Not Easy being A Superheroes’ Kid

Lois, I’m worried about the boy.”

               “Why’s that honey?”

               “Well, yesterday he flew down to stop a runaway train, and he couldn’t do it.”

               “What do you mean?,” said Lois.

               “He just couldn’t stop it. Got in front of it, pushed it but it just kept rolling. It’s like he’s lost his superpowers. Good thing Wonder Woman was around. She came down and stopped it.”

               “She’s such a nice young girl,” said Lois. “We should have her over for dinner sometime.”

               “Yeah, that would be nice, but what about the boy?”

               “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe just one of those things. He is a teenager after all, so much goes on in their minds. He’s probably thinking more about girls than using his superpowers…Oh dear, I hope he’s not abusing his x-ray vision.

               “He better not be.”

               “Plus, he’s got acne; who knew a superhero could get acne?

               “It’s tough on him being your son, I think. Ever since you gave up your secret identity, everybody knows he’s your son, got all your superpowers. That makes him different, and the last thing a teenager wants to be is different.”

               “Yeah, maybe you’re right. He’s different that’s for sure. Maybe we shouldn’t have let him fly to kindergarten, taking the other kids for rides. Remember in sixth grade he got mad at the principal and threw his car to the North Pole? Good thing we had Super Hero Insurance. We should have grounded him for more than a week. But he’s got these powers, I hope he’s still got them, and as a kid he was just going to use them because he could.”

               “But he’s not a kid anymore,” said Lois. “He can’t do the stuff other kids his age do. Remember he tried football, nearly killed three guys on the other team? Track, he was at the finish line before the starting gun stopped firing. Basketball, a hundred points a game. He hated all that, just hated it.”

               “Guess you’re right. Still, I wonder if there’s something in his genes or whatever that causes him to lose his superpowers as he gets older.”

               “Could be, but I still think it’s just a phase. Why don’t you go talk to him, he’s up in his room.”

               He knocked on his son’s door. Knocked again, got no answer, so he just walked into the room.

               His son had headphones on, hip hop blasting away. He was in front of his mirror trying out dance moves. He saw his father walk in. “Dad, can’t you knock first?”

               “I did knock, but you didn’t hear me. Guess you had your super hearing turned off.”

               He meant it as a joke, but his son just scowled. “What do you want?”

               “Nothing much. Why don’t you take those head phones off, we’ll talk a bit.”

               “About what?”

               “This and that. Or we could race to Jupiter like we used to.”

               “Dad, I don’t want to do any of that dumb stuff. I’m not a kid anymore.”

               “OK, let’s just sit on the bed and talk a bit.”

               Scowl firmly in place, his son reluctantly agreed.

               His Dad sat beside him and for a moment just looked at him. He had his father’s dark black hair that he wore long, usually in a ponytail. His light blue eyes were from his mother. He was long and lanky and certainly didn’t have his Dad’s superhero physique. He had a few pimples on his face, but not a bad case of acne as his doting mother had said. And he thought to himself how much he and Lois loved this boy and wanted him to be happy.

               “So what’s so important to talk about?”

               “What happened yesterday?,” his father asked.

               “What do you mean?”

               “The train.”

               “Oh, I could’ve stopped the train any time I wanted. Didn’t need Wonder Woman’s help.”

“So why didn’t you?”

“I was going to, but the gang was standing on the corner by the track, laughing at me, making fun of me. One of the guys was mimicking me, pretending to stop this girl I really like. She was giggling and pointing at me like I was some idiot. It was awful. I was waiting to get out of sight of them before stopping the train.”

“OK, OK, I understand, I think. I guess you want to be like everybody else, but you’re not, and there’s nothing to be done about that. Tell you the truth, I get tired of being a superhero, everybody recognizing me, wanting something from me. I’m sorry you’re going through the same thing."

“It’s not your fault, Dad.”

“I guess not. But I wish I had some way to help you feel better about yourself. You’ve got to remember you’re more than just a superhero. You’re smart, and kind, and gentle, and never use your powers to hurt anyone. Your Mom and I are always proud of you, and love you more than you know.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

“One more thing. I guarantee, absolutely guarantee, not everyone makes fun of you. And, one of these days you’re going to meet a girl, or guy, that loves you for all the things you are, not just because you’re faster than a speeding bullet. After all, I found your mother, and she could care less I can fly. You hungry?”

“Starving.”

“OK, I’ll go get us some take out. Gimme a hug.”

He left his son’s room, told Lois it went OK, gave her the details, asked her if it was OK to have take-out for supper. She said that was fine, so he headed to a planet, a couple galaxies past Andromeda where they had the best Qoerax burgers in the universe. He ordered three with fries.

They ate in the kitchen and kept the TV on, watching the news, despite protest from the rest of the crew. He usually didn’t watch the news, as he was often on it, but the current President for some reason had it out for superheroes. He had insisted they were not real Americans, they were aliens. He demanded a law denying them the vote, and barring them from serving in the federal government in any capacity. The news showed a clip of him at a rally calling for a new Department of Superhero Affairs, where each superhero would have to register and be given an ID card. Some Americans bought into this, but not many. But he did want to keep up on what this idiot was up to.

The next item on the news was about the drug crisis in America. Yes, fentanyl was still the drug most responsible for the death of young people in America, but a new drug was catching on in high schools across the country: kryptonite.

The report said, again, that fentanyl was still the number one cause of overdose deaths in the U.S., but a disturbing trend of deaths from kryptonite overdose is appearing. So far there have been 450 reported deaths.

Not much is known about kryptonite, the report continued, where and how it’s produced, though a Russian lab is suspected. It’s a green rock that is smoked, and appears to be growing in popularity among high school age children.

He was in shock. Kryptonite was the only thing that could rob him and his son of their superpowers, and given enough exposure, kill them. He was looking at his son as the report was on. He kept his head down, staring at his food. Something was up and it scared the hell out of his father. Was his son smoking kryptonite?

He and Lois cleaned up while the boy went back to his room.

“Lois, did you see that news about kryptonite?”

“Yes, I did. That’s scary, especially for our son. You don’t think he’d ever use it, do you?”

“Don’t know. I’ve never talked to him about kryptonite, and given the way he’s feeling, wouldn’t surprise me if he did.”

“Guess you need to talk to him again.”

“How about we both go?”

They knocked on his door. “Come in.”

He was laying on his bed, reading a few books. Lois and the boy’s Dad sat on the bed next to him.

“You know we love you,” said Lois. “And you can tell us anything. We’re not going to get mad or punish you, we just need to know.”

“About what?”

"Well,” his Dad said, “about kryptonite. The thing is you and I are different. Nothing can hurt us, except kryptonite. First it takes away your superpowers, then, if you use enough of it, it kills you, and quickly. So, let me ask you, is kryptonite around the school?”

“Yeah, it’s around. Some kids have tried it.”

“How about you?,” asked Lois.

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?,” said his Dad. “Like your Mom said, we just want to know, we’re worried. I’m just guessing, but did you have trouble stopping that train yesterday?”

The boy hesitated. “OK, I did. And, yeah, I’ve tried kryptonite a couple times, but just a couple.”

“How’d it make you feel?,” asked Lois.

“Kinda normal. I never wanted these superpowers in the first place. Felt good to not be able to stop that train.”

“Of course a lot of people might have died if Wonder Woman hadn’t been there.”

“Never thought of that.”

“Look,” said Lois, “I’ve seen what kryptonite does, seen you father almost die from it Kryptonite will kill you long before it takes away your superpowers. So don’t think it’s a shortcut to being ‘normal’.”

The boy began to cry. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but I’m so unhappy I don’t know what to do.”

“I know you are baby,” said Lois, “but there’s no way for us to magically fix that. You are what you are. But we want a promise from you: never, ever take kryptonite again. Will you make that promise?”

Amid sobs, the boy said, “OK.”

“You got to know, if you stop, your superpowers will come back to what they were,” said his Dad. “How about we let things go for tonight and you get some sleep.”

The next morning the boy got up, got ready and headed to school. He decided to fly, why not?

As he flew, he saw a girl from Math class below him. She was nice, always smiled at him, never made him feel weird. So he decided to land beside her.

It startled her, but she recognized him and relaxed.

“How you doing?,” he said. “Want to fly to school with me?”

“How do we do that?”

“Easy, just climb on my back and hold on tight.”

She did so, and they took off. He didn’t go very high, but flew her around the town for a while before landing at the school.

“That was awesome,” she said. “How’d you do that?”

“I don’t know really, just can.”

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed.

“Maybe we can hang out after school,” she said. “I don’t mean we have to fly, just maybe get some ice cream or something.”

“I’d like that,” he said.

“OK, see you after school,” she said and headed toward the school entrance.

He smiled.