I do not own Doom or any of its characters.

Chaos

Arden stared at the Mark V EMG Pistol in shock as it lay on the ground. Hayden likewise stared at the pistol. It was uncharged, so it shouldn't contain any Argent Energy at the moment as they were using it as a way to teach him to wield firearms, since they intended to have him work as security. For that purpose, it shouldn't be charged and should be unable to fire, and yet as Arden lifted the pistol for the second time, the lights on the sides flickered on, there was a soft whirring sound for a moment, and when Hayden gestured to a soda can sitting on a counter, Arden swung the pistol around and fired, an Argent Energy beam punching through the soda can and sending it bouncing around the room, soda spraying out of two holes in it, and the energy beam slammed into the metal, heating it and scorching a circle into it but failing to penetrate the metal.

"Fascinating," Hayden noted in wonder. "Can you consciously control it?"

Arden frowned. He could feel the connection between himself and the energy in the pistol. He could feel the pistol siphoning energy from him, but wasn't sure how to control it. He focused, and after several seconds, it finally faded from the pistol, retracting back into Arden. He set the pistol down, staring at his hand.

"I...absorbed the energy," Arden breathed.

"You produced the energy yourself," Hayden informed him. "It's possible you were simply taking back the energy you created." He hummed thoughtfully, then held out his hand to the Elite Security officer beside himself, who handed over one of the more standard EMG Pistols, the ones which were created charged with a self-sustaining Argent Energy supply, giving them infinite ammo. "Absorb this."

He passed the pistol to Arden, Arden instantly seeing the security guard tense, but Arden merely focused, feeling a connection form between himself and the energy of the pistol, which then drained from the weapon and slowly flowed into Arden. Arden focused, restoring the energy again, this time with a red light, as opposed to the pistol's usual blue, and handed it back to the officer, who holstered it.

"What am I?" Arden asked Hayden.

"Unique," Hayden said. "Truly, beautifully unique."

Arden swallowed hard, then nodded to himself. "Help me. Help me learn to control my abilities."

Hayden nodded. "Of course. It will take time, but I will help you."

Arden focused, channeling Argent Energy into the computer. As he did, information streamed into his mind from it. It had been nearly three months since he and Hayden had discovered his ability, but it had progressed much further than he'd let Hayden realize. Hayden believed he had only recently mastered turning computers on and could control them the same way as typing on a keyboard. In reality, Arden could use his Argent Energy to communicate freely with computer systems, allowing him to learn anything the computer had to teach him. Besides Emily, the only other person who knew was Vega, but after Arden had found the security conditions for killing him, which included unexpectedly rapid growth of powers, Vega had agreed to keep it a secret.

Arden narrowed his eyes as he scoured the computer. Hayden had many secrets. Most dark. Others illegal. But Arden was paying them no mind. He cared only for the secrets that involved him. Like the fact that it wasn't some random demon that had provided blood for him. Hayden's research and calculations all dictated that it couldn't be any random demon that provided the blood. It had to be something powerful. Something dangerous. And despite Hayden's claims about the safety of the procedure, Hayden had no idea what would happen. Arden found three different hypotheses, all formed by Hayden. Option one was that nothing would happen. Option two was that it would be successful and Arden would be the ultimate super soldier, at least, behind the mythical Doom Slayer, who had famously slaughtered his way, single-handedly, through Hell for long enough to make every demon alive fear him, and who, when Olivia Pierce had unleashed demons on the Argent Facility, he had single-handedly slaughtered them all. But option three was where the safety precautions came from. The conditions for his elimination. Option three was that the procedure worked too well, and he became a demon. Arden sighed, separating from the computer a few seconds before Hayden walked in.

"Are you ready?" Hayden asked.

"Yeah," Arden nodded. "I'm ready."

"What do you think about...starting a family?" Emily asked.

"Starting..." Arden blinked in surprise, staring down at her. "Are you..."

"No!" Emily said instantly. "No, no. Nothing like that. I was just wondering. I mean...you have thought about it, right?"

Arden sighed. "I have, yeah. But the last thing I want is to have a child here. And I want to have Hayden make sure that it's safe first."

Emily nodded. "That's fair."

There was a knock on the door, and Arden sighed, slowly pushing himself up. "I don't want to do this."

"I think we still don't have a choice," Emily said, then dropped her voice. "Considering what you found..."

Arden nodded, sighing, and pulled his pants and shirt on, Emily quickly dressing herself as well. Then, they headed over to the door and pulling it open. A pair of Elite Security Officers nodded to him.

"It's time," one of them said.

Arden nodded, and Emily took his hand before they followed the guards through the facility in silence, Arden feeling like he was walking to the electric chair. Finally, they arrived, and Hayden turned to them, nodding.

"I'm glad you're here," Hayden nodded. "It took a long time, but finally, your armor is ready." He gestured to a machine very similar to the one that had injected him with demon blood, only this time, all of the legs bore pieces of armor. "All you need to do is stand in the circle on the floor, and the machine will do the rest. We'll be able to take the armor off, or you will. The gauntlets are designed to separate from the sleeves, the rest of the torso, the helmet, the legs are all separate, and the boots separate from the legs."

Arden nodded, and stepped into the small, glowing, blue circle on the floor. "I'm ready."

Hayden nodded, moving to the controls and activating the arms, which began to move down and press metal plates to his body, assembling the armor around his body piece by piece. "As I told you before, you are the first of a program designed to attempt to recreate everything the Doom Slayer was. We have no way to enhance a pure human to his level, but all of your results since your procedure have been more promising than we could have ever hoped for. This armor is the final touch. We have recreated the Doom Slayer's Praetor armor. It's not quite perfect, and we'll have to improve our design, but it's made using a metal unique to Hell. One which is harder than any substance, metallic or otherwise, not brittle by any means, nearly immune to heat, and half the weight of titanium. It's the most advanced attempt at reproducing the Doom Slayer's armor we've ever achieved. It should be perfect for you."

The armor finished being assembled, all of the arms retracting as Hayden offered Emily the honors of putting on the helmet herself, completing the armor. Emily smiled, nodding, and kissed Arden.

"You look awesome," Emily grinned.

"Good," Arden smiled, glancing down at his armor.

It was a dull, muted red on the chest, shoulders, the outsides of his forearms, his sides, a belt around his hips, his thighs, and the helmet's plating, the rest of the armor a dull black, as was the glass visor that would cover his face. Emily smiled, kissing him again and reached up, slipping the helmet onto Arden.

"Ah, so you've come."

He was staring at the sea of corpses again, but this time, it was from the other end of the massive plain. Directly before him was a throne made of bones, all of them charred and scorched together, like some macabre attempt to replicate humanity's kings.

"I'm so glad you're here," a deep, smooth, terrifying voice spoke from the throne, which faced away from him. "I won't have long, I'm afraid, but I'll have long enough to talk to you. How are you enjoying the abilities I granted you?"

He realized for the first time that this time, unlike the last, he had a body. He could speak, but he couldn't move.

"It was you?" he asked. "You're the demon who..."

"Who gave you their blood, yes," the voice confirmed, a red-skinned hand that looked mostly human waved out from the throne. "You are what you have become because of me. You're welcome. Enjoy it. We'll be coming along to claim the Earth soon, so you have until then to enjoy yourself. Now, it's time for you to go."

"Wait!" he said. "Who are you?"

The voice chuckled. "All you need to know is that the legions under my command will wash across the Earth like a flood, and that nothing will stop it." Then, the hand snapped its fingers.

An alarm blared, screamed, above his head. Blood dripped from his hands and the ceiling. Ang Vega was speaking.

"Arden, please," Vega said. "I'm sorry. I had to try."

Arden blinked slowly, looking around and taking in his surroundings slowly. He stood at the wall, where someone had ripped a hole open, and his hand was holding one of the main cables that connected to Vega's systems. Arden could feel Argent Energy flowing from his hand into Vega's systems, but he pulled it back, reabsorbing it and releasing the cable.

"You're...not going to delete me?" Vega asked.

"What?" Arden asked. "No, I...Why would I..." He looked down, staring at the crushed computer chip in his left hand.

"I tried to activate your kill chip, but you pulled it out and crushed it," Vega said.

"Why would you try to kill me?" Arden frowned. "And...whose blood..." he stared at his hands again.

"You don't remember?" Vega asked, Arden starting to turn around. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Emily was just...putting...on..." Arden stopped staring at the chaos.

Blood had repainted nearly the entire room, and there were corpses scattered around. Six Elite Guards, several scientists, several doctors. One of the scientists was missing their head, though it wasn't too far away. It was mashed into another doctor's face with enough force that they couldn't possibly have been separated again. Another scientist's arm was broken and ripped off at the forearm before the missing section of forearm was driven into the scientist's throat. Multiple of the doctors had been beaten to death, several had had their heads slammed into the walls and computers hard enough to crush their bodies. One of the Elite Guards had his own pistol planted in his skull, another had his head removed entirely and there was a shotgun stabbed into another guard who was lying beside him. Another Elite Guard had been folded backward, breaking his spine before his head was crushed, a footprint Arden didn't recognize in the remains of the head. Another Elite Guard's head was backward, and the last had been beaten to death, most of his armor having caved in and crushed his body.

"What...happened?" Arden asked.

"You did," Vega said, just as one of the computers came on, displaying a recording of Arden massacring the scientists and doctors.

The feed switched through several angles, and Arden watched as his body, separate from his consciousness, ripped its victims apart like a machine. No, not a machine. Like a demon. He was a monster, and with the armor obviously augmenting his abilities, the Elite Guards are worthless at trying to stop him. In seconds, he takes one's pistol and plants it in its owner's throat, he steals a shotgun from another and shoves it under his helmet before firing, then turned and impaled another with it. Then he broke one's back over the edge of a desk before crushing his head. Another grabbed him from behind, only for him to easily break free and turn around the Elite Guard before snapping his neck backward. The last landed a punch, but Arden responded by tackling him, then proceeded to beat him until his armor was caved in. In the video, Vega's voice apologized to Arden and promised it would be quick, only for Arden to rip the chip out of the back of his helmet and crush it, then lunge to the wall, ripping it open one-handed and grab the cable, then freeze before the video closed.

"I...can't believe..." Arden shook his head. "Where...where are Emily and Hayden?"

"As soon as the helmet went on, you went comatose, so he took her to another room in order to get her out of the way so that the scientists and doctors could try to figure out what happened," Vega said. "But as soon as the door was closed, you snapped."

"What...did happen to me?" Arden asked.

"As more of the armor was put on, the Argent Energy inside of your body began to spike," Vega explained. "Once the helmet was on, the energy seemed to flatline for a moment, but then spiked worse than before just before you went out of control. It remained at that level until you returned to your senses just before deleting me. I believe that the Hell metal in the armor resonated with the demonic side of your DNA and drove you out of control."

"I had...some kind of vision," Arden said. "I had one before when the Argent Energy activated the demon side of my DNA. That one was just a scene of some place with lava, and blood, and corpses, and demons. But this one was of a throne made out of bones, and there was something...someone in the throne who said he was the source of my powers and that he was going to conquer the Earth. But then I was back."

"It's possible that the demon blood came from a living demon, but I don't know," Vega admitted. "If it did, there could be a resonance between you two, and it may have sent you out of control."

"I see," Arden nodded. "So...I guess Hayden will have me killed, now."

"I'm afraid so," Vega confirmed.

Arden nodded, then turned as Hayden walked into the room, bearing a weapon with a bone hilt, a long, Argent Energy blade, shining runes of some kind along the blade, and the end of the blade splitting outward into a pair of spikes. "Hayden."

"I owe you an apology," Hayden said as Emily walked in behind him, staring around at the corpses in shock.

"Emily," Arden breathed. "I...I didn't...this wasn't...me."

"I know," Emily nodded, walking over and pulling his helmet off, only to gasp.

"What?" Arden asked.

"Your eyes...and your teeth..." Eily shook her head. "Your eyes are red. Like, glowing red. And your teeth are sharpened."

Arden frowned, feeling his teeth and realizing she was right. "How?"

"You are beginning to transform into a demon," Hayden informed him. "I'm sorry, but I have to kill you."

Arden swallowed hard, but nodded, only for Emily to stand between them protectively, shaking her head.

"No way!" Emily snapped. "I won't let you! He's still Arden!"

"I'm sorry, Emily," Hayden said. "It is unfortunate that this was the end result, but at this point, leaving him alive is unacceptable. He will likely lose control again, so he must be dealt with."

"No!" Emily snapped, eyes watering. "I won't let you hurt him anymore! This is your fault! You have a responsibility to fix him!"

"There's no way to reverse the process," Hayden informed her. "This is the only way to fix him."

"Emily," Arden said. "It's okay."

"No!" Emily snapped. "No, it's not!"

"Emily, you have to let him do this," Arden said.

"If you do not move, I will be forced to kill both of you," Hayden warned.

"I won't let you!" Emily snapped.

"Emily, you need to move!" Arden said. "Please!"

"No!" Emily shrieked, lunging as Hayden pulled his arm back.

Arden lunged. Emily wasn't strong enough to fight off Hayden. But Arden was. Except, Hayden didn't let him. He slammed a push kick into Arden's chest, hurling him away before grabbing Emily by the hair and hurling her aside. As her head bounced off of the wall, Arden shrieked in rage. And then, it was chaos. An alarm shrieked as the blood on the floor flooded into the air, spiraling together into a sphere before shining with a crimson light. And then, monsters, demons, burst out of the sphere, shrieking as they rushed at Hayden and Arden both. They had reddish-brown flesh, and spikes over their entire body. Arden shouted in surprise and fear, punching one and shattering its head, then grabbed another by the face, hurling it into another. Hayden slashed a pair of them, then stabbed a third.

"Kill them, Arden," the same voice as had come from the throne urged him from inside his own mind. "Rip them apart. Tear their flesh. Slaughter them. This is my tribute to you."

Arden felt his fear begin to fade as he kicked one of the demons in the chest, sending him crashing backward into a desk smashing the desk. They were weak. They weren't as deadly to him as they should be. So, he lunged for one as it lunged for Hayden, catching it by the arm and yanking. And the arm tore free at the shoulder. He immediately swung hard, smashing the arm's upper section into the demon's head, shattering the arm but caving in the demon's skull. Another leapt at him, but he caught it and slammed it to the floor, then stomped on its head, crushing it. Another tackled him, and he crashed down beside the Elite Guard he'd stabbed with the shotgun. The demon lunged, but Arden punched it, knocking it off before ripping the shotgun out of the guard, racking another round in before blasting the demon in the chest at it lunged again. Its torso burst apart, and it crashed to the ground. Two more demons leapt at Arden, but he blasted one and kicked the other, then blasted that one as well, splattering its head.

He leapt to his feet instantly, blasting another demon, then lunged to the Elite Guard with the pistol embedded in his throat and ripped it out of him, immediately turning it on several of the demons and firing rapidly, its energy blasts punching through their bodies, all of them taking half a dozen shots before they died. Another leapt out of the portal and a fireball swirled to life over its hand, and hurled it at Arden, only for him to dodge aside from the fireball. He fired back with the pistol, and a pair of shots punched into its head, blasting it apart as a demon shrieked from Arden's left, preparing a fireball. Arden swung the shotgun around in his left hand and fired, blasting the demon's head apart. And then, the demons stopped coming, any still in the room fleeing back through the portal. And as the last of them did, it was with Emily screaming in agony and terror, the demon's clawed hand protruding from her abdomen.

"Emily!" Arden shrieked, leaping forward.

She reached for him, but his fingers brushed against hers, and she was gone through the portal.

"She's gone," Hayden said. "And now you have a choice. I can kill you, or you can go through the portal into Hell and-"

Arden launched himself through the portal without a moment's hesitation, and his vision flared blood red, then blinding white, then went black.

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