Chapter 3: Hope

For fucks sake.

It's been nearly 5 days since the 'Sombra' revelation.

Minerva pinpointed a number of hotspots in Italy where she found the most syndicate activity. Her theory was that Sombra would keep herself at the heart of the operation, for maximum protection.

So I've had to spend the last few days bursting into safe houses filled with armed thugs, fight like hell, and only then realise she was never there in the first place.

"Hold still sir, this won't hurt a bit"

I was laying in the infirmary of the Dark Cloud after my 4th unsuccessful safehouse bust. Only this time one lucky bastard managed to get a bullet between my armour plates, wedging it in my abdomen.

Minerva was operating the medical droids, she pulled the bullet out of my side in one quick motion.

It felt like someone had shot molten lava into my wound.

"ARGH, YOU LIAR" I clenched my teeth.

"What was i supposed to do, sir? Tell you that it would hurt like a bitch? Oh, that would have kept you calm for sure"

The medical droid dropped the bullet into a tray.

"Who knows. Maybe I would have preferred it" I said, trying to will the pain away.

"Alright then. Sir, this is going to hurt like a bitch"

The droid shot a small laser beam across the bullet wound, cauterizing and sealing it.

She wasn't lying this time.

After she shot some painkillers into my arm, I got up from bed.

"How long till I'm healed?" I asked, slowly stepping into the main control room.

"A day by my estimates, but you should probably take it-"

"Easy, I know. But every second I waste 'taking it easy' Talon sinks its teeth deeper into Italy."

I pulled up a holographic map of the country. We had already busted the syndicate's operations in Naples, Milan, Florence and Venice.

"Where to next?" I asked.

"There's only one place left where we haven't looked. Rome." Minerva zoomed in on the Lazio region.

"There have been sightings of strange activities in Tirbutina Valley, in the eastern part of the city. I've been monitoring network traffic and noticed a lot of activity near one of the abandoned factories there. If you ask me sir, there's no better place to hide."

"You said the same thing about all the other places."

"Well, trust me sir, your princess isn't in another castle this time."

"Princess?" I asked, confused.

"Sir its a reference to a late nineteenth century video game called-"

"I don't care. Set course for Tirbutina." I ordered.

"Right away sir"

The Dark Cloud soared away from venice, the citizens below blissfully ignorant of the massive aircraft flying over their heads.

I didn't think Talon would be working in Rome, since organized crime there was a lot more tame compared to the hell that I have to deal with in southern Italy.

"Minerva what's the ETA?" I asked

"The weather isn't on our side sir. Strong winds are blowing against us, and there are a few thunderstorms predicted to show up on our path"

"So? how long will it take?" I asked, impatiently.

"Optimal route will take 5 hours, sir" she said

"Cazzo" I cursed "This is a never ending nightmare"

"Sir you are agitated, remember your teachings. Maybe you should meditate" suggested Minerva

I sighed

"Fine, anything to take my mind off this shit show"

I went to my quarters and sat on my bed, legs crossed eyes closed, just like I had been taught, so many years ago. I then tried to clear my mind, but I ended up reminiscing about the past.

I was a young man in my late twenties when I decided to do my part and fight crime in Naples, and by extension in Italy.

Growing up I was inspired by stories about heroes that protected the innocent, champions that guarded us and ensured our safety. Stories about Overwatch.

In my dark childhood, I would look to those heroes for hope. I saw them as proof that there was still good in the world, and that justice would prevail.

But all of this was crushed. On one fateful day, the world was hit with the most shocking news since the omnic crisis.

Overwatch was nothing more than a bunch of war criminals that paraded themselves as heroes. The petras act was signed and Overwatch was no more. I hated them for the horrible things they did. But I realised how important they were for the world.

We didn't need them to protect us. We needed them to inspire hope. We needed something for the children of the world to look up to. Something that reassured them that everything would be okay.

I decided to fill the void that Overwatch had left behind.

I travelled to Nepal, to learn martial arts from the Shambali monks.

I trained under Terkhatta Mondatta. But this was before he was anointed as the leader of the Shambali.

He taught me about how to gauge an opponent's strength and use it against him, how to make sure I plan ten steps ahead of my opponent and have responses to his every move. He showed me how fear was everyone's biggest enemy. If I could use fear to my advantage, I could potentially win any fight.

After years of training, I decided I had learned enough and I told him I was returning to Italy.

"You cannot leave yet, there is much for you to learn" he told me.

"What do you mean? I know everything I need to know."

At that point, I could win any physical fight against all the teachers and students there that I sparred with, including Mondatta himself.

"Why was it you came here in the first place?" He asked.

"To learn how to fight." I answered honestly.

"My friend, the ultimate goal of learning martial arts, is to find peace within yourself, so that in the end you may never have to use them." He said

"What do you mean?" I asked

"I sense a darkness within you, something visceral and painful. You have to learn how be at peace with your inner demons if you truly want to free your mind." he told me

"The Iris is ready to accept you, but you have to accept the Iris first."

"I didn't come here to learn how to free my mind. I came here to learn how I can free the innocent from the grasp of the corrupt and evil." I replied.

"I cannot stop you Leonardo. But just know this" He looked at me sadly.

"Hatred is not strategy...And revenge is not justice."

I woke up in a cold sweat.

"Sir, we are inbound to Rome, we have around 15 minutes till we arrive." said Minerva

I looked out the window, I watched the Lazio scenery run past underneath us.

"This is it isn't it." I said.

"What do you mean, sir?"

"This is where I'll find her. Sombra I mean." and this time, I was pretty sure I was right.

"Are you worried sir? you seem worried." inquired Minerva

I smirked.

"No, I don't think so."

"Sir, there's something you need to see." she said.

I stepped up to the control panel. Minerva threw a bunch of news articles onto the screen, and even a few security camera videos.

I was expecting her to show me intel regarding Talon, Sombra or the Syndicate. But the main focus of all the news and footage, wasn't any of that.

It was all about me.

"Sir, in your hurry to bring down the Syndicate, you weren't taking precautions to avoid the public eye." Said Minerva.

I looked through all the articles

"Cazzo I'm getting sloppy.".

Some civilians had apparently seen me in action and photographed me as I was attacking the safehouses.

There were pictures of me jumping through windows, taking on 4 thugs at once and even one that got a decent front profile of my suit as i was standing on a building (this was the most popular picture, a lot of news articles were using it.).

"Looks like Il Gatto is no longer a legend, sir. You're quite famous." Said Minerva

This was new. I never had this much attention when it came to crime fighting.

"Well, how famous is it?" I asked, a little anxious.

"On the internet, you're currently #1 trending in Italy, and #2 in the world" replied Minerva

"Whoa, #2 worldwide? Whats #1?" I asked.

"People are speculating about Thespion 3.0's possible new relationship with Leonardo Carraro. Paparazzi caught them having a date."

"Glad to see people have their priorities set." I rolled my eyes.

"What exactly do people think?" I asked.

"Oooh, since when did you care about what people thought, sir?" She teased.

"Just tell me" I said, admittedly a bit nervous.

"Well, currently they say that Thespion and you make a cute couple, but many people are wondering if Leonardo is the right person for-"

"I MEANT ABOUT IL GATTO!" I yelled

"Sorry sir. Didn't think you would get so worked up… god"

"WELL?" I demanded

"The government hates you guts. They say vigilantism is strictly illegal. But the people think that you are a hero. They believe in you sir. And they think you've done more to stop crime than the authorities ever have."

Minerva showed some Images of protests in Sicily.

"There are protests like this all over the country. The people are pressuring the police to take a stand against Organized crime. There's even rumor that the Federal Police are investigating further into organized crime's ties with international terrorism."

I looked at the protesters in the picture.

One of them was carrying a sign that said 'Praise The Gat', another sign read 'We need heroes'. And one particular sign caught my eye. It was the same famous image of The Gat standing on a building, underneath it there was just one word.

'Speranza'

which means-

"Hope... That's what they see in you sir. How does it feel to be the inspiration that is motivating an entire nation into taking action against crime?" asked Minerva.

I blinked

"Huh, no pressure."

We arrived above the 'abandoned' factory just as day was breaking.

"We have to be quick, Minerva, it's going to be a hell of a lot harder to get out of there in broad daylight."

"Running scans, sir" Minerva sent down the reconnaissance drones to do some quick recon before I went in myself.

I headed into the armory. A handful of suits lined the wall, each specialized for a different purpose.

"What do you recommend for the job Minerva?"

"I suggest the classic suit sir, you'll need a balance of stealth, agility and utility."

I looked at the classic suit.

It had a black, tough, grippy silicon base layer with silver bulletproof armour plating covering vital areas on my body.

The titanium gauntlets had razor sharp talons on the end, strong enough to grip concrete.

A waist length cape hung down over one shoulder. This served no practical purpose, I just thought it looked cool.

A utility belt hung off the waist, it had many slots in which I could keep an assortment of equipment if need be.

Then came the helmet, this is probably why everyone calls me 'Il Gatto'.

It consisted of two main sections.

The main helmet, which was made of the same material as the armour plating, covered most of my skull, and the back of my head. There were two 'cat ears' on the back of the helmet fitted with infrasound sensors and transmitters capable of communicating on most frequencies (Mostly so that Minerva can stay in touch from the Cloud). Initially meant to look like horns, but people preferred to think of them as ears.

The other section is a smooth featureless semi transparent gray faceplate that, when activated, has a pair of cat like eyes projected onto it. I use this to intimidate enemies, it's surprisingly effective at scaring most goons shitless. A downside to this is that I can't really see through the faceplate very clearly, but I have small cameras mounted along the helmet that send a live feed to the inside of the faceplate, capable of giving me more information, like distance, temperature, and night vision.

When I designed these suits, I was trying to go for a demonic look. A physical embodiment of fear. But the cat theme stuck. And honestly it doesn't bother me. Cats are alright.

I suited up and turned on the helmet.

"All systems nominal, sir" said Miranda through my earpiece.

I checked to see if the voice scrambler worked

"Hello? Is it working?" I asked.

"My goodness sir you have me spooked!" said Minerva

"Thats a 'yes' I'm guessing" I said

"I almost feel bad for all the asses you are about to kick, sir" Said the ever wisecracking voice in my head.

On the roof of the factory there was only one visible way to get in, a vent guarded by two talon soldiers.

I dropped down on one of them, my full impact hitting him in the head through my knee.

His friend barely had time to react before I kicked him in the face.

Two knocked out guards and a way in. Just what I needed.

"You seem to have things under control sir. Impressive" said Miranda, as I removed the vent cover.

"Oh, thanks for noticing." I hopped into the vent, feet first.

"Just one last thing before you go in there."

"What is it?"

"Try not to get shot, sir, because it will hurt like a bitch."