Sean Wolfe - The New Order

Stan, like all his friends, felt that Bob was very lucky to be alive at all. During the battle in which Stan had defeated King Kev, which was now commonly known as the Battle for Elementia, Bill and Bob had engaged Caesar, who had been King Kev’s right-hand man and was an exceptional sword-fighter, in combat. They had failed to defeat him, and Caesar would have killed Bob had Kat not intervened. Instead, the sword strike intended to kill Bob destroyed his kneecap and severed his leg from his body.

Luckily, Bill and Ben had used their entire supply of Potions of Regeneration to reattach Bob’s leg, and he had regained very limited use of it. However, it had quickly become evident that Bob would never walk again. That didn’t stop Bob from serving alongside his brothers as a police chief of Element City, though. He now followed Ben, Bill and DZ over to Stan, Charlie, Kat and G on the back of Ivanhoe, his trusty war pig, which had been saddled and was controlled with guidance through carrots.

Although one might think Bob wasn’t the same warrior he’d been, nothing could be further from the truth. He could shoot his bow just as well on pigback as he could on foot, and the pig was swift and adaptable to rough terrains. Bob had quickly gained renown as the fastest and most pliable officer on the force, a nightmare to any criminal who gave them chase.

“Nice match, guys!” said Charlie.

“Yeah, guys, that match was one of the most awesome things I’ve ever seen,” added Stan.

“Eh, thanks, guys,” said Kat. “Nice of you to finally come down to see one of the matches, Stan,” she added with a smirk.

“Hey, you know I’ve been up to my neck in work since the campaign began,” said Stan, being playfully defensive. “I tell you, though, from now on I’m making it a priority to come to each and every one of these matches.”

“Good to hear,” said Ben, butting in between them with DZ and the other two police chiefs at his side. “Now is it just me, or did I hear someone say party at the castle courtyard?”

“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 favour 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 armour,” 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 armour,” 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 towards 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.

“OK, OK, don’t worry, plenty of me to go around,” said Kat with a laugh as she pulled out her quill and brought it down towards 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 colour 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 forwards and converged towards the centre 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 towards 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 sheaths 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 towards Stan, and he was forced to hop and skip backwards 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.