Traumatic Memories

As the Ghost tears through the open skies, he remembers fighting the Nazis of their timeline. He had so much riding on their defeat back then, knowing he'd lost in this world had began weighing on him.

As he lands in D.C, the signs of war began to show themselves. D.C was the site of the Nazis' first nuke drop. The buildings were falling apart from the blast, the heat must've been intense for there to be so much scorching on the buildings.

Once the Ghost reached the Archive, he turned around, to see a literal spirit version of himself wondering the atomic ashes. He kept muttering the same sentence over and over again. "I let her down, I let her down, I let her down."

Realizing the sentences meaning, he walked towards the spirit. Rather than it bolt away, it stood before him, looming like his future.

"You are me."

"Yes."

"Why have you come here?"

"I'm here to get something, something that belongs to me."

"We failed her you know that."

"You did, I did not."

"You WILL fail her, all of them too."

"I'd like to see that, because last I remember, I don't quit."

"What happens when that demon, that ugly side of you fails you? Do you think you can kill without him? Remember what life was like without it? How mom used to hurt you, dad used to beat you?"

"I'm not so innocent in all of that either."

"You deserved glory, they were lucky to walk the same earth as you, they should've bowed before you, THEY ALL SHOULD HAVE!"

"No, it was I who got lucky to walk the same earth as all of them. the lessons I was taught meant more than being whatever you are."

"When mom asked if I'd save her, it was a simple yes, followed by the snapping of her neck."

"She was ruthless, but she didn't deserve that."

"Truly you must be weak, she NEEDED TO DIE!"

"NO! She deserved the pain of watching us win without her, death is a release all too quick."

The spirit was taken back. "And they called me cruel, you don't kill, you aim for pain, see which one of your enemies can last longer than you, and so far, everyone else has fallen short, haven't they?"

The Ghost stayed silent as the spirit floated around him.

"Why do you still cling to the idea of hope, that ill-founded idea that mom deserves a chance?"

"She deserves nothing, she will earn her place just like everyone else. Loyalty above everything else or have you forgotten spirit."

"Don't you remember when she'd use dad, like her executioner. He'd beat you, bruise you, and all of that wasn't enough, was it? You needed Patricia to help you."

"Silence you filth."

"She DIED KNOWING YOU'D SUCUMB TO YOUR DEMONS AND THERE WAS NOTHING SHE COULD DO!"

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

The Ghost had his guns drawn at the spirit, his eyes weren't full of rage, but full of tears. The spirit could see them under the helmet of his armor.

"Ah, now I see. You loved your grandma more than life itself, now that she's gone, your strength is that of an ember of a once great fire, almost putting itself out."

"You're wrong and right. I loved her because she was always there for me, never raising a hand, just her voice whenever I needed to be corrected. As for my strength, I found someone, someone who helped me get the ember back into an inferno. My strength is not in question, neither is my resolve."

The spirit smirked, "And what would happen if I told you how she dies."

The Ghost's eyes had no tears in them, just rage, his body bristled as even the demon knew better than to interfere.

"What, no words for you on that?"

"He is trying not to reach into spirit realm and destroy whatever soul you have left." spoke the demon.

The spirit looked into his eyes and backed away."

"Wait... Your anger, that level of hatred, ISN'T from your demon?"

"No, it is my own, an anger and hatred for someone weaker than me, someone who couldn't live with failure. My anger and hatred for this pathetic world comes from the pain, it comes from that little boy who wanted nothing more than to help people, to love the world. He is the reason my anger, my rage, and my resolve can't be broken, not by mom, not dad, and definitely not you."

The Ghost put his guns away and walked back to the door. "You will bear witness as to why I am the strongest version of me, anywhere, anytime. I am unbreakable in my will and unrelenting in my rage. Watch as your world quivers before me."

The Ghost enters the Archive ruins as the spirit is left outside The Ghost paused in the corridor, his heart and mind were racing. Yes, as a boy, he'd longed for a world he could love, however, he was born into the generation of no hope. Endless wars taking the lives of his family friends, the government stealing the happiness from his family, and worst of all, that boy growing to hate the people and world around him so much, that anger had infected him, that demon was that little boy, poisoned by anger, betrayed by the ones he'd loved.

The Ghost punched the steel wall, putting a hole in it. "Damn it.. why did I have to be the one everyone looked to." he said as he looked at the hole. "Right, if not me, then who." The Ghost pushed deeper and deeper into the bunker, once he'd reached the lowest point, he continued forwards, seeing an ominous blue light. Liberty Bell stood before him in the gantry. "Get UP!" The Ghost yelled at the automaton; his fist clenched.

"What are my orders, Commander Ghost?"

"We have Nazis to kill."

"Affirmative."

The American automaton broke free of her gantry and began busting out of the bunker, the spirit above watched as Liberty and the Ghost rose from the grave of America and began their march away from the spirit.

"Truly, he is the strongest of us all." said the spirit watching his otherworldly counterpart vanish into the atomic ash ruins.