Falcone Tower — Sophia's Office — Two Days Later
The report came in at eight in the morning that Marro's crew had gone silent. Three days without any response to phone calls, messages, even a courier sent to the captain's personal address who returned getting no answer. The man delivering the report to Sophia was careful with his wording, which told her he already understood what the silence probably meant.
"Send some men to the warehouse district," she said. "If he doesn't want to talk on our terms we will force him too."
He left.
She looked at her phone.
The unknown number had been quiet for two days, she had started thinking of the mysterious caller and whatever he was doing and why.
Butch appeared in the doorway cutting her thoughts off.
"You should be upstairs before the captains start arriving," he said.
She put the phone in her pocket and stood.
Falcone Tower — Carmine's Office
Her father was at the window with his hands folded behind his back overlooking the city.
"Anything I should know before we start?" he said, without turning.
"Marro isn't responding to us."
He turned, "Marro is on the east side, that's your oversight."
Before she could answer, Butch moved into the room from his position near the door.
"Maroni could have reached them," Butch said. "If there was a move made on Marro's operation, something quick enough that they couldn't get a message out—"
"A move like that doesn't stay quiet," Carmine said. "Something big enough to take Marro's crew would leave a body count, I'd have heard from the other captains by now even the media would be all over it." He looked at Sophia. "What do you think?"
"I think we wait for the people I sent before we draw any conclusions."
Carmine looked at her for a moment, then turned back to the window.
"The captains will be here in twenty minutes,"
They waited in silence from there on.
The captains arrived one by one the senior men first, the younger captains filing in behind them. The room filled with Gotham's criminal elite.
Carmine was about to open the meeting when the speaker on his desk activated.
The voice from the speaker was one of his outer security men.
"Sir. You need to see something..."
Carmine's jaw tightened. He did not like being interrupted like this but knew there was a reason and he looked at the guard near the wall, who moved to the ceiling panel and lowered the room's display large screen from the ceiling.
The feed appeared.
The video showed a warehouse interior, and then they saw eight men kneeling on the concrete floor in a row each, gagged, with their wrists bound behind them. Sophia recognized they were the men she had sent to check on Marro's operation.
Marro was standing behind them.
Next to Marro was Sal Maroni.
Carmine's face moved into something of disgust.
Marro then spoke, his voice steady in the recording.
"Carmine, my family and our crew have given yours three generations. My grandfather served yours, my father served you but now..." He paused. "You've spent fifteen years refusing to see how the city has changed and left us paying the consequences. I'm done with it."
In the office, Carmine's left eye changed.
The dark iris became something else like a hellish red-black bright colour with an edge of heat, with faint red-tinged energy coming off it.
On the screen, Maroni stepped forward.
"Times are changing, old man," Maroni said, smiling arrogantly. "The city you think you own has already moved on. You just haven't noticed yet." He laughed and brought the Uzi up.
The gunfire was loud even through the recording.
The screen went dark after the Falcone men had all been riddled with bullets.
The room was completely silent.
Both of Carmine Falcone's eyes were red-black now, the energy around them stronger, and a growing pressure accumulated in the room causing three of the captains to shift backward and some of the younger men had gone to one knee.
"Three generations," Carmine said, very quietly.
"Gone to that vermin!"
His gaze moved to Sophia.
"How," he said, still quiet, "did you allow this to happen."
"What do you—"
He crossed the room.
The pressure moved with him, more captains went to one knee or fell completely. Butch pressed himself against the wall and stayed on his feet through visible effort.
Carmine put his hand around Sophia's throat and lifted her up, choking her.
She grabbed at his arm with both hands. His skin was hot and the surface began to peel showing deep red and yellow.
"First Sionis," he said. "Now this, your oversight and your failure."
The pressure in the room broke the windows and pushed more men to the floor struggling to move.
Then Carmine threw her down.
She dropped to one knee, pulling in air. Around her the pressure dissipated and the men on the floor got up carefully.
Carmine's eyes were returning to normal, slowly. The red-black fading, the energy pulling in, his skin returning to normal.
He took a deep breath and straightened his jacket.
"This failure I cannot overlook, someone who could allow this level of betrayal to develop under their watch has no place leading this family."
Sophia got to her feet. "Father—"
He looked at her.
She stopped.
"Alberto comes home," Carmine said. He turned back to the captains, "I'll begin the process of having him released In the meantime—" He looked across the faces of the men in the room. "We prepare, Maroni wants a war and he will get one. We'll remind him and everyone else who rules this city."
Many cheered while others still were getting back up but none noticed how fast Sophia walked out.
Sophia's Private Penthouse — That Evening
The penthouse occupied the top floor of a building that had no Falcone connections as she had purchased it with her own money, her own name on the lease, the one space in her life that existed outside the family's influence and with that she had no guards here her father used to protest it but over the last few months hadn't cared.
She had gone to the balcony and sat on a luxury bench that faced the city after a good couple hours of smashing things in anger.
Her phone then rang from inside.
She looked up and she went inside and picked it up without looking at the screen.
"I heard it went well," the voice said.
"Went well!" She yelled angrily. "He picked me up by my throat in front of every captain in the room and was ready to kill me!"
"I know," the voice said. "I had a source there."
"This," she said, the control in her voice wearing thin at the edges, "was not what I had in mind when we discussed making things worse."
"I know what you had in mind," the voice said. "However the cost you bore today was necessary, it needed to be visible and it needed to be in front of the captains to benefit us."
"You have a convenient relationship with cost and benefit when the cost is mine," she said.
The man ignored her comments. "I think it's time we spoke in person."
"Come outside," the voice said.
A heavy thud sounded on the balcony behind her.
She turned.
A man was standing at the balcony railing, lowering a phone from his ear and was looking out at the city as he put the phone in his pocket.
Above him, something very large had just launched from the railing and was now circling upward into the Gotham evening sky with broad dark wings, the silhouette moving against the smog-orange clouds, rising and then banking west until it wasn't visible.
The man then turned to her and gestured toward the bench.
Arkham Asylum — West Residential — Roman's Cell
The news had been running on the television for nearly an hour when the screen went dark.
Roman sat up from the bed.
The screen stayed black for two seconds, then a feed appeared straight from Strange's office, the man himself at his desk.
"Jaina says to tell you the next phase is approaching Alberto is going to be approached about a release. Carmine is going to bring him back just as Crane planned soon you are to end his life…"
The screen went dark.
The news returned.
Sophia's Private Penthouse — Balcony
He looked younger than she'd expected.
Sophia sat comfortably on the wide couch next to him, watching him closely. Crane was next to her but kept his eyes away from hers and on the city.
He then said, "you can call me Crane for now"
"What is your actual end goal?" she asked.
"For now," he said calmly, "listen."
"That incident today revealed his arrogance and complacency to too many captains," Crane continued smoothly. "You oversaw Marrow, yet his betrayal revealed a failure that would never arise under strong leadership and he revealed it to be your fathers fault however true that may be. A third of the captains already leaned in your direction but now, with your father preparing to bring Alberto back into the fold, their unease grows even deeper. They recognize Alberto's deep instability and they understand the damage his leadership would bring to everything."
Sophia listened with full attention, absorbing every word.
"Once he completes the shift away from you and reveals Alberto's imminent return, the captains who lean toward you will shift into those who actively need you," he continued. "That marks the moment we act, Alberto meets his end in Arkham and it makes your father appear incompetent and more out of touch. He set you aside over very little and elevated his deeply troubled son in your place, only to see him eliminated. During that same period Maroni will launch a powerful surprise attack, the entire situation makes Carmine appear as though he has been oblivious as well and not focused on what the men he commands actually care about."
She nodded slowly, processing the layers. "I understand but... you have yet to tell me clearly where I fit inside this."
"When the captains begin losing territory and fighters, they seek out the only figure in the Falcone family left who projects real stability, that figure will be you along with those most loyal to you. This will lead to a three way conflict"
"That might create space for Maroni to seize control of everything," she said.
"Maroni is fully in on the plan," Crane replied, his attention still directed outward across the city. "The majority of these mobsters abandoned deep loyalty long ago. They focus on money and power above all else, when your eventual peace agreement with Maroni supplies both rewards generously I believe almost all will join you. I will also deliver the necessary support throughout the war to ensure everything remains favorable for your side."
"And my father?"
"I will handle him personally at the proper time."
Sophia studied him carefully for several moments then she moved closer on the bench until she was directly beside him. She lifted both hands and took his jaw gently yet firmly in her soft fingers, turning his face fully toward her own. He was clearly caught off guard by the sudden contact...
She held his gaze and activated her Quirk, feeling the familiar channel open smoothly between them.
"Why are you helping me?" she murmured.
"To see you running the Falcone organization," he answered.
The Quirk confirmed the truth as he suffered no pain...
"Why?"
"It aligns completely with my best interests."
The Quirk confirmed the truth again, no pain...
"Do you work for Maroni?"
"No, I do not currently work for him."
No pain… truth again.
"How do you possess this level of influence at your age?"
"You will see soon enough."
Truth registered once more and although the response fell short of everything she desired, yet the Quirk left no doubt about its honesty.
She maintained her hold. "My father's Quirk… Crimson Monarch. You no doubt know its nature well. The power has passed down through our family line in every other generation since the earliest emergence of Quirks. My great-great-great-grandfather first wielded it to dominate Gotham completely, and its strength has increased steadily across generations. The ability carries serious danger, It risks driving the user toward insanity and transforming them into a hellish monster. That fate claimed my great-grandfather and with how strong it likely is now it would leave the user no control my ancestor had. My father has avoided using it entirely up to this point for that reason..."
Crane remained silent for a moment while he considered his response.
"It will present my greatest challenge," he stated with certainty. "but I'd still win."
The Quirk confirmed the truth…
He really could do it…
Sophia released his face with a satisfied smile.
"Then I look forward to our plan."
He stood and turned away, further out on the balcony, and lifted one arm high. From above, Langstrom descended smoothly in a controlled drop, his massive dark wings spreading wide as his taloned feet secured the railing. Crane took hold of his leg with practiced ease.
As Langstrom launched powerfully upward into the night, Crane glanced back toward Sophia one final time and rolled his eyes.
This was his plan.
She was just a tool within it.
Arkham Asylum — West Residential — Common Area — Several Days Later
If people found out they served lobster in Arkham the entire island would riot.
But that is what Roman found himself eating alongside Alberto seemingly becoming the man best follower as he put it.
"She possessed the nerve," Alberto said, "to laugh directly in my direction, after seeing me fall on ice last winter." He pointed forward with his fork to emphasize the memory. "So I had some men find where she lived and next time she went for a walk lets say she was found with no eyes and no tongue!" he laughed remembering it fondly.
Roman produced a sound of agreement and kept his attention on his food.
"There was also this one girl at a party and she was so booorining," Alberto continued with stories. "Wouldent speak to me at all so I–."
The loudspeaker positioned above the common area crackled to life cutting him off.
"Falcone, you have a visitor waiting in room three."
Alberto tightened his hand around the fork.
"Shut up," he said toward the speaker.
"Alberto Falcone, you have—"
He rose from his seat and hurled the lobster mallet on the table striking the speaker directly.
"—It is your father."
The entire room paused in silence.
Alberto drove both fists down hard onto the table which cracked under the force. His jaw worked with visible tension. The Butcher state deepened inside him, pushing forward with raw hatred at the thought of his father appearing here and he crushed the edge of the table further while the shift completed.
"How dare that man show up here," Alberto growled, voice thick with fury.
Roman gave a single nod.
The speaker continued through the static, confirming the full message.
"The visitor says it is about getting you out and it is your father"
Alberto's entire posture changed at that moment. The deep hatred shift reversed smoothly, the Quirks pendulum moved back toward center and then swung fully into the Prince state. His expression transformed into complete satisfaction as he straightened his jumpsuit with deliberate care and smoothed the front.
"He finally realized his mistake," Alberto declared with absolute certainty. "Of course he reached this conclusion, I stand as the only individual in this family with the actual capability to run things successfully. He has known this truth his entire life, even during periods when we held different views. He always understood it at the deepest level that I represent the genius this organization needs. I stand as the only one fit to rule Gotham in the future and bring it under proper control."
Roman offered another nod of agreement.
"When I step out of here," Alberto continued, "significant changes will arrive across every area, and every person who failed to show proper loyalty during my time inside will get a full punishment for their choices." He adjusted his jumpsuit collar with precise movements. "My father chose correctly by coming to me. The family requires someone who understands the true nature of leadership, not like my bitch of a sister."