Zack regained consciousness. He was still on the rooftop, and he hadn’t splattered into the ground, which were all good things. Instead, he was slumped against a chimney. Dirk Saber stood over him.

“You okay, Zane?” he asked.

Zane.

It took Zack a minute to remember what happened. The last thing he remembered he had been falling towards the ground. Hearing his father’s name jolted him back to reality.

“Yes,” Zack said, trying to sound as stoic as possible. “His blast damaged one of my servos, causing a temporary power loss.”

DIrk Saber extended his hand. Zack took it as he was lifted off of the ground.

“Where is Icer?” Zack asked.

“He slipped away shortly after you took a tumble,” Dirk said. “You sure you’re okay? This is the first time I’ve ever seen you knocked out of the sky by a C-list supervillain.”

“I’m fine,” Zack said, with all the confidence he could muster, before deciding to take another tack. “Maybe you’re not the only one getting old.”

This time Dirk Saber chuckled. “Speak for yourself.”

Zack sighed, but he kept it away from the voice modulator, hopefully keeping it somewhat inaudible. His shoulder now felt more wet than cold. The ice attack must have melted away, but now his arm was drenched in water, which couldn’t have been great for the inner workings of the suit.

“What was in the safe that this villain wanted so bad?” he asked Dirk Saber, even though he knew there was likely nothing Icer had been after. After all, he had been the one to put Icer up to this attack. He was just making conversation, and keeping this investigation going.

“That’s the strange part. I keep a few passports there in case I need to split for superhero business overseas,” Dirk Saber said. “Nothing of value save for some petty cash.”

“And when you say petty cash you mean…” Zack wondered.

He knew plenty of superheroes who considered a few million dollars to be well within “petty cash”.

“Barely five hundred dollars, if that,” Dirk replied.

Zack whistled.

“We can’t all be business owners,” Dirk shot back. “Some of us have to slave in the classroom for a living.”

It was an odd attack. Zane’s garage business always kept him busy. No health insurance plus one kid and a superhero life to support meant Zane was rarely if ever racking in the dough.

“Want to trade?” Zack asked.

Dirk regarded him for a moment. “This place must really be growing on you, huh?”

Zack grimaced a bit. Dad must be rolling in his grave at the thought.

“I’m just tired of going under cars,” Zack said.

“Fair enough,” Dirk said. “You’ll keep me posted if your investigation turns up anything else.”

“I will,” Zack said.

They shook hands, with Dirk heading inside.

Zack starred off the rooftop. He really hoped he had enough spare power to get back to his apartment. He jumped off the rooftop, unsure how this was going to go. He briefly did the math about what would happen if his rocket boosters failed and he plummeted to the ground. He judged the impact would probably be survivable within the suit, if only just barely.

Fortunately, the rocket boosters kicked in as he soared into the sky, instead of coming close to crashing to the ground…again.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

As he made his way back to his apartment, Zack considered what, if anything, he had learned from this outing.

Was Dirk still his prime suspect?

On one hand, he had seen him draw Omegium blades on Icer. He definitely could take his Dad in a fight if he wanted to. Then again, plenty of heroes could have taken Zane in a fight if they wanted to. It’s just none of them wielding Omegium blades with as much skill or ferocity as Dirk Saber.

But on the other hand, Dirk hadn’t seemed particularly bothered by Knightbrand’s presence. At no point did he let slide any information that could help him in his investigation. All and all, the entire exercise seemed like a waste.

Also, his hand felt really gross now. Icer’s attack, whatever has done, had left it coated in cold coolant. He felt like he needed to run it under hot water for fifteen minutes to get any feeling back in his fingers.

***

Zack returned to his apartment. He had stowed away most of the armor to its hidden location, save for the detached right shoulder piece. He struggled to get a grip of the armor as he futilely attempted repairs.

In the dead of night, Zack moved into his apartment with a massive armored piece slung over his shoulder. He really hoped none of his neighbors noticed.

He laid out the armor on his kitchen table. It didn’t look damaged. It just looked wet.

Problem was, the alarms started sounding the moment he turned it on.

Zack immediately shut the piece off before it woke up his neighbors.

In the past, he had only ever been tasked with routine repairs of his Dad’s armor. He had never done anything this major. He would need this up and running before he used the suit again.

He felt frustrated. He felt out of options. He felt cold, and he immediately knew what would come next.

“Your Pops like you messing with his armor like that?” Zack heard the rough voice over his shoulder. He turned to see Icer leaning on the entrance to the kitchen, a beer in his hand. Thankfully, it was not his.

“Yeah, just as much as he likes getting shot by freezing ice blasts,” Zack said, turning to face him.

“Hey, your old man didn’t leave me much choice,” Icer shrugged. “Dirk Saber is one of the best. He had me dead to rights.”

Zack couldn’t argue with Icer there. Though the supervillain had put up quite a fight, Dirk had come very close to taking him down.

Icer leaned in closer. “And…for the record…I don’t think you’d like what I had to say if Saber did take me in.”

“So you thought the best course of action was taking a shot at…my dad,” Zack said, catching himself before he said something that might have given him away.

“It’s the oldest trick in the supervillain book,” Icer shrugged, crossing his hands as he chucked his beer into the wastebasket. “You wanna get away? Endanger someone. You supes get off on that saving lives shit.”

“That’s pretty ruthless,” Zack said. “Not to mention cynical.”

“Relax,” Icer said. “No one got hurt.”

Zack watched as Icer casually worked to the fridge, opened the door, and then grabbed a plastic bottle of water

Of course he didn’t ask for one. He’s a supervillain after all.

“My Dad-” Zack started

“Is a pro. He’s been doing this a long longer than the two of us,” Icer said. Zack started to question this. He didn’t really know exactly how old Icer was. In fact, aside from seeing Icer’s mouth as he chugged bottled water, he really didn’t know what Icer looked like beneath the mask.

Icer turned and started to walk away.

“But, if he doesn’t like my methods, he can always give me an audience,” Icer said. “And I’ll be out of his - and your - hair.”

“Or he could just drop you back in a supermax prison,” Zack said.

Icer chuckled. “He could, but that brings us back to me telling the authorities what I know about your activities here.”

He met Zack’s gaze. “From what I’m seeing, you guys are a rogue operation. Until you have evidence of whatever illicit activity you’re searching for, you’re in the same boat as me.”

When Zack looked up again, Icer was gone. The warmth returned to the air.

Icer was right. He had gone rogue. And that was the problem. Until he had concrete information linking Dirk Saber to his father’s murder, he was vulnerable. If Icer found it his secret, his investigation was over. If Weave or Shaw found out, he was screwed.

If Rachel found out…

Zack couldn’t think about that right now.

Zack was just about to go back to fiddling with his armor when his phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number, but so few people even had his number. Ultimately his curiosity got the better of him.

He was surprised to hear Rachel’s soft voice on the other end.

“Mr. Kestler, Professor Saber would like to see you in his office at eight a.m. sharp tomorrow.,” she said.

“Rachel? What’s this about?” he asked.

“Will that time work for you? Professor Saber does have other appointments,” she said, her voice cold and formal.

“Yeah, that will work,” Zack said. “Can we talk-”

The phone went dead, leaving Zack with more questions than answers.