"Look, up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!"

The man lands deftly in the center of downtown Cleveland. His chest is a solid slab under a light brown body-stocking, with a black swastika in a red circle on the chest. His jaw is an iron horseshoe beneath a silver winged Viking helmet, and black trunks, boots and cloak seem to complete the ensemble.

He is down only a few seconds before he begins to city the town apart, brick by brick and stone by stone.

The Crime Crusaders Club

Case 4: "Uberman"

By Mikel Midnight

It was long, too long, before another trio of more brightly colored figures appeared in the air, hovering over the city. "Dost thou see?" says the Gay Ghost. "Our foe is all too obvious, and it appears another champion hast appeared to defend the city."

Wonder Girl watches, aghast, as a crimson-garbed youth armed with only a shield, sword and pike attempts to attack the large man clad in brown, only to be knocked aside easily. "I've never seen him before," she notes, "but he's sure brave. I know his weapons, too, I grew up with things like that!"

"Don't forget that I only get sixty seconds of power from Miraclo, so we better go in strong," adds Minuteman. He detaches one of his hands from The Gay Ghost's, who is holding him aloft, sliding down to his belt buckle to remove one of the tablets which grant him his strength.

Within a few seconds his demeanor changes, becoming more aggressive. "All right, incoming!" he shouts out, and releases his grip entirely. The Gay Ghost and Wonder Girl glance at each other briefly, and then follow him downwards, the former using his spectral powers to alter his mass, the latter gliding gracefully down on the air currents.

Minuteman lands squarely on the back of the brownshirt, knocking him off his feet. The man rises to his feet effortlessly, and turns around to regard Minuteman. He glances at his other opponent. "Deshalb haben Mackie, ich gedacht, da Sie besser waren, als mit Kindernmrdern zu verbinden. Ich htte nicht berrascht werden sollen." With blinding speed he grabs Minuteman by his shirt front, lifting him up. "Ich wei nicht, wie Sie jenen Trick, M gezogen haben, aber Sie werden es wieder nicht machen."

His attack is stifled by a golden lasso which wraps around his upper body, as the other two combatants come to Earth. "Orlok und die knstliche Hure Alraune auch.. Ich sollte dies war eine Versammlung der Uberman Rachengruppe haben gekannt."

He strains against the lasso, and finds himself unable to break its grip. He grabs hold of the end, pulling it hard so that Wonder Girl falls to her knees. "That is quite enough, sirrah," says the Gay Ghost, his epee catching the brownshirt in the shoulder, and just as quickly deflecting off. The man's hand reaches for the point where the blade had struck him. "That hurt," he says, sounding more astonished than anything else.

Minuteman leaps up and rushes at the borwnshirt, slamming his fists into the man's jaw. "This guy's ... uff ... like steel ... better give me a hand fellas ... I'm almost out of it ... "

The Gay Ghost and Wonder Girl join in the melee, adding their strength to Minuteman's. The boy in red stabs at the brownshirt with his sword, which strikes sparks at it is repelled. The man turns his head to look at the sword bearer, and the sword melts to slag, the boy shouting in alarm.

The brownshirt shrugs his shoulders, and the Crusaders are flung off him like children. Minuteman crashes into a building, and sits, dazed, as he feels his strength ebb. Wonder Girl approaches their newfound ally. "You're bleeding ... are you all right?"

The boy nods, "S'nothing ... thanks for the help though. I'm the Bolt. Are you folks the All-Star Squadron?"

She shakes her head, "No, we're the Crime Crusaders Club. Someone has to watch over the Midwest, after all. You showed a lot of courage and skill, there."

"Not that it did me a lot of good ... what's your friend doing, back there?"

The Gay Ghost hooks his arm through the brownshirt's cape and drags him skyward. "Let us see if thou art as adept as I in the air, my friend." The man bolts upwards through the sky, hovering out of the Gay Ghost's reach. "Sie sind strker in Tageslicht als Sie waren, Orlok, bin ich beeindruckt." He turns in the air and flies towards Keith Everett, striking him in the jaw and knocking him for a loop.

"Merciful Hera!" shouts Wonder Girl, her lasso expertly catching the Gay Ghost by the ankle before he tumbles out of range. Her ally is jolted awake, and hovers, bowing. "I think thee, my lady. He peers at his airborne opponent, "It seems I erred in my estimation of thy talents." He flies towards the brownshirt, sword at the ready.

The man swings at the Gay Ghost, who evades it and strikes him again with his sword. They begin a careful dance, with the Earl of Strethmere ducking the other's blows. But his opponent's speed proves greater, and he pushes the sword to one side, taking ahold of the Gay Ghost. The spectral swordsman becomes intangible, and the powerful arms pass through him. As the Gay Ghost flies through the brownshirt, the latter gives a startled shout and crashes to the ground. Keith Everett stares down at him, "Od's blood," he mutters to himself.

Wonder Girl warily approaches the man, but he has hold of her before she can attack. She kicks away at him, the blows to his stomach causing him to loosen his grip momentarily. The brownshirt shakes his head, "Ten Brincken hat Sie so lieblich wie je gemacht, ist es eine solche Schande, die seine Talente nur fr bel benutzt sind." He takes her by the arm and tosses her away again.

"Keith!" Minuteman waves up at his teammate, who lands next to him.

The Gay Ghost says, "Thou shouldst stand aside from the battle, Jimmy Martin. Thy strength will not avail thee."

Minuteman scowls, "My eyes still work. When you passed through him ... he didn't seem to mind until you got to his head. His helmet blew sparks ... could you be shorting out his brain or something?"

The Gay Ghost nods, "Perhaps." He alights next to the Bolt, whispering to him, and is rewarded with a nod.

The two approach the brownshirt. He stares at the Gay Ghost and the latter's cloak catches fire. Ignoring the affront, the Earl of Strethmere flies close enough to pass his hand through the brownshirt's head, partially materialising it near the outside of the metallic surface of the Viking helmet.

The brownshirt screams and clutches at his head. Sparks fly from his helmet. The Bolt hooks one end of the sarisa into the rim of the helmet, tilting it off. Uberman crumples to the ground.

Minuteman muses, "Wow, I halfway thought he was a robot or something. Guess not. Wonder what the helmet did?"

The Bolt wipes the blood from his mouth. "He's still dangerous. Get ready."

The man rises to his feet, looking around him, blinking his eyes. His face is handsome and earnest, his hair black with its kiss-curl a jaunty comma over his forehead. He looks at the Crime Crusaders, one after the other. " Sie sprechen Englisch you are speaking English," he says with a slight German accent. "I thought I was in Hauptstadt." He notes the stars on Wonder Girl's uniform and looks up to see the flags flying patriotically on the buildings above them. "I am in America."

The Gay Ghost keeps his sword pointed at the ready. "Perhaps thou wert misled," he says. "What is thy name?"

"I have been known as Uberman," he says. "No, call me Curt. Curt Kessler. It does not matter." He strokes his chin. "You are at war, with Germany, yes?"

The Crime Crusaders look at one another, "Yes we are," says Minuteman. "Wouldn't you know?"

Uberman shakes his head. "I wanted to be sure. Where I am from, America is also at war with Germany." He turns to face the East, and stands still for a moment, staring off into space. Finally, he averts his eyes, covering them with his hand in a gesture of sorrow. "I had hoped they would not be here, too. The death camps."

Wonder Girl's eyes widen. "You're from a parallel Earth, or something like that, aren't you? Wonder Woman told me she had visited one before. You must be an older version of our own Iron Munro."

"Yes, I came here in search of another, better Germany than the one I left. The Fuhrer "Yes, I came here in search of another, better Germany than the one I left. The Fuhrer lured me with some sort of device that captured my allegiance, and then, I suspect, provided me with this," he steps forward atop the silver Viking helmet, his feet grinding it to powder, "so that the effect would follow me to America. I seemed to hallucinate as a side effect." Uberman pauses, as if considering his next words. "It is time for me to leave."

The Gay Ghost sheaths his sword and extends a hand. "Nay, remain with us, Curt Kessler" he entreats. "Fight by our side, help us destroy the death camps."

"I am ... a follower of National Socialism. I believe in many parts of the Fuhrer's dream of a greater Germany. But I can not be a party to genocide. The only thing I can do is ... to go elsewhere ... and allow the murderers to face their own bloody ends, which will always come to such as they. Who knows, maybe I can find a place where our countries are allies, or a place where I might discover the secrets of my origins." Uberman rises into the air. "Be well."

The Crime Crusaders shield their eyes from the glare of the sun, as Uberman flies higher. Finally he stops in place, hovering like a great eagle, then resumes flying in a tight circle. As he increases his speed, they can feel the wind on their faces, and then he is gone like a dream of tomorrow

END