March 19, 33 AE

As expected, the spectator turnout for the team matches was twice the size as the individual ones, and crowds swarmed the outside of the stadium before it was even open. Thankfully, Elsie and Jordan had VIP seats and were allowed in through a side entrance without a hitch.

The first round was relatively uneventful, with one exception: the US team. As expected, they were ruthless from the start; their opponents even did the unthinkable and surrendered less than four minutes in, and no one could blame them.

While the level of their team was a combined Class 11, the US was a whopping Class 17—officially, at least. There was a widespread rumor that Camilla Wyatt was actually a Class 6, which would make the US team an unofficial Class 19, but because no one could prove it, her rating with the UN was kept at a Class 4. Regardless, the US's preceding reputation and their live demonstration of that reputation came down swiftly on their first opponents, and the surrender was announced soon after.

As soon as the match was called, the US team switched their tone entirely, going from ruthless killers to the type of people who would pay a stranger's parking meter. Immediately, the US members began helping their opponents to their feet or tending to their injuries until the medics arrived. Camilla, who had been ten seconds away from reaching the opponent's home base, could be seen chatting with the Class 3 she had been fighting, and the two laughed at something hilarious she must have said.

Elsie could barely stifle her grimace before turning to chat with her own befriended neighbors: a Canadian politician, a Portuguese actor, and a Chinese pop star.

In Japan's first round match, Elsie finally got a good look at where she recognized Hitomi from. She was much more recognizable to Elsie in her guardian uniform, and with both her meta-abilities and leadership, she easily took her team to the second round. It was an impressive match, but all Elsie could think of was if Camilla was actually friends with her, or if that was another one of her lies.

A small part of Elsie wanted Japan to make it to the finals just so she could see how a match-up between Camilla and Hitomi played out. Realistically, even if the two were actual friends, they were also professionals, and whatever would happen on the field wasn't related to whatever happened off of it. Besides, they were hardly the only pair of guardians whose friendship spanned borders. Still, Elsie was curious; unfortunately, her curiosity had to be put on hold when England took the win over Japan in the semi-finals on the third day.

No one was surprised that they would be facing the US in the finals.

The air around the city felt different on the fourth and final day of the team matches. There was a buzz of excitement that was so intense, it couldn't be compared to the earlier days of the Games. It was the battle that everyone was waiting for, and most people wouldn't be able to see such a spectacle for another five years.

When Elsie and Jordan walked around the town in the late morning, everything and everyone revolved around the upcoming match. Stores that had previously been selling generic Games paraphernalia were now focused on the participating teams, and restaurants were selling food in red, white, and blue colors or decorated with either the stars and stripes or Union Jacks. Every conversation Elsie passed was discussing the match; even those that weren't in English mentioned some sort of variation of the words "America," "England," or a name of one of the competing guardians.

By the time Elsie and Jordan got seated in the stadium, the stands around them seemed more packed than usual, even though they've already been at maximum capacity for the past several days. There was definitely an increase in red, white, and blue as the fans from those countries, and even some foreigners, went all out in their team pride.

A hush fell on the stadium as the platform began to transform for the last time of the Games. The mountain that formed stretched across the length of the field and would've towered above the entire stadium, had the platform not been slowly moving downwards. When everything finally stilled, the mountain top was level with the middle of the stands, and the two teams' bases, resembling military pillboxes, were level with the lowest spectators and partially embedded into the rocky slopes. Sparse amounts of greenery were scattered throughout, but most of the terrain boasted rocks and dirt.

When the teams emerged at the base of the mountain, one at each end, the spectators went wild. As the guardians took their places, some politely waved at the cheering crowd, but they all seemed more focused on the imminent battle. They positioned themselves in front of their respective bases, and once the crowd settled, everyone waited for the match to begin in bated silence.

When the buzzer went off, Elsie couldn't hold back a shiver of excitement.

Several members of each team immediately charged forward in an attempt to gain as much ground as they could. But as soon as it became apparent who was leading the charges, England's offense faltered for a bit. Elsie couldn't blame them because everyone in the stands was shocked as well—Camilla Wyatt was on defense.

For every single one of the earlier matches, Camilla would lead the attack and swiftly defeat, weaken, or preoccupy as many members of the offense that she could. It made sense, given that she not only had a relatively broad skill set but also an unusual amount of power between those skills, and she always seemed to have an easy time holding her own regardless of her opponent's abilities. Seeing her, a Class 4, hang back to protect their base, especially with Quentin Juneau, a Class 3 liquid and air manipulator, was an odd strategy that no one had expected.

Regardless, both teams appeared to continue with their original strategy, and as the offensive members drew closer, they began to situate themselves for battle. Abigail Lee, the US team leader and a Class 3 with super strength, led the charge while her teammates Leon Perez and Amira Pala followed. Perez placed a hand on Pala's shoulder for several seconds, presumably lending the healer Pala his abilities of endurance and a hint of super strength, before joining Lee at the front. Pala, meanwhile, stayed back.

England's offense started off similarly as their Class 4 speedster temporarily shared his skill with their Class 3 leader, a healer. Their defense, a Class 4 guardian with super strength, a Class 3 liquids and gases meta, and a Class 2 solids and liquids meta, stayed back, with their super strength member ready to jump in when needed.

Like many of the other teams, England's usual strategy started off with their offense testing the strengths of their opponents, and their combined speed was the perfect way to do that. It probably wouldn't be long before England pulled one of their defenders to offense, especially since they didn't have to protect their base from Camilla anymore.

But before the two teams could even meet, a dense fog suddenly spread throughout the battlefield. The only clearly visible portion was around the US base, along with the two guardians most likely responsible for the fog. In front of their base, Camilla and Juneau were making large, sweeping motions with their arms as if they were spreading the fog around the field. Simultaneously, England's own liquid and air-controlling meta began imitating the motion as she tried to disperse the fog that had obstructed everyone's visibility.

But her efforts paled against the other two guardians, and once the mist was dense enough to obscure everything from both the competitors and the spectators, Camilla left it to Juneau to maintain the fog while she simply outstretched her arms in front of her and stilled.

For a moment, her actions spread confusion amongst the spectators, and Elsie heard some restless murmurs from the ones closest to her, Jordan included. Elsie was just as confused until she heard fighting from within the fog—basically a lot of punching and yelling—and took a closer look at Camilla to see her speaking into her headpiece to her teammates.

"She can sense everyone's locations," Elsie said aloud, more as an amazed realization to herself than to anyone else. "She's telling them where to attack."

"But England can counter that, can't they?" Jordan proposed. "I mean, together, they have the same abilities that Camilla has, right? One of them has fluid and air affinities, so can she, I don't know, sense where the air and fog is getting displaced? Or maybe that guy with the solid abilities can sense where the ground is getting stepped on? Is that even possible?"

Elsie hummed in acknowledgement while she mulled over Jordan's words. In theory, the solution should be easy. Even if England hadn't practiced blindly fighting, their two defenders should be able to adapt quickly enough to assist their teammates, at least enough to make somewhat of a difference. So why had the US bothered with this type of attack in the first place?

Suddenly, the sound of rocks crumbling emerged from the fog, and the pieces of rubble fell from around the middle of the field, tumbling down the mountain side and out of sight. About a minute later, the same thing happened, only closer to the US base. The fight was moving away from England's base, so they evidently found a way to fight effectively through the fog. Yet, the US team didn't seem to be straying from their strategy.

"Maybe that's what they want," Elsie said. When Jordan sent her a confused look, she elaborated, "Maybe the US wants them to fight back. But why...?"

Suddenly, there was a loud thud, followed by very British-sounding curses that could be heard all the way in the stands. More yelling quickly followed from the British, sounding vaguely like an order to pull back.

"That's what the US wanted?" Jordan asked, then paused to think. "Maybe to draw them out?"

"Out of range from their own base," Elsie added.

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