13

The Merry Men were marched into the Prince's throne room at spear point by eight fierce wolf guards. Prince John was hopping up and down on the seat of his throne, holding an enormous sword with both hands. His grin was big enough to eat an impala.

"AH ha! AH ha!" he laughed, as the Merry Men clustered in a bunch in front of him. "What a glorious day for me, the Invincible Prince! The famous Little John is in my grasp! And might you be the inventor of the flying chariot?" he asked Doc. "Sir Biff of Tannen told me to look for an old fool with white hair and 'crazy-person eyes'."

"That's me," confirmed Doc.

"Splendid, splendid!" said the Prince. "You shall be allowed to live. I do love a good gadget, heaven knows. The rest of you, of course, shall face my wrath. I sentence you to death, by beheading!"

The Prince turned to Sir Hiss, who had coiled up by the throne, watching the scene uncertainly. "And you, Hiss! All is forgiven! What an ingenious little trap you set for our friends! Welcome back to the luxuries of power."

"Thank you, ssssire," muttered Sir Hiss, not making eye contact.

"Now," said the Prince, rising in his chair and raising his sword high, "who wants to be the first to die? Surely one of you wants to sacrifice himself for your friends, like an IDIOT?"

"Wait, before you kill us," said Little John, as the group shuffled still closer together. "Why don't you tell us more about why you're a better king than your big brother?"

"Richard?" yelped the King. "Richard was such a goody-two shoes, always making gifts for mummy, always helping around the house. But did he ever tax a family of turtles so hard that they had to give up their shells? No! Did he ever commission a painting of himself beating Julius Caesar at arm wrestling? No! That was I! Look at me now, mother! I'm Invincible! I'm the next Charlemagne, the next Augustus, the…"

"Got it!" said Arthur. "Ok, PJ, you can stop your blabbering." The Merry Men stepped away from each other, and six pairs of handcuffs clattered to the floor, their locks expertly picked.

"What the deuce–" started Prince John, just as Sir Hiss lashed out and bit the monarch on the foot. All hell broke loose.

Will Scarlet dove onto a pile of guards before they had a chance to react. Midge grabbed the shaft of a spear, and spun the wolf at the other end around and around like a tetherball. Alan made a dash for the Prince's weapon chest and began tossing arms to his friends, as the Prince hopped around, trying to dislodge Hiss's teeth from his toe. Two wolf guards ran at Little John, but he sidestepped their spear points and slammed their heads together.

Doc was likewise being charged by a guard, but he felt less secure in his ability to defend himself. Instead, he ran around the circular room, screaming "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaughh!" with the wolf in hot pursuit. On the third pass, Doc reached out a hand and yanked on a tapestry depicting Prince John parting the Red Sea. It felt with a thump, covering the pursuing guard like a net.

In the space of a minute, there was only one guard left conscious. Gripping his spear, he backed up against a painting. As he stood snarling, the picture of Julius Caesar began to move.

"Veni, vidi, vici," said the painted Caesar grandly, and he struck the last guard on the head, knocking him out cold. The colors that made up Caesar stepped away from the picture frame and turned back into Arthur's usual lizard green. Arthur could not resist taking another little bow when Midge laughed.

"That's some damn good camouflage," muttered Doc.

Prince John was finally able to kick off Sir Hiss, only to discover that he was surrounded by armed Merry Men. He crawled into his chair, whimpering.

"Time to abdicate, Phony King," said Alan-a-Dale. "Step down."

There was a second of hesitation. Then Prince John yelled, "NEVER!" and slammed a small button on his throne. The throne sprouted eight enormous mechanical legs that raised the Prince out of reach. Skittering like a spider, the giant throne-mobile lept over the baffled Merry Men, kicked open the throne room door, and disappeared from sight.

"After him!" yelled Will. The group followed the sound of metal feet clattering through the halls. They rounded a corner just in time to see the throne-mobile exit the castle through the wooden front gate like a bird going through a spider's web.

"Preposterous," panted Doc. "There is no way they would have had this sort of technology in the Middle Ages! Although…I suppose Rhinos aren't really native to England, either."

"We'll have to get back to the DeLorean," said Midge. "We'll never catch that thing otherwise."

"No," said Alan-a-Dale, pointing. "But they might have a pretty good chance."

The other followed the point of his feathery finger. Close behind Prince John's insectile throne-mobile were Robin Hood, Lady Marian, Future Little John, and Marty McFly.

All four were riding hover-boards.