Jack quickly produced his own silver friend, one William had molded himself years before, preparing for a difficult fight. Barabas smiled slightly and shook his head. "No sir, Jack Sparrow, this one's between Turner and me."
"And miss out on all this fun?" Will scowled, stepping forward.
"It's all right, Captain, I've got it."
"This isn't exactly an easy challenger, Turner," Jack muttered, eyes still on the enemy. "You must have gotten a little rusty over the years…"
"Four hours a day, Captain," he proudly corrected. Jack shrugged in brief surprise.
"I was almost sure gettin' a girl would solve that problem."
"Let the boy fight!" Barabas whined.
"Will," Elizabeth hissed, "Do not get yourself killed and leave me with this horrible man!"
"Thank you very much for your support, Darling," he replied through clenched teeth.
"Let's go!" Barabas rushed forward with a mighty swing, uneasily blocked by Will's quick footwork. Jack grabbed Elizabeth's arm and pulled her back beneath the rigging as the fight immediately escalated to a very good show. With every dramatic lunge and thrust, Elizabeth shrieked and covered her eyes before peeking through to see if Will was still winning. Barabas was no second-rate swordsman; Jack was right to worry.
"Why don't you just go and take him from behind?" she cried, scrambling behind one of the grand masts as the pair shifted about the deck.
"Because," Jack grunted while continuing to protect her from various swipes, "it is decisions like that which separate pirates like me and pirates like…ho!" The black sword sliced over her head. She caught her breath and crawled out of the way. Jack hopped to his feet and pulled her up the broken steps to the helm. "You weren't supposed to leave the cabin, Miss Turner," Jack scolded with a nervous smile.
"I can't believe you locked me in there with that boy!" Jack sighed, motioning comically to the fight continuing below them. Elizabeth frowned. "That would have happened anyway!"
"You always seem to find a way into these messes when really, you're a rather large pain," Jack grumbled while watching Will corner Barabas in a smooth sweep. Her fists clenched as her eyes narrowed in pure fury.
"I beg your pardon!" His attention was quite occupied as the dreadful sliding of Will's sword across the old planks widened his coal-lined eyes. Jack lept from the raised level and rushed to his rescue. Elizabeth gasped, struggling to follow. Meanwhile, the young Master Turner lay on his back, eyes trembling over the edge of the onyx sword as he scuttled backwards under Barabas's dark, menacing cackle. Will couldn't find anything to use against him with his beloved sword miles away. Jack tripped to a stop; could he take Barabas from behind, or let Will try and save his own skin? At his worn boots, he found the answer.
"Will!" He looked to see his sword sliding back to his reach. Before Barabas could make the final strike, he was reeling back with another attack. "Certainly quick on his feet," Jack uttered under his breath. He heard another yelp behind him and found the lovely bride still steaming about his previous comment.
"I was speaking to you, Captain Sparrow!"
"Oh, God, why…"
"What makes you think you can speak to me like that! After all I've done for you and your bloody ship!" Barabas threw a punch, a most dirty and disrespectful deed, and Will was taken back by blurred vision. Jack rushed forward to return a heavy blow while the blacksmith regained his bearings. Will frowned and rushed forward with a mighty swing, Jack ducking out just in time for the black blade to be knocked out of grasp.
"Cheated!" Barabas sniffled as he was frozen from diving for his weapon.
"He's a pirate," Will quoted, catching his breath. Jack grinned as he shook the sting from his knuckles a few feet away.
"Not the only one," Barabas growled, pulling from his boot a second conceled pistol. True fear filled Will's soft eyes as he found himself staring at the small but powerfully deadly barrel of a cocked gun. "Tell your captain to return to his ship before he loses it again." Jack gulped, paralyzed.
"Don't shoot him, Barabas," the captain warned, fingers dancing close to his side.
"I can see where you're going, Sparrow, and I can pull a trigger faster than you can set yours." Elizabeth watched in silent terror from behind a crate as her husband nervously gulped, completely conquered. There was no way she could let him remain so vulnerable, but the deep pain that had settled in that fateful night her little Jack has disappeared was throbbing so strongly, she knew he must be close. Making one of the most painful decisions of her life, she trusted what Will would have said and slowly sneaked to the open loading door to the storage of the ship.
"Go on, Jack. Your ship awaits." Jack's mind was stopped, and he could see Will was running short of ideas as well. "Get off!" The captain startled a bit, making sweeping strides to the place where his beloved Pearl waited with a shocked and stupefied crew. Suddenly, he stopped, fingers folding over his lips in thought. Barabas sighed painfully, tipping the gun ever so slightly. "What is it?"
"A trade." Will turned to face him, not quite catching the plan.
"I'm in the middle of a transaction here, mate," the dog captain snarled. "Young William Turner is just about to surrender his beautiful wife along with himself to…myself."
"Well, I've got a better deal," Jack smirked. "Give me the entire Turner family and something to float on, and I'll give you the little…something…I…float on." He gestured to the elegant Black Pearl behind him. Will's shoulders fell with a heavy wince. It appealed to Barabas immediately.