I'M YOUR PUPPET; invincible

chapter 1

    "Come on..." the boy goaded, not allowing her to pass. "Quit playing games. I know you're crazy about me. Marcy told me."

    She turned, then, facing him. "Well, you are big and strong, aren't you?"

    "You know it," he said, flexing his arm.

    "And you think that makes it okay for you to harass me?"

    As she turned, he reached a hand out, grasping her arm. "Hey, don't walk away from me. What, are you a lesbian or something?"

    "Oh, my god, I wish! Would you leave me alone then?"

    Loren glanced down the length of the hall, towards the two boys who stood against the lockers. Mark, with his furrowed brows, looking as though he were about to do something reckless.

    She shook her head, waving her hands in front of her body. He looked to her, for a moment, and shook his head.

    She sighed, turning to Eve. "He's going to do something stupid."

    William placed a hand on Mark's shoulder, surely enough doing the same thing Loren was trying to.

    When he crumbled to the ground, clutching his side after getting punched and kicked by Todd, she sighed and turned away. She had better things to do today than watch him get beat up.

    It was much later in the day, the sun having set far behind the clouds and trees. Loren was sitting in her bed, back pressed against her pillows, homework splayed out all around her.

    Her headphones echoed music through her ears, practically reverberating through her head. However, her focus on physics was quickly disturbed by a tapping on one of her windows.

    She turned her head, eyes going wide when she saw Mark sitting on the roof outside.

    Pushing off of her bed, she slid open the window, stepping back to allow him entry.

    "What are you doing, Mark?" Loren asked, her brows furrowed. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching him sit on the edge of her bed with a sigh. "Mark?" She repeated.

    Suddenly, he smiled. It was large and genuine, as if something inside was bursting at the seams, demanding to be shouted to the world. "I got my powers!" he said, throwing his arms up. "Isn't that amazing?"

    Loren laughed. "Sure," she said, bracing a hand on her hip. "Did you tell your parents?"

    "Of course," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "And just "sure"? Nothing more exciting or something?"

    He watched her carefully, gouging her reaction based on how she stood and spoke. He watched how she rocked back and forth on her heels, her body no doubt flooded with boundless energy.

    Neither could remember when they had first met. They had always just been...there. But Mark remembers his father explaining who Loren's parents were, and their powers. She was not human at all, not like how he was. Her mother was like Nolan, a Viltrumite, while her father came from an unknown, extinct species. It was explained to him, that night, how different she was. How she had special powers.

    Ever since then, Mark had been around to experience Loren's boundless energy. The way she seemed to rattle with it, unable to wholly contain it. He also knew she was a superhero. Of sorts, at least. Her father was a Guardian of the Globe, named Cable, having come from a joke relating to his endless energy. It had passed down to his daughter. She had tapped into it when she was nine, following her mother leaving without a goodbye. Ever since then, she had been trained to use her powers by her father and Omni-Man, Mark's own father.