- Doomsday - Volume One: Gods and Monsters

Chapter 54: Recovery

(AN: How the hell does this mediocre story nearly have 50k reads? I don't really get it, but a big thank you for all those of you who are still reading, it means a lot, surprisingly wholesome chapter today, who would have thought it! Also no image today, you get to use all your incredible imaginations once again, use this power wisely!)

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[Pretoria, two hours after Overwatch's successful siege and occupation of the city]

Reyes overlooked the smouldering remains of Pretoria, fires continued to burn across the cityscape, a dark smoke filling the sky, the damaged husks of bombed out skyscrapers reaching out upwards. Down below on the street level local police agencies from across the local precinct, fire crews and the South African military, aided by the reinforced Overwatch presence, attempted to help as many people as possible, while searching every corner of the city for Talon forces. Many had been affected by the conflict, civilian casualties had not been confirmed or successfully tallied, but rough estimates didn't paint a good image. To make it worse, while no official statements had been given to news agencies, 'unsubstantiated reports' had leaked through inevitably, criticising the operation already. Reyes wiped his face, sometimes he appreciated his relocation to Blackwatch, he didn't have to answer the public's enquiries, that was Morrison's problem now.

What would the people say when low quality footage of a dragon-man started making the rounds? And he had thought the backlash against [Y/N] was rough, the soldier letting out a slow, wry chuckle, what a stressful few days it had been. While most of the emphasis had been on the coordinated assault on Pretoria, many operations between Overwatch and Blackwatch had commenced globally in unison, in an attempt to catch the enemy off guard. Forces had been sent across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa. Reyes was conflicted about the whole situation, ultimately, from a base understanding, the global operation had been a great initial success that would allow for further incursions. Crucial Talon strongholds had been expunged in a night, weapon cache seized, hundreds had been arrested, even more lay dead, and crucial experience had been gained. However, this would be a different conflict to the Omnic crisis, humans were not machines, not pre programmed or a group hive-mind as the machines had been, it made the enemy unpredictable, unstable, prone to outlashes and missteps, but also risky and dangerous manoeuvres.

What the operation had shown more than anything was the extent to which Talon, Omnic resistance groups, local crime groups, and so on had ingrained themselves into regional communities right under Overwatch's nose. While many enemies had been captured or killed, the number wasn't that good for Overwatch either, with official statistics still being counted, it was a part of the job but it bit deep into Reyes' subconscious continually. The collaboration between groups had also been noticed, with Talon working alongside Omnic soldiers in multiple battles, alongside less notable crime organisations. Visions of the Deathstroke and the other one, Ravager? Reyes kept forgetting, reappearing in his mind, both having fought in New York when the attempt on Mondatta's life occurred beneath LexCorp Tower. Reyes' furrowed his brow, Luthor, even hearing his name had started to annoy the soldier, he was no man, no, moreso like a cockroach, resilient and quick, with an unfortunate ability to evade death. Reyes could only hope to understand what [Y/N] had felt all those years.

But now it was different, they finally had something, evidence. Unless they officially caught Luthor in the act, they had the best support for their claims possible, working himself up slightly Reyes' tightened his arm, a sharp jolt coursing through his shoulder forced a grimace to surface, accompanied by a tight hiss in pain. Angela had been every attentive to the man after the fight but he took only small amounts of aid, rather directing her towards the humanitarian efforts around the city. He should of been dead, one hit from that monster nearly killed him, even as a super-soldier, looking down at his wounded arm laying in a cast limply. The world was changing rapidly from fighting buckets of bolts, no, he needed to get stronger, or else he couldn't keep fighting the good fight, it was crucial.