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  Angellica was a 23 year old Chilean that had just graduated from her college with flying colors, with a very bright future surely ahead of her. She was currently on holiday with her family in New York, just to sightsee before she went off to do her master’s degree on criminal psychology. She had a caring family, went to a good university, had good grades, was a likeable person, and didn’t face any hurdles too big for her in her lifetime. She hadn’t awakened any powers yet, though, and at her age it was extremely likely she was just a cripple, but she didn’t let that setback stop her. And yet, despite all this, there was just one tiny little thing that was different in her compared to everyone else, something she had to keep hidden at any and all costs, no matter what. Angellica was a psychopath. Not in a metaphorical or figurative sense, but in a clinical and literal one. Ever since she was a child, she had noticed something was different about her. When watching a movie and someone died, people around her would cry - but Angellica didn’t feel anything. When she saw homeless people begging for money, her sister would make a sad face and ask their parents to give them some money, but Angellica felt nothing. When her great grandma died, the only mourning Angellica did was because she’d miss the cookies her grandma baked. She was physically incapable of feeling empathy for others, and she realised that something was very clearly wrong with her. Until one day, she finally decided to do some research, telling herself that she would find out why she was different once and for all. She searched up her symptoms, read some books, and quickly came across the word psychopath.

  Next she looked up that word in specific, and quickly came to the realization that she fit all the descriptions and psychological profile. Right next to those results, when looking for that word, were the horror stories about psychopaths plastered all over the place. Article after article about horrifying killings and horror movies, “Top ten worst psychopaths” or “Why X movie is the best depiction of a psychopath.” This annoyed her a little, like she was being treated like a zoo animal; something to be stared at with fascination from afar. But despite this she didn’t really blame other people for this behavior, she could easily understand why they would be so fearful of people like her. It only took a little bit of introspection for her to realize that, being honest, she would have no issue killing someone if she ever felt like it. It might even be fun. So really, how could she blame someone for being scared of dying? But then, after a little bit more digging, she discovered something far, far worse. What happens to psychopaths? Not ‘what did they do to others,’ but rather what happened to THEM. What would happen to HER? Angellica's heart rate spiked and sweat ran down her back as she continued to read, her eyes widening fearfully. They get sent to psychiatric clinics for the rest of their lives?? Under surveillance 24/7?! Shunned by society- Oh no. Oh hell no!! At that moment, seven year old Angellica understood something very important; she could never ever allow herself to be found out. Ever since then, she had done her utmost to never get discovered, no matter what.

  And she had succeeded. Angellica had worked very hard, researching psychology from a very young age to study normal people. She at first was seen as a rather peculiar kid due to her nature, but the more she understood, the better she was at copying people. She had learned to quickly look at faces when in a public environment, figure out what emotion they were feeling, and then scrunch up her face to emulate it. For example, at a funeral it was very obvious people were sad, so she acted sad too. It got a bit harder with subtle things, such as figuring out if someone was being serious or merely sarcastic, but she learned to notice the little things too. She learned to cry on command, and she learned to smile when people told her ‘good’ things and to frown when told ‘bad’ things. Eventually, she became very popular and was considered by everyone to be a very upstanding, ethical person. She learned to live with her condition, and she was satisfied with her life. She didn’t let her cripple status mess with her, laughing at the idea that something like that could impede her while she was already dealing with something far worse. She had it all planned out too; after this short vacation with her family she would go back to Chile, finish her university studies, become a professor in psychology, and get enough money to live a comfortable life until she died.

  And then it all came crashing down. That day, Angellica and her family had gone out to eat lunch, after which she decided to spend some time at the library while the rest of them returned to the hotel. Angellica sighed, closing the book after a few hours and putting it back on the shelf, rolling her eyes at how dumb the book had been. Really?! There was no character progression at all! The main character was just a Mary Sue and the love interest was as uninteresting as a board. What a sad excuse for a fantasy novel. She left the library and yawned, thinking about how a better written book about knights and angels could look like. But then she paused, blinking a few times as the ground below her began to shake violently and people all around her began to panic. An earthquake?! Her eyes widened in fear, taking a few steps back as she looked up and saw the massive skyscrapers begin to sway from side to side, multiple of them already beginning to topple over, plumes of smoke and clouds of dust popping up all over the city. A guttural and monstrous roar engulfed the area as she saw literal claws slam into the top of the hotel where her family was, gripping the roof as another set of claws rose up and grabbed a second building, toppling it over. The head of the gigantic monster rose up from behind the building as it unhinged its jaw to let out another terrifying roar into the sky. The beast looked like a lizard if it had the anatomy of a gorilla, with long hanging arms tipped with razor sharp claws and a flat yet scaly face with sharp teeth lining its almost human-like grin. Angellica froze, her heartbeat pumping faster than it had ever had as it seemed like the world turned to slow motion. A monster this massive appearing in such a populated city out of nowhere?! That thing was taller than some of the skyscrapers!! What hero could even deal with such a monstrosity?! I’m going to die. Angellica thought as she saw the monster shove the hotel towards her direction with its freakishly long arms, the entire building crumbling like it was made of wet paper and she braced herself for impact.

  Except, after a few moments, Angellica slowly opened her eyes again and looked around. The building had all collapsed around her, and yet there was an almost perfect circle right around where she had been standing, leaving her unscathed save for getting dirtied by the dust cloud, her blonde hair seeming more brown than yellow. She looked around a bit more, her eyes wide and frantic, her heart thumping inside her chest, the monster roaring again as it destroyed another couple of buildings with a lunge of its arms, the entire city ablaze with destruction and the guttural screams of panicking people. I… I’m alive?! I’m ALIVE?! She gasped, in pure disbelief at her situation; at her sheer luck. A situation like this was like something straight out of a terribly made story, where the main character had ridiculous levels of plot armor and survived things that should have most definitely killed them. And yet… and yet she was right there, standing, alive, unscathed by a building collapsing on top of her. Despite the ridiculous situation unfolding before her, Angellica was smart enough to decide that it was better to ponder her survival somewhere safe rather than standing around dumbfounded while a gigantic monster ravaged the city merely a few blocks away, turning around to run in the opposite direction while sweat ran down her face and she gasped for breath. But then, right as she was beginning to move, her eyes landed on something that zapped all of her attention.

  She paused, her eyes widening as she stared directly at the disfigured and mangled corpse of her mom. Angellica sharply took a breath in, looking to her left while shaking her head violently and seeing the crushed remains of her dad instead. Angellica turned a ghastly pale, feeling bilge rise up her throat while her extremities began to shake uncontrollably. Oh god. Oh god oh god oh god. She turned around once more, this time spotting her sister. Her grandma. Her grandpa. Every person she had been on vacation with had all died right next to where she was standing. Angellica’s pupils began to shiver, holding up a hand to her head and clawing at her hair in desperation as she stared at the corpses. What… What is this?! What is this ridiculous situation?! She asked herself again, her other hand gripping her chest as her heartbeat only became faster and faster, tuning out the sounds around her while she crumbled to her knees and vomited on the floor violently. How could something like this possibly be real? Surviving the falling building was already something out of a badly written story, but this was straight up unbelievable. The world around her was spinning, and she felt like she was about to pass out on the spot.

  Angellica didn’t even feel sad. She physically couldn’t feel sad, even in the face of the corpses of all of her supposed loved ones. But what she did feel was horror. Utterly terrified beyond belief. N-Now how am I going to pay for university?! Oh god- will I go homeless?? How am I going to eat? How do I even get back home? Do I even have a home anymore? What am I going to do?! Angellica’s eyes darted all around the floor in a panic, vomiting a second time and nearly collapsing as her arms almost gave up in holding her up, entire body shivering while cold sweat ran down her body and she hyperventilated. She clutched the ground and clawed at the asphalt until her fingers turned raw, and still she couldn’t calm down. Whenever she looked up, she’d be met by the ghastly bodies surrounding her, only making her vomit again. The monster roared. Her ears rang. And in that moment, muscle memory kicked in, and she did what she always did when she was unsure of what to do; copy people. What does everyone else do in situations like these?! That- That’s right… They feel sad. She thought on a whim, tears appearing in her eyes as she began to uncontrollably sob. Not because she was actually sad, but because she knew that that’s what people in her situation would do. What else… What else do people do in a situation like this?! She demanded to know from herself, gritting her teeth.

  If a loved one is killed by someone else- yeah, that’s right. Revenge, they seek revenge!! She thought, slowly getting to her feet and turning to look at the monster currently tearing down another building. Of course. Normal people would seek vindication. They would want justice for those they care about. She chuckled to herself, almost as if amused at her own insanity. That’s what I’m supposed to do, too. I’m supposed to avenge them. I… I am supposed to kill that thing. I will kill that thing. Something snapped, something that had been tied in a knot inside her since birth. Her eyes changed, narrowing as the pleasant light blue of her irises shifted to an intense shimmering golden. Her entire body began to radiate energy, the very air around her beginning to fizzle with power as if an aura had engulfed her body while she slowly got to her feet steadily. Her long blonde hair even began to float behind her, as if she was in a zero gravity environment. Angellica stared up at the disgusting face of the monster ravaging New York, her fists clenching as she slowly took a step towards the creature, her foot hitting the air in front of her as if it was solid, letting her rise up through to the sky on an invisible staircase. Kill it. That’s all you need to do, you have to kill it. Be normal, Angellica. KILL IT. She kept repeating to herself over and over, her mind solely focused on its one and only task, everything else becoming null and unimportant. Step after step, Angellica slowly rose in the air, her heart rate slowly going down as her mind centered on what she was doing, guiding herself on instinct and the logic of simply emulating what she assumed a normal person would do. It was what she had done her whole life, after all, so it all came naturally to her - or so she assumed. News helicopters were circling all around like vultures, ambulance and police car sirens reverberating through the air all over the city. Association heroes would surely appear at any moment, as well. But none of that mattered to her right now. She rose into the air, her entire body glowing in a pure golden light, highlighting her pale skin, her eyes literally igniting into trailing flames while clutching her hand into a fist. The vomit, dust, and blood on her clothes and hair burned away in a sudden blaze, dissipating into pure energy. Step after step, rising higher into the air, time flying by as she merely continued to walk forward. It took a few minutes, but eventually she was standing at eye-level with the monster, floating several dozen meters in the air.

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  Angellica took a deep breath to steady herself one final time, her blazing eyes focusing on the monster, her movements guided by an instinct she had never felt before. The creature toppled another building, roaring as it stomped on the fleeing civilians below aggressively, swinging its arms in a blind rage. The floating girl placed her left hand before her, closing her hand into a fist as a golden arch manifested suddenly in her grasp. A golden bow, made of pure energy condensed, her fingers wrapping around it confidently. Her other hand reached behind her back instinctually, a golden arrow manifested in her grasp, pulling it out of an imaginary quiver and nocking the arrow. She pulled back the string slowly, despite having never shot a bow before in her life, until the string became completely taut. She closed her left eye, focusing completely on the enemy in front of her, the energy surging around her intensifying into a blazing golden aura. She let go of the string, the bow evaporating in her grasp as the arrow created a sonic boom as soon as it began to fly. The potent blast of wind from the shockwave made Angellicas’ clothes and hair flutter behind her wildly, yet she remained fixated in place in the air. The arrow flew through the air at such speeds that all that the news cameras were able to capture was a but an amorphous streak of golden light as it impacted the monsters’ left arm. A blinding flash of golden light engulfed the creature, followed soon after by a deafening booming sound as the entire monsters’ shoulder was vaporized instantly, its arm falling to the ground and causing a second loud boom as it cracked the pavement underneath. The monster screamed, its eyes bloodshot in anger as it reared around to stare at the oversized firefly floating in the air half a kilometer away, blood beginning to pour out of its open wound like a waterfall.

  The beast roared in furious animalistic anger, its gaze stuck to Angelica like a predator that had locked onto its prey, wildly and uncontrollably flailing its remaining arm like it was a hammer while sprinting at full speed towards the nascent hero. Despite the several dozen meter tall titan with murderous intent rushing directly at her, Angellica remained completely calm as she floated in the air. She slowly extended an arm above her head with an open palm and fingers pressed together, as if rearing back a karate chop, feeling the air around her sizzle and pop audibly as it came into contact with the sheer energy emanating from her body. Massive golden symbols and runes began to carve themselves into reality in the air behind her as if being etched directly onto the fabric of the universe, weaving into each other as more and more of those golden unknowable inscriptions joined the first, a circle slowly beginning to form. The disk of runes only continued to grow in size until its very edge was touching the floor below, Angellica remaining at its center. The disc came to completion shortly thereafter, a metallic material beginning to emerge out of it as if it was a portal, the very light condensing into a physical object of immeasurable size. Angellica slowly closed her open hand, wrapping her fingers around the bottom of the rod-like hardlight conglomerate, her entire body far too comically small for even a fraction the weapon that was being crafted behind her, yet she seemed unbothered by this. Her pupils were set aflame as soon as her fingers touched the material behind her, literal fire emanating from them and trailing behind her almost like a flickering and smoking eyeliner. Meanwhile, out of her back, a pair of wings made of pure flames suddenly sprouted and unfurled gloriously, yet somehow leaving her clothes and skin intact. More and more of whatever was forming in the sky out of the golden disc came out, taking a more familiar shape as Angellica pulled on the handle, lifting up her creation with jaw-dropping ease. Number One spoke finally, her voice carrying so much sheer energy it sounded both angelic and horrifying, like a chorus of pure lightning instead had possessed her, “Excalibur.” She then merely lowered her arm in a simple swinging motion from above, bringing forth what could only be described as pure annihilation.

  The disc of golden energy shattered magnificently, its purpose complete. The sword’s blade cut through the air like an arc, leaving behind a trail of light so bright it was as if the sword was continuously expanding rather than moving. The monster roared once more and continued to rush towards Angellica with single-minded purpose, extending its remaining hand towards her, hellbent on crushing the psychopath, its index finger mere centimeters away from the blazing sun that was its opponent. Then, the descending weapon’s edge went through the monster’s head, a flash of light emanating from the incision point. There wasn’t even a sound while the sword was swung, the blade simply slicing cleanly without losing even a bit of momentum, the golden construct cleaving through it with as much ease as it had the air. It all happened in a moment, although it felt like slow motion, the sword’s tip eventually hitting the ground after having gone through the entire monster’s being, embedding itself into the ground diagonally while its handle remained in Angellica’s grip.

  The explosion caused by the sword hitting the ground was incomparably more potent to that of the arrow previously. Multiple civilians went blind and deaf permanently, and all of New York felt the rocking impact. The ground rumbled so violently that for a split second it made the earthquake from earlier look like child’s play. But once the flash of light finally died down and people could see again, the carnage was all too evident. The left half of the monster was laying on the smoldering floor, while the right half had slammed into another building and was causing it to topple too. The monster’s feet were vaporized by the explosion caused from the sword striking the ground, a large area all around the epicenter of the strike having been reduced to smoldering charcoal and embers. The gigantic sword had disappeared in an instant, along with the golden symbols and runes as well as the heavenly portal it had come out from. Angellica remained floating above the ground, staring down apathetically with her blazing eyes, watching the cleanly cut corpse of the monster with disinterest. I did it. She managed to think, suddenly stumbling in the air as all the fire and intense aura around her vanished with a sputter, her eyes closing as her body and newfound powers failed her, causing her to hang limp and plummet from the sky.

  She didn’t even have the strength to panic, much less to save herself. Is this how I die? But I did everything right… I did everything like I was supposed to… Didn’t I? She lamented her fate for a few seconds, slowly opening her eyes with great effort to watch as the ground got closer and closer, barely able to even fear her own death. That was until she felt something catch her mid-air, causing her to change trajectory yet still continue her descent to certain death. She blinked a few times, slowly looking up as she made out the sound of a man cursing any number of obscenities. Her eyes fluttered fully open, narrowing as she looked up at… Number Seven? Is that really Immortalis? Am I hallucinating? We’re still falling, though. She thought absent-mindedly, looking down at the rapidly approaching ground. Seven grabbed her from below and held her up above his head, gritting his teeth as his feet made contact with the ground, immediately shattering as his straightened body took the full impact of the fall one bone at a time; slowing their fall to the point that Angellica barely even felt the collision despite the agonizing sounds coming from the man below her, allowing her to safely step on the ground next to the extremely distorted and shattered corpse of the hero shortly thereafter, her feet getting wet with his blood. Angellica groaned, grabbing her forehead as she slowly looked down at her savior’s remains, feeling like she was in a dream and none of this was real. It shouldn't be real, after all. Had she really done all of that? Destroyed a monster that large? Had she really awakened her powers this late in life? She wasn’t sure how to even react. She felt too astounded and shocked to even think about anything at all.

  Seven got to his feet after his body came back together five seconds later, muttering in annoyance. “Are you stupid?? How are you going to turn off your power in the middle of the air?!” he aggressively asked the strange woman in front of him, jabbing a finger at her forehead. Angellica blinked a few times, “O-Oh. I’m sorry I just-” Seven rolled his eyes looking away, “ONE meter, you idiot. Had you been only ONE meter further away from where I was on that building’s roof, you would be a red puddle right now!! Ugh, and look at my poor neighborhood!!” he exclaimed in distress, putting his hands to his head, staring at what remained of the area the monster had rampaged through. “This day CANNOT get worse I swear!!!” the hero continued to lament, tightening his hands into fists and shaking them aggressively in the air. Angellica looked down at her hands, feeling extremely tired and barely functional. She was in pure disbelief at everything happening around her. She had… she had just acted on instinct, that was it. She wasn’t even sure if she could do something like that again.

  “Don’t be too harsh on her, Immortalis,” I then said with a wide grin, walking in behind them both and raising an eyebrow, “Plus, you should learn to be nicer to your brand new Celestial buddy.” They both turned to look at me in surprise; Seven’s eyes widening as he nearly took a step back in shock, while Angellica looked up at me and blinked a few too many times in continued disbelief. I sighed and put my hands behind my head as I resumed what I was saying, “Whatever the case… welcome to the Celestial Ten, Angellica. Your new position as Number One will suit you nicely, I reckon. It’s about time I got a promotion anyway.” I turned to Seven, who was himself struggling to form a sentence. I smirked, my pure pitch black eyes narrowing playfully, “I think the title ‘Number Zero’ would be good enough, dontcha agree?”