This chapter I had to cut down because, in its entirety, it ended up being like…10 pages. So I cut it in half. I make a lot of references to Jack's head in this one, for which head, see title, and so thus I named it that. Anyway, enjoy. I really like this chapter for some reason.
Chapter 30 Jack's head (the one on his neck for all you sick people!)
Slowly, Mulan got to his feet and Jack heard the cracks and snaps of his back as he straightened up. Picking up a fallen sword from the deck, Jack threw it Mulan and then took his stance, waiting for the other man's attack.
"You know what I did with your woman, Jack?" He hissed. Jack tried to block out his voice but it kept wiggling into his mind. "I laid her down on my bed…" Jack felt his anger rising, "And we…"
Jack growled and launched himself at Mulan, knocking him into the mast again. Mulan brought his hand up and across Jack's cheek. The right side of his face became a mass of pain, his eye going black. Without wavering, though, Jack managed to get low and bowl Mulan over. They hit the deck hard and Jack could feel Mulan's fists pounding on his back.
All his anger had welled up inside him and finally it burst, sending his fist down again and again, hitting Mulan everywhere he could. Somewhere, between defending himself and hitting Jack back, Mulan managed to get him off and their swords were between them.
Mulan faked a left but Jack didn't fall for it and met him on his right side. They spun and Mulan threw Jack back as hard as he could. Jack tripped over his feet and landed on his back, hard. Mulan was on him in and instant. As Jack lifted his sword to defend himself, Mulan kicked it aside. It skidded away across the deck and hit the railing at the far end. Mulan brought his sword down, and the tip rested under Jack's chin.
"So, Jack. This is how it will all end." Mulan growled. Jack glared up at him.
"No." Jack answered. "It will never end. Not for you and not for me. This will last forever." Mulan's eyes clouded over in confusion for a second. "Because, when I die, I will haunt you for the rest of your life and we will fight again. The moment you die, I will personally send you to the lowest place in hell you'll possibly get."
Mulan smiled. "Why am I not scared?" He asked. Raising his sword, he went to bring it down but Jack rolled backwards and his sword sliced down into empty air. Mulan growled. "Stay still!" He followed swiftly and sliced through the air, keeping Jack on the defensive with no way to go after his sword. He was nearly defenseless…nearly.
A rope hung from the mast, whipping in the wind. Jack ran for it and grabbed it, swinging around the mast as Mulan's sword buried into it. With his feet up, he rounded the mast and slammed into Mulan who went wheeling into the railing. Jack pulled the sword out of the mast and came around to meet Mulan who had Jack's fallen sword out and waiting.
Mulan charged and Jack met him, their blows hitting so hard, the jarring force rattled up their arms. Mulan pushed Jack hard into the mast, hoping to get the advantage but, as he swung Jack ducked and brought his sword up inside Mulan's guard, slicing into his arm. Mulan cried out and wheeled back. With out thinking, Jack brought his sword up and sunk it into Mulan's gut. As Mulan slid off his sword and hit the ground, Jack dropped to his knees beside the man and pulled his face over so he could see Jack.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Jack asked. Mulan's brow wrinkled in pain and confusion. "You scared the horse." Mulan smiled and blood leaked from his mouth and down his face.
"You drink to get rid of the images." Mulan snarled. "I tried to kill you to rid me of mine." His eyes widened and Jack saw a flash out of the corner of his eye as a dagger sunk into his back. With the last of his strength, Mulan grabbed the back of Jack's head and brought it forward. "I failed." Mulan growled. Suddenly, his eyes glazed over and his head hit the deck…dead.
Jack scrambled back and tried to reach the knife but he couldn't. Pain raced up and down his back but he knew it wasn't fatal; Mulan hadn't been strong enough to embed it to deep.
Suddenly, Gibbs hit the deck beside him, thrown by Barbossa. He shook his head and looked up at his captain. "Gibbs." Jack gasped, turning so Gibbs could see his back. "Pull it out." Gibbs stared at him, speechless and then got up, reaching out. He grabbed he hilt of the dagger but didn't do anything. "Gibbs, pull it out, now!" Gibbs wrenched the dagger from his back and Jack clenched his teeth, taking the blood knife from him and tucking it into the sash around his waist.
Turning, he saw Barbossa had got past Gillette who wasn't moving, the skeleton making his way towards Bill.
"I want you to look after Gillette." Jack demanded. Gibbs looked like he was having the same thought Jack was, disbelief that he would ever in his right mind, or out, look after a navy man. "I have to go help Bill."
Gibbs nodded. As Jack struggled to his feet, the other man grabbed his arm. "Watch yourself, Jack. You owe me a bottle of rum." Jack smiled.
"Minus the ones you owe me." He replied. With that, Jack was gone, wending his way across the almost enemy free deck. Gibbs watched him go and then turned to Gillette who was waking up.
Bill cringed at the smell of rotting flesh permeating from the corpse of his former captain. The smell wafted through the air, so thick he could almost see it making him gag.
Barbossa growled, standing over his brother and a soft chuckle came from his bony throat. "Can't you stay dead?" He asked. Bill raised his sword in defense, knowing it was no good, and smiled evilly while nerves caused his teeth to chatter.
"Obviously neither of us can." He said. Barbossa stepped forward and Bill swung the sword out. The skeleton caught it easily in his hand, the metal embedding in bone and shot out a fist, catching Bill's shoulder. There was a loud snap and Bill stumbled back, letting his sword go. Barbossa had just dislocated his shoulder. His right arm hung uselessly at his side and, seeing as it was his sword arm, he was now defenseless.
Barbossa flung the sword carelessly away, the spinning object narrowly missing Jack as he ran towards them. Jack stopped; brow furrowed and watched it hit the deck as though it were a woman who had just slapped him. Turning brown eyes back to his brother, Jack stepped around the casket and stood shoulder to injured shoulder with Bill.
"I believe you could use some help." Jack said. Bill grimaced and then laughed lightly.
"Where were you fourteen years ago when I was being strapped to a cannon?" Bill asked. Jack glared at him.
"I was on a little island, dying and plotting my revenge. You really have nothing to complain about." Jack answered swiftly. Bill grinned and pointed to his arm.
"Nothing to complain about? Do you have a limb that doesn't work?" Bill growled. Jack nodded and glanced at Barbossa. That look held a hidden message only two brothers could pick up. They were going to spring and Jack was going to give the signal but that could be anything.
"My head." Jack answered. Bill nodded, "See, you really have nothing to complain about do…"
"Will you both shut up?" Barbossa growled. The two brothers turned their attention to the skeleton before them. During their argument, Barbossa had managed to pull Ethan to his one good leg.
"Excuse me?" Jack said in mock irritation. "We haven't seen each other in years, thanks you." Barbossa, though he had no eyes, was obviously shooting daggers at them. "Now…"
"Now?" Bill asked. "What now?" Jack grabbed his dislocated arm lightly.
"Now!" Jack screamed, launching himself across the deck. He grabbed Barbossa around the rib cage while Bill hit Ethan. Unfortunately, the brittle bones were not as brittle as they looked and Barbossa didn't move. Stepping back and gripping his now very soar shoulder, Jack stared at the skeleton who started to laugh.
"Oh Jack." Barbossa whispered. "Now, how could you think that would work?" Jack smiled weakly.
"I'm…sorry?" He asked. Barbossa shook his head and growled like a madman, running at Jack who had nothing else he could do but run.
Elizabeth felt a hand on her shoulder but before she could turn, Norrington stepped in front of her. "James!" She whispered, grabbing him and pulling him into a tight hug. Her eyes wandered the deck and she found Will watching her.
"Elizabeth…" Norrington pulled away gently, his cheeks glowing red. "I mean, Mrs. Turner." He turned to Will, nodded to him and then looked back at Elizabeth. "Go help your husband."
There was no sadness in his voice, no disappointment…only love. Elizabeth couldn't believe he could still love her after what she had done to him. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked. Norrington smiled and nodded.
"Go." He begged. Elizabeth nodded, kissed his cheek and then walked towards Will. She didn't hear Norrington's soft reply, "We'll both be okay." Elizabeth grabbed her husband and kissed him. They'd survived. Only a few crew members were left to fight and after that they'd all be able to go home.
Will pulled away. "We have to find Anamaria and Christian." He said. Elizabeth nodded and looked past him to the door leading to the lower decks. "Down there." She said. Will shook his head.
"I came up from there with Christian and my…my dad. Why would he be…" Elizabeth shook her head. It was simply women's intuition. "Okay…"
Elizabeth grabbed his hand and cautiously opened the door. There were candles low in the brackets below and two indistinct shapes at the bottom of the stairs. One lay spread eagle and the other was hunched near the wall. Opening the door farther and letting the moonlight cascade down the steps, she gasped.
"Christian!" She whispered, letting Will's hand go and running down the steps. She jumped over the dead man on the floor and knelt beside Christian. There was blood flowing down his face from a gash on his head and large purple bruises were rising under his right eye, jaw and left cheek. She carefully pulled him into her arms and looked up at Will who was checking over the pirate.
"He's dead." Will announced. "How's he?" Elizabeth shook her head and smoothed back Christian's hair. His eyes fluttered and then he groaned.
"I killed him." Christian muttered, opening his eyes and squinting at her. "I killed him…" Elizabeth shook her head and kissed his forehead. "No, I did…"
"It wasn't your fault." Elizabeth said soothingly. Christian shook his head and moaned. "Where are you hurt?"
"I think my ankle…sprained." Will gently probed Christian's ankle and the young doctor sucked in a large gulp of air. "Mr. Turner…"
"Will." Will said simply. "You can call me Will."
Christian nodded and lifted his hand shakily. "Remove my boot, please." Will unlaced the boot as gently as he could and slid it off the doctor's swelling ankle. "Elizabeth, if you could help me sit up…" Elizabeth gently helped Christian into a sitting position against the wall. "Okay, now with both hands, I need you to press on the sides of my ankle and if you feel anything shirt then it's broken." Will did as he was told but he didn't feel anything. "Okay, that's good."
"What do we do now?" Elizabeth asked. Christian closed his eyes, breathing heavily.
"I need you to make a bandage and put it over my forehead…and don't let me sleep." Christian said. Elizabeth looked at him confused. "I think I have a head injury." Will laughed and looked up at Elizabeth who giggled.
"Maybe you should talk to Jack about that." Will said. Christian stared at him, uncomprehendingly. "That man has a constant head injury." Christian smiled and leaned against the wall.
TO MY REVIEWERS:
CHAPTER 28
DragonHunter200: Hey man, yeah it was Jack. Battle scenes are my favorite to write because I get an idea in my head about how they should be. Writing them is hard though and I tend to rush through them at times. Barbossa was always one scary looking dude. Lol.
CHAPTER 29
KMSOrligirl: Two nights reading it? I'm honored but I must admit it takes me longer to read one this long! Lol, thank you for finding it. Yes, I am from Canada, I live in the middle of Canada in Saskatchewan which is the easiest province to draw but the hardest to spell. Lol. You're from Wisconsin? I had a friend from there, I don't know which city or anything, I don't remember. P.S. Vancouver Canada is really pretty and so is Victoria in B.C. If you want to move to Canada look there first. I hope you got my e-mails on the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter fan fics.
Toxic-Beetle: What will happen to Ana and Bill? Humm…well, Ana won't come in until the next chapter, I just couldn't fit her in but you'll be happy and hopefully a little surprised. And yes, Jack has a daughter named Morgan. You'll meet her in the sequel…coming soon.
Forceflow46: Hey! That sucks about work, eh? Yeah, it's been snowing here for the past three days…really hard. It sucks; I have play practice tonight and can't go because of the weather. The showdown between Jack and Barbossa? They need a showdown? No, I'm kidding, I already wrote it and I think you'll like it a lot, I'm very proud of the showdown. Norry is starting to see Jack different, but you'll see what he does about it in a little bit. Yes, the sequel will be coming soon and I'll probably put up chapter one the day I put up the final chapter on this story. I hope you don't mind but I called Barbossa Daniel in the next chapter. You gave me the idea and I was wondering if I could have your permission? Thanks.
Padme17: lol, yeah, lack of sleep can do that to a dead guy. Breaking bones and bloodiness? Yeah, all that is fun and all. It would be great to have Morliana and her gang around for a while, and then when my klutzy nature comes into effect they can help me. Then again, taking over bodies and the fact they are dead would be a little off putting. I liked the thing about Mr. Clean. That was great.
And to anyone else I may have missed, thank you. To all you who read and don't review, thank you also.
