After about five full minutes of arguing with Pintel and Ragetti, Monica had had enough, so she just called them both assfaces and ran off. Not the most sensible tactic, she knew, but she had had a bad day--first she had been punched and tackled by Jack, then she had been yelled at by Barbossa, then she had been attacked by Pintel, then she had woken up tied up only to discover she would be marooned, then she had been attacked by Pintel again, only this time with a gun, and now she, Pintel, and Ragetti were stranded on this island.

So, all in all, it was a typical day for her.

As Monica stomped down the beach, finally stopping running in frustration from the two pirates, she furiously wiped dried blood from her nose, muttering about her plight, among other things.

"Why the hell would he punch me? Frickin' douche...he knew we could stage a bloody fight...stupid! Now he's stuck on the ship with Barbossa; serves him right!"

Here, presently, Monica felt a bit of worry for her friend, even though she was mad at him.

"What is Barby gonna do to him? Oh man, what if he hurts him?!...but why would he? He doesn't really have a reason to...it's not like he'd be mad at Jack for punching me; he hates me! He gave me a freakin' black eye..."

Here, Monica let out a string of foul names about the evil captain. After quite a long time of Barbossa-bashing, her angry rambling took on a new subject.

"Freakin' Pintel and Ragetti! Never in a million years would I have thought I'd be marooned on an island with them...why? Because they're the 'bad guys'...well, they are now, at least. Because of stupid Barbossa...if only I could get them on Jack's side; maybe they could help me...but probably not, because they're so FREAKIN' STUPID!!!"

Monica had turned around to scream in the general direction of the two pirates. When she was done, she stopped to catch her breath, still glaring down the beach, but knowing it was pointless.

"Who were you yellin' at?"

Monica whirled around to see Pintel and Ragetti standing a ways down the beach, looking dumbfounded.

"What the--" Monica turned around stupidly as if looking for them behind her. Then she saw her own footprints beyond Pintel and Ragetti and realized that she had walked around the whole small island.

Sighing frustratedly, Monica sat down in the sand, dropping her head in her hands. She didn't see Pintel and Ragetti shrug at each other, Pintel twirling a finger at the side of his head and pointing at her.

Monica finally looked up when she heard the two of them start bickering over the lighting of a fire.

"You're doin' it wrong!" Pintel said angrily, making Ragetti drop the two sticks he was trying to rub together.

"I'm just doin' it diff'rent!" Ragetti retorted, picking up the stick diligently.

"Exactly, and diff'rent is wrong!" Pintel snatched the two sticks and smacked Ragetti in the arm with them.

"Is there anything you two don't fight about?" Monica asked them, trying to decide if she was amused or fed up.

"Oh, well, excuse me if I want to get a fire goin'!" Pintel said, shoving Ragetti away from the pile of sticks.

"Why, what's the point?" Monica asked. "Barbossa'll come for us eventually when you two don't come back." Her face soured at her own mention of Barbossa. "And won't that be a picnic?" she muttered, half to herself.

While Monica's face had darkened at the thought of Barbossa, Ragetti's had paled. "When he finds out we screwed up again--" he began.

"Would you quit worryin' about him?" Pintel asked, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, everything with you, it's 'Barbossa'll do this' and 'Barbossa'll do that'. We'll just blame all this on her."

Monica gave him an offended look as Ragetti said, "But that'll only make him more mad, knowin' that she screwed up our plan!"

Pintel stopped in his stick-rubbing. (Wow, that sounded kind of wrong.) "He'll be more mad at her than he will be with us," he said firmly, but Monica detected a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

"Why do you stay on his side when all he does is frighten you?" Monica asked, shaking her head.

"He doesn't frighten us!" Pintel yelled indignantly. "Right, Ragetti?"

Ragetti didn't answer, avoiding looking at Pintel, who rolled his eyes.

"We've been over this, boys," Monica said, standing up and brushing sand off her butt and legs. "You won't admit you're afraid, so you say Barbossa's holding the power. But since he's got the power, what are you looking to get out of that? You don't honestly think you'll get some of that power?"

Monica had crossed her arms in front of her chest, placing a smug smirk on her face to show her satisfaction with her argument.

But this smirk promptly disappeared when Pintel pulled out his pistol, cocked it, and pointed it at her.

"Right! Well, I'll not bother you again, sir," Monica said, paling and raising her hands in front of her in a defensive gesture.

As she sat down hurriedly, Pintel put his gun away and turned back to the nonexistant fire. Monica soon became bored with watching him fail repeatedly and turned her eyes back to the sea.

Was it just her, or did the Jolly Roger seem a bit closer? Squinting and holding up a hand to block the sun, she judged that it was, in fact, now sailing toward their little island.

Monica knew she had to get Pintel and Ragetti on her and Jack's side before Barbossa got back, or they'd all be screwed. Just as she was wondering how to make that happen, Ragetti spoke.

"Maybe she's right, Pintel," he said, earning surprised looks from both Pintel and Monica. Before Pintel could retort with a biting comment, he continued: "At least with Cap'n Jack we weren't afraid for our lives all the time."

"Except when we was gettin' attacked by a kraken," Pintel muttered. Monica winced; he had a good point there. "And we weren't scared for our lives when we was with Barbossa before!"

"That's because we were immortal!" Ragetti insisted.

"Right! And now you need to take care of your mortal souls!" Monica blurted. "The dichotomy of good and evil and all that."

Ragetti nodded earnestly at Pintel, overlooking the fact that Monica had quoted him. Pintel still looked skeptical, however.

"I still say we're better off with Barbossa," he said, finally putting the sticks down so he could better debate with Monica and Ragetti.

"Why?" Monica groaned. "Didn't he get you cursed in the first place? Aren't you just a little bit peeved about that?"

"At least we got treasure with Barbossa," Pintel said, but Monica was sure he was just scrambling for excuses.

"Cursed treasure!" Ragetti reminded him.

"With Jack it was all these adventures..." Pintel sighed. "We never got any honest piratin' in!"

"If you help him, I guarantee you Jack will reward you," Monica said quickly. "Besides, you think Barbossa will want to do any pirating when he's got Jack and me to deal with? He's got enough on his plate as it is."

Pintel frowned at the pile of sticks in front of him. Then he said, "It won't be easy overtakin' Barbossa."

Monica hid her elation at the fact that he was ready to turn. "Come on! Four against one? It'll be a cinch! I mean, you did lots of his dirty work, right? So that technically makes you more...capable."

Pintel couldn't help but exchange a smug glance with Ragetti, who looked pleased that his friend was agreeing with him for once.

"Alright! It's settled then," Monica said happily. "When Barbossa gets here, we'll fight him, and everything will go back to normal."

She just hoped everything went as easily as it sounded.

She doubted it.

While the three of them waited in various states of nervousness for Barbossa to return to the island, Monica had set to exploring the small spit of land. There was a bit of a jungle on it, and there was enough cover there for her not to be able to see the beach anymore. All in all, there really wasn't that much to explore, but she was so goddamn bored that she didn't have anything better to do.

She had "borrowed" Ragetti's sword to hack through the vegetation that might get in her way. She pretended she was an intrepid explorer on the verge of discovering some ancient ruins or something.

Oh, that's rich, she thought, pushing past a large bush. Here I am, in the Pirates of the Caribbean world, pretending I'm somewhere else...

She attributed it to her daydreamer-ness, not to the fact that she didn't want to be there. Besides, this island was so damn boring, it was more interesting to pretend--

POW! KA-BLAM! KA-BLOOIE!

She heard gunshots from the beach. Okay, they didn't really sound like that, but you get the idea.

She froze for a split second, then knew the time had come to take on Barbossa. With a determined look on her face, she charged through the jungle back to the beach, ready to fight.

Suddenly, a figure burst through the jungle ahead of her. She stopped short, startled.

Ragetti was running toward her, looking terrified.

"Sword!" he yelled desperately in a high-pitched voice. As an impulse, Monica tossed his sword back to him. He turned around and ran back the other way, and Monica realized that he must be going back to face Barbossa.

But not for long. Soon after, both Pintel and Ragetti came charging through, looking as if they were running for their lives. They ran right past a bewildered Monica, who was terrified of facing Barbossa alone and weaponless.

"Sword!!" she screamed at their backs.

Two swords came sailing towards her, and before she could react, they both smacked her in the head.

She toppled over, to surprised to make a sound. Dazed, she realized that she had landed on her back, the two swords on either side of her. Monica groaned and tryed to blink the stars out of her eyes.

She heard underbrush rustling above her head, and she felt a horrible wave of dread as she realized that Barbossa was coming as she laid there on the ground, possibly with a concussion.

Sure enough, he barged through the bushes and nearly trampled her--he probably would have if it weren't for her pitiful moaning.

"Leave me alone," she slurred as Barbossa stared down at her. "All...four of ya."

She felt him grip her tightly by the arm and haul her up. Feeling dizzy, she swayed back and forth a bit, still trying to clear her vision.

"Where did they go?" he demanded angrily, shaking her a bit.

Monica shrugged weakly. "HellifIknow," she said thickly. Then she giggled. "That rhymed," she informed Barbossa.

Growling with disgust, he tramped through the jungle, pulling Monica along with him. Soon, however, they reached the end of the jungle, and they found themselves at the beach on the other side of the island.

Barbossa scanned the area for signs of them. Monica, still feeling a bit woozy from running through the jungle, knew she had to act fast to help them.

Just as Barbossa noticed Pintel and Ragetti's footprints in the sand, she pointed suddenly and gasped, slurring, "Look over there!"

Barbossa turned and looked, just like Monica had planned. She drew a weak arm back and took a swing at him just as he turned back around.

Angered by her pathetic attempt at a punch, he shoved her away, making her fall back into the jungle and into a bush with an "Oof!" He drew his pistol, cocked it, and pointed it at Monica, whose eyes crossed as she tried to focus on the number of pistols she saw above her.

Barbossa was about to shoot when there was more rustling from the jungle. He barely had time to look before Jack charged at him, brandishing the two swords Pintel and Ragetti had thrown at Monica.

He barrelled into Barbossa, and the pistol was knocked out of Barbossa's hand just a few feet from Monica, who sat there in shock, surprised to see Jack.

As she shakily stood up, the two pirates fought their way onto the beach, Jack armed with two swords and Barbossa with only one. Monica grabbed Barbossa's pistol and ran after them, her head pounding.

She knew it was pointless to try and shoot Barbossa, as she might miss and accidentally hit Jack instead. Plus, she didn't really trust her sight at the moment.

As she watched, Pintel and Ragetti emerged from the jungle. After they took in the scene, Pintel jogged up to Monica's side.

"Where'd he come from?" he asked, panting, and Monica knew he was wondering about Jack. Monica shrugged and continued watching the fight, wishing she could help somehow.

Her chance came soon enough, however. Jack managed to knock Barbossa down into the sand, making Barbossa drop his sword. Monica sprinted toward them, still holding the pistol, as Jack kicked the sword out of Barbossa's reach. Barbossa seemed ready to lunge for it when Monica cocked the pistol and pointed it at him.

"Hold it right there! I gotcha covered, see?" Monica said, squeezing one eye shut so she could get a good aim at his face.

Pintel and Ragetti weren't far behind Monica. They looked a bit worried at the sight of their former captain at the mercy of Jack and Monica, but they didn't say anything. Jack just looked relieved and a bit smug at seeing his rival on the ground.

Monica looked up at Jack. "Now what?" she asked flatly.

It was nearly nightfall, and Monica was enjoying the fresh air on the deck of the Jolly Roger. She, Jack, Pintel, and Ragetti had had to carry Barbossa--actually, they didn't mind dragging him half the time--after Jack had uncerimoniously knocked him out with a sword hilt to the head. Monica had asked Jack in an undertone if they were going to kill him, but he had answered, "No. We may need him later." Monica couldn't think of any reason she'd ever need him, but she was relieved just the same--she didn't think she could stomach either killing him or seeing him killed.

They had taken him to the boat he had rowed to the island in from the Jolly Roger. Pintel and Ragetti were afraid to be in the same boat as the unconcious Barbossa, so they had taken the boat Jack had rowed to the island with, leaving Jack and Monica with the corpse-like body. On the way back to the ship, Jack described to Monica how he had escaped the brig with the reindeer's shinbone Monica had originally suggested picking the lock with. After that, he realized what had happened, so he "gallantly jumped to the rescue," as he so lightly put it.

Anyway, the group had decided to sail for Port Royal now that the "good guys" had control of the ship, figuring that they might be able to regroup with the others and try to work out a plan to somehow save Jack from his buddy the kraken and somehow defeat Davy Jones, but not before somehow getting Jones to resurrect the Pearl from the depths or whatever it was he did to bring it back.

Now, Barbossa was locked in the brig, Pintel and Ragetti were enjoying their new (somewhat) freedom, Jack was looking for Jack the monkey so he could shoot him, and Monica was taking advantage of being alone on the deck by singing her own version of a rather popular song.

"I'm bringin' Sparrow back...yeah! Them other pirates don't know how to act...yeah! I think he's special, so I'll bring him back...yeah! When he's in trouble, I pick up the slack...yeah!"

This ridonkulous singing was accompanied by some pretty stupid dancing. But, she thought she was alone. Hey, haven't you ever heard the phrase "Dance like nobody's watching"?

So she went on like this, for some reason. She was just in a good mood.

"I'm bringin' Sparrow back...YEAUGH!"

The last word of that line had turned into a freaked-out yell. Jack the monkey had skittered out of nowhere across her foot. He stopped short in front of her, and Monica saw that he had Ragetti's false eyeball between his teeth.

Just as she was about to make a revolted remark, someone tried to shoot her.

"What the--!" she exclaimed, jumping back as the monkey gave a muffled screech and scampered off. Monica whirled around to see Jack looking furious, brandishing his pistol.

"Where did he go?!" he yelled, and Monica pointed wordlessly in the direction he had gone in. When Jack started after it, Ragetti ran up, shouting, "Don't shoot me eye!" Pintel wasn't far behind. He yelled to Ragetti, "He wouldn't have gotten it if you stopped rubbin' it!"

And just like that, Monica was alone again. She remained silent for a moment, stunned at what had just happened.

Then she burst out laughing, knowing that the next few days would be full of harmless but funny events such as this one.

Or so she thought...