Inside a cell, Puss, Jack, and Will were staring at each other.
Will and Jack were completely disarmed and stripped of the heavier parts of their clothing, which had been confiscated.
As for Puss, he was calmly sitting on the floor, with his sword at his waist and all his equipment intact.
Will looked helplessly at him.
"You had to do that?" He asked, defeated.
The sequence of events leading up to that moment had gone more or less like this:
"… as for them, put them in the dungeon until this matter passes. We must be ready in case this is some elaborate trap." Governor Swann ordered, and guards rushed toward them.
Puss simply drew his sword, and the guards who came were quickly sent flying back.
"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to be arrested." Puss said, sheathing his sword under the terrified eyes of the governor and the guards.
"Wait!" Will shouted, drawing everyone's attention. "Please, sir, lower your weapon. If we want to earn their trust and prevent the people of Port Royal from dying under the pirates' cannons, we have to cooperate!" He said, looking at Puss, slightly pleading.
Puss furrowed his brow — it was a bit humiliating to be imprisoned, pero what Will said made sense.
Sighing, helpless, he nodded in reluctant agreement.
With that, not only Will, but the governor and guards themselves sighed in relief.
Then, escorted by the guards who struggled to stand up after being thrown to the ground, they were taken to the city prison.
Upon arrival, another unusual scene unfolded. After Jack and Will's main belongings were confiscated, when it came to Puss's turn, he simply refused to hand over anything.
"Cat, you have to turn over your gear!" The guard insisted, irritated.
This guard and a few others weren't among those who had seen Puss fight and were now looking at him with scorn, but some of the governor's guards were still present — and looked on in alarm at their colleagues.
"No, these items are too expensive and important for me to just leave lying around. You can accept that, or I'll just leave." Puss stated flatly.
He had no intention of risking losing his things once confiscated. And if someone took them while he was pretending to be a prisoner, where would he cry afterward?
Those were enchanted items and very expensive — especially the toad in his boot.
And he was sure that, at the very least, his gold coins would vanish if the guards saw them. No one resists such riches handed to them. So, he decided not to give anything up.
But the prison guards didn't seem ready to just follow his lead.
"Hehehe, little kitty, you think this is your litter box where you can do whatever you want? Let me show you who's in charge here!" The guard sneered, cracking his knuckles as his fellow guards grinned.
A few seconds later…
"Meeeow!!"
"AHHHH!!!"
"NO! STOP!"
"I SURRENDER!"
"MOMMYYY!!"
Screams, panic, and the sound of swords echoed through the prison, as guards were sent flying in every direction.
Until everything calmed down, leaving only an orange cat standing in the center, smiling, with knocked-out guards scattered all around.
Some guards, who hadn't participated, were still standing — but completely terrified.
"S-S-Sir, w-we understand, y-you can keep your things. It was never our intention to upset you." One of the guards who had been at the governor's mansion stammered, turning pale with fear as Puss looked in his direction.
Seeing them cower, Puss locked eyes with them a bit longer with his green gaze, then finally sheathed his sword.
"Bien." Puss nodded and headed into the cell, stepping inside calmly under the stunned stares of prisoners in the neighboring cell — and the terrified glances of the guards.
Sitting down against the wall, he rested one arm on his knee and calmly watched Will and Jack walk in, empty-handed after their belongings had been taken earlier, while one of the guards, trembling, approached and locked the cell.
Puss glanced at him with amusement, but when the guard met his eyes, his own widened in terror.
"AAAAHH!!" He let out a high-pitched scream — the kind you'd expect from a woman in distress — and ran off in terror.
Puss couldn't help but be greatly amused by the scene.
And that was how they ended up where the chapter began.
Will looked helplessly at him.
"You had to do that?" He asked, defeated.
"What? My gear isn't something you find just anywhere. It costs an arm and a leg." Puss said with a shrug.
Will glanced skeptically at Puss's equipment. It really did look like high quality, but not enough to warrant all that drama.
Seeing his disbelieving look, Puss grinned.
"Don't believe me? Watch this." He smiled, unsheathed his sword, and tossed it into the air.
The sword pierced the ceiling effortlessly and stuck there.
Will looked up with curiosity.
"It's definitely sharp." He admitted, watching the sword embedded in the ceiling, though he didn't seem too impressed.
"That's not all... look." Puss tapped the ground twice with his paw, and the sword trembled in the ceiling before dislodging, spinning in the air, and falling perfectly into his waiting hand, handle-first.
"Wow! How did you do that?!" Will's eyes widened in amazement.
"Heh, none of my gear is ordinary. Every piece is enchanted with magic." Puss said with a sly smile.
His sword couldn't do many tricks, but the enchantment made it stronger and sharper than normal, and gave it the ability to do a few things, like tremble or slightly shift its trajectory midair.
But it wasn't like Mjolnir, unfortunately. It couldn't follow its owner around — just change direction a little while falling, a few inches at most.
'I wonder how Puss got his sword in the original movie... It's not easy to enchant something, and definitely not cheap. Maybe it was a gift from the commander after he saved his mother? He could have used a favor with his cousin to get it. Or perhaps the original Puss just got it in some adventure.' Puss pondered internally for a moment.
"Magic? Magic actually exists?" Will asked, curious, his eyes lighting up.
But this time, it wasn't Puss who answered.
"Of course magic exists. Honestly, I wish there were less magic in this world. It always brings me some kind of trouble." Jack interrupted, sounding bored, wrinkling his nose as he lay down in the cell and crossed his legs. "Besides, a crew of immortal pirates is about to arrive — get ready for a nice punch in the gut of magic… or maybe a sword to the head." He added, folding his hands behind his head.
Will blinked and seemed thoughtful, preparing to say something, but when he looked, Jack had already closed his eyes.
Turning to Puss, he saw the cat leaning back against the wall with his hat covering his face.
Helpless, he could only find a spot and lie down too, trying to rest for whatever was to come.
And praying he hadn't made the wrong bet by recklessly trusting these two.
…
In the black waters, gliding silently through the sea, a massive ship as dark as coal, with sails as shadowy as the night, appeared in the waters near Port Royal.
The only visible thing in the darkness was a white skull flapping in the wind. A Jolly Roger.
It was the Black Pearl, carrying its crew of cursed sinners.
The ship's black color made it nearly impossible to detect on such a dark night. But just when the pirates thought it would be another easy ambush, a flash lit up the sky.
Boom!
Splash!
A cannonball flew close, missing but hitting the water beside the ship.
Instantly, bells began to ring throughout the city.
The pirates' eyes widened in alarm.
"WE'VE BEEN SPOTTED!!" Some shouted, breaking the silence on deck.
A few fools began to panic, running across the deck without knowing what to do, throwing the crew into disarray.
"YOU FILTHY, COWARDLY RATS!"
But a powerful voice silenced the crew.
At the helm stood Barbossa, his yellow eyes gleaming, his large black hat sitting proudly atop his head, and a confidence that seemed to say no battle could ever be lost.
"Man the cannons! Fire back! Some of you, into the water — cause chaos as fast as you can. Don't let them hit the Pearl. Or I'll make sure you follow her down to the depths, piece by piece!" He roared, a wicked grin spreading across his face.
"Aye, aye, captain!" The pirates shouted, and as if by magic, just from Barbossa's words, they immediately got to work — no more panic.
Barbossa looked toward the island, which was beginning to light up with cannon fire, as his own ship began to blaze with its return shots.
A monkey leapt nimbly onto his shoulder, and a flash of moonlight pierced through the dark, dense clouds above, illuminating them.
In that eerie light, the image of a grinning skeleton and a skeletal monkey perched on his shoulder appeared. Below, the moonlight also revealed a crew of skeletons, screaming and firing cannons as the ship rocked violently.