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"Drowned in your own laughter, and dead to the core
There's a Dragon with matches that's loose on the town
Takes a whole pale of water just to slow him down"
-Jerry Garcia/Robert Hunter
"Fire on the Mountain"
Editors Note: This story takes place circa June Year 2
Chapter 1
In the depths of a perpetual inferno, the lord Mephisto sits on his twisted throne, not at all pleased. So many times one of his greatest prospects has failed, has shown physical weakness while still being so strong, has been defeated by those who would oppose him. The infamous Lord of the Third Reich Adolf Hilter, twice come back from the dead as the Hate- Monger, is brought before his evil master by two monstrosities, demon-slaves of the Dark Prince. He wouldn't admit it, but he was very frightened of the crimson lord who towers over him, a menace to all living and nonliving things. He also wouldn't admit how amazingly jealous he was of the evil power possesed by this demi-god.
"Adolf Hitler," spoke the High Demon, his voice filling the room with a sinister echo, "How many chances have I given you to fullfill your dreams?" Hitler considered answering, but he decided against it when he saw the white- hot anger burning in Mephisto's eyes. "How much power have I granted you? How many times have you brought me failure?" With the last statement, Adolf was filled with rage. His diseased mind didn't consider the death of millions a "failure" of any sort. Not able to hold back, he spoke out firmly, "Mephisto, don't call me a failure! I've accomplished more than you ever have!" Hitler only realized his strong words afterwords, and Mephisto was obviously thrown into a fit of rage by the insolance of this failed "leader". "MORTAL! You DARE speak in such a way to the manevolent MEPHISTO?? And after all you've cost me???" The loud bellows of Mephisto startled the dried-up Nazi, filling his ears with noise and his body with a fear known to few men. "It is time to finally show you what Mephisto does to unloyal failures! Step forward, coward!" With that, Hitler stepped forward, and a great cauldron appeared. Its waters painted the picture of two very young, dark-haired and skinned children. Hitler noticed the Star of David around one child's neck, and nearly reached into the pool to strangle him at the sight. "These two orphans, Timothy and Jody Marx, are indeed Jewish. But I believe you may also be hapy to hear that they are both mutants with psychic powers." Hitler's hate swelled with the mention of what he believed to be God's worst creation: mutants. Mephisto continued, "Tim is a pyrokenetic, and Jody is a telepath and empath, both with power levels high above the average of their age." "Oh, Mein Fuhrer, how I wish to wipe the Earth CLEAN of their kind!" Hitler cried out in the purest hatred. "NO!", responded Mephisto, "You have failed me too many times! Now you must be tortured with that which you hate the most!" And with those words spoken, the spirit of Adolf Hitler dissapeared from the kingdom of Mephisto for a third time.
When Hitler regained conciousness, he was standing close to the front of a line in a room full of people. He looked at his surroundings and quickly discovered he was in a government building. He soon heard the voice of Mephisto in his mind, clouding out all other thoughts, "Tell the man at the desk you are here to see Mister Juniper about the Marx children." Mephisto somehow had some control over Hitler, and he did as he was told when he reached the front of the line. The man looked at him strangely at first, but then seemed to change completely. "Oh, sure! Mister....H.M. Unger, is it? Go right through that door, he's waiting." H.M. Unger? Hitler thought as he went where he had been directed. He opened the door and sat down immeadiately in front of an African American man in his late 30's. Hitler's hate rose but soon fell as he concentrated on the matter at hand. "Ahhh, Mr. Unger, so happy to see you made it today. Luckily for you, all of the arrangements are done and you are ready to take home Tim and Jody right now!" As he spoke, Mr. Juniper opened another door and the two Jewish mutants Hitler had seen before ran out, latching their arms around him and embracing him as their new father. Hitler felt a sudden feeling of disgust course through his being. But by Mephisto's bidding, he let it pass. "Daddy! Daddy!" they cried out throughout the rest of the short proceedings.
As the otherwise unlikeley group strolled out, Hitler's head filled with the orders of his liege, telling him where their new home was. The children were pulling on Hitler to go each and every which way, but all he could say in a strict, cold voice was, "Stop that obnoxious nonsense and come home now." The children, wanting to obey their new guardian, tried to stay quiet and follow close behind, but they were always a little too far away or too close to laughing to please the utterly infuriated H.M. Unger. As they walked down the busy New York street, Jody would point out what other people thought of Unger using her telepathy and empathy, remarking once that "That man is scared of you because you're Hitler. What's a Hitler, daddy?" Finally they reached the run-down apartment complex where they were told to stay. He reached into his pocket and found a key already there, so he and the children made their way up the stairs and opened the doorway to their new quarters.
The place was all a dull shade of brown, with two bedrooms, a small den, and a kitchen. There was little funiture throughout the house, the only pieces being a bed in one of the bedrooms, and a couch and television in front. "Daddy," Tim began, "Can we watch......." "No. You will both sleep now, on the couch. No television for either of you." said Unger, in a voice usually reserved for the Devil himself. Jody and Tim were stunned and somewhat confused by his angry disposition, and on the way out, Unger turned and said with a chill in his voice, "And I'm not your precious "daddy"." Both children were tired and fell asleep right away, but Unger lay awake for most the night, rage keeping him from sleeping. What could possibly be a worse punishment than this, he began to think, Two pieces of garbarge, Jewish mutants, who don't deserve to live, and yet I, Adolf Hitler, am the one who is insuring they survive. Soon the voice of Mephisto came a last time in Unger's mind. "H.M. Unger.....the children need to be taught many things, about life and their powers. You must do this, or I will force you to." Somehow, the commands of Mephisto also came with a command to sleep, and Unger was quickly in a deep slumber.
Unger awoke to the sounds of the children calling out they name they had given them in the morning. He came into the living room and found the two already awake and well, to his dissapointment. "Daddy, I'm hungry." whined Jody, and Tim agreed with "Me toooooooo!" "Stop your begging, I'll make us all as much breakfast as needed." He went into the small kitchen, and the two pups followed. He got out the eggs and bread and bacon, and turned the knob to start the rusted, out-of-date stove. "Come on, damn you, work!" Unger said in frustration as he struck the malfunctioning burner. "Here, Daddy, I'll help." Tim said lovingly, and he quickly used his skill over fires to increase the small flame into a perfectly-sized cooking fire. "NO!" Unger said, almost striking the young boy. "Never.........EVER..........use your powers again. Do you understand me?" "But why, Dad?" Jody jumped in. "They can help us, and help you." "Your powers make you freaks in this world, and I'll be damned if I raise two complete outcasts. Now do as I say and sit down for breakfast, and forget about your powers." The two tots were still confused, but they obeyed and after a long trial, the breakfast was done, and Unger found himself surprisingly not being near as annoyed of these two. Soon after breakfast, Unger started teaching the children about religion. During the study, he tried his hardest to make the children see the world through Christian eyes, but they could not be swayed. "Daddy, there's no Jesus, you know that!" said Tim, innocently. "That kind of talk can get you in trouble, child, because it's not true. Jesus is and always will be real." The argument went on for most of the day, and to his own surprise and dismay, Unger found himself enjoying the competition of two bright young children. He tried to fight the feelings he was gaining for these two special children, and focused on the one thing he wanted: freedom. Freedom from this fake life and from Mephisto.
Days passed by, and the days turned into weeks. H.M Unger and his two children, Tim and Jody Unger, lived constantly in their small brown apartment, teaching each other and learning from each other the different ways to see life. And even though the once manevolent Fuhrer of the Third Reich had always hated those who were different, or "inferior" to him, he could not help but enjoy the innocence and happiness of his children. Constantly, he was thinking of two things: the children, and Mephisto. Could that devil actually have known that I would grow to like, or even love these children? he thought as he drifted to sleep one night, Did he know that the pull of my new love and my greatest hatred would nearly drive me crazy? To be trapped in this fake life for the rest of my life, or their lives, or even.......forever? Indeed, the pressure had finally gotten to H.M. Unger, and would soon get to a number of other people as well.
Most of his days, while teaching and caring for the children, Unger would be trying to think of a fool-proof plan to rid himself of a life liable to drive him insane. He knew it to be nearly impossible to beat the lord of evil Mephisto, but he also knew it could be done. The plan finally came to him one day while he and the children were watching the news on television........
"Father, why do people hate mutants?" Tim asked, this not being the first time he's asked the question.
Unger answered, "Tim, Jody, people don't like change. People don't like things different. They're afraid you'll hurt them with your powers."
"But why would we do that? That's wrong!" said Jody, with an innocence not seen at an older age.
"They think all mutants are evil because you are different, especially mutants like you two. You are both so powerful, that I'm sure....." Unger stopped mid-sentence. He finally realized how he would escape his torture. He laughed at the irony of the situation.
He would use his torture to escape it.
Chapter 2
Unger worked with Jody quickly and soundly, preparing her for the first time he would actually encourage the massive use of her powers. "Jody, look in my mind and find an evil red man named Mephisto." As she scanned his mind, she saw many images......those of dead Jews, his battles with the Fantastic Four and Nick Fury, and finall his meeting with Mephisto. "I found him Daddy. What do I do now?" she asked, her voice quivering a bit. She was scared, scared of how her Daddy had changed, and what might happen when she used her power. "Jody, think hard about the man. When you feel like you've thought hard enough, think about clouds. Dark, grey and black clouds, thick as you've ever seen." The young girl did as she was told, and eventually Unger could feel the control of Mephisto gradually fading, untill it finally was no more. He felt the warm greatness of triumph and freedom spread throughout him. And quickly, his evil thoughts ran rampant in his psyche. Little Jody passed out from the strain of using her powers so greatly.
When she next woke, Jody was with alone, still in the apartment. But it seemed different. For one, her "father" and brother were gone. There was a quiet crackling noise that seemed far away and unclear, and the air had a strange smell to it, and was very warm for the apartment. She was very confused, and called out, "Daddy! Timmy! What's happening? Where ARE you?!!?" She recieved no response but the continuing crackling and the feeling of aloneness. Finally she gathered the bravery to go outside and look for her family. As she felt the door-knob, it seemed very warm, almost burning to the touch. She twisted it quickly and flung the door open, only to find a horrifying sight before her...............
First she noticed all the flames, the fire consuming every thing it could like a great dragon on a rampage. Then she noticed her brother, flames engulfing him but not injuring him because of his power. He was using that power in mortal battle with someone she'd never seen. He was a short man in stature, with a shredded purple custome and a executioner-like hood, and a red "H" on his chest. He was battling Tim with a gun and seemingly other powers as well. Jody scanned the mind of this villian. He was clouded with hate and rage, and it made Jody cringe just to touch the outer limits of his psyche, but she kept on to find his identity. She dove deeper and deeper, and finally gasped in her realization.........
He was Adolf Hitler. He was H.M. Unger. He was her Daddy.
The Hate-Monger was born once again.
Jody knew she must join the battle, as Tim raged on with his great power. He figured his pyrokinetics would easily defeat his newly transformed father, but something was keeping his full powers away from the Hate Monger. Jody jumped in and tried her hardest to attack with telepathic bolts, but very few of them got through. "Father!" cried out Timothy in a fit of rage and concern, "Why do you do this??? What have you taught us about our own powers??" His flames continued to engulf the Hate Monger, as he aimed his gun at the building Tim sat atop. "I no longer CARE about your LIFE, Jew!" the Monger said, "I only care for your DEATH!" As he said this, he fired the gun at Tim, destroying part of the building and causing Tim to fall. Luckily, he used his power to create a pillow of flame to catch him. "You're not our Daddy! Daddy would never do these things!" cried Jody as she attempted to charge at the Hate Monger. He merely flipped his hand and knocked the small girl over, causing her little harm. "You are correct mutant. I am NOT your father. I am your executioner." He raised his gun to destroy the child, and was narrowly stopped by Tim, who forced the gun's projectiles up into the air. The two continued to battle, as unbeknownst to them, rubble unearthed by the blast quckly fell, falling directly on Jody.
Her screams were muffled by the heavy rock as it crushed her small, frail bones. She could only watch in silence as her brother and former father locked in combat. She saw each of them hurt the other, and cry out to the other in anger as they attacked. She couldnt' stand it any longer. With her last ounce of strength, she used both her telepathy and empathy to project the stong emotions she felt to the two. As she did so, both combatans stopped immeadiately and looked at her covered, broken body.
Timothy merely felt grief, but the Hate Monger was filled thoughout with conflitcting emotions and ideas. He was nearly driven utterly insane, crazy with grief and mad with triumph at the same time, feeling loss and gain, sadness and hapiness. One part of him couldn't believe he wanted to kill his adoptive daughter, while the other couldn't believe she even existed. The Hate Monger sat, staring at the mangled form of his former daughter, a tear in one eye and a fire in the other. All was silent to the three present, even the crackling of the fires, the destruction of buildings, the wind blowing hot air in their faces.
As the Hate Monger stood silently, Tim struggled with what to do. Has his father learned his lesson? Or does he need to be stopped forever? He thought quickly through the complex situations, and finally figured out what was bothering him.
His Father was already dead. The Hate Monger deserved to die.
And before a word could escape from any of them, Tim willed a baptism of flames to engulf the Hate Monger, crying as he destroyed the closest thing to a father he ever had. When Tim was done, he felt completely alone. Alone with the charred remains of the Hate Monger and the catatonic body of his sister. He stood for what seemed like an eternity, and finally picked up his sister's body. Immeadiately, all the flames dissapeared. And the world was better again.
If the children had listened hard as they walked away, they would have heard the quiet cackles of the great demon Mephisto, retrieving the tortured soul of H.M. Unger, the Hate Monger, leading him to other tortures and adventures that for now remain...
......another story.
The End