Witnesses

Chapter 4

All three combatants took notice of Hawthorne as he landed, and almost instantly, the woman shot out a gout of black fire. He threw himself behind a small brick wall to avoid, but she did not stop, as she fired another blast that melted his cover.

"Eyes on me, you bitch!" Miles shouted as she prepared to shoot another blast, but cursed as the gunslinger opened fire, prompting her to switch targets. "I'm the one you need to kill right now."

The woman said nothing in return, only yanking up a cage of blackflame around her, and Miles cursed as the bullets melted. That had almost ended it.

Still, that trick wouldn't work on him. A blue glow coated his revolver as he fired again, and this time the cage dissipated. The woman stared at him in surprise, but before he could take the killing shot, the other man, a Crusader, dashed in with sword in hand.

Unfortunately for him, he was soon stopped as the woman changed tack, this time knocking him to the ground with a burst of energy. Without further interruptions, she shot out a blast of flame that dissipated into smoke against Miles, then frowned.

That was all that Hawthorne needed, as he yanked out a card from the deck and threw it up into the air. This time, a rain of thorns struck down towards the woman, but she merely melted them with a blast of fire, before turning towards him.

"Shit!" The magician cursed as he fumbled for another card, but the woman was faster, as a blast of fire tossed him into the fence. He screamed in agony as it began to eat away at him, as if his entire soul was being burned away. What the hell is this fire?

He was not given much time to think on it, as he heard the sound of time distort around him as he writhed in pain. The pain began to fade away, but still, it was not immediate, as the sheer agony almost made him black out. He heard the sound of another gout of flame being fired and tried to shout, to warn Miles, but the distortion came again, the sound dissipating.

Regardless, the pain faded away, and Hawthorne opened his eyes again to see Miles standing off with the woman. The Crusader had apparently attacked her again, judging by the sword in her gut, but it had not come without a price, as Hawthorne could see him on the ground, clothes burned and unconscious.

Or dead. Hawthorne thought, but stayed quiet as he watched Miles yank out the Hound. "I really recommend you piss off before I unload this thing into your face."

"You can try," The woman replied, and Miles chuckled.

"Try?" He sneered as he loaded it with something glowing purple. "Lady, there's functionally nothing you can do to me, and that is a fact. What are you going to—the fuck?"

He was cut off as a hand ripped through her chest and crushed her heart. As her body fell, a huge silver-haired man was revealed, with Iudex Gundyr's glaive in his other hand.

"Okay, who the hell are you?" Miles growled. "I was about to deal with her myself."

"Mercury Black. Crusader. Who are you?" Mercury said as he flicked the blood off his hand.

"Miles Blackwater. Witness." Miles returned, then gestured to the other crusader on the ground. "One of your buddies is here."

"Oh, I doubt that." Mercury said, and at that, Miles frowned.

"The hell do you mean?" He asked. "This guy bore every hallmark for being another worldhopper."

"Am I supposed to care?" Mercury asked the gunslinger. "I came here to exterminate a Tyranid fleet that universe hopped via a black hole."

"Fair enough—a fucking what?" Miles said in disbelief. "That's a galaxy threat, how did we not know?"

"You're a Witness. You don't have as advanced equipment as us." The Crusader replied casually. "Anyway, you should probably take your buddy and go. Things are about to get ugly real quick."

"How ugly?" Miles asked before he heard a screech, seeing a Tyranid ship crash into the ocean.

"That ugly." Mercury said, forming a bubble around his hand and punching the air so hard it cracked, sending a shockwave that made the entire ship disintegrate. "Get out of here. These things figured out how to jump dimensions. At this point we're expecting the entire planet to be caught as collateral damage."

"Who's we?" Miles asked before a man appeared next to him, prompting him to point the Hound almost immediately at his face.

He was far younger than Mercury, with freckles and gold and green eyes, and he was wearing a dirty green trench coat. A black broadsword was on his back, and a kitetsu katana was at his side.

"That would be me, Oscar Pine. A pleasure to meet you." He introduced himself, offering a hand to the very high-strung slinger. "By the way, Mercury, we have reinforcements en route from Jaune."

"Him? Didn't he and Pyrrha just have a kid?" Mercury asked, surprised.

"The only thing that turns him on more than his wife is a good fight. What did you expect? Now if you'll excuse me we've got an incursion in the South China Sea." Oscar said before pausing time and teleporting away.

"He—that motherfucker stopped time." Miles muttered, then looked back at Mercury. "Well, I know when there's nothing that can be done. Hawthorne?"

"Yeah?" The magician said, surprised that they were addressing him. "Where to now?"

"Somewhere safe," Blackwater muttered before a portal opened up. "You need to get trained better because I sense things are gonna be picking up real soon."

"What do you mean?" The magician said, but Miles just shook his head.

"I'll tell you later. Let's just go." He said, and the two crossed the multiverse yet again.