Queen of the Dark Horizon

Hans and Hilda were allowed to sleep in, as far as Hans could tell. He woke up to the distant din of chatter and fieldwork through the small window, the morning sun beating away the last of the night's chill. Hans sat up and looked around the cell, Hilda stirring next to him.

Their quiet morning soon gave way to the clatter of lockworks and doors, faint footfalls growing louder as someone approached. Hans slowly stood and watched Xavier step into view, a set of keys in his hands, his red skin scarcely visible beneath the seams in his black armor. He looked at the two of them as he fished for the right key. "It's time," he said, "for you to go before Her Majesty." He unlocked the door and stepped into the cell.

Hilda was the first to act, trying to rush past the mutant. He grabbed her by the arm, holding her in place. "Enough," he said. "There is no point in struggling anymore, so just calm down already." Hilda, despite her best efforts, couldn't escape, and so she stopped and looked up at the monster.

"What's so special about this fucking Queen, anyway?" she asked, and Xavier looked down at her.

"You're about to see."

He marched the two of them out of the cell and led them down to the end of the hall, where two more Vengeance Troopers stood waiting by a sealed door. A rather high-tech one, from what Hans could tell. A card reader, a keypad, a camera above it. Xavier led them past it and to a nearby spiral staircase, going straight up. At the top of the stairs was a door, which opened up onto a grand hall, windows lining it to the left.

The two of them were led outside, to a garden where a copse of dead trees stood. Hans guessed they were in the Spreebogenpark, judging by the wall that ran around the edge of the park. He looked over his shoulder to the right and saw the Reichstag's dome, maybe half a mile away.

Xavier continued to lead them on, past the trees and through a shantytown next to some farmland, tended to by human workers watched over by some Sturmutant guards. They passed over a stone walkway and to the center of the park, where the earth ramped down towards the river Spree. At the apex of the ramp, where they now stood, was the gallows that Hans had seen from the roof of the robotics factory, flanked by two Vengeance Troopers. Standing on the platform was a third Vengeance Trooper, as well as a gray-skinned Sturmutant. A woman, clad in blue armor. Strapped to her back was a zweihander, a large holster on her hip bearing a Mars Automatic. Hans' Mars Auto, he realized. They were marched up the stairs to the gallows and presented to the female Sturmer, who turned to face them.

"This is her?" she asked, looking at Hilda, and Xavier nodded. Hans looked down and saw a crowd of Sturmutants and Rotters assembling, watching. "Thank you, leave them with me here." Xavier released them and stepped back, standing by the edge of the platform.

The female Sturmer looked at them both. "I am Queen Ilse the Ironheart, and I tend to the needs of our world's malformed and mutated. We are all victims of The Bomb, of the malignant and selfish ambitions of the United States and China, but many of us are victims of both The Bomb and of our fellow man's prejudice," she said, and looked out at the crowd. "We have convened here today to seek justice for the victims of the Munich Massacre, and to deliver justice to their killer, the Monster of Munich!

The crowd continued to watch in silence as Queen Ilse turned back to face Hans and Hilda. "You are Hilda Muller, the Monster of Munich. You stand here today accused of mass murder and attempted genocide in the service of the Final Order, a neo-Nazi organization. Explain your actions before both me and God."

Hilda scoffed. "Why should I explain myself to you, you mutant trash?" she said. "And it's Eckhart, not Muller."

Ilse looked at Xavier, who stepped forward. "She is his wife," he said, pointing to Hans. "She has taken his name, but it's her. There is no mistake. Female, green eyes, red hair, a small scar on the chin, a light group of freckles on both cheeks. He matches the description of the Monster's accomplice, too."

Ilse looked back at Hilda. "October 22nd, 2097. The Munich Massacre. 76 Former Humans shot to death in cold blood with an MG-34 by you. Part of what the Final Order christened Operation Atomsturm, a pogrom designed to eradicate all meta-humans from Germany. What, were the ovens and showers not working?"

"What the Hell does that mean?" Hilda asked. "And why should you care? I only killed zombies, not Sturmutants. I would've liked to, though."

Ilse started pacing back and forth. "Contempt, hatred, a penchant for violence, a lack of empathy... I was born in Munich, before The Bomb. I was there when the Final Order was established. I was there when they began Operation Atomsturm. I have seen the worst of man on this blasted and scorched earth, deprived of reason and peace for so many decades. Are you not the least bit remorseful? Have you no idea of what you did, trying to build a future for Germany on a foundation of corpses?"

Hans tensed up, memories of what happened at Peenemunde coming back to him. He remained silent, letting Ilse make her little speech.

"No," was all Hilda had to say.

Ilse stopped pacing, looked at the crowd, then back at Hilda. "I feel so sorry for you," she said. "What Projekt Natursturm was trying to do would've been such a boon for Germany. So much misery and suffering would've been eradicated. So much good, violently destroyed by the machinations of man."

"Fuck you!" Hilda shouted. "It was destroyed by that little shrimp-dicked fuck and his army of faggots! My only regret is that I never got a chance to kill him, and now I probably never will! Do you think it was fun or easy, the things we did for the Final Order and Projekt Natursturm? Do you want me to take you to the BMW headquarters there and see what fucked up things we had to deal with?! One look at one of those Wanamingos and you'd be begging me to help you eradicate them from Germany!"

"I am not a child!" Ilse said. "I have seen my share of monsters. Rovers, Croakers, Death's Heads, and more. Had Operation Atomsturm's only goal been their demise then I'd have happily helped you, but instead you damn Nazis decided der endlosung was the best choice." Ilse began pacing again, her hands clasped behind her back. "I've seen many monsters in the years since The Bomb came, but the worst one of them all is standing here before me today."

Hilda spat on Queen Ilse. "The only monster here is you, you mutant abomination."

Ilse wiped the spit from her cuirass and looked at Hilda. "There is no hope for you. No chance of reform, you mass-murdering goose-stepper. The only solution is to deny you the chance of ever harming anyone again." Ilse gestured to Xavier, who stepped behind Hilda and picked up a nearby rope, beginning to tie it around the strut above the platform. He grabbed Hilda by the arm and led her over to a trapdoor on the platform, tightly tying the rope around her neck.

"Wait!" Hans said, and stepped forward. "Just wait a moment. You don't have to kill her. I've seen your gardens, your farms. We can work for you, we can try to help provide food and help to people. Making her, making us, work a field would be enough penance, right? You say you know what we were doing with Projekt Natursturm, then give us the chance to do it again!"

"I don't know who you are," Queen Ilse said, "but I know that tending crops is not justice for the people she murdered. There is only one just punishment for that." She gestured to Xavier, who wrapped his hand around a lever, and then Queen Ilse turned her attention back to Hilda. The bright, warm morning air seemed to hang still for a moment, the wind calm and the park silent.

Hans rushed forward and grabbed the rope, trying to yank it off Hilda. Queen Ilse grabbed him by the arm and dragged him away from his wife. "WAIT, WAIT! She has medical experience, she's a doctor! She can tend to your sick and wounded!" he yelled. He broke free from Ilse's grasp and tried to free Hilda again, and this time Xavier stepped forward to restrain him. "STOP, FUCKING STOP!" he screamed, but it was no use. He could do nothing but stand and watch. Ilse approached Hilda and put her hand on the lever.

"Any final words or requests?"

Hilda stared her down for a moment before she turned to look at Hans, her expression softening as she did. "You... You lied to me, you hurt me, you betrayed my trust, but I still love you. Maybe that makes me an idiot, but that's how I feel," she said. She cast another glance at Ilse then looked at Hans again. "As for requests, I have just one. Slash this mutant cunt's throat and I'll forgive you for everything, Hans."

Hans couldn't say anything, desperately trying to think of some way to save her. He wouldn't be able to reach the lever in time, he wouldn't be able to grab his gun from Ilse's holster in time, there were no grenades or bombs around, no sniper watching over them. There was nothing he could do. He was completely powerless to stop what was happening. "Hilda!" he screamed, but there was nothing for it. Ilse threw the lever, the trapdoor flew open, and Hilda dropped.

*CRACK!*

There was a sharp snapping sound as the rope was suddenly pulled taut, breaking Hilda's neck and killing her instantly. Hans could only stare in mute horror as his wife swung limply in the shadow of the gallows, her head bent down at an unnatural angle. There was no cheering from the crowd, no celebration, only silence. Ilse pulled her back up, untied the rope, and gently set her down next to the struts. Hans continued to just stand and stare, unwilling to accept what he'd just seen. He prayed she was still alive somehow, just pretending to be dead, but the way her head rolled to the side told him otherwise. She was gone.

Queen Ilse turned around to face the crowd. "We celebrate not violence or death, but instead the deliverance of justice! The death of the Monster, along with our continued campaigns throughout Berlin, will demonstrate to Germany that our free and independent nation of meta-humans has a RIGHT to exist!" she shouted, and turned back to face Hans. "I don't know you," she said. "But you knew her. Xavier, is there anything on him?"

"He was her husband, but that's all I know. Whether he was a part of the Munich Massacre, a member of the Final Order, or an accomplice to the Monster I can't say."

Ilse looked him over, clearly thinking. "You were her husband? For how long? Tell me, human. Were you a part of the Order? Did you know the Monster before Munich? Did you help her or the Order enact their attempted genocide?"

"Fuck you," Hans said. "Really, FUCK YOU! I'm going to fucking KILL YOU, you bitch! I'm going rip your head off and feed you to Wanamingos, and shove a fucking grenade up your pussy, you fucking..." Hans stopped, clenching his fists and letting out a long, anguished scream of suffering. A scream for a pain unlike any he'd ever felt before. A pain in his soul. He dropped to his knees next to Hilda's body, hands gripping her shirt, and he screamed.

He was still screaming when they dragged him off to the fields.