Ever since Emiko married her husband Sam, she hadn't felt much intimidation before. Sure there were some bigshot people who liked to run their mouths, but she usually scared them straight. A few were still in the mental hospital, last she heard.
But right now, she was feeling a massive amount of intimidation from the man in front of her. She had seen him before from one of those video game commercials on television but she never could have imagined he would be real; That the DOOM SLAYER would be real.
The power radiating off him was immense. Emiko would be forgiven for thinking that he could easily crush both her father, Osamu, and her mother, Amaya, with little effort and with just his bare hands no less!
Still, Erma seemed to be happy with his company, holding onto his hand like a little kid holding onto their parent. It seemed Erma knew who he was and trusted him all the same despite it.
After an awkward pause, Emiko finally spoke. "So...do you want to join us for Dinner?"
The Slayer was sitting with Erma in a furnished living room sitting on a rather comfy couch and watching TV. Honestly, it felt nice, almost peaceful. For so many years, he had stayed holed up in the Fortress of Doom and with only VEGA as his company...well, not VEGA, The Father. Actually, not The Father, The Usurper.
The Slayer let out a heavy sigh as he thought back to the final moments between him and The Dark Lord, the REAL Father. Killing him had purged the demon scourge and avenged all the lives lost to them...but it still left a hollow feeling in his heart. The nightmare was over, but nothing would ever be the same.
And that got The Slayer thinking; Now that the demons are gone and soon to be extinct, what would he do now? He was no longer welcome into The Night Sentinels and he doubted the UAC would have offered him any employment. It would have been best if he merely was left in the sarcophagus he was placed in and laid to rest forever.
However, as he looked at Erma happily watching a rather interesting story about anthropomorphic unicorn princesses fighting evil lords of darkness, he suddenly felt something. Something that he hadn't felt in a long time; Something worth fighting for more than just his boundless rage and hate towards the demons.
He also thought of Sam and Emiko and how kind and hospitable they had been to him so far. The Williams' were a truly wonderful family despite consisting of an Onryo Mother, a Halfling Daughter, and a Human Father.
That was when Sam and Emiko came into the living room to tell the two that dinner was almost ready and that they should wash up. The Slayer didn't have much to clean the blood off his armor, but he managed by simply taking it off. Thankfully, he had a shirt with the Goroth album cover on it, a pair of fitting dark grey pants, and a pair of combat boots.
With his change in wardrobe set, The Slayer sat down with the Williams for dinner. He felt a little bit naked without his Praetor Suit, but he would have to bear it for right now.
"So..." Sam began. "Do you have a name or should we just call you Slayer?"
"Just Slayer..." He replied. "My real name...is long forgotten to me."
"So you CAN talk?" Emiko questioned as The Slayer nodded, stabbing his fork into a cut of meat, cutting a piece off with the knife, and putting it in his mouth quietly and efficiently without much sound.
"Well, okay then," Sam said with a nod. "My name is Samuel Williams, just call me Sam. This is my wife, Emiko, and I'm sure you've already met Erma."
The Slayer looked to the child, who gave him the sweetest smile that could melt the coldest of hearts. Cracking the tiniest of smiles himself, The Slayer rubbed her head affectionately, messing it up slightly as she let out a silent giggle.
"So, all those weapons you use, do you still have them or..." Sam questioned as The Slayer held up a finger and then stood up before walking off. He then came back and placed his specialized hammerspace backpack, the very same one that contained all his weapons and other personal belongings.
Sam, Emiko, and Erma watched as he took out everything. From his trusty Super Shotgun to his portrait of him with his beloved pet rabbit Daisy, to all of his music albums and action figures of himself and the demons he had slain.
"That's a pretty deep backpack, not gonna lie..." Sam said in amazement as The Slayer shot a sly smirk before putting everything away back in the bag.
"Well, we have a guest room if you'd like to use it. I'm not sure it will fit all of that though..." Emiko said a little worriedly but The Slayer smiled reassuringly, silently telling her not to worry about it.
Erma, being the child that she was, had been left in starstruck awe at all of the things that The Doom Slayer had in his arsenal. Noticing the child's excitement, Slayer smirked, knowing that she would flip for his Doomicorn Armor Set if her enjoying that 'Warrior Unicorn Princess' show was anything to go by.
After a relaxing shower, The Slayer allowed Emiko to wash and repair his blood-stained armor.
As he dried his face off with a towel, he looked at himself in the mirror. He still looked like a man in his late '20s to early '30s, had short dark brown almost black hair, steel eyes that glowed an unnatural red whenever he felt agitated, and faded scars that were only just some of the countless ones littering his entire body.
Naturally, despite the many years that he had been alive, he still was glad to know that he retained his humanity throughout it all. He also knew enough about other people that woman would absolutely flip for him. He knew from the logs of Dr. Elena Richardson that she was definitely 'thirsty' for him, as the kids called it.
He shut his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down. There was no point in dwelling in dark memories. He was out of his old world for good with nothing to drag him back into it. He was gonna enjoy life in this new world and who knows, maybe he'll find a lady or more who would enjoy being around him and look past his dark exterior.
In a hidden village in Japan, three Yokai women sneezed and wondered who was talking about them while a fourth one with a blank face just twitched and looked around to see who was talking before going back to tending to her garden.
"So then, Slayer ", said Sam slowly wondering if he was pushing a subject that The Slayer didn't want to answer if he felt it was too personal due to the experience. "Forgive me if this conversation is pushing boundaries or if it may bring back bad memories, but could you please tell us of your experience? We'll all understand if you don't want to tell us if it's too much.
"No...it's fine." The Slayer said. He knew this conversation would come. He could just say that it was a private matter and that he didn't want to talk about what happened in his old world. But he felt it unfair and someone did once say that talking would make a person feel better.
And so, he told the Williams everything. From his time as a Marine to when he beat his commanding officer to death in defiance for wanting to fire on innocent people, to his first encounter with the demon scourge, to Daisy's death, to how he was found by the Night Sentinels and trained by them, to being awakened by Olivia Pierce, to working with Samuel Hayden to stop her, to being teleported to Hell, to forming the Fortress of Doom, to destroying the Icon of Sin, and finally, to putting an end to the Dark Lord himself.
By the end, he was visibly shaken from telling his experience to his new friends as he was clenching his hands hard enough to draw blood. He did not cry, for he had lost that feeling a long time ago, but his eyes held pain in them nonetheless. He had expected a negative reaction of sorts like looks of disgust or even horrified looks at the thought of what he had done.
What he didn't expect was looks of sympathy from Sam and Emiko along with a crying Erma hugging him tightly at the thought of what he had to go through.
And like before, when the Dark Lord had been slain, the Slayer once more felt at peace within himself. The endless rage that boiled inside him simmering after so many years.
Next Time: Meet Felicia!
Yup, I'm planning on shipping Doomguy with Emiko's sisters because I can! Also, because I want to give Doomguy a Happy Ending.