How quickly did the marshlands of Doom turn into a raging inferno, as both the combustible sludge and the drier parts of what little trees grew were ignited. But it wasn't flames being belted from the Slayer's shoulder cannon that caused this, nor was it anymore projectile based attacks from his new opponent. What turned this swampy landscape into a massive wildfire was nothing more than simple sparks, which were produced in mass as a result of the two figures clashing their chainsaws over and over again. When the battle between them first began not much really happened, as they both tested the other to try and discern what they were fully capable of.
For the Slayer he realized that his combat shotgun couldn't harm it at all due to its admittedly impressive shield, while the beast realized no matter how well it aimed or how fast it shot, there was no chance it was ever going to hit its mark. So seeing as each possessed the serrated toothed tool they decided to do this the old fashion way, no bullets or plasma not even rockets were to be fired, just the clashing of their "swords" to gauge each other's strength. And for a time it seemed like this new demonic threat was actually holding his own, that he was somehow able to contend with the Slayer blow for blow. Of course that was solely because he wanted this to last, for in his quickly degrading grasp on sanity the Slayer saw this as a new toy, and he wanted to get as much fun out of it before it was broken.
Unfortunately this particular toy wanted to be destroyed it seemed, for as the fight progressed it became more ferocious and bold with its attacks, meaning it was time for him to show who was REALLY in charge here. After their most recent clash they stood opposite of each other surrounded by a wall of flames, their saws having already reached their maximum speed and were still ready for more. They stood there staring each other down for the next few seconds, with the creature evaluating the best way to attack him now where as he just grinned like a lunatic waiting for it to resume. Then it happened, with another violent roar and a bit more fuel pumped to its twin saws it charged at him like a bull, yet he stood his ground as he wanted it to hit him with all it had.
Both drew their weapons back ready to swing, and in a single bright flash of sparks their exchange was done. However following soon after was the sound of cables snapping and some flesh tearing, as the sled and torso were messily severed. This wouldn't have been possible if anyone else had swung the chainsaw, due to its shield and the durability of the connecting point itself, but this was the Slayer and if he so wanted he could have easily pried them apart with just his bare hands. Yet to the monster's surprise this was not the only damage it sustained, looking to its twin saws which it tried to cut his body in half with, it noticed they had been shattered.
Just one direct blow delivered to the Slayer's abdomen was enough to completely destroy them, but while it made note of this the Slayer made note of something else. Once the sled had become fully detached from the torso, multiple small jets at its base activated allowing it to hover in the air. A neat trick he thought as he hadn't seen a demon do that before, but it wouldn't mean anything if he jumped onto its back and split it in half by pulling its horns in separate directions.
"Critical damage." It stated as it looked to the sled that laid beneath it, "Sled inoperable, chainsaws inoperable, no further means of damage remaining, returning to base." It said as the jets produced more power.
Watching as the upper half suddenly rose high into the air before then flying off at an incredible speed, the Slayer was left standing there as the fires continued to burn around him. However he made no attempts to shoot it down or keep it from leaving, instead in what felt like forever he began to chuckle, which soon became something that could only be described as the cackling of a
mad man. For this was the first time a demon had ever shown the sense to retreat so it could prepare for another encounter, and he was scarily excited at what new tricks it could bring to their next duel.
"Ugh, this thing fucking sucks!" Loona shouted angrily as she broke the pencil she was holding.
With all of the Slayer's composed music now in their possession, the tag team of Loona and Octavia got to work figuring out what lyrics could be put to it. However this was honestly really fucking hard, but not just because writing good songs isn't easy. They wanted each of these tracks to be a tribute to Will, each one telling a story of either his battle with the demons, or of how much of a badass he was. Unfortunately their lack of songwriting experience made this...well...pretty fucking impossible.
"And that's twenty." Octavia said as the Hellhound threw the two halves into a nearby bin, which was quickly filling up with pencil corpses.
"It's not my fault all these pencils don't work!" Loona exclaimed defensively.
"They're not magic you know, they're just sticks of wood with lead in them." She told her. "...Shut up." Loona replied with a huff as she crossed her arms, "Why is making instrumental
soundtracks SO much easier?..." She asked with a groan as she threw her head back over her chair.
"It's because the others were just looking for something to help build up a particular scene or sequence, or in Vox's case something that could serve as a level theme, but this is a lot more personal and special so we want it to be better than everything we've done so far." Octavia explained.
"BUT WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN ONE SONG WRITTEN YET!" She shouted in frustration. "Perfection is never easy, but it's always worth it." Octavia replied.
"Yeah well right now perfection can kiss my-"
Before she could finish that statement, which even by the Hellhound's vulgar standards would've been astounding, she was interrupted by someone knocking at their office door. Speaking of the room for a moment it was honestly very nice, as it had all the luxury yet style you'd expect of two big shot music producers, though they were still a long ways from being recognized as such.
Furthermore connected to this was a fully furnished recording studio, which is where they obviously made all of their music once it was composed.
"Whoever's on the other side of that door this is your first and only warning to leave us alone, otherwise I cannot be held responsible when I take that hand of yours for myself." She told them not wanting to deal with anyone right now.
"I take it the songwriting isn't going well?" A familiar voice responded, though who it belonged to caused their eyes to widen.
Getting up from their seats and answering the door, both were surprised yet happy to see none other than Lilith standing there. The reason why they were so happy is because she had become a mentor to them, since she was the best performer in all of Hell. And after everything that's happened she not only wanted to help but also to be closer to everyone, and for her this was the first best way to do so.
"Hey!" Both of them greeted before giving her a hug, which she happily returned. "Nice to see you too." She said not expecting such a friendly response.
"You could NOT have come at a better time!" Loona told her as they pulled away, "This shit is driving us insane!" She explained.
"Oof, that bad?' Lilith questioned.
"More so for her than me, though to be fair I've had the entertainment of watching her break pencils for the past few hours." Octavia said, earning a light jab from Loona's elbow in response.
"Well then, it's a good thing I decided to come by and check in on you, since Vega told me he was finally able to send the music." She admitted as she came into the room.
"How is he by the way?" Loona asked as she closed the door for her, "We really haven't been able to see him at all, you know not since...everything." She said.
"Believe me both Charlie and Lucifer are aware of this too." Lilith answered with a sigh, "He has tried his best to make as much time to spend with us and Azrael as possible, but it is rather hopeful to assume after being absent for so long that NO ONE else in creation would want to meet with him." She explained.
"Yeah, god suddenly disappearing and just as suddenly reappearing is a pretty big deal." Octavia replied in a somewhat joking way.
"That it is." She agreed with a smile, "But enough about that, let's talk about why you two are having so much trouble with this." She suggested.
"Oh I can tell you that right now." Loona said before falling down into her chair, "It's because Will despite being on the surface a pretty simple guy, ya know pew pew kill demons and everything, is actually REALLY fucking hard to write music for when you know the full story..." She explained.
"Then why not dedicate some songs to that particular side of him and others to the tragedy of his life?" Lilith suggested.
"We tried that, and by the end we basically had one song for the latter." Octavia told her.
"Oh my, it really is that difficult hm?" She asked receiving nods from both of them, "Well, maybe you should try and approach it from a different angle then? Maybe instead of just putting his fights and life into song you can make them into ballads, similarly to how a bard would spread word of a noble knight or something." She suggested.
"So your solution is for us to go full medieval?..." Loona replied causing Lilith to roll her eyes.
"No of course not, I just mean write something in that same vein, just describing the kind of person he was or how incredible his fights were, and for the songs you want to write about him just focus on how despite everything he suffered he refused to let them win, where others would have given up he persevered." She explained.
"I guess we could try that..." Loona said while stretching out her arms, "But right now I need a break..." She sighed.
"And more pencils." Octavia added.
"Shut up." She replied.
Smiling at how well they were getting along and that she could be of some help, all three women would leave the office and head downstairs, wanting to get something to eat before they continued talking about the music.
"I...I've never heard about you..." Vega said in bewilderment as he, Samur, and the Khan all stood in front of their unexpected guest.
After addressing them the three Heavenly figures expected he might attack, but were shocked to see him walk over to a nearby bench and sit down. He even went so far as to hold out his arms to show them he held no weapons, apart from the wrist mounted blade and shoulder cannon both of which were not active. Whoever this stranger was he clearly came to talk and not fight, so they flew down to the garden to hear what he had to say. And the story he told them once they landed, never before known details beyond he and the Slayer, were some of the most shocking they had ever heard.
"It makes sense that you haven't." He admitted as he intertwined his fingers, "With my betrayal came a scrubbing of me from Doom's history, furthermore I did not serve that grand of a place in the hierarchy, I have no doubts if any of you had seen me elsewhere you thought nothing, believing me to be no different than say and Imp or Hellrazer." He explained.
"Still, how is it that you and him were able to even interact with each other? Surely the Dark One would have intervened or punished you in some way?" The Khan questioned.
"True, unless of course when I began my treason against him and the legions, I perhaps inscribed a few holy sigils into my sanctum." He suggested.
"Thus meaning that no unholy force could enter, but if that is true then how did you manage to withstand it?" Samur asked.
"That comes with what my purpose was to the Dark One." He answered before leaning in so he could it explain it to them, "I was what one may call a forge master, any time we invaded a world and brought it into our domain, all manner of technology and related materials were given to me for study, hence why so many of us are augmented and even some mostly cybernetic, of course it was not only enhancements to our soldiers I crafted, I also devised machines capable of producing us in mass so no matter how many died we would always have more to spare, I employed this same technology in my sanctum explaining to the Dark One it was there should I become injured or even killed during my work, and while this was true in the beginning it changed as time passed." He explained.
"When you started developing your own sentience and even a conscious?" The Khan inquired.
"Hundreds upon thousands of years I spent studying the inventions of countless species, eventually my curiosity and fascination for the vast creativity of mortals began to grow, so much so that I suggested to my former master that I could survey worlds ahead of time, so that way we would know their defenses and would be able to kill them more efficiently, but soon as I watched them my curiosity extended to their religions, their cultures, their histories and so forth, I wanted to study all that they had to offer but I knew that all I would receive was their technology, everything else would be destroyed in our attack, it is here that a feeling of guilt began to grow within me and I realized just exactly what it was we were doing...and for the first time...I hated it..." He told them as he clenched his fists.
"This is why you sought to aid the Slayer when he arrived, as despite the odds he continued to be a
threat to your master." Vega said.
"Correct, so many powerful civilizations and species were felled within hours of our appearance, yet this one fought us every step of the way with no signs of stopping, where the others who also took notice of this became zealots who worshiped him as their new god, I saw him as my only opportunity to make amends for all that I had helped destroy, so I then waited for when the Icon fell just to be certain he was unstoppable, that is when I carved the sigils to keep the Dark One at bay and began working on my offering to show I was his ally." He replied.
"The first praetor suit, the one that was found with him inside the tomb." Samur realized.
"I based it off of the armor he fought with during his crusade, even used some of it as a base for the one I crafted, it took quite a while to finish but since he was then trapped inside the realm by three of the Sentinel's priests, it's not like he had anywhere else to be." He said.
"Is that why the suit you wear resembles the one he had until recently?" The Khan asked. "What do you mean? Has he received yet another new armor?" He questioned.
"That he has, one made with Maykr technology and powered by his incorruptible soul." Vega revealed.
"Heh, I see you took my design and improved it to an even greater version." He said with a chuckle.
"Actually we had begun construction long before he even appeared, but to be fair once the praetor suit was discovered we did update the design, so you actually improved something made by the brightest Heaven has to offer." Vega complimented.
"Your words humble me creator." He replied.
"There's still something that doesn't quite add up." Samur admitted as he put a hand to his chin, "Even with you wanting to aid him, how is it you were able to convince him that this was not some kind of trick? And by relation keep him from killing you?" He asked.
"Because I did the one thing no demon had ever done, I knelt before him with my arms spread out as I did just a few moments ago, and I told him that if he did not care for what I had to say, if he believed all that left my mouth was but lies and deception, then I welcomed death by his hand as it was a fate deserving of one such as I, who had caused just as much pain and torment as the Dark One himself." He answered.
"So you showed him that you wanted to atone, that you acknowledged your crimes and sins and would do whatever was necessary to make amends, huh, sounds like a similar situation we're all familiar with." Vega noted.
"Are there any more questions you have for me?" He asked.
"Only two, less of course either of you have something else you'd like to know?" Vega inquired looking to the Maykrs.
"I believe the questions you will ask are the same as ours father." The Khan replied. "Agreed." Samur said.
"Very well, then the first question we all want an answer to is in regards to your suit, we've noticed
how it seems to be joined with your flesh, much like certain other demons from Doom, was this something you did to yourself willingly?" Vega asked.
"Yes, for the truth is am still a being made by the Dark One's power, if he should realize I have returned he could take control of me like the rest of his minions, another reason I had inscribed those sigils for protection, to counter this I made it so that my suit would autonomously fight against his will by taking over my body, this also applies should I sustain a great deal of damage and am hindered in my actions, the suit will continue to help me move and act normally even if a bone is broken or my muscles are torn, the only time it won't be able to fulfill this is if I am completely destroyed, as even in a near completely mangled state it will hold me together and keep my battered body moving." He answered.
Falling silent after this was said, all three divine beings were both shocked and horrified by what he just told them. Never before had they seen someone so willing to inflict such torture on themselves, to the point that even if they are made a corpse they'll still in a sense be "alive", truly the most ghastly thing they've ever heard. But there was a third emotion that surfaced alongside the former two, and though it may sound odd it was respect. While there was still much they needed to learn and sort out about this demon, it was clear to them he wanted to do all he could to right the wrongs of his past, in addition to helping the Slayer.
"That...is commendable." Vega said after a minute had gone by, "I never believed it possible for a creature hailing from that cursed place to be capable of such sacrifice, so willing to put themselves through a pain as terrible as this, you are truly the best your kind has ever seen." He praised.
"Again, your words humble me creator." He replied.
"This however does bring us to our second question, which has two parts to it." Vega said as he held up a finger, "The first is your name, we have yet to learn what you are called, the second is what your plans are and why they have brought you here to us?" He asked.
"I have abandoned the name I was given by the Dark One long ago, as such I have been without one all this time." He admitted before looking to them, "However they came to call me by something else, something I believe is rather fitting now, so you may refer to me by that name, you may call me Wretch." He told them as he rose from his seat, "As for my plans, I am determined to do all that I can to take the Slayer's place, as well as finally put an end to my former master's poisonous soul." He revealed.
"Whep, looks like ya fucked up snake boy." Valentino said as he looked at the remains of their newest demon.
After returning to Sir Pentious's chamber the creature was deactivated, allowing his inventor to begin repairs and analyze the data received from the battle.
"ThIS waS a TEst FOr THe DoOm HunTER..." He responded as he focused on a terminal.
"Well, then ya failed it, HARD." Valentino told him putting a great deal of emphasis on the last word, "So what's the plan now snaky? Gonna give him a bigger sled? How bout more chainsaws? Or you could even give him a second head so he can see his ass getting kicked twice!" He suggested before bursting out into laughter.
For a moment as he ridiculed the poor tortured soul Sir Pentious's fingers twitched, almost as if he were trying to make a fist. Sadly both his augments and the power that controlled him left it at just that, a brief twitch of defiance before he resumed his work.
"Anyway, what's the progress on angel boy?" Valentino asked after a few seconds. "hE wILl bE REaDY sOOn..." Sir Pentious answered.
"Great! Been dying to see what you've added onto him, he definitely needs something cause he got his ass laid out flat last time." He said.
"BoTh hE AnD tHe CyBeR dEmoN WiLl bE fINiSHed beFOre LoNg...sO wIlL thE aRmOr..." Sir Pentious assured.
"Armor? What armor?" He asked.
"DiD tHe DaRk ONe NoT TeLl YoU?..." Sir Pentious questioned.
Shaking his head no the snake demon responded by bringing something up on a screen for him to see, but what he saw he could have never expected. The first thing he noticed was the Slayer's mech, the one that had been repaired in his fortress, apparently at some point after they invaded his world it was brought back here. But instead of using it against him it was being taken apart and modified by Arachnotrons and Revenants, the reason as to why explained by what laid behind it. A horribly mutilated corpse of a giant goat like behemoth rested on the ground, and although he had only been with them for a short time he knew what it was.
"Holy fuck...he's gonna resurrect the Icon of Sin...and he's gonna deck him out in the Slayer's mech..." Valentino realized, a massive toothy grin spreading across his features as he did, "Now this...this is the kind of shit I was hoping to see..." He said with a sinister chuckle.