Conrad followed the other members of the Legion as they ran through the streets, shortly before noon. Achilles led the way, with Light Master right behind him. Prime and Knight followed them, and Barrier Maiden brought up the rear, glancing around them anxiously.
People stepped out of the way, looking at them in surprise. The Legion ignored them and pressed on, hoping to get to the villains' hideout before they caused any trouble. By the time they got there, most of them were gasping for breath, so Achilles led them into a side alley and leaned against the wall, waiting for them to recover.
The house looked pretty normal. A medium-sized building right above the Business District. The lights were on inside, and nothing seemed suspicious about it at a glance. Conrad looked at Achilles nervously.
"Are we sure about this?" Prime asked carefully, glancing at the house.
"Ben said there's a nest of villains here. He wouldn't lie to us." Achilles leaned around the corner and glared at the house.
"What if he's wrong?" Achilles spun around and turned his glare on Prime.
"He's not. Do you not trust Ben?"
"It's not that I don't trust him. I'm just not sure we should break into a house just because he told us to. What if he's misinformed?"
"Ben has never asked us for anything before. The least we can do is this one favour for him. Besides, we'll be helping the people of Arx Nubibus by rooting out villains before they can cause trouble."
Prime sighed and stepped back, waving for Achilles to continue on. With a quick glance to make sure they'd all caught their breath, he signaled them to move.
Light Master ran ahead, blasting the doorknob and melting the lock. Achilles tried to kick it open, but Prime had to do it when he caught up. Without missing a beat, Achilles and Light Master ran in, throwing open various doors in search of someone. An alarm squealed as the Legion ran through the building, and Conrad wanted to cover his ears.
Instead, he pulled out his sword and looked for people.
A man ran down the stairs, glaring at them. Conrad was closest to him, so he ran at him and swung a fist. Conrad stepped away, narrowly dodging it, and instinctively thrust his sword forward.
He immediately felt sick.
The man's face contorted in agony, and bright red blood began to stain his shirt, from right where Conrad had stabbed him in the middle of his chest.
His sword disappeared and Conrad took a step back, putting a hand over his mouth in horror. Somehow, his stomach didn't empty itself right then and there.
"Good work, Knight!" Achilles said, running past him and up the stairs, where a woman was waiting for him, a similar hard look on her face. They wrestled for a moment, then Achilles pushed her down the stairs. She landed at the bottom, not moving.
Conrad's hands shook. How many more would they kill today?
Light Master had run up after Achilles, shooting lasers and whooping like he was having the time of his life.
Prime ran up to the man in front of Knight, took off his cape, and knelt down, using the cape to absorb the blood and staunch the wound.
"I'm sorry..." Conrad whispered. "I didn't mean to actually hurt him..."
Right?
Maiden checked the one who had fallen down the stairs and sighed, a small smile on her face.
"She's breathing."
"What are you doing?" the man asked weakly, glaring at Prime.
"We're here to see justice done, not kill anyone. Letting any of you die isn't on my agenda."
The man scoffed and leaned back, closing his eyes in resignation.
Maiden, meanwhile, was on the phone, quietly calling for medical and military personnel. No sooner had she hung up than three officers walked in the door, their rayguns trained on Prime, Maiden and Conrad. Others followed, checking the rooms on the first floor and eventually surrounding the Legion.
"The Legion's breaking and entering now, is it?" The sergeant walked in behind them, frowning coldly.
"We had a tip that Whiplash was hiding out here," Prime replied. "Now, can you help me with this man's wound? Maiden said the woman over there is alive, but unconscious."
The sergeant motioned with her hand, and four officers broke away, two for each of the wounded. Prime left his cape on the man and stepped toward the sergeant, leaving ample space between him and anyone else and holding his hands in the air.
"I'd like to know where you got that tip," the sergeant said.
"Our sponsor. I don't know where he heard it from, but Achilles wanted to move on it immediately."
"Where is Achilles now?"
"Upstairs." Prime said. "We mean you no harm."
Conrad glanced at Maiden, who looked scared.
Just then, Achilles and Light Master walked down the stairs, looking rather proud of themselves. They froze, however, when they saw the military flooding the bottom floor.
"How many upstairs?" Prime asked slowly, barely glancing at Achilles.
"One. We searched everywhere else, but we couldn't find Whiplash. What's all this?"
"We moved when an alarm in this house went off," the sergeant replied, glaring at Achilles. "Someone broke the lock."
"We had to. This is a villain's hideout." Achilles glared right back at the sergeant, making Conrad's heart leap into his throat.
"Have you identified the victims?" the sergeant asked, glancing at the military officers offering first aid.
"Jett Patterson, 22, no criminal record."
"Adele Jensen, 26, no criminal record."
"I want two officers to go investigate the upstairs. Identify the third victim. And get the ambulance squad over here."
Maiden stared at the floor, and neither Conrad nor Prime bothered to mention that she'd already called for one.
"Achilles," the sergeant said coldly, stepping towards him. "These are innocent people you have just attacked. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"They aren't innocent. Just because they don't have a criminal record doesn't mean they're innocent. Does Dustin Charles have a criminal record?"
The sergeant frowned, then typed something into a tablet. A moment later she looked up at him coldly.
"Yes. And an extensive one at that."
Achilles' argument seemed to die in his throat. He fumbled a bit, then found his voice again.
"Look a little deeper into them. I'm sure you'll find something. Ben wasn't wrong. Whiplash was here. And someone had to stop him."
"I only see people with Miracles abusing those who don't. We're taking you all in for questioning."
Achilles stepped back, his breath growing shallow. Maiden hugged herself and started shaking. Prime nodded and slowly lowered his arms so an officer could pin them behind his back. Conrad felt himself suffocating.
What if that man died because of him? The military would be right to take them in.
"No way!"
Light Master had other ideas. He fired off several high-power beams of light, making several officers drop their weapons.
He ran through the blockade, yelling for the others to follow them. Achilles bounded after him.
Conrad didn't need to be told twice. He pushed through the officers, drawing his sword and stabbing one of them in the knee. Without checking whether the sword had caused a real injury or not, he ran after Achilles and Light Master. Footsteps pounded behind him, but he didn't bother to look back and see who they belonged to.
A pain in his leg caused him to stumble, but Conrad kept going, gasping for breath as they wove through the alleys.
Finally, they found themselves at the old hideout. Achilles quickly opened the door and they rushed inside.
"Alchemist!" Achilles called. "We need some potions."
Conrad collapsed on the floor three feet from the door and gasped for breath, even as his chest felt like it was being crushed.
"We made it! Screw the military!" Light Master yelled, hopping up and pumping his fist in the air.
Conrad glanced around. He, Achilles, Light Master and Barrier Maiden were in the room, in various stages of catching their breath.
Then his blood ran cold as he realized that one was missing.
Where was Prime?
