Pantheon Online

"Holy shit!" Leggy's mouth dropped open as he gaped at Colt. "It's fucking Colt Anderson!"

Leggy let out a small squeal like he was some kind of fangirl which made Colt frown. Embarrassed chuckles came from the others as they eyed Colt carefully. That was when Colt spotted posters in the background of Leggy's room. One of them had him standing in the foreground, holding the first trophy he won as Camelot's Captain. His avatar, when he was known as Excalibur, stood proudly behind his real-life image.

Colt gave an awkward smile when he realised the reason for Leggy's reaction. 'He's a fan...' Colt sighed when he thought about the damage that it might do to Leggy, when he remembered the way he acted towards him. Clay cleared his throat to get everyone's attention off of Colt for a minute. 

"I have to say, you sure surprised us with this." Clay let out a small smile before it turned into a frown. "But now I understand the NDA. I guess this means you won't be joining us. Camelot needs their Captain after all."

The eyes of the others darted to Clay's image on their screens before they let out disappointed expressions. Even Clay looked dejected. Their team had thought that Colt would be a good addition. Each of them felt that Pantheon was going to become the next big thing that millions of people would tune in to watch. 

"That's not the case at all..." Colt let out a sad smile as he looked at the group. "I'm no longer Camelot's captain."

Leggy's eyes were the first to go wide at this news. He could not help but wonder why he had not heard about this yet! He always paid close attention to Camelot! 

"The reason I wanted to talk before the game restarts is this. If we form a team, then at some point Camelot will find out who I am and will most likely target you guys. Plus, if Kaleidoscope gets this news they'll come at us harder than they already are." Colt's expression became grim. Although he did not go into details, the others realised that he came with a lot of baggage.

"Like that matters! I mean, we'll have Colt Fucking Anderson on our side!" Leggy's fangirling seemed to have no end as stars practically appeared in his eyes. It was a major change to how he had been speaking to Colt in the game. 

The others showed complicated expressions, and Leggy realised that something was wrong. Why were they not as excited about this as he was?

"Colt..." Clay began with a frown. "Be honest with me. How bad will the backlash be when your new gamertag is discovered?"

Colt raised an eyebrow at the question. He had not expected for Clay to fully understand what problems they would face. "The good news is that my fanbase will watch our channel. So the amount of money coming in should not be small. On the other hand, there'll be plenty of teams that will want to take me down just for the bragging rights."

Clay nodded his head. This was what he was afraid of. It was not the teams that Colt knew he would have problems with, but basically any player that had heard of him. They could easily make a name for themselves by taking him out even once. Which meant that their group would be under constant threat. Clay let out a long sigh while the others waited for his decision.

"Let's do this..." Clay showed a daring smile towards his camera, which was mimicked by the others.

Colt was taken by surprise. He had expected for them to think about it for a few days. He was not ready for an immediate answer! 'Are they really that crazy?' A soft laugh drew his attention back to Clay.

"Why are you so surprised? The problems won't come until someone connects Exile with the name Colt Anderson, right? So we just need to keep that from happening for a while." Clay shrugged his shoulders, as if it was the obvious answer. "We don't need the boost in fanbase just now. We have our own to keep us going. It's more prudent to develop ourselves before dropping this bomb on the world."

The others burst out laughing when they heard that. They were looking at Colt like an investment. Not just for the potential money flow down the line, but they could learn from him. He was bound to be able to point them in the right direction to develop themselves!

"Well, Mr Anderson. I'd say that settles the matter." Clay grinned while Colt was trying to digest what had happened. "Welcome to the team! As for your position... Well, I guess I'll have to move aside for someone more qualified."

"Wait!" This shocked Colt so much that he had to question this decision. "This is your team! Why would you give it up like that?"

"That should be obvious. It's what's best for the team as a whole. You're used to the tricks that the professionals will use in this high pressure environment. Our best chance of surviving is you." Clay smiled like a shark that had just won a bet. 

Colt groaned before he accepted the situation. He was going to have to find a way to train these guys in the game to work as a real team. There was a difference between a loose group of friends working together and professional team. For one thing, he doubted that Clay had ever been ready to make necessary sacrifices. Which was shown when he trusted Colt to collect their orbs. There would definitely be times that it would be best to do damage control rather than try to put out the fires. 

"Well, Captain..." Leggy smiled as he looked like he could barely contain his excitement. "You best think of a good name for our Pantheon. With you onboard, our team needs to change its image anyway."

Colt's eyes flashed as something came straight to mind. "I think I already have something..."