Chapter 2 – When did Overwatch heroes become so OP

As Alex watched floating just above the walls surrounding the city, the final parts of the barrier fizzled out. He watched on in shocked horror as the monsters piled up into a massive tower easily dwarfing the size of the Christ statue and prepared to fall on Rio.

Watching as the children below in the city started to cry into their parents' arms and the families all cuddled up to each other preparing for the worst. Alex found himself trapped by the desperation in each of their eyes. However, just as the huge wiggling mass was about to fall onto Rio a supersonic boom sounded, and the Swarm exploded into bits. Alex looked over in confusion wondering where exactly the sound came from 'What the hell was that bang? It sounded like a missile was fired or something.'

This confused Alex even more since in his plans Winston didn't mention anything about preplaced weapons to be placed in front of the walls. It couldn't have come from within the city either since Alex would have at least seen the trail it left as it tore through the air while he watched the residents. As Alex pondered over the possibility of an invisible missile the aftereffects of the explosion finished dispersing and the eye of the explosion became clear. What Alex saw there shocked him tremendously.

'What the actual fuck! Doomfist! Since when could he hit that hard?' Alex exclaimed in awe as he watched the tall African warlord slowly rise from the crater he had punched in the ground. Alex's attention was immediately drawn to the beautiful gauntlet on his right hand. Alex watched on as the swarm surrounded Doomfist and rose around him preparing to crush him underneath their combined weight.

"Meteor Strike" Caught off guard when Doomfist's body tensed as he bent his knees followed by the iconic callout from Overwatch. Alex could only observe in awe as Doomfist jumped sailing dozens of kilometres into the air before his gauntlet started to glow blue with power and he looked back down.

"No way! Is this for real? Am I about to see Meteor Strike in person?!" Alex, despite the incomprehensible situation he found himself in, couldn't help the anticipation of getting to watch one of his favourite characters perform their abilities in person. However, that excitement was soon replaced by a dumbfounded face as Doomfist started falling towards the ground, only to break through various sound barriers like it was nothing. Doomfist's speed became so fast that Alex could only see a blue comet falling from the sky. Tracing Doomfists path with his eyes, Alex confirmed that Doomfists target was near the centre of the incoming Swarm.

Just as Alex was about to look back up towards Doomfist, the blue meteor hit the ground in the middle of the Swarm causing the Earth to shake and a shockwave to erupt tearing through the surroundings. Alex, even in his incorporeal state, could still clearly feel the pressure generated by that attack even if it didn't affect him. Finally, after the shockwaves died down Alex could see the devastating result of that attack. He looked forward towards the centre of the blast only to see a bottomless hole. All the monsters within hundreds of metres had been obliterated into nothingness while spanning for a dozen kilometres where the remaining body parts of the monsters that avoided the initial impact but were hit by the shockwaves.

Alex just looked at the outcome in silence. His mind shut down on seeing a human with the power of tactical missiles. As he further observed Doomfists completely healthy figure walking out of the pit not even breathing heavily. Alex was struck by the realisation that Doomfist hadn't put his all behind that attack.

'Holy Shit! Can a human really reach a level like that?' Alex thought. Even though Alex knew that the Overwatch Earth was far more mystical and scientifically advanced than his Earth, he still could not believe that he was looking at the same character who in game and even in the lore was barely capable of levelling city blocks.

'Am I in some kind of Ultimate version of the Overwatch Universe' It was the only conclusion Alex could reach after going over everything he had just seen. However, before he could think more on the topic, he heard continuous shouts and explosions from around him. Looking around him he saw the other members of Overwatch using their own very much improved abilities to completely decimate the Swarm around the city.

As Alex watched on. His worries slowly slipped away, seeing the ease with which the Overwatch heroes were dealing with the Swarm. Convinced of their inevitable victory, he set his eyes back towards the incredible technology all around the city marvelling at the sci-fi technology the city was built with. 1 and a half hours later, as the sounds of battling started to die down, Alex floated out of the city towards the front of the walls where he could see the assembled members of Overwatch. 

However, as Alex approached, he noticed that the atmosphere surrounding the team wasn't right. Logically after that extremely long and intensive battle they should be beginning to relax and celebrate but looking at the members of Overwatch who did not seem to be celebrating at all but becoming more tense by the second Alex was unable to understand their reactions.

Before Alex could get any closer, in hopes of overhearing their conversation. He felt a sudden tug upwards before his body shot into the atmosphere stopping just short of leaving the planet's gravitational field. Stabilising himself after the rapid climb Alex adjusted to his new height before looking back down towards the ground. As he looked Alex vaguely noticed that his sight was at a superhuman level considering he could clearly make out most of what was happening in Rio from even this high of an altitude. As Alex slowly looked away from Rio and towards the rest of the planet he froze immediately after his sight left the first few dozens of kilometres surrounding Rio.

"Fuck! This....How is This possible? What can be done against something like this?" Alex had to look away to stop himself from going sick to the stomach - didn't want to puke up his own soul - at what he just witnessed. Alex had expected to see an image like those online from his last life when looking at the Earth from space, with blue and green expanses covering the planet.

 Instead, what he saw was a squirming mass of black around the whole planet. Only now did Alex finally understand the reaction of the Overwatch heroes.

"It's impossible to deal with all of this!" As Alex reached that conclusion he looked on in horror as the squirming mass of black suddenly rushed in the direction of the only tiny remaining area of green on the planet. The Swarm was heading in full force towards Rio. 

Watching this Alex could only form one thought in his head 'There all fucked!'

.

..

...

110 hours (about four and a half days). That's how long Alex watched the heroes of Overwatch fight an impossible battle against the Swarm. Hour after hour he watched them slowly exhaust all their energy while desperately resisting the advancement of the Swarm. It was at the 20-hour mark when the first member fell. Widowmaker, he had observed her throughout the fight - purely for educational purposes - and noticed she held a strong distrust towards both the members of Overwatch and the former members of Talon. That distrust had led her to fighting on her own far from the others and she ended up surrounded in the middle of the Swarm too far away for help. By the time the others noticed she had already been swallowed by the Swarm.

By the 50th hour the original 39 dedicated heroes had been cut down by 19. The last to fall was Lucio. Without the passive boost to both morale and health his music provided for the remaining team members; their formation started to crumble as they slowly retreated into the city of Rio.

By the 80th hour the heroes had grown desperate and started throwing out their strongest attacks without worrying about exhaustion.

By the 105th hour there remained only four members of Overwatch alive: Soldier 76, Tracer, Winston, and Mercy. Each wrapped from head to toe in injuries and broken equipment, breathing heavily as they fought for their survival. They had retreated to the barrier around the civilians which it seemed that they could enter but the Swarm could not. However, Alex knew that even they would soon fall leaving the civilians they protected unguarded and waiting to be devoured.

At the 108th hour right when Alex knew they would not be able to last any longer. As if they agreed on it beforehand, Winston, Mercy, and Soldier suddenly placed down beacons that erected another barrier around Tracer and the civilians, but the beacons were set on the outside with the remaining three heroes. They were trapped outside of the barrier.

"What are you doing? Let me out of here! I can still fight with you." Tracer yelled anxiously at her comrades outside of the barrier.

"I can't do that kid. You know as well as I do that your fight isn't with us here anymore." Soldier spoke out in a gruff low tone while turning his back on Tracer, facing towards the Swarm that slowly crawled towards them as if to mock the futility of their final struggle.

"He is right Tracer. Now is not the time for your fight to end. You have so much more to accomplish." Mercy stated before turning her back on Tracer and amping Soldier as he prepared to activate his ultimate Tactical Visor. This ability allows him to slow down his own perception and increases his reaction speed dramatically, which combined with his already incredible aim makes it impossible for him to miss.

 However, with his visor broken his body can no longer withstand the burden. After the explosion that decimated the original Swiss Overwatch headquarters, the ability takes a huge toll on his body which the visor reduced keeping the ability combat effective. Now without it Soldier would be lucky if he lasts half as long as normal and can stay standing after he runs out of fuel.

"I'll be countin on you to make this work with that magic of yours Doc" Soldier told Mercy as he got into a sprinting stance.

"Don't worry. I've got your back." Mercy stated, beginning her own preparations by flicking a switch on her staff tripling the size of her amp beam. While bending over into a running position, she unfurled what remained of her angel wings which had long been torn and ripped into pieces and continued "And it's not magic you buffoon. It's science" A light smile settled onto her lips even as the Swarm barred down around them.

As they prepared for their last moments of service, Wiston slowly turned to face Tracer who had tears streaming down her face. "Please, Winston don't do this. We can still fight this together. Just like always, we'll find a way together." Tracer begged Winston as she saw him preparing to turn around too.

Winston paused briefly and looked back at Tracer before shouting in a stern voice "Tracer!" His sudden exclamation caught Tracer off guard as she unconsciously straightened up and listened "You are a member of Overwatch, and you dedicated your life to ensure the betterment and survival of the Earth and her people no matter the cost did you not?" He shouted at Tracer.

 "But..." Tracer tried to refute but was interrupted once again by Winston "Did you or did you not make that Oath!"

 "I did." Tracer replied weakly while in the background the Swarm started moving forward only to be stopped by the combined efforts of Soldier and Mercy.

"I didn't hear you!" Winston yelled. "I did!" Tracer said.

 "I still can't hear you!" "I did!" Tracer shouted at the top of her lungs towards Winston. Her chest heaving violently at the outburst Tracer looked up to find Winston looking at her once again with the kind smile that had always decorated his face in the past.

"Then do what you swore to do.'' Winston said before turning away from Tracer and starting his approach towards Soldier and Mercy. "Besides." he started as Tracer, who was kneeling on the floor weakly looked up once more. "This isn't truly goodbye you know. So, stop overreacting ahaha."

Focusing his attention back towards his front, watching the endless Swarm slowly overwhelm the few remaining members of his team. Winston took a deep breath as he closed his eyes and recalled the memories he had shared with the allies who had fought alongside him in their struggle to save the world. As he looked back on the memories fondly, some full of hope, love, and laughter. While others were full of struggle, betrayal, and desperation. Reaching even farther back in his mind he arrived on the moon base with his father learning new things everyday striving to advance humanity.

Opening his eyes facing the Swarm, he inhaled deeply before letting out a beastly roar that shook the whole city of Rio. He charged forward, tearing into the swarm and slaughtering them by the thousands every second as he felt the weight on his shoulders finally leave him. Leaving his burdens behind on the young soldier who he has no memory of, that was not filled to the brim with happiness and hope. He stopped thinking and focused only on the action of delaying time for Tracer to firm her resolve. Knowing that he was safe to leave the future of Overwatch and the world in her hands.

Tracer watched as her remaining comrades bought her time, defending the beacons with their lives and she finally resolved herself to do what she must to uphold her oath. She stood up, took out a glowing blue cube from her backpack and prepared to put it into the Chronal accelerator attached to her chest. This technology is experimental, they had only recently developed it as a desperate final measure after they learned too late just how infested the Earth was by these disgusting monsters.

 It was their trump card to ensure they could save the world. As Tracer brought the cube to her chest she hesitated before looking up at her last comrades one last time. As if sensing her gaze, they all turned their heads slightly towards her before giving a smile and head nod giving silent encouragement towards their teammate and their apologies for forcing her onto a road none of them will be able to accompany her on.

Looking back down towards her hand Tracer with tear filled eyes looked up one more time before shouting with all her strength "Thank you for everything I'll never forget no matter what." Before slamming the cube towards her chest. As she did so the surrounding space and time seemed to freeze before rapidly converging on the chronal accelerator and as everyone watched on, the energy gathered into her accelerator in such high capacities that Tracer became unable to move. Everyone looked on as the gathering slowed before coming to a stop and everything went still.

 Just as despair at the thought of failure overcame the remaining Overwatch members' minds a blue ethereal glow started to come out of Tracer's body as she slowly started to rise into the air. This aura triggered something in the Swarm, as they crazily started to rush forward trying to get to the pillars only to be stopped by the three remaining members of Overwatch each having retreated to one pillar and protecting it with their lives. As the glow became more intense Alex, who was watching the whole affair from beside Tracer, was caught by the energy and pulled with Tracer into a wormhole that opened behind them, and in the relieved eyes of the others, they disappeared.

The next time Alex opened his eyes he was dumbfounded to see he was in a completely intact London, in a backwards alley that still gave a clear view of Big Ben. Quickly looking around he was once again shocked when he found no monster's insight. Curious about what had happened, he was about to go to a higher altitude so he could investigate when he heard a scream from beside him that attracted his attention.

Looking to his right he saw Tracer lying on the ground as she twisted and screamed in pain.