After more than forty minutes on the ruined Sky Rail, Axel looked down with a curled lip and annoyance at the delivery guy shaking like hell below.
"We've been sitting here chatting for forty minutes, and this is your food?!"
With a whoosh, Axel leapt off the Sky Rail and landed in the middle of the police officers gathered below.
Seeing Axel close by, a cop holding pizza up nervously blurted out,
"W‑Wraith, Boss, we got hundreds of people here, and… uh, what was that black guy's name again?"
"It's Batman, you idiot!"
"Damn right! Batman's treating all of us to pizza and beer, and you can't even remember his name! You heartless bastard!"
"Yeah, and it's Pizza Hut's largest, best‑topped, most expensive pizza ever, with premium monastery ale!"
"Thanks, Batman! We'll look out for you from now on!"
The officers happily munched their pizza, chattering away, even greeting Batman up on the Sky Rail.
Batman looked down at the rowdy scene in despair, staring up at the sky, utterly speechless.
Just over forty minutes ago, Axel agreed to Batman's insane request — postponing the Sky Rail's total destruction so they could talk.
And so they had… about pizza, Gotham's ecosystem, the meaning of life, and who could possibly fix this mess while still saving civilians.
Then the police finally showed up, late as always, surrounding the area under Captain Gordon's command and… doing nothing. They just stood there, staring up at Batman and Axel like they were waiting for a parade.
With so many officers assembled, Axel figured they shouldn't show up empty‑handed. Every arrival deserves good food, right?
So Bruce had no choice but to order over five hundred portions of pizza and beer — and Batman unintentionally debuted as Gotham's biggest pizza sponsor.
Bruce felt like fate itself was quietly mocking him.
Why did Axel have to show up on my first day back? Not early, not late, but right then?
Lost in his bitter thoughts, Bruce just stared down.
Meanwhile, Axel was high‑fiving officers, grabbing pizza, and making jokes.
He snagged three slices, then pinched the butt of the nearest female officer without a second thought.
Meeting her flirtatious grin, Axel waved to the police.
"You guys keep eating. I'm gonna bring some over to those three tough‑asses on the rooftop. They're exhausted from saving people — and they even tried to deal with me, so they deserve pizza too."
"That's right!"
"Tang is right!"
"Commissioner Wraith, yeah!"
"Long live Wraith, haha!"
Amid the cheers, Axel teleported toward the three people on the rooftop staring down at the chaos.
With one insane jump of over five hundred meters, he landed in front of Diana, Zatanna, and Doctor Fate.
Below, the police couldn't help but discuss among themselves.
"Tang really is something else!"
"Yeah, first criminal I've met who buys us pizza…"
"Shut up, you idiot, your whole family are criminals! Watch your mouth!"
"That's right, watch it!"
"Hey, if Tang became our Commissioner, would we still have to arrest him?"
"Oh yeah!"
"Holy crap!"
"Smart!"
"Yeah, we can't catch him anyway, so we might as well follow him!"
"Great idea, buddy! Then we won't chase him like idiots anymore!"
"Wait!"
"Something feels off!"
"Yeah, if Tang were Commissioner, wouldn't we still run around after him? He'd be leading us!"
"So you hate running after him?!"
Finally, Gordon shouted at the cops in frustration, bringing their nonsense under control.
On the rooftop, Axel grinned and offered pizza to the three expressionless figures.
Diana snorted and turned her head away.
Zatanna's stomach growled loud enough for the rooftop tiles to rattle.
"Grrumble!"
She blinked around casually.
"I only just finished a performance last night and came straight here. I haven't eaten."
"Uh, I only had one airline meal too."
Doctor Fate smiled, patted Zatanna on the shoulder, then stepped forward and took a slice from Axel.
He started passing pizza to the others and offered one to Diana with a polite nod.
"Heh heh, since she doesn't want it, I get it!"
Axel snatched Diana's pizza and shoved it in his mouth. Diana angrily spat at him and turned away.
Before she could escape, Axel appeared in front of her and shoved another slice into her mouth — with his finger circling her tongue.
"Mmm… dammit, why don't you just die!"
Diana kicked him hard, sending Axel flying backward.
Suddenly, the distant sound of another explosion cut through the laughter, and even the police froze in shock.
But Axel wasn't upset. He disappeared and instantly reappeared beside the three, waving at them.
"Don't just stand there like morons. Let me introduce you to our Gotham superhero, Batman. Standing around won't kill me. Maybe you should learn from him and become friends with me. Who knows — after we share a bed, I might listen to your pillow talk."
He snatched Zatanna's hand and flung her away without warning.
Axel glared at Doctor Fate and Diana with a displeased expression, like they just ruined his fun.
Doctor Fate waved his hands frantically.
"I'll handle this myself! Don't grab my heart again! My condition is serious, I can't take that torment!"
With that, Doctor Fate vanished in a flash.
Axel turned back to Diana with an annoyed shrug.
"If I can grab Doctor Fate's heart directly, do you really think I can't grab something else through your battle suit or skirt?"
"Go to hell!"
Diana rolled her eyes and flew off toward the stunned police below.
Surrounded by officers who looked like they'd never seen something this ridiculous, Diana couldn't help but feel disappointed.
If only she were stronger. If only she had a way to deal with Axel for real.
She could defeat him in theory, but if he got serious for even a moment, her heart might stop instantly.
Maybe she really was just a toy in his hands.
She picked up a slice of pizza and forcefully shoved it into her mouth.
Nearby, Gordon tossed her a bottle of Coors beer.
"Madam, I understand how you feel. On his first day in Gotham, I had no choice but to face him. So have a drink. It might make you feel a little better."
He downed a bottle with a bitter grimace.
Diana looked at him with sympathy — even a demigod like herself felt powerless against Axel's chaos. Then she heard the cops, increasingly drunk and talking nonsense.
"Life's better now. Except for The Dead Souls Gang, all other small gangs shrank or left Gotham overnight."
"Yeah, and Dead Souls pays way better than Falcone! Our dirty money tripled!"
"And Dead Souls does all the grunt work themselves. Little Italy is the safest place now. Except for Boss Wraith killing people, you don't hear a single theft report!"
"That's right. We arrest petty thieves, but Boss Wraith actually kills people. He'll even shove your head up your ass in front of everyone!"
"Wraith's too powerful. Everyone in Gotham worries about pissing him off, so we behave. Gotham will be quiet for months."
"Maybe Gotham always needed a Wraith. Now he's the only criminal here. I bet aside from us answering calls today, there've been no other dispatches!"
"Bullshit!"
Gordon cut them off, annoyed.
"Wraith caused chaos today so everyone's hiding or watching the news. That's why crime numbers look low!"
"But doesn't he cause commotion every day? If he does this daily, then yeah, he's the only criminal in Gotham…"
"Wait, if crime drops that low, will Dead Souls still pay us dirty money?"
"Holy crap?!"
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Patreon = _Zeph