Serious: The Dark Carnival (Closed to the Smith Siblings.)

A carnival is a gathering place for people of all ages, social statuses, and genders. The pure jovial frivolity that pervades the colorful, pennant draped festivities is the reason why most carnival goers partake. With circuses, clowns, games, contests and prizes, there is always so much to do, and so much to see. It could take up to a week to see everything a carnival had to offer, and that's exactly what happens. The sights, sounds, and smells are diverse and distracting, and the fun and friendly atmosphere causes the majority of carnival patrons to relax, drop their guard, and have a good time. Perhaps this was why it became such a nest of criminal activity.

On the island of Credens, in the city of Ciarles, the carnival was not an unusual sight. Ciarles was a place where one could find a carnival going on three weeks out of every month. The city opened its doors to entertainers, merchants, and revelers from all over the oceans, encouraging each and every one to spend as much time as they wanted within the city boundaries. To say that Ciarles liked the amount of attention is incorrect: it was more of Ciarles depended on the attention to survive. Its entire, fragile economy was built on the carnivals held often in the city limits. For if Ciarles' reputation as a city of festivities was tarnished, the economy would crash.

Ciarles' most recent festival was expected to be one of its most lucrative ventures in years, for they had received word that one of the most famous circus troupes sailing the seas intended to set up a tent and perform for several days in the city. That troupe was called the Carnevale della Tenebre, and they were renowned for the fantastic tricks and feats they performed in their shows. Some people had even described the performance as 'mesmerizing', 'hypnotizing', and 'so fascinating, you couldn't look away'. The arrival of the Carnivale that day brought the officials of Ciarles boded extremely well for their economy, as people were pouring in from all over for the chance to watch the most famous circus on earth. But the Carnevale della Tenebre wasn't just famous for amusement: it was famous for crime.

The Marines have received reports that the Carnevale had been stealing from the towns it went to: the towns rich one minute, poor the next. The Carnivale had never been proven to perform these crimes, as there had never been any witnesses, not even mysterious murders or disappearances. As such, the Marines could not perform a legal arrest of the Carnevale, especially due to the fact that they pick their targets from amongst the islands that do not host a Marine base. The Marines, now frustrated at the possibility that such a large operation has been escaping them every time, has asked a certain pair of people to aid them in their hunt for the truth.

One of those two people was standing at the docks near the outskirts of Ciarles, overlooking the unloading of his things. He didn't have many things, really, and neither did his sister. They packed light, because they were always ready to be on the move. He tilted his hat down so that to most people who looked at him, it would look like his eyes were covered, even though he could still see. He turned his head up, looked up at the deck of the ship, and very slowly and deliberately inquired, "Sis, you ready?" He held a paper in his hand, one that held the information regarding why they had come. Thievery never sat well with the Smith siblings, especially not under these circumstances in which it was performed.

AJ looked up at her dear brother Big Mac from under the brim of her Stetson, a grin crossing her lips.
"Darn circus ain't gonna know what hit 'em."

She looked down at the unloading operations, her eyes scanning the docks of Ciarles. To an untrained onlooker, it might have looked like she was simply watching everything with the kind of lazy, half-present interest that one might expect from a tourist.
However, both AJ Smith and her older brother, Mac Smith, were expert bounty hunters and in actual fact, she was visually sifting through the crowd for the appearance of any kind of oddities.
It was moreso out of habit than actual necessity though. After all, she and Mac knew exactly who they were going after this time. There was no need to root them out and track them down.
To some extent, that made their job much easier.
However the Smith siblings never once forgot to take the reputation of the master thieves that they were after into account.

AJ shrugged her flossy hair back over her shoulders, her arms coming to fold over her chest as she looked up at Mac once more. It was unusual for her strong-and-silent brother to speak and whenever he did, it was highly important to AJ to listen to him.
"No point in beatin' around the bush," she decided, voicing her thoughts in her usual Southern Belle drawl. "We might as well head straight on over to meet up with them Marines that called us here..."
It was odd for them to be contacted by the Marines and somewhat...comissioned to pull off this job. But then again, AJ could easily see the dilemma that the authorities were facing- the Carnevale being out of any kind of legal jurasdiction.

And a thief was a thief who deserved to be brought to justice, regardless of any background motives.

AJ beckoned to Mac with a flick of her head, starting down the gangplank and ashore. "Let's mosy on down then."

Mackenzie, or better known through his more common alias, Mack, tipped his hat cordially to his sister as she invited him to join her down on the docks. He quickly complied; rather, he began to comply quickly. He never moved too quickly, instead taking everything with the steady deliberation it required. His actual speed in joining his sister was rather slow, but it served to permit him the opportunity to look around and monitor his surroundings. The general atmosphere on this island was bright and lighthearted, but that attitude wasn't really rubbing off on the bounty hunter. It wasn't that he was in a bad mood, but he really didn't see the need to put on an overly cheery expression so that he'd fit in.

Mack held out the paper he'd read several times over on the trip to the island. It wasn't because he worried about what it said, or because he couldn't believe what he was reading; he had needed to read it several times because his fractured education was barely enough to teach him how to read in the first place. He wasn't even entirely sure that the paper said what it was meant to say, but from what he read, it went a little something like:

"To the Smith Siblings,
There is a situation that is currently out of the hands of the Marines and the World Government that needs resolving. There is a criminal organization known on the seas as the Carnevale della Tenebre, that passes itself off as a simple circus act in every town it passes through. However, the Carnevale steals everything of value from every town it passes through. One of our informants has told us that the Carnevale will be visiting the city of Ciarles, and if they do, the city's economy could very well collapse. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the Carnevale is not classified as a pirate group, the higher ups are not willing to pursue this problem. Therefore, I am requesting that you head to the city of Ciarles to meet with our informant, Warrant Officer Daisy Bellis, and bring this criminal organization to justice. She will meet you outside the Postal Office in Ciarles' administrative district.

Many thanks, and godspeed,
Captain Bedevere Benestrad"

Mack handed the paper to AJ, for he had held onto it for far longer than she had, and he wasn't sure if she could read it better than he could. It was worth a try, and while he gave his sister a chance to read the paper over, he tapped one of the men unloading their things on the shoulder. When the man turned around to see why Mack had tapped his shoulder, Mack took the things he was carrying, gestured towards his sister with his head, and said, "Administrative district." The other man paused for a minute before responding, "Wait... what?" Mack sighed and turned his head towards AJ, and gave her a look that said something along the lines of, "Could you explain to this guy what we need?"

AJ watched as her brother read through the official document, feeling an odd kind of pride swell in her stomach at the sight of him trying so hard to make sense of the letter.
Mack had dropped out of school to work full-time on the Smith family orchard/farm, long before his literacy skills had ever been consolidated. That had made some people regard him as a quitter of sorts, (which in turn, had made AJ promptly introduce the heeled end of her boots to "some people" in retaliation), but she knew that her brother was far from any kind of "quitter."
He was a determined, hard-working young man and his desire to try to read the letter, despite its formal language and Marine standard print, only illustrated this for his younger sister.

She smiled up at him as she took the letter back and flicked back through it again.
Truthfully, her own reading had never been particularly outstanding. In fact, the only reason that she'd even stayed in school was because Mack had told her to. Abigail Jacqueline Smith was loyal to her big brother to the very end and the practical, wise-in-his-ways young man often was usually the only person who could yank her from any one of her stubborn ventures.
Despite any difficulties that she had with syntax, she could make quite a bit of sense of the letter and had a good comprehension of it. Stuffing the letter into the pocket of her Daisy Dukes. " It's from some guy named "Bedevere Benestrad." Huh, well ain't that a mouthful? Hope he ain't as airy-fairy as his name. Yeah, yeah...I get it. We gotta get down t' th'Administrative District t'meet that there warrant officer, Miss Daisy Bellis, as soon as possible. She's gon' be outside a post office."

One step ahead already, Mack had already asked whom appeared to be a dock worker for directions...unfortunately, the rather perplexed looking man was not yet versed in Mack's unique language of speech and gestures and didn't quite understand what the stranger who had suddenly started carrying his things wanted to know.
Luckily for him, his younger sister was an expert at interpreting his selective gazes and monosyllabic comments and winked back to her brother in confirmation before looking to the man. "Howdy there. Me an' my brother are jus' after comin' into town for some business. We were jus' wonderin' if a nice gentleman such as yerself could point us in the direction of the Administrative District or more specifically the Postal Office in the Administrative District. It's kinda urgent..."
She shot a swift glance up at Mack; one that only he'd be able to translate as: "Don't worry bro, I got this."

Mack breathed out calmly, thankful that his sister was so much more personable than he was. Being so quiet was one of his many ways to conserve his energy, and he had never carried on very good conversation regardless. His sister's naturally friendly and lighthearted behavior and cheery demeanor was far more appropriate for talking with civilians and Marines alike. The only thing that ever gave Mack pause was the concept that someone might try to take advantage of AJ. Which was, in a way, why he was always so close in proximity to her. His sister wasn't a fool; Mack knew that very well. That didn't mean he was forbidden from worrying about her.

The dock worker the siblings had solicited for assistance laughed before saying, "Ohh, I see what you mean now. Yeah, I can show you the way to the Administrative District, but we might have a bit of a problem getting there. As you can see, there are a lot of people in town for the new attractions, so the roads are a bit clogged. If you get lost or left behind by accident, look for Capital Avenue by Aquan Park. It's a major arterial to the Administrative District. Now, let's get going, and try to follow me." The man then turned, beckoning the siblings to follow him before heading off the docks and into the streets of Ciarles.

Mack followed the man through the crowds, looking back every so often to make sure his sister was still following them. The crowds in Ciarles were ridiculously thick, with people passing each other going in every direction. With the density of people in the road, the only way anyone was able to get anywhere was because Main Street was huge. Main Street practically divided Ciarles into two parts, with other arterial roads intersecting it at locations called 'parks'. The administrators and heads of Ciarles had decided to take advantage of it, though, and gave each part a theme.

The first intersection the three-person group passed through was Mechany Park, the site of many of the city's mechanical wonders. The centerpiece of Mechany was, of course, the large observation wheel located at the park's center. Besides the gigantic observation wheel, known to the townspeople as "Ferris' Wheel" due to its builder, Ferris, Mechany Park featured a number of fast-moving rides powered by steam power. However, because Mechany Park was only the first park, it was the smallest of them all. As one got further and further through the parks, the parks grew larger and larger, usually becoming more popular as they grew larger.

The second intersection was called Boondolla Park, a place full of stores and shops that sold snacks and tickets to any shows located in the Fifth Park, the Showstopper's Menagerie. Everywhere people were selling cotton candy, sweets, fudge, and caramel apples, along with other, healthier snacks. In the center was a large gazebo, where a multitude of worker sat distributing tickets to rabid patrons. All over the top of the gazebo were hung fliers exclaiming, "All Carnevale della Tenebre tickets have been sold out! No further admission is available!" Mack grunted in disgust at seeing the sign, upset that people were willing to go to a show of criminals.

The final intersection Mack and AJ passed through on their way to Capital Avenue was Aquan Park, a place filled with water slides and similar attractions, including several large built-in pools. This park was the largest so far, and perhaps the second busiest after Boondolla Park. Many children ran through the park, playing happily in the pools with their parents. One of the pools even somehow managed to simulate the waves of the ocean, enabling the kids to enjoy the feel of a wave without the danger of being dragged out to sea. Here the dock worker turned to the right, gesturing to the siblings trailing on his heels. "Capital Avenue is just down this way. If you're looking for the mayor, I should tell you he's not here; he's by the Showstopper's Menagerie. However, the post office should be just on the right... you'll see it eventually."

Mack passed the man while carrying his ridiculous load, before smirking and nodding. "Thank ya kindly." Mack said as he looked to AJ with a glance that said, "Shall we get a move on?" Mack took the lead at this point, striding along and parting the crowds with the help of his bags of things.

Finding the post office wasn't particularly difficult, showing the dock worker had been very reliable. The post office wasn't anything really too fancy, though it was kept in extremely good order. People were running in and out of the post office, the time of day clearly being one of the office's busier hours. Just outside the post office stood a young girl in her late teens. She didn't look too much older than AJ did, actually, and she was garbed in standardized Marine gear. The girl was looking around with a panicked look on her face, papers weighing down her arms.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Where could they be? It's half past muffin time, and they were supposed to get here an hour TO muffin time!" The poor girl's arms slipped and her papers dropped to the floor. She dropped to the ground to pick them up, and Mack somehow got a strange feeling about the girl. However, his hands were full, so he wasn't able to do anything to help. He hoped AJ would be able to help the poor woman... though he hoped she wasn't their contact.

AJ followed the dock worker, silently thankful that he displayed some form of competence. Well, silent in terms of verbal communication. In truth, unlike her silent and strong brother, AJ's immediate thoughts always found their way on to her face- broadcasted by her expression.
Right now, she was smiling cheerily, at her ease again and walking after her brother and their newly found tour guide- though it took three of AJ's jaunty little struts to make up for each of Mack's giant strides.

AJ looked around, taking in the intense sights and sounds of Ciarles. It was truly an island filled with life and commotion.
She flicked her unruly pale blonde hair from her eyes and used a hand to shield them from the sun as she gazed round at the first park, the one that the dock worker had called "Mechany Park." AJ felt her jaw slacken a little as she stared up at the giant Ferris Wheel. She had never seen such feats of steam powered construction before and the sight of the huge, turning observation wheel truly stunned her.
"Woah...well slap a saddle on me and call me a little pony...that there's gotta be one o' the most fascinatin' things I ever did see."
She looked up at Mack, reluctant to give away their true agenda to their guide, with a look in her eyes that silently said: "And that there's another reason to save this purty town. It'd be a darn shame if them wicked circus bunch ruined it all..."

Boondolla Park was the next intersection and AJ could feel her stomach growling slightly at the sight of so much cotton candy and fudge being sold everywhere; suddenly skipping lunch seemed like a bad idea.
She chuckled slightly, giving her brother a nudge in the ribs. "I reckon we could cook up somethin' tastier than the stuff that they got here."
However it was the sight of a sign advertising the Carnavale della Tenebre that abruptly robbed AJ of her appetite. Her eyes narrowed and she instantly recognised the kindred look of disgust in her older brother's eyes. She gave her brother an affirmative nod, letting him know that she intended to do everything she could to overthrow this Circus of thieves.

The final park was Aquan Park- filled with an array of different sized water features and pools where families of children happily played. AJ smiled gently to herself, thinking of how innocent and full of fun childhood could be. Looking at the happy families and children splashing around in the pools was the wax seal on AJ's newly made contracted oath to the people of Ciarles. There was no way she would let the Carnavale ruin all of this. AJ held her lasso strung over her shoulder, her fingers gripping the gnarled, rough rope.

She thanked the dock worker heartily and then followed Mack down to the post office, frowning slightly at the sight of the rather ditzy girl shuffling around outside the door.
She dropped her voice, looking up at Mack. "Big Mac...this poor kid looks like she's about one sandwich short of a picnic..."
AJ smiled good-naturedly all the same, walking over to the flustered youth and helping her with the heavy bundle of papers. "Here, lemme help ya with those, darlin'. Listen, sugar-cube, you wouldn't happen t'know where mah brother and I could find a lady called Miss Daisy Bellis?"

AJ straightened, looking the girl up and down and privately hoping that their informant wasn't actually the flighty young'un that she was currently addressing. AJ had nothing prematurely against the girl but like her brother, she was partial to working with concentrated professionals when it came to high-scale missions like this one.

Mack always appreciated his sister's confidence, and more often than not he agreed with her. Most of what people made at carnivals and such paled in comparison to the stuff he and his sister could make out of simple apples. Besides, places like these tended to charge exorbitant prices for what they were selling... Mack wished he had thought ahead and examined the prices to see what everything cost. If it was too much, he supposed he and AJ could always improvise... they were good at improvising. Whether their improvising actually ever saved them any money was up for debate, but regardless, you play the cards you're dealt.

The girl in the Marine uniform looked up with a great smile on her face, clearly grateful for the aid. "Thanks a bunch!" With AJ's help, the teenager managed to pick up all her papers and put them into a somewhat neat stack. Papers jutted out from various places in the stack, but the teenager didn't seem to mind too much. "Oh, thank you so much!" She picked up the papers and stood up, shuffling over a bit to the side where there weren't any people. Mack followed suit, suddenly becoming uncomfortably aware that he took up a ridiculous amount of space in the path of the postal personnel.

"Oh, yes! Yes! I'm Daisy Bellis!" The rather spacy girl exclaimed with an incredible amount of energy at her back. It actually made one wonder if she was happy to see someone who wanted to talk to her, or if she was looking for a chance to take advantage of "muffin time". "You must be the Smith people that Captain Benestrad asked to help us! I have all the information RIGHT HERE~!" She cheerily tapped the side of her head with her index finger, making Mack worry even more. "Oh, and these papers are also important too, but I have a much shorter version hidden away in my noggin!"

"Oooh, oooh, how about we talk about it in Boondolla Park? They've got real yummy muffins at one of the shops there, and I've got a bad case of the munchies!" Mack felt hesitant, but when he thought back to the time when they passed through Boondolla, he remembered that the show was supposed to go on later tonight, near eleven o'clock. Considering the fact that it was more like half past noon right now, it gave them plenty of time. He was also getting a few rumblings in his tummy... no, stomach. Stomach. He was not a child, and he would never think of such a childish, ridiculous, silly, amusing, funny...

Time to stop thinking about this.

"Sure." Mack grunted, looking at AJ to convey to her the fact that he was hungry. He bet she was also probably pretty hungry, and that it would be a good idea to scope out the parks a little bit better. After all, they were apparently going to have to stop some sort of ridiculous heist these Carnivale hooligans were pulling, and it would be impossible if they didn't have anything in their stomachs. After that, they could find somewhere to put their things. After receiving confirmation that she could go to get muffins, Daisy bounced off, her papers clasped tightly to her chest to avoid having them fall everywhere.

“In yer…noggin?” AJ repeated with slight alarm, suddenly anxious for the future of she and Mack’s mission.

AJ took a long, deep breath to quell her nerves and centre her thoughts once more.
Boy, this kid was…quirky.
Yes, “quirky” was the word for it.
Her stomach had done a miniature flip and she couldn’t help but feel quite an odd mixture of disdain, disappointment and downright nervousness when Daisy the ditzy postal messenger revealed herself to be their correspondent.
If this spacy young thing was their only link to Benestrad, AJ decided, then it was going to take a lot of hard work to get solid, concrete, competent information regarding their mission.
Then again, the cowgirl consoled herself, hard-work was the only kind of work that ever truly paid off and Abigail Jacqueline Smith was suddenly determined to apply the same patient determined attitude to dealing with this girl as she did to every other kind of work that she had ever taken up.
A soft smile crossed AJ’s lips at Daisy’s sudden delight in acquiring muffins and she chuckled, falling into step behind the girl. “Muffins don’t sound like too much of a bad idea, eh, Big Mac?”

She looked up at her towering older brother as they headed to Boondolla Park.
Maybe it was her imagination, (though more likely it was she and her brother’s high levels of empathy with one another), but AJ could have sworn that Mack looked rather peckish.
Sitting in the outside seating area of a theme-park style confectionary stand in the centre part of the park, AJ took a bite out of a fluffy, blueberry muffin and looked to Daisy- who was already tearing through a basket of cinnamon muffins.
“So, Daisy, darlin’,” she began, swallowing and taking her hat from her head to fan herself. “What is it that the Captain wants exactly? We know that th’ mission entails.” She dropped her voice. “We know that we gotta bring down this whole Carnivale op’ration but how exactly d’y’all wan’ us t’ go about it? Mah brother an’ I have our own way o’ doin’ stuff fer sure, but if Cap’n Benestrad has any pertic’lar preferences on whut how he wants us t’go about the bust, we’re open to follow orders too…”

Daisy blinked for a moment, staring at AJ with an almost absent-minded gaze, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Hmmmm…” she mused idly, scratching her head and suddenly spraying the siblings with a shower of crumbs as she spoke. “Well, Captain Benestrad said something about the two of you guys doing serving of the Carnivale first…”
AJ blinked, suddenly taken aback. “Serving…? He wants us to serve the…”
The young messenger waved a hand. “Oh, no, no, no! Not the kind of serving when you give people food like at a restaurant or yummy muffin café, oh no. Not the kind when you help people for money or no money either…no, not that either! Uh…how do I mean? The kind of serving where you…watch people? Yeah! You watch people! You know…serving people…looking at people do things…means the same thing! Doesn’t it?! Of course it does, silly Daisy! That’s what the Captain said.”
Satisfied and proud of herself, she tucked straight back into her muffins.
AJ sat back in her seat, rubbing her forehead and giving Mack a slight “Can-you-believe-this?-THIS-is –what-the-marines-send-us-for-information?.
“Serving,” she repeated slowly. “Like when you watch someone? Darlin’, what in tarnation do ya mean by tha-“ AJ’s eyes suddenly widened with realisation and she sat up straight. “Oh! You mean observing? Right?”

Daisy nodded happily. “Yep! I think that’s how the Captain pronounced it too.”
AJ looked to Mack. “Observation first, then we strike? Makes sense, don’t it?”

Oh geez. This second pass through the second Park made Mack realize that he was actually really hungry. He wondered if he could slip away from his sister and the rather spacy informant to grab a snack... Naw, there was no way he'd leave his little sis alone with just that... lady around to defend her. Getting food at the moment was rather unnecessary, and he could bring it up later if he really felt like he needed food. Maybe, if he was lucky, they'd buy something without him even suggesting it, and he could snack on it. Yeah, that would be nice.

Daisy was giving Mack and his sister rather useful information, he thought, as he listened to her explaining what the Benestrad guy wanted them to do. The general gist of the message, from what he gathered, was that the first part of their mission involved simply watching the circus and its movements, probably by actually going to the show. Unfortunately, Mack saw a tiny flaw in this delightfully simple and practical plan. "A problem..." he remarked, gesturing at the gazebo at the center of the park. "No tickets."

Daisy, ever unperturbed, didn't seem to view his concerns as much of a problem. She simply found an empty table and dropped her papers down on its surface. The papers hit the table with a rather vocal 'thump', and the rather ditzy informant dusted her hands off happily. She turned back to the siblings, making sure they were there before saying, "I can explain sommore when I get back... I'll get you guys some muffins too!" She immediately took off before Mack could reply. Not five minutes later, she was back with quite a large number of muffins in tow. "I got you guys some apple cinnamamon and some blueberry muffins... but those oatmeal muffins are all mine okay? They're my favorite!"

Daisy placed the flat tray of muffins down on the table, the individual types of muffins separated into three sections, categorized by flavor. She took an oatmeal muffin from one of the sides and began eating it with a smile on her face. Her mouth now full of muffin, Daisy tried to say, "We have tickets for you guys already, so you don't hafta worry about getting inta the circus. I have a ticket too!" Mack was surprised by Daisy's ability to plan, mostly because she didn't seem quite... there enough to make a plan. Perhaps she was more clever than he had given her credit for... "Oh, and Bedevere also told me to tell you about the people who run the circus, too!"

Ah. That explained it. The Marine Captain must have told her to buy the tickets in advance. She continued explaining, "The guy in charge's Jacques. He's kinda big. He's got the brains there, so he's the one Bedevere wants to catch the most. Francis, the strongman in the group, is supposed to be pretty scary though, and there are supposed to be tons of other crew people. They're normally the ones who take stuff from towns." She grew silent as she continued eating her muffins. Mack watched her, torn between stuffing his face with muffins, and being polite and holding back from eating until Daisy was done with her explanation.

Mack finally gave up. Now overcome with hunger, Mack began snacking on some muffins while trying to maintain as much decorum as possible. Considering his decorum was pretty minimal in the first place, that wasn't saying much. He decided to eat an apple cinnamon muffin first, and realized that the muffin wasn't that bad. Of course, to him, it wasn't really that good either. Just mediocre. As a very quick eater when hungry, Mack quickly finished that muffin before trying a blueberry muffin. As he ate the muffin, Daisy began talking again. "Gosh, I'm sure there were others in the circus who I should told you about... but I can't remember." She took a look through her papers as she continued gnawing through her oatmeal muffins. Mack looked at AJ before saying, "Anyone else?"

AJ had noticed the ticket gazebo too, her stomach clenching with disdain at the idea that they might not even be allowed into their targeted big top. Sneaking in or breaking in was always an option but then again, espionage wasn't high on the Smith siblings' list of specialities.

As well as that, evil, thieving syndicate or not, breaking and entering was indeed, breaking and entering all the same and the Smiths were not one (or rather two) to partake in illegal activities of any kind for any reason.
Thankfully, it appeared, their dear new guide Daisy had procured tickets for them.
AJ tipped her hat to the youngster, smiling. "That right there's much obliged, Miss Daisy, dear."
She eyed the heap of papers on the table as Daisy hurried off to get some muffins. Come to think of it, a nice muffin sounded quite good to the admittedly starving bounty hunter and she could do little to conceal her delight when the girl returned with enough muffins for all of them.
"Awh, shucks...thanks a ton, sweetheart," she grinned. "Don' worry. Mack an' I'll let the oatmeal muffins alone for ya."
She took up one of the blueberry ones, tucking straight into it as she listened to Daisy profile two of the Circus members. AJ's brow furrowed as she recounted the information that she had just been given. "So Jacques is the leader...he's like th' ringmaster, yeah? An' this "Francis" is their strongman?" She pulled a face. "If there's more, it's only safe to bet that they're all agile, flexible athletes with great stamina 'cos that's what bein' in a circus entails, I guess." She let out a breath, bringing herself to smile faintly. "Though I guess it's nothin' that Mack and I can't exactly handle."

"Right, Mack?"
She looked up at her brother, only to suppress a slight laugh at Mack's attempts at eating a muffin in a mannerly way. Her brother was truly a rarity among men. He always tried his best to be as mannerly as possible, despite his often rugged exterior. AJ on the other hand, who had wanted to be a glamourous model as a little girl, often preferred to just be comfortable eating, regardless of what she was eating, when or where. She looked back to Daisy. "Can y'all remember any other circus folk whom th' captain might o' mentioned you had t' tell us about?"

Spraying a few crumbs as she spoke, Daisy tilted her head and suddenly perked up, starting to gush again. "Uhh...well, lemme think...uhh...I know I had it there, buried in my noggin." She took another bite of the fluffy oatmeal muffin. "Well, there's a tightrope walker called Carmen and she's supposed to be small...but very hard to...uhh...knock over and stuff. I guess it's cuz of all the walking on ropes she does."
AJ took a mental note of this, nodding and making her tone as encouraging as possible. "Carmen. Ok, go on."
"And then," Daisy said between munches. "There's a beast tamer called Leandro. He's supposed to be really bonkers but the animals that he takes care of...those are the ones that Bevedere said that you should watch out for..."
AJ sat back in her seat. "Huh, Mack an' I have raised animals too. Shouldn't be too hard to get around that with some good ol' fashioned ropin'."

She went on. "So Daisy, darlin', are we ever gonna be meetin' this Bevedere?"

Mack found himself completely fixated on Daisy, taking the opportunity to finish chewing his food. He and his sister really needed to get a real meal, but from the looks of how this place was set up, it seemed it didn't really have actual dinner food. It mostly just looked like snacks and sweets. Now those caramel apples actually looked half decent, but he wasn't going to go nuts over eating on- wait a second, was Daisy talking while eating? Wow, rude. Mack didn't have much love for high-falutin' manners and the absurd courtesies some of the nobles and such supposedly had, but WOW.

Even he didn't eat while talking. Well, it wasn't like he talked much anyway, but PARTICULARLY not while he was eating. He could at least say he was that courteous. Though... he supposed he wasn't Daisy's father so he had no reason to criticize her. It wasn't even that bad. Moving on to the issue at hand, Mack continued listening to Daisy's explanations. From the sounds of it, that tightrope walker would have to be handled by AJ. He wouldn't let her fight Francis, because that guy sounded too big for her to handle. They could likely handle Jacques as a team, but that animal tamer sounded like the perfect person for AJ to deal with.

Seriously, she was really good with animals, and when she wasn't getting along with them, it wasn't hard for her to disable them or rope them with a lasso. This guy would be SO easy for her to deal with it wasn't even funny. Even if she needed help, all Mack would have to do was just hold one or two animals back. Carmen also seemed like someone she could take care of, mostly because he wouldn't have the slightest chance to hit her. Besides, it wasn't exactly the most polite thing to do to hit a girl. Sure she was a criminal, but he had to keep up some sort of chivalry. Of course, if she hurt AJ, it really wouldn't matter; he'd beat her senseless.

Mack nodded to agree with his sister. Of course they could handle this. If anything they'd have to worry about being outnumbered, but hopefully the lackeys would scatter when the heads got taken down. That or the Marines would hopefully help them out with that. His sister also brought up an excellent point. Where in heck WAS this Bedevere guy? He was probably one of those officers who just ordered his lackeys into a battle and then took all the credit for it later on.

"Oh, Bedevere's taking care of one of the Carnevale's... uh... advance parties? I dunno why he called them a party because it didn't sound like they were going to celebrate anything, but he said it was really important to stop them ahead of time. He was going to come back and hopefully be here in a few days. He also said it was super important that someone take care of the Carnevale here because they tend to slip away really easily. BUT! He will be back here later and you can meet him then! It'll be especially good if we get the bad guys!" Daisy explained really rapidly and with not a care in the world if you had even followed.

In summary, there were four primary leaders of the Carnevale. The first day of their act was today, and Daisy had tickets. They needed to start off just watching the first day, and deal with them before they left or before Bedevere returned. Shouldn't really be too hard. "Oh, and I'm gonna be in the audience too! Bedevere left some guys behind so that they could get some actual evidence that the Carnevale's been stealing things, so they're gonna do that while we get hands on in the actual big tent! Ooh, I'm so excited!" So it seemed Daisy would be coming too... hopefully she'd be helpful and not hindering them at all.

"Let's eat now." Mack said, standing up to look around for proper food. Not to insult Daisy, but muffins do not a full meal make. He looked to AJ, hoping she'd support him in this. Daisy looked like she could use some food too. Really they all looked like they could get full meals in them. It would be even better if Mack got a chance to make his signature apple dishes.

((Delayed post is criminally bad, forgive me. Also wow my Mack gets distracted really easily in his thoughts.))

((I love reading Mack's train of thoughts! He's so well written!))

AJ looked sideways at her brother, feeling the need to bite back a laugh. Although neither of the Smiths were particularly sweet or sharp on any kind of frou-fro, flouncy airs and graces, she knew that Mack positively hated watching people talk while eating.
And as far as Daisy was concerned, well that poor little runt was treating them both to a blizzard of muffin crumbs.
AJ could easily tell by the look on his face that Mack was less than comfortable watching their informant stuff her jowls while working her jaws and though she admired her brother's self restraint- she had to admit that the mildly shocked look on his face was quite funny.
He could say very little aloud but often Mack's expressions alone spoke volumes.
For example, at that very moment, AJ speculated as she nibbled on the muffin, Mack's eyes were deep in thought- perhaps he was thinking about their upcoming conflicts?
Her big brother was pretty good at thinking ahead and generally, his calculated planning, (or his "fancy mathematics" as she often liked to call them), made up for her impulsiveness.
Each of the Carnivale members sounded equally deadly but admittedly manageable. After all, between the two of them, AJ decided, they had strength, speed, agility and stealth.

They would have to discuss it later but she knew for a fact that her brother didn't hit women, so she'd have to deal with the tightrope-walking hussy personally. She also reckoned that after a few years of jumping around buffaloes and cows with a springer spaniel at her side, an animal tamer wouldn't cause too much trouble for her.
Strength wasn't her forte, especially. Sure, she could deliver a good hard kick or two but not to a fully grown man with specific weight-lifting training, so Mack could handle the strong-man.

The four main members of the circus would have to go down first and hopefully after they did, taking down the whole operation shouldn't be a problem.
She grinned wider as her brother nodded in agreeance with her and then sighed when it was revealed that they wouldn't be meeting their comissioner for quite a while yet. AJ finished her muffin and groaned.
"I'm not gonna bad mouth Captain Bedevere or nothin' but for future ref, sugar, it'd really be mighty handy if he came down t'personally explain his own mission objectives..." She exhaled. "Though if the man's busy, I guess I can't slight him."

AJ knuckled her forehead at the revelation that Daisy would be accompanying them to the show. She didn't feel any contempt for the girl, who despite her ditziness, seemed to be very well-meaning, but if she got in the way of their observation mission- she could very well jeopardise their chances of bringing the circus down.
She looked up at her brother. "Yeah, I agree. Food before we all tackle the heavy business sounds good." AJ stood up, flexing her legs. "D'ya wanna get food at some kinda eatery establishment or would ya rather we do some cookin' ourselves, Big Mack?"

Daisy perked up at this. "Oooh! You cook? What kinda yummy snacks can you make?"

Mack couldn't help but agreed with his sister. Seriously, would it kill this man to try to be on hand to deal with the main event? Unless his division is thinly spread as is, though evidence didn't show whether or not that was true. Regardless, they had themselves and Daisy to go against the entire Carnevale, unless there were Marines lying in wait to help. Wow, this actually worried him. Were there any Marines in hiding to help them? He needed to ask. "Reinforcements?" he asked, and Daisy nodded. She put a finger on her lips and smirked. "It's a secret! But yes! We do have those! They're all amateurs, though... that's why we needed your help!"

Mack placed both hands flat on the table as he considered his sister's question. They really didn't have the wherewithal to make a full meal, though he was certain he'd be able to make do and make his special dishes... somehow. Things would come together. Maybe Daisy could help him out by getting control of an oven for him for a short while. Heck, most of his special dishes were finished in twenty minutes or so. If they could get the ingredients for them and get hold of a stove, he'd be good to go. He pushed his chair back with his foot as he stood up, pushing against the table to help heave himself up. "Main course at restaurant, we'll make the dessert or snack."

Mack smiled proudly, his normal stern face breaking into a grin. It wasn't too pronounced, but he just couldn't hide it when people brought up him cooking. "Lots of things. Best at apple fritters and apple turnovers." He would leave AJ to explain the rest if Daisy pursued the topic, because he felt he said enough. He looked around at the concession stands, realizing that this place wasn't really the best for full meals. Daisy seemed to have that covered though, jumping up and down in joy. "Oh, I know just the place! It's a really yummy restaurant! Here, I'll lead you to it!" She scrambled out of her seat and picked up all her papers, dropping one or two on the ground as she did so. She crouched down to pick up the papers before bouncing right back up again and gesturing for AJ and Mack to follow her.