He knew something was wrong the moment the first quake hit. Aside from earthquakes being pretty freaking rare in the Midwest, Icer knew well enough to put two and two together.

The Magnometer.

Apparently the kid was using the device to make earthquakes. The whole thing must have been a grudge match against the school for some reason. And Icer had helped that little bastard Zack light the match in the first place.

Look on the bright side, Rat. You’re gonna be doing time with your Dad soon enough.

All around him, the campus lay in ruins. Icer was good at sticking to the shadows, but even so, the large number of rescue crews and law enforcement officials made him feel uneasy.

It’s not my fault, officer. Sure, I stole the Magnometer, but Knightbrand told me it was for a good cause.

Good luck getting that to hold up in court. Just like what landed his father in prison in the first place.

Knightbrand’s kid was proving to be a chip off the old block - treacherous and manipulative.

Skulking about the shadows, Icer made his way back to Zack’s apartment. Once there, he’d lie in wait until the freshman entered the door.

And then they would have words, and one way or the other, Zack would pay for setting Icer up to take the fall.

Just like his father Knightbrand would pay for his own crimes.

As Icer neared the apartment, he heard the unmistakable sound of glass shattering. Skulking in the shadows, Icer crouched through the bushes as he neared the small house.

Maybe someone had beaten him to his revenge.

Pity.

Icer briefly considered leaving that very moment. After all, this was no business of his own. If Zack Kestler crossed someone, only to become crossed off by someone else, it was no skin off his back In anything, it was just one less loose end.

Still, Icer’s curiosity got the better of him as he peered into the apartment windows to see several burly men multiplying before his very eyes, and thrashing two of the apartment’s occupants.

Neither of which, Icer was disappointed to discover, were Zack Kestler.

Instead, Icer immediately recognized the blonde girl as the student worker at the library. She seemed to be holding her own, slinging lightning bolts at her attackers, even if it was a losing battle at such close quarters.

The other person looked familiar too - a small guy with glasses and a mess of brown hair. Icer had seen him before - at the library, peering out the bookshelves at Zack.

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Icer wasn’t sure how these two were wrapped up in this business with Zack. Maybe they were in on it. Maybe they were just innocent bystanders.

Either way, it sucked to be them.

Icer shrugged and began to push away. The bursting of furniture pounded into eardrums. He heard both the man and woman grunt repeatedly as the blows came. Icer continued to walk away.

This was no business of his.

Was it?

Don’t walk down my road, boy. You’ll regret it.

His father had told them before they sent him to lock-up this last time. Icer had done a pretty good job of ignoring that advice. Why stop now?

Icer came to a halt and sighed.

“Dammit,” he said as he made his way back. When he entered the doorway, he heard one of the burly clones say “Make it look like an accident.”

That squared away that, whatever he had wandered into, these guys weren’t on the up and up.

By the time Icer moved through the doorway, it had already shattered from its hinges. He began to charge up his gauntlets. He didn’t have much experience facing off with multipliers. He knew he just had to take out the original - most multipliers couldn’t sustain multiple duplicates once they lost consciousness.

The trouble was finding the original, which was about as easy as finding a needle in a sea of testosterone.

Icer moved into the house. His presence was unnoticed, but not for long. He could already see the burly attackers shivering.

“Why is it so cold in here?” one of them asked, indignantly.

“Because of me,” Icer answered as all eyes fell upon him.

The thick clone closest to him gave him a once-over. Most duplicates had the same brain power of the original, give or take a few brain cells. This one must not have had much processing power to begin with, because he stared at Icer for several seconds before formulating his response.

“Who are you supposed to be?” he asked.

“Tonight,” Icer said as he raised his right gauntlet. “I’m the freaking neighborhood watch.”

Icer clenched his fist, firing an icy blast into the clone, sending him skittering back into a nearby cupboard with a heavy crash.

The other clones reacted, struggling to reorient themselves to the sudden intruder. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much room to move in the already tiny apartment, leading the clones to practically trip over themselves trying to engage Icer.

The supervillain felt no compunction to help them, so he launched several blasts at the legs of his attackers, freezing them to the nearby furniture. He then created a long sleek plain of ice, tripping several more clones in the process.

Several clones struggled to stand up, only to fall back down. The resulting chaos gave the girl and her friend an opening to get back into the fight. The girl stood up and launched a blast of lightning, but the frenzied movement of her enemies made them difficult to hit.

The clones began to yell and scream. Icer widened his eyes, realizing the original’s strategy. He couldn’t win this fight with skill, nor could he win this fight with sheer power. The only way the multiplier could win this fight was with sheer numbers, with dozens of clones suddenly springing into existence, writhing in a mass of limbs and torsos before emerging fully formed and ready to fight.

“I really wish I didn’t just see that,” the girl said with a disgusted shiver.

“What’s the maximum occupancy of this place,” the guy with the glasses asked.

“I think we’re about to find out,” Icer retorted as fifty clones descended upon them.

What did I just step into?

Icer didn’t have an answer as hundreds of muscular fists began to pummel into him at once.