Nick Carter stared down at the long blade of his sword. The metal shone bright against the sun. He drew in a deep breath, and the scent of the ocean air filled his lungs. Today was going to be a good day.
They were coming, he could sense it.
For that reason, his boat was stopped in the middle of the ocean. His crew was left wondering just what was going on. They usually thought Nick was crazy; that he was out of his mind. But he knew better.
As he looked off into the distance, he knew that this time, he was right. There was the ship he was waiting for. They were headed straight for him. If only they knew who was waiting for them, surely they would turn around and continue on in the opposite direction.
That wasn't what Nick wanted. He wanted to face them.
For so long the pirates had been his enemy, and they were approaching. Faster and faster until they were so close, Nick could see perfectly onto the deck of their ship.
The two men standing there looked at him oddly. A boy standing in ragged clothes, wielding a sword in one hand, and a deadly stare on his face. His blonde hair was becoming a mess in the wind.
As their ship started to pass by, Nick watched, and waited for his moment to strike.
It wasn't until they were directly beside each other that Nick took the plunge. Almost literally, in fact. He took a running start and jumped from the deck of his boat on to the pirate ship. He just barely made it, and his entrance wasn't as dramatic as he had hoped. He stumbled a little on his feet when he landed, but quickly regained his balance.
He held out his sword and pointed it at the two men standing before him. They were both at least a foot shorter than he was. One was covered in tattoos and much paler than the other, who had hair longer than any girl he'd met.
Time seemed to stand still, but only for a moment. After the two men realized what was happening, they too drew their swords. There was no way they were going to let this pretty boy take their ship and everything that was in it.
Two against one didn't seem like great odds, but Nick was ready as he'd ever been. He'd been preparing and training for this moment for the past year. He'd studied their every move as they had travelled around the world. Nick had made sure not to get in their way.
Not until the time was right. Not until he was prepared.
Nick quickly sidestepped the two pirates. He was careful to keep his sword in front of himself as a shield, but that didn't stop them. The tattooed pirate wasted no time in coming at Nick. The second one, seeing Nick with his hands full moved behind him.
However, Nick was prepared. Fending off the tattooed pirate with one hand, he reached his other arm behind himself and pulled his boomerang free from the it's holder on his back. In doing so, he managed to elbow the girly pirate. It was sheer luck, though one would never be able to tell.
Nick flung the boomerang behind himself, grinning ever so slightly. The smile was quickly wiped off his face as the girly pirate regained his composure. He whipped out his own sword and held it up to Nick's throat. Nick gulped, but tried his best not to look frightened, as he was confident that his secret weapon wouldn't fail him.
Luck was on his side that afternoon, as the boomerang did exactly what Nick hoped it would. It came sailing back through the air in full force, hitting the girly pirate right in the head and knocking him to the ground. His sword fell at Nick's feet with a loud clang.
Again, Nick grinned, but this time he made no attempt to hide it. The tattooed pirate was distracted by the fall of his friend, and Nick seized the opportunity. With one swift motion of his wrist, he knocked the sword out of the pirate's hand. Another loud clang was heard on the deck as it fell.
Nick inched closer to his enemy, pressing the cool blade against his neck. He still wore the grin, but this time it was decidedly more evil. Perhaps his crew members were right after all. Perhaps he was a little crazy.
The tattooed pirate held his hands up in defeat, seeing the insanity in Nick's eyes. He knew this blonde bandit would have no qualms with killing him and his partner, and he had no intention of allowing that to happen.
Both pirates backed off slowly, but Nick followed them. He walked towards the railing, all the while holding his sword out, threatening to cut their throats at any second.
What was the better fate? Being slashed to death or jumping overboard and abandoning the ship?
Apparently it was jumping overboard. The next thing Nick knew, the two pirates were in the water and swimming towards the shore.
He didn't care; so long as they relinquished the ship. Nick stood at the railing and took a deep breath. It was a small victory, and they would probably come back to find him, but at that moment he didn't care.
For the time being, he had won.
Story Notes:
Written for the April "out of the box" challenge in the AC forum.
