As Joey walked through the lower business district, a bright billboard caught his eye. It looked just like the ad that had been put up on the web a few days ago. There probably wasn't anyone who hadn't seen it.
Achilles stood with his back to the camera at one side of the image, a stunning dawn landscape edited in. It was very well done, to the point where he looked like he was overseeing the world before him. Opposite his figure were the words "We Want YOU!!! Miracle Bearers, Join Achilles' Legion TODAY!"
Below was a meeting time and place. Since it was so obvious, the military would obviously be there, probably to make arrests. Getting caught would just cause trouble for everyone. In Joey's case, it would make things difficult with his parents and Ned.
Though...the meeting was set in a relatively open area where Joey would be able to get in and out easily. It hadn't been too hard to evade the military last time he'd run into them. Maybe he'd go if Louise had his costume ready by then.
It was in two weeks.
"Dad, look at this." Quincy handed his phone over to Bruce and he glanced over the screen. An ad featuring Achilles was on it.
"I guess he's trying to get a group together now," Bruce muttered as he scrolled a bit to find context. The page was a news site reporting on the ad.
"What's that?" Iliana asked as she popped her head past her dad's arm to check the screen.
"Achilles' Legion. He's trying to get a larger group around him."
"Huh. Cool. You gonna join, Dad?" Iliana looked up at him with her bright eyes.
"Nah. That's a game for young folks."
"Yeah!" Opal chimed in. "Dad's old! Plus he's gotta go be a doctor. Mom said he'd be really busy with that stuff."
"This Achilles guy seems a little off anyway," Quincy said as he took his phone back.
"How so?" Iliana asked.
"I dunno. Just from what Dad's said, I wonder if he's got all his marbles."
Bruce fell into thought. Each of his kids had a point. Worst case scenario, Achilles might need someone with a bit more experience in the world to help direct things. While driven, sure, he wasn't always aware of the world around him.
"You're not thinking of joining, are you Bruce?" Rebecca asked. She placed her tablet on the table as she grabbed the breakfast he'd made.
"Not really," he replied.
"Please don't do anything crazy. You're doing more than enough with your abilities." She grabbed a cup of coffee and downed half of it.
"Don't worry. The only reason I'd go there is to act as a medic or advisor. Chasing criminals isn't my game."
Rebecca smiled as their kids gathered around the table to eat. Today Bruce had made scrambled potatoes and meat, with fruit on the side. It happened to be Iliana's favorite.
He wouldn't trade times like this for anything. His family always had - and always would - come first.
The online ad stared back at Courtney as she browsed another job site. She'd seen it a few times, but it was slowly getting in her head.
"We Want YOU!!! Miracle Bearers, Join Achilles' Legion TODAY!"
The voice she'd heard when she'd first noticed her strange ability - probably a Miracle as Achilles and Jumper called it - had told her she could join Achilles if she wanted. Or she could bring the military to ruin. Or any number of other things. None of the options particularly appealed to her, but maybe she'd see if she could earn something if she worked with Achilles. It couldn't hurt to show up at the very least.
But then...would she conceal her identity? The idea didn't entirely sit well with her. Maybe if she did some probing with her former co-workers she could get an idea of how things would go if she was open about her identity.
She'd also have to tell Lillie. The weirdness she'd been hiding for a week now.
Was it possible to keep living like nothing had happened? Maybe, but Courtney wasn't the sort who would ignore what she could do if it could help someone else. Yes, she'd lost her job at the military. No, it didn't mean she had to stop following the spirit of the path she'd chosen.
But was this the best way she could help people? Would this just end up making more trouble for everyone? Achilles had started something in Arx. Phantasma had exacerbated it.
Chaos.
Would she be contributing to that chaos if she became like Achilles? Or could she help curb it? If no one tried to hold back the chaos it was normal people who would suffer the most. So what would be best? Should she stop Achilles? With her new power it might be possible. But if new threats were coming, Achilles might be one of the few capable of stopping them.
Everything was too much of a confusing mess. Courtney sighed. At least she had some time to sort things out.
Olivia glared at the ad on the wall. They'd called her Phantasma since she last showed up, and now she'd disappeared into obscurity again. But that time and date...
Achilles would be there. Was there a way she could destroy him? She had time to come up with a plan. Maybe pretend to be a superhero hopeful. After all, no one really knew her face. And if everyone was masked...even better.
A dark smile twisted onto her face. Revenge would be hers.
Paris laughed when he saw the ad. Achilles really was worthy of being his rival. Well, if Achilles was gathering a team, so would he.
So far the only Miracle bearer who'd fought Achilles was Phantasma, so of course she'd have to join him. As for others...there were surely plenty of people who would jump at the chance to have a bit of fun.
"Our dance begins, Achilles," Paris whispered as he started formulating plans in his head.
"Hurry it up!" Sergeant Pena called. Her subordinates scurried around, pulling various disparate pieces together. They had until June 2nd to assemble and be ready to arrest Achilles.
"You look busy," Barron said, sipping his coffee slowly.
"Course we're busy," Pena replied. "We don't want him getting away this time. And whoever else shows up there might be dangerous too. For the sake of public safety we need to be ready for anything. If there's anything we learned last time, it's that you can't know what to expect from these freaks."
"You want extra officers? My unit's got less work right now."
"If you can spare some, that would be greatly appreciated."
"No worries. Though knowing the job, I bet as soon as I lend you people we'll have a string of crime scenes to investigate."
"Then I'll just send 'em back to you. Everyone in the Third Division's gotta be adaptable."
"Thanks, Pena."
"No, I should be thanking you, Barron. I'm just about ready to tear my hair out from all this stress." Barron laughed.
"Don't tear out that pretty hair. It's such a nice colour."
"Don't try to flatter me. Now are you sending me officers or what?"
"On it," Barron laughed, heading for his office.
Pena heaved a sigh. She really hoped this whole mess would work out.
"This is so cool." The kid stared at the ad for Achilles' Legion. Searching for people with Miracles, right? Well, that would obviously include him.
Oh, but he'd need an outfit! Maybe an old sheet for a cape? His mom wouldn't mind. And his dad had that face mask/shield stuff for work. Borrowing that would work for now, but he'd have to ask Achilles how he got ahold of his own suit.
Excitement welled up in the boy's chest. Life would be so much cooler now!
"So everyone's talking about Achilles' ad," Alyx said, gesturing to the screen behind her, where said ad was displayed.
"How the heck has this guy not been caught yet? Like, he's gotta be working with the military at this point. Since the Phantasma incident, he's gone about everything like normal, and no officers have tried to stop it. Okay, some have nominally tried, but no one's actually gotten anything concrete done. If they don't round up Achilles and his friends on June 2nd, I'll just say 'I told you so' to everyone.
"Best case scenario I can see for our beloved military is waiting for Achilles, Jumper and any others to gather together so they can get them all in one fell swoop. If that doesn't happen, I'm gonna have to chalk this up to a publicity stunt, or complete incompetence. What do you folks think?"
...
Machines whirred and the light of several monitors blinked in the semi darkness. A figure sat at a keyboard, staring listlessly at the monitor in front of her.
"Stupid."
The monitor showed an ad, declaring that Achilles' Legion was searching for members.
"Doesn't he realize the story of Achilles is a tragedy? He's just begging to get shot in the heel or something.
"Dumbass."
