Explanation:
Eric Chase never thought of himself as special. He was, in his opinion, just an average nerdy boy of poor physical fitness and less than average looks. He would spend his time away from school writing fan fiction, obsessing over anime and science fiction and playing with new gadgets. It was on one such day that things changed for Eric.
He had just gotten a new gadget, a drone, and he needed to test it out. This was a bitterly cold New York day and although Eric dreaded the weather, with a thick layer of fresh snow on the ground, his anticipation was too great not to try out his new purchase. Wrapped in a puffer jacket and his Doctor Who scarf he went down to Central Park.
Eric sat down on a bench and prepared his drone for its first flight. As he did this a woman and man walked by followed by a plucky young girl of less than 6 or 7 years of age. The woman was busy fawning over the young man and he too over her and they stopped by the stream to talk and flirt across from Eric. The young girl quickly became bored being ignored and seeing nothing else to do turned her attention to the little stream. She watched as bubbles ran under the ice that had covered the stream. It was a mesmerizing sight. The water would shift back and forth and the bubbles would also move to and fro.
No one noticed as the young girl walked over the one foot high chicken wire fence and onto the ice.
There was a creak and the girl, sensing something amiss, said "Mommy?" just before the ice gave way. With a splash, the young girl crashed through the ice. At that moment three things happened. Firstly, the girl's mother screamed. Second, Eric sat upright more alert than he had ever been before in his life. And thirdly Eric was up and on the move.
He didn't know what overcame him but he needed to help. The precious drone on his lap crashed to the ground and was trampled by Eric as he ran. He threw off his jacket and scarf while running knowing they would weigh him down. As the woman yelled at her young suitor to "Do something." Eric was already moving across the ice to get the girl. He tried to pull her up but the ice further broke and he fell in too. As the water began to chill him to the bone he thought only of the young girl. He grasped her under the arms and pushed her up onto the ice near the edge. The young man was of almost no help so the mother reached out and pulled her daughter into her arms.
"Take her. Soo c-c-c cold.", Eric said as he pushed the girl upwards.
The woman turned back to help Eric using the scarf but he was nowhere to be seen.
Eric sank under the water but realized he was no longer cold. Some kind of warmth was filling him from the inside out. Maybe it was just the satisfaction of knowing he saved the young girl's life but he was certain it was more. Blackness enveloped him.
He saw the whole scene as if from above it all as the woman clutched her daughter and yelled at the man. He continued to watch as a small fire truck barreled through the park cutting it's own path to the stream. He watched confused as the firemen began to move to the ice and don a wetsuit. Surely, the young girl was safe as they could all see. What were they doing?
With a start Eric awoke again!
There were firemen all around him and he was laying in the snow with a mask on his face. Cheers erupted around him for reasons he knew not. It had been more than an hour before they pulled him out of the freezing water.
It was a couple weeks later that Eric's life really changed. That was the day he saw a glowing blue-grey ball of fiery smoke spontaneously erupt in his room. A truly strange thing to happen to anyone for sure. At first he thought it was a fire and tried to put it out. The flame would not smother nor be extinguished by water no matter what he tried. It also did not burn anything around it. He stared in awe.
What could this be? It was like no flame Eric had ever seen.
Then Eric thought maybe it was some kind of alien making contact with him, but it did not seem to communicate it just kind of drifted around the room following him. It was only when he considered the supernatural that he came close to realizing what it truly was.
It was a spirit and it had come to Eric because he was a true hero and he was needed. This was the beginning of him becoming not just a hero but a superhero.
This was the Emergence of the (to be revealed in my upcoming comic book series)
