The New Order, page 15
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.
Kat resurfaced a few seconds later, cursing herself for going down so easily, before looking up at the bottom of the arena above her. Before long, a chunk of it burst apart and a player fell down from the top with a yell, landing in the pool with a splash. Kat glanced at the water, waiting for the Ocelot to resurface. She was shocked, however, to see Ben’s face emerging from under the water.
“Ben!” Kat shouted, appalled that they were now down two to one. “What happened?”
“I tried . . . to fight him . . . ,” Ben gasped, panting heavily, “but I just . . . couldn’t . . . keep fighting . . .”
“Deep breaths, Ben,” said Kat, swimming to the edge of the pool with Ben in tow. As she helped him out of the water, Kat looked up at the bottom of the arena in anxiety. It was two on one! Kat knew that DZ was perfectly capable of handling a two-on-one Spleef game, but this was obviously an exceptional team. How was he going to . . .
And then Kat watched in dismay as yet another hole opened in the arena above, and the blurry form of DZ tumbled downward and hit the water with a splash. He surfaced a few seconds later, exhaustion and frustration in his face as the stadium above them exploded with a cacophony of cheers, boos, and shouts of surprise.
“And it’s over, folks!” the announcer cried, sounding shocked. “In a stunning upset, the Ocelots have beaten the Zombies in the semifinal round, with two players left standing! They will now advance to the Spleef World Finals against the Skeletons! Wow, I don’t think anybody saw that one coming! This will certainly shift the odds on the Ocelots!”
DZ paddled over to the side of the pool and looked up at Ben and Kat. There were no words to describe the look of blank shock on his face.
“It’s over,” Kat said, sounding almost confused, still not completely comprehending what she was saying.
As the one Ocelot in the water celebrated by pumping his fists up and down, the Zombies heard a scuffling on the ladder behind them, which lead back up to their room. Oob stepped off the ladder and turned to face the players, looking crestfallen.
“Players,” said Oob quietly. “You . . . did not win?”
“No, Oob,” responded Ben, his voice quiet and disgusted. “We didn’t.”
“It’s all my fault,” spat DZ, still in the water, staring down at the stone ledge he was grabbing on to.
“No, it’s not,” responded Kat and Ben in unison, the response coming out automatically.
“Yeah, it is!” spat DZ angrily. “I shoulda scheduled more practices! Ever since the Noctem Alliance thing, I’ve been slacking in getting our team ready for this tournament. How many practices have we had since the last match? Like, two? I shoulda been pushing us harder!” DZ slapped his hand to his head in angst.
“Dude, you can’t blame yourself for that!” said Ben. “We’re fighting the Noctem Alliance. Spleef hasn’t been the first thing on any of our minds! Besides, there’s always next year.”
“Assuming that there even is a tournament next year,” a snarky voice came from their left.
The group turned and saw Cassandrix, clad in white armor, strutting up to them with her two teammates lumbering behind her.
“What are you doing down here, Cassandrix?” snapped DZ, pulling himself up onto the ledge.
“Oh, I just wanted to have a little talk with you all. Well, you specifically, Kat,” replied Cassandrix brazenly.
“Just go away,” mumbled Kat through clenched teeth, doing all she could to stay calm, but Cassandrix continued anyway.
“First of all, I just want to thank you for taking my advice earlier,” she said with a chuckle. “You clearly wanted me to face the Ocelots too. I mean, that’s the only reason I can come up with for your team playing even worse than usual, which frankly I didn’t think was possible.”
“Shut up!” cried Ben as Kat began to shake with fury and DZ gnashed his teeth. “We lost, we get it! Now shut up about it and go away, I don’t want to see you again till we beat your sorry face next year!”
“Oh, but didn’t you hear me, Ben?” simpered Cassandrix in reply. “I don’t think that there’s going to be a tournament next year. Well, not if the NNA is still around, anyway.”
Those three letters hit the three Zombies like a shock wave, knocking the air out of their lungs. After a moment of shell shock, Kat spoke. “How do you know about the Noctem Alliance’s country?” she asked. “That’s supposed to be confidential.”
“Oh, is it?” replied Cassandrix with a smug grin. “Well, I certainly wouldn’t have guessed that. After all, it’s all everyone’s been talking about for the past afternoon.”
“Wait . . . hold on a sec . . . you’re serious?” asked DZ.
“Of course I am, darling,” said Cassandrix with a ditzy laugh. “And I don’t think there will be a tournament next year if the NNA continues to exist. They’re certain to go to war with us, aren’t they? And yet, for some reason, the council of this city saw fit to negotiate with them, rather than wiping their country off the server.” Cassandrix’s grin was wide now, and Kat thought it looked almost evil. “Needless to say, the population of the city is not very happy with you three, or your friends, right now.”
Oob was looking around in horror. He couldn’t comprehend what was going on, but he had enough common sense to know that it was very, very bad.
“How do you know all this?” Ben demanded.
“Well, through the leak, of course,” replied Cassandrix in surprise. “Do you three really not know? Well, I knew the council was dysfunctional, but not that dysfunctional.”
“Cut to the chase!” shouted Kat, shoving her face right up into Cassandrix’s until their noses were almost touching. “What leak are you talking about?”
“Well, that’s just the question, isn’t it,” replied Cassandrix, smiling as she gently pushed Kat away from her. “Nobody really knows where it started. All there is to know is that somebody in the castle leaked your plans for dealing with the Noctem Alliance’s new country. Oh, and one more thing, you three,” she said, and all of a sudden her voice became dark, steely, and menacing.
“I, for one, think the Noctem Alliance is a menace and needs to be wiped out immediately, not given a firm talking-to. And the rest of the citizens seem to agree with me. I’ve heard a lot of nasty things being said about you and your president since the leak came out. Why weren’t we told that the Noctem Alliance is a country now, why did we have to find out through a leak? And why aren’t you destroying them now that you have a chance?
“I came down here because I wanted to tell you this: the council isn’t doing its job properly. Make it work, or the people, myself included, will take matters into their own hands.”
And with that, Cassandrix turned on her heel, walked over to the ladder, and climbed away, followed by her two teammates, leaving Kat, DZ, Ben, and Oob to stand speechless, reeling at what they had just heard.
CHAPTER 15 THE LABYRINTH
Stan suddenly found that there was no floor beneath his feet. The view of Caesar smirking down at him grew farther and farther away as suddenly all Stan could see was blackness whizzing by around him. Stan finally landed face-first on the ground. Dazed, he looked around and saw nothing but darkness, and before long three more thuds hit the ground around him, followed by a sharp squeal.
Stan had no idea what had happened, and he could not see a thing. He was about to panic when a light flickered to life. Stan glanced at the torch Bill had just placed on the wall.
“I never leave home without emergency supplies,” he said brusquely.
“Well, that’s very resourceful of you,” a sadistic voice rang out from above. “A Boy Scout is always prepared, yes?”
Stan looked up and saw Caesar grinning down at them into the pit. His look of glee made Stan want to swing his axe right into that stupid face of his.
“What do you think you’re doing, Caesar?” bellowed Charlie, who had stood up beside Stan and Bill.
“Oh, just thought we’d have a little fun with you before you all die,” replied Caesar.
What does he mean by that? thought Stan in alarm, and he was about to ask when Caesar yelled out. “Oh, Minotaurus!”
“What?” came the baritone reply, and Stan’s heart skipped as he heard that it did not come from up above, but from somewhere around him. Stan glanced around the newly torchlit room and saw that there were entranceways all over the place, three blocks high by three blocks wide.
“They’re down there, Minotaurus! Have at them!”
“Does that mean I get to kill them now?”
Caesar sighed. “Yes, Minotaurus, you get to kill them now. Just do it. And count yourself lucky that I’m letting you do it rather than doing it myself.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you, Caesar.”
Caesar sighed again, before looking down into the pit at his captives one last time. “Enjoy my labyrinth, boys. It’ll be the last thing you ever see.” And with that, Stan heard a faint click, and the trapdoors swung shut above them.
Stan was just about to tell everybody to keep calm and not panic, when he heard a faint moan. He looked down, and his heart dropped. Bob lay sprawled out on the floor, his bad leg stuck out at an odd angle. Ivanhoe lay on his side next to Bob, giving faint squeals of pain.
Bill followed Stan’s gaze, and his eyes widened in alarm. He hastily knelt down next to his brother. “Bob, are you okay?”
“Ugh . . . yeah, I’m fine,” he grunted. “I just got the wind knocked out of me. What about Ivanhoe? I can’t see him, he broke my fall. Is he okay?”
Charlie ran over to check on the pig. Ivanhoe brushed his snout up against Charlie’s hand, and Charlie helped the pig onto its feet. Though Ivanhoe was capable of standing, he was clearly shaking with effort.
Bob pulled a carrot on a stick out of his inventory. He held it up above his head and whistled. “Come here, Ivanhoe. Come here, boy! Come get the carrot!”
Stan, Charlie, and Bill watched as Ivanhoe limped over toward his master, his front left leg clearly damaged. The pig licked Bob’s face, and he gave an appreciative smile, before twisting around to look up at the others. “I couldn’t see him walk, is he okay?”
“I think he’ll be fine, but he’s hurt, bro,” replied Bob sadly. “I don’t think you’re gonna be able to ride him.”
“Well, that’s just fantastic.” Bob sighed, glancing at the ground before looking up at his friends again. “Guys, you’re gonna have to leave me here. I can’t walk on my own, and Minotaurus is gonna be here any minute.”
“You’re kidding, right?” replied Bill, already stooping down to get his arm under his brother’s shoulder. “What’s the first thing we learned at the academy, bro?”
Bob sighed again. “Yeah, yeah, I know, ‘leave no man behind.’ But guys, in this situation . . .”
“You know he’s right,” replied Stan, almost laughing that Bob was still fighting them. “No way we’re leaving without you.”
“But guys, I’m just gonna hinder—”
“Look, Bob, there are four of us! Even if one of us is helping you, there’s no way that Minotaurus could take on two of us at once,” said Charlie, sounding like he was trying to convince himself more than Bob. Stan felt the same way. None of them had ever actually locked blades with Minotaurus. Stan remembered seeing both G and Archie fighting Minotaurus during the Battle for Elementia. Even with all their rage over Sally’s death, he still managed to hold them off and escape. This memory fueled Stan’s drive to get out of the maze as soon as possible.
“Stop arguing, Bob, we’ve gotta move, and you’re coming with us,” ordered Stan, cutting off Bob’s response. Bob resigned himself as Bill hoisted him into a standing position, his arm around his brother’s shoulder.
“Here, this might help us get out,” said Bill, using his free hand to grab a map from his inventory and handing it to Charlie. As he held the map, a small white dot appeared on it, marking Charlie’s position. The dot was right under a gray square that marked the location of Nocturia on the map, surrounded on all sides by the white of the tundra.
“Charlie, use the map to lead us through this maze until we’re not under Nocturia anymore. Then, we can tunnel our way out.”
