Joey had not expected their new base to take up a whole block. Achilles led them through the streets, until they came to a pretty plain building. Once he put in the security code, he and Light Master showed them the entire thing - secret passages and all.
He had to admit, this was pretty cool. If only it didn't come with the obligation to fight bad guys and give up a normal life.
Wait, his normal life was already far gone. Fine, a secret base was cool.
After the grand tour, they met up again in the main area. Achilles and Light Master were practically vibrating from the excitement, and Prime looked pretty pleased as well. Their reactions made Joey feel pretty excited too. This was a big step. Was the Legion legitimate now?
"So how'd you get ahold of all this?" Lightning asked coldly, dampening the atmosphere immediately.
"Hm? Ah yes," Achilles said, adopting his leader persona again as he began to pace with his hands behind his back. "Recently we were approached by a benefactor who offered us a base. They also said we'd have whatever we need, we just have to ask for it. And a salary as well. You just need to download an app."
"What's this benefactor's name?" Lightning asked. Achilles stopped walking, and you could practically see how quickly he was trying to come up with an answer.
"We don't know. He just called himself the Legion's Benefactor," Light Master said. "But who cares about that? We have a secret base! And I don't have to worry about my parents getting in the way of my heroics!"
"Exactly!" Achilles said. "Doesn't this make it all seem more authentic? The mysterious patron who grants supers everything they need to do their essential work!"
"Sounds sketchy as hell to me," Lightning replied. "How do you know this isn't some scammer trying to use us to their own ends? Do you know anything about this clown?"
"He wouldn't do that!" Light Master insisted.
"If it will assuage your worries, Lightning, we can email them and ask for more information," Achilles said. "Come this way. There's a computer we can use. I'd also like all of you to register as official members of the Legion. When you do that, our benefactor can pay you."
"Phishy," Lightning muttered. "Prime, Jumper, what do you think?"
Joey's brain started working overtime to get his thoughts in order while Prime went first.
"I agree that it seems somewhat out of nowhere. On the other hand, this will make operations much easier, so as long as they do what they say they will and none of us get hurt I don't see the problem with operating with a benefactor's patronage."
"Fine. Jumper?" Lightning looked at him and Joey tried not to panic.
"Um...I don't know. I see both points I think? But...I'd rather not join officially just yet in case Lightning's right and this is some weirdo trying to mess up our lives. If nothing's happened in a month, I guess I'll go forward with all this."
"So untrusting," Achilles chided softly. Joey shrank in on himself as Lightning snorted.
"You of all people should be more skeptical. Or have you forgotten what happened with Phantasma already?"
"That was a rare circumstance that will not be repeated!" Achilles snapped back at her.
"Yeah! If I'd been there, Phantasma woulda been dead on the ground in ten seconds flat," Light Master said firmly, crossing his arms and planting his feet like he was some kind of superhero from the stories. And...he kind of was. But it still looked more funny than anything else.
"You wouldn't have been there because she knew how to cover her tracks and how to manipulate people to her advantage. If you had been there, you would have just been another casualty." Lightning glared at Light Master.
"Says you! Paranoid Lightning." Light Master stuck out his tongue at her.
"Lightning who wants to stay alive and in one piece," she retorted.
"That's enough of that," Prime said, holding up his hands to separate the two. Somehow, Lightning was still taller than him, even if she wasn't as wide and muscular.
"Prime's right! We can argue about this later. For now, let's get the meeting proper underway. Achilles the Invincible is here."
"Not this again," Lightning muttered.
"Prime the Forever Young is here."
"The Ultimate Light Master is here to save the world!"
"Jumper the Nimble," Joey muttered, hoping to just get this over with.
Silence filled the space for a few seconds before Achilles cleared his throat.
"Lightning, we're taking attendance."
"You know I'm here. I already did this shit before. I'm not doing it again."
"Fine. Lightning the Quick is here, albeit reluctantly."
"Now let's get the meeting started!" Light Master said.
"Of course! First up, I would like to write up official patrol schedules," Achilles said. "I've taken the liberty of creating a weekly timetable. Put your name in whichever time slot you'd prefer to have. Light Master and I have already marked our days."
He handed a tablet to Prime, who looked over the schedule thoughtfully.
"It would be preferable if we worked in pairs, but we don't have enough members for that yet. We'll work on recruiting more in the near future and hopefully get enough people that we can have patrols going at all hours of the day. Until then, we'll do our best. You'll also receive salary based on the time you spend patrolling, assuming you register as a Legion member." He looked at Lightning and Jumper, as if chiding them for not being on board yet.
"At least my bank account won't be drained by some psycho."
"It wouldn't be connected to your other bank accounts. We're creating entirely new ones. You just need the app."
"The fact that we need an app makes me wonder if it's really so benign."
"Achilles," Prime said, "I hope you don't mind that I set myself up to patrol with you and Light Master at various times. Like you said, it would be best to operate in teams of at least two. I have days where I'll be working alone as well, but if we can start establishing good working relationships now it'll help down the line." He handed the tablet to Lightning, who sighed heavily and started tapping it.
"I'll handle stuff on my own for now," she said.
"Excellent! Prime, I would be delighted to patrol with you. Light Master, do you want to patrol together a couple days a week as well?"
"Heck yeah!" Light Master and Achilles high-fived each other as Lightning handed the tablet to Joey.
"Um, can I stay out of the patrols for now?" he asked tentatively.
"What? Why?" Achilles asked, as if he couldn't fathom why he wouldn't sign up right away.
"I got a new job recently and I don't know what my schedule's going to be from week to week," Joey answered. "So I can't really commit to patrolling on a regular day each week, since my work schedule won't be regular at all. And I'm working a lot, so I'm tired a lot of the time. I'm lucky I could make it today since it's my day off, but I might not be able to make future meetings either."
"Just join the Legion for real and you'll get paid for it," Light Master said as if it was the simplest decision in the world. "You won't have to do some stupid normal job."
"It's..." More complicated than that, Joey finished the thought in his head. What would his parents think if they had no idea where he was working or what he was doing? He didn't feel like fighting to keep even more secrets. Especially from Ned.
"I'll allow it," Achilles said. "Come when you can, Jumper. And if you ever decide you'd rather work with the Legion, we'll welcome you with open arms."
"Thanks." Joey hung his head as he handed the tablet back to Achilles. The patrols were set up in two-hour blocks, and he felt bad that his name wasn't on there. Working with Lightning would have been fun.
"Now, our next order of business. Does anyone want to move into our headquarters? You wouldn't need to pay rent and we'd have better access to one another."
"Nope," Lightning said. "I'm happy with where I'm living."
"I'd consider it. Do we have furniture and such?" Prime asked.
"Not yet," Achilles replied. "Our benefactor's working on it. I can add a list of whatever furniture you want to our requests. It should all be here soon, but in the meantime Light Master and I are sleeping on mattresses on the floor."
"Don't worry about it. I can move some of my old furniture in here."
"How conspicuous will that be?" Lightning asked.
"Depends when I do it," Prime laughed. "I'd say five in the morning would be great. Not overly suspicious, but no one will be around to gawk. Anyone want to help?"
"I will!" Light Master said, bouncing up and down. "I can totally help move stuff."
"I'll help as well. Let us know when you plan to move, Prime."
"Will do, Achilles. First I need to work out a realtor to sell the old place. I'll keep you updated."
"Perfect!" Achilles turned to Joey. "What about you Jumper? Want to move in?"
"No, thanks." Joey really hoped they didn't bug him about it, but Achilles just nodded.
"Then I think that's everything for today's meeting. Make sure you patrol during the times you signed up for, and we'll meet here again next week for another meeting. Take care of yourselves."
Joey left the headquarters with Lightning, his brain trying to keep up with everything that had just happened.
