Chapter 19: Zerfallen

"Push forward! Move!" Heavy boomed over the roar of his minigun. The small group of brainwashed Talon and Overwatch soldiers were shredded instantly by the barrage of bullets. The dimly lit street was scarred with war, as Heavy, Zarya, Soldier 76, Mccree, Hanzo, and Old Engineer slowly pushed their way through the enemy forces through Montage Street and towards Boston Fried Giblets. Zarya stood beside Heavy, lobbing explosive balls of plasma at soldiers hiding behind obstacles. Soldier 76 was busy clearing out the adjacent buildings, trying to destroy as many enemy encampments as possible. Mccree was escorting Old Engineer, who was hurriedly moving his gear up as the team's two powerhouses pushed the front lines. Hanzo was perched up high on the rooftops, felling foe after foe with his arrows.

"C'mon y'ole geezer!" Mccree urged, motioning for Old Engineer to keep up. "We need that sentry up on that ledge there!" He turned back around, shooting his Peacemaker with deadly accuracy. Old Engineer hobbled forward with a toolbox in his hands.

"Hey! Respect yer elders, boy! My legs are killin' me!" He grudgingly ran over to the ledge Mccree was pointing at and dropped his toolbox off. Within seconds, the level three sentry had unpacked itself and started mowing down soldiers left and right. Old Engineer wiped his brow as he took a bit of pride in his work. However, an Overwatch sniper had caught Old Engineer in his sights. Just before he could align his crosshairs, an arrow soared through the sky and embedded itself right between the sniper's eyes, killing him instantly.

"I hope you realize I just saved your life, old man." Hanzo muttered from his perch. He was located atop an apartment building, his eyes scanning the streets below for his next target. He pulled out a scatter arrow from his quiver and fired it into a crowd of soldiers. He watched with satisfaction as the arrow hit the ground and split into six in the middle of the crowd, impaling them all. He then loaded a sonic arrow onto his bow and fired it at the side of a building. "I've marked your next target, Jack! Go!" He urged.

"Roger that!" Soldier 76 replied as he sprinted towards the marked building. He could see red blips on through his visor, indicating where the enemies are. He dashed across the street under the cover of Heavy and Zarya's firepower and launched a set of helix rockets at the wall of the building. The explosion not only blew through the thin layer of wood, but also caught two Talon Soldiers in the blast. Soldier 76 dove into the building, expertly clearing the room of enemies with controlled bursts from his plasma rifle. He broke into room after room, leaving none alive in his wake. Within about a minute and a half after Hanzo first marked the building, Soldier 76 had cleared it of all enemies. "One minute twenty six… that was the fastest one yet." He said to himself. "Alright Heavy and Zarya, the building's clear! Move up!"

"Da! Moving!" Zarya replied as she blasted through a group of soldiers with a powerful energy beam. She looked over at Heavy. "Alright Mikhail, let's go!" Heavy gave a nod in response.

"Anytime you're ready, Aleksandra." With those words, Zarya began charging up her Particle Cannon.

"Fire at will!" She yelled as she unleashed her Graviton Surge. The deep blue energy ball flew through the air and landed right in the middle of the street. The ball immediately exploded into a massive singularity, sucking up all of the enemy soldiers before them into the center. "Go Mikhail! You are shielded!" A clear light blue bubble of light had formed around Heavy.

"Raaaah! I am bulletproof!" He roared as he pushed forward with a large grin on his face. Any harm directed at him was deflected by the bubble. He aimed Sasha at the center of the Graviton Surge and fired. By the time the surge had faded, all that remained were hole-ridden bodies and shredded up equipment. Heavy spun Sasha down, noticing its lack of weight. "Engineer! Sasha needs more bullets!" Old Engineer perked up.

"Comin' right up!" He grabbed his PDA and pressed a button. A toolbox containing a Dispenser materialized into his hands as his old legs started hobbling their way towards Heavy. Suddenly, an Overwatch soldier leapt out from behind a destroyed car and charged at Old Engineer with a knife. Immediately, he threw the heavy toolbox at the soldier, hitting him in the chest. While he was disorientated, Old Engineer threw off his thick rubber construction glove to reveal the Gunslinger. He then threw a powerful punch at the soldier's face, snapping his neck in one blow. As the soldier's corpse fell to the ground, Old Engineer chuckled. "Still got it…" He said, rubbing his knuckles.

"Ahem..." Heavy's gruff voice snapped Old Engineer's attention back. He sheepishly put his glove back on and picked up his dropped toolbox, making his way towards Heavy.

"Heh, just like old times." Old Engineer remarked, dumping the toolbox at Heavy's feet. After a few seconds of unpacking, the Dispenser was up and running. Heavy sighed in relief as soft beams of red healing fluid seeped into his wounds, sealing them shut. Zarya and Mccree also huddled around, tending to their own injuries. Heavy sat down and placed Sacha by his side. He grabbed a belt of ammo from the Dispenser and started feeding it into Sasha's ammo drum. Mccree grabbed a few revolver bullets and filled his ammo pouch back up.

"Don't get too comfy, team." Soldier 76 said. He and Hanzo had caught up with everyone else. "Now that we've got their attention, they're gonna send reinforcements here at any moment." Hanzo nodded.

"As a matter of fact, I managed to get a good look at our surroundings while up in my nest." He added. "The junk food restaurant is only a few blocks from here, so I suggest we move while we can. The way is clear for now, but I did catch enemy movement closing in on our location." Zarya smirked.

"Let them come! We will tear through them like we have torn through these weaklings." She boasted confidently. Heavy chuckled at her enthusiasm.

"You have your grandmother's willpower, Aleksandra. We will crush any babies that stand between us and our goal!" He declared.

"Don't either of you fellas go lookin' for a fight, now." Mccree urged. "As macho as you two think you are, I don't think there's even enough bullets between all of us and that Dispenser to kill every last soldier here." Old Engineer opened his mouth to protest, but shut it after some consideration.

"Jesse's right." Soldier 76 said. "We can't wait for them to come to us. We have to get moving to Boston Fried Giblets! If you guys are done with the Dispencer, then we should move out!" He started walking down the street, with everyone else trailing behind him.

"Jack!" Old Engineer's voice caught Soldier 76's ears. He turned around and say Old Engineer standing tiredly by his packed up sentry.

"Listen, I'm an old man nowadays. If you could help me carry my sentry, I'll owe you one." Soldier 76 chuckled a bit behind his mask. "I heard that!" Old Engineer shouted defensively. "I'd like to see you rascals haul a 900 pound machine gun around a battlefield for two hours straight at my age!"

"My, how the tables have turned…" Soldier 76 remarked. He walked to Old Engineer's side and easily hoisted the toolbox onto his shoulder. "But still, aged or not, it's always an honor to fight by your side again…sir." He said proudly. Old Engineer smiled.

"You too, Jack. You too." With those words, the group started making their way down the desolate street towards their destination.

"How long 'ave we been walkin' again? My feet are bloody killin' me!" Demoman groaned. He and Eyelander were traversing through a dark and misty forest. Eyelander was tucked away in its sheath, where it gave Demoman directions.

"Stop complaining, Tavish. We've only been walking for five minutes." Eyelander said. Demoman sighed.

"The only bit of alcohol I've had since everything went to crap was my shot o' moonshine-scrumpy and a bit a' hand sanitizer! So don't blame me for havin' no energy!" He grumbled. The two went silent for a moment as Demoman trekked deeper into the forest. Soon, Eyelander spoke up.

"Well, Tavish? Aren't you going to ask me about my powers?" He asked eagerly.

"Oh, right! Lay it on me, friend." Demoman said. Eyelander chucked with glee.

"If there's one thing I love to do, it's to flaunt my almighty abilities!" He cackled. "Right, let's start with the basics. Unsheath me." Demoman stopped walking, a haughty grin forming on his face.

"Oh! A live demonstration? Hell bloody yes!" He shouted, drawing Eyelander with vigor. "Right! What do I do first?"

"Say the waking words. That'll activate my true form." Eyelander instructed. Demoman closed his eye and started muttering the phrase Mercy taught him. The moment the final word escaped his lips, an explosion of green energy enveloped Demoman. He roared as the power coursed through his veins. "Calm down there!" Eyelander hissed urgently. "You're letting all my power flow out!" Alas, Demoman couldn't hear a word Eyelander was saying. "Stop it! Get a grip on yourself! This is exactly what went wrong the first time!" The light from all the green energy was just as blinding as Demoman's roars of fury were deafening. A solid column of spectral energy shot up into the sky, piercing the dark nighttime clouds. "Never mind...this is way worse! Tavish! Come on! Sto-" Before Eyelander could finish his sentence, the bubble of energy around Demoman started to slowly compress.

"RAAAAAAH!" Demoman yelled, his voice demented and deepened. Just when the bubble had shrunk to half its size, it suddenly exploded violently. A tidal wave of spectral energy was released in all directions, disintegrating every living thing it touched. Trees were reduced to piles of ash. Wild animals were stripped of their fur and flesh, leaving behind only charred skeletons. The earth below turned from a rich brown to a dusty grey, as every single grain of dirt touched by the wave had its nutrients evaporated. Eyelander watched on with shock.

"He...he...managed to use my ultimate attack! Without trying!" He muttered, panic in his voice. "But at this rate, he's gonna wipe out the entire forest!"

"DISSIPATUS MORTEM!"

Suddenly, the tidal wave of energy stopped in its tracks, hovering softly in the air. Demoman abruptly stopped yelling and fainted, collapsing onto the dusty ground. In the distance, a figure wearing a heavy robe could be seen walking through the energy towards Demoman. Eyelander was overcome by confusion. Who was this being that could brave these conditions?

"You there! Show yourself!" Eyelander rasped. The figure gave a menacing chuckle.

"Look at you, Illerder… dragging me back here to clean up another one of your messes..." Eyelander gasped. He knew that voice. "Besides, there was going to be a Francis the Talking France marathon on tonight! That show's over 200 goddamn years old by now! Do you have any idea how often the producers decide to put it on air?" The green energy parted, revealing the figure's identity. Merasmus trudged into view with an annoyed expression on his face. He suddenly stopped and looked down. He saw Demoman passed out on the ground, Eyelander lying beside him. Merasmus briefly went silent. "So...after all these years...He finally became worthy of you…" He remarked, stroking his chin.

"I'll say. The boy you once knew has been long gone." Eyelander replied. Merasmus picked up Eyelander with one hand and held him up to his face.

"We'll save the commentary for later. Let's get the boy to my castle first." He said.

"You're going to tell him everything, aren't you?" Eyelander asked. Merasmus nodded.

"It's been far too long. He needs to know about his destiny." He muttered. "Let me guess…those Overwatch people brought the boy into this time period?"

"Yes." Eyelander replied. "Along with the rest of the team." Merasmus chuckled coyly.

"Well! I believe I have a lot of catching up to do about this era! I've been lounging around in Hell for far too long!" He admitted. "Now, enough chitchat! Let's get moving!" He hoisted Demoman onto his shoulder and secured Eyelander to his belt. "Ipsum Instantarium Merasmus's Castle of Eldritch Horror!" With those words and a wave of his staff, the trio vanished in a brilliant flash of green light.

The door to Boston Fried Giblets was blown wide open by a volley of helix rockets. Old Engineer and Soldier 76 dashed into the building first, followed by the rest of the group. Outside, Overwatch and Talon gunships were blindly raining hell onto the streets below, hoping that one of their shells would hit their target.

"Those gunships came outta nowhere!" Mccree exclaimed, holding onto his hat so that it wouldn't get blown away.

"Thankfully, I believe that we have remained hidden to the enemy. They are hoping to snuff us out like rats by destroying the surrounding area." Hanzo replied. "Even so, it seems like that we do not have long to find the meat locker. If one of those shells happens to hit this frail fast food restaurant…"

"You're here." The group all suddenly looked in the direction where the smooth voice came from. A man in dressed Talon Special Ops gear stood across the restaurant. Everyone immediately drew their weapons and aimed at the man, making him recoil. "Hey! I'm not one of those brainwashed freaks! I'm part of the Talon resistance!" He explained urgently. "Put your guns down! Agent Reyes sent me and my squad to defend this location!" Soldier 76 squinted his eyes suspiciously at the man. "Look, you can interrogate me all you want! My men have set up a force field on the roof, so this building isn't gonna fall any time soon!" Just as the man said that, a deafening 'gong' reverberated throughout the building, making everyone but the man cover their ears in discomfort. The effect was like being inside a struck church bell.

"Grah! What was noise!?" Heavy asked loudly.

"Another shell just hit the force field. You'll get used to it after a while." The man replied dismissively. Old Engineer turned over to Soldier 76.

"Jack, I think this guy's tellin' the truth. So far, I don't think I've seen a single goon with higher brain function to the extent of this fella'." He reasoned. Soldier 76 sighed, and motioned for the group to lower their weapons.

"Teleporter. NOW!" He growled at the man.

"Ok, ok… sheesh." The man turned around and lead the group deeper into the restaurant. "Wendigo!" He called out. Another man decked out in Talon special ops gear poked his head out from a nearby room. This man, however, wore a strange wooden mask on his face. "Seal the doors! We've got them right here!" Wendigo nodded and dashed out of the room, squeezing by the group. "Lithium! Send a message to Agent Reyes and Director Ogundimu! Tell 'em we've got the package!" He shouted to another nearby soldier. Lithium immediately took out his transmitter and started contacting headquarters. Fissure then turned to a incredibly burly-looking man standing nearby. "Big Ben! Pack up our food rations and ammunition! We're heading back to base!" Big Ben nodded and immediately began piling unopened cans of food and boxes of ammunition into several crates. "Those three make up the elite task force Agent Reyes and Director Ogundimu put together. The name's Fissure. I'm the leader of the group, as you probably guessed." Fissure came to a stop before a heavy iron door.

"That's the meat locker, right?" Soldier 76 asked. Fissure nodded.

"Stand back, folks. We welded the door shut so no one could access the teleporter until you guys came." He warned, motioning for the group to back up. Once it was clear, Fissure took a cylindrical object from his belt and pressed a button on the back of it. A long, glowing, orange spike extended out from the bottom of the device. Fissure reached back, and forcefully stabbed the orange spike into the middle of the door. The door suddenly cracked in half, allowing Fissure to break through it with just a shoulder bash. A blast of chilled air poured forth from the meat locker, along with the bloody smell of raw chicken meat. Amid the shelves of spoiling drumsticks was a slender, white device that emitted a clear blue circle above it.

"Hol'up… that ain't a teleporter!" Old Engineer exclaimed. Fissure looked back at him quizzically.

"What? You never seen a teleporter before?" Fissure asked, surprised. "We custom ordered this baby from Vishkar! It has twice the amount of charges a regular teleporter has! Cost us a fortune as well…" Old Engineer chuckled.

"Pardon me, but I personally wrote the book on teleportation devices!" He scoffed. "This piece 'a junk can't be used an infinite amount of times? Belongs in the scrap heap if y'ask me!" Heavy nudged Old Engineer with his elbow.

"Now is not time to complain how bad this baby teleporter is. Let us move first!" He urged. Old Engineer sighed.

"Fine, but the first thing I'm doin' once we get back is buildin' you fellahs a proper teleporter! Free of charge!" He promised. Fissure smirked.

"Whatever you say, Mr. Conagher." He said. He then turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Alright! Let's get an orderly line going, people! One at a time!" The group hastily lined up in front of the glowing blue circle. "Go right on through! My squad and I will see you guys on the other side! Godspeed!" With those words, Fissure gave a small salute and dashed out of the meat locker, leaving the group to sort themselves out.

All was unusually quiet in Merasmus's Castle of Eldritch Horror. Not even any of the residing rabid raccoons made a sound tonight, mostly due to them being recently exterminated by Merasmus himself. Each room was not only covered in a heavy layer of dust and cobwebs, but also completely decrepit. However, there was one room in the entire castle that was restored to its former glory. The master bedroom.

Inside, Merasmus was sitting in a heavy oak chair, a monotonous expression on his face. Eyelander hung from an old sword display above the stone fireplace. Demoman was lying on the bed, still out cold. A small cauldron of opaque purple liquid was bubbling above a roaring fire, filling the room with a slight odor. The ticking of an old grandfather clock echoed throughout the room.

"That's it. I'm slapping him awake." Merasmus fumed, standing up from his chair.

"Come on. Don't do that. Just give him a few more minutes." Eyelander urged. "Just sit back down, man. We do have a lot to discuss." Merasmus sighed impatiently.

"The boy has been out cold for such a long time! We cannot afford to be wasting time like this!" He shouted, a bit of urgency in his voice.

"He's only been out for three minutes! Calm down!" Eyelander reasoned. Merasmus muttered under his breath in annoyance. He began pacing in front of the fireplace.

"So, what shall we talk about first?" He asked. "My time in Hell? Bombinomicon? The perfect way to store cream cheese? I'm open to anything."

"Zerfallen." Eyelander interrupted. Merasmus froze at the sound of that name, as if a chill had run through the room. "He is the prize in this entire mess. I need to know everything you've got on him." It took Merasmus a moment to wrap his head around what Eyelander was talking about.

"Ahh, still as ambitious as always, Illerder." He mused. Merasmus walked back to his chair and sat back down, crossing his legs. "I shall give you what you require, though it isn't much of anything that you don't already know…" Eyelander chuckled.

"Well, I guess I'm really that desperate, then." He admitted. Merasmus smirked.

"At least you're honest." He cleared his throat. "Very well! So begins my frightful retelling of the Lord of Decay, Zerfallen..."

As you know, Zerfallen belongs to neither good nor evil. Neither heaven nor hell. He is the embodiment of decay and destruction. Most folks would label something like that as "evil", but they forget that evil always has purpose. Hell exists to punish the damned, after all. What Zerfallen craves even after all this time is still nothing but meaningless destruction. He strides to destroy the world God and Lucifer had created. He is the zero in an equation. He seeks to turn whatever has been created into nothing.

I am sure you remember just how furious God and Lucifer both were after Zerfallen's first awakening. The world as we know it was wiped away without a trace within a few hours. God then seeked out Lucifer, forming a temporary alliance with him. After a long battle, the two of them managed to seal Zerfallen into the deepest pit of Hell. God then recreated the universe, while Lucifer had to resurrect every person who died by Zerfallen's hands. Within a short amount of time, the world was finally back to how it was just before Zerfallen's awakening.

You should be aware that Bombinomicon has plans to free Zerfallen. He's foolish enough to think that he can somehow control him. With every passing second, Bombinomicon grows more and more delusional about his powers. I do not know if you know this, but although Zerfallen was sealed away, his spirit is so strong that a part of him still resides in the real world. As long as there are humans alive on this planet, Zerfallen's essence will flow through someone's veins. The soul of the host will exhibit no symptoms, making it extremely hard for people like us to track him down.

"Why are you tellin' us this, wizard?" Merasmus jumped at Demoman's voice, who was now sitting up on the bed. "If this 'Zerfallen' is so hard ta track down, where would we even bloody start?" Merasmus's face lit up.

"Ah! You're awake, boy!" He exclaimed, standing up from his chair. He took the small cauldron off of the fire, grabbed a ladle, and walked over to Demoman. "Here, drink this." Demoman took a whiff of the mixture and immediately started gagging.

"Bleh! Didja get a skunk ta take a shite in this thing!?" He asked forcefully. Merasmus scooped a hearty ladleful of the purple solution.

"Yes. Skunk feces is a vital part of every Soul-bolstering potion." He crept the ladle closer to Demoman's mouth. "Now drink up like a big boy if you don't want to faint again." Reluctantly, Demoman grabbled the ladle from Merasmus's hand and chugged it all in one swig. His face scrunched up in displeasure as he tried to supress to urge to vomit. Merasmus handed Demoman a glass full of misty light-yellow liquid.

"Ach! I just drank yer devil's concoction and now ya givin' me more?" He complained. "Ugh, fine!" He took the glass and chugged it all down. A tangy sweet and sour taste filled Demoman's mouth, taking him by surprise. It washed away the terrible aftertaste of the potion in an instant.

"That was lemonade. I gave it to you as a chaser." Merasmus pointed out. Demoman set the glass down and rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Right…" He cleared his throat. "So, what's th' plan? How are we gonna stop Zerfallen?" He asked anxiously. Merasmus chuckled.

"We aren't going to 'stop him'. There is no way for beings like us to stop Zerfallen. What we are going to do is to find his host and protect them from Bombinomicon's forces."

"As I said, how are we gonna find Zerfallen? He could be inside one a' seven billion people! It's like looking for a needle in a bloody haystack!" Merasmus nodded.

"That is true. However, Merasmus wouldn't be so confident about our efforts if he didn't have a lead!" Demoman's face lit up.

"Yeah! Ya said something about Bombinomicon!" He said. "What does that eye-stealin' book have ta do with this anyways?"

"Oh, you didn't know? The attack on Overwatch was Bombinomicon's doing. He and his band of elite demons took over two of the most influential groups in the world and used their own forces against each other! He even went as far as possessing the leader of the aliens who you and your friends defeated years back." Demoman's eyes widened in shock.

"What!? I've gotta get back to the Overwatch resistance then! They need ta know what they're really up against!" He exclaimed. Merasmus shook his head.

"I'm afraid that both Eyelander and I are only capable of teleporting out of the base, not in. Bombinomicon's ring of influence around that area is too strong for us to penetrate." Demoman scoffed at Merasmus's response.

"Sounds like some cheap way to extend the plot in a story..." He muttered. Merasmus smirked.

"Say what you want, boy. There's no changing the fact that our powers have limits." He stated, clearing his throat. "Now then! Back to the subject at hand. I believe I told you that I have a lead? Yes. I did." Merasmus rambled. "During my last few days in Hell, I've been eavesdropping on Bombinomicon. There, I've uncovered a juicy tidbit that is both good and bad news for us. Bombinomicon believes he knows where Zerfallen's host is. He's narrowed it down to either an Overwatch Operative or a Talon Agent."

"How does he know that?" Demoman asked. Merasmus scoffed.

"Come on. He's the Devil now. He might be delusional and cocky, but he did acquire some rather rambunctious abilities. Also, he seems to have captured scientists from both Overwatch and Talon to make them help him find ways to detect Zerfallen's essence." He pointed out. Demoman stopped him suddenly.

"Hold on...how are you, a mediocre wizard, be able ta eavesdrop on the bloody Devil? How were you able ta escape Hell with all this information if you only know three spells, more or less?" He questioned. At first, Merasmus gave no reaction, but then burst into laughter.

"Ah ha ha! Foolish boy! You think that I, the great Merasmus, am just some cheap parlor magician?" He asked grandly, looking at Demoman for affirmation. He remained unconvinced. "Sigh...fine. Merasmus admits that he was a bit of a pushover back in the day." He confessed sheepishly. "However, being the Devil's roommate for this long really does has some perks, like always being in a convenient spot to overhear important conversations and having access to Hell's arsenal of magic spells!" Just then, the grandfather clock started to chime, catching everyone's attention.

"Look, Merasmus. It's getting late. Tavish now knows everything he needs to. We should get training." Eyelander interjected. Demoman's eye lit up at the sound of those words. Merasmus chuckled.

"Yes, yes. I can see the eagerness in the boy's eyes." He stood up from his chair. "Now! Without further ado, let the training...BEGIN!" Demoman gave a confident smirk and grabbed Eyelander from his display. The trio then began making their way out of the castle and into the front yard, where Merasmus had prepared their training session for the night.

"Hello everybody… it's been a while." Reaper greeted. Before him was the group of Overwatch operatives he had gathered. They had all just come tumbling out of the teleporter behind them, with Fissure's squad following closely behind. "Director Ogundimu and I are pleased to welcome you into our little fortress." The group examined their surroundings. They were in a large, spacious room. Dirty, ripped velvet carpet lined the floors. The walls were speckled with bullet holes and roughly patched areas. An assortment of pool tables, slot machines, and sandbags were all lined up facing the main entrance, forming a makeshift barricade. Men in Talon special ops gear were running back and forth like worker bees, some tending to the wounded, others just simply on patrol. The only source of light came from the brilliant chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which was surprisingly unharmed compared to the rest of the room.

"Where are we, Gabriel?" Soldier 76 asked.

"You are in Monaco's biggest casino, as well as one of Talon's biggest sources of income." A deep voice replied. Everyone looked to their left. Doomfist was walking towards them, an authoritative look on his face. Fissure's squad immediately stood at attention, saluting him. Doomfist sighed.

"No need, men. Formality is the last thing we should focus on now." He turned to the Overwatch group with open arms. "Heh, I've underestimated the lot of you. I thought that none of you would be mature enough to put aside our blood feud to fight for the greater good."

"Same for you, Akande." Old Engineer interjected. "I thought your whole 'conflict maketh man" mindset would get your sketchy terrorist group a pass on this whole situation." Doomfist shook his head.

"You don't think I know what's going on here? Chavern Ronseau decided to run out on the organization he founded and started to exterminate his own men, and to be honest…" An evil smirk started to form on Doomfist's face."...I couldn't have asked for a better excuse to get rid of that old fool." Hanzo stepped forward.

"So your intentions are the same as ours?" He asked. Doomfist nodded.

"Only together can we overpower the enemy. I'm willing to put aside our differences for now." He stated, looking around at the group. Doomfist turned to Reaper. "Alright, Reyes. We've wasted enough time welcoming our guests. It's time to brief them in on the situation." He ordered. "I have business to attend to on the west walls. I leave them in your hands." Reaper nodded as walked away, escorted by a squadron of Talon soldiers. Reaper turned back to the group.

"Alright. We'll be heading to the observation deck now for your briefing. Fissure, bring you and your men along. Let's go." He said bluntly. He turned around and started walking towards the nearest flight of stairs, along with everyone else trailing after him. After a few moments of silence, Soldier 76 chuckled.

"So, here we are again, Gabe. Fighting side by side like the good old days." He remarked. Reaper grumbled.

"Don't think that this changes anything, Jack. The moment we clean up this mess, Talon will become Overwatch's greatest nemesis once again." His words made Fissure cringe.

"Jeez, Reyes. Can you tone the edge down a bit?" He said nonchalantly. Reaper's gaze shifted to Fissure, eyeing him down intensely. Fissure sighed. "Come on, don't give me those murder eyes. You should really cut down on the threats while we're all on the same side. In fact, I-"

"Here's a bright idea. Maybe you should introduce you and your band of clowns to our guests." Reaper growled, his patience visibly running out. Fissure nodded in agreement.

"Right. I guess I never got to properly greet you guys back at the restaurant." He cleared his throat. "My name is Second Lieutenant Underwood. I'm the leader of the recently formed 'Resistant Special Ops', or RSO for short. I got the name Fissure because of this thing." He reached for a thin, black cylindrical device his belt and pressed a button on the back of it, causing a slender, orange spike to extend out of the front end. "This is one of my Fissure Bombs. F-Bombs for short. Custom made. You just stick the orange part into any barrier and it'll crack open like fresh lobster tail." Fissure turned to one of his men behind him. "Alright Lithium! You next!" He called out to a rather thin man wearing a pair of high tech goggles, catching his attention.

"All right then…" Lithium responded in a raspy voice. "I'm First Sergeant Maverick. I got the name Lithium because I'm good with tech." He then turned his head to the side. "...despite the fact that lithium as an element has nothing to do with electronics in the slightest…" He muttered. "Ahem… anyways, I generally take the boring job of running comm tech maintenance, repelling cyber-attacks from the enemy, and hacking into enemy databases." He turned his head to the side again. "... a year of basic training all down the drain. I'm always the guy in the chair… "

"Oh, do stop complaining, old chap!" A strong voice with a thick British accent boomed out. "Has it ever crossed your mind that you have the easy job?"

"Hush now Ben. Why don't you start introducing yourself now?" Fissure coaxed. Big Ben sighed.

"Fine. My name is Sergeant Major Benjamin Gregory Hughes Peterson Grummonds the Third, esquire. Most common folk have trouble remembering all that, so they decided to give me the moniker Big Ben, mostly due to my…" He quickly struck a pose, reeking with sheer masculinity. "...STRIKING FIGURE!" Reaper shot him a dirty look, making him snap out of his pose. "Ahem… anyways, if hasn't already been stated, I am the muscle of the group." Big Ben's gaze fell onto Heavy. "Ah! You there!" He called out. Heavy turned his head, a little annoyed. "Your physique is stunning! You would be someone whom I would not like to get punched by! And that's saying a lot!"

"Hey! What about me?" Zarya complained. "I'm the strongest woman in the world! I deserve as mu-"

"Hah!" Big Ben interjected. "I can tell from your physique that despite your strength, your punches would be but a tickle to me!" With those words, Zarya burst into a rage. She stomped over to Big Ben and punched him in his muscular chest with all her might, catching the group's attention. To her dismay, he didn't even recoil. Instead, he looked down at her with a smug grin. "Ah ha ha! You call that a punch, milady?" Big Ben taunted. He raised his hand and curled it into a fist. "This is what a real punch is like!" His fist sped towards Zarya's face, making her brace herself.

*CRACK!

Zarya jumped back at the loud sound. Heavy had caught Big Ben's fist before it made contact. His expression turned to one of surprise. "Alexandra. You should be careful with men like him. He is trained killer who works for terrorist organization." Heavy warned. Without warning, he then suddenly unleashed a powerful punch at Big Ben's chest.

"Oof!" Big Ben stumbled backwards, holding his chest in pain. When he recovered, he looked up at Heavy with a satisfied smile. "That...was...GLORIOUS!" He stood back up, still rubbing his chest. "Mother of god! I can still feel the throbbing pain in my chest! If that punch were to cause me a bruise, then it would be the first I have received in a long, long time." Heavy sighed and lowered his fists.

"...He's such a hothead..." Lithium muttered. "...good for nothing British bulldog can't even hold his own against some guy from the 1960's." Amid the chaos, Old Engineer couldn't help but notice the last man who hasn't said a word during this entire fiasco. He was wearing an ornate wooden aboriginal mask under his large hood, which concealed his identity very well.

"Hey Fissure!" Old Engineer called out. "Who's the quiet fellah?" Fissure looked at Old Engineer with unease.

"Him? That's Private Crha'a. We call him Wendigo." The group's attention fell to Wendigo, making him startle then look away bashfully. "He's...interesting to say the least. He joined Talon moments before we got taken over, which means that he's the least experienced soldier in the entire base."

"Interesting…" Hanzo mused. "Why does he not speak? Is he mute?" Fissure nodded.

"You know how he got the name Wendigo around here? It's because of the way he fights. He prefers to use two tomahawks instead of guns. He also knows a bunch of weird aboriginal fighting styles, which actually makes him on par with Big Ben in terms of one-on-one fistfights. He's quiet, fast, and deadly, which makes him a perfect stealth killer." He explained. "However, on his application form, he has stated that his training made him go mute indefinitely." Fissure looked back at Wendigo, who was still looking away in embarrassment.

"Well, he's definitely givin' off that new recruit feel. Always lookin' all shy and lonesome." Mccree stated.

"Hey!" Everyone turned their attention to Reaper. "If you're all finished with your little circus act…" Reaper lamented, feeling quite annoyed. "...we're here. The observation deck is just ahead." Reaper pointed to a set of large, ornate, wooden doors. He walked over to them and pulled them open, letting in a beam of sunlight. Everyone shielded their eyes, which needed to adjust to the brightness. It was almost noon outside, after all. Reaper stepped out through the doors and onto the observation deck, which was really just the casino's main porch re-outfitted with surveillance tech. Reaper walked over to a large, high-tech table and motioned for everyone to gather around it. "Lithium." He called out. "Load up the live feed of Houston, Texas." Lithium nodded and made his way over to a large computer terminal. He typed in a few command. After a few moments, a light blue hologram materialized onto the table. The hologram was showing a war-torn city, along with several bright yellow markers dotted throughout it.

"That's Houston?" Old Engineer exclaimed in disbelief. "Those bastards tore up the heart and soul of the South?! That's it. This war just became god-damn personal!" He declared, pounding the table in rage.

"That's a two million dollar table you're throttling . Watch it." Reaper warned. Old Engineer managed to get a grip on his temper, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm down. "Good. Now…" Reaper refocused onto the rest of the group. "We have sources telling us that the Overwatch Resistance is stationed inside Houston, particularly inside its subway tunnels. Houston is currently under extremely heavy siege by the combined Talon and Overwatch forces. With these facts in mind, Director Ogundimu and I have decided to launch an operation to free the besieged city in three weeks time. We call it, Operation Debes Nobis." Reaper pointed at one of the yellow highlighted spots, located on the outskirts of the hologram. "The attack shall commence here. We will paradrop the bulk of our forces at 200 hours here to establish a foothold on the city outskirts." He then turned his attention to Old Engineer. "Dell. You think you can build around six teleporters in three weeks time?" He asked. Old Engineer smirked.

"Boy, I can whip 'em all up in one night."

"Good." Reaper tapped the yellow point, making six smaller points extend outwards from it. The initial invasion force will be responsible to set up the teleporters. Once they're up, all remaining Talon soldiers will go through with various supplies, making it possible for us to establish a forward base. However…" The confident tone in Reaper's voice began to fade away. "We do have one major problem." Reaper pointed at another yellow point on the other side of the city. "This point is their main airbase. The enemy has taken over George Bush Intercontinental Airport, which means that the second we land at our starting point, they will send for reinforcements. If that happens, the invasion force will be dead by dawn."

"The airport is located on the outskirts as well…" Soldier 76 mused. "I'd assume that there's too many anti-air defences around such an important target. We would need an absurd amount of power to push in there." Reaper sighed.

"Yes, but the bulk of our forces need to be dropped at the starting point, or we would stand no chance even without facing enemy reinforcements." He stated. "Alright...it seems that we have some pondering to do. Anyone who's a good strategist, you may remain. Everyone else, head back and find Doomfist. He'll give you something productive to do." Everyone but Old Engineer and Soldier 76 turned around and left the deck. The ensuing silence was deafening.

"Where…" Soldier 76 muttered. "Where can we find such a powerful offencive force? Where… where… where…"