Joey hopped down the last two levels to the Legion meeting place. Lightning, Achilles and Prime were already there. A somber mood hung around them.
It was only a matter of course. Just two short days earlier, Phantasma's death was released on the news. It hadn't been long ago at all that Joey had needed to fight her. It felt like such a short time ago. And now she was apparently dead.
"Jumper!" Achilles acted cheerful as usual, but Joey could feel a shadow over his features.
"Hey." Joey walked over to Lightning, who looked kind of down. But on the bright side, her costume was complete! The purple and orange design looked quite striking on her.
"Then if we're all here, let's begin the meeting," Achilles said. "Roll call! Achilles the Invincible is here!"
"Prime the Forever Young has arrived!"
"Lightning."
"Jumper."
Apparently neither he nor Lightning could bother with the boisterous titles today. Joey looked at Achilles anxiously, wondering if he'd freak out again. But he didn't.
"Epithets next time, but we'll work on it. Now, our first order of business is quite sudden. Phantasma."
Joey felt his heart sink. Phantasma. The person who'd nearly killed Achilles. Found dead in her cell. Did she deserve it? He couldn't say. It was all too complicated.
"What about her?" Prime asked. "She died. Simple as that."
"Yeah, but I still feel a bit strange about it," Achilles replied.
"No," Lightning spat. "The military should have had a better handle on her. She shouldn't be dead. Especially not before she even got to trial."
Joey wondered if she'd asked her military contacts about what had happened.
"What could the military do about medical distress that killed her in her sleep without any external signs?" Prime asked.
"She was healthy," Lightning said firmly. "They examined her while she was unconscious and nothing indicated that she'd just...die."
"Then they missed something." Lightning glared at Prime and Joey shrank back, wondering if there was a way to deescalate this.
"The question isn't what the military did or didn't do," Achilles interrupted. "The question is what we do. Phantasma is dead. What are our next steps?"
"Is there a need for a course correction?" Prime asked. "We catch Paris and his goons, get them locked up. We defend the people and prevent crime."
"You're not seeing the big picture here," Lightning rebuffed. "The military doesn't put us much higher than Phantasma or Paris. We're lucky they haven't tried to arrest any of us yet."
"They did try to arrest me, actually. Jumper too," Achilles said.
"Which only proves my point. The military's just decided we're lower priority than Paris and the others. Instead of fighting both of us, they're supporting us so we can take out the bigger threat before they start working on dismantling the Legion."
"Then doesn't that give us reason to keep at least a few villains loose so the military has to focus on them?" Prime asked.
"That is not at all what I meant!" Lightning snapped back. "I'm entirely on the military's side here. You know what Miracle bearers can do. It would be better if we were all regulated on some level. This whole masked vigilante nonsense needs to change."
"Why should it change? We're the good guys. Do you really want us to get bogged down in military politics and policies? That could just keep us from doing what needs to be done in time."
"If we have no restrictions, who's to say the Legion won't eventually become even more corrupt than the military?"
"Simple: We keep good leadership like Achilles."
Joey kept quiet as Lightning and Prime argued. He had to wonder if Achilles really was a sterling leader, but that was besides the point at the moment. The idea of regulation unnerved him - the military would most likely want more personal information than he was comfortable sharing - but Lightning was right about potential corruption in the future. If the Legion was meant to help people, it should have some kind of accountability system in place.
"Both of you, stop." Achilles finally silenced the two by putting up his hands. "As the leader of the Legion, I hear both your points. Lightning wants to future-proof the organization and Prime wants us to be free to act with our own discretion. Right now I think it's best if we continue to operate independently. If the group gets larger - which we'll keep a tight control on - then we can think about putting in more regulations.
"Unfortunately, as things stand now, we know the military can't be trusted. There are certain persons there who have decided we are the enemy and refuse to see otherwise. So having the military back us isn't an option. Besides, isn't the military kind of rampant with corruption?"
Lightning groaned through her teeth.
"Exactly. The military can't be trusted. When have they managed to do anything with regard to this villain business?" Prime said, continuing to lay on the pressure.
"Ha! They are completely useless against Paris and his followers. They were utterly helpless against Phantasma too."
You were also pretty helpless against her, Joey thought, but kept it to himself.
"Fine, fine! I get it. No military-Legion alliance for now. But I would like there to be a way for us to stay accountable. I propose that we don't break any Arx laws. That means no killing, no stealing, and no attacking civilians."
"Isn't that obvious?" Achilles asked.
"We need to lay down specific rules or the grey areas will completely change us. For instance, if Paris held someone hostage, could we aim for Paris with the knowledge that we might hit the hostage?"
"We wouldn't hit the hostage!" Achilles insisted.
"Do you think we're incompetent?" Prime asked.
"No. I just know that in the best of situations, someone's aim can be off by a bit. And depending on how Paris is holding the hostage, a half inch could mean the difference between hitting Paris and hitting the hostage. Are you all confident you can get that kind of accuracy 100% of the time, no matter the circumstances?"
"I'm not confident," Joey said, sticking his hand up.
"You're acting like we're using rayguns or something," Prime said. "We're melee fighters."
"So if Paris takes a hostage and threatens to take their life unless you let his people capture you, what do you do?"
"Get there before Paris can do a thing and save the hostage!" Achilles declared proudly.
"Maybe I could, but depending on the distance you guys would definitely be too slow. It only takes a second to slit someone's throat."
"What should we do in that situation?" Joey asked.
"Use your best judgement," Prime replied. Lightning sighed heavily, looking like she'd rip her hair out.
"This question is moot anyway," Achilles said with a shrug. "We wouldn't let Paris get a hostage in the first place."
"That kind of overconfidence is going to get you killed next time!" Lightning put her hands over her face and walked away, as if trying to calm down.
"Ha! No one can kill Achilles the Invincible."
"Um," Joey said, putting up his hand again.
"Yes, Jumper!"
"What if placing villains or whatever in military custody is the same as sentencing them to death?"
Silence followed his question. Lightning let out another long sigh while Prime and Achilles looked down at the ground.
"Phantasma is most likely a one-off case," Prime finally replied. "She died of medical distress - don't, Lightning, I can see you about to argue again. We don't have the information to say anything but what the news has given us. Or do you have some secret military informant?"
Lightning looked annoyed, but didn't say anything. She probably didn't want to tell them she was connected to the military.
"Prime's right. Besides, death for villains may be its own justice. If they're dead, they won't hurt anyone ever again. As the heroes, our duty is to mete out justice. What if a villain was accidentally killed in a fight with us? Would anyone begrudge us for doing our utmost to protect the city?"
That just made more questions swirl around in Joey's mind. Was he capable of killing someone? Before he could stew further, Lightning cut in.
"It isn't our place to mete out justice. Our place is to help apprehend Miracle bearers who break the law and turn them over to the military, where they can then be tried and punished according to their crimes."
"I disagree," Prime replied. "The military can't be trusted."
"We are justice," Achilles added. "As chosen heroes, we have obviously been granted the power to make these calls. So why do you shy away from them?"
Lightning fumed for another minute or so before letting out another long sigh.
"I can see this isn't getting anywhere. I'll see all of you at the next meeting. Tell Jumper when it is and he can let me know on Monday." She started to take off, and Joey jumped after her, panicking as he remembered that he had to talk to her.
"Lightning!" She turned as he caught up to her - and promptly fell flat on his face from long-jumping too far.
"You okay?" Lightning helped him up as Joey sheepishly grinned under his mask.
"Fine. The costume looks good on you."
"Oh, thanks. Yeah, Louise is pretty talented." Lightning smiled under her half-mask.
"Anyway, I need to let you know I can't make it Monday morning. I got a job and my first shift is early Monday morning."
"Ah. No problem. You busy every morning then?"
"I don't know. They just told me when my first shift was."
"Gotcha. Then...do you mind leaving me your cell number?"
Joey froze for a minute, processing. They'd never exchanged any personal information before. Well, beyond occasional stories about their lives.
"Just as like...friends maybe? I promise I won't tell anyone on you." Lightning pulled a phone from the pouch at her waist and flicked it a few times.
"Sure." Joey took the phone and punched his number in.
Now Lightning could contact him. It was terrifying. But also, if it was her, he didn't mind. He could trust her.
"Great. Go get the meeting time. Sorry, I just can't be there anymore."
"I get it. See you sometime this week. I'll, uh, wait for your text."
Lightning nodded and took off while Joey jogged back to Achilles and Prime.
Ten minutes later, the next meeting was scheduled for the afternoon on the tenth. Joey left as soon as he had the information so Prime and Achilles could hash out more details on their own. He didn't feel like he had enough of a voice to give input on their next moves.
He had enough to worry about with his new job.
