All friends of Miss Millie Drake and of myself -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- will be pleased to hear that we are both alive and well, although perhaps more preoccupied with the personal aspects of our lives together than was permissible during the more active periods of our career. We are currently residing in the oceanfront town known as Atlantic City, New Jersey, in a secret portion of a certain hotel and casino along that city’s famous boardwalk.
Our old headquarters -- located in the golden trapezoidal roof of a downtown skyscraper in a certain other east coast metropolis -- still exists, and is now guarded by a being known as the Leinad Muranos, himself a sort of golem distilled via a certain obscure cloning method from my own Algolitish essence. Any who would seek to invade or damage our former abode would do well to rethink their plans, since any confrontation with the Muranos golem will end to their detriment. In him is a certain portion of the knowledge of the Watchers of Algol, and of the power of the Daemon-Star.
Since I see that there are numerous accounts of our past cases that have still not been codified on these memoirs, including some of incredibly grotesque and heretofore unseen portent concerning the very structure of existence as it is known, be assured that there is still much to come herein concerning our long and indeed storied career as agents of the Kosmikos and protectors of planet Earth. Not the least of these is the tale you are about to peruse, in itself a story of extreme and unmitigated horror and unspeakable terror beyond any and all sane imaginings. In fact, it is an experience that could be said to have set off the very chain of events that led to Millie and me eventually moving to our current residence. It is the tale of a certain talisman and of the demonic being that it was believed to control. It is the story of an occult crime that could have torn apart the very foundations of the Universe itself.
It is, forsooth, the story of Miss Sheena Fitz of the Punk Rock Café. …
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!!! …
“Nice to meet you, Miss Fitz,” I said. “I am Doctor Rumanos, and this is Miss Drake.”
“Please, call me Sheena,” said the girl. “Thank you so much for coming by.”
We were at the Punk Rock Café, located at the city’s famous Inner Harbour area. I was clad in my usual finery, including a frilled poet shirt, purple velvet suit, jungle boots, and one of my favourite opera capes. My panama hat hung from the extra chair at the table where we were seated.
My companion Millie Drake is an exceedingly beautiful young lady; petite and perfect with luxurious chestnut hair, lovely violet eyes, and sun kissed skin. The pink dress she wore only served to highlight the splendours of her slender adolescent figure.
Our other associate, the robotic Kit-10, had stayed behind to complete some electronic filing at headquarters.
The café was closed to the public pending our investigation of recent events there. Millie, Sheena, and I were the only people present that late afternoon.
“We are always glad to help, Sheena,” I said. “Now please, do give us the details of the theft your family has experienced.”
Sheena Fitz was an attractive teenage girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, wearing a smart yet feminine pantsuit. She was obviously of some intelligence, but a certain tremble of fear was in her voice. It was a trepidation that, given the horrors of what she was then going to relate to us, and notwithstanding the otherworldly terrors that we were about to experience, was indeed understandable.
“As you know,” began the girl, “my father is Aaron Fitz, the founder and CEO of the Punk Rock Café restaurant chain. He is currently out of town on business concerning our new location in Chicago, but he advised calling you when he heard of the break-in and burglary here the night before last.”
“Daniel,” said Millie Drake, “you know Aaron Fitz, don’t you? I think you told me about him.”
“Ah, yes,” I replied. “I do remember him. He was a major financial contributor to the synagogue and Kabala school my old friend Rabbi Jacob Solomon presided over in Allentown, Pennsylvania.”
“He told me about that,” said Sheena, “and that you and the rabbi used to fight against demons and things.”
“Quite so,” I reminisced. “But please, let us focus on the recent events, hmmm? You say the café here was broken into after closing time, all the alarums and security cameras were mysteriously disabled, and that only one object of the plethora of old rock and roll memorabilia here was stolen?”
“Yes, it was an old piece of jewellery that once belonged to the late Joey Ramone.”
“By the Triple Star!” I swore. “The lead singer of the greatest punk rock band of all time, the Ramones! Joey’s family name was Hyman, and he was born in New York City. Hmmm…”
“So, what exactly was this ‘piece of jewellery’?” enquired Millie.
Sheena Fitz took out her mobile telephone and then showed us a photograph of the object in question. It seemed to be made of silver, and on it was engraved a symbol like unto a coiled serpent, around which were several distorted Hebrew letters.
“Spires of Daemonia!” I exclaimed. “Now I can understand why your father knew we would be interested in this case, hmmm? That is the Talisman of Leviathan!”
“What does that mean?” queried Sheena.
“Leviathan,” answered Millie Drake, “is a sea serpent from Hebrew legend, symbolic of extreme power.”
“Quite so,” I approved, “and the name is also found in the ‘Ars Goetia’ as the name of a demon -- an evil spirit said to tempt men into heresies and to sins against faith.”
“So it’s a demon?” wondered Sheena Fitz. “Really a demon?”
“Well, that very much depends upon one’s definition of certain terms. You see, this being that is known as Leviathan was actually one of the Cacodemons of the Andromeda Galaxy that fought in the ancient Galactic Wars. Specifically, he was an officer in the Andromedan Galactic Navy. After the wars, he went into exile and ended up on Earth, his alien powers then convincing the people of that time that he was a supernatural being. Cacodemons can continue their lives after the deaths of their physical bodies, and so this Leviathan did so, eventually becoming one of the spirits mentioned in the medieval works of black magic.”
“So how did Joey Ramone get the talisman?”
“It is likely that he inherited it,” I explained. “His family were descended from Cabalists; the Kabala being in itself an echo of the science of the Watchers, and the Talisman of Leviathan would have been an object of power for them. It may have something to do with his impressive ability as a musician, hmmm? Leviathan was said to be ‘lord of the raging sea’, which could have reference to the sound of rock and roll, or perhaps to…”
Suddenly, I was interrupted by Sheena Fitz screaming. She had seen something behind us. Millie and I stood up and whirled around to face whatever it was -- and beheld an horror. It was an oversized phantasmal face floating in the air and approaching our table. Around the face was a sickly blue-green glow with which was the ghostly sight of writhing serpentine coils, and accompanied by a rising sound as of rushing water. Nonetheless, it was the countenance itself that was of most interest to us.
It was like unto the countenance of man of middle years, still showing signs of handsome distinction despite being marred with the signs of lifetimes of extreme unholy wickedness. 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 absolutely hypnotic glow. Of course, I recognised this visage immediately.
It was the face of Don Wingus!
Then, just as the evil countenance reached us, it suddenly vanished.
“By the Eternal Stars!” I swore. “That was an attempt to frighten us, utilising only a quite small part of the Leviathan energy.”
“Daniel... that face.” said Millie. “It was… “
“Don Wingus,” I said his name. “I should have known. So he did escape from Gaithersburg.”
“And he stole the talisman of Leviathan!”
“Indeed, and no doubt plans to use it in one of his horrid plots of universal domination.”
“Doctor,” said Sheena Fitz, “who is this person?”
“He is known as Magister Don Wingus,” I explained, “also 'Donald Jay Wingo' and other aliases, and is the head of the occult terrorist organisation known as Spectral Paranormal. A renegade member of my own Algolite race, he is the most notorious criminal in all of Time and Space.”
“So Daniel,” spoke Millie, “where has he taken the talisman?”
“There may be a way to find out,” I rejoined. “Since he has begun to evoke the powers of the demon, it should be traceable, hmmm?”
Reaching into my jacket pocket, I retrieved the transonic device, an highly advanced scientific instrument in physical form somewhat resembling a writing pen. I then programmed a certain setting into it.
“Ah, of course,” I said upon looking at the resultant readout. “He has not gone far with his ill-gotten plunder. He is right here in the area -- at the Harbour Lighthouse!”
Sheena Fitz said, “That’s a local tourist attraction, but it’s been closed for repairs lately.”
“Exactly the sort of location he would appropriate for his wicked deeds.”
“Daniel,” said Millie Drake, “we need to get over their immediately!”
“Doctor,” added Sheena Fitz, “is it okay if I go with you? It does concern my family business after all.”
“It shall be exceedingly dangerous,” I counselled her, “but perhaps no more so that if you stayed here, considering the forces that have been summoned.”
The Sun had set and the Full Moon was just rising whilst Millie, Sheena, and I then hurried on foot to the Harbour Lighthouse. The old structure’s door was bolted, but this yielded easily to the transonic and we entered the building. We continued up the stairs to the main light room, and beheld an horror indeed. It was an horrid satanic altar draped in black, on which was a cruel ceremonial dagger -- and standing before this altar was the evil Don Wingus himself!
“Good evening, Rumanos,” he said, his voice dripping with mockery. “You have been expected.”
He was wearing a vestment robe of ebon black, and the stolen talisman was hanging on a chain around his neck. Around him played the shimmering blue-green occult effulgence.
“Wingus, you ungodly fiend!” I charged. “You cannot control the powers of Leviathan. Any attempt to use them will only bring unspeakable suffering upon this world.”
“Ah, but that is exactly my plan,” he countered, the darksome energies increasing around him. “I shall increase the sending forth of the Leviathan powers, that they may indeed have their legendary effect of causing the Earthlings to commit heresies and sinful crimes against all that is of faith and religion. Then, when all is chaos and moral depravity, I shall introduce the worship of Leviathan to the suffering masses of humanity. A new religion that shall bring all of them to their knees -- with me as its high priest!!”
“But the Leviathan energies are unstable. You cannot reliably wield them.”
“Oh, but you are wrong in that. Quite wrong indeed -- as you shall now see!”
With this, and accompanied by peals of maniacal laughter, Wingus then sent forth an incredibly powerful surge of the grotesque blue-green energy; a surge that hit Millie Drake and me with such force as to cause unspeakable pain. We both sank to the floor in anguish.
Don Wingus then grabbed Sheena Fitz, who immediately fell into a sort of swoon from the fear she was experiencing. He began to drag the girl to-wards the unholy altar. Millie Drake and I, still suffering from the barrage of alien energy, were unable to come to her aid.
“Sheena Fitz will be the sacrifice that shall fully bring forth the powers of Leviathan under my control!” exulted Don Wingus. “How fitting that the heiress of the Punk Rock Café fortune will be my instrument for evoking chaos upon this planet. It is strengthened by the fact that she came here of her own accord -- thanks to you and your tiresome attempts at heroism, Rumanos!”
Wingus then threw Sheena upon the altar and picked up the ceremonial dagger, lifting it upon high, its cruel blade pointing directly at her helpless form.
“I offer you this sacrifice, O Leviathan!” intoned Don Wingus whilst the noise as of rushing water increased. “Come forth now, and do grant me your power, that I may -- in your name -- rule over all!!”
Do you perceive the terror, forsooth the extreme demoniacal horror of this situation, my dear friends and most indulgent readers? There we were, Miss Millie Drake and myself -- Doctor Daniel Rumanos -- lying prostrate in pain from the energies of the demonic Leviathan; energies that the villainous Don Wingus intended to use in his bid for world domination. In truth, this being a domination he now intended to obtain by murderously sacrificing the innocent girl known as Miss Sheena Fitz!!
“Come forth, O Leviathan!” called Don Wingus as he held the knife over the helpless girl. “By the offering of this life I now give you, come forth and grant me your power!!”
Still in horrid pain from the energy blast, I just managed to raise my right hand to-wards the horrid altar, and to chant the following words:
“Ateh Malkuth ve-Giburah ve-Gidulah Leolam, Amen.”
At this invocation, a curious thing then occurred. From the helpless form of Miss Sheena Fitz suddenly issued forth a flow of pure white light, a light that struck out against the sickly blue green glow of the Leviathan energy.
“What!” bellowed Don Wingus in outrage, the dagger falling harmlessly to the floor. “What have you done?”
“I have called forth the Cabalistic prayers against the demon,” said I, now recovering from the pain and standing up, then helping Millie to her feet. “You see, Wingus, you made a serious error in attempting to utilise Miss Fitz here as your sacrifice. Her father’s long-ago contributions to the synagogue and Kabala school had its benefits, and Rabbi Solomon pronounced a certain blessing upon his benefactor’s family, which I have now called forth against you!”
Whilst I spoke, the white light surrounded and dissolved the apparitions of Leviathan, then turning to-wards the villainous Don Wingus himself.
“No!” shouted Wingus. “No! No!! Nooooooooo!!!”
Within a few moments, Don Wingus was no more, having vanished from sight. Then the white light itself faded from view and all was quiet there in the Harbour Lighthouse.
“All is well now, Sheena,” I told the girl, helping her from the altar. “Don Wingus has been taken to his rightful inter-dimensional punishment. Unfortunately, the Talisman of Leviathan was destroyed with him.”
“It’s okay,” said the girl. “Now that we know what happened to it, the café’s insurance policy will pay for it.”
“Pragmatic just like your illustrious father, hmmm?” I mused. “Well, as we have seen that does have its benefits. As for Millie and me, that old ceremonial dagger will make a fine addition to our collection of occult curiosities, in remembrance of the time we tracked down the stolen talisman that once belonged to the great punk rock star Joey Ramone.”
“Daniel,” said Millie Drake amusedly, “I just realised something.”
“What is it, love?”
“Rumanos and Ramones. They kind of sound the same.”
“Yes, I suppose they do,” I pondered. “That is indeed rather odd, hmmm?”
***** DANIEL RUMANOS AND MILLIE DRAKE SHALL RETURN
