Against all the evil that Hell can conjure,
all the wickedness that mankind can produce,
we will send unto them… only you.
Rip and tear, until it is done.
Heavy breathing echoed across a darkened room, filling it with the aroma of sweat. Holographic computers around the station began playing different forms of media, ranging from news reports to phone recordings. Firing guns and screeching monsters could be heard across the room, alongside the madness of falling towers and cracking ground.
"We can't run!" a man called out.
"There's too many of them!" a woman screamed just seconds before her death recorded on her smartphone.
"Reporting to you live from the ARC, this is Jennea Dench of WNBC standing live before what remains of the Union Aerospace Corporation Headquarters after they fell corrupt to the demons that are plaguing our society as we speak," a spokeswoman announced, standing outside in a violent thunderstorm. "In the span of just eight months, around 60% of the world's population has been eradicated by the ongoing forces of Hell itself. Now only 130 million people remain after the UAC surrendered their free will to these monsters."
"Despite humanity's best efforts, it seems as though our way of life will collapse unless we evacuate the planet," another spokeswoman pointed out, playing over the previous news broadcast. "We're clearly no match for the Hell Priests that sent them here, under their corrupted guidance of the Khan Maykr… Slayer, if you're out there, just know we are praying for you to deliver us from this apocalypse. We are praying for you to return as our Second Messiah. Drive these demons back to the hole from whence they came!" The transmissions of the broadcasts and recordings ended, with the glass window revealing what remained of Earth.
The individual who was on board at the time walked onto the station, his dark visor as the first thing reflecting a crackled and sooty of what remained the only habitable planet in the solar system. He brushed off the dust coating his green helmet and chestplate, with heavy metallic footsteps trailing behind the red dust of the planet Mars.
"I had just managed to gather the coordinations of what Earth presumes is the first Hell Priest: Deag Nilox," a computer on the ship explained as the masked soldier tapped a few times on one of the holographic screens. "He is located in the remains of New York City, as far as I can tell. I will prepare a way down on the planet." As soon as the masked figure moved his hand away from the screen and picked up some sort of futuristic assault rifle off the counter, two pieces of a portal descending down to the large window giving him a clear view of the desolated planet and moon connected with each other, generating some sort of blue vortex in between them.
"They're counting on you, DOOM Slayer," the computer finished as the weapon-armed man walked through the portal, his eyes gleaming with no sign of mercy for the demons through his visor.
The Villager woke up in his sleeping bag, pulling out the cellphone next to him to check on the time. There was sunlight and shadows of the trees above the bright orange tent he was resting in, and the young mayor of Smashville checked his phone to find out the time was 9:52 AM. Villager crawled out of his sleeping bag, yawning and stretching his back as he walked over to a pile of his own clothes folded on a small table. At that time, he was still wearing pajamas, so he went ahead and quickly changed into the fresh pile of clothes.
Upon leaving the tent, the Villager was greeted with the morning sun shining upon him and his tent. The rusty iron-colored branches he bound the strings to support his tent have grown and blossomed from trees with aluminum leaves and trunks that coiled up like springs, and the warbled, gurgling chirps of birds and small woodland creatures could be heard of the morning aroma. The Villager gazed upon the utopian city of architectural skyscrapers that was Civiltatula, taking with him a green backpack he carried along into the woods on a treaded path.
The leaves obscuring the bright blue sky gave out a warm and tinted green shade, with twisted, healthy roots buried halfway underneath the path many people before the young mayor seemed to take thousands of times. The Villager kept hiking until he eventually got to a clearing that led him onto a light-year stone bridge. That bridge stretched several feet across a body of water, the kind that was dotted with tiny clumps of rocks decorated with algae and clusters of freshwater barnacles encasing themselves in their own shells. The building at the end of the bridge was a sight to behold: its architectural style was very familiar to that of a medieval setting, but the atmosphere around it seemed to be slightly alien. Tattered flags of a deep crimson were erected among the outer walls, with arches and pillars supporting blue domes bearing an emblem similar to that of the Smash Balls. As soon as Villager got to the end of the bridge, he scaled up a small flight of quartz stairs so he could meet with the assistant mayor trying her best to nudge the wooden bar sealing one of the doors completely shut.
"Oh! Mr. Mayor!" Isabelle exclaimed in complete surprise. "How nice of you to wake up early. I need your assistance to break down this door so we could get into this place." The Villager, upon quick analysis on the door, pulled out a chopping axe. The appearance of that sharp weapon alone was enough to terrify Isabelle silently to the point where she backed away and ducked her head once the mayor slammed his axe into the wooden bar, hacking into the obstacle until it was nothing more than pieces of soft, spongy splinters that were heavy from the rain of time soaked into it beforehand. This left the Villager with an advantage to nudge the door open, and he put his axe back in his pocket and pushed it open with his body weight.
The two cute villagers waved their hands in front of their face as they tried to get a large cloud of dust in their eyes, with Isabelle coughing in the process. They gazed upon a darkened room, which was completely black from the inside. Despite the fact that there were windows from the outside of the buildings, it didn't seem as though the sun could shine through and brighten up the place, leaving behind the evidence that maybe there was something simple like curtains blocking out any natural light from the outside.
"If I must confess, I don't know if it's safe carrying that axe of yours wherever you go," Isabelle spoke with a bit of fright in her tone of voice, waiting behind the Villager as he walked ahead into the abandoned place. "Someone might lose a limb, or a head, if they're not careful…" The blond shi-tzu ran behind the Villager, who had just slipped the backpack off his shoulders and pulled out an LED lantern. He turned the essential on and adjusted the brightness, giving both himself and his assistant mayor a good glimpse of the place. From what they have seen, it appeared to be a large hallway filled with empty picture frames and benches with frameworks depicting the draconic kings and queens who existed before Ceresor and Ultima that adorned the walls. The Villager gave a lighthearted look at the anthropomorphic dog about why she wanted to come to this place, his stare the only thing doing the talking for him.
"You're probably wondering why I dragged you out of the city just to head on over to this place," Isabelle explained. "It's because I kinda wanted to explore the safe parts of the wilderness. After that encounter with Marx at the ARMS League, let's just say I deserve a little break here. Besides, we can snoop around the place before I have to go off to attend to our universe. Tom Nook has recently been sending out desert island getaway packages to Villagers like you, and I better be there to help him out with his new Nook Miles currency. Guess he really isn't as much of a cheapskate as we thought initially." Villager handed Isabelle the lantern in his hand, to which she took it and wandered off into the large part of the castle.
Isabelle walked forward once she managed to spot a rusty, red carpet on the floor that seemed to coat a stairway to the upper floor which split into two individual flights about halfway in opposite directions. She got to the halfway point, approaching the tapestries that were concealing the windows in the current room they were located at. She fondled with the thick golden rope tying the two drapes together, loosening it with ease.
"This place could use some light around here," Isabelle pointed out, spreading one of the heavy curtains open and tucking its weight behind the wooden railing next to the wall. "Help me out with the other one, will ya?" As Isabelle adjusted the curtain to make sure it didn't slip out, the Smashville mayor walked over to the untouched curtain and pulled it open with ease. Light was now filling up the room, reflecting off the blue zebra quartz dome above it. Despite feeling completely empty, the architectural design of the place in general also felt medieval, all the way down to the pillars fused to the walls supporting the whole place. The floors which the two conjoined stairways led up to were filled with doorways to rooms upon rooms that looked as though they would curve into more hallways.
"From the looks of this place, it appears to be some sort of humongous castle," Isabelle stated, admiring the woodcraft on the stair railing as she walked up the flight on her right. "Perhaps we can try uncovering all the secrets about this place. It looks rich with priceless historical treasures." The Villager looked up at her in concern, wondering if she was content with staying around this large place before she leaves to work in their respected universe, and the dog noticed that too.
"Oh don't worry, Mr. Mayor," Isabelle reassured. "I've got plenty of time before I have to leave. Besides, this place looks so interesting! Several of these rooms are bedrooms, though they're kinda lacking in the bed part…" As Isabelle peered into one of the rooms, she admired the large painting of the dragon's biological evolution in Arcus, and where there was supposed to be a bed, wardrobe, and desk there was just nothing but an unpolished, wooden floor collecting dust.
"Hm… with the right tools, this could be organized from an abandoned castle into some sort of hotel or mansion…" Isabelle continued, taking care as to not get splinters in her feet as she stepped into the first room. Her paw prints from the door into the center of the room were temporarily imprinted into the dust on the floor before they were blown away by the soft wagging of Isabelle's tail. As her eyes glanced around at the place, she walked out of the room and caught witness of her mayor about to walk into another hallway on the right of the large castle.
"W-Wait up!" Isabelle called out, picking up the LED lantern she left halfway on the flight of stairs as she ran down the steps. The anthro dog stood behind Villager as he walked ahead with the backpack on his shoulders, the both of them completely unaware of what they're about to stumble into as they proceeded with caution. The next room they were in had an exquisite mosaic on the floor, with multiple colors arranged into some sort of pattern despite it being hard to see the full image. Isabelle and Villager got to the most spacious part of the room, which was surrounded by four pillars near the curved walls. Isabelle followed close to the young mayor as he took a small flight of stairs up to a series of smaller windows. The Villager put down his lantern, grasping a large golden rope at the edge of the railing, and he pulled on the weight of the curtains. Despite the cloth looking huge and ridiculously opaque, it was actually pretty light and folded in the direction of the adorable fighters.
Now the light could shine through in the place, giving out the full version of the mosaic on the floor. Each tile was carefully constructed to give out the feeling of awe, as the mosaic told a story about the first dragons emerging out from caves. They were taking off into the sky and exploring the ruins of a long-lost civilization that once belonged to humans, and the multiple species of aliens and creatures once dreamed up through mythology surrounding the golden tree of legend: the bearer of Adstrumlestibus, the Core of the First Star, the jewels of gleaming-white and pitch-black, and the seven elemental stones surrounding all three of them. The room itself stretched to the size of a baseball field, with the mosaic itself detailed beyond comparison. There was also some sort of elongated table in the center of the room, surrounded by six smaller tables, and they were all just as crafted with vines and curves as the chairs that encircled each one of them. At the far right of the room from where the Villager and Isabelle were at, a large fireplace stood erect and multiple furnace vents were arranged in a specific pattern on the floor so that they either didn't clash with the mosaic or were cleverly blended into the beautiful image. And at the far end of the room seemed to be two doors: one that was large with a darkened coat of paint and looked as though it seemed to lead into another part of the castle, and a smaller door on their left which seemed to lead into the outside.
"Come on! I want to see what's behind those doors," Isabelle spoke with a cheerful attitude, running down the small flight of stairs towards the two doors at the end of the room. She waited for the Villager to pick up the lantern and follow behind her, and the two approached the doors after making their way through the arranged tables and chairs. The anthro dog simply decided to explore what was behind the smaller door to her left, and the bells in her bun jingled as she fondled with the lock knob on the door and pushed it wide open. What she saw next amazed her.
An ocean-blue lake, disconnected from the body of water outside the stone walls and towers surrounding it, reflected the sunlight off its rippled surface. The liquid itself was so crystal-clear you could see the exotic fish of multiple colors swimming around at the shallow bottom, feeding on the algae that grew on the pebbles. Sticking out of the water were lots of circular islands connected by bridges, with wildflowers growing out of control without tendency. There seemed to be platforms that were supposed to float and give way to another purpose, but their ability to float like the islands in the sky were long-gone as a result of this castle's abandonment. That didn't stop Isabelle from running down the stairs over to one of the islands in curiosity.
"This place is gorgeous~!" Isabelle squealed, her front paws covering her muzzle as an expression of containing her excitement. "We never had flowers like these anywhere on our planet! Imagine what Leif would say when he spots all these kinds of flora! Oh, the sloth is gonna enjoy these~!" Isabelle plucked a few of the flowers from their stems, arranging them into a crown and presenting it to the young mayor.
"For the best mayor in the universe," Isabelle spoke with joy in her heart as she coronated the Villager with the crown of flowers, making him flushed red in the face from delight. "Wait till we tell the others about this place! I hope they're fine with living here, so they can have plenty of room to explore the castle without being cooped up in their small space apartments and city homes all day. Plus, they're never gonna be alone because there's always gonna be some company around this castle one way or another. It's gonna be loads of fun~!" Isabelle walked into the center of the garden mini-island she and Villager were currently on, aware that she was standing on one of the platforms but knew it wasn't going to activate… at least what she knew so far. Once the dog stepped onto the platform, a glimmer of neon light slowly lit up, unaware of what was about to happen next as it slowly levitated upward. It began shedding itself of the vines and moss that tethered it to the stone ground.
"I'm planning on calling it… the Smash Mansion," Isabelle continued. "It's definitely gonna be a place where we can hang out, explore such a humongous place like this, and see what uncharted parts of our world we haven't touched on yet. Why are you giving me that look…?" At this point, Isabelle wasn't aware that she was standing on the levitating platform until she noticed the Villager was looking at her in complete shock. That was when she noticed that the platform she was standing on was activated, and a bright blue vortex flashed behind her.
"Um… Mr. Mayor?" Isabelle asked, unable to get off the platform by jumping off since there was some unknown force possibly connected to the portal that prevented her from moving. "What's happening to me…?" The blue vortex glowed brighter, forcing the Villager to shield his eyes. Next thing he knew, he was alone in the garden, and the platform Isabelle was foolishly standing on slowly levitated down to its original spot. An orange circle on the center of the platform spun around as soon as the descended floor touched the ground. The young mayor of Smashville stood on the same spot where Isabelle was at, but nothing happened. Villager sweated nervously as he took care not to panic from the situation. As far as he could tell, this could probably be one of these portals that only transports people back once they've completed some sort of objective at the location they're warped off to, but that was only a theory and he hoped it was the only explanation. Without Isabelle, there was no one to help Tom Nook run the island, and the Villager didn't know the first thing about the requirements of getting the necessary degrees for handling complicated situations like paperwork and tax funding. So he ran back into the castle, hoping to find someone to help run the getaway packages until Isabelle returned once he left the place.
Bloody, mutilated corpses of what were once innocent civilians hung from an iron-clad ceiling in chains, barely unrecognizable in the gore-infested torture they had to endure. Some of the humanoid bodies were left charred on the ground, their faces of complete torment burnt of whatever skin was attached to their skulls of the blackened muscles that once helped them keep their form. Gurgling voices could be heard in the darkened halls, followed by cracking bones and sloppy munching. The dead, raised from their unholy graves by the supernatural forces that plagued this world, devoured the bodies hanging from the ceiling like rats feasting off rotten cheese.
The blue vortex suddenly appeared in the center of the room, and the demonic zombies caught eyes of the DOOM Slayer marching out of the portal, cocking the shotgun in his hands. Mistaking the armored soldier for just another human to dine on, the undead in the room crawled towards him like a ravenous pack of wolves. Their rotting mouths gaped wide open to claw off the green armor he had on, unaware of the biggest mistake they made.
The Slayer grabbed hold of one of the zombies, his thumb pressing deep into one of its sockets until the pale eyeball inside it burst like a blood-filled grape. He dragged the zombie around and slammed it into the incoming monstrosities, whacking them into piles of shapeless blobs that were no different than the grotesque decorations hanging from the chains in terms of splattered brains through a single swing. He then took his loaded gun and shot the zombie he used as a club, half of its face completely torn apart from the bullet's hit. Once the room was cleared, the Slayer could hear more of the unnatural growling coming from deep within the dimly-lit halls.
He continued charging through the halls of this place, hoping to find the Deag Nilox as he kept a keen eye on the zombies crawling around the building. The current setting in general looked as though Valhalla and satanic rituals had a horrifying child and decided to abandon it in the streets, because even the stench of the rotting corpses would leave a bad mark in the Slayer's nostrils should he take off his helmet. There were a few zombies dropping down on him from the large, rusted chandelier, but the Slayer quickly held his gun in place and shot at every single one of them until there was nothing more than chunks of rotting flesh and blood staining his armor like a morning shower. He plowed through the small hordes of zombies like a bulldozer until he broke through the large door at the end of the large room, marching to yet another door at the end of a sickly light-blue hallway.
Once the Slayer harshly kicked the door down, he was met with a bonfire in the center of the targeted Hell Priest's throne room, the metal holding the kindled charcoal spiked and even in its symmetry. But he didn't bother to admire it as he set eyes on the one he sought to kill on his left: Deag Nilox. The first Hell Priest was covered in hellish drapes, his armor hammered down smoothly and worn of any markings of whatever fear-mongering symbolism it once bore. Deag Nilox's face was no different from the disgusting nature of the clothing, for his flesh was gray and pale and filled with rows of rotting teeth.
"You!" Deag Nilox shouted, pointing at the Slayer with a twisted and gnarled staff in his hand. He was powerless to stop the godlike mortal as he soon felt a heavy grasp on his neck, cutting him away from whatever he needed to breathe in this decaying atmosphere. From the Slayer's perspective, he could feel the Hell Priest's neck muscles twitching underneath as the abomination humanity would no longer fear struggled in his firm grip. In the DOOM Slayer's free hand, he held a glowing-blue token that he had been saving for the likes of the Sentinel leaders.
"My soul… remains guarded!" the Hell Priest continued, his gurgling voice boiling from the blood of his damaged bones as the pressure from the Slayer strangling him grasped tighter. "You can't…!" The token that the brute human held vanished in a wisp of smoke, strengthening his powerful grip on Deag Nilox. Through his gloves, the Slayer could feel the trepidation rising in the Hell Priest's eyes, hearing him try to beg for mercy. Once the Slayer began hearing the muscle fibers tearing beneath the gray skin, images of his ill-forgotten past surfaced back to his head, filling him with the memories of cloaked men that were holding staffs and surrounding him in some form of ritual. The Slayer suddenly heard a neck snap, flesh rip in half, and blood splatter across the floor. In the hand which strangled the High Priest's head now stands the beheaded face of Deag Nilox. Once he felt the building around him rumble, he dashed over to the other side of the throne room, barging through a door to the balcony of the place.
He only saw what the planet Earth looked like from space after his absence, aware that it was even worse standing in it. He gazed upon the abandoned streets of Manhattan, which was torn apart into smaller islands from the rivers of lava down below. Everything that remained of cars and lampposts were buried under tons of rubble crumbling from the massacred skyscrapers, and there were demons both colossal and small invading the streets underneath the thundering darkness covering what's left of New York City.
"The first Hell Priest has been terminated," VEGA spoke to the Slayer from the inside of his visor, for the AI pre-established a connection through the helmet before the soldier left. "The demonic consumption of Earth has been reduced to 36.8%. There are two Hell Priests remaining."
"Eek! Somebody help me!" Isabelle's voice called out from the ground floor of the skyscraper in front of the Slayer. At first, the DOOM Slayer didn't know Isabelle existed, simply mistaking her cry of help as a young adult girl begging for someone to save her. Even though he was aware that anyone who once lived here has long been dead, he knew he had to save her no matter what. Without thinking twice, he charged into the skyscraper to be confronted by three imps cornering the anthropomorphic dog. In comparison, she seemed to be smaller than them in comparison.
"I'm warning you!" Isabelle barked, throwing vases and flower pots at the imps with no effect. "Don't come any closer!" Whatever she had ranging from her trusty fishing rod to her party popper didn't really work against the demonic creatures, forcing her to cower near the corner in fear. Before anything terrible happened to her, she heard the sound of a chainsaw rev up and the tormented cries of the imps as they were sawed in half horizontally in one brutal slice. Isabelle shrieked as she shielded her eyes from the blood getting on her golden fur, feeling utterly disgusted and on the verge of throwing up as she saw an iron-clad foot stomp on the skull of one of the killed imps and turning it into red mush.
Isabelle looked up in terror of the armored warrior who just saved her, and even he was utterly confused by what he saw. Out of all the nightmares and suffering he had to go through, the Slayer found someone who looked completely out of place in such a dark, gritty world he lived through. For whatever reason, looking at this dog reminded him of… someone he lost long ago. Someone who he would go up for against the forces of hell itself just for the grief he had on what they took away from him. Someone who gave him comfort in a solar system torn apart by war. Isabelle, on the other hand, was completely confused and scared.
"Thank you, thank you for saving me!" Isabelle spoke once she thought she was certainly in good hands, but not enough for she didn't know if this stranger would attend to her utmost care or grind her into a red mess like what he made of the imps before. "I thought I was a goner here! I just… showed up in this awful place, like I didn't even know that's what the multiverse is hiding from me. This is coming from a dog who went up against two dragons and a crazy jester… with the last part all belonging to someone else." The Slayer knelt down to make eye contact on the individual he found in this world, the reflection of Isabelle gleaming on his visor.
"I'm Isabelle! Pleasure to meet you here in this… apocalyptic wasteland," Isabelle introduced, carefully grabbing ahold of the Slayer's strong fingers with her tiny paws. "Can you tell me your name?" The adorable dog was already getting friendly with the DOOM Slayer quite quickly, but he didn't really know how to respond to it. He thought it was best if he didn't say anything at all in fear of losing trust with such an… interesting creature.
"Hm… you're one of the silent types, huh?" Isabelle asked, noticing that the Slayer simply said nothing as he looked away from the dog. "From my experience on looking after Mr. Villager's back so many times, I can read people like a book… I think… You might be a bit difficult to identify, though." Again, the Slayer had no comment.
"I see how it is," Isabelle noted, standing up and brushing the dust and blood off her clothes. "You want me to give you a name~!" The Slayer sighed in his mask, unknown if it was out of annoyance or embarrassment. "Let's see. You're a guy, and this place looks like it has a lot of doom in it. I've got it! From now on, I'm gonna call you Doomguy, okay?" The Slayer had no idea how to respond to this, and he tried to say something but didn't really feel like he was the talkative type. Besides, it might be better if the peculiar innocent creature referred to him as Doomguy just to give him some entertainment outside of bloodshed.
"I just remembered! What am I doing here!?" Isabelle asked herself. "The last thing I remember is standing on some sort of platform in the Smash Mansion's garden, and next thing I know I'm here going against literal monsters from hell! And all I have with me are objects that are useless here! If only Mr. Mayor was here with me. I would've been back attending the getaway package system with Tom Nook. Judging by the way your neck's cocked to the side, I doubt you have the technology to get me back to Arcus, don't you?" The Slayer shook his head.
"Figured," the assistant mayor huffed, crossing her arm-like front legs as the Slayer got up and walked to a part of the ruined skyscraper, grabbing ahold of an assault rifle and handing it to her.
"Um, I take your generosity as a blessing, but I really despise weapons like these," Isabelle objected nervously. "Mr. Mayor's axe is enough of a weapon as it is. This is a real GUN. I can't tolerate these kinds of things! I vowed myself from trying to stay away from doing crazy stuff as often as possible. I…" The Slayer simply picked up Isabelle and placed her on his left shoulder with the assault rifle in her paws, hoping he could give this cute little creature some life advice on the essentials of survival.
"So, where to now?" Isabelle asked with a bid of timidness in her voice. The Slayer caught sight of a glowing-green crack from within the rubble, dashing towards it and kicking it down. His current mission for now is to interrupt an ongoing council between the two remaining Hell Priests… and this time, he has a peculiar companion.
In a quiet little coffee shop just in the downtown of Civiltatula, Simon Belmont and Pit were sitting next to a window that gave them both a clear view of the street, watching the Miis and Subspace Army creatures traveling over to their destinations on foot. The vampire hunter and the angel were both drinking refreshing drinks, with Pit's glass of milk mixed with half a cup of vanilla cream and Simon's was just ordinary coffee.
"So… I've been learning a bit about your history of the goddess from your world," Simon spoke, taking a quick sip from his coffee. "Palutena, was it?"
"You bet!" Pit answered with confidence. "And can I let you in on a secret? She's the daughter of Zeus, who was once the king of the gods."
"Oh my…" Simon chuckled, putting his elbows on the table and listening to the angel's conversation. "You know, in my realm, we do worship a God, though He's more… omnipotent than what Palutena claims to be. And we're taught to know Him, love Him, and serve Him, like good Christian boys and girls."
"No way!" Pit gasped in awe, chugging down his glass of creamed milk and setting it aside. "Your world's just so fascinating, and I know about it a whole lot more than you know about mine! And that's coming from Lady Palutena. She knows just about every world that exists, and she hasn't even visited them herself."
"Does she?" Simon asked. "She sure has a lot of time on her hands just to eavesdrop on all that information. Let's change the subject at hand. Your original name, according to your broody twin, was Kid Icarus, correct?" Pit laughed nervously at that part, scratching his temple in complete embarrassment.
"Y'see, that wasn't my original name," Pit replied, trying to keep a straight face and failing to avoid grinning sheepishly. "Lady Palutena and even Pittoo thought it would be a good idea to call me by that… embarrassing name after they've glanced at an alternate timeline about a diminutive version of me whining like a spoiled brat going through this 'poo'berty thing. I suspect they're playing tricks on me as of late…"
"Relax. Don't be too hard on your dame," Simon responded with a smile on his face, ruffling Pit's glossy hair and messing up the aura-like shine on his brown locks. "Besides, you kinda sound like you're whining, 'Kid Icarus.'"
"Stop it~!" Pit giggled, pushing Simon's hand out of his hair. "At least you're not one who's selfishly vain all the time, no offense. You look handsome as heck, and I am so jealous."
"Thanks. At least be glad you don't end most of your words with '-icus,'" Simon Belmont teased, causing Pit to laugh in embarrassment. The bell for the coffee shop jingled, followed by the glass door opening and closing. Mega Man spotted the two fighters chatting with each other, and he walked over to them.
"Hey, Mega Man," Simon Belmont spoke, already greeting the robot without needing a hello from the other. "How's it going?"
"Nothing much," Mega Man responded, with Pit moving closer to the window so the android could take his seat on the cushioned chair. "Just had to thaw a girl out from cyro-hibernation."
"A girl?" Pit asked in bewildered surprise. "Not like that's not a normal thing from the logic of this world, but still!"
"The Earth Citrine led us to her," Rockman continued. "Don't know why, but hopefully we can get some answers once she wakes up."
"Sounds interesting…" Simon noted. "What did you learn there?"
"Just something about how there were toys before us and the dragons, how they used the stars to guide them… it was pretty confusing, really," Mega Man went on. "My circuits may be wrong, but I suspect Sonic might have had a spiritual affair, which could explain why he couldn't learn all those fancy tricks like he did at Dharkon's version of Hyrule. He was getting through challenges with flying colors, and now they're just… gone… I'm sorry. Did I drag on for too long?"
"Not really," Pit answered, taking another chug from his creamed milk. "There was so much stuff you talked about, I'm not sure if I followed the whole thing through. Anyways, what brings you here? The need for a 'mega-licious' drink?"
"Yeah, I guess," Mega Man laughed, taking Pit's out-of-nowhere pun with a kind-enough heart to let it slide. "I know it's not really necessary for me, but I just kinda wanted to chat with you guys."
"Go ahead. We're all ears," Simon Belmont replied.
"Well, you know the apartments we're staying at, both here in this town and the Legacy, are pretty cramped," Rockman noted. "Now don't get me wrong: they have wonderful technology, but it feels too… alien, for my taste. Like something doesn't necessarily fit for me."
"Yeah, you're right," Pit replied, setting down his drink. "As far as I know, nothing felt familiar to me no matter how much I changed the room I share with Pittoo and Lady Palutena."
"Thankfully, Isabelle and the Villager went off into the woods to search for a place us fighters can enjoy," Mega Man added. "It'll just be all of us living together in the same place but in different rooms. Like a huge mansion with plenty of space and activities. We can always drop for a visit here in Civiltatula, but not really stay in the city. We'll have to see what the others say once everyone's done with their otherworld duties."
"Sounds interesting," Simon responded, placing his forefinger underneath his chin. "I've been planning to move to somewhere more traditional and spacious, so maybe this whole mansion idea could work…"
"Well, I'm on board with it!" Pit spoke with enthusiasm in his voice. "I'm ready to kick back and relax like there's no tomorrow!" Just then, the bell rang upon the door opening, and into the coffee shop ran in a panicking Villager.
"Oh my. Back so soon, Villager?" Mega Man asked.
"What's the matter?" Pit questioned. "You're more… frightened than usual." The Villager trembled in place, unable to say anything.
"What do you need? A notepad or something…?" Simon asked.
"I think the Villager's trying to tell us that Isabelle's gone, and... that he needs us to run her office until she comes back," Mega Man answered.
"How do you know that Isabelle's gone?" Pit questioned.
"A powerful circuit in my brain helps me read people better, ranging from alien voices to facial expressions," Rockman responded, tapping his blue helmet. "If you're a robot in my time, you should definitely get an upgrade like that…"
"Well, can you take us to your universe?" The Belmont cross-examined the Villager. "I've been hearing this talk about paperwork, and it sounds pretty easy." The mayor of Smashville smiled, knowing he could count on these three fighters to help run the business of the getaway package.
Sometime later upon the Legacy, the Villager was walking with the trio of fighters towards the transporter aboard the ship. The young mayor of Smashville looked left and right around the small area, catching eye on a notebook laid out on the control panel. He grabbed hold of it and quickly scribbled down on the pages with a pen. He was taking into consideration that while fighters like Isabelle and Mega Man could communicate with him easily by facial expressions alone, it would take more time for everyone else to understand him unless they were explicitly told what the Villager meant. As soon as the Villager put away the pen, he presented the note to Simon Belmont.
"Uh… what's it say?" Pit asked, oblivious to the fact that he couldn't read. Simon then read aloud the message as follows:
~ In case you haven't understood me the first time, allow me to clarify. When Isabelle and I were at the Smash Mansion, she got sucked into a portal found on one of those floating platforms we thought were deactivated until it was too late. I was kind of wondering if you three could help run Isabelle's job. Your goal is to help Tom Nook run his getaway package business across the desert islands he purchased for Villagers like me. While you help attend papers and stuff, the Koopalings and I will try to figure out how to get Isabelle back. Text me if you have any problems, and be sure to also use the apps on my phone since you're gonna be borrowing it. Hope I cleared things up for you, since it's been a while after I've written on some paper.
"Uh… yeah, sure," Pit answered. "Doing stuff like work for paper doesn't sound that hard, especially after all I've been through involving slaying monsters and demons and-"
"I think we get the point," Mega Man interrupted, holding his hands open to let the Villager place three of the white pellets and his phone in the robot's possession. "Considering the following that you can't read and that all this technology will be completely alien to Simon, perhaps I can help give you guys the idea."
"I guess it works," Simon Belmont spoke out, standing on a glowing platform in the transporter. "So… a desert island getaway package?" Mega Man nodded, stepping into another platform while Pit followed them in. The trio looked down to see a flash of light engulf them, and they disappeared to Villager's world in thin air. All the mayor of Smashville hoped now was that his assistant mayor was alive and well once he attempts on getting her back.
The demons and zombies crawled around New York City, their blood-stained claws scratching the rubble of wherever they stepped. Big demons, small demons, demons that can fly, and demons that travel in packs - all of them craving for the taste of human flesh. Even if the population of the city was either killed off or evacuated, the creatures infecting the metropolis were patient for an unsuspecting human to arrive. One of the zombies was pushing away the rubble it was buried in, growling with its mouth agape. Before it even emerged from the ground, a heavy foot crushed its skull before it even emerged as a reborn entity of madness.
Demons smelled the blood of their own kind splattered across the cracked pavement, spotting the legendary DOOM Slayer himself as the one who killed the zombie. Sitting on his left shoulder was Isabelle, sweat dripping down her face as she stared at the packs of demons and fiends flocking towards the duo.
"Hehe… is it just me or is it getting hot in here?" Isabelle nervously asked, tugging on the neckline of her outfit as a way to mask her hemophobic thoughts with the heat of the lava rivers flowing through New York City. The Slayer simply cocked his shotgun and fired away at the demons. He was taking down a few at a time, shooting at the winged beasts like flies. Aware of how nervous Isabelle was in a strange new world, the Slayer grabbed ahold of the anthropomorphic dog like a baby and set her down on the rubble.
"What are you doing!?" Isabelle asked as the Slayer adjusted the gun she carried on her back so that she was holding it. "No! Nonononono! There is no way I am using a gun like this. This is suicide!" The Slayer simply let her relax as he guided her gun towards one of the gargoyles that was approaching the two. Panicking, Isabelle fired her assault rifle and blew the gargoyle's head off. When the dog opened up her eyes, the Slayer was guiding her aim towards another one of the winged demons, helping keep her eyes open as Isabelle fired again.
"Um… Am I supposed to be doing this?" Isabelle asked, with the Slayer helping her keep aim at one of the grounded demons as he shot down another gargoyle in the sooty air. "I've been fighting as far as I can remember, but this is ridiculous!" The dog fired again and killed another imp, unaware that she was slowly getting the hang of it once she gunned down several zombies. The Slayer spotted a desolated cathedral just fractions of a mile away, with VEGA running a scan of the peculiar area over at the buildings behind the crackled church.
"My sensors indicate a rich abundance of paranormal activity from where the Deagic Council is taking place just located behind that cathedral," VEGA told the Slayer. "If we interrupt the conversation between the two remaining Hell Priests and eradicate them where they stand, there could be a chance all demonic consumption of Earth will vanish and give humans a chance to repopulate." Knowing that's where the other two Hell Priests are hiding, the Slayer grabs ahold of Isabelle as she's starting to gun down a small horde of spider-robot hybrids from a reasonable distance. He begins carrying a confused Isabelle on his shoulders, double-jumping across the crumbling floors and attacking the advancing forces of hell.
Keeping his eyes on the area behind the cathedral, the Slayer took hold of a chainsaw and began cutting down the imps, cyborg-spiders, and zombies until they were nothing more than a trail of limbs and blood. Isabelle, trying her best not to panic, focused on gunning down the creatures chasing them to the cathedral.
"This is not what I was expecting when I got trapped in another world with nothing like this!" Isabelle whimpered, reloading her gun with the ammo the DOOM Slayer picked up and tossed to her. "I just wanna go home!" The dog held on tight to his armor, unaware that she used the newfound ammo until she heard an explosion that stung her ears. Heads and limbs flew past the Slayer and fell into the lava as he was using the thrusters in his suit to jump over to the entrance of the cathedral. He then gently lowered Isabelle off his shoulders as he loaded his shotgun and kicked the barricaded door down. The second the demons inside the cathedral heard the Slayer walk in, Isabelle stayed behind as she watched the Slayer rip bodies in half, eyes and teeth flying left and right, and growling silenced by the human soldier tearing their heads off. Once the Slayer finished clearing the place up, he took hold of Isabelle and got to a part of the ruined building. VEGA was keeping a clear scan on the abandoned UAC Headquarters just located on the other side of the lava river.
The Slayer looked at Isabelle, patting her terrified head as a sign of letting her know she was going to be okay in such an apocalyptic world. Tightly holding onto Isabelle with one hand, he ran straight for the headquarters with a leap of faith. The dog covered her eyes in fright, her body shaking as the DOOM Slayer latched onto a wall and hung on for dear life. He was luckily close enough to toss the small dog onto the edge of the broken floor, and he quickly climbed up near her.
"At least warn me before you toss me into certain death!" Isabelle yelled at the Slayer, cocking a grenade launcher and firing at a horde of zombified soldiers that shot plasma projectiles. The grenade shot from Isabelle's launcher exploded, killing most of the zombies in the room. The Slayer began rushing up to the imps and zombies that survived the initial blast and tore their heads off, walking back towards the anthropomorphic dog.
"Heh heh… sorry about that outburst, Doomguy," Isabelle nervously replied, rubbing the back of her neck. "For a second there, I thought I was a goner. And to be honest… I think I'm starting to get used to fighting these kinds of enemies thanks to you around..." The Slayer pulled out a shotgun, triggering some sort of fight-or-flight shiver down Isabelle's spine. She didn't know that the Slayer had no intentions of shooting her until she heard the plasma bullet fly over her head once she ducked in fear. When she heard the bullet hit something else behind her, she looked and discovered what appeared to be the body of a flying, one-eyed cacodemon that fell dead into the lava rivers. The DOOM Slayer seemed to have noticed the cacodemon was about to attack Isabelle and so killed the creature in the process with just a single charged shot.
"Oh. I… guess I might have underestimated you," Isabelle noted as the Slayer picked her up like a baby and placed her on his shoulders, configuring VEGA to scan through the visor on his helmet about the whereabouts of the Deagic Council.
"A portal to the two remaining Hell Priests and the Khan Maykr is located on the roof of the Union Aerospace Corporation Headquarters, but it is currently deactivated," VEGA spoke. "In order to activate the portal, you would have to climb up to the top and defeat the demons guarding it." The Slayer jumped towards one of the pathways across the first floor with his thrusters, climbing onto it and punching one of the zombies in the face. As he focused on denting the skulls of the demonic creatures with nothing but his bare fists, Isabelle paid close attention to the cacodemons and flying imps that dived straight down for them like vultures attracted to the smell of fresh corpses. The cute dog was unknowingly starting to become entertained by the blood of the demons, holding on tight to the Slayer's back as he jumped back and forth to whichever part of each floor was the most stable.
The Slayer gripped tight to one of the walls, jumping onto the topmost floor below the roof with Isabelle on his shoulder. An incoming wave of demonic monsters crawled after them from the top and bottom like a small swarm of locusts, having already sensed the presence of the DOOM Slayer beforehand. He pulled the pin on a nearby frag grenade, throwing it at the demons until an explosion of fire and limbs scattered across the desolated place. Isabelle was minding her business, having quickly gotten used to making demons bleed even though she said she wasn't into this. However, she was only gunning down arachnotrons, cacodemons, imps, and zombies effortlessly just so she could get back to Arcus and attend the getaway package. That was what she kinda wanted… right? To just reach out to her friends and escape from this living nightmare of the forces of hell walking the planet?
Isabelle's ears pricked up when she heard the sound of a screaming woman, even though the only sound she could hear was the demons in front of her getting gunned down by a rapid firing of bullets. It was completely odd for her since she noticed there were no other humans left in the city. What was even stranger was that the Slayer didn't seem to notice, and he was still busy tearing off the heads of the zombies and demons trying to get close to him.
C'mon, Izzy. Focus! Isabelle thought, shaking her head of the random noise she heard as she reloaded her assault rifle. You're probably hearing things in this crazy dimension. This is literal hell you're going through! Once we get rid of these Hell Priests and whatever that "Khan Maykr" is, you can head back to Mr. Mayor, Mario, Cloud, Snake, everyone you know before you head out to your own comfort zone within the town hall… Isabelle heard the screaming woman's voice again, crying out for help in this wasteland of a headquarters. Before the demons she was attacking tried to grab her, she quickly squirmed behind them below their feet and ran towards the sound.
The anthropomorphic dog followed the cries until she was in a darkened hallway, with the growling of the monsters chasing after her. As two zombies approached behind her and tried to claw her, Isabelle pulled out a shotgun and blew the brains of one zombie off while she pocketed a projectile sent out by an arachnotron from the entrance of the hallway. She sent it at the second zombie and knocked its corpse back, and she quickly planted a Lloid Rocket on the floor as the arachnotron chased her down. The initial explosion knocked the demonic spider-cyborg onto its back, making it squirm as Isabelle nervously approached the weakened creature. She noticed the tail it was using to fire these kinds of projectiles was also its weak spot due to the fact that the tipper looked out of place compared to the rest of the robotic body. She quickly ripped the tipper off with her paws, instantly killing the arachnotron.
"The cleansing of Earth is a necessary step on the path to a brighter tomorrow," a woman preached behind Isabelle. The dog turned around and only found what appeared to be a holographic image of a spokesperson that dressed in a suit belonging to the UAC, spreading misleading lies and propaganda about how this merging between worlds is a good thing. "Don't waste your living moments praying for the coming of the Second Messiah. He'll never save you from our salvation. Our way of life is the one true way."
"Somebody save me! Help!" the voice called out again. Isabelle shook away the preaching coming from the hologram, and she ran over to a nearby office before stopping. Her eyes gazed upon some sort of gigantic centipede with humanoid eyes running vertically down its exoskeleton, with a suction mouth filled with slimy tendrils. It loomed over a frightened young woman, with bangs of white and eyes of red. She was dressed in some form of middle-aged clothing, with a short-sleeved shirt of gray and a belt wrapped around her waist to hold up her long black pants. The coat wrapped over her shoulders was a mixture of green and mostly red with a black hood. She seemed to be in complete fear, the expression on her face almost certainly real.
The centipede twisted its body at Isabelle, gurgling and screeching as it charged straight for the anthropomorphic dog. In complete panic, Isabelle loaded her gun and fired, shooting rapidly until it was nothing more than a mess of white pus and an exoskeleton filled with holes. Once things seemed to calm down for the most part, Isabelle put away her gun and slowly approached the frightened young woman.
"Are you alright?" Isabelle asked, placing her soft paw on the woman's knee. "That bug isn't going to harm you anymore, Ms.…"
"Manah," the woman answered as soon as she calmed down. "I… would like to thank you for saving me. I thought I was a goner."
"Don't mention it," Isabelle replied, stepping back once the stranger known as Manah stood up. "But I'm quite curious: what exactly are you doing here? From the looks of this city, I'd say there are no survivors left, so…"
"The details aren't important right now," Manah replied, interrupting Isabelle without letting her finish. "What matters is you saved me, and I am aware of your… current predicament. I know how much you want to leave this place, and I'll be happy to oblige."
"Oblige?" Isabelle asked with surprise. "What exactly are you playing at? How did you know I wanted to leave?"
"Either it was a shot in the dark or you obviously look like you don't belong here," Manah pointed out. "All I want to do is help you out, but in return I require some sort of payment."
"I only have a few dollars in my pockets right now, so I might not give you more unless I hear over to my bank and-" Isabelle went on.
"No… not that kind of payment," Manah reassured, sitting down on the concrete floor. "I'm of course talking about… a payment of blood." In her hands, she held some sort of ancient dagger with a blue blade.
"Where did you… get that?" Isabelle asked, her face pale in bewilderment.
"Found it at the depths of Hell," Manah responded. "The Betrayer certainly didn't mind if this dagger was given to the one you call Doomguy. He let me send my regards for him. You can only give this dagger to your companion after we bind each other in mixed blood."
"Why should I do that?" Isabelle pointed out with far more questions than answers.
"This is the only way I'm going to help you out of this place, Isabelle," Manah noted, slashing her open palm with the dagger until a deep gush of red flowed from her hand. "The way you came in cannot lead you out unless someone from the outside reconfigures your location…"
"...Manah, at some point in this crazy adventure, will you tell me who you are if you're willing to help me out?" Isabelle did not hesitate as she held out her paw. "I hope you aren't gonna deceive me…"
"Don't worry. I learned from my mistakes long ago." Manah placed the blade on Isabelle's paw, cutting it deep with one clean slash. The dog's paw was now bleeding, and she grabbed ahold of Manah's bleeding hand with pain-fueled tears from her eyes. A blinding light surrounded the mysterious young woman, forcing Isabelle to shield her face.
Soon you will know the truth… Manah's voice echoed as the woman disappeared without a trace. Isabelle heard the last word fade away, and she looked down to see that her paw lacked the slash created earlier. The dog rubbed her face, confused if it was just a dream or something. The dog felt the hilt of the dagger near her feet, and she picked it up and looked at the thing. She suddenly heard footsteps approaching behind herself, and she heard the heavy breathing of her companion in this world.
"Oh, Doomguy!" Isabelle responded, presenting him with the dagger hilt she found. "I just found this weapon around here. Heard it came from some guy called the Betrayer from Hell. He gave you his condolences for your journey…" The Slayer picked up the weapon, placing it in one of the pockets he carried around in his suit. Enough weird things had been happening as of late thanks to Isabelle's arrival. He didn't need to question what that important-looking dagger was doing lying around out in the open. He picked up Isabelle and ran back with her up to the rooftop of the UAC Headquarters.
Once the Slayer climbed up to the top, he crushed the skull of the last demon on the roof trying to get away from his rampage as soon as he saw the human from the large hole. With that demon's death, a portal gateway installed on top of the building activated from the absence of the supernatural forces guarding it. Isabelle slipped out of the Slayer's arm, looking around the gods sprinkled across the roof like a cake on steroids.
"To make up for your absence, I will be the one to fill you in on the details," VEGA spoke from the Slayer's helmet. "The DOOM Slayer had managed to clear out the whole roof before he went to look for you. Now the two remaining Hell Priests are located just beyond that portal."
"I guess we march on to your victory, Doomguy," Isabelle responded as the Slayer picked her up and carried her through the red portal. They managed to arrive on the other side, appearing within the halls of the demonic citadel. There were a few demons crawling around, with the Slayer simply shooting them in the heads.
"The Khan Maykr is at the topmost floor," VEGA assured. "If you take the way up in the center of the citadel, you both can stop her and the other Hell Priests." Isabelle jumped off the Slayer's shoulder, following the human soldier as he rushed over to one of the demons and ripped its head off. The anthropomorphic dog jumped when she heard an energy blast fly straight past her feet, generating a large explosion. She quickly glanced behind her left shoulder to find out the culprit was yet another demon, except it had a large plasma cannon fused to its shoulders.
The demon kept its aim on its cute target, trying to hit her with charged shots as they missed the dog completely. She then ran up the armed demon's back before pulling out her shotgun and pressing the trigger. She shot the creature at the back of the head, singlehandedly slaying the bipedal beast. Once the blood quickly dried up on her uniform, Isabelle tapped on the cannon to make sure it was still active before she ripped it off the demon's corpse. Much to her surprise, the cannon fired down the hall parallel to where the Slayer was at right now. The charged shot hit a cacodemon right in the eye, instantly killing it.
Isabelle glanced down at the item in complete shock, realizing this weapon might be one of many to help her out in this fight. She met up with the Slayer in the center of the citadel, with the two separate hallways meeting up again at the lift. The lift itself was constructed out of a pentagram, with a skull on a pedestal in the center of a platform. The Slayer walked up to the pedestal and slammed the skull, activating the lift just in time as Isabelle quickly climbed onto it with such a huge weapon like the plasma cannon.
"So… we just get rid of the bad guys and we can return home, right?" Isabelle asked, panting as she lifted up the cannon with both of her hands. The Slayer tossed another one of the blue tokens, which looked identical to the one he used upon Deag Nilox. He didn't say anything but cocked his shotgun as he waited to get off the lift, hoping to free his home planet of these demons for good.
"The Khan Maykr is present at this meeting," VEGA assured. "But when outside of her domain, she is by all accounts indestructible." Deep chanting could be heard as the lift slowed down, echoing throughout the chambers as the two Hell Priests were facing each other. The one on the right bore a crown smaller than the one Deag Nilox had worn, and the one on the left had half of his face concealed by a mask with weird markings. They were each Deags Grav and Ranak respectfully, and they spotted the legendary Slayer himself with a random animal by his side.
"H-How can this be?" Deag Ranak asked in complete surprise. "No man can pass through the gate! It is…" The Slayer simply tossed the mutilated head of Deag Nilox at the feet of the Hell Priests, with the crown of the fallen Deag clanking on the steel floor. They were both completely surprised by all this.
"This… stops nothing!" Deag Grav objected as the DOOM Slayer walked off the lift, with Isabelle trying her best to hold the heavy plasma cannon with pockets full of other weapons given to her through the genocide of demons.
"The sacrament of the world to the great Khan Maykr will be made and the energy of her world will be restored once again through the suffering of your people!" Deag Ranak responded as the Slayer walked around Deag Grav in a half circle and went between the two Hell Priests.
"As it is written," Deag Grav notified. "From the souls of the non-believers!" As Isabelle tried her best to keep her center of gravity from holding such a heavy weapon, she found her balance slipping easily.
"You will not save them from their judgment!" Deag Ranak replied, unaware of the glint shining off the Slayer's visor as the human noticed the tiny dog's upcoming accident might be salvation for all mankind. A blade ejected from his right glove, and he quickly slashed through the neck of Deag Ranak. Isabelle tripped and unknowingly fired the plasma cannon, blowing off Deag Grav's head off before he could warp away on his pedestal.
And just like that as the Slayer tossed one of the tokens onto Deag Grav's body, all three Hell Priests were killed.
"Oh my gosh!" Isabelle gasped as she saw what she had done. "I didn't know this was gonna happen! I thought if I bring a weapon like this, I would feel awesome like you! It was an accident! I… I saved humanity in this universe?" The confused dog reached into her full pockets and pulled out the second token, tossing it onto Deag Ranak's body.
"It appears as though the dog who calls herself Isabelle is distraught by what happened," VEGA spoke to the Slayer. "Should she have known what she was doing, the salvation of all humanity would be farther from our grasp. It would best if we let her little accident slip past us as intentional."
"Fool!" a booming voice echoed throughout the citadel, shaking the steel floor a bit. "We were this close to saving humanity, and that bipedal canine that followed you had to help interfere with the consumption of your world!" A strange being appeared in the center of the three pedestals, towering over the DOOM Slayer and Isabelle. She was supposedly the Khan Maykr herself, with her floating body covered in markings and sci-fi architecture in her dress not designed by humankind. Her cold eyes stared down upon the duo, glaring at them with an unforetold vengeance.
"You may have held back the demonic consumption of Earth for now, but the citadel of Hebeth will provide the demons a way to thrive and harvest the Argent energy necessary to fuel our world," the Khan Maykr went on. "Your world will fall into extinction, and it will be your fault… for it was you who was meant to enforce it." The Slayer didn't really care about what she said as he fired his shotgun at the Khan Maykr. She quickly vanished in a golden light before she was hit.
"Now opening the portal," VEGA spoke, with a blue portal opening up behind the Slayer and Isabelle. The dog forced the arm cannon into her pockets as she followed the Slayer into the portal, reappearing back at the fortress.
"Wow!" Isabelle gasped as she looked around the architecture of the place. "Is this where you live? This looks so cool! I know I've basically been around in one of these, but still!" A live news broadcast began to play on one of the holographic computer screens, about to fill in on what just happened.
"This is Kent Brian, reporting to you live from inside the ARC facility," the spokesperson filled in. "In a surprising twist of faith, all three of the Hell Priests have been reported dead inside the remains of New York City, significantly hindering the demonic population and dropping the 60% of consumption to a staggering 2%. However, that doesn't mean we're done with the forces of hell just yet."
"According to a recent message from Dr. Samuel Hayden, Hell's massive citadel of Nekravol is only a gateway for the demonic forces and the Maykr to rise up against humanity and drive us all to extinction," a spokeswoman replied in another location just within a random facility. "However, he still has hope for the DOOM Slayer and a seemingly reported… two-legged dog, and he promises to help our savior in any way that he can… even if it means directing him through Hell itself. We're counting on you, Slayer. Save us all." The broadcast ended shortly after.
"Right now, I don't have the exact location of Nekravol due to the lack of information presented in my databanks," VEGA pointed out. "However, should you go retrieve Dr. Hayden's robot chassis, perhaps he will give you an insight on where the city of Nekravol and Urdak might be and direct you through the two places." The Slayer approached the control panel, tapping on the holographic screens and locating a portal to the ARC compound where Dr. Hayden has taken shelter in.
"I will now be opening a portal to the compound," VEGA continued, configuring the location before drawing out the frames of the portal from the floor. Another blue portal was activated, with the DOOM Slayer grabbing hold of a flamethrower upgrade for one of his guns at the back of the room. He glanced down at Isabelle, cocking his head towards the portal as he walked in.
Isabelle looked down at her dress, the green plaid vest she wore dyed a deep crimson red from the dried blood spilt onto her beforehand. Her fuzzy and golden fur was now tainted in muck and chunks of flesh, and she began to wreak with an awfully putrid stench. She never experienced something like this in all her battles, no matter how intense they were. She would rather just live a quiet life on the island of her dreams, unable to go outside, fill out mountains of paperwork to the point of complete stress and depression while her mayor went out collecting bugs and catching fish to pay off his loans. She hardly ever socialized with any of the villagers in her town, even though she was glad none of them weren't really eaten by the Subspace Army beforehand. For whatever reason… she was starting to find her own life quite boring.
"Starting to find some form of excitement in this world?" Manah's voice asked behind Isabelle. The dog was easily spooked by the mysterious woman, having completely forgotten she made a pact with her in blood.
"Oh! Manah! I completely did not see you there!" Isabelle responded. "I was just… about to head out and leave this place once I take care of the demonic forces!"
"And go back to a boring life of your own?" Manah added.
"I just… look, it's a job that I have and can't afford to lose over some hundred thousand million demons," Isabelle objected. "No matter how boring it is, it's still my life."
"Face it: you're finding entertainment in this realm," Manah continued, kneeling down to her level. "But if it's your duty to fill out papers, then fair enough."
"You said you are going to help me, right?" Isabelle pointed out. "We made that whole deal about becoming bound in blood or however that works."
"Of course," Manah answered as truthfully as she could. "I could do anything for a friend, but again: a payment in blood. It's not going to be YOUR blood this time. If I'm going to get you home, you're going to have to get the heart of a Marauder and place it in this…" The red-eyed woman pulled out a gray sack and gave it to Isabelle. Imprinted on the sack seemed to be some sort of astrological zodiac sign arranged similarly to Aquarius, the physical manifestation of Ganymede who carried a vase full of water.
"What's a… Marauder?" Isabelle asked.
"That's for you to find out," Manah noted. "I'll be seeing you whenever you get the heart and bring it back here. Only then can I truly help you get back to your companions."
"Thanks, I guess," Isabelle responded with a half-relieved tone, walking towards the portal. As she looked back, the young woman with the white hair vanished.
"I hope my other pals are doing just fine without me," Isabelle noted before she stepped into the portal. "They might get some enjoyment from my job… no matter how dull it is…"
The cool ocean breeze blew across a quiet island, which was filled with a rich abundance of fruit-filled trees and a salty air. The bright sun over the blue ocean pierced the clear skies, and flashes of white appeared in front of the town hall. Simon Belmont, Pit, and Mega Man all walked in through the door, alerting an adorable tanooki who was dressed up in tropical clothing and stood about Isabelle's size.
"Are you Tom Nook?" Mega Man asked.
"Aw~! He's so adorable!" Pit squeed, burying his mouth into his hands and flapping his wings in goes. "I wanna hug him!"
"Relax, Pit," Simon assured, holding the angel back.
"Why yes I am," the tanooki answered. "Any idea where Isabelle might be? She was supposed to show up a half-hour ago."
"That's kinda why we're here," Mega Man replied, handling most of the talking. "Y'see, Isabelle's gotten… sick this morning. A case of the flu, symptoms came early. And she doesn't want others to catch that nasty cold of hers so she locked herself up at her place. She doesn't want to come out right now, saying she's doing social distancing. Anyways, we were wondering if we could take over Isabelle's job until she recovers."
"...I see," Tom Nook noted, getting up from his chair. "Right this way, please." Tom Nook opened up a small door near Isabelle's counter, and the three walked in.
"Usually, it was Isabelle who did most of these, but seeing as how she's sick you three could easily manage this. Tall guy, you're in charge of bringing in any paperwork that is brought in and shredding up any scams. Winged boy, you sign the papers and either approve or deny any changes to the other islands. Blue guy, you scan the signed documents and email them to the town hall each paper came from. Think you can do that?"
"Sure," Simon answered, with the other two nodding in agreement. "I mean, how boring can it be?"
Several minutes later, the trio was starting to slowly get exhausted from all this paperwork Isabelle didn't have to deal with. Simon was bringing in stacks of paper and looking through each one, Pit didn't know how to read or write, and Mega Man was the only one who wasn't as bored as the other two.
"How do I know which to give to Pit and which to shred?" Simon asked, looking through the papers on top of a stack.
"I told you before: if it's by an anonymous business, has bad grammar, or overall just wants you to give up whatever money you have, you shred it," Mega Man responded.
"Hey, Rockman," Pit questioned. "I still don't know how to approve things by signing them."
"Look: all you have to do is fill in a few circles without going over the outline and scribble a bit on the dotted line," Mega Man sighed in annoyance. "Besides, Tom Nook's the boss, even if I could do all this by myself. You two can sit this one out though. I'm sure the tanooki wouldn't mind."
"And why should we listen to you?" Simon asked.
"I'm a robot, Belmont," Mega Man answered, knocking on his blue helmet. "And I'm far more capable of running this job myself just like Isabelle does."
"Running all this by yourself?" Pit asked, putting away the paper he accidentally tore while trying to sign with a fountain pen. "All this paperwork is really confusing."
"Move aside," Rockman added, taking a small portion of paper on top of the stack, reading through the papers he held with careful analysis. He placed the papers that checked out in his eyes while shredding the scams. Mega Man then began filling out the circles and signing the papers before scanning and emailing them, working quite efficiently.
"Hm… wonders of technology," Simon spoke in surprise.
"Yeah, Dr. Light made him like this," Pit filled in. "I'm quite surprised too. I'm sure wherever Isabelle is, she's in the utmost care of someone who would protect her cuddly face from all harm."
It had been a few minutes ever since Isabelle and the Slayer arrived at the ARC facility, and already they were attacking the demons that broke into the building as the alarm blared throughout the place. As the DOOM Slayer crushed the skulls of the creatures trying to get to them, Isabelle kept a keen eye out for the arachnotrons and cacodemons chasing them down. The two stopped in front of an elevator, which was locked by a specialized hand scanner near the steel doors.
"Dr. Hayden's office laboratory is located at the top of this facility," VEGA explained. The glass containing the hand scanner opened, waiting for someone to scan the hands of those applied as workers for the facility.
"It doesn't look like we can get to the top that easily," Isabelle pointed out to the DOOM Slayer as she tossed a frag grenade at an incoming horde of demons. "Perhaps we might have to gather up some human DNA and make it into some sort of prototype that-" The Slayer simply grabbed a nearby imp and slammed its head into the scanner, breaking both the creature and the device. The elevator doors opened as a result, much to Isabelle's surprise.
"Or we could do that," Isabelle sighed as she got into the elevator with the Slayer, firing her plasma cannon at the demons trying to claw their way into the closing doors. The elevator ascended, giving out a sense of peace and tranquility after having to deal with a barrage of hellions. Isabelle looked up at the Slayer, watching the heavy breathing fog up the inside of his visor. From what she could tell, the DOOM Slayer was hiding something.
"So… any idea what these monsters want with you?" Isabelle asked. "This Khan Maykr lady said it's all your fault this version of Earth is going to die. What exactly happened between you two?" The Slayer looked down at the tiny dog, sighing as he looked away. Memories began to flood back to him as his mind went elsewhere after he heard Isabelle ask him the question.
He remembered the darkened halls. The chains that bound his wrists as he was dragged by two ancient soldiers clad in armor. He saw the uncorrupted faces of Deags Nilox and Ranah, admiring the helmet he wore.
"We had just found him outside the Sentinel Prime gates," one of the armored men spoke. "Those that survived his onslaught referred to him as simply the Doomguy."
"The… demons!" the Doomguy muttered with a boiling rage as he tried to claw away from the Sentinels. "Must… kill them all! Must… avenge Daisy!" He couldn't help himself. The lust and hunger for bloodshed got to his head, driving him mad to the brink of killing anyone that got in his way should one tiny thing tick him off.
"Instead of returning to Earth, he chose to stay in Hell and close the portal that connected the two worlds," another one of the Sentinels responded. "He began to speak in madness as though he's seen a ghost, hoping to avenge a rabbit he held very close to his heart. He chose never to love again after he lost her, saying he will rip and tear through Hell until there are no more demons left." The two Hell Priests looked upon the unmasked human soldier, gazing upon the bloodthirsty eyes that stared back at them. They saw a cold abyss mixed with a blazing inferno: a chaotic quagmire tearing him apart not just for his pet… but for all of humanity. If he was going to survive, he was going to learn how to become a Sentinel and control the hot fire and cold ice burning within him.
"He still has some fight left in him," Deag Nilox mentioned. "Pit him against the other gladiators."
"We have confidence the Doomguy has potential in making it to the front lines," Deag Ranak replied. The Sentinels dragged the rambling marine soldier away, tossing him into the gladiator ring.
Hours of torment had passed, and all but the Doomguy were either brutally injured or slowly dying from their wounds. Despite having a mortal scar that cut deep into his chest, he still persisted. He still survived.
He still stayed determined.
"Rip and tear… rip and tear!" the Doomguy shouted in victory, his bare fists dyed completely in red.
"Truly remarkable…" Deag Grav noted after finding out only the Doomguy was standing. "No man has ever surpassed our trials. You'll make a fine addition to the front lines, stranger!" As the Hell Priest gently took hold of the Doomguy's hand, the human pushed himself away. The Doomguy was still consumed by the madness of the losses he had to endure. And it didn't just involve Daisy. It involved his entire life. All of it torn away by the creatures who would sacrifice their own kind just to kill and multiply.
"The demons!" the Doomguy rambled, his vision blurry until he could no longer tell the difference between the men he fought in the gladiator ring and the demons of his past. "They're… They're everywhere! Must… kill them all!"
"Dress his wounds and bring him to us," the Khan Maykr spoke behind Deag Grav. "I want to know more about the others he speaks of." The Doomguy looked up at her holy appearance, suspicious of the fact that she was curious about the demons he sought to kill.
What he didn't know was that those words he foolishly blared aloud would change the fate of his world.
"Hello?" Isabelle asked, climbing up the Slayer's back and waving her paw in front of his face. "Mr. Doomguy? Are you even listening?" The DOOM Slayer snapped out of his remembrance, looking up at the cute dog in front of his visor. She slipped off his green armor, walking over to the plasma cannon she left on the floor.
"You know… I kinda have a feeling you can talk. You just choose not to," Isabelle noted, pocketing the cannon she carried on her shoulders. "That's totally fine. I have a few friends who can't really talk, so I just try to figure out what they know by reading through their facial expressions. Mr. Mayor is one of those examples, and I grew close with him for most of his life in the quiet towns we visited. He doesn't really speak, but that's okay! I've taught myself to read other people's expressions, and judging from the way you ignored my call-outs you were part of this Khan Maykr alliance? Your armor says it all, really. Were you part of a secret group of knights?" The Slayer slowly turned his head to the right, looking down at the dog and scaring her quite a bit.
"Sorry… it's just I don't want to give you trouble," Isabelle answered, tucking her tail in-between her legs. "Lately, I've been getting bored of my life, signing papers and running town meetings when I could be spending most of my days playing outside with the other villagers, relaxing in the sun… playing at the beach… pick fruits and… not be cooped up indoors from morning to night. Even my twin brother Digsby is calling out on that. But I'm sure you wouldn't mind relaxing at my universe. You deserve a LOOOOONG break after all the countless demons you've slaughtered. Besides, to tell you the truth… I'm finding your world far more exciting than mine. It's like I'm my rebellious teenage self again, and I'm venting out all my frustrations here. Too bad I can't stay here since I have to go back after this mission. Also, I kinda noticed I remind you of… a pet you lost. Do I remind you of her?" The Slayer simply kept silent like usual, but a tear fell down his eye as a sign of compassion. He rubbed Isabelle's head, making her giggle a bit.
"Attention: emergency protocols have been activated," a facility voice spoke aloud across the ARC building. "Please exit the facility now." The elevator stopped, and the Slayer picked up Isabelle as he walked out the elevator towards the steel door at the front. The door slid open, revealing a few of the ARC workers surrounding some sort of hilt forged out of a skull and rusted bones completed with a reddened aura. One of the workers discovers the Slayer and Isabelle walking in, much to his complete hopefulness.
"My God…" the worker muttered in surprise. "Um… Dr. Hayden was convinced, um, that you would come here for this. Eventually." The DOOM Slayer approached the floating hilt, taking hold of the weapon. He gave it to Isabelle, who reluctantly took the item and placed it in her pockets. After taking the object, the Slayer walked over to the door while the same worker followed him.
"Can I just say it's an honor to meet you? Both you and… that living plushie you brought along? Why do you even- oop!" the scientist continued before tripping and landing near the metal fence. The door opened, and the Slayer continued up a flight of stairs up to a group of scientists within the ARC facility running around and trying to take the situation of the emergency protocols as calmly as possible.
The Slayer looked to his right to spot a robotic body inside some sort of machine. The torso was torn in half, along with the arms that were now nothing but webs of wires and gears. Wires were hooked to the robot, with monitors near the machine reading the life signs of the human conscience of Dr. Samuel Hayden inside that mechanical body.
"Now, we uh… don't know how to access his main cortex," the scientist operating the machinery pointed out. "It's all alien… we couldn't really figure it out. We have to prepare for his… careful extractions and we were given specific orders-" The Slayer grabbed ahold of Dr. Hayden's left arm, dragging the mutilated robot out of his life support machinery.
"His life signal is barely readable," VEGA ushered. The alarm around the facility blared loud, letting Isabelle get off the Slayer's shoulder.
"WARNING: Demonic Presence threat level 5 entering the laboratory," the facility voice spoke. Multiple scientists backed away as a red portal opened up. Stepping out of the portal was some sort of humanoid demon, with torn battle armor closely resembling the Slayer's. His skin was as pale as the cold heart beating inside him, his fingers wrapping tightly around a double-sided axe in one hand and an energetic red shield in the other. His red eyes gleamed underneath the horns he bore, seeking for vengeance against the DOOM Slayer.
"Opening the portal now," VEGA spoke, with the blue vortex appearing right behind Isabelle and the Slayer. The human soldier tossed Dr. Hayden's body into the portal, choosing to stay and fight. Isabelle was the most reliant to leave, but instead she chose to stay after she noticed the Slayer was… determined.
"You were never one of us," the demonic entity addressed to the Slayer, the red portal closing behind him as he walked towards the duo with his weapons in hand. "You were nothing but a usurper. A false idol. The eyes of this Marauder have been opened. Let me help you to see, Slayer." The Slayer cocked his shotgun, with Isabelle stepping in front of him.
"You and your leaders aren't going to harm any more of these humans!" Isabelle snapped, drawing out the crucible she was given. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" The anthropomorphic dog waited for the hilt to activate some sort of blade, her face blushing in embarrassment as she fondled with the thing and tried to activate the blade part of the crucible.
"Even this canine you constantly convince yourself is your friend cannot figure out how to activate such a dangerous weapon… at least not until I end her life as well," the Marauder noted.
"Keep telling yourself that!" Isabelle growled, placing the crucible back in her pockets and pulling out her plasma cannon. The Marauder chuckled as a horde of demons and zombies emerged from portals around the facility, surrounding the two. The Marauder dashed straight at the Slayer, swinging his axe at the human soldier with great force. This brute strength was enough to knock the Slayer back, forcing him to resort to his shotgun. The Slayer shot a bullet, but instead he was met with a powerful blast from the Marauder's ranged weapon.
"Doomguy! I'm coming!" Isabelle called out, aiming her heavy plasma cannon at the Marauder while she used her assault rifle upon the demons about to attack her. The Marauder slammed his axe for the Slayer's head, forcing the soldier to roll away. The Slayer rolled to the right and grabbed ahold of the fallen Night Sentinel's left arm and twisted it. The Marauder activated his shield at the Slayer's side, ready to strike the human soldier with a mighty axe swing before a powerful hit slammed into him back. The Marauder was knocked back by Isabelle's cannon, saving the Slayer's life.
"You're welcome!" Isabelle called out, attacking the other demons with her rifle. The DOOM Slayer fired his shotgun at the Marauder, ramming into the demonic soldier and pulling on his horns. The Marauder tried to swing his axe at him, forcing the Slayer to kick the brute away. As Isabelle was attacking the demons with a chainsaw, she pulled out the crucible and tried fondling with the weapon as a means to see what it would look like upon being completely activated.
"C'mon… How do you activate this thing?" Isabelle asked, pressing on every part of the hilt. Her paw pressed into the two eye holes of the main skull completing the weapon's design, activating a red blade filled with ancient text. Once Isabelle saw the energy blade emerge from the crucible, she quickly backed her face away from the blade, cutting through an imp's torso in the process. Surprised by what she accomplished, she slashed her blade at another demon about to attack her. She then realized that she has the power to instantly kill any physical beings, and her rebellious past took over for her once again. She began cutting her way through the demons, attacking the incoming horde that leaked into the facility. She spotted the Slayer brutally knocked down onto the floor, with the Marauder crushing the Slayer's chest below the weight of his foot.
"Now it is time to free you, Slayer," the Marauder growled, grabbing hold of his axe and aiming for the DOOM Slayer. "Free your head off your shoulders!" The next thing that happened was not the sound of the Slayer's immediate downfall but instead… the sight of widened red eyes, blood leaking out from his neck, and the faint aura glowing behind him. The Marauder didn't move in the slightest, with the pressure built up from his blood causing his head to gently slide off his neck. Just like that, the mighty Marauder dropped cold and dead. The Slayer got up to see the killer was Isabelle, who was completely petrified by what she had done. She quickly pressed the eye sockets of the skull in the crucible, deactivating the blade and inserting the weapon into her pocket.
"I guess you always can't do things alone," Isabelle chuckled. She and the Slayer looked back at the remaining demons in the laboratory, ready to attack them without any regards. The Slayer cocked his shotgun and fired at the remaining demons, leaving a trail of blood as he and Isabelle ran over to the blue portal that was open this whole time. Once the Slayer jumped in, Isabelle looked back at the Marauder's corpse. She knew there was something she had to do first in order to get back to the castle she found on Arcus. She remembered Manah required a heart from that creature. Isabelle pulled out the sack with the Aquarius symbol and walked over to the body.
She took hold of the Marauder's axe, slamming the weapon deep into the corpse's chest. With her grimy paws, the queasy Isabelle pried it wide open and dug through the ribs just to get the heart without looking at any of the organs inside the demon's body. Once she felt the arteries and veins connect themselves at the heart, Isabelle quickly pulled it out. She could feel it beating rapidly as it pumped out blood, forcing her to quickly stuff the heart into the sack and place it in her pocket. She ran back into the portal just as it was about to close, with the alarm still ringing and a few of the evacuated scientists peeking into the laboratory to see the mess the Slayer and Isabelle made here.
Having just arrived back in the fortress, the Slayer picked up Dr. Hayden's body off the floor and walked away from the control room. As the DOOM Slayer walked through the steel door in the back to hook up Dr. Hayden to the uploader located within the fortress, Isabelle took out the Marauder's heart she carried along.
"Because you two have killed all three of the Hell Priests, the consumption of Earth has been significantly halted and decreased," VEGA explained throughout the ship. "However, I have lost the whereabouts of the Khan Maykr. Dr. Hayden will be able to find her."
"Uh… Manah? Hello?" Isabelle asked, holding up the sack. "I got the heart, just like you wanted. Now can you please help me get back to Arcus?" Once the Slayer tossed Dr. Hayden into a special kind of machine to hook his mind to the ship's mainframe, time itself stopped around Isabelle.
"Took you long enough," Manah spoke in a lighthearted tone. The dog detected the mysterious young woman's presence near the control panel, tapping her fingers patiently. She performed a hand gesture at Isabelle, reminding the adorable fighter to toss her the sack. Isabelle threw the item across the control panel, and Manah caught it with accurate precision.
"Before I go leave and help your friends at the fortress you found, allow me to give you some helpful advice," Manah pointed out, slowly trekking across the room down the stairs. "That crucible you and the Slayer stole from the Armored Response Coalition: it was stolen by Dr. Hayden first. That weapon has the ability to kill a powerful beast the Khan Maykr is planning to release upon the Earth as a last resort, and there's another one like it at Argent d'Nur. She and her priests made a deal with Hell to provide them with worlds to conquer in return for the salvation of their own world… Urdak. I'm not going to be providing you with any additional information and just let Dr. Hayden do all the navigating since he knows more about this universe than I do. Just keep in mind… you're going to have to take VEGA with you. He may just be an ordinary robot for the time being, but trust me: he's going to be important."
"...I understand," Isabelle noted. "What exactly are you doing here? Don't you belong in this world?"
"We can worry about my origins later," Manah assured. "For now, go out with that god and save the world. It'll be the best you got after working inside all your life. Besides… this isn't the first realm I visited for someone like you." Isabelle nodded, and just like that, Manah disappeared without a trace. Time started to move like normal, and the Slayer walked in just as the architecture started to change drastically.
"The Khan Maykr is hiding in Urdak, with a portal to her realm located in Nekravol deep beneath the city of Hebeth," Dr. Hayden's voice echoed throughout the ship. "She does not want her ritual to be easily disturbed, for it will break the pact between her realm and Hell's as well as being the end of all life on Earth. However, getting to Hebeth itself is no easy task, for it takes process to get to the core hidden beneath the city."
"I'm afraid Dr. Hayden is right. There are no known pathways to Nekravol through Hebeth," VEGA spoke, with the Slayer heading over to one of the holographic screens and bringing out a screen of some sort of gigantic laser cannon on Phobos, one of the irregular-shaped moons orbiting Mars.
"The BFG-10000," a facility voice spoke from the monitor. "Designed by Dr. Samuel Hayden as part of the anti-demonic defense grid."
"I understand," VEGA responded with second thought. "Opening the coordinates to the BFG-10000 now."
"You can't just shoot a hole into the surface of Mars," Dr. Hayden objected. Despite the doctor's objection, VEGA readying the portal to the base on Phobos.
"The portal is ready," VEGA spoke, with the Slayer pressing the sphere on the control panel to activate the portal.
"Urdak is the Maykr's homeworld," Dr. Hayden pointed out. "Neither human nor Sentinel has ever set foot in their dimension. You can use the Maykr's Argent factory in Nekravol to pass through the void. Once there, you will not be able to leave on your own. But VEGA can create an exit portal for you. That is why you must bring VEGA through the void with you to Urdak."
"Understood," VEGA responded. "I am detaching myself from the ship's systems… processing… total transfer to external drive complete." Out from the control panel ejected a small disc containing VEGA inside, and the Slayer grabbed it. He gave it to Isabelle, who reluctantly placed the drive into her pockets.
"VEGA is no longer connected to your ship," Dr. Hayden reminded. "I will keep the portal open to the BFG-10000 for you. Do you wish to finish anything else aboard the ship before you leave? You will not be able to return until the mission is complete." Isabelle looked ahead at the portal, aware that sooner or later she would have to return back to her friends. She checked the items she carried along inside her pockets, nodding her head with determination.
The DOOM Slayer knew what was about to happen next, and he picked up Isabelle onto his shoulder once again. The two headed through the portal, never looking back upon the fortress. They arrived a few seconds later inside one of the main control facilities on the Martian moon, gazing out of the large glass window as the Slayer walked through the sliding door.
Hostiles flew across the red planet, surrounding the moon as the UAC scientists inside the facility were assisting in protecting the BFG-10000 against the horde. The scientists trying to remain calm against the demonic invasion suddenly gazed in awe upon the iconic green armor of the DOOM Slayer himself as he walked down the room.
"It's… It's him!" one scientist exclaimed in complete fear.
"Oh my God…" another scientist gasped.
"They've overrun the lower levels!" a scientist called out from one of the speakers attached to a monitor. "Corporate says we should let them through!"
"What? Why?" a UAC scientist asked. The Slayer approached the scientist, grabbing the card attached to a ribbon around the scientist's neck. He pulled the card over to a nearby scanner, unlocking the doors and pushing a wincing scientist away as he walked through the open doors with Isabelle resting on his head. The peculiar duo walked towards a nearby elevator, where two of the UAC guards attempted to stop the intruders by gunpoint.
"Hey! Who are you!?" one of the guards snapped before he lowered his gun upon the sheer terror the DOOM Slayer brought. "You can't… be… here…" The Slayer took a weapon from the guard, and the two guards stepped aside in fear as both Isabelle and the Slayer descended down the elevator.
"The entrance to the BFG-10000 is just across this facility," Dr. Hayden spoke seconds before the mighty weapon fired, shaking the whole Martian lunar base with a powerful shockwave from the blast. "Its power might be of interest to you. Figures." As the elevator descended down the facility, the Slayer and Isabelle spotted that the humans within the base were attacked by the demons that had just invaded.
"ATTENTION: the DOOM Slayer and some kind of sentient plush dog has entered the facility," a facility voice spoke. Once the elevator stopped, the small team pulled out their weapons and fired at the demons that had just killed the humans. The Slayer equipped a special kind of freezing weapon, transforming the creatures into icy statues and the steel floor into a slide down the hall. The Slayer slid down on his back while Isabelle stood on his chest, using her assault rifle on the imps and zombies chasing after them.
WARNING: BFG-10000 is now firing," the facility voice spoke again, with a green shockwave generating from the cannon's blast. The Slayer managed to spot an emergency exit door out of the hallway, quickly grabbing onto the latch in time before the shockwave got to them. Once the base rumbled, the Slayer clenched tightly to Isabelle and braced for impact. A shaking Isabelle slid out of his arms, the bells in her bun jingling.
"I have mapped out the facilities upon Phobos," VEGA explained from Isabelle's pockets, the AI still implemented in the drive he installed himself into. "Right now, the BFG-10000 is in automatic mode, but thanks to a carefully-calculated plan we can make this work. The Slayer will head out to the BFG-10000 and wait until Isabelle activates the manual overdrive, giving the Slayer a chance to shoot a hole into Mars. Isabelle will then take one of the evacuation ships and fly through Hebeth into the core, and the Slayer will use himself as a bullet to fire himself straight into Nekravol with Isabelle."
"Uh… I guess so," Isabelle noted. "Good luck out there, Doomguy." The Slayer saluted the dog, waiting until she pressed herself tightly against the wall and prepared for the Slayer to walk outside the facility. The Slayer quickly opened the door, with the vacuum of space trying to suck him in but couldn't due to the fact his armor was protecting him. Once the door was shut and locked airtight, Isabelle's pocket began to glow as VEGA generated a blue path for her to follow.
Outside the facility, the Slayer began to gun down the demons crawling outside the base. They fell limp like ragdolls floating through space everywhere the Slayer stepped, and he showed no mercy for these creatures.
"The main entrances are locked," Dr. Hayden pointed out. "They know you are trying to get in. However, there is a hatch that leads to the facility of the BFG-10000." The Slayer blasted his freeze ray at the cacodemons and imps trying to stop him, and he paid close attention to the parts of the floor near the BFG-10000. There, he quickly found a ladder leading to the main hatch close to the cannon's head. The Slayer wasted no time climbing up the ladder towards the targeted facility.
"I tell you: that guy doesn't scare me," one of the guards protecting the BFG-10000 boasted.
"Yeah, I'd like to see him try!" a second guard scoffed. The two guards quickly pointed their guns at the hatch once they heard the Slayer breaking in, unprepared for his menacing appearance. When the Slayer crawled out, he simply did not strike the guards. Their own fear of him was enough to convince them to back away from the entrance to the BFG-10000 facility.
"I will be lowering the control panel for you now," Dr. Hayden spoke. "Remember not to fire until VEGA has alerted my systems that Isabelle has disabled the automatic protocol." The control panel of the BFG-10000 lowered, with one of the UAC guards standing there in panic
"I know he's there!" the guard responded over a speaker. "I just don't know what to do!" The guard yelped as the DOOM Slayer pushed him away, throwing him out of the control panel. Dr. Hayden activated the control panel again, which ascended up to the cannon and interlocked with the BFG-10000. The Slayer braced for impact as the gun fired at the invaders again with the safety protocols engaged, waiting until Dr. Samuel Hayden heard from VEGA that it was possible to take control of the BFG-10000.
In another part of the moon base, two guards aimed their guns at the door once they saw a glowing-red blade cut through the steel like soft butter.
"Okay, tough guy!" one guard snapped as the piece of the steel door fell. "No intruders allowed!" What completely surprised the guards then was Isabelle herself, walking into the control room.
"You're a cute little girl, aren't ya?" the second guard responded. "But we're here to kick the Slayer's ass should he give us any funny business, so why don't you run over to the… evacuation ships?" Isabelle looked up at the guards with just a simple happy expression, drawing out her crucible and activating it. Just that action alone was enough to scare the guards like kids who are afraid of the dark when they sleep.
The two guards simply stepped aside, wishing they weren't so afraid of such an adorable creature. As soon as they left her line of sight, Isabelle crawled into the control panel and began pressing a few buttons on both the holographic screens and on the counter.
"Would you like me to disable the safety protocols?" VEGA asked as Isabelle adjusted a few options on the BFG-10000.
"Yes, please!" Isabelle answered, confirming the save file to the changes.
"Understood," VEGA noted. "I will inform Dr. Hayden immediately. In the meantime, I will be relocating you to the evacuation ships." Isabelle jumped off the control panel, dashing out of the room as she followed another light path generated by the AI's drive.
"The main control panel on the BFG-10000 has been modified," Dr. Hayden reminded the Slayer. "Isabelle should be taking a ship right about now. You can fire at the surface thanks to the disabled safety protocols." The Slayer grabbed the stick controller within the small facility, pointing the BFG-10000 straight at the surface of Mars. He began pressing the red button on the controller, charging the weapon and firing straight at the red planet. A green streak flashed across the distance between Phobos and Mars, and in a flash a good chunk of the planet was blown off.
"WARNING: the Slayer has taken possession of the BFG-10000," the facility voice called out to the base's defenses as the Slayer detached the main portion of the BFG-10000 that was responsible for the energy blasts it fired. "The BFG-10000 has been removed from the cannon. The cannon will now self-destruct in exactly 30 seconds." A timer displayed on a holographic screen in red, counting down the seconds that followed.
"That cannon is a weapon, not a teleporter," Dr. Hayden reassured as the Slayer attached the main BFG-10000 energy source to his back and adjusted the controls a bit. "But since you do what you want, I'm not the one to stop you… and neither is anyone nor anything." Once the Slayer finished adjusting the controls until they were preparing to fire nothing, he climbed into the cannon shell with the intention to use himself as a bullet. The cannon fired, launching the Slayer into the depths of space one second before it exploded. The DOOM Slayer kept his eyes on the glowing core exposed on the surface of Mars, watching the ruins of Hebeth's city crumble around it.
He spotted Isabelle flying straight for the core in one of the emergency escape pods, trying her best to control it from the inside via the control panel. She tried to keep a flight course as best as she could, clearly having no experience in flying a spaceship. The Slayer fired a grappling gun at Isabelle's pod, dragging himself onto the hatch of the pod until he got a firm balance upon the ship's tail.
"I'm piloting this thing as best as I can!" Isabelle reminded her companion through a feedback in the Slayer's visor. "Best prepare for turbulence as we head to our next stop: Nekravol!" The ship began to heat up as the two warriors got closer to the Martian surface, avoiding the rubble that was flying past the escape pod. The demons that were flying around in space dive-bombed after the escape pod, trying to take down the unstoppable duo as they plan to save the world from the Khan Maykr and whatever wrath she has planned.
"Hold tight!" Isabelle exclaimed, piloting the pod off-course towards the rubble to lose the demons chasing them. However in doing so, she rammed straight into one of the rubble pieces from Mars, causing the ship to spiral down straight into the center of the planet like a leaf floating down a tree.
As the ship was falling through a brightened atmosphere within the core, the duo saw the darkened skies of the hellish citadel, with a golden symbol in the air resembling that of a pentagram. Spears and ruined towers stood erect, surrounding a large factory surrounded by floating rocks. All the leftover streaks of energy seeping from the factory seemed to funnel themselves into the top of the tower, where a golden portal burns brightly as the only star in this nightmarish realm. Isabelle was so entranced by how horrible the state of Nekravol looked that she didn't notice the pod crashed until she was knocked out cold from the impact.
"Found anything yet?" Wendy called from the hallways of the large castle.
"I'm still looking!" Larry replied, continuously knocking on the decorated walls of the humongous library. Books upon books were placed in shelves that took up a good portion of the smaller dome in the castle, and both the Villager and the Koopalings were searching through the books for some kind of secret. But even then, Bowser Jr. and his father's minions were starting to get tired.
"Remind us again why we're here?" Bowser Jr. asked the Villager as he rode in on his Koopa Clown Car. "We've been stuck here in this HUGE place when we should be off attacking the Mushroom Kingdom with our dad, and we're forced to drop our things for what? Finding your mutt?" The Villager nodded, much to the young Koopa Prince's annoyance.
"Relax, kid," Roy Koopa replied from the large door connecting the library to the halls. "We can meet up with your dad when we're done here."
"Yeah!" Ludwig responded.
"Well, I'm tired of waiting around for nothing," Bowser Jr. objected. "I'm heading back to the Mushroom Kingdom if it's the last thing I do!" While Bowser Jr. was complaining about what he and the Koopalings had to do, an invisible Manah snuck past Morton Koopa Jr. when he wasn't looking. She pulled out a book she chose next to Morton, wiping away the dust on the old book. She then tapped Morton's shoulder and laid the book she picked before she vanished.
"What the-?" Morton asked. Who's there? Woah!" Morton stumbled and fell upon the book, suddenly recognizing the lettering on the spine even though he couldn't really read.
"Hey, guys!" Morton called out to the Koopalings and Villager. "I found something… I think…" The fighters and the Koopalings went down to Morton, who was rubbing his toe after he stubbed and tripped on it.
"I thought there was a ghost in this library, and then I fell flat on my face from this thing!" Morton growled, picking up the book he tripped over. The Villager's eyes widened in surprise when he noticed that there was something glowing behind the cover. He quickly pocketed the book before pulling it up again, staring upon pages and pages worth of enigmatic alien code moving vertically and horizontally upon bright blue paper. The alien language had letters similar to the ones identified from the Earth Citrine and the gate with Taurus, but most of them were unrecognizable for the time being.
"What is this?" Iggy asked. "What's code like that doing inside a book like this?"
"Beats us," Lemmy answered. "But I guess we'll have to figure out how to use the code until then…" While the Villager and the Koopalings were trying to identify the countless strands of code, the invisible Manah pulled away a carpet covering the floor and fondled the handle on the trapdoor hidden underneath the cloth. The fighters heard the sound and instantly spotted the hatch, with the carpet tucked away somewhere safe.
"Should we…?" Bowser Jr. asked. The Villager and the Koopalings nodded, opening the hatch of the trapdoor. The young mayor of Smashville turned on the LED lantern he had in his inventory this whole time, treading down the stone stairs deep into the floor.
"I'm gonna be following him, just to be safe," Bowser Jr. told the Koopalings, piloting his Koopa Clown Car down the stairs. The two fighters made their way down the stairs, and the Villager admired the architecture within the stone. Like the dragons decorating the mosaics, pillars supporting the corners of the cell had small, wingless beasts carved into them. There was nothing but a wooden table in the center of the room, with a stand covered in an alien language. This language was the exact same font as used in the book, but Villager and Bowser Jr. didn't know that yet.
The Villager took out the book, looking through the code in the pages. He couldn't exactly identify it either, but perhaps he was supposed to place that book on the stand. Once the young mayor did just that, he backed away only to find out it had no effect.
"Alright, can we go now?" Bowser Jr. asked. "I don't wanna waste any more time, and Dad might put me in curfew if I don't get back." The room began to brighten, flashing with a deep cyan blue. The Villager and Bowser Jr. spotted the book the young mayor placed down float in the air and rapidly flip through the pages as though some unknown force was at play. The book then remained open, with four of the ancient letters the Earth Citrine used slowly translating themselves to "Doom."
"Doom?" Bowser Jr. asked as the Villager walked up to the book. It was just close enough for the mayor of Smashville to touch the glowing pages. This sent off a spark of energy throughout the small room, and around the walls texts and historical images were projected onto the walls.
"Well, hello. 'In the beginning of time, the planet of Argent d'Nur was impaled by a giant cosmic spear of stone and ice, giving rise to the Call of the Wraiths and, with the first Ancestrals, the beginning of mankind's existence,'" Bowser Jr. read the text aloud, amazed by how deep this rich and complicated history was as he trailed off. He drove his Koopa Clown Car over to another wall, reading the text from there as well.
"'The Argenta and the Order Deag would later make contact with the Khan Maykr and her people, establishing peace between the races in return for a great civilization. This society of Argent d'Nur and the Night Sentinels expanded across the galaxy with the promises of eternal happiness within Urdak, the home of the Maykr,'" Bowser Jr. continued as he kept reading. "'One faithful day, a simple human soldier arrived from the future, bringing with him the forces of Hell. The Night Sentinels, upon defeating the demonic forces at Taras Nabad, discovered the Argent energy.' Wow. This history goes deep. Hey, guys! You gotta come and see this!" The Koopalings heard the young prince from up the stairs, driving their Koopa Clown Cars down into the dark room.
"Oh my… it's beautiful!" Wendy ejaculated upon seeing this rich history. "What happened here?"
"Looks like we can stay here for a while longer and see if this is the world Isabelle was sucked into," Bowser Jr. told the Koopalings. "To answer your question, the kid over there placed the book on some magic stand and… well, we've got ourselves a history text on what Isabelle got herself into."
"Hm… 'However, as the Night Sentinels traveled through the bowels of Hell into the citadel of Nekravol located deep within the core of Mars, what they saw disgusted them greatly,'" Ludwig read aloud as his eyes skimmed across the text. "'The Argent energy was processed through the suffering of humans as they were dragged from their planets and sapped of their souls until they were corrupted into demons. Those unfit to provide, according to the Evulsor, were discarded into the Blood Swamps. Those Night Sentinels turned against the Order Deag through disgust, and a civil war ensued. One of the Sentinels, Valen, was compelled by the torment of his son to give the Order Deag access to the Wraiths, cursed and renamed the Betrayer. Furthermore, his son was later corrupted into the greatest Titan in the galaxy… a killing machine that would eradicate all life on a planet should he be given the chance: the Icon of Sin.'"
"Hey, look! There's more to the story over here!" Larry pointed out. "'Around that time, the human soldier who arrived in Argent d'Nur was appointed a Sentinel as he proved his worth in the ongoing battle against Hell, and a rogue deity known as the Seraph helped enhance his abilities… transforming the human into the DOOM Slayer."
"There's so much info here, even the time when the demons trapped the Slayer in a tomb within Hebeth and he woke up after who knows how long by a… Dr. Samuel Hayden…" Iggy noted. "But it still doesn't solve trying to get back to Isabelle." The Villager touched the pages again, generating a wall of text as the letters jumbled around. The open book laid down on the stand, generating a holographic image of the fortress itself. It zoomed in on the platform found within the garden: the exact same one Isabelle entered. There was also an image of a lunar eclipse, with a stick figure holding the exact same book and reflecting the light of the blood moon on the pages like a mirror at the platform connected to the world this rich history came from.
"Hm… looks like we're gonna have to climb up to the highest part of the fortress and use that book as some sort of mirror, angling the light of the blood moon upon the platform where Isabelle entered into that realm with the demons and crap," Ludwig explained after looking over the holographic scenario. "Hey, Junior. When do you think these lunar eclipses occur?"
"I'm not really sure," Bowser Jr. replied. "Maybe once or twice a month… I think… one's supposed to happen tonight, from what I've heard."
"I think I've seen the sky get a bit darker minutes ago," Roy Koopa reminded. "We better hurry to the top and see if this works or not…" The Villager nodded, grabbing the book and running up the stairs with the Koopalings and Bowser Jr. following after him.
Isabelle slowly opened up her eyes to the sight of a glowing pillar of white. She clearly lost her consciousness after she crashed the escape pod near Nekravol, and her lightweight body was not enough to keep her awake after the crash… until she found herself resting on the cold floor with her head supported by a pillar. Isabelle heard the head of a Marauder roll next to her, and she backed away in frightened disgust. She then looked up to see the Slayer, offering his hand to help her up.
"You've been out cold for a while," Dr. Hayden explained as the anthropomorphic dog latched her paws onto the Slayer's fingers. "I had just finished explaining to the Slayer how the factory works, as well as led you two to the portal to Urdak. It wasn't an easy process to activate it. While you were unconscious, the DOOM Slayer had to fight six Marauders that were guarding the Unmaykr, a divine weapon given to the demons to guard, and the most important item in our fight: the Crucible he used to kill a Titan in Argent d'Nur from his time as a Sentinel. This item is obligatory in our mission to stop the Khan Maykr and the Icon of Sin, saving our world as we destroy hers. You should've been awake to witness the fight. It was quite difficult for the Slayer." Isabelle looked both places around the part of the factory, smelling the decaying blood and bile leaking from the mutilated bodies of the Marauders across the steel floor. She gazed up into the sky and saw the light beam touching the pentagram in the red clouds, thunder roaring as the Argent energy harvested from the human bodies strapped to the sacrificial tables ascended high into the air like wisps of smoke.
"Let's go kick some demon butt then," Isabelle spoke with confidence. "Give me the best weapon you've got!" The Slayer pulled out some sort of divine weapon, a unique blend of Maykr technology and Sentinel weaponry - the Unmaykr. She cocked the gun as the Slayer pulled out a Crucible of his own. It was forged out of steel, bearing the Mark of the Beast as its emblem. A red glow generated from the blade that popped out, with an ancient text of Argent d'Nur inscribed upon it. The iconic duo went into the realm of Urdak through the portal of light.
They continued walking down even after the portal back to Nekravol vanished, fueled by the determination necessary to forever cut off Hell from Earth. The halls within the Urdak citadel were forged out of an architecture never before seen by human eyes, a place that struck both hope and fear into anyone of the mortal realm who dared enter. There was a lift just up ahead, leading up to an open door where tongues of an incomprehensible language changed for the Icon of Sin to arise.
"It's ironic, really: the only thing that can destroy your world… is the one that will help you save it," Dr. Hayden spoke to the Slayer. "The Khan Maykr is planning to control the Icon of Sin to destroy all life on your planet through his heart: the one he used to have during his time as an Argenta. Once you disrupt the ritual by stabbing the heart with the dagger from Valen the Betrayer, the pact between the Maykr and the demons will be broken, resulting in a fatal war between both sides. The Betrayer's son will break free into our world as a result of the disruption. The longer the Icon of Sin is on Earth, the stronger he will become. VEGA will assist in keeping the portal back to the planet open, and only with the Crucible can you slay the Titan. However, the Crucible must be embedded in its body once you destroy the armor and stab it, otherwise it will rise again and end all life on Earth."
The duo walked on the lift, with the Slayer activating its ascension with a press of a button on a pedestal. The lift moved up fast, and the DOOM Slayer and Isabelle walked in during the ritual. Armless beings were surrounding a heart protected by a golden orb, with the Khan Maykr keeping watch over a titanic creature by their side. The dormant beast was so huge that you couldn't see the body below the chest, covered in an amalgamation of green Sentinel armor and the pure manifestation of Hell itself. The Khan Maykr had already sensed the duo would make their way here, still determined to bring the world to extinction.
"You cannot stop this war," the Khan Maykr spoke as the Slayer and Isabelle walked towards the heart. "Our world is dying. Earth must be cleansed." The Slayer didn't really listen, and he pulled out the Betrayer's dagger as the praying Maykr did nothing to stop it.
"You will not leave this place alive!" the Khan Maykr cried, outstretching her hand to stop the DOOM Slayer from stabbing the heart. She was quickly attacked by Isabelle's Unmaykr, who was shooting the triple-shot rapid-fire weapon straight at the orb in her chest. The smaller Maykr backed away in fear once the Slayer stabbed the Icon of Sin's heart. The organ began to beat rapidly from the pain of the dagger stabbing right through the orb and the muscle tissue, awakening the Icon of Sin. The colossal beast absorbed the energy of all the Maykr in the room, roaring a terrifying bellow as it opened a portal to Earth and entered through it. Just outside, the demons grew angry at the Maykr within the realm and began attacking. The Khan Maykr cast a shockwave of light, knocking Isabelle and her weapon down to the ground as the Maykr flew out of the ritual room.
"Thanks to you, the Icon of Sin is free of our control and will destroy all worlds as we know it!" the Khan Maykr snapped as the Icon of Sin pushed the floating floor away as it marched through the portal. Both the Slayer and Isabelle were falling down into an empty abyss, but the human soldier quickly spotted another floor within the citadel and grabbed Isabelle. He shot his grappling gun at the floor, pulling the two up as Isabelle cast her fishing rod and caught the Unmaykr in time. The Slayer drew out the BFG-10000, attacking the demons and the Maykr within the citadel.
"There is a portal that will take you straight to the control facility, but the Khan Maykr will do whatever she can to stop you," Dr. Hayden explained. "I will reconfigure a path to the portal now." The DOOM Slayer looked up and saw a green portal high on the ceiling, and a red path of Dr. Hayden's work mapped out a parkour strategy to the portal.
"C'mon! You wanna piece of me!?" Isabelle asked as she continuously fired at the cyborg demons and Maykr that tried to attack them. The Slayer picked her up and planted her on his right shoulder, allowing her to keep attacking the supernatural creatures from a mid-distance. The Slayer grabbed onto the walls and jumped upon the platforms, with Isabelle clinging onto the armor and the Unmaykr for dear life. It didn't take long before the Slayer jumped through the green portal and onto a platform, activating the button on the pedestal and slamming it down, kicking it into overdrive. The platform moved, dashing towards a floating island where the Icon of Sin was spotted before he vanished through a red portal that disappeared shortly after he left Urdak.
"The Icon of Sin has already used the location of Earth," Dr. Hayden explained. "From there, he will arrive at Earth and grow stronger unless you activate the Celestial Rings-"
"Alright, we get it!" Isabelle interrupted, pulling out the Unmaykr and shooting at the cacodemons and Maykr that tried to attack the duo. "We use VEGA to reopen the portal, and we aim it at Earth and kill the Icon of Sin there… right?" Just when the platform got near the floating island, the Khan Maykr teleported from behind, unleashing a powerful blast and knocking both the Slayer and Isabelle off. The Slayer landed on the architecture of the place while Isabelle crashed through the window straight into another Maykr.
"For millennia, we have survived," the Khan Maykr explained while she floated above the DOOM Slayer as he pushed himself off the futuristic floor. "Made others sacrifice in the name of our prosperity - so that they may in turn find redemption. This game of yours has gone on for far enough! Who are you two, a human and a canine, to defy our traditions and bend the rules to your wills?" The Khan Maykr clenched her chest, spreading open a pair of golden wings that gleamed from the thunderstorm behind her. The Slayer charged up his BFG-10000, ready to attack her once that orb on her chest is broken.
Isabelle quickly pulled out the angelic weapon and fired it at the Maykr that she landed into, gazing upon the chaos going on in the fight outside the facility. She watched as between the Maykr and the demons, the Slayer attacked the Khan Maykr with his BFG-10000. He was quickly dodging her pillars of light and barrage of magic missiles, sending a green blast straight for her orb and punching it as a result. Isabelle managed to spot a nearby room right next to where she landed. It was a glowing-cyan control panel that was completely empty, almost as if it needed a key to be activated.
Isabelle slipped into the room and pulled out VEGA, which was still inside the drive. She was completely aware that the AI was necessary to reconfigure the first Celestial Gate.
"Goodbye, VEGA," Isabelle sighed, aware that he couldn't necessarily feel human emotions.
"I understand how you must feel having to use me to open the portal as I stay here, but it is necessary to save the Slayer's Earth," VEGA responded. Isabelle nodded, placing the drive into the keyhole.
"System acquired," VEGA finished as it activated the control panel. "Setting a course for the Earth dimension now. I can… see now… am I The Father, Dr. Hayden?" Isabelle pressed the button, watching a gigantic cyan ring in the sky move horizontally as it aligned in front of the floating island.
The Khan Maykr was so focused on killing the Slayer that she didn't notice the tiny dog running through the control facility on the island as well as the large Celestial Gate in the Urdak horizon. Pieces of her armor were falling off as her orb was attacked, revealing oozing tentacles and pulsing flesh underneath that exoskeleton of hers.
Isabelle ran through the facility, attacking more of the demons that got in her way. It was clear that she may be calm for the time being, but she was a force to be reckoned with. All this demon-killing got to her head, and she was ready to mow them down. She quickly moved to another room on her right, which had a glowing-yellow control panel. She chopped down a cacodemon waiting for her in there and she pressed the button, aligning the yellow Celestial Gate in front of the cyan ring.
"Only one more room…" Isabelle growled, dashing out of the room with a chainsaw in hand as she attacked the Maykr trying to stop her from advancing down the facility. Isabelle ran as fast as she could before she got to the last room within the facility. This time, the control panel was of a violet color, and she did not hesitate smashing the button to align the third Celestial Gate.
"No…" the Khan Maykr whispered in disbelief as she watched the Celestial Gates align in a perfect single-file line. Her armor was already weakened to the point where she was about to fall apart. She gasped as the Slayer slammed his fist into the orb on her chest, creating a massive dent within it. Soon enough, the Slayer landed on a platform untouched by the lava now rising above the island. He cocked his BFG-10000 and continued the fight.
On top of the large dome within the fortress, there was a watchtower poking out on the top. Its roof was constructed out of holly blue agate, glimmering of the light of the moon in the sky as it began to turn into a tint of red. The Villager emerged out from the open window and crawled out onto the roof. He opened the book where he got all the information of Argent d'Nur and tried angling the open pages.
"Got anything yet?" Bowser Jr. asked as he poked his head out the window. "It's okay. Take your time." The Villager kept an eye on the moonlight projected onto the garden wall, spotting the golden tint as he adjusted the book a bit. He slowly guided the moonlight towards the platform where he was certain that Isabelle vanished off to.
"You sure this is gonna work?" Lemmy asked as he too poked his head out the window.
"It's got to… right?" Bowser Jr. replied.
As the thunderstorm rolled up in the sky, the Khan Maykr lay on the desolated island in defeat. Her face was dismantled and rotten from the radiant face she once had. Her brain was covered in glass shards and her wings torn apart. The Khan Maykr's armor crackled with golden electricity, the orb on her chest near the point of destruction. In her dying breath, she watched the DOOM Slayer approach her with the Slayer Crucible hilt in his grip.
"You have destroyed all that I was meant to rule, and all just to protect them… mere servants to our beliefs!" the Khan Maykr winced in a distorted voice as she gazed upon the Slayer in horror and anger with golden eyes. "You… have broken the holy seal of Urdak! Your transgressions here will jeopardize all of creation…" Before she powered down, she saw the tiny dog that she once thought of as a mere laughingstock run out of the Celestial Gate activation facility towards the Slayer.
"Heh heh… as for the creature you call a friend… where she comes from, she is special," the Khan Maykr continued, pointing her finger at Isabelle and focusing all she had left to say to her. "Oh yes… by the way she fought, she has a power unlike any other. And there are far more just like her… the ones she's trying to get back to. I… was just too blind to see it… Like the dog, they all have a power that exceeds even my own abilities, but it won't awaken to its true potential just yet. I have heard the tales of this universe's creation… how the last remnant… of the Goddess of Insanity… is building up an army of his own. From now on… everything you encounter, everything you have ever done, every maniacal jester who stands in your way… it will be all according to his plan…" The angelic being rolled over onto her back, weakly laughing her last breath as she gave up her life. The orb emerged from her chest, shooting straight into the sky and exploring in a cloud of golden dust.
"Nooooooooooooo!" an ominous, masculine voice echoed throughout Urdak. It was clearly mysterious and unknown to Isabelle, and not just the voice. It was what the Khan Maykr said in her dying breath. What did she mean of the "building an army" part? What did it mean that everything they did was leading up to his moment? Who was the guy the Khan Maykr was talking about? So many questions buzzed in Isabelle's mind that just the word jester stuck to her mind like cotton candy. But the Slayer didn't really care for that as he grabbed a confused Isabelle and ran straight ahead into a beacon from the Celestial Gates back to Earth to defeat the Icon of Sin once and for all.
Thunder roared across the skies of Earth upon the arrival of the Icon of Sin, his roar deafening the ruined city and bringing forth an onslaught of demons upon the destruction of the skyscrapers. Within the hurricane, he sensed the presence of the DOOM Slayer with Crucible in hand. The Icon of Sin crawled up the building where the Slayer and Isabelle teleported onto. The skyscraper rumbled as the titanic demon finished climbing, snarling at the human soldier and his canine companion.
"Now is the time two Titans meet… as it was written," Dr. Hayden stated. "Attack every part of its armor and leave it exposed for the Crucible's kill." The Icon of Sin bellowed as he smashed through the building, attempting to crush the Slayer and Isabelle.
The dog cocked her Unmaykr and rapidly fired at the Icon of Sin's hand. The Slayer pulled out his Crucible, slashing through whatever type of demon tried to attack him. A pentagram appeared on the Icon of Sin's head, summoning a barrage of fireballs at Isabelle as she quickly jumped out of the way. More demons spawned in front of her, but her primal instincts took over as she instantly gunned them down. The Slayer fired his BFG-10000 at the Titan's head, shattering the armor instantly and exposing the red skin underneath. Shortly after, Isabelle continued shooting her Unmaykr at the other parts of the colossal demon's armor while the Slayer cleared the place full of the monsters that tried to kill them.
The fight was long and tortuous, involving the Slayer attacking a few demons to get the ammo necessary to assist Isabelle in gunning the armor down, and vice versa. The parts covering the chest, arms, and hands were. With the last piece of armor destroyed at the stomach, the naked Icon of Sin marched off to another building where he could resume his onslaught.
"Quickly. With its armor fully destroyed, the body is now exposed," Dr. Hayden explained, with a blue portal opening up next to the Slayer and Isabelle. "Take the portal and finish the fight."
"Let's get this guy until your world is saved!" Isabelle shouted, filling up her Unmaykr with fuel before she ran in with the DOOM Slayer. The two arrived at another building where the Icon of Sin confronted them once more. Jets of flames emerged from the Titan's hands, burning through the open windows. The Slayer pulled out the BFG-10000 and fired, hitting the hand and revealing muscles underneath the thick skin. Isabelle was busy slaughtering the tyrants and whiplashes that threatened to hunt down the Slayer, unaware of what Isabelle can do.
Deafening roars echoed across the city once the Slayer pulled out a special plasma minigun and gunned down some more of the flesh at the right side of the chest. Isabelle made sure she avoided the Icon of Sin as a whole while he set his eyes on the Slayer without knowing his left hand was being gunned down by a puppy wielding an angelic weapon.
The fight seemed to go on longer than anticipated, for it was a long struggle to just get almost all the flesh off the Icon of Sin while having to deal with the most powerful demons Hell had to offer. Isabelle fired her gun straight at the head, waiting patiently for the Slayer to get ready to deal the finishing blow with his Crucible. Hellfire began to rain down from high above, and the Marauders were closing in on the two. Isabelle was suddenly hit by a powerful punch from the Icon of Sin, whose mighty power was enough to shake the skyscraper in general. Three Marauders were closing in on the Slayer, and as he attacked two with his Crucible the third one swung his axe and knocked it out of the Slayer's hand. The legendary weapon was knocked off the skyscraper, falling far from the fight until the Slayer Crucible was gone… forever.
Isabelle quickly got up after the collision just in time to see the Slayer utterly defeated. It took her a few seconds worth of time to recognize that the Slayer lost an important item to the mission. She saw a sign of vulnerability within him, letting her know not everyone is a god. The Slayer cocked his BFG-10000, shooting the Marauder in the head. He looked up at the sky to see a large hand from the Icon of Sin about to crush him. He knew he had a good run after all these years. The titanic creature then flinched upon its flesh being blown off its face. The DOOM Slayer quickly observed the tiny dog firing the Unmaykr at the Icon of Sin, looking at the human soldier with determination in her eyes.
"You don't have to do this alone," Isabelle explained, reaching into her pockets to pull out the second Crucible taken from the ARC compound earlier. "Now rip and tear until it's done!" The DOOM Slayer caught the second Crucible, activating the blade and rushing forward with the weapon towards the Icon of Sin. The massive demon gave out a roar of defeat as the Slayer jumped high into the air and stabbed the Icon of Sin in the now-exposed brain. He buried the weapon deep within the nerve organ, snapping off the hilt with enough force until just the blade was embedded. The human soldier jumped off the Titan's head, landing back onto the desolated skyscraper next to Isabelle as they both watched the Icon of Sin give out one final roar. Electricity struck all throughout the demon's body, its exposed body of bleeding flesh and bone pulsing with blue veins as its head crashed down on the skyscraper. The Icon of Sin, having fallen at the hands of a mortal and his animal companion, fell deep into the abyss of the city down below.
The Slayer looked back at Isabelle, who was sitting down on the concrete floor with a look of satisfaction and exhaustion on her tired face. He then discovered that Isabelle was slowly glowing blue, her body starting to become brighter by the second.
"Looks like I'm gonna be going now," Isabelle sighed, watching as the skies cleared above. "Despite how miserable this place looks, I gotta say: I had a REALLY fun time here. Best vacation I've ever gotten. But in all honesty, I'm gonna miss you. I hope we can meet again in the future." The Slayer knelt down in front of her, rubbing her head and making her smile. She returned the kind act with a hug around his waist, much to the Slayer's surprise.
"Thanks for the fun times… Doomguy," Isabelle finished with a smile in her heart, vanishing in a bright flash of blue before disappearing from the Slayer's life.
Within the main hall of the castle located in Arcus, the same white-haired Dante walked in on the building once the sun went down. He gazed at the place, admiring the architecture and scenery it had to offer. Dante spotted the door to the garden, and he quickly opened it and stepped outside.
"Oh my… this place looks beautiful," Dante sighed, breathing in the fresh air most prominent in the garden. "Just look at the islands and… Hey, what are you guys doing up there?" The Devil Hunter had just caught eyes of a red light upon the disabled platform, and he looked up to see the Villager and the Koopalings on the roof.
"Apparently, Isabelle disappeared on one of those platforms, and we're kinda speeding up time here during the blood moon," Wendy answered as loud as he could. "Tell us if anything's working!" Dante looked back on the same platform bathed in the redirected light, only to find out it was slowly ascending into the air with a glowing-blue vortex in it.
"Something's happening!" Dante answered. "Keep that little flashlight thingamajig on the platform!" The blue light from the vortex brightened, and soon enough the platform descended onto the island. Isabelle was sitting on the platform, looking completely different than how she first left. Her hair bun was a complete mess, and so were her clothes. She smelled of dried blood and dirt, with dark circles hidden below her eyes as a sign of fatigue and exhaustion.
"Well, hello," Dante said. "How was your day? Okay, guys! Your dog's back!"
"Who? Isabelle?" Bowser Jr. called out. "The Villager's on his phone right now, and he's texting Mega Man, Simon, and Pit about what just happened. Just a little heads up!"
"Evening… Dante," Isabelle spoke, trying to stand up.
"Where have you been all day?" Dante asked. "You've been gone without ever telling anybody, and… let me guess: you were fighting demons, weren't you?"
"How could you tell?" Isabelle questioned.
"I spent my whole life knowing demon blood just from the smell," Dante answered. "And dammit: I wanted to go to that world. Any details?"
"Something something Khan Maykr, Hell Priests, Dr. Samuel Hayden… and there's this guy I became BFFs with. They call him the DOOM Slayer."
"Sounds really interesting," Dante chuckled, stepping aside as Isabelle walked past him. "Mind taking me there sometime?"
"Maybe someday," Isabelle replied. "Right now, I gotta have a nice long bath and sleep. That's all that matters tonight."
A portal about to take the Slayer back to his ship opened, and the Slayer was walking towards it. He knew he did a good job at saving the world, and he was ready to disappear once again. As he walked away, he heard the voice of the mythical King Novik speak to him.
...and you will be their savior, your strength will be their shield, and your will… their sword. You remain… unbroken… for your fight… is eternal.
