"Benefits?" said 360-Degree Man as he sat down at the table. "You want benefits?"
"Yes sir," replied Cornerstone in his gravelly voice, like two huge blocks of granite scraping against each other. "Health care. We were a little worried that something might happen to us. What if one of the Legion were to become sick? We cannot afford the doctor bills. We might have to take another job to cover the expenses. Where would that leave the city?" Cornerstone shrugged his blocky stone shoulders. 360-Degree Man knew the stone man's mood. It was pretty obvious. Whenever Cornerstone became upset, angry, or nervous, he tended to get bigger. A whole lot bigger. Right now he was about twelve feet tall, a good three times his size when he was relaxed. 360-Degree Man wondered if that was the reason the rest of the Legion had sent him to bring up their complaint.
"Well, you know we don't make a lot of money in this business. I don't know if the Legion can afford all that." 360-Degree Man watched Cornerstone with several of his eyes, and let the rest wander. A squirrel was sitting on the windowsill behind him, eating a nut.
"What about the reward we were given for catching the burglars?" The Legion, while attempting to intercept a shipment of mind-control devices belonging to the nefarious Baron von Eldrec, had apprehended a couple of two-bit thieves trying to steal a television from the house they were watching. The family the house belonged to were a little grateful. Only a little. They were also a bit concerned that a van full of superheroes had been watching their house.
"You know that was only fifty dollars! That barely covered our operating expenses! And we didn't even catch the Baron with the devices!" Actually, they hadn't found any devices at all. Some in the Legion were wondering if they had existed at all, but they wouldn't mention that little fact to their leader. "You can't be serious." The squirrel leapt from the windowsill and out of sight. 360-Degree Man wondered bemusedly if it had caught its branch, or if it had dropped to the ground two stories below.
"The Electric Lemming has been collecting donations."
360-Degree Man raised all of his eyes to the heavens. "He hardly makes anything! Even if he is a ten-foot tall glowing rodent! People are a little afraid of him, especially when he's as friendly as he is. They give him a couple of pennies just so he doesn't tell them the UFO story again, and he gets excited! We need more than that!"
"You are saying that we need more income?" You could almost see the gears start to grind in Cornerstone's head. "I will think on it." Without another word, he stood up and left the office. That was probably the other reason the rest of the Legion had picked Cornerstone to bring their grievance to their employer. He thought carefully before speaking, and would be less likely to step on any toes while being most likely to get the point across.
360-Degree Man considered banging his head on the table, then thought better of it. That would probably hurt the eye on his forehead. He admitted to himself that it might have been a bad idea to get timecards for the Legion. It made protecting the city more like a job than a hobby. But he wanted everyone to take this business seriously! What could he do? The Legion of Right needed more money. It wasn't enough to just be the protectors of this fair city. They couldn't even really afford the office. Something had to be done. And soon.
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