Disclaimer: I only own Wilford Hampton, Jacob Karver, Stiles Karver, John Porter, and the HMS Lady Rose...Technically I own the Lady Rose's whole crew. As much as I wish I was Disney and owned Jack, I don't.
Chapter 14:
Jack spotted his crew arriving on the beach and gave a nod to Gibbs. The pirates surged forward, joining the fight against the crew of the Lady Rose. Hampton himself was fighting his way through the mix of his own men and Norrington's, trying to get to the pirate captain. Deciding to meet him halfway, Jack hopped off of his rock and began to work his way down to him.
He ducked under a sword that would've chopped his head off and parried one that would've stabbed his left side. If they'd been attacked before they'd found the Craving Caverns, he'd be dead- there's no way he would've seen that one coming. He hit someone in the back of the head with the hilt of his sword as he passed, seeing the relieved face of one of Norrington's men looking back at him.
After what felt like an eternity of pushing through the mix of soldiers and pirates, his sword finally clashed with Hampton's.
"I've been waiting a long time for this." The naval captain growled at him, eyes blazing.
"That I can agree with." Jack commented, swinging towards the other man's chest.
Hampton parried the attack and swung at his head. The pirate captain ducked, his own sword slashing across the other man's legs. The angered navy officer hissed, swinging wildly. Jack blocked and parried, striking back when he could spare a second to.
"Ye keep that up an' this'll be easy." The pirate taunted.
"Shut up, pirate!" Hampton snarled, only further enraged by the comment. "You stand no chance against my power!"
"We'll see 'bout that."
Jack's former captor slashed his sword across the pirate captain's face, leaving a cut under his right eye. The pirate winced, stifling a gasp of pain, and continued fighting. I'd like to keep both of my eyes, thanks very much.
He scored his weapon across Hampton's arm, seeing a familiar crimson liquid stain the sleeve of the man's coat. The naval captain let out a growl in response, swinging at the pirate's legs. Naturally, the latter jumped the sword with ease and went on with the duel.
"I think ye've gotten worse at this, mate." Jack risked saying. "Have ye ever considered trainin' b'fore an attack like this one?"
With a roar of outrage, Hampton managed to kick his former prisoner square in the ribs. As close as his ribs were to healing fully, they weren't healed enough to push out the fire that lit in his torso upon the impact. With a yelp, Jack was thrown to the ground. The other man towered over him, raising his sword above his head.
The pirate rolled aside just in time, Hampton's sword coming down on bare sand. He let out a breath of relief, raising his sword to parry another jab at his chest. He kicked the naval officer's legs out from underneath him, taking the spare moment to scramble to his own feet and back off far enough to recompose himself. No more comments, Jack, unless you want your ribs shattered by the end of this.
Jack readjusted his grip on his sword and raised it up in a defensive position as Hampton struggled to his feet. The man's face was red in rage, the veins on his forehead standing out. He cut down one of his own men, who'd unfortunately wandered into his path, on his march towards his former captive.
It was clear that he'd stop at nothing to defeat him.
That'll be his downfall.
Hampton swung at Jack with blind fury, which made his attacks rather predictable. Whether his sword slashed high or low, it was blocked with almost relative ease- the attacks, despite being predictable, were still powerful. But the pirate captain wasn't worried. So long as his opponent kept lashing at him out of anger the way he was, the less likely said opponent would be able to block his victim's own attacks.
"Ye're startin' to bore me, mate." Jack couldn't help himself. This is too easy.
The other man, too caught up in his rage, didn't show any sign of hearing him. The pirate jumped back from Hampton's blade as it flew through the air, his stomach just shy of getting cut open. Slightly unease at the thought of it, Jack made to put some distance between him and his opponent.
"Get back here, Sparrow!" Hampton bellowed. "It's time for you to die!"
"Even I wouldn't jus' jump into your sword." Jack told him pointedly. "Ye'll jus' 'ave to try harder."
"I knew I should've killed you when I had the chance." The other man complained angrily.
The pirate merely shrugged. "Your funeral."
Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw the familiar shape of a lit bomb flying through the air. It landed in between him and Hampton. The naval captain didn't seem to see it, which is why the pirate was glad when it only blew them both backwards, knocking them off of their feet. He didn't want his former captor to die to anything but himself.
Ribs aching from impact with the ground, Jack scrambled to his feet and grabbed his sword. Hampton was still groping around for his own, his eyes shut from the sand that had gotten into them. The pirate reached him, resting his blade against the man's neck. He planted one foot firmly on the hilt of the other sword.
Hampton stilled in his movements, realizing what was going on; that he was defeated. His voice held fear in it. "Have mercy."
Jack scoffed. "Now why would I do that?"
No answer.
"Ye think I'll jus' let ye go after everythin' ye've done?" The pirate continued. "I gave ye the chance to surrender last time, mate. Maybe ye should've taken it."
The other man's mouth opened and closed several times. He was clearly at a loss for words.
Jack simply nodded. It's time.
He lifted his sword from the neck of the man he towered over, bringing it down into his chest. A gasp escaped Wilford Hampton and his torso shuddered. Then he fell still, blood flowing from the wound.
He was dead.
The pirate withdrew his sword, letting it hang at his side. He watched the body laying before him, finding satisfaction that his tormentor was finally dead.
"No!" Someone gasped from behind him.
Jack whipped around, slashing his sword across the chest of one of the Lady Rose's crewmen. The man crumbled to the ground before he could announce his captain's fate.
The Black Pearl's captain fought off Hampton's men, a calmness inside of him despite the fact that he was in the middle of a bloody battle. He caught a glimpse of some of his men fighting alongside the Commodore's just fine and inwardly smiled. He should've known they'd get along somehow.
"Sparrow!" Norrington himself called out.
Jack turned, scanning the fighting men for the man. He spotted him struggling to fight off several men at once, at risk of being overwhelmed at any moment. The pirate leapt to the man's defense, parrying blades and knocking enemy soldiers away from him.
"Ye alright over 'ere, mate?" Jack asked between blows.
"Well, I've never been happier to see you." The other man admitted.
"Glad to hear it." The pirate replied, dodging a swing at his head, his own sword slicing across someone's leg.
His eyes narrowed as the Lady Rose's executioner approached, standing out with his mask and axe. He swung the heavy weapon at Jack, who backed up into Norrington as he evaded the blade.
"Watch out, Sparrow, you'll get us both killed!" The man exclaimed.
"We'll both be dead in a minute 'ere if ye don't turn 'round an' help me!" The pirate shot back, wincing as another soldier's sword scored lightly across his arm, just barely drawing blood.
"What could you possibly need help...with..." The Commodore trailed off as he turned around and saw the executioner. "Oh. Hang on!"
As Norrington turned to dispatch his attackers, Jack lifted up his sword to block the axe blade as it came down. He could feel his sword bending dangerously. The weapon didn't have enough power to fight off the larger, curved blade pushing down on it. It snapped loudly and Jack leapt to the side as the axe came down where he'd been.
"Norrington!" He called desperately, unsure of what to do with his sword-turned-knife.
The Commodore finished off his attackers, whirling around to face the executioner. The commanding officer of the Dauntless distracted the other man as the pirate traded the sword of a fallen soldier in exchange for his broken one.
Side by side, Jack and Norrington- pirate and commodore- fought the Lady Rose's executioner. The man fended them off well enough, his axe cutting through the air dangerously. But the heavy weapon made him slower.
Dodging a swing of the larger weapon, Jack cut into the executioner's leg with his sword. The man let out a snarl, bringing his axe down where he thought the pirate was. But Jack had retreated back to his companion's side. The unlikely duo exchanged a nod, the Pearl's captain managing to disarm their opponent, Norrington's sword moving to his throat.
But the man wasn't out of ideas yet. He drew a knife, lunging away from the Commodore and at Jack. The pirate held his sword out in front of him. He had been going to let his companion capture the executioner, but said executioner clearly wasn't going to have it. Which left them with the simple choice of killing him.
The man threw himself at Jack, knife arm extended. The pirate realized with horror that he wouldn't be able to kill him without getting stabbed himself. He braced for the impact, knowing there was no option. This is gonna hurt.
The executioner's body was quickly impaled by Jack's blade, his own embedding itself in the pirate's left shoulder. The Pearl's captain gasped and staggered back, but forced the unmoving form from his sword before tearing the knife from his bleeding shoulder.
"Well done, Sparrow." Norrington commented, clearly impressed. "Near suicidal, but good execution."
"Ye didn't do half bad yourself, Commodore." He wheezed as he caught his breath, lips curling upward into a half smile. "Jus' don't take so long next time, eh? Nearly got split in half waitin'."
"We were outnumbered." The other man pointed out.
Jack shrugged, his shoulder stinging. "So we were."
He set off towards the main bulk of the battle, Norrington right behind him. They split up as they reached the giant mass of fighting men. The pirate found himself snatching a second sword from the ground, fighting off what was left of the Lady Rose's stubborn crew with two weapons. His left shoulder didn't like it one bit. He'd certainly regret getting stabbed later, he knew, but at least he'd have done what he needed to do to survive.
Jack parried blows with one arm as he fought, using the other to disarm or wound his opponents. The tactic seemed to work well. He found himself questioning why he'd never tried dueling with two swords to begin with. It was rather easy, really.
Just as he'd gotten used to the rhythm of the battle, a feminine cry of pain reached his ears. Elizabeth!
"This isn't your battle, girl." The familiar voice of Hampton's first mate sneered. "You should be off wearing dresses, not doing man's work. And certainly not on their side."
With a snarl of fury, Jack tore through the mob of fighting men, reaching the edge. There, he saw Elizabeth on the ground, scrambling back from the advancing naval officer. If Jacob Karver were to look at his brother in this moment, he'd say that he looked like Captain Teague with the deadly, calculating coldness to his eyes.
The pirate captain launched himself at the man who dared to threaten Elizabeth. The man clearly hadn't seen him coming, as he was easily bowled over. Jack stood up to his full height, forcing his anger out to replace it with an unwelcoming calmness. It'd do him no good to fight out of rage. It'd destroyed Hampton- quite literally.
"Jack!" Elizabeth breathed, clearly relieved to see him.
"You." The naval officer growled, retrieving his weapon and climbing to his feet to face the man who'd knocked him over.
"Me." Jack swept his arms out, as if presenting himself to the man, a cold smirk on his face.
"Where did you leave my captain, pirate?" The Lady Rose's second in command demanded.
"Oh, he's layin' 'round 'ere somewhere." The pirate shrugged, throwing a thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of Hampton's body.
"You killed him?"
"'Course I did. Why wouldn't I?"
The first mate of said dead man was the one to start their duel. Jack fought back with ease, parrying and attacking. The other man still had enough energy to be quick enough to face his opponent's double sword tactic. The pirate was impressed.
But that faded when his left shoulder slowed down significantly, hindering his arm movement. The naval officer's blade caught on the hilt of the sword in Jack's left hand, flipping it out of his hand. The pirate pulled back to reposition his remaining weapon before him defensively.
"I should have killed you when I took you prisoner." The Lady Rose's current commanding officer growled.
"I've already heard that one today." Jack told him, unphased. "What're ye waitin' for, mate? Standin' there doesn't do the job for ye."
"I'm going to shred you."
"I'd like to see ye try."
As the man charged at the pirate captain, Jack recalled the bomb that had landed between him and Hampton earlier. When it'd exploded, it'd sent sand into the naval captain's eyes, blinding him and ultimately causing Jack to defeat him. It wouldn't hurt to try the trick again, would it?
Jack dug his right foot into the sand, waiting for his opponent to get close enough. Once the officer was within range, the pirate kicked up the sand. To his satisfaction, the man hadn't even seen it coming. A strangled cry of alarm came from him and he stumbled. And that's the advantage of fighting on a beach.
"Jack, look out!" Elizabeth shouted without warning.
His head snapped to her direction instinctively. His eyes scanned a blood stain on the fabric of her sleeve, but he forced himself to turn around to see where she was pointing instead of worrying over her injury. It took him but a moment to spot one of the Lady Rose's men, pistol in his hand, the hammer drawn back- aiming straight at him.
"That's not good." Jack muttered to himself, reaching for his own loaded gun.
The gunshot sounded before he could even touch his own pistol. Agony exploded in his left leg, just above his knee. He cried out through gritted teeth, his leg buckling beneath him. At some point before he slumped to his knees, his sword slid from his grasp. He heard Elizabeth scream his name.
Jack kneeled in the sand, clutching at the wound in his throbbing leg. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight off the sudden dizziness and new wave of panic he felt. How was he supposed to do anything with a bullet in his leg?
You have to get back up. A voice in his head told him. It doesn't end like this.
Then how does it end? He wondered.
You're Captain Jack Sparrow. You choose how it ends.
Jack opened his eyes. The first mate was still stumbling around, struggling to wipe the sand from his eyes. The pirate took a deep breath and grabbed his sword from where it lay beside him. He stabbed it into the sand, like a crutch, before grabbing the handle and using the weapon to heave himself to his feet. His leg trembled violently, ready to collapse at any moment. You can do this, Jack. It's not over yet.
He spotted Elizabeth dueling the man who'd shot him. The pirate smiled to himself, proud of the governor's daughter. A woman with guts indeed.
Focusing back on the man before him, Jack disarmed the Lady Rose's first mate. Just as the man wiped the last of the sand from his eyes and opened them, the pirate rested his sword at his throat.
"Ye had a good run, mate. But ye've lost." Jack told him, unable to keep all of the pain from his voice. "Good luck at the trial."
The naval officer's face grew red with anger, but instead of replying, he looked to his men. And his eyes narrowed at the sight before him.
The combined forces of the Pearl's and the Dauntless's men had overwhelmed the crew of the Lady Rose, who were fleeing towards their longboats. Many were wounded, limping. The pirates shouted insults after them, giving chase, as Norrington led his men around to flank the enemy soldiers and cut off their retreat.
Jack smirked.
The man beside him shouted at his men in rage. "Cowards! Turn and fight!"
They completely ignored his order.
The pirate turned to him. "Like I said, mate, ye lost."
A/N: Right now, I'm thinking this story will have one more chapter, followed by an epilogue. I have ideas for a sequel, but I cannot confirm if or when I'll ever get around to it.