Storm dove into a headfirst roll as she hit the level below. Her dress fluttered lightly through the air behind her as she sprung to her feet, pivoting to meet her opponent.
She couldn't turn fast enough. She was only halfway into realigning herself when she felt a powerful impact against her side, pushing her through the air and into the far wall with a devastating crunch. She landed on her back, the air knocked from her lungs. Propping herself unsteadily onto her side, she inhaled sharply, using her left elbow to steady herself. And she looked towards the man who had thrown his shoulder into her.
The room she had fallen into looked like some kind of banquet hall, with wide red carpeting surrounding a lengthy and ornate table in the center. A pair of crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling, aligned with the polished table surface. This was little more than a dim distraction for Storm, though, who was focused on the dark-haired man glaring at her with murder in his eyes. For all his fancy attire, Sebastian Shaw looked no more sane than the proverbial shithouse rat. His teeth were bared in an animalistic snarl when he spoke. "I've had enough of you X-Men," he growled. "What have you accomplished, other than holding back the rightful ascendance of your fellow mutants?"
Obviously he didn't expect an answer. He immediately charged to close the gap between them. In that same instant, Storm raised her right arm and concentrated, generating a forceful wind-blast that slowed his approach as she simultaneously kicked off the ground with her feet, pushing herself aside. Shaw reached forward with his palms, bracing his impact the pale yellow wall.
As he struck its surface, Storm was clambering to her feet, dazedly noting that the wind she had thrown out should have, by rights, stopped him cold. But Shaw was still charged with kinetic energy, and had no doubt further grown in power when he crashed down to this level.
Storm broke into a backwards jog, trying to put as much distance as she could between them. Shaw just turned and sneered at her, savoring the chase.
Storm had nearly backed herself into the far wall when Sebastian stepped forward, moving more slowly now. The fact that his quarry was trying to get away had boosted his confidence; he felt free to toy with her.
But Storm was more confident, too. She had ample space now to focus, extending her right arm towards the ceiling. Shaw understood her intentions and moved to charge, but he didn't have enough time to strike before it happened.
Static energy filled the air, giving Storm's skin a familiar tingle. She felt a momentary calm before one of the overhead chandeliers exploded outward, showering glass down upon the polished wood of the table below. Electricity arced from the base of the chandelier and into Storm's outstretched arm as she jerked her left arm forward, directing the energy out and into Shaw's chest.
Sebastian jerked and jolted for a moment, rapidly slowing to a half — yet he remained standing. Grinding his teeth, he shut his eyes hard and then opened then wide again, beginning to move inexorably forward even as lightning continued to strike into him, coursing over his body.
Storm couldn't believe it. His endurance must have been driven to a ridiculous level by his earlier fight with Scott, and now he was so strong that she was really going to have to pour it on if she had any hopes of putting him down. She could try to keep moving as she channeled the electricity into him, but she wasn't sure she could move fast enough to stay completely out of reach. If she wanted to avoid getting manhandled, she was going to have to take a different approach.
She broke off the attack and ran for the table even as Shaw got up to full speed and charged through the space where she had stood just a moment before. Jumping, Storm landed on top of the table in a crouch, chunks of glass crunching beneath her shoes.
As she stood up, her eyes grew cloudy yet again. The air began to move, swirling around her, and as Shaw took two large strides in Storm's direction, she was lifted above the table, into a small tornado.
The air around her was moving rapidly, increasing to an unbelievable speed. Chairs began to lift up from the ground, but they did not find enough force to be drawn into the center of the small vortex; instead, they were thrown across the room, crashing into the walls. One chair belted Shaw across the side of his head as it whipped past him.
And then Storm extended her left arm again, and the electricity once more came down into her from the wires of the shattered chandelier. It sprayed out of her extended arm, the focused bolt causing tiny fires along a few walls, creating black scoring on the surface of the table, and — most importantly — coursing into Sebastian Shaw's body repeatedly as she spun towards his direction over and over.
Each of Storm's rotations hammered him with another blow. He tried to step back, to move to the side, but Storm just redirected her outstretched arm, sending the lightning into him no matter where he moved. The wind was pushing against him and keeping Storm aloft and out of reach even as the blasts of lightning weakened him gradually… until it was clear, after maybe half a minute, that he had been considerably drained.
Shaw fell to his knees, scorches marking his flesh and suit. He panted heavily, his long hair dripping sweat. And Storm descended, slowing the wind until she was on the table. Stopping the flow of the air, she brought herself spinning to a standstill.
Shaw looked up at her, confused even as she quickly shot forth one more prolonged blast of electricity directly into his chest.
He was thrown back by the force this time. He hit the far wall, which seemed to energize him for a second… but then he weakened again, barely trying to push himself upright. Finally, he stopped struggling. And then, even the panting stopped.
Storm eyes returned to their usual dark shade, and the charge of electricity in the air dissipated. She was the one breathing hard now. She still felt dizzy and off-balance from spending so long within the tornado. Even so, when she hopped off of the table, she managed to stick her awkward landing.
Stepping forward, she saw that Sebastian's eyes were open wide, staring lifelessly ahead. She still made her way to the far wall and leaned down to place two fingers against his carotid artery, though, just to be sure. There was no sign of a pulse. He was dead.
Storm sighed loudly, frowning to herself. She'd killed people in battle before, but it wasn't getting any easier. It wasn't something she imagined she'd ever feel comfortable with, and maybe that was for the best. Even if she could think of no other way out, she never wanted to be the kind of person who took a life lightly.
Leaning one arm against the wall, she steadied herself and thought of Logan. She couldn't hear a struggle upstairs, but maybe her ears were just buzzing from her prolonged lightning display. He was the opposite of her — the kind of guy who would never shy away from taking out anyone he considered a threat to himself or the people he cared about. She hoped that instinct was serving him well at the moment. And she hoped his curiosity about his past wasn't going to get the better of him.