Talon: A Dawg's Tale

by SkorchNTorch

Some say you're born a hero, some say it's a result of events in your life shaping you. But what if some events that would've made someone a hero never occurred? And instead... changed someone's course? So, someone who was meant to be a hero, became... well. You'll find out.

7. Lights Out

A.N. Warning, this chapter gets a little… excessive.

Night had fallen in Venice, the moon was covered partially by the clouds, and the city was lit up by a series of street lights and lanterns. The water continued to lap against the walls and docks calmly, the gondolas floating in the water, rocking back and forth. Mad Dawg pulled a bandana with a frog on it over his mouth and cracked his neck, he grabbed a tool box and pulled a small silver device out. He carefully set in on the table and poked his head out the door, looking down the hallway he saw two Talon agents at the end of the hall, standing guard. Mad Dawg shrugged uncaringly and closed the door. Pressing a button on the small device, there was static for a few moments, then music began to play. Tilting the lamp head on an angle, Dawg shook the can of spray paint he had and held the stencil over the saw-launcher's casing. Beginning to re-paint his new weapon, Mad Dawg calmly grooved to the tape of Low-fi hip hop he made as he worked on his new paint job. Earlier, he had made it his job to cover the bland and basic gray colour with a layer of black paint. It had dried and now he was working on a stenciled design in a purple colour. Akande had surprisingly, (or at least, surprising to Mad Dawg) had brought him the few things he asked for. However, this did mean he was now confined to his room, and could only go around the base with the guards (which annoyed them as he used the bathroom frequently just to anger them). But for now, he was content to work on his new project.

"Hey, Cerda." Sombra remarked, casually strolling into the room. "How's it going?"

Mad Dawg turned around and pulled his bandana down.

"Could be better, could be worse." He sighed. "Is the council here yet? I think I'm getting cabin fever…"

"Ooh… Well, hang in there. The council won't be here for another hour or so." Sombra chuckled.

"Oi." Mad Dawg grumbled, leaning back in his chair. "Listen, my memories are still coming back, is there anything important I should remember?"

"Well, let me think." Sombra seemed to be thinking back to when Mad Dawg was a kid.

"I feel like we're missing someone…" Mad Dawg mused. "You, me, Doomfist, Widow-Woman, Reaper, Moira, Hakim, there was someone else when I was growing up. Who were they?"

"You mean Baptiste?" Sombra asked.

"Yes!" Mad Dawg exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "Baptiste! What happened to that guy? I haven't seen him since I got back."

Sombra frowned before answering.

"He left."

"Who killed him?"

"No one." Sombra answered flatly.

"Wait, then where is he?" Mad Dawg asked confused. "I kinda figured that the only way you 'retired' from this job was with a bullet through your skull."

"Well, that's rather cynical of you." Sombra frowned, arms crossed.

"Well, am I wrong?" Mad Dawg retorted. Sombra bit her lip, looking at Mad Dawg, then looked away.

"Not exactly…" She muttered, understanding Mad Dawg's reasoning.

"Boom." Mad Dawg said, striking a pose before turning back to his work. "I swear, if I didn't have the patience of a freakin' saint I would've split a while ago… that and whatever's shocking my brain…"

"Well, if you wanna hear a story about your times here, I got one." Sombra smirked, not having heard the last part. "Actually, it was also the first time Baptiste met you. About four days after we found you in Coyote…"

Years Ago…

Sombra poked her head out and looked around the empty hallway, with a grin on her face she picked up a duffle bag full of tech and computer parts she was taking home for the weekend. The bag was rather heavy but she was excited to work on an upgrade to her invisibility device that may let her remain in that mode permanently, at the cost of not being able to hack, but still. She could figure that out. She was stopped when she felt someone pulling him her skirt. Looking down she saw Cerda looking up at her, seemingly upset by something.

"Aw, what's wrong sweetie?" She cooed, getting down and looking Cerda in the eyes. The small boy pointed down the hall, Sombra seemed confused, but then she frowned when she realized what he was pointing towards. "Moira?"

Cerda nodded.

"What about her?" The hacker asked, then her eye's widened as Cerda made a line across his neck with a finger, Sombra understood what he was trying to convey. She frowned, somewhat angry, but didn't know what to do. Still, she knew she couldn't leave him here, the look in Cerda's eyes was one of terror. Donning a cheeky grin, she looked back to her duffle bag and asked: "Cerda, sweetie, do you wanna come home with me?"

Cerda nodded feverishly as Sombra unzipped the duffle bag, moving some of the drive around she motioned to the bag and Cerda climbed in silently, allowing Sombra to hide him under a few tech magazines before closing the bag. Now having to carry the bag with both hands, she continued making her way towards the garage where her vehicle was parked.

"Sombra." Came a gravelly voice.

Sighing and setting the bag down she turned around and came face-to-face with Reaper. There was some black smoke wafting off of him and his breathing seemed more noticeable. Whatever Moira had been doing to him, she wasn't completely finished just yet…

"What?" She asked flatly.

"Where are you going?"

"Home." Sombra replied coolly. "I got the weekend off, I'm gonna catch up on some tv and work on some tech."

"Hm." Reaper replied, not seeming to care in the slightest. "Where's 725?"

"I dunno." The hacker shrugged. "Why do you care?"

"Moira wanted to give him a quick look-over to make sure he's healthy." Reaper replied matter-of-factly. "She said it's been a few days and she doesn't want him to get sick after living where we found him."

"Why are you asking me?" Sombra asked, nonchalantly.

"Because you're always with him. Moira wants to know where he is." Reaper answered.

"Don't you mean she wants to slice him open and see what happens?" Sombra retorted, a bitter tone in her voice.

"Not currently. The council wants him kept alive for now, so the kid won't be her personal experiment yet."

"Well, I don't know where I he is Gabe. I dunno, maybe check the vents or-"

Sombra was cut off as Reaper suddenly grabbed her by the throat with one hand and held her up in the air, more smoke wafting almost angrily around him. From a small hole in the bag, Cerda felt something coming alive inside him. Sombra felt her legs trying to kick at Reaper, but to no avail.

"Don't call me that. EVER." The enforcer growled, his tone that of a man who could tell the devil himself to back off, and the devil would obey.

"O..kay.." Sombra managed to get out, and Reaper dropped her. "You really need to lighten up Reaper…"

Reaper said nothing but turned and left down the adjacent hallway, disappearing into another room. Sighing, Sombra picked up the bag once again and kept walking.

"Hey, Sombra!"

Sombra was about to growl in response, but sighed in relief as she turned around to see a tall man walking towards her wearing black-and-red armour.

"Oh, hey Baptiste." She smiled. "What's up?"

"Eh, not much. Was wondering what you did to piss Reaper off."

"I just talked with him, by the way, thanks for helping there." Sombra grumbled.

"Hey, I would've if it wasn't for the fact the reaper scares the crap outta me." Baptiste smirked. "That dude is tall, dark, and scary. All at once."

"Aw, Gabe's a really teddy bear once you get to know him." Sombra laughed in response. "Once you get past the cold frozen exterior lies the heart of a true boy scout."

"Okay. Sure." Baptiste laughed, suddenly picking up the bag and tossing it over his shoulder. "Geez! How much stuff do you have in here?!"

Sombra bit her lip as she heard a muffled yelp before finally replying:

"A lot."

As the two kept walking to Sombra's car, the hacker kept eyeing the bag nervously. The way Baptiste was jostling it about made her paranoid for two reasons. One, the tech was breakable, and two, Cerda. Inside the bag, Cerda was getting angered somewhat by the metal boxes constantly scraping and bumping into him. He let out a low growl and punched what he thought was Sombra.

"Ow!" Baptiste exclaimed suddenly. "Geez Sombra, do you have a racoon in here?"

"No. But the stuff in there is very breakable." Sombra finally said matter-of-factly.

"Heh, just a bunch of tech junk." He rolled his eyes. As Sombra opened the trunk, he set the bag down and turned to her. "Hey, did you hear that Moira has some sort of living experiment? Some sort of genetic monster or something like that."

Sombra was about to respond when Baptiste noticed something moving about in the bag. He looked from Sombra, then to the bag, then back to Sombra. Reaching forward, he unzipped the flap.

"No! Wait!" Sombra exclaimed.

When Baptiste tossed the flap back, he took a few steps back as Cerda popped up, a magazine opened on top of his head, making a sort of hat. The two looked at one another wordlessly before Baptiste turned to Sombra.

"Sombra-"

"I can explain." The hacker began.

"What the hell?"

"What the hell." Cerda repeated.

"Is… is this your kid or something? Or is Talon doing some real messed up sh-"

"He's not my son." Sombra cut him off, a bit miffed. "He's Moira's."

Baptiste seemed to freeze, the clasped his hands together, with dual finger guns as he thought about what he had heard. He turned, pointing his clasped fingers to Cerda then back to Sombra.

"He's Moira's?" He said in an almost dull tone.

"Yes."

"Who's his dad?"

"She created him. He's the genetic monster you were talking about earlier."

"Oh." Baptiste said, surprised. "Whack." He then smiled down at Cerda. "Hey buddy, I'm Baptiste."

Cerda gave a small wave but didn't say anything, unsure of what to do.

"I call him Cerda, he seems to like it." Sombra added over Baptiste's shoulder.

"So, you wanna explain why he's in your duffle bag? I don't think Talon is the group of people to play hide-and-seek, or participate in take-your-kid-to-work-day."

"Moira wants to hurt the poor baby." Sombra cooed, plucking Cerda form the bag and hugging him close. "I don't wanna let her cut him apart."

"You sure she'd do that?" Baptiste questioned. "Sure, she's kind of a bitch, but I don't think she'd cut up one of her only successful experiments…"

"Bitch." Cerda repeated.

"Seriously Baptiste?! Stop giving him things to say!" Sombra exclaimed, a bit annoyed. "I was supposed to be the one who teaches him how to swear!"

"Okay, fine. But why do you have him?" Baptiste repeated himself.

"Well, I don't want to take the risk that Moira poses to Cerda." Sombra replied, walking around and putting Cerda into her car. "I think you're right and she wouldn't hurt him, but at the same time, I don't like leaving him alone with Reaper and the others. I'm gonna be gone for a few days, so if anyone asks, I haven't seen Cerda. But if you need anything, call."

"Got it." Baptiste replied, walking away with a dismissive wave. Once Cerda was secured in her car, Sombra got into the driver seat and took off, a smirk on her face as she thought how Moira was going to react.

Present Day

"Huh." Mad Dawg said flatly. "Man, Baptiste was a chill dude."

"Yeah, I miss him sometimes." Sombra agreed.

"Whoa, hold on." Mad Dawg suddenly said, surprised. "You care for someone other than yourself!? I'm shocked!"

Sombra gave him a flat look and was about to reply, when the door opened and a Talon agent walked in.

"Sombra, it's time to go." He stated. The hacker nodded and got up and left the room. Mad Dawg sighed, finding himself once again in silence, and turned back to his blade launcher, pulling his bandana up and returning to work.

About ten minutes later, Doomfist, Reaper and Moira sat at a large table, also sitting with them was Maximilen, the Omnic casino owner, Sanjay Korpal, negotiator of Vishkar, Abasheck Delauchland, a Talon agent who worked on the financial side of things, Rorschach Moore, a high-ranking member of Talon, Lachlan DeNiro, a man with connections everywhere, and Laurel Glacéau, an filmmaker who used her sets to smuggle weapons for Talon. Hakim, Widowmaker and Sombra were also present, Hakim was sipping on his coffee and Sombra was tapping on the table, bored already.

"… and despite the brief lapse we had in loyalty, the product has been received and payment has been made." Abasheck finished, looking up from his tablet. There were a few murmurs until Doomfist spoke up.

"Yes… that 'lapse in loyalty' as you put it." He mused. "What happened to those who had second thoughts?"

"They've been delt with." Abasheck replied immediately. "I saw to that myself, the others took the message clearly. They were reminded that Talon dosen't tolerate deserters."

"Good."

Sombra sighed quietly, she wasn't sure who had it worse, her, or Mad Dawg. On the one hand, she'd kill to get out of here, but in Mad Dawg's case, he was stuck in a room alone. But then again, he had a twelve-pack that was probably helping the time pass. Speaking of Mad Dawg, he was currently in the rest room, trying to kill as much time as possible as he carved a cartoonish wolf head into the wall, only to hear a banging on the outside door.

"HEY!" One of the two agents assigned to watching him shouted. "Hurry up!"

"Eat my asshole!" Mad Dawg retorted, hearing the guard groan in annoyance.

When Mad Dawg returned to his room, he sighed and found the small book he tossed onto his bed. He remembered at one point Akiko had told him to read The Art of War, he picked it up and began flipping through several pages until he stopped at a section that interested him. Waging War. Reading the generals writings, there was a specific quote that caught his attention.

"The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice." He read aloud. "Huh…"

Mad Dawg thought about some of his recent escapades, sure dealing with Lebowski and Trejo had been rather easy… but that was partially because he had help from Widowmaker with Logan, and Lebowski would have been laughed out of Talon try-outs… But breaking Reaper out? Man, Dawg's plan was sloppy at best. If he was going to work with Talon, let alone settle some scores with Overwatch… he had to be better. Even here, he had tried to sneak out of his room a few times, but he kept feeling a shock in his head every time he reached a certain distance didn't have the guards with him. There was something… different about these shocks though. They hurt. At least, hurt enough they convinced Mad Dawg not to try any more escape attempts.

"Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards." Mad Dawg continued. "Hm. Well, Talon seems to be doing that…"

Mad Dawg began thinking about the reasoning behind Talon, sure, Akande had stated it was about strength, and growing through conflict, but why did people join Talon? Revenge? Bloodlust? Boredom? For Mad Dawg, it was kinda a mixture of those three, but also a sense of family… but Mad Dawg was the one-in-a-fifty-quintillion-acceptation to any rule. So why did the others join?

Poking his head out the door, Mad Dawg called "Hey!" to the duo at the end of the hall.

"NO!" one of them shouted. "We are NOT going to the bathroom again!"

"I don't need to piss, I just wanted to talk." Mad Dawg replied.

The two slowly made their way to the doorway and stopped, one of the two sighing audibly.

"Whaddya want kid?" He asked gruffly.

"Why'd you join Talon?" Mad Dawg asked.

The two went silent, looking to one another, then back to Mad Dawg.

"Excuse me?"

"Why are you here? What keeps you around?" Mad Dawg asked, re-phrasing his question.

"I'm sorry, why do you care?" The man asked.

"Just talking. I'm curious what the reward you're after is."

The two went silent, until the second one, a woman answered:

"I want to make a change. The world is being driven into the ground the way it is, no one seems to care, no one but Talon. Only when our job is complete will the world be a better place."

"And you?" Mad Dawg asked the man.

"Simple, we can keep the scores from jobs, pays a hell of a lot better than any job you can find. Sure, the work's kinda dirty, but if you wanna ever get rich, you need to get your hands dirty at some point."

"Cool." Mad Dawg nodded. "I can respect that."

"Alright, we answered your questions, now you gotta answer mine." The man stated suddenly, but by his tone, it was clear this was something he had wanted to do for a while.

"Seems fair." Mad Dawg shrugged, happy to at least have someone to talk to.

"Who are you, and why does Talon seem so infatuated with you?" He asked, bluntly.

"Long story short, I have a history with a few of the agents." Mad Dawg began, leaning against the doorway. "Our paths crossed a few months ago, and it seemed like everywhere I went, I ran into them. I was chilling in Dorado, ended up in Widow-Woman's crosshairs, ended up helping her kill Logan Trejo."

The two went quiet, seeming to realize who this newcomer was. All of Talon had heard about a supposed maniac who broke into Overwatch's 'Titan Cell' and escaped with Reaper, and how he supposedly had not only assisted in Logan Trejo's death, but also disappeared into thin air. While many agents simply dismissed these rumors, there were a few who thought there may be some truth, or at least a person behind these rumors.

"You're him. Aren't you?" The woman asked. "That guy everyone's been talking about. The guy who broke Reaper out from Titans Cell."

"Well, I wouldn't say that… but… yeah. That's me." Mad Dawg admitted.

"No. That's a load of crap." The man shook his head. "A lanky kid like you? You would've been torn apart by Overwatch."

"I almost was, but I was stupidly lucky." Mad Dawg replied.

"Sure." The man replied with a roll of his eyes, before answering an incoming call, walking away, leaving Mad Dawg and the woman.

"My name's Taylor, by the way." Taylor introduced herself.

"Kace." Mad Dawg smiled.

Meanwhile…

"So, Ms. O'Deorain, you claim to have found an old… experiment, was it? Would you care to explain?" Maximilen asked, drawing their attention to another matter of business.

"Of course." Moira nodded. "I'm not sure how many of you do remember this, but a number of years ago, I was working on a project codenamed Dawn Breaker. While the name may sound familiar to a few council members, but many of us had merely been agents of Talon when this project was in its infancy stages."

"Quite literally." Sombra muttered, earning her an annoyed glare from the biologist.

"Years ago, the main subject Dawn Breaker, Omega-725 was thought to have been killed, however, a few weeks ago, Sombra came across someone with extreme athletically abilities and superhuman durability. This same newcomer would be the one who broke Reaper out of Titans Cell, and assisted Widowmaker in assassinating Logan Trejo."

"So, what you're telling us is that a failed science experiment of yours that died has somehow come back to life and has been randomly assisting us?" Sanjay finally spoke up, disbelief clear in his voice. Moira looked to Sombra and nodded. Sombra sent a video to the screen at the end of the table, showing Mad Dawg being gunned down by Lebowski's men, then pulling himself up and then brutally killing everyone. The video cut to Reaper being carried by a blur as they ran past the security camera, the running figure was clearly heard laughing.

"As much as I'd question how a supposedly dead experiment managed to break in and out of Titans Cell, the undeniable fact is that something did." Lachlan admitted with a slight shake of his head. "All of my contacts were going nuts, there were rumors of some new player on the streets. Apparently, he's got a bit of a record, but the people how know about it don't want to say anything."

"Omega was some of my finest work, he was a rare success the like of which I believe cannot be duplicated, and is now impossible to re-create with the assistants I had…" She grumbled the last part as she continued her explanation. "It possesses a natural regeneration ability, allowing him to survive what would be fatal blows from many kinds of weapons, he also seems to have an immunity to some types of toxins. He also can change his physical body."

"What do you mean by that?" Laurel asked.

"I need to consult my notes, but he appears to have a sort of symbiotic entity living in his genetic coding." The Biologist began. "It can modify its skeletal and genetic structure and reform its own material to take on another form altogether."

The room went silent, those who had met Mad Dawg (or seen security tapes) understood what the scientist said, the others had no idea what half the words she had just said meant.

"To put that in English, he can change into a giant death beast." Sombra snarked. "I know that sounds hard to believe, but ask Reaper. He saw it." Reaper silently nodded in conformation.

As they turned back to Moira, asking for an explanation, she heard the doors open behind her.

"Ah, Omega." She said turning around. "Please, come in, there are some people I would like you to meet."

The other council members turned to look as Mad Dawg walked into the room, cracking his neck audibly to each side before stopping at the end of the table next to Doomfist.

"This, is Project Dawn Breaker, test subject Omega-725." Moira introduced Mad Dawg with a noticeable amount of pride in her voice.

"Hello." Mad Dawg said, raising a few fingers in a slight wave. "Th'names Mad Dawg."

There wasn't a response from the council until Laurel spoke up.

"THIS is the creation you've been talking about?" She asked in disbelief. "He looks like we started recruiting agents from drug rehab clinics!"

"Oh shit, that's how it's gonna be?" Mad Dawg replied, his eyes narrowing, but before he could say anything, Moira gave him a look and Mad Dawg bit his lip.

"Looks can be quite deceiving Laurel." Doomfist now spoke, his tone still casual. "Besides, he has proven to be quite useful at getting around inconspicuously, something which admittedly, not many of us are capable of."

"Are you suggesting we're bad at what we do, Akande?" Rorschach growled, the hot-headed agent leaning forward slightly.

"Not at all sir." Mad Dawg spoke, getting everyone's attention. "But if I may, allow me to explain. Someone like Reaper of Widowmaker would stand out anywhere but a Goth lounge, Mr. Maximilen is a well-known casino operator, so him going to a darkened alleyway to make deals would immediately be seen as shifty. Laurel's a filmmaker, so she has a social image to uphold, Doomfist… well, he's one of the most wanted men on the planet right now. Sanjay is a member of one of the biggest corporations on earth, so he also usually has eyes on him. Hell, that's why a meeting like this can be so tricky, just getting here for half of you is a risk that you'd be found out. Then not only would your social careers be over, but you'd also be screwed in the sense that people would know, or at least start rumors, that you were with Talon."

Rorschach didn't respond, he clearly didn't like being talked down to by a teenager, let alone one he believed he could snap in two. The others seemed rather impressed with his reasoning, and the agents who knew him were shocked at how well behaved he was.

"You said your name was 'Mad Dog'?" Sanjay now addressed Mad Dawg. "How did you get that name?"

"Well, to make a long story short, it was a name given to me by someone I worked with. Maybe it was nickname or maybe they were serious, regardless, it stuck." Mad Dawg answered.

"Who exactly was this person you knew?"

"Not person, a Omnic friend of mine, closet thing to a father I had for some time." Mad Dawg smiled softly, no malicious insanity in his eyes. "But I'd rather not bore you with the stories of my past, as I know there are more important things for you all to discuss."

"Who is this guy and what has he done with Cerda?" Sombra whispered to Reaper.

"I know. We should ask him to stay." Reaper replied.

"Forgive me doctor, but I cannot imagine how this… boy could possibly be the thing you speak of." Rorschach spoke again, his tone still angered and generally bitter. "You claim he can heal, that he can turn into a monster, yet it seems like he hasn't eaten in several weeks."

"I have a fast as hell metabolism." Mad Dawg cut in, his patience seeming to be waring. "It kinda happens when you have a four-hundred-pound beast living in you. Also, as for the healing thing."

Before anyone could stop him, Mad Dawg ripped his shirt off and pulled a large butterfly knife out from behind him. He then drove the blade into just above his stomach and sliced upwards, a geyser of blood splashing the table followed by a few shocked yells as Mad Dawg's knees gave out from shock and he fell to the ground, the knife clanging next to him. Doomfist seemed intrigued, Moira seemed disappointed, and the others were taken aback. After about eight seconds, they heard a groan and Mad Dawg's hand suddenly grabbed the table's edge. Pulling himself up, everyone watched in amazement as the large, vertical wound slowly closed itself, leaving a faint hint of a scar, which blended into the dozens of others just like it.

"Ow. Think I hit my lung there…" Mad Dawg muttered.

"How… how are you alive?!" Lachlan finally sputtered.

"Ask her." Mad Dawg said, pointing to Moira. "She's a hell of a lot smarter than I think we give her credit for."

"Right… well, thank you Omega." Moira spoke, somehow keeping her calm composure. "If there's no other questions, then-"

"This might seem strange, but would he be considered human?" Maximilen asked suddenly, leaning forward slightly.

"I… huh… I dunno." Mad Dawg shrugged before looking to Moira. "I'm pretty sure I'm not human according to you, but then… what does that make me?"

"Well, scientifically speaking, you're a mutant, a modified creature with human biological data but who also has additional engineered abilities." Moira mused.

"But he isn't human?" Sanjay asked.

"Considering the fact that he has almost endless stamina, an ability to self-repair and was made by someone in a lab, I'd say he's honestly closer to an Omnic than a human." Rorschach snorted.

"Is there an issue with that?" Maximilen asked, anger clear in his calm tone.

"Pfft! Not to me!" Mad Dawg laughed. "Omnic's are friggin' awesome. Most of the Omnic's in my life are better than most people whose shit I've had to deal with. If I'm classified as an Omnic, I'm cool with that."

"Regardless, Omega's success is the beginning of something much more. With his abilities, Talon will be able to achieve more of its goals with lower risk by using him as the middle man." Moira spoke up, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"And I presume that's why he's important?" Laurel asked dryly. "Because he can deal with the meaningless work while the adults accomplish the actual plan?"

"Sure, the adults. And you. Because, let's be real here, any one of us could do your job." Mad Dawg retorted.

"Excuse me?!" Laurel shouted, shocked by Mad Dawg's carless comment. "The work I do for Talon is undeniable! I worked for where I am! And I sure as hell didn't rely on genetic superpowers to compensate for physical weakness!"

"Yeah? At least I didn't get where I am by sleeping with every guy I saw." Mad Dawg flatly shot back.

The room went dead silent. Moira seemed mortified of what had just happened, Doomfist and Sombra both seemed amused. Sanjay, Abasheck and Lachlan seemed intruded by the newcomer's fire, and Maximilen stifled a laugh. Laurel turned snow white in shock at the accusation. The nerve of this… child not only accusing her of partaking in dishonest advantages, but also discrediting her work! Sure, she was used to being berated, torn down, but she always stood tall, and she sure wasn't going to take this.

"Sure, let's listen to the woman who's never made a decent film in her life. I've seen pornos with better production values then her films." Mad Dawg added. Seeing the silence and reactions from the council, he smirked. "G'night everyone. It's been a pleasure meeting most of you."

Without waiting for dismissal, he cracked another can of Jack and Coke and left the room, chugging the alcoholic drink as the doors closed. The shock finally died down and everyone looked to one another.

"I like him." Sanjay finally smiled. "He's quite impressive Moira."

"Agreed." Maximilen nodded. "He will be quite useful to our future endeavors."

"You've done well Doctor O'Deorain." Abasheck complimented. "He's unbelievable! Putting aside the fact that he survived almost a decade on his own and freed Reaper, his healing factor… I've only ever seen things like it in a comic book!"

"I'm sorry, are we just ignoring what he said?!" Laurel demanded, colour having returned to her face, shock now replaced with anger.

"Yes." Sombra said coolly.

"I wasn't talking to you." She scowled.

"I'll talk to him." Moira reassured the filmmaker. "Regardless, allow us to move onto…"

Mad Dawg quietly walked back into his room and flopped down on his bed. Looking up at the ceiling, he smiled, then chuckled to himself. After a few more moments, chuckles turned into full-blown, uncontrollable laughter. The image of Laurel's face now permanently burned into his mind, Mad Dawg rolled off his bed and onto the floor, continuing his hysterical laughter. He continued this way for about twenty minutes, then finally collected himself and returned to painting.

Outside the base, a figure with neon green hair climbed up a wall and snuck up behind a guard, grabbing his head and pulling it back, he slashed the man's throat with a sizable butterfly knife and slashed his throat clean open. Grabbing the walkie-talkie, he signaled to someone on another building who quickly dispatched the guard on their building. Several other figures with varying colours of hair scaled the building and met with a purple-haired woman.

"All right guys. This is it." She nodded. "Remembered why we're here, and let's do this!"

The group performed a fist-bump combo before opening a window and attaching a line to the roof they entered the building. Quietly drawing their weapons, the group fanned out, grabbing several guards and silently killing them. A few grunts could be heard as throats were slashed and brains were splattered. The group quickly slunk through the base, killing a few guards and agents here and there, before they came to a room with a large computer set up. As they entered, several agents turned around in shock.

"Hey, who are-" One began, but was silenced by a knife to the chest. The others panicked and tried to hit the alarm, but another member of the group jumped like a rabid animal and landed on the guards back, snapping his neck with his bare hands. Two of them quickly sat themselves at the terminal, and began furiously working away. Outside, several more figures were setting up metal sheets on the doors and windows and began wielding them into place.

"How long till we're clear?" The woman asked.

"Just a few minutes boss. Whoever is in charge of the crypting is damn good… But we should be good…" There was an audible THUNK. "Now."

"Good." The woman grinned, putting on a pair of sunglasses that then lit up blue, displaying a HUD around her. "Kill the lights."

Back in the council room, the lights all suddenly went out, leaving everyone confused. After a few moments, the emergency generator kicked in, illuminating the room in a dim red.

"Great…" Rorschach grumbled. "Now what?"

"The power must've tripped, it should be back on soon." Sombra shrugged. Hakim however, tried to use the door, only to find it wouldn't budge.

"Uhh… I think there's something more going on." He said aloud, getting everyone's attention. "The doors are locked."

Sombra shot Hakim a puzzled look and pulled up the mainframe data, scrolling through a few things her eyes widened.

"What the hell?!" She shouted, angered. "I'm locked out of the system!"

The PA crackled to life and a woman's laughter could be heard.

"Hey y'all!" A voice came over the system. "So… you don't know us, but trust me. WE know YOU. You're all the highest, deadliest and most ruthless members of Talon! As for who we are… Well, we're adrenaline seekers. We live for danger, we thrive on it!"

"Sombra…" Doomfist said.

"I'm trying! I'm trying!" The hacker exclaimed, trying to get through their trappings.

"Soooooo… here's what's gonna happen." The woman continued. "Me and the others, we're gonna find you, and then, we're gonna kill you. If any of you survive, we might tell you why we're doing this, but until then…"

There was the unmistakable sound of a man's throat being cut and the woman laughed hysterically again.

"Buh-bye!"

"What the hell did the kid bring here?!" Rorschach snapped at Moira.

"What?! Why do you think Omega would've brought them here?! He didn't even know where here was! We sedated him the entire time! Even if he did have a tracking device, I would've noticed during the inspections!"

"Enough." Doomfist said calmly, the gauntlet slamming against the table. "Let's deal with these intruders, then we'll find out who sent them."

Sighing, Moira activated a small device and spoke into it.

"Omega! There are intruders in the base! We need you to-"

"Sorry. Can't help you." Mad Dawg cut her off, Moira's face turning redder by the moment.

"And why would that be." She scowled.

"Well, I was given express orders by my boss, who is kind of an asshole to be honest *ahem* that I was to remain in my room after meeting with the council until they had left. Seeing as they are still here, I have no choice but to remain here. I was even bribed. Also, there's something in my brain that keeps shocking me when I try to leave." He scowled the last part, and Moira realized what was happening.

"Oh God…" She groaned.

"Moira? What did you do?" Hakim said slowly, hearing banging on the doors form the other side, followed by insane laughter.

"I re-installed a neural control chip, when I gave him the order to remain… it took it literally. It was designed to-"

"So, you screwed all of us. Great!" Sombra shouted.

"Allow me." Maximilen said, taking the device form Moira. "Hello? Mad Dawg, was it? This is Maximilen."

"Hey sir. I'm sorry I can't do more." Mad Dawg's tone was noticeably different.

"That's where your wrong." The Omnic replied. "You have a saw blade launcher, correct?"

"Yes."

"And you can heal from most wounds, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then this isn't an order, this is a plea for help from one Omnic to another." He continued. "Do what you can."

"Oh, c'mon Max." Sanjay groaned. "The kid's a survivor, bu there's no way-"

The negotiator was cut off by the sound of a buzz saw whirring and Mad Dawg screaming in agony. There was a sickening cutting sound, the sound of flesh and bone being cut, then the even worse squelching sound of something being torn out. After a few moments, Mad Dawg was heard breathing heavily, then the sound of tools clattering and falling to the ground, then nothing.

"Omega?" Moira finally asked.

Suddenly, a figure dropped down from the ceiling, clad in a black denim jacket with patches and spikes adorning it, he lunged forward at whoever was closest to him, that being Sanjay. Without warning, he was snatched out of the air by Doomfist's gauntlet and slammed face-first into the ground. Another jacketed figure suddenly jumped on his back, trying to stab at him, but driving the knife into the gauntlet. The blade snapped off and bounced away harmlessly.

"Uh-oh." The figure said, his eyes going wide.

Akande grabbed him with his human hand and threw him like a ragdoll across the table. When he came to a stop, both Reaper and Widowmaker opened fire, killing him instantly.

"We need to get out of here." Reaper remarked.

"Great idea, try the door." Sombra deadpanned.

"Reaper, go through the vents and tear down whatever's getting the doors closed, I'll deal with any intruders." Akande ordered. Reaper nodded and entered his wraith form and flew up to the ceiling.

"You know who these people are?" Widowmaker asked, looking over to Lachlan who shook his head.

"Never seen em' before." He replied.

The doors to Mad Dawg's room opened and one of the figures walked in, looking around. He saw the Jack and Coke and took a can, before seeing the teenager with a huge head wound from a saw blade lying in a pool of blood.

"Oh, snap!" He laughed. "Looks like someone beat be here!"

Cracking open the can, he took a drink then heard weakly.

"That's my whiskey…"

Before he could react, Mad Dawg shot up and batted the can out of his hand, sending it spinning into the air. He slammed the saw blade on the newcomer's right foot, slicing clean through his boot and cutting his foot in half. The man's screams echoed throughout the room as Mad Dawg grabbed the gun off of his belt and proceeded to fire mercilessly upwards, destroying all matter of organs before winding back and pistol whipping the man, catching the can, taking a long drink, and then shoving the can into his throat, the aluminum slicing into him, killing him.

"Hey, Akande?" Mad Dawg groaned, grabbing the large knives off the man's body.

"Yes?" Doomfist replied, killing the first man who attacked them, a bit surprised to hear Mad Dawg's voice.

"Permission to exterminate all non-Talon intruders with extreme prejudice?" Mad Dawg asked, his tone seeming to be childishly hopeful.

"Granted." Akande replied with a smirk.

"Hang in there, boss, I'll be there to bust you out in a minute!" Mad Dawg's voice could be heard over the buzz saw device whirring again.

Stepping out into the hall, Mad Dawg saw another one of the figures with his back turned, seeming to be looking for something. Mad Dawg simply strolled up until he was a few feet behind him and whistled loudly. The man turned around and gasped, surprised, then tried to raise his weapon, but was silenced when the buzz saw was launched and went straight through his mouth, cutting his head in half.

"Kill him!" A voice shouted.

Mad Dawg dropped to the floor as a hail of bullets tore down the hallway, bouncing off the walls around him, he could feel a few bullets scrap him and at least one went into his side. The casings raining to the ground like an orchestra of metal tinks. Mad Dawg fired his blade launcher back at the attackers. There were screams and yells of pain and anger as several of the intruders were cut down. Mad Dawg breathed heavily, feeling a bit nervous for the first time in a long time. There were at least three of them, and one of him. Not only that, but they were in a hallway, so either he had to run towards them or run away. Either way, he was going to be out in the open. Scanning the walls, Dawg tried to estimate where he'd have to bounce the blades off of in order to create an opening.

"Who the hell are you?!" Mad Dawg shouted, trying to stall for time.

"Call us Trinity!" A voice called back. "This goes one of two ways kid, run and die, or stay there and die!"

"How about option three?" Mad Dawg asked, suddenly standing up and firing the weapon. The serrated hard light blade launched down the hall, ricocheting about, then hitting the ground before bouncing off the ceiling. Sadly, Dawg miscalculated his shot, and merely sliced their weapons in half. Thankfully, this created a diversion long enough for Mad Dawg to rush the Trinity members and repetitively shank one of them in the leg, making it impossible to ever walk on his leg again. He felt the cold metal stab into his shoulder, slicing deep into muscle and nerve, making him cry out in pain.

"DAMN IT!" He growled, ripping the knife out and swinging it at the attacker, but with his injured arm, he was unstable. The members of Trinity ganged up on him, one grabbing Mad Dawg from under his arms, another one kicking him in the ribs. Falling to his knees, Mad Dawg was then kicked in the jaw, sending him sprawling onto his back. The group then began savagely kicking him into the ground, not giving him a chance to get up. Mad Dawg felt his anger rising, he was trying to change, but he couldn't focus enough while trying to survive and come up with an escape plan. Without warning, a woman grabbed him and threw him into a wall, then pulled out a hand gun from behind, cocked it, and aimed it at his head.

"Really thought you had more of a fight in you." The woman commented, seeming disappointed.

BLAM!

Without warning, her chest exploded outwards, she garbled unintelligibly and fell to her knees, then onto her side. The others turned in shock to see Reaper appear from the darkness and didn't waste any time in blasting the other Trinity members away, they crumpled to the ground, bloody holes in their chests and one of them now missing most of his head. Reaper dropped his smoking shotguns and pulled Mad Dawg to his feet.

"Thanks." Mad Dawg sighed, taking a few deep breaths as his healing factor did its thing, slowly but surely.

"We're even now." Reaper replied firmly.

"We were even when I broke you out." Mad Dawg chuckled. "I owe you now."

"Then get to the council room and get them out." Reaper ordered. "Doomfist can take care of these death seekers, but someone needs to get the others out of here."

"Then why are you helping me?! Shouldn't you be trying to open the door?!" Mad Dawg replied, confused.

"I'm going to turn on the power and find their leader. I need you to kill everyone who isn't Talon."

"Okay, but how am I supposed to-" Mad Dawg began.

"That thing. Bring it out. NOW." Reaper demanded.

"I can't! I need to wake it up and-"

Reaper picked up Dawg's blade launcher and shoved it into his chest.

"I don't care how you do it. Just kill these scraggs." Reaper ordered before storming off, shotguns firing, towards the control room.

Mad Dawg blinked, then shrugged. Maximilen needed his help, and it was time to show these assholes what happened when you messed with Talon. Mad Dawg began running, switching the fire style to 'rapid' he burst through a door and began firing like a maniac. The room was full of Trinity gang members, who were taken aback by the newcomer. Rather than fire full-sized light blades, a barrage of tiny, but no less sharp blades began flying, digging into the Trinity members. They screamed in anger and pain before opening fire. Mad Dawg flipped a table over and kicked it with all his might. The table slid across the floor, knocking a few of the gang members off their feet. Mad Dawg grabbed the table by its end and flipped it over, using it like and oversized hammer, he slammed it onto them, crushing several bones and killing a few of them.

"LIGHT HIM UP!" Someone shouted, and several flamethrowers were ignited, and in a moment of sudden extreme heat, a wall of flame shot forwards towards him.

"Oh, crap." Mad Dawg muttered, jumping back to try and avoid the flames.

Meanwhile, Akande and the others were watching the carnage on the security cameras which were still active, seeing Mad Dawg rip and tear his way through the invaders.

"I believe I was wrong Moira." Sanjay admitted. "Perhaps Mad Dawg is the weapon you claim he is."

Outside, several Talon agents were ripping the sheet metal off the door, several layers were removed, and the door itself was somewhat visible. Before they could remove that last bits, they felt something… draining. Falling to their hands and knees, writhing in agony.

"Oh no you don't." The leader smiled. "We're not letting them out just yet."

Back in the cafeteria, Mad Dawg was being pushed into a corner by the fire. He was looking for a way out, some sort of weakness in the wall of fire, but with each second that he spent looking, the fire got closer. Mad Dawg closed his eyes, planning on being burned to hell, but trying to heal from it. But he was also nervous, fire had a weird effect in his healing factor, burns too far longer to heal, if they did heal at all… Suddenly, bullets could be heard firing, impacting with metal, followed by the gas tanks exploding, taking the flamethrower wielders with them. A swarm of Talon agents busted in, assault rifles firing, mowing the Trinity gang members down. After a few more moments, Mad Dawg heard a familiar voice.

"Kace, you good?"

"Opening his eyes, he saw Taylor standing in front of him.

"Hell, I am now! Thanks for the save." He sighed in relief.

"C'mon kid." The man rolled his eyes. "You claim to have busted out of Overwatch HQ. Why were these guys such an issue?"

"Shut up Diesel." Taylor growled.

"Simple. Overwatch has restraints. They won't open fire on a kid with flamethrowers." Mad Dawg scowled back. "I need a better weapon."

Taylor held her hand out, then was tossed and assault rifle, which she in turn handed to Mad Dawg, who in turn cocked it and looked down the sight.

"Now this is what I'm talking about." He grinned.

Feeling his body back to maybe seventy-nine percent. Mad Dawg left the cafeteria, and began walking down the hall. Without words or mercy, he opened fire on anyone he saw with neon hair. He fired blindly, hitting something at least, sometimes a head, sometimes a lung, but always something that would keep them down. Another member jumped him with her large knives, and Mad Dawg used the rifle as a shield. The blades went into the stock of the gun, getting stuck. Dawg then held the gun vertically and used it like a baseball bat, the two knives embedded in it adding some extra damage. Mad Dawg hit her directly in the side of the head, the knives going in deep. Taking a step back, Mad Dawg laughed as she saw the woman stumbled forward then fall to the ground, dead.

"Damn!" He laughed. "Now that's what I call an improvised weapon!"

Walking by two doors, two more of Trinity rushed him, Mad Dawg took a step back and let them run into each other. He tripped them onto the floor then jumped, proceeding to crush both their skulls at once, bloody spraying outward like a geyser.

Rounding a corner, Mad Dawg saw someone with biotic tech standing at the door way.

"Doc? How'd you get-" He began but stopped when he saw the neon blue hair. "Aw, shit. Here we go again."

Turning around, Mad Dawg frowned almost bored, as he came face-to-face with a woman wielding one of Moira's biotic prototype weapons. She flipped her hair back and grinned.

"Aw, aren't you a little young to be working for Talon honey?" She cooed mockingly.

"Aren't you a bit of a fatass to try and squeeze into those pants?" Mad Dawg replied, clearly bored with what was happening around him. The woman's smile disappeared immediately.

"Okay, I was gonna be kind and let you walk away, but now…" Charing up a purple blast she aimed the weapon at Dawg. "You can go fuck yourself!"

Mad Dawg raised a brow as the beam was fired at him, then he suddenly remembered something.

This was MOIRA'S BIOTIC TECH.

"Oh fu-" Mad Dawg began, but dove out of the way, feeling the negative biotic powers searing his skin, the nanotech had a weird reaction on him, making it hurt, much, much more.

"Okay." He growled, the right side of his face now burned. "You're dead."

Rushing the woman, who was trying to recharge the weapon, Mad Dawg slammed her into the steel sheets and repetitively punched her. Grabbing her head, he slammed her head into the wall a few times before kicking her in the leg. Going for a knife, Mad Dawg brought the blade down towards the top of her head, but ended up hitting the wall behind her. Getting Mad Dawg's hand off her face, the woman bashed Mad Dawg in the chest with the biotic weapon and began charging it once again. Pulling her pistol out she shot Mad Dawg in the leg four times, then aimed at his chest. Grabbing the gun, the two wrestled one another for control, Mad Dawg was getting weaker though, feeling blood running down his leg. Being shot hurt you know. The woman then let go of the gun, leaving Mad Dawg confused as to what was happening, and grabbed him by the leg and threw him back down the hall.

"Wait." Mad Dawg breathed heavily, looking up from the ground. "Who are you? Why are you doing this?"

"Well… since you asked nicely…" The woman mused. "My name is Krystal. I'm the leader of Trinity. We're thrill seekers, out organization is built on the trinity of life, Adrenaline, Revolution and Anarchy. The world has too many laws, too many groups vying for power. We just want to free everyone, ignite the spark that will burn it all down, and let the world be the way it should. Every man for themselves."

"So why Talon? Why begin here?"

"Simple." Krystal shrugged. "Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like the threat of death. Besides, if we take you guys out, who could possibly stop us?"

Firing the gun Krystal had forgotten about, Mad Dawg tried to hit the woman, only for him to miss and hit the wall next to her.

By now, everyone inside the council room could hear Krystal talking, and were listening intently, slightly angered at her poor reasoning. Mad Dawg tried to fire again, but the gun clicked, the mag being empty. Krystal kept charging the beam for a few seconds and aimed it at Mad Dawg, waiting for it to finish charging. Firing a small burst, Mad Dawg felt like his intestines burst into flames. Crying in pain, his breathing was sporadic, his heart rate was accelerated to a point where it hurt. He closed his eyes as another blast came.

"Hell, why am I even trying to explain myself to you?! Just die!" Krystal shouted, firing blast after blast at Mad Dawg, knocking him further and further back, a long trail of blood painting the floor.

"We need to help him!" Sombra exclaimed, panic in her tone.

"It isn't that easy Somb." Hakim remarked. "If they've gotten their hands on the biotic guns I was designing, we're screwed. If they can damage Mad Dawg even with his healing factor, they'd tear us all to shreds in milliseconds!"

"Hold on, those things hurt that kid?" Abasheck said, taken aback. "Can't he heal or…"

"Well, the idea behind them was to make a weapon that essentially drains the life out of someone. I think with Mad Dawg's constant cell regeneration, him being hit with them amplifies the power of it due to the unstable nature of both the biotics and his genetics." Hakim reasoned. "But that's just a theory."

Mad Dawg slowly began to pick himself up, only to be grabbed by two more members of Krystal's gang.

"It's… kinda… hilarious…" He breathed out finally. "You claim to be… anar…chists… yet… you have… a leader…" He began laughing, feeling his re-broken bones poking into his damaged organs. It hurt, but damn it, he was gonna laugh. Krystal frowned, and then fire done last blast. It went clean through Mad Dawg's chest, blood gushing out as bone chunks and muscle bits splattered to the ground. The Trinity members let him fall to the ground, believing him to be dead. The room was getting darker, Mad Dawg slowly closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry Ms. O'Deorain… I tried to be… strong…" He wheezed. Then shut his eyes.

"Well, that was harder than expected." Krystal muttered, annoyed. "C'mon, let's kill these pricks then get out of here."

Turning their attention to the door, the lights flickered once again, the power having been restored thanks to Reaper.

One of the gang members turned around, and his face went snow white.

"Uh… K..kr..Krystal?" He stammered. "That kid… uh… he… I… He's gone…"

"WHAT!?" Krystal shouted, whirling around in shock, to her horror, there was a large pool of blood and chunks, but no body. The lights flickered a few more times, then went out for about five seconds. When they came back on, Mad Dawg was standing in front of them. His eyes were blazing orange, and his heart was partially hanging in into the hole in his chest, and had turned a dark black, but was still beating.

Slamming his fists onto the ground, he groaned in pain as his bones began shifting. Feeling his skull re-forming, Mad Dawg snarled animalisticly desperate to kill this thing, Krystal tried to fire the weapon, but the charge was out.

Inside the council room, the sounds of terrified and pained screams could be heard amidst ripping and tearing, as well as an animalistic roar.

"Moira. What the hell is that thing!?" Lachlan demanded, fear overtaking him.

Moira was left speechless, only having heard Mad Dawg speak of his ability. She had desperately wanted it to be true… and now it seemed like it was.

There was a tremendous THUD and a pained woman's yell as something slammed against the door. After a few moments, the noise repeated itself, and the doors seemed to be breaking.

"Uh. Everyone should move. NOW." Sombra said, grabbing Laurel and pulling her away as everyone else ran out of what they believed would be the debris zone. With one last hit, the doors were smashed off their hinges as Krystal flew onto the room and smacked into a chair before falling onto the table, the biotic weapon sliding away somewhat. From the dust that had risen up, Mad Dawg, or rather, what Mad Dawg had become walked in. Now having transformed into a quadrupedal form, every breath emitting a low growl, his talon-like claws scraping the floor. Everyone present, even Doomfist, was shocked by what they were seeing. With one jump, the creature launched himself onto the table, standing over Krystal, growling with rage, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. The gray fur he was now covered in glistened slightly in the dim lighting, but above all. His hellfire-orange eyes seemed to pierce the darkness.

"Who. Sent. You?" He said in three short bursts, seeming to struggle to make words.

"No one." Krystal spat defiantly, trying not to seem calm despite her whole-body trembling. Mad Dawg raised one large hand in response.

"DON'T. LIE." His voice sent chills down almost everyone's spines. Even Maximilen, an Omnic, had to admit there was something unnerving about his voice.

"Omega?" He finally said. Making the creature look up at him, first with a angered scowl, then an almost puzzled look. Krystal scooted away and grabbed the biotic gun, she cocked it, and fired, aiming for the Omnic casino owner.

"MAX!" Abasheck shouted.

Before anyone could react, and faster than anyone thought possible, Mad Dawg lunged forward, head-butting Maximilen out of the blasts' way, and tanking the entire blast across the left side of his face.

"CERDA!" Sombra screamed in terror over the electro-pulsing of the weapon and Mad Dawg's agonized cry. Without a second thought, Sombra hacked the weapon, causing it to overheat and explode, taking Krystal's right hand, making the adrenaline anarchist scream in pain. Mad Dawg was clawing at his face, trying to get the biotic remains off of it, and only now did Krystal seem to realize not only what she had done, but where she was. When Mad Dawg's head snapped up, smoke wafting off the burned flesh and fur, she knew one thing.

She wasn't walking away from this.

"Please…" She whimpered, clearly terrified.

"Omega." Doomfist spoke up, making the beast turn in anger and snarl at the Talon leader, who simply nodded.

Roaring one last time, Mad Dawg pounced onto the woman who was trying to crawl away and began tearing at her stomach. His claws ripped her apart like hot knives through butter. Intestines flew and blood coated the room (and a few council members) as Krystal screamed in inhuman pain. Mad Dawg kept ripping and tearing until he suddenly bit onto her spine and began shaking her about like a rope. The sound of organs and flesh shifting in unnatural ways was undeniable, and finally Krystal split in two. Mad Dawg wasn't finished though, as he raised both fists into the air and slammed them down on her head, making it explode like a watermelon. After a few moments of tense silence, Mad Dawg roared into the sky, a mixture of pain, anger and victory. He stood in his hind legs, breathing aggressively.

"Do you have a plan to control him now Doctor?" Abasheck asked. "Because if you do-"

He was cut off by a loud snarl, and Mad Dawg slowly approaching him, as if trying to determine if he was a friend, or another target. Abasheck seemed to be backed into a wall at this point, and was noticeably sweating nervously. A few of the council reached for weapons until a voice called out.

"Omega!"

Mad Dawg stopped and turned around, facing Moira now, who had her hand extended.

"Enough." She said, slashing her hand through the air, trying to emphasize her point. Mad Dawg however, began walking towards her, slowly. However, there wasn't a viciousness in his body language, in fact, he seemed almost like a trained pet. As he got closer, Moira repeated herself "Omega. That's eno-"

The geneticist was taken aback when Mad Dawg rubbed his head against her hand before sitting down. Moira thought something over then reached forward and began stroking the fur on his neck.

"Moira, what are you doing?" Widowmaker asked, having remained silent most of the break-in.

"Trying to establish a bond." The scientist replied. "I don't know how much control Omeg-er, Mad Dawg has while in this form. If it is a separate mind altogether, establishing a bond would allow him to know we are not the ones he should attack."

"I'm pretty sure a few shotgun shells would do the same thing." Rorschach muttered. In response, Mad Dawg jumped up, whirling around, and roared angrily at the man, making him take a few steps back.

"No." Moira said firmly, and Mad Dawg growled again but seemed to settle down. After a little bit of deep breathing, they began to notice just how badly he was wounded. Before Moira could activate her healing stream, there was a sickening CRACK! And the large beast seemed to wince, then twist about as he slowly changed back into Mad Dawg. Now the wounds were even more notable, as there was still a large hole in his chest, he was covered in bullet wounds, cuts, scrapes, and the biotic burns were very noticeable as well. Most shocking however, was that half of his left face was… missing for lack of a better term, including part of his eye. From the other eye, it was clear tears were running down his face, the pain clearly being unbearable.

"Miss O'Deorain?" He wheezed, there was no emotion in his voice, he seemed like a child, terrified and alone.

"Yes Om-Mad Dawg?" Moira replied calmly, trying to seem reassuring. "I'm here."

"I can't see half the room…" He suddenly fell to one knee, yelling in pain. "Shit… the others… Lachlan, Abasheck, Mr. Maximilen… are they alive?"

"Yes." Moira nodded. "They're fine."

"Cool." Mad Dawg nodded, seeming to be losing consciousness. "Imma sleep for a bit… I'm sorry I wasn't stron-"

Maybe the council said something, maybe they didn't. But Mad Dawg didn't hear them, all he heard was the impact of his head hitting the table, then the world went back again…

Four Days Later…

"AAAGGHH!" Mad Dawg suddenly screamed, bolting upright in a hospital bed. The heart rate monitor went off the chart, beeping frantically. Mad Dawg took repetitive deep breaths trying to calm himself as he looked around, quickly recognizing Moira's lab. So, he wasn't dead… Okay. That was one question answered.

"Cerda!" An overjoyed voice exclaimed as Sombra threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I thought we lost you!"

"Sombra?" Mad Dawg asked, looking around. "Where are you?"

Pulling a bandage off his face, he was shocked when he still couldn't see out of his left eye. Sombra moved to the right and smiled sadly at him.

"Are you okay hon?" She asked immediately. "Do you need water? Light?"

"Beer." Mad Dawg sighed. "That'd be friggin' great."

"No. You can't have alcohol just yet." Moira suddenly said, walking into view. "You scared us there, I thought we lost you."

"Heh. I don't die easy." Mad Dawg smirked. "But can you tell me why I can't see out of my left eye?"

Moira frowned, then held up a mirror, revealing Mad Dawg didn't have a left eye.

"Oh. That's why."

"I'm amazed honestly." The scientist shook her head. "Both the healing wave and your natural regeneration did nothing to repair your eye. We ended up removing it because it was so badly damaged." When she saw the look of disbelief, she quickly added: "Don't worry. We are in the process of getting you another."

"Neat." Was all Mad Dawg said lying back and lifting up the blanket. "Holy hell. That's a lotta damage. I don't think flex tape is gonna fix this…"

"Yeah, I'm sorry kid. I had no idea the biotic weapons did so much damage to you…" Hakim admitted setting his coffee down and looking under the blanket with Mad Dawg.

"Is my junk still there?" Mad Dawg asked.

"Yeah."

"Then all's good."

"Great."

"That was most impressive Dawg." Doomfist said as he entered the room.

"I take it this room is bigger than I'm seeing…" Mad Dawg muttered before turning his head and seeing most of the council (minus Laurel and Rorschach) were there as well. "Oh. Well, that explains that."

"Yeah, well. You said to kill everyone…" Mad Dawg muttered propping himself up.

"And you took out nearly fifty armed guards."

"Was that not all of them? Get me a wheel chair, a two machine guns and a chain gun, I'll finish this crap."

"Reaper and the others dealt with the stragglers, but I am interested as to what you'd do with those items." Sanjay commented thoughtfully.

"Simple, machine guns on the front, chain gun of the back. Chain gun pushes me and kills anyone behind me, machine guns kill all in front." Mad Dawg flopped back on the bed groaning. "I am in so much pain… I can some heroin or something?"

"Yeah, hold on." Hakim nodded before walking away. This remark surprised everyone, even Mad Dawg who pulled himself up and looked to where the mechanic left.

"Yo, for real?" He asked.

"Alright, that's enough dear." Moira said, gently pushing Mad Dawg back down as she attached an IV to his arm. "Like it or not, and healing factor or not, you can't just walk this off. "You need rest for at least a week."

"Okay." Mad Dawg said, not even arguing and simply dropping to sleep like a rock.

"Oh. That was easy." Sombra shrugged.

"I believe now it's best we let him rest. I need to check some things, but I'll be out in about an hour." Moira said, looking to the others. Who all nodded and left the room, except Sombra. "Sombra…"

"Hey, let me stay, okay?" The hacker asked quietly. "I'm not gonna hack anything, I wanna make sure he's okay."

"We know he's alive, isn't that…" Moira began but trailed off when she figured Sombra wasn't going to budge and sighed, rubbing her face slightly. "Fine." She rolled her eyes. "But when I tell you to move, you do as I say. Understand?"

"Yeah." Sombra nodded with a faint smile.

As Moira set to making sure Mad Dawg was on the road to recovery, some of the council was walking down the hall where agents were still cleaning blood and bullets up.

"We might need a new place to meet." Lachlan muttered. "How did they even find us?"

"It doesn't matter how they did. What matters is they did." Abasheck stated.

"Actually, it does matter how they found us." Doomfist countered. "Most likely someone on the inside gave them the information to our location, let alone when we would be meeting."

"You think it was the kid?" Sanjay asked, clearly not believing it himself.

"Do you?"

"No." He shook his head. "And if he did, why turn on them? Was this all some big stunt to gain our trust? It just dosen't make sense… why kill so many gang members? Hell, how did he get so many to agree to this if he was working with them?"

"Mad Dawg had nothing to do with the invasion. Period." Maximilen stated as if the matter was settled beyond a doubt. "Moira created him, we saw how that beast reacted to her orders, I find it very hard to believe he would turn on her so easily, especially after just meeting with her again.

"Agreed."

"If it's alright with the rest of you, I may have use for him, when he's recovered more thoroughly."

"You'll have to talk with Moira, but I have no issue with it." Akande replied coolly.

Maximilen nodded as they continued walking in silence, things were going to get interesting with this newcomer around…