Taras Nabad, the ancient capital of Argent D'nur. Long ruined and abandoned after the steady downfall of the Argenta following the first invasion. It just so happened to be one of the few places the Doom Slayer would habitually visit - partly as a training ground, as demons seemed to perpetually lurk the dark corners of this husk of a city - but also as a change of atmosphere.

Misplaced bounty hunter Samus Aran accompanied the Slayer on today's excursion. It gave her an excuse to gather more data on the universe she was stuck in; Hayden provided most of what she needed to know regarding Earth, which was currently rebuilding from ruin. Better to not further complicate the situation there.

Even in its dilapidated state, the landscape of Taras Nabad was still a sight to behold. The grass still grew, and the water still flowed. "Still teeming with life, though the city's been abandoned for eons," she mused over the comlink. She and the Slayer travelled at a medium pace through the city, rounding street corners and passing through market districts none had in ages.

"The flora is thriving and the water is clearing up...life could return here one day."

"Doubt it," the Slayer grunted, swinging off of a bar and climbing atop a watchtower that overlooked an empty city square on one side, and the ever persisting wilderness on the other. Samus was right behind him, grappling off the bar and joining him. For what was essentially the skeleton of a once-prosperous land, the view was admittedly mesmerizing. The land itself would always carry the fight of the Sentinels, even if it were the last thing to do so.

"That arena from the Ripatorium the other day...it's based off of this place, right?" she asked, recognizing the greenery and coursing rivers. Same style of architecture.

"Close,' the Slayer murmured. "Same world."

"Your home," Samus sighed.

"Once."

The Hunter had taken a seat at the edge of the tower, and eventually convinced the Slayer to join her. The only ambience was the howling wind around them, and the distant, rushing waters below. Looking the armored man over as he sat down next to her, she couldn't help but chuckle to herself. He turned his head to look at her briefly, curious of what riled her.

"It's nothing, just...I guess the idea of getting a chance to sit down and breath never meshed right with the whole 'knight in shining armor' look to me," she sighed. "Yet...here we are."

"The armor," the Slayer growled, looking off into the distance. "Just dressing. Still the same as the one underneath."

Samus looked over at the man. She almost felt bad for making him speak. His words were awkward and seemed to have to be coughed out almost. But she got a sense he hadn't ever had the chance, or felt any reason to speak his mind. She wondered what myriad thoughts swam in his consciousness. Maybe she didn't want to know.

"Is it better that way, though?" Samus asked. "In the suit, you're seen differently. There are expectations and threats to face. It protects the person inside from all of that."

"The one inside...can handle the same burdens," the Slayer insisted, looking at her. "Armor'd be worthless otherwise. Same weight. Same past."

He coughed then, shaking his head and looking back over the ruin.

It only made sense, Samus thought. Her own suit was a part of her. If she wasn't functioning...the armor wouldn't either. It was literal in her case, but she could relate."It's...nice having someone to bounce this kinda stuff off of," she said. The Slayer didn't respond, though his eyes did dart to look at her momentarily.

"Foreign concept," the Slayer mused.

"What about Dr. Hayden?" Samus asked, getting her answer when the man snorted.

"Hard to read. Play it safe," he responded, looking at her again. "You...different," he observed, chuckling slightly as he got up to start moving again. "Not that hard to read."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Samus asked, only half joking as she got up with him. The Slayer might have smiled under that helmet, looking back at her before jumping off the tower and sliding down its side. "Oh, I hope you don't think you're getting away that easily," Samus playfully threatened, jumping her thrusters and giving chase after him. He surprised her, kicking off the watchtower with enough force to lean it backward, accelerating the Hunter's slide down, taunting her. "Alright, you're on, Doom Slayer," the Hunter jived.

She kicked off the tower with a force to match his own, knocking it over the rest of the way. It collapsed in an explosion of dust and weathered stone, the Hunter rocketing forth from the rubble after the green beast that challenged her.

The same flagpoles the Slayer would vault off of Samus would swing from, matching his aerial dashes with the thrusters from her own suit. He'd break through weaker walls leaving rubble in his wake, and the Hunter would swing around to the other side, keeping her momentum all the same. As the course brought them through the ruins of a giant canal, stray demons left behind from invasions past would appear before them, proving incidental in the grand matter of their chase.

A Cacodemon rose from below a pit the Slayer leaped over, its mouth agape as it lunged above, believing it had gotten the jump on its prey. Yet the only thing it feasted on was a live grenade from the Slayer's Equipment Launcher, staggering the demon mid-air as it recovered from its volatile meal. It reopened its eye to see Samus somersaulting towards it, amber energy gathering around her as she became a saw blade that split the demon in two. The Hunter paid it no mind as she hit the ground running without impediment.

Several more rose from the toxic depths around them, grouping together as they fired electromagnetic psionic bile at the passersby. The Slayer launched an Ice Bomb that froze the floating demons together, and a ballistic Super Missile from the Hunter's cannon annihilated the predators in cathartic fashion. A jump pad once intended as a means of maintenance in the area served the Slayer in catapulting himself through the bridge overhead, Samus right on his heels.

The bridge was mostly intact compared to most of the debris they'd run through - a long, straight shot into the side of a castle turret before them. A patrolling group of demons populated the bridge towards the end of it, Hell Knights and Mancubi leading fodder on either end. The Slayer slowed down somewhat, the bigger ones requiring some degree of finesse to cut down. The Hunter sped up behind him through. She sprinted in a straight line, not bothering to raise her cannon or anything. An aurora of colors flared around her as her momentum rose at an alarming rate, like a fighter jet taking off. She blitzed past the Doom Slayer, shooting across the bridge like a star. The demons before her became clouds of red mist around her, torn apart by the overwhelming speed and power the Varia Suit put forth.

Not a single one remained in her wake, and Samus Aran prepared for the victory launch. She brought all of that momentum to a screeching halt at an instant, locking down in a kneeling position. The sudden transfer of force would have shattered any normal human's skeleton, but instead, Samus seemed to channel all of that stored momentum as power. Underneath her boots the bridge began to crack. Then crumble. Then erupt with a thunderous crash as she lept from it with incomprehensible force toward the turret. But aside from the bridge collapsing beneath her, there was another sound. A loud thunk, something having attached to the back of her suit. She heard a chain rattling rapidly, and then next to her, sure enough, was the Doom Slayer.

Side by side, Samus Aran and the Doom Slayer burst from the other side of the castle turret, hundreds of feet above the ground as they crossed the castle's moat, with nothing but wilderness beneath them. For a brief period of weightlessness, their eyes met. Behind the helmets, behind the armor, and the weapons of mass destruction they had to be...there were still human eyes there. Human eyes that could still revel in sharing moments like these.

Samus went into the Morph Ball before they landed, bouncing a few times before settling in the grass. The Slayer hit the ground with his fist and knees, standing up to watch the Hunter as she got back to her feet.

"We'll...call that a draw, okay?" Samus said, taking her helmet off to get some fresh air.

"Hmph. Sure," the Slayer said, crossing his arms.

"What do you mean, 'sure," Samus questioned, punching his arm as the two turned to walk through a portal back home. "I totally smoked you at the end, there!"

"You ate my dust," the Slayer replied, chuckling lightly.

"Oh, get REAL...!"

. . .

"And now you have seen for yourself. Both of them are here, lady."

"Obviously. And the Doom Slayer's threat level seems to precede its reputation..."

"Do you fear him?"

. . .

"That's a strange question."

"One that will determine how long you expect to live in this world."

"Well do you fear him, tough guy?"

"It would be gravely foolish not to. Your downfall came from a lack of respect for your enemies. To make the same mistake would allow the Hunter to strike you down again. And now, she has allied herself with the Slayer. So I ask instead...do you fear them?"

". . ."

"...In time...I won't. And I trust you to help me reach that goal."

"In that case...let us better ourselves the same way our enemies do. We have all the time in the world."