“Precisely,” the Black Hood replied darkly. “I realized that, if King Kev was not stopped, then his unquenchable lust for power may lead him to unwittingly create a glitch that would destroy his beloved server, and countless others along with it. I knew that, regardless of what happened, I had to stop it.
“And yet, I knew that I couldn’t. I was well aware that, if I were to try to tell King Kev what he was doing, the Voice in the Sky would intervene. He would destroy me before I could even reach the head of the Noctem Alliance.
“Therefore, I looked into the history of the server of Elementia, to try to see if there was some other way that I could possibly prevent this ghastly fate. And that, Stan2012, is where I first learned of your story—the most remarkable story in the history of Minecraft.”
“What?” Stan exclaimed. “How is my story so remarkable? I’ve hardly done anything!” He thought glumly about how true his words were as he spoke on. “I led a rebellion against King Kev but didn’t even have the guts to finish him off, letting him cheat his way back onto the server. If I had stabbed him the second I had a chance, he wouldn’t have been able to change the difficulty setting! Then, when I tried to take him down again, he totally wiped the floor with me!”
“You’re right, Stan2012,” the Black Hood replied. Stan stared at him in surprise. He had expected the Black Hood to contradict something that he had said, and tell him just how spectacular he really was.
“Hardly anything that you’ve done matters in the long run,” the Black Hood continued. “You were held back by your own mercy in the tower of Element Castle that day, and that did allow King Kev to escape and found the Noctem Alliance. And the moment King Kev turned into Lord Tenebris, and was no longer afraid to use his operating powers, you never stood a chance against him. However, Stan2012, there is one thing that you aren’t giving yourself enough credit for.”
“And what’s that?” Stan spat bitterly.
“You never stopped fighting,” the Black Hood replied. Stan was floored to hear the incredible passion in his voice. “So deeply did you believe that the lower-level players of this server did not deserve to be oppressed that you never gave up, and you never surrendered, even when you had impossible odds stacked against you.”
“But none of it worked!” Stan cried. “So what does it matter that I tried if I didn’t succeed?”
“Stan2012, you must realize what you managed to do,” the Black Hood continued, his voice still enriched with passion. “You managed to rally an entire country around you during your fight to take down King Kev, and even if you failed to destroy the King himself, you succeeded in taking down his kingdom. For the first time in years, Elementia was a place where people of all levels could live together in harmony.
“Do you think that your people are ever going to forget what it feels like to live in a country of happiness and equality? Do you think that, now that they’ve experienced what true freedom is, they will ever stop fighting to get it back? Of course not! And all because you, Stan2012, were brave enough to take a stand against the injustice you saw around you. It takes a special kind of person to take a stand when injustice is the law, and you, Stan2012, are one special person.”
Stan hesitated for a moment before responding.
“Okay, let’s say you’re right. Let’s say that I’m so special and that long after I’m gone, people keep fighting back against King Kev. It’s not like they’re going to win! King Kev is the only operator on the server. He’s never going to be taken down! My people will just keep on fighting back until they’re all dead!”
“And then King Kev will be right back to square one,” the Black Hood replied triumphantly. “He’ll be in charge of an empire of misery and despair, just like he was when he first defeated Avery007. Remember that all King Kev really wants is power. He doesn’t care who he has to step on to get it. And through your example, Stan2012, your people will let King Kev know that they won’t be stepped on without a fight.”
For a while, neither Stan nor the Black Hood said anything. They simply stood in the clearing as the fog swirled around their feet, becoming lighter and lighter as the sun began to rise.
“Stan2012, I would like to thank you,” the Black Hood said, and Stan was shocked to see a tear streaming out of his radiant white eye and down his face. “For the longest time, I believed that I had ruined Minecraft. I thought that, through my chaos and destruction, I had set an example for Griefers and tyrants all across the countless servers of the game. Your story showed me, though, that however bad things may get, there will always be those who are willing to stand up for what’s right.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is . . . thank you, Stan2012, for doing the right thing, no matter how hard it was,” the Black Hood replied, as he gave Stan a gracious smile.
Stan took a deep breath and let it out. He knew that the Black Hood was right. He had never failed to do what he thought was best for Elementia, and he couldn’t stop now. Stan clutched his axe tightly in his sweaty palms and looked at the sky. The celestial lights of the sky were beginning to fade, and a light pink glow was starting to illuminate the eastern sky.
“I’ve got to go back there, don’t I?” Stan said gravely, as he turned to look northward, toward Element City.
“Yes,” the Black Hood replied. “Element City needs their president now more than ever.”
Stan reached into his inventory and pulled out the enchanted golden apple and the Potion of Harming. It seemed like eons ago that Lord Tenebris had stood before him in the wreckage of the Adorian Village, offering both of the items to him. Stan looked down at the two items in his hand, and in both the shiny gold curve of the apple and the red-tinted face of the potion bottle, he saw his reflection. He saw the face of a brave, proud player who had never once turned his back on his country, and would fight to the death to defend it and the ones he loved.
He raised the golden apple to his mouth and swallowed it in three bites. Instantly, a surge of energy shot through Stan’s body, coursing from his head through his core and spreading to his limbs. He felt as though he were under the effect of ten Potions of Swiftness at the same time. Stan glared hatefully at the Potion of Harming in his other hand and, in one motion, he pitched the toxic potion as hard as he could into the woods. Seconds later, in the far distance, he heard the shattering of glass.
Stan clutched his axe as the rising sun illuminated the right side of his face. He took yet another breath and let it out in a determined grunt. Stan knew that, within the hour, he was going to be dead. Lord Tenebris was going to do horrible, horrible things to him before destroying him in front of his people, along with the rest of his closest friends. However, Stan knew that none of the people who had followed him would ever forget their sacrifice, and although he might die, his spirit of rebellion never would.
Stan turned back to face the Black Hood one last time. The glitch player’s eyes still shone brightly in the rising daylight as he looked proudly on Stan, the player who had given so much to Elementia, and was prepared to give more than could ever be repaid. The Black Hood sighed and looked Stan in the eye.
“Stan2012, I have tried to do all that I could to help your cause without jeopardizing my own existence,” the Black Hood said carefully. “I have helped each of your friends in numerous ways, but I have still failed to do anything to help you.”
“That’s not true,” Stan replied with a bittersweet smile. “You helped me realize what I can do to save my people, and you risked your life to do so. I can never thank you enough.”
“Still . . . ,” the Black Hood continued slowly. “I feel that I owe it to you to do something for you that might help you . . . in a different way.”
“That’s okay,” Stan said darkly. “Where I’m going, I won’t need any help.”
“It wasn’t a recommendation,” the Black Hood said simply, and with that he reached out his hand toward Stan.
Instantly, Stan felt himself being pulled forward toward the Black Hood a
nd being forced to his knees. Stan recognized the horribly familiar sensation of being held in Lord Tenebris’s psychic grip. Stan was just about to let out a shout of terror when the Black Hood reached out with his free hand and put it to Stan’s head.
Suddenly, Stan wasn’t terrified anymore. The power from the golden apple coursing through his veins seemed to amplify, expanding further and further until finally, Stan felt as though he were exuding energy from every pore of his body. The power continued to grow and grow, until finally, the energy reached its peak. Stan fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, shaking as he tried to contain the sheer power that he now felt inside himself.
“What . . . what did you do to me?” Stan managed to get out as his entire body twitched with spasms.
“You’ll see in a moment,” the Black Hood replied as Rex began to wag his tail beside him.
“Stan! Stan, answer me right now!”
Stan looked up with a jolt. Of all the things that he might have anticipated at that moment, Sally’s voice, ringing out of the ether with no static, clear as crystal, was not one of them.
“I’m here, Sal,” Stan replied, looking at the ground as he tried to focus on her voice. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes, I can hear you!” Sally replied. Stan was amazed at how clearly she was coming in. “Stan, did you just do something to Elementia’s code?”
“What? No!” Stan exclaimed. “Why? What’s happening, Sally?”
“I’m not sure,” she replied. She sounded excited. “All I know is that somehow, I have no idea how, a hole opened up in the defenses of Elementia’s coding.”
Stan’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait . . . really?”
“Yes,” Sally replied. She paused for a moment. Then . . .
“Stan . . . I think that I might have just given you operating powers.”
Stan said nothing in reply. His heart was racing as he dropped his diamond axe to the ground and held out his right hand. He took a deep breath and, not believing that it was possible, he focused as hard as he could on the hand, imagining a diamond helmet.
There was a faint pop, and a diamond helmet appeared in his hand.
Stan’s mouth hung open, and widened further and further into a smile as he spawned in more items—bowls of mushroom soup, flint and steel, jungle-wood blocks, gravel, end stone—the pile of random items on the ground below him grew larger and larger. Stan drew back his fist and, taking aim at a nearby tree, he fired off a punch. Instantly, the tree exploded as the invisible burst of energy hit it. Laughing wildly now, Stan took a deep breath, jumped into the air . . . and floated in place, held aloft by his newly acquired operating powers.
“Did it work?” Sally’s voice called out of nowhere.
“Yes!” Stan exclaimed, pumping his fist as he soared into the air, doing a loop before touching back down on the ground.
“Fantastic!” Sally cried. Stan could almost see the smirk on her face. “Now go on, noob, don’t waste any more time . . . go kick Herobrine’s butt! Tell me how it went when it’s over.”
And before Stan could respond, Sally’s voice vanished with a slight static crackle.
Stan was beside himself with glee. He had operating powers now! He wasn’t going to have to just hand himself over to Lord Tenebris to die. He had a fighting chance. There was a possibility that he might actually be able to destroy Lord Tenebris and the Noctem Alliance.
All at once, Stan realized what must have happened. He realized why the hole in the defenses had opened up. He realized that he now had the powers of an operator. Slowly Stan turned around to face the Black Hood . . . only to find that he had vanished. Stan looked around the clearing, perplexed, but there was no sign of the glitchy, white-eyed player—or Rex, for that matter.
Stan remembered what the Black Hood had said—the more that he interacted with the players, the weaker he would become. Stan realized that was the reason the Black Hood had only appeared to his friends when they were in very real danger. He also imagined that, just by talking to Stan, the Black Hood had taken a huge risk, jeopardizing his very existence. Was it possible that, by enabling Sally to access the code of Elementia, the Black Hood had . . .
Stan heard an explosion from somewhere far in the distance, and he snapped out of his train of thought. There was no time to ponder what had happened to the Black Hood now. There would be plenty of time for that later. For now, Stan knew what he had to do.
As Stan stood in the clearing, his face illuminated by the light of the rising sun, Lord Tenebris was surely lining up his friends for the firing squad. If Stan didn’t show himself soon, they would all be killed. Stan knew that Lord Tenebris’s operating powers had been boosted by the power he had stolen from the server, but there was one thing that Stan had that he didn’t: the element of surprise. Lord Tenebris had no idea that Stan now had operating powers, and if he played his cards right, then he just might be able to overpower the leader of the Noctem Alliance and finally end this war.
Regardless of what his odds were, though, Stan knew that he at least had to try. As long as there was even the tiniest glimmer of hope left, Stan knew that he always had to try.
And so with a deep breath, Stan picked up his diamond axe, focused as hard as he could on the Avery Memorial Courthouse, and in an instant, he vanished into thin air, leaving the clearing full of swirling mist totally vacant.
CHAPTER 28 RETURN OF THE HEROES
Leonidas winced as a bright light shone over his eyes. He grunted as he forced his eyes open to find that he was staring directly into the rising sun. He glanced down at the ground to avoid looking into the rays, and shook the cobwebs out of his head. He was standing on wood-plank blocks, and he could see a gravel street a few blocks below his feet. Leonidas realized that he was standing upright, his back was to a wall of wood-plank blocks, and his arms were propped up on levers that had been attached to the wall.
Leonidas’s temple was throbbing at the place where he and Cassandrix had cracked heads. He soon became aware that the air around him was filled with noise, and his head began to pulse with even more pain. Slowly, Leonidas opened his eyes. The sun was indeed shining directly into his eyes, but it was darker than he had expected, as it was shining through the thick veil of clouds cast over the city by the Withers hovering in the air above him.
As his ears and eyes slid back into full focus, Leonidas could see a crowd of soldiers surrounding the platform he was standing on, their heads nearly level with the two-block-high wood-plank platform. The Noctem Army was still wearing their black armor, and were erupting with jeers and taunts at those on the platform. Leonidas realized that he wasn’t alone. He looked to his right and left, and saw that all the leaders of Stan’s army were propped up on the wall. They were all standing upright, their arms raised up on levers, as still as statues.
Leonidas’s heart skipped a beat as he realized what this was—a firing squad.
Leonidas did a quick check and realized to his dismay that his inventory had been totally emptied. He had lost his best bow, Hornet, back at Element Castle, and his other two bows and his sword were now gone as well. Not that it mattered. He knew that if he even tried to lift a finger, let alone arm himself, he would be killed in a matter of seconds.
Out of morbid curiosity, Leonidas looked down the line to see who was there. They were all about to die anyway. He might as well get a good idea of who was about to bite the dust with him.
There was only one player to the left of him before the row stopped, and that was Jayden. His eye was black and he had a sizable gash on his forehead, but he looked more exhausted than pained. Glancing to his right, Leonidas recognized Ben, who looked utterly defeated, and Bob, who was sitting on Ivanhoe, a sick look on his face. Leonidas wondered with a horrible lurch of his stomach if the pig would be executed as well.
Beyond those two were the Mechanist, who appeared to be in deep thought; Sirus, who was glancing around in a twitchy and nervous manner; and Cassandrix, whose face was contorted into a fu
rious, twisted rage. And at the end of the line stood Commander Crunch, who was yelling something that Leonidas couldn’t make out into the sea of heckling Noctem soldiers, occasionally interspersed with a hearty seaman’s laugh.
Leonidas did a quick headcount: There were eight of them, including him. He went through a mental checklist to see who was missing, and came up with only three.
He wasn’t surprised at all that Stan was missing. As the leader of the republic, Leonidas imagined that Lord Tenebris probably had special plans to deal with him. He most likely was still alive and would make an appearance at some point, during which Lord Tenebris would surely make an example out of him.
As for Kat . . . Leonidas didn’t think that the image of Kat begin flung around that council room like a rag doll would leave him. Leonidas and Kat hadn’t talked much since he had joined their army, but he still knew that she was a tough player with a keen eye for justice who wouldn’t take crap from anybody. The image of such a strong-willed and powerful player rendered totally helpless was haunting. Although he knew that the others in the army would be grief-stricken when they found out that Kat had been killed, Leonidas, who had hardly gotten to know her, found her death far more terrifying and unsettling than anything else.
And that left the last missing player. While he hadn’t gotten to know Kat all that well, Leonidas had gotten to know Charlie. Charlie had gone from hating Leonidas to accepting him as an ally and friend. The thought that now, after they had finally became friends, Charlie might be gone made Leonidas’s stomach clench with dread. He tried to convince himself that there was a possibility otherwise. That maybe, somehow, he had escaped, and he wasn’t actually dead. After all, Leonidas had nothing to go on. There was no evidence that Charlie was gone.
But then, all at once, Leonidas stopped thinking about it. It was as if somebody had turned off his ability to care. After all, what was the point? They were in front of a Noctem Alliance firing squad. They were all about to die anyway.
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