"So they're locked up?" Sawyer asked, leaning against the wall as he talked into his phone. He'd found Barrier Maiden and Hot Rod arresting some lowlifes earlier in the day, and he'd called the military at the pink hero's request.
"Locked up for now," Odin replied coldly. "The woman's Gift isn't especially dangerous, but it's best if she's off the streets. I'll take care of her tomorrow morning."
"And the two men?"
"Don't care. They haven't shown any Gift, so they're none of my business."
"When you say you'll take care of her..." Sawyer said slowly, afraid to finish the question.
"Same way I took care of Phantasma."
Sawyer's blood froze. He'd had a pretty good idea, but Odin hadn't said it in so many words until now.
"Oh, and remember our deal." Odin's tone remained monotone, which just made Sawyer more anxious. Part of him wanted to throw up.
It had to be in his head, but he felt the device Odin had attached to his heart, cold and metallic inside his chest. He was so aware of it, he wouldn't be surprised if it shocked him to death then and there.
"Anyway, good work. I'll transfer you some money. If you'd gotten Hot Rod, that would have been even better, but I guess I can't have everything. I'll need to set up some kind of trap for that bastard," Odin continued. Sawyer could barely comprehend the words, and the rest of Odin's musings turned into a blur.
When he finally calmed down, he realized that Odin had hung up. A single text remained on his phone.
"Prioritize Hot Rod if possible."
Knight sighed gently as he surveyed the area. No issues. No problems. Hadn't been any for the entire hour and a half he'd been on patrol. In a way, that was good, but it also made him a bit bored.
Hot Rod and Barrier Maiden had arrested a Miracle-bearing criminal on Saturday. Achilles and Prime had stopped a robbery just yesterday. Knight was itching for something to do. His sword was there to protect people and strike down tyranny, so why wasn't he encountering any?
On top of that, Hot Rod had been nearly insufferable for the past two days. He seemed angry about Maiden upstaging him or something, and Knight had never been more thankful that he never had to patrol with the man. Some drama with him and Achilles seemed to be happening behind the scenes, but Knight didn't want to get involved.
Oh, right. Apparently one of the criminals arrested on Saturday had been found dead the next morning. There was a media storm about it, and conspiracy theories abounded that the military was trying to eliminate everyone with a Miracle by killing them in prison. It seemed a little roundabout, but what other explanation was there? First Phantasma, then that woman?
And to think Lightning was probably in on it. She'd stopped coming by headquarters recently - whenever she did, Achilles, Hot Rod or Light Master would usually throw verbal vitriol at her. Anyone would get tired of that. Even Knight wasn't sure about her anymore. Achilles and Ben were setting up a move to get rid of her, but it was taking a while. There was also the vague worry about what the Legion would do with out Lightning - she was one of their best combatants. No, the best.
Prime tried to stick up for her, but he was easily overruled by everyone else. It probably had something to do with the fact that Lightning had been in the Legion since the beginning. The only ones who'd been here longer were Achilles and Jumper - the latter of which was now fully out of the picture. In a way, they were the old guard. Even if it had only been a few months, those three had battled Phantasma and won.
People like Knight were still doing their best to learn. They didn't have any real accomplishments - Team Chaos was on the loose, the remnants of Paris' Phalanx had vanished, and they'd seen activity from a new villain - dubbed Whiplash by Achilles - twice in the past week. The first time, Hot Rod and Light Master had been there to take them down, but the second time had seen a man flogged half to death.
"Knight?" The voice that pulled him from his thoughts came from behind him and Conrad looked towards it. Rose walked towards him carefully in his fancy green getup, flower embroidery blossoming along his left arm.
"Yo. How's it been?"
"Peaceful. I'm glad." He couldn't see Rose's face under the mask, but the guy was probably smiling. He really wasn't cut out for Legion work, was he?
"I'd kind of like a good fight, but peaceful is good too I guess," Knight sighed, looking out over the railing.
"I don't get the rest of you," Rose muttered, coming up beside him to lean on the railing.
"We don't get you," Knight replied with a chuckle.
"That would be fine," Rose said quietly. "I just feel like some of you are a bit...bloodthirsty? Like Hot Rod. He wants to beat people up. Sometimes I feel like he's being a bully."
"It's not bullying if they're doing something bad," Knight replied. "Bad people need to be dealt with and locked up. Especially if they have Miracles. That's why we were given ours, right?"
"But...didn't Achilles get the first Miracle?" Rose asked, looking towards him.
"Uh..." Knight didn't know how to respond.
"In that case, couldn't there be another reason for all this?"
"But, what if it was foresight? Giving Achilles time to get used to his power before the villains sprung forth?"
"Okay, say that was the case. Sometimes you can still end up bullying people. If they don't have a Miracle, should you use yours to take them down?"
"Of course. It's our right as Miracle holders."
"What if you accidentally hurt someone else while taking them down?"
Knight froze. Right. There had been that incident last week with Hot Rod accidentally harming a civilian. But...
"That's why we train. We get better. Someday we'll take down all the bad guys and everyone will be able to live peacefully."
"If we wanted to take out all the bad guys, wouldn't it be easier if we could just remove their Miracles?"
Knight stared at him again, not sure how to respond.
"Miracles can't be removed once granted. The Miracle Giver wouldn't take away something they'd given. As long as that holds true, we need more power to fight villains with powerful Miracles. My sword won't cause any serious wounds anyway. It's just people like Hot Rod who have to watch their powers."
Rose hummed, staring out across the street. People lived their normal lives. Hiding among them were people who wanted to ruin the peace and needed to be stopped. At least, that was what Knight saw. If only there was a way for him to know which people needed to feel his sword.
"I'm going back," Rose said, pushing away from the railing and walking towards HQ. "See you later."
Knight stared at the street a little longer, waiting for something to happen.
Nothing did.
