A/N Surprise, surprise, im not dead. This story is not dead!

Well at least not as dead as my love life...

Lol. Enjoy.

The Darkest Knight

Part II the Claws of Talon

Chapter 20: Mystery

Hana glanced at the book in front of her, fingers gripping the cover with deadly force and her face scrunching in annoyance.

She knew a bit of japanese, but she was having a terrible time translating written word.

For whatever reason, in her oh so brilliant plan she had completely forgotten the fact that this was library in Japan… where they spoke Japanese… meaning the books were in Japanese… and she was not japanese…

She sighed and slapped the book shut.

Despite her horrendous translation ability, she had figured out enough to determine that the book in her hands was about the second World War, and though it was interesting she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with her riddle.

There was nothing about gold and silver, or the first of a kind or whatever in there.

Her eyes grew wide.

First of its kind….

Atomic bomb!

She gasped and flipped the book back open.

"Genji!" She called, quickly pulling herself to her feet, stumbling for a second before catching herself.

She turned to the table of contents, eyes managing to translate as she went. Her fingering tracked the numbers slowly going down as she looked, and looked….

Her finger found the chapter, the twelfth chapter to be precise, and she flipped to page three hundred and forty three.

The paper fluttered in her fingers, and her eyes shot to the title as she reached her destination.

It was then a light footfall met her ear, and she glanced back to see Genji casually strolling up to her from behind with three large books under one arm.

Where on earth he had come from or been was beyond her.

But she turned herself to face him as he approached and with a stupid smile, looked up and spoke, "I found a clue. The first of its kind? It has to be an atomic bomb! A major event in history, one that changed the face of the world, whatever the riddle is about is has to do with that!"

Genji stopped and tilted his head to the side, "I admire your spirit, but I think you may be wrong. The riddle was 'the first of his kind', and I believe that if your pursuers worded it that way, then they meant it spoke of a man, not a bomb."

The realization hit her and she frowned.

"Damn…"

However the Ninja didn't stop speaking and leaned against the wall, "however, the words in times of silver and gold, are far easier to discern."

He held up the trio of books, "the times of the samurai, an age where silver and gold made up a vast majority of physical wealth, along with incense and silk."

She blinked and crossed her arms, "so the riddle's about history?"

The ninja lowered the books and shrugged.

She rolled her eyes.

"Well, great. Now we just have to figure out the rest of it, what the hell does the first of his kind even stand for?"

She glared at the books, and her mind racked all her memories for something of use.

Of course there were a lot of first. First bishop, first inventor of the car, first man on the moon... so basically she had nothing.

"Damn it. What's the point of all this if I can't even figure out a stupid riddle!" She growled and threw a light punch into the wooden frame of the bookshelf. It creaked, but barely budged.

"Sharper than sword…"

She blinked and realized then that Genji was staring at the shelf next to him, his voice soft enough that it had become a mumble.

"Hana, how much time have you spent in the west?"

She narrowed her eyes and after a brief second of utter confusion, replied, "what the heck does that have to do with anything?"

"Sharper than sword. A metaphor I have heard once before from an American woman, but I cannot place where she got it from."

She tilted her head, her mind questioning both the ninjas thoughts and trying to see if maybe he had a point.

"What was the riddle again?" The Ninja turned to her.

She sighed and stretched one arm, "let me get my bag."

And so she left the confines of the bookshelves behind and made her way straight to the front, the air conditioner hitting her full blast and sending another shiver down her spine. Damn damp clothes.

The Librarian was sitting behind the front desk, glasses on as he read some older book cradled in his arms.

He failed to notice her as she passed and so she simply grabbed her bag, which had been conveniently been placed on top of the front desk, and made her way back to Genji.

The Ninja was in the same spot as when she left but was now reading a book with a worn cover, his expression undreadble as always.

With a mighty hmph, she pulled the tablet from the bag then dropped it on the floor next to her.

The screen was dark, but a quick tap to the screen brought it back to life, and lo and behold the riddle was dead center as it had been just the night before.

She stared at the words for a moment before looking up at Genji and clearing her throat.

Immediately the man looked to her, his faceplate revealing none of his thoughts.

Having his attention she read, "From times of silver and gold. The first of his kind. The most powerful of ours, but in the land foreign and not. Find that duller than pen, but separate from the world."

The man nodded gently, "riddles were something my brother always used to like, but that was a long time ago."

She looked to him again, this time curious as to what that meant, but the cyborg didn't look at her, instead closing the book in his hand and placing a hand under his chin as he obviously engorged himself in solving the riddle.

"We know that they are speaking of Medieval Times, but what is duller than a pen?"

She shook her head and bit her lip.

And what the heck did the most powerful of ours mean? In a land Foreign but not?

She sat down, laying the tablet on the floor in front of her as she leaned back against the bookshelves.

Duller than Pen…

Foreign…

Powerful…

It was a riddle right? Which meant metaphors and a lot of word play.

She rubbed her temples and leaned over the tablet.

"I have heard of another metaphor from Angela," Genjis voice caught her ear and she looked up at the man now rummaging through the books of the shelf across from her, "it was from an old book she used to have, something about the word being greater than the sword?"

A metaphor?

Her eyes grew wide.

Oh she was so stupid!

"Sharper than sword!" She smacked her forehead, "it's a thing in America, it's a saying that written word is sharper than sword! So if they're saying that which is duller than pen, then they're talking about a sword!"

The Ninja face palmed.

God they were dumb…

She shook her head and chuckled darkly, "geez, and here I was thinking i meant something about a bomb."

"So the riddle is about history and a sword?" Genji asked, plainly ignoring her statement.

She nodded slowly.

"Yeah but, I'm not sure what about the rest. Like, the most powerful of ours? What the heck does that even mean?"

They both stared down at the tablet.

Two parts down.

Two to go.

This was gonna be a long day.

Bang!

I dropped into the alley below just as another gunshot echoed through the surrounding buildings, my eyes instantly calculating and assessing each and every threat.

A large, green machine with horns, five men with guns, and two kids taking cover behind said machine.

You know, if had been a movie, then it would be a really cool fight scene.

But it wasn't. So of course I have to intervene.

I blink forward, right past the machine and towards the wall of the building on my right.

The alleyway itself was large and wide, at least thirty feet wide, so I need a bit of momentum to help me reach them before they could fire on me.

You see, it's easy to tell that the men are your less than reputable group of citizens, and well anyone attacking a machine and two children was probably just a piece of trash that needed to be put down.

I kicked off the wall, two men looking up to see me and their eyes growing wide just as they tried to turn their guns towards me.

The first guy I reached was way too slow, and the momentum from kicking off the wall helped me bring my fist directly into his chin. His head shot to the side, the bone cracking from the sheer force behind my punch, and I landed on the ground with one foot before blinking towards the second man.

His gun was raised, but his apparent shock from seeing me kept his aim sloppy, and the single shot he gun off from the handgun went wide, and I reached him with a blade to his gut.

Lightning poured out from my body into his and smoke started to flow from his hair as the rain continued its torrential tribute on us.

I spun on my heel, my blade ripping out of the man and-

Wham!

I hit the ground, my head reeling from the sudden shock of something hitting me with my guard down.

A sudden weight hit my chest and I gasped as a large metal foot pushed me down.

I looked up and found a large cannon aimed directly at my head.

Well shit.

Definitely not how I expected this to go down.

Immediately I raised my hands, my weapons disappearing as I stated, "whoa hold up, I'm a friend."

The large robot simply stared do at me, green glowing eyes narrowed dangerously as its foot glowed an untaral gold as it pressed down on my chest.

I grunted, and shifted uncomfortably, but considering this thing hadn't just blasted me into a million pieces meant it was still undecided about-

"You are an Overwatch agent." The machine spoke up, it voice highly feminine in nature and would actually be quiet soothing if it was for the death canon aimed at my face.

"I am." I nodded, momentarily grateful for the out it had given me as I also realized that the other attackers had split the second I was distracted. Great.

"Overwatch agents are not currently welcome in Oasis. The presence of Angela Ziegler was an academic honor for her position with the Scientific community, hence the strict no Valkyrie hardware allowed to travel with her."

I blinked under my helmet.

"Uh, what?"

"Unauthorized Overwatch agents are deemed hazardous and illegal. They are to be arrested on sight."

Well fuck me.

I dropped my hands, "Look, if I'm such a danger then why did I help you out huh? Instead of just killing you all out right?"

"That is exactly why I must take this precaution." The machines gun twirled and and pressure on my chest increased.

Great. Another psychotic robot that wants to murder me.

Theres a real fucking trend going on here. Ha, sounds like a bad fanfiction if you ask me, though Dig was a fan of the chessy shit.

The canon whirred and I felt the power of light coursing through me.

"Stop Orisa!"

The high pitch of the voice and the general softness of its tone had me looking up, well as much 'looking' one could do with a robot standing on top of you, to where the two children I had seen were still at.

A small girl was standing up, her arms crossed and a somber smile etched on her face, "We don't need to hurt him Orisa, he was just trying to help."

I rolled my eyes, "see? Even the twelve year old gets it."

"Eleven."

"Whatever."

But the Robot ignored me entirely and turned back to face its… its owner? Master? Well fuck it, I know what I meant, it turned back to face its owner and though its foot still held me down the pressured decreased greatly. To the point I could probably slip out if I tried.

"Efi-"

"He's not dangerous." The girls eyes suddenly landed on me as she continued, "he is Overwatch remember."

"But the law-"

"The law can be wrong." Efi smiled brightly and I felt strangely stupid…

This eleven year seemed really smart for her age. Like, that was some deep shit if you ask me.

The robot looked back down at me, canon still threatening to blow my head off, and in response, I shrugged.

"She's not wrong."

The robot, or Orisa as the little one called her, gave what could be best described as a sigh and took her foot off me before stepping back, and as I stood up I saw her canon still aimed at me, but now hovering slightly down as to not accidentally shoot me in the chest.

That, or she was aiming for the most precious part of my anatomy.

Still I lowered my hands and crossed my arms, leaning to the side to ensure I looked as non threatening as possible.

"Why are you here?" The Robot was quick to beat me to the punch and I sighed.

"Explosions? Gun fire? Bad guys? Overwatch Agent?" I replied twirling my hand in a vain attempt to help the robot link it all together.

It didn't reply and the girl instead stepped forward with the boy, who I could now tell was probably about the same age as Hana, following closely behind her, his hands wrapped cautiously around himself.

"So, I'm assuming you're here for him?" She asked and threw a thumb at the boy.

I blinked and tilted my head, "um should I be? I was chasing a lead in the city, and like I said, explosions and here I am to help."

The girl nodded and rubbed the back of her head, "these men were chasing him. I was assuming Overwatch had sent you after him as well."

I nodded slowly, "makes sense, but I have no idea who this kid is."

My eyes traveled to the boy in question, and I took in everything about him.

He was young, most likely a year or two younger than Hana, but aside from that he was a mess. Malnourished, long hair, no shirt, no shoes, calloused hands and arms. Scars on his chest, and if I had to bet his back too.

I frowned and stepped forward, "What's your name kid?"

He simply stared at me.

My eyes rolled and I shook my head, "whatever."

Thunder roared above us, lightning flashing off the hard light walls around us and I looked back to the street behind me.

"We should probably get off the street. Whoever hired those men-"

"Talon."

On a swivel my head spun back to the kid. His accent was a heavy jamaican, as he spoke, "It was Talon. They take me from me home, and now they want me back."

I nodded, "well any enemy of Talon is a friend of mine."

"Agreed," The eleven year old added and I couldn't help but grin. At least the kid had her head on straight.

I huffed and with a flash my rifle appeared on my back, "all right, so we know Talon's probably after this kid, which means we need to lay low now. You guys got a place?"

The kid shook her head, and was blushing as she replied, "my parents are probably going to mad I'm even out so late and I don't think they'll be willing to take a refugee into our hotel room..."

"Accurate." The robot added, to which I grinned and resisted the laugh.

Efi shot a glare at the robot, "oh hush! I have you don't I?"

The robot didn't reply and I instead took the que, "Okay whatever the case with you, we should all get off the streets."

Dig, any abandoned warehouses near by? Anything we can keep low key and off the radar?

Give me a few.

I looked at the boy, "I got a friend looking for a place to hide you, but first why does Talon even want you kid? No offense, you don't seem to be of the same caliber as-"

He opened his palm.

Fire appeared.

My eyes went wide.

"Well hot damn."

Eyes went wide, light bulbs clicking off in her head as she stood.

"A land foreign but not!" She slapped her forehead. "Genji!"

Again the Nina had disappeared searching the deeper parts of the library for anything that could help with their mystery riddle. Of course as she walked out towards the center isle the light 'pat' of feet alerted her to the ninjas presence.

She raised the book in hand and spun to face the greenlight's and booked filled arms.

"A land foreign but not." She pointed to the book, "border state's. I was reading up on other countries and apparently the USA has a few border cities that are so closely connected they're called twin cities and their cities are referred to as one metroplex."

The Ninja nodded, "they are referencing the countries on their borders, a land that is known to them but is foreign at the same time."

"Exactly," Hana slapped the book closed and grinned, "so I got to thinking, where could they be talking about?"

She dropped the book on a nearby table and she raised her hands, "I mean, in medieval times, so many places were basically forieyn but not, like kingdoms and towns and stuff. No way we could narrow that down."

The girl ran a hand through her hair, "but then I thought about how it says the most powerful of ours. So maybe it's referencing modern times, but there are plenty border towns so how would we narrow that down."

Then she grinned and pointed at Genji, "then I remembered the sword! So if we talk about medieval times and someone who has a sword, we can narrow down the search, since we know the riddle says the first of his kind we know they're talking about a guy who used a sword from the past, so something a town or whatever named after someone important like that."

Genji nodded then added, "and they say he was powerful in ours. What kind of man lives for centuries?"

She grinned, "only people of importance. People like military leaders, presidents, and religious leaders hence why I said he had to have been important."

Again the overwatch agent nodded, "so we're searching for a sword from medieval times from someone famous that still has influence today?"

She sighed and frowned, "yeah, when you say it like that it sounds hopeless."

But even as she felt her heart start to drop, Genji chuckled, "lucky for us, I am a fan of Japanese Tabloids."

With a flick of his first the books dropped and in his hand was a flimsy little tabloid, Hanas face plastered to the front.

She narrowed her eyes.

"You like that trash?"

He shrugged, "the stories yes, but alas, I am not talking about them. This tabloid talks about Elektra Karhn and Sasuko Gange and their visit to a museum."

His mechanical fingers flicked through the pages and stopped on a set of pages with a series of photos of the couple.

Much to her annoyance she noticed a few articles about her.

She sighed. "And how is this supposed to help?"

"The museums name."

She rolled her eyes before leaning in and studying the article.

"The Yoritomo museum?" She looked up at him in question, her mind racing to figure out what he was talking about.

"When I was little, I studied the great war Lord's of Japan to better understand our history." The cyborg sighed once more and pulled the magazine back under his arm. "When you spoke of a warrior in history, one that wielded a sword and was of a land foreign to you but not, I connected the dots."

Once more the cyborg leaned back on a foot, "Minamoto Yoritomo, the man the museum was named after, was a samurai and the first Shogun."

Her eyes went wide, "a samraui uses swords! The first of his kind and in Japan!"

She threw up her hands as everything landed into place,"Japan! A land that is foreign but not! Its culture is similar to Korea but not exact! That's what it means!"

Genji nodded, "exactly as I thought. But it speaks specifically of his sword."

The brightness in her eyes dropped, "oh no… don't tell me his sword is in that museum?"

There was barely any movement as he replied, "priced at sixteen million dollars."

Hana Song growled and threw her head back, "shibal! So what? We have to find this sword and they'll meet us there?"

Again the cyborg shook his head, "I do not believe a group living in the shadows as such would be so Noble."

The table before them shook as Hana kicked it, "damn it. I knew it."

Genji of course waited for Hanas anger to dissipate.

So with a sigh she turned to him.

"We're going to have to steal it."

A simple nod was his confirmation and she huffed, shoulders falling in defeat.

Half heartedly she grinned and clapped once, "fantastic! A world famous pro gamer and a cyborg have to steal an ancient artifact from a museum in the heart of Japan!"

"I cannot." His reply broke her facade and her eyes grew like watermelons.

"What!"

The man sighed as he continued, "Overwatch is not allowed to intervene and unfortunately, I am not a Black ops agent anymore. Interfering could cause strife between Japan and Overwatch."

She growled, "then why are you here!"

"To help, Ms Song, and to ensure you do not end up dead."

At his words, soft and kind as they were, she let out a huff of hot air and sunk as her chest deflated.

"Yeah, so much help thanks."

She rubbed her eyes.

"I'm not a thief Genji. I have no idea how I would even try to steal it!"

Genji, the polite gentleman he was simply nodded before walking over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I may not be able to help, but you do not have to do this alone Hana."

She blinked as his words struck true.

"Oh no, no no. My friends would kill me for even thinking of it! Heck they might even report me to the general!"

Silence met her and she shook her head, pulling away from Genji and running a hand through her hair.

She knew he was technically right.

But they had been sworn to not do anything stupid or rash. Hell, she knew Nate wasn't here to bail her out this time, and though she was confident in Genji's abilities, she didn't want to tempt fate twice.

Still…

The sword had to be hers, if she wanted to figure this all out.

But her friends wouldn't ever agree.

"Hana."

She looked up and found Genji's back to her, the taller man looking over his shoulder at her.

"I must leave for now. There is... something, I must do. Tokyo is not far from here, and remember you are not alone. They aren't your friends for no reason."

She blinked, and in that instant the Ninja was gone.

How the hell he simply vanished so fast was beyond her.

But it didn't matter.

What mattered, was her choice here.

Damn it!

She huffed again and looked at the roof, silently pleading with God or whoever was out there, for another path.

And she stood in silence for an amount of time she couldn't remember.

Yet, no matter how long she stood, there was no answer.

Claire was back… and she was her best friend. Of course the blonde would have her back.

Ava? Kolden? She couldn't say.

Jullian would most likely wait to see who chose what, and Marques.

God, Marques was gonna be the worst.

Especially after their little argument.

Hell it's not like she could ask Nate for his help, or anyone from Overwatch. And she was on leave so getting her hands on some other recruits or a Mekka was obviously dumb and out of the question.

Hell, she probably wouldn't even be able to ask the general for help. This would be an international incident if she got caught.

"Damn it…" she sighed again.

But she didn't have a choice.

We need people who are smart…

Those damn words!

She grit her teeth and with a huff stood straight.

She had to ask her friends.

Otherwise… she'd go it alone.

After all, someone had to figure this all out.

I glanced around, my body pivoting on my heel as my flashlight and gun scoured the room before us.

It was small, small enough it wouldn't draw attention.

But it was also the back area of a larger warehouse.

Which made me frown.

Warehouses and me didn't have the best track record.

Still, it was the only off the books place Dig could find in such a short time. The company who had owned this place had sold it off to the city of Oasis, and the old steel and concrete place was set to be demolished next month.

Which meant it was uninhabited and off the grid.

"Clear," I called as I lowered my weapon, spinning Last Word before I holstered it.

The warehouse itself, though generally empty minus the equipment used for manufacturing cars, was too large for adequate safety. So we had bypassed it all and settled on the larger back room that Dig said had been meant for office use.

The room itself was about thirty feet long and wide, and had a few pieces of trash and cardboard thrown around it.

However it had one entrance and only one large window that let you see out to the manufacturing floor. Unfortunately though the lights no longer worked.

And it's walls were made of concrete.

Not that it would stop the likes of Doomguy and fucking Grim Reaper, but it would hold against their goons.

"This seems… dangerous."

I glanced back at Effi, who was frowning as she looked about the room. Orisa stood behind her, the large machine still watching me with narrowed eyes though it was no longer aiming it's weapon at me. It was fortunate for the eleven year old that her robot had built in flashlight eyes.

"Course it is," I shrugged, "it's what happens whenever Talons involved."

She nodded, and from behind the two, came my newest friend the firebender.

Well I actually don't know what he does or is, but I call him firebender cause he made fire. Original right?

He walked past me, eyes unsteady and anxious as he scoured the room.

"You want me to stay here?"

"Bingo," I said leaning back against the wall, "got it in one."

His mouth dropped and he looked around, "this… this is, awful! They'll find me!"

I scoffed, "You want to be set up in a five star hotel where they can track you almost instantly and then they'll catch you and do good knows what?"

He glared at me but didn't reply.

I sighed and shook my head, "look, it's not perfect kid. But it's off the grid, and there's no paper trail hinting that you're here. Hell, I even used secret Overwatch transportation to get you here. No cameras would've gotten us."

And by secret transportation I mean transmatting them to the nearest building to this place while Dig killed any other cameras.

Sucked that I left my ship back in Gibraltor, but no Nate you won't need it, it's simple recon.

Recon my ass, Lena.

"But, I also need to know why Talon is after you. They don't just target anyone."

I could feel Effis and Orisa's attention turn back to him, and he fidgeted nervously.

Honestly? I felt kinda bad for him.

He was obviously mistreated and had Talon after him. Hell if I was a betting man, I'd bet my left arm that he was an escaped prisoner.

The boy, huffed, and shook as he straightened himself to speak.

"Talon had me prisoner."

Fucking knew it.

He swallowed hard as he continued, "they did experiments. She, did experiments."

I narrowed my eyes, "who?"

He shivered, "the lady with red hair."

I blinked and shook my head when Effi suddenly spoke up, "you mean Moria O'Deorain?"

My head turned to the kid, "who?"

She sighed and crossed her arms, "she was a geneticist for Overwatch, she was even working for the Council here at one point before she disappeared."

"How do you know it's her?"

"He has fire, and was experimented on. Had to have been genetic experimentation for such results."

So apparently she's a lot smarter than I gave her credit for. Well, cool?

I shook my head gently and turned back to the kid, "okay, so this crazy mad scientist lady experimented on you. How'd you get away?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I was being transported to a facility and then boom! The car flips, the doors open and I run."

Well, not much to go off of.

I sighed and rub the back of my neck.

"Okay, so you're, for lack of a better term, a mutant now and we need to keep you away from physco bitch. Easy enough, next step is, do you have family?"

He shook his head.

"Killed when I was taken."

"Shit," I huffed then continued, "okay, so this is the plan, you stay here and lay low for a few days whole I get in touch with Overwatch and figure out if we can house you at one of our facilities."

"That sounds dangerous leaving him alone," Effi added.

I rolled my eyes, "I know, but I have a cover to uphold and kind have to watch out for one of our agents. Besides, he'll be fine here. No cameras, places to hide. Perfect hideout from Talon."

She shook her head, "then I'm leaving, Orisa, here."

My eyes grew a bit wider and the robot itself looked down at her, "Effi, are you sure-"

"Positive. You have my emergency number, if anything happens all you have to do is call me and I'll send the police running."

"The police are only gonna get him killed," I retorted but the girl ignored me and instead kept talking.

"No they won't, they are far more capable here than in the west."

I shook my head, "There is in no way shape or form that leaving him to the police is a good idea. For all we know Talon's infiltrated the damn place as well!"

"I doubt it, besides even if they did, there's nothing on this planet that can stop Orisa."

The little girl smirked proudly and I once more was forced to hold my tongue on her blatant stupidity.

Stupid yet smart. Ironic.

"Besides father is here. He'll keep me safe and while you and Orisa keep our new friend safe, then once he is with Overwatch I would like a meeting with your director."

I blinked. "What? Why?"

She shrugged, "a few designs I have in mind for the Crusaders armor as well as yours. Plus I've always wanted to meet Tracer and Angela Ziegler."

A few moments passed as I again, had to wrap my head around the fact this was still a kid and not just some super genius or whatever.

"Fine." I rolled my eyes, "but you both keep me updated. Last thing I need is a childs blood on my hands."

"Of course," she shot a smile at the kid, and the kid smile back. Well, more like a grimace than a smile but probably cause he was out of practice.

Wouldn't really have much reason to smile as Talons prisoner.

Then her eyes once more studied the room, "but this place could use a few things."

"We are not a reality show, we're not setting him up for life or anything, just keeping him alive."

Her smile burned away into a glare and she frowned at me, "so are we just supposed to let him suffer and starve? He needs medical attention and food. Not to mention clothes."

I growled, "god, fine! I'll grab some stuff and be back."

She smiled, "Remember to bring Angela."

I narrowed my eyes.

"What?"

The girl rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, the robot simply looking back between us as if studying our conversation.

"I mean, he needs help. I'm no medic, and you don't seem like one either. We need someone who can properly evaluate him, if that's okay with you?"

I was prepared to reply when I realized she wasn't looking at me and instead at the kid.

He shifted uncomfortably as my gaze landed on him, and gave a soft nod.

"Good." Effi smirked and crossed her arms, "so is that fine with you?"

I huffed, "you try convincing her."

"I don't know her, you do."

I frowned.

Technically, she had a point. This kid looked like he was in bad shape and I had no real reason to say no except for the fact me and Angela never got along and I'm pretty sure she hates me.

But… Ah fuck it.

"Fuck it, whatever. I'll get her. See if you can get the lights running in here," I replied and with flash was gone.

I landed with a grunt on the roof of the building next to us.

The lights were off and my armor, black as it was now, blended in perfectly with the night and rain.

My eyes turned to the skyscrapers beyond.

"Dig, how close can you get me to our hotel?"

Normally I'd just transmat in directly from my ship, but it wasn't here. Plus, leaving had been easier simply that I could be transmitted directly to the ground floor and cloak.

Now though?

I either had to go through the lobby, or somehow get to the roof.

Neither of which sounded like a good idea, and getting through the lobby was going to cause issues, if it was packed, plus that could let any undercover Talon agents know about my cover story as Mercy's cousin. I couldn't transmat directly onto the roof, because that few second delay of me forming could give me away to anyone who was watching.

Didn't want that. So i was gonna need two transmats, one close, and one to get me directly into the room.

Nothing too complicated.

So the roof then?

Apparent- fuckin-ly.

Ha sucks, well, I can get you within a few blocks radius. Any closer and it might look too suspicious.

Good enough. Also, contact Winston, have him find a way to get my ship over here, things'll go way smoother if we have it with us rather than it collecting dust.

As expected he didn't reply and instead a swirl of light over took me before I dropped onto a new roof and found myself staring at the towering skyscrapers of downtown Oasis all around me.

Thunder flashed and I stepped forward, quickly blinking upward and landing on another section of the buildings roof, the telltale thunk of my boots hitting the hard light roof echoing in the rain.

Okay this close enough?

Yeah give me one sec to-

My heart slowed and I felt instinct creep up on me… a warning.

I went wide eyed.

I threw myself to the side.

A flash of purple and black, a sword flashing through the air and rain where i had just been.

I hit the hard light roof with my shoulder first and rolled to my feet, Raze Lighter flashing onto my back and my hand gripping the handle and swinging it around in one fluid motion.

My eyes scanned the roof, but my assailant wasn't trying to hide.

It was the person from the warehouse back in Rio.

The one capable of teleporting farther than me, and helped the man piloting piloting the Samurai robot thing. The one dressed in all black, with hood and cloak to match.

I frowned.

They stood still, the sword in their left hand as they looked at me, their posture completely relaxed.

Now that unnerved me.

I grimaced under my helmet, and fueled light into my sword its flames growing larger as the light around us spread.

"Took you this long to find me?" I spat, and they shifted in stance; one leg forward and one back.

They were quiet and only the pattering of rain and distant thunder answered me.

Thummm… Thunder.

Plip, plip, plip… Rain

Something about this person…

It wasn't right.

I tightened my grip.

They lunged.

My eyes went wide, their speed was unnatural and I threw up my sword, blocking their strike for my throat.

An instant kill shot.

They weren't playing games.

I growled and twisted my wrist, dislodging my sword with a push, and swiping at their feet, they simply leapt back, before redirecting their momentum and lunging right back at me.

I blocked the side swipe, but they rebounded and came back from my other side. I twirled out of the way, and with one hand drew the Last Word.

I fired.

To my surprise, they twisted their sword, and with a flash of purple blocked my shot.

I fired twice more, and the air swirled around them as the suddenly teleported right at me.

Wham!

A knee hit my chest, the sword spun around and a blade slashed across my chest.

Somehow it sliced straight through my shields and the edge of my armor, cutting it viciously but fortunately not hitting my flesh.

With a flash of void I flipped back and snarled, "who the hell are you?"

"I let others try to deal with you. I gave them each a try. But they failed. So i'll do it myself."

The voice was electronic, and muffled, yet deep and powerful.

But they didn't wait and lunged again.

I threw up my guard and blocked their first strike, then countered with a quick slash for their arm. They instinctively pulled back their arm and sword, which allowed me to continue my attack as I spun on my heel and slashed for their head.

They ducked, and threw an elbow into my gut.

It hit but i rolled with it and retaliated with a right hook to their face.

I felt my fist collide with metal, and they stumbled back, hand going to the mask, for whatever reason doing everything in their power to keep it in place.

Their form then shimmered and they disappeared.

Behind you!

I ducked, then parried the sword swipe for my throat, before using the parrys momentum to roll past them and spin to my feet, swinging my sword as I went.

Of course they vanished again, and a second later appeared next to me, their fist raised as purple and black energy swirled around it.

I powered up Raze Lighter, its golden shield forming in front of just as energy shot from their fist. The balls of black and purple slammed into my shield, but the momentum somehow carried through and threw me back.

I hit the roof with my back before enveloping myself in void power and flipping back up.

Arc danced around me, the lightning blending in perfectly with the lightning in the sky.

I glanced around.

We were alone.

Dig, is the building empty?

The building you're on is vacant right now. It's an engineering firm.

I grinned.

Good.

I blinked forward, two successive blinks that brought me in front of my attacker.

Their confusion showed in the weak parry they brought up to meet my arc blade, but it was futile since the moment my blade met theirs i detonated my light, and electricity swirled around us before blasting them back.

But much to my dismay they didn't disintegrate, which meant that like Hana's Mekka, they had tough enough armor that a simple arc detonation wouldn't harm them.

On the plus side, they struggled to stand and I took advantage of that.

I lunged forward, my blade still engulfed with arc power, and I drove it at their side.

The dodge was instant, and they used their momentum to spin around and kick my gut.

The blow barley fazed my, adn I wrapped my hand around their ankle before jamming my blade into- they vanished!

I went wide eyes, as the air before me shimmered momentarily before I ducked on instinct.

Wham!

The kick hit me in the face, and threw me back.

I snarled as my booster accommodated for the momentum and launched me back at my opponent.

"Now you've pissed me off."

I slashed and they dodge to the right, but my speed was greater with arc, so before they could steady their form to defend or attack, I threw myself into them, shoulder hitting their chest with all the force I could muster before detonating another wave of pure Arc on them.

The surrounding roof cracked, the rain around us simply vaporized, and I was thrown back from the sheer force of my own detonation.

I hit the ground and rolled, gasping as my breath became heavy and my muscles ached.

Light, though powerful, should'nt be used to such extent in such a short time. There's a reason I try to pace it out when I fight after all.

But as I looked up, my eyes grew wide.

Now, I'm no Titan. I cant shoulder charge a Hive Knight and expect to kill it in one hit. Not even close, I lack the strength for that.

But against a normal human? My strength was enough that their chest cavity would collapse under that amount of force, add to the fact I detonated Arc on them, and anyone should've simply ceased to exist.

Yet…

This person was still alive.

They were hunched, clutching their chest as they kneeled, obviously injured.

But alive.

Their head turned to me.

"My turn."

The air shimmered.

And it all happened in less than half a second, fast enough that even a blink wouldn't have gotten me out of the way.

They disappeared.

The sound barrier broke twice, two successive booms that blasted chunks of the now damaged roof into the air and sent the rain flying in every direction.

Then there was a fist-

Boom!

It hit my chin and I flew.

The air rushed by, and in a second, I hit something hard- cracccckkkk- and then I was inside a building, concrete and hard light falling all around me as i kept moving, my body colliding with several other objects, before-

Wham!

I hit a wall and fell to my knees.

Hissssss….

What was that noise?

Hissssss…

My eyes went wide.

I couldn't breath.

Hisss…..

Shit! Nate, one of your lungs is collapsed! Holy hell! Whatever that was your armor is fucking toast! Its like you got hit by ten fist of havocs at once but somehow didn't die? Holy hell, you've got fractured ribs, a broken arm and a fractured femur! Shit internal bleeding too!

I gasped as my light flared up, my armor and flesh beginning to repair as I tried to focus.

Years of experience came to me as I looked up and much to my annoyance….

They were standing there.

My eyes focused on them even as my body screamed in pain and I noticed just exactly where I was.

Somehow, I was in a large office building, and to top if off, there were two walls, with glorious holes twice the size of winston in them that led to where my adversary was standing, the rain and night sky behind them.

I grimaced as they started forward, a small limp in their step, though whether or not that as from me or from how fast they moved I didn't know.

Their sword was drawn and I instinctively called mine back into existence.

My legs shook as I forced myself to stand.

I didn't wait for them to reach me and blinked forward, my sword going straight for their side in a vain attempt to cleave them in two.

They blocked, and pushed back, forcing me to grimace as pain flared through my arms and chest. On instinct I blinked but instead of retreating I slammed into them and activated my boosters, throwing us directly back out the hole in the building and into the rain.

I twisted mid air as we fell, my chest aching and forcing me to gasp for breath as I thrust a fist into their chest.

It hit, but they grabbed my arm and pulled me in close.

Arc flared around me, basting out once more in the rain even as the air rushed by us and the ground approached.

A ragged breath left them, the voice changers in their helmet echoing and sounding even more demonic than before.

I drew my blade.

The air shimmered.

Then there was blinding light, and I suddenly hit hardlight.

My back screamed and a crack through my chest had my eyes going wide and coughs escaping my throat, blood flicking out and onto the inside of my helmet.

With a flash the helmet was gone, and ragged coughs tore through me.

Blood mixed with the puddles of rain underneath me, the hardlight surface reflecting a distorted image of my face back at me.

I looked up- and to my surprise- saw the skyscrappers around me.

How the hell…

"You…"

My eyes shot to the voices owner, and my attacker simply stood on the edge of the roof, their sword somehow back in their hand as they favored one leg.

"Are as resilient as ever."

I grimaced and tried to stand, but something in my leg popped and I fell to a knee.

"You teleoported me up here." I growled.

They then added, "and you hit the roof at near terminal velocity."

I chuckled.

They started forward as solar powered wrapped the air around me.

I drew Last Word, "bring it ass hole."

The air shimmered.

I raised my hand canon.

They vanished, and I kept my gun lowered but my head on a swivel.

The reappeared, the air behind me displacing to accommodate for them, and I twisted on my heel, throwing myself on my back as I fired and dodged their strike.

My bullets hit, but suddenly waves of… of what looked like pure shadow rolled off them and disintegrated my bullets.

I hit the roof, Raze Lighter appearing in my hand as they leapt into the air, lightning breaking the hold of night as they did.

Sword first they came down and I rolled to the side, barely avoiding the blade as it hit the hardlight and cracked the roof from the sheer force of their impact.

One foot beneath me I pushed up,, only for they to pivot and throw their weapon at me. In a hasty, and completely unbalanced move I threw up my sword and deflected theirs, letting it clatter to the ground next to me, but I stumbled back from the my lack of balance.

They disappeared.

Wham!

A fist hit my gut, there was a spin of metal, and their heel connected with my chin. A hand locked onto the hilt of my sword and yanked it free, while a elbow drove itself home into my chest as another cracked echoed out.

Wide eyed and gasping, I fell back.

Again, I hit the roof back first, my chest aching as the Light tried to heal what were definitely several broken ribs in my upper and lower chest.

Then, my own sword came down for me.

Ting!

My eyes grew wide as a staff intercepted it.

My attacker looked to the side, as did I.

Blonde hair and blue eyes.

Angela pulled her staff back, spinning it as she went, forcing my attacker to block her strike to their head, but to my surprise the woman, still dressed in jeans and a button up, pulled a pistol from behind her and fired point blank.

The attackers shadow flared up once more to counter the round, but I had an opening.

Void engulfed my being once more, and I lunged myself at them, tackling them and using my strenght to twist and hurl them to the other side of the roof.

The hit the roof with a loud thunk, and my sword disappeared in a shower of light before reappearing in my hand.

Footsteps, and then Angela was besides me, her eyes lingering on me for a second with concern before looking back to the black robed assailant

I grimaced as arc swirled around me once more.

The assailant stood, still favoring one leg as their head tilted to the side.

"Always a woman that has to save you." They sighed, their voice dark and electric as they continued, "another day then."

They jumped back, the air shimmered, and with a sonic boom their body fell apart into nothingness.

I waited for them to strike.

But after a few minutes of silence, they never appeared.

A cough escaped my lips, blood soaking my hand as I tried to cover it, and the adrenaline suddenly came to a halt.

Pain wracked my body and I fell to a knee, gasping for air.

"Nathaniel, are you okay?"

Angela's face was suddenly before me.

And as rain splashed around us, I suddenly realized for the first just how gorgeous the woman actually was.

Huh.

But her eyes weren't on mine, instead they were surveying my body as her staff lay on the ground, and her hands held me up.

I coughed again, "I'll live."

She frowned, the feature somehow a stark contrast with her eyes, and she placed her hands under my shoulders before lifting me to my feet.

I groaned but the support was welcome and I let myself rest against her as she held me up.

"Who on earth was that?"

I shook my head, staring at their sword, which was still laying on the roof.

And like its owner it shimmered, then vanished.

I sighed.

"I don't know."

"Mei, love, are you sure th-thi-this, is the rig-right, p-pla-place?"

Chattering teeth filled the air, the light of the Chronal accelerator illuminating the dark room around them.

But much to Lena's dismay, the temperature was below freezing, which made sense considering winter was near and Mei had almost literally dragged her to the north pole on some wild excursion.

The scientist in question simply laughed, a quaint bubbly thing, from where she stood at a nearby computer, her little sidekick 'Snoball' powering it with his internal battery source.

Good thing the little bugger was solar powered.

"Of course. This station was abandoned even before Overwatch fell, but if its data is similar to that of the antarctic's…" The foreboding tone in the normally cheerful woman's voice would've made Lena frown.

But unfortunately she was too cold to care.

"Yes, yes you git, just get it o-ov-ver with. I'm b-bloo-bloody freezing!"

True to her words a chill swept through the station, its power having long failed.

Normally the walls should've held and kept the interior warmer than the outside where their snowmobile sat, but whatever happened here… well, there were holes in the walls, and the roof was shredded.

Mei said it was abandoned due to the climates dramatic shift a violent snowstorms.

But she knew neither of them really believed that.

Still, whatever happened here made Lena's gut twist.

But the cheery pilot pushed the feeling away and glanced around.

The room they were in was a mess. Chair knocked over, a few papers scattered about, and frost and snow directly underneath the hole in the center of the room.

She glared at the hole, and as if to spite her, a chilly breeze rushed though the room.

"Bloody nature…"

"What was that?" Mei asked glancing back.

Lena sighed, "nothing," but with a small smile she asked, "Anything on the magnetic field?"

Mei sighed as kept typing away, file after file opening as the scientist searched for something that related to the data she found or the data form the Amazon station.

"Nothing yet. It just doesn't make sense, how did they not have anything? The field is shifting and that's not good for anyone! They should've seen it! Should've reported something back to Overwatch!"

Should've…

The words made Lena flinch and she knew it was the pain in Mei's voice that made her do so. She knew the woman wasn't as over her friends death as she let on. Survivors guilt was definitely a thing.

They continued on in silence and as Lena surveyed the room, her thoughts went through everything they knew about this place.

When Mei had arrived back at Gibraltar after the Recall, much to their surprise considering she had survived the trek through Antarctica by herself, she had showed them the data from their station.

It clearly showed how the Earth's magnetic field was shifting, and how the temperatures around the globe were changing, how the very light from the sun was shining differently.

Something was wrong, they knew that, but with their hands full with Talon, the Nexus, and the brewing war in Russia, not to mention the fact they had only a handful of agents, they simply didn't have the resources to put as much attention onto this as they wanted.

Hence why Winston sent her and Mei out to the other abandoned station to find out what they could.

It was only two of them, and Mei was brilliant enough to figure out whatever it was they were looking for, Lena was simply here as a precaution.

Last thing they wanted was the Reaper showing up and…

Black.

Lena blinked and took a step forward.

There was something black on the floor.

She tilted her head and squinted trying to see it from her place near Mei, since she had zero desire to actually move.

But the black… whatever it was didn't move, and it was covered by debris and snow.

She frowned and her sixth sense told her to investigate.

"Bloody hell…" She grimaced and strood to the other side of the room, carefuly to walk around the chunk of roof in the middle where it had fallen in.

The snow crunched under her boots as she went and another gust blew through the room, making her frown deepen.

A desk, pushed into an awkward position stood before her and the debris and with a grumble, the agile woman on it before looking down at the debris.

It was black cloth sticking out from underneath a large chunk of roof slathered in snow and ice.

Anyone should've ignored it.

Jackets we're forgotten everywhere.

It shouldn't have been different here.

But for some reason… for some reason Lena had to step forward and even as the ice bit at her hands, she lifted the debris.

She gasped.

"Mei!"

The urgency in her voice carried high and wide and as the scientist stepped up next to her, eyes wide in horror.

Before them sat not one… but three skeletons, scorch marks around them, and there skeletons and clothes literally feet apart as if they been torn to shreds.

A gun lay near one of the obviously severed hands.

Old blood stains tainted the ground near them, the cold and roof having preserved them.

Lena shivered.

Something about this place definitely felt wrong.

"Mei," she looked at the older woman.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Please… stop…"

The woman from the party, Elizabeth, the woman who had sought to seduce both Nathaniel and N'Tuk, cried as she fell to the ground.

The boy, N'Tuk Meza, sighed form his spot on his bed, his eyes focused on the tablet before him.

"Please…"

He sighed, and looked up to the only other person in the room; another woman, with pale skin and dark red hair that fell past her shoulders. Gorgeous, in a dangerous and silent way.

"Can you just get it over with already?" He growled.

The woman, simply sighed, and kneeled down next to Elizabeth.

She raised a hand.

"Tell me, who sent you."

Elizabeth gasped and shook, gashes across her once flawless skin leaking blood as she spoke, "it was, it was a woman."

The other woman twirled her hand when she stopped speaking, and dark purple blades grew from in between her fingers.

"Talk."

"She, she bribed. Said I could have a thousand dollars for taking the job, then ten after. She she, I couldn't see her. It was took dark I swear to God!"

Elizabeth shook as she dragged herself away from the woman and towards a wall in some feeble attempt to escape.

The woman huffed and with a flick of her wrist sent the blades at Elizabeth.

The sobs stopped.

N'Tuk flinched and sighed again before he asked, "do you think it's them?*

The woman frowned.

"Doubt it. They let us go, we weren't of use like he was." Her voice was pleasant but held an edge to it.

"Then who sent her I wonder." N'Tuk stared at the once beautiful woman, now a corpse and sighed, "I'll send for a clean up team."

"Your father can't know."

"He doesn't. Besides, by the end of the month I'll be in charge. Damn prick has it coming anyway." The man scoffed.

The woman smirked.

Then the man's eyes went wide, "what if it's Overwatch?"

She frowned, "of course it's not. Even with that knew Knight of theirs they wouldn't send someone like this."

Her eyes, filled with disappointment, roamed to the body.

"So what do we do?"

The woman pursed her lips.

"Overwatch is in the city. So is Talon. We wait and see who acts first. Maybe then we'll find out who sent her, and then we can strike. After all,"

A purple dagger appeared in her hand.

She grinned.

"We are superior in every way."

A/N

So I'm back! Yay. Took a while sorry, but things have been hectic.

Anyway, here we are! Bunch of foreshadowing and now throwing the other two arcs of this story, the one involving Tracer and the other involving these people. Trust me when I say both will have resounding consequences.

Now we have Hana not doing to much this chapter and only focusing on figuring out her riddle which she does. I was planning on writing out every step and detail of her figuring it out, but that would've taken another chapter or two, and with how dragged out the first few chapters of part II have been I didn't think you'd want that, neither did I, so I just got to her figuring it out. It did take her a while and even with the help of Genji, but Hanas smart so yeah. She'll have more time next chapter as she obviously has to convince her friends to help her as Genji is going off to do... something. He does have a interests in Japan after all.

No Soldier 76 here, but he's still out there searching for Talon I can tell you that.

Nate gets more time in this chapter because his arc is intertwined with several others, and he gets to fight the mysterious person from earlier in the story if you remember them, and now we find someone capable of fighting Nate and even beating him. Hell, its only thanks to Mercy he's even alive. This figure didn't have a significant role in the first Part because it was an intro and not as much plot in regards to the rest of the story. However they are gonna be a huge threat as you can see, they almost beat Nate in a fight. But Angela has his back, despite not liking him. Also Effi, and Orisa are gonna be making more appearances, as well as our mystery boy who might have fire powers. We'll see more of them all next chapter.

Now Tracer. Her arc in this part is big, big enough that in two chapters time she 'll have an entire two chapters dedicated solely to her. Even then, a chapter after will only have bits of Nate and Hana, till her arc connects with everything else.

N'Tuk and this woman. Who're they afraid of? Who're they hiding from? Any idea who's powers she is based off of?

Anyway hope you guys enjoyed! Leave a review and PM if you have questions.

God bless you all!

-Metal4k