Costume

At his desk that evening, Ryan shared the fruit on his plate with Becca under the bright light.

Only after Becca left did Ryan turn to his own plans.

If he ever left this enclosed estate, he would need a way to hide his identity.

He couldn't use his powers with his face on full display.

A hero needed a mask.

It didn't have to be a cosplay outfit, though.

He planned to put together a superhero costume. Embarrassing as they were, costumes were practically standard equipment for every hero.

Ryan figured that, as a Metahuman, he needed a name and an outfit before he went into action.

He had Laser Eyes and an indestructible body.

How about Super Ryan?

Even as he thought it, he knew it wasn't right.

"I guess I have no talent for names."

Disappointment settled in Ryan's heart. He waved Becca away.

Becca looked baffled and asked what was wrong.

He told her he was going to sleep.

Sleep was always a good excuse. After Becca left the room, she stood by the door and looked in.

She watched her son climb into bed and turn over. His head lay still on the pillow.

His breathing gradually grew steady.

Another night passed.

Ryan and Becca spent the day together as promised, picnicking outdoors and chatting among the trees and fragrant grass.

The following day, Becca made breakfast as usual and saw Ryan get up.

He washed up, ate, and headed for the door.

Something felt off, so Becca asked,

"Are you going out today, too?"

"Kids my age should get more sunshine."

"Then take Mom with you. (>ω<)"

"Women your age should get more sleep."

Ryan waved as he walked out and shut the door behind him.

Once he vanished behind it, Becca wanted to follow.

But she remembered how often he had gone out over the past month, and how she had followed him.

Every time, he had caught her before she got far.

Then her own son would say,

"Look at her. She's so bored she's stalking her own kid. Does she not know how to let go?"

His sharp words always cut into Becca like knives. She couldn't follow him anymore.

All she could do was chop tomatoes and somehow get through the day.

She wasn't even sure what she was angry about, but she brought the knife down hard on a tomato.

Juice splattered everywhere.

Her mind wasn't on the tomato.

"It feels like our mother-son relationship has stopped making progress."

Elsewhere, Ryan paid Becca no mind.

After years with her, he had learned that his mother often pretended to cry or grumbled a little.

But she wasn't actually upset.

He reached the place where he usually practiced.

The forest was shaded by green trees. The soil beneath them had been scorched black by his frequent Laser Eyes practice.

Yesterday's rain had not entirely dried.

The air in the woods still smelled damp.

He had come out today with a plan.

When he woke, he had discovered that the ability he had felt awakening was now fully usable.

Unlike Laser Eyes, this power seemed engraved into his body.

Flight.

To break free of gravity without relying on anything else—

Ryan could hardly contain his excitement.

No one could resist the allure of flight. There was even a story from ancient Egypt.

A fraudulent magician had suspended himself with wires and pretended to be a descending god.

The people had fallen to their knees before him.

There was no denying it: someone who could fly under his own power looked like a god from a myth.

And who wouldn't want to be revered by thousands?

Ryan shook off the thought and patted his cheeks.

He forced down his excitement.

Taking a deep breath, he slowly activated his power.

His feet left the ground.

At first, he rose only a few centimeters, barely more than the height of a few pebbles.

It felt like learning to swim.

Perhaps this was what everyone had to go through before they could roam the ocean of the sky.

Suspended in midair, Ryan felt uneasy with nothing supporting him.

He was like a bird held aloft by his power. If that power failed,

he would fall like a bird with broken wings and splatter on the ground.

Unease mingled with his longing for the sky. Ryan breathed out again.

His body continued to rise slowly,

like a helium balloon slipping from a child's hand.

"Good."

Everything was fine. Ryan looked around. He was level with the trees beside him.

A little higher, and he would be above the treetops, beneath the white clouds, closer to the sky.

First, though, he needed to adjust his posture.

He shifted his torso, and a wave of vertigo seized him.

"Ah!" Ryan plummeted to the ground.

He had fallen from roughly two stories up. Even an ordinary person would probably survive, though not unhurt.

He left a dent in the ground. His face had hit first.

Ryan lifted his face from the dirt and spat out sand and soil.

An earthworm writhed in the grit.

It was utterly disgusting.

A foul, fishy taste lingered in his mouth, making him gag.

He had heard that during famines, people dug up worms that fed on rotting matter to stave off hunger. He had no idea how they managed to eat them.

Ryan shook his head and looked up.

"Again."

One setback wasn't enough to make Ryan give up.

He was stubborn.

If a wall stood in his way,

either it would smash him bloody, or he would smash through it.

Now was no different. Ryan flew back up and worked on his balance in midair.

After several attempts, he gradually got used to the feeling.

The rest, he figured, was a matter of practice.

It was like driving.

Once you knew how, you just needed time behind the wheel.

Ryan had no intention of resting. He kept climbing until he stopped rising.

White clouds surrounded him.

Before the sunlight could pierce the gaps in the clouds, it fell upon him.

In the gentle warmth, he reached out toward the dazzling sun.

Light blazed between his fingers.

In the distance, birds sang.

He couldn't put the feeling into words. Unwilling to land, Ryan shot forward like a cannonball.

He swept through the sea of clouds and flew into the distance.

He didn't need to look down to know he had crossed the walls that had always surrounded him and Becca.

He knew little about the world outside.

That only made it more exciting.

The wind whistling past cooled his body.

The thin air felt wonderfully fresh.

Ryan flew to his heart's content. Only when the sun was setting did he pick a place and land.

He looked around.

High-rises stretched beyond his sight, mountains of the city.

Streets. Crowds.

Air polluted by industry and car exhaust.

All of it

filled Ryan with nostalgia.

"I'm finally back in normal society."

Ryan stepped into the crowd. On a large billboard nearby

was a man wearing goggles and sporting a strange hairstyle.

It was an ad for shoes, and Ryan recognized the man on it.

He was a Supe from Vought International:

A-Train.

The man was said to run incredibly fast.

Ryan doubted A-Train could outrun him in flight. He left the billboard behind.

Even the unfamiliar crowds looked more welcoming now.

Unlike the view of the world he'd gotten from The Boys on TV, what he saw now stretched beyond the screen.

Clouds drifted by, and passersby who had nothing to do with the main characters lived their own lives.

Though dusk had fallen, people in heavy leather jackets still sat on benches along the street.

Ryan didn't want to go back tonight. He had finally made it outside.

He intended to get a good taste of ordinary life.

For that, he needed money. Money.