Highlander

Richie Ryan and the Holy Grail

Chapter III - Fights and Flashbacks

Rated: PG-13 for Immortal Violence, Profanity, and Mature Situations

Summary: While Mac is away, Richie will play! Richie is in charge of the barge but when he gets involved with a beautiful girl and the immortal Arthur, and his age old quest for the Cup of Christ, will Rich bite off more than he can chew?

Disclaimer: I do not own Highlander® or any characters. They are registered Trade Mark™ of George Widen and Davis/Panzer™. Nor do I own Arthur Penndragon. This story was written strictly out of the fact I enjoy writing and I enjoy watching Highlander®. I am making no money off of this, only reviews.

Storyline, Plot, Jacquelyn Perault© and Aardwolf Ironsmith©, are all my property. Do not steal.

Special Thanks to Richiefic for helping me correct most of those many annoying little mistakes I usually make, and helping me out with some plot holes.


Also Thanks to everyone who reviewed these first two chapters, especially SoutherChickie and her helpful review. You'll notice those six bottles of wine changed into a couple boxes of bottles.

----

Conner MacLeod woke up to the smell of burning flesh and the nagging pain that flooded his body. Pushing himself up to his feet he looked around, though the Quickening had healed his body and revived him from death, he was still filled with the heat of the nearby flames and the sting of death still hung on his skin.

Glancing around the burnt out room he saw Arthur's body not far away, the yellow tongues of flames still licking his flesh swiftly as the elder immortal lay lifeless. The Scot peered around quickly for his katana, only to find it missing.

MacLeod pulled himself up to his knees and threw off his trench coat. It had been destroyed in the fire and he needed a new one anyway. Pulling himself all the way up to his legs he walked around the burning room, and found the old English broad sword of Arthur lying on the ground next to his still burning body.


Conner had been used to fighting with a katana since he inherited his from Ramirez, but he could take a head with a steak knife if he had to. He grabbed the sword firmly and then he ran towards the front door.

Peering out into the yard he saw the lifeless bodies of Erich, Remus and Richie. Lying sprawled out down by their feet were a Chinese Tai Chi sword that had belonged to Remus, a Spanish Rapier that Erich had prided himself in, and the Ivory Dragon Katana that had been custom made for Conner's teacher, and swiped by Richie.

Standing over the bodies was a man that the Scot did not recognize. He wore an old tattered camouflage suit, in one hand he held an AK-47, a very dangerous assault rifle made by Russia, and a long machete hung from his belt.

Conner did not like the idea of fighting an immortal, who wielded both gun and blade, but he'd done it before and if he survived the encounter he'd undoubtedly do it again.

Yet Conner was no fool, though he had been called one on several occasions. He'd also been called a bugger, a bastard, a baka, a jerk, a sword-wielding maniac, and so many more things in so many more languages and cultures that he didn't remember them all. And since he wasn't the majority of these things, he knew that one man couldn't set fire to a mansion this big.

And sure enough, only moments later a second man in a silk shirt appeared. He was dragging the body of Morris out onto the lawn to join the other three immortals already lined up. Conner did not like the look of this.

Then he watched as Erich began to stir. The man in the camouflage grabbed him by his shirt collar and hoisted him up with an evil smirk. Then he dropped the assault rifle and drew the long machete from his belt.

"I'll take this one if that's fine with you." The camouflage man said.

"All I want is Arthur. And I still can't find him."

Erich was awakening now; he blinked twice and looked around with blurry eyes. Suddenly he noticed the man in black and his eyes opened wide.


"You!"

The man in black smirked and bowed a low, sarcastic bow.

"Indeed good sir! Tis I." He said in a mocking tone. The silk shirted man lifted his Claymore sword and allowed it to rest on his shoulder. "I'd kill you Erich, but you're much too nasty for the idea of taking your head and your power to have any value to one such as myself."

The second man, the one in camouflage laughed and pressed his machete to the blonde immortal's neck.

"Well luckily I'm not so shallow."

Conner watched as the head fell from Erich's shoulders, neatly severed.

"Go find Arthur, the police will be here soon and I want to leave when this Quickening is over." The camouflage man spoke as a white fog began to engulf his body.

Conner watched the man in black walk back into the house. He didn't recognize either of the men, but somehow the Scot knew the silk shirted one with the Claymore was no stranger to Arthur or his knights.

Watching as lightning began to flash dangerously around the camouflaged warrior; Conner leapt up from behind his hiding place and gripped Excalibur tightly in his hand. He was most afraid of the immortal's gun than anything.

Guns were cheating. And if his foe was to cheat, Conner could play that game.

As the camouflaged man screamed and fell to his knees, lightning swarming over his body, Conner walked over slowly with a sneer pressed firmly on his lips. He waited until the quickening stopped completely before pressing the sword of Arthur against the man's neck.


"Who are you?" Conner asked in a all-too-serious tone.

The man in the camouflage looked up and his mouth broke off into a wide, toothy smirk.

"After my head are we?" The man joked. "You'll be dead before the blade even pierces my skin."

Conner's eyes flashed down to the man's hands, one of them was plastered out on the grass before him, but the second one had reached into his pocket and pulled a Berretta pistol, which was aimed at the Scot's stomach.

Conner's eyes then moved to behind the man, to where Richie lay. Duncan's student began to stir and the eldest MacLeod allowed a smirk to form on the corner of his lips.


Conner waited until he saw Richie's eyes open. The boy looked around and took in the situation unfolding around him and then his eyes meet Conner's. The young immortal was about to speak when the elder Scotsman drew his sword back and swung.


The man in the camouflage fired three shots into Conner's chest and ducked his head down. The broad sword smashed into the side of his head, but between the duck and Conner's being shot, it wasn't enough of a swing to sever the head, only enough to cause a long gash to appear over the man's cheek and ear.

Richie suddenly realized why Conner had done such a foolish thing, and in a flash the youngster grabbed the katana that lay and his feet. The man in camouflage heard the sounds and spun around, but it was too late. Richie impaled the katana deep in the man's chest, which not only caused him to drop the pistol, but also brought a swift death over him and added yet another blood stain to the jacket.

Richie knew enough by now to know he should leave the katana in his enemy's chest until it was time to take his head, but the last thing Richie needed right now was a Quickening. He remembered there being at least one more person here, the man with the Claymore.

Grabbing the fallen Excalibur where Conner had dropped it, Richie moved over to the Scotsman and tapped his cheek for a moment.


"Hey, Hey, Mac, er, Other Mac, get up man."

There was no response so, checking one last time that the katana was still buried deep in the camouflaged man's chest, Richie scampered off towards the house. He didn't see Arthur anywhere, nor did he see Jackie. He gulped. Arthur was Immortal, and being fifteen hundred years old Richie knew he could take care of himself, but Jackie wasn't one of them, and he was worried about her.

Richie looked around the house for a moment, it was hard to navigate since he didn't know the mansion well at all, and it was still burning from the flaming wine bottles. He remembered telling her to get upstairs, and he prayed she had disobeyed him. Richie didn't know what was going on when he told her that. True, she'd be safer from evil immortals, but the fire could collapse the roof and kill her.

"Richie!"

Suddenly Richie's search was cut short as the blonde threw herself into his arms, embracing him in a tight hug. She had tears running down her eyes and buried her head into his shoulder.


"Hey, it's okay Jackie. I'm here."

She then broke away and a look of terror was clearly seen in her eyes.

"My father!"


Richie shrugged. "I'm sure he's fine Jackie, he's an immortal, and a really old one too. He can fight."

Jackie's eyes fell on the gold coated broad sword in Richie's hand and she looked up at him. "That is his sword."

Richie closed his eyes as he realized that he found the sword in Conner's hands, and he didn't know where Conner got it.


"Hey, I'm sure he's fine."

Suddenly a sound was heard in the next room. Richie held up the sword and pushed Jackie behind him. He ran to the door and found it ajar. Inside he could see Arthur lying against the wall. He looked as if he was just waking from sleep or perhaps a mortal death rather.

Standing above the English King was the Claymore wielding man in the silk shirt who had attacked him before. Richie felt a horrible jolt in the deepest pits of his stomach. Arthur had no sword.

"Open your eyes, milord." The Claymore wielding man said in a sarcastic tone. Arthur lifted his head and the expression on his face was a mixture of horror and surprise.


"Mordred. I thought you'd be dead by now."

Arthur had lost his regal tone and replaced it with a kind of scorn that Richie's sarcastic mouth would likely be home to.

"Hello father." Mordred spoke softly.


"Don't you dare call me that." Arthur spat. The scorn was gone and replaced with genuine anger. "You are neither my student, nor my heir any longer. You are a bastard who deserves a thousand painful deaths and an eternity in the darkest depths of hell!"

Mordred laughed. "Father, you were always so funny with your jokes. You raised me as your son, and your son I am."

Arthur's eyes took on a new dimension of hatred beyond anything Richie Ryan had seen before in his life.

"Arthur!"

Richie burst through the door, causing the man, Mordred, to turn around. He sneered and swung his Claymore out, but Ryan was faster and countered with the broad sword.

The blades clashed against one another a second time, and then Richie lashed out trying to slash the wrist of his enemy in a move that Mac had taught him, but Mordred was quicker and he slashed a deep gash into Richie's shoulders from behind, causing the boy to fall to his knees.

"And who is he father?" Mordred asked scornfully. "A new student? A new son?" Mordred's eyes fell on Jackie who stood at the door with a look of horror on his face and his sneer grew even more. "Or are you raising a daughter now?"

It was then, as Richie sat on his knees with blood oozing from his back and his head pounding with pain that he imagined Mac bursting through the doors with his Katana drawn. He could hear the Scot saying some sarcastic comment and then leaping into battle with the scoundrel. He could see Duncan taking the head from Mordred and saving Richie's life, as he had done in the past.


But Richie knew that wouldn't happen. He knew Duncan was in New York right now. He wondered what Duncan would do when he came home to find Richie headless at the hands of Mordred. He knew Mac would hunt the silk shirted warrior for a thousand years if necessary, or more.

It was then Richie realized he hadn't been thinking these things, he had been dreaming them. He had not been cut on the back and fallen to his knees; he had been cut on the back and killed momentarily. He opened his eyes and stared up at the roof of the charred mansion.


"Richie!"

Jackie was once again at his side. He looked up at her and blinked a couple times.


"What happened?"

Richie felt a powerful hand reach down and pick him up, and in a moment he stared face to face with Remus, the black haired man from the dinner table.

"Ah, Richard! You are awake."

Richie turned his head to see Arthur.


"What happened man? Where's that guy?"

"Gone." Arthur said simply. At first Richie thought he was dead, but he could tell from the somber look on Arthur's face that Mordred was still alive.


"I thought I was finished for sure." Richie said. "How did I-"

"Survive?" Arthur offered. "Well I grabbed him from behind before he could take your head. Technically it was against the rules of the game, but Mordred had already broken them."

Richie shook his head. "What happened to him, and what about that other guy-"

"Police."

Richie turned around to see Robin, the young redheaded knight sitting in a chair, a half-drunk bottle of wine in his hand. "They came in time to take Conner and that other guy's bodies away. It's been hell trying to explain what happened."

Richie nodded. He knew that police could be a real pain in the side.

It was then that all of the immortals became quiet, the buzz was drawing close. Many swords were pulled into many hands, but a moment later Conner entered the door with a sour look on his face.

"That damned morgue is cold." He complained. "And getting my sword back was a real pain."

Arthur shook his head and gave a small laugh, and then he asked the question everyone was thinking. "What about the other immortal?"

Conner's face grew grimmer at this. "The medical examiner worked on him first, so by the time I woke up he was gone. He left my sword and my clothes in the untouched and only took his things, I think that's a message Arthur."

The regal man nodded in agreement. "Oh yes, it was. Mordred ran at the first siren, so I cut my chest and acted like a victim. Police are much nicer to bleeding men than crazy men with swords."

Richie still couldn't understand some things. "Who were those guys?"

Arthur took a sip of his wine glass and then looked down at Richie. "That, Richard, was my first student. Mordred. I thought he died six hundred years ago. I loved that boy like he was my own son, but my crazy sister turned him against me. I stabbed him through the heart and he gave me the same consideration. Of course, we both survive, but I lost my kingdom then."


Arthur sighed as he remembered that day.

----

Camelot Castle, England, 6th Century A.D.

Arthur sat on his throne. The immortal King of Britain sat and looked out. He was a sad man. He had power, riches, and a kingdom that any king would kill for. Every last one of his citizens enjoyed life and enjoyed his rule. War was a thing of the past.

And yet Arthur was not happy. The throne where his beautiful wife once sat on was empty. She had gone and left him for Lancelot, greatest of his knights. And his son was against him.

No, Mordred wasn't his son. Arthur had treated him like a son, but he was no son. A son wouldn't abandon his father and challenge his rule. A son wouldn't challenge his life.

Mordred had been found by Sir Galahad, one of his knights. Arthur knew what the boy was right away, a pre-immortal. Arthur took him on and raised him and then he made a mistake that many immortals lose their heads over.

He taught a pre-immortal how to fight, how to kill, how to take heads. Of course in this world you had to fight and kill, but you fought for King and Country, and you fought for Honor and God. You did not fight for yourself, you did not fight to take the heads of men to keep your own life.

Now the boy was a man, and now the man was an immortal, and that immortal Mordred wanted his first head to be the head of Arthur. The head of his mentor, the head of his friend. The head of his father.

The doors of the great hall of the great castle of Camelot opened and a man ran inside.


"Milord Arthur! Mordred is upon our gates and demands to see the King!"

Arthur looked down at his servant and sighed. "Then the King he shall see."

Arthur approached the gates and looked down to Mordred, who stood outside the gates alone. Arthur was atop the wall of Camelot, high in the air. He watched Mordred. He held only his lone Claymore in his hand, and his sneer was a broad one.


"So there art thee so-called King of all lands."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "And here art the bastard who betrays his king and country."

"A challenge hath been issued, Milord." Mordred sneered. "Does his grace accept?"

Arthur drew his sword. It was a beautiful sword, and it had become more beautiful since Arthur had it coated in the finest gold Camelot had. Now the King would fight with his sword and kill with it.

"Indeed his grace does accept."

A moment later Arthur climbed down the many steps of the side of the castle's walls. Then he crossed to the gate, which slowly lowered. He could see his foe standing outside.

"So the King comes calling thy challenge. I am honored."

"Your honor is worth naught here."

The two crossed swords. Blades struck one another, and slashes stung at the flesh of the King and his once-heir. Eyes watched the fight, many eyes. It was then that Arthur struck outward, and pierced the chest of Mordred. As his once-son fell, Mordred swung back, and cut the stomach of Arthur clean open. The Forever King, as he had once been called, fell next to his son.

Both were to die on that black day.

----

Present, Paris

Richie listened intently as Arthur told the story and then sighed.

"Mordred took everything from me on that day. My kingdom, the life I had known since I was a boy. Of course, as the story goes the 'Great King Arthur would rise from the dead to defend Britain's shores against any enemy who would dare harm them.' Well I suppose that's true, I did do my part against Hitler." Arthur sighed once more. "Yet I will never again be a King."

Richie felt a quiet sort of pain in his stomach. Arthur had treated Mordred as a son, he had been his teacher, and the father Mordred never had. And then Mordred and Arthur had battled for each other's head.

Richie closed his eyes as he remembered Mac's Dark Quickening. The youth pushed those memories away quickly, though, since that was a subject he prayed to forget every day.

"Well who was the other one?" Conner asked. "The man in the army jacket."

To that, Arthur had no answer. Nor did he know how Mordred had found them.


It suddenly hit Richie who might have that answer. Joe.

But he then remembered that this was Paris, not Seacouver, and he didn't even know what time it was for Joe. Though he was sure the Watcher's could help.

And then Richie realized that Joe Dawson wasn't the only Watcher he knew.

"Hey!" Richie said, jumping to his feet. "I think I know a way we can get some answers!"

All eyes, both immortal and Jackie's mortal eyes turned to him.


"Yeah." Richie said to himself thinking about it. "I got a friend who can tell us everything we need to know about these guys. He might still be here in Paris."

Arthur was intrigued, but confused. "How would he know?"

"He's a Watcher." Richie said, forgetting that few immortals knew what a Watcher was.


"A what?" The British King asked, even more confused.

"A group of historians who record our immortal lives without interfering in the game." Conner explained, then, seeing the surprise looked on Richie's face he added: "Duncan told me."

Richie felt a source of pride in his heart as he realized that Adam Pierson, or Methos as some knew him, would be able to help them out. He had felt bad because it was his stupidity to forget his forced Conner to use Arthur's, and forced Arthur to be defenseless. Now the lad felt he could make up for that mistake.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Morris asked with a hearty laugh. "Take us there Richard!"

----

An hour later the group of Richie, Jackie, Conner, Arthur, Morris, Remus, Robin and Ector had made their way across town to the place Richie last heard Methos lived.

The young immortal gave a knock on the door and waited for a moment. The others had waited for him at the bottom of the stairs, just in case Mordred and the camouflaged immortal were still looking for them. After a moment of waiting the door opened and Richie was face to face with Methos.


The eldest immortal of all was standing in a pair of boxers; he held a beer can in one hand and his Ivanhoe in the other. Spotting Richie he lowered the sword.

"Oh good, it's just Richie ruining my good nights sleep."

Richie shook his head. "Listen Adam, can you help us out man?"

Methos sighed, at least the kid had remembered to call him by Pierson's name and not his own. "Us? What happened to MacLeod now? An angry ex-lover or an angry husband of an ex-lover?" Seeing the serious look in Richie's eyes the older immortal sighed and nodded. "Alright, what do you need?"

"Actually, it isn't Mac."

That was a surprise. "Oh, well if Amanda finally convinced you to help her rob every museum in the city then count me out."

Richie shook his head. "Actually it's, well, Conner."

Methos raised an eyebrow. "Oh, the other MacLeod. Well what happened?"

Suddenly they both felt the buzz and heard footsteps. Richie turned around to see Conner and Arthur joining them.


"Richard can your friend help us-- You!" Arthur set eyes on Methos and the expression that appeared on his face was one of pure and raw hate.

Suddenly Methos took another drink from his beer can and uttered a few four letter words.

"Great Richie, next time why don't you just bring Kronos back from the dead?"

And then before Richie could ask any questions, Arthur had pushed him out of the way and prepared his broad sword for combat.

----------------------

Tah-dah!

Well, not only was that the longest chapter of this story yet, but also I think the best.

A bit violent, but I do have a violence warning up top.

Also, I know that Arthur and Mordred's 6th century speech was probably horrible, but I can't even make them sound like modern day British, much less ancient British. So Gomen nasai I'm working on it.


Anyway, first off, just for anyone who isn't a fan of the Arthur legends, Mordred was Arthur's half-son who he had with his half-sister Morgan Le Faye after she used magic to disguise herself.

Anyway, it's true that Mordred wounded Arthur fatally in the end of the legends, at which time the Lady of the Lake (the same one who made Excalibur) took his body to the Isle of Avalon where it is said he is resting until the day when he'll come back to life and become King of Britain once more.

And that bit about his wife, Guinevere running off with Lancelot is true. In fact if you rent the movie "Camelot" with Sean Connery (who besides Arthur also played Ramirez and James Bond) you can see the story of Lancelot and Arthur, as well as Arthur's death at the hands of Mordred.

It's a LONG movie though, just a warning.

Anyway, another HUGE thanks to Richiefic who proofread this and helped stop me from making a bunch of stupid little mistakes.

But just incase he or I missed any, if you see something that doesn't make sense, please let me know about it in your review.