This time, the gambling wizard would afford his prey no benefit of hesitation. As soon as he heard the reaction down the sewer channels, he quickly moved towards it, his incredible speed driving him in the general direction with the long, bounding strides of a large cat chasing wounded prey. The splash of his own feet was not unnoticed, and in a feared reaction Qu-Li began to run on his own. He attempted to toe the edge of the sewer, striding outside of the waters on the slippery stone surface. It bought him a few strides and a corner before a foot failed to find purchase, sliding without any friction beneath him and sending the terrified tycoon splashing into the sewer. When he arose, he turned back looking up, his wide eyes tightening to focus on his pursuer. Winded, he rolled the gleaming blue blade beside his face, a firm grip on the finely wrapped leather hilt.

“Please, no more. This sword has been in my family for generations; I don’t want to kill you with it. You can keep your coin, and I know how to forget a face easily enough…” A tepid confidence crept into his voice as he poised himself in a crouch, ready to strike.

Oh, Qu-Li, you dumb shit… You surprise me! Didn’t think you had the balls, but I did credit you with more brains than this.

Now wet to the knees with putrid waste, Storm showed empty hands as he sneered at the fool standing apart from him. Qu-Li had not been challenged in years; the luxury of wealth had insulated him from reality. Had he not witnessed the carnage only moments ago? What gave him such idiotic bravery? Striding forward, the electromancer spoke with a cold, cruel dose of reality.

“You don’t understand how this works. Your best bet was to leave the sword in that display case and screw; I might have thought about letting you go rather than chasing you through this shit. Now, it’s time to pay the river man. Now, it’s time for you to f*cking die, little man.”

Qu-Li stabbed with anger and desperation, watching with disbelief as the scoundrel easily dodged the thrust with a simple side step, and slapped the swordsman across the face with an insulting bare palm. Two more slashes followed in a quick up-down motion, both missed wildly, and were followed by a thunderous punch to the cheek that knocked him back two feet. Merciless, Storm Veritas simply walked slowly forward, closing on the inevitable through the sludge.

Like a mongoose, Qu-Li hopped from foot to foot, bounding laterally about the sewer. In his tight fists, the Rat began to glow bright blue and hum with an anger of its own. The tunnel was tight, a hollow cylindrical channel only some ten feet in diameter, but gave him enough room to use his brilliant speed. Bounding off the side wall, he drove his hands from his knees to his head with a dramatic upward arc. Amazingly, the blue energy of the sword flashed outwardly as the foot-deep water rolled at Storm in a wave of filth and fury.

Oh, shit, didn’t see that coming.

The wave hit Storm headlong, a hard riptide pulling his feet as the white-capped wave of awful hit him squarely in the chest. Like a hammer, it knocked him square on his ass, his shoulders rolling back as he kept his eyes forward. Without hesitation, Qu-Li bound in for the kill, leaping for an overhanded deathblow. The swordsman’s face twisted from rage to confusion as his sword refused to listen, stuck in the air as if locked in stone.

“It’s still a metal blade, you stupid asshole.” Storm’s hand was raised before him, a powerful wave of electromagnetic energy suspending the weapon in its place. With a simple gesture of his outstretched palm, Storm lifted the sword higher in the air, Qu-Li dangling from the hilt like a monkey on a tree branch. Eyes wide with disbelief, he swore at his attacker.

“What horrible demon are you?! You fight as a coward, with sorcery and deception.”

Undeterred, Storm Veritas smiled, amused by the gesture as he raised his second hand. A soft hum of white, and a rolling orb of blue-white plasma formed before his palm. Aghast, Qu-Li released his grasp on the sword, falling in a heap as the wizard pivoted, pushing the orb into the chest of the fallen man. There was no cry or shriek; only a singular wild, viciously arching back as the energy raced through the body of Qu-Li, instantly stopping his heart and sending him to his grave.

terr-ching-ching!

Abandoned, the Rat fell harmlessly to the stone perimeter of the water-filled tube, its blade slowly sliding into the putrid waters. For a moment, the soft, cooling scent of ozone briefly replaced the vile odor of the room. With a deep breath, Storm Veritas laid claim to the mighty blade, his eyes razor-thin as he sought to summon the magic from within the now-dormant weapon.

He would learn to use the blade, a mighty, waterborne compliment to the lightning magic which made him famous.

He would learn to use the blade, but that was another story.