It was a terrible idea to install our studio into a mall, people were populating it by the second. It was only a matter of time before they found that thing we had created.
My name is Markel Scott, And I was an animator from the 60's, I helped work on the big productions at the time, I had the idea for a TV show called "Cartoon Cat" with my friend, Brian. But he decided to move away, so It was just me animating the entire thing.
I pitched the show to a TV company called Bright Stars Inc, they made me seem like I was a last attempt, but either way, we worked good together, The show was up and running for about 10 years. We had set up a studio in the mall, and it had gotten pretty successful, we had tours to the studio, and it made the company a lot of money, But that's when it happened. Brian had came back and asked to split the money with me for helping create the character, I obviously refused since I had built this up from the head down, And we ended up in a lawsuit, And somehow our lawyers we're braindead enough for us to lose the case.
The rights to Cartoon Cat was handed to Brian, and I ended up a crooked old man, watching his empire being torn apart, But Brian made a mistake that would have destroyed him and the company.
He and Bright Stars we're thinking of having performers act in the mall, to drag people in the studio (taking that this was the early 90's, cartoons just weren't the buzz anymore, at least Cartoon Cat.) He had recommended that he would be the performer, because it would add to the perspective, since he was the "creator" and he "understood" the character more than anybody, Sack of shit. He got into a costume, and ended up attracting very few people for the day, At the end of the day, He had sat down in the work room, He was blazing hot in the room, He had tried to grip the suit and tear it off, But it wouldn't budge, The rubber material had been welded to his skin because of the heat, He couldn't take it off, The heat was burning up his skin. He couldn't breath for much longer, And he ended up dying in that suit.
I came over a few hours to talk with him, I saw his corpse inside that suit, assuming he was asleep, I shook him, I yelled at him, but I thought he was just really sleepy, So I wrote a note and ended up placing it upon his dead corpse.
A few days later, he was reported missing, His corpse had disappeared, and the company had no show to air anymore, So with in weeks, they went bankrupt, and ended up going their separate ways, Brian's corpse was left in the mall's floorboards, He was inside the mall, In a ventilation hub, the smell of his rotting corpse spread throughout the mall, Nobody could find out where the horrible smell came from, so everybody stopped coming to the mall, The shop owners decided to pull out, and the mall was abandoned...But that wasn't the end of Brian.
It had been about 10 years since Brian had "disappeared", I had been interrogated by the police for months for being the last person for being in contact with Brian, But everybody assumed I was associated with his Murder, but there was really no evidence, I watched from my house, as the neighborhood kids were scared to even come near my house, because the old man inside of it was a "murderer." I looked up and saw the Mall, blocking the sunset, and decided to go find Brian.
I arrived at the abandoned mall, and I walked through it, It was a true gem being back here, all those memories flooding back, Seeing those empty shops was...eerie, Vines and moss covered the walls and ceiling, as I walked through with my flashlight, I then starred at the entrance to the Studio, I went inside, They never moved everything outside the mall, so they ended up leaving boxes of old props and animation tools there, I went inside and looked over at the Chair where Brian had been 10 years ago, The note was still there. But I also noticed that the chair had been flipped, and that there was a hole behind it, I slowly crawled down, and watched my step to where it lead, I was able to comfort my steps by the Pipes, which we're empty for years. I fell down, and saw a dry puddle of blood, I knew Brian was down, But I looked over, and saw a trail of fresh blood on the ground, I heard somebody groaning in pain, I approached the noise, And I saw the suit, I saw Brian.
Brian's skin and the suit had been merged together, His limbs we're longer and his bones we're out of place slightly, snapping and twisting whenever he moves, He had gigantic claws, that we're digging into the person's Liver, His face had been completely blended in with the Mask, and there was a huge hole in the mask where it's mouth was, There, Brian's rotting teeth, attached to his bleeding gums were there, He was a twisted version of Cartoon Cat.
Brian was digging his teeth into the head of a Homeless man, He was groaning in place, His guts had been spilling out, and his face completely disfigured, I saw the Cartoon Cat, and I began to sprint off, I didn't want to see THIS, I just wanted to find my friend. I sprinted to the exit, my lungs being dried out as a pant and wheeze, I turned my head for a split second, and I saw the Cat's head extended towards me, with it's claws coming out it's mouth, I slammed through the exit and jumped into my car, starting it and speeding off...I looked in my side view mirror, I saw the Cartoon Cat stand there, waving goodbye, as I heard it's distorted and Blood curling voice screaming: "THAT'S ALL FOLKS!"
The mall got demolished a few years ago, It's been 18 years since I've been there, I'm 79 years old this year, When the mall was demolished, there we're reports of more than 100 corpses found inside of the foundation and walls, having been slammed in or the foundation being scrapped against, used to hide the bodies, I don't know If they found Brian, No.. Whatever that thing was. But all I know is that he's out there, and that this isn't the end of him.
I hope this isn't my last reel.
