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.