Episode 10: Grabbed by the Grendel
It was just another average nighttime in the kingdom of Nottingham, no sign of trouble of outlaws since peace had been restored, at least for now. King Richard was back on the throne, his brother Prince John and his cohorts were still imprisoned for their crimes while he was away. Life couldn't be more perfect the way it was, but that was all not to be. A mile outside the castle, there was a murky swamp, a Shadow Monk was teleported there carrying a large green bag. Opening up the bag near the edge of the swamp were larger than average bones, completely inhuman, that he placed in the shallow water, followed by a scroll with some strange emblems on it. Almost immediately, the monk uttered the arcane incantation written on the scroll, and when he was finished, the area with the bones, began the glow a green aura, the bones magically started forming a skeleton, and then in the dark, flesh magically got reattached to some strange, larger than average humanoid shape.
"Now go, you've been reincarnated to wreck revenge on the mortal world, claim us some lives for our master….." the monk ordered in a grim voice pointing in the direction of the Sherwood castle and off the humanoid monster went. It was close to bedtime, only a few candle lights were seen both in the castle and in the nearby town, everyone was going about normal activities. In a remote corner of the village a few Rhino guards were standing by the edge, keeping watch. All of a sudden, strange, ominous breathing sounds were heard from afar, the two came over to investigate the source, halberds at the ready. Before they could even detect what it was, huge, inhuman, clawed hands came down on them cutting through the armor and striking them out in a manner of seconds, the two collapsed and then were dragged away by the insidious presence.
At another point, a couple of undistinguished commoners were busy chatting away of some unimportant but interesting manner, when they heard a strange rustling sound, from afar. The commoners like the guards before investigated the strange sound, but before they could figure it out two big clawed hands lunged at them, snatching them up before any of them could even scream, and then they were no more, not a trace. After a while the strange being lumbered his way towards the castle.
King Richard and all his royal company were enjoying themselves at dinner time, admiring each other's company and chatting about various matters. Even Robin Hood and his new wife, Maid Marian were there. While all that was happening, under the cover of darkness and using the moat, the strange being was able to snatch up some guards around the courtyard, though there was one witness of the incident, a royal servant, who saw a few of the rhino guards, before they could even know what was out to get them and cut through their armor, dispatching them instantly. The servant ran as fast as he could to the dining hall.
"Your Majesty! We have an intruder! A very gruesome intruder!" He shouted, as he bolted into the dining hall, everyone froze in fear, wide-eyed with fright upon hearing this.
"Where did you this?" King Richard asked.
"In the courtyard, some big monster snatched a few of hour guards! Then he escaped into the moat, he could be anywhere by now!" Robin Hood turned to Marian.
"Better put you in your quarters, Marian, this could get dangerous..." He told her, holding her hand.
"I'd be safer if you were nearby..." she replied with a little worry in her voice.
"Count me in too!" added Skippy with excitement.
"Very well Skippy. Off we go..." The trio departed with haste while the guards doubled the protection, not knowing what kind of abomination they were up against. The patrolling lasted for at least 30 minutes, the guards checked all the windows and main entry points, while Robin, Skippy, even Lady Kluck kept watch in Marian's quarters. Outside, Friar Tuck was silently praying that the abomination would be stopped and everyone else would not suffer a horrible fate.
Just then, a loud sniffing and growling sound was heard outside, everyone in the quarters heard it. Everyone tensed up, the sound got louder and louder, evetually in the blink of an eye, a large clawed arm shot through the window, gave everyone a jump, followed by the face of the creature, a slimy, buck-toothed ogre-like monster with burning red eyes, snarling viciously as it tried to grab whoever it could reach. Robin and Skippy each fired an arrow at the creature, but as the arrows penetrated the flesh, it felt no pain, as the monster then grabbed Marian who screamed in terror as she was getting taking away by the hideous monster out the window. The remaining people in the quarters felt dumb-founded as now how would they stop a monster that tough and frightening? They later informed the king of what happened, but he did not have an answer.
Just when things looked bleak a black portal appeared out of nowhere and out popped the Z-Team, to everyone's relief, knowing they'd be able to stop the monster and rescue the victims. The group was informed by Robin and Skippy of the monster, Zack immediately knew what the answer was.
"I think we're dealing with the Grendel, a very frightening monster from an epic long ago. We'd better hurry if were to rescue Marian!"
"We'll come with you!" Robin replied.
"Okay but try to be careful, this thing is no pushover!" With that, everyone ran out of the castle, aided by Zack's threat detector and Pluto's nose, guiding them to the source of the foul-smelling Grendel. They eventually got to the swamp where the creature was hiding out, but before they could do that, they were stopped by 3 hooded people, with frightening daggers drawn.
"Shadow Monks!" shouted Zack, everyone prepared for battle. Robin shot at one, as the arrow struck the assailant, the black veil fell to the ground with nothing else. The lions took care of the other two with no problem, biting and clawing and the same thing happened to the other two. Soon, the Grendel emerged, holding Marian, still kicking and screaming, trying to escape the monster's grasp.
Jasmine launched her whip at the monster's arm and held and tight to prevent it from escaping, Rajah followed and bit one of the legs, followed by Pluto who bit the other leg, but the monster wasn't fazed, and back handed Pluto off of him, sending him flying and yelping in pain as he landed. Mulan with Mushu's help lit a firework which burst at the Grendel's chest, which caused him to yell in pain, dropping Marion, the lions came forward to catch her and get her to safety. Zack stepped forward and pointed his sword at Grendel.
"Flame Blade!" he shouted, a stream of fire shot out of Zack's sword and in a matter of seconds, Grendel was up in flames, howling in pain, and then crumpled over into the murky swamp dead and smoldering. "Do pardon me, but here's a nice served Stinky Burger!" he wryly mused, causing everyone to laugh at the dark humor. The remains of Grendel's victims were nearby, all in bones, too late to be saved.
Back at the castle, everyone was given a warm congratulations for eliminating the monster and rescuing Marian. Friar Tuck came forward and handed Zack an object, another clear plate-like artifact with some strange markings, whatever the purpose was of this and the other object the group got from Athena a while ago, they were sure it would have some hidden purpose.