Author's note:

I don't know if these author notes even allowed in stories anymore as I have not been on in forever so forgive me if I am breaking any new rules and all that stuff. First thing to announce; I have decided to completely revamp this series including some of the characters inside! I am unsure if any of the old members who used to read this story are still active but just in case, I am going to leave their participation in this fic alone.

Second, the only other new character I am going to introduce regrettably takes over Corie's part so I am sorry if any of you had gotten attached to Corie (don't worry, we're still friends so it isn't anything like that), but I do not see the point in trying to revamp a story if the best friend's role doesn't involve the best friend I currently have now. You will learn more about who is taking Corie's role in the following chapter.

Last, wish me luck! It has been a while since I attempted to write anything like this so I may be out of practice writing in the public eye. If there are any suggestions, I would gladly listen to them. Unless they're rants or flames, you can keep that stuff to yourself, thanks!

Disclaimer: As much as I like to claim I am an adult and own things, I do not own anything recognizable in this story; Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the BlackPearl and all related publications, characters, information, names, and other elements associated thereto are the sole and exclusive property of Walt Disney Pictures, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and First Mate Productions Inc.

"So here we are!" I exclaimed, lifting both my arms to show case the contraption behind me. My best friend just stared at me with an expression that read that she has seen it all and considering the situations we get ourselves into, she might as well have. "This time machine will successfully bring us back to the age of pirates and from there I can hope to gather authentic details about said pirates and ace this research essay!"

"I don't see why you don't try to use regular textbooks like normal people," Dottie Dreadful told me with her hands on her hips. "There is this thing called the Internet and you can have all the information you need literally at your fingertips."

"Yeah, but what's more exciting? Actual pirates or textbook pirates?" I asked, dancing around in place. I was actually really excited to try this out but I didn't want to go through this experience alone. What better person to ask but my best friend whom I consider my blood? I didn't give her a chance to reply before shoving her into the boxed shaped time machine and shutting the door behind us.

"There is almost anything I would do for you considering that you are my best friend," Dottie was saying but I could hardly hear her over the noises of the whirring machine we were stuck in. I had begun to push buttons. "But this has got to be the most ridiculous request I've gotten in a long time not to mention impossible. Why are we in a box?"

I was reaching up for a long piece of rope in our so-called box before casting a glance at my best friend. Grinning, I didn't reply but just pulled the string. Immediately following afterwards, the box started to shake and rumble causing the both of us to lose our balance momentarily.

"Are you seriously attempting on taking us back in time?" Dot asked as her back pressed against one of the corners in the box. She was desperately trying to keep her balance yet the more the box rumbled and shook, the more her grip would slip and she would fall back down.

I, on the otherhand, at least remembered to ask for some handle bars.

"Are you kidding me?" Dot asked, giving me a deadpanned expression.

"What?" I asked, feigning innocence.

"You should have built in seatbelts or something at the very least."

"Oh, I didn't build this."

There was a slight lapse of silence before Dot replied, "Before I ask by whom, I have to tell you that this does not give me all the confidence in the world that where ever we're going—"

"Don't you mean "whenever" we're going?"

"Oh my god, don't you start." Dot snapped. "That where ever we're going, we are going to land safely even taking into consideration that this thing is going to actually take us back in time."

"Oh, we will go back in time. I know it works." I replied, quite confident. After all, I had a really reliable person make it for me. "Remember Corie?"

Dot squinted. "I vaguely remember you talking about her back in your "glory" days as you like to fondly recall."

"Well, she is a very talented individual and created this time machine for us to use just for this occasion."

"You do know that no so-called claimed "time machines" have ever worked, right? In the whole history of mankind, there have been no working time machines, ever. So we're basically in a death trap."

"It wouldn't be rumbling if it didn't work."

"It's rumbling because it's going to kill us." Dot paused for a moment as if realizing something, "Wait a minute, what do you mean just for this occasion? Did she just throw together gadgets in a box and pass it off as a time machine?"

"Corie wouldn't do that," I frowned. "There's no way, right?"

"There is no way I would know something like that and it doesn't sound too reassuring."

"Okay, so it has been a while since I have spoken to Corie and yes, she was surprised when I asked her for a working time machine but she wouldn't purposely put us in danger."

"At least she didn't give you jump cables strapped to a battery and told you to clamp them to your nipples. Then you and I would have had some words."

"What're you talking about? That was the first prototype."

"You're kidding right? I hope you at least know how to drive this thing."

"Corie gave me instructions for the most part; I mean the first part is simple. I input a date and press this button. Then she wrote that she managed to make sure it has a lock on it so we're not left behind in any time we visit without a key. Sort of like a failsafe?" I held up the key in my hand, a long charm of butterflies and Smarties candy dangling off at the end. I wouldn't be able to lose this thing. "So if anyone tried to take it, they wouldn't be able to open it."

"I'm still concerned about you being able to control it."

"Hey look!" I said, bringing up a sack. "Corie also packed us other things to use in our adventure! This way, I'm sure to get a good grade on my research assignment!"

Dot quirked a brow, "I don't see why you couldn't do it like a normal person. But if this thing works, I'd be glad you took me along."

"I'd be glad if this thing worked, too…" I trailed off and focused on trying to drive the time machine. Honestly, there was just a button in the middle to turn the thing on and off and then the rope. But soon enough the whirring and tinkering sounds started to slow; even the rumbling and shaking happened to cease after a while. Soon, there was nothing but silence enveloping the both of us. Dot and I exchanged glances before she finally said something.

"…Are we done? Did... did we go back into time?"

"I think so. Do you hear anything out of the ordinary?"

Dot gave me another deadpanned expression, "Like what; the sound of time being old? What exactly am I supposed to be listening for?"

"I don't know," I admitted but she did have a point. Taking into consideration that the time machine did work, we should be back in the 18th century but even still, I wouldn't know what we would be listening for. "Okay, I'm going to take a peek outside to see if we're anywhere old."

Dot nodded and I felt around the box for a while until I realized something. There was no exit. Not wanting to cause any alarm, I cleared my throat and searched around again, just in case I missed something. However, Dot didn't miss my second and third roundabout the box before realizing herself that something was off.

"There's no exit, is there?"

"I'm sure there is!" I told her, laughing albeit nervously. "It has got to be around here somewhere…"

Dot joined in helping me look for an exit. "Is this Corie's idea of a joke?"

I paused from feeling up a wall, "…I wouldn't put it past her. That does sound like something she would pull."

"Well, that's perfect. We're stuck in a box and if the time machine worked, we're stuck in a time we don't belong in." Dot sighed, starting to lean against the wall she was feeling. There was a slight beep after her actions and I turned around after hearing it just in time to catch Dot, wide-eyed, falling outside. Quickly following after her, I leaned outside to make sure she was okay. She was lying on her back, staring up at the sky.

"Are you okay?" I asked, extending my hand to help her off the ground. She did take it and lifting her up, I watched as she began to pat herself down.

"Thanks," she told me and I nodded. "Hey, did you happen to see where we are?" she asked. I shook my head and began to look around. My eyes widened as I spotted dock all around us; a dock that was not there before. In fact, we were actually in my front yard when we decided to put this time machine to the test. Whatever happened while we were in the time machine, it apparently worked!

"Are we really… did we really jump back in time?" Dot asked, looking around herself. I didn't really answer her as I had remembered about the sack of materials Corie had given to me and decided I better grab it before the time machine closed. There was a handle on the outside but there was no telling if it would have broken off during the ride. But just to make sure, I double-checked to see if the handle was still on the time machine and it was!

"At least the time machine seems intact," I told her, peering out from inside the box. I also brought my hand out, extending the sack of gifts. "And I got our stuff!"

"What did she pack for us anyways?" Dot asked.

I drew a blank because I never did really consider looking into the bag. I just took it without question when I took the time machine; I was just excited about the prospect of going back into time and interviewing real pirates. "Uh, I'm hoping food because all I brought was a tape recorder and a notebook for notes."

"I'm hoping food too." Dot uttered under her breath.

"Well! We'll figure everything out when we get there." I grinned, shutting the door to the time machine and making sure it was locked; after all, I didn't want anybody getting into it even if I held the key.

"Where do we start?" Dot asked, "And it can't be really safe asking a bunch of blood thirsty pirates so I hope you have a plan on getting your information."

I gave Dot a blank expression. Honestly, in all the excitement of thinking of pirates and swinging around swords and plundering booty, I hadn't thought about the very real dangers they may possess. She had a very real point of saying that as it kind of harshly brought me back down to earth, so to speak. Not to mention we probably look way out of place with our clothes; more so Dot and her fashion choices. Speaking of, I gave Dot a once over.

"What?" she asked, very suspiciously.

"It's just… what you said got me thinking." I said very slowly. "Our clothes…"

Dot looked down at herself, "What? I look fantastic."

Honestly, she did. I had always admired her choice in clothing; she was a wild card, though. One day she could be sporting the greatest filthhawk ever with fishnecks, stockings and showing off her extensive collection of tattoos but the next day she can be dressed down in a hoodie and tights just to be comfortable. While we both wore comfortable clothes for this endeavor (for that I was thankful because try explaining that look to people way out of the times), we still stuck out like a sore thumb. Dot had a long tee with tights underneath as she always wore tights. I had a long shirt too however mine was flannel; still pretty strange considering people were in long dresses, breeches and wigs.

"It'll be okay," Dot reassured me. "If anything, we can probably borrow a couple of things to fit in."

"Good point."

"Yep. Now where do we start?" She asked, glancing around. It was an incredible sight with all these ships docked and in the distance coupled with the bustling of people walking past us. All this had momentarily made me forgot about our surroundings. Of course, we were being stared at but no one tried to approach us. That was a good sign, right?

"Uh, I guess we should get off the dock." I said, throwing the sack over my shoulder. Gesturing ahead with a nod, I suggested a direction. "How about there?" We didn't seem to get very far before somebody stepped out from a podium and stopped us. Dot and I exchanged glances, wondering what he was going to say.

"Pardon me, uh…." The man seemed to do a once over as if seeing us for the first time. "ladies… but it is a shilling to tie your…" trailing off, the man looks behind us at our time machine.

"Box." Dot told him.

"Er, box." He nodded and continued, "It is a shilling to tie your box at the dock and I shall need to know your name." he pauses and after a slight moment of silence amends, "Uh, names."

Now right there something struck me as odd because I could have sworn I heard this line before. But Dot didn't really seem to notice because she was digging around in her pockets with a frown on her face, "I don't think I have a shilling… I don't even know what that is, honestly. Is that like a penny? I think I have a penny."

Snapping out of my thought, I looked at Dot and shook my head, "I don't have any money on me at all, actually. I didn't think it would apply to this timeline."

Thank god the dockmaster dude was pretty patient because we surely took our time searching our body for something suitable.

"What about the sack Corie gave you?" Dot asked, nodding over with her head.

"Oh yeah!" Reaching around, I pulled the sack from over my shoulder and stuck my hand inside. I pulled out the first thing I grabbed which just so happens to be a camera. I stared at it with a blank expression on my face.

"Is that a camera?" Dot asked.

"Yeah, I guess. Well, I can see her reasoning for packing this but this isn't going to help us right now…" I laughed nervously, trying to stuff it back into the sack before the dockmaster could see it. I didn't want to have to explain what this thing was but as I was slipping it back into the sack, it hit the mouth of the sack the wrong way and toppled to the ground. Immediately after, a loud BOUF echoed in our ears and our vision was soon clouded with smoke.

Coughing and choking through the smoke, I felt myself being pulled away from the scene.

"Are you alright?" I hear and it's Dot, pulling me along as she's running. I nodded since I couldn't really speak from all the coughing and I don't think she can see the gesture. I could hardly see anything as my eyes were still stinging. Squinting out ahead of me, I can barely make out the blur of people and buildings we were passing.

"Where are we going?" I managed to choke out, the last of my coughing finally ceasing.

"Far away from that guy, that's all I know." Dot told me, finally slowing down. "I don't have money and neither do you. I don't want to be thrown in jail for this crap. It's a damn good thing that camera blew up."

"Oh god," I muttered while wiping my eyes. "Now I know why this is familiar." Just glancing around at the sights and the busy bustle of the day, it came to me why this scene is familiar because I must have seen it a hundred times.

"Why?" Dot asked, "Do you know where we are?"

"You do too," I told her and it wasn't hard to miss the puzzled look on her face. "It's Port Royal."