Greatest American Hero (Hero League 1): Contingency Plans

Chapter 1

Part 1– Contingency Plan A

Chapter 1

It was a bright sunny day in San Clemente, California, when Ralph Hinkley got out of his red Lexus SUV in front of his house with a small bag of groceries.

BAM! Something red and black crashed onto the hood of his car. Ralph dropped the groceries, squatted down, and put his arms in front of his face and over his head as he had done for many years in dangerous situations. He was much younger then, but the muscle memory wasn't lost.

Nothing moved on the now dented hood of the Lexus, and Ralph slowly peeked over the edge of the fender, eyes wide in anticipation; he saw a man wearing what appeared to be red long johns and a black cape. The suit! The jammies! He bolted straight up in shock. He hadn't seen the red super suit for over 35 years.

Ralph couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was the red super suit with someone he didn't know wearing it. By the looks of him, he was in bad shape—bruised and bleeding from his head and hands. He checked for a pulse in his carotid artery and found a weak one.

"Pam!" He yelled. She was already hurrying out the front door, having heard the crash. Her long gray hair flowed behind her as she rushed to Ralph's side.

She looked at the man in the red super suit and cape and exclaimed, "Oh my God. Where did he come from?" Recognizing the suit that Ralph used to wear so many years ago.

"I don't know. As I pulled up, he just fell out of the sky onto my car. We've got to get him inside before anyone sees him." He didn't want neighbors asking questions about a man in a weird red suit.

Ralph pulled on the stranger's arms to sit him up, hoping he was not causing any further injuries. He got his shoulder under one arm, and Pam got the other. They quickly—or as quickly as a 70-year-old couple could manage—moved him up the stairs, across the front porch, and into the house, shutting the door behind them. They gently laid him on the couch, pulling the cape around to the front so it wouldn't pull on his neck.

Ralph remembered the groceries. He better pick those up before anyone saw things scattered on the driveway and became curious. He ran out, picked up the scattered items, and placed them in the bag. Upon returning, he heard the man moaning and slightly stirring. He dropped the load on the floor and stood beside Pam, looking down at the man.

The stranger laying on the couch in the red super suit was a nice-looking man in his mid-to-late 30s, had light brown straight hair and a short stubble beard.

Pam exclaimed, "I can't believe this. How could this have happened? We haven't contacted the green guys since you handed the suit to Holly." Ralph had to retire as the super suit custodian when he was accidentally revealed to the world as a real-life superhero. His picture was on the front cover of every newspaper in the world, the media continuously interviewed him, and movies were being made about him. The little green guys were not pleased. He and Pam were told he had to give the suit to someone else. Ralph eventually chose Holly Hathaway. The little green guys then wiped the memories of the entire world about him being a superhero, and all media and computer files were likewise wiped clean of the information.

"I know, and I haven't heard from her for a while." Holly Hathaway had to resign as a suit wearer when she became pregnant.

"What do you think we should do? I wish Bill were still around. He'd want to see this." Bill Maxwell, Ralph's partner when he was custodian and wearer of the red super suit, passed away several years ago. It was his ticker, as he called it, and he had always feared it would cause his death. Bill Maxwell was an FBI agent, and it was his job to find the bad guys and evildoers that Ralph was to stop when wearing the super suit.