by Libbylawrence
Now, beneath the Fuhrermuseum, the Invisible Hood battled on alongside his allies in the Freedom Fighters, and noticed how well the team worked together. Neon the Unknown was dropping Nazi troops like bowling pins as he aimed one blast after another of neonic energy at them. Magno the Miracle Man was literally hurling the soldiers against the walls with expert use of his electromagnetic powers. The Red Torpedo had picked up a gun and was carefully picking off approaching troops with the keen eye of a marksman.
“Do you feel like a fish out of water, Red?” quipped Magno as he glanced over at his new friend.
The Red Torpedo nodded and said, “I do miss sitting behind the controls of my ship!” he said.
At that moment, a newcomer literally burst through a wall and confronted them. She was a strikingly beautiful woman with pale skin and long hair of pale gold tied in a swinging braid, attired in a red and gold breastplate, a brief metal ribbed skirt, and laced sandals. A golden cloak rested across her shoulders, and a weapons belt hung low on her hips.
“A Valkyrie?” said the Hood as he flickered back into view. “She looks like an honest-to-Odin Norse shield maiden!”
“I am a Valkyrie! I am Kriemhild!” she declared, almost casually slapping a Nazi soldier across the tunnel.
“And you’re on our side — the Allied side?” asked the Torpedo.
Neon looked at her intently and then said, “She is full of indignation against the Nazi Party. She is very much an ally!” He also thought, And she is a very odd mixture of two very different beings as well. I think even she doesn’t understand what has happened to her!
Posing defiantly before them, her hands on her shapely hips, Valkyrie said, “You are Americans? I recall reading about costumed heroes such as you appear to be. I assume you seek liberty from this Hitlerian stronghold?”
Magno smiled and said, “We sure do! Can you help us out?”
The Valkyrie smiled coolly and said, “My sword is at your disposal if you choose to wage war upon the tyrants who walk this land!”
“That is our purpose as well!” replied Neon. “We call ourselves the Freedom Fighters!”
The Valkyrie nodded and said, “I like the cadence of those words!”
***
Meanwhile, back in the rubble of the original treasure chamber in which Kriemhild had first been born — or more properly reborn — a battered Captain Braun forced himself to his feet.
“We’re all alive!” he said. “That witch failed to kill us. That means we may complete the ritual of power! The mystic stones are still intact. She merely scattered them around the room, None were lost.” He clutched at the precious stones.
The red-haired woman, Hilda Streicher, had returned to the scene of battle after departing to alert the security forces from above. “They will chase her through the tunnels,” she said. “Our base has been opened to the light of prying eyes, but we still have time to act!”
As the gaunt Kurnburg was lifted to his feet by the brutish giant named Haagen and the ever-servile Huber, each member of the cabal received a rune stone. As they again linked hands, a weird light flooded the chamber, and their screams of horror and pain filled the room. Each of them contorted and writhed in pain as a mystical change occurred. When the magical light faded, the group stood transformed into five strange beings of ancient power and sinister intent.
They stared at one another, and then in unison the inhuman group rushed out in pursuit of the Valkyrie.
***
As the Valkyrie aided the Freedom Fighters in defeating new arrivals from above, the magically altered Axis agents made their own dramatic appearance
“By Odin!” cried Valkyrie as she saw the weird figures came out of the tunnels.
Captain Braun was now covered with heavy, coarse fur, and his teeth gleamed wickedly in the dim light. He howled as he bounded forward, his lupine features now more wildly obvious than ever before. “I am Fenrir, and you are my prey!” he said with a snarl.
Next to him crouched the slavering Huber, who looked like a rabid dog in humanoid form. “I am Garm the Deathhound!” he said.
Haagen the big Nazi was now towering over the rest. His flesh seemed to be composed of a constantly shifting or dripping clay, and he had only a stark jagged line for a mouth. “I am Mokkurkalfi the Giant!” he cried, but he said no more, as speech seemed to pain him.
Dr. Kurnburg was still recognizable, but his once-gaunt body was now grotesquely muscular, and his formerly scholarly eyes now appeared dull and devoid of wit. “You may know me from myth as Hrungnir Stoneheart!” he said, brandishing a spear.
Finally, Hilda Streicher appeared, now a beautiful woman with animated red locks of hair that swirled around her waist with a life all their own. Her beauty was palpable, and the males gasped in unison at the sight of her. “I am Loreley!” she sang in a sweetly musical tone of voice.
“Great Scott!” cried the Invisible Hood. “The Nazis now have a Legion of Monsters!”
“They always were monsters, if you ask me!” replied Red Tornado.
“Rend them asunder!” growled Fenrir.
With those words, the battle was on.
Neon flew straight at the so-called Giant and blasted him with an energy bolt. The hulking brute roared in pain and melted into a pool of oozing clay.
“As with all bullies, his bark was worse than his bite!” said Neon.
Fenrir was determined to disprove that specific statement as he pounced on Valkyrie. His snarling fangs loomed over the warrior woman’s throat, and she gripped his jaws with her bare hands.
“You recall what happened to your namesake when Tyr met him in final battle?” she said. As they struggled, she slowly forced his gaping jaws apart and began to twist them in different angles.
Nearby, Magno punched the grinning Hrungnir Stoneheart, only to wince with pain as even his mighty power met with unyielding resistance. “You are surprised by my power, ja?” asked the former professor as he began to choke the hero.
“Yeah! And it’s not a particularly pleasant surprise, either!” said Magno.
As the Hood vanished from view, he was intercepted by the growling Garm, who blocked his every move. That human hound smells me! realized Kent Thurston. I hope I’m able to put the lie to his title of Deathhound!
The Red Torpedo hesitated as he aimed his gun at the slowly swaying Loreley.
“You are a handsome fellow!” said the siren. “Surely you do not wish to harm me! We could come to some lovely accord!”
The Torpedo slowly lowered the gun and felt it start to slip from his fingers. I can’t resist her! he thought as panic rose in his heart.
Even as neonic blasts and magnetic bursts filled the room, the keen-sighted Magno and extra-sensory-gifted Neon each spotted a weird ghostly outline of a humanoid figure.
What is that — another enemy? wondered Neon.
The Hood vaulted over Garm’s shoulders and slammed his elbow into the beast-man’s broad back. The transformed Nazi howled with pain, but whirled around to snap at the hero.
He just missed me! thought the Hood as he kicked the monster in the face. I’ve gotten soft relying on my foes’ inability to see me!
As the Hood circled the slavering beast-man, he also glimpsed the wraith-like form that had caught Neon’s eye. Only, to his surprise, unlike the other super-humans, the Hood felt as if he recognized the odd being. Can it be? he thought as he fell beneath the Deathhound.
Neon was about to investigate the apparition when he was grabbed from behind. A wet, clammy hand clutched at his arm as the being of clay miraculously reformed and attacked anew. It just shaped itself into a human again! he realized as the clay threatened to cover his face, and he began to choke. Even the powerful Neon the Unknown was vulnerable to loss of air if caught by surprise.
Magno had expanded a magnetic shield until Stoneheart’s massive hands had been forced away from his own body. Now, Tom Dalton’s heroic alter ego circled the bigger man and planned his next move. I guess I thought I was a pretty tough guy back in Virginia, but then again, I sure never came across anything like this monster! he thought.
Ducking the larger being’s clumsy attack, he then released a blazing bolt of electricity that covered the giant in a nimbus of fiery energy, slowly driving him to his knees. My power is holding him back, but not hurting him, he thought. I can’t recall what his name meant other than that he was as tough as stone!
Spotting his ally’s plight, the Hood made a desperate effort to get past his own foe. Just as Garm was about to bite his leg, the Hood suddenly vanished, not only from sight but from his location. He found himself standing across the room next to Magno, even though he knew he hadn’t managed to bypass Garm. I teleported across the room! he thought. Can’t question the how — I just have to make use of it! He yelled, “Magno, get rid of him! You can’t beat him in a fight!”
Magno nodded and brought his induction coil wristbands together, catching Stoneheart in the pull of his magnetic force and propelling him directly through the roof of the tunnel and out of view. He may survive the fall, but at least this will buy us some time! he thought.
Meanwhile, Valkyrie had raised one leg and now used her foot to force Fenrir’s expanding jaws apart. She stared into his hungry eyes — eyes she knew all too well — and, with a final shuddering effort, ripped his jaws out of joint and brought the wolf-man to the ground with stunning force.
Grabbing her sword, she spun it around to stab him when she saw more Nazi troops charging into view. We are outnumbered, and these men are tiring! she thought, noticing the mortal heroes around her.
Neon was no longer in view. His entire body was buried beneath the smothering clay form of the altered Haagen. But before the misshapen giant could exult in victory, he exploded into hundreds of tiny drops of clay as a whirling purple comet of surging neonic energy emerged from his body.
Neon grinned resolutely. “He may reform, but it will take a long, long time!” he said.
Looking around for his next foe, he quickly encased the snarling Garm within a cage of neonic energy, allowing the Invisible Hood to catch his breath.
“Thanks, pal!” said the Hood. “You sure tamed that hound!”
Neon nodded and turned to where the Red Torpedo had finally fallen under the Siren’s spell. To his credit, Jim Lockhart had fought her all throughout the battle. As her song filled the tunnel, the Hood and Magno also felt themselves losing control of their wills.
“Can’t resist her!” said Magno.
Neon hesitated for a moment, then calmly struck her with a precise neonic energy bolt. As she collapsed at his feet, he turned to face the others.
“Well fought!” declared a beaming Valkyrie. “You would all be welcome in the shining halls of Valhalla!
Magno smiled in return, even as he noticed something odd. “I don’t speak German or Norse, or whatever she was speaking, but I heard her in English. I think when she speaks, each listener hears her in his natural language. It must be magic!”
Whirled swiftly, Valkyrie warned, “We are about to be overwhelmed. I can continue the fight, but the rest of you–!”
“Don’t worry about us!” assured Red Torpedo. “We aren’t quitters!”
“Something is approaching!” cried Neon. “I hear water!”
To their amazement, a cascading wave of water suddenly roared into the tunnel in the wake of a bizarre, yet familiar craft.
“The Red Torpedo!” cried Jim Lockhart. “That’s my ship!” He led them forward, even as Neon lifted them all atop a platform of neonic energy.
A squadron of Nazi troops burst into view, but the wave swept them backward with crushing force, allowing the heroes to enter the sleek red submarine’s opening portal in amazement.
“Miss America had recreated my ship for me during our battle in the Pacific, but it was destroyed,” said the Torpedo, marveling at the craft. “This is an exact replica but with a few incredible modifications, like that thing on the hull that created that wave!”
The futuristic sub rocketed out of the tunnel even as waves continued to fill the passages behind them. As the craft exited the water-filled tunnel, it rocketed skyward over the hills outside of Linz. The Red Torpedo nodded in approval as this replica of his beloved craft soared through the air. He knew this craft intimately, and every detail matched his original with the exception of some obvious modifications.
“What a crew!” whispered Magno as four beautiful blonde woman in multi-colored armor made out of what appeared to be coral reef matter came into view.
“Welcome aboard!” said one perky blonde. “You are most welcome! Our esteemed ruler awaits you!
All of the crew members are female! realized the Invisible Hood as he scanned the area.
Valkyrie said nothing, but seemed impressed by these capable warrior women.
“Your ruler?” asked the Torpedo. “You’re all Mermazons, aren’t you? Queen Klitra and I are friends… close friends.” (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See The Red Torpedo, Crack Comics #7 (November, 1940).]
The tallest blonde smiled knowingly. “She has had a bio-monitor scanning constantly since you left her. When your vital signs suddenly registered on the device, she sent us to find you. She had nearly given up hope after forty-five of your years!”
The Red Torpedo frowned as he started to reply. “Forty-five years? I last saw Klitra weeks ago!” he said. “We hadn’t been able to see each other in person for several months because I’d been fighting the Japs in the Pacific for most of the past year, but we talked regularly over my craft’s video-phone whenever I was within range. Just before Uncle Sam showed up, we’d even made plans to see each other sometime over Christmas! I guess I never made our date, after all.”
At that moment, a beautiful woman with flowing black hair and radiant dark eyes rushed into the chamber and embraced him. “Jim, my beloved!” she cried. “At last I have found you!”
“I’m glad to see you too, Klitra!” he said, running his hands through her luxurious hair as they clung to each other.
The Invisible Hood whispered to Magno. “Did you hear her? She said he had been away forty-five years! We were knocked out on December 7th, 1941. We know we’ve been captives for a while, but surely we weren’t locked in that machine for more than a few days!”
“Forty-five years…” groaned Magno. “My line boss Mike Harvey must be dead! Everyone I knew then must either be dead or in the old folk’s home!”
“She speaks the truth,” said Neon the Unknown. “I tried a mental scan to locate our missing friends. Uncle Sam seems to be alive and well in the USA. I found a rather conflicting reading for Miss America. I find no sign of Hourman at all. What I did detect accurately is the time. Gentlemen, we have been locked in suspended animation for exactly forty-five years and four months! It is now April, 1987.”
The four men exchanged horrified looks as they struggled to come to terms with all the ramifications of their situation.
The Valkyrie said nothing, having no idea what to say. She felt less in touch with men of the modern era than she did with the Vikings of old, and in fact she also felt less like Dr. Angelika Muller than she did like Kriemhild of legend. Something about her transformation was changing. She was losing touch with her human self.
The Invisible Hood broke the silence. “Back in those tunnels, when I knew I needed to get past Garm, I just thought of where I wanted to be — and ended up there instantly. I think something has given me the power to teleport a short distance in my line of sight. Perhaps it was Uncle Sam’s mystical vortex?” After a pause, he added, “I also thought I saw the ghost of Miss America back there!”