Chapter Text
Flug Slys knows he’s the unluckiest person to ever set foot on Earth.
Everything he’d ever done had a small percentage of success and a high percentage of failure. Simple, basic, essential, involuntary and primal human functions such as breathing could also be extremely dangerous; he could easily choke on his own saliva and die. He didn’t want to leave this way — it was one of the most pathetic ways someone could possibly pass away. Every machine, weapon, gas or fluid he created had to be carefully handled, especially since Flug didn’t want melted off fingers, some random cancer or disease, or a bullet hole in his head. This task proved itself to be harder every day with the existence of Demencia, who insisted on trying to scare him when he was handling dangerous and delicate objects. Because of her, he was seriously considering putting some locks on his door — twelve, at least, but he could settle with fifty without a problem.
And then there was his boss, Black Hat.
Black Hat was a curious case. He didn’t seem to have any genuine positive emotions. He was composed of sadism, sarcasm, negativity, and anger. Perhaps it was normal for a… demon? Truth be told, no one knew what Black Hat was, so they simply settled on calling him a demon. His boss never protested. Perhaps he liked the title, and Flug could understand why. Demons were fierce and devilish creatures, feared by many, and, if there was one thing Black Hat liked, it was being feared. He was perhaps one of the most feared villains out there, if not the most feared one. Black Hat liked to think he was superior to all of the other villains. This also applied to superheroes. There was also another simple thing: the demon could easily be the most feared alpha. That scared Flug a lot, and for a good reason.
Their society was divided in three categories that composed their hierarchical system, and those categories were based on something called a “secondary gender”. The first ranking was composed of alphas. They were the highest on the hierarchy and the majority world-wide. Alphas were generally aggressive and impulsive, and they act on their instincts more often than not. Most of the world leaders, influential people and rich people were alphas, and quite prominent ones. One of the easiest ways to identify an alpha, besides their (painfully reckless) behavior, is by their scent. Alphas have a strong spicy scent — some aren’t as strong as others, but they are still strong enough to be noticed from miles away. When they were ready to mate, the alphas had ruts; these ruts had intervals of six months between each other.
The second ranking was composed of betas. Betas were, in a nutshell, normal people. Their secondary gender is basically nonexistent, but, for equality reasons, they were also given a name, especially since they also need a clarification other than ‘neither alpha nor omega’. Betas did not have a scent or a specific pattern of behaviors. They did not have ruts or heats like alphas and omegas either. Finding out you’re a beta is quite… disappointing, some dare say. But, at least, they weren’t the lowest ones in the rank…
… The omegas were.
Saying you were an omega was like saying you were a Kirin or a unicorn. It’s a highly unlikely chance. Despite being in the last ranking, and the lowest one, omegas were vastly treasured. In a world of seven billion people, only around a few thousand were expected to be omegas, and ninety-percent of them were expected to be females. It was more likely for a person to win the lottery thirteen times than to have a male omega child, and it was more likely for the child to win the lottery twenty times than become a legal adult without having their identity discovered and their liberty and human rights stripped away from them without a say in the matter. Male omegas were promised to kings, emperors, presidents, rich alphas in power, etc. Their fate was sealed the moment their secondary gender was revealed. And that’s how his problems started.
Flug Slys was an unmated, untouched male omega.
The day he found that out was the worst day of his entire life thus far. For some unknown reason, he was born without a uterus, which gave the doctors the impression that he was going to be an alpha, due to the presence of scent glands. His father, a rich alpha businessman who wanted a strong male heir to receive his company after his death, was pleased. Of course, the situation was not perfect for him, since he and his wife both had dark skin and their child had the fairest skin he’d ever seen in his life. Flug had inherited his grandmother’s albinism, a chance of 1 in 50 of happening. The man still resented the child for it, because it looked like he wasn’t really his son, but “at least he was an alpha”, according to him.
Flug spent eight years of his life training to become the next boss of his father’s company, and to inherit it once the man died. He presented at that same age, and the whole world just came crashing for him. His father’s resentment grew, and the ongoing abuse got stronger and stronger, until he put an end to it by running away and never looking back. The years after were all a blur of crashing on his friends’ couches and moving constantly, travelling between cities. He did remember one thing: buying scent blockers. They blocked his scent and prevented him from being abused on the streets or claimed by a random stranger. He should be thankful his lack of uterus meant a lack of heats as well.
Saying you were an unmated male omega out loud on the streets during a busy day would warrant you a load of problems, which is why Flug never told anyone he knew about it, not even his closest friends — the only people who knew were his father, an old family friend, and his four older sisters, who were there the day he presented. Every day, ever since he became fourteen and left his house for good, he expected a car to stop him, kidnap him and take him to some czar in Russia, where he would be forced into marriage. His fears were somewhat gone after he started working for Black Hat. His strong alpha scent was discernible and stood out from the other alphas, and it was clear this was his intention. He was the alpha, the one they all should fear, because he was superior, and so was his scent. Saying Dr. Flug felt distraught by his boss’ scent was an understatement.
He was offered the job at sixteen years of age, almost seventeen, and kept working for Black Hat for two years. This year he would become nineteen, on November 23rd, to be precise. To his surprise, he’d managed to keep his secondary gender a secret, lying to everyone and saying he was a beta. They all accepted it. After all, Dr. Flug didn’t have a scent (thanks to the scent blockers) and he seemed fairly normal, not having heats or ruts to interrupt his work. Every month he would order thirty-one or thirty scent blockers (depending on the month, as each lasted a day) on the internet and get them before anyone peeked inside, and he would keep them safe in a hidden safe in his lab. When questioned about the package and what was inside, he would say it was extra material for a project (there was no project, but it was better than telling the truth).
He’s learned a lot about his ‘colleague’ of sorts, Demencia. She was a beta ‘like him’, and she was deeply in love with Black Hat. When she wasn’t bothering him while he worked, she would carry on about his scent, his ‘charming’ personality, his appearance, etc. It drove Dr. Flug mad. Black Hat intimidated him for a thousand reasons: he was something demon-like, he could do anything, he wasn’t afraid of consequences, he could kill him in a second without leaving evidences, and he was an alpha. Alphas scared him. There was something called an ‘alpha command’, which could be resumed in ten simple words: “if an alpha says ‘I command you’, you must obey”. It wasn’t an option, and it only worked on omegas. Every day, when Black Hat entered his lab to check on him, Flug imagined him saying ‘I command you’ and, when Flug would be forced into submission, he would find out.
Thankfully, everything was good…
… Until today.
When Dr. Flug stepped outside to pick his box of scent blockers, which were said to be delivered that day, he couldn’t find anything. Nervous about the whole ordeal already, he called the mail department, which informed him that the mail had, in fact, been delivered and should’ve been there already. He could hear them ask something, but he’d already finished the call before the question could be completed. Flug paced nervously around his laboratory, sipping on his coffee, which only made him more nervous, and he regretted not making some tea instead. Everything made him think. Who would steal a package from Black Hat’s manor? It’s a good way to get your body impaled. Simply trespassing was already a suicide mission, but actually stealing from Black Hat? No one would—
Actually, he knew one person who would do this: Demencia.
The lizard-human hybrid was well-known (and infamous) for having zero critical thinking. Flug wanted to step outside and accuse her at that very moment, but he had literally no evidence. What could he do? “Wait, we have cameras, don’t we?” He whispered to himself. They did, in fact, have cameras, including one on the front door. Hacking it was simple. He watched the mail deliverer put his package near the mailbox, and he watched as, a few minutes later, Demencia stepped out of the manor to grab it, probably out of curiosity, as she didn’t bother checking inside the mailbox. Dr. Flug was already shaking with rage. God, if something happened to those scent blockers he was going to kill Demencia. He grabbed his phone and checked the time: eleven and fifty-five in the morning.
His last scent blocker’s effect would end in five minutes.
He had to be fast. Flug put his phone inside one of his coat’s pockets, left his lab and started heading towards Demencia’s room when he spotted her on the living room, sitting on a couch, playing Mario Kart. He marched to the television and hastily pulled the plug, turning it off. The girl in front of him shot him a stare of disbelief. “Hey, what was that for? I was winning!” She complained. Dr. Flug narrowed his eyes at her, a rare occurrence, since he wasn’t the confronting type, but when it came to keeping his secondary gender a secret he would go to great lengths, maybe even challenge Black Hat to a fencing match if needed.
“Where’s the package you stole from me, Demencia?” He demanded. She shrugged.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Flugsies.” He could smell her lies from miles away. That’s her game: she lies until you back her in a corner, then she starts to try and make you change the subject. It’s always worked with Dr. Flug before, but not now.
“I saw you on the cameras, Demencia. You took the package that was meant for me. It was near the mailbox.” Flug explained, feeling his patience thinning. Demencia opened her mouth to retort but he continued talking. “And yes, I know it was meant for me. It had my name on it. Now, I’ll ask one more time: where is the package?” Despite all of the evidence, Demencia never gave in. She continued to lie until Dr. Flug felt himself running out of time. Checking his cellphone once more, his heart skipped a beat as he realized he only had one more minute until the scent blocker’s effect wore off. “Stop it, Demencia! Where is the fucking package?!” He yelled, cursing for the first time in ages, starting to lose his mind. There was no solution to this. If he gave up, he would either have to tell everyone the truth and risk being shipped away to a foreign country or lock himself away until new scent blockers arrived, avoiding contact with everyone and everything and he knew that, with such a strict boss, this wasn’t going to happen.
“What the fuck is happening here?” A booming voice echoed.
Speaking of the devil, Flug thought, gulping. He knew he should have never left the bed that morning. “S-sir, Demencia stole a package meant for me and will not give it back.” He explained, as Black Hat looked as unamused as ever. He probably looked stupid, arguing over one simple package. If only his boss knew what one missing package meant for him, his reputation and basically his whole life…
“He doesn’t even need those stupid scent blockers, he’s a beta!” Demencia exclaimed next to him, making the scientist jump. Flug stuttered, his mind racing, as he tried to find a reason, but his mind only focused on one thing at that moment. He had never told her what was inside the package, which only meant one thing.
“You opened the package?”
“I was curious,” she sang nonchalantly. Dr. Flug was so outraged he didn’t even notice his phone buzzing in his pocket. God, who could be calling him so early in the morning? “But why did you order scent blockers anyway? Betas don’t have scent glands.” She stated with a shrug, and now it was Flug’s turn to be backed in a corner… again. Black Hat watched them, still unamused and waiting for their little argument to end. Of course, Demencia continued talking. “I mean, unless you aren’t a beta.” She grinned and leaned against his shoulder. Flug’s heart went flat-line as he murmured a quiet ‘I am’. When she got too close to his neck, Demencia scrunched up her nose. “What’s that smell?” That’s when the buzzing in his pocket finally came to an end, one whole minute later, and realization hit Dr. Flug like a bus, and his heart flat-lined again.
He skedaddled to his lab without a second thought, closed the door behind him, and put a hand on his chest, just to check if his heart was still beating. Thankfully, and not surprisingly, it was, but rather quickly.
He hadn’t realized tears were rolling down his cheeks until a meek sob escaped his lips. One simple error had just ended his life for good. Demencia probably realized what was going on already, and she was probably telling Black Hat he was an omega at this very moment. Oh my god, what is Black Hat going to do to me? He thought, the thorns of panic pricking his soul. He thought about thousands of possibilities, one of which was forcing him to be his mate against his will. He knew how much Black Hat hated him, but having a young male omega as a mate was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and, seeing how greedy and opportunistic his boss was, that scary scenario became much more realistic. That would give him status, and status was what Black Hat wanted — why else would he try to make his scent as noticeable as possible?
He jumped when he heard a knock at the door.
“Flugsies, Black Hat told me to give you your package back, open the door!” She knocked again, but he didn’t answer. His laboratory was bathed in omega scent. Flug took a deep breath. It’d been eleven years since he last smelled his own scent. It smelled like a garden of jasmines and roses. His oldest sister used to receive flowers from lots of people, both boys and girls, and she sometimes let him put some around his room for their pleasantly sweet aroma, but usually had to hide it from his father, in fear he would scold and punish him for being “too girly for an alpha” back when he hadn’t presented yet. “Come on, Dr. Flug, let me in! I didn’t know you didn’t like being an alpha! Black Hat probably won’t mind since your scent is very sweet compared to his. I like his better, though. It’s so manly and exciting.” She sighed dreamily from the other side of the door.
That day was going to be full of surprises, wasn’t it?
“But I’m not an alpha.” He let it slip, before putting a hand over where his mouth should be, considering he was still using his paper bag. God, how could he be so stupid? Demencia’s reaction was… unexpected, to say the least. She began laughing madly like she had just heard one of those dark jokes she usually digs from Reddit (and she often interrupts his work to share them with him).
“What else could you be? You’re not a beta, that’s for sure.” Did… Did she not know what omegas were? It wouldn’t be a surprise if she didn’t, to be honest, since she had never left that manor, barely going past the mailbox, being a failed creation of Black Hat, a poor attempt at creating a human-animal hybrid. Flug knew he was aiming for a Godzilla-like being, but ended up with her instead. He also found out about a year ago that she was just as old as his grandmother, but, because she was a creation of Black Hat, who was something inhuman, she (apparently) never aged and continued looking like someone in their early twenties or late teens. Because of her lack of contact with the outside, there was a possibility that she only knew the existence of two secondary genders based on experience: alphas (because of Black Hat) and betas (because of her). Flug paused for a moment. Should he tell her? He needed to make sure she wasn’t joking around.
“Demencia, how many secondary genders are there?”
“Two, of course: alphas and betas. You should know that, Flugsies, you’re the nerdy scientist here!” Dr. Flug really wanted to scream right now; out of frustration or happiness, he didn’t know. On one hand, if Demencia didn’t know what he was, and how rare he was, she wouldn’t just spill his secret around. On the other hand, because of that exact same reason, she could spill it out in a conversation casually, thinking it was normal. Heh, could you imagine that? Could you imagine omegas being free and having normal lives, not being constantly worried about being taken away? How unnatural.
“Um, yeah, that’s right…” He lied, opening the door and letting her in, before closing it again; he couldn’t risk letting the scent spread around the manor. She walked right in and sniffed the air again, not caring when Flug hastily grabbed the package from her hands. All thirty-one of his scent blockers were there, and thankfully none of them were broken. He looked back at Demencia, who was still sniffing the air with a genuine smile on her face. Well, at least he knew his smell was pleasant, and, since betas didn’t have primal instincts like alphas, he knew she wouldn’t mindlessly attack him. For once he was happy for her creepy attraction to Black Hat. This reminded him of one thing. “Where’s Black Hat?” He asked her.
“He went back to his office. He was murmuring something, but I don’t know what about.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t know alphas could smell so sweet! It’s like a garden! Too bad we can’t have those. I could have a human-eating flower! Imagine those children wanting to pet the flower and then getting eaten out of nowhere. Maybe the flower could even spit out their bones so we could make a skeleton army!” Flug nodded, spraying himself with one of the scent blockers absentmindedly. Was Black Hat whispering about him? It was possible, but he really hoped he wasn’t. Maybe he should accept the fact that Black Hat found out his true secondary gender. Dr. Flug wondered how his relationship with his boss would change.
He would wait and see.