Reviews are always appreciated.

"quotes" = speaking

Italics = thoughts

[brackets] = text chat

Note at the end

Rays of sunlight filtered through the curtains of Pharah's room while a digital alarm clock started to beep repetitively. Awaking from her slumber, Pharah blindly searched for the alarm clock with one hand as she buried her face in her pillows. Eventually Pharah managed to land her hand on the clock's off button, the egyptian woman slowly turning over to lay on her back as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Gingerly sitting up, Pharah checked herself to see if any of the various stitches on her torso had come undone. Rubbing her left hand that was now out of the restrictive cast, Pharah carefully stood up and made her way over to her bathroom.

A week had passed since everyone had returned from the disastrous mission and many of the Overwatch agents were still in the process of recuperating from their injuries. Thanks to Mercy's effective healing technology it took much less time to recover from serious injuries that originally would have taken weeks or months to fully heal. Mercy had ordered that all the injured agents take two weeks off to heal, both physically and mentally. Winston was still combing through his databases to determine exactly how much data had been stolen, and he was more than willing to hole up in his room and eat bananas and peanut butter for two weeks. Everyone else was using the two weeks to either train or improve their equipment. It was clear that Talon's agents were several steps ahead of their Overwatch counterparts by how easily they beat them in Korea.

Turning on her shower, Pharah carefully took off her clothes and examined herself in the mirror. "A few more scars to add to my collection. Hopefully these ones won't be very noticeable"

Turning away from the mirror, Pharah stepped into the warm water of the shower. After washing herself and fully waking up, Pharah finished using the shower and walked over to her dresser to grab some clothes. Choosing comfort over style, Pharah put on some blue Overwatch sweatpants, a plain white t-shirt, and a baggy gray hoodie. Happy to finally be able to spend the day outside of the medical wing, Pharah absentmindedly hummed to herself as she pocketed her phone and turned off the lights in her room. Leaving her room, Pharah walked over to the cafeteria and grabbed a cup of coffee. The only other person in the cafeteria was Symmetra, the Indian woman sitting at a table with a bowl of sliced fruit in front of her. Feeling sociable, Pharah walked over and gestured to a seat across from Symmetra as she spoke. "Is it alright if I join you?"

Looking up from her datapad, Symmetra gave Pharah a small smile and nodded. "Of course, I see Angela finally let you out of the medical wing."

Laughing softly, Pharah eased herself into the chair and nodded as she took a sip of coffee. "It was either that or I was going to start sneaking out. I can't just sit around and watch the news all day."

Symmetra nodded understandingly and looked around warily before speaking softly. "I know this is a little unprofessional, but what do you think about Hellhound's future here? If I am being honest I still have trouble fully trusting that man."

Pharah sighed and toyed with the handle of her coffee cup as she listened to Symmetra. The two of them were polar opposites in regards to their opinions about Hellhound. Pharah obviously believing wholeheartedly that Hellhound will eventually change for the better while Symmetra has been one of his most outspoken critics.

"I...I believe that Hellhound can overcome his past. He has been a Talon puppet for so long that I can't help but feel sympathy for him. Maybe it is because he and I are both soldiers, but I feel a sort of kinship with him. He has nowhere else to go and nobody else to trust." Pharah spoke softly while trying her best to keep her tone neutral.

Taking a few bites of her fruit, Symmetra gave Pharah a half-hearted shrug. "I guess you have a point. I know I can come across as rude sometimes, but I respect you and your accomplishments. I don't mean to insult you in any way, I just like to get straight to the point."

Pharah nodded and after taking another sip of her coffee stood up and replied. "I appreciate it Satya. I know you mean well. Well I am going to go find something to do, I hope you have a good morning."

Symmetra went back to eating her fruit as Pharah walked out of the cafeteria with her coffee in hand. Slowly walking down one of the many base hallways, Pharah looked out a large window at the shining sun rising up from over the horizon. Making her way out to the courtyard, Pharah drank her coffee as she closed her eyes and listened to the distant sound of the ocean. Suddenly a gunshot rang out in the distance making Pharah open her eyes and listen intently. Another gunshot sounded and this time Pharah could tell just from the sound that it belonged to McCree's revolver. Listening as a few more gunshots rang out from the direction of the training area, Pharah wondered what McCree was doing. A cool breeze ruffled Pharah's clothes as she went back indoors and made her way towards the training area. Opening the door to the outdoor shooting range, Pharah arched an eyebrow curiously as she saw McCree shoot a bullet through one of the moving target robots. Walking out, Pharah went over to a nearby table and leaned against it as McCree reloaded his revolver. A new group of target robots emerged from behind a wall and began flying around in a mess of erratic patterns as McCree holstered his revolver. Hovering his hand over the revolver on his hip in a classic gunslinger pose, McCree watched the robots fly around. In a flash McCree drew his revolver and emptied the six shots into the heads of each robot. With a practiced flourish, McCree holstered his weapon as the destroyed robots fell to the ground.

"I thought you didn't need practice?" Pharah spoke teasingly as McCree turned around and gave her an uncharacteristically serious look. Frowning, Pharah gulped down the rest of her coffee and watched as McCree went over to a box of ammunition and began replenishing his supply of bullets. "Are you okay Jesse?"

McCree paused and let out a heavy sigh before taking off his cowboy hat and looking over his shoulder at Pharah. "That clusterfuck of a mission really got me thinkin...we got off easy all things considered. We outnumbered those elite Talon bastards and they still kicked our asses. That Reaper guy...I don't think I landed a single hit on him. It was like he knew all my moves before I even did em. I was supposed to be the one doin the savin, but I ended up being the one who needed to be saved. Made me realize how much of a fool I have been."

Putting her now empty coffee cup on the table, Pharah walked over and put a comforting hand on McCree's shoulder. "You can't blame yourself for what happened Jesse. If everyone sees you beating yourself up it will only make morale go down."

Jesse let out another heavy sigh as his shoulders sagged wearily. "I aint used to bein a leader Fareeha. It was easier back in the day when Reyes and Morrison were callin the shots. I aint cut out fer leadership, it just aint me."

Giving the morose gunslinger a concerned look, Pharah gestured towards the base as she spoke. "Jesse not everyone is a born leader. Some of us have to learn as we go and there is nothing wrong with that. You just have to keep trying your best...Shit...I am really bad at this whole motivational speaking thing aren't I?"

Chuckling softly, McCree put his hat back on straightened up. "Just a lil, but thanks fer tryin. Now enough bout me, how ya feelin kid? Pop any stitches?"

Rolling her eyes, Pharah lightly punched McCree's arm and retrieved her coffee cup. "You are nowhere near old enough to call me a kid. I am fine though. Have you seen Winston at all recently? Last I heard from Angela he was holed up in his room with enough peanut butter to feed an army."

The pair walked back inside and began making their way to the armory. McCree shrugged and idly tapped his fingers against his revolver as he replied.

"Naw I aint seen him. He prolly aint feelin so great either. The big lug has always been more of the type to help from the sidelines instead of leadin from the front."

Pharah nodded in agreement as the pair reached the armory and McCree stored his gear. The two chatted as they walked back towards the living area of the base, eventually parting ways at the intersection of the men and women living quarters. Pharah was still unable to do her regular exercise routine due to her wounds so she decided to just go back to her room and read a book. The thought crossed her mind sneak over to Erik's room but Pharah decided to err on the side of caution and just go back to her room. Walking down the hallway, Pharah heard a door open behind her and looked over her shoulder to see a bedraggled DVa stumble out of her room. The short korean girl wore a bright pink bathrobe and fuzzy blue slippers as he hair flared out in an unbrushed mess. Seeing Pharah, DVa brightened up and called out to the egyptian woman.

"Hey Pharah! Hey! Hold on a sec!"

Stopping just as she was about to step back into her room, Pharah turned to face DVa who had shuffled closer. "Yes? Do you need something?"

DVa smiled excitedly and nodded. "I actually do! Sorta. Quick question, do you play videogames at all?"

Pharah gave DVa a confused look and shook her head before speaking. "Nope. I have used virtual reality combat simulators before but I have never played video games recreationally."

DVa smiled and clapped her hands excitedly. "That is good enough! Okay meet me in the lounge in like two hours! I had this awesome idea the other day!"

Before Pharah could respond DVa was quickly shuffling away. Sighing in resignation, Pharah stepped into her room and mused to herself as she got back into her bed. "Well it's not like I have anything better to do. I guess there is no harm in at least hearing her out."

Two hours later Pharah entered the lounge to see that the majority of the furniture had been pushed towards the edges of the room. This left a large open area of the carpeted floor in the center. In the middle of the open space sat DVa who was inspecting some kind of headgear. DVa had brushed her hair and changed into a pair of baggy black shorts and a pink t-shirt, seemingly prepared for some kind of exercise.

"So what exactly did you want me to see Hana?" Pharah spoke curiously as she arched an eyebrow and walked closer.

Putting down the headgear, DVa jumped to her feet and turned to face Pharah with excitement clearly showing on her face. "This! I wanted you to see this. Well more like I wanted you to do this with me! Okay maybe I shoulda explained first. So I was thinking the other day how everyone has been kinda bummed since we got back from the mission and I wanted to do something about it. At the same time my net page has been blowing up with people wanting to watch a stream or video. I told all my fans that I was busy with a super important project, but I can't help it that they all want to see some entertainment. Then I got this awesome idea that can solve both problems. I'm gonna have you play some games with me and stream it for my fans!"

Pharah frowned slightly and took a step backward as if to escape from DVa's enthusiasm. "Hana I don't think this is a good idea. I appreciate the offer but I think Winston would have a panic attack if he found out you were broadcasting my identity to millions of people. Plus I..umm...I don't really like being in the spotlight.." Pharah mumbled the last few words as she explained her excuse. It was true though that she did not like being the center of attention, being a soldier it was ingrained into Pharah's head that drawing attention to yourself was never a good thing.

"Oh no you dont!" Before Pharah could escape DVa had grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards the center of the room with a mischievous grin on her face. "I actually already asked Winston if it was okay to do this. It's not like I am gonna plaster your face everywhere. Look, people will only see your in-game characters and hear your voice, that's it. Plus I already gave you simple username! Just think of it like a callsign."

Pharah could tell that DVa was dead set on making this gaming session happen if she had the foresight to clear it with Winston. Sighing in resignation, Pharah held up her hands in surrender. "Okay okay you win Hana. If Winston said it was alright I guess I have no reason to refuse, but I am letting you know that I have not touched a controller since I was a little girl."

Smiling happily, DVa grabbed the headgear off the floor and began to talk animatedly. "Don't worry you won't need a controller! We are gonna be using VR! You said you trained using sims right? It's gonna be like that so I am sure you will get the hang of it pretty quick. Now we just need to wait for one more person."

Pharah took the VR headgear from DVa and examined it curiously as she spoke. "So who else are we waiting for? Also what kind of games are we going to play?"

DVa ran over to a large cardboard box and began digging around inside as she answered Pharah with a slightly muffled voice. "We are gonna just play one game. It's called BattleDuty 14. Basically a war game. It's the newest in game in the series and has lots of good reviews! You can fight other people in small teams all the way up to massive 100 person battles! There are tanks, dirtbikes, mechs, fighter jets, and all kinds of other stuff! I don't normally play fps games that much but I figured it would be right up your alley. Now we just gotta wait for Houndy."

Pharah listened with mild interest as DVa explained what kind of game they would be playing, but her thoughts quickly changed to panic when the Korean girl revealed that Hellhound would be joining them. Crossing her arms, Pharah gave a worried look at DVa's back. "Are you crazy Hana?! We barely know what will set him off on a good day! Yet you want him to play a war game?! No, I will not let you do something this risky."

Standing up with two more pieces of headgear and three sets of bumpy black gloves, DVa walked back to Pharah and rolled her eyes. "I knew you would say that, but guess what? I already asked Mercy and she said it was okay. She gave Houndy some meds to help keep him calm, something about wanting neurological data and stress levels. Here take these gloves." DVa shoved a pair of the bumpy gloves into Pharah's hands and began tinkering with the other VR devices.

Pharah frowned again but took a deep breath to calm herself. If Mercy had given DVa's idea her approval then it made things a little less dangerous. Organizing her thoughts, Pharah looked down at DVa who was kneeling on the floor and spoke to her in a more even tone. "You really wanted to do this that badly? I guess I am a little impressed at your planning."

DVa nodded and grinned as she tested the straps of the headgear in her hands. "Yup! Whenever I get bummed out I play games, I always end up feeling better after a nice gaming sesh. Plus I want to try and show Houndy to have some fun, all we have been doing recently is doing super serious stuff. I seem to be the only one trying to show Houndy how to behave like a normal person."

Pharah stopped herself from laughing at DVa's comment. "If only she knew what I have been doing with Erik. I hope that eventually I will be able to tell her, but now is not the time."

The sound of the lounge door opening made Pharah turn her head to see Hellhound walk in wearing workout clothes and a confused look on his face.

"Why is the furniture moved? Are we going to have a physical training session in here?" Hellhound spoke in a slightly confused tone as he looked around.

Standing up, DVa let out a snort of laughter then pointed at Hellhound and spoke seriously. "Okay Houndy, first off did you take the meds Mercy gave you?"

Hellhound nodded in response. "Yes I did."

Grinning in satisfaction DVa beckoned for Hellhound to join her and Pharah in the center of the room. "Good, so basically I am gonna try to get you to have some fun."

Walking closer, Hellhound looked at Pharah in confusion then at the VR gear in her hands. "Fun? I...I know it does not look like it but I derive enjoyment from some things. Weapon maintenance, physical training, things like that."

DVa laughed softly and handed Hellhound a set of the headgear and gloves. "I meant having fun like normal people. Here, put this VR gear on. Were gonna play a game and I am gonna stream it for my fans."

Hellhound looked at Pharah as if asking what to do and Pharah could only sigh and nod. "She got permission from Winston and Mercy. Before you ask, no this gear wont hurt you if you lose. So um...try to enjoy yourself."

Hellhound paused for a second as if he had more questions, but simply nodded and began putting on the gloves and headgear. Meanwhile DVa gently pushed Hellhound and Pharah to a spot where they could freely move their limbs without hitting anything.

"Okay guys I am gonna start it up. Pharah your username is Blue. Houndy your username..I mean callsign, is Red. I am gonna boot up the tutorial area and let you guys mess around while I get my stream started. Don't worry about talking to the viewers I will handle all that stuff, just try to have fun. That's an order Houndy." DVa talked as she donned her own VR gear and began setting up the game.

Pharah waited patiently as stared into the darkness of the inactive headset until a small blue circle appeared and a loading bar appeared under it. While the game loaded Pharah took the opportunity to make sure the headset and headphones were properly strapped onto her head. The game finished loading and Pharah inspected her new virtual surroundings. She stood inside a massive aircraft hangar with dozens of tables full of guns and equipment spread out in front of her. Turning around, Pharah chuckled as she saw a simple wooden firing range with paper targets. "I am pretty sure this type of gun range is only from old movies. Oh well, it is a game so I can cut the designers some slack."

Pharah took a minute to familiarize herself with the controls and how to move around. While she was experimenting Pharah realized just how advanced the virtual reality gear was. The gloves contained haptic feedback technology that simulated the feeling of touching whatever virtual object Pharah put her hands on, and the headgear contained advanced audio and video technology. Figuring out how to move her virtual character without actually walking, Pharah moved over to the tables of weapons and began examining firearms. The guns ranged from the almost laughably primitive era of World War II all the way to the latest cutting edge weapon technology. Finding the assault rifle she had been trained to use in the Egyptian army, Pharah picked it up and was surprised when a small window of customization options popped up. Along with a wide variety of weapon attachments there were also a slew of cosmetic customization options. Leaving the rifle in its default form, Pharah began curiously scrolling through the cosmetic options. She could not help but chuckle in amusement as she began to encounter gaudy and vibrant designs, clearly marketed towards the gamers who wanted to stand out on the battlefield.

Deciding to leave the gun with its original gunmetal gray color, Pharah walked over to the firing range and began experimentally firing single shots at the paper targets. It was a strange feeling to see the gun but not feel the recoil but eventually Pharah had memorized the recoil pattern of the virtual weapon. Going back to the weapon tables, Pharah tried out several more weapons mostly out of curiosity. A pump action shotgun, a lever action rifle, a compact machine pistol, and a belt-fed light machine gun all left an impressive amount of bullet holes in the paper targets.

Putting away the weapons, Pharah noticed far off to the side of the hangar was a door labelled as "vehicle training area." Walking over and touching the door, Pharah was teleported to a massive airfield containing all the vehicles available to be used in the game. It was an impressive amount and Pharah was curious exactly how one would control the more complex machines. Walking over to squat infantry fighting vehicle with a short autocannon turret on top Pharah watched as an icon popped up showing a steering wheel. Pressing the floating button, Pharah was teleported into the driver's seat of the IFV and a menu popped up in front of her. The floating box of text explained that control schemes could be as simple or as complex as one desired, so that anyone from teens to simulation enthusiasts could enjoy operating all the vehicles. Scrolling through the options, Pharah began testing out the various control schemes and was surprised at how intuitive the interface was. Starting the IFV's engine with a rumble, Pharah drove the light tank around and fired at several balloon targets that floated around the airfield's edges. Satisfied with her small excursion, Pharah decided on a simple universal vehicle control scheme that she could easily understand. Just as she was about to hop into an attack helicopter, Pharah was interrupted by a small blinking purple light on her wrist. Tapping her wrist, Pharah read the small message that simply read, "party invite received. Accept?" Tapping the small check mark located in the corner, Pharah found herself teleported into what appeared to be a very plain waiting room of sorts. In front of her stood two other characters. It was fairly obvious which one was DVa and which was Hellhound. DVa's character looked almost exactly like her but slightly different and wore a black tactical outfit with neon pink highlights. All down DVa's sleeves were various patches from different companies that sponsored her, some as simple as the name of the company while others had an animated logo. Standing next to DVa stood Hellhound who looked like any generic video game soldier. His character wore an olive drab tactical outfit, a generic military helmet, and a face obscuring balaclava.

"Heya Pharah! You figure out everything okay or do you need more time in the tutorial?"

DVa's voice sounded in Phara's ears even though her digital character's mouth never moved. A small icon in the corner of Pharah's vision blinked whenever DVa spoke. Pharah tried to reply but could for some reason DVa did not seem to hear her voice. Pharah began making confused gestures and DVa laughed in understanding.

"Oh you probably don't have your chat settings enabled. Here just do what I tell you."

After a minute of learning the differences between the variety of voice channels and text chats, Pharah sighed in annoyance and pointed to Hellhound as she spoke to DVa. "Is he okay? He has just been standing still like that the whole time."

DVa nodded and began making gestures at some invisible menus. "Yeah he is just in the tutorial area. Hold on a sec while I get him. Hey Houndy we are ready can you come join us in the waiting lobby?"

"Understood, joining your session." Hellhound's deep and smooth voice sounded in Pharah's ears as Hellhound's character jolted and came to life.

"Okay guys everything is ready to go! Just some last things before we start. From now on your names will be Blue and Red. Pharah is Blue and Houndy is Red. Don't use your Overwatch names or real names until I tell you the stream is off. As for me just call me Diva, I mean it is my gamertag. You guys got it?" DVa spoke to her teammates as she stopped making gestures with an excited tinge to her voice.

"Red copy." Hellhound spoke in a serious tone making DVa snort out a laugh.

"Blue copy." Pharah mimicked Hellhound with a smile on her face making DVa giggle in amusement.

Moving her hands about, DVa nodded in excited anticipation. "Alright! Starting up the stream in ten seconds! Just letting you know I linked both of you guys to my stream so people can watch you both if they want. Just be yourselves and have fun!" DVa went silent for ten seconds then suddenly began talking loudly in cheery tone of voice.

"And we are live! Hello everyone! I know it's been a bit since my last stream but work comes first! Sorry! For my younger viewers out there make sure you do well in school, and for everyone else, I hope you are having an amazing day! Shoutout to my stream mods keeping everything good in the chat! Now today I have with me two special guests! You might have seen them back when I went to Lucio's concert but for those that dont know they are basically my full time bodyguards! Yeah yeah I know I used to say I would never get a bodyguard but life happens and sometimes you just need to adapt to what happens. Anyways! These two are some really good people and I am happy to call them my friends! I can't say their real names cuz of legal bullcrap so i'm just gonna call them Blue and Red! Blue is the fine lady in front of me and she knows how to kick major butt and look good while doing it! LETS GET SOME HYPE IN THE CHAT FOR MY GIRL BLUE!"

Pharah could barely understand what DVa was saying but waved awkwardly as DVa cheered her on. Turning to face Hellhound, DVa continued her hyped up introductions.

"This is my man Red! I'm gonna be honest and let yall know he is kinda awkward, but he is also a really sweet guy who takes his job seriously! LETS GET SOME MORE HYPE IN THE CHAT FOR MY MAN RED!"

While DVa talked loudly, Pharah curiously explored the various options in her menus. Somehow Pharah found herself on the front page of the DVa's personal website with her stream playing in the middle. Looking at the viewer counter, Pharah's jaw dropped as she watched the numbers pass fifty thousand and keep steadily rising.

"Holy shit! More than fifty thousand people are watching us! Okay Fareeha, you can do this. Just act normal and...wait what is that?" Pharah noticed a large window on the side of DVa's stream that had words scrolling up at an almost unreadable pace. With a mixture of dread and curiosity, Pharah realized that the box of text was the chat DVa had been referring to. Clicking on the wall of text, Pharah found she could drag the chat window over to the corner of her vision so she could play and read at the same time. Curious about what the viewers were saying, Pharah read the chat as DVa began listing off various donation amounts and sponsorships

[wait when did DVa get bodyguards?]

[I bet these guys barely know how to use the controls]

[I wonder what kinda experience they have?]

[She got them recently I think I only saw them at lucios korea concert]

[Holy **** is that the guy who snapped the girls arm with one hand?!1?]

[Ya nevr knw I bet they can kick ur *** ingame]

[wait what?! He snapped someones arm!? Scary!1]

[I work from home and I make 1000$ doing thi-BANNED]

[shut the **** up u ****** u wernt there that girl tried to attack DVa]

[Yo i will donate 50 if Blue will step on me!]

"Hey Blue! BLUE! You okay?"

Pharah snapped back to virtual reality as she realized DVa was trying to talk to her while she had been reading the chat.

"Sorry! I mean..yeah I am ready. Was looking at the...options." Pharah was glad nobody could see the embarrassed blush on her face. She had a newfound respect for DVa who could read the chat and play games at the same time.

DVa's character nodded and began tapping at it's wrist. "Okay let's get to it! Let's start off easy with a simple team deathmatch against bots!"

There was a flash of light and Pharah suddenly found herself standing on the loading platform of some kind of decrepit train station. DVa and Hellhound stood on either side of her while a loadout menu appeared in front of her, displaying all the available weapons and equipment to choose from. Choosing her army issued assault rifle, Pharah looked over to see DVa wielding a massive sniper rifle. Before she realized what she was doing, Pharah was talking to DVa in an incredulous voice. "How are you going to use that? That thing is made for hunting tanks."

The chat sped up as viewers began commenting and DVa laughed in amusement as a timer began counting down. "Remember it's a game Blue! I am gonna do this thing called quickscoping, just watch!" When the timer reached zero DVa immediately ran off while keeping up a constant stream of chatter with her viewers.

"Okay I guess we just go then?" Pharah glanced over at Hellhound who was inspecting the angular shotgun in his hands.

"Rules of Engagement?" Hellhound spoke in a dead serious tone as he loaded a new shell into his weapon and racked the pump.

Slowly walking forward, Pharah shrugged and listened as the boom of DVa's sniper rifle echoed from deeper in the train station. "Weapons free, mission is elimination of enemy personnel."

"Understood." Following close behind Pharah, Hellhound spoke calmly watched behind him as the pair descended a flight of steps.

[lol tacticool ftw]

[they serious? Its just tdm against bots]

[tfw sim players go pubstomping]

[yo anyone share a link to Red crushing the girls arm?]

Pharah glanced briefly at the chat but her attention was grabbed when someone walked around a corner at the end of the hallway she and Hellhound were in. The person looked almost exactly the same as Hellhound's character, but wore a black and red outfit with a red string of numbers floating over their head. Pharah froze and raised her rifle as the bot player slowly walked forward uncaringly with its weapon raised. Deciding to experiment, Pharah fired a single shot into the ground near the bot's feet and watched as the digital soldier continued forward. Aiming at the bot's leg, Pharah fired a bullet into the calf and watched as the soldier flinched but continued slowly moving forward. When the bot got within ten feet of Pharah it began wildly spraying bullets in the direction of Pharah and Hellhound. The two Overwatch agents dropped to the floor and both fired their weapons into the chest of the digital enemy. The bullets and shotgun slug punched through the bot in a spray of sparks, making the bot go limp and fall to the ground before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

[LOL dropshotting a bot!]

[F for poor bot]

Standing back up, Pharah helped Hellhound to his feet and looked around warily as she spoke. "So I think this game is not as realistic as we thought it would be...I guess Diva put us into an easy match. It will probably be different when we face actual other players."

[brilliant deduction watson!]

[im actually rly excited for Blue and Red to fite other ppl]

Hellhound nodded in agreement as Diva ran around a corner and slid to a stop in front of them. "What are you guys doing? Did it really take you this long to kill one bot?"

Pharah sighed and reloaded her rifle as she spoke. "Yes, I think Red and I are a little...overqualified for this type of match. Can we go face some other players? I promise we will be more aggressive."

DVa laughed and hefted her massive rifle over her shoulder and spoke into the air around her. "What do you think chat? Should we skip right to the good stuff?"

[yes plz]

[DVA I 3 U]

[im back did I miss anythin?]

[yeh let them fight other ppl!]

Laughing merrily, DVa dropped her rifle and began moving her hands through invisible menus. "Okay it seems everyone wants to see what you guys can do! I know you both can kick some butt so don't embarrass me in front of everyone! JK JK! Alrighty time to join a pub match!"

The scenery around the three changed and once more they were back in the bare white waiting room. Except this time there were seven other players waiting as well. The majority of the other players were standing still but one immediately ran over to DVa and began crouching up and down repeatedly.

"What is he doing?" Hellhound spoke in confusion as he looked at the mute soldier character who was still crouching up and down in front of DVa.

"Oh this? Its kinda hard to explain, but basically it is a greeting. Usually people who don't have mics do it to show friendliness. Oh, but don't get it confused for teabagging! Teabagging is when someone kills you then does that on your body. It's basically a disrespectful insult." DVa spoke eagerly as gave a wave to the crouching soldier, seemingly happy to explain the intricacies of video game communication to Hellhound.

A few seconds later everyone in the waiting room was warped to a new location, a lush tropical jungle full of ancient ruins. Picking the same loadout as before, Pharah looked over at Hellhound who now carried a blocky assault rifle with a drum magazine. Two other random players stood in line with DVa, Pharah, and Hellhound. Both cycling through various weapons as the game clock began to count down.

"Okay guys! Game plan time! We are gonna rush mid then see if we can catch them before the spawn flip!" DVa spoke quickly as she twirled two automatic machine pistols in her hands. Looking over and seemingly predicting the question Pharah was going to ask, DVa sighed and pointed to a jungle path in front of them. "Just follow me! Shoot anything that moves and try to keep up! Don't worry about dying you will respawn!"

The clock reached zero and DVa immediately ran off down the jungle path with Hellhound and Pharah hot on her heels. For a few seconds Pharah simply enjoyed looking at the surprisingly realistic scenery, but her thoughts were interrupted as bullets began flying past her head. Pharah immediately crouched behind a large rock while Hellhound flattened his back against a large tree. Three enemy players had taken positions in a small village and began unleashing a storm of bullets at the still charging DVa. Running forward with reckless abandon, DVa ducked into a knee slide and slid past the small fence one of the enemy players was taking cover behind. Emptying both of her pistols into the enemy player, DVa sprang up and continued her mad dash as her victim vanished in a puff of smoke. Unfortunately, the other two enemies had prepared for the common tactic of rushing mid. A proximity mine exploded under DVa's feet, sending her digital character flying into some bushes then disappearing in a puff of smoke.

[No skill campers]

[RiP]

[r red and blue just gonna hide all game? Boring]

Poking her head around the rock she was hiding behind, Pharah observed that both of the enemies had taken positions in separate bamboo huts on either side of the jungle path. One had a sniper rifle while the other had a fast firing smg, both sent a hail of bullets towards Pharah's exposed head but luckily the egyptian soldier pulled back in time to dodge the projectiles. Looking over at Hellhound, Pharah made several quick hand signals to which the tall man nodded and pulled out a cylindrical grenade from his belt. Pharah made several more hand signals to Hellhound then gripped her gun as Hellhound followed her orders. Popping out of his cover, Hellhound quickly threw the grenade then dived behind a log as the enemies tried to shoot him. The grenade arced through the air and landed perfectly between the huts, both enemies ducked but were caught off guard when the grenade released a billowing cloud of white smoke.

While the smoke obscured the enemies vision, Pharah and Hellhound sprang up and raced forward towards the smoke. Splitting apart, Pharah ducked behind the left house as Hellhound burst through the door of the right house. Peeking through a cracked door, Pharah spotted the sniper aiming at the front door of the hut with another proximity mine planted in the doorway. Taking the swiftest course of action, Pharah put a burst of bullets through the enemy's head as she heard Hellhound unleash a sustained burst of gunfire into his assigned hut. Running back to the jungle path, Pharah spotted the other enemy player's body vanish from behind an overturned and splinted table as Hellhound joined her.

[get ******* rekked]

[of course the sniper was camping]

[lucky timing, if i was there both of them woulda died]

[aww no good video of the arm crushing chat u lied]

"Hey good job guys! You both got a kill! Keep pushing! In tdm you need to be aggressive! Catch them in their spawn!" DVa's voice sounded in Pharah's ear making her laugh in amusement and look to Hellhound. The former Talon agent finished reloading his assault rifle and replied to Pharah's look with a shrug as if to say "why not?"

Both soldiers took off running and continued to follow the winding jungle path. After some more twists and turns Pharah and Hellhound burst into a wide clearing in the jungle. Less than twenty feet away stood four of the enemy players, caught out in the open in the process of running out of their spawn point. There was no time to take cover without getting shot in the process, so Pharah and Hellhound simply raised their weapons and immediately opened fire on the enemy squad. Two of the enemy players were immediately taken out as the other two returned fire while trying to run away. One of the enemy players ducked behind a pair of metal barrels as Pharah and Hellhound quickly advanced and continued to rain bullets down on his position. The other enemy player (the sniper from earlier) ducked into a half destroyed temple and disappeared from sight, leaving his teammate to their fate. As Pharah and Hellhound cautiously advanced towards the metal barrels they both heard the pin of an old fashioned grenade being pulled. At the same time Pharah saw the glint of a sniper scope out of the corner of her eye and knew what she had to do. Putting her trust in Hellhound to protect her from the grenade, Pharah whipped herself around and unleashed a precise burst of bullets that punched straight through the sniper's scope and into his digital head. At almost exactly the same time, the enemy behind the barrels blindly tossed his grenade. In a display of expert marksmanship, Hellhound shot the grenade in midair causing it to explode on top of the cowering enemy and instantly shredding him.

[HOLY ****!1!]

[gotta be hax]

[Yall see Blue turn on that guy!?]

[okay I believe DVa now, both are def pros]

[I could do that easy, noob enemies]

[Someone clip that!]

Pharah grinned as she watched the chat begin to argue with itself over whether herself and Hellhound were cheating or not.

A few seconds later DVa burst out of the treeline and ran up to the two soldiers with an excited but confused look. "What did you guys just do? My chat is going crazy! People are saying I bought you guys aimbot or something!"

Hellhound shrugged as he looked around for any more threats. "Took out an enemy squad. I don't know why that would be exciting."

[okay now imma fangirl for Red that deep voice hnngg :DDD]

[LOL bet this whole thing was staged]

[dude is a monstr! \m/]

DVa was silent then suddenly began laughing. "Ohmygod! You two made the enemy team leave the match!"

Pharah arched an eyebrow in confusion and pulled up the in-game scoreboard display. True to DVa's words, the enemy team's roster was now empty.

One could almost hear the smile on DVa's face as she spoke proudly to her fans.

"LOOKS LIKE RED AND BLUE NEED A BIGGER CHALLENGE! I SAW WE GO PLAY A MATCH OF WARZONE AND SEE HOW THEY DO AGAINST FIFTY ENEMY PLAYERS!"

So...I decided to pick this story back up. I tried writing other stuff but it never really felt fulfilling. I kept thinking back to when I was writing this and how much fun I had making this story. Looking at all the old positive reviews made both happy and sad. Happy because I knew at least a few people enjoyed my story. Sad because I abandoned a story without any explanation and left everyone in the dark. I am not foolish enough to promise that I will finish this story, but my hope is that I will. For those of you that stuck around this whole time and waited, thank you. For all the new readers, welcome. I am not a good writer by any means, but I hope at least a few of you will continue to stick with me as I write this story.