Chapter 1 "Where is My Ship?"
"Every ending is a new beginning and everything that begins must end..."
On a deserted island, three people were sleeping, not a single one aware of how suddenly their worlds and destinies were about to change.
The oldest was a man that stank of rum and sweat. He had a dark, trimmed beard and dreadlocks- with many beads and assorted trinkets woven into it. A triple-cornered hat was upon his head- tilted- so as to obscure his vision were he awake. On his chest sat a small compass, the dial spun about madly, as though it could not decide which way to point. His clothing is dirty, but well-kept. A fair-sized coat draped over most of his body. He might've just been lying down to take a nap himself were it not for his strange companions.
A nearby young man slumbers, the water washing around his body as he is lying in the shallows- as if the sea itself had tossed him there. He clutches a small pen in one of his hands- the water seeming to be pushing it farther into the limp fingers in an attempt to keep it with him. He was of darker skin and hair, just like the man, though he smelled only of the sea- not rum. A simple orange t-shirt and blue jeans were his apparel, they fit him well and revealed a muscular build on his arms.
The last member of the unlikely trio was another young man, though he appeared older than his other youthful counterpart. A pair of dual swords were sheathed at his side and a red headband helped restrain his brown hair. A curious orb was engraved into one of his hands- a dark red light glinted within when the light struck it just so. A small strip of metal glistened across his chest underneath his vest, a breastplate, small- but sturdy. Unlike the other two he did not wear a full pair of pants; instead, his legs were covered in a pair of red shorts.
In their sleep, they were at peace, for they knew not what had happened. This quickly changed when all three woke up simultaneously. The two young men sprang to their feet quickly- the younger's pen growing quickly to become a glowing bronze sword while the other youngster drew both of his blades and pointed them back at his adversary. Both froze as they heard the cocking mechanism of flintlock pistols- mutually turning their heads to look at the man who had risen far slower than either of them. Despite his hat still being draped over his eyes- his pistols were pointed dead-on target- one at each boy's head. The man with the hat spoke first, a curious tinge to his voice as he questioned his predicament.
"So- what have we here?" The man twitched his head, causing his hat to fall from his face, revealing a red bandanna and what appeared to be eye shadow surrounding his eyes. A few gold teeth twinkled in the light as he continued speaking. "On the one hand," he gestured with his left hand, at the boy with the glowing sword. "I've got a boy with a sword where before now- there was no sword." He then gestured with his right, "And on the other- I've got a lad who frankly has no sense of fashion whatsoever." He frowned at the young man on the left, as though his clothing genuinely hurt his eyes. "And despite the both of you being extremely odd (Probably eunuchs, the both of you) I can't help but notice something is missing from this little bit of camaraderie." The man's voice had been relatively cheerful during this exchange- but it escalated as he screamed the following line. "WHERE IS MY SHIP GONE?!" He shook his pistols at the kids, one after the other. "Ey?! Ey?! Where is it-"
A flash of bronze and steel was all he saw as the man found his pistols dashed from his hands- both of the youths had disarmed the pistols pointed at them and held their blades next to the man's head. The youngest one spoke first.
"I'm Percy Jackson- glad to see your drunken butt is too slow to keep up. Now let's talk about who you are."
The man had both of his hands raised up in a 'surrender' position. "I'm Captain Jack Sparrow my boy- perhaps you've heard of me?" Percy shook his head, looking at the other youth, who said nothing but likewise shook his head. Jack looked indignant. "Honestly- what do they teach you kids nowadays?"
"Nowadays?" Percy looked up and down at Jack. "What year do you think this is?"
Jack looked puzzled as he thought about it. "Erm... well... I would assume it's..."
Percy was stumped, shoulders slumping in disbelief, "Do you really not know?"
In the instant Percy's guard dropped, Jack drew his saber and knocked both weapons from his shoulders before backing away, saber at the ready. "Aha. 1750 as I recall- Mr. Jackson." Jack bowed low, grabbing his compass and stuffing it into his coat. "Good name- Jackson. Reminds me of a dashing pirate I once knew." Jack smacked the compass a few times to get the sand out of it. He looked at it briefly before eying the other boy. "Speaking of pirates- you may not dress as well as one but I recognize a pirate when I see one- who are you?"
"Lazlo En Kuldes." the response was brief. Lazlo kept both of his swords at his side, though neither was pointing towards his companions, he seemed the most relaxed of the three. Percy tried getting a better look at Lazlo's hand but, either on purpose or accident, Lazlo shifted his arm so Percy couldn't see the part that held the orb.
"Well it has been a pleasure threatening and being threatened by you two. However- it appears I have a ship to find. Farewell. Grow into old men. Die as old men. Leave me alone." Jack opened his compass to gaze at it before walking right between Percy and Lazlo making a 'shoo' motion with his hand as he dd so. "Oi- oi- outa the way." Jack passed them, mumbling to himself as he looked at the compass.
Percy turned to Lazlo, noting his eyes were looking directly as Riptide. "Since you two can see my sword- I'm guessing you're demigods?"
Lazlo shook his head, it seemed to be his favorite movement. "I'm no demigod. Maybe it's the rune..." Lazlo turned his wrist over- looking at the jewel embedded in it. Percy was surprised to see it wasn't just tucked into the glove- it looked like it actually was a part of Lazlo.
"Let me guess- no memory of how you ended up here?" Percy was fairly sure he knew what was coming as Lazlo shook his head for a third time. "Argh this is getting so old- I did the whole I-forgot-how-I-got-here thing before- it sucks!" Percy kicked at the sand in frustration. As he did so his spirits sank even further. "I don't have any way of calling anyone either. No phone, no coins, nothing." He looked over at Lazlo in surprise as Lazlo sheathed both of his swords and walked over to a nearby palm tree that hung almost horizontal to the ground. He easily hopped onto it and laid back, as though he didn't have a care in the world. Percy walked over and lightly smacked the tree. "Do you know where we are or are you just really laid-back?"
Lazlo responded with more than a head shake, progress, so far as Percy was concerned anyways. "No- but I've been stranded on an island before- I got out of it. We don't even know if it's deserted- there could be a village anywhere on the island and we won't know till we look for it. There's got to be something here- why would the three of us just wind up an entirely empty island?"
"OI!" Both boys turned to look as Jack came sprinting around the edge of the trees near them- a massive swarm of dark creatures racing behind him. Percy turned and looked at Lazlo.
"Time to go, now?"
"Time to go, now."
Jack barely slowed as he passed, only slightly decreasing in speed to grab his hat as he moved past it. The boys both took off after him as the wave of enemies began to close the gap. Percy took a brief look over his shoulder as he ran- his ADHD rapidly noting exactly what was chasing them. He had no idea what they were.
It was like they were flat- the little black creatures were almost two-dimensional as thousands of the things scurried alone. Yellow eyes glowed in the pool- enough that Percy was fairly sure 'thousands' was underselling them by a lot. He increased his speed until he drew level with Jack.
"So," running, panting, running, "are those yours?"
Jack had his turn at a good head shake this time, "Nope- not mine!" Suddenly the pirate pointed forwards. "THAT is mine!"
A large and dark ship was in the shallows just off of a spurn of the island beach. The wood was dark and the sails hung black- it was an ominous ship. It also looked 100% empty. Percy yelled at Jack, glancing to the side to see Lazlo was easily keeping pace with the two of them. "If we can get to that- I can get us out of here!"
Jack needed no encouragement, jumping onto a rope and climbing onto the ship like his life depending on it. Which to be fair, Percy thought, it does. Percy himself jumped into the water- willing a spout to throw him up onto the deck of the ship. Lazlo hadn't even climbed like Jack- he'd just jumped onto the edge of the ship and hauled himself on board. Jack was running around and grabbing ropes. Percy took a step forwards and pushed him away before yelling at the ship.
"Set sail!"
His powers as the son of Poseidon still worked- the mechanisms and ropes of the ship all sprang into action as the galleon lurched away from the island- sails up and anchor away. Jack took a moment to lean over the side of the ship and taunt their pursuers.
"Farewell my little darlings- you shall remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!" at his words the swarm veritably boiled before they all merged together into a massive creature- as tall as the titans Percy had faced. A great black scarf hung around its neck and it had a giant heart-shaped hole in its chest. It took a step out into the water- reaching out towards the ship as dark energy began swirling around its hand.
There was a screaming noise as a beam of crimson light fired past Percy- it had come from Lazlo! The red blast dug deeply into the creature- slicing into its body before exploding in a massive ball of energy. Percy gave a sigh of relief as the remnants of the shadow-things began to disappear under the sunlight. Jack shouted from the wheel of the ship.
"Good work lads- always knew you had it in you!"
"What do you mean?" Percy turned with a yelp as he heard a new voice coming from the captain's cabin. An old man with grey robes was walking out of it, leaning on a gnarled staff. "Do you mean it was a good work, or that is was simply work that was good; or do you mean the work made you feel good; or is it something else entirely?"
Author's note:
Hi guys/girls/attack helicopters- don't worry- the original Ultimate Crossover and all of my other stories are still being worked on! But I've wanted to get this part of UC2 written down and posted for a long time. There's plenty of adventure and storytelling to go around- and a lot more to that universe than meets the eye.
I haven't forgotten you! It's just I got a new job (2nd shift) and my main computer broke until I can afford to replace it. So I've slowed down a lot so far as that area goes. But again- everything is still ongoing- I'll finish these stories yet!