Zack felt his arrival from the cold chill running down his back. He didn’t hear the door open, nor did he hear any footsteps, but the sudden drop in temperature alerted him nonetheless. He turned to face the approaching supervillian, but saw no signs of him at first. It wasn’t until he searched the apartment that he found him.

He found Icer in the kitchen, with a beer in hand as always. He always wondered how Icer managed to slip into his house without so much as a peep from his neighbors.

“You never write, you never call,” Icer said without looking up. “My feelings are starting to get hurt.”

“You’ll live,” Zack said as he entered the kitchen. “There’s been some new developments in our case.”

Zack figured the best way to handle this was to remain cool and professional. Don’t give Icer any reason to believe this wasn’t a standard operation. Icer, for his part, didn’t seem too impressed either way.

“Uh huh,” Icer said in a neutral tone. “Our case. That’s very rich.”

“Well, if you’re unhappy with our arrangement, there’s a nice cell at Highrock waiting for you,” Zak said. Icer grimaced, but he didn’t raise any further objections.

Zack continued, addressing Icer as he would any other subordinate. “There’s a person of interest. My dad needs something from her to…continue his investigation.”

Zack could see Icer’s eyes narrowing behind the mask. “So why doesn’t Daddy go and take this person in for questioning?”

“We don’t have the evidence yet. We need to examine an item on their person in order to get evidence,” Zack said as he returned to center footing just in front of the sitting supervillain, who continued to drink his beer.

“And let me guess . . . “ Icer said, tipping the bottle forward to point it at Zack. “You need me to steal this item.”

Zack met his gaze. “That would be correct.”

Icer signed and leaned back in his seat. “There seems to be an awful lot of subterfuge for this ‘case’ I’ve been noticing. It seems very unbecoming for Knightbrand’s, errr, brand.”

Now it was Zack’s turn to narrow his eyes. “If you don’t like getting your hands dirty, we have a wait-list of qualified villains we can slot in to take your place…at a moment’s notice.”

Icer regarded him for a moment. He wasn’t sure Icer believed him, but he also knew Icer didn’t want to push the issue either. For his part, Icer leaned forward in his chair.

“So who am I stealing what from?” Icer asked. Zack laid down the old photo of Amber Shaw he had found on the Internet. Icer took the photo and looked at it for a moment.

“Hmmm. Miss Magnitude, was it? Wasn’t she on a team with your pops? New Extreme or something?” Icer asked.

Was she . . . ?

Zane never mentioned a team to his Zack. He always presented himself as something of a lone wolf. But Amber certainly had some familiarity with him. It was something he could check on later.

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“That’s not relevant,” Zack said. “The Magnometer she keeps on her belt might be the key to busting this thing wide open.”

Icer leaned back and crossed his arms. “She’s not going to part with it without a fight. And from what I’ve heard, she can dish out quite a lot of pain.”

“Fortunately, she’s not going to know it’s gone,” Zack said. “She’s retired now, having become the Assistant Dean. She keeps it in her office. We’ll wait until she clocks out for the night. You’ll insert into the office and retrieve without her or anyone ever knowing.”

Icer didn’t say anything for a second, before speaking up. “Why doesn’t your Dad just ask her for it? I thought they were tight.”

Zack really didn’t want to think about how tight his dad and Amber Shaw were. That was one mental image Zack didn’t need locked in his brain.

“Not an option,” Zack said. “This is a sensitive matter.”

Emphasis on the sensitive part.

Icer groaned. “Not sure why you supes can’t do anything the easy way.”

Zack didn’t say anything. He knew Icer would comply, and he didn’t need to force the issue anymore than he already had. He simply crossed his chest with his arms and waited for Icer to accept the mission.

“So when are we doing this?” Icer asked with a deflated sigh.

“Tomorrow night,” Zack said.

“That seems quick,” Icer shot back.

“You’ll receive floor plans, schedules plus any other necessary data,” Zack moved on.

“I’ll case the place tomorrow. I don’t like surprises,” Icer replied. That seemed like the best option. He definitely didn’t want anyone interrupting this mission.

“And you can do it discreetly,” Zack crossed his arms over his chest.

“Discreetly is my middle name,” Icer said with another swig of beer.

Zack didn’t say anything, save for a leveling glance at the supervillain.

“Okay, actually it’s Marshall,” Icer said.

“Marshall?” Zack raised an eyebrow.

“Family name,” Icer said as he stood up. “We’ll snatch this Magnometer tomorrow night. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

Zack nodded. “Good.”

“And if you need anything else…you know where to find me,” Icer said as he started to walk away.

Zack turned to the departing Icer, “Actually I don’t.”

Icer chuckled and pivoted towards him.

“Well, I’m sure your old man can find me if he ever cares to…” Icer said.

Zack decided against taking the bait. He wasn’t in a position where he could easily parade out the Knightbrand armor to convince Icer his dad was on the scene. He needed to play his cards just right to make this work. He decided the best course was to drop the issue entirely.

“See you tomorrow night,” Zack said. “And have your phone on in case I need to contact you sooner.”

“Roger, over and out,” Icer said with a false salute before leaving the kitchen.

Zack briefly panicked. Was Icer going to go out…the front door…wearing that? He started to follow Icer into the living room, only to see the supervillain had completely vanished.

DId he just…teleport?

Icer only had a small array of ice-related gimmicks, right? Had Zack completely underestimated the supervillain? More likely he had used one of his dry ice bombs to clear away a stealthy exit.

Zack took a moment to calm himself down, as much as he could. Icer wasn’t his problem. At least, not for the rest of the night. He had questions about the supervillain, ones which doubtlessly needed answers. The biggest was just where the supervillain stayed when he wasn’t doing a job for Zack. Was Icer working other criminal gigs in Innshadow? And if so, were his crimes Zack’s own responsibility, for bringing him here in the first place?

But that could wait.

Tomorrow he would acquire the Magnometer and then get the Power Amplifier from Kaine. With that, he could fix the Knightbrand armor with Perry’s help and then…finally…get revenge on Dirk Saber for killing his father all those years ago.

For now, Zack needed sleep. He walked to the nearby bedroom. By now, the temperature had thankfully returned to normal. With nothing else to do, he slid into bed and slowly dozed off without too much trouble.