C2 Transcension

"Congratulations, Dr. Ziegler."

"Great job, Angela!"

"You truly are our dependable 'angel'!"

She was enveloped in a grand chorus of cheers.

No one could guess what was going through the mind of the female doctor who had just performed a 'miracle.'

Angela Ziegler responded to everyone with a gracious smile, yet in her heart, she had categorized them into two groups.

One group consisted of the 'heroes' she recognized from her computer screen, and the other, the 'strangers' she had never encountered in the game.

Long ago, the shadows and darkness that had been present in Qi Ann's heart since her eyes first opened to this world were finally unleashed, tainting the wings of the 'merciful angel' with black.

When the bleeding from her hand ceased and only the health points on the digital display diminished, Qi Ann stopped pondering the line between reality and illusion. The only source of comfort and familiarity left for her were her 'comrades' in Overwatch.

Comrades.

These were the 'heroes' who had once appeared on the roster as game characters, waiting to be chosen by players to embark on battles across various maps.

They were the only ones like her.

Only in the company of her comrades did Qi Ann rediscover the sense of security she once knew.

Even if her comrades repeated the same game lines she had heard countless times, even if her fallen comrades could be easily 'revived,' and even if they too were part of this surreal world, they represented the only 'reality' Qi Ann could grasp.

That's why Qi Ann held Overwatch in higher regard than anyone else. She feared losing her comrades and dreaded the prospect of Overwatch disbanding. She didn't know how she would cope with the inevitable dissolution, nor how she would endure until Winston called the Overwatch members together once again.

But fate wasn't entirely heartless.

Qi Ann eventually found the unconscious Anna Amari—just before her death.

The glow of healing enveloped Anna, swiftly restoring her health bar, yet the once unfailing treatment met its match.

Anna's bullet-stricken eye could not be healed.

Qi Ann suddenly recalled that the Auxiliary Hero Anna had been introduced in a certain version as a character already blind in one eye.

And then, another memory surfaced.

The attack on Anna by "Black Lily" marked the beginning of a chain of events.

Anna would stage her own death to exit Overwatch, and following that, Macrae would leave Dark Shadow Watchman. The unrest within Overwatch would escalate until Morrison and Reyes had an irreparable fallout. Overwatch Headquarters would be destroyed in an explosion, leading to the organization's forced disbandment.

The subsequent events unfolded exactly as Qi Ann remembered.

She was powerless to prevent them, unable to intervene.

The agents who had joined Overwatch each harbored their own ambitions. When their goals became irreconcilable, these "heroes" refused to settle for less.

Qi Ann might have considered herself lucky; every departing agent had bid her farewell, with many leaving behind a means to stay in touch. This signified that her years of effort weren't wasted—she was well-liked, at least.

But what did that matter in the end?

As Overwatch dissolved, the agents dispersed from the headquarters' ruins. Qi Ann lingered until the very last, bidding farewell to everyone she knew, to all the "heroes" she had yet to meet.

On the day of disbandment, Overwatch Headquarters was rocked by another explosion, erasing any remaining evidence.

Dr. Angela Ziegler, too, vanished without a trace.

In the aftermath of the blast, Qi Ann braced herself for oblivion, expecting to be reduced to mere data or perhaps nothing at all. But as the roar of the explosion subsided and the shaking and glare ceased, Qi Ann was astonished to find herself still conscious.

She heard the rustling wind and spotted a glaring white point in the distance amidst the chaotic blue.

No!

That wasn't just a white point.

It was the sun!

Amidst the swirling blue, Qi Ann realized her predicament.

She was plummeting from the sky.

Though as an angel she could glide alongside her teammates, she couldn't fly on her own!

The initial impulse for death gave way to a newfound fear of dying.

In a frenzy, she screamed for help.

"Help! Help!"

Surely, she wouldn't go down in history as the first "hero" to die from a fall, would she?

How long would it take to reach the ground from a height of 12,000 meters? Qi Ann could have easily calculated the answer in her head, but this was hardly the time for arithmetic. If nothing out of the ordinary occurred, figuring out the time it would take to fall would be Qi Ann's final problem to solve.

Luckily, Qi Ann's predicament took an unexpected turn. Her cries for help hadn't even had the chance to travel through the air to the ground when a cry, almost like a sob, reached someone's mind first.

The headmaster of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Charles Xavier, looked up in astonishment at the clear sky. The blue expanse above revealed no signs of trouble. Time was of the essence. There was no chance to launch an aircraft for a rescue from such an altitude.

But Charles was not one to give up without even trying. He swiftly reached out with his telepathic abilities to Warren Worthington III, who was visiting the school at the time.

"Warren, perhaps you'd be willing to take to the skies? You might just save someone in dire straits."

Warren Worthington III, also a Mutant, was aptly nicknamed 'Angel' for the pristine white wings that graced his back, reminiscent of a divine messenger. These wings gave him the power to glide through the heavens, making him the ideal candidate for a rescue mission.

Upon receiving the message, Warren's lips quirked into a half-smile as he unfurled his wings and soared upwards.

He hoped the unfortunate soul hadn't been falling for too long. The velocity of a long fall could make it impossible for him to intercept them and withstand the force of impact.

Anyone with a basic understanding of physics knows that catching a falling object from a great height would result in a tremendous impact. Even a fall from just a few stories high could be fatal, let alone from 10,000 meters.

Warren's unique physiology granted him enhanced durability, but that didn't mean he could endure the shock of a high-altitude fall indefinitely. All he could do was pray for the victim and hope that when he reached them, their descent hadn't yet surpassed his threshold for a safe catch.

Warren Worthington III could fly at an impressive speed. At full throttle, he could cover four thousand meters in a minute. But one had to wonder, how far would someone in free fall travel in that same minute?

As a dark silhouette entered his field of vision, Warren mentally condemned the figure to a grim fate.

The descent was alarmingly rapid. Stretching out his arms in an attempt to catch the plummeting individual would likely result in broken bones, and still, he wouldn't be able to hold on.

Yet, he veered his flight path, determined to attempt a rescue. If their rates of descent were close enough, there might be a slim chance he could save them.

It was then that Warren heard a voice brimming with relief. Surprised, he turned to look.

The figure that had been tumbling from the heavens had abruptly ceased their fall, hovering serenely in midair before gliding towards him.

Trailing behind her were white wings unfurled, glistening with a golden sheen in the sunlight, while a radiant golden halo shimmered above her head.