Fatima had been jotting down notes about all of her classmates. She approached Jayden Jason James—aka Triple J, aka the Most Popular Kid in Class—and asked, “So what’s your power?”

“I’m not sure,” he said.

“Try to do something,” Fatima suggested.

Triple J felt sudden strength in his muscles. With one swift chop, he broke his desk in half. When he jump-kicked, he flew into the air. When he punched, he hit with the force of a thousand ninja warriors inside his fist.

“I’ve got super kung fu!” Triple J said.

“Actually, that’s karate,” Fatima said.

Triple J shrugged. “Whatever.”

That night, Triple J put his superhero costume together. He went to the local mall and bought a karate gi (that’s the name for the uniform in Japanese). Then he tied a headband around his forehead. He also renamed himself Jay-Fu. Jay-Fu planned to fight crime and protect the people in his neighborhood.

The only problem? Jay-Fu lived in a really nice, safe community.

Instead of chasing down villains on rooftops, Jay-Fu chased cats out of trees. Instead of stopping armored car heists, Jay-Fu fixed flat tires. Instead of battling bat monsters and boogeymen, Jay-Fu battled being bored.

The fact was, his neighborhood didn’t need a superpowered hero.

Jay-Fu skulked back to his house feeling useless. His mom was making dinner—spaghetti and meatballs. Jay-Fu was about to toss his gi in the trash when he saw she needed help.

“I can’t get this jar of sauce open!” his mom said. “Pasta night will be ruined!”

With the mysterious Ancient Spinning Palm technique, Jay-Fu opened the pasta sauce jar with ease.

A smile blossomed on his mom’s face. She cried, “Jayden, you’re my hero!”

Jay-Fu took an honorable bow. “You may thank my powerful kung fu.”

“Actually, that was karate,” she said. Then his mom sat him down and gave him a long talk about the differences between martial arts. Not even a superpowered kung-fu karate hero can stand against a mother’s lecture.