Fiction: Episode Two; The Black Knight

[JonPop]

Please read the 'spammer war" first, as this is the conclusion to that story. JP

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO MAKE COMMENTS IN THIS THREAD.

[JonPop]

Part 2 of the Spammer series.


The Black Knight was an enigma. No one knew where he came from nor when he would appear. His shield was jet black, with no markings or crest.
His horse was huge and coal black with reddish eyes and a mean disposition. The Knight was a very large man and in his black armor, was a formidable and intimidating sight.

His armor and shield showed the scars of many battles with nicks and dents. He carried a mace with large, sharpened spikes, surrounding the ball, a broadsword that would take two smaller men to wield and a lance that was longer and heavier than most.
His legend and prowess had spread throughout the kingdoms, like wild fire. Many young, brave Knights, had attempted to defeat the Black Knight in one on one combat, and the dead foolish Knights that wanted to prove themselves the best, were countless.

The Black Knight had taken great pains to conceal his identity.
He made no friends and many adversaries and unbeknownst to all, had a plan for revenge.

King Arthur knew that it was only a matter of time before the Black Knight crossed paths with one of his BetterMan Knights.

He had summoned his Moderator Knights to a round table meeting to discuss this formidable foe.
The BetterMan Knights assumed their customary places at the round table.
King Arthur stood and said, "I would again, praise all of you here, for the hard fought victory against the spammers."

"As you know, we lost a great number of Brother Moderator Knights in that terrible war and Sir JonPop has appointed and I have Knighted Sir Italianangelo69 to Moderator Knighthood status. Sir Rob has been credited with 437 confirmed spammer banning's in the Moderator forum. Such diligence and hard work, could not go unrewarded."

The BetterMan Knights stood as one and with right fist's raised gave a mighty shout of, "OohRah!"

King Arthur said, "Now, to the business at hand, the Black Knight."

Sir Sonic raised his hand and said, "Your highness, I will volunteer to fight the Black Knight.
It makes my Celtic blood run hot to think of all the naive, young Knights that he has easily slaughtered. I believe my strength and experience will match well with this foul and wicked being."
King Arthur said, "Thank you Sir SonicCelt. True, you are of great strength and ability and I believe, unmatched by any Knight in this or any other realm, but no."

"The purpose of this meeting is to discuss a way to put an end to the reign of terror, that is the doing of such a dislikable, heartless creature. Sir JonPop and myself have devised a plan to rid the earth of this scourge."
King Arthur sat down and said, "Sir JonPop, please briefly outline our plan."

[JonPop]

JonPop stood, looking around at the empty places at the round table gave a sigh and said, "My brother Knights, before I lay before you the plan that his highness King Arthur and I have devised to destroy the Black Knight, I would like to say a small prayer for our departed and only female Moderator Knight, Jennifer*."

"This will be the only and last time time that her name will be brought up in remembrance."

All of the Knights and the King bowed their heads and Sir JonPop continued, "Please Lord God, since you have seen in your infinite wisdom to take our dearly beloved Jennifer, in the prime of her life, please take her into your loving embrace and cherish her as did we. Amen" As one, all echoed "Amen."

Sir JonPop looked around at the seated knights and saw a few wet eyes. He continued, "The plan, while simple in nature is very much dependent on precision timing."

"As you all know, Our King's daughter, Princess Susan, while a very gentile lady on the outside, who's kindness and mannerisms are those of a true Southern Belle, inside lies a women that is fiercely competitive."

"Princess Susan is by far the best archer in all of the land. I once witnessed her putting an arrow through a drachma at over 200 meters. She has excelled and beaten, any competitor, man or woman that has ever challenged her in tournament. She is a key piece to this plan as is Sir Sonic Celt."

"King Arthur and have chosen Sir SonicCelt for his size and strength to represent the Kingdom of BetterMan in a Jousting tournament to be held here in one month. As you know, Sir Sonic has never been defeated with the lance or in hand to hand."
Sir JonPop held up a poster and showed it around to the Knights. "Sir Rob, our newest Knight has created this poster and charged our BetterMan Monks to scribe, hundreds of these. They will be affixed to trees, walls and in all the courtyards and villages in all of the kingdoms."

The poster read:

"Come ye, come ye, all ye Knights, to the finest and most rewarding of jousting tournaments in all of the land.
Come with your best armor, your strongest lance's and most trusted squires. This tournament will be an elimination contest and the victor will receive 1,000 pieces of gold. There will be a great celebration with wine, food and much merriment. The tournament will be held on the castle grounds in the Kingdom of BetterMan on the last day of the coming month. This contest is open to all. Come ye and meet our undefeated champion, Sir SonicCelt as he dispatches all that dare to go against him."

As the Knights finished reading the poster, Sir Sonic said, "Well now, last to know, first to die?" And chuckled.
Sir JonPop said, "Not on your life Sir Sonic" And laughed. "This is only a trap to kill the Black Knight. You will though, be required to participate in a few jousting matches unless the Black Knight, whom we are hoping will take the bait, is the first to challenge.
In which case the trap will be sprung immediately."
Sir Sonic said, "Good, I need to knock some people off their horses and kick some ass for a change. Getting soft since the war." "One month, eh? Should be enough time to get back to top form. Please tell us the rest of the plan, Sir JonPop."

*Jennifer Logan, Beloved Moderator at BetterMan, born June 10th. 1980, killed in a car accident on Oct. 8th. 2007.
God Bless and RIP.
_

[JonPop]

Before Sir JonPop could speak, Sir Happy Stud raised his hand and stood up. He said, "I understand what ya'll are saying Sir JonPop, but I'm as big and strong as Sir Sonic and I'd like a crack at this Black Knight ass hole myself. Heck, man, one time when me and Sir Sonic was practice jousting, I knocked him flat on his butt."
Sir Sonic, stood up and said, "Yes, Sir Stud? What about the other 23 times that YOU were on YOUR ass, eh?"
There was a roar of laughter from around the table.
Sir JonPop raised his hand for quiet and said, "Thank you sir Stud for your offer, but the decision has been made.
Now, to resume."

Sir JonPop turned and with a wave of his hand, an apprentice to Sir Merlin came pushing a cart into the room. There were various items stacked on the cart. This was followed by the Great Wizard, Sir Merlin. All at the table became very quiet.
Sir Merlin looked at the assembled and said, "Sir Uberschwanz, would you please help me in a demonstration?" "I know that you are the most scientific minded amongst the BetterMan Knights and therefor the most skeptical."
Sir Uberschwanz stood and said, "I would be honored Sir Merlin." and came around the table.
Sir Merlin said, "Before we begin, I would like to point out a theory I have about the Black Knights Armor. As you know, even the Armor I have devised for all of the BetterMan Knights, is still no match for a long bow and a steel tipped arrow because it must be of light enough weight, to allow the wearing for long periods of time.
I believe Sir Uberschwanz will testify to this as his armor was pierced during the spammer battle." Sir Uberschwanz, nodded in agreement.
Sir Merlin continued, "There have been many reported cases by eye witnesses that the Black Knight's armor will simply deflect any arrow.
Now, this Black Knight is a man of great size and extraordinary strength and I belive his armor is of such a thickness and weight that no mortal man has the strength or weapon to penetrate it's steel. Therefore, I have, using some ancient spells, produced an arrow that will penetrate anything and with the help of Sir Uberschwanz, I will now demonstrate

[JonPop]

Sir Merlin took from the pile on the cart, a piece of hardened Oak about 12cm thick. He told Sir Uberschwanz to thrust the arrow he handed him, through the Oak.
Sir Uberschwanz looked puzzled and asked, "No disrespect Sir Merlin, but you want me to do this with my bare hand?"
Sir Marlin nodded his head and held the Oak board out to the side of himself.
Sir Uberschwanz grasped the arrow by the shaft and with a mighty thrust, pushed the arrow through the Oak, with ease. Sir Uberschwanz said, "I felt little, if any resistance."

Sir Merlin pulled the arrow back through the Oak board and gave it back to Sir Uberschwanz.
Sir Merlin said, "Next I want you to pierce this steel plate with the same arrow." And held up a small square of thick steel.
Again, Sir Uberschwanz grasped the arrow's shaft and thrust it at the steel, expecting it to bounce off. Much to the amazement of all the Moderators looking on, the arrow went through the thick steel as if it were made of soft cheese.

Sir Merlin said, "I have thicker steel if anyone is not yet convinced." There were murmurs of, "No Sir Merlin, we are convinced" .....and agreement.

King Arthur stood and said, "I had seen this demonstration before and am as amazed now, as I was then. Please Sir Merlin, tell the Knights how this was accomplished."

[JonPop]

Sir Merlin said, "I will try and explain this in simple language.
I have found an ancient recipe for what are called 'DiLythium' crystals.
These are very hard to make and take a considerable amount of time to grow. I have only this one arrow equipped with the crystal and before the tournament, will have 6 more ready for our plan. The 'DiLythium' crystal tipped arrow, when meeting a solid object, such as the hardened Oak board or the steel plate, will push aside the molecular structure of the object. A more simple explanation is;
If you took your finger and pushed it into a pile of soft mud. Your finger would push aside the mud with very little resistance.
This is what happens to a solid object, the crystal simply pushes aside the molecules.

The Moderator Knights stood looking at one another trying to fathom these strange words. Finally, Sir JonPop said, "Thank your Sir Merlin, we don't really need to know how it works, just that it does work."

King Arthur, again stood and said, "Thank you Sir Merlin for that amazing demonstration."
The apprentice pushed the cart from the room and Sir Merlin with a bow to the King, returned to his laboratory.

[JonPop]

Sir JonPop stood and said, "We would like to spare as many young Knights as possible from the deadly lance and mace of the Black Knight.
If all goes as planned, we hope he will take the bait and demand to challenge Sir Sonic."
Looking at Sir Sonic, Sir JonPop said, "You may have to fight your way to the top, if the luck of the draw for positions goes against us. Also, It might be a good idea to let the Black Knight have a few preliminary rounds and dispatch a few, very unlucky Knights to make all of the assembled, i.e. participants and spectators realize just how evil a creature this is.
This will turn public opinion to our favor when Lady Susan dispatches the Black Knight."

"As I stated earlier, the timing of this must be perfect, so, as the much anticipated match between Sir SonicCelt and the Black Knight commences and as the Black Knight is charging with lance lowered to do battle with Sir Sonic,
Lady Susan will step from the crowd and fire her arrow through the heart of the Black Knight."

"If and the Gods forbid this happens and with her talent and keen eye, she should miss with the first arrow, she will immediately fire another. If this happens Sir Sonic, you are, to quickly pull your horse to the right and away from the jousting wall. We can't take a chance that you might be injured."

Sir Sonic stood and said, "I am not afraid of the Black Knight and I will not turn my horse in a cowardly manner."
Sir JonPop said, "Sir Sonic, I know you are fearless and brave and you are the reining jousting champion of all the land, but you must realize that the lance of the Black Knight is at least a meter longer than the longest and heaviest lance you have ever wielded. You would stand no chance of striking the first blow. So I am ordering you to adhere to the plan."

Red faced and muttering, Sir Sonic resumed his seat.

[JonPop]

Sir SonicCelt spent the remainder of the month before the tournament, honing his jousting skills with blunted lance, against the BetterMan Moderator Knights, that wanted to try their luck against him.
Even Sir JonPop found himself on his ass a few times before he decided that he might be a little too old to do this jousting shit anymore.
Sir Happy Stud was the most active participant and even succeeded in knocking Sir Sonic from the saddle on one occasion.

You'd have thought that Sir Stud had just won the Super Bowl, the way he strutted around after that. But 11 more times on his ass, soon made even Sir Stud, realize that he was no match for the reigning champion.

Lady Susan practiced daily with the new arrows to test their flight and seemed satisfied that they flew to the target with accuracy.

As the day of the tournament was fast approaching, the kingdom was abuzz with activity. Tents were being raised and pendent's affixed, the jousting arena readied and hung with banners and bunting along the jousting wall. The stalls and tables were being set up to feed and entertain the many hundreds of people expected to attended.

Each Knight in the tournament would have separate quarters for himself, his squire and stall and food for his horse. This was a massive undertaking and King Arthur dug deep into the treasury to put on this event.

[JonPop]

The day of the tournament, the grounds were filled to capacity. The rich and the Nobel, the workers and jugglers, the entertainers, the pickpockets and thieves, the Knights in their polished armor, there was hardly room to move about.

The rich were placing bets on the outcome of the matches as many were followers of their own champions.
The hottest wagering of course was the match between Sir SonicCelt and the Black Knight.
Many had followed the career of Sir SonicCelt as he had traveled from jousting match to jousting match at the different Kingdoms. The last being held at King Thunder's place, 1 year before the spammer war.
Sir SonicCelt had always been the favorite but with the Black Knights fearsome reputation, the wagering was heavily in his favor to win and to beat the reigning champion into submission.

Many trumpets sounded, heralding the start of the games. The spoiled rich pushed and shoved to get the best places to view the match. Above the commotion, overlooking the event, sat King Arthur, King Thunder and other Royalty from different places throughout the land, with their families and servants.

The two knights that were to joust, were at opposite ends of the arena.
Polished armor, with outer tunics emblazoned with their crest and colors.
Shields glistening in the sun, astride their horses that were wearing their battle armor. Their squires ready to hand them their lances.
The trumpets again sounded and the first match was underway.
The match judge dropped his flag and the two Knights charged at each other, lances lowered, shields raised, like two runaway trains.

It was over in an instant. One Knight was hurdled over backwards from the force of the blow to his shield and landed in a heap on the ground. The still mounted Knight, rode around the barrier wall and charged again, at the Knight struggling to his feet.
The downed Knight had regained his lance and was trying to place the butt end into the ground to fend off the charge. The mounted Knight, dropped the point of his lance and at full speed, buried it into the breast plate of the struggling Knight. The Match was over and one of the young Knights lay dead.

There were many boos and catcalls from the crowd as the Knight rode from the track. They had expected him to dismount and fight with broadsword and mace against the downed Knight in the accepted tradition until one was beaten into submission.
The downed Knight's squire was to hand his Knight his shield and weapons so that the fight could continue in a chivalrous manner.
That the victorious Knight had used his lance in this way, to kill his opponent, was not acceptable.

A runner was dispatched from King Arthur and there was a conference between the judges.
The Knight that had broken the rules. was to be assigned the first match against the Black Knight, if and when he arrived.
This was posted on the large board that kept track of the standings and the participants.

[JonPop]

There was a tumultuous roar from the crowd as the Black Knight rode into the Knights compound in full armor. He dismounted, dropped the reins of his horse and with great swagger, strode into the sign-in tent. You could hear his voice outside of the tent as he yelled, "I want Sir SonicCelt. Where is this so called champion, is he afraid to face the Black Knight?"
The soldiers that were doing the signing in, were quite intimidated.
They tried to ask if he had a squire, to which he roared, "I will not be here that long, I wish to fight Sir SonicCelt."

A runner had informed King Arthur that the Black Knight had arrived and was demanding to fight Sir SonicCelt first.

The King sent word that the Black Knight must go in order or would not be allowed to participate in the tournament.

The soldier receiving this message, said in a meek voice, "King Arthur said you must go in order Sir Black Knight and the Knight from the Kingdom of FastSize that has broken the rules and killed his first opponent, is to be your first match."

The Black Knight demanded to know where this Knight was, so he could quickly dispatch him and then fight Sir SonicCelt.

The surf's had removed the body of the dead Knight and raked the arena so as to be ready for the next match.

The Black Knight sat astride his huge black horse, his black armor and shield glowing with a dark, reddish hue. His monstrous lance at the ready.
From his saddle hung the great spiked mace and at his side the mighty broadsword.
The Knight from the Kingdom of FastSize, facing this huge opponent from the opposite end of the arena did his best to quell the shaking of his hands and to hide his nervousness.
He readied his lance.
The Match judge dropped his flag and with trumpets sounding they charged.
The Black Knight's lance struck first with a resounding clang against the FastSize Knight's shield tearing it like paper and throwing the Knight from his horse in a big arc, at least 10 meters backwards.
The Black Knight slowly rode around the wall and looked at the Knight trying to gain his footing.
The Knights squire ran to the knight, handed him his torn shield, mace and broadsword.
The Black Knight dismounted, to the applause of the crowd, unhooked his mace from his saddle and strode to the dazed Knight. The Knight made a feeble attempt to swing his broadsword , succeeding only to have it clang harmlessly off the thick armor.
With one mighty swing, the Black Knight hit the Knight in the helmet, removing it and the Knights head in one blow. He then remounted his horse and yelled, "I WANT SIR SONIC CELT."

The crowd was stunned, the rules were to fight to submission. That the Black Knight had killed, nay, decapitated his opponent so ruthlessly, was both exciting and sickening.

Sir Sonic, not yet dressed in his armor, had watched the match with King Arthur on his podium.
Sir Sonic, now having second thoughts, about his ability to defeat such a monstrous beast, turned to the king and said, "I shall go prepare myself to fight, your highness. Is the plan ready and the Princess in her place?"
The King assured him that Princess Susan was in position and wished him God speed and again warned him that he must turn his horse as the arrow was launched.