which he blocks with ease using the spear.
“Stop acting like a child!” Hitler yells.
“Why are you doing this?” Kent asks.
“Because I wasn’t supposed to lose! I’ve seen my whole life laid out in front of me and I succeed! I destroy all the evils of the world and I save it from itself. I bring Ragnarok! I burn the world and build it new again. I will bring monsters from hell to destroy the monsters keeping me from saving everything.”
Kent drops his blaster to the ground and draws forth the alien sword he has attached to his hip. The blade glows green with Martian energy.
“I won’t let you do this. The evils of the world can’t be destroyed until you’re gone.” Kent says before running full speed at Hitler in an attack.
Hitler acts quickly, using the spear of destiny to run Kent through. Kent feels the blood gush from his body. He slowly dies knowing he has failed. Hitler calls the demons to this realm. Everyone Kent has ever known and has ever cared about dies. Sally dies.
NO!
That can’t happen. It won’t. Kent snaps back to reality. He’s running at Hitler, making his attack. Hitler tries to skewer Kent, but Kent slashes with the sword, blocking the spear. Kent, using his momentum, spins and slashes again at Hitler, who blocks the sword with handle of the spear. Hitler smiles and says;
“So, it appears that you may be a challenge to deal with after all.”
Kent doesn’t let up on his attack. He slashes and slashes at Hitler, who continues to block the attacks. Kent realizes that, while he may be somewhat naturally gifted in swordplay, he has no training. Hitler clearly knows what he is doing and the longer this fight keeps up, the smaller the chances of Kent coming out the victor become. He needs to end this quickly, not only for his sake, but for all of New York.
Kent tries to take Hitler’s head off, but the attack is blocked with the blade of the spear. Hitler swings the handle of the lance and smashes it into the side of Kent’s head. Kent staggers back. Everything starts to spin. Hitler lunges forward, trying to impale Kent, who wills his body out of the way at the very last second. Kent feels a flash of pain across his midsection and he realizes that he wasn’t completely out of the way.
Kent puts some space between himself and Hitler so that he has a chance to look at his wound. The cut is deep enough to burn like all hell and for him to lose a good amount of blood, but he shouldn’t have to worry about his guts falling out.
“I don’t like to soil this treasure with the blood of an American, but sometimes it grows too thirsty and it must take a drink.”
“You’re sick, you know that?”
“Like so many others, you seem to confuse sickness with genius.”
“Genius? Is that what you call killing millions of people?”
“No, I call that hard work.”
Hitler raises the Holy Lance and prepares to strike. Suddenly a loud boom takes the attention of both combatants. One of the Nazi spaceships crashes through the wall and begins skidding across the floor, towards Kent and Hitler. Kent dives out of the way of the craft, which keeps going until it hits the wall opposite the one it came through.
Kent gets to his feet and all he can hear is the laughing of Hitler. He looks to see what could possibly be so funny and finds two bleeding stumps where Hitler’s legs used to be. The wing of the ship severed his legs like a scissors cutting through paper.
“Hey Adolf, I’d love to know what you think is so funny over there.”
Hitler’s losing blood at a rate that won’t allow him to survive much longer. He finally stops laughing to answer Kent’s question.
“What’s so funny? People have told me that I stand as a symbol for many things, but now I cannot stand at all. Let me fix that. Cranto vienae regrae.”
Hitler smiles wider than Kent even knew he could. Kent hears strange clicking and popping sounds. He looks down at Hitler’s stumps and sees them forming into new legs. The legs are grey and monstrous. When Hitler stands up Kent notices that these new legs have added a full foot to Hitler’s height. The transformation doesn’t end there. His arms grow as well, becoming longer and more muscled. His fingernails extend into claws and his teeth become fangs. By the time it all ends Hitler is twice the size he was before.
“What… what have you done?” Kent asks.
“I have become the monster that you forced me to be!” Hitler responds with a voice that sounds like a lion choking on gravel.
Hitler launches himself at Kent with a speed ten times greater than before. He repeatedly tries to stab Kent with the lance, but Kent finds a new power and speed in himself, allowing him to block the attacks. Hitler tries to swing down the spear in an attempt to cave in Kent’s skull, but Kent manages to dodge it. Kent slashes at Hitler and connects, cutting off two fingers on Hitler’s left hand. Hitler backhands Kent with his right hand, knocking Kent ten feet back.
Kent looks up at the ceiling and can’t bring himself to get back up. His lungs are on fire and his body hurts more than ever before. Hitler walks over to Kent and stands over his body. He raises the Holy Lance over his head, readying to plunge it into Kent’s heart.
“Any last words, American?”
Out of the corner of his eye, Kent notices Daniel looking into the room through the hole made by the spacecraft.
“Hey schnitzel!” Daniel yells to get Hitler’s attention. Hitler turns his head to see Daniel raise his weapon. Daniel fires the gun and the blast knocks Hitler across the room. The blast didn’t cause him to explode, but it certainly hurt Hitler. A rush of adrenaline hits Kent. He quickly stands up, grabs his sword, and rushes over to the stunned Hitler.
Hitler’s eyes start to open and he sees Kent standing over him, sword in hand.
“You lose.” Kent says.
Hitler yells back “NO!” before Kent brings the blade down on his neck.
It doesn’t stop him. Hitler tries to get up while Kent rips the sword out of his neck. Kent hacks at it again, making a deeper wound. Black blood begins to gush from the wound, more and more with each second. Kent makes a third slash, but he can’t seem to cut through the width of the monstrous Hitler’s neck.
“While I may be dying, I can take solace in one thing. I don’t know who you were before all of this, but I’ve changed who you are. In this moment, you’re nothing more than an animal.” Hitler sneers.
“That’s not true.” Kent says while making another hack. “I’m a New Yorker.”
Splat.
“I’m a writer.”
Crack.
“Guk-”
“I’m in love with a girl named Sally.”
Splorch. Thunk.
“And I just saved the world.”
Hitler’s severed head lies on the ground next to his body. Kent holds the sword, ready to cut him apart again if need be, but it appears that the battle is over. Hitler died as he lived, a monster. Daniel walks over to Kent and puts his hand on his shoulder.
“It’s over Kent, you did good.”
The door to the 101st floor swings open. Kent takes his eyes away from Hitler’s corpse, ready to fight whatever comes through that door. Sally runs inside. Kent drops the sword and runs over to Sally as fast as he can.
“You did it!” she yells. “All the Nazis and the Martians weapons stopped working and they all keeled over!”
Kent grabs Sally and hugs her tighter than he ever has before.
“I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again.” He tells her through tears.
“We did it.” she says, crying as well. “We did it.”
In the months that follow, things begin to return to normal. The city rebuilds itself bigger and better. The innovations in technology continue as the top scientists in the world get their hands on the alien weaponry.
Kent and Sally told their story to the world through the Daily Posting and became two of the most well-known journalists in the world. The day after the attack Kent proposed to Sally. They were married three weeks later. D
aniel was Kent’s best man and Father Peter presided over the ceremony.
The day the space Nazis from Mars attacked will never be forgotten by all of the people that lived through it, especially Kent and Sally. It showed them who they could be and who they wanted to be. In the end they realized they fought for a selfish reason. They saved the world so that they could be together.
###
About the Author:
Kelly Harrass has lived his entire twenty year life in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is the first piece that Kelly has released into the world and hopefully it won’t be the last. When he isn’t being a student, Kelly works at Lost World of Wonders (www.lostwonders.com) selling all manner of comic books and collectables. In the past he has worked as a producer/head news reporter/columnist for the Weekly Wrestling Wrapup, a columnist for NoDQ.com, and a segment host for Last Week in PoP! from the Panels on Pages PoP-Cast podcast network. He can be found online on Twitter at www.twitter.com/comicgeekelly and at his occasionally used blog www.crackingthebooks.wordpress.com.
Bonus Content:
Go to www.crackingthebooks.wordpress.com for some behind the scenes special features about the writing of this story.
Special Thanks:
A very big thank you goes to cover artist, Jason Knize. For more info on him and the things he’s up to go to www.panelsonpages.com.
Thanks also go to my family and
Attack of the Space Nazis from Mars Page 5
