In the crowded streets of New York and girl ran down the street. She had tears streaming down her face and a black eye. This is Jen Tennyson, and her life isn't something anyone would want. Her family was cruel, verbally abusive, and neglectful, blaming her for their problems. That's what happened just moments ago. Jen's grandpa had planned to stay at a four-star hotel, but his card was declined. That resulted in him and Jen's cousin Gwen, blaming her, and her cousin giving her a black eye. Jen managed to get away from them and she prayed they wearing after her now.
Jen's running slowed to a stop and she stood catching her breath. People walked past, giving looks and whispers, none of them offering to help. "Jen!" Jen gasped and looked back, her cousin was coming, and she looked pissed. Jen panicked and looked around, she was right outside a very crowded arcade. She ran inside, pushing past the crowds of kids to the back. When Jen broke through the crowd, she collapsed and pulled her knees to her chest, silently crying.
"Hey, are you okay?" Jen gasped and looked up, a boy was standing over her. He had shoulder-length black hair, deep brown eyes with discolored marks under them, and pale skin. The boy was dressed in a torn black shirt, cargo pants, knee-high boots, studded arm bands, and a padlock necklace.
The boy stared down at Jen for a moment before crouching to meet her gaze, "Hello?" he said. Jen let out a quiet gasp and nodded, "Y-Yes, I'm o-okay." she stuttered. The boy raised a brow, clearly not believing Jen, who would?
"Jen!" Jen's cousin pushed through the crowd and headed straight for her. Jen quickly stood up and ran, but she crashed into an older boy, knocking him down. "Nice one, Doofus." her cousin scoffed. The older boy stood up, and he, along with some of his friends glared down at Jen. "Watch it you little bitch." one hissed and went to kick Jen.
"Back off!" the black-haired boy stepped in front of Jen and punched the guy in the face. He quickly turned and grabbed Jen's hand, running out of the arcade with her. Jen barely knew the boy, but she felt way safer with him than she ever had anybody else, so she followed him.
~~~~~~~~~
The boy led Jen to an abandoned subway station, it had a stack of mattresses, a few old TVs, an arcade game, a sumo Slammers poster, and a few crates. Jen looked around, "Do you...live here?" she asked. "Yeah, by myself, the name is Kevin by the way," he said walking past Jen. Jen nodded, Kevin patted a crate, featuring for Jen to sit on, which she did. Kevin sat across from her, "So, what was the deal with the redhead back at the arcade?" he asked.
"O-Oh...that was my cousin," Jen said, twiddling her thumbs. Kevin nodded, "What had her in such a bad mood to hit you, I'm assuming she did." Jen nodded and found herself explaining everything to Kevin.
"They treat you like that?" Kevin asked. Jen nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Kevin frowned, "I know the feeling, my family ditched me once I got my powers." he said, he held his hand up and it sparked with energy. Jen jumped slightly, but she also smiled. "For what it's worth, I think your powers are cool, you can generate energy." Kevin smiled, "Not exactly, I absorb it." he said. "That's even cooler." Jen smiled.
"So, you want a tour of New York?" Kevin asked, Jen nodded. Kevin smiled and stood up, offering Jen his hand. Jen happily took his hand and followed him.
~~~~~~~~~
Jen and Kevin ran into an alley, stopping to catch their breath. "I...I've never had so much adrenaline pumping through my veins before. " Jen panted, leaning against the wall.
Jen and Kevin had quite an eventful day. On the tour, Jen spotted the new Sumo Slammers game being pro. noted in a store. She mentioned to Kevin, that the hotel Max planned to stay had had one. That then gave Kevin an idea and he planned to steal a copy for her. The duo was then chased around by a swat team, and Kevin got a glimpse of Jen's powers.
"So, you can turn into aliens?" he asked, taking Jen's hand and pushing her over the side sleeve out of the way. A green and black watch was revealed. "Yeah, I found it at the start of summer...my grandpa never lets me use it though, the few times I did he screamed at me." tears began brimming Jen's eyes. Kevin frowned and pulled her into a hug, "Why don't you move away?" he asked, pulling back to look at Jen. Jen rubbed her arm nervously, "I'm scared." she said, her eyes trained on the ground.
Kevin frowned, he was about to speak, but someone took a metal baseball bat to his head, knocking him out. Jen screamed and looked, it was the boys from the arcade. The leader snapped his fingers, and one of the boys grabbed Jen, he put her in a child hold just long enough to knock her out.
"Let's go." the leader said and began walking away. The boy holding Jen threw her over his shoulder, and another dropped a folded piece of paper by Kevin's head.
~~~~~~~~~
"Let me go!" Jen screamed, struggling against the ropes that restrained her. "Shut up!" one of the boys hissed hitting Jen in the stomach. Jen groaned and hung her head, this boy had been torturing her for hours, she had bruises and scrapes, her nose was bloody, and he head was bleeding.
"Boss, why are we even doing this?" one of the boys asked. "Yeah, that little punk isn't gonna show. He was probably using this little bitch." another boy chimed in. The boss smirked, "Nah, he'll come, you boys saw how gentle he was being with her." he said. Jen trembled in fear, the boss smirked and moved closer. He pi ched Jen's chin between her fingers and tilted her head up, "She is pretty cute though, she'll be fine when she gets older." he said. Jen gathered some courage and spit in his face, and that resulted in her being slapped.
"Get the fuck away from her!!" everyone looked and there stood Kevin. He glared daggers at the boys, and they glared back. "Well, well, look what we got here." the boss said, "Did you bring what I asked?" he asked. Kevin held up a bag, "Jen first." he said, narrowing his eyes. The boss rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers, Jen was thrown at Kevin's feet.
"Jen!" Kevin quickly helped her up and hugged her close. One of the boys scoffed, "Never knew the little punk could care." he said. Kevin growled tossed the boss the bag and began running with Jen. The boss opened the bag, and what was supposed to be stacks of cash, were just rocks. "Get them!" he screamed and the boys chased after Jen and Kevin.
"St-Stay back!" Jen screamed and transformed. She turned into a flaming alien she had named Heatblast. The boys all stepped back, and Kevin stared in awe. "Stay back!" Jen screamed again, though despite being an alien you could hear the fear in her voice.
~~~~~~~~~
Jen and Kevin had spent a few minutes threatening the boys, and they had them backed into a corner. There was the sudden sound of scratching tires, "Jen!" Max and Gwen approached. There was then a beeping and Jen transformed back to her beaten bruised self.
"Bye!" the boys then ran. "Have you lost your mind, what have I told you about using that thing!?" Max screamed and stomped over to Jen. Jen felt her legs give out and she collapsed, Max grabbed her arm and began dragging her.
"Enough!" there was a tight grip on Max's wrist and when he turned, Kevin socked him in the jaw. Max stumbled back, holding his face, Gwen quickly went to assist her grandpa. Jen was shocked and looked at Kevin, he smiled and picked her up. "You may be scared to run away, but I'm not scared to take you away." Jen blushed and tears began streaming down her face. "You'll never hurt again," Kevin said and fled the scene, Jen in hand.
