"…"
Melissa stared at Arthur for a moment, speechless.
What annoyed her most was the fact that he actually made sense—in his usual roundabout, chaos-inducing way. But that didn't make it okay.
She rolled her eyes under her helmet, and though her face was hidden, Arthur could tell from her posture alone.
He smirked. "Come on, partner. Wanna run with me? You're still the best I know."
Melissa didn't bother replying. Instead, she flicked her wrist, activating her neural accelerators. Her body blurred, then vanished—just like Arthur's.
On the rooftop, darkness rippled as two flickering shadows collided in a flurry of cyber-enhanced strikes. Sparks flew. Blades clashed. The duel looked like a dance choreographed by chaos itself.
"You really went too far this time," Melissa growled mid-strike. "You pissed off half of Night City in a single evening! Trauma Team, Arasaka, NCPD—you basically poked the entire hornet's nest. You want the mayor to personally exile you?"
Arthur's blades whirled as he deflected her blows, barely dodging the mantis claws aimed at some very vital real estate.
"My original parts are still in good shape, thank you," he muttered. "Wouldn't want to replace my cannon with a chrome pipe. No stainless steel upgrades, please."
Melissa's attacks were ruthless. She didn't hold back, and Arthur knew she wasn't playing. This wasn't sparring—it was punishment.
But Arthur knew how she fought. He'd studied her style in countless simulations and real-life encounters. He kept pace, deflecting every fatal strike with inches to spare.
Finally, he shoved her back hard, their blades locking for a moment before separating with a screech of steel on steel.
"This is about your future happiness, Mel," Arthur said, trying to keep his tone light. "Besides, screw the mayor. What's he gonna do—fine me?"
Her response was silence. Cold. Calculating.
Arthur pressed on. "Nobody we lost tonight was innocent. It's Night City, for God's sake. You think anyone here is clean?"
Melissa's glare said everything.
Arthur exhaled through gritted teeth. "Hundreds die every day in this place. You know the drill. It's normal. No need to get dramatic."
And he meant it. The Trauma Team? Mercenaries with first-aid kits. Medical ethics? That concept went extinct decades ago. If you weren't covered by their premium contract, they wouldn't even piss on you if you were on fire.
And the NCPD? Half of them had kill counts that rivaled war criminals. Only difference between them and Arthur was that he didn't wear a badge to pretend he was a hero.
Even the so-called "press" were scum. Any reporter still working in Night City was either bought off or buried under the nearest landfill. Channel 54? Mouthpieces for whichever corp paid the most that week.
Arthur didn't feel guilt. Not for this.
In Night City, everyone was guilty of something. Survival was the only morality that mattered.
As Melissa ramped up her strikes again, Arthur blocked her blows cleanly, step for step. His skill frustrated her, her own years in MaxTac suddenly feeling useless.
"Bastard!" she spat.
Arthur blinked. "Wait, what?"
He was genuinely confused.
Melissa cursed again and aimed a furious strike at his head.
Arthur sidestepped and caught a glimpse of the area beyond the rooftop. MaxTac units were surrounding them, but none dared interrupt the battle—they knew better than to get between two cyber-enhanced elites moving at this speed.
Arasaka agents, on the other hand, were already raising smart rifles. Arthur spotted a few loading heavy ordinance—RPGs, grenade launchers, you name it.
Their goal was simple: end everything. Melissa and Arthur were both expendable now.
The timer in the corner of Arthur's HUD ticked down. Eight minutes had passed since Maine's crew went underground.
He needed confirmation.
Ping.
A message flashed.
OK.
Two letters. Just two. But they told him everything he needed.
Maine was out. The team was safe.
It was time.
Arthur parried Melissa's next strike, then twisted at the last second, redirecting his blade to slash across the base of her prosthetic mantis arm.
Sparks erupted. The metal arm seized up instantly, sending smoke into the air.
Melissa gasped, stunned by the sudden malfunction.
Arthur didn't wait. He spun and drove his foot into her stomach, launching her back into the arms of a nearby MaxTac soldier.
As she hit the ground, Arthur hurled a small metal orb downward.
Bang!
A thick cloud of white smoke exploded around him, blanketing the rooftop in fog. The Arasaka agents reacted instantly.
Bullets tore through the smoke. RPGs fired. One rocket hit the rooftop directly, blowing apart a portion of the building in a flash of fire and concrete.
But Arthur was already gone.
The agents switched tactics, launching drones to search through the dust. The first drone ascended—
—and dropped instantly as a red glow sliced through its casing.
Then heads started rolling.
Literally.
The agents barely had time to register the crimson flash before their skulls were flying, bouncing along the concrete like grotesque soccer balls.
Blood sprayed across the rooftop like a fountain.
Arthur didn't stick around. He grabbed a fallen Arasaka rocket launcher from one of the now-headless corpses.
He turned to the sky.
There, hovering above, was a MaxTac AV—sleek, armored, and deadly.
Arthur didn't hesitate. He fired.
Thoom! Thoom! Thoom!
Three rockets streaked into the sky. The first missed.
The second struck the underside of the vehicle.
The third and fourth hit the thrusters.
BOOM!!!
The air vehicle went up in a blaze of fire and smoke, tumbling out of the sky in a spiraling inferno.
Arthur didn't watch it crash. His optical camo kicked in, turning him into a ghost.
One second, he was there.
The next—just the sound of rustling wind and the crackle of flames remained.
Far below, civilians screamed and scattered as the flaming wreckage smashed into the streets. Another explosion rocked the district, taking out more Arasaka agents, a few rogue MaxTac officers, and plenty of unlucky spectators who got too close.
And then... silence.
Just the crackle of fire and the soft hiss of cooling metal.
Melissa sat slumped beside her team, her breath ragged. Her eyes scanned the rooftops, but Arthur was gone.
Vanish
ed, like a myth.
---------------------------------
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