Psyche: Issue 0
Structure
Exposition
The story starts with Psyche being caught in the middle of a store robbery while in her civilian identity. She uses her powers to swiftly but clumsily take down the robbers and ducks out of the scene. We learn afterwards that she's been performing small acts of heroism like this for a while now and wants to upgrade to an actual superhero like Mercy, a heroine operating from her hometown of Rhodium City that she admires.
Conflict
The main conflict of the plot is Psyche and Mercy trying to take down several members of a new criminal organization. The side conflict of the plot is Psyche trying to convince Mercy to give her a chance at becoming a superhero.
Rising Action
The next night, Psyche sneaks out in disguise to patrol the streets, looking for anyone who needs help. At one point, she comes across a pair of crooks holding up a civilian. She interferes, fighting the crooks and allowing the would-be victim to escape, but freezes up when one of them pulls a gun on her. Suddenly, Mercy drops in and takes both of them down easily. Psyche thanks her, only for Mercy to cut her off and tell her to give up the hero gig while she's behind, as she clearly lacks proper control of her powers and doesn't know how to handle herself in dangerous situations. She takes the incapacitated crooks with her, leaving Psyche disheartened. After taking some time to think, Psyche realizes there's a connection between the store robbers and the other crooks. She goes out in costume again to seek out Mercy. She relays her suspicions, and while Mercy is appreciative of it, she still tells Psyche to stop trying to be a superhero.
Climax
Several uneventful days pass, with Psyche having time to think about why she wants to become a hero at all. Then one night, she comes across Mercy in the middle of intercepting a gang meeting. A fight breaks out, and at one point, one of the thugs gets the drop on Mercy. Psyche intervenes and takes out all of the gang members.
Falling Action
After apprehending the criminals, Mercy and Psyche get to a safe distance. When Mercy starts to say something, Psyche cuts her off and tells her she doesn't care what Mercy thinks, she's going to keep at the hero gig whether she approves or not, and she's not one to talk about being unable to handle dangerous situations when Psyche just saved her from the fight. Resignedly, Mercy gives her an address and tells her to come by on a specific date if she's genuinely serious about wanting to do this. Elsewhere, the criminal organization all of the crooks they've fought work for go over the situation and express concern about the new superhero on the streets.
Resolution
Psyche goes to the address Mercy gave her, and it turns out to be Mercy's civilian residence. Mercy tells her that if she's going to be a proper hero, she needs a lot of training, and she'd rather show her the ropes than let her run headfirst into danger on her own. Psyche agrees to this, and they start working together on creating her new hero identity--starting with her first official costume.
Plot type
Chapter: The beginning of Psyche's hero career
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