7 Chapter 6: A devil fruit user
"Err… Judy or Juliet...?, I'll be takin' a wee moment 'ere... or was it Jasmine? Hmm..." Jack pondered, his brow furrowing as he mulled over the uncertainty, questioning whether he had the correct woman.
"Oh, aye! Judy. A lovely women. I must admit, she did seem rather taken with me charms. Can't blame her, really" Jack said with a smile even though he wasn't really 100% sure who exactly she was.
When the man heard Jack he only grew even more annoyed, his face became board with fury and he quickly shot.
"Die, fucking die you bastard!" the man shouted, firing several shots at Jack.
Jack deftly dodged the shots, still wearing that cheeky grin.
As soon as the gunfire started, the bar erupted into chaos as a full-on brawl broke out.
Bottles crashed, tables were overturned, and fists flew in every direction, gunshots could be heard from time to time as well as clashes between swords.
Through the melee, Jack moved and weaved, avoiding blows and shots with grace.
"Well, this is rather lively, isn't it?" Jack quipped as he gracefully sidestepped another attack.
Just when it seemed the situation couldn't get any worse, the man who started the whole conflict approached Jack and pulled out the pistol, and aimed it straight at him.
"Time to pay for what you've done, Ssparrow!"
Jack's eyes widened playfully as he looked down the barrel of the gun.
"Now, mate, let's not be hasty. You wouldn't want to make a mess of this fine establishment, would ya?"
The man didn't bother to listen to Jack's irritating voice any longer and so he pulled the trigger…
The bullet shot out quickly in the direction of Jack's right eye, but when the bullet reached him and penetrated his eye, the right side of Jack's face turned liquid causing the bullet to pass through his eye without affecting it at all.
"A-a devil fruit user!" shouted the man with his eyes wide open looking in surprise at Jack who now had a part of his face in the form of liquid water.
Jack just smiled at the man and raising his right hand he turned it into liquid water and then covered the man's head in a ball of water that began to drown him.
The desperate man kept shooting at Jack's body with all the bullets he had and when he ran out of bullets he started trying to use physical force to bring him down, but just as the bullets passed through Jack's body without doing any damage, his physical attacks were just as ineffective.
It only took a few moments before Jack knocked the man unconscious, once he saw that the man had lost consciousness, he released him and returned his hand to normal as the man fell to the ground in a faint.
As the dust settled, Jack dusted himself off and flashed a crooked smile at the amazed onlookers.
"Well, that was quite the reception, wouldn't ya say?"
"…Now, where were we? Ah, yes, another round of rum for me and me new friends. This gentleman invites!" Jack stated casually as he pointed to the man he had just knocked unconscious on the floor.
And with that, the tavern returned to its standard raucous atmosphere.
As the night goes on, Jack Sparrow selects a crew to sail.
….
Also worth noting that during his time at Water 7, Jack had been continually using his water body, even practicing and trying out various things.
It could be said that it was a "training", albeit a lazy and poorly continued one as he preferred to spend his time on other things, but even so his "training" paid off in many ways.
Jack had managed to find many uses for the devil fruit he had consumed, mostly after getting into trouble...
Actually, that was how he also understood the disadvantages and advantages of his peculiar fruit that turns the consumer into a liquid water person allowing the user to control and mould his water body into different shapes.
He was delighted at the idea that turning his body into water allowed him to escape from a lot of troublesome situations.
Not only could he let physical attacks pass through him, but he could also change his body shape easily into various forms of liquid water, including the shape of a human figure, which was quite interesting.
What Jack still couldn't figure out was what kind of devil fruit he had eaten, whether it was a Logia or a Paramecia type of fruit since he realised that his fruit had some rather unique limitations and characteristics.
He knows that each Devil Fruit grants a special power to anyone who eats it, from the simplest powers possible, such as stretching like rubber, to powers capable of causing large-scale destruction, creating earthquakes for example.
Each Devil Fruit is unique, and there is no other like it; that is, there is no Devil Fruit that has the same power as another.
These fruits are broadly grouped into three classes: Zoan, which allows a user to transform into an animal as well as an animal hybrid; Logia, which grants a user the power to create, control, and transform their body into a natural element; and Paramecia, which offers any of a vast array of strange abilities that do not fit into the other two categories.
But first of all, unlike Logia-type fruit users, Jack could not create large amounts of water(his natural element) and launch powerful attacks, he cannot create more water than what his body produces when he transforms.
He must rely entirely on the water supply of his liquid water form to perform attacks or defend himself.
Therefore, Jack instead had to learn to shape the water from his own body, which required a considerable amount of concentration, cleverness, and strategy in every move he will use to dodge, attack or defend.
He managed to turn his arms into water weapons and pressurise the water, making the water weapons hard enough to inflict blunt force damage as well as shooting water as a pressurised jet, but it must be using water from his own body so he must recharge by re-capturing water if he wants to continue attacking.
Oh and when he finds himself in a dry, hot, and very sunny area like a desert, Jack will be in an extremely weakened state if he turns into his water form.
In his practices or rather escapades, Jack also discovered that he couldn't control other sources of water external to his body, limiting his ability to manipulate the environment in his favour.
However, by collecting more water and attaching it to his body, he can increase the size of his water form, but not too much otherwise he loses control of his body.
Also, if he collects more water than he can control to increase his size Jack will get flu-like symptoms.
However, his most important advantage was that when he was in the sea, he could completely turn his body into liquid water and move quite smoothly without being affected by the water, unlike other devil fruit users.
Yet as versatile as his liquid state was, Jack also found that this made him highly vulnerable to dryness and electricity. Being made of water, his body is sadly a natural conductor, and if an attack hit Jack he would be paralysed, and his body would return to its normal state.
Still, Jack managed to exploit the versatility of his water body to use his ability creatively, slipping through narrow cracks, sneaking into ships, houses, rooms, and so on to pick up many valuable things, and if he was caught he would quite easily dodge enemy attacks in his water form until he finally escaped from trouble.
More than once he had to face some angry sailor or pirate for different reasons, and most of the time Jack embraced that oldest, noblest of all pirate traditions…
He fought to then run away.
Naturally, if he knew that he could deal with such a person easily, he would handle it, but surely he will never take the risk if he feels or has his doubts.
...
...
The next day, once the ship was properly loaded, it left Water 7 harbour and sailed away from the port.
When the wind slowed, Jack smiled as he watched the island of Water 7 vanish from sight.
Now he was officially starting to explore these new seas with the Black Pearl.
And so, under the guidance of Captain Jack Sparrow, the crew of the Black Pearl sets sail once more, ready to embrace the limitless horizons of the Grand Line and forge their own legend in the world of One Piece.
…
…
After the Pearl left Water 7, the ship reached the open sea and only a few moments later the skies opened and a ferocious storm came out of nowhere.
Fierce wind attacked the ship from all sides, and the horizontal sheets of rain slashed at the crew, each sharp drop stinging eyes and skin where it struck.
As each passing second, the weather seemed to worsen, rain falling with relentless force, striking the Black Pearl like furious arrows.
On Jack's command, the crew reefed and furled the sails as fast as they could in the horrible winds, and then fled below decks.
They were crossing an immense storm as if the very fury of the ocean had been unleashed upon them. Except for Jack, who saw it all as a hearty greeting from the vast seas on his daring voyage into uncharted waters.
They could hear water rushing past the hull as if the Pearl was riding the rapids of a great river.
The rain poured down with a mighty intensity, beating against the ship like an unyielding torrent of sharp darts. Waves rose like heartless giants, towering before crashing onto the deck with a deafening roar. The ship pitched and rolled, challenging their ability to stay steady amidst the ocean's rage.
Everyone sought refuge from the tempest, taking cover below deck, seeking solace from the storm's merciless assault. Everyone, that is, except Jack Sparrow.
Yep, Jack remained at the helm alone, clinging to the wheel. The crew could hear him above them, singing and laughing into the fierce rain.
The captain indeed; he seemed to be enjoying the terrible storm…
….
Many hours later when the wind subsided and some of the crew came back up on the deck, they were stunned to see bright morning sunlight.
They looked at Jack.
He simply said: "Alright, me hearties, we've weathered the storm! Now, all hands on deck, back to work! Mister Araho, take the helm. I need a drink of rum and some sleep"
