Brennan - now Prime - had slept in that morning. He'd stretched before suddenly realizing he was a full half-hour late getting up. By skipping a couple steps in getting ready(like shaving and eating breakfast), he'd managed to reduce the time he was late to ten minutes.
As he'd run toward the meeting place, he'd heard shouting and various other sounds. Like there was a conflict. So naturally, he'd run faster and jumped right into the middle of it.
There were three Legion members and four enemies. The Legion side consisted of Jumper in his usual grey suit, Achilles in his characteristic blue and gold one and a woman who was probably Lightning. Prime had done his research on the Legion before deciding to join after all. He'd even looked up Light Master, whose caregivers were being villainized by the media.
The four enemies were pretty unfamiliar. One in a purple outfit was Paris. The other three were unknowns. There was one in a yellow outfit with a full mask, one in a silvery one with a full mask and one in pale blue with a half-mask.
Jumper was in a big round cage, rolling towards the yellow enemy. Prime had to smile at the guy's tenacity. Just like he was when he was a young thing.
No. Prime was still young. Prime would always be young.
Jumper seemed to be dealing with a two-on-one situation, so Prime decided to remedy that. He ran at the grey enemy as the yellow enemy yelled at Jumper.
"Dammit Jumper!" The cage disappeared and the grey hero went tumbling toward the yellow enemy.
"We're gonna need a bit more time," the grey enemy called out.
"How hard is it to restrain one oversized cricket?"
"Harder than you'd think!" The yellow enemy seemed frustrated by the development.
Prime grinned. Jumper was a good ally to have. He'd gotten behind the grey enemy by that point - relatively unnoticed too. Were these guys amateurs?
They were no match for the former best pro wrestler on Arx.
"Shit shit shit!" By the time the grey enemy had noticed him, Prime had his arms pinned.
"Newcomer!" As the yellow enemy yelled, Jumper hit him in the gut. An excellent move, taking advantage of his distraction like that.
"Sorry I'm late, Legion!" Prime felt just a bit dramatic at his entrance and lifted the grey enemy over his head like he used to do with his opponents in the ring. It felt as easy as it had when he was in his early twenties, back in his heyday. Before the younger wrestlers had started showing him up in everything.
This Miracle really was the best.
Courtney had been trying to take out her opponent for way too long. Every time she thought she'd hit the girl, her fists wouldn't feel any impact. At first she just thought the girl's dodging was on par with or superior to her own abilities.
She was worried. Achilles was fighting Paris, and even though the poison wasn't coming, it was only a matter of time until Paris used his trump card. Jumper was battling two of Paris' goons, and despite how hard he'd worked over the past couple weeks, he wasn't strong enough to handle that kind of situation.
Paris' side had four. Through the corner of her eye, she'd learned the Miracle the yellow one had. Or at least she was pretty sure she had it figured out. He could make objects appear, but based on how he handled Jumper, it was probably only one at a time. Paris' Miracle was obviously the poison.
The other two hadn't revealed their powers. So that was two unknown cards, and that worried Courtney.
Then it hit her. Maybe the Miracle of the bored-looking kid in front of her was the reason she could dodge so well. Whatever it was, Courtney couldn't get a single hit in, no matter how fast she moved. And her Miracle was already taking its toll on her. Speeding up like that put too much stress on her body, so she quit using it until she could figure out a strategy that needed it.
When the new guy showed up and hoisted Magnetic over his head, Courtney took advantage of the moment that the girl in front of her - Mist - seemed distracted. She cranked her Miracle up to full power and sent her fist right at the girl's gut.
The result was surprising. Her forearm disappeared right into Mist's abdomen with absolutely no resistance. They both froze for a moment, trying to figure out how to handle this development.
"Oops. I guess you got me," Mist said with a shrug.
"I guess so." Courtney pulled her arm back and debated for a split second.
Did she keep taking on Mist, who was quite literally impossible to hit? Her Miracle was something alright. That was definitely why Courtney hadn't landed any hits even when she thought she had. Before then, she'd thought they were near-misses, but...
Yeah. She was gonna ditch this weirdo and help Jumper. Or maybe Achilles. Paris was a higher priority target.
She left Mist behind as the others chatted. It seemed a bit strange to be bantering in a fight, but maybe that was just how things would be with Paris and his goons. Paris himself had seemed rather chatty last time.
"Finally! I got you Jumper!" Manifest was out of breath, but apparently Jumper had gotten in trouble again. Luckily the kid wasn't alone.
"Not for long!" The new guy slammed into Manifest and took him down to the ground. Magnetic was unconscious a little ways away.
"Dammit! Who are you anyway? I thought the Legion was just these three and Light Master."
"You may call me Prime. I'm joining the Legion as of today!"
"Great. Another one. Boss, we've got a situation."
"Deal with it! I almost have - Mist!" Paris barely ducked under Courtney's punch.
"She figured it out and ditched me. Sorry. What do you want me to do now?"
"Thanks for the backup," Achilles coughed. He and Paris seemed like they'd been evenly matched. Both were out of breath.
"No worries. That Mist girl's annoying, but I don't think she's a threat."
"Dammit, Mist!" Paris yelled. "I gave you one job!"
"Did it to the best of my ability." Mist saluted cheerfully, which seemed to aggravate Paris even more.
"Y'know," Courtney said, crossing her arms at a safe distance. "You guys seem like you needed more time to get your act together. I guess I should call in the military."
"Nah!" Achilles laughed. "We don't need those chumps. Paris is my rival, and I shall defeat him!"
"Excellently said, Rival Achilles. Would you please be so kind as to leave us alone, Lightning?"
Courtney stared between the two of them, stupefied. Did they both think this was a game? What the hell was happening? Paris had tried to kill Achilles less than a month ago! Since when were they acting like pals?
Or was pals the right word?
Courtney opted to hit Paris in the gut. That seemed like the best way to handle this. Whatever was happening, she had to keep more people from getting hurt.
"Hey!" Achilles snapped. "He's mine, Lightning! Go get Mist."
Courtney heaved Paris, who was gasping for air, up on her shoulder.
"Sorry, no can do. I'm taking this guy in. Jumper!"
"Got Manifest!" When she glanced over, Jumper was waving with New Guy - Prime or something - next to a restrained Manifest. They both looked mostly unharmed, with the exception of a burn on Jumper's lower leg.
"I'm calling retreat!"
Courtney glanced over and saw Magnetic, now up again. Hadn't Prime knocked him out? A woman with a pale yellow full mask and brown outfit was next to him.
"Fine," Paris growled. Courtney instinctively dropped him and darted a healthy distance away. She'd been right to.
Green mist started rising around Paris as Magnetic pointed his raygun at Jumper and Prime. The woman next to him had one too.
Why? Why did jerks keep getting their hands on rayguns? They were supposed to be only for military personnel! She'd complain to Barron later.
"Jumper, get out of there!"
He wasted no time in doing so, actually. She hadn't even needed to yell. Before anyone could stop him, Jumper was up and gone, while Prime was forced to drop Manifest and run to avoid getting peppered by rays.
"Yay, retreat," Mist said flatly as she sunk into the ground. That wasn't freaky or anything.
"Paris! You may run this day, but I will get you next time!" Achilles called.
"I look forward to your next pitiful attempt! We withdraw for today, but Paris' Phalanx shall stand in the Legion's way again."
Wait, what? Courtney felt a splitting headache coming on. Not a real one, but a metaphorical one that made her want to hold her head and scream. Achilles made no move to stop Paris as he ran off with his minions. Courtney herself wanted to do something, but between the poison mist and the rayguns she figured she'd only get hurt. Prime was stuck in a similar situation.
So she stood there seething as Paris disappeared into the streets once again.
The Legion really sucked at apprehending people apparently.
