7

  “Isn’t it great to live out your dream life right where you grew up? Yonkers is just the best,” Seven exclaimed with a gleeful smile, swishing a wine cup around in his hand like a cliche movie villain while looking out the window to the skyline from his massive mansion, which was perched on the edge of a rather tall hill, bordering on a small mountain. “Wouldn’t you agree?” he asked, a wide devilish grin spread across his face as he turned to look at the woman delicately serving him more of the alcoholic beverage in the plastic cup with a caricature of him plastered on it, and then down at the other woman wrapped around his arm who was caressing it gently. He loved, no, he adored this life of luxury. He had already lived a great life before becoming “number Seven”, but now that he had awakened his power and became a Celestial? Now he was truly enjoying life and all the luxury it could bring. “Of course, Seven! The state of New York is indeed the best, just like you!” the beautiful women agreed in unison, as if having practiced their lines beforehand, giving the hero a pleasant smile. Yeah, you two BETTER keep up the lovey dovey act. Seven thought smugly, taking another sip of the wine despite how much he hated the taste. He was paying them thirty dollars an hour each, so it was no wonder that the two women had absolutely no issue in partaking in the twenty year old hero’s antics - or at least that’s what he assumed.

  He was quite young, in fact, the youngest of the Celestial Ten. He also happened to be the newest member, having joined just about two years ago when he was merely eighteen. He had ascended through the ranks extremely quickly after joining the association; going from one of the lowest ranking heroes to ever beat the hero exams to being part of the Celestials in record time. His bright blood-red crimson eyes shone with careless youthfulness, glowing dimly as he shamelessly stared up and down at the woman serving him more wine lustfully. But more than carelessness, his eyes reflected that natural feeling of invulnerability all teens have - only amplified a hundred fold. He had a relatively scrawny physique, truth be told, although his short black hair contrasted nicely with his piercing red eyes. “That’s right, girls. I am the best indeed!” Seven answered with a boisterous laugh, a bit of wine falling off the edge of his cup and staining his shirt. He didn’t even like the taste of it, it just made him feel powerful and fancy to drink it. It didn’t matter that no one but these women were around to judge him for his choice of beverage; in his own mind he was hard at work forcing himself to grow used to the taste of various liquors and drugs in order to mesh with high society as best as he could. Ah, that reminds me… I’ve been procrastinating on “going shopping.” I should get on with that soonish~ He smirked, staring up at the ceiling with a self-serving grin.

  It was this very same seemingly obvious overconfident nature and total disregard for everything that made the very women currently serving him think they could ambush him and succeed. Seven, you are the most annoying brat I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. I’m glad we were sent to take you down. To think we were almost sent after Nine… at least HE is a good person. Despite serving the World State that is. The blonde woman that just served him wine thought, lifting up the bottle gently and taking a glance at her coworker while Seven chugged down the liquor in his cup, doing a short nod at each other to signify that they were ready to strike. The Rebellion’s enemy is the World State. Don’t take it personal, kid. The other woman thought, her eyes beginning to glow as a bright blue spark of energy began to show in her irises. The blonde woman gently set the bottle down on the counter, taking an inconspicuous breath while her own eyes began to smolder with a soft orange hue.

  “Hmm? Why so quiet all of a sudden? What’s wrong, tired of singing my praises already~?” Seven asked calmly, putting the plastic cup down and raising an eyebrow. Really? It’s not like I’ve asked much of you two, fuckin’ hell. What lousy maids. And then he noticed the light emerging from their eyes, his own quickly widening in surprise as he immediately tried to get up from his seat, “WUH-?!” What- They aren’t cripples?! What the hell is a non-cripple doing working as a live-in maid?! Albeit he realized it too late, and the women struck. The one around his arm fired a potent shock of pure electricity, using her entire body as a conduit and taking advantage of the fact that so much of her skin was touching him; the burst traveling through Seven’s entire nervous system in an instant, a bright blue flash covering the entire room, causing the lightbulbs on the ceiling to fizzle and pop. The light died down after a couple of seconds, the hero’s eyes wide open and bulging, all of his veins popping, his entire body entering electrical paralysis and twitching erratically. The woman who administered the electrical shock quickly knocked him over and to the floor before stepping out of the way, a wave of magma crashing down on the hero. The other woman’s arms outstretched as from the ends of it - where normally hands would be - an endless torrent of magma spewed out. Seven’s body crackled and sizzled, already beginning to melt while paralyzed. It took only a couple of seconds for his entire being to be covered in the smoldering liquid, but even then the woman didn’t stop, continuing to create a growing mound of lava. The electromancer took a step back, narrowly avoiding a drop of the substance with a panicked meep. “Isn’t that enough? He’s already covered in the stuff, there’s no way he’s alive,” she commented, frowning in displeasure as the floor began to melt and crack where the lava had accumulated. That’s one hella painful way to go. I almost feel bad for the guy.

  The lavamancer sighed and rolled her eyes, hands re-forming at the ends of her arms and stopping the flow of molten rock. “You sure? Knowing who he is… one can’t be too careful, you know? He’s a Celestial.” She looked over at the now slowly cooling three meter long and half a meter thick disc of lava that was now eating its way into the ground, slowly melting the surrounding floor and dirt underneath. The electromancer sat down, pursing her lips. “I think he’s dead. It doesn’t matter how fast he regenerates, magma melts faster than any regeneration ability possibly could. We literally saw him get buried in the stuff just now.” And yet, something feels off… The blonde woman pondered internally, biting down on her nail as she turned to her redheaded comrade, “Let’s just get out of here before someone takes notice and calls the authorities.”

  And right on cue, a fully healed hand erupted out of the magma in a closed fist, emerging from the substance like a zombie clawing its way to the surface in an old horror movie. The lavamancer took a step back, her eyes wide while the other quickly stood up startled. The raised hand bent towards the infernal liquid, closing and gripping the cooling yet still very much bright red molten rock, clawing at it desperately as the arm began to melt once more, the pristine skin becoming charred like coal in seconds. Soon after, the entire arm flopped onto the surface of the magma as it vanished down to the bone, disappearing under the lava slowly. “W-What the hell?!” the red haired assassin asked, pale in fear as she turned towards her co-conspirator, whose eyes were narrowed and arms already outstretched. “How?! HOW?!” the electromancer asked again, panic building in her voice as she looked at the magma puddle that now had a hole where the arm had come from, which was slowly being filled by the surrounding liquid pouring into it. “I- You saw that!! He melted!! The arm came out of the lava and then it melted again! It doesn’t make any sen-” she was cut off by the lavamancer, who had angrily struck the back of her head. “I KNOW!! I SAW IT TOO, IDIOT!! YOU DON’T NEED TO NARRATE WHAT-” And she in turn was interrupted when another arm erupted from the magma to the surface once more, this time reaching out and grabbing one of the sections of the red puddle that had begun to cool and solidify, pulling on it. It then quickly began to melt once more, disappearing into the magma only a few seconds after emerging. The two women stared at the carnage in dead silence, blinking in surprise before both involuntarily taking a step back. What the hell what the hell what the hell?! The red-haired electromancer kept asking in her head, turning to her partner. “W-What do we do?!” she pleaded in desperation and confusion.

  The lavamancer was at a loss for words, staring at where the hero’s hand had both appeared and disappeared from just as quickly. She didn’t know what to do, turning to her friend with an expression of helplessness. Covering him in more and more lava would make no difference - he would melt just as fast no matter how much more enveloped in it he was. “We either underestimated or completely misunderstood his power,” she admitted softly, her voice coming out as a whisper as once more the two women flinched as this time both of Seven’s hands rose out of the lava and grabbed a solidified piece of rock, pulling on it. This time, though, they could also see his shoulders thanks to him having dug out a significant amount of lava from on top of him. “We need to get out of here,” the blonde conspirator concluded out loud, looking over to the red-headed woman who seemed on the verge of passing out. “We have to go NOW!! He’s clawing his way out!!” They both turned around and made a run for the front door of the mansion, deciding that they couldn’t complete the mission given to them. Just as they reached the vast front doors, the roars of the angered Celestial echoed from the room where they had left him. “I’LL KILL YOU BOTH!!! YOU TRAITOROUS BITCHES!! GET BACK HERE!!!” before his yowling became garbled screams of pain as the magma once again scorched his throat and calcified his vocal cords. The women, hearing this, just began to run even faster than before. They ditched the high heels Seven had ordered them to wear, deciding that going barefoot was better. But before they reached the gate that led to the path down the mountain, the lavamancer stopped. “Wait!! Quick, hijack the car!!” she exclaimed, overwhelmed with fear. The electromancer, who was in an even worse mental state, quickly nodded and rushed to the car. She shocked it, violently opening the doors and turning on the car, the engine grumbling to life. They both jumped in, the lavamancer as the driver. She stomped on the gas pedal as hard as she could the second she confirmed her friend was inside the car as well, smashing through the gate with no regards for anything else but their lives as she raced down the mountain road.

  Seven grit his teeth, his eyes bulging and twitching violently, his entire body charred and black, his hair completely burnt off and his lungs so full of smog he couldn’t even scream in pain. Still, the adrenaline coursing through his body DEMANDED that he move, that he get out of this agony as fast as he could. And so, with a heaving grunt he finally managed to finish clearing the magma off his body before his cranium melted through once again, killing him. A few seconds later, his eyes flew open one more time as his nervous system screamed at him to get up while pain surged through his body. FUCK!!! I’LL KILL THEM, I’LL KILL THEM!!! I’LL MAKE THEM SUFFER FOR THIS!!!! WHO THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY’RE FUCKING WITH?!!? He screamed internally in pure fury, finally able to stand up completely despite his feet still being very much underneath the magma. He bit down on his lower lip so hard it began to bleed profusely, narrowing his bloodshot ember-like crimson eyes while they began to glow sharply, squatting down and doing his best to ignore the singing torment, thrusting off the ground and completely ripping his rapidly melting feet from the rest of his body, finally landing outside the magma puddle with heaving breathless gasps and tears of hatred and suffering running down his face. A few seconds later he got back on his reformed feet, now entirely spotless and taking a few gasping breaths, cold sweat running down his entire body while he shook ever so slightly. “Goddamn it… Bastards…” he muttered to no one in particular while gritting his teeth and shaking his head, calming himself down, “It’s over. I’m okay now. God, that hurt like a BITCH though…” He placed his hands on his face and groaned, stumbling around before quickly regaining his footing and ironing his will. His brow furrowed so deeply the veins on his forehead showed while his eyes narrowed and began to glow even more strongly, his left eyelid twitching. I’m going to EVISCERATE those traitors!!! Oh, I will make them regret being born!! He stomped over to his balcony, staring down at the path below that led up to his residence, a sadistic grin spreading on his face as he spotted his own car speeding down the road. I’ll make you two regret being so cocky as to take on ME~!!

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  “There’s no way he will catch up to us now, right?! Right?!” the electromancer asked in desperation once they approached the bottom of the mountain, looking so pale it was sickly. The lavamancer remained silent, her heartbeat so loud she didn’t even hear her partner’s words. Just then, as if she had jinxed it, something smashed against the hood of the car so hard it stopped it in its tracks entirely. The women were flung against the airbags, which had activated just in time to save them from what would have been an otherwise fatal accident. Both of them were so scared and full of adrenaline, though, that even in the face of what would otherwise have been an impact powerful enough to make someone pass out immediately, they simultaneously melted through and blasted off the front doors of the car respectively to crawl out of it, blood running down their faces. They didn’t seem to mind anyway, stumbling to their feet as fast as they could while yelping and groaning in unison, holding the parts of their bodies that had suffered the most damage close to themselves. Truth was that if it wasn't for the rush of adrenaline keeping them both awake out of sheer fear for their lives, they would be howling in pain from their wounds. And then, as they finally managed to catch a glimpse of what had made the car slam to a halt like that, their eyes widened in pure unadulterated terror. Seven’s mangled corpse lay on top of the dented car’s hood, his arms and legs bent in all the wrong angles, his head having rolled off about five meters from where the rest of his bloodied body was. “Is… Is he… D-Dead?” asked the lavamancer, holding her right arm, which was now broken thanks to the crash. Her electric friend was so afraid she couldn’t even speak, instead leaning over and vomiting into the pavement. A few heartbeats later, as they both watched intently, Seven’s body reassembled. In a single instantaneous moment, the hero went from mangled and headless to completely unscathed and whole. The Celestial lifted himself from the collapsed roof of the vehicle slowly, his blood red eyes twisted with anger as he stood up right where his body had landed. “Ohohoho~ How convenient to meet you two here! You're both dead,” he exclaimed in as powerful a voice as an eighteen year old could muster, cracking his knuckles.

  The electromancer broke into unhinged screaming then, lifting up her arm and shooting out a blast of electricity at Seven's head, the unstable energy coursing through his head and burning his face to a crisp in a second. The hero yowled in agony, his hands clenched into fists as the meat on his face began to sizzle and melt off. The lavamancer took the opportunity to scream too, lifting her functioning arm and shooting a ball of lava at his feet, knocking him down to the ground and off the car, reducing his legs to scorched stubs. The women began to limp away, repeatedly looking back at Seven as he writhed in pain. We won’t make it. The lavamancer realized, a psychotic smile spreading on her face, tears streaming down her expression as she understood the evident truth. We’re going to die. We’re absolutely going to die. But… Her eyes trailed over to the gargled yowling coming from Seven as he rolled on the pavement. But I can at least make sure this doesn’t happen again. I figured it out. Seven… your power isn’t healing at all, is it?! She gulped, feeling warm blood run down her face from a wound on her forehead, reaching for her phone with her working arm. At least she’d be able to give the Rebellion some useful information; her death wouldn’t be meaningless. Their deaths wouldn’t be meaningless.

  A few seconds passed and suddenly Seven was instantaneously reassembled, his face returning to pristine condition and his feet returning to their rightful place. His clothes were also perfectly repaired as well, as if they had been just newly washed. He got to his feet, his crimson eyes blazing and his fists clenched, veins bulging on his forehead while he scowled in hatred and anger. “What in the WORLD made you two think that betraying me was a good idea, huh?! Are you stupid?! Is it literally just a death wish?!” the hero roared in rage, taking a step forward and towards the two cowering women. I can’t even spend my leisure time in goddamn peace!! He thought in disgust. I have to be more careful from now on with who I employ, it seems!! UGH!! The lavamancer closed her eyes and grit her teeth, biting down on her thumb as Seven slowly approached. She turned to look at her desperate and mortified partner, reaching for her and grabbing her arm, making the electromancer turn to look at her with wide eyes. “I’m sorry,” the blonde and stalwart woman muttered with a deep sadness, a tear running down her face before she pushed her friend as hard as she could towards the approaching hero’s silhouette. The electromancer howled in fear and confusion, looking at her partner in pure hurt and betrayal - but more than anything, intense terror. “W-What?! WHY?!” she screeched, her lower lip twitching, turning to look at the glowing crimson eyes of her soon to be murderer. She meeped, realizing she had no way to escape, her own irises beginning to glow faintly as she gathered her strength and unleashed bolts of energy at the approaching Seven in panic and desperation.

  Seven didn't bother to dodge any of them, his eyes narrowed as one of the bolts hit his stomach and pierced right through it like a knife. Pain surged through his body, and yet he refused to show it beyond the twitching of his left eye, cracking a wide fanatical grin while blood poured from his horrific wounds and his mouth, drowning in his own blood as he continued to walk forward without even relenting his pace. Keep trying!! Come on, is that the best you can do?! Cower in fear when faced with true invincibility!! The electromancer panted, taking a step back right as Seven’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell to the ground lifelessly. She looked at the smoking corpse with a tinge of hope, pleading internally that he was finally dead. The lavamancer stared at their bout intently, trying to confirm her theory. One. Two. Three. Four. She muttered frantically in her mind, looking down at the clock on her phone, counting the seconds. Five. Suddenly, the hero’s body reformed into a perfect condition and he stood up as if nothing had happened, continuing to slowly walk towards the helpless red haired would-be assassin who could do nothing but yell at him to get back while firing over and over. The blonde betrayer vomited blood when she reached a nearby tree, realizing her body had taken too much damage and she couldn’t move anymore. She instead sat down on the ground and gasped for air as she looked over only to see that Seven had finally reached her friend and had grabbed her neck, squeezing it as hard as he could and repeatedly punching her face as brutally as his scrawny physique allowed. The lavamancer noted how the Celestial didn’t seem to damage her friend too much with each punch, but instead squeezed the life out of her by crushing her neck. It took an entire cruel minute, but eventually Seven finally had enough and slammed her head against the pavement, snapping her neck with a bone chilling cracking sound.

  The hero let out a long sigh, wiping his bloody hands against the shirt of the woman he had just murdered in cold blood, clearly disliking the feeling of blood on his hands. “Disgusting. I’m still not used to killing people at all… I have to work on getting desensitized to that, dammit,” he muttered in anger, turning around to look at the remaining woman once he finished. He scrunched up his face in disgust as he approached her, the woman using her precious final moments to type down everything she had just learnt and sending it to her boss via encrypted messages through her phone. “And you, you threw your friend to die? Saving yourself a few minutes?? You’re worse than trash, you traitorous scum,” he muttered, grabbing the scruff of her neck, lifting her up with some effort to stare into her vacant eyes. I don’t actually blame you for throwing her aside like that, if I’m honest. I would probably do the same to save my own skin, but it doesn’t mean I won’t belittle you for it~ Seven clenched his other fist and punched her in the face, scowling in anger. “Well? Aren’t you going to beg like your friend? You made me angry enough to throw myself off a mountain and unto my own car just to make sure you wouldn’t escape. I’m not going to give you any mercy,” he added with a sneer, dropping her to the floor.

  The lavamancer remained silent as the light began to fade from her eyes, not even trying to fight back. She had already accepted her fate, her irrefutable end, and knew that burning the man in front of her would achieve nothing. Seven was angered even further by her silence. She won’t even beg for her life? Does she think she’s too good for that, huh?! Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. He thought, picking up a rock and slamming it against her throat, decapitating her. Only then did the Celestial let out a weary sigh and reach for his phone, only to realize that it had melted into an unrecognizable slab of metal long ago. It was rather convenient that his power extended to clothes… although it didn’t save anything else. He cursed under his breath and instead made his way to a nearby house or shop where he could dial the local authorities, as well as Eight to complain to her and ask to make better background checks on the people he wanted to hire going forward. How annoying. Those assassins were so inconsiderate. Don’t they realize how much the car, the floor, and everything else cost?! And also, just because I can't die doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!! …Pff, how ridiculous. He grinned at his own stupid joke, humming a tune as he tried his best to forget the look of terror on their faces as he killed them, guilt gnawing at him despite doing his best to put it down. Oh shush!! I can’t be such a baby. If I want to retain my position as Celestial and make a reputation for myself in high society, I can’t be affected by such trivial things. I REALLY have to get used to killing sometime soon.

  His frustrated train of thought was forcefully screeched to a halt when he finally looked up at the sky in exasperation and quickly noticed a couple of things that really seemed a tad strange to him. First of all, the sky was glowing golden. Second, he had crossed the border and was now on the outskirts of New York City. Thirdly, there was a plume of smoke so large it nearly encompassed the entire horizon rising from some unidentifiable point deeper into the metropolis. And finally, now that he finally had a moment of silence and his bloodlust had died down, he could hear the screams of panic and dread engulfing an otherwise calm morning. Seven blinked a couple of times, processing all of this, when suddenly the sirens all over the city began to blare out an emergency message; “All citizens must evacuate New York immediately in an orderly and swift manner. Emergency level, Zero. All heroes available have been contacted. Remain calm.” And then it repeated. Seven put a hand to his forehead, his eyelid ticking as he grit his teeth so hard he nearly cracked one or two of them. What a fantastic morning it had been for him, he thought sarcastically. Coming after me is one thing. But if you dare to touch my GODDAMN NEIGHBORHOOD… The hero groaned and began to sprint towards the tower of smoke coming out of the city center, looking around for a car to hijack in order to reach the epicenter of the chaos faster.