Location: Ponape, Pohnpei Island.

Date: October 18, 1945

The island of Pohnpei was plagued with many atrocities that the Japanese research division known as Division 9 have created in their twisted experiments. From using Element 115 infused water to transform the plant life into more carnivorous creatures, or the abundant spider population into giant creatures from nightmares, none were more horrid for one man than to see his another man–another him–being subjugated to these sick experiments. Takeo Musaki was a man who above all was a loyal servant to the man who led his home country. The Emperor was a god in the samurai's eyes, one who gave his life purpose, a man who he used as the justification on going on this inter-dimensional crusade with his three unlikely allies–Tank Dempsey, Nikolai Belinski and the leader of the team: Dr. Edward Richtofen. The last member had told him since their reunion at the Der Riese facility he had a message for the samurai, one from the Emperor himself. Through the facility and later a castle in Austria where the group would claim the soul of Dempsey for a purpose not entirely known to them, Takeo followed, growing more and more impatient, more demanding to know what the German's message was–finally he had found it.

The Emperor…was a cruel and jealous man who cared little for him. The Emperor, the man Takeo dedicated life and blade to, left him to be tested on and tortured out of petty jealousy. The Samurai knew now why Richtofen had not told him; had he not seen it with his own eyes, or heard his other self such a truth–he would have written everything off as a lie. To keep his honor, Takeo offered to be his other selves kaishakunin in the act of seppuku. In a matter of motions, the task was done. Ultimis Takeo, the tortured and broken man was free from his torment. His honor was reclaimed and kept safe thanks to his Primis version. Primis Takeo remained silent as he sheathed his katana…his life, his path was all a lie. For the first time he was not sure what to strive for now, what his end purpose was…what he would do all this for. His mind raced with many thoughts, all stopping when he felt something on his shoulder. The samurai turned around to see Dempsey putting his hand on him, the two had shared a similar act, Takeo had noted that the action of killing the other Dempsey had changed the American. He gave a small nod as thanks; their attention being focused on Richtofen, who hovered an artifact-The Summoning Key- over the dead Takeo. As before at the castle, it began to float up in the air and illuminate the area before falling back in the German's hands. Takeo's soul was now collected.

"Three down, one to go." Dempsey mused dryly. "Guess it's you next Nikolai."

The Russian bit his inner cheek and lightly shook his head. As far as he was concerned, nothing about their journey had convinced him that Richtofen was on the right path–all this soul collecting and traveling to hellscapes would only result in their damnation. Worst of all: would be to return to see his other self and confront his past demons. Ones he wished to be buried deep within the past.

"Nein, there is something else we must do." Richtofen spoke as a portal opened, this one however was different. Rather than the usual blue colored portals that their ally Dr. Maxis opened up for them, this one was a lava orange with a red hue to it, inside was a black void. Richtofen took one step inside and turned around at the other three men; "There is a chain of events that must be set in motion,"
With that, Richtofen walked in; Dempsey, Nikolai and Takeo looked at one another, unsure of their actions as usual. Their quest for the 'Better Tomorrow' that the German planned from the start seemed too far-fetched, but at this point of their journey they were all too invested to decide against it. With a few more glances at one another, they let out a collective sigh and begrudgingly followed into the portal and away from the island.

Location: Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, USA

Date: July 4, 1941

On the other side of the portal, all Primis could find themselves in was an empty blackness. The crew walked for a moment, feeling around their unknown area, it was cramped no wider than one of them. Nikolai took a step and nearly tripped over before being caught by Takeo.

"Was stumbling around in total darkness part of plan?" he scoffed over in what he believed was Richtofen's direction. Dempsey meanwhile reached into one of his pockets and shuffled some items before pulling out a lighter. With one flick they now had a source of light. From a first glance they were inside of concrete walls, copper piping lined up all around, and the ground had notable cracks.

"You give us the fire, we'll give em hell." the American dryly joked as he handed his lighter over to Richtofen.

"Do not speak so lightly of hell–" Takeo began to warn, Dempsey only rolled his eyes and turned back to face the samurai.

"–Easy, Tak. I didn't mean the real thing."

"Gentlemen." The German called to the other three, he turned over to face a hole in the wall, with some thin piece of paper hiding it. Richtofen handed back the lighter as he moved his hands to tear down the poster. "We are here."

One by one, the men walked through the hole and into the main area, it appeared to be a cell block. With a crack of lighting overhead, it did not help the hellish feeling the four had as they scanned around. The cell block was in shambles with barbed wire lining the upper levels, tattered and bloodied cloth hung up and on the ground with other debris. Small embers of fire lit some more corners along with the overhead lights with bodies hanging on the walls that were wrapped around with sheets and rope like a cocoon. The sight was very reminiscent of their previous location on the island. Dempsey took a mental note that behind all the decorations from hell, this was the Alcatraz prison.

"Where have you taken us?" Nikolai spat out, continuing to scan around in disgust. Richtofen however did not hear the Russian's questions; rather he looked around with confusion.

"We should be closer to the lab…" he mumbled to himself. Teleportation was not an easy thing and it is not always set in place, that was the explanation Richtofen told himself as he turned to the others; "This way, if you please."

The four continued to wander around the hellish landscape, their weapons drawn and ready for anything that would come their way. While there was nothing, the feeling of being watched weighed heavy on them. From the main cell block, they made their way to the edge of the island to the New Industrial complex, where prisoners from the former days would construct license plates. In this area, Richtofen walked into one of the buildings and flipped a switch, revealing an opening to a lower level. Taking one step in, the group felt the chilly air hit it, reminding them of their time at the castle. Descending further inside was a small room with four large machines lined up with tubes connected pumping in liquid nitrogen. The cold liquid coming into contact with the air gave the room a foggy mist, but the group were able to make out a person standing with his back turned, scanning a book.

"You're late." the man said in a familiar voice and turned around, to everyone's confusion minus Richtofem. It was…Richtofen. "Doctor."

"Doctor." The German greeted himself as he and the other Primis members approached the second German. "Is there a problem?"

With no other word, the second Richtofen grabbed a small box with six vials of blood. "Two for each of them, survival depends on it….ah ja ja ja. You remember." he scoffed. The man was notably agitated over something, this was not the usual way it would play out, Richtofen thought to himself as he handed the vials over to Dempsey–he gave a questionable glance at them. Takeo and Nikolai occupied themselves by scanning around the laboratory. The Russian gave a look into the large machines, there was a circular window into them, upon further inspection, he noted a woman inside with a brown cap, freckles and her hair in a ponytail. Nikolai shook his head in disgust. This only brought more questions if they would face something similar to these four thanks to Richtofen's plans. The Second Richtofen meanwhile was muttering to himself the usual things that the German does when under stress; "A vessel for Maxis….the opening of the gateways."

"Are you sure you are not getting confused?" Richtofen raised an eyebrow.

"You'll be needing this." Richtofen Two said as he handed over the book he had been looking at earlier.

"The Kronorium?" Richtofen chuckled, "But I already read it!"

"Read it, again!" the other man snapped as he walked towards an opening portal so he could commence his own cycle of events. Richtofen rolled his eyes, amused by the ordeal, surely things were not going to play out the same every time, he thought and opened the ancient book. Immediately his smile dropped, his eyes darted all around the book.

"What…is the meaning of this?!" he said out loud, this got the others' attention now; "The pages have changed! They–our blood…my blood." He looked back up to Richtofen Two; "You cannot possibly expect me to let this happen!"

Richtofen Two simply turned around and shrugged his shoulders with a smug grin. The man walked into the blue portal and disappeared, leaving Primis alone at the prison.

"You son of a bitch!" Richtofen yelled in anger as he threw The Kronorium at the spot where the portal was. The book fell to the ground open, it began to shake in place before magically closing itself shut. While the others would question the book, there was a more important question at hand–Richtofen balled his fists and panted a bit in anger, but fear of what the book had told him.

"Let me guess, you're not gonna tell us what that was all about?" Dempsey assumed as he crossed his arms.

"Or explain why you have people in freezer!" Nikolai added, everyone's interrogations came to a halt as an all too familiar groaning came from the floor above. This was a perfect excuse for Richtofen as he pulled his revolver from his holster.

"We are leaving." he said as he walked towards the stairway. The other three all grabbed their weapons, but were not as convinced of the German's words.

"Kuso" Takeo muttered under his breath, placing his hand over his katana's hilt.

"(Yeah right…)" Nikolai rolled his eyes, readying his shotgun.

"Asshole." Dempsey muttered, pulling out his two 1911's. The group made their way out and were greeted by the undead prisoners and guards, all tattered and with metal shrapnel all over them. One feature was their eyes glowing crimson red as opposed to previous encounters where they glowed yellow. Not that it mattered for the four men, who got to work disposing of the initial undead that stood in their way. Takeo was the first, with some swift swings of his katana slicing through undead like butter. The Samurai continued his massacre, pulling out a machine pistol side arm of the form of the Mini Uzi. Dempsey helped out his Japanese ally by firing well aimed shots with his 1911's, the .45 rounds piercing through the undead's skulls. Nikolai used his trusty M37 to clear a path out for the four as they made a run from the New Industrials area of the prison and towards the cellblock. Reaching the main portion, more undead began to come out of each nook and cranny, their numbers growing by the second. Richtofen looked around and saw at the end was a portal like before that would take them to the island as before.

"There, get to the portal!" he yelled as they made a mad dash. So close now to freedom and the book's words. This all came to a grinding halt as a large figure made its entrance from the Warden's Office. Towering over them was a person dressed in a tattered and ruined officer suit with prison riot gear over it. Metal chains and barbed wire lined across the zombies' body, with a flashlight attached to his chest. Behind his shattered riot helmet were a similar pair of red eyes that widened a bit when looking at the German within the group. The zombie took one look at the portal and back at Primis. "Scheisse…" was all Richtofen could let out as the Warden lifted his club over his head and at the portal.

"I will be reborn!" his voice boomed as he slammed at the portal, causing a shockwave that knocked him and Primis back, taking the most from the explosion, the lights in the Warden's eyes faded away as he fell dead. Richtofen rose back up to see the portal–their one form of escape–vanished before him. His heart sank, everything the Kronorim had told him was becoming a reality as always. "M-mein gott…"he muttered, a lump forming in his throat; "What have I done…?"

The other members of Primis however were more focused on the zombies that were on their tail, Dempsey looked over at the German and yanked him up with a belt that was wrapped around his shoulder that held his blood vials.

"Move it, Doc!" he yelled as they descended away from the prison, through the Citadel Tunnels. The more they moved however, the more undead ran, slowly catching up inch by inch. The four made their way to the lowest point of the prison, the docks. To reach there, they needed to go through the electrical room, where undead surrounded the four. They had no choice but fend them off, the four were backed and worked together without saying a word to each other and fought off the undead. After a tense moment, they had been able to shimmy their way to the door, running to it, Nikolai fired his shotgun and Takeo slammed the metal door shut. The four ran as the door was merely a band aid solution with the zombies tearing the door off its hinges and sending it flying off. The undead trampled over one another as they made their way to the four. Primis were losing more and more room as they reached the wooden planks of the docks and were met with only the icy water of the bay. Turning around the zombies blocked their only way out.

"Now would be time for a plan, Richtofen…." Dempsey looked around at their odds.

"The plan is to fight as much as we can." The German said as he fired his revolver into the wall of zombies, the others joined in. A crack of lighting filled the sky again as the four fell.

This was not their end however.

Only their beginning.

A/N: Hello all my zombie loving folks! I have returned from the grave with a rewrite of this Fic that started it all! I had a block for a while to write and this fic helped to overcome it. I will eventually rewrite this, but over time. I cringe too much at this story looking back and I will come around to adjust it to my liking. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and to old readers are excited for updates on this. This is Ghost, Going Dark.