The island of Saint Martin was quiet. There were no pirate attacks, no ghostly occurrences, and no unexpected arrivals, nothing which would disturb the peace. The only notable events occurring was the execution of the 'witch', Carina Smyth, and the opening of a new bank.
Deep in the dungeons of Saint Martin, stood Carina Smyth herself inside one of the cells. She was right up at the door, listening to the man speaking to her. "Carina Smyth," The man begun. "You are an orphan, born of the devil. Accused of practicing witchcraft. Before you die, do you have anything to confess?"
Carina listen closely to the question, and then started to respond. "I confess that I am not a witch," She said. "That I am a woman of science. I confess that I have survived on my own, with nothing but a diary from a father I never knew, and a quest for the truth of who I am." Silently, her hands were down near the lock of the door. "I confess that I will die before I give up the search – and I confess…"
"…that while we've been talking, I've picked this lock." She then suddenly opened the cell door, slamming it into the man and knocking him to the ground. Carina then ran out of the cell, going past the unconscious man and leaving the dungeon.
Upon getting out of the dungeon, she came around a corner and found herself behind a large crowd, gathered in front of a large building – the Royal Bank of Saint Martin. "Today," A man begun, talking to the crowd from a podium. "We dedicate to the Royal Bank of Saint Martin – the most pure banking institution in the Caribbean!" The crowd erupted into applause, as two men opened the door to the Royal Bank.
Carina watched as the man presented. "Our new vault is five inches thick, and weighs an imperial ton!" The crowd ooo'd upon hearing the statement. Carina looked away, and started walking away from the crowd. Suddenly, a guard yelled out. "I've got her! I've got her!" Two guards started giving chase to Carina, who ran in the opposite direction.
"Don't let her get away!" "Stop that witch!" "We've got her!" Yelled the guards, running after Carina who ran into the middle of a busy area. Nearby, the presentation was still going on. "With this bank, the town of Saint Martin enters the modern world!" The man said, and the crowd applauded in response.
The guards who were giving chase to Carina gathered together. "I'm so sorry, sir." One of them said to their superior. "She got away in chains." Another said. The superior leaned towards the guards. "Find that witch, or you'll swing in her place." He threatened. "Y-yes, sir." One of the guards responded, walking away to continue the search.
"No man, no army can ever rob the gold from Saint Martin!" The presenter said to the crowd, a heap of applause heard as one of the guards opened the vault of the bank to showcase what was inside. As the vault opened, the crowd would be met with the sight of not gold, but a drunk, half-asleep Jack Sparrow resting on top of the riches of Saint Martin.
The crowd looked in with curiosity to see who the man was, and what he was doing. One woman pointed suddenly, in utter fear. "Pirate!" The crowd gasped, and Jack suddenly awakened from his uncomfortable sleep. He yelled in surprise, then tumbled out of the vault and onto the floor in front of the entire crowd, which jumped back in utter shock.
Jack slowly and drunkenly got to his feet, holding his trusty bottle of rum in his hand. Incoherent muttering was heard as he got a faint idea of where he was and what he was doing. He looked forward, surprised to see the sight of such a large crowd in front of him. "This may seem to be a peculiar request, but can someone explain as to why I am here?" Jack asked the crowd. They did not respond.
Unknowingly behind the bank, Jack's crew of misfits prepared a daring heist. Joshamee Gibbs, Scrum, Marty and a few other pirates had a group of horses standing by, with ropes attached to them which went inside the bank.
Jack stood there for a moment, before noticing the assortment of guards gathering in front of the crowd, aiming their guns at the infamous pirate. "No no no, give me a moment. Let me just clear my head." Jack stated as the guards prepared to fire. He drank from his bottle of rum, as if unaware of the guns pointed and about to fire.
Behind the bank, Jack's crew quickly climbed onto their horses and prepared to start. Jack stood there for a moment, looking around, before resting his eyes on the vault. A shimmer of delight appeared in his eyes, as he turned around and faced the firing squad in front of him. "I've got it! I'm robbing the bank."
The presenter pointed at Jack Sparrow. "Shoot him!" Jack yelled in surprise, and quickly ducked to avoid the sudden onslaught of bullets which filled the bank. The horses behind the vault neighed, and ran forward with Jack's crew on top of them. The ropes attached to the horses pulled the vault backwards, and Jack Sparrow spun around and grabbed onto the vault, pulling him with it.
The vault was pulled through the back of the bank, with Jack being dragged across the ground as the horses made their escape with Saint Martin's riches. Guards gave chase, running after the runaway vault and firing shots at Jack, who managed to pull himself into the vault.
Jack yelled in surprise as gunshots narrowly missed him, hitting the inside of the vault. "Aha! I can just close the door!" He yelled in triumph, moving to close the vault door in front of him. Suddenly, the vault impacted into the side of a building, with the door being pulled off before he could reach it. The immense riches and gold of the vault were flowing out of the vault, landing onto the ground and being scavenged by people across the streets.
Nearby, Carina had successfully escaped from the guards, now hiding behind a small building. She moved around the building, which was a shop of some kind, and walked through the door. Perhaps it was a good place to hide? As she walked in the door, she came face to face with the shopkeeper. "It's you. The one they caught." He muttered, stepping back upon seeing her. "The witch. Witch!" The shopkeeper grabbed a pistol, and aimed it at Carina. "Witch! The witch is in my shop! Help!"
"I'm not a witch. I'm a woman of science. Am I a witch for doing science?" Carina asked the man. "Witch!" The man stubbornly yelled. Carina slowly moved backwards, towards the door. Seeing her movement, the shopkeeper fired the pistol, the bullet narrowly missing Carina as she rushed out of the building.
Having heard the shopkeeper's yelling, guards gave chase to Carina as she climbed up the side of a small building. As she got to the top, she turned and saw the guards climb up behind her, and aim their pistols at her. "You've got nowhere to run, witch." One of the guards stated, slowly moving forwards as Carina walked backwards. There was a loud commotion as several horses ran past the building, and Carina spotted what seemed to be the Royal Bank's vault being dragged by the horses. She smiled.
Jack drank from his bottle of rum as he watched the guards fail to give chase to the runaway vault, though he was somewhat worried about the shots they were firing in his general direction. His enjoyment was cut short when suddenly there was a thump as something impacted the top of the vault. "What was that?" Jack asked himself, before suddenly seeing a young woman swing herself into the vault, landing next to Jack. "Who are you? This is my bank robbery! Outsiders aren't allowed!" Jack drunkenly stated, looking at the woman. Carina. "I don't want any trouble!" She responded. "What a horrible way to live!" Jack said.
Their conversation was cut short by a bullet which narrowly missed the two. A guard rode a horse, and was giving chase to the vault with a rifle in hand. Jack grabbed Carina quickly. "Sorry about this." He said, and then pushed her out of the vault and into the pathway of the horse, who tripped over the sudden obstacle. Carina looked up as she saw Jack Sparrow sit in the vault triumphantly. "Filthy pirate!" She yelled out to him.
"No need for name-calling, love!" Jack yelled back. The vault was pulled through the gateway leaving the town. Nearby, two of Jack's crewmembers fired cannons at the gateway, causing it to explode in a sudden flame of glory as it crumbled in front of the guards, who were blocked off from following the vault.
Jack looked into the vault alongside his crew. They were now back at their current vessel – the Dying Gull. An old, battered sloop which had not been used in a lifetime. The only remaining piece of gold inside the vault was a single coin, which Jack quickly pocketed before the rest of the crew could see it.
Scrum walked over to the vault, looking in before turning back to the crew. "It's empty!" The crew groaned, particularly at Jack. Jack turned around, looking at his crew. "Do you think that robbing a bank is easy?" He started. "You gaggle of useless no-bodies are responsible for putting me into this pickle in the first place!"
"Now line up – and offer me your tribute." His crew looked at eachother in shock upon hearing the request. Marty stepped forward. "You want us to pay you?" Jack nodded. "Am I not the Captain of this ship?" The crew looked around at the Dying Gull, its broken and battered structure being held on the beach. "You call this a ship?" Scrum asked.
"Where's the treasure?" One of the crewmembers asked. "All of us are starving." Another said. "We'll no longer follow a Captain without a ship." A third one stated. "I have a ship." Jack stated, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the Black Pearl, which was enclosed in a small bottle. "Black Pearl has never left me side." He continued. The crew groaned upon hearing about the Pearl.
"The pirate Barbossa rules these seas now." One of the crewmembers stated. "His ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, is unbeatable." One of the other crewmembers looked at Jack. "Not to mention his cannonballs. Eighteen pounds each, they say." Jack looked at the crewmember in confusion. "One-legged man with eighteen-pound balls? So that's why he walks funny…"
"Gentlemen," Jack begun. "Did we not find the treasure of Macedonia together?" He asked them. "It was a rotten piece of wood!" One of the crewmembers responded. "Face it Jack, bad luck dogs you day and night." Gibbs stated. "Now that is a blatant fabrication!" Jack exclaimed, only for his crewmembers to motion back to the now empty vault behind him.
"You've lost your luck." One of the crewmembers said. "You've lost your ship." Another said. "And now – you've lost your crew." Marty said. "Jack Sparrow is no longer our Captain." Another said. The pirates started climbing down the side of the Dying Gull, leaving Jack. Gibbs walked up to Jack. "I'm sorry, Jack. But we've reached the end of the horizon." He then turned, following the other pirates off the Dying Gull, leaving Jack to himself.
"Right then." Jack yelled out to the leaving pirates. "You're all dismissed! Ey! All of you! Dismissed! You'll never sail with Captain Jack Sparrow again! I'll tell you that!" He then pulled out his compass, opening it and looking at where it pointed. Jack walked through the upper deck of the Gull, placing the bottled Black Pearl down and looking into it curiously.