"Apollo! Listen to me!"
When his life was at stake, Aryan didn't have time for politeness. He referred to Apollo directly by his name.
"Apollo! We have all been tricked! Someone framed Victoria! Someone framed her and then killed her! You have to see through this!"
Apollo smirked mockingly.
"Yes...yes, Aryan. I see it." He took a step forward, random bits of flames exploding all around him, showing how furious he has become. "I see how you are a son of a bitch who used my trust for your own personal gains. I see how you made an alliance with Joker and Victoria to come after my head, and when they failed, you went on and silenced Victoria."
"What…" Aryan couldn't believe what he was hearing. "she was dead when I arrived! I didn't kill her!"
"Then why did you run?"
"Because you are killing us left and right!"
"But if you have nothing to hide, then why did you run?" Apollo suddenly took out a piece of paper, turned it into a ball, and tossed it to Aryan, who caught it and read through it. "Of course, you've got plenty to hide."
Aryan looked up from the piece of paper in shock. The paper contained a letter, which was supposedly written to Victoria in his name. In the letter, Aryan detailed a plan of killing Apollo that involved having Joker force one of Apollo's servants to poison his food. Aryan told Victoria to get close to Joker. In the conclusion, Aryan signed his name.
"It's smart. You asked Victoria to burn the letter after reading it, but she never did. She kept it in a hidden compartment in her house, and when my men went through her house, we found it." Apollo concluded. "I didn't believe you, so I tested you. I sent you to interrogate Victoria. Alone. If you harbored ill intentions, you would've killed her. Alas…"
"She was dead before I arrived!"
"Then why did you break into the cell? Don't deny it. I know it's your power that broke through the cell door."
"I wasn't going to deny it…" Aryan growled impatiently. If Apollo was trying to be a detective, then he was doing a damn poor job! "look! Something is wrong here, Lord Apollo! Arrest me and imprison me if you want, but this is not over! We need to investigate this further!"
"Imprison you…" Apollo suddenly froze, as if he just had a change of mind. "how foolish of you to think I will let a traitor like you live? No! I will kill you where you stand!"
"I…" As several fireballs came crashing down on him, Aryan really didn't know what to say. Was Apollo drunk or something? He surrendered! He was willing to lay down his arms! But looking into the bloody red eyes of the Tier 3 Mutant, and his former leader, Aryan knew words couldn't get him out of this.
He could only fight.
York Troopers across the streets opened fire, but all Defender bullets did was bounce harmless off of his ice armor. With enough shots, the bullets could wear his armor down, but it was just a matter of seconds to replenish the armor. By themselves, the York Troopers were hardly a threat.
As for the real threat...Aryan suddenly formed an ice sword in his grip. As the fireballs came down one by one, Aryan jumped into the air, cutting through the fireballs with his sword. Whenever the sword made contact, a layer of blue would freeze the fireballs in mid-air. The ice and the flames would cancel each other out in a hissing sound until nothing was left.
Ice and fire. The perfect counters to each other. This was a much wiser tactic than what Joker did, which was tanking the shots and hoping none of them would be enough to kill him.
Apollo saw that. He tried rigging the fireballs to explode before Aryan could freeze them, but the blasts weren't enough to pierce Aryan's armor. Finally, the Mutant swapped his tactic altogether. Letting the fireballs disappear, Apollo pulled out a specially crafted blade. The next second, a ball of flames was ignited across the weapon, turning it into a flaming sword.
Against ordinary people and low-tier Mutants, Apollo could use his power to infiltrate their bodies and light them up from the inside. But Aryan, with his power, was more than capable of preventing that from happening. So instead, Aryan had to apply his power with the help of a blade. Channeling his Mutant power, the flaming sword could easily dismember Aryan and his armor if it landed even a single strike.
The Tier 3 Mutant charged forward and slashed down with the intent to kill. Aryan could only deflect the hit with his ice blade. The two weapons clashed with each other between the two Mutants. Flames evaporated ice. Ice froze fire. For a moment, the two Mutants were caught in a duel that, without all the fancy ice and fire, seemed like the fight between two medieval knights.
The York Troopers had to cease firing in fear of hitting their own leader. Whether they would do any damage was secondary compared to the insult such an action would represent.
As the fight continued, Aryan pleasantly realized Apollo was actually a lot weaker than what he used to be. Indeed, Joker's Decimate spells really hurt Apollo. Apollo should be hiding in his fortress and recovering right now. Instead, he was mindlessly engulfed in a high-intensity duel with a formidable foe. Against a weakened Apollo, Aryan was actually more than capable of holding his ground.
But Apollo's fighting style was weird. It felt like the Tier 3 Mutant was so completely engulfed in fury toward Aryan that he was barely defending himself. If Aryan tried to strike him down, instead of dodging or deflecting, Apollo would try to strike Aryan down. It was a life for a life. Aryan didn't want to trade lives, so he was gradually forced back by the ruthless tactic.
This was oddly aggressive of Apollo, even for fighting a traitor.
And what was up with the blade? Apollo could've stayed a distance away and kept on bombarding him and trying to light him up from the inside. It would take a long, long time, but this was Camp York. This was Apollo's territory. Aryan had no way of escaping, and a war of attrition could only end in one way. Instead, Apollo chose melee? Melee?
This wasn't the Mutant who commanded Camp York with an iron fist.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, Aryan saw a figure tilt his head. It was...it was Caleb! The next thing he knew, Apollo suddenly clutched onto his head and started screaming. Blood oozed out of his eyes. Aryan tried to catch himself, but it was too late. His ice blade sliced forward and, without any resistance, cut right into Apollo's heart.
Ice sizzled as it was melted by the flames around Apollo's body, but the damage has already been done.
Perhaps it was the pain, or perhaps it was because the psychic attack that just crippled him disappeared, Apollo regained consciousness for a few moments. Fatally wounded, he didn't have the brainpower to think about who just stabbed him, psychically, in the back. All he knew was this traitor in front of him, Aryan, just put an end to his reign.
The least he could do was kill his killer.
"No!" At the last moment, Aryan cried out. He finally realized who was behind this, but it was too late. Apollo screamed and dumped all the power he had left into a single attack, which slammed into Aryan in point-blank range.
And then, everything went silent.
---
When all was said and done, Caleb walked into the Sun Throne. A victorious grin on his cheeks.
He has done it. Tier 3 Mutant Apollo? Dead. Tier 2 Mutants Joker, Victoria, and Aryan? Dead! He, Caleb, was now the leader of Camp York!
After the clash in the streets and the death of both Apollo and Aryan, there was some chaos. There were some killing and looting, but ultimately, when Caleb declared he would reign as the new leader of Camp York, no one questioned it. Well, two Tier 1 Mutants did question it, severely underestimating what Caleb was capable of.
They died screaming.
Now, the crown was his, and it was worth every amount of effort he put in.
Caleb was a psychic, but he was by no means the most powerful Mutant in the camp. In fact, Apollo was terrified of his potentials, so he kept a tight eye on him. Most of Caleb's servants and guards were Apollo's spies. Apollo would constantly grill and test Caleb to find out if he has developed any new powers.
Caleb has always been seen as a threat by Apollo. Joker's spells could be deflected. Victoria's spines were a joke at this level. Aryan's power could be scorched through. But a psychic that could potentially read minds or mind control others? Now that was a threat! Apollo used Caleb to his advantage as a lie detector, but he didn't trust the man one bit.
Caleb knew that as well, so he maintained a low profile and only acted as the human lie detector for Apollo. But in secret, with endless experiments, he has developed another power.
He could foster certain feelings in people. Stoke the fire, per se.
For example, if a husband hated his wife, then Caleb could foster that hatred and enhance it. Perhaps, originally, the couple could put their differences aside for a common goal. But now, the husband would be constantly bugged by the idea until he eventually gets a divorce lawyer...or a murder defense lawyer.
Was this overpowered? Hardly. Caleb could foster feelings, not create feelings. If someone was perfectly content with the status quo, Caleb couldn't brainwash that person into an anarchist terrorist. Even further, this required his constant presence around that individual.
But the Mutants were different. The Mutants weren't satisfied with each other. Caleb has been quietly observing his fellow Mutants for a long time. He knew Apollo was absolutely paranoid about having his throne and even his life usurped. He knew Joker was unsatisfied with Apollo. And he knew Victoria was secretly in love with Joker.
So he fostered those feelings to his advantage.
When Joker said Caleb visited him many times before, he wasn't lying. Caleb pretended like he has developed a love for torture and would like some advice from the expert. In the process, Caleb slowly grew the idea in Joker that Apollo should die and make room for Joker to be the leader.
It wasn't that difficult, to be honest. Joker was never the wisest one.
Influencing Victoria and Apollo wasn't that difficult either. In fact, Victoria started sleeping with Joker before Caleb could even intervene. As for Apollo...Caleb was careful. A bit of work in this meeting. Some more input next day during this report. Finally, he stoked the fire enough that when Joker's assassin finally struck and missed, Apollo's fear and anger overwhelmed his logic.
In other words, he has become a weapon Caleb could abuse. At that point, Caleb pretty much just sat back and enjoyed the show.
After the assassination failed, Joker should've fled, but after Caleb's input, his desire for the throne was too great. That was why he maintained his cover and went to see Apollo. That was also why he tried to strike Apollo down in his mansion. He could see the dangers, but he refused to acknowledge it.
When Joker died relatively peacefully, Apollo's fear wasn't satisfied. The fact that the man who ordered his assassination died with a smirk only stoked his need for vengeance even more. That fear and anger were directed at Victoria, who Caleb knew would be involved with Joker. Victoria was quickly imprisoned.
Two down. Two more to go.
In this time of chaos, Caleb was perfectly clear of accusations. Yes, he did help Joker with the assassination, but in the end, Joker was the only one responsible. Even Joker himself would think that. No one would know Caleb was involved. As far as everyone could see, Caleb was just a casual background character whose sole existence was because three was a worse number than four.
Of course, Caleb set up the letter that turned up in Victoria's house. He also sent an assassin to kill Victoria. This way, Aryan was doomed before he could even set foot back into Camp York. Aryan actually tried to flee. Wise call. Unfortunately, Caleb's eyes and ears were all over the streets.
During the final battle between Aryan and Apollo, Caleb knew Apollo had served his purpose, so in the most heated moment, he used a psychic blade and crippled Apollo, causing him to be slain by Aryan. Caleb actually expected Aryan to survive the encounter, at which point he and the York Troopers had to take care of him. Fortunately, Apollo took down Aryan with his last dying breath.
Now, they were all dead. Everyone that could be a threat to him and his path to the throne of Camp York, gone.
He has won.
Footsteps approached from behind, and Caleb turned to face Phasewalker Commissar Charlotte.
"Congrats." Charlotte said quietly, slightly lowering her head. "My lord."
Caleb let out a small smile. "I hope the stance of Fortress Alpha has remained unchanged through all this chaos."
Yes. He has slain four of his fellow Mutants, but Caleb wasn't arrogant enough to think that meant he could start a war on Fortress Alpha and the faction backing it up. He was present when Caity made the introduction. They had millions of people! That alone could crush Camp York if they wanted to!
In fact, before he went through with this plan, Caleb went to Charlotte and hinted at a change of power in Camp York and how Fortress Alpha would react. Their answer was simple.
"My lord, the attitude of Fortress Alpha remains independent of who commands Camp York." Charlotte smiled coldly. "Our deal is with Camp York. Whether it is the Camp York under Lord Apollo or the Camp York under Lord Caleb...as long as the terms of the deal are the same, it is irrelevant to us."
Caleb nodded. It was good to know. With only Tier 1 Mutants left in the camp beside himself, and Fortress Alpha doing nothing, his position was rock solid. He could finally eat and drink and fuck whatever and whoever he wanted!
He snapped around to a servant who formerly belonged to Apollo.
"Bring me the best drinks around!"
Charlotte turned and left the Sun Throne. As she entered her ride, the Commissar pulled out her satellite phone.
"Yes...yes...they're all dead. Apollo, Joker, Victoria, and Aryan. All of them are confirmed to be killed. Yes...we can proceed with the plan..."
A cold smirk was on her face.
Sometimes, she truly wondered if Caleb's ability to tell lies from truths was a gift or a curse. More often than not, it only helped with distracting Caleb from the real threats.
Yes, Whether Camp York was under Apollo or Caleb itself was irrelevant to the Phasewalkers. The Phasewalkers didn't love Apollo, nor would they just turn away from Camp York because it was now under new leadership with Caleb.
But keep in mind! The Phasewalkers only chose to deal with Camp York peacefully because of their power! One Tier 3 Mutant and four Tier 2 Mutants were too deadly to mess with! But now? What did Camp York have now? One Tier 2 Mutant? What else? Several thousand militias with little military training or equipment? A dozen Tier 1 Mutants, the same tier as the countless low-level Mutated Animals that died at the hands of the Phasewalker Artillery, air support, and Stasis Troopers in New Sara?
Why stick to the deal when you could straight up take out the other side and claim everything they had?
Caleb should've been wiser, but like many of his peers, he lacked the insight that the Phasewalkers did. The only stage he could see was Camp York while the Phasewalkers had their gaze set on a much greater goal since the very beginning. The Mutants fought for themselves, for power and greed and wealth alike, and that was why they lost. The Phasewalkers fought for the greater good. They fought for their homes and friends and comrades and families, and that was what made them unbreakable.
When the moment came, Caleb's greed and arrogance blinded him from the harsh, cruel reality. He thought he was the final winner, but in reality, he was no more than a fool. The Phasewalkers used him the same way he used Apollo.
As a weapon, one to be discarded after it outlived its purpose.