Disclaimer: I do not own TSL.

Dark Angel

Chapter 3: Afterwards

Where am I?

Zack looked around, noting that it was dark. And cold. Very cold. Wisps of white vapor swirled around him, relatively bright against the black canvas. He tried to move forward but his eyes fell on something. Himself. In front of him, the darkness looked glossy. Shiny enough to show his own reflection. Mystified, Zack slowly reached up and touched it. His fingers fell through as though it was made out of water. Zack quickly reeled it out and examined it, questions filling his mind.

Who are you?

'Who am I? I'm Zack' confused that he was asking himself such a strange question.

What are you doing here?

'Doing where?'

Get out.

The blackness slowly receded and revealed red brick walls. He was standing on a stone path almost drowned with pools of rainwater. The water reflected the sky, making it shine a black color.

'Get out to where?'

I said, get out.

'Where is there to go?'

The bricks started to warp; the stone beneath him swirled with the water and turned into black pools of – something. From the sky, it started raining – wait, no. Blood. Countless drops of blood fell from the sky and soaked Zack in red. Ignoring the coppery smell, he lifted his hand to wipe some off his face and found… a black feather. Yes, a black feather stuck between his wrist and the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing.

GET OUT!

The world started spinning and everything melted into a pitch-dark landscape yet again. No way of telling up from down or left from right. Zack noticed a gold speck on his left.

'What?' He squinted, trying to make out what it is.

The speck started to expand, enlarge until it eventually engulfed the blackness. The gold started to grow brighter and brighter until it turned white. All he could see was… white.

(One year later...)

"Zack, get up! You're already late for school!" Carey shouted as she popped two waffles into the toaster.

Fourteen-year old Zachary Martin slowly sat up, then plopped back down. Carey quietly walked into the room and grabbed her son's ear.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, I'm up!" he yelped and rubbed his sore ear.

Zack quickly got dressed and sat down at the table, reaching for a waffle.

"Oh, careful. I just took them out and they're still –"

"YOWCH!"

"- Hot." She finished, having an "I told you so" look on her face.

"Whatever." He said in a pained tone and got up, leaving the second waffle untouched. "I'll get something to eat at brunch." He said and walked out the door.

---

"Hey guys!" Zack waved at Max, tapeworm, and Bob, who were discussing something about homework.

"Hey!" Max said, waving.

'Man, her smile's nice.' Zack thought and had to look away to keep himself from blushing.

"Is something wrong?" Bob asked, noticing him looking away.

"Oh, n-no." he stuttered. "Hey, did you get yesterday's homework?" he said quickly, changing the subject.

Bob shrugged and then walked off as the bell for first period rang.

"You missed zeroth period." Said Max, walking with Zack to their classrooms.

"Uh, yeah. Slept a bit too late last night. Oh yeah, do you know the answer to number six? I'm kind of stuck on that."

"Wait a second," Max said, suddenly stopping. She turned to him, "You mean you were actually serious about homework?"

Zack nodded in affirmative and continued walking. "Yeah. I guess some of Cody's will for good grades has rubbed off on me. Might've taken a while but I finally got it." Immediately, he wished he'd kept his mouth shut.

Max's face fell, then she fixed her eyes on the floor, "So um, I guess I'll see you later then." She said and walked away, leaving Zack standing in the hallway, stunned.

"Ugh, you idiot!" he groaned and turned around to enter class, only to bump into his teacher.

"Ah, late again, Mr. Martin?" he said, eyeing him with mild disgust. He wasn't a big fan of slacking students.

"S-sorry, sir." He muttered and walked slowly to his seat.

---

"Hey Zack, how's school?" asked Carey as Zack barged though the door.

"Terrible." He muttered and tossed his backpack on a chair.

"Why, what happened?" she asked and walked over to him.

"Well first off, my girlfriend dumped me. You know, Melissa. Then I mentioned Cody in front of Max." he said and sat down on the couch.

"Well, Max was a bit emotional about the whole thing and… an…" Carey's lower lip started trembling.

"Aw mom!" Zack groaned and walked over to her.

"I'm sorry, it's just we couldn't find him." She wept.

"Yeah, but everyone pitched in to help. I mean Maddie went over the neighborhood and put up fliers and London was kind enough to let us borrow her father's blimp. Everybody over Massachusetts would've seen it by then." Zack said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

Carey dried her tears and nodded.

"A'right. It's all right." Zack repeated, "I think I'll go get some fresh air."

---

"Hey Maddie, a Snickers, please." Zack said, handing out the money.

"Wow, Zack. This is the first time you didn't try to flirt with me, or try to borrow money. Is something wrong?" she asked as she held out the candy bar. Zack quickly took it and tore off the wrapper.

"No, I've just had a rough day, I guess." He said with a tired tone and bit into the chocolate. "Maddie, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah." She looked Zack in the eye, expecting something serious.

"I, uh, I…"

Whoaauuuugh!

Zack and Maddie turned around and saw Arwin fall facedown onto the carpet, his box of junk landing beside him.

"Are you all right?" Maddie asked as she helped him up.

"Yes, mother." He said and staggered towards the couch and sat down.

"What's all this junk, Arwin?" asked Zack, picking up the box.

"Stuff I found around a dumpster. They got a really good vacuum motor in there that actually works!" he said excitedly. He took the box from Zack and hurried off into his office.

"O-kay…" Maddie said slowly, "So what is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Uh, n-nothing. It's just, um, school problems. Uh… catch you later!" he said and quickly ran off, leaving Maddie in a state of puzzlement.

Hey! All right, you know the drill, Read and Review!

Trivia: In the episode "Heck's Kitchen," the old man was saying something along the lines of "Someone help me! Someone help me!" and after Cody cuts his beard off, he says, "You darn (or damn) kids." in Cantonese.

Bonus Trivia: Cody takes on the role of an Italian chef and also speaks with an Italian accent and uses Italian phrases. In real life, Cole actually knows how to speak some Italian and also likes to bake.