Only Hugh Mann

Chapter 2 - Killjoy

"So was there was a secret lab?" Bert asked, face eager.

"The secret lab from the comic? Sure, but it goes back further than that," Hugh Mann said. "The comic makes it look like they created me in that lab, but..." He glanced at the mirrored window of the interrogation room. "Stop recording. This is off the books."

"Acknowledged," a female voice responded over the intercom.

Hugh turned back towards his prisoner. "It began during the last days of World War 2. The date was April 26, 1945. I don't think I will ever forget that day, because it was the day that I died."

Bert had the sense to look skeptical. "You died?"

"I've looked at my death certificate. I've visited my grave." He shook his head. "Here lies Graham Lazarus," he intoned. "Died April 26, 1945. Faithful Soldier. Loving Husband. Father."

"So your real name is Graham Lazarus?"

Hugh Mann's eyes filled with timeless despair. "That's only who I was then. My son was born after I died. Nel named him Noah, after my grandfather, Sebastian Noah Graham. Noah was 21 years old the day I first met him. My Nel had passed by then."

"What happened?" Bett asked.

Hugh spat. "Hans Kammler happened. April 26, 1945 was the day I almost caught him..."

* * * * * *

Graham Lazarus dashed along the top of the burning zeppelin, trying desperately to outrace the explosions that were gutting the Nazi vessel behind him. Things weren't exactly going according to plan. The da Vinci was parked near the airship's rudder. The autoprop's rotors were already warming up. If he concentrated hard enough, he could probably see the look of accusatory terror on the pilot's face. Avery Winters, an irritable fellow most folks called Jughead, was always complaining that he cut things too close. Not that any of this had been his idea, mind you.

Suddenly, he heard the keening whine of incoming aircraft. He didn't even have to look to know what was zeroing in on him. When he'd read the intelligence reports , he'd had trouble believing that the Germans had actually developed the sort of top secret weapons they'd been sent to seize. The one that had them all talking was the possibility of seeing a bona fide Nazi flying saucer. Disc-shaped, jet-powered Coanda-Effect Vertical Take-Off landing aircraft, to be more specific. They were fast, but not very maneuverable. Unfortunately, most of them carried some sort of directed energy weapon that shot bolts of destructive lightning at the invading Allied forces. Bursting out from behind a row of lumbering zeppelins, they'd surprised the Allied forces. Moments later, the sky was filled with falling, disintegrating aircraft. Captain Lazarus and his crew had been forced to make their jump early. Even as their chutes opened, German planes, saucers and ground-based flak crews began cutting down the invasion force. He'd lost track of his men during the descent. Most of them were probably dead. Except Harley, of course.

The da Vinci had been maneuverable enough to avoid destruction thus far, but it was a sitting duck right now. Jughead seemed to have come to the same realization, because he took off at that moment. The rotored vehicle dipped down out of sight. If it was anyone else, Graham would have despaired, but that crazy pilot had never let him down before, so he kept running, never giving up the hope that his friend would find a way to get him out.

The saucers strafed the surface of the zeppelin with more traditional weaponry, hoping to cut him in half, but he kept just ahead of the line of fire. Graham couldn't spare more than a glance, but he knew they'd come back around for a second pass. Sure enough, the Nazi saucers banked hard and circled toward him. The zeppelin continued to explode in sections, causing him to wonder whether he'd be roasted before he ran out of road or whether the saucers would have their way with him. The saucer pilots laid down a hard line of fire. Their tracers made it clear they were a lot more dedicated this time. He didn't dare stop, but it looked like he was going to dash straight into a hailstorm of bullets. He could almost see the lead saucer's pilot grinning with cruel anticipation.