Kaine led Zack up a flight of stairs, turning just before reaching the set of stairs which would have taken him to Max’s office. Tucked away in the corner was a somewhat smaller office, still spacious by most standards.

As Zack entered, he realized Kaine had taken the large office and converted it into a dorm room, complete with a bathroom large enough to hold a Viking celebration by the looks of it. Zack scanned the walls of Kaine’s dorm room, noticing several very scary-looking combat knives. Several hooks poked out of the wall, each adorned with a golden medal denoting Kaine’s time in the Marines.

“Impressive,” Zack said, trying to make conversation.

“Yeah, well, don’t get too comfortable,” Kaine said. “We’re here for business. What do you want outta the display case?”

Zack turned to Kaine but he didn’t say anything. He didn’t know how much he could tell Kaine without arousing suspicion. And besides, he didn’t like the idea of taking something from Max’s trophy room without his express permission. Besides, for all he knew this was some sort of ploy to land Zack in trouble.

Kaine seemed to read Zack’s doubts. He pulled a large ledger-bound book from the desk adjacent to his double-wide king-size bed and opened it up.

“You’re not the first one with this request, pal. Far from it,” Kaine said. He pointed to a scribbled record on the last page.

“Jack Mellows used the Horn of Blasaphast,” Kaine said. “He found it, ahem, helped him perform better.”

Kaine sat on his oversized bed, turning the page delicately as if he were reading Zack a bedtime story.

“Kurt Porter took the Intello Pills that Genius Man used,” Kaine said. “He needed help on a physics exam, and tutoring wasn’t cutting it.”

Kaine turned another page.

“And most recently, Tim Duncan used the Time Staff to see two girls at once,” Kaine said. “Without things getting too awkward.”

Kaine slammed the ledger shut. He fixed a hard and knowing gaze on Zack.

“So despite what you might think, Kestler, you’re not special. You’re not the first request I’ve handled, and you won’t be the last,” Kaine said. “And don’t think just because you’re tight with Max means you get special treatment. You. Don’t.”

Kaine growled at Zack. “So once again, What. Do. You Want.”

He reopened his notebook with his pen at the ready.

Zack crossed his arms and turned his attention to Kaine. He had to make this fast. He didn’t want to keep Perry and Blake waiting. Though Blake made it abundantly clear she could handle any trouble from Kaine’s minions.

Unless more frat minions turned up, uninvited.

Things could get ugly down their quick.

“I want Amp’s Power Amplifier,” Zack said. Kaine had started to jolt it down, but the pen in his hands stopped. He looked up to meet Zack’s gaze.

“That’s a piece of powerful hardware,” Kaine said. “What do you need that for?”

Zack shrugged. “My electric razor broke.”

“Then why don’t you just try growing a beard instead,” Kaine said. He gestured to the knives on his wall. “Or you could just use a straight blade. That’s how real men shave.”

Zack met his gaze. “Who said it’s for my face?”

Zack’s eyes briefly went down to below his waist.

He knew the only way to talk to Kaine was to speak their language. Treat everything like a joke, and be sure to aim ten IQ points lower.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Dick and fart jokes work the best for this crowd.

Kaine may have been a bruiser even without his teleportation powers, but at the end of the day, he was yet another Alpha poser just like everyone else.

Kaine chuckled. “How profane. We’ll make a true Alpha out of you yet. Okay. The Power Amplifier it is.”

“So do you take debit card or am I going to have to run to the bank?” Zack asked with a sardonic grin.

Kaine gave him a mirthless chuckle. “Not so fast. You want this, you have to do something for me first.”

Zack felt his arms go slack as he rolled his eyes, suddenly deflated. “What am I not surprised by a sudden quid pro quo?”

“It’s the way of the world,” Kaine said. “No one does anything for free.”

Zack sighed and re-crossed his arms. “What do you want?”

Kaine reached under his bed. “This one is very…dear to my heart you might say.”

He produced a magazine, one that was very old and very ragged. The pages were adorned with beautiful women, all in skimpy superhero costumes which left little if anything to the imagination. There were skin mags for superheroes, just like everything else.

“You know they got websites for that now,” Zack said. “You gotta get with the times.”

“Ha. Ha.” Kaine said before reaching a certain page and handing it to Zack.

“I’m not sure I feel comfortable touching that thing,” Zack said.

“Just take it, and look,” Kaine said. As soon as Zack took the magazine, Kaine reached for two large free weights at the foot of his bed and began curling them towards his forearm.

Zack saw a heroine from a bygone age. Probably twenty years ago given the style. Here, she wasn’t much older than him. She had voluminous sandy brown hair wrapped in curls just above her shoulders. Her red domino mask matched her deep red one-piece leotard, which clung to her curvy body. The one-piece left little to the imagination, due in large part to her powerful hips and long legs laid bare by the costume, to say nothing of the rather large slit running down the one-piece, which displayed a tan and trim abdomen. Zack also noted a large medallion on the heroine’s trim waistline.

“Great. Thanks for introducing me to your dream girl,” Zack said. “But I’m not really in the mood.”

“Take another look, wiseass,” Kaine said. Zack did as he requested. Something felt familiar. Zack paid special attention to her eyes. Despite her pose, she seemed too serious, despite the scanty nature of her costume. Her eyes seemed to bear into him.

“Holy shit,” Zack said. “That’s Amber Shaw.”

“Bingo,” Kaine said. “Or as she was called back then, Miss Magnitude.”

The name seemed familiar. Some sort of quake-powered heroine, from what Zack remembered. On a lot of teams. Made a lot of waves and then just disappeared before the decade was over.

“But then she traded her swimsuit for a pantsuit and forgot her place,” Kaine said, as he continued to lift weights. Zack decided not to challenge Kaine on his sexism. After all, he was after the Power Amplifier, just a debate on gender roles with a wannabe alpha male.

“Cool, cool,” Zack said. “What’s this got to do with me?”

Kaine set the free-weights drop down to the floor.

“That device on her waist is the Magnometer,” Kaine said. “It’s the source of her power.”

Zack remembered meeting Shaw in the Knightbrand armor. The HUD picked up something on her waist. It must have been her Magnometer going off.”

“She keeps it in her office. Sometimes she wears it, but I’ve heard reports she takes it off at night,” Kaine said.’’That’s what I want.”

“And just why do you want it?” Zack said.

Kaine shrugged. “Reasons.”

Zack hadn’t been forthcoming about his reasons for wanting the Power Amplifier. Still, grabbing the Magnometer carried risks, not the least of which was getting on Shaw’s bad side. She already wasn’t his biggest fan.

“Look, that Karen has fired too many shots at Alpha House in the past,” Kaine said. “It’s time to fire a few back.”

He laid a hand on Zack’s shoulder. “You in?”

Zack sighed. He didn’t have much of a choice. He needed the Knightbrand armor repaired, and if this was the price he needed to pay, so be it.

He nodded. “Consider it done.”

“You can see yourself out,” Kaine said.

At the foot of the stairs, he saw Perry and Blake waiting for him. On the other side, he saw No-Neck One leaning over an unconscious and heavily-breathing No-Neck Two. Blake sighed heavily.

“They didn’t behave,” she said simply before she stood up and proceeded to walk away.

Perry met his gaze. “Sometimes, she scares me. Actually, it’s all the time she scares me. Did you get it?”

Zack sighed. “Not yet. I have to do a job for them first.”

“Am I going to like any of this?” Perry asked.

“The less you know, the better,” Zack said, and for once, he knew for a fact he was right.