Chapter 14: Ancestral Roots
"ALERT! CODE RED!" Athena boomed over the intercom at Overwatch Headquarters. Medic and Mercy both startled awake, still holding each other. The sound of heavy shotgun blasts echoed throughout the Headquarters, causing them to hurry out of bed and get dressed. Mercy tried to turn on the lights, only to find that the intruder had knocked out the power. The shotgun blasts started to close in towards Medic and Mercy's room, instilling panic within the couple. Suddenly, the door to their room was kicked down by a hooded figure, wisps of dark gases radiating off of him. Medic instinctively grabbed a lamp from the nightstand and swung at the intruder. He instantly turned into a mist, causing the lamp to phase right through him. Medic was caught by surprise, letting the intruder materialise again and shove Medic down to the bed. Mercy gasped.
"Gabriel?" The intruder looked at her and let out a raspy chuckle.
"Angela… It's been awhile." Reaper said in his deep, intimidating voice. He put his shotguns away and sat down in a hunched position on a nearby chair, his figure only barely illuminated by the emergency lights out in the hall. "I didn't come to kill you today, so you can stop being so afraid. Instead, I bring a warning for the better of all mankind." Medic suddenly dove behind Reaper's chair with the lamp still in his hand. He tried to smash it down on Reaper's head, only for Reaper to elbow Medic in the chest, sending Medic sprawling to the ground. "Who's this guy? He's really getting on my nerves." Reaper lamented. Mercy cleared her throat.
"He's my fiance." She turned to Medic. "Diedrich. Let him talk first." Medic sighed.
"Zhis man has evil written all over over him, Angela." Medic lamented while giving Reaper a nasty look.
"Hmm...Aren't you one of those mercenaries from the past?" Reaper asked. Medic nodded. "I thought so. Your scottish friend gave me quite the battle." Reaper cleared his throat. "However, this is not what I wanted to talk to you two about."
"Vhy did you come here? Could you not tell your story to some other Overvatch agent in a less secure area?" Medic questioned.
"Please. You two are the easiest to subdue. So if things go wrong for me…" Reaper suddenly sunk into the ground through a portal made of black mist. He suddenly reappeared directly in front of Medic's face. "...I can kill you both with ease." Medic gulped with fear as Reaper floated back to his chair.
"Enough threats Gabriel! Give us your message!" Mercy ordered. Reaper chuckled at the duo's fearful expressions.
"Yes, yes. I'll get on with it." He said. "I was tasked with retrieving Widowmaker from the Overwatch camp in Washington. However, it seems like some old associates of mine have decided to sabotage Overwatch from within." Mercy raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Old...associates?" She asked. Reaper sighed.
"How much do either of you know about Talon's history?" Reaper asked. The duo said nothing. "While Overwatch was secretly founded by Dell Conagher, Talon was created by a man who wished for Conagher's peacekeeping organization to die. His name...is Chavern Ronseau: a sharply dressed French assassin." Reaper watched the shocked expressions grow on Medic and Mercy's face. "Do we know any sharply dressed French assassins?"
"Spy…" Medic muttered under his breath. "Spy is zhe founder of Talon?" Reaper nodded.
"Hard to believe, huh? Chavern is a dangerous and secretive man, always talking about his 'destiny'. He seemed to not only create Talon to create conflict in the world, but also to achieve 'peace with the outsiders', as he put it." Reaper reached into his black leather trench coat and pulled out a document. "However, I think I might finally know what these 'outsiders' are." Reaper spilled the document's contents across the table. Photographs of a hellish landscape and ominous castles scattered across the table's surface. Medic instantly recognised the pictures.
"I-It's Hell!" Medic urgently uncovered one of the photos and held it to the light coming from the hall. "I recognize zhis place! It's Helltower! One of zhe gates to Hell my team and I opened up!" Both Reaper and Mercy stared back at Medic blankly, taken back at what he just said. Reaper cleared his throat.
"I don't know if this is what Chavern was talking about, but I found these photographs in his top secret vault, so I have reason to believe so." Reaper leaned in close to the duo. "I am committing treason at the highest level by sharing this information with you. If I return to Talon, I'll be prosecuted and killed. If I return to Overwatch, the same thing will happen. That is why I am suggesting that we form a private task force to investigate." Reaper stood back up and gave a salute to Mercy. "Well then...Ma'am. I am at your service." Mercy looked up in disbelief. If this situation had really reached a point to where Reaper was willing to come back to Overwatch, then she really had no choice. However, the possibility of this just being a ruse is still high. Mercy stood up to her full height and tried to look as authoritative as she could, which was rather difficult, considering that Reaper is a full five inches taller than her.
"Gabriel. You have murdered countless Overvatch agents and caused millions of dollars vorth of property damage. If ve believe vhat you say and go vith you, considering you are even telling zhe truth, ve vould immediately become vanted criminals." Just after Mercy got the words out of her mouth, Reaper suddenly turned back into a cloud of black mist and floated right up to Mercy, making her recoil with fearful surprise. Reaper's mask is faintly visible within the cloud, staring intensely at Mercy. Medic saw this and lunged at Reaper once again, only to be struck by a hand that materialized out of the cloud.
"Angela. This is not a matter of becoming criminals. If you refuse my offer, I will be alone in this fight. No one else in the world suspects Chavern like I do. When doomsday arrives, both you and your boyfriend will know that you could have helped to prevent the apocalypse." Reaper materialised into himself again and sighed, looking at Mercy's terrified expression. "I need as much help as I can get. So for the good of the world, you both must trust me." Mercy stared into Reaper's mask covered eyes. For the first time in forever, she legitimately felt a sense of desperation in Reaper's voice. She held a stiff upper lip, trusted her gut, and nodded at Reaper's request. He looked over to Medic, who still had a doubtful look on his face.
"I vill help you...on one condition." Medic walked over to his lab coat and dug through its pockets. He pulled out an electrical implant and tossed it to Reaper, who calmly caught it. "Turn into smoke and insert zhis implant into your hip. Zhis vay, if you betray us, ve can...correct your behavior...vith zhe press of a button." Without a word, Reaper nodded and turned his hip into mist. He carefully inserted the implant, swiftly yanking his hand out before he materialized again. Medic and Mercy were both surprised at Reaper's eagerness to install the implant. Suddenly, Reaper fell to the ground, shouting in pain. "Sorry, zhe implant must bind vith your body so zhat it von't fall out vhen you enter wraith form." Medic explained coldly. After a few more seconds of excruciation, Reaper exhaled and calmly stood back up. Mercy slowly reached to her Caduceus Blaster sitting on the shelf nearby, expecting Reaper to lash out in anger.
"It's alright. As long as I get your trust for this task, any price is reasonable." Mercy put her hand back. Was this situation so serious that one of the most volatile and dangerous men in the world would be willing to take that much pain and yet still control his temper? Medic smiled.
"If you can go through zhat pain and not turn on us, then you have earned our trust, mein freund." Medic affirmed. He offered a handshake to Reaper, who gladly took it.
"We must leave at once. From now on, we are all traitors to Overwatch and Talon." Reaper stated. Medic and Mercy rushed around their room, changing out of their pyjamas and packing their gear. Within a few minutes, they were ready to depart. A look of concern suddenly appeared on Mercy's face.
"Wait...how did you get past zhe guards and zhe other Overvatch operatives?" She asked, bracing herself for the answer.
"Hmm...you might want to use your Resurrect right before we leave. Everyone here is dead but us." Mercy grimaced. Just as she expected. "Come on. Did you expect me to have fifty tranquilizer darts to knock them all out or something?" Mercy sighed. It was probably for the best.
"So. Vhere are ve going exactly?" Medic asked in an eager tone.
"I suspect that the impending demon apocalypse has something to do with Chavern disrupting the space-time continuum." Reaper looked back at Mercy and Medic's confused expressions. "Recently, I had noticed that Chavern would sometimes pull out a golden pocket watch in private and whisper things into it, as if he was having a conversation with it. I bribed one of the engineers who designed the watch to tell me what it did. He said that it was a radio transmitter that could talk to people in the past or future, provided that they also have the watch."
"So Spy is contacting someone in zhe past?" Medic interjected. Reaper nodded.
"That is why our first destination...is April 26, 1970. That's the date that Chavern's clock was always set to. We are going to highjack the Slipstream 2.0 to get there." Medic and Mercy nodded. As the trio left for the hangar, Medic leaned over to Mercy's ear and whispered.
"You know, if zhis whole situation vas some sort of story, zhen Reaper teaming up vith us is certainly one big 'deus ex machina'." Mercy giggled.
"A 'deux ex machina' is an unexpected solution to save zhe main characters from a perilous situation. I vould say zhat Gabriel's appearance is more of a coincidence zhan zhat." Mercy corrected. Medic smiled sheepishly.
"Ach. Vhatever. I vas never very good at literature anyvays."
"I zhink ve should trust Gabriel on zhis one. After all…" Mercy patted Medic's coat pocket. "...ve do have a contingency plan." Medic nodded as the two of them continued to follow Reaper down the halls. After a few minutes of navigating, they had finally reached the Slipstream 2.0 in the hangar. Reaper turned into mist and seeped into the cockpit of the Slipstream. He unlocked the doors from inside and started the engine. Medic and Mercy quickly ran aboard the passenger area as Reaper entered in various coordinates and data into the Slipstream's terminal.
"Vait a minute...I thought only Tracer could fly zhis transport!" Medic exclaimed. Reaper heard him and chuckled.
"You think you Overwatch people are so smart? Winston just ripped the controls right off of the standard Talon transports. It's just a set of regular Talon controls with some coordinates to enter in here and there." Reaper refocused to his task at hand. "Alright, prepare for the jump!" Medic and Mercy strapped on their seatbelts as the Slipstream 2.0 hummed to life.
"Vait! One moment!" Mercy yelled. Reaper groaned and stopped the engine. Mercy raised her hand into the air as the wings on her suit started to glow. "Heroes never die!" A flash of yellow energy pulsated out of her hand, enveloping the entire base. Mercy sat back down. "Alright. Let's go." The engine was restarted, and with a push of the boost lever, the Slipstream 2.0 vanished in a flash of bluish-white light, leaving the era of Overwatch behind.
"Thanks, Mr. Ziegler!" the little girl exclaimed happily, her hand clutching a giant orange lollipop. She gave a joyful wave with her short arms to Gerhardt Ziegler, an old, tall, and gaunt man who manned the cash register. Gerhardt waved back, his heart warming at the little girl's smile.
"Goodbye Sabine! Be careful on your way back!" Gerhardt cautioned. The girl exited the candy shop with a spring in her step, ready to munch on her lollipop. Gerhardt chuckled. It was moments like those that gave his little german candy shop on the corner of Main Street the charm that it has. He hobbled over to his shop's window and peeked out for a brief moment, adjusting his glasses to clear his vision. No customers in sight. Gerhardt shrugged. He already earned plenty of money for today, so it wouldn't hurt to close up early. Besides, that would leave him with more time for...personal matters. Gerhardt peered down at the secret drawer under the counter. Only he knew what it contained. What dark secrets it held, hidden under its friendly candy shop persona.
Gerhardt left his counter and walked to the door. He flipped the "open" sign hanging there over, revealing the word "closed". He drew the curtains across the shop's windows and shut off the lights. He walked back to his counter and reached under it, feeling for the little metal lock. He fumbled around for a bit before finally pressing down a small mechanism. A series of quiet clicks sounded from the lock as it released a small compartment on the underside of the counter. Gerhardt reached into the compartment and pulled out a small golden pocket watch. A miniscule object if seen by the average person, but Gerhardt knew that it was the key to save the world. He had been receiving messages from from a man he only knew as "the man in red". Although the man in red hadn't sent any new messages for a while, his instructions was still only to send over his family database, the complete records of his entire family tree. Why? He didn't know. Just that it would help save the future.
"Angela!" Medic shook Mercy's shoulder, trying to wake her up. "Angela! Ve have arrived! You von't believe vhere ve are!" Mercy slowly stirred, her vision blurred by the bright lights coming from a distance. Once her eyes adjusted, she could see that they were in a forest. It was late afternoon, the sun still shining down with decent intensity. She saw Medic kneeling before her, dressed in normal civvies instead of his usual lab coat. He held a sundress, panties, stockings, sandals, and a bra in his arms and dumped them on Mercy's body. "Here. Get changed. Ve must move before dark." Mercy sat up, gathering the clothes in her arms.
"Diedrich… vhere are ve?" She asked groggily. Medic smiled. He started to speak German, taking Mercy by surprise.
"Look at where we are! We're in Hessburg! " He said. Mercy's eyes widened in surprise.
"H-Hessburg?" Medic nodded. He pointed to a nearby sign. The words "Willkommen in Hessburg" were etched into it, outlined in vibrant gold. Mercy gasped. She stood back up with the energy of a little girl.
"The same Hessberg my grandfather was raised in?" She looked around with excitement. Her grandfather often spoke of his time as a boy spent in Hessburg's Old Man's forest. The honeysuckle bushes underneath the grand spruce, the old tire swing hanging from the oldest oak tree there, the Little Woman's Creek, Mercy truly felt as if she was living the fairy tales that her grandfather spoke about. She clapped her hands in glee "My lord! I-it's just like I imagined! My-"
"If you don't mind, some of us here don't speak german." Reaper's growling voice caught the duo's ears. Mercy turned around. Reaper was standing a fair distance behind her, looking as serious as ever. "You two probably know that we are currently outside of Hessburg, a tiny german town west of the Old Man's forest. We have a mission to accomplish here, so if you don't mind, get changed as soon as you can. Then you can frolic around as much as you want. We hit the town at dusk." Reaper then turned back into black smoke. "I'll be surveying the area until we leave. Unlike you two, I can't blend into the crowd very well." Mercy watched as Reaper floated away like a ghost. She sighed as she walked behind a nearby bush to get changed.
"You know, Reaper is a lot like a Drude. I vonder if any children vill see him?" Mercy rambled as she threw her old panties over the bush, hitting Medic in the face. Medic took the panties and pocketed it.
"It vould be quite a shock to zhem, I suppose. Seeing the nightmarish Drude zhat zheir parents alvays told stories about." Medic responded. After a few more moments of changing, Mercy stepped out from behind the bush.
"Vell? How do I look?" Medic looked up. The yellow sundress seemed to be made for Mercy, giving her a cheerful look. She had left the stockings behind, showing her perfect, pale legs off. The sandals also seemed to look better on someone without stockings. Her hair was let down from its usual ponytail, adding to her casual look. Medic smiled.
"You know...ve haven't gotten a moment to ourselves in a long time…" Mercy's expression turned intimate as she slowly walked up to Medic.
"Let's take a valk. I vould love to relive zhis fairy tale vith you." Mercy suggested as she clung to Medic's arm. A childish grin slowly grew on his face.
"Race you to zhat tree over zhere!" Medic said. Mercy giggled as she and Medic took off sprinting, brushing through the sunbathed forest. The next few hours were filled with running free through the forest, games of tag, tree climbing, and weaving honeysuckle flowers into crowns. In short, it had been the most picturesque afternoon of their lives. After these few hours of childhood nostalgia, Medic and Mercy returned to where they started and collapsed to the ground, tired. The sunset bathed the forest in an orange glow. They both looked at each other's red, sweaty, and joyous faces, listening to each other's breaths. Before long, Mercy rolled closer to Medic, her face only inches from his. She gave him a passionate kiss, just as an end this wonderful day. Medic embraced her body as the two made out on the ground, still warm from the sun.
"Hey there, lovebirds." Medic and Mercy startled and looked up. Reaper was standing over them, his dual shotguns in his hands "It's dusk. Time to move." Mercy quickly rolled off Medic, the two of them looking clearly embarrassed. They both stood back up, ready to listen to Reaper's instructions. "Alright. From the info that I gathered in the area, there is only one man in all of Hessburg with a gold pocket watch." Reaper took out a small pad of paper from his pocket with an address scrawled onto it. "'445 Hauptstraße'. I believe that's his address. If you two can translate that for me and lead the way, that would me nice." Mercy took the paper and nodded. She and Medic started walking towards the town, with Reaper cautiously trailing behind like a shadow.
"442, 443, 444, 445!" Mercy looked up from her paper. "445 Hauptstraße! It's here!" It was already nighttime by the time the trio had located their target, a small candy shop on the corner of Main Street. Medic looked at the darkened candy shop. Its blinds were closed and its door was locked. He looked at the sign above the shop, "Ziegler's Süßigkeiten".
"Ziegler?" Medic turned to Mercy. "Do you know anyzhing about zhis store, Angela?" Medic noticed the shocked expression on Mercy's face. "Angela? Vhat do you know?" Mercy's eyes were filled with recognition, as if her fairy tale of a day couldn't get any better.
"Vhen I vas a girl, my mother alvays told me stories about my great great grandfather. She said zhat he, along vith his best friend, Mr. Ludwig, vorked to revolutionize medicine forever. After several heated debates about ethics, my great great grandfather quit and opened a candy shop on zhe corner of Main Street. I just never knew zhat zhe Main Street vas zhis exact one!" Medic looked slightly uncomfortable when Mercy brought up the name "Ludwig", but soon recovered.
"So zhis is zhe man…" He muttered, stroking his chin in a thoughtful manner.
"Come on! What's the holdup!?" Medic and Mercy looked to the rooftop where Reaper was lurking. Reaper turned into smoke and floated down towards the entrance of the candy shop. He pulled out his shotguns and blasted the door to smithereens before barging in, taking Mercy by surprise.
"Vait! Gabriel! Zhis is my great great grandfather! Don't kill him!" Mercy cried. Reaper looked back.
"I'm not going to kill him. I'm just going to ask a few questions." Medic and Mercy reluctantly followed Reaper into the shop. The interior was dark, what with all the lights turned out. Medic walked over to the light switch and flicked it on, illuminating the shop. Mercy drank in the colourful sight of candies of all different shapes and sizes line the room. From a nearby lollipop flower arrangement too the rainbow of pastries in the display. Reaper suddenly nudged her, bringing her attention back. "Don't get distracted. Remember, Chavern is contacting this man, so he's probably dangerous."
Just as Reaper got the words out of his mouth, Gerhardt suddenly popped up from behind the counter with a revolver in his hands. He shot at Reaper, hitting him in the shoulder. Reaper's temper flared as he turned into smoke and floated menacingly towards Gerhardt, making him back away in terror. Reaper materialized in front of him and knocked the revolver out of his hand. He rammed his elbow against Gerhardt's head, causing him to fall limp.
"NO!" Mercy reached out towards Gerhardt. "How could you Reaper!? I know he's not dead, but zhat concussion could have done serious damage!" Reaper waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm a trained assassin. I know the difference between a killing blow and a stunning blow. Now let's not waste time and get this old man tied up to a chair." Reaper called Medic over for assistance as the two of them hoisted Gerhardt up and sat him down to a chair. Reaper took a large wad of sticky toffee from a nearby container and slathered it onto Gerhardt's arms before firmly sticking them to the chair. "This should hold for now." Reaper said. He put his shotguns away and started scanning the floor around them. Suddenly, a small golden glimmer caught Reaper's eye. He went over and saw the golden pocket watch resting on the floor. He picked it up and examined it curiously.
"Vait!" Reaper looked up. Medic walked to him, his eyes on the watch. "Open zhe vatch. I need to see something." Reaper flicked the watch open. Instead of a regular clock face, there was a small, this watch had a screen. A small blue half circle was displayed on the edges of the screed, slowly regenerating back into a full circle. "No! Zhe man escaped!" Medic yelled in desperation. Reaper looked confused.
"How? He's right here, if you haven't noticed." Medic took another look at the watch. The blue circle had fully regenerated. Without warning, Medic picked up Gerhardt's dropped revolver and shot Reaper in the head. Reaper's body flung backwards, collapsing to the ground. Mercy shrieked. Medic held up his hand.
"Vait for it…" Before long, a loud electrical buzzing sound came from Reaper's location as the real him gradually faded into view. Reaper was clutching his head, looking very befuddled.
"W-w-what just happened?" Reaper stuttered. He looked at his fake body on the floor. It was so realistic that it was even bleeding from a fake bullet wound in its head. Medic gave Reaper's shoulder a pat and pointed to the watch in his hand.
"Now ve definitely know zhat Spy has something to do vith zhis. Zhis is one is his vatches, zhe Dead Ringer." Reaper and Mercy both tilted their heads in confusion. Medic sighed. He pushed his glasses up as he explained the concept of the Dead Ringer to Mercy and Reaper.
"You've gotta be kidding me." Reaper lamented. "If that's true, then we have no time to lose." Reaper pulled out his shotguns again and briskly walked towards the back door of the candy shop. "We're moving. NOW!" Medic armed himself with Gerhardt's revolver and followed Reaper out the door, with Mercy trailing after him.
1 hour ago…
"Shhh…" BLU Spy felt the blade of his knife rummage through Gerhardt's back muscles as he covered his mouth. "Gerhardt Ziegler, I have been sent by the man in red to tell you that he is grateful for your help, but will no longer be in need of your services." Gerhardt struggled to break free, but soon goes limp.
BLU Spy released his body, watching it crumple to the floor of his candy shop. He took out his cigarette case and pressed a few buttons on it. A small set of camera lens popped out of the back of the case's cover. BLU Spy aimed the lens at Gerhardt's retina and took a picture. As he waited for the picture to be processed, he enjoyed a nice caramel from a nearby shelf. He heard his cigarette case's beeps, signifying that it was done. BLU Spy smiled deviously as he selected his newest disguise.
A familiar cloud of greyish-blue smoke enveloped BLU Spy, lasting for a few seconds. Once the clouds lifted, BLU Spy looked down at his new Gerhardt disguise. A perfect replica. He dragged Gerhardt's body out back where he disposed of it in a dumpster. His knife strike was so accurate that it barely left any blood behind to clean up. BLU Spy smiled. Now all that he had to do was to wait for Medic, Mercy, and Reaper to show up tonight.
*ring ring
BLU Spy picked up the Dead Ringer from Gerhardt and answered it. "Hello? RED Spy? Did you get your Dead Ringer back?" BLU Spy waited for a response. A full 5 seconds passed before a familiar voice rang out in the background.
"I told you fellas that Sniper ain't no liar!" BLU Spy paused, a look of shock filling his face. "Howdy there BLU Spy! RED Engineer here. I gotta say, it was real smart of you to put a speaker function on this 'ere time-distortion radio. Now everyone 'ere knows how much of a lyin' snake you are." BLU Spy was at a loss for words. How did they get busted? "I'll leave it up to you to guess how we found you out, but lemme just say, the Overwatch folks ain't too happy that you killed Winston and impersonated him for a while. Also, we caught your associate." BLU Spy waited in fear for what Engineer might say next. "I never thought that Scout would betray us like that, but still. Funnily enough, it was our own Spy that pointed the little snake out!" BLU Spy smirked. He remembered how he and RED Spy made fake video tapes to frame Scout. "Hey Spy! C'mere and say a few words to this soon to be dead man!"
"Of course. Pass the watch." BLU Spy sighed in relief. "Insolent scum! You shall soon learn that no one defies Overwatch and gets away with it!" Confusion swept over BLU Spy. How did RED Spy not get called out even after Sniper saw them together? Suddenly, BLU Spy heard tapping coming from the Dead Ringer's speakers. "Ever since you have been called out within our ranks, I have not had a moment's peace!" The tapping was getting much more rhythmic. A thought popped into BLU Spy's head. He quickly took out a pen from his suit and started to translate the tapping into morse code on a spare candy wrapper as RED Spy continued to rant about BLU Spy's stupidity. After a minute of solid tapping and shouting, RED Spy finally concluded his rant. "I hope that you get the message of this warning. You are a dead man!" The feed ended, leaving the candy shop eerily quiet. BLU Spy looked down at the wrapper and read the morse code.
"I have received the Ziegler family database. Shame that you didn't kill Gerhart before he had children. DO NOT COME BACK UNTIL YOU HAVE TAKEN CARE OF YOUR PURSUERS." BLU Spy grumbled. His share of the bounty no longer seemed to be worth all the trouble he's in now. "Come on Spy. You can do this. All you have to do is kill those three meddlers and Overwatch's riches shall be yours." With that encouraging thought in mind, BLU Spy pulled out his revolver and ducked behind the counter. "Three clean shots…that's all I need."