Gibbs hit the deck running.
The moment his boots touched the Polar Bear Pirates' ship, the smell of blood and smoke slammed into him. Shouts overlapped. Wood cracked. Somewhere close, a man screamed and stopped screaming just as abruptly.
"Right," Gibbs muttered, spotting salvation. "There you are."
The cannon sat unattended near the port side, still warm from earlier firing. Gibbs grabbed the rim and threw his weight into it, muscles screaming as he tried to rotate the heavy barrel toward the center of the deck where the fighting was thickest.
"Why," he grunted, pushing again, "is everything on pirate ships built by sadists?"
The cannon scraped inch by inch. A pirate noticed him too late.
Gibbs jammed the fuse into place, struck flint against steel, and grinned like a man rediscovering joy.
"So long, suckers."
Boom.
The blast tore through the deck railing, splinters exploding outward. Pirates were flung off their feet, some screaming as they tumbled straight into the sea. Smoke swallowed the deck as chaos doubled instantly.
Legis P Bear saw it.
His head snapped toward Gibbs, rage twisting his already monstrous features. "YOU—!"
He charged.
Gibbs' eyes widened. "Oh no."
The polar bear captain lunged with terrifying speed, his body swelling further as white fur burst across his arms and shoulders. He shifted fully into a towering polar bear–human hybrid, claws tearing into the deck as he closed the distance.
Gibbs tried desperately to swing the cannon toward him.
"Hold still!" Gibbs yelled.
The bear did not.
A massive paw slammed into the cannon, knocking it aside like a toy. Gibbs dove as the iron barrel skidded past where his head had been a heartbeat earlier.
"That was a damn good cannon!" Gibbs shouted indignantly.
The polar bear raised his arm to finish it—
And hissed.
Something burned across his back.
He twisted around with a roar to see a slim figure standing behind him, sword raised, eyes sharp.
Jack Sparrow.
Blood ran down the polar bear's fur where Wado Ichimonji had carved a deep line.
Jack tilted his head. "You should really watch your back."
The bear snarled and swung.
Jack slipped aside, boots sliding across blood-slick planks. He moved like water poured around stone, never quite where the claws expected him to be. He struck again and again, shallow cuts, precise, maddening.
"You're annoying!" P Bear roared.
Jack laughed. "I hear that a lot."
Meanwhile, Pintel and Ragetti scrambled up onto the enemy ship.
"WE MADE IT!" Pintel shouted triumphantly.
A cannonball exploded nearby.
The blast hurled Pintel backward into the air, his scream cutting off as he vanished over the railing and into the sea.
"PINTEL!" Ragetti shouted.
He rushed to the edge and leaned over, scanning frantically. "Pintel! Are you alive?!"
A bubble surfaced.
Then Pintel's head popped up. "I think so!"
Ragetti exhaled in relief—
And felt a clang.
He turned slowly.
A pirate stood behind him, sword frozen mid-swing, the blade bent at a ridiculous angle where it had struck Ragetti's head.
Ragetti blinked.
"…That hurt."
He opened his mouth and yelled, "YAAARGH!"
The pirate screamed, dropped the sword, and ran.
Ragetti chased him. "COME BACK! YOU HIT ME!"
Back at the center of the deck, Jack pressed his advantage.
P Bear was bleeding heavily now, white fur stained red, breath coming in harsh snarls. Jack danced around another swipe, stepped inside the bear's reach, and slashed again—harder this time.
The cut was clean.
Too clean.
The polar bear's arm hit the deck with a wet thud.
There was a split second of silence.
Then P Bear screamed.
Jack stepped back, breathing hard, eyes wide for just a moment before focus returned. He knew Zoan users were tough. He knew they healed faster. That was why he hadn't held back.
The bear clutched the bleeding stump, roaring in agony and fury.
Then another shadow loomed.
"Brother."
Jack turned slowly.
Legis G Bear stood at the far end of the deck, fully transformed into a massive grizzly bear hybrid. Taller. Broader. Dark fur bristling with rage.
He looked at his fallen brother.
Then at Jack.
His eyes burned.
Jack swallowed.
"…Ah."
-----
Jack Sparrow did not give the grizzly bear time to think.
That was the mistake most people made—letting rage settle into shape, letting power organize itself. Jack stepped forward instead, blade loose in his hand, posture relaxed in a way that made it look like he wasn't taking the fight seriously at all.
"Right," Jack said brightly, glancing between the two brothers. "Let me guess. You're the bigger one because you ate more as a child."
Legis G Bear roared.
The sound shook the deck. He charged without hesitation, massive arms swinging wide, claws tearing grooves through wood with every step. There was no technique in the attack, only raw fury and weight.
Jack slipped aside at the last moment, the grizzly's claws passing so close Jack felt the air move. He laughed breathlessly as he spun, blade flicking out to cut across the bear's side. The strike landed shallow—fur and muscle tougher than steel—but it drew blood.
"That one stings," Jack said helpfully.
G Bear slammed a fist down where Jack had been standing a heartbeat earlier, shattering planks and sending splinters flying. Jack used the debris as cover, vaulting over a broken rail, landing behind the beast with a light step that felt almost mocking.
"You really shouldn't let emotions lead," Jack continued. "They make you predictable."
P Bear, clutching his bleeding stump, snarled from behind. "KILL HIM BROTHER!"
Jack glanced back. "I already took your arm. I'm pacing myself."
That did it.
G Bear abandoned any thought of defense and went berserk. He swung wildly, claws and fists blurring together in a storm of rage. Jack retreated, dancing backward across the deck, barely dodging each blow, his footwork frantic but controlled. He looked like he was on the edge of losing balance—always one misstep away from disaster.
That illusion saved him.
G Bear overextended.
Jack slid inside the bear's reach, twisted his torso, and drove Wado Ichimonji upward in a sharp, precise cut aimed not at muscle but at a joint. The blade bit deep. G Bear howled and staggered back, clutching his shoulder.
Jack exhaled. "See? Anger wastes energy."
Elsewhere on the deck, Gibbs found himself momentarily unoccupied.
Which, in a pirate battle, was suspicious.
He spotted a dropped flintlock near a fallen pirate, scooped it up, checked it quickly, and—miracle of miracles—it was loaded.
"Oh," Gibbs said softly. "I remember you."
Two pirates charged him.
Gibbs raised the gun and fired.
Bang.
One went down screaming, clutching his leg. Gibbs pivoted and fired again.
Bang.
The second collapsed, weapon skittering across the deck.
Gibbs stood there, chest heaving, gun smoking, a slow grin spreading across his face.
Then he realized something was wrong.
Very wrong.
The deck had gone quiet.
The fighting had stopped. Gibbs turned slowly.
Every remaining pirate on both ships was staring at him. Dozens of eyes.
Gibbs swallowed.
"…Right."
He ran.
He bolted straight toward the edge of the ship, legs pumping with the desperation of a man who had suddenly remembered his mortality. Pintel had just finished climbing back onto the deck, water dripping from his hair.
"GIBBS—!" Pintel started.
Gibbs leapt.
He cleared Pintel entirely, boots brushing his shoulder as he sailed overhead. Pintel yelped and promptly lost his balance, tumbling backward into the sea again with a splash.
"WHY," Pintel screamed from the water, "DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?!"
Gibbs hit the Black Pearl's deck hard, rolled once, and scrambled upright. He turned just in time to see several pirates sprinting to a cannon on the bear ship.
Gibbs' blood froze.
The cannon turned.
Toward him.
"…No," Gibbs whispered.
The fuse was lit.
Gibbs backed away slowly, hands raised as if the cannon could see him. "Now let's all be reasonable—"
Ragetti appeared out of nowhere.
He grabbed the nearest pirate and threw him.
The unfortunate man flew directly into the cannon's line of fire just as it discharged.
Boom.
The cannonball hit the pirate mid-air with a wet, horrific sound and kept going, splashing harmlessly into the sea beyond.
Silence followed.