The Games Villains Play (The Academy Trilogy)

by Joshua DeBenedetto

  The mood loosened slightly, and determination could be seen setting in. Whatever they faced on the other side of that door, his team was ready.

  Click

  The door unlocked, and Donny’s team flooded through, with Donny and Duke at the head of the group. The environment this time was a rainforest, with large trees and vines placed thickly throughout. Donny was amazed at how thoroughly the school was able to change the scenery within the arena, but he could not stop to marvel now. Before even reaching the table, he called out to those behind him.

  “Gather up fist sized rocks and strong vines, and anything else that could be useful from the landscape.”

  He reached the table and saw no ropes, no guns, no shovels, no anything. The table itself was even made of rock, and half buried in the ground to prevent itself from being moved. Ok, all the supplies will need to come from the landscape.

  All that could be found on the rock table were the directions for the game, written on a strip of tree bark. It was to be a capture situation, where they each had an orb that they needed to defend from the other team. They could not touch their own orb, and the moment that one team successfully touched the orb of the other team, the game would be over. With the instructions came a map with the location of their own orb. Donny was hesitant to believe the map, as they had received a false one during their previous game. Nevertheless, the location marked was close to their starting door, so it would not harm them to look into the situation.

  Donny immediately broke the team up into groups, the first being a scouting party of Hermes to find the location of the orange team’s orb, the second being a group of the more clever members to see what sort of traps they could build to immobilize the enemy, and the third being those who would wait by the orb, or in sight of the orb, and defend their position. Group one was sent out immediately, and groups two and three went with Donny to check the location.

  Arriving at the point designated on Donny’s map, he was surprised to find that the map was true. A short distance down the outer wall to the west from their starting door a small ledge had been connected high up on the outer wall, and sitting on that ledge was their orb. Donny sent out group two to begin their scouting, and told team three to find positions where they could see what was going on around, and be able to move quickly when the need arose. Donny stayed with the guards at first to scout out the area.

  The ledge was high up on the wall, too high for anyone here to jump. A tree was positioned close by, with a large branch stretching out towards the orb. If someone were to climb out onto that branch they could easily reach out and touch the orb. Donny knew it would strengthen their defenses considerably if he could get rid of that branch. Having no cutting materials, he had to try brute force.

  “Bring me a vine. Lenny, throw the vine over the end of that branch up there.”

  The vine proved harder to throw than the ropes had been, but after tying it to a nearby rock, Lenny looped it over the high branch.

  “Now grab both ends of the vine and pull until that branch breaks off.”

  Lenny pulled, and the vine bent easily at first. As the bend increased, it began moving less and less. Lenny pulled with all his might, but even he could not break the branch.

  “All Titans, grab hold of the vine, help Lenny break that branch.”

  All the Titans in the guard group came over and took a piece of the vine. They all pulled, and the branch bent a little further, but still it would not break. It was clear to Donny that this tree had been made differently than the rest, and the school had no intention of it being broken. After a few minutes of straining to break the branch, Donny called them off.

  “Never mind the branch, back to your positions.”

  If he could not break the branch, he would have to stop the orange team from getting to the tree. At the base there were numerous rocks which could be used as footholds to get up into the trees branches. He would need to do something to those rocks.

  While Donny pondered ways to get rid of those rocks, some from the second group returned. One of them carried a long, flat, curved rock.

  “I found us a shovel! We can use this to dig a hole, then cover it with something loosely for them to fall into when they come for our orb.”

  “Great plan, get a Titan to dig up those rocks at the base of that tree. Dig a hole there and cover it again with those rocks. They will try to use them to get into this tree.”

  They set to work with their digging, and Donny continued looking for other ways to get into their tree. One tree stood nearby, just close enough that a solid jump or swing from a vine could bring someone from that tree into the one they wished to block. Donny sent some people to go work on that angle, and to his relief those branches proved far easier to break.

  “Orange spies! North along the wall!”

  Donny turned just in time to see two Hermes from the orange team run off.

  “Shall we chase them?”

  “No,” Donny responded, “We don’t want them leading us into a trap. Did they see the digging by the tree?”

  “Negative,” replied one of the Prometheus who had been near to the spot where the Hermes appeared, “they saw the orb, and their focus did not move further than the branch reaching towards it.”

  “Good, we’ll keep digging here, but just in case we need a second trap in case they get wise to this one.”

  Before Donny could think of a second trap to implement, a few of the scouts from the first group returned. “Napoleon, we’ve located their orb, it’s along the wall just west of their door.”

  “Is it high up like ours.”

  The Hermes looked up at the orb in surprise. “No, theirs is sitting on a lower platform. Actually it’s quite the opposite, it is against the wall in a clearing. There aren’t any trees around.”

  “Ok, then we don’t need to climb trees, but we also can’t use them to attack from above.” Donny looked around until he caught sight of Duke, who was tying vines together into some sort of net. “Duke! You take charge of the defenses, I’m going to join the offensive.”

  Duke nodded, and Donny began to go forward with the Hermes. They ran out into the forest in the direction of the enemy’s orb, but before long something caught Donny’s eye. He saw a movement far off through the trees, but when he turned to look again, he saw nothing.

  “Wait up,” Donny said quietly to his Hermes guides. He led them around in the direction of the motion, and when they got a little closer, Donny discovered what it was. The motion had been a group of Hermes running towards the Jade defenses, with a larger group behind. Upon seeing the larger group he realized there was a way of getting up to the orb that he had overlooked.

  “They made ladders! I need to go back and organize the defenses. Most of their team appears to be on the offensive, meaning their defenses are weak. Run forward to the other scouts, and form an offensive. Get to their orb before they can get to ours!”

  The Hermes ran forward into the forest, and Donny ran back as fast as he could. He would easily beat the large group there, but the Hermes who had passed were likely there already.

  When Donny got back into view of the Jade team’s defenses, he saw that the Hermes had already been stopped. Duke stepped forward with a smile to greet Donny.

  “Well that worked out well! They fell right into all our traps, we have two Hermes stuck in the hole, two more in nets, and one tied to a tree.”

  Donny was not as happy to hear this news as Duke was to tell it. “Is that all our traps? Do we have any more ready?”

  Duke’s smile faded. “No, they triggered all the ones we had set up, we’ll get right to work prepping some more.”

  “There isn’t time, the Hermes were sent forward specifically to set off our traps and make way for a larger group. And they’re bringing ladders.”

  Immediately Donny’s worries were passed along to Duke. The two of them spread out, calling commands to be ready for a strong offensive, and to find ways to destroy the coming ladders. Do
nny had seen that they made three of them, so he called his three strongest Titans over to himself.

  “You three, hide a little ways out. When they pass with the ladders, each take one and smash it in any way you can.”

  Duke had organized groups to set out trip wires between trees. As they did not have wire, the vines were used instead, which were clearly visible. This would only slow the enemy down slightly. After a few trip vines were set, a roar was heard in the nearby woods. The roar was soon met by the sight of the orange group charging forward. Out in front were a few Titans guarding a fully intact ladder; it was clear that the Titan sent to destroy it had failed. Behind the charging group Donny could see his Titan trio, Lenny with ladder shards still clenched in his fists as he wrestled with another Titan, and one of the others were fending off three using the rock shovel that he had apparently brought with him. The third Titan was pinned down. Donny looked about for the third ladder, and quickly caught sight of it. It had been broken in two, most likely from a blow by the rock shovel. It would be ineffective as two pieces.

  “Take out that ladder!” Donny called, as two jade members swung down from trees, to intercept the ladder. The Titan guards caught them and threw them away easily, and the ladder continued. Donny looked around frantically for some way to stop them, but to his distress the ladder reached the wall, and was placed under the orb.

  “Attack! Everyone after that ladder!” Donny hollered. He felt almost mute compared to the roar around him, but his team heard regardless, and the attack began. They pushed against the guarding Titans who had made a semicircle around the ladder, while an orange team Prometheus began to climb. For a moment Donny feared that all was lost, but then an orange team Titan was lifted off his feet, and pushed back into the ladder. The force was enough, and the ladder snapped under the weight, with the Prometheus falling down on the group wrestling below him.

  “Plan B!” Someone called out from the orange team. Donny searched around to figure out what plan B was, but it appeared that everyone was merely wrestling with each other now. The orange team made no attempt to move anywhere, but were staying right where they were, fighting with whatever jade member was close by.

  Something’s not right, Donny thought. He looked around at the orange members. There were those who had carried the ladders, those who were guarding them, the Hermes who had set off the traps, and there was the Prometheus who had called out for plan B…but it was not their leader. Donny realized that the head of the orange team was missing, when he was certain he had seen him in the group earlier.

  Donny searched about, until he realized that the ladder which had been broken in two had served a purpose after all. One half was placed into the hole at the base of the tree, allowing the Hermes to get out, and the other was leaning up against the tree itself. Donny looked up at the branch, and to his horror he found the orange leader, already three fourths of the way to the orb, almost in reach.

  Donny knew he could not catch him in time. He was close to despair, when he noticed that the vine which they had looped over the branch earlier was still hanging down. Without thinking, Donny grabbed the vines and pulled hard. The branch jerked hard to the left, catching the orange leader off guard. Donny watched, first in satisfaction, then in horror, as the orange leader fell off the branch, flipping down until he landed with a sickening thud on the hard ground below.

  Donny was dumbfounded. He watched as the fighting quickly stopped, and both teams rushed over to see if the orange leader was alright. He almost felt like he were dreaming, that this were just some nightmare, and he would soon wake up and it would still be the morning before the championship game. The yells to get help sounded faded to his ears. The PA system turned on, declaring the jade team the winners. Donny thought it must be lying.

  Officials from the school ran over, having come from the nearby entrance. They put the motionless body on a stretcher, and quickly left the arena. The others began leaving, one by one. Donny watched them walk by, wondering which would turn and attack him, which of them would exact revenge. He was disappointed when the last orange member passed him by without a word or a motion.

  “I don’t think I like winning anymore,” Donny heard behind him. He turned around to see Lenny standing there, with a sad face, and the ladder pieces still in his hands.

  “Me neither,” Donny said quietly back.

  CHAPTER 1 7

  LENNY LEFT DONNY to go to the dining hall. Despite having not eaten in quite some time, Donny did not wish to go with him. He began walking towards his dorm room, but when he neared the door he realized he did not really want to be there either. Instead, Donny walked on by the door, and continued to walk through the halls. When he thought about where he wanted to go, he realized he really did not want to go anywhere. Instead, he simply kept walking, until a voice calling out to him through an open door stopped him.

  “Come in Donny, I’ve been expecting you.”

  Donny looked up, and was surprised to find himself standing outside of Captain William’s office. At first he wanted to keep on walking, and ignore the summons from within, but upon thinking about it, he could not help but wonder if he had come here on purpose. He wondered if maybe a part of him had wanted to come here, to punish himself.

  Donny walked into the room, and behind his desk sat Captain Williams. A smile was on Captain William’s face, and Donny realized he had never seen the man genuinely smile before. The smile looked almost uncomfortable. Should evil be allowed to smile? Donny thought, then he realized the answer to his own question. They should after something like what I’ve done.

  “Sit down Donny, why so sad? I thought you won the game?”

  Donny said nothing at first, but it was clear that Captain Williams would not be the one to bring up what had happened. “I think I killed one of my classmates.”

  “You did nothing of the sort, you simply disabled your foe. This is a school for soldiers, not nannies. He should have known not to go out on a limb like that.”

  Donny felt a part of himself want to laugh at the pun, and he hated himself all the more for it. “I thought this was a school for heroes.”

  “That it is, but sometimes heroes need to make tough decisions for the greater good. Had this been a real battle, against real villains, that orb could have meant death to millions, and if you did not have the courage to pull that branch, you could have been responsible for the deaths of countless innocent victims. Even if your action killed the villain, it would be better than killing the innocent. Death and pain are just necessities in war.”

  “But I did not pull the branch to save millions, I pulled it to win the game. I wasn’t the hero in there, I was the villain.”

  “Hero or villain, it is nothing more than a matter of perspective.”

  Donny realized now why it was good for him to come here. As much as he hated himself now, he still hated Captain Williams more.

  “I see that look on your face Donny. Careful, you are not hiding your emotions as well as you used to.”

  Donny looked into Captain Williams face in defiance. The smile was gone from the Captain’s face, showing he was back to his serious self.

  “Donny, I know you do not like me. I know you think I am this great monster, pulling the strings of this big destructive machine. But take a moment and think about this. There is no war, except the coordinated dances that we have complete control over. Guns and bombs are essentially gone from the world – the heroes and villains stopped using them, and the rest of the world followed suit. You think we are evil because of our means, but look at the ends that have come from them.”

  “Such as the convenient placement of yourselves in complete control of everything.”

  “I see our time of playing games has ended. So be it. Yes, we are in power. Someone has to be in power to keep things in order, and we have taken up that charge. This world needs people who are willing to do whatever it takes to make the right outcome appear. People like me…and like you.”

  D
onny was caught off guard by the address to himself. People like me? You really think I am similar to you?

  “You and I are not that different Donny. Both of us are without a physical power, and yet we have both risen above those who do. We understand the way things work. I will not be around forever, and I need someone who can handle everything that needs to be done. I believe that someone is you Donny. I do not want you to respond right now, because I know what your answer would be. But think about it. We really are not so bad.”

  “No? What about my brother?”

  “That was not personal Donny. Your brother is very powerful, and we look forward to having him on our side. Unfortunately, he was unable to see the good in what we do, and we could not risk waiting for him to see the light. You can have him back when you join us…sorry, if you join us. We know you are smart enough to control him. He may be older than you, but in an odd way he looks up to you.”

  Donny could think of a million things he wanted to say, but he knew the best response he could give would be silence. It was not long before Captain Williams started up again.

  “Think about it Donny. Take your time, I am in no hurry. We can talk about all this again after our match.”

  “Our match?”

  “Of course. As the winner of the simulation games, your team will now face the faculty in an exhibition match. Usually the faculty team is led by the Advanced Strategic Leadership professor, but he has agreed to allow me to lead the team this year. I think it will be an interesting chance for us both to test each other’s strengths. But enough of that, you have had a long day Donny, and you need time to rest. After our game, come by my office at your leisure, and we can discuss the situation of things at that time.”

  Captain Williams looked down at his desk for these last few words, and soon began working on some task which had been sitting on his desk. The conversation was over, so Donny stood up and walked to the door. He half expected to hear a last comment come at him from behind, but none came. He opened the door and walked out into the hall.