Because You Have Failed This City

Wendelani, Building of Tomorrow

The Building of Tomorrow stood as a gleaming beacon of power and wealth in the heart of Wendelani. Headquarters of the Tomorrow Group, this landmark tower loomed over the city, a testament to the power wielded by Brook Morse—or so it appeared. For those who truly understood, however, Brook was no more than a figurehead. The real power behind Tomorrow Group, and much of the city, had always been Mayor Dedalus Reed. Brook and his board of directors? Puppets, dangling on strings pulled by Reed, following orders with no more autonomy than guard dogs on a leash.

But today, those strings had been severed.

Just over a week ago, Wendelani witnessed the downfall of an empire. Dedalus Reed, once unassailable, had been ousted and dragged from his throne, his reign shattered overnight. The city's underworld, held in place by his iron grip, now found itself unbound. 

The power vacuum ignited a frenzy. The city's criminals smelled blood in the water, each one scrambling for a chance at the throne. On every corner, every backstreet, local thugs suddenly saw themselves as contenders, dreamers who believed they could rise to fill Reed's shoes.

Some news channels were already calling it a catastrophe in the making. "The empire's end," they said, "is just the beginning of chaos." Warnings were issued on every platform, with experts predicting a city held hostage by crime, its citizens cowering indoors for nights to come.

But they were wrong.

The chaos lasted barely a week. Today, the seventh day, would mark the end of this turbulent chapter. And it would all begin here, with the fall of the Tomorrow Group.

By seven o'clock, the Wendelani Police Department had surrounded the building. SWAT teams in full gear had the entire perimeter locked down, but breaching the building was another story. From every window, gunfire rained down as heavily armed guards unleashed bullets from within. Every entrance had been booby-trapped with mines, and demolition teams inched forward, working carefully under the cover of the riot squads' shields.

Everyone on both sides knew this was a siege, a final stand. It was only a matter of time before the building would fall. For those trapped inside, though, fighting until the end was their only choice.

Earlier that day, the Sheriff's Department had received an incriminating file from the masked vigilante known as Arrow. The dossier meticulously detailed every crime and corrupt dealing orchestrated by the Tomorrow Group's board, enough to guarantee prison sentences for each one.

Inside his office, Brook paced furiously, his face twisted with rage.

"Compromised?! How?" His gaze burned into his subordinate, who barely held his ground under the glare.

"Yes, sir," the man replied, beads of sweat on his forehead. "Our piping system—the secret exit—it's been blocked by the sheriff's men."

"Dammit!"

Brook slammed his fist against his desk, cracking the screen of his computer in a fit of rage.

"It's that green-hooded lunatic! Of course, it's him! You swore this was airtight, that no one would find us. And yet, here he is—always a step ahead! How does he know everything?!"

For an entire week, Brook and his organization had been on the defensive, with every plan and every move thwarted by that "green-hat maniac." Arrow seemed to appear out of nowhere at the worst times, with an uncanny awareness of Tomorrow Group's every step. Their major deals disrupted, safehouses raided, and now, their final stronghold besieged. They were cornered, trapped in their own fortress.

As Brook finished shouting, the lights in his office went out, casting the room into an ominous darkness.

"No…"

Throughout Wendelani's criminal circles, everyone knew what the blackout meant. The power shutting down was no simple electrical failure—it was a signal, a harbinger of death.

A soft ding broke the silence as the elevator doors slid open. Brook knew the building's lockdown procedures; the elevators were sealed off. No one should have been able to use them.

There was only one possibility.

"Open fire!" Brook shouted, desperation clear in his voice.

This floor was the most fortified area in the entire building. His guards needed no encouragement. Immediately, the air filled with the deafening roar of gunfire as they riddled the elevator doors with bullets. The metal turned into a twisted, perforated mess, slashed by a relentless barrage that punched countless holes through it. Cold, sterile light filtered through, casting the entire scene in an eerie, ghostly glow.

But when the doors finally slid open, there was no one inside.

Suddenly, the ceiling burst apart with a crash. Rubble and dust rained down, and from the opening, a figure dropped down, green hood glinting in the shadows. Green Arrow's bow was raised the instant he landed, loosing an arrow with precise, deadly aim. The arrow struck a guard, exploding in a blast of thick resin that spread quickly, trapping several others in its sticky grip.

Green Arrow didn't stop. He slid across the floor, firing two more arrows in rapid succession. One hit a cluster of guards, knocking them back with a concussive blast, while the other embedded itself in the wall, triggering an explosion that scattered the last few.

For a moment, Green Arrow couldn't believe how smoothly his plan had worked. The hacked elevator had served as a perfect decoy, drawing every gun toward it while he entered from above.

"Seriously," he thought with a smirk, "since when do heroes just stroll in through the front door?"

He took down the last of the central guards with swift, calculated moves, then charged toward Brook, crossing the room in a flash.

The remaining guards scrambled, lifting their weapons, but they were too slow. Each was hit by an arrow that seemed to come from nowhere, dropping them before they could even aim. In a corner, the air vent had been kicked open, and from within, Hawkeye crouched, firing with flawless precision, covering Green Arrow as he closed in.

"Take him down!" Brook screamed, panic threading through his voice.

His last two bodyguards—the final barrier between him and his capture—rushed forward. Both were seasoned mercenaries, feared throughout the underworld. The woman was deceptively small, but her strength was legendary; it was said she'd taken down ten men unarmed.

Together, they were a formidable pair, trained by the same master. They moved as one, each instinctively complementing the other's attacks.

[TL Note - hmm… they took down 10 unarmed men, impressive, or were they the one unarmed.]

"You maniacs can't just leave us in peace, can you?" Brook's voice was rising, his fury boiling over. "You're the disease in this city! Things were perfect before you came along—everything ran just the way it should! But no, you had to interfere! Why? Why can't you just let us be?!"

The two bodyguards closed in, one wielding a short blade and the other a dagger. They struck from opposite sides, aiming for Green Arrow's vital points with precise, practiced skill.

But Green Arrow was faster. He swung his bow horizontally, using the length of the composite bow to deflect both weapons. In one fluid movement, he twisted, trapping the dagger's blade against the bowstring before wrenching it free. With a swift, upward strike, he slammed the bow into the woman's jaw, sending her sprawling backward.

So much for her "legendary" strength.

With his bodyguards dispatched, Brook felt every trace of courage drain from him as Green Arrow's cold gaze locked onto him. All around, his remaining men lay scattered, unconscious or convulsing from the electric shocks of the arrows. He could feel his chest tighten, the remnants of his bravado crumbling under Green Arrow's stare.

"Why?" he repeated, his voice shaking as he stumbled back, pressing against his desk.

Green Arrow advanced slowly, stepping over the fallen bodies of the guards. In one swift motion, he kicked Brook's legs out from under him, planting a boot firmly on his chest and aiming his bow squarely at his face.

"Why?" he said, his voice calm, deadly. "Because you failed this city."