Scott and Patsy traveled on past the village and continued to search the
countryside for the rest of the X-Men. So far, their search had proven
futile and Scott was beginning to lose hope. For all he knew, Jean and the
others could be anywhere, even Bethlehem for all he knew. Or maybe they
weren't even on this planet.
As he approached a castle on top of a hill, Scott saw what he thought was a woman carrying a sack over her shoulder and put his troubled thoughts aside. Maybe this woman would be able to help him.
"Old woman!" he called.
"Man!" said the 'woman', turning around to reveal that she really was a man.
"Oh! I'm sorry," Scott said apologetically. "Can you tell me who lives in that castle over there?"
"I'm 37," said the man.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm 37! I'm not old!"
"Well, I can't just call you 'Man', can I?" Scott asked.
"You could say Dennis," replied the man.
"I didn't know you were called Dennis,"
"Well, you didn't really bother to find out, did you?" Dennis asked him sarcastically.
Dennis turned away and continued walking back down the path.
Scott walked up to Dennis again. "Look, I did say sorry about the old woman," he said, getting a little agitated at Dennis' rudeness. "It's just that from behind, you look just like,"
"What I object to is you automatically treating me like an inferior!" Dennis interrupted him.
Scott was puzzled. Why was this man treating like this? Then he remembered that he had the appearance of royalty.
"Well, I am a king, you know,"
"Oh, king, eh? Very nice," Dennis said, rolling his eyes. "And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there's ever going to be any progress,"
"Dennis, there's some lovely filth down here!"
Scott turned to see an old woman kneeling in a ditch on the side of the road, scraping out some mud with her hands.
"Oh, how do you do?" she asked Scott as she saw him.
"How do you do, good lady?" Scott replied. "I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Whose castle is that?" he asked, pointing to the castle on the hill.
"King of the who?" asked the woman.
"The Britons,"
"Who are the Britons?"
"We all are," said Scott. "We are all Britons, and I am your king,"
"I didn't know we had a king," mused the woman. "I thought we were an autonomous collective,"
"You're fooling yourself!" said Dennis. "We're living in a dictatorship! A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes,"
"Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again!" the woman chided.
"Well that's what it's all about!" Dennis argued. "If only people would hear of,"
"Please, please, good people," Scott interrupted. "I am in haste! Who lives in that castle?"
"No one lives there," grumbled the woman.
"Then who is your lord?"
"We don't have a lord!" she snapped.
"What?" Scott asked. From all of the history books he had read, Scott knew that peasants always lived under the protection of some lord or king.
"I told you," explained Dennis. "We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as sort of an executive officer for the week,"
"Yes," Scott muttered, not really in the mood for a civics lesson.
"But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi- weekly meeting," Dennis continued.
"Yes, I see!" Scott said gruffly.
"By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,"
I don't have time for this, Scott thought. "Be quiet!" he shouted, trying to exert some kingly authority.
Dennis ignored him and continued talking. "But by a two-thirds majority, in the case of,"
"Be quiet!" Scott shouted again. "I order you to be quiet!"
"Order, eh? Who does he think he is?" asked the woman.
"I am your king!"
"Well I didn't vote for you!"
"You don't vote for kings!" Scott said, exasperated.
"Well how did you become king then?"
Scott paused, trying to recall what he had read about King Arthur in school.
"The lady of the lake," Scott said. "Her arm, clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!"
"Listen," said Dennis, clearly not impressed. "Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
"Be quiet!" Scott insisted.
Dennis continued on. "You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Scott couldn't believe the nerve of this man. "Shut up!" he yelled.
"I mean, if I went round saying I was an emperor," Dennis said, "Just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!"
"Shut up, will you! Shut up!" Scott screamed, turning red in the face.
"Ah! Now we see the violence inherent in the system!" Dennis said.
"Shut up! Scott shouted and kicked Dennis in the backside.
Dennis tried to flee. "Now we see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!" he shouted to some other peasants nearby.
"Bloody peasant!" Scott shouted, and kicked Dennis harder.
"Oh, what a giveaway, you hear that, you hear that eh?" Dennis called to the peasants. "That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?"
Annoyed, Scott waved to Patsy and they skipped away from the peasants as quickly as they could.
X
As he approached a castle on top of a hill, Scott saw what he thought was a woman carrying a sack over her shoulder and put his troubled thoughts aside. Maybe this woman would be able to help him.
"Old woman!" he called.
"Man!" said the 'woman', turning around to reveal that she really was a man.
"Oh! I'm sorry," Scott said apologetically. "Can you tell me who lives in that castle over there?"
"I'm 37," said the man.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm 37! I'm not old!"
"Well, I can't just call you 'Man', can I?" Scott asked.
"You could say Dennis," replied the man.
"I didn't know you were called Dennis,"
"Well, you didn't really bother to find out, did you?" Dennis asked him sarcastically.
Dennis turned away and continued walking back down the path.
Scott walked up to Dennis again. "Look, I did say sorry about the old woman," he said, getting a little agitated at Dennis' rudeness. "It's just that from behind, you look just like,"
"What I object to is you automatically treating me like an inferior!" Dennis interrupted him.
Scott was puzzled. Why was this man treating like this? Then he remembered that he had the appearance of royalty.
"Well, I am a king, you know,"
"Oh, king, eh? Very nice," Dennis said, rolling his eyes. "And how'd you get that, eh? By exploiting the workers! By hanging on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic and social differences in our society. If there's ever going to be any progress,"
"Dennis, there's some lovely filth down here!"
Scott turned to see an old woman kneeling in a ditch on the side of the road, scraping out some mud with her hands.
"Oh, how do you do?" she asked Scott as she saw him.
"How do you do, good lady?" Scott replied. "I am Arthur, King of the Britons. Whose castle is that?" he asked, pointing to the castle on the hill.
"King of the who?" asked the woman.
"The Britons,"
"Who are the Britons?"
"We all are," said Scott. "We are all Britons, and I am your king,"
"I didn't know we had a king," mused the woman. "I thought we were an autonomous collective,"
"You're fooling yourself!" said Dennis. "We're living in a dictatorship! A self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes,"
"Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again!" the woman chided.
"Well that's what it's all about!" Dennis argued. "If only people would hear of,"
"Please, please, good people," Scott interrupted. "I am in haste! Who lives in that castle?"
"No one lives there," grumbled the woman.
"Then who is your lord?"
"We don't have a lord!" she snapped.
"What?" Scott asked. From all of the history books he had read, Scott knew that peasants always lived under the protection of some lord or king.
"I told you," explained Dennis. "We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as sort of an executive officer for the week,"
"Yes," Scott muttered, not really in the mood for a civics lesson.
"But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special bi- weekly meeting," Dennis continued.
"Yes, I see!" Scott said gruffly.
"By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs,"
I don't have time for this, Scott thought. "Be quiet!" he shouted, trying to exert some kingly authority.
Dennis ignored him and continued talking. "But by a two-thirds majority, in the case of,"
"Be quiet!" Scott shouted again. "I order you to be quiet!"
"Order, eh? Who does he think he is?" asked the woman.
"I am your king!"
"Well I didn't vote for you!"
"You don't vote for kings!" Scott said, exasperated.
"Well how did you become king then?"
Scott paused, trying to recall what he had read about King Arthur in school.
"The lady of the lake," Scott said. "Her arm, clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water, signifying by divine providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!"
"Listen," said Dennis, clearly not impressed. "Strange women lying in ponds, distributing swords is no basis for a system of government! Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony!"
"Be quiet!" Scott insisted.
Dennis continued on. "You can't expect to wield supreme executive power, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!"
Scott couldn't believe the nerve of this man. "Shut up!" he yelled.
"I mean, if I went round saying I was an emperor," Dennis said, "Just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!"
"Shut up, will you! Shut up!" Scott screamed, turning red in the face.
"Ah! Now we see the violence inherent in the system!" Dennis said.
"Shut up! Scott shouted and kicked Dennis in the backside.
Dennis tried to flee. "Now we see the violence inherent in the system! Help, help, I'm being repressed!" he shouted to some other peasants nearby.
"Bloody peasant!" Scott shouted, and kicked Dennis harder.
"Oh, what a giveaway, you hear that, you hear that eh?" Dennis called to the peasants. "That's what I'm on about! Did you see him repressing me? You saw it, didn't you?"
Annoyed, Scott waved to Patsy and they skipped away from the peasants as quickly as they could.
X