The New Order (14 page)

As Stan approached the wall, there was a whirring and clicking sound. An opening appeared, two blocks high and a block wide, just large enough for a player to fit through. The players exchanged final glances, knowing they were entering the point of no return. Then, with a deep breath, the four players entered the Noctem capital.

Stan looked around. He was surprised at how depressing the inside of the walls looked. If possible, it seemed even
more devoid of hope than the outside. There was light, but just barely. A good area in front of Stan contained nothing but basic dirt shacks, all in a grid pattern, save one stretch of flat, snowy ground free of structure that Stan supposed functioned as a main road. There was torchlight shining out of some of the shacks, sure, but the light was greatly suppressed by the eternal darkness created by the swirling snowfall.

There was really only one impressive building in the entire capital, and it was the only true source of light in the complex. It came from a centrally located ornate building, made mainly of stone brick with accents of mineral blocks, with multiple floors. It was quite impressive, and Stan imagined that it had taken some time to build.

As Stan, Charlie, Bill, Bob, and Ivanhoe marched down the main road, a feeling of uneasiness mounted. They were in enemy territory, willingly walking into the complex of the organization that had been actively trying to kill them for weeks. Shouldn't they have encountered some players by now?

No sooner had Stan thought this when a door below the balcony of the building opened. Two soldiers stepped out, fully clad in black leather armor, black swords in hand. Only their eyes showed, and neither of their faces had any distinct characteristics. The two stared down Stan and his friends.

“I am Stan2012, president of the Grand Republic of
Elementia, and these are my associates,” said Stan, gesturing to his three friends, who all nodded in turn. “I've come to seek an audience with the leader of the Nation of the Noctem Alliance.”

“Very well,” said one of the soldiers in an unreadable voice. “Follow us inside. The chancellor is expecting you.”

“He is?” Charlie blurted out, and despite getting death glares thrown at him by the other three, he blabbered on. “How did he know we were coming?” Charlie demanded.

“The Noctem Alliance knows many things,” came the foreboding response from the other soldier, and with that, the soldiers spun around and marched through the iron door, both in perfect unison. Stan felt a unanimous shudder behind him, and he knew why. It was unnerving, what with the dead, emotionless delivery of words and the fact that the two soldiers were perfectly in sync.

Stan took a deep breath, tried to quell the butterflies in his stomach, and entered the building. As they passed through the doors, he leaned back and hissed to Charlie, “Shut up and let me do the talking!” to which Charlie sheepishly nodded.

The inside of the building was much the same style as the outside, with stone brick walls and ornate details here and there created with mineral blocks. Stone pillars towered to the high ceiling from the floor, and all light was provided by fireplaces in the wall that Stan could only assume were
burning on Netherrack. The entire setup of Nocturia matched Stan's general opinion of the Alliance: stone cold and dark, with a flare of grandeur, and any light within it flickering and casting ominous shadows. And it made him extremely uneasy.

At the end of the hallway sat a wooden door, which they were led through. Stan took note of this detail. Should they be forced to flee from the scene, these doors would provide much less of an obstacle than their iron counterparts. Stan looked around the room they had entered. It was styled in a strikingly similar manner to the rotunda of the courthouse of Element City. Stan was actually unnerved by how similar it was. It was as if someone in the Alliance had seen it and copied it perfectly. The only difference was, where the judgment panel should have been, instead sat three thrones, only one of which was occupied.

The rotunda surrounding the middle of the stone floor was full of probably fifty forms clad in black. Stan could hardly make out any distinguishing features, as they all looked identical save a thin strip of exposed flesh containing the eyes. The single throne that was occupied held a familiar face. The last time Stan had seen it was on the battlefield.

Stan felt Bill and Bob tense up behind him, especially Bob. He shot an offhand glance backward and saw that the two police chiefs were keeping straight faces, but just barely.
It wasn't hard to imagine why. The player sitting on the throne before them was the reason Bob had had to ride into Nocturia on the back of a pig. He only hoped the two of them would manage to hold their tongues.

“Welcome to our capital, President Stan,” said Caesar, sounding more hospitable than Stan had expected.

“Thank you,” replied Stan, trying to sound like the president he was. “Are you the leader of this city, Caesar?”

“No, Stan, I am not,” replied Caesar. There was a moment of silence as Stan expected Caesar to continue, before Stan decided to help him along.

“So . . . who is?”

“The leader of the Noctem Alliance is the all-powerful Lord Tenebris, the greatest being in the history of Minecraft,” replied Caesar, an almost bored tone to his voice. “He, unfortunately, is otherwise occupied, having matters to attend to in other parts of the server. Until he returns, however, I have been made interim Chancellor of the Noctem Alliance. So, as of now, you may refer to me as the Head of the Noctem Alliance.”

Stan felt that the aura in the room was deadly ominous. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something very wrong about the setup. “What about Leonidas? I know he's with you guys too, I fought him at the Jungle Base. And what about Minotaurus?”

“Well, those two are also my allies in the Noctem Alliance, and right now they're out in the server, doing various tasks to help the Noctem Alliance grow,” replied Caesar. A tiny smirk spread over his face, and maybe it was the all-around unpleasant and threatening aura that radiated from Nocturia, but Stan found it extremely off-putting. He was about to ask what kind of tasks when, to his dismay, another voice rang out behind him.

“What do you mean, tasks out in the server?” asked Charlie savagely. “You Noctem guys have your own country now, and we don't intend to take it from you. So why do you still have to be doing stuff out in the server?”

Stan sighed in exasperation, and hoped that Caesar wouldn't take issue with Charlie's outburst. In a room full of fifty Noctem soldiers, keeping Caesar happy had to be a priority. Rather than be offended, however, Caesar's smile grew. Frankly, seeing the maniacal grin on his face, Stan would have preferred if Caesar had yelled at them.

“Ah yes, Stan, you brought an entourage with you,” Caesar said in an oily voice. “Charlie, how have you been doing lately? Has your NPC friend recovered from the giant gaping hole in his chest yet?” He asked this with disturbing mock concern in his voice, and Charlie gave an almost imperceptible growl of fury.

“Ah, and Element City's esteemed chiefs of police. I
haven't seen you in a while,” continued Caesar. Stan felt them tense up behind him, and he did the same, seeing where this was going.

“I thought there were three of you. Did one of you bite the dust? Well, I wouldn't be surprised. Frankly, Bob, dismembering you was laughably easy, and if your strength is any indication of your brothers', it wouldn't take an exceptionally talented player to take one of you down.” He chuckled, and Bill and Bob began quivering, emitting audible snorts of rage.

“Stop it, Caesar,” said Stan, trying hard to focus on getting information. “Just tell me what exactly it is you're trying to accomplish by founding your own country out here.”

“Well, Stan, what you have to realize is,” replied Caesar, his blocky hands pressed together in front of him in an almost businesslike manner, “the Alliance has many long-term goals, not just one. But while you're here, you may be interested to know that the Alliance fully intends to extend its walls and city to encompass the entirety of the tundra biome, and eventually expand well into other biomes.”

“Well, that's not gonna happen,” said Stan slowly, wondering what kind of a statement that was. “You're not gonna extend into Elementia territory, Caesar. My armies will stop you if you extend your borders anywhere beyond what you have now.”

Caesar shrugged. “Well, your armies are only going to do
that if you command them to, Stan, and . . . well . . .” Caesar's eyes flicked downward and he tapped his hands together a few times, as if he were on the brink of revealing awkward information. “As it turns out, you're about to die.”

Caesar moved his arm off the armrest of the chair, revealing a lever behind it, and before Stan could react, he pulled it.

CHAPTER 14
THE SPLEEF SEMIFINALS

A
re we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we there yet, are we—?”

“Oob, for the third time, yes, we're almost there. You can see the building, it's right in front of us!”

“Oh. I am sorry, Kat, I forgot to look and see if we were there yet before I asked if we were there yet.”

“It's okay, Oob,” Kat replied with a chuckle. “Everybody makes mistakes.”

“I still cannot believe that I am here!” said Oob, awe permeating his voice as he stared up at the goliath building that was the Spleef arena. “It is the most beautiful building that I have ever seen in my life, I think!”

“I think so too, Oob. And I promise you,” said Kat, smiling kindly at him, “you're gonna have the best seat in the whole house. Nobody has ever gotten to visit the preparations room with me, Ben, and DZ before. You're the first one!”

Kat expected another gushing response from this, but when none came, she looked around. Oob had wandered off again, and now seemed to be examining a topiary bush that resembled a pig made of leaf blocks. He was poking at it, apparently checking to see if the animal was real. Kat shook her head with a laugh, and grabbed Oob by the collar, saying “Come on” in a
playful voice. She lead Oob into the arena, where the semifinal round of the Spleef tournament was about to begin.

Kat took a side door out of the decorated main entry hall of the arena. She walked down the cobblestone corridors, toward the room where DZ and Ben were waiting. As she rounded a corner, she came face-to-face with a player clad in full white leather armor and red lips that took up half her pale face.

“Oh, Kat, darling, how are you? It's been so long! Still in the tournament, eh?”

Kat's jaw clenched. She knew this player, and she couldn't stand her. Cassandrix was the captain of the Skeletons, and Kat's least favorite person in the Spleef tournament. She came fully equipped with a snooty upper-class accent and a level of vanity that would put G's level of neediness to shame.

“I'm doing pretty good,” she replied, trying pointedly to keep her voice pleasant. “About to go up there and play against the Ocelots.”

“Oh, the Ocelots? Well, I wish I were in your place, dear. I've been simply dying to face a team that would allow me to kill a . . . cat, so to speak.” Cassandrix chortled irritatingly as she looked Kat directly in the eyes. That last word struck a nerve with Kat.

“Well, if you were to try that, I'm sure the cat would fight back,” Kat retorted with a smirk. “And I'm sure that this
hypothetical cat would be more than happy to take on your entire team. And she'd win, too.” Kat looked around. “Where is the rest of your team, anyway?”

“Oh, they're just reveling in the affections of the crowd,” responded Cassandrix. “After all, we did just win our match and advance to the World Finals.”

Kat's stomach clenched. Yeah, that was another thing about Cassandrix. Although Kat couldn't stand her, she and her team were, admittedly, excellent.

“Well, congratulations,” Kat mumbled back. “Now if you'll excuse me,” she said, her full voice now harsh, “I'd like to get up there”—she jerked her blocky thumb toward the stairs—“and win my match.”

“Oh, my dear, I know that you'll
try
.” And with a light pat on Kat's head, Cassandrix strutted down the hallway.

For a moment, Kat seriously considered reporting her to a tournament official. Cassandrix had patted her head, and members of opposing teams weren't allowed to touch each other outside the arena or they would be disqualified. But Kat dismissed the thought from her mind. She wanted to beat Cassandrix's sorry face fairly, not win by default.

“Excuse me . . . Kat?”

Kat spun around. She had completely forgotten that Oob was there, and he now looked confused.

“What was all that about?”

“Oh, nothing,” Kat replied. “Just a . . . friend of mine. Anyway, Oob, do you want to go up to the room now?”

“That is something that I would enjoy very much!” exclaimed Oob happily. Kat lead him up the stairs, and she saw a man in diamond armor standing outside the iron door. Kat knew the drill. She waited patiently while the player examined her, before he nodded, stepped aside, and opened the door. Oob followed her inside, looking curious.

“What did that player just do to you, Kat?”

“Oh, he just frisked me. You know, he checked to make sure that I wasn't carrying any items in here.”

“Why can you not bring items into this room?”

“'Cause they don't want us to cheat,” replied Ben, who had just finished pulling on his dark green armor and walked over to greet them. Kat let the two of them talk, and she hustled over to the chest, yanking out her armor and sitting down next to DZ, who was still struggling to pull his armor on.

“I swear, I'm never gonna get used to this,” he grunted to himself. He turned to Kat. “So what took you so long?”

“Well, I promised Stan I'd bring Oob along, but he kept getting distracted on the way over here and I had to run off and find him. Especially when we walked past the park plaza, that was the worst. You know that emerald statue of Avery over there? Well, Oob became obsessed with it. Oh,
and also, I ran into Cassandrix on the way up here.”

“Ah, Cassandrix,” mumbled DZ in disgust. “I remember her from back in the old days. She was a snob back then too.”

“I didn't know that Cassandrix played back in the old days,” said Kat in surprise.

“Oh, yeah, she was there,” DZ replied. “Most people don't remember her, her team wasn't very good back then. She was, though, and still is. She's more famous now than she ever was back in the day, and she's desperate to beat me, because, as you know, I'm the cream of the crop when it comes to Spleef. And also everything else,” DZ said as he flashed a white smile.

Kat punched him in the shoulder as she laughed, and then focused on getting her armor on. As she sat there, with only the sound of Ben explaining to Oob what the purpose of the shovel was in combat, she felt nervous. It wasn't because of the match, though. The thought of entering the Spleef arena again gave Kat a rush of adrenaline, not fear.

No, her nerves stemmed from the thought of Stan, Charlie, and the police chiefs, who had no doubt entered the territory claimed by the Noctem Alliance by now. Kat was, to be frank, terrified of the Noctem Alliance. When she had been fighting alongside Stan and Charlie to take down King Kev, Kat had never once doubted that they would win in the end. Now, though . . . Kat had no idea
what to expect from the Noctem Alliance.

She had learned to control her recklessness during her travels, but the Noctem Alliance was now toying with Kat's instincts. She knew she couldn't be careless and endanger her friends and country, but at the same time . . . well, she had to do
something
! Kat was well aware that none of them truly knew what would come next, and she only hoped her friends would be on their guard for any traps that the Noctem Alliance had in store for them. Also, it killed her that she had to stay here while the others got to go on a dangerous mission.

“You okay, Kat?” DZ asked.

“What?” Kat asked, slipping out of her train of thought. “Oh, yeah, sure, I'm okay.”

“Whatcha thinking about? Beating Cassandrix over the head with a shovel and knocking her off a cliff? Don't be embarrassed, Kat, those are perfectly normal daydreams for a teenage girl.”

“Oh, shut up, it's not that,” said Kat, laughing for a moment before her face tensed up once again. “It's just . . . Stan and Charlie. I'm worried about them. And honestly, I'm kinda ticked that I didn't get to go with them.”

“Oh, come on, Kat, you know that's nothing personal,” said DZ nonchalantly, waving his hand. “You know, me and Ben wanted to go too.”

Kat nodded and shrugged. This didn't surprise her.

“But we've gotta keep the people of the city happy,” said DZ. “They shouldn't have to worry about problems, that's the council's job. And come on, the people are content just watching us try to kill each other! They have the shortest attention span ever! Well, except for maybe Oob,” he said thoughtfully. Kat glanced over and saw that Ben, needing to get ready for the match, had distracted Oob by giving him his compass. Oob stared at it in fascination and tried to tap the little red needle to get it to move.

Kat chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you're right. Alrighty then. If these people want a show, then let's give 'em a show.”

DZ's face exploded into a grin. “Oh yeah! Let's go!” And with that, he started leaping around the cobblestone room, having spontaneously burst into song.

You know you're headed for trouble,

When I hit you in the head with a shovel!

Zombies! Zombies! We're the best!

Zombies! Zombies! Uh . . . Don't go into cardiopulmonary arrest!

Kat and Ben halted in their preparations and stared at him. “What was that?” Ben asked in bewilderment.

“Oh, you mean the ending?” DZ shrugged. “I don't know,
it was the first word that came into my head that rhymed with ‘best.'”

“Of course it was,” mumbled Kat under her breath before saying, “Well, that was just wonderful, DZ. In fact, maybe you should just be our cheerleader and let Oob be the third member of our team.”

Well, she instantly regretted saying it. . . . When Oob heard that, he became convinced that he really should be a member of the team. It took the three of them five minutes to convince Oob that he may not be the best suited to playing Spleef. They had just managed to talk Oob out of his last argument —“What does it matter that I cannot hold a shovel or snowballs properly? I can help . . . I was able to knock Mr. A into the lava pit, do you remember?”—when the mechanical door clicked open.

“Okay, let's go, team!” cried DZ as he picked up his shovel and darted out the open door with Kat in hot pursuit. Ben bid Oob a quick good-bye, and reminded him to stay put and watch the match, before following his teammates into the open arena. The door creaked shut behind them, one last cry of “Go, players!” escaping from Oob before it slammed.

The team surveyed the field around them in the ten seconds they were given before the match started. Unlike the last arena, this one was completely flat, the ground made entirely out of snow blocks, which was the standard block
for making up a Spleef arena. The arena, however, was not the conventional flat surface. The ground was filled with two-block-by-two-block holes that punctuated the field, creating the illusion that the entire arena was a giant chessboard of snow and emptiness. Across the arena, the players got a glimpse of three players clad in yellow—the Ocelots, their opponents.

The team blocked out the cheers of the crowd and their villager friend, and focused on the match.

“Let them move first,” mumbled DZ, and Kat and Ben obliged, scrutinizing the Ocelots and waiting to see what their strategy would be. The Ocelots took the bait. As soon as the door shut, they were dashing down the center of the arena, sticking together and ready to meet the Zombies as a single unit.

In a series of rapid hand gestures, DZ signaled his team, and without hesitation they sprung into action. DZ sprinted head on toward the Ocelots, leaping over the holes in the field like a gazelle. Kat did the same, while veering slightly to the right and away from the players. Neither of them took notice of where Ben was. He knew his job, and he would help soon enough.

Right as the Ocelot team was about to converge on DZ, he dived to the left over an open gap and swung his shovel into one of the hovering squares of snow, slicing it in two just
as the Ocelots were about to land on it. Two of them continued their forward momentum and were able to land on the remaining half square before jumping onward. The third one cut a sharp left, right into a mighty swing of Kat's shovel. The Ocelot landed on the half square, the wind knocked out of him, in the perfect position for DZ to jump in the air and kick the Ocelot into the watery depths below.

Just as DZ landed, however, he found the remaining two Ocelots rounding on him, swinging their shovels. DZ fought back as hard as he could, and was about ready to succumb when Ben flew in from out of nowhere. Ben drove his shovel into the snow square they were all standing on. This gave DZ the relief that he needed and he was able to jump backward onto another snow square just as the two Ocelots did the same. As one of the Ocelots flew through the air, his shovel flew out at a random angle, catching Ben totally off guard. The diamond blade slammed into the side of Ben's head, knocking him to the ground. The crowd roared with a collective “Ooooh!”

One of the Ocelots engaged DZ in shovel combat, and the other one spun around toward Ben. He was just about to bring his shovel down onto the square Ben was on when a snowball hit him squarely in the side of the head and he tumbled backward. He looked around in bewilderment to see Kat rushing in, snowballs flying from her hands like a machine
gun. The projectiles hit the Ocelot one after another, knocking him away while he mitigated the knockback with his shovel. This gave Ben enough time to pull himself back to his feet as the two of them charged the Ocelot.

This Ocelot was clearly the strongest Spleef player of the team. Wasting no time, he performed a flying kick at Ben in one direction and shot a snowball at Kat from the other. Kat managed to duck under the snowball in a very near miss, but the kick connected with a thud as Ben went skidding along the snow squares, somehow avoiding falling into the holes as he tumbled. Kat sprinted after him. This player was far too powerful to face by herself. She had to get Ben back onto his feet, and fast.

Ben came to rest hanging over the edge of a snow square, while his lower half hung down toward the water below. Kat fell to her knees and grasped Ben's wrist, flinging him up onto the snow blocks above with an almighty swing of her arm. Suddenly, though, Kat felt nothing but air beneath her feet. She glanced up and saw the Ocelot drawing back his shovel, getting smaller and smaller as she plunged downward, finally landing with a splash in the pool below.