Day Sixty-Five...
~~*****~~
Nathan chose to give Joker another chance. But he let Axel deal with him, beating him a little bit as a form of punishment for hurting Chantha. Aside from that, this was also part of their plan so that Joker would have a reason to contact Vincent and ask for his help.
Axel brought Joker back to the east seaport, battered and wounded. "Don't you dare betray and hurt our comrades again! The next time you do that, I will kill you." Axel warned Joker once again.
Joker nodded his head as he looked at him apologetically. "Again, I apologize for what happened to Chantha. I'll ask for her forgiveness later. But for now, I have a mission to do. I won't be able to show up in front of everyone. Please send my regards to Spider. I know he will scold me once he comes back."
Axel's anger toward Joker lessened a little bit since he could see that he regretted his past actions. But he didn't want to lower his guard down. He won't trust Joker completely.
"Shoot me!" Joker requested Axel. "To make it look convincing and real."
Axel frowned. He already beat him up. 'Do I need to shoot him as well?' Axel hesitated for a moment. However, Axel looked straight into his eyes and urged him. "Do it. I'll be fine. This is one way to convince King Stallion Mafia that I became your enemy."
Axel picked up his gun, aiming at him. Joker just closed his eyes, waiting for Axel to fire his gun.
Bang!
"Argh!"
Axel pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Joker's right shoulder. "Now, RUN!" Axel told him.
A few minutes later, two black sedan cars arrived at the east seaport. They encountered Axel and his men. The two factions exchanged fires. When Axel witnessed Joker being transferred to the black sedan car, he ordered his men to retreat, returning to the Syphiruz Mafia headquarters.
Stage one of the mission was accomplished. They just hoped that Joker would be able to fulfill his duty.
After securing Joker's safety, Phoenix's men brought him to the hospital. His gunshot wound needed to be treated. Aside from a gunshot wound, Joker was also beaten up badly.
*****
[ Back at Syphiruz Mafia Headquarters... ]
Aiden was sulking in the corner. Nathan smacked his head a while ago when he said something that provoked Nathan and changed his mood. When Axel came back, that was the time Aiden got the courage to approach Nathan, hoping that his mood finally improved. He just stood at the back, listening to their conversation.
"Sir, are you sure about this? What if Joker will flee with the help of King Stallion Mafia?" Axel was still uneasy about this plan.
"Yes. I agree with Axel. Before letting him go, you should have invented the Anti-Traitor Bomb Chip first," Aiden butted in.
"Anti-Traitor Bomb Chip?" Axel looked puzzled when he heard that.
Nathan just rubbed the space in between his eyebrows and said, "Just don't mind him."
Aiden pouted his lips as he put on a pitiful face. Nathan kept ignoring him.
"I need to get information about the leader of King Stallion. This is the closer we can get to them. I want to gamble on Joker. My guts tell me that he won't betray me this time." Nathan reassured Axel. He was so determined to find out the identity of the King. He might be related to Jane. What if he was the father of Jane's child?
'The leader of King Stallion Mafia... is he a formidable opponent I should be cautious about? Phantomflake failed to kill him. And she suffered because of him.' Nathan mused to himself.