the For Whom DOOrbeLL TOLLS
whilst the ruler of britannia was choosing his successor, the kingdom was plunged into chaos! zounds! what would happen to the infant royal heirs, donarthur and gladstantine?
counts, barons, princes -- every able man fought to prove himself worthy of the crown! but prophecy said the rightful king must extract the magic sword from the stone… and no man could!
entrusted to the care of genius sorcerer merlin, donarthur and gladstantine grew up! in little gladdy’s future, merlin saw luck! in donarthur’s future, he saw, uh…
thus, gladstantine was trained in knighthood, so that he could become a valiant leader! to avoid certain doom for all mankind, merlin trained donarthur as his own assistant…
look at me, merlin! I’m a soccer all-star!
donarthur, careful! crystal balls are pricey!
uh… that wasn’t soup in the cauldron?
no, donarthur. ’twas an explosive potion…
yoicks! who knew dragons were so touchy? and now you know.
one fine day, merlin decided the time had come for donarthur to learn the customs of faraway lands. very faraway lands! and so donarthur sailed with his crew…
if you see land, you must tell us before we get near! got that, donarthur?
whaddaya mean, “it looked like a friendly viking fleet”?!
[gulp! ]
blub blub blub, donarthur?! blub!
years have passed… now the great tournament is upon us! the winner gets a chance to try removing the magic sword from the stone! yet none are aware gladstantine has been predetermined as winner by…
…merlin!
merlin, we’ve arrived!
ah, gladdy lad… welcome, young sire, welcome!
sit back and relax! you must be tired from your journey!
actually, merl, ol’ girl, I can’t wait to win some tournaments!
all in good time, gladstantine! sure you can manage, donarthur?
look out!
[wak!
after all, only you can draw the magic sword…
at ease, fethwch! I can manage!
the only victor?
well, actually, I foresaw one other option… but he’s thousands of miles off…
“…true, the other knights are more valiant, and you more… uh, vain… but you shall be the only victor! I’ve foreseen it!”
hey, waiter! there’s a duck in my soup!
this must be a knight… er, knight mare! it can’t possibly be him!
[snort! ] beat it, or I’ll make minceduck pie out of you!
[grunt! ] you wouldn’t bully me if I were a knight!
we have to leave! now!
what ails you, merl?
sorry for the mess, fethwch!
tuts tut, cuz! worry not! it happens to me all the time!
it’s him! it’s him!
what ails all of us is catastrophe if we don’t hustle! you start working out -- now!
egad! work?
meanwhile! cuz, why is a gifted soul like you working in a dump like this? it’s fate! [sigh! ]
surely you’ve heard of the great donarthur’s travels, fethwch? many a distant country has seen my dazzling deeds!
not to brag, but my sterling rep has gotten me into high places everywhere!
“I served as chief architect for the throne of cathay! and chief gunner of the spanish fleet!”
“court artist for mideast monarchs!”
“I even supervised the renovation of the pyramids!”
“over the years, many have tried to follow in my footsteps…” …but they couldn’t keep up! [whew! ]
