Zolok

The New Champ

Charter 8: The New Champ

After learning the secrets of James, the bond between James and his friend grew even stronger. Danny was frequenting James’ house more than usual. They did most things together and spent more time as Danny felt more comfortable and protected knowing what his friend could do.

It was a lovely day, the day for the second training session in preparations for the tournaments and Mr. Bryson wanted to see this kid for himself, just as he had told Mr. Max. After his usual opening remarks and instructions, Mr. Bryson went to be with Mr. Max for the day’s training.

“I trust you lads had a wonderful night and today we are so glad to welcome Mr. Bryson in our midst as he’ll be joining us for today’s training session. We all should put forth our best effort and make him proud.” Mr. Max said as he addressed his students. Surprisingly, Danny left his teammates and decided to watch the practice race. He was in love with seeing what James could do, taking the joy of being the only one who knew what James was and he took special pride in that.

“Where are Jack and Allison? I specifically asked someone to tell him to get here today and why is he absent?” Mr. Max asked but no one replied.

“The mayor’s son?” Mr. Bryson asked Mr Max.

“Yes, he’s the one we rely on if we’re having any hopes of participating in the competitions.” Mr. Max explained. Just as they were still discussing about the situation, Jack and Allison pulled up in his $400,000 luxury Lamborghini Aventador Spyder. All attention was drawn to him as he drove in and parked his car. As they got out, they received the shock of their lives when they saw James standing on his feet. They were about to get back into the car before Mr. Bryson stopped them and asked them to get dressed for the race.

“I don’t understand what’s going on but I’m pretty sure I hit you 4 times in the back and no one can survive that. Don’t ever think I’m scared of you.” Jack said as he came closer to James who pretended he wasn’t hearing anything he said.

“Hey Dickhead! I’m talking to you! I thought I specifically warned you to stay off the school and the training. You wanna show me you’re a tough guy huh? I’m gonna show you the stuff I’m made of. You better watch your back.” Jack kept talking as he attempted to instill fear into James' mind but he had no more fear factor in him. He killed every fear in him the night his mother told him who he was and he decided he was going to be the savior rather than the destroyer.

“Is there a problem, Jack Dwayne?” Mr. Bryson asked as he noticed he had been speaking to James with an angry expression since he stepped in.

“No sir!” Jack replied.

“Then, get your asses on the line immediately!” Mr. Bryson commanded him.

“Now, we’re going to start with a relay race. Divide yourselves in four separate groups of four persons each and stand in your positions. We’re running a 400-metre relay.” Mr. Max said as they all shared themselves in four different groups comprising of four persons each and the ones left had to wait for the next group. Jack and Allison were in the first group but James opted not join as he didn’t understand completely what they are asked to do so he decided to watch and learn.

“Are you scared already, boy? Get on the track let me show you how it’s done.” Jack said as he moved towards the track with his team.

Mr. Max blew the whistle to signal the start of the race as they took their marks. Each athlete running a 100 metre stretch and handing the baton to the next runner till it got to the last man who ran to the finish line. Jack’s team comfortably won the race as they were no match for his dashing pace. His team was able to do that in an impressive 48 seconds.

“That’s how it’s done. Now beat that!” Jack said to James as he looked like he was gasping for air.

“The next group should step forward and take their positions.” Mr. Max said.

When everyone had taken their positions, Mr. Max blew his whistle as usual and they sped off. James team was a really poor one as he waited for the baton to get to him as the last man while the other teams were already halfway to the finish line. Immediately as he received the baton, he sped off at lightening speed and got to the finish line before every other person in 43 seconds; 5 seconds faster than Jack’s 48 seconds. Everyone’s mind was blown at such an amazing feat. Jack was very angry and refused to accept defeat. He requested that his team compete with James’ team to determine the best team. Mr. Max obliged and staged the race between the two teams and again,m. James’ team won with a 10-second difference. Jack was left angered and frustrated that he blamed his teammates for being too sloppy even when he took off towards the finish line before James. He once again called for a duel with James but Mr. Max declined having seen how frustrated he had grown and didn’t want things to get frosty between the two speed stars. Jack threatened to leave the team if his request was not granted. Mr. Bryson instructed Mr. Max to give him what he wanted. A 100-metre race was set between James and Jack. What a marvelous thing to see a great number of people watching the race. Mr. Max started the race again and they took off, just as was expected, James got the better of him in the race and this left Jack so furious that he stormed out of the training ground without even taking his friend.

After all that happened at the last training day, Jack ceased coming to any training sessions. Mr. Max and Mr. Bryson did all they could to bring him back to the team but all their efforts were futile. All Jack’s focus was how he could bring down James and reclaim his top spot as the fan favorite in school. James had stolen the spotlight as the golden boy and this angered Jack that he even stopped coming to school. He knew James' abilities were beyond ordinary but didn’t know exactly what to do about it or how to subdue him. He decided to look into his life more closely to know exactly what he was dealing with. He thought of using Danny as bait or a spy to get to James. He sent some boys to capture James from his house. They took him while returning from school and brought him to Jack’s house. Jack made him an offer of riches and gifted him cars if only he could give him all the information to bring James down. Danny blatantly denied to be aware of anything that could bring James down, he even denied knowing James had any super powers. Jack never believed him and insisted he must have known things that could help him get James and eliminate him. When Danny repeatedly refused to cooperate, Jack sent the boys back to Danny’s house and took his mum too. When Danny saw his mum, he was heartbroken and promised to cooperate and do what has been asked of him. Jack decided to let him go and get the secrets of James’ power and return to him within three days or say goodbye to his mum. He was willing to go any mile just to get what he wanted even if he had to kill the school's chancellor. He threatened to kill Danny’s mum if he attempted to call the police or do anything stupid.

“I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you try to play smart with me. Don’t even dare to do so unless you wanna say goodbye to your mum,” Jack said as he ordered the boys to untie Danny who went over to his mum to assure her everything was going to be okay.

“I promise I’m going to get you out of here. Please hang in there mum. I’m coming to get you!” Danny said as he was being led out of the room.

“Just so you know, this whole room is rigged with explosives and I have the detonator in case you wanna play smart. One click and everything goes Boom! Remember, three days and no longer than that” Jack said to Danny.

Danny went back to James and pretended everything was alright. He tried as much as possible to hide his troubles but James was clever enough to discover his friend was not happy.

“What’s with the long face? Are you alright?” James asked Danny.

“Of course, I’m cool” Danny replied while faking a smile.

“Oh come on, you know better than telling me such cheap lies. What’s your problem, are you keeping secrets from me? What happened to 'best friends forever and no secrets?'” James said as he tries to get Danny to talk to him.

“'The best friend forever and no secrets' died the moment you kept things from me and pretended you did it to protect me” Danny said to James pretending to be reluctant to say what was troubling him because of the information about his powers which he kept from him.

“Danny, there are things I’m not supposed to tell you because of your safety. Some very bad people will come after you once they feel you have the knowledge of things you’re not supposed to know. Being my friend alone is already a great risk for you” James explains to Danny.

“Oh please spare me all that. If you really want to protect me, you should tell me everything so I’ll know what to come up against. Keeping me in the dark is putting me at risks too. The moment I decided to stay as your friend even after learning what you are was the moment I accepted all the risks of being your friend” Danny said as he kept pushing for James to tell him what he wanted to know.

“Very well then, what do you wanna know that you don’t already know about me. You know what I am and most of the things I can do” James said to Danny.

“Not quite enough. I don’t know if you can die or not and what can possibly kill you. I don’t know any of your weaknesses but just your strengths” Danny said to James. James hesitated for some time and didn’t want to say anything.

“I thought as much, just a waste of time being around someone that never values your friendship” Danny said as he picked up his things and tried to leave the room but James stopped him and eventually opened up to him.

“Alright, the truth is that I’m not so sure if I can die or not because I’m the first creature ever to have existed of my kind but you know, everything dies. Although, my nanny is a Banshee and I’m allergic to her touches. It drains life out of me whenever her skin touches mine. So, I think if she touches or holds me for a long time, I might actually suffocate and die. That’s about the only thing I know” James tried to keep it as simple as possible to avoid any more questions. It wasn't what Danny was expecting to hear but at least it was better than nothing. Jack didn't want to tell him about his ultimate weakness because he suspected Danny's sudden curiosity in wanting to know his weakness was something he was never bothered about before.