Hey guys, sorry this took longer than expected (And is shorter than normal...) I've been hit with bad writers block. I know where I want to go...it's getting there that's the problem. I know it seems a bit rushed in places, but please, give me a break...I'm dealing with a fandom that's fairly new with characters with only basic outlines. I know Shen and Zed better than I do Genji and Hanzo (mainly because of all the torture I put Zed through...). Everything will be explained in due time...I promise. Just bear with me, ok?
Chapter 2
The lights stung his eyes, the sounds nearly deafened him and every footstep felt like he was walking on glass. To put it simply, Zed was not enjoying himself. Even his holo-projector had broken, he couldn't switch back to Classic form so he was stuck in his true Project body. He could feel the impulses trying to take his mind away from him, but he fought them back. The Shadows tried to hold on to his beliefs but it was only a matter of time before he snapped…it always was. His only comfort was that Shen looked just as uncomfortable as him.
"I don't like this place," Zed growled.
"I don't either, but we don't have a choice, Zed," Shen replied, "We're stuck here in this…Japan…until someone can send us home,"
"And then you'll throw me in jail like a common criminal as soon as we set foot back on Ionian soil," Zed snarked, "You have no power here…that is the only part about this place I like,"
"You don't have your students either," Shen retorted, "You just have you…"
"I'm still stronger than you and you know it Shen," Zed growled, circuits glowing with a dangerous light, "I will crush you if you so much as try to hurt me…"
Genji listened to the two bickering. It was odd how these two had come at just the right moment…and how similar they were to Hanzo and himself. Yet, they were very different. As far as Genji could tell, Zed might have been similar in makeup to himself, but he acted much like Hanzo while Shen was the opposite. From his observations, it seemed as if Shen and Zed weren't exactly friends…more like rivals, but there was something else. There most definitely was a familiar bond. It was very possible the two were brothers like Genji and Hanzo.
Speaking of Hanzo, the human brother was also listening to the other pair. He hadn't spoken since leaving the temple. Genji was just thankful that Hanzo hadn't turned him into a living quiver, perhaps seeing Shen and Zed just appear had shocked him. Seeing as the two were very similar in situation to him and Genji.
Unlike the two Shimadas' situation, Shen seemed to perfectly accept that his 'brother' was alive and well…but he seemed to have an adversion to Zed after he got a clear look at him after they'd made him stop trying to kill them all. Genji was in between the two while Hanzo stood on the other side of Shen, further solidifying that neither Hanzo nor Shen were completely comfortable with their cybernetic brothers.
Genji also noticed that Zed tended to stick to the shadows, the other cyborg flinching every time he had to step into the light or a car horn went off.
"Your sensors are very highly tuned," Genji noted aloud, making Zed jump sky high before whirling on him, "I rest my case,"
Zed just fixed him with a hidden, silent, withering glare before turning back to face the direction they were going.
"How long ago?" Genji asked, "How long has it been since you were built?"
Again, Zed kept his silence.
"You might as well give up…Genji…" Shen sighed, "You won't get him to talk…not when he doesn't want to. He has been that way since we were children,"
"You grew up together, so you are brothers,"
Shen took off the horned mask, revealing his pale gaze and his dark hair that fell past the nape of his neck.
"My brother died long ago," Shen stated, fixing Zed with a cold glare while Zed's servos clenched and a subtle shake rippled through his tall, strong frame, "What you see before you is nothing but a murderer,"
"Say that again," Zed threatened, blades flashing out and glowing scarlet.
"Why? Are you hard of hearing?"
Genji grabbed Zed's arms and forced him into a position so that he couldn't attack Shen while Hanzo did the same to Shen so he couldn't attack Zed.
"If you two hurt each other, that makes more work for Dr. Ziegler," Hanzo growled, "If you want to get back to where ever it is you come from, I suggest you make her work minimal,"
Needless to say, the two Ionians stopped, making Genji give a shake of his head.
This would be a long night.
Like Zed, Shen wasn't comfortable in their new situation. He'd heard of this place called 'Earth', his father had told both him and Zed when they were much, much younger. Kusho had often spoken of it as if he had been there himself. Of course, Shen and Zed had brushed it off, not ever really considering that it was true…
Now neither of them were sure.
From the stories their father told them, the world was green like much of Ionia…not stone, glass and iron like Piltover or Zaun.
Shen was jostled from his thoughts as the group of four came up to what looked like an abandoned factory or lab. Immediately, Zed's circuits flashed and he started balking, thrashing and trying to break free as his feet dug into the asphalt.
"No…not again!" he yelled, trying to break free of Genji's iron grip, "You will not take me alive! I AM NOT GOING BACK!"
Hanzo grabbed Zed's free arm, flinching slightly as the strikers flashed out, burning crimson in the darkness. He turned his dark gaze to Shen.
"Is there some way to calm him down?!" Hanzo demanded as Zed very nearly broke free.
Shen gave a helpless shake of his head before going in and grabbing his adopted brother, trying to hold him still.
"Zed, you must calm down," Genji tried, "No one is going to hurt you…"
All he got as a response was a dark snarl as Zed continued to thrash, a low rumbling growl that sounded like a corrupted hard drive thrumming from his vocalizer.
"What is going on out he…" a female voice started only to stop, "Genji?"
"Good evening, Mercy," Genji grunted as Zed elbowed him, "We need some assistance here…seems we have a little bit of a problem,"
Shen looked up at a middle-aged woman that had just walked out of the building. She was tall and slender with pale blonde hair and dark, intelligent eyes. Her accent was one that he had never heard before, the closest he could get to it would be either Viktor or Braum's, but even then, it didn't match up.
"I haven't heard that name in a very long time, Genji," the woman, Mercy, deadpanned, casting a suspicious glance at Shen and Zed, "Friends of yours, ja?"
"Just met," Genji growled, "We will explain later, can you help with him? He seems to be a little temperamental,"
Shen bit down a laugh and then a curse as Zed nearly took out an eye with his blades. Mercy gave a soft smile and came closer, cautiously, mindful of Zed's strikers. Zed's attention snapped to her and it was just enough a distraction for Hanzo, Genji and Shen to put him flat on the ground. Mercy knelt, her keen dark gaze scanning over Zed's form.
"Omnic?" she asked as Zed gave another attempt to free himself.
"He is like me," Genji replied, "Cyborg,"
"Project," Zed spat, "Freak, Monster,"
"A little touchy, are we?" Mercy asked, putting a cool hand on Zed's neck and making him jump, "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you,"
Zed stared at her, his face unreadable through his mask, but Mercy could sense the mistrust…until she finally brushed up against a small switch and flipped it. Zed immediately went still and lax, circuits blackened.
"What did you…" Shen demanded only to get a placating gesture from Mercy.
"He is just asleep," she told him, "He will wake up in a few hours…more than enough time to get him inside and, as much as I hate to say it, restrained so he will not kill us,"
"Why should I trust you with him?" Shen asked, one hand on his ninjatō while the other still stayed on Zed's shoulder.
Mercy gave a nod and reached down, extending her hand.
"My name is Dr. Angela Ziegler," she told him, "I am also known by my Overwatch code name, Mercy. I am the head of the medical division and also the one who helped Genji heal from his wounds…"
She shot Hanzo a glare, getting an uncomfortable look from said archer.
"I am more than capable of healing your friend," she finished, "Now, if that is all, let us get him into the building away from prying eyes…there is no telling if Talon operatives are here and watching,"
"Talon?" Shen asked.
"We will explain later," Hanzo told him, "But for now…it is best we do as Dr. Ziegler asks,"
So we've met Mercy. Unlike League Champions, a lot of Overwatch champions do not go by their real names (ex. Mercy, Tracer, Reaper, etc.) More than likely I'll call them by the name that Shen and Zed hear first (i.e. Dr. Ziegler will be called Mercy because Genji greeted her that way). Also, Zed has a thing against labs or anything that resembles a lab...those of you who read the Project story I did understand why...
Next, Genji, Mercy and Zed get some quality time and Zed gets to see something he hasn't seen in a long time...
Anyway, hope you liked it. If you did, please let me know!
Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)
Máriessë ar mára tecië
Farewell and fair writing
Elhini Prime signing off.
