Magnus lands in the middle of the road. Still emotionally shaken from what had transpired, Magnus forces himself up.
"No! Why!" Magnus screams to himself as he slowly gets up. The woman he loved and grew up with for so many years is a hell-bent psychopathic ideological villain looking to accomplish a dream that threatens the lives of millions of civilians.
Dallas in the distance, having finished all the guards, watches what is transpiring.
"No! God No!" Dallas is shocked to see what comes forth from the roof.
Lord Mayor Damian, who had come by after seeing off the apprehension of Max Kade, comes by Dallas' side."
"Have you apprehended Keith and Carter yet?" the Lord Mayor asks,
"We have a bigger problem!" Dallas says in shock, "Look!"
The Lord Mayor looks towards the Reservoir, on the road is Magnus, and on top of the roof, stands Ariel.
"What is she doing?" The Lord Mayor asks in shock, "What's going on?"
"I don't think Keith is the Benefactor." Dallas admits, knowing full well what's going on just by looking at Ariel's face and demeanor. "I think Ariel is the Benefactor!"
Ariel descends onto the ground using a cable launching gun to lower her. The beautiful red designer dress she wears is now minus the veil part, revealing high tactical footwear identical to Magnus' choice of footwear. She carries on her back a sheathed Katana, famously used by samurai. She also now sports high-end gauntlets, identical to Magnus' gauntlets minus the cable launchers, but seems to sport some form of weaponry..
"You see Steven! I'm a Magnus too!" screams Ariel, "I'm an experiment too! I have the same abilities as you! We're products of the Magnus Heritage Program. Super soldiers created to excel in war. I didn't inherit these abilities through birth like you did though, I got injected with the Magnus formula when I was twelve! But you and I have far exceeded your father and aunt! Ariel Queen is dead. I am Ariel Magnus!"
Now Magnus has to fight the woman he loved who is basically another version of himself, having now taken up the Magnus name, but is literally the opposite of everything he stands for.
Omega Magnus vs. Ariel Magnus.
"If I can't have you with me and my dream!" Ariel shouts, "Then you can die now!"
Ariel raises her right arm and aims her gauntlet at Magnus.
A massive beam of energy is fired directly at Magnus.
He barely manages to avoid it.
The beam destroys a nearby petrol station by hitting the petrol dispensers. What was a petrol station is now a massive emitter of flames. Nearby pedestrians flee for their lives, frightened by the horrific incident that had transpired before their eyes.
As Magnus slowly gets up, he is met by a rushing Ariel.
A solid punch to the stomach, a knee to the face, round kicks to the left leg and the right, followed by a massive hammer hit to the head.
Magnus is sent to the ground. This is a first for him. The hits he's taken send shots of pain to the areas he's been damaged. He can truly feel the emitting pain from being beaten senseless.
He's experiencing what is like to be hurt by strength identical to his.
"How does it feel?!" shouts Ariel, as Magnus reeks in pain. Ariel grabs Magnus by the collar and starts unleashing a cluster of right hand crosses to Magnus' face.
"I do whatever it takes to accomplish my dream!" Ariel continues to shout, "I'm an artist! Artists don't listen to critics, because they don't understand the message! I don't care how many people have to die! Men, women, children, rich, poor, white, black or whatever they may be! My dream, my vision! It will be a reality!"
Magnus, in pain both physically, mentally and emotionally, now realizes that there is no saving Ariel from what she has become.
He has held his speed and strength back for so long so as to be careful not to truly hurt or kill anyway. The safest way was always his best policy, but not in this situation.
As Ariel goes for another punch, Magnus catches her fist, and begins to squeeze hard and tightly. With Ariel squealing in pain, Magnus slowly stands up, his eyes fixed on Ariel.
No more sympathy. The city and its people are at stake.
"NO MORE HOLDING BACK!!!!" Magnus shouts, then a well placed side kick to Ariel's chest area sends her flying into the front wall of the Reservoir, shattering the brick and mortar as if Ariel was a massive wrecking ball.
From there, the two rush towards each other.
Not for an embracing hug. But engaging in combat.
Punches, elbows, kicks and knees ensure. Hits blocked, hits connecting.
The speed in which they throw their attacks is truly a sight to behold.
As Dallas and the Lord Mayor watch from the distance, both are flabbergasted at the spectacle they're seeing unfold before their eyes. Not only that, civilians observe from a safe distance. Some gasping in fear, awe and amazement, and some recording everything on their smartphones. The city is now fully aware of the existence of an all-powerful super vigilante, who they can clearly see is fighting for the city and the inhabitants residing in it.
Within the congregation, the boy who had lost his parents a few days ago, his parents murdered by the two criminals hiding in the train station, recognizes Magnus as the lone figure on top of the buildings after the horrific event that took place before his eyes. Being alongside his aunt who is now his guardian, he walks up a few steps towards the ensuing fight.
"Go Magnus!" the boy shouts, "You're a true hero! I believe in you! You can beat her!"
Ariel notices the boy shouting. She becomes enraged.
"They're supposed to be looking towards me as their savior!" Ariel shouts, "Not you!"
"Do you honestly think they'd worship a psychopathic monster like you?!" Magnus shouts back.
The fight continues.
Ariel draws the katana hanging on her back. Magnus following suit, draws his battle baton. Fortunately the baton is more than strong enough for a sword-fight.
They engage. Slashes, strikes and lunges are executed by both fighters.
The swordsmanship from both Magnus and Ariel mirrors that of amazing sword fights ranging from Ancient Rome, the Japanese Samurai and ancient ninjas. Truly Magnus and Ariel are experts in their martial arts and weaponry skills.
As the fight continues, their swords clash in a way where a tug-o-war act ensues as each fighter tries to push the other back.
"Do you seriously think these people will praise you for your actions?" shouts Ariel as she pushes towards Magnus, "They're never grateful for anything unless they're made to. Their perspective on how they view the world is downright pathetic! They don't worship heroes! They don't worship acts of heroism! They only want to bring out the worst in everything! They want to bully and humiliate people, they want to criticize everything they see, they want to watch the world burn! They think of themselves as higher than everyone else, and yet they choose the coward's path by declaring how special they are from the comfort of the shadows!"
Magnus continues with his might to push Ariel back, but Ariel is putting up one heck of a fight.
"That's what my dream, my vision will change!" Ariel continues, "No more will they put people down! No more will people have to suffer. They will be made to accept change! All the people that have died in the last five years from this massive crime wave are people who have done these pathetic actions!
Magnus realizes now. Every victim of crime he's encountered in the last two years were known to be horrible people, much like the murdered couple in the Valley, and the guests at the charity ball.
"I'm saving this city! And I will save the world! You choosing to go against all that makes you the villain!"
Magnus thinks to himself after what Ariel said.
The human race isn't perfect. He's fully aware of that.
People are capable of good and evil. A choice that no one can stop or force.
The world itself is ugly and hideous at times.
But he remembers one time when he was twelve, when his Aunt Stefani sat him down for a talk.
"There are bad people out there, and the world can be a nasty place. But if you do good and people notice, you can inspire them, you can turn their hearts around. Words most of the time are thrown around so casually, but it's through our actions that have the most impact. Be good Steven, people will see it, and maybe they can aspire to be like you."
Magnus comes to his senses. His will reinforced, he looks Ariel dead in the eyes.
"You are so wrong, you have no idea of the shit that's coming out of your mouth!"
Magnus finds the strength to push Ariel back, and she is sent flying backwards, dropping her katana in the process. Magnus slowly walks towards her, having put away his battle baton.
"You're nothing but a tyrant! No one likes a tyrant!" Magnus shouts, "You seriously think anyone would listen to your garbage?! I don't look for praise, fame or admiration. What I want is to inspire people by doing good! That is what I believe in!"
Ariel screams as she gets up, and begins to aim her gauntlets at Magnus.
Magnus quickly rushes Ariel.
He flicks both of Ariel's arms away.
He unleashes a fury of 30 lightning fast punches, going for the stomach, sternum, shoulders, neck and head. The speed of Magnus is incredible.
He then unleashes a fury of 20 kicks to the legs, arm, stomach, chest area and head of Ariel. She is trying incredibly hard to continue to stand, her legs wobbling, hunched forward and blood coming from her mouth.
"No matter how much of a monster you may be Ariel..."
Magnus says as Ariel looks at him with a defeated look on her face.
"You’re my friend, and I will always love you..."
A super sidekick sends Ariel flying through the front wall of the Reservoir, landing on the floor in the lobby, with brick and mortar surrounding her.
As Ariel tries to get up, she notices her gauntlets are emitting sparks.
They've taken a massive impact of blunt force when Ariel went through the front wall.
Shots are fired from her gauntlets unintentionally. Her gauntlets have suffered a massive fault and have gone haywire.
The next minute, Ariel is buried in more brick, mortar and rubble as the roof collapses from the resulting firing from her malfunctioning gauntlets.
Magnus stands in shock from what had happened.
BANG!
The pile of brick, mortar and rubble had exploded.
Magnus goes into shock from the explosion.
"ARIEL!!!" Magnus shouts as he runs to the emitting fire.
He drops to his knees.
Tears stream from his eyes.
He lets out a screaming cry.
Even though Ariel was revealed to be a monster, he still loved her.
Coming behind Magnus is his father, kneeling beside him and placing his left arm around him.
Dallas doesn't say a word. A comforting arm was all that was needed in that situation.
"Ariel..." Magnus says as he continues to cry…