A phone on the wall rang, and Walter picked it up. “Yeah…okay, we’ll get on it.” He hung up and turned to the group. “Not a bad guy, sorry Tyra. Huge pileup on the freeway. Right where 5 and 405 meet up, north near Sylmar. LAPD has their training facility nearby, so they are helping out – but there’s two unmarked chemical trucks that you need to secure.”

  Tyra shifted back to her human form with a deep, yellow glow before that faded and a pouty teenager – still in her dinosaur costume – crossed her arms. “We haven’t deal with any Imbued yet, I thought that was the whole point!”

  Big Jim walked over, “Being a hero means helping keep people safe. Come on, you can go Brontosaurus and help lift cars and shit.” He looked over at Ethan, “Got a way to get us there fast?”

  “If we have a video feed? Otherwise, we have to do two jumps.” He looked to Walter, “That okay?”

  “Yeah. Oh, reminds me.” Walter ran over to one of the work stations, grabbed a small box, and brought it back. “Earpiece for you. Everyone else has one. I’ll be here, coordinating and giving intel as needed.”

  Ethan frowned, “I’d have to take off my helmet.”

  Walter pointed to a side door, “Bathroom is over there.”

  Ethan took the box and went over to the room. “Illuminate,” he muttered as he felt the rush of energy surge through his body before a blazing golden orb floated next to him. “Max brightness.”

  Confident that any possible hidden cameras were now blinded, Ethan took the extra precaution of using Denial of Light to make himself invisible. Taking off the helmet, he took the earpiece and slid it in, finding it was quite comfortable and almost unnoticeable. Putting the helm back on and latching it in place, he let the two Abilities fade, and exited. “Okay. Ready? Heaven’s Gate.” The door opened and he pointed through it, “We’ll be up high on a building, so don’t go running forward.”

  Big Jim strode right through, while the two Bolts glanced at each other, exchanged something in sign language, and then both went through.

  Tyra broke her moody, emo-teen routine. “That’s so cool. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love my power, but teleportation?”

  “It’s warping,” Ethan replied as he walked through. Emerging onto the top of the skyscraper he looked to the north. Thanks to his Holy Sight, he was able to make out the crash site with perfect clarity. “Heaven’s Gate,” he stated once more as another portal opened next to them. “Everyone through!”

  Big Jim took the lead again, followed by both Bolts, and Tyra glanced back at Ethan before her body shifted into the small compy and dashed into the portal. Ethan walked after them and heard Walter’s voice in his ear, “Test.”

  “I can hear you,” Ethan stated.

  “Good. Looks like the tankers are on the north side of the pileup. Big Jim, Tyra, get over there. Bolt Twins, you’re on rescue and recovery. Radiance, I want you to get to Providence Holy Cross. Bolt Twins deliver to the hospital.”

  Ethan saw the Bolt Twins become a blur of their respective colors, and thanks to his visual processing he could actually follow their movement – but they were incredibly fast. Moving faster than Stormbringer’s fastest speed during their short desert training session. Right, they’ve got that covered. He turned around and spied the hospital, Leap of Faith.

  He warped onto the roof and went to the edge before using another Leap of Faith to get to the ground floor. People were already being brought to the emergency room entrance, and the Bolt Twins were zipping with people who were in varying states of injury.

  Ah. A simple task, Nobilis commented.

  I don’t mind, Ethan thought back as he used Circle of Healing. The golden orbs floated from his palms, tingling and sending a chill down his spine as he felt the raw power surging through him. The orbs ascended, spread out into their radius for the healing effect, and then flared bright gold and white.

  People were immediately healed, and Ethan pointed to the sidewalk, “Get out of the way. We don’t know how many are injured, and I don’t know how long my energy will last!” They began moving, and Ethan switched from the area healing to using Healing Touch on those that the Bolt Twins brought over with serious injuries. The people with minor bumps and scrapes, he ordered the doctors and nurses, “Move them into the ER and begin treatment. I’ll do a Circle of Healing after we deal with the serious cases!”

  Walter’s voice came through the earpiece, “Status update?”

  Ethan was about to reply but the Red Bolt replied first, “We’re doing a last pass for injured and survivors. Next task when that’s done?”

  “Tankers,” Walter replied. “Something’s going on with them, and neither Tyra or Big Jim know what to make of it.”

  Ethan stay put, healing the last few that the Bolts brought over. Blue Bolt stopped, and his suit was very threadbare, the shoes all but gone as he sucked in deep breaths. Red Bolt showed up a split-second later, also breathing heavily. She replied over the comms, but Ethan could hear her just fine thanks to their proximity. “Blue and I are going to have to pass. Our costumes are tatters.”

  “Right. Radiance, finish up the healing, then head over to the tankers.”

  Red Bolt glanced around as Ethan knelt, using Healing Touch once more. “Good job,” she stated.

  Ethan was near-shaking from the energy use, and he just nodded. Going inside he used one more Circle of Healing and staggered after the Ability went off, leaning against a wall. “Almost tapped,” he wheezed out.

  “Red? Blue? Mind going at…I don’t know, a fraction of your speed and helping Radiance over?”

  Blue Bolt walked over and put a hand on the back of Ethan’s head, with his arm running down his spine. He signed something, and then Ethan was moving fast as he was lifted and they accelerated. He could track everything thanks to his vision, but the speed they moved at left his stomach flipping and his mind boggled.

  This is a fraction? He thought. I couldn’t even imagine them going all-out in a fight. I’d never be able to respond. Good thing they’re on our side.

  Our side? Nobilis asked.

  You know, the good guys, Ethan thought back.

  He was stop and gently set down next to the large, metal tankers. Big Jim had lifted one up on his shoulders, whilst Tyra had transformed into an enormous brontosaurus and had gripped the other in between the huge, flat teeth and held it aloft. Both tanks were completely unlabeled. Big Jim spoke, “These things slosh weird. Not oil or gas,” he stated as he shook the tanker back and forth.

  Ethan could hear the sloshing inside…and it sounded…chunky. “Maybe we should move these somewhere open before seeing what’s inside.”

  “Hazmat teams will meet you Carey Ranch Park. Just to your east, off the freeway.”

  Tyra’s voice was deep, and bellowed out, but it sounded like she was speaking through clenched teeth. “Got it. This way.” She stepped off the freeway and began moving towards the baseball fields a few blocks away.

  Big Jim walked to the edge of the freeway and jumped off, dropping thirty feet down before landing on the ground and leaving impact craters. He grunted, “Fucking heavy,” he growled through the comms.

  Ethan glanced back at the Bolts, who both shrugged and dashed off, their blurs racing down the freeway before going to the offramp, and over to the park. Well, that’s good for them, but I’m not dropping thirty feet.

  Want to fly?

  I can do that?

  -----

  [New Ability Created: Angelic Eminence]

  [Effect: Manifests spectral wings of holy power to enable flight.]

  -----

  He felt the lethargy sweep over him, but saw out of his peripheral vision the glimmering, gold and white wings that extended out like tendrils before forming runic structures similar to the Circle of Healing’s manifested effect. That’s fucking cool, he thought. How do I use them?

  Think, and you will move, Nobilis replied.

  Okay. I want to go up- Ethan began ascending, almost like he was pulled up by a string of a celestial puppeteer. “Whoa!” he exclaimed as the ascent didn’t stop. “Okay, stop!” he hovered in place. “Forward.” He began moving forward.

  You don’t have to say it aloud, Nobilis critiqued.

  “I’m learning, give me a break…okay, fly towards the park.” He accelerated down and forward, flying towards the park. “Aaand stop,” he stated as he hovered a few feet above the surface. “Uhmm…how do I turn it off?”

  Just think about it.

  Turn off? Ethan thought, and the wings vanished as he caught himself in a crouch on the landing.

  “Talking to your Curator, I assume?” Walter asked.

  “Yeah,” Ethan replied as he began walking to the bench near the dugout where the Bolt Twins were already seated. He sat alongside them and watched as Big Jim and Tyra moved the tanks to the center of the dirt lot, set them down gently, and then joined them – with Tyra shifting back to a compy before she hopped up onto the bench. “Now we wait for hazmat?” he clarified.

  “A few minutes out,” Walter replied.

  Does Angelic Eminence just have an activation cost, and then its free? Ethan asked in his head.

  Yes, Nobilis replied. Just an activation cost, not a sustain cost. It is not nearly as fast as Leap of Faith, but it will be invaluable during combat, since it gives you three dimensions of movement. Just like Crusade, you activate it and forget it is active.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  Much more viable in a fight, he thought. But his questions in his mind were interrupted as he could have sworn he saw…something off about one of the tankers. The metal looked like it was very slightly bulging. “Anyone else see that?” he asked as he pointed.

  “What? The tanker?” Big Jim replied as he kicked his feet up and shoved the toes of his shoes into the chain link fence in front of them as a footrest.

  “No, the slight bulge,” Ethan replied as he stood up, left the dugout, and approached the tanker. He ran an armored hand along the exterior, and he definitely felt a slight bulge.

  And then the metal moved. He could feel something inside, gently tapping. Right. Sight beyond Light. What he saw almost made him retch as he backed away and reflexively drew his sword. Inside the tanker was a soup of corpses. Easily dozens of people, all congealed into gelatinous masses and controlled by something with a soul. He could see the floating orb in the center of the mass. And it was an Imbued, judging from the pulsating spiderwebs that covered it.

  Glancing at the other tanker, he saw more corpses. Left to rot, decay, and congeal into a horrific soup.

  Big Jim joined him standing away from the tankers and glancing down at the sword. “Neat weapon, but they’re just tankers.”

  “Someone is in there,” Ethan said as he activated Crusade and felt his energy drain as his knees quaked from exhaustion. The sword and armor augmented him, but he still had to use energy. “And it has a ton of bodies.”

  Big Jim frowned, and cleared his throat. “Walter, Radiance says there’s some-”

  “I’ve been listening. I’m having the Hazmat crew hold at the park’s edge. Investigate further. There should be hatches on top.”

  Big Jim sighed, “Whelp, no time like the present.” He stood up but Ethan reached his other arm out and grabbed him. The larger man wheeled on him and growled, “Hands off, kiddo.”

  Ethan shook his head, “If its poisonous or carries diseases, it can’t hurt me. Let me open it.”

  The man shrugged and went back to the dugout, “Fair enough.”

  Ethan used a hand and his feet to climb up the small ladder on the side of the tanker before going to the valve-door on top. Using his off-hand, he began unsealing it. The loud skree of rusted metal sheared through the air, and thanks to his Sight beyond Light still being active, he could see the creature inside stirring.

  Deactivating that Ability, he waited out the blindness timer until his vision returned. “Here we go,” he said aloud as he opened the top. The moment the opening was made, the horrific smell assailed him. Rotten flesh, sickly sweet, mixed with decay and rot. He reflexively took a few steps back, and his foot slipped on the rounded side of the tanker as he went crashing to the ground.

  Tyra left the dugout and ran over, “You good?” she asked.

  Ethan got to his feet and saw the sickly, brown-black morass of flesh, bone, sinew, rotten chunks of meat and raw, white cartilage leaving the container. “Incoming!” he shouted as he jumped back.

  Tyra leaped back alongside him right before the morass slammed onto the ground with a squelch. The blob moved – not fast, but with purpose – and began to climb up the other tanker. “The hell is that?!” the dinosaur-girl shouted.

  “No fucking clue,” Ethan said, fully bewildered. “But it’s an Imbued. I saw its soul.”

  “We have a soul?” Walter asked.

  “Who fucking cares, we have to stop whatever it’s doing!” Big Jim lifted the now-empty tanker and used it like an enormous hammer, bringing it crashing down onto the gelatinous mass that had now coated the other tanker entirely. The impact did not appear to do anything, save for dent both tankers and make gaps between the rent metal.

  A new stench assailed the group, and Ethan backed off further as he manifested the hand-held shield portion of his Crusade, the glimmering barrier appearing on his armor. He spotted the yellow flash of Tyra’s transformation next to him, and saw that she had grown in size and taken the form of a studded Ankylosaurus, with a huge, clubbed tail. “I’m not going near that thing with my mouth!” she shouted.

  The Bolt Twins dashed to Big Jim and pulled him away from the mass of gelatinous flesh, bringing him over to the group in the outfield. “What’s the matter with you?” the big man asked.

  Blue Bolt began signing, and Red Bolt translated, “It’s growing, and we don’t know what it will do if it touches flesh. You don’t have armor. Radiance does.”

  “Thanks, using me as the test,” Ethan replied.

  The mass ripped apart the other tanker and merged with the horrific sludge inside, merging with it and becoming much larger. It also began to take a form. A twenty-foot tall and just as wide blob, but a pair of pseudopod appendages grew out from the sides, and a large, circular bone surged to the front. Akin to a giant eye.

  Ethan heard something high pitched and buzzing, and glancing up he saw a remote drone that looked pricey. Walter spoke over the comms, “I’ve got eyes on it. I’ll analyze as you interact with it.”

  Ethan took a few cautious steps towards the still and waiting form, “Hi there,” he said. “I know you are – were? Are a person. An Imbued. I’m Radiance.”

  The bone sphere eye looked down at him, and he could hear a vibration in the air that turned into words. “More flesh. I need more to live.”

  Ethan sheathed the sword and held up both hands, “How’d you get here?”

  “Power. So hungry. I needed food.”

  “Right, but how did you get here? Who put you in the tankers? Drove you? All that stuff?” he asked, prying for further answers.

  “Cheat Code. Promised end to hunger. Made me this.” The voice sounded in pain – agonizing pain, and Ethan felt sympathy for it.

  “I’ve been fucked over by him also,” Ethan replied. “Can I try healing you? Are you okay with that?”

  “Take…the pain…away,” the voice responded in a warbling. “I’m so hungry. It hurts!”

  “I’ll need to touch you,” Ethan said as he pushed down the revulsion he felt and made sure to breathe through his mouth. He walked forward and held out a hand, “Healing Touch.”

  The golden glow suffused the gelatinous form, and the person roared in pain; the vibrations shaking the air around them. A vibration that shook him to his core. “It hurts! You’re hurting me!”

  “Shit! Sorry!” Ethan backed away and saw the pseudopod incoming – barely able to raise his shield in time before it slammed into him and sent him flying to the dugout. He crashed through the chain link fence, into the seats, through the wall, and then the bleachers behind it. The wood and metal snapped and bent as he came to a stop in the bit of grass between the edge of the seats and the parking lot.

  “You good?” Walter asked.

  “Fine,” Ethan grumbled as he got up. His armor, plus Crusade, and his shield getting in the way of the primary strike had kept him mostly uninjured. But he felt something snap in his ankle and growled, “Healing Touch,” as he repaired himself.

  Looking up, he saw that Big Jim had picked up the remains of the tanker and was using it to beat the flesh-person-blob, while the Bolt Twins had retreated. Makes sense, Ethan thought, they shouldn’t risk touching it, and I don’t see weapons on them. He had to eat crow, as he saw them rip bars from the bleachers and dash back in, bashing against the gelatinous shape.

  Tyra was sticking to the outside of the conflict, waiting for the pseudopods to lash out to then deliver a punishing slam with her tail.

  But they weren’t doing any real damage, and as Ethan ran back towards the field he saw Big Jim sent flying into the outfield before he slammed into the ground. The big man, true to his name, left a big dent in the grass. But he got up and reached out to one of the huge night light poles at the edge of the field. He ripped it out of the ground and ran forward as he slammed it down.

  The flesh-mound Imbued raised a pseudopod and caught the light post. That’s when Ethan got to it and shouted, “We can try something else! Stop being violent! We’ve got a smart scientist working with us!”

  “Liar!” the voice reverberated out as the huge creature lifted the pole, with Big Jim hanging onto the end, and swung it around towards Ethan. But Tyra moved her huge body in the way and her armored carapace took the hit with ease.

  Fine, then we knock you and then try to fix you. He ran forward and slashed at the gelatinous form – only for the blunted blade to bounce off. Fine, sharp it is. Sorry, person. He willed the weapon to do lethal damage, and saw the light limning the holy artifact harden and sharpen. Taking another slash, he carved off one of the chunks.

  The Imbued-mound didn’t seem to notice or emit any noise of pain, and the cut-off-flesh melted into a soupy liquid. Walter’s voice came over the comms, “Initial Analysis completed. Cut off the flesh from the main mass, and either damage it with energy-based Abilities like Radiance’s sword, or move the chunks far away.”

  Blue and Red Bolt dashed in with sharpened metal sticks, jabbing them in, putting their palms over the hollow end of the tube to make a vacuum, and running off to then release the goop on the edges of the field. “Got it!” Red Bolt shouted.

  The fleshy mass swung again with a pseudopod, but Tyra moved in front of Ethan to take the hit which let him take another slash, cutting off a large chunk.

  Big Jim snapped the still-sparking top of the light post off and jumped down the pole, bringing the huge light array smacking down onto the massive blob. It let out a roar of pain, and Ethan saw the bone-eye-structure crack slightly. “A weak spot!” he shouted. “The eye thing!”

  Blue Bolt blitzed up next to it – his costume completely gone save for the helmet – and jabbed the metal spike into the bone-eye. He backed off to the outfield as the flesh blob let out a cry of anguish.

  All of the goop began to slough off and liquify, and as the group backed off the bony sphere cracked open, revealing a very obese woman wearing a tattered sun dress. She was wheezing and had the metal pole lodged in her stomach. “I’m so hungry,” she said. “It hurts!”

  Ethan cautiously moved forward, “Stop attacking us and we’ll try to help.”

  She looked at him and he saw the fear in her eyes as she tried to scrabble backward, but couldn’t as her mass was too large. She instead rolled – like a turtle – onto her hands and knees before trying to shuffle away.

  Tyra groaned, “That’s gross and pathetic.”

  Ethan didn’t disagree with her, but also knew that there was a chance that she wasn’t always this way. It could be a whole host of issues – medical conditions, hormone imbalance issues, maybe even her powers caused her to be that way. “Lady, I’ll heal you. Just stop trying to get away.”

  “He said you’d hurt me! He said I’d have a ton of food in LA!”

  Cheat Code, Ethan thought as he felt anger pulse through him. He fucking did this. Sending this lady here. Nobilis, can he…Cheat Imbued powers?

  No, Nobilis replied. He may have been able to amplify or augment them, but his Curator is being very coy. I would imagine he is not taking direct hostile action against you by sending Imbued that he has convinced in some way or another. A way to keep my implied deal with The Entity from being affected by his antics. There was disgust to the tone, but also a sense of being impressed. Clever little shit.

  Ethan walked over to the woman, “Healing Touch,” he stated as the woman’s injury healed over. She rolled over and looked at him as he sheathed the sword. “I’m not going to hurt you. Cheat Code set you up. Let us try to help you.” He held out a hand.

  The woman looked between Ethan and something behind him, and she nodded slightly before grabbing his hand. “I don’t have my scooter,” she said sullenly.

  Ethan glanced back to Big Jim, “Mind helping out?”

  The man looked repulsed, but swallowed – audibly so – and walked over. “How can a gentleman refuse to help?” he walked over and helped Ethan pull the woman upright.

  Tyra and the Bolt Twins just looked on with some indiscernible emotion as they followed the duo help the woman over towards the Hazmat team. Walter’s voice came over the comms, “I’ll need to take blood samples, possibly tissue samples, and in the mean time I’ll ask the Mayor if we can get a lot of food to help her hunger issue. Perhaps we can use some liraglutide or semaglutide to help reduce the hunger. Get her to the Hazmat team, and they’ll take over from there. You all can head back.”

  Ethan and Big Jim got the woman over to the Hazmat team, and Ethan gently grabbed her hand as they set her on the stretcher. “We’re going to try and help you. Just keep it together. Okay?”

  The woman nodded, “Thanks…got anything to eat?”

  Ethan shook his head and glanced at the Hazmat crew, “You guys able to manage from here?”

  One of the men in a yellow heavy-duty rubber suit gave a thumbs up, “We’ll take it from here. Mayor’s office already called.”

  Ethan looked back to the other heroes and saw that the Bolt Twins had acquired clothing from somewhere. “Back to base? Heaven’s Gate.” He opened the portal and walked through.

  The rest of the group joined him and it snapped shut. He was exhausted, and just wanted to go home and sleep.

  “We made a good team there,” Tyra said as she clapped him on the lower-back with a closed fist, almost like she was knocking on a tin can. “Good job.”

  “It was a good job,” Walter replied as he walked over. “Fantastic, even. No casualties, just property damage, and we don’t have a villain on our hands.” His demeanor darkened, and he muttered, “For now.”

  Big Jim chuckled, “I need a fucking shower.” He headed to a staircase that descended down.

  The Bolt Twins signed to each other, and then the Red Bolt spoke up, “Good job. Same time tomorrow?”

  Ethan shrugged, “Since I can get anywhere quickly, I think I’ll just be on call.” He crouched down and fist-bumped Tyra, “Awesome fucking dinosaurs.”

  “I know! Just wait until you see the T-rex and me munching on some baddies!”

  Ethan wasn’t sure what to make of her making light of causing grievous harm, but he just shrugged and stood up. “I’m in touch if you need me. Oh, before I go, Walter.” He tapped his helmet, “These things can’t be hacked or tracked, can they?”

  “Nope. Custom design. You can take it home. Any USB-C charging cable will do the trick to keep it juiced up.”

  Heaven’s Gate, Ethan thought as he returned first to the tower, then back home. The second he sat on the couch he fell asleep.

  If you are liking this story, here's the full list of what I've written! Go check them out!

  Ruinous Return is a Dark Fantasy, OPMC, Isekai Empire Builder! [Amazon Link]

  Dark Matter Ascension is a Fantasy/Sci-Fi LitRPG Adventure! [Amazon Link]

  Last Lord of the Fey is a Progression Fantasy! [Royal Road Link]

  Shards of a Shattered Throne is an Epic Fantasy about gods! [Royal Road Link]

  Echo's Evolution is a Grimdark, Isekai, LitRPG! [Amazon Link]

  Imbued is a Modern Superhero story! [Royal Road Link]

  is a Pokémon FanFic, doing a Dark Fantasy take! [Royal Road Link]