The New Order (4 page)

“Nobody said that, Ben,” added Kat with a laugh.

“Oh, well then, I guess it was just me thinking it,” said Ben, grinning. “But now that it's out there, we might as well go and do it. Come on, guys!” He led his brothers and DZ out of the room and into a corridor that would take them into the courtyard to be received by their adoring fans.

Kat gave a laugh and called out, “Wait up, Ben!” She ran to catch him, followed by G, who had been at Kat's side the
whole time and was now following her at a determinedly close distance. Stan and Charlie glanced at each other, and both rolled their eyes at G's clinginess before following the other five players.

Stan never failed to be amazed at how fast the Imperial Butlers prepared meals at his whim. Even now, when Stan ordered them to prepare enough cake, cookies, and pumpkin pie for a victory party, it was all prepared and set out on ornate tables within a matter of minutes. Stan had personally been in favor of getting rid of the Imperial Butlers, as the organization had originally been created for catering to the desires of King Kev. However, the council had surveyed the people of the city and voted that they deserved the service of the butlers, provided the butlers were paid well.

Stan was certainly glad that the butlers were here, now that the festival was shifting into full gear. He looked around and saw that his people were in the highest of spirits, with more players streaming into the courtyard and immediately partaking in the dancing and feasting. Stan saw Ben and Bill cheering on Bob, who had somehow managed to teach Ivanhoe the pig how to do the moonwalk as the music blasted from the nearest jukebox. Kat and G were mingling with people, Kat holding a feather quill in her hand and signing autographs for fans of the Zombies. She seemed to be
thoroughly enjoying her newfound fame as a Spleef athlete.

“Eh, this is a nice little shindig ya got goin' here, Stan,” came a voice from behind him. DZ had come up to Stan, pumpkin pie in both hands, with Charlie following.

“Yeah. I wouldn't be surprised if people supported the Zombies now just so that there are more victory parties like this,” Charlie said.

“Very true,” said Stan. “So, DZ, how does it feel to finally get back in the Spleef arena?”

“Awesome, man!” came DZ's enthused reply. “I mean, I think it's been coming for a long time, but I really owe you one, Stan. I think the new rules for Spleef are a million times more fun than the old ones—even if you do make us wear armor,” he added with a smirk.

“It's a necessary evil, DZ, you know that. I made the shovel techniques legal, just like you asked, but the council—”

“Yeah, I know, the council insisted on armor,” DZ finished for him, waving his hand. “I'm just joshing ya, Stan, you know how grateful I am for you doing all of this. And I gotta say, I am very,
very
happy with my new teammates.”

“Yeah, they do seem to be enjoying it,” said Stan, jerking a thumb toward Kat, who was now being approached by two boys and a girl, all of whom were wearing green Zombie uniforms and asking her to sign them.

“Okay, okay, don't worry, plenty of me to go around,” said Kat with a laugh as she pulled out her quill and brought it down toward the chestplate.

Stan felt a chill on the back of his neck, and he knew immediately that something was wrong. He could tell by the widening of G's eyes that G could sense it too. As a sword appeared in the fan's hand, G whipped out his pickaxe and knocked the blade aside. The fan's sword, which would have pierced Kat in the stomach, instead stuck into the ground, and G's pickaxe slammed across the fan's head, knocking him to the ground.

Kat's sword was out of her inventory in a flash as the second fan-turned-assailant whipped out a bow and arrow. Kat slashed the bow in half before the player could fire, just as the third assailant pulled a green potion out of her inventory and threw it at G's head. Kat struck the flying bottle out of the air with her sword and the bottle exploded, spraying G and herself with poison. Two slashes later, all three of the fans lay unconscious on the ground.

Stan's senses kicked into overdrive as all over the courtyard, figures hastily pulled black tunics and caps on. Fifteen figures throughout the crowd pulled swords from their inventories, which swiftly changed to the same color as their tunics. In unison, the figures raised the black swords in the air and belted out, “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”

Stan immediately recognized that, whatever this was, it was not random. This was planned, this was organized, and this was dangerous. The figures surged forward and converged toward the center of the courtyard. The partygoers sprinted away from the black-robed figures, screaming in terror. Stan reached into his inventory and slung his bow across his back, put his quiver of arrows at his side, and held his diamond axe in his hands. He saw that two of the figures were rushing toward him, and he prepared to engage their black blades in combat.

However, Stan was totally caught off guard when the two figures jammed their black swords into their sheathes and whipped out more potions, both green and dark purple ones. Stan realized in horror that these were Potions of Poison and Harming. In a matter of seconds, four potions flew through the air toward Stan, and he was forced to hop and skip backward to avoid being caught in the blast radius of the shattering bottles.

Stan was uneasy, never having fought against players who used potions as weapons before. Taking what he found to be the logical approach, Stan drew his bow. The string of his bow twanged twice, and an arrow flew into each of the dark figures' tunics. Unfazed, the two players drew bright red potions from their inventory and in one swig downed the entire bottle. The effect was instantaneous. The arrows
popped from the chestplates, leaving only a small hole in the tunic in their places.

Stan was shocked. What was this? Who were these players, where did they get all these potions, and how did they learn to fight with them so well? Stan, desperate as more Potions of Poison and Harming flew his way, looked around for help. He realized with a jolt that all the high-ranking officials of Element City, all his friends, were now engaged in combat with these players. He was equally alarmed to see that all the mysterious players fought using potions, keeping even master sword fighters like DZ from getting in close enough to use their skills.

As Stan drew his axe to engage his attackers at close range, he reminded himself that he had to be careful. He had no idea where these players came from or who they were, but they were clearly in the order of assassins. That meant that besides escaping the attack and staying alive, Stan had an obligation to take these players prisoner. If he killed the players or let them escape, they would never be interrogated and Stan would never find out why they had attacked him.

Stan ducked another Potion of Harming, and he slammed the butt end of his axe into the thrower's head. The player, whose eyes were barely visible under a ninja mask and black leather cap, looked stunned. He fell to the ground at Stan's feet, just as Stan felt a sting on his unarmored back. As he
cringed, Stan realized that he had been hit with a Potion of Harming from another assassin. Stan spun around just as the attacker was about to throw another potion. Stan ducked the bottle, and he swung his axe blade under the attacker's legs, knocking him to the ground. Stan surged forward and stepped on the player's chest, pinning his throwing hand to the ground with his axe.

“Okay,” said Stan, breathing heavily. The potion stain on his unprotected back was burning, intensifying his rage. “Who are you people, and why are you attacking us?”

There was no hesitation. The attacker, with his free hand, drew a purple potion from his inventory at light speed and poured the entire contents down his throat. There was a quick shudder, and the attacker's hand went limp, the empty bottle rolling to the side. His items burst about him in a ring, a sure indicator that the attacker had died.

Stan looked around and saw that like himself, all of his friends had bested the attackers. The black-robed forms now all lay on the ground. In the hands of each of them were the glints of empty glass bottles.

Stan was stunned. What motivation could these players possibly have had that they would rather die than be captured? Stan looked down and realized that one of the attackers was not dead, just unconscious.
Well, I'm sure he'll be able to explain this to us
, thought Stan as he dragged him
by the knees over to the others.

Kat and G were each drinking a Potion of Regeneration to counter the poison that had exploded in their faces. Kat was using another potion to heal her dog, Rex (who had appeared from nowhere to defend his master). Bob was using a Potion of Healing to mend a burn that a Potion of Harming had left on Ivanhoe's side. Besides that, everybody seemed fine.

Five players were rushing over the Element Castle drawbridge. As they approached, Stan recognized them as Blackraven, Councilman Jayden, Archie, the Mechanist, and Gobbleguy. They looked around in shock, disgust, and horror at the black-clad corpses that littered the ground, and the empty potion bottles beside them.

“What happened out here?” asked Gobbleguy, his face stricken with worry.

Stan explained, “We were having an after-party to celebrate the Zombies winning the Spleef match, when out of nowhere a few of the fans tried to kill Kat. Then a bunch of other players pulled out black caps, tunics, and swords, and tried to kill the rest of us.”

“Wait, they yelled something before that, didn't they?” asked DZ.

“Yeah, they yelled ‘Viva la Noctem,'” said Charlie.

Jayden's and Archie's faces morphed into alarm. “Did you say . . . they yelled ‘Viva la Noctem,' and then they tried
to kill you?” asked Archie.

“Yeah,” said Kat. “Why? Does that mean anything to you guys?”

“Oh, boy . . . yes it does,” said Jayden, pressing his hands together, sweat accumulating on his forehead. “You know how Archie and I said we had business yesterday?”

“Yeah . . . ,” said G slowly. The two of them had had to leave the council meeting early because of it.

“Well, we went to a Noctem Alliance rally in the Residential District,” said Jayden.

“You did
what
?” shouted Stan, taken aback.

“Yeah,” said Archie. “We went undercover there. We wanted to know more about the group, you know, check out whether or not they were just a protesting group, or something more threatening.”

“And what did you find?” asked Bill. Stan was dreading the answer.

“The guy speaking there said that the upper-level citizens of Element City deserve better than to share the streets with what they called ‘lower-level trash,'” said Archie.

“Yeah, well, we know that's what the views of that group are, they've made that very clear from the get-go,” said Charlie. “But what does that have to do with what happened today?”

“That's just it! The guy at the rally said that the Noctem
Freedom Fighters—that's what he called them—must be willing to go to any lengths to preserve their ideals. The rally finished with the leader doing that chant. The entire rally started chanting.” A shadow crossed his face as he said the phrase once again.

“
Viva la Noctem
. The motto of the Noctem Alliance.”

CHAPTER 4
VIVA LA NOCTEM

T
here was stunned silence. Stan could not believe what he was hearing. The attempts to kill him and his friends . . . the black tunics . . . the chant . . . it seemed clear to Stan that the players who had tried to kill them tonight were working for the Noctem Alliance.

“Are you serious right now?” wailed DZ in despair.

“Hold up, DZ, don't jump to conclusions,” said Gobbleguy quickly. “It is very possible that these attacks were a result of the Noctem Alliance, and at this point it may seem like that's the only explanation. However, let me remind you that we cannot know this for sure until the attackers have stood trial. For all we know, these people could have been trying to frame the Noctem Alliance.”

“How are they going to stand trial?” asked Blackraven, gesturing to the corpses around him. “They all killed themselves rather than allow themselves to be captured.”

“Not all of them,” Stan and Kat said at the same time. Stan looked down at the would-be-assassin who he had knocked unconscious with the butt of his axe.

“Four of them weren't killed,” said Kat. “Stan knocked one out, and G and I knocked out three more. When they come to, we can have them stand trial in
the name of their co-conspirators.”

“We'd better strip them of their stuff, though,” added Ben, “or else they'll just try to kill themselves when they come to.”

“Good idea,” said Kat, giving him a smile, which he returned. Stan noticed G instinctively edge a little closer to Kat.

“Okay then,” said Stan. “Charlie, come with me and clean up the items these guys dropped. Bill, Ben, Bob, and DZ, you take these four.” He jerked his thumb at the four remaining black figures, the others having vanished. “Bring them down to the jailhouse, but strip them of their items first. The rest of you, go down to the courthouse and let them know that we have four assassins who attempted to kill us, and we need to have an emergency trial. Okay, let's go.”

And with that, Rex, Ivanhoe, and all the players went off in their respective directions.

By that evening, the Elementia courthouse was prepped for what people were calling the biggest trial of all time. Indeed, since Stan had come to power on the server, this was the first attempt by anybody to attack him. The trial of those responsible was extremely important.

All those necessary for the trial, which was to take place in the Avery Memorial Courthouse, were present. The four surviving conspirators sat side by side, inside a machine
designed by the Mechanist that restrained their movement.

Stan sat in the middle chair of the Panel of Judgment, with four members of the council on each side of him. Bill, Ben, and Bob stood at attention at the base of the podium on which the Panel of Judgment was sitting. As the chiefs of police, it was their job to call in their forces if anything bad should happen.

Ben stepped forward and, after opening statements and taking a roll call of the council members, he spoke out. “You four players before me, who have given their names as Arnold S, Stewart, Lilac, and Roachboy, you are hereby charged with the crimes of attempted murder and terrorist activities. Do any of you plead innocent to any of these charges?”

“No,” came the reply. Completely in unison.

Stan's eyebrows flew up. The Mechanist had designed the machine holding the suspects so they could hear the members of the Panel of Judgment, but not each other. Somehow, though, they had all answered Ben's question at exactly the same time.

“In that case, I find you guilty of all charges. You are to be interrogated by Mecha11, and then, depending on how you cooperate, you will either be given a painless death by lethal consumption, or be imprisoned for life in Brimstone Prison.”

“We will not speak,” came the reply, again in complete synchronization. “And we would rather die than bear witness
against our noble leader, Lord Tenebris of the Noctem Alliance.”

Stan leaped to his feet. “So you
are
with the Noctem Alliance! Where are you organized? Who is Lord Tenebris?”

The reply never came. All four of the co-conspirators smiled, again in perfect harmony. Suddenly, in a rush of clicks and whirs, the whole detainment machine sunk into the ground, freeing the four players. The Mechanist's jaw dropped. He had been standing by the levers that controlled the machine the entire time, and he hadn't touched them. More incredibly, the four players, who had previously been searched thoroughly and were holding nothing, drew Potions of Harming out of their inventory and raised them to their mouths.

Stan bellowed in rage, and the police threw a storm of Potions of Slowness at the assassins to knock them out before they could drink their potions. But it was too late. The four assassins downed their potions in one gulp, and gave out one last valiant shout of, “VIVA LA NOCTEM!” The four hit the ground face-down at the same time. To be safe, the soldiers and police surrounded the four bodies, weapons at the ready should they be faking death, but when the four assassins disappeared, all doubt vanished.

As the panel started buzzing like bees, urgently discussing the implications of this latest turn of events, Stan's face
showed only grim resolve. He was mortified that this chain of horrific events should happen to him, to his people. He was furious that a new threat had arrived even before the last of King Kev's supporters had been caught. Stan would not allow the Noctem Alliance to grow into an organization similar to the reign of King Kev. This time, Stan was determined to nip it in the bud.

The next day, Stan, on his first Proclamation Day of his second term as president, did just that. The court had decided with no doubt that the Noctem Alliance was supporting these assassins, and after a hastily organized council meeting, the Noctem Alliance had been pegged as a terrorist organization. When the citizens had gathered at the foot of Element Castle, Stan announced the new law, which had been implemented unanimously by the council.

“From this day forward, it is illegal for anybody in Elementia to be a member of, or to be associated with, or to be sympathetic toward the terrorist group called the Noctem Alliance. This organization has tried to kill me as well as your councilmen, and they are opposed to equality for lower-level players. Any information regarding the Noctem Alliance and its members should be given to a soldier or policeman, and your help in defeating this threat is greatly appreciated.”

The cheers that reverberated over the packed courtyard seemed hollow and empty to Stan. He couldn't help but
wonder how many of those in the crowd were really advocates of the Noctem Alliance, whose applause of adulation were nothing more than facades, hiding true feelings of hatred, malevolence, and spite.

Across the server, away from the fertile plains and forests of the motherland of Elementia, past the jungle, across the vast Ender Desert, sat the tundra, a dark plain biome of frigid badlands where no civilization had ever taken hold. There, deep in the most inhospitable stretches of the barren wasteland, another proclamation was imminent. If you looked hard enough through the snow that whipped the face and stung the skin, that kept the sky black even at high noon, you could see it. Indeed, there was a society out in the tundra, which at the moment was nothing more than one grand building, constructed of the finest stone brick and spruce wood. Makeshift dirt shelters speckled the permafrost surrounding the one ornate structure.

A total of about a hundred and twenty players stood clustered at the foot of the brick building. The wooden balcony above them sheltered them from the snow, and the torches on the walls provided heat. Though the warmth was faint, it was still a welcome break from the cold that these players had endured for months on end.

As they heard footsteps on the wood above them, the
rabble of a hundred and twenty frozen players quickly rushed out from below the balcony, forming the rows they were expected to be in when addressed by their superiors.

Now that they had left the warm haven of the balcony, the players could see the three players standing on the balcony. These were the three generals of the Noctem Alliance, the organization to which all these players had pledged themselves. Barely visible in the torchlight, the players could make out the brown face and ornate armor of General Leonidas at the back right, the giant, hulking shape of General Minotaurus at the back left, and the white-robed form of General Caesar, head of the Noctem Freedom Fighters, at the front. Caesar opened his mouth and spoke.

“My brothers and sisters of the Noctem Alliance, I address you today bearing good tidings. The fifteen of our own that we have sent into Element City have submitted to the leaders of Elementia. They revealed their allegiance to our great leader, Lord Tenebris, before sending themselves in the same way as our great martyr, King Kev of Elementia. The beginning phase of our plan to retake Element City for our own is a success!”

As they were preprogrammed to do on such a rare occasion that news as good as this came their way, the hundred and twenty members of the Noctem Freedom Fighters gave the Noctem Alliance victory chant in perfect unison: “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”

“Furthermore, our spy within the hierarchy of the Element City government has informed me that Stan2012 has declared affiliation with the Noctem Alliance illegal. In their noble sacrifice, our brothers and sisters have instilled a germ of fear of the name of the Noctem Alliance. This germ shall multiply and spread within the populace, and shall before long infect the entirety of Element City!”

Again, the chant rang out in unison through the whistling winds of the never-ending blizzard: “VIVA LA NOCTEM!”

“Besides this, I bear news of even greater importance: our beloved leader, Lord Tenebris, has informed me that the construction of the Specialty Base is underway. In time, this shall spell doom for Stan2012 and the rest of the leadership of Element City, leaving the plot of land called Element City, which is rightfully ours, ripe for the picking!”

“VIVA LA NOCTEM!”

“It is in light of these joyous developments that I announce it is time to put our second phase of warfare into action! I now call all members of the second battalion of the Noctem Freedom Fighters to mobilize, for tomorrow, you follow General Leonidas into combat in the motherland of Elementia. The rest of you are dismissed. Good night, my brothers and sisters! Long live Lord Tenebris! Long live the Noctem Alliance!”

“VIVA LA NOCTEM!” the Freedom Fighters belted out for
the last time, before running into their dirt shacks to prepare themselves for battle.

Caesar turned and retreated to the warmth of the building, followed by Leonidas and Minotaurus, who had to duck to enter the room.

It was pleasant inside. Books sat on shelves all over the walls, and a fire roaring on a Netherrack base projected warmth into the room around them. The walls were of stone brick, and the three generals' prized weapons—Leonidas's bow, Minotaurus's double-ended battle-axe, and Caesar's diamond sword—hung in frames on the mantel.

Leonidas and Caesar sat down on chairs facing the fire. Minotaurus spoke, “Excuse me, Caesar, but I will be back. It is time for me to tend to my potato farm,” and walked out the side door to attend to his hobby, accidentally breaking the wooden door off its hinges as it slammed behind him.

As Leonidas and Caesar stared into the fire, neither of them conversed, but both knew that there were unspoken words hanging in the air. It was a full minute before Caesar turned to his colleague and spoke, “Well, Leonidas, you clearly have something on your mind. What is it?”

Leonidas said nothing at first. He was lost in a train of long, confusing, and never-ending thoughts. At last, he turned to Caesar, and voiced the most pressing of his concerns.

“Caesar . . . do ya remember the prisoners' village?”

Caesar stood up and threw back his head. “Oh, for heaven's sake, Leonidas, don't tell me you're still on about that village!”

“No, of course not,” said Leonidas quickly, quite unsure of whether he was lying not only to Caesar but also to himself. “We did what had to be done, I wouldn't have done it any other way, except for . . .” Leonidas chose his words carefully; he did not want to see Caesar upset. “Why is it that we didn't even ask those players if they wanted to join us? I don't know, but it's kinda possible that we may have killed some potential allies.”

“Rubbish, Leonidas,” spat Caesar, shaking his head in contempt at Leonidas's apparent foolishness. “There was nothing for us in that village. Those people in the prisoners' village had been living on nothing for longer than was worth it. Trust me, we did all of them a mercy.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's right,” said Leonidas, his voice falsely cheery. “Yeah . . . there just woulda been more suffering if we'd left any of 'em alive.”

But the more Leonidas thought of his corporal's reports of the carnage and slaughter the Noctem Alliance had committed in the prisoners' village, the more Leonidas was reassuring himself that that was not true.