Overwatch: Jinxed

Chapter 23: Let's Blow It Sky High

"In position," Lucio's voice crackled through the comms. "How are you two going?"

"This is barely a sewer system," Tracer told him, holding her nose despite there being barely any scent. "It's practically just a running water system. I doubt anyone here even uses it."

"They don't," Isabell raised an eyebrow, setting off her throbbing headache again, and Tracer's skin went slightly green. Or maybe it was just the reflection off the water, who knows?

The sewer system was a haphazard set of massive pipes all welded messily together. It was barely watertight and the pipes groaned with their every step, despite Isabell being the lightest member of Overwatch with Tracer a close second - though her Chronal Accelerator was probably pretty heavy. The pipes were rusted and gleamed, slick with slime, and the water that they trudged through was definitely not used very often.

She cast a glance back at Lena. Of course Isabell and Jamie had had to kit everyone out in Junkerwear - anything as high-tech as a Chronal Accelerator or some LED rollerblades would instantly mark them as outsiders. Thankfully, Tobjorn was already kitted out exactly like a Junker and so neither Jamie nor Isabell had to go near him. The simmering hatred was enough to keep them at bay.

Tracer's goggles had been switched for a more steampunk-like version made up of bits of twisted metal. She'd complained that they cut off some of her peripheral vision but it was either that or leave without goggles at all. Going at the speeds she did, that would probably blind Lena for good. Her Chronal Accelerator was done up with old bits of car and the glowing was masked by a circular piece of tinted glass from a car windscreen that Winston had carefully fitted over the main chamber. She'd kept the bright orange leggings - anything that outrageous was perfectly welcome in Junkertown. With a few coats of red dust, her shoes looked like they'd been walking the Australian dirt for years. Like everyone else, she had a radiation inhibitor on the back of her neck to protect her. A hazmat suit would definitely stand out here.

Isabell, especially, could not be recognized under any circumstances. She'd left her goggles behind as well, and was wearing rusted bits of motorcycle over her wrists, at her belt and was even using an oil pipe from an old car as a hairtie. The glowing circlet choker around her neck she diverted all power away from, leaving it just a clunky, dull piece of metal.

But she made sure that she stood out more than Lena - her black suit shining underneath the car parts, exposed in some places, and some of her circlets still glowing faintly through cracks in her armor. Because if the Junkers really looked at Tracer, she'd be a target. They'd know she wasn't from around here.

But if their attention was drawn to Isabell, they'd see her eyes. And that would be all they needed to know that she belonged there.

"Isabell?" Winston's voice crackled through the comm system.

"Here, Winston."

"I'm getting some strange readings from your brain scanner," he said quietly. Obviously he, Tobjorn, Jamison and Roadhog were nearing the gates. "We've all got one. I implanted it after we got you back from the plane fall. Do you feel alright? We can't have you passing out while we're on a mission."

"I'm fine," Isabell told him. She wasn't annoyed about the brain scanner. Why wasn't she annoyed? He'd planted a chip in her head and hadn't told her, and she didn't even feel angry.

She shook her head. She had more pressing things to worry about.

"We're here," Tracer said quickly, stopping in front of a grate that looked out on the city.

It was exactly as Isabell remembered it.

Rust and orange and the dirt of the Australian outback ran the place color-wise - the buildings, the roads, the casual bombs lying around here and there, and the completely unused trash cans. The buildings were all mismatched, made out of varying pieces of metal and whatever else the Junkers could find. Beneath them was the main market, where Junkers bought and sold parts, technology and whatever alcohol they could get their hands on. Immediately east of it was the bar, where Lucio should have been waiting.