Iratu was trying to get his head in shape. It wasn't that the operation was going iffy- indeed, the demons had no difficulty rounding up the angels. All he had to do was make sure that the other demons didn't kill themselves, and that wasn't even an effort. In short, he was content.
And then his brother showed up, with that same jakkai he met in the Ring half a year ago in tow. That wasn't even mentioning what went down afterwards.
Even as Hakka blindly shoved an angel onto the jakkai's back, giving Buwaro no small amount of alarm, the air gained the stench of sulfur and dust before the Coiled Cobra's doorway filled with a blindingly bright portal, causing everyone to cover their eyes. After they had grown used to the shining light, the demons and their hostages could hear muffled footsteps closing in on the portal.
Metallic footsteps.
With no more fanfare, the demons' backs went rigid as Samuel Hayden, Lord of Hell, stormed into the bar.
The metal giant, formerly a mere human scientist, had taken the land of demons by storm around three decades ago, the protests and attacks of all of demonkind doing nothing to impede his progress. With no soul to burden with divine pain, a solid wall of force blocking him from claws and magic alike, and the Crucible, the ultimate weapon of Hell, at his disposal, Hayden had used his might to seize the reins of the High Council and force Hell to militarize, in response to the rapidly escalating angelic advance.
Iratu didn't think of any of that, though, for as the Lord of Hell looked over the room, his rage and disdain apparent despite his emotionless visage, all that went through Iratu's head was fear. After some time, which seemed to drag on for centuries, Hayden finally spoke, his robotic voice festering with displeasure.
"Good evening, gentlemen. I see you've been busy." With that, every agent in the room cringed, Iratu especially, since he knew that he would be the prime target of Hayden's rage as the local general. Quickly, Iratu held his claws up, a clear sigh of surrender.
"M-m-my lord, we've, uh, we've, we've done everything acording t-to plan, my lord, honest." Iratu quickly realized that he had signed his death warrant when the Lord of Hell's baleful, cyan gaze fell on him, and as Hayden marched up to him, the general valiantly failed to suppress a whimper. Hayden took a seat at the stool next to Iratu, striking a casual pose that did nothing to reduce his intimidating presence.
"Oh, I have no problem with that, General Iratu. Your detail has been doing exemplary work in furthering my cause. Except..." The Lord of Hell leaned in, until his faceplate was less than an inch away from Iratu's sweat-damp face, the light from his optic slit speeding up the general's pupils' reduction to pinpricks. "You haven't been doing that, because I have not ordered a single Ascension since my appointment. Either your entire detail has gone rogue-" Hayden paused to take in the cowering of the demons- "- or someone has been giving you orders behind my back." The Lord of Hell leaned back, allowing Iratu to shudder in fear. "So, where have you been getting your orders from, if I may ask?"
"I-i, I, I, I don't know, my lord!" Iratu practically screeched in terror, covering his face from the Lord of Hell's horrible gaze. "I-I-I just get them from one of the councilmen, m-my lord! I couldn't, couldn't tell you who, my lord, I'm sorry, they just get handed down!" Hayden's gaze remained on Iratu for a couple of seconds before he lowered it to the floor and covered it with a single hand, the other gripping the table behind him so hard that it tore a piece off of the counter.
"Those... traitorous bastards..." Abruptly, the Lord of Hell stood back up, marching across the room and turning to face the gathered angels, a jakkai still paralyzed holding one on her back. "Well, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later. Damnable jingosim." The Lord of Hell threw his hands up. "Fine. It seems like I'll have to manage everything from now on, because apparently you dimwitted hellspawn can't even get patriotism right!" With that, Hayden opened the portal once more, allowing a Hell Guardian to march through. "This will be the last order I give you, so pay attention. I want every angel that comes through here to be freed and sent to the eastern gate. Don't try to get away with any- I will know about it. After that, you're all discharged." The last command left the demons sputtering in shock, even as the Hell Guardian reduced half of a wall to splinters and began to herd the angels through it.
Tsavo was the first to question Hayden, much to the dismay of the other demons. "But... my lord! How are we supposed to return to Hell? We can't just stay here!" At that, the Lord of Hell turned to the alchemist, wagging a finger.
"Oh, but you can, Lieutenant Tsavo! You have to, because from this day forward, no demon is going in or out of Hell. This incident has shown me that you simply can't be trusted to learn your history, and I will not have you repeating it." Hayden then turned to the Guardian-killing jakkai still sleeping off his exhaustion. "Now, for my second order of business. Bring Moonshade forward." Without any hestitation, Tsavo scooped up the jakkai and dumped him in the area the angels had been resting in. Startled by the rude awakening, Moonshade looked up at the Lord of Hell groggily. "...huh? Lord Hayden? Why are you here?"
"I could ask the same of you, Guardian-killer." Even as Moonshade's eyes widened, the Lord of Hell pulled the Crucible into plain sight, the activation of its crimson blade sending everyone in the room skittering away. "Agent Moonshade, you have been found guilty of multiple counts of deicide, murder, and environmental terrorism. For this, your sentence is death and torture for six centuries." At that, the jakkai hissed and began to shift into his Guardian form-
-an effort that was, quite literally, cut short by the Crucible's blade.
As the Lord of Hell neared the portal that would take him to Hell, he turned back to the demons who were still staring at the insane jakkai's corpse, giving one last statement to those gathered. "Welcome to Medius, veterans. Thank you for your service to my regime, and enjoy your stay." For some time after Hayden returned to Hell, the room was silent.
Finally, Iratu sighed. "Well... shit. Guess we're on our own, then." At that, Iratu turned to his brother, still confused from witnessing the metallic Lord utterly dominate the demons. "So... uh, Buwaro. How's Sakido doing?"
I own no rights to Slightly Damned or DOOM. These works belong to Sarah Wilson and id Software, respectively.