Tension filled the old Legion Headquarters as the remaining members sat in a circle. Even Jo had been pulled out of her lab for this meeting.
"Achilles the Invincible, present."
"The Ultimate Light Master, present."
"Prime the Forever Young, present."
"Knight Errant who Serves the People, present."
"The Lovely Barrier Maiden, present."
The five who had spoken glanced at the other two, who weren't moving to declare themselves. After a moment or two of awkward silence, Fiore sighed.
"Rose with Thorns, present."
"Continue, by all means," Jo said, scribbling something on her tablet. "You don't have to worry about me."
"I called this as a meeting of all hands for a reason," Achilles said coldly. "Please declare yourself."
"Fine. The Alchemist of Fruit is here or whatever."
"Close enough," Achilles sighed. "Now, on to business. I assume you all are aware of the news?"
"Hot Rod," Knight said. The air seemed to grow heavier as silence fell among them. Finally, Achilles spoke up again.
"Yes. Hot Rod was found dead in military custody. Just like Phantasma. There's going to be an inquiry as to how he could have died, but I think we all know the truth."
"The military killed him," Light Master spat. "They didn't like him so they offed him."
"It's my fault," Knight said quietly. "I shouldn't have let them take him. I'm so sorry." He huddled into a ball, his arms shaking.
Haven said nothing and stared at the ground. How was she supposed to feel? Hot Rod had been arrogant, brutish and annoying, but he had still been a member of the Legion. He'd still helped people. Or had tried to, perhaps. Would the military really kill him? The article said he'd died of smoke inhalation, but she didn't know enough about any of that to say one way or another if that could be the truth.
"Knight," Achilles said firmly, moving in front of him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I don't believe this is your fault. You didn't believe that they'd hurt him."
"We made them promise he'd be okay," Knight replied, choking back a sob. "Lightning...she said that they had to take extra good care of him in case the person who killed Phantasma came for him."
"Phantasma was killed by the military," Achilles said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Knight. Lightning misled you. She's working with them. Or did you forget?" A coldness settled in his eyes as he talked about Lightning.
"I'm sorry..." Knight muttered. "Everything happened so fast...I couldn't keep things straight in my head. And Lightning just took charge so easily, I just let her. I'm sorry."
He kept muttering apologies over and over again. Haven wondered if they were more for Achilles and the rest of the Legion, or for Hot Rod.
"What now?" Haven asked tentatively.
"We pound the military, obviously," Light Master spat, pounding his fist into his palm.
"Not yet," Achilles said. "If we do that, there's no telling what will happen. People still believe in the military. We have to undermine them, make sure everyone knows the truth. Make sure the world won't turn against us when we end them."
"But we're in the right!" Light Master yelled, stomping his foot.
"It doesn't matter," Achilles replied, his voice pained. "It's happened to me before. I did the right thing and people blamed me for the bad stuff that happened. I don't want to go through that again. I don't want any of you to go through it either. We have to wait until the right thing is obvious to everyone else."
"So how do we do that?" Prime asked cautiously.
"If there was a way to steal their data and expose their lies..." Achilles muttered.
"A tech-based Miracle?" Light Master asked.
"If only one would drop into our laps," Achilles chuckled. "No, for now I think we have to bide our time."
"Shouldn't we at least wait until Team Chaos, the Phalanx and the others are brought down?" Prime asked.
Yes! A voice of reason! Haven kept her face still throughout the conversation, but she really didn't think Achilles was on the right track here.
"Why?" Achilles asked. "The sooner we take on all of our enemies the better, right?"
"But the military keeps at least a semblance of order in the city. Do you want total anarchy, Achilles?"
"Villains need to be punished," Light Master said coldly. "Doesn't matter whether or not they pretend they're the good guys."
Haven stared at the floor, containing the disbelief boiling up within her. The way Light Master worded it, he could almost have been talking about Hot Rod.
They knew the same Hot Rod, right? The one who nearly killed Scattershot? Who killed that innocent girl? Who killed Sleeper?
"Achilles, please think about this more," Prime said. "We can't just remove the military. Restructure? Sure. We can advocate for that. Advocate for more public information. But won't the complete destruction of the organization will do more harm than good?"
"Are you a spy too?" Achilles asked, looking at Prime coldly. "Are you sure the Good Miracle Giver chose you? Or are you like Lightning?"
Silence fell for several minutes. Haven shuddered at the implication in his voice.
If you're not with me, you're against me. And if you're against me, I'll remove you like I removed her.
"I agree with Prime's points here," Jo said, raising her hand. "As your resident old person, trust me when I say you need to sleep on this decision a few times. Think real hard about the consequences and ask if they're worth it. They aren't. The total collapse of public order. Isn't that exactly what Team Chaos wants? Are you really going to hand it to them?"
"And that's why you aren't truly part of the Legion," Achilles said. "You're sympathetic to the enemy."
"And you aren't? What about Paris?"
Achilles frowned in silence, thinking for a moment or two.
"He was a friend. But no more. You're right. I have to be more ruthless with him. The Good Miracle Giver chose me to stand against him. What good am I if I falter?"
"Not the point I was making," Jo said with a sigh. She put her tablet down next to her and leaned forward. "Maybe this 'sympathy' thing will work out, Achilles. If you learn to understand the other person, maybe you can help change their mind on things."
"No. I can't. He's made his choice. And I've made mine."
Without another word, Achilles stood and walked out the door. Rose, Jo and Prime looked hopelessly at each other while Light Master and Knight Errant went to follow him. Haven glanced between the two groups and trotted after Achilles.
She clung to his arm, looking demure while thoughts ran through her head a million miles a minute.
Was there anything she could do to change his mind? Would he listen to her?
As Achilles pulled her closer and put an arm around her waist, she decided that she had to try. She was never very good at this stuff, but maybe there was a way that his girlfriend could reach him that nobody else could.
With one last glance back, she steeled herself. Everyone might grow to hate her. But...
Wouldn't this be the right thing?
