A/N: A special pre "On Stranger Tides" treat for all you readers. I just know when I go see it, half the time I'll probably be think of how Calvin and Hobbes can fit in. Thanks for all of your reviews. They really help me with writing this.
Without further ado, onto...
Pirates, and Tiger, of the Caribbean
At Worlds End
The Pirate Lord of Singapore
"Some men are dead, and some are alive…" a lonely female voice sang. The voice's origin came from a young woman who was paddling a small, wooden canoe along the bank of a calm stream. The stream ran through an oriental city that was shrouded in fog and darkness.
This was Singapore. A valuable territory in the east, Singapore was a trading center that many nations flocked to. Asian style buildings lined the streets. Bridges rose over the streams throughout the city. Small huts and shops were set up nearby. Nearby, a small, spinning firework went off.
The East India Trading company had recently taken over the town, and east Indiamen were patrolling the area. They were cracking down on pirates, but were not able to penetrate the pirate stronghold in the town, which was well defended.
"And others sail on the sea…" the woman continued. This was Elizabeth, and she was slowly making her way up the stream. As she passed under one of the wooden bridges, another woman pushing a cart started to cross. Elizabeth came out from the other side, and the woman at the cart stopped. On the cart was a monkey and a music box. The monkey began to turn the crank, and from the music box came a grainy parody of the tune Elizabeth was humming.
"That's the signal!" Gibbs said. Surrounding him were other faithful hands: Pintel, Ragetti, Cotton, Marty, and Calvin.
"Finally," Calvin said, pulling out his fire blade. The others also pulled out files and started to file away at a grate before them.
"Are you sure this grate leads to Sao Feng's palace?" Pintel asked.
"It's the only sewer around," Calvin said. "This must be it." Calvin slid his fire blade onto the metal grating. Like a hot knife through butter, the red-tinted blade of Calvin's sword began to melt the grating, making the breach faster than usual.
"We're in!" Gibbs said, as he pried the metal back. The six made their way into the labyrinth of sewers under the city.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was being confronted by some scary looking men.
"That is a pretty dangerous song to be singing," one of the men said, who seemed to be the leader of the trio. He had heard Elizabeth singing. "For anyone ignorant of it's meaning," he continued. "Especially for a woman. Especially for a woman alone."
"And what makes ya think she's alone?" a voice said from behind the three. The men turned their heads, and saw the pirate captain, Barbossa. By his side was a fierce looking animal; a tiger. The tiger began to growl menacingly. "You protect her?" the leader of the gang asked.
Elizabeth suddenly pulled out a pistol, grabbed the leader, and held it to his head. "And what makes you think I need protecting?" she asked.
Barbossa continued. "You're master be expectin' us, and an unexpected death would cast a pall over our meetin."
Elizabeth let the man go. The leader of the trio, named Tai Huang, looked at Barbossa and the tiger, and spoke to his men. "We will escort you to the bath house," he said. Barbossa nodded in agreement, and he, Elizabeth, and Hobbes (the tiger) followed the men.
"Have you heard anything from Will?" Elizabeth asked Barbossa as they walked.
"I trust Master Turner will find the navigational charts, and I trust you two to remember yourselves in the presence of captain Sao Feng," Barbossa answered.
"Is he really that terrifying?" Hobbes asked.
"He's much like myself," Barbossa said. "Less my merciful nature and sense of fair play." This image of Sao Feng made Hobbes' fur stand on end. Remembering the first time he met Barbossa, Hobbes imagined Feng to be worse.
The men led them trough the back alleys of Singapore, which were filled with shady characters doing even shadier things. After traveling through a gated alleyway, the group found a large building that somewhat resembled a warehouse. It was outfitted with ornaments, and had several pirate guards on the outside.
"This be the famous bath houses of Sao Feng," Barbossa whispered to Hobbes. "Note the guards stationed everywhere. Remember to keep actin' like an animal till the last possible moment."
Hobbes nodded in agreement. Tai Huang talked to the guards in front of the double doors, and soon the three were inside the compound. Before continuing, Tai Huang stopped them. Barbossa had to lay down his weapons at the door. The three tried to continue, but were stopped by Tai Huang.
"You think because she is a woman, we would not suspect her of treachery," he said, referring to Elizabeth. "Remove please."
Elizabeth began to reveal all of her hidden weapons. These included a cutlass, a few daggers, three flintlocks, ammunition for the flintlocks, and several grenadoes.
"Is that all?" Tai Huang asked.
Elizabeth was about to nod, but she remembered one more. She pulled out a blunderbuss, seemingly from nowhere, and placed it before the men. She started to move forward, but was stopped.
"Remove. Please…"Tai Huang said again, with a crooked smile on his face. Elizabeth was disgusted.
Meanwhile, down below the compound, the rest of the crew were sneaking through the waterways.
"Good thing Sao Feng enjoys hot springs so much," Pintel commented.
Gibbs quickly shushed him, and pointed forward. Ahead of them seemed to be the central hub of Sao Feng's steam room. A huge cauldron sat at the center, with hand pumps and bamboo pipes leading to the floor above. Noisemakers adorned the sides of the wall. Surrounding the cauldron were laborers who kept the system running. Calvin's attention was drawn towards a particularly big one.
"What do we do now?" Calvin whispered to Gibbs.
Up above, Hobbes was being led through the baths. He was pretty creeped out by the people in the baths. Each had a dragon insignia tattooed on their back to identify them as part of Sao Feng's guild. Some of them had been in the water for so long, actual fungus was growing right on their skin. If it wasn't for the fact that Hobbes was incognito, he would have said something about it.
Barbossa, Elizabeth, and Hobbes walked to an area that was shrouded in steam. In the center of that steam was a figure cloaked in black. On his sides were two female escorts, standing at attention as if they were soldiers (and in a sense, they were). The man in the center had his back turned, but as the trio approached, he slowly turned around. As the steam cleared, his face became visible. He was bald, but had several scars across his face. Along, Fu Manchu-like mustache was on his face. His eyes were small, but piercing. He turned and looked at the group.
"Captain Barbossa," he greeted through a Chinese accent. "Welcome to Singapore." Barbossa nodded in greeting. "More steam," he asked of his maids. She nodded, and pulled on a string, which sounded one of the clackers down below.
"What a beautiful creature," Sao Feng said, looking down. Elizabeth blushed in embarrassment.
"Well, the woman has no purpose to our dealings," Barbossa said.
"I was talking about your tiger," Sao Feng responded. He walked down to the three. "May I?" Sao Feng asked.
"I assure you, he's well trained," Barbossa said. Hobbes shot an annoyed glance at Barbossa, but sat still. Sao Feng started to pet Hobbes' head. His hands were rough against Hobbes skin, who was doing all he could to act natural.
"I understand you have a proposal for me," Sao Feng told Barbossa.
"More of an arrangement," Barbossa said. "I've a venture under way and I find myself in need of a ship and a crew."
"Hmm…it's an odd coincidence," Sao Feng said, scratching his head.
"Because you have a ship and a crew you don't need?" Elizabeth asked.
"No," Sao Feng responded. "Because earlier today a thief broke into my most revered uncle's temple and tried to make off with these." Sao Feng walked over to an old man wearing glasses (presumably his uncle) and grabbed a rolled up something from his hands. Barbossa and Elizabeth exchanged glances. "The navigational charts. The route to the farthest gate." He threw the charts to the side, which were caught by Tai Huang.
"Wouldn't it be amazing if this 'venture' of yours took you to the world beyond this one?" Sao Feng asked Barbossa.
"It would strain credulity at that," Barbossa said.
Sao Feng nodded to two of his men. The two men went over to a well and pulled up a man tied to it. It was obvious that the man was undergoing water torture. And that it was Will Turner.
"This is the thief!" Sao Feng shouted, motioning towards Will. "Is his face familiar to you?"
Barbossa and Elizabeth shook their heads.
"Then I suppose he has no need for it," Feng finished. He pulled out a daggar, and went for Will's face.
"No!" Hobbes yelled, standing up. Everyone in the bath house turned and stared at the talking cat.
"Did you…just say something?" Sao Feng asked Hobbes, lowering the knife.
"It seems the cat be out of the bag," Barbossa said. "Yes, we have a talking tiger, we do."
Hobbes timidly waved hello. "Um, hi," he said, tail growing bushy. A slow murmur started to spread through the bath house. Sao Feng seemed impressed with the mystical creature.
"You come to my home," he began. "Betray my hospitality, and are attempting a journey to Davy Jones locker. I can not help but wonder why?" He asked, walking away from the trio.
Barbossa responded by throwing a piece of eight at Sao Feng. Sao Feng reacted quickly and caught it in his right hand. Holding it up to his ear, he heard a sort of eerie ringing.
"The song has been sung," Barbossa said. The time has come. We must convene the Brethren Court."
"Since your one of the nine pirate lords, your supposed to respond to the call," Hobbes said, now talking regularly.
Sao Feng stared at Hobbes for a moment, as if deep in thought. "More steam," he requested. One of the ladies pulled on the rope, requesting more steam.
Down below, the crew had taken out the workers. "That was easier than I thought," Calvin told Cotton, who seemed to agree. Suddenly, a noisemaker went off. This took Calvin by surprise. "What is that?" he asked.
Ragetti, remembering the noisemaker from before, signaled the rest of the crew to do something to the cauldron.
"MORE STEAM!" came Sao Feng's angry voice from above. Again, the noisemaker went off. Calvin ran to a whole wall of ropes to pull.
"Which one to pull?" Marty asked.
"Just pull them until something happens," Calvin said, pulling ropes at random.
This seemed to work, and more steam poured into the room above. Happy with the steam, Sao Feng concentrated on the three again. "There is a price on all our heads. It is true. It seems that the only way for a pirate to draw a profit anymore…" he stopped and stared at Barbossa. "Is by betraying other pirates."
Just below, the crew was unrolling satchels they were carrying. Inside the satchels were guns, knives, and other weapons.
"In case things go wrong," Calvin repeated to himself, eyeing the weapons. Calvin reached into his belt (he wore a belt now, along with his leather vest) to make sure he had his two swords. In addition, Barbossa, on the voyage to Singapore, gave Calvin a double barreled pistol. Though he shot for practice, he had never used a pistol in real combat. Calvin began to load his pistol, in case things got rough up there.
"Against the East India Company, what are we? What can the Brethren Court do?" Sao Feng argued.
Elizabeth, angered more and more by Sao Feng's behavior, finally spoke up. "You can fight," she said, stepping towards the captain. "You are Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore! You sail in an era where a captain can sail in free waters without fear of reproach. Will you see that era come to an end on your watch? The most notorious pirates of the world are uniting against our enemy, and yet you sit here cowering in your bath water!" Hobbes stifled a chuckle.
Sao Feng approached Elizabeth. "Elizabeth Swann," he began. "There is more to you than meets the eye, isn't there. And the eye does not go wanting…"
Once again, Sao Feng addressed Barbossa. "You have not answered my question." He reminded. "What is it you seek in Davy Jones' locker?"
"Jack Sparrow!" Will spoke up. This got Sao Feng's attention. "He's one of the Pirate Lords."
At the mention of the name "Jack Sparrow", Sao Feng's two concubines giggled under their breath. Sao Feng turned to face them, and they stopped.
"The only reason I would bring Jack Sparrow back from the land of the dead…" Sao Feng said, walking over to a barrel of dirty bath water. "Is to send him back myself!" He emphasized his anger by kicking the barrel over, sending dirty water to the floor.
Barbossa was not one to be intimidated. He walked right up to Sao Feng. "Jack hold's one of the nine pieces-of-eight. He failed to pass it along to his successor before he died. So we must go and get him back."
Sao Feng considered the offer. "I may give you what you need in exchange for something," he said. The three looked on expectantly.
"I want him," Sao Feng said, pointing to Hobbes.
"Me?" Hobbes asked.
"I'm afraid that be an impossibility," Barbossa said. "You see, he belongs to a friend of mine, and I'd hate to see him lose this magnificent beast."
"Oh?" Sao Feng asked. "And who might this owner be?" Sao Feng said.
"Well, he be a few leagues away from here…" Barbossa said.
"Then I suppose he will not miss him," Sao Feng said. "Weapons!" he commanded. Everyone in the bath house got up, swords in hand, ready to take on the three.
Down below, the rest of the crew heard the commotion. "Weapons," Gibbs commanded. Everyone grabbed all they could and threw it above, between the floor planks.
"I assure you, we mean no harm!" Barbossa said, holding his hands out. Suddenly, tow cutlasses flew up from below, and landed right in his palms. The same happened for Elizabeth. And Hobbes had just drawn his claws.
Sao Feng, eyeing this, quickly grabbed a man sitting in one of the baths, and held a blade to his neck.
"Drop your weapons, or I kill the man!" he said.
The man did not look familiar to Barbossa, Hobbes, Elizabeth, or Will. "Kill him," he challenged. "He's not our man." This confused Sao Feng.
"If he's not with you, and not with us..." Will began.
"Then whose he with?" Hobbes finished.
This answer was answered rather quickly. The bamboo walls surrounding the baths came crashing down, and behind them were East Indiamen, muskets blazing.
"Ambush!" Hobbes yelled, alerting the rest of the pirates. The first musket volley from the East Indiamen took out several pirates, but Sao Feng's bath house still had more to deal with. Being surrounded on three sides put the pirates at a disadvantage, but they drew their weapons and began to fight off the attack.
Though caught by surprise, the prates held up well as they began to funnel out. Hobbes, in between pouncing on an soldier, noticed a man entering the mayhem on the East India side. IT was Mercer, who Calvin described for Hobbes after their escape from the factory. Mercer cocked his pistol, aiming at Elizabeth. Hobbes responded by pouncing on him, knocking him off balance, he missed Elizabeth, but ended up hitting one of Sao Feng's concubines. Hobbes got up again, and aimed at mercer, but was blocked by an Indiamen swinging at him with his musket. Hobbes grabbed at the musket and pulled it, sending the man holding it right towards his fist.
Down below, the six were trying to get up to the fight as quickly as possible. Marty had tied several explosives to a support beam, and just lighted them. "Ready men!" Gibbs cried as the fuse shortened in length. When the fuse burnt out, there was a brief pause, and then an explosion. The explosion brought the floor down to the lower level, essentially creating a ramp for the six to go up. What surprised Calvin was that the ramp was topped with dazed East Indiamen.
"What happened here?" Calvin said, climbing over the bodies.
The six quickly fought there way to the bathing floor of the compound, ready to assist the rest of the crew. Calvin took out his two cutlasses, and began swinging at the legs of the soldiers, who were either burned or shocked by each stab or cut.
Hobbes spotted Calvin in the crowed, and motion him towards the exit. Calvin caught this signal, and shouted, "We're getting out of here!" to Gibbs and the rest of the crew.
Calvin caught up to Hobbes as the exited the bath hose and onto the streets of Singapore. The commotion had attracted the attention of more soldiers, so there were more to fight outside.
"So where are we headed?" Calvin asked, in between a block and a thrust at a soldier.
"To the piers!" Barbossa yelled over the chaos. He seemed to be enjoying this turn of events. "Take that, ya east inida slime!" He taunted after stabbing an enemy.
Calvin and Hobbes ran through the maze that was Singapore, avoiding musket fire, and cutting down those who engaged with the bayonets. It wasn't long until the pier was in sight.
"We're almost there!" Calvin yelled, as he ran towards the bridge that led to the docks.
"Calvin, wait!" Hobbes said, grabbing his friend by the torso. Calvin was about to ask why, but then he realized. The bridge was being blocked by a squad of East Indiamen, obviously well trained and well commanded. This made crossing the bridge, and thus, getting to the docks, impossible.
"What now!" Calvin said.
What Calvin didn't know was that behind the squad, there was a cart that was rigged with explosives. And it was about to go off.
The squad noticed Calvin and Hobbes on the other side of the bridge. They took aim, and Calvin and Hobbes froze. But at that moment, the cart blew up behind the marines, sending them falling into the water.
"Cool!" Calvin said, running across the bridge. Hobbes followed. Halfway across the bridge, Calvin stopped and looked at his feet. At his feet were Jack the monkey and Cotton's parrot. The monkey was holding a firework. This gave Calvin an idea. Calvin grabbed the firework, said "Thank you Jack," and set it up on the railing of the bridge.
"What are you doing?" Hobbes asked Calvin.
"Watch," Calvin just said. Calvin carefully aimed the firework, and used his fire blade to light the fuse. The rocket took off flying through the cutlasses of Barbossa and a marine he was currently fighting, and into a shack. A shack that was full of fireworks. It wasn't long until the whole shack lit up like the 4th of July, blowing up the entire pier it rested on. This separated a large squad of marines from the pirates.
"Oh…" Hobbes said. Calvin beamed at his cleverness.
Before continuing, Calvin looked back, and saw that Mercer was still around and was about to shoot someone. He had his pistol out ,and it was pointed at a person on the ground. Calvin quickly took out his pistol, aimed, and fired at the man.
Mercer yelled in pain. A bullet had just ripped through his fingers, knocking the gun out of his hand. Grasping his hand in pain, he noticed that this gave his intended target enough time to escape. He glanced over to where he thought the shot came from, and noticed a blond spiky haired boy holding a flintlock. He put to and to together, but before he could act, two other pirates had entered the shack he was in. He hid behind some crates, but recognized the two pirates, They were Will Turner and Sao Feng. And they were up to something…
Calvin and Hobbes were actually the first to the pier. Barbossa joined them soon after, followed by Elizabeth. Will was the last to show up, but behind him were the rest of the regular crew, plus Tai Huang and some of his men. In Will's hands were Sao Feng's sea charts.
"You found a ship and a crew?" Calvin asked.
"And I have the map," Will said. Before he could answer any more questions, he walked towards a particular ship in the harbor.
Calvin and Hobbes found themselves on deck, looking back at the town of Singapore. Though most of the fighting was over, evidence of the night's activities still smoldered in the city. The ship Calvin, Hobbes, and the rest were on was a Chinese junker, small in size, and it was called the Hai Peng. Barbossa was at the helm, steering the ship in one hand and holding the charts in another.
"We're really doing this now, aren't we?" Calvin said to Hobbes.
"Doing what?" Hobbes asked.
"We're really going to Davy Jones' locker. I mean, there are no more obstacles or anything."
Hobbes nodded. "We've destroyed the EITC's production back in Port Royal, and survived an ambush in Singapore, and we're just now getting started on rescuing Jack."
"I can't wait to see Jack again," Calvin said. "He'll probably be so happy to see us rescue him, he'll give me the Black Pearl!"
"I can't wait to see Jack because the sooner we rescue him, the sooner we can go home!"
"C'mon Hobbes!" Calvin said, getting annoyed. "I still want to be a real pirate with a real ship. We don't have to go home after we rescue Jack!"
Hobbes argued with Calvin. "Calvin, since we've been here, we've almost been killed more times than I can count!"
"But we haven't been killed! Have we!" Calvin said. "Your just a stripy butt coward!"
"And your just a stupid little shrimp!" Hobbes said, sticking his tongue out.
"That is it!" Calvin yelled, leaping on the tiger. A fight broke out between the two of them, and they rolled across the deck exchanging punches. Tai Huang and his men seemed to enjoy the scuffle, but the others were less pleased.
"What be all this then!" Barbossa asked. Calvin and Hobbes stopped fighting and looked up.
"Hobbes started it!" Calvin said.
"He's lying!" Hobbes replied.
"And you can forget about me building us a way home, flea feast!" Calvin said to Hobbes.
"That'll be enough out of the two of ya," Barbossa said. "There'll be no more squabbles among us until this venture is over. Our morale be fractured enough."
Calvin and Hobbes got up, dusted themselves off, and walked off in different directions, angry.
Pintel and Ragetti had witnessed the whole thing. "Think they'll make up?" Gibbs asked.
"I think so," Ragetti said. "Them two been through a lot together. There's no way something so trivial would bring 'em apart."
"Shame when friends fight, isn't it," Pintel thought out loud.
"They just need a bit o' time to cool off," Ragetti said.