Courtney was wandering around the streets in her Lightning costume with Sawyer (also dressed in a disguise provided by Louise) when it happened.
They'd been patrolling for any sign of Achilles' Legion or other trouble. While Darius was working on prepping the drone for the Team Chaos attack, they'd decided to act as normal to make sure nobody caught on to the strike before it was too late. Besides that, it would take a bit more work to get Achilles and the others into military custody, and it was getting to the point where it wasn't much less important than dealing with Team Chaos.
She didn't know what Prime was doing at that moment - whether he'd decided to cooperate with the military or remain steadfast in solitary - but that would be another wild card they'd have to account for. While she was glad that the military was able to counteract Miracles now, she wasn't sure she trusted General Evans being in charge of everything. According to Barron, he'd been accumulating power even more quickly than ever now.
The state of things worried Courtney, but hopefully once Team Chaos was removed from the picture things would start to settle down. She refused to show the anxiety on her face, though, since it would only worry other people.
Shortly before noon, her phone buzzed with a text from Cleo. Courtney ducked into an alley to check it, Sawyer close by her side.
"Mayday"
The text was only one word, but Courtney immediately prepared for action.
"Jumbo, something's going to go down soon," she said, quickly switching to a live news app. Nothing. She texted Barron, hoping he'd be able to inform her faster than the news outlets would.
"Any idea what?" Sawyer asked, his body tensing.
"Nope. Cleo just said "Mayday" and that's it."
"No indication as to where?"
"She might just portal us there when it happens. Be ready."
They stayed at the entrance of the alley, waiting for what was to come.
It was worse than Courtney could have ever imagined.
The first screams came from the level below them, so she booked it for the stairs as fast as she could without using her Miracle, hoping Sawyer had the stamina to keep up. She hurried down them, grateful that the people running up them were seemingly conscientious enough to leave her a clear pathway.
When she got to the scene, it wasn't Team Chaos, the Phalanx, or one of Whiplash's people who waited for her. It wasn't even the Legion.
A man had a raygun he was using to threaten people into handing over whatever valuables they had on their person. Another man was using a Miracle to trip people who were trying to flee. Finally, there was a woman tossing around some kind of Miracle weapon.
Not one of them looked familiar. Courtney didn't have time to stop and think about what that meant, though. She leaped into action, activating her Miracle and running for the woman. The man with the raygun noticed her and switched his fire to her, forcing Courtney to dodge and weave away from her target. At least with her as a distraction, some of the civilians were able to get away.
She ran towards the man with the raygun, then barely managed to keep from falling on her face as one Miracle nearly tripped her. The projectile from the woman took advantage of Courtney's stumble and nearly hit her. If Courtney hadn't rolled away at the last second, it would have hit her - and she did not want to find out what this Miracle was capable of.
"Lightning!"
In the time it took for her to spring back onto her feet, Jumbo was able to get close enough to help out. He wasn't military trained, but he wasn't bad in a fight and his Miracle amplified his muscles immensely.
As the trio turned to assess Sawyer, Courtney ran to take the woman with the projectiles out. A single strike to the back of the neck knocked her out cold. Without bothering to make sure she'd fallen safely, Courtney ran for the man with the raygun.
"Watch your step, Jumbo!" she called back to Sawyer. "That one has a Miracle that'll trip you up."
"Got it!"
Sawyer didn't plan to fight much here. He'd said earlier that he'd be happy to act as a support while Courtney took on the brunt of the fights. He could run interference, similarly to how Joey usually did, though he'd obviously have a different strategy for it.
"Move, move," Sawyer said, keeping an eye on their foes while waving the civilians to move away. When the Miracle tripper sent a child bowling over, Sawyer caught them and quickly set them back on their feet, then gave them a gentle push to keep running.
Meanwhile, Courtney was not going to let them do as they pleased. She moved in on the man with the raygun, who was training it on Sawyer. Before he could shoot, she knocked the weapon out of his hands and tossed it to Sawyer. She didn't know where the man had gotten the raygun - which was military issued - but he couldn't be allowed to keep it.
Sawyer snapped the gun in half, then tossed the pieces onto the ground and stomped on them for good measure. Not necessarily the way Courtney would have handled it, but at least no one would be able to use it now.
"Dammit! We've got our freedom and we're not giving it up!" The last opponent growled at them and ran at Sawyer, apparently deciding he was the weaker of the two.
As long as Sawyer stayed standing firm, though, the Miracle didn't seem like it would work. With a single bat of his arm, the Miracle wielder was splayed out on the ground, cursing and spitting.
"Got him?" Courtney asked, holding the arms of the one man behind his back. Sawyer sat down on his opponent and sent her a thumbs up, then pulled out his phone to call the military.
All in all, while an unusual collection of people, this hadn't been too bad. Even so, Courtney couldn't get Cleo's text out of her head.
"Mayday"
She wouldn't have sent something like that if it was just three minor criminals. There had to be more. Courtney waited anxiously for military personnel to come and get the people they'd apprehended, keeping her senses strained for any sign of something else.
More screams from elsewhere. While she wanted to run and help them, she wasn't quite ready to leave these creeps to their own devices either.
"Something's crazy," Sawyer muttered, glancing at his phone. He poked it a few times and then his face paled. "Shit."
"What?" Courtney asked, dread pooling in her stomach.
"These attacks are happening all over the city. And every villain team seems to have been spotted." He looked at Courtney anxiously.
"Damn," she spat.
"What did you expect?" her captive spat. "Ferry broke us all out on the condition we cause as much trouble as possible. We're going to show that military just how weak they really are."
Courtney tightened her grip on his wrists enough that he squeaked in pain, glaring upwards.
Of course this was Team Chaos's doing. But what exactly could they be after?
A sense of foreboding settled in her chest as a military squad came to pick up their captives. She recognized the sergeant, though she wasn't especially friendly with him.
"You handle things here," Courtney told him. "Jumbo and I will go get as many of these assholes as we can. I know you guys aren't on the best of terms with Miracle holders, but I promise I just want these guys all locked up again as soon as possible."
The sergeant looked between her and Jumbo, then nodded.
"Truce for today. We need all the hands we can get. Our Miracle Suppression Squad can't be everywhere at once."
With one last nod, Courtney started hurrying to the next closest site, Sawyer close behind her.
