The countdown ticked lower and lower as the sound echoed at the back of Drex's head.
So did the footsteps.
They came closer and closer, the heavy metallic sound of the enforcers feet. Right now in his ears they were relentless and merciless. Each one of them was like a drumbeat to his death as he wondered which one would reach him first. The enforcers of the countdown?
He pressed his bloody hand tighter against his stomach, but it didn't really matter anymore. The pain was overwhelming, it spreads across his body like fire and every cell in his body screams in pain.
His vision blurred as colors bend into one another until faces started to form in front of his eyes.
His mum, his father, Vox and Vex.
The people he lived and cherish most appeared right here with him in his final seconds. Even in this cold metal tomb, with blood leaking out of him, they were all that mattered.
He thought of his mum, how she would cry. How she would break knowing she lost her son. He thought of Vox and Vex growing up without him, never hearing his voice again, never getting another hug from him, never be able to lean on him again. Then his father too, he felt sorry, he promised him he would take care of his mum and brothers before he died. He wondered if he will finally get to see him again on the other side.
Ten seconds more.
Drex clenched his teeth and growled, his muscles screamed fatigue but he forced himself to stand up with willpower. His legs trembled as he stood and his right thigh burned like molten iron where the laser had passed through.
He leaned on his left, standing upright like a soldier refusing to bow even to death.
The enforcers were almost on him but they stopped when they saw him stand up. The timer was almost done now, his chest heaved up and down as he raised one shaking arm.
His middle finger covered in blood lifted high.
And with a crooked blood grin, he said through gritted teeth, "See you in hell fuckers!"
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The world ended.
The entire base exploded in fire, the explosion ripped through the underground chamber with such much force that the wall didn't even crumble. They disintegrated instantly, vaporizing violently.
The underground base was at least 300 metres deep, but none of it mattered to the blast as it tore upward. The explosion climbed higher and carried a force that no one would have imagined, it shredded through reinforced metal and rocks like paper.
Enforcers that were preparing to enter the elevator never even had time to aim their guns. They were swallowed in an instant and ripped apart as the fire consumed everything in its path.
The blast kept climbing higher and higher, until the ground above broke apart. To those outside, it was as if hell was breaking lose from the ground.
The enforcers mothership hovered above the tunnel, it tried to flee as it's engines roared, the metals groaned as it shifted course but it wasn't enough. Nothing could escape the terrifying explosion.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
The mothership was swallowed whole, fire ripped across as huge explosions detonated from the inside one after the other. The chain reaction tore the giant beast apart.
It felt as the sun had descended on earth as the fire burned brightly in the sky than what anybody has ever seen. A result of the anihilation of thousands of enforcers.
Far away from the destruction, on board the human escape ship. Tony and the others watched in silence, Lexi had given them a feed of Drex's final moment. They watched the whole fight, they watched as Drex stood and fought fiercely against the enforcers. Just a young boy alone with no other choice than to fight. They watched as he stood even though he was bleeding and broken and then they watched in shock as he raised his middle finger in defiance and smiled.
And then the explosion came.
The screen went white.
The live feed cut out.
The sound followed seconds later, it rumbled though the air like a storm from hell itself. Everyone turned to the horizon as a blinding light rose into the sky, it devoured everything and to their shocked even the enforcers mothership which contained 25,000 of them was engulfed in it.
The entire ship trembled with the silence of those who watched.
Drex mother collapsed, she fainted where she stood. Tears were running down her face, she couldn't even scream anymore, her body had given out from pain of losing her son. Two people rushed to catch her, lifting her gently and carrying her away.
The others stood frozen as they kept glaring at the horizon. None of them could believe that they had just witnessed. One teenage boy wiping out 25,000 enforcers.
The most a group has ever wiped out was two and the people worshipped them for killing two. It made them wondered what the world's reaction would be if they learn of Drex's feat. Perhaps this might unit every fallen resistance and reignite their battle will again.
Tony stood there with his paled face, his jaws were left hanging open. He finally manage to speak, "My….god" He dragged a hand accross his mouth as he tried to process the impossible. Then he turned towards the glowing hologram, "Lexi. What the hell was that? Who put that in there?"
Lexi's faceless form shimmered calmly in the center of the room. Her voice was steady tho there was a strange edge in it.
"It was not an ordinary explosive," she said. "That was a Graviton Singularity Core. A weapon so rare that only three are known to exist. It collapses matter into itself before detonating with the force of a dying star. It is the most powerful bomb ever created."
Gasps spread through the survivors.
Tony shook his head in disbelief. His hands trembled as he stared out the viewport again, the fire still burning in the horizon. "And Drex… he set that off willingly."
Silence fell amongst them again, nobody spoke. They all knew the reality, they saw it. One boy had just destroyed an army that was supposed to be unstoppable and he paid for it with his life.