Summer hit New York in 1940 almost without warning. Maybe after the events of Spring, we'd forgotten to expect it. Still we all remembered we were supposed to be having fun. Coney Island was busier than ever. We were all trying to move on, while also fearing the return of the Sub-Mariner. O'Dwyer was chosen as La Guardia's replacement. La Guardia would be well remembered. He'd brought down crime even before the rise of the Marvels, having had special Prosecutor Thomas , who was running for the Republican Nomination at the time and spoke at La Guardia's funeral, bring down the mob boss Lucky Luciano. He's brought the city out of the great Depression and into the World's Fair. The various place he opened such as the New York Municipal Airport No. 2 would be expected to be named after him. He'd campaigned against Fascism in Europe, something he backed up by overseeing the Von Trapp's family make it safely from Austria to Ellis island. The Von Trapps performed at La Guardia's funeral as a show of gratitude, singing a somber version of their song "So long farewell auf Wiedersehen". La Guardia had another famous friend in the President. Namor was now the target of a Nationwide manhunt. The Army was moving into the City. And everyone was trying to pretend nothing was wrong.

Greenwich Village, New York City

It was a reminder that life...and Death...marched on…

THE FERRET
Confidential investigations

"Normally, I would let the Police handle it…"

"Nonsense, Miss Portnoy...police make missing persons their lowest priority...If they prioritize it at all, that is."

"That was the impression I was getting from them…You see, its been months since mother disappeared...and the best they can say is that she's old and may have wandered off…"

Miss Potnoy was still dressed in black as if she never left the Funeral.

"But mother wasn't old like that...wasn't senile. She still cleaned houses almost daily…"

"And so you fear Foul Play?"

"I'm afraid I do, mister... um…"

"It's quite all right, Madam, everyone calls me the Ferret these days."

The Private Eye leaned over to his pet Ferret on the desk and rubbed the bottom of its neck with his finger.

"Don't they nosie?"

The actual Ferret responded with a "Kkkrriitt Kkriit."

Dennis Piper, Private Eye, began to load his gun.

"And you can rest assured, if there has been any foul play...Nosie and I will root it out.

Uptown Manhattan

"Please excuse the state of th apartment general...My usual maid seems to have decided Earth is flat and fallen off the side….heh...heh"

"Nonsense, Professor Hamilton. I live in the B.O.Q...I've seen far worse."

"Can I offer you some tea, General or..?"

"Afraid there's not a lot of time for pleasantries. I'm on Uncle Sam's time here. You know we've been vetting your background already for some of our robotics projects…"

" I wasn't sure those were still ongoing...after that "Human Torch" Fiasco…"

"I can't comment on that, of course...but there's a new project staffing up, and we'd like you onboard."

"Of course, General...whenever you need, whatever you need. I live to serve my country."

"Good to hear...we'll need more patriots like you soon, Hamilton...can't stay out of this was forever, can we?"

"No indeed."

England-Secret Air Base Outside London.
Several Parachutes were coming down, Fury was among them. It was a practice drill. Fury was training a batch of new recruits. The British air force was up and running again. It was about time. London had been reduced to rubble in bombings and now Hitler was invading the Rest of Europe.

"Still a freelancing yahoo, eh Fury?"

Fury began to remove his parachute equipment.

"Lieutenant Sawyer? Thought you'd be over in the states with that Kraut Scientist we rescued…"

"No such luck, Nick. Know what they say...No rest for the Wicked. But Erskine is working out fine so far. He's reunited with a lady love of his. Defected back in 36'. She's teaching him some more English. He's picking it up fast. If we could acknowledge your actions that day, you and Red would be wearing medals right now."

"Ah, Medals're for pansies. Red an' me were just doin' what any real American would do.. Stickin' a thumb in Uncle Adolf's eye."

"How'd you like to put the whole fist in his eye this time?"

"A new mission?"

"Yeah...we finally pinpointed some of the facilities where the S.S. moved Erskine's fellow scientists after his defection."

"Bout' friggin time."

"Yeah the old prof helped us find them...He's sharp as hell...So what say you, Red and the Sky Devils go find some hidden Nazi Fortresses?"

There'd been no sign of Namor since the battle. The Human Torch had decided to cool off. Few people had seen him in his "human" form, and he was choosing to take some time as a man. No Flame. Just an officer. Hiding in plain sight, was working just fine for the Human Torch, or Officer James Hammond, as he was now known. The last name Horton would have made the connection more detectable. On parole he would see children playing in a spraying fire hydrant and smile a little about how peaceful things seemed. He'd taken the job to make up in some small way for the damage he'd done to the city. He hadn't expected it would affect him as much as it did. He'd written parking tickets and showed restraint in people's anger. He'd moved in to protect people being assaulted, stopping criminals from victimizing the weak and elderly, protecting the innocent, especially without his powers.

It filled him with a pride he'd never experienced, seeing the faces of citizens as he walked his beat.
Then Commissioner Valentine stopped by.

"Creezus, Hammond...yer makin' the rest of us look bad. Says here you ain't even taken a day off since you started."

Valentine had gotten used to calling the Torch by his chosen name.

"A day off? Do I have to?"

"Yeah, you have ta. It's the law."

"But...what should I do?"

"I dunno, Super-Cop...do what normal people do...Go to Coney Island."

My summer wasn't going as well as Jim Hammond's was. I was trying to fulfill my vow to a fallen comrade. The Phantom Bullet. His territory had been the docks, which he had also covered as a reporter, not coincidentally. And the New York docks in 1940 were a fog of corruption, mob violence, and shady characters.

JOSIE'S Bar and Grill

So I found myself doing less investigating and more…

"CRASH!"

...Well, beating people to a pulp

I'd thrown another guy out of a window. I was getting better at taking whole rooms full of hoodlums.

"Enough! Stop wasting my time!"

I punched one and broke a chair over another.

"I came here to find out what kind of trouble Phantom Bullet got into before he got aced, and I'm not leaving until one of you rats tells me."

The Bartender spoke up.
"Look...Angel...We don't know...I swear…"

"Don't give me that, Josie...I know how words spreads down here…"

A group of patrons stood back in a corner. One of them spoke.

"Yeah, but...that costumed freak...no offense...He was in everybody's business...how should we know who he ticked off the most?"

"Good point, But I'm guessing folks down here don't sit on grudges for too long, do they?"

One man spoke up.

"One thing I heard, a week or so before he got it...He busted up some kinda smugglin' operation…"

"Smuggling what?"

"I ain't sure...guns, I think...but I heard maybe some people was sneakin' in too."

"See? Now was that so hard?"

It was a start, a detail to go on...and I'd learned long ago that the path to truth was often hidden in the small details.

Unfortunately Prince Namor Didn't know about things like that.

He'd seen only the larger death of his people...the destruction of his city beneath the Sea. And in his eyes, all surface dwellers were one people. So when he followed a merchant ship towards New York's shores…what he saw enraged him.

It was night. Coney Island was alive. Here were happy children and parents. Here were rides with bright lights and loud noises, and fun rides. The Surface world, celebrating...while his kingdom fell to ruin and his people suffered...It was more than he could stand.

Namor burst out of the water with a yell of rage.

The Human Torch was having his first reactions to Coney Island that evening, too. Surrounded by Humanity and wishing to belong, more than ever before..only to find himself needed for everything that wasn't human about him.

Namor had leaped onto the high point of the wooden roller coaster, the Cyclone and was tearing apart the tracks as the Coaster approached. Torch spotted him and his eyes widened in horror.

"No…"

Namor tore up a rail.

The Torch took off with a loud "Nooo!", charging towards the Sub-Mariner. A young girl pointed up. "Daddy Look!"

The Coaster filled with people was coming down to where Namor was tearing the rail. The people began to panic.

"My god! Stop this thing!"

"EEEIIIAAAAHHH!"

Namor stood proudly.

"Now, surface worlders...It's your turn…"

The Torch flew through the air next to the coaster.

"Hang on tight!"

The Passengers on the the ride began to speak.

"Oh my god!"

"It's the Torch!"

The Torch fired at the wheels, burning them up, the Coaster began to come to a screeching halt. Namor stood defiantly.

"By the seas, I will not be denied."

He leaped into the air and the two collided. The Torch fired a powerful blast of fire. There was a bright flash. Namor's flaming body came crashing down into the water.

"For Prince Namor this was a day of great shame and defeat. One that would burn far beyond the wounds he received in battle."

His unconscious body floated into the depths.

It was amazing how quickly a battle between the two could turn if the Torch could land a solid hit. Namor would focus his rage on New York. On the people who would one day be his allies, and not where it belonged.

Still this battle reinforced the idea to the people of New York that the Torch was a good guy. He had not caused the destruction in this battle and had saved them.

_
The Great War waited out there for all of us.

"So do we think he's a Nazi Agent?"

"Did you see the papers? Looked more Asian to me. Maybe Japanese, but we have no intel on him. He could be a rogue agent for all we know."

"God help us all if he is, Kermit. That's all we need."

"Don't I know it."

In the Military facility the two entered a room with two large dustboards filled with white chalk equations. One of which had the sketch of a familiar robot in comparison to a man.

"So who are we meeting today, General?"

"Professor Zogolowski".

"Oh right. This is the giant robot thing...Electro?"

'Yeah. Our people went over the design specs. We had the Prof run a few tests by busting up a few drug rings and it works. We plan to have more ready to go."

"And it can do 100 miles an hour? Well, let's see the Nazis top that."

Somewhere Outside Frankfurt, Germany,

The Invasion of France had been met with a fierce counter attack. The nation had expected such an invasion to following the start of the bombings of the United Kingdom in 1939. President De Gaulle, chosen by his predecessor, Albert Lebrun, to deliberately lead the nation in what seemed an inevitable war. Now they were fighting into Germany itself. French and British planes were flying overhead. A German base was in the middle of being bombed.

"Come Professor! Take only what you can carry!"

"But my Research!"

"You can recreate your experiments if you live!

As Hans ran with the folders in his hands we thought to himself.

"Damn it! This is Erskine's doing. I know it!" The Traitor!"

One of his escorted shouted at him.

"Run you fool!"

Another scientist was crushed to death by the collapsing roof.

Inside the facility was a tube of liquid containing the soldier John Steele.. The area surrounding it was engulfed in fire. Debris came down and shattered the tank.

John opened his eyes.

His naked body slid across the floor in the liquid that he had been contained in. He was still weak from its effects. Something in it kept him unconscious. He gasped for life.

The base was reduced to a lifeless husk, from which emerged the naked man.

Although none of them knew it at the time, the allies had just given the Nazi Science effort its second major setback.

Of course it would have been small comfort then. As France marched into Germany, the news that Spain had joined the Axis proved the end for what could have been a short victory. This would allow the Germans to push back against the gains the French had made.

But for this moment, that didn't seem to matter.

Private John Steele had been awakened into a new war.

Steele looked up and saw very different planes flying up ahead.

"What the?"

Over twenty years since he'd been captured during the Previous one.

While back home, the Nazi Scientist first major setback, Professor Abraham Erskine, was about to change the course of history.