The New Order (28 page)

“Oh my,” he said, looking around as he realized they had reached the entrance to the city. “I'm sorry, President Stan, I went off on a tangent there. But anyway, we're now approaching the main street. Feel free to admire our city as you follow me.”

Stan didn't have to be told twice. When they finally reached the top of the hill, he could see directly down the main street of the city that had been built on the island. The buildings stretched dozens of stories into the sky, and the precious gemstones that he had seen from the outside made up the front of the buildings as well. And it wasn't just a few buildings, either. The entire city was made out of precious mineral blocks.

There were players as well, hundreds and hundreds of players. Stan was shocked to see just how many of his citizens were either living on or visiting this island. The streets bustled with players traveling between the resorts, and there
were vendors lining both sides of the streets, trying to peddle their products. Stan saw Commander Crunch giving them all pointed dirty looks.

While the city had seemed bright from the outside, now that they were in the heart of the metropolis, the blinding light outshone the sun. Everywhere you looked, redstone lamps flashed on and off, spelling out the names of casinos and hotels, with the light reflecting off the mineral blocks and becoming so bright that it made Stan's eyes water.

“This is quite an impressive town you got here,” said Charlie, painfully opening his eyes to glance at Danny, who seemed unfazed, totally used to it.

“And bright, too,” replied DZ, cringing even with his hands over his eyes.

“Oh, thank you,” replied Danny, sounding rather bored, as if seeing tourists blinded was nothing new to him. “And don't worry about the light, your eyes will adjust soon enough. And besides, you're only here for today.”

“I mean . . . just . . . ouch!” exclaimed DZ, opening his eyes to look at Danny for a moment, only to instantly squeeze them shut again. “How did you possibly manage to get all these precious materials?”

“Oh, it was quite simple, really,” replied Danny, completely ignoring DZ's grunts of anguish. “You see, after we let go of our barbaric way of life and adopted modernism,
we mined out the entire underside of our islands, and traded what we found in Element City in order to gain enough resources to turn our island into a resort. As people started to come to the islands, we used the revenue to improve upon what was already here, which in turn attracted more people to come and ended up giving us more profit. It's a cycle of profit, and has given us more and more power to distance ourselves from our simpleminded brothers and sisters.”

“Wow,” exclaimed Charlie under his breath, and Stan drew his attention away from Danny's monologue to listen. “Have you ever met somebody so snobbish?”

“Not really,” exclaimed Stan with a bemused look over at Danny, who was still talking, although nobody was really listening. “I mean, he's going on about the Greater Tribesmen like they're worthless. To be honest, I think it's kind of hard to listen to.”

“Testify,” replied DZ, dropping his head into the conversation. “Matter of fact, I think that the idea of the Greater Tribesmen is kinda cool. You know, just some dudes and chicks living out on the island with nature and no modern stuff. Kinda reminds me of livin' out in the Ender Desert back in the days before I met you people. It was pretty sweet. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love you guys,” said DZ hastily, seeing the looks on Stan's and Charlie's faces. “And that is the reason that I left, 'cause I wanted to help you free Elementia
from the king. But I gotta admit, I do miss the simple life sometimes.”

Charlie chuckled. “Haha, speak for yourself, DZ. I don't know about you, Stan, but I'm perfectly happy living with all the modern luxuries Minecraft has to offer. If you ask me, we've earned it.” And with that, Charlie turned forward again, immediately shielding his eyes against the direct lighting. DZ was about to do the same when Stan spoke.

“Hey, DZ, I have a question.”

“Shoot.”

“Were you serious about wanting to go back out into the desert?”

DZ, who had been grinning since they had entered the city, suddenly faltered in expression. After a moment, he spoke. “Well, you see . . . look, Stan, it's like this. You, Charlie, Kat, and everybody else are my best friends, and it's awesome hanging out with you. And I know that you need my help to run the city and all. And even if you didn't, it's something that I really enjoy doing. I honestly love my life on this server, I really do.

“It's just . . . every now and then, I miss how simple everything was out in the desert. There was no war, no conflict, not much of anything. It was just me, by myself, living a life of solitude, and it was never boring, 'cause I was constantly fighting mobs and nomads and crap just to stay alive. And
when I joined you guys, I made a conscious choice to leave that life behind in order to do the right thing.

“And a few times, I'd remember the reasons that I left the city in the first place. Like in the middle of the Battle for Elementia . . . There was a point where I couldn't fight anymore, 'cause I knew that it would only lead to more violence in the future. And it has. I mean, look what we're doing now. I realize now that it was the only way, that there are some people who only speak the language of force. But I didn't have to deal with any of that in the desert. So yeah, sometimes I wish that I could just spend, I don't know, a week or so back out there.”

As DZ gave a sigh, Stan looked at his friend with a newfound respect. Stan had always known that underneath DZ's manic and hyper coating, there was a person who was very intelligent, exceptionally skilled at fighting and tactics, and an all-around great guy. But what Stan had never realized was that, even deeper than that, DZ was troubled by the state of the world around him, and constantly in an existential crisis as he tried to find his place within it. As he realized this, Stan found that he needed to understand his friend better, and he immediately knew what had to be done.

“Then go back,” Stan said quietly.

DZ threw back his head and laughed. “Haha, good one, Stan. . . . Didn't you hear me just freaking say that . . .”

“No, DZ, I'm serious,” said Stan. “When we get back to Elementia, I want you to take some time off, and go back out into the desert to live your old life again for a week or so.”

Stan had never seen DZ as totally caught off guard as he was in that moment. His jaw dropped and his eyes flew open in a state of total shock. Finally, after a minute, DZ responded. “Are you . . . are . . . are you serious, Stan?”

“That's what you want, isn't it?”

“Yeah, more than anything, but . . .”

“And after we wipe out the Noctem Alliance, the desert's gonna have plenty of free space, right?”

“But the council needs . . .”

Now it was Stan's turn to laugh as he said, “DZ, listen, I'm the president of Elementia. If I say that you're taking a vacation, you're taking a vacation.”

“Oh my God! Thank you so much, Stan!” replied DZ, elation on his face. “I can't believe it! Is there any way I can thank you?”

“Actually, there is,” replied Stan with a smile. “I know this trip to the desert is something you really want, so I would completely understand and respect if you said no to this . . . But is there any way I could go out into the desert with you? To be honest, some time away from the politics and everything else once this war is over would be just what I need.”

“Of course!” exclaimed DZ with a smile. “You're one of
my best friends, Stan, I'd be happy to teach you everything I know about surviving out there.”

“Well, good,” replied Stan as he looked DZ in the eye and returned his smile. “I look forward to it.”

“So it's a deal?” asked DZ, sticking out his hand.

“Deal,” replied Stan, firmly grasping DZ's hand and shaking it.

DZ opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, they were stopped by a sudden boom.

“Halt in yer tracks!”

Immediately, Stan crashed into DZ, who crashed into Charlie, who crashed into Danny, who crashed into all the heavily armed soldiers walking in front of him, creating a haphazard pile of players. As Stan hopped to his feet, he ran up to the front of the line, seeing Commander Crunch perfectly idle and stroking his beard, a deadly serious look on his face.

“What is it?” demanded Stan in alarm.

“That feelin' . . . ,” whispered the commander, uncharacteristically quiet and fearful. “I know that feelin'. . . . A feel o' bad tides ahead, a feelin' o' dread. . . .” His eyes were bulging now, his tone the highest level of urgent. Stan was terrified to hear what was causing the commander to feel such horror.

“It feels . . . like someone . . .” And then all at once, the commander whipped around behind him, diamond sword
drawn, and bellowed, “wants to sell me somethin'!”

Stan let out his breath, rolled his eyes, and inspected the space where the commander was pointing. As he expected, there was nobody there. In fact, Stan noticed with exasperation, it was the only stretch of road on the entire street
not
lined with vendors.

“If you're through with your psychotic episode,” said Stan politely, looking up at Commander Crunch, “could we be on our way now?”

“What? Oh, yes . . . er . . . of course,” replied the commander as he sulked forward, followed by a terrified Danny, and an exasperated Stan, Charlie, and rabble of soldiers. DZ was about to join the line, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw two players dressed in business suits pop their heads out of a nearby alley. They looked around nervously and then took off, running away from them. As DZ looked, he saw that they were carrying stacks of books that read
Quest for Justice: An Unofficial Minecraft-Fan Adventure
.

DZ looked confused for a moment but then shook his head, rolled his eyes, and jogged to catch up with the others.

CHAPTER 26
THE GREATER MUSHROOM ISLAND

E
arly the next morning, Stan's boat drifted forward, cutting sharply through the stagnant ocean water. The massive rising cliffs of the Greater Mushroom Island were silhouetted against the light blue sky of the rising sun. This morning had not been like other mornings; Stan was totally awake. He had gotten an extra-long rest last night. He was now fully awake despite the early hour, ready to take the Noctem Alliance down once and for all.

After Commander Crunch's outburst the previous day, the rest of the day on the Lesser Mushroom Island had been pretty boring. They had quickly arrived at the embassy, and Commander Crunch, DZ, and Charlie had talked with the ambassador long into the night about formalities and procedures (which Stan was frankly getting really sick of). Stan, meanwhile, had sat there, growing more and more impatient. As soon as they arrived at the high-class hotel Danny had selected for them, Stan barely had any time to admire it before he turned in, eager to get plenty of sleep for the next day.

Now that day was finally here, and at the crack of dawn, Stan, Charlie, DZ, Commander Crunch, and fifteen highly armed, specially trained task force members had climbed into their boats and set sail. They
had set out across the strait of water, about fifty blocks wide, which separated the two Mushroom Islands.

The short trip was eerie. The farther they moved away from the Lesser Mushroom Island, the more the constant noise and light generated by the city faded away. And as the boat ride went on, an ominous silence became more and more pronounced, and it seemed to dominate the airspace more than noise ever could. The island's appearance only added to the foreboding atmosphere surrounding it. The landmass was totally devoid of all human creation, leaving only a mountainside of gray-and-brown mycelium blocks dotted with tiny red and brown mushrooms. It was one of the creepiest things Stan had ever seen, even in broad daylight.

The fifty-block boat ride was over quickly. Before Stan knew it, they had reached the shoreline of the Greater Mushroom Island. Stan looked up the cliffside. He couldn't see the sun, and the spores let off by the mycelium hung in the air, tinting the light gray. It gave the entire island a feeling of gloominess.

Stan heard a loud noise behind him and whipped around, startled. However, Stan let his breath out when he saw that the sound was nothing more than Charlie, who had come in toward the shoreline too fast, shattering his boat on contact with the mycelium coast. As a soldier helped Charlie onto the island, Stan reassured himself that one lost boat was no
big deal. They had plenty of spares for just such an occasion. And, at that thought, it occurred to Stan to check his arsenal yet again before they ventured onto the island.

Stan was carrying the same gear he had worn when he engaged King Kev in combat nearly five months ago atop the Element Castle bridge. He was decked out with a diamond chestplate and helmet, and his diamond axe. Two iron axes were strapped to his back as secondary weapons should his diamond axe be lost or destroyed. Attached to his belt were Potions of Healing and Swiftness, and in his inventory sat a bow and a stack of arrows. Also within his inventory were miscellaneous items that he had on hand should something unexpected happen.

Stan looked over at his friends and comrades, and saw that they were also well-equipped. Everybody in the party wore a diamond chestplate and helmet, with the notable exception of DZ. He insisted that he not be weighed down, and only wore his leather armor emblazoned with the green Zombie team colors. DZ was equipped with no less than three swords, which he had held on to since his days in the desert and refused to upgrade: one diamond sword with no enchantments, one diamond sword with the Knockback enchantment, and one iron sword with the Fire Aspect enchantment. DZ also had a bow and arrows, as did Charlie, who himself had a diamond pickaxe on each hip. Commander
Crunch was armed with a single gleaming diamond sword, which Stan knew had a Sharpness enchantment on it, and the soldiers had a wide assortment of weapons dependent on their preferences.

As soon as everybody had disembarked from the boats, Commander Crunch whispered loudly, in a voice that was excited yet also official sounding, “President Stan, are ye ready?”

“Yes, Commander,” replied Stan. “Lead the way.”

And with that, Commander Crunch started walking up the side of the mycelium cliff, zigzagging to find the path of least resistance. It was a tiring climb, as the crew weaved back and forth across the one-block-high jumps that led to the top of the cliff. When Stan reached the top of the rise, he had to bow his head, breathing heavily from ten minutes of climbing straight up. When he finally did look up, he gasped, amazed at the landscape before him.

While it hadn't been apparent from the shore, Stan could now see that the entire Greater Mushroom Island formed a sort of bowl, with mountains rising in a circle around the island coast and a flat plain in the middle of the ring of cliffs. The entire ground was totally covered in gray-and-brown mycelium, with pools of water, and occasionally lava, punctuating the plains. From high above, Stan could see red animals wandering around the plains, which he could only
assume were the Mooshrooms.

But what caught Stan off guard most of all were the mushrooms. There were mushrooms of the tiny red and brown variants dotting the mycelium as far as the eye could see. Stan had expected that. What he had not expected to see were the giant mushrooms, dozens of blocks high, which rose up out of the mycelium across the entire island, like trees in a forest. These mushrooms also had brown and red variants, but were significantly different from one another. The red types seemed to be slightly more common than the brown. They were about the same size and shape as a house in an NPC village, with red mushroom blocks dotted with white spots forming an overhang over a thick white stalk. The brown mushrooms were much taller than the red ones, and instead of hanging down like the red ones, the brown mushrooms featured a single platform of brown mushroom blocks that sat atop a huge, one-block-thick white stalk.

Stan only had a few seconds to take in this amazing, unique landscape before he heard the powerful voice of Commander Crunch.

“Ok, that's enough, scallywags, stop gawkin' at th' island. Ye'll 'ave plenty o' time t' do that as we be walkin', which we'll 'ave t' do handsomely if we be t' reach th' Greater Tribesmen by nightfall.”

“Wait,” said Stan, confused, “I thought that we didn't
have any idea where the Greater Tribesmen were, so how do you know where to walk?”

“Oh fer th' love o' Davy Jones's locker, me lad . . . I mean, President Stan,” bellowed the commander in exasperation. “Weren't ye listenin' at all durin' th' meetin' last night? Ne'er mind,” he said sourly, shaking his head in disdain, as Stan feebly opened his mouth to respond. “I know th' answer, so I guess I'll tell ye again.

“We dunno where they be, but th' ambassador thinks that, since th' Greater Tribesmen hate th' light 'n' sound that comes from th' Lesser Island, they will likely be at th' far end o' th' island, 'n' since they've been fightin' wit' th' Lesser Tribe, I reckon that th' Greater Tribesmen will prolly be livin' on th' high ground somewhere. So, all thin's considered, I reckon that they be prolly on or around that peak o'er thar.”

Commander Crunch pointed his grimy, blocky finger up toward a mountain at the far end of the Mushroom Island. It was the highest point as far as the eye could see, and situated on top of a plateau. Stan was impressed. The commander may have been insane, but this was a pretty good deduction.

“Now, if thar ain't any more ignorance t' deal wit', let's go, we be wastin' daylight!
Mountain, ho!
” cried Commander Crunch, his voice reverberating around the cliffs as he marched down into the bowl at a brisk pace, which the
others had to hustle to keep up with.

Stan found it ironic, and slightly annoying, that although Commander Crunch was constantly yelling scorn back at them, such as “Faster, ye dirty bunch o' landlubbers,” the one time that they stopped on the way to the mountain was on Commander Crunch's behalf. This was when they passed a herd of Mooshrooms, and Stan got a good look at the cowlike creatures for the first time.

The Mooshrooms were essentially the same size and shape as cows, and they made the same noises, but that was where the similarities ended. The Mooshrooms had a cowlike pattern of color, but were bloodred where the brown should be. Red-and-white-dotted mushrooms sprouted up out of the creatures' backs and appeared to be growing directly into the animal itself. But what Stan found creepiest were the eyes. The eyes of the Mooshrooms were pure black, and had a dead and glazed-over look to them. It seemed to Stan almost as if the mind of the animal was being controlled by the fungus, as opposed to its own volition, as he saw no life in those black, empty eyes.

Commander Crunch, apparently, saw these disturbing-looking creatures as the absolutely perfect way to cut their journey to the mountain in half. Convinced that it was the best option, Commander Crunch wasted a half hour of their time trying to mount one of the Mooshrooms and ride it like
a horse, despite repeated protests by the others that it was a waste of time. Eventually, after the twelfth time that Commander Crunch was bucked off the Mooshroom, he finally screeched at the herd, “Fine, then! Be that way!” His face was red, possibly with embarrassment, but more likely with genuine rage. “Ye're a bunch o' dirty, squiffy beasts anyway! We can get thar perfectly fine without ye!”

“As we've been telling you for the last half hour,” mumbled DZ under his breath in disgust.

“Honestly,” said Charlie, shaking his head as he whispered to Stan and DZ, “doesn't he have to be stupid somewhere else?”

“Nah till four, Charlie,” replied Commander Crunch with a sly grin, apparently having overheard them.

And with that, Commander Crunch walked on. Stan, DZ, and Charlie looked at one another incredulously for a moment, before determining simultaneously and wordlessly that it wasn't worth questioning, and they followed.

By the time the episode with the Mooshrooms was over, they were about halfway across the plains, and the sun was starting to dip into the afternoon position. As they trekked on, Stan felt increasingly anxious. There were giant mushrooms everywhere, far more imposing now than they had seemed on the cliffs. He had difficulty keeping himself from imagining Greater Tribesmen jumping out from behind every
stalk, bent on taking them hostage. The terror of running into the tribesmen in this way only added to the eerie environment of the island, alongside the spore mist that hung in the air and the odd stretchy sound that the mycelium made underfoot.

Stan's only consolation was that the Noctem Alliance was about to go down for good. Based on some calculations run by the Mechanist, they had determined that all of the Noctem Alliance's available forces were now fighting on either the Hot Front or the Cold Front. That meant that, while the higher-ups of the Noctem Alliance were indeed hiding on the island somewhere, they would likely have no guards, and would be forced to take on Stan and his men themselves. The fight would no doubt be difficult, as Caesar, Minotaurus, and presumably Count Drake would be there, all of whom were exceptionally powerful fighters. And Stan still wasn't sure what to expect from Lord Tenebris.

In any case, though, they had a team of nineteen highly skilled fighters on their way to fight what was probably a team of eight or nine. They had the element of surprise as well. The odds of victory were definitely in their favor.

And that was just here, fighting the leaders of the Noctem Alliance. As they were walking, all the leaders of Elementia were launching an all-out attack with the full force of the Elementia army on both fronts. If all went according to plan,
by the end of the day, the Noctem Alliance's leaders would be dead, and the war would be won on both fronts. In fact, with any luck . . .

“Halt!”

The sudden shout from up front snapped Stan out of his thoughts. He jolted to a stop, nearly crashing into DZ and Charlie, while the special forces came screeching to a stop behind him. Stan furiously marched his way up to the front of the pack, where Commander Crunch was still frozen in place with his blocky hand raised.

“You'd better have a good reason for stopping . . . ,” Stan started to spit out, but he was unable to finish when he saw what was in front of them.

They had walked all the way across the valley without Stan even realizing it. Now they stood atop the plateau, with the peak of the mountain high above them, and the sun setting over the panoramic ocean view behind them. Scattered between the giant mushrooms stood a crowd of players, all staring at Stan and his crew with horror, surprise, and contempt.

There were about fifty players, and it seemed they hadn't seen civilization in quite some time. All of them were covered in a thin layer of spore powder. Many of them held bowls in their hands, some of which were filled with a brown liquid that Stan could only assume was mushroom stew. However,
twenty of the players were empty handed. Far from looking shocked and horrified, they stood in fighting stances. Stan didn't imagine that they would be able to stand up to any player with a weapon. However, he still didn't want to fight, so he willed himself to remain calm.

A single player walked forward. He was skinned identically to Stan, but his entire outfit was darker. The expression on his face was that of disapproval of the highest degree.

“Who are you people?” the player demanded, quietly yet more powerful than a yell. “Why do you come to our island with weapons?”

Stan stepped forward, mustered up his courage, and, after clearing his throat, spoke. “My name is Stan2012, and I am the president of the Grand Republic of Elementia. I am here on a Presidential Visit to inspect your island.”