The Darkest Knight

Chapter 2: Smoke and Grenades

I rolled to my right, and the trash can I had used for a brief moment of cover was ripped in half by a sniper shot. I slipped behind a nearby rock wall and reloaded.

"What the hell is this chicks problem!" I growled, peeking around the corner and firing of two shots from my rifle at the sniper before being forced back into cover by the combined fire of several, what I now knew thanks to Dig were, police officers.

They obviously weren't working together since I'd seen them trade shots as well, but the police seemed to think I was the bad guy here as well.

Guess that happens when you're involved in a firefight in a heavily populated area.

"Not sure. It's strange that an awoken would be attacking you so viciously. The Queen made a treaty with us after all." Dig replied.

"No shit!" I snapped before blinking to the next building; a store of some kind. The front doors slide open for me and I slipped inside, two sniper shots trailing after me.

With a cough I reloaded and looked at the customers inside. They were cowering behind shelves and against the glass doors in the frozen isles, most staring at me like I was some kind of monster. I rolled my eyes, "stay down and don't come out until the fighting over."

A blink later, I was back out in the open, and tossed a grenade at the taller building.

The Assassin flipped off the building, avoiding the blast, and into an open window of the one next to her. I pursed my lips and blinked across the street even as several shots form the police trailed after me. I drew Last Word from my thigh and put Rapier on my back.

"Is that building empty?" I asked, ducking behind a car.

"One sec…" Dig scanned then replied, "on the upper levels. Civilians are taking shelter in the first and second floors."

Blink Strike was ready a second later. I could use that to end a close up fight between me and the Assassin but I had to get close. With two bursts of my jetpack I was lifted up to the third floor window. I grabbed the ledge and pulled myself inside. My feet touched down on the inside of a staircase and-

"Death comes for you."

A gun cocked next to my face and I swore.

How the fuck had I found myself in this situation?

Several hours earlier…

"So Bastion, what exactly are you?" I asked, eyeing the great machine up and down.

He looked down at me and tilted his head before looking back in the direction we were headed and gently pushing a large tree branch out of the way. Granted it was only an obstacle to him since he was a giant, but when he held it I took it as a gesture of kindness. "Bee bop bo bo bop be."

Dig automatically translated, "he says he does not know what he is. He sees videos, hears stories of what other like him did and he does not know what he is."

I stopped for a moment, then continued following. "So, what you're saying is you know what you are, just not what you are?"

"Bee bo bop."

"He says that doesn't make sense."

I sighed. "Ok, um it's kind of like this, I'm a human, thats what I am, but am I supposed to be a hunter or a warlock? Do I study or do I hunt? Thats what I am. You get me?"

"Boop."

"He says-"

"Let me guess he said no?"

"Right you are."

I shook my head and twirled one of my knives in my hand. "Ok, so change of subject. How many people have you met?"

"Be."

"He's met five people."

I nodded my head and leapt over a fallen tree, while Gigantor just stepped over it. I then continued, "and what were they like? Anyone like me?"

"Bee bop bo bop. Be be, wheee, wo."

"Ugh.." I drawled.

"Oh sorry." Dig replied, obviously distracted by something. "He said that he's never met anyone like you. Two people he met were hunters, not you like you, actual poachers, and they tried taking his friend, aka the bird on his shoulder."

"What happened to them?"

The machine looked at me and blinked his one light before looking away.

I got the hint well enough to just keep the conversation going in a different direction. "So what about the other three?"

"Be bo, wee, bop bo. Boop bo bo be whe, re we. Bop bep be bo we." This time his hands, well his hand and giant machine gun, moved up and down as if he was picking the way some people speak with their hands moving at the same time.

Dig cleared his throat, "one was a man who apparently had some harsh things to say about him and his kind, but left him alone after that. Another was a boy who though he was, and I quote 'Rad', then finally there was a little girl. He say's she was sweetest, and most honest soul he as ever known. She used to visit him everyday in the jungle."

Not really saying much considering he says he's only met five people, but I digress. Its his life so whatever.

"Cool. Does she live in Rio?"

Bastion shook his head and I grinned at his antics. "So where does she live?"

"Bee bop."

"He says she doesn't."

I glanced at the robot and saw him only looking forward despite the fact a few branches snapped against his head. It was hard to read, but I still understood what he was saying.

"I'm sorry, care if I ask what happened?"

"Bee bop."

"He doesn't want to talk about it."

I grew quiet. What was I supposed to say? Sorry she died? For all I knew she didn't die and just left but he though that was the same? Honestly I have no idea. The guys a machine, but a lot more prehistoric than any Exo I've ever met.

"Bee bo bop we reh whe be bo bop." Bastion looked over at me.

"This time he says, he doesn't mean to be rude. He says it hard to think a human can care for his kind. You are the second person to ever be kind to him."

"Well," I shrugged, "in my defense we were both getting shot at and someone had to deal with crazy lady before she actually did kill either of us."

"Be bop we be bo."

"He says not true, because you had a chance to shoot him and did not. He is grateful for that."

My face turned to confusion and I turned my gaze back to Bastion. I get he'd only met a few people, but for him to just assume all humans, and Awoken since he sort of met crazy assassin lady, would want to shoot him is a bit much.

Why would he think that? What has this guy been through?

"Bee bop bo."

"He wants to know if you think Bastion is kind?"

I chuckled. "Anyone who's willing to walk several hours with someone they just met just to make sure they make it to their destination on time is kind in my book."

Bastion perked up, his shoulders getting higher and his light eye getting brighter.

Guess that made his day.

And so we continued one hour after another, talking and conversing about things of a brighter nature. Bastion was actually a decent traveling companion, he didn't complain and was polite enough, though Dig was still a shit since he started complaining about having to translate everything for me.

We had just started discussing the possibilities of building an automatic translator into my helmet, to which Bastion I used to bounce Ideas off of, when I pushed through a particularly large bush and found myself on the edge of a mountain, looking down on…. on…

"This is Rio?" My heart was racing and my breath caught in my throat. "But…"

I didn't know what to say. A thriving city. An actual city! One that wasn't the Last City! There were lights, sounds, noises, homes, cars, and all manners of sorts of things I'd only seen in the history videos.

There were living people in this city! But that was impossible… Because of the Last City… That's what it is. The Last City! There was no other place in the world safe for our species to live. The Fallen, The Hive, they made sure of that.

I pulled my rifle and used its scope. Maybe it was trick of the eyes… Maybe…

"Dig?" I asked, staring wide eyed at the city skyscrapers as I dropped my rifle.

There were people down there. Even Exo. This should've been impossible.

"I'm just at a loss as you are…." My Ghost appeared next to me. "I even hacked their communications channels, browsed every source of info I could find… And… I don't know what to say."

"Bee bop."

"Not now Bastion." I said with a shake of my head. Sure I had no idea what he was saying but I couldn't handle anything else right now. This was just too much…

I licked my lips. "Tell me everything you found."

"Ok, you asked for it. According to, well everyone, we aren't in the twenty eighth century anymore. The year is apparently twenty seventy six."

I blinked. That…. that…. God how do I even explain myself… How? I just…

"That doesn't make sense." I argued.

Dig grimly laughed. "Of course it doesn't. Not even to me…"

We were in the early twenty first century. I had heard, hell I'd even seen the Vex use time travel, but I thought it was always minuscule movements. I didn't think time travel was possible to this extent.

"Then there's this earths, what I would consider, third World War. A war between the Omniums and humanity. The Omniums apparently rose up in a rebellion against their human creators and declared an all out war. It was considered the largest threat to humanity since the Cold War. Still, humanity won with the help of a group called Overwatch, whom were eventually disbanded for treason and illegal operations."

"Omniums? Who are they?" I asked leaning back against the nearest tree. I didn't care that Bastion looked at me like I was crazy, or that the lights and sounds of Rio filled the air before me or that the jungle growled behind me.

The year 2076? How?

Dig took a moment before he replied, "they're like the Exo. Except young and childish. They're still very new to the world and though peace is official, they're is still massive unrest, especially in Kings Row and Russia."

"Good lord… So…" I didn't know how to say it. Everything I'd known… was it gone? Where was I? I cleared my throat. "Are we on Earth?"

Dig sighed and he appeared next to me.

"Beeeee!" Bastion wheeled. I don't know what he did next but I stared at Dig. He didn't normally appear when we were traveling unless what he had to say was important.

"Nate," He floated closer, "this is Earth."

Gunfire echoed out from the streets of Rio and my head snapped to attention. It was close, just below the great statue of a long lost religion.

"Whats going on?" I asked drawing my rifle.

"Not sure." Dig then continued, "according to communications between authorities its a heist, but… its odd. The men committing the heist are heavily armed. More so than even the authorities."

That caught my attention. "We'll discuss this later. Get me directions."

"Why?" Digs voice was curious but I could tell he already knew my answer.

"You know why."

I rolled my shoulders and looked to Bastion. "Thank you for getting me here."

"Bee bobop we be bop."

"He says if you want he is willing to escort you to very edge of town, or he can wait in case you want to talk more."

I felt a pinch in my gut and looked at Bastion

The guy almost looked…. hopeful.

Guilt riddled my heart. This poor guy, asking a complete stranger if I want him to wait here so we can talk more.

I smiled sadly inside my helmet. "I'll be fine, but you can wait if you want. I'll be back as soon as I know whats happening."

There was a flash, and I blinked towards the city.

Now...

And so here we were now. After traveling down the mountain side with Bastion waiting on top for us to return, Dig and I ended up in the streets of a fire fight. The criminals were definitely armed and trained, but it was easy to subdue, if not drop, all of them.

Then the Assassin showed up and I had to deal with her. Of course it would have been easier to kill her if not for the authorities, those officers, trying to shoot me as well.

So I followed her up here and now I had a shotgun pointed at my head.

But I didn't earn my title as a Guardian for being tricked so easily.

It was why before I jumped up here I had waited for blink strike. It's why I used blink to teleport right up to follow my attacker, only to find someone tall and dressed in black with a bone mask ready to kill me.

So I slammed my elbow into their gut on instinct, using my natural speed to my advantage.

A low grunt left their throat, telling me it was a man, and I raised Last Word to his face.

Sure he had a few inches on me but that didn't matter.

What mattered is that-

Bang!

A bullet hit my hand and a foot slammed into my face. "Shit!"

I stumbled to the side and turned as the blue woman opened fire on me at point blank range. My shields flared and I flipped backwards, enveloping the power of the void to turn me invisible for a brief moment, mid flip, as I primed a grenade.

My feet landed, my shields at three fourths strength, and I tossed the grenade at the two.

The woman shot her grappling hook and launched herself at me, but it was too late. The grenade detonated and smoke filled the stairs.

I heard coughs and blinked up to the next level of stairs. I drew Last Word once more and saw it smoking.

Shit. It disappeared and I drew Rapier, quickly firing off four shots before a shogun fired up at me. I stepped back against the wall as pellets ripped the stair railings to shreds.

"Dig, can you get ahold of Bastion?"

"What? You're the one that told him to stay behind! And no I can't! Its not like he has a cellphone!"

"Gah!" I roared. I grabbed another grenade, my actual one, and lobbed it down to my two attackers.

A vortex of void energy ripped open and I again used my boosters to blast up towards the next level of stairs. I glanced up. Only two more floors to the roof.

If I could draw them there I could get Raze-Lighter out and use it. A close range hit with the sol powered weapon would kill both with one strike.

I blinked up and grabbed the seventh floors railing before pulling myself up and kicking the door to the roof open. Thud's echoed behind me so I rushed forward, spun, and dropped to one knee.

Dark smoke filled the doorway and I fired as my sword appeared on my back.

"Hehehe." The smoke wisped around me and I rolled backwards, doing my best to avoid being surrounded by it.

"Die!" Twin shotguns formed from the smoke and fired right at me. I barely sidestepped the blasts in time.

The next moment fully automatic fire greeted me and I was forced to take the brunt of it as I grabbed my sword of my back. I twirled it in front of me and the shield formed to take both attacks that came at me.

I grinned. My grip tightened and the power of Sol wrapped around me, orange fire flickering off my armor. I lurched forward, bullets turning to ash as I neared them and Raze-Lighter singed the ground as it shot towards its prey- the man in a mask.

Fire ripped the air in two but there was no resistance, only smoke. My sword kept going and slammed into doorway, shattering the wood and cracking the concrete.

"What the…" I went wide eyed and spun just in time to block two more shotgun blasts to the face. These were far stronger than before, and though my shield took the hit, it still sent me flying backwards and back into the stairwell. The railing shattered as I went though it and fell.

Wham!

A knee hit me in the back then a foot hit my head. The blow knocked me into the wall face first and I tumbled to floor.

The woman landed next to me, rifle aimed at my head. I blinked up and the sniper shot tore the floor a new hole where my head had just been.

I drew my knife and Blink Striked the woman, in her back. The blade sunk with ease, metal tearing skin, electricity whirling around it. She roared in pain, but spun and kicked me in the head.

"She didn't die?" Dig perked up as I side stepped another punch. She leveled her gun and fired. I blinked behind her and drove my foot into her back, then something hard and metal hit me in the back. I tumbled forward and her rifle suddenly became a bat to her and she hit me with the sniper.

I flopped to the ground and again found two shotgun barrels at my face. I primed a grenade and prepared to blink.

"So, I see you're still up to no good. Bugger." A peppy voice filled the air and I saw my assailants look up.

I released the grenade and blinked.

An explosion rocked the building, fire ignited the stairs and shattered the outer walls.

I landed on my feet, drawing Rapier once more and aimed.

My assailants were gone. Not unexpected considering one of them turned to smoke, but I knew they were still around here. That sixth sense was still tingling.

"Hey you!"

A quick spin and I had my rifle aimed up at a new target.

She was short, with short spiky hair, a pair of what looked like goggles, tight yellow leggings, and wore… something on her chest?

"What?" I asked keeping my eye on my radar in case one of the others tried to show up.

This girl was lucky I wasn't trigger happy. I know plenty of Guardians who would've shot her on sight just because of the adrenaline rush. Of course none of them had ever been in this situation…

"Why are they after you?" She asked with two small, what I guessed were, sub machine guns pointed at me.

"No clue." I said.

There was a blink on my radar. My aim adjusted, "behind you!"

She spun and the next thing I knew- she blinked, then I fired on instinct.

The man still wielding his dual shotguns, stumbled back from my first shot, but I kept firing. Red light engulfed him then he disappeared in a puff of smoke. I raised an eyebrow and saw the blip on my radar a split second too late.

Shotgun blasts slammed into my back and threw me froward, draining my shields halfway. I used the momentum to spin around and clumsily fired off three more shots.

Two missed, one hit. The man jerked back as his shoulder was hit and he cursed before firing at me once more. I backflipped up the stairs behind me, and Dig already knew what I was going to ask as The Next Big Thing appeared in my hands.

I let off two consecutive shots and the man ducked just before they tore him in two.

A quick flash of light appeared behind him, and the smaller woman was there. She pirouette on her heel and jammed the bottom of her foot into what I guessed was his throat. He fell back, cracking the railing and she fired at point blank.

The sounds of metal meeting metal filled the air and the railing finally gave way.

"Gah!" the man yelled as he plummeted five stories down to ground.

I dashed over to the edge of the stairs and looked down. Nothing.

They weren't going to get away so without a blink I leapt down, falling down the fifty or so feet and landed with grunt, my legs bending to absorb the impact. I raised my rifle once more, sweeping the immediate area in a circle only to find a door with the word 'exit' above open. I dashed through it and found myself in an alleyway in-between buildings.

"Dig see if you can find a trail. Look for smoke." I stated as I lowered my rifle.

The flashes of blue and red kept me from going into the street since I knew the authorities would be there, and as they'd shown, they weren't very fond of me.

"Hey you!" I spun around, rifle aimed right in between the eyes of the peppy cheerleader who interrupted the fight.

"What do you think you're doing causing all this mess?" She asked, her own weapons raised at me and brow narrowed in suspicion.

I rolled my eyes but kept my guard up. "Wasn't me. There was a heist and when I showed up to help, those two showed up and well you've seen the results yourself."

She smiled. "So just a good bloke trying to keep the peace eh?"

"Yes." I gave her the short answer and glanced up when Dig added, "I have a trail. On the roof, small remnants of smoke with no fire."

"Well I'd love to chat," I told the woman, who I noticed wore a cute brown jacket with large cuffs, "but I have some jerks to catch." With that I blinked up once, then twice and used my jetpack to blast me up to the roof where I landed in a crouch.

I checked my radar for anything, hoping to see if-

"You're fast love, but you can't beat me in a race."

I looked to the side, standing up as I saw the clearly British woman standing there, twirling her weapon with a smirk on her face. I frowned. Who was this chick?

"Look, I can tell you were trying to help," she took a few steps towards me, a soft smile gracing her shining lips, "and since you didn't leave a trail of bodies, I assume you weren't with them."

I nodded, my triggering finger twitching.

"Trail's going cold." Dig stated in my ear.

The girl continued, "but I don't know you, and you're dangerous. My friend Winston, lovely big guy, is coming here to help, but I just want to talk." She raised her weapons, pointing them upward and holding her hands out in a open surrender gesture.

"Well," I sighed, "no offense, but I have somewhere to be." I turned away from her and started off in a light jog towards the edge of the roof.

Dig then stated, "kind of a dick move"

"I don't feel like talking to the cheer-" There was a small flash and the girl was in front of me, a smirk on her face.

I scowled and blinked over her. My feet hit the edge of the roof and I leapt to the next one, rolling to dissipate any spare momentum before sprinting.

Another small flash and, "look, you're fast I'll admit," she was running besides me, "but not fast enough. hehe." She giggled then teleported in front of me.

"Shit!" I spun around almost losing my footing but managed to stay up right and blinked again, this time over a air conditioner and onto a pile of boxes. My jetpacks activated and launched into the air, pushing me towards the next roof.

Another flash and she was in literally in front of me, with that damn smile still on her face!

"Nate!" Dig yelled.

She disappeared and I went wide eyed right before-

Wham!

I flipped, the metal pole breaking as my armor hit, and fell face first to the newest roof I had jumped too.

A dull pain ran through my chest where I had so graciously connected with the damn pole. I coughed and slowly sat up, shaking my head to clear it.

"That one looked like it hurt."

I rolled my eyes and looked to my left.

The girl was there still smiling, though she actually seemed concerned. It was the way her brow was slightly furrowed, how her eyes were just a tad too wide as she looked at me, how her body language was leaned towards me and her-

Kathy…

My eyes shut.

"Nate?" Dig asked.

"I'm fine." I opened my eyes and glared at her, though thanks to my helmet this girl had no idea what I was doing. I grabbed my smoke grenade.

"I just want to talk." The girl once more stated.

I didn't give her anymore time and blinked over to her. She gasped as I landed in front of her, then blinked again, this time low and right into the alley between the buildings I was jumping around.

My grenade detonated in hand and invisibility cloaked me the moment I landed. I sprinted out of the alleyway into the streets, only glancing back to see the girl standing around confused. We were a few blocks away from the police so I kept going, praying that smokes effects would last long enough to get me to the next alleyway.

My footsteps echoed out, and confused civilians spun around to look for the source, then I rolled into the nearest alleyway and my invisibility broke.

"Close." Dig chided and I hit my helmet to shut him up.

I checked my radar and when that was clear, I looked up to see if the girl was still following me. No one was coming down from the roof and I made sure no one followed me from the streets before relaxing.

"Light me up a waypoint to find my way back to Bastion." I stated, stretching my arms one at a time.

"Nate, do you want to talk about the whole… we're in the twenty first century thing?"

I licked my lips.

"Let's get back to Bastion first. Maybe he can explain some of this to us."

Tracer POV

"Aw bugger." Tracer sighed leaning back against the alley wall with a pout. She was throughly interested in this new development. She and Winston had kept track on most, if not all, the unique persons who were popping up around the globe.

But she'd never seen, or even heard of someone like this.

Armor, and what looked like shields that could take Reapers shots at point blank with easy, who seemed to be able to go toe to toe with Reaper and Widowmaker

So he, from what she could tell it was a he, became of interest. She jumped in only when she thought he needed help, and seven though she was faster, he had still managed to slip away.

She frowned and the Com's came alive.

"Lena, I just landed, where are you?" Winston's voice bellow into her ear.

"Ow, not so loud big guy." She scolded, "but I'm near downtown. Had a run in with our two favorite people."

"What! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine love. But…" She didn't know how to describe her newest interest.

"What is it?"

"Winston, besides McCree, is there anyone else we of that wears a cloak and uses high-powered weapons?"

"No why?"

"Well," she smiled, "I think I found a new vigilante."

A/N

Novawolf13: He's a hunter and a human. I didn't out right state just showed it with the use of invisibility and his pale skin and brown hair.

RoboReader: Well Widowmaker isn't skilled in hand to hand hence why our Guardian was able to overwhelm her at close range. She was able to surprise him because he's got no clue where he is, what happened, and is generally out of his element. She also surprised him when her thermals activated. A guardians cloak isn't a cloak from everything, I think just from the visible spectrum, hence why in game bosses can still tell where you are if you're close. (At least thats my theory).

edboy: No, the Taken King, and now the Lords of Iron haven't happened yet.

Onto the regular author's note's, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it! So Nate here tries to help stop a heist and ends up in a fight with Widowmaker, and well Reaper. In case anyone says he should've stomped them, he would've killed Widow maker, but Reapers appearance and new abilities again caught him off guard. Anyway constrictive criticism is always nice, and there will be a pairing but rest assured romance is not the main point of this fic.

Also he met Tracer! Though he's more annoyed of her than anything. Stay tuned for more! I will try to update at least once a week.

God bless you guys!

-Metal4k