Jack and Gibbs scrambled up the side of the Black Pearl with all the grace of men who very much did not want to die today.
Gibbs hauled himself over the railing first, boots hitting the deck hard. Jack followed a second later, nearly slipping, catching himself on the mast, and laughing nervously as if the entire city was not currently trying to arrest or kill him.
Then they froze.
Someone else was already on the ship.
Two boys stood near the center of the deck, both around sixteen or seventeen, both dressed in mismatched scraps of pirate clothing scavenged from better men. One was tall and thin, with a long face, scruffy hair tied back poorly, and an expression that suggested he was constantly trying to think but rarely succeeding. The other was shorter, broader, with a rounder face, uneven teeth, and eyes that always seemed half a second behind whatever was happening.
They looked like twins.
If twins had been assembled incorrectly.
The taller one blinked first. "Uh."
Gibbs raised his flintlock instantly.
Jack, acting on instinct, threw his cutlass.
"WAIT I—"
The blade spun end over end and struck the taller boy square on the head with the flat of the blade. There was a hollow clonk sound. He stiffened, eyes crossing, then toppled backward and hit the deck like a sack of potatoes.
The shorter one screamed.
"DON'T KILL ME!" he shouted, hands flying up so fast he nearly fell over. "WE'RE JUST HIDING! WE SWEAR!"
Jack blinked. "Huh. That worked."
Gibbs stared at him. "You threw your sword."
Jack shrugged. "Seemed right."
The boy on the ground groaned.
The other rushed to him. "Oi! Wake up, you great idiot!" He slapped his brother hard across the face.
The taller one jolted awake. "OW—WHY—WHERE AM I?"
"You got hit by a flying sword!"
"Oh. Fair."
Gibbs kept the flintlock trained on them, tension tight in his shoulders. "Explain."
The taller one rubbed his head. "We were just lookin' for a ship. Any ship. Marines everywhere. Pirates everywhere. Everything's on fire."
"We didn't steal nothin'," the shorter one added quickly. "Yet."
Jack waved a hand. "Put the gun down, Gibbs."
Gibbs stared at him. "Captain—"
"Our escape is the priority," Jack said. "I may have annoyed a man who caught a cannonball with one hand and threw it back."
Gibbs frowned. "What?"
The taller boy's eyes widened.
"You," he whispered, pointing at Jack with a shaking finger. "You're the one."
Jack squinted. "One?"
"You fired the cannon!" the boy shouted. "At Gold Roger!"
Jack lifted a finger. "In my defense, there was no one near it for celebrations."
"What celebration?!" both twins yelled in unison.
Even Gibbs looked at Jack like he was seriously reconsidering his life choices.
Jack cleared his throat. "Anyway. Past is past. We're leaving."
Gibbs looked out toward the harbor, where Marine warships were tightening their formation. He grimaced. "Agreed."
Jack clapped his hands. "All hands on deck."
The shorter twin blinked. "All… four of us?"
Jack retrieved his cutlass from the taller twin's head and nodded. "Congratulations. You're crew."
The twins exchanged a look.
"I'm Pintel," the taller one said proudly.
"I'm Ragetti," the shorter one added. "Together we share a brain."
"Half each," Pintel clarified.
The warships fired.
Cannonballs screamed through the air as the harbor erupted into chaos. Pirate ships rammed each other, some sinking outright, others returning fire wildly. Smoke swallowed the docks.
The Black Pearl moved.
Despite cracked planks and torn sails, she surged forward with impossible speed, weaving between ships like she was slipping through gaps no one else could see. Cannonballs splashed uselessly behind them.
Gibbs manned a cannon, laughing like a madman as he fired back. "I HIT ONE! DID YOU SEE THAT?!"
Pintel and Ragetti screamed incoherently while holding ropes that may or may not have been important.
Then the sea exploded beside them.
A massive cannonball crashed into the water, sending a wall of spray over the deck. Jack squinted through it, heart pounding.
"That's him," Jack said faintly.
Gibbs looked.
His blood ran cold.
Monkey D. Garp stood on a Marine ship, coat flapping, fist clenched.
"Oh no," Gibbs said. "Oh no no no."
"We're going to die!" Ragetti yelled.
"At least by a legend!" Pintel added. "That's kind of cool!"
Jack shook his head violently. "No dying. Full speed ahead!"
Gibbs unfurled the sails.
A new Jolly Roger snapped into view.
A skull wearing a triangle hat, a cutlass beneath it, two crossed bones behind.
The Caribbean Pirates.
Garp hurled one last cannonball.
It missed.
He watched the black ship race away, eyes narrowing. "Fast ship," he muttered, then turned as other pirate vessels broke the blockade. A grin spread across his face.
"Plenty of stress to relieve."
Back on the Pearl, cheers erupted.
They had escaped.
Jack Sparrow laughed into the wind, utterly unaware of how many powerful people now wanted his head.