“Name?”

“Jack.”

“Profession?”

“Doctor.”

“Doctor…” Charlotte paused. “Doctor of Medicine?”

That was just a trivial question, but Charlotte keenly saw a moment of hesitation on the man’s face. “You know, Jack. We will examine your knowledge and capabilities if we accept you. If we find out you lied to us, well…” She grinned. Some things were best left unsaid.

“I am a Doctor...a Doctor of Greek Literature.”

Charlotte lowered her head in frustration. Without even an order from her, two Security Troopers marched forward and dragged the man away.

“Ha! Fuck you!” The guy behind Leon was a lot happier than he should be.

This would otherwise be an amusing scene, but Leon didn't have time for this. His heart was pounding when Charlotte turned to him.

“Name?”

“Leon.”

“Profession? Profession? Wait, is that a hammer?”

Charlotte frowned as Leon took out a small metal hammer from the pockets of his pants. The weapon itself didn't faze Charlotte. She could open a hole in the man’s chest with her Defender-C Gauss handgun in two seconds. Then again, she had to admit she was a bit confused.

“I am not a scientist or anything,” Leon said quietly. “But if you take me in, I swear I will give you my life. I will kill anyone you want me to kill. I will do whatever you want. Don’t believe it? I’ll prove it.”

Just like that, he held his left hand out and, with his right hand, brought the hammer down on himself. The hit landed and caused a bone-cracking sound. His left pinkie was shattered. The young man didn't stop as he kept bringing the weapon down on himself. Once. Twice. Soon, his pinkie was no more than a bag of flesh and bone.

Leon was shaking, but even the excruciating pain couldn’t stop him from turning to Charlotte with hope in his eyes. He told himself if this didn't work, he might as well kill himself right here right now. A quick death would be ten times better than being taken back to the Joker.

Facing the determined look on Leon’s twitched face, Charlotte suddenly didn't know what to do. That was when Katherine came in from the side.

“He’ll be a useful one.”

“He’s determined, I’ll give him that.” Charlotte frowned. “But he’s not that valuable. I mean...he may be a good soldier, but that’s it.”

“Commissar, he has lost everything,” Katherine argued. “If we give him hope, he will defend us against anyone, anywhere. He can be our eyes and ears among the recruits!”

When she saw the way Leon acted, how he tortured himself with such determination, Katherine had to admit she saw shadows of herself. They were both so desperate. Both hunted. Both were out of options, and both stumbled upon the path of salvation.

This Leon guy would be a good disciple to help Caity save this world.

Charlotte nodded. What Katherine said made sense, and one more person shouldn’t be too much problem with Lord Apollo.

“You’re admitted.” She said to Leon and turned to a Security Trooper, who escorted Leon away for further processing, as well as some medical treatment.

“Oh no…” Watching Leon leave, the three York Troopers turned to each other in fear. “The Joker is not going to like this…” One of them whispered with a trembling voice.

“It’s not our fault! We can’t disobey Lord Apollo’s orders!”

“You think the Joker will care?”

After a brief exchange, the three still had no choice but to report back. Yes. They could try to leave Camp York, but by themselves, they didn't stand a chance in the wild. Their only chance was to go back to the Joker and ask for forgiveness.

The three York Troopers moved quickly. In a few minutes, they were in front of a mansion. The mansion was much smaller than Apollo’s Sun Throne, but it still stood a titan among most of the shelters in Camp York. It was already getting dark, but at the gate, instead of lamps, there were skulls.

Human skulls.

Each with a green light lit above the bones.

The Troopers glanced at each other again before walking past the door. In a few minutes, they were standing in front of a man in pitch black clothes and pants. The man was in his forties, and a smug smile was on his face.

The Joker. In an age where you could be anyone you wanted, he chose the name of a comic book villain from decades ago.

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“I don’t see my boy with you.” The Joker said quietly, not even glancing at the three Troopers.

The three Troopers looked at each other before one of them took a step forward.

“Sir, we are sorry. Leon ran into an area that belonged to another faction under the orders of Apollo himself. There was nothing we could do! That faction took Leon away! We...”

“Silence!”

With that single word, the Trooper was dead silent, not because he stopped talking or anything. No. His lips were moving, but he wasn’t making a sound. After a few seconds, he stopped this meaningless effort.

“The faction from Fortress Alpha. Yes. I know about them. I quite enjoy their food, in fact.” The Joker tapped his chin. He had his informants in the camp as well. Caity met with Apollo, and they seemed to be on fine terms. The Joker would be a fool to charge into the mess like a raging bull and potentially get himself muddied.

As of the moment, there was nothing he could do, at least not to the Phasewalkers.

These three Troopers, on the other hand…

“You know, out of all the victims, people like Leon are the rarest…” He hissed with a low voice, as if he was a vicious viper lurking in the shadows. “the broken ones, the ones that have given up all hope, they are useless. Boring. You can kill them slowly and all they will do is scream.”

“But the stronger ones, the ones like Leon, they will fight. They will run and when that fails, they will beg. They love life and they will cling onto it with their last dying breath!” The Joker exclaimed. “That’s what makes it so thrilling to take it away!”

“And because of your incompetence, I have lost the pleasure of killing one of them!”

The three troopers exchanged terrified looks. They knew what the Joker was capable of. They have seen him turn dozens of people, men and women, into atrocities even their parents couldn’t recognize. That was when the Joker changed his tone.

“Of course, even I can’t challenge Apollo, so you three don’t really stand a chance.”

The three troopers took a breath of relief.

“And for that reason, I’ll let one of you live.”

The room was silent for a moment as the three troopers were struck still in disbelief. What? Why? They have done everything for the Joker and this was their reward? They wanted to argue, but no matter how hard they tried, no voice came out.

Suddenly, one of the Troopers pulled out his sidearm and shot his two comrades in the back. One of them immediately fell dead. The other collapsed with a mortal injury.

The Joker let go of his spell.

“You...bastard…” The fallen trooper groaned in pain. He couldn’t believe the man who was visiting a brothel with him yesterday would turn on him just like this. Then again, he should know better.

The third Trooper turned back to the Joker and saluted. His face was blank. He was victorious, but he was far from thrilled.

And then the Joker said one world.

“Decimate.”

The third Trooper exploded into a puff of bloody smoke.

“I said one of you could live. I never said you get to do the choosing for me.” The sadistic Tier 2 Mutant stretched his arms and took in a deep breath. “I love the smell of dead bodies in the morning. Well, evening. Anyways, you get the point.” He waved his hand, and another Trooper walked over.

“Take him away for some medical treatment.”

“Yes sir.”

That trooper started carrying the one wounded by the gunshot away. They were halfway out of the door when a voice called out from behind.

“Incinerate.”

Just like that, the last of the three troopers was engulfed by a ball of flames.

“What can I say? I just changed my mind.” Behind him, the Joker shrugged.

If Apollo was sadistic + sly, then the Joker was just pure sadistic. Even before the apocalypse, he was a frequent visitor to dark web torture videos. The apocalypse was like a blessing for him. Whereas in the past he couldn’t turn his dirty imaginations into reality because of the law and the Government...things were a bit different when the world order crumbled.

And when he realized he had superpowers, well, let’s just say things keep on getting better and better.

----------------------------------------

Meanwhile, across Camp York, in an area designated to the Phasewalkers, Caity didn't know Charlotte accidentally caused the sudden and gruesome death of three not-so-innocent York Troopers. She was having a completely different issue on her hands.

After the meeting with Apollo, most of the Phasewalkers had an opportunity to take a break and enjoy some free time. They have come a long way, after all. Most of the Security Troopers decided to take a break inside the living quarters. Camp York wasn’t exactly the best place for a vacation. Anyone who had a different idea would change their mind by the smell alone.

One Security Trooper had something different in mind. While the others rested, he decided it was a good idea to go out, go to one of the girls on the streets with exotic clothing, and pay a can of rations for some sexy time.

That didn't go unnoticed, and Caity wasn’t exactly happy.

“Ok...let’s ignore things like STD for a moment. Let’s also ignore how dangerous it is to let your guard down in an environment like this one. You do understand how what you did was taking advantage of women, right?”

“Well, sir, if anything, I think the women were gladly taken advantage of. I mean...they were practically fighting for me!”

The Security Trooper, a guy named Patrick, was known to be quite sexually active. He even befriended a medic back in Fortress Alpha. It seemed like a few days away had him aggravated, and thus all this mess.

“Literally!” Patrick kept on defending himself. “They were more than happy to do what they did for my rations!”

“That is ridiculous.” Caity Hunter declared. “Just because these fools at Camp York are doing this doesn’t mean you should do this too! You’re better than this! We have something called order in our camps! What you did was so inappropriate!”

“Fine! Even so, you didn't need to make such a fuss about this!” Patrick retaliated the chastises of his commander. “You literally had two people drag me out of my room! While I was in the middle of sex! That is embarrassing! The whole settlement will know what I did by now!”

“You know what’s more embarrassing? Going to a prostitute because you can’t keep it in your pants!”

“With all due respect, sir, you are not a guy! You don’t understand what guys go through!”

“That’s it!” Caity slammed her hand on the table. “Get out of here! And if I ever hear about you doing something like this again, I will have you moved to the 5th Motorized Battalion the moment we get back to Fortress Alpha.”

From Security Trooper to Assault Trooper. That was a huge demotion.

Patrick stood up with fury in his eyes. He turned around and dashed out of the door without even the most basic salutes.

When he was gone, Caity sat back down. The angered look on her face nowhere to be seen.

“The bait is all set. Let’s just hope someone bites it or I would feel really, really stupid.”