Witnesses

Chapter 6

"Not bad," Miles said as he offered a hand to Hawthorne. The magician was lying on the ground, breathing hard, but still, he'd done much better than he'd anticipated. "You've come a long way since we'd first began."

"Thanks," Hawthorne panted. "But it's still not even close to where you're at."

Blackwater shrugged. "That can't be helped. I've been at this for much longer than most people have."

"How long?" Sam frowned, and Miles grunted.

"You know as a magician that one should never reveal all his secrets." He said, turning away from his partner. "At any rate, I've put you through as much as I could for the time we've had, and now its high time that we put that to to the test

"Wait, what do you mean? Its only been a month."Hawthorne said, briefly slipping, but Miles only shook his head..

"We can't spare any more time, and we—." He was cut off by a buzz from his earpiece. "Right on cue."

"Blackwater, a new job's come up." The voice on the other end said. "And you're needed for it."

"Perfect," The gunslinger replied. "I had just finished training my partner anyway."

"Good," The voice replied, "Its in Cyberpunk, and I do hope your partner is ready."

"Why?" The gunslinger raised an eyebrow, but the voice just sighed.

"Just head over there. You'll find out." With that, a portal opened up before the two Witnesses.

"Already?" Hathorne said, stepping back, but Miles grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him to the portal. "But I haven't even—"

"—recovered?" He said in confusion, looking down on himself as they exited out onto a lit-up street,

"I rewinded time on you," The gunslinger said. "You're welcome."

"Thanks, I guess." Hawthorne said, then looked around in awe"What is this place?"

"Night City," Miles replied. "Technological metropolis, and home to quite the criminal element."

"Sounds like my kind of place," Hawthorne grinned, but it soon faded as he remembered the purpose of the visit. "But that's not what we're here for."

"Right," Miles said. "Now, they didn't say much, but they did sound pretty wor—" He was cut off as an explosion rocked a building up ahead of them, followed by a mad cackle.

The two witnesses looked at each other, and the course was clear. They dashed over to the site of the explosion, and there found two men in heavy Arasaka gear at the foot of the wreckage. A blazing fire was behind them, and they laughed as they addressed two Witnesses.

"More fun!" One shouted as he hefted a rifle, then gestured to his ally, who was carrying a grenade launcher. "Let's end them!"

"You can try," Hawthorne replied as he drew his cards, and Miles turned to him.

"Hawthorne, I'm leaving his buddy to you." He said as he drew his revolvers. "Consider this to be your test."

"Alright," He replied tensely as the battle began. Here we go.

"You cunts are fucking dead!" The demoman shouted as he fired a grenade at the two Witnesses, and they each dove to one side as it detonated.

Hawthorne landed on his feet in a roll, then began throwing his cards as he heard shots begin to ring in the air. He couldn't see Miles, but he knew from the string of gunfire in the air that he was dealing with his own fighter.