Tales of the Multiverse
Chapter 4
The ageless elf, and the wayward soul
The archery tournament was about ready to begin as the archers and targets were just about all in place, as Lady Cluck and Maid Marian got into their seats while Queen Baraluda and Looda looked on, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious meanwhile Sora, Kairi and Riku got themselves into position to watch and be ready to get into action if need be. About then though Baraluda glanced over to notice the "Stork" approached Maid Marian.
"Ah, your ladyship. Begging your pardon, but it's a great honor to be shooting for the favor of a lovely lady like yourself," Robin said with his heavy accent while also presenting Marian with a daisy. "I hope to win that kiss."
"Oh…" Marian paused as she took the daisy but took the chance to look him straight in the eyes, recognizing them after a brief moment as he gazed back. "Well, thank you, my thin-legged archer. I wish you luck…" she continued before he went off.
"…with all my heart," she then whispered softly, having indeed recognized him. Meanwhile sir Hiss, whom had somehow got his head to be secured in a balloon during the past few minutes began to fly about while spinning his tail like a propeller, and soon took notice of the interaction that just transpired.
"Hmm…I wonder…" he pondered as he continued on, narrowly just avoiding being grabbed by Friar Tuck from below, as Goeniko also attempted to do a small jump but noting drastic, as she didn't want to catch attention but still missed him as they then continued to try and follow him as best they could as he went above the crowds a bit. Meanwhile a large gator whom was serving as the host for these events approached Prince John while holding onto a decorative pillow with a bright golden arrow resting upon it.
"Your Highness, with your royal permission, we are ready to begin," the gator spoke with a deep growly voice.
"Proceed, Captain," Prince John replied.
"The tournament of the Golden Arrow will now begin," the gator then announced loudly. There was a loud round of applause and cheers while a fanfare blared for a bit as all the archers marched into position, but Looda noticed Baraluda's stoic disposition to the whole affair.
"My Queen, is something the matter?" Looda asked in a hushed tone.
"I suspect that this tournament is nothing but a ruse," Baraluda replied.
"You mean…a trap?" Looda asked as she looked on in surprise.
"Indeed, for the purpose of drawing out one particular individual," Baraluda replied as a few of the archers began firing, landing a few hits on the various targets, none quite reaching the range of excellent but they were fairly consistent. "That bird there…" she slightly motioned to Robin Hood as he began to waddle on over into position in a very cheery way.
"The one who made the slight advance towards the lady fox?" Looda asked, knowing who she meant.
"I don't believe he's what he "claims" to be. I suspect he's more of a wolf in sheep's clothing as it were, but more appropriately, a fox," Baraluda replied just before Robin fired his bow and it then struck the target with a perfect bulls eye, slightly startling Looda that he made the shot in such a casual manner while she raised a hand to her face slightly. "The very fox we've seen on those wanted posters…"
"A perfect bulls-eye. Well, well…" Prince John remarked as Baraluda started to listen in more.
"Ha-ha! That's what you call pulling it back and letting it go, P.J.," Little John chuckled a bit.
"I'm going to win that Golden Arrow and present meself to the lovely Maid Marian…" Robin Hood started to gleefully gloat to himself as he hovered behind the sheriff's back as he tried to take his shot.
"Listen, scissor-bill! If you shoot half as good as you blabbermouth, you're better than Robin Hood," the sheriff remarked in annoyance to hopefully get him to back off a little.
"Robin Hood, he says, wow-wee!" Robin feigned flattery as he stumbled back a bit but then stepped back forward. "I'm tip-top, alright, but I'm not as good as he is." and yet despite pulling out and arrow in another very swift yet casual pull and let loose, he struck yet another bulls eye, much to the Sheriff's shock, and even Looda's as she covered her mouth.
"Something the matter?" Baraluda asked.
"What's with us and being around…dead shot rogues as it were?" Looda whispered as she essentially recognized the marksmanship displayed by Baraluda's rival, a certain young boy, and even an infamous captain. And yet despite this Baraluda simply looked on and smiled confidently.
"That kid's got class, ain't he, P.J?" Little John asked confidently.
"Indeed he has, Reggie, ha-ha. Bravo! Bravo! Yes…" Prince John replied as he did a subtle clap, but with a faint hint of sinister behind his tone as he began to suspect.
"Oh umm," Robin Hood paused as he looked down one of his arrows as the Sheriff was trying yet again to take his shot. "by the way, I hear you're having a bit of trouble getting your hands on that Robin Hood." he looked at him a bit slyly, obviously enjoying riling him up a bit. And it obviously worked.
"He's scared of me, that's what he is," the sheriff replied as he turned fully to look back at him. "You know you see he didn't show up here today. Heh, I can spot him through them phony disguises." he continued as he tried to take aim again, meanwhile Hiss had fluttered up behind them and managed to see Robin Hood in fact wasn't the bird he was claiming to be.
"It's him, it's Robin Hood! I just can't wait till I tell His Majesty," he remarked as he began to fly upwards and was going to attempt to loop around and head for the royal box, but little did he suspect he entered Goeniko's sights. While Friar Tuck and the rooster were about to attempt an idea of their's Goeniko grew frustrated of Hiss' evasion and drew back her hand, made a swooping scooping motion near the ground, and effectively made and upwards slash in the air when generated an energy slice that soared upwards at an angle with swift speed, struck the balloon and made it pop much to their surprise. After falling for a brief second Goeniko then caught Hiss and firmly straightened him out, while also holding his mouth shut as she held him over a barrel of ale, and with a quick thrust got him to his head in the hole.
"Unhand*" *whop* before the poor sucker even had a full chance to speak Goeniko then swiftly karate style chopped him into the hole, and then Friar tuck plugged the hole with a cork, making a faint *thoomp* from the force he used. "Please, please! I don't drink." he protested a bit weakly inside the barrel.
"Hmph!" Goeniko put the back of her hands to her hips as she turned her head and then began to head back for where the archery was taking place, wanting to be properly present. And was just in time as the gator plucked the last remaining arrow from a target.
"Attention, everyone! The final contestants are: the Honorable Sheriff of Nottingham!" he proclaimed, and when the Sheriff went to take a bow there was a pretty loud and unified "Boooo!" from the crowds protest. "And the spindle-legged stork from Devonshire." and Robin happily waved about as the crowd obviously favored what appeared to be the skilled underdog of the competition.
"Rob was pretty amazing during all of that, wasn't he? He was so casual and yet…pro at the same time!" Sora remarked, pretty amazed by Robin Hood's display of skill so far.
"Well it's not over yet, he still has to actually win," Riku cautioned. Meanwhile Maid Marian happily waved at Robin and did get the attention of Prince John doing so.
"My dear, I suspect you favor the gangly youth. Hmm?" he asked a bit slyly.
"Uhh... why yes, sire. Heh, at least he amuses me," Maid Marian replied, trying not to let her true emotions through but it was severely difficult.
"Heh heh…Coincidentally, my dear young lady, he amuses me, too. Ha ha ha," Prince John laughed a bit, his suspicions were essentially confirmed at this point.
"For the final shootout, move the target back thirty paces!" The gator announced, and was followed by a subsequent drum roll.
"You heard him nutsy! Get movin!" the sheriff urged one of the buzzard guards, whom then swiftly darted behind and into the target but then didn't do anything else. "Move it, you birdbrain. And remember what you're supposed to do." he whispered the last part.
"Yes sir, sheriff, sir," Nutsy replied as he then jumped up to where his legs stuck out of the bottom of the target, which really made Baraluda and Goeniko raise a brow as he quickly waddled back surprisingly an exact thirty paces and plopped down. Knocking an arrow the sheriff then took aim and fired, and just as the arrow approached the target, seeming to not make that good a hit, Nutsy then leaped up and had it hit a perfect bulls eye. Everyone booed, especially Maid Marian as she showed massive disapproval.
"Why that's cheat*!" Looda tried to protest a bit in surprise but Baraluda then covered her mouth.
"It's meant to finally prove who that "stork" is," Baraluda whispered. "A final display of skill against any odds, even unfair."
"I can't believe they're allowing that!" Kairi protested.
"Something's fixed about this obviously," Riku remarked as Robin got into position.
"Well, that shot wins the Golden Arrow. the kiss, and the whole caboodle. Heh heh heh," the sheriff laughed as Robin took aim, but just as he fired the sheriff then knocked his bow from below and made him shoot skyward, prompting a gasp from everyone. But Robin wasn't done yet, setting his very last arrow and firing into the air deliberately this time, he struck the butt of the arrow already in the air, made it spin a bit before sailing down and not only struck a bulls eye, but also split the sheriff's arrow completely in half, assuring he got the better shot.
"Now that's one heck of a shot" Sora remarked.
"Impressive, to land that perfect a shot from that sort of angle, quite extraordinary…perhaps to extraordinary considering…" Goeniko remarked as she realized such a deliberate tactic sealed the fate of identity. Meanwhile Robin approached the royal box as everyone applauded and cheered that he won the match before Prince John stood up.
"Archer, I commend you. And because of your superior skill, you shall get what is coming to you-our royal congratulations," Prince John stated.
"Oh, thank you kindly, your Highness. Meeting you face to face, your High and Mighty, is a real treat," Robin proclaimed happily as he took Prince John's hands and began to shake them firmly.
"Release the royal fingers," Prince John protested slightly in disgust after managing to pull away, and then drew a sword as Robin bowed, appearing to enter a sort of knighting ceremony. "And now I name you the winner, or more appropriately." he paused before promptly slicing the disguise down the back, releasing the beak and fake shirt, revealing Robin Hood still in his green clothes under it.
"Oh no!" Kairi yelped.
"Loser," Prince John said sinisterly. "Seize him." and before anyone could really act Robin Hood was set upon by a large quantity of guards, whom soon had him chained up securely on the spot.
"I sentence you to certain, instant, and even immediate death!" Prince John ordered, even having put an emphasis on the last word.
"Oh, no! Oh! Please... Please, sire. I beg of you to spare his life. Please, have mercy," Maid Marian pleaded frantically, hoping to be heard.
"Dear emotional lady, why should I?" Prince John asked a tad honestly.
"I love him, your highness," Marian replied honestly.
"Love him? And does this prisoner return your love?" Prince John asked, almost sounding amused.
"Marian, my darling, I love you more than life itself," Robin finally spoke in his own voice again, and Marian was deeply touched by his words, as was Looda a bit while Baraluda looked on with a bit of an unusual look in her eye, as if waiting for something very specific, wanting to act.
"Ah, young love. Your pleas have not fallen upon a heart of stone. But traitors to the crown MUST die!" Prince John proclaimed.
"Traitors to the crown?! That crown belongs to King Richard! Long live King Richard!" Robin Hood shouted after being insulted.
"LONG LIVE KING RICHARD!" the entire crowd shouted while Sora, Kairi, Riku and Goeniko began to make a slow approach, about ready to pounce to release Robin Hood since it seemed they would need to act.
"Enough! I am king! King! King! Off with his head!" Prince John protested as he jumped in his seat. About then a low drum roll began to play as an intimidating, massive rhino of an executioner began to approach while carrying a fairly massive axe.
"Oh no…" Marian began to cry and hold onto Lady Cluck tightly, but just as about Sora was ready to spring into action to free his new friend, a sudden blast fired, followed by the shattering spark of the axe head breaking from an unusual and unknown force, making everyone totally freeze, wondering what just happened until all eyes set up Baraluda, pointing what appeared to be a futuristic rapier of some sort, right where the axe once was as the tip smoked briefly.
"Jumpin jiminy!" Little John protested a bit as it looked like he was about ready to duck behind the royal box but obviously now had a change of plans.
"This farce is over," Baraluda ordered. "Release the prisoner now. Or seek my retribution." she lowered her sword as she then reached up and removed her helmet, letting more of her long, elegant bright blue hair out as she tossed it to Looda, and began to approach the group that held Robin Hood tied.
"That was your first, and final warning," Baraluda stated as she'd drag the tip of her sword along the ground, making it spark, sizzle and burn each time it would touch. "NOW!" with one mighty swing she struck a side of the chains and broke them apart instantly as sparks and mini flames flew as the entire group scattered a bit in fright, having no idea what to except from this woman anymore.
"Oh Robin!" Marian exclaimed after a momentary pause and rushed to his arms while Baraluda stepped aside for the two lovers before her attention turned back to Prince John.
"I, despise dishonest, cowardly tactics," she said very coldly as she began to raise and point her sword at him.
"Y...you can't raise your weapon to me!" he tried to protest.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't..." Baraluda tried to ask as she wasn't going to be taking any of his nonsense when suddenly a shadow loomed over her.
"My Queen look out!" Looda shouted, prompting Baraluda to dive to the side, evading an attack that caused an eruption of dirt flying everywhere, creating a dust cloud. Baraluda was in a kneeling position briefly before rising and turned to the large figure silhouetted without the cloud, and it was massive, a brief glint showed through as it stood up, and made a loud deep, bellowing roar of sorts as it waved something about wildly, clearing the cloud to reveal a massive silver suit of armor within, towering over everybody present, and sported an equally massive double bladed axe that was of an identical color, that it waved with a single hand before taking it in both.
"Is...is that a heartless!?" Kairi asked in shock.
"No, it doesn't bear the mark, or any of the other marks of the seemingly mindless drones we've faced," Riku replied as he and Sora drew their keyblades, before suddenly another identical suit of armor landed in the vicinity, but was of almost pure black, and wielded the same type of weapon matching his coloring. Goeniko ran up and looked on in astonishment.
"They always come in pairs, don't they?" Sora quipped.
"That's a type of Ironknuckle!" Goeniko gasped.
"A what!?" Riku asked in bewilderment.
"Ruh huh huh!" a weird deep hollow laugh came from behind Looda, making her quickly whirl around to see a set of identical looking skeletons, wielding curved, wavey crimson blades, round shields, and bits of armor with a white glow in their sockets. Their slow approach made her back towards Baraluda, whom gave a mild glance back to take in the new foes.
"Stalfoes too?!" Goeniko yelped. And almost as if on cue there was this bizarre high pitched squawk of sorts, revealing another set of creatures, this time some type of lizard folk that stood on their hind legs, sported some mild armor, and wielded long thin swords, most of them were green but one in particular looked paler in color, and had a slightly different shaped head with looked like spikey frills along it. "And Lizalfos!?"
"You know these guys?" Sora asked.
"They're monsters not native to this world, I know that much! They shouldn't even be here!" Goeniko replied.
"Much like us then. And if monsters they are, monsters shall fall!" Baraluda exclaimed as she charged in on the silver Ironknuckle, firmly striking it with a bright spark from her weapon and it's armor before easily ducking it's first swing, and leaped back to avoid the second, and then side stepped it's horizontal slam. She took a few steps back, but a quick glance to her right revealed the black one coming in with a swipe that she just barely avoided as well, as each swing created a gust of wind that made her hair and cape flutter about. She cautiously backed up as now both of them were focusing in on her.
"Hey Rob!" Little John called as he tossed Robin a sword while he took up a mace, quickly taking on some of the guards who were coming in on the action, while Robin managed to deftly deflect each and every sword strike coming in from the Lizalfos with quick ease, taking em aback a bit.
"Marian hold this!" Looda called, tossing her Baraluda's helmet as a Stalfos came right at her, but she then side stepped and turned to avoid it's thrust, grabbing it by the wrist as she then gripped the top of it's shield with her other hand, and firmly bash it's rim into it's face, wrench the shield loose as it fell over, and pitched it firmly at another, nailing it square in the face before the first Stalfos she defeated vanished in flames, taking it's equipment with it, but not before the shield took out the other one. As Robin was dueling with the Lizalfos trying to overrun him, Prince John quickly tried to seize the opportunity and strike him from behind with his own sword, but to his dismay Robin was as alert as a fox could be, and quickly did a quick turn, and knocked the sword out of his hand with the utmost of ease.
"Don't hurt me! D-d-don't hurt me! Help! Help!" Prince John cried out as he quickly bailed from the scene, diving behind a bunch of barrels. "KILL HIM!" he briefly emerged from behind his hiding spot briefly, flailing his fists before swiftly slinking back into hiding. Despite Robin's expertise in sword fighting against incredible odds, the truth was he was being pushed back just a bit mostly because the Lizalfos were actually competent fighters trying to outmaneuver him, backing off and trying to get a good angle before they'd either attempt to swarm at once, or assault him from multiple angles, which he hardly gave em any to use but they were proving they were deadly and meant business regardless.
"Run for it, lassie! This is no place for a lady!" Lady Kluck said firmly which was a bit ironic considering but still Marian didn't object as she quickly ran off while the Sheriff tried to grab Kluck, only for her to take him firmly by the arm and throw him over her shoulder with a firm slam to the ground. "Take THAT you scoundrel!" meanwhile a number of Prince John's rhino spear guards started chasing Marian, much to her horror when she realized they started coming after her despite trying to avoid the fight.
"Help! Robin, Help!" she called out, while the Lizalfos weren't giving him much of an opening to break from the fight, but then Sora and Riku jumped in to face off against the Lizalfos to give Robin a bit of breathing room since they were trying their darnedest to overcome him, and also give him the opening he needed.
"We got these guys, you focus on taking care of Marian," Sora told Robin as he took on the lower ranking Lizalfos while Riku clearly forced out the leader and was dueling him in single combat, the leader's blade also being a bit fancier as their weapons clashed and sparked.
"Right you are!" Robin happily obliged as he took a nearby rope of flags and swung off, quickly scooping up Marian easily as they landed atop of a tent canopy. "Marian, my love, marry me?"
"Oh, darling, I thought you'd never ask," Marian replied before the tent partially tore through as they landed safely on a seat, and more guards tried to seize them but Robin easily fenced them off while they got up. "But you could've chosen a more romantic setting."
"And for our honeymoon-London, Normandy, sunny Spain!" Robin proudly exclaimed as he easily knocked the foes back before casually tossing his sword aside and taking Marian's hand as they started to casually stroll off.
"Yes, Yes! Why not?" Marian happily chuckled as Goeniko ended up witnessing this scene unfold.
"Did they seriously just propose so casually just now?" she asked in a bit of disbelief.
"It would seem so," Kairi replied as she peered around her, before the shot of bolt firing got Goeniko's attention, prompting her to swiftly hold out her arm as she partially turn, the tip of a bolt hitting her palm, only to be met by a flash of light and an unusual noise as the bolt froze, before she took it elegantly between her fingers, looking back at the unlucky bloke who fired it.
"Now that, wasn't very nice," she slyly quipped as she twirled the bolt about between her fingers, much to Kairi's shock and amazement. Meanwhile Looda grabbed the forearm of a Stalfos as he swung downward, prompting her to hoist herself up and pin it's neck between her shins, as she then attempted to use her weight to drag and toss the foe down upon the ground, only she ended up making his head pop off, which threw off her whole momentum.
"GYUAH! GOUGH!" she yelped and grunted as she landed upon her stomach due to her manuver not quite going as she intended. Looking up the last Stalfos was coming for her, as she then quickly got to her knees, but then laid upon her back as she tucked her legs close to her chest, before then using her arms to firmly shove upon the ground and launch herself forward, thrusting her legs out she burst through it's ribcage as it then disolved with ease. This time though predicting this she managed to land upon her feet in a crouching position, letting out a bit of a sigh. Meanwhile Sora and Riku were still contending with their respective opponents a bit, as the Lizalfos were proving to be rather tough combatants. Sora managed to use his keyblade toss to finally take one of em down, as it let out a deathcry of sorts before vanishing in magical flames, but he barely was able to avoid and block the remaing few's attack since they all charged at once when he was unarmed, and he barely stopped their blades in front of his face.
Meanwhile Riku was borderline fencing with the leader, using a mixture of pairies, thrusts, swings and jabs, the fact that Robin Hood held all of these guys at once only showed how capable he himself was in this whole affair. As that went on, Goeniko had attracted a number of the spear guards charging her as she then started to dispatch them in the following fashion. First a casual side step before doing a fetching elegant high kick into his gut given they were so tall, making him double over, follow by her then eblowing him in the crainium. Next she then cheekily grinned as she backed up, one hand behind her back as she used the other to make the "Come hither" gesture with her fingers, managing to do what she did with the bolt to the coming spear point, only this time it froze the guard too completely in his tracks, before she took hold of the spear and slammed him head first into the soil.
"EEEHHYUH!" she then managed to take said spear from him, spin, strike the butt of the stick across the face of the other before letting go, and then disappeared as she leaped forward, only to reappear, and slammed a hard kick into the face of the last, sending him plowing backwards a ways before she gingerly landed back upon her feet. She then gave a mild pat of her sleeves, and then the sides of her coat agiainst her thighs more firmly, before then pulling them outwards as she crossed her legs and did her own take of a curtsy. "Excuse me. But it's not polite to charge at a woman." Kairi couldn't help but be a bit amazed by how expertly and efficiently Goeniko handled herself so far.
At that moment Baraluda ended up striking the silver Ironknuckle again, this time managing to strike off it's breastplate, revealing the chain mail mesh underneath. As it staggered back the black one did another double swipe at her, as she deftly dodged the first swing and leaped back to avoid the second, however her foot snagged one of the ropes anchoring a tent down, causing her to stagger and fall over with a yelp. She looked in horror as the silver one, now having lost a bit of it's weight, as she had been using the fact they hobbled along slowly to her advantage in the fight, but now it was running at her full speed and brought it's axe down swiftly, which she just narrowly rolled out of the way to avoid, but that bought enough time for the black one to close the distance. However being in the position she was now she knew it was the right time to take the shot, so she fired a beam from her sword right into it's chest, blasting a hole through it before it fell to pieces while vanishing in burning smoke. However as she quickly scrambled to her feet and back up as the silver one started chasing her, she saw Sora strike down one of the last two Lizalfos he was facing, and when he tried to hit the other, it instead leaped over him and quickly kicked him from behind.
"Boy, stay down!" she shouted.
"What!?" Sora asked in confusion as he looked up slightly, as the Lizalfos looked over in bewilderment, only to see Baraluda's weapon pierce through the Ironknuckle with flashing sparks and fizzles before another beam fired, taking out the Lizalfos instantly. Sora was left a bit stunned by this as the Ironknuckle faded from the existence and Baraluda casually strolled forward, as casual as she could muster as every stepped was one of regal, powerful beautiful refine grace before she stood over Sora.
"You should be more careful child," she remarked.
"Hey, I ain't that much of a kid!" Sora protested as he instantly sprung to his feet and tried to put on a serious disposition, stance, and stern expression, only he looked more silly compared to the seriousness Baraluda was exuding by simply standing before him. She simply stared at him in a stern silence before her gaze softened, and even smiled.
"Sure you are." she firmly ruffled the top of his spiky hairdo, much to Looda's surprise she was displaying such wistfulness with the boy. However their attention quickly directed to Riku when after a few more clashes he managed to strike the sword away from the leader, and then strike him down with a follow through, making it then fall to it's knees, and then vanish in flames before falling over completely.
"That seems to have just now finished off the invaders, although there's still the royal guard around," Looda said as she observed some of the less serious chaos going on still.
"Oh, what a main event this is!" Little John said rather excitedly as he shoulder checked a number of guards into a large tent as they start tussling about, visibly making the tent shake and bulge about from the mayhem within.
"...this quickly devolved into a mere common brawl," Baraluda couldn't help but remark with a mild hint of disdain.
"Hey I think it's kinda fun!" Sora grinned cheekily.
"Is everyone alright?" Riku asked as he trotted over.
"Yeah, all that's left really is for us to get out of here, soon as we get a good opening," Sora replied.
"Oh goodness!" Looda gasped when she saw Lady Kluck barged into the other side of the tent Little John was in, prompting him to get shoved out, but quickly gather himself up, eager to charge back in.
"What a beautiful brawl!" he remarked as he shoulder checked back inside, prompting Lady Kluck to get bunted out the other side in a mild heap.
"What an ludicrous squabble this devolved into..." Baraluda couldn't help but bemoan a bit as she put a hand to her face, lightly shaking her head before they saw Kluck grab the fallen Golden Arrow from nearby, and firmly jab it into the tent, causing someone to cry in pain, prompting the tent's anchored points to get ripped out, and then the whole tent was on the run, wildly steering about before veering right for them, much to her then widening eyes of utter shock, realizing it was a blind stampeding herd of rhinos in a tent. "...I stand corrected! This is!" and with that much to her technical horror, along with Looda's, Sora's and Riku's they started bolting away from the tent. About then Little John ripped through a section of the roof of the tent, looking around in a bit of surprise.
"Hey! Whose driving this flying Umbrella!?" he can't help but ask as he see's a lotta people running back in forth in panic, while basically chasing after Baraluda, Looda, Sora and Riku in a panic as they can't seem to make a turn without it following them. Meanwhile Robin Hood was fencing off against the gator whom had been announcing all of the events so far, while he and Marian were by a pie stand. Goeniko ended up stumbling upon this scene mostly from cautiously backing up from seeing the stampeding tent running around.
"And we'll have six children..." Robin was saying as he still fenced, not losing his train of thought.
"Six!? Oh a dozen a least..." Marian replies eagerly, much to Goeniko's bewilderment.
"Seriously!? How can you two...ROBIN!" she initially held up her arms in disbelief before spotting the more serious vulture come out of his hiding spot in the pie stand and take aim with his crossbow, prompting her to shout as he fired, but Robin was well aware and simply ducked the shot, prompting it to bounce off of a shield, right back at the vulture's face, zinging above his head as he narrowly ducked it, looking relieved when he looked back when it missed, only to get nailed in the face by a pie Marian grabbed from nearby.
"Take that! Ha ha!" she laughed.
"Now you see here you back stabbing little..." Goeniko approached the vulture, about to have a little word with him when...
"INCOMING!" Sora bellowed, prompting her to look back by quickly turn at the hip, her hair and clothing whipping about to see Robin take Marian off as the tent was closing in on their position, as he and the others finally dove out of the way. Goeniko gasped in terror at this stampeding tent, prompting her to quickly leap and teleport away just as the pie stand was trampled to pieces, several pies ending up smacking Little John in the face in rapid succession as it was a stack curving perfectly upwards. The gator tried to run away but got instantly trampled in seconds, soon picking up his head to find the vulture looking back at him, as he got caught up in the stampede by being in the pie stand. Meanwhile Goeniko appeared atop of a stone tower, at the very edge of it and found it was occupied by two elephants which she startled as she looked back, a bit equally so.
"Pardon me, this was the safest spot," she chuckled mildly, before turning her attention to the rapidly speeding tent below, seeing Little John finally get off of it by climbing out of the hole he made, ran along the roof and then jumped off the back as the tent then zoomed by the tower they were on. Prompting her to cross one arm and start tapping her chin with her finger. "Hmm...now that I think about it...several hard headed, stampeding pack of rhinos in a focused point...oh dear..." she ended up rationalizing her position wasn't that secure as the tent came speeding right on back.
"Toodles!" she quickly sprung off and was soaring on down, leaving the elephants much to their fate as the tent did indeed bash into the base of the tower, completely wrecking through it, managing to carry it a ways before it collapsed completely, meanwhile the gator managed to collect himself a bit as he got back to his feet.
"Attention everyone*" *DONK* he tried to address only to end up having Goeniko bounce off of his head, knocking him out.
"Excuse me!" she apologized before landing gingerly.
"Guys I think we overstayed our welcome!" Kairi said as she ran to everyone that had gathered, Marian coming up and giving Baraluda back her helmet before she went running off with Robin.
"I'm inclined to agree at this point. Hurry Looda!" Baraluda agreed as she began following them out, and everyone else started following her. Meanwhile they ended up sprinting past where Prince John was hiding, prompting him to see they were making off with Maid Marian essentially.
"Stop that girl!" he cried out, before a young boy rabbit dressed in a blue shirt, and yellow hat fired his little bow, and actually hit his mark, right in Prince John's rear, making him cry out, only to get firmly clonked on the head by Kluck's fist holding the golden arrow still.
"Take that you scurvy knafe!" she said firmly, rolling heavily with the R, before she then sprinted off. About then mostly everyone had gotten into the woods nearby.
"Seize the fat one!" Prince John cried out after managing to collect himself, prompting Baraluda and some of the others to stop at the edge of the forest to look back, only to stare in utter disbelief as Lady Kluck was running circles around the guards, dodging their attempts to tackle her as she ran incredibly fast, even down to karate chopping them on the head when she had the chance.
"That little hen's mad!" Baraluda protested.
"You gotta admit she's quite strong willed, in a lot more ways than one," Sora remarked before she finally made her way to the edge of the forest, only to turn around.
"Long live King Richard! Yeeeeeehee!" she cried out as she leaped in the air, only for Little John to quickly grab her from behind and swiftly pull her into the forest, just in time as an insane volley of arrows pegged the surrounding trees, before Baraluda fired off a warning shot into the air to deter anymore fire, and anyone to try and pursue them as they all retreated into the forest.
-Meanwhile, deep under New York-
Batgirl currently stood beside her bike with her cape draped over her shoulders as she waited. She was currently in an old ruin hidden deep under the city near a massive stone circular archway with a few steps leading up into it on either side, while inside the essential ring was what appeared to be a large body of constantly rippling water that you couldn't see through. A few more minutes passed before she heard the sound of a familiar engine as Jack's Cadillac pulled up, with him driving, Hannah in the passenger, with Mega Man, Link and Spider-Man in the back seat.
"So this is everyone that's coming?" Batgirl asked.
"Everyone that could reasonably fit. While Diana could fly with us we figured she, Catwoman, Jill and the X-Men should stay here to hold the fort at least," Jack replied.
"Mostly so someone could try and see what they could uncover and find while keeping an eye out for trouble," Spider-Man added.
"This is starting to feel a touch overwhelming…" Batgirl said as she approached her bike, gripping to handlebars as she began to mount it. "But we have to try. Hopefully we'll have more people on our side before this is over." she revved her bike a little as they got ready to head on through. Pressing a quick little button on her bike a ramp formed, allowing them to quickly drive on through the portal, really making it ripple as they'd exit out of a completely different one, now back in Jack and Hannah's world. After a few quick turns they were out in the badlands, speeding on through.
"So what are we looking for?" Jack asked as he drove alongside her.
"Well, now that we're through…" Batgirl paused as she pushed a few buttons and turned a few dials, the mini screen on her bike soon displayed an energy signature on a rough map point. "There is actually a faint display of an energy distortion in this area…here…" with one last push the special communicator stashed in the Cadillac came on, which Jack took an examined.
"That's roughly near one of the poacher compounds!" he protested.
"Now that spells real big trouble!" Hannah added, sounding a bit horrified.
"That's putting it mildly! If those bone heads got a hold of something real nasty, it could spell disaster for this entire area most likely!" Link stated.
"We better hurry! Chances are they already found it, so we really gotta book!" Jack said before both he and Batgirl sped off even faster.
"It's quite a ways away…I just hope we're not too late…" Batgirl added.
-Elsewhere in another world-
The rain fell upon a small forest as a red winged tipped raven flew among the treetops before perching upon a branch and gazed out towards a cabin close by, watching it in utter silence. Inside one of the room's a young woman was tossing and turn in bed, groaning as her head thrashed about a bit frantically, pausing briefly as she'd deeply gasp and exhale, she appeared to be in some form of pain.
-Meanwhile-
Annet was alone as she found found herself in a completely dark void as she was running, unsure where to go or where she was even heading but she felt she had to keep moving as she was slowly panting from growing exhaustion.
"Help me…" she froze as she heard a young woman's voice speak, one she didn't recognize but it was a little distorted and had an echo. "No run…run away…run away…AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" it screamed as she then saw a blue flame spark in the distance ahead of her before it suddenly transformed into a massive figure before her, outstretching over the darkness as it rapidly approached, black slit eyes and a sinister thin smile appeared as the mouth grew wider.
"You're all mine!" the thing boomed in a woman's voice she never heard before as it grabbed Annet in it's hands faster than she could react as it was slowly being enveloped in the flames as she frantically struggled.
"AHH! GUHHG! Lemme go!" Annet screamed as she thrashed and kicked about to try and get free, feeling herself being crushed and the life being drained from her body.
"Soon the Multiverse will be all mine! I am the supreme ruler! I control it all! I, am, your superior!" the thing boomed loudly as it's face drew closer to Annet.
"NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Annet screamed loudly before she realized she was sitting in a bed, soon starring in a blank silence before groaning a bit as she clutched her chest and fell backwards, panting and gasping a bit as she had no idea what happened, but that sheer power and imposing presence seemed to linger. As her senses cleared she realized she was in a small bedroom within a cabin judging by the simple décor while she could hear rain pelting against the walls outside. She noticed her jacket was missing and so were her golden gauntlets, along with her boots and socks and headband, so her long green spiky hair was loose and a bit all over the place. Before she could do much else her head picked up as she heard someone enter the room, seeing a tall figure wearing a brown cloak approaching the bed.
"Are you alright? Your scream gave me quite a start," a young, soft woman's voice spoke from underneath the cloak, which Annet noticed was dripping wet, likely due to the rain outside.
"I think so but…who are you?" Annet asked, feeling a bit intimidated by the hidden figure. Soft pale hands then emerged from under the cloak and reached up for the hood, soon pulling it back as Annet's eyes widened to see silky smooth skin, lush long blond hair get revealed as the cloak parted from the woman's head, soon showing her vibrant green eyes, a mini three gemmed circlet on her forehead, and long pointed ears on the side of her head as she smiled gently back at her.
"My name, is Deedlit," she replied.
"Y…you're an elf?" Annet asked her in a bit of disbelief at the sight before her.
"I am. An elf from the Isle of Lodoss, North of Alecrest," Deedlit replied. "And who might you be?" she then began to remove the cloak to reveal her green dress with a golden edged caller and a golden design on her chest. It was hard to describe what it looked like but it was very fancy and elegant looking, as she wore a brown belt with a gold buckle around her waist, making the dress hug her figure more and the skirt came to around a quarter of her thighs as she wore blue knee high boots that had an identical golden design to her caller.
"A…Annet Myer but…I never heard of those places," she replied.
"I can't say I'm surprised. Especially with how you're garbed," Deedlit commented.
"Pardon?" Annet asked in a rather astonished tone before she recalled something important with a brief pause as she then sprung across the bed and gripped Deedlit's shoulders, much to her absolute shock. "CARRIE! WHERE'S CARRIE!?" Deedlit winched at the loudness of her voice in her face before firmly shoving Annet back onto the bed with a firm whump.
"Not so loud! Geeze…ya don't have to scream in my face…" Deedlit moaned a bit as she rubbed her ears a bit. "I found you both outside in the riverbed as the storm was starting to pick up. Lucky for you I was able to get you both to this cabin before it got really bad. I was able to do some quick sweeps before coming back in." she then sighed for a moment as she put her hands on her hips.
"So how did you two end up in the river exactly?"
"I…don't really know…" Annet replied honestly, her mind was a bit blurry on what happened with her and Carrie, mostly since her mind was still scrambled a bit with that nightmare. "I…I'm fairly certain we're both incredibly lost…"
"You two had only just recently met haven't you?" Deedlit asked.
"What was your first clue?" Annet asked as she held her arms.
"Well, while neither of you are dressed in clothing types I'm familiar with, neither of you are dressed like each other for that matter," Deedlit replied, as Annet recalled Carrie sure wasn't dressed like a modern era girl. And yet her clothing almost looked like a schoolgirl's of some sort but she couldn't pinpoint exactly "when" it came from. Before the two could continue talking there was a sudden knocking upon the door to the cabin.
"Looks like we got company," Annet commented. She saw her socks and boots and quickly went to get them on as Deedlit went to see if she could spot the person from the window but wasn't at a good angle while they were on the second flood.
"I'll go check it out, you just get dressed," Deedlit said as she grabbed a nearby cloth and managed to make it into a makeshift hood, which obscured her ears a bit while she went down the stairs. Making sure it was secure as she approached she soon opened the door and received a bit of a shock. On the other side was a woman wearing dark colored armor, and a long skirt, but what startled her a bit was her incredibly long lush black hair, longer than anyone's she'd ever seen before.
"Is it alright if I come in out of the rain?" the woman asked. She had an imposing but yet strangely gentle presence.
"Of course you may. Get in before it gets much worse," Deedlit replied as she stepped aside, allowing the woman to enter. "We do have guests already, one's awake while the other is still recovering."
"Recovering from what?" the woman asked as she turned her head and raised a brow, revealing partially a large tattoo on her back.
"The poor dears nearly drowned in the nearby river, the youngest is still unconscious but is thankfully breathing. She should recover soon I hope," Deedlit replied. About then Annet came down, fully dressed as she fluffed the lapels of her jacket.
"I don't even remember how we got in the river," Annet bluffed a little, but it wasn't too far from the truth as she remembered essentially sinking into what she now considered a portal or vortex and blacked out afterwards. "I'm Annet Myer. And you might be?"
"My name is Shanoa," the tall women replied. Although it was subtle at first it became a little drastic when the saw the pale tattoos on her shoulders soon glow an intense red and then fade back, the cycle repeating.
"W…what's with those…glowing marks?" Deedlit asked.
"They're my glyph tattoos. They allow me to use, well, magic essentially," Shanoa replied.
"What sort of magic we referring to?" Annet asked as she tilted her head.
"The ability to summon weapons and spells. For instance," Shanoa held out her arm and a blue bladed sword appeared, with a unique bronze hilt, the blade was fairly large with curved points, the edges were sharp silver, with a golden pattern near the base. This surprised Deedlit while Annet was mostly intrigued by this.
"Then it's a lot like my gauntlets, although I only have one sword," Annet stated as she held out her own hand and her sword materialized as well.
"Well, I must say I'm impressed," Shanoa commented.
"Now girls," Deedlit said as she walked up between the girls and put her hands on their arms. "Now isn't the time for showing off. There are more important things going on." she then gently lowered their arms.
"You're right. I'll go check on Carrie," Annet said as their swords dematerialized before turning around to then head back up stairs.
"And I'll go make some food, since I imagine we're all a bit hungry," Deedlit said as she put her hands together briefly as she then parted for the kitchen, gathering up some food she had stored in what she dubbed a "magic ice box" as Shanoa watched her. Annet then entered another bedroom and found Carrie laying in bed, her mouth slightly agape as she breathed a bit heavily before taking a big gasp and signing groan while Annet approached. Opening her eyes after they fluttered faintly she soon spotted Annet by her bedside after her vision blurred in and out of focus for a moment.
"…Annet?" Carrie asks faintly before Annet gently put a hand on her forehead.
"It's alright Carrie, we're both ok. Although it was a bit of a close one I think," she replied.
"What happened though…where are we?" Carrie asked as she was blanking on a majority of what transpired before, although she was beginning to recall faint details. "Last thing I remember was so many bright colors…and then…a sudden cold…I could barely breathe…" she clutched her throat and gently ran her fingers across it, taking a few deep breaths mostly to make sure she was still even able to breathe correctly, which she was able to.
"To be brief, we didn't get captured by that robot chasing us. However when I went to rescue you, we both got sucked into a portal and ended up here," Annet replied. "Where "here" is, is anyone's guess though."
"Are we alone?" Carrie asked.
"No, a woman rescued us from the river we ended up in, while another woman just showed up. I suggest we be careful though, while I don't think we have anything to fear you never know what might happen," Annet replied.
"I understand. It will be difficult to determine who we can or cannot trust," Carrie said.
"Think you can stand?" Annet asked before Carrie slowly eased herself into a sitting position, wanting to see how her body reacted to changing positions and doing any real movement.
"I should be alright...just help me to walk a bit..." Carrie replied as she slowly moved to drape her legs over the side and held her hands out.
"Sure. Come on, you should meet the others and get some food," Annet smiled as she gently took her hands and helped her out of bed. A few minutes later after helping Carrie get dressed, Annet began helping Carrie down the steps, soon getting her into a room with a large table where Shanoa was sitting, whom looked up at the pair, and most notably Annet froze as Shanoa and Carrie's eyes locked for a moment. There was a mild tense silence before one of them spoke up.
"...to what family do you belong?" Shanoa asked rather curiously.
"The Fernandez, also known by other names...why?" Carrie asked suspiciously.
"You're Sypha's grandchild."
"Who's Sypha?" Annet asked.
"Sypha Belnades was my family's great grandmother. Despite the name change. She had married the Belmonts," Carrie replied. Annet then took the moment to get her over to a seat as she then sat herself down. "So you're from my world then if you know that."
"Your magic had some form of purity to it, it's powerful but I can feel it coming off of you," Shanoa said.
"And I felt roughly the same thing from you. Granted not like mine per say but still, despite some...mild dark attributes I assume are more of just some spells you have?" Carrie asked.
"I have indeed ended up acquiring some dark elemental abilities, but that's it really. I have slain Dracula, that should tell you my usage."
"Dracula? As in the vampire?" Annet asked.
"The prince of darkness in our world. He's caused us nothing but pain and misery..." Carrie replied, looking a bit pained.
"I'm sorry...I didn't mean to..." Annet tried to say when they noticed the smell of food, and before long Deedlit came in with a few dishes of bread, meat, and soup.
"Prepping this food didn't take nearly as long as I thought, so let's dig in," she said as she set the food and drinks out before seating herself.
"Thank you. I must say, this looks rather good than I've had in awhile," Carrie commented before they started to eat.
"Hmmm, it's simple but I know of a fair few dishes. Mind you I know of the ingredients, not how to prepare them," Shanoa remarked. It was a fairly quiet meal that lasted only a few minutes or so, but it was still a filling experience.
"Hah...I hadn't actually eaten a good meal for awhile so I needed that," Annet said before Shanoa stood up from her seat, starting to approach Deedlit, still wearing the makeshift hood over her head.
"I don't mean to be rude but we hadn't fully introduced ourselves. You know who I am." she said.
"Oh, right. My name is Annet Myer."
"And my name, is Deedlit."
"Deedlit, you're not a human are you?" Shanoa asked, prompting a bit of a brief silence before Deedlit eyed her slightly.
"It's alright. She's just sensing how different your aura is from humans. I can sense it too, it's rather pure and different from anything I've sensed, so I know Shanoa isn't implying you're a demon," Carrie interjected.
"Well...when you put it that way..." Deedlit started to reach up, but stopped when Shanoa gently gripped her hood and pulled it back, her eyes widening in genuine surprise upon seeing the ears stretch back to full length, while Carrie stood up in surprise, looking on in genuine awe, if not a child like astonishment.
"...you're a real elf? And not some approximation?" Shanoa asked.
"I am very much indeed an elf. I'm...a bit humbled that I'm the first...pleasant magical being you've ever met before. I kinda feeling like some rare mythical creature all of a sudden..." Deedlit chuckled a bit, feeling rather bashful and a bit humble as she timidly fidgeted in her seat.
"Well...if we all trust each other, I have a statement to make," Annet said as she stood up.
"What's the matter, Annet?" Shanoa asked.
"I'm being hunted, by who I don't know what...but...it's after me, Carrie, and someone else. And for all I know...you two are in equally as much danger whether you're with me or not," Annet said firmly, alarming Shanoa and Deedlit a bit, although Carrie was already well aware of this fact.
"This person is sending machines after us. Humanoid...well, robots. Not generic clunkers like you see in a bad movie something...far more advanced and powerful," Carrie stated.
"So what do we do then?" Deedlit asked.
"Well, we have to find our way back to civilization, and more over, back to Chicago. There's some people there that can help us," Annet replied.
"Who?" the three girls asked at once.
"Well...you've seen a lotta stuff so I suppose you might not have as hard of a time swallowing this fact, as much as silly as this sounds, I'm dead serious. We need to find The Biker Mice From Mars."
Chapter End