"Don't celebrate too soon," Falcone said quietly, watching Oswald's laughter twist into a maniacal cackle.
"I think I see the future," he continued, voice calm but sharp, "and this new boss of yours is going to be far more troublesome than me or Fish ever were. Still, I'm not worried about you, Oswald. From the moment I saw you, I knew you could take care of yourself, and you always have."
Falcone stepped closer and gently clasped Oswald's shoulders.
Oswald smiled and accepted the gesture before stepping back.
"Don't get too polite with me," he said. "You should be finishing the asset transfers. You have too much you can't take with you, so move it."
"Yes," Falcone agreed, "there's too much I can't take with me — real estate, industries, connections, loyalty. Once I leave, it all goes with me. But we both know that what I leave behind will always come back again someday."
Falcone waved Oswald toward the exit.
Oswald's eyelids twitched twice before he spoke coldly.
"This isn't your territory anymore. It stopped being yours the moment you walked away."
"But I'm still standing on it. For now, it's still mine."
Falcone's voice raised slightly with emotion — an unusual flicker of anger crossing his face. Seeing it, Oswald nodded with satisfaction.
"To hear you admit that it will eventually slip from your grasp, Boss, is spiritual growth."
Oswald quipped as he grabbed Liv's wrist, the gun still clutched in her hand, and began dragging her out. But as the door opened, Victor Zsasz appeared in the doorway, phone in hand.
Victor showed him the screen — a recording from inside the room. Before Oswald could react, Victor drew his pistol and fired once.
Bang!
The chandelier's slender connecting rod snapped, creating chaos without injuring anyone. Victor then patted Oswald's shoulder.
"Buddy," he said, "even though you turned all the club staff into your people and added secret passages you thought only you knew, remember one thing: neither you nor anything you own belongs to the Falcone Family. Just now you were moments from death — it was Boss who spared your life."
Victor holstered his pistol, picked up the limp Sophia, and began to leave. Oswald watched him go, a grin spreading across his face.
"Even though this is Gotham and not the Soviet Union, it's full of matryoshka dolls," Oswald murmured to himself. "You think he spared my life? No, I spared myself. Even he knows I truly control this club. If someone doesn't know they're on the edge of something, can it still be called complete? Heh."
He dragged Liv further away with a wild energy.
---
Far across Gotham City, Axel and Selina roared through the rain on their motorcycles, arriving at the plaza in front of Wayne Tower.
Selina stopped beside Axel and dismounted, rain plastering her hair to her face. Axel looked at her, impressed by her presence even in the storm, then turned his gaze toward the towering structure before them.
Selina stepped closer.
"How do we get up there?" she asked, voice soft against the pounding rain.
"Break in?" she offered. Axel smirked.
"No," he said, glancing at her with a cocky grin, "I want to test how big your cup size really is!"
Selina blinked in disbelief.
"What? What the hell are you talking about?"
"Get on already," Axel teased before she could protest.
He scooped her up and pinned her onto his back. Selina rolled her eyes but wrapped her legs around his waist to steady herself.
"As expected of a thief," Axel said with a grin, "if it was too huge, you wouldn't be able to move. You don't even make a C, maybe a C plus!"
"Shut up!" Selina snapped as rain pelted her face.
Axel punched the throttle and charged straight at Gotham Tower. Without warning, he leaped dozens of meters into the air and drove his palms into the glass facade. He found metal connections and began scaling the building with savage speed.
Soon enough, a crowd gathered below.
Gothamites never let reality get in the way of a spectacle. Even without umbrellas, office workers stood in the deluge, staring up in awe and confusion.
Selina glanced down.
"I don't usually come to rich areas," she said, shivering, "but I didn't expect these people to be crazier than the homeless. They stand here in the rain watching us. Don't they know how many people would kill for a home like this?"
"Damn it," Axel replied dismissively, "Are you actually dumb or just pretending? Anyone who finished work already went home. Those still here are either late from overtime or want attention. If you think they're actually stupid, then you might be the dumbest one here."
Axel sped up again and in less than ten minutes, Wayne Tower's 966 meters had been conquered.
Standing on the rooftop, Axel set Selina down and looked out into the stormy night. Even through the downpour, huge firework‑like explosions bloomed across South Gotham.
Selina saw them too and swallowed hard.
"Are those… all explosions?" she asked.
"What else could they be? Actual fireworks?"
Axel sat on the edge, legs dangling over the side.
Selina sat beside him, but Axel suddenly turned her direction, lifted her calf, and rested her foot in his lap. He gently caressed the top of her foot.
"Aren't you scared I'll fall?" she asked.
Selina frowned.
Axel slapped her calf without warning.
"Then you die."
"Fuck!" she snapped back, pulling her calf away and staring into the distance.
Despite her anger, she leaned closer to Axel, pointing toward a clock tower in the southwest.
"I rent a place next to the church because it's cheap," she said.
"Is that so?" Axel smiled and asked, "Can you see it from here?"
"If your eyes are as good as mine, yes. Look at that clock tower, then shift your gaze to the right at the same height…"
Selina stopped mid‑sentence, and Axel's eyes widened.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to have a surprise too. This is fucking magnificent. Are you sure that's your place? Wait… did your house just explode?"
"I see it! Damn it, I see it!"
Before Axel could react, Selina leapt off the rooftop, plummeting fast toward the chaos below.
---