A/N: Hey everyone! I've been cooking this one for a while, and this one was pretty fun to write! I'm experimenting a bit with this story by doing something ive never done before...adding music queues! Let me know if you like this or not, and I will continue! I await your feedback!

~MSG

Somewhere, out in the vast reaches of Space…

(Music: watch?v=oXnAxydhZ8M )

A MarioSonicGamer Production

Inspired by the works of Twentieth Century Fox and Blizzard Entertainment

OVERWATCH: THE HUNTED

The stillness of the darkened galaxy was shattered. A silver space craft rushed through the cosmos, dividing the darkness with it's thrusters. It wasn't long before a blue hue wrapped around the space craft's cockpit as it rocketed towards one of the larger planets in this part of the galaxy:

The water planet…Earth.

With a strong thrust, the spacecraft shot down into the planet's atmosphere, a red flame wrapping around the metal hull. Once the atmosphere was punctured, the craft seemingly vanished in a flurry of shimmering panels, the flares of the Earth's atmosphere slowly fading away from the shape.

Overwatch Headquarters, Switzerland

Jesse McCree lifted a cigarette into his mouth and lit it with a small pocket lighter that he carried. He gave a puff, before looking down range at a string of targets that were set up. It had been a while since he had visited the headquarters…and even longer since he had been to their dedicated shooting range. There were three targets, all three in the shape of the human body, with bullseyes on each of the chests and heads. He gave a light smirk, giving his cigarette another hefty puff before removing it from his mouth. With a tip of his hat, he turned away from the targets, dropping the cigar on the ground and smushing it with his boot.

He waited a few minutes, placing his hand idly by the revolver holstered on his hip, moving his fingers slowly every few seconds. He muttered to himself, counting to 10 slowly.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine…

He quickly unholstered his gun and turned around, giving the revolver a quick spin before shooting each of the targets twice, once in the head and once square in the middle of their chests. He gave a chuckle, with a grin forming across his face.

"Ten."

With a quick spin, he blew the smoke that rose from the barrel of the revolver, before spinning the weapon back into the holster on his belt. He shook his head before tipping his hat up proudly.

"Heh. Still got it."

"Yeah. Because I'm the one that taught you."

McCree slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder. He scoffed, and then rolled his eyes. "'Bout time you came out here, Reyes. You could use the practice too."

Gabriel Reyes, Commander of Blackwatch, gave a shrug and a smirk. "Who needs practice? Hell, they chose me to be Commander. Obviously, that means I'm a qualified… at least more than a dressed up street thug."

"Heh. Got me there." McCree chuckled, before shaking the Commanders hand firmly. "What's got you out of the office, anyways? Morrison finally givin' you a break?"

"I snuck off." Reyes stated, letting go of the Cowboy's hand. "Decided to be nosy and see what my old prodigy was up to. I gotta say…I'm impressed." The Commander nodded his head in approval, peering at the gaping bullet holes in the targets. "I'm glad I didn't let the Police put a bullet in your head."

"So am I." McCree replied with a laugh. "Any missions down the grape vine? I'm itchin' to get the hell out of Switzerland."

"Eh. A couple. Not big ones, not worth Blackwatch's time." Reyes folded his arms, closing his eyes in annoyance. "Morrison tries hard to make us his boy scouts, but I'm not hearing that shit. If I'm getting shot, it's gonna be for a damned good reason."

"Amen to that." McCree nodded, lighting another cigarette and placing it between his lips. He gave it a puff, before fitting it between two fingers and placing it to his side. "Being a group of Mercenaries has its ups and downs."

The intercom of the facility fluttered on with a mechanical hum, and a feminine voice echoed across the shooting range. "Will Commander Reyes and Jesse McCree report to Commander Morrison's Office? Repeat, Commander Reyes and Jesse McCree report to Commander Morrison's Office."

"Ah, hell." Reyes spoke, shaking his head in disbelief. "Looks like they figured me out. Guess we should get going to see what he wants."

McCree simply narrowed his eyes. What could Morrison possibly want with him in such short notice? He tipped his hat over his eyes and shrugged, giving his cigarette another puff. Maybe things were about to get interesting around here.

"In a stunning revelation, Elizabeth Caledonia Ashe, the leader of the infamous Deadlock Gang, has been arrested. Authorities apprehended Ashe after an apparent robbery of expensive Omnic technology went awry. Officers say that she was found covered in blood and with no weaponry whatsoever. Officers also discovered the bodies of her human cohorts…uh…brutally skinned, gored, and hung from multiple trees. A beheaded Omnic Butler was also found on the scene, who seemed affiliated with the Deadlock Gang. When asked about the killer, Ashe simply had a cold stare, and only said three words in shock: "It was invisible." Authorities will continue to question her until more information on the murderer is uncovered, but until then, the Police requests that everyone remains aware of their surroundings, and avoid going into barren or suspicious areas."

Click.

Jack Morrison flipped the television off and turned to McCree and Reyes, placing the remote on his desk. "This is why I called you in here. This happened a few days ago."

"…Damn." McCree simply said, in shock of the whole situation. "Ashe is one tough cookie. Someone's got a whole lotta nerve to go up against the Deadlock gang like that."

"Indeed." Morrison added, sitting down at his desk. "As a former member, I'd like to ask you McCree…who would be strong enough to go against the Deadlock Gang like this, and not kill their leader?"

McCree thought to himself silently, putting his hand on his chin to rub his beard. He gave it a few minutes, before he shook his head. "When I was in the gang, everybody feared us. Took a lotta guts to even look at us the wrong way. I mean, it was common for us to get shot at, but…this is extreme…"

"Precisely." Morrison said, nodding. "This whole thing seems a lot like a Talon attack. An extreme action like this with no trace seems perfectly executed…too perfectly executed to be a rogue murderer."

"It's just Gang violence." Reyes spoke bluntly. "It happens all the time. She must've gotten too big for her britches and a rival gang took her crew out. It's that simple."

Morrison sighed, and his stare focused onto Reyes, who had the same fight every step of the way attitude as always. "Look, I just think that it is strange that there was no evidence. They're still investigating, but usually Gang violence has some obvious sort of leftovers after the smoke clears. The Generals of Overwatch are beginning to ask questions."

"For what? What would Talon gain from this?"

"I don't know."

"Then what could possibly lead you to believe that Talon did that?"

"I don't know, Reyes, but put the pieces together and you can see that it seems to perfect to be a simple turf war. Think about it, technology robbery gone awry. Maybe they're after whatever cargo that was."

Reyes simply laughed and shook his head. "Or maybe you're just paranoid."

A chime played from the television, and it promptly turned itself on. "Incoming voice call from: ECOPOINT: ANTARCTICA." Morrison abruptly answered the notification, pressing the green call button on a small tablet on his desk.

"Nǐ hǎo, Commander Morrison!~" A friendly voice spoke from behind the monitor.

"Hello, Ms. Zhou." The commander responded but gave a small headshake. "I apologize, but this is a bad ti-"

"It'll only be just a minute!" The scientist giggled, but then cleared her throat. "We've discovered a very crucial development here in Antarctica. The world is heating up at a very alarming rate-"

McCree simply leaned over to Reyes and whispered into his ear. "Didn't they already know that?" Reyes could only shrug at the question. He found that sort of thing to be trivial and waste of valuable funds for Blackwatch.

"That is interesting, but-"Morrison said, before he was cut off.

"It's even worse than we imagined! It is affecting regions that are closer to the equator more so than the rest of the world! Africa is over 20 degrees hotter than the records last year, and rising!"

"Ms. Zhou-"

"And it gets even better, well, not better better, but interesting better! It seems that the hot temperatures are affecting the patterns of animals! We've found that-"

"Ms. Zhou!" Morrison raised his voice ever so slightly. A small gasp was heard on the other end of the phone line, and silence filled the room. Jack gave a light sigh, and shook his head. "Ms. Zhou, these findings are very interesting and crucial to your studies, and I would love to hear about them…but right now is a very hectic time for me in the office. Can I call you back later? Please?"

"Oh…okay…I understand, Commander."

"Thank you. And make sure you remember where you left off for me, okay?"

"I will...!"

And with that, the call ended, prompting a laugh from both McCree and Reyes. Morrison only pinched the ridge between his eyes and shook his head. "Well, now that that is done…"

"You've always been smooth with the nerds, Jack." Reyes smirked. "Nice to see that a little fame doesn't change some people."

Morrison only gave a gruff and low groan, before picking up a stack of papers that sat on his desk. "We're done. I'll keep you all posted on this situation if it develops. We have a few overseers down in Deadlock Gorge doing some research."

"And what about Ashe?" McCree asked.

"There isn't much we can do for her now." Morrison answered, "They have her in custody, and I'm sure they're going to continuously question her…especially after her interesting response to all that madness."

McCree simply covered his eyes with his hat in response, slowly turning away from the commander. "Yeah, I got it. Just…keep an eye out for her. She's…a special case." With that, the Blackwatch operative left the room, following behind Commander Reyes. Morrison could only sigh, and cup his face between his two chiseled hands on his desk.

"They don't pay me enough for this job…"

McCree sat alone by one of the fountains on the Overwatch facility. He took out another cigarette and lit it with his pocket lighter, placing it between his lips slowly. He was worried. No one in their right mind would do that to the Deadlock Gang. They were feared, and they had the underground crime scene pretty much by the horns. Not only that, but Bob was, like, the toughest Omnic that he had ever seen, and for him and the rest of the Gang to be ripped to shreds like that…it just didn't add up. Something wasn't right.

"You know, smoking is bad for your health."

McCree simply chuckled, and cupped the stick between two fingers. "A lot of things I do is bad for my health, Doc, just this helps relax the nerves."

Combat medic Angela Zeigler slowly sat down next to the gruff cowboy, carrying her usual notepad and pen. She gave an eye roll to McCree's answer, but it wasn't unfamiliar, that was always his response when she called him out on his nasty habit. "There are over seven thousand chemicals in that thing, you know…and all of them go into your lungs when you smoke."

"Eh, beats a bullet." The Cowboy shrugged, taking another drawn out puff, breathing out the smoke through his nose. "I don't see how you don't go crazy walkin' around this place all the time. There's nothin' to do."

She sighed, and slowly reached her hand towards his cigarette, promptly taking it and placing it on the ground. Before McCree could stop her, she was already mashing out the stick with her heel.

"What the-"

"Jesse, we've known each other for too long, I refuse to sit by and watch you destroy your body with those…things." The medic sighed and closed her eyes, before slowly opening them and writing a few notes in her notepad. "I'm a medic, and you are part of the Overwatch team. It is my job to oversee your health."

McCree simply grunted, and laid back against the bench, tipping his hat over his eyes. "I hate it when you treat us like kids."

"Think of me as your guardian angel on the battlefield." She smiled, placing her notepad by her side. "If you need something to do, the World Advancement of Technological Studies Festival is going on this weekend in Numbani. I think they'll be streaming it online somewhere."

"You know I'm not into that fancy techno-junk."

"Well, you should at least try watching it. It beats wasting bullets down at the range, plus, it's a perfect showcase of how far we've come in science. You'd be interested."

McCree groaned, shaking his head lightly. "That stuff bores me."

She sighed, writing a few more notes in her pad. "I'm sure Gabriel will have something for you soon. He hates being stuck here just as much as you do."

"I damned sure hope so."

A small beep rung out from the communicator on Angela's hip, which prompted a surprised squeak from her. "Looks like I'm needed back in the infirmary." She quickly stood up, keeping her notepad cupped tightly within both of her hands. "Try to have a little fun while you're here, Jesse. It makes the experience better."

"Yeah, yeah."

She lightly laughed, with a slight eye roll. "Anyways…I'll see you around, okay?"

"Mhm." He crossed his arms, wiggling his body to make himself comfortable. After she had gone, he still was restless, trying to come up with any solution he could on who could have done that to Ashe and the gang. No gang had the nerve to cross the Deadlock gang…at least…when he was there, they didn't.

He needed some more time to put all of this together.