"Move it! Move it, people! The whole blasted Nazi brigade is comin' this way!" Logan hollered across the battlefield. All alone on the mile wide piece of grassland, the Nazi Resistance was moving back slowly.

Hank McCoy started barking out orders to his section of the resistance. His brown hair was unruly and his Caucasian face was red from running. Not only did he command one of the small groups, but he controlled the whole company in battle. "Retreat!" he shouted into his mini-radio.

"Sir? Hank?" Sam Guthrie ran up to his commander, his voice thick with a country accent. The country boy's strong, muscular build showed through his ripped shirt and his blond hair was wind-tossed. "I jus' hear on de radio. Base jus' gave us a new miss'n. I ran over as fast as I could to tell ya."

"New mission? Can this wait for a few minutes? At least until we finish our retreat?"

"Sure, Hank."

The Nazi Resistance began to move back. The Nazis themselves gradually stopped their advance, then lifted their arms in the air, tossed their weapons aside and cheered. The Resistance scattered.

Hank, Sam, and Logan ducked behind a tree.

"What was the mission, Sam?" Hank asked.

"Somethin' 'bout how we s'pose to search the past fo' clues."

"Clues to what?"

"Dunno. Woonna saih. Top secret."

"A top secret mission? Then we better move!"

Hank's team stood up and stealthily moved back to Logan's mansion.

They walked onto the porch and Logan punched in a thirteen digit numerical code. Hank and Sam's eyes followed his fingers across the keypad: 13248466651998. After that had successfully been entered, the keypad swung out. Behind it was a infrared handprint scanner. Logan placed his hand on the scanner. His handprint was accepted. This caused a retina scanner to pop out of the door frame. Logan stepped up.

"Retina scan complete. Please give voice ID," the computer ordered in a dull, monotone voice.

"Logan, Agent 1439-5. Codename: Wolverine."

"ID accepted. You may enter."

"You could've just used a key," Hank muttered.

"Hasn't been installed yet," Logan answered.

"All this technology, and he doesn't have a simple lock and key," Sam blurted.

"We were talking about a DNA key," Hank said.

"Oh."

The trio walked through the foyer and into the study. It was dark and musty. There was very little light. three of the walls had bookcases built in. There were no windows at all in the room. In the middle of the walking area were three chairs, two tables, and a sofa.

Logan walked over to one of the bookshelves on the far wall. He pulled out a copy of "War and Peace". Behind it was a keypad. Hank and Sam watched as he typed in another number:5934111141999. The bookcase slowly slid aside. Behind it was a passage that led to darkness.

"After you," Logan said to his partners. Sam went in first, followed by Hank, with Logan bringing up the rear. As the three walked down, the bookcase slid back over the passage. No one would be able to tell that they were there at all.

Logan was never an agent of the Canadian government, so he never received an Adamanitium skeleton nor did he ever find out about the claws that pop out of his hands. He has a mysterious healing factor, which he doesn't understand.

Hank McCoy is usually agile, but never thought of it as being a mutation, so he never tried to cure himself of mutant powers, therefore never growing blue fur.

When he was born, Sam Guthrie underwent huge amounts of genetic testing, which robbed him of his x-factor.

Why do these men not know that they are mutants? It is because circumstances never allowed Charles Xavier to gather the X-Men.

This is not the Age of Wonders*. This is the Age of Hitler.

*(Age of Wonders is the name given to the "real" Marvel Universe, revealed during the Onslaught saga. - Chip)

"Agent 1320-9. Codename: Beast. Identification: McCoy, Henry," the computer said. "Agent 1439-5. Codename: Wolverine. Identification: Logan, no known first name. Agent 2148-0. Codename: Cannonball. Identification: Guthrie, Samuel.

"Access granted. Stand by for your mission briefing."

A screen with the picture of the Resistance leader Steve Rogers (a.k.a. Captain America) came up. At the bottom, an icon saying 'Top secret recording' flashed. Steve started speaking.

"Hank, Logan, Sam. We need your help. Only you three can help us. It is theorized that there are other timelines out there, many of which don't have Nazi supremacy. It is your mission to somehow search history and find turning points. Times at which if someone could go back and change, it would eliminate the Nazis.

"Good luck. Cap out."

The image of Steve Rogers, who had long since abandoned his Captain America identity, flickered off, replaced by one with a message that read "Briefing complete."

"Sounds like the bigwigs wanna use that new technology that they just made," Logan whispered. He was referring to the announcement they had read on the network about the Resistance's new tool: a time machine.

"Do you know where to begin, Hank?" Sam asked.

"I imagine it would be sometime during the Civil War," Logan added.

Hank logged off of the NRN* and opened up his own history program. This allowed him and his partners to view past events as they happened. He pulled up July 1-3, 1863.

*(Nazi Resistance Network - Chip)

"It all started here," he began. "The Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania was the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The North might have won this battle, but the South took them in a moment of weakness. You see, they stood between the Northern Army and Washington. They could have taken Washington, but they waited."

"Lee commanded Pickett to charge with Longstreet to back him up," Logan said.

"Right," Hank continued. "The artillery had thought that the Union artillery was gone, but they weren't sure. Really, the guns were reloading. Pickett, who had tried to flank them twice before and failed, got his men ready. They charged, making the loudest noise on the continent up to that time. The Union army could have blown them all up with cannons, and they tried. However, Longstreet's army was backing them up. When one man fell, another took his place. Meanwhile, the Confederate artillery wiped out the Union's Lee then sent the rest of his men to Washington to get the Union to follow."

"And that's when the Union destroyed their own capital, Washington," Logan interjected.

"Exactly. Grant's forces had taken Vicksburg just shortly before, but they were called back to Washington. However, the Confederates were still more powerful than the Union. The Battle of Washington was so fierce that the Union gave up. They surrendered their capital to the Confederates, after they had destroyed it during the battle, as you said Logan. The war ended then, as Meade surrendered."

"Wha' happened ta Lincoln?" Sam asked.

"What do they teach you in them Yankee schools, boy? Lincoln escaped to Columbus, Ohio, where they set up a new capital," Logan answered.

"Because the South won the war, in what might have been one country has now become four," Hank said. "The territories joined together to make Dakota, and the Pacific States became their own country."

"Ah still don' see wha' this gotta do wit' Nazis," Sam said.

"Everythin', boy," Logan replied. "In the second World War, back in the forties, there wasn't no country strong enough to oppose that dictator, Adolf Hitler. The Japanese had taken over the Pacific States rather quickly, and were comin' closer. We were able to stop them, but not without casualities."

"The CSA and the USA then lost some of their world power. Germany became the world's super-power. We never stood a chance. That's why we lost," Hank added.

"But what about Captain America?" Sam asked. "He didn't help?"

"Not as much as you think," Logan replied.

"He never had much of a chance," Hank said. "Cap never had back-up."

"What about Bucky?" Sam interjected.

"The kid got killed on one of his first missions," Logan answered. "Got too deep undercover while in the Pacific States. After that, Cap lost some of hsi morale. He didn't concentrate on as much on the rest of his missions."

"That nearly got himself killed on his last mission*," Hank added. "He was captured by the Germans and placed in suspended animation. The Germans hoped to be able to turn Captain America into Captain Germany, but failed. Why they didn't kill him after that is still a mystery. He wasn't rescued until 1963, when a joint army of the USA, CSA, and Dakota invaded parts of Germany. Shortly after he was revived, he disappeared. Only members of the Nazi Resistance know where he went."

(*Of course, in this universe, this last mission happened later than in the 'Age of Wonders.' - Chip)

All Sam Guthrie could say was "Wow."

"Shoot!" he cried.

"Vhat?" the first one whispered.

"I stubbed my toe!"

"Stooped American."

"Ve con't get in," the second man said. "Ve need a 13 digit code. I might be able to dust to see vhich key are used, but zat von't tell us much."

He quickly dusted, but cursed when he saw that all of the keys had been touched.

"Ve must try to disable eet."

"Zand back," the first man said. He stepped back, pulled out his gun, and fired. He looked at the keypad, now sparking from the gaping hole he had made, and reached in to rip out the wires. Then the alarms sounded.

"Not good!"

"Nazis must be here," Logan said.

"I'll log off now, so if they do succeed in getting in, they're going to have a hard time learning our secrets," Hank said. He typed in his logoff code and shut down the computer. He then bolted up out of his chair and to the wall farthest from him.

"Whare ya goin', Hank?" Sam asked, his thick accent becoming thicker.

"Behind this wall is a secret exit. We'll sneak up behind them. Let's go!" Hank said, grabbing a radio. "All teams," he said into the radio. "Get ready to attack on my cue."

Up in the trees above some of the soldiers, several members of the NR were hiding. They were listening to their radios for orders. The battle plan was foolproof. When Hank would give the word, they would drop down and attack. Meanwhile, Hank's team would attach from their secret underground hiding place.

"Alpha team," Hank's voice cracked through the radio, "this is team leader. Prepare to attack in 5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . NOW!!!!!!"

All over the yard, NR members dropped out of trees, came out of corners, and ran out from any place possible. The Nazis were totally surprised, and were unable to overcome the powerful Resistance.

"Ve Zurrender!"

They walked back to the house. Logan was able to kick down the door.

"Should be enough men to guard," he said. "In case we have another attack," he added with a smile.

Again the trio went through the same routine they had earlier that night. Logan again walked over and pulled back "War and Peace." They walked back down to the annex where Hank rebooted the computer.

"Now, let's go to May 2, 1992," he said, in a lecture-type voice. "I was a student at Virginia Tech, studying to become an engineer. I had a promising future. May second was the day that Tech was holding an anti-Nazi rally. It was one of the biggest ever held. I went to it, for sake of curiosity. I was just a normal 18-year-old, not posing a real threat to the Nazis. Well, they found out about the rally and blew the school up. I escaped with a few minor injuries, but most of my classmates weren't so fortunate. I was one of 120 student survivors. I joined the Nazi Resistance as soon as I learned of it on July 4, 1993."

"Wow, Hank," Logan exclaimed. "I didn't realize how tragic your life has been."

"But wha does this have t'd'wit' the clues?" Sam asked.

"Virginia Tech was one of the biggest anti-Nazi centers around. A lot of evidence against the Nazis was housed there. Plans for weapons to be used against them were there. If it hadn't been blown up, the Nazis may have been defeated a couple years ago," Hank answered.

"As soon as Hitler is gone, though," Logan added, "we have a chance of winning by taking advantage of the confusion. That SOB must be 110 years old by now."

"How does he stay alive?" Sam asked.

"Another mystery of the Third Reich," Hank replied. "We think he has a secret formula stolen from Captain America."

"Wha'd' ya mean by stol'n from Cap?"

"We think that Hitler's men created a special formula from the Super Soldier formula that Captain America took to give him his strength," Hank said. "And now for another crucial date. October 13, 1978 was when the Nazis attacked Richmond. They almost destroyed the CSA. But, the good ol' US came in and saved our butts."

Just then, the computer started talking.

"When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind required that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certian unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. . . . "

There was a moment of silence. Finally, Hank spoke up.

"The Declaration of Independence. This was supposed to happen, and we cannot change that. They were right. And the South's cause in the Civil War was justified right here."

"Yeah, I guess we still have, and always will have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," Logan responded.

"We have that now," Hank added. "We are alive. The Nazis will never take the US or CS, and this war is our struggle to pursue happiness."

After another moment of silence, Logan said, "Maybe it would have been a better world if the Yankees had won Gettysburg. Then we would only have one country here, and we would have been able to win the war."

"Just shows how one day can change the entire course of time," Hank replied.

"One victory," Logan said. "Just one victory, and now we are feeling the repercussions."

THE END