Chapter 25: Not in Nottingham
A few days had passed. The Gummi Ship still hadn't been repaired and things had gotten worse since the archery tournament. Much, MUCH worse. Prince John had tripled the taxes, determined to squeeze every drop out of the poor people of Nottingham. It was sucking the heart and soul out of the kingdom. And rain fell upon the kingdom, symbolizing the despair people were experiencing. Robin Hood and the Merry Men were trying their best, but even they could only do so much.
Even the church was empty and all but abandoned, save the friar who ran it by himself.
"We're payin' for Prince John's humiliation right now, but maybe just hearing this bell will help a little," Friar Tuck murmured as he rang the bell at his church's lonely tower. "Gotta do what we can to keep their hopes alive..."
"Sometimes, hope's all you got," Tuck looked over to see Yozora and Joyex waiting in the entryway. Yozora held up a small sack of Munny as he continued, "Pickings have been slim, but Robin said we should help a friend out."
"Oh, bless you all," Friar Tuck beamed, taking the sack. "Risking so much to keep our hopes alive..."
"No prob," Yozora smiled, feeling a strange, rising feeling in his chest. Pride? Joy?
"If there's anything else we can do, just try giving us a shout," Joyex nodded.
The doors then slammed open, Friar Tuck quickly ushered the two away, shoving the sack of Munny into a wooden box as he hurriedly whispered, "Hide, quick!"
Yozora was confused, but Joyex quickly carried him to a closet. He shut the door before the two looked through a keyhole to see the Sheriff swaggering in like he owned the place.
"Howdy, Friar! Looks like I'm just in time!" he greeted with a jovial swagger.
"What's that big bellied bully want here?" Yozora growled from their hiding place.
"Nothing good, that's what," Joyex said, keeping a firm hand on Yozora's shoulder as the Sheriff walked up to the box and opened it.
The Sheriff plucked out the sack they had left there, "Well, lookie here...~"
Friar Tuck stormed forward and shouted in pure, shocked indignation, "N-now, just a second, Sheriff! That-that-that...THAT'S THE POOR BOX!"
"Sure is and I've gotta take it for POOR Prince John," the Sheriff chuckled, shoving the pouch onto his belt. "Every little bit helps~"
"Put that back, you fat pile of-" Yozora growled, already reaching for his shovel, but Joyex grabbed his wrist. "You're just-"
"SHHH!" Joyex shushed, firmly.
"Collecting taxes for that greedy, ruthless, NO GOOD, PRINCE JOHN!" Friar Tuck bellowed.
"Listen, Friar, you're mighty preachy," the Sheriff shot back, wagging a finger at Friar Tuck. "And you're gonna preach yourself right into the hangman's noose!"
Friar Tuck's response was to shout, loud as he could, "GET OUTTA MY CHURCH!"
With that, he began shoving the Sheriff out of the chapel. Yozora shoved the door open and ran to the doorway. He didn't get far as Joyex suddenly grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.
"WHAT?!" Yozora shouted, wheeling over to the Nobody.
"That," Joyex replied, pointing to the tree just past the doorway.
It was Opal, leaning against it with her arms folded, cool as a cucumber. Meanwhile, Friar Tuck was swinging a staff at the Sheriff, who had a drawn sword, but had clearly been wrongfooted by the badger's sudden attack.
"YOU WANT TAXES?! I'LL GIVE YOU TAXES!" the Friar shouted.
"We can take 'er," Yozora growled.
"Stop and THINK, Yoze," Joyex snapped. "She's EXPECTING us to go in! It's a sting operation. A SET-UP. She's COUNTING on us going in to help him! We go out there, she'll have us trapped as soon as we hit the first step! That's how she caught ME!"
Yozora looked back at the fight. Opal then moved, pulling her pistol out. A few short blasts knocked the staff out of Tuck's hand and sent him to the ground. The Sheriff pulled a shackle out and snapped it shut around the friar's neck.
"You're under arrest for treason to the crown!" he declared before dragging him away.
Yozora gripped the handle of his shovel tighter as he watched Friar Tuck, their friend, get walked away in chains. Opal glanced back, as if she was surprised that no one did anything. But she kept up her pace with the Sheriff.
"He got away. Happy?" Yozora asked.
"I'm a Nobody, I can't BE 'happy'. But I get it. It stinks, but we wouldn't have been any good to Tuck if we ran in like that. We would've just gotten caught, too," Joyex said, grabbing Yozora's shoulder. "But we ARE good to him while we're free. Because we're gonna take this back to the others and PLAN, got it?"
Yozora growled. Waiting, waiting, waiting… how much longer could Nottingham WAIT?
POHPOHPOHPOHPOHPOH
"Arrested Friar Tuck?!" Robin shouted from their hiding spot in Sherwood.
"Yeah, 'cuz he took exception to the Sheriff raiding the charity box," Joyex replied.
"We can't just let 'im stay in there," Zidane said. "Tuck's our FRIEND."
"What do you think we should do?" Sakuzy asked Joyex.
"I don't know. Tuck's our friend and we'll have a huge payoff. But Opal's there, too, and we know John's working with the Crystalli," Joyex growled. "On the one hand, Tuck's life and GOLD. On the other hand, horrible, AGONIZING failure..."
"It's not just about that," Yozora said, getting everyone's attention. "The people around here need our help. This is only gonna get worse, the longer this goes on. So, Prince John's gotta be taken down, once and for all. And if Opal wants to get in our way? We knock HER down, too. I'm going in. What the rest of you do is up to you. But I'm not waiting anymore because it might be a trap; I'm not WAITING anymore when I can DO SOMETHING about it!"
The group was quiet for a minute. Then Sakuzy spoke up, "Sounds like we got our plan, then."
"It could be a trap," Becca pointed out.
"If we go into a trap, but we KNOW it's a trap, is it STILL a trap?" Sakuzy asked, playfully.
"Yes, it IS. What YOU said was just suicidal," Joyex replied.
"Come on, men. We've got hero business to do," Robin Hood said, standing up and running down the way, Little John and Zidane in tow.
"Have fun, Joyex," Lucy said as she followed the others, Yozora leading their path.
Joyex just sighed, "I feel like I'm herding cats..."
The Nobody wound up following the group as well. In the forest, they heard Maid Marian call after them, "Be careful, all of you!"