(shorter chapter)
East Gotham — Sophia's Limo
The limo pulled out of the Bowery heading north, Sophia sat with the phone in her lap waiting for an update with this new ally.
She didn't fully trust him but he seemed to have knowledge of what was going on around her, like her meeting with her father and just now when she was in the Stacked Deck, it troubled her but at least for now their goals seemed aligned.
When the next call came she answered on the second ring.
"My agent is placed," the voice said. "He is with Alberto now, but taking care of him now wont get the reaction we want, we need some more setup."
"And what would this setup entail?" Sophia said.
"I am going to use Maroni on this but it is something you will not like."
"Tell me."
"I won't go into specifics, it wouldn't benefit you to know yet."
The call ended.
She sat with the dead phone for a moment, then pressed it against her palm hard enough to feel the edges of the case.
The window beside her head opened.
"Ms. Falcone—"
"I am fine, lets go."
He climbed in and closed the door.
"Who were you talking to."
"That does not concern you."
She looked at him, he nodded and looked forward.
"Driver," she said. "Get us back to FALCONE Tower."
East Gotham — FALCONE Warehouse — Night
Vincent Rossi sat on one side of a folding table with four of his men positioned behind him.
Captain Marro sat on the other side with six of his, he had come to this meeting because Rossi was respected and he claimed to have an intriguing offer and because his own reading of the Falcone decline had been troubling him.
"The organization my employer has partnered with," Rossi said, "is asking for you to come to Maroni's side, we both see the potential you have that Carmine Falcone has been limiting. This is an opportunity to become apart of what will be the most profitable criminal enterprise the world has ever seen."
Marro's hands were flat on the table.
"My father worked for the Falcones," Marro said. "His father worked for the Falcones. A decision like this I can't just make on theoretical promises."
Rossi then tried again.
"Something has been building in this city for years," Rossi said. "Maroni had the sense to get alongside it rather than wait to see what it would do when the day comes, we understood that the Gotham our ancestors once knew is gone. Falcone and his beliefs prevent us from evolving and gaining the power we need to match the times."
One of Marro's lieutenants had been staring at the man against the wall behind Rossi.
A man stood with his wings folded against his back with his creepy moth Quirk's large compound eyes scanning the room. He had been in the same position since the meeting began.
"Real power," the lieutenant said, his voice carrying the particular contempt of a man who didn't appreciate Rossi's willingness to throw away their values, "has no reason to bring freaks and monsters to a negotiation table."
The old mafia mindset in Gotham had long looked down on mutant quirks and the freaks they made, he pointed out at the moth individual as he thought and said this.
Then a dart hit the back of his pointing hand.
A small impact, it barley felt like anything as he looked down at the dart in his hand and for a moment nothing happened.
Both crews drew weapons and Rossi was already up from his chair with both hands raised.
"Stand down," Rossi said, loudly not wanting a fight. "Stand down. Captain—"
Marro had his hand on his weapon, but his eyes were on his lieutenant.
The lieutenant looked around the room, his eyes had gone wide and were moving fast like he was tracking something that no one else in the room could see. He took one step backward, then another, then he dropped to the floor.
He moved across the concrete on his hands and knees crawling while shouting, heading for the corner several of Marro's soldiers stepped away from his path. The lieutenant reached the corner and pressed himself into it while both his hands went to his face.
The lieutenant's fingers found his mouth and pulled until it tore apart leaving a mess of dangling blood and flesh. The sound he made caused Marro's men to look away from what was happening in the corner.
He found his weapon somehow. Three shots into the wall, two into the floor, and finally three into him, one in the leg, another in the chest and one to the head.
He collapsed.
The breathing in the room after that was the only sound you could hear.
Cameron stepped forward from the wall. He moved through the room at his own pace, into the full light, and stood where everyone could see him clearly.
"Real power," Cameron said, "is what you just witnessed." He looked at Marro and his men "One drop of what we have and a man's life ceases to be." He looked at the rest of Marro's crew. "Consider what would happen if you continue to not see reason."
The room was quiet.
Marro looked at Cameron.
"Very well, I am no idiot, we will join you" Marro said.
Rossi reached into his jacket and set a gold Maroni pin on the table.
"You will be in communication with me through this transition."
Rossi then looked at the crowd.
"Those under you," Rossi said. "Are there any who would object?"
"The ones who are not here tonight are loyal to me or to what I pay them," Marro said.
Outside, Rossi's vehicles were already running. His men finished loading in under three minutes and the convoy pulled out onto the warehouse district's empty road.
Cameron was already airborne back to his base.
Rossi got into the passenger seat.
He took a water bottle from the center console and drank.
He looked back at the warehouse as the car pulled away.
He thought about a pharmaceutical plant in the industrial district. About a fourteen-year-old in it with cold eyes and a flat voice..
He had watched two of his best men forget their own names in under a minute and asked the kid how long it lasted.
He had laughed at that.
He had not known what he was looking at back then and what that kid would become.
"Get us out of here," he told his driver while yawning.