I'M YOUR PUPPET; invincible

chapter 2

    Thea smiled.

    To her daughter, it would be the smile of her mother. Of the woman who had sworn, upon her birth, to protect her. To shield her and ward off danger. To cherish all that she was, to raise her braced for the world. For whatever would come her way. To whatever, exactly, would fester in her veins.

    She smoothed her brows between Loren's brows with a small smile. "You're the perfect mix of you dad and I," she said quietly, listening to her daughter's giggles at her featherlight touch brushing across her face. "But I think you look more like me."

    "That's okay, Mommy. You're really pretty!"

    The girl was naive to the world, still. Not quite crafted for it yet. She was built from childhood and threaded with innocence. It was sewn into her skin, stitching her together. She was fortified by the hindrance of parental love. By hushed stories before bed and kisses to her brow.

    She was young. Untested.

    But as she sat before Thea, then, the woman knew. She knew that the girl must be torn apart. Skin ripped to reveal the blood in her veins. Her stitches and threads of innocence and youth would be tugged from her skin. Underneath it all, she knows, is Viltrumite. Blood so pure it would forever dull any other that lingered, no matter how powerful.

    "That's really sweet," Thea said. "I hope you feel that way when you're older, too. I don't want my little girl growing up and away from me, do I?"

    Loren giggled. "No!" She pushed herself out of her mother's arms, throwing her arms up. Jumping, reaching for the sky. "I'm gonna grow wings, Mommy, and fly to space. Just like you!"

    She squealed suddenly, the sound bouncing off of the fence of the backyard. Through the backdoor came a small body, similar to the size of her own. Black hair, gray eyes, and a toothy smile. Mark.

    "Mark!" Loren exclaimed, rushing towards him. She threw her arms around him, though she did not cease the jumping of her body. "I missed you!"

    He hugged her back, his cheeks a vibrant red. "You saw me at school."

    "It was too long, though." She sighed, dropping her arms to her sides dramatically. "My mom was telling me about going to space. Wouldn't that be cool?"

    "Yeah," he grinned, nodding his head. "We should go together, someday."

    Thea watched, then, from afar. As their two worlds seemed to collide at the thought of the future. Of what they hoped for.

    They would go to space. They would go together. Their blood demanded it.

———

    "Look at you. You're thieves! Rapists! Criminals. All so ignorant of your true crimes against terra therma."

    "What is it with you and historical monuments? S—uh, Professor Seismic, right?"

    The man turned. Frowned. "Doc Seismic. I never taught."

    Lightwalker, with her arms crossed over her chest, looked at Invincible. "Didn't he fall into a huge pool of lava? Or were you talking yourself up?"