Chapter 2
"Beware the Roadhog…" That was a phrase often spoken in terrified whispers, or more usually, in anguished last gasps. Five years ago, the Australian Omnic Resettlement Zone was completely obliterated when the nearby Omnium's fusion generator was sabotaged, causing it to melt down and nuke the entire area. Rubble and scrap were scattered for miles upon miles, and the land was irradiated beyond hope for recovery. Over twelve-thousand people—humans and Omnics—lost their lives in the destruction, but not everyone who was there died. Some were reborn. The Roadhog was one such person…
Well, perhaps 'person' was no longer a word applicable to the corpulent giant of a man, who wore tattered biker gear and black gas mask in the shape of a pig's snout. He was more like a force of nature; wherever he went, destruction and carnage naturally followed. Law enforcement agencies who tried to apprehend him were decimated in their attempts. Others who attempted to steal from him, or otherwise do him harm quickly came to regret their mistake, as he tore through them with frightening ease, shrugging off blade and bullet wounds in a way no ordinary human could. No one knew what his motives were, or what, if anything, he was after. And those who crossed his path usually didn't live long enough to find out. But this was not always what he was…
"You know, one of these days, we're really gonna have to talk about this side car situation," spoke a small man with a thick Australian accent. "It's way too rickety! I feel like one of these days, it's just gonna fall off—with me inside it!"
The man held onto the sides of the sidecar as a big, yellow motorcycle thundered across the desert sands. Sunlight reflected off the pig-shaped headlight as a huge, bloated figure rode in the driver's seat.
"Also, we could stand to put some weapons on this thing, don't ya think? You've seen the stuff the Junkers are riggin' up these days! Nothing wrong with us gettin' a little more firepower too, ya know? My grenade launcher can only do so much, but imagine this: a grenade machine-gun mounted to this baby! Oi, Roadhog! You listenin', mate?"
Roadhog merely grunted in response, keeping his eyes on the road.
"What do you mean, it would unbalance the bike? So, we just put a gun on your side, too!"
Roadhog grunted again, shaking his head.
"Weigh us down? Since when do you of all people care about weight?" the small man said.
He immediately regretted his choice of words when Roadhog took his right hand off the handlebars and grabbed him by his hair, which resembled a great plume of flame—not helped by the fact that some of it actually was on fire—not that that seemed to bother Roadhog, as his large hand effortlessly lifted the smaller man out of his seat and dangled him behind the bike, over the open road.
"Ack! Alright! I'm sorry mate! You're right! The bike doesn't need weapons! The two of us do just fine on our own! I know how much you hate other people makin' mods to your bike, after all! And there's definitely nothing wrong with your weight!"
Grunting with satisfaction, Roadhog placed the man back in his seat. The smaller man sighed with relief. "Well, can we at least get the sidecar fixed? I feel like it's gonna shake itself apart any second!"
Roadhog said nothing, but reached out with his hand and held on to it, preventing it from shaking any further. "Ah, Junkrat thanks you, mate…" the smaller man said, finally leaning back in his seat and relaxing…
About an hour later, Roadhog and the smaller man, known as Junkrat, pulled in front of their favorite dive bar, the Dead End. Roadhog looked wary as Junkrat sat up in his seat, frowning. "Well, we sure picked a hell of a day to stop by our favorite watering hole!" he said, recognizing several of the vehicles parked outside as belonging to the Junker Gang, whom he and Roadhog were presently on very bad terms with. Once an ally of the Junkers, who managed to survive the nuclear fallout created by the destruction of the Australian Omnium, Junkrat, born Jamieson Fawkes, discovered a secret within the ruins of the facility, something that many of his fellow Junkers were eager to obtain for themselves, and were all too happy to attempt to kill him for. But no one knew the exact nature of what the man had discovered, as everyone who attempted to take it from Junkrat met their ends at the hands of Roadhog, whom Junkrat had hired to protect him. Now, the duo traveled together leaving little but murder and mayhem in their wake.
"Come on, Roadie. Let's bounce before we're seen!" said Junkrat. But before Roadhog could gun the engine, three men crashed through the window and into the duo, knocking them and Roadhog's bike over. Roadhog got up swiftly, and angrily drew his Scrapgun as a tall, lean, man in black jumped through the window after them. Landing and rolling on the ground into a kneeling position, he looked up and saw Roadhog, who simply stared between him, and the three men lying on the ground, seemingly unsure of who to shoot first. That's when several more people ran up to the window behind the man in black, bradishing a variety of weapons. The man in black looked behind him and swore as he dodged a hail of gunfire. Roadhog moved to cover Junkrat, shielding him with his body as several bullets tore into his flesh. He grunted in discomfort. When the gun smoke cleared, the shooters looked and saw Roadhog's body riddled with bullet holes, blood seeping out of them and running down his body…but he didn't fall down. Instead, he turned around, drew a small, yellow canister from his belt, and attached it to one of the filters on his gas mask. Taking a deep breath, Roadhog inhaled the curious vapors the canister contained. As he did so, the bullet hole began to rapidly close, causing the man in black to gasp in amazement, and the crowd of Junkers to gaze in horror, realization and fear gripping them tight.
"Oh shit…" the Junker, Kramer, said. "Oi, Decimus! We've got a problem here!"
"What the hell?! Roadhog and Junkrat?!" Decimus said, pushing his way through the crowd.
"Decimus?" said Junkrat, peeking out from behind Roadhog, his wild eyes lighting up. "Looks like we really DID pick a hell of a day to come here, eh Roadie?"
"Well don't just stand there you slags!" Decimus roared to his men. "Kill those fucks!"
A group of Junkers rushed forward, but were quickly dispatched with a blast from Roadhog's Scrapgun. Junkrat took the change to piggyback Roadhog, leaping off of his shoulders and unloading a barrage of grenades from his homemade "Frag Launcher". The Junkers and bar patrons alike dove for cover as small grenades exploded all over the place, blowing holes in the bar and scattering the people. Taking advantage of the chaos, the man in black rushed in and began knocking out stragglers with blinding speed. When some of the Junkers tried to beat him down with pipes and clubs, two compartments in the man in black's arms open up and unsheathed two black blades which he used to cut through their weapons, the monomolecular edges cutting through them like a sword through cheese. Behind the man in black, a Junker drew a grenade and was about to throw it at him, until the man in black whipped around and aimed one of his blades at him. The blade dislodged itself from the man in black's arm as he launched it at the Junker like a cannon shot, impaling the Junker's arm and nailing it to the wall behind him. The Junker screamed in pain and dismay as he tried in vain to remove his arm from the wall, only for the grenade to explode in his hand…
Junkrat and Roadhog were holding their own outside of the bar. Junkrat maintained his position behind Roadhog, lobbing a seemingly endless number of grenades at anyone who was unfortunate enough to be spotted by him, cackling madly all the while. Roadhog stood out in front, his giant frame absorbing any attacks that threatened to get through to his partner, his supply of noxious vapors continuing to fill his mask, rapidly healing his body from any injury he took. One Junker who had emptied his gun in his futile effort to kill the man, threw his weapon down and ran away in fear. Roadhog saw this, and drew a large, steel hook from his belt, throwing it an impressive distance at the Junker. The hook wrapped around the unfortunate victim and drew him back towards Roadhog, kicking and screaming. When he was close enough, Roadhog grabbed the man, who stared into the soulless, black lenses of Roadhog's gas mask.
"You're…you're a monster…" the man whispered fearfully.
"No…" rejected Roadhog, in a deep, menacing voice. "I'm a one-man apocalypse!" The Junker's head splattered across the sands as Roadhog unloaded his shotgun into his face…
"Mother of hell…why the fuck did those two have to show up here of all places?!" Decimus said as he hid behind the bar, loading a sawn-off shotgun. Suddenly, he found himself lifted up by a black, cybernetic arm. Decimus turned even paler than he usually appeared when he looked into a pair of angry, artificial eyes, one green, and one yellow, making them even more unnerving to look at.
"I told you I wasn't looking for trouble. You should have just let me have that drink," the man in black said.
"Look mate, we just got off on the wrong foot here, yeah? If you let me go, we can both pretend this all never happened!" Decimus said with a nervous smile.
"Take what's left of your gang and leave this town. If I ever catch you here again, you better let me have that drink. I'm a lot nicer when I'm not dying of thirst," the man in black said, narrowing his eyes.
"Hey, whatever you say, buddy!" Decimus replied.
"I don't think so, mate!" said a voice. The man in black turned around, still holding up Decimus, and saw Junkrat and Roadhog standing in a hole that had been blown in the wall. "You can just hand that bloke over to us. We've got ourselves a score to settle with him!"
The man in black looked between the duo and Decimus. Decimus, not liking the way the man in black was looking, spoke up. "Ohhhh, no. You can't hand me over to those animals!"
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't."
"Don't you know who those guys are?! They're Roadhog and Junkrat! The terrors of the Outback! They're ruthless killers!"
"So are the Junkers," the man in black retorted.
"Well…yeah, but at least we actually have a code to live by! THESE two are traitors to that code! They turned on our family and have been killin' us up and down the outback!"
"Only because you tried to kill me first, you two-faced, jizzwailer!" said Junkrat angrily. "If you hadn't tried to stab me in the back and steal my treasure, we wouldn't be here right now!" Decimus had no response.
"Their displeasure with you sounds pretty justified to me," the man in black said. "Gentlemen, he's all yours."
Decimus, seeing the situation quickly going south for him, ripped open his jacket…which was filled with C-4 explosives. "If THAT'S how it's gonna be, then I'll see you all in Hell! WITNESS ME!" he roared as he pressed a button in his jacket and laughed maniacally. The man in black swore and, using his cybernetically enhanced strength, threw Decimus through a broken window out of the bar, and took cover. Roadhog and Junkrat did the same, as an explosive fireball erupted outside.
Getting up and walking outside, the trio observed the aftermath of their battle. The Junkers who were still alive were retreating on their bikes, while the significantly more numerous dead littered the street, not all in one piece. Civilians helped their injured fellows to safety while others either lingered around to observe the gruesome scene, or hid from the trio who helped create it.
The man in black sighed. "When I woke up this morning, I was not prepared for this…"
Junkrat looked around at the scene, positively giddy at the sight of the destruction. "Would have preferred to blow the shite up myself, but I'll take it!" he laughed. "At least nothing important got blown up, eh Roadhog?"
But as he turned around, he saw Roadhog staring at a massive crater where Decimus had been thrown by the man in black…where his bike had been parked…
"Oooh…" Junkrat said, picking up one of the bike's parts, which were scattered up and down the street. "I am REAL sorry about that, Roadie…but look at all the other bikes the Junkers left behind! We can make you a new one!"
But Roadhog said nothing. Instead, he silently turned towards the man in black, gripping his metal hook tighter in his hand. The man in black followed Roadhog's eyes and realization struck. "Oh shit…"
The man in black turned on his heel and began to sprint away. However, he tripped over something, falling face first into the dirt. Spitting out sand, he rolled over and picked up the small, metallic sphere that had caused his fall. However, as he was eyeing the curious object, a large metal hook flew out of nowhere and impaled his left leg. The man in black did not cry out in pain, but gave an exasperated, "Crap", before getting yanked towards Roadhog. The man in black stuffed the sphere in his pocked while he was being dragged, as his right hand dislodged itself from his wrist and bent down as two prongs extended from a compartment inside of his arm. Once the man in black had been pulled to him, Roadhog blasted him with his Scrapgun, knocking him on his back. Before Roadhog could finish the man in black off, however, energy built up between the two prongs in the man's arm and exploded outwards, a concussive blast of pure force knocking both Roadhog and Junkrat off of their feet and dazing them. The man in black got up and tried to recharge the weapon, but it sparked and fizzled out.
"Dammit, not again," the man in black said. Then, seeing that his adversaries were recovering, the man in black decided to seize the opportunity. His body surged with electricity as he turned around and sprinted away at impossible speed, this time making good his escape…
Before the legend of the Roadhog came to be, there once lived a man named Mako Rutledge, a resident of the Australian outback who was content to live a solitary existence on his farm, far the rest of society. He didn't bother anyone and nobody bothered him. However, that all changed when the Omnic Crisis happened. The Omnic Crisis was a massive war the saw the Omniums of the world spontaneously activate and start churning out thousands upon thousands of robots designed for the express purpose of eradicating human life. And few places were hit harder than Australia, its smaller population having much fewer means to fight off the robot invasion on their own. So when the United Nations council decided to develop a large portion of Australia's land to make a resettlement zone for Omnics after the war as a peace offering—land that many people such as Mako were already living on—there was a considerable amount of backlash. Being forced to watch their land be claimed by the very machines who ravaged it drove a large portion of the population to form the Australian Liberation Front, with the goal of removing the Omnics from their new home—permanently. The long and desperate struggle between two people fighting for a place to call their own culminated in a final atrocity that no one could walk away from unchanged. One such person was Mako Rutledge. When he saw the remains of his devastated homeland, his heart broke. When he looked upon the friends and comrades who had died for their cause, his mind snapped. When he breathed in the radiation the tainted the land, his flesh was corrupted. That was the day Mako Rutledge died…and the Roadhog was born, casting a shadow of vengeance against the world that had robbed him of everything, swearing that he would never allow it to happen again. Now, getting up from his daze, and seeing the dust trail the man in black left in his wake, Roadhog turned to the crater that was once the sight of his treasured, diesel-powered steed, and renewed his vow of vengeance against a the antagonistically apathetic world that left him to rot.
"Roadhog rides again…"
