Triple Point

Chapter 3: A Night To Remember

By the end of the following day, Jordan was exhausted while Elsie was exhilarated. The remainder of the individual battles had been a whirlwind of action and drama on par with something Elsie would see in one of her movies.

In one match, a Class 2 guardian with solid and liquid affinities briefly managed a fire attack, a feat unheard of for anyone other than air metas. While they couldn't control it very well, it was still impressive regardless, even though they had to be extinguished by the emergency metas on standby.

In another Class 2 match, an air guardian, at the brink of losing in the semi-finals, suddenly knocked their opponent back with a blast of water. For the next hour, the Games officials debated on their next course of action since the guardian in question could now be considered a Class 3. Much to the crowd's dismay, they ended up disqualifying the guardian and advancing their opponent to the finals.

A Class 3 match caused discourse when a US meta with the Class 3 ability of passive cell manipulation narrowly beat their German opponent with Class 1 and 2 abilities of liquid and air manipulation. Some thought the US shouldn't have struggled as much as they did since their ability let them give themselves both super strength and speed.

Others disagreed, saying Germany should have won if they fought smarter, and Elsie quietly agreed. With the beach terrain, the soft sand dampened the US's super speed, and it's not like they could've used their super strength for long range attacks, unless they wanted to try throwing the sand and water from the terrain around them really, really hard. Had Germany kept up with their own long range attacks instead of getting impatient and moving into their opponent's range, they could've won.

And with the end of the individual matches, there was only one way for the VIP spectators to celebrate: lavish partying.

Officially, it was a charity banquet. Outside of their regular work, guardians were most commonly seen at similar events; someone had to pay for all the property damage their altercations caused, and wealthy non-metas like celebrities and politicians were always eager to fork over money for the chance to gain superpowered connections. Since the Games drew an abundance of rich spectators from around the world, it was the perfect opportunity to raise money on the international level, and the proceeds went to cover repairs for damages that spanned multiple countries.

The venue was a convention hall owned by a moderately successful tech company in Tokyo. While the host was technically the UN, the location was provided by a Japanese guardian who ran the company as a side career. It was an impressive feat considering that not many guardians were successful in both their guardian and non-guardian duties.

Elsie's eyes widened as their limo neared the venue, and the spotlights shining from the building shimmered against the dusk sky; without looking, she smacked Jordan awake from his nap.

"Alright, alright, I'm awake!" Jordan grumbled, yawned, then sighed. "Why are we going to this again?"

"For a good cause. Giving back to the community. Money stuff."

"Really? So it's not because my brother is a sadist and is forcing you to go to this, and you're dragging me along to suffer with you?"

He wasn't entirely wrong. Elsie's manager, and Jordan's brother, specifically required her to attend; if she ditched, he would probably have an unsavory gig scheduled for her as soon as she returned to the States, like a guest star on a children's show or a cringey sitcom. Regardless, she was looking forward to the amazing food and drinks, along with the chance to talk to other people besides a grumpy, sleep-deprived Jordan.

"The news has been gossiping about our 'rekindling romance,'" Elsie said, turning to Jordan with a grin. "How many tabloid covers do you think we can be on this time?"