One Piece Bounty Wars

(Luke POV)

Luke followed the eternal pose to Enies Lobby, a cruel smile on his face all the while as he shot through the sky like a bolt of lightning. He would kill any marine that stood before him, the World Government as well.

Ever since that day when the marines took him from his home, the symbol of the marines had been something engraved into the very fiber of his being. He only felt rage at the thought, and any chance he could erase that symbol pleased him to no end. Spandam was indeed his primary target in Enies Lobby, but he would take the very spirit of every marine there.

It wasn't long before he could see the light from Enies Lobby shining down on the island, which was an anomaly. The Island was also known as the Never Night Island because it never got dark here, which wasn't the weirdest thing about the place. The island basically floated over a pit into the abyss, only a small piece of land connecting it on both sides to the rest of the world. No one knew how far the pit went or what was down there, but considering the ocean had been pouring into in for as long as anyone could remember and still never fill up, led people to believe that it went to the very depths of hell.

When Luke saw this, his smile broadened. 'I could just sink them to hell!' He thought viciously. He didn't waste anytime once he got to the island, heading straight for the Tower of Justice, which was where the bigshots would be if they were here.

Getting above the tower, Luke shouted, "SPANDAM!! CP-9!! GET OUT HERE!!" He had no idea if they were even here, but he figured he may as well try this first before he destroyed the entire tower. To his great joy, a guy wearing a half mask-like thing and 3 other people in suits came out onto one of the balconies. He didn't even have to check the pictures that Jack had given him to know that these were his targets.

"Honestly, it's like they want me to kill them!" Luke said to himself in a cheerful tone. "WHO ARE YOU?!!" Spandam shouted, not having any idea if the man in front of him was an enemy or an ally. Without answering, Luke appeared right in front of them and fired dozens of lightning bolts at each of them. Jabra and the other two members of CP-9 were able to react quick enough to barely avoid the first bolt, but they were not so lucky with the others.

Spandam didn't even have a chance, being the weak little f.u.c.ker that he was, got hit by every bolt sent his way. Luke made sure not to kill them with that first attack, instead he knocked them all unconscious. Walking inside the tower, Luke found a few sets of Sea Prism Stone cuffs and took them to his sleeping victims. He cuffed their legs and hands together so they were in a kneeling position, with their arms behind their backs connected to their ankles.

"Soon you will know what pain feels like..." Luke said quietly, moving his new prisoners atop a flat tower that could be seen by the rest of the island. After moving here, Luke called down a massive pillar of lightning from the heavens upon the Tower of Justice, decimating it in seconds. When the lightning finally vanished, the only thing left in it's wake was a crater, which made Luke smile happily.

The lightning served as another purpose other than just destroying the tower. It would gather the attention of every soldier here, drawing their gazes to where he now stood. Sure enough, soldiers started running towards his position with weapons at the ready, many of them already calling Marine HQ to inform them of what had just happened.

Using all of his concentration, Luke shot thousands of small arcs of lightning at the soldiers, paralyzing them all where they stood. There were even two massive giants had made their way over, but they were also paralyzed as well, so it didn't really matter to Luke.

"YOU WRETCHED F.U.C.KERS ARE GOING TO WITNESS WHAT HAPPENS HERE, THEN TELL OF IT LATER TO YOUR MASTERS!! LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU ALL!" Luke shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. The island was unnaturally quiet, no one being able to do a single thing with the man before them.

Everyone watched as Luke grabbed Jabra and drug his unconscious body to the edge of the building, then slapped him almost a dozen times before he managed to wake up. "WHA-" was all Jabra managed to get out before he was shot in both kneecaps in quick succession.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!" Jabra bellowed in pain, but to his horror, it didn't stop there. Luke stabbed him in every single one of his joints, then used his lightning as a torch to close all the wounds so he wouldn't bleed out.

"THE GOVERNMENT THAT YOU ALL SERVE IS FINISHED!! KEEP WEARING THAT UNIFORM AND YOU WILL ALL END UP LIKE THIS!!" Luke shouted as he left Jabra to scream in agony, which only terrified the frozen people down below. The other two CP-9 members were gruesomely tortured, left being nothing but worthless sacks of meat after Luke had finished with them.

Finally it was time for Spandam's turn. "I've heard so much about you!! I won't lie, I think I'm really going to enjoy this!" Luke said as he grabbed Spandam and pulled him so everyone else could get a proper view. "LET THIS BE A LESSON!! NO MATTER YOUR RANK IN THIS WORLD, ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!!" Luke shouted before he began to rip parts of Spandam's body apart.

The eyes, tongue, fingers, legs, they were all removed. After Spandam couldn't even be called alive anymore, Luke threw the mangled corpse into the sky and shot a ball of lightning at it, making it explode into bits and pieces all over the people down below. After doing the same to the members of CP-9, Luke killed any member of Cipher Pol he could find down below mixed in with the marines. Jack had told him to not go too crazy killing the marines, but he never said anything about Cipher Pol.

He also pulled out his massive list of names, which had a small picture next to each and every name on it, and went over the soldiers around him. He didn't want to check over so many people, so he picked a few at random and killed them to shorten how many people he would need to check.

After he finished going over everything, he smiled happily. There had been 67 people on his list here, which were all dealt with just as brutally as CP-9. When he was done he shot back atop the tower and looked at the remaining people he had left alive.

"THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU EVER TRY TO TAKE ANOTHER BEING AS A SLAVE!! IT DOESN'T MATTER THAT IT WAS FOR SOMEONE ELSE OR THAT YOU WERE JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS!! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT, SO F.U.C.K.I.N.G DO IT!!" After saying his peace, Luke charged up his power and swept it over the island like a laser beam being fired, destroying almost every building around them.

"TELL THE GOVERNMENT AND YOUR LITTLE BITCH FRIENDS, THIS WAS THE WORK OF LUKE STROUS!! MEMBER OF THE DARK PHENIOX GUILD, AND EXECUTIVE OF THE ADVENTURER'S A.S.SOCIATION!" After shouting the final words, Luke shot off into the sky, leaving the small island with only about 5,800 marines.

When he had first got here there were over 10,000 residents, but with many of them being apart of Cipher Pol, he just outright killed those guys. It was only after that he was completely gone from sight that the people began to move about, still terrified that he might come back and finish the job.

"I don't know about you, but I quit. With monsters like that gunning for us, we don't stand a chance!" One guy said to his friend. There were conversations like this going on all throughout the island, nearly every single person wanting to get out of the marines.

Luke was quite pleased with himself as he soared through the air, laughing like a madman for all the world to hear. 'I wonder when I'll get to fight an Admiral?' He couldn't help but think, awaiting the day when he could truly let lose on someone.

He had only been rocketing through the sky for a few minutes when he saw a giant pillar of pure white fire shooting into the sky off in the distance. 'What the hell is that monster up to now?!' Luke thought, already knowing the person behind the calamity.

It didn't take him long to get to where the Pearl floated in the sky, and as he got on board he couldn't help but notice how everyone was looking downward. "What's all the commotion about?" Luke asked, hoping to get an answer from someone.

Smoker turned to face him for a moment, then turned his attention back to the scene below them. "We came upon this massive creepy ship and Jack decided he wanted to stop. Well... Someone down there... scratched the ship." Smoker said, sounding as though someone had just committed the worst of crimes.

"*Gasp* OH SHIT!! He lost it, didn't he?!!" Luke asked in shock. In response to his question, everyone gave a solemn nod. "Let's just say we might not want to ask him for food for awhile." Tashigi said, not taking her eyes off the chaos below them. Luke walked over to the edge of the ship and looked to where everyone else was looking, only for his eyes to bulge open.

Down below them was indeed a massive ship, could even be mistaken for a small island. Only now it was almost completely destroyed, but what caught his eye was the streak of white light that flashed all over the island at a speed only two other people in the world could move at, him being one of them.

"He already got the guy that did the damage, but I don't think he has any intention of stopping." Robin chimed in, letting Luke know that Jack was just letting out his anger. "Who did it?" Luke asked curiously. "It was some creepy guy that could turn invisible. Jack already... punished him..." Nami said, looking visibly sick at the memory of whatever Jack did to the guy.

(General POV)

Luke couldn't take his eyes off the scene below them, watching as Jack ripped apart zombie things, while dragging a tall pair shaped man behind him. "Isn't that the Warlord, Gecko Moria?" Luke asked after he managed to get a better glimpse of the mangled body Jack was dragging.

"Yup. He laughed and called the Pearl 'An ugly piece of trash', which Jack didn't take very well. He already killed everyone down there, except maybe that little pink haired girl. She was swept into darkness, but I don't know if she was killed or not." Nojiko answered, still watching Jack rip the giant ship apart.

They watched for a few more minutes before the streak of light stopped moving, then started to expand outward, resembling a small Sun. It only took a moment for the ball of fire to engulf the entirety of Thriller Bark, the name of the giant ship Jack was on, then erupted like a bomb going off. Steam from the ocean, caused by the explosion, filled the area after the shockwave had passed, which made it extremely hard to see.

"Well... I call not calming him down!" Luke said, then quickly made his way to his room. "Call not!" "Call not!" Smoker and Nami called out, following suit as they also left to go to their rooms. Tashigi also left, followed by Kureha and Chopper, who wanted no part in dealing with the monster that was throwing a tantrum.

Robin and Nojiko stared at one another, looking as though they were confused as to what they should do. Robin was fairly new to the crew, and Jack had already done so much for her. She felt as though it would be wise to run like the others, but a part of her told her it would be better to try and calm him down. Nojiko on the other-hand, she also felt it was best to run, even though there was zero chance Jack would try to take his anger out on her, she still didn't like to be there when Jack was angered. It was outright terrifying . However, she did care for him deeply, which conflicted with what she wanted to do.

"*Sigh* Damn it... Do you know how to fix scratches in wood?" Nojiko asked, shooting a hopeful glance towards Robin. "I don't, but I did see a book on ship repair in the library!" Robin said, causing Nojiko to smile for a moment. "Could you go and find it?!! The sooner we get it fixed, the sooner he'll calm down." Nojiko asked, to which Robin nodded then rushed towards the library.

Looking down to the side of the ship, Nojiko could see the cause for all the destruction, which made her wince at the sight. The cut in the wood was only about 2 feet long, 3 inches wide, and 2 inches deep, but it was extremely noticeable compared to the rest of the immaculately taken care of ship. 'For f.u.c.ks sake!!' She cursed inwardly at the sight.

As she looked at it, a figure appeared right next to the cut, then ran a hand over it. "THAT GOD DAMNED SON OF A BITCH!!" Jack shouted in anger, visibly shaking. Nojiko took that moment to float over to him and rest a hand on his arm. "It will be okay. We can fix it up, make it look like it never happened. Robin is getting the information on how to do it, we just need to wait." Nojiko said, trying to quell his rage.

"It's mine... I will kill anyone that hurts what's mine!!" Jack declared, then turned to face Nojiko. "You are mine. I will end the world to protect what's mine." He added as he wrapped his arms around her. She was taken aback at his words, and couldn't formulate any thoughts for a few moments. They both stood there in mid-air, not saying a word, just holding each other close, neither wanting this moment to end.

There was a third person watching, but they were both too engrossed in the moment to notice the eye and ear that appeared above them, watching and listening to what had just transpired.

After seeing what was going on, Robin made the extra appendages disappear, then chose to leave the two to themselves until they were done. She was however smiling happily, knowing that Jack would do anything for those close to him, and he had declared her as one of those people.

She waited in the library, reading the book on how to repair the cut, and what materials she would need. She had just finished writing the last of the ingredients down on a sheet of paper when the door opened and Jack walked in with Nojiko beside him, both looking relaxed. "Hey Robin. Did you find the book?" Nojiko asked calmly.

Smiling at the duo, Robin said, "Yes. We only need a few things, then we mix it into a paste. After letting it dry, it will seal the wood so it won't leak, while also hardening to the point of being stronger than the original wood!" She was quite happy with herself as she passed the list over to Jack. "Hmm... all easy stuff to get a hold of. I got it all, we just need to mix it together." Jack said with a smile, then left to go into the dining room.

A few hours later and they had just finished the applying the paste to the side of the ship, which looked just like before unless you looked extremely close, but after it got some paint on it, no one would ever know the difference.

"Alright, now that we got that settled, we can continue to Sabaody. Should only be an hour or two, then we can raid the damn place. Marie Joise is very close to it, so we can hit it up as well." Jack said happily, not like he was going on a life or death mission.

"Have you called Dragon about the slaves?" Nojiko asked curiously. "Damn it! I knew I forgot something. Give me a few moments." After saying that, Jack pulled out his Transponder Snail and dialed Dragon.

"Hello?" Dragon's voice rang out. "Hey! Long time no hear!" Jack greeted cheerfully. "Haha, it's good to hear from you, Jack. I hear you've been quite busy lately." Dragon said, sounding truly happy to hear from him. "Who told you that I've been busy?" Jack asked curiously, knowing there weren't too many people that would know all of the things he had done since he set out.

"It wasn't all that hard to figure out. First a legendary pirate like Shiki vanishes from the face of the world, which came as quite the shock to lots of people. He was being monitored for years, then nothing. The marines don't know what to make of it. Then Crocodile up and vanishes after you make an appearance in Alabasta, no surprise there. That business with CP-9 and Enies Lobby was most definitely you! I just heard about it an hour ago. I don't know the exact details of what transpired there, but the marines had lots of people up and leave them. Over 7,000 marines quit today! It was awesome!" Dragon said cheerfully, telling Jack things that even he didn't know.

"I'm not quite sure what Luke did, but it must have been f.u.c.kin biblical!! Gonna have to ask him about it!" Jack announced, noting to himself to talk to Luke later.

"So what did ya call for?" Dragon asked, sounding quite pleased. "Well, let me first catch you up to speed on everything that really happened. Killed Shiki, a tyrant king, Crocodile, a creepy f.u.c.ker in the Sky islands, CP-9, Enies Lobby, and now Gecko Moria. Also everyone that was associated with them. We're almost to Sabaody Archipagio, where we're gonna get rid of all the human auction houses and free the slaves. I called because we're gonna hit Marie Joise tonight or tomorrow night. I'm gonna need you to deal with all of the slaves again. Maybe even take most of them to Foosha in East Blue." Jack said plainly, no beating around the bush.

There was only silence for a few moments before Dragon shouted, "WHAT?!! Are you out of your mind?!! You can't attack the Holy City! There are beings there that neither you or I can handle!" Dragon knew Jack was a capable fighter, but he didn't think that he was a match for what awaited him in the Marie Joise.

"Calm down!! We're not going to kill anyone, just get the slaves! We'll be in and out quick, then bolt." Jack stated, but Dragon still tried to talk him out of it. "I can't send my people there, it's suicide. Don't go!" Dragon exclaimed, sounding almost pleading,

"We've made up our minds, and we're still going. All I need from you is to take the slaves somewhere safe, we'll even deliver them." Jack said, not deterred from his mission in the slightest. Dragon paused for a moment then sighed. "Fine! If you're that determined to get yourself killed, I won't try to stop you anymore. I'll have people close by, so when you're done just give me a call." Dragon said, not happy anymore in the slightest.

"I knew I could count on you! Anyway, gotta bounce!! Peace out!" Jack said as he ended the call, which made Robin and Nojiko look at him weird. "Don't you look at me in that tone of voice! It's a perfectly reasonable way to end a call!" Jack stated in defense as he moved into the control room, upping the speed they were traveling to get there faster.

About an hour or two later and they could see the Red Line coming into view, and at it's base, Sabaody Archipagio. The holy city was almost directly above them at the top of the Red Line. "We're so close!" Luke shouted as he tightened the grip on his sword.

"Calm down, we'll get to it soon. First thing though, get rid of the sc.u.m on Sabaody. By the way, stay clear of a place called Shakky's Rip-off Bar! The owner is good friends with Dragon and wife to one of the the most powerful people in the world." Jack said, getting nods from everyone.

"Goes without saying, but any pirate or World Noble you see, feel free to end them at your leisure." Jack said a bit evilly. "Please let there be Celestials here!" Luke pleaded, mainly to himself as he looked at the island filled with bubbles approaching them.

"OH! Before I forget!" Jack said as a small mountain of gold, jewels, berries and other fancy stuff appeared on the deck. He also brought out a sword and tossed it to Tashigi. "That's one of the 21 graded swords! Keep it with the others until you find someone you wish to give it to." Jack stated, which made Tashigi's eyes widen in shock.

"This sword is considered a national treasure in Wano! I'll bet they have people looking for this!" Tashigi said as she held the sword with such reverence, one might mistake it for a small infant.

Jack also reached into the pile of treasure and pulled out an armband with a log pose on it. "This thing is actually a map to one of the greatest treasures out there. I think Soran would just love it!" Jack said happily, to which Nami answered with a glare. "You do know her and I will most likely go searching for it together, so you may as well just give it to me!" Nami said, holding her hand out expectantly.

"Nope! I'll give it to her personally the next time I see her!" Jack declared as he stored it back in his inventory. "What did you get me?!!" Luke asked expectantly. Jack tapped his chin a few times, then his eyes went wide. "OH F.U.C.K!!" He said as he quickly pulled a pink haired girl from his darkspace.

"I completely forgot about her!!" Jack said as everyone looked to extremely confused, goth looking girl. "Where am I?!! What happened to magical place?!!" She shouted in confusion, to which everyone looked at her dumbly. "Y-You... think that place is... magical?" Nami asked skeptically. She had been in there a few times, but never as long as this girl was, but when she was in there, it was only darkness, followed by a haunting feeling as if you would die at any moment.

"It was glorious!! Now where is it?!!" The gothic girl demanded. Luke walked over to Jack and whispered, "Cap, I think she's very beautiful, but she is clearly deranged. I'd like a different present."

Robin finally stepped forward to the clearly mental girl and said, "We are the Dark Phoenix guild of the Adventurer's Association. You are aboard the Black Pearl, our ship. You were inside the Devil Fruit power of our guild leader, longer than expected I would say." She pointed to each person and they introduced themselves, to which she in turn introduced herself as Perona.

"Can... Can you send me back?" She asked hopefully. In answer to her question, Luke walked over to her and picked her up in a princess carry, which got confused looks from everyone. Luke walked her over to the edge of the ship and dropped her. "Problem solved. What a lunatic!" He said as he walked back to the others looking completely innocent.

The next instant Luke was on his knees, "I'm a flee! I should just die!" He said, which got a few raised eyebrows from everyone other than Jack. A moment later and he was back to his normal self, but he looked extremely creeped out. "What the f.u.c.k was that?!!" Luke shouted as he looked around in confusion.

To his surprise a voice answered, "You big meanie! You could have killed me!" Perona shouted as she floated above the side of the ship, looking quite pissed off. "I forgot to mention she ate the Hollow-Hollow Fruit, which lets her control ghosts to do a few things, while also gaining some traits of ghosts." Jack said, which got a few nods from the others.

"Can I kill her?!" Luke asked hopefully, not liking the feeling that he just felt, and the scariest part about it was he couldn't even sense it. "She really hasn't done much to deserve it, but she was a pirate. Give her this." Jack said as he handed Luke a small bundle, which no one could make out what it was.

Tilting his head in confusion, Luke decided to just do it. When he handed it to Perona, she removed the cloth covering to reveal a beautiful teddy bear. "AAAAAHHHHH!! I love it!!" Perona screamed in joy as she jumped to Luke and clung to him like a steel trap. "What the hell is wrong with you?!!" Luke shouted as he turned into Lightning and shot himself behind Jack. "She isn't right in the head!! We gotta ditch this broad!!" Luke declared as used Jack as a human shield, much to the joy of everyone else present.

It only took them a few more minutes to arrive at Sabaody, at which point Luke grabbed Perona and zapped off to the other side of the island with her, then ran like his life depended on it.

Getting back to the Pearl, he was met with snickering and outright laughter from Smoker. "HAHAHA!! Who would have thought, the big bad Luke Strous is afraid of a little girl!!" Smoker laughed, getting a death glare from Luke. "This is all your fault!!" Luke shouted as he pointed a finger at Jack, who was also laughing his a.s.s off.

"I don't know what you're talking about! You were the one that gave her the gift!" Jack said, choking back his laughter. "Only because you told me to!!" Luke stated, which got a raised brow from Jack. "I did no such thing! Isn't that right?" Jack asked as he looked to the others, to which they agreed with him. "I don't remember that!" "Me either!" They said, which made Luke's eye start twitching. "F.u.c.k you! I know what really happened!" Luke shouted as he stormed off on his own.

"Well that was fun! Let's all go explore the island, meet back here later tonight!" Jack said happily. The next moment, they all jumped off the ship. Smoker and Robin went together, Nami, Nojiko and Tashigi went together, Kureha and Chopper went together as well, which wasn't all that surprising. Jack was the only one who went by himself other than Luke, but instead of going to kill someone, Jack went straight for Grove number 13, where Shakky's bar was. He was going to go and meet her, and hopefully meet Rayleigh, the second in command to the late pirate king, Gol D. Roger.

It didn't take him long before he found the place, it not being any particular hideout. He went in, took in the place, only seeing a few people being robbed by the owner of said bar, and an old man sitting at the bar itself. One look at the old man and Jack knew exactly who it was. 'Dark King Silvers Rayleigh' Jack thought internally as he walked towards the bar.

"I'd like a bottle of your finest Rum!" Jack said happily as he placed a stack of berries on the table, which got a raised brow from Rayleigh, and a smile from Shakky. "Coming right up!" She said happily as she threw the dead-beats out the door, then walked behind the counter.

"What's your name?" Shakky asked, looking Jack up and down. "The names Jack Sparrow, but please, just call me Jack." Jack answered knowingly, as he watched Shakky freeze in place. He knew very well she was a member of the Revolutionaries, and the fact that he told Dragon he was on his way here, there was no way he wouldn't have contacted her to let her know about him.

"I-is that s-so?" She stuttered out, getting a confused look from Rayleigh. "Haha, It would seem my reputation precedes me... What did that mysterious old bastard tell you about me?" Jack said, getting an even more confused glance from Rayleigh, who was starting to look annoyed at being left out of the loop.

"For one, you don't beat around the bush, which was spot on!" Shakky answered with a smile, gaining back some of her cool. "Why confuse things with more words than are required! It makes no sense to me. Anyway, I didn't come here to cause trouble. I actually just wanted to meet a living legend." Jack said as he turned to look at Rayleigh.

"It's an honor to meet you, Dark King Silver Rayleigh!" Jack said with a cheerful smile on his face as he extended a hand towards the old man. "You know me, but I got no idea who you are!" Rayleigh said, accepting the proffered hand.

"Jack D. Sparrow. Leader of East Blue, Head of the Adventurer's Association and master of the Dark Phoenix guild!" Jack said proudly, to which Rayleigh just c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. "I heard about the new ruler of East Blue thing, but I don't know about those other titles." Rayleigh said, turning his attention to Shakky.

For the next hour, Jack told Shakky and Rayleigh about guilds, the association, Shiki, the Warlords, Skypiea, and Enies Lobby, which got a few dark chuckles from Rayleigh. "When you do something, you sure don't do it half-assed!" Rayleigh said happily.

"Nope! I'm too messed in the head to even think about slacking on the finer things! Speaking of!" Jack said, the next moment pulling out three trays of the best food he had ever made, while also getting a few cakes. A few dozen crates of all sorts of alcohol appeared around him as well, much to the shock of Rayleigh and Shakky.

"Dragon sure wasn't kidding when he said you were an anomaly!!" Shakky said in awe. "Being normal sucks. I'd much rather be me!! Also, these crates are for you old man!" Jack said, gesturing to the crates around them. "Should last you a few days." Jack said, then dug into his food. "HAHAHA! I like you!" Rayleigh said as he too began digging into his own food.

"MMMmmm It's delicious!! Where did you get this?!!" Shakky asked as she tasted the food. "I'm glad you like it. I don't just cook for anyone ya know!" Jack said, getting a surprised look from Shakky. "You cook too!! Your lady must be very happy!" Shakky said, then shot a glance to Rayleigh. "How come you never cook for me?" She asked with a raised brow. "*Cough* *Cough* *Cough* WHAT?!" Rayleigh asked aghast, to which Shakky started laughing. "I'm just kidding!! You should see your face!" She said as she began to laugh once more.

After they had finished eating, Jack stood from his chair. "I should probably head out. I can already imagine the chaos that's going on right now thanks to my guild, and frankly it doesn't bode well for this island." Jack said as he stretched his back. "How bad do you think it is?" Rayleigh asked curiously, unsure as to how crazy this group actually was.

As if to answer his question, *BOOOOOMMMMM!!* A massive explosion rang out across the whole island. "*Sigh* About that bad." Jack answered calmly.