Sweet Little Space Marine

[Doomguy]

The transit from the endless void to the world beyond was deceptively smooth, to the point that if I wasn't coming from an endless space of dusk to a fluffy cloud I would have not even noticed the difference. So I was caught very unaware when I found myself in that fluffy cloud in some unidentified sky. First instincts told me to check my corners for some ugly abomination to jump me but it never came. The cloud was as safe (and soft, as I poked to see how it was holding my weight up) as it first looked. When I scanned the horizon, it looks exactly like a place a god would live: a mix of fluffy clouds and angels floating here to there while in the distance a gold gate barred to a city of wonder. The City itself, however, ended any semblance to some early cartoon's idea of heaven and into something that could only be considered its own thing. A mix of ancient Rome, Gothic Renaissance, and futuristic metropolis from Logan's Run. It was in equal parts a mishmash of styles and yet a seamless fusion.

Like I said, it looked exactly like where a god lives.

With a test bounce I found the gravity closer to that of the moon and bounced closer to the city, keeping any thoughts of what would happen if I was to slip and fall to the sideline.

Eventually I made it through the gate, all the while the angels greeted me warmly into the empty street. Like normal everyday people on a normal morning to a normal person, not angel analogs to a space marine who snapped Hell in half.

Finally I reached my destination, a long hall stacked with drinking tables far larger than the outside of revealed, decorated in tales of glory and tragedy down to the smallest detail. It was beautiful to behold, and some part of me wanted to stay here and take part in it's atmosphere. But I could not stop, and my goal was at it's end.

I stood before my captor, my hand on my holster. How ever this would end, I had the power to start it how I wanted it to.

"We finally meet. It's about time, Omni"

[Omni]

"Too right!" chirped Omni. "I've been waiting for you for what feels like ... forever!"

His omnipresent grin never faltered as he stated the next question: "What are you going to do with that gun, Flynn?"

[Doomguy]

Whatever I was expecting from Omni, it wasn't being a chipper as he was. Although that was perhaps the only possible thing he could be: No worries to live with, no needs to provide for, and endless entertainment at his finger tips. If he had any gripes with his position, it did not show. As he he looked down at the pistol my hand rested on, his smile never left him.

I looked down at it myself. It had been with me through everything, the military, Hell, AND the Omniverse. I had an idea of what I would do with it, even if that plan was an impossibility. Going up against a god seemed like suicide, but the Icon of Sin was no less daunting.

But it was when he said my name that I was fully surprised. I was mentally disarmed, not something new since I came here but that in particular shook me. It was a closely guarded secret, and here he said it as if we were old friends. He must have know my intentions, yet he had no ill will towards me.

I took my hand off the grip, but my hand did not leave my side.

"I don't know yet" and that was truer that I knew "That really depends on you. I want to see the green fields of Earth again, Omni. I want to go home."

[Omni]

"Straight to the point." Omni paused.

It was only a moment in truth, but it seemed like a long while.

"I won't do that."

[Doomguy]

I got the answer I expected. A straight refusal from the man at the top of the chain of command. It was perhaps the bluntest answer I’ve ever gotten from a big wig, but I appreciated the honesty even if it was going to result in bloodshed. My body shifted, my back of my feet raised slightly as I readied to move at a moment’s notice, my shoulders now diagonal to him and my hands tenses to spring for my weapons once everything goes nuclear..

“You know what I can do, Omni. Being omnipotent and all. It’s in the name and everything. You know what I’ve done. And more importantly, you know I’m not the kind of person who stops when I have a goal in mind”

I pulled the pistol from its holster. Absolute loyal. And near useless, especially at the final boss. I carefully put it down on a table nearby. Should I be vaporized in the next instant, it would be a fitting for it to out live me. Then I pulled out something much, MUCH bigger. The shoulder clamp of the BFG 9000 attached to it’s spot, and I gave Omni another look straight into his non-existent eyes.

“So we fight, and one of us is going to die. I might cease to exist, and I’ll consider that a worthy booby prize to being trapped here while demons destroy my world without me. Or I’ll find a way out without you.”

“Don’t hold back, because I sure as Hell won’t.” I said as I lifted the destroyer of Hell at my target and pulled the trigger.

[Omni]

The plasma blast seemed to suck in air from the whole room, charging before dispensing. Omni's grin sunk.

As Flynn Taggart raised the gun and fired it, everything went white momentarily. In the flash of that instant, as it seemed to touch Omni's outstretched fingers, it was gone. Simply gone.

Omni spoke. "Make me exert myself further and you'll regret it." It was the first time, before or after their true meeting, that Flynn had heard Omni adopt such a tone. It was still a child's voice, but a child with limitless power, if the name was to be believed.

[Doomguy]

I watched as the green plasma ball of death exited the BFG 9000 and hurled itself toward the creator of this realm. As it neared I was ready to book it to the side the god reached out and touched the orb of destruction. It vanished as at the two connected, and Omni leaned back to where he was. It did exploded and do nothing, it didn’t wane, it didn’t dissipate. It was simply gone. I stopped in my tracks, stunned with disbelief, and never before then did I feel so small and helpless.
When he put down his ultimatum with the threat he’d do something I'd regret if I attacked him again, I absolutely believed. It was a child’s voice that came from that mouth, but it was clear one with authority and power beyond my comprehension. I was in no place to make demands. I slowly placed the BFG back across my pack, holstered the pistol after I got it back, and sunk my shoulders in true defeat.

Then I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. Well, I wasn’t just going to leave, now was I?

I worked really hard to get there.

“So why won’t you send me back? You imply that you CAN, but there’s a reason that you don’t.” In my mind I thought perhaps I could convince him otherwise. Force might have been the thing I’m best known for (I built a reputation on it), but it was not the only tool I had access to. I never considered that he might convince me. “If it’s a “I haven’t deserved it” thing, I’d be more than happy to go back and do what you want me. If it means getting the golden ticket to go home”

But as I reached down for a ration bar at my belt, I thought back to Guu and the theories we talked over.

“Or is there another reason? Was I,” I barely choked the next words out, “never really gone?”

[Omni]

Omni waited until the marine was done speaking. When finally, the anger, frustration and sadness reached a dam, he responded. His trademark smile blossomed only at the corner of one side of his mouth.

"Yeah, you got it. You're you, and you're ... him. Him that's still in the other world.

"And deserving doesn't even factor into it. You wanna go back, you'll have to kill me." Omni's grin reappeared with a giggle. "Kill me, destroy everything here. And for what? The old you is still there .... killing demons. Seems like an awful lot of trouble for such a low ambition."

The next laugh was almost an eruption. Cruel. Hard. "Set your sights on something lower."

[Doomguy]

I leaned forward, rest my head down into my fists as I learned the truth. I WAS a clone. I remembered saying that I wouldn't have considered it a big deal, but it hit me at the core. All that anger, the frustration, and the grit I had spent putting myself through getting there, now all felt hollow. Even if I did do it, I would have destroyed everything and abandoned everyone else to do it. I would never had been able to live with myself if I had gone through with it. I was worked up for nothing, and at the end I got told I needed to go back and be a little less of a dreamer. I sunk in that chair, it felt draining.

And yet, it was also a relief. That I, er, the real me was still out there kicking ass and taking names.

"I guess there is better thing to do back there" I thumbed over my shoulder. Then a bit of shock went down my spine "Damn, I abandoned a lot of people on that island. I feel like I'm going to need to ask you for a few solids."

Then a thought crossed my mind. It was a silly idea, I didn't know if it would work, but I was in front of an omnipotent being.

"So if the old me is still around out there, can I... get an update? Everything that's happened to him, I want to know. I'm sure this sounds stupid, and I'm asking you something unorthodox after I just shot at you, but if I, er, Omniverse me, can't leave to see home again, I can still think that I did right?"

[Omni]

Omni bit his lip mischievously. "Alright. Not too much. Just a little bit. You did make it here, after all."

He glanced left and right as though breaking some rule, then beckoned with a flick of his fingers. Doomguy walked forward, until he was close enough for Omni to touch him. The child's fingers closed in on Taggart's forehead.

The briefest sensation was one that Doomguy couldn't readily attribute to anything he'd felt before.

[Doomguy]

If I had to describe what it felt like as I walked up to Omni and his finger poke of god, it would be fear. Yes, I can admit when I'm afraid and in this case I'm absolutely okay with that. This was the first time I was willing putting myself in danger without a plan. I was willing letting myself be changed, and the idea of no longer being who I was a moment ago is one of those extensional crisis everyone has. Except in this case I was letting it happened. You do crazy things when you're homesick.

Not that I'm crazy.

The sensation as Omni touched me in a weird place is hard to describe. If I had to describe it, and I guess I am considering I'm telling you this, it was like being a pitcher being made of thin glass being filled with concrete. I'll be honest, that's me guessing. A close approximation that really fails to describe anything to anyone who'd understand it even less. It only lasted an instant, but it felt like a whole other lifetime

Memories, memories that were mine and yet not, flashed through my mind. The base on Io, the Demon-Spitter, the Gatekeeper, more and more demonic invasions as the UAC played with fire. The abandoned relay satellite, the demon keys, destroying the Mother of all Demons with the Unmaker. The decision to stay in Hell to keep them from ever returning. The rage, the Titan's skull ripped free by my hands. The unending vigil, the name Doom Slayer on the lips of of the demonic. The loneliness, forgotten on the shores of Hell. Argent D'Nur, The Wraiths, The Night Sentinels. Two betrayals, a grieving father and a penitent demon. Kadingir Sanctum, the trap, buried alive. Mars, the UAC again, Argent Energy, Samuel Hayden, Olivia Pierce. I nearly fell on my ass when it was over, and I wobbled in place as everything snapped back into place.

I looked down at the armor I wore. It was the same I wore a second ago, but it didn't feel quite right anymore. Even if I knew it was the same armor, or at least pieces of it, that I had kept with me all that time. Or, real me, that is.

"That..." I couldn't quite put a word to it "...was something else"

[Omni]

Omni's grin widened. "Right?"

[Doomguy]

I took the chair again, scooting it a little closer than I was before. I was still coming down from what I could best describe as a high via mind fuck, but everything was normalizing. At least i felt normal, but then I knew once I got back to the Omniverse proper I'd probably be "remembering" things I only had memories of eight seconds ago. I had complete with my goal, or as completed as I could possibly be without causing the destruction of the home and lives of those behind me. Now I didn't have much else reason to be other, but considering how long it took me to get there, ugly monsters I had to reduce to a pile of gore, and stuck up Empire officers I had to take orders to sit where I was sitting, I was owed at least a few answers.

"So what do you do here all day?" I looked around the grand hall again. The craftsmanship of would be admirable if it was actually made by hand. "I'm sure you have a lot of fun, but it seems lonely to me"

[Omni]

Omni laughed, and again, it was that harsh laughter, real nasty playground stuff. "The great Doomguy wonders if I'm lonely. I'm fine." It sounded petulant for a second. "I have all my friends here with me."

Omni gestured around to the walls, and they lit up with images. "Look, it's Dante's Abyss! You missed it this time round."

Doomguy's attention was caught, and then the moment he looked back, Omni was on the floor, playing with two actions figures - one blue and one green. "Save me, Cell!" he affected in a girly voice, before dropping to one lower. "Heh, you don't have to worry, Graowr." He turned the green action figure away. "I'll hold these guys for you. HUAH!"

[Doomguy]

I mentally chafed at Omni’s laughter as he moved to the floor and played with his little action figures, while the images around me showed that another Dante’s Abyss had happened while I was on my trek to Omni’s realm. Had it really been that long? Time was starting to feel like it was a pointless thing, and I hadn’t even considered if Primes even COULD age. Even with the revelation of being a totally creation of the Omniverse, I wasn’t sure about how to feel about the idea of immortality. Still kinda not.

“Well, I happened to know what it feels like.” I crossed my arms toward the godchild’s antics. I can say Omni is as annoying as you’d expect, if nothing else “I can sympathize, although clearly you don’t need it”

I thought of a question I might need to know, or at least some knowledge to bring back (I’m sure Oracle would have appreciate me learning something), when something tipped my mind.

“How powerful IS Omnilum. Your recorded message implied anything, but there’ has to be a limit. I assume we can’t be more powerful than you, considering you’re the god of this place and all. But can we make our own gates to the ‘verse? Maybe even our own universes? ”

I had to stop and think about what that meant.

“Although “Doomguyverse” really does not roll off the tongue” I mused. But damn, it’d be cool. Right?

Don’t give me that look. It'd be awesome.

[Omni]

Omni looked up from his toys. His grin widened until it unsettled Doomguy. "Why don't you try, instead of assuming what you can and can't do?"

OOC note: personal verses aren't yet finished on a gameplay level. Srry. :x So for now it's "more than you can afford", even though it might not be.

[Doomguy]

I was about ready to give a smartass retort for the smartass answer the white god like being gave me, but I was close to toss it out when the part of my brain that wants to live pinged me and I considered that, although that nugget of wisdom was as useful as a nugget of pyrite, he was not wrong. I hated when people were not wrong. They tended to be more obnoxious than people who were right.

"Well, I guess that's really all I need to know, isn't it? I really got everything I need, and what I wanted before I got here is now a pointless. I'd say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I'm sure both of us could have used our time for something more productive." I joked. It truth, this WAS a life changing experience, and I was grateful I had come all this way even if it was strictly speaking for nothing. I was left purposeless, but with a new life. And the thinking of about being purposeless, when you're a go-getter like me, is that you're very rarely like that for long.

But as I thought back to "home", a little idea that popped into my mind and my smile grew almost as large as Omni's .

"So hey, I need a small favor. I mean, I already need a favor because I need to get the guys who got me this far back to safety, but there's another one: SO there's this bubblegum girl named Guu. You might know her. She's REALLY into you, and I'd really like to make her jealous that I met you. So..."

I got out my PDA and held it up like it was a little gold ticket.

"Could I get a selfie with you?"

[Omni]

"Of course!" Omni grinned. "Tell Guu I said hi."

[Doomguy]

If I had met my younger self and told him that his journey would result in him taking a selfie with a god of a personal multiverse, he would not believe me. I wouldn't believe me, and I like to think I'm a trustworthy guy. But there I was, doing exactly that with a dumb smile on my face. I turned around, holding the camera up ahead of me while removing my helmet so that any viewer could get a good look of both of our faces. I pointed my thumb back toward the big galoot and gave a big wicked smile, while he gave the face you'd expect. A click later and I had something no one else in the Omniverse probably had. I gave a smirk to myself as I saved the image to folder and placed the PDA back in it's place.

"You're a good guy, Omni. Still kinda an asshat, but a good guy" I said I turned back "Unless you can any more pearls of wisdom you want to share, I'm going back. Demons to kill, totalitarian empires to crush, terrorist to snap in two, people to meet and shoot at. You know, that kind of thing. Drop me off at the Nexus, I'll find my way from there"

Where one story ends, another begins. I had reached a point where the old me was... well, not gone, he was still fucking up the servants of Doom elsewhere in the universe. But I was not longer him. I never got my parade and ticket home, but I considered this new charge as a new me was born.

A new me that was still ready to break the Omniverse's worst and pull the down trodden and hopeless back into the surface of the light. To throw myself into the underverse and fight the prime evil his ugly fucking self.

But that's a story for another time.

[Omni]

Omni smiled. "Something tells me this is the last time you'll be dropping in but ... I'll be watching. Keep it entertaining."

And with that bit of lip, everything vanished as though the world itself had become an extreme close-up of Omni's forehead.