"Michonne! What's coming? Where are you? Michonne? MICHONNE!"
Rick was fuming in an alarmed manner, shouting at his walkie-talkie while only static resumed as a reply. At first, Rick thought that most of his stress had subsided thanks to some friendly bickering with Michonne and the speech he had with Oceanside.
However, upon hearing about the Slayer causing more trouble again, Rick nearly burst with sheer rage. But instead, he'd squeezed his assault rifle so hard until his hands were callous.
"No...!" Rick could only murmur for a bit.
Fear had buried ice-cold claws drilling into Rick's chest, nearly believing as if Michonne was gone.
Right now, within Oceanside's outdoor seating area, the former Sheriff was with Tara and the rest of the Oceanside community while his people and lover were someplace else, possibly harmed by somebody or something that had followed the group in some way.
Tara stood across from him, knowingly seeming to think it's best to keep Rick focused on his own devices. That probably was true, but Tara figured Rick should at least try to talk to her, instead of leaving her in awkward silence.
"Rick, you have to calm down, or else those things might hear you!" Tara appealed, fidgeting in her position for a moment as she stepped closer to him, "We both know that Michonne's a strong woman, so we just got to make sure the rest of Oceanside is safe before moving to where she could be!"
Rick could impatiently shrug around in one place but still kept a constant, penetrative stare back at Tara's irresolute eyes. Overall, Tara is right; he knew he couldn't start thinking like that.
Not while his son is still out there too.
Not with Judith back in one of the houses at Alexandria.
Not with the rest of his family still alive.
Rick was sure that this fight wasn't over yet. Not until he or Negan or whoever was following him to this community were dead.
Taking a deep breath, Rick was about to ask Tara what things she was talking about before Natania, who came behind Cyndie alongside the Oceanside women, interrupts with a fake cough.
Right, they weren't alone.
"There are monsters here, Rick," Natania spoke in a low tone, making Rick turn to her. "They all came out to kill everyone here. That is, well, until one of your men showed up and saved Rachel, who was merely protecting a few other children."
"So, the big guy saved you from these things while they were out here someplace not far. But how could he have known where they were? Unless..." Rick replied, his hand cupping his bearded face until realizing, "Aaron and Eric told me about when the big guy ran off to who knows where and I thought...!"
"That he was going to run away or kill you instead?" Natania interrupted with a flare of her nostrils, "That wasn't even a part at all, Rick. There were more, coming straight out of the forest. Some of them were either undead, armed with weapons, or ones that are like gorillas, except with horns, big heads, lots of teeth, and harder to kill."
Rick gave the older woman a confused eyebrow raise just as Tara chimed in, "We all thought this was the end, but the big guy started taking each of them out one by one like they were nothing to him. NOTHING! He pretty much went straight-up powerhouse all over the place and gave me, Cyndie, and Natania a chance to warn you guys! Who knows what he could've done to us when you and Michonne found him in the road."
With that said from Tara, Rick stared wide-eyed as he facepalmed himself in disbelief, but rather knowing the full detail of what the Slayer's strength and speed could do to other humans. Before he could attempt to talk out of it, the sound of a demonic hiss came forth along with a fireball launched as well.
Rick was the first to blurt out, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!"
*BOOM*
Once the impact came and landed where the group stood, a fiery blast sent more scattered people blown off their feet away. Rick and Tara fell alongside everyone else on the ground like rain on water, whereas Natania only got grasped from the back of her jacket by an Imp. The older woman wasn't sure what to make of who grabbed her until a couple more Imps arrived in a sinister tittering manner, frightening the very core of her heart. The most common demon here and there grew manifold, their hungry eyes glazing over everybody. To the band of survivors, these creatures were unknown to each of them, considering how they all have dealt with the undead most often.
Cyndie tried using her full strength to get on her feet after yelling, "GRANDMA!"
Just as Natania shrieked out of habit, she whipped around to aim her pistol and shot down two or three of the humanoid creatures spawned from the depths of Hell. Without hesitation, one of the Imps hauled back and punched the older woman in the head, knocking her to the ground, nearly unconscious. Tara, struggling to get back up with a knife out, came forth before driving her blade in the first Imp she sees.
"Cyndie!" Tara shouted, snatching the pistol Natania wielded before flinging it towards her friend, "Catch!"
Undoubtedly, Cyndie caught the gun with two hands, pointing directly at some of the Imps before firing the ones closest, "Everyone! Weapons out!"
Each of the Oceanside women who were currently brave enough to fight unsheathed their hunting knives, especially some of them now armed with makeshift spears if necessary. As several other Imps began to approach from the trees, Rick soon became highly alerted by the sight of the demons.
Another Imp discharges a fireball on Rick, the former deputy ducked down to avoid the flaming projectile whizzing overhead and lunges behind a nearby tree. Rick took a deep breath before springing out with his assault rifle, aiming to shoot after a couple of Imps down to the ground, dead. Rick suddenly froze in his place as he felt an Imp's slip around his neck, grunting in frustration as the former deputy shot his head back into the demon's face.
The impact crushed the demon's nose and made it gush blood, releasing its grip on Rick as the Imp stumbled back, holding its face. As Rick managed his assault rifle, the Imp snarled in anger before trying to attack Rick as he swung his firearm and fired, blowing off the Imp's flesh and blood to the ground.
A fireball flew right past Rick's ear. The flame brushed his air along its path. Another Imp was skittering across the field to lunge after Rick with his back turned, lucky enough to notice Cyndie firing a shot through the sneaky Imp's forehead. Rick turns back to observe the already dead Imp before nodding to Cyndie with appreciation.
"Everybody, they're coming from the trees!" Rick ordered. "Get Natania up and the children behind us! They're coming!"
The Oceanside group instantly did their part as a couple of women stayed protective of a few children. Meanwhile, two other women went and gently moved Natania to her feet, back where the crowd of women and children remained. Those who were fighting alongside Rick, Tara, and Cyndie, each drew their bladed weapons at the oncoming demons.
An Imp charged in after one of the women, snatching one up into its claws by the hair. Holding the frightened woman in the air, the Imp drooled a pool of grayed-out saliva while grinning lecherously. Four more Imps snaked their way over to the demonic captor, ready to snatch the poor victim up and take her here and now. A round of bullets shot down two or three of the demons in their heads. The Imps halted themselves, one keeping its grasp on the woman as it reeled to the side, glaring over its shoulder. Cyndie stared back, unflinching and unwavering with a pistol in her hands.
The Imp threw the woman away, slamming her into three more female members and knocking them all out cold. Cyndie took a step back to ready herself as the devilish being of hate and anger lunged at her with surprising speed for one of its size. Coming forth to the side, Rick aimed to shoot down the lurching Imp and fired the same for another Imp attempting to fling a fireball at them. Cyndie fired her pistol once more, the rounds hitting the next few Imps square in their faces until they fall.
Surprisingly enough, walkers arrived from out of nowhere, saturated head to toe with seaweed strewn over their heads, clothes, and limbs, and actual barnacles embedded into their skinny, and yet bloated, decaying flesh. Rick and everybody else stood side by side in front of the horror they are witnessing, flanking each other to protect the unarmed women and children. Panic and fear had reigned supreme within the Oceanside community as Imps and walkers poured in from a section of the forest.
Most of the Imps who were present cast fireballs into the air left and right, with more chaos and anarchy to commence. With the numbers causing Rick and the rest of the Oceanside's group to push backward, nearly every woman or child believed that this was the end for them.
*BANG-BANG*
A flash of gunshots erupted from out of the blue nearby the Imps, and bullets started dropping various numbers of walkers and Imps.
"RICK!" shouted a familiar voice from elsewhere that caught the ex-deputy officer's attention.
Appearing to Rick and the rest of Oceanside's aid, Jesus was leading the other Alexandrians that followed alongside Beatrice and Kathy, who helped wield firearms for anyone else.
"First shift, take your guns and join them on the line," Beatrice spoke to her people, passing out each portable weapon alongside a few of the Alexandrians. "Aim at targets. Dead only. Dead only!"
Tara and Cyndie were delighted that more help just arrived to grant each of the Oceansiders around with firearms.
"Jesus, get everyone here within ten feet of the line! That's it!" Rick instructed as he stood his ground, his assault rifle flaring more Imps and walkers who advanced in the distance.
Any walkers who did not get sniped down in the head got taken down by blades or spears from the Oceansiders that stood aside Rick's group. Amongst them, Rachel rushed forward with a dagger of her own, showing enough brazen fearlessness to take down a walker much taller than her without batting an eyelash.
Peeking around him while shooting, Jesus spotted a cadre of multi-color clone Imps. There are five of them, which are colored orange or brown, prepared to launch a ballistic barrage onto the group. However, Jesus swung his automatic rifle directly towards each demon, firing at them as one or two got taken out.
"Rick, keep everyone in line! I've got this!" Jesus uttered in reassurance.
Just as the leftover Imps advanced past the overturned demons, Jesus knew he didn't have time to reload his weapon before charging forth to perform a perfect mid-air kick into one's bowels. After barrel-rolling to the side, Jesus almost gasped when he got up to avoid another Imp's fireball. When finishing, the same Imp seconds ago, jumped in the air with a claw sticking out and charged its attack.
"SHIT!" Jesus exclaimed.
He sneakily unsheathed two of his knives until he stepped aside from the Imp's attack, followed by a swinging kick and sinking a blade through its skull. The last two Imps tried to corner Jesus as it caused him to turn his head to the side, moving away from an Imp's slash. While the demon charged to ascend against one of the women, Jesus, on the other hand, was faster enough to deliver a foot sweep to trip the demon and stab it in the head.
The last Imp snarled at Jesus, seemingly pissed off to the point where it began to bring its claws down and cupped them until a large sphere of superheated fire developed.
"What in the...?"
Jesus watched with caution until the Imp screeched and shot the blast towards him. Furrowing his eyebrows, Jesus charged with enough momentum to perform a double-knee slide forward while using the flexibility of bending backward, watching the fireball take off and over him. Jesus then sounded out a battle cry before springing from his feet to shoot one of his knives right into the Imp's throat.
The Imp violently coughed up blood, instantly realizing that Jesus had won before collapsing to the ground in a thud, lifeless. Jesus was breathing heavily, chest heaving in an attempt to fuel his overworked muscles. And in a state of triumph, he checked back over to see everyone defeating the demons and walkers.
All of this fighting side by side is what Rick's group had wanted, what Tara had hoped for; joining together to strive against their common enemy, for the greater good. In the aftermath of the demonic takedown, everyone walked around to inspect the fallen walkers and Imps, making sure they were one hundred percent dead. Any monster that still twitched either received a bullet or a stab of a knife through the skull.
When Rick approached Beatrice, who had given some firearms to some of her people, she stands up to face him calmly. Rick reacted with a kind nod of his head before offering his hand to her.
"Thank you," Rick said.
After a hesitant moment, Beatrice looked at his hand, which remained bandaged from being impaled back at the Junkyard, and then she shook it.
"You're welcome for now," Beatrice replied with a nod back to Rick.
Natania, who stood up with a sizeable bump forming on the back of her head, grimaced deeply at the scene before her. It wasn't just the mass of dead walkers and demons on the ground, but the fact that her group had come together with Rick's. While it was to protect everyone from those monsters, they were now shaking hands as a sign of respect for one another.
"Grandma, are you-?" Cyndie begins, walking towards her.
"I'm fine," Natania seethed as she began to walk over to Rick with all eyes following after her. "Listen here, Rick. Even though I appreciate your group for saving my community and not killing us, you still aren't taking all of our guns! You all came here to rob us and expect every one of my people to fight back the Saviors?! Like hell, I'm going to let your foolishness kill us all!"
Rick stared at Natania, seemingly a bit agitated, "Now, wait a minute!"
"You've got to be kidding me! Why the hell would you not?!" Tara exclaimed, bewildered.
"Grandma!" Cyndie argued back, gesturing her hands all over the place. "Look around you! Don't you see what had just happened here? These monsters came out of nowhere and they were going to kill us worse than Tara's people would do, but they weren't going to do that! They saved us!"
"She's right, Natania!" Jesus chimed as well, coming forth carefully. "Please, we never meant you all any harm! Let's talk this out."
"Talk it out? And then what? We'll all come to a truce and work together? Not a chance! You were going to take our guns and leave us helpless!" Natania looked over at Jesus next, and the look in his eyes caught her by surprise. She wasn't expecting to see worry and concern while there was no sight of deception on Jesus' expression.
"I wish there were a better way to talk with you guys, but Tara explained to us that you all shoot strangers on sight. Still, though, we didn't know anything about these other demons before learning all about the big guy. He's from another world named the Doom Slayer, and he's here to help us end the Saviors' reign for your sakes."
Natania steps closer, becoming utterly confused, "What...?"
"What did you find out about him, Paul?" Rick was the next person to question the Hilltop scout.
Jesus closed his eyes and sighed heavily, "The big guy is called the Slayer from another world similar to ours, but he's come here to help all of us fight the Saviors and the demons."
"The Doom Slayer? Jesus, you're saying like as if the big guy finally talked? I mean, that sounds like a pretty cool nickname but come on!" Tara asked in utter disbelief.
Jesus frowned before he shakes his head, "No, Tara, there's more about this man than we already know now! Listen, the big guy's got somebody inside of his suit speaking for him. His name is VEGA, and he's an AI who is going to help us as well. We got attacked by some of the demons when looking for the arsenal, but the big guy took them out for us and saved two of our lives. Some demons are nearly bigger than everyone here combined if we don't-!"
Just before Jesus could continue explaining, the walkie-talkie from Rick's leather belt soon broke out with Michonne's voice yelling on the other side.
[RICK! Rick, I'm here! Carl's in danger, and I found the big guy! Th-There were these-these things coming out of nowhere! Are you all okay?]
At an instant, Rick hastily grabs hold of his walkie-talkie and brought it up to his relieved face, "MICHONNE! Thank god you are okay. Listen, you have to find Carl, Enid, and Gabriel. I told them to head on over where Oceanside's perimeter was at, while Tara and I are back in the...!"
*HISS*
Rick stopped and turned to the sound of a demonic hiss as he tried to see a hostile being slithering toward the group, leaving several women of Oceanside screaming in absolute terror of the Whiplash's arrival.
"WHAT THE HELL!?"
A flinging swish came where an energy chain-blade wrapped around Rick's arm surprisingly, to send him flying across the area until crashing on the other side of the forest. With Tara and Jesus calling out Rick's name in shock, he saw that the Whiplash focused its attention on the Oceanside community and started homing in with a demonic screech. Jesus, Tara, and everyone else became prepared as they were about to take on the satanic snake while Rick could only think to himself.
"What the fuck is going on!?"
Carl's eye came close to as active while using his assault rifle to examine around the trees, alongside both Enid and Gabriel posing the same gesture. Very carefully, the trio took a few quick steps onward. Before then, they were all still wondering about what the Slayer had thought about until he suddenly runs away somewhere else.
After some walking, Enid asked, "Carl, you said your dad found the big guy in the middle of the road, right? And he fought off a walker horde all by himself too?"
Carl examined the area more closely before replying, "My dad wouldn't have lied to any of us. I don't know where the man came from or how he made it through everything before, but maybe there's something about him that ticks. Who he had to kill so he could survive this long."
"Maybe," Gabriel said under his breath, expression resuming calm. "I could tell that he must have been unabating to be everywhere aside from Alexandria, and possibly not enclosed inside the walls either. It was like he had not exhibited his time on Earth for quite a while. Almost as if he were a stray animal."
"But he's still a human being like us. He wouldn't just run away from us for no reason." Carl tried to assume.
Enid stared at the teenager sternly, "Carl, Daryl told Paul that the man almost choked your dad to death until he held him by the throat. He even managed to kick Daryl down with ease! And now, he's somewhere else doing who knows what while we're still here-!"
Gabriel soon begins to interrupt with a grave expression, "Guys, are you noticing something around here?"
Before Carl and Enid could question what the priest had just said, they too were suddenly noticing a bright crimson glow as if it were blood-red. Still, it was coming from afar elsewhere, with Carl and Enid going ahead of Gabriel for the time being. The priest didn't bother to call out for the teens at all, though he might as well follow where the flash of red was arising.
Gabriel wasn't sure as to what he will discover alongside Carl and Enid, but by the time the trio made it through the trees, their eyes gaped as widely as possible. Out of all the things in the world, they didn't expect to witness an animate object before them.
The Gore Nest.
The trio just stood in the middle of the forest without saying a word, only looking at the Gore Nest with a shocked expression for whatever reason they were supposed to be here for right now.
Carl knew enough to acknowledge something when he sees it. "What is that-?"
*GROWL*
His words were cut off short by the sound of several zombies emerging from out of the Gore Nest's large spherical glowing red portal. Whatever these things were to Carl, while their bone armor is sleeker and almost covers the body head to toe, he was sure that they acted like walkers. For the given purpose, Carl aimed with his assault rifle upon a couple of zombies and killed two of them that came forth.
"Take them down now!" Carl exclaimed.
Gabriel raised his automatic rifle and shot two or three more zombies, whereas Enid unsheathed her dagger and sunk it into the mindless enemy's head.
Enid said with relief, "That's the last of them. How are they coming out...?"
Out of nowhere, something burlier advanced towards Enid and knocked her across until impacting against a tree. Carl's head jerked, gaping at a Hell-Razer who attacked his girlfriend, sending her flying into a tree in the process and remaining slumped on the ground.
"ENID!" Carl yelled out in shock and soon turned to the monster in rage.
Before he could aim at the Hell-Razer, the demon zoomed over so surprisingly and delivered a punch into Carl's face, blood gushing from his nose as he nearly dropped his assault rifle. The Hell-Razer became far from done once it lifted the teen by his hair, letting the Sheriff's Deputy hat fall to the ground. Carl could hardly cough as he felt the demon's knee digging into his stomach deeply.
"BLRGH!" Carl neither inhaled nor exhaled, spluttering blood from his mouth as he felt a burning sensation in his abdomen.
"NO!" Gabriel cried out at the Hell-Razor pummeling his leader's son, wide-eyed.
The moment Enid looked up from the ground caused her eyes to grow in fear and shock at what she witnessed.
"CARL!" She cried out before grunting in pain from the collision she handled, limping slightly.
Gabriel's expression became distressed by what just transpired, instinctively aiming at the Hell-Razer and firing several rounds. The Hell-Razer attempted to use its arm-mounted energized beam to shield itself from the bullets.
Dropping Carl instantly, the Hell-Razer rushed towards Gabriel and landed a gut punch with a tremendous amount of strength. Gabriel gasped in pain as he brought his automatic rifle up in a desperate attempt to end the barrage, kicking the Hell-Razer's chest and forcing it back a little bit.
The Hell-Razer gave out an uncontrolled chortle at the priest's pitiful attempt of an onslaught, trudging over to get rid of Gabriel until receiving bullets nearby.
*BAND-BANG*
"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" Enid raged at the Hell-Razer with her pistol firing each time.
Getting more annoyed, the Hell-Razer directed its energized beam towards Enid, who soon began to realize what this infernal soldier was going to do next. A constant red stream of Argent Energy went forward, causing Enid to roll aside and away as the beam vaporized several different trees and bushes.
"What are you!?" Gabriel spoke confusedly, terrified perhaps as he and Enid back away while Carl lay sprawled on the ground.
Gabriel knew that this was the end. The three survivors became trapped, surrounded by several more of the Hell-Razers with no other intention than ripping them into pieces or possibly abducting Enid back to Hell as another of their used-up toys. The Hell-Razer then begins to lift its foot to squash Carl's bloodied face like a gnat.
But a humongous right hook came and knocked the demon out cold and into the ground, creating a small crater as the Slayer appeared to Carl's rescue. He kneed the Hell-Razer in its gut, sending the demon flying back into the air. Lastly enough, the Slayer grabbed the Hell-Razer by the head, pounding its face until blood sprayed all around while sending the already dead demon afar from the others.
Everyone watched on in stunned silence.
Both Gabriel and Enid's eyes widened, and even the wounded Carl on the ground was startled at the Slayer's sudden entrance. They had never seen an act so violent before. Enid covered her mouth as she watched the blood splatter everywhere. Gabriel nearly started hyperventilating as he watched the Slayer brutally murder one of the Hell-Razers.
The Slayer turned his head, quickly facing the other Hell-Razers who are leftover. They jumped in a startled manner as the Slayer did so, positioning himself silently as he watches his opponents back away. The Slayer then switched out to the plasma rifle and proceeded to slaughter every remaining Hell-Razer present in the area. To Carl, all that remained heard in the forest were the screams of pain and terror coming from the Hell-Razer as blood sprayed everywhere, limbs and demons getting torn apart by the Slayer.
The Slayer became seen shoulder-tackling a Hell-Razer so hard that it practically exploded into a gory mess of body parts. He lifted his plasma rifle already aimed and blasted through another spot where two other Hell-Razers remain, melting off their heads and torsos. The Slayer then sprints to cave another Hell-Razer's face in with a right hook that sent the demon bouncing away for a good dozen yards.
He lifted his leg and stomped the Hell-Razer stuck in the ground, effectively rendering its ribs and sternum to dust and internal organs to jelly. The remaining Hell-Razers stepped back, apparently realizing just how outmatched they were. The Slayer charged ahead and punched one in the back. His fist ran through the Hell-Razer's spinal cord like it was a straw before it came out of its chest. The Slayer tossed the body aside like the garbage it was. He shot out orbs of plasma with the plasma rifle, which the Slayer aimed in the general direction of another Hell-Razer that got melted in an instant.
The Slayer disappeared in a burst of speed and reappeared in front of his next victim. The Hell-Razer couldn't react in time and ran into a brick wall that was the Slayer. The Hell-Razer bounced off the Slayer and landed on its back. When the demon's swimming vision came back into focus, all it saw was the Slayer's boot slamming into its chest. The Slayer ground his boot into the demonic corpse, ripping it open and spilling its liquefied guts in triumph.
The survivors still seemed frozen in shock as the killing ground became a pool of blood, where the Slayer stood drenched in the demonic substance. The visor in his helmet shadowed as blood dripped from the Praetor Suit. The Slayer's eyes began to move as he turned around and face the Gore Nest in the center. Without second thoughts or any interruptions from the others, the Slayer speeds his way to where the satanic object's heart settled.
"B-Big guy?" Gabriel called quietly before trying again. "What are you-?"
The Slayer's hand grasped onto it, and with enough ferocity, he ripped the organ out until blood gushes from the inside.
"What the hell is he-?" Enid whispered, her eyes not leaving the sight until a demonically high-pitched scream emerged.
"R͖̜ͅA̵̝̰̥Á̫̞̜̻A̝͍A̷͙͍̯A̗͉A̮͞U̞̦U̸͙̩̰U̸̦͖U̷̻͎̫Ù̫U̻U͇U̗̞͉̞UUU̻̭UG͖͖̰̪G̨̖̘̹͈G̜̟͔G͉G̱̞GG͚G̩̣G̛̬͖̲̩G̸͔͙͕G̷̞̣G̸̬̞̜G̸̹̫͕̯H̪H͉͙H̶H̦H̵̝͕̲̫̤H̷̤̼̬͎HHḪ̹H̙͕!͙̹̦!̠̟!̝̼̗̦!̺̤!̰͉!͍!̮̯͖̘!̭̜̭!̦!̤!̵̙̜!̺̬̘!̩̙͔͔!̶̦!̻͔̮!"
The trio quickly grew aghast as they tried covering their ears when each started ringing crazily, followed by the sight of the Gore nest exploding into piles of bloodied meat and carnage. During this horrifying display, Gabriel collapsed on his knees and felt an eerie chill as if he became scared out of his mind.
What that Gore Nest was to him seemed like a terrifying descent into death and darkness beyond. As a priest, Gabriel knew how that scream made him scared stiff, considering the one place where it came from inside the portal.
Hell.
Enid, still covering her ears, spoke while confused, "What were those things?!"
"Enid, help me up." Carl coughed as his voice sounded dry and raspy.
Realizing that Carl had suffered from one of the demons' pummeling, Enid went and pulled her battered boyfriend up to wrap her arms underneath his shoulders.
Carl was panting, clutching his stomach as he leaned heavily on Enid. His shirt was tousled and tattered with scruff marks and drops of blood adorning it. Bruises littered the parts of his body visible, numerous trails of blood led down his face from his nose.
Gabriel soon pried himself out of his silent praying demeanor to get back up and help the two teenagers. Grunting a bit, Carl turned over to where the Slayer kept his guard intact for nearby hostiles and began to speak.
"Thank you...for saving us."
When the Slayer just heard those two words from Carl, despite Enid and Gabriel still scared half to death, his only response was a mere nod before presenting a thumbs-up. Suddenly, after the Gore Nest had gotten dismantled, the Slayer soon noticed two or four more Imps arising in a flash of crimson to deal with the threat. And not just that, approaching out of the shadowy forest was a Dread-Knight, a cybernetically enhanced version of the Hell-Knight. It had two orange energy swords attached just above the monster's wrists. While appearing in a dull brown color, the Dread-Knight also included various machinery, including metal plating, orange tubes, and glowing crimson eyes.
The Dread-Knight roared into the air, its vocal cords sounding so automatic and malicious as the monster charges after the Slayer. He began to frown a bit before noting VEGA to get these people away from the area now. After that, the Slayer didn't have enough time to apprehend the Dread-Knight before it launches a beam of energy at the Slayer from a distance.
Opportunely, the Slayer evaded the attack only lightly, beginning to charge right after the Dread-Knight, who leaped into battle and tries to swipe at the Slayer. The Dread-Knight attempted to perform its ground-pound attack onto the Slayer as he dashes aside with his thruster boots. He switched to the rocket launcher with one lock-on burst to send the Dread-Knight through the trees. All of this gave VEGA the chance to warn the band of survivors right now.
VEGA: {The Slayer has asked you three to leave the premises immediately. He will give you all enough time to retreat to where Rick Grimes remains in the center of Oceanside.}
After VEGA finished his statement, a few seconds passed before the trio managed to blink their eyes in curiosity about VEGA. But some of their questions would have to wait where two of the Imps pounced at the Slayer. He grabbed one of the Imps' arms, which had attempted to strike him, yanking it over before hammering down on the Imp's face into a dented bloody pulp.
A look of surprise etched across each face as Carl spoke in a calm yet worried voice, "We got to get to dad and find everyone else!"
"But what about him?" Enid questioned worriedly, her eyes directing over to where the Slayer switched to the combat shotgun, blasting two more Imps off their feet.
"I think he's got this handled more than we do!" Gabriel answered before nudging the two teenagers to where Oceanside's campground resides. "Let's move now!"
With that said, the trio broke away from their agitation and began their way back to the community grounds. The Slayer continued battling off the rest of the Imps alone. One of the Imps snarled at him from above and dived down diagonally at high speed, its claw covered in demonic energy. Glaring at his attacker with fury, the Slayer swiftly brought his left hand up to catch the demon by the throat, just before it came to contact with him.
Squeezing tightly on its neck, the Slayer then proceeded to twist its waist to the right before ripping the demon in half. The Dread-Knight reappeared from the already broken trees to unleash yet another ground-pound attack that leaves the ground in the Slayer's immediate vicinity coated in orange energy, crumbling everything into rubbles. The Slayer evades another series of reckless slashes from the Dread-Knight before using the chaingun to tear through the cyborg demon into shreds.
Leaving the Dread-Knight staggering for a few seconds, the Slayer lunged on top of the snarling Dread-Knight to silence it by ripping its throat out and snapping its head backward. The Slayer saw two Imps quickly approaching, turning his body to the right as he threw the Dread-Knight corpse right into the two other demons.
By switching out to his heavy assault rifle, the Slayer aimed until he rained the two Imps on the ground with a barrage of bullets. The leftover Imps seemed to catch his attention as the Slayer stirred his weapon to fire down two or three more of those demon fuckers until there was none left on the HUD.
VEGA: {The remaining demons in this area have been terminated. I've detected Rick Grimes and his group in the campgrounds of Oceanside. I have also acquired Carl Grimes' life signature to locate where you will go.}
The dreadful gaze upon the Slayer's face soon faltered, descending his heavy assault rifle before deciding to put it away and going for the super shotgun. Now that the Gore Nest has gotten eliminated, all that was left to destroy are any other demons in Oceanside as the Slayer then turns, sprinting off to find everyone else and where Oceanside could be.
"We're almost there!" Daryl shouts as he and Michonne were both racing their way over to Oceanside's campground.
Michonne's legs were keeping up as best as they could through the community's large forest. Her eyes were growing wide every time she almost saw Rick and the others. Possibly even Carl if the Slayer were there as well. Still, she couldn't help but think about how much the Slayer was capable of causing so much trouble for the group. Before she could ponder any further, Michonne and Daryl unexpectedly heard loud shots fired by several Hell-Soldiers.
The two survivors quickly got themselves behind a tree each. During the shooting, one of the Blasters charged up a powerful plasma ball and fired through the forest, vaporizing the trees from all around into disfigured forms. Both Daryl and Michonne quickly moved out from their hiding spots and rushed towards another few. And once Daryl was in his, he reloaded and fired a bolt through one Blaster's skull. More plasma orbs came and eventually exploded within crowded places of the forest, destroying trees and bushes and blowing them into pieces.
But luckily, the two survivors didn't get themselves obliterated by the discharges. Taking this advantage at her own pace, Michonne zipped around to ambush two Hell-Soldiers, slashing at them both through their heads and letting some blood gush out. A Shielder popped out from nowhere and hurled orbs of plasma after Michonne, who had to dodge past the remaining trees and onward to unleash an overhead swipe at the Hell-Soldier. But the monster uses its energy shield to block Michonne's attack and pushes her against a broken tree.
The Shielder angrily snarled as it roughly forced Michonne to get up from the tree and suddenly started to lick its lips with lust at her curves. Michonne, much to her disgust, retaliated and slices the Shielder in halves. Before the woman could proceed to find Daryl, Michonne glanced back at the already dead Shielder's forearm, beginning to pry off the piece of metallic device attached to the monster's left forearm. She studied it real quick, and as she fastens it onto her forearm, Michonne thrusts out a big, translucent blue energy shield.
A look of unease and wonder came on Michonne's face, believing that she could make some use of this safeguard. Blasters were on the way towards Michonne, shooting plasma orbs for the death of their demonic comrade. Using the energy shield to block each discharge, Michonne charged in as well before impaling one Blaster's skull with her katana. Then she used the energy shield to smack against the other Blaster from attacking her.
Back with Daryl, Blasters came out with an Imp hurling a fireball from the side. He ran across sideways before ejecting another bolt through the Imp's face and then charges his way to kick one of the Blasters down. The other Blaster tried to whip its armed-based cannon at Daryl, but the redneck hunter beat it to the monster's face as it got bashed by Daryl's crossbow. The Blaster could only manage to snarl just before Daryl sunk a knife through its head.
Once that became done, Daryl sprinted back over to the dead Imp and yanked out his bolt to reload his crossbow. Whipping himself around to aim, Daryl shot out the bolt to the other Blaster that tried to get up after him. He then heard the sound of Michonne struggling from the other side and ran to find her.
The other Blaster was continuously shooting out plasma orbs that caused Michonne's energy shield to get dismantled for only a minute until it revives to work again. The Blaster knocks Michonne to the ground and begins to aim at her. Until a bolt went through its brain, causing the Blaster to fall dead. Daryl makes his way over after collecting his reusable bolts, giving Michonne a hand to help pick her up to her feet.
"Thanks," Michonne breathed heavily, glancing down at the device on her forearm while pressing. "The hell's wrong with this thing? I guess it wasn't too good when those things got the drop on me-!"
The energy shield came back after a minute, good as new, and it startled Daryl as well that caused him to step back.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Daryl asked while examining the energy shield and then sees the UAC logo on the front. "That must be what the big guy was telling us about."
"Come on, we gotta go find Rick," Michonne remarked, reverting the energy shield to its original state. "We'll talk about this UAC stuff by the time everyone's okay."
Just as Michonne and Daryl passed through the trees, quickly keeping an eye out for Rick or Tara, there was a sound coming near them. They both heard panting and grunting, shoes rushing from one place to another, letting Michonne catch a glimpse of a trio running in their direction. Her eyes were nearly watered by the time she saw one figure wearing a Sheriff's Deputy hat. And for that alone, Michonne raced towards them with Daryl following behind.
"CARL!" Michonne called out to the group, most of which immediately had their attention towards her.
"M-Michonne!" Carl croaked in relief with Enid keeping him steady, letting Michonne come forth in Carl's aid.
"Oh, Carl! What happened?!" Michonne had one hand gently cupping the teenager's bruised face.
"Where the hell is he?" Daryl asked the next question, earning Gabriel's response.
"He's still back there, Daryl! These demons of Satan himself have finally come to subdue us all. But that man saved us, and we're trying to find where Rick is now. Did you find him yet?"
Daryl shakes his head in a silent response, glancing over to Carl while Michonne tends to him as kindly as she can.
"We still need to find dad, Michonne. We have to try and save everyone in Oceanside, so we can beat these monsters." Carl said as he frowned with determination.
"Carl, you could've died if Rick and I weren't there! You need to keep yourself out of harm's way by those demons." Michonne then turns her attention to Enid and Gabriel. "Are you both alright?"
Enid nodded before answering, slightly teary-eyed. "I'm okay, but I'm still wondering about that man you guys brought. This voice in his suit called him the Slayer for some reason and told us that Rick is in the center of Oceanside."
"We'll have to be quick before any of those monsters find us too!" Gabriel chimed in as well, earning nods of approval from Michonne and Daryl.
Daryl was ready to keep moving, "Then let's go-!"
Suddenly, a Revenant erupted loudly, using its large UAC engineered jet-pack to pop out and sail right towards where Daryl stood.
Michonne cried out, "DARYL-!"
Shots from the heavy assault rifle's tactical scope were fired upon the Revenant's dual rocket launchers as each one exploded from its jetpack. And for a moment, when each of the group's eyes flashed wide, they just began to hear the sounds of stomping. The vibration was getting faster and louder until the Slayer emerged at an alarming pace, lodging his fist directly into the demon's lower body. The Revenant was going to screech at him some more, but the Slayer quickly shoved his hand into its mouth.
The Slayer let his hand crawl down through the neck and broke all the Revenant's vertebrae, exchanging a fist into its stomach area. The demonic skeleton tried hitting against the Praetor Suit, but it did nothing to the Slayer at all. Immense pain grew more for this skeletal monster as the Slayer clutched the stomach and pulled it out of its mouth, like a child yanking broccoli off a plate.
The Slayer stood there, witnessing stomach acids pouring out as well as a lot of blood. He kicked the butchered Revenant down and turned all his attention to both Michonne and Daryl, eyes glaring at each of them before looking at Carl's bruised appearance.
"B-Big guy! Do you know where we can find my dad?" Carl asked weakly.
To that response, the Slayer gave the teenager a nod in return as he pointed towards his primary path. The Slayer's self-awareness knew that leaving these people out here again wasn't going to do much help, causing him to wave a hand for them to follow his lead. But before the Slayer could turn and progress onward, he nearly convinced himself that Michonne had stepped forth with her usual vague expression.
"Thank you so much for saving them, Slayer," Michonne said with her eyes closed, to which the Slayer responded with a waving gesture as he rolled his eyes in exasperation.
There was no time for thanking the Slayer yet. Several other demons are still alive around here, so they have to act fast. All while the rest of the group looked on at the Slayer's bloodied view in complete shock, with Daryl only scowling, his thundering footsteps took a pace back as three Lost Souls came rushing past the group.
"What the hell!?" Daryl shouted, coming out of his shocked state.
Rising his hands with the super shotgun, the Slayer prepared to aim and fired at two of the Lost Souls while he charged. Following right in front of him were three more Hell-Soldiers that commenced on blasting plasma-powered orbs with their projectile-based arm cannons. The Slayer's expression stayed unwavering, dashing across and bypassing a few blown trees before triggering the super shotgun, chucking off two different limbs until blowing away the first one's head.
The two remaining lunged for the Slayer, each hand reaching out to dispatch him quickly. Only for the Slayer to shoot his head forward and nailed one in the nose with his helmet. The Blaster wailed in pain as the third one rushed at the Slayer, receiving a blast through the torso with his super shotgun. Then the Slayer switched over to his violently buzzing chainsaw and continued to see his way through the other Blaster in halves. He barges right into the corpse to fight against where that other Lost Soul went.
Soon, with the Slayer's objection to any aid, Daryl and Michonne had joined to help fight off any attackers nearby. As much as the Slayer didn't need any of their assistance, he couldn't help but notice how flexible they are now at battling the demons.
Michonne saw a couple of walkers coming closer and took them out by slicing off their heads. For the next one, Michonne chopped into its forehead with her katana. She steps back from the walker falling towards her. She kept an eye out on Daryl as he was doing fine shooting bolts at the Imps with the crossbow, where neither of them was getting surrounded.
The Slayer could see Michonne slashing and slicing at the next few Imps that tried to lunge at her while he rushed around and fires with the super shotgun. Daryl loaded his crossbow to hoist and shoot an Imp right through the eyes and then does the same for the next few walkers. She barely got any blood on her as most blood had splattered behind Michonne's target.
Michonne sees an Imp approaching from behind her, and while turned around, she put that power into her swing and sliced part of its head off. Michonne made sure none of the attackers were getting anywhere near Carl, Enid, and Gabriel, who was sniping out any of the closest walkers. The Slayer waves a hand for the band of survivors to follow him as he sprints off. Once Daryl passed the still walkers and Imps, he ripped the reusable bolts out and collected them back, following the Slayer.
"W-We got to follow him! The big guy knows where dad is, so we have to do this!" Carl told everyone in his weak state.
Without any second thought, the group started making their way through the Slayer's route of demolishing any demon standing in their way. After shooting down the last Lost Soul to the ground until it explodes, the Slayer darts across a few trees to begin fighting off several other Imps and walkers. He hammers their skulls in and crushes a couple of zombies to the blood-soaked soil. Thanks to VEGA, the Slayer abruptly received a heat signature from the Whiplash that he fought previously and sprinted his way past the area with everybody else still following him.
Suddenly, a launched powerful projectile went right past the Slayer as Daryl quickly dodges away to see it vaporize a nearby tree.
"What the hell?!" Enid shouted, just as startled and wide-eyed as Carl seemed.
"What was that?" Carl asked.
The group kept their gaze focused and spotted a Mancubus. However, this one was covered from head to foot in gunmetal grey armor, with passive green lighting emitted from certain sections of its body. The Slayer knew that this one was the Cyber-Mancubus, a cybernetically-enhanced version of the regular Mancubus.
With an alarmed expression on Gabriel's face, he uttered, "Good lord."
"We need to get past this thing, or else we won't get back with Rick and everyone else!" Michonne said, trying to keep her distance alongside her group without making the situation worse for themselves.
The Slayer could sense some of the survivors backing away from behind him before taking out his rocket launcher to blast lock-on burst rockets. The Cyber-Mancubus staggered to the side until it began discharging two acid-like orbs to create hazardous pools of liquid.
Michonne soon notices an Imp creeping up to lunge at the Slayer. "Shit," She uttered.
Michonne runs over to kick the Imp away and get impaled by a sharp branch from behind in the chest. He then watches as Michonne walks over to the dying Imp slowly, lifting her katana and slicing its head with blood coming up from the bloody stump. The swordswoman's eyes soon take a glance at the Slayer, who casually stares back at her as a sign of respect for both having each other's back. The Cyber-Mancubus aims to shoot at Michonne, only for one of Daryl's bolts to embed itself through one of its eyes. Rearing back against a tree in pain and fury, the Cyber-Mancubus bellowed at Daryl and slowly charges after him.
VEGA: {Your best weapons to use in this fight against the Cyber-Mancubus are the rocket launcher or the heavy assault rifle. You can easily circle-strafe around the Cyber-Mancubus to distract it while the Slayer and Daryl can eliminate it.}
Gabriel soon shoots at the Cyber-Mancubus' face to distract it long enough for Daryl to climb onto the back of the behemoth. The Slayer glared as he and Michonne stormed their way to find a few Mecha-Zombies and walkers in their path. The Slayer grabs his enemy by the neck with his hands and knee-strikes the chest, busting its sternum and ribs. After throwing the dead enemy aside, he then headbutts a walker, fracturing its skull, and then finally throws the creature onto a few walkers, stomping each through the head.
Michonne rushed past the Slayer and sliced two walkers' heads off, causing them to fall limp onto the ground. The Slayer gets out the heavy assault rifle and rapidly fires at the screeching Mecha-Zombies until each one becomes reduced to nothing but bloody sludge.
Gabriel and Enid, while she held Carl, back away in fright for their lives as the Cyber-Mancubus plans to lunge at them. Not for long as the Slayer jumps his way onto the Cyber-Mancubus with Daryl on the back. He swiftly punches through the monster's armored headgear for Daryl to take out his knife and stabs the Cyber-Mancubus a few times in the face.
All while shocking the Cyber-Mancubus with the Slayer's super shotgun blasting down its throat, with its head exploding and splattering blood. Both Daryl and the Slayer back away until the Slayer's foot pushed the dead monster onto the ground in a loud thud.
VEGA: {The Cyber-Mancubus is now dead. There are no known energies from the demons nearby, so you should be distinct enough to find Rick Grimes.}
"That was close, you guys," Carl sighed in relief that followed a wince from his bruises. "We should get going right now! Dad has to be okay somehow. I know it!"
With the Cyber-Mancubus now finished, Daryl could only breathe a bit as he looks for one of his bolts from earlier. And when he turns his head around, the archer soon notices the Slayer holding out a bloodied bolt in his hand. Daryl ignored the tiny breeze and slowly evaporated Cyber-Mancubus by his feet to retrieve his reusable bolt from the Slayer.
"Thanks," was the only thing Daryl muttered with narrow eyes looking away from the Slayer.
For now, Gabriel was glad enough that Daryl has decided to become calmer around the Slayer, which was alright because it was apparent that the Slayer had walked past him and returned a nod at the archer. Daryl rolled his eyes as the group took their chance to speed up after the Slayer. They all know now that Oceanside's center was up ahead, and the Slayer wasn't what they thought of him up previously until now.
In Carl's eyes, the Slayer was a badass incarnate.
In Gabriel's eyes, the Slayer was an avenging angel here to save humanity from its sins.
In Enid's eyes, the Slayer was a scary man that seems to have a good heart.
In Michonne's eyes, the Slayer was a mysterious soldier that had somehow suffered as she did.
In Daryl's eyes, the Slayer was anger, hatred, and death itself.
And in the Slayer's eyes, he was all of the above.
A/N: [And that was another chapter for me. Don't worry, we will return to the slaughter in the next chapter. Please review, and leave your thoughts.]