12

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!"

As the guards of Prince John hid, swatted or ran in circles, Robin Hood kicked in the front door of the barracks. He strode into the melee, hopping over weapons or prostrate rhinos as necessary but mostly unwavering in his course. None of the bees, of course, dared to sting him, and none of the guards could focus on anything but the onslaught of stingers. Robin Hood knelt at the Sheriff's still form and snatched the keys off his belt. Then he turned towards the staircase, preparing to climb the steps to the prison above.

"Rob!" a voice shouted. Little John, still carrying the duffel bag from Doc Brown, made his way through the chaos of bees and pachyderms. Robin Hood jumped.

"Little John? What are you doing here? I thought you had decided– OOF!" At this moment, Little John wrapped Robin Hood in an enormous hug that lifted the fox off the ground.

"Oodelally, but it's good to see you, Rob," said Little John, tears in his eyes. "You were right to come here. You're always right about mushy stuff like this."

"Well, thank you," said Robin Hood, a bit confused by the sudden outpouring of emotion. "Ahem…shall we proceed with our adventures before these buffoons clear out all the bees and notice we're here?"

"Sure," said Little John, beaming. "I'll lead the way."

The two friends bounded up the stairs. A crossbow bolt came ricocheting down, but Little John swatted it out of the air like a fly. The two reached the top, where two vulture guards stood waiting, one holding a spear in trembling hands, one furiously trying to reload his crossbow.

"None shall pass!" said the one with the spear.

"Bud, we're in kind of a hurry," said Little John. He set down the duffel bag, picked up the two birds, one in each paw, and tossed them to the side. The vultures picked themselves up, looked again at Little John, and wisely elected to run down the stairs.

"Here's the key," said Robin Hood.

"I'm on a roll, Robbo. I've got no time for keys," said Little John. He drew back a mighty paw and clobbered the door with all his strength. The locks broke like seashells, and as the door flew open, it collided with something standing against the wall on the other side of the doorway.

"OWW!" said a voice.

Robin Hood and Little John paused before entering. "Is someone hiding there?" Robin called.

"No!" said the voice.

"He is too!" yelled Friar Tuck, from inside his prison cell. "Robin Hood, watch out, it's Sir Biff of Tannen! He's going to try to stab you in the back as you come in!"

Rage filled Little John like it had never filled him before, for he realized that Biff was the ruffian who, in the original timeline, had killed his dearest friend. He leapt into the room and turned to the corner where the door had swung.

There was Biff, advancing with a dagger, but Little John smacked it out of Biff's hands like he was a bully relieving a toddler of an ice cream cone. Biff, cornered, tried his best to look scornful.

"What are you looking at, Butthead?"

"RRRRRRRRROOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWRRRRRRRRRR!" roared Little John. It was an earth-shaking, knee-trembling, creek-bubbling, grass-wilting dynamo of a roar, and it made Sir Biff of Tannen literally poop in his britches.

Biff dropped to his knees. "Oh jeez, I thought I just had to watch rabbits and squirrels and stuff like that…please don't eat me."

"EAT you?" asked John, almost forgetting his anger in his surprise. The other Nottingham prisoners giggled. Then, after a wink to Friar Tuck, John scrunched his face into a scowl. "You look like you might be good roasted over a spit."

"Here, Little John," said Robin Hood, using the keys to open a cell, out of which a young skunk scampered. "You can keep him in here while we prepare the marinade."

Little John picked up Biff by his shirt collar and tossed him in the vacant cell, then closed it with a click. Biff tried to sit on the cot, only to realize it smelled like skunk. It was also at this point he realized that his pants smelled like doody.

"Three cheers for Robin Hood and Little John!" said Friar Tuck, and the prison echoed with cheers as the two went from cell to cell, freeing all. When every cell was open, Robin placed a cheek to the door in the back, the door with thirteen locks.

"Marian?" he called softly.

There was a second when no one dared to breathe. Then the response came. "Robin?"

"Marian, my dear, is that you?"

"Robin, how it can be? They told me…"

"That I was dead? Marian, death itself could not stop me from reaching your door."

"Oh, Robin!"

There was another pause, then a different voice said, "I'm in here too! Just…hanging out."

"It's Marty!" said Robin Hood jovially. "Two birds with one stone, eh, Little John? Pardon the expression," he apologized to a nearby pelican. Robin Hood put a key in the first lock. "Let's get you both out of here."

In several minutes, they had unlocked all thirteen locks and Robin opened the door. Marian leapt into his arms with such intensity that she knocked him over, and the two rolled around the prison floor, laughing and crying and kissing. Little John, like most of the animals in the room, diverted his eyes and looked through the doorway at Marty, who was sitting on the bed, pulling on his socks.

"Heya, Marty."

Marty was staring at his socks as if they required all of his concentration.

"Sup," he replied. When the socks were on, he put on and laced his Reeboks with the same determined focus. Finally, he picked Walkman off the floor and put it in his vest pocket. Little John wasn't sure what his bright red skin coloration meant, but he suspected it was caused by his jubilation of being freed.

Robin Hood and Marian stood up, looking giddy with happiness. "What a glorious day!" said Robin Hood. "First, chancing to meet all of you here…"

"Then onward to the palace to depose that scurvy Prince John!" shouted Lady Kluck, and the prisoners cheered.

"Actually, as it happens," said Little John, "that battle may have already started. The rest of the Merry Men have left to sneak into the castle. If we hurry, we may be able to join them."

There was another cheer, and the mob moved towards the door that Little John had punched in. As they did, they seem to remember that there were still in a very high prison tower. "'Uh, Robin Hood, what can we expect to find at the bottom of the stairs?" asked Friar Tuck.

"Nothing too bad," laughed Robin Hood. "A swarm of bees, a bunch of angry guards…"

The crowd stopped. One of the rabbits piped up, "Is there any way to have that flying chariot come get us like you did before?"

"No such luck, little guy," said Little John. "Although, come to think of it, the Doc did give me a bag from the trunk of the car. He said there was something in it that would come in handy."

Marty looked up from the spot of the floor he had been staring at. "Was it my…was it a bright green and orange bag with the words '2015 Nike-Adidas Plus Pro' on it?"

"Well, I can't read," said Little John, "but those colors are right."

Marty looked out the window of the prison and grinned. "Yeah," he said, "those'll come in handy all right."