“Let hell seize my heart if I give you quarter, or take any from you!”

Hana watched Blackbeard jump off the adventure and onto her boat. Shortly afterward, Queen Ann's Revenge started to come out of the water. Then Blackbeard demonstrated his power on some hapless pirate hunters. This all felt very familiar. Where had she seen it before?

“This looks like that dream I had yesterday.”

Not long after her realization, a wind carrying hundreds of black feathers blew past Hana. Left in their wake was a tall woman, covered shoulder to toe with a cloak of raven feathers. The strange woman wore a mask, which was focused on the battle. Her silver hair swayed like a curtain in the breeze. “You are correct, and that is no small coincidence.” The voice belonged to an older woman.

Hana turned to look at the newly arrived. Despite her fearsome appearance, Hana felt like this person was one of her allies. “Who are you?”

The mask looked away from the battle and into Hana's eyes. It was a plague doctor's mask, complete with a tiny top hat. “My name is Isk, though that hardly matters.” She turned back towards the battle. “You said this all reminded you of a dream. Are you sure it wasn't a nightmare?”

That's right. Hana had completely forgotten how this particular dream ended. It was a reenactment of Blackbeard's last day alive. He fought valiantly against impossible odds and died. But it was worse than that. He didn't just die, he did so at Hana's hands. This was her ship, and these were her men. “This can't be right! I-I don't want to hurt Blackbeard!”

“No, I suppose you don't.” Isk rolled her shoulders. “But you aren't really doing anything to assist him either.”

Hana turned her entire body to face Isk. “What do you expect me to do?” Her voice was cracking. “I know they won't obey my commands. I'm totally useless here!”

“Interesting how the most worthy candidates often feel the most powerless.” Isk clicked her tongue. “I did not come here just to watch you suffer, Hana. I am here to offer you unimaginable power. But this power has a very specific use, and you must never confuse it as your own.” Isk turned towards Hana, completely casting her in shadow. “The power I offer you is that of a magical girl. The power to save lives, to end wars, and erode darkness. Does that sound like something you want?”

Hana was on the verge of tears. Unlike yesterday, she wouldn’t be powerless anymore. “Yea.” She said while drying her eyes on her sleeve. “I'll do it! I'll take up that responsibility!”

“Then stoke the embers of your soul.” Isk circled around Hana. “Ignite your heart with a flame that can burn under the ocean waves.”

The heart of a pirate.

“Ignite heart...” Hana's body was enclosed in a giant water droplet. A school of glowing fish swam into her chest, covering her torso with a glistening scale mail. A sting ray glided behind Hana and wrapped around her. It exploded like a firework and turned into her coat. Eels wrapped around her coat, transforming into belts and buckles. Angler fish swam through her hair and turned into candles. Clams bit onto her hands and feet before becoming leather gloves and boots. The water bubble finally exploded, allowing seagulls to nest on Hana's head and become a captain's hat. Once her outfit was all in place, she punched the air so hard it took her feet off the ground. “...With the spirit of adventure!”

Isk shrugged her shoulders “I don't know what I expected.” Isk turned to look at Hana and noticed she was sniffing the candles in her hair. “What are you doing?”

“I thought these were like the ones Blackbeard uses.” She said between sniffs. “But these are regular scented candles!”

Isk groaned. “Have you forgotten your goal already? You don't have time to worry about such things.”

“...Right.”

Isk reached into her cloak and pulled out a broad saber in its sheath. She held out the scabbard with one hand. “I doubt a woman of your caliber will need this, but you're not quite a magical girl without a weapon.”

Hana picked up the sheath and slammed it against her back. The impact seemed to make it fuse to her belt. “Thanks for everything.”

“We'll see.”

Hana did not need to get accustomed to her new abilities. She drew a flintlock from her coat and fired at a pirate hunter's back. The shot did little more than knock the man uncontentious.

“Rubber bullets?”

“That is no ordinary coat.” Isk remained behind Hana. “You can draw anything that uses black powder out of that coat. You did not want to kill the man, so the projectile was non-lethal. The results would have been much different had you wanted to kill him instead.”

Hana didn't fully understand it, but she was getting the results she wanted. The pirate hunters ignored her as she picked them off one at a time with flintlocks. After each shot, Hana tossed the pistols aside. The empty weapons faded into light before completely disappearing.

“You're not moving fast enough.” Isk shouted from behind Hana. “You need to knock them down a lot faster if you want to save him.”

Hana started firing with blunderbusses. These large, funnel-barrel guns were known for firing anything you could fit down the barrel. But in this case it was more rubber balls. The pirate hunters still ignored her, as if they knew she wasn't striking them down fast enough still. Clearly Hana needed to think... Bigger.

“Wait, any black powder weapon?”

“Why don't you just try?”

Hana took of her coat and draped it in front of herself. She then waled backwards, and the coat seemed to follow the contour of an invisible object. But on the other side of the coat a massive cannon was starting to take shape. With a final tug, the cannon was fully assembled, and the fuse was lit.

“Now that's what I call firepower!” Hana laughed at her success.

Isk turned to the giggling teenager. “Aren't you afraid this might hurt the pirate hunters?”

“Nah, It's got a rubber cannon ball inside it.”

Isk only responded with a shake of her head.

Boom! An entire row of pirate hunters were thrown into the air. They screamed in terror before landing back on the ship, completely knocked out. Hana didn't stop setting up cannons in this fashion. Every time one went off, another one came into existence. Boom! More pirate hunters scattered to the winds. Blackbeard had stopped fighting. The remaining pirate hunters were retreating, but they couldn't escape the cannons. Boom! Boom! The legendary pirate bounced his anchor on his shoulder. “Interesting power you have there. What is your name?”

Hana was reluctant to give Blackbeard her real name. It just didn't feel appropriate for the situation. After all, this was Hana the magical girl, not Hana the school girl. “Magical Girl Shining Scales.”

The pirate laughed, his eerie smoke beard swayed in the wind. “So you are the captain of this ship! You attack the adventure, and then you knock down your own men to get to me? My, what fighting spirit you must possess!” He stomped on the deck, and the boards cracked under his feet. “We should fight then. This is how I wanted it to end. A duel to the death between two ship captains!”

“I-I don't want to fight you!” Hana turned to look at Isk. “I saved him, what's going on?”

Isk seemed to hover when she walked into a corner, far away from the conflict. “I'm sorry Hana.” She said before kneeling. “But I lied. The only reason I gave you anything was to watch you sink into despair. Draw your blade and forge your greatest nightmare.”

Hana placed her hand on the hilt of her blade, but was hesitant to draw it. She looked back at Blackbeard. “I don't want to fight you! You represent the spirit of adventure, rising up against impossible odds, excitement! I-I.” She leaned forward and screamed. “I love you!”

The legendary pirate lowered his head. “I know.” Blackbeard let his anchor roll off of his shoulder. “But this is still something that must be done!” Blackbeard charged forward. His anchor was ripping the deck to splinters behind him. When he came into range, he swung at her from overhead. Hana was panicking, but she managed to side step the pirate's first swing. It was close though, she could feel the shock wave through her legs. Despite only using one hand, he swung the anchor like it was just a toy. Hana continued to jump backwards as Blackbeard pursued her, narrowly missing swing after swing. When he finally stopped, his coat was pushed open by two tentacles wielding blunderbusses. Hana didn't have time to tense up before every bullet struck her in the chest. The impact sent Hana tumbling away until she landed flat on her back.

“Well?” Isk called over to her. “You're not going to kill him just dancing around like that. Get in there!”

Hana's chest felt sore, but not a single bullet breached her armor. Hana didn't have much time to rest before Blackbeard came falling out of the sky. The pirate girl was able to roll off to the side just as Blackbeard came down, shrouding the vicinity in smoke and splinters.

“It's all or nothing.” Hana thought.

The newly minted magical girl dove onto Blackbeard's chest and swiftly climbed up to his shoulders. She held onto his neck and stared intently into his eyes.

“What are you doing girl?” He shouted at her. “Get off of me!”

“No! You stop this right now!”

Blackbeard's anchor was too big to swing at himself, and Hana's foot was holding his sword inside his scabbard. The pirate girl could feel his tentacles searching for weapons inside his coat, but she trapped them under her knees.

“You can't keep this up forever, girl!”

“Watch me!”

Blackbeared seized Hana by the shoulders, but froze in place. Even Hana had difficulty moving her body. It was like the two of them had lost the strength to move. They promptly sunk to the floor and fell onto their sides. They were still holding on, locked into each other's intense stares.

“So you can perform the 'Captain's Dare' after all.” Isk let out a heartfelt chuckle. “I knew there was a wealth of potential dwelling inside you.”

Hana and Blackbeard both groaned. It was about all they were capable of.

“I think you're trying to ask what that is, am I right?” Isk paced around the two pirates. “It allows you to effectively paralyze someone with your stare if you will it. Unfortunately you have to be relatively close to use it, and it only works while you're looking into their eyes. Every legendary pirate knows this skill, which is why the two of you can't move.” Isk paused when she heard the two pirates groan again. She shrugged. “It would appear that the two of you are in a stalemate. Even though you didn't technically win the fight, I do have to say you passed my little test. It's always refreshing to see a girl with some backbone that knows how to stick to her guns.” Isk peered down at Hana. “Even if they can be a little reckless about it.” Isk walked away from them. “We're done here. You may wake up if you so desire.”