A/N: Last chapter of Port Royal, you'll probably see the most similarities to Dead Man's chest in this chapter, especially near the end. Also, I'd like to note the text formatting I'm using essentially from here on out:

Italics: Thoughts, most likely Sora's thoughts.

"Italics in Quotation Marks.": A ghostly or otherwise not-quite-there being.

Bold: Most often in quotes, it's a memory of Sora's (might also be the title of a chapter, but that's a matter of context)

Bold and Italics: Date/location

I really don't care that it's not very professional to use specific formatting methods for different speakers, but this is a site for fan-fiction. Nobody comes on here expecting a whole lot of professionalism.

Last we saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy, Captain Jack Sparrow had betrayed them?

Chapter 13: Pirate

Captain Jack scampered away like a rat.

"Huh," said Vanity playfully, turning the magical compass over in her hand. "What was that about him being your friend? What a poisonous friend, he is."

Jack…he's gotta be planning something, right? Setting her up to let us take her down, he swoops down out of nowhere and attacks alongside us…right? "Vanity…"

"Hmph." She flicked open the lid of the compass, and watched it curiously as the needle swung about. "Point me in the direction of my heart's greatest desire? Well, that would be to serve my Lord Regret. And to do that, I must find…ah-ha." The needle finally settled. She looked away from Sora, Donald, and Goofy, out in the direction of the sea. "Let's see where you lead me, shall we?"

"Where d'you think you're going?" Sora snapped.

Vanity glanced back at him. "And then there's you," she said quietly. She shut the compass. "The poor little keyblade kid. Honest to Kingdom Hearts, I would've thought something like that would have sent you into an angst coma, with how you heroes are about friends. How disappointing."

"You were expecting me to despair? Give up?" Sora leveled the tip of the keyblade at Vanity. "Wrong!"

"Sora's right," Goofy said, raising his shield. "There's too much at stake!"

Vanity pocketed the compass, and raised both arms. "Give me your best shot, then, key-brat!" Sora rushed her, and keyblade clashed against tonfa. Sora gripped the keyblade with both hands, trying to break Vanity's guard. Both weapons dropped, and Vanity went for Sora before he could recover. Her foot impacted with his chest, and pushed him back.

Sora somehow stopped himself from falling over, and he looked over his shoulder to Will and Elizabeth—Elizabeth was standing behind Will, while Will had drawn his blade but looked uncertain as to whether he should join the fight. "This is way over your head, Will! I'll cover you, you just need to get away from here!" Sora looked back, and clumsily blocked a thrust at his neck. She's fast! Sora deflected several consecutive attacks. Can't stay at close range, she'll get through my defenses too easily, but I can't get any distance from her like this. And I don't have a lot of magic power left… Sora prepared to cast a powerful spell. He recalled looking forward to being able to utilize it for real after his training with Merlin, but now he wasn't happy about it at all.

Orbs of fire magic rotated around the keyblade, and he aimed very carefully. "Fission Firaga!" A large burst of fire shot at Vanity, and exploded on impact. Sora tensed as the explosion went off, and he and Vanity were thrown in opposite direction; Sora towards the gallows, Vanity away from Will and Elizabeth.

"Blizzaga!" Donald yelled, and shards of ice hit Vanity, and froze her right arm to the shoulder. She swore, and forcefully broke the ice holding her elbow. Her eyes flashed angrily.

"Nice," Sora said quietly. He checked all around, and Elizabeth and Will were nowhere to be seen. Sora cast a spell to heal himself from the explosion. He was breathing deeply again from exhaustion—first running around trying to put out fires, then running around trying to find Jack, now fighting a Splice, and he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. It was all taking a toll on his body. "Alright, need to keep up with her speed, and can't get too close."

Sora took a deep breath.

Light burst out around him. The black of his clothes turned to blue, and stylized flames chased along his pant legs and sleeves. Magical deep blue mist surrounded his feet. Wisps of blue smoke twisted around his body. Though Sora rarely used Wisdom form, on certain occasions it proved very useful.

Sora leapt back as Vanity lunged for him, and fired off a spray of magical bullets. She deflected each of them, and attacked with the other tonfa. Sora dropped to the ground, and slid backwards on his back. He aimed, and fired another volley. Vanity stepped aside, and ducked beneath yet another round. Sora pushed himself back up and moved just enough to avoid an overhead swipe, grabbed Vanity's shoulder, and whipped himself behind her, putting the keyblade to her throat.

"Che," Vanity grunted. With the arm still partially encased in ice, she struck Sora's side, pushed the keyblade away, turned, and hit him in the wrist. She flipped her free tonfa to hold it by the end, and hooked the handle of her tonfa in the keyblade's pommel. She yanked down hard, wrenching it from Sora's grip.

Sora shook out his hand from the sting, and dropped back a step. "Thunder!" Electricity arced through the air, and Vanity's metal tonfa only conducted the flow. She barely paused a moment, continuing her charge at Sora. The keyblade reappeared in his hands just in time to defend first his stomach, then his head.

"Huff, huff, huff," Vanity breathed, a scowl twisting her features.

"So she's not like Madness," Sora muttered. "Stays the same strength, even when injured."

"We each have our own abilities," Vanity spat. "That dog Madness is nothing more than a berserker, a blood knight. I have much more practical abilities; ones far more useful to Lord Regret." Her claw-like fingernails glowed with dark magic. "Without me, his plans would be far more slow-going. Oh, they would still succeed, certainly, but I'm an important cog in the machine." She threw away her tonfa, and leaped after Sora with a speed that left her nearly invisible. With great glee, she raked her claws down Sora's arm. He cried out from the pain.

"Yes, yes," Vanity said quietly. "These claws…they, I, have the power to re-open those keyholes you're so determined to protect."

Sora's eyes widened. Whoa, whoa, WHOA, hold on a second! That's…she's what? He shook his head, freed himself from Vanity's grip, and kicked off her chest. From midair, he fired off magic bullets, and instantly upon landing he yelled "Aeroga!" He was blown back himself, as a mini-tornado erupted from the tip of the keyblade, and blew the off-balance Vanity back thirty feet, straight into the stone wall of the fort.

"You little…"

"Now, guys!"

Goofy, hiding in the shadows, dashed out and slammed into Vanity with his shield, before immediately getting out of the way, as Donald cast an earth-element spell that caused pillars of earth to erupt from the ground at angles, aiming for Vanity. The first struck her, she ducked beneath another, vaulted over a third, and smashed a fourth and fifth to pebbles.

A volley of magic bullets struck Vanity straight-on. She grunted in pain, before going after Sora again, ignoring Donald and Goofy; a very bad idea, as it turned out. The moment she turned her back on them, Donald cast a flurry of fire, blizzard, and thunder spells.

Vanity swore loudly, and threw her one free tonfa at Donald. Donald jumped to avoid getting hit, and Vanity assaulted Sora with the tonfa frozen to her arm. Her attacks came with incredible speed, punching, swiping, and kicking. Blocking with the keyblade wasn't enough; Sora cast Reflect, creating a honeycomb barrier around himself. With each attack, the shield shattered, forcing him to create another each time. He couldn't dodge; he couldn't parry.

Unless… As the shield shattered again, Sora forced himself to relax. No shield appeared, and Vanity's weapon impacted his chest, throwing him back.

"Too slow!" Vanity taunted, as she went to finish him off. The ice that covered her arm started to melt, as her tonfa was encased in black sparks of magic. She raised her arm slowly, relishing in the moment. "That makes, what, four losses now? Tsk, tsk, you're losing your touch."

Now! Sora pushed himself off the ground. He flew past Vanity's side, and she could only watch as he passed.

That boy, she realized, he wasn't downed by my attack, he wasn't too slow; he took the charge and minimalized the damage by not resisting it. But they said…they said he was just a stupid little kid…

"Gotcha!" Sora exclaimed. He waved the hand holding the compass at Donald and Goofy. He stored it away into one of his bottomless pockets, and turned back to Vanity.

Vanity felt the pocket where she had put the compass, unable to believe that Sora had stolen it off of her. "You'll pay for that!" As she leaped after Sora, he raised the keyblade. A spray of gold and violet sparks sprayed from their respective weapons as they collided. Vanity's tonfas were crossed over one-another, and Sora held the keyblade with both hands. He grunted as he tried to keep the Splice's spark-spitting weapon of choice away from his face. He focused all of his magic into the keyblade, and it started to glow with white light.

The blue started to fade from his clothes, and the mist vanished from beneath his feet, but still further Sora fought to break Vanity's guard.

I can't take this much more… Sora tried to push harder, one last assault, but there was nothing left; his frustration towards himself for not being able to overcome his opponents thus far, his despair at the loss of each world, his fury at Captain Jack Sparrow, and his determination to protect this world, none of that was enough to give him the resolve to defeat Vanity.

"Come on, Sora, I thought you were stronger than that."

"Get real. Look at which one of us is winning!"

He'd kill me if I lost again. A sensation like weight lifting from his body filled Sora up. The keyblade glowed bright. "Grrrrr-YAAAAAH!"

For a moment, Vanity thought that nothing had happened.

Then, a thin line sliced across her weapons. Without a sound, the tonfa were cut in half. The bottom halves hit the ground with a clink.

As she watched, her weapons burst apart into imperceivable shards of steel. Vanity's hands shook. "You…" Her hair was disheveled, her suit had been cut, burned, and partially frozen dozens of times over now by now. "You…it doesn't matter!" she shouted, as she backed away from Sora.

"It doesn't matter!" she repeated. "Lord Regret will defeat you, keyblade brat! Perhaps not even him, there are others, stronger than I! I am not too proud, too proud to admit that yes, among our number, there are others with far greater strength than I! But you…you walk away from this battle, thinking you've got a chance! But just remember, the pride always comes before the fall!"

A dark corridor materialized beside Vanity. She stepped into it, and the dark tendrils wound around her body. "Hmph!" The corridor of darkness vanished, taking Vanity with it.

Sora was breathing hard. His body was sore, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a long while. But he couldn't help but smile weakly. I think…that one counts as a win…

"Your heart's greatest desire," Sora said quietly, turning over the compass in his hand. I want to protect all the worlds I can…I want to protect this world, by sealing the keyhole. He flipped open the lid. The needle of the compass spun around and around.

Without warning, the keyblade reappeared, floating in the air before Sora. Narrowing his eyes, he transferred the compass to his other hand, and took the keyblade in hand. His arm was pulled to the right, the tip of the keyblade pointed toward the gallows in the middle of the courtyard.

"It was right there, all this time?" In the space between the upper beam and the trapdoor, where a criminal would stand—then hang—a shape started to appear, glowing bright. Sora took hold of the keyblade with his other hand, and held it up. Luminescent stars spun around the tip of the keyblade, and a beam flew from the tip and into the keyhole. With a click, it shut.

Sora retrieved the drawstring pouch from his pocket, and pulled out a single shining crystal. He placed it on the bottom of the execution platform, where the Keystone held of its own accord, protecting the keyhole from the darkness.

As he pulled away, the light of the Keystone cast over a glimmering shape beneath the execution stand. In the faint light, he saw that it was a shimmering, blue gemstone. A summon gem, he thought, and took it in hand, making a mental note to look at it later.

"There," he said. "Guys, let's—"

"Sora, Goofy, look!" Donald shouted, looking out over the edge of the cliff down at the ocean below. They rushed to join Donald, and saw the faint outline of a ship on the water.

"The Black Pearl?" Sora's eyes widened, as a massive…thing, was all that it could be called, came up beside the ship. They heard water spraying through the air, and through the moonlight, saw whip-like shapes crushing the Black Pearl. A monstrous roar ripped through the night, setting Sora's teeth on edge and sending a chill across his spine.

Though they didn't know exactly what had happened, there was one thing they could be reasonably sure about; Davy Jones had come to collect his debt.

Ten Minutes Earlier…

Aboard his tiny dinghy, Captain Jack Sparrow quickly rowed himself to his beloved ship, which, in retrospect, had gotten him into this mess in the first place. Had he never decided to cut a deal with Davy Jones, he wouldn't be running from him to avoid a hundred years servitude, or worse—eternity trapped in Davy Jones' Locker. Was that thirteen years really worth his own soul?

After barely a moment to think about it, Jack said "Of course, what'm I thinkin'?" He kept on rowing, abandoning the dinghy once he reached the Pearl and clambered up the rigging. He took Mr. Gibbs' offered hand, before pushing his first mate away roughly.

"Mr. Gibbs," Jack said, "Set a course for Cuba, I seek Tia Dalma." A powerful voodoo priestess, she was Jack's last hope to avoid Jones' wrath.

"Aye, Captain," Gibbs said, and started barking orders to the crew.

Jack drew his saber, and ran a thumb along the back edge. "Ah, Sora, a thick boy. Shouldn't have tried to go up against Captain Jack Sparrow." He took several large gulps of rum, which quickly got rid of that heavy feeling that pressed upon his heart and made it a labor to take each step.

Above him, a flare of light lit up the sky. "Hmph," he grunted.

As he drank and mused to himself, he seemed to not realize the presence of two people sitting very close by, sitting on a pair of barrels.

"On one hand, I hate that prick Vanity," said the first, with leathery skin and unnatural silver eyes. "On the other hand, there's nothing I like more than watching some idiot not even realize when he's under an illusion."

"You also like touching little boys," said the second, with slimy, green skin. "Seriously, you're as straight as a circle, senpai."

"Hold your tongue!"

Captain Jack rushed about the deck. Though he saw a crew of twenty pirates working their tails off to get the Black Pearl moving, the two observers, Suffering and Shame, saw the reality; a dirty, disgusting, drunken pirate captain, running around shouting at empty air.

Suffering, the man with leathery skin, held his hand out in Jack's direction. "What a weak mind, to be so easily fooled." He grinned. "Little-Miss-Kiss-Up wanted time, I figure that's enough time." He snapped his fingers.

Captain Jack stopped. He studied his rum bottle, wondering if it were possible for rum to go bad, given that by his perspective, all of his crew had just vanished.

"Oi, genius, over here," said Shame in a deadpan tone.

Jack turned to face them. "Bloody fantastic, more of y'freaks."

"Hey! I take offense to that!" Suffering spat.

"Your skin is like sandpaper, I'm slimy, and Vanity's Vanity," Shame pointed out. "We are kinda freaks, senpai." Suffering backhanded Shame in the face.

"Despite how much I'd love to stay here and torture ya some," said Suffering, as he created a Corridor of Darkness, "Tentacle-beard's little pet has an appointment with you." He grabbed the back of Shame's shirt, and threw him through the portal, and followed the newbie. The Corridor vanished.

Jack looked over the ship's railing, but there was no way he'd be able to find the dinghy in the dark.

Suddenly, the deck of the Black Pearl rocked, as the sea was shaken by a shockwave.

Captain Jack took a sip of his rum, and straightened his tricorn hat.

The ocean rumbled, and millions of bubbles rose to the surface. Jack calmly watched as massive tentacles with powerful suction cups rose from the water, all around the Black Pearl.

From the water, a titanic shape appeared. The Kraken wrapped its tentacles around the ship, and opened its maw and roared a powerful roar. A smell like a thousand rotting corpses hit Jack like a ton of bricks. Five rows of large, pointed teeth lined the Kraken's mouth.

"Hello, Beastie," said Captain Jack, as he raised his saber.

The next morning, no sign remained of Captain Jack Sparrow nor his crew; and yet, it would soon be discovered that a large galleon had gone missing during the madness of the night. The fires had long since been put out. The effort of rebuilding had begun.

"Lord Beckett."

A pair of young marines had entered Lord Cutler Beckett's office. Lord Beckett himself was the Governor of the East India Trading Company, and chief of all operations in the Caribbean. He was very well kempt, and dressed in dark clothes. He wore a powdered wig and a bicorne hat on his head.

Behind his desk, a cartographer was putting the finishing touches on a map of the world.

"This was found in the town," said the first, a slightly pudgy man named Mullroy.

"It was kinda weird, but it's, uh, uh," stuttered Murtogg, the thinner and shorter partner.

Lord Beckett pursed his lips. He looked at the heavy iron chest the two carried together. "Open it." They set it down, and Mullroy flipped the lid open.

For a moment, light spilled from the lid, but that quickly faded; from the chest, a crystalline heart rose from the chest, and stayed steady in the air. In the depths of the heart, darkness stirred.

Lord Beckett's eyes lit up. "Well," he said, "Look what we have here."