Slay the Hierarchy

An Appropriate Rumour

The Doom Slayer remembered the handful of times he was detained in his life pretty well, all things considered.

The first time was definitely on Earth. Way before the invasion.

He was a marine on active duty at the time, thrown into a holding cell longer than he'd cared to admit before the news came of his transfer to the Phobos UAC facility. But they couldn't keep him on that small rock forever. They couldn't keep him on Mars either.

Hell, they couldn't even keep him locked up in the demon realm!

So it was safe to say that nothing stopped the Slayer from busting out of a prison cell in this world as easily as he did a bench press. But there were more benefits staying than there were escaping.

One of them being that he wouldn't have to deal with the earful his parents would give him just yet. A more important one, though, was that being away from crafting weapon and suit upgrades gave him a proper opportunity to brainstorm exactly what was going on these days.

Eighteen years on this version of Earth and not a hellish squeak until now? It was hard to believe, considering they left nothing untouched for too long. The only common variable he concluded within the two days he spent imprisoned was the sixth Princess; Daisy von Wolff.

But what did Hell want to do with her? Who was she or what did she have that they wanted so badly? And why another Daisy, of all things?

These questions plagued the Slayer's mind a great deal for the short time he spent in the royal palace holding cell. Considering he was the heir to a distinguished family, the smooth, clean concrete interior of it and regular meals he was offered behind iron bars could scarcely hold a candle to his previous ones.

In fact, this would make a decent home for just about anybody back on his planet. Minus the fact that his gun and gauntlet was taken from him shortly after his arrest, he wouldn't have minded shacking up here.

Yet home it was no longer. 

Two days was all it took for them to release him. The only catch being that they wouldn't let him go without one last trivial hurdle.

Handcuffed, the Slayer followed the pair of guards that let him up and back into the light of day. They traveled through ornate hallways and doors, before lastly entering one the size of a tower. The doors parted slowly, dramatically, and from within came agitated hissing.

'What? Escaped?'

At the top of a marble stairway was a throne, and on it, a man possibly a smidge older than the Count. His red cape and gold crown was enough of a giveaway that this was the emperor. Beside him stood a cringing attendant, but more important was the thing behind them.

'Send out the guards... as a matter of fact, don't. Let her go,' he mumbled. 'If she dares to return, I'll deal with the wench then.'

He dismissed the servant quickly and the man scuttled away; the emperor's attention falling on the prisoner. He stifled a gasp at the sight of him.

Forget the stories about the curses. More pressing was the fact that the son of Count Blazkowicz was taller and bigger than he anticipated. More importantly, he didn't... feel like your average human. The king couldn't quite place it. It must have been his size and the murderous look in his eyes, he reckoned.

It didn't help that the story of how he'd wound up here was riddled with horrors. Between the bloody pools on the premises, unidentified weapons found on him, and the fact that his clothes were in gore-drenched tatters, the emperor didn't know what to believe. According to the knights at the time, all they were briefed with were the puzzling words from the heir of Lucius of there being 'a demonic presence in the facility'.