"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.
At any rate, he couldn't worry about the gunslinger as the man tanked the cards, but didn't stop firing. Hawthorne's eyes widened as another grenade landed near him, and he only barely managed to toss out a card from his first deck—this one the 6 of Diamonds—to create a shield to block the explosion.
Still, he was launched far back from the man, and when he regained his bearings, he saw the man at the top of more wreckage, loading in another shot, He gritted his teeth. If he didn't destroy that thing soon, things would be getting difficult to repair real quick.
A red glow burst from his fingers as he outstretched his hand towards the Satanist, and the man suddenly lowered the rifle in confusion, then looked around. "Where am I?"
Hawthorne wasted no time, throwing a sharpened card at the man's gun and cleaving it in half. The weapon detonated in the satanist's hands, and he was sent flying as the explosion tore through the air.
"Do you remember now?" The magician muttered as he moved to follow. Best finish the job now, before he could recover.
When he found the man again, he was picking his head out of a store window. People were fleeing from what they clearly thought of as a soldier, and Hawthorne yanked out another card, ready to finish the job.
"Urgh," The man groaned as he looked up at the magician. "I'll admit, that was a cheap trick, whatever you did to me."
"There's no honor in a street fight," Hawthorne replied grimly, and at that, the man grinned.
"You know what, you're right." He said, and a dark aura surrounded him. "If you're going to play dirty, then so am I. Its my turn."
He roared, and the aura burst forth. Hawthorne could see his eyes obscured, leaving only blank irises, and he cursed. Things were about to get dangerous real quick for him.
He drew another card, but the man was faster, as he suddenly dashed towards him with a newfound speed. The magician cursed as he was suddenly slammed into a building, the man laying into him with a flurry of blows.
"Who's the cheap one now, huh? Huh?" He said in Hawthorne's ear, and he downed him with a heavy blow. The witness waited for a second blow to hit him as he struggled to his feet, but none came. He looked around, bewildered, but the man was gone.
He drew a card nervously as he waited for the man to come out, but he heard no footsteps as he flared his magic. Something was going on, and he didn't like it. Still, there was nothing he could do here, and since the gunfire hadn't stopped, it was time to go check on Miles.
Or rather, it wasn't.
As he moved to leave the area, a large fist sent him staggering to the side, as a chuckle was heard. "I didn't say I was done with you."
"The fuck?" Hawthorne muttered as he looked back where the fist came from, but nothing was there. Only shadows.
Whatever the case was, it was clear that the man was concealing himself, and he had to figure out a way to smoke him out. He reached for his first deck, but he heard another laugh as a fist sent him coughing blood. "Who said you could use that shit again?"
Careful...He chided himself, then noticed the shadow-covered area. He hasn't shown any kind of invisibility that'd make sense yet...say, I have an idea.
"What are you gonna do now, punk?" The voice shouted, and Hawthorne could hear the rush of wind coming from his right Got you.
He drew and slashed in one motion as the Satanist came into being, fist outstretched in a punch. The man's eyes widened in surprise as his blow missed, then gasped as the card's edge dragged across his armor, staggering back.
"Not bad," He growled as he glared at Hawthorne. "But in this shadowlit area, are you ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," Hawthorne retorted, tipping his hat. "Now cut the crap and let's finish this."
"Gladly," The man grinned, and he faded into shadow once again. This time, Hawthorne was ready, and he leaped forward as he heard the man approach behind him, throwing three cards.
They lodged into the man, but he didn't stop as he powered through them, dashing forward and tackling Hawthorne to the ground. The magician raised his arms to block as he began laying into him once again, but the Satanist was stronger, as pain began to radiate throughout his skull as the man's gauntlets began to connect. A crack was heard as he felt his nose break, and as the Satanist raised a fist one last time to finish off his bloodied opponent, he grinned.
"You're through!" He said, only to frown at Hawthorne's grin. "Why the hell are you smiling?"
"You ffffucking idioot." The magician slurred, and the man's eyes widened as a red flash burst from Hawthorne's hands. He blinked once again in confusion, but he wasn't given time to regain his bearings as Hawthorne slashed his throat.
The man gurgled as his hands began to move towards his throat, choking on his own blood, and Hawthorne decided to help him, this time shoving the card through his grasping hands. The man's eyes widened as they were pinned to his throat, and Hawthorne panted as he finally fell, dead, beside the magician.
"Fuck." He whispered into the air as he breathed heavily. That had been too close, but it was over now. The man was dead, and even though his target had fought like hell, the magician had passed his test. He supposed he should have felt happy, but he would save that for when he met back up with Miles. Right now, all he needed were his injuries gone.
He winced as he struggled to his feet. He was sure the man had broken more than a few of his bones, and he was sure he was sporting quite a bit of blunt-force trauma as well. The last thing he wanted right now was to move, but he knew it was better for Miles to find him standing on his feet then on the ground bleeding.
As he got to his feet, he picked up his discarded hat, then turned to where he'd come from. He hadn't noticed it before, but the gunfire had stopped. Frowning, he managed to stumble over back where he'd come, only to see Miles standing over the dead body of the other man.
"You survived," He grunted, then broke into a grin. "Congratulations, you passed the test!"
"Thanks," Hawthorne smiled back as best as he could. This was the first time Miles had offered him anything in the way of camaraderie beyond master and teacher, and he would gladly take it. "What do we do now?"
"Well, let's get you fixed up first." The gunslinger said with a frown as he grabbed the magician by the arm. "Jesus, he did a number on you."
"He sure did," Hawthorne muttered, then grunted as Miles forced him down. "So this means I'm all in?"
"Yeah," Miles replied, then patted his back as rewind began to take hold. "I gotta admit, you did well, for having only a month of this."
"Thanks," Hawthorne returned, then rose to his feet. "To be honest, you're not half bad yourself, as a teacher."
"I'm glad to see your opinion of me has changed." Blackwater said, then gestured around to the destruction around them. "Now, let's fix this mess, shall we?"
"Agreed," Hawthorne replied, and the two Witnesses set about to undoing the damage that had been done. When they had finished, it was as if the building had never been destroyed, the townsfolk having forgotten.
A ring came from Miles earpiece as he finished his job, and he smirked as he turned to Hawthorne, arm outstretched. "New mission's coming. You ready?"
"Hell yeah." The magician grinned, and the two partners shook.