Gearing up

Marcy sighed as she watched the discussion in front of her devolve into a quarrel, with Lady Olivia struggling to maintain control of the situation as newts on both sides kept launching accusations at each other.

Today was the day that would officially start the Kingdom's Council, and all the representatives from all over Amphibia were gathered in a large circular room, with seating arranged in six rows. On one side of the great hall, placed in front of a statue of a newt in robe and holding a scroll in his hand, was a large reddish coral throne on which sat King Andrias, the ruler of Amphibia with a weary weather-marked face and two Royal Guards lined up at his sides while Lady Olivia, from a podium on the king's right, continued to address the various delegates, trying to calm the situation.

As the Royal Advisor had explained earlier herself, the position of each newt and representative hinted their current alignment: to the right, the ones belonging to the King's faction, the one who were the most loyal to King Andrias and his government, while on the left was the Aristocrat Faction, who had their unofficial leader in Duke Pyrforian, and in the middle, the majority of those undecided.

Finally, from some boxes placed above the hall, some lucky visitors who had received the specific invitation could watch the debate or, if requested, testify in favor of this or that representative. And on one of these very boxes, sat six humans who, together with their families, were watching the diatribe.

"Order, order!" Lady Olivia shouted once again, and finally, the quarrel began to die down as everyone's focus turned to her once again. "Count Deiter, you can continue."

"As I was saying," Duke Pyrforian's ally resumed his speech, "this is not a matter of philosophy: we need more security!" He slammed his fist to emphasize his words. "With the Order of the Olms freely rampaging within our walls and new unknown threats amassing outside, we can't afford to stay idle and defenseless anymore! The recent destruction of the Night Guard's Headquarters is all the confirmation that us Newts need to take the defense of our city, once again, into our own hands!"

"Our generals inform us that there are no weak points in our defenses," another noble, this one aligned with the King's faction, quickly countered, "and that our troops, both among the Newtopia Army and the Night Guards, continue to perform valiantly. Thanks to their efforts, the Order shall soon be eradicated from within our city. What we cannot afford is to act irresponsibly and mismanage our resources. All our military forces are doing the best they can with their current capacities, and in order to expand it, not only would we have to institute a draft among the population, but the kingdom may face economic hardships due to the expenses required to train and equip them!"

"And what about the Toads, instead?" One of the 'undecided' nobles piped in, with genuine ingenuity. "The Toads are under direct authority of Newtopia and the Newtopia Army: as thus, we could summon a few troops into the city and-"

He stopped talking as several voices from all sides began to yell in outrage: Toad soldiers in Newtopia? Moreover, to enforce the King's peace? Even among the King's partisans, there was little sympathy for those brutes.

"My friends," Duke Pyrforian, who until then had been silently listening to the conversation, decided to intervene as well, his friendly and gentle tone of voice hiding the poison underneath, "neither the lack of recruits nor the huge costs to field them are unsolvable problems. If we pass the count's bill for an Expansion Militia Act, the various Houses' guards will be able to supply in, without any additional expense for the State."

"Won't this bill essentially turn those guards into private armies, and give them unrestricted authority within the city itself?" Another neutral spoke up.

"A small price to pay in order to get more safety." A third neutral newt, this one obviously leaning closer to the Duke's faction, nodded. "Don't we all agree?"

"To allow such bill to pass is to promote anarchy! The Army needs to stay united!"

"The Army is but a shadow of its former glory! They already promised us the Order would be defeated in no time! We must take action in our own hands if we want to preserve our way of life!"

As the various newts began to quarrel once again, Marcy looked on the whole situation with dread, even ignoring Jacob and Hop Pop snoring next to her (the old frog obviously sleeping with his eyes open) while her friends were either trying to distract themselves or watching the whole debacle with little interest. She felt her heart gripping, wishing to be able to intervene, hoping for something new to happen-

-and miraculously, her prayers were listened once again.

"Representatives of the council, I am shocked and disgusted by what I am hearing!" Headmaster Albert, who until then had been silently listened to the debacle, before he furiously moved forward next to lady Olivia and began to shout, his voice unopposed. "I am old, but now I wish I would also be deaf to not hear your suggestions! More soldiers, more weapons, more war? Is this how you plan to restore peace within our city's walls? To dismiss the Night Guards and their doing, even as the Guard still stands? The Order had proved itself to be harder to defeat than we imagined, that's true, and I won't refuse to take my blame for that, just as I won't shy away from admitting they've struck us hard." He looked down for a moment, thinking back to all the rangers who had lost their life in the attack. "However, we are not beaten yet! We are not defeated yet! The Night Guards still stand, and so does the Royal Army! Dark times have befallen upon us, but hope is not lost yet! The Order of the Olms shall be defeated, the external threats shall be repelled and vanquished, and peace will once again return to our land. This is the promise each one of our Rangers made!" He looked up, until his eyes met Marcy's, the dark-haired girl returning his smile with one filled with cheer. "Each one of them!"

The words of the old Headmaster, a newt who had spent his whole life protecting Newtopia and thus someone who was held on high regard among all newts, inflamed the discussion once again. The Royalist and the Aristocrats beginning to shout at each other while the 'Neutrals' either watched the discussion go or tried to bunk down, even more uncertain than before on which course of action was the better.

"Your majesty," lady Olivia turned toward Andrias, "I suggest we table any new bill and adjourn the council until it is determined whether or not Count Deiter's proposal is the bets course of action."

The King internally smiled, recognizing what his own Royal Advisor was doing. "Very well, we shall let calmer heads prevail."

(…)

"You useless idiot!" Marquess Lepiasse hissed as soon as Count Deiter walked into the room where he and Duke Pyrforian were waiting. "That legislation was crucial for our efforts! We need to have our own forces recognized as part of Newtopia's Military if we want to push through with our goals!"

"I tried my best to push the bill through!" The count protested, trying to defend himself. "If only-"

"You did your part, Count." The Duke said in a calm tone of voice, sitting on a chair with his back turned. "The Royal Advisor is the real problem. I would personally know, since I've spent years facing her on the political battleground. She's a skilled politician with a lot of diplomatic experience and her own bloodline had spent generations serving the King and his House."

"What's worse, I heard she is quite smitten with those 'humuses'," The Marquess nodded, scratching his chin. "As long as they'll have her sympathy, their influence into the Kingdom's affairs must not be underestimated. And they did quite a great job in securing sympathies for the King among the other nobles."

"Perhaps, I know some people who could do something about them. For the right price-" The Count suggested, only to take a step back as Duke Pyrforian shot him an angry glare.

"Those are fool's words." The Duke reprimanded him. "The task is more difficult than you presume, and besides, with our public opposition to them, if something bad was to happen to any of them or their companions, we would be the prime suspects. This could cost us a lot both in terms of popularity and in key allies who could switch among the neutrals, or worse, to our opposition."

"The real problems are not them, nor the King and his Royal Advisor, nor Headmaster Albert and his sharp tongue. The real problem is all those neutrals who still refuse to take a side in the whole question, even after the Night Guard Headquarters' destruction!"

"Exactly." Duke Pyrforian said in a cold, firm tone of voice, turning his back on the other two newts, gazing upon the city from a small window. "Even without the interference of the Royal Advisor, the Council is unlikely to approve our Militia Act unless they're convinced, beyond any doubt, that not only war had hit home, but is also seriously threatening them…" he stopped, his free hand moving under his chin. The Marquess's eyebrow rose, realizing that the Duke had something on his mind.

"What exactly are you proposing, Your Excellency?"

"Perhaps," the Duke continued, "a new series of attack of the Order in Newtopia is needed. Fresh bloodshed spilled may change enough minds to get the bill passed."

"A new attack, this soon?!" The Marquiss grimaced in response. "Sir, the city's security of the last two thousand years had been broken already with the destruction of the Night Guard's HQ! I thought we were supposed to lay low and wait for things to cool down-"

"I truly hoped it would have been enough to wake up our citizens, and to make them realize our great capital is not as impregnable as we still try to delude ourselves. Sadly, even after everything we did to spread the news of the attack, too many still prefer to wallow in their fake sense of security, thinking that the city walls will always stop whatever threat may arise from the outside. I think it is time we give a stronger shake to their illusions and force them to face the truth!" The Duke rose on his feet and began to walk around in the room, plans and strategies already forming. "We have… powerful allies among the Order's ranks that may help us, shall we say, make a point?"

"I like this plan, sir!" The Count nodded, ready to please his higher-ranking leader, only for the Marquis to look at him with a scowl.

"No one cares about what you think."

(…)

"That was frogging boring!" Sprig rolled his eyes, walking, alongside the six humans and the rest of their families in the corridor, a few newts (mostly guards, though a few were dressed in expensive noble clothing) looking at them as they passed. "Hop Pop, why did you insist we had to come as well?"

"Sprig, it's not everyday you get a chance to witness the King ruling our nation with firm, yet wise authority!" His grandfather sermonized. "You should see this as a chance to further instruct yourself on the great ideals that are the cornerstone of Amphibia!"

"But then, why Polly did get to spend the day with Frobo?! That's not right!"

"Polly's a baby, she gets a break from time to time."

Sprig grunted, Anne hearing him mutter that 'Polly is a baby only when it suits her', while Sasha felt the need to voice out her own frustrations as well.

"For real?" Sasha replied. "I remember, while we were forced to listen, you and Jacob were sleeping! Don't you even try to deny it, I heard you snoring!"

"I have to say, political talk is one of the best cures for insomnia." Jacob replied with a yawn, feeling well-rested. "Maybe I should have recorded that, if I have problems getting asleep in the future."

"Lucky you who managed to get a good sleep from all that," Ivy grunted. "Mom, is that how nobles usually behave when they think no one is watching?"

"Kind off." Felicia nodded, before changing her mind after a short pause. "No, scratch that, absolutely yes. Though in hindsight, lady Olivia did tell us the duke and his followers were going to be hostile."

"Ever since we have met him for the first time, I feel like he's purposely testing me to try and make me break my own rules." Maddie hissed in a cold voice. "At least if he did something worse than being a pompous ass, I could hit him with one of my curses without feeling bad!"

"You know, I could say almost the same thing verbatim." A familiar voice spoke as the group saw Lady Olivia march toward them, Yunan and Albert flanking her on both sides. "At least if he did something illegal, we could have him arrested and neutralized for as long as we need."

"Lady Olivia!" Anne saluted her with a voice full of cheer. "We're so happy to see you again. Were we a bother?"

"No, though even I did notice a few of you were blatantly sleeping during the session." She looked at Jacob and Hop Pop, the human scratching his head and looking aside with an embarrassed expression, while the old farmer blushed. "Do not worry, it's not against the rules. In fact, several council members often do it during their opponents' speeches."

"Headmaster!" Marcy saluted her superior, Albert giving her a heartfelt smile in return. "I saw your intervention and I can say, it was impressive!"

"I may not be a youngster anymore, but I'm still ready to defend the honor of the Guard and the reputation of my rangers. Especially if it's against those pesky nobles who have no idea of what kind of dangers we face on a daily basis."

"This is something we both agree on," Yunan nodded. "Yet again, something I didn't think I would have ever said."

"So…" Amelia looked around, to make sure no one else was in ear sight. "What can you say about… that thing?"

"Not here, but there have been updates." The Royal Advisor nodded. "Follow me into my office. We have some time before the Council must return in session."

The humans and their families nodded, following the trio of newts until the Royal Advisor's office, Yunan making sure doors and windows were properly closed and secured while Albert (with Marcy's help) made sure there weren't any hidden devices or tricks or spells active. Only after both gave her the green light, lady Olivia felt safe enough to start explaining the situation.

"Thanks to your… help, during the gala, our informants had been able to move without being noticed and managed to find many useful intel related both to the Duke and the Order of the Olms. According to what one of our best spies had been able to report-"

While lady Olivia explained, no one paid attention to James. The human boy trying his best to hide the smirk that threatened to blossom on his face every time the Royal Advisor made a reference to their 'spies'. In truth, he too had been part of the operation, but he couldn't say that aloud, not without blowing his cover and putting his friends at risk.

"- we now know that the nobles' houses under Duke Pyrforian had been gearing up."

"What's worse," Yunan nodded to the side of the Royal Advisor, "according to the same informants, it seems like we've… severely underestimated both the strength and combat capacity of the Nobles' private armies. From what we've been able to collect, they, in direct violation of the King's law, have been expanding their forces and providing them with so much military equipment it could put them on par with the Newtopia Army. Should they be able to coordinate such forces-"

Yunan stopped, and the more social-savvy individuals among the group immediately noticed the young general tightening her fist and gritting her teeth. All clear hints that the situation, while not yet desperate, was absolutely grim.

"On the upside," Lady Olivia continued, focusing everyone's attention on the task at hand. "This could be our chance to have them officially accused of treason against the Crown and seize all their assets… if we can prove it beyond any doubt in front of the Council. This, of course, means we need decisive proof, something so incriminating and unambiguous they won't be able to weasel their way out."

"I think I understand what you're asking." Marcy gleamed up, "You want me, Maddie and our squad to infiltrate the duke's mansion and bring back material proof that you can use by the next session of the council, that's right? That the nobles have violated King Andrias' law by expanding their own guards without permission. Or that they're even actively working with the Order to undermine his authority!"

"You really are sharp as everyone says, aren't you?" Headmaster Albert nodded with a smirk. "And yes, that is the plan. Luckily with the Duke's absence, security around his mansion is weakened. Of course," he added with a more serious tone, "if you're captured, we will disavowal any knowledge of your activities."

"Sir, If I am allowed!" Amelia suddenly jumped to her feet. "I volunteer to assist Marcy and her team on their mission!"

"Wait, what?" Jacob gasped, turning toward his cousin.

"Amelia, are you sure about that?" Anne asked with a worried expression. "It could be dangerous!"

"And yet you have no issue with letting Marcy and Maddie go?" The young samurai countered. "Look, there's a bad guy place that we need to infiltrate, possibly while facing several of his goons at once: my kind of stuff!"

"Well, you do have a decent stealth level and infiltration skill," Marcy thought about it, "plus you can hold on your own in a fight… and we could really use all available resources… fine, but remember, for as long as you tag along, you'll have to follow my orders!"

"Zattenayo!"

"But!" The Night Guard Squad captain added. "You can't bring Akitsu with us!"

"What? Why?!"

"Because she's too flashy and recognizable to be taken on a stealth mission." That's something we should fix for the future, Marcy added in her brain.

"Then it is settled, I'll lend any useful information we have on the Duke's mansion. Including any kind of security you might expect to find." The Headmaster nodded.

"Meanwhile, Sasha, Jacob, Miss Sundew," Yunan looked at the three, "you'll be with me today. Since we don't know how and when the Order will strike us again, I'm planning to work on some way to deal with the nobles' private armies, should that become necessary."

"Funny you should say this, ma'am," Jacob said with a guilty look, "I may just have the trump card that we need-"

"Hop Pop, where are you going?" Felicia asked, noticing the old farmer detaching from the group and walking toward the door.

"Don't worry about me, I just remembered… I have some stuff I need to take care of. Anne, can you watch Sprig and Polly while I'm away?"

"What kind of stuff, Hop Pop?'" Anne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Sprig protested. "Can't we come with you?"

"Sorry kids, but this is something I have to do… alone." He turned around and kept walking toward the door, none of his family or companions noticing the determined glare on his face.

"There is a problematic situation brewing in the Kingdom's Council." The duke's lowly representative said, kneeling in front of Goldmask as various cultists of the Order of the Olms surrounded him with swords and long knives in their hands. "My master asks you to repeat another stunt of the likes of your successful attack on the Night Guards' HQ. To shake the kingdom to its core and assure the bill he and his allies are pushing gets approved."

"Insolent cur!" One of the cultists hissed. "Your master think he can order us like he does with you? We are the Order of the Olms, we are Newtopia's reckoning! Don't you dare sully our holy mission by-"

"Enough!" Goldmask ordered, his subordinate nodding and returning to his place, while still aiming glances at the retainer. "Dark Armor, what do you think?"

His newest underling said nothing, thinking for almost a full minute before replying, his voice and tone hidden by the heavy armor he was wearing.

"The task in front of us is difficult, but not impossible. And such a strike would not only help our allies push their own agenda, but it would also send a new wave of panic through Newtopia, further weakening the people's trust in the city's security and proving they can't stop us."

"Thus, allowing us to continue with rebuilding our forces," Goldmask nodded. "Very well, but we don't need something too big. Just something loud, to spread fear without causing too much damage to the city. Dark Armor, I entrust you with organizing the coordinated strike: see that our brothers will be able to accomplish the task."

"But of course, great leader." Dark Armor said while giving the sect's leader reverence. The various newts in cloaks around him couldn't see, under the mask, his sneering expression. "They won't disappoint you."

(…)

"So, you're the famous Akitsu," Javi murmured as he, Kettle and Femur came face to face with the giant white dragonfly with ruby red eyes. The bug buzzed and chirped happily while Amelia petted her, feeding her some tasty-looking apples while Marcy and Maddie were checking their mission material one more time. "She looks… nice, I guess?"

"A real White Skies Dragonfly, just like out of a fairy tale," Kettle nodded. "I used to hear so many anecdotes about such creatures when I was a tadpole, but I never thought I would see one with my own eyes."

Femur, of course, didn't speak, but he marched forward and moved closer to the large flying bug, Akitsu noticing him and 'purring' as the large newt moved a hand on her head and started to massage her.

"Hey, she likes you!" Amelia nodded upon seeing this. "Good sign!"

"Okay squad, let's review the plan!" Marcy announced, putting out a sheet of paper and rolling it open, showing it was a schematic of the Duke's mansion. "In order to avoid being noticed by any of the duke's personal soldiers, we will gain entry from this point, enter through the mansion's basement level and work our way upward. This is a search-and-collect mission; thus, we must absolutely strive to move without being noticed. We will neutralize guards only if we can't circumvent them or if we risk being found out, and we will fight only if we're trapped or if we need to escape quickly. Maddie, how are we with concealing spells?"

"Pretty good!" The spellcaster frog replied, showing off several small bags of various shapes and colors. "These ones are 'Scent Neutralizers', one each. They will remove any smell from our body and nullify the risk the guards can locate us if they have guard animals. These 'Light feet' will instead allow us to move without making any sound: unfortunately, they don't last long so we'll have to use them when we need them. To knock out the guards, I have-"

"Too bad they couldn't make some real invisibility spell, that would be so useful right now." Amelia nodded. Instead of, you know, a spell to turn us into pickles."

"How long are you going to tease me about it?" Marcy jerked and glared at Amelia, Maddie rolling her eyes in amusement while Femur, Kettle and Javi all looked away, desperately hoping their squad leader wouldn't notice them snickering at her expense. "Anyway, the Headmaster provided us with a few possible locations where we can find the proof we need to squeeze the duke and his followers: our best chance is this private study on the lower floor. We can easily guess it will be protected by guards, traps and other things, so this is how we're going to deal with them-"

(…)

"So, let me get this straight," Yunan said, trying to summarize what Jacob had just told her, with Sasha, Felicia and Ivy helping her fill the holes in the story. "You have some kind of explosive powder stuff, called black powder, that you developed back in the Frog Valley-"

"Well, kind off." The human boy replied. "It wasn't actually an invention of mine, I simply used the procedure to make it with local resources. Plus, Marcy helped me with the first batch."

"And you claim that such thing can be used as basis for a new kind of weapon, one that allegedly should be able to propel projectiles much further and faster than bows and crossbows could?"

"That's the power of firearms, yes."

"Jacob, you idiot!" Sasha repeated for the -nth time since he had revealed the fact to her. "You brought firearms into Amphibia?!"

"With the Order threatening the livelihood of many within the walls, and new enemies rising on the outside, the Newtopia Army needs to step up on the arm's race, if they don't want to be left vulnerable! Plus," he added with a mischievous look, "I thought that with some new shiny equipment to use in case of emergency, my soon-to-be promotion would be guaranteed."

Sasha could only look incredulously at the boy who talked about bringing guns (GUNS!, her mind screamed) into the lives of Amphibia's inhabitants. Cannons were one thing when they had to fight off an army of Toads, but this?

The blonde teenager could barely control the voice in the back of her head, telling her that this was a bad idea. An awful idea. This was an awful, wonderful idea.

Oblivious to Sasha's silent dilemma, Yunan continued her inspection "So, this is the thing you call, a 'rifle?" she says as she looked upon the blueprint, trying to make sense of it. "And this gunpowder it uses, it is safe? Mrs. Sundew, have you seen it before?"

"Oh, I already had the…pleasure to witness it in action before." Felicia added with a bitter expression. "Let's say that the early tests weren't peaceful, nor devoid of collateral damage."

"But on the upside, it was quite fun to see how those tests would go!" Her daughter piped in, before noticing her mom's disapproving expression. "I mean, when they were done properly and without messing things up, it is."

"I'd say, the design looks… interesting." The experienced young general thought about it. "Of course, I cannot promise anything with just a bunch of paper information. We'd need a working prototype, and to do some tests-"

"You mean like this one?" Bella arrived, holding in her arms an item that looked like just the one described on the paper: a long iron rod, hollow on the inside, attached to a stock of wood. Cock, flint and fizzle just above its trigger, and a chamber with enough spots to contain several bullets at once. "Sorry I'm late, this thing's quite heavy if you're not used to carrying it all the time."

"Jacob!" Sasha gasped, her voice becoming higher. "You madman, you did it!"

"How-how…"

"I have my ways, ma'am." The boy walked over Yunan and toward Bella, taking the rifle out of her hands and checking its weight, inspecting every part of it before giving a satisfied smile. "So, you said you wanted to run down some test, to see with your eyes the power of this weapon. Do you have some place where we could perform?"

Yunan said nothing at first, her eyes moving from Jacob to Sasha, and then to the strange new item the human boy was holding onto his hands. That item looked so fragile, at least compared to a spear or a sword, yet there was something on it that seemed to emanate raw power. Perhaps, could this be an advantage against the Order, like Ser Jacob had promised?

In any case, there was nothing to lose to perform a few field tests.

"I do have a few ideas."

(…)

"Any problem can be solved with the careful application of high explosives." Dark Armor explained to the rest of the Order of the Olms' cultists, a few of them listening on the sidelines while those who would perform the mission were standing in attention in front of him, already divided in groups of two/three cultists, one group for each target.

"The trick is not to be around when they go off. Each one of you will be equipped with two of these: two packs of minced Boomshrooms compound, enough to blow a cockatrice to smithereens… or to blow up a small building. These," he pointed to a few vials, each one containing some unknown red liquid, "are the reagent, the juice of a small plant who do quite wonders combined with the boomshrooms. Once you're in place and you have secured the area, hide the packs where they won't be found immediately and then activate them by dropping the vial's liquid on the compound." He explained while demonstrating, making sure everyone was paying attention to the explanation, "At this point the red liquid starts a slowed chain reaction with the boomshrooms, slowing the explosion while boosting its effective power. And when all that power is released all at once, well, you'll want to be very, very far away."

"How much time we will have before the bombs go off?" One of the 'volunteers' asked. "I remember those packages we infiltrated into Newtopia University, disguised as books. Took over eight hours before those set off."

"Thanks to the liquid's properties, you'll have more than enough time to leave the area without rushing and risk drawing unwanted attention." Dark Armor explained, a few cultists feeling relieved hearing that information. "Thus, do not rush on the set-up. Unless you screw up, or you damage the packages, they won't go off on you."

"How much resistance do we expect to face?" Another one asked.

"From what intel we do have," this time it was Goldmask himself to answer, while Dark Armor silently stood, listening to his leader's words, "the Newtopia Army, after our strike at the Night Guards, had established garrison and patrols into many buildings who were reputed 'at risk of further aggression'. Some, unfortunately, are among our targets." The leader of the Order of the Olms walked in front of his 'troops', like he was inspecting them.

"You all either volunteered, or were chosen for this mission, to strike at the hearts and minds of our enemies. The Newtopia Army is not the same enemy we have effortlessly evaded at the beginning: some of you may not return. However, don't let this impede you in your mission: today, you will strike new decisive blows into the reputation and morale of our enemy, and prove to Newtopia once again that the Order of the Olms can't be stopped. Those of you that will return will be heroes, those that won't… will be martyrs for our cause! By the will of the Olms!"

"By the Will of the Olms!" The cultist shouted at once, each group tacking two boomshrooms packages and a vial of red liquid, ready to move onto their objective…

"Now I wish we had brought Jacob with us," Marcy lamented, her fingers moving slowly as she tried to unlock the sturdy door's mechanism, a loud click signaling she had succeeded. "He makes this look so easy!"

"No enemy on sight, captain Marcy," Keetle nodded as she peeked beyond the open door, walking forward slowly, her crossbow loaded and ready to shoot. "We can proceed."

"So far, so good, but better safe than sorry." The dark-haired human made a sign to Amelia, the young samurai getting closer. "Scout the area ahead of us and find out if there are guards protecting the exit. Be careful however: don't let anyone see you and don't proceed without us!"

"Understood!" The other human nodded before rushing forward, channeling her own 'inner ninja' and soon disappearing from their sight.

"According to our info, this passage should lead us directly within the main area of the Duke's mansion." Javi said, being careful to keep his tone of voice low and his nerves on alert. "From there, as long as we're not discovered, we should be able to gain access to the main building."

"Careful, new passage on the left!" Warned Marcy, pointing at another grapevine. "Femur, be on guard no one's there. Maddie, can you secure the area so we can use to exfiltrate, just in case?"

"I have one thing that may do the trick." The spellcaster replied, taking out a few ingredient from her own belt and mixing them together, before dropping them on the floor they had just passed, a cloud of light blue smoke forming and dissipating in seconds.

"Maddie, what was that?"

"A revealing spell." The young frog replied, looking back at Kettle. "Should anyone else pass in the area after we've left, this spell will make them dizzy and inhibit their sense. Isn't not much, I know, but-"

"-it could be just what we need to exfiltrate with success. Great work, Maddie!" Javi congratulated her, the frog's lips twitching into a small smirk in response.

"I agree, that's good." Marcy nodded, before focusing back on their mission. "Now, let's proceed. Amelia should be just ahead, I wonder what she may have found-"

(…)

"For the last time, I'm not interested in your excuses!" The large frog/toad wearing an eyepatch and spotting several scars on his face, dressed in his iconic cowl and outfit, scoffed. "What I want to hear from you is, what is your master planning? And how does the Order fits in all of this!"

"Please Mr. Wrecker, I don't know anything!" The small newt whimpered, clearly terrorized. "I'm just a messenger, I don't know anything about the Duke's plans. I only take the sealed orders he gives me and bring them to some guy in the lower district. He is the liaison you should talk with! I never dared to open one of his packages, he would kill me otherwise!"

"Either he does, or I do it," the Wrecker's voice began to seethe. "And I'm tired of hearing lies-"

"That's enough!" Another voice announced, the Wrecker turning around to see a figure standing at the entrance, a grayish-green cowl hiding his face and features while a long sketchy tail, clearly a prosthetic for his trained eyes, extended from behind. "You won't get any information out of him: he's just a pawn, I doubt his master would ever give him info that could damage his plans… without precautions."

"Oh yeah?" The Wrecker challenged, trying to hide his nervousness under his disguise of might. "And what do you know?"

"I know, because I was already interrogating him, before you arrived." The mysterious figure replied, a groan and thud hinting that the Duke's servant couldn't hold his emotions and had collapsed on the floor, unconscious. "I had been watching you, and it seems we do share a common enemy. You're hunting for the Order of the Olms, and their connection with the nobles, right?"

"Yes, and I assume you're doing the same. You're the Whisper, isn't that right?"

"That's one of my many names, though I am honored to hear a legend such as you have heard about my exploits." Under the cowl, the human disguised as a newt spoke, his mind analyzing the Wrecker's appearance to try and determine his strengths and weak points. "That said, while I ignore your reasons to do so, if the Olms and their noble backers are your enemies as well, I have an offer for you."

"An offer?" The mighty Wrecker, actually a scared old farmer frog dressed as a thug, countered. "Of what kind?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, isn't that right? Let's join our forces and hunt the Order together, we'd have a better chance to achieve our goals."

The Wrecker said nothing, pondering about the proposal. On one side, he wasn't too keen about trusting someone he had just met, let alone someone who could very well backstab him the second he turned his back on him. On the other… from what rumors he heard, this guy had quite some skills with investigations, and he could use help.

"Fine, but don't think that this makes us friend just yet. Until I'll be sure I can trust you, I'll keep watching you."

"That, I can accept. Come on, Grandpa, let's move."

"Don't call me grandpa, you brat!" I already have my own grandchildren, and I'll always love them, no matter what.

As literature teaches us, fate can be a comedian as much as it can be dramatic, and irony knows no side.

(…)

"Gunpower and rifles?" King Andrias, sovereign of Amphibia, repeated with an incredulous tone as he walked along the hallway, the Royal Advisor standing at his side.

"That's what he called them." Lady Olivia nodded with a somber expression. "Right now, Yunan is there with them, to check the full potential of such items. I asked our top analyst to watch over the 'tests' so get a broader opinion, but-"

"And you think, Royal Advisor, that it could be an advantage with our… current situation?"

"Your majesty, I am your servant before anything else, and no matter what order you will give us, it is my duty to carry it at best of my capacity. That said, I have never been a fan of violence in general, as long as there were other options. If you remember, even back when the Sand War came, I never officially approved such military endeavor."

Wasn't that because you were all worried that Yunan would have ended up killing herself with her unrestrained recklessness?, the large king thought, The same way you had spent a full week standing next to her bed waiting for her to recover, half time pleading for her to be alive and the other half cursing her for not waiting for any reinforcement and facing Ragnar alone.

"That said, however, I think we should keep this option should the situation… turn to our disadvantage."

"You're genuinely worried that the Duke and his little cabal may attempt to seize the power by force?" The King asked, and now, for the first time in a long time, a shadow of genuine worry glimpsed through his voice. If the Royal Advisor was worried about something, it meant that the chances of it happening were good enough the whole thing had to be treated seriously. "That's absurd, this would be a crime never attempted before in Amphibia's history!"

"And yet, so many things have happened recently that I have never believed would occur before," lady Olivia replied, thinking back at the time lady Marcy volunteered to help her with her work, and how that small gesture of kindness had led her to admit she wanted tadpoles (in front of Yunan, nonetheless!) "Besides, it pays to be prepared, and I trust General Yunan's opinion on the matter."

Of course you would do, the king thought before answering. "And about these rifles… did Ser Jacob tell how he came up with their designs? Not to mention, how he had working prototypes already?"

"I only know what General Yunan had been able to mention, your Grace. But I think I have a good grasp on it already. From what Ser Jacob revealed to her, such weapons are commonplace in the humans' world and he came up with this particular design back in Wartwood. And… he used the Royal Credit Card to pay a few local artisans to build his prototypes, I guess he had been planning something like that for some time."

The King felt yet another headache incoming, as he remembered the huge expenditures the six humans had unleashed onto him ever since they arrived. So much money was lost yet he couldn't express his displeasure if he wanted to keep pretending that he was their friend.

"On that note," lady Olivia continued taking out a small sheet of paper and passing it to her king, "Ser Jacob sent thus for you to review. He claims it is a plan to… deploy these new weapons of his to protect the castle, should his Grace ever ask for it. Perhaps, once those experiments are done, we could hear General Yunan's impressions and ask Ser Jacob more about them?

"Perhaps, that would be wise." the King nodded, looking at the sheet of paper in his hands, taking out his glasses to better see the human's little words. Somehow, a feeling in his gut told him his masters wouldn't like hearing about this…

(…)

"Alright, boys!" Polly announced with the biggest grin she had ever made. "This one's Akitsu, Amelia's own pet and companion. She's a White Sky Dragonfly!"

"Biz! Biz!"

Far away from Newtopia and the castle where King Andrias resided, on a lonely road that was once one of the main commercial routes of the kingdom, there was a service station where travelling trucker frogs, each one with their story and cargo, all looking for a place where they could get a hot meal, some good stuff to drink and company to share stories and laugh together.

It was here that Polly had met Soggy Joe again. The survivalist frog, who was currently going by his alias 'Speedy Joe', welcomed her with a bright smile and introduced her to his friends before their attention had been caught by the two 'companions' that were with Polly, peeking from outside.

"A White Skies Dragonfly… I never believed I would see one in my life." One of Soggy Joe's friends, a male trucker frog with a green skin, said as his eyes kept moving all over the large dragonfly while a couple of others took out a few fruits and offered them to her, Akitsu rapidly grabbing them from their hands and munching.

"Yeah, I reacted almost the same way the first time I saw her too." Soggy Joe nodded with a kind tone of voice, before focusing on the other being that Polly had brought with them. "But what about… that?"

"Oh, he's Frobo, he's a robot!" Polly explained it all while Frobo kept moving his head and glancing at the various trucker frogs who were gathered. "Basically, is just one big tadpole… with a metallic body and superstrong!"

"Super strong?" One of the truckers, a woman with a half-empty mug of Bog Grog in her hands, challenged. "How much strong are we taaaaaa-" but the rest of her sentence turned into a shriek as Frobo, either realizing he had been 'challenged' or perhaps misunderstanding one of Polly's expressions, had grabbed the floor of the truck-stop service station and, using his long, extendable arm, pushed it toward the sky. Polly, Akitsu, Soggy Joe and the other patrons looking with wide eyes of amazement as the local (alongside a few frogs who were still sitting at the counters or otherwise holding at the structure) went up in the sky, Frobot holding it still for a full minute before putting it down, the patrons who had just experienced the sudden ascension either feeling dizzy or beginning to puke.

"Stoic, yet he knows how to express himself," Soggy Joe smirked, already liking Polly's new companion. "And you say you found him… in the ruins of some lost building, back in the Ruins of Despairs?"

"Yup! He followed us from there, and eventually Amelia and I found him while we were having an adventure of our own around Newtopia!"

"Frog, I wish I could go and check with my own eyes," another patron replied, with an enthusiastic expression in her eyes. "Yet, Amphibia's roads are no longer safe to travel, especially not alone and without escort."

"Why do you say that?" Polly asked, something in the trucker's words gaining her attention. "Did something happen after-"

"You can say that!" Soggy Joe grunted. "All the roads connecting Newtopia with the rest of the continent are once again crawling with bandits harassing the travelers, making transport toward or from the city difficult. What's worse, they've gotten smarter!"

"Yeah, at least once they were easy enough to outrace or avoid," another trucker lamented. "If you paid attention to your surroundings, you could see them coming from miles and avoid their ambushes. Now, however? They're trained and equipped, acting like an army, and if you try to run, they'll just catch you and then set an example! And if they just take away your truck and everything you were carrying and kick you into the wilderness to fend for yourself… you're one of the lucky ones."

"It happened to me too!" The female trucker who had been admiring Akitsu admitted, a single tear dropping down her cheek. "They told me to stop, I knew I couldn't outrun them, so I tried to escape them by using a small road only I believed to know… they had soldiers in there, and as soon as I believed myself safe, they used fire arrows against my truck. If I hadn't abandoned it and run, if one of them had seen me go… I would be a goner already."

More and more sad expressions surged among the crowd, Polly's feeling a wave of worries and fear. Even Akitsu and Frobot noticed it. The large robot simply listened to his data sensor about the rising heart rates of several frogs while the dragonfly could feel the despair from their souls.

"Perhaps… we could do something?" Polly volunteered. "Back in Newtopia, the guys got quite close to the king, perhaps we could try and tell him about the situation? And I doubt anyone in Newtopia would be too happy if trade with the rest of Amphibia got interrupted."

"Thanks for the offer, Polly, but I don't think it's going to make a difference." Soggy 'Speedy' Joe lamented. "The King has things much more important than to listen to the need of people who spend their life on the road. And even if you'd manage to convince him to send his soldiers, that wouldn't guarantee a fast resolution."

"Indeed," the green trucker nodded, "I heard from my brother, who lives east of the Boiling Basin, that the king already sent an expedition back there, made of Night Guard rangers… and those bandits exterminated them!"

Polly'es eyes widened in alarm, as her brain began to make connection between this new piece of information and some stuff and rumors she heard during her family's stay in Newtopia. Could it possibly be that-

I'd better tell Hop Pop and Felicia, the tadpole made a mental note, they'll know what to do.

(…)

The Royal Power Plant of Newtopia was a unique building in the city's history. Both because of the shape of its structure (which made it look like a giant shell), and because of its strategic and cultural importance to the city. For it was here that, by harnessing the water motion generated by the tides of the ocean, valuable electricity for the entire city was produced, using an ancient production process of which all knowledge had been lost. Energy not only used to provide night lighting for the royal castle and other important locations in the more affluent neighborhoods, but also to provide power for the factories located within its walls and to energize many special comforts and pleasures for the city's inhabitants.

Its whole story had been shrouded into mystery: built a long time ago, as part a larger, more important complex, his own inventor had been killed in a popular revolt that also caused the destruction of the rest of it, his whole research lost in the process. For this reason, and despite the plant being now a key feature of the city, no one else knew how to build others.

Captain Ronald, of the Royal Army of Newtopia, was not an engineer, nor did he have knowledge that would allow him to fully understand the importance of this building to the city. He was the son of a low-ranking aristocratic family, who had joined the army in search of social redemption and hopes of gaining glory and honor by serving his nation and ruler, just as many others before him had done. This is also why a part of him would rather have been in a battle, or in any situation where he could have displayed his courage, than guarding this post.

But he was a soldier, and soldiers followed orders. And the orders he and his unit received were to guard the facility and ensure that nothing could harm it. Which he intended to do, no matter how tedious and repetitive such task was.

"Halt!" One of the soldiers under his command shouted as he rose his spear on a defensive position, after noticing two figures approaching the entrance, "Identify yourselves!"

"We're friends!" One of the figures replied, revealing herself to be a young female newt dressed in a janitor's outfit, carrying a bag on her side and pulling a large kart with cleaning items on it, another newt (this one an older male) accompanying her and helping her with the task. "We're the cleaning crew, let us pass."

"You're quite late, don't you?" Ronald nodded, a bit disappointed they hadn't been cultists. "The afternoon shift started already."

"We had a few… issues." The lady nodded, biting her lips. "Can you let us inside so we can try to catch up?"

"Not so fast," the guard from before replied, before Kennel could ever let them go. "We have to inspect your stuff."

"What?" The older cleaner replied. "But that would take quite some time and delay us even more!"

"Sorry, no one gets inside this facility unless all their personal and work material have been checked. General Yunan's orders."

"But-"

"Let them pass."

"Sir?"

"I said let them pass!" Ronald repeated, but this time, louder. "We do this every time, and every time we find nothing! Do you want to make these people lose even more time?" And force us to check thoroughly their cleaning stuff, no matter how slimy and disgusting it may be, he added mentally.

"But sir, I have never seen them before. And General Yunan's orders-"

"Cleaning crew shift work in rotation, this is why we probably never saw them before!" The captain took advantage of the situation to unload even more of the frustration he had been cooking up to this moment. "And I think we can afford to show a bit more restrain with our orders. Is not like the Olms's ever going to be interested into this old place!"

The soldier said nothing, but he stepped aside and allowed the two newts to walk inside, their stuff unchecked, his superior smiling at the lady as she passed next to him, before deciding it wasn't his problem and focus on his work. After all, he wasn't the officer in charge, so it wasn't his responsibility to check who got inside and who didn't.

He didn't see the malicious smirks the two 'cleaning crew' newts shared with each other as they walked inside the door, the boomshroom packages carefully hidden under the cleaning tissues, a vial of unknown red liquid in the lady's bag…

"I can't believe it!" Javi murmured, peeking from behind the wall he and the rest of the squad were leaning to, their Captain taking out her 'phooney' and beginning to take images while, next to him, he could hear Keetle seethe seeing the large number of newts, all carrying weapons, gathering in the courtyard of Duke Pyrforian's mansion.

After gaining access to the manor, he and his companions had moved stealthily, careful not to betray their own presence and avoiding, whenever possible, the few guards they had met on their path. When that wasn't possible, 'distractions' were made (either through Maddie's spell bags or other trinkets) to divert those guards and gain free passage for a few precious minutes, allowing the squad to move further and further into the Duke's domain, all the time alert for any tangible proof they could bring back to Lady Olivia.

And now, as he kept glancing at the private army being gathered in front of him, he couldn't help but scoff as he realized that lady Olivia had been proved to be optimistic.

"So many soldiers… and all those weapons… this can't be something recent!" Kettle gritted her teeth. "There is no way the duke could gather so many troops in so little time!"

"That means, he had been doing this for a longer time that lady Olivia assumed," Marcy nodded, her eyes beginning to analyze everything she could she while her super-smart intellect began to analyze those images and draw conclusions. "I can see pikes, and axes, and swords… and arrow and bows… wait, what are those things in the back?"

"Ballistae, just like the ones we built in Wartwood, only these ones are still unassembled." Maddie said, her usual tone painted with silent anger. "Either the dukes' expecting to be besieged in his own manor… or he plans to besiege something with a lot of fortifications."

"Like the Royal Castle?" Javi replied in a rhetorical tone. "I can't believe anyone could dare to plan such betrayal, even someone as Duke Pyrforian! It's things like this that make me feel disgusted by my own blue blood!"

"Come on, Javi, you're not like them!" Kettle tried to reassure him, and without realizing, put one of her hand on his shoulder. "After we come back and we show this to the Headmaster, the Duke's scheming will be over!"

"Calm down, we can't leave just yet!" Marcy announced. "The more material proof we can bring, the better! Guys, do you see that large door on the opposite side?"

"Yeah?"

"Huh-huh."

"Yes."

Femur, since he couldn't talk, simply grunted a nod.

"I have seen several newts walk in and out of there, all of there dressed with clothes and uniform that hint they may be of high rank, or at least, high enough to command about their 'troops'. Perhaps it's there that they keep their most secretive stuff. Documents and the like, that proves how they violated the law and amassed an army. And if we can find them and bring them back-"

"I agree with her," Maddie quickly nodded, "the more we bring, the better is. Besides, we've already managed to infiltrate inside, how hard it can't be from now on?"

(…)

A loud bang was heard, the newt who had just caused it was now grimacing while around her, Felicia and Ivy once again took cover, memories of Jacob's past 'experiments' playing in front of their eyes. For his part, the human boy's grin grew once more, utterly ignoring the glare the blonde girl was giving him, while at the same time waiting for Yunan's next sentence.

"So, these rifles can cover just as much distance as a crossbow, if not more?"

"Indeed!" Jacob nodded. "And they're much easier to recharge, and thanks to the modifications I added, they do not need to be recharged immediately after just one use. I hope you can see the advantage, either being on the open field or fighting behind fortifications, a soldier who can manage his shots is able to defend himself more properly than if he had to recharge after just one shot."

"And yet, it's still far from a bow and arrows, either by distance covered or time needed to recharge." The experienced newt officer replied. "In the time your assistant took to recharge, a skilled archer could have shot five arrows or more!"

"But that's the key difference: a skilled archer. To reach optimal level, an archer requires many year of training, while anyone with a rifle could use it with just a basic training before."

"Jacob, not to rain on your parade, but… are you sure about this?" Felicia murmured, while Ivy went on check on Bella, the former bellhop dropping the rifle prototype on the table and panting, feeling her arms aching due to the weight of the item and the extensive length of the 'tests'. "I mean, you admit yourself earlier, that it's still experimental. And while I doubt Bella will suffer any ever-lasting consequences, perhaps it would be better to take some time before asking trained soldiers to use your guns."

"Yes, Felicia's right!" Sasha jumped on her side. "I don't think you have really thought this through, Jacob." And besides, the blonde cheerleader added mentally, the more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel at the idea of giving Amphibia actual firepower.

"It's risky, I know, but we can't afford to play careful, Sash!" The human teen replied, his expression now assuming a serious, worried tone. "With the Duke's followers and the Order threatening order within Newtopia, and Aiden and his army menacing us on the outside, Newtopia need all available resources if it wants to withstand the assault from the outside and restore control into the city. My gunpowder… I won't deny it, it's not perfected yet, and neither are our rifles, but they're still offering us a chance to survive. You can consider it… a secret weapon, an ace hidden in the pocket, something to keep and use only if there is no better option!"

"Huh, if I'm allowed to speak," Bella intervened, still hissing while Ivy moved to apply some skin-care ointment on her arms, "I think you should seriously consider Jacob's worry. I admit it's not easy to get used to it, at least at first, it is quite loud, and we should redesign our uniform to better protect ourselves from the powder's residuals, but… it works. You saw back there; I could hit the targets from a distance much more superior than even the longest pike could offer! And we didn't have many rifles, but we have enough of them to arm an entire platoon, maybe two! Place them to cover the main entrances on the castle and the Army barrack, plus any other place important enough to warrant a garrison, and we could probably hold at bay an attacking force ten time ours!"

"You're right, both of you." Yunan murmured, thinking about it, before finally finding the right answer for the situation. "And while my pride as a soldier of Newtopia and faithful servant of King Andrias feels a bit… insulted at the idea some nobles may be a credible threat to our sovereign, I'm not blind enough to turn down such an offer in time of crisis, especially considering our recent setbacks. That said, I promise I'll give our king my most honest impression on your weapon, Ser Jacob, and should His Majesty agree with you, I will assist you at best of my capability to guarantee we will have a sufficient stock of rifles, bullets and gunpowder for the situation."

"Thanks, I bet we could even add some improvements with enough time. If the king request it, I still have a list of various artisans within the city who assisted me on this project," he took out a small piece of paper, "their expertise and manpower could be critical. Perhaps it would be a good idea to gather them and take them someplace safe, just in case?"

"I think I can cover for that," Felicia nodded, snatching the paper from his hands and quickly memorizing the names and addresses written on it. "Ivy, Sash, how about joining me? Perhaps we can go into some place I know downtown, they make fantastic slum-bugs!"

"Oh, I love the slum-bugs!" Sasha said excitedly, before realizing what she had just said. "Wow, Boonchuy's right: we have been here too long already."

(…)

"A-choo!" Anne sneezed, covering her nose with a tissue while Sprig moved aside.

"Ew."

"Sorry!" The human girl apologized while cleaning her nose. "It was… sudden." Strange, I wasn't feeling sneezy before. Why do I feel like someone's been talking about me?

"Are you okay? Do you feel sick?" Sprig asked, worry on his voice. "Perhaps we should go back to the castle-"

"Sprig, I am fine!"

(…)

"Come on you dumb idiots!" Moss 'Slappy' Joe, one of Newtopia's best fencer for the criminal underworld, shouted while the goons he had hired (The best muscles money can buy, the exact sentence they said replayed in his brain) kept proving themselves to be unworthy of the price he had spend on them as they were unable to deal with the two intruders currently destroying his business. The Wrecker and the Whisper steadily taking them out, one by one. "Take them out! Kill them! Kill them!"

A yelp, and a cry of pain, announced that yet another mook of a toad had been defeat, his jaw dislodged by a punch from the Wrecker, a few seconds before another one dropped his ax as the Whisper throw something in his face, making his eyes teary and itchy. The Whisper taking advantage of his confusion to grab him by the head and moving it on the path of one of his comrades, using his body as a shield from his mace, as wood splinters and teeth fall on the floor just as the Wrecker hit another thug in the gut with his elbow, the toad who was trying to take him from behind was now groaning and holding his stomach, giving time to the Wrecker to turn around and punch him out cold, his body slamming against the wall.

"You useless morons, must I do all by myself?!" 'Slappy' Joe hid behind a counter, the body of yet another of his failing henchmen slamming against it as he struggled to draw out a small crossbow he had hidden inside one of the drawers, before loading it with a few darts and jumping out of cover, a smug expression over his face.
"Ah-hah! Now raise your hands and beg for-" the crossbow fell onto the ground, breaking down immediately while 'Slappy' Joe left out a yell of pain, his right hand stuck to the wall by a short knife which had pierced him from side to side, before digging itself into the wooden materials. The newt desperately trioed pulling and pulling, but yet he was unable to free himself.

"Nice throw," the Whisper commented as he and the Wrecker marched toward 'Slappy' Joe, having now 'indisposed' what was left of the 'opposition'.

"Years and years of experience." The Wrecker chuckled, before focusing on his target. "Okay now Slappy, you know why we are here."

"It is Dony Boss that sends you? He's become such a coward he won't ever show himself and he must rely on mercenaries to do the dirty job for him?"

"We aren't here to kill you." The Whisper came closer. "We are looking for the Order of the Olms, more specifically where their base is located. And you're going to tell us."

"Do you seriously think all criminals are in cahoots with those fanatics? I'm a business-newt, I buy and resell whatever people bring me! I don't have anything to do with those who go around burning books and messing with the King's soldiers!"

"Oh, so you've never had anything to do with them?" The Whisper further approached him, grabbing one of his cheeks and beginning to pull, his tone of voice becoming colder and more stoic. "Because a little birdie told us, a few trinkets who disappeared from the same place those cultists ransacked ended up reappearing in your shop."

"Who told you that?"

"Not even bothering to deny it, then?" The Wrecker commented. "Good, less time wasted. Let's make a deal: tell us where their hideout is, or alternatively, someone who can bring us to them, and we'll leave you alone. However, if you try to trick us, or if you lie, we will come back. And we won't be this gentle next time."

"You and your friend can go to-"

"Enough!" A sudden voice shouted, their attention draw to it as a younger newt, dressed in a bright red dress and short mustaches appeared, apparently having been hidden behind a small piece of furniture ever since the two had crashed into the place. "Look, if you're looking for the Order… I can tell you how to find it!"

"Eugene, keep your mouth shut!" 'Slappy' Joe yelled. "I'm your boss-"

"No, I'm sick of keep my mouth shut and stay silent! For years I've endured, but the Order… after what they did to our city… it's too much!"

"You stinky squealer, if you think you can do this-" the Wrecker immediately hit Joe on the face, knocking him out cold and re-focusing his attention on the youngest newt.

"You say you have information about how to find the Order. Speak."

"There is… some guy, who comes here once every three months, or even less. Said his name is Hamby. He comes only in the deep of the night, and whenever he comes, he brings us some crazy stuff he claims to have 'found'. Most of the time it's junk but sometimes, he brings us quality ancient things. He claims to live in the sewers under the city, and he knows them by heart. Every passage, every secret place, anywhere big and hidden where a cult of crazy cultists could hide. If you want to hunt down the Order, you need to know your hunting ground. And he may be the only one in Newtopia who can lead you."

"That's… quite useful info." The Whisper nodded. "Thought I am surprised you told us that easily. You're not afraid your boss," he looked at the knocked-down Joe, "might be angry for that?"

"He had always been an obnoxious sack of bile; it's time the slums got rid of him. And besides, I have no family he may threaten anymore," he looked down with a tone of sadness. "My family was only my brother. He was… a ranger of the Night Guard…"

(…)

"Brother, is the coast clear?"

Inside the large power plant, Brother Ocus and Sister Melura were now ready to carry out their mission. After gaining access to the plant, they had carefully used their disguise to explore the structure' interior until they found a small room, little more than a closet, yet who was placed close enough to the plant's giant generators and power accumulators. Ocus stood on the outside, keeping watch and pretending to work, scrubbing the slime off the floor, whenever someone approached the area, while, on the inside, Sister Melura had set off the two large boomshrooms packages and was now ready to 'activate them'.

"All is fine, all the time," the male newt replied, wary for any sound that may hint the presence of strangers, before giving one more glimpse to the half-open door "Are you ready sister?"

"Everything's set to work, just like our leader told us." The female newt grinned. "Once the explosives are set, we shall rush through our escape route and watch the triumph of our faith from afar. Rather, do we still have to wait long for the time to set? I'm still nervous someone may walk onto us before is time."

"No heretic shall threaten our mission," Ocus nodded, patting the hidden knife in his broom, "And Gold Mask's order are to wait for the Begin of the Sunset. Such is the will of the Olms, and it shall be done."

"It shall be done." Melura repeated, checking the packages one more time while Ocus stood on guard, minutes passing slowly as he kept standing in the hallway, a few factory workers and guards all walking in front of him but dismissing him, clearly uninterested in him. His teeth gritted, yet his anger was quickly replaced with trepidation: soon, these heathens would learn what their arrogance brought them to.

Finally, as the sun began to lower on the horizon, and the light coming from outside began to change, the moment he had anticipated for so long finally arrived.

"By the will of the Olms," Ocus said out loud, so Melura could hear him. "It's time."

His 'sister' grinned, dropping the red liquid of the vial onto the packages. "By the will of the Olms! Now, let's get-"

When Melura dropped the red liquid on the packages, something unexpecting happened. The chemical reaction to kickstart the explosion, instead of unveiling slowly, to give them the time to leave the area and reach a safety distance, it happened all at once, releasing the explosive power of the boomshrooms all in one go.

Instantly, Ocus and Melura were vaporized by the explosion, and so were almost all the power plant's workers, who were working on the large nearby room and saw one of the walls dropping onto the closest generator before their sight got blinded as well. The electric powers contained within the plant quickly mixed with the destructive blast of the boomshrooms, boosting it and destroying the large building in an instant, killing anyone who was inside it or nearby. As for Captain Ronald and his guards, none of them had the time to realize something was wrong before the blast of the explosion hit them as well, killing them instantly and burying their bodies under the debris, or alternatively, throwing them into the distance.

Even among the people living in the area, the effect was heavily felt, as the ground shook with violence for a full minute as the blast impacted onto their houses and shops, causing untold destruction and carnage, as many would die from it, or from being crushed by one of the plant's debris, or by yet another of the countless consequences the explosion caused. Many more would be wounded and terribly injured by the explosion, and with the emergency services impeded by the destruction of local infrastructure and roads the blast itself had caused, many of them would expire before getting proper medical attention.

As for the survivors, either by luck or by skill, they would be forever scarred, physically or mentally, by the event that had been unleashed upon them, and their lives would be forever changed onto new paths. Even more people, even among those who were too far and protected to suffer the direct effects of the explosion, would find themselves homeless and destitute, the attack on the power plant having destroyed their material possessions and left them with nothing, forcing them to rely on the Kingdom's charity for their immediate sustenance.

Sadly, they wouldn't be the only ones.

As the power plant was destroyed beyond any hope of restoration, more and more explosions happened around the same time as the Order of the Olm's cultist stroke together. All over Newtopia, thunderous explosions went off into the Royal Great Court of Justice, the Newtopia Army Main Warehouse District, the Northmere Army Barracks and other buildings who, for countless reasons, played an important role to the city and the King. Some, like the power plant, went off with a blast, their remains and debris turned into unwitting projectiles that spread all over the surrounding area, causing even more destruction and tragedy. Others got their equilibrium destroyed by the loss of key supports, collapsing onto themselves and crushing anyone who was still alive within their walls, yet sparing the lives of those who lived nearby. And a few buildings that were completely empty, besides the cultists, when the explosions happened, ended up causing no victims at all.

As each explosion set off in coordination with the others, their united blasts affected the whole city, shaking the ground and leading many to fear for an earthquake, causing limited damages to the city (mostly to old buildings and constructions that were already unsafe and in dire need for reparations) but scarring the very soul of the city, with so many inhabitants affected, no matter what their caste position or personal wealth. Many families would be ravaged by the sudden loss of one or more family members, and their enraged relatives would begin to contest the King's authority and the Royal Advisor's administration, lamenting how this could have happened with no one knowing until it was too late. And among the crowd, the Duke's spies would take advantage of the confusion to spread lies and rumors, further exacerbating the situation and using fear to their advantage.

By sheer luck, none of the six humans or any of their friend was close to the explosions when they happened, and thus, all survived the day and witnessed destruction strike Newtopia, as well as the consequences that such tragedy would bring…

(…)

"-stop where you are or-"

"-nerve strike." Amelia's fingers tapped the newt on its bare neck, making him lose consciousness instantly and drop on the ground, Femur and Kettle quickly removing his weapons and searching his armor before moving him onto the formerly empty cabinet, where two of his colleagues were already sleeping. "There, he too shouldn't remember anything when he will wake up."

"I confess, it is quite a power that you have, Amelia." Kettle nodded, looking at the purple energy glowing from the human's fingers. "But why didn't you use it to simply open us a path without having to do so many deviations?"

"We're trying to make ourselves unnoticed, remember?" The samurai girl replied with a wise expression. "And while I can make them not remember seeing us, too many guards knocked out cold at the same time may spell trouble. With this," she poured even more Grog Bog onto the unconscious newts, the drink's smell stanching their clothes, "they will think they passed out drunk. Marcy, Javi, how's going with you?"

"I'm… almost…. Done." Marcy replied, her eyes glowing green as her hands kept moving at super-speed, the safe's mechanism cracking and clicking before suddenly open with a bang, revealing its content to the privy eyes of the Night Guard rangers. "There! The code was 8597."

"Did you just try every possible combination until you found the right one?" Maddie asked with an estranged expression, while Javi went on to examine the contents, Marcy simply smiling at her.

"Advantages of having a super-intellect… and superpowers to boost it so the whole world looks like slow motion in comparison." The dark-haired girl explained. "There were only four numerical options, so ten thousand possible combinations. I just had to check each one of them until I found the right one, and we can now close it again without leaving traces of our doing!"

"Guys, I think we hit the jackpot!" Javi exclaimed, pointing at the documents he was now holding on his hands. "Check this out, it's a list of all the private armies the Duke and his cronies had been setting up, with numbers of how many soldiers each has! And the total is three time the number of Army, Night Guard and Royal guard sum together!"

"Looks like the Duke's faction is going for quantity over quality." Marcy nodded, taking some of the paper and beginning to skim through them, Kettle and Maddie imitating her. "And look, this is an inventory of all weapons they've been gathering, seems like they started over five years ago!"

"This is proof they had been planning for something like this for a long time, ignoring the King's law and accumulating soldiers and weapons, much more they could ever need for their own security!" Javi hissed. "To see such treason with my own eyes… had Captain Ernst seen this, I know he would have never left these criminals unpunished!"

"And they won't!" Kettle nodded, taking out as many papers she could grab with one hand and folding them together, before putting them in her bag. "Once we bring them to lady Olivia, she can use them to expose the Duke and his followers to the Council!"

"Ten out of ten, this is a great result!" Marcy nodded as she, Javi and Maddie kept taking all valuable papers they could carry and restore the room to its previous appearance, while Femur and Amelia kept watch and Kettle secured the sleeping guards. "Come on, now we only need to get out of here before-"

BOOOOOM!

A loud bang resounded from the outside, and as the ground started trembling under their feet, Maddie and Amelia grabbed Marcy while Kettle fell onto Javi, the room they had just finished fixing now messed up again, while the newts who they had 'neutralized' kept snoring, unaware of what was happening around them.

A few seconds later, the ground stopped shaking, and yet, new sounds began to come from the outside, of people rushing in alert and shouting orders at full lungs. Instantly, the five Night Guard rangers (and one samurai who had tagged along for the adventure) rushed outside, running as fast as they could on the empty corridor, using their last drops of Maddie's 'Light feet' spell to masks their own presence once more as they hurried to reach a new safe regroup area.

Only after they stopped running, resting on the side of one of the mansion's main structures, could they finally realize what had happened.

A large column of smoke and fire rose into the horizon, the newt soldiers who had been gathered into the courtyard moving frantically from one side to another as the officer among their ranks shouted to restore orders, a group of soldiers already leaving the mansion's ground from one gate situated on the opposite end from where Marcy and her companions were hiding.

"What-what's going on?" Amelia asked, looking at the smoking column with wide eyes.

"That… comes in direction of the castle!" Kettle gasped.

"And seems like it wasn't the only one," Javi pointed with his eyes at other smoke columns in the distance, looking smaller than the first one due to the relative distance. "But how…"

"The Order." Marcy realized, as flashbacks of the attack on Newtopia University and the destruction of the Night Guard's HQ played in front of her eyes, the images of so many people killed in the explosions crowding in her mind as she felt her throat become hoarse, tears beginning to run down her checks.

It happened again. Without any of them even realizing it, the Order has snuck right through their defenses and had struck new blows at the city. Had they attacked the Castle this time? Were her friends okay? Perhaps they had been involved with one of the explosions, and they were hurt or-

No, that can't be true, the dark-haired girl shook her head in denial. There's no way Anne, Sash or anyone else could have been- they were alive! They had to be!

"We need to get out of here, fast!" Maddie spoke, her voice quickly returning to her usual tone. "We're in luck: while they're too busy wondering what happened, their security around the mansion's border should be disorganized, and we will be able to leave easier."

Marcy didn't reply, simply following her friend and magic teacher, Javi and Kettle flanking her with their sword and crossbow ready to use, Femur glancing at the tall smoke columns with eyes filled with worry while Amelia was in the rearguard, ready to take down any would-be struggler who may end up finding them on their way out of this place.

Their mission had been a total success: not only had they managed to gain access to the mansion undetected, but they had also been able to find enough material proof to show to the Council, and they'd taken it with them with no one the wiser of their presence.

And yet, as the group finally left the premises of the Duke's mansion and moved to return to the castle, no one among them felt in the mood to celebrate.

(…)

Sitting in her office, with her hands through her hair and her forehead pressed on her own desk, the Royal Advisor lady Olivia felt like this day had suddenly turned into the worst possible day of her whole life. An empty glass stood to her side, and while the temptation was strong, she didn't summon the castle's servant to ask for a refill. Not only were her political skills needed at this point, but sure as frog, she wouldn't allow herself to be seen drunk by a group of children.

In front of her sat General Yunan, the Newtopia Army officer looking down with a seething expression, her hand movement betraying her uneasiness. Yet, her face also looked tired, like the events of today had worn down her usual exuberance. She too, like lady Olivia, had seen the latest reports on the damage… and the loss of lives.

"Royal Advisor," one of the guards knocked on the door, "they're here."

"Let them in."

The guard nodded, opening the door and standing at attention, as the six humans, alongside their families and companions rushed inside. Each one of them sharing the same wary expressions and nervous looks.

"Lady Olivia, we have heard." Miss Sundew nodded.

"Allow me to give you my dearest condolences for today's events." Hop Pop immediately began to say. "While I can't grasp how much pain it may have caused-"

"How could this have happen?!" Marcy wept, barely able to keep herself together.

"Sit down please and keep your voices low." The Royal Advisor gestured to a few empty chairs and one bench. "Today was stressful already, the last thing I need is your voices making the headache I'm already having worse."

Nods were exchanged, Anne sitting on the bench, holding Polly in her arms, Sprig sitting to her right while Ivy was on her left, Sasha leaning toward the wall and crossing her arms, Jacob and Amelia trying to comfort each other, James looking outside of the window with a wary expression, Hop Pop and Felicia sitting in front of lady Olivia, Marcy moving next to Yunan, Maddie standing right behind her.

"Today at sunset, the Order of the Olms make a new move against our beloved city." The Royal Advisor began to explain. "From what we've been able to piece together so far, it seems they had been able to sneak powerful explosives inside various important location, destroying them completely and causing immeasurable damage to Newtopia… as well as taking many lives of our citizens."

"These fanatics weren't above blowing themselves up, just to hurt us," Yunan hissed. "Had we been able to capture one of them, I'd questioned them personally."

"Many of the buildings destroyed had great importance for us, either militarily or politically." Lady Olivia continued, "For example, the city's power plant: with its destruction, and no idea how to rebuild its machineries, we'll have to do without electric energy from now on."

"No more electricity?!" Marcy, Sasha and Anne gasped at the same time.

"Indeed. But… that's not the worst part."

The humans shuddered, hearing those words leave the Royal Advisor's lips. Among so much destruction and carnage, what could be worse than that?

"The Council was in session when the explosion struck," Yunan continued, guessing what everyone was thinking. "And the explosion was the final push needed for Duke Pyrforian and his lackeys to sway many members to their side. There was an emergency vote, and-"

"The Militia Act passed." Lady Olivia summarized. "From now on, those noble's private armies are perfectly legal and authorized to operate in Newtopia and the surrounding regions, with a full clearance and independent command of their own. And thanks to their 'hasty' response when the explosion struck, they're already quite popular among the population, while many are questioning the competence of the real Army."

"The worst thing is, we have nothing to give them but excuses to their criticism." The young general replied, "We knew something like this could happen, we were the ones tasked with protecting those places… and yet, not only they'd managed to move under our nose without us noticing, but they caught us with our tails down!"

"So, I guess those proofs we had brought… it won't matter anymore, right?" Maddie asked, lady Olivia shaking her head.

"Not unless we want to give them even more credit for having done the 'right thing' in the eyes of many. Even if it was illegal at the time."

"I guess that's one more hint they ARE working in coordination with the Order." James sighed. "Their quick response hints they knew something like this would happen."

"But now it's going to be even harder to prove that!" Yunan shouted before apologizing. "I'm sorry, it's just… I can't bear the idea that now we'll have to work with them."

"How-how did Headmaster Albert or King Andrias take today's events?" Amelia asked.

"The headmaster went to Newtopia University, grumbling about needing 'some time with an old friend'. As for the King, he retreated to his quarters as soon as the vote's outcome was clear, and he hadn't left since. My best hope is that he's planning a countermove. After all, our king is wise, experienced, a master of politics-"

(…)

"-YOU USELESS WASTE OF OXYGEN!" The Core shouted, Andrias yelping in pain as his master punished him more and more for the news he had brought them. "YOU COMPLETE MORON, YOU ARE NOT A KING BUT A KNAVE! How could you have allowed this to happen?!"

"M-master, please," the large newt tried to speak, tears of pain rushing down his cheek. "True, this was… unexpected, but-"

"Unexpected? UNEXPECTED?!" The Core roared once more, zapping Andrias again and again and making him yelp in pain, venting their unrestrained anger onto him. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MANY SETBACKS THE DESTRUCTION OF TODAY HAD CAUSED! Even if we had destroyed it ourselves once the Box was safely in our hands, until then the power plant had been a priceless resource in our control! Not only that, but you've also allowed those pesky nobles to grow strong and arrogant enough to question your rule! OUR rule! OUR DESTINY! And now you can't even crush them into blood since your useless incompetency had allowed them to raise an army of their own!"

"It won't matter in the end!" Andrias whelped, struggling to find the right words that could subside his master's anger. "Once the Gems are fully recharged and the Box is back in our hands, even if they use their army to revolt, they won't be able to stop us! A Frobot Army could easily-"

"Do you seriously think they'll wait while you try to fix up your messes?!" More and more voices of the Core joined the shouting against him. "You have no idea when our factories will be restored, and until then, your own Army is all that's standing between you and the complete destruction of everything we had accomplished so far, all thanks to your little mercenary who wasn't loyal to you at all, just like the Betrayer!"

Andrias grimaced, as the Core once again referenced Leif, the one frog he had given his heart to… and who in return, had squished it dry and broke it, leaving the last surviving member of the House of Leviathan a shell of his former self. Erst… he would never be her, even after her betrayal: the former Night Guard captain was a subject at best, and a pawn to use and discharge at worst.

And yet… his betrayal did cause new pain to the King.

Perhaps the nobles had found out the truth about the Order, and willingly offered him a much bigger sum than the one Andrias promised him? That could explain why the sudden switch of alliances, and why the Order had been supporting the nobles' political agenda. Or perhaps, the whole 'mercenary' thing had been an act, and former Captain Ernst had an agenda of its own? Perhaps the founder of the Order of the Olms believed in their cause?

In any case, it didn't' matter why Ernst had decided to turn against him: what mattered now was how he was going to deal with him. He had protected him, passed him information, and personally used his position to delay and weaken the effort, both from the Night Guard and the Newtopia Army, to defeat the Order. Now, however?

If the Order wasn't under control anymore, then it was useless, and useless things had no place in the Core's vision. Not only that, if Ernst couldn't be trusted anymore, the secrets he knew were reason enough to make sure he couldn't squeal them to anyone else.

Perhaps I could use it to further bond with lady Marcy, the king mused for a brief second, she had been quite distraught after the destruction of the Night Guard's base, and she had grown quite close with Ernst' latest batch of recruits. Moreover, if they were to find out the real identity behind Goldmask, it would be quite an emotional turmoil for me to take advantage of…

Ernst had betrayed him, and his betrayal had put everything that Andrias had planned into jeopardy

(…)

What have I done? The newt that was behind the disguise of Goldmask lamented in his head, struggling to keep his composure even after the full report on the disaster reached him, what have I done?

"It seems like none of them was paying attention when I explained how the activation procedure worked, dear leader," Dark Armor continued, seemingly unaware of the turmoil of his boss. "They blew themselves up, all of them. On the upside, this means none of them fell into the hands of the Army, and thus, they won't be able to betray our secrets."

"Our leader Goldmask," another cultist joined in, "our fallen brothers and sisters are now martyrs for our cause. Their sacrifice won't be in vain: already among the streets everyone, from the street rats to the nobles, everyone knows it was our hand that managed to strike Newtopia and humiliate the king. No more anyone would dare disrespect our order, nor be willing to betray us after witnessing the full power of our faith. Soon enough, the order shall fall, and the Will of the Olms will become truth!"

There is no Will of the Olms, you idiot! Ernst wanted to scream, to yell, to reprimand his over-zealot underlings, it was all garbage that I've made up when I first created this fake cult, mixing together old tales for tadpoles and stuff that conspiracy enthusiasts like to blabber about!

Yet, he knew that doing so would destroy his credibility among his own followers, so he did what he did best, put on his best facade of authority and all-knowing wisdom and answered.

"I know, and I'll never forget what our fallen companions have done for us," because if they hadn't killed themselves by accident, I would with my bare hands, for causing this mess, "however I am worried about the reaction of the King and his soldiers. While humiliated, the Royal Army is not defeated yet. And those six 'hummuses' that the king made knights, have proved themselves to be quite resolute and skillful."

"They're skillful, but they're only six, master," Dark Armor replied, "there is no need to worry about them, they can be neutralized without need to target them directly. And now that the nobles have managed to pass their Militia Act, they have the military strength to counter whatever the king may cook up. This gives us a golden chance to move further with our plans… or perhaps even to leave the city if that's deemed necessary."

"Leave the city?" The other cultist gasped, like they had been offended by the mere idea. "In our moment of greatest triumph?"

"Our great leader is right: victory had smiled on us today, but it won't be long before its fruits will rotten in our hands. With the nobles gearing up against the king, and the Royal Army preparing itself for the inevitable showdown, if we were to stay further into the city we'd risk to become nothing more than another pawn in the nobles' plans… or perhaps, if our alliance with them goes public, and the king manages to restore order within the walls, we will become their next priority immediately after the Duke's head had been put on a pike. And I doubt either the nobles or the king would care about us needing still some time to fulfill our purposes."

Ernst gritted his teeth, as Dark Armor's words re-awakened bad memories in his brains, rumors he had heard when he was barley a cadet, and he had just lived through his initiation among the Night Guard rangers. Stories about horrific and terrible punishment the King and his ancestors used to lay down on those poor unfortunate souls guilty of such heinous crimes that no other punishment would fit.

Crimes such as treason.

Struggling to keep his panic under control, the former Night Guard captain pondered about the situation and the options available, including the one his own underling had mentioned a few seconds ago. To leave Newtopia would be risky, especially since the absence of the Order's members who would follow him would be noticed without doubt, and if words got out that the Order had left, it would be like write down on a large paper a list with all the Order's members and their public names, and hang it in one of the city's largest plazas so everyone could read it.

That said, with the attacks his own disciples carried onto the city, chaos was looming into the horizon. Now that the nobles had their own army, their ego would surely grow, and with it, their demands. And King Andrias would either bow to them, effectively accepting to be nothing more than a puppet in their hands… or he would refuse, and the situation would thus escalate further.

And Ernst knew, from his long career into the Night Guard, that when two armed factions faced each other, the chances of conflict erupting were all-time high.

Perhaps, if we could time out our redeployment and evacuation, moving away first crucial materials and resources and transferring those among us whose absence won't be noticed immediately, the newt behind the golden mask thought about it, and we proceed with the rest as soon as the situation allow us to pull out- it could be done, so even if something bad happens to Newtopia, I'll be safe!

Besides, there was one place where he and the remaining members of the Order could move, far and hard to reach enough to be basically inaccessible, and whose geography made it a natural fortress…