I do not own Doom or any of its characters.

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Arden sighed as he stared at the ceiling. Beside him, his new wife stirred, curling tighter into his side. Her straight, blonde hair was a mess, but she was still the most beautiful girl he'd ever met. At twenty-seven, the same age as him, she didn't look a day over twenty. He smiled down at her as her cerulean gaze turned up to meet his own emerald eyes, and she returned it, then reached up to kiss him, Arden meeting her in the middle.

"I love waking up like this," she smiled as she pulled away.

"So do I," Arden smiled. "I love you, Emily."

"I love you, too," Emily smiled, then frowned. "Are you scared?"

"Terrified," Arden nodded, brushing his light brown hair to the side out of habit. "I know this guy's a genius and he found a way to mine metal and an energy source from Hell in order to improve technology dozens of times over and all that bullshit, but this is..." He shook his head. "I mean, cybernetic modification would be scary enough, but instead they went a step further and are planning to try and genetically modify me into being half demon. I can't...I won't even be a human, anymore."

"Hey," Emily said, sitting up. "You will still be exactly who you've always been, and I will always be here for you."

Arden sighed, curling around her. She was too good for him. Even knowing what was about to happen to him, what he was about to become against his will, still she loved him and intended to stay with him. She was a saint.

They both lay there, wide awake, for hours before it was finally time. They got up, showering together before getting dressed and heading to the lab. As they walked in, Vega, the artificial intelligence that ran most of the systems in the entire facility himself, greeted them and informed them that the head scientist, Samuel Hayden, was waiting for them. Arden's eyes narrowed, but he thanked Vega for the message, walking through the lab with Emily until they reached the observation window overlooking the med lab where Arden would be going through his procedure.

"Arden, Emily, thank you for coming," Hayden said, turning toward them.

Hayden was a ten-foot robot with a black frame, white plating, a pair of tubes on the front of his abdomen that glowed blue, and a vertical, blue light in the front of his face-less head where his body's optics were.

"Well, the one and only time I refused, you had your cybernetically-enhanced soldiers drag me here," Arden said.

"For this procedure in particular, I'm glad that wasn't necessary," Hayden said. "Your body needs to be intact for best results, and my security can be a bit...less than gentle."

"Let's just get this over with," Arden growled.

Hayden nodded, instructing Emily to stay there before leading Arden into the med lab. In place of a normal bed, there was a set of metal plates arranged like a human body with each limb able to be moved while restrained and the section for the head able to be rotated, tilted, and turned as needed. Arden lay down and Hayden strapped him in, each limb having two thick straps and his head having one across his forehead.

Once he was strapped in sufficiently tight, and Hayden had tested that the table's parts moved and the restraints wouldn't slide around on his limbs, Hayden nodded to himself and moved over to a control panel, with which he moved a large machine that reminded Arden of a spider with many, many times more legs, over. All of the dozens of legs were tipped with frighteningly large needles, and each was connected to a temporarily empty tube.

"This will hurt quite a lot," Hayden warned. "The demon blood will break down your body on a molecular level before fusing to your DNA. You will be half human, half demon, and if my calculations are correct, you will be more advanced than even my security's cybernetic enhancements."

"Got something for me to bite down on?" Arden asked.

"Unfortunately, that would be counter-productive," Hayden said. "Your teeth will be softening, so they'd break if I gave you something to bite down on."

Arden sighed, and Hayden took a pair of handles, controlling the needles all at once and stabbing them into Arden. A dozen drove themselves into his scalp, some stopping in his skull and others stabbing completely through it into his brain. Needles stabbed up from below into his back as more, another dozen, stabbed into his torso from above and the sides. Needles stabbed into his arms and legs along the bones and the muscles, and his arteries. Needles punctured every single one of his internal organs, his eyes, his major blood vessels. Several needles even stabbed into him between his legs, making him shriek in pain. And then, a needle stabbed directly into his uvula, and he gagged, then felt his entire body go limp as the demon blood finally entered him through needles. There were no words to describe the experience. The agony wiped away everything. Every once of reality left him, leaving only an existence of agony. He didn't have the presence of consciousness to recognize the concept of time or its passage. He couldn't comprehend what it was to be a person, or understand that his body was spasming violently, screaming, and beginning to liquify. He wasn't aware of the meaning of death, or how close he was to it, or the potential that he had already crossed the threshold.

Then, finally, the pain began to fade, his brain beginning to allow other signals to fire from its synapses. He became aware that he could see, hear, smell. He became aware that he was in pain, and that his body felt like it was made of lead. He became aware of being hungry, and that time existed. He understood that he had been staring, comatose, at the ceiling for a significant amount of it, and that he should probably blink, or move. And as he slowly began to move his body, he became aware of the fact that he wasn't alone. Emily was seated at his side, holding his hand, and as a groan slipped from his throat, she let out a sort of reverse gasp where she exhaled all the air from her lungs at once in relief, then began to laugh and cry at the same time. She kissed him, and he kissed her back tiredly. But as he did, his brain registered one last bit of information. He didn't feel any different.

"What happened?" Arden asked.

"You...You started to melt," Emily cried. "But then, the more of you that melted off, the more of your undamaged body was revealed. It was like there was a second layer outside of your body. And then, once Hayden said it was done, you just...lay there for about five hours."

"Really?" Arden frowned.

"Really," Hayden said, walking over to them. "Congratulations, Arden. The procedure was a success."

"But...I don't feel any different," Arden said.

"No, I don't imagine you would," Hayden agreed. "Your demonic DNA is inactive, as of yet, but we will be activating it tomorrow by exposing you to Argent Energy. Not a dangerous amount, but enough to stimulate the demon portions of your DNA. But for now, it's getting late, and I'd imagine you're rather tired. I recommend heading back to your room and getting rest. If all goes well, tomorrow, it may end up being a very long day."

Arden nodded, and Emily helped him stand before they headed back to their room together.

Arden grit his teeth as he was strapped into the large metal ring, spread-eagled. The ring rose, positioning itself upright, and Hayden reached over to a switch, waited for a moment for the ring to stop moving, then began the flow of Argent Energy. Instantly, Arden screamed as the energy tore through his body. It felt similar to electricity, but so much more painful. He'd been electrocuted by Hayden before, for reasons he didn't understand, but this was worse. And as the Argent energy raced through his body, making him convulse and leaving him unable to scream, he felt the demon blood activate, feeling as though fire roared through his veins before everything vanished.

Flames roared across a sea of corpses. The ground was charred, the sky was the color of blood with thick, dark clouds, monstrous creatures of all manner swarmed across the landscape, most ignoring the flames they passed through. Lava bubbled up from cracks in the ground, sending thick billowing clouds of smoke into the air. All around the burning, corpse-strewn plain, there were mountains adorned with horrifyingly massive skeletons, each more monstrous than the next, and no two alike. All of them were gigantic, but it was a perfect example of the uniqueness of Titans. And then, it was over.

Arden gasped and panted as the Argent energy stopped flowing, staring down at the ground as his body went slack. The ring he was strapped into rotated backward until Arden was lying flat again, and Hayden released him.

"How do you feel?" Hayden asked.

Arden blinked, staring at the ceiling as the scene he'd witnessed returned to his mind. "I think...this was a mistake. Something's...wrong."

"Nonsense," Hayden said dismissively. "No science is ever a mistake. Humanity will never know its limits if there was never anyone who would try new experiments. Whatever concerns you may have, I am confident that this experiment will prove to be very beneficial for humanity. If my theories are correct, you will be immune to all diseases, your physical capabilities will be vastly superior to even the most talented of humans. You will be extraordinary."

"Or I'll be a demon and become a monster that even your elite security can't deal with," Arden countered, standing. "What's next?"

"Squeeze this," Hayden said, offering him a soda can.

Arden sighed, accepting the can and squeezing. Except, something was off. Before he'd even put any significant force into his hand, the can collapsed, soda spraying out of it and soaking both Hayden and Arden, who stared at the crumpled remains of the can.

"How did you rig that?" Arden asked.

"I didn't," Hayden said. "I got it from the soda machine and brought it to you."

"So, then..."

"The procedure worked," Hayden said. "We must test your new capabilities."

Arden nodded, still staring at his hand, which hadn't even been cut by the can.

Arden lifted the bench bar easily, holding it above his chest as steady as a statue, and looked to the ends, both of which bore every single weighted plate they could find. More than a thousand pounds, and it felt nearly weightless for him. He set it back on the rack, and sat up.

"It seems you have exceeded my expectations," Hayden said. "Next we will test your speed."

Arden nodded, and Hayden led him through the facility to a running track three miles long. Then, when Hayden told him to start, he pushed off the floor and took off. Except, at a dead sprint, he flew along the track much faster than he should be able to, having to actually lean into the turn in order to not roll across the floor, though his shoes nearly slipped along the ground before he got going straight again. Once he was upright again, he flew along the next straight section of the track. By the time he had finished, Hayden had calculated his running speed at about forty-five miles per hour at his fastest. After the test of speed, Hayden took Arden to train in several other things, including teaching him how to fight using some of his elite, cybernetically-enhanced security as training dummies. Arden picked up combat quickly, but even after days of training, he still couldn't beat the security troops. Their training mixed with their enhancements and their armor, he couldn't beat them. He did well, but they were better than him. However, finally, Hayden gave him a day off, and Arden spent it lying in bed, holding Emily.

"How'd the tests go?" Emily asked.

"Well, they didn't have enough weight to test my strength accurately, it's just a lot," Arden explained. "And when I ran three miles, I was running about forty-five miles an hour, I have multiple times the endurance from before, and Hayden's agreed to help teach me to fight, so I get to try and fail to beat up those elite security assholes."

Emily smiled. "I see, so you're stronger, faster, and have more stamina, huh?"

Arden's face split into a grin instantly as Emily shifted to lay on top of him. "That's right."

Emily's smile grew slightly. "I seem to remember some of those needles being used to augment certain places we haven't tested yet."

"Well, maybe we should fix that, then," Arden grinned.

Emily grinned as well, and Arden rolled, pressing her into the bed as he kissed her. Emily moaned, grinding against him, and as his hand began to slide down toward her pajama pants, she caught his hand, grinning into the kiss. Arden shared her smile instantly, and quickly stripped them both of their clothes. Emily moaned as Arden pressed into her, grinning as the one benefit he was genuinely happy about from the experiment became glaringly apparent to Emily.

"Holy fuck!" Emily groaned. "Jesus! It's so big!"

"Yeah," Arden grinned. "Best benefit of the procedure."

Emily moaned in agreement, and Arden began to thrust into her, careful not to hurt her with his new strength, but still fucking her harder and faster than he normally did. Her moans rapidly built into cries and wails of pleasure, and within a couple of minutes, she broke. She bucked and shook beneath him as she came, shrieking in pleasure and clawing at his back, and Arden continued to rapidly spear into her throughout her orgasm. Finally, as she began to settle, and he pulled back, Emily instantly rolling herself over and raising her hips for him, and he slammed himself back into her, continuing to plow into her just as roughly as before. Again, Emily wailed in pleasure, Arden yanking her into him with each thrust, still being careful not to hurt her.

After several more positions on the bed, and several more orgasms for Emily, Arden finally buried himself in her, once again back in missionary, as he finished, flooding Emily and making her moan, her nails digging into his back once again as she bit into his shoulder and her legs locked around his waist. After several more minutes, they had both settled, and he slipped out of her, Emily moaning.

"Jesus...you really...did get an upgrade," Emily sighed. "That was...fucking amazing."

"You have no idea how much of an upgrade," Arden smiled, pressing the underside of his still-hard erection against her slit, making her moan again. "Neither do I, actually. Shall we find out, or do you need to rest?"

Emily grinned. "You have all day off, right?"

"Yeah," Arden nodded.

"Then I have plenty of time to rest later," Emily grinned, kissing his neck, then reaching up to whisper in his ear. "And now that you're super strong, there are a few things I've always wanted to try."

Arden grinned, kissing her hungrily before Emily gave him her first request. And for the next many, many hours, they tried a bit of everything. He pinned her to the wall, bent her over the table, fucked her in the shower, tied her to the bed. They even briefly gave consensual nonconsent a try with a very brief attempt at rape roleplay, only to very quickly realize that it was very much not their cup of tea, and made no plan to ever try it again. Finally, however, they finally reached the limit of Arden's stamina, and while he was sure he could probably get it up again, they decided to call it, laying in bed together and holding each other.

"Fuck, I still can't feel my legs," Emily groaned over an hour later. "I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow."

Arden chuckled. "I told you we could stop a while ago."

"Are you kidding me?" Emily laughed. "That was the best day of my life. It was so, very much worth not walking tomorrow."

Arden smiled, kissing her. "I don't want to have to go back to those tests tomorrow. I wish we could just leave."

"The great Samual Hayden would never let us go so easily," Emily sighed. "Besides, even if you could beat the elite security officers in a fight, you couldn't do it without carrying me, and I'm definitely not going to be able to run anytime soon."

Arden sighed, nodding. "That's fair. Tests it is, I guess."

Emily nodded, curling into Arden and yawning. "I'm probably going to sleep all day tomorrow."

"That's fine," Arden smiled. "I'll manage."

Emily nodded, already half asleep, and Arden curled around her, also beginning to drift off.

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