8. Brother Trouble (Patreon)

Rainer Drift screamed. A pearlescent rainbow barrier materialized between her and the boy, blocking his advance. She backed away, terrified, her perfectly coiffed chestnut curls and glittering diamond jumpsuit swaying with her fear, bright red lipstick making her shaking jaw all the more obvious. The boy slammed into the barrier, then bounced back. Frustrated, he jumped up and tried again, but the barrier persistently blocked him off.

Behind him, the blue goo dissipated. The bodyguards rushed him.

Fira stepped forward. Fire flickered in her hair and around her hands.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. There’s crazy, and then there’s stupid. Are you seriously thinking about flying up there? What if Alpha’s in the crowd? What if Jet Engine, who’s right over there, lifts his stupid ass off again and flies over to stop you?” Levi hissed, grabbing her shoulder.

She shook herself free. “He’s right there.”

“Or he could be a shapeshifter. Or a clone! Or an illusion. Thousands of skills could be in play right now. You’re just going to take the obvious bait and jump at him?” Levi asked.

“Bait? That’s my brother!”

“And he’s excellent bait. Look at how worked up you are,” Levi urged, pointing at her face.

She slapped his hand down. “I don’t care. I’m not going to hesitate. If this is the one chance to save my little brother, I’ll regret it forever if I don’t move now.”

“You won’t have forever to regret it if you do,” Levi snapped, latching on to her arm this time.

On stage, the pearlescent barrier shattered. Edwin continued his charge. Ignoring Rainer Drift, he grabbed the microphone. “Listen! This isn’t a joke. This whole city is—”

“Let go!” Fira shook Levi’s hand off again. Fire lit up around her feet.

Power thrummed through the stadium. All the lights shattered. Electricity crackled, the wires snapping and cracking under the force of the unseen strength. The crowd instantly went silent.

Edwin continued to shout something, but with the mic dead, the buzz of power on the air drowned him out. He looked up, and his eyes went wide.

Levi tackled Fira to the floor. She struggled, but he grabbed her hair and put a knife to her throat. In her ear, he hissed, “Don’t you fucking dare. Move a muscle, make a sound, and I will end your life right here.”

Fira stilled, but her eyes burned.

A perfect figure descended from the stands. Lit by a light that descended from seemingly nowhere, the only beam of light in the dark stands, Alpha hovered over the stadium. Dark eyes swept over the crowd, then landed on the boy before him.

“You. What is that power of yours?”

Without a mic, without an amplifier of any kind, Alpha’s voice resounded through the stadium, ringing out as clear and crisp as though he stood beside them. A medium tenor, he spoke with a neutral tone, barely an iota over bored. And yet, despite saying nothing in particular, speaking in a neutral tone, his voice still commanded power, still demanded worship. In the crowd, a few of the watchers directly fell to their knees, unable to resist the ambient power.

Levi suppressed a shudder.

Standing before Alpha, Edwin swallowed. He backed away, then vanished in a burst of blue light.

Under Levi, Fira stiffened. “That’s not… he shouldn’t be able to…”

Alpha looked at the guards. He flicked his fingers. White light lit up over their bodies. They looked at their hands, then up at him.

“I have bestowed you with an iota of my power. Capture that boy. Do not fail.” Alpha’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The men saluted clumsily and charged off, chasing back into backstage.

Alpha flew forward at an upright position, gliding down to alight before Rainer Drift. She flinched back, awestruck. Gently, he offered her his hand. “Are you hurt?”

Rainer Drift stared at him. She caught her breath. As if she might hurt him, as if he were made of paper, she oh-so-carefully slid her hand into his and whispered something breathlessly. Eyes full of stars, she stared up at him.

“Blech,” Levi muttered under his breath.

Fira struggled again, harder this time.

He looked down at her and tightened the knife. “Don’t move. I’m on team no unaliving ourselves, okay? We’re gonna stay alive tonight, whether you like it or not.”

Alpha leaned down, whispering something in Rainer Drift’s ear. Rainer Drift listened closely, her face crumpled from effort, then lit up. She nodded eagerly.

“Whether I like it or not,” Levi added, mostly to himself. He made a retching face.

Alpha clapped. A wave of power burst off of him once more, but much different from the wave he had emanated the first time. Where that one was repressive, heavy, this one was light, gentle. As it passed, glass lifted off the ground and returned, reassembling the lightbulbs. The wires shook, the copper flowing back into its place, the rubber coating repairing itself. The stage trembled, and all the slightly-askew decorations straightened themselves, even the ones that hadn’t been broken by Edwin’s charge.

Turning to the crowd, Alpha saluted. “The show must go on. Rainer says she’s fine to carry on, so let it be so. I’ll see to it that no more interruptions bother us tonight.”

He lifted his hand and snapped his fingers.

Levi jolted. He jumped up, sheathing the knife in a subtle gesture. “Go, go. We have to go. Right now.”

A cheer rose up from the crowd. Alpha waved, soaking it all in. He strode to the edge of the stage and stepped off, soaring elegantly up into the VIP box once more.

“Why?” Fira asked, shaken. She glanced at the stadium, then shook her head, eyeing the VIP box.

“Because Alpha’s real dogs are about to show up. Not the F-listers who have been chasing you around town, Jet Engine, DragonFly, and what, Ice Queen? Plus your two loser goons. No.” Levi paused for effect, as a light like the rising sun lit the night sky. “These are the A-listers.”