The Blue Parrot Pirates were already moving.
Jack saw it from the corner of his eye as he stood at the helm of the Black Pearl, lungs still burning from the recoil of the cannon and the realization that he had just declared war on a fully armed pirate crew with exactly one person on his side—himself. The docks behind him erupted into noise, boots pounding, voices shouting orders, rigging snapping taut as the Blue Parrots ship began to pull away from the pier despite the damage to its mast.
They were coming.
Jack did not wait to see how close they would get.
He kicked the anchor release.
The iron screamed as it tore free of the seabed, chains rattling, and the Black Pearl lurched forward. Jack sprinted across the deck, yanking at lines with hands that knew ropes better than swords, unfurling the sails with frantic efficiency. The black canvas caught the wind instantly, speeding almost unnaturally.
The Pearl surged.
The docks blurred past as the ship shot forward, cutting through the water with unnatural ease. Jack nearly lost his footing, grabbing the railing and laughing breathlessly despite the fear crawling up his spine. He had sailed fast ships before. He had never sailed anything like this.
Behind him, the Blue Parrot Pirates reacted with furious disbelief.
"After him!" Armando Salazar roared, his voice carrying across the water. "Fire if you have to!"
"Captain! The explosions threw most of our canons overboard!"
"Then use what's left!"
Their cannons answered first.
The boom echoed across Jaya's harbor as iron screamed through the air. One shot skipped across the water, another shattered uselessly against the Pearl's wake. The Black Pearl weaved slightly, not enough to look deliberate, but just enough that every cannonball missed by a margin that felt insulting.
Jack did not notice.
He was too busy realizing that someone else was on his ship.
A boot scraped behind him.
Jack yelped, spinning just as a hand reached for his collar. He twisted away on pure instinct, stumbling over a coil of rope and barely keeping his balance. The man who lunged at him straightened, tall and broad-shouldered, a grin already tugging at his weathered face.
"Easy there, lad," the pirate said, raising his flintlock casually. "You run like a deck rat with its tail on fire."
Jack froze.
Up close, the man was older, beard streaked with gray, eyes sharp and amused rather than murderous. He wore the Blue Parrot colors, though his coat was unbuttoned and his posture far too relaxed for someone boarding an enemy ship in the middle of a chase.
"You— you're not supposed to be here," Jack managed.
"Aye," the pirate agreed cheerfully. "That's usually how boarding works."
The flintlock fired.
Jack squeaked and ducked as the shot blasted through the air where his head had been a moment earlier, splintering the railing behind him. He scrambled away, heart pounding, boots slipping on the deck as he bolted toward the forecastle.
Behind him, the pirate laughed.
"Oh, this is good," the man said, reloading with practiced ease. "Captain Salazar didn't say the ship was crewed by children."
"I'm not a child!" Jack shouted back, vaulting over a crate and skidding around a mast.
"You're running, so you are. Also you look like one." the pirate replied pleasantly.
Jack darted around the ship in a blind panic, weaving between ropes, ducking under booms, knocking over anything not nailed down. He had no weapon, no plan, and no idea how to fight. Every time he thought he'd gained distance, the pirate appeared again, unhurried, forcing Jack to change direction with another gunshot or lazy swing of a cutlass that always came just close enough to remind him how fragile he was.
All the while, the Black Pearl continued to flee.
On the pursuing ship, Salazar slammed his fist into the railing.
"That damn ship!" he snarled. "It moves like it's alive!"
The Blue Parrot Pirates pushed their damaged vessel as hard as they could. Sailors strained at the lines, ignoring the groaning mast and the cracks spreading along the hull. Cannon smoke clung to the air as they fired again and again, but the distance only grew.
"Captain," one of the crew shouted, fear creeping into his voice. "We're heading toward Devil's Cove!"
Salazar's eyes flicked forward.
The sea ahead darkened, the water churning unnaturally as jagged rocks began to emerge like the teeth of some colossal beast. The wind shifted, howling as it funneled toward the narrow passage ahead. Devil's Cove. A place sailors whispered about when drunk and avoided when sober.
"Turn back," the pirate urged. "No ship survives that place whole!"
Salazar looked again at the Black Pearl.
The black ship did not slow.
It sailed straight toward the cove as if daring the sea itself to try.
"After them," Salazar said coldly. "If they die, they die. We are the Blue Parrot Pirates!" He bared his teeth. "We will show everyone that they can mess with us and run away easily."
On the Black Pearl, Jack skidded to a stop near the helm, chest heaving. The pirate—still laughing—finally caught him by the collar, hauling him upright with surprising gentleness.
"Got you," the man said. "Before I kill you, name's—"
He stopped.
His eyes shifted past Jack, toward the looming rocks ahead.
"Oh no," the pirate breathed.
Jack followed his gaze.
The color drained from his face.
"Devil's Cove," Jack whispered.
The pirate dropped him instantly, gripping the railing as the wind screamed louder. "Why in the four seas are we heading there?!"
Jack stared, panic colliding with confusion. "What? It's just a cove. It can't be that cove, right?"
"Just a—" The pirate turned to him, eyes wide. "Boy, that's where ships go to become legends and wreckage! That's the Devil's Cove."
Jack swallowed hard.
They both panicked at the same time.
"No no no no—" Jack muttered, running for the wheel.
"We have to turn back!" the pirate shouted. "Now!"
Jack grabbed the helm, knuckles white. His mind raced, old merchant charts and half-forgotten stories slamming together. The wind. The current. The rocks. His father's voice explaining dangerous passages late at night.
"There's a way," Jack said suddenly.
The pirate blinked. "There's a what?"
"The Devil's Turn," Jack said, voice shaking but eyes focused. "If we angle just right, ride the current, let the wind—"
"That's madness!"
Jack spun to face him, fear giving way to something harder. "It's that or we die anyway."
The pirate stared at him.
Then, slowly, he nodded. "Right. Surviving it is, then."
They moved together in frantic synchronization. Jack barked orders he barely understood, and the pirate—Gibbs, though Jack did not yet know the name—followed them with startling trust. Sails were adjusted, lines cut loose, weight shifted.
Behind them, Salazar watched in disbelief.
"They're turning," he said, "The Devil's Turn!"
Jim the parrot shrieked from his shoulder. "Death! Death!"
Salazar snarled. "Traitor!" he roared, convinced the pirate aboard the Pearl had turned on him. "Follow them! Do the same!"
The Black Pearl hit the edge of Devil's Cove and vanished into the chaos.
The sea rose violently, waves smashing against the hull as the ship tilted at an impossible angle. Wind howled through the rigging, sails snapping as Jack fought the wheel with everything he had. The Pearl slid sideways, skimming past rocks so close Jack could see barnacles clinging to their edges.
Then the current caught them.
The ship spun.
For a heart-stopping moment, Jack thought they were done for. Then the Pearl straightened, cutting through the passage in a perfect arc, emerging on the other side with sails intact and hull unbroken.
Jack laughed hysterically.
Behind them, the Blue Parrot ship tried to follow.
It failed.
The damaged mast snapped. The hull struck rock. Fire bloomed as powder ignited, explosions ripping through the ship as it was dragged screaming into the cove. Salazar was thrown from the deck, cursing the unseen boy as flames consumed his pride.
Jim the parrot screeched once—and flew free.
Jack watched from the Pearl's deck, grin spreading slowly across his face.