Amelie smiled wickedly when she saw a bluish flash in the distance.
"Everything ready?" she said to Reaper in her headset.
"Yes."
"Good. I'll get rid of this foolish girl."
The assassin activated her visor and spied on Tracer for a few seconds. Then she climbed down from her position before coming to a small alley.
She stretched out her left arm, activating a mechanism on her bracelet. But this time it wasn't her grapple hook. Instead, a small flask containing a violet liquid came out, with eight mechanical legs attached to it, standing only a few centimeters from the ground. The device clung to a wall, while Widowmaker went to hide.
A few seconds later, Tracer ran down the alley. When she got close to the vial, it exploded and a violet cloud spread in the air. Lena started coughing and had to stop running.
"So predictable," Amelie scoffed as she emerged from her hiding spot, pointing her gun at Tracer.
Just as Amelie pulled the trigger, Lena's body morphed into bluish energy that backtracked her movements in a flash, disappearing from Widowmaker's sight.
But the assassin still had a smile on her face. She went to hide in another lane, activating the precision mode on her weapon.
"She's heading this way now," she murmured confidently.
But Tracer came from the opposite direction.
She reappeared behind Widowmaker, shooting a hail of bullets at her. But Amelie's extraordinary reflexes allowed her to shift in time.
"Surprised to see me, love?" Tracer said.
There was a blue flash and Tracer popped up in front of Amelie, who hadn't found her bearings after the shots. Tracer struck her with the butt of her gun. Widowmaker staggered back and Tracer kicked her to the ground.
"This time I win!" the Overwatch agent shouted.
"Not yet," Amelie replied.
Amelie held out her arm and the grapple whipped out, propelling it at Tracer. To double the impact, Widowmaker kicked her enemy in one swift movement.
Lena was knocked out by the blow. She screamed in pain and dropped her weapon, falling to the ground and unable to push herself up.
"Just accept it, "chérie". I'm better than you," said Amelie, mockingly.
She was smiled with pride, then hit Tracer with her weapon.
"So long," Amélie said, aiming the gun at tracer.
Lena knew that if she didn't do something, she'd be killed. She pulled something out that was strapped to her back and threw it at Widowmaker. It wasn't clear what the triangular, metal object was at first. But Amélie, had already seen one of these. She knew it was a bomb.
Amelie started to run for cover, but the explosion blinded her for a few seconds. When she could open her eyes again, Tracer had disappeared.
Annoyed, Amelie picked up her opponent's guns then flicked out her grapple hook and headed for Lijang tower.
*0*0*
Morrison rushed into the night market. One of Talon's agents tried to shoot him, but Morrison jumped out of the way and fired back, taking down the agent. Soldier 76 disappeared into the building.
Meanwhile, Helix's troops had landed on the ground and fired, some shooting at Winston's barrier, others at the Talon agents. The terrorists fired back to prevent them from infiltrating into the market.
"You'll have to take care of them while I get in position," Ana said to the scientist.
"But don't you want to talk to your daughter? You could convince her to help us fight Talon!"
Ana hesitated for a second, which seemed like an eternity amidst the gunfire.
"No," she answered. "I don't think she'd understand why I still support Jack…I don't want to have to deal with that. Not right now, not like this."
A rocket fell on the barrier, causing some cracks.
"I really would have preferred not to face her," continued the former captain. "But we don't have a choice!"
More shots landed on the barrier and it shattered.
"Go Winston, it's up to you!"
"At your service, Captain."
The scientist activated his propellers and landed near to two Talon agents. Winston punched one of them, sending him flying to the ground. Then the scientist activated his weapon. Sparks of electricity shot out from the cannon at the second terrorist, who tried to fight back with his assault rifle, but the bullets only ricocheted off of Winston's armor. The Talon agent fell to the ground, overwhelmed by the electric shock.
Then, a rocket that Pharah fired fell on a bench where one of the Talon agents was hiding, creating a massive explosion. After seeing another one of their agents killed by Helix, the Talon squads decided to withdraw.
"Squad 2, with me, inside!" Pharah ordered. "There are hostages in here, we have to release them! Squad 1 and 3, neutralize Winston and the bounty hunter."
She ran in, following Morrison's path.
"Winston," Ana said into the headset, "Soldier 76 ordered us to block their access. You have to stop them breaking in!"
"Are you sure? They're going to save the hostages. We should let them do it."
"I trust Soldier 76 to handle that. Stop them!"
Winston activated his propellers and got in front of the Helix squad to block the market entrance. They immediately opened fire on him.
Despite the scientist's heavy armor and physical strength, he couldn't match the two well-trained squads. He moaned in pain as they shot at him.
Fortunately, Ana, who had gotten into a covert position, shot Winston a few syringes filled with medical nanites so that the scientist could handle the surge of rapid fire.
Winston used this support to attack the soldiers with his cannon.
"Lift-off!" Pharah ordered as the gorilla advanced.
She and her troops activated their flying mechanisms and rose into the air, out of reach of Winston's weapon. Frustrated, Winston activated his own thrusters to fly up.
"Land!" Pharah ordered.
Helix's troops suddenly dropped to the ground, controlling their fall through their thrusters. They crossed Winston's level in the air for half a second, barely enough time for the scientist to attack.
"You're starting to annoy me!" Winston yelled.
He dropped his cannon, then rose with a ferocious roar, suddenly taking on a wild, bestial movement. His skin turned red as lightning flashed through his body. A rage had come over him, the same rage that drove the Horizon test gorillas to revolt. Now, Winston used it to his advantage.
"Now that's what I like to see!" Ana said, smiling.
She launched a syringe containing a blue liquid towards Winston. The effect on the gorilla was immediate: a blue orb of electricity emanated and flashed around Winston's body, on top of the flashes from the gorilla's rage. The result was terrifying.
"Fire!" Pharah yelled.
But Winston's body was now resistant because of Ana's nanites. He charged forward moving much faster than before, ignoring the shower of bullets coming at him. The Helix soldiers couldn't dodge his punches that smashied the soldiers, sending them flying like bowling pins. The gorilla's strength had increased tenfold.
Pharah got in front of Winston and activated a mechanism on her armor. A few gaps opened up in her armor and miniature rockets emerged, hurtling directly at the gorilla.
"Justice rain from above!" cried the captain.
The rockets' effect was stronger than the two squads combined, and was enough to destabilize Winston, despite the medical nanites.
From her position, Ana took out her handgun and shot a syringe right at Pharah. The shot stabbed through her armor and immediately injected the liquid: a powerful sleeping potion. The Helix officer immediately sank into a deep sleep.
"Looks like justice could use a little nap," Ana said.
Free from Phara's hail of rockets, Winston could now attack the Helix troops, who had no way of fighting back the unstoppable gorilla.
Winston raised his fist to strike a Helix soldier on the ground. His fist came full speed at the unconscious man, but stopped halfway.
The scientist suddenly lost his red glow and went back on all fours. His face went back to normal, and he had a worried expression.
"I ... I don't think I've killed any of them. Have I?" he asked Ana.
"They'll probably have to spend a few weeks in the hospital, some longer than others, but yes, they'll survive. You always seem to be able to control yourself, even in that state."
Winston sighed with relief.
Suddenly there was a blueish flash and Tracer appeared. She was unarmed and had a disturbing bruise on her face.
"I'm sorry. She managed to beat me...again," Lena said in an angry tone.
"You stalled her for long enough though, so we could block the entrance," Ana reassured her. "That's the main thing."
She turned to the night market. "Now let's see how Jack holding up."
*0*0*
Reaper was on the lookout. He was sitting at the back of an instant noodle restaurant, right across from the mall where his agents led the hostages a few minutes earlier.
He opened an electrical control panel but couldn't see anything unusual. He broke a plank, but still nothing caught his eye. Then, finally, Reaper moved a loose stone slab aside. Just underneath it were two data keys in a plastic bag. He immediately grabbed it.
"I won't let you give it to Talon!" Morrison shouted as he walked on the scene.
"I strongly doubt that, Jack," Reaper replied.
"That data has the answer to the explosion that killed so many of our agents, and transformed you into what you are. Don't you want to know who is responsible, Gabriel?"
"I know who's responsible: you and all the others at Overwatch."
"You fool! You're full of hatred, just as you were obsessed with power!"
"No. I just had to pay the price of your incompetence! But one day, Jack, we'll settle the score."
"Go ahead, try!" Morrison said, pointing his gun at the dark figure.
But to his surprise, Reaper held back. He took out a timer and pushed the button.
"I'd love to kill you, Jack. But I have a mission to accomplish. And missions always comes first. So I took precautions, knowing you'd try to stop me from delivering the data."
A countdown sound was heard in the mall. Morrison quickly turned his head and saw dozens of civilians trapped inside behind the barred doors.
And on one of these doors there was an explosive pack, with ten seconds to go on the countdown.
"We both know what you're going to do," Reaper continued. "Goodbye, Jack. I'm sure we'll meet again."
He turned and started to run towards the Talon aircraft waiting for him.
Morrison hesitated for a second. He could see dozens of civilians who were about die, unless he stopped the bomb. On the other hand, Reaper was running off with the data, with all the names of those who betrayed him, destroyed his organization and killed so many of his agents.
The first duty of Overwatch was to protect the innocent. Morrison had dedicated his life to this ideal. So had all of his agents, his family.
But his old life had long disappeared. It was destroyed, along with Overwatch's headquarters, in an explosion that had killed so many of his own.
He hadn't been able protect them, or to do them justice. And the culprits had gone unpunished for too long.
Soldier 76 started running after Reaper.
The countdown stopped and the explosion went off, immediately killing the dozens of people trapped in the mall.
Morrison yelled, shooting at Gabriel from behind. The dark silhouette staggered from the tremor of the explosion.
"What!" Reaper shouted in shock.
Jack lunged towards him and knocked him down with his gun.
"You let them die?" Gabriel said in total amazement. "After all the speeches you gave me?"
Reaper started to laugh.
"You're just a hypocrite after all."
Soldier 76 started to punch him.
"Shut…up…you…dirty…traitor!" he yelled, stressing each word with a blow.
But Reaper kept laughing, mockingly.
Morrison stopped punching him and tried to grab the data keys.
Suddenly a bullet lodged in Morrison's mask, right between his eyes. The old veteran collapsed.
"A legend falls," Amelie whispered, far away from where she'd fired.
Reaper crawled in pain and picked up the data keys. He got up to look at Jack's body, but heard footsteps coming. He saw Winston's massive silhouette in the distance. Gabriel started to run.
It took him a few minutes to get to his aircraft where he found Widowmaker and the Talon agents who'd survived the battle.
"Nice shot," he said to the assassin.
"Good plan," she replied with a smile.
Reaper showed her the data keys.
"Mission accomplished. Let's find your superiors."