Courtney let out a breath. She and Lillie were staying with Louise for the time being, but she was hoping to change the situation. Preferably to something where Lillie and Louise would stay safe. She'd considered moving to the Legion full-time, but everyone had been avoiding her lately. Well, everyone except Fiore, but even he was acting quiet and anxious.
She was slowly walking towards Legion HQ. The plan was to be there around 8:00 when Achilles got off patrol, then ask him about what was happening. Obviously something was happening and she wasn't being told any of it.
It frustrated her to no end. She'd been a member of the Legion pretty much longer than anyone. Why was she being shut out of it? Shouldn't Achilles make a stand to protect her? If he was protecting Hot Rod and Light Master, why not her?
She let out another long sigh, this one more like a growl. With a quick shake of her head, she recentered her emotions.
The military had been similar. No one understood her. That didn't mean she had to stop doing whatever she could to help people. With all these new criminal groups sprouting up, innocent people without Miracles, military training or weapons would need people like Courtney.
It was just a shame Jumper was distancing himself so much. He had the right mindset, unlike a good chunk of the Legion. He'd gotten good at combat too, and she'd trust him to have her back any day.
A scream yanked her out of her thoughts. She activated her Miracle and darted towards the noise, now accompanied by other people yelping and panicking.
It took a couple blocks and one flight of stairs, but she found the source of the commotion. Achilles, Prime and Hot Rod stood on one side of the conflict. Paris, Shell, Cold Snap and Corrosion were on the other.
Shit. Courtney's blood ran cold when she saw a couple people laying on the ground. One was obviously dead, his face half-melted and fluid leaking out of his ears. The other looked alive, though barely. Ice crawled up one of her arms, and the other was covered in hideous burns. It looked like she'd been caught between Hot Rod and Cold Snap, and the sight made Courtney's blood boil.
It didn't matter if she wasn't in costume. Team Chaos already knew who she was, and it probably wouldn't take much for anyone else to figure it out. The military might be annoyed at her, but Barron would probably cover for her if need be.
"What the hell is this?" she asked coldly, glaring between the two sides.
"Butt out," Hot Rod growled, shooting her a death glare of his own.
"No, let her play with us," Cold Snap said with a giggle. "Then it'll be four against four. Or do you want us to outnumber you? Someone else might get hurt too."
"I can torch all of you without any help," Hot Rod replied. He threw a couple fireballs as if to prove his point, but Cold Snap made ice shields to take the hits for her.
Achilles and Paris were moving away, probably to duel it out. Fine. They could work out their own personal problems. Courtney didn't need to get involved there. Probably. You never knew with Achilles.
Prime and Shell were circling each other, almost like two wrestlers in the ring. They were wary of each other, feinting and dancing to try and fake the other out.
That left Corrosion. He stood up from where he'd been dripping acid onto the dead man, and walked over to the woman, shaking his hand out as he went.
"Oh no you don't," Courtney muttered, running towards him at full speed and aiming a kick at his side. He flew over to the railing, nearly falling over it. Maybe she'd hit him too hard. She'd have to moderate better.
"What was that for?" Corrosion asked, glaring at her. "I was just going to say hello."
"And what's your version of hello?" Courtney shot back, making sure she was between him and the civilian.
"I was gonna do her a favour. Come on, you see what shape she's in. Killing her would be better than letting her suffer like that."
"That's not your decision." Courtney lowered herself, ready to charge at him again at the slightest provocation.
"You don't wanna see her plain little face at peace? Nasty." Corrosion twirled his hand, and a small dribble of liquid formed around it.
"You can't just attack indiscriminately." Courtney dodged the ball of acid as he threw it at her, desperately hoping it didn't hit anyone behind her. The sound it made seemed to confirm it had indeed hit the ground harmlessly.
"Hey, she just happened to be in the way. Not our fault she didn't look where she was going. Besides, your guy hit her just as bad as Cold Snap did."
"I'll discuss that with him later. For now, I need to deal with you." Courtney ran at him again, grabbing him by the front of his shirt with one hand and using the other to grab one of his arms.
"Hey now!" Corrosion looked panicked as she glared at him, their faces mere inches away.
"Come quietly." Courtney let go of his shirt, then spun him around and forced him into a kneeling position. With her holding both hands behind his back like this, he shouldn't be able to escape.
"Bitch," Corrosion spat, and Courtney was forced to let go as acid dripped onto her hands. It burned like heck, and she took a quick glance toward the live civilian.
He took the opportunity to punch her in the gut. The look on his face suggested he'd hurt his hand more than he'd hurt her. His hit was a bit too low to knock the wind out of her, right in her hardened abdominal muscles, and she took the opportunity to wipe her hands off on his shirt. They were still damaged, but not enough to hinder her too much.
A half second later, she had him back on his knees, her foot pressing both of his arms flush to his back. She had just enough pressure down to make him uncomfortable and immobile, but not enough to actually hurt him.
"Lemme go dammit!" Corrosion yelled. Courtney ignored him, glancing around to take stock of the situation again. Hot Rod and Cold Snap were still at it. Most civilians had cleared the area. The only two left were the ones on the ground she'd initially found.
She had to get the young woman to a hospital fast. Every second ticking by heralded the approach of her death.
Something caught the corner of her peripheral vision, and Courtney leaped away from Corrosion just as a blast of fire flew where she'd been. Corrosion was too low for it to hit him, but he took the opportunity to bolt.
Whatever. Courtney would chew Hot Rod out later. For now, she ran to the woman on the ground and knelt beside her, anxious that moving her would worsen things.
Not moving her, however, was the greater danger, so Courtney carefully cradled the woman - really no more than a girl - in her arms and started running. As she turned the first corner, she stumbled into some strange portal and found herself in the hospital.
Just like what had happened the day Lillie was attacked.
Courtney shoved the questions from her mind and flagged down a nurse, then brought the girl to the ER. A few minutes later, she was answering questions about the incident.
She felt bad about ditching the rest of the Legion, so she got out of there as fast as she could and bolted back to the battle. Another portal moved her there, so she was in time to stop Corrosion from getting a sneak attack in on Prime.
This time, she knocked Corrosion out cold.
