Night Falls: Berlin

They ran in a panic, only to be cut down from behind. Ahead at the end of the corridor, Colton saw the impossible, and shouted "That's HIM!" to Marielle. He pointed, and she saw it too. The small thick mustache, the oily black hair, and the piglet eyes of Der Führer himself.

"Two birds with one stone, so to speak!" Marielle shouted back.

"Indeed!" Colton shouted as he saw the door to the inner chamber of the bunker sliding closed. They sprinted as fast as they could move, but the Night Wolves blocked their path just long enough to delay them from reaching the door in time.

"NO!" Colton roared as he slashed at the thick steel door with his talons, gouging deep wounds in the steel itself.

"This will take forever." She said, laying a calming hand on his arm. "We need a faster way in." She looked around for another entrance... any entrance. Then she looked up.

Colton followed her gaze and smiled at the ventilation duct.

Inside the inner bunker, Adolf was huddled with some of his most trusted staff and his mistress Eva.

"What are we going to do? You said we would be safe here!" Eva screeched at the leader of the Third Reich.

"We are safe here, woman!" He shouted back at her, then backhanded her across her face. "They have not seen what I can do yet." He growled low in his throat as he bared the fangs and his facial hair started to grow. "They killed my sons, but I am the Alpha! They will die if they breech this room!"

"Against a vampire and a demon?!" Eva was crying now. "They will kill us both!"

"Not if I kill you first! Now be quiet!" He shouted at her in a feral roar.

The mist came in through the air duct overhead, and coalesced behind Adolf Hitler and his mistress. Adolf looked Human again, but his aura betrayed his true nature to the Vampyr who had just materialized.

"Der Führer, I presume?" Colton said with a fanged grin as his talons once again formed from his fingers.

Adolf spun around and slashed his claws deep into Colton's stomach. "You will die NOW!" Adolf growled as he slashed his claws through the armored flesh as if it was paper. Colton fell backward and to the side.

"I... don't... die... easily." Colton said in a growl as he leapt at the nearest Nazi officer, snatching the pistol from its holster before the man could react. He aimed and fired at Eva, hitting her between the eyes, then trying to turn the weapon on Hitler. The Night Wolf Alpha was too fast, though, and he howled at the death of his mistress before leaping at Colton.

It became a contest of speed as the Human officers huddled over in one corner while the monsters battled each other. The fate of the world rested in the balance.

"Men! Always starting the party without me!" Marielle huffed as she appeared in a plume of smoke and fiery brimstone. She smirked at the Human enemy officers and blew them a kiss before turning toward the scene of two monsters doing their best to kill each other.

"You cannot stop the Master Race, schweinhund!" Hitler shouted at the Vampyr as he slammed his claws into Colton's shoulder.

Colton reacted, slashing with his talons into the Führer's guts and using every bit of his strength to slam his forehead into the Night Wolf's nose.

"Master Race? Master of nothing." Colton said calmly as the werewolf's nose started healing. It never finished as Colton's talons tore through the insane despot's neck, severing the head. The head went flying as the body collapsed under its own weight, and slowly toppled over as the heart in its chest continued to pump blood out of the severed arteries in the neck itself. Then the blood stopped, and Colton smiled in satisfaction.

Colton fell to his knees in exhaustion as his wounds healed themselves. In all his years, all the centuries of combat, he had never been taken that close to the edge. The destruction of the furniture around them, and the frightened expressions on the faces of the Nazi officers huddled on the far side of the room told the tale. They were all staring at his glowing golden eyes and the fangs that still extended in his mouth as he rose and walked slowly towards them.

As he approached, they aimed weapons at him, threatening to fire. Colton snarled as he moved forward with lightning speed, grabbing the closest officer and sinking his fangs into her neck. He drank deeply, draining her body of every drop of blood she had. He dropped her lifeless corpse and looked at the rest.

He spoke in Deutsch to the assembled remnants of the Third Reich. "When the Allies enter Berlin, you are to surrender to them. You will NOT negotiate, and surrender will be unconditional. The body of Adolf Hitler is to be incinerated, as are the bodies of all the night wolves in this bunker. No remnant of them will be allowed to survive. Do I make myself clear?" He bared his fangs to make his point as his eyes glowed dangerously.

"Ja, mein Herr." The eldest officer said with conviction.

"Good." He nodded once, tore the red armband from his ruined Nazi uniform and threw it on the floor as he walked toward the human looking Miriam again.

"Were you going to jump in if I had started to lose?" Colton asked as they made their way back through the bunker.

"Not a chance." Miriam shrugged. "Besides, I got to have all the fun in London, remember?"

Colton laughed. "That's true. But then, you earned that fun." He leaned over and kissed her as he slipped his arm around her shoulders and she slipped hers around his waist.

"Well, you earned the fun tonight, love." She responded. "Not to mention that you're going to have a lot more fun after we get out of here and report back."

"Yeah, I'd say this was a successful operation. Wouldn't you?" Colton smiled at her.

"Mmmm, definitely! It was the first time I've been able to watch you fight, and you are a hell of a fighter!" Miriam winked as she complimented him.

"Thank you, and so are you, if I may say so." He retorted.

"You may say so. Is George still outside the city?" Miriam asked.

"If you mean General Patton, then yes he is." Colton laughed.

"Good. He owes both of us a beer."

General Patton did indeed give Miriam and Colton their beer, and promoted Colton to Captain in the US Army. He was given his choice of duty assignments, and was eventually awarded the Medal of Honor along with a chest full of medals to go along with it. Colton stayed in the US Army until the Korean Conflict ended, and stayed with the 1st Rangers.

Miriam stayed with him for a few years, but domestic bliss wasn't for her, and by the time the Korean Conflict started, they parted on amicable terms. Colton Drake took an Honorable Discharge and resigned his commission after Korea was resolved, and wouldn't see war again until Afghanistan after 9/11. But that will be a tale for another time.

As for Adolf Hitler, the official story was that he and his mistress, Eva Braun, had committed suicide when the Allies closed in on his bunker and the remaining Wehrmacht units had surrendered to Allied Forces. VE Day happened nine days after General Patton gave 1st Lieutenant Colton Drake his mission.