Upon learning of Doomfist's death, many of the Talon soldiers had surrendered, knowing that their losses were too great. Moira, Widowmaker, Doomfist, Reaper, more than half the Talon Council was dead, and the others knew there was no hope of salvaging this mess.

Reinhardt, Zarya and Mercy was digging through the remains of the exploded building, trying to find Mad Dawg, but no matter where they looked, they couldn't find him.

"Dawg! Fightin's over!" Junkrat shouted. "Ya can come out now!"

The next thirty minutes were spent searching for Mad Dawg, and the search ended when Pharah was heard aggressively vomiting. The heroes rushed over to see what she solider had found. On the ground were the charcoal and bloody remains of Doomfist, his body blasted into pieces, the gauntlet sparking and partially melted. Next to him, Mad Dawg's double barrel shotgun lay covered in blood and warped violently. On a destroyed slab, a small picture was seemingly scratched in with claws.

A heart, with the Overwatch insignia in the center.

"No…" Mercy whispered, tears forming in her eyes. The heroes took everything in and realized what had happened.

"He…he….he can heal, right?" Hana whimpered. "He'll be back, and-"

"No." Winston solemn said, his head low. "Not this time."

The world seemed to grow silent, Lúcio looked at the burned drawing, realizing what this meant. Mercy had fallen to her knees and was crying uncontrollably, and Roadhog yelled in anger before smashing several rocks with a single punch.

The Heroes remained there for some time, taking in the damage of the final battle, and realizing what this meant.

Talon was defeated!

But… Mad Dawg was dead.

Everyone was now either furious, crying, in a shocked silence, or all three. When they finally left, no one spoke. There wasn't the joy they had expected when Talon was defeated, in fact, some of them felt like Talon had won. And more importantly, a few thought that they would give it all up, just to go back and continue the fight with Dawg. Sombra had agreed to be taken back with them, but no one knew if it was as a prisoner or a vicitim.

When they finally returned to the base everyone was in the commons area, trying to figure out what to do next. They weren't sure if they should speak words of joy or if they should remain silent. Hana had to excuse herself to let everything out, and as she passed by Dawg's room, she entered, looking around at the posters and graffiti, before noticing the small stuffed dog he always had with him. She picked it up and held it close, finally letting her emotions out. Once she was done, she noticed something sitting on his bed. She looked at it, and her eyes widened.

"Hey. I found this on his bed." Hana's voice cut through the silence as she walked back into the lounge. She held up a disk drive with a note attached to it. The note simply read 'Play Me. Or don't.' The agents all looked to one another, then all silently nodded, knowing Mad Dawg had made this for as reason, and maybe it would explain a few things. Overwatch and Dedsec grabbed some chairs and took them back to the large computer while Solider: 76 opened the drive, a single video file titled 'Explanation' was in there, next to it was a document that read 'Read After Video'. The old solider sighed, the hit play. It was silent for a few moments, then the webcam on a laptop activated, and Mad Dawg sat down in his room, seeming both optimistic, but also like he knew something terrible was about to happen.

"Hey. Uh… It's me." Mad Dawg began awkwardly. "If you're watching this, you did it! Talon's been defeated. At least for now. You're probably wondering what happened, and… *sigh* well, when I got off that dropship, I knew that it would be my last stop. As fucked up as this may seem, the only way Talon will truly be defeated is if all their assets are destroyed. And that includes me."

"Wh..what the hell is he talking about?!" Sitara demanded, angered.

"The Husk's. The creatures he was fighting, they were essentially clones of him." Winston answered sadly. "He mentioned this before, and I thought I had gotten it through to him that he didn't have to do this."

"Uh… I… I don't like this." Mad Dawg said with a faint smile as he shook his head. "But, if we're honest, I kinda deserve it."

"Aw, not this crap again…" T-Bone, McCree, Roadhog, and of all people (or Omnics), Zenyatta all sighed in unison.

"You gave me a home, you gave me a family… an identity, a sense of worth I never knew I wanted. You guys stood by me as we fought through bullets, psychopaths and Hana's temper tantrums when I beat her high scores. And while I really, really wish there was some other way this could end, I think we all know deep down that for the world to be safe, all the husks have to go, even me. So… I don't know what's going to happen next, and I don't know if I'll be looking down on you form heaven, looking up at you from hell, or if that's all folks, that there's nowhere else for me to go. But I want you all to know this, if I die, I'm dying happy. It's… no secret I've made a lot of mistakes, hurt a lot of people and Omnics, you guys included, but… you were willing to stick through it when you could've just as easily thrown me away like mo-Moria did. But you guys… heh. You showed me what it meant to be a hero, and of that, I'll always be thankful. You made me feel like more than just a team member, you made me feel like family. As… as unnecessarily as it was for you guys to try and rescue me from Deadlock Gorge, the fact that you even tried to means so much more than I could ever express. Thank you."

"The heroes remained silent, smiling sadly at how happy Dawg seemed, and the fact that no matter what had happened, he had died happy. They were able to give him what he always feared he could never have. He went on to thank each of the heroes individually. Reinhardt for his fearlessness and willingness to fight to the end, Symmetra for not only giving him a second chance, but showing him a better way of living, Tracer for always being someone he could rely on, Winston for always being able to pull Dawg back down to reality, even if he didn't want to… Then, there were a few that stood out.

"Jesse? Dude… like, where do I even begin?" Dawg laughed, wiping away a few tears. "Just… you and I… holy crap. Same with Lúcio. The two of you stood by me, literally in some cases as we did some of the stupidest things anyone could ever think of. You pulled me out of a Talon base, you kept looking for me as I ruined my life… thank you. I can't ever repay what you did, and I really hate that fact."

He went silent for a few moments, then addressed the one everyone knew was coming.

"Angela? Er- Mercy? You… Look, I'm gonna be blunt. Don't you dare blame yourself for any of this. You may have helped create me, but you also helped raise me. From the day we met, you were caring, you were kind, and… you're not the monster you may think you are. Thank you, thank you so much for all that you did to help me."

"Now, Dedsec?" Mad Dawg continued, getting the Hacker group's attention. "If you guys are watching this, I'm so, so sorry that immediately after I get back I have to go once again. I love you. I love you all more than I can ever say. T-Bone? I left your jacket on my bed, and it's got the ten bucks I owe Marcus. Unless I needed to buy coffee or something, and if that's the case, even in death I ain't repaying you Holloway!" He laughed then his eyes began to tear up again. "Wrench… I'm so sorry man… I didn't know that… that what I did would make Daisy sick… and that'll never go away. But I don't still hate you for what you did. Josh? It was awesome hanging out with you. You showed me how to code, how to keep myself hidden, and I don't think I would've survived without those skills. Marcus, you taught me how to move through the city, how to hack, how to be me! I love you man. Sitara? Thank you. Thank you so much for everything you did. You found a broken and bloody kid on the street, and you took me in, you raised me, you cared for me. Thank you."

There were sad smiles as everyone listened to Mad Dawg finally lay everything out in the open for all to hear, and it made sense. A lot of it made sense, it hurt, but it was also reassuring. In an odd way, it helped them realize they had done the right thing.

"I think… It was Satya who brought this up." Mad Dawg continued, clearly thinking about something. "There are so many movies and books and stuff where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, to take down the bad guy! To save the world!" Mad Dawg said dramatic flair. He paused, then sighed deeply. "…and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors all cheer, the bad guys die, go to prison, or run off crying, and everybody lives happily ever after." Mad Dawg seemed to be growing more and more somber with each passing word.

"The hell the kid's getting at?" T-Bone muttered.

"But the sad truth is… the hero never gets to see that ending. They'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference. They never get to see that happy ending. They'll never know if the day was really saved. Hell, maybe their sacrifice was worthless. In the end, they just have to have faith. I'm just gonna have to have faith."

The heroes now remained in shocked silence, all of them unable to speak. McCree realized something, that's why Mad Dawg seemed so scared, he didn't know if what he was doing was going to have a difference. Mad Dawg's last words on the drop ship played through his mind:

"Honestly? Whatever happens… happens. Just hope things turn out okay for you guys."

"Sonuvabitch…" McCree muttered. "He knew he was gonna die."

Mad Dawg shook his head and muttered four simple words that seemed to break the heroes in an irreparable way:

"Ain't that a bitch?"

The once somber but happy atmosphere was now replaced with a cold, heartbroken one. Was that all Dawg had thought? That he was going to die and it had no purpose?! The saddest part was, they couldn't tell him any different… What shocked the agents more than anything however, was that Mad Dawg started softly laughing.

"I mean, Miss Satya, I'm sorry." He laughed, tears clear in his eyes. "But that… that's just the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard." He paused for a moment, wiping away his tears, then continued. "Look, I doubt I'm going to live through this, if my plan works… then that's it for me. But I do know that no matter what happens, you won't go down without showing the world what it means to be a damn hero."

A knocking could be heard followed by Morrison's voice.

"We're wheels up in five kid! Get ready!"

"Coming!" Mad Dawg called, he sighed deeply then looked back at the camera. "Thank you. For everything. I love you all. This is Kace Mad Dawg Horatio Kaiju Megazord O'Deorain Ziegler McThundercock Santos-McCree, signing off."

The video cut to black and ended, leaving the heroes in silence. There was a cold sense of sadness, but also an undeniable sense of happiness. Mad Dawg was dead, and it was horrific for them to have to acknowledge that, but he died on his terms. He knew what he was doing, and he let the heroes know just how much he meant to them. There was something about Mad Dawg saying something they had known just made it mean so much more.

"Good-bye… old friend." Torbjörn finally spoke up, saying what everyone was thinking.

"I'm gonna miss you Dawg." Marcus mumbled, tears forming in his eyes. "You were a good kid."

"He died a hero." Winston nodded solemnly. "His… his sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Everyone remained in the room for a few minutes, silently processing the video, then some of the heroes departed, going to get some air, some going to cry, some going to get a drink, and a few to reflect on recent events.

Morrison, T-Bone, Ana, Tracer, Reinhardt and a few others remained behind to read the document, agreeing to pass on the message to the others later. However, no one wanted to open it, as it felt like opening it would confirm his death, like it was breaking the final thread that could be used to bring him back. After a few more moments, T-Bone spoke up:

"Was there anything left over? Anything we can bury?"

"No." 76 sadly shook his head. "The explosion he set off, they were powerful enough to destroy most of Doomfist's implants, there was barely anything left of him."

"Shit…" The older hacker cursed.

"Still. I don't think that's how Mad Dawg would've wanted to be remembered anyways." Ana then spoke, her tone quiet and saddened, but also thoughtful. "He wouldn't want us all to be dragged down by his death. He would want us to mourn, but I don't believe he would want us to stop what we were doing."

"Damn right." Marcus nodded, before looking over to Winston. "Hey, this may seem like a weird question, but does Overwatch need like, a hacktivist group or something?"

Winston smiled in response.

Epilouge…

Mercy sat quietly on the bench Torbjörn had built in the recently re-named 'Phoenix Park'. In the aftermath of the Talon attack, there had been some media frenzy, but when the story of Mad Dawg (or Kace Horatio) got out, the media seemed to back off, understanding that the heroes needed time. The world however, rejoiced. The terrorist organization which had menaced them for so long had suffered a massive defeat, and their celebrations all around the world. However, Numbani had been overjoyed by the news, but that joy had quickly turned to sadness when they learned not only of Mad Dawg's death (as many of the residents knew him from his coffee/game shop) but also the death of the Crimson Phoenix. Originally, the city had wanted to build a statue to honor the fallen hero, but when Lúcio had read through the 'read after watching' document, one thing Dawg had made clear was that he didn't want massive reminders of him left around. He didn't think he deserved them.

So, the city re-named one of its parks to 'Phoenix Park', and a new bench (built by Torbjörn) was installed. As for the Phoenix costume and helmet, they were donated to the museum of Heroes, with the catch that a portion of the increased sales go to helping those still struggling from the effects of the Omnic Blackout and Crisis, and any other relief charities. While Lúcio was already someone who spent time with the masses, he found himself recounting stories of Mad Dawg, or the Crimson Phoenix, talking about the weird hero that was his friend. Back in the park, Mercy looked at the small plaque written on the back board.

Kace 'Mad Dawg' Horatio

Hero, Friend, One-in-a-Million

Rest easy, you've earned it.

She smiled and wiped a tear as she sat down, sighing quietly to herself. The sun was up in the sky, and the birds were flying overhead. Kids were running throughout the park, laughing and playing games with one another.

"Hey Doc." Came a familiar southern voice.

McCree sat down next to her. He wasn't wearing his poncho or smoking, he seemed very… causal.

"Jesse." Mercy simply said in response.

The two remained silent, then McCree opened the bag he was carrying.

"The kid wanted you to have this." He said, pulling out the stuffed dog Mad Dawg always had on his bed. Mercy's eyes widened as she slowly took the stuffed husky.

"Do you… do you think he's in a better place?" Mercy finally asked.

"I'll be honest… If he's in heaven, definitely, but if he's in hell, well… I think he might get kicked out. Just. , imagine putting up with him twenty-four seven…"

Mercy snorted, both shocked and supirsed by the dark joke.

"Jesse!" She snapped. "That's horrible!"

"Yeah? But it's funny." McCree shrugged.

Mercy laughed softly before looking down at the stuffed husky.

"Has… has anyone told Isabelle about what happened?" Mercy asked, looking over at McCree, who seemed to grow saddened by the question.

"Yeah. She took it hard." He shook his head solemnly. "Apparently the kid left her a video as well, telling her it was gonna be okay."

"Do you believe that?" Mercy asked another question.

"Right now? No." McCree frowned. "But eventually… yeah." He looked at Mercy and added: "It's fine to miss him. I'm missing him like he was my little brother. But with time, we'll get through this. Together."

Mercy let a faint smile form on her face.

"Perhaps you are right Jesse." She said, turning the husky over and noticing a tag on it. Her eyes widened and a genuine smile formed on her face when she saw what was written on it.

To: Aunt Zeigler (Mercy)

From: Mad Dawg

She held the stuffed animal close and looked up.

"Where ever you are, I hope your happy Dawg." She said.

The End

A.N. Thank you. Thank you all for sticking with me for the past fifty-four chapters as I tried to salvage and write this weird ass story. It's not what I wanted it to be in the end, but this story has really helped me open up and be more willing to share my works. I want to thank each and every one of you who read the story, favourited it, followed it or reviewed it.

Also, this isn't the end of Mad Dawg! Check back soon for his continuing adventures as Mad Dawg finds himself in the Loud Dawg House.

Love you all, thanks for reading.

Skorch