"If death meant leaving the stage long enough to change costumes and come back as a different character...would you slow down, or speed up?" - Chuck Palahniuk

Have you ever had those days, where you wake up in the morning and think that your life might just have a stronger meaning than you were led to believe? I can say with honest certainty...that thought was the farthest from my mind throughout most of my life.

But the funny thing about fate, it can surprise you when you least expect it. And cut that life way too short.

It happened so suddenly, I was walking home from another day at high school, crossing the same street like I had been the last three years when bright lights and a blaring horn took all my attention.

I remember the impact, being weightless in the air, and then indescribable pain as I hit the ground a moment later. I don't remember much after that, mostly reflecting on my life and the people I cared about as the world bled away.

After that there was only blackness. All my senses were muted but my consciousness was aware of the fact that I was somewhere. Time seemed endless as I floated in the dark...then I heard the voice.

"He is the one. Begin the soul transfer."

The next thing I know the world around me condenses from all sides and it feels as though I'm being forced through a tube. Lights flashed all around me like strobes before I became lost in a blinding white.

More sounds came to me, people talking and machines beeping. Then a baby's cry broke through it all. It took me several moments before I realized that the crying was coming from me.

Somehow, someway, I had been reborn.

Getting wrapped in a clean blanket, I was placed in the arms of my 'mother'. Her beautiful face covered in sweat with bits of her dark-red hair sticking to it. Tears in her eyes as she smiled at me.

"He's beautiful." she said with so much emotion.

A man leaned in beside her. His hair shaved to his scalp with a few scars on his face dressed in some kind of military uniform. A smile filling his rugged features. I could say with almost certainty that this was my 'father'.

"He has your eyes." he said with warmth.

"Have you two come up with a name?" someone asked nearby, a doctor maybe.

With another smile, my new mother gave me my new name;

"Flynn. Flynn Taggart."

X

My belief in reincarnation was fleeting at best. But with the fact that I had been brought back to life in the body of a newborn was hard to ignore. Although when you read about it, they never mention exactly what happens when you are reborn.

Having the body of an infant while retaining the mind of a teenager is disorienting, confusing...and to be honest, more than a little embarrassing.

Learning to walk, talk and use the toilet again was something I never thought I had to learn again. But with my advanced intelligence I learned much faster than most kids my age. This also allowed me to garner more information about my new family and where I had been born.

My father was Jake Taggart, a Commander in the military who was gone a lot because of his obligations. My mother was Alexandra Taggart, a former army nurse who became a stay at home mom after I had been born.

As the years went by, and the older I got it didn't take me long to realize that this place was nothing like where I had once been. Things were far more advanced, everything from everyday appliances to weapons were something out of a sci-fi movie, like I had been reborn in the future.

Then, one day I took notice of an ad on tv for one of the biggest corporations on the planet; The Union Aerospace Corporation.

That day...I felt as if the whole world had been pulled out from under me. I didn't want to believe it, there had to be another explanation. There was no way in hell or otherwise that I had been reborn where I thought I had been.

But the evidence was right there in front of me as the CEO of the company went on to explain what their scientists were working on. Weapons development, clean energy alternatives...teleportation and portal technology.

Just like that, the excitement of having a second chance at life came crashing down. If this was all true and not some kind of sick dream, then my new life could come to an end much more violently than my first one.

Managing to put the looming darkness of the possible future in the back of my mind, I did the best I could just to enjoy my time growing up again. My intelligence helping me in school a great deal and making things easier.

Before I knew it, I was back in highschool again. But this time I managed to graduate without getting hit by another car. From that point, after years of pressure from my 'father', I joined the military.

Getting through basic training and being assigned to a unit that I served with for a year, my career in the military wouldn't last long, however.

My CO had ordered the execution of unarmed civilians during a deployment, I refused. He attempted to enforce his rank and make me comply with his orders which resulted in me clocking him hard enough to knock him out.

The repercussions were swift. I was dishonorably discharged for disobeying orders and striking a superior officer. Not even my 'father', who believed I did the right thing, couldn't overturn the ruling.

As further punishment, I had been assigned to security duty for the UAC...to their science facilities on Phobos…

Those memories from that day I learned about this world came crashing back and a cold chill had gone down by back. If I remember the timeline of events correctly...then I was about to encounter first hand true horrors beyond comprehension.

Knowing that this could be my last time seeing my 'parents', I told them I loved them before getting on the ship that would take me to my new assignment, and possibly my end.

X

The first two months on Mars' biggest moon were uneventful. Mostly walking along the same hallways keeping an eye on the scientists and other personnel that worked throughout the various UAC facilities.

Then one random day...it happened.

Alarms blared throughout the Phobos facilities and all security mobilized, but none of them were prepared for what waited for them.

Just as I expected, demons from Hell itself flooded the UAC buildings. Using the same portals the corporation had been developing as they spread like a plague, killing everything and everyone in their path.

I watched as the people I worked beside and got to know over the last couple of months dying all around me, many being turned into twisted abominations of what they had once been that were turned against the very ones they were supposed to protect.

Before I knew it, I was alone. Standing against an invasion force dead set on wiping out humanity.

It was at that moment that the full weight of my situation came down on me. No matter how much I tried to think otherwise or attempted to bury my growing fears, I could not deny the full truth.

I had been reborn in the same universe DOOM had come from.

I didn't have long to come to grips with this overwhelming truth, Hell's forces surrounded me on all sides and were preparing to attack Earth. And I was the only one that stood between them and my new home.

Despite the overwhelming odds, and the very real possibility that I could easily die again, I grabbed every weapon and all the ammo I could and prepared for war. Every demon from the old 90's game I play over a lifetime ago came at me with the brutality and savagery their kind was known for. But I didn't give them an inch and fought with every ounce of willpower I had.

For what felt like days it had been a never ending barrage of carnage and death. I must have emptied out several armories as I left a trail of dead demons and shell casings from each facility across Phobos and Hell itself. Nearly being killed several times but managing to pull off a miracle at the last moment to fight on.

Finally, after putting down the SpiderMastermind and stopping the invasion, I staggered toward the closest spaceport and grabbed a ride back to Earth. Sore all over, covered in dried blood both mine and demonic with my armor in tatters and an array of scars covering my body.

I vaguely remember falling asleep during the journey, because the next thing I knew I'm waking up to my ship crash landing on Earth. Confused, and still fatigued after my battle against Hell's forces, I stepped out and got a good look at the home I had left behind months ago…

And was immediately reminded that the war was far from over. Because Hell had come to Earth.

I barely had time to take a breath before I was back in the fight. While I had been fighting on Phobos, Hell's forces invaded. My first action was to find my family, killing anything that got in my way.

To my horror, I found my family's home in ruins. The bodies of both my parents burned to husks like countless others in the neighborhood I had grown up in. Not even the pet rabbit we had gotten in my last year of highschool was spared. It was a hard blow that caused something to break inside of me. And the rage I had kept in check back on Phobos had been unleashed.

While the surviving citizens of Earth tried to regroup and plan how to fight back, I threw myself headfirst into the fight. Slaughtering everything as I tore a path to the heart of the invasion with every intention of ripping it out.

Death became a constant companion as I fought with utter abandon. Even in the moments when exhaustion threatened to overwhelm me, I ended up using Hell's own resources against them. Giving me temporary boosts of strength to keep me going to the point I thought I had lost my humanity along the way.

More demons did their best to kill me, some bigger and stronger but all of them familiar from my old life. There was no end in sight...until I found myself in the presence of the catalyst of the invasion. The biggest demon I ever had to face.

The Icon of Sin.

It was the longest fight by far, I hit the titan sized monster with everything I had while it summoned wave after wave of demons to protect itself. After blasting it in the head a few times with my rocket launcher, it finally collapsed. And with it, all of the demons it had brought to Earth were dragged back to the pits they had crawled out of.

Once I was sure it was all finally over, I collapsed to the ground and stared at the smoldering remains of the Icon. A platoon of Marines found me that way hours later, just staring at the burnt corpse with the longest of thousand-yard stares.

After a few minutes of coaching, I was eventually led back to the closest safezone where I was greeted with a hero's welcome from civilian and military alike. Many couldn't believe that a kid just shy of his 20's had fought Hell and won, saving the Earth in the process. But there I stood among the survivors, being heralded as some kind of champion of humanity.

The Earth government and the surviving members of the military command had given me a long list of medals and awards for bravery against Hell's forces. People across the planet cheered, many wanting a piece of me in some way shape or form, even the UAC wanted to use me as some kind of poster-boy for their company.

But I just wanted to be left alone. After losing one life, I ended up losing another in a completely different way. This time, I was alive to suffer the loss of my family, friends and comrades. On top of the constant fighting and bloodshed, I had changed so deeply that I wondered if there was anything of the old me still left.

It took months before things started to settle down, searching for more survivors and burying the dead. After that clean up began, everyone picking up the pieces and starting to rebuild their lives. Though it would be many years before things even became remotely normal again for the people of Earth.

I helped where I could. Mostly mopping up any demons left behind when the Icon of Sin fell. After that I went into seclusion to come to grips with the direction my new life had taken, and prepare myself for the day when things would start again, and Hell would return.

X

Several years later Earth was still rebuilding after Hell's invasion. The UAC being the biggest help as they used their vast resources to help.

As for me, I remained in my self imposed exile. Keeping my skills sharp...and waiting for the day they would be needed again. That moment came a few weeks after I turned 24, a handful of Generals had come to my home and informed me of a situation on a UAC space station that I was the only one capable of solving.

Knowing what was waiting for me, I grabbed my weapons and armor and got on the first ship offworld.

The moment I arrived at the UAC's station I came under attack by new breeds of demons. Stronger and more brutal than the last time I fought them. But I had been preparing for this the last few years, and I made sure they got the welcoming treatment.

The fight across the station led me back to the depths of Hell, and I had a strong feeling the demons remembered me from their failed invasion of Earth with how they pulled out all the stops to make sure I never left in one piece.

Fighting my way to the source of the new invasion, I encountered and fought against a creature unlike any I had encountered before. One that I had dubbed the Mother of all Demons. Using nearly every round I had to bring her down and stop Hell once again.

When the Mother Demon was killed, I managed to find a portal that would take me back to Earth...but I decided against it. Hell would continue to try and take Earth unless someone was there to stop them, and with nothing left for me back home, I decided to stay behind and ensure that another invasion never happened.

After sealing the portal, I reloaded my weapons and trudged my way into the depths of Hell. Rage burning in my soul as I prepared to kill every last demon there was…

Or die trying.

X

I had no idea how much time had passed. Days, weeks, months, it could have even been years for all I knew. But I hadn't aged a day since I sealed myself in Hell. My weapons had long since run out of ammo and were broken after being used as clubs to continue the genocide of the hordes of demons that surrounded me.

Eventually, after countless fights and piles of bodies, my luck ran out. After taking out another group of demons using only my fists, I collapsed. Exhaustion and the injuries I sustained finally catching up with me.

I was easy pickings for any remaining demons in the area, but I ended up falling onto a cluster of runes carved into the floor that activated. Teleporting me out of Hell and sending me to parts unknown.

My next memory was waking up to being dragged along by two men wearing armor similar to that of medieval knights down a long stone corridor. Stopping in a large room where two men dressed as priests were waiting.

"We found him in the valley just outside the castle walls." the one on my left said before handing one of the priests my damaged helmet, "He was badly wounded, and wearing this."

Even though I could hear their words, my mind had been in a dense fog. After being in Hell for so long and overcome by rage and vengeance I was incoherent and only spouted gibberish about guts and wanting to kill demons.

"He has fight in him yet. Inspite of his injuries." one of the priests stated.

"Send him to the arena. Let him be judged like the others." the other added before I was dragged away again.

The next thing I know, I'm being thrown into a coliseum-like chamber where dozens of other men were fighting one another. I had all of a second to prepare myself as they attacked me as well.

Unfortunately for them, I was still overcome with blinding rage from my time in Hell and unleashed it on my opponents. Even though I was still wounded, I took down every challenger that rose up to face me. Breaking bones and spilling blood until there was no one left standing but myself.

"You'll make a fine addition to the frontlines, stranger." another priest, different from the previous two, stated as he approached. He was joined by another being, one covered in white armor and hovering above the floor with an odd power emanating around them.

"Dress his wounds and bring him to us. I want to know more about the others he spoke of." the being ordered, their voice metallic and feminine, but held an aura of power.

"Yes, your grace." the priest said with a bow before leading me out of the arena.

From that moment on, things had changed greatly. Once my rage dulled enough to allow me to think clearly again I discovered that I had been teleported to a completely different universe and on a world called Sentinel Prime. My old knowledge from my previous life about this world and the beings I have met up to this point came back and helped me understand what was happening and where things were heading.

For the most part, however, I went with the flow of events that followed.

After proving myself to the Order of the Deag and the Khan Maykr, I was treated for the wounds I had suffered in Hell before being sent to Argent D'Nur. Homeworld of the Argentians, an empire that was built on strength and reminded me a great deal of the Spartans from Greek history.

The people saw me as strange, foreign, many called me "Outlander" and didn't hide the fact that I wasn't trusted. But because I had proven my strength and skill to the clergy and the celestial being they served I had been inducted into the Argentan military for training.

As time passed, I had made a name for myself among the soldiers. The brutal way I fought had gotten the attention of many higher ups, including King Novik, the ruler of the Argentians, who had deemed me worthy of joining an elite group of soldiers called the Night Sentinels.

Knowing the events that were to follow, I accepted. But it was anything but smooth sailing.

The Night Sentinels didn't appreciate an "Outlander" joining their order, and made it their mission to either break me or boot me from their ranks. But I didn't waver, and proved my strength in spades regardless of their attempts to get rid of me...then it happened.

Argent D'Nur came under attack by Hell's forces, and I didn't hesitate to throw myself into the fight. My rage blazing like a supernova as I tore through their ranks with total abandon. Protecting the people of this world despite them treating me like an outsider, I wouldn't let the demons do to this world what they had tried to do to Earth.

When the battle ended, the very order that had treated me with contempt now treated me like a brother-in-arms. Having proven myself in spades by protecting their home and their people.

The war between Hell and Argenta had only just begun. The demons appeared and attacked on several fronts, but unlike Earth, the Argentians lived for battle and didn't give an inch.

During one such battle, Hell had sent one of their strongest demons to Sentinel Prime. A Titan that was called the Dreadnought. The strength and power of this demon became too much for even the Night Sentinels to handle, it had even put the Icon of Sin to shame. When all seemed lost...I was approached by a Maykr dressed in a long robe, the one many Argentians had called the Seraphim, who told me that he had a way for me to take down the Titan.

Wanting to end the battle and kill the Dreadnought, I accepted the Seraphim's offer. While at the same time a small part of my mind was anxious at the mere thought of where this was all leading.

Led into a sealed chamber within the castle that was known as the Chapel of Purity, the Seraphim brought me to a machine that would give me the power to bring down anything in my path, and bring fear to the heart of Hell's legion. Without hesitation I climbed inside and the Maykr activated it.

Within moments I was infused with energy beyond the mortal realm. I became stronger, faster, and even more brutal than before. Once I stepped out of the Divinity Machine, I was given a sword, the Crucible, an energy blade that was said to only be wielded by Sentinel Kings, and attacked the Dreadnought.

My newfound power helped me end the fight quickly, dropping the Titan after I planted the blade into its chest, piercing its heart. And as it fell, the remaining hordes retreated back to Hell.

The people who survived the battle were in awe as I stood on the corpse of the Dreadnought. A beast that none could even scratch that I had felled on my own. From that day on, I had been heralded as a champion, a chosen hero amongst the Argentians.

They also gave me a name that day. One that was praised all across the Sentinel worlds and was even carved into historical tablets to be remembered for all time.

I had become...the Doom Slayer.

X

Years passed, and the war against Hell continued to rage with me spearheading every battle. The power gifted to me by the Seraphim allowing me to go hours, days without tiring. My strength growing with every demon slain. Even though the Night Sentinels served King Novik, many looked to me for leadership when in the heat of battle. And I led them to victory on every front across multiple worlds and universes.

Some looked familiar to places I had seen in my previous life from movies, books and even video games that Hell was attempting to assimilate into their dark realm.

During one such journey, my Sentinels and I encountered another Earth that was more advanced than any other. The people, beyond thankful for what we had done for them, offered me a gift. A suit of armor, more powerful and durable than what I had been given on Sentinel Prime. A gift I graciously accepted, and wore with pride.

An armor many would later dub, the Praetor Suit.

Things had been going well...or so I thought.

After another battle against Hell's forces, I learned a dark truth. During the war against the demons, the Khan Maykr had made a deal with the demons. Building factories in Hell as a way to harvest mortal souls and convert it into Argent Energy to feed into the Maykr's homeworld of Urdak.

Worse of all, many Argentians sided with her. The revelation immediately sparked a civil war on the Sentinel worlds, making the war with Hell even more tense than it had been before.

Things had taken many bad turns, but then an opportunity to end the war with Hell presented itself. The Deag Priests gave us information that would help to stop the demons in their tracks and put an end to their deal with the Maykrs. I gathered the Sentinels under my command and we ventured into the darkest pits of Hell, retribution and rage burning in our hearts.

I had no way of knowing that it had been a trick.

The Deag Priests had betrayed us to the Khan Maykr, and trapped us in Hell so that they could bring an end to the civil war in their favor. Surrounded by endless hordes of demons, we did the only thing we could do.

We fought. We killed. We slaughtered. But I realized too late that my gifts from the Seraphim was also a curse as I watched my men dying one after another. Torn apart and devoured by the demonic hordes as I continued to fight on, my rage taking hold once again as I took my revenge for each comrade lost.

Overtime, it was only myself and my Second in Command Valen that remained...but the man who had become like an older brother to me revealed another horrible truth.

Valen had a son who had been taken my the demons. The traitorous Priests offered his son in exchange for the means to invade Argent D'Nur, allowing Hell to claim not only the heart of the Argentinian people, but the Elemental Wraiths that gave their worlds and people their strength.

In the end he got his wish. His son was shown to him, but his body and soul had been twisted by Hell's influence. He had betrayed his own people...for nothing.

The recent revelation had caused my rage to engulf me completely. I punched Valen in the face and marched into the Umbral plains, leaving my former Second in Command to self imposed exile while I went on a genocidal rampage that nearly tore all of Hell apart.

Nothing was spared from my rage, from the lowest Imp to the most powerful of Titans fell before me. The demons had long since started to fear my presence, many trying to fight me out of desperation to slow me down at most. I relished and craved the bloodshed, enjoying their terror and their pain as I tore them apart.

They had cost me my new life twice over. First with my new family on Earth, then again to Argent D'Nur. I intended to crush them and their realm until there was nothing left.

An untold amount of time passed. I had long since forgone any attempt of even figuring it out. Instead leaving mountains of bodies piled high everywhere I went. No longer caring which direction I headed as my feet kept moving forward.

I realize now that if I had been in my right state of mind, and not lost in a haze of rage and vengeance, I would have remembered that the demons had started to plan something for me. By then it was too late as I chased a small horde into the keep of a blood temple, where several Titans destroyed the mountain it had been under and buried me alive.

While I was unconscious, the demons stripped me of my armor and sealed me in a sarcophagus covered in runes. Trapping me in suspended animation with no way of escape while at the same time fully aware of what was happening around me.

They couldn't kill me, so they locked me away. Intending on keeping me that way for all eternity.

X

The messed up thing about being trapped in a small space unable to move, all you have is your thoughts.

During the time I was trapped in that sarcophagus I allowed my mind to wander. Thinking back to everything I had been through before and after I had been reborn. I had long since vowed to end not only Hell's entire population, but also the Deag Priests and the Khan Maykr herself.

I had also meditated during my incarceration, focusing my rage and sharpening my mind so that I didn't fall for another trap like the one that got me here.

There were also several times where I reviewed my knowledge of what was coming next. I knew I was going to be freed and would have to fix the UAC's mistake in another universe similar to the one my new life started in and save humanity once again.

So I waited, and waited...and waited.

Then the day came.

I awoke in a lab deep within the UAC facility on Mars after the sarcophagus had been opened. Naked and surrounded by walking corpses in the midst of a demonic invasion.

Breaking my chains, I killed the possessed employees around me and reclaimed my suit before briefly meeting the infamous Doctor Samuel Hayden who was one of only two survivors of this recent SNAFU. Forming a shaky alliance with him and the facility's AI VEGA, I set out to stop Hell from taking complete control of Mars and then Earth.

It felt good to be using guns again, I actually missed the feel of ballistic and energy weapons in my hands. And it was unfortunate for the demons who found themselves down range.

Despite everything thrown at me, including the interference of the crazy bitch that had started everything, I fought my way through Mars and back to Hell where I used a demonic variant of a Crucible to free the enslaved Wraiths in the remains of Argent D'Nur, cutting off Hell's supply of Argent Energy and then putting down another, upgraded SpiderMastermind.

Then, Hayden pulled me back to Mars. Kept me restrained as he took the Crucible from me and sent me away again.

At first I was enraged by what the bastard had done...until I saw where he had sent me.

I was confused at first, expecting to be sent back to Hell again. Instead, I found myself in a fortress-like structure floating in space with a planet in view of the main window of what I could only describe as a bridge or a war room.

The place was clearly a Sentinel creation. There was no way such a place could operate in the vacuum like a space station without some serious advanced technology. Once I looked the place over, I went back to the main room and saw a port on one of the consoles. Remembering that I had backed up VEGA when I overloaded his core to be sent to the Well where the Wraiths had been imprisoned, I fished out the drive the backup was contained in and inserted it into the console.

Surprisingly it worked. And VEGA had been uploaded to the main systems where he helped me unlock and access the rest of the fortress.

Once things had settled, I started planning. My AI companion informed me that the planet we were stationed above was a Sentinel world that had long since been abandoned. Using the portal system built into the fortress, I went down to the surface to explore and gather resources. Everything from raw materials to power sources in the form of old Sentinel batteries that had been left behind.

I didn't encounter any demons during my excursions, but I kept my skills sharp. As soon as VEGA locked onto Earth's coordinates we were going back.

I may have stopped Argent production and halted the invasion, but I knew that Hell and the Maykrs would make their move on Earth. There were scores to settle, and I wasn't going to rest until every mark on my list was put down.

After everything I had been through up to this point, I had fully accepted what I had become.

No longer was I the highschool kid that died. I had become a soldier, a survivor, a warrior.

And since then I had also become the Hellwalker, the Unchained Predator, the Beast, but more than that…

I am the DOOM SLAYER!

A/N: I have been out of the game for some time. What with Covid and countless other obstacles in the way. Now that I'm back, I've been cleaning house and working on various fics that I had left in the either for too long.

During my time away, and with having Doom Eternal's first DLC dropping along with news of the Mass Effect trilogy remake coming next year, I thought I would try my hand at my first Mass Effect crossover which will be a big divert from how I set up Slayer of Pandora.

First and foremost, before the reviews and possible flames start coming in. I did indeed go with the whole 'reincarnation' route with more than a little mystery on who or what caused it to add to the story. I had also covered the Slayers ENTIRE history, from birth through the events of Doom, Doom II, Doom 64, before and after Doom 2016, and into the events of Doom Eternal.

Next on the list is the name, Flynn Taggart. For the most experienced fan of the series, everyone knows that the Slayer had two possible names. In the novelization, the slayer's name was Flynn Taggart while on the other hand he was also William Blazkowicz III. I decided to go with the novelization name since Blazkowicz has been used a lot lately.

And lastly, many events will remain true to the original story on both sides. But with it being the Slayer and all, an OC reincarnation or not, there will be a lot of blood and carnage to be expected.

With that out of the way, I have much more writing to do. So keep on reading and reviewing and I'll began updating this fic and many others as well.

It is good to be back!