Chapter 22:

The two remaining from the trio continue on their quest without Alex for the time being, still trying to figure out what happened to the ones sent before them. They continue to press onwards to continue to try and find whatever they can, but even they were coming up short on any of their findings. What were they to do if they can't find anything? Eventually though, they did find themselves reconnecting before contacting Sven about the mission they were given, and that was when the bombshell happened.

He admits that due to the chances of someone finding out about their actual operation, they had these ones go on a wild goose chase in case anyone tried to follow them. Though, since the others had gotten back and did their job, they could go ahead and take a week off for all he cared. Sure, the Union might've lied to them, Sven admits that much, even mentioning how putting up a decoy like this hasn't been the first time it's been done there.

He also admits guilt to them for having to do that to them. Even if it wasn't the first, it didn't mean it was a liked tactic. And they understood that sentiment. Despite that, however, the two still took a moment to talk with one another. Yes, they had had time to process their situation by now, and they have. But it still wasn't entirely pieced together. While Pat was willing to continue waiting for it, Mike was not.

According to him, he didn't want to be stuck in this cycle. He wanted out of it, and was going to get out of it in whatever way he could. Resulting in him beginning to think, and think he did. He was weighing all the options that he could consider to try. To get out of it. He didn't want to be stuck in a cycle, unlike someone who seemed content with it. But he then remembered something. That initial place where all of the bombs he set off due to the hidden door.

He never did get a chance to go down there himself. He had actually forgotten about it himself, but now that it was back on his mind, it was his main objective. He brings it up to Pat, who was a bit more hesitant about the idea, but Mike did inevitably convince him about going through with it. But not before long, Alex did return to them, now acting a bit different as compared to how they originally saw him.

It was a true shock when he showed the power he had now. Pat was intrigued by it, now more wondering if he'll ever figure out of he were to have an ability like the other two, because, for all he knows, he might be someone without any interesting abilities, which is common, yes, but it would suck to not have anything interesting in that regards. Mike, on the other hand, he was also interested and decided to joke about Alex stealing his thing of being the one with the powers between them.

The three of them all shared that moment before Mike mentioned the idea of going back to where he had wanted to explore before, and almost with no hesitation, Alex decides to agree to it. It was a pleasant surprise to Mike, seeing him willing to dive headfirst into something like this instead of arguing, with him even mentioning it to Pat, who chuckled about it. Now the small preparation they had going was good, they went back to where they originally found themselves.

Nothing seemed too different from what Mike had seen, even finding exactly where the bomb he had been hit by was, making a joke about it. With the other two letting out a small chuckle themselves at it, although it was more out of their own guilt. Because even though they had their own feelings about the lies they had been told, they still kept from telling Mike about Gris having kept him down for multiple days to try and joke.

Whatever it was, the door was closed, but Mike mentions that it should be open now due to Cassian having gone down there. So he attempts to open it, honestly expecting it to fail, only for it to open a lot easier than he thought. Then finding himself stumbling backwards onto the ground with the other two telling him that it's open. A sarcastic laugh is let out by Mike when he follows behind them into the hidden area. There wasn't really any lights down there to help them navigate where they were, but Mike let up a flame in his hand to guide them all once he squirmed his way into the front, wanting to use it instead of the flashlights the others had.

Not too long after that, they found a giant switch on the side of a wall. They were all hesitant about pulling it, but it was inevitably Alex who decides to be the one to do it, making jokes about it. "In all seriousness, if I die, I'm going to kill you." He jokes once more before pulling down on it with a loud crack coming from the switch. They expected something to happen, although what they thought was to happen was all different.

Alex expected to get electrocuted, Mike expected Alex to also get electrocuted but still cause the lights to turn on, and Pat was just expecting nothing at all to happen. Rummaging through the bag of things he had, Alex pulls out his flashlight and tells the other two to go ahead and he'll see if maybe he can do anything about it, and so the other two listen, pressing onwards to go where they needed to try and find whatever they could down there.

"FUCK!" That is the word yelled out by Alex alongside the echo of a crackle sounded out to the others, leaving them to rush back to him. They find him shaking one of his hands, seemingly having electrocuted himself, with him using his newly found ice abilities to cover his hand to numb it. The others ask him what happened, and he admits all he did was constantly switch it back and forth before something had seemed to snap. According to him, it was a shocking experience.