Hanzo followed the beacon to the hills just beyond the city limits. Genji, his brother, had left him this beacon along with one simple instruction: “Come find me when you are ready.” Hanzo did not think he would ever feel ready to confront the brother he had murdered, but he knew that he must. If nothing else, Genji was the only one who might understand what had happened to the Soul of the Wind.
The beacon lead Hanzo atop a hill with a single cherry blossom tree. There, beneath the falling cherry blossoms, Genji sat, meditating. Hanzo stopped, hesitant to take the final steps. When his brother had first revealed himself to be alive, it had been at night in the dimly lit halls of the old Shimada Castle. Hanzo had been surprised by his brother’s robotic appearance then, but he had thought that perhaps it was merely armor, or a few cybernetic enhancements. Looking at Genji in broad daylight, Hanzo’s keen eyes determined the true extent of Genji’s transformation.
Save for the left arm, which was heavily augmented flesh, Genji’s limbs were completely robotic. The plates crisscrossing his entire body were not just protective armor, but also casing for the many wires that powered the life support systems keeping him alive. With each new piece of machinery Hanzo saw, he was reminded of the gruesome injury that necessitated its existence, and of how he himself had inflicted that injury.
I did this, Hanzo thought. His body was transformed because of my butchery. And yet...I have never seen Genji look so at peace. Is this truly the brother I knew?
“If you think my body is impressive now, brother, you should look at me from behind,” Genji said, breaking the silence. “Dr. Ziegler did an amazing job preserving the perfect curvature of my assets.”
Yes. Yes it is, Hanzo thought with a sigh.
“I did not come here to prove whose body is, and always has been, superior, Genji,” Hanzo said aloud.
Genji ignored the implication. “So then why have you come, Hanzo? Are you finally ready to choose a side?”
“Do not presume upon my intentions, brother,” Hanzo scoffed. “I care not about the petty concerns of the fools straddling power. I am here to discuss matters of family. Do you remember this?” Hanzo said, revealing the Soul of the Wind.
“I do. That is the Soul of the Wind. The dragon's loss,” Genji replied. He paused for a moment as he noticed the black clouds swirling within the sapphire orb. “And you broke it.”
“I did not break it!” Hanzo cried, indignant. “I was trying to protect it from some...demon! But then there was a dark mist...and the dragons…”
Hanzo’s hands gestured uselessly as he tried to find the words to explain the supernatural battle that had lead to the corruption of the Soul of the Wind.
Genji sighed and got up. “It's alright, brother. You can admit it. No one is going to scold you,” he said, approaching Hanzo as he did.
Hanzo raised his voice and said, “I am not -”
“Besides it is hardly the first family relic we've destroyed,” Genji interrupted. “Do you remember the Amulet of Soaring Skies?”
All the fight seemed to drain out of Hanzo. “I still have nightmares about the punishments grandfather put me through…” he said with a shiver.
Genji nodded. “But grandfather is gone now. And so is everyone else. A tragedy, to be sure, but there are some upsides.”
Hanzo snorted. “Upsides? That’s a fine way of saying I no longer have to worry about getting into trouble because of you!”
Genji raised his hands defensively. “Hey, it was your idea to take the amulet ‘out for a spin.’ You said something about ‘accelerating our training’, no?”
“Agh! You always bring that up! Always!” Hanzo cried, exasperated. “You know it would have worked if you had just been more careful!”
“Brother, calm down. That was over twenty years ago. You have to let it go,” Genji said, laying his left hand on Hanzo’s shoulder.
Hanzo angrily brushed Genji’s hand off. “I NEVER GOT TO DOUBLE JUMP!” he accused. “You absorbed all of the magic when the amulet broke!”
Genji shook his head. “Double jumping isn't as great as it seems. Before I was turned into a cyborg, I got dizzy all the time. The spin you have to do is very disorienting.”
“That is besides the point! I...bah! Enough! I see now that I am wasting my time here,” Hanzo said then he turned and began to stomp away.
“That was always your way, wasn't it, brother? To cast the blame on somebody else! Why don't you grow up and take responsibility for once?” Genji called after Hanzo.
Hanzo turned back to face Genji, his face contorted in rage. “Grow up? Grow up?! You of all people would lecture me on maturity? HA! Don’t make me laugh!”
Genji’s shoulders slumped, and his voice softened. “I never could. I tried, but I never could. I just made myself a fool.”
Hanzo’s anger dissipated and his face fell. What am I doing? he asked himself.
Hanzo slowly walked back towards Genji. “Look...Genji, I -”
Genji raised a hand to stop Hanzo. “No. There is no need, brother. It is in the past.”
Hanzo shook his head. “Even so! It needs to be said. I...I am sorry, Genji. For everything. For years my guilt over what I did to you - everything I did to you - weighed heavily on my heart. And yet here and now, in front of you, I make the same mistakes all over again. It is not you who is the fool, but me. Please, brother, forgive me.”
Both brothers stared at each other in silence. A breeze blew by, scattering cherry blossoms around them.
Genji slowly removed the visor of his helmet, revealing his teary eyes, then said, “All is forgiven, brother...on one condition.”
Hanzo could feel tears welling up in his own eyes. “Name it,” he said with conviction.
“Forgive yourself,” Genji said.
The words struck Hanzo like a knife to the heart. “I am not sure that I can, Genji,” he said, turning his head away.
A robotic voice spoke up from behind Hanzo. “The path to forgiveness is long and difficult. Almost too much to travel. Or so it seems, to those that have yet to take the first step.”
“AH!” Hanzo cried in shock, nearly jumping as an omnic monk floated between him and his brother. The monk, on the other hand, was the picture of calm. Golden orbs slowly orbited his head and his legs were crossed as he sat perfectly still several feet above the ground.
“How did - Where did - Genji, did you know!?” Hanzo asked.
Genji put on his helmet’s visor and shrugged. “Master Zenyatta has many tricks. He can be as still as a rock and always moves without sound. Truthfully, he is a better ninja than any I have ever seen.”
“Blending in is easy when you are one with the universe,” Zenyatta said.
“You cannot be serious,” Hanzo said.
Zenyatta was unreadable. His robotic face was incapable of showing emotion and his body was completely motionless, save for the orbs floating around him. “It hardly matters,” he said. “You were here to speak of a magic orb, were you not? Would you mind letting me examine it? I am something of an expert in the realms of spiritualism and balls.”
“Balls,” Hanzo repeated flatly.
“Indeed,” Zenyatta replied.
“Magical balls,” Genji added.
The trio went silent. Zenyatta’s golden orbs twinkled conspicuously in the sunlight.
“Very well,” Hanzo conceded, holding out the Soul of the Wind. “Look upon the Soul of the Wind, although I doubt you will be of any help. This is an artifact of the ancient dragons, and only a Shimada can -”
“Your ball appears to be strained,” Zenyatta interrupted. “The dark spots aren’t a good sign either. Was it always this big or has it started swelling recently? Would you mind if I held it for a while? I promise to be gentle.”
Genji snickered, causing Hanzo to glare at him.
“I am starting to remember why I killed you, brother,” Hanzo muttered.
Despite his words, Hanzo allowed Zenyatta to take the Soul of the Wind.
“Curious,” Zenyatta commented as he examined the Soul of the Wind. “The energies of the ball became slightly less active after it left your hands.”
“As I was saying,” Hanzo said, puffing out his chest. “Only a Shimada can...”
Hanzo trailed off as Zenyatta began to glow, bathing the area in a golden light. Zenyatta’s orbs now formed a static circle around his body and six golden arms sprouted from his back. Held by his two corporeal arms, the Soul of the Wind gave off its own glow, which fluctuated between a brilliant blue and a foggy black. Zenyatta remained in this transcended state for a few moments before both he and the Soul of the Wind returned to their previous forms.
“Very curious,” Zenyatta said as he placed the Soul of the Wind back into the hands of a dumbfounded Hanzo.
“What did you find out, master?” Genji asked.
“Your brother’s ball is a pathway to many wonders,” Zenyatta said.
Once again, the trio stood in silence.
Hanzo cleared his throat. “Genji, when you call this omnic ‘master’ do you mean...”
Genji waved his hands in denial. “It’s not like that, brother! Master merely helped me come to terms with what I am. He helped me appreciate the wonders of my new body and touched my -”
“Understood. Let us move on,” Hanzo interrupted.
“Spirit!” Genji said quickly. “He touched my spirit! Let me finish!”
“Zenyatta, could you explain further what you discovered when you held my - err - when you held the Soul of the Wind?” Hanzo asked, ignoring his brother.
“When I grasped your ball, I felt a strong sensation of harmony flow through me from within it,” Zenyatta said. “And when I gazed into your ball through the Iris, it revealed itself to be a path to another plane of existence - a world of wonder so very different from our own. Unfortunately, a great darkness appears to have set upon the path, consuming it as termites might consume a wooden bridge.”
“The demon,” Hanzo said angrily. “I must stop him!”
“I will stand with you, brother,” Genji said. “We will face this ‘demon’ together.”
Hanzo and Genji clasped arms, bringing a smile to Hanzo’s face.“The Shimada brothers, united once more,” Hanzo said. “The demon does not know it, but he is already dead.”
Hanzo turned to Zenyatta and held out the Soul of the Wind once more. “Zenyatta, open the path, that we may end this once and for all!”
“I cannot,” Zenyatta said.
“...Please?” Genji added.
“Good of you to remember your manners, Genji, but I cannot,” Zenyatta said. “I gazed into the Iris to see the path, but that does not allow me to open it.”
“Then how do we open it?” Hanzo asked.
“I do not know,” Zenyatta replied.
Hanzo groaned in frustration.
“Master, you said this was a portal to another world, right?” Genji asked.
“Indeed, Genji,” Zenyatta said.
“Then I may know someone who can help,” Genji said.
“Who?” Hanzo asked, hopeful.
“Winston, an old colleague of mine from Overwatch,” Genji said. “While working on a project to enable the controlled manipulation of space and time, he developed many theories regarding the existence of and possible travel to alternate realities. I was often forced to listen to him drone on about them while he and Angela worked on my cybernetics.”
“That is the same Winston that issued the Overwatch recall you spoke of before, is it not? How fortuitous,” Zenyatta said.
“You worked for Overwatch?” Hanzo asked, shocked. “The same Overwatch responsible for bringing down our family’s empire?”
“They are the reason I still live, Hanzo,” Genji said. “In exchange, I lent them my skills. However, I had no part in the operation against our family. I did not even know about it until it appeared on the news.”
“I am reminded of how much time has passed, Genji,” Hanzo said wearily. “It would seem an entire lifetime has gone by for both of us, and we are as strangers once more.”
“We will always be brothers, Hanzo” Genji said. “Neither death nor life can change that. We simply have more stories to tell now.”
Hanzo nodded.
“Cheer up, brother!” Genji said, leading his brother down the hill. “We will need to journey to Gibraltar to meet with Winston, and that will take us some time, time we can use to catch up. In fact, why don’t we start now? Tell me more about your battle with this demon we are to face.”
Hanzo scowled. “To be honest, Genji, it is difficult to explain.”
“Alright, then. You can tell me later,” Genji said. “How about I tell you about Winston? Did you know he’s a genetically modified gorilla from the moon?”
“You have had a very strange life since our parting, haven’t you, brother?” Hanzo asked.
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it. Wait until I tell you about my old C.O., Commander Reyes,” Genji replied. He turned to look back at the top of the hill to see Zenyatta still floating there. “Master? Are you coming?” he called to Zenyatta.
“Yes. In a moment, Genji,” Zenyatta called back.
You have grown much from the angry young man you once were, Genji, Zenyatta thought to himself. And now, you have reconciled with the brother that betrayed you, even going so far as to lift his spirits. I am proud of you, my student.
Zenyatta floated to follow the Shimada brothers, getting a view of Genji from behind. Although, you truly had no reason to be so angry in the first place, Zenyatta added with amusement. Angela Ziegler shaped your body with great care.