Titanic
Titanic A.C.
Prologue
The frost in the air bit at the lookout's fingertips. His gloves did little good to shield him from the cool arctic winds around him. The man's name was Lewis; he'd been on lookout for the last 8 hours and was awaiting his replacement so he could end his shift. It was very late, and on top of the cold in the air, Lewis was suffering from mass fatigue. He spent most of his time off drinking and partying, and not getting the sleep that was necessary for a lookout to do his duty well.
He rubbed his eyes hard, feeling the rough fibers of his gloves lightly scratching his eyelids. He then cupped his hands together and blew hot air into them, trying to get some of the feeling back. Despite all he tried though, Lewis was hardly able to cling to consciousness. After several boughts with fighting off his fatigue, Lewis passed out. His head drooped down and his body soon came tumbling down after him. As his body leaned up on the lookout station though, his arm feel and clanged against the emergency bell. This was the bell to signal a quick turn left, and as luck would have it, this is exactly what the boat would need to do in order to avoid disaster.
Lewis would never know it, but in his falling asleep, he would severely alter the events of time, causing an alternative time frame to be created. As time was going, Lewis's staying awake had caused the vessel he was on to hit an iceberg and cause the death of thousands. In this alternative dimension he'd created though, this boat did not sink. In fact, the boat never sank, in modern times, it still sailed from Europe to America, ferrying some of the world's most elite. Lewis had created a reality, in which the Titanic had not sunk, and in doing so, caused one man to never rise to a staggering level of fame. This man had created a film, a film that had recreated the experience of this famous boat sinking, and in the process, had brought a country together. But now things would never be the same... not in, Titanic A.C.
The Next Day
Two forms stood at the bow of the magnificent Titanic. One was a young man with blonde scraggily hair. He leaned over the bow of the boat, thinking about when he'd finally be able to reach his home in America. He had traveled all across the world by chance, or at least that's how he liked to put it. He was a jack of all trades, he dabbed a little bit in everything, but his greatest ability was the ability to smooth talk himself out of almost any situation. As he looked over the horizon, thinking of home, he knew he had to do something about his current situation. If there was one thing that this youth hated, it was baggage, and having to be tied to anything for too long. The youth's name was Jack; he was a 3rd class passenger on the magnificent Titanic.
The other form on the deck with Jack was a young lady with more troubles then she knew what to do with. She had long dark auburn hair and a face that showed no natural emotion. She was dressed in formal wear that had been given to her by her fiancee. She didn't love her fiancee, but her station in life forced her to be with him. In Jack though, she had found the hope to go on and persevere.
Jack had shown her what true happiness was. She learned from Jack what true love was 12 hours earlier in the back seat of one of the cars in the ship's hull. Jack had then shown her again 4 minutes later in the front seat of the automobile. However, the truly magic time had been 5 minutes later on the hood of the afore mentioned car. This wasn't to say the times that they made love in the bedroom, the dinning hall, the kitchen, the deck, the boiler room, and the captains quarters hadn't been magical, it was just that car that had been unforgettable. The feel of the clutch at her side, the smell of the motor oil around her, and the unforgettable sensation of having her chest firmly pressed against the windshield. The woman's name was Rose.
Rose strolled over to Jack and firmly pressed herself against his back. She slowly stroked his chest as she whispered into his ears "I love you Jack... say you love me too."
A cold sweat ran down Jack's brow as he let out a fake smile. "Of course I, um, love ya Rose, do ya even have to ask?"
"Of course not Jack. I can't wait till we get off this boat and away from my fiancee. As soon as were off this boat we can start our life together and see all those things you've described to me. It makes me so happy Jack. Are you happy Jack?"
"Happy?" Jack then reached into his pocket to try and find his ciggs, he was gonna need a stress reliever to get through this situation. He was lucky enough to find his last cigg in his vest pocket. He brought the cigarette to his mouth and reached down to his side pocket for his lighter. He quickly flipped open his lighter and struck the flint igniting a spark. "Happy?" He once again repeated to himself as his shaking lighter ascended to his cigarette. "When I'm with you, how couldn't I be happy, Rose?"
"Oh Jack, you're so wonderful!" She exclaimed as she slowly moved her head in for a kiss.
"Whoa Rose, ya don't wanna kiss me right now, the tar smell and all, right?" ""Good one"", Jack thought to himself as he inhaled deeply on his cigg. ""Can't argue with logic like that.""
"I don't mind" Rose then went in for the kiss that she wanted oh so badly.
""Crap"" Jack thought to himself as his lips met with Rose's. He felt Rose's tongue trying to sneak its way through his lips and quickly clenched his teeth. ""Damn it, how do I get her off of me"" Jack asked himself. He looked in front of him to see Rose's eyes firmly shut, as if she were totally lost in the moment. Jack rolled his eyes knowing what was going on. It was a familiar situation for Jack, he'd have one night of endless sex with someone, and then they'd become totally engrossed with him.
After about a minute, Rose slowly pulled away from the kiss with a smile on her face. She once again pressed herself firmly against Jack's back, hoping that they're time together on the boat could last forever. As she thought of the good times ahead of her, she once again whispered to Jack "I love you."
"Uh-huh"
"I want to be with you forever."
"Uh-huh"
"Will you tell me another story Jack? Another story about your life?"
"Uh-huh"
"...well?"
Jack shook his head, getting himself out of his daze. "Oh, sorry, were you talking, I wasn't paying attention, it's a natural reaction to bori... getting lost in stories."
"I know Jack, I know you were just thinking about us and our future together. It's going to be so wonderful Jack."
"Um... right." Jack knew that this was the time for him to make his move, now was the time for him to end the affair. This was the moment he always dreaded in his various affairs, but only for a moment. "About that, I think we need to talk a little bit about that, OK?"
"Sure thing Jack, we do need to make plans, don't we?"
Jack looked at her face, and knew for a fact she had no idea of what was about to happen. It was as if he were a hunter at point blank range with a friendly dog. The beast was in the cross hairs and would have no idea of what was to come. ""...Bang.""
"Yeah, um, I think that maybe we should, just, um, stay friends, ya know? I mean, you are engaged and all, and I wouldn't want to come between what seems like a perfect marriage."
"Jack, your so silly sometimes, you know that he doesn't love me. He simply treats me like a belonging. He may own my belongings, but he'll never own my heart. You are the keeper of my heart Jack."
""Shit! Shit! Shit! How can one girl be so clue less!"" Jack screamed in his head. ""What can I say to ease out of this?"" Then it hit him.
"Yeah, but, I never told you before, I'm actually a woman."
"What?"
"Yeah, I tried to keep it a secret, but ya forced it right out of me, I'm a female."
"Then how did we... last night... 38 times...?"
"Drugs! And lots of them!"
"I don't remember taking any drugs"
"I administered them too you right before we started being intimate. You just thought that I had a, um, tool"
"But then... what about the stains on my dress?"
"Um... I spilled some cottage cheese on your dress in the dining hall."
"Well... I guess so, but, maybe... maybe I'm a lesbian then. This is true love Jack. Male, female, human, alien, it doesn't matter to me, I love you."
Jack was as patient as any man, but he could remain polite only so long before he would snap, and Rose had driven him to his tolerance level. "Alright Rose, long story short, I didn't think you'd get quite this attached. In fact, I thought after last night we'd have a drink and go our separate ways, but I kinda fell asleep after the 38th time we were intimate."
"What are you saying Jack?"
"What the hell do you think I'm saying you twit!? It was a one night stand!"
Tears began to form in Rose's pupils as Jack yelled at her. These sacks of moisture remained poised ready for their downward treck across Rose's face. Before they could start their journey downward, though, Rose dragged her sleeve along her face to try and dry up the emotional raindrops on her face.
"But Jack, what about all those wonderful things you told me about? The roller coaster, the horseback riding, the walks in the countryside? What about all that Jack?"
"Aw, baby, that was pillow talk. Any guy worth his salt would've told you the same thing. Now don't be sad... I tell ya what, if you want, we can go have a quickie right now, how about that? Would that make you feel better?"
The tears started to pour out of Rose's eyes quicker then she could wipe them off. She started to sob and cry uncontrollably. Her legs refused to support her anymore and she fell to her knees. The floorboards before her soaked up her tears, leaving nothing behind but a small bit of dampness in the wood.
Jack walked over to the mess that was Rose and put his hand to her shoulder. He tried to think of words to try to make her feel better, but he could think of none. He simply patted her shoulder and started to walk away.
"Jack!!!" Rose screamed as he backed away. "Don't go! Please!"
Jack stopped mid stride and turned his head to the side. He gave her a small smile and simply said "See ya around, Rose" and then headed back to his cabin in third class.
Where once two lovers had stood, was now only a shadow of a woman. Tears streaming down her face, suicidal thoughts running through her head, and horrible cramps in her stomach, Rose didn't know what to do. She cursed the boat and wished to herself that the boat had sank the night before. Then at least, she wouldn't have had to deal with what Jack really was, and could have died a happy fulfilled person. The boat hadn't sunk though, and probably never would... it was the Titanic after all.
The supply closet of floor 3B was not often used. Sometimes a maid might stop by to pick up a mop or a spare rag to wash the deck, but no one really made it a place to go during the cruise. At the moment though, supply closet 3B surged with an unknown energy. A small sphere of energy in the closets center was the source of this surge. Electricity crackled outward from the balls center, singing the various objects in the utility closet.
This room had been strategically chosen for this anomaly. The man behind it knew for a fact that no one ever visited supply room 3B. He knew a lot about this boat, far more then anybody else on the boat, even the boat's designer. The man had studied the boat for years, learning every intricate detail of the boat's history. This man came from the future. He had traveled back in time in order to set what had gone wrong, right.
The man's silhouette slowly began to appear within the ball of energy. He was a thin man with short gray hair and an unshaven face. His body was completely naked as it started to come into reality. The body was posed in the thinker's pose, as if to draw extra emphasis to the man, though no one could see him. As the man finally emerged in reality, the last bolts of energy began to fade away as they streamed outward through the cabin.
The man remained in his pose for several minutes, as if remaining as he was would have some incredible influence on the events of the day. The man thought of nothing. He was in the thinker's pose, but no thoughts ran through his head. Eventually, the man rose to survey the room.
""Just as I expected"" the man thought to himself. ""Sometimes its almost to easy."" The man reached for a waiter's uniform and quickly put it on. ""According to my calculations, in order for me to become God, this boat must sink."" The man straightened out his jacket and tie as he prepared to step out of the closet and into history as the first time traveler on the Titanic.
The man's name was J.C. He was a famous film director from the 21st century who had received great power and fame from his film about this infamous ship. However, when the boat had not sunk, J.C. was the only person who was still able to remember that the boat was supposed to sink. Knowing that this would make an incredible movie, J.C. quickly called together some of his closest Hollywood friends to make him a time machine. His friends had told him such a thing was impossible, but he quickly reminded them that he had made the movie Terminator, and that they all owed him big. None of the grips were able to disagree with him, and so, got at the job of making a time machine from the remains of a 1983 Dodge, a ham radio, and a pocket watch.
Though not visually stunning, the machine that they created worked, and that was all that mattered. J.C. instantly prepared to travel back in time and shed all his clothing. The grips threw their heads back in disgust, asking why it was necessary to travel naked? J.C. simply responded by saying "Why not?" With that, he had stepped into the time portal, and was eventually transported back to the Titanic.
J.C. took in a deep breath, pushed the door open, and walked in to the Titanic hallway. ""Now which way to the captain's quarters?"" James asked himself. ""The captain, being a noble and just man will easily understand my ploy and set this horrible disaster right."" With that thought in his head, J.C. headed toward the Captain's quarters in order to plead his case.
Cal Hockley admired his image in the mirror of his suite. The trip wasn't going exactly as planned for him, but looking at his beautiful face in the mirror, he felt a certain amount of confidence fill his being. He was aware that his fiancee was off cohorting with that Jack fellow somewhere on the boat, but really, there wasn't much he could do about it. It was a slap in the face, to say the least, but he himself had had a fling with Jack.
He had tried so hard to hide his past with Jack from Rose, but he knew at some point it would come back to haunt the two of them. It had been a long time ago, back when Cal had been foolish and thought he could have anything in the world. He thought he could have Jack. But alas, no person, male or female, could possess Jack, and he had to learn that the hard way.
When he had found out that Jack was on the boat, Cal didn't know how to react. At first, he thought he would just ignore him, and focus all of his attention and efforts on his fiancee. ""All would have been fine if his fiancee had just jumped off the leg of the damn boat as she'd planned."" Cal thought. ""If she had just jumped, Jack would never have saved her, and I wouldn't have had to have dinner with him."" But Jack had saved her and forced the two to meet again.
Cal had acted standoffish, and much un-like a gentlemen towards Jack, but Jack had acted suave as always during the dinner. Even though Cal hated him at that moment, he also secretly longed for him as well. He wished that he could have walked over to Jack and passionately embraced him. He dreamed of being able to press his lips firmly against Jack's... but alas, it was only a dream.
"Jack..." Cal lightly whispered to himself, as memories of his week with Jack flashed in and out of his mind. He remembered the time that the two of them had sat at that quite cafe in Paris, sipping coffee as Jack told him about the wonderful things that would lie ahead for the two of them. At the time it had seemed all so magical, but now Cal realized how naive he'd truly been.
"Jack... damn you..." Was all that Cal could think of to say as he walked over to his Victorian style bed. He lay down on the bed, exhausted just thinking about Jack, and tried to think ahead, to better times. He slowly began to drift into slumber, as thoughts of a better life in America began to fill his head.
Before he could fully drift off though, a man dressed as a waiter came barging into the room.
"Captain, I have to talk to you imm... your not the captain, are you?"
Cal looked the man over quickly, sluggishly he waved his hand at the man to leave.
"Two doors down" Cal responded as he slowly drifted off.
"Sorry for the intrusion"
With that, the man dressed as a waiter left, and Cal fell into slumber.
The nap must have lasted only a few brief moments though, for moments later Rose came bursting through the door as an emotional mess. She jumped on to the bad hoping to use the blankets and pillows to bury her head into to try and get rid of the tears. Being so lost in the moment, she failed to notice she had jumped on to her fiancee.
Cal let out a loud huff as Rose jumped on him. Though Rose was fairly attractive, she was not fairly light, and knocked all the air out of Cal. He quickly began to breath deeply, trying to get some oxygen into his lungs so that he could scream for help, but the only way he'd be getting air, was if Rose moved her fairly bulky body. Lucky for Cal, unless forced, Rose never wanted to be on top of Cal, and quickly rolled to the side of the bed. She buried her head in her hands and started to sob uncontrollably.
Cal gasped for air like a diver who'd just risen to the surface. After a good minute of heavy breathing, he managed to regain his demeanor. He looked over at his distraught bride to be and instantly knew what had happened.
"Jack?"
She continued to sob uncontrollably, but managed to nod her head in the affirmative.
"Well, maybe that'll teach you to fool around on me."
Cal then cracked Rose along the face for good measure. Even though he could understand her being seduced by Jack, he still couldn't deal with her infidelity. His mind raced back and forth on what to do with the situation. He knew that slapping around Rose would give him that momentary satisfaction he wanted, but he needed something to make him feel happier longer.
"You are aware that I'm not going to call of the marriage, right?"
"Oh, God!"
"Well if you think I'm going to let you win that easily, your dead wrong. It'll take a lot more then fornicating with a handsome, attractive, charming, intelligent..." Rose stared at Cal, wondering what his point exactly was "...Sexy, understanding, charismatic, muscular..." it was at this point that Cal caught himself. "...um, jerk, to ruin what I've invested in this marriage."
"You've invested nothing in this marriage!"
"What? What are you talking about? What about that large sum of money I gave you and your mother.
"I thought that was a present..."
"Oh god no, it was a down payment you stupid, bitch!"
Cal then slapped Rose across her face once more. ""Did I really invest my money so wisely?"" Cal wondered. For the amount of money he'd given Rose and her mother he could easily have just bought himself a Chinese mail order bride. ""Oh well, too late for that now I suppose.""
Cal then straightened up his jacket and firmly placed his hands on Rose's shoulders. "Anyway... we love each other."
"What?"
"What do you mean, 'What?' We love each other, we're just having a little squabble amongst lovers."
"I just cheated on you..."
"Well before we got on the boat I slept with the same gu... slept by myself preparing for our wedding night. Though I'll admit this is a set-back, we'll just have to work through it."
"Are you... sure?"
"Of course I'm sure, what a stupid question."
Cal once again slapped Rose. He wasn't sure why he slapped her this time, but to him, it'd just felt right. Luckily, Rose wasn't about to question his actions.
"Anyway, I just had a wonderful memory of someone I used to know... so lets make love!"
"No! Even if he did use me... the only person I'll ever think of when making love is Jack!"
"The same goes for me!"
"What?!"
"I mean, um, I'm not in the mood."
"But now I am, thinking of Jack has gotten me all hot and bothered. Take me now Cal!"
"No! Not while your thinking of that man... um... I'm gonna go to the bar... I'll see you for dinner." Cal then proceeded to grab his wallet and rush out the door, leaving Rose alone on the bed.
"That's the second man to leave me today... I wish this damn boat would sink."
J.C. non-chalantly lurked through the first class's elite hallway. He walked as upright and proper as possible, as if there were a board in his back, trying to fit in as a servant. Whenever a passenger would walk by he would give them a slight bow. He looked everywhere for a door marked "Captain" but had no such luck in his search.
Eventually, J.C. decided to try and barge into the biggest most elegant room, hoping it would belong to the captain. He walked up and down the hall, eventually deciding on the most elegant door in the hall. He walked up to the cabin's intricately detailed doorway and put his hand to the doorknob. He took in a long deep breath and then quickly slammed the door open and rushed into the room.
"Captain, I need to talk to you imm…" J.C. examined the surrounding and noticed he was in the wrong room. There were elegant paintings on the walls of the room, and antique hand crafted vases and furniture strategically placed. In the corner was a long Victorian style bed with a man sprawled across it.
"You're not the captain, are you?"
The man on the bed raised his arm slowly and made a shooing motion with his hand.
"Two doors down" he mumbled as his arm fell quickly to his side.
"Sorry for the inconvenience." With that, J.C. quickly exited the room and shut the door behind him. Before J.C. could get to the desired door though, he was nearly trampled to death by a distraught looking woman. She plowed down J.C. and then entered the room he had just exited.
J.C. slowly rose to his feet, stretching as he did. He dusted himself off and then quickly headed on his way to the Captain's quarters. As he headed for the captain's cabin, J.C. heard what sounded like a slapping sound coming from the room he'd just left.
""What a strange ship. Sinking it would be a service to mankind."" J.C. walked up to the second door, took a deep breath, and rushed inside.
"Captain, we've got an Emergency!"
The room was very dimly lit and seemed in dire need of some furnishings. There was a long heart shaped bed in the room's center surrounded by red aroma therapy candles. In each corner of the room were small vases, filled with various essence sticks, giving the room a rather peculiar odor.
On the bed in a low cut thong was an elderly man with a gristle face. He had a long oak pipe in his mouth, which pouted a long chain of smoke, which almost hid his face. He had a large gut that sagged so low as to almost hide the very existence of the thong behind a wall of flab. He was lurched over the bed, looking over something that was cuddled up in the blankets.
"Good GOD! What the hell are you doing?!"
The man shot up from the bed and tried to hide himself by crossing his legs and curling his arms in front of himself. "What?!" He screamed "Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"
"What am I doing? What are you doing?!"
"That is none of your business! Now what are you doing in my cabin!?"
"Getting sick at the moment…"
"Get out!"
"No! I mean, I'd like to, but I've got some important information, so please listen."
The captain then quickly threw a blanket around him, exposing a small black kitten on his bed spread. The two men looked at each other for a moment, neither one knowing quite what to say, and then the captain spoke slowly.
"I… I like to pet them… that's all, I swear."
J.C.'s eyes size shrunk so much that it seemed he had needlepoints for pupils. He could feel his lunch heaving around in his stomach, trying to work its way upward as sick and disturbing acts raced through his mind.
"I just pet them… that's all… is my secret safe with you? If people on the ship knew I wasn't the manly man they believe me to be, it could mean full out anarchy."
Finally, things were going J.C.'s way, and he knew it too.
"That captain, depends on what you do for me."
"I'll do anything, if people knew of my soft side for felines, I'd be ruined."
"Well the, lets make a deal, shall we?" J.C. rubbed his hands together and smiled maniacally as he prepared his offer for the captain.
"I will keep your secret, if… you sink the boat."
"WHAT?!"
"I want you to sink the boat."
"Impossible!"
"Anything's possible when you put your mind to it."
"People would die though… I couldn't, not even to save my reputation."
"…I'll give you a cat"
The captain put his hand to his chin and stroked his long beard in contemplation. After a moment of deep though, the captain shook his head slowly saying "No, not even for a cat."
J.C. sighed and tried to think of some way to get the captain to go along with his plan. He raced through his mind, but all that he came up with was plot lines from various movies he had directed.
"I'm an android from the future sent back in time to ride this sunken ships to the abyss in order to destroy the threat of aliens."
The captain stared at J.C. for a long time. He didn't know what an android was, but he was pretty sure that Mexican's weren't at the bottom of the ocean.
"…Get the hell out my cabin!"
"Bu-"
"-Now!" The captain then proceeded to rush at J.C. and roughly shove him through the cabin's door. J.C. landed with a loud thud on the polished floor and slid to the opposing side's wall. The captain took one final look at J.C., spit on the floor, and then slammed the door in J.C.'s face.
""Well then… I guess it's off to plan B."" J.C. then reached inside of his waiter's uniform and withdrew a sturdy metallic hammer. ""It may take a while, but I'll get it done."" With that, J.C. stood himself up, brushed the dust of his uniform, and headed for the boiler room.
The ballroom of the Titanic was truly a sight to behold... at night. During the daylight hours however, it was a place filled with the dregs of the ships. The absentee father, the abusive lover, the rogue and charlatans of the boat. It was a place where Cal fit in very well. He bumped into people as he pushed his way through the crowds to the bar. He sat himself down at the first vacant chair he happened across and ordered a Scotch, straight up.
The bartender was a younger man, well shaven and with good personal hygiene. His hair was gelled back and he were a neat bow tie around his neck. He was sharply dressed, like most of the food service crew on the boat, and always seemed to wear a smile on his face. He was polite and courteous to all the people at the bar, and seemed to always give a sympathetic ear to anyone who wished to share their troubles.
Cal didn't care about any of this though, all he wanted was to get drunk. He wanted to forget about the last couple of days. He was tired of dealing with an unfaithful fiancée, a lover from days long past, or the migraines that came quite regularly as of late. He rested his head on the bar rail and waited for his drink, hoping that someone might possibly come by and shoot him, ending his misery. He had no such luck though.
The bartender quickly poured him his drink and lay it before him. He then proceeded to start polishing a dirty glass. He looked down at Cal and could see that he was down on his luck.
"'Ey buddy, care to share what ails ya?"
Cal slowly raised his head and looked at the bartender with half open eyes. "I won't bother you with it"
"C'mon buddy. You'd be amazed how good ya feel after ya get something off your chest. I swear"
"...Do you "Really" wanna know?"
"Sure thing"
"...you asked for it. My life's in shambles. I mean, my life has never been particularly blessed, but at the moment, it's at an all time worst. Where should I start from?"
"How bout the beginning?"
"Oh God! You really are asking for it... very well though. I guess it all started 2 years ago when I was first getting started as a stockbroker in Paris. I was young and thought I could put the world in my pocket, ya know what I mean?"
"Uh-huh"
"As I was saying, I was new to the world, and very naive. I had an entry-level job at a small firm and was making barely enough money to live on. I was happy though, I know it sounds silly, but I was happy when I was poor. There hadn't been any of the troubles I'm plagued by now." Cal then proceeded to take a long gulp from his glass before continuing his story. "Scuse me. As I was saying though, I had just enough to live on. I spent all day working at the office, and then I'd go home to my one room apartment and sleep all night. One night, on my way home from though, I stopped at this quaint cafe that I passed. It was a loud place, probably somewhat vulgar looking, but I felt like a change of pace, you get me?"
"Uh-huh"
"Well, I entered the cafe, and the moment I entered, I saw the person of my dreams. They were tall, thin, and had that angelic innocent look on there face. This person was incredible, I knew they had to be mine."
"Ahhh, a tale of unrequited love, 'eh?"
"Oh no! Far from it, let me continue. I approached this angelic being and asked them if they might wanna go for a walk or to go for dinner or something. I didn't ask its name nor did I give it mine, I just offered to take it out. It agreed and we left the cafe for a stroll across town. As we walked, he told me wonderful things that the two of us could do together, later on in life of course. He told me how he'd take me from one wonderful adventure to another... just thinking about him makes me swoon."
"It was Jack, wasn't it?"
"What?! How did you know?!"
"Buddy, we've all been touched by Jack at one time or another. Isn't that right guys?"
Hearing the bartenders statement, every other man in the bar raised his hand and let out an "Oh yeah." Apparently Jack got around a lot more then Cal had originally thought.
"Well, how did you all cope with losing him?"
"We didn't, we just took it for what it was, a one night stand, and moved on with our lives, and if ya want my advice, I suggest ya do the same."
Cal quickly gulped the rest of his Scotch, paid for his drink and started to exit the ballroom. Before he left though, Cal turned back to hear the bartender's last comment.
"He's like the sun, pal. Brilliant to look at, but impossible to own."
""Yeah... right""
Thirteen Days Later
The sun was just going down as Jack escorted his newest love interest to the front of the boat. He had pulled this same trick several times before, but it always got him the desired reaction.
"Are your eyes closed tight?"
"Yes, where are you taking me Jack."
"It's a surprise, trust me."
The girl giggled a little bit and then whispered "I'd trust you with my very life Jack."
""Score!"" Jack thought to himself as he guided his newest consequence to the front of the boat. As lightly as possible he lifted her over the guardrail and held her tight by her waist.
"Alright, open your eyes..."
The girl slowly opened her eyes and was taken by the beauty of the landscape.
"Oh, its so magical Jack, I'm flying."
"That's right, Melissa, your flying"
"My names Janet."
"I know, that's what I said"
"No you didn't you called me Melissa"
"Your just hearing things, I said your meticulously flying."
"It sounded like Melissa"
"Nah, it was Meticulous... its all so beautiful Janet."
"Your right Jack, it is."
Janet slowly crooked her head behind her and reached for Jack's cheeks. ""The deal is sealed"" Jack thought to himself as he intimately pressed his lips against Janet's. All would have gone perfect, if not for the woman who came creeping behind Jack. The woman had once been a person of admirable beauty, but over the course of the last two weeks, she had slipped into a dark depression of booze, drugs, and worst of all, sex with her fiancee. She firmly planted her hand on the back of Jack and got him off guard.
Jack jolted where he was, letting his grip of Janet go. To make things ever worse, at that exact moment, the boat was hit with an incredible shock, shaking the entire boat and made Janet lose her footing on the ledge. Janet was so lost in the moment though, that she failed to notice all these occurrences.
"I'm flying Jack! Flying!"
The sad reality was that she wasn't flying, in fact, all she was doing was falling. As she plummeted to her death though, Janet was in love, and no one could ever take that from her, except for perhaps the various fish that would soon feast on her carcass.
"Crap!" Jack screamed as he watched Janet hit the water with an incredible force.
"Oppsy daisy darling, lookth like your lit'le friend wen boom on did watah. Hehe." Rose said as she clung to the boat guardrail.
"Rose! You just killed her!"
"Nopeth, you killth her, I justh patted you on di back."
"And you're drunk!"
"...I'm not drunk... I'm juth a little bit shtoned."
"What are you doing here Rose?"
"I'm jush taking a walk on dyeck. Got a prowblew wit that?"
"Not a one! No please, go stupor someplace else!"
"You're not the bosh of me! I kin do whateva I want too!"
"Fine, now go away!"
Rose suddenly and without warning broke out into tears and latched onto Jacks leg.
"Oh Jack! Pleash don't leave me! I luv you Jack!"
"I know that, now go away, your cramping my style!"
"But Jac-"
"Rose, STOP IT!"
With that, Jack raised his hand above his head and let it fly downward and slap across Rose's face.
"Now leave me alone, you dumb bitch!"
With that, Jack exited from the deck, and headed for the lower levels of the ship, to try and find yet another female to seduce. There was still 25 good minutes of sun setting left, and he planned to use it.
Meanwhile, Rose once again took her role as an emotional mess on the ship. Tears continued to uncontrollably stream down her face, smearing the small amounts of make-up that still remained since her last bought of crying. She beat her fist against the deck and let out a scream to whatever powers might be.
"What are you waiting for! Kill me! Please!"
J.C. had been hard at work trying to destroy the hull of the Titanic from the inside out for the last 12 days. He was physically and mentally exhausted. The heat from the boiler was taking its toll on him. His normally pale and saggy skin had become tan and tight from the flames all around him. Wrinkles were forming at his eyes from having pushed himself virtually without sleep for the last 2 weeks. J.C. was at his limit to say the least.
The only moments rest J.C. had known over the last couple of days was when he had spent time with a young blonde scamp that he had met at the bar one night he decided to take a break. That however, was a story J.C. would take with himself to the grave.
J.C.'s muscles had doubled in size from the day he had first arrived on the Titanic. The constant beating on the hull of the boat, though did little damage to the boat, did a lot of good for his physical shape. His once scrawny and gangly body had been transformed into an admirable picturesque physique.
J.C. failed to notice this though. The only thing J.C.'s mind was focused on was sinking this god-awful boat. In his own mind, he believed that any moment, his hammer would cut through the thick iron hull of the boat and send water flooding into the boat, but alas, it was a fools dream. Despite how strong a man, the task was impossible.
J.C. lifted his hammer up high once again and sent it soaring downward through the air to connect with the hull. The hammer hit the hull, but like the 1,795,532 blows before it, it made no mark on the ship.
""Damn it!"" J.C. screamed in his head ""What will it take to sink this thing? You'd think that if a giant ice cube could sink it, that a determined man with a hammer could sink it too, put apparently not! If only the Terminator was here now, things would be so much easier. Alas, I didn't think that far ahead though."" J.C. leaned backward and rested his body against one of the many pipes running through the boiler room.
He started to daydream, remembering the movies of his past. Terminator... The Abyss... Alien... they had all been perfect to him. Each one being a new high-point in creativity for him. He remembered when he had shot the scene in terminator when Arnold had blown up T-1000 by freezing him. It was brilliant. He recalled back to when he had the alien babies pop out of the chest of the crew from Alien. It was beautiful. Last, he called back to the scene in The Abyss when the crazy mariners had tried to sink the ship by blowing holes in it from the control room...
Something hit J.C. at that moment, that scene had never happened in Abyss, it was cut during editing. However, it gave him an idea. He finally knew what to do, he'd blow a hole in the damn boat! ""HA! HA! HA! Fate, prepare to meet your match!""
With a demolition's experts mind frame, J.C. quickly got at the task of gathering various explosive devices. He took various minor incinnerary devices from the low-level storage rooms. He "borrowed" a fuse box from an old miner's personal belongings, and a couple of fuse's to boot. Within 2 hours, he had created a minor explosive device from the various trinkets he had found lying around. He quickly tied one end of fuse to the box, and the other to the explosives. He then dove for cover behind a nearby collection of pipes and put his hands to the fuse box's lever.
""From Hell's heart, I stabeth thee"" and with that, J.C. pushed downward on the lever, igniting the explosives. For a moment, there was silence, and J.C. wondered if maybe the fuse had snapped or something, but then, the boom came. The explosion rocked the entire boat in the water. All around, people were probably dropping their drinks or having their dinners fall on them. Oh well, that was the least of their worries, J.C. thought, for this night, death came for them all. J.C. then let out a horrid, evil laugh as he looked into his own future, planing his speech when he would win his precious Oscar.
J.C. started to notice something very strange though. Except for the sounds of the various whistles and the like in the boiler room, their was no other noise. And to top it all off, he was dry. Very dry. Bone dry in fact. He slowly turned around and looked to the spot where the explosives had all been lined up only moments before, and what he saw in there place made him scream out in anger... the wall was still there.
Cal had been stopping at the bar quite frequently as of late. The conditions on the ship had forced him into a fit of binge drinking the likes of which he may never recover from.
His once rock-hard abs had been molded into a gelatinous gut that stuck way over his 300-dollar belt buckle. His face's cheeks had become flushed and red like a jolly old man. His hair had become very unkempt and stuck out in all directions, like a bird nest left in disrepair.
On the stool next to Cal was a tall, somewhat built man with a tanner's skin. His skin so tightly strung that people were amazed he could move his arms without the skin ripping off. He had large black bags under his eyes and had dry bloodshot eyes that looked as if they'd been exposed to far too much steam. He drank in silence, contemplating what to do about the situation he was in.
The bar was busier then usual this day. The typical dregs were off doing God knows what and several gentlemen had come for a drink to talk over business. Cal tried to eavesdrop on their conversation in order to find out what was going on in the world; however, it all sounded like the grown-ups from a Charlie Brown cartoon were having a conversation to him.
"Mwa mwa mwa?"
"Bwa bwa bwa bwa, bwa ba-bwa ba!"
"Mwa mwa ma-ma mwa ma mwa."
"Bwa bwa aba-bwa!"
"HA! HA! HA!" The two gentlemen nearly died of laughter from what they said; though Cal had not clue of what.
""God damn"" Cal thought to himself as he lay his head on the bar. ""Life sucks… my fiancee hates me and I can hardly tolerate her. I try to drown my sorrows in drink, but all I get from that are horrible migraines and a beet belly. Then, on top of this, the man I love has made love with half of the ship…""
"DAMN IT!!!" Cal shouted, being unable to keep his thought to himself. "What the hell is wrong with you people, huh? Can't you speak normal?! Make sense world! For once, make sense!"
The man next to Cal slowly pivoted his stool and faced Cal. He raised his eyebrow at him and then proceeded to sharply slap his across the face.
"Shut up…" the man said as he struck Cal. The man obviously didn't know his own strength, cause the strength of his blow managed to knock Cal out. Cal fell to the floor with a thud and all the people in the bar quickly drew their attention to his limp body.
""Oh Crap"" the man thought to himself. He hadn't meant to make a scene, he just wanted to have his drink in silence. The man knew that if people started to question him on who he was and what not, he was in trouble. Without stopping to think of the consequences, he said the first thing that came into his head.
"Don't worry, he's my brother… I'll take him back to his room."
The man quickly picked up Cal, threw him over his shoulder, and started to work his way through the crowd. He only knew of one place to go, and that was where he'd been for the last couple of days, the boiler room.
""What have you gotten yourself into now, J.C.?"" he thought to himself as he headed back to his place of work.
For the first time in a long while, Jack had decided to spend the night alone. Originally, he had planned to seduce some poor young person, but decided instead for a night of solitude. He walked the lower levels of the ship, thinking about the various things he'd never had time for.
""Is this really how I want to spend the rest of my life? Going from one meaningless affair to another without a care of the damage I do? Am I truly so cold-hearted?"" Jack waited for an answer, but none ever came. Jack had never really stopped to question his past, but at long last, he believed his conciseness was finally catching up to him.
Jack eventually found himself at a party none of the lower levels. He had a yard filled to the brim in front of him, and a freshly opened pack of ciggs in his hand. He moved the package to his mouth and pulled out a cigg between his lips. He carefully placed the pack back in his pocket, as he leaned his head his head inward towards a candle to light his cigg. The cigg slowly began to emanate smoke and Jack pulled his head back. He inhaled a lung full of smoke and slowly exhaled it through his nose.
As Jack enjoyed his ciggs, he watched a young Irish woman with long red-pig tails do a jig on one of the tabletops. She looked as if she didn't have a care in the world as her short brown dress lifted high in the air, exposing a little more leg then one might think proper. Jack was taken in by her innocence. ""Why didn't I end up like her?"" he thought to himself as he took another drag from his cigarette.
Jack began to get up just as the song was getting to its must up-tempo part. As the music got louder and quicker, Jack felt himself being drawn to the pig-tailed girl. He felt as if some unknown force was drawing him into her. Before he knew it, his feet were moving on their own circling around, jumping up and down, and flying everywhere in perfect rhythm with the beat.
Within moments he was holding hands and keeping pace with the pig-tailed girl. The two laughed and hollered as if they didn't have a care in the world, and then at its climax, the music stopped and the two stared at each other, their faces inches apart. The tension was ever present between the two. The girl looked intimately into his eyes, waiting for Jack to make his move.
Jack looked at the girl's face, carefully examining every freckle and crevice. He became fixated on one at the brink of her nose before he slowly managed to get to her light brown eyes. He looked into her eyes and saw how hopeful the girl truly was. The twinkle in her eyes told him everything. Her inability to move for fear of losing the moment also seemed like a pretty good hint to him too, but the eyes are all he needed to see. Jack slowly moved his head inward, but instead of going for her lips he veered right and went to her ear.
"Thank you for the dance," Jack whispered in her ear. He then took a step back, tenderly brought her hand to his lips, and kissed it. He followed this up by giving her a slight smile and turned to walk away.
The girl blushed slightly and let out a small giggle. She quietly whispered to herself "Tease" as she laughed and went over the moment in her head. She watched Jack exit the room slowly in perfect rhythm to the moment. She had wished this moment would last forever, but no dream can.
A man running through the party shouting "Run for the lifeboats!" shattered the moment. The boat is sinking!" he exclaimed as he ran though. A burly American on his way home from business grabbed the screamer to ask him what he was talking about. The man replied "I was in the boiler room and then this man knocked out one of the pipes, and so help me, the boat is going to sink!"
The burly American man dropped the runner and quickly started yelling instructions to the other people at the party.
"O.K. everyone, don't panic, were all gonna get off this boat safely. You guys in the corner get to the deck and prepare the lifeboats. All people near and around the dance floor, go to the rooms on the upper levels and barricade the door, when the crew finds out about the leak, they're gonna try and get the 1st class passengers off before us. The rest of the people here will come with me to tell all the people on the lower levels. All right?"
A loud cheer of agreement came from the passengers as they all prepared to get at their various tasks.
Meanwhile, Jack continued his walk to the deck for a breath of fresh air. For once, he'd done the right thing, and if karma served him right something good would happen to him soon. Or at least, that was his feeling on the situation.
J.C. tightened the ropes on his guest's arms and applied another brace to his legs. If there was one thing J.C. was, it was cautious. His guest had been passed out for about an hour currently, and showed no signs of waking up any time soon. The alcohol in his system was making sure that he wouldn't wake up for a long, long time. He was sweating profusely from the heat in the room, but in his current state, he would never know it.
J.C. wiped his brow and prepared to once again get at the task of pounding at the ship hull with his hammer. He removed his restrictive button down formal wear and flexed his large biceps. He firmly grasped the hammer in both hands, raised it above his head, and started pounding away at the piece of the hull he'd been working at for the last 12 days. As his hammer rapidly crashed into the ship hull, he yelled out in rage and frustration.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! Sink you damn detestable piece of-"
"-Can you PLEASE keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep ya know."
J.C. dropped the hammer and quickly did a double take and faced his prisoner. The tied up man was fidgeting around in his restraints, trying to curl up in a ball, but to no success.
"Your awake" J.C. said
"That's contestable," the man replied.
"You must be wondering what happened"
"No"
"Well, do you know how you got here?"
"No"
"Don't you want too?"
"Not really, being pissed face drunk one place is just as good as another"
"I can see you're an optimist"
"Go to hell"
"If I succeed, I just might" J.C. said to himself under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh nothing... nothing..." J.C. quickly got lost in deep contemplation, thinking if what he was doing was truly worth it, for a moment. "Anyway... what's your name?"
"Why? Planning to hold me for ransom... not that anyone would pay it."
"Yep, definitely an optimist..."
"I don't need your snide comments buddy, if your gonna hold me prisoner, you can at least give me some peace and quite."
"I'm not holding you prisoner... bringing you here just seemed like a good idea at the time. Once I got you here though, it seemed I couldn't let you go without letting people know who I was, and before I knew it, the rope I found next to one of the boilers seemed like it'd have a practical use, and then-"
"I get your point... your a stow-away."
"Sorta... it's a long story. Anyway, what's your name?"
"...Cal"
"Cal, I'm J.C."
"J.C.? What the hell were your parents thinking?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Anyway, you were hitting the liquor pretty hard upstairs, any particular reason?"
"Not that its any of your business, but... no wait, its not any of your business, bugger off!"
"Just trying to make chit-chat."
"Well don't"
"You just seem so depressed-"
"And so what if I was! My fiancee hates me, my love ignores me, and I'm unable to control my emotions! Worst of all, I really, really have to pee, and I can't unless I wanna urinate on myself!"
"...oh. See, I would untie you... but, um, my secret and all."
Cal breathed heavily as he strained to stop his urine from escaping his body.
"I... I... OH GOD... I understand, URGH!!!"
J.C. looked around in a frenzy for something that would work as a reciprocal. He fished through the various pipes and tools hanging around and eventually decided to use a cone like beacon device.
"I'm sorry, but its gonna have to do"
"WHAT?!"
"Listen, I can't untie you, you'd get away, so your just gonna have to make due." With that, J.C. quickly got at the task of unbuttoning Cal's pants as he looked the other way.
"STOP THAT!" Cal yelled as his trousers dropped.
"Oh, stop complaining, you worse then Arnold..." J.C. tried to navigate the tube to the correct area without looking, but after 3 failed attempts at finding the correct area was forced to look. "Sorry," He exclaimed as he quickly clamped the tube down on the correct spot. "I'm really, really sorry about this."
"Your sorry! YOUR SORRY!! I'm the one whose peeing upward into a tube at the moment! Do you know what happens when you pee upward?! Do you?!"
"Oh... well... um... sorry?"
"You'd better be damn sorry! I've got a puddle of piss on me right now thanks to you!"
"You didn't have to pee, you could have held it in if you knew this was gonna happen."
"I would have if I could, but the pressure build up was too much. Oh God! What else can go wrong!"
"The ship could sink."
"Oh yeah, right, the Titanic sink, that's a serious possibility... idiot!"
"I'm just saying-
"I'm just saying SHUT UP!" Cal shouted in a mocking tone. Strangely enough, that did happen to shut J.C. up... for a moment at least. In that moment he didn't speak though, J.C. walked over to Cal and cut his ropes.
"Get out of here... I give up."
"What?!" Cal asked, half in disbelief.
"Go, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, I'm leaving." And with that, J.C. slowly packed up his belongings and put his shirt back on. He went to pick up his hammer, but as he picked it up, he was filled with a great anger. This hammer, how could he have been stupid enough to think a hammer could sink a boat. He griped the handle firmly and then hulked the hammer as far as possible. He then took a long look at Cal and shook his head in disgust.
"You know what?" J.C. said as he stared at Cal "You... You... I can't even finish, you're just so... God..." J.C. shook his head in disgust as he started back to storage closet 3B. He finally realized that there was no tragedy to the boat sinking, it was a tragedy to have to be one of the passengers on it.
"What a strange... strange man." Cal said to himself as he quickly got up and prepared to continue to his cabin. As he started to leave though, he began to hear a loud screeching sound, like that of medal slowly inching apart. Cal walked over to where the sound was coming from, and noticed a large amount of water was pouring into the ship. "What's going on?!" Cal yelled out loud. He looked over to where the water was coming from and noticed that one of the main pipes had apparently burst from something hitting it. ""THE HAMMER"" Cal thought to himself as he quickly ran out of the boiler room, through the lower levels, and up to the life boats.
Epilogue
Rose
Rose lay on the ships deck, staring off into the night sky, wishing on stars far away for a better life, though she couldn't tell if her wishes were heard or not. She was so lost in thought and unresponsive to the world around her that many people thought Rose was passed out or dead. Play groups of children wandered by, stopping to poke her body, hoping for some response, though they got none.
Rose probably would have stayed lost in her melancholy wishes if not for the mob of people that stampeded over her, many of which stepped on her, ripping her already tattered garments.
"Huh? What's going on? Rose asked as she quietly rose up.
A man broke from the rampaging mob and shouted to her "The boat is sinking, hurry up and follow us to the life boats."
Rose stared after at the man as he ran ahead to catch the rest of the mob. Rose slowly lay down again and stared up at the stars. She focused on the farthest star possible and watched as it grew in brightness as her pupils focused on it.
"I guess my prayers were answered..."
Rose died 2 hours later...
Cal
Cal sat at the bat, emptying one bottle after another, completely forgetting about the boats imminent end. As Cal had said several times before, he just didn't care anymore. He just wanted to be drunk, dead drunk. He downed bottles of Gin, Vodka, and Rum without stopping to even take a breath. In his binge drinking, it seemed as though Cal was completely unaffected by the alcohol in him. This was true at least, until his last bottle of red wine.
The room started to spin uncontrollably and Cal became completely disorientated. He stumbled through the ballroom, knocking over tables and chairs as he went. His journey through the ballroom stopped at the center of the dance floor. Cal span around in a circle, mesmerized by the chandelier above him. He spinned and spinned, and spinned, and stopped. His legs gave out on him and he fell to the ground, shortly there after, falling unconscious.
For once, drinking had saved Cal's life. As the water slowly filled the dance hall, Cal floated outside and in the great wide ocean. The frigid water would have killed any healthy person, but Cal survived it. The liquor in Cal's system managed to numb him and lower his pulse so much, that he didn't even feel the water. Hours later, a fishing boat picked him up. The sailors woke him up and told what had happened to the ship. Cal's only response was...
"...I could use a drink..."
Cal eventually reached America and managed to clean up his act. He married a Chinese-American woman and had three kids. However, returning from a business trip in Germany, Cal opted not to take a boat and instead took a zeppelin. This proved fatal. Cal died in the Hindenberg crash of _____.
Jack
Jack was a survivor. He refused to let death get the best of him... ever. When all the lifeboats were gone and he was still on board the Titanic, he quickly came up with a plan to save himself. He quickly ran around the remaining dry parts of the ship gathering as much rope as he possibly could. He then proceeded to fish various corpses out from the ocean who had taken the cowards way out and committed suicide. After fishing out about 10 bodies, Jack lined their stone-cold corpses next to each other. He then ran the rope along the length of the bodies and tied them together, making himself a sturdy raft.
Jack quickly pushed his raft of the dead into the frigid waters and prepared to disembark. Right before he jumped onto his raft though, Jack saw a familiar face down the deck further. Off in the distance was Rose with a gun in her mouth. Jack gasped and ran for the girl as fast as his legs could take him.
"Rose, don't!" he yelled to her, but it was too late. The gun went off and Rose's body fell limp and lifeless to the ground. "Oh God..." Jack said to himself. He knew he had caused this. Jack found nothing morally wrong with his corpse raft, but seeing Rose die before him, hit him hard.
"I'm... a monster," Jack said to himself. "I'M A MONSTER! Heaven strike me down, I am!" Jack fell to his knees in tears. As far as Jack knew, this was the first time he had cried since the day he was born. He wept uncontrollably, forgetting the disaster's happening around him.
Suddenly, a small tender hand lightly placed itself on Jack's shoulder. Through tear filled eyes, Jack looked up to see who or what it was. Though hazy and blurred, Jack was able to make out the basic characteristic of the person.
"Jack, right?" a female voice asked him.
"Yeah..." he replied.
"Let's go, Jack"
"Go? Where?"
"Off of the boat, its kind of sinking, you did make that raft, right?"
"Um... yeah"
"Survival is survival Jack, let's go."
The person quickly pulled Jack up and led him by the hand to the raft. Jack slowly jumped onto the raft as the girl pushed them from the sinking Titanic.
"I'm Brenna... we danced together."
"I know"
"I want to get to know you..."
"Later"
"OK... later"
With that, the two drifted in silence till their pick-up hours later. Jack was never the same after that night, something in him died along with Rose... luckily it was his promiscuity.
Jack settled down with Brenna, but never committed any physical intercourse with her. He knew his body was sick, just like his mind, and he didn't want to spread his sickness to Brenna. Jack died 6 years later of AIDS, Syphilis, and Gonorrhea.
J.C.
J.C. stood at the podium, fake tears in his eyes, looking out towards the crowd. He had waited for this moment, and now that it had finally arrived... it wasn't as great as he thought it'd be. None the less though, he planned to milk it for everything it was worth. His movie "Titanic Mutiny" had swept the Oscars throughout the ceremony, and now there he was, accepting the Oscar for Film of the Year.
"I'd planned on giving some great speech if I won this award tonight... but now, I don't think I should be taking all this credit for myself. Too all of you who can hear me right now; in the theatre and those at home watching this ceremony, I would like you all to just take a moment of silence with me. For all the poor first class passengers, who were locked in their rooms and drowned, back when the Titanic sank."
Being such a hoaxy and fake sentimental show as it was, everyone in the theatre bowed they're head, and quite a few people across the nation probably did too. All that was going though J.C.'s mind though was... they had it coming.
Later that night, during the post-Oscar interviews, one person asked J.C. what his next movie would be. He looked at the reporter, and started to describe the plot.
"I've decided to combine my two most successful creations. The plot is that the Terminator has to travel back in time to the Titanic in order to sink it for the betterment of all humanity."
The reporter looked at him kind of funny, then proceeded to say jokingly, "That's a bit far fetched, isn't it?"
"...Not as much as you'd think." J.C. responded. "Not as much as you'd think."
The End
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