Jack's eyes fell on Ragetti first.
The tall pirate lay still near the edge of a smoking crater, his head and shoulders drenched in blood. A few yards away, Ivankov was half-buried under a pile of broken stone. Pintel was nowhere in sight.
Jack felt his breath catch in his throat.
For what felt like an eternity, he didn't move. Then, he made his way to Ragetti, dropping heavily to his knees beside him.
His hand hovered over Ragetti's blood-soaked coat, but he couldn't bring himself to touch him.
The bravado was gone. The usual wry smirk had completely disappeared. Jack stared at his own hand, his fingers stained red just from brushing against Ragetti's shoulder.
He had sent them away with Gibbs to keep them safe. He had stayed behind to duel Mihawk. He had let Augur the sniper get taken out. He had allowed his crew to walk right into the jaws of a monster.
And now—
"Captain?" Crocodile's gruff voice shattered the silence from behind him.
Jack didn't respond. He lowered his head, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. It felt hollow. Empty.
"I leave them alone for one fight," he muttered into the dirt, his fingers digging into the gravel. "One bloody fight."
Behind him, Dragon rushed toward the rubble, lifting heavy stone slabs off Ivankov's crushed form. Kuma gently set Augur down against a standing brick wall before kneeling beside the Freedom FIghter's commander. Crocodile glided toward a half-collapsed apothecary, using her golden hook to clear away a heavy timber beam, revealing the hem of Pintel's coat.
Jack stayed kneeling beside Ragetti.
"I should've seen it," Jack whispered to the ground, his voice turning into a gravelly rasp. "Should've come faster."
He squeezed his eyes shut. "Useless captain."
In a sudden surge of self-hatred, Jack slammed his fist into Ragetti's chest.
THUMP.
"IDIOT!" Jack shouted.
Ragetti's whole body jerked violently.
Jack froze, his eyes wide as saucers.
Ragetti gasped in a ragged, painful breath, his good eye popping open. "AAAAH!"
Jack flinched so hard he nearly toppled backward into the dirt.
Ragetti fell into a harsh coughing fit, clutching his chest with both hands. "What... what'd you do that for?!"
Jack stared at him, completely unblinking. "You're alive."
Ragetti looked genuinely offended, despite the blood smeared across his swollen face. "Of course I'm alive!"
"You looked dead!"
"I was just resting! It hurt a lot!"
"You were bleeding from your ears!"
"It was a tough rest!" Ragetti shot back, wheezing.
Jack kept staring at him. Then, in a sudden movement, he grabbed Ragetti by the lapels of his tattered coat and yanked him halfway upright. "You inconsiderate bastard!"
Ragetti blinked his one good eye, confused. "Captain...?"
"What?!"
"Were you... sad?"
Jack dropped him like a hot potato, letting Ragetti's head thud against the stone. "No."
Ragetti's mouth twisted into a weak, bloody grin. "You were. You were crying."
"I was disappointed!" Jack snapped, straightening his waistcoat.
"You fell to your knees!"
"I tripped over a cobble!"
"You punched me while crying!"
"I was not crying!"
"There's water all over your face, Captain."
Jack angrily wiped his cheek with his sleeve. "Mist!"
"There ain't no mist right here."
"It's localized mist, you simpleton!"
Ragetti started to chuckle, only to groan as his broken ribs protested the movement.
A few yards away, Crocodile yanked Pintel out of the rubble by the collar. She crouched down and poked his bruised cheek with a gloved finger, hard.
No response.
She poked him again, harder. Pintel let out a miserable groan. Crocodile exhaled a long, quiet breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Alive," she whispered, shaking her head in disbelief.
Pintel slowly opened his eyes. "...Am I in heaven?"
Crocodile surveyed the charred, crumbling remains of Trans Town. "Does this look like heaven to you, pirate?"
Pintel took a moment to think it over. "...Honestly, I expected to see more beauties, not you."
Crocodile responded with a swift jab of her hook, knocking him out cold again.
Across the square, Dragon pulled Ivankov from the crater and pressed two fingers to his neck. A faint, steady pulse throbbed against his skin. Dragon's tense shoulders relaxed just a bit.
"He's breathing."
Ivankov's heavy eyelids fluttered open. "D-Dragon..."
"I'm right here."
Ivankov coughed up blood, his shaking hand weakly gesturing toward the dark trees to the north. "Redfield... he went... after the old man... Red."
"Red?" Dragon asked, trying to grasp the situation.
"And... and Gibbs..."
Jack's demeanor shifted instantly. The momentary relief he felt evaporated, replaced by a chilling, sharp focus.
Ragetti reached out, grabbing the edge of Jack's sleeve. "Captain... the red-eyed man... he's gonna kill 'em."
Jack gently pushed Ragetti back against the crumbling wall. "Stay here."
Ragetti frowned. "Captain, I can—"
"That's not up for discussion, Ragetti."
Before any more arguments could arise, Pato let out a piercing, terrified screech from above. "RED!"
Everyone's gaze shot upward. The crimson tanuki-bird's feathers were fluffed up in alarm.
"Red! Red! North!" Pato squawked, diving through the air and pointing his leaves toward the dense forest canopy.
Jack stared at the bird in disbelief. "The bird knows where they are?"
Augur, leaning against the wall, managed a weak, stiff nod, his breath coming in shallow gasps. "Maybe it has a connection with Red? Perhaps it can track him."
Pato circled Jack's head in a frenzy. "Hurry! Hurry!"
Dragon stood up, his expression serious. "Kuma."
The massive Buccaneer looked up from where he was tending to Ivankov's ribs.
"Stay here," Dragon instructed softly.
Kuma nodded quietly, setting his oversized Bible down next to Ivankov and pulling out medical supplies from his coat with a calm, practiced ease.
Van Augur struggled to get back on his feet, using the broken stock of Senriku as a makeshift crutch. "I'm coming with you."
Crocodile shot a glance at his shattered rifle and the blood soaking his shoulder. "You can barely stand, sniper."
"I can still pull a trigger," Augur insisted.
Jack stepped into Augur's path, his dark eyes serious and unwavering. "You're staying with the big man, Augur."
Augur's jaw clenched. "Captain—"
"Your gun is in pieces, your ribs are crushed, and you're missing a lens in your glasses," Jack pointed out, his finger aimed right at the sniper's face. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a Navy Man-o'-War in your current state."
Augur opened his mouth to argue, but Pato's frantic screams echoed from the treeline again.
Jack turned away from the wreckage, his hand resting firmly on the hilt of Wado Ichimonji.
"Dragon. Croco."
Crocodile moved up to his left, her hook glinting as sand began to swirl around her boots. Dragon stepped to his right, a gust of wind lifting his black cloak dramatically.
Jack lifted his gaze, peering into the dark, misty forest.
"Lead the way, bird."