LEPER MESSIAH

It began with the usual late-night tip from one of my more reliable street informants in Atlantic City -- a jittery ex-carnie named Sal who swore the boardwalk had a new messiah. Not the usual storefront preacher or crypto-grifter, but something worse.

“Doc,” he’d hissed over the phone, voice cracking like dry leaves, “this guy calls himself the Leper Messiah. Touches folks and they get… better. But then the sores come. Real bad. Like biblical. And they still follow him. Worship him. Say he’s the only one who can save ’em.”

I hung up and turned to Millie Drake, my petite, chestnut-haired partner in crime-solving and everything else worthwhile. She was curled on the couch in our Boardwalk condominium, Kit-10 — the sleek robotic cat who serves as our sarcastic AI assistant — purring on her lap like a living thing.

“Daniel,” said Millie, violet eyes wide, “this sounds like one of those cult things again. Remember the Spectral Paranormal business?”

“Worse,” I replied, adjusting my purple velvet suit jacket over a frilled poet shirt. I clapped on my panama hat and swirled my opera cape. “This one smells of Algolite-level biotech mixed with something… unclean. Enochian unclean.”

We took Lizzie — my canary-yellow Edwardian roadster — down to the rotting waterfront district near the old Steel Pier. The night air reeked of salt, cheap beer, and desperation. A crowd had gathered under flickering neon: maybe fifty souls, gaunt and hollow-eyed, clustered around a makeshift stage lit by oil drums. At its center stood the Leper Messiah.

He was tall, emaciated, with skin like parchment stretched over bone. Open sores wept across his face and hands, yet he moved with predatory grace. His voice boomed like thunder over cheap speakers: “I am the outcast who redeems! The leper who heals! Touch me and be made whole — in body and in soul!”

A woman shuffled forward, face already mottled with fresh lesions. She knelt. He laid a rotting palm on her forehead. For a moment her eyes cleared, color flooded her cheeks. The crowd cheered. Then she convulsed. New blisters erupted along her arms. She smiled through the pain. “Thank you, Master,” she whispered.

I felt the psychic ripple immediately -- a low-frequency Algol-tech pulse laced with something demonic. Not pure Watcher science. Hybrid. Corrupted.

“Kit-10,” I murmured into my communicator ring, “scan for energy signatures.”

The robotic feline’s voice crackled back in my earpiece: “S--, it is off the charts. Bio-plague vector combined with psionic compulsion. Whoever built this is not human. Or fully human anymore.”

Millie gripped my arm. “Daniel, we have to stop this before it spreads past the boardwalk.”

I stepped into the light, cape flaring dramatically. “Hold it right there, ‘Messiah’. The show is over.”

The crowd turned hostile eyes on me. The Leper Messiah’s gaze locked with mine — pupils like black holes ringed in pus-yellow. Recognition flickered. 

“Rumanos,” he rasped, voice dripping with ancient hatred. “The Daemon-Star himself. Come to judge the unclean? How fitting. I was once like you — an Algolite exile. But I embraced the rot. The Absolute Convention cast me out for experimenting with forbidden flesh-tech. Now I remake the weak in my image. A new humanity. Leper-strong. Leper-free.”

He raised both hands. The sores on his palms split open, releasing a cloud of shimmering nano-spores that glowed sickly green. Followers moaned in ecstasy as the mist settled over them.

Forsooth, I did not hesitate. Algolite blood surged through my veins. I spoke a single Enochian syllable — sharp, commanding, older than Earth. The air ignited with violet fire. The spores burned mid-air, screaming like dying insects.

The Messiah howled. “You dare?! These people need me!”

“They need a cure, not a curse,” I snapped.

Millie was already moving, graceful as ever, slipping through the throng to reach the stage’s control box. Kit-10 leaped from the shadows, laser eyes flashing, disabling the amplifiers with pinpoint bursts.

The villain lunged at me. His touch was death — flesh dissolving on contact. But my personal shield — a micro-forcefield woven from pure Algolite science — flared gold. I countered with a palm strike infused with Daemon-Star energy. His chest caved; black ichor sprayed.

“You… cannot… purify… what is already perfected,” he gurgled, collapsing. The sores across his body began to knit — not healing, but metastasizing into something far worse. A final transformation. I recognized the pattern: a self-replicating plague meant to overwrite human DNA with Algolite-leper hybrid code.

There was no time for half-measures. I drew the transonic mezuzah from my pocket, tuning the device to negate bio-weapons of this exact class. I pressed it to his forehead and activated the sequence. White light erupted. The Leper Messiah shrieked as his corrupted form unraveled into harmless dust, carried away on the sea breeze.

The crowd staggered, suddenly free of compulsion. Lesions began to fade. Some wept. Others simply looked lost, as if waking from a beautiful nightmare.

Millie rejoined me, brushing ash from her jacket. “You did it, Daniel. Again.”

Kit-10 sauntered up, tail high. “M--, s--. Threat neutralized. Recommend immediate quarantine protocols for the affected."

"And a stiff drink for us all,” I added 

Then I smiled, tipping my hat to the dispersing throng. “Another night on the boardwalk saved. But how many more false messiahs are out there -- breeding in the dark, hmmm?”

We climbed back into Lizzie. The engine roared to life like a triumphant beast. As we sped toward the lights of the casinos, Millie leaned her head on my shoulder.

“So what's next, Daniel?” she asked softly.

I glanced at the rear-view mirror, where the pier faded into mist. “Next? We keep hunting. Because the Universe is full of lepers who would be kings — and only the Daemon-Star stands in their way.” ...

My name is Doctor Daniel Rumanos. I carry within my blood the heritage 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 wonderful Miss Millie Drake, I protect Earth from all manner of menace. I am — The Daemon-Star!!!

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

SUN ARISE

“The power is mine!” exulted the man. “The power that I shall use to rule this world!”

Standing behind an old ornate table in the disused former antique shop, he appeared to be of middle years, his face still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marred with the results of lifetimes of extreme 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 absolute hypnotic glare. He was wearing an ebon-black vestment robe.

Beside him was an insanely voluptuous young girl with raven hair and luminous blue-green eyes. She wore a tiny bikini top, miniskirt, and spike heels that made her appear several inches taller than she actually was.

“It’s so sexy, father,” purred the girl. “I like the power of the Solarians!"

“That is right, Anastasia,” agreed the man with a peal of mad laughter. “It is sexy, and it is supreme power. It is the power that I -- Magister Don Wingus -- shall wield over all!!”

With this, a weird yellow light shone about the room, along with a sight as of myriads of darting creatures -- creatures of the same bizarre radiance. …

“This is where our systems detected the Solarian power arising from, hmmm?” said I, Doctor Daniel Rumanos. “Harold’s Antiques. It closed a couple years back when the proprietor retired.”

“So these Solarians,” said Millie Drake. “They actually come from the Sun?”

“Quite so, my dear Mills,” I replied. “They are a form of life that actually exists on that star’s surface. Usually harmless and not interacting with any other life forms, there are however occasional times when certain beings have attempted to exploit their power for inappropriate reasons. This appears to be one of those times!”

I was clad in my usual finery that sunny morning; including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, sunspecs, panama hat, Star of David necklace, and one of my favourite opera capes.

My companion, known as Miss Millie Drake, is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and a sun-kissed complexion. The powder blue dress she wore only served to highlight her slender figure.

The door of the old shop was locked of course, but I knew my escape artist skills would make short work of that. I had just begun to apply myself to it when I heard Millie cry out:

“Daniel! Look at that!”

I looked up to see what had startled my companion and beheld weirdness indeed. It was an hovering mass of myriads of darting creatures, shining bright yellow -- and headed directly to-wards us!

Then, as suddenly as it had appeared, the strange sight again vanished.

“Daniel,” said Millie, “was that…?”

“Yes,” I affirmed. “The power of the Solarians. That was just a comparatively small portion of them, however. It was a mere warning against continuing our campaign against whomever has summoned the alien energies. The full Solarian power shall be much more devastating.”

I had by now opened the lock, and we stepped into the shuttered antique shop.

After searching through several dusty rooms, we entered one that was occupied by a man in a black vestment robe and a young girl who eyed me lustfully. Of course, I recognised them both immediately. I knew the man to be my most deadly enemy, the renegade Algolite who is the most wanted criminal in all of Time and Space; and I knew the girl as his insane and iniquitous daughter.

“You!” I said. “Don Wingus. I should have known. It is you that has called forth the Solarians, having reunited with your daughter Anastasia here to plan one of your utterly mad schemes, hmmm?”

“Rumanos, you old meddler,” countered Wingus. “You just cannot resist the urge to harass my existence, can you? However, it is no matter. I have the power of the Solarians, a power I shall use to rule this planet!”

As he spoke, the shining energy of the Solarians began to grow around Don Wingus, with the myriad darting creatures whirling about his form.

“Wingus, you are utterly insane,” I told him. “You cannot control the Solarians. They are creatures of fire and light; things beyond even your ability to manipulate.”

“Oh, but you are wrong in that, Rumanos,” he retorted. “The Solarians are totally under my control -- which I shall now demonstrate to your detriment!”

With this, the shining yellow energies suddenly increased like unto an hundredfold, and shot forth directly to-wards Millie and me!

“Die, Rumanos die!” bellowed the arch-criminal. “Feel the pain of death as the Solarians bring your doom!”

Do you see the terror, forsooth the strange horror of this situation? There we were, the lovely Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- facing the villainous Don Wingus and his whorish daughter Anastasia. There we were as the full power of the alien Solarians -- the very same force that Wingus intended to utilise in his mad scheme of world domination -- was unleashed upon us!

“Now you will die, Rumanos!” repeated the madman. “The power of the Solarians, which I control, shall bring your death!”

The pain was indeed immense as the awesome force of the Solarians surrounded Millie and me. It was like unto the fire of a furnace, but with an anguish beyond that of the merely physical; a burning horror of extreme nuclear fission.

“Daniel!” screamed Millie. “I can’t stand this! What can we do?!”

“Resist it, Millie,” I counselled. “We must endure until we can somehow escape. We must…”

“Father!” suddenly interrupted Anastasia Wingus. “Father, please don’t do this! Don’t kill Doctor Rumanos! I like him. I want to have him as a plaything when you rule the world, okay? You can kill that Miss Drake if you want, but leave him alone, please. Please, father? Please?!”

“Stacy, you low-IQ tramp!” thundered Don Wingus whilst slapping his daughter across the face. “I am sick to death of your damnable obsession with that ridiculous old Daniel Rumanos! Do you hear me? I am sick and tired of it and will tolerate it no more!!”

Within the Solarian melee, Millie Drake again spoke to me.

“Daniel, do you notice something?” she said. “The power isn’t attacking us anymore.”

“Quite so,” I pondered. “Wingus has been distracted and his control is waning.”

With this, I stepped forwards, the Solarians parting when I passed. I then delivered a kung fu kick to the stomach of Don Wingus, sending him sprawling several paces backwards.

At this, the Solarian power completely changed direction and, in stead of continuing to attack Millie Drake and me, concentrated itself upon Wingus and his daughter.

It was over in moments. We heard Don Wingus bellow in outrage and Anastasia scream in terror as the Solarians rushed upon them. Then, with a sound like unto an atomic explosion, the yellow light suddenly vanished.

I glanced around the room. There was no sign of the nefarious Wingus or his wretched daughter.

“Fascinating,” I pondered. “The extreme energy of the concentrated Solarians seems to have taken them completely out of existence."

Millie Drake then ran into my arms. “Is it all over then? Have they been destroyed?”

“So it appears,” I replied as we began our exit of the old antique shop. “Nevertheless, we have seen Wingus escape from seemingly impossible situations before. We must continue to be vigilant against any possible resurgence of his evil. But for now, all is well. The Solarians have returned to their proper place on the Sun, and Earth is safe from the threat of tyranny!”

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

THE RASPUTIN RELIC

It began in a tiny shop called “Russian Treasures”, nestled on a side street in Queens. It was there that Sara Sloan, a rather frumpy middle-aged woman with hair the colour of excrement, found the thing. It was a sort of stone or crystal, grey of hue, and she felt it was calling to her. She immediately purchased it and left the shop.

In the days to come, Sara Sloan heard the sound of chanting from the stone; chanting in a language she knew not for what it was -- Old Church Slavonic. With the chanting was a strange mist-like energy that seemed to surround Sloan there in her loft apartment, and with this was accompanied a vision. Forsooth, it was a vision of a tall man clad in black vestments and with a long beard; his eyes a flaming glow. It was a vision of Rasputin! …

Millie Drake and I had no trouble entering that Queens apartment, my own escape artist skills quickly taking care of the lock. We entered and found it quiet and seemingly deserted, with only a few sticks of furniture to show that it was or recently had been inhabited.

“So this is really where the energy reading was detected to be coming from?” asked Millie.

“Quite so, love," I affirmed; “the energy reading that signified the re-energising of an object once belonging to a very powerful mystic, hmmm?”

I -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos, alien secret agent and occult investigator -- was clad in my usual finery; including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, panama hat, Magen David necklace, and one of my favourite opera capes.

My companion, known as Miss Millie Drake, is an exceedingly 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 her slender figure.

“And you suspect this object actually belonged to Rasputin and… Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Millie.

I whirled around to see what had so startled my assistant and beheld an horror indeed. It was a floating mist-like energy, deep grey in colour -- and it was headed directly to-wards us!

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the weird energy mist again vanished.

“That was simply an echo,” I pondered, twiddling my frills. “It was a warning of what we shall experience here. The actual power from the Rasputin relic shall be much more powerful.”

Suddenly a woman’s voice spoke from behind us. “You’re right about that, Doctor. The powers of Rasputin are more than you can handle.”

Millie and I turned around to face the speaker and beheld a frumpy middle aged woman clad in a cheap brand of pantsuit. She glared at me with a look of extreme hatred.

“You would be Sara Sloan, hmmm?” I enquired. “The current resident of this apartment. It was you that purchased and re-activated the crystal stone that once belonged to Rasputin.”

“That’s right,” she affirmed, “I bought the stone and started seeing visions of Rasputin. I knew that I would bring his power back to the world.”

“Ms. Sloan,” said Millie Drake, “don’t you know that what you’re doing is dangerous? Rasputin was a powerful mystic, and his power shouldn’t be in the hands of anyone who isn’t prepared to…”

Sara Sloan suddenly broke into a loud cackle. “Oh, listen to your little teenager! You’ve trained her well to say these lies, Doctor -- or should I say ‘groomed’ her?”

“We have no time for this foolishness, Sloan,” I announced. “You must surrender the stone to us before your unauthorised usage of it brings forth chaos upon this city.”

“No, Doctor. I won’t give up the Rasputin Stone to you or anyone. Its power is mine and I want it!”

With this, Sara Sloan opened her hand and revealed the very crystal stone, just as an huge mass of the grey magical power suddenly formed around her, spinning with a force like unto a cyclone of darksome terror and accompanied with a sound like unto the sighs of a thousand accursed spirits.

“Daniel, look out!” cried Millie. “It’s headed directly at us!”

Nevertheless, we could not react before the awful satanic power hit us. It smashed into Millie and me with a force stronger than any mere physical one, sending us careening uncontrollably across the apartment.

“You will now die, Doctor!” exulted the insane woman known as Sara Sloan. “With the power of Rasputin, I will now kill you!”

Do you comprehend the horror, in truth the sheer terror of what we were experiencing? There we were, the lovely Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- facing the hideous woman known to damnation as Sara Sloan. There we were, as our opponent unleashed the power of the strange stone she had acquired from the Russian Treasures curio shop -- the very power of the notorious mystic known as Rasputin!!

“Die, Doctor!” repeated the insane Sara Sloan. “Die, and leave me to be with the power of Rasputin!!”

I managed to struggle to my feet from where I had fallen from the powers of the darkling mist force that continued to menace me. I looked and saw that Millie had been knocked unconscious and now lay motionless -- but breathing, thank God -- near by.

Knowing what I had to do, I then turned around and waved my hand to-wards the whirling energies, causing them to halt for an instant before they then reversed their direction -- heading back at Sara Sloan.

"How... ?" Sloan stammered. "Doctor, how have you done this?!"

“What I create,” said I. “I can also control.”

“What!” Sara Sloan cried in sudden horror. “You mean… you were Rasputin?!”

“I can assure you, Sloan,” I replied, “I still am!”

The swirling grey energy had by now surrounded Sloan, howling and spinning like unto an hurricane of magical justice.

“No!’ she screamed. “No! No! Please, noooooooo!”

Within a few seconds of time, the awesome energy mist had obliterated Sara Sloan from sight. Then it blinked out of existence -- taking the madwoman with it!

I ran over to Millie and saw that she was just awakening from her swoon. I carefully helped her to her feet.

“Daniel... What happened?” she queried.

“Sara Sloan lost control of the Rasputin powers and they consumed her,” I reported. “Her physical existence has been terminated, and her soul has been dispersed into the farthest corners of Creation as punishment for dabbling in the affairs of wizards, hmmm?”

“Well, I guess she deserved that,” said Millie, having recovered with the alacrity of the young. “What about the Rasputin Stone?”

I walked over and picked up the old crystal where it had fallen when Sloan had vanished. I glanced at it a moment before slipping it safely into my jacket pocket.

“We shall take the Rasputin Stone with us for safekeeping in our own collection of occult artefacts,” I announced. “It shall trouble this world no further.”

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

DELUXE ITALIAN JOB

“So the talisman that was stolen from the Met was actually made by Leonardo da Vinci?” wondered Millie Drake. “I know some say he put occult symbolism in his paintings, but did he really practice magic?”

“Quite so, love,” I affirmed. “An interest in the occult was quite the rage amongst the artistic set during the Italian Renaissance. It was kind of a way for them to ‘thumb their nose’ at the Church, hmmm?”

We had just arrived at the Hotel Deluxe, there in downtown Manhattan, in my specially-modified golden Cadillac convertible. I -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos, scion of the Watchers of Algol and intergalactic espionage agent currently assigned to Earth -- was clad in my usual finery; including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, panama hat, jungle boots, Star of David necklace, and one of my favourite opera capes.

My companion, known as Miss Millie Drake, is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and a sun-kissed complexion. The purple dress she wore only served to highlight her slender figure.

We parked in the hotel’s underground lot, then taking the elevator up to the fourteenth floor.

“This is where our systems at HQ detected the energy readings coming from?” asked Millie as we exited the lift; “the readings that might be the kind of thing this Leonardo Talisman could conjure?”

“Quite so,” I replied, twiddling my frills. “The readings seemed to show the presence of Shedim spirits, those demonic beings of ancient Hebrew lore similar to what the Muslims call jinn. An interest in both Judaism and Islam was also rather popular during old Leo’s time.”

I took an object from my pocket -- gold in colour and covered with Hebrew lettering -- and used it to scan the area.

“Spires of Daemonia!” I swore upon looking at the results. “According to the transonic mezuzah, the Shedim energy is indeed present here -- and quite powerful!”

“We need to track down the person doing this,” announced Millie. “They are probably the same one who stole the talisman, right? Then we can… Oh my gosh!”

I whirled around to see what had so startled my young assistant, and beheld an horror indeed. It was like unto a cloud of black and grey energy floating down the hotel corridor -- directly at us!!

Then, just before it reached us, the eldritch horror vanished.

“Daniel, what was that?!” Millie cried.

“It was Shedim energy,” I explained. “The very power of those disincarnate spirits that represent a race of beings which once ruled the planet. It was just a small manifestation -- a reverse echo of the much more massive phantasmal terror we shall have to face if someone has indeed succeeded in properly conjuring them.”

With this, we continued our course down the corridor, now guided by the direction from which the ghostly form had emerged. We entered the room at the far end of the hallway, my escape artist skills quickly opening the lock. It was dark inside except for two ebon black candles on top of a table which was covered by a similarly-black altar cloth. At the centre of the table was a copper disk engraved with numerous cabalistic sigils.

“The Leonardo Talisman,” I whispered to Millie.

Then, emerging from the shadows, was a figure. It was the figure of a man wearing a black business suit with a long blood-red necktie. He appeared to be of middle years, his face still distinctly handsome despite being marred with the signs of lifetimes of extreme wickedness. His hair was long and dark, and his visage was decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an intense hypnotic glare.

Of course, I recognised him immediately. I recognised him as the renegade Algolite who has become the most dangerous and wanted criminal in all the Cosmos, and my own most persistent enemy.

“Don Wingus!” I said. “Of course. I should have known. So it was you that purloined the Leonardo Talisman from the museum, and you have been utilising it to call forth the horrid powers of the Shedim!”

“Rumanos, you meddling old malcontent,” sneered the villain, with wisps of black and grey energy beginning to swirl about him. “Not at all surprising to see you and your little friend here, but it is of no consequence. I have already availed myself of the powers stored in the talisman, augmented by my own superior Algolitish mind, to call forth the powers of the Shedim. They are under my control, and I -- Magister Don Wingus -- shall utilise them to aid me in my conquest of this planet!”

I quickly reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the transonic mezuzah. Nevertheless, before I could activate the device, Don Wingus raised his hand and shot forth a blast of the darksome Shedim energy, hitting the mezuzah and sending it flying across the room.

“It is too late, Rumanos,” exulted Wingus. “The powers of the Leonardo Talisman are mine, and the Shedim will now destroy your very existence!!”

At this, an horridly huge mass of the demonic energy, accompanied by a sound like unto the chanting of an hundred thousand satanic souls, suddenly burst forth from Don Wingus directly to-wards Millie and me!

Is it possible, dear readers, for you to comprehend the horror, forsooth the sheer terror of what we were then experiencing? There we were, the lovely Millie Drake and myself -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- facing the intergalactic criminal known to infamy as Don Wingus. There we were, as Wingus released the horrible Shedim powers directly at us -- the very powers he had called forth with the aid of the stolen Leonardo da Vinci Talisman, and which he intended to use to conquer the entire world!

“The Shedim shall destroy you, Rumanos!” repeated the evil Don Wingus amidst his own mad laughter. “You shall die, and I shall rule Earth!”

The Shedim energy hit us with extreme force, sending us sprawling across the room and separating us. Then the horror really began.

Within the swirling maelstrom of demoniacal power we could see things, things beyond the ken of sanity; forms and shapes of utter screaming madness beyond all mortal endurance. There were flashings of hairy creatures with twisted horns and grotesquely glowing eyes and other things of insane otherworldly terror from outside of the realm of any possible reality.

As horrid as these sights were, it was strangely difficult to avert one’s gaze from them. Nevertheless, I struggled until I managed to do so, looking over at my dear Millie. I saw that she was similarly attempting to turn away from the whirling spectacle of horror; and I also beheld a familiar and welcome object on the floor next to her.

“Millie!” I shouted across the room. “The mezuzah!”

She then noticed what I had seen; that she had fallen just next to where my device had landed earlier. She immediately picked it up and tossed it to me.

I caught the transonic mezuzah and, quickly programming the proper setting, raised it on high.

“Be gone, foul spirits of the Shedim!” I said. “Hashem the God of Israel commands it!”

With this, the awful dark energies that had surrounded Millie and me suddenly reversed course -- in stead heading directly to-wards Don Wingus!

“No!” Wingus bellowed in sudden consternation as the black and grey demonic energies surrounded him. "No! Nooooo!!”

Then the Shedim energy suddenly imploded, folding inwards upon the evil Don Wingus. A moment later, with a sound like unto a tearing of worlds, both the power and Wingus simply vanished.

I glanced around the room whilst scanning it with the mezuzah. All was now quiet.

Millie ran over and embraced me. “Is it gone? Has it taken Don Wingus with it?”

“Quite so, my dear,” I assured her, returning the mezuzah to my pocket. “The power of the Shedim could not resist the rite of exorcism. It turned upon the one who conjured it, and now both the demonic energy and Wingus have been imprisoned in the dimension known as Hell.”

“But what about the Leonardo Talisman?” queried Millie.

I picked up the old copper disk from the table and put it safely in my pocket. “It can now be safely returned to the museum. This experience has drained the last of the power that was stored in it. This particularly dark part of the otherwise brilliant legacy of Leonardo da Vinci -- artist, polymath, and occult experimenter -- is at an end.”

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

DREAM EVIL

“Olympianoid energy?” wondered Millie Drake. “Is that really what it is?”

“So it appears, my dear,” said I, rechecking the readout on my device before returning it to my pocket. “According to the transonic mezuzah, our instruments at headquarters were correct. There is indeed an energy signature here at the Hotel Grande of the type associated with the Olympianoids, that immensely-powerful alien race (related to our own Algolitish kind) that visited Earth during the Bronze Age and became the ‘gods’ of the ancient Greeks and Romans, hmmm?”

We had arrived at the downtown hotel that night, utilising our mentalist abilities to prevent any undue attention being paid to us. I -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos, extraterrestrial espionage agent -- was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, panama hat, Magen David necklace, and one of my favourite opera capes.

My assistant, known as Miss Millie Drake, is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and sun-kissed skin. The pink dress she wore only served to highlight her slender figure.

“So Daniel,” she said. “You said this might have something to do with all those weird dreams people have been having lately, right?”

“Quite so,” I affirmed. “The energy seems to be specifically of the type associated with the Olympianoid known as Somnus, himself a scientist who did a series of experiments with the humans of that time. He was attempting to find out if he could increase Earthling psychic abilities by stimulating their dream cycles.”

“And this is why he is remembered as the Roman god of sleep and dreaming?”

“Quite so, love. His experiments were non-conclusive, and…”

“Oh my gosh!” Millie suddenly exclaimed. “Look!”

I whirled around to see what had so startled my companion and beheld some weirdness indeed. We had by now arrived at the lounge behind the hotel’s entranceway, little used at this late hour. What I saw was a floating mass of black and blue energy, pulsating with a steady eldritch rhythm -- and heading directly to-wards us!

Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the weird energy vanished.

“By the Triple Star!” I swore. “That was only an echo, a small part of the Somnus energy. When it manifests in full, it shall be far more perilous, hmmm?”

We had by now taken ourselves to the part of the hotel our instruments had determined as exhibiting the strongest emanations. It was a currently-unused ballroom at the far end of a corridor leading off the front lobby. We cautiously entered the room and investigated further.

“Daniel, look!” cried Millie, indicating something at the far end of the room. “Isn’t that…?”

It was a figure clad in a black business suit with a long blood-red necktie. He appeared to be a man of middle years, his face still distinctly handsome despite being marred with the results of lifetimes of extreme unhallowed evil. His hair was long and dark, and his visage decorated with a thin moustache and goatee. Most of all, his pale eyes shone with an intense hypnotic glare.

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

“You!” I exclaimed as we approached him. “Don Wingus. I should have known. So it is you that is conjuring the powers of the old Roman god Somnus, and thus causing the strange dreams that have been plaguing people of late, hmmm? All this no doubt in an attempt to further one of your evil schemes.”

“I have already achieved more than even you can imagine, Rumanos,” sneered Wingus, as wisps of the black and blue energy began to play about him. “Using knowledge found in certain ancient books, augmented with my own Algolitish mind powers, I have evoked the remnant of the experiments of Somnus, using it to enter the minds of the humans in their sleep. This ability I will use to bring them under my power, that I -- Magister Don Wingus -- may take my rightful place as supreme ruler of this world!”

“By the Eternal Spires!” I swore. “Wingus, you are utterly mad! You cannot control the powers of Somnus. Even he was forced to halt his experiments. The powers are just too unpredictable.”

“Oh, but you are incorrect in that, Rumanos,” he returned. “I already have the powers completely under my control -- as you shall now see!”

At that moment, Don Wingus suddenly raised his hands to-wards us, causing a stream of the darksome energy to burst forth directly at Millie and me!

“Feel the energies of Somnus!” he mocked as we staggered backwards from the blast. “Feel the powers that shall desiccate your very minds!”

Do you recognise the horror in this situation? There we were, the lovely Millie Drake and me -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- facing the horrid villain known to infamy as Magister Don Wingus. There we were, as he released the bizarre powers of the ancient Roman god Somnus directly upon us -- forsooth, the same phantasmagorical energy he intended to use in his insane scheme to conquer the planet Earth!

“Feel the powers, Rumanos!” he repeated amidst peals of his own mad laughter. “Feel the powers that are mine; the powers that shall destroy your mind before I go on to use them to become ruler of Earth -- feel the powers of Somnus!!”

The energies had by now greatly increased, imprisoning Millie and me in a swirling maelstrom of ghostly black and blue power, accompanied with a moaning and howling sound like unto the voice of the very harbingers of doom.

“Daniel, this is so terrible…” said Millie. “It makes me feel so tired and… sleepy.”

“I know, my dear Mills,” I told her. “It is the power of Somnus. Fight it! We must stay alert and find a way to defeat this outrage.”

“There is no hope for you, Rumanos and Miss Drake,” announced the villainous Wingus. “The Somnus energy will render you unconscious, then it will fill your sleeping minds with dark dreams -- dreams of absolute gloom that will shatter your very souls!”

The horrid energy had by now increased even further. Millie and I felt ourselves as if trapped within a whirling hurricane of darkling phantasmal horror, in truth a sinister cyclone of absolute despair.

“Take my hand, Millie,” I said, reaching out for her. “Take my hand and concentrate. Remember some of the good times we have had together; when we have been to sunny beaches and concerts and the so many beautiful things we have seen together, hmmm? Think on these things and ignore all attempts to take those memories away!”

I then felt that beautiful lady’s dear little hand in mine and, with the assurance of her touch, I overcame the lethargy of sleep enough to reach into my pocket and retrieve the transonic mezuzah.

“The time has now come,” said I whilst activating a certain setting on the device, “to awaken out of sleep, hmmm?”

Suddenly a sound emanated forth from the mezuzah. It was a noise like unto an alarm clock, and it was accompanied by a light like unto the dawning of day. At once, the dark energy of Somnus began to flee from us, reversing its course and heading towards the evil Don Wingus in stead!

“What!” he cried in sudden fear as he realised what was happening. “Rumanos, you accursed meddler, what have you done?!”

“I simply programmed the mezuzah to send forth a signal of morning coming,” I explained; “of a time when the dark powers of sleep are at an end.”

“No!” bellowed Wingus as the black and blue Somnus powers engulfed him. “No! No! You cannot do this to me! I am Don Wingus, the rightful ruler of this world! You cannot…! No! No!!”

Then the phantasmal Somnus energy imploded, surging inwards upon the evil Wingus. In a split second it vanished -- taking the Algolite criminal with it!

“‘To sleep; perchance to dream’,” I quoted. “I think not!”

I looked around the room. There was no sign of the dark power or of Don Wingus. The horror was gone.

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

“Yes, I’m okay now,” she smiled.

“Excellent to hear, love,” I said whilst returning the mezuzah to my pocket. “The powers of sleep are useful when properly controlled, but quite dangerous when misused.”

“So what happened to him?” enquired Millie Drake. “Where did the Somnus energies take Don Wingus?”

“Well, that sort of depends on what symbolism one prefers, hmmm?” I pondered. “Dreamland; the Land of Nod; something like that, I suppose. In any case, it is an inter-dimensional realm from which he shall not easily escape.”

“Well, that’s good!” cheered my companion.

“I say, my dear Millie,” said I as we began to exit the ballroom. “It is only a little after midnight. Since our work here is done, let us leave the hotel and find an all-night cafe where we can have a couple of highly-caffeinated espressos, hmmm? For some reason, that sounds quite appropriate!”

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

SHOOT SHOOT

I took the transonic mezuzah from my pocket whilst Millie Drake and I entered Amity Regional High School (having utilised my escape artist skills to unlock the door) there in the Connecticut town known as Orange, then using the device to scan the area from the vestibule.

“By the Triple Star!” I swore upon glancing at the resultant readings. “Our equipment back at NYC headquarters was indeed correct. This school building is absolutely infested with demonic entities!”

I was clad in my usual finery that day, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, panama hat, Star of David necklace, and one of my favourite opera capes.

My companion, known as Miss Millie Drake, is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and a sun-kissed complexion. The lilac-hued dress she wore only served to highlight her slender figure.

“Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Millie. “Well, it’s good that it’s summertime and school isn’t in session so we can investigate and do an exorcism!”

“Quite right, my dear Mills,” I agreed. “Of course, Amity Regional High School has not been quite the same since that mass shooting here two semesters ago, hmmm? The shooter killed twenty-six people; twenty-four students and two staff members, using an assault rifle he had obtained at the local Milmart department store. He was himself a disgruntled student, and his internet history showed an interest in the occult and devil-worship. He was then shot and killed by the police.”

“That’s why the demonic things were attracted?” queried my companion. “Especially so, I mean. I know they're often drawn to violence and suffering.”

“Indeed they are,” I pondered. “What are known as ‘demons’ are actually, as you know, the psychic remains of certain ancient extraterrestrials; Shedim, Cacodemons, Shaitans, Maskim, and the like. Now you see, much concerning this case was under-reported by the news media -- at the request of local politicians, I might add. There were certain aspects of it that would have been particularly concerning and indeed quite troubling to the public, and…”

“My goodness, Daniel!” Millie cried. “Look at that!”

I looked up to see what had so startled my companion and beheld an horror. It was an hovering mass of ebon black energy floating down the school corridor -- directly to-wards us!

I started to raise my mezuzah against the demonic force, but it then just vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

“That was just an echo,” I said, returning the device safely to my pocket. “The full demonic manifestation will be centred in the classroom where the shooting occurred, and will be much more powerful!”

We then continued our investigative course down the school corridor.

“So Daniel,” said Millie Drake, “you said there was something about this case that would have overly troubled the public. What was it, the occult connections?”

“Not only that, love,” I opined. “There was something else, an element that would have exposed a certain aspect of such tragedies that is little understood by most humans. It was something that made it necessary to ban the security camera footage -- even beyond the sickening carnage it showed -- from the sight of the public. You see, in incidents like this school shooting it is not only the perpetrators that are culpable, it is also the victims. Now, allow me to explain. The cycle of violence leading to such horrors issues from the problems of a modern culture in which young people are sadly devalued as human beings. It is a culture that exploits the beauty of youth -- in fashion and advertising and entertainment -- whilst at the same time limiting their freedom to an extreme degree, hmmm? Teenagers are continuously told that they are not adults, even though biology says otherwise. They are told to whom they can talk, where they can go, and what they can do. Industries control the music they listen to, the films and television programmes they watch, the internet sites they can access, and so on. Most tragically of all, they are told who they can love. It is for these reasons that the rate of severe depression, self-harm, eating disorders, illicit drug use, and even suicide is so hideously high amongst teens. Due to the abuse they endure daily from the crypto-fascist forces of adult society, they have decided they just want to die. They see it ultimately as the only way out of an existence that offers them no hope but to eventually ‘grow up’ and become part of the system. Ah, here we are!”

Millie and I had arrived at the door of the classroom in which the massacre had occurred. We opened the door and entered. All signs of the tragedy had of course been scrubbed away, and what we beheld was a normal-appearing secondary schoolroom, with a chalk board at the front, a series of desks and chairs in the middle, and a larger teacher’s desk in the back. Along the side were a few shelves on which were graphic novels that the kind instructor allowed the students to peruse if they finished their work early.

Then all hell broke loose.

We were suddenly surrounded by noise. It was a sound like unto a mixture of baying hounds, screaming victims of torture, and the feral growls of predatory beasts. The horrid noise was amplified beyond the level of anything in physical existence.

With this was a visionary horror, far larger than the black shape we had previously seen. It filled the room and hid all else from us, and was blacker black than black can ever be, a swirling mass of darksome evil inhabited by repulsive sights of writhing tentacles and dripping slime. It whorled about us like unto a cyclone of satanic fear.

I started to reach into my pocket for the transonic mezuzah, but was suddenly prevented from this by one of the phantasmagorical tentacles, which shot out and slapped both Millie and me to the floor!

Do you see the horror, forsooth the extreme terror of this situation, my dear friends and most devoted readers? There we were, the lovely Millie Drake and myself -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos, Knight of the Eternal Spires. There we were, investigating the demon-infested crime scene of Amity Regional High School in the town of Orange, Connecticut. There we were -- having been knocked off our feet by a gigantic conglomeration of darksome demoniacal entities that even now was threatening to attack us further!

“Daniel, what can we do?!” screamed Millie.

“Stay strong, Mills,” I encouraged her. “The purpose of the demonic force is to discourage us; to make us doubt and give up.”

As I spoke, I only just managed to pull the mezuzah from my pocket and to hold it aloft.

“Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad!” I invoked whilst activating a whirring stream of power from the device. “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one! Blessed is the name of his glorious kingdom forever and ever!”

With this, the horrid sounds rose up in pitch for a few seconds. Then, with a shudder that caused the entire classroom to shake, the horrible conglomeration of demonic entities vanished.

I looked around the room. All was now quiet. All was now normal.

I stood up and helped Millie Drake to her feet.

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

“Yes, I’m okay now,” she said. “Has the demon force been completely exorcised?”

I did a scan of the area before returning the sonic mezuzah to my jacket pocket.

“Quite so,” I said, brushing myself off with my handkerchief. “The exorcism frequency, coupled with my recitation of the ‘Shema’ prayer, served to banish the infernal forces. They have gone to the inter-dimensional ‘hell’ created by the Watchers of Algol as a prison for certain ancient evils, and will trouble this schoolhouse no more. Our work here is done.”

“So Daniel,” said Millie. “You were going to tell me more about why the public wasn’t allowed to see the security footage, right?”

“The main reason the security video was not shown to the public,” said I as we left the school building to return to our waiting car, “was because of what happened when one of the victims was threatened. It was a teenage girl -- her name was Aislynn Morantz -- who said something before the shooter blew her to bits with his assault rifle; something that serves to illustrate what I have told you today about how everyone involved in such shootings -- both the perpetrators and the victims -- are culpable. This due to the disparity of modern life for young people, hmmm? Several witnesses corroborated what they had heard her say, but they were asked to stay quiet about it. When the shooter pointed the gun at the girl, she just looked directly at him and said, ‘Shoot. Shoot me if you want. I don’t care. It’s not like this life is worth living anyway’.”

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

THE PLANET PIRATE

Miss Millie Drake had just gone out to the Safeway grocery store that morning. Little did she know that, during her shopping, she would suddenly be called away from Earth and transported across the Galaxy by the Kosmikos, that secret service organisation of her people, the legendary Watchers of the Daemon-Star Algol. She found herself on the surface of a strange planet, its large red sun hanging in the sky. There was a plain of silver grass around her, and she was standing just outside what appeared to be a major city.

Millie is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, enchanting violet eyes, and a sun-kissed complexion. The royal blue dress she wore only served to highlight her slender athletic figure.

As she entered the alien city, Millie Drake found the details of her mission being transmitted directly into her brain by the Watchers. The planet to which she had been assigned was called Tamara, and the people of its Earth-like civilisation had been harassed of late by a Space-faring pirate and bandit known as Captain Krum who, along with his crew of brigands, had regularly visited the planet in order to raid its resources and molest its citizens.

The reason that Millie, though still just a junior operative of the Kosmikos, had been chosen for the assignment was due to a prophecy found amongst the ancient religious texts of Tamara; a prophecy speaking of a figure entitled “The Future Girl” who would one day arrive from parts unknown in order to save that world from an unspecified but horrific threat. This bit of subterfuge fits perfectly with the official policies of the Algolites, an incredibly advanced race who officially only use their Time and Space travel abilities for purposes of research.

When Millie entered the city she noticed that, despite their apparent knowledge of the existence of life beyond their planet, the society of Tamara was a decidedly medieval one. In the large town square was displayed a sort of heraldic crest of the ruling family of the planet; a monument that was centred around an elegant steel sword.

The people of the city, human in appearance, paid no undue attention to Millie, save for a few who glanced harmlessly to admire her beauty. They were a respectful race, used to the societal restraints of class distinction, and recognising in Millie Drake a lady of the highest type.

It is due to this that the general panic which broke out amongst the citizens when the threat then appeared was all the more poignant. The rocket-ship was seen soon after it entered the atmosphere. It was painted pitch black and decorated with a silver emblem like unto a dragon curled around a mountain of skulls. Its engine roared as it approached.

“My goodness,” exclaimed Millie Drake, “it’s the pirate ship!”

The rocket landed directly in the centre of the town square. Its hatchway door opened and several figures stepped forth from it. They were all humanoid, or just about (one of them had a tar-black tentacle where an arm should have been), clad in exactly the type of clothing Millie had seen “pirates” wear in old Hollywood films. Their leader was a very tall, heavily muscled man with a long black moustache and a cruel cutlass on his leathern belt. He strode across the square, his boots echoing on the stone pavement.

“I’m Captain Krum,” he announced, his voice rough but commanding. “Your riches and your women belong to me and my crew. If you try to resist we will cut you all down -- without mercy!”

Millie Drake stepped forth and set her violet eyes directly on the huge pirate.

"No,” she said. “You will not ransack this planet or assault its citizens. I will not allow it.”

“What is this?” laughed Krum the Pirate. “Are the people of Tamara sending little girls against us now? Still, she is right comely and would make me a good profit on the outer-rim pleasure planets. What is your name, child?”

“I am Mistress Millie Drake of the Algolite Kosmikos,” Millie continued bravely. “You are warned to leave here immediately and never to return.”

“You are starting to try my patience, child,” growled Krum. “It looks like you need to be taught a lesson.”

With this, the pirate began to loom forth to-wards Millie Drake, his massive hands outreached to her. Nevertheless, just before he reached her, the young lady let forth with a roundabout kung fu kick that hit Captain Krum right in his midsection.

“By the Star Dragon’s beard!” bellowed the pirate, attempting to hide the pain he felt. “I’ve had enough of you, girlie!”

Krum then drew his cutlass and began to creep back to-wards Millie. Before he reached her, she jumped over and pulled the sword from the crest in the middle of the town square, then holding it out before her in an expert defensive posture.

Captain Krum’s crew was surrounding the area, with the citizens of Tamara watching from farther away. Neither dared approach too closely to the pair of oddly-matched combatants.

“You’re going to regret this, little one,” Krum sneered. “Nobody disrespects me and lives!”

With this pronouncement, the huge pirate captain rushed directly at Millie Drake, his flashing cutlass raised for the kill!

Do you understand the terror, forsooth the unspeakable horror of this situation, dear friends and readers? There she was, the lovely Miss Millie Drake, secret agent of the Watchers of Algol. There she was, on a covert mission to the distant planet Tamara. There she was, facing the evil Captain Krum the Pirate in armed combat as part of her assignment to save the planet from his horrid raids. There she was -- in a violent conflict with the terrible Space buccaneer that only one of them would survive!

“You can’t insult me and live, little girl!” repeated the vicious pirate. “You will regret this, but only for the few seconds of life you have left!”

Millie Drake’s sword met the cruel cutlass of the piratical Space captain, the clash of steel ringing out loudly across the city square. Soon the combat was in earnest, as the giant pirate continued to attempt using his weapon against the young lady’s tender flesh, only to be met with her lightning-fast defence and surprising strength.

Within a few moments, it was obvious that Krum was losing his confidence, but his pride prevented him from withdrawing until, after he missed Millie completely with an attempted blow of his cutlass, she let forth with a swing of her sword that ripped open his shirt completely from one side to the other.

Captain Krum looked down, and an expression of fear entered his dark eyes for the first time, when he noticed that it would only have taken a mere fraction of distance for the girl’s sword to have similarly ripped open his torso.

Krum stepped backwards and looked at Millie Drake. After one tense moment passed, he then suddenly turned away and ran at full speed back to his waiting spaceship, his crew quickly following his lead.

“Of course,” mused Millie, returning the sword to its display. “Like bullies everywhere, he’s a coward. All it took is for someone to challenge him.”

The rocket took off, heading at high speed away from the planet. Then it suddenly shuddered and sparked, standing still for one moment high up above with a noise like an high-pitched whine -- before it then exploded into a conflagration of flame that soon was dispersed by the high winds of the environment.

Millie Drake spoke, “Gosh, they were in such a hurry to leave they tried to activate their Space-warp engine while still in the atmosphere!”

Then the people of Tamara rejoiced, praising “The Future Girl” who had appeared, as the old prophecy had predicted, and saved them from the terror of piracy. A celebration was held in the city, a celebration that became all the more festive when the guest of honour suddenly vanished (thus proving to their beliefs her supernatural status). With her assignment now complete, Millie Drake had been returned to her usual Earth headquarters by the Watchers of Algol.

For countless generations after this, a glistening white marble statue has stood in the town square of that capital city of the planet Tamara, right next to the crest of the ruling family; a statue that was specially commissioned and carved to commemorate the day when the people had been delivered from the horrid thief and freebooter known to infamy as Captain Krum the Pirate. It is a statue of a beautiful young lady, petite and perfect and holding a sword aloft in victory. It is a statue of Miss Millie Drake -- The Future Girl!

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