Against All Evil

Lightspeed Rescue Part 1

Universe 19930828

Year 2000

Lightspeed Aquabase

Mariner Bay, California

When the Doom Slayer stepped through the blue portal, he was greeted by a familiar sight. Lights flickered, and alarms blared in the room. As he surveyed the area, a nearby window caught his attention. Peering through the reinforced glass, he determined he was once again in some sort of underwater facility.

He raised his left arm, looking at a red stone locked in his gauntlet. Its glow would intensify the closer and more powerful a malevolent entity was in his proximity. For his objective, he pressed onward.

Plasma rifle at the ready, he marched out the room and into the dim hallway. It didn't take long for him to hear light screeches, the flap of wings, and the tatter of footsteps. Just as he turned a corner, his gaze met those of a seemingly endless group of creatures.

They were bipedal. To the Slayer's estimation, it was another variety of imp. Its body was deep black. Like a bat, it adorned pointed ears and its respective wings. Its chest bore the golden symbol of a demonic tail. Beady yellow and red eyes looked at him in confusion and hesitation. Red claws, swords, and rifles soon raised swords to attack. Just as his gauntlet identified, the filthy vermin's last mistake was daring to point weapons at him.

A copper crucible attached to the focusing lens of the Plasma Rifle absorbed residual thermal energy from the weapon. Decisively, a secondary trigger was pulled. The Rifle transferred the heat to a borosilicate diffusion chamber, discharging it instantly. A heated pressure wave unleashed its fury An entire section of the army had been vaporized by the UAC D-93 Model Plasma Rifle, with the surrounding crowd knocked to the ground. Following their demise, the rest of the army converged on the lone man. It was hundreds against one, an uneven match... for them. Their measly attacks peppered his armor.

His right hand rained down high-intensity plasma while his left swiped at them with an extended arm blade. To his surprise, on the blade's first contact, sparks flew. Instead of usual blood and guts, the demon exploded in an array of fire and smoke. That was new. Another Batling ran up to him, only for it to take a punch to the gut, exploding it into more smoke. It must just be how demons are in this world.

As the Plasma Rifle's magazine emptied, he let it go, returning it to his warp pack. Pulling his right fist back, it hummed in red hellish energy. His arm shot forth faster than a lightning bolt's return to heaven. The sheer power behind the blood punch ignored their defense, ripping a twenty-foot cone ahead into pieces of ash and dust.

Now understanding the threat level of these imp demons, he raised both hands, and a combat shotgun dropped into place. His shoulder-mounted ordnance system fired an EYE-C40 gas canister in the middle of a group, detonating and flash-freeze the nearby targets. One shell spread was all it took to shatter the bodies to pieces. Not wasting time, the shoulder turret spun, shifting modes. A gout of fire breathed out, lighting a dozen of imps.

With the demons nice and seared, the Titanium Shotgun leveled for battle. After a moment of charging, the Argent Compression Reloader fired several high-velocity buck shots in rapid succession.

The song and dance continued on these lesser enemies until they were either liquefied or ashes throughout the corridor. With this brief pause to his slaughter, he moved to the next room. It was much larger than the last one. From what little screens were still active, he was probably in the archive section of the facility. From the gem in his gauntlet, he knew there were still bigger fish in the area, and he needed to know where. The Doom Slayer stopped when he came across a functioning terminal. After thinking for a moment, he reached into his warp-pack and pulled out a foreign device. After locating a data port, he held the object before it, and the metal was configured into a compatible connector.