Ethan emerged in a dim warehouse. He immediately crouched down to a defensive stance and focused all his attention on listening…but no sound reached his ears save for the occasional car passing outside.

  He looked around and saw trails of blood and splatter marks, vividly recalling being slammed over and over. "Heaven's Gate." A doorway appeared and he could see into his living room.

  Right, it's instantaneous now. He walked through and was shocked to see that everything was an absolute mess. Discarded food containers were littered all over the kitchen, clothes were strewn about, and the whole room was dark. "Treya?" He called out cautiously.

  The bedroom door slammed open, and she stood in the doorway, breathing heavily and clutching a box of tissues. She looked like an absolute mess. "...Ethan?" She whispered. He nodded and took off the helmet, letting it clatter to the ground.

  He rushed forward and hugged her, running a hand through her hair, "I'm so, so sorry-"

  She broke down crying and he just stood there silently holding her, gently rocking in place until she had calmed down. "Where were you?"

  "I died."

  She looked up at him, "Did it hurt?"

  Ethan shook his head, "I don't want you to worry about that. I bit off more than I could chew-"

  She clutched him tightly and sobbed into the crook of his neck. He held her head against his chest and rubbed her back reassuringly, “It’s okay. I’ll always come back. It just took a bit. I’ll never abandon you.”

  “…I know.”

  The two stood like that, long lost lovers in a warm embrace, for what seemed like hours. Eventually, though, Ethan knew he needed to learn more about what transpired.

  "What has happened while I was gone?”

  Treya shook her head. "I don't know. I've been here and…well," she gestured to the room and Ethan took in the sight of what could only be described as a depression nest.

  “You know I can’t die permanently. Why go to such a dark place?”

  Treya snuggled close to his chest and whimpered, “I didn’t know if you would really come back…now I do.” She looked up at him as a few tears fell down her face, “I won’t let this happen again. I promise.”

  He looked back at her with a tight smile, "Come on. Let's clean this place up first and make it feel like home again."

  The rest of the evening passed as Ethan worked into the night to restore his house to its former state. He ensured to cater to Treya's every need and provided her with the comfort he could. The following morning, he slowly got out of bed as she slept in.

  Let's see if anyone is still around to give me some intel. Ethan tried calling several numbers - Detective Matthews' line was busy with a full voicemail inbox. Agent Druthers sent him straight to voicemail after a single ring. His third try he got through to someone.

  "Go for Fred!"

  "It's Radiance."

  There was silence before the voice returned, "You're still around? Where have you been!"

  "I died. So did Stormbringer-"

  "I know; Full Metal Gangster showed off his corpse on a video stream. How fast can you get to the agency?"

  "I'll be over in a second, Heaven's Gate." Ethan grabbed his helmet, slipped it on, and stepped through the glowing doorway as he emerged in Fred's office, causing the talent agent to jump.

  Fred looked as immaculate as ever but was starting to grow a bit of a scruffy beard. "How'd you come back?" He blinked a few times, "And why are you in your pajamas?"

  Ethan smiled, "One of my powers, and obviously I just got up. What happened while I was gone?"

  Fred sat down in his chair and leaned back, gesturing for Ethan to take a seat opposite him. "Well, once Cheat Code and Full Metal Gangster showed up on a video with the corpse of Stormbringer in tow and claimed to have killed you…" He let the thought trail off before shrugging.

  "Let's just stay that Imbued from all over have grown more raucous. I've had my hands full with dozens of new clients - and so many have made such a big social faux-pas that I've been working almost non-stop trying to fix their image. Heroes and villains alike. But I'm only taking on those trying to do some good as clients."

  He lit a cigarette with trembling hands before taking a deep draw and relaxing as the smoke puffed out. He sagged into the deep chair, "I'm glad you're back. It'll be good to have an example for these other Imbued to follow. Plus, you can continue to improve your image and brand identity by getting out there and catching some of these villains. And, the Mayor’s initiative is still going strong – but they are stretched thin.”

  "Always thinking about the next business move, eh?" Ethan asked as he walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Healing Touch," he intoned.

  The change was immediate, as Fred's complexion grew much healthier - the wan appearance fading as energy coursed through him. He leaned over and hacked up a nasty looking glob into the garbage can under his desk. "Thanks…I needed that." He took another draw on the cigarette and smiled, "Looks like I don't have to worry about dying of cancer as long as you're around. And yes, always focusing on business."

  Ethan chuckled. He took a seat in one of the client chairs across the desk from his agent. "Well, I'm definitely back. Give me another day or two to be with my partner. In the meantime, you could try to get ahold of Detective Matthews or Agent Druthers-"

  Fred nodded his head, "Yeah, they both came by after I went public as your manager. I have their cards." He tapped the ashes out of his cigarette into an ash tray, "I tried to do damage control to prevent people from thinking you actually died. Part of that was coming out as your actual agent to the public - Radiance's agent, I mean. Not Ethan's agent."

  He smiled and finished off his cigarette with a long draw before smushing the few embers into the tray. "Anyways - shortly after that announcement I got a visit from both of them. Various demands were made - I just told them that you were on a break from the hero work to deal with personal issues. I don't think either believed me, but Druthers was pissed off. The detective just nodded and smirked."

  Fred leaned forward, "In other words - some people believe you are really dead; the video released online of your beating clearly showed that. The fact that your body disappeared when that grenade was attached…" he trailed off for a second before continuing, "Well, I'd say those who were fans absolutely believe you survived. Those who either didn't like you or real-life superheroes in general - they think you are dead. Druthers is in this latter category."

  "Doesn't explain why I couldn't get ahold of either of them this morning," Ethan replied with a sigh.

  "That's more easily answerable. They are dealing with this-" Fred picked up a remote and clicked a television that was sitting in the corner onto the news. Ethan turned around to get a good look at the broadcast.

  "-And there's no telling how many are being held hostage. The criminals have demanded ten-million dollars, a helicopter to be landed then abandoned on top of the building, and lastly a boat down at the docks. The police and FBI are on-scene, and The Getty Center is surrounded. Negotiations are still ongoing, and we will bring you more information as we learn it. Stay tuned-"

  Fred gestured to the television, "As you can see, there's this fiasco happening. As far as I can tell, there's no Imbued involved among the criminals. But hostage situations always turn out messy." He stood up and walked over to Ethan's chair, "You sure you don't want to get involved?"

  Ethan frowned slightly, "I do want to help out, but I have to check in with my partner."

  Fred smirked, "I get it - you have been dead for a month." He chuckled lightly, "Reminds me of Jesus Christ rising from the dead."

  Ethan shook his head and smiled faintly at the comparison, "More alike than you'd care to know."

  "How-so?" Fred asked with genuine curiosity.

  "I'll tell you later." Ethan stood up, "How long do these things normally go on? The hostage things, I mean.”

  "It depends on how long the police and FBI are willing to wait. Or how long until hostages are killed,” Fred curtly replied.

  Ethan nodded and opened another Heaven's Gate behind him, "I'll get on it in the next hour." He backed through the portal, and it snapped shut as he sat on the bed next to Treya. He gently stroked her hair, and she rose from her slumber - obviously the best sleep she had benefited from in several days. "Hey honey…wakey-wakey."

  She blinked herself awake slowly and smiled broadly as he held her close, "Hey hon. You're up early."

  He smiled, "I'm kind of restless." He stroked her arm gently, "You're my everything. You know that, right?"

  She nodded and nibbled on his arm gently in a playful manner, "Of course. Just like you're my all."

  "Well, I did a quick morning trip to visit my agent. There's some type of hostage situation going on at The Getty,” he said softly. “I’m a lot stronger now, so I don’t think it will be that dangerous.”

  She sat up and nodded slowly, "Promise me you'll run away if it looks like you're going to be hurt."

  He hugged her tightly and kissed her deeply, "I promise."

  She laid back down in bed, "No more than two hours! I want to go out to breakfast."

  Ethan smirked and quietly slinked out of the bedroom, shutting the door before going to the hall closet.

  He had cleared a bunch of the junk out the night before and made room for their mannequin stand that Treya used to make her various cosplay outfits. Now, instead of a costume, it held his armor set from within his Sanctuary.

  It took more time than a costume to don, but as soon as he buckled or strapped a piece onto himself, he could feel a surge of energy as the relics augmented his own innate powers. After five minutes, he had fully armored up and slid the helmet onto his head.

  The prior night, he had taken care to attach a small camera to the helm, along with a tiny battery - enough to record roughly an hour's worth of footage.

  "Heaven's Gate," he invoked the ability as the portal opened and he emerged onto his lookout point - the skyscraper he had looked down from so many times before. He looked to the north-west and could see the enormous hill and sitting atop it, The Getty Museum itself. He tapped the record button on the camera. "Leap of faith," he whispered as he warped and appeared atop the East Pavilion, next to an access door.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  He tried the handle and, as expected, the door was locked. Ethan slammed his gauntleted fist into the handle, shattering the metal in a single blow as the door creaked open. He strode down the stairs, unsheathing his blade and activating Crusade. The golden-white aura flared around him akin to the corona of the sun. The intense light that limned him surged upon the outstretched blade.

  Ethan activated Sight Beyond Light and scanned the building up and down. There you are, he spotted a large cluster of ten men with guns who had barricaded the Museum Entrance Hall. Their torsos each had a pulsing, blue colored sphere with no types of unique patterns. No Imbued there, he thought.

  Continuing his brief scan, he was able to find the hostages - in a building across the Courtyard where the Exhibitions were held. There were another five men with guns, and two who did not hold weapons, but whose souls were speckled with pattern. And two Imbued there. He shut off the power and waited out the few seconds of blindness before using Leap of Faith to get to the Entrance Hall.

  The warp was silent, and all the men holding guns were facing the main entrance. Ethan held up the blade. Holy Storm, he thought, as the wave of gold-white energy coruscated out from him - washing over the criminals and instantly rendering them unconscious. The energy cost was miniscule, and Ethan couldn’t help but grin at how strong dying once had made him. Well, dying once and scarfing down dozens of high-potency enhancements. "Too easy," Ethan muttered.

  Those Imbued are an unknown though. And your priority is the hostages, yes? Nobilis asked.

  "Yeah. I'm going to deal with that." He activated Sight Beyond Light once more and reached his palm out to the group of hostages. "(Mass) Rescue." Within an instant all the hostages were grouped in front of his outstretched palm, and the kidnappers began to move towards the Entrance Hall. Ethan pointed towards the main door as he shut off the vision-enhancement, "Run! Get outside!"

  The hostages ran as a large group, making it to the doors as a group of police officers dressed in riot gear burst in. They held guns up, "Stay there!"

  Ethan waved them off as his vision returned to him. "There's seven left. Two are Imbued. I'll deal with them - get the hostages to safety."

  The officers looked at each other before splitting into two groups; escorting the hostages and taking the unconscious robbers into custody.

  Ethan turned around and strode to the main courtyard. Glancing sideways he spotted the group of kidnappers running his direction. All of them came to a stop, and one pointed at him. "Who the heck is that?!"

  "Don’t' just stare, idiot! Open fire!" The five with guns unloaded a salvo against Ethan to no avail, the bullets slamming into the barrier and falling inert to the ground. "What do we do boss?!" One of them yelled to the two without guns.

  The first of these two Imbued, a woman dressed in a dark blue outfit with two pole-shaped weapons strapped to her back, shook her head. "I don't think you can do anything here. Finish up with the exhibit and then regroup." She nodded to the other Imbued, a slim, young man who wore a harlequin mask of purple and red. "Help them out."

  Ethan began pacing towards the two as the five with guns ran off, "No, stay. I insist." Leap of Faith, he thought, warping to the group of gunners, and unleashing another Holy Storm as they fell unconscious.

  The woman made some weird symbols with her hands and vanished in a puff of smoke. "Ninja powers?" Ethan asked aloud. "I mean, cool idea, but come on - that's a rip-off if I've ever seen one."

  The man in the harlequin mask made a rude gesture at Ethan, "You're one to talk. Get ready for Gravitas and Genjin."

  Ethan chuckled, "I'm guessing you're Gravitas?"

  The young man raised a hand as a dark sphere formed in his palm, "That's right. Get crushed into a black hole!"

  Ethan felt himself being dragged towards the singularity that had just formed - surprisingly, nothing else seemed to be dragged like he was. "Holy Smite!" He yelled as the beam of energy lanced out from his palm. However, the power was sucked right into the black hole. Crap. He can distort light.

  And you're about to be stabbed from behind.

  Wha- Ethan's thoughts were interrupted as he felt pain lance through his back. He turned his head to see the other Imbued - Genjin - reeling back for another strike with some type of hooked blade that had pierced through his barrier, his armor, but only cut the slightest bit into the skin.

  He caught the next blow on his own blade. To his surprise, the force behind him that was drawing him in grew more forceful, and he was having great trouble moving; his feet were starting to slide back.

  Genjin made a few gestures with her hands and suddenly Ethan was facing ten versions of her - each a different color. "You're done for! No one can stand against my Clone Barrage!"

  Ethan grit his teeth as each clone struck from a different angle - their hooked blades passing through his barrier and finding small seams of his armor. He could feel the slick blood flowing under the protective carapace. Leap of Faith! Ethan attempted to warp, but to his dismay he found he was still in the same position.

  That singularity is preventing power-based movement, Curator advised.

  Can't fight her in melee and can't use projectiles against him. He grunted as he slammed his blade point-first into the ground. "Divine Rift!" he yelled, using one of the Abilities he picked up from the books in his Sanctuary.

  The ground under him - and all around him in a thirty-foot radius - turned pitch-black. Enormous blades of gold erupted vertically from the black circle. Genjin was able to leap away just in the nick of time along with her clones, but the other Imbued - Gravitas - was impaled on the many golden blades.

  They vanished in a glimmer of gold as the ground returned to its normal hue, and the skinny corpse fell limp to the ground - pierced with enormous gashes nearly bisecting him - as blood poured out. Ethan ran over and slapped a hand on him saying, "Healing Touch," as the wounds sealed over.

  "You killed him!" Genjin shouted, her voice going shrill. "You're not supposed to kill. Heroes don’t do that!”

  "He's not dead. I saved him." Ethan pointed his blade at her, "And I’m Radiance. Revived and back from the dead." He took a combat stance with his sword aloft, "Come on, let's finish this."

  Genjin screamed as she and her clones leaped at Ethan. No longer restrained by the gravity well, he was able to respond to her attacks more readily. Her blows still snaked their way through every few hits, and Ethan could feel his stamina sapped away by the blood loss.

  Despite using his Healing Touch several times to recover, his foe was not letting up or seeming to tire. Wait a second, Ethan thought. There's only nine here. He activated Sight Beyond Light and spotted Genjin hanging onto a wall nearby. That explains why she isn't getting tired.

  Ethan pulled his blade back and brought it into a circle with as much force as he could, performing a whirlwind strike as he spun in place. The clones able to dodge backed off, but a few were caught and with a pop noise, vanished as his blade slammed into them. Ethan pointed at Genjin, "Holy Smite." The beam slammed into her at light speed, and she began to fall to the ground.

  But her body did not impact - instead, a large cloth, human-sized dummy fell in her place.

  "Ha! You didn't know I could substitute myself?" Genjin taunted him from her new position crouching next to Gravitas. She made a few more symbols with her hands before vanishing with the unconscious masked man. The clones vanished, and Ethan scanned around the area.

  Spotted you. The two villains were atop a nearby roof. Leap of Faith. Ethan warped next to Genjin and slammed the flat of his sword into the back of her head - catching her unaware and cracking her skull into the concrete.

  "Healing Touch," he said calmly. He sheathed his sword, shut down Crusade, and turned off Sight Beyond Light - bearing the blindness for a short duration. "Now to keep you both from running off - Chains of Light." Another Ability he had learned from the books.

  The two villains were bound back-to-back with silvery-white chains. That'll keep you from warping, teleporting, or anything else unless I allow it. He hefted the two onto his shoulder and warped back to the main lobby, depositing them on the ground before raising his hands as the officers that had secured the area raised guns at him.

  "Freeze!"

  "There's five non-Imbued in the courtyard," Ethan replied as he held stock-still.

  A stern, female voice cut through the clamor, "I'll take it from here Sergeant. Go secure the remaining criminals." Agent Druthers walked over to Ethan and gestured for him to put down his arms. "I thought you were dead.”

  "I was," Ethan chuckled as he gestured to his two captives. "The one that looks like a ninja is Genjin, the other is Gravitas. Not sure how you'll contain them-"

  Druthers waved his concern away, "Medically induced coma. It's the only thing we have. That, and supermax facilities. How long will those chains hold?"

  "Until I stop focusing on them," Ethan stated matter-of-factly.

  The FBI agent frowned and began to walk away slowly, gesturing for him to leave. "We have been doing fine without you these last few days. I have things under control. The Federal Government is getting more involved here in Los Angeles. I don’t need more loose cannons like you running around.”

  Ethan sighed, "Fine. Sure. You deal with the guy who can make black holes appear at will."

  She turned around at that and gave him a shocked look, "I'm…sorry?"

  "You heard me. Miniature singularities. Who knows if he could make a bigger one. It was selective, too. Only dragging me in. You would've all been killed."

  She strode back to him and put a finger against his chest plate, "Look here, you have no authorization. No permission. You're lucky I don't arrest you right no-"

  "That's enough, Agent." Detective Matthews walked over as Druthers backed off. "That's no way to treat a hero."

  "Listen, Detective. I don't like you, or the way your mayor is handling this situation. The Department of Justice wants every Imbued catalogued and their true identity discovered." She turned back to Ethan, "Tell me who you are, and then I can get you authorizations to act on behalf of the U.S. Government. Otherwise, you’re under arrest."

  Ethan shook his head, "No can do. I don't work for any government. I'm just out here to make the world a better place. It will endanger those I love." He smiled under the helmet, “And good luck trying to arrest me.”

  Matthews nodded, "Good man. Doing the right thing because it's the right thing to do." He glared at Druthers, "And I know why you want him so badly. Only guy who can heal up that failure in the White House and keep alive those geriatric fucks that control you. So run back to your handlers."

  Druthers glowered at the two men before storming off to a mobile command van. Matthews turned to Ethan and slapped him on the back, "Good job with this incident today."

  Ethan nodded as he reached up to turn off the camera, "No problem."

  "The good news is that you're back to help out. The bad news is that crime is up - in general. But some Imbued are running different crews. We haven't seen much of Full Metal Gangster - he's probably off fighting people intruding on his territory."

  "And Cheat Code?"

  Matthews shook his head, "We've only caught glimpses of him. He's globe-trotting, now. Assassin for hire, apparently. Not our problem for now. But now that you're back, who knows. He might come back to kill you again."

  "He can try."

  "Well, it's good to have you back. I'll be in touch." Matthews gestured to the taped-off area at the news crews that had gathered. "Go talk to your adoring public. Maybe news of your returning will scare off some of these outlaws." The Detective walked into the museum as Ethan walked confidently over to the reporters.

  He angled for one that he knew quite well. "Hey Aaron, want first dibs?"

  The friendly reporter was on-scene with his camera man Bill and pushed their way through the other news crews to get to the front of the tape line. "It's good to see you, Radiance! I knew there was no keeping you down,” he said with delight.

  "Good to be back in action. You want the exclusive?" Ethan asked as he tapped his helmet.

  "Oh, yeah! Let's go to the van." Aaron led the way as Ethan was peppered with questions from the various reporters around him. He kept his mouth shut until the trio were safely sequestered in the news van.

  Aaron gave him a hug and tapped his helmet, "I saw you die. Scary stuff. Good thing you didn't."

  Ethan shook his head and took the video card out of its slot, "I did die, Aaron."

  Bill turned around in his seat facing the small array of monitors, "No shit? What's on the other side?"

  Ethan looked past Aaron and handed Bill the video card, "I can't say what is there for the average person."

  "Can't, or won't?" Bill asked as he stood up. "Is there something after death?"

  "Yes," Ethan said. He turned back to Aaron. "I'll give you part of the story. Everything up to when I died and coming back. The other stuff…I don’t think I should share."

  Aaron nodded, and Ethan spent the next few minutes explaining the events leading up to his death and the tunnel leading to the white temple.

  He did not detail Sanctuary, instead telling the two that he couldn’t go to the temple and instead walked the other way before waking up in the place he died. At the end of the story, both Bill and Aaron were staring at him, dumbfounded.

  Bill broke the silence, "So some type of temple? Man, that must be, like, the gates of judgement or something."

  Ethan shrugged, "I came back here, so I couldn't tell you."

  Aaron let out a long, deep breath. "...That's a lot to take in. That there's something after death. I've been an Atheist my whole life, but now." He put a hand on Ethan's shoulder, "You need to tell people."

  "What? Why?"

  "Imagine how people would feel if they knew that there was something beyond. It would validate so many religions. It could scare people into being better with fear of judgement."

  Ethan felt a shiver of disgust run down his spine. Something about that idea just seemed wrong. "Fear shouldn't be used to control people. Look at any dictatorship from around the world. And imagine if everyone out there suddenly found out about an afterlife or whatever the fuck that temple was – how many would just up and kill themselves to go there? Or go start some holy war because they think their religion is right?"

  Bill sat back in the chair, "I'm staying out of this. I'm all about that Buddhism. If you came back, maybe I'll go through samsara, or finally get out of the cycle."

  Ethan nodded, "Maybe. I can only retell my own experience." He sighed, “I just think its something that should be approached with a gentle touch. And I do not have the brains for that.”

  Aaron cursed under his breath, "Fine. But I still think you should tell people. Just making my stance perfectly clear."

  "I understand,” Ethan replied. “But I need to talk to people who are smarter than me to help figure out the best way.”

  "Good." Aaron seemed flustered and gestured to the van door. "If you will please. We have work to do."

  "No interview?"

  "I'm not feeling it. Not after that. I need to go talk to my old pastor from when I was at church. I have some getting right with God to do."

  Ethan opened the door and was surprised as Bill piled out after him, shutting the door before leaning against the van. "Give him a little bit of time. His whole world view was just challenged. Some folks deal with that easier than others."

  "Will do. You two still have the exclusive interview whenever you want to do that."

  "I'll reach out. Here's my number." Bill handed Ethan a slip of paper before getting back into the van.

  As other reporters began to swarm around him, he used Leap of Faith to warp to a nearby hill, and then Heaven's Gate to return home.