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In the Slayer's original dimension on the planet, Earth, humanity was starting to recover from the invasion of Hell thanks to the efforts of the Doom Slayer who stopped the Icon of Sin and the Khan Maykr from eliminating humanity. The Armored Response Coalition (ARC), which acted as the first line of defense against the demons, is left broken and scattered with the majority of their remaining forces stationed on the ARC carrier which traverses the oceans of Earth without drawing the attention of any demons. This large carrier was a massive station that was several times larger than an aircraft carrier. It was their current base of operations due to the demons destroying their previous ones.
On-board the ARC carrier, inside the large deck of the ship providing a view to the outside world, sat a young intern at ARC who donned a simple pair of glasses and had buzz-cut hair. He wore a standard green and black uniform issued to ARC employees. He was surrounded by his superiors who were currently keeping tabs on demonic activity across the planet and searching for the Doom Slayer who has been missing for quite some time now. No one knows what happened to him after the awakening of the Dark Lord. The Intern had worked closely with the Slayer for a brief period of time as he helped the Hellwalker retrieve the Dark Lord's essence and awaken him so he felt partially responsible for the disappearance of humanity's greatest hope.
The Intern was barked at by his superiors for not focusing on his duties, this made the young man realize he had zoned out as he apologized for his incompetence. He returned his attention back towards his computer screen and began shifting through several screens, each displaying various things: recent demonic activity, ARC unit deployments, ARC carrier trajectory, etc. The young man stopped once a blinking blue light next to the monitor of his computer began flashing repeatedly. The Intern raised his eyebrows in surprise as he quickly changed his screen to see what the issue was. It was a friendly beacon signal coming from an unknown part of the galaxy… wait… was it even in their galaxy?
The Intern called out to his superiors to indicate the strange occurrence on his screen. The older men gathered around the man, wearing similar attire and glasses, as they leaned towards the screen to study it. The older men couldn't understand how an ARC signal was being transmitted from an unknown part of their galaxy or if it was even there to begin with. Strange occurrences such as this aren't normal by any standard… but they are when the Doom Slayer is involved. This had to be it! This had to be the Doom Slayer requesting help. The Intern presented his idea towards his superiors who looked at him skeptically. The young man elaborated, "Who else but the Doom Slayer would know our signal and be in an unknown system? He's been missing for several months so this could explain where he's been all this time!"
One of his superiors caressed his chin as he explained, "You make a valid point but this could also be a trap as well. We must be prepared for the worst. Make preparations for a portal, we're going to see who's sending that signal and how they got there."
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It was in the middle of the night in 1900s japan, the Slayer stood outside the Butterfly Mansion with the beacon setup next to him as it was powered by Xernex's power core. The Slayer had Xernex's argent axe hanging around his waist while he held his cherished Super Shotgun in his hands. He had been separated from his favorite toy for far too long. Thankfully, Xernex didn't damage it which was a relief for the Slayer. The warrior had been waiting outside for several minutes and nothing had happened. Granted, he wasn't sure what he was going to get in the first place. He is trying to send a signal to a different dimension, the fact that he was able to get any of this to work was a miracle in its own right. For all he knows, it may take days or even months for a signal to reach someone and potentially longer for whoever receives it to actually respond. The Slayer had to be ready just in-case he received a swift response so he had taken all of his belongings with him, that being the argent axe and his super shotgun. He didn't want to go through the trouble of saying goodbye to anyone there, the only person he legitimately cared about would be Tanjiro and he didn't want to see the boy's face crumble into tears once he left. He's not in the mood to be dealing with an emotional teenager, he'd rather get out of here quickly and get things over with back in his dimension.
That does remind him, he should probably make sure he's the only one staying up at this time of the night, he wants to leave without a trace and wants no reason to go back to this forsaken dimension. The man went inside the Butterfly Mansion and quietly checked each of the rooms. Everyone was sound asleep and accounted for. Soon, it was time to check on Tanjiro as he opened the door to Kanao's room quietly to see Kanao, Tanjiro, and Nezuko cuddled together underneath a blanket as they quietly snored while holding each other. Good, he doesn't have to worry about any of them now. The kid will be fine, he's able to move at least and he has people to take care of him. The Slayer's done all he needs to do here, it's time to get back. As the Slayer closed the door to Kanao's room and began heading back outside, Tanjiro opened his eyes to look at the door that just closed.
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"Portal opening on 3.. 2.. 1.. Opening!" The Intern announced as all of the faculty members stared at the center of the deck which had a built-in portal system and a pathway to lead up to it at the bottom of a staircase. A portal ignited from the center of the portal frame of the deck as the black portal with a blue ring spiralled to life and expanded to fill the empty space of the portal frame. The ARC employees stood in awe, anxiously waiting to see what would step through that portal.
There was a moment of dread, excitement, and anxiety as the crew stared into the blank void of the portal. They were relieved once they saw the Doom Slayer step through while carrying the Super Shotgun in both hands with the Marauder's argent axe swinging from his hip. All of the ARC crew within the deck of the carrier cheered and clapped upon seeing the return of the Doom Slayer to their world. Humanity's hope has been returned to them at last! The warrior said nothing as he began taking several steps forward, away from the portal. With the Slayer away from the portal, the Intern went to shut down the machine which caused the ring to shrink out of existence.
Just before the portal closed, the Slayer stopped once he heard a loud "THUD" sound as if something had just fallen to the floor behind him. The members of the ARC all leaned in, making a "Huh?" sound upon seeing what was behind the Slayer. The warrior turned around to see Tanjiro on the floor behind him, lifting his head up as the boy sheepishly said:
"Bet you weren't expecting to see me here." The boy felt flustered and embarrassed, fully expecting the older man to be furious with him once more. Instead, the Slayer knelt down and extended one hand towards Tanjiro while holding the Super Shotgun in the other. Tanjiro gladly took the warrior's hand as he was lifted onto his feet. Tanjiro quickly explained, knowing the man would want an explanation, "I'm sorry, Mister Flint, I acted on impulse. I didn't want you to leave and.. without thinking, I kind of got my stuff ready and went through the portal with you…"
The Slayer didn't realize that Tanjiro was wearing his demon slayer uniform underneath his checkerboard haori and his nichirin blade hanging around his hip. The boy looked the same as he did before the Super Doom Hunter except for his mechanical feet and hand which were connected to a larger prosthetic obscured by his clothes. The warrior already knew better than to scold the boy for his reckless actions, he expected no less from the brat which is why he finds Tanjiro annoying. That's why he intentionally tried to leave without saying goodbye to the boy because he didn't want to put up with this. The Slayer put his hand on Tanjiro's head and ruffled his hair in response.
The Intern then called out to the Slayer, "Do you want me to reopen the portal for the kid?"
The Slayer turned around and shook his head as he explained, "No, the kid's with me for the time being." Tanjiro's face lit up with a mix of pride and joy knowing the man wasn't furious with him. He attempted to compose himself as much as possible in the presence of so many strangers and a new environment.
The ARC employees looked at each other, shocked by the sound of the Slayer's voice as they commented, "My god… he can talk...!" The crew began speaking amongst themselves and making strange glances towards Tanjiro, the boy was amazed by the scenery around him as he looked around the glass deck of the ship. He was able to see the clouds and even the ocean, this was completely alien to him. The technology he stood upon, the floor, the glass, the way the ARC crew was dressed, it was all so new to him!
The Slayer gestured for Tanjiro to follow behind him as the two began ascending the staircase. The warrior called out towards the intern as he inquired, "What's happened since I've been gone?"
The Intern wasn't used to hearing the warrior's voice as much as the rest of his peers but the young man knew not to keep the warrior waiting as he quickly debriefed, "Since you've been away, there's been a significant decrease of demonic activity on Earth but an increase of demonic activity on other planets. However, the demons have been gathering around the Gate of Divum, most likely in anticipation of your arrival. We've been tracking their movements for the last couple months and it seems they're more focused on preparing for your return rather than conquering."
The Slayer figured as much, the Dark Lord would want as much defense around him as possible until he regained his strength which has probably replenished by now. The Slayer thought for a brief period of time, making a "hmm" sound as the Arc employees continued staring at the warrior. The Intern looked towards Tanjiro who was having a difficult time understanding their conversation which made the Intern ask the warrior a question, "Umm, Doomguy, I mean… Doom Slayer, sir, is this.. your son…?"
Tanjiro introduced himself while boldly extending his hand for a handshake, "My name is Tanjiro Kamado, nice to meet you! I'm from Japan and I am a demon slayer." The intern stared at Tanjiro, perplexed by the explanation he was just given as he went to shake the boy's hand. He was not confused because he didn't understand what Tanjiro said, but rather, the takeaway from that entire introduction as the Intern thought to himself:
"So… he likes Japanese women? Who would've guessed."
The Slayer finished thinking, he had ignored the conversation that just happened as he asked, "What's the status of the Doom Fortress?"
The Intern sat down on his computer as he pulled up a screen monitoring the Slayer's base of operation which was still orbiting around the planet. The young man explained, "Still fully operational, I don't think it'll run out of power any time soon."
"Good, I want you to make a portal to the Doom Fortress, there's something I have to retrieve." The Intern nodded in acknowledgement as he wasted no time in preparing another portal for the Doom Slayer.
In the meantime, Tanjiro looked towards the Slayer and asked, "What do you need to get?"
"You'll see."
It didn't take long for another portal to be set up as the portal frame breathed life into another gateway for the Slayer and Tanjiro to step through. The Hellwalker did a simple head gesture to indicate for the boy to follow along which he did. The two of them stepped through the portal without caution. For them, they blinked and suddenly, they were inside the deck of the Slayer's Doom Fortress. Tanjiro was even more amazed now as he looked around and took in the scenery of the Maykr Technology that was the foundation of the fortress. However, the boy was not prepared to see outer space for the first time as the boy ran up to the window screen pointed towards the Earth as his eyes widened. Tanjiro was looking in every direction as he called out to the Slayer, "Whoa! Where is this?!"
The warrior walked next to Tanjiro as he bluntly stated, "That is Earth. All those tiny lights out there are stars and millions of other planets that have yet to be explored. Japan is right there." The Slayer knelt down as he pointed at an isolated corner of the rotating green, blue, and white sphere in front of them. Tanjiro was astonished as he muttered to himself:
"So that's Japan? It's so small! What are all these other places?"
"Different continents that cover the entire world. Japan only makes up a tiny spec of the Planet Earth and Earth is a tiny spec in the galaxy, even smaller than the stars you see right now." Tanjiro continued looking around, he had never seen anything like this before in his entire life. Sure, he learned about stars and different planets from his family, they would always show him different constellations during the starry night sky but everything looked so different from outside the planet.
"So, that means there's civilizations all across the galaxy…! Each of them, unique and small compared to the stars we orbit. Wow…!"
"It's a lot to take in, hm? Really puts into perspective how tiny we are compared to everything else. It's not just Earth that's been tainted by the demons, I bet every civilization across the stars has been scorched by Hell's flames at this point, all because of the Dark Lord."
Tanjiro stood still as he processed the information he was being fed. He had to come to terms with everything that was happening, it was a lot for him to acknowledge. However, his attention shifted back to the Doom Slayer who ushered the boy to follow him. Tanjiro did as told as the two of them walked through the many rooms of the Doom Fortress. They went down numerous staircases, each leading into another larger room that was filled to the brim with strange artifacts unlike anything the boy has ever seen before. The hallways they passed through hung various Sentinel flags that were ripped and tattered but still hung up. Vents in the ceilings were feeding oxygen into the room so they could breathe as Tanjiro could see a mist hovering over the vents they passed by. Even a few Maykr statues could be spotted inside the various rooms of the Fortress of eventually stepped in front of a large, circular door that slid into the walls to grant them access to the room it protected.
They stepped inside to see a room filled to the brim with various toys, posters, and accessories that were either sprawled on the floor or neatly hung up. Tanjiro rushed over to a cabinet built into the wall and marvelled at the various figurines neatly organized next to each other. He immediately recognized a miniature figurine of the Doom Slayer standing at the top left corner of the shelf and retrieved it. Tanjiro fiddled with the toy for several seconds as he moved its various joints before putting it back, glancing around until he noticed a figurine of Xernex that stood closer to the center. The boy asked in response to seeing the collection of figures, "Whoa, did you make these?"
The warrior was staring at a painting on the opposite side of the room with his arms crossed as he let out a nonchalant, "mhm." Tanjiro tilted his head out of confusion as he noticed the Slayer seemed uncharacteristically zoned out and was even more surprised once the warrior removed his helmet and held it between his arm and his side. Tanjiro walked up to a painting of the Slayer holding the Super Shotgun in one hand and a brown rabbit in the other. Tanjiro didn't need to be a rocket scientist to make the connection as he looked at the painting of Daisy on the wall. Tanjiro asked once more:
"Did you make this as well?"
"Yeah. Most of the things in this room have either been made or modified by me." Tanjiro's eyes widened in realization as he looked around the room and studied every aspect of it. There were strange instruments hanging up on the wall next to the figurines, a large desk with a computer setup with food, figures, and comics sprawled on it. Behind the setup was a welding station where the warrior made modifications to his armor as the boy could see some of the parts that were removed from the praetor suit simply laying around on the workbench. No wonder the warrior was able to readily prepare a set of prosthetic limbs for Tanjiro and create a beacon with such limited tools, this is his hobby! It made the boy wonder what type of career the man would pursue had he not lost everything to the demons. Tanjiro's attention soon fixed itself upon the weapons rack near him and found his eyes glued to the various tools hanging up on the wall: the combat shotgun, heavy cannon, chaingun, chainsaw, plasma gun, a sentinel ballista, rocket launcher, the BFG 9000, and the Unmaykr. However, within the center of the weapon rack stood the hilt for a bladeless sword, erected on a podium.
Tanjiro walked up to the bladeless hilt and asked, "Mister Flint, what's this?" The Slayer finally exited his daze as he walked over and grabbed the handle of the blade before explaining:
"This is the Crucible, the same one I told you about before and the one that crowned me as warrior king of the Night Sentinels. I used it one last time to stop the Icon of Sin the same way I did the Dreadnought back in Taras Nabad, the blade is still plunged within the skull of the demon." The warrior hooked the blade onto his hip as he began making his way towards his work bench and explained to Tanjiro, "Feel free to take whatever figure you want, I don't need them anymore."
Tanjiro shook his head profusely as he denied, "N-no! These are yours, Mister Flint, I don't deserve to have them! Besides, I-'' The Slayer abruptly cleared his throat to indicate that he was not going to repeat himself. Tanjiro understood the message and walked towards the figurine collection and hesitantly grabbed the Slayer and Xernex's figurines as those were the only ones that drew his attention. Tanjiro took one last look at the various tools hanging up on the wall and asked, "Mister Flint, what would you be if you had not lost everything to the demons? Would you be a craftsman of some sort?"
The Slayer answered quickly, "Maybe, after I retired from the military. However, I wanted to fulfill my duty and protect others, that was my first priority. Unlike the rest of the men in my platoon, I joined voluntarily."
"Ah, I see." The boy took an interest in what the man was doing, walking up to the Doom Slayer who was sitting down at his work bench with his gauntlets removed. The boy looked around the bench, trying to figure out what the Slayer was doing and asked, "What're you trying to do, Mister Flint?"
"I'm adding grappling hooks to my suit. I'm going to need as much mobility as possible while fighting against the Dark Lord and I can't afford to rely on my Meathook all the time, not while I'm using the Crucible."
Tanjiro gave the warrior a perplexed look as he glanced towards the bladeless hilt hanging off the Slayer's hip and back to the warrior before pointing out, "How are you going to use the Crucible without a blade?"
"I wasn't talking about this Crucible." Tanjiro cocked his head out of confusion, he didn't understand the Slayer's intentions at the moment or what the plan was right now. All he could do is wait and find out.
It didn't take the Slayer long to install grappling hooks into both of his gauntlets after several test trials. The warrior pointed his wrist and the grappling hook would shoot towards the direction he pointed. It was fully functional after several hours of modifications but they were soon ready as the Slayer slid the gauntlets back on and equipped his helmet. The Slayer took his leave as he began powering down everything in the room and stopped at the painting of Daisy on the wall, gently caressing the painting before turning his attention towards the door and leaving.
The Slayer took Tanjiro to the power room of the Doom Fortress and introduced the boy to the source of power that provided the base with a reddish tint due to its coursing red energy. They walked towards the center of the room which had a stylized tube that extracted power from the object that hovered above it. The source of power that was obscured by a constant stream of bright red argent energy was a hilt which was composed of bone and formed a skull for it's hilt. Tanjiro then asked in response to seeing the hilt, "So what is this thing?"
"This is the Demonic Crucible. To be honest, I don't know the story behind this thing or how it shares similarities to my Sentinel Crucible. However, I need a Crucible that's ready for me to use. I don't have the time to go back to Taras Nabad and forge myself a new blade. I've already wasted enough time as is."
"W-wait! Isn't this thing powering up your fortress right now?! What's going to happen once you take the Crucible?!"
The warrior stated before plunging his fist into the beam of argent energy, "This place has served its purpose." and grabbing the Demonic Crucible. The man effortlessly ripped the weapon out of the stream of energy and once it was removed, the entire fortress went dark as all the lights turned off, leaving the two of them in darkness. The Slayer ignited the Demonic Crucible in his hands, revealing the crimson red blade of the Crucible to Tanjiro who marvelled at its design.
Tanjiro still couldn't understand why the Slayer was suddenly casting aside his belongings but the boy decided to play along as he asked, "O-kay…? So, what's the plan now?"
"I have to get to Immora using the Gate of Divum which is being protected by the demons. However, I'll have to retrieve a suitable power source from the World Spear before I get there."
"Alright, sounds like a plan! When do we head out?"
"Before all that, there is something else I need to take care of in Argent D'nur. I need to get in touch with someone."
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Kanao's eyes cracked open as she slowly started to regain consciousness. As she woke up, she realized that she wasn't holding onto Tanjiro anymore which made her eyes shoot open in a panic as she stood up as fast as possible, disregarding the vertigo she felt from getting up so quickly. She rushed out of the room in a desperate search for her boyfriend as she repeatedly called out his name. Her commotion woke all of the other members of the mansion, including Zenitsu and Inosuke who were in the infirmary room. They asked what the commotion was about and Kanao explained in a panic-stricken state that Tanjiro was missing. That's when they noted that they didn't see the Hellwalker as well. They went to check the man's room to see that the man's beacon was no longer there as well as his belongings.
Kanao understood what the beacon was for, but if it wasn't here as well as the Doom Slayer, that must mean that the Hellwalker must've returned to his dimension by now and if Tanjiro isn't here as well, that must also mean that Tanjiro went with him. She rushed towards the outskirts of the Butterfly Mansion to confirm her suspicions and found the fully functioning beacon on the ground with Xernex's power core still feeding energy into it. Kanao felt devastated but also relieved at the same time. She was relieved that Tanjiro was at least safe with the Hellwalker but she was devastated that Tanjiro would leave without saying a word or giving an explanation. She has to believe in him, she knows he's going to come back. She decided to kneel down next to the beacon and try to understand how it worked. She might be able to go with Tanjiro if she could figure out how to get this thing to work. She wasn't going to give up on Tanjiro, not without trying!