Chapter 3.5: Teague's Funeral
After the battle in the warehouse, Jack, the Turners, and Carina had to slip out the back door to not raise suspicion of the British navy. Not wanting to leave Teague's body, Jack convinced Will to help carry his father's corpse out, and they silently went back to their ship. Jack then instructed Gibbs to take them to Shipwreck Cove.
"Whatever for, Captain?" Gibbs asked, curious.
"I need to have a funeral… for my dad" Jack said softly, looking down at the deck.
"Alright, Jack, we'll go" Gibbs said, before turning to the crew. "All hands, full sail! We be heading to Shipwreck Cove!"
Once the Black Pearl arrived at the Cove, Jack was surprised that the entire Brethren Court had showed up. Apparently, news of Teague's death spread quickly across the Caribbean.
"Didn't think ye'd all come." Jack addressed the Court.
"We might've had our differences, but Teague was a good man. We've decided to honor the Keeper of the Code." Gentleman Jocard replied.
Eventually, the Court, the crews of every ship, and Jack got situated, and Jocard, acting as a priest, began the sermon.
"Everyone has a time to live, as well as a time to die. Edward Teague was a good man, and a good pirate. Was it his time to go? We may never have the answer. But what we do know is that he lived a good life, and his legacy will carry on." Jocard then paused, before asking, "Does anyone wish to have some final words?"
"I would," Jack immediately said, jumping up and taking the stand. "I never always liked my dad. Sometimes I thought he was cold. I thought at times that I barely knew him. But he was a good man in the end. A good man, good pirate… and a good father. And I swore to him that I would find the people who did this, and make them pay," Jack finished before leaving the stand.
"Anybody else?" Jocard asked, but nobody else had words to say. The funeral then ended, and the pirates left the Cove to bury Teague on a nearby sandbar. It seemed like it took hours, especially in the heat, but Teague was finally buried, resting in peace.
"I swear, I'll make Jones pay for this," Jack whispered. "Even if it kills me." Upon finishing the sentence, the funeral was over, and Jack, the Turners, and Carina sailed to Tortuga for the reception.
Originally, I thought this would take too much time to write, plus I didn't know how a pirate funeral would go. So I ended up just writing in that they put Teague's body on a ship and lit it on fire, like the Vikings did.
Chapter 4.5: The end of an era
"There's one thing I don't understand" Will said to Jack, while they were drinking their rum, mourning Teague. "How come the voodoo did not work? I know that the Queen Anne's Revenge was sailing at sea, but wouldn't the doll still work if it was inside the ship?"
"No, I don't think it works that way." Henry answered. "My guess is that the Trident broke all curses at sea- including the ones made on vessels at sea."
"Aye. And I noticed that the witch with Jones and Angelica didn't try to hex us," Jack added. "Guess that's a funny way of saying that by destroying the Trident, we've destroyed the magical elements of the sea. As Cutler Beckett once told me when we first witnessed a supernatural occurrence, the immaterial has become immaterial. Magic is dying."
"That also be why the zombies were actually able to be harmed," Elizabeth said, remembering their fight in the warehouse.
"Most likely," Jack replied, taking another swig of rum. "But that also means that we can't bring Teague or Hector back."
"Speaking of which, does your compass even work?" Carina asked. Fearing the worst, Jack pulled out his compass, and concentrated on what he wanted most, to be on his ship. Instead, the compass pointed in the opposite direction. Sparrow's compass would no longer lead to his desire, and would now be like a regular compass and point North. Sighing, Jack closed the compass and started thinking about what Jones was planning next.
This part, I came up with sometime after the story was published, but felt it was needed to explain why there aren't any supernatural elements in the story. I got this idea after rewatching Dead Men Tell No Tales, and thought that the Trident breaking was a sign that the magic and supernatural was dying.
Chapter 7.5: Jolly Roger's Return
"You'll find a way, Jack. You always do." Uncle Jack reassured his nephew.
"Thanks, Uncle, but- what was that?" Jack suddenly exclaimed, before the door to the warehouse was blown open. When the smoke cleared, in walked a man that Jack thought was long gone. The pirate wore a long, black trench coat, a commodore styled hat resting on his head, with playing cards sticking out of the top. He carried a large blunderbuss, with a huge bayonet attached to the underside, and had a broadsword in his other hand. But what most interested Jack was the donkey's leg that was supposed to be his left peg, and on his forehead was a scar that circled inwards.
"Jolly Roger?" Jack asked, frightened.
"Aye, Jack," Jolly Roger answered. "I too have returned when ye destroyed the Trident! And I haven't forgotten what ye did to me!"
Flashback:
"Well, Jack, it seems yer luck has run out." James "Jolly" Roger said smugly. He had invited Jack to a friendly game of poker, but secretly convinced the dealer, a witchdoctor, to ensure he would win every round. Now, Jack Sparrow had lost all his gold to Roger.
"I raise." Jack said, and pulling off the pendant from his bandanna, added, "I'm betting on my piece of eight."
James smirked, this was his plan from the start; to manipulate Jack into betting on his piece of eight so Roger would be pirate lord of the Caribbean sea.
"And now your luck has run out," James said, showing his cards were a two, three, four, five, and six, all of clubs. A straight flush. "Beat that, Sparrow!" However, without either of the two noticing, Jack had plucked an ace of hearts from his sleeve and inserted the card in his deck. When he laid his cards on the table, Roger was furious. Jack's cards included an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten, all hearts. A royal Flush.
"YOU BASTARD!" James roared, pulling out two pistols, one aimed at Jack, the other aimed at the dealer. "You said you would ensure my win!" Before the witch doctor could explain, Jack flipped the table over, scattering cards, gold, and rum. In the confusion, James fired his pistols in a blind rage. Once the chaos died, James surveyed the small ship they had played their game, only to discover that Jack Sparrow had fled, and he had taken his piece of eight.
"I had no part in what Sparrow planned." A voice said behind him. Turning, Roger saw the witch doctor, blood leaking out of his chest. "And now, for your greed, you will suffer by forever walking the Earth as an undead abomination." Upon that last curse, the doctor's body fell to the ground, dead. Suddenly, Roger felt as if his entire body was burning. For what seemed like hours, Roger stumbled about the ship, not able to walk right from the agonizing pain. When it was finally over. Roger looked into the water, and what was his reflection horrified him. His face had become a grinning skull, with a circle spiraling inward burned into the forehead. His right hand had been replaced with the blunderbuss he carried so often, and his other had been stripped of all flesh and blood as well, and his left leg had been replaced with that of a donkey's. Roger then felt a mixture of rage, pain, and then suddenly, emptiness. He would have his revenge on Jack Sparrow, and destroy anyone who stood in his way.
"And now, Jack, I've come to take everything from you, as you took everything from me!" Roger finished, before pulling out his sword and swinging wildly at Jack. Jack sidestepped and parried, but was suddenly knocked out from Roger slamming the rear of the blunderbuss into his face. Blood shooting out of his nose, Jack fell to the ground, losing consciousness. As he looked up, he saw Roger forcing Uncle Jack to walk out of the warehouse with him.
"No… Uncle Jack…" Sparrow started, but was on the brink of being unconscious.
"Oh don't worry, Jack," Jolly Roger said, turning back. "Jones doesn't want to kill him just yet. We're going to take him to where your adventure began, and then your legend will end!"
I wanted to add Jolly Roger in this, but I still wasn't sure if the Pirates Online video game was even canon to the franchise. Roger was also going to fight Will on Rumrunners, but for the same reason, it got switched to Maccus. Scrum also wouldn't have betrayed Jack if Jolly was kept in.
Chapter 8.5: The Origin of the Black Pearl
"You know Jack, I never asked" Will said to Jack, trying to pass time on their trip to Rumrunners. "Whatever caused you to become a pirate?" Jack sighed, before instructing Gibbs to take the wheel of the ship.
"It's a story I don't like reflecting on" Jack stated, "But since we have time, I don't see anything better to do."
Flashbacks:
'After I had defeated Salazar at the Devil's Triangle, I was approached by Cutler Beckett on the coast of West Africa. At the time, I thought he was an honest man, and we all know that I don't trust honest men.'
"Jack Sparrow, I presume." Beckett greeted the pirate.
"Cutler Beckett, commander of the East India Trading Company." Jack answered, returning the gesture. "To what do I owe this pleasure? Certainly not asking to join me crew?"
"Definitely not." Beckett replied impatiently. "I make it a point to not associate with pirates."
"Yet here you are, so what do you want?" Jack asked, impatient.
"I'd like you to perform a job for me, Jack. In return, I will grant you a pardon, and you will be a free man." Beckett informed Sparrow. "You are to deliver some precious cargo to England. In fact, my men have already stored it below deck, so you don't need to worry."
"And why can't ye do this yourself, mate? Surely your ship, the Sentinel, can complete this task." Jack remarked slyly.
"True. However, I need the cargo transported there as soon as able, and the Wicked Wench is one of the fastest ships in the Caribbean." Beckett retorted.
'Back then, I should've known what the "cargo" was. We in Africa, damn me! But I decided to pay it no mind, and begin sailing. Around half way to England, I started hearing whimpering below deck, even though the crew was all on deck.'
"Captain, do you hear something?" One of Jack's crewmembers asked.
"Aye, mate. Is that… is it coming from below deck?" Jack said, before adding, "And sounding like a small child?" Suddenly, the crying became more louder, and the entire crew stopped to hear it.
"Quick, ye scurvy sea rats! Make way below decks! We might be having a stowaway!" Jack shouted, before descending below in the cargo hold.
'I'd thought that someone had smuggled themselves onto my ship, and I was prepared to drop them off at the nearest spit of land. But I was never prepared for what I saw.'
Jack and a few crewmembers went below deck and went toward the cargo hold.
"Captain, look!" The first mate pointed. What Jack thought would be full of gold and jewels to deliver to England, he instead faced dozens of men, women, and children, shackled and cuffed, all native to Africa.
"My God…" Jack gasped.
'This was the cargo Beckett had tasked me to bring. Not gold, not jewels, but living people to be enslaved by the British. I've seen what slavery does to people, and some of the ones shackled on my ship looked nearly starved to death. One of them would become the pirate we know as Gentleman Jocard. So I decided to drop them off at a village at the tip of Africa, safe from the British.'
"I thank you on behalf of everyone here, Jack Sparrow." One of the slaves told Jack, extending his hand. "My name is Jocard, and I will forever be in your debt."
Jack shook Jocard's hand before replying, "No need, mate. I just need to find an island where ye'll be safe from the Company."
"But Captain, you heard what Beckett said!" The first mate protested. "He won't be in the friendliest of moods once he finds out about this!"
"Well, I don't give a damn what bloody mood he's in," Jack said, angered that he was convinced to carry people as slaves. "No one deserves to be enslaved against their will."
'About a week later, Beckett must've heard from someone, or he had a hunch, that I had freed the slaves on the Wicked Wench, and caught up with me. He then dragged me on board his ship to question me about the slaves. That day, I learned a valuable lesson: the price of freedom is high.'
As Jack was taken aboard the Sentinel, he was suddenly let go by the British officers holding him. Thinking he could flee, Jack smiled, only to feel searing pain across his back. The officer behind him swung a barbed whip again and again and after what seemed like an eternity of agonizing torture, Beckett confronted Sparrow.
"I thought I told you I wanted the cargo delivered to England as soon as able, Jack," Beckett sneered. "You looked below deck, didn't you?"
"People… Aren't… Cargo, mate." Jack said, spitting blood in Beckett's face. "I'll never tell you where they are."
Beckett took out a handkerchief and slowly wiped his face, before replying, "I believe you, Jack. Which is why I will do to you what would've happened to the slaves." He then gave a signal, and the officer with the whip resumed the lashes. After Jack was beaten within an inch of his life, Beckett ordered the beatings to stop. He then had two other officers stand Jack up, and reaching over, extended Jack's arm.
"Mr. Mercer, would you do the honors?" Beckett said, turning to a man in a black coat next to him.
"With pleasure, sir." Mercer replied, grabbing a steel rod with the burning brand shaped like the letter "P". As Mercer got closer, Jack began to squirm, trying to free himself of being branded. Mercer then smirked, then pressed the brand into Jack's skin as Jack screamed from the agonizing burn.
'It's how I got this' Jack muttered, lifting his sleeve to show Will the still visible "P" brand on his arm. 'And it was on that day I lost one ship… but gained another.'
"Mercer, order the men to send the Wench to the bottom of the sea." Beckett said, smiling cruelly.
"NO!" Jack protested, but then regained control. "I mean… she's just a ship. Are you going to do that just to get to me?"
"She's not 'just a ship', at least not to you." Beckett replied coldly. "And yes, that is precisely what I'm going to do."
"FIRE!" Mercer shouted, and the Sentinel blasted the Wicked Wench's hull, sending the ship in flames, charring the hull black, and it's crew dead or dying from the cannon fire.
"No…" Jack said, watching his beloved ship go down. Upon hearing the cocking of pistols, Jack slowly turned around to find both Beckett and Mercer pointing their pistols at him.
"Try to swim to her, Jack, and you will be shot." Beckett warned, aiming his pistol at Jack's heart.
"A captain also goes down with his ship." Jack retorted, before turning and jumping off the deck toward his ship.
'Just as I reached the Wench, I heard two shots ring out, followed by the searing pain of being struck in the chest by the pistols' shot, blood dripping out of my mouth and chest and mixing with the sea. The wounds, mixed with the burns from being too close to the ship, I was dying, and I felt myself being dragged into Davy Jones' locker. On the verge of death, I summoned Davy Jones, and struck a deal with him.'
"You are dying, Jack Sparrow. What is it you want?" Jones asked, upon finding Jack.
"I propose to make a deal. You raise my beloved ship back above waters let me captain it, and in exchange, you can have my soul. Savvy?" Jack offered.
"And how long do ye think you should be captain, to make the deal fair?" Jones inquired.
"Hmm… let's say, twenty years?" Jack began.
"Only five years!" Jones told him.
"Fifteen!"
"Ten!"
"Thirteen!" Jack finished, before adding, "I'll also have an eternity of service to you." Jones thought this over, before exclaiming, "Done!" and raised the Wench from the depths. Jack was soon brought back to the world of the living, and landed in the water right next to his ship. However, upon inspection, the Wicked Wench had been permanently charred black from Beckett's cannons, and the sails were also colored black.
"I renamed the ship the Black Pearl soon after," Jack finished, before turning to Will and Elizabeth. "You see, back when I told you that the Black Pearl was more than a ship, that it was… freedom. I wasn't lying, nor was that just a drunken ramble. Because to me, this ship truly symbolizes freedom, and is a reminder to me that sometimes, good deeds are punished for." Jack then looked ahead, seeing they were nearing the Dutchman. "And here's where the tale ends."
This scene was also thought up after the story was published. I recently watched some of the deleted scenes from At World's End, and the one with Jack and Beckett discussing Jack's past gave me the idea to go into detail what happened, as well as detailing the torture Beckett put Jack through. Most of scenes from the flashbacks took inspiration from the book "The Price of Freedom", which also detailed how the Wicked Wench became the Black Pearl.
Alternate Ending: Jack visits Teague's grave
"I know that I promised you I'd avenge your death, Dad," Jack began. "But I still felt as if I'd lost one of the most important women in my life." A week after the wedding, Jack visited Teague's grave on Shipwreck Island, alone, hoping to find peace.
"You were always a better man than I was, Dad," Jack continued. "And truth be told, I always thought ye'd live forever, that ye were too stubborn to die. At least ye died a good man, and a better pirate." Jack then paused for a minute, allowing his words to sink in, and then kneeling, he took his trinket off the bandana he wore and laid it on Teague's grave. He then placed his mother's shrunken head next to the trinket, saying, "She was always supposed to be with you, even in death. Goodbye Dad." Jack then stood up and left, heading towards the Black Pearl as the day was ending.
This was going to be the original ending to the story, but then I decided to have the wedding take place, for more of a happier ending. It was also going to be the post credits scene, but I think it would've been a better end to Jack's story to show him as older and wiser, sort of taking his father's place. Plus, after writing this scene, it felt too much like the ending to Logan.