Possibles of The Caribbean Chapter 3: A Hostile 'Sitch'uation, a Kim Possible + Pirates of the Caribbean Crossover fanfic

For those who enjoy a good read, check out Fox Blade by Ace Ian Combat, very awesome and very mysterious!

I don't own Kim Possible or Pirates of The Caribbean, these are owned by Disney. All historical references and figures mentioned don't belong to me either. Why are you even bothering to read this? It's not like I'll say anything funny! Oh dang, I just did, didn't I?

Sigh, read on.

Chapter 2: A Hostile 'Sitch'uation.

Far away, far from Port Middleton, in the middle of the Caribbean Sea, where no ship lay sailing today, silence prevailed. No calls from the crow's nest, no bustling above deck, not even the sound of a fish breaking the water. The deep blue was as empty as a poor man's pocket that fine day, or so it seemed.

A mesmerizing, thick fog floated over surrounding waves in a haunting manner. Thick as whipped cream, and almost as difficult to see through. Any ship's captain was half a brain would not dare try to sail in such dangerous conditions. But the black ship's captain had a fully functioning brain, and his ship, his Black Pearl, was not sailing through the fog, but rather in front of it. The haze outlined the back of the ship, and drifted along side it, but other then that, she was well safe from being mired. It seamlessly followed in fact, like an added bonus to the ominous eeriness and dangerous air that could be sensed from the vessel's rotting haul.

Rain clouds filled the skies, swirling viscously, as dark and as frightening as the Black Pearl itself. Still breezes stirred to high winds, billowing out the mangled sails roughly, which had been unfurled some time ago in attempt to move faster. Now wind on the seas was always welcomed, but winds like this, the captain knew, these winds might, if strong enough, rip down the sails themselves, a most unfortunate thing to happen in the middle of the sea. There was a storm stirring, which was of sheer outlandishness to the Black Pearl's crew, storms of any kind were not common for that time of year in The Caribbean. Hopefully they could sail out before it struck at full force.

Thunder chorused through the skies with the sound equivalent of a thousand cannons going off in unison. Lighting split through livid clouds, striking them like whips and shedding white light on their surface, then fading back to the darkness from which it had crept. The seas became rough, with waves swelling to the size of hay bails and washing over the deck, soaking anyone who had dared not get below deck. But curiously, rain did not fall, not a single drop, just wind and waves for the most part.

Perhaps a band from a hurricane was passing over? Even more unlikely for this time of year, and even more dangerous as to what it brought.

And then a pulse.

An undying, eerily felt pulse. It rhythmically jostled through the very skulls of the crew and captain. A familiar call that echoed and died in the hallow nightmares of the pirates, a ghostly rattling that ran through your very heart and you felt as though your ribs would be torn from your chest. The pulse caressed the Pearl like a plague, with such vengeful familiarity toward its crew.

And then it vanished, fading out over the ocean, and yet they still felt it, but not so much a pulse now, as a call, a call with a name, a call of evil nature, its dark intentions painting pictures in their minds.

The gold was calling, their hope was restored.

The name pulsed again and again as the captain shouted orders for the crew to turn the fog fixed ship around. Their destination was clear.

Port Middleton, Port Middleton, Port Middleton…

The group stood on the Royal Navy's docking port, situated right below the battlement residing on a seaside cliff. Just minutes ago, The Governor's young daughter had fallen from said battlement, out of lack of air and sudden shock, and into the waters below, certain drowning awaiting her. That was, until Jack Sparrow, a famed–yet strange- Caribbean pirate, dived in after her and got her to the surface. Certainly a rescue to be praised, for sure, but unfortunately, not everyone was very pleased about the outcome concerning the rescuer, having the history he had.

One of these people being the girl's father, James Possible, whom had an increasingly high dislike of piracy, and a sometimes-compulsive over-protectiveness toward his daughter. And there was Commodore Joshua Mankey, whom had just recently proposed to Kimberly. He deeply cared for the young woman's safety, almost as much, if not more then, her father, and resented pirates with the same amount of commitment. He hated Jack particularly, for he believed that the pirate had stolen his chance to prove himself a hero in the eyes of his fiancée hopeful. Kimberly disagreed with them both, and thought they were overreacting, as she had for all her life. But then she had never agreed with most statements made in her time.

Now, as dark clouds rolled over a usually sunny island, the pirate and the Commodore exchanged banter.

"Well, Jack Sparrow, isn't it?" he asked mockingly, looking at the tattoo with almost surprise. Jack looked at The Commodore with the most mocking respect ever.

"Captain Jack Sparrow," Jack said in a calm tone, "If you please, sir."

Having heard this, Mankey almost scoffed at Jack's remark. "Well, I don't see your ship, Captain." he said, earning slight laughs from the soldiers behind him.

Jack looked unfazed by the mocking, and he sighed somewhat.

"I'm in the market, as it were." he spoke, wording the sentence as carefully as he could think possible, looking The Commodore dead in the eyes. Mankey lightly sneered down at the pirate.

Melvin heard this and remembered Jack's words from before.

"He'd said he'd come to commandeer one," he told the Commodore calmly, ratting Jack out. The pirate glared at the young soldier from out of the corner of his eye.

Hector, who stood not but three feet from Jack, looked at his fellow soldier, surprised by the sudden revelation he had made. There was something of pride in his eyes as well. He seemed to lean forward, toward Melvin.

"Told ya he was telling the truth!" he said haughtily, his chest puffing out. He was glad to be the right one this time around.

He turned to the Commodore much more composed. "These are his, sir," he knelt down, grabbing a bunch of strange looking items from off the dock and gathering them up in his arms, then presenting them to the Commodore. Coat, hat, cutlass, everything. Jack's belongings.

The pirate seemingly reached for his effects lovingly as they were taken by the Commodore, but didn't dare grab one, although he was fast enough and smart enough that he could've taken any number of the weapons without a problem from any soldier.

The Commodore looked at the collection, picking through it as he went, and much to the pirate's dismay, he pulled out the black powder pistol. Old, but a good one no less, very clean and in good condition. Mankey checked the ammo.

"No additional shot or powder," he commented, looking at the one lowly bullet inside it. He set the pistol back in the pile with a sigh.

Then surfaced a small, black metal box with slivery scratched edges, a rounded top, and a brown leather strap running off the back. He opened its rusted latch and revealed a beautiful compass face. Numbers 00 through 350, counted by ten, curved over the gold rim, a bright red needle circled the white face, moving around a bronze center.

It wavered about, but no matter what Mankey tried, the compass just wouldn't stay straight. The needle kept pointing east, in Kimberly's direction. He looked at the young redhead, then closed the compass back sharply.

"A compass that's doesn't point north," his tone was a bit surprised, but sneering no less.

The Commodore grabbed at the hilt of Jack's cutlass, which Hector held in his open hand, all while propping up the other things with the rest of the arm and the whole of the other.

Mankey pulled it from its sheath, revealing a slivery metal cutlass, very similar to his own, but different. For instance, Mankey's sword is more what you landlubbers might call a standard issue, no matter how much gold is in the handle, and no matter how much it cost Ronald Stoppable to forge; it was still a very plain sword, and very common among the soldiers and commanding officers of the Royal Navy, that modal was long and heavy too, you had to be very strong indeed in order to thrust it in battle.

Jack's sword was unlike this, it was a cutlass, another popular weapon, but not with The Fleet, I'm afraid. Pirates, now they favored the cutlasses, amidst quite a few other cruel items they used to pillage and plunder their drunken way across The Caribbean. The cutlass was no honest man's sword; it was made for the kill in cold blood, the slaughter of innocence, and the pry of a wooden chest aboard a Spanish treasure galleon. The cutlass was short-made for quicker movements and slashes, also helping with this were a much sharper edged blade and its shape, both fashioned to help the handler in battle. So, it was pretty simple to run someone through or cut off an appendage (or anything else) with a sword like the cutlass, a weapon forged of wickedness in Mankey's eyes. He looked at Jack with a very dishonest smile.

"And I half expected it to made of wood," he said snarkily. Jack smiled back at him in a reflected way, signaling his powerful distaste for the young man. Mankey ignored this and shoved the sword back into the sheath, so hard that Hector felt it hit the bottom, which was supported against his stomach. A painful 'kick in the gut' feeling surged through him, or perhaps his finger had been caught between the sword and the hilt, he never said for sure.

The Commodore waved away the pirate's junk, as he thought it, then turned to Jack, shaking his head in disbelief. The pirate had come to Port Middleton, not very well armed save for his sword, to steal a ship of the British Royal Navy from two very young, gullible soldiers, but instead, dives in after a drowning woman and hands said soldiers all his less then weapons, utterly leaving him defenseless when the Commodore and the rest of Her Majesty's Fleet of The Caribbean arrives to save this drowning woman and manages to arrest the pirate whom had just pulled himself, and the woman, upon the docks. Mankey could say one thing to that.

"You are, without a doubt, the worst pirate I have ever heard of," he spoke stingingly.

Jack was still unfazed by his words, and was silent for a moment before countering the remark.

"Ah. But you have heard of me," he replied in a tone filled with the utmost confidence.

Mankey had had more then enough of him. Upon seeing Junior return with the irons, he grabbed Jack by the arm yet again, more so his upper arm and elbow this time, and roughly dragged him down the boardwalk, stomping like an angered horse with each step he took.

Jack seemed surprised, but didn't fight The Commodore off, and wasn't really bothered by this turn of events, just surprised.

He let the young Commodore lead him to certain death. Well, if he wasn't going to stand up for himself, then Kimberly would. Taken aback, the young aristocrat pushed her father away, and before he could react, she was tagging behind the pair, now barefooted, for she had lost her shoes in the water. It was painful. She could feel splinters etching into her soft feet, picked up from the wooden dock, but she didn't care.

"Commodore! Please! I really must protest!" she called to him, hoping to persuade Mankey yet again to spare Jack's life, though she wasn't sure she really done so the first time.

Junior was waiting at the front of the dock when they reached him, holding a pair of heavy-looking manacles. Rusted, finely forged metal, with a chain that connected the two metal clamps, indicating that anyone who wore them would not be able to move one arm away from the other, or one leg away from the other, depending on where you locked them on.

Mankey pulled Jack forward barbarically, navigating his wrist to where Junior could lock on the maniacals. Junior immediately went to work, sliding Jack's wrist into the first clamp. The pirate never tried to run; he just stood there and allowed himself to be chained up. Mankey nodded in satisfaction, then turned away.

When Kimberly managed to catch up, she looked back at Junior and Jack, and then at Mankey, whose expression had softened again, he smiled at her, but her expression hadn't ceased its fury since she'd awoken. Mankey saw this. She hadn't shown him the least bit of gratification yet, and he thought he was helping her. He was doing something wrong, what was he doing wrong?

The Governor and the Royal Navy soldiers marched up the dock. The soldiers, including Hector and Melvin, needed to be close in case Sparrow tried to escape, and Kimberly's father disparate to catch her, still believing her to be badly shaken and in need of getting inside. Kimberly, on the other hand, was raging at the young Commodore for using her trust to arrest her savior. Her eyes flared like her father's before her as she screamed.

"Pirate or not, this man saved my life!" she exclaimed, pointing to Jack, who was, yet again, ignoring her, that was really starting to bug her too. She was trying to help him! He could at least acknowledge that!

Kimberly looked up into the eyes of The Commodore, searching for some understanding, some heart, some sign that this man, whom had just proposed to her not long ago, cared for her the way he claimed he did. But all she saw there was resentment, at what she'd spoken? Possibly. She'd seen this grimace in his eyes before, the same look he had given Jack, deep in rigged hate and unfailing anger. A connection was made in her mind. Her eyes lowered.

"Or are you just jealous?" she asked knowingly, but very sneeringly, a dull gleam shining in her green eyes. She wasn't stupid, and couldn't believe he was acting on emotions such as this when arresting someone. How childish of him.

Mankey gasped and scoffed at the notion, obviously finding it mind-boggling. Her crossed his arms over his chest. "Me? Jealous? Of him?" he gestured to Jack, then shook his head and spoke kindly to the girl. "You are mistaken, milady."

Mankey, you liar! If you care for me, then tell me the truth! Kimberly glared up at him before turning to her father, who had just approached the two, and was very surprised by her expression. She grabbed his shirt again.

"Father, do something!" She cried, now desperate for support of any kind.

"Kimberly, I have no power in this matter." James replied, pulling her hands away gently. This infuriated Kimberly again.

"You're the Governor!" she exclaimed it like it should be the most obvious thing in the world, clutching fists now. James shrugged somewhat.

"There are limitations to my power," he added calmly, trying to keep her the same way, but it was too late.

She had erupted by now. The anger with her father and The Commodore, from now and over the years, was boiling over. She had absorbed many years of her father's and both generations of Commodore's attitude toward pirates, and it was understandable in those days, but things were different this time! He had saved her! Thief or honest man, whichever he was. But they never would wrap their minds around her ideas and comprehend them for what she saw. They would never see that in every sitch, in every person, pirate or governor, there were shades of gray sometimes, not every case, but this was one of them, Jack was one of them, she just knew it, she didn't understand why, but she had a sense about people sometimes. And yet they were this close to dragging him off to the hangman's noose after preventing her death. Something in that sentence made her farther enraged. All the years of this attitude had finally become too much, and she could hold back no longer. Kimberly took a step forward. Fire and brimstone might as well have shot from her lips.

"Limits? Father, it's not your limits you speak of, the ones you are referring to are mine!" she snapped. James almost gasped at her sudden outburst. " I can not believe you! All you've done for all my life is protect me, from everyone and everything. Now it was all great and wonderful years ago, but truth of the matter, father! I'm not five anymore! I'm twenty! And in case you missed some part of my childhood, well capable of caring for myself!"

"And you!" she turned to Mankey, who remained steadfast in her eye's glare, clearly not as shaken as James. "You're the same way! You think I'm just some girl who can't handle herself, and you believe you have to be my hero, but you're wrong! You just need to get over yourself is what it is!" she then prodded her index finger into his chest, emphasizing her last couple words by poking him. "And if you think that doing all this makes me dislike you any less, you are sadly mistaken, sir!"

To Mankey, she could've stuck a knife through his heart and it wouldn't have made difference. This was how she truly felt? It more of a slap on the face then he had been looking for, and it was painful for him, more painful then splinters in your feet. But he didn't show it, or at least he thought he didn't.

Kimberly seemed to see the hurt in his eyes, but stepped back a ways to face the both of them instead of apologizing.

Jack watched quietly, highly impressed by extreme tongue-lashing she was throwing down at her own father and the Governor, and the Commodore of the British Royal Navy. She was fiery for an aristo. He liked that in a woman.

"And now you're both doing it again, if not worse then usual!" she continued shakily. "You both think that just because this man is a pirate, he should be taken to prison right after saving a life, my life. Well, let me remind you, if he hadn't been there, I would've drowned. Didn't you see that? Does that even matter to you?" Neither answered. She shook her head. "But no. Then Kimberly's safety comes up again, and just because he's a pirate. Because he's a pirate, he shouldn't be trusted, because he's pirate, he should be hanged or shot. Didn't ever both once think right then that, even though he's a pirate, he could still be a good man?" she asked, finishing her speech. Her face was cherry-red.

Jack smirked in amusement at the others shocked expressions, even Junior, who held Jack's chained arms up, midway through locking them, his mouth agape.

They hadn't thought of that, in fact. It just didn't seem like a very logical notion at the time, to them. And they certainly weren't giving it thought right now; James was utterly shaken by his daughter's words, and Mankey was near heartbroken, although both tried to hide it, and did so very well by this time over. Mankey folded his arms behind his back.

"One good deed if not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness." he countered. Kimberly glared at him deeply, causing him to shutter and recoil. He had never seen this side of her before, much different the composed Kimberly he knew, who was he trying to marry? He did his best to counter again, but she won the battle with her angered snarl.

"Though it seems enough to condemn him," both were surprised to hear Jack speak after all the commotion. He looked at the two very coolly, more so Kimberly, who was closer and usually had her back turned away from him. Junior pulled away the key from the lock and slipped it into his pocket. Mankey began grimacing at Jack again.

"Indeed," he replied in an annoyed way, glad he would be rid of this man soon. Junior let go of Jack and stepped back into a crowd of soldiers, leaving him alone for just a second.

That was all the time the pirate needed.

Jack had been waiting and planning since the Commodore had cornered him on the docks, waiting like cat who was watching a mouse, the mouse unaware of the cat or the fact that he had seen her, or taken an interest in going after her. A cat must wait for just the right moment before it pounces, as to catch the mouse by surprise, then toy with the creature a bit, and discard of the mouse thoroughly once finished. Jack may have not been feline, but he certainly knew this strategy well, and had working on just how he'd pull it off without getting trouble from the Navy soldiers or their pretty boy commodore. They had to get sloppy sooner or later, and it would be one miniscule moment where they would forget to do something or step away from him, loosening their guard on the pirate and leaving opportunity open.

His plan was now fully thought out, his opponent had become unfocused, and his opportune moment had come; his chance at yet another dazing escape had come. Jack had to withhold a smug smile. No, not until he had them where he wanted them. Then he could triumph over and gloat.

"Finally," he muttered. Jack took his chance, and ran up behind the young redhead. In one quick movement, he stuck out his bonded arms, reached over her head, and threw the chain over Kimberly's neck.

She hadn't seen him. So, shocked by the sudden action; she gasped sharply and grabbed at the chain, trying to pull it away, but found that she couldn't. She had no power to break away or fight against him!

Every step Jack took backward; he pulled her farther down the boardwalk, even more power not hers to control. Maybe trusting the pirate wasn't such a good idea after all.

At the sight of this action, several soldiers raised their guns at Jack and Kimberly, more preferably Jack. An already flustered Governor Possible was scared to death now.

"No! Don't shoot!" he called, willing to do anything that would help spare his daughter's life. He almost lost her once today, not again! The soldiers, instead of lowering their weapons, looked to the Commodore, waiting for his orders.

To be honest, Mankey wasn't sure what to do. This hadn't been expected, well, escapes are always to be expected when you arrest a man. But the use of a girl by way of escaping, using Kimberly as a hostage, had not been thought of. This ill begotten exploitation was nothing but deplorable. Mankey couldn't help but feel a pang of anger at himself. Why hadn't he stopped him? He really should've known a pirate like Sparrow would be crafty enough to slip away and do something like this! And yet, he hadn't known this to come. His second failure today, he was on a roll.

Jack cocked his head and looked at Kimberly with a disgusting smile, she glared back angrily.

"I knew you'd warm up to me," Jack whispered to her, staring at the redhead in a way that she didn't quite like.

Kimberly grimaced. He was no pretty face, to be sure, but his breath was most noticeable when he spoke; it stunk of rum and lack of cleaning, both for many years at most. If she weren't so angry, she might have passed out again.

Jack turned away from her, and to a group of well-armed Navy soldiers, and prepared to take them down quickly. He looked at Mankey.

"Commodore, my effects, please, and my hat!" Jack demanded, looking over Kimberly's shoulder. Mankey was unmoving, hoping they could just shoot Jack down instead, after getting Kimberly away, of course. That was always much easier.

But Jack saw this coming and pulled Kimberly back a bit as a warning; it didn't look like he was going to leave the option of the quick kill open. The pirate looked over redhead's shoulder again.

"Commodore!" he repeated, more sharply this time, pointing at him. There was a determined glint in his eyes that posed threatening.

They had no choice.

Mankey signaled to his men, who reluctantly dropped their muskets. Melvin angrily shook his head, disbelieving that he had let this man walk right into their dock. He should've shot him when he'd had the chance.

Hector stood in the back of the group, inwardly cursing himself, still holding Jack's things. He knew what he had to do. With a sour face, he coursed his way to the Commodore, and handed him all of the stuff. The Commodore took them carefully, and very solemnly.

Jack watched the scene for a second with smugness, then looked back at the captive redhead.

"Kimberly- It is Kimberly right?" he asked, his foul breath coursing her senses again. She narrowed her olive eyes.

"It's Miss Possible," she gritted between her teeth bravely, trying her best to break eye contact with Jack.

Commodore Mankey approached with Jack's effects. The pirate spoke again.

"Well, Miss Possible, if you'd be so kind," he said. Kimberly's eyes widened furiously when she realized what Jack was asking of her. Mankey reached them, holding the requested items and looking quite sorry for himself, for not seeing what Jack was going to try before it was too late, or maybe because of what Kimberly had said to him. Either way, there was a sharp sense of disappointment about the boy.

Jack nodded for Mankey to hand his gear over to Kimberly, seeing that he himself could not hold them.

Mankey sneered at the man before gently pushing each item into Kimberly's arms, an apologetic frown on his face as he looked at her. She took them slowly, looking over each one with the knowledge of what it was and what it did, very rare for a woman of her time.

"Come, come, dear. We don't have all day." Jack said to her impatiently as she took the last few things from the young Commodore. Jack nodded his head, nudging to the young man, signaling him to move. The Commodore carefully stepped back from the two, and back into the crowd. Now all they could do was sit back and wait.

Jack then wheeled Kimberly around by the shoulder, forcing her to face him, the chain now at the back of her neck. He grabbed his pistol from her arms and turned it to her head. She cradled the items as best she could as he did so.

"Now, if you'd be very kind," he spoke, gesturing to the bundle in her arms with a slimy smile.

Kimberly looked down at the stuff, then at Jack, with fury burning in her eyes again. He was asking her to put his stuff on him, for him! She was appalled. This was unacceptable! Kimberly didn't want to! Then she saw the gun at her head.

At once, the young redhead began going through the pile and putting everything in, what she believed was its proper place. She wiggled his hat on over his bandana as good as she believed possible, strapped in his sword, everything, and she was quite good at it to, Jack had to admit.

She wrapped his sash on, and reached over him to secure it, an arm around the pirate. Jack looked over her head, at the almost defeated soldiers, more so eyeing a nerve-wreaked Governor and an angered Commodore. His dark eyes gleamed indigently at them, and he smiled broadly, devilishly, revealing his several gold teeth. Quite good at it.

The Commodore rolled his eyes in frustration, obviously seeing what the pirate was hinting at. Jack only smiled again, and turned back to Kimberly.

"Easy on the goods, darling," he commented as Kimberly pushed the last of the items into his belt. When the final one was in, there was cracking noise, and she was finished. She moved away as best she could, and Jack's draped his arms over her shoulders; they stared at each other for a second.

"You're despicable," she muttered to him bitterly.

"Sticks and stones, love," Jack replied, "I saved your life, you saved mine, we're square."

He turned her back to face the crowd, the pistol at her head, she looked more annoyed now then anything. Jack took a step back, the soldiers followed.

"Gentlemen," he then looked at Kimberly, "milady," he kept backing up farther, toward the end of the dock, with James, Mankey, and the rest of them following his every move. Jack noticed the cargo gantry not far from where he stood, and a cannon upheld by it with a strong rope. He turned back, nearing the dock's edge by now, with an arrogant look on his face. "You will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!"

With that, he lifted his arms away from Kimberly and shoved her away, pushing her into James and the Commodore, who caught her quickly. He then ran to the end of the dock, grabbed a second rope, and kicked the latch of the gantry. In result, he was sent jolting up toward the pulley.

The soldiers, seeing they could now attack, lunged at him. But his was sent up too quickly. The cannon on the other side of the pulley had been held up by the same rope, so when Jack went up, it went down, plunging into the dock, creating a hole, and causing nearby soldiers to fall down into the water-based crater.

Jack zip-lined up to the top of the pulley, well away from any soldiers. He was safe from them, because this means of escape had caused another problem. Now the second half of the rope was being held in the water by a two ton cannon, so when this happened, Jack's half of the rope, plus his own weight, pulled at the mechanism, causing it to move. This cannot be good.

Kimberly straightened up, Mankey and her father helping her as best they could. She was just a little dazed from the rush, that was all.

She looked up just in time to see a flailing pirate, as he swung forward, propelled by motion. The wooden piece, meant help sailors move heavy cargo from one part of the deck to the next, began to spin quite unnervingly, taking Jack with it as he held onto his rope for dear life.

It made a round. Jack wobbled as his chained hands clutched the rope; he was watching all of Port Middleton at super speed, going around and around, again and again, the same blurry images. It was getting quite nauseating. It rounded again and his body twisted with a jerk, he screamed loudly as Kimberly, Governor Possible, Mankey, and the others watched from below.

Kimberly was wide-eyed, unsure whether to be impressed, or worried that he would get away.

James had other thoughts on his mind. He looked to Mankey.

"Now will you shoot him?" he asked, almost impatiently. Mankey looked at the Governor, then at the spinning pirate captain.

"Open fire!" he shouted. The armed soldiers raised their guns in alignment with the sky and pulled triggers, letting the sound of twenty firearms echo as the cloudy atmosphere filled with bullets.

Jack rounded again and was suddenly met with a bombardment of musket fire. He screamed again, but shorter then the last for fear of throwing up, he was becoming quite sick.

As luck would have it though, every shot missed. This almost surprised the pirate. As many shots as there were, he was able to dodge every one. This was his typical luck though, always good. That was when he saw the wooden lift a little more then twenty feet from where the gantry stood. Another plan formed. He decided to try and swing out of his ongoing circle; maybe he would get lucky and not end up a spattered mess on the ground.

The firing continued, but Sparrow did not fall. Impossible, Mankey thought.

And as he did so, Jack somehow had managed to swing out from the gantry, the gunfire still upon him. Jack quickly, but very unbalanced, let go of the rope and landed on the top of the slender lift, wavering back and forth on the high beam. Perhaps they had gotten him during the swing? Maybe luck had finally kissed the Commodore's cheek after all.

But, unfortunately, no.

Sparrow was only dizzy, and gained footing quickly. He was escaping! Mankey swore under his breath, then yelled back at his men, his eyes never veered away.

"On his heels!" he called urgently. He raced forward, the soldiers, Kimberly, and the Governor followed at similar speeds.

Jack moved quickly, although his was still a bit off kilter. The pirate knew he had to keep going. Thinking quickly, he carefully tiptoed to the other side of the lift, where a descending rope bridged. He wrapped his chained wrists over the rope, and without another thought, jumped from the lift. He moved quickly down the rope, using the chain to slide without tearing up his hands. The chains, once meant to take him prisoner, were setting him free. Ironic, that's what that was.

Jack moved closer to ground ever gracefully, like a cat. The docks, the people, the cargo all passed his eyes in a flash, not like the nauseating spin of the gantry. It was rather interesting actually. The relaxing sight ended quickly, for the ground was now nearer then before. Jack took this as a good time to get off.

He moved his arms to the left, then slipped his right hand over the rope, letting go and falling a good four feet.

Jack hit the ground running, literally, and took off a break-neck speed, running the rest of the dock and then out into the streets. Several soldiers had been close behind the pirate, and saw him getting away. They immediately evened their muskets with Jack and began shooting.

But he raced across the bridge, the gunfire following him yet again. That was getting a little tedious. Several bystanders screamed and ducked as bullets ricocheted off stones that made up the road and bridge, Jack going passed them all without a scratch. He zoomed on and kept going, right into town.

The firing finally ceased, seeing that they were doing nothing but wasting ammo. The soldiers lowered their guns and run forward, after a speeding Jack Sparrow. The Commodore finally ran up the dock, shook by his defeat, with Junior right behind him. Hector and Melvin were not far back either.

Sparrow had escaped. He had duped them, and escaped. Mankey stopped himself before he could go any farther into that trail of thought. Not here, not yet. He could mentally beat himself once the pirate was in jail. He turned to Junior with a stern face.

"Senior, Mr. Sparrow has a dawn appointment with the gallows. I would hate for him to miss it." His tone was like granite, hard and cold, and filled with anger. Junior saw this, and was surprised, but nodded quickly, then waved at Hector and Melvin to follow him. They acknowledged, and ran off behind the young Lieutenant.

They, and several others, marched together into the city streets; all keeping an eagle eye open for any signs of the pirate. A few other platoons of soldiers covered several different streets, crawling out of alleys and doorways like trails of ants following the scent of spilled molasses. They swarmed the city of Port Middleton, in a desperate search for Jack Sparrow. They wandered the streets in organized runs, searching each house and rooftop, asking each person they passed if they had seen the convict, but none of these actions proved helpful. Sparrow had disappeared, like a ghost, gone, without a trace. Vanished into thin air.

Or so it seemed.

"Search upstairs, look lively, men!"

Jack watched from his hiding place as organized chaos ensued before him. Soldiers ran up and down the streets like cheap wind-up toys, each of their steps in perfect unison, completely passing him by and running on, off to search a different side of the city. He had lost them, good! This gave him a chance to find means of escaping this death trap of a town on a commandeered ship, and set off for Tortuga as planned. Jack clanked his chained wrists together softly, realizing that the incriminating bonds were still on him. He stopped and thought. Captaining a ship might prove a bit difficult when the captain has manacles on his wrists. It might complicate things in battle, or prove an annoyance when they became caught in the rigging, or make him look like an overall fool in front of crewmates, enemies, and possibly anyone else. The pirate who could never truly shake the British Royal Navy.

This would be a problem.

He concluded that before going a-pirating, he must find a way to get these blasted chains off. He also decided to head into the closest door just for safekeeping, that being the one no more then three feet from him, to his left, in order to find said freedom. Hopefully the shop had some sort of tool or at least something strong enough to break metal.

Another group marched past, muskets at hand. Jack sank into the shadows, and waited for them move away, not that they'd see him anyway. The Navy was getting really lazy these days, they were hiring anyone, why, next they'll have woman working as soldiers. Jack pondered this thought for a second, nah.

Once he was sure it was safe to cross, Jack jumped from his place behind the blacksmith figure and opened the shop door, going inside and closing it without looking back.

A/N.

Please forgive me for the last chapter's general sloppiness; I had been on vacation while finishing it, and working off my laptop, which I have trouble writing on anyway, plus I was terribly busy that week, and had no real time to proofread it, plus Fan Fiction's document thing messed it up some. It was a horrible mess in short. Chapter 2 has been re-re-proofread about five hundred times over and reposted for your re-enjoyment for those who wish to read it again. If you noticed any of that sloppiness in this chapter, tell me posthaste and I shall be sure to fix it, whatever it may be.

And so sorry that this chapter took so long, Jack's escape was such a hurdle to write (and I'm sure it showed), and this chapter turned out to be near boring to make half the time. Once I get to C4 and C5, things should go smoother, hopefully.

Some of you may have noticed that three of my older stories have vanished from the site; this is because I have taken them down. But don't worry; they're not dead! When Charlene Met Edward will be edited and changed around maybe, I'm thinking of using it as the opening of another story I'm working on and that will be posted much later.

Scarlet Favor, boy, I'll bet everyone is sick of reading that by now. But unfortunately, I was unhappy on how poorly some of the older (and I mean like, 'last year' old) chapters turned out and how confusing they were. They will be entirely rewritten and the rest will be edited and fixed up. I should have it posted again once this story is close to wrapping up, and rest assured, I will finish this one.

A Time Before Evil may be the only one that is gone for good, despite its popularity. I just was having so much trouble with it, and didn't have much of a plot to work with once I tried thinking it through, so I gave up on it. I'm so very sorry to all those who enjoyed the story. I may try to write it again once I finish this and Scarlet Favor.

Supremely Blonde has been taken done for the same reasons as A Time Before Evil.

On a lighter note, happy anniversary to me! Last month marked my first year anniversary as a member on Fan Fiction. Yes, I survived one year, but how much more can I take? Tune in next chapter to find out! Seriously, read the next chapter, and anything else I write. ;)

Last chapter, I put in cameos of the following: Bates (Monkey Fist Strikes), Old Tornado (Showdown At The Crooked D), Rufus, Wade, and Hego and Mego (aka, Hector and Melvin, Go Team Go). Congrats for Darth Comrade and Josh84 for guessing!

Thank you to Chapter 2 reviewers Josh84, AryaSliver Flame, Invader Johnny, chefjet, Burpadski, DuffKilliganFan, Eddi, Darth Comrade, and Cylon One. And thank you to ARA reader Not The CrimpMaster. As well as all the silent readers out there!

Next Chapter: Sword Crossed.

All reviews welcome!