Chapter 23

Madness could be the only word used to describe what was currently transpiring onboard the Black Pearl. It was an epic battle; and yet, it was able to occur on the confined space of a ship in the ocean. Pirates, good and bad, were struggling with one another, each trying to gain the upper hand in their duel.

Will was furiously working his blade by thrusting it in every direction he could; his opponent managed to block every single one of them. Will spun in a full circle, bringing his blade up to head level, and it clanged loudly with his adversary's, which was anticipating the blow. Thinking fast, Will lunged forward while tossing the blade into his other hand. The change had just the effect Will was hoping for, as the pirate desperately attempted to stab Will, but received a blade through his heart instead. Will removed his sword from the pirate's chest and continued on.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth was dueling a worthy opponent. Even though she employed every tactic that she had learned over the years during the dueling sessions with Will, her current enemy could not be fazed. Elizabeth finally made a quick decision and dived in between her opponent's legs, coming up behind him. As the pirate looked around the deck in confusion, Elizabeth plunged her sword deep into the brute's back until the tip was protruding from his chest. Satisfied, Elizabeth yanked the blade out, wiping the fresh, dripping blood from the metal. She looked down at the fresh corpse in disgust.

"Never disrespect a woman," she sneered.

She turned to see another monster racing towards her. She made to run in order to get better ground when her foot caught on something, causing her to fall to the deck. Elizabeth's sword skittered away out of her reach. She looked back to see what had caused her to trip, and saw a rifle laying across the wooden ground. Elizabeth attempted to grab it, but a meaty hand grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her to her feet. All too soon, a sharp blade was at her throat and a rough voice in her ear.

"I'm going to finish what my friends started," growled the scraggly voice.

As another hand slipped down the back of her pants and began to pinch and squeeze, Elizabeth slid her foot under the rifle. While she got a better vantage point, the pirate started to pull the fabric off of Elizabeth's hips. Right before her pants were pulled down, Elizabeth flipped the rifle up into the air and caught it. She then slammed the butt of it hard into the monster's groin before turning around and slamming it into his face. Elizabeth then stabbed the sick beast in the heart. Next, Elizabeth pulled her pants all the way up and scanned the area of the ship.

Elizabeth spied three of the creatures scaling the ropes of the rigging. Making sure that there was a shot already in the rifle, she cocked the hammer and fired. The first wraith fell to the deck, dead. Elizabeth reloaded and aimed at the second's arm and fired again. The bullet caused the monster to sway and swing. Elizabeth smirked as she whipped out her pistol and fired off yet another shot. This one landed in the center of the red ruby that was planted in the middle of the pirate's necklace. Red light enveloped the beast and ate away at what could be called his flesh until a skeleton remained and plummeted to the deck and shattered.

That caused a spark to go off inside Elizabeth's head, and she ran to find Will.

Jack and Blackbeard were weaving their way in and out of the other dueling pirates as they kept focus on their fight. Each blade was a blur as their arms flailed about. Blackbeard knocked Jack down hard to the deck and prepared to go in for the final kill. But Jack was on top of things, as usual, and he jammed his foot into Blackbeard's face. Blackbeard staggered back a few paces, allowing Jack to jump to his feet. He ran up the stairs to where the mast wheel was, Blackbeard hot on his heels. Jack thought fast and spun the wheel just as Blackbeard lunged for him; each handle caught Blackbeard's chin until he staggered back. Next, Jack re-engaged Blackbeard in battle.

As Elizabeth ran up to Will, she sliced his current opponent in the side and punched him in the face.

"Will!" she said. "I know how to permanently kill Blackbeard and his men!"

"How?" Will inquired curiously.

Elizabeth relayed what had just happened, and moments later, they were both back into the action with a brand-new strategy.

At that time, Jack leapt towards the rigging and grabbed it. He then turned around and continued his spar with Blackbeard. Jack kicked Blackbeard again and began to climb higher. Below him, Blackbeard shook his head and started to climb up after Jack.

A gunshot rang precariously close to Will and he spun on his heel to see one of Blackbeard's monsters holding a smoking pistol. Will ripped a hatchet from his belt and took careful aim before hurling it. The ax hit the pirate's medallion square in the center and the villain soon evaporated, bones being the only thing that was left behind. All of a sudden, another wraith hopped onto Will's back, slamming his disfigured fists into Will's shoulders and chest. Will struggled against the beast, walking backwards toward the ship's railing. Once there, Will threw the beast off his back and sent him tumbling down into the icy depths. Far from tired, Will joined Elizabeth in her battle against two more unmerciful demons.

Meanwhile, Jack and Blackbeard were exchanging sword blows in the rigging of the Black Pearl. Jack's latest swing managed to slice some rope that Blackbeard was holding on to, causing the massive captain to sag a bit in his current placement. Outraged, Blackbeard thrust his blade towards Jack's chest, but Jack caught it. The two adversaries began to struggle.

"I'm going to carve out your heart and feed it to the sharks," threatened Blackbeard.

"You'll try," Jack retorted snidely.

Down on the deck, Will and Elizabeth were finishing off what remained of Blackbeard's minions. Will was using his trusty sword, while Elizabeth was using an empty rifle as her weapon of choice. Elizabeth parried each sword blow that was directed at her with the sturdy gun using little effort. She swung the weapon under someone's feet, and then smashed their medallion an instant later. Elizabeth wheeled around to come face-to-face with a loaded pistol. Elizabeth couldn't help but freeze on he spot. The possessor of the gun smirked viciously as he prepared to fire.

But suddenly, the hilt of a sword came swinging down and impacted hard against the pirate's ugly head. Will stood over the unconscious marauder and smirked before rolling the body over with his foot, proceeding to smash the medallion with the heel of his boot.

Will and Elizabeth glanced around the deck; not one of Blackbeard's henchman had been left alive. They then looked up to see Jack struggling with Blackbeard as the heartless monster attempted to bring his blade down into Jack's chest.

"Jack!" Will called out.

Jack seemed to hear Will, as he slightly glanced down at him.

"Destroy his medallion!"

Jack looked at the medallion dangling from Blackbeard's neck and nodded. Jack summoned all the strength he could and finally was able to smash the hilt of Blackbeard's sword against his face. Jack took the opportunity and whipped out his pistol with his free hand while maintaining a firm grip on his sword with the other. With the sword, Jack cut away enough rigging so that Blackbeard was dangling above the deck by one foot. Blackbeard dropped his own sword and was now defenseless.

"And so it ends," grinned Jack.

Jack then shot Blackbeard's medallion right in the center, the force of impact causing Blackbeard to lose his grip on the rigging and go plummeting down to the deck as his discolored flesh was slowly eaten away graphically.

Elizabeth couldn't bare to watch this time and she buried her face against Will's shoulder as Blackbeard's bare skeleton shattered upon slamming into the wooden deck of the Black Pearl. Dead silence followed as Jack jumped down onto the deck.

'I'd say that was rather fun, wouldn't you?" Jack asked sarcastically.

"Shut it," said Elizabeth.

More silence ensued, which Will broke after a minute.

"Listen," he said, grabbing Elizabeth's hand, "Elizabeth and me are pretty worn out from all this. We're going down to our quarters to rest."

With that, the couple disappeared below deck, almost eagerly. Jack shook it off and went to find his father, who was currently nursing his wounded arm. Jack looked at it in surprise.

"When were you shot?"

"Yesterday. I'm fine. Listen, Jack, I'm getting pretty old and stuff like this only wears me out more these days. So, I've been doing some thinking, and I've come to the conclusion to retire from active plundering effective immediately."

Jack gazed at his father a few more moments before giving his answer. "Alright," he said. "If that's how you feel, then I won't stop you. Where can we drop you off?"

"Well, after we take Will and Elizabeth home, you can take me by the Pirates Council. Perhaps they can get me a permanent position there."

Jack nodded and began to tend to James' wound.