Scene 9 - November 6th

Exterior Training Grounds, Continuous

Holly Koval

When a bell rang to start the match, I immediately leapt into Simone’s arms. “Take us to the tallest building, up there,” I ordered, pointing to it. Canaveral had taught me that the second-tallest building was a better viewpoint for overwatch, as the tallest building was the first place anyone would look. With him as the opposing chessmaster, though, I knew that he would skip the tallest, thinking that I knew better. “The rest of you, scatter for now.”

The world shattered and rebuilt itself around us as Simone bent space itself to her whim, and I slipped out of her arms a moment later. A few quick gestures set up a command station for myself - a spell that captured a 3d map of the surrounding area and rendered a model of it for me to view, one which I could expand into a more detailed view from any location. Developing it had been the most difficult spell I had created, up until I finished the earpiece spell.

Speaking of, I activated the final piece of that spell, which Simone had stopped me before I had had time to explain. The earpieces also relayed to me a view of what their wearer would be able to see, and I tossed up a set of four illusory screens so I could see it as well. I skipped summoning my own view, of course, and a moment later I dismissed Simone’s as well - she had glanced curiously at the screens, and her own viewport had immediately become recursive and headache-inducing.

Finally, I threw up an quick invisibility bubble around all of us. Invisibility was remarkably simple - just duplicate all light entering the bubble to the opposite side and at the same angle, and remove all light that would leave the bubble. I should have done it first, I knew, not a full minute into our arrival, but no one should be able to see me or Simone from ground level anyway, so...

I took a moment to scan the map. I selected one particular spot and expanded it. “This is a good spot for the real flag,” I told her.

She patted her belt theatrically - the real flag still invisible - then gave me a thumbs up and vanished, the space where she had been shattering like glass and reforming without her. Only a few seconds passed before she returned.

I kept an eye on my teammates’ viewports as they moved, but devoted most of my attention to the model map. I didn’t know exactly where the New Champions had started, not until I actually found them, but I knew it was roughly opposite to us within the arena. And, of course, they could move the flag just as much as we could...

Or, I thought with a sigh, they could take a page from my book, and bunker down as we had last year. I had found the flag, covered in a thick layer of ice that must have been generated by Vulcan. The man himself was leaning casually against it, eyes on the sole entrance to the room it was in, and it was clear that he had no plans to move.

“Well, no plan survives first contact with the enemy,” I said to myself. “Broadcast: change of plans, everyone. Vulcan iced over the flag so we can’t get at it. I think...” I zoomed in a little farther, then nodded. “Sequoia, I think you can break through the ice, but it would take you a bit. We’ll need to either draw Vulcan away or gang up on him.”

“I can draw him away,” Hypnos offered.

“Hypnos: that might be the way to go, but as a last resort, remember,” I reminded him. “Stay out of sight for now.” I stroked my chin thoughtfully. “Hmm...”

Canaveral was roaming freely, but was quite a ways away from Anima and Starling, who were closer to each other - although not too close, as they were moving in different directions. Starling, in fact, was too close to Sequoia for comfort - we would need him to free the flag. Who could I send against them to reduce the New Champions’ numbers... “Newton: Anima is two blocks ahead of you and one block to your left,” I told Quinn. “Take her out, if you would.

“Sequoia: Starling is hot on your tail,” I said to him. “I’m going to have Journey carry you away from him - we can’t risk you being taken out before we get the flag.”

“I can handle him for a bit,” he offered. “Keep him tied up so he can’t find anyone else. I’m tanky and he only has daggers.”

I considered it. “Do it, but if you start having trouble, call for help immediately,” I decided. I didn’t think it was a great idea, but I wasn’t going to micromanage their battles unless they really needed it. If this was a real situation, I wouldn’t wait for my teammates to call for help before sending assistance, but they had to learn to call for help when they needed it as well.

“Journey: bring Sequoia the rest of the way to Starling, then come back here and keep an eye on the battles with me. Be ready to drop in and assist one of them if they need it, or to harry Canaveral if he comes to help himself.”