B).

When I met the Gardners, they were a nice, elderly couple. They seemed rather attuned to reality and did not show signs of senility. Not that I am a young man, mind you; rather, being of advanced age myself, I'm quite instinctive in discerning those whose minds are affected by senility, dementia, and other related debilitations. Their minds were certainly not affected by such situations frivolously assigned to seniors.

(The following is their account of the night in question)

Theresa: "Well, Nahum and I were just sitting here when we heard a knock. That's when he went to open the door."

Nahum: "He must have been as tall as the ceiling." [Nahum looks at his wife for confirmation].

Theresa: "Yes, I'd say as tall as that. He was a giant."

Nahum: "When I saw him, I wasn't sure what to do, but then I saw he was a priest, probably from Heaven or another planet."

Theresa: "He had a rosary and those black clothes and one of those, uh, collars priests wear…" [The Gardners look at each other trying to figure it out together]

Nahum: "Well…"

Theresa: "Kind of like a collar, but it was, uh?"

Nahum: "Under the skin?"

Theresa: "Yeah, and it wasn't white like those other priests wear."

Nahum: "It was like gold light."

(At this point, I directed them to tell me what else happened.)

Nahum: "He asked about the meteor."

Theresa: "He said he was like the meteor police. And he had these two soldiers with him, but, Dr. Heritage, they looked strange too. They looked like they were…" [She looks to her husband for confirmation] "dead?" [Nahum nods his head to her]

Nahum: "But maybe that's how they look where they're from. They weren't mean or nothing. After they asked about the meteor, they went to see it."

Theresa: "There were a lot of shots and explosions. We didn't want to look at it."

Nahum: They came back in and said they had taken it away. He also said we would have a really good harvest this year, and we did."

Theresa: "He also said…" [looking a little confused] "He said to… to watch out for waterfalls?"

Nahum: "Well, but we don't have any waterfalls around here."

Theresa: "That's right. We don't. You can look for yourself."

(I asked them if there was anything else that happened.)

They looked at each other, and they both mentioned his "golden eyes." Their demeanor changed. I cannot think of any accurate way to describe it. Concepts like "mesmerized," "detoxified," and "a shot of euphoria [or: endorfins]" come to mind, but I don't think they accurately reflect it. When they spoke about the eyes, it seemed like, in their mind, time slowed down with a sense of peace.

Theresa described them as "like spheres of some further transcendence, their striations ever spinning and spinning about the circumference ." Nahum added, "amalgamating the mind." To clarify, I did not find either of them to be stupid; however, this was not the plain language of townsfolk. There was something very strange about it, but it wasn't threatening. If anything, it was inviting.

Before parting, I asked if I could take some of their crops for a scientific study, explaining that the findings could not only benefit scientific discovery, but also the hunger and famine in the world. They were happy to comply.

The results of those studies are detailed in Appendix B.

---

The next interview was with Mrs. Summers, who was a witness to the final events of the Tillinghast estate:

"I don't know what all he [Crawford Tillinghast] was doing over there with all those disco lights and wild frat parties, but I couldn't stand it. He sure wasn't any Doc Brown. He used to associate with those young and wild boys from the Wet [sic] Mansion."

(The following is her account of the night in question)

"First, my poor Bunny [her dog] was barking out the window because of all that commotion. It scared her." Mrs. Summers began holding her dog closely. "Look at how they scared my dear Bunny, my sweet Bunny. [looking at her dog] Yes you are. Yes you are." [continuing back to the story] "I heard all this loud commotion over there, and when I looked out at it, they had these very bright lights, like giant purple lights, turned up way too high. It was shining through the whole house. And there were all these loud noises, like rough-housing and fighting. I don't know what they were doing over there, but they were doing something. I swear the house was shaking when they also put on a bright yellow, or was it orange, light. Things got so loud, I had to cover my ears. Then they just stopped, like the power went out.

Well, I called the police immediately. This wasn't my first time. They had told me to call if there was another disturbance, and I told them, "I'm disturbed.

This next part… well, I'm not sure if it happened or if I just imagined it because of all his commotion… but I sort of remember a… a man, I think… definitely too tall for the door. I can't remember too well what he looked like because their power had already gone out, so it was very dark outside. I wasn't… I wasn't quite sure what to think… but he looked at me." (long pause) "He looked at me, and something in his face… I just… I just felt so much safer. Maybe it was one of those nice boys from the neighborhood watch that came to tell him to knock it off.

(The following situation is confirmed in the police report listed in Appendix A.)

"And his friends over at the Wet [sic] Mansion. Ewww, I just knew they were going to burn that place to the ground! The police told me the Wet [sic] Mansion had blown up and that someone had put in a phoney phone call to the city about how the construction company was going to be blowing up property for renovation. Somehow those boys found a way for all calls to go directly to them instead of the company until the next day. Well, I'm just not surprised. Not surprised at all!"

(At this point, the conversation changed direction.)

"And that's another thing. I told them" (pointing at a neighboring house) "that they have too many garden gnomes. Why do they need so many? In my day, you had one… maybe two if you had earned it, like being on the neighborhood counsel for several years. And they don't even wash them! How hard can it be to just spray them with the hose, get a sponge and some soap-but not dish washing because that will dull them-and wipe them down. And then wax them, of course… and let them sun dry. I tell you, I just don't know what these neighborhoods are coming to." At this point, she removed a rolling pin from her oversized purse. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to my husband about leaving the toilet seat up."

---

The following interview in Arkham involved Walter Gilman and the recent events of the colloquially named "Witch House."

"I had come about the room for rent. Apparently no one else wanted it, and it was dirt cheap. I met someone who I assumed was the landlord downstairs. I mean, that's what I figured because he was behind a personal desk in the hallway, right? He had so many clothes on, I couldn't even see his face. He told me that there wasn't a room for rent anymore. I thought, 'No way! I need this place!" Even when I told him how much I needed it, he still told me no. I couldn't believe it! I walked outside thinking about what to do. I decided to go back in. I wasn't going to give up that easily. The front was empty, so I ran upstairs to figure out what the deal was. He was right. There was not room for rent because […]"

_Pickman's Model/Dreams in the Witch House/The Rats in the Walls_

08/04/20XX: 0900 hours

FROM SLUMS TO DREAMS IN THE WITCH HOUSE

We view a run-down, backwater slum in a city circling before us until it slows over Pickman's Studio. Its walls become transparent, revealing rooms of deviant art. We continue scanning down the building until we reach the bedrock foundation, which beams a vibrant color and starts turning towards us. It reveals to be a holy seal, though only its general luminance imprints our vision.

The view turns downward (following an enormous path of freshly-tilled dirt) deep into the soil where the sunlight doesn't reach. The passage turns east for several miles until we come upon the tail of J-S2. It is no longer moving.

Passing over the stalled body, we find a point near its head where the surface twists into a rising cone of swirled, mangled tissues. It reaches past the darkness.

We follow its stalk as the membrane becomes transparent. Inside are X and his army, standing on a hazy plate of blue light ascending the tower. We move in close and hear the briefing that this will be an "in and out" mission.

The transcendent elevator phases them through the floor of a decrepit house (the plate of light shows hazily in the floor and stops when they all deploy).

X looks over. "Upstairs."

Upon the creaking steps, someone is alerted. "Hello? Are your here for the room to rent? Give me a minute. I'll be right there." Their creaking continues up the stairs, much more pleasant than that horrible, moldy creaking voice. "Please wait. I'm almost there." The soldiers make it to the top.

X points to another stairwell on the opposite end, one choked with pealing walls.

They walk towards the end, ignoring the voice behind the door. Almost there, Keziah Mason-the old witch-comes into the hallway, cloaked in thick garments to hide her appearance. "Are you boys here for the-"

"No thanks," X says dryly as he casually flings her against the wall, splattering her entire body across it. Nearly all of her is liquefied. Blood plops off the walls, trims, and ceiling.

The army enters the attic of non-euclidean geometry. X holds out two rags of the mutant shark's flesh. Facing us, he wipes the rags over our view.

---

"Hello?" A young voice calls from downstairs. "I'm here about the room for rent."

The army has already descended to the second floor. Rad gives X a look that says, "I'll take care of this."

The young man downstairs paces in the entryway. A figure appears in a few of Keziah's large robes. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm here about the room for rent."

"I am so sorry, but the situation has changed. There is no room for rent anymore."

"No way! I need this place!"

"I'm sorry, but there is nothing I can do."

"Why not?! What's going on? Did someone else get it? What's the problem?!"

"It doesn't matter. The room is not available. Believe me, you wouldn't want to stay here anyway."

"Then why did you even advertise it in the paper?!"

[Long silence] "There is nothing I can do."

"Oh, great! Just great! I can't believe this!" He continues yelling as he slams the door.

Rad pulls off his cover, leaves them behind the desk, and steps onto the center of the floor. The hazy light appears on contact and takes him down the shaft.

---

The student comes back in, looks around to see no one there, and runs upstairs. He runs up the second flight of stairs to see that…

[flash of the army continuing down the shaft and X holding the shark rags]

there is no room for rent because…

[flash of X moving the rags through the air as if painting something invisible. Following the strokes, a stone wall appears.]

There is literally no room, like someone had taken an eraser and wiped it all away.

[flash of X stating, "It's all condensed in here: the portal-wall."]

CONVERGENCE

The shark shifts back and forth a few times in the tunnel, then charges forward with a yellow hyperflash all about it. It transports instantly to England using the holy seal laid when crossing from Italy to New York days ago (for X has laid many seals across the travels, including every place they have landed).

Continuing through the deep, solid earth, they suddenly pass a boundary into a great basin filled with the bones of many, like the ruins of a hidden city.

Slowing into the center and high above the ground of this mammoth cavern, the army rises to the vessel's top-armed and ready. X shoots his bio-cables into the portal-wall and activates it.

Its traces glow and the body resonates to merge the holy seals under the Pickman Studio and the Witch House with the new one above this chasm. The merged power syphons the ghouls, along with a particular, detestable intermediator, into this dry ocean like rainfall. Upon hitting racks of bones and obstructed dirt, the mutant rats awaken from hiding.

[frontal view] Like a heroic portrait, a closeup of X and his riffling scarves rises until it is far above. Then the shark's central face overtakes our view until it rises far above. Left in view is the immense body (like a macabre bridge) with the mold-ridden hills on either side. The folds of its skin fan open to expose calcified diamonds. The long vents along their flats unclinch into shredding filters. Oval mouths throughout the bridge grow spinning circles of raised teeth. It is armed on all sides.

High in the air, the vessel shakes and roars. The ghouls and rats ready themselves for assault. The shark swims through the dried sea.

The ghouls jump while winged rats of putrid color attack from all sides. The haughty attack. The others defend. They all starve and bite for vulnerable areas, but they all die sooner or later. Others manage to the top, where the army awaits.

The soldiers don't just defend against the near. They also attack those hiding on the ground.

In the rear is Big Ben, with an auto sniper rifle in one hand and a machine pistol in the other. He casually shoots off a few rats that attach to his arm.

Next is Gash, throwing shurikens in every direction. Around a few fingers are the circled bases of throwing daggers, ready to defend at short range. A ghoul jumps in front. Two daggers put out its eyes and retract. One is reused to slit down its throat through its pelvis before the target rolls offside.

Bash keeps a surplus of small cannonballs seeped in the shark's skin for loading and lobs them from a leather sling. A ghoul jumps on top. The loaded sling raises through the chin, then down to break the remaining teeth. Bash forces several iron balls down the throat. The ghoul falls from the intense weight, and his stomach explodes upon hitting the ground.

In front is X. Most rats attack here. His mech attachments shoot machine guns all around and launch rockets at the shelters below. Those who get through are either crushed in X's hands or are devoured in his tentacles. Another ghoul lands on the shark's bow and begins sliding off. X's worm-appendages syphon air to bring the aggressor forward, then X breaks off its teeth. Two of them multiply and merge onto the wing-swords.

Wing Swords: Level 1

The remaining teeth are shoved throughout the ghoul, and its missing legs are shoved through its body.

[panoramic view] The undulating train twists and bends like a ribbon, flowing upside-down in the opposite direction at lower altitude. The riding soldiers have their feet locked into squeezing pits of the surface.

Outside J-S2, we see Rad flying throughout the gulf with his rocket pack and flamethrower. Strapped to his back is Duke, throwing plastic-explosive discs. Duke slaps a disc on his protective armor to discard the gathering rats. His armor protects him from the blast. Rad often uses his grappling hooks on J-S2 to quickly traverse to a new position.

Mash rolls, springs, and repels between the ground, standing columns, the hills, and J-S2 with many olympic acrobatics combined with flip-kicks, dashing elbow-rams, rising knees, cyclone attacks, aerial pounds, and rolling attacks. His increasing agility is a combination of X's transferred power and Rad's specialized herbs.

The army's vessel twists and bends again. Right-side up, it scrapes along the ground. Halfway through, it stops and wedges into the dirt. The lower sections blast air into the dirt, sending broken earth, bones, and the hidden creatures into the air.

The shark's skin becomes acidic and gelatinous as it performs a hyper charge forward. The lurid colors hypnotizes all those remaining to seek it. As the shark zooms through the air, X speeds far ahead to capture something in his tail and speed back.

The shark lands softly on the ground. X deploys with his army following after. His worm-appendages open to consume the madness trapped in the pit.

X turns to face his troops. The bulk of his tail turns, bringing the end to his face. Within the last, twisted coil, Brown Jenkin struggles vainly to be free. The soldiers gather and watch its shaking muscles and stressed, squinting face. X authoritates, "Like your victims struggled to be free?" The rat stops to look at him, first with question, then intense detest as it struggles again. "You killed babies, yes?" The rat refuses to answer, only struggling in revulsion. "And you enjoyed it, didn't you?" The rats face turns redder. "Then don't bother asking 'Why?' "

X powers something in his hands but stops. "Rad, would you like to do the honors." Rad sets the flamethrower's dial to the lowest level and emblazons X's ending coil. It doesn't affect X, but the rat's body begins to melt as it gives out a terrible, high-pitched squeal. The flesh melts onto the fully-exposed skeleton. Rad stops. X brings the tail in closer. "Is there something-anything-you'd like to say?"

The ungodly familiar refuses any sense of remorse. [long pause] Then, "It will kill you! It's vastly older than mankind!"

X leans in, "So am I," then nods to Rad. Rad unleashes the flames again. "You did it, and you enjoyed it, so don't bother asking 'Why?' "

The rat's bones, fully saturated with its melted body, turns into something like molten metal. The tail uncoils. The tri-blade passes through the melted remains, which run down the tail to the base. The tri-blade and spikes retain a polished finish.

Tail Weapons: Level 1

---

From above, the vessel minorly shifts a few times, then charges with a hyperflash. It is gone.

And so is the madness.

_Spiritual States_

We travel deep inside J-S2. The organic world still mesmerizes as before, with its resonating sinews and platinum-yellow lights, but now it is merged with the layers of the redeemed church of Hobb's End.

Travelling further into its body, we see a training practice between the three brothers. In their triangular pattern, they explore and refine attacks, defenses, and technique.

In their quite practice, they make way for Duke, Big Ben, and Rad to weave into the pattern. After an introductory exercise, each brother takes a partner for personal practice.

Big Ben learns a foundation for gun-fu, the ability to twist his limbs around a large vocabulary of obstacles and fire from any grip. Duke learns a similar repertoire, especially with small explosives. His foundation requires the ability slip them through the cracks of an enemies defenses and pull the pin with subtle fluidity. He also learns quick attacks and defenses with large tools in close combat. Rad's training is more symbiotic. While focusing on ways to snake his wrist drills (as well as a minute focus on the chainsaws), he also shows his trainer his methods.

Coming back together, they share with each other what they have learned, teaching and training their own unique contributions. The training will resume another time, when they will meet again with a new partner for shared ideas and theories. For now, the three brothers kneel in quiet reflect of the practice. The others are welcome to join.

Duke is the first to leave, returning to his labor of love. Big Ben soon follows behind.

---

In the private room, all foods are neatly packed, all ingredients are faced and ordered, and the metal repositories shine pristinely. This is where Duke finds the most peace while preparing his specialty MREs and other meals. Big Ben asks to help.

They enjoy the order, the art, the spiritual act of preparing and cleaning. Big Ben gets to learn some of the secrets to Duke's awaited cooking. After all is done, they sit and admire their work.

---

The sunset hours have come, casting a reading light over Rad's open pages on engineering and herbs. Big Ben eventually joins, learning from Rad's extensive knowledge and his current projects. They talk extensively about calibration, mechanics, and unique approaches. Big Ben admires Rad's library of knowledge.

He also thinks Rad's glasses and hair are cool.

---

Around it all, X has been ever-present and watching, admiring the camaraderie between them all. "(I couldn't ask for a better family.)"

_The Whisperer in Darkness_

08/04/20XX: 2100 hours

The moonlit sky wanders lazily over a simple farmhouse. Crickets and frogs serenade for a companion to share the summer breezes, while birds communicate their own language. The flowers bloom, and the fruit grows.

And at the slightest level above the dirt, the mutant shark's skin rises from the sleeping tunnel.

A car drives through the circular path. The headlights move like melted wax. It parks long enough for the driver to usher another passenger to the door. (The shark's surface breathes slightly.) The car drives off, and a high-class gentleman approaches the door.

Keeping the guest's head and upper back in close view, we follow him into the house. He stops for a second to survey the tasteful and wholesome furnishings, but then curls from something sickening. He covers his mouth and nose loosely, using a handkerchief as a primitive filter. It caves his stomach more than his lungs. Still, he proceeds forward and turns towards the door as Mr. Noyes instructed.

[Into the darkened study.]

"Mr. Wilmarth, I presume?… Make yourself at home." Albert Wilmarth takes a seat in front of Henry Wentworth Akeley and his semi-buzzing voice. Akeley, despite claiming illness, speaks fluently about his discoveries of the Mi-Go and the darker forces beyond our domain. He continues to gloat about the "fabulous epoch" of Cthulhu, Tsathoggua, and Yig, yearning for their coming, to be (though he dare not speak so honestly) "[reconciled to the whole fiendish system]."

Despite it all, Wilmarth shows neither fear nor lure. Frustrated, Akeley continues in his obnoxious buzzing about the abilities of neural transportation to these forbidden darknesses, even prompting Wilmarth to attain the canister system already prepared. Wilmarth brings the three machines together from the shelf. Akeley intervenes, " Don't bother that fresh, shiny cylinder joined to the two testing instruments-the one with my name on it."

Wilmarth looks and laughs a little. The near-expressionless face of the proselyte gives a sense of immediate alteration. Before he can ask, Wilmarth minorly corrects, "It doesn't have your name on it."

"But- who's name is on it?" Wilmarth carries the canister over to Akeley without saying a word. In the palest light, the infirmed man examines: Henry Wentworth Akeley.

But then the etching seems to blur like water in his eyes. It flows away to reveal: Alexander Noyes. The being in the chair lets out a buzzing exclamation that is completely inhuman, for, when he saw the real name, he also saw that the hands carrying the cylinder were monstrous and full of blades. The buzzing impostor jumps back, and the face almost falls off completely.

"Why don't you examine whose face you're wearing. Go ahead, take it off. I already knew what you were, Goyuth." The flimsy hands pull off the face to confirm it was Noyes's face all along. "Why do you think I wasn't surprised to see a man who didn't match his name. Wilmarth received an anonymous tip a while ago, as did Akeley."

Kaboom! shatter shatter shatter

"And that would be C4."

Blam-splat, blam-splat, blam-splat

"Those are specialized bullets."

Buzzzz-churrr, buzzzz-churrr, buzzzz-churrr … …

"Chainsaws. And if you could hear it, a fistful of drills."

The mi-go brushes into the back bookcase while stepping on the window's glass all around him. The dragonized tower allows him to hear Noyes without the aid of electronics. "Please! Let me out! I did everything you asked! You owe me! Please let me out!"

Shiiink-ump, zaaap (crackle-pop) zaaap (crackle-pop) zaaap (crackle-pop)

The fungoid matter melts away into a spore-like mist. The bio-cables retract, and the spores fall to the ground and splatter. All that is left of the crustacean is the shell.

Outer Armor: Level 1

Hardened plates (with a purple-tinge and hints of blue) form over the bio-booster underarmor, making them whole. Not only does he dawn a defense like a knight in shining (splint) armor, but his blades and spikes feel stronger. The spikes have an almost metallic quality to them.

---

X pushes the study door off the hinges with authority, his array of teeth alive. Two mi-go guards in the living room attack, but X strikes each one, tearing them to shreds on the first try. He sees the legs of another run up the stairs to regroup. X jumps through the ceiling in an instant, settling on the second floor before the planks even land. The mi-go messenger stops in shock. X rushes at the messenger with incredible speed, the underarmor shining through the casing.


[perspective 1]
A double-headed battle axe chops a mi-go in two.

(Boom!)

[perspective 2]
A warhammer crushes the guts of a mi-go, soiling the shell with a sickly green hue.

[perspective 1]
Before falling, the battle axe swings through the guts, leaving the body to fall in quarters.

(Boom!)

[perspective 2]
The warhammer swings overhead, crushing the fungoid head into the exoskeleton chest.


The view retracts, eventually showing Bash and Gash on either side. They turn away from the wall to face us. Several more mi-go attack.

(Boom!)


[perspective 1]
Gash torques his ax overhead while squatting, taking off all the heads and a few arm joints. With the momentum, he lowers the blade to dismember the legs.
The legs fall flatly while the torsos fall upright and the heads land tilting off center.

[perspective 2]
Bash breaks through an outreached claw into half the head of an adjacent mi-go. Following the momentum, Bash leaps circularly while leveraging the handle tip through the first's antennae.
(Boom!)

[perspective 1]
Gash turns to watch Bash.
(Boom!)
He watches the adjacent mi-go fall over with a failing brain. The mush glops out of the dazed head, until the brain loss can't support any movement.

[perspective 2]
Bash roots his body, swinging the warhammer through the first's other claw and into the wing and back of the third mi-go darting in. With his back to the third, Bash twists and swings back, breaking the other wing and back. The warhammer uppercuts the third mi-go's head nearly off.
(Boom!)

[perspective 1]
He watches the third mi-go spasm while its back-slidden head leaves nearly the entire neck to spurt fountains of green fluid.

(Boom!)

[perspective 2]
The first is defenseless, so Bash slams it to the floor with the hammerhead surface. He rams the same side into the supposed-mouth until he breaks through the neck.


Bash stands up and turns to Gash, realizing he's been there a while. Bash looks at the pile left by Gash and says, "Yeah, nice work too."
(Boom!)

They continue from there into the open yard.

---

A small hoard of mi-go gather in the woods, their clicking appendages rummaging together. In the distance, something on a whitish line swings through the air.

"(Did I just see that?)" One goes to the back to investigate.

---

Big Ben continues around the ledge. He shoots another off the roof. The three bullet holes expand as gloppy guts spurt out of them. With his supply of armor-piercing, explosive bullets, Big Ben can shoot the bodies anywhere instead of aiming for sensitive tissue.

He takes another one off the deck. Another off the window. One off the ground.

---

The lone, searching mi-go cannot tell what it was. It cannot find it. But it senses it is in danger. It nestles its back against a tree in fear.

---

Bash and Gash continue amongst the dead and stalking bug-creatures until Bash sees it first. His brother sees it a second after. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I think so. Plus, one of theirs is worth twenty of our own."

They step out into the open. "Did they see us?"

"Uhhhm" [looking] "yes."

"Good!"

---

[closeup frontal view] A chainsaw impales through a tree and out the front of the lone wanderer.

---

(Boom!) (Boom!)

The house's outside is cleared, but there's still more in the woods. While he'd like to watch X at work in the house, it's time for phase II.

Big Ben jumps from the ledge and travels the ground to the barn, knowing (as do the others) where the landmines are.

Boom! Boom!

[at the barn]

The machine pistols are still ready, locked at 3-round bursts.

[enters the door]. 9 o'clock: Bla-bla-blam.

Overhead, 2:30: Bla-bla-blam.

Hay bale, 11 o'clock: Bla-bla-blam. 11 o'clock, 11 o'clock: Bla-bla-blam,bla-bla-blam.

Clear.

Before going to the center, he holsters his pistols for regular-sized, light-weight machine guns, one in each arm.

[towards the center]

Not taking any chances, he shoots through all the rooms and animal pens, unloading the clips. He reloads them, and shoots through the ceiling. Able to see any movement through the bullet holes, he takes out the rest of them. The pistols again take the lead.

[up the ladder]

Almost there. Almost there.

12 o'clock: Bla-bla-blam.

Waiting. Nothing else.

Last rung.

[at the top]

He looks around with his arms extended either way. He can sense it, "(but why not?)."

He walks to the hay pulley. A few steps away, he nonchalantly fires over his shoulder to his 6 o'clock. Splat-splat-splat. It goes down.

Rad rigged this pulley earlier before he went into the woods, and now it's time to use it. Big Ben grabs his machine guns and latches his feet to the strap.

[overhead view of the barn] Big Ben slides down the rope like a zipline, his machine guns firing on both sides as he speeds into the woods.

---

They found quite the hideout: a large shed full of tools, a private airplane, and plenty of imagination.

Bash and Gash begin searching through their resources. They find hammers, a hacksaw, a crowbar, a bear trap, vises, a pitch fork-"baseball bats," Bash states as a quasi-question.

"Well, yeah, that's how a lot of country kids occupy themselves in the summer."

Bash turns to face the side, taking a few practice swing with the wooden bat. Wind, swing. Wind, swing. Wind (too far) Cra-bruch. The bat shatters against the mi-go behind him. Bash steps further back and swings (breaks) forward. With the front and back of the head broken, the mi-go falls over and sees the mirror previously blocked from Bash's original position. The remaining handle is tossed beside the body.

---

The view scrolls east through the woods. Several mi-go are gathering in the distant trees. Continuing our track, a tree passes close to us. Big Ben is hiding behind it, smiling as he loads his last machine pistol. The view continues eastward as he goes left, out of sight, with guns blazing.

---

Several mi-go enter the large shed. The two soldiers wait behind the plane. The mi-go continue down the narrow passages.


[perspective 1]
Bash runs through the column in an escrima weave using a jack handle and a crowbar.

[perspective 2]
Gash raises the tree pole saw like a pole arm. He stabs through several torso slits. The arms go down to protect as Gash chop-gashes both side of the neck.

[perspective 1]
With them all down, he grabs the spare airplane tire and goes down the impaired line, smashing one head at a time.

[perspective 2]
The second tries to push through the back-falling weight. The saw cuts deep into the exposed joint, making it useless. With one side exposed, Gash severs the antennae, making the mi-go dysfunctional. The saw continues making a circular field of scummy ravines on the head.

[perspective 1]
A new one jumps from above. Bash sprints up with an upward thrust of the wheel. Then he throws the wheel at the disoriented head. Instinctively, it catches, holding it nearly overhead. Something beats into its chest, then its knee.

[perspective 2]
Another mi-go attacks from above. The pole's tip breaks as Gash pulls a one-armed sheer and chop-stabs both sides of the neck.

[perspective 1]
Bash piles on top with a vise in each hand like brass knuckles. He begins beating all over the insect most savagely: the arms, the thorax, the abdomen, the fungus top, everything. The mucky depressions take over the crusty structure.

[perspective 2]
Gash raises the splintered tip and stabs through the last three's heads, leaving a fungoid shish kabob.


The brothers-in-arms get up, look at each other, and know what to do.

---

Duke hears it.

Prop-prop-prop-prop. Prop-prop-prop-pr-pr-pr-pr-pr-prprprprprprprprprprprprprprp

---

[panoramic view]

The view scrolls westward, keeping pace with Mash and Rad as they clear through the infested woods. Though ultimately going westward, they weave through the path, going back and forth between the foreground and background (their bodies shrinking and expanding from minute to monumental before our eyes).

Mash jumps and flips while striking quickly from the air and ground, often using the mi-go bodies as launching pads. Rad swings and climbs, flailing the chainsaws while diving with the boot-claws.

---

In the shed, we see a quick series of:

A face beaten repeatedly into ax grinder, a multi-stabbing pitchfork, a sledge hammer digging down a body, a cleaver impaling a claw to the wall, a 2x4 beating through a stomach and then a back, a sickle impaling a claw to the wall, a metal pole beating with both ends, a hacksaw up the neck, and a bear trap taking off a face.

---

Now that the woods are quiet, Rad starts to notice. "Do you hear it?"

(In the distance) ….…

---

Big Ben continues using the trees as cover, flowing between them, getting in close, and turning round the circumference. This sneaking strategy has proven quite effective.

Clearing the area, he pauses between loading.

….…

---

Duke comes near the shed, seeing a mi-go fall out with a circle of hammers in its head. He readies a weapon and enters.

Bash and Gash are helping a wounded mi-go into the propeller blade. "Hey Duke, help yourself. I'm sure there's something you can use."

Prprprprpr-buzz-chop-buzz-chop-buzz-chop-buzz-chop-buzz-chop-prprprprprprprprpr

Duke searches through, finding a vehicle battery and some liquid compounds. "You're right. There is something I can use."

---

The mi-go cluster to the luring propeller. They won't allow anyone to escape.

Rad, Mash, and Big Ben follow closely behind.

---

The airplane comes rolling out, headed on the natural runway. A hoard of mi-go cling all over it like locusts. Many claw at the doors and windows to get the passengers.

The screeching and clawing changes once the bomb goes off. Many fragment, while others drown in the flames. A few see that it was their own kind inside, already dead.

Vrooooom!

It was a trick. "[Get the car!]" Less mi-go can surround it, so fewer die in the second explosion.

The forces are ravaged, but some still live. Before they can attack the soldiers, the general breaks through the house, calling out to them.

The alluring resonance draws them in.

X electrocutes those in front. For the rear guard, the tail dashes their legs, then their bodies, then anything else that remains to fall. Others use their weak wings to attack higher. The less-powered wing rims cleave deep into the meat, but the wing-swords make them explode.

Two attack the side of the walking tower, but its worms suck their life away as they sallow and drag. X rips their upper collars out, then impales them into the next incoming side-attackers.

He reaches the center of the field and surrounds himself with his troops. That's when his voice tone changes.

Like zombies, the mi-go come from all around, even the woods. The last few land mines detonate as the mi-go circle about.

"These are all that remain." The hypnosis starts to fade. "There is no way out but forward. One final stand. Are you men ready?!"

"Yes, General!"

The hypnosis continues to drop. "Now!"

---

Mash:

Mash attacks with a triple cyclone kick, which bursts through crustacean bodies with blazes. He lands with a powerful double-hook punch, producing a sonic wave around both fists.

Duke:

Duke's arms are slathered with different chemical compounds. He spans one arm over the mi-go before him. As he continues the span with the second arm, the chemicals erupt.

Rad:

Rad uses his drills and boot claws to climb the tallest and use it as a springboard while his jet pack ignites, taking him higher than they can fly. He unleashes his flamethrower on the mi-go below.

Bash:

Bash strikes his warhammer through the first's head, merging into the top cavity. He somersaults with momentum over the body, slamming the hammer deep through the next's head. He repeats with increasing velocity.

Big Ben:

Big Ben crosses his arms, the machine pistols resting by the shoulders. He unwinds them, firing all the way through.

Gash:

Gash swings the battle axe angularly through the torso of the first, which lands through the foot of the adjacent. Using the momentum, he slings his body over the axe head, plants his body, and swings the axe nearly straight down the next. He slings himself and swings again, cleaving through the third with opposite angle of the first. He continues the strikes in a circle.

X:

X disappears. The soldiers look all around for him among the piled bodies. Nothing. There is nothing. There is… something there, much larger than the others. "(The queen?)" It's been invisible this whole time, until something bulges inside it, starting from an elongated abdomen through its thorax. The constant damage brings it into our spectrum of vision. X exits the mouth, preceded and proceeded by a short waterfall of slimy guts. The humongous insect falls over and begins to peal.

[overhead view]

X unleashes a musical, atmospheric roar amongst the won battlefield. The view retracts rapidly as the timbric blast continues, quenching the fires, transferring the bodies, and summoning J-S2 from under their boots.

And the army continues deep into the night sky, leaving the faintest sight of acreage a mile below.

[The Round Clear tune from Actraiser plays]

_Henry Armitage: Entry 5(continued)_

While collecting transcripts of unusual radar reports, the following testimony confirmed these strange events to be global.

"On August 05, 20XX, our radar detected a blip of enormous size moving several thousand mph. It abruptly slowed and stopped at a location 54.7 miles from our camp. I informed Miskatonic University of our situation. They told us that situations of this nature had previously been reported, but nothing ever came of it. They told us to only proceed at our own risk. Professor Lake, who is much more outgoing than I, volunteered to take an advance group to the location and report his findings.

Professor Lake radioed me after a couple hours of investigation, informing me that there was nothing here. I and Danforth flew over to Professor Lake's camp to further investigate.

After several hours of searching within a 20-mile radius, there was nothing to report. No aircraft. No alien lifeforms. No mountain ranges. Not even unique snow mounds. We had nothing."
(source: Professor William Dyer; Pabodie Expidition; August 05, 20XX, report to
Miskatonic University)

---

It was on this very day that Wilbur Whateley came from the neighboring village of Dunwich to the Miskatonic library in efforts to procure a copy of the Necronomicon. Though he remained quite defiant and intimidating, I refused to allow him permission. Immediately after he left, I contacted all local libraries about the situation.

Late that evening, Professor Warren Rice, Dr. Francis Morgan, and I were working in our offices when we heard sounds of violence. The security guard ordered us to stay in our quarters while he investigated. After hearing his cries of horror, my colleagues and I gathered in the hallway.

What we saw was neither human nor natural. A full report of the situation can be found in the "Miskatonic University Security Report (August 05, 20XX)" in Appendix C.

This event not only removed any doubts, but it prompted me to publish my findings to the public. I know now that these visceral lurings are not simply the paranoid fantasies of an elderly man.

_At the Mountains of Madness_

08/05/20XX: 1525 hours

COVER YOUR TRACKS

Whooooooohhhh

J-S2 flies overhead like a starcraft, tempering the glare from the pristine blue sky above and glassy ice below. It continues forward into the blue, then slows to a turn and lands softly on the powdery white.

It exhales and rests in decompression.

---

[inside J-S2]

X observes with all hands on deck. "Right, 12 degrees."

Rad shifts the levers at his control post.

---

Shrimp-like pleopods exude from all under the vessel, lifting and turning the body clockwise. The tail's appendages retract, and flukes expand past the body's width. J-S2 mechanically fills with air and takes off under the radar.

Following overhead, it travels far along the tundra. The fluke-edges act like a delicate brush, smoothing its tracks while preserving the dents, dunes, and vehicle tracks. No trace.

It travels at least 50 miles away from its landing. The view changes to following behind the mutant shark. It finally reaches a flat expanse with approaching mountains like the Himalayas.

The vessel slows to a crawl as it approaches 14 tiny (by comparison) snow mounds. The bizarre appendages lash out and dissolve the corpses of the ridged-barrel aliens dubbed "elder things." The shark's appendages blast air into the hollows, clearing them out and allowing the snow clouds to settle over them.

Leave no trace.

The shark takes off again at a walking pace.

RELICS OF A DEAD CULTURE

1700 hours

Using the pleopods, J-S2 continues vertically up the mountain side, which we now realize is the tower to an ancient city. Scaling the architecture, it stops and clings tight upon the target level. An orifice in its stomach flushes against the wall's opening, and the army proceeds inside.

---

[inside the mountain base]

We breeze through curving hallways with an unseen goal. The walls buffer the minor winds, but the echo magnifies. The trail twists and turns until we come to an internal base of murals, technology, and lifeless aliens. X and his army enter from the other side.

We join with them as they explore.

---

"Be aware, gentlemen, that, though they are all dead, their nerves are still active." X approaches one on a table. "For example," X pokes it with a blade tip, causing the body to jump to a violent rage. X keeps it at arms length until its actions die down. Then he allows it to drop.

"General, the mural suggests that they planned to live in subterranean waters."

"Wishful thinking. It didn't last."

Rad makes his way to the alien technology.

Another soldier at the murals: "General, uhh, I think you should see this." X walks over. "Is this… is this true? Did they…"

"Make humans?"

"Yes."

"No. That's a common misunderstanding. What they made were the ancestors to the ghouls. Rest assured, human beings are not an accident. They were always a central part of the divine plan."

X looks over to Rad, testing the technology. "Rad, do you think you can make work of any of this?"

"Yes, General. I see lots of potential."

"Excellent." X proceeds to the atrium of the room. Turning to face everyone, "Take your time, men. We will camp here tonight. Feel free. Explore. We have till morning. The battle will be brief. In fact, you have been working so hard, I give you the option to sit this one out."

X pauses, allowing Rad to discuss with the others. Reaching consensus, "General, it would be our pleasure to watch you in action, especially since you have stood back to let us do so much."

"Granted. Please, take a seat." X removes a rag of the mutant shark.

Before using it, X grabs a dead elder thing and eviscerates it. He carries the barrel husk towards the portal-wall and leaves it near the base. "This will be a preview of what is to come." The wall activates long enough for a single shoggoth to pass before shutting down. The nasty, black blob comes through with a bad temper. X tears into it with a maelstrom of his blades and spikes, hollowing out the center.

The draconine general combines the malleable shoggoth with the toughened barrel husk.

Vestments: Level 1

The entire area of black vestments change to something like leather armor with great fluidity. The black color grows flashes of dark emerald. The first level of the splint armor is complete.

"The cages for these things are all over the city, but I will concentrate them here. However, let us wait until tomorrow for the final display."

---

The soldiers continue into the night, playing cards, telling stories, enjoying Duke's skilled cooking, and giving curious examinations of the alien technology.

The troops wind down for the night. The lights go out, the bed rolls seal, and X slips out from the tower for his preparatory mission.

THE DUNWICH HORROR

2145 hours

Miskatonic University Library
Hours: M-F 8am-8pm, Sat 8am-9pm, Sun 9am-5pm

Shatter!

Bark! Bark! Growl! Growl!

Bang! Crash! Break! Slam!

HRAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHAaahhh!

---

[full view of the disrobed Wilbur Whateley]

"(Quickly, before anyone sees.)" A bladed hand, deep into the hip. A pinkish eye in the palm. Turning the body. The second eye.

Auxiliary Weapons: Laser Beam

The hooves-removed and multiplied. Formed ergonomically around the pedal bases. The multiple digits left free and unhampered.

Boots: Level 1

"(Quickly, into the night, towards Dunwich.)"

---

"Stay where you-" Scream!

(fading) "What's going on out here?!" Scream! "What is that!"

(fading) "Don't touch it! Don't touch it! Get back!"

---

From the side, we watch the soldiers sleeping into the tranquil arms of the bathing moonlight.

---

From the roof of the Whateley estate, X's lasers radiate against the backdrop of a grim, chaotic tempest.

[X POV] We see the other end. A blackened-purple mess of squirming, slimy locks and the vaguest hints of a human face. We hear it stomping and shrieking as the lasers continue to carve it.

---

We sweep over Big Ben, then Duke. The view fades to the three brothers. We brush over Rad, surrounded by his new devices and blueprints. The soldiers breathe fully and comfortably. The light wind lulls their souls to calm depths.

---

The flopping locks are twisted around each other in a cord and placed around the belt. Like a device, they retract and fasten tightly.

Belt: Level 1

Another flopping appendage is taken from the massacre. X squeezes the fluid onto his scarves. The material fills, turning into a similar color as the inner robe but with a stronger red hue.

Wing Rims (Warrior Scarves): Level 1

---

Over the town of Arkham, there is a pleasant and blessed feeling as it goes to sleep securely.

ONE LAST DISPLAY

08/06/20XX: 0700 hours

[inside the base] In quick-motion, the moon sets and the sun rises, shifting the lights in the inner base as the clouds flow like a river.

X waits on a table, perched like a raven.

---

"By your request, I offer you one last display before departing."

X's arms flow up then outward, as if setting a drape. An invisible barrier forms at the arena.

The portal-wall activates. From its buzzing base and streaking lights, its center seems to flow back into great depths while the border remains in place. In the gaseous, red and yellow lights, a cold air breezes with tiny, purple glints like ice crystals.

Two vague silhouettes, blobbing with asymmetrical appendages, gather and fight for the exit. The first traverses into the room. Then the second. Then the third. Fourth, fifth sixth, seventh…The shoggoths continue to fill the arena.

X shoots his bio-cables, impaling through two lined regimes. They electrocute, growing large mounds like cracked rock among their slimy tissues. Their terse bodies cannot transform. The malleability is too charred. X retracts the cables, then lashes them together through the lines like laser cat-o-nine tails.

The stone shards fall with a clang. The scrap tissues hit the floor with a seething hiss.

For the auxiliary shoggoths, X's mech arms cross each other in back, as do the laser beams. Completing the circle from both ends, the lasers straighten to the sides and pass each other in front, rising and lower as necessary.

[closeup view of shoggoths] The floating blobs are carved and cauterized into thick slabs, usually in sets of three or four parts.

More shoggoths enter the room. X speeds into the central ambush, uppercutting the frontal one. As it explodes into multiple pulps of ooze, the arm turns and side-slashes the next. The spikes shred as the powered limb demolishes. At great agility, X strikes all around him in slicing chops. His blades and spikes always shining while his limbs are encapsuled in a blury aura. His first right leg splits through one, as the proceeding right leg strikes left, then right.

Destroying that ring, he slows down so the scattered shoggoths can gather. X throws himself at them, letting the worm-appendages and tentacle arms lace throughout their openings. Eyes, tubes, and any open areas are devoured from within and without.

Those that gather behind X are sliced and shredded from the tri-blade and tail spikes. As one whole blob and several split layers cross, the tri-blade stabs up and slams the impaled catch to the ground. The tail swirls out and begins pounding them into dust and sludge.

The entrance of shoggoths dries up. These are all that remain.

With his arms and wings spread (wing-rims forward), X races to the opposite end of the room, tearing through everything like an armed bullet train. He hits the wall and repels backwards in a horizontal line. The spikes and wing-swords destroy the rest.

Hitting his back against the second wall, X watches the peels, splits, chunks, lumps, and sludges fall before him.

Only one remains. X approaches it with his mech arms and shoots machine guns and rockets. The revolting mess oozes and bubbles, but only from minimal damage. The firing continues, holding it at bay until X comes directly before it. And begins eating it.

After devouring the last, X steps forward to the front of the arena, keeping his back to the massacred field. For some reason, he doesn't remove the barrier, just waits.

The troops go from entertained to shouting.

Behind X, the remains of the shoggoths are forming together.

"(Sometimes, you have to add some drama to make it engaging.)"

X turns deliberately and slowly. The shoggoths have formed into a fattened disk encircled with long extremities. It rises higher than X, the upper tube-limbs shiver like stuttering pistons. The tubule arms fall on the opposite side, putting the disk body over X. X jumps with limb and wing attacks, agitating the core. It shakes and shivers in anger, not pain. It drops on X several times, pounding him fiercely.

With its body spread to the breadth of the arena, the base rolls on its limbs. In a circular sequence, the lifted limbs attack and then land, trading off with the next set. After a few attacks, X figures the pattern and attacks the stationed limbs and base.

The shoggoth monster flops on the ground, then rises on one side with X stuck in its gruesome tissues. All of X's parts attack, cutting eyes, ruining mouths, damaging minute arms, but the circling limbs are too great.

X's wings come off, then his tail, then his arms and legs. His body is severed, and finally the head comes off.

A mystery to his soldiers, they see something underneath: an outline of X's body like flowing glass. It's too flowing to be precisely solid, but it's not liquid either. It seems only partly material.

The mysterious outline looks at the separating limbs with curiosity and study, not fear. It waits, unencumbered, for the shoggoth mutation to eat them.

The head goes last, out of sight into the shoggoth's body. The abomination rests for a second, then becomes ill. The mess of severed blob-tissues repulses and curdles as it turns a strange purple and black color. From its hardening tissues, the vaults break, and X's parts consciously come together on the outline.

Made whole again, he looks at his troops and smiles. This was all planned.

X raises his palms up, and the barrier removes. He turns to the living disease and performs a tilted-barrel attack (angled, his body spins 360 with all limbs and appendages attacking), then ends with a double bio-cable lash.

The cesspool hardens and breaks apart. The parts continue to disintegrate until there is nothing left.

"As you can see, gentlemen, worst case scenario." [pause] "We are going to win this war."

I'LL COME BACK FOR YOU

It is the morning of the great and final day. One of both joy and sadness.

"You know the plan for the next several days. Rad will be in charge. My personal mission must be finished before we meet again. Then, we will all be ready. Think of this as coming one step closer. I am so sorry to say goodbye for now, but I'll come back for you."

It's a strange sight to behold: dead soldiers embracing a conscious, draconine tower goodbye. But there it is.

---

[in the outside city]

In the brisk, cold air, The Unnamed One rises into the sky.

[closeup POV] The sun covers the entire view, and in the center is a shadowed and white-glazed dragon warrior, bannered within the flowing gold. Before fluxing into another dimension, he looks vehemently towards the grander mountain beyond, the one the elder things feared to tread.

"I'll come back for you."


[The full The Unnamed One story is available on the Archive Of Our Own website.]