Ethan emerged into the living room and stripped off his costume, setting it on the coffee table before sitting on the couch and burying his face in his hands. "Am I doing good?" He asked more to himself than anyone else but was unsurprised when Nobilis responded.

  Criminals break laws and deserve consequences. It was very matter-of-factual, proper, and professional in tone.

  "But all he wanted was to avoid jail. I've seen the videos of crooked cops planting drugs and threatening people in traffic stops. Making up charges and ruining lives." Ethan leaned back and sighed, sinking into the couch cushions. "I just want to make sure that I'm not making things worse."

  You helped people. That is what you wanted when you spoke with the Entity. Do you want to help a specific group?

  "No…yes…I don't know. I saved people yesterday. I healed people today. And I stopped an Imbued. But did I have a right to stop him? I mean, yeah, he attacked me. But to be fair, I did warp him out of his car. I just don't know, Nobilis."

  You went with your instincts. Trust your heart and do what you think is right.

  Ethan sat up and sighed, "You're right. I can at least try to pull some strings though." He pulled out his phone, tapped Detective Matthew's number, and opened it in his burner app to send a text message.

  Detective Matthews. My name is Radiance. I'm a hero you may have heard about recently. I helped capture an Imbued today, a snake-man. The guy was afraid of the cops planting evidence on him and arresting him fraudulently. I'm inclined to believe him. I don't know what kind of pull you have within the department, but I'd ask that you only charge him with the traffic ticket he was originally going to be given. The senior officer on the scene came off as very biased, and I don't think it's fair to throw this guy under the bus for trying to keep himself out of jail. Feel free to follow up.

  He tossed his phone to the side and stood up, stretching before going to the electronics cabinet and pulling two memory cards out of their packaging and socketing them into the helmet's empty slots. He grabbed the sewing kit and set about trying to patch over and fix his costume, but had to take several trips to their cosplay supplies in the cabinet to replace portions of the melted-away fabric. That acid stuff was no joke, he thought.

  A few hours passed before his phone pinged him. He picked it up and read the text on the screen.

  Detective Matthews here. Not sure how you got this number, but I wanted to thank you for your service. I'm with the prosecutor right now, actually. Can we make a quick call? She wants to talk.

  Ethan typed back an affirmative response. A few moments passed before his phone rang. He picked it up and intentionally tried to lower his voice's pitch so the detective wouldn't recognize him from his call about the mall incident a few days prior. "This is Radiance."

  "Thanks for taking the time to talk," the familiar voice of the detective came through the phone speaker. "I'm here with Lauren Grishom, Assistant District Attorney for Los Angeles county."

  A female voice came through the phone, "Pleased to meet you, Radiance. The Detective here has informed me of your recent exploits in helping out the LAPD."

  "You're welcome," Ethan replied. "Why the need to call?"

  "This snake guy; we can't get his actual name," Lauren said. "We don't know who he is or where he's from. He doesn't have fingerprints, his blood sample doesn't return any hits on the database. We wanted to see if you knew anything. He's not talking."

  "No. I don't know anything about him."

  "I see…eyewitness reports and videos circulating the internet show you fighting him. In an official capacity, I must disclose that the law does not condone vigilante violence…but I spoke with the District Attorney, and he has agreed that given the sudden influx of these Imbued people running around causing chaos, we will not be pursuing prosecution against those using their own powers to help. Especially when, like yourself, they record everything happening. Courts love transparency, after all."

  Ethan sighed internally, "I appreciate the thought. I just want to help-"

  The detective interrupted, "I read an article earlier today and saw a blog post by a surgeon at the UCLA hospital. I'm assuming you're the one who healed hundreds of sick and dying patients?"

  Ethan shifted on the couch to lay down, "That's right." He felt tension. A knot in his chest. He had no clue what outcome to expect from this call.

  There was some exchanged whispering before Lauren came back on the line, "Well…this is unprecedented. I'm going to schedule a meeting with the Mayor. May I text the relevant details to this number?"

  "Absolutely,” Ethan replied. A meeting with the Mayor? Holy shit, this is going really fast!

  "Excellent! I also read the text you sent to Detective Matthews here. I understand your concern that profiling occurred. I want to assure you that we are removing many of the charges levied against him."

  There was a click, and the voice of the detective returned, "I need to know, how did you get my number?"

  Ethan grinned, "I know people who know people." He can’t know about my real number. I need to keep that secret.

  The detective chuckled, "Right. Well, thanks for what you're doing. I've asked the chief to put me in charge of any Imbued cases in my district, and I’m going to be put on a county-wide task force with some others. I'll be your police contact going forward for investigations. Can I give you a call if we need help with other…tricky situations?"

  "Sure. I try to keep to daylight hours for my hero work, but if it's a really serious situation, call anytime.” Ethan felt that anxiety wash away as he knew that he had ended up in an optimal position. On-call superhero, and he was on the “right” side of the law, so he wouldn’t get into much trouble.

  "Sure thing. I hope I don't have to call you but looking at the way things are going…I'll be in touch." The phone call disconnected.

  Ethan set his phone down and closed. He kept them closed for a few moments, just bathing in the satisfaction of doing something good for other people. And now, he was going to be able to help so many more people.

  A knock at the door caught his attention. He stood up and opened it.

  The porch was empty as a delivery driver walked to his vehicle. Ethan grabbed the package left behind and locked the door. The package was addressed to him. I don't remember ordering anything. He set it down and grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting the tape and opening the cardboard container. Inside was a wrapped present and a letter. The letter had his name in cursive on the front. He opened it and immediately recognized the handwriting;

  

  Dear Ethan,

  We are going to be traveling this year for Christmas. We wanted to get you your present early. Your sister is going to be observing the holiday with friends in Toronto. The house in The Bay is yours if you want to vacation up here for the holidays. We love you.

  Willy and Gary.

  Ethan put the letter back into the envelope and put the package up in the top of the closet, sliding it right next to Treya's present he had been holding onto all year. Thankfully the holidays were right around the corner, so he wouldn't have to wait long to see what they got him.

  Your species cannot reproduce without a male and female, correct?

  Right.

  How do you have two male individuals as parents?

  Adoption. Both my sister and myself. Our mom arranged a private adoption with Willy.

  Nobilis was quiet for a few moments, as if processing information. Is it the norm for your species to abandon their young?

  I guess it depends on the situation. My birth mother was knocked up and tried to raise us on her own. It's rough raising two kids with no family to help. I don't blame her. It gave me a great childhood with my dads. And I got to stay close to my sister. Which reminds me… Ethan pulled out his phone and made a note to buy his sister her present.

  Your world is in dire straits if you do not have appropriate social safety to ensure child rearing continues at a replenishable pace.

  Ethan laid down on the couch and stared at the ceiling; Our country is fucked up. A lot of the world is, actually. Climate change, authoritarian rulers, stripping of civil rights…it's a scary world. Ethan closed his eyes and sighed, That's why I want to help people. The world is so bleak right now.

  Nobilis was silent. Completely quiet. Ethan had no clue if he was still there or not, but stopped waiting for a reply after a minute.

  He sat up and tended to repairing his costume over the next hour, setting some French pop music to play while he worked. Eventually Treya got home and they ate before cuddling on the couch. They just lay there enjoying each other's company, Ethan filling her in on the day’s events, her asking questions, and the two just being present with each other.

  Once more he was floating in his dream; very aware that he was asleep but floating on the golden glow once more with the infinity of space above. He sank below the surface and the voice of the Entity resonated throughout the liquid he was submerged in. The same voice that had spoken to him when he first arrived in this weird dimension of dreams.

  "You're doing what you set out to do," it said calmly and in a reassuring tone.

  He felt a sense of satisfaction and warmth rush around him. "What are you?" Ethan asked.

  The liquid faded to a lukewarm temperature, "I'm the Entity. You may call me a god, but specifically I am your world's Arch God."

  "You're god? Like the God?"

  Ethan felt the water tremble and undulate, mimicking a sensation of laughter. "There are many worlds in the universe, many gods…and dangers. I am an Arch God; or the only deity who holds domain over this world."

  Ethan frowned, his mind racing as he absorbed this new information. "What dangers?"

  "To speak of them would be to call them here. Pray you never know." There was a tremble of fear behind the words, and the fact that God was afraid spoke volumes.

  "Okay then, let’s drop that line of questioning…why give humans superpowers?"

  He felt the water grow still and a sense of regret washed over him, "I don't like getting directly involved. Every time this world begins to tear itself apart, I bring about change by empowering regular people - like yourself - to something greater. In the past ages of your civilizations, you called them gods, demi-gods, seers, prophets. In this age, they are called Imbued. Or, more commonly, heroes and villains."

  Ethan nodded in understanding, "You're giving people powers to see if we can use them to save ourselves. To see if we can fix our world,” he reasoned.

  The water slowly moved and Ethan could feel it flowing past as if he was being moved along a track, "Yes...I must say, I am quite disappointed with this go-round of things. Out of the individuals I have Imbued, only a handful are using their newfound powers for good. I do applaud your choice; the way you asked to have your power manifest is quite thematic for a savior of the world, isn't it? Reminds me of the woman Isis from Egyptian culture. Or the prophets from some monotheistic religions. I will be creating more Imbued around the world since this first batch ended up with such an abysmal morality ratio."

  That pulled up all types of questions for Ethan, this sudden revelation that people from history gods, goddess, prophets of religions – were just superheroes. But instead of pursuing that line of questioning, he went for a different tack. "Why so few people? And why so many selfish people? If you're a god, don't you know who would use their powers for good?"

  "I know much but am not omniscient. Hence, The Archive; my repository of information cataloged throughout Earth's existence. There are so many humans; how can I know every one of them? I chose a random approach, rolling the dice and letting fate dictate the path. Even an Arch God cannot control fate. The one qualifier I did apply was limiting the area affected by my blessing." The voice went quiet for a moment before returning in an enthusiastic tone, "We'll see how the dice of fate play out in the next batches. I plan on affecting other regions of the world. Hopefully more altruistic people are randomly selected."

  Ethan felt a chill wash over him. "What happens if we…if I fail? If I can't convince people to change? Or if people just keep doing evil-"

  "Your civilization destroys itself. I would hate to start over again. But I can always start over. This isn't the first time humanity has risen and fallen on Earth."

  Ethan was hit with a wave of panic, and the next words were blurted out without thinking. "How can I save us? What should I do?"

  He felt the water grow warm once more and felt comfort surrounding him; a soothing melody playing somewhere below. "Do what you think is right."

  Ethan slowly roused from sleep. The sun filtered through the drawn blinds as he rolled over to snuggle with Treya.

  All of humanity is riding on our shoulders.

  Ethan tried to relax, but the more he thought about how much responsibility weighed upon him the more he felt anxiety build up.

  Treya must have sensed something wrong, because she turned around in his embrace, "What's wrong?" Ethan filled her in on what the Entity had told her. She had a pensive look throughout the recount and cupped his face when he finished. "Just keep doing what you're doing."

  Ethan nodded and stroked her hair; just talking to her helped reduce his anxiety and he gave her a kiss, "You're right. Speaking of-" he rolled out of bed and stretched, "-I should get ready.

  Treya pulled him back into bed playfully and climbed on top of him, smiling and giving him a kiss, "Not yet, you're not. I still have an hour before class."

  After spending the morning in bed they rushed to eat something before hopping in the shower and dressing for the day. Ethan had successfully repaired his outfit the day prior and suited up. He saw Treya out before using Heaven's Gate to arrive atop the LA Skyscraper once more.

  Gazing down on the people below, he did not see the bluish glow of an Imbued. He sat down and dangled his feet over the edge, kicking them absentmindedly in the air. A few hours passed as he kept watch for any situation where a hero could be helpful. He was disappointed, however, as nothing out of the ordinary happened.

  There sure is a lot of a crime during the day. The sarcasm was palpable from his Curator’s tone.

  I made Treya a promi- Ethan heard the chime of his phone and unzipped the hidden compartment. "Radiance,” he said as he answered.

  "This is Detective Matthews. We need help. How fast can you get to Pershing Square?"

  Ethan looked over to the West, "Thirty seconds."

  "It's a hostage situation. I'll fill you in when you get here. Look for the SWAT truck." The phone went silent.

  Ethan stored it and chained Leaps of Faith, traveling along the rooftops until he could see the bank front. The sight that greeted him was shocking. He immediately clicked the record button on his helmet camera.

  The whole of the city block was closed off. Snipers were on the roof that Ethan had just arrived at, though they didn't notice him. Pershing Square was below him…and the scene that greeted his eyes made his stomach churn. He'd never seen such carnage before.

  Dozens of police officers in SWAT gear were laying on the sidewalk; their faces melted and scorched by flames. Burned out husks of cars sat alongside the fallen officers. There was a barricade set up around a building on the South-Western side of the city block; surrounding a bank.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  He spotted the SWAT truck parked at the back of the barricade, and used Leap of Faith to warp down to it. As soon as he appeared an officer in full SWAT gear held him at gunpoint, "Don't move!"

  "Put that down, he's here to help." A thirty-something year old man pushed the barrel of the shotgun down. He was dressed like a stereotypical detective from a noir film; although he had body armor strapped onto his chest. His swarthy skin was weather-scarred; a man who had seen his fair share of the outdoors, grizzled scruff and a lit cigarette completed the whole ensemble. "Radiance, I'm Detective Matthews. Good to meet you in person." He held out a hand and Ethan shook it. "I'll fill you in." He entered the back of the SWAT vehicle and Ethan followed.

  "What are we dealing with? I saw the bodies…" Ethan trailed off. He’d never seen dead people before outside of movies and games. And the sight was burned into his memory. The charred corpses causing his stomach to churn – but he kept his composure and his breakfast down.

  "We have a camera feed inside. Harvey, pull up the surveillance for the foyer."

  A man who looked like a paler version of Detective Matthews turned a dial and clicked several buttons as the screens changed. The scene that greeted Ethan almost caused him to vomit. Charred corpses littered the interior of the bank. The teller windows were melted away and it looked as if the corpses of those who were just doing their jobs had fused to the material from the intense heat.

  Matthews pointed at a hallway in the feed, "That leads back to the vault. There’re no cameras along the corridor - well, there were, but they were toasted. Two perps. The Boxer Brothers, Park and Palmer. They didn't kill everyone, or at least that's what they're saying."

  He turned to Ethan and leaned against the monitor display, "Bullets didn’t do anything to Park. They turned to ash before impact." He stared at Ethan with hard, determined eyes filled with disgust and rage towards those responsible. "I called Petal in also; but considering a lot of her…stuff appears to be plant based, I don't know how useful she’ll be. I'm counting on you. We can't do shit to them."

  Ethan nodded and gulped, dreading the question he felt compelled to ask. "Am I trying to take them in?" He didn’t want to kill if he didn’t have to, but seeing all those corpses, he also reasoned in his mind that if anyone deserved death, it was these robbers. No, he thought, admonishing himself. I’m not going to be an executioner. I’m here to help. I’ll bring them in.

  Matthews shook his head, "Honestly? I'd say kill them both. They've killed thirty-two good men, not to mention however many civilians are inside the bank."

  Ethan shook his head, "Only as a last resort. That’s my personal code. Are they both Imbued?"

  Matthews shrugged, "Park yelled something and shot flames from his hands. Palmer had a shotgun and full body armor. Draw your conclusions.”

  Ethan nodded and stared at the screen. "I'll try to take them alive. When Petal gets here, tell her to do what she can." He turned and walked out of the SWAT vehicle, approaching the barricade. "Leap of Faith." He walked into the building and the stench was the first thing that hit him - the smell of burnt meat. The worst part of the smell was that it wasn’t bad smelling. It had the same odor as barbecued meat on a grill.

  He stepped around the various corpses and made his way to the teller window, climbing through and going to the hallway leading to the vault. He hugged the wall and peeked around the corner. One man had his hands against the vault door, partially submerged as molten metal sloughed around his arms and splattered onto the ground. Another man stood in front of him, facing the hallway with a shotgun raised. On the ground next to the two were a pair of women who were badly burned, but alive. Ethan ducked back as the gunshot reverberated down the hallway.

  "Back the hell off! Or I kill them!"

  Ethan glanced around the corner rapidly, "Rescue. Rescue," he said in rapid succession. The two women appeared behind him, and he pointed them to the teller window. "Run!" They didn't hesitate and both dove through the opening, screaming as they ran out of the building.

  Ethan had no time to celebrate as a shotgun slug ricocheted off the wall next to him. "Crusade," He activated the power, a blade of white light manifesting in his hand, and turned to face the man with the shotgun head on as the golden aura around him became visible and radiated out from him.

  The slide racked back, and the muzzle of the gun lit up. Ethan grunted as the slug hit his torso - deflecting off the Holy Barrier. It still hurt though, feeling like a tremendous punch that almost knocked the wind out of him.

  "Bro! We got a problem!" The man Ethan guessed was Palmer backed up slightly as he reloaded his shotgun. The other - who was dressed in street wear - turned around and his eyes went wide.

  "Fuck, an Imbued? Let's see how you like fire!" He held up his hands and a torrent of flames raced to Ethan. He ducked under some of the flames but was pushed back by the heat which assailed him in waves. He couldn't feel a burning sensation, but the air grew so hot that he couldn't breathe, and he had to back away until he could catch his breath.

  "If you can't stand the heat, get the fuck outta my way!" Park walked towards Ethan, forcing him back out of the hallway and towards the teller's desk. The torrent of flames increased, and he couldn't even see past the glowing red sheet that obscured his vision.

  Are you alright?

  What the hell do you think? Ethan thought back as he was forced to climb over the teller desks and into the lobby as Park continued his assault. I can't see anything, and I can't breathe. I can't even tell where he is. Ethan ducked behind a pillar and was able to catch his breath as the torrent split in two, flowing on either side of him. I need some way to see through the flames.

  Let us Augment an Ability, then.

  -----

  [Ability Augmented: Holy Sight]

  [Additional Effect: The user can see souls.]

  -----

  Remind me to ask you the implications of that later. Ethan ran around the pillar and again his vision was filled with blinding red light…but he could see what looked like an orb, about chest-height, floating in front of him twenty feet away. The orb glowed blue but was tinged with red veins that looked like cracks in molten rock.

  "How the hell- fine then! Plasma Burst!" E

  than was thrown backwards as the fan of flames narrowed into a single laser of super compressed, heated air that threw him back and began to burn his torso. He screamed - mostly out of shock - as the burning was affecting him so quickly it destroyed his nerves. Ethan held up the holy sword, deflecting the beam as he rolled behind the pillar once again.

  "Healing Touch." He touched his torso and was shocked when he felt nothing. Sparing a glance down he could see his sternum for a split-second before the flesh reknit over the bones. He heard a cracking noise and instinctively dove to the side as the plasma beam cut through the pillar he was hiding behind and the stone decoration collapsed.

  He rolled to his feet and ran headlong at Park. The flame wielder adjusted his aim, and Ethan was barely able to get the blade of light at the right angle in time to deflect the beam sideways.

  Park held his other hand up, "Plasma Burst!" and another beam shot out.

  Ethan yelled and charged headlong, taking the hit to his leg as the skin scorched and went numb, finally making it to Park. He slashed horizontally and felt the blade connect, carving a glowing gash across the front of the man…a gash that spurted lava onto Ethan.

  "Healing Touch!" He tapped himself on the leg as the warmth of his healing power rushed over him. But that split second of self-tending was enough for Park to roll away and unleash another beam of heat. Ethan barely turned in time to deflect it with the holy-powered blade.

  Park was breathing heavily as more lava dripped out of his chest wound and sputtered onto the marble tile, slowly melting through the floor.

  A gust of wind blew from the doorway. Ethan glanced sideways as a masked woman in a bodysuit, covered in vines and flowers, walked into the lobby.

  Park cursed and raised his hand, "Plasma Burst!" the beam flew outwards and impacted the woman, throwing her back into the wall.

  Ethan used this opening to charge him once more, swinging again at him and scoring a deep gash along his leg.

  "Damnit!" Park staggered backwards and Ethan followed up, swinging horizontally and carving another wound along his torso. "Lava Torrent!" The wound on his chest flared and Ethan was blasted with superheated, molten rock, throwing him back into the wall as he smelled cooking meat.

  "Healing Touch," he muttered as sensation returned to him once more, but the damage was so severe he couldn't move, and the healing was taking longer than normal due to the immense damage. He was exhausted, and in extreme pain.

  Park was rocked by an impact from the side as an enormous, thorny vine slammed into him and began to constrict around him. Ethan spared a glance and saw a wooden husk that looked human-like withering away. A wood clone? Clever.

  Petal walked forward from a large bush as more thorny vines sprang through the doorway behind her and wrapped around Park.

  "Plants?" Park coughed and grinned, "Take this. Volcano!" His body erupted in lava as the vines turned to ash.

  "Sweet Scent," Petal intoned, sounding slightly annoyed. A gust of pink mist spread from her hand and floated toward Park.

  "Fan of Flames!" Park held up a hand as the torrential sheet of fire erupted once more, consuming the pollen-like substance and eliminating the attack. Petal dove behind a pillar to avoid the flames.

  Ethan flexed his legs, finally healed enough to move. He dismissed his sword and raised his hand. Holy Smite! The beam of pure gold, radiant energy shot out and slammed into Park. He was suffused with a dim, golden glow before collapsing to the ground.

  "No!" Ethan heard the yell from the other brother who had gone unnoticed behind the counter. He felt a jolt as a slug from the shotgun slammed into him and pushed him off balance. He felt the impact and gasped in pain - his defenses back to their baseline from dismissing the sword. He could feel liquid begin to pool under him. He heard the slide rack and shut his eyes, preparing to be hit again and perhaps even killed. I’m sorry, Treya. I tried to be a hero, and it got me killed!

  One second passed. Then two. Then five. He opened his eyes and saw Palmer had collapsed over the teller's window; seemingly unconscious. Ethan looked towards the doorway and saw Petal standing there, breathing heavily as the pink mist surrounding her dissipated.

  She walked over to him and held out a hand, "That was something. You look like shit."

  Ethan took the outstretched hand and winced as he was pulled up, reaching a hand down to his torso and feeling the dull pain set in from being shot. "Healing Touch." His body was restored and the pain cleared from his mind and body. He looked over at Petal, her reaction obscured by the mask. "Are you hurt?" He doubled over and leaned against her as the wave of lethargy washed over him.

  She shook her head, "No." She looked around, "But this is horrifying. I incapacitated the one with the gun. Is the other one dead?"

  Ethan shook his head, "No, he's unconscious."

  "Your…erm…costume is damaged." Petal turned away and Ethan glanced down again, less focused on injuries and more on his clothes. Only his sleeves with the hidden compartments, the back of his costume, and one part of his leggings were left behind. This unfortunately left his private parts exposed.

  "Oh, erm…thanks for telling me." He walked over to Palmer and stripped off his pants, pulling them up over his own. "Yeah, the fire Imbued is Park. This one is Palmer. I saved two hostages…but everyone else was dead when I got here." He felt a deep sense of regret at not having been able to save these people, but they were dead-dead, and he knew he could not heal them from death.

  Wait, I am like a holy class from those games I played. Some of them can resurrect other people. Nobilis?

  You are not capable of that.

  Petal helped him stay upright, "I know about the brothers. Detective Matthews filled me in. Know him?"

  Ethan nodded, "Yup. Is he your contact in the LAPD also?"

  “Yeah,” she said, her voice firm and slightly impressed, “Radiance, right? I've seen you on the news."

  "Yup. Good to meet you."

  Petal pulled off what Ethan could now tell was a small backpack she was wearing, pulling out her phone and handing it to him. "Put in your number. We can team up again in the future."

  Ethan obliged and filled in his hero name and his burner number before handing her phone back. He walked over to Palmer and picked him up, "You think you can carry the other one?"

  Petal nodded and waved a hand as more vines came in from outside and wrapped themselves around the two criminals - forcing Ethan to let him go. The two unconscious men were carried outside, with the two heroes following behind.

  There was raucous applause as they left the building. The surrounding police personnel were cheering the two as a group of SWAT units came up to apprehend the two criminals. Park was still leaking lava from his injuries and was left in the grip of the vines which had neatly wrapped themselves around him to keep him aloft a short distance from the ground.

  Detective Matthews ran up, "Good to see you both met." He looked at Ethan and his face turned to concern and worry, "Are you okay?"

  Ethan smiled under the helmet, "I was really, really injured. But, well, you know what I can do."

  Matthews clapped him on the shoulder and shook Petal's hand, "Thank you, both of you." He turned to look at the still airborne Park, "The media is calling him Firestarter. Suitable name, I'm surprised you were able to take him alive. No clue how we're gonna keep him contained." Matthews sighed, "How hot did it get?"

  "He shot plasma at me. Like a laser," Ethan commented. "And lava."

  "Holy hell…" Matthews stood there in shock, glancing over at the captive man. "Petal, can you keep him knocked out?"

  She nodded, “I have a pollen that can keep him unconscious. A medically induced coma might be the best way to contain him for the long term."

  She must be a medical student of some type, Ethan thought before speaking, "It prevents him from getting his due process…but given what he did here…" Ethan looked around as the various police and other emergency personnel began to catalog their fallen brethren and enter the bank to take stock of the deaths inside. "...I don't think you can get needles in him. He bleeds lava."

  Matthews cursed under his breath and stared up at the sky, "Come with me." He walked them over to the SWAT van and walked in, motioning them to join him and close the door. "Radiance, turn off that camera."

  Petal looked over at Ethan as he reached up and stopped the recording "Go ahead."

  Matthews nodded to Harvey who pulled out a phone and set it on speaker. After a few rings a voice came over the line.

  "You've reached the Mayor's offic-"

  "It's Detective Matthews. I need to talk to him. It's about the bank."

  "Right away."

  There was a click before a gruff sounding man came on the line. "Is it taken care of Detective?"

  "Yes, sir. Radiance and Petal were able to take them into custody. One doesn't appear to have any powers…but the other is extremely dangerous. He bleeds lava and can shoot the damn stuff. I don't think we can contain him."

  There was silence for a few seconds save for some heavy breathing. "What do you suggest?"

  Matthews sighed and glanced at the two heroes, "Honestly, sir, we can try to keep him in a medical coma. But I don't know how long that will hold given we know nothing about how anesthesia will affect someone like him."

  "Petal, Radiance; can either of you do something?" The Mayor asked.

  Petal spoke before Ethan had a chance to, "If we can keep him in an airtight space I can provide spores that will render him unconscious. We'll have to set up a feeding tube and get him on a ventilator, but it can be done. It's not the same as a medically induced com-"

  "Understood. Detective, I'll get all the equipment to the jail. Take those two heroes with you to make sure he doesn't cause any other problems until it's all set up." He sighed, "Oh, and you two heroes, can you come to my office at one o'clock tomorrow? We need to discuss this whole Imbued deal."

  "Yes," Ethan said. Petal made an affirmative noise as well. The phone call ended.

  Matthews turned to the two, "Alright, you both good to take the prisoner with me?"

  Ethan glanced at Petal, "I can get us there instantly. As long as she can keep him knocked out, we should be good."

  Matthews nodded and led them out of the van and over to the still-held-aloft prisoner. Ethan held up a hand, "Heaven's Gate," and the shimmering white doorway appeared. "Okay. Petal, can you get that plant ready? I'm going to heal this guy."

  She held up a hand, "Dream Dust," and a small flower grew from her palm and began to exude a small sphere of circulating, yellow particles. She nodded and put it under the captive’s nose. "You should have a backup, Detective, in case I'm ever indisposed or can't help."

  Detective Matthews nodded, "We’ll tell the jail nurses to have an anesthesiologist on-call.”

  "Healing Touch," Ethan placed his hand on Park and his wounds healed over, the lava stopping its flow. He breathed deeply and remained still. "Okay, let's go." The trio stepped through the glowing portal as the vines uprooted themselves from the ground and walked alongside them, carrying the prisoner.

  They emerged in the lobby of the police department. The detective explained everything to the few officers that came out to confront them, and within a few minutes they were putting Park into an airtight cell. Petal made more of the flowers and set them around the room as a doctor arrived with a nurse, wheeling in the necessary medical equipment.

  Ethan stepped outside and pulled out his phone, finally seeing the dozens of notifications from the news reporter he had interviewed with; Aaron Restor.

  

  I got to the bank but the police are keeping everyone away. Where'd everyone go?

  Ethan sat down in a chair and sighed.

  

  At the LAPD main facility. I'll give you the scoop in a bit. Go to the same park as last time. Thirty minutes.

  He put the phone away as Detective Matthews sat down next to him and handed him a water bottle, which he accepted graciously. Matthews smiled, "You did good today."

  Ethan nodded, "Glad I could help."

  Matthews glanced sideways at him, "Petal is some type of medical student - she's helping the doctor in there…What about you? I can't get a read on you at all."

  Ethan chuckled, "I want to keep my identity secret. There's so few of us who are using our powers for good causes…I have people I care about."

  Matthews sighed and opened a pack of gum, pulling a stick out and starting to chew it as he stared ahead. "That's the nice thing about being a lone wolf. I just go home to my cat."

  Ethan laughed, "You don't strike me as a cat person."

  Matthews chuckled, "I work long hours and sometimes am gone for a few days at a time. Wouldn't be fair to have a dog, working like that, now would it?"

  Ethan stretched and stood, "Do you need anything else from me? I have a reporter waiting to interview me."

  Matthews nodded and stood also, holding a hand out, "I need the video."

  "About that. I need to make a copy first."

  Matthews looked slightly irritated, "Why?"

  "I just had my first really tough fight. I almost died. Ever seen your own sternum? Or your leg scorched to the bone?" Matthew’s face paled over as he stopped chewing his gum, the reality of what Ethan had gone through beginning to settle in. "I got burned so badly that my nerves stopped working. Plus, I got shot." Ethan looked down at the floor and exhaled before looking back up, "I need to know what I can do better. I need to look at the video and see what I did wrong. Learn from my mistakes.”

  Here here, Nobilis cheered with a dry voice. That is the proper way to go about this.

  Matthews nodded and looked deflated. He put a hand on Ethan's shoulder, "I get it. Just try and get it to me in the next few days if you can." He waved over a nearby officer who had a set of pants and shirt, handing them to Ethan. "Consider this a souvenir."

  "Ahem-" Both men looked sideways as Petal walked over. "Gentlemen. My work is done. Detective, I look forward to helping again." She turned to Ethan, "Radiance…do you mind if we talk? Privately."

  Ethan nodded, "Heaven's Gate." The portal opened and he gestured for Petal to walk through. She acquiesced and he nodded to Matthews before stepping through himself.

  They were atop the skyscraper, at the highest point. Petal grabbed the pole nearby and screamed, "Ahh! The hell! Why are we so high?!"

  Ethan laughed and sat down, changing into the new clothing, "Don't worry - I can rescue you if you fall. We're this high up because I can see everything from up here." He frowned, “Almost everything,” he muttered as he knew he hadn’t seen the bank robbery in progress, and that had cost lives. With the whole situation now resolved, he felt the tiredness wash over him again.

  Petal slid down to a sitting position, still gripping the pole with all her might. "Vine Embrace!" She shouted as a cluster of vines grew out of her back and wrapped around the pole. She relaxed after tethering herself. "What do you mean you can see everything?"

  Ethan tapped his faceplate, "Holy Sight. I can see really, really far. Along with some other things." He could see a blue colored sphere covered with green vines within Petal's torso. "I can use divine light to do all kinds of things. Warping, healing, and using it to dish out some damage as well."

  Petal leaned back and took in a deep breath, "Healing…that's a good power." She looked at Ethan, "I've seen some of your exploits online. You seen mine?"

  Ethan nodded, "I've seen stories here and there." He was genuinely impressed that Petal had done the good she had done so far.

  Petal sighed, "Yeah, well, it looks like it's just the two of us for now that are actually doing good with our abilities. At least here in L.A. Out of those who went public.” She sounded wistful, as if wishing for more Imbued with a penchant for positive power use.

  "Yeah. I talked to the Entity-"

  "What? When?"

  "Last night." He recounted all the information that the Entity had told him. She was quite shaken and her breathing was shallow when he had finished.

  "Wow…so some…god gave us our powers. And we are the last chance to save our world from ourselves."

  "Looks that way."

  She stood up and punched her fist into her other palm, "We have to think bigger than just Los Angeles. I can fix climate change, at least, by making a ton of plants. Can you get me to the Amazon Rainforest?"

  Ethan shook his head, "I have to have been somewhere to use Heaven's Gate. Otherwise, it's line-of-sight warping…and I can't take others with me."

  She nodded, "Maybe I'll start small and see if I can fix things around here. There's some deserts I could inundate with local plant life." She looked out at the horizon before looking over at Ethan, "Think we can protect the city, just the two of us?"

  Ethan shook his head and stood up next to her, "No. We can't protect all of Los Angeles ourselves."

  "Agreed. Hopefully more heroes show up. Can you get me down to street level?"

  Ethan nodded, "Heaven's Gate." The portal opened and he gestured for her to walk in, "Keep in touch."

  She nodded and stepped through the portal. Ethan let it lapse, having sent her to the bottom of the building he was perched on. He stared out across the Los Angeles skyline.