My mother always said she loved all her kids equally, but I never once believed her. I saw the way she looked at my brother and sister. The way she admired their powers and told them about their futures of fighting crime. I heard the cheers she made whenever she saw them succeed in whatever they tried. I smelt the fresh baked cookies she made for them whenever they wanted a treat. I felt her pushing me towards them to compliment them on everything they did. My brother and sister never missed a congratulatory hug from my mother. 

I saw the way she glanced concerningly at me whenever she was reminded of how average I was. The small tears in her eyes that she tried to hide from me. I heard her talking to my father late at night, worried that I’d be nothing more than the family’s disappointment child. I smelt the absence of my cookies when I finally succeeded, because learning how to ride a bike couldn’t compare to learning to fly. I felt her pushing me to be like them, and even when I tried my hardest, I never could compare. I never wanted anything more than a congratulatory hug from my mother. 

I wanted to complain. I wanted to make up for the missed cookies and hugs. But I couldn’t, because I understood her reasoning. 

My kindergarten teacher once told me that everyone in the world was special, different from anybody they’d ever meet. I never doubted her because I knew I was special. I knew I was different. Different from my entire family. Although, I could never understand why she seemed so happy while talking about what made her different. 

Don’t get me wrong, I loved my family. I mean everyone loves my family. My family are superheroes for crying out loud. 

I looked up to my mother. Mrs. Mind Mender, the superhero with telekinetic powers. She could move anything with her mind, yet she still made her kids clean up their messes with their own hands. She was famous around the city for her powers and charm. Everyone adored her. The entire city, her husband, her kids, even the disappointment child did. I never blamed her for treating me differently because I knew she never meant to. It was hard to give the powerless child as much attention as she gave the super kids. Anybody would do the same in her situation, or at least that’s what I told myself as a child. 

She fought crime alongside my father, The Healer. He could heal anybody in an instant with no downsides. He could also hurt anyone, as little or as much as he desired, but he only used that against the worst of the worst. “I’d rather heal everyone on the entire planet every day than hurt one person,” he used to say. “But sometimes, there’s nothing else you can do. The only way to stop the most evil people is to give them a taste of their own medicine.” I used to think that I was the worst of the worst, an evil person, because of how he hurt me. It was never intentional, he’d never lay a hand on someone. But it hurt me when he ignored me to watch my older siblings. He gave me attention at times, he encouraged me to be myself, he answered my many questions about being a superhero, but I never got the same smile I saw him give to my sister and brother when they showed off their own powers. It made sense though, super speed was way cooler than my drawings of our family. 

I never once blamed my brother or sister for the attention they stole from me. They couldn’t help that they got all the good genes. We were never that close. My brother, Tayton, was six years older than me so we never related that much. Well that and the fact that while he could turn invisible and fly, I was just a normal kid who could only fantasize about having super powers. Same with my sister, Tessy, the young superhero with both super speed and super strength. I guess twice the superhero parents means twice the powers, except if you’re me of course. Tessy was only ten months younger than Tayton and they bonded over their superhero futures, so they always were a lot closer with each other than they ever were with me. 

My family weren’t just superheroes, they were also my own personal heros. I looked up to them in every respect. Sure I was jealous, but who wouldn’t be? I was just glad that I had a family dedicated to bettering the world. The problem was that they were also my own personal villains. I didn’t think that they were bad people, or that they ever hurt me on purpose, but sometimes I couldn’t help feeling resentment towards them. Resentment for ignoring me, resentment for leaving me out, resentment for everything wrong in my life. Heck, I felt resentment towards everyone. Resentment towards their adoring fans for cheering for everyone in the family, except for me. Resentment towards the media for forgetting about the third child of the super-family that the city loves. Most of all, I felt resentment towards myself. 

I know it wasn’t my fault that I was born without powers to match the rest of my family, but what if it was? What if I had them and lost them because I never tried hard enough to use them? What if I never had powers because I was too stupid to do what needed to be done to get powers when I was young, and now it was just too late? What if I was never meant to be born in the first place, and I’m already taking more than I deserve?

All the resentment turned to rage and soon I was filled with more anger than I could handle. I had to find a way to let it all out, so when the first opportunity for karate classes opened up, I jumped on the opportunity. Karate let out a great deal of my anger, but it was never enough, so I joined tae kwon do, and then judo, and then jiu-jitsu. I was never as stealthy as Tayton, but I could definitely sneak up on an attacker if worse came to worse. When that wasn’t enough I joined boxing, which eventually led to kick boxing. After that came wrestling. Sure I would never be able to beat Tessy in the strength department, but I was still told that I was a natural. I even joined fencing at one point, it was never my favorite, but it kept me happy. 

Obviously I didn’t do them all at once, I’m not a superhero or anything, but my schedule was pretty packed with extracurriculars. It worked out pretty well because I was always too busy to think about how jealous I was of my siblings, and my parents never had to worry about trying to give me attention. It’s a little depressing if you think about it, but I never had time to think, I was too busy training. I might’ve only been fifteen, but I was on track to see some Olympic gold medals in my future. 

I never used my skills to fight in school or anything. I mean I’d never hear the end of it. Sometimes I wanted to, you can’t be the unsuccessful one in a family of superheroes without getting some bullies, but I could imagine what people would think. I mean imagine, the child of two superheroes keeps starting fights at the local high school, it’s ridiculous.  If I wasn’t already a big enough disappointment, that would definitely do the trick. 

So my skills stayed on the mat, the only appropriate place for non-superheros to fight. But it didn’t matter to me because the mat was more a home than my actual house. On the mat I was successful, I was a natural, I was a champion. I even invited my family to my matches occasionally. 

They cheered for me, they seemed proud of me, but my dad’s smile was never as big as it was for my siblings. My mother’s praise never measured up to the pride you could feel radiating from my siblings congratulatory hugs. I could see from their looks how it was never enough for them, but it was okay because it was enough for me. 

So we kept on living our lives the same way, sure I was different, but I was happy. I didn’t feel like a disappointment anymore, I felt like a winner, even if they saw it differently. 

One day I was practicing for my upcoming kickboxing match in the home gym. The gym was originally created for my family to prepare for their matches against villains, but if no one was using it, it was the perfect place for me to practice. I had been practicing for a while and had been so desperate to get to practicing that I had forgotten to grab my water bottle, so I thought it would be the perfect time to go retrieve it from the kitchen. 

As I walked out of the gym I noticed all the weight stacked onto the barbell, a reminder of Tessy’s success. As I walked towards the kitchen I noticed the family pictures hung higher than should be possible without a ladder, good thing we have Tayton. Everything in the house was a reminder that I was different from everyone else. 

I walked into the kitchen, grabbed my water bottle, filled it up with fresh water, then made my way back to the gym. I was getting close to the gym door when I heard a loud bang outside. Out of curiosity I walked over to the front door, opened it, and stepped outside. I walked out just in time to see a large lightning bolt strike in the middle of the city. 

I knew exactly what it was, Electreeno, my family’s worst nemesis. Electreeno was a repeat offender who loved to cause destruction to the city. With the ability to control all electricity, both man-made and natural, Electreeno was able to cause lots of destruction quickly. 

I knew that I shouldn’t go towards trouble, but it was hard to resist. The middle of the city was only a few blocks away from where I was standing and I loved to watch my family fight villains. I ignored all the responsible thoughts in my head, jumped on my bike, and pettaled towards the chaos. 

I took a route that I knew didn’t have any power lines super close by because I’m not a complete idiot. I must’ve taken a secret pathway because I didn’t run into many people running away from trouble. I was fast on my bike so it wasn’t long until I could see Electreeno standing in the middle of the city. I could see my family beat me to the action as they were already trying to take down the villain standing before them. 

I parked my bike in an alleyway close to the action and sat down on the ground right next to it. Most mothers would discourage their kids from hanging out in alleyways, but I didn’t think my mother would mind since she was fighting an evil super villain at the moment. The spot was perfect because I could see all the action, but I didn’t think that anyone could see me. 

I sat watching for a few minutes, it was like I was watching a movie, I wished I had brought popcorn. Things were just getting interesting when my father was struck by lightning. You would think that someone with healing powers would be invincible, I mean couldn’t he just heal himself? Apparently not because when he fell down, he didn’t bounce back up again. I could see that he was still breathing, but he was in no condition to try and save a city from a notorious super villain. 

My brother, sister, and mother all rushed over to his side and I must’ve let out an audible gasp because Electreeno turned and stared directly into my eyes. I tried to move, but I was frozen in fear as my family’s biggest nemesis was walking right towards me, the unpowerful family disappointment. 

My family was too distracted by my father to notice Electreeno grab my face, pull me up, and guide me towards the middle of the street. I tried to slap the fat fingered hand away from my chin, but Electreeno simply zapped my hand with electricity. It wasn’t anything strong enough to knock me down or put me in the same conditions as my father, but it hurt and I let out a small yell. 

After hearing my yell, my mother quickly turned around to look at me. I could see the horrified look on her face as soon as she saw me. “No!” she yelled. “Not Tommi! Anyone but Tommi!”

After hearing their mother, my brother and sister quickly turned their heads and shared the same terrified expression when they saw me. My father couldn’t move his head to look at me, but I swear I could hear his gasp. 

It was at that moment that Electreeno must have pieced together who I was, “Ah, what a strange time to be having a family reunion. I can’t believe they let you out of your cage little Tommi.”

The stupid comment filled me with so much rage that I began to clench my fists, only to find that Electreeno had restrained my hands together with some kind of lightning rope. It stung me when I tried to get out of it. 

“Want to leave already little Tommi? My fun with you has just begun,” the villain grimaced and let out a hot breath that smelled like week-old tuna salad and expired milk right on my face. 

I turned my face away from the smell because it made me want to puke up chunks of disappointment right onto Electreeno’s voltaic black boots. When I turned I noticed my siblings coming towards me only to be blasted away by lightning sent from Electreeno’s free hand. 

They tumbled back towards my father and I noticed tears streaming down my mother’s face. I could see her hands stretched out infront of her, she was trying to use her powers to save me. But her emotions must’ve blocked out her powers or something because nothing was helping me. 

After trying multiple times she threw her hands down in defeat. Even more tears escaped her eyes and she couldn’t stop them. In that moment I could almost feel exactly what she was thinking. It hit me like a truck, she thought I was going to die. My mother thought that her third child would die right in front of her. Her disappointment was finally coming to a disappointing end.

When I thought of all this I was filled with more rage then I had ever been filled with before. I turned to look straight into Electreeno’s eyes and I couldn’t hold myself any longer. I let out the biggest scream to ever exist, or that’s what it felt like at least. 

I know it sounds childish, but at that moment I needed to let it out. Judge me if you want, but if you’re ever in my situation, feel free to tell me what you did instead. 

I screamed so loud that Electreeno winced and accidently let go of me. I fell to the ground, while I was still screaming, and as soon as I hit the ground something amazing happened. 

The ground felt like it shook a little as a burst of yellow light shot out of my body and spread everywhere instantly. I saw it hit Electreeno and my family before spreading even further out. They all let out small gasps, I don’t think they were in pain, but they were definitely shocked. I was shocked too, I didn’t know what that light was but it probably wasn’t normal.

As soon as the light shot out of me I stopped my screaming. I looked around quickly, trying to figure out what had just happened. I had fallen to the ground and usen my hands to catch myself. 

OH MY GOD, MY HANDS! They were free from Electreeno’s electric rope. My eyes widened as I examined my hands. I looked up at Electreeno, only to find that the usual electric charge radiating around the villain's body was gone. I looked over at my family and they looked shocked too. When I looked at Tessy I noticed something was different about her too. Her arms that were usually big because of her muscles were suddenly as thin and toothpick-like as my own.

I finally understood what the yellow light had been, but it couldn’t be! I mean this was impossible! But it had to be, right? I mean there was no other explanation, it was true.

I HAD POWERS! I wasn’t just the family disappointment, I was a superhero too! I had the ability to take away other’s powers.

I looked back at Electreeno standing before me. I wasn’t scared anymore. Electreeno was just some 40 year old without a job who loved to terrorise innocent people just because they weren’t loved enough as a child, not some big bad villain. What was so special about that? I mean I wasn’t loved enough as a child, yet I was still able to not kill people for funzies. 

I looked over at my family, they couldn’t use their powers, but it was okay because neither could Electreeno. In that moment I had the greatest realization, people with superpowers rely on their powers. They never train for the same normal combat that regular people do. 

Electreeno may have been bigger and older than me, but I had trained for this moment. I knew how to fight and I didn’t need any stupid powers. 

I rushed over to the villain while they were still trying to process what had just happened and punched their stupid old face as hard as I could. Before Electreeno had any time to react, I let out all of my inner rage.

I remembered every skill my coaches had ever taught me, and when Electreeno tried to fight back, I remembered my defensive moves too. I was stronger than anyone expected because while they were showing off their superskills, I was training. I had used these moves time and time again for years, and they’d never even seen part of them. 

I didn’t dare look at my family, not while I was in the most important battle of my life, but I could feel their shocked looks. They shouldn’t have been shocked, I’ve been trying to show off my skills for years, but they were because they never cared enough to pay attention to me. 

I was never the disappointment, I was just different. They just saw that I was different and didn’t even care about the rest of my life. Life didn’t go exactly as expected and they needed someone to blame. They thought I wasn’t good enough for them, when really they weren’t good enough for me. 

I fought hard and when I was too tired to fight, I fought even more. When I decided I was done with fighting I left Electreeno laying on the ground. The villain just winced, too hurt to move. Someone else could deal with it from there. My family? The cops? The paramedics? I didn’t care, I just didn’t want it to be me. I glanced at my shocked family only for a second before getting on my bike and petaling away. 

I rode my bike straight home and ran into my room, slamming the door and locking it behind me. Twenty minutes later my family showed up. They knocked on my door, desperate to see and congratulate me on a job well done. They thought we could celebrate my new powers and my first ever victory. 

They tried everything to get me out of my room, but I never even opened the door. I heard my mother’s cheers of congratulations, but they didn’t sound as loving as I had once imagined. I smelt the cookies I had long awaited, but the magic was no longer there. 

They didn’t understand that it didn’t feel like a victory to me. To me it felt like the biggest loss in my life because I finally realized that my family will only ever accept me if I fit into their standards. I was still the same old Tommi, so what about the superpowers made me different? They made me different because they made me like them. I didn’t want to be like them, I wanted to be Tommi. 

I don’t know if my family ever got their powers back because that night I snuck out of my window, got on my bike, and pedaled away. I pedaled towards a new, better life with a new, better family. I pedaled far, far away, farther than I could ever imagine. I pedaled until I reached a karate dojo, far away from my own. I got off my bike, walked inside, and saw a group of teens my age warming up. The dojo I’d been in for ten seconds felt more like home than my own house ever had. After the day with Electreeno, I never used my powers ever again. I was finally free from my mother’s congratulatory hugs.