Chapter 1: A New Frienemy
It is now 2170, six years after he was entombed, after his final fight. He thought his journey was at an end; after all, where do you go after killing God? Before being entombed, he felt some things for the first time in countless millenia: fear, pain, confusion. The Slayer had killed a twin, or brother, essentially, and a part of himself with it. And so it seemed his journey had ended, and he would rest, until needed again.
He was called the "Doom Slayer", after being enhanced in the "Divinity Machine", so many aeons ago. This was a machine built by the Maykrs (angelic, though corrupted beings) in Argent D'Nur. This was a divine, human-like world far from Earth.
This transformed him from merely "Doom Guy" into part man and part God. He became indispensable to Argent D'Nur. He fought demons invading from Hell for billions of years, alongside Argent D'Nur warriors called the Night Sentinels, enabled by this divine power. This war led to the discovery of "argent energy", a mystical force emanating from Hell which could sustain a world, or destroy it.
Eventually, some among these Night Sentinels discovered the true source of this "argent energy": condemned souls in Hell were processed into this, and slaves from their own world were building towers to start transporting this energy. They didn't know it at the time, but the Maykr leader, the Khan Maykr, had commissioned the building of these towers to transport this energy to her own world.
Horrified, some of the Night Sentinels joined with the Khan Maykr in a civil war against their leader, King Novik, since he would not listen and stop use of argent energy. In truth, the Khan Maykr had no further use for Argent D'Nur. Argent D'Nur fell, and the Night Sentinels who had sided with the Khan Maykr were slain and resurrected as Marauders, powerful horned demons resembling medieval knights with shields and axes.
The Doom Slayer survived, and would come to save the Earth itself from being consumed fully by Hell's armies. This included the slaying of this Khan Maykr, which exposed her true corrupted form. While on the outside she appeared beautiful like a classical angel, she was actually demonic in appearance underneath a cybernetic, humanoid shell.
Saving Earth culminated in destroying the "Icon of Sin", a giant demonic monstrosity made from the soul of The Betrayer's son. "The Betrayer" was so-named because as a commander of Argent D'Nur, he abandoned the Sentinels under his command while in Hell, aiding in Hell's conquest of his world. He did this because he would do anything to resurrect his dead son, and Hell promised. Hell only granted his wish in this grotesque way, so he aided the Doom Slayer in putting his son to rest, as it should have been.
It was after this victory that Doom Slayer found his apparent final foe: Davoth, or the Dark One, or "God". He created our world, Argent D'Nur, the Maykrs, everything. However, Davoth had been betrayed by the Maykrs shortly after their creation and trapped him in his own city Immora, within the first world, Jekkad, now known as Hell. They betrayed Davoth because while they fulfilled his mission for them-finding the secret to true immortality-they feared he would misuse it, or end all life anyway. With Davoth trapped, the Maykrs used the demons for their own purposes, and harvested argent.
The removal of both the Khan Maykr and the Icon of Sin would now leave Davoth as a threat, and the Slayer couldn't leave this threat behind. He only knew he was the leader of Hell, but would discover his true power during this fight. He still destroyed him though, hoping to end his fight for good.
After Davoth's death, all demons vanished from Earth because only he controlled access at that time. But after finally killing him, Doom Slayer began to feel confused as his unnatural strength left him. He stumbled forward and felt fear that death would actually take him. This was because it was a tiny piece of Davoth that made him so powerful and immortal, implated by that "Divinity Machine". That was gone now.
It would not take him, however. Maykr priests transported him back to Ingmore Sanctum, seated on a mountaintop under their control. This was high above the Blood Swamps, where Hell-bound souls were dumped if they could not be used to harvest argent energy. There, they sealed him into his sarcophagus. And here he would wait, kept alive by argent engergy. This was the same energy keeping the Maykr world alive.
He would be needed again, after a relatively short time. Six years later, his sarcophagus would find itself on the Arc Carrier, a friendly location operated by the UAC. His coffin opened, and he saw one of the (very few) faces familiar to him. It was Intern Guy, a UAC employee who had not been scared of him previously, and did his best to be helpful. He genuinely liked the Slayer, as a colleague of sorts. There were other UAC people in the background, though they dare not act in such a casual way within punching distance.
"Hello old friend, if I can call you that. I haven't seen you in a short eternity."
The Slayer took a moment to adjust to this new environment. "..."
"I'm going to guess you're wondering why we brought you here, and why you're awake now. You're probably also wondering about your physical state, since you killed Davoth.
"..."
"I'll take that as a Yes. So basically, it's been six years, and the Earth is still around. And so are the demons, even though they're stuck in Hell. But that may have caused the issue we have now." He walked over to a computer display, with the Slayer pulling himself out and following him. His vision focused, though his body still felt stiff.
Intern Guy explained the situation as best he knew, "So basically, remember how the Divinity Machine gave you abilities that you didn't have before? The same thing happened again, but this time between you and... one of them. One of the demons, a Revenant."
Revenants are tall humanoid demons, over 10 feet tall, resembling skeletons with flesh tightly stretched over parts of it. Mechanical parts are also attached, seemingly growing out of the flesh or bolted on.
Intern Guy continued, "You transferred your consciousness into that thing briefly while at their Cultist Base in the Arctic, but that was enough to impart something to it. Demons have been capable of rudimentary intelligence, but this one gained something more. Something like humanity, or logic, and an ability to speak. It's as if it regained its soul after it was drained initially. Killing Davoth left a power vacuum in Hell, and while the Maykrs have been content with containment, this particular Revenant has tried to take over. Some demons like the idea, others don't. It's... a civil war, pretty much. And it could be our chance to stop their invasions, since he has regained something resembling his soul."
The Slayer's grimace conveyed confusion, and then thoughtfulness. He barely remembered this interaction, which was only for a few moments. After the Revenant gave him the Super Shotgun, the Slayer had the option of killing this demon, but didn't. He had no idea, in that moment, the result of this action.
Intern Guy concluded this point for now, "We haven't spoken to this Revenant yet, which feels funny to say, but we certainly can later on. It must feel ironic for you to possibly ally with this thing. However, rivals or even hated enemies can certainly do so, if they have some common purpose. And we can benefit."
"..."
"I fully agree, it might take some time to think over, but it might be a good idea to reach out. Now for your body." Intern Guy stood beside him. "You are just a mortal now, once again. It's like in this one superhero movie I saw, where the guy got in a fight with just a regular man and actually bled, after his powers were removed. But anyway, you still have the experience, and argent augmentation. We should get you to sick bay, just to check on things."
The two went to have this check done, and aside from minor dehydration, the Slayer appeared fine. "Mentally" was a different matter. "Civil war"? How would this be done? And maybe more existential, if it worked, what purpose or identity would the Slayer have afterward?