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The moment his body hit the ground Kroenen passed into a strange new world as
though he'd fallen into a pool of water. He hung there a moment in what seemed
to be nothingness. There was no direction and strange reddish white clouds
swirled in the distance like a glittering plasma.
"What's happened?! Where am I?" Kroenen demanded. "Answer me!! We had a
deal! I know you are there." Nothing. He hung there in silence a while. Then
he heard them. The voices came to him.
"Yes we did have a deal." They said. "What is it that you want?"
"I want revenge!" Kroenen roared. "I want to make them pay. I want to cheat
death. I want to go back. Give me a new stronger body so I can do all this and
continue to serve you."
There was silence again as though the entities were thinking it over.
"Very well then. We know how well you have served us before and will grant you
your wish."

Kroenen blinked. It was incredible how quickly it had happened. Just moments
ago he had been in that unknown space and now he was standing in a narrow street
of a big city. It was night and light rain fell all around him. Not another
soul was in sight and he looked up at all the towering skyscrapers around him.
Steam rose form the streets as the cooler rain hit the hot pavement. He looked
down on himself and noticed he was wearing a black SS uniform with the notable
difference that this one was made entirely of leather. Then he looked at his
hands and was taken over by shock. His hands were metal. Perhaps they were
gloves or gauntlets like they used in the old days. He held it up to his face
and felt one hand with the other. They were solid and could not be removed.
What was worse was that he could feel his own touch. These were his real hands.
What was happening? Where was he now? He brought his right hand up, placed it
on his cheek then nearly jumped back when he heard a metallic CLANG the moment
the two came in contact. He held his hand to his face and began to breath
heavily as he stood in a bent over position. He did the same thing three more
times with the same results. Clang, clang, clang!
"What's happened to me?!?! What the Hell's going on?! What's happened???"
Kroenen ran off down the street, his feet splashing every time he hit a puddle.
He was confused and frightened. The street finally opened up and he came to a
stop before a store that had a large glass window. Kroenen spied his reflection
and he just stared at the horrible sight he saw. His face too was entirely made
of metal. It was smooth green metal like that on his hands. His eyes were
round dark lenses like ones one might find on shades. He had no mouth, but his
chin did have ridges or indentions like the helmets of old knights. He removed
his SS hat and found he had no hair now. Instead he had a smooth metal scalp,
his whole head was metal. What had happened to his golden hair and his baby
blue eyes? All the fine breeding, all his Arian traits that he had when he was
alive had been taken away from him, or covered up. He put his hand on his face
again just to make sure. He could feel it. There was no denying what he was.
Panic ran through him as he stared at his hideous new look. His dark eyes began
to glow red and the sight of that made him loose control. He threw his fist
through the window breaking it.
"NO!!!!!!" THIS WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL!!! What the HELL HAVE YOU DONE TO
ME??" He cried as he fell to his knees again. A newspaper flew by and landed
before him. Kroenen glanced at it and noticed the date. It was two thousand
and....this wasn't even his time anymore. He was in the late twenty-first
century.
"DAMN IT! ANSWER ME!! IS THIS HOW YOU REPAY ME AFTER ALL I DID FOR YOU???
WHAT AM I?? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?"
The wind kicked up and the rain splashed hard against his new face.
"But this was part of the deal." They said as the voices returned.
"NO! I never asked for this!"
"But you did. You said you wished to return so you can have revenge. You said
you wanted to better serve us. You said you wanted a new strong body. You
didn't say when you wished to return though. You also never said what kind of
body you wanted. And now you are back and can exact your revenge. We have kept
our part of the deal."
"You manipulative SCUM!! Look at me!! What have you done? What am I? You
know exactly what I wanted when I asked for it. You never told me you would do
this!"
"It is not for us to tell! You are nothing but our servant and we do not answer
to you! Be glad you are getting a second chance when you easily could have
gotten none like the others that met with your fate! Perhaps you would like
your old frail body back?" The moment they said that Kroenen fell to the ground
writhing in agony. Blood poured into the ground and mixed with the rain. It
ran down the street and like a river flowed into the sewers. Kroenen had his
old body back. He pulled back his shirt and found his body was filled with the
bullets and wounds he had received. The pain was unbearable. Would he die a
second time? The first time he had slipped into death easily. This time it was
excruciating.
"Or would you rather have the new body we made for you? The one that makes you
a living machine. A living robot."
"No...please. Anything's...better than this." He said between gasps. The pain
was instantly gone almost as if it had never been there. Kroenen sat up still
weak from that ordeal and looked at his hands. They were made of metal again.
"Forgive me. You are right. I am your humble servant. So this is what I've
become? I am a robot?" He asked in a weak tone.
"Not quiet. You are actually a cyborg. Parts of you are still human. In time
you will learn all of your new abilities. For one you have the ability to
control parts of the spirit realm. You should be grateful for the gifts we have
given you."
"And I am." Kroenen said as he kneeled in a puddle with his head bowed and his
arms out palms open.
"There is one thing we must ask of you. You may walk among the living but you
must not dwell with them. Your domain shall be with us in the spirit world
below."
They were gone. Kroenen could sense their presence was no longer with him. He
had been left on his own to discover his new abilities and his new life.

He stood in the lonely street silent except for the drip of the softly falling
rain. The spirit realm, the underworld, just how would he get there? Humbled
as he just had been Kroenen couldn't help but feel the anger creeping back into
him. How was he to serve the dark ones when he was unaware of their means of
travel or even what they wished of him? He did not even know what he was
capable of in this new body. He began to pace impatiently back and forth like a
tiger in a cage. He paused a moment and looked up past the tops of the
skyscrapers to the night sky. It was then that he felt a heavy hand on his
shoulder.
"Karl Kroenen?" Said a deep scratchy voice. In the heightened state that he was
Kroenen did not even think he just reacted. He turned violently smacking away
the hand with a forearm block then just as quickly he threw a punch with his
other hand as he continued with his turn. He heard his fist impact against
flesh and stop.
"You ARE good." Said a dark hooded figure that held Kroenen's fist in his cold
clawed hand. In the dark Kroenen could not make him out. He was wearing some
type of hood over his head and all Kroenen could see were a pair of glowing
yellow beady eyes. Kroenen unfurled his fingers and curled them around his
enemy's wrist. He pulled him in, took a short leap into the air planted one
foot hard into his chest then the other as he ran up his body, flipped over
backwards and landed a few feet away with his legs spread and one hand on the
ground, the other out behind him. The impact had also served to kick this
strange man down. Kroenen watched him kick up and stand before him again. He
would not give him another chance to attack him again. He rushed at the man.
The stranger saw him coming and just when Kroenen was almost on him he leaped
into the air clear over his head. Kroenen stopped looked back and watched him
land on all four then run at him like an animal. The sight was rather horrific.
A man on hands and feet running swiftly with his back arched. Despite all the
anatomy Kroenen had seen he found it hard to believe that a body could move in
such a way. It all happened so fast that there was no time for him to react.
The man or the beast leaped on him with tremendous force and knocked him onto
his back then held him down. His yellow eyes looked down into Kroenen's opaque
black ones and viewed their reflection in them. The skin around the man's eyes
looked like a dark yellow or leather gold. It was all Kroenen was able to see as
the man wore a turban and a heavy sash over his face. Kroenen's sensitive ears
could clearly hear a deep guttural growl coming from the man's throat. The
sound intensified as he stared down at him and then it stopped.
"You are good, but a mere fledgling compared to myself." He said as he loosened
his grip on Kroenen and stood up. "Do not be so quick to temper. I am not here
to fight you, baby bird." He said as he extended his hand to the fallen robot.
Kroenen stared at him a moment still not sure if he could trust him but at last
reached out his hand to him. The strange man grasped it and pulled him up to
his feet but not without some effort. He noted that Kroenen was extremely
heavy.
"So you are the latest construct They deemed fit to join the ranks? Interesting
form." He said mostly talking to himself. "Now I'll ask you again. You are
Karl Kroenen are you not?"
"Yes but who the blazes are you and what do you want?!" Kroenen asked.
"I am Sahel Rahzaq Zaraq. I was once like you, human that is. They thought you
would be a natural upon your return but I knew otherwise. I've seen it before
many times. It is normal for young ones like yourself to be lost and confused.
As punishment for being correct I was sent to help you find your way."
Kroenen wanted to tear his head off. No one or nothing spoke to him with such
lack of respect. He watched him a moment noting his strange garbs. Sahel wore
a grey tattered long sleeve shirt. His fore arms were wrapped in what seemed
like bandages like the ones on a mummy. The shirt puffed out at the elbows. He
wore a purple sash with many tiny tassles on the end as his belt. His pants
were burgundy, baggy and also puffed at the knees as they fit into similar
bandages like the ones on his arms. His toes tipped with thick claws like his
fingers, gripped onto hard dark leather sandals. From his belt a scimitar hung
free. The blade was curved and very wide. The length must have been at least
three feet.
"Do you realize that you have the ability to enter the underworld at any time
you please? There is no need for you to find key entrance points." Kroenen
just stared back at him silent with his expressionless face. The two just
looked at each other for a very uneasy minute. That was all the answer Sahel
needed. "Fine. Observe." He said as he held out his hand. The space around
it began to warp and swirl into it. Kroenen stepped closer fascinated with what
he saw. The distortion grew into an elliptical shape taller than a man.
Kroenen stood amazed at the sight of this. Sahel stepped through it with no
fear much to the mechanical Nazi's shock. A few seconds later he emerged from
it and it collapsed behind him.
"What was that??" Kroenen said intently.
"A portal. A gateway to the world below. You can conjure them up at will as
well. Now show me." He said in a stern voice. Kroenen stepped forward held
out his hand and concentrated.
"Good. Do you feel it? It's there in the parallel plain. All you have to do
is touch it and connect the two. You felt it when They were here. Now feel it
again."
Kroenen concentrated more. He tried to become attuned with what he had felt
before. He shut off his visual receptors and just felt. He stood and felt.
All of a sudden he felt a warmth around his hand. Space warped around it as he
had seen Sahel do before and soon a portal opened up around it. He looked into
it a moment, then back at Sahel who was just staring.
"I've never seen anyone create one on the first attempt. They did choose
wisely." He walked over and placed his hand over it opening it to full size
then stood before it. "Well done. Now follow me. It is time for you to fly
further, baby bird."
Sahel Rahzaq Zaraq walked through it and vanished. Kroenen looked at it
uneasily. He still couldn't believe what he had done. He regained his
composure after a moment then stepped inside.

The swirling portal disappeared into a point behind him and was gone. Kroenen
gasped at the wonder before him and stood transfixed by the magnificent sight.
He was in some type of cave...no it seemed more like he were underground. The
stone ceiling curved up all around him for hundreds of feet and seemed to be as
high as the sky. The place was lit by blazing fires that rose from stone
cylinders budding from the earth. They were like tall hallow tree stumps and
the fire reached up from them like a giant torch, but that was not the only
source of light. Massive six sided crystals, possibly quartz, mounted one on
top of the other illuminated their surrounds with their self produced light.
Some glowed with white light while others had an intense blue as though someone
had taken the hottest part of a flame and trapped it within these clear
structures. Some were clustered in such a way that they seemed to form feather
shapes and reached high into the stone sky. Yet this was not the most
outstanding sight. Just in the distance was nestled a city. It was a large
city that radiated with yellow light. A large river of magma flowed near by and
seemed to feed the city. The buildings were blocky pyramids that were extremely
reminiscent of the ruins of the new world with one very obvious difference.
These buildings were not made or rock but gold. The entire city was made of
gold and explained the yellow glow. The fires and the light of the crystals
caused the entire area to glow with a radiant yellow light.

Sahel chuckled and led Kroenen on. He took him over a large rocky bridge that
led to the city over a dark chasm. The Nazi machine looked over the side and
noted another unusual structure. It seemed like a tunnel of a shoot of some
sort leading into the black. Some parts of it were lit by magma falls but apart
from that not much could be seen.
"Don't lean too far now." Sahel said. "The bridges you see are the best way to
go from one round to the next. All the major cities are connected this way
between the Malebolgias. Unless you can fly it is the only way to go between
them." The two continued on into the city. Inside the first notable thing
Kroenen saw where enormous beasts of burden pulling huge cubes of damaged gold.
Ten times larger than any elephant they brought back memories to Kroenen of the
sauropod dinosaurs he'd seen in his children's books years back. Like those
monsters these creatures walked on four pillar like legs and had long thick
tails and necks. Their skin sagged down and was discolored from coming in
contact with the fires tubes that lit the city. Many parts of their flesh was
rotten, disease ridden and parasitized by maggots and flies. They trudged
through the city and could barely see though their half closed, cataract-ridden
white eyes. On their backs they carried cages of greedy sinners. They stuck
their hands out through the bars as the monsters carried them so close the cities
of gold but the beautiful walls are just out of their reach. Demons sit on the
tails and whip at the beast leading them to the infernos to have the damaged
gold melted down, purified and the new blocks brought back to rebuild the
cities.
"Many do not realize that there is gold in Hell. It is only natural. Gold is
the universal currency on the earth and as you know money is the root of all
evil, or so they say." Sahel said as he led Kroenen on this most unusual tour.
After making their way through the heart of the city Sahel took Kroenen into a
well-hidden and unknown passageway. It was much darker and only a few torches
lined the wall giving off a very faint light. It was quite the contrast to the
brilliant city they had just been through. At last they came to a large double
door that seemed to be twenty feet high. Sahel placed his hand in the center of
them and easily pushed them open. They walked into a hallway that opened up
into a room with arching ceilings like that of an old cathedral.
"You're gonna fit right in, baby bird." Sahel said. "Let me show you
something." He led Kroenen over to a wall. They stood in front of it a moment
and it seemed to change shape and disintegrate then rebuild itself revealing a
cage and behind the bars of it was mounted the bones of a creature that looked
like a large dragon with a spear though its chest. Kroenen stared at it a
moment.
"What is that?" He asked.
"That is your first and favorite kill. You are an assassin after all." Sahel
responded.
"What? How is that possible. I have not killed anything yet." Kroenen said
surprised.
"But you will, or should I say you did."
"I do not play games fiend! Do not speak to me in riddles!" Kroenen said as
his temper began to rise. The dragon disappeared as a dark wall rose up and
covered it. Sahel sighed.
"Stop thinking like a human. Time is not linear. The laws of physics do not
apply here nor to us. You will kill this thing, but it shall be in the past.
It will be one of your first triumphs."
"How can that be?"
"You will learn, in time. You have been through a lot. This room shall be your
dwelling. You will reside here. I'm sure you noticed how it warps and morphs
into different shapes and designs. You are controlling that as am I to a
certain extent. You see this once was mine, and I am now passing it on to you.
It is attuned to your emotions and reflects how you feel. In time you will learn
to control that as well. I shall leave you to think about what you have seen
and learned. This will be your sanctuary when you need it. When I leave it
will become completely yours and reflect no ones emotions but your own."
Sahel turned and left Kroenen alone in his new surroundings.

He looked around. The walls expanded and seemed to grow distant from him. They
became a dark olive color and arched over him once again. A full sized mirror
formed from the ground up not far from him and Kroenen walked towards it looking
at his new form. He stopped not far from it and just watched his reflection.
He remembered what the voice had said to him earlier. He removed his hat then
his long coat. His shirt fell to the floor around his ankles and Kroenen stared
at his true form in the mirror.
"No. NO!! You did it again!! You lied to me again!!! WHY!!!" He yelled as he
saw what he really had become. His body was completely metallic. The form was
lean like his original body but all of it was a robotic imitation of his former
self. He was a skeletal frame encased in thick armor plating that gave him his
shape. All of him was the same metallic green as his face. His arms and legs
had bolts in key areas and there were strange furrows in his forearms. There
was no flesh left. They had said he'd be part human.
"There's nothing human about me now!!" He screamed out in fury and threw his
fist into the mirror. Instead of shattering it turned into swirling dark grey
clouds as he punched it. His circular eyes began to glow red. He was blinded
by rage and began to throw punch after punch into the air as though fighting
some invisible opponent. Upon throwing his last right punch he felt something
move within his arm. He felt his reach extend and when he looked at his arm he
saw something he had not expected. A sword blade jutted out of his upper
forearm. Now the furrows made sense. He pulled his arm up to his face and
studied it curiously. May-be this whole robot thing wasn't so bad. The blade
was around two and a half feet long, straight and double-edged. He brought up
his left hand and cocked his head as he looked at it as well. He bunched that
hand into a fist and watched as an identical sword shot out of that arm as well
and crossed before his other one. If Kroenen could have smiled he would have.
He had two weapons built into his arms. He swung his arms around elegantly as
he began to practice his new and deadly art form. The unusual style came to him
naturally and he was a blur of flying sharp blades. The surroundings arched
over him high and took on a baroque look. The floor became black and white
checkered tiles. Amidst all the beauty there would be the strange to remind one
that this was no place on earth. Between the elegant shapes on the walls would
jut out occasional spikes. The ceiling too had its share and they hung down
like stalactites. This was his home now and this is how he felt as he practiced
on into the night.
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