First of all, merry christmas to you all, I hope that you are all enjoying the story so far.

Second, Please review if you feel like it, I appreciate all feedback.

Third, the first part of this story is nearly at an end. In an attempt to not make a story with eighty or so chapters, I have divided what I have planned thus far into three parts with about forty chapters each, which will all be uploaded in due time. This story will continue for quite a while. This means I will soon switch to a new story which is basically a part 2 to everything that has happened thus far.

Enjoy!

Chapter 35: Rescue

"Ben!?" Mal asked weakly in her battered and bruised state.

"Close, but no." Archer answered as he sprinted through the Isle's muddy streets with Mal in his arms.

Archer had been shocked when he first saw Mal. She had been tied around her wrists and ankles and was being carried through the street by two pirates, with two more in front of and behind her.

She had been beaten black and blue. Her face all swollen and bloodied, multiple cuts in her jacket and a trail of blood seeping behind her.

This picture of pure savagery was almost enough for Archer to make him want to jump the pirates in a white-hot rage, but he refrained from doing so.

He and his troop had constructed a plan once they realized that Mal would be transported across the isle. Royce took his place atop one of the tallest buildings along the road, ready to take out the two pirates carrying Mal. After that, Alex and Aden would jump out and get the other two away from Mal before Archer would swoop in and carry Mal out of there. They would try to use lethal force only if absolutely necessary. Despite what Archer had seen the villains do to Mal, he still hoped that they would not give him and his troop any more reason to do so.

The first part of their plan was a complete success, Archer realized as he ran through the narrow passages of the isle as fast as he could with Mal in his arms. He could only hope that Aden and Alex would escape their opponents unscathed.

They had agreed on a regrouping point near Bargain Castle, in order to make sure that they would all be safely leaving the island.

Archer looked down at Mal. After she had briefly reacted when he had first picked her up, she was now definitely unconscious. He felt an enormous surge of anger towards the monsters that had done this to her. Mal had been nothing but a kind, caring and spontaneous spirit since Archer had met her, and these 'people' had basically used her as a whipping post. From up close, the bruises and gashes on Mal's face were even more visible and they looked horrendous.

"Come on Mal!" Archer mumbled softly as he kept on running. "Stay with me here, don't do this to us! Don't do this to Ben!"

Archer believed Mal slightly stirred at the mention of Ben's name, but he could also just be imagining things.

Archer sprinted through the dirty, muddy streets of the isle, trying to avoid the main roads where he would be more easily spotted. Rain was pouring down now as he ran through numerous alley ways and warehouses, only occasionally running into someone. These people posed no danger to him though as most were either old or crippled.

It had appeared as though every able-bodied warrior had joined in to watch Mal's torture. This surprised Archer, as Mal had explained that there were several gangs on the isle that all operated in their own territory and all supported a reasonably modest crew.

The sudden sound of a bowstring being released snapped Archer out of his thoughts. Without a second thought, he dove to the ground behind a nearby trashcan, trying his best to keep Mal as unscathed as possible.

The arrow which had been meant for him bounced off the stone ground on the place his feet had been not a second ago.

Archer peered over the edge of the trashcan, only for another arrow to soar just over his head. Agitated, he softly lowered Mal's unconscious body to the ground and unsheathed Excalibur from his back.

As he stood up from behind his temporary hiding place, another arrow flew in his direction. This time he simply parried it however.

"Stop!" A voice said from behind him.

Archer turned around and saw a young man, around his age, stand at the end of the passageway. He had dark hair and a long, black trench coat. In his hand, he held a small knife and he was surrounded by four other people. When Archer heard more sound behind him, he saw four other people gather at the other end of the passageway.

"Look what we have here." The dark-haired boy said with a grin. "A knight in shining armor, come to save the damsel in distress. What's your name, pretty-boy?"

"I am Archer, son of king Arthur." Archer replied. "And you would do best to let me pass."

The dark-haired boy gave a cynical laugh. "Haha, oh well. Archer, son of Arthur, my name is Zevon, son of Yzma, glad to make your acquaintanance." He said with a bow.

"Nice to meet you." Archer replied with a similar bow. "Now let me pass, if you know what's good for you."

Zevon laughed again. "You can count, right?"

"I can, you're with nine and I'm alone. If you had brought around ten more this could have been an even fight." Archer said, mildly cockily.

This wiped the smirk of Zevon's face. "You have some nerve to come here and call us out like that." He spat. "This is the isle, we don't conform to your precious Auradon rules."

"I know, so you're giving me an excuse to fight dirty as well." Archer taunted with a grin.

Zevon just sneered at him and slowly put one foot forward.

"Last chance." Archer said as he raised Excalibur.

"Get me Mal, alive. Kill him if you must." Zevon told his apparent subordinates, who immediately ran past him, straight for Archer.

Archer slowly breathed in as he observed the situation. Four in front of him, four behind him. Five armed with swords, two with clubs and one with a knife. He quickly thought of a strategy and got into action.

The first person to reach him wielded a sword and swung it wildly at him. Archer deflected the swing and directed the person to his right. The next thug that came his way held a club. As he swung it from Archer's left, Archer dodged the swing and the club made contact with the head of the first person, who fell down unconscious.

Archer then brought his sword down, slicing the second thug's hind leg, making him fall down with a scream of pain.

He was then just in time to dodge a wild swing from behind him, made a turn behind his third opponent and once again sliced the person's leg. The second goon from behind him held a knife, Archer simply dodged his first stab attempt, locked in the arm that held the knife and hit the goon on the head with some force with the hilt of Excalibur.

He then had to duck for a powerful swing of yet another sword as he dropped the unconscious body of his fourth adversary. Two assailants now came at him, both wielding swords.

Archer dueled with them for a short period, before using a simple turn to dodge a strike of one of them, pulling that person out of balance and right against the other.

The last club-wielding foe then got involved, aiming a swing for his head. Archer once again dodged, tripped his adversary and roughly pushed the guy's head against the stone ground, knocking him out instantly.

The two sword fighters he had faced before had gotten back up and now charged at him simultaneously. Archer blocked their combined strike, pushed them back and swung low, slicing both of their upper legs. The two fighters fell down with painful cries, as Archer turned to his final remaining opponent.

This kid was younger then him and wielded a sword. His arms were shaking as he stared at Archer in fear.

Archer lowered Excalibur. "Go home kid." He lazily said. The boy did not need to be told twice, as he bolted immediately.

"Useless cowards." Zevon mumbled to himself as he still stood petrified at the end of the passageway.

"Want to give it a try?" Archer offered as he gestured to the seven unconscious or wounded people around him.

Zevon looked him up and down, and then at his defeated companions. "I think I'll pass this time." He begrudgingly said before exiting the passageway and walking in the opposite direction.

Archer hastily went back to Mal, who still laid on the ground unconscious. Archer did take this brief respite to inspect her wounds further and cut her loose. The cut in her left arm was still bleeding quite badly, so Archer wrapped up the wound as best he could. He didn't know if he was imagining things, but Mal seemed a lot more pale than usual. Archer grabbed her wrist and was relieved when he felt a steady heartbeat.

"Mal! Mal! Come on! Wake up! Can you hear me?" He said to her as he carefully shook her around a little and lightly slapped her face. Mal did not respond however and her head just sadly rolled around.

Archer once again took her in his arms and headed for Bargain Castle. The isle was a tricky place, with many small alleys and dead ends. Archer could see the ruined tower of Bargain Castle against the backdrop of the clouded sky but had no idea how to get there.

Every extra minute he and his troop would be spending here would be an extra minute where they could possibly be killed however, so it was of upmost importance that they would get there as quickly as possible.

When Archer went around yet another corner, he quickly had to drop down behind a low wall. A group of four warriors just crossed a further road, obviously looking for him and Mal.

"What are we even doing here? Why not just wait by the barrier?" One of them asked.

"These are our orders. Mal has to be found as soon as possible, and you know how the boss hates to be kept waiting." Another answered.

Archer peeked around his hiding place. The search party moved closer. He saw that there was a girl around his age leading them. She wore a red trench coat, had her long, blonde hair in a braid and lazily swung her sword around. She was unmistakably beautiful and had an air of rebellion around her.

Archer calmed his breathing, softly placed Mal's unconscious body against the low wall and placed his hand on the hilt of Excalibur, ready to strike if necessary.

"Who are these guys that broke her out anyway?" One of the others asked.

"How am I supposed to know?" The girl replied indignantly.

The other thug shrugged. "Dunno, could be you heard something. You are awfully close with-."

"I am not close with him!" The girl snapped. "And I would rather not take part in this anyway."

"Then why-" One of the others started, before a loud crash and yelling from a nearby street drew their attention.

"There they are!" Another one yelled and the entire search party hastily scurried off.

Archer gratefully breathed out, that could have gone sideways. He was worried for his friends however, they must have been the ones who caused that commotion further down the road. This at least meant that they were still alive, so there was that.

When Archer focused back on Mal, he saw to his astonishment that she had opened her eyes, if ever so slightly.

"Mal!" Archer hastily said as he crouched down next to her. "Mal! Can you hear me?"

All Mal did was softly and slowly nod.

"Mal! We need to get to Bargain Castle, where do I have to go?" Archer asked slowly but urgently.

Mal slowly and painstakingly looked at her surroundings and then whispered some barely understandable words. "Straight ahead… Right… left at market…" she managed to bring out before apparently falling back into unconsciousness.

It was enough to go on for Archer as he lifted her back up. He started running as fast as he could. First, straight ahead. Then right. He saw a market up ahead, currently deserted, and made a left turn.

Further down the quite large road he now stared at, he could see the bottom of the large, ruined tower that was Bargain Castle. He sprinted the last couple of yards before coming to a halt at one of the more secluded and covered corners of the tower.

He softly placed Mal on the ground yet again, making sure she was kept out of sight and that she wouldn't fall over or anything.

He then stood up and looked around. There was no sign of any of his troop members. No Aden, no Alex and no Royce.

Archer couldn't handle all this waiting. He wanted to be out there, with his friends, protecting them. He knew that he had to remain where he was though, to make sure nothing would harm Mal any further.

Suddenly, he heard another crash, followed by yelling and the clashing of steel.

Without hesitation, Archer unsheathed Excalibur and sprinted towards the commotion.

When he quickly ran around a corner, he almost bumped into Royce, who had been firing arrows at the fighting parties from a distance. Further up, he saw Aden and Alex fight against five opponents, with a whole strew of unconscious or wounded assailants behind them.

"Royce!" Archer yelled at his friend.

"Archer, you alright?" He asked.

"I'm fine." Archer replied as he sprinted towards the rest of his troop.

Alex was keeping three opponents busy at once by swinging around his war hammer, while Aden dealt with two sword-wielding attackers.

Archer first joined Aden, and together they quickly managed to incapacitate their opponents.

Royce had meanwhile fired more arrows to help Alex and had managed to take one of their enemies out with a well-placed arrow in the knee. Alex then made short work of the other two, basically blasting them both off their feet.

"Archer!" Aden panted. As far as Archer could see he had no major injuries, just a bruise on his cheek and a tear on his right leg. "Thank god you're okay. Where's Mal?" Aden asked.

"I hid her near Bargain Castle, she was still unconscious when I left her but she's tough, she'll make it." Archer replied.

"Thank god." Alex mumbled as he joined them. He had a few cuts on his arms and Archer saw a broken off arrow sticking out of one of his massive shoulders.

"Alex, you're wounded!" Archer exclaimed.

"It's nothing. I will live through it. We better get out of here though." Alex replied.

"True." Royce said as he knocked another arrow on his bow. He was completely unscathed as far as Archer could see. "I have a feeling that these people don't really appreciate our company."

Archer nodded, and they ran back to Bargain Castle.

Mal was still unconsciously laying in the corner where Archer had left her.

"Jesus, what have those monsters all done to her?" Aden asked loudly as he looked over Mal's many injuries.

"Some kind of sick public torture session." Royce said disgusted. "Probably common practice over here."

"We need to get her out of here, she needs a doctor." Alex said.

"Right." Archer said as he took command. "Alex, you take Mal. You're the strongest and will be able to move more easily. Royce, follow us on the roofs. Scan for any hostiles and give ranged support. Aden and I will stay in front of you Alex, keeping any possible attackers at bay. When we get to the barrier, Aden, you light up the torch. Lance said he would close the barrier as soon as he saw that we had all left. You all got it?"

"Got it!" His troop replied confidently.

Alex gently picked up Mal and kept her in his large arms.

Archer and Aden scanned outside Bargain Castle but saw nobody. "Alright, let's go!" Archer hissed, and he and his troop took off.

Aden followed Archer as they quickly scoured the abandoned market with Alex in tow. Royce, meanwhile, quickly used a cart and low balcony to get on top of the roofs again and he followed along above them.

The group ran through the streets of the isle as fast as they could, with Royce scaling the roofs. Archer wanted to get out as fast as possible. He had complete faith that Mal would come out on top but didn't want to let anything depend on fate.

They were suddenly alerted by a loud yell. "There! Over there!"

They had been spotted! Archer and Aden raised their weapons and looked back. Two thugs were running in their direction.

"Royce! How many more?" Archer asked loudly.

"They're coming from all sides! Tens of them!" Royce reported sort of panicky.

"You focus on those at a larger distance, we'll take these!" Archer yelled back, and he and Aden moved towards their two adversaries.

Aden quickly took out his opponent with a well-placed knife thrown at his leg. Archer managed to disarm his enemy after only two swings before knocking him out with a punch.

"We need to move!" Aden said panting slightly. "We can't risk being overrun."

"Right, you take the front and protect Alex and Mal. I'll deal with anyone at the back." Archer said.

"I can't let you do this alone, you know that." Aden replied with raised eyebrows.

"Royce will cover me." Archer said as he saw five more goons run at them from a distance.

Aden looked between him and the incoming horde for a second before nodding and running towards Alex.

"Royce!" Archer yelled, and Royce directed his attention to upcoming enemies.

Archer ran towards them, Excalibur raised. When he was almost close enough to hit the first two, they were almost simultaneously hit by arrows, allowing Archer to focus on the next few.

He dodged the first sword swing and cut the back of his attacker's legs. The next one's swing missed completely, allowing Archer to knock the goon unconscious using his sword's hilt. The next one attempted to throw his knife at Archer's chest, Archer caught the knife and simply threw it back into his opponent's upper leg.

He then turned around to chase after his group. Aden and Alex had disappeared from his sight, but Royce had only moved up one roof further and was firing arrows into the adjacent street.

"I got them pinned here!" He yelled. "Move on, I'll catch up!"

Archer ran past him, towards the barrier. Out of the corner of his eyesight he saw Royce jumping to the next roof, following him.

"You go look for the others, I'll draw them off." Archer yelled.

Royce hesitated for a second before nodding and disappearing beyond the next roof.

Archer sheathed Excalibur, grabbed quite a large rock from the ground, and waited.

A couple of seconds later, multiple enemies came running out of the street Royce just covered. Archer threw the rock and hit one of them on the head, knocking him out instantly.

The others yelled and pointed at him, and arrows were fired before Archer quickly disappeared into the nearest alleyway.

He did not look back at his pursuers, simply trying to find the quickest path through the maze of passages. At the nearest opportunity, when he saw some shabby crates and a half-collapsed shed, he jumped up the roofs and quickly made sure he was out of sight from his chasers.

From this position, he had a much better view and could already see the point where he and his troop would be picked up after escaping the isle.

"There!" A voice then yelled behind him.

When Archer turned around, he saw the same blonde girl he'd seen earlier with three more goons, also on top of a roof, hurrying in his direction.

He immediately ran off, trying his best to avoid any more confrontation.

Most of the roofs were slippery or unstable, so it took more trouble than expected for Archer to try and escape his pursuers.

From the corner of his eye he actually saw his nearest pursuer gain in on him.

After having to hastily duck under a low-hanging pipe, Archer suddenly felt a searing pain on the right side of his head. He immediately dove to his left, rolling away from any possible danger.

When he looked up, he saw the blonde pirate with her sword raised. She must have cut him off and struck at his head. Archer felt the side of his head, it was bleeding quite profusely but the wound appeared to not be too deep.

Archer stood back up and unsheathed Excalibur, ready to confront his newest opponent.

"You're fast." He said, complementing his adversary.

"I know." The girl replied with a cunning smile. "Too fast for you, Auradon boy."

Archer cracked his neck. "Come on then."

The girl did not hesitate, and immediately struck at Archer's head. He blocked the strike however, turned and swung at her from his right. The girl leaned back however to dodge his swing and immediately aimed her sword at his right leg. Archer jumped back, raised Excalibur and hit her from above. The girl blocked his strike this time. Archer broke the stalemate by pushing her back, performed a quick swing from his right, which she also blocked, then left, which she dodged and he subsequently turned and swung again. This time he grazed her shoulder, causing a small tear in her red, leather coat.

The girl stepped back and looked at the damage he had caused. "Dammit, asshole." She spat.

"You can get out of my way right now and save yourself some trouble." Archer suggested, half-heartedly hoping that she would oblige.

"What? Getting tired already?" She teased.

Archer couldn't help but smile in response but had to quickly get serious again when the girl started swinging at him with renewed vigor.

Archer was subconsciously really impressed with the girl's fighting abilities. She had to be at least on par with Jay or Lonnie, though there was something about her that made this one of the toughest fights Archer had ever fought. She was incredibly quick, nimble, technical and managed to adapt perfectly to the limitations offered by fighting on the roof.

Asides from her athleticism, her sword work was also impeccable, with her strikes all being sufficiently strong, fast and well-aimed.

As good as she was though, Archer held his own. He was patient, even though he knew he was quite pressured for time and waited for her to make a mistake.

That moment came in the form one unfortunately timed strike from the girl aimed straight for his stomach. Archer simply turned away, was able to lock up her arm and strike the blade out of her hand. A simple kick to her stomach right after that made the girl fall over and almost tumble off the building.

"You're really good, you should know that." Archer said as he kicked the girl's sword away and approached her. "It's been fun, but I have to go."

"And what makes you think that I'm finished." The girl replied panting slightly, and she pulled a relatively short dagger from one of her boots.

Archer raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Come on, tough guy." The girl challenged as she got into fighting stance.

And so, Archer approached the girl again. Since she no longer had a sword, the girl was now forced to focus more on defense. Archer could simply keep his distance and swing at the girl. With no means of successfully blocking his strikes anymore, the girl now relied fully on dodging. This took quite a lot of energy, so she was no longer able to pose a real attacking threat for Archer.

She was however effective in stopping him from reaching his goal. Archer had estimated that his troop would have reached the barrier by now, and so every second he would spend here fighting would be another second where they could be caught. He had to end this quick.

He started putting more effort into the fight. Having the girl back up through numerous precise strikes. He was pretty sure his eyes had started glowing bright blue, as they always did when he would be this fanatic or agitated. Archer saw a brief expression of shock on the girl's face, and he was sure that she saw it too.

Archer now really started overwhelming his adversary, eventually managing to grasp her arm again, turn, and twist it behind her back. The girl grunted in pain and frustration and kicked her leg. Archer dodged the kick and instead delivered a kick of his own to the girl's right leg, making her go down on one knee.

Archer then locked up her other arm and held Excalibur to the girl's throat.

"Surrender!" He grunted, as he pressed the blade slightly into her flesh.

The girl heaved and struggled, and gave a slight yelp when Archer pressed his blade even more.

"Okay! Okay! Please, I don't want to die!" The girl yelled.

Archer was slightly shocked by this outburst, since the girl had been nothing but confident, cheeky and playful thus far.

From this angle he could see right into her eyes, which were a beautiful golden-brown color. Archer studied her face, as she looked back at him with anticipation and fear, and he could not get over the fact of how stunning she actually was. At that moment, he lost all the will to fight and simultaneously lowered his sword and released her locked arm.

"Go." He said softly.

The girl stared at him with wide eyes for a second as she slowly backed up.

"Go." Archer repeated as he pointed Excalibur away from her.

Then the girl suddenly screamed loudly before lunging at him and planting her dagger right in Archer's upper left leg before he could react.

Archer screamed in pain but stayed focused, this time hitting her to the head with Excalibur's hilt before tossing her off the roof.

He felt somewhat relieved when he saw that she only made a semi-painful smack onto a shed before tumbling to the street, where she then started to weakly move around again.

Archer then focused on the freaking dagger stuck in his leg. With a painful grunt he pulled it out and threw it away before loudly uttering some curses.

He had let his guard down, getting distracted by his opponent's beauty and vulnerability of all things, and had paid for it.

After quickly bandaging up his leg, he set off for the barrier again, limping a little this time.

All of the sudden, he saw red smoke appear on the edge of the isle to his right. That was the signal for Lance to open up the barrier!

He started running to the spot as best he could, being slightly dragged down by the stab wound in his leg.

He could hear surprised screams and yells come from around him, as the isle inhabitants had undoubtedly seen the red smoke as well.

Archer scaled roof after roof, getting closer and closer to the barrier. He could see the boat that was supposed to bring him and his troop back to Auradon and thought that he could make out Alex's large frame but wasn't certain.

An arrow suddenly flew past his shoulder, but Archer didn't stop to look how many enemies were chasing him right now. He heard cries of surprise and outrage as he sprinted from roof to roof, more arrows and cries following him.

He eventually reached the final roof and was forced to jump down from about sixteen feet straight to the ground. His wounded leg gave out and he had to roll for a bit before standing up again.

The world around his started spinning as he painstakingly made his way to where he thought the boat was. He heard a tremendous amount of noise and people yelling all around him.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms grab him around his chest. He fought it at first before hearing a very familiar voice.

"Archer! It's me! Come! We gotta go!"

"Royce!?" Archer exclaimed.

"Yeah, buddy. It's me, now come on!" Royce answered.

Archer let himself get dragged along by Royce, trying his best to run along with him.

The boat suddenly doomed up in front of him, his sight temporarily becoming sharp again. Aden and another soldier stood near the railing of the boat and grabbed both Archer and Royce to drag them in.

When Archer finally plopped down on deck, he saw Lancelot standing in the middle of the boat resealing the barrier.

"You are late." He told Archer, a mix of amusement and worry on his face.

"Ran into some fans." Archer panted, and Lance grinned slightly at this.

Archer sat up straight and looked around. They had started sailing back to Auradon. He was joined on deck by Lancelot, Aden and Royce.

"Where is Mal? And Alex?" He asked.

"Down below." Aden said. "Mal is getting some treatment before we get her to the hospital and Alex is getting his wounds cleaned. You should too, by the way."

"I'm good for now." Archer replied as he stared at the isle's shore, which was getting cramped with people watching them leave. "I'm actually-"

The words got caught in his throat as he looked more closely at the shore. There, in between the other people, stood a young man. Tall, with a brown trench coat and a mask shaped like a skull. And Archer was sure that the dark eyes barely visible between the slits of the mask were staring straight at him.