The room I found myself in was surprisingly plain.

A glass desk with a laptop on top of it–a laptop that looked like it came from last century–and not too much in the way of decorations. Just a small cactus on a shelf on the wall in front of me.

“Alexander Adamos,” said a voice behind me. A voice I recognized as Madame Where.

“Professor.”

“This is one of the last times you’ll be addressed by this name. Or at least, the last time a professor calls you that.”

But not my friends. Not my family. I would still be Alex. This was just a hero name. Madame Where sat in the seat opposite to me. Her pure black eyes were focused on me. And then it retreated. Normal, brown eyes stared at me before moving to the screen of her laptop.

I shifted in my seat. A million questions raced through my head. Questions relating to her eyes, their relation with her power–if there was any at all–and much much more. But this didn’t seem like the right time. So I just sat there, surrounded by the room’s deafening silence.

Once again, unconsciously, I found myself trying to mess with my gloves. Gloves I did not have.

“Have you picked out a Hero Identity for yourself?” she asked without looking at me.

“Moros.” A deep breath. A wave of relief washed over me. “It’s-It’s Moros. ”

“An interesting name. And I take it you don’t want to change the suit you have picked out then?”

It took all of my willpower not to show any emotion. Just a small look of confusion. Why was there a suit there? Come on Jaco-Alex! Come on Alex! You couldn’t get lost. You always knew who you were.

“Can I see it? Just, you know, as a refresher?”

A quiet beeping came out of nowhere. I shook my head. Still there. From the way Madam Where tilted her head in confusion, she couldn’t hear it. No. Not again. Not my head. I couldn’t do this. Not now.

She didn’t say anything as she turned the laptop to me. And what I saw was exactly what I expected. A blue bodysuit with red gauntlets and a red cape.

The ringing seemed to get stronger.

“It is a little old fashioned, but it has its charms,” she said with a shrug. “But you’ll need a mask. Unless you can somehow cover your identity with your power.” On cue, her eyes were covered by the inky darkness again.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Maybe a black domino mask? Said a voice in my head. Deep in it. A voice I couldn’t help but recognise.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Maybe a black domino mask?” I said before I realised it.

“A good choice. Some scoff at it, but it does have its merit. A surprising amount of it.”

I nodded. The beeping got louder. And louder. My hands itched. And I didn’t want anything else in the world but to leave. But she just continued talking and talking. I continued responding. As if on autopilot.

Madness. Complete madness.

Quiet. Quiet.

Doing such nonsense when the world teeters on the edges of villainy. A hero does whatever he must to help people. How could you forget my greatest lesson?

Alpha Surge. Alpha Surge stood behind Madame Where. The ringing got even louder. An endless sound. A single beep that dragged out. I smiled when she did. Even as I felt my heart literally skip a couple of beats.

Finally, she got up. And I did too. The time was up. Was it just a few minutes or was it a few hours? Whatever it was, it felt like an eternity. She reached behind the desk. The red gauntlet gloves.

She handed them to me. A preview. And something to hold me until they get my normal padded gloves ready.

Mystic wasn’t going to teleport us yet apparently. I had to wait outside though. She had work to do. I gladly left, and the beeping followed me. It was more like ringing now. Like a heart monitor that had flatlined.

On instinct I picked up my phone and called the first number I saw.

“Kæreste?” A hushed voice. Birgit’s hushed voice. “What do you want?”

“My name.” I couldn’t breathe. Breaths. I had to focus on them. Make myself breathe. “Just call me by my name.”

“Moros,” he said. Alpha Surge. Except his eyes were wrong. They were still blue, but they had no thunder in them. No electricity.

“Alex? What’s wrong?”

“Go on, then,” he said with a smile. “Tell her you’re going mad again. Show her that your life is an unending series of events that leads to nothing more than misery and pain. That you’re no better than the scum you came from.”

“Everything’s fine.” This wasn’t Alpha Surge. But I knew who it was. And I wasn’t losing my mind. “I’m sorry for interrupting.”

“Alex-”

“I’ll explain later.” With that, I closed off my phone.

“Oh?”

“Alpha Surge believed that a hero must help people. That they must do whatever they can to do so. Doing whatever you ‘must’? The world falling into ‘chaos’? Sounds an awful lot like someone else.”

He smirked. He raised his hand as if to beckon me. And I wasn’t looking at Alpha Surge anymore. The powerful, kind man was replaced by the shrivelled, old form of Paragon.

“How are you here? The dean-”

“The dean closed off your mind. The first thing I did when I got out of prison was get to you. Use the powers of my followers to get in here and kill you. The student closed off your mind. It pains me to say, but I hid when he did that. In the deepest, darkest recesses of your mind.”

“I’ve stopped you two times already. I’ll do so again.”

“Stop me? The Houses of Doom are rising again and you think me to be your greatest threat? I am your greatest hero. It is a meaningless label, but it is the truth. I am the only thing that could bring this world to order. Save it from itself.”

“You’re no hero. You’re a brute. Alpha Surge was ten times the man you were. He was a hero. Something you could never hope to be.”

“The pretender was strong. I’ll give you that.” His eyes twitched. I had gotten to him. Even if he tried to hide it. “But he is no more. If you want to stop the Houses of Doom, you’ll need the same thing the heroes did thirty years ago. You’ll need a god. You’ll need me.”