Training

Controlling superpowers took steady practice.

Steady practice was important.

Do the same thing a hundred times, and you'd have done it a hundred times.

Do it a thousand times, and you'd be sick of it.

Time passed. The sun crossed the sky, its fierce midday glare fading into the glow of sunset.

Ryan practiced until his eyes ached.

He looked down. The brown earth was covered in scorch marks.

His Laser Eyes had made every one of them.

His Laser Eyes were a superpower triggered by anger. For now, he found he couldn't control their intensity or power at all.

Getting the lasers to fire already took everything he had.

Thinking over his approach, Ryan ate the last sandwich he had brought.

Ham and lettuce mingled with the bread's wheaty aroma. It really was good.

At least his effort had paid off. Ryan ate as he headed back the way he had come.

After shifting back and forth between anger and calm, he had begun to get the hang of it.

Even when calm, he had a chance of firing lasers from his eyes.

Yes, a chance.

A word as maddening as a game's random draw with no guaranteed prize.

A superpower that only worked by chance was half-baked. It wasn't what Ryan wanted.

He turned and looked back at his practice ground.

The charred hollow in the tree stood out most of all.

He would have to come here often.

To train his superpowers. To gain strength no one could stand against.

When Ryan got home, he looked up at the sky.

Night had fallen.

The walk had taken a while. He hadn't realized it had gotten dark.

To be fair, the night sky here was beautiful.

Starlight outshone the lights below. The stars hanging overhead made him want to keep looking.

But stare long enough, and even the most beautiful sight grew dull.

Ryan lowered his gaze. Before he could knock, the door opened on its own.

The familiar woman who opened it looked anxious. Ryan, on the other hand, was in no hurry.

"Becca, aren't you going to welcome me home?"

"Shouldn't I ask where you've been first?"

Her words were full of worry, but the sight of Ryan gradually calmed her anxious face.

She looked him over so closely that even Ryan, thick-skinned as he was, found it hard to bear.

"Stop looking. I haven't lost an arm or a leg."

"You've lost your need for your mother and your love for her."

"Becca, you should get to bed early."

"Don't ignore what I said."

Becca pulled Ryan into a hug.

"How did you stay out from morning till night? You smell like something burned, and I couldn't find you. I thought you were going to leave me too."

"Everyone has to part someday."

Feeling how upset she was, Ryan patted Becca's back, eased her away, then invited her inside.

Warm light filled the house.

Steaming food was already waiting on the table.

Bread, chicken wraps, and meat soup.

Ryan was touched that Becca had prepared it all.

He said, "Thank you," before sitting down to eat.

They enjoyed the delicious meal, then Ryan sat with Becca on the sofa to watch television.

It was one of the few times they spent together each day.

The television was boring, of course. These days, it was normal to leave it on while looking at your phone.

In the end, the sound from the television was just there to make a quiet house feel a little livelier.

That was how Ryan had felt about it before, and he still did.

Becca wasn't paying attention to the television either. She asked Ryan about his day.

"Where did you go? You smell like you've been burned."

"I roasted a few potatoes."

"How did you start the fire?"

"Rubbed sticks together."

"What are you, a caveman?"

"That's an essential wilderness survival skill. You definitely don't watch survival shows, Becca."

She clearly didn't. Her expression said, What kind of show is that?

Ryan patiently answered her.

"It's a cooking show."

"Is it?"

"Yeah."

Becca didn't care what he said. She only wanted to talk. Her gaze stayed on the television.

Onscreen, the Statue of Liberty was crumbling yet again.

As she watched, she heard Ryan speak beside her.

"Becca, do you know any movies that'll make my blood pressure shoot up?"

"Why would you watch something just to torture yourself?"

Of course not.

Ryan knew why he wanted one. He needed anger, and after thinking it over,

he had decided that watching a terrible movie was one way to build it up.

Becca thought carefully about her child's question as she faced the screen.

She searched her memory for something that fit.

The answer came quickly.

"I've got one."

"Tell me the title."

"Raise a child of your own someday. That'll send your blood pressure soaring."

"Don't use this as a chance to imply I'm giving you trouble."

"Can't you just stay home? I could teach you some letters."

"What kind of plan is that? Are you trying to make me helpless?"

Ryan shook his head vigorously and stood, ending the conversation.

After spending the whole day outside, he badly wanted a shower. He said as much and headed for the bathroom.

That left Becca sitting alone in front of the television.

She sighed deeply.

"Ryan, are you going out again tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that."

The answer from the bathroom nearly made Becca lose her composure. She really did feel like giving Ryan a beating.

But when it came to that child, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Loneliness welled up in Becca's heart. She hugged a cushion on the sofa and shifted into a more comfortable position.

"My child's all grown up and goes out to play every day. I'm just a lonely old woman now."

His mother's muttering never reached Ryan. He finished his shower, dried off, and returned to his room.

The familiar little train sat quietly by the station exit, unplugged.

He stepped over it and opened his bedroom window.

The night breeze felt pleasant.

"I'll leave this place someday."

Ryan looked outside. A new sight gradually emerged along the distant horizon.

He guessed that activating his Laser Eyes had begun to awaken this body's other superpowers.

That awakening was what let him see the new sight.

His vision passed through the woods outside, across the grass and earth, and reached their far edge.

There, a yellow wall stretched over the rolling terrain, enclosing the entire area.

The wall's purpose was obvious: to keep him and Becca captive.

Once Ryan realized that, he withdrew his gaze, and the view outside his window returned.

Green trees, fluttering insects, and wildflowers swaying in the breeze.

He touched the skin around his eyes.

This power seemed to let him see farther. He might as well call it See-Eye.

Having inherited that man's power, Ryan knew the awakening of See-Eye was only the beginning.

From now on, he would grow stronger every day until he caught up with that man.

And besides,

Ryan raised his head again. Seen from his windowsill, the sky was vast, dark, and deep.

But unless he went beyond that wall to look out, all he would ever see was a patch of sky no bigger than a well's opening.

When Ryan grew sleepy that night, he climbed into bed and fell asleep.

Time flowed like water.

Over the following days and months, he practiced his superpowers in the woods whenever he had time.

One day, several months later, a fine rain fell.

When it rained, everything got wet.

In the rain stood someone holding an umbrella. His name was Ryan.

Blue beams shot from his eyes at will. Raindrops turned to white vapor wherever the beams touched them, shrouding everything in mist.