The Games Villains Play (The Academy Trilogy)

by Joshua DeBenedetto

  Jay paused for a moment to think of how to proceed. Finally the truth came out. “Donny, the school isn’t training heroes to protect the world from the villains. They are training tools with which to keep themselves in power.”

  Donny was confused. He had grown up seeing on the news all the group battles between the heroes and the villains, and the heroes were always attributed to have been trained here at the Academy. “But if the heroes aren’t coming from here, where are they coming from?”

  “No Donny, the heroes do come from here. Half the students who graduate from the school are sent out as heroes to defend the earth. But I know now why the villains’ base has never been found, and I know how they are able to keep up with the heroes despite all the training we get. Donny, this school is the heroes’ base, but…it’s the villains’ base as well. The other half of the students are sent out as villains.”

  Donny had to sit down. His whole life…their whole life…they had dreamed of coming to this school and getting trained to be heroes. “But how do they get half the students to become villains? Everyone here hates them, and is training to rid the world of them. It doesn’t add up.”

  “I don’t know, they have some way of controlling them, making them turn bad. I didn’t have time to find that part out. Donny we have to get back, I don’t want them coming after you. I don’t want them to realize you know.”

  “Then why did you tell me?” Donny was not upset that he was told, he was relieved. His question was completely genuine, he merely wanted to know.

  “Donny, I saw across the arena into Michael’s head, I penetrated the mental defenses of two trained spies, but the most difficult mind to get into was yours. You don’t just block, like most do, you deceive, and your fake thoughts are believable. If they question someone that I tell, and that person can’t keep them out of their head, then this information will make them a target. You’re the only one I believe can hold them off. But that is all for nothing if they discover we’re gone, we need to get back.”

  “Jay, you realize they’re going to come after you, right?”

  “Of course I do.”

  Without another word, Jay picked Donny up and dashed back out the window. They landed with a run, and before long Jay was placing Donny back into his bed, and without a word he dashed off again. Donny knew he was in the correct bed, the same bed from which he had been snatched not long ago, but now it felt different. Donny came to this school young, small, and powerless, but the knowledge, the false knowledge, that everyone around were heroes, had kept him feeling secure. He was no longer at the same school that he had agreed to attend, and for the first time, he felt vulnerable.

  DESPITE BEING UNABLE to get any sleep after the middle of the night meeting, Donny refused to get up early. Jay had entrusted him with dangerous information, and the last thing he wanted to do was to show a sign that something was different. He got out of bed, washed, and went to breakfast with Lenny as he had originally planned. After breakfast he attended his classes, got lunch, and went about a normal day. Donny was surprised to see Jay at lunch, eating with his friends normally, untouched by the school. Whatever they will do, they must need time to organize it.

  Donny had called for a second practice that evening, so the group gathered once more at the arena. Donny had a new idea for this practice. It would be suspicious, but he felt like he could talk his way out of any questioning. Besides, his brother needed the help.

  Once everyone had arrived, Donny began. “Alright, yesterday was a good practice, but there was one thing that made the teams uneven. Anyone care to venture a guess as to what that one thing was?”

  “My plans to stop Decathlon didn’t work,” Duke responded with a smile.

  “Well, yes, in a way that is what I was getting at. The teams were a little uneven due to Decathlon playing with so many other strong players. Can anyone think of ways to divide the teams that would be fairer?”

  “There are no fair teams with Decathlon here, whatever team he is on, he will win.”

  That was exactly the response Donny was hoping for. “Ok, then I suppose the fairest we could do would be everyone against Decathlon then.”

  A few laughed, but the laughter quickly ended when they realized he was serious. Jay said nothing. Donny told everyone to get ready, then he called Duke and Flash over to himself. Duke started before Donny could get a word in.

  “I’m not so sure this is a good idea, your brother seemed to have had a tough practice yesterday. Don’t you think we should give him a day or two to recover?”

  “I’m glad for your concern, but he’s fine. This will help.”

  “Ok, but this is a little bit overkill. I don’t see how this will get us ready for the simulation games.”

  I’m not preparing him for the simulation games anymore. Donny thought to himself, disguising his thoughts so Duke would not detect them. With the matter settled, Donny began his instructions. “Halfway around on the right side of the arena is a storage room. Inside are the paintball guns that they sometimes use in the games. This game will consist of your team getting all the guns, and going after Decathlon. If you can hit him, you win.”

  Duke paused to see if Donny had any further instructions, so Donny took that moment to turn and walk away briskly. He did not want any more questions or comments about the exercise. He then went to Jay, and together they began their walk around to the other side of the arena. Donny wanted to talk to him about the previous night, but he realized that if Jay did not initiate conversation, the spies were probably back on him. Finally Jay opened his mouth to speak, but it was not what Donny was hoping for.

  “So what is the exercise going to be today? This would surely make an interesting capture the flag event.”

  “It won’t be capture the flag today, and I’m actually not going to tell you when the event will be.”

  “How am I to have any chance if I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do?”

  “You’ll learn quickly enough.”

  The conversation ended as quickly as it had begun, and they reached the far side without another word.

  Once again, Donny sat out of the game and watched. This game was meant to do two things; for one thing it was to prepare Jay for anything. With the information Jay found, they were both sure something would be coming after him. The exercise was also for Donny’s sake. He wanted to see what Duke and Flash would come up with to stop Jay. Every plan that they came up with would be one more attempt that they could be ready for.

  In the back of the storage closet Donny had found a ladder leading up to a catwalk above the playing area of the arena. From there he could watch the events unfold without interfering. He stayed above Jay first, watching him enter and look about. For a moment Donny felt like maybe he was doing the wrong thing, segregating his brother from the team. Donny wanted them both to be prepared, but he did not know what it was they should be prepared for. As he watched his brother, he longed for the days when they were younger, playing games in the yard, imagining that they were heroes. The dream was much nicer back then, when the villains really were villains, and their enemies were only a threat when they could see them.

  The game did not last very long. A few people showed up to Jay’s right, and Jay saw them immediately. Then the shot came, hitting Jay from the left. The sneak attack was completely successful, and everyone seemed surprised by its success.

  “Good, now let’s try it again, this time with Jay being aware that he is a target. Go back to your entrance, switch to a different paint color, when you’re ready, flicker the lights to show it’s begun, and start back again.”

  They did as he said, moving back across the arena towards the far entrance. Jay looked up at Donny with a smirk. He was relieved to see that his brother was not taking this poorly. In fact, it looked like this might actually be cheering Jay up a little.

  After a time the lights flickered, but this time Jay did not stand around waiting, but dashed off in the direction of the other entra
nce. He was considerably slower than a normal Hermes, but he was still considerably faster than Donny. Donny ran to catch up, making sure to be careful on the catwalk, but not wanting to miss the event. Jay was quickly out of sight, and by the time Donny got close enough to see the group, they were all walking around casually. Whatever took place was clearly over.

  Donny called down to them as soon as he was close enough. “Hey! What happened? I missed it!”

  It was Duke who answered. “I got him, we won.”

  Donny looked around at all the people now wearing painted clothing. Somehow Jay must have gotten his hands on a weapon and opened fire. “Won is a loose term, looks like you lost a lot of your teammates before bringing him down.”

  Donny heard some mumblings that sounded like laughter. He had not meant it to be a joke, but it was alright that they did not take it as seriously yet. To them this is still just a game.

  Donny ran the exercise a few more times, changing it a little each time to make it interesting. After two hours of paint balls flying, Donny was disappointed to find that Jay had never been able to beat the whole group on his own. He knew he should not be surprised, Jay was outnumbered 34 to 1. But Donny could only imagine the odds his brother could face at any moment.

  That moment came sooner than Donny had hoped. As the group stood around just after the finish of one game, changing the paint color in their weapons once again, the door swung open and half a dozen of the school’s faculty and staff walked in. At first Donny did not recognize any of them, but then he noticed that one of them was the man who had come to test Jay at their house, then picked him up to go to the school. It was he who spoke.

  “I need everyone to go back to your dorm rooms immediately, you will all be informed of the situation when you arrive. Do not stop anywhere else along the way, the school is in a state of emergency.”

  After a moment where every student looked around at each other, they began filing out the door. Donny could tell that many of the new visitors were looking directly at Jay. He was actually surprised that his classmates were not noticing this as they paced by the group. Jay seemed to understand the situation, and was not moving. He stood there, covered in a variety of paints, staring right back at them.

  When the other students had all gone, one of the group went through the door and shut it behind himself. Donny was relieved to find that they did not know he was there above them, and he made sure not to move, in fear that he might make a noise and reveal himself. Donny suddenly remembered the man’s name; it was Captain Williams.

  Captain Williams broke the staring contest first. “Decathlon, you are certainly a force to be reckoned with, and we need your help.”

  Donny was too far away to tell for sure, but it looked like Jay smiled at this. His response sounded confident.

  “Where are my friends?”

  “They are going back to their dorm rooms. All the students were instructed to do so, it is the safest place for them.”

  “I mean the two friends who had kept such good track of me over these past two years.”

  Captain Williams gave a smile now. “They are prepping for battle.”

  Donny could see that the two were playing a game with each other, but he was not sure what was true and what was false. He knew what Jay meant when he spoke of his two friends, but what battle?

  “What are you asking of me?” Jay questioned him, cutting to the chase.

  “We are under attack. A group of villains have arrived at the school, and we need all the help we can get fending them off.”

  “Why don’t you just ask them to stop?” This was not so much a question as a statement, and Donny knew what it meant.

  “Sometimes, no matter how careful we are, a situation finds a way of getting out of hand.” Captain William’s smile now faded, and he took a few steps towards Jay. He spoke quieter, as if he were speaking a secret, but with no other noise around to get in the way, Donny was still able to make out the conversation. “I am well aware of what you have discovered. I am also well aware that you do not trust me, or anyone else at this school anymore. That does not change the fact of what is going on. The villains are getting wise, and a large group are now coming after this school. You are entitled to blame us for this if it would please you, but sometimes you must join one enemy in order to stop a greater one.”

  Donny wanted to yell to his brother, to tell him not to trust them, no matter what they say. He wanted to, but instead he kept quiet.

  “There are many students at this school who are not ready for what is coming our way. Do you really want to let them learn the hard way?” Captain Williams asked Jay.

  Jay walked up to Captain Williams until he was right up to his face. Donny could barely hear the words, but it sounded like Jay said nothing more than “Let’s go.” Donny saw Jay continue walking past the captain towards the door. When he reached it, he made one final statement. “I will do this under one condition. I want you to keep my brother out of this. Whatever happens to me happens, but I want my brother to stay out of it.”

  Donny felt these words like a sting to his heart. He knew what Jay had said was not meant for Captain Williams and those who had come to bring him to battle, but for Donny. Jay was telling him to let this happen.

  Donny watched them leave the arena, then immediately turned and ran down the catwalk. He got to the stairs and nearly tripped trying to make his way down them quickly. He ran out of the storage closet, around the side of the arena, and finally reached the front door where his brother had left with Captain Williams’ group for battle. He could not see them anywhere. Donny fell to his knees and wept.

  CHAPTER 6

  THEY MOVED AT a quick pace. Jay looked around at the people Captain Williams had brought with him. Not one of them were a reader. Jay had a million predictions as to why that could be, but no way of narrowing the possibilities. Donny could figure it out. Jay thought to himself. Donny would know why he didn’t bring readers along.

  One thing Jay did know, it was a good thing they did not bring a reader, as the reader would easily have picked up on Donny’s mental images. Jay knew his brother was brilliant, and in two short days Jay had realized Donny had it in him to lead a group such as the one he had assembled for the simulation team. Donny could take care of himself, yet Jay feared for him. Even as Jay ran off to battle, a battle that he knew neither side wanted him walking away from, his only fear was that Donny would get into trouble and he would not be there to help.

  They brought Jay into the school’s infirmary, where there were two men waiting. Jay could see at once who they were. He had never before seen their faces, except through each other’s eyes the day before in the arena. It was their mental images that allowed him to so easily identify them. It was a little different from what he was used to, because they were no longer trying to pry into his mind, but rather had thoughts and fears of their own. Still, there was a familiarity within them that helped put Jay at ease. I suppose you can’t spend two years in each other’s heads without forming some sort of bond, Jay thought to himself. The two men smiled, showing they had inadvertently heard the thought.

  “Mr. Decathlon, we need to prep you for battle.”

  “It’s not Mr. Decathlon, just Decathlon. So what is the plan, are you going to debrief me on the situation?”

  “No sir, the situation is simple, the villains are attacking the school. We just need to give you a quick shot. This will allow us to monitor your vitals and get you proper help should we see any problems.”

  “No.”

  Jay said the word before even thinking over the issue. After it was said, however, he would stick by the decision. For better or worse he trusted these two, but he did not trust the people who employed them, nor did he trust what would be placed inside of him.

  “Sir…I mean, Decathlon. This is very important, it can make the difference between life or death out there.”

  “I said no. You guys know what I know, you watched as I pulled the information
from your heads. They want to monitor me, yes, but it’s not my vitals they are interested in. I am a threat, you both think so, and you have reported so. If you are genuinely concerned for my wellbeing, then I appreciate that concern, but I will take care of my own vitals.”

  Please, Jay, we want to help you.

  I can see that, and I believe you are genuine.

  Then why won’t you take this?

  Because this mind is my own, and I intent to keep it.

  The two spies looked at each other with sad faces. They both knew something that they would not…could not… tell Jay.

  “Very well. We wish you the best of luck in your battle.”

  Jay could see this was not meant to be encouragement, as much as it was all that could be said to keep them from saying more. Whether they wanted to or not, as they wished him luck, that same sentence could be seen coming through as a mental image. Only it was a little different, in that there was a stress on the word “your”.

  The spies tapped on the door of the room, and it was opened from the outside. It was Captain Williams. He looked at them, and they shook their heads. Captain Williams gave a single nod, and motioned for Jay to follow him.

  “They are currently all staying together, according to our sensors,” Captain Williams began. “But they are close enough now that the Hermes could break away and be here in moments.”

  They walked around to an open space, where the school grounds bordered the desert. Jay could see a few people there waiting. He was a little surprised to see that many of the teachers were not there.

  “The rest will be here shortly,” Captain Williams stated. He could not read minds, but he was ready with the answers nevertheless.

  “Who is leading the group? Who should I be getting orders from?”

  “That would be me,” Captain Williams replied. “They are getting too close, we cannot wait for the other teachers. Decathlon, now is your moment, we need you to go stop their motion until the rest arrive.”