Underwater, Asad sank deeper into Victoria Harbour's murky depths. His eyes closed. Palms spread wide.
He clapped his hands together.
The shockwave erupted outward—a pressure wave that rippled through the water like an underwater explosion. Above him, a massive chunk of ice shattered violently. Asad burst through the surface, propelled upward with tremendous force, water cascading off his hulking frame.
Lucius, walking away from the river's edge, glanced back over his shoulder.
*Of course it wouldn't be that easy.*
Before Asad could land, Lucius turned, arms sweeping in smooth arcs. Water rose from the harbor, crystallizing mid-air into his signature weapons—double-headed axes connected by chains, edges sharp enough to split molecules. glowing with icy energy.
He swung.
The axes caught Asad mid-flight, chains wrapping around his torso like serpents. Lucius planted his feet and pulled hard, redirecting the momentum. Asad flew sideways, crashed into the frozen harbor surface with bone-jarring force.
The big man rose. Seemingly unscathed.
Lucius retracted the chains with a sharp tug, axes spinning back into his grip. He dashed forward.
Asad charged, roaring with primal fury.
The distance closed. Asad swung a devastating right hook. Lucius ducked under it smoothly, already moving inside his guard. The chains whipped out, wrapping around Asad's extended right hand. Lucius pivoted behind him, pulled the chains taut. Asad stumbled, yanked off balance.
Lucius released the chains, dismissed the axes. Ice formed in his right hand—a massive baseball bat, oversized and brutal.
He swung.
The bat connected with Asad's right cheek. The crack echoed across the frozen harbor. Blood—just a little, showing how thick his drug-enhanced skin had become.
Asad staggered to one knee, rage building in those red eyes.
Lucius leaped high, kick aimed at Asad's face—
Asad's hand shot out, seized Lucius's leg mid-strike. He spun, using Lucius's momentum against him, and hurled him across the ice.
Lucius tumbled, conjured a wall of water to catch himself, regained his footing just as Asad charged again. The big man leaped, both fists raised for a hulking overhead smash.
Impact. The ice cracked in a spiderweb pattern.
Lucius dodged, barely. He found himself airborne on a large chunk of ice debris, steam exhaling from his mouth as he concentrated. Water vapor condensed, shaped, solidified—a katana of pure ice forming in his hand.
He took his stance. Left leg stretched out, body coiled like a spring, ready to dash and slice.
Lucius launched forward with explosive speed.
The katana cut across Asad's cheek. Blood sprayed. The slash was clean, surgical.
Momentum carried Lucius into a glide across the ice behind Asad. Mid-glide, he shifted the katana's structure, molecules rearranging—it became another massive bat.
Asad spun in fury. Lucius ducked low, slid behind him. Jumped with a forward flip, brought the bat down on Asad's back from above.
He landed gracefully in a crouch, already moving as Asad swung wildly. Lucius's footwork turned the ice beneath Asad's feet liquid. The big man stumbled.
Lucius thrust both palms forward. A concentrated water blast shot from the harbor beneath them, sending Asad airborne.
While Asad hung suspended, Lucius conjured something new—a massive bear trap with jagged teeth, attached to a chain. He hurled it upward. The trap clamped onto Asad mid-flight. Lucius gripped the chain, spun it rapidly. Asad became a wrecking ball, helpless in the rotation.
Lucius slammed the whole construct—trap, chain, and Asad—into the ice with a resounding boom that cracked the frozen surface for meters in every direction.
He turned to walk away, muttering under his breath. "This guy's too much trouble. Might as well leave him be."
The icy dust settled. Behind him, Asad rose groggily. He bent over, vomited something out—another cocaine brick. Caught it in his palm. Crushed it. Inhaled deeply through his nose.
His eyes ignited brighter red. His body swelled further, muscles straining, veins bulging. He let out a thunderous roar—like a lion claiming territory.
His foot crushed the ice beneath him.
Before Lucius could react, Asad appeared behind him. How did something that big move that fast?
A massive right hook aimed at his torso.
Lucius formed a translucent water shield just in time. The impact still sent him flying backward, tumbling across the ice. He felt it—ribs cracking, pain shooting through his side.
Asad stomped the ice. A boulder-sized chunk dislodged. He grabbed it, hurled it at Lucius like a softball.
Lucius stood calmly, crossing his arms as the boulder hurtled toward him.
At the last moment, he gestured. The boulder split in two, ice becoming water, streams snaking past him on either side. Behind Lucius, the streams twisted, collided, transformed—two majestic water dragons took shape, breathing freezing mist from their serpentine maws.
The dragons lunged at Asad.
He smashed one dragon's head with his fist. Water exploded, splashed across the ice. The second dragon opened wide to bite. Asad grabbed its jaws, tore it apart with brute strength.
From above, Lucius dropped like a meteor, double-headed battle axe in hand.
Asad dodged right. Barely.
Lucius landed, instantly pivoted, swung the axe horizontally. It caught Asad's lower left belly—not deep, but enough to draw more blood.
Asad countered with a powerful right punch. Lucius ducked, threw a rushed counter-punch. Asad stepped back, avoiding it by centimeters.
Lucius conjured three floating ice steps to his left. He stepped onto them, used them as a platform to launch into a mid-air jump.
Asad tried an uppercut, meeting him in the air.
Lucius grabbed the uppercut hand mid-flight, used it as a pivot point. He spun on Asad's arm, slammed a frost-covered kick directly into his face.
Asad's other hand slammed the ice platform. It cracked, formed a large broken slope. Lucius on top, Asad below.
The big man followed up with a devastating inner elbow strike. It connected. Lucius flew off the slope, landed hard on his ass, then glided forward across the ice surface.
Asad rushed to attack again.
Lucius stood, forming icy knuckle wraps on both hands. He intercepted the charge, delivered a rapid left-right combo—jab, cross, hook. Asad tried to counter. Lucius dodged, landed multiple precise hits—ribs, liver, jaw, temple.
He finished with a powerful uppercut. At the same moment, a jet of water blasted upward from beneath, amplifying the force.
Asad flew high into the air.
Lucius created six tall ice spikes and hurled them upward. They struck Asad, forming a cage that trapped and suspended him midair, spinning slowly.
From the harbor below, Lucius summoned something massive. Water rose, shaped itself—a shark construct, detailed down to the gills and teeth. As it rocketed toward Asad, it froze solid, becoming a battering ram of ice.
The shark rammed Asad against several ice walls Lucius conjured midair. Each impact was brutal, precise. The shark turned, dove downward at unprecedented speed, dragging Asad with it.
Lucius tracked the descent, moved to the perfect position. He conjured a gigantic ice bat—comically oversized, big enough to require both hands.
Just as the shark reached striking distance, Lucius swung.
The bat connected with the force of a freight train. The ice shark shattered into thousands of glittering fragments. Asad bounced, crashed against a solid ice wall Lucius had erected behind him.
The big man slumped, heavily dazed, barely conscious.
Lucius stepped forward, raising his right hand. Water swirled aggressively around his palm, vaporizing and spinning rapidly, forming a scintillating orb. The air temperature dropped. This would end it.
His eyes caught something on the ice. A wallet—must've fallen from Asad's torn pants during the fight.
Lucius used his water control to lift it delicately, bring it to his hand. He opened it.
Inside: a photograph. Asad—younger, cleaner, smiling—with a woman and two boys. Family photo. Normal life, once upon a time.
Lucius sighed.
He deactivated the water orb, let it splash harmlessly across the ice.
"To think... You get to live another day." He opened the wallet fully, pulled out all the cash inside, pocketed most of it, left a few bills. "But I'm charging you for the ass-whooping."
He tossed the wallet toward the barely moving Asad.
Lucius pressed his comm. "Yo, could you guys come pick me up? I'm done here."
"Where you at?" Robert's voice crackled through.
"I don't know. Maybe try the big dome of steam on the river."
Silence. Then: "Smart-ass."
---
The cargo plane descended through the mist—a modified military transport with a sleek futuristic design, downward-facing thrusters rotating smoothly as it hovered. Robert had rebuilt it from the ground up, all clean lines and adaptive tech. The rear loading bay opened.
As the plane positioned itself, Amber activated her ability. A holographic field shimmered across the aircraft's hull, bending light around it. To the civilians still watching from the beach, the plane simply didn't exist—just a section of the steam dome suddenly popping, dispersing into the night air.
Lucius walked up the ramp and immediately collapsed on his back on the metal floor. "Ah, shit... Think I busted a couple ribs. Let's get out of here before the NCC shows up."
Jasmine and Rose sat on military-style folding chairs along the plane's sides. Sho slumped in another chair across from them, looking completely out of it—head tilted back, eyes half-closed, still recovering from his own earlier healing session.
Up front in the cockpit, Amber and Robert handled the controls.
"What happened to Snake Eyes?" Lucius asked, looking at Rose. "Please tell me you didn't kill him."
Rose's expression didn't change. "The other courier teleported him away before I could get a clean shot."
"Good. One less problem."
Rose stood, reached into her pocket, pulled out a small golden glassy marble. She tossed it to Lucius.
He caught it, looked at it, recognition dawning. "On second tought,I'm fine. No problem here."
Rose's red eyes remained fixed on him.
The plane's engines roared, lifting off. Below, the rest of the steam dome began clearing, dissipating into nothing now that Lucius was gone.
Lucius held up the marble between thumb and forefinger. "Actually, you know what—"
Rose stepped closer.
"No, wait—"
She crushed the marble in her hand. Golden liquid splashed across Lucius's chest, soaking into his clothes, seeping into his skin.
"No, no, wait! Waaaaaait—!"
The pain hit. Every injury he'd sustained—the cracked ribs, the bruises, the torn muscles—all of it healing at once. Every sensation, every agonizing moment compressed into seconds. It felt like his bones were being broken and reset simultaneously.
Lucius screamed.
---
TO BE CONTINUED