by DAN MONTY
Robin coughed up some blood, spitting it right in the sheriff’s masked face. The sheriff ripped off Robin’s hood and ski mask looking into his eyes.
“Weak. Puny. Man. What did you hope to accomplish by making such a miserable name for yourself? You are not a hero! YOU ARE AN INSUFFERABLE THIEF,” The sheriff said, tossing Robin hard against a tree.
Robin cried out in pain, coughing up more blood as the massive man laughed, kicking him while he was down.
“I won’t kill you, Robin of Loxley. I’m going to take everything from you! Your home... your friends and your pretty lady. Then, when you have lost everything... watched your whole world fall apart... only then, may you BEG ME to die,” The sheriff went on.
Robin's face filled with rage.
“NOOOOOOOOO!” he screamed, raising his bow in bloody fingers. The sheriff snatched the bow out of his hands, snapping it in two and tossing it aside before punching Robin square in the face, knocking him out cold.
The sheriff turned to one of the robot soldiers, whose eyes glowed a fierce red.
“Search the forest! Find the others! Bring the woman to me! Kill the others!” The sheriff shouted in a deep voice.
“Yes sir!” The robot commando replied in an electronic voice as he saluted the sheriff and marched off to join his fellow soldiers.
The sheriff stood in a bear trap device which closed on his leg. He roared in agony, ripping the jaws of the trap apart and tossing it aside. Microscopic nano bots got to work on his wound, crawling out of his wounded leg and stitching the wound together in moments. The sheriff roared out to his soldiers.
“AND GET RID OF THESE PATHETIC TRAPS!” he screamed.
*****
Ranger fired arrows from his bow as he led Robin’s men to the entrance of the bunker. Robots exploded all around them as he and Will Scarlet fired arrow after arrow into the oncoming wave of metal soldiers. Will pointed at the tank that was approaching from the north.
“We aren’t going to last two minutes unless we do something about that tank!” Will yelled and Ranger nodded in agreement.
“I’ve got the tank! You get these men into the bunker and close the hatch! They’ll be safe inside! Go!” Ranger yelled, running towards the tank, darting right and left to avoid incoming laser fire.
Will watched him run off to the tank, admiring the man’s bravado. He could see why he and Robin had become friends – they were both completely insane. He returned his attention to the men, many of whom were injured, ushering them onward towards the bunker hatch.
Ranger ran through the trees, bow in his hand. He approached the massive tank that was rolling towards him, crashing through the trees in its path. He removed a sticky bomb from his bag, activating it. He ran at the tank, rolling out of its way as it fired over and over, leaping upward onto the tank. He tossed the sticky bomb onto the metal armoured body of the tank, the bomb sticking to the shell of the metal beast. Ranger leaped off the tank, rolling into the bushes of the forest. He got to his feet and ran as the tank exploded behind him.
Ranger sat up in the grass, a smile creeping across his dark face as a giant hand grabbed him by the neck from behind. It was the sheriff, and he pulled Ranger close to his face so he could peer into his red eyes.
“Oh my God,” Ranger said, choking as the sheriff tightened his grip around the ranger’s neck.
“That was foolish... and pointless," the sheriff said, squeezing the ranger's neck. Bones cracked as Ranger gasped for air and the life was strangled out of him. The sheriff tossed the man’s lifeless body aside.
The beastly sheriff watched as the metal shell of the tank burned, fury burning in his eyes. The woman... Marion. He had to find her.
*****
Marion Hood ran, her green garments filthy with ash and dirt, her green hood pulled over her face. She was worried about Robin, she had no weapon and she was running for her life.
She spotted a team of metal soldiers just ahead of her and the worst part was they had just spotted her. Marion dropped, squatting in the bushes watching them, hoping she would remain camouflaged amongst the green of the trees.
There was a dead man on the ground dressed in the same outfit she wore, one of Robin’s men. She searched his clothing finding only a small laser powered pistol. She seized it, holding it in her hand and returning her attention to where she had seen the soldiers, but they were gone.
How? How could the three of the robots vanish? Though they did move fast. Perhaps they had run away? Marion slowly moved through the bushes, keeping her head down as she heard men screaming in the distance.
A metal hand grabbed her shoulder and Marion screamed as she raised the gun to the soldier’s face. The robot smashed the gun from her hand, punching her out cold. The soldier lifted her, throwing her over his shoulder and carrying her off into the forest.
Chapter twelve: Broken bow. Broken bones.
Rain poured in the forest night, soaking the trees and the earth. Robin opened his eyes, his face in the mud coughing as he tried to sit up.
His body was in agony; bruised and bloody, he shivered in the cold as he fought and forced himself into a sitting position.
Robin fell back, resting against a tree as he stared outward into the darkness of the forest. He had no idea if his men had survived... or Marion! By God where had she ended up? She could have been injured or even killed. The thought of it feeling like a lump in his throat that was impossible to ignore.
He cursed under his breath for allowing her to join his ridiculous crusade. So many of his men were injured and others could have died.
Robin pushed himself onto his feet, groaning in pain but fighting through it as he limped through the rain, his clothes soaked and tattered. He limped on through the mud, reaching down and grabbing a stick to balance him. The stick was strong and would serve him well to walk with through this rain and mess.
Robin pushed on through the pouring rain in the thick forest, the rain causing massive puddles on the ground which he splashed through. There was something else on the ground ahead – a body. Robin hobbled up closer to it, squatting by the side of his fallen comrade. It was the Ranger and he was most certainly dead.
Robin said a quiet prayer for his friend, removing two coins from his pockets and placing them over the closed eyes of the fallen soldier. He then pushed himself back up onto his feet, walking off in the direction of the secret bunker Ranger had shown him.
*****
Inside the bunker, Will Scarlet covered a trembling injured man with a blanket as John Little and Friar Tuck looked on. The man had a serious stomach injury which bled out onto the floor of the bunker. Friar Tuck forced his way past Will, wrapping bandages around the gaping wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
“This man needs a hospital! I can’t help him here, and there are three others just like him,” Tuck said and Will shook his head.
“Any sign of Robin or Marion?” Will asked and John Little shook his head.
“Ranger’s dead. Robin and Marion stayed behind to fight off those metal bastards. They could be dead too," John said and Tuck looked at him angrily.
“Would you stop being so bloody negative? We don’t know they’re dead! We should go out there and find them! That’s what I think!” Tuck exclaimed. Will shook his head.
“No! You saw how many of those things were out there! They could still be looking for us,” Will said and Gilbert Whitehand nodded as he approached, giving the injured man some water.
“I agree. I say we wait. If they are still out there, we’ll be killed or captured. Enough blood has been shed on this day,” Gilbert said.
Tuck shook his head, keeping pressure on the injured man’s wounds.
“Robin and Marion should be here! Something is wrong! There’s not a man in here that he would leave for dead!” Tuck said angrily and Will raised a hand in protest.
“Robin told us to come here! He wanted us to survive so we could finish what he started! There will come a time for vengeance, T
uck but this is not it,” Will replied.
There was a loud crashing sound as though a heavy door was being closed and as Will and Tuck continued to argue, John grabbed a rifle.
“Shut up all of you! Someone’s coming!” John said, raising his gun towards the hatch as Robin slowly climbed down towards them, collapsing onto the floor. Will, Gilbert and John running over to him, kneeling by his side.
“Marion? Is she here?” Robin asked and there was silence.
“No lad. She’s not," John said.
“We thought she was with you," Will added and Robin cursed.
“Damn it! She’s nowhere out there, they must have taken her,” Robin said aloud trying to get up but falling down again. John helped him relax.
“Be easy, Loxley. You can’t save her if you’re dead. You need rest, lad! You need to heal. We will find her, I promise you," John said and Robin nodded his head.
“How are you still alive? You look like you’ve had the crap kicked out of you," Will said and Robin nodded, accepting a glass of water offered by Gilbert and drinking.
“He wouldn’t kill me. He wants to see me suffer. He knew Marion was special to me, John! He knew,” Robin said and John shook his head.
“You think he’ll kill her?” Tuck asked and Robin closed his eyes.
“I don’t know. He almost killed me," Robin said and Tuck looked worried.
“He’s not the man he was... He’s different. I looked into his eyes! He’s more machine now. They’ve done something to him," Robin went on as Gilbert dressed some of his wounds.
“I’ve never seen anything like that! He looked like a monster!” John said.
“How the hell are we supposed to kill him? The size of that bastard!” Will went on and Robin closed his eyes, shaking his head.
“This is all my fault. All of it. Ranger is dead, our home is destroyed and Marion could die too... All of it is on me. I can’t let it end like this. I won’t,” Robin insisted, Will turning to him incredulous.
“What? What are you gonna do? Fight this man? He’s not even a man anymore! He’s a one man army... and he still has an army as well! How the hell do you expect to beat something like that? Hopes and dreams?” Will asked and Robin shook his head.
“With courage, Will Scarlet," Robin replied.
*****
Marion awoke in a beautiful bedroom. The bed was dressed with white satin sheets, a big screen television and a dressing table with a mirror.
She was dressed in a white gown and had been cleaned up, though for the life of her she couldn’t remember it or how she came to be there. She sat up in the bed, walking across the large room and looking out the open window.
She saw the city skyscrapers below, the streets looking so tiny that they might as well have been for ants. She had no idea how high she was but it was miles above the city streets.
She looked out towards the skyline of rushing flying vehicles, both flying cars and small space cruisers that were entering the system. The door to her room unlocked and she turned to see the sheriff standing there – and he was massive and somewhat odd looking as he had been in the forest.
“Where am I?” Marion asked the beastly man and the sheriff grinned, replying in a deep voice.
“You are at Nottingham castle,” the sheriff replied, standing still in the doorway, glaring at Marion as if he were admiring a peep show.
“What did you do to Robin?” Marion asked and the sheriff smiled another eerie smile.
“I always admired your voice, Marion. You have such a beautiful singing voice,” the sheriff said calmly, ignoring her question.
“I asked you what you did to Robin!” Marion said angrily and the sheriff nodded his head.
“Oh I heard you, Marion. I think however that the question is of little interest to me. You see, right now... I am much more interested in you. Why do you love this... thief, Marion? Tell me... what attracts you to him? Is it his costume? His... bravado? What is it? A girl like you can have... any man she wants, yet you chose this... weak fool who robs the honest wealthy folk of my city. Why?” The sheriff asked and Marion glared at him, her eyes shooting daggers.
“First of all, sheriff... I wouldn’t call the wealthy folk of this city honest, I’d call them greedy. Secondly, Robin Hood is the greatest man I have ever known. He’s charming, he’s funny... and despite the size of you even now, I’d wager his cock is still bigger than yours!” Marion replied, the sheriff striding towards her and seizing her by the throat.
“As much as I’d love to prove you wrong right now, little girl... I have better things to do. I can’t wait for him to come for you! I know he will in time... and when he does, I promise you a front row seat to his decapitation! You will feel his blood splatter across your flesh... and then, when you are inconsolable and shaking as you slowly go mad... then... I will have you! THEN... You can tell me who is the bigger man,” The sheriff said, releasing the sobbing Marion's neck, striding out of the room and slamming the door behind him.
Marion heard the door lock, wiping the tears from her eyes as she walked over to the bed and sat on it. Despite her sadness, Marion also found herself feeling somewhat relieved.
He was alive. Robin was somehow alive. She knew he would be coming for her as well as the sheriff did, but how would Robin defeat this... creature of a man? She lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. The one thing she believed was Robin was coming. He’d fight through hell to get to her, and that was the problem. Marion only hoped Robin’s desire to live was as strong as his desire for revenge. She didn’t particularly want to watch her new husband die just because he was trying to save her.
Outside her window a police cruiser flew past, no doubt checking in on her. The cruisers always patrolled the castle tower. Marion accepted that escape was unlikely, so all she could really do was hope Robin and his men could come up with a plan. As much as she didn’t want Robin to be killed, she didn’t like the idea of being ravaged by the massive sheriff either.
Chapter thirteen: road to vengeance
Robin woke up in the bunker. It had been two days and his wounds were on the mend. He was already growing impatient. If Marion was to be rescued he felt they had to act swiftly.
Robin forced himself to stand, relieved that he seemed to be finding it easier to walk again. He looked around the room where at least ten of his men were still injured and bed ridden. He sighed, walking over to where Friar Tuck, John Little, Will Scarlet and Gilbert Whitehand were sitting around a table talking.
“We can’t just storm the castle! It’s foolish! They’ll be ready for us,” Will said and John nodded, smoking on a pipe.
“Marion is trapped in there, I’m certain they’d be keeping her in the tower. Any attack would have to take that into consideration," Gilbert added as Robin sat at the table between John and Will.
“We’d need weapons... and armour. We’d need to be stealthy too,” John said and Robin nodded, standing up and walking over to the secret wall, pulling it aside to reveal the room full of weapons and armour.
“We have weapons... and armour," Robin said and the four men stood from the table, walking towards the weapon room.
“My God! You knew about this?” Tuck asked and Robin nodded.
“Ranger kept this place well fortified and fully stocked with weapons. We will need to think of a way to attack the castle in a way they would never see coming. I say we drop in from above and below – We rescue Marion from the tower, and charge the front gates at the same time. They will expect one assault, but to attack two places at once just might be crazy enough to work," Robin said.
Will laughed, looking around at the men.
“You can’t be serious! There’s firepower here, sure but we don’t have the manpower for an attack like this! It would take a ship with incredible firepower and shields to get past the squad cars that patrol that place, not to mention the guns on the towers. We’d need an army of men on the ground as well to get through that door! We’d need every man we have
and then some to make this work,” Will said.
“I need six men. Three above and three below. Armed to the teeth. The ground team will be a distraction, the primary attack will be from above. We get Marion out of there and we blow the tower. All I need is a ship. I can do the rest," Robin said and Will shook his head.
“Oh, you’re gonna fly it I suppose!” Will said and Robin shook his head.
“No, you are. I’ve seen you move Will and I read you were a pilot," Robin said. Will loosened his collar.
“You don’t have a ship! Where are you going to find a ship?” Will asked and Robin smiled.
“He’s going to steal one," John said with a grin and Robin nodded.
“We steal a ship, the ground crew can take the car. We have plenty of explosives in here, not to mention guns. Tuck, Gilbert and Reynold Greenleaf will create a distraction at the base of the castle. Cause as much devastation as you can and get their attention. Meanwhile, Will, John and I will carry out the main attack from above in the stolen ship. Every one will need to wear armour and carry as much firepower as you can carry. How sure are you that Marion will be in the tower?” Robin asked Gilbert and Gilbert shrugged.
“Women are always held captive in the upper levels. The king likes to see if the female prisoners are to his liking, everyone knows that," he said and Robin frowned.
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Robin replied and Will cleared his throat, speaking up again.
“Look I hate to raise a rather stupid question, but where are you going to steal a ship?” he asked and Robin placed a hand on Will’s shoulder.
“Would you relax, Will? I have a plan" Robin said.
*****
Frank Marshall walked through the city, a blonde bombshell on his arm who was laughing sarcastically at everything he said.
“Yeaaaah so, he stole my ride. Stole lots of my money, but I hear the sheriff got him good. I can’t wait for you to see my ship, baby! She’s built like a tank!” Frank said and the blonde, whose name was Kitty stopped walking.
