“What you mean is, you saw nothing happen. He spent far too long standing at the door before the cameras outside had picked him up. I checked over the two cameras as well, and the recordings from the outside camera had been tampered with. The recorded times show a part of the recording that was deleted and filled in by a duplicate of a time when nothing was going on. The films had been tampered with.”
“You think someone contacted the boy?”
“I’m fairly certain of it. There are a few faculty members I would like you to keep an eye on.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I also want you to set the games against the younger brother’s team. If he has been contacted, he may yet be a threat. Make sure he suffers a crushing defeat. We need him to feel out of his league.”
“Yes, sir.”
“One more thing. The friend, was he ever found?”
“No, sir. There is considerable evidence showing that he went off into the desert, but we lost his trail after a short time. We flew over a wider area then he possibly could have traveled, and found nothing. It is likely that he perished in the desert somewhere, and even if he has not, there is nothing for him to find out there.”
“Good.”
SATURDAY CAME, AND the simulation games began. Donny had told his team to be ready for a practice that evening, so they could begin final preparations as soon as they got word as to who their opponent would be. Since they could no longer practice in the arena, Donny had reserved a practice room for that night and the next afternoon. The white versus brown game was taking place that afternoon, and they would be facing the winner the following night.
Black versus orange had faced off already that morning, with the outcome as expected. The orange team was ranked third, and they had beaten the black team, who had been ranked sixth. The white and brown teams were competing right now, and Donny was just waiting to receive word as to who the victor would be. After two practices focusing on each of the two teams, they had some ideas for each one, but Donny felt much better about his chances for the white team. The white team was ranked fifth and the brown team fourth, so they were close in rankings, however the way the white team was composed just seemed to open up more options for Donny. They had found many good strategies to use against white team, but he felt their brown team strategies were a little lacking.
This thought was still lingering in Donny’s head when Duke came around the corner with the verdict. “It’s brown team.”
Of course it is, Donny thought. He made no attempt to hide this thought from Duke.
“I have a friend who was on the white team, and we’re going to the dining hall in a few minutes to get some food. He’s agreed to tell me all about the match. I should have good details ready in an hour and a half or so.”
“Good, I’ll spread word that practice starts in two hours then. I’ll go down to the practice rooms early to start making plans. Meet me there as soon as you finish with your dinner meeting, so we can discuss how to progress.”
Duke nodded in confirmation, and the two of them went on their ways. Donny was not hungry, so he decided to have his dinner after that evening’s practice. Instead, he quickly spread word to his team, and then went directly to the practice room, and began to think. Brown team it is then. I suppose we’ll need to be ready for probing minds and fast feet. Donny continued to brainstorm different possibilities for their match, when he heard the door to the room open. He was surprised that Duke’s meeting had been so short, but when he looked up, he realized it was not Duke who was coming in. Instead, the whole Brown team was walking through the door, led by their leader, a Prometheus nicknamed Sly.
“Hey Sly, we have this room reserved tonight. My team should be here soon.” This was not completely true, as there was still over an hour until his practice was due to start. Even so, Donny did have the room reserved already, so the brown team had no business there.
“You must be mistaken little Napoleon, we have this room reserved tonight. Tonight and all of tomorrow.”
It was clear to Donny that this was not just an accident, as there would be no reason for Sly to bring up a reservation for the next day if he did not already know that Donny had it reserved. Donny wanted to argue, but there were 21 students facing him, and he knew the odds were not in his favor.
“Ok, well I guess they double booked the room then. We’ll have to share.” Donny would have preferred a room of their own, but realistically, it would help them considerably to be able to see their opponent in action before the match.
“Nice try, but there will be no sharing. We have this room reserved, and you are going to leave.”
Donny tried to think fast of something he could do, but he knew there was no options available to him that involved staying in the practice room. I’ll have to go get the practice room manager, and prove that we have the room reserved.
Donny left the room, with Sly walking slightly behind him the whole way out with a big smirk on his face. I’ll wipe that smirk off your face soon enough. Donny thought to himself.
When he got to the professor’s office who served as the practice room manager, Donny was surprised to find that this was not just a game that Sly was playing on his own.
“I’m sorry Donny, but I have you down as reserving practice room 17, not 14.”
Strange, Donny thought, I was sure I had reserved 14.
Walking back down to the practice rooms, he found room 17, all the way down the end of the hallway. On the door was a sign that read ‘Under Construction: Out of Order’. The windows were covered, and the door was locked. Donny had walked down this hall just the day before, and none of the rooms were under construction.
“I can’t be scheduled for room 17, it’s under construction,” Donny told the professor when he arrived back at the office.
“I’m sorry, but I have you down for room 17, and none of the other rooms are available.”
“None? How can 16 rooms be booked, when there are only 10 simulation games teams this year? The teams aren’t allowed to book more than one room, and I thought the rooms were set aside for team practices during the games.” Donny was struggling to keep his cool.
“It is true that none of the other students can book the rooms during the games, but with the recent villain attack, the administration has decided to hold their own practices for faculty in those rooms. They reserved seven of the rooms for faculty training, and the other nine are all reserved by simulation games teams.”
“When I came to reserve a room, you told me room 14 was open, and I saw on the reservation sheet that it was. I am being cheated out of a room.”
The professor, who had seemed apologetic up until this point, now stood up. “Are you accusing me of something boy?”
Donny realized he needed to watch himself. If he was not careful, he could lose more than his practice room. “No sir, I am not accusing you. I am just certain that I had signed up for room 14, and somebody, I’m sure not you but somebody, changed the sheet in order to take that room away from me.”
“Whatever the case, I have to follow the sheet, and the sheet says you don’t have a room. You’ll have to find somewhere else to practice.”
CHAPTER 1 1
DONNY WAS FURIOUS. His team needed to practice, but somehow the rooms ended up reserved by the administration, and his team was being left out. Black, white, and gold teams, who had all been eliminated that day, somehow were being allowed to reserve rooms that night and the next day. Donny went back to the practice rooms, but half the rooms were occupied, and the other half were locked.
Donny walked down to the dining hall to get dinner and think. Duke, having just finished his meeting, went over and joined Donny. Donny quickly recounted to Duke all that had just happened.
“That’s unacceptable. We have to tell someone.”
“Who could we tell Duke? The administration are the ones who reserved all the rooms and blocked us out.”
Duke thought for a moment, and then got an idea. “I’
ll be right back,” he said, and then ran out of the dining hall. He returned a short while later with his friend who he had been dining with.
“You said all nine of the other teams had a room reserved, which means the white team did as well. Let’s use theirs,” Duke said.
“Would that be alright?” Donny asked the boy.
“Are you kidding? The brown team not only beat us, they rubbed it in our faces after the match. We’d love to help you beat them if it’s possible.”
They went down to the practice room manager’s office, and Donny and Duke waited outside as Duke’s friend went in to get the room key. He came out after a short time, keyless.
“He was skeptical at first, but being unable to find a reason to keep our reserved room from us, he said he’ll give us the key if the captain comes to get it. I know where she’ll be, I’ll go get her.”
“Great, Duke, you can go with your friend. It’s getting close to practice time, so I’ll go wait in the practice room hallway to let the team know of the change of plans as they arrive.”
Donny went back to the hall and waited, and his team quickly began arriving. Not long after practice had been scheduled to start, Donny saw Duke round the corner, followed by his friend and the white team captain. Donny could see the white team captain was torn over this, and did not like helping Donny, but she nevertheless handed Donny the key. “I’m only doing this because I know you can’t win anyway,” she said before letting go of the key. “I never wanted you to win, but I want Sly to win even less. For that reason alone, I hope you win tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” Donny replied, and before the words were fully out of his mouth she had turned around and was walking quickly away down the hall.
Since the same room was reserved for the white team through the night and through the next day, Donny did not return the key when they were done that night, and they used the same room the following day. The first thing Donny did was to name the players he had selected to face off in the first game. He wished he could have used them all, but since they could only have a total of 21 students compete, he had to make a selection. Donny had them run many situations, all based on the simulations they had run in practice, but now including the knowledge of whom their enemy would be. They went over how they would work in each situation. They went over how to stop a Hermes, and how to throw off a Prometheus. The techniques were far from perfected, but at least there was a start. Donny wished they could have had much more time to prepare, but soon enough he found that they had run out of time. The game would be starting soon.
When it was time for them to return the key, Donny had one of his players put on a white shirt before going to return the key. Donny was afraid the professor would notice the scam, but when his player returned, Donny was informed that there were no problems.
Donny allowed them all to go off and warm up in their own way, and told them to meet back at the arena in 20 minutes. The game would start in 30.
SIXTY SECONDS UNTIL game time.
Donny felt a little nauseous. He desperately hoped his team was ready for this. The other teams were fighting for glory, but Donny was fighting for something much more; for a chance to help his brother.
30 seconds.
He did not know how, but winning the games would help his informer to save his brother. He needed to be able to do that.
10 seconds.
Donny’s hand was on the door’s handle, waiting for it to unlock.
3…
2…
1…
Click…
Donny threw the door open and ran to the table containing the directions for the game. He scanned the directions quickly, and then took a brief look around. The set up was similar to that of a desert, except without wind or heat, making it more of a sandy plain. There were also rock formations scattered all around. The equipment they were given contained two metal detectors, six shovels, a length of rope, a pocket knife, and a map. Donny glanced at the map, then cut off a length of rope, tied the map and game directions to a nearby rock, and handed it to Lenny. “Lenny, do you think you can throw this onto the catwalk?”
Lenny looked at the package, then up at the catwalk. “Yes,” he responded.
While Lenny began throwing the rock up at the catwalk in the hopes of getting it to land up there, Donny turned to the rest of his team. They were all waiting anxiously to know what they were supposed to do.
“Ok, all Prometheus, go out and find members of the other team. Try to search their minds for a rock formation, and if possible a map image. Do not trust anything from the minds of Sly, Glass, or Mirage; focus on the younger members. Titans, go find a rock formation that looks like a big plus sign. Guard that rock formation, and make sure the other team does not do any digging at or around that formation. You four Hermes, go out in teams of two, one with a metal detector, and one without. Check at each rock formation, and if you find something, look up at the ceiling to know where you are, and then come find me. I will stay under the center north-south catwalk at all times, so run up and down that to find me. The rest of the Hermes, go out and try to find their directions sheet and/or a map. It will probably be held on one of them. Also try to steal metal detectors and shovels. If you can stop their searching, it would be a major advantage for us.”
“What is our goal?” It was Flash who asked.
“Our goal is to win. You have your assignments, now get to it.”
Each group ran off in their designated direction. Donny could tell they were not happy with his answer, but Donny could not help that.
“You’re sending them out blind?” Duke asked after the rest of the team had left.
“Sorry Duke, but I’m sending you out blind too. This is a rare situation where it is better if you didn’t know what was going on.”
Duke gave a skeptical look, but apparently decided to keep trusting Donny, as he soon ran off into the arena himself.
Donny began to run down the center of the arena, making sure to stay under the center catwalk, but also scanning the area around him at the different rock formations. He was searching for one in particular, but as he ran and ran, the formation he wanted to find would not show up.
Before Donny could find what he was looking for, the brown team found him. Like a flash, the Hermes popped out of nowhere and knocked Donny to the ground. He looked up and saw one coming at him. He got ready to try a Hermes disabling technique, but at the last moment the Hermes veered off to the right, and Donny felt his feet get swiped out from behind. The Hermes he saw had been a distraction, and the other used the opportunity to grab Donny’s feet and quickly rap them up. Before Donny could counter, his arms were tied to his sides as well, and he was helpless. The Hermes pair called out, and a group of Prometheus quickly arrived, with Sly at their head.
Sly came right up to Donny and brought his face down until they were an inch apart. “You’re out of your league, little Napoleon. Why don’t you just tell me where your orb is, and save yourself a lot of trouble?”
Donny would not say anything. This only seemed to make Sly smile even wider. “Very well runt, I guess we’ll have to do this the fun way.”
Sly signaled to the other Prometheus, and they formed a circle around Donny. The two Hermes remained on either side to hold Donny in place, and the Prometheus all began probing Donny’s mind. Donny had expected that he would need to fend off the intrusions of some Prometheus, but he had not expected to have so many going at him so early on. It was not long before one of them called out with what he saw.
“I got it! It’s under a rock formation that looks like a plus sign.”
Most of the Prometheus got ready to run off, but Sly stopped them, never moving his gaze from Donny’s. “Wait, Glass and Mirage are both in Advanced Mind Distortion with this kid, and they both say he’s been doing well in there. If we see that it’s under a plus sign, we can be sure that is one place where it certainly is not.”
The Prometheus who had called out turned red in the face.
“Sly, I am not an idiot; I know the difference between a distortion and a legitimate read.”
“Keep probing, all of you. Go as deep as you can, then go further. I want you to pull everything out of this kids head. Once we’ve learned all this runts deep, dark secrets, then I’ll be satisfied with the rock formation we find in there.”
Donny did his best to look calm, but he was dreading this whole situation. Donny did not want them to see the real rock formation their orb was hidden under, but if they discovered the secrets he held in his mind, the results would be catastrophic. There was more than a simulation game at stake here. If they learned the truth about Jay, and about Donny’s secret informer, the school would surely find out about it.
Donny struggled to bury his thoughts deep. He could see them all focusing on him, staring him down. Some began walking closer, trying to get a little more. As hard as Donny tried, he began to feel his thoughts rising to the surface of his mind. It was not the rock formation that was coming out, however, it was his memory that he had seen from the catwalk. It was the burning message that had first told Donny that Jay was alive. Donny felt sweat pouring down his face as panic began to set in. I need to do something, or they will get it all, Donny thought. He knew this thought would soon have been seen; soon there would be very little they could not see. Donny closed his eyes tightly, and concentrated hard.
Crash!!!
Donny heard the screams of a few Prometheus, the most notable of which came from Sly. He opened his eyes, and could see that a few of the Prometheus around Sly were on the ground, some of them rubbing their eyes. The rest of the Prometheus circle were backing away, looking up at the ceiling.
“WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT!!” Sly exclaimed.
“That was a warning,” Donny responded.
“What the heck was what?” One of the Hermes asked who was still holding Donny. Neither of they were affected by what just took place.
“The bolt of lightning! Where did it come from?” Sly exclaimed, looking frantically from the ceiling to Donny and back again.
The Games Villains Play (The Academy Trilogy) Page 11