*

Overwatch’s Halloween party was particularly quiet this year. Coincidentally, all of the team’s male agents had been called away for an unexpected training exercise in Gibraltar. Those that were left behind were suspicious of this, considering the suddenness of the briefing and the last minute travel plans. Mercy, however, wasn’t about to let their absence ruin her fun. The base’s common room was decked out in classic Halloween decor—from fake cobwebs,  jack-o’-lanterns, and purple and orange lights to create the stereotypical spooky setting. After all, this was a celebration that the team medic really enjoyed.

Angela stumbled into the room, already three glasses of wine deep as she heavily leaned against the door frame. Unlike previous years, she’d shortened the hem of her costume significantly and added a plunging neckline that displayed her ample cleavage that was already close to falling out. The fabric was also much more sheer, the black material clinging to her curves while little accents of color highlighted her assets more liberally.

“Before anyone says anything—yes! I am a witch again,” she slurred her words, giggling as she made a grand gesture with her wine-filled goblet. “But this year is different!” She reached into her bag and pulled out an ancient-looking tome of sorts. “I’ve been studying…!” The cover of the musty, leather bound book was covered in strange symbols that reflected oddly in the party lights.

Tracer, dressed as a sexy vampire, rolled her eyes. “Luv, you say that every year. Remember last time, when you claimed you’d learned to fly, and you fell off the table?” Her expression scrunched and she shook her head in disbelief. “You know we’ve all seen you actually fly, right…?” Some of the others within earshot laughed at Mercy’s expense. D.Va lounged back in her chair as a grin graced her lips. She was dressed as a sexy, black cat—because of course she was—with fuzzy black ears and a tail that swished behind her for dramatic effect.

“No, no, no,” Mercy insisted with a slowly garbled response as she clumsily shook her head and stumbled to the center of the room, slapping the book onto the table and nearly knocking several drinks over in the process. “I found this at an old book store in Basel,” her eyes fluttered as she paused, trying to keep the contents of her stomach where they were currently located. “The owner was very insistent that this was found in a cave in the Alps, and that it had been in his family’s collection for generations!”

Tracer narrowed her expression, glancing at D.Va for a moment while she took a sip of her drink. “…Basel?” She paused, her brow arching, wondering why that was relevant at all. “Was this store tucked between all of the pharmaceutical headquarters, or…?”

“What? No,” Mercy glared, her Swiss accent becoming more pronounced as she absorbed more wine. “It was hidden. Like, really hidden. You’d n-never find it unless you knew what to look for.”

“What were you looking for…?” D.Va quirked her brow as well. “A way to make a better party? Or just a good way to get scammed?”

Through a combination of her anger and the alcohol, Mercy’s cheeks reddened. “It wasn’t a scam! This is a real book!” They all shot a puzzled glance at her, and then she cut Tracer off before she said anything. “—It’s full of spells and incantations!”

“—and bullshit,” D.Va muttered into her cup as she took another swig.

“Now, now,” Tracer leaned in with both elbows against the table, a devious grin upon her lips. “I bet it works great, yeah? Find just the right spell and poof—” the speedster made a little gesture of an explosion with her hands, “Pharah shows up naked on your bed.”

Mercy’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped. “What?! That’s absurd…! I’d never—”

D.Va shrugged, still smirking. “If it’s got real spells in it, surely there’s one that would help you get laid…”

“Oh please,” Tracer snorted and took a swig of her drink. “She doesn’t need magic for that. All Angela has to do is put on that helpless act that she does so well and then Pharah’s there faster than you can say ‘Abracadabra.’”

Mercy shook her head in denial, still very drunk. “It’s not like that at all! She and I are just friends.”

“Oh?” D.Va asked as she popped a gummy worm into her mouth. “Just friends? Weird. I’ve never been caught making out with my friends behind the medbay…” She casually shrugged, as if she had possibly misunderstood something.

“That was once! And it wasn’t—we weren’t…” Mercy retained an alarmed expression as she faltered to find the words to express herself.

“Friends don’t do that,” Widowmaker coolly commented as she entered the conversation. “Unless they’re very… very close friends.” Her golden eyes were nearly expressionless as she took a seat at the table. The sniper was a loner, and she rarely attended extracurricular activities like this. Her appearance was almost as surprising as her costume—a series of cloth bandages wrapped around her in strategic areas to maintain some level of modesty. Most of her purple skin was fully visible, though, hardly containing her breasts, rear, or that significant bulge that threatened to spill out at any moment.

Mercy glared at the former Talon agent, scanning her for any clue of further mockery, but it was impossible to tell. With a huff of frustration, the blonde stomped toward the bar while shaking her head. “When did this become about me?!” She held the book firmly in her hands, her knuckles white from her grip. The others laughed, aside from Widowmaker, who seemed out of place at that table.

The doctor poured herself another glass of wine, only to look at the book again. She knew it didn’t have any magical power, but it was still a fun prop that the shopkeeper had been throwing away. Mercy didn’t believe any of his warnings, but thought it was something cool to show off. She unlocked the clasp on the front of the book and thumbed through the contents, noting that most of the text was in a very archaic syntax that barely made sense. She traced her fingertips over the words, finding them more interesting than she should have.

She took another sip of the wine while there was raucous laughter behind her that she easily ignored at this point. She carefully flipped the pages, stopping at an odd design that caught her attention. Fully immersed in the craftsmanship of the book, she was surprised to see that she could read these words and mumbled them, although it was nothing more than gibberish to her.

The lights suddenly flickered and it felt as if the temperature had dropped several degrees in an instant. She continued to read the words and the artificial fog swirled unnaturally as the rest of the guests voiced their concerns to each other. Angela only lifted her head as the last word was spoken, and the ground trembled.

“Um,” Mei hesitantly approached the doctor while the unexplained phenomena kept going. “Are these… uh, special effects…?” She asked, hopefully.

“N-no,” Mercy stared with wide eyes, her gaze never meeting Mei’s as she tried to comprehend what was happening around her. “This isn’t—” Her puzzled words were cut off as the swirling fog condensed in the middle of the room, forming a swirling purple and black vortex of energy that settled in a vertical position. The middle of the ring rippled with darkness as strange, horrifying whispers and moans emanated from within its depths.

Mercy backed away from the supernatural occurrence, slowly shaking her head as the pulsing gateway hummed with eerie sounds that were just out of range of a regular human’s perception. Dark tendrils of energy reached outward from the portal’s surface, grabbing on to anything close by in order to anchor itself. Everyone stared with disbelief and uncertainty until the denizens from within came forth all at once.

Slick, slimy tentacles slithered across the floor. Wraith-like apparitions faded in and out of visibility. Goblin-like creatures cackled maniacally as they appeared as a ravaging horde, screaming their indiscernible war cries as they knocked over anything in their way. Demons with glowing eyes prowled forth, their predatory gazes all fixed on the gawking bystanders.

The women watched in stunned silence until Tracer sounded the alarm with a loud, echoing “RUN!” before she blinked toward an exit, only to find a writhing mass of purple slime was already in her way. Mei attempted to freeze some approaching creatures, but the ice instantly melted away against their magical forms. Living shadows peeled away from the walls, reaching out toward the panicking women with their dark, intangible tendrils. Further chaos ensued, with the party decorations animated by otherworldly influence. Jack-o’lanterns grew teeth and vines, the cheap strings of lights pulsed randomly with an intensity that shouldn’t have been possible, and the stage fog from the machine grew so dense that it was impossible to see any further than a few feet ahead of themselves.

It was impossible for any of the Overwatch agents to come up with a plan to fight back, much less understand these supernatural entities. With a lack of communication, they all went their own ways through the sprawling compound. Very few managed to escape down the same halls together as they split up and continued, alone, along the various paths while the inexplicable, otherworldly beings took over the base…

*

[ MY WEBSITE ] [ TWITTER ] [ SUBSCRIBESTAR ] [ DISCORD ]

Did you enjoy this story? Check me out on SubscribeStar and get FREE access to all of the newest fanfic by joining at the FREE tier. Seriously.