Michelle woke up with the now familiar feeling of barnacles cutting into her skin from the floor of the brig of the Flying Dutchman. As she cracked her eyes open, she remembered the deal Davy Jones had made with Will--that he would allow them to take the Black Pearl if Will revealed the location of his heart.
Michelle was just worried that they couldn't fit Bootstrap into the plan.
As she sat up painfully, she saw that Will was already awake in his cell, sitting with his back against the wall and staring--rather stoically, Michelle thought--into space. When she sat fully upright, though, he turned his gaze toward her.
"I'm sorry you had to go through this," he said hoarsely, his throat sounding tight.
Before Michelle had a chance to reply, Jones and two of his cronies entered the brig.
"It's time," Jones said.
The two crewmembers unlocked Michelle and Will's cells and let them out. Michelle and Will then followed Jones out onto the deck with the two barnacle boys behind them.
As the group stepped onto the deck, which didn't look any more inviting when covered in the bright, colorful lights of sunrise, Will gently took Michelle's hand and gave her a small smile. Wondering whether to swoon at the smile or cringe at the gash on his face, Michelle gave his hand a gentle squeeze and returned the smile, looking more confident than she felt.
"What do we do?" Monica stammered, staring out at the faint figure of the Pearl. "What the frick do we do?!"
"I don't know!" Jack said, making Monica shut up. "I need some time to think about this."
Monica felt compelled to inform him that they didn't have that much time to come up with a plan, but she wisely decided to stay silent so Jack might have some chance of figuring out what to do.
By this time, Pintel and Ragetti were up, ready to help crew the ship. Noting the anxiety on Monica's face, Ragetti asked in a horrified voice, "Oh, no, he hasn't escaped again??"
"No--it's the Pearl," Monica said, pointing to the horizon where the small black figure sat in front of the colors of the rising sun.
"Now how did that happen?" Pintel asked, squinting incredulously at the shape of the ship.
"Beats me," Monica shrugged. "But does it really matter?"
"What's with him?" Ragetti asked, nodding his head toward Jack.
"I'm trying to think of a plan, but three idiots won't leave me alone," Jack said conversationally.
Ragetti nodded sympathetically, then realized that he was one of the idiots and stalked off with a muttering Pintel. Monica, however, stayed hesitantly behind.
"Jack?" she asked tentatively, trying to work up the nerve to say what she felt. When he turned toward her, looking miffed, she closed her eyes nervously and said in a rush, "I just wanted you to know that whatever you decide to do, you've got my back, and I'll do anything to help."
When done with this shpiel, she cracked an eye open nervously to see his reaction, expecting a berating comment. But instead, she saw that Jack looked mildly surprised...and was that a hint of...affection??
"You have no idea how it feels to have someone actually say that," Jack muttered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Now, here's the plan..." He bent his head to her ear and began whispering.
Below deck, Alison was just waking up from a dream that involved her, James, a deserted island, and a few bottles of rum...
Sighing lazily, she was just about to roll over and try to fall back asleep when there was a series of loud footsteps outside her door.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping for more piece and quiet. She got her wish, but only for about 10 seconds before even more footsteps grated on her sleepy ears.
Sighing as the footsteps didn't cease, Alison halfheartedly raised herself and sat up on her bed, stretching.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP.
"That's it," she growled. Grumbling to herself, Alison strode to the door and flung it open.
Not seeing anyone in the hall, she poked her head out and looked right first, then left--and nearly got run over.
"Whoa, look out!" Monica yelled, stumping through the hall with a heavy-looking barrel clutched in her arms. Alison would have been more alarmed if she had been going at breakneck speed, but the barrel was hindering her hurrying. Nice alliteration there.
"What are you doing?" Alison asked curiously, her previous attitude of being pissed gone.
"Uhh..." Monica huffed and set the barrel down in front of her so she could talk. "So, we just came upon the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl..."
Michelle stared at the Pearl as it floated on the gently heaving waves. It was incredible how Jones could bring a ship that had been destroyed by his kraken from the depths of the sea in one piece. But it was missing something.
"Where are the sails?" Will asked steadily, as if about to lose his temper.
Jones was silent, and Michelle knew that he was really regretting letting his prisoners onto the ship. But, she figured, he must be pretty wild about getting his heart back.
Just then, there was a commotion behind them. Michelle had thought that the whole crew was gathered to watch Jones do his magic or whatever it is he did, but she then realized that this had not been true.
"Will!" Bootstrap yelled. Michelle spotted him trying to muscle his way past some barnacle-covered crewmembers that were considerably larger than him.
Before Will could respond to his father's call, Jones was letting his derisive laughter be heard around the ship.
"It seems you've forgotten someone, haven't ya, Turner?" he asked with a sneer. "It's a shame he wasn't part of our deal: now he'll remain here, with only a memory of the son who forgot him!"
"I didn't forget," Will said quietly. With that, he pulled the heart from his shirt with one hand and his father's knife from his belt with the other, leaving the knife poised over the faintly-beating heart.
There was a collective gasp around the ship. Jones was rendered speechless, and Michelle didn't know whether this was from shock or anger--or both.
"Now raise the sails, and Michelle, my father, and I will get on that ship, and maybe I'll think about letting your heart be," Will said fiercely.
Jones looked like he was on the verge of attacking Will himself, but Michelle knew he didn't dare risk any damage to his heart. Finally, he turned back to the Black Pearl, looking defeated, and began to summon the ship's black sails.
Jack and Monica had now told Alison, James, Elizabeth, Gibbs, Cotton, Marty, Pintel, and Ragetti about their plan to get the Pearl. It wasn't a very good one, but they had done the best they could in the short amount of time they had before the winds of the Caribbean brought them so close to the two ships that they would lose the element of surprise.
Yeah...and I'm not going to reveal the full plan yet, so there'll be that fun little element again. :D
"Now, we need an initial distraction when we first come sailing up," Jack was saying as the rest of the group of heroes listened intently. "But whoever does this will need to be quick about getting off the ship when the time comes. It can't be you" (he pointed at Alison) "because you have to take the shot. It can't be me because Jones will recognize me, and possibly you, you, you, you, and you." (He pointed at Gibbs, Cotton, Marty, Pintel, and Ragetti.) "That leaves you, you, and you." (He pointed at Elizabeth, James, and Monica.)
After an uncomfortable silence, Monica said, "I'll do it."
"What?! You can't, it's suicide!" Alison blurted.
Monica stared at her incredulously. "How hard can it be?" she asked, grinning.
"I don't think--" Alison began hotly, but James interrupted her.
"If she wants to do it, she can do it," he said quickly, looking relieved that he didn't have to do said task. Monica couldn't help but notice that Elizabeth looked a bit happy that she didn't have to do it, too.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Jack said soothingly, making Monica beam at him.
"And she better not screw it up, or we'll all be dead meat," Pintel grumbled.
Monica shot him an angry look as Jack continued. "Well then, we'll need someone to shoot--three guesses who," he said, grinning.
"Me," he and Alison said at the same time.
Hey! Another uncomfortable silence!
Monica nervously cleared her throat in hopes of getting Alison and Jack to stop staring incredulously at each other. "Uh, Jack, I actually think she's better than you..." she said tentatively with a little laugh to try to ease the tension.
"Nonsense! She couldn't have made the shot I did to defeat the kraken!" Jack said angrily.
"You told me that was all luck!" Monica said.
"Shh!" Jack said hurriedly.
"Yeah, I'm doing it," Alison said matter-of-factly.
Jack pouted at this statement, then halfheartedly went on with his discussion of the plan. "Fine...well, that pretty much covers it."
"Except for Barbossa," Monica added.
Jack scowled. "Why don't we just leave him down there?"
"What! We can't; that's too cruel," Monica said.
"You do remember that he tried to kill you multiple times?" Jack said dryly.
Monica considered this. "Well..."
"No," Alison said firmly, surprising everyone. "We can't leave anyone to die on this ship, no matter who they are."
"Sure, you say that now...wait till he tries to kill you," Pintel said darkly, Pintel nodding earnestly at his side.
"So what will we do with him?" Elizabeth spoke up.
"Good question," Jack said. "Anyone have any ideas?"
"How about...he can walk the plank!" Monica said brightly. "No, listen," she continued when everyone stared dubiously at her. "If we do it right before, it'll give him a chance to get away before we put the plan in action. Then, who knows? Maybe he'll be killed if we have to fight the crew of the Dutchman."
"And if he isn't?" James asked skeptically.
"Uhh...we'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Monica said sheepishly. "Besides, I don't hear any other ideas."
"Shoot him," Jack, Pintel, Ragetti, Gibbs, and Marty said in unison.
"It doesn't look like there's time to argue," Elizabeth said quietly, staring out to sea. "We're getting closer."
As Jones was busy setting up the sails with his magical control of the ocean and anything his kraken dragged down into it, there was a commotion at the side of the ship.
"What the hell--"
"What's that?"
"Who could that be?"
Michelle and Will looked to the side to see a small ship sailing toward the Flying Dutchman and the Black Pearl, but she couldn't make out who was sailing it.
"Shall we fire, captain?" Hammerhead asked Jones, who had barely noticed the hubbub as he was so wrapped up in his magic. Startled, he peered out at the ship, but gave no answer.
The little ship came closer and closer to the Dutchman and the Pearl, but very clumsily, and Michelle could tell that the captain was either extremely unexperienced or drunk.
As the ship pulled up close to the front of the Dutchman, a voice called, "Whoa! What is this, Pimp My Ride?"
Michelle gasped at the sound of Monica's voice coming from the small ship. Luckily, only Will noticed.
"No, seriously. Can I get this thing upgraded? How did you do that??" Monica continued, hoping her voice was carrying over to the Dutchman.
"Who are you?" Jones called back incredulously.
Monica shrugged. "Does it matter?" She left the helm and went to the side of the ship to communicate better. "What's goin' on here, a party?...Why wasn't I invited?"
"What are you doing?" Michelle muttered under her breath. Will was fortunately the only one who noticed again.
"Is that...your sister?" he whispered.
"Yeah," Michelle squeaked.
"...What is she doing?"
"I have no idea," Michelle said, mortified.
"What are you doing here?" Jones called to Monica, moving to the front of the ship so he could see her better.
"Asking you to work on my ship, what does it look like?" Monica scoffed, moving back to the helm. Here, I'll get on the other side of you...you look like you're almost done with that one, so you can do mine next."
Monica began maneuvering the Jolly Roger around to the side of the Flying Dutchman that was furthest from the Pearl, so that the three ships were all lined up in a row. As she was doing this, Jones was yelling at her, following her trip to the other side of the Dutchman, along with the rest of the crew, who were just as curious as he was.
"What do you think you're doing?!" he shouted, clearly pissed that the girl wasn't afraid of him.
"Dude, chill," Monica said. "I'm not doing anything wrong, am I? And if I am, what're you gonna do, shoot at a 15-year-old girl in a tiny, unarmed ship?"
"I may, if only for the sake of getting rid of you," Jones growled.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you," Monica called, cupping a hand behind her ear. "Here, I'll get closer..."
"What--no!" Jones yelled. When Monica just kept moving the Jolly Roger closer to the Dutchman, he roared in frustration. "All hands, prepare to fire!"
"Oh, snap," Monica said quietly. She hoped the others had gotten to the Pearl in time--and that Alison had gotten onto the Dutchman...although they might not need her there anymore...
The Dutchman's side cannons were now pointed at her ship.
"Wait wait wait! Lemme just say something--" Monica said, running up to the side of the ship and pulling herself up to stand on the side, one hand in the rigging to steady herself.
"FIRE!" Jones roared.
"Bugger," Monica said.
Michelle saw her take a death-defying leap off the side of the ship before the cannons were fired--and the little ship blew up with tremendous force, sending debris flying everywhere, including onto the Dutchman.
Michelle gasped and backed up, much like the rest of the people on the ship, who hadn't been expecting such an explosion. Well, they hadn't been expecting an explosion at all, actually. Anyway, the important thing is that the Jolly Roger was so close to the Flying Dutchman when it exploded that it took out part of the side of the ship--and nearly killed Jones in the process, which pissed him off pretty badly.
"WHO THE HELL WAS THAT AND WHY WAS SHE ABLE TO GET SO CLOSE TO MY SHIP WITHOUT ANYONE NOTICING?!" Jones screamed ferociously, looking ready to pop a blood vessel. I mean, ink vessel.
There was utter silence as every person on the ship stared at him. His back was still turned to them, as everyone was staring at where the remains of the Jolly Roger were smoldering on the water.
Michelle heard something rolling next to her foot. She glanced down to see a small, wooden-looking sphere on the deck. Bending down to pick it up, she recognized it right away--Ragetti's false eyeball.
Still staring at the eye in her hand, she stood up, a smile slowly spreading across her face. Will saw the eye, too. They glanced wonderingly at each other, then up at Jones, who had turned around.
He sure didn't have the look of someone whose ship had just been partially blown up--in fact, the look on his face could say only one thing: that the ship he had been working on completing from its rise from the ocean suddenly had people on it. Funny look, really.
Anyway, yes, the Pearl was now inhabited by Jack, Gibbs, Cotton, Marty, Pintel, Ragetti, Elizabeth, and James. What? No Alison or Monica? Indeed!
Everyone on the Flying Dutchman was now staring at the Pearl, its captain who was seemingly back from the dead, and its small crew.
"Jones," Jack said cordially from the helm, lifting his hat off his head and sweeping it in a grand bow.
"Sparrow," Jones growled, looking more furious by the moment.
"Will!" Elizabeth said breathlessly.
"Elizabeth," Will said softly.
"Alison?" Michelle asked in a low voice, wondering where she was. Then, holding the eye high above her head, "Ragetti?"
"Jack," he said, shrugging.
"What?" Jack asked, looking confused.
"Will you fire already?!" Jones yelled.
There was a rush on the Dutchman to get to the cannons that faced the Pearl. Meanwhile, the cannons were being manned on the Pearl.
"Whoa, what'd I miss?" Monica asked as she hopped up onto the deck of the Dutchman, soaking wet and wide-eyed.
"As long as it doesn't get in the way of my business with Jack, I don't care," Barbossa said gruffly as he pulled himself up over the side of the Dutchman and stood next to Monica, his pistol pointing at her.
"Wonderful," James said from the Pearl. "I knew we should have let him die."
Barbossa narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't know who you are, but you're next."
Just then, a bullet whizzed past Barbossa's head, making everyone on the Dutchman jump at the thought of an unknown assassin.
"I could've made that shot," Jack said loudly.
"Oh, shut up," Alison said angrily, popping out from behind the helm where no one had seen her for the past few minutes.
"You shut up!" Jack retorted.
"This is getting ridiculous," Michelle muttered to Will, who nodded in agreement.
"FIRE!" Jones yelled again, who had clearly lost his patience just as Michelle and Will had begun to.
Everyone who wasn't at a cannon ducked as the cannonballs flew from ship to ship, causing damage in the hulls and sides of the ships. Alison began firing like crazy at any bad guy who happened to attack her. Barbossa began firing, too, but at Monica, who had managed to get away in the commotion. Michelle and Will had no means of defending themselves besides Will's knife, so they just tried to avoid getting shot. And everyone on the Pearl pretty much just fired the bejeezus out of their cannons to try to defeat the Dutchman, even though five good guys were still on it--Monica, Michelle, Alison, Will, and Bootstrap.
That was BEFORE the kraken was summoned.
Yep, while all that crap was going on, Jones was able to get some of his crewmembers to turn that wheel thingy that got the kraken to him lickedy-split. Now ain't that convenient?
It bumped the Dutchman first as it tried to get to the Pearl. Monica was busy running for her life from Barbossa when she felt it. Luckily, the bump tripped Barbossa up and allowed her to run below deck without him seeing.
The bump also messed Alison's shooting up.
"Dammit," she said under her breath as her bullet pierced a hole in Davy Jones's hat--she had been aiming for his head.
The bump was lucky for Michelle and Will--as crewmembers stumbled around them, they were each able to get a sword, and were therefore able to defend themselves.
Then, the kraken began attacking the Pearl.
Michelle watched in horror as its tentacles wormed their way up the sides of the black ship, looking for prey.
"We have to get off this ship!" Will yelled through the noise of battle, keeping a tight grip on Michelle's arm so they didn't lose each other.
"Where, to the ship being attacked by the kraken?!" Michelle yelled, knocking a bad guy over the head with the hilt of her sword.
Will's eyes widened as he saw the monster trying to get a hold on the Pearl as its crew valiantly tried to blow its arms off.
"Didn't see that," Will said, looking surprised. "I have to stab the heart to get rid of it--so we need to get off the ship!"
"Gotcha," Michelle said. "But don't do anything until Monica and Alison are off, too."
Will nodded, and they continued fighting.
Meanwhile, below deck...
"Oh, Monica...where aaarre you?" Barbossa called.
Trembling nearly uncontrollably, Monica made her way through the unfamiliar halls of the Flying Dutchman, seriously regretting her decision to go down there. It hadn't taken Barbossa long to realize that she was no longer on deck, and now he was about to have her cornered.
As he began another mocking call, Monica ran silently into the next room, a hand clamped over her mouth to keep herself from breathing too loudly. But when she saw where she was, she gasped anyway.
She was in Davy Jones's quarters, complete with the huge-ass organ.
As she heard Barbossa's footsteps growing nearer, she dove behind the huge instrument and tried to steady her breathing. Sure enough, as she peeked around the side of the organ, she saw Barbossa creep into the room, pistol drawn.
"I know you're in here, Monica," he said in a soft voice, and Monica nearly screamed from the creepiness of it all. His voice carried all throughout the room, perhaps a feature Jones had liked to have his music amplified. If Monica hadn't been staring right at him, she would have had no idea where Barbossa's voice was coming from.
"You can come out--I won't hurt you," he said, then paused. "Actually, I probably will, because you've been incredibly annoying."
"Will it help if I say I'm sorry?" Monica blurted, staying hidden behind the organ, hoping he didn't know where she was.
He didn't--he whirled around, looking everywhere, but he never spotted her. When he couldn't find her, he laughed.
"That would depend on the manner of the apology," he said, sounding amused.
"Okay, how about...'I'm really really sorry that I was annoying, will you pretty please not blow my brains out?'" Monica asked, stealing her way through the shadows cast by the organ to try to get to the door.
"I was thinking more along the lines of you on your knees before me, begging for forgiveness...and then helping me retake the Pearl," Barbossa said.
Monica stopped in her creeping. "What, and betray Jack? You must think I'm stupider than I am...wait, that came out wrong," she added quickly.
"What do you think Jack will do for you?" Barbossa asked. "Once he's done using you for his little plan to get the Pearl, he'll get rid of you...he won't need you anymore."
"You're wrong," Monica said confidently. "Jeez, just because you've never had a friendship doesn't mean you have to go bringing other ones down--"
Barbossa fired his pistol alarmingly close to Monica's location. She took off for the door, slamming into Barbossa's shoulder and catching him off guard as he re-cocked his pistol.
Sprinting up the stairs, Monica was almost relieved to see the chaos on deck--hey, at least it was in bright sunlight.
As she stepped on deck, she raised her fists in an attempt to look like she could defend herself. Suddenly, someone bumped into her side. She was about to take a swing at them when she realized that it was Michelle, wielding two swords like a pro.
Then someone bumped into her other side, but it was only Alison, brandishing her two pistols with flair.
"What the--when did this become Charlie's Angels?" Monica asked exasperatedly.
Just then, a cannonball came speeding toward our three heroines from the future, and they scattered.
Alison rolled out of the way and smacked a bad guy out of her path with her pistol. Then, she began picking off the baddies who were firing cannons at the Pearl.
From there, she decided to move on to her next target--the kraken.
She knew her puny bullets wouldn't do much damage in comparison to the huge kraken, but she had to do anything she could to help.
So she opened fire on the tentacle that was closest to her.
The tentacle reacted to the bullets, but it continued tearing at the Pearl, peeling wood from its side and trying to tear down the masts.
Groaning in anger, Alison took out her frustration on a nearby crewmember by punching him in the face. This only made her more mad because the barnacles on his mug had cut up her hand.
Sticking her stinging knuckles into her mouth, she decided to kick the next bad guy who got in her way.
While Alison was trying to figure out how to defeat the kraken, Michelle was busy wondering how to get herself and the rest of the good guys off the Dutchman so that Will could stab the heart and get rid of the kraken. Plus, she was doing all this while fighting off a frillion bad guys and dodging cannonballs that were being fired from a ship that was being attacked by a kraken. So, yeah, I can feel her pain on this one.
She hacked and sliced her way toward Monica, leaving a trail of slimy fish guts behind her. Monica was busy trying to grab a sword from someone, but wasn't having much luck.
"Take one of mine!" Michelle yelled, thrusting a sword to her younger sister, who shook her head.
"It'll do more good with you than with me," she said, grinning sheepishly.
Michelle smiled and sliced an arm off of some guy. "Listen, you have to get off the ship as soon as possible--it might get destroyed when we stab the heart."
Monica nodded, but looked apprehensive. "You mean--go to the ship that the kraken's currently having for breakfast?"
Michelle nodded. "You'll be alright...anyway, the faster you get off of this, the faster the kraken will high-tail it out of here."
"Dude, I'm outta here!" Monica said, jumping out of the way of a barnacle guy and making her way to the side of the Dutchman to get to the Pearl.
Now to find Alison, Michelle thought. I just hope Will got the message to Bootstrap...
Michelle finally found Alison with her fist in her mouth.
"You have to get to the Pearl," Michelle said breathlessly, exhausted from fighting her way across the ship.
"I'm not going without you," Alison said immediately. "Let's go. Where's Monica?"
"She already left...she should be there by now...I think," Michelle said nervously. "But I have to find Will and his father first."
"I'll come with you," Alison said, but Michelle shook her head.
"Just go, and maybe look for Monica on the way." Alison nodded and left.
Michelle had regained her strength a bit, and now scanned the area for Will and/or Bootstrap. She spotted Will easily enough, the only head of hair among so many crusty heads.
Making her way towards him, she realized that he was with his father. Relieved, she called out, "Will!"
He turned and fought his way to her, Bootstrap following in his wake. When they met, they grabbed each other's arms in a kind of half-hug, each of them happy to see the other.
"Is this Elizabeth?" Bootstrap asked.
Michelle felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Glancing abashedly at Will, she let go of him, forcing herself to remember his fiancée.
Will looked somewhat guilty, too. "No, this is Michelle..." he trailed off, clearly not knowing what to say. Surely Bootstrap had noticed her odd clothing by now.
"We have to go," Michelle said to Will. "Alison and Monica have already gone."
"Then it's nearly time," Will said grimly. "Let's go."
The three of them made their way to the side of the ship, only fighting a little, since Michelle and Alison had already killed or injured many of the crewmembers.
When they got to their destination, they each found a rope that had been ripped from the Pearl by the kraken. Luckily, the three ropes were still attached, and they were able to swing onto the Pearl from a spot that wasn't blocked by the kraken's tentacles.
Once on board the Pearl, Will took the heart and the knife, glanced up at Michelle, and plunged the knife into the heart.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The horrible yell was heard by all, and everyone turned to see Jones fall to his knees on his ship, which was suddenly heaving much too strongly for a relatively calm day.
"Look!" Monica said, hanging over the side of the ship and pointing at the water beneath them.
A huge whirlpool was forming under the Flying Dutchman, which was beginning to spin--but so was the Pearl.
"Get us out of here!" James screamed at Jack, who hurried to turn the wheel in an attempt to steer them away from the churning water.
The kraken's tentacles were waving and trying to clutch at the Pearl for support, but it too was being sucked into the whirlpool. It finally was torn from the Pearl, and it began swirling down in the water.
Everyone on the Dutchman, Jones included, was screaming in horror as they saw what fate awaited them. Several crewmembers tried to jump off the ship to safety, but they were just sucked into the whirlpool.
The Pearl was being sucked down, too.
Our heroes all struggled to stay steady on the dangerously tilting ship, running to the side that wasn't being pulled down. The Pearl was still close to the Dutchman, though...
Monica spotted a figure that didn't look barnacle-covered on the Dutchman, and realized that Barbossa had never gotten off.
As the Dutchman began spiraling downwards, he grabbed a rope from the Pearl and leapt from the side, about to swing to the Pearl...
...but the rope snapped.
Barbossa fell into the giant whirlpool that was meant for Davy Jones, his ship, and his crew.
Finally, Jack managed to get the Pearl out of the bowl of the whirlpool, and they just managed to get away before the Dutchman was pulled under.
When it was over, the silence was almost deafening after the roaring water and the screams of the doomed ones.
Alison had had her head buried into James's chest, but now she looked up to see someone she had never seen before on the deck.
"Who--" she began. Then, "Bootstrap!"
He was cured of his barnacle-ness. Standing there was a normal man, Will Turner's father, Bootstrap Bill Turner.
He stared wonderingly at his hands, then gingerly felt his face. His eyes met Will's, and the look of happiness was enough to fill Michelle's eyes with tears.
He seized Will in a tight bear hug, whispering, "I'm free...thank you, my son...I'm free at last..."
Michelle backed up slowly as Elizabeth ran up to Will, waiting for a hug of her own. When Bootstrap finally released him, he hugged Elizabeth tightly, but looked at Michelle over her shoulder.
Michelle smiled at him. She didn't feel much like smiling as she watched him hug his fiancée, but she forced it.
His smile to her seemed a little forced, too, like he would be a lot more happy if she were in his arms.
James had taken Alison in a deep kiss, as if to show his affection after that drama.
"You're my hero," he said softly into her ear, actually making her blush.
Jack stood next to Monica, who was watching all this romanticism wistfully.
"Good work," he said awkwardly, clamping a hand on her shoulder. She grinned up at him and grabbed him in a hug, saying, "I was just glad to help."
She felt him stiffen, then relax and place his hands around her, too.
"Look!" It was Gibbs who made the observation this time. Looking upward, he pointed to the damaged masts of the ship--well, they weren't damaged anymore.
"The damage of Jones's kraken was reversed when his heart was destroyed," Bootstrap said wonderingly. "The Black Pearl...I never thought I would see it restored to its former glory..."
"Let's see if she still sails the same way," Gibbs said, grinning at Jack.
Jack slowly took the helm, sighing and running his hands along the wheel. Then he grinned and said, "Let's see if she's stocked the same."
Yeah...she was. They found a bunch of rum, so all the pirates were happy.
A few days later, the Black Pearl and its crew were in Port Royal, enjoying the feeling of not having worries hanging over their heads. The rum was gone pretty quickly, though.
Elizabeth was reunited with her father, who was relieved to see her--and Will--in one piece.
Michelle watched this meeting from afar, feeling an emptiness inside her that she had hoped would go away--one that she knew that would never be filled.
As she stood watching this from a secluded place on the docks, Jack sauntered up, taking a swig of rum.
"'Ello, love," he slurred, leaning too close to Michelle for comfort.
"How drunk are you?" Michelle asked incredulously, staring at the nearly-empty bottle.
"Not very," he said defensively. "Not that I'd need any more to make you look any better..."
Michelle cocked her head. "Do you even know my name?" she asked curiously.
"Sure!" Jack said. "You're Shamell--I mean, Michelle--"
Michelle rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go hit on someone else; I'm really not in the mood for it right now," she muttered.
"I already did, but dear old Norrington got awfully angry," Jack said, swaying slightly.
Michelle chuckled a bit and smoothed her hair. "Of course he did..."
She hadn't wanted to admit it, but she was intensely jealous that Alison was able to be with the man she loved. But one thing she wasn't jealous of was the fact that they had to return to their own world in a few days.
Monica had come to terms with this fact, too, and had become determined to make the most of her short time left with Jack. Alison wanted as much time with James as possible, too, so they had decided that they would go their separate ways and simply meet up again in their laundry room. So I'll be describing how they left the Pirates world in different parts, just so you don't get confused, 'cause, like, they all get back at the same time, but I have to write it in different parts...
...yeah. On with the story. :o)
As much as Michelle wanted to be with Will, she didn't think she could--and she knew she probably shouldn't. So when Jack, Monica, Gibbs, Cotton, and Marty left to raise hell in Tortuga and James took Alison on a tour of Port Royal, she was left with Will, Elizabeth, Bootstrap, and Weatherby.
She felt horrible when she saw Will and Elizabeth together. As much as she had told herself that she wouldn't do it, she knew that she had fallen in love with Will.
It's funny, she found herself thinking as she wandered the grounds of the Swanns' mansion, I went through all that trouble with Davy Jones, who became what he is because of love, and now I've become something else because of love...
It was true. She couldn't sleep, she could barely eat...she had become miserable at the very thought of Will and Elizabeth together.
She knew this wasn't right. She did want Will to be happy, but sometimes she wondered...why wasn't he happy with her?
This is awful, she thought one day as she lay on the bed the Swanns were providing her. This man has changed me into something bitter...just like what happened with Davy Jones.
Then it clicked.
Tia Dalma! she thought, suddenly sitting up. My lifeline, my destiny...Will's destiny from the movie...
She needed to take a little trip.
One day Alison and James were walking through the muddy streets of Port Royal, holding hands, just content to be together. They didn't need to say anything; they just walked happily in silence in each other's company.
The meandered their way to the battlements, up to the place where James had first proposed to Elizabeth in The Curse of the Black Pearl.
"Is this where you take all your girlfriends?" Alison teased as the two of them looked out to the sea.
"Oh, be quiet," James said, smiling and kissing her. When he broke away, however, she realized that she was about to leave.
"What's wrong?" James asked, noting the shocked look in her eyes.
James looked into her eyes, and Alison was surprised to see the sadness in his face. "You're leaving soon, aren't you?"
Alison broke his gaze and looked away guiltily. "Very soon."
James sighed and took her in his arms, and Alison pressed her head into his chest, fighting back tears.
"I don't want you to leave," James said softly into her hair.
That did it. Tears silently rolled down her face, and she squinched her eyes shut to try to stop more from falling.
"I don't want to leave, either," she sobbed, clutching him as hard as she could.
"Don't cry..." James said soothingly. He gently removed her from his grasp and held her face in his hands. "I love you," he whispered, and kissed her gently.
Alison nearly started sobbing again at his words, but she gave into the kiss, letting the warmth of his lips take her away. It almost felt like she was rising...
...she was rising.
"Goodbye," she whispered before she was thrown into blinding light.
"Let's go, Jack, we've got enough!" Monica yelled over the noise of the pub, holding a sack of money in one hand and her sword in the other.
Jack launched himself over the bar, waving his pistol haphazardly as he jumped. He too was carrying a sack of money.
Yep, he and Monica had just robbed a pub--not that this was a great feat, since no one was really paying attention to them anyway, as there were so many fights going on. But Monica had wanted to do some pirating, and this is what Jack had taken her to do.
"Go!" he yelled, ducking as someone swung a punch at him. Monica didn't need telling twice: she darted out of the pub and took off down the path, hearing Jack's footsteps behind her.
"Whoo-hoo!!" she shouted ecstatically, grinning wildly. "That was AWESOME!"
"Hopefully Gibbs has got the Pearl ready to go," Jack panted. "Whoop!"
Bullets were whizzing by them as someone shot at them from behind. Laughing excitedly, Monica picked up speed as Jack grunted to keep up.
"Time to go!" Jack yelled as they came upon the Pearl at the docks.
"Aye aye, cap'n!" a grinning Gibbs yelled, throwing down two ropes. He had also jumped at the chance to do some "honest piratin'".
Jack and Monica put away their weapons and seized the ropes, still holding on tightly to the sacks. As the ship started moving slowly away from the dock, the ropes were heaved upward, and the pair were lifted up the side of the Pearl.
Jack managed to land on deck gracefully, but Monica, of course, fell. She sat on the deck giggling to herself as Jack took the sacks of money and handed them to Gibbs.
"Keep these in a safe place," he said, winking. Then he turned to Monica and helped her up off the ground.
"That was so badass," she said, employing the use of the word she had taught Jack before.
"Wasn't it?" Jack straightened his hat on his head. "Good work," he said, nodding at her.
"You, too," Monica said, instinctively raising her hand for a high five. Jack looked at it awkwardly, then raised his own, only to have it slapped by Monica.
"What was that for?" he asked, bringing his hand to his chest with a shocked expression on his face.
Monica just laughed, her excitement making her feel giddy.
"Don't worry about it," she panted, grinning and patting Jack on the arm. "Whoo...that was tiring...but totally worth it!"
"I don't know why you're that excited...it was just a bit of stealing," Jack said, looking confused at her jubilance at robbing a barely-secure pub.
"You don't get it...I don't get to do stuff like that all the time," she said, calming down a bit. "I'm not free like you."
"Free?" Jack scoffed. "I'm hardly free when the whole Navy is after me."
"But that's so exciting!" Monica said, her eyes wide with admiration. "On the run from the Royal Guard, outsmarting them, the rush of getting away..." Her eyes glazed over at the thought of these adventures. "You don't realize how lucky you are," she said softly, staring out at the sea.
"Hmm...I guess you're right," Jack said after deliberating this. "It is pretty badass to get to make fools out of the Royal Navy."
Monica laughed and shook her head. "I'm gonna miss you," she said suddenly.
"What?" Jack said, frowning.
"I'm leaving," Monica said, alarmed. "Oh! Don't forget me! Thanks for putting up with me--"
She seized him in a hug and began planting kisses all over his face, making him jerk back in surprise. When she was finally done, he put his arms around her tenderly.
"It hurts like a mother to see you go," he said seriously.
Monica was laughing as she was thrown upward--she had almost forgotten that she had taught him that phrase.
The next day, Michelle told Will and the others that she needed to be alone after all that had happened. A lame excuse, but she had to say something.
She also asked to speak to Will in private, because although she wasn't sure exactly how long she had been there, she knew that her 30 days were almost up, and this was most likely the last time she would see him.
When they were alone together in the entrance hall of the Swanns' mansion, Michelle took a deep breath, struggling to find the words to express what she was feeling. Usually she was good at this, but she had never been in this situation before--you know, the one where you fall in love with a fictional guy from the past and you have to go back to the real future.
"So this is goodbye," she started off lamely. "Umm...Will, what I wanted to say is--"
"I know," he said in a low voice, catching Michelle off guard. "You don't have to say it."
Michelle didn't know whether to feel relieved or mortified. "I'm sorry," she breathed, not knowing what to say.
"Why?" Will asked. "Would you want to take back any of what we went through?"
Michelle smiled wistfully. "Well, dying and getting beat up I could have done without," she joked, earning a small chuckle from Will. That smile...would she ever see that smile in person again?
"Don't regret what we had," Will said softly as a servant walked by. "Not for a second."
After a few seconds of gazing into each other's eyes, they leaned closer to each other...Will's lips brushed Michelle's as he gently took her chin in his hand.
They broke away quickly as the servant walked back the other way, luckily completely oblivious to what had just happened. Michelle didn't want to meet Will's eyes, knowing that his fiancée was waiting for him upstairs.
"Goodbye," she choked, somehow managing not to burst into tears.
"Goodbye," Will said softly, his brown eyes filled with a melancholy look that followed her out the door.
Michelle managed to join a crew of a ship that was docked at Port Royal that was heading in the general direction of Tia Dalma's shack. That night, she stole a lifeboat from the ship to row down the river and to the swamp.
When she finally arrived at the shack, she was exhausted from rowing quickly down the river. She hurriedly got out of the boat and began to tie it up when she heard a voice.
"You won't need ta be doin' dat."
Michelle whirled around to see Tia Dalma standing in the doorway, smiling at her eerily.
"Why?" Michelle asked warily, her heart pounding from exertion, excitement, and being surprised.
"You'll be leavin' before you'll need dat again," Tia Dalma said, gesturing toward the boat, and Michelle knew that she was talking about returning to her own world.
"Come in, come in...I knew you'd be comin', so I made you a drink."
Michelle nervously followed the witch into her shack, and couldn't help but realize that she had never entered it before, only left it. Shaking this thought from her mind, she joined Tia Dalma at the table at her request.
"Thank you," she said softly as she served her a drink.
"You be wantin' some answers?" Tia Dalma asked. "I tot so."
Michelle swallowed hard, then realized how dry her throat was. She took a grateful sip of the drink. She didn't know what it was, but the sweet taste sent a pleasantly warm feeling throughout her body, calming her down.
"Were you the one Davy Jones was in love with?" she asked, feeling relaxed enough to ask this question.
The voodoo woman's smile grew wider. "Yes," she said, as if pleased with this fact.
I knew it! Michelle thought triumphantly.
"He died," Michelle said hesitantly. "And Barbossa..."
Tia Dalma nodded. "I know dis," she stated, as if it needed no explanation.
"Okay...what I want to ask you about next is this," Michelle continued, raising her hand with her palm upward to display her broken lifeline.
Tia Dalma's smile never faded. "I was right, weren't I?" she asked beaming. "You died and came back?"
Michelle nodded, entranced by the woman's knowledge.
"Ahh, I knew you had a touch of destiny about you," she said.
"Yes, that too," Michelle said quickly. "About Will's destiny...was that...about me?"
"Ahh, you've certainly got your wits about ya!" Tia Dalma said, looking more pleased by the second. "Yes, Will Turner's destiny was ta meet you, and ta break your 'eart..."
Michelle looked down at her hands.
"...and your destiny was ta learn about love," she continued.
Michelle looked up, confused. "But...why me? I know about love and getting my heart broken..."
"Michelle Anne Connors, dere is no choice in which destiny goes ta who," Tia Dalma said, smiling kindly at her. "You were simply da one ta be given dis destiny...of gettin' your 'eart broken, of becomin' stronger through it...and to remain in Will Turner's 'eart forever."
"Really?" Michelle asked, smiling ruefully.
Tia Dalma nodded. "Ta 'im, you will always be da one dat got away," she explained. "'E will always have da doubt of what would 'ave 'appened 'ad 'e chosen you instead of Elizabeth Swann."
"I don't want that for him," Michelle said quietly.
"It don't matter what we want," Tia Dalma said quietly. "It only matters what we learn from what 'appens ta us."
Michelle swallowed hard and nodded. Then, she knew that she was about to leave.
"It's time," Tia Dalma said smiling. She clapped her hands twice, and Jack the monkey came running up to her with something in his hand.
"What--how--?" Michelle asked, staring wonderingly at Jack, but Tia Dalma only smiled and rose from the table.
"I want you to 'ave dis," she said as Michelle rose, too. She opened Michelle's hand and placed the locket in it, the one that matched Davy Jones's.
"I can't," Michelle said immediately.
"Yes, you can," Tia Dalma said soothingly.
"No, I can't; we can't take anything back, it'll just stay here. I can't take it," Michelle explained.
"Yes, you can," Tia Dalma repeated, smiling at her.
And then Michelle was rising...she was blind and deaf...and then she was being hurled through a tunnel, and she was thrown into her laundry room, where Monica and Alison where already sitting, looking slightly disheveled.
"Oh, my god!" Alison said after what had happened sank in.
"Shh! Mom's probably still asleep," Monica hissed.
"Oh my god, oh my god..." Alison kept whispering.
"Michelle, what's that?" Monica asked curiously.
Michelle wordlessly opened her palm to reveal the locket, making Monica's jaw drop.
"How did you--?!"
"Tia Dalma," Michelle said, shrugging.
"No freakin' fair!" Monica said. "I would've loved to bring something back..."
Just then, they heard the door to their mother's room open.
As she walked in, they were all standing, trying to look innocent.
"Why are y'all in here?" she asked groggily.
"Just...doin' the laundry," Monica said, smiling.
Their mother looked at them suspiciously, then shuffled to the fridge, leaving the three sisters to grin at each other.
When At World's End finally came out, the Connors sisters were there at the first showing. Monica had made them all make T-shirts that read, "I survived the kraken!" and wear them proudly to the movie. Michelle also wore Tia Dalma's necklace.
When the movie was over, the three of them were stunned.
"That was..." Monica began on the car ride home.
"Amazing," Alison said from the front seat.
"Yes, but..." Michelle continued from the passenger seat.
"That's not what happened...totally," Monica said, staring off into space.
"It was still awesome, though," Alison said reasonably. "Of course, it would have been awesomer if we were in it..."
Michelle snorted. "Could you imagine Monica at the Brethren Court of Pirates?" she laughed.
"Or Alison trying to snog James every chance she could get?" Monica added.
"Or Michelle getting bitch-slapped by a Davy Jones's claw on the big screen?" Alison said.
They all laughed at this. After a silence, Alison asked, "Do you think they remember us?"
Michelle smiled and touched the locket around her neck. "Oh, I don't think they'll be able to forget."
