Zack got up the next morning and didn’t know quite how to describe how he felt. In the past, he had utilized the anger or sadness he felt about his father to power his motivation through his activities.

It wasn’t a perfect system, or even a great one. Sooner or later, Zack’s grief and anger spiraled into a crash which left Zack tired and listless for days on end. All that changed when Zach came to Innshadow. At first, Zack figured it to be the light at the end of the tunnel - that he would soon find his father’s killer and his mission would be over, whatever the outcome.

Now Zack realized that wasn’t the case. The lightness Zach felt in his soul wasn’t his mission - it was his friends. Seeing them again brought something out in him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time.

Hope.

Sure, things weren’t perfect. His feelings for Rachel remained largely unresolved, even if the tension between them had somewhat subsided. And his mission remained incomplete. His father’s killer was still out there, whether it was Dirk Saber or . . .

Someone else.

Still, Zack had been forced to tell Perry his secret, and so far, the world…hasn’t ended. Dozens of superheroes had charged through his apartment door to arrest him. Everything remained on course.

Perry would have the data logs analyzed by mid-afternoon. It was quite possible Zack would know the identity of his father’s killer before the end of the day.

True, there were more than a couple loose threads which infuriated Zack. Just what was Kaine going to do with Amber Shaw’s Magnometer? And what about Max Mann? What was his role in all of this? Had he lied to him about his illness, which according to Dirk Saber, was nothing more than aging?

Despite this, Zack’s spirits continued to soar as he finished getting ready for close. The Knightbrand armor was now fixed, giving him a major ace in the hole. The data should provide some answers on his father’s killer. Everything was going his way.

Zack Kestler opened the door with a smile on his face, but that smile almost immediately faded when he saw who was waiting for him on his porch. Amber Shaw stood on the front stoop, just about to knock on his front door. Her hair was tied back into a bun, and she wore a dark jacket along with a salmon blouse and navy blue pants. Zack was ever so grateful her blouse was completely buttoned, and her jacket remained on her shoulders and not slung over a couch.

“Mr. Kestler,” she said. “Can I have a word?”

Zack’s spirits immediately plummeted in an all-too-familiar crash, this time owing to anxiety in place of rage or sadness. He held the door open for her and beckoned the assistant dean to enter.

“Thank you, Mr. Kestler,” Amber said as she crossed the threshold into the apartment. “This won’t take long.”

“Sure, Miss Shaw,” Zack said. “What can I do for you?”

A multitude of possibilities ran through Zack’s mind. Had she somehow connected him to the theft of the Magnometer? If so, how exactly had she accomplished that? Did something about their oh-so-awkward conversation give him away? Or had she somehow tailed Icer to this location.

No way this is good.

“Is your father around?” Amber Shaw said, as she scanned the apartment, taking inventory of Zack’s spartan’s surroundings.

“Afraid not,” Zack said. “But he and I don’t talk that much. Our relationship is…complicated.”

Mostly because he’s dead.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

Hell, that wasn’t true. Zack and Zane’s relationship had always been complicated. Zane could unravel any supervillain plot, but parenthood had proven just as challenging, especially once Zack became a teenager. The presence of the Sideclique provided a stabilizing element to his life, but he couldn’t shake the suspicion that Zane was jealous of his friends and status in life, only adding to the tension.

Amber Shaw turned back to him. “If you see him, can you let him know I need to talk to him?”

Zack nodded. “Sure, Miss. Shaw. Is anything up?”

He put one hand in his pocket and waited for Shaw to respond, even though he knew precisely what was up. The thing was, how much did Miss Shaw know?

“Something very dear to me was stolen last night.” Amber Shaw said.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Zack said with fake concern. He searched Amber Shaw’s face for any sign of suspicion or doubt, but thankfully, he found none.

“I need to talk to your father. He tried to warn me,” Amber said. “But I was a bit…distracted.”

Oh man were you ever . . .

Zack remembered how quickly Amber Shaw came onto him in his father’s costume. Apparently, Amber Shaw and his father had quite the relationship, and Zack still felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it.

Shaw continued, “He warned me Icer might try something, but I didn’t think he would be brazen enough to break into my office. Apparently I was wrong.”

Zack nodded. He hoped Icer had disabled any security measures which could lead him back to him. The supervillain had proven competent and thorough, but still, this was one complication he didn’t need.

“Well, in all likelihood, you’ll probably hear from him before you hear from me,” Zack said. Shaw nodded.

“But I hope you find what you are looking for,” Zack said awkwardly as he moved towards the door to see Shaw out.

“There was one more thing,” Shaw said, prolonging the conversation once more. Zack tried his best not to sigh and turned back to him.

He put most hands in his pockets as he pivoted back to face Amber Shaw.

“Oh?” he said, even as he secretly dreaded what was about to come next.

“I’ve spoken to your professors,” Amber Shaw said.

Already Zack didn’t like where this was going. He was on good terms with Dirk Saber, but Amber had said professors plural, and he hadn’t bothered to show up for any of his classes save for the one taught by his father’s likely killer.

Zack fidgeting uncomfortably at the mention of this. “Is that…standard practice this early into the semester.”

Amber Shaw gave him a rather piercing gaze. “It is when you are such a high profile student.”

“And what did my, uhh, professors have to say?” Zack said.

“Professor Saber has nothing but good things to save about you,” Shaw said. Zack tried to sound humbly surprised, even though this wasn’t exactly news to him.

“Oh?” he said.

Shaw turned to him. “But none of your other professors can even recall meeting you, and you haven’t turned in any assignments to any of them save for Professor Saber,” she said.

“Oh,” Zack said, sounding particularly deflated.

“However,” Shaw said. “Saber did say you are dealing with a previously undisclosed power set.”

Great. Does everyone officially know about this now?

“Yeah,” Zack said. “I’m still getting my head around this.”

Yet another detail in his complicated relationship with Zane Kestler, even with his father two years in the ground.

“I hope you know my door is always open if you want to…talk,” Amber Shaw said.

Well, the last time I was in your office in the Knightbrand suit, the last thing you wanted to do was…talk.

Zack immediately regretted that thought.

“Thanks Miss Shaw,” he said. “I appreciate it. I’m just getting my head around it.”

“You can call me Amber,” Shaw said with a small smile. “And any time you want to talk, just give my office a call. The first year is tough for everyone.”

“Thanks…maybe I’ll…talk you up on that,” Zack said as he finally saw Amber Shaw over to the door.

“And if you do happen to see your father,” Shaw said. “Tell him I said hello.”

“I will,” Zack said with a warm smile as she walked out the door.

Zack shut the door behind her and sighed. He hadn’t learned anything new - other than he probably should attend some of his classes - but at least Icer was being blamed for the Magnometer theft.

The bigger question was, what would Amber Shaw do about it?

And what would the consequences be?

Because, as Zack was starting to learn, there were always consequences.