The Games Villains Play (16 page)

When he was finally able to get himself to sleep, his dreams were even worse than his fears.  He dreamt that he were waking up, and had overslept, and missed the whole event.  He dreamt that the shootout was what he had expected, except instead of paintballs they were using real bullets, and his team was losing.  Then the dreams began to drift from the games, and he began to see his brother, in many hopeless situations.  First he saw him on an inspection table, where he was strapped down tight, and the professors were running tests on him.  Then he saw Jay being tortured, in dozens of horrible ways.  They were being administered by Captain Williams, who kept repeating a single line. “I have no power for you to take.
You are powerless against me.”

Finally the dreams drifted from Jay, but they got no better.  Donny could see Michael, lost in the desert, still searching for Jay.  Donny tried to call out to Michael; tried to tell him Jay
was not
out there.  Then he realized he too was lost in the desert, searching for Michael, wondering if Michael too
might not be out there at all.

Donny awoke in a cold sweat the next morning.  For a moment he was worried that he really had overslept, as he felt like that night had lasted days.  To his surprise and relief, it was still 4:30 in the morning.  Despite the time, Donny could see that the light was on in the room, and many of the first year Titans were already sitting up in bed.
 

“…that’s not possible sir, he has been right here the whole night.  I’m sure many of us could be witnesses to it as well, as he has been
tossing and turning all night.”

Donny realized the words had come from his resident leader, who was talking to someone from the school’s administration at the door.  For a brief moment Donny wondered if they were
talking about him, but his question was quickly answered when they noticed he was
up and asked him to come over.

“Donn
y, may I have a word with you?”

He wanted to say no, but as usual, he knew turning down a request from the administration would only give them something to use against him, so he accepted.  They left the room, and as soon as they stepped out into the hall Donny noticed Duke standing awkwardly just outside the door.
 

“Is everything alright?”  Donny asked Duke, ignoring the administrator who walked ahead a few steps before n
oticing that Donny had stopped.

“It’s fine now Donny, don’t worry.  Go on, we can talk later.”  Duke was clearly a little angry about something, but Donny was relieved at least that he was not frightened or nervous.  Anger means whatever had happened was finished, fear would
have meant it’s still a threat.

With a nod to Duke, Donny continued on with his guide, until he arrived at the last place he wanted t
o go; Captain William’s office.

“Come in Donny.”  The voice came through the door to meet him, calm and businesslike.  Donny
could not
imagine a tone he would despise more; he wished the voice could have been raspy, or snakelike, so at least then it would fit t
he leader of the real villains.

Donny went in and took a seat once more, taking care to block his thoughts from anyone who may be listening in on this conversati
on, as well as his expressions.

“Donny, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you? 
May
be an older or bigger student?”

“No sir
,”
Donny replied
,
surprised to hear this question come from the mouth of the person he felt most likely to do just that.  “Why do you ask?  I have heard nothi
ng about what’s going on here.”

“Donny, we think somebody tried to make an attempt on your life last night.  They started by drugging the drinks of the professors who would be at the school tonight, in order to put them to sleep.  I detected something was amiss and warned as many as I could, but there are those who drank
before word could reach them.”

“Will they be alright?”  Donny asked, genuinely concerned.  Whether they were part of the conspiracy or not, they were people, and Donny had grown f
ond of a few of his professors.

“Don’t worry, the drugs were non-lethal.  They were clearly placed to get us out of the way for somet
hing, not to harm us directly.”

“And you think you were being taken out of the way so they could get to me?”  Donny found it hard to believe.  The only people Donny thought would be coming after him would have been from the school, not tryi
ng to get around them.

“We have good reason to believe they were coming after you.  Duke had apparently heard talk from members of the yellow team who said once you were out of the way the game would be an easy win.  Afraid that they were planning to come after you, he hid near your door to wait.  Someone did come after you, and when Duke stepped ou
t to confront them, they fled.”

“It was
someone from the yellow team?”

“No, we spoke to those who Duke overheard, and they said they meant within the game.  Apparently they think you the only threat on your team.  Duke also corroborated that the man was no
t a member of the yellow team.”

Donny’s mind was racing, as he poured over anyone who could possibly want to do him harm. 
If it’s not someone from the yellow team…could one of the other teams be trying to take us out early?  No, that can’t be
it,
it’s too much of a risk for them at this point, where they don’t even know if they will advance to face us.  Could Captain Williams be playing with me?  Could it be the school, and he
is just pretending not to know?

The silence Donny kept while he was in thought was enough of a response for Captain Williams.  “Donny, the school thinks it would be safest if you would return home until we are able to clear this situati
on up.”

For a brief moment dread fell over Donny.  He looked up at Captain Williams, but the look in his eyes
helped to calm Donny.  He did not
see concern, or even an attempt to assert authority, but instead he saw that this was being put forth as a challenge. 
I accept. 
Donny thought for a moment, being careful to word his response correctly.  “I appreciate the concern, but I feel like that would not be
the best course of action sir.”

“No?”
Captain Williams egged him on.

“You asked if there were anyone who would want to harm me, and I can only think of two groups of people.  One is the yellow team,
and the other is the villains.”

Captain Williams looked calmly back at Donny. 
Am I being too bold?
Donny wondered. 
No, I will get nowhere if I back down now.  He set the challenge with his threat of sending me home, now it is my turn to return the challen
ge by bringing up the villains.

Captain Williams leaned forward over his desk.  He, too, was accepting the challenge.  “Why would they want to hurt you
Donny?”

“The yellow team would want to harm me because of who I am, and the villains would want to harm me because of who they are.”

Captain Williams smiled thinly.  “Is that a
fact.
  Tell m
e Donny, who are the villains?”

The bait was set, but Donny would not bite. 
You can’t get me that easily.
  “The villains are the ones we are here to prepare for.  There is a war going on, and merely being at this school means I have sided with the heroes.  The villains are the other side of the fight, and the fact that they attacked the school means they are getting
more bold
.  A time of change is coming, and I think it will not be long until the villains either rise and become
unstoppable, or fall for good.”

“Interesting theory.
  But you still have not answered my previous question.  Why would the villains want to hurt
you
.
”

“Maybe because they saw what my brother could do, and are afraid. 
Maybe because I am one of the few at this school that is unpredictable.
  Or maybe they were not coming for me at
all,
I do share a room with many other students who are bigger and stronger than I am.  Maybe the
y were coming for one of them.”

“Nevertheless, someone tried to get into your room last night, and if you think it possible that the villains would wish to come after you, then there is really no other
option than to send you home.”

“There are always other optio
ns.  You could use me as bait.”

“We do
not use our students as bait.”

“No, but you used my brother to fight.”  This caught Captain Williams’ attention, and Donny could not decide if it were a good thing or not.  “If the stories are true, then my brother was a k
ey player in fending them off.”

“The stories are true Donny.”

“Th
en my brother is truly a hero.”

The conversation was over.  To anyone who might have heard the conversation it would have sounded like Donny had been the victor, but they both knew better.  Captain Williams leaned back in his ch
air while Donny’s stomach sank.

“You have convinced me Donny.  Sending you home would be impractical.  It would be much safer to keep you here where you can be protected.  Good luck
in the remainder of the games.”

Donny said nothing.  He rose from the chair, and without a word he turned and walked out of the office.  He struggled to keep the tears away as the word that had betrayed him played repeatedly in his mind.  There was no doubt now, Captain Williams knew where Donny stood.  Despite all the blocks and deception Donny had been using to keep his secrets to himself, they had spilled over to one with no more power than
himself
.  Captain Williams now knows that Donny is not innocent in all of this.  Donny had been revealed
from the slip of a single word.

“
is
”

CHAPTER 1
5

DONNY GOT NO
more
sleep
that night.  For the first time since he arrived at the Academy, Donny truly felt like he had been beaten.  He had been bested before, such as in defensive tactics when they were running exercises, but each time it was just a practice, and Donny was soon able to master the technique and turn out the better for it.  This time he had been made the fool of
, and this time it was serious.

Donny almost wanted to remain in bed and forget about the simulation games completely, but he knew this would truly be a failure.  The only way he can be beaten fully is if he gives up, and he knew he could not hand the whole war over to Captain Williams.  The secret messenger that Donny had been contacted by had told him to win the games, and he would do his best to hold up his end of the plan, even if he did not know what that plan was.  He w
ould do it for Jay.

When Donny arrived at the arena, he found Duke sitting up against the side by the door.  Duke’s eyes were bloodshot, and Donny knew immediately that Duke had gotten even less sleep than he had the night before.  Even so, Duke looked an
ything but tired.

“You were right
,”
Duke said as Donny approached.  The tone was a
mixture of distress and anger.

“I was r
ight?  What was I right about?”

“You asked me once before if I thought the school wanted us to lose.  You’re right, they do.  I don’t know why, but for some reason they are willing to do
whatever it takes to stop us.”

“What do you mean?”

“Donny, it was the school.  A professor came after you last night.” 

Donny could not help but look around.  Duke had not whispered this last statement, and Donny was afraid someone might have overheard.  When he saw no one, he looked back to Duke, and responded quietly.  “Who was it? 
Which professor did they send?”

It was clear that Duke was upset by all this, but he was still able to continue the conversation.  “I could not make out who it was, but he was clearly older.  I did not pay him any heed at first, because he was wearing a professor’s suit while walking down the hall.  His head was down, and I never got a good angle to see his face.  When he arrived at the door he took off his jacket, and was wearing all black underneath.  He clearly did not wish to be seen.  I saw him pull a needle out of his coat pocket and prepare it with something,
then
he got ready to enter the room.  He had a good block set up, almost a paranoid one, so it was difficult to get a reading, but I cou
ld dimly make out one picture.”

“What was that?”  Donny asked.

“It was you.  He was thinking of what you looked like, which to me is pretty good evidence that he was coming for you.  Even without seeing the picture, it was clear that he was going after you.  You were in a room with a bunch of Titans, and the amount of liquid he put into that needle could not
have been enough for a Titan.”

Donny thought about this for a moment, and realized Duke’s suspicions were valid. 
At least this answers the question of who was after me. 
Donny thought.

“Listen, Duke, we need to be careful.  The school is dangerous, as you now know, and they are really good at getting information out of people.  Now that you know something is going on, I
need to know, do you trust me?”

Duke looked surprised by the question, but he thought about it before responding.  “Yes, I do.  No offense Donny, but I believe you are too innocent to be the guilty one here.”

“I take that as a complement.  If you trust me, then I have two requests.  First, do not do anything against the school.  Take no actions at a
ll until I tell you otherwise.”

“Very well, but you
better know what you’re doing.”

“My second request is that when I do ask you to do
something, that
you will do it without question, and trust that I
really do know what I’m doing.”

There was a pause before Duke responded, but Donny knew this meant he was weighing all the possibilities.  Donny was relieved once the response came.  “Ok, wh
at do you want me to do first?”

“First, we win the simulation games.”  Duke thought it was a joke at first, but when he saw the seriousness in Donny’
s face, he got serious as well.

“Ok kid, let’s win this.”

IT WAS NOT
long before the rest of the team arrived.  Donny was glad to see that they were each dressed in
layers,
and all in white as well.  He had already felt the metal entrance door and found it to be cold, so at the very least he had been right that they would be dealing with a chilly game.  For a moment Donny had forgotten that he had told them to get there early, but the staring, expectant faces helped him to quickly remember that he had a plan waiting that h
e needed to let his team in on.

“Alright
team,
it’s time for us to win our second game.  This time, I have a strategy waiting.  We will adapt this plan to whatever situation we face.  We will split into four groups, with one
group flanking out to the right, another to the left.  My group will wait at the door.  The fourth group will wait with me at first, but be ready to move on my orders.  Flanking teams stop at the table and grab any supplies you need on the way by.  Your roles will be to lie in ambush.  Go out and find a place where you can wait without being seen, and when you see the enemy moving in after my group, you are to move in on them.  If there are paintball guns on the table, assume a shooting game, and take out all the yellow members.  If there are no paintball guns, assume another type of game, and figure out some other way to immobilize the enemy.  If you are able to dig, dig down to hide yourselves.  The
moment
you run through the door, take what you need from the table, but leave two snipers, and any rope or small
throwable
objects if they a
re there.”

Donny split the team into groups, with the better shooters designated to the flank groups, and those who were not as good with shooting but were bigger in stature were put into
his own
group.  The two best shooters, Duke and a Hermes second year named Eagle, were th
e entirety of the fourth group.

Donny ran through what they were each to do in various situations, making sure they understood the shootout and snow related situations specifically.  When the time came to begin, the groups were formed and ready to run through the door.  The moment the lock clicked open, the flanking teams dashed inside and ran to the table.  “It’s a shootout!”  One of them called back, and by the time Donny had walked through the door into the arena, both flanking teams had picked up assorted guns a
nd ran off in either direction.

Donny had been correct on all accounts.  The arena was filled with snow, and it was not a level snow either, but one with many hills and small cliffs.  Donny immediately noticed that they were starting at the bottom of an incline, meaning that any conflict between the two sides would start out with their team shooting up, and the yellow team shooting down.

One look at the table gave Donny exactly what he needed to gain the elevation advantage.  There on the table had been left two sniper rifles, as well as climbing equipment, that included a large grappling hook attacked to a long length of rope.  It was clearly meant to be used to climb the cliffs around, but Donny had another idea for it.  Finding another length of rope, he tied it to the end of the grappling hooks rope to make it even longer.  He then handed the hook to Lenny.
 

“Lenny, I need you to throw this up over the catwalk.  Do you thi
nk you can throw it that high?”

Lenny took the hook from Donny and looked at it.  He then looked up at the catwalk, and with all his might he threw it up in the catwalks direction.  The hook bounced off the ceiling just above the catwalk and fell down on the other side, leaving the rope that had been trailing behind draped over the catwalk and
streaming down on either side.

“I guess you
can,
great work Lenny.  Alright, team four, grab a sniper each and take a length of rope.  Hold on tight, we’re going to boost you both up to the catwalk.  You two
Titans,
take the other side of the rope and b
egin pulling to hoist them up.”

With surprising speed, Duke and Eagle were lifted up to the catwalk.  Donny did not need to give them any more instructions, Duke knew exactly what to do from there.  The two of them ran off down the catwalk in the
direction of the enemy’s door.

“Ok, we are the bait.  I am going to stand with my back to center arena, and I want the rest of you to fan out facing me.  We need to make our group look as big as possible, so the bigger students stand in the front, and the smaller ones stand behind and on the sides, so it will look like all our smaller players are merely out of view.  Watch me intently, and the moment I am hit with a shot, spread out further and begin firing back.  Dodge shots as much as possible; the longer we last, the longer we can keep the attention away from our real firing power.”

Donny had expected the yellow team to come at them fast, but he was still surprised at just how fast they had moved.  They had no sooner gotten into their positions when Donny felt himself hit by no less than six shots, and was able to see a few of his Titans also take hits.  The rest of the group fanned out, but the
y were getting picked off fast.

With only two of his group
unhit
, the firing stopped coming, even though the sound of the shots could still be heard.  Donny was hit, and therefore could no longer give any instructions, but he could still turn his head around to see what was happening.  He could not see very much, as there was a ridge of snow between them and where the battle was now being fought, but he could still see the occasional high shot, as well as shot
s coming down from the catwalk.

“Charge!”
  Donny heard from behind him, and he saw the remaining two from his group dart off towards the battle, running up the incline as fast as they could move.  Donny saw one of them get hit as he reached the top of the ridge, but the other began firin
g and was soon lost from sight.

The whole game took less than fifteen minutes from start to finish.  Donny heard the arena sound system announce the end of the game, and was relieved when it announced that the yellow team had been compromised.  Donny watched as his team walked back over the snow ridge, a mass of white with splashes of paint, all laughing and joking with each other.  Donny heard giggling nearby, and he realized a few of his teammates who had been downed around him were making snow angels, joking about become angel
s after being downed in battle.

As they were instructed to exit through the same door they had entered from, they needed to get Duke and Eagle down from the catwalk, which proved more difficult than getting them up.  They finally got them down by tying ropes around their waists and lowering them down slowly, much like the way they had gone up.  Donny wished he could tell them all to go celebrate, but
they still had one more game left, and they were not as prepared for that one.  They needed to
begin preparations immediately.

“Great job team.
  Get cleaned up or celebrate as you will, and meet up again by the practice rooms in one hour.  We need to prepare for tomorrow.”

“
OK, WHAT HAPPENED this time?”

“He cheated.”

“Oh re
ally?
  How do you figure that?”

“He used the catwalk, which was
not part of the playing field.”

“These students are taught that anything in the arena, including the arena itself, can be used during the games.  Typically this has just applied to the walls, but the catwalk would clearly fall under this ruling.
  There was no cheating there.”

“He also knew s
omehow what the game would be.”

“Now you have hit on the reason I wanted to see you two.  How is it that you two are the mind readers, yet he has pulled more out of your heads thus
far than you have out of his?”

“Mind reading is a difficult ability, it is ea
sier to block than to achieve…”

“Yes I know, I am asking this question in an attempt to understand how you two could be so utterly predictable.  The older boy out maneuvered you, and now the younger has out thought you.  Once again it is falling on my
shoulders to get the job done.”

“You know how to make him lose?”

“Losing will not be enough at this point.  You were to force him to lose in order to make him think he was out of his league.  Instead he has overcome two games that were stacked against him, and proven that he is right in his element.  No, he will win the game.  There are other ways to break him.”