Shin saw the other two men coming in to attack when Cecil ducked. In the corner of his eye he saw Cantrell attack one of his other two attackers. Dropping suddenly, Shin used the grip he already had on Cecil's arm and a well aimed foot in Cecil's stomach to throw the man over his shoulder. At the same time this put him well out of range of any attack from Cecil's remaining friend.
As soon as Cecil was crashed behind him, Shin rolled back onto his feet and drew his blade, holding it towards the last tough pointing held at the man's eye level. It was at this point he noticed somebody was heading towards Tully but this time to help her instead of harm her so Shin kept his focus on the thug before him. He also heard another voice somewhere behind him but he recognized it as belonging to Marshal Guyer. Even with the reinforcements arriving, Shin didn't let his guard down, not certain yet if Cecil will try and attack him or the thug he was facing.
Tully looked up as she heard Mr. McVey call to her, but before she could scramble to her feet, Cecil was airborne over his opponents shoulder, landing in the dirt next to her. He glared at her, and, hardly missing a beat, rolled toward her and grabbed for her. Scampering back, she kicked him in the chest before scrambling to her feet and running toward Mr. McVey.
"Son of a..." It would be hard to say if Cecil's judgement was tainted by alcohol, or if he was just inherently stupid...or both...but he didn't back down, instead taking advantage of his position on the ground to launch himself at Shin's shins!
Phillip, on the other hand, was just plain drunk, his judgement skewed enough that he decided he could dodge the funny blades and grab shin from behind!
Quentin half turned at the sudden arrival of McVey and Speed. He checked bringing the Mare's Leg up when he realized they were arriving to help. Quentin held up a hand.
"I think Shin can handle those two. They're the ones who picked this fight..." Quentin gestured with the cut down rifle at the sprawled body nearby and the man crumpled on the street at his feet. "That one tried to draw on me or Shin so I obliged him and this one tried to jump Shin from behind so I intervened. He's still alive." Quentin then turned his attention back to Shin and his two opponents. He was more than a little curious how he would handle them...
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"You know, I do believe you're right, and I made a good hire with this fella. He'll work out just fine." Speed said. Then he looked at the mines struggling to maintain their balance. "And you boys can just unbuckle those belts, unless you feel lucky? You earned yourselves a trip to jail."
He smiled and said, "Phin? What are you doing mixed up in this fracas?"
"This all started with them wanting to harass Miss Tully here, and I just can't allow for that," Phin replied, the dragoon still leveled at Cecile when,
"Son of a..." Cecil was airborne over his opponents shoulder, landing in the dirt next to her. He glared at her, and, hardly missing a beat, rolled toward her and grabbed for her. Scampering back, she kicked him in the chest before scrambling to her feet and running toward Mr. McVey.
"Don't you do it Phin!" Speed stepped forward and cold cocked him with his gun barrel. "Reckon this call for a visit to the Stardust and Fortner and Priest!"
Shintaro knew he could easily kill the drunken miner before him and the darker part of him wanted blood. In Japan he would have indulged the darker side, knowing as Shinsengumi, dealing with unrulily drunks was part of his job and since death was the standard way to deal with rule breakers, cutting the man down wouldn't even raise an eyebrow. In America however, the rules were different and killing a drunken fool would likely be frowned upon especially an unarmed one.
When Phillip tried to duck away from his sword to try and get behind him, Shin simply side stepped and slashed him across the side. He pulled his swing just enough to make the wound painful without causing serious injury. Shin then moved into a defensive stance, ready to attack or defend if the drunken miner didn't take the hint and give up while he still had the chance.
Now that he had turned in the process of attacking Phil, Shin saw Speed had dispatched Cecil and Tully didn't look harmed at all by her fall onto the ground. The other two miners were also incapacitated though Shin was certain one was dead, likely the one who was shot earlier.
When the blade cut into his flesh, Phil squealed out like a stuck pig, making far more of the relatively superficial wound than it deserved. "You killed me!" he screamed, making as much of the drama as he could.
As for Cecil, the alcohol haze in his head cleared long enough for him to have the good sense to relent, and he flopped to his side in the dirt. "Why'd ya go an' do that?" he growled. "We weren't doin' nothin'. Girl asked me ta kiss her, an' when I tried, she hit me!"
Tully didn't hear the accusation...she was kneeling beside Phin, reaching to touch his shoulder. "Mr. McVey? You alive?" She looked up at Speed, frowning. "Why'd you hit him?" she asked, although she knew the answer. She'd seen Phineas fixing to shoot Cecil, and that would have likely landed him in jail. Speed had done the newspaper man a favor.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
"Can't have the newspaper editor hung for murdering this scum, now can I?" Speed quizzed her. "The Deputy here has handled these boys along with our good friend Quentin Cantrell. Now we'll just get these yokels over to the jail, get the Doc, well, one of 'em to tend to Phil here and then, as I said, I'll be going up to the Sfardust and have a chat with their employers."
Fully aware of their henchman, Jim Henry, Fortner and Priest were still his number one and two suspects in the Potee situation, which Speed had not received enough information about to decide what needed to be done and where they were, with this gold mine, which was on property that had been theirs, and suddenly was not, pointed to skulduggery.
Quentin nodded as he had holstered the Mare's Leg and had his Colt back out, the loading gate open as he emptied the two fired shells and he was replacing them with fresh rounds.
"Mr. McVey is always an earnest man about stopping crime, but he tends to get a bit ahead of himself about when he is allowed to shoot people..." Cantrell slid the Colt back into its holster with practiced ease then walked over to help Phineas to his feet. He had scooped the Dragoon up and shoved it into the back of his gun belt before beginning to hoist the dazed man to his feet.
"The law is the law."
"Mining's not everyone's choice of hobbies, it just happens to be mine."
Speed, on the other arm of Phin whom he'd buffaloed before the man killed another, and had to be arrested. "Phin? Yolu alright? Want us to get a doctor for you? I'm sorry, but I couldn't let you kill Cecil. He wouldn't have been worth it."
The man was his friend and a valued member of the community. And it brought to mind that he needed to get these men to jail and then to march up to the saloon and have words about this behaviour with Fortner and Priest, regardless of Jim Henry
"Ah ah, I don't know. Just get me inside, I need a drink!" Phin mumbled, at least the skin wasn't broken, although it should have been, or did Speed pull back before the gun barrel collided with Phin's head? "Tully? You okay?"
"I'm good," Tully mumbled, scampering back as the men helped Phin up. Well, she wasn't hurt, that was true, but her ire was up! With Phin being assisted inside, she turned her attention to Cecil, who was still accusing her of all sorts of things.
"Yer a a lyin' skunk, Cecil Barbour!" she shouted as she ran over to him, intent on giving him a good kick to the ribs, but then she looked up at the strangely-dressed man, still holding a sword, and stopped in her tracks. "Oh, um...he's lyin', I was just..." Shrugging, she gestured to the boardwalk where her drawings and pencils were still scattered.