Following

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 Chapter 80 Chapter 81 Chapter 82 Chapter 83 Chapter 84 Chapter 85 Chapter 86 Chapter 87 Chapter 88 Chapter 89 Chapter 90 Chapter 91 Chapter 92 Chapter 93 Chapter 94 Chapter 95 Chapter 96 Chapter 97 Chapter 98 Chapter 99 Chapter 100 Chapter 101 Chapter 102 Chapter 103 Chapter 104 Chapter 105 Chapter 106 Chapter 107 Chapter 108 Chapter 109 Chapter 110 Chapter 111 Chapter 112 Chapter 113 Chapter 114 Chapter 115 Chapter 116 Chapter 117 Chapter 118 Chapter 119 Chapter 120 Chapter 121 Chapter 122 Chapter 123 Chapter 124 Chapter 125 Chapter 126 Chapter 127 Chapter 128 Chapter 129 Chapter 130 Chapter 131 The Phone Call Louise's First Costume When Keyla was Here A Day at the Garcia House The Keeper Sibling Bonds Once Upon a Time in High School Lillie's Recipes Lightning the Mentor A Miraculous Medical Aide Louise's Day Off An Ethereal Fairy Eternal Youth A Miracle Manifests Three Generals Deep Thoughts Over Lemonade A Miracle of Science Three Branches, Three Days Dreams of Heroes The Makings of a Thief Girl Time Wishing for More Courtney Larsen, Age 15 A Greenhouse Tour Odin's Evening The Keeper's Evening Cleo's Seventeenth Birthday Never to Thaw Again 2617's New Arx Techs Payday Party Prime's Board Game Party Temperature-Regulating Potions

Arx Nubibus
Ongoing 1557 Words

Chapter 40

4735 0 0

Brennan - now Prime - had slept in that morning. He'd stretched before suddenly realizing he was a full half-hour late getting up. By skipping a couple steps in getting ready(like shaving and eating breakfast), he'd managed to reduce the time he was late to ten minutes. 

As he'd run toward the meeting place, he'd heard shouting and various other sounds. Like there was a conflict. So naturally, he'd run faster and jumped right into the middle of it. 

There were three Legion members and four enemies. The Legion side consisted of Jumper in his usual grey suit, Achilles in his characteristic blue and gold one and a woman who was probably Lightning. Prime had done his research on the Legion before deciding to join after all. He'd even looked up Light Master, whose caregivers were being villainized by the media. 

The four enemies were pretty unfamiliar. One in a purple outfit was Paris. The other three were unknowns. There was one in a yellow outfit with a full mask, one in a silvery one with a full mask and one in pale blue with a half-mask. 

Jumper was in a big round cage, rolling towards the yellow enemy. Prime had to smile at the guy's tenacity. Just like he was when he was a young thing. 

No. Prime was still young. Prime would always be young. 

Jumper seemed to be dealing with a two-on-one situation, so Prime decided to remedy that. He ran at the grey enemy as the yellow enemy yelled at Jumper. 

"Dammit Jumper!" The cage disappeared and the grey hero went tumbling toward the yellow enemy. 

"We're gonna need a bit more time," the grey enemy called out. 

"How hard is it to restrain one oversized cricket?" 

"Harder than you'd think!" The yellow enemy seemed frustrated by the development. 

Prime grinned. Jumper was a good ally to have. He'd gotten behind the grey enemy by that point - relatively unnoticed too. Were these guys amateurs? 

They were no match for the former best pro wrestler on Arx. 

"Shit shit shit!" By the time the grey enemy had noticed him, Prime had his arms pinned. 

"Newcomer!" As the yellow enemy yelled, Jumper hit him in the gut. An excellent move, taking advantage of his distraction like that. 

"Sorry I'm late, Legion!" Prime felt just a bit dramatic at his entrance and lifted the grey enemy over his head like he used to do with his opponents in the ring. It felt as easy as it had when he was in his early twenties, back in his heyday. Before the younger wrestlers had started showing him up in everything. 

This Miracle really was the best. 

 

Courtney had been trying to take out her opponent for way too long. Every time she thought she'd hit the girl, her fists wouldn't feel any impact. At first she just thought the girl's dodging was on par with or superior to her own abilities. 

She was worried. Achilles was fighting Paris, and even though the poison wasn't coming, it was only a matter of time until Paris used his trump card. Jumper was battling two of Paris' goons, and despite how hard he'd worked over the past couple weeks, he wasn't strong enough to handle that kind of situation. 

Paris' side had four. Through the corner of her eye, she'd learned the Miracle the yellow one had. Or at least she was pretty sure she had it figured out. He could make objects appear, but based on how he handled Jumper, it was probably only one at a time. Paris' Miracle was obviously the poison. 

The other two hadn't revealed their powers. So that was two unknown cards, and that worried Courtney. 

Then it hit her. Maybe the Miracle of the bored-looking kid in front of her was the reason she could dodge so well. Whatever it was, Courtney couldn't get a single hit in, no matter how fast she moved. And her Miracle was already taking its toll on her. Speeding up like that put too much stress on her body, so she quit using it until she could figure out a strategy that needed it. 

When the new guy showed up and hoisted Magnetic over his head, Courtney took advantage of the moment that the girl in front of her - Mist - seemed distracted. She cranked her Miracle up to full power and sent her fist right at the girl's gut. 

The result was surprising. Her forearm disappeared right into Mist's abdomen with absolutely no resistance. They both froze for a moment, trying to figure out how to handle this development. 

"Oops. I guess you got me," Mist said with a shrug. 

"I guess so." Courtney pulled her arm back and debated for a split second. 

Did she keep taking on Mist, who was quite literally impossible to hit? Her Miracle was something alright. That was definitely why Courtney hadn't landed any hits even when she thought she had. Before then, she'd thought they were near-misses, but...

Yeah. She was gonna ditch this weirdo and help Jumper. Or maybe Achilles. Paris was a higher priority target. 

She left Mist behind as the others chatted. It seemed a bit strange to be bantering in a fight, but maybe that was just how things would be with Paris and his goons. Paris himself had seemed rather chatty last time. 

"Finally! I got you Jumper!" Manifest was out of breath, but apparently Jumper had gotten in trouble again. Luckily the kid wasn't alone. 

"Not for long!" The new guy slammed into Manifest and took him down to the ground. Magnetic was unconscious a little ways away. 

"Dammit! Who are you anyway? I thought the Legion was just these three and Light Master." 

"You may call me Prime. I'm joining the Legion as of today!" 

"Great. Another one. Boss, we've got a situation." 

"Deal with it! I almost have - Mist!" Paris barely ducked under Courtney's punch. 

"She figured it out and ditched me. Sorry. What do you want me to do now?" 

"Thanks for the backup," Achilles coughed. He and Paris seemed like they'd been evenly matched. Both were out of breath. 

"No worries. That Mist girl's annoying, but I don't think she's a threat." 

"Dammit, Mist!" Paris yelled. "I gave you one job!" 

"Did it to the best of my ability." Mist saluted cheerfully, which seemed to aggravate Paris even more. 

"Y'know," Courtney said, crossing her arms at a safe distance. "You guys seem like you needed more time to get your act together. I guess I should call in the military." 

"Nah!" Achilles laughed. "We don't need those chumps. Paris is my rival, and I shall defeat him!" 

"Excellently said, Rival Achilles. Would you please be so kind as to leave us alone, Lightning?" 

Courtney stared between the two of them, stupefied. Did they both think this was a game? What the hell was happening? Paris had tried to kill Achilles less than a month ago! Since when were they acting like pals? 

Or was pals the right word? 

Courtney opted to hit Paris in the gut. That seemed like the best way to handle this. Whatever was happening, she had to keep more people from getting hurt. 

"Hey!" Achilles snapped. "He's mine, Lightning! Go get Mist." 

Courtney heaved Paris, who was gasping for air, up on her shoulder. 

"Sorry, no can do. I'm taking this guy in. Jumper!" 

"Got Manifest!" When she glanced over, Jumper was waving with New Guy - Prime or something - next to a restrained Manifest. They both looked mostly unharmed, with the exception of a burn on Jumper's lower leg. 

"I'm calling retreat!" 

Courtney glanced over and saw Magnetic, now up again. Hadn't Prime knocked him out? A woman with a pale yellow full mask and brown outfit was next to him. 

"Fine," Paris growled. Courtney instinctively dropped him and darted a healthy distance away. She'd been right to. 

Green mist started rising around Paris as Magnetic pointed his raygun at Jumper and Prime. The woman next to him had one too. 

Why? Why did jerks keep getting their hands on rayguns? They were supposed to be only for military personnel! She'd complain to Barron later. 

"Jumper, get out of there!" 

He wasted no time in doing so, actually. She hadn't even needed to yell. Before anyone could stop him, Jumper was up and gone, while Prime was forced to drop Manifest and run to avoid getting peppered by rays. 

"Yay, retreat," Mist said flatly as she sunk into the ground. That wasn't freaky or anything. 

"Paris! You may run this day, but I will get you next time!" Achilles called. 

"I look forward to your next pitiful attempt! We withdraw for today, but Paris' Phalanx shall stand in the Legion's way again." 

Wait, what? Courtney felt a splitting headache coming on. Not a real one, but a metaphorical one that made her want to hold her head and scream. Achilles made no move to stop Paris as he ran off with his minions. Courtney herself wanted to do something, but between the poison mist and the rayguns she figured she'd only get hurt. Prime was stuck in a similar situation. 

So she stood there seething as Paris disappeared into the streets once again. 

The Legion really sucked at apprehending people apparently. 


Support mimikilstories's efforts!

Please Login in order to comment!