Robin Hood

by DAN MONTY

  Tuck loaded another rocket into his rocket launcher as Reynold took off, raising the car and blasting the army of soldiers with continual fire. He took aim and then a deep breath as a tank fired a massive burst of energy at the fleeing car.

  The Lamborghini was hit and spun out of control, spinning into the streets below and crashing outside an adult cinema. Reynold, Gilbert and Tuck ran from the wreckage as the fuel system ignited and the car exploded.

  “I loved that car, Robin’s gonna kill me!” Reynold exclaimed, leading Tuck and Gilbert into a nearby alley as the soldiers pursued them from across the street.

  Tuck fired his last rocket from the launcher, exploding three incoming robot soldiers and a parked hovering sedan. He tossed the rocket launcher aside, pulling out twin blaster pistols from his belt and firing on the swarming drones that were hovering towards them. One exploded, sailing into another and destroying it as well. More were coming and Tuck roared at the top of his lungs, taking out drones, soldiers and even a hovering police patrol car that had its spotlight fixed on them.

  Gilbert and Reynold exchanged glances, looking a little more than surprised at the energy of the friar.

  “You said he’d be useless," Reynold said and Gilbert shrugged with a grin.

  “What can I say? He’s full of surprises,” Gilbert said with a grin, pulling out a folding bow and loading an arrow into it from his quiver. He took aim at an incoming police cruiser and fired quickly, blasting it to smithereens in the sky. Gilbert’s fingers danced, pulling out arrows and firing them over and over, exploding drone after drone on soldiers that got too close to their position. His skill with a bow and arrow was almost as good as Robin's, able to aim in a second and fire in a heartbeat. Gilbert Whitehand was a brilliant archer. He kept drawing arrows and firing as he talked to Reynold, who shot at the soldiers with his golden pistols as he took cover behind a bunch of trash cans.

  “There’s too many! We should retreat,” Gilbert said and Tuck laughed out loud.

  “NEVER!” Tuck yelled, firing madly at the soldiers. Gilbert and Reynold exchanged glances again.

  “You know, Reynold? He scares me a little," Gilbert said, motioning towards Tuck as he fired arrow after arrow at the soldiers, who despite firing madly were clearly dropping in numbers.

  “Stay in cover! I’m going for the tank!” Reynold said as Tuck and Gilbert nodded. Reynold climbed the wall of the building, leaping off and jumping onto a police cruiser that hovered above. He fired through the windows of the cruiser, shooting through the mechanical heads of the officers before opening the door and climbing in, kicking out the lifeless robot bodies, which tumbled to the street below. Reynold rolled his eyes as he studied the controls for the vehicle.

  “Are you kidding me? A two year old could fly this bitch,” Reynold said, grabbing the stick and spinning the car around, opening fire on the remaining soldiers below before taking off in the direction of the tank.

  The tank rolled through the battle ravaged street, firing at the men that were shooting at the soldiers. Reynold flipped open the trigger stick, firing at the tank. The hull of the tank was thick and simple laser blasts would evidently not penetrate it.

  Reynold removed a device from his belt; a sticky bomb, which he set as he hovered low over the tank. He dropped the bomb out of the car window and it stuck onto the thick shell of the tank.

  “Au revoir,” Reynold said as the tank exploded, shrapnel flying through the windshield of his car and piercing through his chest, pinning him to the seat. Reynold struggled to regain control of the car as he spat out blood, but it spun in the air, crashing into the wall of the castle and exploding.

  On the ground, Gilbert looked upward, seeing the explosion.

  “REYNOLD!” Gilbert screamed, firing faster upon the last remaining soldiers. Tuck screamed, shooting madly as drones continued to swarm in from the castle. Reynold was gone.

  *****

  Inside the castle, the sheriff banged his fist on the table. Nigel nervously informed him of the situation.

  “Our entrance turrets are down, sir! They attacked us head on! They have eliminated a... considerable amount of our soldiers and drones," Nigel whimpered and the sheriff looked enraged.

  “Where on this wretched planet could they have accumulated such an impressive arsenal? And to go right through the front door! That’s madness! However his efforts are in vain. Release the spider droids!” The sheriff ordered and Nigel shuddered.

  “My Lord! They will destroy everything in sight,” Nigel stammered and the sheriff gazed at the shivering shrimp of a man.

  “It will be done my Lord,” Nigel said, running off to carry out his new leader’s bidding.

  Chapter sixteen: The rescue

  Robin, Will and John were high over the heads of the others, The Alanna banking left and right as Will navigated the ship toward the tallest point of the castle. Will scanned the castle, observing that most of the soldiers and indeed the sheriff (who had the biggest heat signature of all) were at the base of the castle, while there was another singular heat signature coming from a room in the tower of the castle.

  “There! That’s got to be Marion! She’s alive!” Will exclaimed with a smile and Robin exhaled in relief.

  “Thank God! Get us in close!” Robin said and Will targeted the surrounding tower turrets. He opened fire on them, destroying one after the other as the ship flew around the tower.

  Robin headed for the hatch entrance, climbing up the ladder and opening the hatch as he braced himself, trying to stand on the outer hull of the ship.

  “Hold her steady, lad,” John said as Will eased on the yoke, gently inching towards the window to the room where Marion was being held captive. Robin leapt off the ship, crashing through the castle window and landing at Marion’s feet.

  “Oh my God! Robin!” Marion exclaimed, rushing over to him and kissing him as she helped him to his feet.

  “Go! Get on the ship! Get out of here!” Robin said and Marion shook her head.

  “Robin he’s crazy! He’s full of rage! I won’t leave you!” Marion said but Robin looked angry as he ushered her towards the window.

  “Marion go! Now!” Robin yelled and Marion made her way to the window, stepping out onto the hull of the ship and making her way to the open hatch.

  Robin took his bow in his hands, loading it with an arrow. He fired at the door to the room, blasting it to pieces before stepping out into the corridor.

  *****

  Marion climbed into the cockpit between Will and John, ripping off her white gown and relaxing in her white singlet and white pants.

  “Are you okay?” Will asked and Marion nodded.

  “I’m fine! Robin can’t fight the sheriff alone! That’s insane! We have to go in after him,” Marion said and Will shook his head.

  “Lady, we’ve got police fighters coming in hot and our men on the ground are boxed in. We cant go back,” Will replied, flipping some switches and turning her attention to the rear target system. There was indeed a team of triangular police fighters, followed by four flying police cruisers in pursuit. All of them were firing on The Alanna and the shields were almost gone.

  “Our shields are at twenty percent. At this rate, they won’t hold much longer! If we lose those shields, those bastards will cook us like popcorn in tin foil,” John insisted and Will sighed.

  “We’ll just have to outfly these bastards then, won’t we?” Will asked, pushing hard on the yoke and speeding upward, away from the castle and into the clouds, with the fighters and cruisers in hot pursuit.

  Will navigated the ship through the clouds, the fighters speeding towards them, shooting at the ship with everything they have. The skies were full of streaming laser fire as Will performed a barrel roll, then pulling up on the yoke, he flipped the U-shaped vessel upwards, flipping around to face the incoming fighters.

  “Are you crazy??” Marion asked and Will shrugged.

  “Sometimes,” Will replied, opening fire and blasting one,
then two, then three of the fighters, spinning the craft around and flying downward towards the towering metropolis of the city beneath.

  *****

  The castle corridors were dimly lit as Robin quietly stepped through, his bow held in his hands at the ready. There was a long staircase that led down to the below floors and with heavy heart, Robin slowly made his descent down the spiralling stairs.

  Robin held his bow out in front of him as he stepped downward, looking left and right for signs of life, pausing briefly to listen for approaching footsteps. Satisfied there were none, Robin continued stepping down the steps, breathing calmly, his senses heightened.

  He glanced upward, spying a camera, which he aimed at with his bow, firing quickly. The single shot hit the camera, causing a small explosion. He moved to the next camera, aiming and firing on it the same. Robin froze as a young maid ran past the bottom of the staircase and into a room down the corridor, not seeing him. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, Robin began to creep down the corridor, careful not to attract any attention.

  *****

  Gilbert and Tuck had eliminated most of the soldiers at the front of the castle, but it had cost them Reynold's life. They took a breath, coming out of hiding as Gilbert fired arrows at what seemed to be the last of the robotic soldiers; the metal bodies of the fallen soldiers now strewn about on the ground surrounding the entrance to the castle.

  “Are you okay?” Tuck asked Gilbert and Gilbert nodded, lowering his bow.

  There was a metallic tapping coming from somewhere within the castle, multiple sounds actually as though something was walking or crawling towards them from deep within the blasted hole where the gate once was. Gilbert raised his bow again, squinting into the distance.

  There were three of them... three sets of glowing red eyes, four eyes per creature. The giant mechanical creatures scampered out of the hole in the castle gate, eight, massive mechanical legs on each of them and each with huge mechanical mandibles. The metal spiders moved fast, scampering over the metal robot body parts, crushing them like they were aluminium foil.

  “What the hell are they?” Tuck asked, sticking his head out from behind some trash cans.

  “Spider droids. These foes are beyond us. RUN!” Gilbert yelled as he and Tuck took off running through the battle torn street, the giant metal spiders chasing them and firing red lasers out of each of their eyes.

  Buildings exploded around them as Tuck and Gilbert leaped over fallen light posts and rubble, darting down the street as the laser blasts tore everything in their path apart, the red lasers disintegrating damaged vehicles and broken buildings. Debris and fire filled the air behind Tuck and Gilbert as they ran, not daring to look back. Gilbert led Tuck into an alley between two massive skyscrapers, removing a grapple gun from his belt and firing upward. He grabbed Tuck, allowing the rope to grapple them upward to the rooftops.

  The spider droids seemed confused for a moment as Tuck and Gilbert reached the rooftop, looking downward but the metal beasts were undeterred, climbing towards them up the side of the skyscraper.

  Thinking fast, Gilbert removed a sticky bomb from his belt and activated it, throwing it over the side where it attached to the closest crawling spider droid. The creature roared out of its metallic mandibles, firing red lasers from its eyes and Gilbert and Tuck ran from the edge of the rooftop as the crawling creature exploded, its metal carcass on fire as it dropped off the side of the building, landing on the street below on its back.

  Gilbert looked at Tuck, motioning him to follow as the two of them ran along the rooftop.

  The other two spider droids effortlessly climbed up the side of the building, shattering glass windows and breaking bricks, sending rubble falling to the streets below. Their great metal legs whirred and clanged on the side of the building as they both climbed to the rooftop, taking off after Tuck and Gilbert, who were running for their lives.

  Gilbert spun around, firing two arrows at once at one of the spider droids, which exploded as the arrows pierced its metallic hide. The other creature moved faster, crawling closer and closer towards Gilbert as he stopped and reached for another arrow – but his quiver was empty. Gilbert cursed under his breath as the massive creature swiped him up with a metal leg.

  “Tuck!! RUN!” Gilbert screamed as Tuck froze, watching as the metal spider stuffed Gilbert into its gaping void of a mouth – its teeth whirring and spinning around like a saw as Gilbert was eaten by the metal creature, his body reduced to a spray of red. Tuck nearly threw up in shock.

  “Oh God! Oh God!” he screamed, turning and running as fast as he could. He reached the edge of the building and realised as he looked over the edge that there was nowhere left to go.

  Tuck stood there – frozen and pale as the giant metal machine crawled towards him, taking its time. Suddenly, there was a brilliant burst of laser fire as The Alanna flew down towards the rooftop, blasting massive laser holes in the gargantuan metal beast.

  Tuck sighed with relief as the spider creature collapsed on the rooftop, exploding to pieces. Tuck leapt off the rooftop onto the ship, climbing in through the top hatch with John’s help.

  “That was a close one, friar,” John said, ushering his friend into the opening of the hatch before following him into the ship and sealing the hatch behind them.

  Inside, Tuck fell into a seat in the lounge area of the ship, sinking into the red leather and letting his head fall into his hands.

  “Gilbert and Reynold?” John asked, passing Tuck a canteen of whiskey. Tuck accepted the drink, shaking his head and drinking from the canteen.

  “Both dead!” Tuck replied and John nodded slowly.

  “Then they died heroes," John replied and Tuck looked at him for a long moment, sighing and shaking his head. He took another long drink from the canteen.

  Chapter seventeen: The beast of Nottingham

  Robin crept along the corridor, nearly jumping out of his skin as a slender man ran out of a room full of treasures. It was Nigel and he was attempting to leave with some of the King’s treasure. Robin grabbed him, pushing him against the wall as Nigel began to weep.

  “Don’t kill me! Please! I am nobody! I was the King’s adviser! That’s all!” Nigel begged and Robin tightened his grip around the man’s neck.

  “SHUT UP! TELL ME WHERE HE IS!” Robin hollered from beneath the ski mask under his hood. Nigel stammered, pointing down the corridor.

  “H-he's c-coming! You have to stop h-him! He’s mad!” Nigel pleaded as Robin removed a gold necklace from around the cowards neck.

  “You take this treasure, and you dump it all outside the castle! This belongs to the people of Sherwood now! You understand? You give this to the homeless or I promise you... I’ll come for you next,” Robin said with sincerity. Nigel nodded his head, running back into the treasure room to collect more things.

  Robin returned his attention to the corridor ahead, listening as loud footsteps echoed up the hall ahead, marching towards him.

  It was just one man, but with footsteps like that there was only one guess who it could be. The sheriff finally appeared at the end of the castle corridor drinking from a gold chalice, which he promptly tossed into a wall as he saw Robin Hood.

  “LOXLEY!” The sheriff exclaimed and Robin threw back his hood and peeled off his ski mask.

  “It’s over sheriff! I’m taking this city back for the people. Your days of corruption and bringing suffering to this city are over. Stand down, or be destroyed" Robin said, aiming his bow at the massive beast of a man.

  “Loxley is a name I shall never forget. I worked there you know for a long time. Collecting debts, dealing drugs... you know... small things. One day, a man came in to see me. Pathetic really. He said he needed some money, so I leant it to him. Broke my heart. My heart bleeds for the poor and the weak, Robin... it really does. All I ask is for debts to be repaid, and most people in this city do eventually. But on the planet Loxley, that man... boy he was such a loser. I went to collect his debt and he did
n’t have it. I gave him ten seconds to run... and I shot him dead in the street like a dog. I was a younger man then. Do you know, I think his name was Hood too! Wait... Robbie Hood! That was him! You know something funny... He looked a lot... like... you,” The sheriff said with a wicked grin.

  Robin was stunned. Not only had this mad man seized control of Sherwood and forced the homeless to live shameful lives... but he had also seemingly killed Robin’s father... over a debt? Anger flashed over Robin’s face as he glared at the monstrous, red-eyed beast of a man.

  “You murdered my father? His only crime was wanting to feed his son! You slaughtered him in the street?” Robin asked and the sheriff laughed.

  “Oh come now, Robin! The man was a foolish, bumbling idiot! I did you a favour,” The sheriff exclaimed, stepping closer to Robin, who was fuming with rage.

  “What are you going to do? You’re a worthless thief! You’re more useless than he was! That’s the legacy of the great Robin Hood! A bum father who barely had enough money to survive, and the son who would grow to become a thief! I’ll enjoy killing you! I wonder if you’ll beg for your life like he did!” The sheriff said laughing as Robin fired an arrow into his massive chest.

  The sheriff looked down at the arrow, laughing.

  “Is that all you’ve got? A fucking arrow after all these years? I expected more,” The sheriff said, trying to pull the arrow out of his chest but it refused to come out.

  “That’s not just an arrow," Robin said as the arrow started to beep over and over.

  The sheriff smiled, raising his fists as large metal claws shot out of his knuckles.

  “A bomb? Is that what your great plan was?” The sheriff asked and Robin smiled.

  “If I die, you are going with me!” The sheriff said as he lunged for Robin, his claws swiping left and right as Robin dodged every move, dancing around like a boxer. Green gauntlets materialised over Robin’s hands and he tossed his bow aside, punching the sheriff hard in the face, knocking skin off his jaw and revealing metal moving parts beneath the broken flesh.