Solar Storm (Overwatch Illari x Male reader)

Chapter Twenty-Six: Butterflies

Flames crackled as embers sauntered through the air, black smoke pillaged the sky as buildings burnt. A river of red ran through the centre of a darkening room, crimson footprints leaving a trail, a man desperately tried to crawl away from an oncoming threat. Fear coursed through his veins, sorrow for what was to come followed shortly afterwards, tears streamed endlessly as his fingers dug into the charred carpet of a burning safe house. It had all happened so fast, faster than he could ever think possible, faster than anything he had seen before. Everyone he paid for protection was dead, their bodies laid out in dismemberment and gore, his partners in crime found hanging from the ceiling a few rooms back, his own brother found with his arms missing, bodyguards he had for as long as he could remember had been fed to the flames.

Gunshots from another room made the man flinch, cowering down against the ground with his hands over his head, the screams that followed next as the sound of crackling lightning quickly overpowered the pitch of their cries.

"Please, no, WAIT!" Another screamed at the top of his lungs before they were carved out of him, the sound of blood being choked on was enough to paint a vivid enough picture in the fleeing man's mind for him to get a move on again. His blood pressure now so high that it feels as if his head could explode at any moment, his fingernails on the brink of snapping under the amount of weight they were trying to drag. The smoke filtered out of a broken wall, rising into the starry night sky where an uncertain freedom awaited him. There were others he could pay, other places to run to, better places to hide, in this world money could buy you anything. And he has enough to see him through for a thousand lifetimes.

Something crashed through the doors behind him, a squelch echoing around the room as something thumped to the ground in front of him. He lowered his head and clamped his eyes shut, fearing that a hail of bullets would shortly follow. A foul stench plagued the room, a scent he had never smelt before flooded his nostrils as he began to hack helplessly as his eyes shot open. His heart dropped, his hand shook, eyes widening as his breath shuddered.

An unrecognisable corpse laid in front of him, their face charred and burnt away, lightning scars travelling down their neck with small fires breaking out across the uniform. Flesh. That foul stench was the burning flesh of someone he once knew. Their skin dropped down in a wet liquid, their teeth burnt black, their hair all but melted away. Terror grew into petrification, a genuine, natural fear that was as pure as it could ever be. Desperate, he tried to crawl away faster, his busted leg kicking to try and aid in his escape with his voice trembling fruitless pleas.

The light above flickered, the sound of electricity zapping following as a pair of boots banged into the room. The man reached up, trying his hardest to reach the door handle, stretching as far as he could whimpering all the while. His fingertips brushed it over and over, his hand trying to grab it firmly and open it

He screamed out in agony as something pierced his leg, the rattling of a chain clattering over the crackling fire, a force painfully dragging him backwards roughly bit by bit. He dug his fingers into the ground, desperately trying to find any leverage to pull himself back towards freedom, each tug provoking unspeakable amounts of pain. He looked back, a figure shrouded in smoke stood with a chain wrapped around their arm, slowly reeling him in with a deliberate pace. Blue sparks surging around their body, occasional bursts of voltage shooting down the chain and into his wound, electrocuting him in short bursts which added a layer to the torment.

With a final tug, he ended up before this entity, now completely hanging in the balance of their mercy. His voice continued to tremble, his cries filling his own ears.

"Please, I-I can give you anything you want! Anything you could ever imagine! Just spare me, spare my lif-" his words ended in a bloodcurdling scream as the figure stamped on his broken leg, ruining it further as he tore the bladed end out by the chain, a gaping hole now left in its place. The smoke gradually cleared, the sparking of lightning intensifying as he could now get a good look at who had done this to him, to his business partners and protectors. His eyes widened.