"December 1943. It was the dusk of a horrifying and sickening year. But then, every year at Auschwitz was horrifying and sickening. No matter how terrible Auschwitz was, it was made a little better with Joshua at my side, and with Magda at a distance. I loved her, even though I had hardly talked to her."

"Did she love you?"

"I'm not sure if she loved me at that time. We were always busy working; rather, she was busy working. What Joshua and I were doing after being made into Sonderkommando could hardly be considered work. What we did could more easily be considered ... 'clean up.'"

Erik grabbed a man by the arms, trying not to look at the three bullet holes in his chest. He placed the man on a small slide, and began pushing him down it. The man's body slid into a giant furnace, whose flames swallowed him hungrily. No matter how much he wanted to feel sorrow, Erik couldn't bring himself to cry for this poor man, at least not any more. So rather than pretend to wipe away tears like he had been for the past weeks before that, he simply grabbed the next person, a small boy whose skull had been crushed by a gun.

Joshua stared at Erik as he placed the small boy into the furnace. For the first time, though, he wasn't focused on Erik, but instead was focused on the look of horror in the small boy's eyes, and the dry tears that had formed. It was a look that, for the first time in years, made Joshua actually feel sick.

Joshua stared at Erik, unsure of how to respond. "Such brave words," he thought to himself.

"And so we started planning. Since we were the most trusted Jews in the camp(if there was such a thing as a trusted Jew there), it was relatively easy for us to find out where each soldier was when, or when the next train was going to come in. Our plan was that, on the tenth day of December, we would revolt against the SS at Auschwitz. It was to happen at sunset on that day."

Erik sat in the crematorium, working on one of the furnaces. He sighed, and felt his chest as his heart pounded. He desperately longed for sunset to come in two hours, and could not wait for the revolt to begin. He sat up, and wiped sweat from his face.

Suddenly, the alarms blared, and gunfire rang out. Erik scrambled to his feet, and looked out the window. A man ran across the grounds, firing a gun. Suddenly, the ground beneath his feet exploded, sending his straight towards Erik. The man smashed through the window, and skidded across the ground.

Erik gasped, and ran towards the man. "David," he said, clutching the man's shirt. "What is happening?"

The man, David, looked at Erik, and whispered in his ear, "I am free." His eyes closed and his head lowered. The breath of life left his body.

Erik sat, staring in awe. More gunfire rang out, and there were more explosions. He looked up, and wiped a tear from his eye. "It can't be," he said, shaking his head. "Why didn't you wait?" Erik stood up, and ran out through the door of the crematorium. He raced across the grounds, his feet leaving footprints in the wet dirt.

As Erik turned the corner of one of the barracks, he saw it. His eyes widened in fear, as he reached out. His foot clutched onto a rock, causing him to trip and fall face down in the mud. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared across the yard.

Joshua picked up the pistol, and fired three quick rounds at a Nazi soldier. The soldier's chest seemed to explode as he fell to the ground, bleeding. All around Joshua, Kapo and Sonderkommando members ran, firing their weapons. One Kapo member parried to the side of Joshua, only to face death from above as bullets hailed down on him. Blood splattered onto Joshua, who turned his head, staring at the man as he ran.

Suddenly, the ground all around the Kapo and Sonderkommando members exploded, throwing mud, rocks and body parts all about. In front of the two dozen or so men stood the two men whom all members of the camp had come to fear. Otto and Victor walked forward, unafraid. Behind them stood a group of soldiers, whose guns were raised at the rebels.

Joshua lifted his hand, and fired three more shots at Victor. Victor smiled, and with super speed, caught every one of the bullets. He lifted his nose at the prisoners and said, "what is this we have here? A rebellion?" Victor began to walk towards the prisoners, who were sweating and trembling. Otto followed, laughing all the while.

Victor looked around, and continued: "if you stop now, I will let the rest of you live. If you choose to continue, you shall all die."

Joshua stood tall, and stared Victor down. "I would rather die fighting for my freedom than let you monsters taunt and torture us."

Victor stepped towards Joshua, a look of anger on his face. He walked around Joshua, staring at him. "Do you really want to die, juden?"

Joshua nodded. He smiled, and looked at Victor. "The question is, do you want to continue killing?"

Victor's eyes widened, and he fell to his knees, clutching his skull. "Damn you, juden. Do not dare use your powers on me!"

Victor slowly stood up, Joshua staring at him all the while. Victor raised his fist at Joshua, but found that he could do nothing.

"Juden," Otto screamed from a few feet away. Joshua looked towards Otto, only to be hit with a rock. Joshua fell to his knees, holding his bleeding face. Otto laughed, as he tossed another rock at Joshua.

The rock flew through the air, only to be caught by Victor, who crushed it. He opened his hand, dropping the dust onto Joshua. "You were put up with because you were useful, juden. Now, you are nothing but a sniveling piece of trash." Victor leaned down, and stared at Joshua. "You are less than trash."

Joshua looked up at Victor, and smiled. "Trash in whose opinion? Yours? A man who belongs to a group of people who will be defeated soon? I am glad to be trash." Joshua lifted his hand, revealing the pistol he was holding. He pointed it at Victor's eye, and smiled. He pulled the trigger, releasing a single bullet at Victor.

Victor gasped, and hit Joshua with all his might. Joshua flew across the yard as the bullet drove itself into Victor's eye. Joshua hit the ground headfirst, and then bounced twice until coming to a rest. Victor fell back in pain, clutching his eye.

Erik screamed in horror, and stood up. He ran across the yard, watching as Joshua lay on the ground, barely moving. Erik fell to the ground, and wrapped his arms around Joshua. Tears streamed down his cheeks, splattering on Joshua's shirt.

"I'm going to die now, Erik." Joshua looked Erik in the eyes, blood running from his mouth. "I ... I think he shattered my ribs."

Erik shook his head, and held Joshua close. "Please, Joshua, don't die. You can't die."

Joshua slowly lifted his hand, and wiped the tears from Erik's cheek. "Everyone must die. I am simply glad that I am dying while showing that they are not invulerable." He smiled, and said, "I'm glad that I can give the people hope."

Erik looked away from Joshua, and saw Victor, lying on the ground, bleeding. He wasn't dead, but he was hurt. "Damn mutants. They think that they are so superior, that they can simply beat us and kill us because they are strong. I will make sure all the mutants die."

Joshua cringed, and stared at Erik. "No," he said. "No." He exhaled as more blood ran down his chin. "Not all mutants are bad, Erik. Not all are bad."

Erik bit his lip, and said, "how would you know?"

Joshua smiled, "because I am one."

Erik let Joshua go, and stared at him. "You?"

Joshua nodded. "Not all mutants are bad. You see, it's just that some humans wish to control mutants. Some humans see us as weapons. Others simply despise us for the actions of a few." Joshua laughed. "I suppose that is to be my lot in life ... To belong to groups of people who are blamed and hated." He paused. "Please do not hate mutants for the actions of a few ... hate those humans..." Joshua coughed some blood, and rolled his head away from Erik. He tried his hardest to finish the sentence, but only managed to whisper, "Hate those humans who try to exploit our abilities ..."

Erik felt his hands tremble as Joshua's head went limp, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Erik held Joshua as close as he could, and simply cried. Erik looked up to see a large group of people staring. He looked around, and saw Magda, who was watching.

A number of Nazi soldiers pushed through the group, and approached Erik. One pulled out his gun and fired in the air. "Get back to work," he said, firing another shot, "or I will begin firing at you people." The crowd began to disperse, leaving Erik and the soldier. "You, Jude. Take the bodies to the crematorium. You know what to do with them."

Erik grabbed Joshua's dead body by the arms, and began dragging it across the yard as tears streamed down his eyes. As he approached the crematorium, he saw Magda staring once more. As he passed her by, she lipped the words, "I'm sorry." He looked away, and whispered to himself, "as am I. As am I."

"As the year rolled over, Magda and I started to grow closer. We would meet every chance we got. Most of the time we simply sat quietly. Sometimes we would speak, but usually we just took pleasure in each others' company."

"So, you had a relationship?"

"As much of a relationship as two people can have, living on the brink of darkness. How could one know a thing like love, living in a place where people would turn on each other without a care? Things were slowly falling apart. It seemed that Joshua was the one thing holding everyone together."

August, 1944.

The line was long. None of the people knew why they were in the line, just that it seemed to lead to some large building, and that everyone in line was a gypsy. Magda stood in the line, huddled near her family.

Erik stood at the doors of the large building. It was his job to help let the people into the building, and then clean out the dead bodies afterwards. None of the people in the line knew that the building was a gas chamber. Erik spotted Magda, and gasped. He knew that if she went into the chamber, she would die.

Erik stood inside of the gas chamber, thinking about what to do. Right as Magda was about to enter, he slammed the door closed, and locked it, leaving her to be the first one in line. He sighed, and walked through the crowd and out the other door. He closed that door as well, and simply leaned against it. He stood up, and ran along the side of the building. Erik turned the corner to see Magda standing at the entrance, crying. He looked at the Nazi soldiers, none of whom we paying attention.

He grabbed Magda, and pulled her to the side of the building. "What are you doing?" She asked, staring at Erik.

"If you go in there, you will die."

Magda's eyes widened. "But, m ... my family went in there. They're in there right now!" Magda began pounding her fists against Erik's chest, as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Erik pulled Magda close, and simply held her. "I'm sorry. There ..." He paused, thinking. "There was nothing I could do."

"So you lied to her."

"Yes. I could have saved her parents, for a time. I could have saved all of those people. It simply would have required me to give my life ... but I did not have the courage. I did nothing. All I could do was protect Magda from then on by disguising her as a jew."

"I see."

"Even in the upcoming months I had so many chances to do things, but did nothing. I didn't even do anything when they started experimenting on mutants."

Erik sat in the crematorium, staring at the naked body of a dead woman. She was like any other woman, except that she had scales all over her body. He ran his hand over the scales, thinking about this woman, who was obviously a mutant.

She wasn't the first mutant to pass through this crematorium. In the months before that one, multiple mutants had come through, from teenagers, to middle aged men and women, to old men and women. It was obvious that they were all being experimented on.

Later that night, Erik was leaving the crematorium. He had come to the point where by the time he was finished, his skin was pale, and his hands shook. As Erik walked across the yard to go to sleep, a young man ran by him, a gun in his hand. Erik watched as the man passed by, and as two Nazis ran after, shooting.

The bullets seemed to be reflected by some sort of shield. The man stopped, and turned. He unleashed a hail of bullets at the two soldiers, killing them. Suddenly, the ground beneath the man exploded, throwing him into the air. He stood up, unscathed.

Otto walked out of the shadows, his hands glowing. "Trying to run, Jude?"

The man bit his lip, and looked around for the gun.

"I don't think so," Joshua said, running at the man. A ball of energy surrounded Otto's fist, which impacted with the man's chest. Ripples of energy bubbled across the man as Otto's mutant power connected with the man's. Suddenly, the man's power seemed to give out. Otto's hand struck the man's skin. The energy flooded from Otto to the man, throwing him across the yard.

The man slowed to a stop, and simply sat there, dead. Smoke blew from his chest, the skin having been disintegrated.

Otto smiled.

"After that, I dreamt of Joshua's death. 'Hate the humans', he said to me. The words ring through my head to this day. Hate the humans. Hate the ones who would experiment and manipulate. Hate the humans."

"And so you did."

"Yes. And I came to saw that man, Otto, as nothing more than a sad pawn. A sad, sickening pawn. I would take revenge on those who had done such terrible wrongs."

"I see."

"And when the Russians came in early 1945, I got my chance."

To Be Continued.