Summary: End of Sword of Cortés - At World's End. What if Captain Jack Sparrow was never a good man to begin with? What if instead of giving up the Sword of Cortés to save his crew, he ruled the Seven Seas with the Sword in one hand and the blood of his friends and the pirates of the Caribbean in the other? He is taken over by greed and power, and there is only one woman who can stop him...Arabella Smith! Welcome to a new reality where everything after Jack Sparrow: The Sword of Cortés never existed. Villain!Jack AU.

(A/N: This is just a pilot of the fic to see if there's interest for a Villain!Jack fic. I don't have the rest of the story set up yet because I have to pretty much rewrite the entire timeline of POTC. Once I get more of Thrown Into The Future done, I'll plan and continue. I tried to write Jack to be as in character as possible while still being out of character so I hope it works. Let me know what you think!)

"I don't understand," Arabella said.

Just moments ago, Jack Sparrow had activated the eye of Stone-Eyed Sam by tying a pair of beads he was given by Tia Dalma in his hair, releasing the spirit of Montecuhzoma, who faced a very disturbed Cortés. The spirit spread his arms and two Swords of Lights appeared in his hands.

"Love, nothing has made much sense since we set sail from Tortuga," Jack said.

"No, Montecuhzoma was also said to be a philosopher and a sage—not a warrior. He even took the throne reluctantly. So why is he fighting now?"

"Betrayal and death will do that to a fellow, I guess," Jack responded.

There was another explosion as Montecuhzoma and Cortés locked swords. Sparks of magical light and energy flew off the blades each time they clashed. And then, Montecuhzoma made a decisive blow, knocking the Sword from Cortés's hand. It flew to the ground, smoking with heat and melting the snow around it.

Arabella and Jack looked down at it. Jack reached down to retrieve it, but Arabella held him back.

"No, Jack, wait till this is through."

The two teenagers watched as Montecuhzoma gripped Cortés under his arms and lifted him in the air. Montecuhzoma suddenly took flight, leaving a trail of fire in his wake as he flew over the sea. Then he made a quick turn downward and plunged into the water with Cortés. The water steamed and boiled. Then there was silence.

Jack and Arabella watched in anticipation. At last, Montecuhzoma reemerged from the sea...without Cortés.

The spirit flew back toward the island, over Jack's and Arabella's heads. Finally, he hovered above the inn where Fitzwilliam and Jean were watching over Tumen. The spirit shone brightly, filling the space above and around the inn with light brighter than the sun. A moment later, the spirit flew off, northwestward.

Jack twisted the beads in his hair uncomfortably. He turned to Arabella, who expressed a look of shock.

"Bell, are you okay?" he asked her.

Then Arabella collapsed against Jack. As tough as she was, what had just transpired was far too much for her to bear. Still, Arabella began to wake almost immediately. Jack made sure she was all right, then bent down to pick up the Sword.

"Jack! What are ye doing?" Arabella cried out.

"Well, we got it now," Jack said quietly, eying the Sword of Cortés in his hand. With Cortés gone, he suspected it would obey him. It only had one master now. "After all these weeks—wait, months—searching for this blasted sword...and after defeating everything that came in our way; cursed pirates, sea beasts, vicious scaly tails, ghosts and spirits...It's now ours."

Arabella frowned. "Jack, don't tell me ye are still thinking about keeping that Sword."

Jack looked up at her with a hint of excitement in her eyes. "Of course I am! With you, Fitzy, Jean, and Tumen at my side, we will rule the Seven Seas and do away with pirates all together and be free!"

"But what about Tumen—"

"Don't worry, he'll be right as rain again, that's if Montecuhzoma hadn't healed him already. We'll go back to the inn, say hello, and all of us will head back to the Grand Barnacle and set sail with my—our new sword."

"They won't like the sound of that—" Arabella said sternly.

"If they don't want to, we can just go off ourselves and enjoy our freedom," Jack interrupted, "like how it was supposed to be. I never liked Fitzy or that blasted cat-thing anyway—"

"—I don't like the sound of that either," Arabella finished.

Jack's smile quickly faded. "But,...what about freedom...and power? Just like when we met in Tortuga?"

"That was before we knew how dangerous it was! Tumen died for God's sake! We only went after the Sword to keep it out of Torrents's hands and Left-Foot Louis's hands, which is what we did."

"That's not what you said," Jack said. "I know you care about treasure and freedom as much as I do, you've even said so!"

Jack paused and looked back down at the Sword in silence. "Did we just spend all this time nearly dying to find the Sword—our ticket to freedom—to just leave it behind or give it away?"

"That sword was not yer ticket to freedom, Jack," Arabella said. "All that freedom and power it promised...that was all at the cost of yer friends. Cortés used ye and made ye a pawn of the Sword's game."

Jack shook his head. He didn't say anything.

"Remember when I reminded ye about when ye convinced me not to do something I'd regret, not to become someone—something—I didn't want to become?" Arabella asked with pleading eyes, desperate to not let go of him. "This is the last time I'm going to convince ye the same thing. Yer either with us, or yer not."

"With you? Or is it not with me?" Jack snapped. "If you're not with me, then just leave." Jack waved the Sword up in the air, magically summoning something that clearly wasn't there with them. "I have a boat arranged for you at the dock. I'm going back to the inn. Ta now, and thanks for the adventure!"

Jack turned to leave, but Arabella grabbed his arm and spun him around towards her. "Whatever happened to the Jack we all know and trust?!" Arabella snarled. "The Jack we know wouldn't abandon his crew not once but twice!"

Jack's face darkened a little, but his expression still remained casual yet disappointed. "Then I guess I'm not the Jack you really know."

"Ye are going to regret this!" Arabella spat in his face.

Jack pulled her closer to him, closer and closer until their noses were mere centimeters apart. "Darlin',...I don't regret anything."

Jack let go and shoved her back, and pointed the Sword towards her. Arabella flinched, expecting to be zapped out of existence. However the Sword began pushing her back with a magical force, pushing her further and further away from him towards the harbor.

"Ye bastard!" Arabella shouted.

As she was being pushed away, she watched Jack shrink until he was nothing but the blur of his bright red bandana turning and walking away.