Chapter 397 - My SI Stash #97 - Barbarossa by Brian Boru (OverwatchXMulticross) (1/2)

-Halfway thru this Jumpchain fic and I just realized it's written by Brian Boru, the same author of that SI HOTD fic which hasn't got an update sadly after almost 3 months but still really glad to know that he's still up and writing~

Synopsis: ???

Rated: M

Words: 23K

Posted on: forum.questionablequesting.com/threads/barbarossa-an-overwatch-jumpchain-si-overwaifu-cyoa.12983/ (Brian Boru)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

But many say that Frederick Barbarossa is now resting under the Kyffhausser Mountain, where he will sleep until the Ravens have left the mountain and Germany needs their emperor the most. Then he will rise from his sleep and return to the world to save his nation and lead Germany to a new age of Glory.

-German Folklore​

Reinhardt Wilhelm turned away from the mortal remains of his old friend and general one last time. A week ago, he had gotten a message from Winston, the hyperintelligent gorilla had sent out a call to all former Overwatch operatives that he was going to restart the old organization. The world was teetering out of control and they were needed again. He had come to visit this place one last time to say his good-byes and pay his respects before he went out to do whatever was needed. It was likely that he would never come to Eichenwald, his first and greatest failure save for Overwatch falling apart, again, at least not in this lifetime.

As he strode for the front gate, a strange beeping sound came at the very edge of his hearing. Turning around he walked back towards the old Throne of the Lord of Eichenwald, if he was hearing it right, the sound was coming from somewhere around the throne itself.

Pressing the button, the entire throne suddenly swung away, revealing a large stairwell going deep into the bowels of the castle and the rock that Eichenwald Castle stood on. The air was stale but not the sort of musty one would expect with these sorts of places, either there was ventilation somewhere down there, or there had been recent activity. His suspicions for the latter were confirmed when in the fading afternoon light, he saw several footprints going up and down the stairs leading into the darkness. There was also a small cable that ran across the roof of the tunnel where small blue lights would occasionally flash blue and beep in a set pattern.

Someone was using the Late General Balderich von Adler's ancestral home and final resting place for some sort of nefarious purpose. Well he would not let that stand.

He turned to his squire, Brigitte Lindholm, the daughter of his old friend and fellow Overwatch member Torbjorn, who had remained silent during his examination and discovery of the tunnel. She was staring in mild wonder at what the old man had found.

Grinning he said, ”Still got it.” Then his face turned serious. ”We need to suit up. Anyone who made something like this is going to have some means of defending it if they're discovered. I'm not going to leave his final resting place disturbed like this.”

Brigitte nodded, ”Good thing I managed to finish repairing your armor yesterday.” Good girl, still a little rough around the edges but a good head on her shoulders and a strong and brave heart. He would have been proud to serve with her in either the Crusaders or in the Old Overwatch.

A few minutes later both fighters in their neo-knightly arms and amor made their way down the tunnel. Reinhart's massive frame, augmented even further by his armor, slowly navigated his way down the tunnel, the only lights being their visors, the glow of the jets of his hammer and armor and the occasional flashing light from the cable above.

He could feel his heart beating in his c_h_e_s_t, it was as if they were sneaking into a dragon's lair like Beowulf or Siegfried. Already he could see the glow ahead, was it the glow of a dragon's fiery frame and the Golden treasure it rested on?

As they reached the end of the tunnel, he encountered a plastic tarpaulin that covered the opening to some well-lit cavern. He raised his hand, silently halting his young squire, then he carefully poked his head through to the other side, ready to explode into the attack if something hostile was there.

What he found was a well-lit laboratory of some sort. There were the usual machines and computers with the usual blinking lights and lists of numbers, but what they were researching he wasn't entirely sure, he wasn't a scientist, he got a 4.0 in all of his science classes growing up, History, Literature and Physical Education were his specialties. Then he saw the tube. There was a large tall tank of some sort of fluid with a vaguely human shape floating in its semi-opaque depths. There was a tall slim figure standing in front of the tank, their back was turned so he couldn't see their face and figure out who they were but there was some large apparatus on their back that glowed ominously.

The figure was studying a frame connected to the tank, reading some sort of information from the device. Whatever they were doing, he knew it wasn't good.

Taking one last glance around, he saw that the stranger was the only one in this cave, some mad scientist doing some diabolical experiment, like that of Frankenstein? Well either way they needed to be stopped and since he and Brigitte were the only ones present, they were the ones to do it.

Glancing back at Brigitte, he raised one armored finger indicating to her how many people were in the room, he then jerked his thumb towards himself then gestured to the right, followed by pointing at her and gesturing to the left. She understood the command to encircle the stranger.

On the silent count of three the pair of them burst through the opening and split apart, making their way towards the tank and the stranger.

To his mild surprise the stranger did not immediately move, despite having had to of heard the thundering clank of their armored feet on the stone floor of the cave.

They were about twenty feet from the stranger when they turned around and Reinhart jerked in surprise when he saw who the stranger was.

She, for it was a very slender woman, had red hair that she wore short and swept back in a combed style. One eye was a natural ice blue while the other was an unnatural blood red, her features were very long and austere, pretty if you were interested in the school-marm from hell type. Which he wasn't, even at his age give him an Oktoberfest girl with a round blonde face and a body you could mistake for some old fertility statue.

It took him a moment before he recognized her, ”Well Guten Tag Fraulein O'Deorain, surprised to find you here.”

”Reinhart, how good to see you,” the snark in the woman's tone was sharp enough to cut a block of wood with.

She then turned to Brigitte who was approaching her from the other side of the room, effectively blocking her on the platform which the tank was sitting on, ”Well, well, who is this? Some new child you've swept up into your Teutonic Tales of Don Quixote?”

That annoyed him more than it really should have, yes, since he'd been f_o_r_c_i_b_l_y retired from Overwatch, he'd become something of a Latter-Day Knight Errant, wandering across Germany and writing wrongs and stopping villains that he came across, like that Dragon gang from a few months before. But he was nothing like the mad Spaniard of Cervantes' story. For one thing, while he might have a vivid imagination during combat, he certainly never charged at windmills or mistook a herd of sheep as a host of brigands.

Gritting his teeth, he said, ”She's not your concern Moira, what does concern you is explaining what you're doing here?”

Moira just grinned and said, ”Why fund-raising.”

What? What on earth was she talking about?

His confusion must have been apparent on his face because Moira continued, ”It's actually rather simple. You may not know it but General von Adler, the dearly departed Hero of Eichenwald, was actually from an extremely wealthy family, with properties, castles, businesses and other investments in a portfolio worth billions. Without his personal contributions your own Crusader program would have never gotten off the ground.”