//------------------------------// // Time Out: We're Knights of the Round Table // Story: Dressed to Steal // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// We arrived safely in Medieval England, and began searching for Sir Galleth Cooper, the contemporary ancestor. He was supposed to be one of the King's most trusted knights - one of the few Coopers to use their skills under the direction of the legal authority, by breaking into enemy castles and the like to steal important artifacts and information for his King - but we found him performing in a local circus of all things! And as a jester! Between that and what looked like robotic werewolves patrolling the streets, we knew Le Paradox was behind this somehow. As such, the first mission was getting Sir Galleth out of the circus and finding out what was going on from him. We thought that would be easy enough...until Razor came back from a quick scouting report with something very unexpected... As soon as Razor returned from a quick scouting mission, he turned to Carmelita. "Have you ever time traveled before?" he asked quickly. Carmelita blinked in surprise. "No. Why?" Razor laid out a Wanted poster. "I found this pinned to a tree. Take a close look." The poster was as expected for things like this. It showed the subject, a name, a reward, and what they were wanted for. What caught eyes immediately, however, was the fact that the vixen in the picture could have passed for Carmelita's twin, as far as they could tell in the greyscale of the poster. Same hairstyle, same build, same musculature, same expression between angry and determined...dressed in a tight fitting outfit of tunic and tights and holding a longbow. Wanted Robyn Hood and her Merry Menace For Treason, Theft, Theft, Theft, Humiliation of Officers of the Law, Theft, and Impersonating a Deceased Noble Reward: Half what's left in the local treasury when she's brought to justice! Scrawled under it in rather fancy cursive was, "Nice try, fellows! I emptied that last week! RH." After a time of everyone staring at the picture, Coco spoke up. "$50 says that's Sir Galleth's girlfriend." "No bet," everyone responded immediately, setting a round of giggles. "Well, either way, it looks like I'm sitting this mission out for a while," Carmelita allowed. "At least until we get Sir Galleth here and can get answers out of him about her. Maybe he knows where she and her 'Merry Menace' hang out." "In that case, let's get him out," Sly concluded firmly. Of course, getting Galleth out meant getting Dad in, and that meant a disguise. While I could make a great disguise with Bentley's help, I was running low on materials. As a result, I sent Dad and Uncle Razor out to gather a few materials. Dad came back with a report of an underground giant robot foundry - complete with lasers and modern equipment - under the cobbler's shop. Definitely something we'd need to keep in mind. The outfit we made Dad was based off the outfit worn by 'Robyn Hood' in the picture, turning his cane into a bow he could use to launch arrow ropes to grind across. He then went alone to get Galleth out of the circus, and returned successfully. One Galleth was back at the hideout, we got more answers than we bargained for... As Sir Galleth entered the hideout - still in jester's cap atop his armor - he took one look at Carmelita and rushed to her side. "Maid Marian!" he declared in shock. "What brings you into this iniquitous den at the edge of town? Know you not how dangerous it is to be so close to the Black Knight? Your arrows have yet to pierce his armor, and his rain destruction unknowable! And...where did you get such unseemly attire for one of your line?" He eyed Carmelita up and down in concern. "Not that your forest garb has much more in the ways of modesty, but still!" Carmelita blinked in shock. "You have me confused with someone else," she stated flatly. "I should be used to that by now." Sir Galleth blinked as he heard her voice. "Verily, you are not Maid Marian...though you are so close in appearance as to pass for her twin. Pray, might you stand in for her? Her double life has become harder and harder to maintain, and it would allay much suspicion should Maid Marian and Robyn Hood be witnessed together." "...wait, what?" T-Bone managed to voice. "Robin Hood...and Maid Marian...the same person? How did that happen?" "Ah, a tragic tale," Sir Galleth allowed. "Sir Robin of Loxley was as noble a knight as any might imagine, and a good friend of mine. Maid Marian was ward of the King, and thus an equal to most nobles in terms of marriage prospects. She and Robin were betrothed, and while there was not love between them, they were quite fond of each other. However, Rottingham - a low born knave with high station but who could not be a knight - used the Crusades to conceal cold-blooded murder so he might claim Marian's hand. It could not be proven, but I told her of what I saw...and she fled into the Woods. She gathered the dissatisfied and the oppressed from the lands Rottingham held sway over and makes war against him and his. Originally, she used Sir Robin's name to fight for his memory...but she was unable to conceal her gender as she wished for her raids as it was..." Here Sir Galleth seemed to lose his words, making obscure, arcane hand gestures to try and find a delicate way to phrase things. "She's got a body that's impossible to hide or mistake for a man's?" T-Bone suggested delicately. "Oh very much so," Sir Galleth confirmed. "That's when she was given the name Robyn Hood." "And how are you involved now?" Coco asked curiously. Sir Galleth cleared his throat awkwardly. "That is a...delicate matter..." "You're one of the knights who was supposed to arrest her before this 'Black Knight' showed up, but you both have strong feelings for each other but won't act on them because you feel that would be betraying Robin's memory, despite the fact that if he were here he'd probably be pushing you both together and telling you to be happy with each other and is to a certain extent happy he died as the only honorable way he could get out of his engagement to Marian to make way for you?" Razor deduced calmly. Sir Galleth blinked in shock, then awkwardly tugged at the flesh of his arm. "Have I eaten so poorly this past fortnight, that I am so transparent?" Several of the gathered group chuckled. "And this Black Knight we have to fight?" Sly asked. "You said arrows didn't penetrate his armor?" "Verily!" Galleth continued. "We know not from whence he came, but he brings destruction in his wake. All who work under him are constructs of metal and fur, with minds that mimic living beings but with no soul behind them. I attempted to deal with him and his myself, but while I was a match for the troops, the Black Knight seemed to know my every move before I'd even attempted it! He even named each of the maneuvers from the family tome as I prepared to use them! Gratefully he seems incapable of performing them himself, but I fear it means he has great mental prowess, capable of plucking the thoughts from our minds!" "Or they managed to get a long, uninterrupted look at the complete Thievius Raccoonus," Coco pointed out worriedly. "The Black Knight, whoever he is, is obviously from our time-" "Oh, time travel!" Sir Galleth declared in relief. "That does explain everything. I shall follow your lead in writing the wrongs upon the fabric of events in this day, that I not unwittingly cast the river of time into a new course while seeking the old one." "You seem...surprisingly accepting of this," Bentley observed thoughtfully. "Maid Marian is truly a one of a kind beauty," Sir Galleth explained. He gestured to Carmelita. "A violation of the inherent nature of causality is the only explanation why there could be another so like her." ...we all decided to just let that one go. As long as he was cooperative...