Chapter Twenty-Five- Andrew Scaggs
Darkness lay heavy across Mitras. The shadow of Wall Sina further darkened the already murky alleys located within the heart of the walls. Yet, beneath the capital there lay another city even further submerged by blackness. Unlike its sunnier neighbor however, The Underground did not slow its normal hustle and bustle once the sun descended. After all, in the Underground, darkness is practically an old friend.
The people living in the subterranean city were quite used to the dark. So used to it in fact that it had become pivotal to the lives of many of its residents.
While the rich slept, underfoot, the poor plotted and perpetrated.
In the criminal underground, some men's "day jobs" did not in fact start until the sun was gone. And it was for this very reason that Andrew "One Shot" Scaggs was currently being forced to close up his tab.
The Underground thug rose slightly shakily from his stool in the Hen's Roost after slapping a large bill onto the counter ahead of him.
Despite the onset of inebriation, Andrew Scaggs was still not someone to be messed with. For one, he was 6'2": a veritable giant in the Underground where malnutrition and lack of sunlight often ravaged people's development. For another, he was lithe as a willow, hard as steel, quick as lightning, and a superb marksmen. His aim was such that it had earned him the moniker "One Shot" as he was well known for only needing to shoot someone once to get the job done.
He wasn't your typical brute though. Tall as he was, Andrew was also the owner of a baby face framed by shaggy brown hair. His striking blue eyes however had the tendency to flash in such a way that made women's knees weak from lust and men's knees weak from fear.
"Gotta call it, Lucy. Got work to do," the man called out to the young bartender, stopping briefly to straighten a set of suspenders over his white button down shirt.
"Want yer change, darlin'?" the girl named Lucy called out to the brunette man as she continued to pour a mug of beer.
"Nah, Luce," replied Andrew, waving his hand flippantly over his shoulder, "give the rest to Jimmy so that brat of yours can buy more paints. Oh, and tell him I'll tan his ass if I find out he's hanging out with Buster Briggs again."
Andrew could hear Lucy's lighthearted chuckle at his threat. She continued to yell after him as he started for the door.
"You be safe out there, Scaggs! Those MP bastards are worse than wolves!"
Andrew couldn't help but scoff as the door to the bar closed behind him.
"Wolves? As if. More like rats..." he quipped quietly to himself, hands clenching unconsciously by his sides for a moment as he wavered slightly outside the bar.
Shaking off a sudden bout of negative thoughts, Andrew cleared his head and took a moment to pull on his coat in the cold winter air. Straightening the jacket till it was comfortable, he then slicked back the front of his sloppy brown hair and pinned it underneath a wide brimmed hat that had the added benefit of giving him a far more professional air.
Immediately afterwards, the Underground Broker rolled his shoulders once before dipping into an alley that ran adjacent to the bar. Winding deftly through the complex network of buildings, alleys, and shoe box like houses, the man followed a path that led him as directly to his destination as possible. His previous tipsiness slowly melted away in the wake of habitual practice.
Eventually, Andrew reached the outskirts of the city, his destination lying ahead in the form of an extremely steep staircase.
A small line of people had formed a queue at a guard station which sat adjacent to said stairway. A brief exchange of words, paper, coin, or a mix of all three and people were either permitted to pass or sent packing; usually accompanied by an angry shove from the butt of a rifle.
With naught more than a curt nod to one of the working officers, Andrew didn't even hesitate before brushing past the checkpoint, hands still firmly shoved in his jacket pockets. A few angry glares from the queue followed him as he passed underneath the archway as he began his ascent, taking steps 3 at a time, but Andrew paid them absolutely no mind. Anyone who was worth knowing would have already been aware of who he was and the kind of weight he pulled.
Upon emerging from the stairwell, the man continued seamlessly onto the blank streets.
A few souls were still milling around on the snow-strewn sidewalks, but nearly everyone had their head tucked down and seemed eager to be home. A cold wind was starting to pick up; one which had Andrew tugging his jacket even closer.
Inwardly, he lamented his forgetfulness. Normally he'd remember to grab his gloves before coming up top. The Underground was cold, certainly, but he always forgot just how much of a difference the wind made in terms of relative temperature once you reached the surface. Even nestled into his coat pockets, the joints in his hands seemed to groan from the onslaught of the icy breeze.
Hmmm...guess I'm not getting any younger. My damn hands feel like creaking hinges.
Gritting his teeth against the ache, Andrew opted to take a different route to his job that night, instead ducking down into a tight alley that afforded more shelter from the northward bearing wind. He'd only gone a few yards however when he heard the sound of a door scraping open ahead of him in the alley. Still partially obscured by a dumpster and a large grease trap, Andrew watched as two figures emerged.
The people were vastly different in size, to the point where Andrew was forced to consider whether the smaller of the two was just a child. The smaller figure however was practically dragging the other taller person, which forced him to reconsider quite drastically.
Stepping back further into the shadows, Andrew continued to watch the two in curiosity. A small voice reminded him that he'd be late to meet his contact, but another far louder voice reasoned that this exchange he was witnessing was definitely worth examining.
Mostly however, it was due to the fact that Andrew is was and had always been an incorrigible snoop.
He always reasoned that it was part of his job though after all. Acting as an information broker between the Underground and the capital came with a lot of excess baggage, but it also had its perks. And what better way was there to come by information than through a first hand account?
Flicking open his pocket watch, Andrew made a quick note of the time before tucking himself up against the nearest wall and a nearby dumpster. Leaving his body in the shadows, he then leaned forward and knelt down, planting one knee in the icy sludge that coated the cobblestones while his body continued to remain in the shadows. Peering around the dumpster, he was finally able to see his quarry easily.
A quick scan of the situation immediately informed him that both of his subjects were male. The taller one was an easy fix. The shorter one was certainly slight of frame, yes, but his broad shoulders and mannerisms were a dead giveaway. There was a decidedly masculine manner to the way the shorter of the two carried himself, and Andrew couldn't help but find himself intrigued. Somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind, the Underground player found himself struggling to pinpoint an old familiar feeling that would wriggle in an off putting manner every time the shorter man moved.
Andrew watched in amazement as said man—with one hand—suddenly lifted the other clear off his feet and slammed him against the far wall of the alley causing the victim to emit a pained gasp as all the air left his body at once. The wall itself also gave off an uncharacteristic shudder not entirely unreminiscent of an an active volcano releasing its first quakes.
What the-? Who the fuck is this guy?
The smaller man, whose silhouette Andrew could just make out, clenched a large chunk of the other's shirt and drew closer, speaking coldly and softly so that the Underground resident was forced to strain to hear him.
"Listen closely, moron. I am in absolutely no mood for games. You know exactly what I want to hear out of your mouth. Any other unsolicited bullshit and I start breaking bones—one by one."
"Please, mister!" The other man practically squealed. Needless to say, Andrew no longer needed to strain his ears to hear.
"I—I didn't have any choice! Th—th-they threatened me! Told me they'd kill my family if I didn't do as they said!"
"Do you always buckle under idle threats, you cowardly little shit?"
That voice…
Without even realizing it, Andrew was creeping closer to hear the exchange better. There was something about the shorter man that was niggling irritably against his memory, even worse than it had before.
"N-no offense, mister, but you didn't see these guys. They were clearly not anyone to be messed with..."
"What about me?!" The shorter man seemed to be becoming increasingly aggravated. He clenched his victim's shirt tighter and pushed him even further against the wall, choking off the man's air supply, "Do I seem like someone it's wise to "mess with?!'"
If it weren't for the fact that it surely would have cut the very last of his air supply off, Andrew was certain that the victim would have been vigorously shaking his head back and forth. Instead all the man could manage was some choked gasps interspersed by the word "no."
"Very smart. Now quit with the excuses! I don't give two shits about why you just tried to poison me and my comrades. What I do care about is WHO told you to do it."
"I—I ne'er got a good look at their faces! There were two of 'em though! Medium build! 'bout the same height as me—maybe a lil taller!"
The other man scoffed, "Very useful information, kid. Tell me, did they also have two arms and two legs?"
The man against the wall began to snivel. Andrew was now close enough to ascertain that the one being interrogated was clearly a waiter from the nearby restaurant.
Very interesting…
"Names, you idiot! Spit out something useful, or I'm snapping a finger! It'll be really hard to serve poisoned drinks then!"
By this point the kid was almost sobbing, "T-they—they never—I didn't get no proper names. Th—they both treated me like a dog—said they wasn't obligated to give their names to some peasant. They said to call 'em both "Master.'"
The angry half pint snorted, seemingly unsurprised.
Andrew sympathized. It would have been a miracle if the pawn had received any real names to go by.
"How'd you meet them?"
"They found me! Earlier 'round mid-day today! They threatened me, gave me the vial, and tole me to use it on the drinks of a group of people who'd be entering later tonight. Said they'd reward me greatly if I just did as I was told and kept my mouth shut!"
Andrew could hear further coldness seeping into the words and mannerisms of the interrogator. He was forced to strain his ears once more as the man's voice had dropped dangerously low, "This group of people, how did your employers describe them?"
"N—not much. They didn't give names or anythin'. Just that a—man wi—with cropped black hair and...uh..."
"Quit babbling, moron. Tell me exactly what they said. I won't kill you just because your employer made fun of my appearance."
"They said you had a short stature and an even shorter temper!" The kid cried out, not once making eye contact with the man who still had him pinned to the wall.
"Hmmph," was his only immediate response, followed by a terse, "What else?"
"Uh...a—and they mentioned...a woman...even smaller than you...wi—with red and yellow hair like the stripes of a coral snake..."
Even from where he was crouched, Andrew could feel the interrogator's mood shift somehow. An almost tangible blood lust seemed to permeate the air of the alley, mingling with the bone chilling cold of the air till all that was left was a heavy feeling of murderous dread.
Unconsciously, Andrew felt himself withdrawing out of sheer self preservation.
Finally, the interrogator spoke again, voice low and deliberately slow, "These men that approached you, what else did you notice about them? You may not have seen their faces but there must have been something distinctive about them, anything at all..."
"I—I—there weren't-"
In the next second, Andrew was forced to blink rapid fire, wondering if his eyes had deceived him. One moment the waiter was pinned to the wall, the next he was flat on his back in the dirty snow in the middle of the alley, a heavy black boot pressed against his throat. Sudden realization dawned on Andrew as he stared wide-eyed at the scene in front of him.
Old memories came flooding back in as he recalled seeing those movements before in almost the exact same manner.
It—it's him! It has to be!
While Andrew was busy mentally reeling, the waiter with a boot on his throat was wondering if he was aobut to die. His head was throbbing so painfully that all he could hear was the pulse of is own blood, his air supply was rapidly disappearing, and his vision was swimming behind white spots. Yet even through his blurry vision, he could still tell that the soldier he'd just angered so unintentionally was glaring down at him with the most murderous gaze that had ever been personally directed at him. It was suddenly and painfully clear as day to him now. It wasn't a question of whether or not this man could kill him, it was simply a question of whether or not he would.
"I know it must be hard for you to formulate thoughts right now between the blood beginning to pool in the back of your skull and the air pockets forming in your lungs, but I need you to think extra hard right now and answer my fucking question. Otherwise...I might skip the bone breaking step and go right to crushing your windpipe with my foot. I'd prefer not to go that route however, seeing as I just polished these boots earlier this evening and blood is a bitch to clean up."
The black-haired soldier's height did nothing to diminish the incredibly daunting reflection of absolute promise and conviction flashing in his eyes. The light of the moon easily caught the look of primal motivation covering his face. It was the kind of look accessible only to those who were truly dangerous.
Born purely out of self preservation and some kind of animalistic desperation, the waiter forced himself to start mentally scrambling. A sudden memory had him spluttering desperately, "W-wait! Th—there was something I forgot! The one who didn't speak much used a cane! He kept it tucked 'neath 'is cape, but I could tell clear as day when e'er he moved! Also, the other one had a tattoo! On his wrist! I only saw it for a second, but I think it was—I dunno, l-l-like an eye or something!"
The soldier only stared down at him, mouth a tight line as he seemed to consider multiple thoughts in his head before reaching a conclusion.
Sighing, the man finally took his boot off the waiter's throat. "Fine. You've been almost no help, but you're still just a stupid damn brat. Get out of my sight and never let me catch you interfering with my people. There won't be a next time, kid. Instead, I'll just kill you straight away."
The moment the soldier was done talking, the waiter scrambled to his feet, sopping wet, covered in mud, blood gushing down the back of his head, gasping and coughing out apologies and thanks before bolting back through the door that led into the restaurant.
"Well, well, well. I see you're just as socially charming as ever, Levi… Pretty sure you at least gave that poor kid a concussion, if not permanent brain damage..."
Stepping out from his shadowy hiding place, Andrew couldn't help but smirk as Levi's hand rapidly drew a pistol and pointed it at his head before even making eye contact.
The grouchy captain scowled heavily, eyes narrowing as he swept them over the sudden intruder. They slowly began to widen once Andrew stepped into the light of the moon.
The gun slowly began to lower as Levi blinked at him.
"Andrew…? What the hell are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing, Levi. Last I heard, you and two of your pups were on the fast track to becoming titan chow."
At Andrew's words, Levi's look of confusion almost instantaneously morphed into an irritated scowl, "Suffice it to say, a lot has changed in these past few years…but you didn't answer my question. What the hell are you doing here?"
The thug briefly took a moment to eye his old comrade. He knew better than anyone where Levi's bending points were. It was painfully obvious that he wasn't anywhere near them currently however.
Accepting his current limitations on the subject matter, Andrew jammed his hands back into his coat pockets while flashing Levi an all too charming grin before launching into the truth.
Life was just a game after all. He'd reasoned long ago that no successful hand was ever born from complete and utter deception. In his experience, success lay somewhere between lies and half truths.
"I was just on my way to work when I heard your little interrogation going down. Though I never thought in a million years that I'd end up running back into you of all people. Shit! How long's it been now? Ten years?"
Levi face remained impassive, "At the very least..."
Andrew couldn't help but smile at the sour faced Captain, "By god, Levi. You sure haven't changed much. You still look like a damn teenager who hasn't slept for 3 days and you're just as grouchy as ever. Couldn't you at least look a little pleased to see an old friend?"
The soldier only continued to stare at him, "And you still love playing the coy idiot, I see. You just heard why I'm not in a good mood right now. Not to mention, exactly what kind of reaction were you expecting from me after our last encounter? You want a damn hug or something?"
Smirking, Andrew leaned against the alley wall, "Fair enough. I guess it was expecting too much to hope that you'd forgotten what happened. And it seems you're still just as good at racking up enemies topside as you were back in your Underground days."
"Indeed. So, forgive me if I don't hang around to chat. We can catch up some other time. Right now, my-"
"LEVI!"
Startled, both men turned their attention to the far end of the alley where a woman was rapidly approaching them, the short heels of her boots slapping against the cobblestones with a brutally loud staccato.
"Levi! What'd you find out? You did catch him, didn't you? Where-"
As she drew nearer, the woman immediately trailed off upon seeing Andrew.
"Huh? You're not that kid. Levi, who-?"
"No one of consequence," responded the captain, immediately moving forward to stand between her and Andrew, "Where are Mike and Nadia?"
"Standing in front of the restaurant waiting for me…? What the hell is going on?"
"Oh, just old friends catching up!" exclaimed Andrew, leaning around Levi to grin at her toothily.
Confusion caused Coral's brow to furrow immediately as she pinned Andrew under her gaze, "Old friends?" she asked suspiciously before throwing a glance back to the Captain, "You know this creep, Levi?"
Andrew threw a hand to his heart in mock offense in such a cheesy manner that both Coral and Levi scoffed at the same time, "A creep, ma'am?! Me?! How crass of you. We haven't even exchanged names yet! Allow me to begin, the name is Andrew Theodore Scaggs, current resident of both the Underground and the capital, Professional Information Broker and former teacher to our mutual acquaintance here."
Coral watched Levi bristle out of the corner of her eye, "Teacher? That's how you remember it? Kidnapper, more like."
"Come now, Levi, are you still mad at me about that? We both established long ago that there was no way you'd have willingly come to meet me. Nabbing you like that was my only chance at getting to speak with you."
Still glaring at his former acquaintance, Levi began to shift the conversation, "Fascinating as this stroll down Memory Lane is, myself and this other officer have much bigger issues at hand."
Turning away from Andrew, Levi brought his attention to Coral, "I already talked with that idiot waiter. He didn't know much but he did manage to tell me that there were at least two men who employed him. There's a good possibility that at least one of them is hanging around the area to see how the job went. We need to spread out and search the area."
Andrew seemed to perk up, "Sounds like you guys could use an extra hand! I'll-"
Levi shot him a glare immediately, "Beat it, Scaggs! You're the last person-"
He was cut short however by the massive boom of a rifle being shot in the distance. Collectively, the three in the alley turned in the direction of the sound.
"What the hell was that?" Coral asked mostly to herself before her feet began to move unconsciously. Without further hesitation, all three broke into a run and headed back for the main road.
Mud was splattering the hem of her skirt, but Coral paid zero attention. Her only focus being the acrid smell of gunpowder smoke now drifting in the air and the panicked stampeding of people.
++Well, it's shorter than I originally meant for it to be, but I figure shorter is better than nothing. Sorry for the huge delay once more, guys. This holiday season has been kinda rough on me and my family. We lost my grandmother on my birthday and had to head to Louisiana. Work's been increasingly busy, and let's just say my inspiration has been in the toilet. Anyway, thanks to all of you who are still reading and always encourage my menial efforts. One of these days I'm going to go back through each chapter and fix all the cringe that I find, but that might be a while. You guys are amazing for slogging through my nonsense! Thank you sooo soooo very much!
Oh! And I promise ya'll will find out with Nadia in the next chapter! Cross my heart! Lol
-Saber