William slashed a Pinky's throat, leaping off the corpse and blasting a Spirit-possessed Baron back with a point blank from his right hand gun. A Blood Maykr screeched it's ire before a round pierced the faceplate, the corrupted "angel" collapsing and falling to the ground. Turning, the Slayer backhanded a Zombie, stabbing an Imp through the throat, blasting another group of demons back to Hell. Panting, the man grimaced, pushing forward into the Holt.

"Close…" he muttered, "So close, kid. You just need to hang on…"

William's thoughts drifted, when was the last time he'd seen actual sunlight? Or eaten? Did he even need to eat now? He wasn't hungry…

The man shook his head, "What the hell am I thinking?"

"-ayer, can you hear me? Doomguy?!" Internguy's, as he'd taken to calling him in response to his moniker of Doomguy for William, frantic voice broke through the sudden silence of his thoughts, William was silently thankful for the intrusion, one left to his own thoughts is vulnerable.

"'m here," The man grunted in reply, and heard a heavy sigh of relief on the line along with a curse of "Thank fuck." William smirked, a rumbling chuckle emanating from his chest, voice like a grindstone.

"What? Miss me that much already? I wasn't off the line that long, was I?"

"O-of course not!" Internguy's hurried reply came through, "It's Samur who was worried!"

"Surrrrrree. Says the one with my action figures sitting in plain view. On his desk. For all. To see." William retorted, allowing annoyance to seep into his voice, but only so much, Internguy remained silent, not bothering to contradict him, it was true after all.

"God above, you sound like a damn kicked puppy," he muttered, "If I cared, I'd take 'em back, ya daft punk. Keep 'em."

"You mean it?!" Internguy's voice sounded both stunned and giddy, radiating pure wonder.

"….I'm not saying it again." William finished, Internguy excitedly squee'ing in the background, even as Samur admonished him for keeping the line open.

"Ah, let the man have his fun," William spoke up, "We all need some levity at times, don't we?"

Samur remained quiet, Internguy rolling in his chair happily as William cut the line, walking onward.

"Man's like a child with his favorite superhero…" he murmured, shaking his head, but smiling all the same.


Wake up, a voice spoke in the Reaper's mind, Master, you must awaken… it persisted, even as Marcus attempted to block it out, dampening it. Up until then, it only sounded like it was murmuring in his ear, until it flat out screamed in incomprehensible rage.

"WAKE THE FUCK UP RIGHT GODDAMN NOW!"

Marcus jolted awake looking for the source of the noise, now throughly pissed, growling in annoyance.

"Alright asshole, you woke me up. What? Have you heralded the coming of my torturer?"

"You wish," the voice snarked back, "I shall retrieve you, and we will vacate this dungeon posthaste!"

"Slow your roll pal, what makes you think I'll just go along with this? I don't even know who you are, I can't even see you, for Christ's sake." His anger rose, had this guy come to just mock his predicament, the bastard, vaguely, he caught a glimpse of a tall man clad in purple-black armor staring down at him. Marcus instinctively cringed away as best he could, there was something he couldn't quite place, that unknowable, almost maddening fury, only known to himself and William, and somehow, this man's could match if not surpass it. The visage of the man growled incoherently and "spoke" again.

"You think me a jester? Mocking a tortured man with promises of freedom?"

"Pal I know fuck all about you, forgive me for assuming a man clad in all black isn't out for my best interest while I'm stuck in literal Hell." He retorted, the armored man faded into existence again,

Marcus snarled, "So why are you here? You can't get me out of here yet, we need to plan this out, decipher what's where, I need my armor, my weapons. A way out…"

"Then I shall scout the area and return if new opportunities arise."

"Good luck then," he sighed, as the man faded from view, even as his presence didn't, some innate sense told the Reaper so.

"The same to you, Master."

Marcus frowned at this, Master? The fuck's he talking about?…

"I shall explain later, but for now, the best I can discern, worlds are colliding, and it's not as simple as your Earth and Hell, as you call it, now. It's… larger than that."

With the cryptic warning out in the air for him to mull over, the armored man left him there, and this time, his presence didn't linger.

Marcus gazed at the form of Mephistopheles as he entered his vision, that ever present, sadistic, all knowing smirk plastered on his face.

"A change of plans arose, and we must rush our plan," Meph strode over, unchaining the man. The sudden burning of hot blood flowing back into his limbs sent the Reaper kicking with the last of his strength. The demon prince smirked wryly and replied to the gesture, "I should've expected no less." punctuated by a wicked SNAP. Adrenaline kicked in and dulled the pain, but only slightly as the demon dragged him through the… dungeon was the only in his vocabulary that could describe it, up a flight of stairs, countless twists and turns made his head spin.

Or maybe that was just the pain.

He grunted as his body hit the floor, slumping in pain as Mephistopheles's feet clicked on the ground.

"Prepare him." Were the only two words he heard before being hauled up and brought before a set of armor.

To say it resembled his original armor wouldn't have been too far off, if the helmet and chest plate were any indication, coated in a red base and gold accents, Marcus was ashamed to admit, the armor looked good.

"Stand." Meph ordered, suiting him up. As soon as the helmet's visor closed around him, he felt a spike of pain… no, a literal spike pierce his leg where it had broken, forcing the shattered bone together.

He roared in pained rage as thoughts whirled through his head, enraged, angry, violent thoughts roiled like waves in his mind. Deaths, war, murder and him, standing atop it all covered in blood.

"Master! What is going on?! Your thoughts-!"

The armor-clad man reappeared, this time in full view, whereas he had been a hazy specter before, he now appeared, tall, regal, and crouched like a wild animal ready to pounce. His voice, once calm, though panicked, now grew short, low, and seething with barely restrained murderous rage, barking out wordless growls and roars, screaming incoherently.

"MAAAAA'UUUUURRR!!" The knight screamed, lunging at blinding speed, it skidded to a halt in front of him, crouched and pacing like a rabid dog, facing the Dark Lord. Marcus stood, ready to tear at the Dark Lord bare handed, all he knew was this man had done this to him, and he looked like his friend. He charged, the knight at his back lunging just to be thrown out into a wide platform, shaded by a high, semicircular wall.


"Kid?…"

William jumped back as his protege lunged, some black spectral knight acting as a shadow, keeping distance between them, William's chaingun blitzed rounds at the spectral knight causing it to howl like a wounded dog and charge forward, swinging like mad.

Ducking under the flurry of blows, William sprinted to his protege, gripping the helmet.

"The armor, it's doing something to him.. I need to get it off!"

With all the strength the enhanced man could manage, he tears the helm off and casts it aside.

Marcus's mind ebbed as the rage drained like a bathtub of water, the angry screaming quieted, the man behind him crouched still, seemingly waiting for his Master's next move

"W-will?.." Marcus choked out, his voice was hoarse, strained from the screaming.

"Yeah, kid?"

"I… need the helmet, it's begging me, I have to put it on, I have to wear it, I need to!-"

Marcus lunged for the helmet like a drug addict, scooping up the helmet and slamming it home to connect with the armor.

He squared off, raising his fists and yowling a challenge, William accepted with a scream of his own, lunging in with an cross right to the abdomen. Marcus responded like a feral animal, slamming a fist into the tempered damage resistant glass of William's helmet visor, kicking off and crouching, half-circling the man, eyes aglint with insanity drowned in bloodlust. He tore at his friend, a cry of fury reverberating in the near silent Luminarium, outside of grunts and yells of exertion.

And just like that, he was frozen, unable to move for the snarl etched in his face like a bust in stone, before he was jerked back, disappearing with the Father's lifesphere.


William stood agasp. What the hell had just happened? A shadowy knight seemingly guarding his friend from attacks, the almost feral way his protégé had attacked him. Least of all the fact he was ALIVE!

"Doomguy! Slayer, sir! Are you alright, there was lots of screaming and, and…"

"'M fine, ya damned ingrate!" The man snarled, immediately regretting the words as the line went dead.

"…shit…"

Samur limped into view, growing silent as he repeated,

"No… nononono!"

William hardly sympathized with the man, killing the equivalent of this world's Jesus, all to extend his own existence. Then again, he reasoned, wasn't that what he was doing, just dragging the rest of the Earth into his Hell?

No, he was saving the Earth, wasn't he? Taking his sweet ass time to do it, part of him grumbled.

He tamped that down.

"You must return…" Samur groaned weakly, "Find the Wraiths… Destroy the Dark Lord and end all this."

William secured his helmet, turned, and walked through the portal to the original Sentinel homeworld.

The World Spear


Marcus's snarl never left him as he screeched and lunged, Doomblade extended and rifle aimed right at the Dark Lord's chest; that was before Mephistopheles gripped his head, attempting to knock him out cold with a twist of the helmet and a jab to the base of his neck. Instead, the Reaper turned, just as Mephistopheles disappeared, and he felt his consciousness be violently torn from him.

The Reaper stood up and walked over to the Dark Lord, kneeling before him like a knight of old.

"It is done, I am yours to do with as you require, Lord."

"Good," The Dark Lord replied, "Then do as I say, hunt down and kill the Doomslayer. And when you finish, return to me so we may kill this vessel once and for all."

"As you command, Lord."

"It will be done."