HEROES: GLOBAL
It started with a truly global event.
This is the story of how a solar eclipse changed the lives of two people.
Before it starts, here's how for one person, it begun.
CHAPTER ONE: DISCOVERY, part 1
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE ONE DAY BEFORE THE EVENTS OF ECLIPSE…
He was floating. Not flying, floating, like the air had hardened beneath his feet. He was in midair, but he was just walking downwards, towards what looked like the greenest grass he had ever seen, beneath the most glorious sun that he had ever been under.
And, suddenly, everything went dark.
He looked up, and saw that the sun, once a golden sphere of brilliant light, was now obscured by disc of black, and only a thin halo of fire was visible.
Words, and music, penetrated the still air around him.
He strained to hear. Song lyrics.
"Gold teeth and a curse for this town, were all in my mouth…
Only I don't know how, they got out, dear…"
He knew this song. He reached the ground, and began running towards the source. But he was alone, in a seemingly endless field. All he could see was a tree, a big, strong gum, and he ran for it.
The song continued.
"Turn me back into the pet that I was when we met…
I was happier then with no mind-set…"
He reached the gum, and found himself cold all of a sudden.
Still, it sounded as though the music was coming from higher up in the tree. He began to climb, slowly at first, warily. But he began to gain confidence, and he scaled ever higher, finally reaching the source…
The song kept playing.
"And if you'd 'a took to me like,
Like a gull takes to the wind,
Well I'd'a jumped from my tree…"
As if on cue, he lost his footing, and slipped. All of a sudden he was falling, the suddenly cold air biting his flesh as he plummeted downwards.
The song kept going, and, despite the direness of his situation, he heard it as loudly and clearly as ever.
"And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores,
And the rest of our lives woulda fared well…"
He hit the ground.
"Ryan!"
Ryan Schumacher jerked away at the sharp crack of his math's teacher's high voice, and looked through sleepy eyes up at the dark-haired woman standing above him. However, he could barely hear her through the song playing through his iPod.
"New slang when the notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony,
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called,
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely…"
She continued to talk as the song kept going, but Ryan didn't bother taking his earphones out.
Finally, she reached down, and plucked them out herself.
"Pray tell," she said, with a drop of venom. "What was it you were listening to, that's more important than my lesson?"
"The Shins." Ryan answered truthfully.
The teacher drew herself to her full height, short, and her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I think you had better go and take that to the deputy. Take your bag too." She turned on her heel, and returned to the whiteboard at the front of the class, but nobody was interested in her lesson anymore.
Why would they be? They had Ryan Schumacher to stare at.
The blond boy grabbed his school bag, and swept all the items on his desk into it; his maths text book, his calculator, his notebook, his assortment of promotional pens.
As he left the room, a few quite whisperings heralding his departure, he put the earphones back in, and slipped into the lyrical bliss that was The Shins.
"God speed, all the bakers at dawn, may they all cut their thumbs,
And bleed into their buns 'till they all melt away…"
And somewhere, in the back of his, the dream played over and over and over.
Theresa Delizotti hated the Administration Block. It was always to cold, whenever she was sent in, which was quite frequently. Not for bad things, she wasn't the kind to get in trouble, but the kinds of things that brought the Year 9 Student Council Representative to the Principal. Catering for the next P&C meeting, for example.
He was on a phone call or something.
And so Theresa was stuck in the freezing cold office.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and the blonde, quiet kid from her Spanish class slouched his way inside, his bag slung over his shoulder. He made his way over to the receptionist's desk, and Theresa found herself straining to hear their brief exchange. Finally, he trudged towards the couches arrayed outside the suite of offices belonging to the executive teachers.
He slumped into a seat, and dumped his bag on the floor in front of him. He acknowledged her with a raising of his eyebrows. "Hey," he nodded, and gave her a brief smile. "What are you in for?"
"Student Council, you?"
"Listening to music in class. Oh, and falling asleep in maths." He laughed slightly, and took his iPod from his pocket. He plugged one earphone into his ears, and leaned back in the chair, keeping his eyes on hers.
"What are you listening to?" Theresa asked. "I'm sorry, I can't remember your name."
"Ryan," the blonde teenager said, with that hint of a half-smile on his face. "And I'm listening to The Shins."
"The Shins? Never heard of them."
"You should." He moved along the couch towards her, and offered her the other earphone.
Theresa took it, and slipped it into her ear.
Immediately, her right ear was assailed was by a slight whistling sound, before a man started singing.
"I think I'll go home, and mull this over,
Before I cram it down my throat.
At long last, it's crashed its colossal mass,
And broken up into bits in my moat…"
Theresa glanced at the boy sitting next to her, obviously enraptured in the music.
"I've actually heard this song, I think. In a movie with the Star Wars chick, and that guy from—sorry." She cut herself off when he held up a finger.
"Lift the mattress off the floor,
Walk the cramps off,
Go meander in the cold.
Hail to your dark skin.
Hail to the fact you're dead again.
Underneath the power lines, seeking shade,
Far above our heads are the icy heights that contain all reason…"
"Mister Schumacher, the deputy will see you now." The secretary said, and Theresa took the earphone out, handing it back to Ryan, who flipped the iPod off, and wrapped the earphones around it.
"Time to face the music." Ryan said with a sly smile.
Theresa nodded. "Good luck."
"Same to you, Miss Student Representative." Ryan said, giving her a wink, as he slipped the iPod into his pocket, and he opened the door to Mrs. Hayden's office.
Theresa sat back, and made eye contact with the secretary. The woman winked at her suggestively. Her worst fears had just been confirmed. She had just been flirting with the school slacker.
Ryan stepped into the office of Mrs. Hayden, the Deputy Principal in Charge of Juniors, and saw the woman shaking her head.
"Listening to music in class again, Ryan?"
"It was maths, miss."
"I know, but really. Take a seat."
Ryan pulled a chair over, and sat in front of her desk, glancing up at the trio of posters on the wall. Shakespeare. Fun. He sat back, and prepared himself for a long lecture.
Lunchtime. The best time of the day. Classes were dismissed, and almost a thousand teenagers migrated onto the fields to eat, to play sport, or just to talk. But Ryan Schumacher, doing his best to do the opposite of what everyone was expected to do, had gone to a classroom, after agreeing to meet with some of his friends up there.
It was on the second floor, overlooking the back fields, with wide, high windows. Ryan had opened one, and had perched himself on the sill, looking out onto the fields. A line of trees separated the road below from the fields.
He reached into his pocket for the iPod, and once again plugged himself in. He let himself once again be carried away by the soft, lyrical sounds of The Shins, staring off into space.
And still, in the back of his mind, he thought about that dream, about how he had been falling.
The same song came on as he had heard in the dream.
"And if you'd 'a took to me like,
Like a gull takes to the wind,
Well I'd'a jumped from my tree…"
At that instant, one of the small windows on the wall opposite him shattered, and a cricket ball arced through the air, right for him. Ryan twisted around, his eyes widened as the ball rocketed towards him, and it hit.
Time slowed.
He was toppled from his perch, out of the window, towards the asphalt road six metres down.
He didn't scream, and all he could hear was the gentle sounds of the song.
"And I'd 'a danced like the king of the eyesores,
And the rest of our lives woulda fared well…"
But he never hit the ground.
He was floating.
About thirty centimetres from the ground, as though he had been borne aloft on a cushion of air.
"New slang when the notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony,
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called,
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely…"
He gently settled onto the asphalt, sitting up. He glanced upwards, and saw the open window.
"Oh, my God." He whispered, touching his head, just to make sure he was real. "What happened?"
Not too far away, two men watched from a parked car.
One reached into his jacket, and removed a mobile phone. He punched in a number, and placed it against his ear. "This is Rushdon. We have confirmation on the identity of the boy. We'll stay in position."
A/N: This is the introduction of our two main characters, and the introduction of one of their powers. Everything belongs to me, except for the Heroes idea, and, of course, The Shins's lyrics; "New Slang" and "Caring Is Creepy".