Chapter I: Old Blood and Guts

“So many people cared about me. Now half of them are dead. Well guess what. I’m gonna join them. I could solve the problem in so many ways others can imagine. I could move to another country, but I have a feeling the Nazi scum took ‘em over. I could just kill myself. I could become a Nazi like an idiot would. Scratch all that. There’s only one way outta this. And it’s my way.”

 

A Nazi drove by in a patrol car, eyeballing the position of a trailer parked out in the camp illegally. “Ja, offizier. I have contact on zhe trailer. The punishment for all of zhis is un fine of $1,000, and 2 years in zhe prison for being careless.” The person arrived at the location. Blood splatters and footprints surrounded the trailer.

 

“I think someone else has been here. Signs of people walking around it are just all over the area. I don’t need backup, not yet.” The man switched off his communication system and grabbed his shotgun, pumping the weapon. The screen on the side of the receiver indicated there were 10 shells loaded into the weapon. He pulled the horizontal handle of his baton, and the end extended revealing a beam of heat and energy. Retracting it, the beam was sheathed. The officer turned on the microphone around his neck, and spoke into the microphone, “Citizen in zhe trailer, you have approximately TEN seconds to exit the trailer and come with me. Resisting will result in harsher punishment.” The officer, Pultzei, laid his shotgun against the mirror of his car door. A blind raised a little bit, then quickly lowered. “I KNOW YOU’RE THERE. COME OUT! NOW!”

 

Nobody responded. Pultzei approached the trailer, and tugged on the knob… BLAM! The door and Pultzei flew into his car. And out came a man in a strange electronic vest, a digital mask, ramming pads, special shoes, and kneepads. “You done fucked up now, boy. Come on over here so I can fuck you up to where you can’t even BREATHE.” He was Phoenix Leopard.

 

“Bring it on, ALTE FOTZE," Pultzei screamed, summoning his beam-baton.

 

Phoenix's wrist-blades extended. The two clashed weapons and Phoenix said, "WHOA! HOLD YER HORSES! There's probably a few readers out there who didn't read the books before this one like an idiot! They must know about the patriot who's going to kill your leader!"

Pultzei leaned his beam forwards on Phoenix's blades. "MASKED TERROR! YOU KILLED MEIN POOR MOTHER, MEIN POOR FATHER! DON'T PRETEND YOU FORGOTTEN!"

 

Phoenix knocked him backwards and sarcastically said, "Whoa.... Wait.. Who are we talking about? Pretty sure THEY probably don't remember that." 

Pultzei charged forwards, slamming his baton against Phoenix's blades. "YOU BASTARDE! SCHTOP TRYING TO GREASE UP ZHE READERS! ZHIS IS UN SERIOUS FIGHT FOR GROWN MEN! SON OF UN BITCH!"

 

Then Phoenix was knocked backwards. "THAT'S THE TICKET!"

 

Phoenix then knocked Pultzei's beam-baton out of his grasp. "NEIN!" Pultzei screamed. And then Phoenix sliced off Pultzei's head from his neck. "I WAS EXPECTING SOMETHING BETTER THAN THAT, BOY. NEXT TIME, DON'T GO TESTING MY METTLE!" 

Chapter II: To Montana

 "Montana's a big old state full of wildlife. Pretty good place to destroy trees and put a base inside of. Sounds like something Adolf would do." Phoenix sped down the highway and into a city. The place was blooming with tall metallically built structures, glowing neon colors, electronics, and activity. He stopped at a red light and looked around. "Ear itches. Been like that for a little while." Phoenix scratched behind his ear. Then all of a sudden, Peter showed up out of nowhere right besides Phoenix. "Hey there, buddy. How's it been? Been a while since we spoke... You alright?"

 

"Peter? How'd you get here and find me?"

 

"Oh, I'm not here." Despite what he said, Peter was visibly standing to Phoenix's right. Blue collared button-up shirt, beige working pants, a black leather belt, and boots. "You trying to fuck with me, man? Or are you in my head." Peter shook his head and responded, "Neither- Phoenix, what's gotten into you, man?"

 

"Nothing. It's just been lonely for a while." Peter nodded and showed his empathy, "I can relate to that. All those years in the gun store after we retired from the army." Cars honking behind him roared over their conversation. "I think you better get going." Phoenix nodded and drove off. But when he looked back, Peter had disappeared into thin air. "Great, Phoenix. Now you're seeing hallucinations and hearing random shit. That's what you get for sitting in a trailer for weeks." 

 

Phoenix watched metro systems along sky-wire, traveling to and fro. "Whose idea was it to put subways in the sky?" 

Phoenix stopped by a bar encompassed and filled with Nazis. A security guard with a device outside had a machine in his hand, and when Phoenix arrived at the front...

 

"Identifikation, bitte?" the bouncer asked. Phoenix rolled his eyes and said, "You kidding me?" 

"Sir, I am sorry, but have you seen modern day films and movies? Zhe makeup. Zhe makeup is so.. convincing. So ve have to be on vatch for teenage miscreants, if zhey are clever enough..." 

Phoenix inserted his card without breaking eye contact with the bouncer. "Go to hell." He entered the bar. Several drunken Nazis and white men surrounded him when he entered. A drunk man bumped into him in the middle of a brawl. "MOTHERFUCKER! YOU FUCK MY WIFE AGAIN- I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

Two bouncers grabbed the man by his shoulders and hauled him outside. Phoenix continued, placing himself on a stool by the bar. "Guten tag. Vhat vill you be having, sir?"

 

"Got anything strong? To pump up the influence?" 

 

He laughed and said, "Vhat, you looking for trouble sir? No, I'm kidding- I'm kidding... Of course. We have un drink named 'Rosa Wut.' If you do not understand, it means Pink Fury. Fighters usually come by and purchase it before a match." Phoenix laid a dollar on the counter. "Pint, please." 

 

A hole opened up in the table, and a glass of Pink Fury emerged from the hole. "Damn... It's actually pink." The icy drink was glowing pink. Sugar was around the rim. Phoenix tasted a sip of the alcohol, and placed the pint back on the counter, coughing. "GOD- What in the fuck is this shit?"

 

"Vodka, wine, beer, mixed with pomegranate, watermelon, and a hint of liquified tobacco. It is strong, I assure you." Phoenix watched Hans walk into the bar and sit down besides him. "I heard you ordered a 'Pink Fury' for zhe first time. Strong drink, Herr Phoenix?"

 

"Tastes like straight up fucking vinegar."

 

Hans didn't laugh, but instead leaned in on Phoenix. "People may say that. But I'm just checking in on you... I must go. Auf wiedersehen, Herr Phoenix." Hans walked out while a man was holding the door open for a bunch of his friends. Then a Kommandant entered the bar and said, "ATTENTION! ALL ATTENTION TO YOUR KOMMANDANT! Drinks are on me! If people have paid money, return it to zhem." Phoenix received his dollar back, and he popped his neck in place. He downed his drink, and the field of his vision was surrounded by pink color. "Whoa..."

 

"Feel like doing something stupid, Phoenix? Now's the time to do it."

 

Everybody noticed Phoenix's muscles glowing yellow. A man said, "Dude, you alright?" 

Phoenix answered, "NO." Phoenix donned his mask.

 

Phoenix pulled out the revolver he stole from the armory and aimed it western style. "BITCH!" 

The revolver blew a huge hole through the Kommandant's face. People surrounding grabbed bar furniture and other instruments. "You think pieces of shit made outta wood'll kill me?" he yelled. A customer broke a stool against Phoenix's back, causing Phoenix to turn around and fire a bullet through the customer's head. A Nazi cocked his submachine gun and fired in Phoenix's direction. "Duck."

Phoenix crouched behind the bar counter. He was facing the entrance. The bouncer entered with a switchblade. "DUMMKOPF!" 

Phoenix fired a shot and hit the bouncer in the shoulder. He staggered backwards and continued moving forwards. At the time when Phoenix's thumb pulled the hammer backwards, he fired and killed the bouncer with a headshot. 

 

The Nazi with the firearm started moving around the counter. Phoenix stole a nearby chair and threw it in front of the Nazi's firing sight. Phoenix charged forwards, and thrusted himself through the Nazi's entire body, covering him in guts and blood. A Nazi pulled out two of his knives, ready to take on Phoenix. Phoenix fired one shot through the Nazi's throat, and rotated himself, shooting another man in his face. The weapon spoke, "AMMUNITION DEPLETED." 

 

Phoenix dropped the revolver on the ground besides his boot. "Fuck it, I'll beat everyone of you with my damn FISTS!" 

Two Nazis flipped over a table and pulled out their firearms. "Fertig, los!"

Once they aimed over the table, a stool bolted into the left Nazi's head, decapitating him. "AHH!" the right Nazi screamed, firing his gun at Phoenix. Phoenix took two bullets to the chest, and approached the man with haste. "RRRGH!" he grunted, punching the enemy in the face twice, leaving a devastating and bloody mark. A grenade landed on a table besides Phoenix's side. "Think fast."

 

Phoenix threw the grenade over the middle of the bar, having it land in front of a group of people. 

"SCHISSE!"

"NEIN!"

 

They all ducked behind cover, right then the grenade exploded. The second story above collapsed over the entrance, creating a barricade. "Find another way out Phoenix. Get them gears in your brain turning."

Phoenix was grappled by a buffed and seemingly muscular Nazi. "Du kommst nicht weg." Phoenix spat on the side of his cheek and sputtered, "Fuck you." 

 

Phoenix rolled over onto the man, and punched him once with his left fist. "Left hook." Then with his right fist. "Right hook." Phoenix clasped his hands together, slamming them both on his face. Two more Nazis resisted and tried to escape the bar by moving the rubble. "Komm schon! Hilf mir, dieses Stück Holz zu bewegen!"

 

They were throwing pieces of wood out of the way. Phoenix interrupted by saying, "Want help?" 

The two turned around scared at a masked figure. "SCHISSE-" 

 

Phoenix tossed one onto a billiards table, launching each ball in different directions. A lit holographic indicator spoke, "SCRATCH." The Nazi straightened himself up, looking up from the table as Phoenix inserted both of his thumbs into the Nazi's eyeholes, and crushed the bone within the skull. "Nein..." The Nazi pulled the cue ball out of the corner pocket and threw it at Phoenix. The ball hit Phoenix in the side of the head with great force. 

"ARRGH!"

 

Phoenix looked down and saw the bloody cue ball. "Oh you're gonna get it now!"

 

Phoenix hurled the cue ball towards the Nazi. With a pool cue, the Nazi swatted the ball away from him just in time. "Alright, gonna play hard to get." A big scary glowing red grin appeared on his mask. The Nazi threw another ball and his combat knife at Phoenix, missing both times. Phoenix caught the knife by its blade between the valley of his two fingers, and reflected it back at the Nazi's throat. "How does it feel now?"

Before he left, Phoenix walked behind the counter and noticed the bartender still present. "Hey, buddy, where's the Pink Fury at. I'm gonna take some for the road." 

 

The bartender opened the cabinet and summoned the tank of Pink Fury. Phoenix stole one of the retail liquor flasks and filled it to the top. "Thanks. Have a good life." Phoenix walked through the back entrance and exited the bar. 

 

"Welp. About time to keep going. Can't stay here for long."

Chapter III: Off the Rails

 While exiting the bar, Nazi security vehicles appeared at the front of the building where a man with an earpiece announced, "Masked Terror! You are to exit zhis building with your hands above your head! You are surrounded!" 

 

Phoenix's mask displayed a set of winding teeth flapping its lips, and then a laughing smiley face. "Faulty plan, dumbass. Your suspect just left the building."  Phoenix continued his journey onto the streets. Abhy then appeared to his right. "Hey... Babe." 

Phoenix waved at her. "From what I heard back there you got yourself into a nasty fight. Correct?"

 

"Yeah. Those fucks, they don't learn at ALL."

 

"I know they don't. They are like suicidal people. But anyways, it is clear we miss you. I have to go." Phoenix watched Abhy walk across a crosswalk with a bunch of people and disappear. Phoenix removed his mask and hid it inside of his jacket. Nighttime was getting closer. Phoenix walked by a Nazi with a cap and asked, "Hey, where can I-"

 

"AHT- AHT- AHT! It's KOMMANDANT first, American, you should know zhis by now," the man spoke. Phoenix shook his head and said, "Alrighty then, KOMMANDANT, where's the nearest hotel?"

 

"I recommend you vatch your attitude, I already do not like it."

 

"I'll talk the way I want to, motherfucker."

 

"Keep speaking like that and I vill kill you right here on the street. I do not care if people are vatching."

 

"Go ahead and do it then. Not like I've got anything better to do."

 

The Kommandant pulled out his pistol and pushed it against Phoenix's face. "Go on, DO IT. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Phoenix questioned him with a red face and an angry scowl. Before he pulled the trigger, the Kommandant hesitated, holstering his weapon into his belt.

 

"You vant a hotel, I'll give you one so you may get out of my face- Go down two blocks, take a left. Leland Hartfield Hotel is visible, you cannot miss it. Und if you do miss it, don't come back because I don't want to talk to you." Phoenix nodded and said, "Go fuck yourself." 

He walked past the Kommandant. The eyes of the Nazi watched Phoenix stagger towards the direction he gave him. Under his breath, his chapped lips murmurred, "Dummes Arschloch." 

 

"Time to get some shut-eye. You did great old man. But your mission ain't over yet." 

 

LELAND HARTFIELD HOTEL

8:32 P.M.

 

Phoenix arrived at the front desk and asked, "Just this night, please." The receptionist spun around in her chair and revealed herself as a robotic humanoid. "One night will be: CALCULATING.... CALCULATING... Eighty einheiten or dollars." He pulled out his leather wallet filled with cash. "You got enough money in this thing to buy fucking Boardwalk, or even a hotel for it." Phoenix pulled out the cash, inserting it into the slot that appeared on the desktop.

 

Then the receptionist dispensed a keycard. "Have a great day." 

 

"Floor 5. Room 506. Get there. Get sleep." Phoenix stepped into an elevator with a man in a three piece suit. "What floor you going to?" he questioned Phoenix. "Fifth." The man pressed the fifth option on the touchscreen panel in the elevator. The elevator then traveled upwards. While they were standing there, waiting for the lift to arrive at the floor, the person inquired, "Does something smell like... blood or iron to you?"

 

"Nope."

 

"I worked as a butcher before. Kinds of smells like that roamed the store. Pungent, I must say."

 

"I wouldn't know."

 

 "Uh huh... What's your name?"

 

"Phoenix Leopard."

 

"Leopard? That your actual name or that just a nickname?"

 

"My actual name." 

 

 "Cool. I'm Jack. Jack Vincent. You from Arkansas or you just rolling through?"

 

"I'm from New Orleans."

 

"Huh. You heard about all the bad things that happened there? You'd have to be crazy to still live there."

 

"What do you mean?" Phoenix questioned, balling up his fist.

 

"The Masked Terror. That one terrorist with a mask and a fur coat. He's the guy who killed about a hundred Nazis, crashed a blimp and Raumfahre 9-1 in the same day. It's insane. He also went and murdered Obermannstrafuhrer Pultzei and her husband. And then her son." 

 

Phoenix grinned. "Sounds horrible." The man examined Phoenix's attire from where he was standing. "Does it really, Phoenix? Or should I say, Masked Terror?" 

Phoenix looked both ways and then rammed the man into the wall of the elevator. "YOU SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?" Phoenix screamed at him. "HEY! HEY! I DIDN'T MEAN IT LIKE THAT! CHILL OUT!" he told him to simmer his attitude down. Phoenix released Jack, having him sink onto the ground. "Jesus Christ... You've got a powerful grab." Phoenix popped his knuckles and place and said, "Now... Tell me how you know who I am, or I'll give you my permission to die."

 

"I work for a detective agency-"

 

Phoenix smiled and said, "Oh! So you're here to kill me?"

 

"NO! NO! Listen to me- I don't like Nazis either, but I blend in. I can't stand their language, their sausage, and I can't stand their racist attitudes. I'm on your side. All I did was put the pieces together and then I identified you."

 

The elevator reached the fifth floor and the two men stepped out. "Well. Guess this is where we part ways. Good luck doing whatever you'll be doing." Phoenix nodded, but then the intercom turned on and said, "The complimentary dinner will close in 35 minutes. Das kostenlose Abendessen endet in fünfunddreißig Minuten." Phoenix said, "You going to that thing?"

While Jack was walking to his room, he said, "Yep." 

 

Phoenix inserted his keycard into the doorknob's machination. "Welcome to your hotel room. Enjoy your stay. Willkommen in Ihrem Hotelzimmer, genießen Sie Ihren Aufenthalt," the doorknob spoke. "Robots don't talk, go fuck yourself."

 

The moment he entered the room, the smell of fresh luxurious flowers soared into his nostrils. "Smells good in here." Phoenix pulled the handlebars off of his back and laid them against the wall by the doorway. He removed his coat, his shirt, and his pads. Wounds, bruises, and cuts were all over his chest and arms. There was blood within the cracks, coagulated. Phoenix entered the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror.

 

On his face was baggy eyelids, dirty facial features, and a long brown beard that reached his Adam's apple. "Who is that? Is that really me? The cuts, the injuries, the dirt, it's a blanket covering me." Phoenix picked up a hotel-provided razor and shaving cream by the sink's side. "Time to trim this." Phoenix rubbed lathers of shaving cream all over the corners of his beard. Then a memory of him loading up an assault rifle in the war flashed into his vision. The razor closed in on the very first hair of his beard... And then a memory of him threatening Hans with a blowtorch flashed into his mind. Plethoras and piles of hair accumulated on the counter, giving Phoenix the memory of the time he found Peter and Stanley by a pile of Nazi corpses. "Alright old man, you're done." Phoenix's face was freed from a nasty beard. His jawline was clear to see. 

Phoenix then dragged his clothes into the shower to wash the blood and dirt off of them. 

 

"Can't call room service. They'll be suspicious of me. When there's a job, you do it yourself." Phoenix put his shirt back on and exited to go to the complimentary dinner. 

"Attention, the complimentary dinner will close in 15 minutes. Achtung, das kostenlose Abendessen wird in 15 Minuten geschlossen." Phoenix hurried to the elevator. 

 

Once the elevator reached the bottom floor, the moment he entered the dining hall, he noticed an entire buffet of stuff, with a line around it. Phoenix grabbed a tray from an automated robot and followed along. Jack appeared behind him and said, "What time did you get here?"

He flinched from Jack unexpectedly speaking to him. "GAH- Don't do that! Scared the crap outta me!"

 

"Jeez, I'm sorry.. But anyways, when did you get here?" 

 

"About a minute ago." 

 

"I've been here, just getting up for seconds." 

 

Phoenix walked in front of a tray full of meat, sauce, and mozzerella cheese, constricted by a tortilla. "Won't know until you try. Might be your last meal." Phoenix placed a roll on his tray and moved by to a long sausage. "I don't eat German shit." The line continued along with Phoenix. There were buttery and steamed rolls on a platter underneath the buffet window. Phoenix picked up two with the tongs, and a little boy besides him was trying to reach for the second pair. Phoenix examined his movements, and then glanced back at the rolls. "Here, buddy." Phoenix placed a roll on the boy's tray.

"Thank you, sir." 

"Welcome." 

Phoenix had a smile on his face. "I haven't heard that phrase in a while. 'Thank you.' Because everybody is apparently an ungrateful brat."

 

Phoenix took a small hamburger with angus beef, a slice of melted gruyere cheese, two dill pickles, a tomato slice, a bushy piece of lettuce, all connected with a single toothpick. "That's what I call a burger." 

He sat down at an empty table, with Jack tagging along. "Wasn't expecting company." Jack smiled, responding with, "Well you look like you could use some." Jack had a piece of bratwurst, a hamburger, a shishkebab, and a few French fries. Phoenix took a bite out of the burger, and his taste buds soared into outer space due to the desired and exquisite taste. 

"Just like I said. That's what I call a burger. Whoever cooked it deserves a medal, I don't give a shit who tries to deny it." Then Peter and Hans sat down by the two. Phoenix watched the two eat, and Peter asked Hans, "Hey... Where's the ketchup?"

 

"I don't know. Do not ask me. I did not cook zhis meal."

Phoenix eyeballed the two, and watched the two walk away to go find something. A big wide man walked past them, and the two disappeared. "What the fuck's going on?"

And Jack also disappeared.

 

 

Chapter IV: Down The Sanity Drain

 SOUTHERN MISSOURI

 

Phoenix drove into town, and arrived in front of a parade of Nazis, marching like toy soldiers. "What in the fuck is all of this?" 

He drove around the parade's road barriers and entered the deep depths of Missouri. There were no ways through it. Phoenix prepared to ram through the parade, and noticed snipers up on balconies of nearby buildings. "DAMMIT!" 

Phoenix then looked to his left and watched a crossing guard waving his hands at drivers. Phoenix looked to his right, and there was a convenient alley of a building with its back door open.

 

"Alright, so make a plan old man. Go to that alley, get in the building. Get to the top floor. Kill them snipers. Get through the parade." Phoenix retracted his choppercycle and headed into the clear alley with nothing obstructing him. And then grabbing at his feet, there was a a homeless man. 

"Spare change, sir?"

 

Phoenix pulled out his wallet and searched for five dollars. His two fingers took a hold of a five dollar bill, and before he donated the dollar.. He noticed the homeless man's face twitching and then being frequently replaced by a vision of Tyler's face. A sharp ringing echoed through Phoenix's ears. "GAH! WHAT IS THAT NOISE? MAKE IT STOP!"

The sound was at a high pitch, enough to pierce someone's ear drum. As the static died down, the homeless man had disappeared.  

"The hell was that, Phoenix? You going crazy? Well at least your conscience is still here."

 

Phoenix donned the mask, and the screen displayed the words, "MISSION IMMINENT IN 3 SECONDS." Step after step, the countdown reached 0 and the mask went blank. Phoenix walked through a long hallway, and heard somebody talking on a phone before he passed a doorway.

He stopped and pulled out his cyberpistole. Overhearing the conversation, Phoenix listened to a long line of dialogue.

 

"LISTEN. I've got nothing to say. We've got this uh, parade in town. No, NO! I don't care! We operate when things under the third reich isn't causing havoc or any shit in our town- You know what Ben, you can suck my cock, I don't give two shits WHAT you think. This is my day off, whether you-"

 

A quarter flew in the room from the doorway and destroyed a monitor in the man's workspace. "WHAT THE HELL? Hold on, Ben, one second." The employee stared at a cracked computer screen and screamed, "OH HO HO, YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY, ASSHOLE?"

 

Phoenix passed by as he was distracted by the screen. He passed an intersection of hallways in the building and went to the stairwell. There was caution tape over the door. "Nah. Caution's for PUSSIES." Phoenix ripped the tape off and opened the door. He headed upstairs, passing floor after floor. Then he reached the third floor, where the stairs met their end. He opened the door, and inside was just a bunch of people playing a round of poker at a table. Eight people to be exact. All muscular, under the influence of German beer, having an entertaining segment. One of the players looked over his shoulder, noticing Phoenix standing in the doorway with a pistol. 

"HEY! WHO THE HELL IS THAT GUY? WHAT'S HE DOING HERE?"
Another player stood out of his seat, aiming a knife. "I DON'T KNOW, BUT LET'S JUMP HIM. NOT LIKE ANYONE CARES, RIGHT?"

 

Phoenix holstered his pistol, and then he heard a voice say, "You think you have power and control?"

He pulled out his flask of Pink Fury. "You know you need me." 

His thumb popped the strapped cap off of the bottle. "You will win with me."

His lips constricted around the round end of the flask. "YOU WILL BE POWERED BY ME."

The alcohol entered his system. "YOU ARE WEAK WITHOUT ME."

Veins in Phoenix's eyes surrounded and encompassed the pupils of his eyeballs. 

"NOW DO WHAT YOU MUST."

 

Phoenix's muscles expanded a little. The surrounding of his vision was turning pink. And out of pure rage and fury, Phoenix cried, 

 

"I'LL KILL ALL YOU BITCHES!"

Phoenix was approached by two muscular men. The one on the left with a scar on his face grabbed Phoenix by his arm. "Snakebite." Phoenix constricted his arm around his, and with the lift of his arm, CRACK! Phoenix then slapped the side of the man's face with the palm of his hand, and kicked him into the poker table. The other one had a baseball bat in his hands. The blades on Phoenix's wrists extended, and their beam outlines shined with blue electricity and neon glow. "PUT THAT SHIT UP!" 

He swung the two of his blades, slicing the bat's top end into three pieces once the thug swung it: One big top chunk, a small middle puck-shaped chunk, and the handle. "SON OF A-" 

The thug wasn't finished off in Phoenix's mind. He only represented a punching bag. "C'mere!"

 

Phoenix suplexed the man over his head and behind him, ending with the thug's back breaking open and bleeding continuously. He turned around to finish him off, and stomped the man's head into bone fragments and brains. One of the thugs pulled out a 9mm pistol right besides Phoenix, ready to fire a bullet into Phoenix's cerebrum underneath his skull. "I can take a fucking bullet, asshole." Phoenix ripped the arm off of a corpse, where the bone end of the stump was a sharpened right-triangle shaped "blade." The patriotic hero whacked the man in the throat, slitting it to bleed. Blood poured out of the neck like a river downhill. Phoenix then sliced off the man's left arm and then behalfed the man's body diagonally. The top half slid clean off, revealing a scared thug in a corner. "SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!" 

 

The other four thugs were surrounding Phoenix like the room was a dogfight. Phoenix watched one go for the pistol on the floor. And swiftly, with the toe end of his foot, he snatched the pistol over to his vicinity. Phoenix picked up the pistol, and unloaded the magazine into the ceiling. "Not gonna need it anytime soon." With his bare hands, Phoenix crushed the gun into steel and copper pieces. One man whacked Phoenix with a chair, breaking the chair, and causing Phoenix to hit the floor. 

"Think, THINK OLD MAN." Right besides his right arm was one of the chair's legs. The flat top had four nails sticking upwards. Phoenix grabbed it, held it like a two-handed blunt weapon, and whacked a bloody crack into one of the men's skull. Phoenix then impaled him through the side with one of his wrist-blades. He removed the blade. "You wanna see how violent I can get? You got it." He plunged his hand deep into the crevice, and his fingers physically located a long coiled organ with a weird pattern indented in it. Blood was soaking Phoenix's hand, coloring his hand red above the wrist. The object was excised from the man's body, revealing itself to be the large intestines. 

"Great. Now get outta my face." 

 

FLICK! With one finger, Phoenix pushed the man backwards off his knees and then onto the floor. Phoenix then slung the intestines at a man, who dodged it successfully. Another of his mates, with a bottle of alcohol, bashed it against the wall into pieces. The bottle was now broken, with sharpened ends. It would serve best as a blade. Phoenix leaped into the man he targeted, wrapping the intestines around his neck and attempted to strangle him. The thug punched Phoenix in his mask once, doing no damage. And again, where Phoenix felt the impact. And once more. The thug with the bottle thrusted it at the corner of his arm. "GRR! WHAT THE SHIT?"

The sharp edges of the bottle seeped their way through the flesh on Phoenix's arm. Phoenix kicked him away. "Ding ding ding." His arms contracted the two ends of the intestines, and he kicked the man in the back of his chest, separating the skull and the body from each other. "Five guys. Three left."  

The thug with the bottle stabbed Phoenix in the back with the bottle, and Phoenix fell to his knees. He laid flat on the ground. No movement. No breathing. The second and third thug walked over to his body and stood there looking at it. "Dude. I think we did it!"

"YEAH!"

Then the vest on Phoenix's body electrocuted all three men. Phoenix stood up, and his mask displayed, "TIME UNTIL DEATH: 5 SECONDS....."

 

Phoenix pulled out his knife and jabbed the first one in his face. 

 

....3 SECONDS...."

 

Phoenix then yanked it out of the man and plunged it into the second man's heart. 

 

...2 SECONDS..."

 

Last but not least, Phoenix pulled out his pistol, flipping it upside down, grabbed the barrel of the gun, and then stabbed the last thug in the neck. To top it off, he hammered the grip of the knife into the man's neck twice.

 

"All of them are dead. Get a move on." Phoenix sheathed his blades and pulled the slide of his pistol backwards. The thug laying on the poker table leaned forwards and cracked his back. "Urrgh... My damn BACK!" he grunted, straightening himself out. Phoenix was by the window, crouching down and examining the snipers from his perspective. The thug looked around, and his eyes locked onto a shillelagh underneath the table. He stole it, and patted the palm of his other hand with the weapon. 

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

 

The thug darted towards Phoenix. "Batter up, asshole." Phoenix dragged his knife out of his sheath, and tossed it a few inches into the air. And with the grip of his pistol, Phoenix batted the knife into the man's face. 

 

"IT'S GOOD!"

Chapter V: Band of Brothers

 Phoenix stood out on the balcony and noticed all of the snipers. "Wait... I can just get across." He looked up and noticed a black power line ranging from the building he was in to the roof directly across from him. Phoenix pulled out the handlebars and hung them over the line. 

"You're a genius." And then he jumped off the balcony, flying across the line and then noticing he was about to hit a brick wall. 

"You're an idiot." Phoenix crashed into the wall face-first.  

 

Phoenix brushed himself off and composed himself. "Ugh." 

 

He proceeded into the building and then witnessed another flashback. Phoenix was in the army. He was younger. Peter was also with him. The two were in a tent, torturing a Nazi. "Alright, asshole. When I take this tape off your damned mouth, you're gonna talk. You don't talk, here's what's gonna happen to you... Show him."

 

Peter uncloaked a set of tools from underneath a blanket. The Nazi squirmed back in forth, screaming in fear. "Now choose to not talk, I'll give you a tiny bit of freedom. And that bit of freedom's gonna be used to choose which one you'd rather have." The choices were: A power drill, a chainsaw, a crowbar, a pair of hedge trimmers, a cement saw, and a cattle prod. 

Phoenix tore the tape off of the man's lips. "MMRGH!"

"Alright. You got the floor. Tell me what you know. Where's your commander? Where's everybody?"

 

Peter pressed record on a tape recorder. "I vill not give in." Phoenix said, "Alright. Your choice. Now choose how you wanna die." The Nazi spat on Phoenix's shirt and said, "FUCK YOU, AND YOUR ARMY." Phoenix shook his head and said, "FUCK IT!"

He picked up the hedge trimmers and clipped them a few times. "Just gonna take a little off the top." Peter grinned as he sipped on a glass of water. "Fuck him up right, now!"

"You bet I will."

 

Phoenix then flashed back to reality. "The fuck?" he thought. He had exited the building, and he was on the other side of the parade. Then he watched a trio of men in blank white outfits with pointy hats. Phoenix walked over to him and questioned them, "Hey, why are you guys dressed as damn ghosts?" 

 

"Ghosts? No no no, we're the KKK."

 

"The.... what?"

 

"Ku Klux Klan. We're a new submovement. We are working with the Third Reich to abolish all except for white protestant." Phoenix was handed a pamplet labeled, "Washing the world White." 

Phoenix crumpled up the paper and threw it away. "Racist bastards." The trio shook their heads, walking in an opposite direction. 

 

"I'm sick and tired of this shit. We've got one racist group in America. Don't need another one that looks like fucking ghosts."

 

Phoenix hopped on his choppercycle and headed off. He was on the road, and then noticed a semi-truck turning right a little too much. Phoenix honked his horn and screamed, "HEY! PULL TO THE LEFT!" 

The truck still closed in on him. "HEY!"

 

He had no choice but sped forwards and accidentally drove off of the bridge, landing in a yacht's hot tub. "AAAAAHHHHHH!" 

Phoenix landed directly on top of a person, relaxing in the hot tub. He retracted his choppercycle and jumped over the edge of the hot tub. "WHAT THE HELL!"

 

Nazis busted out of the middle of the yacht, aiming their weapons, right when he put his mask on his face. "HEY! PUT YOUR HANDS UP, MASKED TERROR!"
Phoenix shrugged and held up both of his middle fingers. "There." One fired his pistol at Phoenix. The other one of his friends stole the weapon. "SCHTOP! DU IDIOT! Wir können mehr Geld bekommen, wenn wir ihn lebend zu Hitler bringen!" the Kommandant informed the two. Phoenix operated the device on his arm. The Kommandant pointed his silenced pistol at Phoenix. "AMERICAN! STOP VHAT YOU ARE DOING, RIGHT NOW!"

 

The gadget materialized a second pistol and completely created it. Phoenix stole the pistol and now had TWO cyberpistoles. Phoenix fired both guns into the Kommandant's eyes. "SCHISSE!" the first Nazi screamed. The Kommandant fell backwards onto the second Nazi, as the first ran back into the yacht, locking the door behind him. Phoenix approached the door, with the second Nazi at gunpoint. "Nein! Don't shoot!"

"I don't take orders from you." 

 

Phoenix fired one gun into the forehead of the man. He twisted the knob, and the digital screen underneath the doorknob displayed, "LOCKED/VERSCHLOSSEN." Then the automated system replied, "Please say the password."

 

"Fuck you."

 

"Incorrect. Please say the password."

 

"Umm... Schisse?"

 

"Incorrect. Please say the password."

 

"Hitler." 

 

"Incorrect-"

Phoenix smashed the screen and looked up at the second story of the yacht. "Alright, we're gonna do this the hard way." Digging into the pockets of a Nazi corpse, Phoenix received a small knife. "Good enough." Then he looked up, and stabbed the wall with the first knife. He alternated, and stabbed the wall with the second knife. Phoenix's teeth and muscles cramped together. Phoenix removed the first knife, and punctured the wall a little higher. At this point, he was dangling by one knife. Then Phoenix removed the second knife and punctured the wall. "It's like rock climbing, but it ain't for kids." Phoenix repeated it two more times, and then some screaming came from inside the yacht. 

"FEUERRRRR!"

 

"Foo-what?" 

 

Then a barrage of gunshot pierced through the wall, firing beneath Phoenix's legs. "HURRY THE FUCK UP. NOW!" 

Phoenix quickly scurried up the wall, when a bullet shot him in the foot. "AGH! MMMMMGH!" 

His foot started bleeding. Pulling his whole body through the handrails, he secured himself onto the wood deck. Phoenix inserted both of his thumbs into the bullet hole. He pulled out a cigarette lighter and stuck it into the wound. "AHHHHHH!"

 

The first Nazi from before busted out of the yacht's door and looked around. "Er ist nicht hier! WO IST ER?" 

He looked at the porous wall from the gunfire, and noticed a conspicuous pattern of punctured holes that were different. "IN DER ZWEITEN GESCHICHTE! SCHIESSEN!"

 

Phoenix then watched a bullet fly through the wooden flooring besides him. "Whoa... What the hell?" 

Then a second one shot underneath Phoenix's armpit. He lifted his arm, and a steaming hole from the gunshot was radiating off of the coat. Phoenix stood up and then fell over again. Two more shots flew through the floor below, missing Phoenix. A man walking casually around the boat's top deck, sucking on a popsicle, and spotted Phoenix. "Oh mein gott... ICH FAND IHN!" 

 

A faint, "OVER HERE!" echoed from underneath the deck. And a bullet shot the man in through the chin. Phoenix stood on his two feet quietly, and slowly walked to the front of the yacht. "Just like you did in Germany." Phoenix continued strolling over to the front, and entered the front where a man in a cat mask was playing an arcade machine by the control panel. "Am I seeing this right?"

The cat turned his head, pressing the pause button on the arcade machine's control.

 

"I've been training up to zhis point to kill you." He summoned a short furry and pink beam sword out of his pocket. "Let us get zhis over with, ja?"

 

Phoenix's blades extended on his wrists. "Sure. Let's do this." The cat and Phoenix struck blades, inching each other backwards. Phoenix, blocking the beam with one of his wrist blades, smacked the other one into the beam, launching the cat into the control panel. "Zhat vasn't very nice, now vas it?"

 

Phoenix swung at the cat, and missed. He turned and faced the cat who was in front of the arcade machine. The maniac swung his saber in a circle, cutting a hole into the floor where him and Phoenix fell into the relaxation room. They landed adjacently from each other. Phoenix stood up, with an injured foot, in a staggered position. "I DON'T GIVE TWO DAMNS IF IT'S ANIMAL ABUSE, BUT I'LL STILL KICK YOUR ASS!"

The cat hissed at him and swung the beam sword. Phoenix dodged it by a hair and with his foot, he stole a chair by sticking his toes through the bars on the back, and launched it at the cat. In retaliation, the man sliced it into two pieces. "Zhat vill not hurt me. But ZHIS VILL HURT YOU." 

The cat's beam sword transformed into a beam-shotgun. "Holy hell, you better avoid that." 

 

The cat fired a beam at Phoenix, which he dodged. Instead of hitting Phoenix, the beam swept right through the middle of an electronic hockey table and sawed it in half. "Alright, now you know how dangerous that fucking thing is." Phoenix pulled out his pistol and aimed. His finger squeezed the trigger... Tick tick tick! "SHIT!" he screamed. 

The cat fired another beam and burnt a hole into a white couch cushion. "STAND STILL!"

 

Phoenix dodged another shot, and said, "OKAY. FUCK IT. HAVE IT YOUR WAY." He pulled out the handlebars, transformed it into the choppercycle, and drove circles around the cat. He couldn't even fire directly at Phoenix due to the speed he was traveling at. Phoenix's mask read, "GOTTA GET SOME SPEED." Then he swerved around, stopped, and drove straight toward the cat with his wrist-blade extended. 

"If I did this, know you asked for it."

 

Right when he darted past the cat, he decapitated the man. Phoenix hit the brake and stopped his vehicle. The blades on his wrists retracted. Phoenix walked right by the cat's decapitated head, and crouched down right besides it. The beam shotgun was sitting there, glowing with fluorescent lighting. "Mhm..." he mumbled, standing back up on his two feet. He then strolled underneath the hole that the cat made. Then suddenly, there was an audible sequence of crackling noises coming from above the hole. Phoenix looked up to watch a big black crack spread across the wood of the platform, and the arcade machine crashed through the floor. "MOVE." 

Phoenix performed a combat-roll and removed himself out of the way of the falling object. The machine crashed right besides him. Phoenix then looked at the arcade machine and then the hole. "Huh..."

Phoenix climbed on top of the machine and then jumped, grabbing the ledge and then hauling himself back into the control room. "Time to drive."

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter VI: Ahoy

 30 MINUTES LATER

 

Two Nazis were sitting on the edge of a boardwalk. "So... You have decided to join zhe Reich, ja? How is your first day?" the one on the left asked the American. "Kinda good, to be completely honest. I don't have to deal with all those muck-fuckers. I can sit on my ass and direct them to the hole they belong in." 

The man laughed and said, "So... I have heard off of zhe radio that zhe masked terror is in Missouri. Do you zhink we can eliminate him from zhis country?"

"Probably. We've got better numbers than that guy."

The two noticed a yacht approaching from far away. "The hell- Does that guy not know how to fuckin' drive?" 

"I agree... Vhy is he coming directly towards us?"

 

 

The yacht started getting closer and closer. "Alright now it's getting too close, should we do something?" the American asked. Then the yacht crashed directly into the boardwalk, shattering wooden planks and debris everywhere. Luckilly, the American Nazi was on the other half of the split dock. Then he watched Phoenix climb onto the lifeboat on the side of the vessel, and lower himself down. Then he leaped out with his knife, pouncing on the Nazi. "LAND-HO, MOTHERFUCKER." Phoenix stabbed the Nazi in his stomach, but the man pulled out his pistol. "You terrorist...." He missed Phoenix's head when he shot a bullet straight up into the air. He punched the pistol out of his hand, and into the waters. Then Phoenix examined his environment around him. "Been a while since I went fishing." 

 

Peter walked right over to Phoenix and asked him, "So... What you been up to, bud? Chaos?"
"I guess."

Then a hailstorm of gunfire rained toward him. "SHIT!"

Peter watched Phoenix steal ammunition from the Nazi's corpse, and bolt behind a huge wooden pole to conceal himself. Peter strolled straight through gunfire just to conversate with him. Phoenix loaded his cyberpistole, still hiding behind the slender pole. "Dude. What're you doing? Phoenix?"

 

"NOT RIGHT NOW, PETE. CAN'T YOU SEE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING?"

 

"Nope. I'm not there. But I can hear gunshots."

 

"YEAH. AND A HELLUVA LOT OF THEM, LEAVE ME ALONE FOR RIGHT NOW."

 

"Alright, alright, jeez. Don't be an asshole."

 

"CHRISSAKE, FUCK OFF!"

 

 Phoenix looked for a way out of the harbor. His eyes traced a path over a boardwalk leading from his side to another, and then taking a left to leave. "Alright assholes, my boot's got a bow on it." He transformed the handlebars into his choppercycle, and drove over the pathway right when a missile exploded the bridge. "WHOA!" he screamed. There was an armored personnel carrier on the overpass, and underneath, there was a closing metal gate. "Son of a bitch, that was my way out! Alright, I'll do it my way!" 

He drove up the ramp right when a missile exploded right behind him, causing him to swerve left and right. Phoenix then took a left, seeing a way out through the storage bay of shipping containers. Two grenades landed besides him, but they were left behind once they detonated. Then two people came around the corner just when Phoenix was out of sight. Phoenix's mask displayed two squinting eyes as he noticed a tubular cement pipe in front of him. The minute he drove into it, he did 360 spins round and around in the chamber until he popped out of the other end. 

Then he was back on the ground, safe and sound. He was driving up a ramp right when another missile hit the side of the ramp, knocking his motorcycle to the right of the ramp. "GODDAMN!"

He eyeballed the APC, reloading the rocket projectiles into the gun barrel automatically. Wind passed Phoenix's hair like a breeze. The APC to him seems to be getting smaller. And then the man faced forwards, watching his motorcycle float off of the ground. "WHAT THE SHIT?"
His motorcycle flipped upside down and hit a crane's magnet. Phoenix gripped onto the choppercycle's handlebars, clenching his feet against the sides of his vehicle. He grunted, attempting to hold on for his life. The crane's arm elevated up to the crane's control station high up, and the moment the arm stopped, the rumble caused Phoenix to almost drop. Phoenix was hanging from both handlebars of his choppercycle. The Nazi in the control booth pulled out his machine gun and aimed at Phoenix through the glass plane in the window. "Ahh SHIT." Phoenix pulled out his cyberpistole with one of his hands and said, "ARMOR PIERCING! ARMOR PIERCING!" 

 

The ammunition type switched with an audible notification sound effect, and Phoenix aimed at the Nazi's face. "Rest in PIECES!" 

PEW! The bullet traveled through the glass and then pierced through the Nazi's face. Shattered glass covered in blood fell to the ground. Phoenix fired at the control panel inside a few times in order to lower himself. Sparks and flames radiated off of the panel. He waited for a few seconds... And nothing happened.

"Aww... And it was a good plan." Then he noticed a hydraulic rope connecting the crane's arm to the tower. "And this one's an even BETTER one." Phoenix aimed at the rope and fired, disconnected the hydraulic rope. The crane's arm then started diagonally extending at a quick speed. "WHOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA!" 

 

When it hit the limit, Phoenix soared to the ground with the motorcycle flipping over and hitting him in the back. Once the two landed, Phoenix landed into the driving seat and was driving like normal. And he was on the outside of the harbor, too, a few feet from the overpass. "Time to get the fuck out of here!"

 

He drove away, holding his middle finger up. "SEE YOU LATER! MOTHERFUCKER!"

Chapter VII: A Cracked Road

"Traveling through Jefferson City made me think: Is it too late to turn back? I'm two states above Louisiana. No, the police are probably looking for me. That'd be suicide. Not like that's one of my goals, right? Going on a mission to get yourself killed and take another man down with you." 

 

NORTHERN MISSOURI

Phoenix arrived at a motel, and walked into the lobby. A Nazi security guard examined him. "You look like you've had a rough night, ja?" 

"Don't answer him, Phoenix. All he is is a live punching bag, ready to have the sand punched outta him." He ignored the Nazi and continued to the front desk. The Nazi walked over to Phoenix and said, "Hallo, are you alright?"

"Yes. Now can I be left alone?"

The Nazi nodded and backed away. Phoenix pulled out his wallet and shuffled through his money. It was $50 to rent a room. He found two twenties and a ten dollar bill. Phoenix inserted it into the slot, and the machine received the currency. In return, it gave Phoenix a keycard. "You are room 103. Have a good day." 

Phoenix walked out of the office and then was stopped by the Nazi on the way out. "Ugh, what do you want goddammit?" he sulted. "Vell, I just vant to make sure you are O.K. Are you REALLY?"

"No... I mean, yeah- No. No, I'm not. Umm..." Phoenix watched a staff member walk a dog outside. "My dog died today. Had rabies."

 

"Oh. Mein condolences. Vell, you have a gut day. Heil Hitler." 

 

"Yeah yeah. Heil..."

 

Phoenix continued to 103. He inserted the card and the door opened automatically. "Welcome to the Unionville Motel. We hope you enjoy your stay. Willkommen im Unionville Motel. Wir hoffen, dass Sie Ihren Aufenthalt genießen." He entered the room and looked around. One bed, fully made, with a small table to the right with a lamp and phone on it. Phoenix walked over to the bed, and switched the light on. Then he untied the laces on his boot. "Probably swollen by now." The moment he yanked the combat boot and the sock off of his injured foot, the cauterized wound in his foot was both red and black around the bullet hole. "Damn." Phoenix walked over to the washing machine infused in the wall, and inserted his coat, undershirt, and pants, and underwear along with his socks. Completely naked, he removed the electrocution vest and ramming pads off of him, and then placed his mask on the side of his bed. He waltzed into the shower, and stepped on inside. 

 

"Hot showers. They dry up my fingers, make them look wrinkly like a frog's skin. Feels good to have some good simulated heat against your flesh like a hot tub pouring horizontally onto you. The moment you stop the water, that's when the heat and burn get to you. It's from the withdrawal. Skin's red like you got sunburnt. You gotta push through the pain to get something you want. Can't sugarcoat it, can't abridge it, because that's what PUSSIES do." 

 

Phoenix took his towel and wrapped it around his waist. Heading out of the shower, he saw that the room was a hospital room. Abhy was on a chair in the hospital, with Peter standing there with her. "Uh, here she comes!" he notified Abhy, with his hand on her shoulder. A doctor came out from the corner of the room which Phoenix couldn't see, and said, "The results are in. It's a boy." Abhy had a shocked look on her face. Phoenix then looked at Peter, who was grinning at him with a locked-on stare. 

 

"No. NO! THAT'S NOT REAL! IT'S FAKE! IT'S GOTTA BE FUCKING FAKE!"

 

"PETER, YOU GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY WIFE!" Phoenix screamed at him. Peter mumbled, "What're you talking about?" 

Phoenix popped his knuckles in place. "YOU DID NOT... DID... YOU F- WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY WIFE?"

"Alright, I've had enough of you today. Goodbye, Phoenix." 

 

Abhy waved at him, and so did the doctor. Abhy said, "Farewell." And then the hospital room was erased by static. Phoenix walked over to the corner where Peter and Abhy were just positioned. "WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU? I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME PETE?! I'LL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB! THINK YOU CAN FUCK MY WIFE AND GET AWAY WITH IT?"

 

Then Phoenix turned around and saw Dovkin Schriener. "Remember me, American?" 

"YOU AIN'T REAL! I KILLED YOU!"

 

And then Anna Pultzei appeared behind Phoenix, and spoke, "Vhat about me? Do you remember me?"

 

Last but not least, Franz Pultzei appeared out of the corner. "Und me. Do you... remember me, friend?"

 

The three started walking directly toward Phoenix. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!" Phoenix screamed, wielding his cyberpistole, waving it around at the three Nazis. "YOU DON'T THINK I'M KIDDING? I'LL SHOOT!"

He pulled the trigger, and the cyberpistole spoke, "ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. MALFUNCTION IN SOFTWARE." 

 

"WHAT THE F- COME ON! SHOOT!"

 

The Nazis snagged Phoenix by his clothes and threw him onto the bed which was apparently covered in gasoline. "Auf wiedersehen." Four separate leather belts slithered like snakes around Phoenix's four limbs and restrained him. And then the bed ignited into flames. "NO! NO! NOOOOOO! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" 

 

Chapter VIII: Scars and Scrapes

 "Where am I.... What just happened?"

 

Phoenix's vision was all black. He couldn't move, at ALL. His body felt stuck and restrained beyond the limits, like a statue. There were footsteps and voices that kept appearing around him. They were faint, and slurred. He then heard the voice of a youngling, "Mommy, what is that?"

 

"Jimmy, don't look at that, let's go someplace else." 

 

Then Phoenix woke up and walked over to the washing machine. He opened the machine and pulled out his clothes. "Time to get back to work." 

 

SOUTH IOWA

Phoenix drove onto the road and noticed a picture of Stanley on his dash. "Be patient, we'll be seeing that fuck soon enough." He revved the engine and sped off. Phoenix eventually entered a city of cyber-electronics and futuristic buildings. Skyscrapers were too tall, airborne vehicles were agglomerating in the sky. He then watched a bus of people with their legs chained up walk out of a white prison carrier. Phoenix stopped by the road and kicked his kickstand up to watch. They all shuffled in order into a building. A random citizen walked by him, smoking a cigar. "Hard to watch, ain't it. I feel bad for each and every one of those guys. Only thing they probably did wrong was be born, but if that's the case, why aren't we also arrested?"

 

"I know. It's repulsive."

 

The guy walked off after he agreed with a nod. Phoenix slightly pulled the cyberpistole out of his coat. "Nano-bomb." The ammunition changed inside of the pistol. Then he looked at the bus. "Alright. Let's see what happens when I do this." Phoenix aimed the pistol at the bottom of the bus, quickly fired a nano-explosive, and then drove off. 

 

MONTANA

THIRD REICH HEADQUARTERS

 

A man in a Nazi uniform waltzed into the room, closing the door behind him. "Hallo, Mein Fuhrer." In the leather chair placed behind the maroon desk in the office, the Fuhrer rotated his chair around, revealing his face. Black trapezoidal mustache underneath his nose. Short black hair with a round hairline. Big bulgy eyes. Face as heated and red as anger itself. "Fegelein. Speak to me in zhis.... English. I am learning zhis language, and I must practice."

 

"Okay... Mein Fuhrer.. I brought you zhe wine you wanted. Spatburgunder. Just how you like it," Fegelein informed him, pouring Hitler a glass. "Fegelein, you are my.... Mmmm.... 'Right hand man,' yes? There is no need to call me your Fuhrer. Call me... Adolf." 

"Yes M- I mean, Adolf. Is zhere un reason you called me up to your office?"

 

"Yes. Yes, Fegelein. I have a... How the Americans say, 'rodent problem.'" 

 

Fegelein sat down in the chair across from Hitler. "Rodent? You mean... Like un rat or a cockroach?" 

Hitler stood out of his chair and sipped his wine in front of a painting of him and his wife. "No... But the rodent is like one. It is zhe Masked Terror. I vas just informed, recently, zhat un bus was destroyed by him. Mein army is so close to killing zhis IGNORANT lunatic of a man... I am SICK. I AM SICK. SICK AND TIRED OF ZHIS NONSENSE. EVERY DAY, IT'S MASKED TERROR ZHIS, MASKED TERROR THAT. DOES HE EVER REST OR STOP? Zhis is our country, VE RUN THIS PLACE. HE VILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE, AND VE VILL GOAD HIM INTO STICKING HIS HEAD OUT OF HIS LITTLE HOLE!" 

 

He walked over to Fegelein, sitting in his chair. "I have thought you have called in... Umm..." 

Hitler turned to his desk and flipped through his book of translated words to English. "AH! Here we go... I have thought you called in 'reinforcements.' Did you not?"

 

"Yes, Adolf. I called for artillery shipments, firearms, and more troops for zhe Reich."

 

"Then vhy haven't we stopped this idiot?"

 

"I... I don't know.... Mein Fuhrer...."

 

Hitler pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Fegelein's head. "ADOLF. I HAVE TOLD YOU... Call me... ADOLF. But nevermind, do me a favor, go into that corner and fix that painting that keeps falling over."

Hitler walked around his desk to admire the painting, again. Fegelein nodded and rushed over to the corner, frightened. With his two fingers, he corrected the painting with two fingers on both hands. "Alright. Done." Then a half-circular panel of glass rose out of the ground and enclosed him in the corner. Fegelein banged on the glass, staring at Hitler with his finger on a set of buttons. "Fegelein. I thought you vere my assistant. My friend. Und vhat have you done? You have gotten me one step further to being killed by un maniac. And zhat must be punished."

 

He pulled a circuit breaker upwards. Then below Fegelein, steam erupted from below, and when it cleared, Fegelein was trapped inside of metal. The glass lowered and Hitler walked over to him. "Sie haben mir gut gedient, Hermann Fegelein. Aber nicht am Ende, guter Freund." 

Chapter IX: No Place In Society

 IOWA

 

Phoenix stopped by a gas station to refuel his vehicle. He stuck the gas nozzle into the fuel tank and stood by, waiting. The fuel numbers rolled up and down and up and down. Phoenix watched Tyler pop out from behind a gas pump. "Hey, Phoenix. What're you up to?"

"Fueling up the choppercycle."

 

"Great.... Uhh... Quick question, were you the one who blew up that bus?"

Phoenix looked around. "You bet."

Tyler clapped his hands. "BRAVO! That's the kind of shit I'm talking about. That's the Phoenix that I know. Persevering, brave. That's you. Don't forget that, man." 

 

"I won't and I haven't." 

 

There was an audibly loud helicopter that landed on a skyscraper nearby. "Well well well. A whirly-bird. I could pilot that thing. But it wouldn't be smooth."

 

Phoenix then heard a far away line of RAT-A-TAT-TAT's in the distance. He turned his head as he removed the nozzle from his choppercycle and looked around. Nothing to be seen. And then, from the left of the gas station, a British man with an electronic Tommy-Gun was sprinting away from Nazis. "STEP THE HELL AWAY FROM ME, YOU BLOKES!" 

 

Then three exhausted guards took a second to catch their breath once they circled around him. "SCHTOP RESISTING! YOU VILL COME VITH US, OR YOU VILL DIE!"

 

"BLIMEY, THEN COME OVER HERE AND DO IT!"

 

One of the guards whipped a telescopic baton out, extending it, and then casually walked toward the Brit. Phoenix watched the British man kick the baton out of his hands, and then shoot him to death. "ANYONE ELSE WANT TO GIVE THAT A TRY? I HAVE PLENTY OF LOADS TO GO AROUND!"

Then more guards tried to surround him. Phoenix retracted his choppercycle and walked away from the gas station. "Help him out, he might help you, Phoenix." He drank a swig of his Pink Fury, and donned his mask. His vision turned pink, and was bulging out of control. Phoenix pulled the slide on his pistol backwards and said, "DEFAULT." The ammunition type changed back to its default bullet. He aimed his pistol at one of the guards, and BANG! One guard down, four to go. The other guards looked at Phoenix, as well as the Brit. "OI', WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?"

Then a guard out of the four ordered the others, "Zwei von euch bekommen den britischen Mann! Einer von euch kommt mit mir, um das zu bekommen!"

"JA!"

"JA!"

"IN ORDUNG!"

 

Two guards pulled out beam-batons and wielded them with two hands. "I'm gonna kick your ass, bitch!"

Phoenix shot the one on the left in his shoulder, and knocked him backwards on his bottom. The second one attempted to help him up, and did successfully. "SCHISSE!"

Phoenix whispered, "FRAGMENTATION." The ammunition type changed, and Phoenix fired an explosive bullet that blew the two Nazis to giblets. An arm and two organs landed by Phoenix, and when the cloud of smoke cleared, the Brit was punching one of the two guards he killed while Phoenix was taking on the other two. The Brit finished the guard off with one punch to the skull, and left a black bruise. "Mate, what are you doing? I was fine the way I was!" the Brit complained to Phoenix.

 

"No, you weren't. Listen, no time to talk, what's your name?"

 

"Calvin. Nice to be of service, Mr. Masked Terror, I presume?"

 

"Yeah, just call me Phoenix."

 

"Right, right, so what are we going to do, because I got about half the city on my ass!"

 

Phoenix looked up at the skyscrapers and the helicopter gave him a good opportunity out of Iowa. "Alright, you see that chopper up there? We're gonna go steal that fucking thing and get the fuck outta this place. You dig?"

 

"Yes, but bollocks, can we hurry up?"

 

Phoenix transformed his choppercycle and patted the back seat. "Hop on, let's go!"

Calvin jumped onto the back seat of the choppercycle, gripping the shoulders of Phoenix as they drove to the skyscraper. He watched a tank roll into the city, and start rotating its barrel to target the two. "SHITE! HURRY UP, MAN! WE'VE GOT A TANK!" 

The tank fired, and blew up a nearby cement rectangular-prism shaped block containing plants. Calvin latched onto Phoenix even harder. "DRIVE!"

"SHUT UP, I'M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN!"

 

The two arrived in front of the skyscraper as soon as reinforcements arrived in the outside area. "SHIT! WE'RE SURROUNDED!" Calvin said, cocking his Tommy-Gun. "Don't fret, but you should hold on!" 

He revved the engine and crashed through the front glass doors and into the lobby. Phoenix pulled the brake and they screeched to a halt. "Get off, now!"

Phoenix retracted his choppercycle, as soon as gunfire started unloading into the building. Phoenix pointed at the stairwell in the corner. "Quick! The stairs!" 

A bullet hit Phoenix in his side. He grunted, clutching the bleeding wound. "Get over it. You took several already." Phoenix headed into the stairwell. Meanwhile, Calvin was firing off at the crowd behind the two as he was approaching the stairwell. He popped a Nazi's helmet off, and then shot him in the face and neck. Another troop popped out with an assault rifle and nearly shot Calvin in his forehead, but hit a metal corner of the stairwell door. Calvin headed through the door and followed Phoenix who was one flight ahead of him. "Jesus, how many fucking flights of stairs does this place have?" he whined, looking over the railing and upwards at the top of the stairwell. It was a twisting square spiraled pattern. "Plenty."

Calvin caught up with Phoenix in the stairs and walked along with him. "Where are we going to go anyways?" 

 

"I'm heading to Montana."

 

"That's where the Fuhrer lies, you sure you want to go there?" 

 

"Well the reason I am is because I'm gonna kill that guy."

 

They past a room, and then the door creased open. "I'LL KILL YOU, AMERICAN!" the figure in the door screamed. Pointing an assault rifle through the crease, Phoenix yanked it out of the man's hand, and unloaded it, then threw the gun over the railing. He then shot the Nazi in the forehead and kept moving. Nazis started entering the stairway below, and firing directly upwards. "GET AGAINST THE WALL!" 

Shining lines of bullets were firing through the middle of the stairs and missed Phoenix and Calvin. All of a sudden, one hit Calvin's sleeve and left a hole. He stared at the burning tear, and then was yanked aside by Phoenix. "QUIT PLAYIN', LET'S GET A MOVE ON!" Phoenix inspired Calvin. 

 

A big wide white man on the floor above sat being a desk, and received a call from somewhere. He mashed the answer button, BZZT! 

 

"Verdigo Industries, how may we help you?"

 

"Ja, zhis is Karl Schmidt, from zhe Third Reich. Listen, your building is under attack by zhe Masked Terror-"

 

"I have ears, you know. I can hear gunfire."

 

"Well, take refuge under something metal and tell your workers to do zhe same. The situation will be handled."

 

"Actually, I don't think that's a good idea."

 

"Sir, I assure you it is. We are doing this for your protec-"

 

"I don't give a damn, so let ME tell YOU about how we'll solve this problem: I am going to kill this punk myself. You're offering a reward for this guy, right? Well I'm gonna give him to you myself."

 

"Sir-" 

 

"Heil Hitler, g'bye!"

 

The employee named Rick declined the call. He reached under his desk and pulled a grenade launcher out of a secret compartment. "I don't give two shits if this is illegal or not, I'm baggin' me a terrorist." Phoenix and Calvin continued walking upstairs, and then the set of stairs above them were blown to pieces. "WHOA!"

Rocks and wooden shards fell from the ceiling. "Crap." 

He then noticed a door to the side. The 13th floor. "Go in, we'll take the elevator!" Phoenix said, guarding the door. Calvin waltzed inside with his submachine gun, and stopped in a pose where he paused himself from running. "Uh-oh."

Phoenix aimed his pistol at the stairs below. The ironsight aligned with the pupil of his eye. "Smile for the camera." 

Four seconds past, and a Nazi walked upstairs in front of the sight of Phoenix's pistol. "ACHTUN-" 

BANG! 

 

"One."

 

Two more arrived at the scene, shooting at Phoenix. He took three bullets in the front and was hit in his arm. "GAH!" he grunted, retaliating with more gunfire. One shot. Missed by a few centimeters. Second shot. Hit the Nazi in his chestplate. Third shot. Hit the Nazi in his jugular. Fourth shot. Shot the hand covering the bleeding wound. Fifth shot. Killed that Nazi. Sixth shot. Picked the second Nazi's helmet off. Seventh shot. Hit the Nazi in his brain. 

 

"That's right, assholes. You ain't nothing but ticks."

 

Phoenix entered the room, and saw Calvin standing in the middle of the room, idle. "The fuck you doing? We gotta go!" Phoenix screamed at him. Calvin pointed at Rick, standing there with a grenade launcher."Well well well, the Masked Terror walks into MY office. What're you even doing? Here to assassinate me? Well you've got something coming." 

Phoenix watched Rick aim the barrel of the grenade launcher towards the two. "Shit. I don't think I can take one of those." Rick tapped the hammer on the back of the grenade launcher. "GOODBYE!"

Calvin closed his eyes. Rick's finger squeezed the trigger, and fired a projectile towards the two. "DUCK AND COVER!" Phoenix called out, leaping in front of the grenade. He shut his eyes and extended his arm. 

 

"Have I really met my end? Killed by a grenade. One of the most painful and worst ways to go, but I guess to them it suits as a punishment. Who the hell was I even killed by? This guy didn't look like a Nazi. Looked like a fatass. But anyways. Let's finish this." Phoenix's arm twitched, his muscles felt a strong push. And then he opened his eyes. Between the tips of his fingers, there was a projectile. 

 

He caught the grenade.

Calvin opened his eyes, and looked at the phenomenon. "What the bloody hell?"

Rick wiped his eyes and said, "YOU'RE KIDDING!"

 

Phoenix crushed the projectile in his hand and threw it over his shoulder. "Put that piece of shit down and let's do this with our fists, asshole." Rick threw the grenade launcher on the floor and held up two balled fists. "You don't have the balls to come kill me. Just cause you caught a fucking grenade."

Phoenix sprinted towards Rick, and then Rick stopped him by catching him by his neck inside of his hand. He was squirming all over the place while he was in Rick's grasp. "Haaaaaaaaaaaaa! HAHAHAHAHA! WAS THAT- WAS THAT REALLY IT? THE MASKED TERROR, THE MASKED TERROR, JUST GOT CAUGHT BY A FAT GUY. AND NOW HE'S BEING CHOKED TO DEATH."

 

Phoenix punched Rick in his forearm once, and then attempted to punch him in the face. Rick socked Phoenix in his head and continued to hold him within the palm of his hand. "You're worthless and WEAK! I can't even fucking LOOK at you right now! Now... GET OUTTA MY FACE!"

Rick tossed Phoenix through one of the building's windows. 

 

"Alright, let me correct myself. This is how I end. Fell from 13 stories. Gonna take a while to scrub the guts and blood off the ground once I hit it. I saw more in America than I did anywhere else. Got this far. Tried so hard. Turns out the nice guy finished last." Then Phoenix started soaring towards the ground. 

Calvin's jaw dropped at the sight he just witnessed. "Ph-Ph-Phoenix?" Calvin mumbled. He walked towards the window, but was stopped by Rick. "I KILLED THE AMERICAN, NOW IT'S TIME FOR THE BRIT." Calvin was thrown against the floor, far from his gun. Rick plumped himself right over Calvin's chest, and then wrapped his fingers around Calvin's neck. "WHAT'S WRONG? TROUBLE BREATHING? I KNOW, RIGHT? I HAVE ASTHMA. One day, when I was a young boy, I forgot my inhaler. I had to sit out from a game we were playing. Then the next day. And the next."

 

Calvin reached for his weapon, despite the distance from it. Rick forced Calvin to look him in the eye by shoving his head upwards. "LOOK AT ME. YOU AIN'T GETTING THAT BACK SO WHAT'S THE POINT ANYWAYS?"

Calvin slammed his fists against Rick's arms. "...Get off!"

His vision started turning blurry, his eyes watering. "See you in hell, CHUMP." Then Rick listened to what seemed to be a machine. "THE HELL'S THAT NOISE?"

Then in front of an unbroken window, a window washer's platform rose to the 13th floor. And PHOENIX was on top of it. 

 

"No... HOW?" 

 

Phoenix punched the window's glass into snowflake sized pieces. Walking through, he cocked his pistol and aimed it at Rick's crotch, firing. "AAGH!"

Rick hit his knees, and with his finger, Phoenix angled Rick's head up to his face. "HOW'S THAT POSSIBLE?"

 

Phoenix inserted both of his thumbs into Rick's eyes and split his skull in half. Then he turned to Calvin. "We ain't got time, get on that thing out there so we can go!"

Calvin nodded, while confused, and walked outside with Phoenix onto the platform. The platform was set to go to the roof, and traveled vertically. "I hope this damned thing goes faster, we're exposed!" Calvin indicated to Phoenix while clutching his weapon again. The platform reached the top where the helipad is. "You know how to fly a helicopter, mate? Cause I don't!"

 

"Well I can learn."

 

Phoenix climbed into the cockpit and looked at the plethora of controls and gadgets. "What in the hell is all this shit?" 

Calvin climbed inside and noticed the mounted machine gun on the side. "Hoo hoo hoo! I need to use this thing at LEAST once!" cheered Calvin, gripping the machine gun's grips. Phoenix pulled a lever, and the lights on the vehicle turned on. "Shit, wrong one." He looked for the switch to the air-traveling mechanism, and discovered it, labeled, "LIFT-OFF." Phoenix then saw the key was left in the ignition. "If I know one thing about helicopters, it's not about the helicopters itself, but it's that the pilot of this one is a complete idiot!"

 

The helicopter floated off of the ground as the propellers rotated at a higher and higher speed, along with the back one, and flew away. Calvin's eyes fixated themselves on the gas station from a bird's eye view. "Hmm..."

Calvin aimed the machine gun at the roof of the station and KA-BOOM! The gas station exploded into a giant mushroom cloud of orange, black, and grey, sending debris out of its radius. Phoenix said, "WHOA! JEEZ! CALM DOWN WITH THAT THING!"

 

And then Calvin was pounced on by someone from behind. "AAHH! PHOENIX! HELP ME, MATE!" 

He was hanging onto the skid of the helicopter by both of his hands. The pilot, however, was hanging from one of Calvin's shoes. He removed a knife from one of the pockets of his pants, and stabbed Calvin in his foot. "AAHH! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

 

He removed the blade, and plunged it into his flesh again. Phoenix looked behind the seat and abandoned the cockpit. "HOLD ON, MAN!" 

Phoenix was about to reach for Calvin, and noticed the pilot. "Oh, it was a trap all along. But still, I mean, who leaves the keys in a vehicle and just leaves it alone? That's just fucking retarded." Phoenix shot the pilot in his shoulder, causing him to release Calvin and fall to a low death at ground level.

 

Chapter X: Hot LZ

Calvin looked around at all of the land accompanied by futuristic buildings and technology they were passing. "When did all this... 'Electronic shite' come? I can't remember the last time I saw a tree in a huge patch of grass," Calvin questioned Phoenix as he was flying the helicopter. Phoenix shrugged and examined the controls, yet again. 

"Better question is when was the last time we've seen a huge patch of grass. All this industrial, electronic, and robot shit's all the United States are now," Phoenix questioned Calvin as a response. "I mean, if you did, I'd pay you a few grand just for a picture as a memory." 

Phoenix then noticed a spot of color besides him in the corner. Beige. Wrinkled. He turned and saw Hans in the co-pilot seat. "Great. Now that we're out of the proximity where we fucked shit up, you know where Montana is from here?"

Hans responded, "Nein."

Calvin answered, "What? Can't hear you cause of the helicopter blade!"

 

"WHERE'S MONTANA? IS THERE SOMETHING HERE THAT CAN HELP US GET TO MONTANA?" 

 

Calvin looked around in the back of the aircraft. There was a map of Asia. "What the shite? Are you kidding me?" 

He brought it to the front of the helicopter, and when he sat down, Hans moved over, appearing to be cramped. "I found a map of ASIA. ASIA! WHO CARRIES A MAP OF ASIA IN A HELICOPTER BEING PILOTED IN SODDING AMERICA?" 

He was about to rip it. "PIECE OF- BOLLOCKS!"

 

His thumb moved the continent of Asia downwards. Calvin stopped and looked at the map. "What in the hell?" Calvin asked. Phoenix looked at the map. "What?"

"It just bloody moved. The map did."

Phoenix laughed and asked, "A piece of paper... It moved?"

"Watch." 

 

Calvin swiped to the left of the paper, and then did it again. "See." He then scrolled to where the United States were. "Oh. Wait a second..." 

He zoomed in, and the map of the USA became more and more detailed as he zoomed in. Alright, so we're still in Iowa, which way are we going?"
Phoenix checked the compass which was being stared at by Hans. "North."

"Go a little to your left. We can get a shortcut across South Dakota."

Phoenix piloted to the left, to South Dakota. 

 

Then a memory flashed through his mind. It was of the police station during first few days of the Nazi regime's control. Phoenix looked at his hands. He felt weak. "Where am I?"

Then from the back of the police station, a giant needle with yellow fluid inside of it crashed through the cell wall, through the bars, and the point impaled Phoenix through his side. "AAAAAH!" 

And all of a sudden, he felt even stronger than before. A Nazi exited a room, spinning in quick 360 degree circles, and then stopped in front of Phoenix with a shotgun. He turned it around and pointed the barrel at himself. "What the hell is in my mind?"

He grabbed onto the shotgun and blasted the Nazi, only to watching him float through the ceiling and disappear. There was a sudden ruckus beneath him. And Phoenix found out that the station was rotating sideways. "OH NO!"

Then it stopped once Phoenix landed on the ceiling, beaten from the disruption it caused. Nazis entered the building with weapons.

 

"...!su htiw emoC !nopaew ruoy porD!" 

 

"What?"

Then a rewind symbol appeared in front of him like a floating phantasm. The cry reversed, and revealed, "Drop your weapon! Come with us!"

Phoenix pumped the shotgun, and blew open a Nazi's chest with the blast. CH-CH! He turned to the second Nazi who was ready to fire. He pulled the Nazi to his left in front of him. "TAKE HIM! NOT ME!"

"I'll take both, asshole!" Phoenix spouted without thinking clearly. His finger squeezed the trigger, sending out a shotgun blast that didn't travel all the way. Instead, it was stuck floating in mid-air. "Ummm... What?"

The blast then slowly floated into the front Nazi's face, and sent pieces of flesh and blood everywhere. The buckshot floated out of his face, floated over his head, and then went into the back of the other Nazi's skull. "AGH! MEIN LEBEN!"
Phoenix hit the ground with both hands on his head. "GOTTA GET A GRIP!" remarked Phoenix, clutching his head. He clawed a few of his hairs out of his scalp, and looked up to watch a Nazi melt into a puddle out of pure fear. "Ha ha ha... This guy melted. Melting's for PUSSIES. And I'm not a pussy." 

 

The front of the building was destroyed, and a Nazi helicopter was outside. "WHOA, WHAT THE FUCK?"

 A grenade launcher appeared in his hands, and a voice informed him, "Do it, NOW." 

 

Phoenix cocked the grenade launcher and fired a projectile into the helicopter, taking it down. And then Phoenix awakened from the dream.

 

Chapter XI: Denial

 SOMEWHERE IN SOUTH DAKOTA

 

Phoenix opened his eyes to see Calvin impaled through his side, with his hand on Phoenix's shoulder. He blinked and then tapped Calvin. "Hey... Wake up..." 

Shaking his body back and forth, Calvin didn't respond. "Cal. Buddy, we gotta wake up. I don't know where I even am..." 

His vision cleared and he discovered Calvin was dead. "HOLY SHIT! AGHHH WHAT THE FUCK?"

Phoenix inched backwards and then fell through the helicopter door, and into a forest. "So much for no trees. Guess I was wrong." He peered upwards, seeing the helicopter had crashed into a bunch of trees. Abhy emerged from the swamp water and asked, "Phoenix, are you OK?"

 

"Yeah, I'm alr-"

A bone in his back popped. "UNGH! MY BACK! AWWW.... MMMMNGH.... My back!" he groaned, squirming all over the place and rolling over repeatedly. Abhy walked over to him and kicked him in the back. "AAAAH! WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?"

"What? I didn't do anything."

"Whatever... It's fine. My back feels... Fine. What happened?"

"We heard over the news that a helicopter crashed somewhere. And that you were piloting it, right? Did you know how to fly a helicopter during the war?" 

"Nope. Never had and never learned. I just took off and WHOOSH! And now we're here. Or me- I'm here."

 

The helicopter fell through a few branches. Phoenix scooted out of the way right when the aircraft hit the ground. Calvin's body fell through the door of the helicopter. Phoenix then pulled out the handlebars, transformed them into the choppercycle, and then rode off through the forest. "So many damn trees." He drove over a ramp, leaning against a fence, and then landed on the highway. "Montana, here I come." Phoenix scratched his chin and watched Tyler drive a rentable vehicle right besides him. "HEY! HEY PHOENIX!"

 Phoenix looked at him. "Wait, how the fuck are you on the road?"

"What?"

 

"HOW ARE YOU ON THE ROAD?"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF YOU DRIVING!"

 

"UGH, NEVERMIND."

 

Phoenix drove past a bus and continued to Montana. 

Chapter XII: Breaking the Truth

 MONTANA

"Booked a motel room again. Feels better than all the others, but the hotel always comes out on top. Bought a mediocre tasting burger. Was alright. God, my ear itches. It won't wane away... What the fuck is making it itch so bad?"

 

Phoenix scratched behind one of his ears and then saw Peter appear. "Phoenix? You there?" Peter questioned him. 

"Pretty sure I got enough fucking time, WHY'D YOU FUCK MY WIFE?"

 

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? IT'S YOUR FUCKING KID!"

 

Phoenix backed away from Peter and hit the wall. "Wait.... So.... It's not your's?"

"FUCK NO! I WOULDN'T HAVE YOUR WIFE CHEAT ON YOU!" Peter answered him. Phoenix twiddled his fingers in nervousness. "Then.... Does that mean I'm.... I'm a...." 

 

"Yeah. Phoenix, you're a dad. I recommend you kill Hitler and come on back ASAP."

 

Phoenix looked away. "Wait a minute... No, you're just a voice in my head! That's fucking fake. Leave me the hell alone." 

 

"No I'm not, I'm talking to you through the earpiece you have on. Remember?"

 

Phoenix started scratching his ear repeatedly and pulled an earpiece out. Peter has disappeared. The moment he strapped it back to his ear, Peter reappeared.

"Wait... So.... I could actually hear you. But I can see you? How?"

 

"I dunno about that. Well.... Actually.... I CAN RELATE." 

The walls of the motel room and the floor and roof floated away. Phoenix was standing on nothing but darkness. "WHOA- WHAT THE SHIT? WHAT'S HAPPENING?" 

Peter walked over to Phoenix and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Phoenix. You need to face reality. Do you know what's going on right now as we speak?" Peter questioned him. 

 

"WHAT'S HAPPENING? TELL ME THE TRUTH, NOW!"

 

Peter laughed, and removed a Peter-face mask from his head. He was Phoenix, unmasked. "Tell you? Well... I'll give you a hint to what's going on. But you better believe it once I tell you: The shit you saw... Only PARTS of it were real. You ain't well right now. You're somewhere.... 'Safe.' Safer than you think. People can't hurt you right now unless they have a certain tool. As for everybody else, they're perfectly fine as long as they don't get themselves killed."

 

Phoenix grabbed himself by the neck. "WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT'S NOT? YOU OUGHTA SPIT IT THE FUCK OUT!"

 

"Heh heh heh heh heh..... You think I'm just gonna 'tell' you what's real? No no no! That's too easy! But I will tell you some things that were real. The Pink Fury.... The incident with the earpiece.... The part where you're a father. The rest is up for you to decide what is real and what is fake. Consider it carefully. But I'm sure my job is done. Step into the bed when you're ready to see how you ended up... Without all the fictional junk."

 

Phoenix walked over to the bed, and then stared back at the clone. "You're saying if I get in this... I'll get to see the truth? All of it? What does that mean, anyways?"

 

"You will get to see yourself kill your enemy." 

 

"Then sure. Then what?"

"You will need great patience for the next step."

 

Phoenix shook his head and climbed underneath the covers of the bed. The clone tucked Phoenix in and whispered, "Leaving this world isn't as scary as it sounds. But you haven't left. Not yet." 

 

 

Chapter XIII: Der Fuhrer's Finale

Phoenix's vision then flashed through various sequences of him breaking into the Montana palace, killing and eviscerating Nazis. And the increased speed of the vision stopped at Hitler's office. Then he witnessed what really happened.

 

 Phoenix busted into Adolf Hitler's office, where Hitler had on an entire suit of ballistic armor. "Vell vell vell... Masked Terror valks into mein office. I bet you are here to kill me. Yes?"

"For a Nazi, you're damn smart."

 

"Ahhh.... I thank you for zhat. But compliments from a terrorist do not mean ANYTHING to me now. Besides, only ONE of us is leaving zhis room alive," Hitler informed him. Phoenix balled up his fists. "Let's get this over with. I'm tired of living in this country anyways." 

Hitler cracked his knuckles. "COME AT ME!" he snarled at Phoenix, who was approaching already. Hitler injected himself with two steroid syringes and then dodged a punch soaring at his head from Phoenix. Hitler kicked Phoenix in his leg, tripping him, and then stomping on his side. "AGH!" grunted Phoenix, punching Hitler in his knee. He landed on top of Phoenix, and stabbed a dagger through his shoulder. "MASKED TERROR? I ZHOUGHT YOU WERE MORE TERRIFYING ZHAN ZHAT!"

Phoenix grappled Hitler, suplexed him and then threw him against a wall. Hitler was unable to move. His spine was broken. He couldn't feel anything. "Well you're right."

Hitler used his last ounce of strength to inject himself with another steroid syringe. "ZHIS IS ONLY ZHE BEGINNING." 

He launched Phoenix into the wall, again, and then pulled out his pistol. "DIE!!!"

 

Hitler shot three times, missing, and then shot Phoenix twice as he was sliding over his desk towards him. Once he landed on his feet, Phoenix launched a hit at Hitler's jaw, but it was parried within Hitler's hard grasp. In return, he attempted to punch Phoenix, but that attack ended up being blocked. The two locked eyes for a second. "MOTHERFUCKER. YOU GOTTA GIVE UP SOMETIME!"

"I VILL NEVER KNEEL TO YOU."

 

Hitler twisted both of Phoenix's wrists and then knocked him onto the desk, again. Phoenix's face formed a scowl out of rage, and then felt the cold grasp of Hitler's fingers around his neck. Phoenix stabbed Hitler in his chest and kicked the knife in further. Hopping up off of the edge of the desk, he popped his neck in place and then kicked Hitler into his own chair. Hitler watched Phoenix approach him, again, and then pulled out a backup plan. It was a huge hand-grenade with a menacing grin painted in red across its surface. "Stop, Phoenix, before he does something stupid."

 

Phoenix halted himself from moving, as Hitler pulled the pin and closed off all exits to the place. "Zhe place is on lockdown. You have no way out." 

Phoenix looked around at metal walls sealing every exit by the second. He sprinted over to the door and kicked it a few times. 

"WELL GREAT. YOU GOT ME,AND YOURSELF! WHAT'S THE NEXT STEP OF YOUR MASTER PLAN, ASSHOLE? BLOWING US BOTH UP WITH THAT THING?"

 

"Zhe moment I release the safety mechanism on zhis... Ve vill both be killed. Ja. Zhat is my plan. But zince I am holding it, I vill not be able to be cleaned out of zhis room."

Phoenix watched Hitler's fingers release the mechanism. "DUCK AND COVER!"

He leaped into a corner in the room, and before the grenade exploded, Adolf pulled a circuit breaker on his desk. A glass panel appeared in front of Phoenix. "What is that? WHAT THE FUCK?"

He started banging on the glass. "GODDAMMIT HITLER, OPEN THIS DOOR!"

 

The grenade exploded, and killed Hitler in the blast. The flames and radius of the explosion coated the window in flames, and then Phoenix started feeling... Stiff. His feet couldn't move. Phoenix peered downwards to see liquid metal coating his feet. "No. NO!"

Phoenix pulled out his pistol and shot the glass, doing nothing. "BULLSHIT! UHH... UHH.... ARMOR PIERCING!"

The ammunition type was depleted. Phoenix then held the pistol by its barrel and before he started whacking the glass he felt his torso being coated in the metal substance. "SHIT!"

Then after a while, he was completely coated in it. Frozen in it. Molded into it.

 

2 HOURS LATER

 

"Alright, the thermite is almost through, Mr. Fegelein," said somebody behind the steel gates. "Gut, you have done gut," Fegelein thanked him. A hole burned through and left an entry point, but before entering, two of the guards extinguished the orange heated circle around the inside. "Danke schon." 

He crawled through the circle and saw the blast where Hitler was sprayed all over the walls and floor. "ADOLF! NEEIIINNN!" he cried, falling to his knees. But then he noticed a statue in the corner. 

 

"AHAAHAHAH! WE GOT HIM! GUARDS! GET..... VHAT ZHE FUCK?"

 

Phoenix was frozen in middle, shooting two birds. 

 

Fegelein prickled his chin. "Guards! Do you see zhat statue in zhe corner? I may have a use for it...." 

 

DAYS LATER IN MONTANA....

 

A boy and his mother were taking a stroll. Then they saw something strange. "Mommy, what is that?" he questioned. The mother shielded his eyes and said, "Jimmy, don't look at that, let's go someplace else." 

Then they walked in the opposite direction of the Phoenix statue. 

 

"Hope you're rotting away, Adolf. I know I will be, but slower. Slower enough to watch you."

 

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 05.03.2019

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