Dawn broke and Ethan started his new morning routine. Waking up, snuggling with Treya until her alarm went off, taking care of hygiene, and dressing in his costume. He would then Heaven's Gate to the highest point in the city and relax up there, intervening in events below if he spotted something out-of-the-ordinary.

  "Hey! Ready to fight some crime?!"

  Ethan looked up and waved as Stormbringer floated down next to him, still in his same outfit as the day before. "Keeping watch for it,” Ethan replied.

  "Really? You just sit up here watching all day?"

  "I can see…well, one of my powers affects my sight. So…yeah, normally I just sit up here. Sometimes Detective Matthews will call."

  Stormbringer sighed like an impatient child, "That's so boring." He punched his fist into his open palm, his voice oozing excitement. "I want to punch some bad guys!"

  Ethan chuckled, "It's painful if they hit you. Your powers seem like they're suited to ranged combat, not getting up close and personal."

  Stormbringer scoffed, "I've been busy." He held up his fists as they crackled with blue and red, "I've got electric punches now."

  Ethan smirked and stealthily pointed a finger at the new hero, Holy Smite. The golden beam shot out and hit Stormbringer, his body going slack as he began to fall. "Rescue." The falling hero was warped next to Ethan, and he used Healing Touch to bring him back to consciousness.

  "Bleh!" He came to and turned away, coughing as he spoke, "What happened?"

  Ethan put on his most serious voice possible, "I just killed you."

  Stormbringer touched his torso and glanced over at Ethan, his visor still up on the motorcycle helmet. "Oh shit!" he pulled the visor down. "I'm not really dead, right?"

  "Pfff…no. I can't bring back the dead. I just knocked you out."

  "I didn't see anything-"

  Ethan held up a finger, Illuminate, and held the sphere of light on the tip. "Light goes really, really fast." He dismissed the orb of light before leaning back and looking up into the sky, "We'll need to see if there's a way to use your power defensively."

  "Oh! I can do that. Static Field!" The air crackled around Stormbringer before settling, but thanks to Ethan's vision he could make out the flickering static arcing in a small layer surrounding him. "If I have this active, people can't touch me! Well - they can touch me, but they'll be shocked!"

  Ethan reached over and put his hand on Stormbringer, feeling a very minor jolt as his fingers went numb. As he made contact, the golden barrier surrounding him flared to life and was extremely visible. "I can touch you."

  "Oh! No way." Stormbringer crossed his arms and huffed, "That's not fair at all."

  Ethan chuckled and pulled his hand back, "I'm sure against someone who isn't expecting it it'll hurt a lot more. We need to figure out a way to make you a bit more durable."

  Stormbringer shook his head, "I wanted to be this awesome, melee bruiser type of hero. Get up close and personal and use some of my boxing training." He demonstrated his prowess with rapid jabs that - to anyone other than Ethan - would have been near-impossible to track. "I'm going to be the next Ali."

  "Do you have any new…senses?"

  "Like what?"

  "Well, take me - I have really, really cool vision powers. Can you, I don't know, sense electric fields near you?"

  "I don't know, I haven't tried it."

  Ethan stood up and glanced around at the streets below. "It's pretty quiet down there. How about we go out to the middle of nowhere and spar a bit? Maybe you'll come up with some new ideas as we practice…Heaven's Gate." The white portal appeared and Ethan stepped through, glancing back as Stormbringer joined him.

  The two walked in silence - save for the crackling and popping of electrical discharge as the new hero was doing something with his powers. They emerged in the same desert Ethan had taken Treya to on that first night. "Alright, let's see what you've-"

  "Taser fist!" Stormbringer lunged at Ethan and punched him in the stomach. Ethan felt the tingling of the electricity arcing over him before he dropped to his knees, wheezing for air. "I thought we were starting…" Ethan felt Stormbringer pull him up by the shoulders, "You okay, man?"

  Ethan nodded and was able to catch his breath after a few seconds. "...I thought…we'd establish some ground rules."

  "Okay, like what?"

  "No lethal stuff,” he said as he pushed himself from his bent-over position to his feet.

  The lightning hero nodded, "Right. What else?"

  Ethan rolled his shoulders and stood up straight, "Did you want to try melee, or ranged?"

  The enthusiasm was evident as Stormbringer stepped a few paces away and raised his fists, blue and crimson lightning arcing away and surrounding his hands in a sheathe of unbridled fury, "Melee. I box, but I'll go easy on you."

  Ethan nodded, "Crusade." The white-gold blade of holy energy formed in his right hand as the barrier surrounding him flared to its full defensive strength.

  "Whoa, you can make a sword?"

  Ethan held his off-hand out and gestured just like in an old martial arts movie, "Let's fight." Stormbringer stepped forward and jabbed at a speed Ethan's eyes could keep up with, but his body couldn't.

  He was able to parry every third blow with the flat of the blade, never finding an opening to counterattack as the flurry continued; an onslaught of electrical arcs that popped and zapped the air around him. Ethan felt the dull thuds after several impacts had rocked him, and he began to feel the pain of bruising spread all over his arms and torso.

  Nobilis? I need a shield.

  I’ll have it function off of Crusade.

  -----

  [Ability Augmented: Bulwark]

  [Additional Effect: Manifest a holy shield, blocking all effects that impact the shield. While active, reaction speed is further increased. Only useable during Crusade.]

  -----

  A glowing, gold and white Heater shield appeared mounted to his left gauntlet. He backpedaled to gain a little distance, but Stormbringer wouldn't let up the assault, and it took several attempts before Ethan began to block consistently. But the variety of jabs, hooks, uppercuts, and even occasional leg-kicks kept him from counterattacking.

  He was just barely able to defend.

  "Had enough?!" Stormbringer yelled as he threw an enormous haymaker. Ethan caught it on the shield and grinned under the helmet, feeling the sweat pour down him from the intense workout.

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  "I'm just getting started! Static Surge!" Stormbringer's body arced with a vibrant, jade-green lightning as he sped up even faster, to the point where Ethan was struggling to keep up with his visual processing speed; much less his ability to block and parry.

  He dismissed Crusade to re-enable his ability to warp as he blinked out of existence, warping thirty feet behind Stormbringer and holding up his hands, "You win!"

  Stormbringer glanced back, his shoulders going up and down as he took in deep breaths from exertion. "I win?"

  Ethan nodded and walked forward, "You're amazing! You were going…I mean insanely, crazy fast."

  Stormbringer laughed and took off his jacket, revealing a well-muscled torso barely hidden under a tight-fitting shirt. "Thanks. Years of boxing with my pops. In my non-hero life, I'm an up-and-coming welterweight pro."

  "When you said you had weather control and lightning powers, I wasn't thinking of using electricity to speed up your own body's speed."

  "I hadn't tried it yet, but Tempest gave me some advice. I still couldn't get all the way past that barrier-thing you have."

  Yeah, but even if you can’t hit hard, you can hit fast. He had seen a small notification that his Holy Barrier was on the verge of breaking. Ethan reactivated Crusade and held the shield up in front of him, "Let's see if you can do something that penetrates. Maybe envision the lightning going through the defenses?" He quickly added, “Not full on sparring! But like…” he stood upright and held his shield out to his side, “Aim at the bottom of the shield.”

  Stormbringer took up his stance, jumping lightly from foot to foot, before closing the distance and unleashing a jab, shouting as he did so. "Piercing Arc!"

  Ethan was expecting to be hit, but he wasn't anticipating how hard he would be hit. The fist impacted his shield as he expected, but then a bolt of the green lightning seemingly passed through not only the shield, but also his Holy Barrier, and arcing electricity sparked inside the barrier and scorched his armored chest plate. He immediately dismissed the shield as Stormbringer let out a worried noise, lowering his stance.

  "Damn, I'm sorry for ruining your costume. You okay?"

  Ethan waved a hand and stood up straight, wincing at the burn. "I'll live. That went past all of my defenses."

  "Who needs defense when you are fast and hit hard?"

  Ethan chuckled, "True; I guess I'm more well-rounded in offense, defense, and support. You're a DPS for sure."

  "What's that?"

  "Oh - sorry, gaming term. Damage per second; it means you're the person responsible for hitting hard." Ethan hiked a thumb back at himself, "I'm a tank, meaning I can get attention, and a support-"

  "Healing people!"

  Ethan nodded, "Exactly. I don't think you really need to worry about defense. You can fly insanely fast, hit as hard as a truck. Heck, in a straight up fight, you'd crush me."

  Stormbringer paused, seemingly deep in thought. "But I can't take hits as well, at least I don't think…" He looked up at Ethan, "Can you hit me with that sword?"

  Ethan nodded, "Crusade." The sword manifested in his grip, "Want to try blocking, or just want me to hit you?"

  "I want you to try and kill me."

  Ethan had to shake his head in disbelief, "Come again?"

  "If I'm fighting Full Metal Gangster, he's going to try and kill me. I need to know if I can stand up to a serious, deadly hit."

  Ethan nodded, "Okay, I'll aim for your butt then."

  "What? Why there?"

  "Nothing vital I could hit. Plus, I can heal you; but I don't know if I can do something like reattach limbs. Rather be safe than sorry."

  Stormbringer nodded and turned around, "Okay…Hold on, Tempest is talking." He was silent for a few moments before he nodded, "Okay. Give it a shot."

  Ethan stepped up and swung down with lethal intent, attempting to carve into Stormbringer, confident in his ability to heal him should the worst happen. As the holy blade sliced downwards, he felt some resistance, but the blade still carved flesh and sliced deep before he pulled away. Stormbringer jumped away, "Fuck!" holding his hands to his damaged posterior. "Heal me!"

  Ethan walked over and expended another use of Healing Touch to cure the damage, "You asked for it," he said.

  "Yeah. I'm definitely not built for taking hits."

  "Then rely on your speed. Want to practice dodging ranged stuff? I think you're already plenty fast in melee."

  "Oh! Good idea." Stormbringer lifted off the ground and began to hover, "Why don't you try and hit me with that light-beam thing while I'm going top speed?"

  Ethan nodded and raised a hand, "Let me know when you're ready!"

  Stormbringer took off at a breakneck pace and flew in wide circles around Ethan. The next several minutes were spent with Ethan attempting to hit him with Holy Smite. One out of every five found their mark; but he changed the effect to just cause a minor warming sensation.

  Why let him win?

  I'm trying to hit him. You see how fast he is.

  Your aim sucks.

  Hey, that's not really ni-

  I didn't sign up to be the curator for a loser. You better not disappoint me. Your Holy Smite travels at light speed. He isn't going that fast. Aim better.

  Ethan continued firing off Holy Smites as the conversation continued in his head. Why are you so hostile all of a sudden?

  I have been acting in a neutral fashion until I gauged your personality. I am sarcastic, sardonic, condescending, and caring.

  Good to know. Tough love type of personality?

  Yes. You're holding back against him. You're the hero, the light for this world. Even when no one is looking, you need to show that.

  Any suggestions? It's tough keeping up with him; I don't move fast enough to keep up with his movement. And I have to extend my hand at him. As if reading his thoughts, Stormbringer sped up even faster until he was causing local air current disturbances; the sonic barrier having long-since cracked.

  Sub-Ability created for Holy Smite.

  -----

  [New Sub-Ability Created: Holy Storm]

  [Effect: Unleash a large, cone-shaped burst of subduing or shredding light and radiant energy.]

  [Additional Note: Cannot discern friend from foe.]

  -----

  An AOE effect? Ethan asked, using the acronym for area-of-effect.

  Of course. You cannot designate targets who are exempt. If they are in the area, they will suffer the consequence - whether subdual or being shredded by the light.

  Ethan held up his hands and brought the heels together not unlike a manga character would, holding them out in front of him trying to track Stormbringer. "Holy Storm!" The air in front of him ignited with gold and white power, expanding into an enormous beam that cascaded forward and crashed over the environment and through the air. The range isn't too impressive. Maybe three hundred feet or so?

  Stormbringer was able to get back out of the area with his ridiculous speed, but he must have become upset, as an arc of blue lightning flashed towards Ethan. He was able to see it coming, but not dodge it as the impact blew him backwards and off his feet. Holy Barrier absorbed the damage and he felt no pain, but the impact knocked him prone as he tumbled end over end before landing flat on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

  Stormbringer flew over as the air popped around him again as he decelerated from supersonic speeds to subsonic. "Shit, sorry! You okay?"

  Ethan sat up and nodded, "Yeah. I just didn't expect it, that's all."

  "Why didn't you use that big explosion before?"

  "Not an explosion, and I just made it." He chuckled, “I’m not being a very good mentor, being blown back onto my ass.”

  Stormbringer nodded and floated a few inches off of the ground, "Same here- power wise, I mean. I got even faster. I can almost get hypersonic." Ethan cocked his head sideways in confusion as he clarified, "-Mach five, or five times the speed of sound."

  Ethan stood up and dusted himself off, nodding in understanding. "That's really impressive. Around the world in…what, a few hours?"

  "I can't hear crap when I'm going that fast. And everything gets blurry. I don't think I should do it during a fight."

  Ethan felt buzzing in his hidden compartment under his thigh plate. He retrieved his phone and checked the screen, waving Stormbringer over. He answered on speakerphone, "This is Radiance."

  "Radiance!" The voice that came through was bubbly, confident, and arrogant - the type of arrogance only an agent could muster. "Fred Lark here, we talked a few days ago. I have all the paperwork ready, and I've also already got some merchandising deals in the works! I just need you to approve the designs. Can you come to my office?"

  "Yeah. Text this number the address. Oh, you're on speakerphone. I'm here with Stormbringer; I'm guessing you'll want him as a client?"

  The enthusiasm and greed coming through the speaker was palpable, "Yes! Hi there, Stormbringer. Fred Lark, talent agent extraordinaire. Please, come here with Radiance, and I can give you the same pitch."

  "I can get paid from hero work?" Stormbringer asked.

  "My friend, you'll make more than a living, I assure you. I'll see you this afternoon?"

  Ethan nodded, "We'll be there." The call ended and he put the phone away.

  "So cool! I'm going to have an agent, and get clothes and other merchandise, I can pay for my sister's school-"

  Ethan held up a hand, "We never know who could be listening, and the less we know about each other, the safer our real identities will be."

  "Oh…right." Stormbringer sighed, "It's tough, man. Keeping the whole secret identity from everyone."

  "It's better than the alternative." Ethan turned away for a few moments before continuing, "-What's your deal with Full Metal Gangster? You mentioned him earlier."

  Stormbringer's hands clenched with fury as he spoke through a clenched jaw, "Killed my abuela. Just…fucking ripped her out of her car and threw her over-" He started to choke up and stopped talking, head hanging low.

  Ethan put his hand on the man's shoulder, "I'm sorry." He didn't know what else to say.

  "I'll kill him if I see him." He looked up, and Ethan could tell behind the reflective glare of the motorcycle helmet that this man was filled with a murderous intent. "Will you help me out if I find him?"

  "You want me to help you kill someone?"

  "Mhmm."

  Ethan backed away a few steps, "I've never taken a life." He gazed off into the distance, "I don't want to be a hero that kills people." His phone vibrated and he scanned over the screen, seeing a message from Fred with an address. "You need a bit? Or ready to go see our agent?"

  "Let's go."