The Games Villains Play (The Academy Trilogy)

by Joshua DeBenedetto

  Donny shook Michael’s hand, as Jay and his other friend arrived at the table. Donny could see that the girl with Jay had the same boundless energy that Jay was trying desperately to suppress, so he knew she had to be a Hermes. He stood up to introduce himself to her. “Hi, I’m Donny.”

  “Zahrah. It’s nice to meet you Donny.”

  “Likewise.” Donny sat back down and turned to his brother, “so I see your appetite has grown.”

  Donny’s joke was lost on Jay, who could not contain his curiosity any longer. “Donny, it’s great to see you but, what are you doing here?”

  “I came to train and become a hero, like you,” Donny said matter-of-factly. He knew what Jay meant, but he was not sure where to start, so he would let Jay decide that.

  “I mean, how did you get in? You shouldn’t even be tested for another year, and…are you a Prometheus too?” Jay was clearly struggling to hold back his excitement.

  “Ok, I suppose I should start from the beginning,” Donny began. “Shortly after you left for the Academy, they began watching me. I think they wanted to see if I had an ability like you. I discovered them tailing me purely by accident. I got a little bored in math class, so I decided to see if I could visualize myself doing one thing, like I did that day when they were testing you, but still think about other things underneath. I visualized myself getting up and flying laps around the room, while I tried to solve an equation in my head. Out of the corner of my eye I saw someone look in through the classroom window from the outside, and I turned quickly to see a guy looking startled around the ceiling of the classroom, then down at me before leaving the window. I ran a few tests to catch them following me after that. They quickly got wise to my trick, but by then I knew they were watching me. Anyways, they either got better at hiding, or stopped watching me altogether, because I lost track of them after a few months. Then a few days ago, they showed up at the house, saying they wanted me to come to the Academy to train as a hero.” Donny could see Jay was waiting to hear the reason, so he came out with it. “No, I am not a Prometheus. Nor, as you can surely see, am I a Titan or a Hermes. They said they would like me here because of my ‘superior strategic ability and impressive intellect’. In other words, I will be trained as a hero, even though I don’t have a power.”

  “That’s odd,” Michael responded, “I’ve never heard of them taking someone before who didn’t have a power.”

  “Yeah, there’s an alternative motive in there somewhere. I haven’t quite figured out what it is yet, but I figure if it allows me into the Academy, I’ll go along with it for now.”

  Jay did not like the sound of this, but he knew Donny was a bright kid, and Donny’s calm attitude towards the whole situation kept Jay calm as well.

  Michael, reading Jay’s discomfort, changed the subject. “So what classes are you taking? Usually the classes are specific to the ability; what classes are they having you take since you don’t have one?”

  “It’s still undecided,” Donny responded, “they said they will lift the basic requirements and let me pick out classes. I guess that typically doesn’t happen for the first few years, but since those years are devoted to developing the core abilities, I guess I’m just skipping over that part. The only requirement I still need to take is the introduction to defensive tactics class.”

  “Do you know what you're going to take as your other classes?” Michael asked.

  “Not yet, they just gave me a book with the classes and their descriptions listed. I haven’t looked through it very much yet. I guess they just gave me the complete listing, because flipping through it I noticed it had the ability specific classes listed too. Anyway, I should really be going, I need to get back to my dormitory room for a meeting pretty soon. I guess I’ll see you all around then.”

  Jay had the feeling that it was Donny who was now changing the subject, but he let it go for the moment. “See you around Donny,” he said with a smile as his brother cleared his place and left the cafeteria. Jay was excited to be able to see his brother again, but he could not shake the memory of the last time he had seen Donny, badly beaten by a fight with a boy who at the time seemed like a Titan, as well as the dread that history may repeat itself.

  “COME IN LIEUTENANT, what brings you to my office this fine morning.”

  “Captain Williams, I hate to say it, but I was right, it was a mistake to allow the brother to choose his own classes.”

  “Is that a fact? Well, this is a predicament, as I’ve already approved the schedule.”

  “What? Did you read what he had chosen?”

  “Of course I read it, he has signed up for Introduction to Defensive Tactics, Advanced Mind Distortion, and Advanced Strategic Leadership. I think it is a well-rounded schedule, with two defense based classes, and one offensive.”

  “Well rounded? There is no way the boy can keep up with that course load. He has no experience whatsoever, and who in their right mind would follow someone into battle that realistically is not even old enough to be in this school yet?”

  “His brother would follow him into battle, and we both know what he is capable of. And he does have some experience with mind distortion already – you have read the reports of our first few encounter with him a year ago. When we collected the older brother, he tricked a full grown mind reader into running himself ragged. Looks to me like the boy is a natural.”

  “As I am sure you recall, this full grown mind reader you speak of was recently demoted due to loss of control of his abilities. But I think there is something else going on here. Why do you really want this boy in such a tough spot?”

  “You are my colleague and my friend, but I am also your superior. You are in no position to accuse me of anything, much less inquire into my motives. Nevertheless, you have clearance for this level of information, so I will tell you. What is our purpose at this school?”

  “To train the next generation of heroes.”

  “Stop playing games with me, what is our real purpose?”

  “To keep power in the proper hands, Captain.”

  “That is correct, and the older brother could potentially become a threat to that power. We took the younger one as a distraction for the older, as well as for leverage should things get out of hand. That kid, by signing up for classes way out of his league, is doing our work for us, because it will keep the older one watching his brother, instead of watching us.”

  “Permission to speak freely sir.”

  “Permission granted.”

  “I think this plan is quite possibly the worst idea I have ever heard.”

  “If that is truly the case Lieutenant, I look forward to your reaction should I ever need to implement plan B.”

  DONNY HAD A rough first day of classes. Both of his upper level classes began with the professor convinced that Donny had accidently wandered into the wrong room, and tried to direct him to the first year Prometheus classrooms. He understood why they thought he was a Prometheus; Titans and Hermes were easy to pick out of a crowd, while Prometheus could look like just about anyone. He also understood why they thought he was not supposed to be there, as he was by far the youngest one there. The strategic leadership class especially was filled with people who were much older than him, as he was the only student in the class who was not on his final year.

  Once the classes began he was not much better off, as most of the things said in class he did not understand. Terms were thrown about casually that Donny had never heard before, but he did not want to ask what they meant as he knew he would be interrupting the class. He wrote a long list of all the terms he did not know in order to look them up later.

  Once he arrived back at the dorm room, he really did not feel much better. He was uncomfortable in the room he was placed into. Being neither Prometheus, Titan, nor Hermes, he was placed into the room that had the most space for a spare resident, and that was with the Titans. He was the shortest one there, and by far the weakest. He had been beginning to feel good about his strength t
he previous year, because he was strong compared to most of the kids at his old school. Here at the Academy, however, he was not even close.

  Donny was glad to find that the Titans, despite being an intimidating lot, were very friendly. More than once an older student would make a snide remark about Donny’s size while passing in the halls, and immediately find themself confronted by a Titan, or sometimes a couple of Titans, that would warn the passerby to watch their tongue. If the older student was feeling confident he would make a challenging remark right back at the first year Titan, but all the Titan would need to say is that this is the brother of Decathlon, and the other student would inevitably back down. Donny was amazed at the power his brother had, not just physically, but with the other students as well. There seemed to be three types of people in regards to how they reacted to his brother’s name. Either they knew him, and supported him as a heroic friend; or they did not know him, and regarded him like a legend; or they feared him, as if he were some great monster who could smite them out of existence at any moment. Most of the people Donny met fell into the second category.

  Being the brother of a legend had its benefits and its hardships. As can be seen, one benefit was that Donny quickly became off limits to ridicule, despite his youth and lack of ability. Donny had expected to face tormentors at the school and was ready for it, but it was a pleasant surprise to find he was ready for a tribulation that would not take place. Donny would have gladly accepted the ridicule, however, if it meant he would not be held in his brother’s shadow. Donny was not one to lack confidence, and despite his not having an ability, he relished the opportunity to prove he could keep up and thrive at the Academy. Now that he was here, he felt like all he did right was brushed off with comments such as “well he is Decathlon’s brother”, and worse than that was when he did something incorrectly, and was held as a contrast; “that’s alright, not everyone is as powerful as your brother.”

  The only one of his professors that did not compare everything Donny did to what his brother was capable of was actually the only one of his professors who previously had Jay in class, his Introduction to Defensive Tactics teacher. Donny was constantly staying after all his classes in order to ask additional questions, trying desperately to keep up with his fellow students, and one day he decided to question his professor about why he was different in regards to his view of Jay. Once the other students had left, he approached the teacher’s desk, as he often had before.

  “Sir?”

  “Yes, Donny, what can I help you with today?”

  “Before we get to the class material, I have a slightly unrelated topic that I am curious about. My other teachers are constantly comparing me to my brother Jay… I mean, Decathlon… and I was just curious, why don’t you?”

  The professor’s welcoming smile faded, and for a moment it looked like he would not be responding to Donny at all. Finally he forced a smile back onto his face and responded. “You and your brother are two different people, it would not be fair to either of you for me to make comparisons.”

  Donny could see this was not the whole truth, so he decided to press his luck. “How would it be unfair? I realize he has every power and I have none, but couldn’t that be used as an encouragement for me to excel?”

  “Sure, I suppose I could try to push you to be more like him, except abilities like his are not things that can be taught, or gained through hard work. You either have it or you do not.”

  “But, sir, how do you know I don’t? My brother didn’t develop his first ability until he was more than a year older than I am now, so isn’t it possible I could end up just like him?”

  “I suppose it is possible for you to develop abilities, but you are not here because of your physical abilities, you are here because of your mental ability.”

  “Then why do my other professors compare me to him, if it is known that I am not supposed to be similar to him?”

  “They never had your brother, so they do not even really know him.”

  Donny could see in his professor’s face that he did not mean for that to come out the way it did. He could see the professor was uncomfortable with the conversation now and would say no more on the topic, but Donny did not need him to say any more. His professor did not compare Donny to his brother because he had Jay in class, and did not see a legend in him at all. Donny did not want to end his discussion on this note, as he knew it would hang in his professor’s mind, so he decided to change the topic. “Thank you professor, I guess that makes sense. Now about the class material, I was wondering if you could help me with the technique we learned today to move a Titan off balance…”

  CHAPTER 2

  DONNY DID NOT want to be a burden on his brother. He never asked Jay for help with classes, nor did he make any attempts to join Jay when Jay was with friends. Instead it was Jay who took the initiative, and would ask Donny to join their table when they happened to be at the dining hall at the same time. It was also Jay who insisted on getting together with Donny a few times a week to go over material from classes, and to talk about life at the Academy in general. It was good for the both of them, because it gave Donny a chance to push himself, and it allowed Jay to practice maneuvers against someone whose ability he could not use against them. Jay would often bring friends with him, mostly Michael and Zahrah (or as they were generally known, Snake and Sapphire), so Jay’s speed and reading ability would typically stay strong during their meetings.

  Donny and Jay were caught in a vicious cycle in regards to their feelings towards Donny’s admittance to the school. Jay was worried about Donny, especially with the pictures from Donny’s head constantly coming into Jay’s mind whenever they met. He could see almost first hand what Donny was facing in his classes and outside of them. Donny, on the other hand, was alright with the difficulty of his classes, but just wanted Jay to be able to relax, and could see on Jay’s face whenever they met that he was clearly worried about Donny. It kept up like this every time they met, where Jay would see what Donny was going through and get concerned, and Donny would see Jay’s concerned face and get distressed over his inability to hide his thoughts from his brother. Donny was determined to succeed in his Advanced Mind Distortion class, if only to use those techniques to distort his mind and fool his brother into thinking he was doing well.

  Donny met with Jay the afternoon just after Donny had talked with his Introduction to Defensive Tactics professor about Jay, and Donny decided to ask his brother about it, partly because he wanted more information, and partly because he could not get it off his mind, and so his brother was sure to see it soon enough anyways. “Jay, how did you do in Introduction to Defensive Tactics last year?”

  “Why, are you having trouble in that class?” Jay asked seriously, but when he saw that Donny was asking genuinely out of interest in how Jay had done, his attitude lightened. “Honestly, it was both my best and my worst class.”

  “What do you mean?” Donny asked.

  “Well, it was in that class that I realized I was a Hermes and a Titan, instead of just a Prometheus. In that sense, it was my best class. On the other hand though, I had a very hard time remembering all the rules for when to use which tactics. As you’ve heard, I never did get down the fact that a Hermes shouldn’t jump” Jay joked, referring to his accident during the previous year’s simulation games. Jay had since healed, and was now back to full capacity without any permanent effects evident.

  “So the active parts you did well on, but the written parts you had trouble,” Donny summarized.

  “Yeah, that’s a fairly broad way of describing it. Honestly, I almost feel like he went easy on me for my last few exams. I just barely finished them all before the start of the new year,” Jay joked, looking over at Michael and Zahrah, who had just walked in and were already nodding in confirmation.

  Donny was glad for their entrance, because it would mean Jay would be ignoring the pictures from Donny’s head for a few moments, and Donny did not want his brother to pay attention
to his thoughts right then. Jay had said exactly what Donny was wondering, that his professor had gone easy on him for the last few exams. From what Donny could tell, the professor did not want to pass Jay on those exams. Then why did he?

  Donny pushed the thoughts from his mind for the time being, and focused on stretching before their work out. Before they started however, Jay turned to Donny with a question of his own. “So Donny, when are you going to start forming your simulation team?”

  Donny was not completely sure what Jay was talking about. The simulation games aren’t until the end of the year, and try outs are still a few weeks off. Donny thought to himself. The thoughts did not remain to himself however, and Jay soon answered as if Donny had said them out loud. “Oh no, I’m sorry Donny, I guess the others never told you. Typically the students in the Advanced Strategic Leadership class begin forming their teams early in the year, long before try outs. They make offers to those players that they know they want for their team before then, and the try outs are just for them to fill their final few spots.”

  I’ve still got time, Donny thought, if Jay hasn’t received his offers yet, the others couldn’t have started.

  “Actually, I’ve already received offers from everyone else in your class,” Jay responded, once again answering thoughts that were never asked.

  “But you’re a legend here, of course they will ask you first,” Donny reasoned, hoping he was not really that far behind.

  “No, your brother’s right Donny, I’ve received a few offers as well,” Zahrah chimed in.

  “Well I haven’t,” Michael added with a shrug and a face that said ‘typical’.

  “Ok then, Michael, I hereby offer you a spot on my simulation games team,” Donny said with a smile.

  “Well typically the offer is thought over for a while, but what the heck, I accept!” Michael responded, reaching out and shaking Donny’s hand.