This DCverse is Maddening

Albert couldn’t help but curse his past self again at their continued procrastination. Now look at him! Cold, moist night air stabbed into his arms, leaving goosebumps under its endless assault. Not even his companions were safe from the stink eye he gave them as they themselves wore thick coats or jackets.

‘Next chance I get,’ He chattered, rubbing at his arms,’ I’m getting a damn jacket.’

“D-do you want to u-use mine?” Steve helpfully offered, it was a nice notion but it didn’t take Psychology to tell how hesitant the teen was to part himself of his warmth.

“No.” Albert declined, he wouldn’t do such a thing. It was his own fault he was in this situation and would be a harsh reminder to always be prepared.

“We’ll try to be quick about it.”

Michael promised, huddling up closer into his billowing jacket.

“It doesn’t matter how quick we are,” Angeline grumbled, clutching at herself,” It’s still going to take awhile to dig through 6 feet of hard packed dirt..”

“C’mon!” Marceline chirped, nudging at her friend,” We’ll have 4 strong men digging for us.”

“Where are they then?”

The blonde shot back.

“Hey!”

The towering teen looked aghast at her insinuations.

“G-guys.” Steve hissed, eyes straining into the darkness,” I see someone up ahead!”

That completely dissipated the somewhat jovial air and put them all on high alert. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for a group of people to go outright missing in this city. Whether or not some of them were alive was completely up to chance and demand. Before them, a large silhouette leaned up against a familiar iron fence. They seem to be dressed head to toe in black clothing and almost reached the same height as their own groups’ giant.

“I think that’s Desmond?”

Michael said, slight confusion and uncertainty tinging his voice.

“Took you lot long enough.” Desmond harrumphed with obvious annoyance,” I thought all this was some sort of sick prank.”

“No prank.” Albert answered as they got close enough where they didn’t need the whole street hearing their conversation,” Just had to get everything in order.”

“Fine.” The man shrugged,” What’s the plan?”

“We’re waiting for one more person.” The investigator stated, looking around the street as if searching for someone to appear. The group only looked at him in confusion before a pitch black car came lazily stalking its way down the eerily silent street. The behemoth wasn’t recognizable to Albert whatsoever. He wasn’t a car guy in his past life and now wasn’t any different.

Sleek and dangerous, black as night coating, impossibly tinted windows. It was as silent as death, creeping its way closer to cluster of people. Bright yellow lights balefully glared into the incoming sheep.

“Who here is Lovecraft?” A husky female voice asked, and it took Albert a few seconds of blinking to fully recover his vision. Before him, the black carriage laid in wait with a woman looking at the group with narrowed eyes. Her sharp features and hard brown eyes combined together to give off the feeling of a predator waiting for someone to fuck up.

“Uhm me ma’am..” Albert came forward, feeling the goosebumps on his arms take on a different feel. The woman looked the teen up and down before snorting in derision.

“I ain’t fucking no kid.”

“You won’t have to.” He quickly put her worries at ease,” It’s not for me.”

“You only paid for one on one.” She looked around at the frozen group, before stopping on the man trying his hardest to shrink out of sight,” Desmond?”

“...Yes ma’am?”

The man in question looked as though he wanted to sink into the cement and away from this woman. Albert could tell there was some history between these two but currently, he was just glad he wasn’t the center of her attention.

“I won’t even ask.” The woman sighed, before rolling her window up. Following that, she stepped out almost immediately drawing the eye. The woman wasn’t tall by any definition of the word, maybe average would be a better word. She wore a rumpled navy business suit that clung tightly to her legs. All in all, she did not look like a lady of the night at all.

Sure Albert knew it was wrong to stereotype but he had expected to see a woman with a lot of make up, miniskirt or something else at least somewhat eye catching.

“Why do you look so disappointed?” The black haired woman snapped,” Now get out of my way boy.”

It took Albert to realize she wasn’t speaking to him, but to the now thoroughly chastised man off to the side. Even then, he still stepped to the side to avoid her wrath. And judging from how to others reacted, they didn’t either. With a huff, the woman stalked her way through the group carrying a plastic bag in her hand.

“Walk with me Lovecraft.” She ordered,” Stupid name by the way.”

“Y-yes ma’am!”

“Why am I here?” The woman looked him from the side of her eye,” I hope this ain’t some fucked up red room shit.”

“No!” He shook his head,” We just need to you to distract the groundskeeper for a few hours. Wine and dine him, that kind of thing.”

“Whose grave are you digging up?”

Albert was momentarily surprised at her words, but before he could up with some sort of excuse she interrupted his unspoken words.

“Don’t give me that look.” She snorted,” When you get to my age in this cursed city, you notice things. 6 people in the middle of night at a cemetery and 3 shovels. Not hard to connect the dots. And judging from Desmond being here, it’s his father isn’t it?”

Now he was starting to regret requiring this astute woman’s services, if he knew she would be this sharp then…

“Good.” She spat a glob of phlegm off to the side,” His father was a right bastard. Scared my girls he did.”

“…”

“You don’t need to say anything, it’s best you didn’t.” She warned,” Good idea on giving an alias. Can’t tell you how many idiots we get. Call me again if you require our services again. Now get out of here, I got work to do.”

‘You don’t need to tell me twice.’

He thought while scuttling away from the lioness in human form, her words bouncing around in his head. There were a lot of things he would need to ask Desmond when the chance arose.

The young investigator then slipped in besides the crouched figures as they watched the woman bang loudly on the locked gates. Albert was a bit surprised that the noise didn’t attract more attention but he guessed no one wanted anything to do with such a spectacle.

“Why or how did you get her?!” Desmond whispered loudly, eyes bugging out and sweat dripping down his face.

“Who is she?”

The teen had only called the number and requested a girl that could cook the best. If he knew that grouch would come then he would’ve just asked them to bring some fast food next time.

“That’s!” He pointed at the woman now arguing with groundskeeper names Noah through the gates,” Madame Clements! I knew her since I was boy!”

“Why does she look so young then?”

Angeline couldn’t help but ask.

“No one knows!” Desmond looked as though he wanted to throw his hands up in exasperation but decided against it,” It doesn’t matter. Why did you call for her specifically?!”

“I didn’t.” Albert shrugged,” I just asked for their best cook..”

“That’s why…”

The man groaned in defeat, facepalming himself.

“Is it going to be a problem?”

The blonde asked.

“No problem.” The man calmed down a bit,” She’s been in this game for a long time, the cops won’t get anything out of her.”

“G-good.” Steve cut in,” B-because it looks like its go t-time.”

Albert looked up and indeed, Madame Clements had been let in through the gate by the seemingly fluster groundskeeper. He had no idea what she said for him to let someone off the streets inside, but frankly he just hope she wouldn’t use whatever against him in the future.

“Follow me.” He motion for them to follow him,” There’s entrances all along the fen-”

“Fuck that.” Desmond did not look please with the idea of squeezing anywhere given his bulk,” Me and the big man will just vault all of you over the fence.”

“We will?!”

Michael looked down at his nice cotton mitts with a regretful expression.

“C’mon.” The man roughly shoved the teen to no real affect,” Do you really want to squeeze in whatever hole the shrimp found?”

“I’m not a shrimp.”

“You’re right.”

Michael agreed, completely ignoring Albert’s protests.

What followed was 15 minutes of pure pain. Angeline had vaulted over the fence with no real problems, looking incredibly smug through the fence. Steve had some trouble at first but by using his splendidly frame, he had crawled over like some sick approximation of a spider. Problems started to arise when Marceline couldn’t use either of the two giants impressive frames to jump over the fence. And the only way to solve it was for Michael to stand on Desmond’s crouched shoulders, only then did the short girl have enough space to hop over the fence into the blonde’s arms.

Disaster struck when Albert got about halfway over the fence, when he heard a soft tearing sound. And before he could warn them further, they finished tossing him over. After falling end over end, and landing on the cold hard ground with an audible thump. The previously chilly air soon became simply unbearable in the next moment. Blade of icy grass stabbed ruthlessly through his suddenly bear chest. He already had a feel what had happened, looking down only confirmed his guesses. A large gash had torn open his shirt, exposing his bony chest to the elements.

‘Yep I’m going to catch a cold..’

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Angeline asked, uncharacteristically worried for the teen. Albert guessed seeing anyone fall that far would be quite the shock.

“I’m fine.”

He lied, while silently eyeing the numbers at the bottom of his vision.

[HP: 19/20]

That alone told him that a bright purple bruise will be in his future. That little incident happened around half and hour ago but even then the group couldn’t help but send concerned gazes at the shivering teen.

“We can do this ano-”

Michael tried to convince the young investigator only to cut off shortly after.

“We can’t.” Albert said through chattering teeth,” We only have one shot at this. Once they realize someone has broken in, they’ll increase security. Making it that much harder for us to do this again.”

“He r-right..” Steve agreed with a defeated tone,” We’ll b-be as fast possible, w-we promise.”

Albert didn’t take the promise serious whatsoever, digging in this weather was going to be hard enough without them rushing. If they were lucky they could dig about a foot deep before things started getting difficult. The group then stalked their way past the grounds keeper's home, which had loud music blaring and shadows fluttering through lit up windows. When Michael had peeked through the kitchen window, he came face to face with a stern look from Madame Clements. After that little heart attack he grinned at her disapproving look and ducked his head back down.

It didn’t take long for them to come across a single tombstone laying a bit apart from the others. The moon light cut through the thick fog, bathing the stone in a white hue. The investigator eyed the fidgeting Marceline from the corner of his eye. She had been uncharacteristically quite ever since they entered this place.

‘Actually..’

Even before then, she was her usually jovial self but when Madame Clements had driven up to them the girl had completely closed in on herself. If he himself didn’t feel like his nipples were starting to grow icicles, then maybe he would feel more concerned. But now? He only wanted to get the hell out of this weather and curl up in a moderately heated bed.

“Gerald Berg.” Desmond spat,” Loving husband, teacher and father. What a load of bull…”

“L-let’s take t-turns.” Steve suggested,” Me, M-Michael and Desmond will g-go first, then we’ll s-switch with A-Albert, Lin and Marcy.”

“You’re going to make us gentle flowers dig?”

The blonde ‘flower’ challenged.

“Yes.” The shaggy haired teen didn’t even blink,” W-we’ll all have to c-contribute here. I-it’s only fair.”

“Enough flirting you too,” Desmond groaned, swinging his shovel in position,” There’s gonna be a whole lot of digging..”

“We we-”

“He’s right.” Michael chuckled softly, thoroughly enjoying the flustered expressions on his friends faces,” You lot can flirt on our way back home.”

*********************************************************************************

Any estimation that Albert could’ve calculated would’ve been quite generous to say the least. If before he thought that the real work would began after a foot deep, then that was entirely wrong. The constant cold environment had turn the dirt as tough as stone. Soft stone but still stone none the less. After multiple swaps and slight groaning, the group was completely covered in dirt, tired but victorious. At the bottom of a 6 feet deep hole, laid a long wooden box looking to be completely undisturbed for decades. (A/N: I’m going to be so honest with all of you, I have no idea if the following scene is even possible or if I got it completely wrong. I feel like googling this stuff up would get me put on some kind of list so…)

“Whose going to do th-”

“I’ll do it.”

Desmond pushed the giant teen to the side, taking out a crowbar. Without any hesitation, he tore off the casket lid. Releasing noxious fumes, they quickly scattered in all directions after the near explosion of nastiness erupted from its 40 year slumber. Albert felt incredibly glad that he had skipped both lunch and dinner that day. Judging from the retching off the side, he was completely alone in that choice. Their faces were pale, cheeks slightly sunken after that ordeal.

“Give me the gloves.”

Albert practically barked, knowing full well that just waiting for the fumes to disappearance wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience. The faster he got the broach, the quicker they could get the hell out of there. Marceline practically threw the plastic gloves in his direction. Catching them, he quickly put on while holding his breathe.

‘This is going to suck..’

Before his mind could talk him out of his next actions, he slip back into the hole coming face to face with the results of any battle against time. Bone. Sparkling white under waning moon. Human bone. Little bit of flesh the maggots hadn’t already feasted on. Teeth. Jaws laid hanged open in a silent roar into the sky. Hair laid, laid uselessly around its skull. A once pristine suit jacket now had also shown its scars against time itself. It hung loosely on a lumpy misaligned, collapsed rib-cage.

[SAN: 40/45]

A chill running up his spine almost made him take in a deep breathe of this things fumes. For even in death, its bony fingers clung desperately to a single object. A small piece of jewelry. Trumpet like in its general shape. Gems sparkling under the moonlight lined its perimeter. A single tear shaped pearl hung on the end of its petals like a drop of morning dew.

[SAN: 39/45]

With his time quickly running out, he reached hand towards those clutching fingers and pulled. And pulled. And pulled. The man, even in death wouldn’t let this broach go. Wouldn’t let Marian go. Rages soon filled him at that thought. Long dried bones crumpled under his grip and with a harsh, uncaring yank Albert released one of the dead woman’s only attachments to this world from her killer clutches.

[SAN: 38/45]

Because of his rough treatment, the skeleton shook slightly leaving its mouth to fall open wider. Its empty sockets locked onto his. Glaring balefully, uselessly at the thief that had disturbed its rest. Seeming to roar petulantly into the night sky, cursing its helplessness. Begging, crying, demanding. Hair stood up on the back of his neck and without a look back, he practically slammed the lid back into place. With an audible boom, Albert sealed up killer. As he scrambled up the dirt wall in a panic, it was a though he could hear a far away voice screaming. Thrashing. Lashing against whatever. An unspoken threat in the air.

The teen laid on the cool grass, uncaring off his gasping lungs as chilly sweat covered his body. Streaming endlessly down. Soaking his already torn shirt. Taking in deep lungfuls of that the cities persistent fog, he tried and failed to slow his beat heart. It felt as though it wanted to hammer right out of his chest.

“Albert?” Marceline stood over him, with a look of concern on her face,” Are you alright?”

It wasn’t hard for her to see the boy’s eyes darting around wildly nor the clammy look his skin took on. His normally somewhat neat black hair now laid in disarray, only added to his mad look. In response to her words, he only held up the broach in gloved hands. Still not looking at her but more like through her in this moment.

“I got it..” He croaked, his throat suddenly feeling dry,” I got it..”

It took a lot out of him not to just break down in tears, his body shivering from both fear and the chill. Crying himself asleep that night was a certain thing for him. He never wanted anything to do with something like that again and even in his current fragile state, knew that was just wishful thinking.

“Just lie there.” Angeline’s blue eyes looked down on him in concern,” We’ll handle the rest..”

“W-we’ll try to be quick a-about it.”

Soon Steve took stood in his vision.

Albert felt as though there simply wasn’t enough energy in his body to even nod at her words. He lied next the slowly filling grave, still holding up the bejeweled broach to the night sky. As if to lay it upon some altar to save him from the nightmares to come.

(A/N: Some people might not like how Albert acted in this moment. He has seen Blackmask himself shoot a man in the head. That is true. But I’ve always considered seeing a decaying body to be equally as traumatizing. Plus in the rulebook of both Call of Cthulhu and Pulp Cthulhu there’s always a sanity lost after seeing a decaying body like that. Albert is still very much at the beginning of his journey and has no real resistance for these kind of scenes. Maybe in the future he’ll be able to see such things without flinching, but now? No. He needs to time to heal. Whether or not he’ll get that time isn’t really known.)