"Wait," Sean extended his arm to prevent Connor from walking forwards. Grimacing, Connor looked up towards Sean with slightly furrowed eyebrows. The young man adjusted his headband and directed his attention forwards into the entrance of the mines. Workers in thick leather overalls armed with hard hats, pickaxes and toolboxes were walking in and out-several of which glanced towards the two unfamiliar figures that were loitering about.
"What's the hold up? If Red Knuckles and company are down there, what's stopping us from going? This is the only mine shaft we haven't checked. If they aren't down there we're shit out of luck, Thadd."
"We still need to figure out what we're going to do once we get inside. Where to look, who to ask, who to butt heads with if it comes to that. We play it smart, or we don't play at all. You got it?" Sean wasn't asking. He was telling. That deep voice of his accentuated whatever sense of authority he was trying to convey quite nicely. Connor's eyes widened slightly as he felt sweat beginning to build on either side of his temple. The young man didn't think he was that old, maybe just ten years his senior or something along those lines. Still, Connor was able to detect the unseen experience that cling to Sean's person.
"I got it, boss. So what are we gonna' do then? I figured we'd just play it by ear, and jump the gun on Anderson once we saw him and his boys."
"We make sure he's actually there first, then we figure out what we're going to do. No funny business."
Connor offered Sean a firm nod, and sure enough the two made their way into the mine shaft. The sound of pickaxes echoed throughout the large earthen corridor, accompanied by loud and discernible shouts coming from the various miners. Connor elbowed Sean, pointing towards one of the miners closer to them. Sean unrolled the bounty poster with one hand and pointed to the face printed onto it with the other.
"Have you seen this man?"
The miner inched forwards, shaking his head as he quickly resumed his work. Sean and Connor spent about thirty minutes inside of the mine shaft, perhaps even longer than that. It was hard to tell the time underground. The excessive amount of dust littering the cramped walkways caused Connor to enter a coughing fit every few minutes. On their trek back towards the entrance, they caught the attention of someone else.
"Psst, hey!" A miner said, gesturing for them to get closer to him. The drunk and the tail chaser briefly glanced at each other before walking over to him. "Lemme' see that poster real quick. If you two are lookin' for who I think you're lookin' for," he slowly looked up towards them, shaking his head and quickly turning his back to the two while clicking his tongue.
"You two must have a death wish. Red Knuckles hasn't been on Flevance for long, but he's been here long enough to put a black eye on anyone stupid enough to go snooping around after him. There was a kid in here earlier, looked around the same age as you with the afro.. I give him till' the end of the day before he gets stuck six feet under."
"Blonde hair," Connor looked towards Sean, crossed his arms and returned his gaze towards the miner. "Cigar, tank top. Yeah. I know who you talkin' about. You wanna' tell us where he went?"
"Look," the miner stopped hammering away at the mound of ore for a moment and turned to face them again. "You two seem to have a death wish like that little punk, so I'll tell you what you what I told him. I've heard a few things round' the mines about some 'extra work' in a decommissioned shaft a few miles north of downtown Flevance. Rumor has it Red Knuckles is paying good money to any miners who know their shit to get him his merchandise."
"Thanks," Sean said. He gestured for Connor to follow him with the nod of his head as the two made their way back out of the mine shaft. Connor linked his hands up behind his head, exhaling sharply before clearing his throat.
"You sure about this, Thadd? I ain't been on this island for long but I know that those old mine shafts are dangerous. The locals steer clear from them, say they are filled with all sorts of fumes an' shit. Is this guy really worth the money, man? I mean, jus' think about it. You and me could be goin' after someone equally as valuable with half the risk."
"Nobody is forcing you to stay, Jackson. I'm fine with claiming all of the reward for myself."
Connor smacked his lips. "Maan, fine. I feel you. Let's just get a move on before word gets out that we're headed there. If what that geezer said was true about some of the miners taking up jobs for Red Knuckles, it wouldn't be far-fetched to think that some of them might've listened in on our conversation."
"Sounds like a plan to me."
By the time the two finally reached the entrance to the abandoned mine shaft, it was high noon. The entrance was riddled with caution signs that warned of sink holes, hazardous fumes and collapsing rocks. Sean released a subtle grunt, trying to think of what might have caused the mine to become unstable. Connor crossed his arms, gaze directed towards Sean.
"You good?"
"Yeah, I'm good. Let's move."
As the two entered, they noticed the lanterns hung up on the supporting pillars of the tunnel. Some flickered dim light, but most of them had already run out of juice. They continued along the corridor for a few minutes, and for a while it seemed like there might not be an end to it. However, sure enough Connor's ears perked to the sound of echoing voices resonating from inside one of the sub tunnels and gestured with his thumb towards it. As they traveled further along it seemed as though sunlight was bleeding into the sub tunnel. By the time they reached the end of it, they came upon a reasonably sized quarry. The natural afternoon sunshine and consistent flow of breathable air was a nice change of pace from what the tunnels offered. Barrels, boxes, mining carts and equipment littered the area.
"Hoo, big fella. You gonna' use that, or what? If you're gonna' do your bosses dirty work for him, you better do it quick." A cheeky, somewhat muffled voice filled the air, coming from a blonde young man stood at the center of the quarry. His back was facing Sean and Connor, but both of them saw enough to confirm their suspicions. Cuffed jeans, black working boots, suspenders, a white tank top-this was same guy that the bartender from earlier had been talking about.
"Looks like that punk beat us to em'," Connor whispered. "But he's ballsy, I'll give him that." He crouched down at the end of the sub tunnel where the light wasn't as prominent, and looked up towards Sean for some sort of indicator. Sean crossed his arms, simply watching and waiting to see how the scene was going to play out.
Sitting on one of the barrels with one leg crossed over his lap was Corban "Red Knuckle" Anderson, wanted for 15,000,000 beli. He was a large, muscular man who was a bit bulkier and taller than Sean himself. His green cargo pants were rolled up to make room for his gladiator-like sandals. The man's knuckles were covered in an excessive amount of scar tissue. Hanging around him was a group of thugs armed with various weapons.
The miners stopped what they were doing to witness the spectacle at hand. Corban clicked his tongue. "What the hell are you idiots lookin' at? Get back to work, now!" His voice alone was enough to force the workers back into submission. Corban raises a hand and waves dismissively towards the blonde haired young man who seemed to captivate the attention of everyone in the general vicinity. The thugs came to attention, preparing themselves.
"Get this tick off my dick, boys. He's been on there far too long."
One of the grunts ran towards the blonde youth without much hesitation. Sean and Connor couldn't see it, but he had a cigar between his teeth. He stood still, waiting silently with a wide smile on his face. The grunt, armed with a simple cutlass, swiped down at him with both hands firmly grasping the hilt.
The blonde quickly raised both of his arms, palms grasping the blade itself before it could strike him. He struggled to keep it from coming down, his arms shaking a bit. His struggle, however, didn't last long at all. Rust spread across the blade of the sword like a highly infectious, fast acting virus and soon enough the blade crumbled into corroded pieces.
Everyone that was able to witness the spectacle, Connor included, felt their mouths drop open. The only exceptions were Corban, who had a particularly vexed expression plaguing his visage, and Sean who smirked slightly in response to the unexpected display. He grabbed Connor by the shoulder shortly after, nodding towards him.
"Heh," Connor smiled. "Guess it's time for us to join in, eh boss?"
Two more of Red Knuckle's goons ran forwards, one armed with two simple handaxes and the other armed with a large hammer. They were both coming fast, far too fast for the blonde to react to both of them in time to save his own skin. Lucky for him, the strings of fate were being pulled in his favor.
As the hammer threatened to come down onto the blonde, Sean stepped in front of him with a quick lunge. He cocked his arm behind his back, throwing his shoulder into a powerful punch sent straight towards the goon's face. Some of his teeth went flying out as blood whizzed into the air, the goon sent flying backwards as he fell flat onto his ass.
Simultaneously, with a sort of unspoken and unexpected compatibility, Connor dealt with the other. The grunt armed with the twin axes raised both of his arms into the air as he went to bring both downwards at a slight angle. Connor stepped forwards, entering his opponents personal bubble as his forearms stopped his opponents wrists. Fancy footwork followed, as Connor quickly turned his hands, gripping and pulling his foe by the wrists into a knee to the stomach. When the smoke cleared, the imprints on the ground where his feet were were reminiscent of the star constellation of Gemini. The same pattern, coincidentally, could be observed on one of his arms.
Sean and Connor looked towards each other, smirking.
"Hey, hey, hey! Woah," the blonde yelled. "You're stealin' my spotlight!"