Part 73: An Unknown Friend

Shortly after arriving in Falador, Ultima Cow and Bebitwinnie collapsed, unconscious. Apparently, the strain of each teleporting 11 people was more than they could bear in their condition. Still affected by the poison himself, Jaron knelt down beside them. "Shoot...there's no way they'll wake up on their own..." With difficulty, he stood and turned to the others. "You know what that means..." "We leave them?" asked Low Scorer, barely smiling to indicate his joke. "We carry them," Jaron replied, sighing. The simplest tasks became mountains...Taverly seemed so far away.

With two people working together, the gate between Falador and Taverly creaked open. The group stumbled in and over towards their Druid friend's house. The Druid, seeing their predicament from a nearby window, ran outside to meet them. Calling two of his friends over, they took Ultima Cow and Bebitwinnie and laid them on the beds inside. "Thanks..." Jaron muttered, worn out from helping to carry the two. The Druid led them inside, and had them explain what had happened. Jaron told him about the poisoned arrows, their aftereffect, and how the group had gotten here. The Druid left the room and came back with some vials. "Luckily," he said, "I do have some potions that are an antidote to that particular poison." Taking drinks out of the vials, they felt somewhat better already. "What about Ultima Cow and Bebitwinnie?" asked Jaron. "They just collapsed from exhaustion. With this potion and some rest, they'll be fine, too," replied the Druid.

A little later, when the sky had darkened a bit, Ultima Cow and Bebitwinnie awoke. Then to everyone's surprise, the Druid said he had a present for them all. He left the room, while everyone shot puzzled glances between each other. A minute later, the Druid reentered the room with a small sack. He reached into the sack, grabbed something, and placed it in Jaron's hand. Examining it, Jaron found it to be a golden ring, with a strange greenish gemstone in it. He did, however, know about the enchanting of rings, and put it on. "What kind of gemstone is that?" asked Omega. "Jade," the Druid proudly replied. "And with special Druid enchanting abilities, we have created something we call a Ring of Talking." "Ring of Talking?" asked Ultima Cow. The Druid nodded. "Correct. It has a few different frequencies, which can be set. When you talk into the ring, other people with the ring on can hear it as well!" "That's amazing!" Twisas exclaimed. The Druid grinned. "I agree! We've tested them, and they work extremely well. The Seers across White Wolf Mountain keep boasting that eventually it'll be called 'Private Chatting', but you know them; they can't even predict the weather these days. I'll hand out all the rest of the rings in the morning. Anyway, you all should stay here for the night. It's dark out already, and the antipoison works better if you sleep after drinking it." They all agreed, and thanked the Druid for his hospitality. Exhausted as they were, it wasn't long until the entire group fell asleep.

"ZZzztt...sky...often." Jaron groggily awoke next to his pointy colored hat, hearing some sort of sharp noise or voices. Looking around, everyone else was asleep. Maybe he was dreaming of the noise. Then it came again, but a different voice--"It's wei...Zzztzt...we're looking at t...zzzttz..." Jaron sat up in an instant. Were those...voices in the ring? Careful not to awake or disturb anyone, Jaron got up and hurried outside. Holding the ring up to his mouth, he spoke: "Hello?" He was met with silence for several seconds, and then a strange voice responded. "Uh...hi. Who is this?" "My name is Jaron. How did you get a hold of a Ring of Talking?" Jaron asked. Again, a bit of silence. Finally, "Well, Jaron my friend, that's not really an important issue. But, my other friend, do you understand what I do?" The other voice came from the ring. "I do, I think I understand now. So, Jaron is it? I have a gift for you." "A gift?" Jaron said into the ring, uneasy. "Yes," came the reply. "All you have to do is go to the gate where Lumbridge meets Al Kharid. Enter Al Kharid, then take twenty steps north and four steps east. Dig there, and you'll find a treasure chest." Jaron looked to the sky, thinking it over. "How do I know my 'step' is the same as yours?" he asked. "Trust me. If you look for it, you'll find it," came the response. The first voice came over the ring again. "Jaron, good luck finding the treasure chest. And as for my other friend, shall we continue this discussion another night?" "Agreed," came the second voice. And then all was quiet again, leaving Jaron in the middle of Taverly, very confused.

Part 74: Surprise!

Jaron pondered what had happened for a few minutes, then finally shrugged and walked inside the Druid's house. (I'll think about it more in the morning,) he thought, going back to sleep. Morning came soon enough, and as the group thanked the Druid for the use of his home for the night, they walked outside into the sun. Suddenly, the Druid came running back outside, with the bag of Rings of Talking. "I forgot to give these to you all," he said, smiling. Everyone accepted theirs with gratitude (except Jaron, who was already wearing his.) As everyone admired their rings, Jaron pulled Ultima Cow and Omegaman aside to talk. "What's up?" Ultima Cow asked. "I heard voices in the ring last night," Jaron said, immediately getting to the point. "How's that possible?" asked Omega, stunned. "Yeah, no one has them but us," Ultima Cow agreed. Jaron shrugged, unknowing. "They said it wasn't important. There were two people, and they told me where to find a treasure chest." "You mean you talked to them?" questioned a stunned Omega. Jaron nodded. "I don't think they were near each other...they were communicating through the rings when I interrupted them. One of them asked my name, and the other told me he had a surprise. Then he told me the location of a treasure chest, and asked me to trust him." Omega and Ultima Cow seemed to be wondering about this as hard as Jaron was. Just then, Tai strode up. "So, where to now? CrazyArcher said he was going to Camelot, right?" Tai asked. Jaron nodded and looked around uneasily, struggling with a decision. (Could the treasure chest be a trap? The voices last night didn't seem evil...) Finally he spoke: "Yeah, he was, but I think we should head to Al Kharid first." "Al Kharid?" asked a stunned Deathstorm, walking up as well. "I'll explain on the way," Jaron said, "but first we should go to Falador and get some spades."

Spades were like shovels with a square head on them. Next door to the furnace in Falador was an empty house, which usually had a good supply of them. No one really knew why there were always spades there; some had a theory that the White Knights restocked them as a good deed to the people that needed them. At any rate, 22 people holding 22 spades made their way out the south gate of Falador and east past Draynor Village. Heading down the main road just outside Lumbridge Castle, they saw an interesting sight. Two people, a ranger and warrior from the looks of their armor, were walking in the opposite direction. The ranger had on a Mime Mask, and the warrior had on a Blue Halloween Mask, so that neither of their faces were visible. Passing the two, Jaron uttered some greetings, just a little "Hello." The two nodded and hurried on their way. Omega, with a colored hat on and shaking his head, turned around to watch them walk away. "Weirdos..." he muttered, turning back and continuing on.

The group walked up to the toll gate of Al Kharid. They all gathered on the other side of the gate and turned to Jaron, awaiting instructions. Jaron looked around and said nothing. Deciding on which way was north, he took twenty steps in that direction. Then turning at a right angle to the right, he took four more steps. The sand under his feet felt strange, like it had been dug up recently. He turned to the group. "This is where we have to dig. Apparently, there's a treasure chest here. It may be deep, so let's start." The thought of a treasure hunt appealed to most of the clan, and at once they gathered around where Jaron stood and started digging.

It wasn't even ten minutes later when someone hit something a couple of feet deep. The others came over and helped excavate whatever it was, and indeed it was a treasure chest. Lugging it up onto level ground, Jaron cautiously opened the lid. And what he saw surprised him. Everyone gathered to take a look. Inside the chest, neatly stacked, were eight Super Attack Potions, eight Super Strength Potions, and eight Super Defense Potions. "Are those what I think they are?" asked Andrey. Brandon nodded. "I'm a pretty good herblorist, and I can tell these are the real thing." "There's enough there for everyone to have one dose of each," Twisas examined. The entire group smiled. They carefully took all of the potions out of the treasure chest, and started heading back west, en route to Camelot.

Part 75: Preparations

Walking to Camelot by way of Falador, the group came to the crossroads at Draynor. To the west and a bit north, Falador, to the east, Lumbridge Castle. South was Draynor Village, of course, and the haunted Draynor Manor to the north. It was at the crossroads that they stopped for a moment. "Um, Jaron, do you think we could split up and meet back in a little bit?" asked 911. Jaron gave it thought, as he usually did, but didn't really see the point. "We've met with many distractions already. If you don't mind me asking, why should we split up?" Jaron countered. 911 looked around for support, and a few made their opinions known. "It's actually not a bad idea," Omega interjected, "as I could definitely replenish my supply of arrows. In a small amount of time, I could make some new ones, too." Twisas and Toxic agreed with him. Bebitwinnie spoke up as well: "I should probably get more Law runes and bring more Blast spell runes along; I could use a Bank right about now." On that point, Ultima Cow and Blackhairtp agreed, too. Jaron sighed, and nodded. "Okay, fine. Everyone can split up if they need to. We'll meet in Draynor Bank in fifteen minutes. But from there we're heading straight to Camelot to fight CrazyArcher, so if you have any doubts or fears, don't feel obligated to stay in the group. If you're not back in fifteen minutes, we leave without you." The others understood, and everyone separated.

Omegaman ran out of the Bank with a hatchet and a knife. "I haven't done this in a while," he remarked to himself, smiling. Running around the wall to the west of Draynor, he chopped down several trees in the area and cut them into arrow shafts. Nearby, he saw Iissam, the persistent woodcutter. Once again, she was chopping down all the trees with a single blow and leaving a trail of unstrung longbows in her wake. She saw him a walked over. "Hi, how are you?" she asked. "Good," he said, nodding, and explained his situation. Grinning, Iissam reached into her pocket and produced a knife, and quickly made several hundred more arrow shafts for him. He thanked her; "Ah, no problem. I've got thousands of them. I think I' ll probably be heading over to Seers Village in a bit, anyway," she replied. Then using his hatchet, Omega went to a nearby farm and killed several chickens for their feathers. The farmer never seemed to mind, the chickens laid so many eggs anyway that he never had a population problem on his hands. Finished with several hundred feathered arrow shafts, Omega ran back to Draynor Bank to attach the arrowheads.

Ultima Cow, Bebitwinnie, and Blackhairtp stood in the Bank, reorganizing their supplies of runes. They opted for several teleport spells, but quite a few attack ones as well. Toxic and Twisas were nearby, depositing old arrows and withdrawing newer ones of better quality. Jaron walked in to do a little inventory rearrangement himself, and the Bank became quiet upon his entry. All of his friends looked up to see what made the Bank quiet, and simply saw Jaron there. Jaron looked at them and shrugged, not having a clue. When he was done and walked out, the Bank Tellers breathed a collective sigh of relief and the chatter continued as normal.

Brandon was thinking about making some potions out of some of the herbs he had, but decided against it, seeing as the group had recently found those Super potions. That was strange how it had all happened, now that he thought about it. Two people who Jaron didn't even know spoke to him in the middle of the night, through a ring that no one else had. Then they told him right where a treasure was, and the group had no trouble finding it at all. Shrugging, Brandon decided he had better things to do, and walked out of the Bank to do some combat training.

Most of the meleers were outside the Bank and to the west a little bit, in Draynor Market Square. Even though it was a small village, Draynor really had two "squares", the main one and the market one. The main one was basically four houses facing onto a small area. The Market one was just to the west of the Bank, where more people gathered to trade things. Sometimes, if you paid attention, you could smell the scent of dug-up rocks or fish. It was weird. At any rate, the only thing in the square these days were toy horses and plates. Jaron was watching them all fight; Brandon, Bustergod and Tai were facing off against each other with their Dragon Halberds, while some of the others were simply playing around. Soon enough, it was time to leave, and everyone went into the Bank, Jaron following behind them.

Jaron walked into the Bank again, and it became quiet once more. "You've got that hat...are you actually the person that blew up this Bank a little while ago?" asked a curious bystander. Jaron sighed. "Probably..." he muttered under his breath. He took a quick head count. "17, 18, 19, 20...we're missing two?" The others looked around. "We're here!" came a yell from outside, as 911 and Bulldog ran in, exhausted. Apparently they had run a long way from somewhere. Jaron nodded, smiling. "Okay then. Off to Camelot!"

Part 76: No More Distractions--Well, Maybe One

Walking to the north, west, and north again brought the group to the large city of Falador, where the White Knights resided. But seeing as this wasn't their destination, they continued on through its north gate and farther to the west, into Taverly. Strangely enough, Taverly seemed to be deserted. That or everyone was simply inside their houses. Just a moment later, a shadow appeared on the ground in front of them. And with one quick jump off of a nearby roof, there was the Monk, standing just ahead of them. Everyone pulled out their weapon of choice--there was no way he was going to win this battle. The Monk simply laughed at their preparation. "You can't beat me," he grinned. "Oh, I think we can," Tai countered. "You're a little bit outnumbered," Andrey agreed. "22 to 1? Sounds like good odds," the Monk replied, laughing. He pulled from his red robe his small magic Dragon Dagger, and threw it high into the air. And as if they had all seen it before, the Dagger changed right before their eyes into a Longsword, which he promptly caught by the hilt on its way down. "You actually plan on fighting us?" Bnjy put forth. The Monk sneered at all of them. "I don't plan on fighting you, for a lack of words. Since you won't actually be fighting, that is. You've all caused enough trouble--I can't have you barging in when my Master's about to reestablish his reign over Runescape, now can I?" With another quick motion, the Monk pulled a vial full of grey powder from his robe and threw it low, straight at the group. It hit the ground and shattered several feet from anyone, but the force of the impact blew the powder towards them. And as the powder touched the air, it became a type of grey smoke that knocked the entire group unconscious within a matter of seconds. As the smoke dissipated, the Monk slowly walked up to them, his Dragon Longsword in hand and a smile of satisfaction on his face.

Jaron woke up, mainly because someone was shaking him. His first few drowsy moments of consciousness were filled with Omegaman's unceasing chatter. "Hey! Wake up! We've got to get going!" Omega let go of Jaron's shoulders, who sat up and looked around. Everyone was here, in Taverly, perfectly okay. There was no sign of the Monk. "Where...why...wasn't...huh?" Jaron mumbled as he tried to make sense of their situation. Then, standing up, he fully phrased his questions. "Where's the Monk?" "We have no clue," Brandon replied, shrugging. "Why didn't he kill us all? Wasn't he going to finish us off once he used that potion?" "I got that impression, too," Ultima Cow said, sarcastically. They all looked around. Nope, he was gone. The Monk wasn't exactly a friend they knew well, but even they knew that he would have easily and willingly killed them all if given the chance. And he'd had his chance--so why were they alive? Now there were no clues, and no way to know. So they had to carry on, and continue towards Camelot--towards CrazyArcher. "I don't know. I'm just hoping that's the last we see of him. Let's move on," Jaron said to the group.

Camelot was on the other side of White Wolf Mountain, and then just a short distance away. The Mountain, named for the White Wolves that inhabited it, was very annoying to pass and hard to navigate. It was said that once you had an alternative to go around it, you never went over it again; it was simply that annoying to pass. One alternative, of course, was the system of teleport throughout Runescape, to take someone from one town to another. There was a such thing as Camelot Teleport, but they hadn't used it in case it was part of a trap. So the other alternative, which they took, was the Dwarven Passage. A Dwarf with a strange light-green pointed hat guarded the entrance. He nodded to them all and let them pass. If you could do a good enough deed for the Mountain Dwarves, they'd befriend you and let you use their special passage, which ran in a straight line, under the mountain. It was the quickest way to go, and even had an underground pub of sorts for those wishing to relax. The Dwarves were proud of their tunnel, and always kept the walls and stairs in peak condition.

The group reached the other side of the passage in barely any time at all, and walked up to the surface to arrive in the busy fishing town of Catherby. Fishers from all over came to Catherby, since it was basically the best place to fish. There was a place to cook the fish nearby, as well as a Bank to deposit anything you caught. Otherwise, there was also a store to sell anything you caught as well; it all added up to one of the best fishing spots in the entire land. "Camelot is just down the road," Magicana said, grimly. It was true, Camelot Castle was just north of Catherby. Taking the Super Potions they had found in the treasure chest, Jaron passed them around for everyone to drink. And determined to stop CrazyArcher in whatever he was planning, the group walked straight north along the road, armed for battle.

Part 77: Emergency Broadcast System

CrazyArcher paced in the middle of Camelot Castle courtyard, impatiently tapping his foot and waiting for his servant. "Where is he? He knows to meet me here..." Several minutes later, when the Monk still didn't arrive, CrazyArcher decided to wait no longer and take matters into his own hands. Holding his hand out, a small grey oval appeared there, shaped kind of like an egg. The oval had small holes in it near the top, and a long cylindrical rod came out of its bottom, reaching to the ground. CrazyArcher brought his face up to the oval and spoke into it. "Citizens of Runescape--" he began, and then stopped. He stared at the oval and tapped it. Finally he grinned, and reaching around to the other side of the oval, found a switch and activated it.

Eerfy, an everyday adventurer, was sitting in the Pub in Falador, enjoying a cold Asgarnian Ale after a long day's toil of mining. Many people came here after doing whatever they usually did in the daytime. Eerfy was tilting his grey pointed hat back when suddenly, out of nowhere, there came a loud high-pitched wail. It was like the squeal of a child, only worse. Apparently, others heard it as well, because almost everyone in the Pub jumped up and looked around. Iissam, standing by a nearby table with hatchet in hand, looked over to Eerfy, who shrugged uneasily. No one knew what was going on, but neither did they have any time to think about it, for as soon as the squeal ended, a voice was heard. "Is this thing on?" Iissam's eyes widened, as if she realized something. Motioning to get Eerfy's attention, she asked him, "Is that the voice of that one guy?" Eerfy realized it as well and nodded. Everyone knew CrazyArcher's screams and voice, even if they didn't know his name.

CrazyArcher's voice came once again, into the Falador Pub. "Ah, good, it works. Neat. Okay then. Citizens of Runescape, listen well! My name is CrazyArcher, and from this day forth, I shall be your new ruler!" A second voice suddenly came out of nowhere as well--"I don't think so!" Iissam's look of surprise told Eerfy she recognized the voice. "Is that Jaron?" Iissam asked, mostly to herself. (Who's Jaron?) wondered Eerfy. The voices came again, this time with CrazyArcher speaking first. In an obviously frustrated tone, he said: "What are YOU doing here? You should be dead right now!" "Ha! You'll never rule over Runescape, CrazyArcher. Not as long as we have a say in it. We've beaten you before, and we can do it again." There was a slight pause, and then CrazyArcher's voice came once more, but more pleasantly: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing technical difficulties. Please stand by." And with a loud clicking sound, all was quiet in Falador Pub.

Part 78: With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?

The group of 22 stood there with their colored pointy hats in Camelot Castle courtyard, CrazyArcher straight ahead of them. CrazyArcher threw aside the standing grey oval thingy and glared at them. "Where's the Monk?" asked CrazyArcher suspiciously. Jaron shrugged. "One second he was going to kill us, the next second he split. It seems your servant wasn't so trustworthy after all, eh?" he taunted. CrazyArcher replied by growling; "He's the best servant I've ever had; loyal, capable, and more trustworthy than you could possibly imagine. So are you going to tell me the truth about where he is or beat around the bush?" "You idiot, we seriously don't know," countered Twisas, "and besides, we wouldn't tell you if we did." EaglesFan spoke up next. "Yeah, so are you going to give up your crazy plans of world domination or beat around the bush, as you say?" CrazyArcher grinned. "Hah! Give up my plans? No way! Actually, I've already started them." The group just looked at him with confused stares, which led him to explain. "One of the powers my lord Zamorak bestowed upon me is a type of reverse Telekinetic Grab. With a single arrow and one of the Monk's potions, I can effectively and silently administer any potions I want to anyone, anywhere." CrazyArcher nodded towards behind the group. Still confused, they all turned around to see Brandon standing there with his Halberd. Which wasn't unusual--Brandon sometimes strayed towards the back of the group. What was unusual, however, was the grey-tipped arrow on the ground nearby and how Brandon suddenly rushed towards the group, swinging his Halberd and evidently trying to hurt someone.

The group dispersed from where they stood, scattering and trying to avoid Brandon's attacks. His Halberd had quite a long range, as a couple of them learned firsthand by receiving minor cuts and scratches. The problem was that no one would fight back, however, as Brandon was a well-valued member of the team and no one wanted to hurt him. They mostly tried to evade his attacks rather than counterattack. They actually could have taken him down quite easily had they tried, on the one hand because a Halberd is a slow weapon, and the other hand that Brandon was outnumbered 21 to 1. "Any ideas?" Jaron asked Ultima Cow as they sidestepped Brandon's attacks. "Not really," came the reply. "We'll have to either find an antidote, fast, or hope the potion wears off soon." CrazyArcher by now had risen into the air and was laughing at the action below. Omegaman used the lull in the attacks near him to look up at CrazyArcher. Omega was about to yell some insult about CrazyArcher not being able to fight his own battles when he saw CrazyArcher's eyes widen and his smile disappear. It was like he realized something.

Looking down on the ground below, CrazyArcher couldn't help but laugh. He was floating only a few stories high; the higher levels of Camelot Castle were to his back. "They're like little ants all running around in circles from one little guy...hah! I should crush them while I can. What happened last time won't happen again." He was thinking about how to wipe everyone out when he heard something from behind him. Surprised and not even knowing what the sound was, CrazyArcher wheeled around to face the castle--and barely didn't have time to react as a rune arrow flew out of a castle window towards him at an impressive speed. Had the arrow hit its mark, who knows what would have happened? Instead, CrazyArcher used his very little time to put his hand out and grab the arrow before it could hit him. Moving so quickly, though, the speed of the arrow threw him off-balance and he tumbled from his levitating position down to the ground.

Brandon was about to take a clear swing at Bulldog when CrazyArcher fell on top of him out of nowhere, knocking him to the ground. The sudden impact sent him a blow to the head, and as CrazyArcher jumped up, Brandon did too, albeit dizzy. Then he realized he was standing next to CrazyArcher and jumped out of the way. "That works, too," Ultima Cow said to Jaron. (Where'd that arrow come from?) thought Omega, looking up to the castle. He thought he could make out the figure of a person, but before he could do anything, a purple flash signaled that the person had teleported. Then there was a second purple flash, implying another. (That's weird...there were two people? It's probably good they left, it's not safe here.) CrazyArcher brought Omega's attention back to the battle. "No more of this! Time to deal with you myself," he growled.

Part 79: Oh, so you CAN teach an evil crazy guy new tricks...

CrazyArcher produced from his red robe a small Dragon Dagger. It didn't seem to be a magic one like the Monk had used, but he was still certainly skilled in using it. He jumped to action, and the scene unfolded. CrazyArcher would try to stab someone, and he or she would narrowly evade the attack. However, the speed of CrazyArcher's attacks prevented anyone from counterattacking. He was moving so fast that if an arrow or spell was shot at him, he would move, in effect making it hit somebody else. So, of course, no one attacked, not having a clear shot. After only a couple minutes or so, after evading yet another attack, Coran said, "Don't you have anything new to use or are you going to swing that Dagger around all day?" CrazyArcher looked as if he had just remembered something very funny. "Actually, now that you mention it," he muttered, "I do." Producing from his robe a small rune, he held it in the air. Everyone backed away a few steps. The rune had a picture of a blue butterfly on it. "That's a Soul Rune," Ultima Cow remarked. "What's he using it for?" Jaron asked. Ultima Cow shook his head. "I don't know. Not many spells use Soul Runes anymore. ...Oh, shoot." Jaron turned to him. "What?" Ultima Cow shook his head again. "Only the top mages know it--there were new spells created just recently. They're called Teleother spells. It does what its name implies." "Scatter!" yelled Jaron, his face full of surprise. A purple beam of light shot out from the Soul Rune, hitting Magicana and Low Scorer. In an instant, they were gone. Everyone else was stunned at the sight, and in that instant that they weren't moving, CrazyArcher was able to hit Bnjy, Tai, Bebitwinnie, EaglesFan, and Petrenks with the beam as well. That got them running again, but CrazyArcher's aim was too good--Coran, Brandon and ACher were also hit by the beam. He was about to send out another beam when his rune glowed and shattered. That left twelve people in Camelot.

It also left ten people with colored hats right in front of Lumbridge Castle. "What was that?" questioned Tai. "Teleother spells," Bebitwinnie offered. "They're new, and not many people know about them. But usually you need to have the person's permission before sending them around the globe. It seems CrazyArcher can bypass that." ACher looked around. "There's no time for this. The nearest bank is Al Kharid. We can get runes to teleport back to Camelot from there." With that, they ran off to the Al Kharid toll gate.

CrazyArcher was laughing maniacally back in Camelot. "Ha ha ha!! I cut your numbers in half!" "You cut less than half. We can still defeat you anyway," Jaron shot back. Omega, Twisas and Toxic readied their arrows and shot them straight at CrazyArcher. CrazyArcher held up a hand, and all three arrows shattered in mid-air. "Heh! You can't even touch me!" Without warning, a fourth arrow flew past the group of twelve from the general direction of the courtyard entrance. CrazyArcher didn't see it coming, and it penetrated his right arm. "Aah! Who shot that??" The group looked to the rangers, but Omega, Twisas and Toxic shook their heads. Jaron turned around towards the gate of the castle, but there didn't seem to be anyone there. Whoever they were, they must have run off. CrazyArcher yelled--apparently he was mad--"Enough! You fools stay standing even after everything I throw at you! That's either determination or stupidity." He pulled a red vial from his robe. (How many things did he have?) "This will finish you off. Your time is up."

Part 80: The Final Battle...Again

CrazyArcher stood there in the courtyard, the vial of red liquid in his hand. "I suppose you'll be needing an arrow, then?" remarked Twisas sarcastically. "Actually, no," grinned CrazyArcher, taking the plug off of the top of the vial. "This potion is quite different than any regular ones." Without warning, he waved the vial in a horizontal motion so that some of the red liquid splashed out. Some of it touched Andrey's right arm, instantly turned to smoke upon contact, and drifted upwards. But it left Andrey kneeling on the ground, his left arm holding his right. "Are you okay?" offered Omega, wanting to help but not get in CrazyArcher's line of fire. Andrey's arm looked perfectly okay, besides being limp; no burns or anything at all. He looked at it before responding. "I'm fine, except I can't move my arm...it doesn't hurt much." "That'll wear off in time. Not that it's time you have," CrazyArcher chuckled. Andrey got up and tried to wield his Dragon Long Sword in his left arm, but wasn't having much success. "So what is it, a paralysis potion?" Jaron said in a mocking tone. CrazyArcher laughed to himself. "It's not so much paralyzing you as taking away all of your energy and zeal." "(Zeal?)" muttered Toxic to Bustergod, quietly and inquisitively. "(Will to fight,)" Bustergod explained. "Lucky for me I've got plenty of these," CrazyArcher said, as he quickly waved the vial again, splashing several people with the liquid.

Iissam was walking the long path to Seers Village, "Woodcutting Central" as it was called to some. It involved leaving Falador from the north, going through Taverly and the Dwarven Passage, and passing Catherby and Camelot Castle to get there. The road from Catherby went straight north to Camelot and then straight west to Seers Village, so it was easier to just head northwest and pass up Camelot. But as she was halfway through the wooded area between Catherby and Seers, a stranger approached.

The potion was effective. Already everyone except for Bulldog, Omegaman, 911, Jaron and Blackhairtp had been hit by a lot of it. They were lying back on the ground, barely able to move; watching the battle but unable to do anything about it. No one could evade CrazyArcher's potion easily, though. Blackhairtp and Jaron ran in a formation, trying to get an attack in, but before they could get anywhere close they were hit with a huge blast of the potion. The red smoke appeared around them and then drifted away as they fell to the ground, face down, about ten feet apart. "Now would be a good time," 911 shouted. "I agree," Bulldog said, pulling a large blue-green sword from his armor. "What's that?" Omega asked. "That day in Draynor...911 and I were late because we ran all the way to that pie-loving dwarf south of Port Sarim. He helped me make this sword," Bulldog replied. "911 gave me some good ideas, and together we were able to make what I've been wanting to all along--the perfect sword." "Oh. Well, looks good," Omega offered--just before being hit by a splash of the potion. "Dang," Omega muttered as he fell, enveloped in red smoke. That left 911 and Bulldog still standing.

CrazyArcher thoughtfully stared at Bulldog's bluish-green sword. (The perfect sword? Ha! I can still beat them all. It's actually quite a large sword...I'll show him who's got the perfect skills.) Bulldog ran towards CrazyArcher, sword held high. CrazyArcher, to make things interesting, simply stood there, awaiting Bulldog's attack. (A sword that big has to have a slow attack, just like Halberds and Battle Axes. I'll move at the last second and splash the potion right in his face.)

Jaron laid face-down on the paved ground, a medium-length distance away from CrazyArcher. He was actually somewhat close to Camelot Castle's entrance gate, but it wouldn't do any good. He couldn't really move any part of his body very easily. All he knew was that Bulldog was probably charging CrazyArcher...hopefully he'd be successful. A grating sound came from Jaron's left, closer and closer. Something was scratching the ground nearby. Suddenly, Jaron felt something run into his head-and the skidding sound stopped. Groggily lifting his head up a short way, he saw, there next to him at arm's length, a Magic Longbow and a Rune Arrow. (Wha...? Where'd this come from?) Apparently CrazyArcher hadn't noticed. Jaron used most of his remaining strength to take the ranging supplies and turn over onto his back.

(You idiot...just a little bit closer,) thought CrazyArcher as Bulldog advanced. Suddenly, Bulldog started his attack and swung his sword horizontally. The sword, for all its size, was amazingly faster and lighter than it looked, and CrazyArcher was barely able to correct his mistake and get out of the way in time. Bulldog missed, but only by an inch. Angry at underestimating Bulldog's sword's capability, CrazyArcher indeed splashed the red potion at Bulldog, paralyzing him. Looking down on him, CrazyArcher grinned. "That indeed is a nice sword you've got there. You almost had me that time." Then, without looking and with a vertical motion of his arm, he splashed the potion all over behind him. A grunt signified he had hit his mark. 911 slumped to the ground, his sneak attack a failure. "That's all of them," CrazyArcher said, smiling. "No, it's not!" came a voice from the entrance. The earlier-teleported group of 10 stood at the courtyard's gate, ready for battle. CrazyArcher laughed and threw a full vial of the red stuff at them. It smashed near their feet, spraying everyone and disabling them all. "That was easier than anything else so far," he cackled.

The newly arrived Bebitwinnie looked up at CrazyArcher. "How did you get so strong?" she muttered, wearily. "Don't you recall our last encounter? Oh wait, I guess not," CrazyArcher laughed. He pulled from his robes yet another vial, this time green. He held it up, mockingly. "Here's the antidote to that memory-suppressing potion, by the way. Not that any of you will ever get it! Heh heh heh!!" To everyone's surprise, the vial suddenly levitated in CrazyArcher's hand-and started moving towards the open castle gate at an incredible speed. Soon enough, it was outside Camelot Castle courtyard, leaving a stunned CrazyArcher looking after it, standing in the middle of it all.

As soon as he felt the potion leave his hand, he knew something was wrong. Looking at where he had been holding it, CrazyArcher watched as the potion flew out of the courtyard. "Wha...what? How did...where is...?" But then a motion caught his eye, and he looked to the left. And the last thing he saw was a Rune Arrow heading straight for him.

Giant flames erupted around where CrazyArcher lay dead, and in an instant, he was completely gone. The potion did indeed wear off not too long afterwards, and they were all able to move around again. They all walked the short distance to Seers Village, thinking back on their adventure. It seemed CrazyArcher was finally dead, (again, apparently,) which meant the group no longer had a reason to exist. Jaron addressed the group on the way. "I guess it seems our adventure is complete, my friends. It's been great to know you all, and I thank everyone for your help. ...I suppose this is where we split up, although now that you all have your Rings of Talking, feel free to keep in touch. Maybe we'll organize some parties sometime." Everyone smiled, remembering the rings. As they all walked into Seers Bank for the last time, Iissam came up to them. Her Rune Hatchet had a green pointed hat over the blade, for some reason. "Hiya, guys. Someone told me to give you this." She held out the green vial. Jaron was shocked. "Wha-where'd you get it?" Iissam smiled. "I don't know who he was, but someone came up to me and told me to give it to you when you arrived, and for me to be careful with it. He also told me that you only need a drop of it, so there's easily enough for everyone." Jaron smiled; all was right with the world once more.