New Round Robin - Pirates of the F/X!

Without further ado, I give to you the first part of "Pirates of the F/X!", F/X: The Series/Pirates of the Caribbean crossover.

Disclaimer! We don't own them! Never have! Never will! May fun be had by all! Yo ho!

Pirates of the F/X!

Tyler FX, not having anything to do for the current scene, settled down on a beach towel to watch the filming. Rollie and Angie considered themselves incredibly lucky to have landed a gig on a movie being made the Caribbean. The island they were currently using for color was uninhabited. Though small, the flora and fauna was bountiful and the tiny beaches were pristine and beautiful. Most of them were white, but this one was made of fine pink sand. Angie sighed in contentment as she leaned back against the tall, lanky Aussie.

The stars and crew were remarkable amicable with each other. There were no ego-trips to shake the production and the vibe was one of fun and pleasure. In fact, the biggest star was currently in the middle of a major pranking war with the key grip. The only rules of engagement, if you could call them that, were the tricks had to be harmless and could not interfere with the production or another member of the cast or crew. This left the rest of them free to laugh heartily when one managed to one-up the other. The pranks made times that would be otherwise boring to the more partying members enjoyable. Since the pair involved were known for their level-headed professionalism, Rollie had a sneaking suspicion the 'war' was a deliberate distraction to keep them all on a good footing with the locals when they were at their home base. He wondered if anyone was keeping score. He wouldn't put it past some of them to have bets going on the thing.

The sun was setting over the clear turquoise water, the light shimmering off the waves. The scene would be magnificent if the second leading man and his leading lady could pull it off in one take. Any retakes would have to wait for the next sunset and how often were they as perfect as this one? Especially since hurricane season was now officially underway.

A creaking sound caused Rollie to glance over his shoulder. His mouth dropped open as an ancient sailing ship settled into the next cove, black sails being lowered by the crew. An anchor dropped with a splash as the wind whipped at the flag. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of a Jolly Roger. Pirates?! He nudged Angie as he silently observed a small row boat head for shore.

"Huh?" Angie made the questioning sound, not looking back, her attention focused on the loud, fiery fight going on between the film's lovebirds.

"Ange, pirates," Rollie whispered, wondering if there was a way for them to prevent the scene being ruined and keep everyone safe from harm.

"Yeah, Rol, we got pirates," Angie responded absently, since the script was riddled with the parts.

"I mean real pirates," he hissed. Maybe real? Could the producer or director be intending to surprise them? He tugged Angie after him as he stood up and headed for their FX equipment, hoping he had something suitably distracting.

Angie's blue eyes bulged as she watched the pirates walking toward them. One of them was dressed in a typically old-fashioned pirate style with a bandana tied around his head, a dirty white shirt opened to his waist, a rusty black-brown vest, graying black trousers that stopped at his calves and bare feet. The other two were more neatly and cleanly dressed in white shirts, brown vests and pants and were wearing black boots. All of them wore swords and the first one had what looked like a flintlock tucked into his waistband. The odd man in the lead swayed back and forth as he walked as if drunk or unable to shake his sea legs. His dark hair was in dreadlocks and had strange things braided into the locks and in the two small twists of his beard.

The peculiar pirate stopped in front of them, swaying, as he looked them over. He leered appreciatively at Angie and rubbed his mustache with a finger. His dark eyes glowed as he put his hands together in a prayer position. "Would you happen to know where a thirsty man might find some rum?" He grinned engagingly, his teeth flashed gold.

"Rum?" Rollie blinked. Well, at least it wasn't an attack.

"Sorry, mister, I think the strongest thing we have is beer," Angie answered with a smirk, not sorry at all.

"Good!" So spoke the beautiful young woman who now stood with her hands on her hips. She frowned, prettily, and shook a finger at the first man. "You don't need any rum, Jack!"

"Yes I do," the man, Jack, frowned back at the woman. "A man needs his rum, Lizbeth, eeespecialleeee if he's a pirate."

The other man sighed and shook his head as if he'd heard it all before as the pair bickered with each other. He smirked slightly at their curious observers and winked.

A few seconds later the young woman threw her hands in the air. "Fine! Have some rum if you can find any, Jack Sparrow!"

"That's Captain Jack Sparrow!" The pirate captain spun on his heel and stared at Rollie and Angie. "Now where were we? The rum!" He rolled the R on his tongue and smiled in what was obviously supposed to be an engaging manner.

Rollie grinned and glanced over their equipment. He stretched his arm and pulled out a large bottle with a bell shaped bottom and a narrow neck. "I think this is all the rum on the island," he said, offering it to the man.

Angie started. "Rollie?"

"Tonio gave it to me Saturday. He seems to think we can't find decent rum in New York," Rollie explained as Captain Jack Sparrow struggled to remove the top.

The younger man extracted the bottle from the captain's grip and eyed it. He twisted the top off and handed it back.

Jack took several deep swallows. He pulled the bottle from his lips and swiped his mouth with his shirt sleeve. "Many thanks, mate." He bowed to Rollie and said in an aside to the younger pair. "I like this one. He didn't even argue with me about it!"

Suddenly a loud explosion shattered the serenity of the island. Everyone turned to stare as loud engines roared. Several fast power boats surged through the surf obviously headed for the beach. Rollie and Angie stared at each other, before scrambling for their supplies. The film crew and actors abandoned equipment and props as they ran from the attackers, stumbling in the sand.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "Lizzie, me love, tell Anna to ready the cannon." He reached for the sword at his waist. "Willum?"

"With you, Jack, as always." The younger man pulled out his own sword.

The setting sun painted the deadly, sharp blades blood red as the two men ran forward to intercept the nwcomers.