Author's Notes:
Music for this chapter: Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron - Wrangler Chase & Spirit Captured (Chapter starts around 0:47)
The name of this fic may change later on, but I'm happy with it for now. *shrugs*
Alright guys. Here's the Gency AU based on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron that I promised on Tumblr a while back. :D
The actual chapters are probably gonna be slightly longer than the prologue, but at least this is something. :) I'm so happy I've finally got this fic started, I might actually have the motivation to continue it now (as well as writing other fics and posting long-overdue drawings on DA and Tumblr).
Anyways, hope you enjoy :D
Overwatch & characters (c) Blizzard Entertainment
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (c) Dreamworks
AU & Fanfic (c) Me
Looking back over his shoulder, his breathing quick as he ran in the direction of the Watchpoint, Genji could see no trace of the black-clad men that they had been fighting earlier.
Good. I must have lost them.
Inwardly, he sighed in relief.
It didn't take long for the buildings surrounding him to become more sparse, as the cliff concealing the Overwatch base loomed closer. As Genji's teammates came into view just outside the Watchpoint's concealed entrance, he sprinted the final distance and regrouped with them. His brother Hanzo acknowledged him with a small smile.
As the cyborg ninja took a moment to catch his breath and slow his rapid heartbeat, his friend, Jesse McCree, spoke up.
"You okay, Genji?"
"Yes, I am fine," Genji replied, still panting. His face, which did not have its usual helmet covering it, was bright red from the exertion.
Winston, the head of the group of Overwatch agents, addressed Genji as he continued to cool off.
"Genji. What's the situation?"
As his temperature regulation system kicked in, releasing air from the valves in his shoulders, the Japanese cyborg replied.
"I think we've lost them. They couldn't catch up with me."
Winston nodded. "Good work."
Genji smirked just a little before hearing faint noises behind him. Turning suddenly as the noises became louder, he realized.
Footsteps. Hoofbeats. Engines. I didn't lose them after all.
His eyes widened.
If I stay here, I'll lead them to the Watchpoint.
There was only one thing to do.
"Protect the Watchpoint," Genji urged the other agents. He started to run back in the direction of the sounds, which, as they continued to get louder, were unmistakably the people they fought earlier.
"Genji!"
Hearing Hanzo's cry behind him did not stop him. It only made him more determined to keep them safe.
Running forward, Genji could see the group of enemies in front of him. Some of them on foot, some of them on motorcycles, some of them even on horses. He didn't stop. Running faster, the cybernetic ninja cut straight through them and looked behind him.
"There he is! Get him!"
As they turned around and started after him again, Genji sighed in relief despite the situation.
If it's me they want, they won't go after the others.
As they continued to chase him, Genji effortlessly scaled the side of a building. Running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop after rooftop, he looked down on his pursuers.
"Up there!"
Leaping onto the next few roofs, the cyborg ninja realized that he had almost reached the edge of town. He was running out of buildings.
Taking a deep breath, Genji sprung onto the last roof and nimbly vaulted off of it, rolling through the air. Straight after hitting the ground, he was off again, this time evaluating his Plan B. Looking ahead, he thought quickly.
Up the rocks it is.
His breathing still fast and his heart still pounding in his chest, Genji turned to the right, prompting his followers to do the same. Running up the rocky surface in front of him, he turned his head behind him once more.
They're catching up.
Pushing himself harder uphill, Genji kept running. Some of his pursuers stumbled and crashed behind him.
Come on, Genji.
Dashing and leaping across the hard, uneven surface, littered with sparse vegetation, the ninja eventually realized he was coming to the edge of the cliff above the entrance to the Watchpoint, where his team had assembled earlier.
Kuso.
Looking behind him once more, he could see that the dark-clothed people following him were catching up. And fast.
Genji's fellow agents had noticed him by now, and he was running out of options. Casting another glance over his shoulder, he started to grow panicked.
There was only one thing he could do.
The Japanese cyborg steeled himself as he ran towards the edge of the cliff. Pushing himself off of the rocky ledge, he leapt through the air as time seemed to slow down. His pursuers would not be able to follow him off the edge, but Genji knew he would be able to land safely no matter how far the drop.
Or so he thought.
A second after he had jumped, Genji felt a rope wrap itself around his right arm. Suddenly, he was pulled back onto the rock, landing hard against the firm surface. Letting out a winded grunt, the cyborg tried to get up only to have another rope ensnare his right leg, bringing him to the ground once more. As he struggled against the ropes, which were now pulled tight, Genji felt another one secure itself around his other arm. No sooner had this happened than another rope came out of nowhere, this time around his neck. Gasping, he continued to struggle as the rope around his neck became tighter.
It's no use. You're going to strangle yourself.
Defeated, Genji lay there on his side near the edge of the cliff, surrounded by his unfamiliar captors. He heard one of the men sneer above him.
"Thought you got away, didn't you cyborg?"
Genji glared up at him, his teeth gritted angrily.
From below, he heard a cry.
"Genji!"
The cybernetic ninja turned his attention towards Hanzo's voice. Even from above, he could clearly see the concerned, upset looks on his teammates' faces.
But the worst were Hanzo and McCree. Hanzo looked as if he had tears of upset and anger in his eyes, and McCree looked shocked and scared for Genji's safety.
As Genji watched them, bound and helpless, Hanzo made to climb up the cliff face.
No.
"Brother, no!" Genji called out to him.
Hanzo paused.
"Genji, I won't lose you again."
"Hanzo, please!" Genji pleaded with him. "Don't worry about me. Go with Jesse and the others."
Shaking his head in sadness and despair, Hanzo accepted his brother's fate as he, McCree and the other agents turned away from him. Genji watched after them, upset, but knowing that they would be okay.
A sharp yank on the rope around the cyborg's neck brought him back to the reality of his current situation. As Genji was roughly hauled to his feet, the rope around his leg was untied. One of the men forcibly bound his wrists behind him, the rope almost, but not quite, cutting into the artificial muscle of his lower arms.
Genji glared once more at the man holding the rope around his neck, who was seated on a horse as dark as himself.
"Come on, cyborg. Let's get moving."
His last words were accompanied by a strong tug on the rope. Genji had no choice but to be led after him as the rest of his captors followed behind him and their leader.
He was scared, and he didn't know what was going to happen to him. But at least his brother and the rest of Overwatch were safe.
