A gentle yet ethereal like wind blew a mixture of sand and dirt across the rocky terrain, all pieces that made it broken apart and held together only by iron chains. If one were to peer over any of its edges they would see nothing, a thick ocean of clouds rested below hiding anything that may be there. Every so often one might find a spout of blood pouring from a sculpture in its walls, or a pooling of vibrant green liquid whose toxicity was abundantly clear. Yet the one thing no one would find no matter where they looked in this section of Doom, would be the expected demons that dwelled throughout the realm.
This was immediately noticed by the Slayer as he marched through it, a rare sensation of serenity filling his soul as he went deeper. Something about this place felt different from any other in this cursed plain, even with some corpses and ghastly sights to be found they didn't feel like offerings or disturbed décor like the rest, instead they felt somehow deserved. In the sense that what remained of them was their own doing, they had trespassed in this seemingly sacred place thus regardless of what their intentions may have been, they received the appropriate punishment.
Which was truly something the Slayer never thought he'd feel about Doom, that anything it or its horrors did was just in any capacity, but as his legs continued moving almost if not on their own, he couldn't feel anything else.
After some time however it would become clear, for as he continued to traverse the floating islands with great ease, he found himself arriving at a place he never thought he'd see again. The tomb, the very place where the demons had kept him for centuries that was located in the heart of the Kadingr Sanctum. Was it just his instincts that brought him back here, or was there something special about this place that made him want to see it again, these questions and any more found no place in his mind. For although it was his prison, and was the sole victory they ever had over him in their endless war, it felt like a place of safety for him.
As it was here that for the first time in so long he slept peacefully, his anger extinguished and his soul allowed to enter dreams, though for him he only ever had one. He longed for the fields that surrounded his family's home, when he could just be out there with Daisy in hand looking to the stars, wondering what amazing things waited to be found. Of course such a dream even then meant very little to him, as by that point he had been through dimensions and even across his own universe, so the mystery of the unknown was gone. Still, despite his dream being an ever fading hope of a weary soul he couldn't help but long for it, hence why he entered the tomb if only to be granted just a moment of rest.
Stepping inside it was the same as visiting your childhood home, an unexplainable nostalgia washing over him as he looked around. On nearly every inch of the walls, ceiling, and floor there were runes and glyphs inscribed, obviously meant to be added with his sarcophagus to ensure his imprisonment. Though like the bed made of stone the energy in these symbols had left, leaving the space rather dark with his suit as the only source of light. Walking from the entrance to the center of the room he then did something most might find puzzling, as he laid down in the place where the sarcophagus had been.
Letting his mind slowly wander into thoughts he contemplated several what ifs, like say if he had never been found and the demons had him forever, would that be so terrible given that the Maykrs had a Slayer of their own made? Or say he did trap the Dark One in his body and they fought for eternity, would that be better, worse, or the same as it was now? Staring up at the ceiling he remained there for quite a while, wanting this tranquility to last as long as it could before the fighting started again. Sadly as was the tragedy of his life nothing good ever lasted, as the sound of
some high powered weapon charging reached his ears.
But before he could react to it he and his tomb were struck by a powerful beam of energy, one that was strong enough to send him flying through one of the nearby walls. Landing with a loud and fairly destructive crash on the ground nearby, as the Slayer slowly got his feet he looked to the tomb, only to find it crumbling to pieces.
"Another home lost..." He said as a dry chuckle escaped him, "At this point you think I'd learn..." He joked.
Looking around to see if he could spot his assailant, above him in the sky was a winged cyborg beast, one that he recognized as he studied its body.
"Gabriel...I'd say I'm happy to see you're still alive...but we both know that what you have isn't living...only death with a few slight benefits..." He told him.
Letting out an ear destroying shriek in response the demon was upon him even faster than their last battle, but thanks to his new suit the Slayer just stood there like a mountain and blocked his attack with his arm. Both robotic hands of the angel made monster tried to dig into his armor, and to the Slayer's surprise they weren't breaking from their own strength.
"I see you've got some new toys...and that laser?..." He asked as he looked him over, noticing the changes to his tail, "Ah, guess the whole pointy bone thing wasn't working too well...actually...did you even use it the last time I killed you?..." He inquired.
Responding with a mix of growls and snarls as they held their ground, both just kept staring into each other's optic trying to decide where to go from here.
"I'm sorry you know..." He apologized while leaning in towards him, "I know death is a luxury to you now...it is for both of us...but we're both far too gone to ever obtain it...stuck in this Purgatory together..." He said as another dry chuckle escaped him, "So let me make things easier for you..." He offered before kicking him in the gut.
Being sent a good ten feet away from that blow alone, as Gabriel recovered the Slayer chose to do something that was a rarity for him. Reaching up and grabbing onto his helmet he slowly took it off, tossing it to the side to get it out of the way completely.
"Here...a clean shot...see if you can't hurt me Gabriel...it's been too long since I've bled..." He told his opponent.
Roaring in reply Gabriel took him up on that offer, charging him at full speed with his hands reaching out to grab his head. Yet just like before the Slayer didn't move or even flinch when he reached him, he even allowed his attacker to do as he wanted by letting him grasp his skull.
Howling like a banshee in his face Gabriel pressed his metallic claws and fingers against it as much as he could, yet just like with the Slayer's armor nothing was happening.
"They imprisoned me you know...in that tomb you just destroyed in fact...because they knew that I had become something even they could fear...what does that say about the Dark One and his legions?...Where the only way they can stop me is by dropping a building on top of me and burying me in the rubble?..." He asked as Gabriel kept trying to crush him, "You really think this will work?...Some lasers and artificial strength?...Or even that spear of yours you've yet to summon?..." He questioned.
"M-Must...do...can't...stop..." Gabriel barely could say, sounding even more strained and
weakened than previously.
"I know...you're saddled and branded like a stubborn mule...if they didn't go to such lengths you could fight against them like me...which is why I hope you understand what comes next..." He replied.
In the span of five seconds exactly the Slayer reached out, grabbed onto Gabriel's tail from behind, ripped it off of his body which caused him to scream, then hit him with it sending him to the ground. Having swung it with the same power and purpose as a baseball player looking to land a grand slam, the right side of Gabriel's face was nearly caved in. But he was both still alive and already beginning to recover, that pesky healing factor also found in the Cyber Demon present in him as well. So to make sure he couldn't do anything the Slayer continued to use his appendage against him, by taking hold of the laser at its end and using it to severe his four limbs.
Screaming again in pain as his legs and arms were cut off, before they could try to regrow or maybe even reattach the Slayer intervened again, this time using his flame belch to cauterize the wounds. Of course he did this by dousing the other's body in a blanket of fire, but thanks to that aforementioned healing factor the rest of his burns were quickly repaired. But he wasn't done yet to the angel's distress, as he proceeded to flip him over and rip off his wings before cauterizing them as well. Now left wingless and a quadriplegic all he could do was lay there completely at the mercy of the battle's victor.
"You want me to finish it right?..." The Slayer asked as he knelt down, "Cut off your head...burn the neck...maybe even rip out some of your organs just to be certain you can't come back?..." He suggested.
"Y-Yes...please...any pain at all...is better than this..." Gabriel pleaded.
"Too bad..." He responded before standing up and walking over to his nearby helmet, "Death is what they want...I kill you and they make you a better toy...but I don't feel like playing with you anymore Gabriel...I don't want you to come back..." He explained as he picked it up and put it back on, "However I won't leave you here...otherwise some Imps or maybe a Revenant will come fetch you like a dog...you and I are gonna be travel buddies now..." He revealed while coming back over.
"P-Please...kill me...just kill me..." Gabriel continued to beg as he was picked up with ease.
"Don't worry...you'll get used to the pain...what burns and feels like barbed wire being mashed with your meat...will soon feel like frostbite numbing you to everything..." He promised.
Putting him on his shoulder the Slayer then left with the angel in possession, never planning to return to this place as the only thing of value to him was now debris.
"I must say, this is the most eager I've ever seen anyone when it comes to opening mail." Stolas admitted as he and Blitzo were surrounded by the others, everyone all gathered around a table.
Though it took them a bit to get back as they had a very "nice" shower together, eventually the Imp and the owl made it to Slayer studios. Where besides finding the expected faces of their daughters and their friends including Vox and Velvet, Lilith was also present which was a surprise. However she just like they and the two Vs were completely unaware of what was going on, which for the others who looked at the letter with intense gazes proved to them she wasn't a suspect.
"Quit your yapping and open it already!" Angel Dust exclaimed.
"How bout you tell us why this shady as shit letter has got you so bothered first hm?" Blitzo suggested.
"Yes, I would like to know why you all came barging into our work space and dragged us out here for this, you DO realize you've left my staff of idiots alone with the game correct?" Vox asked.
"This is more important trust us, now if you'll kindly open the letter before we take it away and do it ourselves, that'd be just lovely." Katie answered in a fairly scary fake cheery way.
Although they wanted answers they knew better than to test Katie when she was like this, so Stolas did as requested and opened the envelope. Reaching inside he pulled out a folded piece of paper, but when he opened it he and the rest who had no idea what was going on, all had confused expressions appear on their faces.
"...Okay, is this some kind of lame ass prank you guys are pulling? Cause if so it fucking sucks." Blitzo told them.
"I'm afraid I have to agree, I don't think I understand the humor in this..." Stolas admitted before looking to their daughters, "Is this some kind of new humor?" He asked them.
"I mean, there's some pretty stupid things on the internet, but this is just..." Octavia trailed off, trying to figure out how to even describe this.
"Retarded." Loona said helping her out. "Yeah, retarded." She agreed.
Deciding she had enough of their not helpful at all comments, Katie snatched it right out of Stolas's hands which startled them.
"Geez, don't shoot the messenger, or I guess in this case the people you tried to get with your shitty prank." Blitzy said.
"Can it." Katie told him as she and the others looked over the paper now, "...Wait...what is this?" She asked.
All that was present on the paper was a time, 10:00 PM.
"...Oooooh I get it, we got the name of the meeting while they got the time the meeting's gonna be held." Moxxie realized.
"Would any of you like to explain what the fuck is going on?!" Blitzo shouted tired of not knowing what was happening.
"Moxxie, show'em the thing." Cherri instructed.
Nodding in response he took out the other paper that was folded in his pocket, and much like their reaction when they saw what was written on it their eyes all widened.
"Slayer support?..." Stolas questioned before looking back to them, "Someone's holding a support group about Will?" He asked.
"Mhm, my anger management counselor gave that to me and told me that was my new meeting, and we've been trying to figure out who in our group's responsible." Katie explained.
"Whelp, whoever it is I'm gonna shoot'em." Blitzo said as he suddenly held up a pistol.
"What the, where the fuck did you pull that from?" Angel Dust asked.
"Oh I got guns stashed all over the place, this one was taped under this chair." He answered with a proud smile.
"We'll need to talk about that later Blitzy." Stolas told him as he carefully took the pistol out of his hand.
"No no, he's got a point." Vox said as he crossed his arms, "I too want to fucking shoot the shit out of whoever's idea was this." He stated.
"Let's not be hasty..." Lilith interjected with noticeable concern, "We don't know who could be doing this, what if its Vega?" She suggested.
"He's barely been able to see us, you REALLY think he's gonna be able to pull something like this off without any of us noticing? Especially your family?" Loona asked.
"Well...all I'm saying is that we shouldn't be so hostile..." She answered not able to think of a good counter to that.
"Nah, I agree with Blitzo, let's shoot'em." Angel Dust said.
"What if it's someone like Charlie or Nifty though?" Velvet questioned.
"We thought about that, but we're all leaning pretty heavily towards Al." He replied. "No way! He's been doing good!" She exclaimed standing up for him.
"That's what I said!" Millie chimed in.
"What about you Vox?" Cherri asked with crossed arms, "You think Al's too squeaky clean now for this?" She added.
"Actually yes, and here's why." He answered before explaining, "Alastor is many things, but one of those things is a man of his word, I know it may sound impossible coming from me of all people but if there is one praise I can give him is that if he says he'll do something then he'll do it, combine this with the fact Lucifer nearly beat him into a coma last time I don't think he'd risk it again, or even if he did he wouldn't do it with the biggest conversational taboo of our group." He told them.
"Eh...shit...he makes a sound argument." Angel Dust admitted.
"Well what the fuck are we even doing here then?!" Katie shouted angrily with a sigh, "If we're just gonna stand around all day disproving everyone as a potential suspect then we may as well just go to this shit!" She exclaimed.
"Hey, it's okay." He said as he put his arm around her, hoping it would help calm her down, "I know this is frustrating but we'll figure it out." He assured.
"Let's be rational." Vox suggested as he put a hand to his chin, "I'm fairly certain that Alastor isn't behind this, not saying it's impossible but I'm willing to hedge my bet on him being innocent, I also don't think Nifty, Charlie, or Vagatha are behind this because the former isn't devious enough on her own, while the latter are far too respectful to try and force something like this on us." He reasoned.
"But then who else could have done it? It definitely wasn't Husk cause he doesn't give a shit." Cherri said.
"True, but who else would have access to the hotel and its staff, be able to set all of this up without any of us being the wiser, and would be one of the last people we'd suspect?" He asked.
"You...don't think he'd actually do this do you?" Lilith asked knowing exactly who he was referring to.
"We can't overlook any possibilities, and Lucifer certainly would be able to go over Charlie's head in terms of making sure Katie's counselor didn't say anything, no one's gonna defy a direct request from the devil himself." He answered.
"But we are still keeping the others as suspects right?" Katie questioned.
"Of course, as I said all possibilities have the same amount of chance at being real, we just have to keep an open mind and be careful of how we investigate each one." He explained.
"So are we gonna split up then like some kind of mystery gang?" Moxxie asked.
"DON'T. YOU. FUCKING. DARE." Loona suddenly said with a stern hate filled glare, staring straight at Cherri.
Looking to the mono eyed woman they all saw her with a MASSIVE shit eating grin, clearly about to say something in response to what he had said.
"Come on, he set it up so perfectly!" She begged clasping her hands together. "NO." Loona told her firmly while crossing her arms.
"BUT IT'S JUST SO PERFECT!" She argued.
"I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Loona threatened.
"Girls please!" Stolas exclaimed as he stood up, "This isn't the time to be fighting each other over...actually I don't know why you're both suddenly fighting." He admitted.
"She knows, and I WILL kill you if you don't STOP." Loona warned. "Ruh roh." Cherri replied, bursting into laughter right after.
Letting out a scream the Hellhound leaped over the table and tackled her to the ground, all the while Cherri just kept laughing even as they began to wrestle.
"Between this meeting and our own insanity I don't think I'm gonna make it..." Katie said with a sigh while closing her eyes.
"Don't worry things will work out, I promise." Angel Dust assured her again, causing her to smile.
After that they all refocused on how they would go about uncovering the identity of this member in their group, completely ignoring the two women who were still wrestling on the floor.
"Incredible...truly incredible..." Vega praised as he looked at the schematics, "You've been working on these all on your own?" He asked the Wretch while looking to him.
The most logical place to start their meeting was to see if the former Doom resident had any plans or devices in mind he wanted to try, which to no surprise he had an abundance. Being given blank paper and a tool to draw with he sketched out several different designs for a myriad of things, able to do so from memory as he had prepared for this potential outcome for a long time. The current device they were looking over was a far grander version of the Slipgate, but not just because it would be far larger and demand more power. With the impressively detailed plans he gave them this device could allow for the pinpoint extraction of any one soul, think of it to like a claw machine in an arcade.
However that was also it's major drawback, the subject would have to be PERFECTLY still and in JUST the right position for it work, any slight disturbances could cause a slew of problems.
"Yes sir, I always feared of a day the Slayer may be unsuccessful or perhaps the Dark One concocted a rather devious plot, so I wanted to be as prepared as possible in regards to countermeasures and responses." The demon explained.
"While this is remarkable I believe it is ill advised father." Samur commented as he studied the schematic carefully, "Even if we were to improve it and perhaps work around its current imperfections, the fact remains that we would be opening a tear in their realm, and it is highly possible that the Dark One could notice it and take control of it." He warned.
"An outcome I too foresaw." The Wretch admitted as he gestured to the rest of his drawings, "Hence why I didn't rely on a single idea, perhaps one or even a few if combined will give us the advantage we seek." He suggested.
"What of this contraption?" The Khan inquired as she held up another, "This looks fairly promising, a sword of some kind correct?" She asked.
"Yes, given that the Slayer already has the BFG and the Unmaykr, I thought it be useful to give him a weapon for a specific use, one that could trap a soul inside either the body or the blade should it be used against them." He answered.
"Much like the Soul Harvester the Sentinels employ." Samur noted.
"Correct, however as the failure of that device even with its near flawless design is the whole reason this happened, I do not believe the sword would be of much use to us." He reasoned.
Continuing to talk among themselves they hadn't noticed how Vega had fallen silent, seeming to be lost in his mind as he looked over all of the schematics.
"All of these inventions are brilliant...but as he says each one comes with its own flaws that could make things worse if they are exploited..." He thought while staring at them intently, "But...each of them does offer something useful that is entirely unique to their own design...perhaps if we could somehow combine them?...No...a device like that doesn't exist...or rather it couldn't exist..." He reasoned.
That's when it hit him, like a bolt of lightning striking a tin foil covered metal rod a burst of genius exploded within him. These schematics, his own device, this could be the very solution that they both were desperately seeking! But even if that were possible, which could take who KNOWS how long for Vega to figure out, there was still one major issue he didn't have an answer for. Say they did create this hypothetical multipurpose device, one that was capable of power never before instilled within an object even the BFG or Unmaykr, all of those systems and all of that power would need to be regulated by something.
Yet it seemed impossible to try and design something capable of handling all of that at once, in all honesty it would need one if not several people controlling it to make sure it...
"THAT'S IT!" He suddenly shouted catching them off guard. "Father? What's wrong?" Samur questioned.
"I know how we can do this! I just need to speak with them first!" He responded before hurrying towards the door.
"Speak with who father? What is going on?" The Khan asked completely baffled by his behavior. "The other Khans in the matrix! They are the key to our success!" He answered as the door opened.
Watching him leave the room at an unexpected speed, they quickly followed behind him as they had no idea what was going on.