Free Titan by Joshua Debenedetto

TITAN
    By Joshua DeBenedetto
     
     
    Chapter 1
     
    Mark looked down at the restraints that covered every inch of his body, pinning him to a cold slab of silver steel, and knew that his first day of school could have gone much better.  He strained against his bonds; hands that could crush bricks clenched tightly into fists until his knuckles turned white, pulling upward with all of his monstrous strength, but it was no use.  He was strong, but his captors had dealt with stronger.  Many of his captors were stronger.
    A look around the room left Mark wondering what it had initially been designed for.  The walls were a pale blue , almost soothing, in stark contrast to the machines kept inside.  Silver and green dominated the landscape within, the floor scattered with a mixture of medical devices and larger green boxes that looked like they were built to mold metals.  The green paint covering the sides of these large boxes was chipping from overuse, and the patches left behind were black from rust.  Mark wondered if these were used to build the assault weapons that he could see lining the far wall, or perhaps the ammunition.  For a school that has publicly denounced gun use, they certainly keep lots of them around.
    Mark closed his eyes to think, realizing there was far too much in this room to distract him.  His mind whirled from the quick events that led him to be held captive, and the desperate need to know why he was being held at all.  He had come to the Academy to be trained by them, the great heroes of his day, to fight on their side.  That very morning, he walked off the plane bubbling with excitement, ready to prove his worth.  Ready to become a soldier.  Their soldier.
    This is all a misunderstanding.  I just need to explain to them that I am on their side, Mark reasoned to himself.  Opening his eyes, it was clear that his hopes were unfounded.  If they meant for him to leave, they would never have allowed him into this room.  There were other rooms; there must have been other rooms, where they could have taken him.  This room was full of dark secrets, things the Academy would never want someone to see, especially not a new student.  Yet there he was.  To let him leave now would be to risk the revelation that there was something else going on.
    And Mark knew exactly what the hidden underbelly of the Academy held.  The scene he had unwittingly walked in on a short time ago revealed the truth, and there was no turning back from that now.  He knew he could never be their soldier anymore.  If they let him go now, he would have no choice but to reveal what he had seen.  The truth was too dark a secret for him to hide.  He could lie, and pretend he did not understand what he had seen.  He could tell them he agreed with their methods, that he was loyal, and always would be.  But he knew lying to the Academy would be a futile endeavor.  These are the people that train superheroes, and there are more than a few mind readers among them.
    Any way he looked at it, his fate would be the same.  He could not l eave without exposing what he had learned, and they could not risk holding him indefinitely.  Mark was no longer blind to what they could do, what they would do, to maintain the status quo.
    Mark laid his head back against the steel table to wait.  A tear rolled down the side of his face as he waited there to die.
     
    Chapter 2 – Four Years Earlier
     
    As the clock clicked to seven a.m., the alarm settings forced the radio to turn on at a higher than comfortable volume, jolting Mark awake.  A song was playing that he was particularly fond of, but that at this very moment, he hoped never to hear again.  The thought that waking up to the radio would be more enjoyable than waking up to an obnoxious screeching buzz sounded good to him when he bought the alarm clock, but the reality of the situation is much different.  There’s no good way to wake up when you are not ready for it.
    Mark moved