Doomed Gothic

Part 2

Wound In Reality. The Upside Down.

Doomguy, Doom Marine, Doomslayer, depending on what you wanted to call that demon murdering machine, might get by on pure rage, but for me, I ran on something else, this was all kinds of fun and I felt sheer joy as I got to work.

Not in the slaying of the monsters, although that was very satisfying, what was making me happy was the fact that I was in what should be a mere fictional universe and I was saving that world. This was not a video game, this time I was really making a difference in the grand scheme of things, or at least a lot of lives. Something I found to be fun as it turns out.

My enjoyment of all of this felt somewhat soured when I saw the forces that were between me and the big boss who was hanging back in the distance. There were plenty of Demodogs and Demogorgons, but what really got my attention was the humanoid figure who was being held up in the air by a number of ropes, or perhaps those were tentacles. I felt fairly certain that I didn't wish to know for certain what they were, yet I made a mental note to cut them as soon as possible as they might be channelling some sort of power to the humanoid figure.

"That must be the boss's right-hand man" I mused.

Many dark lord types had someone to command their forces for them so that they didn't have to get their hands dirty. The Emperor had Vader, Sauron had the Witch-King and Thulsa Doom had Rexor, to give a few examples.

"Sentinal, I am deploying the drones to support you," said VEGA.

Some extra firepower would be great, but I was really thankful for the drones that carried extra ammo for me and one that carried a box that contained a chainsaw. The device was far less cumbersome and heavy than it should be, something I put down to it being more advanced than the tools of my native time.

Since I lacked access to Hammerspace or any sort of pouch of holding I couldn't carry a lot of weapons on my person so it was good that the drones could lug them around for me. I put aside the shotgun and took up the chainsaw because if Evil Dead taught me anything it's that nothing ends a monster quite like a chainsaw.

Something I got to prove moments later when a Demodog leapt at me only to end up throwing itself into the spinning blade which drove up into its body. This resulted in quite the shower of gore that no doubt would have been unpleasant for me if not for the fact that my armour kept me isolated from such concerns.

Another Demodog took a few shots from a supporting drone as it came at me from my side. Even if it had managed to tackle me I didn't think it would be able to break my armour open so as to get at my vulnerable flesh, but there was no sense in finding out. I swiped with my new weapon and a moment later the monster dropped to the ground either dead or too injured to carry on fighting.

Knowing that a good offence is the best defence or something like that, I charged the enemy and found myself laughing as the drones opened fire. A Demogorgon, one even larger than the creature I'd faced just before entering this messed-up excuse for a reality, tried to use one of its arms to block my block. Alas for the monster this weapon could bisect demons from the Doom games so the tough and pale hide of this creature didn't serve as effective armour.

Time slowed for me as my weapon separated the monster's deadly claw from its arm before I drove the spinning blade into what passed for its mouth. The sound produced drowned out anything else. The chainsaw and my armour were now coated in some black oily stuff that served as blood for the creatures that served the Mind Flayer.

When I sought out my next victim, calling them enemies seemed a bit generous at this point, but I discovered that these creatures did know fear as they were backing away. Well not all of them, the humanoid figure was now moving towards me. He, if the figure even had gender, didn't seem to be in any rush.

"So you're the warmup event before the real boss fight?" I asked.

Rather than reply verbally, something the creature might not be capable of doing, it reached out to me with its hand and I found myself getting lifted up into the air as if an invisible noose was dragging me up. This guy really was a Darth Vader he even looked as if he'd burned sometime in the past.

Rather than panic and die I stayed surprisingly calm. I reached for my sidearm, the 22nd-century gauss pistol, and opened fire. The warm-up boss staggered backwards as I emptied the clip and I soon dropped to the ground. I took the time to reload and then I holstered my pistol as Vader struggled to stand up, as I figured that no sidearm would be able to finish off this guy.

I tried to recover my chainsaw only for a gross tentacle to grab and drag it away from me. Another rope-like extremity lashed out and grabbed my legs in an attempt to pin me in place. Thankfully I had a wrist-mounted blade that could cut through the tentacles. They certainly were not ropes as rope doesn't bleed.

"Really wish I had a flamethrower" I muttered.

I'd have to talk to VEGA about that. I could really do with some fire to throw around about now.

Going after my chainsword proved to be rather futile as the tentacles kept it out of reach and soon more of the leathery appendages grabbed for me. As I again cut myself loose, Vader waved his arm and sent some sort of bat creatures at me, Demobats? If it weren't for the drones charging up to meet the swarm while expending the last of their ammo before blowing themselves up I could have been totally overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

I really wished I'd taken the time to watch the second part of Season 4 of Stranger Things as then I might know this bad guy's weaknesses and for the life of me, I couldn't remember what the kids had called him. Too much was going on in my life.

Not that I had time to think much about such things as I ended up wrestling with a Demodog and driving my blade into what passed for its neck until it finally stopped moving. Lucky for me the Mind Flayer did not have endless hordes of creatures, or at least didn't have them here. So soon there wasn't much left between me and Vader.

I reached for the dagger that was kept in a scabbard down my boot, as it's always good to carry a spare, and I threw the weapon at him and the monster made a gesture which caused the blade to go flying off to the side.

While he was distracted for a moment showing off his powers I moved to drive the wrist-mounted blade into the chest of my enemy, only he still had his telekinetic powers and could throw me around, and this was something he did to stop me from stabbing him.

I figured that the only reason he hadn't already killed me was that using his abilities took their toll.

While firing my sidearm at the monster, and anything that tried to get between us, I managed to get close enough to force the wrist blade into his skull and something about the thing must be human as it died right away when I did that.

Or that was what I thought had happened. It turned out that the monster still lived and he rose to his feet like Dracula rising from his coffin. It was at this point I realised that only one weapon I had could take down this freak.

My Sentinal Axe appeared and I used to remove the head of the humanoid before swinging it up over my head so that I could drive down the weapon. The effect was to pulverise the body of my enemy.

The other monsters either gave up at that point or were moving to regroup. I'd soon find out if they were doing the latter.

My intent was to seek out the Mind Flayer who had a massive body that loomed over everything.

"Okay going to need a moment," I said to no one.

As it turned out I didn't need to do any more fighting. I watched as the Mind Flayer seemed to come apart as if the force keeping it together had stopped working. It was now that I started to piece it all together. The humanoid was in charge of the hive mind and directed it via the Mind Flayer rather than serving it.

Once the Flayer began to fall apart the landscape changed. It no longer reflected a twisted version of the world that this realm threatened, it became something more primal. I wondered if it was returning to its natural state. I didn't wish to stay and find.

VEGA told me that it was time to leave as the wound in the skin of reality was now beginning to close. I still needed to ensure that the lab was burned down so that there would no evidence of what happened here and hopefully the government organisation running things would believe that 11's body was destroyed along with the lab.

(Line Break)

The Fortress of Doom. Stranger Things Universe.

I was very lucky that there were machines here to maintain my armour as well as my weapons because taking on the creatures from The Upside Down had been dangerous work, to say the least. It could have easily ended with my death.

The mess could have been worse, but the portals seem to have some sort of decontamination feature that got rid of all the black oil that passed for blood in the creature controlled by the Mind Flayer. Still, I'd been through the wringer as there was a lot of damage to sort out.

My body was also a bit battered so I was glad that I had a healing factor. It didn't help that VEGA relocated us to the asteroid belt as soon as I was back on board. Moving via Maykr space-folding technology is unpleasant. I hoped that I would get used to the strange sensation over time.

"Good news Sentinel" reported VEGA as I stripped off in the armoury with the help of the drones "The disturbance that I detected in North America has almost closed, the levels of extra-dimensional energy are rapidly dropping".

That was indeed good news and it seemed as if I'd been right about someone using their powers to keep the rip open because once I'd slain Vader, or whatever it was he was called, the rip had begun to close. He must have been using some of his power to keep it open even while fighting me. That would explain his rather lacklustre performance.

"So VEGA. How is our guest doing?" I asked as I left the armoury with the intent of going and lying on my bed "Is she going to recover?".

The gaming console in my room flicked on to show 11 sleeping in the infirmary, which could now be accessed.

"She's resting, Sentinal" VEGA reported "As you wished I had one of the drones inject her with the C24. She would not have survived otherwise".

There were small drones in the infirmary, machines meant for more delicate work than providing me with extra ammo on the battlefield.

"Let's hope it doesn't turn around and bite us in the arse" I muttered.

11 hadn't been a normal human before she got more added to her DNA.

"If she begins to mutate the air in the infirmary will be removed once the room goes into lockdown," said the AI "We will know within the next 48 hours".

I felt very glad that I wouldn't have to give that order, and I'd not known that there was a limit on the whole mutation thing.

"She'll need food as well as rest," VEGA told me "Some clothes would help as well".

Clothes were a bit of an issue. Not that I had anything against nudism or anything to be ashamed of given the new shape my body had taken, assuming that this was my old body, however, I didn't wish to draw attention to myself by taking a young girl shopping when she only a torn hospital gown to wear. So I would have to purchase some clothing for 11 without her input and hope they fitted.

"How are the drones doing with the mining work?" I asked.

Sure I was willing to steal, but I'd much rather exchange some precious metals for money and then go shopping in London for the needed supplies. It wasn't just food and clothing I needed to concern myself with, I would need toiletries and while it had been some time since I'd cohabited with a female of my species of any age, I did recall that they needed a lot of hygiene products.

"Very well, Sentinel" VEGA let me know before displaying the details on a screen.

They hadn't actually gathered anything yet, we hadn't been in this system long enough for the specialised drones to do more than locate some lumps of rock that were suitable for mining. Once they got going they should progress at their work quite quickly since the drones don't need to rest and they were unlikely to be damaged while mining as long as VEGA was directing them.

"Do we have any food around here?" I asked.

I was super hungry and to be fair I'd had a very busy day.

"We do have some MREs" the AI replied.

I'd never served in any military, but I'd heard the stories about the poor quality of such rations. Still, beggars can't be choosers as the old saying went.

There was nothing for me to do for a good long while other than rest and once I'd restored my strength I would talk with VEGA about my long-term plans. I wasn't sure that I wanted to stay in this universe if there was nothing else around here worthy of fighting me. If I could go to other universes then I should as I wanted to find new foes to battle with, acquire more weapons, and maybe do some plundering as well. I might even get a harem, or at least someone to look after 11 for me.

I put my feet up in the control room while having a bite to eat and as I did my best to ignore the total lack of any flavour in my meal I had a look over the readouts. It took me some time, but as I studied them, and went through the help files, I began to understand some of the information that was on display.

"So VEGA you are sure that there are no radio singles being sent our way?" I asked the AI to confirm.

That was the impression I got from the computers here.

"No signals are being directed at us, Sentinal" I was informed.

The station would have appeared in orbit of Earth as that was where it had been when we jumped out of what I assumed was my native universe. Since the planet went around the sun that meant we must have left my universe at the same time of year it was in this reality or the Earth would be in another part of the solar system. If so then I'd missed a few months somewhere.

Thinking about that made me realise that it was a very good thing the station had been moved away or the next time we could end up inside the Earth, or in its sky, and possibly crash into the surface. The asteroid that the station was made from didn't mass enough even with the all added bits to do that much damage to the planet as a whole, but unless it landed in the desert or at the poles it could kill quite a lot of people on impact. Even if it struck the oceans it could cause massive tidal waves.

"I will keep monitoring all channels" Vega assured me.

No further words were spoken for a time as I carefully studied the readouts and drank what passed for coffee here. I was going to need to pick up tea and milk if I ever wanted to live as a civilized being again.

"The drones are programmed to gather up radioactive materials," I noticed "Why is that?".

I managed to follow some of what the friendly AI tried to explain to me about why we needed uranium and plutonium as well as elements that I'd seen on the periodic table that I didn't know any use for.

"So this place is powered by a miniature sun that you need to feed with fissionable materials," I summarised.

That was a simplifaction, but even with all my recent improvements I simply didn't have the scientific background to understand a lot of what VEGA was trying to tell me. As it turned out the fission reactor was required to power the device that drew energy from the dimension that was between dimensions.

Apparently when we jumped that across the system or into another universe it required massive amounts of energy and extra power had to be drawn from the reactor to assist the device that drains energy from what a Planeswalker would call the Blind Eternities.

As such the fissionable materials had to be replenished or we'd be stuck in this universe. This was something I did not desire as I didn't think that this version of Earth had anything to offer me in terms of materials good that I couldn't get elsewhere. The most interesting person in the whole world was currently sleeping in the infirmary.

"Aside from the radioactive materials, we require quantities of iron, platinum and a small amount of iridium for repair work" VEGA let me know "We also need resources for the construction of new drones and new weapons".

I'd gotten by alright with the weapons we had so far, but taking on the dark forces of The Upside Down had for the most part been straightforward and made simpler by the fact that creatures from The Upside Down can be taken by brute force if you have weapons that do enough damage. That might not hold true in other universes.

"I'll leave you to get on with that," I said to VEGA "I need some sleep. Wake me up if anything interesting happens".

(Line Break)

The Fortress of Doom. Stranger Things Universe.

Before I went on my newly planned vacation, something I'd decided to do once upon waking up (I figured that it would be a good idea to take time off now in case things got hectic for me later) I looked over the design for a proposed base on Mars and thought it to be a good idea as VEGA explained why we should tie up a lot of the drones in a large building project.

"The Mars base can be used for the long-term storage of materials," the AI said "Resources gathered from across the solar system can be kept here so as not to overtax the storage capacity of this space station".

By reading through the provided information I saw that there were plans to create a number of massive hydroponic gardens on Mars so that we would have a supply of food.

"With the portals, you will be able to move between the station and this new base" VEGA let me know "Even if this station is a different universe".

The base would have to be heavily automated as my AI ally would only be able to oversee its operations when I was there since he could link to the base's systems via my armour. VEGA was part of this station and it couldn't run without him or another AI.

This meant that while the gardens would always be growing food as the drones could carry out such simple tasks, the planned refineries would not have to be shut down when I wasn't around. Without proper supervision, something could go very wrong, but Mars isn't inhabited as such I didn't worry about some power plant going critical other than it requiring a lot of rebuilding.

Thankfully power generation would be less of an issue as there were quite a lot of safety features involved with that technology. Still, it would be best if I could find someone to run the base for me. Another AI or maybe I could find myself some people with the right skills who badly needed to be relocated.

"The initial construction can be overseen by special drones" VEGA was now telling me.

We had drones for everything it seemed, drones that could back me up in a fight, drones for mining, others for gathering certain gases from the atmosphere of planets, harvesting crops, transporting materials, carrying equipment, construction and even drones to oversee other drones. The R.O.B who'd set this all up had really put some proper effort into the setup.

"So once the portal is set up we can come and check up on the place whenever we want" I stated.

The portal technology was far in advance of the technology behind my weapons and while I could use it I was a long way from understanding it if I ever would.

It would be months before the time and resources invested into the base would pay off, but I could see the sense given that the facilities would be able to produce quite a lot for me once they were up and running.

I had access to the technology of the UAC as well as a lot of information on the organisation. While mostly they'd been interested in acquiring, processing, and exporting Argent energy extracted from Hell for use in solving energy crises afflicting humanity, they'd supplement this with weapons development, interdimensional travel, bio-engineering, and occult studies.

Since I had access to a lot of this research it was possible for VEGA to supply me with much more than weapons and armour. I would be able to get my hands on plasma weapons and Gauss cannon as well as the energy cells needed to power them.

That was just the start I discovered. VEGA showed me plans for ARC mechs of different sizes, some of which were larger than skyscrapers, as well as blueprints for ships that could traverse the solar system using more conventional means of movement.

Then there was the stuff I wouldn't mind trading with people such as holographic emitters, datapads, and more advanced computers. Hopefully, some of the people I met would have goods worthwhile in trade and could be trusted to make a fair exchange.

He even had some data on the technology used by the Night Sentinels, but constructing anything they used would require a lot of time and effort as that tech base was much more advanced than that used by the UAC.

"We need to make sure that this base is secure," I said to VEGA "NASA sends probes to Mars during my lifetime, including rovers, I don't want them finding the base and the American government getting freaked out".

I felt sure that the AI had considered this.

"There are natural features on the surface of Mars that can help to hide any construction" VEGA let me know "The base can be built in secrecy".

While the planet wasn't as big as Earth, it was still a world, and even if the humans of this universe actually found the base what could they do about it? Even if they got someone to Mars the base would be a fortress with automated defences and drones that would do whatever they had to do to defend my holdings.

It was important for me to have at least one base in case anything happened to the Fortress of Doom. I felt that it would be best if I had a few bases that could be linked together via portals all in different universes.

I pressed a button and got a live feed of 11 who was again sitting in what passed for a mess hall here. To my complete lack of surprise, she was eating again.

"Any sign that the C24 has messed her up?" I asked.

She didn't seem to be mutating and she hadn't been around long enough for me to detect if she was ageing more rapidly than she should, but she was eating a lot.

"Her body is undergoing changes" VEGA let me know "However they are within expected parameters".

The gene therapy should result in her being able to use her powers without doing damage to her body, or at least no damage that can't be easily fixed. The changes might be minor when compared to how some mutated but it was clear that the alternations to her form were burning a lot of calories even if they were subtle. Additionally, I doubted that the child abusers who had kept her locked up had fed her enough either.

"I hope we start to get along soon," I said to myself.

Aside from VEGA, she was the only person I had around to talk to and she didn't say much. The vacation I had planned for us should help with that.

To that end, I'd decided that I would refer to her as Jane as that was her real name. Calling her 11 was dehumanising.

"I'm going to try talking to her again," I told VEGA "Wish me luck".

"Good luck, Sentinel" the AI replied.

The Grand Hyatt Hotel. New York.

I'd decided to hold off on leaving this universe, and to let the drones get on with building the Mars base without VEGA's supervision, until after the holidays so that Jane could celebrate some American tradition called Thanksgiving that took place in late November.

My birthday was also at this time of year, but if I existed in this timeline then I hadn't been born yet so I didn't think it counted. I hadn't even tried to find out if my parents were married or not in this universe as I felt emotionally disconnected from my old life as if I wasn't the same person anymore.

Another factor was that since I didn't know Jane's exact date of birth, only the year of her birth had been on file, I didn't think it fair to celebrate mine when she didn't have a date for hers. The only reason I was making a big deal over Thanksgiving was that Jane needed to have some fun. She'd gone from living in an underground research facility to living in my space station, and while in both locations, she was cut from human contact.

It had been more than two weeks since I'd saved Jane while preventing the dark forces of The Upside Down from invading this unsuspecting world and during that time she'd learned a lot about how to behave in human society, mostly from watching television and reading some books, but even with her advanced mind that hadn't really prepared her for the overwhelming sight that New York City.

I'd not been here before either, but I'd been to London a few times so I was somewhat used to being surrounded by tall buildings and countless amounts of human beings. Jane needed some time to simply stare as TV shows really don't give you a proper scale for this city.

Once she'd stopped looking like she was one of the children of Cletus The Slack-Jawed Yokel, I managed to direct her to where we'd be spending the next few days. There would be a chance for her to take in the sights later.

"This was the only hotel I could get a booking in at such short notice," I told the psychic girl "Thanksgiving is a busy time of the year".

I'd not been idle since my battle with those hostile extra-dimensional creatures. Mostly I'd been studying the UAC and Night Sentinel technology that I had access to as I needed to understand more about what it could do, when not doing my best to tutor my newly adopted kid.

Aside from that, I'd been gathering supplies and I felt sure that I had most of what I needed to keep us both comfortable even if we went to universes where the human population was much more primitive than this world, or didn't exist at all.

My hope was that we'd end up sharing a solar system with a version of humanity that was more advanced than this, but not so advanced that they could threaten my space station. I had no way of controlling that so there was no sense worrying. All I could do was prepare and enjoy myself while I had some time off.

As for the hotel, I thought it was a bit garish and that in terms of design it didn't really fit in with the rest of the neighbourhood. Not that anyone would care about my opinion.

"I'm Flynn Taggart," I told the woman working at the front desk.

Not my actual name, it was something I'd heard Doomguy be called and I figured that my fake identities should try to follow the theme of my new life.

"And this is Jane Taggart," I said while gesturing at 11.

Her first name was very common, however, should the name 'Jane Ives' start popping up in electronic records someone might notice. This wasn't my time when nothing was private and everyone was connected by their phones, but there was no sense in taking risks. Jane might wander off on her own, as kids were sometimes known to do, and she wasn't linked to VEGA as I was via a comm device implanted into my body, and as such couldn't request a portal.

As planned I refused to call her Eleven because that label had been given to her to dehumanise her in eyes of those who had experimented on her and the other special children. It was easier to mistreat someone if you saw them as being less of a person than you.

"Yes, Mr and Misses Taggert," said the British-sounding woman "Your suite is ready. I'll inform the concierge of your arrival. He should have your special arrangements well in hand".

As I signed in I noticed someone entering a nearby lift and he looked familiar.

"Who was that man?" I asked.

I could sense a disturbance in The Force, or to be more precise I felt that something demonic was nearby.

"That's Mr Trump" I was told "He owns this hotel".

As in Donald Trump? The guy who elected the president of the USA, somehow? Perhaps I should do this world a favour by killing him and throwing his body through a portal that led to some deep jungle or desert? Something to think about later.

We didn't have much luggage as neither Jane nor I owned much in terms of personal effects so there was no need for anyone to carry our bags to the suite which turned out to be a large apartment-like layout with a separate living area, and two bedrooms each with attached bathrooms. The young psychic didn't even need to touch the TV to switch it on she just looked at it.

As I had suspected Jane was having a much easier time using her powers after being given the C24. It hadn't caused her to mutate into a monster or to start going through puberty rapidly as I'd feared it might. Oddly it had caused her hair to grow rather quickly over the last fortnight and she'd gotten a bit bigger, but I figured that was due to the C24 fixing her mistreatment at the Hawkings lab.

Given her fearsome appetite when we first met I suspected that the people imprisoning her hadn't fed her properly, even if they hadn't starved her on purpose they might not have taken into account how many calories she'd burned through when using her mental powers. My augmented body also required more calories.

"Jane, be careful when using your gifts" I reminded my adopted kid "As far as anyone is concerned we're just an Uncle and Niece taking a trip".

Thanks to the C24 I looked younger than I used to be, and Jane didn't look like me, so it made sense for me to be her uncle rather than try to pass as her father or older brother. It had been simple for VEGA to create records for us that would fool any kind of background check done by the authorities of this world.

Our AI-generated back story was that I was the much younger brother of Jane's father, a man who had died with his wife recently in a house fire. I lived in the UK, while Jane was born here in America (which explained our accents) and I would be taking her across the pond should anyone inquire about her future. The house fire explained why Jane had so little in the way of luggage and the trauma of that event was why she didn't talk much.

Her actual father was dead as far as I could find out and Terry Ives, Jane's mother, had been brain-damaged by Doctor Brenner, I'd considered going after Terry and bringing her my station, but I had no way to help her without using more of my very limited supply of C24 which might not work, and could have horrific results if given to the wrong sort of person.

I'd decided to leave it up to Jane to deal with when she was older. Perhaps we would return when she was an adult and then we might find something along the way that could help Terry Ives.

Before we got to that point in her life, I would need to arrange Jane's education, as while VEGA and I could tutor her on a great many subjects, there were matters she needed to learn about that only life could teach. I could keep her safe and provide for her in the short term, but what would I do if she wanted to go and find herself a proper family?

I put such thoughts aside so that I'd be focused on the here and now. I had things a few fun things planned for this vacation, all arranged with the help of the concierge. The first of which would be a personal shopper who would get Jane all the things females of my species need for some reason or another as I was sure that there were things I'd forgotten, and this evening we'd be having dinner in some fancy restaurant.

Money solved a lot of problems and it was good that I had so much. I could only get a table at such a restaurant because thanks to VEGA I'd been able to convert metals mined in the asteroid belt into a fortune. I had to be rather careful about that as I didn't wish to flood the market and even VEGA could only do so much when moving funds around.

"Okay, so tomorrow there is a parade" I mentioned to my adopted child who was transfixed by something on the TV "Then we'll have Thanksgiving Dinner here in the hotel".

Since I didn't need to do anything right now and 1980s television didn't appeal to me, I'd been spoilt by streaming services and HDTV. I decided that I was going to sneak out of my room and remove another threat to humanity that went by the name of Donald Trump. VEGA should be able to provide me with a portal that I could use to dump the body somewhere.