Chapter 5: Victory and Defeat

A/N: To all my reviewers, I love you!!! Thank you so much for reviewing, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! They include: Riley, WiTcHgIrL1, Rizz, Lin, CoffeeBean18. You all ROCK!

I know the quotes in this section aren't accurate, but you get the gist, eh? Besides, an author is allowed a little artistic license. A few characters (mainly Elizabeth and the Commodore) are acting OOC in this chapter, too, just to warn you. Anyway, please enjoy!

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When we reached the large treasure cave, we all hid behind rocks and such and tried to find out what was going on.

"Gentlemen!" Captain Barbossa roared. "Our days of torment are nearing a close!"

The pirates let out a cheer.

"We have all suffered equally, but proved ourselves to be the strongest pirates to ever sail the seven seas!"

More cheering. I turned to Carrie and muttered, "That's funny, I thought they only stayed in the Caribbean." She giggled.

Jack let out a birdcall, the signal to Will that we were here and ready to fight. The pirates were too eager to end their curse to pay any mind to strange noises.

"By blood begun. By blood undone!" Barbossa unsheathed his dagger and turned to Will. "Say goodbye, son."

"Goodbye, son." Will knocked Barbossa to the floor and cut the ties that held his hands together with the dagger. Quickly, he sliced his hand and dropped the now-bloody coin into the chest.

Will aimed at Barbossa, but before he could even cock the trigger, someone else fired a shot. It was Captain Jack Sparrow. He stood on a large mound of treasure, holding the pistol in front of him. Never had I seen such an intense look on his face. Throughout the movie, and the whole time I had known him, he always had a drunk-like quality about him; he was always slightly "off." But at that moment, Captain Jack Sparrow was completely sober. He was completely clear-headed. And he was completely victorious, before the battle even begun.

The skeletal pirates stared at their captain in shock. Blood spurted from the wound. Barbossa himself looked astonished. He touched two fingers to the bloodstain, then held it up in front of his pale face.

"I feel. . ." he whispered, ". . . cold."

With that, Barbossa died.

Barbossa's first mate let out a roar of anger, taking his sword and holding it out towards Will. But Will already had his pistol out and shot the pirate.

Those of us in hiding charged into the open and began to fight. (Darla was the only one missing from our number. Jack had entrusted her with the ever-important task of guarding the Black Pearl, although we knew she didn't need guarding.)

Barbossa's crew was still in shock. Their curse had only been lifted moment ago, and already they were longing to be immortal once more. They had just witnessed their captain and the first mate be murdered, and now they had no one for guidance. For the first time in many years, they had to give themselves orders, and they weren't doing so well.

I saw two pirates ganging up on Will and hurried to help him. Elizabeth was also there. Without a word to each other, we lifted a large gold post-staff-thingy and prepared to swing.

"I'm gonna teach you the meaning of pain!" One pirate was yelling as Will was knocked the the ground.

"You like pain?" Elizabeth asked, attracting the pirate's attention. We swung and knocked him out.

"Try wearing a corset," Elizabeth and I said simultaneously. Elizabeth helped Will up and I left, allowing them their "tender look" moment.

The other pirate that had been fighting with Will swung at me with his sword. I ducked just in time and shot him with my pistol.

The battle was over fairly quickly. The last ten or so pirates accepted defeat and surrendered. We took them back to the ship and locked them in the brig.

There was much celebrating aboard the Black Pearl that night. Boxes of rum had been found in the treasure room, and everyone had their fair share. (Carrie didn't let Darla have any, but I saw her sneak a few drinks out of Jack's cup once or twice.)

I didn't have much rum, either, but I did my share of partying. Finally, around three in the morning, almost everyone had passed out. I stood by myself at the bow, looking out at Isla de Muerta and the huge black sea. The moonlight reflecting on the waves made it shine like diamonds. I had never seen anything so beautiful. I live in Missouri, a landlocked state, and had never been to the beach, much less sailed on the open sea.

I wasn't really thinking about anything in particular, and I didn't notice when tears began running down my cheeks. Suddenly Will appeared at my side, and he, too, was looking out over the ocean.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he whispered.

"Yes," I breathed. He glanced at me and saw the tears.

"Are you all right, Liz? Why are you crying?" he asked.

I quickly brushed the tears off my face with my sleeve. "I. . . I don't know. I suppose. . . I mean. . . Will, I actually killed people tonight. I'm a murderer."

"Oh, Liz, no, you're not a murderer! You only did what the law would have done anyway. Those men were ruthless pirates. They kill young girls like you without even thinking twice. Had it been Commodore Norrington's men instead of us, they would have been captured and hung, if not shot on sight," Will told me.

Speaking of Commodore Norrington. . ."Will, when are you going to confess your undying love for Elizabeth? If you don't act fast, the Commodore will get to her first."

"Elizabeth belongs with someone like the Commodore. I'm just a simple blacksmith. I don't deserve her," Will said sadly.

I rolled my eyes in irritation. "Where's Elizabeth?"

"She's sleeping down below," he replied. I grabbed Will by the hand and pulled him along, sidestepping drunk pirates along the way. (I couldn't help but do a mental happy dance. I was holding hands with Will Turner! True, they were rough blacksmith's hands but still. . . I was holding hands with Will Turner!)

We found Elizabeth slumbering peacefully, with the gently rocking of the ship lulling her into a deep sleep. I roughly shook her until she awoke, looking a little ticked off.

"What?" she demanded.

"Watch the attitude, missy. Sorry to disturb you, but I am sick and tired of you two looking at each other longingly and pining over each other and not doing anything about it. So I am going to stand right here until you confess your love and kiss, for goodness sake. It's not that hard, I assure you! Look, I'll give a demonstration. Pretend I'm Will." I kneeled down in front of Elizabeth, taking one of her hands and looking right into her eyes while saying, "Elizabeth, you're hot. I love you. Won't you be my wifey?" I stood up once more and said, "See? Not hard at all. Now go on Will, it's your turn!"

"What, you're just going to stare at us?" Will asked, looking reluctant. I rolled my eyes and turned my back.

"I'm not listening!" I started to hum "A Pirate's Life For Me."

When I turned around a few moments later, Will and Elizabeth were locked in a deep kiss. I smiled to myself and went back up on deck.

I glanced at the water again. The Dauntless was coming towards us with alarming speed. I turned away to find somewhere to crash when I suddenly realized what I had just seen.

The Dauntless was coming towards us with alarming speed. She was perhaps three miles away.

I ran to where Jack had passed out near the wheel of the ship. I shook him roughly and only got an incoherent mumble and a half-hearted swat. I found a bucket attached to a rope and lowered it into the sea, filling it with water. I dumped the bucket on Jack, which quickly woke him up.

"Bloody hell, can't a man pass out in peace? What do ye want?!" Jack yelled, scrambling to his feet. He swayed for a moment, trying to find something to support him. I grabbed him and he leaned heavily on me.

"Jack, can you hear me? JACK!" I yelled.

"Huh? What is it?" he mumbled.

"Jack, the Royal Navy is coming. It's the Dauntless, she's coming straight for us!" I cried frantically, trying to get his attention.

Jack snored. He was asleep. I let out a yell of frustration and ran down the stairs onto the main deck, letting Jack crash to the floor behind me. Every one of the pirates were passed out, too drunk to respond when I kicked them. The only people I could awaken (and only with great effort) were Anamaria, Carrie, and Darla.

"How did they find Isla de Muerta?" Carrie wondered, looking through the telescope.

"Perhaps we can ask them later. Right now, we have to tell Jack!" Anamaria answered roughly.

"Good luck," I muttered. "He's completely passed out. I already tried to tell him they were coming. He just passed out again."

"I know how to fix that," Anamaria answered. She looked around at the other pirates, then asked me, "Where are Will and Miss Elizabeth?"

"Down below. They were, uh, busy, last time I saw them. Do you think I should tell them the Dauntless is coming?" I asked.

"'Twould be a good idea. I'll go rouse the Captain," Anamaria said.

As I was going towards Will and Elizabeth, I heard Anamaria yell at Jack, "They're coming to steal the Pearl!"

"Over me dead body they will!" Jack roared, jumping to his feet with his sword out. I laughed to myself and went below.

I knocked politely on the door and called through the wood, "Will, Elizabeth, I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I thought you'd like to know that the Dauntless is coming our way."

"Come in, Liz, it's all right. What was that you said about the Dauntless?" Will asked. They were no longer sitting on the small cot, but instead were at the crudely hewn table.

"She's headed straight towards us." Suddenly I heard some sort of commotion from above. "Actually, I think she just arrived. Your dear Commodore has probably come to rescue you."

Elizabeth scowled. "Stupid prat. I can't believe he thought he had a chance with me."

I laughed. "Exactly what I was thinking. In any case, we should probably go see what's happening and make sure they haven't killed Jack yet."

The three of us went up on deck. The rest of the crew were in the middle of a circle of redcoats, with bayonets pointing threateningly.

"Elizabeth! You're safe!" Commodore Norrington shouted with relief.

"Yes, Commodore, I'm fine. What are you doing here, anyway?" Elizabeth asked.

"I came to save you, of course. Bloody pirates, I want to give them all a short drop and a sudden stop," Norrington growled.

"But they aren't pirates!" I protested. Norrington snorted disbelievingly.

"Then why does he-" he jerked his head at Jack, "-have the pirate brand?"

"Well, okay, he's a pirate, but the rest of these people are just merchant sailors. We stormed their ship and took them all hostage, forcing them to work as our crew and help us defeat Captain Barbossa and take control of the Black Pearl. They're completely innocent, really!" I explained quickly.

"Oh, sorry, my mistake. Men, please take Mr. Sparrow back to the Dauntless. Leave the rest alone," Norrington instructed.

"Sir, are you sure?" Lt. Gillette asked. "They look like pirates to me. How do we know the girl isn't lying?"

"Because she's just a little girl. Little girls don't lie," Norrington replied knowingly.

So Will, Elizabeth, Jack, Carrie, Darla, and I went onto the British Navy ship and the rest of the crew was left on the Pearl. Before I left, I whispered to Gibbs, "If you want to save Jack, sail to Port Royal, but take the long route. The Pearl is faster than the Dauntless, so we should arrive around the same time. Will can save Jack from the gallows, you just be ready to pick him up and leave."

Gibbs nodded, giving me a wink, before I climbed across the wooden plank to the Dauntless.

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A/N: Pretty sure the next chapter will be the last. I hope some of you find humor in this story, but it's not as humorous as I had originally planned. I always do that, in every humor I try to write! haha, perhaps I need to branch out. In any case...

R/R!

Thank you,

-Stacy