Courtney ran through the streets, now dressed in her Lightning costume. As she hurried, she hoped desperately that Prime would pick up his phone. It had already rung three times. Too many times.
She dodged a group of people looking at their phones in concern as Prime finally picked up.
"Prime here. Is this Lightning?"
"Yeah. Is Achilles there?"
"He is. We're just swapping patrol groups at HQ."
"You both need to get moving. We have the Phalanx with several hostages at 10-8-3. I'll see you there."
Prime stuttered something, but she'd already hung up. She came to a stop at 8-8-3, two levels above where she needed to be. Below, she could see Paris and his flunkies. The guy in the silver outfit was missing, while a new person wandered the perimeter of their makeshift cage, shooting at anyone who got too close.
"Damn," she muttered. If she were Jumper, she could just hop down in the middle of everything, but she wasn't. For anyone else, it would be a sure way to break both their legs. She thought of calling him, but thought better of it.
He didn't need to be involved, and he didn't seem to want to be involved. But...
Her hands moved automatically, navigating to his contact and pressing the call button. If he didn't want to be involved, so be it. But he had been training for this. Maybe he'd be annoyed to be left out of it. And if he couldn't make it, no big deal.
Courtney clenched her left hand as it started to tremble. The hostages were mostly children, as Barron had said. Crying, terrified children. And she couldn't do anything on her own, not against the entire Phalanx.
Around her, people stared and pointed their phones at her, apparently filming the entire thing. Sure, film it. Don't do anything to help. Just film it. For documentation or whatever. Her nerves started to settle into anger.
"Hello?" Jumper answered, sounding tired.
"Do you know the current situation?" she asked, her words coming out of her mouth faster than she could think of them.
"What...situation?" Jumper asked.
"Phalanx. Several hostage kids. 10-8-3. If you can make it, I'd appreciate it. If you can't, don't worry about it. Honestly, I'm not sure why I called you in the first place. I know you're busy."
Jumper was silent for a few agonizing seconds. Then he sighed.
"I'll be there. Give me some time."
"Thanks. I've called in Achilles and Prime too. I...I'm sorry. I wish I could handle this myself, but..."
"Who's the one who told me not to push myself too hard?" Jumper asked, chuckling slightly. "Take your own advice there."
Courtney smiled as he hung up. That was why she'd called him. He felt reliable.
Was she a terrible person for relying on him? She pushed the thought to the back of her head and prepared for their next move. Once Prime and Achilles got here, they'd move in.
Manifest herded the prisoners into a cage with Scattershot and Itera's help. Paris held back, using his poison mist to keep both prisoners and bystanders in line. Once Manifest had closed the door, he locked it with a bolt and used a piece of string to secure it. Only being able to make one thing at a time was a bit of a pain, but they had to work with what they had.
"Alright," Paris sighed, checking to make sure nobody around felt heroic. They didn't. Everyone around them just looked on in fear - or was that impassiveness? Either way, most of them had their phones out to tape the spectacle, which was fine by him.
"Paris," Mist said, floating down after her second round of negotiations. She glanced at the cage, then around them.
"Well?" he asked, prompting her to report. Why was this girl so spacy?
"They offered a bit more. But only a bit more. Like...sixty percent of our asking price?"
"I thought you didn't want to do math."
"Just multiplication. Percents are easy."
"Well, that's still not enough." Paris sighed heavily. "Scattershot, I think it's time we up the stakes. Pick whoever annoys you the most and put a hole in their leg."
Scattershot looked back and shrugged, then sent one of her projectiles at an especially whiny little kid's leg. A scream immediately followed, as well as a stream of blood. The other kids upped their crying and screaming, while the adults bustled around, trying to keep them calm while one administered first-aid.
"Also..." Mist said, waving her hand in front of Paris.
"What?" he snapped, glowering at her. "You want another nap?"
"Sure, but...one of those other people are here. Up there." She pointed and Paris followed her line of sight until he noticed her.
Huge, with a yellow outfit. Lightning. The Legion was already here. How?
"Shit," Paris muttered.
"She doesn't look like she's moving in, but she was on the phone for a bit. Y'think she's waiting for backup?"
"Then we need to accelerate negotiations," he replied firmly. "Scattershot, put holes in three more kids. Mist, go back up there and let those military idiots know we're serious."
Three more squelches. Three more screaming kids. Mist stared at them blankly. What was going through her head?
"Move, Mist! We need to finish negotiations before Achilles gets here."
In response, she floated upwards.
The screams of those kids echoed in Juney's head. They were scared. Crying.
Why were they making kids cry again? Jase wouldn't like this.
Hurting adults was easy. Hurting adults made her feel nothing. After all, it was those same adults who hurt others without remorse.
But kids...
Memories scratched at the back of her mind. Of her crying, her heart calling out for someone to save her.
Was it bad of her to hope that someone came to save those kids?
She landed next to the military bigshot she'd been negotiating with.
"Not good enough," she said. The man looked stressed.
"I figured when you started hurting the kids," he said coldly. The way he was glaring at her - she wasn't the bad guy here. She was just the runner for negotiations.
"Hey, why do you keep dragging this out?" Juney asked. "Just offer us eighty percent and Paris might take it."
"Why don't you just let the kids go?"
"Paris is in charge. Sorry."
"You could turn against him if you don't like what he's doing."
"Nope."
He was right, though - Juney could turn against Paris. If Jase asked her to, she'd rip his head from his shoulders in a heartbeat. She didn't really like him, honestly. He yelled at her a lot and had no patience for anything. Didn't he know how things worked?
No. He was an idealist. A twisted one. And one she was only obeying because Jase had asked her to. This was all for Jase. If it wasn't, she definitely wouldn't be here.
"Fine," the military man said after heaving a sigh. "We'll give you the full amount. Just let the civilians go."
"Colonel!" Several of the military people behind him protested the decision, but the man in charge waved them off.
"Can you take the payment?"
"Nope. Paris'll send someone else up. Once we got the cash, we split and Manifest deletes the cage. Might wanna get some paramedics down there."
"Fine. But hurry it up. I don't want those wounds to bleed too much."
"Got it. Thanks, mister."
The military guy stared at her like she was nuts as Juney floated back down to Paris. Why?
She was thankful that someone had decided to help those kids.
As she descended, something caught her eye near where the tall lady was.
"Uh-oh," Juney muttered, pausing for a second. What to do here?
In the end, she flew back down to Paris at a quick clip. If those guys got involved, the kids might end up with more wounds.
She didn't want that.
"Lightning!" Achilles ran up to her with Prime and Light Master right behind him. "What's happening?" She pointed and his eyes hardened as he saw what Paris was doing.
"How'd this happen?" Light Master asked, completely confused.
"Paris took some kids captive. Now they're negotiating with the military for money. They get the money, the kids get to go home."
"How despicable," Achilles growled. "Using children as hostages. Legion, we move now. Take out the Phalanx. Save those kids."
"Wait," Lightning said. Achilles ignored her.
The Legion moved in, ready to save the day once again.
