The wind blew past Ethan as he stood atop the skyscraper, looking down at the streets and trying to spot anything within his prodigious sight that looked “off”. Not minor offenses like the handful of thefts and pickpockets he saw. Those are below me, he thought. I should be focused on larger threats than street level crime. The Bolt Twins can deal with that; and I’m sure we’ll get some street-level Imbued into the Initiative eventually.

  Already planning the expansion? Nobilis asked.

  Ethan walked around the building edge and nodded, Yes, he thought back. I think that the Imbued Initiative should be segmented out for different threats. I’m strong – no doubt about it. I could beat Big Jim or Tyra with ease given what I’ve seen of their capabilities. They would be street level. As he thought that, he spotted a large, feathered raptor chasing down a pickpocket a few miles away, and he chuckled as he saw Tyra catch the man in her claws before peeling away the purse and running back to return it. Just like that.

  And then the larger incidents you will handle.

  That is right. Ethan looked around the city, switching on Sight Beyond Light in bursts to see everything out to the horizon from his elevated view. Including spying on Full Metal Gangster, who was sitting in a spacious apartment filled with attractive women, drugs, alcohol, heavily armed men and women with guns…an idea flickered into his mind. I should just fuck with him a bit. He focused on the bottle of whiskey in the man’s hand and waited until he lifted it to his mouth. Rescue.

  The bottle appeared in Ethan’s hand, and he chuckled as he saw Full Metal Gangster lose his shit and begin screaming – at least if his mouth was anything to go by. Ethan set the bottle down near a service hatch – a free present for someone who might come up for maintenance. I should get a few different vantage points figured out, he thought. I don’t want to be ambushed because I go to the same place.

  He felt his phone vibrate and retrieved it from its armored compartment. “Go for Radiance.”

  “Ethan,” Treya’s voice came through – panicked and hushed. “Someone is at the university! They broke into the lab and are-” she cut off as the phone went silent.

  Ethan looked over to the USC campus and could see Treya, in a supply cabinet, with an Imbued who appeared mostly human coming toward her. “Rescue!” he shouted, in a panic. Treya appeared next to him, and he hugged her, “I’ve got you,” he said softly.

  She began crying and gripped him, “S-she k-killed my p-p-professor.”

  “What can you tell me about them?” Ethan asked, continuing to rub her back.

  She was sobbing in panic in between slight utterances. “Th-they c-could s-something with a b-big rabbit.”

  Ethan frowned and looked back to the university lab, only seeing the vague human shape. “I don’t see a rabbit.”

  “It was there!” she said, hysterical. “For j-just a m-moment. When m-my…she…” Treya sobbed again but tried to regain her composure to tell. “Professor killed. I s-saw it. S-she w-wants some research.”

  “Heaven’s Gate,” Ethan said as he opened a portal to Fred’s office and deposited Treya in front of his desk, in one of the cushiony chairs. The man was not present. He knelt in front of Treya, “Just stay here, and tell Fred that you’re my fiancé.”

  “Wh-why not h-home?”

  “Too close to campus,” Ethan replied as he stood up. “I have to go stop them.” He looked back to the university lab and activated Leap of Faith, warping the distance to a room behind and far back from the one that the Imbued was in.

  They were a room ahead of him and were rifling through various cabinets. The orb in their chest, their soul, was glowing a vibrant white with a single, red heart like that one would find on a playing card. Ethan kept quiet, turning off his Sight Beyond Light, and counted out the seconds of blindness as he remained hidden.

  He could hear the woman muttering to herself, “No, not that. Damnit, I thought they kept it in this lab!” He heard another voice. But it was subdued, male, and indefinite. As if it was coming from in front of him but without a definite source in the next room. “Oh, you are right!” She began coming toward the room he was in, and Ethan drew his sword and activated Crusade. The shimmering, golden barrier flared to life around him, and as his vision returned, he stood and turned to face the door.

  A young woman, dressed in a red trench coat, with a crimson cap that made her look like Carmen Sandiego, with deep, brown hair stood in front of him. She was wearing a neat suit underneath the coat and gasped a little bit as she saw him. “Oh, my. An Imbued.”

  The male voice returned, and Ethan could hear it this time. Clear, and low. “Bruise and crush?”

  She smiled and licked her lips, “Yes please, Thackery.”

  Something slammed into Ethan from his right, and he went tumbling through the air to explode through a lab table – the metal and wood splintering as he sailed past that and crushed into the wall. He went tumbling through that and down to the ground below where he was able to get his feet under him and land upright. The fuck was that? He thought.

  Unsure. Some type of invisible assailant.

  The woman stood at the hole in the building and looked down at him, “Now…why would you do that?” she asked. “Now we have an audience.”

  Ethan looked around and saw people who had phones out and were staring or recording. “Get away!” he shouted as he turned to face the woman – but she was gone. He began to question where she was, but as he spun in place to track her, he spotted the woman – holding a massive axe that had a black shaft and whose head was in the shape of a massive heart. Rescue! He thought, activating the Ability and warping the innocent bystander to his side a split second before the axe cleaved the air where they were standing.

  “Not nice,” Ethan heard from the deep, masculine voice – and the innocent bystander who was bewildered and panicked was wrenched from his grip and, to his horror, ripped in half right in front of him. The blood splashed up and sloughed off the figure holding the man. Easily ten feet tall and broad. Ethan made to swing at the thing, but he was hit from behind – the axe dug into his armor and through to his shoulder blade.

  Ethan spun around and saw the red-cloaked woman with a manic grin on her face, “I see you found Mr. Earwicket!” She swung the huge axe at Ethan, and he got his shield of vibrant, holy energy in the way as the woman was thrown off balance from the force of the strike. He followed up with a swift chop – but his hand arm was grabbed from behind and he was yanked backward. The world flipped in his eyes, and he was slammed flat into the ground.

  Leap of Faith, he thought as he warped into the skies above and caught his breath. Activating Healing Touch, he felt the pain soothed away with a soft, gentle heat. Below him, he could see the woman in red, merrily skipping from bystander to bystander and cutting them in half with her axe. Rescue! He thought as he focused on her.

  She was in the air next to him and looked at him completely unperturbed. “Oooh! Are we flying now?” She cackled and swung the axe mid-air at Ethan. He just extended his arms to go up and not fall as quickly, and she fell below his elevation as they both plummeted to the ground. “Not fair! Not here, not there, get where, March Hare!”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Ethan felt more than saw the presence of the hulking figure in the air above him, and he used a Leap of Faith to get more elevation, far up above the woman and the summoned, invisible entity. Where have I heard that name before?

  Checking against your Internet – the term comes from a character in Alice and Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. Given the woman’s attire, I would presume that her powers have something to do with the novel.

  Great, I’m fighting an insane Alice, Ethan thought back. How can I fight what I can’t see?

  Let’s resolve that.

  -----

  [New Sub-Ability Created: Piercing Gaze]

  [Effect: The user can see anything that is hidden or veiled by powers.]

  [Negative Effect: The user cannot see any non-Imbued or non-power-created effect, except for the environment.]

  -----

  Let’s try it. Piercing Gaze. Ethan’s vision shifted and he could only see the world in black and white. Black and white outlines of the buildings, streets, and city below. As if the world had been turned into a picture book from a bygone era where color didn’t exist on the page.

  Except for the woman in red, and the hulking, humanoid rabbit next to her that was wearing a ragged set of dress attire. Look at that, it is the rabbit from the novel, Nobilis observed.

  A jacked version, Ethan thought back as he saw the rabbit land first without any issue, then catch the woman in red without issue right after. Okay. Now that I can see them both – here we go. He raised a hand, “Chains of Light.”

  Golden chains of energy surged up and around the rabbit-man, wrapping him up and pulling him to the ground where he struggled. Leap of Faith, Ethan warped behind the woman and willed his weapon to convert to non-lethal damage as he swung at her.

  She spun around and caught his sword on the shaft of her axe, a deep frown on her face. “That was not nice! Let Mr. Earwicket up!”

  Ethan did not respond, instead shoving his shield forward and bashing the woman in the face. She staggered back from the rapid blow, and he began to advance.

  “Fine! We’re going to Wonderland!”

  Ethan’s vision reverted to normal. But the world around him was not the same. He was standing on a giant chess board. The skies above were swirling with purple and crimson that made a Van Gogh painting look like amateur hallucinations of the highest degree.

  The woman in red was standing atop a tower on the far side of the chess board, still holding her axe. Next to her was a tall, very handsome man dressed in a red suit of full plate, emblazoned with hearts, and wielding a large sword whose cross guard was a heart as well.

  I would guess that in this Imbued’s version of the novel, Alice – who they imagined themselves as a stand-in for – becomes the Queen of Hearts.

  Ethan wasn’t one for literature; often falling asleep in those classes in college, so he only had a passing familiarity with the characters. Including a host of creatures in front of him. He immediately recognized the rabbit – who had become even larger and more muscular; all covered in white fur and with a huge set of front teeth stained with blood. A group of mice who were all gathered together and squeaking in a rage. A short man with a top hat holding a tea kettle – and more. An entire book’s worth of fictional characters.

  Yeah, fuck that. Holy Storm. The world in front of Ethan erupted with gold and white, cascading, luminous, divine energy that utterly obliterated all of the fictional creations save for Alice herself.

  Her face morphed into a wide grin, and snapping her fingers, the characters all re-appeared. “It’s my Wonderland! And you are going to play with me!”

  No I’m not, Ethan thought. Let’s see you react faster than light. Holy Smite. The beam of light lanced out from his shield, slamming into the woman and dropping her instantly as she was rendered unconscious.

  But the Wonderland persisted. Odd. If it was an Ability manifested by her power, then we should be back in the real world, Nobilis observed.

  Unless she made a literal alternate reality with her power and dragged us here.

  Ah, Nobilis replied with a slight chuckle. This is her Sanctuary. She just pulled us into it. Her Curator is code named Cheshire. Intriguing.

  The various story book creatures began to charge, and Ethan weighed his options. Fight, run, or kill the woman. She murdered at least two people in cold blood. And she is gone mentally to some extent – but I need to try and fix her if I can. He waited until the front line – the hulking rabbit with its massive fists, the Mad Hatter with his boiling tea pot, the King of Hearts – and used Leap of Faith to get right next to Alice. Healing Touch, he thought.

  The woman gasped and sat up, hacking up black ooze in her lungs. “What? Where am I?”

  Ethan held his sword against her throat, “Not a move,” he said. “I’ll kill you if I need to.”

  She blinked a few times, “Sorry…I…” she looked around, and must have spotted the now-wheeling about group of story book creatures. “Stop!” she screamed at them. They did so, and she turned her head – slowly – to Ethan. “I…It’s all murky.”

  Ethan frowned under the helm, “You killed two people.”

  “It’s not my fault!” she replied as tears fell down her face. “I was out of my meds! I was part of a university study, and they stopped giving me the meds. My old ones weren’t working anymore. I needed more!” She gripped her temples and let out an exhausted laugh of relief, “The voices are gone. You did that?”

  “Schizophrenia?” Ethan asked.

  She nodded, “Oh God, you said I…I killed two people?” she began crying, and the tears came much faster. “I’m…I don’t…how do I make up for that?” She pulled her arms around her knees and sobbed, “It’s like when I was a kid again.”

  Ethan sighed and sheathed his sword. “I won’t kill you. But you did kill two people, and there has to be some form of punishment. What all can your powers do?”

  “I…I can pull anything from any story I read,” she replied.

  Like Cheat Code, but with literature, Ethan thought. “Then I have a proposal,” he stated. “You work for the Imbued Initiative. You pay off your debt to society, the deaths of those people, with helping others. If you can pull anything from any story you read – you have insane versatility.”

  “I…” she nodded numbly, “Can I get up?”

  Ethan held out an arm and helped her to stand. “Get us back to the real world, and I’ll take you to meet my friend Walter.” He made sure to drop his tone to that of a disappointed father figure, or admonishing superior. “Make no mistake; you did wrong. But you weren’t fully in control of your actions. That’s the only reason I’m not killing you.”

  She went flush but nodded again, “I understand. I’m sorry for the people I hurt…thank you for sparing me. I promise, I’ll do what I can to help out and make amends.”

  I have spoken with Cheshire, Nobilis said in Ethan’s mind. He has confirmed that she was suffering from a mental disorder, and she seems sincere in her promise.

  Well…we’ll see. Worst case scenario, I kill her and she comes back here permanently, Ethan thought back.

  The world returned around the duo, and Ethan immediately opened a Heaven’s Gate, pulling her through and into the workshop under the Imbued Initiative before letting it shut. “Walter!” he shouted.

  The man poked his head up from some project he was fussing over with a welder. “Oh, you’re back Radiance. Who is this?”

  Ethan spent the next few minutes explaining what happened, and Walter took a few notes on a small pad of paper. Alice stood there, silent and reserved.

  Walter sighed when Ethan concluded, “I’ll notify the Mayor’s press office to put something out. You don’t have to worry about that.” He looked to the woman, “I understand the issues you were suffering from and please, have my sincerest condolences. But, I must insist that we put a GPS tracking monitor on you.” The man looked at Ethan, and then used his eyes with several flicking motions towards the cube.

  Ethan got the message. Not just a regular GPS tracker. He's going to put that box tech into an ankle monitor. Neat. That's a really good way to deal with criminal Imbued.

  “That’s okay,” Alice whispered in response to Walter's statement. She looked at Ethan and her lip was trembling, “I…I’m sorry. I need to tell the people’s families-”

  Walter interrupted, looking back at her, “We’ll do that. Just let the Mayor’s PR office make sure they have the right story to present and give it the correct spin.” He looked at Ethan, “Good job.”

  Ethan shook his head, feeling a mix of emotions. He was angry at himself for not immediately going for the knockout move, and that had cost a person their life. He was sorry for Alice, who was a victim of an affliction that she had struggled with and was just trying to alleviate. He felt regret for not killing her and ending a possible threat. And yet, lingering in the back of all of that, there was a sense of pride that he had brought someone onto the Imbued Initiative’s side – one who had a very versatile power.

  He spoke softly to Alice, “Read a book that has some way to kill someone who can swap bodies, or who has extra lives, or something like that. Cheat Code has extra lives – I need a way to shut that down.”

  “I’ll…I’ll get on it,” Alice said with a glimmer of redemption in her eyes.

  Ethan looked to Fred’s Talent Agency, used Sight Beyond Light, and then used Leap of Faith to warp next to the man and Treya. Fred jumped slightly, and Ethan immediately pulled his helmet off and hugged Treya, “It’s okay. I dealt with the problem.”

  Treya had calmed down, but was still shaking a little bit.

  Fred spoke softly, “Well…I was just finishing up telling her about the new house. We can move you both in any time. I’ve got movers ready to go – they can slip into your old place and transport your stuff. Just say the word.”

  Ethan nodded over Treya’s shoulder, “Do it.” He turned back to Treya and brushed her hair with his gauntleted hand. “It’ll be okay,” he whispered to her.