Continued from Robot of Sherwood ― III
__________
When the Doctor woke up again, he found himself chained to the wall. Lexi was chained to the wall right alongside him while still unconscious as two robots walked past them, carrying a giant golden circuit. "Lex, love, you alright?" The Doctor asked her as he tried pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Come on, wake up."
"Engine capacity at forty-eight percent." A knight's robotic voice spoke over everything.
"It's not going... to be enough." Lexi mumbled before her eyes snapped opened and she sat straight up. "That's not enough."
"Engine capacity at forty-eight percent." The knight's voice spoke again.
"That'll never make it into orbit." The Doctor agreed as he looked at his wife in concern before they both paused, hearing a mechanical whumph noise. "That's the engines..." He mumbled. "They're building in power."
"That stupid Sheriff." Lexi muttered before she and the Doctor tried to get out of their chains, pulling on them. "Argh! Go on, give, you stupid... things!" Lexi and the Doctor both paused when they noticed a young woman was staring at them. Lexi raised a challenging eyebrow at her. "And might I ask what you're looking at?"
***
Clara sat on a log as the fire burned in the wee hours of the morning, Robin and the Merry Men staring at her expectantly.
Robin crossed his arms. "The time for games is over, Miss Oswald."
***
"I think I understand you." The young woman told Lexi and the Doctor, working to undo their chains given that Clara still had Lexi's sonic. "The Sheriff's using the gold to replace something."
"That's the principle." The Doctor nodded. "But he's a moron. If he tries to fly this ship, it'll explode and wipe out half the country. What we need... is a little riot."
"'Tis time to reflect on lasers and gold." Lexi grinned as the young woman managed to undo their chains. "Thank you." She told her. "Now go, spread the word."
***
"You will tell me everything this Doctor and Glorious know about Robin Hood and his Merry Men." Robin ordered, staring Clara down.
Clara frowned. "What is this? Why are you interrogating me?"
Robin pointed at her. "And then, you will tell me exactly who this Doctor and Glorious are, and what are their plans."
"Actually," A familiar voice spoke, making everyone turn to see Jupiter and Lucas standing at the edge of the camp, both of them standing atop a large rock. "she won't."
"Jupiter. Lucas." Clara said, quickly standing up from the log.
"I will tell you." Jupiter stated while staring directly at Robin, hopping down from the rock with Lucas following. "If it's about my parents... it should come from me."
Robin stared at her as she and Lucas reached them, then nodded.
"Then, by all means, speak."
***
"You are fit for labor." A knight said as it stopped in front of the Doctor, Lexi and the young woman. "Stand aside while these peasant units are freed."
"I'm afraid you're a little late." The Doctor tsked.
"Explain."
"We're already free!" Lexi exclaimed as she and the Doctor held up their free hands.
The knight's beam powered up, but the Doctor and Lexi grabbed gold trays – reflecting the laser back at the robot. The knight quickly turned to the young woman, but she, too, held up a gold tray and reflected the laser back at the knight, making its head explode and fall off – the knight then collapsing to the ground. The Doctor, Lexi and the young woman all then got up and ran for the doorway – only to be met by more robot knights. All the other peasant workers were now holding up their own gold trays. Everyone was deflecting the laser blasts, making the knights explode. "Everyone, the last one!" The Doctor exclaimed as they all surrounded the last knight that was left.
The knight fired, but several gold trays kept the beam bouncing around until it finally hit the knight again, making it explode.
"Get out! Out!" Lexi gestured. "Everyone, quickly, just get out! Now!"
"You've saved us all, clever ones." The young woman beamed, hugging Lexi and the Doctor. "Thank you!"
"Engine capacity at eighty-two percent." One knight said as the Sheriff suddenly stormed in.
"You are indeed an ingenious fellow, Doctor." The Sheriff remarked as the young woman fled. "And you, Glorious, certainly live up to your name." He smiled thinly. "But do you really believe your peasants' revolt can stop me?"
"I rather believe you're the revolting one around here." Lexi glared. "After all, you did try and kiss me – a married woman."
"He did what?" The Doctor glanced at her.
"Oh, do feel free to punch him for me." She looked to her husband. "You know, since I haven't gotten a real chance yet."
"Trust me, I have." The Doctor assured. "But I certainly wouldn't mind doing it again." He then looked back towards the Sheriff. "You don't have enough gold content to seal the engine breach. If you try and take off, you'll wipe out half of England."
"Liar!" The Sheriff snarled before picking up the head of a robot. "From my sky vessel, I shall rule omnipotent."
"You pudding-headed primitive, shut down the engines." The Doctor snapped. "What you're doing will alter the course of History."
"I sincerely hope so. Or I wouldn't be bothering." The Sheriff then tossed the robot knight's head into the crucible.
"Please, listen to us." Lexi tried as the robots began advancing on her and the Doctor. "It doesn't have to end like this."
"Just shut it all down," The Doctor agreed. "and we'll do what we can... Robin is one of yours."
The Sheriff turned back around, holding up a hand to stop the robots advancing on the Couple of Time. "What did you say?"
"Yes, Doctor, what did you say?" Lexi frowned, looking to her husband. "I seriously can't believe you right now."
"He's one of his tin-headed puppets." The Doctor said, glancing at his wife while gesturing at the Sheriff and then the robots. "Just like these brutes here."
"Robin Hood is not one of mine." The Sheriff shook his head as they looked back to him.
"Of course he is." The Doctor rolled his eyes. "He's a robot, created by your mechanical mates."
"Why would they do that?"
"To pacify the locals, give them false hope. He's the opiate of the masses."
Lexi squinted at the Doctor. "That makes no sense."
"She's right." The Sheriff nodded at Lexi. "Why would we create an enemy to fight us? What 'sense' would that make? That would be a terrible idea."
"Yes! Yes, it would." The Doctor blinked. "Wouldn't it? Yes, that would be a rubbish idea. Why would you do that?"
"Getting it now?" Lexi raised an eyebrow.
"But he can't be..." The Doctor trailed off. "He's not real! He's a legend!"
"Too kind!" Robin's voice called, and they looked up to see Robin up in the gallery. "And this legend does not come alone."
"Hiya!" Clara waved, grinning as she appeared from behind Robin.
"Did you honestly think we'd miss all the fun?" Jupiter smirked as she and Lucas joined them.
Robin and Lucas climbed over the railing, Robin putting his dagger into a hanging banner while Lucas put the sword he had acquired into a another banner opposite it. Clara and Jupiter then climbed over the railing themselves, Clara putting her arms around Robin's neck while Jupiter put her arms around Lucas's. Both men used a tearing motion with their respective weapons to take them slowly to the floor.
"Not bad, Mister Harper." Jupiter grinned.
Lucas smiled slightly as she let go of him, taking his sword from the banner and re-sheathing it. "There's more where that came from."
"You alright?" Robin asked Clara.
"Hell, yeah!" She beamed.
"Good." Robin smirked, taking his dagger from the banner before throwing it at the Sheriff. Said man dodged the blade, Robin using that as a distraction to unsheathe his sword. "My men have taken the castle."
"No!" The Sheriff snarled.
"Now I'm going to take you." Robin pointed his sword at the Sheriff.
"This one's all mine." The Sheriff narrowed his eyes, touching an amulet around his neck. The two knights that had come with him powered down. "What do you say, outlaw?" He drew his sword. "A final reckoning?"
"Oh, yes." Robin nodded.
"Are you all alright?" Lexi asked as she and the Doctor walked over to join the others, the Sheriff and Robin dueling behind them.
"Of course we are." Jupiter waved her off, straightening out her cloak.
"Good." The Doctor nodded just before the whole castle rumbled. "We don't have long."
"Here's your sonic." Clara handed Lexi back her screwdriver.
Lexi smiled, taking it before slipping it into the sleeve of her dress. "Thank you."
"I shall avenge every slight, outlaw!" The Sheriff bellowed as he and Robin continued their fight.
"Glorious..." Lucas looked up. "Doctor..."
"I know." The Doctor nodded. "The whole castle's about to blow."
"You have long been a thorn in my side!" The Sheriff growled.
"Well, everyone should have a hobby." Robin shrugged. "Mine's annoying you."
"I'll have you boiled in oil at the castle by sunset!"
"Can we make it a little earlier! 'Cause that's a little past my bedtime!"
The Sheriff snarled as Robin cut a rope and rode it up to a beam that crossed above the crucible. "I'm too much for you, outlaw! The first of a new breed. Half-man, half-engine!" He cut another rope and ascended to the beam in order to join Robin and continue their duel. "Never aging, never tiring."
"Are you still talking?"
The Sheriff cut Robin's arm, making said man drop his sword. Robin paused, looking down at the Doctor. He then held out his arms. "Bow down before your new king, you prince of knaves!" The Sheriff growled.
As the Sheriff charged, Robin straightened and spun so they were back-to-back. Then, using the same trick the Doctor has done at the stream, Robin made a swiping motion with his foot – which then made the Sheriff fall into the crucible of molten gold. The man screamed as he fell in, and Robin took a rope back down to the ground. "Sorry." Robin grinned a bit sheepishly, hand on his arm as he walked back over to the Couple of Time, their companions and daughter. "Was that, er, was that showing off?"
"No." Lexi shook her head, grinning back. "That, was badass."
The castle then shook even more, and this time, bits and pieces of the ceiling began falling down. "Run!" The Doctor shouted, grabbing Lexi's hand and taking off. "Come on, run!"
***
Everyone made it across the moat just in time to see the spaceship rise from one of the towers of the castle. "It's never going to make it." The Doctor shook his head. "Not enough gold. It'll never make it into orbit." He paused, looking around. "Where is it? Where did it go?"
"Where did what go?" Clara asked.
"The golden arrow!"
"I believe Tuck has it." Lucas chimed in.
The Doctor blinked. "You took it?"
"Of course we did." Tuck handed it over. "We're robbers."
"I love you boys." The Doctor sighed in relief, taking a bow someone offered him.
"My sweet, what exactly are you suggesting?" Lexi questioned.
"Think about it, Lex." The Doctor told her. "Golden arrow." He held it up. "It might just be enough gold content to get the ship into orbit and out of harm's way."
He held the bow and golden arrow out to Robin, said man shaking his head. "No, it has to be you. My arm is injured."
"Oh, he definitely cheated." Lexi narrowed her eyes at the Doctor. "Homing device?"
The Doctor sighed, smiling a bit sheepishly. "Homing device." He nodded.
"Oh, brilliant." Clara rolled her eyes. "Right, let me have a go."
"Taekwondo is not good practice for archery, Clara." Lucas pointed out.
"Oh, let me do it." Jupiter sighed, plucking the bow and golden arrow from her father before walking to the edge of the moat. "After all, I did quite well with a bow and arrow against the Silence." She glanced back at the Doctor. "I'm sure you remember that day."
The Doctor smirked a bit at his daughter. "Show us how it's done, then."
Jupiter looked ahead again and pulled the bow back to a full draw, aiming it towards the ship, narrowing her eyes before releasing the arrow – watching as it flew before piercing the hull of the ship. The ship sped onwards until it was out of range – above Earth as it exploded.
Jupiter smirked, lowering the bow. "Bullseye." She whispered as everyone cheered, Lexi rushing over to her for a hug.
"That was amazing!" Lexi squealed, hugging her daughter tightly.
"Thanks." Jupiter smiled, proud of herself as her mother released her.
"One awful day in Nottingham / Brave Robin Hood was in a jam" Alan sang on his lute. "The arrow flew true –"
Will snatched the lute from him with a laugh. "Give it a rest, Alan."
"Give me my lute!" Alan chased after him.
Lexi giggled at the Doctor, seeing him make a face at all the laughing. "Still not fond of the laughing thing?"
"No, no, no, no." The Doctor shook his head as everyone around him laughed.
***
"Woohoo!" Jupiter cheered as she and Robin shot arrows alongside each other, both of them hitting the middle of the target. Robin laughed at Jupiter's enthusiasm as she turned to him. "You know, Robin, I really am going to miss you. You were always one of my favorite stories."
"And you... are not quite what I expected." Robin smiled at her. "In a good way, though, I assure you."
She tilted her head slightly. "I believe you."
"...Mister Harper is a very lucky man."
Jupiter sighed. "I'm afraid he really isn't."
"Do not sell yourself short." Robin told her, frowning a bit. "You are much more than you give yourself credit for... If you have the chance for love, you should take it. A true opportunity for it does not come along very often."
"You say things like that... And yet you're disheartened about your lost love." She said, sincerity in her eyes as she looked at Robin. "You don't realize it, but Marian is so lucky to have you."
Robin sighed. "I fear not."
"Please, don't give up. Don't you dare. Not ever. Not once. Not for a single day." Jupiter kissed his cheek, then smiled. "And also, remember to be safe. You know, if possible. But above all else, be amazing."
"Hm." He considered.
She chuckled. "Goodbye, Robin Hood."
Robin smiled at her. "Goodbye, Jupiter Pond."
Jupiter grinned, winking at him before walking off towards the TARDIS.
"So, you believe it now?" Clara asked Lucas, her arms crossed as they stood by the TARDIS.
Lucas sighed, trying not to roll his eyes as Jupiter walked up to them. "My mind has been opened. So, yes." He said, opening the TARDIS door.
"Which is good." Jupiter commented as the three of them stepped inside. "Now, come on, you two. We're done with all the arguing."
"Thank goodness." Clara sighed as they shut the door.
And a little distance away, the Couple of Time were having their own conversation – Lexi sitting atop a medium-sized boulder while the Doctor leaned against it.
"I'm sorry." The Doctor said quietly.
Lexi glanced up at his face. "I know." She then sighed and looked ahead of herself again. "You always come around in the end."
"I don't know if I'll ever truly understand why you have so much faith in me." He remarked before leaning down and plucking a sunflower from a nearby plant, then straightening back up. "You've always been a guiding light for me." He spoke softly as he twirled the sunflower between his fingers. "So beautiful, caring, selfless... So bright."
Lexi grinned as she glanced at him again. "And you wonder why I like you."
"Maybe one day I'll truly figure it out," The Doctor chuckled, turning to her before carefully placing the sunflower in her hair by her ear. "my beautiful Sunflower."
Lexi blushed, not being being able to wipe the smile off her face as her husband offered her his hand and helped her stand up from the boulder before the two of them made their way over to the TARDIS. "So is it true, Doctor, Glorious?" Robin asked as he joined them.
"Is what true?" The Doctor asked.
"That in the future I am forgotten as a real man? I am but a legend?"
"I'm afraid so." Lexi gave him a sad smile. "I believed you were real when we met you, I just couldn't quite put together how you could actually exist. After all, I read stories about you as a child. I even told a few to my children when they were growing up."
"Good." Robin nodded. "It's better that way. History is a burden. Stories can make us fly."
"I'm still have a little trouble believing yours, I'm afraid." The Doctor admitted.
"Is it so hard to credit? That a man born into wealth and privilege should find the plight of the oppressed and weak too much to bear..."
"No." He shook his head.
"...until one night, he is moved to steal a TARDIS? Fly among the stars, fighting the good fight." Robin turned his gaze to Lexi. "Before then crash landing in the garden of a little red-headed Scottish girl, making her wait a whole fourteen years before finally whisking her away." He smiled slightly. "Jupiter told me your stories."
The Doctor blinked, frowning a bit. "She should not have told you any of that."
"You know," Lexi let out a breath. "at this point, I don't think I really mind."
"Your daughter loves you both very much." Robin told them, sincere. "It seems to be quite difficult to get her to stop telling about all the reasons why you are the exact heroes this universe needs."
"We're not heroes." The Doctor shook his head.
Lexi sighed, refraining from rolling her eyes. "It may not hurt to at least entertain the idea every once in a while."
"Hey, I'm not a hero either." Robin shrugged. "But if we all keep pretending to be... Ha ha! Perhaps others will be heroes in our name. Perhaps we will all be stories. And may those stories never end."
"Oh, I definitely agree with that." Lexi smiled, giving him a hug.
"Goodbye, Alexis Pond, Time Lady of Earth." Robin told her, then shook the Doctor's hand. "Goodbye, Doctor, Time Lord of Gallifrey."
"Goodbye, Robin Hood, Earl of Loxley." The Doctor responded.
"And remember, Doctor..." Robin said as Lexi opened the TARDIS door. "I'm just as real as you are."
The Doctor simply nodded once before then following his wife inside.
***
"Admit it." Clara snickered as the Couple of Time walked to join her, Lucas and Jupiter at the console. "You like him."
"Well, I'm leaving him a present, aren't I?" The Doctor replied, pulling the lever and sending the TARDIS into motion.
***
As the TARDIS dematerialized, Robin pulled a locket out from under his tunic and opened it to reveal a miniature of a dark-haired woman: Marian. Robin then looked up and saw the young woman the Doctor and Lexi had met at the castle – standing in the place where the TARDIS had been.
"Robin?" The woman spoke in disbelief. "I've found you at last!"
"Marian?" Robin asked, stunned.
Unbelievably happy to see each other again, the two ran towards each other – Robin taking Marian's face in both hands and kissing her. The Merry Men cheered as Robin then ran and hopped up onto the boulder Lexi had sat on just minutes before.
"Thank you! Thank you, Doctor and Glorious!" He shouted, shooting an arrow into the sky and laughing with unabashed merriment.
*****
Author's Note
Woo! 💚 🏹 🎉 😃
That was so much fun! 💖
I honestly had a blast writing this episode. And I truly hope you all enjoyed it.
Again, I'm sorry it took so long to get this episode published. But hey, better late than never. 😉
Now, switching gears slightly for a moment, if you're interested – I have published "The End of the World" as well as a filler chapter for the Doctor and the Guardian in For What It's Worth. And I have also finally published chapter FIFTEEN for Kassidy and Matt in Something Just Like This. 😻
Anyway, that's all for now. The next update in this book is going to be a filler chapter. A filler chapter where we're going to get the Doctor imparting a bit of advice to a certain time twin about falling in love with a human. . .
Until then! 😁
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Please leave your wonderful comments below and don't forget to vote! <3
– Maddy Xx