Paris ran.
He could hear the military's footsteps pounding behind him.
People scattered in front of him.
Damn those traitors!
If he ever saw those backstabbers again, he'd kill them. They'd left him as a scapegoat for the military to capture. And just because he was doing his job!
Exhaustion caused his vision to blur. He could barely tell where he was going. Sound started to fade away. He'd overdone it with the poison again.
Dammit!
Damn those traitorous bastards!
This hadn't happened to him since after his debut. When the military had somehow found out where he lived and broken into his house.
He spun down a side street, his lungs burning. Every gasp for air was painful.
How was he going to get out of this?
"We have you surrounded, Paris!"
A military officer. The words felt distant and muddled, but he managed to understand them somehow. Paris stopped, collapsing against a wall to catch his breath. His thoughts spun a million miles a second, hoping to find a way out.
His eyelids fell, and he sunk down to the ground. After emitting so much poison he could barely stay conscious.
Dammit!
A figure was in front of him. Walking towards him.
Was this the end?
"Hey."
A woman's voice. Not a military uniform. That was the best he could make out. He gasped for air again.
"Want me to get you out of here?"
What was she asking? Who was she?
"If you join Team Chaos, I can get you out of here. Twin really wants to meet you. He likes your style."
Team Chaos? Those jerks who'd stolen his spotlight? Who was Twin?
"There's not much time. Military's closing in. Nod if you agree and I'll get us out of here. Otherwise I'm leaving you."
What choice did he have for now? He could sort through consequences later. The most important thing was not getting caught.
Paris nodded, trying to stand up with his limp muscles.
"Got it. Welcome to Team Chaos." The woman grabbed his shoulder and everything went black.
"Sergeant Pena!" Brynleigh turned to her officer.
"What is it, Herman?"
"Paris has vanished. Stafford saw him with someone he didn't recognize. Meza caught a glance and said it looked like that Ferry woman. Both of them disappeared."
Brynleigh heaved a sigh. Great. If Team Chaos was involved, it couldn't be anything good. Ferry's ability in particular was a pain.
"We can assume they're gone then. Spread out and conduct a search for Dustin Charles, a.k.a. Paris. He didn't look like he was in good shape. Keep an eye on the hospitals for any anonymous patients. If he gets medical treatment, I want him to get it in prison."
"Yes, Ma'am." Herman saluted sharply and left to deliver the orders.
Brynleigh groaned as soon as no one was in earshot.
This was only going to cause more problems down the line. Why did she have to be a sergeant in this day and age? Things were so much more complicated than they'd been twenty years ago.
"Great." Jase frowned deeply and stared at the wall. June looked back at him. She hated bringing him this kind of news, but they'd both known it was possible.
"So what now, Jase?" Aubrey asked. Ryder and Meadow were similarly staring at him, waiting for his answer.
June could clearly see their anxiety on their faces. This might be the stickiest situation they'd had since Jase had split off from Angela's gang three years ago. But he'd made it through that, and June knew he was much better prepared for this scenario.
"Phalanx is dissolved. If you want a new team name, I'll be taking nominations. Otherwise we'll remain nameless. Doesn't matter to me as long as we're getting things done. Speaking of, we'll regroup Team A and Team B together. And Phalanx HQ will be sold to the highest bidder, preferably before Paris can cause any problems. Last thing we need is for him to tell the military where we've been operating."
"But won't the military be able to trace the sale?" Ryder asked.
"They'll have trouble. I have all kinds of aliases, and all I have to do is make sure Kashton Jaramillo vanishes without a trace. We'll withdraw all the money from that account and close it. Any trace of him will be wiped from the face of the earth."
"I'll go talk to Niko," Aubrey said. "We'll have it taken care of in a couple hours."
"Thanks, Aubrey. June, go tell the others about what happened here. I want everyone to be at Base 4 in five hours. Ryder, keep an eye on the news outlets for anything about Paris. Meadow, make doubly sure no one was followed."
"On it, boss." Meadow left first, followed by Aubrey. June gave Jase a hug before floating through the floor and heading for where everyone else was.
It sucked that Paris had decided he didn't need to listen to anything they said. But they all knew that a loose cannon like him was much more of a liability. Better to cut him off now than when he'd done something irreversible.
And good riddance to Paris.
Lightning stormed into Legion Headquarters with a scowl on her face. Everyone in the room glanced up at her. The only ones missing were Prime, who was on patrol, and Rose, who was working with Louise on the costumes.
"What's up Lightning?" Hot Rod asked, grinning. "You look steamed."
In response, Lightning grabbed the remote and pointed it at the TV. A few button presses later, a news story was playing.
"What?" Barrier Maiden asked, the blood draining from her face.
"The attack left two dead and twenty-eight injured. Military officers are combing the city for Paris, who was behind this devastating strike against Arx Nubibus. The injured have been taken to hospital with widely varying conditions. Doctors are doing all they can to make sure everyone recovers with no long-term consequences, but the nature of Paris' poison gas is still unknown."
"I figured you'd all want to see that," Lightning said, glaring at the screen. "We need to set up some way to coordinate with the military."
"Unnecessary," Achilles replied. The last thing he wanted was to work with that scummy military on anything. "I'll ask Louise to put a rush job on those uniforms and we'll all be out patrolling by the end of the week."
"Sounds good! If I ever see those cretins, I'll give 'em a taste of the Legion's firepower." Hot Rod grinned and cracked his knuckles.
"You really think Louise can accelerate our order any more than she already has?" Lightning asked, a new frown on her face.
"She's a wizard! And how hard can it be to stitch two pieces of fabric together?" Achilles asked.
"Harder than you'd think," Alchemist responded from her perch in the corner. She'd been busy blending and mixing fruits all morning.
"If it's so easy, why don't you take a page out of Fiore's book and help?" Lightning asked.
"I have work to do! Patrols to be done. You know how it is," Achilles replied. "Besides, normal superheroes don't sew."
"I thought you said it was easy?"
"For someone who sews. Which Louise does. Relax; it's her job. She's been doing this longer than I've known her. I'll give her a phone call right now."
"You tell her Achilles!" Light Master said. "She should feel privileged to be working on our uniforms."
"Heaven help you all," Lightning muttered. Achilles ignored her and dialed.
What followed was a verbal thrashing the likes of which he'd seldom experienced before. In the end, Louise refused to budge on her tentative schedule unless Legion members went to work for her. Though he ended up looking pathetic, Achilles asked for volunteers to help sew and got Lightning, Barrier Maiden, Knight and (reluctantly) Alchemist to go over.
If many hands made light work, then hopefully they'd be ready in a matter of days.
He hated doing it, but with the acceleration of villainous activity, the Legion had to beef up its ranks and fast. Achilles even left a standing recruitment form on the Legion's website.
"Paris, how far you've fallen," he muttered. "I will not let your antics stand. Next time we meet, it'll be a fierce fight indeed."
