"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
-Burke, Edmund
"Honor, Chivalry, defense of the Innocent, as Crusaders, this is the code we live by, we bleed, and we die, so others may live, and cherish life."
"REINHARDT, LOOK OUT!"
Angela 'Mercy' Ziegler's voice snapped Reinhardt out of his memory, raising his shield, he absorbed the blast of an oncoming grenade, his knees nearly buckled from the force, but the shield held. Reinhardt looked back over his shoulder to ensure that the others were safe, the sight he was greeted with both worried, and relieved him
On one hand, the grenade blast had not gotten through, on the other, things were already desperate, Morrison ran low on ammo, and Mercy desperately healed the wounded members of the team, Reinhardt's heart sunk, their youngest, and newest member, the Korean currently wailed in pain as Mercy attempted to heal the burn wounds, and shrapnel dug into her flesh, which was the result of her...Machine exploding. The rest wasn't much better, the Shimada brothers were only a short distance away from the doctor, Hanzo's face contorted into a mask of pain, as his brother tightly gripped his wrist in an effort to stifle the blood flow going to his now mangled and unrecognizable hand.
Reinhardt couldn't allow hope to die now, not when things were most bleak.
"Do not worry my friends! I will be your shield!" He said, attempting his lighthearted tone, even under the strain of hundreds of bullets colliding with his shield at any given moment, draining his power reserve constantly, and making the armor ever heavier to carry, he could not falter, to fail now would surely mean the death of his team.
"War is hell, but we are warriors of heaven, we must be ready to sacrifice anything to defend those in need."
Reinhardt wasn't sure why his Master's voice rang in his head, why the memories of his initiation into the Crusaders flooded back now, but it instilled in him a new vigor to fight on, just as it had done so many years ago, during the crisis which threatened to swallow the world.
His allies shouted behind him, of course they did.
"Where's our backup? We can't hold out much longer!"
"We have to!"
Reinhardt let out a sigh, though his friends couldn't here. Jack was right, under such heavy fire by Talon's soldiers, they couldn't hope to hold the line.
"Let them come!" Reinhardt shouted, a righteous fury in his voice which only a 'knight' could muster. "I will drive them back!" Angela looked at him like he was suggesting suicide, which he partly was, the shield was the only thing protecting all of them from the hailstorm of bullets. Yet somehow...Reinhardt managed to step forward.
"Reinhardt, stop, you'll get yourself killed!" Morrison shouted, Reinhardt could barely hear his friend over the hail of gunfire.
"And if I don't I will get you killed!" He yelled back, taking another step forward. The soldiers of Talon didn't move, but their gunfire wavered, obviously shocked as to how this old man was not only withstanding their barrage, but advancing under fire, in truth, Reinhardt was surprised as well.
"There will come a time in your life, where you are tempted to run, and the alternative is certain death. You must make your choice then, will you live a coward, or die a Crusader?"
The choice was obvious...
Reinhardt was born in the year two thousand and fifteen, an age of political and religious strife, and survived the global wars of his childhood. He had survived the war on terror, the Third World War, and the Omnic Crisis. He had lived a long life, and had seen many of his friends and comrades fall in battle beside him.
No more.
He wouldn't live to see Overwatch, his friends, the closest thing he had to a family, get taken away from him. The young ones, who were like children of his own, Angela, always there to give a kind word, and Morrison, who he had bled beside for years.
Shotgun blasts battered against his shield, it didn't take a genius to know that Reyes was here, even through the hail of bullets, Reinhardt could see him, clad in his ridiculous outfit, proclaiming himself as 'death' to inflate his own ego.
Another step forward, Reinhardt's fury grew, Reyes had torn this family apart, because of his jealousy, there were where they were today.
How many had Reyes killed since then? How many innocent lives had he taken, since he tore the family in two, since he had murdered half of Overwatch in cold blood.
Those deaths could not go un-avenged. Reinhardt glanced back at his comrades, perhaps for the final time. They needed him.
"Live, and die with honor. If we are to defend the fatherland, these are the words we must live by."
Balderich, always so inspirational, Reinhardt's eyes locked onto Reaper and his little gunner squad...It was time to join his brothers.
"JUSTICE, WILL BE DONE!"
Needless to say, everyone was surprised when Reinhardt dropped his shield, and charged forward, all guns focusing on him, bullets ripped into his armor from every direction, but he continued his charge, almost instantly, he was surrounded, hah, the poor bastards.
Reinhardt's hammer flew through the air, crashing into soldier after soldier, some fell onto the ground with a loud crack, others were thrown against the buildings, leaving dents when they made contact. Reaper struggled to remain out of Reinhardt's path of destruction, shouting "DIE!" with every blast of his Shotguns, it seemed to have little effect, almost as quickly as Reinhardt charged forward, the only one left standing was Reaper, as the rest of his men were reduced to nothing, Reinhardt glared at him, half of his helm shattered from constant gunfire, Reinhardt's blue eye glared at Reyes, and quite possibly, for the first time since his transformation, Reaper felt fear.
"I WILL BREAK YOU!" He charged forward once more, and the air was knocked from Reyes's chest as one ton of German fury collided with him, Reinhardt, grabbing him by the neck, charged the two right off the roof.
Reinhardt, having discarded the hammer during the charge, slammed his armored fist into Reaper's skull as the two fell, breaking his mask with the first swing, he didn't stop, or even falter, until the two finally hit the street below.
Reaper seemed to dissipate into smoke underneath him, that...Probably meant he died, hopefully. Reinhardt's back rested against the street, and he laid his head down, his vision turning red. He managed to see Morrison out of the corner of his injured vision some moments later, and sighed, he did his job.
He could vaguely hear Jack call for help, Reinhardt wanted to tell him it was pointless, to focus on everyone else, but he had a hard time speaking, so instead it came out as a bloody cough. He wasn't sure how long it was until Mercy arrived, he didn't mind, at this point he couldn't feel much, was that a bad thing, or a good thing?
"Stay with me Reinhardt, you've survived worse than this..."
Hah, Morrison really did care, Reinhardt wanted to laugh, he couldn't.
"I..." He was interrupted by a coughing fit "I save them, Ja?" He asked, just managing a smile.
Jack nodded, Reinhardt smiled again, before his vision went black.
He always did swear he wouldn't die in a retirement home.