After his atrocious meeting with Max, Zack saw things a lot clearer. He didn’t need Sigma Alpha. Not really. The display case had come in handy…once. And even that came with a price Zack was still paying.

Max Mann was a fraud, pure and simple. A vain old man holding onto his youth at any cost. Bob Weave and the rest of Innshadow staff offered him a way out - a cushy gig where he wouldn’t have to use his powers - and he’d wormed his way into the institution like a parasite.

It didn’t help that Max’s right hand man Kaine made things even worse. While Max only wanted his youth back, Kaine actively sought power, using Max’s display case of supervillain memorabilia for his own ends. Blake was right - Sigma Alpha was bad news, thanks in large part to its two custodians.

Zack’s own opinions on Innshadow University were largely mixed. He now saw he hadn’t given the place a fair shot. He enjoyed his time with Dirk Saber, his father’s maybe-killer, but he hadn’t attended any other classes. Still, Saber and even Amber Shaw seemed largely determined to help him, even if he’d gotten off to the wrong foot with both of them initially.

Whatever Zack’s feelings on Innshadow, he was positive the students and the staff didn’t deserve to be caught up in the machinations of Max and Kaine. But ultimately, that didn’t matter.

Zack’s mission was to find his father’s killer. Everything else was secondary. Still, perhaps he could do some good here…like getting his friend out of this hellhole.

Zack found Scott running a mop over what looked to be vomit in a nearby hallway. Zack hated the smell which permeated the frat house. And he hated that Scott had to clean it up every time. Kaine was never going to let him on-board, not when he had a dutiful underling with super-speed to clean up his messes every time.

He tapped on Scott’s shoulder. Scott removed two wireless earbuds from his ears and then looked at him. Zack scanned his friend’s father, noticing his weary expression and the dark bags beneath his eyes.

“You look like shit,” Zack said.

“Well, good to see you too, Zack,” Scott sighed and almost started going back to work.

“That’s not what I meant,” Zack back-tracked. He hoped his attempt at levity would jostle Scott, not offend him. “I just meant…you look tired.”

“It’s my job. I’ll be fine,” Scott said. “What are you doing here? You had something with Max?”

Yeah, something alright.

Zack wanted to tell Scott everything about Max. How he misled Zack about his terminal condition - aging - and when Zack called him out, he had only found a frail old man who was so afraid of growing older, he’d do anything to stop it. He wanted to tell Scott all of this, but first, he needed to get him out of here.

“Yeah, I did but that’s over now,” Zack said. “When do you get off?”

Scott looked away. “I, uhhh, I don’t know. Not until the work is done.”

Zack remembered his trial, being stuck trying to clean a roof in the pouring rain, an unwinnable situation if there was one. Kaine liked to humiliate the pledges for his own amusement. Zack had managed to escape, but Scott was still trapped in his for the past eight months.

“C’mon,” Zack said. “You need a break. It will be good for you.”

He reached out for Scott, only for Scott to shift away, moving with his mop as he continued to sweep the floor.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“We’ll have another friend’s night,” Zack said. “You, me, Perry, Rachel. It’ll be just like old times.”

Zack could probably get Perry to help him out. Whether he could do so without Blake was another matter. And whether Zack could get Rachel to attend a friend’s night was also another matter. Things were still weird between them. Still, Zack had to try, if only for Scott’s sake.

“Yeah, just like old times,” Scott said, almost inaudibly under his breath. “Before you left.”

“What?” Zack said, surprised by his friend’s callous response.

“Nothing,” Scott said, reaching for his ear buds once more. “I gotta go.”

“This place isn’t good for you,” Zack said, trying to be more forceful. “And I think you know that.”

Scott simply shrugged. “Yeah? Well, it’s the only place I got here.”

Zack put his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “C’mon. Let’s go. Get you out of here. You don’t need to be doing this.”

Scott’s eyes flashed fire at Zack. “I do, Scott. I really do.”

“No, you don’t,” Zack said. “I don’t know what you’re trying to prove-”

Scott jerked out of Zack’s grip. He held the mop in one hand like a staff while rubbing his face with his free hand.

“Trying to prove? That’s rich. That’s so rich coming from you,” Scott said with a mirthless laugh. “But then again, you are rich.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Zack asked, wide-eyed.

“It means I’m broke, Zack!” Scott said. “You never asked how I ended up in a place like this when my parents couldn’t afford anything beyond a trailer!”

Zack knew his parents didn’t have much, living in a double-wide trailer at the edge of town back in the day. Still, Scott Stephens was one of the most determined people Zack knew. It was a way for him to attend Innshadow University, he would find it.

“I just figured you’d find a way,” Zack said. “You mean there aren’t any scholarships?”

“Scholarships?” Scott raised his voice. “I’m not Perry! Or Rachel! No one’s coming to give me money. Not with my grades. This is the only shot I have.”

“It’s not a shot. You’re not getting in here,” Zack said. “You have to know that by now.”

“Not getting in here?” Scott sounded incredulous. His eyes went wild. “Is that what you and Max talked about?”

Zack tried to keep up with the conversation. He held both of his hands out defensively. “What? No, I was just here on business.”

“Well, stay out of mine while you’re at it!” Scott said.

“Scott, this isn’t you,” Zack said. “This place…it’s weighing down on you with all these expectations…it’s not you.”

Scott sharply turned to Zack, angrily jabbing his mop handle at him.

“How do you know what’s not me? You left!” Scott said.

“Look, I’m sorry, but I had my reasons,” Zack said.

Scott gave another bitter laugh. “Yeah, I bet you did. You always have your reasons. Zack Kestler can do what he wants, and never face any consequence.”

Zack didn’t know how to respond. Scott had seemed so chill when they first met, like he didn’t bear him any ill will at all for leaving. But it was becoming quickly clear that was not really the case, and Scott had some anger burning within him all along.

“Look, if this is about money,” Zack said. “I can lend you some. You don’t need this place to pay the bills.”

Zack should have known better, but he was desperately grasping at straws to get Scott to listen.

“I don’t need your charity, Kestler,” Scott said, putting his ear buds in once more. “What I need is fo you to stay out of my life! God, I liked it better when you stayed gone!”

Scott quickly put his ear buds in, gave him one last heated stare, and then went back to mopping.

Zack sighed and left the Alpha House dejected. He couldn’t help but feel he had let Scott down. He got a call from Perry soon after, reporting he’d finished analyzing the data from the Knightbrand’s on-board computer.

“And…” Zack said into his cell phone.

“You’re not going to like it,” Perry said. “But there’s no way Dirk Saber could have killed your father.”