Samus felt a hard impact in her side, waking her up from the nap she didn't realize she was taking. As she opened her eyes, she saw the Slayer had elbowed her, and could see why, as demons began to materialize on the train they were on, which was now inside a tunnel. Oh goodie, she thought as she inhaled a stimulant shot via the gas tubes in her helmet, fully waking her up and energizing her for battle. Fighting on a moving train. Haven't done that before. And after a nap! I didn't even realize I had fallen asleep in the first place. The past few hours...have been quite exhausting. It makes me wonder how much longer THIS mission goes. What else am I in for?

After killing the mancubus and handful of fodder demons, they went to the front of the train, where the Slayer punched a coupling, decoupling the forward rocket-propelled car from the rest, causing it to surge forward.

"The Hell Priest's position is stable now, and his Guardian is somewhere in the facility ahead," VEGA told them as the car approached a new facility. When they arrived, there was an infernal welcoming committee waiting to greet them. Once dealt with, Samus took a moment to look around at the strange machinery, much of which seemed to serve no purpose, though some looked like it was just there as a navigational challenge. She did have to admit the metallic skull was a nice touch, complete with glowing eyes and the fire that came forth now and then. She thought it was a wasted opportunity, that it truly didn't LOOK like it was fire breath, as it was down and not out.

After some platforming, the Slayer came to another drone, taking a micro missile attachment for his heavy cannon. ADAM then scanned the upgrade, attempting to replicate it, and came up with a missile storm upgrade, allowing Samus to fire a burst of missiles all at once. Some light backtracking on a higher path took them to another Sentinel Ghost with a token. Continuing forward from the train again led them to the first real arena of the new area, with ADAM informing her they had crossed from the Cultist Base, to the Doom Hunter Base.

As the pair split to battle demons in this arena, a new monster showed up, one that a quick scan on Samus's part named as a Pinky. A few quick Morph Ball rolls helped evade this brute as it charged at her, with ADAM pointing out the weak tail. Samus was glad it had no ranged attacks. In some ways, it made her think of a bull, with both her and Slayer having to dodge to evade its charge. Great, so Hell's got pink bulls now. Just a shade darker, and they'll have wings, she thought to herself with an inward laugh.

It took a while, but finally these demons were destroyed, with doors opening to stairs beyond. The Slayer made a quick detour through a vent, collecting a Sentinel Battery. A short trip up the stairs took them to a window overlooking another room, and a lore page about Doom Hunter Base. Samus read it quickly, eyes widening about the Agaddon Hunters. So first off, were these things on OUR Earth? And they REVIVED some of these things? Not just revived, but made them worse? She looked towards the Slayer, who was checking his weapons. All to kill you. I mean...I've seen Ridley resurrected, cloned, cybernetically enhanced, and beyond. But I've never had dinosaurs resurrected to kill me. Nor any who follow me, not that I've ever had. They must REALLY hate you. It makes me wonder what MY reputation will be like after this.

A trip through a nearby teleporter brought them to a hallway, with a giant hologram appearing before them, ADAM informing her that according to VEGA, this was their target, Deag Ranak. "It was not easy to find an opponent worthy of the Slayer, but I think you will be impressed. And your companion will be done away with in short order," he sneered at the pair, turning away as the hologram faded. Passing through another large doorway gave them a hint at what he meant. Another hologram showed a platform, that Samus figured had to hover as there was no wheels nor legs, sporting some guns. A torso on top bore a double chainsaw for one arm, and a rocket launcher held by the other. Meanwhile the head sported a pair of horns, and a single cybernetic eye. The pair paused to look at it, Samus wondering if it was 1:1 accurate, and after looking their fill, went to the nearby automap station.

A short hallway led outside, with some drones holding up what looked like coffins made of stone. The Slayer held up his fist, then jumped and dashed towards the first, then the second, then onto a low platform Samus couldn't see. And it didn't take long to understand why he wanted to go first, as each drone fell a little after the Slayer was on the coffin, soon returning to its regular height. Samus swallowed as she took her turn, wishing she could just take a Spider Ball Track instead, or that the Screw Attack could corner. A quick trip up another wall took the pair to the upper platform, where a couple of cacodemons waited for their explosive dinners and eye exams. Another door opened to allow a pinky to charge at them, with a couple of zombies to back it up. A hallway took them past some windows overlooking more rooms, and to another puzzle with stone coffins at its end, the Slayer once again pointing out where the coffins were.

After landing on a small platform, there was another quick trip up some walls took them to another small arena. Nothing major, just a revenant, zombies, and a new demon her scan visor identified as a carcass, which liked to project shields from far away. A quick detour after that earned the Slayer a toy of the lost soul, and more platform rides led them to a lore page. For Samus, learning about the Hell Priest they were about to kill didn't really give any new insights, though she figured that the other person mentioned within, Olivia Pierce, must have been important. Nearby was some machinery she actually understood, building the bottom half of the Doom Hunters. Hey, it's Build-a-BEAR Workshop, not Build-a-Boss.

After picking up a rune, the pair made their way through another platforming puzzle with spikes and a cylindrical wall that needed to be shot to drop down. They walked through a door to another combat arena, complete with traps. Samus used a missile storm on the mancubus within while the Slayer messed around with a hell knight. Past that, off in the distance were a mancubus and revenant infighting on the other side of a pit that would require careful platforming with more stone coffins to cross, not to mention fire traps. Samus was NOT eager to cross this gap with the demons on the other side, Screw Attack or no, instead arming her missiles and taking aim. The Slayer looked at her and nodded, pulling out his own rocket launcher. He's taking an idea from me? Hey, teamwork! At least until Samus noticed only subtle movements from the end of the rocket launcher, and the Slayer taking it off his shoulder to glare at it.

"It seems his rocket launcher cannot lock on to the demons. They're out of range," ADAM told her, which made her think that the range of said lock on was clearly needed improvement. What he did instead was pull out his heavy cannon, choosing to snipe weak points. Samus followed it up with her own missiles, with the mancubus soon dying. After crossing the gap, Samus getting a little singed on one of the jets of fire on the way, they dealt with a couple of carcasses, along with more floor traps. The Slayer then pushed in a skull switch, causing machines to open another of those stone coffins up, revealing the body of a Doom Hunter to be, from about the ribcage up. So we actually get to see ALL the steps of this thing's creation? Maybe we can see weaknesses as it's built.

A force field deactivated, leading to another platforming challenge that took them up, and even across an electrified floor in one section. Past another skull switch was another wall that took them up to another floppy disk, then they dropped down to a small basement of sorts with another Sentinel Ghost. Samus also couldn't help but notice the stone coffins scattered around, one open and empty. Her stomach sank as she realized a possibility. Don't tell me...is this place building MULTPLE of these things? How many will we have to fight? I thought it was just the one! After the token, they took a portal that led them back to where they had found the floppy disk.

The Slayer gave the hand signal to wait again, and went off on his own to another wall Samus saw, soon vanishing from sight. Before long though, he had arrived back again, showing off another collectible he had found, this time a vinyl record. Ah, the dichotomy. He's got high tech, some of which is better than anything the Federation has, and yet he likes to collect, and I'm sure listen to, old vinyl records. Not that that's the only case where old meets new with him. Continuing on, there were more demons to deal with, including a cacodemon and arachnotron in the distance. After dealing with those two and their friends, another prompt showed up in their HUD to collect a red keycard.

A quick bit of jumping later, and they arrived at another Sentinel Crystal, the Slayer opting for more ammo. Samus alo watched as her max missiles went up, breathing a small sigh of relief upon having more ammo to work with. A trip through a vent took them up to a few zombies and a Sentinel Battery, with the red keycard they needed close by as well. Collecting it caused a grate to open, allowing easy access back to where they needed the keycard.

"Was it not the Slayer who brought the demons to us?" A hologram of the Hell Priest asked upon appearing before them. "The Khan Maykr has you to thank for the gift of Argent Energy. It is you who are responsible for your people's suffering," he taunted before disappearing. Right or no, there is NO WAY he's at fault for anything. I feel it's more likely Hell just follows him everywhere. It made her think of how often she's run into Space Pirates, regardless of the mission they were on. They bred like cockroaches, and were as prevalent around the galaxy as cockroaches might be if they could travel through space. Hell seemed to follow similar rules, from what little she could gather, except whereas Space Pirates were a threat now and then, (though she would never forgive nor forget about her home on K2L), they never posed the threat level Hell seemed to.

Shoving her thoughts to the side, past the door they needed the keycard for, waited a pinky that got blood punched, along with some zombies, a hell knight, and a carcass. A window overlooked another arena, and they went up a ramp, the Slayer heading right for another token for his suit. Left, there was another door, that opened up to reveal a prowler, which soon got its head and spine ripped out, Samus thinking FATALITY as it reminded her exactly of one of the classics. After a room with what would be skull torches, except they were all futuristic metal, was a series of small challenges starring some zombies, a hell knight, and a whiplash, with doors opening up each time. Past all that, a giant metal skull lowered, then raised, showing the Doom Hunter body suspended in what looked like blood, before it got raised too. Around the room were more tubes, clear and carrying blood from what Samus could see.

Up ahead in the distance, a Doom Hunter torso had its back to them, seemingly armed with its cybernetics now. But the way was soon blocked, forcing them to drop down. Samus noticed a locked door behind them, as they made their way across a gap and into a vent. Climbing a wall inside took them near some machine that made Samus nervous to be around, yet the Slayer ignored it and climbed up to another ledge, punching open another grating. Another puzzle with stone coffins over a pit awaited them, and after climbing on the other side, they were on a narrow ledge that wrapped around the building they were in, with the worst part being the fact the wall next to them was electrified. And of course there's some demons thrown in for fun, why wouldn't there be? Hell will take any chance it can to fuck us over. The Slayer followed the narrow path, wrapping around to another Token, then Samus shot a green switch for a platform to extend, allowing passage across back.

Now they could get a frontal view of the Doom Hunter's body, mostly complete, but not quite, though with some final touches added as they approached. One thing Samus noticed was missing was how while it was armed with the double chainsaw left arm, the chains themselves were absent. Some more jumping back to a ledge they were at previously, a door opened up, annoying Samus and causing her to wonder what the point of some of the previous challenges were. Inside there was a lore page about the Doom Hunters, which Samus read quickly, eager to learn as much as she could before the final battle. The page didn't really tell her much, but the picture that came with it did.

Oh, so you're packing an energy shield to go with all that, huh? A shield weak to plasma, and it seems your lower half is weak once so, though heavily armed. The Slayer then shot another switch, which lowered a ramp to a secret area from which he collected a toy hell knight. Another door opened to a ramp further down, with the Hell Priest greeting them with "Welcome Slayer and Hunter," with no hologram appearing this time. They went through a few doors, with Samus steeling herself for a serious fight the further in they went.

The Slayer paused before the last door, glancing at Samus, raising a slow thumbs up. Samus understood what he was wordlessly asking, and gave her own thumbs up, and as the Slayer switched to his plasma rifle, Samus bumped it with her own arm cannon. The Slayer nodded, bumping his weapon back as he pushed a button on the door, causing it to open.

They had reached the arena they had seen earlier, Deag Ranak speaking to them again. "I thought that you would appreciate the Sentry I chose – The great Agaddon Hunters from the Telos Realm," he told them as the center rose, containing the Doom Hunter torso, with the lower half underneath, but the two not yet connected. "Though long thought to be extinct – created to hunt only the Slayer and his Night Sentinels during the Unholy Crusades," he continued, as machinery united the halves, and the beast began to activate. "Some improvements on their design have been made. Enjoy what is undoubtedly my finest work," the Hell Priest finishes as the unholy abomination continued to wake up and activate, Samus realizing that it didn't need physical chains for its chainsaw, it had energy chains instead, as it disconnected, and looked at them. "Slayer identified," it stated simply in a robotic voice as it looked at the Slayer, followed by "Hunter identified," as it looked at Samus, both of them taking positions to fight it.

It wasn't that hard to get its shields down, and its lower half destroyed. "CRITICAL DAMAGE," it alerted as the upper half disconnected, floating around the arena without its base. "Useless machine! Attack!" the Hell Priest commanded, as more demons spawned in. Though the demons were tougher now, between the pair of them the Doom Hunter soon was ready to be Glory Killed, the Slayer doing so by chopping into its skull with the Doom Blade. Samus looked around, ready to finish off the remaining demons, but found none, only a hole in the center of the arena, which caused her stomach to sink. Let me guess, there's another one down there? She asked rhetorically in her mind, as she jumped down the hole, the Slayer soon following her.

"We are not done yet," Ranak sneered as Samus's fears were proven true. Doubly so, as this time two of the beasts spawned in. Oh fuck off Ranak. She pointed at one, then herself, and the Slayer nodded, switching to his plasma rifle as he pursued the other one.

Maybe they were just that skilled. Maybe the Doom Hunters weren't as tough as they looked. But it wasn't long before both of them had their respective Hunters dead. Samus finished hers by shoving her arm cannon down its throat and firing a point blank super missile, dashing out of the way before it could explode. Though it did cover her with blood and viscera as it blew up from the inside, though it soon faded away into Argent Energy she absorbed. That's almost too bad. I was slightly enjoying the feeling of it being all over me. She also noticed the Slayer collecting some blue coin that resembled the Praetor Tokens he had been collecting off of his.

It actually scared her a little, that she liked that. What kind of monster was she becoming? Was this the kind of monster HE was, deep down? Surely he isn't. Not to his core at least. Even if he actually DOES enjoy the feeling of bathing in the blood of demons...assuming I'm correct about that photo, they killed his family. Samus then couldn't help but imagine herself in his position, for the Space Pirates. Sure, now, she was always eager to fight them whenever they showed up. But she felt that if she had the Slayer's mentality, she would've hunted them ALL down, enjoyed their blood on her armor, and even (her gut was telling her this was true for the Slayer and some demons he killed) drinking their blood, as well as eating them. If the Slayer was in her position, she was SURE that's what would've happened. Their homeworld would likely look like the Galactic Empire had decided they were a problem worthy of parking the Death Star in orbit. She realized it was a fundamental difference between them. Samus would kill Space Pirates wherever they made an appearance. Doom Slayer would've scoured the galaxy for them. Samus would keep their numbers in check, while the Slayer would drive them to extinction.

They had found the Hell Priest, in person this time, cowering in fear and stammering. "Th...the...the...Beast...does he...hehe...not seek enhanced power? Gifts to aid him in his...noble conquest...perhaps in return for my-" He got out, clutching his staff in fear as the Slayer got closer, his pleas interrupted by the Slayer giving him a backhanded decapitation via Doom Blade, tossing the blue coin from earlier onto his corpse, the coin soon fading away. So what, pay the toll to kill him? She mentally asked, as a portal opened, and the pair heading through back to the FOD. Argent flowed into them from the Priest before they could do so however, and ADAM alerted her that her Blood Counter was more powerful, and Samus figured that the Slayer's Blood Punch got a similar effect. Before they entered the portal, the Slayer bumped his shotgun against Samus's arm cannon, but high this time, a bit like a high five. One Hell Priest down! I don't know how many more to go, but I'm ready. I'm eager to see what's next after this.