Mission 01: Target Slipstream
"Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!"
The hearty chant rang clearly through the tavern, as Mei and Lena pounded their fists on the bar, cheering on the muscular Zarya, who quashed down her mug of beer.
"I don't believe this. It's like her insides just quit caring about what she swallowed," Mei said, as she watched the drink diminish.
"I wish I weren't such a lightweight. Then I could join the fun with the two of you," Lena lamented.
"But, if you veren't, who vould be our designated driver," Zarya said, once she finished her drink.
"I don't want to be the driver. Do you know how it looks when one in a party doesn't have any drinks? It's pathetic!"
"I'm sure it's not all bad. It looks like everyone here is too busy enjoying themselves to care about you not drinking," Mei assured her friend.
"Oh no? Get a look at that bloke in the corner. Scary-looking one with the coif," Lena said.
Mei and Zarya both looked to where she pointed, and saw at the corner booth seven people. Six of them all heartily drank glasses of beer, ale, martinis, sake, and what have you. One of them, a South American man with a pompadour, slouched in his seat, with one foot propped on the table.
All around him, his comrades all drank, talked, and laughed as though they were all having a grand celebration. He, however, remained silent.
The man with the pompadour only stared ahead, as if waiting for something to happen. Perhaps the celebration to end, so that he might put the night behind himself.
Mei found herself pitying the man, thinking that he must be miserable, while the others all had their fun without him.
"I see what you mean," Mei muttered, having felt what everyone else must have been feeling for Lena.
"Ha! You are like vallflower! A tag-a-long to the big girls, who-" Zarya would have finished her sentence, had she not stumbled forward upon standing. Mei and Lena both caught her, allowing her to settle back into her barstool. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so cruel. You're alright, L*~na…"
Admittedly, it was slightly hurtful to be reminded that she was exempt from any of the fun, but Lena forgave her friend, for her drunken state.
With another attempt to stand, Zarya suddenly wretched, and keeled over with her face on the bar.
"Had enough, at long last," Mei asked.
"Is no such thing as enough. Only room for more," Zarya said, as she waved to the barkeep for another drink.
Lena shook her head 'no,' signalling the barkeep to withhold the next drink, and was pleased to see her request obliged.
"Looks like someone's going to have a long night in the loo," Lena said.
"And only hours before sunrise," Mei sighed. "Lena, go get the car, while I help this one to the bathroom. Hopefully, she can hold it in, before she vomits all over the floor."
"Alright. Give me the keys, and I'll be on my way," Lena sighed.
"Here," Mei answered, as she handed off the car keys. "Come along, Zarya. Time to get that bile out of your system."
"Ugh...I think I need to change my drinking habits…" Zarya moaned, as she was guided to the bathroom.
"Yes, yes. Everything in moderation," Mei said.
"No…*hurk*...From now on, I drink into blackout...So I von't have to put up with this b*~*sh..t…"
Lena put the keys in her jacket's inner pocket, and left for the door, ready to put the night behind her. However, she had to face one last obstacle.
The man with the pompadour got up from his seat, and started walking toward her. The timing was almost too perfect. It couldn't possibly have been coincidence that he chose now to get up and move now that she was walking toward him.
"Oh great, just what I don't need. Some punter looking for a one night stand," she thought to herself.
She and the stranger came closer, and she readied any excuse she could think of to reject this guy. To her great relief, he only walked right past her, and went to the bar, likely to order a drink of his own, to not be completely pathetic. Then, Lena felt something.
Something brushed against her chest. So gently, that she barely noticed it at all. When she looked around herself for what it could have been, or possibly who could have done it, there was nothing. It couldn't have been the man with the pompadour, since he had already passed her, and there was nobody else around her. Deciding it was simply the weight of the keys making her jacket brush her chest, Lena carried on.
Outside, she began her walk to retrieve the car. They had parked some blocks away, since any spot near the bar was occupied.
It was a clear night that night. Stars were shining brightly, even through the light pollution of the city, and the moon was almost full. In spite of the pleasant atmosphere, Lena knew that danger lurked on every corner in the city, even if it seemed peaceful. Especially when it seemed peaceful. Not that it would be anything she couldn't handle.
Luckily, she made it to the car without any trouble. She had parked in a small parking lot behind some buildings, since any space on the street was occupied. With one last look around, she saw that there was nobody waiting to antagonize her for a last minute ambush, and was about reach for her keys to unlock the car, when suddenly-
"Hey!"
Lena turned around quickly to see a man standing imposingly before her. In less than a second, she recognized him as the man from the corner booth who was not drinking with his friends.
"How the bloody hell did he sneak up on me!?" Lena thought to herself.
Even though he was only standing there, Lena felt a strong sense of foreboding from him, as if he was about to lash out and attack her. If her sense about him was correct, he would be no problem for her to handle, and she would be on her way. Just in case, she readied to draw her guns.
The man before her scoffed quietly at Lena, as if he had anticipated her move. "Look at you, chica. You must think you're pretty hot shit for shooting the guy who's giving back your keys!?"
Lena felt slightly vulnerable, as the man had somehow noticed her intent to shoot him if he tried to attack her. Instead, it was a great relief when the man gently tossed Lena her set of car keys, which she caught. She opened her jacket, and reached into her pocket, finding that her keys had gone.
She realized that maybe she had misjudged this harsh-looking man, and tried to apologize for her mistake. "Oh my! I'm sorry! I-I thought you were-"
"You didn't think at all. You just saw some scary-looking mother fucker in the corner not having any drinks, and you thought he'd only be there looking for victims, or some shit. If there's one thing I hate, it's some judgemental puta." The man growled.
"Excuse me! There's no call for antagonizing me this way!"
A nerve snapped slightly in her mind. He had heard her talking about him from his corner booth, which was unnerving enough that he was eavesdropping on her. Moreso was when she realized what must have happened before she left.
She remembered that feeling of something gently brush against her chest when she left the bar, but paid no mind. Lena looked to the inner pocket on her jacket, then to the man before her.
"You took my keys, so you could corner me here!" Lena said.
"You're pretty smart. At least for a judgemental puta. But, you're still too stupid to think your shit's safe in your pockets. For a guy like me, it's nothing. I can get whatever I want. Especially when it's only covered by a thin layer of spandex," the man said suggestively.
"Back off, you fucking pig," Lena yelled, as she covered her chest and quickly stepped away.
"Or you're gonna shoot me," the man asked, as he pulled up a pair of familiar automatic pistols.
"What the-"
Lena desperately reached for her holster, only to find her weapons had gone.
"You're fucked, chica!"
Both triggers were pulled, as a hail of bullets rained down on Lena.
With a burst of blue, she disappeared from sight.
The man stopped shooting.
"What the fuck!?" The man said.
He was taken by surprise from a sudden kick to his head.
The man blocked the next two punches, and retaliated with a kick to Lena's abdomen.
Lena staggered backwards, and dove behind another parked car as more shots were fired.
The man ran out of ammo and threw Lena's guns away. He had no ammo for those. Luckily, he had a seemingly infinite supply of bullets for his own gun, which he drew from inside his coat.
Lena heard the bullets stop, and knew she was now at an advantage. Even without her guns, she was still formidable, for she never went anywhere without her trusty pulse bombs.
She readied her grenade and sprang out from behind the car, only to see the man had gone.
Before she could even wonder where he went, she heard a noise behind herself. When she turned, there was the man again, as if he had dropped out of the sky.
He pointed a new gun at her, a revolver that was almost as large as his femur.
Lena quickly dropped to her back as the man shot.
The car was hit, and was pushed some inches from the sheer force of the custom magnum shell.
Lena threw her grenade directly onto the man's chest, and blinked herself to the other side of the car for cover.
The man tried to tear the pulse bomb off of his body, only to find that it was stuck fast. With a beep, the bomb exploded and the man was blown away.
Lena had just reappeared behind the car, but had to roll underneath it when it was pushed into her by the grenade's pressure wave, recovering her guns in the process.
She recovered to a kneeling position and pointed her guns at the man.
The man was embedded into the wall by the blast, and a gaping, bloody crater was in his chest.
That was that. Lena quickly returned to her own car. Normally, she would have left her insurance information on the other car that was trashed during the fight, but there was no telling who else was waiting or her in that parking lot.
Were she not in such a hurry to leave, she would have seen a red mist envelope the man. A sanguine fog that slowly closed up the wound in the man's chest, until he was healed. His eyes opened and he glared maliciously at Lena.
Lena was almost at her car when she heard a vicious growl. "It can't be!" She thought to herself.
Shots were fired, and Lena took cover behind her own car this time.
The shots did considerably less damage to the car, making her think it was some custom bullet last time. At least he wasn't firing some handheld weapon of mass destruction.
She popped up from behind the hood and took fire at the man.
The man jumped what must have been a hundred feet into the air, as if he were a human flea, and landed on the other side of the parking lot. From there, he had a clear shot at his target.
Lena rolled over the top of the hood and fired back.
The man jumped and hung from a fire escape, firing from there.
Lena blinked toward the alleyway that led to the street.
The man jumped from the fire escape, over the corner of the building's rooftop and directly in front of his target.
"You're going nowhere, chica!" He growled, as he kneed her in the stomach and placed the barrel of his gun on the back of her head.
Lena whipped her head away from the barrel just as the shot was fired. The bullet embedded into the ground, and Lena was kicked in the face and knocked on her back.
If she didn't do something quick, Lena knew she was done for. But, her reflexes had been honed to lightning perfection over her years of experience. Fingers on her trigger, she pointed her guns upward.
She squeezed the triggers, and two loud bangs sounded.
That was it. The final moment. Lena knew she had won. Then, she collapsed.
Horror stung her mind when she felt her arms and her neck drop limp. Her eyes glanced down, and she saw a pool of blood forming before her bleeding neck. She couldn't move, no less breathe when she became aware of the incredible pain in her throat.
Her attacker slowly walked forward, his teeth slightly bared as if he was an angry beast killing it's prey. He pointed his gun at her, and readied the trigger.
In a burst of blue, Lena disappeared from under him.
"Son of a-!?"
From where she had blinked to the alleyway, Lena reappeared, her neck intact, though she coughed and sputtered from the experience.
For whatever reason, her survival seemed to infuriate the man, who pointed his gun at her once more.
"You slippery little bitch!"
He fired his gun repeatedly, only to see his target turn into a blue light, which quickly bolted past him to the end of the alley and turn back to it's true form.
Lena blinked into light again, and disappeared around the corner.
"You won't get away, puta! I'm going to see you gushing blood before the night is over," the thief growled, before he jumped upward and out of sight.
Lena blinked again, and when she reappeared bumped into somebody.
"Lena," asked Mei, "What happened? Why are you sweating?"
"Just now! I was attacked! The man from the bar! He followed me, and tried to kill me! Mei, I almost died!" Lena blurted out.
"Oh my goodness! Where? Where did he attack you?" Mei asked.
"By the car! Just that way!"
"Then he may still be close by," Zarya said, sounding considerably more sober, "Vas he alone?"
"Yes! It was only him," Lena explained.
"Then I doubt he vill strike again if...if ve are all together," Zarya said, as she stumbled forward as best as she could. Clearly, she was still inebriated.
"Stay with us, Lena. We'll protect you," Mei said, holding her friend by her shoulder and arming her weapon.
They returned to the car, finding only the bullet holes of the battle, and no trace of the attacker.
"I'll drive," Mei volunteered. "Lena, you get in the back with Zarya. Zarya, if you see any attackers, protect Lena. He may try to attack us on the road."
"Da," was all Zarya answered as the girls got into the car.
Mei started the car, and they quickly drove out onto the street.
"Lena, did you recognize your attacker? Was he from Talon?" Mei asked.
Lena tried to think of if she had seen the attack some time before, but she was coming up blank. "No. I never before. And I don't know if he was from Talon, but he was tough! I thought I had him, and he somehow recovered from a direct hit from my pulse bomb!"
"How's that possible!?" Zarya said. She was known for her toughness, but even just the pressure wave from Lena's pulse bombs was enough to take her off her feet.
The car drove toward the bridge, which was all but deserted at that time of night.
"Do you think he was an assassin hired by Talon?" Mei wondered.
"I don't know. But, the next time I see him, I'll be ready for him.
From the backseat, Lena and Zarya heard a thump on the front of the car, and to Lena's everlasting shock, there was her attacker again. Somehow, someway, he seemingly dropped out of the sky, and landed on the hood of their car.
His face had now twisted with pure rage, and it was all directed at Lena. He was going to kill her, and he would not let her escape again.
"You are going to die! And this anger will finally leave me!" He growled
He raised his revolver, and shot through the windshield into Mei's chest before she could raise her weapon. Then again, and again.
When the glass had broken enough, he broke both hands through, grabbed Mei's collar with his free hand, and shot his remaining ammo into the scientist.
The car swerved wildly. Neither Lena nor Zarya were able to aim their weapons at the man.
Up ahead, there was something else on the bridge. A lone man was standing there in the middle of the road, as if he were waiting for some vehicle to run him down. The stark white suit he wore made him stand out like a beacon on the bridge.
The man in the road squinted behind his mask as his cape flapped in the breeze. His targets were coming. His associate jumped from the hood of the car just as it was about to impact him.
The passengers inside the car screamed loudly as the car was suddenly lifted off the ground by the man before them, and suplexed with the form and technique of a professional luchador.
The rear passenger door of the car was kicked open, and Zarya burst out with her particle cannon firing.
Lena remained inside the overturned car and crawled to the front seat to check on Mei.
"Mei!"
No answer.
"Dammit, Mei! Say something!"
Mei only sputtered quietly as she coughed up a tiny bit of blood. Her eyes weakly opened as she looked at her friend. Her eyes drifted to her weapon, which had fallen to the seat next to her.
Lena understood completely what Mei was trying to convey. She picked up her weapon and placed it into Mei's hands, clasping her fingers around it.
"Don't be gone long, luv. Girl's night out won't be the same without you," Lena said, before she left the car.
Once Lena was gone, Mei pressed a button on her weapon that shrouded her with ice. Now, she was completely frozen from head to toe. As she was, she wouldn't be able to assist her friends, but at least she may have been able to live to assist them again.
The wrestler drew a pair of handheld grenade launchers and fired at Zarya.
Zarya easily dodged the two projectiles and put up a barrier on herself and Lena.
Every shot that was fired at them now only made them more powerful.
The thief shot at Lena, only to see his bullets absorbed by her barrier.
Zarya could feel the power in her weapon growing. She fired the blue beam at the wrestler, who was pushed back by the force.
The wrestler crossed his arms, feeling the sheer power of the beam cutting into him. He was strong. He was often regarded by his fans as the strongest. But, the particle beam was giving him a run for his money.
Mustering his strength with a mighty shout, he slowly walked forward, until he was close enough to grab Zarya by her arm and wrestle with her.
The thief jumped high over Lena as she fired at him. He landed behind her, and jumped to the side again as she shot.
"Bloody pest!" Lena thought. There was nothing ordinary or even natural about these two men. One was strong enough to resist Zarya's weapon, and the other was a bounding human fly that dodged her every move.
The barrier around the women wore off. Lena was attacked first, punched from the side.
Lena blocked the next attack and got the thief in a shoulder lock, before she swung him around and slammed his face into the side of their car. With his arm still locked, she aimed her pistol at his head, ready to end him.
The thief swung his leg, hooking it around Lena's weapon arm and punched her in the face. He placed his sole on her stomach and pushed her back, making her release his arm.
Zarya had locked arms with the wrestler. Both of them fought for control of the lock.
The wrestler tried to lift Zarya, only for her to firmly plant herself in the ground.
Zarya tried to knee the wrestler, only for him to dodge her every blow.
Both fighters tightened their grips. Their brows furrowed and dripped with sweat. One of them was going to break soon.
With a shout, Zarya lashed her head forward, headbutting the wrestler squarely.
The wrestler recoiled and was thrown to the ground.
Zarya picked up her particle cannon and set it to fire grenades.
The wrestler rolled to the side and drew his own grenade launchers.
Both fighters fired their explosives at one another, dodging and firing, and destroying the bridge beneath them.
The thief was now toe to toe with Lena, wildly swinging his arms like he was a beast.
Lena was no stranger to close combat. It was clear that this man was untrained for such an encounter. Even so, he was just as dangerous as any master combatant she faced.
Every punch, every kick was thrown with the full weight of his body behind it. Each attack threatened to take her off her feet.
It was only the sense of position and balance that kept Lena from being toppled now. She was throwing everything she had at the thief, and still felt she was coming up short.
She fired her weapons at every chance she had. She missed a roundhouse kick and recovered with a shot from both guns.
The thief ducked under her arms and pressed the barrel of his gun under her chin.
Lena leaned backwards and sat on the ground, firing her weapons.
The thief jumped into the air.
Lena rolled to her feet, firing her guns as she traced his fall to the ground.
He landed next to Zarya, and smashed the back of her knee with his heel.
Zarya was forced to kneel and swung her mighty fist into the thief's side.
The thief recoiled from the hit, and was suddenly faced by Lena blinking in front of him to continue their fight.
The thief and the wrestler were close together. It was the perfect setup for one of Zarya's gravity bombs.
The two assassins were making their move.
Zarya readied her weapon for a graviton surge.
The wrestler's grenade launchers frenzied with a red mist, thin at first, but became slightly thicker.
Both fighters raised their weapons and fired.
Zarya knew her weapon would redirect her opponent's attack. If only she knew what he had done to his weapon.
The gravitonic 'focus shells' were intended to draw Lena and Zarya together for a powerful explosion. Only, the collided with the graviton surge in midair.
The two gravity-based attacks collided in the air and merged with one another. All four fighters were drawn in and blown away.
Zarya was blown into the car, and crushed the trunk with her backside.
The wrestler was embedded deep into the concrete of the bridge.
Lena was hanging from the side of the bridge by one hand, and quickly climbed back to solid ground. She looked at her surroundings, and saw no trace of the thief. Figuring he was blown off the bridge after herself, she rushed to Zarya's aid.
There was a sudden crash as the thief landed on top of the car. Apparently, he had been blown to the top of the bridge. His face was warped beyond recognition by the anger that practically morphed his appearance.
"This isn't over, puta…" He growled as he loaded his gun with a bullet that looked like none other Lena had seen. "I have to do this...Or the anger...WILL NEVER LEAVE ME!"
Lena raised her guns, only for the thief to jump directly toward her and ram her.
Both of them rolled to their feet.
Lena was completely unprepared for a vicious flying kick that connected squarely to her jaw.
She tried to block the blow's of the thief, but was overcome by his ferocity. She clubbed his temples with the butts of her two guns.
The thief kneeled and placed his revolver directly onto Lena's chest, right over her chronal accelerator.
Fear clutched Lena, as she prepared to blink away.
It was too late.
The trigger was pulled.
The bullet flew through the barrel and connected with the glowing device.
Lena was thrown backwards as the device exploded outwards and left nothing but a gaping hole in her chest. But, that was not all that had happened to her. Even though her appearance remained the same, she could feel herself aging rapidly. Eighty. Ninety. One hundred years Lena could feel herself changing. Now an elderly woman in a young woman's body, Lena choked loudly as what blood remained in her body spewed forth from her mouth and chest. In a matter of seconds, she was dead.
The thief stared at Lena like a lion over a fresh kill. Slowly, his face changed to a calmer visage. The anger had left him.
Nearby, the wrestler pulled himself out of the ground and walked to the thief's side.
"Looks like mission accomplished, amigo," he said to the thief.
"Look at her: what a fuckin' waste killin' a honey like this," the thief muttered.
"Nothing about this job has been a waste. For all the wars they have fought to end, they continue to fuel another. In many ways, these member of Overwatch were destined to die a long time ago. It's just us who are helping along what time and nature determined for them."
"Pfft. Don't go spewin' that philosophical bullshit on me. A job's a job. And I just killed a fine piece of ass, 'cause some fuck wanted her dead," the thief scoffed. "I'll see you back at the compound."
The thief jumped upward out of sight, leaving the wrestler behind. He glanced over to Zarya, who was moaning quietly in the wreckage of the car. She too was contracted to die, but he would not allow her to die as she was now.
The wrestler walked toward the fallen Zarya and gently grasped her chin so that she could face him.
"We're all going to die someday, amiga. And your time is coming closer. But, if you're strong. If you can show me who is the strongest, then you can survive what fate has planned out for you. Have a nice day."
The wrestler left the scene, and Zarya tried to process what was told to her. She placed her arms on the sides of the overturned car, lifted herself from the wreckage and fell to the ground.
Zarya breathed heavily and looked around herself. Nearby, she could see Lena lying in a pool of her own blood. And the image of it would torment her in her nightmares as she blacked out.
A/N: Alright people, that's that for that chapter. I don't know if this is going to be a one shot, or if it's going to be an entire story. I think that it would make a cool story. I imagine that Mei would want revenge for the assassination of her best friend and all.
For anyone who might not know, the thief was Coyote Smith and the wrestler was Mask de Smith. They were the featured villains for this story. If I do decide to make this a whole story, the rest of the Smith Syndicate will definitely appear. That along with the rest of the Overwatch and Talon crew. Or at least a good chunk of those groups. I'm not sure how feasible it would be to have every damn character from the game appear.
I know that some of the terminology used isn't what they use in the games, but it's just because I haven't played Overwatch in a while. I guess I should start up again and brush up on my research.