The Marauder. A demonic variant of a once proud Argentian warrior. Warped and twisted by Hell's influence after they sold their soul to the Dark Lord and those who followed him.
With his knowledge and memories restored, the slayer remembered the Argentians. The race of powerful soldiers that had discovered him injured on the outskirts of one of their strongholds after spending an untold amount of time fighting in Hell. Wounded, exhausted, but still very much ready for a fight.
Through trial by combat, he'd proven himself to their leadership, to their supposed 'Gods' and became part of their ranks. But Hell followed him, laying waste to their worlds and people.
From that moment, he'd been gifted divine power by the entity known as the Seraphim. And with his near godly strength and unyielding rage he crushed the demons and earned the title of Doom Slayer.
However, even with his new power, he was unable to save them from Hell's influence. They were betrayed from within, a civil war tore their people apart and made them easy targets for the demons. Those that joined them had what made them human torn away and turned into something monstrous.
The evidence of such a deal made with the dark realm standing across from him with an argent energy ax in hand.
"What the fuck is that?" Lilith asked, her SMG trained on the demonic knight.
"Marauder. You and the others stay back." Mason said, his newly reclaimed super shotgun locked on his opponent.
Brick snorted, "Screw that. We came to bust some heads!" The berserker ran forward, brandishing his massive hammer and swinging it down at his target.
The Marauder's hellfire eyes snapped toward the attacking human, its left arm coming up and forming a long energy shield that took the blow. Brick's hammer was sent flying out of his hand, the berserker stumbling back off balance as the demon, who didn't even flinch from the attack, charged after the human and swung upward.
A wave of argent energy launching from its ax blade, hitting Brick dead center. His shield shattered, the generator on his belt exploding from the overload, and he was sent smashing into the rock wall that surrounded the massive platform they all stood on.
"BRICK!" the former vault hunters shouted as their friend laid face down on the ground out cold.
"Which human shall I eviscerate next?" the Marauder hissed before sprinting toward the group.
("Meathook" - Doom Eternal OST)
BOOM!
The demon brought up its shield, absorbing the buckshot fired at it and jumping back a few feet. Mason cracked open his super shotgun and reloaded fresh shells. "You forget I was here?" he asked as he stomped forward.
Glowing eyes leering, the Marauder dropped its shield and gripped its ax. "I have not forgotten, Slayer. Their heads will join yours soon enough." The duo glared at one another for another moment before they ran at one another at breakneck speeds.
The Marauder swung its ax downward, its strike was blocked by the slayer's forearm against the demon's. A small shockwave shaking the air from the point of impact. Mason brought up his weapon, the demonic knight ducked aside to avoid the buckshot when it fired and swatted the twin barrels aside before swinging a punch at the slayer's face.
Mason snapped his foot up and kicked the Marauder in the chest, sending it stumbling back. The demon growled before pulling out a double-barrel similar to his opponents and firing back. The slayer became a blur as he suddenly dashed to the left, reloading his own gun before firing the 'meathook', the chain extending until the grapple end pierced the Marauder in the stomach and catapulted Mason toward them. His shoulder slamming into the Marauder before it could finish reloading and knocking it back again.
Eyes glowing brighter, the demonic warrior flared its power. A ominous howl filled the air as a wolf made of pure orange energy was conjured beside it. With a mental command, the summoned beast ran at the slayer with snapping jaws.
Narrowing his own gaze, Mason swung his arm when the wolf jumped at him. Smashing it aside with enough strength to make it dissipate into the air in time to avoid a swing from the Marauder's ax. Dashing to the demon's exposed side, he fired his super shotgun into its flank. Chunks of armor and bloody flesh exploding from its body.
Roaring in agony, the Marauder clutched at the gaping wound in its side. Eyes flashing ferally as it spun around and swung its ax again.
The slayer dashed backwards to avoid the strike, then dashed forward and delivered a powerful uppercut that snapped the demon's head back. Blood and its mouth armor flying through the air. Mason quickly switched out his super shotgun, his gauss cannon appearing in hand that he used to blast the Marauder's chest.
More armor and flesh was blown off the corrupted warrior from the powerful energy weapon. A second blast lanced toward them, but the demon summoned its shield and deflected the shot. Dashing forward and swinging its ax upward, the argent blade shearing through the barrel of the gauss cannon.
Growling, Mason took his damaged weapon by the smoldering barrel and swung it like a club. Smashing it against the Marauder's head, staggering it enough to grab the arm that held its ax. Pulling the limb taught, he uppercutted the demon's elbow, warping it backwards with a sickening crack which had been followed by a roar of pain.
The ax clattered to the ground and deactivated, the slayer capitalized by raining heavy blows to the Marauder's face and head. Bones cracked and flesh tore with each strike. Mason grabbed one of the demon's horns and snapped it clean off and drove it through one of the corrupted warrior's eye sockets.
Stumbling back, the Marauder collapsed to its hands and knees. The damage it had sustained taking its toll. The slayer picked up its dropped ax, reigniting the blade as he stomped toward his downed opponent.
"It is not…over." The Marauder hissed, its broken face glaring up at him. "You will not…succeed in your crusade. The Dark Lord…will have dominion…over all."
Mason narrowed his gaze before swinging the ax and removing the Marauder's head from its shoulders. When the severed head stopped rolling across the ground, the slayer crushed it beneath his boot like a melon.
Threat neutralized, Mason turned his attention to the others. Lilith and Roland were looking at him with wide, shocked eyes. Tina was looking at him like he was a superhero come to life. Tannis and Mordecai, although stunned by the battle that had taken place, were focused on helping Brick sit up after just regaining consciousness.
"Shit, what hit me?" asked the Berserker while rubbing his head.
"Pure argent energy, thrown from a blade forged in Hell." said the slayer as he rejoined them, ax still in hand. "You're lucky your shield took the brunt of it. It would have killed you otherwise."
"What the fuck was that thing?" asked Lilith, eyes glancing at the headless corpse.
"Marauder. A warrior from another world that sold their soul to Hell in exchange for power." Mason explained, "That is what Hell does to mortals. Stripping them of everything, and leaving behind another puppet made for death and destruction."
Roland, "Christ, we're seriously out of our element here." he turned his attention to the slayer, "What happened? That flash we all saw, what was it?"
Mason breathed deeply, "Lilith was right. The bastards who put me in that sarcophagus put a spell on it. A curse that put me in a dream world that never existed, while slowly eroding away my memories and sense of self. They were planning to ensure I never escaped." his voice got darker and sharper with each word, his rage mounting and his fists clenching tightly.
"But you're okay now, right?" Tina asked innocently, "That light made you better?"
The slayer smiled, kneeling down to the girl's height, "Yeah, Little T. Everything's back in my head where it belongs. Though I'm very, very, angry about what they tried to take from me." he answered, keeping a tight lid on his rage so he didn't direct it at the little girl who had become his charge.
"Not to divert this already riveting conversation." Tannis cut in, "But did you learn anything else? Does this vault have any other answers?"
"Just the relic that returned my memories." Mason brought out his super shotgun, "Along with one of my most prized weapons and a suit of old armor. Unless…" he walked back over to the stone chest, removing the armor pieces. At the very bottom of the chest, something shined back.
Reaching in, the slayer removed a metal half-sphere no bigger than a baseball. On the top, domed half with a symbol that resembled a trident with circles at the end of each point and a line running through the middle. On the flat half was a matching symbol with a series of glowing lines like a computer chip.
"VEGA?" he asked his AI partner.
"Scanning…" Mason's HUD flickered for a few moments before settling down. "Interesting. The design is familiar, but it doesn't seem to match any known file currently in my databanks."
Tannis came up and scanned the artifact with her echo. "It's definitely not Eridian. Yet here it is within one of their vaults. Perhaps there's some connection between it, our demon-killing friend, and the alien race?"
"I doubt we're going to find anymore answers here." said Roland, fishing out a spare digi-storage device from his belt. "Bag up everything that looks important and let's get back to Sanctuary."
"Dibs on the ax!" Brick shouted with manic glee. Mason shrugged and tossed him the Marauder's weapon, not like he really needed it. The Berserker grinned wider like a kid on Christmas morning when he caught it and held it in his arms.
The slayer took the storage deck from Roland and sealed the armor inside, pocketing the half-sphere artifact in his belt before they all headed back to the entrance to the vault. Stepping back through into the chamber they'd gone through earlier.
A familiar glow drew their attention to the altar where the Crucible was set. Finding the Emissary pulling the demonic sword from its place.
"Hey! The hell are you doing?!" Mordecai shouted, aiming his rifle at the being.
"Apologies, Slayer. But we all must play our part." the Emissary stated.
Mason drew his super shotgun and fired without thinking twice, along with Mordecai and Lilith. But their rounds hit only open air as the ethereal projection vanished. And the Crucible with them.
"Son of a bitch!" the slayer roared. Though his mounting anger to a back seat as the chamber began to shake. With the 'key' removed from the altar, the vault entrance began to destabilize and the arch started to collapse.
"Lilith, get us out of here!" shouted Roland.
"Hang on!" The siren flared her powers, covering everyone before they all vanished from the crumbling chamber in a flash of fire just as the ceiling began to cave in.
In the next moment, the group appeared beside the technicals just as a cloud of dust and debris blasted out of the opening in the hillside.
"What the hell just happened?" Lilith said, short of breath after teleporting so many people at once. "Why did that bastard take the sword?"
Mason couldn't answer, but his level of rage was already reaching a breaking point. Thankfully, Pandora was full of places he would be able to unleash it on.
Across the planet, an untold number of people felt an icy chill go down their spines. Feeling as though the grim reaper was standing behind them.
X
The trip back to the Crimson Fastness was spent with Mason explaining what had transpired after he placed his hand on the relic, along with the visions and revelations he received when his memories were unlocked.
There was disbelief and awe among the group as they all spoke over their echos, but with everything they knew about the slayer up to this point nothing really surprised them anymore.
"So, what does it all mean?" asked Lilith when he was finished explaining everything. "Are you still Mason?"
The slayer drove with Tina sleeping in his lap, he'd been wondering that same question since he'd gotten his memories back. The curse placed upon him was somewhat successful, he couldn't remember his original life before becoming a Marine and facing Hell the first time on Phobos, his birth name among the lost knowledge.
Although the false world he'd been placed in was an illusion, he still felt attached to the name he'd been given in it.
"I'm still Mason Riley, despite everything. I've grown attached to the name. But now I am who I always was." he saw the conflicted look in the siren's eyes from his answer. Reaching forward, he switched off the echo connection so that they could have privacy. "Lilith," he said, getting her attention as he reached out and took her hand. "I'm still the same as I was this morning. More powerful, and definitely angrier at my enemies, but what you and I have hasn't changed. And neither has what I have with Tina."
The tension in Lilith's body evaporated and she sagged in relief. She didn't want to admit it, but the thought of losing what they had made together scared her more than a little. Knowing that Mason was still the same gave her peace of mind.
"That's good. I'd hate to have to break you in all over again." said the siren coyly, getting a deep chuckle from the slayer. Tina shifted in his lap, smiling in her sleep. The couple checked on her and found the little girl surprisingly content where she leaned against Mason's armor.
"You know, she told me something surprising the other day while you and Mordi were out." said Lilith.
"Something we should be worried about?" Mason asked, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
The red head leaned back in her seat, keeping her eyes on the slayer to see his reaction. "She told me that, when we're all together, she sees us as her new parents."
There was a long pause. The slayer glanced down at the girl in his lap who continued to smile in her sleep. The fact she considered him a father to her was surprising to say the least, seeing Lilith as her new mother even more so. But Mason would be lying if he said he didn't consider the idea himself.
Adoption was the last thing on anyone's mind on Pandora. And he'd be the last person anyone would expect to become a child's parent. But ever since he'd first found Tina at that Hyperion facility, a fierce sense of protectiveness had been present. And as time passed, their relationship had evolved to that of parent and child.
The little explosive-loving girl looked up to him for guidance and protection, came to him when she was afraid and looked to him for approval when she did something creative. The adoration in her eyes when she looked up at him after she blew something up with a new creation of hers, was something he was happy to see.
Hard to believe or not, dangerous or not, Mason couldn't deny that being her new father made him feel a sense of peace.
"Makes sense." he said finally, running a hand over Tina's head. "I already see her as a daughter."
Momentarily surprised at the admission, Lilith smiled before running her fingers through the little blonde's hair as well. "Had a feeling you'd say that. It's hard not to love her. Explosives fetish and all."
"What about you? How do you feel about being her new mother?" asked Mason.
The siren thought about it. "I was shocked when she told me. Never thought of myself as anything other than a merc and a siren. A parent wasn't even a fleeting thought. But…" she looked back down at Tina before finishing, "I guess…it wouldn't be a bad thing. Though it seems like our relationship made a few big leaps pretty quickly."
Mason smirked, "Guess we'll just have to adapt. Good thing we're both good at that."
"That we are." Lilith agreed as they enjoyed the rest of the trip in comfortable silence.
X
A few days had passed since the trip to the Vault of the Slayer, and a few things in Sanctuary had changed in that time.
Lilith had moved in with Mason and Tina, the three of them officially becoming a family. And even though there was no such thing as 'legal adoption' on Pandora, the siren and the slayer had announced themselves as her new parents. Much to the surprise of everyone else and the joy of the explosive little blonde in question.
Tannis and VEGA had been working together on trying to decipher the odd artifact discovered in the vault. So far the scientist and the AI had yet to uncover anything given the unknown technology they were working with. Though from what Mason had been able to remember, the device looked to be of Makyr design, which helped guide the intelligent duo in the right direction.
In addition to what had been found in the vault, Mason had locked himself in the workshop beneath the Crimson Raider HQ for several hours a day with the damaged armor he'd taken. Coming out without his Praetor suit on, much to the confusion of everyone that knew him.
But whenever someone asked about it, he said that he was giving it a few much needed upgrades.
When things finally settled after recent discoveries, everything returned to business as usual. And at the top of the list, was acquiring the upgrades Claptrap needed to get them to the vault key Jack had hidden in Thousand Cuts.
"So, where's your daughter today?" asked Mordecai from his usual spot. Beer in hand as he looked toward Lilith. The hunter making it a point to point out her new status as a mother whenever he could.
"Spending the day with Moxxi. And I'd watch it, or as her favorite uncle you can babysit her next time." The siren fired back, making the man freeze and shiver at the thought of looking after the little explosive expert.
The last time he had the job, he lost his stock of Rakk ale due to a stray grenade being tossed into the closet where he had been keeping it. He was forced to be sober for a few days after that one.
"Aww, I thought I was her favorite uncle." Brick pouted.
"You are, big guy. I just like seeing Mordi sweat a little." said Lilith as Roland entered the map room.
"Alright everyone, let's get to work. We still have a stronghold to break into." said the Commander as they gathered around the holo-table. He looked around and immediately noticed that someone was missing. "Where's Mason?"
"Still down in the workshop. He's been working on that project of his all day. Tina and I were about to head down there and drag him out when you called us all here." said Lilith.
Mordecai snorted, "You sound a little tense, Lils. Not getting too much attention from our resident super-badass?"
The siren crossed her arms and glared at him, "You're only saying that because you haven't gotten any in…how long was it again? A year? Two?" Brick laughed loudly at the burn while the hunter shrugged and took another swig from his bottle.
As everything settled and they prepared to start planning, they heard loud footsteps making their way up the stairs outside. All eyes went to the doorway as the noise grew closer, a moment later Mason entered the room…wearing a new Praetor suit.
Similar to his original, the helmet had been updated with a wider visor and a few other small components. The armor itself had been completely revamped, the chest plate and legs were bulkier but seemed to offer more freedom of movement. The right shoulder pad looked the same, but the left was wider and was more of a brown in color along with a few other parts of the suit.
The portions of the arm plating from the biceps to the forearms had been removed, exposing the slayer's muscled flesh. And the gauntlets were easily twice as big as they were before with blunt spikes on the backs of them.
But the most outstanding feature of the slayer's new suit was the odd piece of equipment attached to the left gauntlet with a spike sticking out of it.
"Holy…shit." said Brick in awe as Mason's new armor.
"That's one hell of an upgrade." Roland added with Lilith and Mordecai nodding in agreement.
"My suit's been long overdue for an upgrade." said Mason as he looked down at the device on his left arm. "And with what we're going to be doing," With a clench of his fist, the 'spike' extended into a meter long blade with a loud 'shink!' "Jack and his flunkies are about to get me at my best."
Everyone in the room almost pitied anyone who got in the slayer's way, moreso now than they had before.
Mason retracted his newly dubbed "Doom-Blade" and joined them at the holo-table. Removing his helmet, he kissed Lilith on the cheek. "Sorry if I've been ignoring you and Tina lately. I'll make it up to you both after this mission."
The siren smiled as she trailed her fingers on the exposed skin of his arms, admiring how his new armor made him look even more badass than the old one had. "Oh, you definitely will, killer." she said in a way that promised satisfaction for them both.
Roland cleared his throat, bringing them back into focus. "Alright people, let's get to work."
X
In another dimension, a tall figure looked out a large window at the city outside. At the many people going about their daily lives completely unaware of the danger that would soon be making itself known in the near future.
"Sir, the representative of the UN is here." a woman's voice came over the PA system on the nearby desk.
The figure turned around to reveal the ten foot tall robotic form of Dr. Samuel Hayden.
"Tell them I will be right there." his cold, cybernetic voice replied as he stepped away from the window.
A lot had changed since the incident on Mars. Hayden had returned to Earth with evidence of what had taken place and the invasion that had been thwarted. The leaders of the world were torn on the issue. Half believed that it was all faked, that the whole incident was an industrial accident. While the other half had believed, and was worried of a future invasion on their planet.
The cyborg knew the truth. Hell would return for them one way or another. And without Argent energy, Earth wouldn't stand a chance. And their only hope for salvation had been sent off to parts unknown, with the hope that he would prepare himself and return before humanity was lost.
A flash of golden light drew Hayden's attention back to his desk…and found a ghostly image of a cloaked figure hovering beside it. The figure placed something on the desk before turning to him, nodding once before vanishing.
The doctor approached the desk and looked down at what now sat upon it. If he still had a mouth, he would have been smiling.
The demonic Crucible looked back at him.
Picking up the artifact with his long-fingered hand, he felt the untold power flowing within it. Power that would help shift the balance of Earth's survival.
He knew full well that the slayer would return. And an unstoppable reckoning would follow. But he would deal with that when the time came. For now, he had a planet to prepare.
And hopefully, there would still be a humanity left to save when he arrived.
X
A/N: More elements merging into one, the puzzle coming together more, and events have been set in motion for the coming future. But the real question is, what is the connection between the Eridians and the Slayer, and how will all this tie into the fate of Earth and Pandora?
Everything will be explained soon enough.
P.S. Much like most of the world, I ended up catching COVID. Omnicron is a real bitch. So I'm in quarantine till I get better. Which explains why my updates have been so frequent. So for now, enjoy the rush of new updates before I have to get back to the real world.
Stay healthy out there everyone!