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[i] Do what you can, but do not engage Nightmare directly.[/i]

The instructions that Harry had given Lyger before leaving to patrol had been hard for the young hero to hear. In the months that Kyle had been donning the costume and taking to the streets as Lyger, he had come up against a wide variety of foes, everything from common street thugs, to an organized weapons smuggling ring, to a supernatural threat known as the “Dark Possessed.” Though he believed that he could face anything that he came up against, especially since Addie had enchanted his claws to do battle with the supernatural, he knew that Harry was right…Nightmare was out of his league. If Icon couldn’t stop the killer, what chance did he have?

Though he was on the lookout for any signs of this Nightmare character, Lyger found himself perched on the ledge of the Devereaux Building on the edge of the French Quarter, just a short distance away from St. Croix Cathedral. The Devereaux Building had a long and colorful history, serving as housing for the staff of the Cathedral at one point in time, a speak easy and casino in the twenties. It had even served as a boys home as well as a brothel. Now, the once grand building sat abandoned and in disrepair, waiting for a city wrecking ball to put it out of its misery. 

Lyger found himself on the ledge of the building, watching for something, anything out of the ordinary. For days, he had been searching for leads in a rash of kidnappings that had plagued the city for the last few weeks, yet had been pushed from the headlines by the Nightmare Murders, as some in the media had dubbed the madman’s killing spree. Each kidnapping was the same, yet there was no connection between any of the victims, who ranged from the age of 6 to 17. There were no witnesses and no clues, it was as if the children had just vanished. Then earlier this night, there was finally a break in the case. A couple reported being mugged, and the description they had given of their attacker matched the description of Johnny Ellis, one of the older children to have gone missing. Lyger knew that it was a long shot, but it was worth checking out. 

However, by the time he had gotten into the area of the mugging, the trail seemed to have gone cold again. There was no trace of the boy who had mugged the couple, in fact, there was hardly anybody on the streets at all. Lyger assumed it was due to the panic that Nightmare had spread throughout the city, nobody was taking any chances of being caught alone on the street. In fact, Lyger himself had just about given up when he spotted someone making his way up the street toward his location. Lyger watched as the young teen, about 17 years of age walked past him and down the alley which ran along the side of the building. As Lyger got a good look at the kid, he recognized him. It was young Johnny Ellis, the young man who had vanished from his mother’s apartment several weeks before, the same young man who seemingly had mugged the young couple earlier in the night. 

Silently, Lyger followed the young man along the ledge, finally, silently dropping down to the alley below, then continued following the young man, sticking to the shadows as he moved, he kept an ever vigilant eye on the young man. He followed the teen down the alley to a manhole cover, which the youngster quickly began to remove from the ground.

“Johnny Ellis, it’s alright. I’m here to take you home.” Lyger said as he stepped out from the shadows.

“I am home.” The young man said, as he forcefully brought his arms up as if pushing against an invisible wall. Before Lyger could react, a powerful shockwave slammed into him, sending him crashing into the ally wall behind him. When he had finally cleared his head from the collision with the wall, he looked around, finding no trace of the young teen. However, he did take note that the manhole cover that young Johnny Ellis had been trying to remove was sitting slightly off of it’s foundation, indicating that the young man had made his way into the sewer.

“Great.” Lyger said as he got to his feet and prepared to follow the teen into the depths below the city.