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Mythic Mondays- The Rookie and the Soldier, Part 1
Posted: Mon, 01 Dec 21:41:22

by Rachel

Welcome to another Mythic Monday! In today's post, I'm reporting on my continuing investigations with Elder Sign.

After-action report from confrontation with Ghatanothoa in the Streets of Arkham on Sunday, November 16, 2025, Part the first:

Previously...

The scream became a wail. The wind whipped faster. A foul voice seemed to speak directly into the investigators' minds "I see you... I see all of you... The false servant has fallen. The unwilling servant rises. The channel belongs to the darkness. The seventh seal will break. Arkham is ours. The world is ours. All worlds are ours. Yibb-Tstll sees ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Akachi clapped her hands over her ears, full well knowing that it was a futile gesture.

"Bull sh*t, you don't see everything!" called Monterey Jack, to Akachi he whispered "do it now, do the ritual. Do it without speaking, without gesturing. I know you can. I'll distract it." He stepped in front of Akachi, careful to stay within the protective circle outlined by the Elder Signs. "I'm seeing things pretty clearly right now myself," the archaeologist talked loudly into the ether. "You're the one that's been using me. Was I a good puppet?"

"You served your purpose. And you will continue to do so. I have seen it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sure, you made me write on the walls, move some artifacts, lose a few Elder Signs, misplace files, mess up the office. Yeah, that was you. But you know what?"

"What?"

"You didn't turn me. Not really. I didn't kill anybody. I didn't release you or your buddies. Sure, I might've done some bad sh*t, but nothing that can't be undone."

"You are mine."

"Nope. I'm mine. I call your bluff, you motherf*cker," said Monterey Jack.

Tommy slowly regained consciousness, he could hear Akachi mumbling under her breath. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but he trusted her to see this through. He heard bits and pieces of Monty's chat with Yibb-Tstll too. Tommy smiled. Monty was back, potty mouth and all. Tommy might cuss, but the archaeologist could make a sailor blush if he got going. And he was certainly going. The cop got to his feet.

"Welcome back, Tommy Boy, you almost missed the party."

"Glad to have you back, Monty."

"You are mine. You are both MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Monty laughed. Tommy glared at... well nothing really as Yibb-Tstll didn't have a physical manifestation... yet. "The channel belongs to no one." His voice was steady.

The Elder Signs brightened, burning red, then green, then blue. Yibb-Tstll screamed, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I SEE ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU ARE MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" The words became unintelligible. The Elder Signs flared once more, the sealing circle lit up, then faded. The signs burned out. And all was silent.

"Good job, Miss Akachi," said Monty. The Shaman smiled, she hated when he called her that.

"Welcome back, Monterey Jack."

"Awwww, come on, after all we've been though? When are you going to start calling me Monty?"

"When you stop calling me Miss Akachi," the Shaman smirked.

"Hmph," Monty huffed.

"Sooooo, not to be the kill joy, but what are we going to tell Captain Schaeffer? Or Agent Stanley's people?"

"That's a problem for tomorrow, Tommy Boy," Monty put an arm around the cop, and the three investigators walked out of the Museum and into the Streets of Arkham just in time to see the sun begin to rise.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Present Day

Akachi took Monty back to her apartment and called Dr. Lee to give the archaeologist a once over. Meanwhile, Tommy opted to check in with Captain Schaeffer at Arkham PD...

"You look like h*ll," a senior officer greeted Tommy. The Rookie just glared. Tommy was well aware of how disheveled he looked after the night he'd just had.

"Muldoon! Get in here!" Captain Schaeffer called from his office.

"Have fun, rookie," the officer waved. Tommy stepped threw into the captain's office.

"Shut the door and take a seat," said Captain Schaeffer. Tommy shut it, then practically fell into the open seat. The other was occupied by a rough-looking middle-aged man in what appeared to be an old army jacket that had seen better days.

"Officer Tommy Muldoon, meet Major Mark Harrigan, US Marine Corps, retired. He's with the Guardians." Captain Schaeffer made the introductions.

"Major Harrigan, I'm sorry, but I have to report," Tommy started.

"that Diana's dead," Major Harrigan finished.

"How?" Tommy asked.

"It's an odd bit of magic. But useful. HQ is aware that Agent Stanley died investigating the Great Temple. Da*mn shame, if you ask me, but I know how hard Diana could be to work with. Especially if she worked herself into a snit. She didn't want this assignment. Didn't think Arham was important. And it came back to bite her. And you can call me Mark. I'm retired." The old soldier explained.

"You knew her well," Tommy asked.

"Well enough," said Mark.

"And that brings us to this mornings events," said Captain Schaeffer.

"We handled Yibb-Tstll overnight, got Monty back to himself too," said Tommy.

"Good, but that's not what I'm referring to," said the Captain.

"Huh?"

"Ghatanothoa's influence has been noted in Arkham and the surrounding area. We need to get a handle on this, fast. Can't have people disappearing into space-time rifts. The wrong people disappear and the public asks questions. The public asks questions, then they expect answers. And we can't give them the real answers without starting a riot," Mark Harrigan explained.

"So we contain Ghatanothoa, close Gates, seal Rifts, and tell the public nothing," said Tommy. Tommy's contempt was practically palpable.

"Look son, I'm not thrilled about lying to the public any more than you are. But I've been at this a lot longer. Magic scares people. Science doesn't recognize monsters, demons, and the like. Not anymore. Religion doesn't much recognize them either. And that means that the general public has no framework for dealing with any of this. And they can't handle that. I'd love it to be otherwise, but it's not. Ignorance protects them."

"And those people that disappeared this morning? Pulled through rifts and blitzed from existence, how did their ignorance protect them?" The Rookie asked.

"Wars have casualties," said Mark.

"This isn't a war!" Now, Tommy was just angry.

"Yes, it is!," Mark insisted. "Look, they were civilians. I'll give you that. But make no mistake, this is a war. And we're losing," Mark added softly.

"We're losing?"

"Yes." Mark closed his eyes. "I wish things were different. But right now, we're barely holding the line."

"Then maybe the Guardians should get off their a*ses and help us!" Tommy got to his feet.

"Sit down, son. The Guardians are doing everything that they can. Let me give you a bit of perspective. How many Arkham Investigators would you say there are?" Mark asked the rookie.

Tommy sat back down, but continued to glare at Mark, "Maybe about 20 of us, a dozen or so active at any given time. We just got Monty back. And Drake's been AWOL for over a year now."

"Your little crew covers Arkham and occasionally helps out in Alaska, and for the record Dexter Drake isn't AWOL. He's on special assignment, investigating for us in the Atlantic."

"He's on a godd*mn cruise ship!"

"His cover as a stage magician is convenient and he's doing a pretty bang-up job considering that he's got no backup."

"Whatever."

"You can be pissed at me and the Guardians all that you like. But there's only about 200 or so of them."

"200 of you!"

"200 Guardians, give or take, but they are responsible for all of Earth, all of another world, and the timelines of both too. And for the record, I'm no Guardian. Just a Liaison, like Diana."

Tommy looked confused. Captain Schaeffer just nodded.

"I'll be honest, Earth hasn't been the Guardians' priority lately, but that's changed of late. They're trying, but they just don't have the resources here."

Tommy still looked confused.

"For much of Earth, magic is make-believe. That's not the case on Prydera. That other world. Not everybody can use magic there, but magic isn't hidden. It gives the Guardians a lot more freedom to act. Earth-side..."

"is different," Tommy admitted.

"Exactly."

"But you also said that we weren't their priority."

"True, but that is changing due to some new-old information."

Tommy cocked his head, confused, again.

"Time is a tricky thing. It's not linear, not quite circular either. Changes can cascade in unexpected ways. Let's just say that some very important knowledge went missing for a few hundred years. Blame Merlin. Anyway, Earth's becoming a priority again out of necessity."

"Okay, say I believe all of this, what does this mean for us, for Arkham?" Tommy asked.

"It means that you'll be getting some extra help from time to time," Mark answered.

"Well, I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. We'll take what help you can offer," said Tommy.

"Good, and now that you two have an understanding, I'd appreciate it, if you would deal with the threat at hand... before the mayor catches wind of this mornings' troubles," said Captain Schaeffer.

Mark looked to Tommy, "I know you've had a long night, but could you give me a hand with Ghatanothoa before clocking out? I could really use someone local."

Tommy turned to his Captain, "I honestly didn't think I was still on the clock..."

"Do the Arkham Investigators still do mission reports," Captain Schaeffer asked Tommy.

"Yes, sir."

"Turn in a copy of all your reports to me from now on, starting with last night's events. I'll see what I can do," said the Captain.

"Works for me," said Tommy, turning to Mark he added, "where would you like to start?"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Let's hit the streets," said Mark.

Tommy

and Mark (OOC: Thanks again, Andy! Without you, Mark wouldn't be here).

got their investigation started (OOC: Note: Mark is the Storm Marker that I borrowed from Omens of Ice. ~~I will eventually make a standee for Mark, but I forgot to do so before this play :p~~ I dug around in my copy of AH 2nd and found Mark's marker from there. It's now being stored with Elder Sign moving forwards :D).

Time and space were unstable, right from the start.

Time was especially wibbly wobbly. Tommy

managed to fight his way through,

gaining 2 Elder Signs for his efforts.

Ghatanothoa didn't make it easy though.

Tommy would've been devoured for sure, if he hadn't kept his cool (OOC: Tommy rolled Terror, BUT I had him use a Clue for a reroll, which was an Investigate 3. This may or may not be legal, but I felt it fitting for my favorite Rookie :D). The Gate was sealed.