A Crocodile Problem.
Back before they were shut down and forced to disband, Overwatch had to deal with a lot of deadly situations. Be it to stop rogue Omnics, take down deadly gangs, bringing down dangerous crime lords, or even helping in small wars. But there was one thing that was a little more strange than anything else. Overwatch had received news that some kind of monster had been terrorizing villages in Africa. Jack wasn't to sure about what to make of a situation like that, but he knew they couldn't just ignore it. But since they were already spread thin with dealing with the rising tension between Overwatch and the people, he could only spare two agents to look in to this. Winston and Vi.
"So let me get this straight. We are going all the way to Africa, just to look in to some sightings of a monster? Which could very well be nothing more than another Urban Legend and what really caused the problems could be a random animal" Vi said as they were flying over Africa, getting closer to the location where the incident had been reported.
"We don't really have enough details to draw any conclusions. Whatever this is, it's better to be safe than sorry" Winston said.
"I guess so. If nothing else, we can enjoy a short trip to Africa at least" Vi said with a smile.
Winston chuckled a little at that "Indeed, heard Africa is beautiful this time of the year".
After another couple of hours, they finally arrived at the location. They landed close to a village, and exited the plane, relived to finally get to stretch for a bit after their long flight. As they headed over to the village, they earned a lot of looks from the villagers. They didn't mind, concidering they would look really strange to these people. Luckily the village elder was more than relieved to see them.
"Welcome, members of Overwatch. The tales of your heroics has reached even far out here" The Elder said politely.
"Thank you, Elder. We have come here to look in to the monster that has been causing trouble around here" Winston said.
"Thank you. Come with me, you must be tired and hungry from your trip" The Elder said.
"Oh yes, I am starving. Those lousy rations does not do much to fill my belly" Vi said in a casual tone, earning a smack on the head from Winston, who silently told her to be more polite.
The Elder only smiled "How I wish I could be young again".
The Elder lead them inside the largest hut in the village where his people served them nice fresh food, directly from nature. Vi began stuffing herself, much to Winston's annoyance, but since the Elder didn't seem to mind he just calmly ate one of the bananas.
He swallows before he spoke "Alright Elder. What can you tell us about this monster?".
"Not much I am afraid. He shows up during the night, attacking our life stock, and anyone who tries to stop him ends up dead or mortally wounded. So far we only have a vague description of what he looks like. The few who survived long enough to tell us, said he looked like a monster crocodile. But we have managed to get a name of the beast: Renekton" The Elder explained.
"Renekton... do you know where he could be?" Winston asked.
"Afraid not. Everyone is to scared to even try to chase him. But he is somewhere inside the deep jungle" The Elder answered.
"Alright. If you would allow us to rest for a bit, we will hunt him down as soon as he reveals himself" Winston said.
"Of course, we will prepare a place for you to sleep right away" The Elder said with a polite bow... until Vi suddenly let out a loud burp.
"Sorry!" She said quickly, making Winston face palm.
Later as the sun was going down, Vi and Winston were ready to begin their search for this Renekton creature. Since he was described as large crocodile, the most logical place to search would be along the river. Vi and Winston searched in separate directions to cover more ground and hopefully find this Renekton faster. Vi was walking along a river feeling rather bored, and wished either Lena or Riven were here so she would have someone to talk to. This silence was bothering her a lot and she even yawns for a bit... but then she heard a sound and got ready as something came out of the bushes... but it was just a Warthog.
"Oh, hello there little piggy. You wouldn't happen to have seen a big monster around here?" Vi asked a joking tone, but the hog snarled at her before charging her "Wow wow wow! Down piggy! Down!".
But as it got closer, something burst out of a water and... an ordinary crocodile clamped it's jaws down on the hog's neck. Vi watched with wide eyes as she witnessed nature brutality with her own eyes as the croc held the helpless hog in place. However, what everyone failed to notice, a much larger figures swam through the water. And suddenly the croc let go of the hog as something bit in the tail and dragged it back. Vi had to shield herself from violent splashing. When she looked back she got wide eyes as she saw the dead crocodile hanging from the jaws of a much larger croc, with a more humanoid body.
"Damn..." Vi said as the large beast was glaring down at her "So you are this Renekton the villagers spoke about... ummm, do you understand me".
Renekton dropped his catch and spoke in a dark reptilian voice "I understand...".
"Oh wow you can speak. Uh, ok. Look I know you need to eat and all, but you have caused a lot of trouble for the people here" Vi said.
"Why should I care about human problems? You are all nothing but a infestation! Taking what doesn't belong to you and drives us animals closer to extinction!" Renekton snarled.
Vi flinched "Yeah we humans are not perfect, that much is certain. But killing everyone won't solve anything, and one can't just go around killing people. Not even me, I have killed sure, but only when I have no other choice".
"But it's ok to just butcher and torture any animal? Just because we can't think and feel like you humans can!? We kill for survival, you kill for pleasure! And now, I will feel that pleasure! By ripping you apart!" Renekton roars as he smashed the ground, forcing Vi to jump back.
"Alright fine, I will just knock those teeth out of your mouth!" Vi said as she readied her gauntlets.
They charged at each other and their fists hit each other, with Renekton moving first, punching Vi in the face, dazing her, before picking her up and throwing her against the ground. Vi spits out some dirrt before she got up, bringing her fist around and hitting the large croc in the face. She then kicked him in the chest, knocking him down, before she began beating him in the face. Renekton attempted to get up, but Vi kept on knocked him down. Renekton growls in annoyance before he uppercuts Vi, forcing her of him, and as she got up he punched her again sending her flying in to a nearby boulder. Vi groans in pain before she had to dodge a blow that shattered the boulder, only to be hit by a swift strike from Renekton's tail. Vi attempted to get up, but the large beast was quickly upon her, slamming her into in to a fence, some trees, and eventually the wall of a hut, which she was knocked through and out tossed into the village. Renekton sprinted after her, slamming her across the roads and into several more huts. Renekton continued making his way towards her, with Vi finally dodging his blow and threw a punch. But Renekton caught the blow, stopping Vi cold and threw her onto the ground. Vi recovered as quickly as she could and punched the beast in the gut, before kicking him backwards.
Vi spat out some blood "Ok... you are a little tougher than I expected. But you only caught me by surprise before. Now I am ready! Come at me!".
Renekton roars as he charges again, but Vi was telling the truth when she said she was ready. Using some boxing moves, she dodged Renekton's blow and delivered a couple of punches to his side. She ducks under a back hand from Renekton and punches him three times in the chest and then jumped back to avoid being crushed under his arms. She quickly dashed back in and delivered a punch to Renekton's face, causing him to stagger back but he recovered quickly and launched at Vi, who leaps above him before slamming her fist in to his back, causing him to be smashed in to the ground. She lands behind him before grabbing his tail, and using the enhanced strength provided by her armor and gauntlets to swing him around by his tail and throwing him in to a nearby free with enough force to snap it in two.
"Had enough? Maybe a visit to a nice lab can help turn you back to normal" Vi said.
But when Vi said the word lab, something was triggered inside of Renekton. His mind was flooded with images of what happened to him in the past. He remembered how he was locked up, chained and tortured. The dark isolation, the pain when the humans drilled in to his hide, how they removed parts of him, then waited for him to regenirate and did it all over again. He grabbed his head as more and more horrible images kept flashing through his head. And then... there was a voice in his head... two words that had haunted him ever since the day it happened.
"Help me brother!".
Renekton let out a loud roar to the sky. It was so loud that Vi had to cover her ears in pain. That proved to be a bad move as it left her wide open of a brutal punch that sent her flying and crashing in to the ground. Before she could get up, Renekton landed on her and began beating away on her. Despite using her gauntlets to block the blows, the enraged beast's blows caused her armor to break apart. At this rate she had only seconds before it gave out entirely. Renekton then lifted her in to the air before slamming her back down... and then he began tearing her armor of her body, exposing more and more of her much more vulnerable body.
When Vi was no longer protected, Renekton raised his fist to finish her of... only for a beam to hit him in the back making him stumble of her "Leave her alone, monster!".
Renekton glared and saw Winston glaring back at him "I'LL KILL YOU!".
Winston barely had time to react as Renekton tackles him, causing him to drop his weapon. Renekton tried to bite Winston's head, but the gorilla moved his head to the side, avoiding the bites before throwing Renekton of him. Renekton moved in for another bite, but Winston grabbed his jaws before the teeth could make contact with his neck. He bled a little from his hands but managed to move Renekton's head away enough until it was safe to let his jaws slam shut. Winston then threw Renekton down in to the ground and began beating on his back with his strong arms, but Renekton retaliated with a back fist to Winston's face, knocking him of. Before Winston could recover Renekton grabbed him from behind and bit in to his shoulder. Winston roars in pain but suddenly entered his Primal Rage and forced the large croc of him.
Fueld by his rage, Winston pounds on Renekton, hitting him to hard teeth flew out of his mouth and even opened up some wounds on his body. But Renekton was also in full rage and delivered his own punches that tore at Winston's armor. They continued to trade blows, neither of them giving ground, and it looked like this could keep going until both died. But Vi still had one functioning gauntlet, which she charged up to full power. She let out a battle cry as she hit Renekton full force it the back, just as Winston delivered his own strongest punch to the crocodile monster's face.
There was a shock wave, and when the dust cleared, Vi and Winston were breathing hard, while Renekton was laying on the ground, unconscious. They won... but they still felt like they had lost. The village was destroyed, many were hurt... and they had a feeling the beast they just beat down was just another victim.
Years later, Renekton was locked inside a cell, light hit him in the face as a small opening to the door was opened and a voice was heard "Rage and hatred has consumed you, brother... I am sorry I couldn't find you sooner, the solitude and loneliness must have hurt you so much. But I am here for you now, and I promise, with help from Azir I will find a way to help you... no matter how long it takes".
Renekton looked up and uttered only a single word "Nasus...".
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A small celebration of all the new Shurima expansions and lore. Things are look real good.
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Tell me what you think.