Chapter 1: This must be a dream
Erik always loved to come home after a hard day of working at his less than favorable job in assembly and start up Overwatch on his Xbox One.
"Alright", he shouted to himself, "Time for some quick play!"
He chose to play Mystery Heroes, so he always feels comfortable with every character in the large roster. Erik himself was quite the devoted "fan boy" that most gamers would call someone like him. Upon first release, he delved into the deep lore and characteristics of Overwatch and immediately fell in love with it.
"Die! Die! Die!", shouted Erik, as he imitated Reaper's ultimate.
As far as his own personality, it was about as much as any other male at age 25. Full of youth, but athleticism. Knowledge of much, yet much to learn. He was neither political, nor overly spiritual albeit his own faith in the Norse pantheon. He found himself to have better days sitting at home playing a game to himself, rather than go out to a bar with his drunken friends. His life was average, to say the least.
Erik soon looked at the clock on his Xbox, surprised to see that time moved faster than himself whilst having fun.
Damn, already almost midnight?! Guess I better get to bed before I show up to work looking like a zombie. Shit, I'm probably not even going to be able to listen to my music before I go to sleep.
Erik shut down his Xbox, took a shower and climbed into his full-size bed. After a few dragged minutes of tossing and turning, he finally drifted off into a slumber, but it was at this point that he had no idea where his dreams began.
Watchpoint Gibraltar: 1700 hours
"We've got intel of a Talon base operating in plain sight nearby on the coast. It seems they're trying to compromise the security of our watchpoint and prod it for any weaknesses!" Soldier 76 shouted to his teammates.
"What do you mean they're operating in plain sight?" Winston retorted, as he adjusted his glasses.
Soldier 76 gave a deep sigh, cracked his knuckles and proceeded to fiddle with the holoscreen, "I mean they're literally on the coast of Morocco observing the watchpoint as we speak. The base is underground. If it wasn't for Lena accidentally pressing the sonic receiver while during her landing sequence, we wouldn't have even known about it."
Winston, appalled that Talon is desperate to try and end Overwatch at their strongest base of operations, simply shook his head with a gruff.
"Well, that would explain how they were able to attack this place earlier on with as much firepower they had. They must use that base as a forwarding point", said Winston.
"My thoughts exactly", Soldier 76 continued, "That's why I'm giving us exactly 1 hour to gear up and get out of here. Let's bust this bunker so hard that they'll wish they thought twice before trying to pull such a risky maneuver!"
Cheers came from most of the gathered Overwatch members around the holoscreen. Soldier 76 was rough, but he knew when to give one hell of a speech, even when it was completely unnecessary. The recall for Overwatch members to come back to Gibraltar wasn't long ago and Talon's activities had kept them incredibly busy as of late, but now with this inconvenience, it could possibly give Talon the edge that Overwatch desperately can't let them have.
"Let's be sure to not have any casualties out there", spoke a kind Angela Zeigler, as she brushed a lock of her hair from her face.
Soldier 76 ordered back, "Let's hope not, Angela, but we can't make any promises."
He again turned back to the holoscreen, "Alright, Tracer is going to fly us in and we'll land 500 meters away. From there, she'll bomb the furthest corner of the base shown here", he points to the screen, "and punch a hole for us to get through. From there Reinhardt will lead with myself, Winston, McCree, Genji and Mercy following behind."
Talon Base Morocco: 1800 hours
Reaper phased his way over to a Talon soldier sitting by a computer screen.
"Reaper, there's something here in the base with us. Just came in without accessing the hatch or any of the emergency exits. Life signs are erratic", the soldier explained to Reaper.
Widowmaker, whom was leaned against the wall in the room, sighed, "Another rodent perhaps? Just more useless creatures to waste more precious bullets on."
She made her way out of the room but was stopped by the soldier when he explained further, "No mam, it's a human from what I can tell. I don't know how he snuck in here but-"
His complaint was suddenly silenced by a punch in the face from Reaper and was knocked unconscious.
Reaper huffed, "Some guard you are! If someone snuck in here, then that means these soldiers are getting lazy! Let's just kill this bastard ourselves, huh Amelie?
"We mon' cher", she coldly replied.
Before they left the room, both Reaper and Widowmaker were stopped in their tracks by a sudden explosion, which knocked them off their feet. After about half a minute, the deadly pair aimed their guns down the dark hallway and proceeded to investigate the sudden disturbance.
Outside however, Soldier 76 was working his way into the blown entryway of the now exposed Talon base, thanks to Tracer's bombardment.
"Go! Go! Go!" Soldier 76 shouted, as he followed behind Reinhardt.
As the team came to a sharp corner in a hallway, they stacked against the wall in unison. Soldier 76 motioned for McCree and Genji to move forward and clear their corner. Both rounded the corner and stacked against the wall in front of them. However, after McCree signaled to the team that the way was clear, and they could advance, the echo of the most peculiar sound started to be heard.
"Is that what I think it is?" McCree scoffed, puzzled by what he was indeed hearing.
"Only one way to find out", replied Genji, with his near robotic voice.
The sound that they all heard was the sound of a piano. It seemed to be playing a song of the early 2010's, songs that most Overwatch members would only listen to with their grandparents and yet, in all places, someone is playing it here in a secret underground Talon base.
As the group followed the sounds of the piano down the hallway, they finally came across an open door with light shining through the open doorway. The sound was warm and inviting, peaceful but sad. Suddenly they began to hear singing.
What would I do without your smart mouth
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
Got my head spinning, no kidding, I can't pin you down
What's going on in that beautiful mind
I'm on your magical mystery ride
And I'm so dizzy, don't know what hit me, but I'll be alright.
Soldier 76 pointed his finger at Winston, who was nearest him, and then pointed at the open door to order him to clear it.
My head's under water
But I'm breathing fine
You're crazy and I'm out of my mind.
Winston and McCree both gave each other a quick nod and pointed their guns through the doorway. To their astonishment, they only saw a young adult as he played a glossy black piano in what appeared to be a rec room.
On the opposite hallway, Reaper and Widowmaker gazed into an open doorway that flooded a patch of the hallway wall with light. They too were puzzled as to how this person got into the base and exactly where a piano came from.
'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
Give your all to me
I'll give my all to you
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning.
At this point Mercy had to poke her head out to see exactly who in this earth could be playing that beautiful music. It was there that she saw the young man, his eyes closed and his face in deep tune with the music.
Widowmaker lowered her Widow's Kiss to more appropriately take in the sight of this young man who had somehow managed to hit her heartstrings only lightly in just the right places.
'Cause I give you all, all of me
And you give me all, all of you
It was at that point where the young man stopped playing the piano and looked straight ahead at the wall in front of him. It had grown unnervingly quiet.
"If y'all are going to come out, then you might as well come out", the man exclaimed.
Seemingly caught red-handed, the Overwatch team members slowly made their way inside the rec room. Upon seeing them, Reaper jumped in the room with both shotguns about to fire, when he was suddenly cut off from doing so by McCree's bullet shooting both out his hands.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, Gabriel!" the mysterious man shouted, a grin creeped across his face.
Widowmaker rolled inside and pointed her rifle at the strange man's head, whist Reaper ghosted towards him and pulled out 2 new shotguns and thrust them into his neck.
"Who the HELL ARE YOU and how do you KNOW MY NAME!" Reaper shouted, anger boomed in his voice.
Not many Talon soldiers knew that Reaper was Gabriel Reyes. Most assumed that Gabriel died in the Swiss HQ explosion just as the news said, with very few knowing his REAL identity. Practically, only Talon's top agents and Overwatch knew of his actual self.
Soldier 76 and his team already had their weapons pointed ready to fire at either Widowmaker, Reaper, or the mysterious man as soon as they were all into view, but now it seems that he's going to have to deal with a hostage situation since this man is now showing that he doesn't belong to Talon.
The man chuckled and gave a swift kick into Reaper's groin, which somehow had enough force behind it to send him flying across the extra-large room and into the opposite wall.
He chuckled again, "Child's play!"
The man seemed to emit a red laser from his chest that seemed to scan everyone in the room, then as soon as it left, it spawned a green armor that surrounded his entire body.
"What the hell?! A crusader?!" Reinhardt exclaimed in complete shock and confusion.
"Not even close!" the man responded as he jumped forward and slammed his fist into the ground in front of the Overwatch members.
The entire floor gave way to now exposed dirt and rock. With a quick blast from his wrists, the man suddenly destroyed the roof of the room they were in and flooded the entire rubble of the room with daylight, which caused Widowmaker to temporarily wince from the sudden exposure of sunlight through her lenses.
The man stood there with his arms crossed as Winston went into his rage and dashed towards him. The man seemed to enter a fury of his own and grappled the ape in an improvised wrestling match. Unfortunately, Winston received a shoulder throw and was sent flying towards the opposite wall, near Reaper.
Tracer suddenly blinked into the center of the room, "Don't worry luves, the cavalry's 'ere."
In a desperate attempt to take him down, all Overwatch members alongside the Talon members opened fire on the man, although to no avail from his armor. The man didn't appear phased from the firepower, but suddenly appeared even angrier than before. He clawed his own helmet with his gauntlets and was constantly shouted towards the sky as if trying to release an inner demon.
Mercy, who thought outside of the box, wondered if perhaps instead of fighting him, perhaps he needed healing. She flew above everyone and engaged her healing him from her staff.
"Mercy! What the hell are you doing?!" Soldier 76 demanded, a small glint of fear in his voice.
"I have an idea", she exclaimed, "Trust me, Jack."
As the healing beam penetrated the man's armor, he suddenly fell to a knee and looked to see the angel healing him through her staff. His armor dissipated from his body and he stood up shaken, with tears that ran down his cheeks.
"Wait a minute", the man stated as he looked around, "this…this is all wrong!"
Everyone in the room became immediately puzzled and confused.
"I was sleeping, wasn't I?" the man asked himself. "This has to be a dream!"
McCree looked toward Soldier 76 and nodded toward the man to see what he wanted him to do. Soldier 76 removed a pair of zip-cuffs from behind his back and proceeded to get behind the man to cuff him.
"Wait a minute, this…this is….THIS IS A DREAM!"
As soon as the man said his last words, he immediately vanished without a trace.
Soldier 76, entirely lost after the strange turn of events shouted, "Wait, WHAT THE HELL?!"
Erik suddenly woke up from his dream and took a few quick breaths. His eyes had teared up and his throat felt dry. He was drenched in sweat from the comforter and the unorthodox dream. Suddenly he glanced at his charged phone.
Damn it, time to get up! What a crazy ass dream that was!
