Mad Dawg yelled in pain as the device he was attached to sparked to life, once again trying to create some sort of neural transmitter so he could the other creatures. However, much like the past dozen attempts to create some sort of connection, it didn't work. It just hurt like hell. Now granted, Mad Dawg had fought it at every turn, but that didn't change anything.
He had watched as best he could, trying to put together what the Husks were motivated by, and he had discovered something… disheartening. He didn't know the specific scientific term, but effectively, most of the Husks were, for lack of a better term, retarded.
Dawg didn't mean that in the negative connotations that tended to stem form the word's harsh meaning, he meant they literally couldn't think for themselves. They wandered aimlessly about, waiting for some of the Talon Husk's to give them orders. One of them, nicknamed 'Bagel' by Mad Dawg, appeared to be the pseudo leader. He/It/She/Whatever it was seemed to have the highest level of intelligence out of all of them, and occasionally, Dawg could hear its thoughts in his own head.
"Hey. Bagel." Mad Dawg tried to reach out to the Husk. "Can you hear me?"
"We will rip you to pieces…" Came an angered hiss in response.
"Neat. Look, I think we can help each other here."
"Hel…help?" The Husk hissed in response. "You cannot help us. All we know is anger. Pain. We are the ones who cannot be helped. Only though pain can you be helped."
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"The creator… loves you. She didn't disregard you… you were perfect."
"…wait." Mad Dawg thought, his mind spinning now at the last remark. "Is this… is this because you think… I'm the only success?"
"Look at the others…" Bagel hissed in response, Mad Dawg and a few of the remaining Talon husks being the only ones who seemed to be able to hear the conversation. "They gut us. They fear us. The creator hates us… but you… you are perfect. You do not suffer. You do not know pain."
Mad Dawg didn't reply, genuinely shocked by what he was told. Closing his eyes, Mad Dawg stopped fighting the attempts at creating a link, and let the tidal wave of emotions and shared memories crash over him. Immediately, Mad Dawg recoiled in horror as he felt the fear and terror that was collectively shared by the Husk's. They were like nothing more than animals, they were experimented on, beaten, electrocuted, and when they were done with, they were left to die. Except they couldn't just starve to death like a normal human, due to the tiny bit of Dawg's healing factor… they remained alive for weeks on end, their bodies literally rotting away while they remained alive.
"I get it now…" Mad Dawg quietly admitted. "I'm so sorry… I didn't know it was this bad…"
"You claimed you wanted to help us…" Bagel hissed one last thing, as it was led away. "If you tell truths, then you will kill us, put us out of our misery…"
Mad Dawg now found himself alone in the small cell, still strapped to the machine, only this time, he didn't feel the same amusement from messing with the Shimadas he had managed to muster up from his past few 'sessions', all he felt now was a cold sense of pain. He slumped forward somewhat, trying not to cry as the memories continued to flash through his mind of what the other Husk's had been through. At the end of it all, what hurt the most, was the fact that Dawg now felt powerless to help anyone, he had lost a lot of blood, and was beginning to believe this would be the place where he would die. What hurt the most though, was the fact that he wouldn't be able to stick it to Kenichi when he died, when that happened, the Husks were likely to be perfected, and their endless cycle of pain would become eternal. He was tired, and he didn't want too, but Dawg finally lost the fight and fell asleep.
Meanwhile, McCree was loading his peacekeeper, and making sure he had a sturdy supply of flashbangs. If Satya's hunch was right, they knew where Mad Dawg may be, and if Dawg was there, it was a pretty good chance it was the factory (for lack of a better term) where the Husks were being made. Essentially, Jesse expected a bloody battle, and he was ready to kill anyone he needed to in order to get his friend back. Truth be told, all the heroes present seemed ready for war. Everyone had spent the past few minutes loading their weapons and making sure things were ready for when they landed. The feeling in the air was undeniable though. Some of the agents were terrified. Sure, they all knew being a hero meant they may have to lay their lives down one day, but fighting Talon agents was one thing, being forced to fight an army of what could be described as twisted versions of their friend was just… unsettling.
Mei cast a glance over to Don Kim, who seemed… unnaturally angry. His left hand was trembling aggressively, despite his best attempts to conceal it. He hadn't said a word since they had left for India nearly two days ago. He seemed angry, but to everyone it was clear he was angry with himself. He had also been coughing quite aggressively, and he seemed paler than normal, like age had finally been catching up with him.
"None of you should go." He finally spoke, breaking the silence as the agents turned to him.
"What?" Someone finally asked.
"This is my fault. Kenichi… Kenichi is my son. I should be the one to deal with this." Don Kim finally spoke in a shaky tone.
"Are you insane?! You'd be killed in seconds!" Junkrat exclaimed in disbelief. "There's no way you'd 'eva even get ta him!"
"This. Is. My. Problem." Don Kim insisted.
"Don, I understand." Winston spoke after a few moments of silence. "You and Dawg have a special relationship, and I can't imagine what this is like, feeling torn between your son and your friend. But you can't go at this alone and expect to survive."
The scientist paused, looking around the ship at the others, before speaking again.
"Something Dawg had a hard time accepting, was that no matter what happened, we would be there for him. The same goes for him now, as well as Hanzo and Genji. This is a fight that's bigger than all of us, and even if you don't want us there because you believe this is between you and your son, then at least let us go to find our friend."
Don Kim looked down at the floor, then looked up at Winston.
"I figured as much." He finally sighed, shaking his head slightly. "But when we get in there, let me try and talk to my son. I don't expect miracles, and… sadly I believe he's beyond saving, but at least let me try."
"Of course." Winston nodded.
Don Kim turned and glanced out the window, watching as the ship set down on the ground, before muttering:
"Then I hope for Dawg's sake, that we're not too late."
When Mad Dawg awoke, he found himself lying on a table, shackled by his hands and feet to the ground. Kenichi was looking down at him, his face his usual bad guy unreadable/douche. He felt the pain of his body being drained, but at an unnaturally high level.
"This is it, ain't it?" Mad Dawg muttered, rolling his eyes somewhat. "You got tired of me already?"
"Your blood is what we need, the rest is disposable." Was all Kenichi said in response.
"Oof. Well, I can tell ya right now. with or without my blood, those things will never listen to a Tojo bastich like you." Mad Dawg weakly laughed, raising his right hand and giving Kenichi the finger. "It's hilarious. It took you guys nearly a week to break me, and it took be ten minutes and four doctors to break you."
Kenichi was about to say something, when a man ran into the room, seeming absolutely panicked.
"Kenichi!" He shouted in Japanese, but which was magically translated because shut up. "It's your father! And Overwatch!"
"What?!" Kenichi exclaimed in shock, then shook his head. "Release the Husks! All of them!"
"But sir, they're not ready for-"
"ALL OF THEM!" He shouted, then man nodded and ran off, and Kenichi walked over to a counter and picked up a large knife.
"…well shit." Mad Dawg muttered.
With one final THOOM! Reinhardt smashed the doors off of their hinges, raising his shield as he took the front while the other heroes stormed in.
"KENICHI!" Don Kim shouted in Japanese. "DADDY'S HOME, YOU PRICK!"
Almost immediately, a barrage of fire was launched at the shield, Reinhardt holding off the bullets while Genji deflected the few that got through. After a few nerve-wracking moments, the bullets subsided.
And then Overwatch opened fire.
The few security guards dove for cover as rockets, bullets, grenades, hard light, lasers, scrap and an assortment of other weaponry was fired. Trashing computers and empty cells. Roadhog and Reinhardt seemed to be leading the front pushing forward while keeping any attackers pinned back.
"Lena! Find Dawg!" 76 shouted as he reloaded his rifle, only to hear a low growl. "We got those creatures coming our way!"
Some of the heroes broke off from the group to try and find Kenichi or Dawg, while the others remained behind to deal with the literal horde of Husks that came charging towards the heroes. There were so many, nearly two hundred of them. It looked like a tidal wave of twisted monstrosities. Pharah and Baptiste set to blasting the Husks with a steady stream of firepower, trying to keep them at a distance. However, they noticed something, the Husks seemed terrified. They didn't seem like the psychopathic creatures that had attacked the heroes at Kim's safe house… something was wrong, but they couldn't say what…
Tracer was blinking all over the place trying to find Mad Dawg. She had dashed through several rooms, and had knocked out several guards, but still nothing. She looked around when she came to a stop, seeing two rows of doors in front of her. Frowning in annoyance as she blinked into one, Tracer found herself in a supply closet.
"Nope." She remarked.
Blink.
"Nope."
Blink.
"Nope."
Blink.
"Nope."
Torbjörn had followed Lena to help if she needed it, and had finally caught up with her, now seeing what almost looked like a scene from an old Scooby-Doo cartoon, as several guards were either chasing after, or running from, a blue blur.
"Nope." She huffed, looking to the last door. "Hope it's this one…"
Before Torb could ask if she needed help, she had disappeared into the room. The mechanic tossed out a turret which quickly built itself, and then opened fire. Several of the scientists screamed in fear and ran back into the rooms they had been in.
Tracer stopped and looked down when she stopped jumping around, seeing her Chronal Accelerator was beeping, she sighed in annoyance. Knowing she had to let it recharge, she started running. Finally, she slid into what seemed like a bloody operating room with a man standing over someone with dirty blonde hair. Gears turned quickly and she realized what was happening.
"MAD DAWG!" She screamed, blinking towards him, as the man suddenly drove a knife directly into his chest. "NO!"
Clocking the man hard in the back of the head, Tracer didn't pay attention to the man who fell to the ground as she looked horrified at the frail, weakened form of Mad Dawg. She didn't know what to do, and she began franticly trying to think of what Mad Dawg would do in a situation like this. However, all the things that came to her mind weren't good ideas, but she was also afraid that if she didn't try something, Dawg would be dead.
So, Tracer ripped the knife out of his chest, hoping huis healing factor could repair him.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" A new voice screamed, and Tracer dropped the knife in shock when she turned to see Mercy looking horrified at her. "THAT MAY HAVE KILLED HIM!"
"Being you Angela!" Tracer shouted. Seeing an armed security guard rush towards her. To her absolute shock, Mercy turned around and punched him square in the face, before twisting his arm at an unnatural angle before using his gun and shooting him point blank in the face. Turning, Mercy fired several more shots at other guards who were running into the room, taking them down without hesitation. After the guards were dispatched, Mercy dropped the gun in shock and she and Tracer looked to one another.
"Blimey…" The pilot whispered.
"Not a single word to ANYONE." Mercy hissed, both angry and horrified at the same time. "Help me get Dawg up!"
Unplugging Mad Dawg from the devices, the two lifted Mad Dawg up gently, each putting an arm over their shoulder. Suddenly, and without warning, Mad Dawg snapped to life and vomited violently. A stream of black, red and orange-ish sludge coating the floor.
"Agh… what happ-Lena?" Mad Dawg began but cut himself off when he saw Tracer. "Angela? What are you two doing here?!"
"You're safe now, love." Tracer said reassuringly. "Just… don't talk too much, kay? You're really… really weak. I don't think I've ever seen you like this…"
"What did they do to you?" Mercy asked, her tone practically seething in unspoken fury.
"Blood… drain…" Mad Dawg wheezed out, then suddenly began to struggle against them. "Wait… no… can't…" go…"
"I understand you have abelites unlike others, but this is insane!" Mercy snapped. "If you try to fight-"
"Not… fight…" Mad Dawg weakly cut her off, stopping to take a few deep breaths. "I know how to stop them."
Kenichi was running, he hadn't expected all of Overwatch to appear, let alone be found so quickly. Thankfully, the woman who had hit him seemed more preoccupied with Mad Dawg than him, and she inadvertently gave him the chance to escape. Currently, he had what he needed from the mutant, and Mad Dawg was most likely dead. He needed to escape, to get away from-
"Hello. Son." Don Kim said, standing in front of him suddenly. "Trying to cut and run? I thought I taught you better."
"Father?!" Kenichi asked in disbelief, not having believed that his father hand come along with the heroes. Hearing someone land to his left he turned and his eyes widened then narrowed in anger. "Hanzo?" He turned and saw the third figure, a cybernetic ninja, and blinked in confusion. Then slowly looked form him back to Hanzo, then back to the green cyborg ninja dude. "You couldn't fulfil the simplest of orders." Kenichi said to Hanzo with disdain.
"No. I'm not a monster." Hanzo replied coolly, knowing not to give his uncle the reaction he was looking for.
"So, what is this then? Three Shimada crime members here to murder an unarmed man?"
"No." Don Kim shook his head. "I'm here to offer you one last chance. Please, don't do this."
"NOW you care about what I do?!" Kenichi exclaimed in anger. "After all the time you ignored me, shunned me, chose my brother over me… NOW is when you decide to be a good father?!" The words clearly hurt Don Kim, and he looked to the floor for a moment, ashamed of what he had done.
"You're right, I was a terrible parent." Dom Kim said, raising his hands in acknowledgement. "I was never the parent you or your brother needed. I set us all into a cycle of self-destruction, one where we'd keep doing horrible things and getting people around us hurt. But now, we have a choice, we have a chance to make things right. Please, let us help you."
Kenichi remained silent, and it was hard to tell what he was thinking, but finally his eyes narrowed dangerously, and he laughed slightly.
"Is that what you call us? A cycle of self-destruction? You never wanted to be part of the crime enterprise, and we were fine with leaving you out of it! Hell, I didn't even care that you became friends with some random kid. But now, now you think you can change what's been done?! You think I WANT to change?!This family name once brought power and respect, and you turned it into a joke. I've brought it back to what it once was."
"WE'RE NOT MURDERERS!" Don Kim suddenly roared, an anger in his voice no one was expecting. "LOOK AROUND YOU KENICHI! TERRORIST BOMBINGS?! TORTURE!? WHEN DID WE DO ANY OF THAT?!"
"All the time!" Kenichi shot back, his tone now as angry as his father's. "You want me to change and yet you won't even acknowledge what YOU did! You were a murderer! You killed anyone who stood in between you and what you wanted! Now you say I'M the monster because I do the same thing!?"
The silence returned, and Hanzo noted Kenichi was slowly reaching for something. He and Genji slowly reached for their weapons, while Don Kim seemed as disheartened as he did when he found out his son had died.
"I have failed you Kenichi… And I am sorry." Don Kim said quietly. "Not just for what I've done, but for what I must do."
Without warning, don Kim shot forward, unsheathing his cane sword and going for a lethal strike. Kenichi suddenly pulled two handles off of his back, and a pair of mechanical swords shot out from the handles. He blocked the incoming attack and tried to strike back, only for one of his swords to be blocked by Genji, and the other blade blocked by Don Kim.
"Slow." Was all Don Kim said. The trio began spinning their blades about, the metal clashing as Kenichi was trying to throw the two off of their feet. In a sudden movement, Kenichi jumped and flipped through the air, landing on a nearby pathway as several arrows whizzed through where he used to be.
"But faster than all of you." He retorted. He then launched himself off of his perched spot and directly came down at Hanzo, the marksman finding himself trying to block the sword strikes from his uncle. He hasn't used a sword in some time, and wasn't sure if he could hold him off forever. Thankfully, Genji jumped over to assist and began fighting his uncle once again.
Entering a large room, Mad Dawg weakly looked around before pointing to a table.
"There…" He weakly groaned. Mercy and Tracer looked at one another confused, but did as Mad Dawg instructed. Mad Dawg picked up a weird ring and put it onto his head, twitching in pain as the device activated.
"What are you doing!?" Mercy exclaimed in shock.
"Trying… to… can't… explain…" Mad Dawg began, but breathed heavily, still unnaturally weak from the blood loss. After a few more spastic twitches, Mad Dawg looked around, then shut his eyes, trying to tap back into the neural bond that may have existed. He shivered as he felt the cold feelings of anger and pain fill his entire body threatening to consume him…
Click
Pressing 'play' on the Walkman Mad Dawg carried around with him, he heard the sound of the tape turning, then a voice began singing.
Mi-a-hii
Mi-a-huu
Mi-a-haa
Mi-a-ha ha
Mi-a-hii
Mi-a-huu
Mi-a-haa
Mi-a-ha ha
Down below, the husks had been surrounded on one side by the heroes and on the other side by the Shimada soldiers. It was clear at any moment they were going to lash out at the heroes, and the agents of Overwatch were doing their best to be prepared. Suddenly, a few of the Husks seemed to freeze, as if realizing something. Then, a few began to sway, as if they were listening to music, then over the P.A. system, music began to play:
vrais a pleche dar numa numa i-ay
numa numa i-ay numa numa numa i-ay
kipul tow she dragosta din tay, ma mintesc day oki ti-ay
vrais a pleche dar numa numa i-ay
numa numa i-ay numa numa numa i-ay
kipul tow she dragosta din tay, ma mintesc day oki ti-ay
The Husks all seemed relaxed, as if someone was controlling them… The heroes paused, surprised at what was happening, but also expecting Dawg to do… something, and this was very Dawg-ish.
Back in the room, Mad Dawg was hoping his plan would work. If all the Husk's had known up until now was pain and anguish, what would happen when someone showed them the other side of the coin? If they were supposed to follow Mad Dawg (or someone's) orders, what happened when those orders weren't violent?
"I have no idea what the kid did, but it worked." 76's voice suddenly came over the comms device. "These things… they're calm. We just need to figure out how to get past the guards without angering the creatures and-"
Without warning, the Husks turned around and bore their teeth at the Shimada soldiers.
In another room, Kenichi was currently fighting off Hanzo, Genji and Don Kim, and he wasn't having too much trouble doing so. Sure, all three of them had at one point been formidable killers and fighters, but now, Genji was the only one who still trained with a blade. Up close, Hanzo had some skills when it came to fighting, but he was nowhere near as good as he used to be. Kicking Hanzo in the leg, he managed to grab the archer and threw him into a wall. Genji yelled in anger and dashed forward, but Kenichi simply stepped out of the way, Genji colliding into the wall.
"Do you forgot who trained you?" He remarked with a raised brow. Turning back to Don Kim his eyes rolled in disgust. "Look at you, you can barely stand."
"I can still kick your ass." Don Kim quipped, then whipped his sword up as Kenichi clashed with him, their swords interlocking.
"You are nothing but an old frail man, who should've died years ago, what makes you think you can even hurt me?"
Kenichi suddenly felt something strike his gut, and he was pushed back as he gasped in pain. Don Kim held his cane in one hand and sword in the other.
"Well, you never took my lesson to heart." He added. "You always focused on fighting rather than defense. Also, I brought you into this world, so I'm pretty sure I can take you out of it."
Don Kim was about to continue, when he gave a slight gasp as he felt his heart throb irregularly. Letting out a shocked breath, he took a step back and dropped his sword. Kenichi took the opportunity and slashed Kim across the chest. The cut wasn't deep enough to kill, but it was deep enough to draw blood.
"Goodbye father." Kenichi said quietly as she drew his swords back to deliver the final blow. Don Kim looked up, and seemed to smile.
"Atta boy." He coughed, causing Kenichi to pause, confused as to the remark, but suddenly saw flashes of blue and green out of the corner of his eye.
"Ryuu ga, Waga teki wo, Kurau!"
"Ryūjin no ken wo kūrae!"
Kenichi's eye's widened in shock as he realized what was happening, and dove out of the way as Genji came running at him, his sword out and being surrounded not just by his green dragon, but by Hanzo's two blue dragons. Kenichi created an 'X' with his blades in front of him as the trio of dragons collided with him. He felt the fury of the spirits crashing against him, and he grit his teeth before finally yelling:
"Doragon no ikari ga anata o moyashimasu yō ni!"
Without warning, a black dragon burst from the ground, it was larger than Hanzo's dragons and seemed to grab them as it formed, tossing them aside as if they were nothing more than rags. The beast coiled as if materialized and growled at the others below it. Hanzo and Genji were taken aback in both shock and fear. They had never seen Kenichi's dragon before, but from what they were told as kids, it wasn't something many people lived to speak of. The beast roared and shot forward, Hanzo's dragons trying to fight it, and they seemed to clash like birds of prey in the air. When they clashed, they began biting and tearing at one another as they fought, but it was clear Kenichi's was winning.
"Do you not see how pointless this is?!" Kenichi shouted over the dragon's roars as he attacked Hanzo and Genji, cutting the cyborg's arm and making it spark, before turning and hitting Hanzo with a palm strike in the jaw. "None of you can stop this! The Shimada's will rise again! And we will be FEARED! No more heroics! No more redemption. This is who we are, and you cannot stop us!"
Hanzo and Genji were left struggling to block Kenichi's attacks, they weren't sure what to do at this point. They knew the other agents couldn't help them, and they were all that was standing between them and Kenichi unleashing an army of twisted Mad Dawg clones onto the world.
Don Kim groaned, slowly dragging himself over to his cane. Pushing against the staff, Don Kim weakly dragged himself until he was standing. He saw the sight before him, his son trying to kill his grandsons, an army of twisted mutants based off of his friend… He realized the truth, this was his fault. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and began focusing inwards, looking for something that once existed within him. He felt his chest warming, and his eyes opened as he raised his cane into the air, and slammed it into the ground.
"Watashi no doragon wa muryōdesu. Kazoku to issho ni tachimashou!"
The entire room seemed to freeze as a gigantic golden dragon seemed to form in a sort of golden fire. At first, it seemed to be simply surrounding Don Kim, but then the beast began to take more solid shape, and the dragon was bigger than anyone had ever seen. Its head was clearly one of age and scarred by battle, one of its whiskers seemed missing, but its many rows of teeth showed that no matter how old it was, it was still ready to fight. Genji and Hanzo were left speechless, and those who had finally found the Shimada's were frozen in fear at the sight of the dragon. All down it's back, scars of battles past were prevalent along its scales. As it roared triumphantly, it grabbed the black dragon with its arms and proceeded to throttle it. Driving the beast back to the ground, Don Kim took his blade and pointed to his son, no longer was there the bizarre old man who had befriended Mad Dawg. But now there was the man that lead a criminal empire, the man who had mourned his family, and the man who had sworn on his own life, that he would do anything to make it right.
"Bring it, bitch." He scoffed. Hanzo and Genji took a step back as Kenichi dragged himself up, fury and fear flashing across his face. Finally, he yelled in defiance and ran forward, swinging both swords At Don Kim who stood his ground, only using one hand to hold his sword. The blades clashed against each other as the dragons roared and fought, the spirits of the two men now intertwined in a battle that would only result in one of their deaths. Kenichi spun in a circle as he leapt into the air, trying to frighten Don Kim into making a mistake, but the old man simply rolled his eyes and blocked the strike.
"You are not a warrior." Don Kim said, anger now returning to his voice. "You are a disappointment."
"And you are the man who made me. What does that make you?!" Kenichi snapped back.
"A fool. But unlike you, I haven't given up on my family. I'll give you one last chance. Stop this, please."
Kenichi didn't hesitate, he slashed at Don Kim again, grazing the old man's face and leaving another scar diagonally across his eye.
"Very well then." Was all Don Kim said.
The old man suddenly dropped his sword and clasped his hands in a specific shape, the golden dragon roared and bit down on the black one, driving it back to the ground, and forcing it on top of Kenichi. While the dragons weren't exactly real, he felt the weight of something suddenly forcing him down. Don Kim moved his hands and body in a specific set of moves, before pressing his hands together and lowering his head.
"Goodbye my son." He said, his tone saddened.
The golden dragon opened its mouth and seemed to be summoning energy, Hanzo and Genji stared in disbelief. There was a legend that a warrior could embody their spirit animal (in the Shimada's case, a dragon) with their own life force to create a powerful attack. Don Kim inhaled deeply and opened his eyes, which were now a bright white, and slammed his hands in a downward motion.
If Kenichi did scream, it couldn't be heard over the sound of the dragon's roar's. Everyone grabbed for something as a sudden energy wave hit the ground, and a shockwave a million times more powerful than Lúcio's sound barrier rippled across the ground. When the lights finally died down and the roaring stopped, the room was silent. Kenichi was gone, as were the dragons.
Don Kim breathed weakly, then looked over to Genji and Hanzo, and laughed weakly.
"We did it." He said with a grin, then fell to his knees.
Immediately, Ana and the two Shimada's were by his side, resting him against a wall, and trying to figure out what had happened. Don Kim however, seemed at peace, he seemed relaxed.
"DON!" A weak voice suddenly screamed in horror, as Mad Dawg pushed his way through the crowd and ran over to his friend, only for his legs to give out and him to fall to the floor. He didn't stop though, he got right back up and seemed to crawl over to the old man.
"Hey… Dawg." Don Kim weakly smiled. "We did it, Kenichi's done."
"Don! What… what's happening?!" Mad Dawg demanded almost seeming panicked.
"I'm old, kid." Don Kim shook his head. "Even with your *cough* your heart… I wasn't gonna last forever…"
"No… No! Please! Not now! You can't go!" Mad Dawg begged, tears in his eyes.
"Listen… Dawg. You saved my life." Don Kim said with utmost sincerity. "But… Oh geez, I… I don't want you to blame yourself, but… your blood, it's toxic kid."
"…No…nonononononoNO!" Mad Dawg exclaimed, his eyes filling with fear. "Please! Kim! I..I didn't know! I'm sorry! We can fix this! We-"
"Look at me. Look at me Dawg!" Kim suddenly said with far more force than one would've expected. "We've had a hell of a ride, you and me. Casino's, bars, nightclubs… I *chough* I wouldn't trade it for anything. But, I'm not immortal. Some bad blood, plus everything it took to summon my dragon one last time, it's all I had left."
"Sensei Shimada, you're gonna be okay! Alright?! I'm not gonna let you die!" Mad Dawg exclaimed, terror in his voice, panic clearly taking over as he shook Don Kim. "I..I'm gonna get some of my blood, we..we…we'll make sure it's clean, and it'll heal you and…"
"Kid, let it go." Don Kim chuckled, seeming oddly at peace. "I should've died nearly twenty years ago. Thanks to you… I had a lot more fun before I went. Don't be sad…" Looking up at Hanzo and Genji he added. "That goes for you two as well. Thanks to you, I was able to correct my biggest mistake."
Don Kim coughed again, leaning back against the wall, he smiled as he continued.
"I made sure my boys won't be like me… They're heroes. Thank you… thank you so much Dawg."
Genji and Hanzo were now speaking Japanese to Don Kim, Mad Dawg was able to pick up on a few words, piecing together they were solemnly saying good-bye to their grandfather.
"And hell, seeing the dragon I had. Totally worth it." Don Kim weakly laughed, his face losing its colour. "It was huge."
"Tha…that's…that's what she said." Mad Dawg finally managed to get out.
"Kace? Mad Dawg? Whatever your real name was… I have one last request." Don Kim said, his tone tired, his body seemed to be draining of colour.
"What is it?" Mad Dawg asked quietly.
"Keep smiling." Don Kim simply said. "I know this is sad, but remember the good. In this case, it far outweighs the bad." He looked up at Hanzo and Genji again before adding: "Same goes for you two. You lost each other once already, don't make that same mistake. Overwatch is your family now. Don't forget it."
"Hai." All three said in unison, bowing their heads, Don chuckled and weakly rolled his eyes.
"Always the suck ups…" He weakly laughed. Smiling one last time he quietly said: "Sayōnara… Kanshi suru…"
The old man slowly closed his eyes, and they didn't open them again. Mad Dawg's breath hitched and stuttered in shock.
"Don?" He asked, his voice squeaking, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Don, c'mon man… don't leave me! Please wake up! Please! We gotta go home…We gotta…go… home… Da-" Mad Dawg felt hands on his shoulders, but didn't look back to see the brother's solemn faces.
"He's gone Dawg." Genji said, sadness clear in his voice. "He's gone."
Dawg remained silent for a few moments, then pulled out the flask he kept in his bag, and put it in Don Kim's pocket.
The heroes remained silent, then most of them left, deciding to give the others a few minutes alone. Even some of the Shimada soldiers who were still alive bowed their heads in respect, knowing what had happened. While the heroes of Overwatch may have achieved a victory today, it came at a great cost. One greater than any of them were able to predict, and one that no one wanted to pay.