A Guide to Being Super

Rule #14

"Oh. Sorry for interrupting your TV time." I was halfway out the door when Dan called me back.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Before you go along and get yourself killed, I have a gift for you," he said, reaching under one of his couch cushions and pulling out a small box.

"Are you gonna propose to me or something?"

"If only you were so lucky." He tossed the box to me. "Now that you're close to fighting on your own, I figured you'd need a gadget of your own."

I opened the box to see a watch.

"What-" I said.

"Don't diss the gift, it's more than what it seems. Think of it as a James Bond watch for the new generation. It'll let you know when someone needs your help. Like a Bat Signal or something."

"That's... awesome!"

He grinned. "I'm glad you like it."

"Thanks dude."

"No problem. But don't go too crazy, all right? You may get to train on your own but you're still training. Remember to call for help if you need it."

"Okay," I said, not really paying attention. The watch was just so shiny and pretty I couldn't tear my eyes away.

Not really paying attention to me either, Dan turned the TV back on and motioned me away. "Now go train, I need to find out who wins this thing."

I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty happy with this development. It wasn't that I didn't like training with Dan, he could be annoying but that was also sort of entertaining, but I liked the idea of being in control of what I wanted to do. It was also sort of terrifying because since I could do whatever I wanted, there was no guarantee I was doing anything right, but that was also sort of exciting. You don't get roped into becoming a superhero by avoiding dangerous excitement.

When I got to my lair, which looked even better than before, Rachel was already there. I had known something was up when she didn't try to find me after school but I guess this explained it. I didn't see her at first but as soon as she heard the door close she called for me to meet her in the training room, the one that everyone knew existed but me. When I walked in the right word for my reaction was shocked. No, it was more than that. It was complete and utter shock. It was insane. Like the rest of the lair, it had just about everything Dan's lair did but it was newer and better. Just the way I liked things.

"What the-" I said.

Rachel smiled. "You like it?"

"It's amazing! How- How did you even do this? How did you get this stuff?"

"I know people."

"But-"

"Matt, my explaining this will just bore you. Just accept that I know people and leave it at that."

I shrugged. If her knowing people led to stuff like this then I could deal with it. "Okay."

"Good." She walked past me towards the main room. "I have to go home to drop something off for Mom. You good here?"

"I'm more than good."

"All righty then. See you later." Then she was gone, already walking towards the bus stop.

Training was just what I needed that day. Usually to get in the zone I had to get annoyed, it didn't really matter at what, but today I was already annoyed. Dan's gift and Rachel's talents had put me in a better mood but there was still plenty of annoyance in me. And school had everything to do with that.