Pirates of the Caribbean: The Robin's Flight (chapter 24) Protecting What Is Mine

Anger began to boil inside of Robin. It was he who had worked hard to attain the Mermaid's Tear! He, not Adder, had braved through storms, voodoo natives, and the drama that came from finally finding his father. He rightfully deserved the Mermaid's Tear! Robin scrambled on top of the railing and gripped the rope tight in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to plunge into enemy territory. However, before he could get his feet off the railing, a strong arm from behind wrapped tightly around his torso and brought him slamming backwards onto the Pearl's deck.
"What the bloody hell were you thinkin', boy?" shouted Jack from somewhere up above. Robin opened his eyes and saw his father's angry glare floating above his head. He didn't think he'd ever seen this usually calm and collected man lose control through anger like this before. "You were about to run headlong towards certain death without no consequence of wha' coulda happen to yer smarmy arse before tha'!"
The initial anger Robin had felt before returned now in full force. Robin scrambled onto his feet. "Adder's taken Isabella and the Mermaid's Tear!" he roared to break to sound barrier of Jack's rant.
Jack immediately fell silent as the men who had been crowding around them gasped.
"The Mermaid's Tear?"
"We've had it on our ship?"
"Why didn't no one tell me?"
"Nor me."
"Nor me."
Jack chose to carefully ignore the mutterings, which were slowly becoming resentful and angry. He leaned his head closer to Robin. "What are ye talkin' about, son?" he demanded.
"That bloody, two-faced shark has taken Isabella and the bloody mermaid that took the Mermaid's Tear," Robin whispered fiercely. "We have to get her back!" It was very clear to whom he was referring to. However, to Robin's rising anger, Jack shook his head in disagreement.
The captain stood up straight. In a gesture, he swept his hand around to indicate the battle-torn state of the ship and her crewmen, many of whom had sustained injuries during the surprise attack. "Look around you, lad," Jack told Robin. "Do ye honestly think I could send the Pearl into battle so soon? Live today, fight another," Jack wisely advised.
However, Robin would have none of that. He shouted in Jack's face, "Well, that's all good and dandy, but Isabella won't have another day to live as Adder's captive!"
"Captain." Gibbs suddenly appeared between the arguing pair. He had a cut above his left eye, but other than that, he had not sustained any lasting damage on his person. "The Pearl's still in top shape with only slight water damage in the crew's quarters from some stray cannon fire, and" -Gibbs lowered his voice dramatically- "I don't know if you've noticed, Jack, but the men have somehow found out about the Mermaid's Tear! There's a murmur of mutiny going on right this instant!"
Jack stiffened, and a sense of apprehension and rage filled him, as the feelings always happened whenever he heard talk of a mutiny on his ship. Especially when that mutiny was directed at him.
Robin saw Jack's hand move towards the pistol at his wide leather belt and grabbed Jack's wrist to stop him. "Father, listen to me," Robin hissed urgently.
Jack tried to shake out of Robin's grip, but the hand around his wrist held on tight like a pincer. Annoyance mounting, Jack grudgingly turned his attention to his illegitimate son. "What?" he snapped.
Robin let go of Jack's wrist and took a deep breath. "You once told me that my mother taught you to protect what's yours," he began slowly. He looked up at his father and saw that the mesmerizing eyes his mother missed so much had softened at the mention of her. Encouraged, Robin continued. "Well, this is what I'm doing. Protecting what is mine." In a softer, pleading tone, he whispered, "And Isabella is mine."
A small grin couldn't help itself from forming on Jack's lips. Then, to Robin and Gibbs' surprise, Jack threw his head back and laughed. He proceeded to unhook his pistol from its holster before affectionately ruffling Robin's unruly hair. "This is where I see your mother in you," Jack remarked, with a hint of a wry undertone.
The loud gunshot rang through the air and effectively silenced the otherwise previously angry and raucous crewmen.
Jack lowered his smoking pistol and glared all around on the deck. "Alright, ye despicable, slimy seadogs," he barked. "I hear tell tha' ye all think ye can just up and mutiny on ol' Captain Jack Sparrow. Is that how yer all feelin', eh? Think I cheated ye out of a booty o' a lifetime, huh?" He waved his pistol around threateningly, although everyone knew well that he only had one shot in the barrel, which he had just taken. "Well, let me tell ye scabies this: It's not over yet!" he roared loud enough to make those nearest him jump. "That bloody, forked-tongue snake named Adder hasn't gotten away yet! And if ye all don't start moving yer arses and pull yer weight this instant, I can assure you that he will!"
It took only a second for the men to ingest Jack's speech into their minds, but the rousing feelings had hit them directly in the gut. The men roared with assent, their initial feelings for a mutiny now completely gone. Gibbs began directing them to their tasks of repairing what they could of the Pearl and raising the anchor with all haste in mind.
The brig wasn't as bad as she had initially thought it would be. Sure, she had to share it with a very irate mermaid, who was tied up in a large fishing net, and every place she explored in the small cage they had put in was wet to some degree, but other than that, Isabella was confident that Robin and his infamous father would come and rescue her any moment now.
"Pssst!"
Isabella ignored her once more, as she had been soundlessly doing since they were forced down below after being captured.
"Psst! Hey! Get me out of this net!"
Isabella stood in front of the metal bars and grabbed the metal black bars, wondering what Adder intended to do with the two of them. He seemed smug enough back on the main deck to just have her away from the Black Pearl and in his clutches. At the thought of the Pearl, and inadvertently Robin, Isabella prayed that she would be quickly rescued. She didn't think she'd last any longer with this annoying fish behind her.
"Hey, little girl!"
"I am NOT a little girl!" Isabella spun around and snapped. However, seeing the smug expression on the mermaid's beautiful face through the coarse netting, Isabella instantly regretted having lost her temper since that was what the mermaid had half-intended the whole time. She scowled. "You're despicable! If it weren't for you, neither I or Robin or the Pearl would be in this situation. And get your own self out of that net! You're a mermaid!"
The mermaid laughed and smiled dryly. "Yes, I am a mermaid, but that doesn't make us all that magical," she retaliated. Then, her smile turned into a grin. "So, that boy's name is Robin, hm?" She giggled. "I thought him cuter when he was floating amongst the waves the first time we met." The mermaid had again gotten the reaction she had been fishing for in the human girl.
Isabella's blue eyes widened and she immediately dropped to her knees in front of her. "You've met him before?" she asked curiously. "How?" she demanded.
Again, a giggle that strongly reminded Isabella of seashells gently hitting against one another. The mermaid shook her head teasingly and pressed the palms of her hands against the fishing net tying her down. "Not until you take off this bloody trap," she sang, quite well, in fact.
With a sigh, since she had nothing else to do until the Pearl caught up with Adder's ship, Isabella stood up and searched all over their small prison cell. In a far corner, she found a piece of a broken glass bottle. Taking it back to the mermaid, she began to cut her loose.
"My name's Sirena," said the mermaid when her bonds had been cut off.
"Isabella." She threw the broken bottle away and sat back down on the floor in front of Sirena. Isabella couldn't help but stare as the latter flapped her blue fish tail.
Sirena saw her staring and playfully flicked her tail at her. "Fascinating, isn't it?" she said proudly. "Aren't you afraid of what they'll do to you?" asked Isabella, with a hint of worry.
The mermaid smiled cheekily at her, showing a brilliant set of pearl white teeth. She reached forward and began to play with Isabella's long, dark blond hair. "Well, that's why I have you and your dashing human boy," she explained.
Isabella jerked her head away. "What do you mean?" she demanded. "I don't think you'd be safe even with Captain Sparrow's own crew."
Sirena giggled when Jack Sparrow's name was mentioned. "Ooh, Captain Sparrow, you say? Now, he's quite a handsome man! My mother could have gotten away with him, too, if only he was not immune to our singing and he had not won against our beast."
Isabella's eyebrows rose. "So that story really is true? That he once escaped from accidentally selling his freedom to the mermaids in a deal for them to stop enchanting his crew?" she recounted eagerly.
A nod. "And one of those happened to be my mother." Although she said this proudly, Isabella saw Sirena's brow's wrinkle a bit at the mention of her mother.
"You don't see eye to eye with your mother." It was a statement.
Sirena tossed her head angrily. "She is domineering, a right pain, and thinks she knows everything there is about your human world," she complained. Her story poured out like a waterfall. "I swam away from home. I wanted to show that old sea cow that I could make it on my own. And then, when I overheard a few sailors talk about a map and the Mermaid's Tear, I knew that by getting the orb and showing it to my mother would prove that I was ready to be my own mermaid!" Her anger had left its mark. Her pale skin was now a blotchy red, her soaking blond hair was plastered all over her body, and her beautiful face was pulled into a scary-looking scowl. Is this what countless sailors had seen of vengeful sirens and mermaids before they went down to their water graves?
"You sound just like him," Isabella remarked softly.
"Who?" Sirena huffed.
"Robin. He, too, ran away from home doing the exact same thing you are doing now," Isabella explained. "He also ran away to find his father."
Sirena tilted her head slightly to the side, her curiosity piqued. "And did Robin find his father?" she asked.
Isabella smiled widely and nodded vigorously. "Yes, he did." She leaned closer. "It's Jack Sparrow!" she whispered.
A hand flew to Sirena's gaping mouth. "No!" she gasped excitedly. "Oh, I knew that boy looked vaguely familiar to Jack Sparrow!" Sirena took Isabella's warm hands in her cold ones. "Listen," she said urgently, for she had heard the door of the brig swing open in the distance. "If you save me, I can guarantee you a wish, any kind of wish."
"Is this true? You're not lying?" Isabella whispered rapidly. She had also heard the approaching company.
Sirena nodded. "Anyone who saves a mermaid gets a wish." She immediately let go of Isabella's hands. Suddenly, her entire demeanor turned haughty and she placed her hands on her hips just above where her tail began. She looked over Isabella's head at the pirate who had stopped in front of their cell. "Hello, git-face."
GO TO THE RESULTS!!!

Isabella stood up and turned around only to face the stubby pirate named Ceppo angrily baring his crooked yellow teeth at Sirena. His twitch was now worse with his rage. Isabella moved into his line of vision. "What do you want, git-face?" she demanded.
Ceppo directed his ugly glare to her. He stopped twitching for a moment and grinned horribly at her. "The cap'n's in urgent need o' ye, lassie." He took a ring of iron keys from his trouser pocket, unlocked the cell door, and then grabbed Isabella by her upper arm and yanked her out of the cell, despite Sirena's protests.
"Let go of her, you slimy barnacle head!" Sirena screamed as the cell door clanged shut.
"Shuddup, ye bloody fish!" Ceppo hollered over his shoulder as he proceeded to drag Isabella out of the brig and up to the main deck. When they surfaced from the hatch, the first thing Isabella saw was the ragtag men Adder had assembled as his crew running amok, faces either in concentration or fear as they were directed from Adder's first mate, Manchot, at the helm. As Ceppo forced Isabella to walk towards the same area, she caught some of the mutterings of the men.
"The Pearl's comin' upon us-"
"-how're wi gonna get ourselves outta-"
"Sparrow's gonna want revenge-"
Isabella's heart lightened. Robin was coming for her! She found it hard not to smirk as she was presented in front of Adder, who looked as much a captain of a ship as a regular dirty deck swabber would. "He's coming," she declared. "He's coming to get me back and to make sure you get what you deserve."
Adder slapped her across the face. "Impudent bitch," he hissed. "It's almost a wonder why Sparrow has his sights set on you."
Ignoring the stinging sensation on her cheek, Isabella's eyes widened in shock. He thought she was Jack Sparrow's woman! Isabella went pale at the sickening thought. However, Adder interpreted her loss of color as her unspoken confession of what he assumed was the truth. It was his turn to smirk. He roughly cupped her chin. His foul breath made her recoil, yet he held onto her face tight. "Too bad I'll hafta kill ye after I'm done wit Sparrow and his annoying little cabin boy," he purred. He looked as if to plant a kiss on her lips, but a sudden boom resonated from the distance behind the ship. At the next moment, Adder's vessel rocked violently and sent many of his men onto their backsides.
"Sparrow's caught up to us!" Manchot shouted. "'E's already started fire!"
The three others on the helm - Adder, Isabella, and Ceppo - turned their heads to the starboard side and saw the Black Pearl was now sailing next to the ship. Adder let go of Isabella's face and hollered, "All men on deck! Prepare for battle!" A roar met his words.
Another thunderous roar challenged theirs. At least half of the men of the Pearl had thrown grappling hooks onto Adder's ship and were swinging aboard as Adder's men had first done in the beginning. The second round of fighting began.
With assurances to Jack that he wouldn't do anything completely stupid, Robin, with Zanka accompanying him with a club in hand, swung over onto the enemy ship. With Robin's cutlass and Zanka's club, both boys jumped into the fray.
"Yipee!" Zanka could be heard shouting as he and Marty quickly formed their own little fighting group against Adder's crewmen.
Robin instantly lost them in the melee as he charged towards the helm, where he had just spotted Adder standing apart from the fight. The pirate was merely observing his men being all but slaughtered by Jack Sparrow's men. As Robin reached the stairs leading up to the helm, Adder's voice boomed across the deck and scattered towards the Black Pearl.
"Sparrow!" Many heads turned. Held tightly in his arms with a blade to the neck was Isabella, who was trying her best not to move for fear of the jagged blade. Adder's yellow eyes were fixed hungrily on Jack Sparrow. "Call yer men back to yer ship, and I won't kill yer girl!" he bellowed.
Jack's eyebrows rose skeptically at both the threat and what it implied. He leaned over to Joshamee Gibbs for a moment. "Did the bloke just say my girl?"
Gibbs nodded confusedly.
"Right." Jack addressed his former crewman. "Sorry, but I've no idea what yer talkin' 'bout, mate," he lightly called back.
Adder's eyes seemed to bulge out of their sockets. "Wot the bloody hell do ye mean ye don't know wot I'm talkin' 'bout?!"
Jack nodded towards Isabella. "As much as no one could doubt how lovely this damsel in obvious distress is, she is not my girl."
Adder's face turned a brutal purple. "Not yer girl?" he shouted, spittle flying.
"No." Adder turned around to see Robin with the end of a cutlass pointed at his head. "She's mine!"
With Adder's attention momentarily distracted, Jack took his reloaded pistol. He cocked it, aimed at the shoulder of Adder's sword arm, and fired.
Adder cried out in pain, and his grip on his cutlass slackened. Taking the opportunity, Robin sprang forward and snatched Isabella away. He gave her his cutlass, which was really hers, before drawing out his own weapon and pointing it at Adder. When the pirate had recovered enough to ignore the agonizing pains in his arm and aim his energized rage at the young boy standing in front of him, they began to cross swords.
Behind Robin, Isabella was immediately attacked by Manchot, who managed to extract himself from the main deck.
From the Black Pearl's helm, Jack's eyes widened with apprehension as he watched his son duck down low to avoid Adder's swinging blade. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked towards Gibbs, who looked at him pointedly without a word. Nodding silently, Jack scrambled to the main deck. He took an abandoned grappling hook and made his way back towards the helm. Throwing the hook to Adder's ship, he then swung over. When he landed on the helm, he drew his cutlass and jumped in between Robin and Adder, crossing blades with the latter.
"Go take care of Izzy, son," Jack ordered Robin as he and Adder began to face off.
Without a sound of protest, Robin ran off to help Isabella with Manchot. Together, they managed to cut him down quickly. Before Robin would let the unease of a death caused by his own hands make him sick again, Robin grabbed Isabella by her waist and pulled her into his body. She instinctively placed her free arm around his neck. "I knew you'd come quickly," she said breathlessly. Saying nothing, Robin merely bent down and gave her a deep kiss, letting her feel all his wild emotions in this one act.
"As touching as this moment really is fer you, Robin," Jack interrupted as he jumped back from Adder's swinging blade. "But now's not the time to woo the woman!"
And it seemed then that the pair suddenly heard the unmistakable sounds of the battle between the two pirate crews recommencing all around them. Isabella pushed away from Robin. "He's right!" she shouted above the din. She took his free hand and began to pull him towards the stairs. "We have to save Sirena!"
"Who?" Robin shouted. However, he let Isabella guide him towards the hatch and down towards the brig. In a lonely cell was the mermaid that had taken the Mermaid's Tear. She waved her tail at them, but the grumpy expression on her otherwise beautiful face told them of her displeasure. "Well, you took your time!" she huffed.
The ship suddenly shook again and nearly sent Robin and Isabella off their feet. A loud crescendo of many voices resembling a collective roar from above their heads came shortly afterwards. The battle cry echoed throughout the brig. Robin looked up at the ceiling in confusion. "What the bloody hell was that?"