Courtney headed to the meeting place early on Monday. She was surprised to find Achilles and Light Master already present, seemingly down in the dumps about something.
"You guys are here early," she said, standing over them. Belatedly, she realized how intimidating this must be.
"Oh, hey." Achilles stood and stretched. "We watched that Turner episode."
Ah. That would explain the somber expressions on their faces.
"I don't get it," Light Master sighed. "Isn't she a bad guy? Don't we want her dead?"
"It's not quite that simple," Courtney chuckled. "She didn't even get a fair trial. That's what's got most people riled up. That, plus the fact that the military - I think more likely an individual in the military actually, but I digress - someone took her fate into their own hands with no regard for the law."
"But she was a bad guy."
"The situation is unfortunately rarely that simple. So how long have you two been brooding here?"
"Not long," Achilles replied. "We figured we'd best be here early in case Hot Rod shows up early."
"Hot Rod? What?"
"That's his hero name," Achilles replied matter-of-factly.
Courtney chose to ignore the questionable naming sense. No one around here was good at coming up with aliases.
"He said he's got fire powers," Light Master added. "Doesn't that sound totally cool?"
"Uh..." Courtney wasn't sure how to respond. Frankly, it sounded dangerous. In the media, fire was always a bad sign. In fact, fire was illegal on Arx Nubibus for a variety of reasons. One of which, if she remembered correctly, was air pollution.
"Like he just goes pah! And then there's a fireball! I hope. He was pretty vague about it."
"Let's just...use this in moderation, okay?" Courtney said, forcing a smile. Achilles laughed at her.
"Don't worry! Any Miracle that is meant to be used for the good of Arx Nubibus and its people wouldn't cause harm to civilians."
"Is that how it works?"
Courtney could already feel a headache coming on.
Half an hour later, a young guy who looked fresh out of college showed up in a red hoodie.
"Whoa. Is this like half the Legion?" he asked, almost like he was in awe. Courtney had to hold back a scoff. Yes. This was, in fact, three-quarters of the official Legion roster.
"We're a rather small team at the moment," Achilles chuckled. "We're hoping you can help us change that. Recent events have shown us that we simply can't keep up with everything without increasing our numbers. So! Tell us about yourself."
"Right." The guy took a breath and grinned. "I guess you can call me Hot Rod. I have a fire-based Miracle and a strong sense of justice. I don't have anything fancy to wear, but I can fix that with a bit of time! And maybe the name of your tailor. I just graduated from college, but this sounds far more rewarding than getting a boring job with my degree."
"It most definitely is!" Achilles beamed.
"What was your degree in?" Courtney asked.
"Nothing special. Business or economics or something. My parents said it would be a good way to get a job."
Okay. That wasn't problematic at all. But Achilles and Light Master didn't seem to care.
"Tell us about your Miracle!" Light Master said eagerly.
"Sure! I can demonstrate a bit if you'd like?"
"Totally! Right, Achilles?"
"Sounds like an excellent idea."
"Okay, okay, let's just keep it small," Courtney cut in. "We don't want to attract any unnecessary attention."
Also please don't do any serious damage. Please.
Hot Rod just grinned cockily and held out his hand. A small red thing, almost like an animal, flickered to life above his palm. It wasn't like any shape Courtney had seen before.
Except in movies, TV shows and games. Fire.
It was bright to look at, and she quickly found herself averting her eyes. It wavered only slightly over Hot Rod's hand. Light Master instinctively reached out to touch it.
"Ah! Careful," Hot Rod said. Light Master pulled his hand back, startled.
"Whoa! It's actually hot..."
"What did you think fire was, doofus?" Courtney asked, pulling him back. She could definitely feel a bit of heat radiating off of it. Not enough to cause damage if you stayed a healthy distance, but...
The small wisp of smoke drifting over it also concerned her. Wasn't that the very thing that made fire illegal on Arx Nubibus? It was pale, almost invisible, but she was concerned about their air quality. And if Hot Rod started using larger flames...
"A splendid Miracle," Achilles said. "How far can you push it?"
"Haven't had a chance to try," Hot Rod replied. "But...I think I could probably make something about ten times this size easily? And probably aim and throw it without too much trouble. Y'know, like a ball."
Courtney wanted to bang her head against the wall. This was dangerous! There was no way this guy was getting in the Legion.
"A-hem." Courtney tried to reclaim control of the conversation. "I think that's enough fire for now. Would you mind telling us about your hobbies? Interests? Aspirations?"
Even if he wasn't in the Legion, he would still be walking around with a massively dangerous ability. She had to get whatever information she could and get it to Barron.
"Huh? Sure." Hot Rod closed his hand around the flame and it vanished, like it had never been there in the first place. "I spent most of my high school and college years playing basketball. I'm pretty good. That's mostly what I've done in my spare time since I was seven or eight. I wanted to go pro, but didn't get drafted. Idiots don't know talent when they see it.
"Anyway, now that I've got this Miracle and am gonna be joining the Legion, this is all I need. Oh, well, maybe a steady girlfriend at some point, but I am not going into some stupid dead-end job to make ends meet. I'm also pretty into acting. Haven't had much chance to do it, but if you need a spokesperson, I can be it."
Okay. So this could be incredibly problematic. She had to figure out this guy's real name ASAP.
"Um, I hate to break it to you," Courtney said cautiously, "but you're not officially in the Legion yet. We've had...issues with a certain applicant in the past and want to avoid a similar situation. Hence the interview, and we also want to make sure you'll fit in with our team and our policies and stuff. So, once this is over we'll get back to you, say...next week?" She glanced at Achilles.
"Of course. Thanks, Lightning. It won't do to do things in the improper order. I think that's all we need from you, Hot Rod. We'll be in contact next week."
"Can't we just let him in now?" Light Master asked. "He's so cool!"
"Shut it, squirt," Courtney said, firmly pushing him along. "You heard Achilles. We'll be in touch, Hot Rod."
She pulled Light Master along as Achilles finished up with Hot Rod.
Back at Legion HQ, the three of them sat around a table to discuss the interviewee.
"Absolutely not," Courtney said firmly. "I do not want him in the Legion. His Miracle is too dangerous. What if he lost control of it and we got a bunch of human torches?"
"He wouldn't do that! He's a good guy." Light Master glared at her. Apparently he was still mad at her for dragging him out of the interview.
"I'm with Light Master. Hot Rod would be a valuable addition to our team. We need more offensive power. I mean, you and Prime aren't exactly made for front-line battles."
"Excuse me? I am our front-line fighter," Courtney spat. "The only ones who might be better suited would be you and Jumper since you can take hits."
"Even so, the Invincible Achilles can only be in one place at a time. Hot Rod could deal with large swaths of criminals quickly."
"With what kind of collateral damage?"
"None! Didn't you see the excellent control he had?"
"On a small scale! What happens if he has trouble containing it past a certain point?"
"He won't. Our Good Miracle-Giver wouldn't give someone something so dangerous. The Bad Miracle-Giver, on the other hand..."
"Shouldn't we be focusing on defense?" Courtney asked. "Every time we've fought the Phalanx, you've ended up hospitalized. For being invincible, you sure are pathetic."
"Excuse you! Paris just so happens to know my one weakness."
"Phantasma almost killed you on a different weakness."
"We can stop talking about the past! The past is the past! Instead, let's look to the future, where Hot Rod battles alongside us against the Phalanx. We need more members, do we not?"
"That doesn't mean we let in anyone off the street!"
"But we aren't. Ben will check into Hot Rod and make sure there isn't anything problematic in his past, and we just had a splendid interview."
"We need a higher bar, Achilles."
"The bar is already high. The Good Miracle-Giver would only choose those worthy of fighting alongside us."
Courtney heaved a sigh. She'd been outvoted two-to-one anyway. As much as she hated it, Hot Rod would be joining the Legion in a week.
She'd just have to get what info she could before then and feed it to Barron.
