Free The Superhero's Son (Book 1): The Superhero's Test by Lucas Flint Page A

secret, without drawing any unnecessary attention to us from people who don't need to know about them.”
    “Where?” I said.
    “You'll see,” said Dad. He walked over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “We're going to teleport there, so get ready.”
    I nodded and mentally prepared myself as Dad reached for his belt and turned the dial on it.
    In an instant, the basement of our house vanished and we were standing in a wide-open, hilly field under the hot Texas sun. I looked around the area, smelling the scent of fresh grass, but did not see anyone else in the area save for us. I looked up at the sky, but it was also empty, except for a few scattered clouds.
    “Where are we?” I said as I looked at Dad, who had removed his hand from his belt and was now looking around the area like he was trying to make sure were alone.
    “This is a field several miles outside of town,” said Dad. “I found it during the week when I was waiting for your super suit to come in. We're out in the wilderness and there's no one nearby for miles. That's good because I didn't want anyone accidentally stumbling upon us while we practiced.”
    “How long are we going to practice?” I said.
    “Until dinner,” said Dad. “That's what I told your Mom. She'll call me when dinner is ready, so once she calls, we'll leave and resume tomorrow.”
    “Sounds good to me,” I said. I looked up at the sky again. “I'm going to try to fly again.”
    I jumped into the air, but again fell to the ground. I looked up at the sky and scowled at it.
    “Why can't I fly?” I said, looking at Dad again. “It's not that hard, is it?”
    “It's not as easy as it looks,” said Dad. “But we're not going to focus on that at the moment. Right now, we're going to focus on your super strength.”
    “My super strength?” I said. “Dad, I already know how to use it.”
    “No, you don't,” said Dad, shaking his head. “Just because you have used it twice doesn't mean you know how to use it whenever you want.”
    “Oh, yeah?” I said. “What does that mean?”
    Dad sighed, like I was being intentionally dense or something. “Consider the two scenarios under which you have used that power. What are the similarities?”
    I frowned, thinking about how I had used my powers so far. “Well … the first was when I punched Robert through the cafeteria wall when he was threatening to beat me up … and then the second time, when you were using the Detector to scan my brain.”
    “Good,” said Dad. He tapped his forehead. “But I want you to think about why you used your powers. What was it about Robert or the Detector that made you use your super strength?”
    I thought about that. It was kind of hard because I wasn't used to this level of introspective thinking. Dad already seemed to know the answer, but I knew he wasn't going to share it with me, at least not until I gave him my best guess.
    Finally, I shrugged and said, “I dunno.”
    Dad sighed again. “Are you sure?”
    I nodded. “Yep.”
    “All right,” said Dad, who was sounding frustrated now, although he was clearly trying to hide it. “In both circumstances, your emotions became too much for you to handle. When you punched Robert, for example, you were feeling angry at how he was treating you and how no one else backed you up, didn't you?”
    “How did you know?” I said in surprise. “I didn't tell you how I felt.”
    “I can tell because I'm your father,” said Dad. “And also because I know, from my experience with other young neoheroes your age, that it usually takes a strong emotional reaction for their powers to manifest the first time.”
    “And the second time,” I said, quickly catching on to Dad's line of thought, “the Detector was starting to hurt me and that was making me angry and worried.”
    “Precisely,” said Dad. “So what conclusion can we draw from these two situations?”
    “That I need to be feeling negative emotions to use my powers,” I said. I