The setting sun has a way of playing with shadows. Making them come to life, dancing, in the evening, when you can barely make out their reaching claws. As I wait patiently for the wretched omnic to enter the square, I drop to a knee and observe the silhouette of a spider as it makes its steady descent to a windowsill below. Shadows are dark and full of secrets. You should never trust them. They can hide the form of an assassin ready to kill. An assassin like me.
I am lost in my thoughts observing the agile creature spin its web from the rooftop. Only when cheering erupts from the crowd below am I shaken from the analyzation, and I curse myself silently. I should not lose myself in my thoughts on a mission.
My target is visible now. Tekharta Mondatta. Pity. He is such a peaceful being-one that will soon be obliterated from the planet. As I focus my scope on him, however, I see that I will not be able to land a critical hit-there are too many people surrounding the omnic.
I sprint across the rooftops to find a more reliable sniping position. I know that it is risky, but I must try to complete this mission flawlessly. As I run, I glance to the side. Mondatta is just preparing to begin his speech. I have more than enough time.
Footsteps sound behind me, and I turn, not worried in the least, to where a young man, probably only beginning his career, is pointing a gun at me. Fear shines in his eyes as he sees my blue tone, and he takes a shaky step forward. Despite the terror evident in his expression, his voice is still strong, and I think of the skill he could contribute to Talon.
"This area is restricted-" He is halted mid-sentence by a bullet through his forehead, and he groans as he falls to the ground, the weapon he held slipping out of his grasp. Fool. Judging by his expression, he knew who I was, yet he still attempted to stand up to me.
Shouting erupts from the neighboring rooftop, and I swear under my breath, knowing that they will call attention to me. The guards begin to fire, though it is to no use.
Three shots.
Three more bodies on the floor.
I smile. Such lack of skill.
Now certain that there are no more guards near me, I drop on my grappling hook to where I have a clear shot of the Omnic's head. He is a sitting duck, standing in place as he gives his speech and chants sound from the crowd surrounding him. I zoom in further. The tiny lines stretching from his eyes are an iridescent blue. Something I would never have noticed before.
Blue the color of those lines flashes in the corner of my gaze. I turn to see the agile figure of a young woman flipping through the air, and I groan. Tracer. What an annoyance. I had been warned that Overwatch members would try to interfere with my mission, but I had hoped that it wouldn't be her. She has ruined important operations before, and is arguably one of the most dangerous so-called 'heroes.'
The girl blinks through the air and fires bullets my way, but I easily dodge them, flipping into a nearby window. Her brown eyes are filled with such determination, such passion. Feelings I have long since forgotten.
I break through the glass of the pane and turn to the opening to see Tracer's wide brown eyes as she speaks to me in that annoying British accent.
"Trying to crash another party, love?"
Love. It has been far too long since I have had that feeling.
She giggles, shooting rapid bullets at me, and I grapple up the stairs, kicking her to the side as I am pulled up. Despite the hard hit, she still makes it up to the roof only a bit after I do-only to find that she has to avoid being shot by my powerful gun. I can see her eyes widen as she rolls behind a wall to escape the spray of bullet.
I hear her talking over a device, panic visible in her voice. I struggle to hear the reply to her command, though I don't need to. My target is now being escorted to his limousine, and I curse the girl. I will not fail this mission.
I flip to another building to take out two more guards who are now aware of my presence. Knowing that the girl is following me, close behind, I leave a venom mine in my trail as I leap between a large gap in rooftops. Foolish as she is, it is triggered, and purple smoke fills the air. She stumbles and falls to the ground, spinning to a stop at my feet. I place my boot on her shoulder, my gun just above her cheek. I smile as she chokes on my poison, and I speak to her. My french accent prominent in the phrase.
"What a sweet, foolish, girl." She is quite pretty, if I bother think of it.
To my surprise, she grins at me before she rewinds time-that bothersome ability of hers-and spins back to when she had not yet triggered my mine. However, the mine did not travel with her, and has still been activated, so she blinks over it. I squeeze my eyes shut as she explodes a pipe behind me. When I can finally see through the smoke, I spot a bomb flying towards me. I shoot it, and it is gone before it even comes close to me.
Tracer is thrown off the building with the explosion, and I with her. However, I am ready. She is not.
I focus my scope on her Chronal Accelerator-the device that prevents her from blinking out of time. When I squeeze the trigger, I know that it is a guaranteed hit, no-matter what happens.
My bullet whistles through the air.
Mondatta lies dead on the ground a foot from his ride.
My mission is complete.
I land safely, and the girl seconds after me. She has a panicked look, and is feeling the harness on her chest frantically.
"Looks like the party is over." I stand, lying my weapon on my shoulder. Tracer's face is that of confusion as she stares at me, though that expression soon turns to devastation as she turns, and sprints to the edge of the building we stand on, looking down at the scene below.
People are screaming. Parents holding their children close as they wail. Couples hug each other tight. The Omnics just look on looks of rage and confusion.
Blinking towards me, fury replaces whatever emotions she showed before. She pins me to the ground, though I attach a grappling hook to a nearby wall to ensure I can escape her grasp if it is needed. She looks into my eyes, and I wonder why she does not end my life there.
Such emotion in those deep brown eyes. If only I could feel that again…
"Why? Why would you do this?" I realize as she speaks that her accent isn't as annoying as I thought it to be earlier.
I chuckle, and she looks at me in disgust. She will never understand.
Her eyes widen as glowing lights shine behind us, the lights of my aircraft, and I take advantage of her confusion to be swung to a nearby wall by my grappling hook. She is underneath me, and I slam her against the metal, a pained noise escaping her as I do so. She falls to the ground below, writhing in agony, and I almost-almost- feel bad as I speak to her.
"Au revoir, ma cherie…"
The aircraft pulls me into it's opening, and the darkness envelopes me as I stare at her shrinking form.
"Je pense que je pourrais l'aimer…"