"We're getting so many applications!" Light Master said with glee, bouncing towards Achilles.
"How many today?" he asked.
"Two more!"
"Does that bring us up to four now?"
"Yup! We should probably figure out when we're conducting the interviews, huh?"
"Ben thinks we should do one a day throughout a week. Should we pick next week?"
"Sure! Can I interview them with you?"
"Of course. I mean, considering what Phantasma did, Ben thinks we shouldn't be conducting these interviews alone." Achilles laughed nervously.
"She was awful! I'm glad she's dead." Light Master glowered at the thought of their old foe.
"It would be really useful if we had someone who could make people speak the truth or something. Y'know, like a truth serum," Achilles said, mostly talking to himself.
"That would be such a cool Miracle! You think we'll find someone like that?"
"Dunno," Achilles replied. "It would make everything a lot easier. I hate not being able to trust my future comrades."
"Stupid Phantasma. Stupid Phantasma and her stupid stupid head."
Achilles couldn't help but laugh at Light Master's grumbling.
"Well, we should reply to our applicants and schedule them for interviews next week. Probably in the late morning so they don't interfere with our regular patrols."
"Okay! We can do one each weekday except Friday," Light Master said. "Let's see...we have someone called Knight Errant, someone called Hot Rod, someone called The Alchemist and another who doesn't know what she wants to be called."
"Sounds like a diverse group," Achilles chuckled. "That'll be good. A wide variety of Miracles will let us use a wide variety of tactics. What do you say we do Knight Errant on Tuesday?"
"Hot Rod can be on Monday." As they spoke, Light Master quickly added the appointments to the Legion's calendar. "Then...Alchemist on Wednesday?"
"And the last one can be Thursday. Should I send out the emails?"
"Nope. I got it. Just...yup. Ben left a basic reply format so I'll just edit the necessary fields. And then..."
Achilles watched with a bit of pride as Light Master quickly got everything done. He was growing into his new role so well! It was like watching his sidekick become a full-fledged hero in his own right.
Speaking of sidekicks, he wondered how Jumper was doing. Apparently he'd dropped in on the last Phalanx fight, but he hadn't seen him. Before that...the last time he saw Jumper was the Legion meeting where Ben was introduced. Jumper had declined to join the Legion proper because he was busy...but what could possibly be more important than using his Miracle to protect the populace?
Yes, next time Achilles saw Jumper he'd ask him again about joining the Legion.
He was startled from his thoughts when the door opened. A quick glance confirmed it was Lightning, coming in in street clothes. Great.
"You two look like you're having fun," she said. Light Master glared at her.
"We're doing very important work!"
Lightning held up her hands in a surrender pose and shrugged. "Sorry."
"What brings you here?" Achilles asked. "I don't know that I've seen you since the last attack."
"I've been working on cleanup. Checking in on Prime, smoothing things over with the military, that kind of stuff. Oh! If you're worried about patrols, I've been keeping up on those too. Nabbed a couple petty thieves just yesterday. Second Division were pleased with that."
"Second what?" Light Master asked, looking at her dubiously.
"Second Division of the military," Lightning replied. "They're the ones who do daily patrols and issue tickets and stuff."
"Cowards," Achilles scoffed. "They don't actually deal with anything dangerous. They just fine you for anything they please."
Lightning looked displeased with that, but chose not to respond. She probably didn't have a good counterargument.
"Anyway, I dropped by here today hoping to talk to you two. There's a couple things we need to discuss. I've already gone over both with Prime."
"Why can't we all go over them together?" Light Master asked sulkily.
"I'd be happy to walk to the hospital with you," Lightning replied. "Come on, let's go."
"No! The hospital is our enemy." Light Master glared at her and held his tablet protectively.
"They aren't, but I figured you wouldn't wanna go. Since Prime's still recovering, we'll talk here. First topi-"
"He's only still recovering because they're trying to destroy us!" Light Master spat, cutting Lightning off. "They made Achilles sleep for days to keep him away from our work, and they're probably delaying Prime's recovery to weaken us. Then the military'll jump in and imprison us all."
"You need a reality check, kid," Lightning said with a sigh. "Achilles, don't tell me you buy this?"
"There is no doubt we are at odds with the military. And the hospital did delay my exit."
"You were injured! They didn't want you to get hurt even worse next time you did something stupid and those incidents are getting closer and closer together. As for Prime, they are actually hastening his recovery, Tanner."
Achilles and Light Master stared at her in shock.
"How...did you know my name?" Light Master asked.
"Not too hard to figure out. A few news articles floating around about a missing Tanner Schultz who matches your description, vanished the same time you joined. Plus, the HQ code is based on your name. Not the most secure idea if you ask me, but I won't go farther than that."
Silence fell over them until Lightning clapped her hands to refocus them.
"Anyway! We need to talk about what happened last time. Why did we get our asses so solidly handed to us? I propose that the cause is reckless behaviour. Really, you two need to think before you leap. That was an incredibly delicate situation and you probably made it worse."
"Did not!" Light Master spat.
"We did our best with what we had," Achilles agreed.
"No. Your best would have been to listen to me and move carefully, preferably in coordination with the military. Their decision was to meet Paris' demands to avoid any injuries and trace the money so they could catch him later. Unfortunately, the trace didn't work, which means the Phalanx has a good team behind them. Your attack just caused more harm to the kids."
"The military are a bunch of sell-outs!" Light Master argued. "Never give into evil or it'll walk all over you."
"I agree. Someone needs to stand up to the Phalanx and obviously the military can't hack it. They should just leave all Phalanx-related matters to us."
"Oh yes, when our response time was like fifteen minutes," Lightning said sarcastically. "That definitely won't end up with even more people getting hurt."
"Things'll be better once we have more members," Achilles replied cooly. "We've received four applications so far."
"You're taking applications? Why didn't you tell me?" Lightning asked, her eyes narrowing.
"You're always getting in our way," Light Master answered. "You'd probably say it's too dangerous or something."
Lightning sighed heavily, letting silence fall for a moment before she replied.
"Do you know why I haven't informed the military of your location? Why I haven't dragged you back to your parents kicking and screaming? And trust me, I could. I am twice your size, shortie. Do you know why I haven't? Huh?"
"Uh..." Light Master stepped back, seemingly scared of Lightning. Achilles readied himself to intervene, moving between the two of them. If she tried anything, he'd stop her.
"It's because you'd do this stupid dangerous thing anyway. It's better to supervise you and keep you somewhat safe than remove all safety rails in an attempt to put you in a padded room. I'm here to make sure you idiots don't get yourselves killed. So if you're doing something dangerous, tell me. If I can't talk you out of it, I'll stick around and try to minimize the danger."
The boys both fell silent. Achilles hadn't realized Lightning put so much thought into her actions.
But that didn't excuse her entirely. While a valuable member of the Legion, she had a bad habit of trying to undermine him.
"We're having interviews next week," Achilles said with a sigh. "9:00 on Monday through Thursday. We're meeting them in a corner of the Subways. Around 11-4. I can send you more details later."
"Achilles!" Light Master said, seeming startled that he'd let her in so easily.
"The more the merrier right?" Achilles said with a somewhat defeated smile. "And if we're adding to the Legion we have to make sure current members get along with new ones."
"Sounds like a plan," Lightning said. "I'll see you two then. Oh, and you might want to tune into the latest Alyx Turner. She's compiled some stuff that's been circulating lately that you'll want to see."
As she spoke about the Alyx segment, Lightning looked sad. Achilles wondered what could have possibly happened. He hated Alyx and the way she treated the Legion, but from what Lightning said, this was important.
Before he could think to respond, though, Lightning was gone. He hadn't even been able to ask her about Jumper.
