WICKED WICKED WAYS

“By the Daemonian Spires!” I swore. “The Shaitans of Eblis. We have dealt with them before, but the presence of The Al-Hazred Amulet could conceivably create a far more powerful manifestation of them -- in truth, a manifestation of the type unseen since prehistoric times.”

“But Daniel,” asked Millie Drake, “why was such a dangerous amulet to be found there at that mosque on Pacific Avenue, and how was it so easily stolen?”

We were at our secret headquarters, located as it is in the golden trapezoidal rooftop of a certain New York City skyscraper, and containing our laboratory and electronic equipment, along with many alien artefacts and mementos of our career across Space and Time. I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, and jungle boots. My panama hat and opera cape hung from a near by hallstand.

My companion Millie is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and sun-kissed skin. The hot pink dress she wore only served to highlight her wonderful adolescent figure.

Also with us was Kit-10, our mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small mechanical cat.

“The imam of the mosque was unaware of the amulet’s true purpose,” I replied to Millie’s query. “He only saw it as an antiquity of medieval Arabian culture, not knowing that it had actually belonged to the infamous sorcerer known as Abdul al-Hazred. It was on display in a small glass case to the side of the mosque’s main sanctuary, so purloining it was not a difficulty, hmmm?”

“But the thief had to be aware of the amulet’s true origin, right?” returned my friend. “In order to even attempt such a thing, I mean. If the imam didn’t even know, who would?”

“That is indeed the question, love. The thief had to be someone of an high level of occult knowledge, familiar with the story of the Shaitans, those immensely powerful beings who ruled the ancient planet Eblis, at one time the fifth of the Solar System, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. They were beings of such incredible power that their mentalist abilities in time corroded the very structure of their planet, causing it to break up many millions of years before intelligent mammalian life even developed upon Earth. This is what created the asteroid belt, hmmm?”

“But even that didn’t kill the Shaitans, right?”

“Indeed not. With their physical forms gone, they then issued forth as beings of pure energy, wreaking havoc across myriad millennia, until they eventually settled on Earth, in the area of the Middle East -- becoming the very demonic spirits worshipped by the people of that region until the Islamic Prophet Mohammed converted the people to the worship of the God of Abraham.”

“So if someone has stolen The Al-Hazred Amulet, and intends to use it to summon the Shaitans, what will they… ?”

“Sensing danger, s--,” suddenly interrupted Kit-10 in her simulated yet pleasantly-feminine voice. “An unknown energy signature has entered the chamber.”

(It should be noted here that Kit-10, along with her other feline characteristics, is possessed of the total inability to openly show respect to anyone. In sooth, the closest she ever comes to it is by referring to me by a slight “s--” sound -- for “sir” -- and to Millie Drake by “m--” -- for “ma’am”.)

“Oh my goodness, Daniel!” cried Millie. “Look!”

I whirled around to see that which had so startled my companions, and beheld an horror indeed. At that very moment, forming in the air above us was a swirling cacophony of eldritch black and red energies; energies that, as we watched, began to coalesce into a face. It was a face as unto that of a man of middle years, his visage still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marked with the results of lifetimes of extreme unadulterated evil. His hair was long and dark, and his countenance was decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an absolute hypnotic glare.

Of course, I recognised this face immediately. I recognised it as belonging to my oldest and most bitter foe, the renegade Algolite who has become the most dangerous and prolific criminal in all the Cosmos.

It was the face of Don Wingus!! ...

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.

Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …

“Don Wingus!” I uttered the damnable name of the one possessing the countenance manifesting before us. “I should have known. So he did escape from The Houdini Codex -- and it was he who sent the demon-possessed actor Jim Caviezel against is. Now he has continued his career of evil by stealing The Al-Hazred Amulet and utilising it to call forth the very power of the Shaitans!”

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the unholy phantasm then vanished.

“Are you all right, Millie?” I enquired concernedly.

“Yes, I’m OK, Daniel,” she replied.

“And you, Kit-10?”

“All systems undamaged, s--,” replied the robotic kitten.

“So was that really Don Wingus?” queried Millie Drake. “Did he actually steal the amulet?”

“Quite so, love,” I replied, “and he has indeed used it to summon the powers of the Shaitans of Eblis. This manifestation was merely a display of bravado, but showing that he could invade the sacred space of our headquarters, even for a brief time, highlights the extreme power that he is now wielding.”

“Daniel, we have to stop him!”

“Quite so, and we must begin by ascertaining from where he is operating, hmmm? Kit-10, can you trace those energies to any starting point?”

“Accessing,” replied the robot. “Systems detect the origin point to be beneath the address at the corner of Pacific Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.”

“Interesting,” I said, accessing some information on one of the computer consoles. “That is a former church basement that was once used as a ‘soup kitchen’ for the city’s poor. The sufferings undergone at such a location would be conductive to the dire powers of the Shaitans, hmmm?”

“We need to get over there right away!” announced Millie Drake bravely.

“Quite so,” I agreed whilst fetching my hat and cloak. “Come along Mills, Kit-10. We have demons to fight.” …

A short time later on that overcast day, we arrived at the location, located as it was in an old shuttered church building on the corner of Pacific and MLK.

“Be aware,” I warned my companions. “Wingus shall not be here alone. There are likely agents of Spectral Paranormal already watching us.”

Millie, Kit-10, and I walked cautiously around the church to the small flight of steps leading to the basement. Strangely, a figure was walking up them to-wards us. He was an obese man of medium height, dressed in a sport shirt and shorts, his skin pale and eyes blue, and his face covered with a rather scruffy growth of beard.

“Is there something I can do for you?” he questioned, his voice humorously high-pitched. “My name is Dave Eddings, and I’m here to help people in need.”

“Pardon us for having to barge past, my good man,” I replied, “but you should be aware that this establishment is being utilised for something of extreme occult evil.”

“Oh, really,” he rejoined, scratching his beard. “Wait. Do you mean… what my master is doing?”

With this, the man who called himself Dave Eddings suddenly struck me in the face, a blow not of mere human strength -- a punch that set me careening across the pavement!

“Kit-10!” I heard Millie Drake call. “Blast that man!”

The robotic cat then sent a bolt of her nose-laser at Dave Eddings. The man then fell to the pavement with a resounding thud.

Quickly recovering from the blow, I ran over and inspected the man’s now-prostrate form.

“It is all right,” I said. “He is now quite unconscious. ‘Dave Eddings’, hmmm? Kit-10, do you have any information on this man?”

“Accessing database of known criminals, s--,” replied the computerised feline. “Located. David Eddings, former social worker. Forced to leave his employment with the state due to allegations of the sexual abuse of his own minor children. Narrowly escaped arrest due to assistance from former co-workers. Has survived on unemployment benefits since.”

“Daniel,” said Millie Drake, “do you think his guilt is what led him to join Spectral Paranormal?”

“More than likely,” I opined. “Such feelings are indeed known to lead humans into becoming operatives of evil. Nevertheless, we have no time for philosophising, hmmm?”

We then continued down the steps to the church basement. The door was unlocked, and we entered the partially-ruined cellar. It was quite dark, but we soon descried some black candles glowing at the far end of the subterranean chamber.

“Greetings, Rumanos and friends,” said the mocking voice of Don Wingus. "I have been expecting you. I do hope you have not hurt Dave Eddings too much. He has such a fun fat fundament.”

The villain was standing before an ebon-draped altar on which was the silver form of The Al-Hazred Amulet itself, its Arabic letters glowing with a blood-red effulgence.

“Don Wingus, you unholy fiend!” I charged. “Stop this madness immediately. You cannot control the powers of the Shaitans at the level this will evoke them. They are pure chaos, true evil in its most unforgiving form, they are…”

“Just stop it, Rumanos, you old hypocrite,” returned Wingus, evilly resplendent in his black vestment robe. “I already have total control of the Shaitans of Eblis through the influence of the amulet. It is by them that I shall establish Spectral Paranormal as the dominant religion on planet Earth, with myself as its supreme high priest! Through this, it is actually you who shall be remembered as the ultimate force of evil; the creepy alien exile who opposed me. The power is now mine, and you shall now die for your ‘wicked wicked ways’!”

With this, there suddenly burst forth from the altar area a seething force of darksome demonic energies, blacker than black can be; an unholy maelstrom of deviltry that then surged forth directly to-wards Millie Drake, Kit-10, and me!

Is it really at all possible, my dear friends and most appreciated readers, that you can even begin to fathom the extreme satanic horror, forsooth the complete unhallowed terror and total demoniacal fear of the situation in which my companions and I then found ourselves? There we were, the lovely Miss Millie Drake, the robotic Kit-10, and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos. There we were, facing the evil intergalactic villain known to eternal damnation as Magister Don Wingus. There we were -- with the very powers he had now summoned, the swirling cacophony of red and black supernatural terror, the dread horror of the horridly ancient Shaitans of Eblis -- bursting forth from the very void of darkness directly to-wards us!!

“You will now die, Rumanos and friends,” reiterated Wingus. “You will now die, and I -- Don Wingus -- shall use the powers of the Shaitans to take my rightful place as supreme ruler of worlds!”

Then, before the Shaitan energies would have reached us, a most unusual incident occurred. For it is now that Dave Eddings, having recovered from Kit-10’s stun-ray, blundered into the room.

“Master Wingus!” he bellowed. “Master Wingus! I failed! I failed to keep your enemies away! Oh please forgive me, master!”

Dave Eddings kneeled and grasped the legs of Don Wingus as a form of grotesque supplication.

“Eddings, you pathetic fool!” shouted Wingus. “Unhand me! Your interference is causing a reversal of… !”

Indeed, at that very time, the energies of the demonic Shaitans of Eblis had reversed away from their course to-wards my friends and me, and had instead charged directly at the black-clad form of Magister Don Wingus!

“No! No!” he screamed as the demonic powers surrounded him. “You cannot do this to me! I am Don Wingus! I am the one who summoned you! I am the rightful master of all! I am… I am… !”

It was then that the voice of Don Wingus was suddenly cut off. It was then that he suddenly ceased to be seen within that underground chamber. For it was then that the very forces of the Shaitans suddenly blinked out of existence -- taking with them both Dave Eddings and his villainous master!

“Are you all right, my dear Millie?” I enquired concernedly.

“Yes, I’m OK,” she replied, taking my hand.

“And you, Kit-10?”

“Systems undamaged, s--,” replied the little robot, as always.

“So what happened?” queried Millie Drake. “I know that Don Wingus lost control of the Shaitans, but where did they go?”

“The Shaitans have been banished to another dimension -- a sort of ‘hell’, hmmm? -- and have taken Wingus with them.”

“So what about The Al-Hazred Amulet?”

“We can return it to the mosque,” said I, taking the now seemingly harmless object from the altar. “I am certain the imam can look up some suitable prayers against evil from the works of their Prophet. An interesting man, old Mohammed. Did you know he originally had wanted to convert to Judaism?”

“What happened to change his mind?” asked Millie as we exited the old church basement.

“Not being familiar with rabbinical tradition, he found some of the arguments of the Torah scholars a bit insulting. A shame, really. If the ‘Sons of Abraham’ had stayed united, the history and modern state of the Middle East would be quite different.”

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN

THE PASSION OF THE CAVIEZEL

“Remember, Caviezel,” said Don Wingus, “you must think of Choronzon!”

“Yes, Master Wingus,” replied Jim Caviezel. “I will remember.”

It was in a secret chamber somewhere underneath the city that this odd exchange took place. Magister Don Wingus, the infamous Algolite renegade and intergalactic criminal, was wearing a vestment robe of ebon black. His hair was long and dark, and his face, decorated as it was with a thin moustache and goatee, still showed signs of handsome distinction despite the obvious marks of lifetimes of extreme wickedness. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an absolute hypnotic glare.

The other was a decent-looking man in his fifties, tall and rather thin, with greying brown hair and a trim full beard. His blue eyes stared strangely as if haunted by thoughts of a life ruined. He was wearing blue jeans and a white polo shirt.

“So this will help with my acting career, Master?” he continued. “You promised you would do something to help me with that. It used to be so good before the woke elites took over Hollywood.”

“Yes, I know,” replied Wingus, barely hiding a note of annoyance. “The great demon Choronzon will empower you to conquer the entertainment industry, that I may utilise it to take my own rightful place as ruler of this world. Now, turn around, drop your trousers, and bend over.”

Caviezel did as ordered, and the evil Don Wingus took his place behind him, lifting up his vestment robe.

“By the powers of the psyche-sexual transfer,” intoned the villain, “I declare that the powers of the demon of chaos shall be invoked, that it may aid us in our endeavours.”

“Oh yes, Master!” moaned Jim Caviezel as Wingus began to abuse him. “Oh, that is so good!”

“Think of Choronzon!” shouted Don Wingus as he continued violently. “Think of Choronzon! Think of Choronzon!” …

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.

Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …

“Jim Caviezel?” wondered Millie Drake. “I’ve never heard of him.”

“He was a bit before your time, hmmm?” I replied. “Originally from Mount Vernon, Washington, he appeared in several films and was building a good career in the business before he was blacklisted for playing the lead role in an hideously anti-Semitic film entitled ‘The Passion of the Christ’.”

“Anti-Semitic?” shuddered Millie. “He must be a horrible person then. So now he is making some sort of comeback?”

“So it appears,” I confirmed. “He is being advertised as a sort of motivational speaker doing a lecture tour -- a tour in which he is informing the public concerning the virtues of Choronzon!”

We were in our secret headquarters, located as it is in the golden trapezoidal roof of the Gateway Hotel in Atlantic City, and which contains numerous alien artefacts from our career as protectors of planet Earth.

I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, and jungle boots. My panama hat and opera cape hung from a near by hallstand. My companion, Miss Millie Drake, is an exceptionally beautiful young lady -- petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and sun-kissed skin. The royal blue dress she wore only served to highlight the shape of her wonderful adolescent figure.

Also with us, there in that chamber filled with electronic equipment and strange mementos of our past adventures, was Kit-10 -- our mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small mechanical cat.

“Choronzon?” repeated Millie Drake. “Isn’t that a demon?”

“Indeed it is,” I affirmed whilst twiddling my frills, “and a particularly noxious one at that. Choronzon is the demon of chaos called forth by the sixteenth century English occultist John Dee as part of his Enochian system of 'magic'. Choronzon is a creature of dispersion, its only purpose being the cause disorder and discord. Dee was only able to control it due to having the full information on the working of the magical system -- information, I must say, that has since been lost.”

“So if this Jim Caviezel is calling forth the demon now… Oh my gosh!”

“Quite so, my dear Mills. Caviezel must be stopped. If Choronzon is set forth upon Earth, the results could be the utter annihilation of all life on the planet.”

“Then we must stop him!” bravely announced Millie Drake.

“Indeed we must,” I agreed, fetching my hat and cloak. “Caviezel is appearing tonight at the Atlantic City Convention Center, and we shall go confront him as agents of the Kosmikos.” …

The sun was just setting over Atlantic City as Millie Drake and I rode down Indiana Avenue to-wards the convention centre. I was at the wheel of our specially-modified canary-yellow Edwardian roadster (affectionately know as “Lizzie”).

“It’s too bad Kit-10 couldn’t come with us,” complained Millie.

“Quite so,” I agreed, also missing the help that the computerised kitten could have given us in our strange assignment, “but we cannot be certain what detrimental effect the powers of Choronzon could have on her operational systems. It is better for her to stay at headquarters monitoring the computers, hmmm?”

“So Daniel,” continued my companion, “do you really think this Jim Caviezel could succeed in calling forth that demon? Is he perhaps a Spectral Paranormal agent and… Oh my goodness! Look!”

I looked upwards to see what had so startled Millie and beheld an horror indeed. It was an huge black shape with two glowing crimson eyes, and it was descending directly upon us!! …

Meanwhile at the Atlantic City Convention Center, Jim Caviezel was beginning his “motivational seminar”. Standing onstage in a black business suit with a blood-red necktie, he addressed the assembled audience with an air of supercilious contempt. Some noticed the flashes of ebony black light that seemed to play around his person.

“I am, of course, Jim Caviezel,” he stated, “the greatest living Hollywood actor. The only reason everyone doesn’t know this is because of all the woke garbage in movies today. But don’t worry, because right here tonight we are going to break through all of that. Yes, tonight I am going to prove my power by manifesting the force that will destroy the liberal media. Tonight I am going to bring forth -- Choronzon!!”

With this, and huge darksome mass of demoniacal powder appeared all around Caviezel, accompanied as it was by a sound as of desolate lamentation.

“This is the power of Choronzon!” exulted Jim Caviezel as the audience gasped in shock. “This is the power I wield over this world and shall use to make myself known as the chosen one to bring All-American Conservatism back to Hollywood!” …

I activated Lizzie’s modified engines in an attempt to escape the demonic form that had appeared descending upon us. We shot out from in front of it just before it would have reached the car.

“Daniel,” said Millie Drake, glancing behind us. “It just disappeared!”

“Yes,” I replied. “That was only a small side-effect of the Choronzon powers. The full force of it shall not be that easy to escape. We must hurry and face Caviezel before he manifests it further!”

We arrived at the convention centre and parked Lizzie in the underground lot, taking the elevator lift to the level on which the “seminar” was taking place.

As we entered the area, Jim Caviezel, surrounded as he was by the swirling dark forces of Choronzon, recognised and addressed us thus:

“Oh hello, Doctor Rumanos and Miss Drake. I was told to expect you. You see, there is something you don’t know. I am not some mere magic user. I am Jim Caviezel, and I have been blessed with power from one most skilled in the supernatural forces. The power is mine!”

“Daniel,” whispered Millie to me, “could he mean… ?”

“Let us not speculate now, love,” I admonished. “We have no interest in Caviezel’s boasting. We are only here to defeat the demon.”

“You cannot defeat me, you big-nosed Algolite meddler,” sneered Jim Caviezel, “and you cannot defeat -- the power of Choronzon!!”

With this pronouncement, the darkling demonic power suddenly shot out from the stage area to-wards us!

“You will now die, Doctor Daniel Rumanos and Miss Millie Drake!” continued Caviezel. “By the power of Choronzon, you will now die!!!”

Do you see the ungodly horror in this situation, my dear friends and readers? There we were, the wonderful Miss Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos. There we were -- facing the obscene Hollywood actor known as Jim Caviezel (his audience having long since fled in terror). There we were -- as Caviezel sent the dark force of the demon of chaos and dispersion directly to-wards us! It was a power he was using in a desperate attempt to save his failing acting career -- a power he had gained (unknown to us at the time) by an horrid act of ungodly sexuality with my oldest and most bitter enemy; the master criminal and intergalactic villain known to eternal damnation as Don Wingus!

“You will die, Doctor Rumanos!” repeated Caviezel. “You will die, along with all of that woke Hollywood elite filth! Then I shall be recognised as the world’s greatest actor, and Spectral Paranormal shall reign supreme!”

The audience had by now indeed fled in terror, and we stood there alone as the darksome power of the chaos demon shot directly to-wards us!

“Millie, hold my hand,” I said.

Then, as soon as I felt my beautiful companion’s touch, I intoned:

“Ol sonuf vaoresaji gohu Iad Belata! Elanosaha caelazod! Sobrazod o noziredo noco mada! Hoathe Iaida Saitan!”

Then, a most remarkable thing occurred. The dark force of Choronzon suddenly reversed and -- in stead of touching Millie and me -- shot directly back upon Jim Caviezel!

“What!” he cried in horror as the demonic power began to touch him. “Rumanos, what have you done? What have you done?!!”

“By the supreme power of the forty-eight Keys of Enoch,” I said, “I do take command over the powers of Choronzon -- and by it I do bring your end!”

The dark force had by now completely surrounded Jim Caviezel, and he was screaming in total abject terror.

“No!” he cried. "No! No! Noooooooo!!”

With this, the power suddenly dispersed, and all was quiet there in the Atlantic City Convention Center. I beheld the stage area carefully, and assured that there was no further sign of either the demon or the execrable actor Jim Caviezel.

“Daniel,” said Millie Drake, “what happened? That was Enochian you spoke, but what did it do to Choronzon and Jim Caviezel?”

“Mills, my dear,” I replied, “that was not only Enochian, but it was -- when empowered by the supreme force of Love -- the proper conjuration to banish Choronzon and to suitably punish his adherents. It was, as I told you before, ‘lost’ upon this planet. Nevertheless, it was secretly retained by the Kosmikos of Algol and communicated to all senior agents. Its result is to condemn those who would call forth the demon of dispersion to the only penalty proper to such an offence -- total scattering of their very life-force to the furthest reaches of Time and Space. In short, the being once known as Jim Caviezel, failing actor and active anti-Semite, is no more!”

“So what next, Daniel?” enquired Millie Drake as we exited the convention centre into that Atlantic City evening. “We still need to find out who empowered Caviezel, don’t we?”

“Quite so, love,” I affirmed. “That is a dark mystery we shall definitely soon endeavour to unravel. But first, there is certainly time to stop by Tony’s Baltimore Grill for some pizza, hmmm?”

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN

SHADOWS OF ALGOL

In the dim, fog-shrouded streets of New York City, where the neon lights flicker like dying stars and the whispers of ancient secrets echo through the alleyways, I, Doctor Daniel Rumanos, found myself once again entangled in the web of the uncanny. As a descendant of the Watchers of Algol -- that enigmatic race of interstellar beings whose blood courses through my veins, granting me insights beyond mortal ken -- I have long served as a guardian against the forces that lurk in the shadows. My companion in these ventures, the ever-resourceful Millie Drake, my assistant and fellow investigator, stood by my side, her keen intuitions a perfect counterpoint to my own otherworldly intellect.

It began on a chill autumn evening, as the city prepared for the veil between worlds to thin with the approach of All Hallows' Eve. We had received a cryptic summons from an old acquaintance, Professor Elias Thorne, a reclusive archaeologist known for his obsession with pre-Sumerian artifacts. His message, scrawled in trembling handwriting on parchment that smelled faintly of brimstone, read: "The Amulet awakens. Shadows consume. Come at once—before it claims us all."

Millie and I arrived at Thorne's cluttered brownstone in Greenwich Village just as the clock struck midnight. The door creaked open on its own, revealing a hallway lined with dusty tomes and bizarre relics. Thorne himself was nowhere in sight, but a trail of overturned books led us to his study. There, amidst shattered glass and toppled shelves, we found him—or what was left of him. His body lay crumpled on the Persian rug, his face frozen in a rictus of terror, eyes wide as if staring into the abyss. Clutched in his rigid hand was an ornate amulet, carved from a shimmering black stone that seemed to absorb the light around it. Etched upon its surface were symbols that pulsed with an eerie, inner glow -- symbols I recognized from the forbidden Algolite texts.

"Daniel," Millie whispered, her voice steady despite the horror, "this isn't just murder. Look at his skin -- it's... desiccated, like something drained the life from him."

I knelt beside the corpse, my alien senses tingling. A faint psychic residue clung to the air, a malevolent energy that spoke of extradimensional intrusion.

"The Amulet of Zaroth," I murmured, recalling the legends. "An artifact said to bridge our world with the void realms of our Aeternusion ancestors. Thorne must have unearthed it during his last expedition to the Mesopotamian ruins. But why activate it now?"

As if in answer, the amulet hummed to life in Thorne's grasp. Shadows in the room began to writhe, coalescing into eldritch tendrils that snaked toward us. Millie Drake dodged nimbly, grabbing a nearby silver candlestick -- pure silver, a ward against certain entities. I channeled my inner power, our Algolite heritage allowing me to project a barrier of ethereal light. The shadows recoiled, but not before one brushed against my arm, sending a jolt of icy dread through my veins. Visions flooded my mind: Thorne, in a fit of hubris, reciting an incantation to summon knowledge from beyond. Instead, he had opened a portal, inviting a shadow entity -- a Devourer of Souls -- to feast upon the living.

We fled the study, the amulet in my jacket pocket, its weight like a black hole pulling at reality. Outside, the city seemed altered; pedestrians moved with unnatural jerks, their eyes glazing over as if possessed. The entity was spreading, using the amulet as an anchor to infiltrate minds and drain essences. Millie Drake, ever the pragmatist, suggested we consult the archives at the New York Public Library's restricted section -- a place where I had hidden several Algolite grimoires.

Under the cover of night, we slipped into the library, using my stage magician's skills to bypass security. In the dimly lit vault, I pored over the texts while Millie monitored the amulet, which now throbbed like a heartbeat. The grimoires revealed the truth: The Amulet of Zaroth was no mere relic; it was a fragment of a shattered star from the Algol system, infused with the essence of a banished Watcher who had turned to darkness. To seal it, one needed a ritual involving blood of a pure Algolite elder -- my blood -- and a counter-chant performed at the stroke of dawn.

Nevertheless, time was against us. As we prepared, the shadows converged. The library's halls filled with whispers, books flying from shelves as the Devourer manifested. It took form as a towering silhouette, eyes like voids, tendrils lashing out. Millie fought valiantly, using an improvised talisman from a nearby exhibit to deflect attacks. I began the chant, using the digital blood sample stored within my transonic mezuzah and letting the energy fall upon the amulet. Pain surged through me as the entity resisted, probing my mind with visions of cosmic horror—worlds devoured, stars extinguished.

"Hold on, Daniel!" Millie cried, her voice anchoring me. With a final invocation, I thrust the amulet into a beam of emerging dawn light filtering through a high window. The shadow screamed, a sound like tearing fabric, and dissolved into nothingness. The amulet cracked, its power neutralized, crumbling to dust in my hand.

Whilst the Sun rose, restoring normalcy to the city, Millie and I shared a weary embrace. Thorne's death was a tragedy, but we had prevented a catastrophe that could have engulfed New York in eternal night. Such are the burdens of the Watchers' legacy -- eternal vigilance against the mysteries that dwell beyond the veil.

None the less, as we left the library, a faint whisper lingered in my ear, a promise of greater threats to come. For in the vast cosmos, the shadows never truly die; they merely wait for the next fool to summon them.

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN

HOUDINI

“Apparently, the DiTraS has been working only by remote control by the Watchers for some time,” I opined.

“But why, Daniel?” replied my companion, Miss Millie Drake. “We have always been loyal agents of the Kosmikos. Don’t they trust us after all that?”

“Well, my dear Mills,” I rejoined, “you know that our people are a rather suspicious lot as it is, hmmm? They are distrustful and apprehensive about anything that is not completely within their vision. That being the case, it makes sense that the Absolute Convention would decide that even the activities of a government-approved espionage organisation should be monitored and covertly controlled.”

We are at our secret headquarters, located as it is in an hidden chamber within the golden trapezoidal rooftop of the Gateway Hotel Atlantic City (this following our move from a similar location in a certain other American east coast metropolis). In addition to our computer equipment, and the DiTraS itself (which is pronounced “DYE-tress” and stands for Dimensional Transport Sphere) -- its outer “Roman column” appearance disguising its true nature as a combination Spaceship/Time-machine -- the HQ houses numerous relics and books that have been collected during our career as investigators of bizarre phenomenon upon Earth and elsewhere.

I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, and jungle boots. My panama hat and one of my favourite opera capes hung from a near by hallstand.

Millie Drake is an exquisitely beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, lovely violet eyes, and sun kissed skin. The royal blue dress she wore only served to highlight her slender adolescent figure.

Also with us was Kit-10, our mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small robotic cat. At the moment, she was busy monitoring some information from one of the computer consoles.

I continued to look at the readout of my transonic turnscrew, itself an highly sophisticated scientific instrument resembling in physical form a writing pen.

“According to the transonic,” I continued, returning the instrument to my jacket pocket, “the DiTraS will not now function as a travel vehicle except when the powers of the Watchers of Algol activate its Temporal-Spatial engines.”

[DiTraS ("DYE-tress"): Dimensional Transport Sphere; a Spaceship/Time-machine of our people, the Watchers of Algol.]

“So we’re stranded on Earth?” queried Millie.

“More or less,” I replied. “At least until the Kosmikos or the Convention needs our expertise elsewhere, hmmm? I would imagine that the Universal Overseer has a control mechanism as well, and…”

“Information has been received s--,” suddenly interrupted Kit-10 in her simulated yet pleasantly-feminine voice. “It concerns the theft from the AC Bookshop.”

(It should be noted here that Kit-10, along with her other catlike characteristics, is completely incapable of openly showing respect for anyone. In point of fact, the closest she ever comes to it is by addressing me by a slight “s--” sound -- for “sir” -- and Millie by “m--” -- for “ma’am”.)

“Oh yes,” said Millie. “That antique occult book that was stolen from the shop downtown. Kit-10 was getting the information we needed on its exact description. So what was it, Kit-10?”

“The book has been positively identified, m--,” rejoined the mechanical kitten, “as the exceedingly rare text known as The Houdini Codex.”

“By the Daemonian Spires!” I swore. “The Houdini Codex! It appears our forced ‘exile’ on this planet is going to be interesting at least, hmmm?” …

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.

Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …

“The Houdini Codex?” repeated Millie Drake. “As in Harry Houdini? The famous magician Houdini? Really?”

“Quite so,” I affirmed. “The late great illusionist and escape artist himself. He was born 1874 in Appleton, Wisconsin, of Hungarian-Jewish descend, his birth name being Erik Weizs. His father was a rabbi, you know, and did some research into Kabala and other forms of Jewish mysticism. Harry Houdini later found the notes the old man had left on the subject and had them privately printed into a book, which he termed The Houdini Codex. His purpose in this was to use it as a prop in some of his stage routines, but he found that to not be a wise idea, hmmm?”

“Why? What happened?”

“Well, my dear Mills, it seems the Cabalistic words assembled in the book had some true occult powers, and that they could be utilised to evoke certain ancient forces, most likely of the type known from the Solomonic Magics; forsooth the so-called cacodemonic entities which we know to be the psychic remnants of certain eldritch extraterrestrial beings. Even the very presence of The Houdini Codex is said to have caused weird manifestations. Houdini put the book away in his private collection at his New York City townhouse, and it seems to have disappeared after his death in 1926. Apparently, it found its way into the antique books market and eventually ended up in that shop here in Atlantic City!”

“So now it’s been stolen,” Millie pondered. “Who would do that, and why?”

“The book’s monetary value,” I answered, “although considerable, is no more than many other rare volumes -- so it is likely someone who believes they can utilise The Houdini Codex to conjure preternatural forces, hmmm? Someone who believes they have the ability to utilise those forces for their own gain; someone who finds the added act of villainy in stealing the book to assist in the moral outrage useful in summoning forth the powers of darkness.”

“Oh my gosh! Do you think it could be… ?”

“Now now, Millie’” I admonished. “Let us not attempt to theorise without more evidence. Unfortunately, the book shop had no security cameras, so for now we have very little in clues as to the identity of the thief.”

“So what can we do?” worried the young lady.

“We can at least do a scan of the entire area and find out if anyone is accessing such powers. Then perhaps we can…”

Kit-10 suddenly interrupted, “Danger, s--. Systems detecting unusual energy surges entering the premises.”

“Daniel, look!” added Millie Drake.

I whirled around to see what had upset my friend, and beheld an horror indeed. Forming in the air above us, right there in that chamber of our headquarters, was what appeared as a swirling mass of ebony black energy -- in truth a darksome conglomeration of horrid occult powers. As we watched, it grew larger and larger, and began to hover closer to us. As it approached, its true nature became more apparent, as we saw flashes of numerous horrifying entities, eldritch shapes as of things otherworldly; things with tentacles and antennae and hideous glowing eyes along with other supernatural terrors beyond description -- indeed things beyond any sane imaginings.

I pulled out my transonic device and tried several settings against the darkling horror, and Kit-10 fired several shots of her nose-laser at it; but all this was to no avail. It continued to approach closer and closer to us, its appearance now being augmented with an hellish howling sound like unto that of thousands of infernal curs.

With this, I heard Millie Drake scream as the demoniacal terror reached us. …

Little did we know that, at that very same time, a quite odd event was transpiring at a near by street corner. For at this location, an apparent “busker” or street performer had set up his show. It was obviously a stage magic act, and the performer himself was dressed accordingly in a shiny black silk suit and matching full-length cape. He stood before what appeared to be a Victorian-era gaslight lamppost, which was several metres behind him and look strangely out-of-place in the modern street setting.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced, his voice with a tinge of mocking madness, “welcome to the most amazing presentation you shall ever experience! Yes, right here today, on the streets of Atlantic City, I -- The New Houdini -- with the help of my assistant, Elmer, shall conjure forth the very forces of eternal darkness!”

The magician was a man seemingly of middle years, his face still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marked with the influence of lifetimes of extreme unhallowed evil. His hair was long and dark, and his countenance decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an irresistibly hypnotic glare.

It was then that the magician’s “assistant” loped out to stand beside him. This was what appeared at first to be a large and strangely deformed man, but a closer look at him revealed his true hybrid nature. His dark skin was covered with coarse orange-brown hair, his arms reached to his knees, and his visage was an absolute simian horror. Incongruously, he was clad in a pair of colourful Bermuda shorts.

“This, my friends, is The Houdini Codex,” continued the magician, indicating a large antique book that he had set up on a lectern, “and it is from this volume that I shall utter the ancient words to summon forth the most amazing and incredible sights to ever meet human eyes!”

Whilst the magician was speaking, the apelike Elmer loped off down the street, his hands dragging the pavement, as if on some sudden mission. …

Millie Drake, Kit-10 and I were driving down the city street in my specially-modified canary-yellow Edwardian roadster (affectionately known as “Lizzie”).

“That dark force that attacked our headquarters dispersed quickly,” I said. “It was only meant as a warning, and the full power of what is being evoked will be far more dangerous.”

“So the transonic was able to trace from whence the thing came?” asked Millie.

“Quite so,” I affirmed. “It was emanating from the corner of Atlantic Avenue and Ohio Avenue, hmmm? Let us stop the car a couple of blocks away and approach that location with caution.”

We did so, alighting from the car and beginning to walk down the street.

“Millie, Kit-10, be vigilant,” I warned. “Whomever is doing this must be a practitioner of some power, and…”

“Oh my gosh, Daniel!” suddenly cried Millie. “Look out!!”

Before I could even react, what had so frightened the young lady was upon me. It was a large apelike man clad in a pair of incongruous Bermuda shorts. His incredible strength sent me hurtling to the ground.

I quickly reacted, utilising my mastery of Daemonian jujitsu in order the throw the creature from me.

“Kit-10!” I called. “Stun him!”

With this, the robotic cat shot a blast of her nose laser, causing the ape-man to fall unconscious to the pavement.

“Daniel, are you all right?” worried Millie Drake. “What is that thing?”

“I am unharmed, love,’ I assured her. “My attacker appears to be a native of a certain village of Borneo that is known for its orang-utan prostitutes. An ape-human hybrid, in other words. Hideous, hmmm?”

“But what is it doing here?”

“Likely our foe is using it for protection, hmmm? We have seen such use of similar creatures by Spectral Paranormal agents in the past.”

My companions and I then continued with our mission, approaching the street corner. We soon enough beheld the magician, still announcing his intentions to the small audience that had gathered, standing as he was before the strange lamppost and beside the lectern on which was The Houdini Codex.

Of course, I recognised the magician immediately. I recognised him as my oldest and most deadly enemy -- the renegade Algolite who has become the most dangerous criminal in all of Time and Space.

“Don Wingus!” I said his name as we approached. “I should have known. So you did escape from Muskelon.”

“Greetings, Rumanos and Miss Drake,” he sneered. “You are just in time. I hope you did not harm my assistant Elmer too much. He has such a fine hairy hole.”

“Wingus, you ungodly fiend!” I charged. “Even you cannot control the powers of The Houdini Codex. The are demonic forces beyond imagining.”

“Oh, but you are wrong in that, Rumanos,” chuckled the villain. “You are wrong, as you shall now see!”

With this, the evil Don Wingus waved his hands and an huge conglomeration of darksome demoniacal terrors suddenly appeared, racing directly to-wards my friends and me.

“Now, Doctor Daniel Rumanos,” continued Wingus. “You shall die! I shall use the powers of The Houdini Codex in order to establish myself as ruler of this world, but first -- you shall die!”

I wonder, my dear friends and most appreciated readers, if you can even commence to comprehend the unspeakable and unheard-of horror, forsooth the complete and utter screaming terror of the situation in which we then found ourselves. There we were; the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, the robotic Kit-10, and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos. There we were, the only thing standing in the way of that obscene intergalactic villain in his latest scheme to establish himself as supreme ruler of planet Earth. There we were -- with the full force of the awesome and legendary powers of The Houdini Codex, under the command of the infamous Algolite criminal known to eternal damnation as Magister Don Wingus, racing directly to-wards us!!

“This is your end, Rumanos!” repeated the evil Don Wingus. “You shall die, and I shall go on to rule this world!”

Then, just as the horrid conglomeration of demonic powers was about to reach my companions and me, a quite odd thing occurred. The ape-man assistant known as Elmer suddenly loped back onto the scene, having recovered from Kit-10’s stun blast. He went up to Don Wingus with a look as of strange supplication, and then began muttering what amounted to an heartfelt apology for failing in his mission against us.

“Millie,” I said, “the distraction will cause Wingus to lose control of the powers. Look! They are reversing!”

As the darksome terror barrelled down on them, Don Wingus suddenly ran behind Elmer the ape-man. The entire force of the eldritch black conglomeration surrounded the primitive creature, and within a split second consumed him before itself vanishing into nothingness.

Just then, we saw Wingus approaching the strange lamppost. As he did, a type of porthole-like opening appeared in it and the villain stepped through it. The opening quickly closed behind him.

“Daniel, that’s his DiTraS!” cried Millie. “He’s escaping!”

With the strange gasping and moaning sound of its activated engine, Magister Don Wingus’s Time-Spaceship began to fade from view. I quickly pulled the transonic turnscrew from my jacket and pointed it at the supposed lamppost. The disguised machine then made noise a like something had burst in its insides, before it finally vanished entirely.

“Daniel,” said Millie, “what did you do?”

“I simply transferred the information stored in my transonic concerning how the Watchers disabled the engine of our DiTraS, hmmm?” said I whilst returning the device to my pocket. “If Wingus manages to re-materialise his own ship from the inter-dimensional vortex, it will be somewhere on Earth, and he will find himself unable to activate the dematerialisation circuitry again.”

“So he will be stranded here the same as we are?” asked Millie Drake, who glanced over to verify that Kit-10 was unharmed as well.

“Quite so,” I affirmed, “and as unfortunate as it is to have to curse the Earthlings with his presence, at least we will be able to keep an eye on him, hmmm? Indeed, we will have to keep a vigilant lookout for his possible return.”

“And what about the book?”

I walked over and removed the volume from the lectern. “I will immediately inform the AC Bookshop that we have located it, hmmm? Then I shall also pay its full retail value, along with some extra, to the proprietor there. The Houdini Codex will then become a fitting addition to our own library of texts on black magic and the occult.”

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN

PLANET OF THE REPLICANTS

"The planet… Muskelon,” I said. “That is where we have materialised. A strange world it is. It is… surrounded by a natural radiation barrier, which can only be breached by… ships as advanced as ours. In addition, the core of the planet is filled with a type… of liquid ice, hmmm? Due to its particular… qualities, the ice reaches almost absolute zero but does not… freeze into a solid. Aside from that, Muskelon is a quite lush… forest world.”

There in the café-like control room of our DiTraS (which is pronounced “DYE-tress” and stands for Dimensional Transport Sphere); one of those incredibly-advanced combination Spaceship/Time-machines only available to our people, the Watchers of the Daemon-Star Algol, I was clad in my usual finery -- including a frilled poet shirt, velvet suit, jungle boots, panama hat, and one of my favourite opera capes -- but I must admit I was not quite my usual self. You see, I was still suffering from the effects of having been shot by an energy weapon wielded by a cloaked agent of the occult terrorist organisation known as Spectral Paranormal. Immediately after this occurrence, my companion and I had received a mysterious assignment from the Kosmikos of Algol that necessitated our quick departure in a voyage through the Time-Space Current.

“Any idea why the Kosmikos would send us here?” enquired my companion, the lovely Millie Drake.

(Millie is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and sun-kissed skin. The purple dress she wore only served to highlight the wondrous shape of her slender teenage figure.)

“Not as yet,” I admitted. “They are operating the DiTraS under… remote control, and we shall have to… have to…”

With this, I fell to the floor of the control room.

“Oh my gosh!” cried Millie. “Daniel! Are you all right?!”

“Hmmm…” I said, barely holding on to consciousness. “It appears the effect of that energy blaster caused more… internal damage than I at first thought. I will need more time to… heal and recover. Fortunately, the DiTraS shall be able to… help in that, hmmm?”

A golden illumination then issued forth from the control counter and surrounded me, creating a type of bed and blanket of light.

“Worry not… my dear Mills,” said I before drifting into a sort of coma. “All will be well… in time.”

“My gosh,” wept the young lady. “Please be well soon, Daniel. I don’t know if I can…”

Millie Drake’s words were then interrupted by an alarm sound issuing from the control board. She hurried over to it and activated the view-screen. On it was an image of several tall silver manlike beings in what was obviously the control centre of their own spaceship.

“We are entering the atmosphere of the planet Muskelon,” said one of them in its droning emotionless voice. “Our associated controller has succeeded in permitting our passage through the radiation field.”

“Oh my goodness!” said Millie as the video image then faded from view. “Leknii Replicants! But what are they doing here?!” …

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.

Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …

Millie Drake checked on me, lying as I was on the golden light sickbed that the DiTraS had provided. She saw that I was still unconscious.

Millie then turned around because she heard a slight whispering sound. It was the noise of the opening of the DiTraS doorway, which appears in a porthole-like form. She hurried over to it and looked out, beholding the thick green forest of the planet Muskelon.

“It’s like the DiTraS wants me to go investigate the planet,” wondered Millie. “Or is it the Kosmikos urging me to continue the mission? I don’t want to leave Daniel here alone, but maybe there is something out there that can help him. I’ll just go a short way outside and look around.”

With this, Millie Drake stepped out of the porthole onto the surface of the alien world. She walked several metres through the forest, away from the DiTraS (the exterior of which resembles a Roman column), soon losing sight of our ship amongst the lush greenery.

Suddenly, before Millie could even react, she found herself held tightly by something. It was a mass of numerous vines that had surrounded her form, and which were dragging her farther into the extraterrestrial foliage.

Millie Drake then screamed when she realised that she was being dragged into the gaping mouth of an huge carnivorous plant!!

Millie then quickly reached into an hidden pocket of her dress and pulled out an object like a thin cosmetics container, which is actually an highly advanced scientific device known as the transonic lip-gloss. She activated it and the instrument emitted a sharp electronic whine. With this, the vines released their hold and the young lady jumped away from them, avoiding the hideous mouth of the carnivorous plant.

“So it looks like this forest is kind of dangerous itself,” she mused to herself, returning the device to its pocket. “But why are the Replicants coming to this planet, and who helped them to pass the radiation barrier? Gosh, I wish Daniel were here!” …

I awoke on the floor of the DiTraS, discovering that the golden light bed had vanished from sight. I quickly rose to my feet.

“Spires of Daemonia!” I exclaimed. “I appear to have completely recovered, hmmm? The DiTraS has done an excellent job of stimulating my own Algolitish powers of self-healing.”

I hurried over to the control counter and checked the message system, soon discovering the video of the Replicants, which I replayed.

“The Replicants of Leknii!” said I. “So that is why the Kosmikos sent us here. Of course! The old legend from the Replicant Wars -- the one of an army waiting by an ocean of ice. Millie, we shall have to take care of this right away, and…”

It then, for the first time, occurred to me that Millie Drake was not present on the ship.

“By the Triple Star!” I swore. “She should not have gone out by herself!”

I took my own transonic turnscrew, the highly-advanced scientific instrument somewhat resembling a writing pen,  from the pocket of my jacket and quickly scanned it over the control counter for a few moments before returning it to my coat. I then activated the porthole and stepped out of the DiTraS onto the planet Muskelon. …

Far outside my viewpoint, Millie Drake had continued her lonely trek through the forest, now being careful not to get to close to any of the surrounding foliage. She had as yet seen no signs of the presence of the Replicants of Lekni, and was about to return to the DiTraS when she heard the sound of a blaster gunshot form behind her, and ray of energy hitting the ground near her feet.

Millie whirled around and beheld a figure then emerging from the forest, clad in a black coverall garment and indeed holding a sleek energy blaster gun. He was seemingly a man of middle years, his countenance still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marked with the effects of lifetimes of extreme unspeakable iniquity. His hair was long and dark, and his face decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an absolute mesmerising glare.

“Greetings, Miss Drake,” he said, his voice a wicked mockery, “or perhaps I should say Madame Rumanos. Yes, I did hear of you two manifesting the Pure Mystery in Brooklyn, so congratulations -- or ‘mazel tov’ if you prefer.”

With this, the evil villain known as Magister Don Wingus levelled the blaster gun at Millie!

Just then, I arrived on the scene and, with a quick kung fu kick, sent the gun hurtling from the grasp of Don Wingus to be lost amongst the greenery.

“Don Wingus,” I said, facing him. “I should have known. So you did escape from the horror of Robopederosis. It was you that attempted to assassinate me back on Earth -- and you that assisted the Replicants in passing the radiation barrier that surrounds Muskelon!”

“Oh bravo, Rumanos, bravo,” mocked the criminal. “Your powers of deduction are only matched by your ability to recover from injuries. Nevertheless, it matters not. You and your precious Kosmikos are far too late to stop what the Leknii are planning. For indeed, waiting in hibernation underneath this planet is an army of ten millions of them!”

I stood facing Wingus with Millie Drake safely behind me, but could not help but look up slightly and see the looming shape of the Leknii rocket-ship far up in the sky.

“So the legend from the Replicant Wars was indeed of a regiment they left behind on Muskelon, hmmm?” I pondered. “A regiment kept in hibernation in case the Leknii forces had need of them. Nevertheless, the final war ended before they had a chance to activate their reserves, hmmm? They have been here ever since, waiting near the icy core of Muskelon.”

“Quite so, Rumanos,” answered Don Wingus. “Quite so, and now my Replicant associates shall be arriving on this world to awaken them, an army that they shall use to go forth and conquer galaxies, converting all compatible humanoid races to their own cybernetic kind.”

Millie spoke, “But why are you helping them?”

“Quite so, Wingus,” I added. “What exactly is in this for you, hmmm?”

“I have made a deal with the Leknii Replicants,” Wingus explained. “All non-compatible species shall be mine to rule -- including our own Algolite Race! With the aid of the ever-growing Replicant armies, I shall be emperor of the universe!”

With this, there was the shimmering light of matter transmit beams around us, and within seconds, we found ourselves surrounded by several tall silver Replicants!

Can you see the absolute horror, forsooth the unholy terror of this situation, my dear friend and readers? There we were, my companion Millie Drake and me, Doctor Daniel Rumanos, facing the emotionless eldritch horror of the Replicants of Lekni -- assisted as they were by the renegade Algolite known to eternal infamy as Magister Don Wingus. There we were -- as the cybernetic Replicant terrors planned to revive an army of ten millions of their type -- a long-forgotten army they intended to utilise in order to invade countless worlds and to convert all compatible humanoid beings into their own soulless and unfeeling kind!

“Wingus, you ungodly fiend!” I charged. “You cannot do this! The Replicants are totally unfeeling. To set an army of them free amongst the galaxies is a crime unthinkable even for you!”

“Oh, do prattle on, Rumanos,” chuckled Don Wingus. “It is to no use. The deal is made, the Replicant army will be reactivated, countless others will be converted -- and the universe shall be mine!”

A device like a tall cabinet had appeared next to one of the Replicants. On it was a video screen that was now activated.

“The sequence has begun,” said the Replicant. “Our army is awakening.”

On the screen could be descried what appeared to be an enormous cavern, filled with myriads of silver manlike forms -- forms that now started to stir and move. Indeed, the horrid army of ten millions of Leknii was now reactivated!

“Oh my goodness, Daniel!” cried Millie Drake. “What are we going to do?!”

“It is too late, Rumanos!” mocked the evil Don Wingus. “The Replicant army lives, and you cannot stop them.”

Then a whirring sound was heard from within my pocket. It was the sound of the transonic turnscrew. With this, something odd indeed began to occur on the video screen. The very side of the cavern began to collapse and, within a few seconds, a rush of roaring liquid foamed into the area.

“What!” exclaimed Wingus. “What is this? Rumanos, what have you done?!”

“I previously scanned the DiTraS systems database concerning the elements of the planet with my transonic, hmmm?” I explained. “I programmed it to release the liquid ice into the cavern should the Replicant army begin to awaken. It will surround them and freeze then utterly for aeons to come.”

By now, the sight of the defeated army had vanished from the video screen and, within a few seconds, the Leknii surrounding us had activated the matter transmission beams and thus exited the planet.

“It is over, Wingus,” I announced. “The Replicants have been defeated, and have now abandoned you!”

“Yes, they have returned to their ship,” answered Wingus, “but they will not escape. Look!”

I glanced upwards to where Wingus was suggesting, and beheld an explosion.

“The radiation barrier!” I guessed. “You set it to once again become detrimental to the Replicant rocket-ship should they attempt to leave the planet without you, hmmm? They have now been destroyed.”

“Daniel, look out!” cried Millie Drake.

Whilst I had been distracted, Wingus had taken to opportunity to attempt an assault upon my person. I quickly countered this and we struggled for a few moments. Then, my final self-defence technique sent the villain hurtling a few metres away from me, where he suddenly found himself surrounded by hideous grasping vines.

“No!” he bellowed. “No! Nooooooooo!!”

Within moments, the huge carnivorous plant had pulled Don Wingus into its hideous mouth. His cries diminished into a slight gurgle, and then there was silence.

Then Millie Drake ran into my arms.

“Oh, Daniel!” she exclaimed. “I’m just so glad you’re all right! Are you really completely healed from that energy gunshot wound?”

“Quite so, love,” I assured her. “In fact, I have never felt better.”

“So are the Replicants and Don Wingus really gone?”

I took the transonic turnscrew from my jacket and used it to scan the area.

“So it appears,” I announced, returning the device to my pocket. “There is no sign of either of them.”

“So did that carnivorous plant really eat him?” asked Millie. “Could it digest him that quickly?”

“Perhaps, unless he had another escape plan. It is possible that he had some residual connection to the Leknii matter transmission system, and could have utilised it to transport to his own ship hidden somewhere near by. But there is no indication of him remaining here, so let us leave this planet and go on to find out what our next assignment may be, hmmm?”

Millie Drake and I had by now returned to the DiTraS, and we both stepped through the porthole. Soon the gasping moaning sound of our ship’s Space-Time engine was heard, and the shape of the Roman column dematerialised from the surface of the strange planet known as Muskelon.

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN

BLACK JUJU

The girl stood in that city alleyway clad only in a bright orange and blue leotard. She was exceedingly beautiful, with long auburn hair and cobalt blue eyes. Tall for her eleven years, her figure was slender and fit. She was obviously a bit nervous, yet her determined gaze showed a certain confidence beyond what would be expressed by many in such a situation.

Surrounding her were three figures in black vestment robes, topped with masks and hoods that covered their faces except for the eyes. Each of them had a blood-red symbol emblazoned on the chest area of his garment -- an insignia made up of three inverted interlocking triangles. It is a symbol known as one of extreme and unmitigated evil; the symbol of the occult terrorist organisation known to eternal infamy as Spectral Paranormal.

The three figures then moved menacingly to-wards the young girl, each approaching her from a different angle, cautious but nonetheless secure in their idea that she could offer no resistance to whatever assault they intended.

It was then, at the very last moment before they reached her, that the girl went into action. She suddenly burst forth with a series of incredibly fast martial arts moves; a series of expert and perfectly executed kicks and punches that shocked and awed her three would-be attackers even more than physically affecting them.

They offered a show of resistance, but it was to no avail. Within a matter of moments, two of the black-clad figures were unconscious on the pavement, whilst the third began to run in fear down the alley away from the girl.

It was at that particular moment of that cloudy afternoon that I stepped out from my hiding place behind an old abandoned automobile and took down the last of the attackers. I quickly laid him flat with a blow of my fist. He hit the ground hard, obviously slipping into total unconsciousness.

I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, panama hat, and of course one of my favourite opera capes. I straightened my clothing a bit from the slight disarray that had occurred from the hiding and then hitting the enemy agent. I checked that the other two were also insentient, and then I walked over to the girl. She is one of my adopted daughters.

“Excellent work, Zohara,” I approved. “Your first field training exercise is complete. Your usage of your abilities is growing, and with time you will be ready to join the fight against the powers of darkness in earnest. I knew those Spectral Paranormal agents would not be able to resist an attempt to kidnap you. Worry not, however. If you had not been in control of the situation, I would have taken over and kept you quite safe, hmmm?”

“Did I really do well, Tatteh?” enquired the young girl in her charming Israeli accent. “Oh, please tell me that I did it well. It means so much to me!”

“You did well indeed, my dear,” I assured her. “I can absolutely assure you that you did well indeed. You have more than begun to prove your worthiness to aid in the eternally ongoing battle against evil in this world and others, and most of all, you have continued to prove yourself worthy of the name -- Zohara Rumanos!!” …

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the mysterious Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears as magic to lesser beings.

Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …

“So how is Zohara’s training going?” enquired Millie Drake.

“She is doing quite well indeed,” I replied, tossing my hat and cloak on a near by hallstand. “Quite the prodigy she is, hmmm?”

We were at our headquarters, located as it is inside the golden trapezoidal rooftop of a certain downtown skyscraper, the bottom floor of which is a take-away restaurant known as “The Pizza Gate”. Millie Drake is an exquisitely beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, lovely violet eyes, and sun kissed skin. The purple dress she wore only served to highlight the wonders of her slender teen figure.

“It’s a good thing that we found her with those other young Israelis that had been kidnapped by the Palestinian terrorists,” said Millie. “Abilities like she has would be dangerous if left in the wrong hands.”

“You are quite right, my dear Mills,” I agreed. “Zohara and some of the others seem to be a sort of genetic mutation, likely the results of a secret experiment of the Israeli government in the ongoing struggles against terrorism in the region. Their parents were killed in the recent war in Gaza, leaving these young people as unfortunate targets for the enemies of Israel. Bringing her here to America was an excellent idea, since we were called upon to help with the operation due to our connections with Mossad and the Executive Security Force, hmmm? Today’s training exercise is one of many young Zohara Rumanos must undergo, but for now she has returned to Allentown to continue her Nakh studies, and we must get along with our next assignment.”

“That would be concerning that magician you told me about?”

“Quite so. His name is Anthony Ware, and our instruments here at HQ have detected certain strange emanations coming from him during his stage magic performances.”

“What sort of emanations?” queried Millie.

“That is what we must now find out,” I returned. “Kit-10, have you completed your analysis of the energies associated with Anthony Ware?”

“Of course, s--,” replied our mobile personal computer, which resembles nothing more or less than a small mechanical cat, in her simulated yet pleasantly feminine voice. “Results show emanations to be of certain forces referred to as ‘elementals’, actually being the mentalist essence of beings that existed upon this planet before the development of the human race. The particular type associated with stage magician Anthony Ware are beings that once ruled the western area of the African continent.”

(It should be noted here that Kit-10, along with her other feline characteristics, is possessed of the total inability to openly show respect to anyone. In point of fact, the closest she ever comes to it is by addressing me with a slight “s--” sound -- for “sir” -- and Millie Drake by “m--” -- for “ma’am“.)

“By the Daemonian Spires!” I swore “West African elementals. That would be the powers sometimes referred to as Black Juju.”

“Juju is also a sort of magical charm, isn’t it?” asked Millie.

“Quite so,” I affirmed. “It comes from a French term meaning ‘plaything’, and was used in the American South to refer to a dark religion practice by certain slaves -- a religion that involved curses and blood rites.”

“Oh my goodness!” exclaimed Millie Drake. “We had better do something about this right away!”

“Indeed so,” I agreed, fetching my hat and cape. “Kit-10, you had better stay here. It is likely the powers of the Juju could have a negative effect on your systems. Come along, Millie. We have work to do!” …

A short time later, just after sunset, Millie and I arrived at the long building in which is found the establishment known as the Royal Hotel.

“So this is where Anthony Ware is performing his magic show tonight?” questioned my companion.

“So it appears,” I said. “He has billed himself as ‘The City’s Greatest Magician’. That just sounds like typical showbiz bloviation, but it could have a more dangerous import due to his association with the Juju, hmmm?”

We were walking along the pavement, just approaching the hotel entrance, when Miss Millie Drake suddenly screamed in horror.

“Oh my gosh, Daniel!” she cried. “Look at that!”

I looked up to see what had so alarmed my friend and beheld a terror indeed. It was a large shapeless mass of darksome ebony black energy -- and it was headed directly for us!!

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the awful conglomeration of energy vanished.

“Daniel, what was that?” asked Millie.

“It was a manifestation of the Juju powers,” I explained. “The forces we have come here to oppose are aware of us. That was a mere warning; an attempt to frighten us. Be aware, my dear Mills, that the actual demoniacal horror we will be facing is in truth far more powerful than what we have seen here.”

With this, Millie Drake and I entered the hotel in continuation of our mission. …

Inside the hotel’s theatre, Anthony Ware had begun his magic act. He stood on the stage, resplendent in his black tuxedo, gazing at the assembled audience -- mostly bored hotel guests with nothing else to occupy their time -- with a look of facetious amusement on his strong African-American features.

“Good evening, everyone,” he began. “My name is Anthony Ware, and welcome to my world of wonders! Tonight, right here on this stage, I will show you things like you have never seen before. I will show you acts of magic that are the greatest in this city, in this country, in this world! I will show you the powers of -- The Black Juju!!”

With this, Anthony Ware raised his arms and suddenly there did burst forth from him a surge of the ebony energies of eldritch terror. At this, some of the audience gasped in shock, whilst others simply stood up and left, thinking it all to be just a cheap illusion.

Millie Drake and I then entered the theatre, and beholding what the black magician was doing, boldly approached the stage area.

“Ah, it’s Doctor Daniel Rumanos and your little girlfriend,” chuckled Ware. “We have been expecting you. The powers of the Black Juju have told me of your opposition.”

“It is all over now, Ware,” I admonished. “As agents of the Kosmikos, we cannot allow you to bring forth the Juju powers on this helpless world. Cease from your actions immediately.”

“No, Doctor, that will not be. I am Anthony Ware the magician, and I will use the Juju powers to establish myself as the new ruler of this world. I shall have money, power, and influence beyond anything my ancestors ever even dreamed. I will conquer the white race and take their women! I will reign supreme, and nothing will stop me! Nothing, do you hear? Not even you!!”

And then Anthony Ware suddenly aimed his hands to-wards us, and the horrid powers of the Black Juju began to surge to-wards Millie and me!

“Now, Doctor Rumanos, your opposition is ending!” continued the terrible black magician. “Now, by the powers of the Juju I do declare that you shall die!!”

Tell me, my dear friends and readers, can you even begin to comprehend the absolute unspeakable horror, forsooth the unnameable terror of the situation in which we then found ourselves? There we were, my companion Miss Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos. There we were, in the theatre of the Royal Hotel. There we were, facing the horrid black magician known as Anthony Ware. There we were, as the full awesome power of the unholy force of the Black Juju rushed directly for us -- in truth an energy fully capable of bringing about an agonising death!

“You will now die, Doctor Daniel Rumanos!” repeated Anthony Ware. “You will now die, and I will be free to subjugate Earth to the powers of the Black Juju!”

“Millie,” I said, ignoring Ware’s taunts, “hold my hand. Close your eyes and hold my hand.”

She did so and I concentrated deeply on thoughts of love and light and joy. Then I spoke the prayer:

“Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam!”

With this intonation, all suddenly changed. The horrid force of the Black Juju that had been aimed at Millie and me changed direction -- and in stead focused itself directly to-wards the evil magician Anthony Ware.

“What!” he cried out in shock. “No! No!! Noooooooooooo!!”

The ebony powers of darkness surrounded Ware and, within a very few short moments, totally engulfed him before then suddenly vanishing. I looked around the room. There was no sign of Anthony Ware or of any of the eldritch horrors that he had attempted to bring forth upon the world.

“Jew beats Juju,” I mused.

“Daniel, what exactly happened?” asked Millie Drake.

“My invocation of the old Hebrew blessing worked,” I explained. “The worship of the One True God, which as you remember is based upon our own Algolitish technology, is a potent exorcism against things such as the Juju, hmmm? The dark forces then reversed against Anthony Ware and took him out of existence.”

By now, the few remaining audience members had left the hotel theatre, thinking the “show” was at an end.

“Well, my dear Mills,” I continued, “it appears that our work here is done, and now we can…”

“Daniel, look out!” my companion interrupted.

Before I could turn about to see what had alarmed Millie, I felt a blasting pain in my upper back area, this almost causing me to fall to the floor.

“By the Triple Star…” I swore. “What was… ?”

By now, I had managed to turn enough to face my attacker. I beheld that it was once again someone in the black hooded robe and insignia of a Spectral Paranormal agent, and he was holding an energy weapon blaster gun in his hand. His manner and elegance of movement showed that he was different from any of the agents I had encountered earlier, but there was nevertheless something familiar about him. The black mask covering his features, however, precluded any positive identification.

I started to move forward against him, but stumbled due to the pain I was still experiencing from being shot by the energy weapon. Then, as I watched, my attacker began to vanish in the shimmering light of a matter transportation beam. …

The glare from the beam covered the possibility of us noticing him removing the mask and revealing his face -- the visage of the arch-villain known as magister Don Wingus!

“Checkmate, Rumanos,” he said with a look of evil mirth whilst fading from sight. “Checkmate.” …

“Are you all right, Daniel?!” Millie cried concernedly.

“I… am not sure,” I admitted. “That energy weapon… It caused some internal damage. I should be… all right in time, but…”

“Who was that?” wondered Millie. “Do you think it could have been… ?”

Then, before my companion could finish her thought, we heard a familiar gasping and moaning sound -- at which materialised before us a shape like a Roman column with a round portal-like door in the front of it.

“The DiTraS!” said Millie Drake. “Daniel, what is it doing here?”

(The DiTraS -- pronounced “DYE-tress” and standing for Dimensional Transport Sphere -- is one of those amazing cosmic travel vehicles available only to our people, the Watchers of the Daemon-Star Algol.)

“The Kosmikos of Algol…” I stammered. “It seems they have sent it. We have a… new mission; a mission… that requires its use as a Space and Time… travel vehicle.”

“But Daniel, you’re wounded and need to rest!”

“I cannot, love. For the Kosmikos to send us on a mission… this way. It must be of… extreme importance. Come along… Millie.”

Wincing from the continued pain, I just managed to stumble through the portal of the DiTraS with my dear Millie’s help. Once we were inside, the doorway closed and, with the sounds of its engines again engaged, the combination Spaceship/Time-travel machine disappeared from the hotel theatre into the void.

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN

VAMPIRES OF VEGAS

Jessica O’Mallie was a disgustingly corpulent woman, an observation made all the more grotesque when coupled with the fact that she was a vampire.

“Go somewhere and die, Daniel Rumanos!” she shrieked at me as we faced each other on that city street. “You won’t stop us! We are the vampire coven and we will soon take over the world!”

I was clad in my usual finery; including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, and panama hat, along with one of my favourite opera capes.

“You would do well to cooperate, O’Mallie,” I countered. “You are a low level bloodsucker at best. Our only concern with you is information. Who is the leader of your coven?”

“I will tell you nothing, Rumanos,” returned the vampire, her obese figure straining against the humorously-tight Victorian-style black dress she wore. “Since you have come to our space, I am only here to kill you!”

With this pronouncement, Jessica O’Mallie jumped at me, her dyed blood-red hair streaming behind her. She hit me hard, her strength that of the supernatural. It was only because of my own superior alien abilities that I was able to withstand her assault.

“You will now die, Rumanos!” O’Mallie continued, bearing her razor sharp fangs. “I will take your Algolite blood to feed upon, and leave you lifeless on the street!”

It was at that very crucial moment that Jessica O’Mallie was hit from behind by a sharply focused laser beam -- forsooth, a beam shot from the nose of my mobile personal computer that resembles nothing more or less than a small mechanical cat.

The little robot, accompanied as she was by my dear friend and companion, the lovely Millie Drake, then shot another blast at the sickening O’Mallie, this causing the vampire to loosen her hold on me.

“Good shooting, Kit-10!” I approved.

“Of course, s--,” replied the metallic kitten in her simulated yet pleasantly feminine voice. 

(It should be noted here that Kit-10, along with her other feline characteristics, is possessed of the complete inability to openly show respect to anyone. In truth, the closest she ever comes to it is by addressing me with a slight “s--” sound -- for “sir” -- and Millie by “m--” -- for ma’am”.)

“Millie, Kit-10,” said I, “stand back and shield your eyes. I shall handle this from here.”

Before Jessica O’Mallie could recover form the laser blast, I reached into my pocket and retrieved a device resembling a large writing pen -- in actuality, an highly-advanced scientific instrument known as the transonic turnscrew. I pointed it directly at O’Mallie and activated one of its myriad settings.

Just for a few moments, that city night was as bright as midday, as a golden light shone forth from the transonic device. The vampire Jessica O’Mallie screamed in pain and, within a very few seconds, crumbled away into dust.

“Daniel, are you okay?” queried Millie Drake concernedly.

“I am fine now, love,” I assured her whilst returning the device to my pocket. “Fortunately, the transonic’s artificial sunlight setting is still functioning well, hmmm?”

Millie is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, sun-kissed skin, and enchanting violet eyes. The sundress she wore only served to highlight the wondrous shape of her early-adolescent figure.

“So the computer equipment at headquarters was correct then,” she said, “that some kind of weird signal could be found here -- but what does it have to do with… vampires?!”

“That is exactly what we must ascertain, my dear Mills,” I said, “and apparently, this is the place to do it!”

I then turned and looked at the sign for the building we were about to enter. “Brooklyn Community Center,” it read, “Las Vegas Night”. …

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the vastly superior genes of the legendary Watchers of Algol, the most intellectually advanced race in all of the known galaxies, whose technology is so sophisticated it appears to be miraculous to lesser beings.

Whilst most Algolites live in elitist seclusion from the rest of the Universe, I am an operative for an organisation known as the KOSMIKOS. Assisted by the beautiful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am -- The Daemon-Star!!! …

We entered the community centre and beheld an even larger sign, once again colourfully proclaiming “VEGAS NIGHT!!!”. I briefly pointed at the word “Vegas” and winked at Millie Drake, who smiled back at me.

The room was fairly large, now temporarily fitted out with numerous gaming tables and slot machines, along with signs explaining the children’s charity to which all profits would be donated. At the side was what appeared to be an elevated stage, for now covered by a curtain. Most of the patrons were somewhat elderly folks of the caucasian type. Whilst looking around, we headed directly to the bar at the back of the chamber.

“I shall have a rum and cola with a twist of lime, please,” I told the bartender, a young African-American man of obviously homosexual proclivities, “and an iced tea lemonade for my young lady friend, hmmm?”

“Do you want anything, Kit-10?” joked Millie.

“This unit does not consume beverages, m--,” replied the robot.

“Your drinks, sir,” said the bartender, to whom I gave a generous gratuity along with the price of our refreshments.

“That is quite good,” I said, tasting my drink. “Nothing quite like Puerto Rican rum, hmmm?”

“So, Daniel,” said Millie Drake after sampling her iced tea lemonade. “How are there vampires here? You said that Prince Orlock was the last of them when he was destroyed on the planet Murnau.”

“Orlock was indeed the last of the original Vampire race that so ravaged the galaxies those many ages ago,” I explained. “Nevertheless, there were certain human beings that were infected with vampirism by the Nosferatu, and themselves became a sort of offshoot sub-race of vampires. I have encountered some of them in the past, and they have many of the same powers as the ancient Nosferatu, along with the necessity to feast upon the blood of the living. There was even one Algolite, by the name of Thaskales, who became a vampire, hmmm? What we need to find out here is exactly who is the leader of the ‘vampire coven’ of which that Jessica O’Mallie creature spoke. It would have to be a rather remarkable individual; stronger than most rank-and-file human vampires; one who could…”

I was suddenly interrupted by the sound of recorded fanfare music, followed by an announcer’s voice saying:

“Ladies and gentleman, we hope you are enjoying our Las Vegas Night here at the Brooklyn Community Center! Now, for your entertainment this evening, we present the gothic magician, the master of bizarre mentalism -- the amazing Lord Vladimir Deich!”

With this, the curtain opened and a man appeared on the stage. He was quite large, in fact morbidly obese, and was clad in a pitch black suit of Nineteenth Century style, topped by a black cape with a blood-red lining. His hair was also of ebon hue, and his face had the ghastly paleness of death.

“Good evening,” he pronounced, his voice denoting a certain southern twang. “I am Vladimir Deich and I am here tonight to show you magic and mentalist feats like you have never before experienced; for I am not only the great gothic magician, I am also -- the lord of vampires!”

I immediately reached into my jacket pocket and took out the transonic device. Then, before I could activate it, I heard Millie Drake scream.

“Look out, Daniel!” she cried “Vampire bats!”

Indeed, at that very moment, a flurry of large black bats suddenly descended upon me and took the transonic from my grasp, then quickly flying to the other side of the room and dropping it behind one of the slot machines.

“Greetings, Doctor Rumanos and Miss Drake,” said Vladimir Deich, an evil chuckle entering his voice. “My minions have informed me of your coming, and we expect you to play an important part in this evening’s proceedings.”

“Kit-10!” I called. “Blast him!”

The robotic feline then shot several beams of her nose laser directly at the one known as Vladimir Deich, but it was to no avail. They had no effect, and he indeed laughed at the attempt.

“It is no use, Doctor,” said Deich. “I am the vampire lord; the strongest in existence. Within me is the power of the ancient Nosferatu, that mighty species of vampires from the planet Drakul Alpha in Galactic Cluster 666 that warred against your own Algolite race so long ago. You cannot stand against me, for I am Vladimir Deich, and I shall ascend to the very heights of power and establish my vampire coven as the supreme creatures of this world!”

“Vladimir Deich, hmmm?” I pondered. “Kit-10, what do you have in your databanks on this person?”

“Accessing, s--,” replied the robot. “Vladimir Deich. Fifty-six years of age. Originally from the area of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Long career as a nightclub entertainer, from which he made certain connections to the occult terrorist network.”

“Thank you, Kit-10,” I said. “Yes, I thought it would be something like that. So along the way of your journeys into the occult, Deich, you became infected with vampirism, hmmm?”

“Your investigative abilities are quite good, Doctor Rumanos,” answered the vampire. “But… not good enough!”

I then heard Millie Drake scream in horror and whirled around to see what was happening. Millie was being held closely by a woman; a large and portly woman with black hair and a long dress of similar darkling hue. In point of fact, the woman quite resembled a female version of Vladimir Deich, and her pale complexion showed that she was also a vampire.

“That is my sister, the Lady Bergetta,” announced Deich. “Beware, Doctor. If you or your robot here attempt to make one more move against me, she will drain your little girl companion of all her blood!”

“Deich, you ungodly friend!” I charged.

“Ungodly indeed,” countered the vampire lord. “That is what gives me power over the beings of darkness -- as you shall see!”

With this, the huge conglomeration of black bats then descended upon me like a wave of utter hellish blackness. In force, they began to pummel my form, in truth an assault that I could feel as intense pain directly into my very soul.

“You have failed, Doctor,” said Vladimir Deich in a tone of wicked triumph. “You have failed and now your time is finished!”

Please do allow me to ask you a question, my dear friends and readers. Is it at all possible, do you think, for you to recognise the extreme terror, forsooth the total and complete horror of the situation in which the lovely Miss Millie Drake, the robotic Kit-10, and I -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- then found ourselves? There we were, in a building innocuously labelled as the Brooklyn Community Center, being attacked by the horrid vampire lord known as Vladimir Deich and his unholy minions. There we were, with Millie threatened by the possibility of having her precious blood drained from her body, whilst I was pummelled by the darksome energy bats of the legendary Nosferatu. There we were, with Kit-10’s nose laser and other technologies being to no avail. There we were, with seemingly the only hope we had -- the transonic turnscrew with its anti-vampiric sunlight setting -- far beyond my reach.

“It is all over for you, Doctor Rumanos of Algol!” repeated the infamous vampire known as Vladimir Deich. “You have failed in your mission to prevent my ascendancy! You have failed and now you and your friends shall meet your collective doom!”

“Millie,” I called, “now is the time. The formula of blessing.”

From her position being held captive by the evil Bergetta Deich, the beautiful young lady known as Millie Drake then uttered certain words, words that I said with her in unison:

“Baruch Hashem! Baruch Hashem! Baruch Hashem!”

At this invocation, a light appeared. It was a light of pure whiteness, in sooth a brilliance of divine portent. It surrounded Millie and me, with a connection like a bridge of power between us.

The female vampire known as Bergetta then backed away from Millie in fear, the black conglomeration of bats ceased to be, and I heard Vladimir Deich shout in outrage and shock.

“What!” he said. “That is -- The Pure Mystery! But how can that be? It can only be conjured forth by Algolites who have undergone the ceremony of holy marriage, and then only when they visit the very site of their union!”

“Your studies into Algolite culture are indeed deep, Deich,” I told him. “You are correct concerning the properties of the Pure Mystery, the protective light of pre-Creation which nothing of evil can touch. In truth, Millie and I were joined in matrimony some time ago when we were in Las Vegas -- yes, the actual one in Nevada -- with my old friend Rabbi Jacob Solomon performing the ceremony. As you may know, the Kabala and other forms of Jewish mysticism are based upon the science of the Watchers, so that was most appropriate, hmmm? We have kept it secret all this time in order to prevent it being exploited by certain forces. That is why my dear wife is still known to the general public as ‘Miss Millie Drake’. As for our ability to conjure the powers here at 'Vegas Night' on the east coast, well… that is just a bit of a cheat, but you as a magician should certainly understand that!”

Whilst I was speaking to Deich, I walked over to where the transonic turnscrew was hidden and picked it up, the white light joining me to Millie still playing around my form.

“And now, Vladimir Deich,” said I, holding the device aloft, “I do bring your end!”

With this, I activated the sunlight setting and with the flash of golden radiance, the vampires Lord Vladimir Deich and Lady Bergetta both screamed in pain and crumbled into dust. Within seconds, they were no more.

“By the Stellar Triplicity!” I swore to myself, deactivating the setting and returning the device to my pocket. “What is this thing with overweight vampires?!”

Millie Drake then ran onto my arms. The light of the Pure Mystery, its presence no longer needed, then faded from view.

“All is now well, my dear Mills,” I said. “The vampire coven is no more.”

Then a surprising thing happened, the people assembled around at the community centre gave us a round of applause before returning to their small-stakes gambling.

“Daniel,” giggled Millie, “they think that all of this was just part of the entertainment!”

“It is perhaps best that they continue to have that delusion, hmmm?” I pondered. “There are indeed some things in this Universe that Earthlings are not as yet prepared to know.”

“Are you okay, Kit-10?” queried Millie.

“All systems functioning normally, m--,” replied the robotic cat.

“Quite good,” I approved. “Quite good. Now, my dear Millie, let us return to the bar and have another drink in celebration, hmmm? I am indeed quite found of that Puerto Rican rum.”

***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN