DISCLAIMER: I do not own Sky High, nor any of the characters.
I wanted to be a hero.
Not just a hero, but a superhero.
I wanted to save the world. I wanted to save her from evil villains, from natural disasters, even from aliens. The threat didn't matter. I wanted to step up between the world and all those who would do her harm.
As a child, every birthday candle, every shooting star, every loose eyelash I wished as hard as I could for my powers to come. That I would be as fast as my mother the Crimson Streak, or ride the winds like my father, whom the rest of you know as Lightning Lord. That one day I'd be the brave soul tackling giant robots and saving the city. To stand tall and proud before the cameras, and accept the Key to the City from the mayor with a witty quip and a flashing smile.
By the time I got to Sky High, I had made hundreds of wishes, and tried to swallow down my envy of everyone else who already showed their promise. I was just a late bloomer I promised myself. My powers would come, and I would be incredible. The laughter and the teasing would stop, and people would flock to my table at lunch instead of moving away when I sat down.
By sixteen, I thought perhaps I'd been aiming too high. My powers didn't have to be incredible and amazing and fantastic. I'd be happy with just a little power. A smidge, a dribble even would do. Something, anything, a hint beyond the mundane. Please God, I prayed, I've been good. I've lived as a prospective hero should. I swallowed the insults with a smile, I proved I could turn the other cheek, I studied hard and stayed out of trouble. Anything God, just please...
By eighteen the whispers had stopped. They didn't bother to whisper any more. But the pity didn't. The contempt and derision was plain in the eyes of those who looked at me, those who bothered to look at all.
Contrary to what they might tell you I'm not stupid. After graduation, I accepted the bone the superhero community threw me. Not because I needed the job, or that I wanted to spend my life hanging around the fringes of their superiority, feasting on whatever table scraps they let slip to the poor soul who would never experience their glory first hand. I accepted the job because it gave me lots of free time.
I hold a double doctorate in Physics and Mechanical Engineering as well as a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering and a handful of bachelor degrees in other subjects that caught my interest. I've written books that are sought after in their fields, and the Universities attempt to lure me into the speaking circuit with every carrot they can think of to dangle.
My classmates know me as Ron Wilson, Bus Driver and feel that that is the full extent of my identity. The complete sum of my existence. The throwback child of two great superheroes. The man who will never amount to more than a school bus operator, fit only to ferry their precious children to and from the institution that will prove their greatness.
But I'll show them the error of their ways.
I will show them all.