The drunks stumbled back in a mix of shock and confusion as one of their number lay on the ground, a massive gash in his head spilling blood onto the dirt and sod that covered the bar’s floor. Some would say that the first victim of Axton’s first fight should have considered himself lucky that he was still alive, though he certainly was suffering from a concussion at the very least. The other drunks, however, were none too happy that their buddy had just eaten a face full of metal and charged Axton with reckless abandon.

Axton ducked out of the way and used a leg to trip up the closest drunk, which in turn caused a chain reaction as the other behind him fell over each other in a heap. Axton and a bunch of the other people in the bar laughed as the drunks stumbled back to their feet after their embarrassing fall, but Axton was not about to just let them rise without a fight. He tossed the barman a few more credits for his trouble and then picked up a bar stool. With a swift and fluid motion, Axton brought the flimsy seat down on the back of one of the drunken goons, smashing in the process and knocking the idiots around like hollow plastic bowling pins.

This bar fight had, unfortunately, caused a lot of noise, despite how short it had been, and Axton noticed that a few of Stebbs’ minions were coming his way. This forced Axton’s hand, and he tossed another few credits to the barman and a few more to the crowd before bolting out the back door and into the rapidly encroaching night. At first, the people who were not with Stebbs were confused by the sudden generosity, but as the realization that the Outworlder could change his face set in, they all knew what they had been ‘paid’ to do.

It was time for a bit of payback for everything the Mayor and his flunkies had put everyone through.

…

A few days had passed since the bar fight that had occurred in the Steelree Bar and Inn, but those days that had come and gone only exacerbated the ever-growing headache that Mayor Stebbs was suffering from. He was sure that this was the result of that damn Outworlder, for what other explanation was there? Who else could possibly change their face to match his, and who else in this Podunk backwater would have a grudge against him? Well, perhaps that last one had a few more people to count than just the Outworlder…

Worse still, his own idiot henchmen could not seem to distinguish the imposter from Stebbs himself. It was embarrassing to the extreme, but what else could he have expected from one of the galaxy’s cheapest ‘minion for hire’ services? Perhaps saving a few thousand credits by hiring a company made of blood relatives wasn’t the brightest idea he had come up with, but damn their prices were competitive!

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

But now he had to deal with the growing craziness that was causing his people to turn on each other. How dare that imposter offer his money in exchange for his employees doing random, counterproductive things! As things were now, it was getting nigh impossible to keep the cousin-fuckers in line and working as he, their employer, saw fit.

If only he knew where that bastard was hiding, then he would be able to bring his wrath down upon that damn Outworlder. But unfortunately, neither hide nor hair of the damn escapee could be found. It was as if he was an expert at hiding in plain sight. Either that, or he had a place that no one else could go to.

Urgh! What a pain in the ass! He would need a few of his hostages to help him unwind a bit tonight. Maybe the one who just turned six last week? And if that one didn’t end up getting his mind off things, he could always watch his subordinates have fun with her. Yes, he was sure that even if either of those things weren’t enough, then beating the girl to death in front of the other hostages certainly would. After all, it had worked before, so why would it not relieve his stress again?

…

Axton had finished with his self-appointed task and once again visited the Cash Shop to change his face back to the only other saved preset, which was his own, natural face. Truth be told, he had not expected to have to use the Cash Shop so soon, but the second-best part about this new game’s monetization scheme was that in-game money (i.e. credits) could be used to buy things as well. Sure, the prices were extreme, but the fact that the only things that would be available were to be cosmetics was a blessing.

At first, when those drunks had approached him, he had been panicking. But the realization that he had yet another way to fuck over Stebbs and the whole of his little shit-show made it well worth the hassle and humiliation of wearing that asshat’s face for a while. Thank god that the people that worked for the Mayor were dumber than a bag of bricks, otherwise the fact that his own information had not changed would have ratted him out and the scheme he had concocted in those brief moments would have failed horribly.

As much as he wanted to keep messing with everyone, Axton knew that he was starting to get on thin ice. Stebbs’ goons were getting a little too wise to Axton’s tricks, which was one of the reasons he had moved back into the crashed derelict inside the junkyard. The other was because, during his week-long fuckery, he had managed to get the heat off of Daxter and the Orphans. This, along with Axton’s quiet infiltration of Stebbs’ own base where he successfully rescued nearly every hostage there, meant that the colony no longer had to tolerate Stebbs’ bullshit.

Add in the fact that Axton had left a few toys for Daxter and his gang to have at their disposal (courtesy of the Cash Shop), and you now had a colony full of angry civilians that now had weapons, armor, ammunition, and a righteous hatred for their current overlord. Plus, with the hostages freed and the thugs no longer bothering them, Daxter and the Orphans could now operate freely and even begin to contact Axton again.

However, everyone knew it was only a matter of time before Stebbs tried to take some hostages again. If he did that, then there was no doubt in Axton’s mind that the security around them would ramp up to an absurd level, making a second rescue nearly impossible. So, Axton set to work. He needed that War Suit ready for when shit hit the fan, and he had a sinking suspicion that such a time was right around the corner.