Serious: Pursuit of a Criminal (Closed to the invitees.)

AJ glowered at the man that she had just kicked.
The look in his half-crazed, mildly irritated and burning eyes was disgustingly familar.
The fiend reminded her of one of the pirates who had tried to asault her as a child.
"And I ain't no kid anymore," she told herself, drawing one her legs back again to deliver another swift kick to the man's chest.

He was laughing now...almost psychotically.
What on earth was his problem? Was he mocking her?
AJ was just about to swing her heel back downward into his sternum to wipe that smile off of his face when suddenly the female marine plunged her rapier into the man's body.
The young girl's eyes widened with a slight shock as the man sank to the floor...though truthfully, she'd seen much messier ends.

AJ looked to the marine woman, admiring her strength briefly. True, she could have held her own there...but that said, she couldn't help but hold a high amount of respect for a fellow female with such power, authority and skill with a sword.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the swinging blade of the second man and quick as a wink, AJ dropped to the floor and swung her leg out- knocking him off his balance before his sword could meet Mel's skin.

"Dirty fighter, aintcha?"
She delivered another hard kick to the man's throat, just to keep him down and subdued before standing up. Her eyes scanned the crowd for her older brother, her brows furrowing with sudden worry and her heart racing with dulled adrenaline and panic for Mack's safety.
"Big Mac!?" she called out. "Mack!?"

Scott barely had time to realise that not only had the hollow fulfilled its purpose, but that his bullet had done the same. Two things that worked out right in a row? Sounded pretty preposterous.
Nonetheless, it had. He had actually saved a civilians life just now! He thought his heart skipped a beat, just to take up beating and doing it twice as fast as before. He had never saved anyones life before!
A strange feeling of pride came over him, it wasn't a lot of pride, barely more than a spark for any noral person, but for Scott, it was like a wave that hit him up front and left him a bit dazzled on the inside.

And more than that, the civilian seemed to be just fine. He was able to stand up, and... what... dragging the fellow who had been affected an awful lot (oh god, was he... was he actually crying?) over to him, telling him to arrest him. Bam, Scott was brought back to reality violently, falling out of the dazzled state of joy and non self-loathing. Of course, he had to arrest him. but first, what was up with that cranky cook? Not that Scott would know any of this, but wasn't he supposed to be thankful being saved so smoothly?
Scott looked after him as he went back towards the bar, his eyebrows raised. He realised he should probably go back as well, after all, his partner was possibly in trouble. And he wouldn't let the chance pass to show her how quickly he had dealt with his problems out here. Well, not all of them, but at least... one. Then he remebered he should probably guard that problem, just to make sure it didn't wake up and run away at some point.

Speaking of which, he was still looking kind of very down, even for an unconcious man. Scott almost felt sorry for the poor guy... But he absolutely had to arrest him at once.
So, he took the one pair of handcuffs he had... and realised there were two persons he needed to put them on. After a few moments of thinking, and deciding that they were a minimal threat at the moment, he seized Gus arms and started slowly dragging him over to his fallen comrade.
Once there, he had to pause for a few seconds, just to catch his breath. He wasn't really what you'd call strong... Those few seconds, he used to wave at the civilians nearby without any motivation, and mumbling something along the lines of "Nothing to thee here, move on...".
The he finally took the handcuffs and chained Gus left hand to his comrades ankle, just to make sure they were really handicapped, even in case they'd wake up.
Only after that did he direct his attantion towards the bar again, waiting for anyone to come out while he was busy guarding those two unconcious pirates....

Mel scoffed quietly as the first man fell to the floor, some of his blood coloring her extended forearm. It was a pity things had to become this messy. Moments later, she turned towards the second man, and not a moment too soon. There wasn't a chance for her to block the attack at all, so she ducked downwards and hoped for the best. Conveniently, the attacker fell to the ground with a thud before it got to that point. She looked up to see the waitress giving him a second, incredibly painful kick in the throat.

"Not bad," Mel noted, rather fascinated with how the waitress handled the situation. While Mel would have thought that she could've brought down the two men on her own, the young lady was definitely pulling her weight. Mel's attention then turned to the pair on the floor, and she walked over to cuff them to each other at the wrist. She pulled out a nearby chair and sat down, making herself comfortable in front of the two men. Strangely enough, her expression was accompanied with a pleasant smile that didn't feel entirely sincere.

"I know what will perk you two blokes right up; you won't have to steal food anymore! The prison has an absolutely delightful meal plan, I've heard. It ought to suit your palates quite nicely. But first... I have a few questions for you." While she started her statement appearing rather pleasant and conversational, near the end it grew increasingly more surly and disdainful. "A little bird told me the pair of you work for Gasparde. If you happen to divulge any information on his whereabouts, I might be able to put in a good word for you. If not? Well... That's your loss."

Mack was trying to patiently elbow his way through the writhing mass that could potentially be called a crowd. Sure he was rushing towards his sister, and she really could need help, but he wasn't just about to hurt the crowd to get to his sister. After all, she was a big girl, and she knew how to-

"Big Mac!?"

What.

"Mack!?"

Time for shit to get real. The next movement Mack made entirely had the potential to land him in jail. He grabbed the shirt of someone in his way, forcibly picked the poor man up, and threw him to knock over the other people who happened to be standing in between Mack and his sister. The man rolled and did his newly-assigned job beautifully, bowling over at least three other men and one... panda... man... thing. More importantly, no one was in his way any more, so he sort of... well... stepped on the people he had knocked over. They were in the way, okay?

Finally free of that extraordinarily annoying crowd, Mack ran forward and grabbed hold of his sister, holding her tightly. "AJ... are ya alrigh'?" Screw the group around them, it was more important that AJ was safe. Looking around, he found the two other men, one unfortunately bleeding out on the floor, and the other clearly debilitated in more than one way. "Other Marine's outside. Took ou' tha otha pirates." He was certain that due to the second man's lack of bloodied wounds, it had been Abigail who had taken him out. Not that it really surprised Mack, mind, but he rather preferred that she stay out of things like this... just so she wouldn't get hurt.

The man AJ had so adequately stomped on was coughing and choking, trying desperately to get his windpipe in working order. The other man was still paralyzed by the utter shame of having his shit wrecked by two girls. That really did a number on a guy's self esteem. The first man did somehow manage to find his voice, and in a rather cracked voice, managed to spit out, "Shut up, woman. I ain't telling you shit." He was totally expecting either the waitress or the Marine to beat the crap out of him, but he was surprised to find that they didn't. Instead, it was a man he hadn't seen before who beat the crap out of him. After Mack had let go of AJ, he dropped down on the poor pirate with his elbow jutting out, aiming for the man's solarplex. Mack did not screw around when it came to situations like these.

"Gus! Ask Gus!" the man wheezed with the small quantity of air he had.

Outside with everyone's favorite lisping Marine, the man Mack had attacked first was settling down. At least, settling down enough to try to get free from the handcuffs and run the hell away. His frenzied shaking to and fro resulted in him somehow punching Gus in the side of the head. Gus was awoken, somehow, to find himself attached to his subordinate. How glorious. "Um... uh, laddie? Could we, perhaps, make a deal?" He tried to sit up, elbowing his subordinate in the side as a signal to shut up. "I can tell ye where ta find Gasparde... ye want ta catch him, correct? He's at the docks, in his ship. It's fairly small, ye can't miss it. I can tell ye which one it is, if ye will let me go."

AJ gave Mel a quick grin, tipping her Stetson in a habitually cordial "Southern belle" manner. "Not too bad, yourself, ma'am."
She looked to the two remanining men, satisfied that her foot had successfully kept one of them on the ground as she observed the ensuing interrogation.

AJ's eyes had just begun to scan the surrounding crowd, wondering worriedly if her brother had returned from dealing with the other low-lifes out front yet, when suddenly, several people in the onlooking cluster inside the Cantankerous Child were flung aside as easily as ragdolls.
The young woman's eyes widened at the sight of her older brother bursting through the crowd as easily as a herd of stampeding buffalo.

She smiled wide, relieved that her brother was alright...though his rather "eager" approach to getting to her gave a slightly bemused outline to her grin.
Typical Mack. Reckless when it came to defending her...but that was why she loved him.
AJ returned the embrace briefly and then looked up at her older brother triumphantly. "I'm fine, I'm fine, Mack. These two rough'uns went down fair easy for me an' this nice marine here. The guy's managed t' rope the other two? Great! That's our work cut out fer us!"

AJ scowled at the second man's abrasive response to Mel's questioning but grinned widely at her brother's rather effective means of getting information out of him.
"Nice work, bro..." She looked around at the gawking, semi-horrified crowd in the restaurant and sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well, it's a good thing that this here job was jus' a cover, Mack, cus when the supervisor gets back, you and I are done fired..." AJ stretched her arms back behind her head. "On th' other hand, this place's jus' gon' be losin' the best darn cook and waitress that they ever did have." She looked to Mel hastily. "Now might be a good time to mention that Mack and I, aren't just disturbin' the peace fer fun...he and I are actually after Gasparde too..."
She blinked at the wheezing man's revelation. "Gus? Who in high Hell is "Gus"?"
AJ looked to Mack. "D'ya reckon he was one of the ones outside? With th' other marine?" She glanced to Mel. "Yer pard'ner, Miss...?"

Scott admittedly freaked out a bit when the big guy started moving, well, more like flailing. Not so much on the outside, but on the inside, he couldn't help thinking about how he had at least one more minute to go until he could summon the next hollow, how it could only affect one of those two, and how they were, in one case, stronger, and in the other, faster than he was. Then he remembered he had handcuffed them and their teamwork seemed far from good enough to start working together efficiently any time soon.

While all this went down on the inside, Scott narrowed his gray eyes on the outside and started staring, almost glaring at the two of them. He had his rifle aimed at them, just to show that he did have a weapon at the ready. Instead of speaking up right away, which would perhaps have followed protocol, he waited for the fast one.... Gus to begin a conversation. At least he seemed a fairly rational guy... Judging from his breakdown earlier, Scott almost held some sincere sympathy for him. He had to stop himself from asking whether or not he felt better now, or even apologising for treating him that way.

For a moment or two, he considered the option he was presented with. Gasparde was what they were here for, right? But.... making deals with a petty pirate.... Not that Scott cared, morally seen, that Gus was a pirate, but he was a bit worried how his superiors would view that.
Without letting the two out of his sight, he tilted his head a little. He definitely couldn't let this one go, no matter how much he found him to be a guy he almost didn't despise completely. He did need the directions though... And to think of the look on his perturbing partners face (he still didn't know her name, and made a note to possibly, maybe ask at some point) when he already had the location of Gaspardes ship, and was just waiting for her to catch up.... He didn't even know wha this sall rivalry thing was all about himself, but he really needed to make up for her smal victory earlier.
So, much to his dismay, he had to speak up yet again, after a silence that had alost been too long.
"Can't let you go. But will conthider putting in a good word for you, thinthe you cooperated. If you lead us to the ship like a good boy, that ith..."

He almost added a "thorry" to all of this.
After all he had pretty much ruined this guys day, not to mention his career, shot him in the shoulder, and caused him to have a breakdown in the middle of the street. And he just felt like he could relate to him somewhat. A bit. Maybe. But he could still keep himself from apologising. That would just have been weird...

"A cover?" Mel said in a state of mild shock. "Bad intentions or not, the legality of such an act is rather questionable..." She considered telling the pair to back down, before they got injured or into worse trouble. There really wasn't a law specifically stating that people couldn't do such a thing. Not any law that she had cared to remember at least. Gasparde didn't sound like he was going to go down easily, either. Some competent help might be able to pull a fight to into their favor. It didn't really matter who caught the crook as long as he was dealt with in the end.

"But I suppose if you two insist on continuing, it would only be right for us to accompany you. AJ and Mack, was it?" she added lightheartedly, dismissing the matter for the time being. There were more important things to deal with, like these thugs. To her pleasant surprise, Mack had already squeezed a bit of information out of one of them. AJ was probably right with her conclusion: the 'Gus' he was referring to was probably one of the blokes outside. She was perfectly fine with the concept until AJ brought up that her partner was outside dealing with them.

"Him, so soon? I was just getting used to his lack of company... Although you do have a point." Mel gave a reluctant sigh as she stood up, hands on her hips. She scanned the frazzled crowd for a moment before spotting a young man standing around in the crowd near the door. He didn't seem to be doing anything particularly productive, and Mel didn't exactly feel like dragging the dead weights all the way to the nearest prison. She had better things to be doing.

"You there! Find some marines on patrol. Tell them to get over here and clean up this mess, asap!" The young man looked flustered at first, not knowing what to do. It wasn't until Mel gave him a particularly sharp look that he ran out and down the street to look for help. "That should take care of that. All we need now is this 'Gus' person to fess up, and we'll be on our way. After you two," she said, gesturing with her arm towards the entrance. Whether it be the presence of a marine this time, or learning from the prior bowling incident, the crow parted incredibly efficiently this time around.

Mack nodded in appreciation of his sister's work. With one stabbed through the stomach (no doubt the Marine's work), and the other with a clear issue breathing, the result fell just short of his success outside. Mack gestured outside with a look in his eyes that said, 'Broken ribs and a seriously damaged neck.' He knew AJ would at least get the general idea... that the two guys outside weren't going to be functioning at their best for a while... a LONG while. He could only gesture to AJ with a shrug regarding the supervisor. Really, it didn't matter too much to him... AJ was safe, and they'd basically found Gasparde.

Which brought him to the Marine. She was a woman (rather obvious, wasn't it?) whose self-confidence was obvious, but not overbearing... he wouldn't paint her as the kind of person to believe that she was unconquerable. That was good. He stood up, leaving the pirate mentally sighing in appreciation. He tilted his head and his hat slightly forward in a gesture of acknowledgment and thanks to the Marine for helping his sister. He didn't know what exactly had happened in here with the pirates from Gasparde's crew, but he did know that the Marine woman wasn't an enemy to him, and she had fought alongside AJ. It was good enough for him.

The male Marine, however, was a different story.

Suddenly, something clicked in Mack's mind: they'd never eaten the fritters or the turnovers. Damn. Mack signalled at the kitchen for AJ's benefit, so that she'd know where he was going. He quickly moved into the kitchen, the cooks, waiters, and busboys all gladly clearing the way for him... except for one. And that one busboy was eating the fritters and turnovers. Mack grabbed the poor sap by the scruff of the neck and yanked him off his feet, before glaring menacingly into the scared boy's eyes. Really, was it this hard to understand that you shouldn't steal the customer's food? He dropped the boy and grabbed the plates holding the fritters and turnovers, before gesturing at a pot of coffee with his head. The boy scrambled to obtain several clean glasses and fill them with coffee.

Mack walked back over to Mel and AJ, and offered the plate of turnovers to his sister. He took two fritters and began to chew on one, before handing that plate to Mel. He gestured toward it, as if you say, 'You might want to eat.' The serving boy skittered into the clearing in the crowd, offering cups of coffee to all those present. Mack took one cup himself, taking a quick sip to wash down some of his fritter. He then gestured once more, offering to let the two women go before him. Let it not be said that Mack wasn't a gentleman... most of the time. He could be chivalrous, alright?

Outside, Gus was still pleading with Scott. "Aye... look 'ere, laddie. I'm just a lowly subordinate, ye get me? This man right here is our first mate..." He was quickly drowned out by the man beside him bellowing out from behind his broken ribs, "Gus, you f*cking liar! You're the..." Gus bent his arm around to throw his elbow into his subordinate's throat... no hard feelings, of course, but if he could pass the blame off to someone else, he would. He wasn't going to head to prison, HELL no. "I'm nae even allowed in the same room as Gasparde... please, ye gotta help me escape this crew..." Oh, so much bullshit was coming out of his mouth. "If ye detach me from the first mate, laddie, I can lead ye to the ship..."

AJ had to stop herself from laughing at the promptness at which the crowd parted for them, this time. Mack seemed to be pretty passive about the supervisor's reaction to all of this and truthfully, she couldn't blame him. After all, as he'd wordlessly pointed out, they had found Gasparde...and with minimal injuries on either of their parts. Plus, Mack was too good a cook for this kind of restaurant and its usual rough, slovenly clientelle as far as his younger sister was concerned.

She looked up at the the marine woman, for the first time considering that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to mention that the two of them were operating under cover occupations. True, it wasn't exactly against the law but the mention of such a thing could arouse suspicions as easily as easily as a thirty-berry hooker could arouse a sea-dog who hadn't seen anything curvier than a few waves for a few months. (Sometimes AJ surprised herself with the kind of similes that she managed to dream up- even for a country gal).
Then again, the marine didn't seem to want to arrest them for it nor did she attempt to caution them against any further actions.

Instead she offered a team-up which set a gleeful grin on AJ's face. "Accompany y'all? Sounds perfect t'me! As long as that dirty mongrel Gasparde is taken down an' taken in, it don't matter who's doin' the takin'. Plus 'sfar as I'm concerned, Big Mac here an' I could use all the help that we can get." She looked up at her brother with a smile before interpreting his gesture. "An' we're both agreed on that...and mighty grateful. Yup, the name's AJ...and what can I call yerself by?"

AJ blinked at the plate of turnovers being offered to her and she grinned wider, nodding. "Thanks big bro." She swallowed back a giggle at the sight of the busboy scurrying away under Mack's glare before taking a hearty bite of a turnover and savouring the taste. "Mmm...great work as always. No one makes 'em as good as you, Mack." She downed a coffee before heading outside with Mel and Mack once more.
Her brow furrowed at the sight of one of the pirates (this "Gus" perhaps?) grovelling before the male marine.
What was that coyote up to?

"You look here..."
Scott was getting really nervous. He had never talked to a pirate for longer than it took to write their measurments down, and ever since he had joined the marine, he hadn't spoken to, well, at least listened to any of them....
As of now, he was, successfully, as he hoped, hiding that nervousness behind an icy glare and an impatient tone in his voice, the kind that said 'Look, outrageous outlaw, I'm the one with the rifle pointed at you, so you're going to spill your guts one way or another.'. Or at least that's what he wanted it to sound like. Maybe it didn't, in reality, seem as hardboiled as he wanted it to seem....

"Even if I wanted to, I can't let you go, and I can't unchain you without at leatht one more marine present..."
Okay, he had made that up, though he was sure soe ridiculous rule like that existed already. Truth was, if he unchained him, he'd have to lower his rifle, and he'd have two men against him in the worst case, and at least one on the run even in the best. The thought that both would easily cooperate didn't cross his mind. Things that happened to him didn't ever turn out that good. Ever. Just being realistic here....

"I'm thure that, if you're ath innocent ath you claim to be, the court will go eathy on you..."
Or possibly not. Despite his job, Scotts trust in the juridical system was... limited, at best. But whatever, it wasn't him being sued.
Only then did Scott notice the sweet serving girl had joined them outside. He gave her a short look out of the corner of his eye, but didn't say anything. He didn't have anything to say to her, and even if he had, would probably have found it hard to talk to her for... various reasons, only one of them being his small speech implement, another one the fact that he had already, from his point of view, said more than enough today.

"Mel Harper," she responded, giving AJ and Mack a respectful nod of her head as she did. These two seemed decent enough, and they probably had their reasons for doing what they did. Mel watched curiously as Mack took his leave and returned to the kitchen. When he returned with a plate of fritters and turnovers, her expression lit up. She had nearly forgotten the food they ordered in all the commotion. A snack looked better than ever, and she worked up an even stronger appetite than the one she came in with.

"Oh, why thank you." Mel reached out to receive the plate from Mack after AJ had her share, pleasantly surprised by actually having a chance to have a bite to eat. It was the whole reason she and her partner were there to begin with. She had the plate in one hand and munched on a turnover held in her other for a time, but then a particularly familiar scent perked her up. It wasn't long before she tracked down the bus boy with the coffee, and she quickly swooped up a mug before following AJ out the door. Mack even let the two of them go through first, how nice.

Coffee in hand, Mel walked over the other marine. She was somewhat surprised that he had the two pirates contained the way he did, although he did have Mack to help him out. How did such a twig even make it through basic training?, she wondered. Whether or not he was actually in control of the situation, Mel had the desire to intervene anyways. Shoving the plate of fritters and turnovers in his direction, keeping the coffee for herself of course, she faced the groveling pirate and his companion. "Do either of you go by the name Gus? Apparently he's the one that knows where Gasparde's located. The other blokes inside weren't helpful in the least."

Mack waited politely for both his sister and the Marine who had helped her to leave the restaurant, before he followed suit, leaving his coffee mug on the table. It was likely safe to say that he wasn't going to be allowed back into that building again, but it wasn't really like he had done that much. He broke... a chair, maybe, and the doors, perhaps... nothing else, really. And they weren't even in splinters: repairing that stuff should be pretty easy. He followed his sister and the female Marine - one Mel Harper, it seemed - out the door, and heard the stunned silence inside the Cantankerous Child slowly reverting back to an uproar of discussion, gossip, and an insult or twenty. So, basically, a return to the status quo.

Mack stood beside his sister (and a little bit in front), placing himself squarely between the fallen pirate and his sister. Mack distinctly remembered this particular pirate had attempted (and obviously failed) to try to stop his crewmates. As he caught the tail end of the pirate's desperate attempt to save himself from getting royally screwed over, Mack found himself strangely inclined to believe the man. Of course, considering that he might have just thought that attacking AJ right then and there was a bad idea, it was still a possibility that he would try to hurt his sister. Ergo, stand between the two. Mack turned his head so that AJ could see his face properly, and he raised his eyebrow with a questioning look. 'I think we might be able to trust him. A little, at least.' He wasn't willing to vouch for the pirate's goodness: he didn't even know the guy.

Gus' eyes were panicked and full of worry: the Marine wasn't really buying it, and now there were more people and the other Marine! One of them was even the guy that knocked him out the first time! But, ahah! A loophole! "Look, sir, there's another Marine right there! One of ye can hold the first mate down, and maybe that one fella can hold me to make sure I don't escape! Could that work, laddie?" Gus was grasping at straws: luckily his poor scapegoat couldn't breathe well enough to form sentences. "I'm Gus, lassie! I'm willing ta show ye where Gasparde's hiding, but I can't with the first mate chained to me arm like these, y'know?" Basically, Gus' plan was to appeal to anyone he could to get himself out of this mess.

((Sorry for crappy post. And the delay. And Gus' shitty accent.))

((No worries, Gael, m'dear. Your post is perfect, your delay is understood and, well, I know people who speak with Gus' accent naturally so I can safely say that it isn't so shittily written ))

AJ raised a thick eyerow at her brother's choice of standing room. She was used to Mack being ever-protective of her and truth be told, she was grateful for it- even if she was a girl who liked to stand on her own two feet. After the events that had taken place inside the bar, she could understand her brother's reluctance to let any of those pirates within any kind of radius of her.
She shot him an understanding glance and immediately recognised the look on his face. The pirate known as "Gus"' gushing and pleading was starting to sway Mack into trusting him...though at the same time, there was a look of caution in his eyes.

AJ was personally divided on the matter- something that she never liked to be. On one hand, even though this man hadn't tried to assault her in the restaurant, the pirate rat-bag had still suggested the alternative that they simply beat her up. On the other hand, he was still the best lead they had when it came to locating Gasparde.
AJ looked to Mack as he raised an eyebrow at her, giving her one of his meaningful looks. She understood him immediately.

To her, his eyes said: "AJ, I think that we might be able to trust him. A little, at least..."
AJ made up her mind speedily as her eyes swivelled back down towards Gus. She trusted her brother's judgement- especially in times like this.
"Huh, so you can take us to Gasparde?"

AJ looked to Mel and Scott, flicking her hair out of her eyes. "Big Mac and I are of th'opinion that we can temporarily trust this here weasel. He's the best possible means of findin' that slippery snake, Gasparde, that we have at this moment." She wrinkled her nose down at Gus and then looked to the other man. "Maybe you guys could lock th'other one up for safe keepin'? Or should we take him with us as ...I dunno...a bargaining chip?"
She had no idea how "legally acceptable" this whole ordeal was and was hoping that their new marine acquaintances could clear that up.

Suddenly, a thought struck her and she briefly looked to Scott with a tip of her hat and a friendly wink. "Oh an' by th' way- my name's AJ and this is Mack..." She gestured to her brother. "Me an' Mack are gon' be helpin' you and Miss Mel, here, with findin' Gasparde and bringin' him in..."

Scotts body had tensed a bit when he became aware of his ever increasing audience. Even worse, while they themselves seemed to have their minds made up already, they appeared to want to hear his opinion, and didn't look like they were about to do anything until they got it. What was he now, their leader? That seemed just so wholly wrong.... totally terrific...

On a lighter side, he now knew who he was dealing with. Not on enemy side, but on his own. So, 'AJ' and 'Mack' were the sweet serving girl and the stalwart service provider, and his pesky partner seemed to go by the name 'Mel' or 'Miss Mel', which sounded much better to him, even though it was a tad more respectful than what he would have called her, had he been out to talk to her. Not that it really mattered at all since... hey, did the sw-, er, AJ just winked at him?

Had... had that been just a friendly gesture or.... Scott wasn't used to any friendly or flirtatious conversation, even less than to any other kind of conversation. He tried to find the right thing to say, opened his mouth, closed it again and finally settled for just introducing himself, though averting his eyes and staring at his shoes instead of looking at anyone in particular.
"I'm Thcott Thpencer..."
He murmured and tried to remember whether or not he had already introduced himself. Highly unlikely...

Now that that was over with, and possibly, maybe to not give the others time to think about anything that had happened during the conversation at all, he turned back to the an called Gus abruptly. It was like falling from one uncomfortable situation right into the next when he remembered everyone was still waiting for his decision, which, for some reason, seemed to be important.
As much as he detested it, said man was right, and he couldn't think of anything else he could say to dodge having to chase Gasparde and having the risk of at least one escapee at the same time.

So he reached into his pocket, still holding his rifle in the other hand, and got the key to the cuffs out. He wanted to have 'Miss Mel' do the holding down part for a moment, until a small voice in his head told him that hello, she was a girl, didn't look that much stronger than him (though she did look as though she was still stronger...), and it would be very, very rude to have her do the dirty work while all he had to do was turn a key.
So instead, he stepped forward himself, cursing himself all the while for being a gentleman for once, and, after hesistating for just a moment, placed his foot on the 'first mates' chest to hold him down at least a bit (not that he had any illusion about the big mans ability to just shake him off or swat him like a fly if he wanted to...), aimed for his head (well, more like poked it at his face, really, but something like that, right?) and finally offered the key to Mel, not without a doubtful look to the plate she was showing in his general direction.
"Go ahead and uncuff him, then..."
How anyone would want to eat in this situation escaped him. Not that he wasn't hungry, but.... come on, eating while arresting a criminal? What would that look like in the report. Besides, he didn't really see himself with a plate of turnovers and fritters while chasing an escaping parate, which, in his mind, Gus would undoubtedly become as soon as they took the handcuffs off.

Mel stood silently as the situation played out, sipping from her steamy mug all the while. Suspicious, it was. This 'Gus' seemed all too willing to have a chance to get free of those handcuffs for her liking. The man did seem to be their best option to locating Gasparde, though. Even if the worse were to happen, it was four against one. What could go wrong? Lady luck had been on their side so far.

The thoughtful expression on Mel's face vanished the instant his partner prattled on and finally revealed his name to the AJ. Of course he'd tell some lovely waitress his name, but his own partner? No, of course not! That would be much too sensible for someone like him. Although the irony of having such a name with his condition was rather laughable, Mel's eyes narrowed rather crossly and looked in Scott's direction. Her expression remained as such, even while Scott did the supposed hard part and pinned down the second man.

"I suppose I shall uncuff him. If anyone asks, this whole plan was your brilliant idea," Mel chided indifferently as she snatched the key from Scott. She fiddled around with the key and lock for a time until a satisfying click was heard as the handcuffs unlocked. "If you'd be so kind to lead the way, Mister Gus. Not the slightest bit of funny business from you, or you'll be having a reunion with your delightful crew mates again. Permanently."

Mack moved rather quickly, placing his foot directly at Gus' throat. While most of Mack's strength lay in his arms, he certainly could wield his foot as a suitable weapon. He was fine with them releasing Gus, specifically, but not with giving him free reign to do whatever he liked. He glanced warily at Gus' bow, still where the pirate had dropped it. He stared intently at it for some seconds, before murmuring "AJ?" to nab his sister's attention. He pointed at the bow over his shoulder with his thumb, giving his sister a look that basically said, 'Could you break that?' Couldn't have Gus going to pick it up, after all.

As he held Gus down with his rather large and weighty foot, he listened to the male Marine introduce himself. Apparently he had an accent, or lisp, or stutter, or... whatever on earth it was called, Mack had no idea. Whatever it was, it seemed to involve turning 's' into 'th'. That was hard to decipher, now wasn't it? After a small amount of effort, Mack finally puzzled out that the Marine's name was Scott. Nice name, he supposed... better than Mackenzie, at any rate. However, he didn't like the way the Marine was behaving when his sister was talking to him. He glared at Scott, his eyes narrowing in a expression that clearly screamed, 'I don't like you.'

Just as the cuff unlocked, Mack moved his leg out from over Gus' throat, before bending over and grabbing him by the shoulders. He easily lifted the pirate off his back and onto his feet, disorienting the still rather worn out fellow. He set the man down before grabbing one of his arms and twisting it behind his back, just to ensure Gus couldn't just run away. Gus screamed in a bit of pain as his arm was wrenched behind his back, throwing out the other in a bent and crooked sort of way. It was, quite honestly, painful. Mack wasn't really caring at the moment, however: his attention had been drawn to the man still on the ground: specifically, the one he had defeated prior to Gus' and Scott's arrival.

Mack's teeth gritted in anger: still holding Gus, he used his foot to shift Scott's gun barrel away from the pirate, before placing his foot on the pirate's ribs. What he did next was uncharacteristically sadistic of him: he pressed down on the man's ribs with his foot, causing them to crack further. The pain caused the man on the ground to scream temporarily before passing out due to the pain. Mack then looked down over Gus, before saying, "The ship?" Gus nodded a little too energetically, now scared for his life. "Aye, laddie." He swallowed and began to move, Mack following to compensate for the distance Gus walked. He planned to stay quiet until they arrived at their destination... though those with him were free to talk.

AJ looked up at her brother at the mention of her own name. However quiet Mack's voice was, AJ's ears were always quick to pick up on it.
"Huh, Mack?"
He gestured to the bow that Gus had dropped with a thumb, giving AJ a look that asked her to make it so that the bow could no longer be a potential threat.

"Roger that, Big Mac," she murmured, striding over to the bow and picking it up. She placed her foot against the handle, grabbing the pull-wire and broke it with a single tug- the handle immediately breaking with a splintery crack. "Well that's that taken care of."

She took note of her brother's angry, agitated expression and the glower that he had given Scott. AJ wasn't certain why he had chosen to direct his evident annoyance towards Scott in particular but she figured that it had something to do with the slow pace of their negotiations. The way AJ saw it, for every second that they spent standing around there chit-chatting, the more time Gasparde had to set sail and head off.
For all they knew, Gus was only a distraction and through some complex system of signalling, Gasparde knew they were on to him and was making plans to escape.

AJ lifted a hand and gently patted his shoulder, smiling up at him and telling him without words: "It's alright. Chill out, bro."
His uncharacteristic display of sadism took her by surprise, though she knew better than anyone what Mack was capable of whenever he got angry enough.
She followed her brother and the snitch, keeping the pace with Mack but glancing back at their new marine companions.
Soon, AJ decided that the silence didn't suit her and decided to make conversation. "So have y'all been in the marines very long?"
One would have never guessed from the girl's breezy tone that they were following a mutinous pirate to (what they could only hope was) the ship of his dangerous, wanted captain to (hopefully) bring him down and take him in.

Scott could feel all the cross looks he was getting, he could feel them on his skin. Well, looked like he had messed up again, despite trying his best not to burden anyone with the patheticness that he had been born with.
And now, he was doing his best to act like he didn't care and ignore said looks, something that he was, for once, good at. Plentyful practice, he guessed.

In his head, of course, he desperately tried to decipher his mistakes. The courageous cook, Mack, seemed to be a bit peeved... possibly because he had mistaken his actions towards the sweet serving girl, AJ, as a sort of insult. Had he been too rude? People often got that impression. He shot a quick, apologetic look to AJ, he did not actively want to anger the only person who was being civil towards him to become irritated simply because of his scarce social skills.
And his pesky partner? Well, why Miss Mel would be mad at him was beyond him, and besides, it wasn't like he cared at all or anything. For all he cared, she couldn't stop being his companion soon enough.

He wasn't done alliteratively describing how little he cared about her opinion, when Mackenzie moved his gun, and proceeded to... crush the pirates ribs with his foot...
Scott winced. Somehow, he had the feeling that not only was this his fault in some way, but that it was indirectly aimed at him. Had he been that impertious? Or maybe Mack was actually... jealous? A lover, perhaps? Or a family member? Nah, that would be too weird. Who would ever even consider the possibility of Scott having a chance with a girl on AJs level.

He didn't protest at Macks actions, partly because they were actually pretty logical, and partly because, er, he was afraid of his reaction. Even though he could use his devilfruit power again by now, he wasn't really up for a match with a guy towering him such as he did.
So, he followed him and AJ quietly, shouldering his rifle as he did, and didn't even look back to see if presumptious partner "Miss Mel" followed. For all he cared, she could stay there and rot, and he'd rather be fighting Gasparde alone than stay there with her.

Once again, their new companions kept him from thinking about her any further when AJ directed a question at them both (or at least he thought she did, since he did not really expect his partner not to follow, such luck was never on his side).
A correct answer would have included him telling them about how he would have been turned down since his physique was too thin and weak, but had been taken because of his devil fruit powers, though with one year for training beforehand.
Instead of saying all this, which would have involved an awful lot of conversation, he simply shook his head and continued avoiding looking at her or anyone directly while doing so.

Mel watched carefully as the pirate was released from his bonds, in case he decided to bolt for it. Mack quickly resolved that to the point of Mel not worrying about him escaping a few moments later. His hostility towards the prisoner seemed a bit much, but she could see it as a way for the four of them to remain in control of the situation. It wasn't until the massive man broke the first mate's ribs with a sickening crack that her expression soured.

"You do realize that we've avoided reporting any suspicious behavior so far. Might I request that you show a bit of consideration in turn?" Mel mentioned casually. It wasn't intended as a threat, nor did she make it sound like one. They seemed like sound individuals, but that didn't mean they were exempt from the law. She that trusted Mack and AJ wouldn't take the comment poorly.

Before leaving with the others, Mel took a moment to crouch down beside the first mate and look him over. He was unconscious, but alive from what she could tell. While it could be assumed that the injury occurred during the fight, she hoped that no one would ask about it. It was one thing to bash a criminal's pride in, but his rib cage? A bit much, regardless of the reasoning behind it.

Mel stood back up and quietly took up the rear of the group. She remained this way until it was pretty obvious that Scott wasn't inclined to audibly answer AJ's question, and she decided to reply herself. "I can't speak for him, but I haven't been on duty very long at all. I've had more time in basic training than out on the field so far. That doesn't mean I'm any less capable, of course!"

Mack mentally thanked his sister for doing him that favor and breaking the bow in half. He had experienced first hand what Gus could do with it; while it wasn't a deadly level of impressive, he felt... safer knowing Gus didn't have the chance to get it back. He did, however, feel slightly bad for the man he had defeated first. While he showed no mercy to those who harmed, threatened to harm, considered the possibility of harming, or who propositioned his sister, he felt... somewhat uneasy about what he just did. Breaking his ribs in the first place was about adequate compensation for the guy threatening AJ, but...

When he came back and stood on the man's ribs the second time, Mack realized, far too late, that he had gone overboard. By the looks (and sounds) of it, he wasn't the only one to notice. Mel was saying something or another that sounded vaguely like a threat to report him, which was understandable considering the violence he was displaying at the moment. However, he didn't believe that either she, nor her male partner (working partner, get your minds out of the gutter!), deserved a direct apology from him. His sister, on the other hand... "AJ? Sorry about that..." Mack mumbled to his sister, hoping to make it so only she could hear him.

After a substantial, yet not exhausting quantity of walking, the little group reached the docks, and Gus began to examine the ships. "Nah... nope... not it... too big... too small..." Mack raised an eyebrow at the proceedings, as Gus checked each ship off his mental checklist as to whether or not it was really the crew's ship. His attention began to slip, as did his grip on Gus' wrist. In the meantime, Gus was quickly analyzing the situation, looking for his first chance to escape. While he had no problem giving Gasparde up to the Marines and the... absurdly athletic 'civilians', as the Marines called them, he didn't want to go to jail himself. So, of course, he planned to get away, and he knew just how to do it.

Finally, Gus stopped in front of a ship. It wasn't that big; at most, it looked like it would be maintainable with a population up to ten people. Even one more looked like it would be too many for this ship. "Well, laddie, that there is the ship we came on. Now..." With an alarming abruptness, Gus' leg went straight behind him, up to hit his captor in a... less than fair location. Mack grunted in pain and surprise, releasing Gus and crouching to protect the recently attacked area. Gus broke into a sprint, running full pelt at the ship he had led the four to, as he yelled. "Up and at 'em, laddie! We got ourselves some company, aye?" He continued to run, going far past the ship, before diving into the water and disappearing from sight.

Four men ran out onto the ship's deck at the sound of Gus yelling, each brandishing a saber. Hey, it's not like many pirate crew give anything more complicated to their lackeys, right? At any rate, the four pirates quickly disembarked their vessel, arraying themselves as one man per intruder. Mack grit his teeth before getting back to his feet, just as the pirates attacked in unplanned unison. Mack managed to duck under his aggressor's swing, but found himself worrying more about his sister than himself. He quickly resolved to beat this one pirate senseless before going to help his sister... like she would need any help.

AJ suddenly felt rather sorry for Scott. He seemed rather nervous and even avoided answering her question verbally, looking away from everyone.
"Poor thing's more edgy than a fox cub during open season," she thought, shooting him a reassuring gaze as she spoke aloud despite him avoiding eye contact with anyone. "Oh, ya haven't been in very long? Well, that's no shame. You're more than capable of handlin' everything that comes yer way, I'm sure."

She looked to Mel, grinning. "Well, I sure as heck have doubt that ya can take care o' yerself without a bother, Mel. Yer swords-skills are prolly th' most impressive that I've ever seen.." She moved a little closer to Mel and dropped her voice a bit. "And rest assured, ma'am. Mack an' I will show all the considerationt that you good people want. Mack don't mean any harm. He jus' wants to protect me...I had a bad experience with a gang o' pirates when I was a kid...an' our mama and papa were killed by that same gang...so he's jus' worried that he gives any of them an inch- ones as dirty as this bunch I mean- that me or some innocent person is gon' get hurt..."

She moved back over to her brother again and took his hand, giving it a squeeze, saying softly. "No problem, Big Mac. Just be a little cooler in the future." AJ smiled gently looking up at him. "An' I know y'only do it 'cos ya care."
AJ's eyes suddenly widened when Gus attacked Mack. "That dirty dog! Lil' weasel deserves a kick in the mouth! He's jus' lucky that he's out o' the range of one of my boots!" She put an arm around Mack's broad back, helping him to straighten up once more.

Her eyes swivelled to the four oncoming attackers. "Huh, well, it's not like we didn't see this comin'. Well, bring it on if y' think yer hard enough, fellas..."
She ran to the first attacker, jumping up and lifting her leg to drive a powerful "applebucking" kick into his throat.

Overhearing the conversation between his perturbing partner and the ever adorable AJ, Scott was somewhat delighted to know that Mister Mackenzie was only AJs brother, and not.... well.... Not that it mattered, anyway.
Even less so, he overthought, when seen in contrast to the rest she had said, which he probably hadn't been supposed to hear. That showed why he didn't make a good marine, possibly, when faced with a problem concering pirates and something that was good for him, he automatically felt like going with what was good for him.

The current situation turned out to be the exact opposite: As expected, Gus had betrayed them and alarmed the enemy. Which, Scott had to admit, they probably would have done anyway, somehow.
He could almost feel the pain of the attack on Mack, and even though they hadn't been exactly busy bonding, he still felt sorry for him, and, at the same time, was tremendously thankful not to be in his place.

When he was attacked, he raised his rifle, which he had been holding in his hands still, reflexively. His opponents saber connected with it, and Scott had to admit that, even when matched with someone this weak, he was probably still weaker. Still, he didn't want to use his devilfruit powers out of fear that he wouldn't have them when facing Gasparde. Gathering all the strenght he had, he pushed his enemy back a little, just enough to shoot, and hopefully hit him.

"So that's how it is..." Mel mumbled thoughtfully as she let AJ's words sink in for a moment. Her explanation seem rational. Although it didn't completely redeem Mack in Mel's eyes, it was a start. She sympathized with the two of them at least. By this point, the group of them had reached to the docks and the hostage was taking an ungodly amount of time looking for his own ship. Maybe this wasn't the man they were looking for, if he couldn't even identify the vessel he and Gasparde was sailing on. It wasn't until Gus got a bit of his own retribution towards Mack that Mel realized that something wasn't right about the entire situation.

As soon as Mel watch Gus start sprinting past the docked ship, she sped off after him without much of a strategy in mind. The thought that this might not have been the most well-thought out plan didn't dawn upon her until he dove into the water and men came up from the ship. Mel was out of ideas at this point, so she hastily took the rifle from her back and fired two rounds where the escapee had entered the water. She knew it was a sloppy attempt to slow Gus down, but at least she was trying. What was Scott doing this whole time? Nothing important, Mel would think.

It wasn't long before one of the assailants was able to catch up with Mel. She had hardly fired her shots off when a man stood behind her and swung his saber vertically in her direction. Mel heard the brute coming and turned to see him in time to shuffle to the side, dodging the blade. This left little time for her to draw her own sword or prepare an actual shot, so she flipped the rifle and held it by the barrel. She violently swung the firearm like a baseball bat, intending to club the man in the temple with the butt of her rifle.

Oh, fan-freaking-tastic. A gunshot wound to the side, that was exactly what Gus needed. It wasn't like he was already trying to fight being dragged back out to sea by the tides in addition to try to stay submerged as to avoid detection. Nah, that wasn't difficult at all. He bet it was one of those Marines who did it. A gunshot wound to the shoulder, a gunshot wound to the side... it was probably that arsehole who had shot him both times. Honestly, he wouldn't be that surprised... today really just kind of sucked. He remembered a smaller boat that had been parked faaaaaaaaaaaar on the left hand side of the docks, so he could use that boat to get away... hopefully...

Mack braced himself, gritting his teeth in pain and frustration. Damn that really hurt; Gus hadn't really seemed like a powerful person, but his kicks were far more powerful than Mack had expected. Of course, his choice of location had helped amplify the effects a little bit, but... wow. The moronic yelps of the pirates who had decided to engage him and his sister brought him back to earth, and after ducking beneath a sword swing, he found an opening. Lunging forward, Mack threw his fist straight into one of the pirates' solarplexus, knocking the unfortunate dope off his feet and flying through the air. The man came to a not-so-soft stop on the ground ten feet away.

The man who had chosen to follow Mel wasn't really the brightest bulb in the basket, particularly due to the fact that he had... well, chosen to attack her. He initially tried to slash her open with his saber, but due to her training in the Marines (in addition to her latent badassery) she avoided him and did something rather ingenius with her rifle. Instead of bothering with taking aim and actually trying to shoot the man, she instead flipped her rifle to bash him with it as if it were a club. The butt of the rifle collided with the side of the man's head, giving him a rather lasting concussion, as well as knocking him completely off his feet. He crashed to the ground, unconsciously groaning in pain.

The one lackey engaging Scott was having a bit more luck, but not by too much. He tried to move out of the way of Scott's bullet, managing to avoid getting one in the heart. However, the new location wasn't too much better: somehow the bullet managed to lodge itself in the pirate's stomach. The pirate grabbed at his wounded spot in pain, before raising his saber back into the air. Hey, it might be futile; after all, the Marine there had a gun. But this lackey wasn't going down without trying. He swung downwards, trying to combine gravity with the force he personally put behind the swing.

As for the man AJ engaged, it would be easier to suffice to say he didn't see it coming. The speed and strength behind the kick to his throat completely caught the victim off guard, throwing him off his feet with a cough. After he landed on his back, he dropped his saber so his hands could fly to his throat unabated. He was choking and struggling to breathe, presumably meaning AJ had managed to crush his windpipe. At the very least, he wouldn't be getting up soon to try to cause more trouble. At this point, all but one of the opposition had been silenced, and even that remainder was on his way out.

AJ flicked her hair back, adjusting the rim of her Stetson and wiping the toe of her boot in the ground. Her assailant was taken care of and the rest of the group seemed to be doing pretty well with their adversaries- Mel, Scott and Mack all knocking the other three lackeys to the ground in a matter of mere minutes.

AJ's eyes did a quick scan of the harbour, narrowing when they passed over Gus making a dash for a boat by tearing through the water. Mel had shot him with remarkable aim and had managed to slow him down a bit- but his drunkenly awkward strokes kept him going towards the vessel.
AJ looked towards the ship from which their attackers had come and frowned, heading over to Mack and nudging him. "Whaddya think?" She looked to Mel and Scott. "Should we chase the weasel or...head aboard here?" She nodded towards the nearby vessel. "Either this is here boat is where Gasparde is or it's another dead end an' a dirty trick..."