Serious: A meeting of old friends (open to Anubis 15th division and the Dire Desperados)

The man grinned. "It's Raulin, remember? Raulin Denys? I got the dinosaur tooth you asked for... I'm sorry it took two years to get it for you. Which reminds me, Avis!" He began unbuttoning his overcoat as he simultaneously kicked off his shoes. "You owe me a rematch, ma'am! I've gotten better since you beat me two years ago, I'm certain to win this time!" He removed the overcoat and got to work on his pants. "You had certainly given me a tough task! I had no idea where to find dinosaurs, but luckily I found some on Little Garden!" Raulin was progressively removing layers of his clothing as he blathered on about something or another that Avis may or may not have said at some point in the past.

Raulin? Now where did she hear that name before... Avis remained deep in thought while Raulin tossed off his shoes and overcoat. While this was rather odd, it didn't strike her as anything out of the norm. He was probably just getting comfortable. It wasn't until he proceeded to remove his pants that her eyes shot wide open and her jaw dropped, dumbfounded.

Raulin Denys. The same Raulin Denys that she ending up defeating a few years before, but not before a bit of wardrobe malfunction on his part. Although the fact he was able to chase down something that she didn't even realized existed was rather impressive... Even though it entirely destroyed the point of sending him on am impossible wild goose chase to begin with. He was supposed to be distracted with searching for something that didn't exist for the rest of eternity, while she was out enjoying her Raulin-free lifetime.

"Keep your pants on! Literally, might I add," she snarled, jaw clenched. "While this might be a bit much for you to comprehend, I'm rather preoccupied right now. And use the damn door next time, ya dimwit! Merchant, we're leaving." Avis turned away from Raulin in a huff with a scowl on her face. She stopped just before the broken door and gestured towards it with her arm, glancing towards the merchant expectantly.

It was more a commanding gesture than a polite one, and the expression on her face said she wasn't about to take no as an answer. She wanted to keep an eye on the man, but there was no point in staying there any longer. No doubt she would be blamed for destroyed wall, along with everything else they smashed to bits. Being at the scene of the crime would only make things worse.

Mercutio had watched on with mild interest (and suspiciously much of it) as the stranger began to remove various clothes. What an interesting person... And seemingly not allied with the revolutionary or his friends, which at least got one possible obstacle out of the way.
When the woman commanded him to follow him, he halfheartedly protested.
"It's not merchant, though.... oh, forget about it."
Let her call him merchant, it was okay. Didn't really matter.
Much more important right now was that she was heading outside, into a possible conflict, and that she didn't seem likely to stop.
In a vain attempt to slow them both down a bit, he acted surprised for a moment at her sudden will to not only take him with her (anticipated), but also her wanting him to lead the way (unfortunate). But before actually taking a step towards the door, he shortly reached into his bag, and, after a few seconds of intense and unneccessary searching, pulled out a smaller bag and threw it at the barkeep, who had collapsed when the wall had been torn down. Mercutio almost felt sorry for the man...
Then, finally, he headed towards the door and out into the rain. What was happening out there was not what he had expected to see...


Yumi looked at her two friends. They were endangering themselves for her.
And Uddo had gone out of his way to help her, again and again. This whole day had been the antithesis to everything she thought she had known, and it was his fault... In a way, it was frightening.
He caught her when she was thrown by the bearman, and he set her down softly, and there was that weird feeling again. That insecureness, that feeling that he wasn't like those other men she used to know. He didn't deserve any of this. Still, after all she had done, and after all he could suspect by now, he was still worrying about her safety, still helping her.
For the first time, she thought that maybe, what she had done wasn't the right thing in the end. What they had done wasn't....
"Uddo! Listen!"
She said, and it felt unusual for her to be so straightforward.
She grabbed his shoulder with her hand, she needed him to listen.
"You are all in danger! Not only him, you too! It's Mercutio, he...."
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Chris charge, and the thought of those two endangering their lifes for someone who was betraying them made her eyes burn again, but she swallowed the tears. She couldn't go back now, she couldn't stop.

The moment Jace threw Yumi, Myriam fired her gun three times, aiming for the midst of her opponent, and drawing her second gun while she was at it, only to use it to fire again, only once, and this time, aiming for his left knee. she wasn't called "Trigger" for nothing. Fastest triggerfinger in all of East Blue.... still, hadn't saved her in the past.
Appearantly, Chris decided she wanted her piece of glory too, as Myriam became aware she wasn't by her side anymore.
The rain would cause some challenge to her rollerblading skills, but honestly, Myriam had seen her manage harder things. No matter what her partner thought of her, Myriam held respect for her as a fighter.
Chris detached her chain sickle from her belt with a slight clink, and, keeping close to the ground and well out of the way of her bullets, threw it at the bearman, obviously not caring uch about where it hit.

Yumi felt the need to correct her last statement.
"...We did something horrible. We... I..."
How could something like this hurt so much, and in so many ways. Yumi couldn't bring herself to look at Uddo, or at the two girls who were fighting for her sake.
"...Me and two others took out your crew. Your captain is going to be executed by the coast guard because of forged evidence and a dead body in need of a murderer..."
Every single word was like a knife.
"I.... I'm so sorry..."

Jace was having the time of his life. He let out a howl of excitement as the first shots were fired. They slammed into his chest, but the majority of the damage was absorbed by Jace's flak jacket. The rest simply made him take a step back. The impact woke him up and he spun, his body momentarily blurring, out of the way of the last bullet. He saw the sickle incoming and reached out and caught it by its blade. In spite of the pain of the blade cutting into his fingers, he yanked on the sickle, intending to use its chain to pull the girl hanging onto it towards him. This was so that he could smash her with a punch into the mud.
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Uddo was devastated. He didn't say anything right away, but stayed where he was, crouching and staring at Yumi. She had...but he thought...and his captain...no...how could she? Then he noticed her expression and he realized what this was costing her.

Uddo reached up and took hold of Yumi's hand. He slipped it off of his shoulder, but held onto it, gently stroking the back of it with his thumb.

"I guess I understand..." Uddo said quietly. "You were...you were just doing your duty. And now I must do mine." Uddo pulled back and stood up, turning so that he was facing the battle with his back to Yumi. "For the first time...I'm going to fight for someone else," Uddo whispered. "Hang tight Yumi, Johan, guys... I will not let it end this way!"

With those words still ringing in his ears, Uddo ran forward. He reached down and snatched up his fallen weapons before dashing into the fight to help Jace.

"Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" Raulin exclaimed, stopped halfway in taking off his last shirt and shorts. "Why can't we have a rematch now???" He slumped down, his arms dangling uselessly at his sides. The large metallic snake lowered its head so that Raulin could jump into and sit in its mouth. His clothing, as if they had minds of their own (each had some iron in it so he could move it) threw themselves into the snake's mouth and down into its second 'belly'. Raulin dejectedly looked down at Avis as she left the bar, wondering what he could do to make her happy again... waitasecond. "Miss Avis? Where are all your other swords?" He was certain she had more than just ONE when she had beaten his ass into the ground last time, so... where were all the others?

Avis was about to follow the man out the door when Raulin's disappointed whine reached her ears. She spun around after he had left to face Raulin. Her expression was locked in an uncaring deadpan, not amused or moved in the least by by his comments.

"We went through this already. I don't have time. If you want my full attention, you'll just have to wait until I'm done. Patiently." Avis said, putting stress on the last part of her statement. When he asked about the fate of her swords, she glanced at her empty sheaths with mild surprise. All of them were bare except for a single one at her hip. "Two broke, and I lost the other ones... Tell you what: you use that devil's fruit of yours to make me four katana, and we'll have a rematch after we finish up in town. Keep up with us until then. I'm not going on a wild goose chase to look for anyone else. Got it?"

Regardless of his response, she then proceeded to exit the bar and stride into the street. The gunfire instantly caught her attention, and Avis looked onto the fight with a visible grin on her face. She wasn't about to ruin Jace's fun. As long as nothing shifty happened, Avis was content with sitting back and watching the quarrel. It wouldn't be a bad idea to see what this revolutionary kid was capable of, either. Seeing him join in the fight amused her to an extent. Maybe he could pull his own weight after all.

Ooh, this wasn't good. This wasn't good at all...
Mercutio watched the forces clash. Three, no, four on their side, two on his... Except... He looked around. Where was that Yumi girl.
He spotted her, sitting around and staring at the fight... Looked like she was useless after all. Dead weight.
And the other two were obviously not used to teamwork, at all. There moves were chaotic, they barely managed to avoid harming each other. Inwardly, Mercutio sighed. Why did he, er, hire those ladies instead of a real crew, again?
It didn't take much to figure they'd be losing, sooner or later, and even though he considered himself a good fighter, he would definitely not risk going up against four fighters and a giant snake.
Slowly, he searched his bag, foud what he was looking for, and pulled it back out. Might get a bit tight around here soon, he'd better make sure he'd be prepared.
"Aren't you going to join in...?"
He asked carefully, turning his head to Avis. This one didn't look like one to let such a good opportunity to get into trouble slip... Though of course, he'd be more than relieved to hear she'd postpone her joining in the fight.

Chris was swiftly dragged off her feet, easily, since rollerscates didn't exactly offer a lot of support, and the weather made it worse.
Myriam, who hadn't been counting on this, could barely jerk her arm upwards before she pulled the trigger.
"Goddamnit, Chris!"
Her partner was too busy being smashed into the mud, something she was used to, sadly, to reply.
Just then, Myriam spotted another opponent joining the fight, a young boy this time. This looked bad! The bear and another one? Oh, and there was another woman, she realised. Why wasn't Mercutio helping them?! Wait, that wasn't actually that surprising, but why wasn't Yumi helping?! They were in a pretty tight spot here!
Instead of spending her time thinking about those things, however, she took aim again. Her bullets should do more harm to that one, at least. As if testing, she shot twice with one of her guns, aiming for the shoulder and, a little lower, the left side of the breast. If she was lucky, he'd be out before he'd even join the fight. With her other hand, she reloaded her other gun, just so she wouldn't unexpectantly run out of bullets.

Jace grinned in malevolent pleasure. He stuck the scythe into the mud and stepped on it to hold it down. Then, taking hold of Chris's head with the hand he had used to strike her down, he lifted her out of the mud, preparing to rip her apart with his claws. He hesitated...a little piece of humanity flitted through his eyes. With a frustrated growl, he thrust Chris back into the mud, face-up, and gave her a quick rap over the head like he had done with Kimo to, hopefully, knock her unconscious.

Uddo wasn't having as much luck. He had only just caught sight of the girl firing at him and he was forced to go into a dive. One of the bullets winged his shoulder and the other grazed the side of his head. Bleeding from both light wounds, Uddo came back up swinging his whip and sending the silvery snake head towards the girl's right gun.

Raulin's eyes lit up in a youthful glee. "Four? That's all?" He raised an arm, and four katana formed out of iron in midair, before being dragged straight down by gravity. They landed in a square around Avis, their handles around waist height. "I could make more, if you'd like! Anything for a rematch!" Screw the people fighting below him. He didn't care. Avis attracted his full attention at the moment, and nothing could change that.

Not important or anything, but those fighters would be screwed if they attacked Avis.

"These are all I need," Avis stated, grabbing each of the newly made swords and sliding them into her sheaths one by one. She sighed as Raulin persisted and gave him a side glance dripping with apathy. A ridiculous number of weapons was probably the thing they needed least at the moment. As if smashing a bar apart and having a metal serpent in the middle in the road wasn't suspicious enough. Now that she thought about it, maybe this search party was not her most brilliant plan. Avis had nearly forgotten about Mercutio until he asked about her intentions moments later.

"Why would I? The two of them obviously have it handled without my intervention," she replied bluntly, paying little attention to how he was digging around inside his bag. While sitting on the sidelines wasn't nearly as entertaining as being in the fray, Avis wasn't one to deprive her own crew of some action. If things got messy, of course she'd intervene. Until then, though, she didn't feel a strong desire to.

Chris could take some hits, she really could. And when the huge bear hit her, she was seeing stars. For one moment, she considered just staying there, on the ground, her eyes closed pretending to be out cold. Really, was this all worth dying for? Probably not. Could just as well play dead and bail later....
Then she heard someone call her name, and a second later, a scream.
Probably, this wasn't worth dying for.... Which is what Jess and Tessa had appearantly done. She had known Jess for as long as she could remember, and Tessa.... Tessa had been such a bitch. But she had always been there for them when they needed her.
Now they were dead, if Mercutios information was anything to go by. Chris wasn't stupid, she knew he was about as trustworthy and loyal as the snake he resembled in her mind. Hell, for all she knew, he might even have been the one responsible. But one way or another...
She grabbed the small knife on her belt, not a weapon fit for such a fight, but the only one she had left.
... She couldn't let any more people die, no matter who was really to blame for it.
She rolled to the side, towards the bear man and directly in front of his feet now, and the small knife came down on his upper leg.

Yumi didn't want to stray off the path she had chosen anymore. She had chosen, against her better knowledge, to betray her crew and leave Mercedes to an uncertain fate to help Uddo and his crew escape the injustice they were facing. But still....her crew, or the part of it present right now, didn't seem to know. How should they know?!
Yumi was shaking, not only from the rain on her skin, or Mercutio watching her out of the corner of his eye, but because the side she had chosen was fighting the people she loved. Chris was a badmouth, uncouth, everything her mother had always warned her about, and Myriam used her body to get her ways ina ruthless manner, but.... but she had spent almost three years with them, and beneath it all, they weren't that bad. They weren't bad people at all.
She saw the bear man lift Chris off the ground, and she knew what would happen. She jumped up, and in spite of he uselessness, she was on the brink of jumping in when he dropped her and hit her instead. Yumi understood, somewhat, that he was trying to knock her out, but there was still the small oart of her that thought she was dead.
"Chris!"
She yelled, without thinking. But then her attention was dragged away from her seemingly fallen friend and onto Miryam.

Snake!
Miryam had not expected that, not at all. She had been prepared for all sorts of attacks, well, mostly for whip. But a snake?!
She realised what it was going for just a second too late, when her gun was ripped from her fingers. A small shriek escaped her. Snakes were icky! And this one could have bitten her hand!
For a small moment, she absent mindedly rubbed it on her shorts, as if it were somehow dirty now that the reptile had almost touched it.
What was it with snakes today? There were three in one place now, if you counted Mercutio.
Then, she seemed to recall she was in the middle of a battle, even though it was one they were undeniably losing as of now.
She had to take the boy out if she wanted to take care of the snake!
If she was lucky, she could do it in one shot, but she still pulled the trigger twice, each shot aiming for one shoulder.


Mercutio had been glancing at Yumi expectantly, waiting for her to jump into action. Come oooon, weren't those types all about friendship and love and loyalty and stuff?! Why wasn't she doing anything?!
This was a lost battle, he could tell. Those two wouldn't make it much longer, and suddenly he intently wished Yumi would not jump in or do anything at all. If she did, it would be clear that his ally was allied with the enemy, which made him more suspicious. He hoped the two would just get it over with and die quickly so she wouldn't have a chance to....
Oh great. Here we go. She had gone and called out to one of them. Wonderful, simply wonderful. So, initiation of plan B.

Jace saw the knife. He almost missed it due to Yumi's yell. In fact, he had started to turn towards Yumi when he saw the knife coming down towards his leg. He considered blocking it. He really did. In fact, he probably should have blocked it. But he didn't. Instead, he allowed it to sink into his leg. There. She had managed to hurt him of her own accord. That was something she could be proud of.

The maddening rage in Jace's head almost erupted into an inferno at the pain, but Jace did not allow it to show on his face. If anything, his eyes seemed to clear of their anger and softened.

"Very good," he growled. "But this fight, is over. I would have rather just finished you off without hurting you too much...but it is obvious that you are loyal, even to the end. I shall honor your courage with my own full strength."

Jace reached down and grabbed hold of the knife. He pulled the knife out and moved it out of the way, almost tenderly. He brought up his other arm, clenching his paw into a fist. His eyes became feral once more as he brought his fist down towards Chris.

"NATURE FORCE!"

At the last possible second, Jace relented. He did not halt his punch, but he reverted back into his human form so that the punch would not be quite as devastating, should it connect.
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Uddo smirked. It seemed that his control over this weapon was already at the level of a master. At least that's what he thought. Honestly, all he knew about a whip was what he had seen years ago at a circus and from what the shopkeeper had demonstrated to him. It had been simple for him to copy down the movements in his head.

"I got your technique..." Uddo thought to himself.

Then Miryam raised her gun to fire at him again. This time, Uddo acted on instinct, throwing his sai at her gun. Whether it was sheer dumb luck or some technique he had learned in the past, Uddo would never know, but the sai was struck by the first bullet, deflecting the bullet and knocking itself off course so that it flew around Miryam. For the second bullet, Uddo spun, exactly like Jace had, avoiding the bullet completely, though it was extremely close due to his lack of speed. This was the way he fought. The longer the battle lasted, the more powerful Uddo became.

Uddo twirled the whip and sent the snake head ripping through the air. This time he wasn't aiming for Miryam's gun. Instead he was targeting the girl herself. She had involuntarily let slip a very important piece of information when she had shrieked.

Raulin lounged in the mouth of his giant snake, using the clothing he had removed as a cushion for his head. God did he want these people to stop fighting. It was just... boring waiting for this fight, now that he had finally found Avis.

((So... I entirely didn't realize it was my turn to post until Gore reminded me. Shame on me.))

Avis continued to carefully watch the quarrel unfold, until Yumi's cry reached her ears and caught her attention. The girl sounded much too concerned for Avis' liking. With that observation, the gears in her head started turning. If Yumi was connected somehow to their attackers, it was possible by extension that Mercutio was as well. How very suspicious. Someone was either hiding something or lying entirely, and Avis didn't like that one bit.

She meandered over to Yumi and reached out to grab her shoulder. Although it might have just been intended to get the girl's attention, Avis' grip would be a bit too firm to be interpreted as purely conversational. "... Is there something wrong, Yumi? I suppose we should permanently dispose of these two girls once those two are done with them. Rather be safe than sorry."

Yes! The knife had actually connected! Yeees!
Maybe there was a chance after all here. Chris felt a wave of happiness overcome her, one big enough to almost have her forget about her pain. Then, he started talking. Chris looked up at him. Damn right, she was good! Damn right, she was loyal... Wait, what? Over?
She saw the fist coming for her, and despite the quickness of it all her reflexes were quick enough for her to react. She pushed herself off the ground in an attempt to jump back.... Which would have worked, would she not have been wearing roller blades. The muddy ground gave away under her, and the punch slammed her down. As the air was pushed out of her lungs and the world went dark, her last thought was a simple, short "Aw, goddamnit.".

The boy was smarter than he looked... Well, it had been pretty dumb of her to let him notice her... dislike of reptiles. But it wasn't only that... An attack from two sides, one from the snake, one from her own bullet that he somehow reflected... The boy she had started this fight with wouldn't have been able to do that....
Then she saw Chris out of the corner of her eye, being slammed into the mud. Two enemies at once, and Chris hadn't been able to defeat the bearguy... Miryam wasn't stupid or naive, she knew when it was time to quit.
So, even though she did it reluctantly, she raised her arm, knowing the boys weapon would sink its teeth into it. Making it look like an accident was easier than she thouhgt, especially as the pain from its needle teeth was intense. She was pushed back and fell over to the side. Oh, this was a strong snake.... But she let it happen. The bullet missed, of course, since she was now on the ground, but just having the snake on her was enough. Every hair on her body stood on edge as she tried to get the reptile off of her in a fight she wasn't intending to win. Losing now would most likely give her a chance to get out alive. Though she was sorry for Yumi and Chris, she intended to survive this day, and live on for much longer.

Yumi winced as Avis grabbed her shoulder, she could swear she had heard her bones crack for a moment there. Where did this lady get her strenght?
And what did she want from her?
The latter question was answered almost directly when Avis revealed the plans she had for her friends.
Yumi wasn't stupid, she knew where this was going. This was Avis trying to figure out whether she was allied with the two attackers or not... Which would also have an effect of her view on Mercutio... well, if that was what she wanted, this wasn't hard. She had already gone this far, she couldn't exactly turn back after telling Uddo about Mercutios, no, their scheme.
She tried to free herself from Avis grip for dramatic effect and becaise she really was upset by her suggestion, but failed miserably, and therefor settled for glaring at her in a way that was very uncommon for her.
"Don't you dare!"
She hissed, though her voice was still shaking. The small moment of courage remained only that though, a single moment, before she couldn't stand glaring at a complete stranger anymore, and looked at her feet instead.
"I mean, I think you ight be sorry later if you do.... They're not even... to, er, blame..."
Her voice got quieter and quieter, until the last words were barely audible.
Still, this was a very, very brave moment for her. Oh god, now if only she wouldn't harm her... Then again, what did she really have left to lose?

Weeeell, this was convenient. Big scary lady was leaving his side for a moment.
Mercutio felt almost like a little boy whos parents had left the house for the evening, therefor leaving all the precious candy unguarded.
Except there weren't sugary treads around anywhere, and this lady, he imagined, could hardly be old enough to be his mother. Besides, who'd be the father then? Neither the bearman nor the er, snake riding gentleman with a habit of removing clothes seemed like a good choice, and he didn't even want to think of Frideswide in this position.
Not that he was, obviously, he had something better to do, now that he was finally free.
That something happened to be sneaking off back into the bar, and, once he had gotten to the other side of the door, speed off to the back entrance. Now if only he could make it to the harbor unnoticed, he'd be all set. And look at that, he thought to himself, the rain was finally stopping as well, at least slowly. How lucky. That he wouldn't be there to witness Frideswides execution was a shame, naturally, but well... couldn't have everything... And maybe he could return later to check if there was a corpse. Not that he had the suspicion that a man with Frideswides luck would be saved in the last second, but just to make sure....
Oh, who was he kidding? This sucked! Damn that pirate crew. Damn them to hell. But at least he would make it out alive...
Thoughts like that went through his head as he sped off through the muddy alleyway behind the bar, away from the skirmish and the usless girls and the pesky pirates.

Uddo stared at Miryam for a moment, looking surprised. Slowly a smile broke out over his features. That smile quickly changed into a broad grin.

"I did it!" he shouted. "I actually won! Wahoo!"

Jace, who was busy making sure Chris wouldn't drown in the mud, looked up at Uddo and smiled pleasantly. He was mildly surprised by the boy's loud exclamation, but was glad that he was pleased by his accomplishment. It seemed that he wasn't so useless after all. Not good, but not a complete loser, all the same.

"Did you see that, Yumi?" Uddo said, looking back at the girl. "I...I...WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

Uddo yanked on his whip, tearing the needle-like teeth free of Miryam's arm. It never even occurred to him how much that had to hurt her. He was more focused on the fact that Avis had grabbed hold of Yumi.

Spinning his whip over his head, he now sent the snake head whipping towards Avis. In his usual overprotective fashion, Jace moved into the path of the whip and caught it. The small spines along its sides poked into his fingers as he began dragging Uddo towards him.

"Hey kid, calm yourself," Jace ordered.

Uddo ignored him. The moment he was within arm's reach of Jace, the bearman grabbed at him, but Uddo was already on the move. He released his end of the whip and jumped, planting his feet on Jace's arm before kicking off and landing behind him. Then he charged towards Avis.

"WHY WON'T YOU PEOPLE LEAVE HER ALONE!" Uddo yelled.

Raulin saw Uddo begin to freak out, but didn't care too much... at least, until he began to charge Avis.

It. Was. On.

The snake moved of its own accord, and Raulin dropped in between Avis, the girl she was holding, and the guy. With one arm raised and outstretched, he faced his palm towards Uddo. Iron filings began moving from all over his body to right in front of him, forming a katana out of nothing. "Keep going. I dare you." Raulin's free hand grabbed hold of a scarf, as iron filings began began twisting its edges and forming a katana within its loops. "Touch Avis, and see what happens." He was pissed that he might have to fight someone he thought seemed weak in only his shorts and shirt. Like, come on: there was no way this guy was strong enough to merit him being nearly naked right from the get-go.

So that's how it was. Avis was quite certain at this point that Yumi and her pals here had something to do with Johan's disappearance. How exactly, she wasn't sure of. What she did know was that this brawl was probably a waste of time, and whoever was to blame for the revolutionary-naping was way ahead of her. Time was of the essence more than ever. Uddo and his hot head wasn't helping any. Didn't he realize that the girl was probably his captain was gone in the first place? There would be a chance for apologies and tact later, not when people are missing.

"Hypocrite!" Avis snarled, a feral gleam flashing across her eyes. "You expect me to spare you and your pals here, but my pal's in trouble somewhere out there... And I've got a sinking suspicion that you're partially responsible. Where is Frideswide?! Tell me, or I'll have no further use for your little group." She released her grip on the girl's shoulder, but not before pushing her arm away in an attempt to forcefully shove Yumi away. It mattered little to Avis how Uddo viewed her methods. With Raulin in between them and Jace not far away, she knew it was a long shot for him to even get within range.

"You're wasting your energy. Save whatever your problem is with me until after we've found Frideswide, after that I could care less. If you feel like mindless fighting, I'm sure Raulin here would gladly oblige," Avis said, hardly squandering a glance in Uddo's direction and instead focused on Yumi. This boy didn't even seem to care if his captain's was threatened or not. The well being of someone's own crew ought to come before random passerby's sanity anyday, in her book at least.

Yumi was pushed back by the impact, and would have been even if it wasn't for her ankle. She tumbled backwards and fell, though not because of the push, but because she had tripped over her own feet.
She had no intention to fight, even though with the rain lessening, she would probably be able to. But then again, she had no intention of just dying.
This lady was looking for the revolutionary, and Yumi found herself wondering if maybe, their situations didn't differ too much. She was trying to protect her friends, even though she knew that meant she would most likely be thrown out of the crew, and that Mercedes would have to suffer for it... And this lady was trying to help Frideswide, and obviously ready to hurt others to do so...
And even though Uddo was in her friends crew, she wasn't too sure it mattered to her what happened to him. Why did he want to protect her at all though? She had told him they were behind all of this, so weren't they supposed to be enemies now?
No matter how hard she tried, she just didn't understand this boy. He was so entirely different from anything she had ever...
"Uddo, please, stop!"
No matter how scary the lady in front of her was, she was sure there was some way to solve this without drawing more blood. And it was in her hands to do so now.
Carefully, she stood up, not minding the mud that had gotten all over her or the new pain in her ankle as much as she minded looking as unperilious and peaceful as possible.
"She's right... Er, you're right, I..."
She brought herself to look at Avis instead of looking at her feet. she had to appear trustworthy.
"Maybe I'm not in the position to ask for mercy. And I am more than happy to help you find mister Frideswide, even though I... I don't know if it isn't already too late..."
She made a short pause, but then realised it was all the more important to hurry up then, and pushed herself to go on.
"He should be in the coast guards head quarters. I don't know where exactly it is, but.... Mercutio should..."
She looked behind the scary lady, where the merchant should have been, and wasn't even surprised to find he wasn't. She should have told them to tie him up and not turn their back to him! Even as a traitor she was useless...

Uddo had been debating which of the five different dodging techniques he should use to attempt to get around Raulin, when Yumi asked him to stop. So he did. She didn't...want him to help her? He thought maybe...no, that was stupid. But he couldn't quit. Not at this point. For all he knew, Johan was dead. However, at the same time, Yumi was being bullied by that idiotic woman. All Uddo could do at this point was protect the people in front of him. He wasn't Superman. He couldn't save the world. On the other hand, if Yumi knew where Johan was...maybe, just maybe they could...

"I heard a saying once."

Uddo jumped and looked back over his shoulder. Jace was standing directly behind him, too close for him to dodge. Even so, Jace made no move to grab him. Right then, the bear-man looked more human to Uddo than he ever had before this moment.

"He who fights with uncertainty cannot protect anything," Jace intoned. "It's written all over your face, kid. At this point, you have no idea what you want. So you lash out, over and over again, trying to grasp what little you can see. Doing that will accomplish nothing." Uddo opened his mouth to speak, but Jace held a finger to his lips. "Don't talk. Just think it over."

With that, he swung his arm off to the side before bringing it back to backhand Uddo. The boy spun away and hit the mud. Jace moved on, walking towards Avis while totally ignoring Raulin. The bear-man shuddered.

"It looks like that is all the philosophy I can handle in one day," Jace muttered, his voice changing back into a deep-throated growl. "Captain, if you would, please just get the interrogation over with before I kill someone." The expression on his face showed that he wasn't joking.

Killua was wandering. just wandering. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he always wandering around the place? Why was he doing this nonsense? He was never there when his captain needed him and he who was meant to be the navigator was feeling frustrated. As a child he couldnt fully grasp the way to act more responsible, yet he felt guilt and shame whenever he could not catch up to Avis. He then yelled "Hello? Captain? Jace? ANYONE?!!"

" Soooo what's going on did I miss something " Dontae walked out of the bar just in time to see Jace knocked the kid flat on his back. Dontae walked out the bar with a bottle of whiskey in his hand and the large metal tiger following behind him Dontae took a sip of whiskey and talked to Avis " So are we enemies because I could feel the tension when we were in the bar" Dontae now had a smirk on his face as ye approached Avis.

The instant Yumi's uncertainty to the fate of Johan reached Avis' ears, her fist clenched until her knuckles turned pale. This wasn't how it's supposed to work. Mercutio even decided to slink off while she was preoccupied, the bastard. Chasing him down now would only be a waste their time. If she were to ever get her hands on the slimy git, though, she'd make him suffer for it one way or another. She chuckled softly at Jace's comment, and gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as Dontae appeared.

"Good timing, Dontae; we were just about to cause some problems for the local authorities. I do suppose that means we're not the ones people are rooting for in this case..." Avis replied, drifting off into a quick lapse of thought near the end. The only one missing at this point was Killua, and hopefully his wounds had improved by this point. They didn't have the time to look for him as a group, though.

"Jace, try to find Killua while we're looking for the coast guard's headquarters and meet us there. We have no idea how big the complex is, and we'll need all the help we can get." She trusted that Jace would get it done in a timely matter, but that still left the problem of getting to their headquarters to begin with. It was then that Avis' gaze drifted towards the unconscious Kimo laying in the mud.

"Rise and shine, up and at 'em!" Avis said loudly while giving Kimo a violent shake in an attempt to wake him. "Show us where your base is! Just get us there, and we'll leave you alone." She gave him a stern, hard stare as she said this. Avis wasn't about to take no for an answer from the boy. Kimo would be dragged along with if she had to.

Kimo was ruggedly snapped out of his unconciousness by a harsh voice and the sensation of being shaken violently, something made worse by the fact that his head felt about ready to explode.
At the beginning, he couldn't quite make out what was being said to him... Or anything, really. This wasn't how he was normally woken up... Only then did he realise he was lying on the street, and the person he was looking at was... who was she, anyway? The... the scary lady with the swords.
What was she asking him? He tried really, really hard to concentrate on her mouth, maybe read her lips, when suddenly, his auditive abilities returned with a bang. Or well, more like, a mindblowing question.
"What?! No I won't!"
He said, mildly irritated. He couldn't have heard that right. No one just asked for the way to the headquarters! And what way to call it was that. "Base". Like they were just some small....
He noticed the glare she was giving him, and, remembering the pain in his head, quickly changed his mind.
"Fine, okay! I'll lead you there!"
God, what a son he made... His father would just be so proud of him....

Speaking of said father, Kapena, leader of the coast guard, was looking at the mess in front of him. Iolana glaring at him, Ikaika being his usual slovenly self, and the stranger, trying to explain himself despite making the continuous experience that everytime he opened his mouth, the blunt end of a spear would be jabbed into his ribs. Kapena found himself wondering if maybe, the foreigner wasn't able to learn... He just kept running against the same obstacle, like an insect flying against a lightbulb. Interesting.... Fascinating....
Iolana slammed her hand on the desk he had just returned to, ripping him out of his scientifically poetic study.
"We need a sentence! The elders already signed, we just need your damn say-so!"
Kapena looked, no, glared, if only for his inability to simply look at things, at her, and they locked eyes. Neither of them would blink for at least the next minute.
"What is his crime?"
He asked calmly. Kapena valued fast sentences, but he wanted them to be just as well. Something that escaped many people of this island, such as Iolana, who, despite breaking so much with it, believed in tradition. That was the one reason they hadn't gotten divorced yet.
she would have rolled her eyes, he knew, if that hadn't meant breaking the glare. This could take some time....

Jace nodded in response to Avis's orders. He turned, changing into his bear form, and then trotted off down the street in the direction he imagined the ship was in. Already his killing instincts were trying to overwhelm him. The bear had been cheated of its prey and it was now screaming for blood. The fact that Jace had entered his full bear form made this all the more...no pun intended...unbearable.

He suddenly changed back into his human form and fell into the mud, his eyes shut tight so that he would not see anyone who might be stupid enough to stay out in the rain and pass him by. He slowed his breathing and after about ten seconds the bear quieted to a mild buzzing. This near silence allowed Jace to pick up the sound of a voice that he had not been able to hear before. It was Killua and he was nearby, calling loudly for his crew.

Jace returned to his bear form, this time using Killua's voice as an anchor to ward off his bloodlust. He then took off in the direction of Killua's voice, using his enhanced hearing to track the young boy down.