Figuring it all out [NR]

He landed somewhere unseen, behind a corner store near the house, quickly took off his suit, and normally began walking down the street. One block over, the Black home came into view. He'd only been gone 1 day but the place felt foreign now.

Matt stepped up onto the porch and opened the door. He stepped inside and closed it behind him, his nose taking in that familiar "old" smell.

"Thomas? Is that you," came the scratchy voice of Gran from the kitchen, where Matt was on his way to.

"No, just me Gran," Matt responded.

"Matt? What are you doing here, shouldn't you be working? You have a very important job now."

"I know, but we're on a downtime shift right now, there isn't much that has to be done right now," he responded, thinking up something quickly. He sat at the kitchen table across from her.

"Well, how is it and all? Are they treating you right downtown? Are you enjoying yourself?"

"Yeah... but that's not the problem," said Matt.

"Problem? what's going on, dear?"

"Well...I dunno. This might sound childish, but...I feel useless around all of those people. There's kids in that place that have powers like gods, kids even younger than me. I know i'm pretty smart and I can build things that would take someone grown years, but...everybody in that building makes that look like nothing, y'know? That girl that came with me with the funny eyes, Cala? You remember her?...Even she's stronger than me. I just feel like I don't compare to any of those people at all. I don't belong in something like that..."

"...That may be the case dear, but that's no reason to quit. You were given an opportunity that few people on this planet have been given, and the rest can only dream of. I believe Alec Kane picked you because you are special. There's always been something about you: your karate, your smarts, the fact that you could actually finish the work your father started. Those people in that tower aren't regular beings, and you are not a regular human. So I would go ahead to say that you're exactly where you need to be, not here, hiding in that basement. Don't fixate yourself on something you saw someone else do, you concentrate on Matthew. Be the best Matthew that you can."

Gran still had it. She could still say what needed to be said when he needed it. He didn't know what he'd do when she was gone. He grinned at her. "Why are you always right, Gran?"

"Comes with age. Now you get, and I don't want to see you back here for at least a month. Your grandfather and I are fine. We won the lottery! A nice man from the bank here yesterday, and he explained how we'd be getting the payments from our winnings every month." Lottery winnings? Probably something cooked up by Alec. That was cool.

Matt hugged Gran before leaving out again. She was right. So what if some little girl had almighty powers? So what if he was basically the weakest of all of them. Matt planned on being the hardest worker. That would have to count for something in the end. He shouldn't have beat himself up like he did. Gran was right, he was no ordinary human, especially if he could flatten 2 super powered goons who'd probably lived a gazillion years and flattened entire armies and civilizations single handedly with just a wave of their arm.

After putting his suit back on unseen, he took to the air and headed back downtown, toward the tower.