"That’s it."
Holander crouched down and looked Ryan in the eye.
"That feeling of standing up high and looking down at the world is amazing, right? The freedom of the wind rushing past your ears. Doesn’t it feel just like when I took you up into the sky?"
"Yeah, Dad."
"Ryan, your mom has never held you and flown you into the sky. She’s never brought you up here either, has she?"
Ryan listened to his father and nodded honestly.
"Mm... no. Mom’s afraid of heights. She doesn’t let co to places like this."
Seeing Ryan agree with him, Holander smiled.
"And that’s exactly why boys need their dads."
The two of them stood on the roof, bathed in the warm sunset. From a distance, the scene looked incredibly peaceful and sweet.
But it was about ti to teach Ryan how to use his powers...
When he was Ryan’s age, he had already broken the sound barrier, hadn’t he?
Holander’s mind drifted back to his childhood in the cold Vought laboratory, to those painful mories of researchers pushing him off high platforms again and again to test his limits, throwing him into deadly situations over and over.
The laboratory had taught him that instinct only awakened in desperate situations and extre fear.
This was the only way of teaching he knew.
"Ryan."
Holander suddenly put away his smile and said, "I think it’s ti. Are you ready?"
Ryan froze. "Ready for what? Dad, are we playing a new ga?"
Holander pointed at the lawn more than six ters below them.
"Jump down, Ryan."
The little guy lowered his head and looked at the green lawn below.
Ryan was completely stunned. He instinctively took a step back.
"Dad... you’re not serious, right? It’s so high. I don’t wanna jump!"
"Ryan, look at ."
Holander’s smile was still gentle, but there was no room for argunt in it.
"You’re my son. You can fly. Just like . It’s instinct."
"I... I don’t wanna jump..."
Ryan shook his head.
"Take a deep breath, son."
Holander crouched down.
"Close your eyes, then bravely take one step forward. That’s all. You’ll get it right away. The second you leave the roof, your body will fly on its own. It’ll take care of everything."
"But I can’t fly!"
Ryan was getting anxious. His dad was a superhero with powers, but he did not have any.
"You’re gonna love it. Trust , son."
Holander kept trying to persuade him.
"I really can’t fly, Dad..."
"You can! I promise you can! Just jump, and you’ll discover a whole new world. Trust , okay?"
Seeing that nothing was getting through to his father, Ryan’s little brain raced, and he kept arguing.
"Dad! Please, don’t make jump! I an... Grandpa can’t even fly! Maybe I took after Grandpa. Maybe I can’t fly at all!"
At that, Holander froze for a second.
That... kind of made sense.
Now that he thought about it, the little brat actually had a point. What if Ryan really did take after Soldier Boy?
But Holander quickly shook his head.
"No, definitely not. If I, your dad, can fly, then that ans our genes evolved. And since you’re my son, you should definitely fly higher and faster than ."
Seeing that his father could not be reasoned with, Ryan fell into complete despair.
A mont later, Ryan pulled his phone out of his pocket without hesitation and quickly dialed one of the only two numbers in his contacts.
Seeing his son suddenly take out his phone and make a call, Holander froze, then asked curiously, "Who are you calling right now?"
"Ring... ring... click."
The call connected.
"Grandpa... it’s Ryan..." Ryan called into the phone.
At the word "Grandpa," Holander’s eyebrow twitched.
Holy shit.
This little brat had learned how to tattle?
"Wait! Ryan! Hang up first!"
Holander started to panic a little.
"This is training between father and son. No need to bother your grandpa. Your grandpa hates flying. He might yell at you..."
Benjamin’s voice ca from the other end.
"Who?"
Ryan quickly said, "Grandpa! My dad... my dad wants to make jump off a six-ter-high roof! He says I can fly..."
The air went quiet.
Holander was starting to regret buying his son a phone.
After a brief second of silence on the other end, Benjamin said, "Isn’t that fucking obvious? Your dad can fly. You’re his kid, so of course you can fly too! It’s just jumping off a roof. Take a deep breath and jump. Even if you can’t fly, you won’t get hurt. Don’t stand there crying on the roof like a little bitch. It’s only six ters. You’d be fine from six hundred..."
"Beep, beep, beep..."
After cursing him out, Benjamin hung up without the slightest hesitation.
Ryan stood there holding the phone, now filled with the dial tone, completely frozen.
Holander, standing beside him, heard that Soldier Boy had not scolded him and had actually agreed. His earlier panic instantly vanished.
Holander smiled.
"You hear that, Ryan? Even your grandpa thinks you should jump!"
Holander spread his arms excitedly.
"Crash!"
From the lawn below ca the sharp sound of a ceramic plate shattering.
Becca had just co out of the kitchen carrying a plate of washed fruit, and she happened to see the terrifying scene on the roof.
"Oh my God... what are you doing?!"
The fruit plate slipped from Becca’s hands and smashed onto the ground, fruit rolling everywhere.
Her face went deathly pale as she stared up at Holander and Ryan standing at the edge of the roof.
"Ryan! Don’t move! Holander, you animal! Get him down from there right now!"
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