The Games Villains Play (2 page)

They want to find out if this pawn can become a second queen.

DONNY DECIDED NOT to tell the girl that he was Decathlon’s brother.  For one thing
,
he felt like there must be a mistake, although he could not come up with a viable situation where such a mistake could take place.  He continued making small talk for the remainder of the flight, and at some point they finally got around to introducing themselves, where Donny learned that her name was Jenna.  His thoughts were far from the conversation however. 
Can Jay really have
become that powerful?  Can he really have developed three powers within a single year?
  The possibility excited Donny, but somehow made him nervous all the same. 

When the first flight landed and
they were moved onto the second
plane with a much larger number of recruits, Donny could see that his assumptions were not all wrong.  Titans came in all shapes and sizes, with some bulging out of their shirts, and others merely looking like a normal, fit human being.  Even so, Jenna was certainly the least muscular of the Titans he could see.

Donny had agreed to continue his and Jenna’s conversation on the bigger plane to be polite, but to his relief the seats were assigned, as he was hoping to have time to process what he had learned.  His luck continued when he discovered that he was in the very back of the plane, in a row by himself.  Donny spent the flight watching the rest of the first years, and wondering what he would find when he met his brother at the school.

UPON ARRIVAL, THE students were split by ability to begin their tours of the school.  Donny, being the only student without
an ability
, was given his own tour guide.  They began the tour, with the guide spewing historical information about the architecture of the buildings, and other facts and figures of which Donny had no interest.  This suited Donny well, however, as it gave him the freedom to scan the crowds for his brother.  As they neared the cafeteria entrance, one student caught his eye, due to his being the only one moving around on crutches.  Donny quickly realized that this injured student was none other than his brother, Jay. 

“Excuse me,” Donny interrupted his guide, “why is that student using crutches?”

“No need to pretend Donny, I have already been informed that you are Jay’s brother,” his guide responded.  “He is still getting used to his abilities, and he had an acci
dent a few months back
.  There was no permanent damage, however, and he has been healing very quickly.”

Seeing Jay standing there, waiting to get into the dining hall, reminded Donny of home.  It was difficult to think back on their time growing up, knowing that they would never be able to go back to the way things were.  “Would you mind if my brother gave me the rest of the tour?  We have a lot of catching up to do,” Donny requested.

“Certainly, go right ahead.”

Donny walked up behind Jay, who had already straightened up, as if preparing for their meeting. 
“Crutches?”
Donny began, “this doesn’t fit at all.  I thought I heard you had become an all-powerful hero, who could leap tall buildings in a single bound?”

Jay turned slowly, and the look of amazement on his face was exactly what Donny was going for.

DONNY WATCHED HIS brother as Jay distractedly gathered a heaping plate of food.  Donny had thanked his
tour guide
, and the rest of them went into the dining hall to get some food and catch up.  Donny was a light eater, so he was the first one to sit down at a table.  He watched as his brother found a way to balance his plate of food in his right hand, while his crutch was held under his arm by pressing his arm against his body.  Donny was amazed at the change he saw in Jay.  Jay was much broader than he used to be, with substantial muscle development, and
his rapid movements showed he was much more energetic than when he had left.  Donny had heard stories about his brother, and the amazing mix of abilities he held, but he had kept all he heard in reserve, wanting to see for himself before he believed the stories.  Now he saw, despite his injuries, that Jay really had become powerful.  Donny
could not
help but wonder if the people from the school knew what Jay would become when they came to collect him last year.  Donny recalled their attempts to hide how much they wanted him, but for the past year he assumed it was due to his mental abilities.  Now he could see that Jay’s physical ability had become a force to be reckoned with as well.

“So you are Donny, I’ve seen a lot about you.”  Donny turned to see who had spoken.  It came from the other boy who had been with Jay when they bumped into each other in the hall.  He
was not
very large so Donny knew he
was not
a Titan, and he was far too relaxed to be a Hermes, so he must be a Prometheus.  Donny realized quickly what the boy meant by “seen”, but he could also see the boy wanted him to ask, so Donny decided to humor him.

“Seen?”  Donny asked.

“Yeah, not many people talk a
bout their families around here;
I guess it’s thought to be a sign of weakness or something.  I’m a good friend of your brother’s though, and I’m a Prometheus, so I’ve seen him think about you often.  You’re bigger than Jay remembers.”

“Yeah, I made enemies with a
kid who may well develop into a
Titan a little over a year ago.  Dealing with the consequences has kept me growing stronger this past year.  I’d have to say the change in Jay is far more than with me though
,”
Donny responded, looking back over at his brother.

“Yeah, well, his strength still exceeds his size.  Your brother is a Titan now, so naturally his muscles are trying to keep up with the change.  I’m Snake by the way.”

“Snake?
  Wow, I take it your parents had a sense of humor.” 

“No, Snake is the nickname I was given at the school.  Everyone gets one eventually.  My real name is Michael.”

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
.
  I
t’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
,”
h
e 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 L
eadership.  I think it is a well-rounded schedule, with two defense based classes, and one offensive.”

“Well r
ounded?  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 experien
ce with mind distortion already
– you have
read the reports
of our first few
encounter
with him a year ago
.  When we collec
ted 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.”