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Chapter 17: A Curse Lifted
(The two pirates left to guard the Black Pearl search the deck for any intruders. As they look down over the edge for any movement, they are suddenly hit by a rowboat swinging on some rope and and thrown overboard. The boat drops on the side and Alastor's crew, having been set free by Charlie, run up cheering. Charlie grabs a rope tied to the boat.)
Charlie: (determined) All of you with me! Vaggie is in that cave, and we must save her. Ready and... heave!
(She tries to pull the boat to get into the water but it doesn't budge. She the crew just standing there not helping her.)
Charlie: (desperate) Please, I need your help! Come on!
(Sergio on Husk's shoulder is the first to speak.)
Sergio: (squawks) Any port in a storm!
Angel Dust: Husk is right. We've got the Pearl.
Charlie: What about Alastor? You just going to leave him?
Cherri Bomb: Alastor owes us a ship.
Niffty: Even if it's a filthy ship like this one. But if we take it, I can give it the lady's touch it needs.
Angel Dust: And there's the code to consider...
Charlie: (dumbfounded) The code? You're pirates! Hang the code! And hang the rules! They're more like guidelines, anyway!
(The crew still stand there not giving in. Before long, Charlie sits in the boat alone rowing hard into the cave. She watches the Pearl sail away.)
Charlie: (angry) Fucking pirates...
(The fight on the Dauntless rages on. Moxxie and Millie get up on the deck and turn to skeletons once again. They start fighting and killing soldiers alongside their fellow crew mates when they see something in the distance.)
Millie: Hey! Is it supposed to be doing that?
(They see the Black Pearl sailing away from the island.)
Moxxie: (angry) They're stealing our ship!
Millie: (angry) Fucking pirates!
(Seviathan and his men in the boats finally arrive at the ship and start climbing up the side.)
Seviathan: Boarders away!
(The pirates have killed most of the men already on the ship and now see the arrival of the reinforcements.)
Moxxie: Come on! Yah!
(They begin to clash with the second group of soldiers. They fight bravely but the cursed pirates are unable to go down. Seviathan draws his sword and engages in a duel with Travis. Across the deck, Lieutenant Stolas shoves a large block and tackle at Vortex who dodges it. The block and tackle swing across the deck and hit Millie in the back of the head causing her wooden eye to pop out and roll on the floor.)
Millie: (shrieks) Me eye!
(She gets down and chase after it. Razzle and Dazzle climb aboard and tremble at the sight of the battle. They shake hands, let out a battle cry and charge into the fight.)
(In the cave, Alastor and Pentious continue to fight one-on-one while Vaggie clashes with the other pirates. One of them throws a small explosive at her. She dodges but is knocked back and drops her sword. The pirate stands over her.)
Pirate: (aggressively) I'm gonna teach you the meaning of pain!
Charlie: (tauntingly) You like pain?
(He turns and sees Charlie wielding a big golden staff just as she smacks him hard with it and knocks him aside.)
Charlie: Try wearing a corset.
(She holds the staff down to Vaggie. She grabs it and Charlie pulls her back up. They smile warmly at each other for a moment. Then they look down at a shallow pool in the moonlight where Alastor and Pentious battle furiously in their skeletal forms.)
Charlie: (confused) Whose side is Alastor on?
Vaggie: (shrugs) At the moment?
(The two turns their attention to the other pirates and use the staff to fight them. They block their attacks hit them hard. They manage to push them back into a moonlit spot and drive the staff right through their rip cages getting all three of them stuck together. The one in the middle tries to prep another bomb. At that moment, Alastor lures Pentious near the chest. Vaggie takes the bomb and grins mischievously. She shoves it right in the pirate's rib cage and then she and Charlie shove them out of the moonlight. The pirates turn to normal and realize the bomb in stuck in the middle one. He looks up with dismay.)
Pirate: No fair!
(The girls run away as the pirates explode. The explosion gets Pentious' attention and he becomes even more infuriated. While he's distracted by it, Alastor immediately takes out the coin he stole and slashes his hand with his sword. He fights Pentious some more and backs him up against a pile of treasure. Vaggie runs right by them and Alastor smacks his former first mate and catches him off guard. He quickly throws the coin with a sample of his blood on it to Vaggie. She catches it and races to the chest.)
(Pentious glares hard at Alastor and pulls out his pistol. He aims it at Charlie as she runs by and stops in her tracks when she sees him. A gunshot echoes throughout the cavern. Charlie is frightened at first until she realizes that Pentious didn't fire. Confused, Pentious turns back to Alastor who's now pointing his own pistol at him and giving him an intimidating glare and smile. Alastor had just used the single shot that Pentious had given him on him just like he intended to for so long. Pentious just grins amusingly.)
Pentious: (tauntingly) Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot.
Vaggie: (confidently) He didn't waste it.
(Pentious turns and sees Vaggie next to the chest glaring hard at him. In one hand, she holds the stone knife with blood on it. The other hand she holds over the chest and opens it and reveals a cut across her palm along with the coin Alastor stole with his blood on it and the medallion with her own blood on it. Pentious stares in shock as they both fall from her hand on top of the other coins. All eight-hundred-and-eighty-two pieces of the cursed treasure have been returned to the chest with the blood of every person who took them.)
(Charlie becomes relieved. Pentious drops his weapons and opens his coat. A bullet hole appears where his heart it and blood spills out. Alastor lowers his pistol as Pentious looks back at him and speaks weakly but emotionally.)
Pentious: I feel... cold.
(Alastor, Vaggie and Charlie watch as Pentious stumbles back and lies lifeless on the treasure pile. A green apple falls out of his pocket. Finally mortal again, the captain of the Black Pearl has collapsed and died.)
(On the Dauntless, the members of the navy fight the undead skeet own pirates as much as they can until something extraordinary happens. The pirates suddenly turn back to their normal selves. Seviathan had stabbed Travis just as he returned to normal. Everyone stops fighting and looks around amazed. The pirates are in shock by what has happened to them while the soldiers keep their guard up. Travis groans in pain and falls down. The other pirates are in disbelief as they see him die from his wounds. In the cabin, the table stops rattling and Lucifer opens the drawer he trapped the skeleton hand in and winces in disgust at what it is now.)
(Baxter, who had seen Travis die, looks up at the moon as do all the others. They realize the curse had finally been lifted but it was against their will as they wanted to wait until they defeated the navy. Seviathan points his sword at Baxter silently telling him to make a move. Baxter knows they can't win anymore and drops his weapons. Vortex and the others realize the same thing and drop theirs. Millie reclaims her eye and puts it back in. She stands up next to Moxxie as Razzle and Dazzle March up to them and point their guns in their faces. Moxxie and Millie look at them nervously.)
Moxxie: (sheepishly) Parley?
(Seeing that the pirates have surrendered, Seviathan declares victory for the Royal Navy.)
Seviathan: (proudly) The ship is ours, gentlemen.
(The surviving soldiers and sailors cheer victoriously. Lucifer exits the cabin joins the cheering while mocking the defeated pirates.)
(In the cave, Charlie stares at the cursed stone chest feeling relieved that it's all over. Vaggie walks up beside her and they gaze into each other's eyes smiling. They hear a crashing sound and see Alastor going through a pile of treasure that's not cursed and tossing some of it aside. They turn back to each other.)
Charlie: (softly) We should return to the Dauntless.
(Vaggie remembers Alastor telling her that Charlie had agreed to marry Seviathan. She really wants to tell her how she really feels but can't.)
Vaggie: (softly) Your fiancé will be wanting to know you're safe.
(Charlie seems like she wants to tell her something as well, but doesn't. She turns and heads for the cave entrance. Vaggie's smile drops and she shows her sadness. Alastor comes up next to her carrying a load of treasure.)
Alastor: (solemnly) If you were waiting for the opportune moment... that was it.
(Vaggie knows he's right and doesn't say anything. They follow Charlie out of the cave.)
Alastor: (joyfully) Now, if you'd be so kind, I'd be much obliged if you drop me at my ship.
(They three sit in a boat and row out of the cave on the Isla de Muerta and back to the Dauntless. Alastor sits at the front holding the treasure he took and sulking. Charlie had just told him that his crew had fled with the Black Pearl. He's upset but understands they had to keep to the code.)
Charlie: (sympathetic) I'm sorry, Al.
Alastor: (gloomily) They done what's right by them. Can't expect more than that.
(Vaggie looks at him and feels bad for him for once. She decides she shouldn't have doubted him and that he deserves better. She also doesn't completely believe that his crew actually abandoned him.)
And so the main plot of the story ends. But there's still some loose ends left. Last chapter up next.