Red Light Hero

by Kory Shen

  She zipped from side to side in an instant. "Speed is normal. If anything, it's higher than usual. Strength is fine, too." She stretched and flexed. "See."

  She zoomed over to where Alan stood and flicked him in the chest with her finger.

  "Shi—" Alan began. He looked down at his chest. He hadn't budged at all.

  HumiliT glanced at her finger. She flicked him again. Nothing happened. She curled her hand into a fist and reared her arm backwards for a punch.

  "Whoa!" Alan held up his hands. "Wait!"

  HumiliT punched. Alan threw himself to the side to dodge, and his body blurred into a new position to the side. He wasn't ready for the sudden burst and stop of momentum, so he rolled over to the side. Something had happened.

  "What's going on?" HumiliT asked. "Were you hiding more alpha powers from me?" She picked him up and threw him against the far wall.

  This time, Alan couldn't protect himself. His body smashed into the wall, but he felt no pain, only a dull thud against his back. He turned. A fresh large crack marred the concrete wall.

  "Uh, I don't know, either. This is new to me, I swear."

  HumiliT ran up to Alan and pummeled him with her fists. Her hands blurred, turning into a speed boxer's cyclone of punches, but with each strike hitting with incredible force.

  Blows rained down on Alan's chest, then his face, and finally his stomach. HumiliT socked him between his legs. That last one had hurt. A little.

  "Ow," he muttered, readjusting his underwear.

  "You sure you didn't have super strength or invulnerability before?" HumiliT asked.

  "No! You saw your beta circle beating me up yourself." Alan already had a guess at what had happened, but he was afraid to voice it. How would HumiliT respond?

  HumiliT seemed to reach the same conclusion. Her brows furrowed. "You stole my powers."

  "Yeah, I—what? Steal? No, this was your idea. You must have infected me with your alphavirus."

  "That's impossible. I'm not your prime or beta."

  "I don't understand it, either, but there's no other explanation." Alan tried waving his hand slowly, then as quickly as it could. It blurred in front of his face. "This is cool."

  "Stop that," HumiliT slapped his vibrating hand away. "But what about me? My viral load definitely increased. I feel recharged, like right after a session with my beta circle."

  Alan imagined what that would be like, then stopped himself in disgust. Too many sausages.

  "I don't know. So my virus didn't hurt you at all?"

  HumiliT shook her head. "I have to try some other tests, but if I had to guess, I would say you recharged my alpha powers." She muttered to herself. "Is that what Cover Girl meant?"

  Alan's head jerked up at the mention of Cover Girl. "Where is she? Can I see her?"

  HumiliT nodded. "I suppose that's fair. I've had my share of fun for today. God, what am I going to tell Sire."

  She dashed away, then reappeared in a blur holding a phone. "I'll call her." She tapped the phone and held it to her her ear for a minute before putting it down.

  HumiliT frowned. "No answer. That's strange. I know she was waiting for our call."

  "I've seen enough," a voice said. The next moment, Maiden, dressed in silver, appeared in the middle of the room.

  "Maiden!" HumiliT screamed. "What are you doing here?"

  "Seeing for myself what that ungrateful slut has done." Maiden pointed her nose at Alan. "I can't believe she would betray me for him."

  She threw a string of white orbs at Alan, but HumiliT dashed in front of him, absorbing the attacks on her crossed forearms. The four members of HumiliT's beta circle showed up at that moment, summoned by some silent signal. They surrounded Maiden.

  "Leave, Maiden," HumiliT said. "You don't belong here."

  Maiden glowered at the men around her. "I can't stand the stink of these pigs anyway. I'll be sure to tell Sire what happened here." She vanished.

  The beta circle shifted into relaxed poses, but HumiliT held up her hand. "Not yet."

  "I'll check," Whip said. In a flash, he raced back and forth across the room, searching the entire space. "Clear." He frowned at Alan. "What's happening to him?"

  "That's for me to know. Go," HumiliT ordered.

  Alan noticed that the others all gave him angry glances before leaving the room. Did they know she had slept with him? Alan shook his head. What exactly was the relationship between primes and betas? HumiliT didn't seem happy with Sire, and her own beta circle didn't exactly look like a content group. What about Cover Girl?

  "Is Cover Girl okay?" Alan asked. "What's Maiden going to do?"

  "That's not the priority," HumiliT said. "I need to decide what to do with you first."

  "Me? You said I could go free if I survive."

  "I never agreed," HumiliT said.

  Alan threw his hands up in exasperation. "Are you kidding? You lost. I won. You know, I don't think you can stop me anymore." Alan raced towards the door at super speed, but HumiliT tripped him. He went crashing into the wall. Large chunks of concrete broke away at the site of his impact.

  "You've had my powers for five minutes," HumiliT said. "I've been training for over a year." She reached him and curled both of her arms under his armpits, lacing her fingers around his neck. "You're not going anywhere unless I say so."

  "Okay, okay. I won't run. I promise. Unlike some heroes, I don't break my word so easily."

  HumiliT threw him against the other wall. "I never agreed to your deal. I…I need to check something." She shifted several inches to one side, then the other faster and faster. She turned into a shimmering blur of gold.

  HumiliT spoke in a distorted voice. "Based on my last reinfection cycle, I should have two minutes of super speed left."

  "You want to see if I reinfected you?" Alan said.

  "Wait."

  A good five minutes passed before HumiliT stopped shimmering. She raced to one side of the room, then back to her original position. "I don't believe it. My speed viral load should have burned out a long time ago."

  The implication was clear. Alan could serve as HumiliT's beta, or prime, depending on how you looked at it.

  "Once Sire finds out, he'll never let you have me," Alan said.

  "So?" HumiliT said. "I don't need you. I already have a beta circle."

  "What if you leave Sire? What happens to your beta circle?"

  HumiliT's hesitation to reply was the opening Alan needed.

  "See. This isn't about your beta circle," Alan said. "It's about your prime. With Sire as your prime, you'll never be free. That's what you told me yourself."

  HumiliT still didn't say anything.

  "You don't know me that well, but I can't be worse than Sire." Alan hadn't met Sire, but judging from the way the alphas behaved, he had a good guess of what the man must be like. "If I'm your prime, you're free to do what you want. Except turn into a villain."

  "You? My prime?" HumiliT snorted. "Let's get this clear. If I go with you, you're my beta."

  Alan held back a sigh. At least this was progress. "Sure. I'm your beta. But that doesn't mean I follow your orders. I mean, you want your freedom, too, right? Fair's fair."

  "Where can we go, though? No alpha's ever abandoned her prime, or Sire. You've seen how Maiden reacted. Imagine Sire in the same position." HumiliT's face grew pale. "No, I won't let him scare me," she whispered.

  "What about your beta circle? How will the rest react?"

  "They'll try to follow me." HumiliT closed her eyes. "I can't let them. They'll kill you."

  "Why? I never did anything to them. Can't we figure things out?"

  HumiliT shook her head. "No prime keeps two betas with the same power. Sire established this rule, and it's a good rule." A tear trickled down one of her eyes, but she didn't move to wipe it. "They'll hate me for this. You know what it means for an alpha to lose his power?"

  "It's like the bad end of an addiction?"

  "Worse. Most alphas will do anything
to keep their powers. Kill. Steal. Anything. Two betas with the same power can't coexist. They're a constant threat to each other. One will die. Even if they could somehow get along, two betas sharing the same strain leads to other genetic complications."

  Alan stared in shock. Each time, when he thought it couldn't get worse, he unearthed another horror about the alphas. How had they tricked the public into thinking they were heroes? They were closer to savages. Animals.

  Not all of them. Violet had given up her powers for him. They weren't all animals yet. What about him? Alan shivered.

  "You're willing to do that? Cut them off?" He hadn't realized what he was asking from HumiliT. Was he as bad as them already?

  HumiliT's hard eyes were dry now. "It's how you win. Cut your losses and move forward. This isn't the first time I've had to carry out a retrenchment." She nodded. "I've made up my mind. You have a deal."

  HumiliT stretched her hand out to Alan. "There's only one place to go, right?" she asked.

  Alan had hoped that HumiliT wouldn't reach the same conclusion as him. It would mean he had failed. Everything he had done in The Strip, all the shit he had gone through, all the suffering — it had all been for nothing.

  He took HumiliT's hand in his own, giving it a firm shake. HumiliT smiled as she squeezed his hand with inhuman strength. Alan matched her.

  No, he was wrong. It hadn't been for nothing.

  "Back to Godmother," he said.

  CHAPTER 25

  HumiliT packed the last supply and closed the car's trunk. It would be a thirty-minute drive to the private airport, and then a one-hour flight back to The Strip from their rural hiding location. She never did find out how Maiden had tracked them. She glanced at the dark-haired man sitting in the car's passenger seat. He was her ticket out of her hellhole of an alpha's life.

  Despite Sire's recent offer, she had no doubts that her life still hung in balance every day. He was waiting for her to show a weakness, waiting for an excuse to cull her like he had her predecessor. He did it to all of them.

  What would happen to Tricia Triumph? Would Sire and the others retaliate? She had told Alan that no alpha had broken ranks with Sire before. Well, she would be the first. As usual.

  HumiliT shook her head. No, they wouldn't retaliate openly. She knew too much. She could expose them to the public. What about a secret assassination? They could try. She had little reason to fear anything but a direct attack from Sire himself. Or Godmother.

  She hadn't seen Godmother fighting the other day, but she had overheard the chatter among her betas. Was Godmother really that dangerous? The second-hand reports didn't impress her. So what if Godmother had fended off Electrophile and Maiden along with their beta circles? Minus Cover Girl, of course. HumiliT felt a twinge of guilt. Another necessary sacrifice.

  HumiliT walked to the driver seat's door. Alan looked over at her through the window. She put her hand on the door handle, then took it away. She was being weak. She knew it, but she had to see them one more time.

  Her beta circle was lounging in the common room of the house that had served as a temporary hiding spot. As she entered the room, the four men looked up.

  "What's up?" Whip asked. A frown crossed his features in a microsecond, but HumiliT's quick vision picked up the sign. Damn. He had been her first beta. He had always been so eager to please her. He knew that something was going on.

  HumiliT met the bright blue eyes that mirrored her own. "Nothing. I'm taking Alan on my own. The rest of you, go back to the Institute on your own. I'll meet you later once this business is done."

  The others shrugged.

  "You sure you don't need any company?" Whip asked. "Hasn't it been a while since your last cycle? Some of us are getting low."

  Pain murmured. "Me too."

  "We'll take care of it afterwards. This is more important right now."

  There it was again. The frown flashed across Whip's face, too fast for anyone else to notice.

  "We'll be waiting for you," Whip said. "We've been talking about a new four-way combo. We can debut it at our next infection cycle." He stared intently at her even as he grinned. Shit. He would take it the hardest, wouldn't he?

  HumiliT broke into a big smile. "Great, I'll be looking forward to it." Her heart was thumping. She had hesitated for a fraction of a second. Whip was the one who had taught her to dissect facial expression in slow motion. He would know she was faking it.

  HumiliT turned away to leave. Once the others couldn't see her anymore, her smile vanished. Whip knew exactly what he had been doing. His microsecond frowns hadn't been a mistake or loss of composure. They were a message. Her hands curled into fists as she walked back to the car. Who did he think he was? She would have beaten the insolent brat but…no, he was too quick for his own good. If he had guessed what might happen, she couldn't blame him.

  HumiliT got into the car, leaving her beta circle behind. She didn't look back.

  * * *

  Alan stared out the plane's small window as the aircraft taxied toward a hangar. He remembered his first arrival at The Strip. It was almost the same, except the woman beside him had changed. HumiliT. Things were…different with HumiliT. They hadn't spent the flight fucking, like he had with Cover Girl. HumiliT had kept to herself in the cockpit with the door closed. Later, he could have sworn her eyes had a hint of puffiness, but he didn't dare accuse the fierce woman of crying.

  The plane came to a stop, and HumiliT opened the side hatch. She leaped to the ground, landing in front of Godmother, who was waiting below. Violet was standing to the side. Alan waved as he left the plane and used the steps to descend.

  HumiliT wore her uniform and mask. "Godmother. Who's this?" She pointed at Violet.

  "That's Violet," Alan said from behind her.

  "Is she like a groupie or something?" HumiliT asked.

  Godmother opened her mouth to speak, but Violet stepped forward instead.

  "I'm the world's leading researcher on the alphavirus, a friend of Alan's, and his first beta, Toybox." A glowing suit of purple armor appeared around Violet's body in an instant. She turned to address Alan. "So you've taken a second beta?"

  "I'm not a beta," HumiliT said. "I'm his prime. Right, Alan?"

  "Well—" Alan began.

  "Looks like a beta. Quacks like a beta. Definitely a beta." Violet glared at HumiliT.

  "Sorry, Alan. I'm going to have to put your beta in her place."

  HumiliT readied her hand for a punch. Violet followed suit. Alan ran in between them.

  "Hey, hey." Alan pushed their fists away. "We're all on the same side." He glanced at Godmother, who had been watching them with a smile. "I think."

  "Indeed. The side of justice. Of heroism and righteousness," Godmother said.

  "Aren't you a crime boss?" Alan asked.

  Godmother shrugged. "Who decides the labels? Criminal? Hero? Tell me, are you a hero?" She gestured at HumiliT.

  HumiliT scowled. "I will be."

  Godmother chuckled. "I like her. She's honest. But enough preening. We'll discuss further once we're inside. I'm afraid we don't have much time."

  "Time for what?" Alan asked. Violet's armor flickered away as she headed towards a group of black cars. Yeah, exactly like his first time.

  "Time to prepare for Sire. We'll talk below." She pointed to the cars. "Hurry. And welcome to The Strip. Again."

  * * *

  The group reconvened in Godmother's office. None of her guards from last time were still there. Was Scottie around? Only Violet was present, along with him and HumiliT.

  "The first order of business is to decide why you're here, Alan." Godmother gestured at Alan from behind her desk.

  "Why? To get the hell away from Sire and those psychos. The same for her." Alan pointed at HumiliT.

  Godmother nodded. "You seek protection. What is your payment?"

  "Payment? What?" Alan looked around at the others. "I thought you wanted me here, away from Sire."

  "I want more
than that," Godmother said. "See, your arrival presents many problems. I expect an equal payment. You sitting in your room and pouting all day won't do me any good. Neither will you working as a menial laborer."

  She had to rub it in, didn't she. "Right, so I'm here. What do you propose?"

  "You'll give Violet full access to yourself for her work. Oh, and for anything else she wants."

  Alan glanced at Violet. She was staring at her feet with a blush tinging her cheeks.

  "That's it?" Alan asked.

  "No. I need you to agree that you'll work with me, and not against me, once Sire comes after you."

  "Sire's coming here?" HumiliT asked, her voice strained.

  "He will if we don't take matters into our own hands, but we'll get to Sire and to you later. First, we deal with Alan. It's time you understood what you really are." Godmother leaned back in her seat and sighed. "I know it's what they all say, but in this case it's true. I've been waiting for this for years. There's no reason to keep it secret anymore. Sire's connected the dots by now."

  "What do you mean? I'm an alpha, right?" Alan asked.

  Godmother turned her head to the side. "Violet? Do you want to explain it?"

  Violet nodded. "We'll have to perform more tests to be sure, but from what you told me about HumiliT, there's only one explanation. You're the omega."

  "Omega?" both HumiliT and Alan asked in unison.

  "It's a theoretical concept. Imagine the current alpha structure. It's a pyramid. Sire's at the top, as the alpha zero. All powers descend from him. He infects alpha ones, they infect alpha twos, and, sometimes, they infect alpha threes." Violet paused for them.

  "Right, that part's simple," Alan said.

  "This pyramid has two implications. First, the pyramid defines relationships. Only direct primes and betas have compatible alphavirus strains. That means even Sire isn't compatible with alpha twos, and alpha ones aren't compatible with their alpha three descendants. That's why the current structure of beta circles exists."

  "The relationship structure is key, isn't it?" Alan glanced at HumiliT. "It's why beta circles don't grow in size, either, right? HumiliT explained it to me."