Chapter 5: Let the Games Begin
"Games are nothing but the training exercises we have developed to help us grow and mature. Therefore, kids need games to survive."
-Todd Scull-English Teacher
The outdoor stadium was incredible. It was a much larger field then any school he had been to, but with slight changes. There was a track and everything, and in the middle was a large field, but there were what looked like hockey walls, the kind with the tall plastic guard on top of a small wall, to protect the spectators, but allow viewing into the arena. Inside it looked like an abandoned street; complete with benches, cans, you name it. There were even small sheds, and really did give the impression of part of a street. In the middle was a metal circular structure, with a large hole in the middle. In that, there were continuously rotating circular teeth, not something one wants to be in. From the circular corners came 4 poles, which curved and met at the center. This was hooked up to a big box, which had a wire coming from it, and a dummy citizen attached to it. Kevin was informed that if fact this whole thing is usually packed under the field, for training and stuff, but Kevin was still amazed at the wonder he saw before him. Together the whole group pulled Kevin and his freshman friends to the front, instead of the back, where most went to stay invisible for a bit, being that this was their first year. Almost as soon as they sat, Chris grabbed Kevin's shoulder and pointed up at a guy in the back of the stands.
"That's him, the Shadow guy!"
Kevin turned to see a Hispanic guy wearing a black bandana, a white sleeveless shirt, dark blue jeans, a chain necklace, and a cut-off black glove on his right hand. He had shoulder length hair, which was black with white highlights, but the most interesting things were his eyes. Chris was right: his right eye was black, while the left was white. And they were completely filled, not just the irises. In fact, Kevin couldn't see from that distance whether or not he had irises. The kid was presently sitting alone; occupying his time with making other people's shadows push them, especially if they tried to sit near him. Chris was yelling to get his attention, and after a while he looked straight at him, before shaking his head and returning to his game. After a while he gave up, and returned to his seat. "Sorry Kevin, I don't know what's his problem."
Kevin just rolled his eyes, and returned to watch the stadium. Kevin, Layla, Will, Maj, and Marina sat on the first bench, while Chris, Richard, Payla, Warren, and Zach sat behind them. Around them other people sat, the sophomores, juniors and senior admiring the Stronghold group, and the freshman admiring them and Kevin. As Kevin started to look more uncomfortable, Warren leaned in. "Yeah, trust me, your gonna hate it."
Soon comets came swooshing into the field, and Powers appeared at a podium, which Kevin could swear wasn't there before.
"Good Afternoon, students, and welcome back, or to you new freshmen, welcome to another year of super learning. As tradition, the remainder of the day will be with games of Save the Citizen. For new freshman, this is how it works…" As Powers started to explain the game, Kevin turned to one of the freshman who was at power placement: the ice dude.
"Hey, we weren't able to really meet last time, I'm Kevin Cane."
The kid turned back to Kevin. "Oh, hi, Haven Mercer."
"What are those dog tags for?"
"My father's Air Force tags."
"Oh my God, I'm sorry to hear that."
"Hear what? He's alive."
"What?"
"He was in it for four years, then retired to help my mom."
"So, who are your parents?"
"Why you looking for some?" he sneered, before shaking his head. "I mean, my mom is Ice Storm, which is where this comes in, while my dad is, well, just a dummy on a wire," he said, glancing at the 'citizen'. Kevin turned back, before being tapped by Haven.
"By the way, who is that guy you were talking to before, the one with the black and red hair?"
"Warren Peace, why?"
"Oh, nothing, just looking for another person to chain to my bed…" he said, before turning away for a second. "Just kidding, is that his sister?"
Kevin smiled. "No, she's not."
"She's not?" he said, looking rather disappointed.
"Nah, that's his, well, I think she's his friend, not sure though."
Once again his spirits were lifted. "Oh, that's cool!"
Kevin turned back to Powers. "…and save it from the shredders, they win. Now I must explain that the reason we are out here, which is simple. An incident occurred in the gym during power placement, and now the gym has to be nearly rebuilt. I must warn you of the dangers of unleashing your abilities without the proper control. Don't go trying anything by yourself, and if you discovered new abilities, tell your parents or a teacher here. Its ok to have an ability that isn't so impressive, but don't try to outdo it. No one shall be pressured to perform pass their own capabilities, and control." Everyone noted the slight direction towards Boomer, whose sneer vanished. "Now, remember that tomorrow classes will begin, and you shall receive you schedule at home. Now let the game begin, and a reminder that freshmen are not allowed to play today," she said, turning to face Boomer. There were a couple "Awe's" in the crowd, but Kevin understood. If she didn't tell Boomer, he might have tried a round two with Kevin. Soon enough Powers stepped back, and comets once again zoomed away, leaving Boomer to the whole school.
"Ok, listen up, there is no fooling, horseplay, booing, or any type of foul conduct. First off, Team Stronghold still has been unbeatable, and most likely will stay that way, but there will not be any uses of power to hinder them from the stands, got me? Ok, Stronghold, you and your team can get ready. First off, lets have Silverstein, Frodan, Lemoria, Heiman, Garcia, and Brown, you the first team up, go suit." As a group in the stands came down, Will took Layla's hand, and Warren, Ethan, Zach and Maj followed them down. Marina slid down next to Kevin, and he turned to her.
"Why aren't you going down there with them?"
"So far, Boomer has said only teams of six, and well, I really don't know much about my power, with the fire and all, so I don't know how much help I can be."
"That's ok. Lets watch them kick some ass."
Boomer sat up on a high chair, overlooking the field, as the two teams were ready to go. "Stronghold, I'm assuming hero?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Ok, you have 3 minutes, GO!"
Immediately, Warren ignited, Zach glowed, and the rest took a pose, while Layla moved to the back. On the other side, one guy, obviously a leader, seemed to grow a silver casing, another guy squatted down, a girl started creating a metallic looking weapon, another guy shot a staff from his hand, and the other two struck a pose. Will nodded to Ethan and Warren, and then they went into action. Layla plucked a blade of grass, and slowly it grew to encase her, giving her a suit. She then bent down to the ground and watched the fight take place. Will flew and ran into the silver dude, and they immediately started bashing each other. Kevin then noticed the backs of the suits had their last name, and started making note of the game. The silver dude, although covered in silver, had the name Silverman on the back, while the crouching guy was Frodan. Frodan finally got up, and shot up about 10 feet in the air, before landing and lashing his super long tongue out at people. Layla responded by making vines shoot out and deflect his tongue from her friends. Warren was facing the girl, Lemoria, who was deflecting his fireballs with a large, flat metal object, almost like a sword. Maj ran and turned into a guinea pig, running towards the center, with Layla helping by creating a root shield over her as she ran. Brown noticed and started spitting on the shield, which started to burn away with acid after contact. Maj would luckily be gone by then. Zach ended up just holding Garcia back, as he shot clouds of smoke to try to lose him, Zach would shine through. That left Heiman with Ethan, who was busily avoiding not only his staff, but also the shots of large splinters at him. Suddenly, Ethan was hit with the staff and thrown back to the other side of the field. He got up and shook himself off, and then struck another pose at Heiman, giving a Matrix 'come and get it' signal. Heiman ran at him, at full speed, and Ethan did the same. It seemed that Ethan wouldn't have a chance till he leaned back and slid baseball style, where he melted into a puddle. Heiman had no time to stop and ran right into the puddle, slipping and sliding and his back into Layla's waiting trap of vines and roots, constricting him to prevent a splinter attack. One down, five to go. Ethan turned to take on Frodan, still trying to lash his tongue. Ethan ran towards him, and melted to avoid a tongue shot. The puddle slid till it was behind Frodan, and Ethan returned to kick him in the back and send him down. Layla sent a vine to wrap him to the floor, and Ethan used part of the vine to tie his tongue behind his body. Now it was just Garcia, Silverman, Brown, and Lemoria. After finding out that his fireball just washed over him, Warren left Silverman to Will, and turned to fire a ball at Garcia. Zach saw the ball, and flipped back, as Garcia sent another cloud out. The cloud ignited, singing Garcia and throwing him back, making it half of the opposing team incapacitated. Brown seemed unstoppable, since anyone close to him could get burned. Warren snarled at Will and yelled about Brown, whereas Will responded by pulling Silverman into the air and throwing him down to Brown. His silver casing hit Brown in the head, knocking him unconscious. Lemoria started shooting metal stars at Will, who dodged them all, and went back to fighting Silverman. Zach moved up behind Lemoria, who now officially had a sword that she was using against Warren, and Zach started to glow at full force. The glint from the reflection in the sword blinded her momentarily, and Warren took that time to send a fireball her way and take her out. Layla sent another volley of vines to secure her, and the amount of power she was using started to affect her, as her eyes began to glow green and her hair started to blow out. Will didn't seem to notice, or already knew, and began to finish off Silverman. Since he could deflect fire, and glowing would hurt the team, Warren and Zack went to stand by for Will. Ethan ran under and turned into a puddle, which Silverman promptly slipped in. Will gave a large punch to his chest, causing him to return to normal, while Layla secured him. Maj chewed through the rope, and Will flew into the dummy, saving it from the shredders, and winning the game. Boomer screamed, "TIME!" and the game ended. Kevin looked at a scoreboard and looked at the time. 1:24. They did it with a minute and a half to spare. Kevin couldn't help but clap; this was an amazing battle.
As more games went on, Kevin started to fiddle with his powers, this time creating lightning bolts between his hands. He could only watch so many games a day without getting bored. Halfway through the third game of Kevin doing this, his bolt suddenly shot out o his hand behind him, to the hand of a young dark skinned girl. She had green eyes, and red hair in a full-length braid. As his bolt played in her hands, it turned red, until finally vanishing into her hand. She was smiling. "Hi, I'm Reginna Northwyn. You're Kevin, right?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Nice electricity."
"What? No, that was lightning. I mean, well, yeah."
"Well, ok, have fun with your lightning."
Kevin turned back, only to be poked by another girl. "Don't mind her, I recently met her as well." There next to Kevin, it looked like Maj next to him, except she was down there.
"Wait, are you-"
"Magenta's sister? No, I'm her brother, moron."
Kevin had a look of confusion on his face.
"My God your think, I'm her cousin, Alecto Leave-me-alone-or-I'll-kick-your-ass." And with that, she got up and walked off. Leaving Kevin alone with the rest of his friends.
Before long, Boomer called the end of the game, and told everyone to pack up. Will and his group returned to the bench, all of them tired. As soon as the signal was given, everyone filed out to the busses. Kevin was almost relieved that it was the end of the day, but it wasn't over. He would soon be meeting the most powerful superheroes the world has ever known. He was going to meet the Commander, and Jetstream.