Intermission from Doom

[Doomguy]

Once I've answered the tykes's question and I've saw through his gentle mask, he dropped the innocent act immediately and revealed the much colder soldier hidden underneath. It was the way they hold themselves and the look in their eyes that makes it easy to spot. That sense of professionalism and discipline that was drill into the person's being, wrapped tightly around a core of murderous instinct and harrowing memories that they hoped no one would every truly find out. Most would be devastated to find that in someone so young, but i'm sad to report that this would not be the first time if seen child soldiers so close. Though this would the first time I've been with a friendly one.

Whatever sympathy was trying to well up and leak out was immediately squashed by both a cynical outlook on life and what the kid replied with to my own questioning. Now, I'm not saying I hadn't entertained the idea, or that I would be so surprised when I had already met fantasy creatures and monsters from beyond sanity at that point, but a ninja was not something I had expected to have a drink and shoot the breeze with. He mentioned the Tangled Green, and as I thought on it, it made sense that the most forested 'verse would have a hidden ninja village.

Oh god, this is sounding more ridiculous the more I hear myself say it.

"Well, I don't know about "Ninja Politics," I said as the waitress came by depositing my beer and an orange juice for the kid which I don't remember him ordering (although I did spot the note), thinking about what I knew on the subject. Mostly horse crap from terrible B-movies "but if it's anything like normal politics, then I don't envy your job." I finished with a bit of a chuckle as the kid's sigh. If the sigh was anything to go by, it was a bit more of a doozy then he was letting on. Or he's just doing that because he thought that just was bar flies did.

I took off my helmet and set it on the counter, both out of respect and so that I can drink my beer. I cracked the can open and started my own spiel (as the kid did give "the signal", after all).

"I went out to loot some abandoned fortress. Thought it was just going to be standard scavenge job. Apparently someone decided to book the Ugly Fishman Convention inside the place, and I had to go through the whole place while everyone else wanted to take my head" I took a sip of the cheap beer, giving a small frown at the swill but kept drinking it anyway. "A whole cavern of them were underneath the entire base. Don't ask me how they got there, 'cause I know jack all. Even after blasting their bosses, some giant monster spawned out of one of them. Biggest, ugliest fucker to come out of the sea I've ever seen. I got the hell out of there, it followed me back to the boat, nearly lost everyone, but I did manage to put it down" I took a particularly large gulp of beer at that and slammed the can back to the table with a bit too much force than needed. I was not happy to remember that, and it was probably blindingly obvious to everyone around me. I reined myself in, and tried to keep my own harrowing experiences back under wraps.

"Now I'm just kinda figuring out what I'm doing. Still kind of new to this whole 'Omniverse' thing. No idea how to get home, if there is even one." As I thought about it, I considered that if I was going to bitch a moan in front of someone, I might as well know they're name.

"I'm Doom Guy, by the way"