"So let me get this straight.", says Hayseed with a puzzled look on his face. "Dr. Batrugar was a human from another realm and wanted to open the gates of Hell?" Buckshot nods. "This raises a lot more questions then answers.", Hayseed says from his bed. "Like, where is he from, why open the gates to the most horrible place in the multiverse, and does Dr. Aurora know of this."

"Indeed." says Buckshot. "The opening of the first gate is probably how the Baron was able to come through to Sector 48 freely, instead of through the main portal."

"The cacodemons too." responds Hayseed. "I'm more concerned right now with who else is in this cult."

"We should assume that Dr. Aurora Foul is in on it, and maybe Cadence too." said Buckshot. He get's up and walk's to Dexter. "How long will it take to get back to Utopia Planitia?", he asks.

"At least two days.", responds Dexter.

"Two DAYS?!", Buckshot says in a frustrated voice. "The base could be destroyed in two days."

"If I could go faster I would.", says Dexter.

"Two more days of the middle of fucking nowhere.", Buckshot says with disappointment in his eyes. "Two more days until we can get off this planet. Two more days of-"

"Yeah we get the point.", says Hayseed. "Now stop being a pussy, because pussies won't survive out here."

The rover chugs slowly through the vast martian expanse kicking red dust behind it. Buckshot and Dexter take turns driving, Buckshot taking longer shifts to help keep him awake. Hayseed mostly slept. He need to so he could heal faster.

When not driving, Buckshot would lay in his corner in the back of the rover contemplating existence. He thought of Cadence's involvement in this, and weather or not she's a member of this new cult. He saw it not unlikely that she started it as long ago as the beginning of the Lazurus project, she being the one who looked into satanic culture.

The rover suddenly stops. Smoke can be seen from Buckshot's window. He heard Dexter cuss at the steering wheel.

"I'll go check it out.", he says. He gets up and walks over to the airlock. He puts on his EVA suit and leaves the airlock. The rover looked like it had been attacked, though such a thing had never happened. He walks to the back of the rover where he saw the smoke through the window. When he got there, it looked like an acid of some sort had melted through the engine compartment. He opened the compartment hatch and saw that the engine was completely destroyed.

"Hayseed,", he began over the comm. "Did anything happen other then the power outage in the rover while we were gone? Anything with acid by any chance?"

"No.", responds Hayseed. "I'm sure of it."

A glob of glowing green acid flew by Buckshot's face. A faint screeching noise was heard through the thin Martian atmosphere. Buckshot turned his head to see a demon not yet seen by the EAC. It was roughly the size of a pony, bore wings, had a split jaw, and what looked like blades the end of it's arms. It shot another acid ball at Buckshot, who dodges quickly.

"I think I found the cause of the breakdown.", he says as he jumps around to avoid being melted.

"Care to tell up what it is?", asks Dexter.

"Look out the window jackass.", shouts Buckshot.

"Lord what's up your ass?", says Dexter as he walks to the window. He sees Buckshot's situation. "Oh..." Dexter runs to the Airlock to grab his rifle and EVA suit. He begins the decompression cycle, but the power suddenly cuts out. The decompression cycle is cut and Dexter is stuck in the Airlock. "Hayseed the power's out and I'm stuck in the airlock.", he says over the comm.

Outside, Buckshot is still dancing with the demon, hearing Dexter's predicament. He know that he has the ability to, so he goes on the offensive and attacks the demon. He jumps onto the demon, that he now called a Gargoyle in his head, and starts punching it's face as hard as he can. He realizes his mistake as his punches do nothing. He finds himself under the gargoyle. He wrestles with it for about five seconds, but the gargoyle overpowers Buckshot and stabs him.

In the rover, Hayseed was limping to the back of it. He had to get the power back online to get Dexter out of the airlock. He opened the hatch to the power systems by Buckshot's window and saw that the battery was corroded. He had to replace it. this was no small task, especially for someone injured like Hayseed. The battery is an argent power cell. It's a good three feet tall and sixty pounds. Hayseed couldn't use his magic, because the argent energy would react with it and explode. And the spares were all the way by the airlock.

Hayseed heard Buckshot screaming over the comm as he got stabbed. He quickly limps over to the airlock to grab the oversized power cell. he opens the hatch for the spares and grabs the handle with his mouth. he pulls it out and drags for a full forty seconds over the ten feet to get to Buckshot's window (I forgot to mention how damn big the rover was in chapter four). He removes the old cell, corroded by acid like the engine. He lifts the new cell with all his strength and manages to attach it to the power systems.

The rover regains power and Dexter is able to exit the airlock. He fires his assault rifle at the gargoyle and kills it.

"Buckshot!", he shouts as he runs over to the his friend laying on the Martian surface. Buckshot was unconscious, having lost a lot of blood and his EVA suit being breeched, letting it decompress. Dexter quickly got him back to the rover and got him on life support. He wakes up four hours later.

"How long was I out?", he asks.

"Four hours.", replies Hayseed. "You lost a stupid amount of blood and was exposed to the Martian atmosphere."

"How am I alive?", asks Buckshot.

"I have no clue.", Hayseed answers.

"How's the rover?", says Buckshot, continuing to quickfire questions.

"The engine is damaged beyond repair.", says Hayseed. "We're stranded."

Author's Note

Gargoyle
Gargoyle (Doom Eternal) | Doom Wiki | Fandom