HE HADN’T EVEN COMPLETED THE first week of his freshman year at Bay City High, but Ryan was already moving through the halls like he owned the place. There was no doubt about it. He had officially arrived—and on his skateboard, no less.

“Hey, guys.” Ryan rolled up between Harris and Spyder and flipped the skateboard into his hand before tucking it under his arm, then added in a hushed voice, “Okay, I can’t believe we saved this place from total destruction, and we can’t tell anybody!”

“Right?” Harris agreed as Ryan took off his helmet and they all began walking down the hall together. “I wanted to meet Neil deGrasse Tyson! And Selena Gomez. Not in that order.”

Spyder looked confused, which wasn’t all that unusual. “Uh, were we supposed to keep the whole MECH-X4 thing a secret?”

Harris and Ryan both glared at him.

“Spyder, what did you do?” Harris demanded.

But Spyder didn’t have time to respond. Cassie was already ambushing them, waving her camera phone as she took a video selfie. “Cassie Park here with the brave crew of MECH-X4—Ryan Walker, Harris Harris Jr., and, eh, some other kid.”

Spyder practically jumped in the air, beyond excited as he grabbed Ryan’s arm. “She sort of knows who I am!”

“No,” was all Ryan could say to Spyder before grabbing both friends and bolting away from Cassie.

“How does it feel to be the hero of Bay City?” Cassie shouted after them.

Hero? Ryan had to admit it had a nice ring to it—and apparently Cassie wasn’t the only one at school who had decided that’s what he was. The moment he rounded the corner with Harris and Spyder on either side of him, he was immediately greeted by what appeared to be the entire student body, holding up signs that read RYAN ROCKS; RYAN IS THE BEST!; THANK YOU, RYAN; and MARK WHO? as they chanted Ryan’s name.

Before he had a chance to even let all that sink in, a couple of guys were grabbing Ryan and hoisting him onto their shoulders, marching him down the hall while kids continued to shout, “Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!”

Even Mark was standing there, pumping his fist in the air and chanting right along with the rest of them, reaching out to give Ryan a high five—and then there was Principal Grey, welcoming and congratulating him and showering him with praise.

“For saving our lives, for being a hero,” the principal said proudly as she stood behind a podium in the center of the quad, “here’s a street performer doing the robot!”

Huh? Seriously? As weird as it was, Ryan couldn’t help laughing as a guy who was painted silver literally from head to toe started whistling and busting out robotic dance moves.

“I get it!” Ryan laughed. “He’s a robot, I have a robot.”

But that wasn’t all. Now a varsity cheerleader was handing Ryan a plate of food.

“A veggie burger that actually tastes good,” the principal explained.

“That’s impossible!” Ryan laughed.

“And a check for one million dollars! Woo!” Principal Grey concluded as two more cheerleaders walked up with one of those giant checks people get when they win the lottery.

No. Way. Ryan stared at the check. It was definitely made out to him—and it definitely said one million dollars!

“That’s awesome!” Ryan shouted over the crowds of students who were now chanting his name again.

He looked over at Mark, Harris, and Spyder, who were joining in with everyone else, pumping their fists in the air and shouting, “Ryan! Ryan! Ryan!”

But then Ryan got the sinking feeling that something was off. The shouting gradually began to fade away, and then it was just one voice saying his name, less enthusiastically and more impatiently.

“Ryan! Ryan! Ryan, wake up!”

Slowly, Ryan opened his eyes to discover his mom standing over him. “What?” he murmured. “It was just a dream?”

“Does it end with you being late for school? ’Cause that’s where it gets real, kiddo,” his mom replied, raising an eyebrow. “Come on. Let’s go, Ry-Guy.”

Ryan sighed as he watched his mom spin around and walk out of his room. He flopped back into bed. But wait…maybe it hadn’t been a dream so much as a premonition! Ryan smiled to himself, almost certain he could still hear the kids at Bay City High chanting his name.

When Ryan got down to the kitchen, Mark was already sitting at the counter. Their mom handed them each a waffle, which was cut up and staked on a skewer along with almost every other possible breakfast food—a strawberry, some kiwi, a rolled-up omelet, a sausage link, and a tater tot.

“Here you go, boys,” she said.

Ryan laughed. “Uh, breakfast on a stick?”

“No,” she replied. “The Break-Fa-Kabob. It’s a new breakfast food I’m selling on my food truck. Try it.”

Ryan shook his head but took a bite of the tater tot, and Mark did the same.

“This is good,” Mark said with a smile, holding up the kabob in one hand and his smartphone in the other. “Plus, one hand free for texting at the table.”

“No texting at the table,” their mom snapped, shaking her long dark curls and waving a threatening finger at Mark’s phone. “Down.”

“No texting at the table,” Mark repeated, shrugging and sticking his phone back in his pocket. “Got it.”

As their mom headed for the door, Ryan turned to look at Mark, but then something on the television screen over the fireplace caught his attention.

“Wait. Dude. Check the TV!”

The Channel 7 News “Voice of Godfrey” segment was on—and next to Godfrey Chamberlin, the reporter, was a picture of MECH-X4 with a caption crediting the image to Cassie Park. But what was Godfrey saying? There was a banner at the bottom of the screen that read ROBOTIC RAMPAGE! but the TV was on mute. With a glowing blue flash in his eyes, Ryan used his technopathy to turn up the volume.

“MECH-X4 almost destroys a school, risking the lives of all inside,” said Godfrey. “Now, half of you think that robot is a hero, but the other half…”

The news report switched over to a guy in a black helmet identified as a concerned bike messenger, who said, “Imagine for a second a robot foot comes flying out of the sky. You think drivers are bad? Oh, watch out.”

Then the report switched to an interview with a man in a hard hat identified as an angry father, who stared into the camera and screamed, “It stepped on my baby!”

What? Ryan looked over at Mark, who was equally stunned by the accusation. MECH-X4 hadn’t hurt anyone—and definitely not a baby!

“At least, that’s what I’m afraid could happen,” the man in the hard hat added.

Ryan sighed, continuing to watch as an interview with Principal Grey came on next.

“It was pretty scary,” she said. “Those are my kids, you know? Parents trust me with them. I’m just glad no one was hurt.”

Ryan shook his head, shooting a questioning look at Mark as the report shifted back to Godfrey at the news desk.

“Until we get answers, I don’t want to say that Bay City needs to live in fear,” Godfrey said, his voice growing increasingly panicked as the camera zoomed in closer, “but Bay City needs to live in fear!”

Mark started to laugh as Ryan turned around and looked at his brother.

“What is he talking about?” Ryan demanded. “I saved the school. I saved everybody!”

Swallowing a bite of waffle, Mark interjected, “Well, I fixed the robot so you could beat the monster, so technically that means I saved everyone.”

Ryan rolled his eyes and gestured angrily at the TV. “No. This is not cool. We need to get out there and make sure that people know MECH-X is a hero.”

Mark nodded. “Yeah.”

Unfortunately, they were already late for school. But the moment their final class let out for the day, Ryan would be heading straight over to the shipyard with the others. Then they would find a way to repair the robot’s reputation and get the credit they deserved.