Flynn stood on the platform that hovered over the endless abyss, super shotgun in hand as he leered down at the battered and broken form of his current target.
Two days prior, VEGA had locked onto Earth's coordinates from where they were waiting and teleported their fortress to the planet's atmosphere...right in the midst of Hell's all out assault on the human world.
He and his AI companion wasted no time in tracking down the Deag Priests, now known as the Hell Priests, who were responsible for the invasion and whose deaths would mean the end of it.
After scouring across the planet, and several Sentinel worlds and Hell once more, the slayer had tracked down and slaughtered the Priests that had betrayed the Argentian people. But it wasn't enough.
The Khan Maykr, desperate to assimilate the mortal souls of Earth, vowed to resurrect the Icon of Sin and unleash it upon the remaining human populace. He couldn't let that come to pass.
With Samuel Hayden's consciousness uploaded to the fortress, Flynn removed VEGA from the systems and ventured back into Hell. To Nekravol. An abomination created jointly by the Maykrs and the demons using Sentinel slaves to build where mortals were tortured before having their souls ripped out and converted into Argent energy to feed to the Maykr's homeworld of Urdak.
He brought the soul-factory down with extreme prejudice, using the backlash that was created to catapult himself to the Khan's territory where he stopped the ritual that would allow her to control the Icon of Sin.
But the massive demon had already been rebuilt and encased in armor of Maykr design. It broke its chains and vanished through a portal back to Earth.
Now running on borrowed time, the slayer fought his way through Urdak against Maykrs and demons as they poured into the once sacred grounds to the only means to get back to Earth and stop the Icon before it got back to full strength. Leaving VEGA behind to pave the way for him as they assembled the bridge that would drop him right on top of his old foe.
But one last obstacle was in his way, the Khan Maykr herself. And much like the Priests before her, his confrontation had been a long time coming.
Now there she laid. After a tense battle, the Khan laid sprawled out before him. Her once pristine armor shattered to reveal the ugliness of her true form and looking more demon than supposed angel.
"You...have destroyed...all I was meant to rule!" she hissed, attempting to drag her broken form across the ground. "And all...just to protect THEM! Servants...of our beliefs!"
She rolled onto her back and glared at him with blood dribbling down her chin. "You...have broken the holy seal...of Urdak! Your transgression here will jeopardize...all of creation…" she fell silent as the light finally faded from her body. The glowing yellow sphere in the center of her chest floated upward before shooting into the air where it exploded.
"NOOOOOOOO!" a loud voice boomed from every direction as the skies around Urdak turned blood red. Lightning flashing violently as though the heavens themselves were enraged.
"We must leave. Now." Hayden said through his helmet's comms. Flynn turned away from the Khan Maykr's body, sending one last fleeting look at the building where he had left VEGA started running toward the edge of the platform, leaping off and dropping down to the energy beam below where he disappeared in a flash of light.
X
In the next moment, Flynn found himself standing in a ruined office building back on Earth. A massive quake shook the ground under him just before a section of wall gave way to reveal the crumbling city outside...and the towering form of the Icon of Sin stomping through the streets.
"You must stop the Icon of Sin. The longer he is on Earth, the stronger he will become." Hayden warned through the comms.
The slayer ran for the open that had been made and jumped through the air, digging his fingers into the wall of the adjacent building and scaling it to the roof where several groups of demons were fighting one another.
Bringing out his plasma rifle, Flynn immediately opened fire on the horde while they were distracted, barreling through their ranks and killing anything in his path. Whether it was with his bare hands or his expanded arsenal of weapons, he spilled their blood by the gallons.
Only this time he couldn't enjoy the carnage like he normally would. He had to take down the Icon of Sin before what remained of Earth was consumed. So instead he blasted his way through every opposition in pursuit of the titanic demon.
Going from building to building, killing every demon either brave enough, or dumb enough, to try and get in his way. Everywhere the Icon went, it only left destruction and an ever growing horde of enemies in its wake. The titan had somehow become more powerful than it had the last time the two of them had fought. More than likely due to the Khan Maykr and her attempts to control it.
Cutting down a Marauder with its own argent axe, the slayer smashed a hole through the wall of the building he was currently in and found himself in an open space made up of several floors. A large, armored hand reached up and grabbed one of the floors before the Icon of Sin pulled itself up over the large opening.
"Now is the time. Two Titans meet, as it was written." Hayden's words didn't even register as Flynn glared hatefully at his ancient enemy. In response, the Icon leered back down at him. Recognition shining in the glowing red eyes of its armored helm as it roared loud enough to shake the heavens.
The slayer drew his chaingun and mecha-shifted it into its four-barreled turret form, unleashing a barrage of .50cal slugs directly into the Icon's center of mass. The salvo tearing into the Maykr forged armor covering the Icon's body until the components covering its chest exploded, causing it to stumble back.
As long as it had the armor, it was invulnerable to anything he could throw at it. If he wanted any chance to take the beast out once and for all, he had to chip away its protection piece by piece.
Roaring, the Icon raised its arms and unleashed jets of hellfire from its palms. Forcing the slayer to leap out of the way as the concrete and steel where he had been standing was melted like wax. Switching to his rocket launcher, Flynn fired three missiles into one of the titan's arms, knocking it aside, another barrage blew the armor off the limb.
Now enraged, the Icon of Sin channeled demonic energy along its frame and summoned a horde of demons around the slayer to protect it. Flynn grit his teeth and pulled out his chainsaw, bisecting a Hellknight that leapt at him before spear tackling a Pinky through a wall, breaking its neck quickly before jumping up, crushing a Mancubus' head with his heel as he used its obese form to get to the level above.
Drawing his plasma rifle, he unleashed another onslaught on the Icon. Removing the shoulder armor on both sides and exposing more of the flesh beneath. With another bellowing roar, the titan's forehead began to glow before it unleashed several blasts of hellfire raining down on the building.
Flynn jumped and dashed out of the line of fire, disappearing through an open portal that spat him out on another side of the battlefield. Switching to his BFG-9000, he charged the shot and fired directly at the side of the Icon's head.
There was an explosion of reds and greens, the Icon of Sin roared as its goat-like head was exposed to the world. Its slanted-pupil eyes glared with utter hatred and rage at the slayer.
In response, the once mortal man raised his free hand and flipped it the middle finger before firing another blast from the BFG into its lower torso and destroying the armor there as well. All that remained was the armor on its left arm.
The Icon raised said arm with every intention of crushing its ancient foe. The slayer dashed out of the way as the impact shook the entire building, switching the powerful gun for his recently forged Crucible. Igniting the energy blade and slashing upward and cutting through the Maykr armor like a hot knife through butter.
The armor glowed brightly before shattering, the Icon stumbled back, looking at its now exposed arm as the layer of argent energy that covered its body beneath its protection fizzled and died. Leaving it exposed and vulnerable.
Screeching at the slayer in anger, and a very thin veil of fear, the titan turned and began to stomp away. Retreating.
"You must move quickly! With its body exposed it's vulnerable." Hayden spoke before a portal opened in front of Flynn. "Take the portal and finish this fight!"
The slayer jumped through the opening without thinking twice. Appearing on the rooftop of another building, he saw the Icon of Sin approaching from the distance. When its eyes locked onto him, it roared before running full speed ahead, raising its right arm high to crush him with all its strength.
Knowing that it could collapse the building, Flynn drew his ballista and fired several charge shots into its raised arm. Just before it reached the rooftop, the energy rounds detonated, an unholy screech of agony bellowed from the Icon as large chunks of flesh and gallons upon gallons of blood rained everywhere. Its arm now filled with massive holes of torn flesh revealing the bones underneath.
Seeing the massive demon wounded and in pain, the slayer grinned sadistically as he started unloading every he had into it. Rounds tore flesh, rockets blowing large pieces away, and plasma/argent bolts burned and cauterized everywhere they hit.
The Icon of Sin found itself being whittled down bit by bit. Its powerful form being torn apart under the onslaught. Summoning more demons to the rooftop to hinder the slayer, only to watch them violently cut down before they even had a chance.
Using his Crucible, Flynn sliced the weaponized arm off a Tyrant. Grabbing the already charged cannon and firing it point blank into the cybernetic demon, blowing a hole clean through it. Tossing the limb aside, he drew his super shotgun and fired the meat hook at a Revenant that was hovering overhead. Flying toward his target, he blasted it with both barrels and took its head off as he landed on the opposite side of the roof where the Icon was trying to recover.
Reloading the double-barrel, he pulled out his BFG and fired right into its stomach. An explosion of heat and burnt flesh filled the air, the titan shrieking as its intestines began flowing out of the gaping wound the powerful gun had left in its wake.
A Prowler teleported close and tried to tackle the slayer, but Flynn dodged at the last moment. Extending his wrist blade and taking its head off as it flew past him.
Drawing his heavy cannon, he looked down the precision scope and shot the plasma turret off an Arachnotron that was firing on him from an elevated platform. He followed up by opening the rocket pods on either side of the barrel and fired a salvo of mini-rockets that tore the cybernetic spider-demon apart.
The Icon stumbled, holding a large hand to its stomach to keep its guts from falling out. Glaring at the slayer, it channeled energy to its forehead and blasted a beam of pure hellfire all over the rooftop. Not caring if the demons it had summoned were reduced to ashes as long as it killed its enemy where he stood.
Flynn saw the coming danger and sprinted, avoiding the deadly attack while summoning his rocket launcher and firing several missiles at the source. Each explosion made the Icon flinch before a triple-burst hit home. Stopping the attack and ripping the titan's head open, exposing its skull and destroying its left eye.
The battle continued to rage, piles of demonic bodies littered the rooftop and fires raged on almost every surface. Flynn reloaded his super shotgun and kept his gaze locked on the Icon of Sin. The powerful demon looking more akin to a walking corpse with so much flesh missing and most of its skeletal structure exposed. It's lone eye leering at him in defiance even though it knew that its time was coming.
A brief moment passed before the slayer had his rocket launcher in hand. Firing several shots into the Icon's skull and blowing it open, exposing its brain as it staggered forward and collapsed onto the rooftop, too weak to get back up.
With his enemy wide open, Flynn drew the Crucible and charged. Running up one of the titan's arms and leaping onto its head where he burrowed the energy blade into its grey matter. Driving it as deep as he could as the damage began to take effect.
The Icon reared back, bellowing a death cry as the slayer broke the hilt off the energy blade and held on as the titan began to collapse. Red and blue energy began to spider web across the Icon's body, fissure cracks ripping open along its frame and emitted powerful heat.
"What? No...this cannot be!" Hayden's mechanized voice sounded distressed as the Icon began to glow brighter. "Slayer get out of there! The Khan Maykr did something to the Icon of Sin when she resurrected it! It's become volatile!"
Flynn's eyes widened behind his visor. With the amount of energy coursing through the titan…
He saw a portal open up in the air nearby and didn't hesitate. Running along the Icon's head, he leapt with all his strength toward it. Behind him, the titan began to glow like the sun before its body exploded with the power of several nuclear warheads. The blast hit the slayer in the back and sent him hurtling through the portal seconds before it closed.
The explosion was so powerful that it could be seen from orbit. The city where the Icon had been standing had been completely wiped from the face of the Earth, leaving only dust and echoes behind. Thankfully, there weren't any humans left in the metropolis when it happened, and any remaining demonic presence that remained were instead vaporized from the titan's meltdown.
X
Several hours later, from his place within the Fortress of Doom's systems, Dr. Samuel Hayden scanned ground zero for any sign of the slayer. He had picked up a portal opening on the base's sensors moments before the Icon of Sin went critical, but he wasn't the one that had opened it.
An unknown third party had gotten involved. And it left the doctor with too many questions and not enough answers. Something he didn't like.
Running several more scans of the planet, along with the other locations the slayer had been to during the invasion, and came up empty. This left Hayden with only one logical explanation;
The slayer had been sent to another alternate dimension, one currently outside the fortress' detection range. Given what he knew about the demon killer's ability to cross the divide between worlds, it would be the most probable cause for his disappearance.
With this in mind, Dr. Hayden got to work. Going through the fortress' systems while contacting the survivors from ARC. Time was of the essence, he needed to find the slayer and quickly.
All the while trying to figure out who or what opened the portal and where it could have taken him.
X Unknown Universe X
High in the air above a volcanic planet, a dark-blue portal suddenly opened. A moment later, Flynn came flying through the dimensional opening at high velocity. Having only a few seconds to register his situation before gravity took over and he began to plummet toward the ground.
The slayer quickly oriented himself, feet pointed toward the ground before curling into a tight ball. Essentially becoming a human cannonball as he approached a small mountain. His body impacted the rock wall and broke through it, a few others following as he blasted into a cave system underneath with the grace of a meteorite and a ballistic missile put together.
He came to rest when he crashed into a chamber deep within the mountain. Large cracks spread along the walls and floor from the force of the impact
When the dust finally settled, Flynn was seen laying in a pile of rubble. The praetor suit without a scratch, but covered in debris from his entry. His eyes closed behind his visor after having been knocked out from the event.
Completely unaware of where he had landed...or how his presence would affect the series of events that would alter the very future of this universe and its inhabitants.
A/N: And now things can really begin. I've played the Ancient Gods DLC and I can honestly say that the storyline has become a bit muddled from all the new and overwhelming details. Regardless, I will be incorporating into this crossover at a later date.
I already have the first four chapters of this story ready to go, so there is two more coming in the immediate future. So be ready for some fast updates within the next week.
Hoping you guys are liking what I got, keep the reviews and PMs coming!