Chapter Fourteen: The Trojan Horse

The moon appears from behind the clouds.

Moonlight shines down into the shallow waters. Suddenly all the fish scatter. Distant figures appear, wavering in the shifting current. They move into the shadow of the Dauntless' keel. It's the pirates, walking across the ocean floor. The first figure, Twigg, steps from the shadow into water-­filter moonlight, transforming to into skeletal form.

Gentle splashing echoes from the cave mouth. The marines in the longboats on either side raise their rifles. A boat emerges. Norrington's men stare. In the boat are two 'women.' Pintel and Ragetti in drag. A shawl shades Pintel from the moon; Ragetti holds the parasol he found in the treasure. (Well, that's weird.) Norrington signals his men.

Norrington: Hold Fire. Hold position...

Pintel and Ragetti row past, toward the Dauntless. Ragetti plays with the parasol.

Ragetti: This is just like what the Greeks did at Troy. 'Cept they were's a horse n'stead of dresses. A wood horse.

Pintel glowers at him to shut up, glances over his shoulder toward the Dauntless.

Twigg breaks the surface near the Dauntless, climbs the anchor. More skeleton pirates follow. He peeks over the rail onto the deck of the Dauntless. A few lone sentries patrol. He gestures down to his comrades to follow him. Twigg and all the other pirates begin climbing onto the deck of the ship. Koehler sneaks up behind the first Sentry and slits his throat. Bo'sun strangles another sentry, he falls to the deck. The pirates advance towards the stern.

Swann approaches the door, nods to the guard. The guard departs. Swann knocks lightly on the door.

Governor Swann: Elizabeth?

He waits for an answer. None comes. He sighs, soldiers on.

Governor Swann: Elizabeth. I just want you to know... I believe you made a very good decision today ... And I couldn't be more proud.

Elizabeth and Sakura stand before the open stern window knotting together several sheets. Elizabeth winces a bit at her father's words, but that does not stop her from tossing the sheet-line out the window.

One end of the makeshift rope plummets down to the sea, trailing next to the small rowboat. Maddy and Tai are in the longboat, waiting for Elizabeth, Sakura, and Kero.

Governor Swann is still at the door. He misinterprets the silence.

Governor Swann: But even a good decision made for the wrong reasons could be a wrong decision. Not that you've made a wrong decision. But you're setting the course for your entire life, and you must please yourself, not others, not even me. Which is not to say that I'm not pleased. (beat) Elizabeth, one has dreams, ambitions. It was long before I met your mother in the summer of my nineteenth year...

Elizabeth, Sakura, Maddy, and Tai row through the water, while Kero hides himself inside of Tai's jacket. The Dauntless receding behind them. Elizabeth looks over her shoulder. Ahead of them is the dark silhouette of the Black Pearl.

Governor Swann: ... And that's why I will never willingly go back to Paris. (a sigh) But I digress. (no response) Elizabeth ... are you there? Are you even listening to me?

He frowns. Puts his wig back on. Pushes the door open. Inside the captain's cabin Swann enters; a quick scan of the empty cabin. He registers the open window and the knotted sheets. Rushes to the window. Glances out, glances up, looks out at the black sea.

Governor Swan: What have you done?

Pintel and Ragetti near the Dauntless, parasols protecting them from the moonlight. They've been spotted; they hear the sounds of catcalls from the Royal Navy sailors. Ragetti waves and 'yoo hoos' up to the ship: Pintel is livid.

Pintel: Stop that! I already feel like a fool.

Ragetti: Look nice, though.

Pintel takes offense at that...

Gillette looks through a telescope; he and the crew of the Dauntless are transfixed and puzzled at the bizarre sight.

Gillette POV: Through the telescope:

Pintel slugs Ragetti

Third person view:

In the rowboat, Ragetti drops his parasol; Pintel's shawl falls, and the two are revealed as skeletons.

Pintel: (angry) I look nice?!

On the Dauntless, Gillette gasps at the sight.

Back in the boat, Pintel realizes they're exposed; he pulls a pistol, fires.

Back on the Dauntless, Gillette's hat is knocked off by the shot, he looks back ­-too late. Skeletal pirates attack Gillette and his crew. The pirates drop down from the rigging like spiders. Swords clash, pistols are drawn.

Governor Swann, despondent, opens the door. A body plummets to the deck in front of him.

Marines and sailors vs. Skeletal pirates ... melee!

Governor Swann shuts the door gently, trying to go unnoticed.

Jack examines the pirate treasure; Barbossa fixes him with an appraising look.

Barbossa: I must admit, Jack: I thought I had you figured. But turns out, you're a hard man to predict.

Jack: (shakes his head: "nah.") Me, I'm dishonest. A dishonest man, you can always be trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you have to watch out for. Because you can never predict that they're going to something incredibly ... stupid.

With his toe, Jack flips a beautiful sword up off the floor, and tosses it to Will, and grabs a sword from one of the pirates and tosses it to Hana. Despite their surprises, Will and Hana catch them (behind their backs, hands still bound)

Jack: Use them well.

Barbossa: Dammit, Jack. I was almost liking you!

Jack: I know.

Jack and Barbossa square off; Jacoby and a nameless pirate slash at Will and Hana, who turn and parry so that their hands are freed by the cuts. The other two pirates attack them; Will then cuts the binds on both Li and Torika's wrists. They then fight back.

Torika: Key of my heart! With the power of love and light! Unveil the scepter and unleash my might! RELEASE!

The key then turns into the Heart wand and gets out the card that would help Hana fight against the skeletal pirates.

Torika: FIGHT CARD! HELP HANA DEFEAT THE PIRATES.

Then Hana's fighting ability grows rapidly. Torika then takes out the card that might cut down the pirates.

Torika: SWORD!

Her wand then turns into the sword and then starts trying to cut down the pirates.

Li takes his sword out and starts parrying the swords of three pirates. He then takes out an ofuda, and puts it on the back of one of the pirates he's fighting, and in turn the pirate starts fighting the others. Jack and Barbossa fight ferociously, but Barbossa lets his guard down for a second and Jack cuts the top of his hat in half.

Jack: Haha!

They continue fighting, and begin to use every bit of strength they've got.

Barbossa: You're off the edge of the map, mate. Here there be monsters.

He then pushes Jack away.

Elizabeth, Sakura, Maddy, and Tai jump from the tiny rowboat to Black Pearl. Climbing up, toward the gun port. Elizabeth can hear voices.

Two Pirates, Mallot and Grapple, set out a feast: wine and rum, jerky, cakes, apples, biscuits.

Mallot: What would you pick to eat first? We should decide now, so we're ready, when the time comes.

Grapple: I was thinking ... Cake.

Mallot: (with menace) I was thinking cake too.

They stare at each other. Lightning quick, Grapple slams a knife into the table between them, his hand going skeletal in the moonlight. A tense moment. Then Grapple leans the handle of the knife toward Mallot.

Grapple: You cut, I choose.

Mallot gives a single sharp nod. Elizabeth, Maddy, Tai, and Sakura climb past as Mallot reaches for the knife.

Elizabeth and the others climb over the gunwale.

Elizabeth: (a whisper) Careful. If a skeletal monkey screeches in your face, don't scream or the two pirates will know were here.

The three of them nod. They sneak along the deck. Suddenly, the skeletal monkey drops down, screeching! Everyone stares slightly, but Elizabeth is mostly annoyed. The monkey reacts with a look on its face reading 'uh oh.'

Mallot & Grapple are still focused on their mock feast; the Monkey screeches as it drops past the gun port; a splash follows.

Elizabeth looks over gunwale. Two pirate heads stick out, looking down at the splash. They turn to look up, but she is gone from view. The pirates draw back inside to give chase.

Elizabeth races down stairs, hides: Pirates race past, headed up to the deck. She then races down along with Maddy, Tai, and Sakura.

Jack's crew, waiting in the dark. Gibbs tilts his head.

Gibbs: Shh! Do you hear something?

The small arms fire has alerted Norrington.

Norrington: Make for the ship! Move!

Pintel and Ragetti climb onto the ship through a gun port as other pirates swarm the deck, taking on the sailors. They and many other pirates fire a cannon at Norrington and his men.

The cannons fire.

Norrington: Incoming!

Near Norrington, one of the longboats is blown out of the water.

Governor Swann peers out the glass window at the mayhem on the deck. He drops down below the window. And peeks up again as a face of a dead marine slams on the glass right next to him. He then looks up and sees a pirate looking at him. Governor Swann cowers and begins backing away below the window. Pirate hands reach through the windows, grabbing at him. One of the pirate hands grabs his wig and pulls it off his head, but he refuses to let it go and has a tug of war with the pirate over his wig. Governor Swann grabs a bullhorn off the table behind him and whacks at the skeleton arm, which falls off on the floor.

Will, Torika, Li, and Hana hold off ten pirates. Jack and Barbossa continue dueling furiously; Jack drives Barbossa back and Barbossa begins to laugh. He drops his guard, lets his sword drop from his hand.

Barbossa: You can't beat me, Jack.

But Jack still tried to takes the opportunity and stabbed him in the stomach. Barbossa sighs and switches the blade around and drives the sword into Jack's chest.

Will, Li, Torika, and Hana stare shocked. (most notably Hana)

Jack stares down at the sword jutting from his chest. He staggers a few steps backward, into the moonlight, and he becomes skeletal.

Jack: That's interesting.

Barbossa stands there dumbfounded. Skeleton Jack pulls the sword from his chest. He pulls something from his pocket: one of the Aztec coins.

Jack: Couldn't resist, mate.

Barbossa grabs up his sword, and rushes Jack. Both men are in moonlight now, two skeletons in pitched battle.

The canons continue to fire at Norrington and his men, blowing a hole in one of the boats, causing it to sink.

Governor Swann scrambles away from the arm as it crawls after him. He stands and watches the arm in horror and then grabs a map off the table and begins beating the skeleton arm. He then picks it up and struggles with it, turns and shoves it in a bureau drawer. He backs up against the chest as it rattles, the arm struggles to get out.

Will manages to make Jacoby drive his sword into an unknown pirate, but Jacoby gets stabbed by him, but give chase after Will. Jack and Barbossa continue to fight and Jack knocks over a piece of the treasure.

Jack: Sorry.

They continue dueling in and out of moonlight.

Barbossa: So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals, locked in epic battle 'til Judgment Day and the trumpets sound?

Jack: Or you could surrender.

Barbossa smiles (not likely) and attacks.

Pirates sneak along, wary, listening ... searching. The pirates whirl at a sound of that just as BOOM! They're hit by a longboat, swept off into the water, in pieces. The longboat was shoved by Gibbs, AnaMaria, Cotton, Elizabeth, and the rest of the crew. The Black Pearl is theirs. Elizabeth steps away from the others.

Elizabeth: All of you! With us! Will is in that cave, and as long as we've a chance to save him, we must act! And Jack, too!

Elizabeth, Sakura, Maddy, and Tai grab the gunwale of the boat...

Elizabeth: Heave!

The boat doesn't budge. The help they were expecting is not forthcoming.

Sakura: Please, we need your help! Come on!

The crew looks at them, not moving.

Cotton's Parrot: Any port! In a storm!

Gibbs: Cotton is right. We've got the Pearl.

Maddy: And what about Jack. Are we just going to leave him?

Marty: Jack owes us a ship.

AnaMaria: He owes me two.

Gibbs: Then, there's the code to consider...

Elizabeth: The code? You're pirates! Hang the code! Hang the rules! They're more guidelines, anyway!

Gibbs looks away. He knows that, but...

Tai: Listen to me. This is right. This is necessary. And it must be done ... by all of us!

The crew considers...

Elizabeth, Sakura, Maddy, Kero (earth form,) and Tai are the only ones in a rowboat, the Black Pearl, behind her under sail and moving away.

Elizabeth: Bloody pirates...

Ragetti notices; eyes fixed on the ship as it sails past, he taps Pintel on the shoulder.

Pintel: What?

Ragetti: Is it supposed to be doing that?

Pintel looks where Ragetti is looking, registers what's happening:

Pintel: (hurt, indignant) They're stealing our ship!

Ragetti: Bloody pirates!

Norrington's boats have arrived at the ship. He and his men climb up the side.

The battle rages. Norrington and his men arrive on the deck. Behind him, Koehler swings an axe at his neck, but he whips his sword up, blocking the handle, the blade just inches from his throat. He spins and goes after Koehler with a vengeance. Meanwhile, Officer Gillette stands up on a railing and swings a large block and tackle across the deck at the Bo'sun. Bo'sun sees it and dunks and then takes off after Gillette. The block and tackle swings back and hits Ragetti in the head. Ragetti's eye pops out. He chases it.

Will is cornered, slides between two pirates on a silver tray. But then a projectile, thrown by Jacoby, explodes near him. Will is thrown to the ground, losing his sword. He climbs a pile of treasure, reaches for it, but it slides away out of his grasp. Jacoby laughs, raises his sword.

Jacoby: I'm gonna' teach you the meaning of PAIN!

Elizabeth: (out of nowhere) You like pain?

Jacoby turns. From out of the smoke Elizabeth and the others appear, Elizabeth swings a long gaffe, knocking Jacoby aside.

Elizabeth: Try wearing a corset.

Sakura then takes out her star key, and begins her incantation...

Sakura: Key of the star. With powers burning bright! Reveal the staff and shine your light! RELEASE!

Then her key turns into a staff with a star at the upper end of it, and uses it to smack Jacoby, but it never worked, since he was immortal. Will then notices.

Will: Elizabeth?

Elizabeth looks at him, smiles. He grins back, she pulls him up with the gaffe. Turning, Elizabeth notices Jack (skeletal) dueling with Barbossa. Her smile is gone. Sakura, Maddy, and Tai also notice and get the same reaction.

Elizabeth: Whose side is Jack on?

Will: At the moment?

Elizabeth, nods ('with Jack; who can tell?') The two pirates attack; Will and Elizabeth dart away. Sakura, Maddy, Tai, and Kero head over toward where Li, Torika, and Hana are out-numbered three-to-one. There, they lure the pirates toward where Will and Elizabeth stand ready with the very long gaffe. Jacoby recovers, prepares another bomb. Will gets an idea. Moving between the pirates and parrying their blows, he helps Elizabeth thrust the gaffe, using it to hook all ten pirates together, Jacoby in the middle, one facing backwards. Will grabs one of Jacoby's bombs and yanks it free, sparking the fuse. He shoves it up inside Jacoby's rib cage, and shoves all ten out of the moonlight. Jacoby clutches at his now flesh chest no way to get to the lit bomb. The backward pirate tries to turn around to see what's happening, turning all three completely around. Jacoby looks at Will, and the others mouth agape, smoke issues out.

Jacoby: No fair.

Will and the others dive away as the bomb explodes. Jacoby's skeletal head and spine crashes down in a nearby pool of moonlight. The head turns to Li:

Jacoby: That's cheating!

Li: We didn't have much incentive to fight fair.

They move away purposefully.

Maddy gingerly picks up Jacoby by the spine with two fingers, flings it into the water (like it's a diseased rat). She shudders, wipes her hands fervidly on her jacket. Barbossa slashes at Jack, frustrated beyond measure. He drives Jack backwards, towards Elizabeth. As he fights, Barbossa notices Will's movement on the other side of the cave. He glares at Jack, suspicious. Jack cuts the palm of his hand with the sword and throws it to Will.

Barbossa: What's your play, Jack? You're too clever for this. You can't kill me, I can't kill you (an inspiration) But I can take my satisfaction elsewhere...

He breaks off the fight, pulls his pistol. Aims it at either Elizabeth or Torika. They register their danger...

A shot echoes in the cavern. Barbossa looks surprised. Barbossa looks down at the hole in his shirt. He can't believe it. Jack, pistol raised and aimed, still smoking, has shot him.

Barbossa: Ten years you carry that pistol, and now you waste your shot?

Will: He didn't waste it.

Will stands over the Aztec chest, holding the knife, his left hand in a fist. He opens the fist ... both of the medallions drop from his hand, revealing the cut in his palm ... the bloody medallion lands. Barbossa looks down at his chest. Blood blossoms on his shirt around the bullet hole. Jack lowers his pistol. Barbossa stares at the blood ... Looks up at Jack, at Will, at Torika, at Elizabeth, then back at Jack. Anger, dismay ... and even relief color Barbossa's features.

Barbossa: I feel ... cold.

Barbossa collapses onto his back. Dead.

To be continued...