Demon forest and the inevitable betrayal.
After several hours of searching, Nova, Genji and Rexxar had finally decided to take a break and set up camp for the night. They were now sitting around a fire. Genji was meditating, Rexxar was checking his ax with Misha sleeping behind him and Nova was making sure her sniper was still working like it should. She had been on edge all day and it was becoming more and more clear that she was becoming very exhausted. She had overused her powers and if she kept this up it could have a very bad effect on her health. And this did not go unnoticed by her friends. They had noticed how much weaker she had become since their search begun. If she did not get some rest soon, it could spell disaster for them all and their search would be ruined.
"Nova, try to get some sleep" Genji said.
Nova gave him a glare "I can't sleep until-".
"Enough Nova. If you can barely keep your eyes open then you're useless in our search. Get some sleep so you will at least be somewhat helpful when we resume our search" Rexxar all but ordered.
"While Rexxar worded it differently from what I would have said. He's right. If you can't focus it could doom our search. Get some sleep, me and Rexxar will keep an eye out for enemies" Genji said.
Knowing there was no point in arguing anymore, and she was to tired to even try, Nova just sighed and laid down. She fell asleep almost right away, another clear sign that she was indeed very drained. Genji and Rexxar sat in silence, the only sound being the flames of their fire and the snores from Misha. So far no enemies had shown up, but they could both sense that something was not right about this forest.
"This forest stinks of demonic influences" Rexxar commented.
"Yet we have not seen anyone since we got here. They are planing something" Genji agreed.
"I think they are trying to draw us in. Wait for us to reach a place where there is no hope for us to escape from. And then swarm us" Rexxar guessed, having heard a little about the demons from Sonya's world "According to Sonya, those prime evils will use something dark from within us to make us play their game. Be it fear, hatred, or sin".
Genji tense up for a single second at the mention of Sonya's name before relaxing the best he could "Yes, she told me about them. Diablo, Mephisto and Azmodan".
"And who is the most dangerous among them?" Rexxar asked.
"From what I've heard, Diablo is the most dangerous. But Mephisto is a real threat too. As for Azmodan, he may not be as powerful as his two brothers, but he is no less a dangerous demon" Genji explained.
"I see. So all of them could kill us if we are unlucky enough to meet them" Rexxar mused.
"It took a Nephalem to stop them" Genji confirmed.
"Nephalem?" Rexxar asked.
"You were never told? Well I can tell you about them if you wish" Genji said "I read a book about them. A very detailed one at that".
"Very well" Rexxar agreed.
"Nephalem are humanity's forebears. The offspring of angel and demon, their existence would forever alter the balance of power in the Great Conflict" Genji began "Their home land, Sanctuary was created by the rogue angel Inarius and his demon confidante, Lilith. They led a group of renegade demons and angels where they created a new world through the Worldstone, one where they would be free from the Great Conflict. In an act without precedent, Inarius and Lilith mated and created offspring. In time, other renegade demons and angels did likewise and produced offspring of their own. Thus, the nephalem were born the children of both angels and demons, yet a new entity in their own right".
Rexxar listened closely, getting more fascinated about these Nephalems.
"Yet not all was well among the nephalem's parents, for they were far more powerful than either angel or demon. Their forebears feared that not only might the nephalem become a threat, but might draw the attention of the High Heavens and the Burning Hells to Sanctuary. They knew that the co-mingling of their kind would be declared blasphemous, and that they would be destroyed if their refuge were discovered. Thus, some of the renegades called for the nephalem to be eradicated, while others believed they should be spared. The dissension troubled Inarius, who called for a period of reflection, so that each of his subjects could consider the matter in solitude" Genji continued.
"I take it that did not go to well" Rexxar commented.
Genji shook his head "No... no it did not. Lilith was driven into a mad frenzy by the threat of her children's extinction. Morphing into a horrific beast, she hunted down and murdered her fellow renegades, lest they do the same to the nephalem. Enraged at her actions, Inarius could not bring himself to kill his beloved and thus banished her to the Void. Subsequently, the angel attuned the Worldstone in such a manner to cause the powers of the nephalem to diminish over time. Thus, the nephalem became weaker over each subsequent generation, their lifespans declining. Some of the nephalem knew what had happened, others didn't, and thought they were succumbing to some kind of plague. As they weakened, the civilizations the nephalem had established began to splinter, and they fell into a dark , the nephalem became mortals, giving rise to the race called humanity, a weaker, mortal species, without knowledge of its birthright. It was still possible for nephalem and humans to produce offspring together".
"So, the humans lost the true power" Rexxar surmised.
"Yes, but the potential to reclaim its old glory still rested in humanity. It was this potential power that drew the attention of the Prime Evils to humanity, beginning what would become known as the Sin War. In the last stages of the conflict, the Worldstone was altered by Uldyssian, who began to manifest powers befitting a nephalem, as did his Edyrem followers. However, as the last battle raged, he realized that the power being regained was too much over too short a time, and in an act of self-sacrifice, he brought back his raging energies into himself before releasing them one final time, resetting the Worldstone and stripping his followers of their powers. It was an act that ended the Sin War and convinced the Angiris Council to leave humanity to its own devices, seeing that they could follow the path of light as well as dark. And that's where the book ended" Genji explained "It was believed by some that by the third century, there were no nephalem left in the world, though this turned out to be false".
"How do you know that? You said the book never reached that part" Rexxar pointed out.
"Sonya was a Nephalem" Genji answered.
Safe to say that Rexxar was surprised by that.
But while they were talking, they were being watched by Amélie Lacroix, AKA Widowmaker. Widowmaker is the perfect assassin: a patient, ruthlessly efficient killer who shows neither emotion nor remorse.
It is believed that in her former life, Widowmaker was married to Gérard Lacroix, an Overwatch agent spearheading operations against the Talon terrorist organization. After several unsuccessful attempts to eliminate Gérard, Talon decided to change its focus to his wife, Amélie. Talon operatives kidnapped her and subjected her to an intense program of neural reconditioning. They broke her will, suppressed her personality, and reprogrammed her as a sleeper agent. She was eventually found by Overwatch agents, apparently none the worse for wear, and returned to her normal life.
Two weeks later she killed Gérard in his sleep.
Her mission complete, Amélie returned to Talon, and they completed the process of turning her into a living weapon. She was given extensive training in the covert arts, and then her physiology was altered, drastically slowing her heart, which turned her skin cold and blue and numbed her ability to experience human emotion. Amélie was gone.
Now, Widowmaker is Talon's most effective assassin, feeling little save the satisfaction of a job well done.
Widowmaker equips herself with whatever it takes to eliminate her targets, including mines that dispense poisonous gas, a visor that grants her squad infra-sight, and a powerful sniper rifle that can fire in fully-automatic mode.
After she was brought to the Nexus, she had spent sometime just wandering around having no clue what was going on. She ended up finding the small group of heroes and had been shadowing them for a while. Watching them from the distance, Widowmaker had been tempted to kill them many times. But was held back by the fact she needed information so she hoped that shadowing them would give her some answers.
So far, all she knew was that they were looking for someone. But that did not help her at all. She was once again tempted to just shoot them and be done with it. But then she saw something that made her pause and she wanted to see what would happen.
Back with the group, Rexxar had fallen asleep and Genji had gone back to meditating. He was brought out of this state when he heard someone whisper his name. He looked around but saw that both Nova and Rexxar were still sleeping. He heard the whisper again, and the voice sounded very familiar. Genji stood up and looked around again, but he just kept on hearing the whispering and for some reason, he just had to investigate.
Leaving his sleeping friends, Genji followed the voice until he reached a clearing... and who he saw made his eyes go wide "Sonya...?".
It was indeed Sonya. She was naked and smiling at her beloved as she slowly began walking towards him, her bare skin shinning in the moon light. The mere sight of her was enchanting, and that was one of the many reasons why Genji fell in love with her.
"It's me, my beloved. I missed you" Sonya said, her warm smile never leaving her face.
"But... you died" Genji pointed out.
"Death is only a set back in this world. I have returned to you now. Come to me Genji. Let our bodies join together in bliss, just how we always loved it" Sonya said.
Genji was silent, he was very eager to take her up on that offer. He walked towards her, ready to embrace her once again... "GENJI!". He was snapped out of his trance as an ax flew past him and right in to Sonya's chest. He was about to yell at Rexxar fro throwing the ax. But his rage soon turned to shock as Sonya's body turned in to that of a demon. Said demon was killed by the ax to it's chest, so it was no longer a threat.
"What?!" Genji asked out loud "But I saw...".
"Whoever you thought you saw was just an illusion. This demon was just about to rip your head of" Rexxar explained as he pulled his ax free from the dead demon.
"A demonic trick..." Genji mumbled before he was suddenly punched in the face by Nova.
"You moron! What were you thinking of running of like that? And how could you just leave us while we were still sleeping? Hadn't Misha woken up because she sensed the demons, we would have been butchered in our sleep" Nova snapped at the cyborg Ninja.
Genji looked down in shame for leaving his friends like that. He left them in the middle of an enemy infested forest, sleeping and vulnerable. But before he could apologies, the sound of more demons approaching was heard. Genji pulled out his blade as he stood back to back with his friends as they formed a small circle along with Misha, ready to react, no matter where the demons came from.
Rexxar smelled the air "They are all around us".
"Be ready. If we can't hold them of, we won't survive the night" Nova ordered.
"Understood" Genji said, he was ready to fight. Angry that the demons would dare to use his love for Sonya against him. He would make them pay.
While all that was happening, Widowmaker finally understood the situation. She was about to leave until she too heard an familiar voice "Amélie".
She looked behind her and her eyes went wide "Gérard".
Gérad smiled at her "My beautiful wife. I-".
Before he could finish, Widowmaker shot him in the head without even hesitating "Pathetic little trick. I lost that feeling long ago"
The corpse turned in to a demon, due to her cold nature, Widowmaker could not be tempted by those tricks. But now she too had to fight of a horde of demons.
Meanwhile, Kerrigan and Sylvanas were discussing their next move, until a enraged voice echoed through their home "KERRIGAN!".
The two queens looked and saw Garrosh storm in, covered by zerg blood, meaning he had cut his way through Kerrigan's minions to reach them. Kerrigan raised an eyebrow "Is something wrong, Hellscream?".
"Do not pretend ignorance you Queen Bitch! I know what you did to my Horde!" Garrosh shouted out in anger.
Sylvanas was about to reach for her bow, but Kerrigan stopped her as she spoke "Whatever do you mean?".
"I SAID STOP FAKING YOUR WORDS! YOU TURNED MY PEOPLE IN TO ABOMINATIONS!" Garrosh roared out.
"Abominations? Do you mean those undead things? Or are you just using the word to describe my wonderful creations?" Kerrigan asked with an evil smirk.
Garrosh's anger flared as she charged at Kerrgian, hell bent on cutting her in half with his ax... but Kerrigan simply used her powers and blasted him in to a wall. The blast was not strong enough to kill him, but Garrosh was still injured form it, he coughed before glaring at Kerrigan "I know what you did. My horde will tear you apart for this!".
"I don't think so. Because your horde will soon join my swarm" Kerrigan said calmly "But do not worry. You will still lead them. Take him to the evolution chamber".
Some larger zergs grabbed Garrosh and dragged him away, while he was roaring and shouting our threats that he would not be able to carry out. Kerrigan just smirked, her swarm was growing stronger. And soon her plans would commence.
But Sylvanas still had her own hidden weapon and she hoped Leah would be ready to aid her, when the time comes. Not matter what, she had to beat Kerrigan in this deadly game of chess they were playing. Both knew the other could stab them in the back, and they needed to make sure the other did not get the chance.
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Tell me what you think.