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Lyger silently crept down a long narrow hallway that seemed to go on forever. Though he didn’t know exactly where he was going, the energy readings in his heads up display seemed to indicate that a large amount of energy was being expended in the general direction that he was heading. As Lyger moved deeper into the compound, he soon realized that it appeared that it was abandoned. He expected there to be Hounds goons swarming the hallways in order to repel the advancing heroes, however there was only silence. He was alone.

Mostly.

“Up this way.” Radiance said to him as she hovered past him “There’s a massive electrical spike coming from somewhere down there.” She said as she continued down the hall. Lyger knew that she was right, he could see the readings on his HUD, however, how she knew that was a mystery to him. The only way that she could possibly know, he guessed based upon her power set, was that she could somehow sense the massive output of energy.

“How can you tell?” He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“I can feel it.” Radiance told him, confirming his suspicions. 

“I’ve got this. You head back and keep an eye on the rookies.” Lyger said referring to Pantheon, Alchemyst, and Lady Hex. The disregard that Pantheon had shown for human life did not sit well with Lyger, and though he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop the hotheaded powerhouse head on, he had made it a mental note to keep an eye on him. The other two, he didn’t trust. He heard them whispering among themselves, and though he wasn’t able to hear exactly what they were speaking of, he did get bits and pieces. The were discussing something, or someone called the Witchfinder. Though he didn’t know who, or what that was, he didn’t like the possibility of someone’s ulterior motives screwing up this operation. 

There was far too much at stake.

“No, you might need me here. Besides, I don’t think they need a babysitter. Arthur and Blacklight should have it covered.” Radiance told him with such conviction that he didn’t bother arguing the point. Instead, he just grunted in acceptance and continued down the hall. 

Though Lyger couldn’t argue that Arthur’s heart was in the right place, he still doubted his ability to lead an operation like this. He still had issues with the way that Iron Knight had recruited people who were clearly not ready during the Pax Metahumana crisis, and that carelessness had lead to Bast being injured. However, she was lucky, she recovered. Lyger still intended to have a conversation with Arthur about that, however, again, this was not the time. But the time would come, and soon.

Blacklight however, was a different story. She was a disciplined and experienced hero. She had forgotten more about what it means to be a hero than a lot of people would ever know. Though, he did admit, that he was surprised to see her here as nobody had heard anything from her in years. Having her in the mix gave Lyger some comfort, because he felt that if anybody could keep everyone in line, it was her.

His mind returned to the task at hand as he and Radiance reached their destination. At the end of the hall, there was a massive blast door which ran the entire length of the wall. The door was sealed and there were two heavily armed Hounds standing guard. Lyger stopped short and put his hand on Radiance’s shoulder, pulling her back. 

“We can’t take them head on, it’s suicide.” He told her as they peered around the corner at the Hounds guarding the doorway. 

“Tsk, tsk.” Radiance said, shaking her head. “Watch this.” She said as she raised her hands up to face level, the air around them began to crackle as electricity jumped between her fingers. She then stepped out around the corner and before the two Hounds could react, she sent a pair of arcing bolts of electricity toward them. The electric bolts hit the Hounds at the same time, the jolt sending both men flying backward into the heavy blast door.

“See, sometimes there is an easier way.” Radiance said as she moved toward the door.

“Right.” Lyger replied as he rushed behind her, hitting the control panel for the blast door, and much to his surprise, the door slid open. 

“These guys really need to do something about their security.” Lyger quipped as they entered what they discovered was a sort of command center. The walls were covered with large television screens. There were computer arrays spread throughout the room, and a large array set up in the center of the command center.

“He jokes?” Radiance said, feigning shock as she walked in behind him. “It really is the end of the world.” 

“Radiance…” Lyger said. “We have a problem.”

“What’s wro…oh.” She replied, cutting herself short as she saw what he was referring to. One of the computer screens had a single set of large red numbers, and they were counting down.

[b]01:39

01:38

01:37

01:36[/b]

“We have to shut this thing down, now.” Lyger said as he rushed to the computer console. He tried accessing the controls, but found that the console was locked and the only way to access it was to put in the password. They did not have the password, nor the time to find it. 

[b] 01:20[/b]

Lyger immediately went to work, pulling the covering from the console and attempting to put a stop to the countdown the old fashioned way, by smashing the computer that controlled it. However, much to his dismay, the countdown did not stop.

“It’s not working.” Radiance said, panic creeping into her voice as for the first time the thought that they might not succeed penetrated her mind. 

[b] 00:19

00:18

00:17[/b]

“The signal must be coming through another console somewhere. We’ll never find it in time.” Lyger said as he frantically began smashing various computer arrays inside the command center, however, he was right. There were too many computers and not enough time.

[b] 00:06[/b]
“Get back.” Radiance said. “We’ve got one shot at this.” She explained as electricity began to encompass her entire body, which caused her to take on a truly luminous form. Lyger asked no questions, and did not argue. He just did what she had told him to do. Then, an instant later; the sound of thunder reverberated throughout the command center, followed by a electrical sizzle as all of the electronic devices inside the command center went dead. Nothing, including the HUD or the communications system built into his mask had survived. 

He quickly glanced over at the main console display and saw that the large red numbers flashed once, and then the console went black.

[b]00:02[/b] was the last number in the countdown before it went dark forever.

“Well, I wasn’t entirely sure that was going to work.” Radiance confessed as she took a deep breath, then took an unsteady step forward. Lyger stepped toward her and offered her his arm to steady herself.

“We bought them some time.” He said looking upward. “Now it’s up to them to take that thing out for good.”