Chapter Text

Prologue



Standing on the Edge





It had taken divine powers for them all to meet, or so it seemed. All twenty-four of them, mortal enemies, longtime friends, lovers, brothers. Now on the brink of destruction, as the light grew stronger, there wasn't anyone to act. Those that hadn't stopped breathing, that hadn't been shattered before, were broken beyond belief. Still, a few tried. They crawled to the control panel, to the central computer, to the machine itself, believing that a single press of a button, a single strike or a bullet would be enough to stop it. A lightning exploded from the column of white light illuminating them.



Mercy shivered. She'd taken a bad fall, and knew for a fact that half of her ribs where broken, and one had pierced her lung. Breathing was becoming harder with each passing second. Still, with what she had left of her staff, she crawled forward, toward the machine. She ignored the tears falling on her bloodied cheeks. They fell more intensely every time she passed one of her fallen friends.



Tracer could feel it. Time. It passed around her and pushed her every which way, and there was nothing she could hold on to. Then her chrono-accelerator turned on again, and she fell to the ground, all of her injuries suddenly coming back to her. Her broken wrist, the bullet hole in her leg, and that stupid piece of metal logged in her side, which had torn one of the straps holding her accelerator. She saw only devastation in the bright light of the column, a useless one as none of them had managed to accomplish their goal, and shut the machine off. But maybe she could turn its power off. She would probably be electrocuted in the process. She choked on a sob. Sorry Em, she thought, I won't make it in time for our date, this time.



Hanzo thought he had passed out from pain a while back. When his arm had been cut off, more precisely. The burning pain coming from his shoulder had almost dissipated by now, mixed with the pain he felt for his other wounds. The large cut on his chest, the arrow in his calf. He thought he had bled out a long time ago, but he still managed to stand. Only then did he notice Genji. In all this chaos and bloody desolation, he could only see Genji, or what was left of him. A dead metal puppet, his katana still in his inert hand, only a few feet away from the light. His mask had been taken off, and Hanzo felt those lifeless eyes staring at him. If this was to be his last action, then so be it. He stumbled forward until he could pick up his brother's broken blade.



Symmetra was powerless. Her arm had been broken. Both of her arms had been broken, actually, but her flesh one she didn't really care about. Blue liquid poured out of the torn apart tubes. Her hand had to be lying somewhere, she knew. So she crawled around, her vision obscured by blood. She would have stood up, but the bullet in her liver wouldn't allow it. How she wasn't dead to begin with, she didn't know. The broken metal of her arm hit what she first thought was a wall before she realized it was the control panel. Maybe it wasn't too late if only she could stand up, if only she still had arms strong enough to carry her.



Widowmaker was almost surprised to find she was the less wounded one of the group. She had only lost an eye. She had passed Ana's body as she had walked closer to the beam of light and almost wished the old sniper could have commented on it, told her how it was just retribution. She wished it badly, but the old woman had expired quite a while ago already. With her only eye, she surveyed the room. Amongst lifeless bodies was Angela, crawling her way to the light, whereas Hanzo was limping ahead of her. Tracer was desperately pulling on every cable she could grab when she didn't disappear completely. Symmetra was desperately trying to stand up to reach the controls. It was her Widowmaker decided to help. There was no helping the others. She came to stand next to the woman and helped her up. She couldn't see her well, now that she was leaning on her left shoulder, but Widowmaker thought it was for the better.



"Can you do something about it?"



"I'll try..." Symmetra let out in a breath.



Widowmaker brought her to the control panel, and supported her, while Symmetra's remaining fingers flew over various buttons and levers.



"It's not working."



"It won't work."



Widowmaker had to turn completely to her left, bringing Symmetra along with her, to see a tired Sombra walking up to them. She was in rough shape, her belt empty of translocators, the lights on her head off. She was so bloodied it almost seemed she had rolled in someone else's blood. Widowmaker could only guess whose.



"It's too late. All we can do now is wait."



Widowmaker thought Symmetra would protest, that she wouldn't give up just yet, but not a single word passed through her lips. It was Widowmaker who asked:



"What is going to happen now?"



"I have no idea, araña, but I doubt we'll live long enough to find out."



To Widowmaker's questioning look, Sombra pushed her jacket aside, revealing a large piece of metal stuck in her belly. Just the sight of it made Widowmaker grimace.



"Yep. I don't want to pull it out just yet. I want to see what is gonna happen first."



She let herself fall against the wall and winced at the pain.



"Then maybe, who knows, I'll come back as something else. I've always wanted to be a cat."



Widowmaker glanced back at the beam of light, and those, desperate enough, who were still trying to stop it, among bolts of lightning and the hot air suffocating them. She carried Symmetra and gently laid her next to Sombra. The architect let her head fall on Sombra's shoulder, too tired to stand straight any longer.



"I hope I'll be reborn as a bird... But for all my luck, I'll be a pigeon..."



"I don't know, I think you'll make a nice peacock," Sombra replied.



Widowmaker glanced once again at the light, and the control panel, indicating that it was almost charged to its maximum. She sighed and sat next to Sombra.



There was a sudden flash when Hanzo tried to hit the beam with a katana, and he was thrown back violently. His burned body landed against the wall, and he fell on someone else's corpse. Neither of the three girls could see who it was, but they didn't really care either.



"What about you, araña, what do you want to be, in your next life?"



"Human." she simply replied.



Sombra smiled.



"I like that."



The beam finished charging just as Mercy tried to hit the bottom of the machine with her staff. Just as Tracer finally managed to pull out one of the plugs. Just as Symmetra closed her eyes, never to open them again. The beam suddenly drowned them all, forcing Sombra to close her eyes as well. Only Widowmaker kept her eye open, staring blankly ahead.