Roadhog's chopper cruised along the sandy road they took yesterday, the one that the Queen's scrapping convoys used to use.

As before, Junkrat was in the sidecar while the Courier had to share the rickety wagon with Jerry. Trying to brace himself every time the vehicle would bounce from bumps or potholes. Thankfully, the roads were quiet under the sun without another soul to be seen for hours at a time. Unlike last night, he could see the entirety of the Outback from where he was sitting. Still looked limitless even at high speeds. Stuff on the horizon just coasting along slightly faster.

However, sometime after they crossed a stretch of road littered with familiar looking wrecks and corpses, the scenery around the already desolate Outback became less welcoming. The bright, lively sky around them gradually changed to a darker, grayer overcast, as if they had just crossed into a colder climate. The ground around them was populated with fewer shrubs and more of what appeared to be pieces of shrapnel and jagged metal stuck into the sands. All of them looking like they had been thrown in there. There were other more complex structures of metal scattered across the dirt, some wrecked machines and objects buried into them. The Wastelander looked to see the road surrounded by all sorts of scrap junk. He turned around in his seat to see the large, metal carcass of the Australian Omnium miles away from them on the cloudy horizon. Looking bigger than the rock Junkertown sat on did at this distance.

Then, barely hearing it under the belching motorcycle, the Geiger counter on his Pip-Boy began ticking and its little needle twitching. Not too erratically and not veering close to the red zones. Occasionally minutes where it didn't go off, but it grabbed his attention just the same. He swiftly reaches to his pack and grabs a little brown bottle, twists the cap off, and pops a little pill into his mouth. The Waster wasn't sure if radiation went by a different set of rules here, but he also didn't want to grow a third nut.

After twenty or so more minutes on the road, the group had finally reached the outer walls of the Omnium remains. The humans and goat were easily dwarfed by the spires and structures that still stood upright. The road and ground they were standing on weren't even Outback soil but constructed with metal and concrete like the Omnium. There was still a lot of sand that had blown in, however, without any machines to keep it clean.

Unlike the rest of the Outback where he could hear the occasional bird or insect chirp, he could only hear the wind howl through the metal bones, which occasionally creaked and groaned under their own stress. His Geiger counter still ticked weakly at times, so he was mindful of where he stepped.

"Well, here we are," Jamison astutely observed, standing up tall and looking up at the large spire. "Place ain't much to look at, but you'll be destined to find something valuable in this scrap heap."

"What about what I need?" Nathan questioned.

"A working fusion core, right? I'll be honest, mate, that's a rather tall order to have on a place picked by buzzards as much as this one. Might take a good bit of digging around to find it."

"I don't mind spelunking for groceries."

The seasoned Wastelander put his helmet back on and walked towards the gaping maw that was presented to him. However, he only got a few steps in until Junkrat jumped in front and held a palm out to his face.

"Now just hold on a sec!" Fawkes exclaimed, before holding a finger out. "I ain't just gonna let an out-of-towner walk in there and risk life and limbs just to get something that we're not even sure is there! How 'bout you let me do it? I know this place like the back of my prosthetic hand, and you've already worked hard enough. This is our part of the deal, remember? If you're still unsure, I'll leave Roadhog out here for insurance."

Brin narrowed his eyes at him under his helmet after he proposed that idea, like always. He sure as hell didn't trust this wastrel with something as delicate as a nuclear power source, but he was right about him crossing into unknown territory. He's done it, many times before, but it does get tiring. And it'd probably be faster if he let the local be the errand boy, for once.

"You have an hour," he specified, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you're not back by then, I'm going in and coming out with or without you."

"Make it half and you've got a deal," Junkrat wagered, giving a toothy grin before spinning around and running off into the maw of the dead Omnium.

After they lost sight of his burning hair and the sound of his peg leg, Nathan turned around and walked back across the road. Passing by Roadhog, the pig-mask's gaze following him.

"How the hell did you end up with him?" Brin derided.

Roadhog scoffed, but not close to being offended. He stomped away and left Nathan by himself, the Californian not even bothering to look back and check out what he was doing.

After a while, Nathan spotted a support beam for one of the defunct rail systems that branched out from the Omnium. Some sand had blown all over it and formed a small hill around the beam. He walked over to the small dune and climbed up to the top. Unslinging his backpack, he plopped down on top of it and rested against the metal support beam. Looking out to the horizon again and seeing nothing in this irradiated, corrugated dump. Keeping an eye on his Geiger counter and hoping the wind didn't blow any radioactive sand into his eyes.

Places like these always opened a window into what the world would look like if civilization just upped and vanished. Not even survivors around to try and carve out something from the remains. Husks of metal and stone left to deal with encroaching nature. Wind always howling, both here and back home.

Thinking about the wind, the Courier takes off his duster and holds it in front of himself to see the damage.

From the waist down, it was ripped and tattered like mincemeat. A few scraps of cloth hanging literally by a thread. It looked as if it would completely fall apart if the breeze got a little stronger. The burn-patches sustained earlier across his arms and shoulders only added more to the decrepit state of the Waster's coat. The damage may have once added to the aesthetic of one's Wasteland apparel, but there was no sense wearing a duster if it couldn't protect against dust.

Brin let out a quiet but disheartened sigh, sulking his head slightly as he still held onto the piece of clothing that's served him well for many years. A uniform piece that served many others for years, with distinction. Wasn't something someone could just simply replace.

"…Lost…"

He looked up from his duster to see more sand being blown away by the wind. Gazing up to see mangled metal brush up against the wind. Lifting one arm to see the cloth of his sleeve rattle and shake from the wind. Looking around to see there was nothing except the wind.

The Courier reached for his belt to bring out his Vault 13 Canteen, expertly getting the cap off and lifting his helmet partway, taking hearty gulps of the alcohol inside. Some of it spilling out and dripping down his chin until he finishes and drains it dry. His throat feeling like fire in the desert.

"Sorry, Mom," he mused to himself, before scoffing and smirking.

The Courier must've gotten lost staring at sand rolling between his legs, because the wind was disturbed by a grating, piercing yelling from behind. Back at the Omnium.

"I'm baaaaaaaacckk!"

Nathan glanced at his Pip-Boy's clock, noticing that the explosive-obsessed freak had arrived earlier than expected. He grabbed his ripped-up duster and stuffed it into his pack, before slinging it over his shoulder.

Walking back to where Mako had parked the chopper, Nathan could see Jamison was indeed back and carried something with him. It was a long, cylindrical device that had a black metal shell reinforced with silver-colored casings. It looked completely encased, its contents hidden inside except for a little slit in the middle that glowed a light turquoise. Was big for a fusion core, where he was from.

"Wasn't much to it, just got in and got out," Junkrat prided himself as he handed the energy source to Nathan.

"Thanks," Nathan said, taking the long capsule into his arm and feeling it had some heft to it.

"Uh-uh, not so fast, cobber. 'Cause we're offering a special two-for-one sale!"

Suddenly, the wiry Junker produced a second fusion core from nowhere and dropped it into Nathan's hands. He scrambled to catch the second fusion core, surprised and not wanting it to bang against the floor right next to them. After he narrowly catches the power source, he looked up at Jamison in anger.

"I only needed one!" the Overwatch agent exclaimed, looking at the second fusion core like it was a piece of bird shit that hit his arm.

"Yeah, that's what you said, but what if you end up needing two?" Jamison posed, shrugging his shoulders in thought. "You could use it as a back-up. Use the heat for air conditioning. Ooh, maybe warm up a pool and get it all nice and steamy like a hot tub!"

Nathan's eyes switched between Jamison and the fusion core, still dumbstruck. However, he rolled his eyes and groaned after standing there for a few moments before walking off, still holding the fusion core he didn't ask for. Junkrat and Roadhog exchanged glances with each other before the former just shrugged.

Putting some space between himself and them, Nathan dropped his pack, his rifle holster, and the two fusion cores on the ground to do a quick inventory check. After doing so, he lifted a flap and tried to fit in the large fusion cores into what little space there was in his pack. Placing the radioactive cores precariously next to some grenades and ammunition. It didn't fit entirely into his backpack, around half of the cylinders sticking out and straight into the air like antennas. Besides that, everything else was in working order and he looked ready for the return trip back home. Mission accomplished.

Despite this, he looked to his rifles and sees them covered in sand but still operational. His Brush Gun not looking too bad with a coat of sand over it. He silently stared at his game rifle for a few moments, before turning to the two Junkers and seeing them preoccupied with their chopper. Their backs turned to him for that moment and none the wiser.

Without hesitation, Nathan reached for his Brush Gun and shouldered the stock, cranking the lever, and hearing a large round go in. He stood up, about to take aim with his big game rifle, but was one millisecond away from squeezing the trigger as he saw something glint in his peripheral vision. Turning his head to the Outback.

The sun reflected off multiple metallic objects that were coming over the horizon and created a cloud of sand trailing behind them. They were far away, but continuously growing larger and larger with each passing second. Their shapes becoming clearer among the mirage. He pivoted to the horizon and used the rifle's scope to get a clearer picture of the approaching figures. It wasn't long when Roadhog and Junkrat ran up beside him after they heard his rifle make noise.

Nathan saw a convoy of automobiles heading straight for the Omnium. They weren't one of the scrapping convoys, as there were simply too many vehicles in the front alone. Not just a few moderate vehicles forming a defense around one central target; Much more variation in their shapes, sizes, and the number of spikes across their hoods. As they got closer, he could see there were crews of people on all the vehicles, a small army getting ready with an assortment of jury-rigged weapons and devices on their jury-rigged vehicles. Nathan was at awe that these rust buckets could even work, but his thoughts were swept to the side when he hovered his crosshairs to the middle of the convoy, spotting a car whose hull reminded him of old Chryslus model – with a little less rust. However, it was on a set of giant wheels that were larger than the car body itself, seemingly the only vehicle with wheels in the entire fleet. The hood had the symbol of the banner from earlier, and there were spikes along its sides with a collection of shiny mufflers stemming like wings. Why this vehicle stood out from the others was easily answered as he veered his scope to the windshield, spotting a red mohawk through the glass.

Without hesitation, he started firing at the windshield, sending rounds quickly down range. At this distance and with moving targets, it was a gamble, but a round does impact the windshield, but it was still intact. Glass only getting a scratch at best. He quickly lost sight of his target as she veered to the side and one of her escort vehicles drove in front to provide cover. Empty, he ejected the last cartridge before retrieving more rounds to quickly feed into it.

"Aye…" Junkrat said, his face devoid of any humor in this moment. "We really ticked off the big boss this time, didn't we?"

"YOU THINK?!" the Courier snarled, loading his rifle and slamming the bolt forward.

Unfortunately, the convoy had gotten close enough where some of them started firing back, machine guns and small arms fire hitting the dune they were standing on. Junkrat jumped to cover, Roadhog ducked his head a little, and the Courier fired back at the muzzles flashes.

The convoy was closing in fast but made it somewhat easier for the Waster to pick off some of their numbers more effectively. Even if his hits were a drop in the bucket of the entire force.

Shooting the chest cavity of a motorcycle rider, he watches him tumble to the ground and quickly get overtaken by the other vehicles in the convoy. As that happens, however, he veers his sight upwards to be greeted by the front of a large, boxy vehicle on tracks. It's turret directly pointing at him.

He only saw the muzzle flare up for a split-second before a big ball of light flew towards them. It flew right into the dune and cut through the sand, detonating against the wall of the Omnium behind them. Nathan was knocked off his feet by the concussive force alone, his backpack flying and spilling everything onto the ground. The dune collapsing on itself.

"Really, she brought out the Abrams?! Now that just bloody overkill!" Junkrat exclaimed, frowning that a tank was now hot on their trail. "Roadie, grab our guest and let's get outta here! We'd still be able to lose her with these dunes."

Roadhog only nodded once, running over to a lump lying in the sand covered in a torn duster, scooping him up into his arm. Running back to his chopper, he threw him into the wagon and hopped onto the driver's seat. With a twist of a key and a twist of the throttle, the bike then rocketed off. Speeding away from the Omnium with a trail of dust.

When the drumming of his motorcycle was already a distant moan and the approach of the convoy became louder, only then did a dazed and dented helmet try to get up. Covered in a blanket of sand from the bank that was blown apart.

Nathan got to his knees, feeling as if a Super Sledge jostled his insides. Wallowing a bit longer in his disoriented state, he saw his pack and its contents spilled onto the floor. He scrambled over to them, quickly scooping everything into his arms and throwing it inside with little care for organization. He then spotted the two fusion cores a few feet away from him, lying next to each other without so much as a scratch. Quickly grabbing and stuffing them into his pack, before standing up and seeing he was alone. Junkrat and Roadhog nowhere to be seen.

A truck horn went off, seeing the convoy of cars getting dangerously close to the Omnium. Nathan staggered forward and picked up his sand-drenched Brush Gun. As he staggered back up, he looked up at the armada of Junkers gaining towards him. Looking down at the rifle in his hands to see he was more than outgunned for this fight. However, the wind still howled where he was, and he looked behind to see the open wound of the Omnium. More than wide enough to fit a man in. Nathan took one more glance at the Queen and her forces before dashing inside to the Omnium's maw. The Courier disappearing into the ruin's bowels.

Not even a minute after that, the first of the War Party reached the walls of the broken Omnium, stopping at the entrance, first. They waited until the car with large wheels got to the front, and their Queen climbed to the top of her hood. Everyone staring up at her. She didn't look bad for someone who survived an attempted assassination through explosion. Only a sheen of soot over her face at worst.

"Alright my fellow dregs, listen up!" the Queen demanded, heaving a large-bladed battle-ax over her shoulder. "I want you to find that seppo bastard and bring him to me! Alive! It doesn't matter if his intestines are spilling out of his gut, I still have unfinished business with him… So, I want half of you to circle around this scrapheap and cover all the exits, and the other half to track down him down. Now, move it!"

Her gang of wastrels and thugs followed what she said with little hesitation, half of their vehicles driving off to circle the remains of the Omnium like scavengers and the other half heading inside, with weapons and vehicles that could fit. The Queen stood tall on her hood, watching her small army divert their efforts into finding this one man. She was a tad out of breath from barking those orders, from chasing a man across the entire Outback, and from surviving a literal explosion that nearly collapsed her castle, but the Queen of Junkertown wouldn't have it any other way.

No job too big, no score too small.


The wind rushed into their faces as they sped along the cracked road leading away from the Australian Omnium, and leading them to "friendlier" weather. Junkrat periodically looked over his shoulder to see if they were being tailed by anyone but saw nothing but a mirage behind them. After doing it for the one-hundredth time just to be sure, the coast finally looked clear.

"Phew, looks like we lost her," Junkrat noted, wiping some sweat from his ashy forehead. "I'll admit, she's bloody tough! Now we'll have to go back to the drawing board, again. Plan out our next course of action to take her out of the picture. We'd probably be a bit more successful next time if we used a little less… Theatrics."

Roadhog turned his head slightly to the sidecar but keeping his eyes on the road.

"But it was worth it just to blow her dome-home to bits. Ha! Probably helped raise the resale value for everyone's units in that town with that eyesore gone. Tell me, Mailman, what was her face like when you betrayed her in her most vulnerable time?"

He turned around to face what he assumed would be Nathan but frowned as he saw the lump of the duster just shamble on the cart-floor.

"Oi, you still a bit groggy or…?" Junkrat asked, reaching over and pulling the torn duster off to reveal that it was Jerry the Goat, not Nathan.

"Roadie! You grabbed the wrong bastard!" he exclaimed, appearing shocked and confused.

Roadhog turned his head to look behind and see the wagon was occupied with just a goat and no human. When a tank started firing upon them and made their guest disappear in a cloud of sand, he must've made the mistake of just grabbing a lump covered in a duster without checking underneath in his haste. Worse fuck-ups have happened, especially regarding these two. Meanwhile, Junkrat had his mouth agape, looking horrified and wondering how it got to this point. That was for a moment, however, as he then quickly dropped his surprised façade and shrugged. Turning around and reclining into his sidecar with the wind in his air.

"Shame," Junkrat simple said, not worried in the slightest now. "Well, he fulfilled his part of the bargain and we fulfilled ours. Nothing else we can do now, unfortunately. Besides, I'm sure he'll be right."

Abruptly, the chopper then came to a screeching halt as Roadhog clamped on the brakes and the momentum flung Junkrat ten meters across the road. Bouncing like a ball, skidding to a halt on his face, and flopping down like a fish. Jerry was thrown, too, landing face first into Junkrat's sidecar.

Groaning and dazed, Junkrat sat up from the road with pebbles stuck to his face. His skin red but not bleeding. Shaking the crud off, he twists around to confront his partner with a very irritated expression. His mask only stared back.

"Oi, the hell's your problem, you fat bastard?" Junkrat questioned, rubbing his stinging cheeks. "Do you want me to lower your 38% cut of my treasure?!"

Roadhog only snorted, making Junkrat look at him but with a confused demeanor.

"Wait, what? Why?"

Rutledge looked over his shoulder, back to the way of the Omnium, before looking back at him.

"Obligation? What 'obligation?" Fawkes asked, trying to piece together what his friend was conveying. "We did our part, he did his! Like, sure, it's unfortunate that he has that mess to worry about, but it comes with the territory. Besides, it's not my fault that the Queen is after his blood. Kinda serves him right for kissing up to her the way he did. What more is to fulfill?"

This time, his colleague just stared at him and maintained that gaze without any other expression he could muster up beneath that mask. Jamison stared back at him, his demeanor slowly shifting as the gravity of the situation was now bringing him back to Earth and fully realize what they were doing.

At least, that's what the harebrained, explosive-obsessed maniac thought.

"I've seen that face before…" Junkrat said, scowling, and twitching his face in thought. "Alright, alright, alright! Fine! We'll do things your way if you're really scared of being on that man's bad side… Uhm, how do you want to do things, though?"

Mako "Roadhog" Rutledge only responded by reaching to his pants and bringing up his large hook, the chains rattling as they shook. Out of all the possible responses he could've gotten, that was probably the most poignant.

"Now, you're speaking my language, mate!" Jamison "Junkrat" Fawkes could only agree.

Next, they heard a goat bray and looked to see Jerry finally getting his head out of Junkrat's seat. Chewing on some blueprints he stored there.

"We should probably drop Jaz off somewhere, first."


Nathan's boots clanked against a hard metal floor as he rounded corner after corner of this labyrinthian factory. Constantly having to check his Pip-Boy for direction to what seemed like another room, another exit. Or, at least a place farther away from the Junkers to give himself some space.

The longer he ran, the deeper he went into this Omnium. Tall hallways of metal constantly around him. Empty spaces and entire rooms that have been stripped clean from years of scavenging. Or, running through entire rooms filled to the brim with mechanical equipment and assembly lines that have remained dormant for who knows how long. Some rooms and sections downright inaccessible unless he was a machine. Still, the Omnium was twisted and broken enough that the human was able to find some kind of passage to squeeze through, even if it was off the beaten path. Unfortunately, he didn't know this place nearly as well as the people chasing him, occasionally hearing their voices or the revs of their engine get close.

Turning another corner, he crossed into a long hallway with doors on the sides but an opening at the end. He made a dash towards that end, quickly closing half the distance, but that was when two Junkers appeared in the doorway.

"He's there! Shoot him-!"

The Junkers couldn't get their sights up as he barreled through and knocked them down. Dazed, one of them tried to look up but had a rusty blade shoved into his gullet, grasping at the other hand smothering his mouth. The second Junker lifted his gun up to the attacker but had it knocked away and the blade quickly impaled into his skull. At the end of that hallway before him, another Junker popped in and saw what was happening. Nathan quickly grabbed All-American and fired a two-round burst at the man, taking him out before he could attempt anything. However, more approaching voices could be heard from that doorway. Planting his boot on the corpse's head and retrieving his blade from it with a crunching squelch, he sheathed it and was about to run the other way, until he stopped in his tracks and just looked back at the doorway behind him. Hearing the Junkers close to the door, but not peeking their heads out as they were arguing about who was going to go in, first.

The Courier tightened the grip on his rifle. If he was going to run away from a bunch of wastrels, he might as well make some of them choke on their own blood as punishment.

Calmly and slowly, he turned around to face the door and reached down to his belt. After he retrieved a frag grenade, he inserted his thumb into the ring and pulled it off, the spoon popping out. He threw it, watching it fly to the doorway until it bounced off the wall and into the hallway. Not long after, it exploded, accompanied by terrified screams and splatters of blood. He charged forward with his carbine at the ready, running through the doorway and immediately seeing the dismembered remains of the targets caught in the blast. There were others, further away, either dazed or trying to recover from the shock. The Courier didn't give them any quarter as he quickly shot them, dropping them as fast as his rifle could. The room was swiftly cleared of hostiles, and he was about to make his way through another large doorway, but a car drove into the way to block him.

"Light that cunt up!" the driver yelled to the crew.

The man operating the turret rotated to face the approaching man but lost his footing when something heavy jumped on top of the car. He looks up in horror and sees the "cunt" standing on top of their hood, pointing his carbine point-blank at his face. After he fired off a quick and life-ending shot to the machine-gunner, the Courier then lowered his sight to the windshield and started firing at the passengers inside. They screamed and flailed as half a magazine was dumped into their seats, blood covering the windshield as it shattered. Certain they were dead, the Courier hopped off the hood to the other side of the doorway and kept running. He could hear more Junkers approaching from behind the car but didn't pay them any mind as they took in the aftermath.

"Ah, shit, look what he did to Connor and Dave!"

"Fucking hell!"

Running through a couple more corridors, he barreled through another doorway and into another wide-open room. Immediately, he spots a group of Junkers in the same room. Nathan opens fire without pause, and the Junkers return fire but were caught off-guard to effectively put up a successful defense. The seasoned Waster had cut down several of them in a short amount of time, scaring and forcing them to run inside. He did a quick mag swap before he was about to go forward and chase them further, but there was the rev of another vehicle and the slim frame of a hovering motorcycle came through the doorway. Nathan ducked as the motorcycle nearly rammed into him and the driver swung a bladed club at him. He rolled and pivoted to face the threat, but felt something brush up against his leg. Spotting a makeshift hatchet next to its dead owner. Then, the hover-cycle gracefully twirled around in the air and faced his target, again. Zooming forward without little effort, the driver quickly closed the distance between him and the outsider, but his body went limp as a hatchet was driven into his cranium. He lost control of the bike as it crashed into a thick metal wall. Nathan dropped the hatchet with the driver still stuck to it and ran into the next room.

As soon as he entered the larger, more spacious room, he was fired upon by the retreating Junkers and their back up. Taking cover by some ramparts spread throughout the room. Nathan rolled to cover in a rampart on his side, and quickly fired back. A few fell to his gunshots, but there were more Junkers pouring in from the doorway on their side to quickly replace them.

Many of them were foolishly bunching up, and he entertained the idea of chucking a few grenades. However, he had to conserve everything he had until he got out of this chase, unsure if Overwatch could come to his aid in time. Eventually, noticed there were a bunch of pods hanging over the room, to a rail that they mechanically clamped to and were quite big. So, Nathan swapped out All-America for his Brush Gun and took aim at the pod hanging over the middle of the room. With one shot, the clamp became damaged and the pod fell to the floor with a loud thud, making the entire room quake and knocking some approaching Junkers down. He repeated this with the other pods, making them rain down on their side and even managing to crush a few in a flurry of blood and guts. Taking advantage of their dazed states, the Courier exited cover and fired as he was on the move. He made it to the first pod he dropped in the middle of the room, using it as cover and taking down more targets from there. Caught off-guard from the air drops and having their numbers whittling down so rapidly, some of the Junkers ran from cover to retreat into the exit. There were still a few who kept fighting, so after a quick mag change with his carbine, Nathan rose from cover to keep firing.

He couldn't get another shot off as the rounded panels of the pod suddenly blew off and sent him flying back as one panel flew directly into his face. Reeling in pain as he then threw the metal panel off, he sat up to see that the pod he used as cover now became a large, quadrupedal Omnic. With four large legs with metallic hooves, it had a humanoid upper-body, with two arms and a very distinct head. Its right arm was a "normal" hand, buts its left arm had a cylindrical shape that rotated and spun like a minigun. It then snapped its head to Nathan, revealing a curved face with four red dots for eyes and two barrels protruding from each side of its face that looked like gun barrels. The Omnic then emitted a noise that sounded like a very distorted air horn, echoing throughout the entire room. Its presence making the firefight stop for a few moments.

'OR14,' the Waster recognized from his online research, but awestruck from seeing the thing in real-life. Bigger than even some Sentry Bots. 'You are much uglier than Orisa…'

"It's a bloody Wom!"

Nathan immediately began firing at the OR14, his 5.56 rounds just pinging off its armor with little effect. The beast of a machine stomped its two front feet to face the attacking human and aimed its gun arm at him. However, the weapon seized up and sparked, the OR14 glancing at its weapon before just swinging its right arm forward and emitted a large glowing blade of red energy. Red glowing off everything close-by. With a roar, it jumped forward and Nathan quickly rolled out of the way as the energy sword effortlessly stabbed the metal floor like it was sand. The tall human then watched as the gigantic machine retrieved its sword from the ground and snapped its red eyes to him. He swapped his Brush Gun out and starting slinging .45-70 to its face, knocking the OR14's head back a few times but doing nothing else as it jumped forward and swung the blade at him, again. Slicing through the wall and leaving a trail of burning metal.

The Junkers watched the fight until the man the machine was fighting headed towards them, but they were too occupied with shooting the OR14 or being terrified that it was too late for them to do anything as the Waster barreled into them and made a dash for the exit. One Junker tried to hit the running human, but he was dazed by a quick jab to the face before being thrown backwards. Right into the blade of the Omnic as it stopped and sliced him in half, then snapping its head at the rest of the humans in its way.

The guns go off around Nathan, but none of it directed at him. When he made it to the doorway he glanced back to see the Omnic absolutely decimating the ill-equipped humans. All their small arms fire doing nothing as it literally ripped them all to shreds, sometimes crushing or kicking with its powerful legs. He left, leaving it to deal with the rest of those bruisers. He'll deal with it later if it decides to chase him, too. Tackling one problem at a time.

The sounds of screaming and clanking metal growing distant behind him, he was still intent on finding a way outside of this facility. Making occasional glances to his Pip-Boy's map to see if he was on a path, at least. His pack and person starting to feel light from all the ammo he burned through, trying to calculate in his head how much he had left – how much longer he could hold out for.

His thoughts were disturbed after he took a right and found himself in another long metal hallway. It seemed clear and a straight stretch for him to go through, but that notion was dashed away as floodlights at the far end lit up the entire hall and nearly blinded him. Not a second later, the engine of the car rumbled through the straight hall and towards him, the floodlights getting closer and brighter. Nathan fired towards the car, but it didn't seem to have any effect as it kept coming towards him. Other flashes started to pop into view as gunshots echoed through the hall and the ground pinged at his feet. The car didn't stop no matter what he did, getting close to ramming him head-on. Then, he looks to his left to see a door illuminated by the floodlights. He scrambles over to it, inserting his fingers into the slits and pulled to pry it open. Gritting his teeth and feeling his arms burn as the lights became brighter. Finally, one side of the mechanical door slides open and he jumped inside, narrowly missing the car when it sped by and was practically grinding against the walls.

Putting his back against the door, he peered out to see if there were any other threats approaching him from either side of the hallway. However, his breathing changed when he heard his Pip-Boy's Geiger start ticking very rapidly, seeing he was in a room filled with glowing canisters and material. Noticing how hot it seemed inside the room.

He ran out back into the hallway but was stopped as a horde of Junkers blocked his path. One got very close to him with a club and swung at him, but he ducked and swiftly sliced the bastard in the throat. Unfortunately, the hallway got brighter from behind and he jumped back into the doorway he pried open. The choking Junker getting rear-ended by the car as it blocks the door and the machine gunner starts firing inside wildly.

Nathan cringed into the corner, well out of the machine gun's line of sight but still very much in an uncomfortable position. His Geiger counter going off as the machine rained bullets into the room. Hitting some of the containers and making glowing blue goo spill out. His wrist cricketing even louder.

He took a glance at the Pip-Boy, fervidly studying the map and seeing an exit to this hallway of carcinogens, but only after he runs through long stretches alongside the material. The longer he loitered here, the more his chances of either getting mobbed by a bunch of wastrels or developing tumors increase. His choice was made as a Junker popped through the driver side window and into the doorway, about to throw a grenade in before Nathan pulled out his sidearm and shot him dead. Hastily, he grabbed the active grenade and threw it back into the car. He made a break from cover and ran into the hall of radiation. The car's gunner was close to firing upon him until an explosion went off inside, setting off the gas and making it explode twice. Its burning remains blocking the doorway.

The Waster's large legs fell heavily against the metal floor as he ran through the hall, with his Geiger counter beginning to sound like a swarm of angry wasps buzzing right next to his ear. His boots sloshing through puddles of blue goo and trying not to slip. Currently, the only discomfort felt was the heat radiating off from these walls. Hot enough to make him sweat a little under his mask. However, he knew there wouldn't be much time until he started experiencing less pleasant symptoms. More than possible in an area saturated as this, even with the Rad-X he ingested earlier.

He ends up taking a right and spots another long hallway he would have to travel through. The size and scope of the Omnium really becoming a weakness, not a strength. Every part of his body, except the head, was woefully overexposed to this much radiation for this long. Even the hellholes back home always had an exit. Somewhere to fall back when it was too much. Now, what was the length of a stone's throw felt more like a mile for Nathan as he ran as fast as his legs could muster. Crossing this blue mile that exhausted him from simply looking at it. He thought he could feel a knot begin to form in his stomach and work its way up to his throat, but he shoved that feeling away to survive. Trying to hold off for one more minute, with Arroyo's cool canyon winds flashing in his mind.

Unfortunately, Nathan reached the end of this long hall to find that the exit was just a hole that opened to what looked like a large pipe. Unable to tell where it leads. Seeing that it was stained blue. He looked around to see no other options for escape, and only hear his Geiger counter clicking rapidly.

Quickly deciding, he got his pack off and threw it down the hole, before climbing in feet-first with his rifles pressed up against his side. With his weight and all the shit covering the inside, he began to slide down and feel himself fall to wherever the pipe was going to take him. Wind and the occasional blue glop rushing into him the faster he went. Feeling himself get rocked against the walls through some tight turns and grooves. Sensation and orientation getting lost in him. Feeling the knot in his stomach get even stronger. Finally, he could see light flood in and was ejected outside of the Omnium and fell feet-first into a ditch. Landing in a pool cocktail of hazardous waste.

Not a second later, he broke the surface and scrambled to drier land. Hauling his rifles with him and grabbing his pack as it floated on the surface of muck. Reaching the shore, he threw his belongings onto the metal ground and clambered out. As soon as he was on all fours on solid ground, he spun around, took off his helmet, and hovered his head over the pool. With little effort needed, vomit spewed from his mouth and into the pool, coming out as fast as he did. He heaved a few more times after that, feeling his throat burn and the muscles around his abdomen and chest tighten. The contents of his stomach spilling out and mixing with the industrial waste. Eventually, he was just coughing violently, still feeling something slosh around in his stomach.

After a while, he moved away from his vomit and sat down, gasping for air. Tasting iron and mucus. He rested there to gain his bearings, figure out where he was and how to get the hell off this continent. Unfortunately, his plan was interrupted as motorcycles shrieked and he turned to see vehicles already gunning for him.

Nathan ran to his rifle, picking it up and already firing on the approaching Junkers. He had taken down one driver on a bike, and a car stopped as it started receiving fire. He didn't let up as his trigger-finger got off shots much faster than the old set up. However, when his gun had run dry, that was when he noticed someone running up behind him and clock him on the back of the head. Feeling that without his helmet and grimacing when he fell on to his knees. He turned his head back with a snarl and blocked another bash to the head, catching the offender's wrist. With his other arm, he punched the Junker in the face and almost knocked him unconscious. After, he wrapped his Pip-Boy around his throat and pulled out his combat knife. The man's eyes darting to the blade and immediately regretting the decision he made.

But before the Waster could drive the blade in, there was a low rumble and he turned to see the large and camouflaged body of the tank drive up to him. Its treads make the ground tremor with every foot it went. Then, another vehicle came into view – the one with the large wheels – coming up to the left of the tank. Other cars started coming in, surrounding Nathan, and blocking off most escape routes. He could only stand and watch as guns and metal surrounded him, as the driver of the wheeled-car climbed out and onto the hood. Taking out her ax with her. As soon as she caught sight of the man she's been chasing, she smirked. As if seeing an old friend for the first time in years.

Nathan still held onto his hostage, his knife dangling millimeters above his skin.

However, the Queen smile disappeared as there was a sudden roar and something crashed on top of the tank, denting it. Covered in blood and other sorts of organic matter, the tenacious OR14 had chased Nathan all over the facility. With its sword, it effortlessly sliced the barrel off the Abrams tank and jammed it into the cockpit to get at the crew inside. Nathan backed away with his hostage, while something jumped down towards the large war machine.

Everyone watched as the Queen cut into the Omnic's sword-arm with her ax before it wrestled free and swiped at her with its sword. The human was nimble, able to dodge and roll around its attacks before she twirled around and sliced her ax right through the sword-arm. It let out a pained roar when its right arm fell, the sword dissipating into the air. It tries to retaliate with its other arm, but she uses the momentum and lets her ax drive itself into it and lob it off as well. With the OR14 armless and reeling back, the Queen jumped up and cleaved her ax right into the middle of its face, making the machine seize up and collapse to the floor. The machine's body finally went limp after she did that, and its eyes flickered and faded to black.

The Queen retrieved her ax and heaved it over her shoulder, spitting on the corpse with her entourage cheering. Face-to-face the Courier.

"Thanks for the warm-up, honey," the Queen said to him, sporting that fucking grin, again. "But I'm afraid this road has ended. Heh, I mean…!"

She laughed as she twirled around and gestured to all the Junkers around them, emphasizing how he was surrounded. All the guns and pointy objects facing his general direction.

"You really have to be fucked in head to see that you're not in a favorable position, and I like that. But come on, what else are you going to do?"

Nathan Brin stared at her, breathing heavily as he tried to recuperate from what happened in the past hour, looking down at the Junker he was holding in a chokehold. This hostage was his only form of leverage in this fucked-up version of a standoff with just a knife in his hands. Although, he could probably buy himself some time and take out a few of them in the process. Maybe the Queen, too. He certainly wasn't in a position with many luxuries. Yet, how was he going to do that?

The Courier answered his question as he just looked at the Junker he held hostage and noticed he wasn't wearing much armor, nonetheless a shirt. Then, glancing at his own blade. He figured giving these discount-raiders one hell of a shock before he died might make things a little bit worth it, for once.

Without further hesitation, the Courier flipped the blade underhand and hovered it over the top of the Junker's abdomen. The Queen's smirk disappeared when she saw him do that.

His hostage didn't even feel it as the blade plunged into chest, reflexively letting out a raspy gasp of surprise. Then, the rest of the Junkers could only watch in revulsion and disbelief as the out-of-towner pulled the blade downward and sliced through his belly with ease. The flesh on his stomach ripping like paper and his guts literally spilling out to hang like matted rope. Everyone except the Courier and the Queen gasped, and the man he was gutting flailed and screamed, starting to vomit up blood seeping into his esophagus. His hands trying to push the arms and the knife away from his burning chest, his legs struggling to gain a proper footing while lifted into the air.

"AAHHHH! AAAAGHHH" his pained screams echoed with the hailing winds, unable to even ask for help.

However, the Courier wasn't finished, as he let go of the blade and plunged his hand straight into the man's body. Making him scream and flail twice fold. He had to work fast, unsure how long before someone decides to shoot him for retribution. It was warm and moist, feeling squishy organs and hard bone scrape against his gloves. He felt the tremors of what he was looking for, as it was very noticeable given the extreme duress his victim was experiencing. Finally, he could feel the beating heart thump against his fingers.

With one swift, strong motion, he retrieved his arm and ripped out the poor bastard's heart with a sickening squelch, bringing it to the open air for all of them to see. The muscle still beating and trying to pump out the blood it still had within it, as its owner flopped to the floor. Even then, the Junkers didn't have time to properly react before the scarred Courier sank his teeth into the heart. Blood squirting onto his face and the Queen's.

"JESUS CHRIST!"

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"THIS IS FUCKED! OH MY GOD, THAT IS FUCKED!"

"NO! NO! NO! NO! OH MY GOD, NO!"

Aside from verbally expressing their absolute horror, some of the Queen's men began vomiting wherever they could, and a few others even ran or drove away from what they just witnessed. One of the tank operators began clutching his chest, seizing up and collapsing inside back into the tank. His mate hurriedly going down to help him.

The Queen could do nothing but stand there. Someone who's done so much to survive ever since she lost her home, ever since the Omnium was scrapped. Did everything to ensure that she would come out on top. She thought she had seen everything in the Outback, in the Crisis, in the Scrapyard. Yet, she had never witnessed such a gruesome and depraved sight ever committed by a human to another human. One with such a cold-blooded lack of remorse. So quickly, without little hesitation. Unable to comprehend it. And to think she wanted to fuck this man.

The Junker Queen was so lost in her thoughts that she barely saw the bloody blade coming down onto her and barely blocked it with the hilt of her ax. Her arms shaking, she came face to face with the out-of-towner. His mouth and teeth stained with blood as he snarled at her.

"I wish that was you…" the man callously said, growling like an animal. "Taking advantage of those as you please. I'd rid the planet of rapists like you, even if it took forever."

He kept snarling as he applied more downward pressure onto the ax and brought his face even closer to hers. The smell of blood assaulting her nose.

"'Practiced hands make for short work!'"

The Queen stared at him, genuinely terrified until she yelled and pushed him away with her ax. They were about to follow up and try to cleave each other, but a sudden explosion sent her and the Courier flying away from the other.

Brin landed on his back with a groan, dazed again by the blast wave. After a few moments, he shook his head and looked around to see the barricade created around him was being bombarded by red bombs with fuses. Hearing the rev of an actual motorcycle beyond the barrier.

"Mailman – if you're in there, mate – let's get a move on cause we're here to rescue you!" Junkrat yelled over all the chaos, very distinctly.

The Courier growled as grabbed his knife and looked around, but couldn't immediately see the Queen anywhere. Seeing her big car was gone too, not among the wreckage being created. His search was disturbed by another car going up in flames, and he scrambled to find his pack and guns. He'll deal with the Queen later.

He got up, but first turned around and ran to the tank. Reaching to his belt, he pulled out a Plasma Grenade while he hopped on the tank and got to the top of the turret. Seeing the crew occupied with trying to revive their friend. He pulled the pin, dropped the grenade inside, and slammed the door shut on top of them. He then hopped off, running away before he could hear the scream of the men and the explosion from inside. The powerful energy grenade blew a plume of lava-hot plasma out of any ports it found and quickly melted the tank from inside. It's large frame now dissolving like chocolate in the sun, and becoming glowing green sludge. The plasma setting off some of the warheads the tank had, at least the ones still intact. The explosion was so great and distinct, that even Junkrat paused and looked at it in awe. The green glinting off his eyes.

"Oh ho hooo!" was all he could verbalize, absolutely in love with what he just saw. "You've got to show me one of those bombs of yours, mate!"

Nathan said nothing as he hopped into the carriage and immediately began firing at the cars, providing covering fire as Rutledge twisted the throttle and the chopper sped off into the Outback. A few of the Junker's driving after them.


A couple hundred meters away, the Queen drove her large monster truck in the complete opposite direction until she slammed on the breaks. She hurriedly reached up, grabbing the receiver for her CB radio, tuning the frequency, and pressing a couple of buttons. She breathed heavily for a few moments, trying to get her bearings. Shutting her eyes for a minute, and opening them to reveal a set of fiery auburn orbs.

"Attention all Junkers, attention all Junkers!" she called into the radio, her tone clearly livid. "There is a mad, mad psychopath out there riding with the Rat and the Pig, riding due West of the Scrapheap. I want every able-bodied bastard out there and hunting them down! There will be a hefty reward to anyone who'll bring me their heads, and nothing but their heads! This is your Queen, speaking. Over, and out."

The Queen of Junkertown clicked the radio off, snapping the receiver back into place. She sat there for several silent moments, holding onto the wheel, and breathing hard. Snapping her eyes shut and leaning her forehead against her wheel.

"Fuck!"


The three on the motorcycle were speeding along an old road and had just left the Omnium grounds. They weren't the only ones, as the surviving and more headstrong ranks of the War Party were giving pursuit. While Rutledge's hog was a powerful and deafening machine, the more advanced automobiles were quickly catching up to them. Nathan fired his rifle at the marauding Junkers to alleviate the pressure.

The wagon was replaced with a larger cart that was much more fitted to his size and had plenty of cover with its sides. Big and wide enough for him to even stand. Wasn't as smooth or stable as he'd like, but it was a huge improvement, nonetheless.

Shooting down another biker crew getting too close, he expertly changed mags when something nearly flew into them and burst into flames onto the sands. To his left of the wagon, there was another car tailing them with a man hanging out of the passenger side with a Molotov cocktail. The Courier instantly knew what to shoot, hovering the little red reticle of his scope near the Junker's hand. With a squeeze of the trigger, he watched as the passenger burst into flames and scream before jumping out of the window. The driver hitting the brakes and stopping for their comrade.

Nathan stopped and crouched down for a second, breathing heavily as he watched the car get far. His eyes then twitched to other splotches in the distance, glinting and kicking up dust as they followed. He sneered at first but realized his mouth was still drenched in blood. He immediately wiped it off, scraping his face into the sleeve of his shirt and spitting to the sand. With most of it off, he put his helmet back on and walked over to the front of the cart.

"Sorry about accidentally leaving you to die, mate!" Junkrat exclaimed with a grin, noticing him come up. "Turns out Jerry looks indistinguishable from you with that coat of yours. Honest!"

"Can it," the Courier responded, not in a humorous mood. "What the fuck are we doing, now?!"

"I'm glad you asked! You see, Roadhog and I had some time to devise a totally new plan to get rid of the Queen. Basically, waste her and her entire brigade!"

"… That it?"

"Well, there's also a part where we rigged an old bridge a couple clicks from here to blow and bring them all down with the rubble, but that's more a backup plan if we weren't able to finish Step A… And speaking of Step A!"

Nathan turned around to see what he was talking about, and sure enough, there was another armada of Junkers currently on their tail. This convoy of destruction seemed somewhat larger, their numbers replenished with fresh reinforcements from nowhere. Looking to their sides, he could see even more cars come up over the dunes and drifting over to them. His eyes scanned the surroundings, spotting everyone that was out to get them. However, far behind them and in the middle of the Armada that had formed, he saw the large, dark frames of the Queen's wheeled vehicle.

"Take on all of that?" Brin asked, frowning. "…Fuck it."

"That's the spirit!" Junkrat exclaimed, bringing up his grenade launcher. "Now, the Queen will most definitely keep herself to the center of her armada to be protected on all sides. What we must do is whittle their numbers and chip away like miners searching for gold. Except, the ore, in this case, is a rather venomous rattlesnake with a mohawk. They'll chase Roadie's hog all over the bush, but we may need to divert some of their attention to make sure they don't turn him into roadkill by the time we get to the bridge."

"And how do we do that?"

Jamison "Junkrat" Fawkes only grinned upon being asked, producing a match and striking it against his vest to light it. Nathan narrowed his eyes at him before he looked down and noticed a fuse stemming out from his sidecar. Watching in terror as the Junker lit it.

"Getting close and personal!"

The fuse quickly burned through and a rocket-like nozzle lit up and almost burned Nathan's face off. Junkrat decoupled his sidecar from the motorcycle when it blasted off into the air and flew over them. Nathan watched him in complete surprise and astonishment as the sidecar then veered towards the oncoming convoy, the rocket ripping through the air and the "pilot" cackling madly as he rode it like a steer. His ride was short-lived, however, when it then crashed on top of a huge truck and knocked a few passengers off into the sand. A few moments later, Junkrat rose from the wreckage covered in soot but somehow unscathed. Waving to Nathan and Mako.

"Crazy motherfucker!" the former exclaimed.

"Yup," the latter agreed.

Without deliberation, Junkrat began lobbing bombs at the surrounding cars. It was surprisingly effective, many of the vehicles bobbing and weaving to avoid getting hit. Those hit becoming fiery scrap in seconds. Some of them even started to crash into each other, not expecting the sudden surprise. That only resulted in a marginal dip in their numbers, and it wasn't long until they started retaliating.

Nathan pulled out his rifle as he saw men climb out of the truck and onto the carriage, shooting them before they could get close to Jamison. In retaliation, he started receiving fire from cars that were at the front and closest to them. He felt the cart begin to wind and move as Mako took evasive action, speeding up the motorcycle if he had to.

He kept firing, his rounds peppering the windshields of some of them. Taking out a few gunners, passengers, and drivers wasn't difficult – even at these speeds – but it still seemed like an unrewarding effort as there was always someone quick to replace whoever he just killed. Some cars becoming wobbly for just a few seconds before their driver is thrown out the door and someone else is behind the wheel.

Suddenly, he was knocked off his feet and fell to the cart as the motorcycle suddenly decreased speed. He noticed a shadow wash over them and looked to see a truck had gotten in front. The truck tried to brake-check them, but Roadhog expertly dodged and swerved out of the way and went up to its side. Even with that, more shadows appeared on top of the truck with three figures climbing and looking down at them. Nathan brought his rifle up and shot at all three of them before they could do anything, one of them falling and landing straight into his cart, nearly on top of him. Then his weapon clattered to the floor next to his corpse. Nathan sat up, seeing a sawed-off shotgun conveniently there.

The sound of a motorcycle was approaching the left and Nathan stood up to see a rider and passenger getting ready to strike at them with their weapons. They got close, but Nathan grabbed the sawed-off and fired a powerful blast that blew the passenger's head off and sent them reeling to the road. The driver was about to retaliate, but a large hook knocked him off his motorcycle and rolling across the road. Then, Roadhog pulled out his shotgun with his other hand and blasted another motorcycle duo with a wall of scrap. The fat man holstered his gun and hook, before looking over his shoulder and nodding. The Courier returning the gesture.

The cart shook again as the truck slammed into them. Nathan looked up to see the cabin for the truck was high and armored, not providing a good view for him to try and shoot it head on. Subsequently, he looked down at the crude but working "scattergun" he had acquired and saw that its former-owner had a bandolier of ammo for it. Also, some of the contents of his pack spilled out over the cart floor, and some of them were his glowing, green grenades.

"Rutledge!" he exclaimed, catching his attention. "Bring me in front of the truck. I've got an idea."

Rutledge looked at him for several moments before simply nodding and cranking the throttle on his bike. The bike chugged as it got faster, able to overtake the truck and even avoid getting pitted by it. Now in front, Nathan ejected the spent cartridge from the shotgun and replaced it with a fresh one, before grabbing one of his grenades and standing up from cover. Pulling the pin, he threw the grenade directly to the windshield and brought up the barrel of the shotgun. He squeezed the trigger and the plasma grenade exploded into a cloud of super-heated green energy. It dissipated a second later to reveal the cabin half-melted and a melting skeleton in the driver's seat. The truck then tipped and skidded onto its side, car and bikes narrowly turning to avoid hitting its large body. A few were unlucky, and Nathan got to watch the whole thing before it spontaneously exploded. Even Junkrat had to pause what he was doing to watch the flame rise into the sky, mixed with some green.

"Oooh, what a lovely sight!" the explosive freak exclaimed in delight. "Ha, this is like those old movies!"

The Queen could see the flames from where she was, and it didn't take long for her pass-by the huge wreckage that was created by the sudden bright-green explosion. After looking at it, she turned her eyes back at the road and seethed towards the horizon. She grabbed the gear lever and kicked it into high-gear, the rev of her car becoming louder and feeling it vibrate through the body. Quickly taking up speed and making it to the front.

Nathan repeated the shotgun-plasma grenade combo after being successful on the large truck, practically obliterating any vehicle foolish enough to veer lose to Roadhog or the cart. Sometimes just using the shotgun itself to blast any small vehicles that came close. Some of them now began to keep their distance from the chopper and cart, resorting to more ranged options and trying to take them out.

"Cowards."

A large pick-up truck suddenly sped up and got in front of the motorcycle but trying not to get too close. In the truck's bed was a mounted gun with an operator turning it to fire. Seeing this, Roadhog brought out his hook again and began spinning it in a circle as he swerved and speeded to avoid incoming fire. After a few more revolutions, he threw the hook at the truck and successfully hooked the machine-gunner, activating the crank at his hip and ripping the man out from the turret. Nathan was too preoccupied with shooting when the hooked man crashed into him and they were both sent over the edge of the cart. Fortunately, Nathan grabbed the edge just in time and hovered over the moving road. He wasn't the only one in a precarious position, as he looked to his side to see the Junker Roadhog hooked hanging on for dear life, as well. The Courier quickly blasted him directly with the shotgun, removing excess weight and splattering blood all over himself, as if he wasn't covered in enough shit.

He was about to clamber back in the cart but looked back at the rest of the convoy to see that their numbers had significantly dwindled. Everything surprisingly going according to "plan". There were still quite a few, and he was doubting they would be able to take all of them out by the time they would be forced to take "Step B". However, in his sightseeing, he spotted the large-wheeled vehicle amidst the crowd. A red mohawk very visible through the windshield. A twitch in his brain going off.

"Rutledge!" he yelled, climbing back in, and running to the front. "I'm going on the offensive; Need to cut these bastards down more quickly. Bring me close to a car and I'll jump on!"

Roadhog hesitated for a moment but nodded his head in the end. Eventually, the chopper sped up again and the cart was brought up to the side of the truck from earlier. Affixing the shotgun to his belt, Nathan jumped and got his arms around the edge of the flatbed. Quickly climbing on, a man popped from the passenger side window but Roadhog's hook flew in and swept him away.

Back on his feet, Nathan grabbed one of his rifles and began firing away at the other cars, some of them losing control and crashing into the others. He was unrelenting in his shooting, even with fire coming his way. People and bikes droppings like flies with every shot. As a result, the truck he was on began to drive erratically to try knocking off. The driver succeeded when he slammed the brakes and made the tall man fall on his back. Yet, Nathan saw they were close to another car, so he got up and jumped from the flatbed. Leaving a grenade while he was at it.

Landing on the hood of the other car as an explosion went off behind, Junkers popped out from the car to try and shoot them, but Nathan swiftly dropped them with his carbine. Not wanting to waste any more time, he got to his feet again and ran across the car before jumping to another pickup truck. He gave the one he was a going-away present, as well, a fragmentation grenade ripping up anyone inside.

On the second truck, two men popped up through the sunroof to deal with the Waster but were quickly blasted by a barrel each from the sawed-off. He got to the flatbed but stopped as soon as he heard someone calling out to him.

"Hey, Postman!" he heard Fawkes call out to him, on a different vehicle. "The bridge is coming up!"

Looking to where he was pointing, Nathan turned around to see that there was a canyon that couldn't have been more than a couple of clicks out. On the horizon and with a derelict bridge right in their view. He heard another explosion and turned back to see Junkrat flying after he launched himself into another vehicle, and lobbing more bombs. That was when Nathan's eyes landed on the Queen's chariot and he had that cold chill crawl up his gut, again. Seeing she was only a couple of cars over from him. He couldn't reflect longer as the truck was suddenly rammed, and he flew forward and hit the grille of a big-rig.

He grabbed the hood ornament, barely hanging on as he dangled over the air. A Junker from the passenger's side leans out to shoot him but Nathan returns with a shotgun blast to the face. The truck driver then tries to hit him, and Nathan hits him too but only blows his hand off. The truck driver writhes in pain, letting go of the wheel and causing the truck to veer to the right. It slams into a car, practically plowing it under its wheels. Having enough, the dangling Waster got up the hood, clambered over the cabin, and jumped over to the trailer the rig was hauling. He kept running, running fast enough that when he jumped off he barely made it to the Queen's chariot and grabbed ahold of the stout bars at the front of the car.

Quickly clambering up to the hood, feeling his blood boil with every heartbeat, he got into view of the windshield and fired his sawed-off one more time towards the driver's seat. Towards the Queen.

The glass clouded but remained intact as the Queen jerked back and had her vision obscured. She watched as the man then climbed onto his hood and maintained a footing even when she began to swerve and jerk the wheel forcefully, even ramming some of the cars. The man in black armor maintained his grip, staring at the windshield the entire time.

Nathan could have unloaded any of his rifles to break the glass, he could've used one of his grenades to melt this piece of scrap car and her with it, or he could've just kicked the glass out and lunged at her there. He didn't want to because he wanted to make this last.

The Courier jumped up, climbing onto the roof, and getting to the monster truck's flatbed. Setting foot there, a Junker tried to lunge at him with a club, but he dodged the attack and simultaneously took out his blade, stabbing him with it. Ripping through his flesh, he kicked the Junker off and turned to face the inside of the cabin with his bloodied knife.

The Queen looked back, casting a seething glare before she gave the wheels to her remaining subordinate and got up from her seat. Bringing her battle-ax in tow.

When she got out, the two stared at each other for several moments as bombs and gunshots went off all around them. The noise of her chariot's engine almost deafening out there. Even then, Nathan's eyes glanced behind her to see the bridge getting close.

He wasted no more time as he roared and charged towards her, the Queen bringing up her ax to block the blade. She then pivoted her ax and pushed him away, positioning herself to swing at him. With powerful, fast swipes at her opponent, she backs him into the corner and tried to bring her weapon crashing down on him, but the Courier sidesteps it to make it cleave into the hull and kicks her in the face. She lets go and falls to the side, almost falling off her truck. The Queen then yelps in pain as something pulls on her pony-tail hard and slams her back to the floor. A hand wraps around her throat, almost choking her, and looks up to see the red-eyes hanging over her. Barely looking human with all the drab on.

The driver tries to intervene, but the Courier shoots him dead and he slumps against the wheel with his feet jammed into the pedal.

The Waster looks back down at the Junker Queen, watching her struggle with her neck in a vise. Wasting no time as he retrieves one of the knives hanging from her belt and jabs her in the stomach with it. She gasps, her eyes becoming wide as disks. Peering up at the helmeted outsider, and feeling pain reel up her spine when he began to twist it, slowly. He wanted to make this last, make her hurt for what the Queen tried to do, but the plan and his surroundings had other ideas.

Instead, he just bent down and had his face up against hers. Watching as the Queen's eyes become filled with terror, pain, and anguish in the last few moments of her life. His only regret was not coming here sooner to deal with this Royal Rapist.

"Tyrant," was all he said to her when he retracted the blade from her stomach, making her yell even more in pain, and jammed it through her pony-tail and into the bed.

The Courier stood up, only to be suddenly scooped up by a large hook and taken off the chariot.

After that, explosions started to go off around the bridge, and the weak concrete and rebar began to crumble beneath the convoy. At the front, Roadhog, Junkrat, and the Courier sped along as explosions went off meters behind them. The hog roaring with fury and spitting out flames. Fortunately, the old vehicle crossed the gap in time as the final explosion went off and the last of the bridge began to crumble into the canyon below. Taking the convoy of Junkers with it.

The Queen tried to wrestle her hair from the knife, but it was firmly in the metal and nothing she could do made it budge. As she felt her chariot begin to dip and fall through the air, the Queen of Junkertown let out a final scream as she plummeted hundreds of meters. The rest of her surviving convoy joining each other in their final moments. Eventually, the screams grew distant and there were only a few more explosions and crashes that echoed from the bottom.

After that, things around the Outback became quiet.

Nathan Brin walked to the edge of the destroyed bridge and looked over to see the tons of wreckage consecrated at the bottom of the canyon. Fire and mounds of scrapped metal where there should be a river.

He took his helmet off, looking with his own eyes. As he watched the wreckage settle into the river and his breathing become steadier, he brought his hand up and looked at the sawed-off. Feeling the heat of the barrel radiate to the wooden grip and through his gloves. The Waster tossed it down into the canyon, the weapon having served its purpose for him.

The Courier walked away from the edge, going to where Junkrat and Roadhog were.

"I have to say, mate," Junkrat said, sounding out of breath but with a smile. "That was one of the wildest rides I've ever been on! You wiped the floor with those bludgers. Never seen anyone work the way you do. Can definitely see why you ended up with those Overwatch blokes! Good onya, Cour-!"

Jamison yelped as Nathan decked him straight in the face, unexpectedly, knocking him to the ground and making him immediately clutch his face as he began to writhe in pain.

"Next time, just shoot the person you want to kill!" the Courier angrily berated, shaking the pain on his knuckles away. Turning to face the larger man in the gas-mask. "You don't mind if I do it just this once, right?"

The masked bodyguard for Junkrat turned his head to look at his charge rolling on the ground. Blood already pouring out of his nose.

"Tell me next time, Brin," Rutledge responded.

"Okay…Okay!" Fawkes said, his voice more nasally as he got up and held one hand over his bloody nose. "I may have deserved that for what's happened recently. I'll admit, there definitely are some things that could've been avoided on my part. Maybe a bit on Roadhog… But did you really have to go for the face?!"

Mako and Nathan just looked at him, before the latter just silently walked away. Clambering into the cart and sitting his ass down.

"Let's go."


They drove half-an-hour away to a flat part of the Outback, but one that had much more grass and trees than what he'd ever seen around Junkertown.

With his pack and rifles close-by, Brin was pissing onto the trunk of a short tree. His urine in an unusually orange tint, with an empty, used-up bag of Rad-Away a couple of feet away. He soon finished, getting the last dribbles of radioactive pee out before putting his dick away and zipping up his pants. Still feeling a bit woozy and nauseous from the self-medicating that Dr. Ziegler would not approve of.

Nathan grabbed his pack and his rifles, walking over to a little campfire that Jamison and Mako had set-up close to the parked hog. Mako tending to the fire as he cooked more kangaroo and Jamison fidgeting with a bandage around his nose.

"Don't pick at it."

"I'm not!"

Plopping his gear and himself down, Nathan sat and stared at the dancing fire. Already feeling himself want to go to sleep.

He pulled out his Vault 13 Canteen but shook it to listen to the inside. Getting the cap off, he turned it upside down and caused only one little drop to fall out. Frustrated, he put it away to stare at the fire again.

"Want some of mine?" Jamison suddenly asked, holding a canteen of his own and shaking it. Able to hear its contents swish inside.

Nathan was a bit wary about sharing a drink with someone who was covered in soot and somehow had perpetually burning hair, but then remembered he just bit into a human heart.

He reached over and took the canteen from the Junker, opening it and bringing it up to his lips. He seized up as something sweet and creamy flooded into his mouth and he jerked away from the canteen. Almost spitting it out.

"The fuck's in that?" he asked, coughing as he handed the canteen back to its owner.

"Milk tea with boba. Half-sweet," Junkrat happily answered, taking a swig of his own. "Was able to nick some back at Junkertown."

He could've gone on, rambling about whatever his inane brain jumped to in the next moment, but the flame of their campfire swished in the wind when an MV-261 Orca flew overhead and hovered over the open ground they were near.

Nathan reached for his pack, tossing it over his back. He then looked towards the rifles, his eyes landing on the Brush Gun before quickly glancing at the two Junkers watching the ship. He grabbed his rifle holsters and wrapped it around his chest, finally standing up and walking away from the campfire.

"Thanks for the help," Nathan said, leaving them tired and with two glowing fusion cores on his back.

However, when the dropship landed, and the ramp opened, Nathan couldn't get on when a squad of soldiers rushed past him and pointed their weapons at the two Junkers. Then, another soldier rushed out in blue power armor before rocketing into the air, hovering over her men, and pointing a rocket launcher at the Australians.

"Junkrat and Roadhog! Lay down your arms and put your hands behind your backs!" Captain Fareeha Amari ordered, clearly not trying to make friends.

"Amari, what the fuck are you doing?!" Nathan Brin yelled up at her, running in front of the squad and her.

"Step aside, Brin. They are wanted criminals, and it is our duty as Overwatch agents to bring them in for justice!"

"They're the fucking contacts I had for this mission!"

"That's true, but that doesn't change the fact that they have committed crimes around the globe. Ranging from theft to murder!"

Nathan looked up at her, almost able to believe what she just said. This didn't seem like a proper way of saying "thanks", though…

"Now, now, now, now, now, hold on! Let me just clear one thing straight!" Junkrat began, bringing all eyes on him with his broken nose and nasally voice. "I'm not just some crazed, cold-blooded murderer; I'm just a murderer of the cold-blooded and crazed! There's a difference. I'm like you blokes!"

Nathan's face scrunched up when he said that, and the other Overwatch agents exchanged glances with each other. Captain Amari squinted frowned at them for a moment before shaking her head.

"That's enough! You're coming with us, dead or alive!"

"Uhm… I'd prefer alive."

"Amari, just what is going on?" Brin further questioned, only getting frustrated. "Did Winston have anything to say about this?"

Even in the dim light, Nathan could see her lose that serious expression for a moment, casting a glance to the side. Been stuck with her long enough to know how unlike her that seemed.

"Wait… He didn't, did he?" the observant Waster questioned, scowling at the woman in power armor. "Amari, if you fucked something up, I hope you can unfuck it because I sure as hell ain't-!"

"We accept your proposal for our arrest."

Nathan twisted on his heel to see Junkrat holding his hands up for everyone to see with an unworried smile. Now, everyone was confused.

"I realize after our little cameo in A Moment in Crime that we've become quite the international sensation," Junkrat admitted, his face beaming. "So, whatever you wish to do, I'm sure there is something we can all work out."

And then, he stood there, with his hands and his chin held high. Taking a little moment to look at Roadhog and nudge him in the elbow. A moment later, his partner sighed as he rose his hands up, too.

Everyone was silent for a while, either staring at the surrendering Junker or exchanging confused glances with each other. Even Nathan and Fareeha had a little moment, unable to find any clarification. And Roadhog just stood there, groaning as he shook his head.

"Fuck this! Y'all work this shit out amongst yourselves!" Nathan ranted, swaying his head, and stomping over to the dropship. "I'm taking a nap."

He left them, climbing onto the dropship while everyone else just watched. Everything was quiet in the Outback for several, long, awkward moments, until Junkrat spoke up again to break the silence.

"Uh, is it okay if we bring my partner's chopper with us? It's an antique."


Rant-Time: Okay, one thing I do during the process of writing these chapters is that I have tabs for the Overwatch and Fallout Gamepedia pages open on Chrome, so I can have some lore sources to refer to if needed. To learn things I can use for the story or brush up on lore I'm not too sure of. I sometimes miss one or two things, but it usually isn't a dealbreaker.

HOWEVER… For these chapters, it wasn't until I had already written half of it that I learned that Junkertown and the Australian Omnium are the SAME PLACE!

When the Overwatch Gamepedia page said that Junkertown was "constructed from the ruins of the Australian omnium", I somehow thought it meant that they just took parts from the Omnium and constructed Junkertown elsewhere, but not the other way around! I didn't learn this until I looked at one of the videos Blizzard made previewing the map THAT WAS IN THE FUCKING REFERENCES SECTION AS A MERE LINK AND NOT THE FUCKING VIDEO SECTION!

FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCKK!

Anyways, I hope that doesn't take away from the enjoyment any of y'all could get from this update. And thank goodness this is just a FanFic.

Thank you for reading!