Danny and his friends stood back in amazement as the black sails unfurled themselves and filled and the rigging set itself. Jack pulled out his compass. "Mr. Fenton!" He flipped it open and handed it to the teen. "Please provide us our bearing?" Danny held the compass in both hands and watched as the needle spun around a few times before stopping in the direction Sam was standing. "Please focus on finding your parents." Danny nodded and tried to focus. He pictured his parents in his mind and the compass needle moved a few degrees to the left. Jack nodded. "Good." Jack stepped over to Sam and pulled out an oriental looking hand fan.

"Are you kidding?"

Jack smiled and opened up the fan. "But this is a very special fan. It was given to me from one of the royal empresses of china."

Sam crossed her arms. "Given?"

"Yes. Not only did she want me to have it, she made sure I left with it at great speed. She even had cannons fired in my direction as I sailed away as a sendoff." He waved the fan at the sails and a large gust of wind issued from the tiny fan and caused the ship to move forward. "Just use a steady motion and we shouldn't have any problems catching up with Youngblood."

"Right!" Sam took the fan and began to wave it. A constant stream of wind hit the sails and pushed the ship along."

"Mr. Tucker."

"Yes my captain." Tucker stood straight and saluted.

"Now here is someone with the right idea and manners. But you don't have to stand up that straight. This is a pirate ship after all."

"Sorry, captain."

Jack smiled his gold toothed grin. "Quite alright, I want you to go below deck and get familiar with the cannons." Tucker's eyes lit up and he bolted for the small stairs that would take him to the gun deck. Jack pondered his excitement for a moment. "Hope he doesn't get too familiar." Jack walked over to the main mast and grabbed a metal funnel that was connected to a thin pipe that went up the length of the mast. "Ms. Gray?"

"What!" Valerie voice echoed down the pipe from the crow's nest. Jack had installed the device to keep from having to shout every time someone was up there.

"When you spot our target, come on down. I will need you for the boarding party."

"Of course you need me. None of you have a clue how to fight ghosts."

Jack was tempted to respond, but wisely walked away. He went to the wheel and grasped it with both hands. Looking out at the horizon from the deck of his ship, a strong wind to speed him on his way, and the sound of the ocean around him, a feeling he had had for thousands upon thousands of times. But each time, he savored the sweet feeling of freedom.

Just had Jack predicted, the wind from the fan had given them the edge and Youngblood's ship was in sight after just a few hours. To Jack's dismay, they were getting closer to Bermuda Triangle. Realizing what Youngblood had planned, he had Sam wave the fan harder to reach them faster. Even switching every few minutes, Sam's arms screamed for a rest. She ignored it and kept up the pace. Valerie left the crow's nest as Sparrow retrieved his compass from Danny. He led the two teens bellow and stopped as they watched Tucker struggled to lift one of the iron cannon balls. He grunted with great effort and managed to drop it into one of the cannons. He huffed as he nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

"Almost have one side loaded."

Jack rolled his shoulder. "Arm all Guns!" All of a sudden, a green light started to glow from the bags of powder and the cannon balls. They floated into the air and proceeded to load themselves into the remaining cannons. Tucker nearly cried and looked at Jack. The pirate shrugged and smirked. "I could have sworn I told you these were self-loading." Tucker groaned and limped off to find water. Jack led Danny and Valerie to a door at the end of the deck.

"What are we doing?" Valerie looked around. "If our parents are on that boat, we can't fire cannons at it."

"Of course we can. It is no doubt that the parents are being held either in the hold or the brig. Both of which tend to be in the lower part of the ship. These cannons will only be fired at the upper part with their cannons."

"What if they are on the same deck as the cannons?"

Jack produced a key from his belt. "Hope they can duck." He fitted the key into the lock and opened the door. A large assortment of pirate era swords and guns were neatly arrayed before them. "After our first volley, we will board their ship. I'll handle the captain while you two find the adults and get them back over to the Pearl." He grabbed the handle of a cutlass that shimmered with unnatural light. "These blades have been magically treated to sever a ghost's tie to this realm. One good slash should banish them back to The Ghost Zone."

Valerie scratched her head. "Why are we using swords?" She drew a small silver blaster from her hip holster. "Wouldn't these be better?"

"Yes, but that isn't very pirate like is it?" He started to hand Danny the cutlass, but stopped. "Wait one moment! These are very dangerous weapons and your both underage. I better give you a few quick safety tips." He pointed to the hilt of the sword. "You hold it by this end." He pointed to the tip. "This is very sharp and should be pointed towards your enemy. Understand all that." Both teens slowly nodded. "Good." He handed each of them a cutlass. "Now if you hurt yourselves, it won't be my fault. Now up on the main deck."

Aboard Youngblood's ship, The Ghost Piper stepped into the captain's cabin to check on the prisoner. The ghost girl had put up quite a fight and thus had to be tied to one of the cabin's support posts. Moving past the toys and other playthings that captain owned, the piper lifted her face gently to make sure she was still out from his sleep song. Satisfied he turned to leave when a shout came from outside.

"A ship coming directly up on our stern, all hands on deck!" The voice was that of the captain.

The piper chuckled to himself as he prepared his flute. "More weak minded fools that will fall for my melodies."

"Hey!" The piper turned and received a boot to his face. He fell back, tripped over one of the captain's toy trucks, and slammed his head against a dresser. Ember snapped the ropes that held her apart with the loose nail she had been rubbing on since she was tied up. "Did you think really think that pathetic excuse of a tune knocked me out? All I had to do was keep a heavy metal rift going through my mind."

The Ghost Piper groaned as he stood up. "Then why did you pretend that it worked?"

Ember smiled. "Your ability to control people through music interests me. I saw you earlier looking over some old sheets of paper and figured it wasn't you or your flute."

"You have guessed much young one. But it is more than knowing the notes; you must possess a certain skill with music."

Ember's eyes flashed blue. "I'm pretty sure I can manage that. Now hand the music over!"

Jack Sparrow watched, through his spyglass, Youngblood's ship begin to turn. "So he wishes to engage us, makes thing simpler."

"How so?" Danny took the spyglass and took a look for himself.

"It is always easier when your enemy comes to you." Jack turned to Sam. "You may stop Ms. Manson."

Sam dropped the fan and rubbed her sore arms. "Finally, I thought my arms were going to fall off."

Jack walked over to another metal funnel that connected to the lower deck. "Prepare for a broadside Mr. Tucker." Accepting the acknowledgement, Jack returned to the wheel. "Now the fun starts."

Youngblood's ship floated up so that its port side was facing the Black Pearl's starboard side. Several green cannons appeared out of little hatches along its side. "Now captain?" Tucker's voice issued from the funnel.

"Hold!"

The green cannons fired and several cannon balls impacted against the side of the ship. The Black Pearl rocked under the impact, but instead of wood splintering, all that could be heard was things falling into the water. Danny looked over the side and saw that the enemy cannons had just dented The Pearl in several places. He turned to Jack with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Got the ship an ironwood treatment from alchemist in the thirteenth century, all the benefits of iron, without all the rust." He grabbed the metal funnel. "You may return fire."

Tucker lit a fuse and ran down the gun deck, lighting cannons as he went. The cannons were aimed slightly upward and sent their payload through the upper portions of Youngblood's gun deck. The cannonballs ripped through the wood and sent debris crashing on top of the ghosts manning the guns. Tucker ran up the wooden stairs and joined the others. Jack turned the wheel and the bow of The Pearl crashed into the bow of Youngblood's ship. He grabbed a pair of swords and handed them to Tucker and Sam.

"I'll handle the pint sized captain. Danny! You and Ms. Gray will help keep it a one on one fight. Sam, take Tucker, find the parents, and get them aboard The Pearl. Everyone clear?" The teens around him nodded. "The lets take the ship." Jack, Danny, and Valerie ran and leapt onto the other ship. "Everyone scream and shout! Captain Jack Sparrow is here!" Jack spread out his arms and knocked Danny off the ship and into the water. Jack glanced over his shoulder. "Oops. I'm sure he will swim around to the ladder on the other side of my ship." Jack and the others charged the ghost pirates.

Danny popped to the surface. "Going Ghost!" Danny transformed and exploded out of the water. He clutched his sword and flew over the ship. A ghost pirate flew up to meet him and swung at him with a rusted old pirate sword. Danny ducked the attack and landed a clean swipe to the ghost's torso. The ghost cried out and faded away. The half ghost examined the sparkling sword Jack had given him. "So it does work." Satisfied, Danny shot towards the ship.

A minute earlier

Ember was blasted to the floor when a shockwave issued from The Ghost Piper's flute. The ghost laughed as the ghost girl struggled to pull herself up. "You have talent. I could take you under my wing and teach you all that I know."

"What do you want?"

"You will be my assistant for the rest of your life."

Ember seemed to gather strength from his words and stood up. "I will not play second chair for no one."

A cannon ball exploded through the wall and slammed right into The Ghost Piper. The force almost imbedded him in the wall across from the hole where the cannon ball came in. The ball dropped to the floor with a thud and the piper dropped with it. Ember shrugged at her good fortune and bent over the fallen ghost. She went through his robes and found a bamboo cylinder. A simple cork held it closed. She pulled it out and pulled out paper that was a soft as fabric. Each page held musical notes and arrangements for a verity of songs. She smiled as she thought of ways to adapt it to her guitar. She carefully rolled them up and put them back into the cylinder. As an afterthought, she also grabbed the flute and headed for the exit.

Three ghost pirates rose up to intercept Jack Sparrow's jump. With a single flourish of his sword, they vanished to The Ghost Zone and his boots landed on the deck of Youngblood's ship. The small captain floated up to meet him. "Avast! You must be the true Jack Sparrow."

"Aye, but there should be a captain somewhere in that name."

"So that bilge rat we have in the brig was just an actor. He looks so much like you."

Jack Sparrow gave Youngblood a hurt look. "You mistook that man for me. We look nothing alike. He is a little too short and has nowhere near my charm."

Youngblood's right hook hand turned into a glowing green sword. "Well now I can have that duel I've been dreaming about."

"Hope it doesn't turn into a nightmare, mate." The two captains locked swords.

Valerie held her sword loosely in her left hand and used her right to fire her blaster pistol. She fired almost constantly to hold back the wave of ghost pirates. Her aim was lacking and many of her shots missed. Sam and Tucker moved behind her to try and keep any of the ghosts from flanking her.

Sam blocked a sword swing. "We need to find the entrance to the lower decks." She parried and thrusted the sword into the chest of the ghost, it cried out as it vanished.

Valerie managed to hit a ghost in the head and sent it flying over board. "You two geeks go; I'm having too much fun."

"We can't leave you alone up here."

"I don't need your help." Valerie took off in a run with a pack of ghost pirates behind her.

Tucker looked to Sam and shrugged. Sam sighed. "You stay up here and try to help. I'll find our parents."

"Be careful!" Tucker raced after Valerie.

Sam spotted a trapdoor and pulled it open. A rank odor of wet hair and fish filled her nose. She was regretting not having Tucker look while she helped Valerie. Sam glanced skyward. "Hurry Danny!"

Danny's progress had been hampered by a few pirates, but he had managed to dispatch them relatively easily. As he reached the main mast of Youngblood's ship. The green parrot blocked his path. "Out of my way Polly!"

"You will not ruin plans that have been a hundred years in the making." The parrot's voice was clear and dark. The parrot form morphed into an adult sized man-bird. His wings had harden and glistened like metal. "I gave you a chance to escape with your life." His eyes burned with red light. "But now I will rip you to shreds."

"Any chance you just want a cracker?" Danny blocked a swipe of one of his wings. The force of the blow tore the sword from his grasp and he watched it fall to the deck bellow. "Time out?" The parrot squawked and charged at him. "Guess not!" Danny went into a dive to recover his sword.

Sam poked through the ruined gun deck and thankfully found no sign of ghost or the adults. She reached a door and reached to open it. The door suddenly opened and knocked her down. She had to blink several times before she recognized who had opened it. It was Amber in a purple robe. "Amber?"

"Sam?" She bent down and helped her to her feet. "What are you doing here?"

"Some pirate ghosts kidnapped out parents. I came to rescue them." Sam looked over Amber's strange attire. "What are you doing here?"

"This strange music lured Zack here. I snuck onboard to try and get him out of here."

Sam managed a smirk. "So you do like him?"

Amber sighed. "It is hard to find a decent bass player, plus he does own the house I currently use for practice."

"You know where the adults are being held?"

"The bellow us in the hold. I think they are still in whatever trance that piper put them under." She held up the flute she had taken from The Ghost Piper. "I think I can lead them off with this."

"How did you get that?"

Amber laughed. "A cannon ball hit him. I guess that was from whatever ship that brought you here."

"It is a weird story. I fill you in after we save our parents." Sam walked away and didn't catch Amber's eyes glow as she smiled.

Valerie quickly found herself overwhelmed by the shear amount of ghosts that were attacking her. She managed to knockout a few of them before the blaster was knocked out of her hand by a sword. She tried to defend herself, but was thrown to the deck. One of the ghosts pushed a small pile of debris from the deck on top of her. Pinning her, face down to the deck.

"Hang on!" Tucker charged into the group with the loudest battle yell he could muster. The ghosts moved aside, he tripped over Valerie's leg, and crashed into one of the masts. He slumped to the deck, out cold.

The pirates laughed and turned their attention to the pinned girl. Before they could attack, a loud growl turned their gaze from Valerie to where Tucker had crashed. The boy was gone and a large werewolf dressed in tattered clothes stood before them. The pirate ghosts gulped as a group and slowly backed away. With a might howl from the werewolf, the ghost scattered as he gave pursuit.

Unable to see anything, Valerie struggled to push herself up. "What is going on?"

Diving down at high speed, Danny managed to grab his sword as he phased through the deck. The parrot started to follow, but Danny had turned around and punched the creature right in-between the eyes. The parrot cried out and floated back as Danny shook his hand. "Your skull turn to metal along with your wings?"

The ghost flew at him and swung his metal wings at high speeds. More prepared, Danny managed to block each attack. He jumped back and fired a ghost beam with his free hand. The parrot caught the attack in the chest. It started to push him back, but the ghost clenched the deck with his talons and prevented his movement. The parrot's eyes glowed red and fired a pair of energy beams from them. Danny ducked as they shot over head. Before he could stand, the ghost ripped some wooden planks up with his talons and flung them at Danny. Danny managed to phase through the planks, but it left him vulnerable to be captured by the ghost's talons. The talons dug deep into his shoulders and he had to grit his teeth to keep from yelling out in pain.

"You are out of your league boy!" The parrot squawked and started to fly upward. Carrying Danny as he went. "I will slam you into the ship so hard, it will sink."

"Won't that upset your captain?"

The ghost laughed. "That boy is merely my puppet. The triangle ghost portal will indeed transform all the adults to ghost, but then I will absorb their life force and become even more powerful." The parrot squeezed harder, sending the sharp talons deeper into Danny's shoulders. "With that power, The Ghost Zone shall be mine."

As if completely unaware of what was happening around them, the two captains dueled from one end of the ship to the other. Whatever advantage Sparrow had in height or reach was negated by Youngblood's ability to float. The pint sized pirate captain was able to dodge all the attacks Sparrow managed to get through and attack at angles that a normal person couldn't. But the differences in skill were apparent due Jack's ability to counter even the oddest attack from Youngblood. The two reached the main deck and dueled around the ship's navigation wheel. Swords clashed as the two moved to keep the wheel in-between each other.

Youngblood giggled as he blocked a sword swipe. "This is everything that a pirate duel should be."

Jack took a deep breath and pushed a thrust away from his body with his sword. "Aye, but how about a little break. I could have rum and you could have diet rum."

"Not a chance." Youngblood flew over a sword attack. "I don't want this to ever end."

"Great." Jack sighed as the duel continued. Despite all his power and conditioning, he was still human and he would begin to tire before the ghost captain. Jack suddenly jumped back and pulled his single shot pistol.

"That's cheating!"

Jack grinned. "Pirate!" He fired the pistol and the shot flew over Youngblood's head.

"You missed."

Jack chuckled. "That's what you think."

The shot hit the giant ghost parrot dead on. It yelled as black energy erupted from the shot and began to draw him into it. He released his hold on Danny as he was absorbed into the little metal ball. Danny managed to release enough energy to make his fall end in a small thud. He transformed back into his human form.

Youngblood scratched his head as he looked at the fallen form of Danny. "So that is what you aiming at."

"Of course." Jack pulled out The Fenton Thermos he had borrowed. "I would never shoot a child." He activated and the thermos sucked Youngblood into it. "But I will put them into time out."

A strange medley filled the air as Amber stepped out of the trapdoor. She was playing the flute almost as perfectly as The Ghost Piper. The adults followed her single file as she led them over to The Pearl. Sam appeared and quickly ran over to Danny. The boy was bleeding slightly from where the talons had sunk in. He was lucky his ghost form had managed to keep them from going deeper.

"Can you hear me?"

Danny managed a small smile. "Did we win?"

"Yeah!" A small bundle of cloth landed next to her. She looked up to see Jack walking over. Quickly she picked it up and began to bandage Danny's shoulders.

Jack bent down and picked up the metal ball that contained the trapped parrot. "Nasty little birdie."

Danny managed to sit up. "What was that thing?"

Before Jack could answer, The Ghost Piper phased through the deck. "A Demon Ghost. A powerful ghost that grows stronger by absorbing the energies of both people and ghosts."

Jack nodded. "I guess it was this thing that corrupted you." The ghost piper nodded. Jack glanced at the two teens and saw the puzzled looks on their faces. "The Ghost Piper is actually a helpful spirit. He uses his music to guide the souls of lost children so they don't become ghosts like the ones you normally encounter."

"He managed to possess the child who you know as Youngblood almost a hundred years ago. When I came for him, the demon ghost attacked me." The piper sighed. "We were fortunate that the child had such a strong will. It forced the ghost to play along with the pirate act until he could convince him to move along with his master plan. The energy that he would have gotten with these adults would have made him almost unstoppable."

Sam helped Danny to his feet. "What now?"

"Luckily there were others to take my place. I don't remember much of when I was corrupted, but I am sorry for what I have done." He turned to Jack. "I will take charge of Youngblood until he is ready to move on. With your permission of course."

Jack glanced at Danny. "Your call."

"He didn't seem like such a bad kid." Danny looked over to the line of adults being led to The Pearl. "And I guess no real harm was done."

Jack smiled and handed the thermos to The Ghost Piper. "I'll find a nice safe place to keep the bird."

"Thank you." The piper watched Amber disappear bellow the main deck. "Please destroy my flute after you are done so that is cannot bring harm to any others. I will craft another." He bowed and vanished.

Jack clasped and rubbed his hands together. "Well that ended nicely." He tossed the metal ball overboard. "The sea should keep that thing contained." He started to walk towards The Pearl. He stopped and reached behind some crates. He pulled a groggy and half naked Tucker up to his feet. "Look alive young man. You did a good job."

"I did?"

"Of course." Jack patted him on the back and the teen fell down. "Sorry about that?"

He turned to walk and ran into himself. The two pirates looked each other over and began to mimic each other's movements. "You are the best looking stunt double I have ever seen." Johnny Depp looked over to The Pearl. "And when did we build a full sized replica?"

Jack pinched a nerve on the back of his neck and dropped to the deck, out cold. "I still don't see the resemblance."

After about an hour, The Black Pearl sailed away from what was left of Youngblood's ship. The ghost ship slowly began to sink into the sea. Jack gave it a quick salute with his hat. "Not as good as The Pearl, but a fine ship no the less." A few drops of sleeping potion made sure everyone except Danny and his two friends would be out for the trip home. A small combination of hypnoses and the sleep would keep the exact details of the encounter hidden and forgotten. Danny walked up next to him and Jack produced the fan. "Up to give us a quick push home."

Danny smiled. "No rush, Captain."

Jack grinned and changed their course slightly. "Good! I know this little island on the way home where the still know how to throw a welcome party."

Danny laughed. "Drink up me hearties."

"Yo ho!"

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait. Finals week was tough.