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camellia-earhart-blog · 7 years ago

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The New Watch Ch. 2

The airship shuddered slightly as the weather outside pounded against its walls. The whole contraption was nothing but a stray bug in the eye of the storm, but it was far too late to give up just yet. Besides, airships had been able to fly through this sort of weather for decades. This one was no different. Even so, Elizabeth wished the darn thing would quit rocking back and forth so drastically. It was becoming increasingly difficult to work under the circumstances. Her tools and bits and bolts slid up and down the short fiberglass desk, and she’d long since grown tired of adjusting them every time they strayed. Now she just focused on the homemade weapon in her hands, and relied mostly on Snowball to keep an eye on her stuff.

Snowball wasn’t really keeping up it’s job very well. Understandable, considering it was a tiny hovering companion robot, with no arms. It’d beep softly to remind Elizabeth where her screwdriver, or wrench was, but other than that it was mostly there for the company. Not that it minded of course, it’d been friends with Elizabeth ever since she’d patched him up and gotten him running again on her twelfth birthday.

The storm shook the airship again, and Elizabeth huffed in minor frustration. She twisted the last screw into place and set the weapon back down on the table, surveying it with her keen hazel eyes. She knew there was probably nothing wrong with it, but with two inventors as parents, she’d learned that there will never be such a thing as ‘perfect’. At least, not in the traditional sense. She looked to Snowball, the airship rocking like a cradle.

“Should we get ready to land?” she asked it.

Snowball whirred in agreement, it’s monitor changing from a couple of cartoonish eyes to a thumb’s-up. Elizabeth smiled faintly, and stood from the desk, taking a moment to regain her balance as the storm quaked through the ship. When she did, she gestured for Snowball to follow her, and promptly exited the little workroom to head for the cockpit. When she arrived, she knocked on the door exactly once before letting herself in.

“Something wrong?” came the obviously synthesized voice.

Elizabeth shook her head, taking a seat in the empty co-pilot chair beside the omnic who’d just spoken to her. He didn’t look away from his work, but Elizabeth had no such reservations, sitting sideways in her seat.

“Nah, Just bored.” She chided. “When’re we expected to land?”

“Not too long.” the omnic replied. “Sorry if the turbulence has disturbed you. Storms of the Outback are nothing to scoff at.”

The girl shrugged, adjusting the tightness of her ponytail as she watched the rain splatter against the front window. Snowball beeped smally, as it hid beneath her puffy purple jacket.

“S’fine.” she replied. “As long as the damn Queen doesn’t blow us sky-high before I get a chance to explain.”

The omnic sort of twitched slightly to look at Elizabeth. Only for a moment. If he were human, the movement might’ve been considered a wary glance. “You’re so young yet you’re the enemy of the Queen?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“Not me. My dad.” she explained. “He was kicked out a long time ago, and now, well...they might not let me in if they find out, but they definitely won’t let me anywhere near that scrapheap if they don’t think I’m a Junker.”

“Ah.” the omnic replied. “Sounds troublesome.”

Elizabeth nodded, eyebrows raised.

“Probably.” she replied, sarcastically.

“Then why do it?” the omnic asked.

“Dunno, Mate. I just think some of ‘em have been livin’ in the trash too long.”

Just as the words left her mouth, there was a great crash, mixed with a sort of crunching sound. The entire airship shook under the force, and Elizabeth cringed at the impact. Once it was done, she looked back to the omnic pilot, trying not to make it too clear that she was fighting panic every step of the way.

“All good?” she asked flatly, knowing full well the answer was something along the lines of ‘no. no, of course bloody not!’.

“I’m afraid not.” the omnic replied. “We won’t crash, but it does appear that the Queen doesn’t want any visitors right now.”

“Shit.” the girl hissed under her breath. “Right then. Get ready to drop me at the spot!”

“Understood.” the omnic replied. “Are you sure you’ll be alright?”

Elizabeth had already fled the room, rushing to tie all of her necessary equipment either to herself to to the backpack she’d loaded with gear of all kinds. Snowball burrowed into said bag, and Elizabeth held to it for dear life, rejoining the pilot as they neared the ground.

“Here’s the plan,” Elizabeth began, gripping the pilot by the shoulder. “I’ll get out and try to make a deal with the Queen, maybe get into the city without bein’ ruthlessly murdered-”

The airship shuddered once more, this time due to weather rather than a strike. Elizabeth composed herself then continued.

“, and no matter what, you get yourself out of here! If all goes well, I’ll bring some supplies to fix this thing up from Junkertown!”

Before either of them could say more, they met a slightly rocky landing on the unusually damp and slippery Australian Outback. At least, what was left of it. Elizabeth shook off the impact as quickly as she could, patting the pilot on the shoulder once more, before she headed off the ship.

“What’s your name, mate?” she asked.

“Melvin.” the omnic replied. “And yours?”

“Just call me Frostbite.” Elizabeth said. “I’ll be back soon. Ish.”

With that, Elizabeth darted out into the rain. She kept up her pace at first, putting as much distance between herself and her ride home as she could, hoping the Junkers would either assume nothing in the ship was salvageable, or that Melvin could escape before they discovered him. After a few hundred feet, she slowed herself, the rain already soaking everything but her jacket, which had only one purpose: to protect it’s wearer from the weather. Snowball shuddered in fear, and as much as Elizabeth would’ve liked to rub his little head and tell him it’d be alright, she dared not expose him in front of the Queen’s guard. Or worse- the Queen herself. The odds of Elizabeth getting out of this mission unscathed weren’t looking too uplifting, but hey; at least the Outback rain was no longer acidic. A detail which Elizabeth was wordlessly grateful for.

When she’d finally reached the huge, hulking mechanical gates to the infamous ‘Junkertown’, Elizabeth could feel the water pooling in the furry lining of her boots. She tried not to show the sour look on her face, or the disdainful tone in her voice when the loudspeaker buzzed to life with deafening volume.

“Hit the road, Yobbo!” the guard absolutely screamed through the already too-overdone speaker. The Junkers had found upgrades, evidently.

Elizabeth held her head up high, refusing to flinch away. Mostly out of fear of what may happen if she did.

“I don’t think so!” she retorted. “I’m one of you, and I want a fair go in the town!”

“One of us!? ONE OF US!?” the guard hollered, followed by a series of undignified cackling. “MATE, You’re dressed like a bloody Larrikin and you expect me to believe you’re a JUNKER!?”

Elizabeth scowled in spite of herself. She was going to have to blow her cover. No matter what, she needed to get into that town,. Even if it meant as a prisoner. She just hoped she wouldn’t be shot on the spot.

“As a matter of fact, I do!” she retorted. “Because my father is a Junker!”

The guard kept up his obnoxious laughter.

“It he now!?” he chirped. “What’s the bloke’s name!?”

“Junkrat!”

There was a long pause. Neither voice spoke, no sounds emanated from Snowball, nothing. It seemed as if the mere mention of her father’s name had suddenly wiped the entire town from existence. Elizabeth fidgeted in anxiousness, anticipating some sort of attack. She gripped the handle of her ice-launcher instinctively, preparing to fight for her life. A few more seconds of nothing, then…

“Wha-ha. Ha ha hahahahahahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” the guard completely lost it.

Elizabeth huffed in annoyance, but before she could let her guard down too much, the massively annoying voice in the speaker announced something she really didn’t care for.

“OI! GUYS SOME SEE THIS!” he called. “IT’S JUNKRAT’S LIL ANKLEBITER!”

The girl simply festered in her anger, unwilling to give them any more reasons to attack her. At least, not right that instant. She still had people to help, and supplies to steal, after all.

“What-HA! WHAT’S YOUR NAME, KID!?”

“Frostbite!” Elizabeth informed him. “You gonna let me in or what!?”

“SURE, BUT-” another bout of laughter. “THE QUEEN’S GONNA WANT A WORD WITH YA!”

Elizabeth took a deep breath as the gate began to open slowly, metal doodads clanking and clunking out of place with every inch it traveled. On the other side, were the Queen’s guards, looking scrappy and dirt-scrubbed as always. Snowball whirred scaredly, sinking farther into Elizabeth’s backpack. The girl glanced back sympathetically, wishing she could just curl up and hide the way her companion was. She couldn’t let it know that though, so she instead opted for using words that were equally meant to calm her as they were to calm Snowball.

“Don’t worry, little guy.” she murmured. “She’ll be right.”

The girl was dragged all the way across Junkertown. Her belongings hadn’t been confiscated but only because she’d given the guards trying to take them from her concussions when they’d attempted it. Other than that, she really had no intention of going anywhere. Her business was in Junkertown, and now there she was, in Junkertown. Step one complete. Now she just had to not die immediately and she could get working on step two.

Once they reached the end of the throne room, which in all honesty, was probably worse for wear than any other piece of Junkertown, Elizabeth stood as courteously as she could manage, in wait for the Queen herself. When the woman in question emerged, even Elizabeth was surprised. She was tall and imposing, muscles toned from years of violent upkeep of the even more violent and unfriendly community of Junkers. Her hair, although showing a few more streaks of gray, still stood in the intimidating spiky up-do, the likes of which had never been rivaled. She carried herself with murder in mind, Elizabeth could tell by looking at her. Every vibe the Queen gave off was being received loud and clear; “try me if you dare”. Elizabeth, at least at the time being, dared not.

“So you’re the little scrap I’ve been hearing about.” she began, a smirk playing on her lips. “Frostbite, yeah?”

“It is.” Elizabeth replied.

“And that little Junk-arse is your old man?”

“Right again.” Elizabeth replied.

The Queen feigned a wince at the confirmation. She leaned in closer to the visitor, enough so Elizabeth could smell the scent of mechanical oil on her clothes.

“Do you know what I said I’d do with that wanker If he ever showed his face here again?”

“Perhaps.” Elizabeth said, flatly.

“Let me just say,” The Queen paused for effect, to drive the weight of her weaponized crane-hook straight into the concrete floor, which cracked under the pressure. “It wasn’t pretty.

“I can imagine.” Elizabeth said under her breath, beginning to understand why the throne room looked so worse for wear. “But I’m only here to live as a Junker.”

“You say that, but I’m having a hard time believing you.” The Queen replied. “Got anything to prove you’re not your father’s piddly little spy?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“I figured me showin’ up without him would be enough.” she lied.

The Queen chuckled harshly.

“You’re high up yourself, aren’t you!?” she taunted. “We’re done here.”

The abrupt ending to their snark battle was a tad too jarring for Elizabeth, and she let her facade slip a bit.

“Huh?” she asked, hurrying to cover up her concern.

The Queen didn’t acknowledge the girl again, she just ordered the guards to throw her in the nearest jail cell (which were a bit scattered throughout Junkertown), and to add her weapons to the treasure room. Elizabeth kicked into action immediately, pulling out her ice launcher with ease. With a few rounds, she’d coated the throne room in sleek frost, the first few guards slipping and sliding over each other’s stumbling feet. The next couple brutes who tried to harm Elizabeth actually got a couple punches into the girl’s gut, before she wrenched away, and fired a few unstable ice grenades into their faces. The devices exploded on contact, scattering shards of ice into their eyes, noses, and pretty much anywhere else. Elizabeth, her winter boots suited to maneuvering the cold, raced over the ice with ease, and managed to dodge through one of the gaping windows before the Queen could involve herself in the scuffle.

Once she was out of the throne room, Elizabeth became suddenly aware that she was in the open, kneeling in the street of Junkertown, with a live weapon in her hands. She quickly got to her feet, and began booking it away from the Queen’s quarters, weaving between people left and right, hoping none of them were too skilled at speedy pick-pocketing.

“Comin’ through! Sorry, mate!” she called, as she shoved her way around the crowd.

Before she knew it, she was nearing the outer gate. Unwilling to flee just yet, Elizabeth turned back to hide in one of the dark musty alleyways until the commotion died down. As she did however, she turned tails directly into a couple of the guards she’d left sliding across the frosted hall. One of the guards geared up to plant a bullet in her brain, but before he could, some...thing else interfered. Elizabeth wasn’t sure exactly what it was, but suddenly the closest guard was reeling backwards for seemingly no reason. Regardless, Elizabeth took the opportunity and disappeared down the closest alley.

It took hours for the news to simmer down. She could hear people talking about it from her admittedly pretty disgusting hiding spot in an old dumpster. ‘Did you hear!?’ people were asking each other. ‘Junkrat’s daughter just busted her way outta the throne room!’ ‘What’re the odds!?’. Elizabeth muttered to herself irritably, as Snowball quietly emerged from her backpack.

“Ah! I’m sorry about that rough ride, Snowball.” she said, turning the little bot about with both hands. “You all good?”

Snowball beeped sadly, snuggling in close to Elizabeth. The girl wrapped her arms around her one friend, listening to every little sound she could pick up on, ready to attack anyone who may discover her hiding place.

“Don’t worry, little guy.” she said. “We just need to help the Junkers who sent distress signals. It won’t take long.”

Snowball beeped again, hiding under the inventor’s coat. Elizabeth sighed, still mulling over what had caused the guard to wane from such an easy shot. Something, or someone had saved her life, but for some reason, she didn’t think it had been intentional. Whatever it was, she’d just have to keep an eye out for it for the rest of the mission.

#my writing #the new watch #fankid fanfic #overwatch oc #Elizabeth fawkes #meihem fanchild

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