Ritchie was the leader of his college wrestling team but still he felt like something was missing in his life. One day an old vigilante named Black Marvel approached Ritchie and made him a offer that he couldn't refuse. Black Marvel offered him the chance to become a hero and he accepted the offer almost immediately. Black Marvel also acquired help of three other youngsters and named them Slingers. Costumes and aliases that Black Marvel gave to the heroes were once owned by Spider-Man. The Slingers had several training exercises and on one of those exercises Dusk got killed by falling to her death from a roof. Other team members Ricochet and Hornet was devastated but Ritchie now known as Prodigy told them to move on and leave her.
Sometime later the Slingers were told to do some scouting in a construction yard that they thought to be Maggia's cover operation. Prodigy told Ricochet and Hornet to go check it out. They discovered that Maggia was storing nuclear waste under the building. When they were to report this to Prodigy they were attacked by giant mutated rats. Prodigy himself was in the construction yard trying to be unseen when Ricochet contacted him and the guards near by heard it. They opened fire on him but thanks to his bulletproof costume he soon took care of the goons. At that exact moment Ricochet accidentally made the tunnel collapse and Hornet was buried under the rubble. Ricochet tried to contact Prodigy but he decided not to answer and crushed the phone. He then left thinking to himself that they would just bring him down with them.
Prodigy went back to Black Marvel and reported that Hornet and Ricochet were dead. Prodigy was told the next job and he and Black Marvel took off. Prodigy was waiting for Black Marvel's sign to start when Ricochet and Hornet tried to tell him the truth of Black Marvel. Prodigy didn't want to listen and attacked Hornet. Ricochet and Prodigy fought for a while. Prodigy eventually bound Ricochet, but Hornet recovered and attacked him accidentally knocking Ricochet off a balcony. Hornet was going to jump and save him but Prodigy crabbed his leg and threw him through a window. Hornet was severely injured and managed to tell Prodigy that he was in the wrong place and that something was about to happen in the basement. Then some of Maggia goons appeared and opened fire at the heroes. Hornet dove to cover while Prodigy threw a table at them; he then snatched one of them and almost killed him but was stopped by Hornet. Prodigy then went through the floor and headed toward the basement. Soon after Black Marvel pressed a remote control and several explosives detonated in the hotel. After the explosions Prodigy headed to the ballroom and found Black Marvel, Hornet, Ricochet, and Dusk. The others tried to convince Prodigy that Black Marvel was behind the explosions. Then Dusk informed them that there were still people in the hotel that needed help and teleported Ricochet and Hornet away leaving Prodigy and Black Marvel behind. Prodigy was about to go save the people, but was threatened by Black Marvel. Prodigy tried to take a swing at him but Black Marvel escaped leaving him standing there alone in flaming ballroom. They saved several people from the fire and Ricochet managed to arrest Black Marvel. Meanwhile Hornet was saving a child who became stranded in a burning elevator shaft. The boy was climbing down when a bomb in the elevator exploded hurling him down and hitting Hornet in the chest. Hornet crashed to the bottom of the elevator shaft saving the boy but would have been crushed under the collapsing building if Prodigy had not stopped the derbies. He then told Hornet to get the boy out of there. Hornet got the kid out but Prodigy got buried under the collapsing building.
The others thought that he was dead but days later he managed to dig himself out. He then fought a gang to save a young girl who was stabbed. Prodigy managed to get her to the hospital. He then went to find Ricochet and joined the others once again. After the reunion they were transported to hell by Mephisto and he informed them that they would have to fight for Black Marvel's soul. The others were going to leave but Hornet convinced them that they couldn't leave his soul to him. Mephisto used their biggest fears against them and in a last effort had his armies attack them. Dusk amazed everybody by taking out several minions with just one attack. They fought for a while and managed to free his soul. They were then transported back to Earth to the roof where this all started. Prodigy then apologized for everything he made them go trough and left.
Prodigy resurfaced when the Civil War|Superhuman Registration Act became a law. He was in a drunken state shouting on rooftop when Iron Man appeared informing him that he was breaking a law and asking him to surrender. In his drunken state Prodigy called him a traitor and attacked. In the ensuing fight they wrecked the neighborhood. The fight ended when Iron Man hurled Prodigy into a nearby rooftop knocking him out. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents then came to take him in custody. Reporter Ben Urich, his colleague Sally Floyd and several other bystanders witnessed this scene. Prodigy was then known as the first victim of the Superhuman Registration Act.
Prodigy was later freed from the Negative Zone's Prison Alpha by Captain America and his Avengers. He then fought beside them against Iron Man's forces and both sides wrecked havoc in middle of New York. The battle ended when Captain America surrendered to authorities. Prodigy was once again captured and put to jail.
Still he later repented and agreed to sign the act as he was fed up being in jail and was sent to the Initiative training program. He was also forced to admit that he had an alleged drinking problem in front of several reporters including Sally Floyd from the Front Line and that he was getting treatments for it. He has still stated his distaste towards the registration act several times after and before that press release. In the first couple days in the program Prodigy already managed to convince the other fellow trainees Annex, Gorilla Girl, Batwing, Boulder and Sunstreak to go awol. They stole a hum wee and used Boulder, who has the power of invulnerability, to get through the base defenses. They were soon noticed to be missing and Yellowjacket, War Machine, Constrictor and their drill instructor Taskmaster went after them but where ambushed by King Cobra, Mister Hyde, Mauler and Firebrand who were hired to kill Taskmaster. Seeing this Prodigy and the other trainees went to help them and with their compined effort managed to drive them away.
