A Hero's Legacy

Chapter One

Ryder's honey-brown eyes drifted over the page in his chemistry textbook for the fourth time in only five minutes, putting a finger to his tongue and turning the next once satisfied; this was how the majority of his lunchtimes when at school were spent, especially when non-human cuisine was on the menu - it wasn't a personal thing, the boy had reasoned, more of the idea that his regressive mind would prefer a burger to glowing green sludge that appeared to have a distinct element of radioactivity in its composition. He wasn't alone in that sentiment, of course, but it clearly wasn't enough to garner any attention amongst his peers - and for that, Ryder thought himself grateful. He'd found very early on in his life, even before he'd begun attending this school, that he favored solitude over socializing with anyone else his age.

The truth was, many kids knew who Ryder was, but much fewer could formulate an apt description of what he was. A scientist who spent little to no time with other scientists; naturally athletic, but considerably feeble in comparison to the sportsmen and women in his vicinity; fairly good-looking, but not so that any of the girls in his class would offer him a second glance. His tendency to keep to understated hoodies and jeans somewhat reinforced the status quo, and made it so that he would never draw any more attention to himself than was necessary to get through a typical school day unscathed.

As he turned over another page, lost in the newly-added pages in acknowledgement of elements existing outside the earthen periodic table, the sixteen year old recounted what it'd taken for the people around him to realize that he existed, and how uncomfortable he'd felt when they had. Ryder had only been ten years old when a spontaneous fire had enveloped his elementary and threatened the lives of all those in attendance, and the teachers had contacted emergency services only to be informed that the brigade had been stretched too thinly and would take an unreasonable amount of time to arrive - and a headcount revealed one, female student that had been trapped inside the burning building. Ryder hadn't thought, he'd just moved, dashing into the flames and emerging from the smoke a coughing, blinded mess, carrying the girl in his arms as he did. If he'd hesitated for a single moment, both he and the girl would have perished. His name and photo had been in the paper.

Ryder had earned the moniker 'Fire Boy Ryder,' which might've been permanent if he'd taken steps to encourage it in some way; but he'd opted to recoil, to pull back, to fade underneath the ever-present veil of obscurity in rejection of the new identity his environment had chosen to bestow upon him - for the kid who got on with his work in the background, living in the shadow of his mates and without recognition, that was who he truly was. He wasn't some firefighting genius, some saving grace to the defenseless, or even to himself.

Ryder Hendrix, for all his reckless action, was no hero.

But that principle didn't seem to restrict him as he rose from the seat of his bench, hazel eyes narrowing in on what just so happened to be a common occurence at his school. Alien presence on Earth had increased drastically since the legend of it's greatest superhero reached ears all around the globe, and a steadfast community of extraterrestrials had been forged in the mechanical depths of the underground - but some of the more ambitious non-human population had risen to the surface and requested lawful and equal education and opportunity with the native species. Most had welcomed the diversity with open arms, others, like Ryder, were decisively indifferent, and some .. some couldn't help but discriminate against that which they considered different.

And as Cole Rogan, resident football star and seemingly subsequent antagonist to anything meek or intellectual prepared to drive an enclosed fist into the bruised features of a small, pink-faced alien about his age, the sound of Ryder's voice echoed across the school cafeteria grounds and for what seemed like an eternity and his worst nightmare, all eyes were on him - unflinching, intrigued, expectant.