"The Legion keeps increasing its personnel," Twin muttered. Paris frowned at the new information. For the past week and a half, he'd been hiding out with Twin, the leader of Team Chaos. He couldn't remember much, but Ferry had saved him from the military on the condition he join them.
Paris had no real reason to refuse. Jase and the others had stabbed him in the back. The military and Legion were both after him. As much as it frustrated him, he knew he wouldn't last long on his own. Just look what happened after his first attack. Louise had ratted him out.
Whoever was making the Legion's outfits was keeping their identities under wraps. Without connections and people he could trust, the military would arrest him in no time. Reality was unfortunate, nothing like the books he'd read when he was younger.
Team Chaos currently had four members besides himself and Twin - Cold Snap, who could use ice powers, Shell, who could harden her body into an impenetrable shield, Ferry, who could teleport and Corrosion, who could create acid from his fingertips. Corrosion hadn't done anything public yet, but he and Paris were waiting for their opportunity.
So far, Paris had been focusing on recovering and getting his feet back under him. Twin was in charge, like Jase, and neither of them made any public appearances. Unlike Jase, though, Twin had an alias. Paris didn't know his real name.
Actually, was Jase even his real name either? For all Paris knew that lying scoundrel had been setting him up since the day they met.
Twin also said he had a Miracle, though Paris didn't know what it was quite yet. Twin had proposed a joint leadership of Team Chaos with Paris, though unlike Jase Twin seemed willing to entirely hand over the reins to Paris.
Cold Snap and Shell were happy to follow his orders too. Cold Snap had said she'd prioritize her own life above all else, but otherwise she was his to command. Shell said nothing, just nodded when asked if she'd follow his orders. Her eyes reminded him of Mist somehow.
Well, if she ever decided to betray him, he'd just suffocate her. Unlike Mist, none of these people could escape him. Frankly, the combo of her and Manifest was just annoying.
"So how many Legion members we talking here?"
"Can't say exactly. They keep getting a new one every few days." Twin sighed and pushed his glasses up.
"The ones we know for sure are Achilles, Light Master, Lightning, Jumper and Prime."
"More or less. Jumper hasn't been seen since that last incident with the hostage kids, though."
"Could he be acting as a hidden trump card?" Paris wondered. "Only comes in when absolutely necessary?"
"Dunno. We just have to treat him as a wildcard for now. Prime and Light Master got new outfits, then Barrier Maiden was introduced during that Jumbo incident. And yesterday, they revealed Knight Errant. I figure the new members are on standby until they have adequate clothing. When they stop crawling out of the woodwork, we'll know we've got 'em all."
"What are Barrier Maiden and Knight Errant's Miracles?"
"Barriers. You saw the footage of her catching Jumbo, right?"
"No. I haven't exactly had good access to media since I got here."
"Oh. Sorry. Yeah, we need to keep our online activity on the DL. The last thing we need is the military tracking us down before we're strong enough to take them on."
"Seems like we're a pretty pathetic bunch," Paris spat.
"Just outnumbered for now. If we do a guerrilla war, we can whittle that down until it's manageable. I'm more concerned about the growing size of the Legion. And the former Phalanx. They've vanished without a trace. The military stormed the address you gave me, but the building was swept clean. Too clean."
"Damn." Paris hated to admit it, but Jase knew what he was doing. He might be a more formidable opponent than Achilles.
"Jase..." Twin muttered. "You don't have a last name for him?"
"Nope. Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I have names for any of the others. Just first names. Let's see...June, Ryder, Meadow, Aubrey..."
"I'll see what I can find out. I'd like to focus on removing them from the picture first," Twin said.
"Good plan. If they can disappear like that, they could reappear any moment." Paris sat down and heaved a sigh.
"You ready for a lap around the military?" Twin asked, a grin spreading across his face. "I can book Ferry for tomorrow. You pick the time and place. We'll get you in and out before the Legion or military can do a thing."
"Sounds good. I need to let off some steam after being cooped up for so long. I'll operate alone this time if you don't mind."
"Not at all. Like I said, you're in charge." Twin fished a miniscule phone out of his pocket and typed a message on it.
"Never seen one that small," Paris commented.
"Special made. Military won't be able to trace it, but it only deals with text. No images, audio, video or URLs."
"Seriously? Isn't that a waste?"
"Nope. Why do you think it's so small? Most people, even in the military, won't even recognize it as a communication device. They'd mistake it for one of those kids' games. Especially since it only sends a signal when you send a message."
"But what if you need to send a picture?"
"Use a real phone. This is mostly for orders between myself and the other members of Team Chaos."
Just as Twin finished speaking, Ferry appeared in the middle of the room.
"Hey, Boss! Other Boss. You called?"
"I'm making a move on Monday," Paris said. "Can you transport me at 11:45?"
"Sure thing. Where do you wanna go?"
"Let's see..." Paris frowned in thought.
It wasn't long before the answer came to him.
"A shop at 11-2-1. Little Fancy Masques and Garments."
Scaring Louise a little bit would be good retribution for that time she ratted him out to the military.
