CHAPTER 1
CHESS HAS NEVER been one of Donny’s favorite games. It is not that he is bad at the game; on the contrary, he can be quite clever with his moves, and he always wins. It is more the limitations that bother him. Donny looks at the chess board and sees two even sides, both of which contain the same pieces that may perform the same moves. The pawns march forward obediently, slowly advancing to their inevitable demise at the hands of a faster rook or a clever knight. The queen flies about the board, striking down enemies while being guarded against traps, valued second behind the king alone.
Donny felt certain that this game would be far more exciting if people were willing to tweak the game. He wanted to train his pawns to move sideways, or disguise his king to look like a bishop. What is the king doing in battle anyway, since he is clearly nothing more than a liability? Adding a third or fourth party would also appeal to Donny as it would introduce diplomacy and force alliances. In chess, all the possible moves are known. Donny hungered for something more, a game without boundaries, where the limitations were simply the limits of the imagination. A game so fluid that even the tiniest pawn, when well placed, can completely change the game.
When the Academy came for Donny, he knew this was his chance to play in the most dynamic game ever.
Donny knew he was a unique case, so he had very little idea of what to expect when he arrived at the school to train super heroes. The first clue that Donny would not be like the rest of the students was simple. The Academy existed to train those children with super powers to be the next generation of heroes to defend the world. As such, the Academy would search around the globe, gathering together all those with powers in order to train them, as they had the year prior when they accepted Donny’s older brother Jay due to an ability to read minds. The problem with Donny was that he had no super powers. The three known powers were mind reading, super strength, and super speed, but Donny was accepted for “extreme strategic aptitude”. It was a nice compliment, but somehow Donny could not believe that they would deviate from their usual student selections no matter how adept he was at strategy. Then there was the fact that they only accepted seniors out of high school, while Donny was still a junior. Why would they accept a student without powers a year earlier than the rest? Donny kept asking himself. There was only one explanation that Donny could come up with; there was something bigger going on, and the school needed to use Donny for something that could not wait until the following year. Donny was going to the school not to be a hero, but to be a pawn. Once Donny realized that the school was lying to him in order to attract him to the school under false pretenses, he knew the only logical reaction would be to reject the offer, and stay away from the Academy. Reaching this realization, he informed the Academy of his decision. He accepted admittance without hesitation.
Maybe he would be a pawn, but at least he would be in the game.
DONNY QUICKLY LEARNED that the trip to the Academy would not be a short one. Leaving home with his designated guide, Donny was informed that the trip would begin with a long car ride to a small designated airport. At this airport they, along with one other recruit and her guide, were to fly to a bigger airport, where they would switch planes and join the rest of the country’s recruits for the final flight to the Academy. Donny did not mind the long trip as he knew it would allow him time to prepare. Being the only student without any powers, he knew he would need a game plan for how to proceed.
Donny planned to use the drive to begin his planning, so he would be ready once he met up with the first student at the airport, but as soon as the drive commenced, his guide announced that the driving portion would be allotted to answering any questions he might have regarding the Academy, or the process he would soon go through. Realizing he needs to know what to expect before he plans how to deal with it, Donny dove right in, asking everything from the number of students accepted to the class load offered. His guide answered all Donny’s questions in detail, gladly telling him all he wanted to know, making sure to focus on important facts, such as the terms for the heroes at the school being Prometheus for mind readers, Hermes for speedsters, and Titans for those with super strength.
As they neared the airport, Donny’s guide asked Donny if there were any important questions he wanted answers to before their time was up.
“Yes, one more,” Donny answered. “My brother Jay is a student at the Academy already – he began last year. Do you happen to know how he has been doing?” Donny realized it was unlikely for his guide to have any information regarding Jay, but on the off chance he had been given any information, knowing he would be picking up Jay’s brother, Donny wanted to know.
The guide paused. It was the first time in the entire trip that he did not immediately jump into a detailed answer. Choosing his words carefully, the guide responded as they parked at the airport.
“I have heard a great deal about your brother Jay. They call him Decathlon now. He is doing…very well there. I think it would be best for you to see for yourself when you arrive.” With the cryptic answer given, they exited the car in silence, leaving Donny’s head swimming with hundreds of possible explanations for this unusual response.
DONNY EXPECTED TO be able to identify the power of his classmate as soon as he saw her, but it was harder to tell than he expected. To this point in his life, Donny had only met three people with special abilities, and they were all Prometheus. Those three all looked normal to Donny, but he expected that mind readers would. He had assumed that when he saw a Hermes or a Titan, they would stand out in some way. Their powers being more physical, he thought there would have to be some physical sign with which to identify them.
When he looked at his new traveling companion, she looked mostly normal, and yet not quite so. Donny could tell that there was strength to her, but her arms looked more lean than large, and he had a hard time imagining that they could be the arms of a Titan. She moved gracefully, yet there was no sign of excessive speed in anything she was doing, so he doubted that she was a Hermes. That left Prometheus. Somehow he could not believe this either, since if she was a Prometheus she would be able to see that his thoughts were on nothing but her, and as she showed no signs of discomfort, Donny gratefully decided she must not be a Prometheus. Could she also have been accepted without powers? he wondered.
Donny debated with himself over how to initiate a conversation, as he was dying to know what she could do, when the problem was solved for him. As soon as the plane had successfully taken off, she turned from the window and asked Donny exactly what he wanted to ask her.
“So what can you do?”
Donny laughed at her bluntness, but he was grateful for it. If she felt comfortable being that direct with him, he knew he could be free to respond in a similar fashion.
Donny opened his mouth to answer, but before he could make a sound, she interrupted. “On second thought, let me guess, it’s more fun that way. You’re a Prometheus, aren’t you?” Her smile showed her certainty of this answer, and Donny could not blame her for reaching this conclusion. It was the most logical.
“Nope, not a Prometheus,” Donny replied, to which she raised her eyebrows in surprise.
“Well, I guess you would be a Hermes then. Interesting, you hide it well.”
“It’s easy to hide, as I am not a Hermes either.”
She turned to him in surprise. “You can’t be a Titan…can you?”
Donny thought about pretending to be offended by this remark, but he decided he did not know her well enough for that yet. “Actually no, I am not a Titan either.”
“I don’t understand… I thought they told me you were going to be
a student at the school as well?”
“I am, but I do not have any special powers,” Donny revealed. “I was accepted based on strategic aptitude.”
“Oh, so you’re brilliant. Interesting, I didn’t realize the school accepted people based on that qualification.”
Donny smiled. He had not thought of it like that before, and he certainly did not consider himself brilliant. “I wouldn’t say that I’m brilliant, I guess I’m just good at figuring out how things work.”
“I’m sure you are more than just good at it if the school is willing to train you to be a hero based on that ability,” she said matter-of-factly. He knew she was right, but he still did not consider himself worthy of the title ‘brilliant’.
“What about you, what can you do?” Donny asked, wanting to change the subject away from his unusual acceptance situation.
“Why don’t you guess?” she said, turning completely towards him now. Donny could see that she was excited to hear what he would choose. His honest answer would be to guess that she had no ability either, but as she seemed surprised by his acceptance, she must have some ability. There must be some clue as to what she can do…something I have overlooked, Donny thought to himself.
Then he saw her hands. Covering her hands was a pair of silver gloves, but they were not the type of gloves one wears for warmth. He could see that the palms and fingers were padded, and they covered her wrists tight, showing that they were supplying support. There is only one reason someone would wear lifting gloves in the middle of the day like this.
“You’re a Titan.”
The girl gave a smirk. “I’m impressed already, usually people guess Prometheus first. What gave me away?”
“I noticed you were wearing lifting gloves. I figured if you wear lifting gloves in the middle of the day like this, you must be used to being asked to lift a lot.”
“Yeah, I like to be prepared, and the gloves are a lot more comfortable than bare handed lifting when the weights get higher.”
“How high can the weight go? I mean, how much weight can you lift before it gets to be too much for you?”
“I don’t know for sure. I usually lift a car when people want a demonstration, but I try not to lift objects that are too heavy. Being the only Titan around, there is nobody who could help if I lost my grip or if the weight got to be too much. That’s one thing I am really excited about for the Academy. With other Titans around, I can test my strength and see just how far I can really go.”
Donny found this utterly amazing. Lifting a car is not too heavy? With people like that at the Academy, I better watch my step. “And here I am proud of myself for being able to bench my weight,” Donny joked.
“Ha, well I’m sure you could find a way to lift a car, using levers and fulcrums, or something like that,” she joked.
“Maybe, but I am still going to be at a disadvantage should the need arise.”
“I do find it amazing that the Academy accepted someone without one of the three known powers,” she mused. “Maybe they are trying to compensate for that second year that has all three.”
Donny could not believe his ears. “Wait, there is a second year who has all three of the abilities? As in, superspeed, superstrength, and mind reading?”
“Yeah, you hadn’t heard? My guide was telling me about him on the drive over. He sounds pretty amazing.”
“Yeah, he certainly does. What do they call him? Did they create a new name for such a hero? They’ve got Prometheus, Titan, and Hermes – what do they call him, Zeus or something?”
“I don’t know, my guide mentioned that they call him Decathlon, but I think that is just a nickname. I think Triathlon would have been more fitting…”
She continued talking, but Donny did not hear anything more. He thought back to the drive over with his guide, and how cryptic he had been when asked about Donny’s brother Jay. I have heard a great deal about your brother Jay. They call him Decathlon now. He is doing very well there, Donny recalled.
Now it made sense why the Academy accepted him. Jay has every ability; a situation that has never happened before. Donny has none, but is the brother of the most powerful hero-in-training ever. Even though heredity has never been found to factor into the development of abilities, this is a new case, and even if there is a slim chance, the Academy has to try.
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 accident 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 ab
out 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 about 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.”
The Games Villains Play (The Academy Trilogy) Page 1