Chapter 11: Reborn

Tina narrowed her eyes. "So, the hag stuck me with the green cyborg ninja dude?"

Genji found it hard to suppress a chuckle as he took a stance across from Tina, just a few feet away. The two were surrounded by the Watchpoint's training facility, where the walls were lined with inactive white-and-blue training bots and the occasional martial arts weapon. Tina's staff was already in her hand, as was Genji's sword.

"Indeed," the cyborg ninja in question replied. "Captain Amari seems to think you need instruction in close-quarters combat."

"I don't give a shit what she thinks!" Tina spat venomously. "She doesn't own me!"

"Nonetheless, I never say no to a new sparring partner," Genji mentioned, running his eyes down his blade. He flicked his wrist, and flipped Ryū Ichimonji into a defensive position as he took a fitting stance. "Show me what you can do."

Tina grunted and picked up her staff, recklessly charging forth with teeth bared in a snarl. She entered into her usual wild frenzy of swings, but in seconds she found a metallic foot sweeping her own out from under her, dropping her body onto the floor with a sickening smack.

"You certainly have enthusiasm, I'll give you that," Genji remarked.

His opponent snarled, not even bothering getting up before lashing out again. This time, Genji simply caught her staff in his hand.

"Your movements have no specific technique, and you could teach Miss Oxton a thing or two about impulsiveness," he observed. "You mustn't rush in and let fate sort things out."

"And why the hell not, you big honkin' can opener?!" Tina spat out a wad of blood.

"Because I did the same thing once," Genji answered, placing a hand over his steel chest. "And, as a consequence, my body was ripped apart by the man I was fighting. That is how I became the 'green cyborg ninja dude' you see now."

Tina blinked, propping herself up with her staff and pushing herself to her feet. "…you're serious?"

Genji nodded. "It was almost a decade ago that my brother nearly took my life. I have learned much since then."

The girl from Ilios bit her lip. Her grip on her staff tightened, but this time it was from something other than anger. "Didn't know you had that kind of family."

"I am no longer considered part of my family's clan," Genji replied. "As for you…I am told you have no family."

"That's more of the hag's bullshit," Tina snorted. "The family I had was the other kids I grew up with, stealing for that artsy guy. They taught me a lot of what I know now. They're the family I want to have, not something run by the local geezers."

Genji chuckled again. "We all have a place we feel we belong, even if we can no longer go there. The trick is to try and find another. Truthfully, when I first came into Overwatch's hands, I felt no differently about them than you do."

Tina looked up in surprise. "Really? Thought everyone but me just fawned all over the pricks."

"Perhaps," Genji smirked, "but the reason they restored my body was not to save a life. They wanted a weapon, and in the hate I felt towards all that surrounded me, I gave it to them. The others could tell you quite a few stories of my…unpleasantness."

"Oh, I want to hear that," Tina snickered.

"There will be time for that later," Genji smiled beneath his mask. He held his sword back up. "For now, our battle continues."

"Now entering: Giza, Egypt," Athena announced over the Orca's speaker system.

Winston left Tracer to the cockpit as he lumbered over to the rest of the crew, looking over the motley assembly before him. Reinhardt had stayed close to Ana throughout the flight while also standing guard by the doors, ready to leap out at the first opportunity. Amos sat opposite them, quietly huddled in a corner seat.

Feeling the ship gradually slowing down, Winston gave a cough. "Uh, all right, everyone! I have something I'd like to say before we disembark."

The crew gave him their attention. Winston cleared his throat again before speaking.

"So," he began, "this will be our first mission as a sizeable group. I know some of us are a little new to this, or just getting back into the swing of things. And, there's also the fact that, since this is our first mission together, there will inevitably be some bumps in the road as we figure out how to work as a team."

He paused, looking to each of his teammates in turn. Then, he smiled.

"But, I'm confident we'll be just fine," the gorilla continued. "We've got the right stuff, and no matter how we got here or where we came from, we're all here for the same reason. And I'm looking forward to working with you…each and every one of you."

"Well said, my friend!" Reinhardt cheered, raising his hammer high. "To honor! And glory!"

Amos, however, could only frown. The more time he spent with the agents of Overwatch, the less faith he had in their encouraging speeches and messages of hope. Now that he had seen both sides of war, putting his heart into only one was near-impossible.

Soon, the ship came to a halt, and the door parted to reveal the arid sands of Egypt.

"Ah…it's good to be home," Ana smiled as she stood up. She pulled what seemed to be a black-and-blue mask out from the folds of her cloak and allowed it to engulf her face.

Amos raised an eyebrow. "I feel like I've seen that mask before."

"I imagine you have," Ana replied rather nebulously. "It seems to be a bit notorious these days."

She then departed into the desert, alongside Winston and Reinhardt. Amos sighed and checked his gun, ensuring it was actually loaded this time, and took one step towards the door.

"Hey, Amos?" Tracer had flipped out of the cockpit and was immediately by his side.

He froze in his tracks, an irritated hiss escaping between his teeth. "Yes?"

The one-time pilot winced at his annoyed tone, but she quickly shrugged it off.

"I just…wanted to let you know you can still call me if you need any help," Tracer said. The boisterous energy typically found in her voice wasn't there, replaced by a more serious and solemn tone. "I know I'm not really your favorite person right now, but…I'll still be there for you."

"All right, then," he grunted with a roll of his eyes.

Concern flickered through Tracer's eyes at the skepticism in his voice, but she masked it with the friendliest smile she could muster.

"Okay. Just making sure we're on the same page," she said. "Shall we get going?"

Amos shrugged, and the two stepped out into the sands. Soon, the pair caught up with the others as they drifted through the Giza marketplace.

The last time Amos had been to Giza, he had been tasked with breaking into Helix Security's facilities to mine for data. Having come in the dead of night, no one had been around to see him. But, it was daytime now, and the bazaar was packed. Though he stuck close to Winston and away from the crowds, Amos couldn't escape the feeling of being compressed by the sheer volume of activity.

The many stares given to the eclectic group made up of a gorilla, a knight with a giant hammer, and more did not ease his anxiety.

"We're almost there," Winston assured the group. "Our contact at Helix should be able to give us a full brief on the situation."

Amos' heart stopped.

"Wait, wait," he spoke up. "Please tell me you don't mean—you know…that one person? The hard-case who really wants me dead? Like, more than most people I meet seem to want me dead?"

Winston just chuckled. "Relax, I'm sure Pharah will understand your current situation."

The mask over Ana's face successfully covered the tiniest tensing of her facial muscles. She allowed her pace to slow until she reached the back of the group.

"Uh, were you not there to see the number of times she tried to blow my head off?" Amos protested.

"Ha! I like the sound of this contact!" Reinhardt guffawed.

"It'll be fine, love," Tracer smiled and put a hand on Amos' shoulder. "We all want the same thing, here. We've got this."

Amos was tempted to ask if they all truly wanted the same thing, but held his tongue instead. It had gotten him in enough trouble already.

Eventually, the crew came upon a massive pyramid that looked as if it were from the future, covered in solar panels and technology rather than the sands and stone of the ancient past. This rather anachronistic facility was currently surrounded by a squadron of soldiers, each clad head-to-toe in winged armor. Winston approached one among a group of avian-themed soldiers, specifically picking out one in cobalt armor, and Amos swallowed hard.

"Ahem—excuse me," Winston cleared his throat. "I, uh…"

The soldier in blue turned around, and the lump returned to Amos' throat. It was indeed her.

"Winston?" Pharah smiled, pulling off her helmet and allowing her jet-black hair the freedom it craved. "Wow, your timing is perfect. We could really use some assistance with this."

"FAREEHA!" Reinhardt bellowed, dropping his hammer and capturing the armored woman in a bear hug. "Ha-ha, my friend! Look at you! So great and strong now!"

Pharah's smile widened as she finally escaped the knight's embrace, allowing her eyes to scan the rest of the group (sans Ana, who still lurked out of sight in the back). Her smile faded considerably when she caught sight of Amos.

"What's he doing here?!" she snapped, aiming a rocket launcher the size of her arm directly at the Talon grunt. His hands shot up in an instant.

"He's with us now!" Tracer interjected. "He's defected from Talon after they left him behind on a mission!"

Pharah grimaced, but lowered her rocket launcher after receiving an affirming nod from Winston. "He's lucky we have bigger concerns right now."

"So I've heard," Winston frowned. "Would you care to enlighten us?"

"This is the local Omnium, known colloquially as the Temple of Anubis," Pharah replied, jabbing a thumb at the pyramid behind her. "I lost many good soldiers here containing a rogue God Program. Despite our extensive security, however, something seems to have gotten in and reactivated the machinery. There are no signs of physical infiltration, so we have reason to believe there's a hacker involved."

Hacker? Amos repeated in his mind, his nerves compounding. Why do I have a bad feeling that this has something to do with Sombra…?

"My team has secured the perimeter, so we're confident we can at least slow down whatever gets out," Pharah continued. Ana chose this moment in time to begin stepping out into the open. "What we could use from all of you is help getting inside and shutting down whatever is causing this."

The Helix officer's eyes fell upon Ana, and with a sigh of resignation, the older woman removed her mask. Pharah's jaw limply fell open.

"…Mum?" she gasped. "Is it really you?"

Ana, however, did not seem quite as shocked. Her small smile seemed forced. "Hello, Fareeha."

"Uh…okay, so," Amos began, looking from Pharah to Ana and back again. "I'm just going to stay out of this…."

He took several steps back, but Reinhardt chose to take several forward.

"What a glorious day!" the knight roared as he took both mother and daughter into another massive hug.

"Aw, I was hoping for this!" Tracer grinned. "Anyone got a camera?"

A loud thump came from the doors to the Omnium.

The celebration ended abruptly. Reinhardt released the Amaris and retrieved his hammer.

"We have things to discuss later, Fareeha," Ana said rather sternly, cocking her rifle.

"Looking forward to it," Pharah nodded, donning her helmet once more.

The first thump was followed by many more, a cavalcade of metallic footsteps marching towards the door. Winston and Reinhardt took the front, shields ready. Tracer and Pharah prepped their own guns, ready and willing to use them. Amos and Ana hovered at the back of the group.

Then the doors parted, and slowly opened with a low grinding noise.

Amos nearly tumbled back in shock. The first thing out the door was a black-colored replica of Reinhardt's armor, covered in spikes and wielding a massive axe. Behind it were a number of Bastion units, blocky bodies painted in a disturbingly familiar black and blue.

"Uh, guys…?" Amos spoke up. Winston looked to him and opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly cut off.

"What is this?!" Reinhardt roared, pointing a finger at his duplicate. "Who are you?! Why are you wearing Crusader armor?!"

"Um, actually, he…isn't wearing Crusader armor, per se," Amos pointed out. "He…kind of is a suit of Crusader armor."

The knight in gunmetal grey quickly whirled on Amos.

"SPEAK!" Reinhardt bellowed, one hand snatching Amos' vest and lifting him off his feet. "Is this another one of Talon's schemes?!"

"No! No, no, it's—"

"Reinhardt," Winston interjected. "That Omnic who attacked you in Eichenwalde, he…"

Reinhardt gasped, dropping Amos onto the dirt. "He used the data from Balderich's armor to make this—?!"

"Look out!" Pharah suddenly cried.

The robotic Crusader duplicate known as Blackhardt charged forth, bringing its axe to bear against Reinhardt. The two knights clashed at once, pushing their weapons against one another in a struggle of sheer strength. With their leader occupied, however, several Bastion units took the opportunity to convert their bodies into turret form, pointing their enormous Gatling guns at the members of Overwatch.

Winston immediately slapped a barrier generator onto the ground, surrounding the remainder of the group with a sphere of blue energy. The Bastions' bullets battered the barrier, each one single-mindedly concentrating fire.

"The barrier won't hold for long," Winston frowned. "Tracer, Pharah, try and take those Bastions out!"

Ana looked as if she were about to object, but the two younger women were already off. Tracer buzzed around the living turrets, drawing their fire away from Winston's bubble. Pharah's rockets worked alongside those of her nearby Helix allies to barrage the Bastions, each shell punching massive holes in the machines.

"More on the way," Winston remarked grimly as more Bastions began to file out of the Temple. "Amos, can you slow them down?"

"What? Uh, y-yeah, I think I can do that!" Amos stammered. He pulled out some of his sticky grenades and tossed them at the incoming Bastions. The grenades detonated, spraying slime over each of the mechanical soldiers. The affected units found their feet stuck to the floor at the very least, or with goop in their circuitry—preventing transformation into turret mode—at the very most.

"Ha-ha, awesome!" Winston laughed. "Ana, can you deal with those incapacitated Bastions?"

The sniper frowned, but complied as she put her good eye into her scope. A dart soon found its way into each Bastion's crimson eye, felling the soldiers one by one. More prepared to rush the door, but Tracer blinked into their path, shooting them a wink before dropping a small triangular device in front of them and vanishing in a flash of blue light. Seconds later, Tracer's pulse bomb went off, shattering the Bastions caught in its radius.

"Look alive, team!" Pharah cried, noticing a panel on the side of the pyramid gliding open.

Soon, another dark duplicate emerged, this one copying Pharah's armor. Though a wolfish head took the place of the bird-like visor, the machine Amos recognized as Anubis—a comrade of Blackhardt's—soared into the air just as easily as Pharah could. Compartments opened all over its armor, revealing the massive collection of rockets that seemed to come standard with Raptora suits.

Pharah's eyes went wide. "Rocket barrage incoming!"

Anubis opened fire, raining its entire arsenal down on the team. Cracks materialized in Winston's barrier as the missiles slammed into it, and a worried look crossed the simian scientist's face. A determined glint entered Ana's eye, and without even using her scope, she fired two darts into Anubis' body. Despite a lack of any organic matter to sicken with the darts' poison, the mechanical warrior's onslaught suddenly ceased as it limply fell to the earth.

"Great shot!" Winston laughed.

"No scope required," Ana smirked proudly.

Meanwhile, Reinhardt and Blackhardt continued to square off, viciously trading blows as each fought to overpower the other. Each attempt to slice or slam with each knight's respective weapon found itself blocked, and soon the two locked their weapons' handles together again.

"FOR BALDERICH!" Reinhardt roared, the rocket engine on his back igniting violently and shoving his body full-force into that of Blackhardt. The gothic machine was pushed back into the nearest wall, creating a massive crater. Reinhardt gave the mechanical minion just enough room to swing in the former's hammer, crushing Blackhardt's helmet instantly.

Finally, the mechanical advance was halted. No more units emerged, but the whirring of factory devices could still be heard emanating from within the Temple.

"Whew!" Tracer wiped her brow. "All clear, guys!"

Amos heaved a sigh of relief, but tensed back up merely seconds later. There was no way this was over so easily.

"Only one thing to do now," Winston pushed up his glasses. "It's time to investigate inside."

"Let me at the one responsible for these mockeries!" Reinhardt snarled, tightly gripping his hammer.

"Copy that," Pharah nodded. She looked over to her comrades from Helix. "Hold position out here in case more hostiles come out. I'm going in."

With yet another sigh, this one of weariness, Amos followed the group inside the Temple of Anubis. The second they all entered, however, the door shut behind them. Darkness surrounded the team, but a few lights on the ceiling flicked on.

"Um…something tells me that isn't supposed to happen," the Talon grunt remarked.

"No kidding," Pharah agreed. She put a finger to her helmet. "Pharah reporting."

All that came through her communicator, however, was static.

"Pharah to Helix, come in!"

A few seconds passed, her frown only growing.

"My communications are being jammed," stated the security officer as she lowered her arm. "Whoever's behind this clearly has complete control of this facility."

"Strange, yes. But, there's nothing I haven't seen before," Ana said flatly. "Stick together. We will complete our mission."

"You sure about that?"

The voice reverberated throughout the temple, mocking tone accentuated by a British accent. Winston gritted his fangs. Tracer's skin paled. Amos gulped. All three recognized that voice.

At the very end of the room was what seemed to be a metallic sarcophagus, connected to all manner of wires from the walls. A red glow followed one wire to the top of the sarcophagus, slipping inside. Moments later, the sarcophagus slowly opened.

"Bring! It! On!" Reinhardt chanted, hammer at the ready. "I live for this!"

Amos half-expected some kind of mummy-themed Omnic inside. He was half-right; inside the sarcophagus was a black-and-silver humanoid Omnic with three circular red lights on its forehead. The Omnic's empty, slit-like eyes gazed outward from beneath an ornate pharaoh's headdress, and as it unfolded its arms from across its chest, a royal blue cape fell about its figure.

The Omnic stepped out, flanked by a pair of black spheres, each with a single crimson eye. Tracer's knees shook, threatening to collapse her legs. Her throat went as dry as the desert outside, only allowing her to croak out one word.

"…Eli?"

The Omnic called Omnirex, formerly known as Eli Dror, cocked a rifle reminiscent of Reaper's shotguns. "In the flesh, Oxton."