After leaving Rachel, Zack burst into a jog and then a sprint as thoughts running through his mind gradually became worries. Was Kaine just trying to get into his head, or were Perry and Blake really dead? Zack ran faster as the possibilities of what he might find at his apartment raced every bit as fast as his heart.

He was only a block away as he rounded the corner when a jagged blast erupted to his side. Zack twisted around, trying to course-correct as an approaching figure came into sight. He gave a yelp as he lost his balance, falling on his ass. He looked up to see a familiar face encased in blonde hair.

Blake had jumped back, and while she hadn’t toppled over, she looked about as startled as a cat.

“Zack!” she said. “I almost fried you!”

“I wish you would have,” Zack said. “That would probably be the least embarrassing option. Let’s not tell anyone that I freaked out.”

“Your frail masculinity is safe with me,” Blake said with a smirk as she helped him back to his feet.

“Where’s Perry?” Zack said.

“He’s fine,” Blake said. Zack immediately breathed a sigh of relief. “Where’s Rachel?”

“Seeing Kaine ends up behind bars,” Zack said as Blake extended her hand to help him to his feet.

“So…we did it?” Blake said.

“It looks like it,” Zack said.

“Then…it’s over?” Blake asked. “No more earthquakes interrupting my day job.”

“I think you can safely go back to your quiet, peaceful library,” Zack said. Blake gave a rueful shake of her head.

“I didn’t love the danger,” Blake said. “But it was a nice change of pace from the boredom.”

Zack raised an eyebrow. “You work in a library. I thought you liked boredom.”

“I work in a library because I like books,” Blake replied. “That’s how I escape boredom.”

“Touche,” Zack replied.

“So this Kaine asshole is taken care of?” Blake said, drawing her hair behind her ear with her right hand.

“Well, he’s at least heading for jail,” Zack said. “Whether he stays there is another question. But I can’t see Max fronting a lawyer for him after all the damage he caused.”

Blake regarded him for a moment.

“You don’t sound too sure he’s gone for good,” Blake said.

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“He’s a teleporter with questionable morals and a dubious military record,” Zack replied. “I wouldn’t put anything past him at this point.”

“Lovely,” Blake said. “I guess that’s as close as we get to a clean-hey!”

Blake was suddenly distracted by a student running by her. Zack suddenly noticed several students all running in the similar experience, many with their phones out.

“Where are they going?” Blake asked. It was surprising to see any crowd this late at night.

“Wherever it is,” Zack said. “It has to be close to my apartment.”

“You might want to lower your expectations on what’s left of your apartment,” Blake said, but Zack gave her a worrying look.

“It’s fine. I left it with-” Blake’s eyes widened as she caught Zack’s worry.

“Perry,” they said in unison.

Zack and Blake both sprinted, following through the streams of students. In the distance, Zack could see his apartment, but even against the night sky, it looked different. He could already spot several broken windows - that much didn’t surprise him. Blake seemed to confirm the Alphas an attack on the premises. That’s not what bugged him.

The outside of the apartment looked strangely gray in the distance. The A-frame had been painted white, but the closer Zack came, the house appeared strangely colored in the shadows. At first, Zack thought his eyes were playing tricks on him in the night. He pushed against the crowd, with Blake right behind him.

When he stepped to the front of the crowd, Zack realized his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. The entire house was covered in a crystalline substance colored grayish blue.

“Perry!” he heard Blake cry. He followed Blake’s eyes to a solitary figure on the lawn, as still as a statue.

Zack’s heart raced when he saw the figure’s still hair and glasses, all covered in a layer of ice. Perry stood, frozen in ice, his clothes and skin now covered in a chalky white substance. His glasses were covered in a dense layer of icy snow. His expression was unreadable behind his thick glasses, now covered in ice like the rest of him.

No no no no no…

Perry couldn’t have been there long. Blake had just left him. He’d be okay. His father frequently fought Freeze Ray, whose MO was freezing unsuspecting citizens. With the right medical attention, Perry would be okay. They just needed to get him out of here/

Freeze Ray.

He was in lock-up.

But Icer wasn’t.

Zack’s mind was racing. Icer’s betrayal had come. He told himself he’d be ready.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

“I’m coming, babe!” Blake said, running towards the frozen Perry.

The earth groaned beneath Blake’s feet as she ran towards Perry. Zack followed the source of the noise. It wasn’t coming from the ground. The quakes were over, now that Kaine was behind bars, or soon would be.

The house itself popped and moaned. It wasn’t stable. Whatever Icer had done to his home, the sheer amount of ice was causing the modest A-frame to twist and curl with every step. Zack could already see the house starting to fall forward.

“Watch out!” Zack yelled, grabbing Blake’s arm before she could move further.

The house finished its descent, falling forward with accelerating speed as it crashed onto the floor. Zack looked up in horror as the entire house collapsed onto Perry in a sickening thud of ice, shudders and broken skin. In an instant, Perry’s body shattered before Zack’s very eyes.

“No!” Blake cried in tears, but it was too late.

Perry, like his house, was beyond all help now.

He was gone.

Zack thought he could tow the line, keeping his friends safe while pursuing his plans for revenge. But now Zack now saw how futile that assumption was.

And Perry had paid the price for his mistake.