MONSTROUS.
019. | ❛ you idiot. ❜
The boys set down their mugs containing alcohol as Crystal overlooked them, "I can't believe Marty and Mick are missing this."
"Like, right? I mean, when's the next time we're gonna get to feast in Camelot?"
"Or maybe they were smart and decided to stay away," Crystal smiled as she chugged her mug faster than they did, leaving them impressed.
"Hey, guys, check it out. That's Sir Galahad." Ray nudged them pointing to the man sitting all alone at the table in front of them.
"How do you know that?" Nate asked.
"Because he's sitting in the Siege Perilous." Ray told him as the rest of them looked at him with confusing looks.
"What?"
"Come on. Some kind of historian you are. Siege Perilous is a special seat reserved for only the purest of knights." Ray reminded him as if it were true history.
"I don't how many times I have to tell you... there's a difference between legend and history." Nate told him as Ray brushed himself up.
"I'm gonna go introduce myself." Ray excused himself, while Nate and Jax gave Crystal a look to go after him in case he were to do anything stupid.
Crystal sighed an quickly caught up to Ray, but being the one to talk to Sir Galahad first.
"Sir Galahad," Crystal spoke softly before he grunted at her as he rose, "Oh, is this seat taken?"
Crystal backed up towards Ray before Sir Galahad let out a smile and extended his hand, "It is now, my lady."
He shook her and Ray's hand as they both sat down in chairs right next to the knight. Ray took the time to express his gratitude to the knight, "Apologies, you must get this all the time, but I must tell you, I am a really big fan."
"A fan. So you make wind?" Sir Galahad asked as Crystal resorted to laugh in Ray's shoulder at the comment he made.
"No, no, no, no, no, um... Well...I mean, maybe after all this food." Ray backtracked before Crystal kicked him in his foot, "No, what I mean is I'm a... I'm a big admirer of yours."
"You've heard tale of my exploits?" He asked in marveled.
"Yes! Yes! Since I was a wee lad. It's hard to explain." Ray said as Crystal tried to switch gears.
"It's simply a marvel to speak with Sir Galahad, and are simply marveled with your exploits." Crystal smiled at the knight using her most regal tone.
"I am but a servant. It is my honor to serve the true inspiration of Camelot's glory... King Arthur, for was it not he who said that might must serve right, lest it bloom into the cruel flower of tyranny?"
"Yet another reason I love him." Ray said as the horns blared with the doors opening that seemed to divert attention to return of the king.
"They sound the return of the king." Sir Galahad said as they all rose to their feet and in shock to see who he brought alongside him, "Arthur's captured the Black Knight."
"Arthur, I was beginning to..." Stargirl went to talk to him but was pulled into his arms with a blade against her chest, and the Black Knight rising revealing to be Damien Dahrk.
"Oh, sorry about the ruse, but I figure it was the only way to get inside. Oh! Hey, guys. I see you've met my friend Arthur here." He evilly smiled as Crystal saw Rip eight behind him, "Give us a smile, Arthur."
"Basically, your king now does anything I want him to do, so if you don't want him to spill your blood all over this floor, I suggest that you hand over your fragment of the Spear." Rip threatened Stargirl.
Crystal tugged Ray closer to the scene, knowing that Sara and her thought alike and were on the verge of attacking.
"My patience is running short. The fragment... where is it?" Damien asked again.
"As long as I live, you will never have it." Stargirl held her silence as Rip's new persona was getting impatient.
Rip sighs, "That might turn out to be shorter than you think."
Crystal reached for one of the knifed in her leg and charged at the black knights around her, and soon enough they were all in a brawl with grunting and clanging of swords being heard until one death seemed to stop the fight. King Arthur lunged at Sir Galahad as his body dropped to the floor.
"Stand fast, or your king dies. All I have to do is think it, and he slits his own throat." Rip says as Arthur held the blade to his throat under the influence of Rip's mind.
"Ultimatum time. Deliver the fragment to me by dawn, or I'll come back with an army just as obedient as Arthur here. Choice is yours... Camelot... or the Spear." Damien warned as he left alongside Rip and Arthur. Ray checked Sir Galahad's pulse, rendering him dead and picking up his sword as a prized possession to which would lead them to fight in the war against The Black Knights.
[•]
Nate, Ray, and Crystal stood as Queen Guinevere delivered her message for her knights proceeding into the fight ahead.
She stood on top of her horse in shining armor, "Valiant Knights of Camelot, I know the fear you feel. We stand now on the precipice of doom. Our king has been taken from us. Evil draws close, and hope, it seems, is lost. But we must rise and face this challenge, as Arthur would have wanted. We must remember who we are. We're brothers and sisters. We're fighters and friends. We are not mere knights. We are Camelot!"
All the knights proceed to chant as all as Ray, "We are Camelot!"
"The dark army approaches. It's reached the great wood." A messenger alerted Guinevere.
"It seems your wizard is too late." She talked to the knights.
"Is she talking about Professor Stein?" Crystal asked Nate.
"No matter. We shall settle this at the point of our swords. Camelot calls to you in its hour of need. Will you answer? Who will follow me onto the field of battle?"
The knights all roared and started marching forwarded with Ray also following along but being stopped by Nate, "Dude, what are they doing? These guys don't stand a chance out there. Is this really worth the risk for some dream?"
"Yes, because a long time ago that dream meant the world to a little boy, and he still remembers." Ray remained stubborn to Nate's pleads.
Just before Ray could go Crystal stopped him once again, "I get that this is your childhood dream and you want this desperately, but I can't let you go if you're going to get hurt."
"I'm sorry Crystal." Ray said trudging behind the army leaving Nate and Crystal alone.
Nate looked into his satchel to fetch his book and opening it up to Ray's part where the illustration showed his funeral, "This isn't gonna end well."
Nate and Crystal hurriedly chased after the army to catch up to Ray and convince him to come back with them to the Waverider, and not to chase after a whim. In a tent, Crystal and Nate searched for Ray who was gearing up for battle.
His ATOM suit hand was connect to a sword, as Crystal caught up to him.
"Ray, this is wrong." Crystal said to him.
"Please tell me that's not Galahad's sword." Nate sighed at Ray's new invention in hopes to not get him killed.
"I know, it's not historically accurate, but..." Ray electrified it, "I couldn't resist."
"It's like a saber made of light." A knight said with Ray chuckling at him.
"Yeah. Uh, just don't call it a light saber. Major trademark issues, right?" Ray said looking back at Nate for support.
"Yeah, trademark. Have you lost your complete mind?" Crystal asked him.
"No, I focused the ionic energy into Galahad's sword." Ray told her, still not getting her urges to leave Camelot.
"That's great, Ray, but Sara says it's time to go, so..." She said to him.
"What? But the battle hasn't even begun." Ray pouted.
"Precisely why we're leaving now. Listen, Amaya found the fragment, so there's need for this medieval warfare. That's great news, right?" Nate told him.
"Let's go." Crystal said as she started leading the way before noticing that Ray wasn't following, "In case you weren't listening, this is the part where we run."
"I can't." Ray shook his head.
"Sure, you can. Left foot, right foot, repeat, let's go." Nate repeated trying to reach for Ray's hand but he backed away.
"No, Nate, Crystal, look around you. All of these men are willing to die on the battlefield... not for some Spear, but for an idea. And I get it now. Camelot isn't about history. It's not even about some dusty old books that got a lonely kid through childhood. It's about one noble idea... that we can all stand up for what's right, no matter what. And I can't walk away from that." Ray told them as if motivated by the simply utopia of this make believe world.
"I believe you, Ray. I do. And Camelot's great. But if you don't leave right now, you're gonna die here." Nate tried to break his reality.
"Would it kill you to be just a little bit more supportive?" Ray felt attacked as he continued to get ready.
"You don't get it, man. I checked the manuscript. We saw your funeral." Nate said trying to shake him back to reality.
"Well, sounds to me like the stuff Legends are made of." Ray smiled resulting in Nate leaving the stubborn friend in the tent and making his way back to the Waverider.
Crystal couldn't leave him because she knew that he was going to get himself killed, and if she could at least be there to administer her blood she would save his life. But it still didn't stop her from thinking he was committing a horrible mistake.
She sighed and cupped Ray's cheeks trying in her last attempt, "You're a crazy stubborn man but I'm here to support you because I'm not going to let you die. I've lost too many people in my life, the only advice I could offer is don't die out there."
[•]
The fight seemed to be on their side with Ray's sword and the receivers being overpowered by Martin, Jax, and Rory. But the fight wasn't over yet since it Damien seemed to get away and Ray, with his blind ambition chasing after him in the woods.
Crystal hurried with her speed towards the woods that were covered in snow, she tried to hear for breaths and shortly she found Ray laying on the ground.
She ran towards him shouting his name from afar, she dropped to her knees and started to bang on his chest and tapped his cheek.
"Ray. Oh, come on, Ray. Open you eyes. I lost so much, I can't lose you too." Crystal continued to bang on his chest until groans seemed to emit from his breath.
"Stop yelling at me." Ray said as he removed his armor which revealed the Atom suit underneath. Crystal chuckled as she pulled him into a short kiss.
"It's not Ray anymore. It's Sir Raymond of the Palms." Ray smiled.
"Yeah. I'm never gonna call you that."
[•]
After the fight, the all had to bide their farewells to Camelot and Ray insisting on saying goodbye to Guinevere. When they got to her tent, Ray bowed down before seeing Sara there as well.
"It is I, Raymond of the Palms, my lady... come to bid my fair lady adieu. Oh, well..." Ray clears his throat, "A thousand pardons, Your Majesty. Sara."
"It's okay, Ray, come in." Sara assure him as Crystal followed behind him.
"And a thousand thanks for your service to the realm. If ever your travels bring you back, there will always be a seat at the Round Table for Sir Raymond of the Palms." Guinevere assured him as he chuckled softly.
"Thank you, My Lady." Ray bowed as Crystal curtsied as well before they exited the tent, and Sara following as well before Ray whispers to Sara.
"You know, every good legend ends with a kiss." Sara took his advice and went back as the couple advanced forward.
"I was wondering if I was going to get one," Ray raised his eyebrow as Crystal hit his metal armor enough to hurt him.
"After being a stubborn A-hole for not listening to us to pursue this dream. That equivalents to a kiss?" Crystal asked as Ray stood still waiting for her to give into him. She chuckled before wrapping her arms around him and placing a long kiss on his lips, and he held her as he started to dip her slowly to which she slapped him to let her up.
Back on the Waverider, Nate finally gave into the idea of stories not being so far off from history.
"All right, I'll admit it, walking around in a legend felt just as real as walking around any part of history. And you know what? Maybe legend and history aren't so different after all. Maybe they're just stories to remind us where we come from and who we can become. So what do you say? You wanna find out how you're gonna be remembered in everyone's favorite bedtime story?" Nate asked as he pulled open the book before Ray nodded his head.
"Nah. I think I'd rather make up my future as I go." Ray said as he wrapped his arm around Crystal, "It's looking pretty good so far."