My robot friend didn’t even crack a smile.
“Never mind,” I said. “I’m glad to see you.” I really was.
He had been pretty decent to me. I was glad that he was going to be my personal dado again. The two of us walked up the staircase toward my room.
“I wish I could say the same to you, Pendragon,” Fourteen said. “Why did you return?”
“For the Grand X,” I said. “I’m gonna win.”
Fourteen didn’t answer. If a robot could look worried, he looked worried.
“What?” I asked. “Don’t you think I can?”
“You certainly have the ability,” the dado said. “But Challenger Green does not win on ability alone.”
“I know, he’s a rotten cheat,” I said. “Don’t worry. I’m ready for him.”
“I do not think that is possible,” Fourteen said. “At least for you. I cannot see you lowering yourself to compete with his type of tactics.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve got some tactics of my own, but thanks for your concern.”
Fourteen led me to my room and left me alone. When the door closed behind me, I looked around at the familiar space. I got the same feeling as when I’d jumped out of the car a while before. What had I gotten myself into? Why did I come back to this horror house? Up until that moment it had all felt like theory. Seeing the castle and this room made it real.
The Grand X didn’t happen right away. Nevva was right. Veego and LaBerge wanted to whip up as much excitement as they could. When I did my training, there was always a dado there with a small handheld camera. They were beaming my image all over Quillan so that everybody got to know Challenger Red. I didn’t see Challenger Green much, but the few times I caught a glimpse of him outside lifting weights, or doing exercises, I saw that there was a camera on him, too. I guess it was like showing those “up close and personal” videos of athletes during the Olympics on Second Earth.
Of course, there was no way that Veego and LaBerge could know that all this publicity was playing right into the hands of the revivers. Up until then, all anybody had actually seen of me were the Hook and Tock matches. Now they were seeing hours of me. I imagined my picture being shown on hundreds of screens lining the streets of Rune. It was kind of intimidating, to be honest. I found myself getting nervous. Not about the Grand X. I was more worried that I might not come off as the big “champion” that the revivers were building me up to be. I mean, I was still me. What if nobody was impressed? It would all be for nothing. I found myself trying extra hard during training to look worthy. I ran a little faster and did my best to impress during agility drills. I really wanted to do my part to build up the myth. I figured that was just as important as the actual training.
I had no idea if it was doing any good, until one day when I got an interesting opportunity. Fourteen brought me to the platform where the Tato competitions were held. Waiting there for me were Veego, LaBerge, and Challenger Green. I had no idea what was going on, but tried to act cool.
“Is this it?” I asked. “Are we starting?”
“No!” LaBerge said with excitement as he scampered up to me. “Veego and I thought it would be wonderful if you two could say a few words to the people of Quillan. You know, to let them know how you feel, and how it’s going to be such a fabulous Grand X and all.”
“It was my idea actually,” said Nevva Winter as she stepped up onto the platform. “What better way to let the people of Quillan know who they will be wagering on than to hear from the challengers themselves?”
As Nevva said this, she looked me square in the eye, as if she were trying to tell me something.
“We can say whatever we want?” I asked.
Veego chimed in, “So long as it doesn’t embarrass us, or Blok.”
“Oh, no,” I said sarcastically. “Wouldn’t want to do that!”
Nevva said, “Just tell them what you’re about, and why it’s important for you to win the Grand X.”
Nevva again looked right at me. I realized that she had set this up as a golden opportunity for me to tell the people why I was competing. Every person on Quillan would see this. I had to find the exact right words.
Challenger Green laughed and said, “You mean, there are other reasons for winning besides not getting killed?”
LaBerge was the only one who laughed. When he saw that nobody else did, he stopped. Idiot.
“Let Challenger Green go first,” I said. “He is the champion, he should have the honor.”
Actually, I wanted more time to think about what I was going to say.
“All right,” Green said. “Let’s do this.”
Veego and LaBerge stood together. A service dado appeared with a small camera and pointed it at them.
“Let us know when we are online,” Veego said to the dado.
Nevva stood next to me and spoke quietly, while looking at Veego and LaBerge.
“How are you?” she asked. “Ready” was my answer.
“You know this is an incredible opportunity,” she said. “The right words will put you over the top.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And the wrong words might bury me. Stop talking and let me think.”
The service dado nodded and signaled for the two to begin.
LaBerge put on his biggest smile and sang, “The time is growing near, the games are almost here; the challengers are ready, and now their words you’ll hear!”
Veego added, “This will be one of the most difficult choices you will ever face. Who best to place your wager on? We’ve done our best to educate you about the two challengers, now it’s time to hear from them, in their own words. First we will hear from the champion. Challenger Green.”
The service dado panned over to Challenger Green, who stood with his hands on his hips.
“You know me,” he said brusquely. “You know I don’t lose. I’ve been watching the games my whole life. Blok has never seen a champion as powerful as me. I’m going to be the first challenger to retire undefeated, and then tour Quillan to promote the games for Blok. When you think of Blok, you think of power and you think of me.”
He turned arid jumped down off the platform. The service dado quickly panned back to Veego and LaBerge, who seemed surprised by Challenger Green’s quick exit. I couldn’t have been happier about what he said. Nevva looked as if she were holding back a smile.
“That’s perfect,” she said. “He has totally aligned himself with Blok.”
Veego said to the camera, “And now we will hear from Challenger Red, the only challenger in history who is so confident, he actually asked to compete against Challenger Green. I give you… Challenger Red.”
The service dado whipped the camera to me as Nevva stepped aside. It’s a strange feeling to know that your image is being broadcast to millions of people. It was the biggest stage possible. I needed to make the most of it. I folded my hands in front of me and said, “You don’t know me as well as Challenger Green, but there’s something important you should understand. I didn’t come back to compete in the Grand X for myself. I could have disappeared and nobody would ever have seen me again. But I came here as a tribute to the people of Quillan.”
D. J. MacHale
The Quillan Games
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Veego and LaBerge give each other concerned looks.
“I’m here to prove that you don’t have to be big and powerful to triumph. I believe in myself, and I believe in the people of Quillan. And even though I know I will win the Grand X, I am asking each and every one of you to be brave, and as a protest against these brutal games, do not wager on the Grand X. Either on me or on Challenger Green. It’s the best way you can show Blok that you aren’t going to live by their rules any longer.”
“What?” LaBerge screamed.
Veego walked quickly to the service dado and pushed the camera off me.
“End this transmission,” she hissed at the dado. “Now!”
The dado hurried off the platform with t
he camera.
“How could you say that?” Nevva asked, faking surprise. “That was not authorized! The trustees will be very angry! I’m going to have to bring this up with them at once.”
Nevva hurried off the platform. Before she stepped down, she stole a quick look back at me, and winked. I had just kicked some serious Blok butt. Veego stood there, glaring at me, while LaBerge paced nervously.
“This is bad,” he clucked. “Very bad. We’ll be blamed, you know. How are we going to control this? Do you think the people will listen to him? What are we going to do?”
“We’re not going to do anything,” Veego said without taking her eyes off me. “Challenger Red will no longer be allowed to address the public. Beyond that, we will do nothing.”
LaBerge hurried off the platform, shaking his head fretfully and muttering, “This is bad; this is very bad.”
Veego took a step closer to me and said, “What are you doing. Challenger Red?”
“Just trying to get a little excitement going,” I said innocently. “That should get people talking, don’t you think?”
Veego stared at me for another moment, then turned and left. I wasn’t sure if I had gone too far. I didn’t think for a second that they would cancel the Grand X after all the buildup, but I couldn’t be sure.
There was one more event planned before the Grand X, and it was a big one. Challenger Green and I were to be paraded through the streets of Rune on the backs of two cars. The idea was for the people to see us in the flesh so they’d get all sorts of whipped up and excited… and of course make big wagers. Mark, Courtney, what happened that day was something I could only dream of. Up until that point, the idea of the people of Quillan seeing me and learning about me and believing in me as a symbol of their freedom was only a concept. It wasn’t real. I had to take what the revivers had said on faith. Though I had fully bought into the plan, somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if the people were going to really care. What happened that afternoon shot those doubts to pieces. No, it vaporized them.
There were three cars in the parade. The first held Veego and LaBerge, I was on the second, and bringing up the rear was Challenger Green. We stood up through an opening in the roof so we could be seen by all. A line of security dados marched alongside the procession in case somebody did something silly and tried to get at us. I figured that was a good idea, because the streets of Rune were pretty crowded.
At the very least, the security dados would be able to clear a path for the cars to get through.
What happened was bedlam. I can only liken it to one of those ticker-tape parades they have in New York City for sports champions and astronauts and whatnot. It was absolutely, positively nuts. People were everywhere. They were packed on the sidewalks, hanging out of windows, and perched on top of buildings. They were screaming, too. As the parade turned off the side street and onto the main parade route, it was like being hit with a wall of noise from a thousand jet engines. It was such a mad sea of faces, it was hard to pick out any one person, but the thing that struck me most about the people was that they were smiling. I saw joy in their faces. It was something I hadn’t seen at all on Quillan, except for maybe the lucky few who had won a wager on a game. These people were ecstatic.
There wasn’t any ticker tape falling, but there was something else even better. I can’t say that every person had one- that would be impossible to judge. But thousands did. Wherever I looked, I saw old men and young kids and women and every type of person you could imagine waving a solid red flag. Maybe I’m a little slow, or maybe I was just too stunned by the whole scene to realize what that meant right away. It wasn’t until I heard the chant that it came together. It was tough to make out at first, because it was like white noise, but soon enough I understood what they were chanting: “Red! Red! Red!” These people were chanting for me! The red flags they were waving were for me! To say this was unbelievable is too simple a statement. It was impossible.
Ahead of me LaBerge beamed and waved like he had just won the World Series. I don’t think anybody cared. Veego stood stock still, with a tight smile on her face. I don’t know what she was thinking. If I were to guess, she was calculating how much these fools would wager on the underdog, me, and how much her enterprise would benefit. So I guess she was happy.
Turning around, I saw that Challenger Green was probably the only sour-looking person in sight. He stood with his hands gripping the roof of his car. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the metal twisting in his fingers. Besides that, he was glaring at me. As they say, if looks could kill… there wouldn’t have been a Grand X. I would have been history right then and there.
I turned to face front. This was my moment and I wanted to enjoy it. If what was happening here in Rune was any indication, the revivers had done their job. The people were on my side. What remained to be seen was if they would take the next step and not wager on the Grand X. I suppose that didn’t matter much. This wasn’t about the betting. This was about creating a display that fired the people into action.
As great as the day was turning out to be, the best was yet to come.
The parade ended at the big, imposing Blok building. There was a wide balcony below the giant blok sign that looked down onto the street. We were quickly brought up there for a final event. On the balcony were me. Challenger Green, Veego, LaBerge, and a few of the trustees. Mr. Kayto wasn’t one of them, though I felt sure that Saint Dane was watching from somewhere. There were speeches and presentations and lots of blah blah blah about how exciting the event was going to be and how Quillan had never seen the likes of this and may never again and… who cared.
I looked down on a sea of people. That’s no exaggeration. It was a sea. The streets were packed solid. I’m sure that only the people up front could actually see us, but our images were projected on the screens up and down the street. As I stood there, trying not to listen to the speeches, a strange feeling came over me.
I wasn’t nervous, or intimidated. Of course I had played many basketball games in front of big crowds, but a big crowd for Stony Brook Junior High was about a thousand, and that was for a championship. Here I was being watched and scrutinized by millions. Literally, millions. I wondered why it didn’t freak me out. I guess it had something to do with the confidence I had in our mission. I looked at these people and knew that their lives would soon be better. Strangely enough, it seemed as if they felt it too. What I saw on those people’s faces that day was hope. Yeah, it was hope that I’d win the Grand X. Maybe I was making too much of it, but if these people had the ability to hope, then they had the ability to change their lives. It felt like they were beginning to realize that.
Of course, all of that had even greater implications. If I could help turn the course of events on Quillan, then Saint Dane would be done. I was sure of that. His goal of having me compete in the Grand X was to have me humiliated. Instead, I stood on that balcony being cheered by millions. I figured that Saint Dane must have been seething mad. It seemed like bringing me to Quillan had backfired. Before I got there, Quillan was lost. But my being there and competing in the games looked as if it would spark a revolution that would put the brakes on and bring Quillan back from the brink. The best part about it? Saint Dane had invited me. His quest to destroy me was going to lead to the salvation of a territory, and his own undoing. It was all pretty sweet. I looked out over those hopeful people and imagined all the many faces of Halla. The faces of all places and times. It was good. I had no doubt in my mind.
We were going to save Halla.
Challenger Green and I were not allowed to speak. I think my little speech a few days before might have had something to do with that. Still, we were both introduced and asked to step forward. First Veego introduced Challenger Green. I’m not going to say the guy was booed off the balcony-he wasn’t. There were a lot of cheers. After all, he was the champion and people had won bets on him. I didn’t hear a single “boo.” I wasn’t sure if that was because they still liked
him, or they didn’t know the concept of booing.
On the other hand, what happened next was electric. I was introduced and the place went berserk. It was so loud, I thought the glass in the windows would shatter. The crowd became a sea of red as thousands of people waved their flags. I wasn’t sure what to do. Should I wave back? Should I clasp my hands over my head in the classic “champion” gesture? Or should I hold my arms out like you see royal people do? As I stood there, buffeted by the tornado of sound, an idea came to me. I wasn’t sure if it was a smart thing to do, or totally idiotic. I didn’t take the time to analyze it, I just went for it. I stepped forward on the small platform so the crowd could see me better. That small movement made them scream even more. I looked up and saw my image projected hundreds of times on screens along the avenue. The setting was perfect, so I did it.
I lifted my right hand and grasped my left biceps in the salute of the revival.
The reaction was so strong and so sudden, I thought the building was going to collapse. The whole place shook. I swear, this huge building made of black rock shook like a house of cards. It felt like an earthquake hit the street, that’s how strong the reaction was. The pounding of thousands of people jumping up and down made the foundation rock. I remember being in Yankee Stadium when the place was full and the people were rocking. The whole place moved. That’s what this felt like. The screams became so loud, it was painful. But it was perfect. There was no denying it now. The people knew exactly where I stood, and they were with me. I wished I could take that moment and bottle it. For a brief instant I saw my image on all the screens with my hand clasped on my biceps. Suddenly, all the screens went blank and I was pulled roughly off the platform by security dados. I was quickly brought into the building, but the crowd wouldn’t stop. The building was still shaking. I thought they might tear it down with their bare hands.
“Get them out of here,” Veego commanded the dados.
Challenger Green and I were hurried into separate elevators and taken down to the basement, where we were put in different cars and quickly driven underground away from the building. Even underground I could hear the chaos above. I could feel it. The dead city had returned to life. As I sat in the back of that car, alone, I had to smile. It was working. The revivers had succeeded. That image of me giving the reviver salute was icing on the cake. It had just been broadcast all over Quillan. The message was there. Change was coming.
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