Magnus and Dallas race towards the Reservoir, the commissioner and her loyal sergeant in the Function Room. The time has finally come that the Commissioner face justice for her crimes against the city and its people. Too many lives have been lost for the sake of her foolish idealistic crusade riddled with corrupt ideals.
"How's the shoulder?" Dallas asks,
"The suit applies pressure to wounds." Magnus answers, "It'll be fine."
"Guys!" EJ pops up via the radio, "The Reservoir is swarming with guards. They know you've dealt with Kade, so they're expecting you both."
"One last push!" proclaims Magnus, "This war ends now!" Magnus proclaims as he steps on the pedal of his assault bike.
The two reach the Reservoir. A very eloquent establishment that looks like the Buckingham Palace on the inside, with well decorated designed interiors with lights ranging from lamps to chandeliers, and high class furniture to really establish the atmosphere of the building.
"There they are! All units fire!" the guards open fire.
Both Magnus and Dallas pull out their dual blasters and open fire on the guards.
Dallas had been given the same blasters as Magnus. Though Dallas has killed a lot of people in his career as a soldier, he's willing to give his son's way a go.
The two deal with the guards in the lobby with ease. But more are storming the lobby.
"We'll split up!" shouts Dallas, "You take the fire exit stairs, I'll hold them off."
"Don't overdo it!" remarks Magnus as he rushes to the fire exit stairs.
A lot of steps of course, even though it's only a seven story building. But Magnus makes a speedy trip by using his cable launcher to cut down the traveling time. He would've climbed the stairs the old fashioned way, but saving his muscle strength in his legs is important.
Magnus reaches the seventh floor where the Function Room is. He makes for the entry doors and forcefully kicks the doors down.
Inside are Commissioner Christine Keith and Police Sergeant George Carter.
“Knock, Knock!” Magnus smirks,
"You've ruined everything!" shouts Christine, "How dare you pop up out of nowhere with your vigilantism. Do you realize what you've just done?"
"Save the city?" Magnus goes straight for sarcasm, "Save the citizens from your bitch infested voice and your stooge?"
In an instant, Sergeant Carter draws his gun and fires.
The bullet is deflected back, not at the gun, but Carter's knee. He drops to the ground in an instant.
"That's assaulting a Police Officer! Criminal!" shouts Carter.
"Only criminals here are your sorry excuses for a bunch of police officers." proclaims Magnus. "You're both finished! It's over!"
The Commissioner rushes at Magnus and lands a punch on Magnus' jaw.
"Ouch! OUCH! AHHH!!!"
Punching Magnus for an average human being is like punching a steel wall.
The commissioner drops to her knees next to Carter, her hand being seriously fractured from punching Magnus' jaw.
"How dare you! You doomed this city for generations to come! The city will suffer for years to come for your selfish needs to feel superior to me, this city's beacon of light."
"You need to be in the looney house! Seriously!" Magnus replies as he walks to the window. On the ground he sees his father finishing off the last of the guards. "Well he's got things covered."
With Magnus' back turned, Commissioner Keith makes a run for the roof.
"Seriously?" Magnus sighs, "There's no shame in surrendering!"
The frightened commissioner makes it to the roof, panting in fear and terror of the fact that she has lost to the vigilante she tried so desperately to stop.
Magnus makes it to the roof.
"Come on! This is getting too much!" Magnus pleas with Keith.
"I will save this city, by giving it the true balance it deserves!" shouts Keith.
"Unbelievable!" Magnus says as he heads to the edge of the roof to see how his dad's doing.
"I will save this city!" Christine continues to shout, "I WILL BE RESPECTED! I WIL-"
BANG!
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU-" Magnus shouts as he quickly turns around, fearing the commissioner took her own life.
What Magnus saw was far more shocking.
Commissioner Christine Keith is dead.
Standing above the commissioner with a gun in hand.
Was Ariel Queen.
"Ariel!" Magnus is shocked with what she had done. "You didn't have to... Why? What are you even doing here?"
Magnus, still in shock, is flabbergasted on what Ariel had done.
She killed the Benefactor. What did she had to gain from killing her?
"She didn't do one thing right." Ariel says calmly. "She didn't fulfill my vision fully."
"Vision?" Magnus asks,
In that second, Magnus' mind flashes back...
The night of the charity ball, when Ariel told Magnus about her dream,
"I have a dream myself you know, of a better world, where a perfect balance is maintained where everything is in harmony in all aspects of life, the people and the world. Where life becomes true art where everything just comes together and blossoms as all things should."
The night the two criminals murdered a couple and left a boy an orphan.
He remembered the conversation whilst observing them in the darkness.
"Hell, I wanna get that benefactor into my bed. She's one fine looking lady alright! I wanna strip her right down and get-"
A dream that's similar to Commissioner Keith's aspirations.
And a clue that Magnus overlooked, Commissioner Keith was a woman, but she wasn't a fine looking lady.
"No!" Magnus admits in shock, having finally figured it out.
"You! You're the Benefactor?"
"I am..." Ariel replies calmly, "But I'm not what you thought I was."
Magnus walks sideways, trying so hard to come to terms with what was revealed.
"All those deaths, all those crimes..." Magnus replies whilst shaken to the core, "That was you?!"
Ariel looks at Magnus with sincerity, as if she wants him to understand her true intentions.
"I'm not your enemy Steven." Ariel replies,
Magnus' jaw drops, even more shocked. Ariel knew Steven Lockyer was Omega Magnus the entire time, but she said nothing. Magnus wants to desperately say something, but he can't find the words.
"I always knew it was you." Ariel continues, "I know that same aura of loneliness you've always had since I've known you. The way you act, the way you carry yourself, even the way you try to compose yourself. You can't fool someone you've known for years."
"But why?" Magnus says with tears streaming down his eyes, "Why?"
"My vision." Ariel answers, still with a calm demeanor, "I told you before about my dream at the charity ball. A better world, where a perfect balance is maintained where everything is in harmony in all aspects of life, the people and the world. Where life becomes true art where everything just comes together and blossoms as all things should. Commissioner Keith spoke of garnering respect and admiration from the people. What I want is for the people to realize that the good and the bad are needed in this life. One cannot exist without the other, like how a person cannot learn anything without making mistakes. Yes, crime brings the worst out of humanity, but it also brings out the best as well. Through mourning, grieving, pity, anger, vengeance comes joy, happiness and relief through being freed from the bondage of sadness and sorrow. Through those means, and the means of all other things in this world, is how a perfect balance is found, making for a better world. That's the world I want."
Magnus stands speechless. For an ideology so bizarre, some of what he heard Ariel say actually makes sense.
"You're part of it too." Ariel continues, "When I met you in High School, you were completely lost. You didn't know where you were headed in life. I knew about your abilities that you were trying so hard to hide. You didn't see any use for them in this world. I spent five years trying so hard to achieve my dream, I thought it wasn't benefiting anyone. But two years ago, when you started being a vigilante, I felt like my dream actually made someone's life better. What you and Elizabeth started was something amazing that gave you meaning in your life and a purpose. Your father spent his whole life trying to do something that didn't work in the end, and it brought him nothing but pain and misery. But you've done better than him. You done better than you Aunt Stefani. You've done better than your mother."
Magnus continues to stand speechless. She knew about his whole vigilante operation, she knew about Elizabeth, and she knew about his family.
"Steven..." Ariel continues, slowly walking towards Magnus, "I know about your past, your origin. You are a product of your father who was in turn an experiment in an attempt to create super soldiers. Your father and aunt were the only successful subjects. They were looked upon as freaks. Including you. But what I saw was a wonderful person who is more human than anyone I ever met."
Magnus always knew he was a special case. He never knew how he got his abilities. Now he knew.
"I want you to join me Steven." Ariel extends an olive branch to Magnus, "We can make the world a better place. We can do so many wonderful things together. We can even be together."
Ariel says this as tears stream from her eyes.
"I love you so much Steven. And I know you love me. We can do so much together. And we can achieve what can be our dream."
The entire conversation has broken down Magnus in more ways than one. Ariel's true intentions, his own past and origin and Ariel's feelings for him. Tears stream from Magnus' eyes. But he can finally answer Ariel truthfully from his heart.
"You’re my friend Ariel..." Magnus struggles to get the words out.
Ariel smiles, tears still coming from her eyes
"But..." Magnus continues,
"I can't be apart of what you want." Magnus says, trying to hold his emotions back as best he can, "It's against everything I stand for."
Ariel lowers her head and brings her hands to her chest.
It seems as if Magnus had broken her heart.
"Steven..." Ariel begins to speak, "I don't want to fight you."
She raises her head and looks at Magnus. The face of a beautiful, loving and caring woman is gone, in its place is a face of anger and rage.
"But if I must!" Ariel screams as she delivers a spinning back kick to Magnus, sending him flying off the roof.