Andy took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. The eighteen year old youth, in his t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, transformed. His skin, well toned muscles, and bones turned to metal, reflecting the early morning sun as it peeked over the treetops. His eyes became metal as well, two metal orbs that amazingly still absorbed light and let him see. Even his smooth white hair looked like a metal brush before he was done. With a confident smile, he gazed at the scene before him, a clearing out in the woods with many metal shapes lining the ground.

To the side, Andy’s father held a stopwatch in one hand. With his other hand, John reached out and levitated the metal objects, an assortment of metal rings and twisted metal objects taking the vague shapes of civilians, thugs, and various monsters. As metal objects rose up and floated in the air, they created an obstacle course. Andy looked to his father, who nodded and started the stopwatch.

Andy, channeling magnetism through his body, levitated off the ground and flew forward, picking up speed. He flew through a few rings before stretching out his arms and blasting some targets with electricity from his hands. The rings were small enough that Andy had to straighten his arms to fit through them before aiming at the targets. For the targets that looked like mutant monsters, Andy used thick, powerful bolts of lightning that left scorch marks. For the thugs, Andy used thinner bolts that danced over the targets and lit up green lights on them. For the civilians, Andy avoided striking them at all. Andy weaved through the rings and struck all intended targets with skill and precision.

Finally, Andy slipped through the last ring, landed, and from his belt, he pulled out a bullet and magnetized it to the top of his right wrist. He made his aiming pose where he put his left hand on his arm to keep his aim steady, and he charged the cylinder with electromagnetic energy, making it glow with power. He could feel the energy draining from the reserve in his body as he charged the bullet but kept his aim steady. Andy then unleashed a huge burst of magnetism, repelling the charged bullet away from his wrist and blasting the target to smithereens.

John Gatlin stopped the stopwatch.

“One minute, nineteen seconds,” said John approvingly. “Both the nonlethal blasts and the magcannon at the end were done flawlessly.”

The magcannon was John’s and now Andy’s most powerful attack. Their electric blasts inevitably lost some power as they traveled, but with a physical medium, they could use their full power at any range. Technically, they could both repel metal to use as a normal bullet, but that was less powerful than their lightning attacks. It was the combination of the physical medium with supercharged energy that increased the bullets penetrating power. Judging by the final target in pieces, one could tell it was a devastating attack.

Andy flew over and landed, shifting back to his organic form.

“I was great, wasn’t I?” said Andy, excited. “So I passed, right?”

“Yeah,” said John, impressed. “You passed with flying colors. You’ve come a long way, Andy.”

“It’s just like I’ve been saying,” said Andy. “I’m ready, Dad. I’m ready to be a superhero.”

John nodded, “Yes. As far as I can tell, you most certainly are.”

Andy nodded excitedly. Then both of them turned their heads to look at someone standing to the side, a woman with grey skin, grey eyes, and white hair, a steel type Valtarian. This particular Valtarian was a strikingly beautiful woman, though she showed some signs of her age, such as wrinkles around her eyes that gave her a wearied look.

This was Andy’s mother. On Valtaria, her name had been Amedara, but she’d taken the name Amelia on Earth. Right now, she looked between Andy and the obstacle course with an uncertain look on her face. Andy and John waited for her answer with bated breath.

“Maybe one more time,” said Amelia.

“Mom,” said Andy. “Come on.”

“Amelia,” said John. “You know how much he wants this. Besides, he’s eighteen now. Technically, you can’t stop him.”

Amelia looked down, unable to answer.

John had a knowing look, “Is this about Redwell City?”

Amelia hugged herself, “Redwell city is…was so close to here.” She looked at Andy helplessly. “I just know I’ll always be worried about you.”

“I know, mom,” said Andy. “But let’s face it. If something like that happens here, me not being a superhero isn’t going to stop it. But if I’m out there, being proactive, I can stop things like that before they happen. I just can’t sit around when people are in danger and I know I can do something about it.”

“Are you sure you won’t reconsider college?” Amelia asked hopefully.

“Mom, I’d lose my mind with boredom at college. Honestly? I’ve made up my mind. I’m doing this, but I just want you to know that I’ll be fine. I’m ready.”

Amelia sighed and said, “I was afraid you’d say that.” She walked over to her son and put her hands on his shoulders. “Andy, if I worry about you, it’s because I love you. If this is really what you want to do with your life, then I’ll support you.”

Andy looked on the verge of tears as the two of them hugged. Moments later, John joined the hug as they just took comfort in each other’s presence.

***

The Gatlin house stood in a neighborhood that looked ordinary by many standards. However, if you lived there, you knew that it was anything but. Everyone on that street, aside from John, had Valtarian Blood. John had managed to secure housing for them when they settled in the United States, the first ever extraterrestrials to immigrate as a group to an Earth nation. When they were outside, the Valtarians typically altered their appearance to blend in, taking on hair, skin, and eye colors more in line with humans.

As they approached their house from the woods behind their neighborhood, Amelia and Andy shapeshifted. Their hair turned black while Amelia turned her skin fair to match Andy. They waved to Andy’s uncle, named Torvus on Valtaria while taking the name Tobias on Earth. The tall, broad shouldered man waved back from his backyard as he mowed his lawn.

When they got inside their typical American house, they changed back to their Valtarian forms and entered the house. They went to the living room, which had a wall of movies, a wall for the TV, and a large L couch where Andy’s brother and sisters waited. The three other children jumped up from what they were doing. Andy’s sixteen year old sister Samantha put her book down, his fourteen year old brother martin paused his video game, and his twelve year old sister Abigail stopped watching Martin play. While Abigail shared Andy’s tan skin and white hair, her eyes were a stormy grey. Both Martin and Samantha bore grey skin and dark hair while Samantha had blue eyes and Martin sported grey eyes. No matter the color, though, all three sets of eyes gave Andy their full attention.

“Well?” asked Samantha, smirking. “Did mom say no and make you cry?”

“No, she said yes,” said Martin defiantly before looking at their mother hesitantly and asking, “Didn’t you?”

“No,” said Andy, rolling his eyes at Samantha. “She didn’t say no.”

Samantha stuck her tongue at him teasingly.

“Andy’s an adult now,” said Amelia. “It’s his decision, and I’ll support whatever he decides.”

“And I decide,” said Andy. “That I’m starting soon.”

“Yes!” said Martin excitedly.

“That’s great,” said Abigail, standing shyly to the side. “When are you getting a costume?”

“Oh,” said John, a sly look in his eye. “He’s got one.”

John waved his hand, and moments later, a metal box flew out of a back room, landing on the floor in front of them. Andy saw it and his eyes grew wide. Everyone else looked on with interest as well.

“Is that…” said Andy.

“It most certainly is,” said John, waving his hand and opening the box.

Inside was a vibrant blue suit with a white, eight point star on the chest. It came with metallic accessories styled after knights’ armor. Specifically, it came with a metallic belt, gauntlets for his hands, metallic boots for his feet, and pauldrons for his shoulders, each gleaming in the light. The gauntlets even had a groove for the magcannon bullets. Andy looked at it in awe.

"You wanted something with some armor aesthetics,” said John. “So I made sure to get that.”

“I thought you wanted knight’s armor,” said Amelia. “Like your father?”

“I did,” said Andy, still holding up the costume. “But we figured I wouldn’t get much use out of it. Also, he can levitate armor onto himself. It would take too long for me.”

“Oh, I see,” she said.

Andy’s powers worked differently from his father’s. His father could magnetically levitate and reinforce any metal within a wide radius. John’s armor, strengthened by his power, was a last line of defense that had saved his life on more than one occasion. Andy could only levitate and reinforce his own metal body. The most he could do with surrounding metal objects was attract them to himself, repel them away from himself, or stick them together with magnetism. That had some uses but wouldn’t justify an entire suit of metal armor.

While he was more limited in that way compared to his father, his magnetically reinforced metal flesh allowed him to tank more hits from attacks. Both heat and cold wouldn’t give him as much trouble, and the incredible strength granted by his magnetically enhanced metal form made him a force to be reckoned with. Still, despite the differences in their powers, Andy still wanted something that referenced a knight. He was his father’s son, after all.

“I love it,” said Andy.

“Why is there a star on the chest?” asked Samantha. “Shouldn’t that be a lightning bolt?”

“That’s because of my superhero name,” said Andy, sighing. “I tried to come up with something that referenced electricity, but every possible cool name I could think of was taken. Do you realize how many electric themed superheroes there’ve been? I looked at the words shock, lightning, surge, electric, and every combination I could use with them was taken, even by obscure heroes from the sixties. I spent hours trying to find something, and one of the names I came up with was taken by a band. A band! Do you have any idea how frustrating that is?”

“Alright, so what’s the star represent?”

“Well,” said Andy. “Mom, do you remember that time I was practicing my powers at night, and I channeled my full power?”

Amelia nodded, “You glowed so bright you looked like a star flying across the night sky.”

“So I named myself after that,” said Andy, grinning. “I can turn to a metal as strong as steel, and I glow like a star at full power, so I call myself SteelStar.”

“Cooooooooool,” said Martin and Abigail, their eyes wide with wonder.

“Meh, it’s okay,” said Samantha.

“Okay?” said Andy, mock offended. “Just okay?”

“I like it,” said John.

“It does have a nice ring to it,” said Amelia.

“It does, doesn’t it?” said Andy, holding up the costume. “I’m gonna try this on.”

In just a few minutes, Andy had changed. In the privacy of their house, he had no reason to hide himself, so Andy took the form he would have as a superhero, altering his skin to Valtarian grey while keeping the white hair. He also kept his normal blue eyes because he liked how it looked. He also altered his facial structure just slightly to make himself look older. It made him distinct enough from his public human form that no one would make the connection. Combine that with the suit, and Andy thought he looked great.

“Well,” said Andy, a big smile on his face. “What do you think?”

“You look great, son,” said John.

“Very handsome,” said Amelia.

“You look really cool,” said Martin.

Abigail nodded her head enthusiastically, and Even Samantha’s smirk shifted to a slightly more sincere smile.

“Okay,” said Samantha. “You do look pretty cool.”

Andy’s smile brightened.

“Now,” said John. “We just need to get you set up on Herofund, and you’ll be ready to start.”

Herofund was, quite simply, a crowdfunding platform for superheroes. People had figured out a long time ago that using your powers without compensation was very hard to pull off. Trying to balance a full time job with superhero work was almost impossible. Few heroes managed it, and all of them struggled with it. Solutions to this had been offered over the years, from company sponsorships to government programs. Crowdfunding platforms were, by far, the most common source of income for superheroes in this day and age. If people liked a superhero’s work, they could donate to give that hero a living. A fraction of donations went to built-in insurance. Such a system was needed for a job like this, where fighting other power users inevitably resulted in at least some property damage. This all the more reason for Andy to start soon. Though Andy wasn’t doing this to get rich, he knew he needed to make a living, so as long as he got enough money to pay his future bills, he’d be content just to help people.

“Is Herofund the one you used?” asked Andy.

“Nah,” said John. “That was after my time, but fortunately, I can vouch for the man who runs it. If there’s one to pick, it’s that one.”

Unfortunately, no method of making money as a superhero meant that you couldn’t keep your identity secret from everyone. They could only pay you if they knew who you were, so it was important to ensure the terms of service were trustworthy and agreed never to divulge one’s secret identity to the public. Andy had read the terms of service for Herofund and found everything agreeable, but his father’s word on this was even more reassuring.

“Awesome,” said Andy. “Do we have a cover job for me yet?”

“We can work that out later,” said John as they went to his office computer. “For now, if anyone asks, we’ll just say you’re still finding yourself.”

“Sounds good,” said Andy, getting more excited by the minute. “Sounds good.”

Despite her reservations, Amelia couldn’t help but smile at Andy’s enthusiasm. Abigail and Martin were cheering him on, and even Samantha seemed happy for him, though she only showed it on her face when he wasn’t looking.

***

Paramount flew across the sky with his fists stretched out before him, the wind rippling in his short hair. The forest stretched out below him as the sun shone to his left. Paramount checked the G.P.S. in his smartwatch to make sure he was in the right place, and then he gazed over the landscape for the person he was meeting. Paramount felt him with his mind before he ever saw him, sensing the man’s cold, calculating thoughts from a mile away. Moments later, Paramount sensed another mind wondering why he was out there.

Guess I wasn’t the only one he asked out here, Paramount thought. Soon Paramount caught a glimpse of a black speck next to a white speck down below. He flew down under the trees and landed in a kneel before standing up to face two fellow superheroes.

The first was the Silent Wraith, known as Silent to his friends. He wore a black suit of body armor with a sleek, armored gas mask over his head. The masks had lenses over his eyes and a slim disc on each cheek where the mask’s air filters rested. Behind the other man, Paramount could see Silent’s custom motorcycle, a sleek looking black vehicle that almost looked like a miniature fighter jet.

The second man was Spectramancer, wearing a white hooded robe and a white mask over his vivid green eyes. Around his jaw lay a white beard, making him look like an elderly wizard.

“Silent, Spectramancer,” said Paramount, nodding to each of them. “What’s going on?”

“Ask him,” said Spectramancer irritably with a thick British accent. “He’s the one who insisted on meeting out in the middle of nowhere.”

“There’s something you both need to see,” said Silent.

Silent’s voice was distorted electronically, giving him a menacing air. Neither Paramount nor Spectramancer was intimidated, but they knew him pretty well. The Silent Wraith was only dangerous to bad people.

Silent pulled a tablet from his motorcycle and showed it to the others.

“You remember the concern for Morphic Man and Elementus?” asked Silent.

“Yes, I noticed,” said Paramount. “Their fans seemed to think that they were in Redwell City when it blew. Seeing as they’re both perfectly uninjured, I figured it was some misunderstanding.”

“That’s what I thought too,” said Silent. “However, checking their social media accounts revealed that they’ve deleted recent posts recently. The timing of this seemed just seemed a little suspicious, so I looked on internet archive sites to see if I could find screenshots of those posts. What I found was…concerning. Most of the major internet archive sites have been hacked recently. No personal information from users seems to have been compromised, but there are missing files and images related to both Morphic Man and Elementus’s accounts.”

“Hacked?” said Paramount skeptically. “Are you telling me that someone tried to wipe every possible record of their posts from the internet?”

“Not everything,” said Silent. “No one could get every single image on every single website. Not even Cybergun could do that, but they could go after the most popular websites, so finding what I was looking for still took time. After a few hours of digging, I was able to find a few screenshots in some obscure forums. While they may have been edited, these images show that Morphic Man and Elementus were, in fact, in Redwell City the day it was destroyed. If that’s correct, then someone is going to great lengths to make sure people don’t find that out. As I said, they obviously can’t wipe everything out there, but those who only check the mainstream sights will be none the wiser, and that’s a lot of people.”

“How’s that possible?” said Spectramancer in disbelief. “Even if it’s just the mainstream sites, the resources you would need to hack all of them at once would be incredible.”

“They could have easily left before the explosion,” said Silent. “The point is, it seems they were there that night. As for how they could hack so many sights at once, both heroes have connections. Elementus has an old school company sponsorship from Uberdyne Incorporated. Morphic Man, on the other hand, gets government grants from the E.H.O.D.’s safeguard program. From corporate money to federal money, either has the resources necessary for this level of cyberattack.”

Paramount shook his head in disbelief, and Spectramancer clenched his fists.

“I can’t believe Elementus is behind this,” said Paramount. “I’ve worked with him. He’s a good man.”

“To be fair,” said Silent. “We don’t know why he would have been there, only that he might have been. His reasons for being there may very well be unrelated to the explosion. We just don’t know. What about Morphic Man? I remember his bid to join the U.H.E. was rejected.”

“It was,” said Paramount. “He’s always struck me as arrogant and abrasive. Only a few of our members voted to let him in, and for his part, I think he just wanted the potential status. Ultimately he was too full of himself to be a team player, but I’ve never heard of him getting someone killed, much less something like this.”

“It’s him,” said Spectramancer. “If either of them is behind this, it’s him. I always knew that man was up to no good. Every time I see that insufferably smug smile, I just want to punch him. And you tell me he’s working with those corrupt suits from the E.H.O.D.? It just makes me sick! I could just go right to that slimy, stuck up weasels and…”

“Nigel!” said Paramount sternly, “Power down!”

Spectramancer hadn’t even realized his power was active. Wrapped in a red aura that also turned his cloak red, he glared at Paramount, his hands glowing with even more power. Spectramancer, despite his anger, obeyed. When the aura disappeared, so did Spectramancer’s anger, and he suddenly grew embarrassed and looked away awkwardly.

“Sorry,” said Spectramancer.

“Are you alright?” asked Silent suspiciously.

“I’m fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” said Paramount sternly. “You looked like you were losing control. Spectramancer, you told me this wouldn’t happen again.”

“It didn’t,” Spectramancer protested.

“Not this time,” said Paramount. “Do I need to bring up the Rocky Mountains incident?”

“I think you just did,” said Spectramancer. “So let me remind you that it wasn’t that bad. No one got hurt, did they?”

“No one was around to get hurt. You might not be so lucky next time. Spectramancer, tell me honestly, has this been getting worse?”

“No,” said Spectramancer.

He’d said that just a little too quickly for Paramount’s liking. Just for a moment, Paramount brushed Spectramancer’s mind with telepathy. Spectramancer did seem to believe what he was saying, but Paramount also sensed an abnormally strong desire to believe it. Was Spectramancer trying to convince himself it was true as much as he wanted to convince Paramount? Possibly. Telepathy didn’t technically reveal the truth. It simply revealed what one believed to be the truth. At the moment, Spectramancer’s mind didn’t give Paramount enough to go on. If Spectramancer was right, then there was nothing to worry about, but if he was wrong…

“Spectramancer,” said Paramount. “I say this as a friend. If you’re having trouble controlling your power, then it might be time to consider…”

“Don’t say retirement!” Spectramancer almost shouted, wisps of red aura appearing around him before disappearing. “I swear, if I never hear that word again, it’ll be too soon. I can’t spend the rest of my life sitting around when people need my help. You know me better than that.”

“Nigel,” said Paramount, his voice softening to a plea, “You have to face facts. You aren’t getting any younger.”

Spectramancer looked away. “You think I don’t know that?”

“I don’t want you to get yourself hurt. Yourself or…someone else.”

“It’s been a year, Paramount,” said Spectramancer. “I’ve done well so far.”

“And in all that time,” said Paramount. “I haven’t seen you accidentally activate your powers until now. Nigel, if you’re starting to have trouble again, then please let us help you.”

They stood in silence for a moment. Silent had spent that conversation standing back, looking back and forth between them.

“Silent,” said Spectramancer. “You want me to interview Elementus and Morphic Man, right?”

Silent hesitated. “I’m not sure that…”

“That’s why I’m here, right?” said Spectramancer. “Both are immune to telepathy, so Paramount can’t get anything from them. But I’m an empath, so I might be able to confirm something from their emotions. Where are they?”

Silent hesitated but said, “Over the past few days, superheroes have been visiting the crater where Redwell City used to be, finding clues or just paying their respects. Elementus is there now, and according to Morphic Man’s Noteline feed, he should be there later today.”

“Alright,” said Spectramancer. “I’ll talk to them. I can’t guarantee that Morphic Man’s emotions will be easy to read. Aliens sometimes have strange emotions. Just because I can read Paramount’s emotions doesn’t mean I can read every extraterrestrial, but I’ll find whatever I can.

Spectramancer took a deep breath and then surrounded himself in a yellow aura that turned his white costume yellow. This aura seemed to make him feel better, a look of pure contentment spreading across his face. He looked at Paramount and smiled.

“It’s okay,” said Spectramancer. “I’ll ask them where they were that day and report back to you—nothing to it. Everything will be alright. You’ll see.”

And Spectramancer flew into the air, speeding away from the clearing. Paramount watched him go, worry written all over his face.

“Will he be okay?” asked Silent.

“I hope so,” said Paramount.

Silent looked at him and said, “Are you okay?”

Paramount shook his head. “I’m just…tired. Very tired.”

“I thought you didn’t get tired,” said Silent.

“I can run out of energy,” said Paramount. “But I’m not talking about my body. I’m tired here,” he pointed to his head. “And here,” he pointed to his heart. He then looked back up, a wistful expression on his face. “You know, Spectramancer was a young man when I met him. Only nineteen. I look exactly the same as I did that day, but he…well...”

Paramount didn’t finish, but the point was made. Paramount was old, much older than he looked. He’d been the first superhero and formed the United Heroes of Earth when more heroes started using their powers for good. No matter how many faces were added or taken off that roster, his face had always been there. Paramount thought back on all the friends he’d had in his life. Some had died fighting the good fight, but some had simply passed away from old age, like his own wife.

Even though he physically looked the same, Paramount used to look in the mirror and see a man filled with optimism. Now he saw a man filled with worry about everyone he knew and what would happen in the future. He sometimes wondered what happened to that young, energetic, and optimistic young man who wanted to make the world a better place.

As Paramount stood there, staring wistfully out into space, Silent looked away uncomfortably, at a loss for words.

“Alright,” said Paramount, taking a deep breath. “I’ll inform the rest of the U.H.E. about this. What will you do?”

“I’ve already taken samples from the crater sight,” said Silent. “So I’ll get them back to my lab for analysis. We’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise you that.”

“Sounds good,” said Paramount. “Keep up the good work.”

Paramount saluted him and then bent his knees to fly into the air, speeding away. Silent then turned, got on his motorcycle, revved it up, and sped away through the forest.