Chapter #1It begins with Mark by: Marknew   Mark Harding was a regular college student at LSUB (Local State University Branch). He loved being away in college with no responsibilities, his own room, a girlfriend and an easy major, although next year, when his annoying, judgmental, over-achieving sister Wendy arrived, would be less fun. She would no doubt keep a close eye on him and report back to his parents on anything he did that she didn't approve of, which was usually everything. But until then he had little to worry about. His girlfriend, Pam Brent, was one of the cuter girls on campus, with a good figure and nice personality, although she could be the jealous type, having been hurt by some prior boyfriends. Mark also had a well-paying sales job during summers, which would probably turn into a permanent job when he graduated in a year. Still, he was not content. There were many better athletes than he on campus who had varsity jackets and opportunities for professional contracts, hotter girls than Pam, better jobs than the one he would have, and he didn't see a path to getting them.
One day Mark was out for a run. Sybil Manning, one of the college's track stars had just passed him on the trail, her blond pony tail and her pert ass waving back and forth, mocking him with her superior speed. He was about to speed up and pass her back when something bright caught his eye. It was a ring, resting in a knot of an old tree. He stopped to pry it out. Although it was dirty and slightly bent, something made him slide the ring over his finger. Once it rested beneath his knuckle, he felt unusual sense of well-being fill him, as though his body and mind had suddenly gained an extra dimension of perception and ability. 'What is it?' he asked himself. Instantly, the answer came to him. 'The ring I've put on has infinite power. With this ring on my finger I can do anything, absolutely anything.' 'But how?' he asked. 'Think, and it will be,' the answer came.
Cautiously Mark looked at the tree and decided to make it a STOP sign. Before he could blink, there was a stop sign in the middle of the woods. He stepped backwards, his heart beating hard, and looked down at the ring, which was unchanged. It showed no sign of having, or using, any kind of magical power. He looked at the sign again. 'Make it look like Pam,' he thought, and now it was a statue of Pam holding a STOP sign. 'Make her skin, hair and eyes exactly her color, and have her wear her purple bikini,' he thought. He walked around, inspecting her. This was amazing. A thought occurred to him. What would she look like with larger breasts? With another thought he was inspecting his busty 'model'. Longer legs? A slightly smaller nose? Blond hair? He grinned. Not bad. But it wasn't Pam. He turned the statue and STOP sign back into a tree and started running again, thinking.
'What was the point of exercise, when I can just will myself into better condition?' A moment later he was in peak physical condition. To test it he ran faster, breaking into a sprint. He ran harder until he caught up to Sybil, ran beside her as she progressively increased her pace, and then left her in the dust, then turned around and went by her again, continuing for five minutes more before his breathing became a little ragged and he slowed down. He could do better. He thought about running as fast as Usain Bolt for twenty miles and sped up again, sprinting across campus, turning heads everywhere. He slowed down at his dorm, not even breathing hard, looked down at the ring and smiled. 'Yes!'
He climbed the stairs three at a time. He reached the hall lounge. Becca Starnes was there, talking to her boyfriend, John Mars, and two other jocks, Clem Varney and Chad Holtz. They looked at him briefly and went back to their conversation. Mark stared at Becca. She was by far the hottest girl on campus. She was nearly as tall as he was, with large breasts, a tiny waist and long, long legs. John was going on about some play he had run last Saturday, a long pass that resulted in a touchdown. She looked bored, put her hand on her hip and moved it back and forth. Conversation stopped and the three jocks, along with Mark, were transfixed by the way her body moved.
"So, are you taking me to New York tomorrow, or what? I have to go to Saks for that dress. They won't deliver it on time for the formal," she said haughtily.
"We have practice, babes," John said, his eyes still focused on her body.
"You ALWAYS have practice," she replied, tossing her head. "Am I supposed to go to the city alone?"
"Hey, what are YOU looking at?" John said, glaring at Mark.
Mark left, embarrassed. He passed Greta, his fat next door neighbor, barely acknowledging her. Pam was waiting for him in his room, writing her English paper. "Hey, you finished early. Changed your mind about the workout? Are you feeling ok?"
"Um, no. I'm fine," he replied, mentally comparing her with Becca. "I, er, just ran faster."
"Oh? You're hardly even perspiring!" she said, raising an eyebrow, wondering what he really had been up to. "Where'd you get that ring?" she asked, taking his hand. "It's not your usual style, you know. You hate jewellery."
He pulled his hand away. "It's nothing. I, um, found it and just put it on. I kind of like it."
"Oh," she said, not approving, but not wanting to argue about it, yet. Something was funny. She went back to the desk. "You going to take a shower before we go to class?"
He nodded. What he really wanted was to be alone to experiment with the ring, but it was one thing to experiment on himself or trees. He wasn't ready to do anything to other people. He grabbed some clothes and went to the door, then went back to Pam and gave her a quick kiss before leaving. She didn't seem very pleased with him.
In the shower he thought about what he wanted to do. It would be something to be a better athlete than any of those assholes talking to Becca, to have Becca as his girlfriend instead of Pam. Was there any limit on what he could do? 'No' the thought came to him. 'No limits to the wearer of the ring.'
He looked down at his body. It wasn't bad, but it could be better. He made his muscles larger, stronger. He increased his height by two inches, then five inches. He made his tool 30% larger and 25% thicker. But Pam would notice and ask questions. He could make her not notice, but he didn't want to mess with her mind. Not yet. He returned his body to its original state. He could still be stronger, faster, fitter, without changing his body. Hell, he could have Superman's powers. He could be ten times as powerful as Superman. Why not? One thought and it was done.
'Heh, heh. Let those jocks try something with him now!'
He stopped the shower. He looked through the walls and saw Becca still talking to those assholes. He looked at her more closely, calibrating his vision to look through her clothing. She was perfect! He looked down at his erection, which now was hard enough to penetrate steel. 'Yes!'
He stopped the shower and headed back to his room. "You know, Pam, you're right. I don't feel that great, really," he lied. "Can you take notes for me?"
She smiled but inside she was frowning. 'Something was up', she thought. 'He thinks he can lie to me, but I know the signs.' But she said, "I thought so. Sure. Are you going to hang out here? Do you want me to bring you back anything to eat?"
"Um, no. I think I'll just lie down."
"OK." 'Something was up. She didn't know why, but she could feel that his feelings had changed. Men could be such jerks. She'd be on her guard; she wasn't going to be the one who got dumped.' She pursed her lips, gathered up her books and gave him a hug. "I'll check in on you later."
She left and he watched her go down the hall and out of the building. Nice ass, nice person. But he was Superman now. Ha! He could whip Superman now with one hand tied behind his back. He could do far better than Pam!
The first thing he wanted to do was try out the rest of his powers. He looked around his room. He grasped the metal bar of his bed and squeezed it flat with two fingers and sharpened it into a point. He pressed it against his palm and it flattened against impenetrable skin. He looked at a piece of paper on his desk and it burst into flames. 'Yes! Now flying and super-speed.' But he didn't want to burn his clothing too. He made them as resistant to heat and friction as he was. 'But what about the ring? What if it melted?' He willed it to be heat resistant too. 'Something felt wrong, but what?' he wondered. 'The properties of the ring are unchangeable by the power of the ring,' the thought came back. He was stumped for a moment, then carefully removed the ring. He immediately felt the loss of the ring's powers. He slipped it in the pocket of his sports jacket. 'No one would look for it there, and he would be fine with superpowers, for now.' He opened the window and, so that no one would see him, flew out at super-speed. In moments he was miles above the campus, beholding the splendors of the city and of flight. There was Superman, coming at him to investigate. In a flash he had him in a headlock. The mighty Superman couldn't break his grip. He was at his mercy! There was nothing he couldn't do!
Back on campus, his exit created a massive wind that blew out the window, and the vortex of air emptied the room's contents. The ring tumbled out of the safety of his jacket pocket, whirled into the vortex, spun wildly in every direction until it ....
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