So, Rachel, funny story…my father died and I’ve spent two years chasing his killer, which led me here…which is why I challenged your favorite teacher to a fist-fight…and things went downhill from there….

It was a terrible explanation, and would only give way to an even worse explanation. Zack had to think of something better, and fast. He was walking at a brisk pace, and already he could see the large windows of the training building coming into view as Zack moved down the grassy hills of the Innshadow campus.

What am I going to tell Rachel?

The truth.

That’s the only thing he could tell her. The only thing that could even hope to repair the gap between them.

But what exactly was he going to tell her?

He didn’t have a clue.

About a hundred yards away, Zack could see the sun glistening off of the skylight of the training building. He really hoped Rachel was already helping out with a class. He wanted to get this over with. He didn’t know what exactly he’d say to her, but he’d think of something.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Maybe.

The thought of having to wait some an hour or so to talk to Rachel didn’t sit well with Zack at all. Already his heart was racing over the thought of the coming conversation. He didn’t know if he could survive waiting outside the class for another hour or so. And who knew if Rachel would even give him the time of day?

Things had been better between them, but Zack didn’t want to presume she’d be willing to hear him out.

Given his erratic behavior over the course of this past week, it wasn’t like he could blame her.

I just need to get this conversation over with.

His heart continued to pound within his chest the closer he came to the building. Every inch of him dreaded this conversation, but it needed to happen, for better or worse. He stopped to compose himself. His heart continued to beat at a heavy rate. Zack grabbed a guard rail, only to find it shaking too.

In fact, everything was shaking, including the ground beneath him. Zack looked up at the training building. The roof-top windows of the skylight shattered, sending glass diamonds falling into the classroom below. The tall windows displayed lightning streaks cracks before tumbling down as well.

What was happening…?

Zack raced towards the classroom. He had to find Rachel. He had to make sure no one was hurt. Millions of thoughts race through his mind, but he pushed them all aside to focus on the mission at hand. All around him a chorus of shouts and screams filled his ears. Zack struggled to focus despite all the chaos surrounding him.

He scoured the many students racing past him, trying to see if any of them were Rachel. But in a school full of superheroes, this was easier said than done. Some were trailing by at super-speed, while others were outright flying or leaping into the air.

Rachel doesn’t have those powers. Focus on her. Everything else will fall into place.

Zack continued to move forward, pushing against the mass of superpowers racing all around him. It was chaos in the Promenade. What made everything so much worse was the indecision among many along the pathways. Most were racing away from the devastation as buildings crumbled beside him, but a few were racing towards them - like him - trying to offer any assistance their powers or training could muster.

A few stood in shock, and others were so indecisive they stood in the center of the parkways, blocking the path as crowds surged in both directions, often colliding on the panicked streets.

Zack crashed through the waves of people, being shoulder-checked a couple dozen times. He kept going. He was the quarterback in high school. He was used to getting tackled a time or two. He kept moving.

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Zack rushed towards the training building. He scanned the crowds of evacuees rushing out of the building, many with scrapes and cuts, searching for any sign of Rachel. He looked up to the third floor of the building.

Was Rachel…up there?

That’s where the classroom was. That’s where Saber’s office was. Zack briefly wondered how he would even get up there. He would have to fight against crowds of desperate, scared students up six stairwells.

It’s Rachel. I’m going.

He started to move, but a familiar voice cut through the chaos.

“Someone help!” he heard the cry. “Please!”

He pushed through the chaos, towards the sound of Rachel’s voice. His heart continued to beat faster, even harder than it had on the Promenade when he thought about what he might say.

Rachel never cried. She never screamed. Not even when watching horror movies. In fact, it was Zack who was prone to jump scares, not her.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Zack turned the corner to see Rachel standing amid the chaos. She looked alright. Actually, she looked better than alright. Her hair was a mess, but beyond that, she didn’t have a scratch on her. Yet when she turned to Zack, her eyes were wide with an alien fear Zack had never seen before him.

“Please,” she said. “Help him.”

Zack had been so transfixed with Rachel he had failed to notice the body at her feet. Zack’s eyes widened when he saw Dirk Saber encased in the rubble, in far worse shape than how Zack had found Rachel. Cuts and bruises ran down his face, and a large wall had fallen onto his sternum.

“He…he pushed me out of the way,” Rachel said.

For Zack, it was the death knell of his stupid vendetta. The man he wrongly supposed to be his father’s killer had pushed Rachel out of the way of a falling wall.

How could I have gotten it so wrong?

“We…we have to help him,” Rachel said, still clearly somewhat in shock.

“And we will,” Zack turned to her. He searched her face. Rachel was a million miles away, and he had so much he wanted to tell her

I’ll tell her everything. After I save Saber.

“Let’s lift this off him,” Zack told Rachel.

Rachel immediately came after her daze. She leaned down and began to grip the massive slap on Saber’s chest. Zack bent down and began to lift as well.

Lift with your legs. Lift with your legs.

Even with the two of them, it was clear the concrete wall was too much to lift between the two of them. Rachel stood up and scampered away.

“Keep lifting it!” she urged.

“Easier! Said! Than! Done!” Zack cried, questioning her sudden absence as he was left with all the weight of the slab in his hands.

Rachel returned with a large metallic lighting pole which had fallen from the shock. She pressed it into the tiny opening produced by their vain attempt to lift the slab. Using it as a lever, Rachel pressed down, creating enough clearance to pull Saber from the wreckage.

Rachel immediately checked his pulse. “He’s hurt, but he’s breathing.”

She looked up at him. “What’s happening? Why is there an earthquake…in Illinois?”

Earthquakes.

Zack looked around at the chaos around them. The rumbling in the ground was slowly starting to subside, but the panic continued.

He surveyed the damage. Rubble scattered the campus. Half of the training building had collapsed in on itself. Zack saw other buildings with signs of damage in the distance. A cold thought pierced his brain.

The Magnometer.

He had assumed Kaine intended to put it on one of Max Mann’s shiny display cases. Lord it over Amber Shaw and the rest of the college administration.

The last thing he thought he’d do…was try to use it…here of all places.

To what end, Zack didn’t know.

He only knew one thing.

This is all my fault.

Zack looked down to see Rachel kneeling by the injured Saber. She looked up at him with piercing brown eyes.

Had she…read my mind?

“What did you do, Zack?” she said, anger cutting through her voice.

“I…I…” Zack said.

“What did you do, Zack?” she raised her voice.

Zack didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what to do.

He backed away as he saw more campus security filtering in with EMTs. Rachel’s gaze never left him.

Her words never left his mind.

What did you do, Zack?