CUT TO...Barbossa's ship.
(Barbossa is at the helm. He sees Will on the Dutchman and the Dutchman coming close to the ship Elizabeth and James are on. He spins it quickly to maneuver to them.)
Barbossa: Prepare for battle, boys! The other ships'll follow!
(The crew scrambles. Murtogg and Murray scurry to some rifles.)
Barbossa: Aim straight and true! They'll be comin' over! (As soon as he finishes, a slew of Davy's monsters invade the ship, two of which come at Barbossa from both sides. Barbossa rams his sword straight into the one on his right and then shoots the one on his left. He lets out a hearty laugh.)
CUT TO...Jack's ship
(Gibbs is at the helm. Jack runs over to the side of the deck. He first spots Will on the Dutchman)
Jack: Bloody hell...? Gibbs!
Gibbs: Aye!
Jack: Hard to port! Now! (starts climbing up the rigging)
(The ship, followed by Groves' and Qiao's, move over to the Intrepid. Jack's ship actually bumps into Elizabeth and James ship, interrupting Jack from swinging across. He falls from the rigging onto the deck of the Intrepid. Scrambling to his feet, he runs across the ship onto the Dutchman. He looks every which way, as if searching for something. He draws his gun.)
Davy: Looking for something?
(Jack turns to see Davy Jones with a sword drawn)
Jack: Certainly wasn't you. (lunges his sword at him)
Davy: (goes on the offensive) Well, well, a lost bird who never learned to fly. I'll enjoy ordering you about for the rest of eternity.
(They parry, each one's thrusts growing in intensity)
great stuff. 🙂 guys, I'm leaving on Tuesday and will be gone for 2 weeks again, so I'm looking forward to see where you guys take this! Then, if you are up for it, I thought it might be fun to do another version of 4, now that we've seen what happened in 3. I'm sure we could have some fun there, if you guys aren't sick of playing around with this! 🙂
(Will sees Jack on the Dutchman.)
Will: (softly) No. (shouts) Jack! Jack, get off the ship! Get off – (One of the pirates attacks him, and Will is thrown hard into the railing, his head slamming into it, and he crumples to the deck, unmoving.)
Jack: (sees Will fall, but can’t get away from Jones, who laughs triumphantly. Jack shouts to the other ships.) A little help here!
Elizabeth: (hears the call and sees Will slumped on the deck of the other ship.) Will!
(Elizabeth rushes across the deck, James following her quickly.)
James: Stay here!
Elizabeth: I won’t leave him behind!
James: (an odd look crosses James’ face) He’s injured. If he can’t walk you won’t be able to help him. I’ll go; you give the orders for the ship!
(Elizabeth looks like she’s ready to argue, but another pirate attacks and she has to defend herself, and James uses her distraction as a chance swing himself onto the Dutchman.)
--
CUT TO THE LONGBOAT
(Michael is climbing the rope to get onto the balcony of the Dutchman. Below him, a fuse connected to the barrels of gunpowder has been lit. A sudden noise from above startles Michael, and he looks up to see some of the Dutchman’s crew staring down at him.)
Michael: Damn!
(The crew is staring down at him in confusion for a moment, then they see the boat with the barrels and the fuse, and they begin to move into action. One of them raises an axe over his head, intending to bring it down on the rope Michael is hanging onto. Another one has vanished but reappears on the outside hull of the ship.)
Michael: I really didn’t want to have to do this…
(He pulls out his pistol and fires into one of the barrels just as his rope is cut. He has time to see that his aim was true; the boat explodes as Michael falls towards it. The explosion tears a huge hole into the side of the Dutchman.)
---
I desperately need help with the Jack/DJ fight sequence. *sigh*
Alll right, here is the big bad scene.
----
CUT TO THE DUTCHMAN’S DECK
Jones: (snarls as he feels the damage to the Dutchman) What are you playing at, Sparrow?
Jack: (startled) I don’t know what you mean, mate.
Jones: Oh don’t you! (he lunges and attacks Jack with more vigor.)
(Jack grabs a rope and swings himself up into the rigging, but by the time he reaches the top, Jones is already there. They continue to fight, but Davy pulls a dirty trick and knocks Jack off-balance. Jack manages to snag yet another line and he slides back down onto the deck.)
--
(James staggers as the ship beneath him shudders. They’re running out of time. He runs across deck, and jumps over the body of one of his men. The only person left fighting is Mercer, but suddenly the man is run through both in the front and the back by two of DJ's crew. James watches in horrified fascination, but then shakes himself, finally managing to reach Will. He kneels beside the younger man, who is still unconscious.)
James: Will! (gently shakes his shoulder, looks around to make sure no one is attacking them.) Will, wake up.
Will: James? (Will rolls onto his back, revealing his bloody, bruised face. He looks confused for a moment, then he sits up with James’ help) Jack?
James: Still fighting Jones.
Will: (blinks, looks slightly confused) I got the heart, James.
James: (softens) Good…good. On your feet then…
(He helps Will to stand. Will sways slightly and looks around, trying to get his bearings and plan all at the same time.)
Will: Can you distract Jones for just a moment for me?
James: (uneasily) Of course. What are you planning?
Will: Just do it!
(Together James and Will race over to where Davy and Jack are still fighting.)
--
CUT TO BELOWDECKS
(Bootstrap makes his way to the gunpowder stores. He is the only man left standing out of Will’s group, the bodies of the other men littering the planking of the deck. Powder room is almost overflowing with gunpowder from ships that they’ve taken the past few months. Blowing up the ship shouldn’t be a problem.)
Bootstrap: Now I wait.
(Three of Jones’ crew come out of the walls and attack Bootstrap, and he begins to fight them.)
--
CUT TO WILL’S SHIP
(Elizabeth is fighting off some undead crewmembers when she is joined by her father. He is not very skilled with his sword and he looks terrified, but he is determined to stand by his daughter. Pixie, James’ hideous orange cat, is on deck swatting at undead pirates and tripping them up. Some of the crew not busy fighting has begun to adjust the sails. The Intrepid is also beginning to pull away from the Dutchman as well.)
Elizabeth: Why are we moving away from the Dutchman? What’s happening?
--
CUT TO THE DUTCHMAN
Jones: Looks like your crew is abandoning you, Jack.
(Jack is surprised and looks over in time to see that the ships are in fact moving away from the Dutchman. He grins then as he sees James pop up behind Jones.)
Jones: What’s so –
(James stabs Jones with his sword, and rams a broken shaft of wood through Jones’ torso, pinning him to the railing. Jones knocks James aside with his clawed hand hard, and James hits the capstan face first. Jack is about to help James when an oar suddenly swings out of nowhere and hits him in the back of the head. Jack drops like stone and doesn’t move.)
Will: Sorry, Jack. You can’t save me this time. (Will’s gaze meets Davy’s)
Jones: You.
(James gets up unsteadily and limps over to Jack, dragging the smaller man up in his arms.)
James: Will! Leave him. Come with us!
(Will looks uncertain, hesitating. It’s only a brief moment, but it’s long enough for Davy to pull the wood from his own body and slam it into Will’s chest. James’ green eyes widen with horror as Will slowly crumples to the deck, gasping for air.)
--
CUT TO VARIOUS SHIPS
(Almost all the crews see what happens to Will. Elizabeth screams and tries to dive over the edge of the ship, but her father and one of James’ marines restrain her. Barbossa looks stunned, but soon realizes that James isn’t moving to get off the ship.)
Barbossa: (shouts to James) Get movin’ boy! (he grabs a line and swings over to Will’s ship and helps to restrain Elizabeth, who is fighting violently against everyone.)
(Barbossa’s voice seems to shake James from his daze, and he grabs the rope, still holding Jack’s limp body, and swings himself off the Dutchman. He doesn’t have the strength to hold on for long, however, and he and Jack fall from the rope and into the water, landing near Will’s ship. The crew quickly begins to pull them from the water.)
James: (tries to stand and falls back, his battered body unable to support his weight.) I need to go back --
Barbossa: Ye can barely stand, lad. There isn’t anything you can do.
(James, kneeling on the deck of the ship, seems to shrink down a little as he bows his head. Anne rushes over to James and Jack. She touches James’ arm gently before she begins to examine the other captain.)
Jack: (opens his eyes slowly) What --? (he suddenly realizes he’s not on the Dutchman.) Where’s Will?
(Jack jumps to his feet and stares out across the Dutchman, shocked at what the image he sees. Will is kneeling at the feet of Davy Jones, obviously mortally injured. Jack is looking for a line to use to swing over to the cursed ship, but he realizes that they are pulling away. Elizabeth increases her struggles to free herself, Barbossa barely able to hold her.)
--
CUT TO THE DUTCHMAN
(Jones stands over Will, who is kneeling on the deck, gasping and moaning in pain. A small fire from wood and rope smolders near him. His eyes flicker from it to Jones, who is too busy gloating to notice where Will is looking.)
Jones: Did you think you could really win against me? Did you think you could replace me?
Will: (musters the last of his strength) No. Can….kill you though…
(Blood dribbles out of the corner of Will’s mouth and he coughs before he suddenly pulls the heart from his coat and shoves his entire hand into the flames. The heart immediately catches on fire, blazing up brightly on deck. Jones screams in agony and claws at his chest.)
--
CUT TO THE POWDER STORES
(Bootstrap is pinned to the wall by four swords. One of the men he was fighting twists the blade and Bootstrap groans. Suddenly, they all notice a change. Their wounds are no longer healing, and they are slowly turning back to human form.)
Bootstrap: (laughs, blood spilling over his lips) He did it!
(Then he frowns, realizing that there’s still one thing he needs to do. He ignores the other mens’ gasps of amazement at being human once more, and instead he uses the last of his strength to lift his pistol. He points at a barrel and cocks the hammer.)
--
(Will slides down to the floor of the deck and closes his eyes, blocking out the image of Jones. Instead, he thinks of Elizabeth when he first met her, of Elizabeth on their wedding day. The pain and screams fade, and he thinks he can catch her voice, her scent on the wind.)
Will: (sighs) Elizabeth…
(He thinks of Elizabeth –
And then his world explodes around him.)
-------
Gasp! Gorgeously painful. This is what we call cathartic.
CUT TO...Will's ship
Elizabeth: Will! (gets loose of Barbossa long enough to run to the rail of the deck. The sudden burst of movement catches James' eye. Still kneeling, he grabs her legs as Barbossa reaches her.)
Elizabeth: Let go! Let go! I need to get to him!
Barbossa: He's gone, Elizabeth! He's gone.
Elizabeth: NO! No, no, no...
(The fire on the Dutchman persists. Jetsom floats towards them. Elizabeth is finally overcome and faints. Barbossa barely catches her limp body.)
(Jack stands nearly frozen, staring straight at the sight of what is left of the Dutchman.)
James: (straining to stand upright. To Barbossa) Take her to her cabin. We need to make some distance between ourselves and...this. (gestures to Anne) I'm all right. (face pales. He closes his eyes and steadies himself) Let's go.
(Barbossa carries Elizabeth away)
Jack: (gaining back his alertness) Bring out the nets! Clear past the wreckage. Start looking for survivors!
James: What are you doing?
Jack: (ignoring him. Continues ordering the crew) Spread them out! It's a lot of water to cover.
James: Captain Sparrow, you are not captain of this ship. (hobbles over to him)
Anne: (to James) And you need to get back to your own ship. (sees Barbossa coming back) Barbossa, talk some sense into them.
James: Sparrow, Will is dead.
(Jack looks at him, at first in horror and then suspiciously. His breathing a little more shallow, we can almost see on his face the realization that what James is saying is true. He turns and heads for his ship.)
Anne: (to James) You're next. Where's Swann?
Swann: (shaking) Here. I'm going to my daughter's cabin. She, she shouldn't wake up alone. (exits)
Barbossa: Orders, captain?
(James gives him a blank look)
Barbossa: I can take it from here, Commodore. (sees James give him a disoriented look) You ought to be looked at, don't ya think? (to crew) The rest of ya, find the physicians in shifts. You (points to a group) go first. Everyone else, more distance. Make haste!
(James nods. Barbossa raises an eyebrow at James' compliance. As he starts to go, he sees Tia Dalma walk up on deck. She sees the Flying Dutchman, what is left of it, and lets out a piercing shriek. Everyone stares at her. Walking like a zombie, she turns and gives James an anguished look and drops into the ocean. A few crew members run over to see, but she has disappeared.)
2 days later
CUT TO…(Elizabeth’s cabin on The Empress. She lies on her bed with an empty look on her face, stroking her letter and Will’s necklace. The rest of the cabin does not looked lived-in anymore, as if Elizabeth has not moved from that exact position. Will’s few possessions remain untouched. A sudden knock at the door wakes her from her solace.)
Barbossa: (from other side of the door) Turner! (pounds harder) Turner! Got business to share with ye.
Elizabeth: (sits up. She wipes her cheeks) Enter.
Barbossa: (entering) Somethin’ about seein’ one’s captain every once in a while makes a crew member feel a little safer in the dangerous waters, if ye get my meaning.
Elizabeth: Is that all?
Barbossa: No. It’s been two days, Captain. Time to bury the dead, don’t ye think?
Elizabeth: (looks at him in horror) What?
Barbossa: Funeral. Burial at sea so to speak. The crew’ll be expectin’ it.
Elizabeth: What are you talking about? Get out! (stands. Her body looks stiff as she does)
Barbossa: It be for the best, Turner. Let everyone say goodbye.
Elizabeth: There is no reason to say goodbye to anyone. I thought I told you to get out.
Barbossa: (eyes her strangely) I see. (long pause) I tell you what I’ll do, given the fact I’m so nice. I’ll make the arrangements me-self. (bitterly) No one takes the initiative around here, let the old man do it.
Elizabeth: (sits back on her bed, looking as if she is fighting off the urge to retch. She takes several deep breaths.) Very well, Barbossa.
(Barbossa looks relieved she seems more lucid)
Elizabeth: I give you full charge of the affair. Inform me when it is to take place.
Barbossa: That be the smartest thing you’ve said in a while. Or has it been the only thing you’ve said in a while?
Elizabeth: I thought I told you to get out! (watches him leave)
funeral scene
(Scene cuts to the fleet of ships anchored in fairly shallow water. The captains form a small circle around a small box. Behind them, rows and rows of crew members stand, heads bowed. The camera close ups to Anne, among the crew, wiping tears from her eyes.)
Barbossa: He was a brave soul, William Turner. Heroic, and yet a pirate, true to his conscience till the very end. (takes a step back to wait for the others to speak) Cunning lad, too. Surprised everyone.
(Elizabeth closes her eyes to prevent herself from crying. We see her eyebrow raise.)
Gibbs: Aye. No one even knew he had heard the riddle of the heart, let alone he solved it. (places a seashell in the box) Sorry, Will. We got no flowers for you.
Elizabeth: (looks up suddenly) Why were you on Will’s ship? What were you doing outside the cabin the night before, James? (notices his guilty eyes, glares at him, her eyes empty) You knew! You knew, didn’t you? Did Will tell you, or did you figure it out all on your own?
James: (expecting it) Elizabeth—
Elizabeth: Answer me, you bastard! (takes a step towards him)
Swann: Now, (tries to take her shoulders but she’s just out of his grasp) James. Be good enough to explain yourself.
James: I, I, Elizabeth, (resolute but unsure where to look) Please. I can explain.
Jack: Better do it quickly. (has taken out his pistol and points it straight into James’ face. The crew gasps.)
James: I swear before God, Sparrow, if you fire that shot, someone, someone will find you guilty of mutiny and not even you can escape death forever.
(Jack points the gun even closer at him)
Gibbs: Jack! (rushes and grips the barrel of the pistol)
Elizabeth: You let him die! (runs at him. Swann and Barbossa hold her back) Shoot him, Jack!
Anne: No! (pushes her way through the crowd. She grabs Jack from behind. Her weight crashes into his back. He loses balance slightly, giving Gibbs the perfect opportunity to wring the pistol from Jack’s hands.)
Barbossa: For God’s sake, Jack! This is a funeral!
Elizabeth: Shoot him! (struggling to get free) Somebody shoot him!
(Jack wildly pounces on James, just as James is reaching for his own pistol. As James is knocked to the deck, the contents of his pockets spill out, most importantly the letters Will gave him. Jack thrusts a punch right into James’ eye socket. He grunts in pain. Jack’s entire being seems to take a large amount of pleasure in the violence. Furiously, Jack pounds James more. In a split second, he takes James by the hair and rams his head into the deck. Barbossa makes an attempt to restrain Jack, but one man is not enough. Groves, Murtogg, and Mullroy drag Jack off of him and restrain him.)
(James staggers to his feet. A few drops of blood are left on the deck. James makes an attempt to stand on his own. Anne rushes to him and helps him up. He closes his eyes and tries to orient himself. His eye is already swelling. His lip is cut and bleeding, along with smaller cuts all across his face. He sees drying blood on Jack’s bruised knuckles and rings. He contemplates accosting him, but takes a deep breath instead.)
James: (licks the blood on his face. His left eye won’t close all the way) He meant to save all of us, Elizabeth. (looks back at Jack) Jack, it was to make sure Davy Jones would never make anyone suffer again.
Jack: I think he suffered plenty at the hands of Davy Jones, don’t you? (enjoying the cuts and gashes on James’ face)
Elizabeth: Let go of me!
Swann: Elizabeth, daughter, please. (Elizabeth breaks free and rushes to James, but Gibbs manages to hold her.)
James: (picks up the letters. He extends one to her.) Try to understand, Elizabeth. It was for the best. He wanted me to give this to you. (sees Jack. His fingers naturally slide to his pistol, but he does not pull it out. He extends Jack’s letter to him but hands it to Groves instead.) He’ll give that to you when you’ve come to your senses. We’ve both lost a dear friend, but…
Jack: But what?
Jack: Heartless commodore to the very end.
(Elizabeth freezes at the words. She stops struggling against Gibbs. She extends her arm and takes the letter.)
Elizabeth: (slaps him hard across the face) What have you lost? Did you lose your husband? (Taking a breath, she strides to the box and drops to her knees. She gently places her shell in the center of the box. She brings a finger to her lip and then touches the shell with it. Rising slowly, she moves past the others and stares long and hard at James. She marches into her cabin and shuts the door behind her)
(James watches her go. He deals out the rest: one to Swann, one to Barbossa.)
Barbossa: One for me?
(James nods. He throws in his shell silently.)
Swann: She’s going through a hard time— (James shakes his head to interrupt him. He stands stoic, staring out into the ocean. Anne studies his face. He then retreats to his own cabin and shuts the door behind him)
(Jack stares down in the box and drops his shell inside.)
Jack: Here’s luck to ye, Will Turner. (louder) My crew, back to the ship!
Gibbs: Cap’n?
Jack: Have somethin’ to say? (Gibbs says nothing. Jack leaves the funeral, holding his letter close to his person)
(Barbossa looks at the box with sad eyes. He quickly opens his letter. The message is brief, but Barbossa nods in approval. Without saying a word, he places it back into its envelope and tucks it away into his coat pocket. He nods to the crews, who all drop shells into the box. When everyone finishes. Barbossa places a cross inside it and shuts the lid. With a heave, he pushes it overboard into the ocean. A few crew members with horn pipes play a slow tune.)
Originally posted by willofthewisp
damn, 109 pages. Forget AWE, this is POTC the Miniseries.
😂
about the story..
THAT was so great! i patiently read it from... the first page. took me 4 hours maybe.. i'm not sure.. i read it, stopping for a few moments.. hours... days...
anyway, the last part i've read.. meaning above...
that was.. so sad.. felt like i was there, mourning his.. ahh.. death...
i could quite imagine them all.. ah.. so so sad... i could see jack... elizabeth... james... all of them. *sigh*
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT????
Cut to....Beckett's ship
(Beckett is at his desk, fidgeting.)
Beckett: Mr. Mercer! Mr. Mercer!
(a young officer walks in)
Man: Sir, the, the body count is still be added up, but...
Beckett: Unless you have something constructive to say in the next five seconds, you're advised to leave.
Man: (nervous) Mr. Mercer was among the dead. Apparently when Will Turner destroyed the Dutchman, some--
Beckett: I don't want to hear anymore about Will Turner. (suddenly, it is as if a lightbulb has gone on over his head) Bring me that ring over there.
(The man scurries to the ring and brings it to him.)
Beckett: Ah, this is what I can use. Now, (turns to the man. An eager, helpful expression is on the man's face) get out.
(Beckett is left alone. A smirk spreads slowly on his face.)
THE EMPRESS -- EVENING (SAME DAY AS THE FUNERAL)
(Anne comes below deck in search of James. She finds him in the hold, near the rum cache. He is seated on a crate, a bottle in his hands, his shoulders slumped in dejection and exhaustion.)
Anne: James? (He doesn’t respond so she walks over to him and seats herself on a spare crate.) You’ve been hiding from me all afternoon.
James: (wearily) I haven’t been hiding. I’m just…(he can’t think of anything to say, so he falls silent.)
Anne: Let me look you over.
(James doesn’t argue as she begins to examine the injuries to his face. He has a nasty gash across the temple, a gouge in his cheek and his lip is split open. His eye is nearly swollen shut, and the skin around the eyebrow has split slightly.)
Anne: You should have let me look at this earlier.
James: (winces slightly as her finger brushes over his lip) It wouldn’t have mattered.
Anne: (pries the bottle from James’ hands) Don’t be absurd. You sitting in the dark and drowning yourself in rum will not solve anything.
(James doesn’t rise to the bait. Instead he simply looks perplexed for a moment before shaking his head and looking away. Anne sighs and opens the bottle, then pours some of the alcohol onto the end of her sash and dabs the dampened cloth on the cut above James’ eye.)
James: This really isn’t necessary.
Anne: Why? Because you don’t need it, or because you don’t think you’re a good man?
(James gasps and tries to pull away, but Anne holds his face between her hands and forces him to look at her.)
James: (gaze searches her face) Anne…
Anne: You are a good man, James Norrington. (thumb brushes across his cheek) But you don’t believe that. You’ve lost yourself in the commodore for so long, do you even know who you are?
(James looks at Anne intently, then he leans forward and captures her lips with his. She gasps in surprise but does not pull away, but instead draws him closer. Emboldened by her response, James deepens the kiss and cups her face with his hands. Anne moans softly as he nips her lower lip with his teeth. She slides her hands down his chest and she begins to unbutton his shirt.
James pulls back slightly and looks at her searchingly before gently tips her head back so that he can kiss her neck. Anne peels his shirt away from him, her fingers softly stroking his heated flesh while his mouth travels down her throat, nipping and licking her soft skin, his fingers working to unfasten the belt around her waist.)
------
😄