"Jack Sparrow, asleep in his own filth. Wake up, sailor!"
"For God's sake man, wake the bloody hell up!"
A sleep-drunk Jack Sparrow rubbed his eyes after being so rudely awakened by a group of navy officers, he'd been bound on a quest for a crew and it had led him to London. On the night before he came across a local pub where the stench of rum was all but forgettable and when challenged to a drinking game by other pirates he eventually fell asleep drunk after he had won. They tossed his body in the alley behind the pub right in a puddle of mud and there he stayed until the Royal Navy found him and they recognized his face, he'd been wanted by the British Empire for his impressive record of crimes.
"Jack Sparrow, for crimes you have committed against the British Empire I hereby arrest you," Lieutenant Wallace said as he poked Jack with the tip of his bayonet's blade.
"Bugger off," Jack murmured with a mouth as dry as cotton. His eyes itched and he had trouble keeping them open, although the cold puddle underneath his back did wonders for his slumber-ish state of mind.
The other navy officers stood guard as they held a permanent fix on Jack with their muskets. Lieutenant Wallace began to lose his patience with Jack's inability to properly stand up or even respond and so he ordered his men with a simple nod to grab the pirate. They grabbed Jack by his arms and pulled him up as his hat slid forward and almost fell over his eyes. His arms were tightly gripped as they forced him to stand and thus he did but the manner in which he stood was all but normal as his legs continued to shake and wobble. A navy officer extended his hand as he wanted to grab Jack's compass that hung from his brown leather belt.
"Oi! That's mine, no touching unless you're willing to face almost certain death," Jack said, his words somewhat slurred. There would be no possible escape this time not with this many navy officers to prevent it.
"Certain death? I think not as you'll be the one facing the hangman's rope. You will not escape this time, Sparrow," the navy officer replied as he ripped the compass from Jack's belt and showed no concern for the threats Jack had issued.
"I'll be gettin' that back, mate. Count on that," Jack said as he smiled bodly while they tugged at his arms to remind him to stay quiet.
"Take this scum to the carriage, we'll seal his fate," Lieutenant Wallace commanded and his officers did as they were told and Jack was dragged through the alley and thrown into the back of the carriage.
Three of the navy officers got in with him while the rest acompanied the carriage by walking next to it. Lieutenant Wallace had no intention of joining Jack in the prison wagon as he despised pirates more than most, he had good reason to despise them. When Wallace Crockshaw was a boy he saw his parents get murdered by a gang of pirates and he survived as he hid underneath his bed. In his career as a Royal Navy officer he has been responsible for the deaths of over 30 pirates and this led him to become a lieutenant as reward for his services. Meanwhile inside the carriage, the navy officer who had taken Jack's compass studied it closely and he shook it several times as he stared at it with an unimpressed gaze.
"This is the legendary compass of Jack Sparrow? So far I'm not impressed, what exactly is so special about it?"the navy officer asked as he shook it again much to Jack's frustration.
"Mate, first of all there should be a captain somewhere in that. Captain Jack Sparrow, savvy? And secondly that compass is only special when you know how to use it. And clearly you do not," Jack said as he placed his arms behind his head and leaned backwards against the wooden wall.
They had no chains put on his person as they imagined that not even Jack Sparrow would be so stupid as to try and escape with this many Royal Navy officers around him. He won't be given a trial as King George II had given the order to hang any pirates they find without the right to a fair trial. The war on pirates had never been so violent as it was now, all across the Caribbean seas the Royal Navy had been hunting for pirate ships and they've sunk quite a lot in the past six months but the Black Pearl remains unharmed. Jack managed to escape capture many times over but his love for rum had gotten him in trouble before and it has done so yet again.
"You lot seem like proper gentlemen, what say you to a proposal of money, eh? I'm willing to offer any of you who will let me go free, a very big chest filled with gold coins. I have it on me ship, let me go and I shall take whoever releases me directly to it," Jack said as he tried to sound as honest as possible.
"You're out of your mind, Sparrow. We accept no gold from you and the only release you'll find is the sweet release of death," said one of the three navy officers as all three chuckled at Jack's doomed fate.
"Bugger," Jack mumbled as he saw no immediate chance of escaping his date with the hangman's noose.
The weather in London was gritty as darkened clouds gathered above and rain would soon fall, a setting that seemed fit for what was destined to happen. Two horses pulled the carriage and their footsteps echoed through the streets as people stood outside their houses in order to catch a glimpse of the pirate they've captured. Lieutenant Wallace took pleasure in knowing that he would see Jack Sparrow hang in only a matter of minutes as they were about to reach the prison where in execution courtyard Jack would be hung.
"Today will be the day when we finally hang that bastard pirate. He evaded capture for so long, but not even Sparrow can escape death," said Lieutenant Wallace proudly to the officers who walked behind him.
"Indeed, sir. Finally!" one of the other officers replied almost immediately.
The large metal gates of the prison opened as the carriage was led inside and it was escorted to the courtyard where the noose was being prepared already. The carriage stopped and the back doors were opened as the three officers who sat inside came out first and with their muskets aimed at Jack, he made his way out of the wagon as well. They had removed Jack's belt entirely during the ride and they had left his belongings inside. With his hands behind his back, his demeanor seemingly rum-provoked, he very slowly walked toward the platform where the hangman awaited his arrival.
"You know I always fancied becomin' a member of the Royal Guard meself one day. You always wear such nice hats," Jack mocked as he made his way up the steps with Lieutenant Wallace walking behind him. He showed little fear for what was about to happen, a fact that annoyed the lieutenant greatly.
"Joke all you want, these will be the last words you will ever speak," Lieutenant Wallace said with an almost sadistic tone to his voice.
People had gathered outside the open gates of the prison and at the lieutenant's request they were allowed to enter the courtyard and see the hanging of Captain Jack Sparrow. They talked amongst themselves as most of them recognized Jack and some were glad that he would be hung today while others weren't as happy to see him go. Jack stood before the noose and it was placed around his neck while the lieutenant turned and faced Jack with a proud gaze and crossed his arms.
"Jack Sparrow, have you anything to say before you die? Any last words from the great scumbag pirate," teased Wallace as he turned toward the people and raised his hand up. When his hand would lower it would be a signal to execute Jack, although Jack never once looked at the lieutenant instead he kept his eyes focused on the crowd.
"His name is Captain Jack Sparrow!" said a voice coming from the crowd.
The people parted so that they could see who it was that spoke and much to Jack's amusement it was Gibbs, Joshamee Gibbs. An old and loyal friend of Jack's, he stood in the centre of the crowd with a pair of pistols at the ready. Gibbs aimed his pistols at Lieutenant Wallace but naturally the old pirate was outnumbered as there were far too many navy officers and so very few pirates, a total of two pirates actually.
"Gibbs, ye old rum lovin' bugger! You're a sight for sore eyes," Jack exclaimed with a grin on his face.
"Shut up!" said Lieutenant Wallace furiously. "Kill the pirate."
The Royal Navy officers aimed their muskets, bayonets, and rifles at Gibbs and the old pirate swallowed at the sight of it.
"Wait!" Jack yelled, surprising everyone. "I do believe I've thought of me last words to say. Bouncing Willy."
Gibbs nodded and shifted his aim toward the gunpowder kegs near the back of the courtyard. He fired both pistols and hit at least two of the four kegs and the explosion was so big that it shattered a wall almost completely and allowing for several prisoners to escape. The crowd panicked at the sight of the explosion and the prisoners who were running toward them, the navy officers began to fire but most missed their shot because they were pushed aside by the massive crowd of people trying to get out. Jack meanwhile kicked the hangman off of the raised platform and removed the noose from his neck but now stood face to face with the lieutenant. With his rapier sword drawn and pointed at Jack's chest, Lieutenant Wallace narrowed his eyes and made sure Jack wouldn't escape his fate.
"I'll kill you myself, you won't get away!" he said as he gripped his sword tightly.
"You forget one thing, mate. I'm Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack said as he stomped his foot down forcefully on one of the planks on the platform. It shot up and made the lieutenant lose his footing as he had to dodge the rising plank and this gave Jack a chance to attack.
Jack punched Wallace across the face and quickly made his way down the steps in order to meet up with Gibbs. The lieutenant had a bloody nose but got up to his feet sooner than Jack had thought and he was already in pursuit. The plank Jack stepped on was one he noticed when he was escorted up the steps and he could feel it move underneath his shoe as he stepped on it. Jack and Gibbs met up and both made a run for it as they disappeared in the crowd but were quickly spotted by two navy officers. With Lieutenant Wallace in hot pursuit, Jack and Gibbs managed to make their way on to the street after having knocked out the navy officers that stood in their way.
"Jack, what do we do now?" Gibbs asked as sweat ran down his forehead.
"We go back. I gotta collect me effects," Jack said as he just remembered that his belt along with his sword and pistol where still in the back of that carriage. And he had to get his compass back from that one navy officer who took it from him.
"Yer a fool for goin' back there, cap'n. But let's get on with it," Gibbs replied as he shook his head and smiled.
"You're both going to die!" Lieutenant Wallace said as he appeared out of the crowd as he'd followed them out. With a sword and pistol at the ready, Wallace stood in front of the open prison gate and Jack noticed that he still had a bloody nose.