Perry Adams followed his girlfriend Blake through the wrecked Innshadow campus. By then, a calm had fallen over the area. Rescue crews had largely completed their operations, scouring the black stone rubble for any signs of survivors. Still, much of the college lay in ruin. Entire classrooms were now deemed inaccessible, and there was already talk of delaying or even canceling entire classes indefinitely.

The acrid smell of smoke still stung his nostrils as Perry passed the rubble of a nearby building.

The couple continued to move through the ruins towards the Alpha house. Curiously, the entire Alpha Row region of the campus lay entirely untouched by the disaster. Perry wondered if Kaine had done this intentionally to use the Alpha Row as a staging ground for future operations, or if whatever lay beneath Alpha Row was simply beyond Kaine’s interest.

Either way, it made no difference as Perry and Blake arrived just outside the steps of the old Sigma Alpha HQ. Blake turned to her, her blonde hair blowing lightly in the wind.

“Are they watching?” Blake asked.

Perry looked to see several frat members giving them the side-eye. None of them were particularly interested, but they were certainly aware of their presence to say the least.

“Watching may be an overstatement,” Perry said. He didn’t see any of the frat members which had attacked Blake or him from earlier. Most of the frat boys loitering in the windows and steps looked to be the rank-and-file Alpha, who likely knew nothing of their leader’s role in Innshadow’s present state.

“Let’s give them something to watch then,” Blake said with a wink. Perry looked confused.

“I don’t follow,” he said.

“Do you trust me?” Blake asked.

“Well, of course I do-”

Suddenly, Perry felt a stinging pain spread across his cheek as Blake slapped him. The blow was accompanied by a small tingle. Blake still lacked the control of her electrical abilities, but even still, one thing was clear.

She’s holding back.

“Who is she?” Blake demanded.

“Who’s who?” Perry said, rattled and confused as his mind struggled to rapidly connect the disparate data points.

“You think I can’t smell her perfume on your clothes right now?” Blake raised her voice even more. “You think I don’t know what a hickey looks like?”

Perry’s hand instinctively went to his neck, though he was confused as to what his girlfriend was talking about. He wasn’t seeing anybody else other than Blake. Hell, he hadn’t seen anybody else period. Blake was his first serious relationship.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” Blake said, stomping her feet, her eyes flashing.

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Perry said. “There is no one else.”

“Don’t lie to me!” Blake cried. Her pupils disappeared behind a pale blue sheath as lightning shot from her fingers in all directions.

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What’s happening? How do I calm her down?

“Blake…calm down…” he said.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Blake moved forward, towards him, her blonde hair starting to rise in the air.

Apparently that was not the way to calm her down.

She continued. “I want answers! How long have you been seeing her?”

Perry’s mind raced for answers, but he took particular notice of Blake’s hair, which raised in the air like a blonde tornado. Perry had seen his girlfriend angry plenty of times. Her touch blew up phones and torched computer screens. But her carefully-styled hair always remained the same. She had been experimenting with her static abilities, to some degree of success, though. Which meant she was concentrating in order to pull off this look deliberately.

This was the distraction. A fake fight right outside the entrance of the Alpha House.

Perry glanced to the side to see it was in fact working. The once-bored frat boys loitering on the steps of Alpha House now watched with rapt attention, eagerly chattering among themselves. Some of them emerged with the house carrying actual bowls of popcorn. Blake had succeeded in giving them a show. Perry just wished she had gone over the plan with him ahead of time, but he shook his head and tried not to smile. Blake always had a flair for the dramatic, and besides, his look of sheer terror after she slapped him probably sold the bit more than anything.

Now it was his turn…

“Okay, you caught me. We’ve been seeing each other for months!” Perry said. He heard the frat boys start to clap the moment he started to speak up. It was clear whose side they were on.

“Months!” Blake cried, her eyes suddenly widening. “Who is she?”

Perry didn’t know who this mystery woman was, to be fair. When he thought of the perfect woman for him, Blake checked every box. He looked over to see two familiar shapes moving through the shadows as Zack and Rachel took advantage of the scene to move up the nearby fire escape and enter the Alpha House.

“Rachel!” Perry turned back to Blake.

“Rachel!” Blake cried. “You’ve been screwing my roommate behind my back!”

Perry did his best to give a noncommittal shrug, though secretly he hoped he was reading this situation right. Otherwise, his girlfriend would have every right to fry him on the spot.

“What can I say?” Perry said with a grin. “She meets my needs without me having to ask. Perks of dating a psychic I guess.”

Blake’s hand flew out for another slap, but this time, she telegraphed it well in advance, giving Perry plenty of time to dodge it. She used the motion to briefly cover her mouth so the audience couldn’t see her talking.

“Don’t play this up too much, Per-Bear,” she said. “Or we’re really going to have some words later.”

Perry did his best not to nod.

“We’re over!” Blake said. “My mother was right about you, you pathetic worm!”

“I was right all along. Dating a blonde was easy,” Perry said. “Not much going on up there, right? I’m surprised it took you this long to notice.”

“You bastard!” Blake cried, and this time she launched another strike. This one, however, was accompanied by a litany of lightning blasts that fell in every direction - including towards the Alpha House. Perry easily dodged the slap, but he turned to see the lightning flow towards the property behind them.

Perry watched as one blast shattered a nearby lamp post, while the lights within the Alpha House flicked off and on - before staying off. If Blake was lucky, she might have just knocked out the power. In a building that old, it wouldn’t be that hard. That’s probably why the Alphas preferred the old library - the electric wiring was more spread out and less impacted by outages. But that was a luxury the Alpha House didn’t have, shrouding in darkness.

Hopefully it would make Zack and Rachel’s job a lot easier. Regardless, it was up to them now.

He turned back to Blake only to see her already storming down the pathway amid a sea of cat-calls from the Alpha House. She glared at them with her hollow, blue eyes and every frat boy went silent. Perry chuckled to himself and started walking the other direction.

They’d meet back at Zack’s apartment, hopefully not without any lasting damage to their relationship.

Perry gave one last look to the Alpha House, and silently wished Zack and Rachel luck before heading back.