"She's dead," June said quietly, floating onto Jase's lap looking more detached than ever.
"What?" Ryder asked, his eyes widening. "She's been in there for like two days!"
"The killers work fast," Aubrey sighed. Resignation filled her voice. "Is that what waits for all of us?"
The question hung heavily in the air. Solstice had moved as fast as they could. They hadn't even been ready. June had just been popping in every few hours to check on military activity. She'd managed to keep from getting caught, but that didn't help if Meadow was already gone.
Tomorrow they'd planned to break in and save Meadow.
"Could Angela have been behind this?" Jase asked quietly, frowning as he stroked June's messy hair.
"Not even she could break into the military like that. Right?" Randy looked around at the rest of them anxiously.
"I hope not. But then who? She's the most powerful person in Arx's underworld," Jase replied, rubbing his head as if it was aching.
"Maybe someone in the military's gone rogue," Niko wondered. "They'd have the access at the very least."
"Then we have to help root them out," Aubrey said. "Their joyride of kills is going to cause us a ton of problems."
"Not just us," Niko added. "Their trust took a big hit after the Phantasma incident. It's been eroding for a while. This could be another big blow if we make a big deal out of it. Is this person trying to dismantle the military?"
"As people the military's after, that would be convenient for us," Jase said slowly. "The bigger issue is what that would do to the rest of the city. Would we get more freaks like Team Chaos running around? Paris is enough of a loose cannon on his own. Without the military, could the Legion keep up with the deterioration of public order? If they were gone, I have no doubt Angela would grow bolder as well. As powerful as she is, she's not immune to being locked up if she does something stupid."
"The military's definitely not behind it as a whole," June said softly. "They were running around like they'd lost their heads. The new general's trying his best to maintain order and figure out how it happened, but I'm not sure he's up to the task. I wonder if he'll resign too?"
"Too much turnover at that level would cripple them," Jase said coldly. "I bet General McGuire's just getting the hang of things. Swapping him out now would erase all the progress they've made since General Jordan left."
"So they launch an internal investigation to try and pin down whoever did it," Niko added. "Either way, we have to be extra careful."
"Yeah." Jase sighed, glancing around the room at what was left of his crew. "How would you all like a redesign?"
"A what?" Aubrey asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We'll keep our heads down for a bit. Niko, keep running your scams. That should keep us afloat for the time being. Then we'll reenter the scene as Solstice. The Phalanx is dead."
June looked at him thoughtfully, then nodded.
"Solstice will rise," she said.
Joey had the day off, so he was up early playing games with Ned when his phone rang. Ned paused the game while Joey checked who was calling him.
Cleo.
He answered immediately. "Hello?"
"We need to meet. I'm ditching school for the day and I really need to talk to you."
"Whoa, what? What happened?" Joey frowned at her clipped words. She was in that mode where her mind was moving faster than the rest of the world.
"Just leave the room. Or I can take Ned too if you want."
"No need for that," Joey said quickly, glancing at Ned as he tried to mask his panic. "I'll be there soon."
"Urgent?" Ned asked.
"I think so. Sorry." Joey really was sorry. It felt like a hot weight in his gut. He really didn't want to ditch Ned, but if Cleo was calling him, something had to be happening. Something the Legion couldn't deal with.
"No worries," Ned said cheerfully, moving to his computer. "I'll check apartment listings."
Joey was grateful that Ned was so understanding. He left the room and had barely had time to glance around to make sure no one was looking before Cleo's portal opened up under him and deposited him in an unfamiliar place. Very unfamiliar.
"Took you long enough!" Cleo said, crouching down until she was at his eye level.
"What is the big rush?" Joey asked, frowning. Seriously. He was still trying to catch up to what had already happened. There was no visible sky, only a metal ceiling and dull yellow lights along the walls. The Subways?
"Just a second. We'll talk and walk." Cleo looked around the hallway, as if checking for any bystanders, then turned to a heavy-looking door. It had no windows, and it looked thicker than anything Joey had ever seen. Next to it was a large panel, with a full mechanical keyboard and scanner. Frankly, it looked intimidating.
"Where are we going?" Joey asked, looking around. Wherever they were, it was deserted.
"Through here. Into the maintenance tunnels. I can't see it with my power, so we're investigating in person."
"Do you have any idea how to get that door open?" Joey asked, really hoping that the answer wasn't illegal.
"We don't need to open it. But since I can't see beyond it, we have to be really careful. I don't want to break something with my portals." Cleo held her hand out, frowning in concentration. The space in front of the door warped, and she grabbed Joey's hand to pull him through.
"We're definitely in trouble if we get caught," Joey sighed.
"No one ever comes down here. There's no record of anyone ever going down here. Which is weird, right? Someone would have to come down here for maintenance or something. Add to that the fact that I can't see anything down here and it gets even more suspicious. But that doesn't matter right now." She started walking down the dark hallway, even more dimly lit than the last one. He could barely see two feet in front of him. If Cleo hadn't had those bright blue ends on her hair, he might have lost her.
Occasionally as they walked, he thought he caught the glass reflection of security cameras, and the thought made his stomach do flip-flops.
"Anyway, you should know. Scattershot's dead," Cleo said, looking back at him. In the darkness he couldn't read her expression, but dread knotted itself in his chest at her words.
"How?"
"Again, it's all really blurry. Like what happened with Phantasma. Except way messier. This one put a bullet into her head."
"A bullet?"
"Y'know. One of those nasty little metal things they used to shoot out of guns." Cleo didn't slow down as she walked, and Joey felt himself hurrying behind her, keeping one hand on the wall as a guide. Every once in a while, he'd run his fingers over some round dome on the wall. What were those? They were placed at regular intervals, so maybe lights? But then why so low?
He didn't have much time to ponder it. Cleo kept talking as if nothing was bothering her.
"Of course, the military's keeping it under wraps. They found her yesterday morning, so I guess my clairvoyance is slipping a bit. Anyway, they won't succeed for very long, but the Phalanx remnants don't seem to want to publicize it either. Not sure why entirely, but I think their boss is playing high-level mind games with it. Even when it does get out though, nobody will be able to figure out who actually did it. It'll forever be an unsolved mystery unless something changes the future I saw."
"So, we are..."
"We're getting to the bottom of this, Joey. Whoever's killing people in jail probably has their base down here. I can't see either with my clairvoyance, so I'm thinking they have to be connected."
That was exactly what he was afraid of.
"You haven't thought we might get shot?" he asked, trying to act like it was a joke. That was the only way he could stomach the thought that she was moving without any forethought.
"Huh." Cleo stopped and Joey almost wanted to scream.
"You didn't think of that? You just want to waltz into the den of this mastermind with no plan whatsoever?"
"I can teleport us out." Cleo shrugged and kept going. Joey wanted to smack his head into the wall. He did. It didn't hurt one bit. Benefits of a Miracle.
As they came to another intersection, Cleo hummed as she contemplated which way.
Then, a voice made the decision for them. A gentle male voice, but one that wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Welcome to the Underwing. I'll be acting as your escort from here on out. Don't bother trying to run."
As he spoke, the lights turned on full strength, blinding Joey temporarily. When he blinked around him, the domes on the walls had opened up and the muzzles of several turrets stuck out. Half were trained on him, and the other half were trained on Cleo.
In front of them, the man smiled pleasantly, almost too beautiful to be a real human. He extended a hand.
"Now if you'll follow me, Joseph Queen. Cleo Yang."
