Chapter 18:

"So, no agreement was reached with Overwatch?"

"Correct,"

"And you lost at least three of your members already?"

"...correct. We lost a Vishkar employee as well,"

A long pause followed. Finally, Barbie spoke back up. "Akande, are you sure you can handle this mission?"

"I can!" Doomfist blurted out, furious. "I am very capable! Ask anyone in Talon!"

"All right, all right," Barbie assured him through the laptop screen. "I believe you. And besides, given what happened when the Nomads discovered Overwatch in one of their houses, I believe Winston may take you up on your deal next time, hm?"

Doomfist only sighed. "One can hope, I suppose. I'm going to ask Talon for backup-"

"No need," Barbie cut in. "I'll send you the team I've been training, including the assassin. Her name is Angel, and she is very skilled at what she does,"

"That will do, then," Doomfist gave a nod. "My apologies for today,"

Barbie waved him off. "No need to worry. We will reach our victory in time,"

She ended the webcam call, turning away from her desk and stopping to stretch. Despite hundreds of years of sitting at desks, she limbs always felt stiff after prolonged periods of work.

Barbara stood up, heading to a small kitchenette connecting to her office and heating up an instant meal in the microwave. Once this was done, she spooned the meal of liverwurst, cottage cheese, and lima beans onto a porcelain plate, which she slid into a slot beneath a nearby door.

"Here's your meal, love," she cooed into the slot. "When you're finished with it, I'll have a job for you to do,"

She then pressed a button on the wall, speaking into it. "Angel, come here at once. I have a new assignment for you, "

The shuttle bus sped down the roads, crossing from the urban parts of town into the rural area. They stopped at a pleasant neighborhood, and Winston pointed out a cottage resting by some fields.

"There," he confirmed. "That's where the garage sale was held, and that's where I saw him,"

Engineer turned and squinted at it. "Well, I sure as hell wasn't expecting a wizard to live in a little place like that,"

"Yes," Spy mused. "Perhaps he shares it with someone,"

Soldier snorted. "No way Merasmus is married! No way,"

Scout shrugged. "I dunno, man. Maybe he got some money finally and now he's a sugar daddy,"

"Ew," Sniper made a face. "Please don't call Merasmus a 'sugar daddy' again,"

Karen sighed, rising from her seat. "Come on, let's just see if he's home,"

The wizard poured hot water into a cup of loose tea leaves as the radio played quiet songs beside him, and he was just about to turn to the station playing his favorite radio show when a voice called from the living room.

"Uh, Merasmus, sir? You have a, uh...visitor,"

Merasmus huffed, calling over his shoulder, "Can it wait!? Who is it, Eve?"

There was a silence. Merasmus waited, and when there was nothing, he pulled the chair up to the kitchen table and started to sit down.

"Oh, no, no-" Eve's voice suddenly broke in, but it was too late. Footsteps came charging up behind Merasmus, and when he turned around, he was startled to see none other than Soldier charging at him.

Merasmus shrieked, dropping the teacup and spilling the beverage all over the floor. "What the-!? How in God's name did you find me!?"

"Your new house is too small for you!" Soldier barked. "And is the chubby woman your wife?"

Merasmus did not answer, and he climbed up onto the table and snatched a frying pan from the kitchen cabinet. "Stay back!" he thrust the pan in Soldier's direction. "I-I could enchant this and use it to turn you into a toad or-or a bat-" he froze when he noticed the other familiar faces which had entered his kitchen. "What is going on!? Eve, did you let them in!?"

Eve poked her head in the doorway, looking helpless. "I'm sorry, sir. They're with an Overwatch member who needs to speak to you!"

"Eh?" Merasmus lowered the pan, squinting at his guests. "One of you joined Overwatch? That band of ridiculous-"

"No, they didn't," Winston finally entered the kitchen, and Merasmus seemed, surprisingly, unfazed by the gorilla's presence.

"Oh. You," he sighed, climbing off the table and eyeing the DVD Winston held. "Have you come to return it? I will give you double back if you promise to remove them from my home,"

Winston beckoned Merasmus. "Actually, I need to speak with you. Are you aware that this DVD contains footage that could prove the murderer Adel Heinz's innocence?"

Merasmus went silent. "Well...what?"

"Yeah, tell us why you got a video of Medic gettin' arrested!" Scout snapped, crossing his arms. "How'd you get it?"

"Yes, and why did you not tell the authorities?" Karen wanted to know.

Merasmus shook his head. "Oh, no, no...there's been a misunderstanding-"

"All I need to know is where you got it and why you had it," Winston was getting annoyed. "Did you steal this off of the police? Did you help frame someone who's now on death row?"

"No!" Merasmus sounded offended. "I did no such thing! I have no reason to. I bought it from a witch, who said it was one of those 'cursed' DVDs. That was over 20 years ago, now,"

Winston sighed. "Well, can you tell me the 'witch's' name?"

Merasmus threw up his hands. "I do not remember, all right!? It was at a magic flea market, that's all I can say,"

Spy's eyes narrowed at the wizard. "You're hiding something,"

"That is the truth, I swear," Merasmus took a breath. "I am aware that Adel is your Medic, however. So, this is why I am going to help you save him from execution, even though I would rather not,"

There was a long pause.

"I'm sorry, what?" Engineer spoke up finally, blinking slowly.

"Why would you wanna do that?" Demo sounded surprised.

"You will find out soon," Merasmus answered simply. "It's the same reason I've been helping all of you regain your past memories. I was going to come to all of you for this, but since you have come to me-"

Winston broke in suddenly. "Wait, wait, hang on just a minute!"

Scout waved the gorilla off. "This doesn't concern you-"

"Yes, it does!" Winston exclaimed. "You are not about to break a death row inmate out of prison!"

"And what if we do?" Scout crossed his arms and stuck his chin out, daring Winston to say more. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Winston huffed. "You can't be serious. I'm the leader of Overwatch-"

Merasmus cut him off. "Be quiet, you. No matter what you do the release of Adel Heinz is something that needs to happen,"

Winston's eye twitched, and he breathed deeply. "No. What's going to happen is I will turn in the DVD to the proper authorities so it can be considered before any execution happens,"

"Oh, hell, they're not going to consider it!" Sniper blurted out. "Medic is a murderer as far as everyone is concerned right now! They won't do shit-"

"Guys, stop!" Engineer snapped, silencing Sniper. He looked around. "Where did Pyro go!?"

Everyone fell silent, and Merasmus groaned. "Oh, no, you have to find that creature! It probably got into my fire spell kit,"

"Pyro is a she!" Soldier corrected.

As everyone continued to bicker, Heavy's eyes wandered away from his companions and to the window, where the curtains were parted. There, in Merasmus's yard, Pyro was wandering around, yet she seemed to be focused on something ahead. Heavy squinted, and then slowly went for the back door.

"Pyro?" Heavy approached her, slowly. "What is it?"

Pyro paused and then pointed to the trees in the distance. She muttered something which was muffled by the mask over her head.

Heavy turned to look at the trees, and his heart dropped like a stone when he noticed the tall, dark figure watching them. Thinking fast, he grabbed Pyro by the shoulders and began dragging her quickly towards the house. "Go! Go inside! Quick, quick!"

The back door flung open, and Engineer came running out, sensing the panic. "What's going on!?"

Heavy said nothing and only pushed Pyro into Engineer's arms, bolting towards the trees. Yet as he stepped into the brush, the figure had vanished, but he still felt as though he was being watched.

He stood very still, his fists clenched, and he snarled under his breath, "I know she sent you. Stay away from them,"

"Heavy!" somebody blurted out, and Heavy looked over his shoulder. Demo and Soldier came running towards him, both obviously preparing for some sort of altercation.

"Where is he!?" Soldier ran into the brush, swinging. "Point out the bastard-"

Heavy grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. "He left. I will let him escape this time, but if he returns, then we can kill him,"

"Who was it?" Demo wanted to know.

"Someone very bad," Heavy muttered, turning once more to glare into the trees. "Someone we've met before, "

The Nomads' underground habitat had tunnels connecting the houses to each other, and Symmetra counted in her head the number of basements they'd passed through so far: five. Five basements. This meant they'd walked beneath five houses. She knew they were basements based solely on the wiring and lighting, although the tunnels carved through each room made them into hallways.

Eventually, Hanzo led her and Genji to what appeared to be an old trailer, decorated in Christmas lights and glitter paint. Hanzo knocked once, and a voice called from within, "You may enter!"

He opened the door, inviting the two inside, and greeted, "Hello, there. I hope we aren't interrupting anything,"

Upon a tattered old couch in the trailer sat a woman who appeared to be in her fifties, and she wore a long gown with rhinestones sewn into it. There was a scar on her upper lip, with a single hair protruding from it.

Beside her sat a much younger woman. In fact, as Symmetra looked at her, it occurred to her that this girl had to be thirteen years old, at most. Her dark hair lay strewn upon her shoulders, and she combed through it with a broken, plastic comb.

The older woman smiled at Hanzo, rising from the couch. "Hello, Hanzo. I see you brought our guests?"

"Yes," Hanzo confirmed, gesturing. "This is my brother, Genji, and with him is a Vishkar employee, Miss Symmetra,"

Symmetra's eye twitched at the title. "Please, Symmetra is fine, no 'Miss'," she spoke up quietly, mostly to herself.

The woman stepped forward to look at Genji, squinting at him. "Interesting...half-Omnic?"

"Not really," Genji responded. "Well...sort of, I guess,"

She moved on to look at Symmetra, and her demeanor changed. "A Vishkar employee," her lips pursed together. "And are the rumors true? Is your company planning to eradicate our people?"

Symmetra's voice failed her for a few seconds. Finally, she managed, "Y...yes, ma'am. I'm sorry-"

"Oh, please," sighed the woman. "You're just a mere employee. It probably was not your call to do this, was it?"

"No, ma'am. It wasn't,"

The woman gave a curt nod. "I assumed just as much," she then introduced herself. "I'm Kirsten Anthony, the ruler of the Nomads. Of course, they rule themselves in a way, but I keep them together and they look to me for guidance,"

"Then, Kirsten, why aren't you stopping them from cannibalizing tourists?"Genji wanted to know. "That's why Vishkar wants them gone in the first place. I mean, I don't agree with the actions they're taking to make that happen, but-"

"The Nomads only kill and eat those who deserve it!" the girl on the couch piped up, jumping off. "They eat the rich, the parasites who caused them to end up this way!"

Genji looked at the girl quizzically. "And who are you?"

"My name is Olive," she explained matter-of-factly. "And I was upper class once until I met Kirsten and I realized how evil the rich really are. Now I run with the Nomads, I quit school to live here,"

"And how old are you?" Genji asked.

"Fourteen, I'll be fifteen next month," Olive replied. "I practice witchcraft, too. Every Nomad does,"

Genji turned to look at Hanzo, trying to tell him without using words that nothing about this situation was normal, but Hanzo didn't respond to him. Instead, he only nodded at Olive. "Yes, Olive. You're a very good witch,"

This seemed to please Olive, and she sat back down on the sofa. Kirsten spoke again.

"As for you, Genji, while I appreciate Overwatch's effort, the Nomads can take care of themselves. Your intervention isn't necessary-"

"No!" Symmetra blurted out, and the whole room fell silent. After a moment, she composed herself. "I...listen, you cannot keep living here. If Vishkar doesn't get rid of you, someone else will try. You can't keep killing people and saying it's for a good cause,"

"Why not?" Olive sneered. "That's what the government does all the time!"

Kirsten silenced Olive with a wave of her hand. "Quiet. Symmetra, believe me. We have a plan, and we have help in higher places. Do not worry about us,"

Genji tilted his head in confusion. "What do you mean by 'help in high places'?"

Kirsten did not answer. She twirled her graying hair in her fingers and started chanting quietly to herself. It sounded like she was saying,

"Four for the children, from the trees and birds,

Three for the men, from the beach and water,

Two for the women, from the sand and earth,

and one for-"

"That's enough," Hanzo cut in, grabbing both Genji and Symmetra by the hands. "Come, it's best that we go,"

As the door shut behind them, Genji suddenly burst out, "What the hell was that!? What is going on!? Hanzo, can you just tell me?"

"I will, I will. I need to take you to Overwatch first," Hanzo told him quickly, beckoning the two. "The other Overwatch agents are still around, come on,"

Symmetra turned around to look once more at the door, where she saw the face of Olive appear in the window. Olive stared blankly at her for a few seconds, and then she closed the curtain.

Ahhh, I'm so sorry this is so late! Hopefully, this was an interesting chapter to come back with. I've been very busy with school and I have finals approaching, so I haven't been as active on here as I've wanted to be.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! I'll try to get a new update out when I have the chance. Thanks!