With the two friends reunited in-game, Axton took the lead and-.

Started sending messages via the in-game mail system.

The fact that Axton was potentially trying to contact a GM or some other thing gave Thomas some reason for concern, but if he knew exactly who and what Axton was looking for his attitude would have made a complete 180. Axton’s message went out and the Player waited for one of the only two potential responses that he would expect to receive to come back.

If his gamble during the Beta had paid off, then he would soon receive word from Daxter and much of his loot and wealth from the Beta (along with a nice, shiny, custom War Suit) would be his for the taking. If his gamble had failed, then he would soon receive a message saying that his mail could not go through. Seconds passed by and the suspense became far more intense than Axton had predicted. It was like hell waiting to see if he had struck it big or if he had failed miserably.

Then an alert popped up. He had a response, but whether that response was positive or negative was something he would have to check and find out. Unfortunately, before he could access the mail, his body was shaken by Thomas.

“What?” Axton asked, clearly vexed that he had been interrupted.

Thomas said nothing and merely gestured with his thumb at a few NPCs who were eyeing Axton up. Axton focused in on the gathering of NPCs and as he focused on them, he overheard something that gave him chills.

“That’s him. The guy from the bounty. The Empire is paying 15 million for him. Arm up.”

Axton cursed under his breath and gestured for Thomas to follow him. The two left the Beginner’s Square and could tell that the NPCs were following them.

“Bounty Hunters?”

Axton nodded at Thomas’ question and picked up the pace, weaving his way through a crowd before picking up a metal pipe from the ground and taking a sharp turn into an alley. Seeing his friend grab a weapon, Thomas did the same, using his Avatar’s heightened strength to twist a street sign whose base had nearly been rusted through free of its mooring. He followed Axton into the alley and Axton directed him to take a position opposite to him, which resulted in both of them hiding just out of sight.

Axton held the metal pipe like he was about to swing for the fences and Thomas held his improvised street sign battleax in a lowered position. One of them would swing from high, while the other would swing up from a lower position. No matter what way the pursuers tried to dodge, they would take a blow regardless. The pair waited for their pursuers to catch their trail again and once the sounds of footsteps grew close enough both Players tensed up and prepared to fight.

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Axton and Thomas shared a glance, and they silently came to an agreement that Thomas would go first. The first NPC stepped forward and entered Thomas’ range, and it was just a half-second later that the massive Player swung and dealt some serious damage to the NPC. The edge of the metal sign had been damaged by time and corrosion, but it was still sharp enough and sturdy enough that with enough force it could rip through cloth and flesh alike. What made the improvised weapon even more dangerous was that when it cut through its target it left bits of rusted metal inside. If left untreated, Tetanus was sure to follow.

In the split second after Thomas’ blow finished following through, Axton popped out from behind his hiding spot and grappled the mortally wounded mook and dragged him behind the wall he himself had been hiding behind. Immediately thereafter, the other three NPCs charged in, and this time Axton’s weapon was the one that struck, nailing someone who looked like a punk rocker in the face and nearly smashing halfway through her skull.

Axton pulled his pipe free and lowered his stance. He could tell via his minimap that the remaining two goons were closing in and, in the brief moment before the third victim crossed the threshold, Axton swung his pipe out and caught the mook in their right leg. The sound of bone shattering sent a shockwave of emotion through all four remaining people, Players and NPCs alike, and as the second to last NPC pursuant fell to the ground Thomas delivered a strike to the back of the man’s neck.

Blood and spinal fluid splattered around and the final goon dove through the alleyway and rolled to a stop. This one must have been of a higher caliber than the other three had been, as he actually carried a gun and aimed it at Axton.

“Don’t you dare move a muscle.” The man who looked like a typical greaser said with a clearly stereotypical pseudo-Italian accent.

Axton obliged, and Thomas moved forward instead. The NPC then turned his gun on Thomas and barked the same order, which Thomas happily complied with as Axton moved closer to the greaser. What happened next was the most insane game of ‘Red Light, Green Light’ that either of the two Players had ever experienced, and thankfully the mook was either too dumb or too afraid of death to do the smart thing and shoot either of them.

With each time the gunman switched targets, the other Player would move closer, forcing the greaser to back up a bit and swap targets. This whole bit of rather tense but comedic entertainment continued for a few tense minutes until the greaser found himself backed up against a literal wall. As his back hit said wall, he made the foolish choice of quickly looking back to see what he had found himself against, which was all the distraction Axton needed to toss his pipe like a boomerang.

The pipe hit the gunman’s hand and cracked a few bones in his fingers, causing him to drop the gun. Before either the NPC or Thomas could do much else, Axton finished closing the gap and landed a right hook to the greaser’s face, sending him to the ground. The NPC tried to crawl away, but Axton positioned himself on top of the prone NPC and proceeded to deliver a seemingly endless series of punches until the mob was dead.

Axton rose from the broken form of the NPC and grabbed the dead man’s gun and gave it a look over. After he was satisfied with his prize, Axton picked up the bloody metal pipe and then decided that this moment of calm would be the perfect moment to check that message, much to Thomas’ shock.