Overwatch Power Linkage Episode 1: Traces of a Linkage
For all the brave men and women serving around the world. Never falter!
Table of contents:
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Epilogue
Prologue: A New Mission
Ever since the beginning of the very first civilizations, humanity has been blessed with a most otherworldly power called a Linkage. What’s a Linkage, you may ask? Well, it’s certainly not something you’d find in genetics textbooks- more specifically, the way in which two separate genes which are located close to each other on a chromosome are often inherited together! Instead, it’s the power to connect with individuals from other realms and share their powers via a powerful connection with them.
The tools needed for this undertaking are a Linkage Card or any other Collectible Item, which serves as the evidence of the Partner Character’s connection, and the Overwatch Connector or any other item that allows one to transform, the very key to the Multiverse itself.
At the new headquarters of Overwatch, the titular heroes were gathered in a meeting room, and at the head of the table was the holographic figure of the organization’s founder, Gabrielle Adawe. Although she had passed many years prior, she was brought back in hologram form to assist the members of this prestigious organization.
“What is it, Adawe?” Mercy said, her golden hair shining in the lit room. “I fear that Talon, our biggest nemesis, is on the move again.” the benevolent hologram replied. That made the heroes gasp. Something as big of a threat as Talon meant something had to be done.
“Whaddya think we should do, Adawe?” Junkrat said as he started scribbling down ideas on what should be done to combat the threat of Talon. “We send one of our best heroes to another version of Earth- one where the citizens don’t have an Overwatch Initiative or advanced technology like we do, but they have something else- Legendary Heroes known as Linkers just waiting to be awoken.”, she explained.
“Whoa, now that’s something really… awesome!” Tracer said as she perked up to see the diagram Adawe had shown. “I think I’ll be the first to venture into this new realm.”, she said with a smile on her face. “Tracer, we think you’re a good candidate.” Reaper replied as he handed Tracer her Overwatch Connector and Linkage Watch.
“Three words- Wish me luck!”, she said as she made her way towards the dimensional gateway, and was soon sent to Earth. But she wouldn’t find her Linker- her Linker would find her, and very, very, soon.
Chapter 1: Very, Very, Soon…
In the UK, inside a small town called Snowburg, a young girl named Hannah Squire was just getting ready to start her day- as she got out of bed, she looked outside and saw that the rain was falling in buckets. “Better wake up my little bro Mason.” She said to herself.
Hannah’s room was decorated with Overwatch memorabilia from top to bottom- from the posters on her walls to the cosplay outfits in her closet- she had it all. She even had a Pachimari plush on her bed. Good morning rainy day, hello gray skies., she thought to herself as she got dressed for the day.
Changing out of her pajamas, she grabbed a t shirt, her favorite jeans, and a jacket to protect her from the elements. And as soon as she finished getting ready, she hurried over to her younger brother Mason’s room, in which she proceeded to shake him awake.
“Mason! Mason! Mason!”, she shouted as she shook her little brother awake. “Morning, Hannah!”, he replied, getting up in his Cars themed pajamas. “How’s my favorite little bro doing?” Hannah asked as she grabbed his raincoat.
“Awesome! I wanna go play in the rain!”, cheered Mason as he quickly got changed. After he got changed into his favorite t shirt and pants, he laughed as he and his sister ran down the stairs towards breakfast. “Good morning, you two! I’ve got some of your favorite- Scones, fresh from the bakery!”, said the siblings’ mom, Lisa Squire. “Mom, you always know what to do.” Hannah replied.
“Well, I’m gonna go take a call upstairs. Have fun, you two!”, the siblings dad, Ryan Squire, said as he watched his kids eat their breakfast. “Bye, daddy!”, the twins replied as they licked up every last crumb. After getting their raincoats and their boots on, they ran outside to play in the pouring rain.
Chapter 2: Warriors in The Rain
As Hannah and Mason went outside to play in the rain together, Hannah’s classmate Catherine Atkinson approached the two of them, her sparkly umbrella shining in the light. “Hey, Hannah! How’s it going?”, she said as a smile crossed her face.
“It’s all good! I can’t wait for school tomorrow, so here’s hoping that things are gonna go all good!” Hannah replied as she put up the hood of her raincoat. “I was thinking that we could probably stop by the gaming store and get some Overwatch replicas- don’t worry, they’re squirt guns, so nobody will get hurt.” Catherine said with a smile on her face.
“Aw, yeah! That sounds so AWESOME!!”, said Mason as he leapt into a giant puddle. “Then let’s go! No amount of rain is gonna stop us now!” Hannah said as the three of them ran towards their favorite afternoon game store.
As they entered through the doors and hung up their coats and umbrellas, the store owner Mr. Armando Laurent smiled as three of his best customers walked inside the warmly lit room. “How are my favorite customers doing, eh?”, he replied as he set out a bunch of new consoles, games, etc.
“Actually, we’re just here to kill some time on a rainy day like this one!”, Catherine said as she walked over to replicas of the Overwatch characters’ weapons, but in the form of water toys. “That reminds me- those bad boys are on sale!”, said Mr. Laurent as he pointed to the squirt guns.
“Haha, I think you just read our minds!”, replied Hannah as she took the squirt guns- Tracer’s pistols for her, Hanzo’s bow for Mason, and Mercy’s squirt gun for Catherine. “We’re ready to have some fun on this gloomy day!”, replied Hannah as she forked over three 20 dollar bills. “No, kids. You have fun. It’s on me this time!” Mr. Laurent said as he paid for the toys himself. The three kids thanked their grownup friend, and left the store with goodies in hand.
Chapter 3: Playing With The Big Friends
After playing with each other and trying not to get wet, Hannah, Mason, and Catherine decided that they would play some real Overwatch with the people on Hannah’s Discord channel, aka “Warriors of The World”. As soon as Hannah booted up the gaming PC she had since Christmas, the Discord chat roared to life.
“Hey, Hannah!”, said Wilson Harris as he began streaming from his home in California, still in his pajamas. “Hey, Wilson! It’s pretty darn early for you, eh?”, replied Hannah as her brother and friend came on the screen as well. “Whoa! Is that your brother and your friend Catherine?”, replied Noire DuBois as she sat on her bed in a beautiful French apartment. Hannah nodded in excitement.
Soon, the rest of the chat flared to life- Dia Essam Tremblay outside her house in the Canadian snow despite being half Egyptian, Harold Fischer aka the channel’s go to adult for advice polishing his medals in his German home in Berlin, Lorelei Meyer helping her mom with a patient in Switzerland, and so on, so forth.
“Ready to play a little you know what with my big sister?”, replied Mason as he spoke into the mic. Considering this was the only way that Mason could talk to his big sister’s ‘big friends’ on the internet, it was safe to say that they immediately got to it.
After booting up their favorite game, Overwatch, the kids selected the characters they mained the most- Tracer for Hannah, Reaper for Wilson, Widowmaker for Noire, Pharah for Dia, Reinhardt for Harold, Mercy for Lorelei, and so on, so forth. “Ready to get playing, brothers and sisters?”, asked Harold as he booted up his account.
“OK, guys! It’s game on for sure!”, replied Hannah as she spoke into the mic. The chat then went crazy as the match began in the arena, with a friendly battle between each member as the game went on. But in a few moments, the game they were playing would become real.
Chapter 4: Tracing Hope
A few hours into the game session, something outside happened that made Hannah realize that something was definitely going on. “Uhhh… Something happened outside, guys! I’ll go and check it out with Mason and Catherine!”, she said as she punched in the message to the chat.
“Don’t worry, we’ll pause the game!”, replied Lorelei as she and the others paused the game, while Catherine, Mason, and Hannah left the bedroom and were out of the house to go and find the source of the incident. As the three of them made their way into town, they were shocked to see what had happened.
Every last store on the street had closed, and graffiti appeared to be caking the sidewalk and such. On one building, an icon of a massive “T” was shown, and posters and such appeared to be everywhere. “W-We should probably find somewhere to hide and strategize our next move.”, suggested Catherine.
“Big sis, I’m scared! Do you think everything will be ok?”, asked Mason as he held on tightly to his older sister. “It’ll be ok, Mason.”, said Hannah as the three of them made their way into a small pub, where people were huddling for shelter and trying to not panic.
“We should probably ask someone for directions.”, said Hannah as she, her brother, and her friends looked around the pub for anyone they could trust. One woman stood out- she had short brown hair, a earthy toned jacket, white and orange attire, and a crystal in the chest area. “E-Excuse me, ma’am?” Hannah said as she approached the woman.
“Yes, what is it?”, replied the woman. Seeing that the three kids were confused and didn’t know what to do, she got down to their level and started comforting them. “My name is Lena Oxton aka Tracer, member of the global peacekeeping organization known as Overwatch.”, she said.
“Wait, THE Tracer?!” Hannah said as her new friend nodded. “I knew Talon would strike here.”, began Tracer as she looked out on the streets. “Whaddya mean, Miss Tracer?”, asked Mason as he clung tightly to his sister. “Talon is looking for the legendary warriors known as Linkers- but I managed to get here first and ensure that everyone was safe before I could find you guys- but it looks like you found me.” Tracer replied.
“It’s good that we found you, Miss Tracer. I’m Hannah, and this my little brother Mason, and my friend Catherine.”, explained Hannah as she pointed out each of her companions to the warrior.
“Good, and take this- it’s what Talon was truly after.”, said Tracer as he gave Hannah what looked like a mix between a compact and a phone. “What’s this?”, replied Hannah as she took it. “It’ll be needed later.”, Tracer said and smiled.
Chapter 5: Talonzer in The Streets
As the gang made their way onto the streets with their new friend, they saw that in the middle of the area, was someone who looked like they had walked out of the movie Mad Max Fury Road- but they were a lady! “W-Who might you be?”, asked Catherine.
“That… is Dr. Marlene Venin. She works for Talon and specializes in toxicology and genetic engineering.”, said Tracer as their foe approached them. “If it isn’t Tracer. What do you think you’re doing, eh?”, asked the evil doctor as she came closer.
“We’re here to stop you. Leave the kids alone as well as all of these innocent lives!”, Tracer bravely said as she stood her ground. “Yeah! We’re not scared of you, miss!”, said Hannah as she defended Catherine and Mason, both quivering behind her.
But Dr. Venin scoffed and laughed haughtily. “Oh, we’ll see about that,” she said and turned towards a man walking down the streets. “Hehehehe… He’ll do.”, the doctor grinned as she snapped her fingers, sending the man into a frozen state as purple aura flowed from him to Dr. Venin’s hands.
“Soon you’ll see that Talon shall rule this very planet.”, Dr. Venin replied as she let the energy become filled in a chemistry beaker. “Go, Talonzer! Make sure they’re crushed at once!”, she followed up, tossing the beaker at a nearby vending machine. In a burst of dark energy, the Vending Machine had become a Talonzer, a monster that was tall as a small building, and had the Talon logo on its forehead.
“Oh. My. God.”, started Mason as he looked at the giant monster. “What on Earth is that?!”, replied Catherine. “That is a monster known as a Talonzer- they’re monsters born from negative energy and can cause chaos everywhere they go!”, Tracer explained.
“Tracer, do you think I should use this?”, Hannah asked cautiously as she held the Overwatch Connector. “Absolutely. I put every little bit of trust in you, and I know you have the capability to save the day, Hannah.”, Tracer said. “Thanks, Tracer. I trust you, too.”; Hannah replied as a bright light flashed, and something akin to a trading card with Tracer on it appeared! “Is this a trading card?” Hannah replied as she took the card.
“That’s a Linkage Card!” Tracer answered. “Now all you have to do is scan the card into the Overwatch Connector, and then shout, ‘Power Linkage, Activation!’, and let the rest happen!”, Tracer instructed. Hannah nodded. “Don’t worry, Tracer! Let’s do this!”, she said.
Chapter 6: Overwatched Up
“Power Linkage, Activation!”, Hannah shouted. A bright light flashed around her, and she now found herself wearing some new threads: A stylish version of Tracer’s signature suit, a tangerine visor, a holder for the Overwatch Connector, and her Partner Character’s signature pistols! “I-Is this really me?!”, Hannah replied as she looked at herself.
“Go, Big sis! You’ve got this!!”, cheered Mason. “Yeah! Show Dr. V who is boss!”, Catherine shouted. “Thanks, guys! Here goes nothing!” Hannah said and smiled. “Grrr… Crush her! At ONCE!”, shouted Dr. Venin as she commanded the Talonzer to attack. At once, gigantic cans of soda began to fly towards Hannah. And sensing that she had to do something, she leapt straight into the air at once.
“Whoaaaaa!! Tracer, you never told me I could jump this high!”, Hannah replied as she looked down at the world below her. “It’s ok! You can use Recall to get back down to the ground!” Tracer called from below. Hannah nodded and immediately teleported back to where she had taken off.
“Whoa! She’s inherited your time powers, too?!”, Catherine exclaimed as Hannah began landing a series of kicks on the Talonzer. “Take this! And that!”, Hannah said as she began to drive the foe into the ground. As she progressed through the fight, she used her Blink ability to move effortlessly.
“That’s so awesome! Go, big sis! Go!” Mason said as he watched Hannah use her Pulse Pistols to damage the foe, followed up by a handful of Pulse Bombs that immobilized the enemy. “Now we’re talking, kid.” Tracer replied. “It’s time to finish this, right?” Hannah replied as she stood next to her Partner Character. Tracer just simply winked and smiled.
“Ok! Activate Link Move!”, Hannah replied as she and Tracer stood their ground so they wouldn’t be blown away. “Chrono Pulse… Storm!!”, they both replied as they used their Pistols to land the final hit and purifiy the enemy. “Batteries Drained…!” The monster replied before it vanished for good. “Keep Calm and Tracer on!” Hannah replied as she posed, a grin forming across her face.
“You dare…! This isn’t the end, you know!” Dr. Venin replied as she teleported away. Not only did the Talonzer return to being a vending machine, the stolen emotions were returned to its owner and the area was restored to normal- with not a single mark of graffiti in sight.
Chapter 7: Mission Accomplished
Tracer looked around and smiled. “That was some fight, kiddo.”, she said as she clapped her Linker on the back. “Anytime, Tracer. But since there are so many heroes in Overwatch, do you think they might be here too?”, asked Hannah as she looked around, now in her civilian form.
“You’re right about that, kid. In fact, this is only the beginning of something so much bigger than you can ever think of.” Tracer said as she pulled up her mission phamplet. “Wait, there are more Linkers out there?”, Hannah wondered as she gazed at the phamplet. Tracer nodded. “Yes, there are more Linkers out there. And who knows- maybe they might be some folks you know!”, she said.
“And by the way, Miss Tracer, do you think we shouldn’t tell anyone until the time is right?”, questioned Catherine. “That you should. Mason, Catherine, you two have to keep the Linkers an absolute secret until the time is right. With that being said- I’ve gotta head back to HQ. Cheerio, my friends!”, Tracer said as she began to head towards a LinkWay, with the kids waving goodbye to their new friend.
“This is awesome! You’re an actual superhero now?!”, Mason said as he hugged his big sister tightly. “You bet I am. From now on, Mason and Catherine- you have to help me keep the whole Linkage thing a secret. With that out of the way, lets head home. I can smell the spaghetti on toast from here!” Hannah exclaimed as the trio made their way towards their home neighborhood.
Meanwhile, with Talon, Dr. Venin had returned to the base, her face full of embittered disappointment. “How could I lose… to a little girl?!” She said in frustration. “Well, Dr. Venin, it seems that one of the Linkers has been found. Only a matter of time before they’re all recruited.”, replied the voice of an unseen figure, followed by their maniacal laugh.
To most of the small town of Snowburg, it was just another run of the mill day. But for Hannah and her friends, a life changing experience had took place- one that would expand to be on a global scale.
Epilogue: A Grim Recruiting
Back at HQ, Tracer arrived bearing good news, much to the delight of her comrades. “That’s our Tracer.” Adawe said with a smile. “It was awesome! And not just that, I also entrusted the secret with her little brother and her friend, too.”, Tracer said.
Suddenly, Reaper rushed inside from the break room, carrying a laptop as he sipped down the last drops of his coffee. “Guys! I think I’ve pinpointed the next Linker. He’s from Los Angeles, just like I am.”, he said as he sat himself down and opened up the laptop.
“Do you want to tell us a few interesting things about him, Gabriel?”, asked Adawe. “Of course. His name is Wilson Harris, and he lives in Los Angeles. He loves thrill seeking activities, like roller coasters, bungee jumping, maybe some skydiving, oh, and definitely rock climbing.”, explained Reaper.
“I’m sure you and him will get along real nice.” Adawe said with a smile. “But for now, I think all of you should get some rest. You’ve worked hard today, and I’ll see you all tomorrow morning!”, she said as she began to flicker off. A long day had ended at HQ, but it was just the beginning of something so much more.
