RESOLUTION: PART 4 (OF 10)
The Institute for Meta-Human Studies
“I need to meet you, Mr. Tyler! Soon! Bring the parts!”
“Thom! Get off the phone!” Doctor Marnie Herrs calls to her erstwhile patient. She is accompanied by two large men in white uniform. The schizophrenic superhero Starman pays them no heed and as the two men’s arms close around his arms, he continues to call into the receiver until he’s finally dragged away.
“I’m at the Institute for Meta--”
“I apologize Mr. Tyler,” Dr. Herrs starts as she takes over the phone, “I’m afraid one of our patients – what he calls himself? – I don’t see how that – he calls himself Starman, sir, – well, okay, I’ll tell him. Goodbye, Mr. Tyler. Thank you.”
As she puts down the phone, Marnie Herrs sighs.
* * *
The Dreaming
“Predictable,” Professor Nicodemus Hazzard notes as he walks through a fully operational concentration camp. Surrounding the cultural anthropologist are an untold amount of people, all underfed and on the verge of dying. It is only with the greatest exertion of will that he is able to not give in and keep walking.
“It’s all just a dream. A madman’s dream,” Hazzard mutters to himself as he strides straight to the centre of the camp. Sitting there upon a throne of skulls is the man he was looking for: Albrecht Krieger, better known as Captain Nazi. The villain is smiling, drinking blood from a golden goblet. Various women, of all races, tender to his needs. In this land, he is the king.
The two men’s eyes meet as Hazzard steps forward.
“You’ve kept me waiting, Professor Hazzard.”
Nicodemus flinches for a moment at the mention of his name, but then regains his composure, a small smirk even starting to play on his lips. He dusts off his robes as he looks up at the supercriminal.
“It wasn’t easy finding you. The Dreaming is a big place.”
“How did you?” the Captain asks, finishing the cup and handing it over to one of his servants.
“I have some well-connected friends here.”
“What is it you want, Professor? Can’t see you I’m having fun here?” Krieger licks his lips.
“And you’ve been enjoying yourself for almost a year now, haven’t you?”
The Captain just smiles as he eases back upon his throne.
“They think you’re refusing to talk, while all that you’re really doing is
daydreaming.”
“Not just day, Professor. This is 24/7.”
“But your body’s still moving.”
“Guess I’m sleepwalking,” Krieger replies with a laugh.
The professor turns away from throne and looks out across the camp. From his vantage point, he can make out its edges which stretch to the horizon of this dreamland.
“How were you able to carve out such a big lot for yourself without the Dream Lord noticing?”
“The who?”
“The Sandman.”
“Heh, you still believe in fairy tales, Prof?”
“I’m in yours now, aren’t I?”
“Heh, yeah, that’s right,” the villain contently remarks.
“So why are you here? Another one trying to make good on some grant money? Want to talk about my feelings or some such? Maybe apologize for taking my powers from me?”
“No, no,” Hazzard replies, looking over his shoulder to the Captain. “I think I have a pretty clear idea of what you’re feeling. As to the latter, I had nothing to do with that procedure.”
“But you have no problem with it.”
“True.”
A moment of silence passes.
“So why are you here, Professor?”
“I want to know what transformed an ordinary Nazi into Captain Nazi.”
The villain chuckles.
“You couldn’t pull this from the file, Professor? I told your colleagues everything before they took my powers.”
“Unfortunately the details are quite sparse. The story wasn’t so --”
“-- interesting to the scientifically minded?”
“Afraid so.”
“So why should I tell you?”
“An appeal to your vanity?”
Captain Nazi looks away for a second.
“Kneel,” he finally utters.
“What?”
“If you want to hear my story, you will kneel.”
Hazzard looks to meet the Captain’s eyes, and when they do, the professor knows the villain is deadly serious. Reluctantly, he kneels on one knee.
“Both.”
With his head bowed, the professor drops his other knee.
“Good,” the super-Nazi smiles as he stands up and walks down the pile of skulls to the professor. Almost like a religious prophet, the villain lays his hand on Hazzard’s head and beckons him to stand up.
“You’re a lucky man, Professor. I wasn’t able to give your colleagues any visual aides.”
As Captain Nazi outstretches his hand, an area of the camp is transformed into an entirely different scene. Before Hazzard’s eyes, a small prison cell is formed, in fact a world of its own. Cautiously, the professor walks around the cell. Within it, it is pitch dark, but around it the camp remains. Its image is impenetrable. Both exist independently.
“Impressed?”
Hazzard looks to Captain Nazi, who simply grins.
“Now, just watch.”
Before the two of them, the events that lead to the first meeting between Krieger, Hitler and Per Degaton unfold. Hazzard momentarily gasps when the scene shifts to Berchtesgaden, to the infamous Eagle’s Nest. Captain Nazi remains amused as they witness his transformation. Suddenly, the scene freezes on the image of the ecstatic Adolf Hitler.
“Does it remind you of anything?” Captain Nazi laughs.
Surprised, Hazzard turns to the Captain. “You know.”
“Of course I do.”
“How?”
“Where do you think he got the idea?”
“So, you are--”
“--the personification of my Führer’s dreams? That is correct, Professor.”
“But why--”
“--am I always around while your Uncle Sam only appears in times of crisis?”
“Yes.”
“The reason is rather simply, really. Your American icon is the power incarnate. I, other hand, serve as a conduit and as long as I continue to believe, the power will remain mine.”
“But how were they able to take your powers then?”
“Continue watching, Professor. It will all make sense in the end.”
In rapid succession, Hazzard is treated to images of the creation of the Fourth Reich by Per Degaton, their battle with Hawkman and the Flash, the acquisition of the enchanted luger, the return to the Eagle’s Nest, the betrayal by Per Degaton, the Captain’s survival and the recruitment of the villain by the Joker into the Dark Alliance.
Finally, Nicodemus Hazzard witnesses the repowering of Captain Nazi through Lex Luthor’s science.
“Does this satisfy your curiosity, Professor? Only an item such as the Spear of Destiny, involved in my creation, could possibly rob me of my powers. The scientists merely took that which had been given to me by science in the first place.”
“So, what now?”
“Well,” Captain Nazi turns to Professor Hazard smiling,
“over the last few months, it seems I’ve been recovering.”
Suddenly, the villain’s hand shoots out and fastens itself around Professor Hazard’s neck. Dream becomes terrible reality as in a small Alcatraz cell, Captain Nazi, revived, slowly chokes the life out of the professor.
