city as possible. Stan raised his arms, still clutching DZ’s sword and, with a vein pulsing in his forehead, he opened his mouth and gave a mighty roar.
“HEY! SPYRO! COME AND GET ME!”
Immediately, hundreds of heads, civilian and military, whipped towards him. There was a moment when time seemed to freeze as the entire populace of the burning metropolis locked their eyes simultaneously on to Stan. Then chaos reigned.
From all across the streets, dozens of soldiers, clad in black and grey, started charging toward him, some releasing a battle cry and some firing off arrows. Stan spun around and sprinted as fast as he could through the alleyway of the city and onto the mycelium shoreline, barely noticing the shower of arrows falling just short of him. He only glanced over his shoulder once, and his eyes locked not on the wave of troops pouring after him, but on Olea poking her head out the back door of her shop. The look on her face was a mix of surprise, fury, gratitude and trying to comprehend what in the world he was thinking.
Stan didn’t look for long, though. He sprinted down the mycelium-covered hill that led to the water’s edge, where he noticed a patrol boat quite close to the shore. The black-suited pilot of the dinghy barely had time to turn his head when Stan sent him careening into the ocean via a shockwave of Knockback energy from DZ’s sword. Stan landed haphazardly in the boat, and by the time he had seated himself properly, the Noctem soldiers were already splashing into the bay, just blocks away from him. Before the troops could destroy his boat with their weapons, however, Stan had desperately willed the boat to fly forwards like a rocket, leaving the Noctem soldiers in a trail of bubbles behind him.
Stan quickly glanced up at the white rectangle that was the nearly full moon and aligned himself to face east, towards Element City. As he turned the boat, Stan noticed something black poking out from under the boat’s seat. He investigated further, and found a black leather tunic and cap, presumably one that the piloting Noctem soldier had had as a backup. Stan gratefully pulled them on; a little extra protection never hurt.
Finally, Stan gave one last glance behind him. He saw no other boats following him, and he noticed a swarm of dark forms scuffling around the shoreline, preparing to follow him. Though he knew that he ought to be thankful that the Noctem troops hadn’t been fully organized and ready to pursue him yet, Stan hardly noticed this in comparison to the city. From this distance, the tallest skyscrapers of the Lesser Mushroom Island still stood proud and tall, even amid the scarlet blaze that illuminated the night from beneath them.
As Stan stared in awe at the downfall of this great city, a single tear rolled down his cheek. Stan’s mind began to flood with the memory of all the death, slaughter and betrayal that he had witnessed in the city, but he forced himself to tune it out. All he had to remember, he told himself, was that it was all because of the Noctem Alliance. And the only way that he stood even the slightest chance of taking them down, once and for all, was to return to Element City.
So, with new resolve and a heavy heart, President Stan2012 turned his back to the Lesser Mushroom Island and willed his boat to accelerate at top speed towards Element City.
I still can’t believe just how immature she’s being,” G muttered under his breath to Jayden. Jayden took a deep breath, counting to ten in his head. He could barely comprehend that, even though the two of them were sitting in a military camp and preparing to sneak into the camps of the Noctem Alliance, G was still ranting about Kat.
“G, for the last time,” said Jayden slowly, trying to keep his composure despite his frustration, “we kind of have other things to be focussing on. Like… you know… a war?”
“I just really expected more from Kat,” G said, throwing back his head in exasperation. “She’s a smart, reasonable person, so why can’t she just let bygones be bygones like I have? We could have worked together fine. We still make a great team! Yet she continues to harp on it and hate me for it, totally refusing to let it go…”
“Do you even realize what you’re saying?” spat Jayden, his tolerance finally snapping. “G, you’re the one who’s refusing to let it go! You haven’t shut up about Kat this entire time. You’re the one who’s turning this entire situation into a giant thing, and, frankly, none of us want or have time to hear it.”
“Oh… that’s just great,” grunted G, glaring at Jayden. “Now my best friend won’t even take my side.”
“I’m not taking anybody’s side!” yelled Jayden, his eyebrow twitching in irritation. “I don’t know everything that happened, so it’s not my place to judge. But what I do know is that now is the worst possible time to talk about it! You want to work out your issues with Kat? Fine, go ahead and give it a shot. But wait until after we’ve destroyed the people who have been trying to kill us nonstop for the past month, please!”
G opened his mouth, then closed it again, glancing at the floor. Although he knew that Jayden was right, he didn’t really care, and was so infuriated by the whole situation with Kat that he wanted to rant and rave about it for as long as possible. However, an explosion directly outside the wall they were next to snapped him out of his thoughts. Realizing that they would be entering combat soon, G pushed his anger with Kat to the back of his mind, and made himself promise it would stay dormant until his mission was over.
G noticed Jayden glancing upwards, and he followed suit. The army encampment where the two of them were gearing up was located right at the base of the outer wall of Element City, on the east side. The explosion from above had been fired from the outside, and a considerable chunk of the upper wall had been blown apart by the blast. The two councilmen watched in fascination as, through the power of the soldiers standing at the ready, the mighty stone wall seemed to repair itself, like some great animal regenerating its tissue. Meanwhile, other soldiers could be heard yelling from atop the massive wall, accompanied by the high-pitched whistling of fireballs streaking down and into the outside woods, surely targeting the Noctem Troops waging war below them.
“These people,” Jayden muttered, more to himself than anyone else. “They’re putting so much on the line to defend our city… to keep freedom alive on this server… I wonder…” And Jayden’s voiced trailed off into nothing. There was a moment of silence, punctuated only by the yells and other sounds of the ongoing war.
“What?” G finally asked.
“It’s just…” Jayden said, clearly in a quite pensive state. “Well… it’s the Mechanist. I know that he’s a fantastic leader and all, and if anybody should take over the city while we’re gone, it’s him. But… all these people are fighting for justice and equality, and now that the council is spread out all over the server, the entire city is under the control of just one person. And I know that we have the police watching the Mechanist and all, and I trust him. But… what do you think the citizens will think?”
G was about to respond when suddenly a door opened in the wall, and a soldier dressed in a full Elementia Army uniform appeared.
“Councilman Jayden, Councilman Goldman,” the soldier said, addressing them respectfully but with a tone of urgency. “The target group of Noctem soldiers is massed in the woods directly outside the wall. Our intelligence suggests that they won’t be there for long. If we are to make our move, we must do it now.”
“OK,”
