A New Challenger Approaches

(Quick One Shot. I might try to do another chapter or two if there is interest shown in this and I can find the time/motivation to do it!)

Disclaimer: I don't speak a word of Spanish so I had to rely upon Google translate for everything, sorry for any mistakes due to that!

D. Va cracked her knuckles with a weary yawn, hardly resisting the urge of slumping down in her chair, even if that meant inhibiting her viewers the chance to see her face. Granted at the moment there wasn't really all that much to look at in terms of eye candy. While Hana was considered by many (herself included) to be a young and attractive woman, right now she looked more akin to a child as much as she hated that incorrect label. With an orange beard of dva chips-at least the snacks were her own brand these days- around her lips and an empty can of mountain dew at her side, she was the epitome of the stereotypical gaming child.

"Gremlin."

Hana crushed the can with her left hand, the dregs of the green sugry drink spurting everywhere as rage momentarily getting the better of her despite the mostly cheerful and confidently playful persona she often put extra effort into during livestreams. Her contractors had given her extra incentives to keep up the happy facade as well, as apparently seeing idols rage was both now a more taboo trend and set a bad example for sportsmanship. Apparently the corporate heads didn't know how to differentiate between a display of genuine emotion after long hours of streaming all day, and true below the belt toxic behavior. But that wasn't their problem, oh no. As long as the gamers like her were stuck in their pocket and of age, they could do just about anything they wanted with her if it continued to make them money and hype her up more.

"Don't forget to save room for McDonalds later."

She could hear her haters and rivals jeer that meme born insult at her, much to her ire. What did they have to gain from turning her into some idiotic childish caricature of herself? Did they really think they would undermine her confidence and values? As if they could debase all that she had been through and overcame throughout her service on the battlefield and discredit the way she climbed every leader board like it was an express escalator built just for her. Someone had to be on top of the scoreboards, be the very nature of that concept-and why shouldn't it be her? Did they just expect her to ignore her talents with puzzles and digitized combat, even if honing those skills helped her accomplish something good, something significant in the real world? How many others of those so called "elite gamers" could claim the same? How many of them would be willing to put forth the effort she had, not just for the sake of fame and contracted fortune amassed from tournaments, look beyond the fleeting fame of a teen idol and impact the world positively? Few if any, as far as she was concerned.

"I am the best at what I do, no matter the game, and if you noobs think you can actually beat me, then one v one me right now..."

She muttered under her breath with a stiffed yawn, not realizing she hadn't muted her mic. Wincing with a groan as she noticed the chat elated at her challenge, especially one so close to the end of her stream for the night-or early morning as the case may be, Hana let out a resigned sigh. Rubbing the bags from her eyes, she began a practiced speech with most of her typical enthusiasm, though she still couldn't help but drone on a bit.

"Alright guys, fine, I'll choose randomly from the first ten scrubs I see wanting to try their luck and the usual rules apply. If you do somehow beat me you get a livestreamed kiss, if you have more than beginners luck and beat me twice and I promise to fly out to your place and meet you for a livestreamed rematch, and bring along with me a goodie basket filled with signed merchandise, yes including a-" It took all of her self control not to snarl out the next words provided by the script, even though she knew she could never have to live up to that particular sponsor's terms. "-a body pillow. And if you manage to beat me three times-and you noobs won't- we go on an all expenses paid date somewhere of your choice and bla, bla, bla, contract opportunities and professional team openings, and tons of other stuff you won't ever win..."

Waving her hand dismissively, she preemptively ended her little speech as she began to scan the list of all too eager-and more than likely- horny teen users racing to have their chance against her. It was a decent tactic to weed out the weak minded idiots feeling foxy enough to try their luck against her.

'Luck, because anyone that even remotely has enough skill to challenge me would be too busy with their own streams to worry about what I'm up to.'

Though in some ways a part of her did want to lose, at least to one person enough to have a rival. It was ironically lonely at the top of every ladder and lacking any company beyond those beneath her trying to topple her throne. Sure being in the spotlight like she was made her countless friends-with benefits- and the few and far between agents of Overwatch seemed nice enough, but not even her comrades in the war had ever truly understood and connected with her. She was just an oddity with a gift for playing games who re purposed that skill for the war effort, nothing more, nothing less.

As she scanned the list, her screen flickered in a flash of neon purple so swiftly that no one without the sensitivity she had gained over hours in front of the screen would have been able to detect. But she had- even though the result of the flash was plain for any average user to see. Gone was the dozen of random top tier player names and icons, all of which being replaced with a single name and avatar of a stylized skull repeated over and over again.

Sombra.

'Who the hell is Somb-ah whatever even if they messed with the list that doesn't mean they are actually good at the games. Anyone could mess around with the files of an open sourced freeware like this and design something to mess with people. Probably just a troll looking for a reaction, wonder what they'll do when I call them out on it...'

Clearing her throat even as a vicious silently challenging expression curled her lips, Hana made a show of scanning the list a bit more for the stream's sake before announcing her 'choice' for the match.

"And the new challenger is… Sombra! Since I'm already on Starcraft 2 you can fight me on here or forfeit your chance. You have ten seconds noob!" She stuck out her tongue toward the camera while making a peace sign, already feeling as though she had won by calling them out despite the set up. After all she did have a dedicate team funded by one of her sponsors to act as sniffers for common cheaters and the like. Though Hana couldn't quite contain her gasp of surprise when the software team reported back this 'Sombra' was in the clear and gave the server permission to challenge her to a match.

'What but how? They obviously rigged the list I had up, I thought this anti-cheat scanner was supposed to be top of the line!? Guess that's what I get for trusting American products.'

Clearing her throat to hide her gasp as best she could, she accepted the match with a more serious expression than she had worn all night. Perhaps this game would prove to be worthwhile after all…

"Alright noob, I'll give you a handicap and let you have one hero unit of your choice-we both know that advantage won't matter against me in the end. Let's see how long you last!"

'I-I lost?'

The young gamer almost couldn't believe her eyes as the shocking truth registered, rubbing them with both hands in disbelief. While it was not as if she never lost games throughout her career, as she was only human after all and even the best of the best wasn't perfect all the time, this was different from those other losses. Those failures had been against unquestionably good players she knew of and had worked up to training against in national competitions, all of them legit pros that had earned that title and not… not some random user from who knows where.

'Pfft this was probably just luck, a-and I'm pretty tired anyway. There's no way this girl is gonna beat me twice!'

Immediately she went ahead and challenged her opponent to a rematch rather than address her equally shocked fans watching the stream or even bothering to blow a quick kiss to the camera in mockery of Sombra's first reward. Only a total of roughly thirty people had even earned that reward since the challenge initiative brought upon by her sponsors had been put into place. And even that had been with an ulterior purpose of scouting out potential talent for other pro gaming teams. So while it was not totally unheard of for someone to get a kiss, it was the first one received in months.

Immersing herself into the next match now with her curiosity peaked, she swapped the tried and true Protoss for her favorite team and tactic, the Zerg. In the first few minutes she had already amassed a swarm sizable enough to take on whatever defenses her Terran opponent threw at her. After setting up a quick nexus of nydus worms from her respective hives around the perimeter of the enemy base, she felt it was time to strike.

"Get zerged noob!"

She screamed into the mic as her forces converged from all sides into the encircled trench of bunkers and siege tanks. While a tactic like that may have worked against the typical AI in the campaign mode, players were smart enough to know how to focus the right targets and break through the lines of defense. All was going well until she reached the center of the base-or at least where the center was supposed to be. Rather than a busy workforce of SCVs and a fortified command center, a lone but instantly recognizable hero unit stood in it's place. Around him was a tightly packed grid of collapsed supply depots, though it was not as if giving Jimmy room to run around would help him at this point.

'Why are they sacrificing their Raynor like this, don't they know how useful he is? Well whatever one less thing for me to worry about-'

As she initiated her nearest zerglings to attack, something completely unexpected happened. The game paused before flickering to black as if loading a cut scene in game battle, though her own forces were frozen in time rather than acting out the typical assault animations. Hana was just about to alt-tab from the window in frustration of the bizarre events when the camera panned over to center upon the surrounded hero. In that instant her screen flashed purple again before rendering the scene again in a typical CGI format, with one key difference. As the ranger hit a button to raise his signature skull faceplate, his body flickered and disappeared in a shroud of purple pixels in a shimmering haze as if he was activating a ghost tactical cloak. After a few seconds the cloak was dropped, but who stood in his place was what really shocked the pro gamer. The figure appeared to be some sort of custom made female ghost unit as far as she could tell, with the most significant changes being a helmet akin to Raynor's containing a violet shaded visor with a different style of candy-Esq style of skull rather than typical ghost goggles and the distinct lack of a sniper rifle. Instead the ghost spread her arms out wide, each hand ending in claw-like nails. Hana was so captivated by the new ghost's appearance, she almost didn't register when the mystery woman began to speak.

"Hola conejita, sorprendido de verme?"

The young korean was speechless, her mouth slightly agape as she tried to comprehend what was happening with her sleep deprived brain. Obviously she was being hacked but why now all of a sudden? It wasn't like she had been doing anything particularly important aside from her weekly streams for her fans. Throughout all of this development she never noticed how her stream had gone offline...or at least appeared to have done so.

'So what does she-'

"Hellooo!? You still in there pendeja? You had better be, I didn't pull all these strings to arrange this meeting only to watch you get starstruck over seeing a pretty girl..."

The accented voice was somewhat distorted due to the skull helmet but still clearly feminine… and apparently condescending at the moment.

The 'ghost' for lack of a better term let out a faint chuckle as she added, "Not that I'd blame you of course-you's have excellent taste. Y ni siquiera has visto mi cara~."

The gamer sputtered at the comment, not entirely understanding the interjections of Spanish but getting the gist of her intent. Clearing her throat and trying to ignore the faint blush on her cheeks she addressed the figure who had begun tapping against the screen from within the game with one finger like a child would a fish tank.

"Who are you, what do you want and why are you hijacking my game!?" Her eyes narrowed as the figure turned to one side, holding a hand towards her faceplate as if to pose in thought and consider her answer. At this angle Hana also had a chance to admire a different view of the stylish cyberpunk coat draped atop her lithe form. As annoyed and confused as she was over the hack, Hana had to admit this new challenger had a sense of fashion. Now if she could just get the annoyance out of the game, or at least allow her to beat her first so she wouldn't have to make good the promise of rewards undeserved.

"My name is Sombra, I hacked your game for a bit of challenge and because I was bored and wanted to have a little fun with you. Isn't that why you play games chica? To have fun~?"

Hana gritted her teeth together, all patience lost and curiosity suppressed for the moment at the flippant comment. "Wha- well of course I have f-fun, what does that have to do with-"

"Because your fans expect it and your corporate sponsors tell you to have fun? Tell me chica, do you really enjoy spending all the waking hours of your day playing the same games over and over again every day with your only breaks being to shamelessly plug in the businesses sending you change in exchange for what they are making off you and your product placements? Are you really content living on that junk food they give you for the sake of keeping you high on a sugar rush and in your chair when you could be eating something far better than greasy fast food since that's all you have time to eat between streams? When was the last time you played a game because you actually wanted to, just for your own enjoyment?"

As the woman spoke, the camera zoomed away from her faceplate and several images appeared in an array of purple squares behind her depicting Hana going about her life in various conditions of misery and rueful acceptance. Ranging from a snapshot of her hastily ordering breakfast from A-certain-Mc lovin'-restaurant-chain-that-must-not-be-named, to Hana leaning heavily against the wall near the restroom door when she was at a gaming tournament with her typical snacks regretfully in hand and a queasy expression on her face, to even a picture through her window with a withdrawn and thoroughly fed up expression as she mentally prepared herself to take on her gaming persona before a stream.

"I am thankful for my sponsors giving me the opportunities their funding achieves, keeping my skills sharp whenever I get called back out to active duty. And I do love getting to play video games all day for a living. But even more than that doing all this I can-I can reach out to my fans, be an idol to look up to and give them hope that someone out there is fighting to protect them as tensions grow in case the omnics ever do attack again. Or-or any other countries for that matter. I mean something to my people and I don't want to let them down, so if that means putting up with a bit of corporatist bureaucracy, then so be it!"

The mysterious woman shook her head with a pitying click of her tongue as she mused outwards to the korean watching her. "Ah, that is all very high and noble of you conejita, but haven't you ever wondered if those sponsors are the very thing holding you back… from reaching your true potential?"

"W-what do you mean? How do you expect me to do what I am doing without their help? Sure the military sends me a stipend but that's not nearly enough to keep me up and running?"

"Do you know what I see when I look at you Hana? I see a girl with so much potential to do something great. To reach out and influence the world to protect those that even their own home countries have forsaken. For money, for convenience, for the sake of keeping this pseudo peace we have with the omnics..." The last word dripped with bitterness, as if uttering the name of the machine race in general was a curse. "But instead of helping everyone you can, you get lead along by the strings of the businesses deciding how you spend your own past time for you, a doll or them to play with. You might be a world sensation and idol to everyone else, but I can see you for what you really are . Despite all your fame, skill with the mechs and domination of the leader boards in every game you play competitively, you are nothing more..." The voice soften considerably compared to the initial harsh tone, now more akin to a soothing whisper from behind in her headphones surround sound despite the fact the avatar had not moved. It now sounded empathic-or at least as much as a somewhat synthesized voice could anyway.

"Than a lonely girl being played up to be for everyone else the one thing your fame can't get you, a friend." Hana couldn't deny the truth to that statement, as much as she wished to deny it.

"Everyone sees you at the top and thinks either 'How can I dethrone this queen?' or 'how long will it take to put Me into the life of royalty with her labors?' No one really cares about you for you little rabbit, just what you can do for them."

There was a flash of purple light once again, though the young girl who had been forced to face the inner devil's advocate inside her suddenly made real, didn't even register how the light had come from behind her in her room rather than on her computer screen.

"But if you really want some company conejita… to really live the life you deserve to live after all you have been through, after all that was taken away from you by the omnics or signed away by corporations more interested in cash than your own freedoms, maybe I can be your friend."

The gamer's heart raced at the prospect of the words, both the offer and what it might entail. Could she really do it-turn her back on the businesses that had been the foundation of her life as a professional and stand up to them against their unrealistic expectations that had left her with little time to live a life of her own whims? And who was this woman speaking to her really, that had amassed so much information on her that should never have been known to the public in the first place. She wasn't sure which idea was more intimidating, trying to rebel against those that pulled her strings for years, or the thought of seriously befriending someone who could be a crazed stalker with an unknown angle for all she knew. Just before she started to voice a few of her doubts, a rebuttal was preemptively made by the ghost.

"You don't need to be afraid of me Hana, if I actually wanted to hurt you do you think I would have gone to this much trouble for just a little girl talk~? And if it's the backing you are worried about-well let's just say I know a thing or two about getting into their systems and making them dance for a change. You won't loose all your funding now once you decide to have some real fun with it." A soft, self-satisfied chuckle at the feat followed. "I'm not trying to make you do anything different than you are already doing Hana, I'm just giving you a choice to make all on your own for once in your life. And letting you know if you pick the right option, you don't have to do this alone anymore… So what do you say chica, friends?"

Hana Song weighed her options for a good long while, staring hesitantly into the skull faceplate of the user who had hacked one of her favorite games, and not even annoyed by that fact anymore as she found herself swayed to the prospect. "A-alright I guess I can add you to my friends list..." She would answer eventually with a reflexive reliance upon the 'gamer speak' ingrained into her character. "But what happens now?"

"Now we celebrate our new bond, amiga~." Answered the accented voice behind her, this time lacking the helmet filter she had come accustomed to hearing whenever her new friend spoke. Hana didn't even have time to jump from her chair as a pair of arms reached around her gaming chair and wrapped around her waist like a belt to keep her in place.

"What!? How did you get in-" A gloved hand matching the ghost avatar's own-minus the long purple claws- was quick to cover her mouth and muffle the initial scream before both palms drifted around to begin rubbing her aching neck and shoulders. Despite the justified panic that the Korean felt at the sudden intrusion, she couldn't help but to melt into the massage that soothed her almost chronically aching muscles. Letting out only a faint whimper of protect, the exhausted gamer made no move to shrug off the not entirely unwelcome touch. Even as she felt the latina's chin rest atop her head as she bent over towards her, Hana could only sigh wearily in acceptance...and content.

"Shh amiga, there is no reason to freak out, it's just me-your friend. Perhaps I didn't have to surprise you like that but come on… unless you really were faking all your exaggerated reactions, I know from your FnaF let's plays you enjoy a good jump scare~."

"That...doesn't explain how you got into my house in the first place, you can hack my computer but how did you get into my room? My doors are locked and-"

"Everything can be hacked little bunny, remember that. I have my ways, just like you have yours in-game."

Sombra chuckled huskily as she felt the Korean melt further against her chair due to her touch. Hacking technology was child's play, even the level of security Hana had on her own personal devices hadn't made her new friend bat an eye. Hacking people on the other hand… that was where the real challenge was. And judging by the submissive expression on the slightly younger woman's face, she had been fairly successful. Though there had definitely been something different this time, Sombra had to admit. It had invoked more than just the typical feeling of satisfaction as she bypassed Hana Song's walls cyber and otherwise-and learned about what all she had been through in her nineteen years. Maybe it was mere physical attraction-the young Korean was as cute as advertised after all, or maybe it was due to the similarities of their past and what they had lost...or had been forced to sacrifice thanks to the omnics, that had tugged at the manipulative hacker's heartstrings. But something had made her feel, what that until now suppressed, almost alien feeling actually was and if she liked it remained to be seen...

"Friends can help each other like this right? Not because others expect them to or because contracts force them, but because they choose to and want to. What is it that you want to do Hana?"

"I want to...help you." Hana whispered her eyes almost half lidded as she unknowingly arched into Sombra's kneading hands. It was then that the hacker felt a pang of something else she had not felt in a long while, though at least she had a name for it. Guilt.

'Bah why do I really care what this gullible lonely gamer feels? She's just a mark and a gateway to more influence at best and a scapegoat at worst with enough grooming and evidence pinning. Wouldn't be too hard for certain people to think she turned her knack for games and technology into something sinister with the right motivation. That is all this is and all it is ever supposed to be. So why am I feeling… bad all of a sudden?'

As she looked down upon the half asleep girl in the chair, her face lit by the dim light of her computer screen and Sombra's own neon purple highlights, she couldn't help but scowl as the bizarre...warm feeling in her chest made itself known again. Without even realizing it, her right hand walked up the back of Hana's neck and tugged her rabbit ear shaped headphones off and away before beginning to comb through the soft locks of brown hair. Judging from Hana's pleased expression however, she didn't mind the different focus of attention.

'What is wrong with me, she is a mark and asset-that's all there is to it. No reason to get attached to something...someone that I can always replace-'

But that was the problem, wasn't it? There was always another corrupt CEO or political figurehead to push around and blackmail into getting what she wanted. But a young idol that had proven herself both in fighting off omnics and topping the score board of any game she set her mind to by the merit of her own nigh inhuman technical skills and tactical expertise, not to mention her world wide fan base network? Someone like that was one of a kind and not to be tossed aside lightly. From all that she had researched about her, Hana Song did remind her a lot of herself, even a bit of the old self long since deleted from the world for the sake of a family who long since thought her lost. That similar loss coupled with Hana's technical skills made some lonely part of Sombra wonder… perhaps Hana was the one person who could truly relate and match her, the equal and companion she too had been searching for...to help her uncover who pulled the strings of the world. After all if there was one thing she had learned from her first failure, it was that everyone needed a bit of help, no matter how good they were.

'Ay so I can't just use her up and toss her like I planned, this is going to take some rethinking. If I could really form a strong bond with her now- Hm no need to be too pushy all at once, better get of here soon before I start telling her my sob story and really lose track of the hack...no of the friend I made tonight.'

Turning the gamer around to face her, Sombra cupped the younger girl's chin and frowned in disapproval at the bags under her eyes from going who knew how long without real rest. As she adjusted her grip on Hana's face, her thumb became smeared with the residual dust of D. Va's own branded chips. Curiosity getting the better of her, she leaned over and licked the powder from her digit, humming in thought. 'Hmm, these actually aren't that bad, I could get used to the taste...' The hacker licked her lips as she looked at the remaining dust on Hana's face, a spark of mischievous desire causing her heart to race. Making sure they were still in full view of the camera Hana had set up-even though it wasn't actually streaming them at the moment, Sombra leaned over to take a more direct taste test. It was a testament to the gamer's level of exhaustion how she barely reacted at all to the tongue licking along the corners of her face, merely mumbling on about what the hacker could only assume was an old family dog.

'Mhm, definitely better with the right flavor. Blackmail has never tasted sweeter~. But back to wrapping tonight up...'

A purple tendril of energy extended from one finger as she pointed it towards the computer and hacked back into the game again. With another flash of purple the screen changed back to James Raynor surrounded by the swarm-only now rather than a field of supply depots he was surrounded by rings of psi disruptors that alongside the respawned Terran forces were effortlessly decimating the attacking zerg. Sombra didn't even bother to check and watch how the several ghosts initiated nuclear launches upon each of Hana's hive clusters, wiping the field in one foul swoop.

"Oh no little rabbit, it looks like I won the second match as well, you know what that means right?" She chuckled playfully into the gamer's ear, who was just now starting to reawaken from her day dream-like slumber with the loss of her new friend's touch.

"G.*yawn*...G." Was the only response received, much to the hacker's disappointment. Even though she knew she would win all along, she wanted to invoke some level of emotion from her new "rival" and friend. After a bit of consideration of what she could feasibly to do the gamer, she recalled one particular tidbit of information.

"You know I just remembered, you owe me a kiss for beating you the first time, don't you?"

Hana nodded slowly, her brain yet to process what the other woman could intend with her. "Mhm, it's always just been an exaggerated blow kiss like in the cartoons towards the camera. Fans eat it up as if I was actually touching them, heh weirdos."

Sombra nodded eagerly with a cheshire grin, shifting their position around so that the chair was angled away from the camera while still keeping the two of them in focus thanks to an auto-tracking feature. With a thought, another purple chord extended from one finger and began accessing Hana's computer to restore stream functionality, much to her fans' delight. Already the chat was exploding with questions over what had happened and who the newcomer was to their beloved 's stream. Straddling the korean's hips, she once again cupped the others cheeks and stroked the side of her face with one gloved thumb. "But this is different, both of us are in the same room not miles away, so I think it calls for a different kind of kiss. I have a feeling your fans will love this idea too~." She turned to wink at the camera playfully before turning back to Hana, who by now was starting to realize something was up.

"What do you mean by-mmph!"

Sombra wasted no time in silencing her question with a lip lock, and at that moment she could have sworn she heard the gamer's collective fan base around the world pounding on their keyboards in frantic outrage as they questioned who she was to dare steal a kiss from their idol, and likely urging her to continue on. And so she humored them and herself for a time, pressing the slim gamer against her chair and causing it to recline backwards to almost a horizontal angle before hitting the edge of the computer desk.

For her part, Hana was too overwhelmed by the sudden act combined with the emotional and mental roller coaster she had been sent on earlier to fight against the kiss overmuch, though she did mumble insistently against the latina's lips. It was only when her fingernails happened to dig into the extra sensitive skin along the cybernetic implants along her spine did the hacker relent in her attack. Leaning back with a moan of approval, she looked down upon the blushing red Hana with a cocky grin. Her hair formed a slight barrier between them and the camera for a time, affording the hacker a moment of consideration.

'Still not sure about those weird feelings she is bringing up with me, but they might be worth putting up with if we get to do that again...'

"Hasta luego mi amor conejita~" She would announce loudly for all to hear as she fished into her back pocket and tossed her translocator out the still open window of Hana's bedroom. Counting the seconds in the back of her mind, she watched and waited as the gamer's face twisted in various expressions ranging from outrage to flustered embarrassment as she realized what this meant to her reputation wise. She could only imagine the chat at this point, comments pouring in from the broken hearted suitors to homophobic ragers in disgust along with the obligatory troll or two claiming, "I always knew she was gay, my youth pastor owes me money!"

The worst of it all was how Hana herself wasn't sure how to feel about it, a part of her feeling her personal space having been violated by someone little more than a complete stranger to the giddiness of what she feared was a growing crush-not that she would admit it as such.

"S-Som-" She began hesitantly before the hacker silenced her again with a finger to her lips.

"Shh, I'm your secret girlfriend little bunny, don't go telling the world my name and ruining the surprise!"

"Wha- you're not m-my-"

Before she could finish her disclaimer, the latina was gone in a flash of purple light and Hana Song was left half kneeling atop her chair with a stunned expression as the chat went wild with accusations and guesses of the mystery woman's identity online. While the two had different plans and feelings over what had happened in the last few hours, both knew one thing for certain.

Neither hacker nor flustered gaming gremlin could look more forward to their rematch next week.