The Alpha Force: The Birth of Dark-Rider

Chapter 1

 

 

 

Nicole helped Mike up with all her might, and even used some of her shield ability to aide her.  “What do you mean your abilities are gone?”

“Like I said, they’re gone!  I’m feeling all this pain because they’re gone, my body is doing its best to compensate.”

“We need to tell the others.”  She told him.

“No!  The only one that needs to know is your uncle and that’s it.  He’s the only one that can understand…send the others home and tell my family that you and I are going out on patrol tonight.”

“Very well, stay here until I get back.”  She gave in as she helped him sit down in a chair on the balcony then went and dismissed the others.  A few minutes later, she and Jacob helped lead him to the med-lab and ran some tests.

Moments after the tests were done Jacob gave the results, “I’m sorry to say this, but your abilities are gone…it would appear this is what happens before you become The Dark-Rider.”

“Wish I would've known this sooner,” Mike admitted.

“We must inform the team of this…”  Jacob began to say.

“No!  The only people that are to know this is us three and God, and that’s it.”  Mike objected.

“If anything happens to you in combat without your abilities, then you will most likely die,” Jacob said gravely.

“Maybe so, however, if I’m not there leading them, then what do you think our enemies will think?”  Mike argued.

“He’s got a point.”  Nicole agreed.

“Yes, but how can we…?”  Jacob began to say.

“You can upgrade the Bio-Suit to mimic some of my abilities can’t you?”  Mike asked Jacob.

“Yes, I could make some modifications, but it will take a few hours,” Jacob admitted.

“Good,” Mike responded and handed him his Changer which once reprogrammed would re-program the Bio-Suit.  “I’m heading home now…And my family is not to know either.”  He pointed at them.  He began to turn, and then remembered that he had no super speed, “Nicole can I get a ride please.”

 

               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

 

Hector Goodfreed walked out of The Salem Institution of the Criminally Insane with a deep relaxing breath, “Ah freedom.”  He let out with a long sigh, “Now where is my ride?”  No sooner that he asked the question, a limousine pulled up and he arrogantly entered and sat down in front of the woman responsible for his freedom, Ruthers a top agent of The Society.

“So tell me, Hector…or do you prefer The Gamer?”

“The Gamer, if you please.  I only pretended to go along with being called Hector so that I could get out of that place…I don’t belong there.”

“Well, Gamer you no longer have to worry about that awful place anymore.”  She assured him.

“So where are we going?”  He asked her.

“We are going to meet up with some old friends of yours at our temporary HQ.”

“You've captured The Alpha Force?  I would love to get my hands on those freaks!”

                “No, we have your former “teammates” awaiting us.”

“Those idiots…they’re another reason why I was put into that place.”  He mentioned with hatred in his voice.

“They agreed to the same terms as you did, however, you will not go through the changes that they will be going through…and you will lead them, and they will have no choice but to obey your every word.”  She assured him evilly.

“What kind of changes?”  Gamer asked eagerly.

“Oh, you’ll see, I promise that you’ll enjoy every moment of it.”

They drove for the last few miles in silence…except for Gamer’s humming different theme songs from banned video games.  They drove into an abandoned warehouse and exited the limo.  There he saw his former teammates and smiled at them mockingly.  “Well, well, well, here we are all back together again.” Gamer sang out loud.  All of them stood there doing their best to ignore their soon to be leaders’ annoying voice.  They were then escorted to the science chamber of the building and there were machines of all kinds and tubes big enough for people to fit into.

“You all know the conditions that we have set forth.”  Ruthers reminded all of them, “As far as the world is concerned you are no longer living, you were killed in bombing incident…”

“What bombing incident?”  Molly asked, and from a distance, they heard a loud explosion from a few miles away.

“That one…and don’t ever interrupt me again child.”  Ruthers warned her, “Now as I was saying if any of you want to back out now we have a new life all set for you…any takers?”  No one came forward, “Good, now all you enter into the transformation pods.”  They all went in and the tubes closed once they were inside.  “Now doctor before they change their minds!”  The doctor did as he was told and pressed the switch to begin the process.  Seconds later an odd colored gas came from above their heads and below their feet.

“Is this the change you mentioned?”  Gamer asked her, and she nodded.  “Please explain to me what is happening to them.”

“They are becoming what they were in your virtual reality, but this will be a permanent transformation.  We've made a lot of progress in genetics.”  Then there was loud screaming coming out of the tubes as their bodies were going through the metaphoric change.  Within a matter of minutes, the process was complete and they doors opened up and they stepped out.  “Are you satisfied Gamer?”

“Yes very impressive.”  He said with evil pleasure.  “Now they all belong to me…and The Society of course.”

“Yes of course.”  Ruthers assured him, and then turned to the doctor in charge of the procedure, “Are you certain that they will no longer revert to their normal selves?”

“Yes.”  He answered.

“Good.”  Ruthers nodded and then asked The Gamer, “Would you like to see a demonstration?”

“Of course.”  Gamer got the hint, “Ugly Dolly, please show the doctor our appreciation.”

“As you command Gamer.”  She answered with glee and walked up to the doctor who started to cringe in knowing what was to come, as the ugliness of Ugly Dolly’s face approached closer to his, and kissed him.  Within seconds he started to lose his youth and then became an old man, and then a skeleton.

“As you can see, their talents have increased to where they can kill without conscience,” Ruthers told Gamer approvingly.

“Yes but what about the others?”  Gamer asked.

“Mega-Rex, of course, has all the abilities that he had in your world, Crunch has brute strength, and Quiz Master…well maybe we’ll call him something different for his cranium has expanded…”

“Call me Brain Storm, and oh the plans that I have developed within the last few seconds will be wonderful in freeing the others that you mentioned to us earlier before our transformations.”

“Very well Brain Storm.  Monster Maestro can manipulate sounds with his new abilities, and maybe a new name for him as well, how about Sound Man.  Then last but not least is The Gladiator who has super human strength and is a master of weaponry.”

“Excellent.  Do we go and free these others you've talked about?”  Gamer asked her.

“Yes, and we’ll go by the plan developed by Brain Storm.”

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 3

 

 

 

                Prison Island, home to the most notorious criminals of the world.  These are men and women that the world has forgotten or have chosen to forget.  It is here that the villains such as Cyber-Queen, Dr. Nightmare, and others that The Alpha Force had put behind bars had been transported for life…until tonight.  In a disguise as a newly recruited guard, The Gamer walked into the prison with confidence in knowing that the plan made by Brain Storm was going to work.  He walked into the guard station, and a man in his mid-fifties sat in a chair watching the monitors, and next to him were a couple of other guards in their thirties.  “Excuse me, gentlemen, do you like playing with dice?”  And before they could answer his question, he threw the dice into the room and closed the door for a few moments as the gas from the dice overtook the guards to their death.  He put a gas mask on and went back in.  “Pleasant death fools.”  He sat in the chair and took a quick glance at the monitors and put an earwig in his right ear, “Gamer here, the guard station is in our control, and you are all clear to do as you please.”

“Excellent work, release all of the expendable prisoners.  It’s time for this prison to have its first riot!”  Ruthers instructed.

“As per your instructions.”  Gamer acknowledged, as he pressed a few buttons and the doors to those cells were opened and the prisoners started to run out to freedom.

“Cykrill this is Ruthers, phase one is complete, begin with phase two.”

“Understood.”  Cykrill then turned to The Gamer’s henchmen and ordered them, “free our fellow compatriots of evil!”  They did as they were told, and killed anyone that got in their way until they reached their goal.  Mega-Rex busted the doors open, as Crunch and Gladiator took on the guards and the rest got out Cyber-Queen, and Dr. Wrong. Ruthers walked up to the cell that was holding Dr. Nightmare who was still in a coma that Ruthers had put him in.  She administered the drug right into his heart for it was the quickest so he would wake out of it.  Within seconds he was awake and alert, and Ruthers helped him.  They fought through the pile of guards that were preventing the criminals from escaping but they were no match.  The villains climbed up onto a helicopter and that was waiting for them, and once they were all in, it flew up into the air and saw other large planes flying around the island and saw a beam shooting out of the bottom of them.

“What are those beams of light doing?” Cyber-Queen asked.

“They are teleporting all those who we want to be transported out of the prison for a special project,” Cykrill answered.

“And what of my Cyber-Destroyers?”

“Yes, and what of my Mythos?”  Dr. Wrong asked.

“They will be with you shortly.  They are being transported to our home base in Salem as we speak.  But first Superior wants to welcome you back to the fold…as his new Council of Evil.”

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 4

 

 

 

                The Alpha Force were in The Holo-Dome the next morning honing their skills when The Alpha Alarm rang through the dome as the simulation was shut off.  “Hey what gives?”  Boom Box asked.

“The Alpha Alarm only goes off when something urgent has come up.”  Molder answered as he led the others out of the domed room, and they saw that Green Defender, Shieldra, and Jacob was standing in front of the computer nicknamed I.Q.

“What’s going on?”  Frezor asked.

“Bad news I’m afraid.”  Jacob answered, “Everyone to the Meeting Room and we’ll explain everything in there.”

Not even two minutes later they all sat down and Green Defender stood in front of all of them next to the monitor, “We just received word that yesterday The Gamer was released from The Salem Institution of the Criminally Insane on good behavior.”  Groans and moans of disappointment were uttered by the others.  “That’s not the worst of it, his henchmen that were also being held at another institution was destroyed, and were claimed dead.”

“So that’s a good thing right?”  Plantra asked.

“Take a good look at the video screen. This footage we were able to get into after hacking into Prison Island’s security system.”  And on the screen, they showed The Gamer’s Goons attacking the guards.  “They helped Cyber-Queen, Dr. Wrong, Father Time and Dr. Nightmare from their cells and many of the inmates were abducted by what has been reported as a light coming from giant looking planes.”

“Great!  Our worst enemies are out on the loose.”  Frezor slammed his frozen fist on the table.

“We’re going to keep our eyes and ears open at all times.  And with this crisis, Shieldra and the others are postponing their plans to go to New York until we can get the situation under control.  Also right before this meeting, we received word from one of Jacob’s contacts that the facility that was holding The Cyber-Destroyers and The Mythos were also destroyed, no doubt they too are now with their creators.”  Green Defender explained.

“But how did The Gamers Goons get like that?”  Blaze wondered.

“More than likely thanks to the works of Dr. Wrong and The Preacher before Dr. Wrong was apprehended,” Sparks explained hypothetically.

“We’ll worry about those facts as they arrive.”  Green Defender told the others to relieve them of worrying about their foes.  “But Frezor does have a point, every last one of those of whom we listed is the worst of the worst…maybe more to follow.”

“So why don’t we just go out and find them?”  Boom Box asked.

“We will, but we must also live our lives as we have been, this way we don’t raise any suspicion among our peers.  Not only that, but The Society has a talent of coming to us, instead of having to go to them, so there will be no need to waste our energies with foes that are predictable.  Now with that said, let’s head for school.”

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 5

 

　

　

                The villains entered the castle and were escorted by Ruthers and Cykrill to the meeting chamber, where they were each given a seat.  Superior then entered, none sans Ruthers and Cykrill had seen him face to face until this very moment.  “Welcome my Council of Evil.”  Superior greeted them in his dark gruff voice.  “As you can see we are one member short.”  He pointed to the empty chair, “It is for Ruther’s niece, who will join us here within the next month, however, her Aunt shall be her proxy.”  No one argued the point.  “Now to the matter at hand.  Each of you has faced our greatest foes, The Alpha Force, and their allies, and it is time to bring all of your forces together against them, but first I am sure that your forces must be refitted with new suits and weapons.”  Referring to The Cyber-Destroyers, Mythos, and The Gamer’s Goons.  “While they are doing so, I will have those whom we have abducted to go through the Cyber-Drone process and give the Alpha Force a reminder of the power of The Society.  Observe the main viewing screen.”  Superior motioned, and on the monitor, they could see those who were abducted from Prison Island being turned into cyborgs.  “They are going through the process of becoming our newest army of Cyber-Drones.  They are not as powerful as Cyber-Queen’s Cyber-Destroyers but they will be no more than an annoyance to our enemies.  And while they are doing that Ruthers’ and Cykrill will go and abduct an old colleague of Cyber-Queen.”  With that said the two agents of evil left.

“And which one will this be?”  Cyber-Queen asked with anticipation.

“Dr. Ortega, who I believe was working on cloning projects with U.N. government.”

“Yes, that is true.”

“We still have the blood sample that you collected of The Green Defender and with that, we can clone the leader of our greatest foes.  With that said, let us watch and see how the Cyber-Drones fare against The Alpha Force.”  Superior offered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 6

 

 

 

It was lunch time at the school, and normally this was one of the times of the day that the teens looked forward to, however, today was different.  With knowing that their enemies could strike at any minute they decided instead of meeting at the baseball field like they normally would, Mike decided for them to only meet in groups of 2-4 people only, and spread out throughout a radius of the school.  Prior to them leaving the Big House that morning, Sparks had informed them that they no longer had to use the activation code to activate The Changer which activated their Bio-Suits, that their fingerprint over the screen of what looked like a watch and holding it for three seconds would activate it.  This made them feel a lot better, this way if they needed to hide and be quiet about their changing into their alter-egos. Mike and Nicole were in the band room.  Dan, Dave, Clara, and Ally were in the newspaper room.  John and Angie were in the east wing stairway.  Adam and Justin along with Eve and Rachel were in the gym.

“I think that we should tell the rest of the team.”  Nicole brought up the subject for the tenth time.

“I’ve gone over this with you I don’t know how many times, and we agreed…”  Mike began to say.

“No you said we agreed but in all reality, you decided for the both of us, that we weren't going to tell anyone.”  She corrected him.

“Okay I admit that I may have been a bit overzealous, but even if we told them, then they would more than likely question my leadership.”

“You know, there are bigger problems than your leadership qualities being in question, and that is all those who we put away are free.”

“When you’re right, you’re right.”  He admitted, “Then what we need to do is tell the others after we finish school for the day.”

“Finally.”  She lifted her hands in relief.

In the newspaper room, the four friends talked among themselves.  “Is it just me, or is there something going on with Mike?” Asked Dan.

“You mean how quiet he’s been?”  Dave asked rhetorically, “Yeah I’d say something is going down.”

“Well, it could be that Nicole and the others will be leaving soon.”  Ally brought up.

“There’s that.”  Agreed Clara, “But he has been skipping out of the Holo-Dome sessions lately as well, which is very unlike him.”

“Do you think that maybe he’s just concerned over the fact that Cyber-Queen and those others are out?” Dave asked.

“That could be as well.”  Ally answered.

In the east wing of the school, sat John and Angie, “I gotta hand it to Mike this was a good idea.”  John said as he held Angie in his arms.

“Oh, why is that?”  She asked.

“Because at least this way you and I can spend some quality time together without the others around.”

“Good point, but I don’t think that’s what Mike had in mind when he came up with this plan.”  She said as she reached out to kiss him.

“This is a stupid plan!”  Adam said as he tossed his sack lunch bag into the garbage can next to them.  “Splitting us up is a bad idea in my opinion.”

“Mike’s the leader Adam deal with it,” Justin told bluntly.

“Yeah, what would you have us do, stay in one group and expose ourselves in the process if we had to change?”  Eve asked.

“I have to agree with them Justin, besides if you really think about it, we are tactfully positioned,” Rachel spoke up.

“I know I can be a bit of a hot head at times but…”  Adam started to say.

“Man, that’s all you been ever since they saved our butts!”  Justin came down to him, “In case I need to remind you it was Mike that found us and welcomed us with no questions asked.  We may be new to this world so to speak but he has never led us wrong.”

Then without warning a blaze of blue lights filled up the area of the school and Cyber-Drones appeared and began attacking the students.  All four of the areas that the teens were at, saw that the school once again was under attack by The Society.  Mike turned on his communicator and spoke through it, “Activate your bio-suits and attack!”  And they did so and within seconds they became their alter-egos.  The duo of Green Defender and Shieldra ran outside to where they met up with the first group Cyber-Drones, Shieldra used her powers to protect the students and faculty to safer areas, while Green Defender shot out stun bolts.  Sparks and Metallacia joined them; she turned herself into titanium and went into hand-to-hand combat, as he started sending out jolts of electricity.

Mindra, Frezor, Blaze, and Molder went towards the front of the school and began their line of defense.  Mindra fired stun bolts, and while Frezor froze the Cyber-Drones and Blaze melted them into a puddle of flesh and metal, while Molder turned himself into concrete and went into hand to hand combat and changing his hands into powerful hammers.  The four that were in the gym ran out to the back of the school where they could fend off the Cyber-Drones in the back parking lot. Boom Box used his sonic boom attacks that caused a group of them to fall backward into the field behind them, and Plantra used her abilities to entrap them into tall grass that grabbed at them and strangled them.  Aquatrina short-circuited them by dousing them with her water powers, and Long Yard used his stretching abilities fend off Cyber-Drones that were trying to attack the students.

During the battle Jacob contacted them saying, “Try to keep one of them intact, I wish to run some tests on it to see how they are built.”

“We’ll do our best.”  Green Defender told him, as he continued to blast away, and each time they took each one down the Cyber-Drone would disappear with a blue glow.  “They must be transporting them out of here as they go down.”  He observed.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious!”  Shieldra shouted sarcastically.

“You’re welcome.”  He responded, “Sparks shock one to the point of overloading its system.”

“You’re the boss.”  Sparks saluted, and he shot out a very strong electric shock, and the unlucky drone went down sizzling from the attack and didn’t disappear.  “One fried cyborg as ordered.”  He notified the others, and with that happening, all the others disappeared.

“Well so much for the rest of them,” Metallacia stated.

“All units report.”  Green Defender ordered as he turned on his communicator.

“Molder here, we’re clear.”

“This is Boom Box we’re clear as well.”

“Good work everyone, let’s head back to The Big House, something tells me that we’re not going to finish this school day.”  Green Defender told them and they all left.

When they returned to their headquarters they were greeted by Jacob, “Your assumptions of school being done for the day were quite accurate.”  He told Green Defender, “They've shut it down for the day for an investigation of the situation.”

“Well, they’re not going to find much,” Shieldra assured her uncle.

“Take the body to the med-lab, where Sparks, Frezor and myself will perform the tests, the rest of you should shower and rest up,” Jacob told them all.

“Agreed.”  Green Defender, “I’m gonna head to the garage and make sure that all the vehicles are ready for the next wave.”

“I’ll join you.”  Shieldra volunteered, and the others departed to the shower rooms to relax.

Jacob, Sparks, and Frezor went into the med-lab and began running test.  First came the facial recognition scan that showed that this man was once was known as Jerry Roberts who was one of those who had escaped Prison Island.  Next an x-ray scan to see what parts of him were replaced by cybernetics and what left of him was still remaining.  Then came the real fun part…the Autopsy.  “Biology eat your heart out.”  Sparks joked, and the others gave him an “I can’t believe you said that.” look.  “Okay, I get the message.”

In the garage, Green Defender and Shieldra were working on The Battle Van.  “So how you doing?”  She asked him.

“Fine.”

“You sure?  You didn’t go into hand-to-hand combat.”  She pushed the issue.

“And you’re point?”

“I was wondering if you were afraid.”  She asked and her answer was him slamming the tool that was in his hand and he looked at her.

“I am not scared of anything.”  He told her flat out.  “I made a tactical decision that proved useful.”

“It’s just that it seems after you lost your abilities, you've been acting as if it’s no big deal.”

“My abilities do not make me who I am.”  He told her, “My Faith in God and my actions is what makes me who I am.”

“I know, it’s just that I’m worried about you that’s all.”  She told him with tears starting to form.  “Each time I think about the fact that as soon as this is over that I’ll be leaving and you’ll be here…unless you die prior to becoming the Dark-Rider.”

“I won’t die.”  He took her into his arms, “I refuse to die.”  Little did they know there were prying ears listening in.

A couple of hours later they all met in the Meeting Room where Jacob debriefed the others on the captured Cyber-Drone.  “Half his body has been replaced by cybernetics.  His right leg, left arm, and right eye.  A reinforced steel plate in the back to prevent from being attacked from behind, also carrying a power pack deep within.  Also, like the Cyber-Destroyers they've had a chip implanted in them to keep them from turning against their masters and also his brain has been completely wiped.  In other words, he is nothing more than a soulless drone.”

“One more thing, he was an inmate from Prison Island, and there is no doubt in my mind that the other of these Cyber-Drones was from there as well,” Sparks added.

“How many did we fend off?”  Plantra asked.

“Nearly 75.”  Jacob said, “That’s how many showed on the monitor.”

“And how many were taken from Prison Island?”  Aquatrina asked.

“Over 1,000,” Mindra answered.  “I took the liberty to investigate the situation from a journalistic view of things and we got the fax in the newspaper room today.”  A sudden eerie silence filled the room.

“Then we need to be on alert 24/7.”  Green Defender spoke up, “We’ll work in shifts while the others rest.  I’ll have a shift roster set within the hour.  If there is nothing else?”

“Yeah, I got something.”  Boom Box said evasively.

“Speak.”  Green Defender offered to him.

“When were you going to tell us that you no longer have any abilities?”  Again another eerie silence.

“Why are you accusing Green Defender of not having any abilities?”  Metallacia asked.

“I overheard both him and Shieldra talking about it.”

“It’s true.”  Green Defender admitted to the others, “I lost them shortly after our last mission.  I didn’t tell you guys for your own safety.  Plus, I had to go into battle to not give our enemies a time to question my absence hypothetically speaking.”

“What Green Defender is going through is called The Time of Trial.  It is when the soon to be Dark-Rider must go through a time without his abilities to prove that he is worthy of them and not using them for when it is most convenient.”  Jacob explained, “And as soon as he has taken the mantle of The Dark-Rider my immortality will be gone.”

“So until then, we must continue on as if there is nothing going on until I become The Dark-Rider.”  Green Defender said plainly, “Like I said before I will have a roster set within the hour until then we’re adjourned.”  Then he walked out to his personal quarters that he set up for himself.  The others went to their own stations until he put up the roster and called it a night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 7

 

 

 

After the first wave was brought back to the secret hideout of The Society, The Council of Evil met up in their science lab.  There they were met with Ruthers, Cykrill and a man hired by them, Dr. Ortega.  “Superior once again I thank you for this opportunity to share my talents to your evil cause.”  Ortega bowed.

“Your talents are needed to put a blow to our enemies.”  Superior welcomed him, and handed him a vial of blood, “Within this, the contents of this vial is the blood of our enemy The Green Defender, who is to become the newest Dark-Rider.  With your cloning abilities and this vile we can have our very own dark version of our enemy.”

“I shall do as you command lord Superior.”  He bowed again and put the vial into the slot where the contents would pour into the machine.  “And not only will he have the same powers as The Green Defender, he will also be able to regenerate and also will be able to control the other clones.”

“What other clones?”  Asked Dr. Wrong.

“Last year when Dr. Nightmare had The Alpha Force chase him to the facility that they had once been held, we put Operation: Doppelganger into motion,”  Cykrill answered.

“Which means what exactly?”  Dr. Nightmare asked cluelessly.

“The Alpha Force has had enemies right under their noses,” Ruthers said cryptically.

“And now they will have another to deal with, but this one will be much greater than all of them.”  Ortega said as the machine whirred to life and within seconds, the tube in the center showed a silhouette of a human being, “Since he is a clone and a darker version of our enemy he will be called Dark Clone.”

“Excellent work Dr. Ortega.  Now I want you to begin the cloning of the Cyber-Drones.”  Superior ordered.

“At once my lord.”

“Now fit Dark Clone with an outfit, and…”  Cyber-Queen started to say to the Cyber-Destroyers when Big Brain’s voice came over the speaker.

“I have something to show all of you in the viewing room.”  Big Brain told them.  And moments later they came into the room and he showed them clips from the battle with The Alpha Force.  “There is something I need to show you that I spotted while our forces were battling…”

“Get to the point!”  Gamer demanded.

“Notice Green Defender, he doesn’t once use his powers what so ever.”  Big Brain pointed out.

“Yeah so.  He still took down a lot of the Cyber-Drones.”  Rocko said.

“He didn’t use his powers…”  Cyber-Queen worded out, “Which means he no longer has his powers!”

“Of course, that is why he didn’t attack.”  Dr. Nightmare snapped his fingers, “I remember in one of my sessions with him he had told me that he would lose his powers when it was near time for him to become the next Dark-Rider.  He said it was called The Time of Trial.”

“Then tonight we strike!”  Superior ordered, “All forces are to attack the town of Silverton. Green Defender is the primary target.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

 

 

 

That evening the teens had brought their families to The Big House for their own protection, and they had told them of Mike losing his abilities.  His parents weren't happy as well and some of the team shared their concern as well that he should not take part in any battles.  However, Green Defender stood his ground with all of them, “It’s my decision.”  He told them, “I’m the leader and I will lead this team!  Abilities or not, I’m still the one in charge.”

“Green Defender is correct.”  Jacob backed him up, “He is the field commander where I am the Commander of Operations.  Therefore I have the final say, and he will lead this team, with or without the support of everyone here.”  With that said those who had opposed gave looks that they have realized that they had lost this verbal battle.  Then all of the sudden The Alpha Alarm went off, and as if on cue they all activated their Bio-Suits.  They ran over to I.Q. and what they saw on the screen showed was their worst nightmare.

“This is not good.”  Was all that Plantra could mutter, for they saw that all their enemies had come out in full force, The Cyber-Destroyers, Gamer’s Goons, Mythos, Dr. Nightmare, and The Preacher.

“Let’s go, team!”  Green Defender ordered.  “Non-flyers to the Battle Van, Flyers can fly around the van.”

Once they were on the road, Green Defender set up a plan of attack, “Shieldra, Sparks, Frezor and Blaze you're on crowd control, get all innocents out of the battlefield.  The rest of us will hold up the fort until the others finish their part.  Everyone get that?”  He got all nods.  “Good and remember we are The Alpha Force, and we are the earth's only defense against evil.”

“If God is for us who can be against us!”  They declared together.

Within five minutes they had arrived and those who are on crowd control got started.  Molder walked up to Green Defender and laid his hand on him and within seconds Green Defender was covered in Nightstone.  “Just in case you need the extra padding.”

“Thanks, Molder.”  He nodded to his friend and Molder took off to deal with some enemies. Green Defender went to Dr. Nightmare.  “You and I are on the equal ground this time Doc.”

“Is that so?”  Dr. Nightmare asked in suspicion and fired a nightmare blast at the green hero and the beams were absorbed.  “You were smart to wear Nightstone Green Defender, but I know that you no longer have your powers, all of us know this.  So you might as well, give up now.”

“Sorry Doc, but I think I’ll stay and fight.”  He told his adversary and shot out a stun bolt and the doc was out to lunch.  “Too bad you can’t absorb my stun bolts.”  He turned around was blasted by Paralyzers’ rays.

“Dr. Nightmare was just a distraction.”  He told Green Defender who was now down to his knees.  “I was the one you should’ve been wary of.” Then all of the sudden the beams stop shooting out for he had been knocked down from behind by Shieldra.

“And you should’ve been wary of me!”  She told him, as she helped Green Defender to his feet.

“Thanks, babe.”

“You can thank me later after we send all these guys back to Prison Island.  Oh, and crowd control is done.”

“Good, let’s make fast work of these guys.”  He told her as the duo began to attack The Preacher next.  Shieldra covered them with her shield powers from The Preacher’s sonic voice and Green Defender blasted him with a stun bolt and he was removed from the battle by a teleport beam.

Molder trapped The Gamers Goons in quick drying cement and Frezor froze Mythos in their tracks, and Aquatrina, Sparks, and Metallacia took care of Cyber-Destroyers as she took on a titanium form and went to hand-to-hand combat.  Sparks and Aquatrina combined their powers causing the Cyber-Destroyers to short circuit.  Within a matter of minutes, all of their enemies had fallen.

They regrouped and all of their foes had been teleported away.  “I thought they were going to put more of a fight?”  Boom Box wondered.

“I don’t think it’s over yet.”  Green Defender told him.  “They made this way too easy.”

“You’re right they did.”  A familiar but haunting voice came from behind them, and a grenade came into the middle of them and went off, and within seconds they immobilized…except Green Defender.  “It’s nice to see me again.”  And out of the shadows came Dark Clone.  He wore black and with red trim and no mask.

“So I see me too.”  Green Defender joked, “What did you do to them?”

“They’ll be okay, they’re just immobilized, however, they will witness your defeat.”  He answered.

“I’m still standing, so did they give you a name or did you not get one at the orphan office?”

“My name is Dark Clone.”

“Nice choice, maybe next time you should go with something like…copy-cat, or maybe Michelle.”

“Choose your next words wisely, for they will be your last.”  Dark Clone warned.

“In that case, bring it on test tube.”  And they locked themselves into hand-to-hand combat.  Their fighting styles were the same; however, the blows that Green Defender was taking, was now starting to take its toll on him.  “You fight pretty well for…a mirror.”  and landed a right hook under the clones’ jaw and caused him to fall back a bit.

“Not bad for someone with no powers.”  Dark Clone taunted, “Now it’s time for the gloves to come off.”  Before Green Defender could respond, Dark Clone lashed out in full force with speed and strength that Green Defender no longer had, and within seconds Green Defender was down…but not for the count, for he started to get up, slowly and in pain.  “I’ll give you kudos bro, you sure can take a beating but how much more can you take?”

“Oh, I don’t know…”  Green Defender grunted in pain, “How much more can you dish out?”  And finally, he was standing on his own two feet.

“Your funeral.”  Again Dark Clone gave his opponent another pummel, and when he was done Green Defender was now lying on his stomach. “Now why don’t you just be a good little hero and die!” And he began to walk away.

Green Defender looked up and saw that Dark Clone was walking away, so he began to stealthily get up and once he was on his own two feet he said, “Rule #1 in combat, never turn your back on your opponent.”  Dark Clone then turned around long enough to hear Green Defender say, “Two-Hammed-Hammer!”  And Green Defender shot out his most powerful laser attack that threw Dark Clone into a nearby car.  But within seconds he was up and right in front of the green hero.

“Here’s one to add to the list, you can’t beat one who has regenerative abilities.”  Dark Clone told him, and then he with all his might kicked at Green Defenders’ knee, who dropped down.  He then kicked him in the neck, breaking it!  Green Defender was down for the count.  Dark Clone walked away and activated his communicator, “This is Dark Clone, mission complete Green Defender is dead.”

“Are you sure?”  Superior asked.

“I broke his neck!  There’s no way that anyone can recover from the amount of force that I used.”

“Very well.  We will now teleport you and the other members of his team to our Head Quarters. Well done Agent Dark Clone.”

　

 

 

 

 

Chapter 9

 

　

　

No sooner than Green Defender had been defeated by Dark Clone, Jacob was nearby as Dark-Rider and once Dark Clone was gone with the others he then dropped down and picked up Green Defender and took him back to The Big House.  He laid Green Defender’s body on a table in the Medi-Lab and the sensors showed that he was alive…barely.  All the families came into the room to check on the fallen hero.  “I’m very sorry Mr. and Mrs. Black.”  Jacob gave his condolences to Mike’s Dad, Mom, and Stepmom.

“Michael was doing what he thought was best.”  His dad told him.

Jacob then turned to the others, “I’m also sorry that you had to witness your children’s defeat, but be rest assured they have always found a way to overcome the odds.”  And all the parents nodded, as they stared at the sensor viewings.

At the hideout of The Society, they watched the view screen showing them all that their Doppelgangers’ was showing them.  “As you can see Superior, Dark Clone’s ability to tap into the other clones minds’ is as I said it would be.  We can see and hear all that is happening around them.”  Dr. Ortega presented.

“True, but it shows that he is still alive after it was reported that he was killed.”  Superior countered.

“That will soon be rectified.”  Ortega assured him and turned to Dark Clone, “Show Superior how you can control them.”

“With pleasure.”  Dark Clone smiled evilly, he closed his eyes, and within his mind commanded the Doppelgangers’ to subdue Jacob and then to kill The Green Defender.

Back at The Big House, The Doppelgangers eyes turned from their natural color to red, and then Dan’s “parents” grabbed a hold of Jacob.  “What’s the meaning of this?”  Jacob protested.

“Sorry old man.”  Dark Clone’s voice came through them all, “But Superior wants to see the death of future Dark-Rider up close and personal.”

“But these people…”

“Is just like me…a clone, and I have control over all of them.”

“I don’t understand,” Jacob said in confusion.

“You don’t need to, for once he is dead, your next.  Then the Legacy of The Dark-Rider will end.”  He then mentally controlled Mike’s “father” to pick up a sword from the weapon room and held it over the head of The Green Defender.  “Abraham may have failed to sacrifice Isaac to his God…but I won’t fail.”

When Mike Black awoke he sat up from the ground and he then looked all around.  The setting had changed, for he was no longer on the streets of Silverton, but was now in a place that was white and light everywhere.  “Well either I’m in the Twilight Zone or in limbo, but my guess is I’m somewhere between living and dying.”

“An interesting assessment young Dark-Rider.”  A voice from behind him, and when he turned to see who was talking to him.  There stood a man dressed in white with a peaceful look on his face, “I am Michael The Arch-Angel of The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.”

“You’re the second angel I have met so far.”  He observed.

“Yes that is true, you met my brother Gabriel.”

“So why am I here if you don’t mind me asking?”

“We need to talk,” Michael answered as he waved his hand and the scenery changed to a beach setting. Michael explained to him of who S.H.I.N.E. really worked for, Superior, the leader of The Society, and how they had played out all this since Jacob had tried to kill Hitler who was now called Superior. Then Michael told him more, “As of right now you, are last and final Dark-Rider, and you have passed the first of many tests…”

“Wait, you mean I have other tests?”  Mike asked in disbelief.

“Yes, for each time you go to retrieve a part of the Sword of Power you will lose your abilities and you must pass the test unaided.  You have passed the first test, therefore, you will now be able to carry the Laser Blade with you at all times, and also your abilities have been amplified by ten times more powerful than what you once were.  Not only that but you have the ability to walk through solid objects, however at a cost of no longer of the speed you once had, however, your flight speed will increase.  And you now will heal all wounds as well as have the Halo of Protection that will protect you from being decapitated.”

“Well, that’s a good thing, and I will use my abilities to serve God and others,” Mike assured him.  “But when will I know to find the other swords?”

“When the Laser Blade glows with power then you will know.”  Then within a split second, his gaze went towards the ocean and then turned right back to the new Dark-Rider, “You must go back now, those of whom you thought were your families are no more than soulless bags of flesh.”

“You mean clones?”

“Yes, the one they call Dark Clone is controlling them.  You must go now before you are killed.  You must kill them, for they are ones with no soul.  Once you awake your abilities will return in full, now go warrior of the God of heaven and earth!”

As soon as he woke up he saw his “dad” with a sword in hand, and about to cut his head off. And here I thought Alice in Wonderland had it bad.  He thought to himself, and just as the sword was about to come down Mike dashed out of the way and stood right up, and they all looked at him, “Sorry boys and girls there’s a new player in town and his name is Dark-Rider!”  With that said the Dark-Rider tunic that was on Jacob now appeared on Mike with a mask over his face.  And with a deepened voice he cried, “In the Name of Christ, Laser Blade to my hand!”  Within seconds of his outcry, the Laser Blade came into his hand, “Let’s Dance Pop!”

“Superior wants you dead Dark-Rider, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”  Dark Clone spoke through the cloned form of Frank Black.

“Dark Clone, so you control clones, huh?  Let’s see how you are with a sword.”  He made a defensive stance with The Laser Blade ready to meet steel.  The clone stepped up at a fast pace and make its attacks, with a couple of hard strikes the blade shattered against the power of The Laser Blade, and with that Dark-Rider lunged the sword within the center of the clone and it began to melt into an ooze of flesh.  “No blood. That’s good to know.”

Dark Clone cringed in pain and agony as the first clone died off.  “What is wrong with him Ortega?”  Superior asked.

“Each time one of the clones is killed off a part of him feels the pain, but only temporarily I assure you.”

“Then the rest had better end the life of Dark-Rider or yours will be the one to be forfeited instead,” Superior warned him.

Back at The Big House, Dark-Rider faced off all the others, and the two clones that were holding down Jacob now turned their focus on the revived Dark-Rider.  “We will kill you Dark-Rider.”  They hissed.

“You can’t kill what you can’t see.”  And with that, he turned invisible.

“Where did he go?”  One asked.

“Spread out!”  Another one said, and then all of the sudden a gaping hole appeared from its chest and it began to melt.  One by one the clones were killed off until only one remained.  It whimpered, “Where are you?  What are you?”

“I am the one who never sleeps as long as evil deeds are awakened.  I am the one who shall bring rights where wrongs no longer reign.”  Then he reappeared behind the clone with the sword around the front of the neck, “Beware the man who wears all black for he is the one that shall bring you death.”  He then turned it around and held the sword at its neck, “Send a message to your master…The Dark-Rider Cometh!”  Then the clone was decapitated.

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 10

 

　

　

                Dark Clone screamed in pain as the final clone was defeated at the hands of the new Dark-Rider.  For not only did he deliver the message to Superior, but he also said that there was no way of telling how he found out.  “Then we must prepare our troops at once!”  Superior ordered.  “Cyber-Queen, have your Cyber-Destroyers guard all the exits.  Dr. Nightmare you will join Father Time, Dr. Wrong to cover the northern sector and Mythos guard the science lab along with Big Brain.  The rest of you spread out among the castle and if you see anyone dressed black…shoot to kill!”

At The Big House, Mike looked at himself in the mirror as he saw that he was now The Dark-Rider.  “This is definitely no Bio-Suit.”  He commented.

“It is not, however, anything man made cannot harm you.  On the other hand, those like Mythos can more than likely hurt you.”  Jacob told him.

“It’s a bit old-fashioned,” Dark-Rider mentioned but then in a flash of light, it changed into a more modern style suit.  “Whoa!  What happened?”

“Just like when I was the Dark-Rider the suit changes into something of more of that time frame and gives you what is needed.  Like me, it was that of the World War 2 era, and it changed a couple of times as my time as The Dark-Rider.  Now yours resembles that of a Bio-Suit…and a Changer as well.”

“Speaking of time, I’m sure that my teammates don’t have very much left.”

“That is true, but there is one more thing that you must do before you leave,” Jacob told him.

“What is that?”

“The Oath of The Dark-Rider.”

“I’ve had it memorized for quite some time.  ‘As the Dark-Rider, I promise to protect those who need protecting, defend those who need defending, the oppressed, the orphan, the widow, and the alien, and above all never to kill out of vengeance.’”

“Now with that said, you are now as the power invested in me as the former Dark-Rider to now name you The Dark-Rider.”

“I promise to keep my oath.  Now it’s time to free my friends.”  He stated as they headed to I.Q. and as they did Dark-Rider briefed Jacob of all that he was now capable of and all that Michael had told him of the Society.

“I upgraded the Changers’ to give off a signal of where everyone is at all times,” Jacob explained.  “Their last known coordinates shows them in an uncharted area of the Oregon Coast.  After the Riots, there was an area that was closed off to the public along the coastline, and by the looks of it The Society pulled some strings within the government to be able to take a hold of that area.”

“Then that’s where I’m heading.”  He got up from the chair but Jacob stopped him.

“Even at your new flight speed, there is no telling of what they may have to prevent you from getting in.”

“I wasn't planning on going out there without a way of not getting back.”  He assured him, “During the past few weeks since I could not sleep I’ve been installing new upgrades into The Alpha Jet.”  He led Jacob into the hangar and then went into the cockpit.  “I’ve installed a new stealth upgrade; the vehicle will be invisible so as long the shields are down.  However, I was working on a stand-by mode for when it was in Stealth mode…”

“In other words, you need me to pilot it while you go rescue the other?”

“Exactly.”  He answered as he brought it to life, and within seconds they were off.

Within minutes they were nearing their destination.  They turned off the shields and activated The Alpha Jet’s new Stealth Mode.  No sooner did they do that they were met my flying Cyber-Drones.  With evasive maneuvers, Jacob skillfully dodged the new drones.  “Nice upgrades they’ve been given,” Jacob commented, and Dark-Rider nodded.  “We’ll break radio silence once you’ve rescued the others.” Again Dark-Rider nodded, “Also once you are in their science lab use this on the computer.”  He handed him a disc, “It will upload a new virus into their system, and download any of their information onto it.  Then once it is done, put this disc in.  Once it is activated it will act like an energy bomb, however, anyone in the vicinity will lose memory of who you and the others truly are.  We’re nearing the face of the mountain.  What do you plan to do?”

“Watch,” Dark-Rider answered as he went through the jet and flew towards the mountain side and turned invisible.  He approached the entrance that was being guarded by Rocko and Noga-Head.  I’ll just have to slip by those two…I mean three idiots. He thought to himself, and without them knowing he walked right by them.  He worked his way through the corridors and saw within a giant room was a factory of some kind, and he was horrified by what he saw as he looked in for men and women that were once prisoners of Prison Island were now being turned into Cyber-Drones.  “God of Heaven, I pray that they knew your Son my Savior as theirs. Have mercy on their souls.”  He prayed and then went on his way.

A few minutes later he still invisible saw the science lab was guarded by Dr. Wrong and his Mythos as well as Dr. Nightmare guarding the area.  “Too many of them to try to be able to put on those discs. I’ll have to free the others first, not only that, this is more along the lines of Sparks’ expertise anyways.”  He then made his through the corridors and passed by many more enemies and did his best not make a sound.  “Ok, I’m starting to get tired, time to become visible, and fly to the ceiling.”  He thought to himself as he did so, and then flew up to the ceiling where it was pretty dark, “Good thing the hallways torches’ light don’t get this far up here.  Now to find the others.”  He took out a device that would track their Changers and saw that he was only a couple of more corridors down.  He didn’t waste time and flew into the room where they were being held and then flew up to the highest point of the ceiling of the room and then saw an unguarded overlook of the room and flew to there and watched from there.

“So far no sign of The Dark-Rider, Superior.”  Gamer reported through the communications console on Superiors’ throne.

“Don’t underestimate him.  There is no telling how powerful he is now.”  Superior informed him. “Superior out.”  And then he turned off his communicator.  “It would appear that your new Dark-Rider is to be a coward after all.”  He told the members of The Alpha Force.

“Then you really don’t know him,” Shieldra spoke up.

“Maybe so.”  Superior nodded as he arose from his throne and walked up to her.  “You would know, wouldn’t you?  According to our sources you and him quite the relationship.  Maybe if there was a way to bring him out…maybe I should kill you like I killed your Uncle’s fiancé?”  Little did Superior know that Shieldra had spotted Dark-Rider on the overlook and nodded to him, acknowledging that whatever he had planned she would go along with it.  All of the sudden a Stun Bolt came out of nowhere and blasted the power unit that was powering the Inhibitor above Shieldra.  “What the…?”  And that is all Superior could get out for Shieldra now having her abilities back pushed him away into a wall with a powerful shield attack.

“About time you showed up.”  She told him with her hands on her hips as he floated down to the ground.

“Sorry had to change.”  He shrugged and then hugged.

“You know as nice as this is…”  John started to say, “We too would like to be out of these Inhibitors.”

“Sorry, Sparks,” Dark-Rider told him as he shot a blast to the one of above him.

“Save your energy Green…I mean Dark-Rider, I’ll take care of the rest.”  Sparks told him as he blasted the others free from their Inhibitors.

“Now that we’re free what now?”  Asked Blaze.

“You die!  That’s what!”  Superior breathed as he came out of the wall, and no sooner than he said that he activated the alarm that was remotely activated in his belt.  “Soon this place will be filled with my minions, and there is no way that you can stop them all.”

Dark Rider handed off the discs to Sparks and quickly told him what to do, and then said, “Take Boom Box and the other newbies with you, the place is being guarded.  And you might find some resistance on the way.”

“Roger.”  Then he led the others to the science lab.

“The rest of us it will hold off any other bad guys.”  Molder said, as a large group of Cyber-Drones came into The Throne Room and surrounded them.  “Me and my big mouth.”

“You guys take out the Cyber-Drones.  Superior is mine.”  Dark-Rider told them and he went after the main villain who had silently walked away from the area.

Superior was near the escape pod when a Stun Bolt blasted him from behind and he fell to the ground.  And another bolt blasted the controls to the pod.  “You are not one for giving up are you Dark-Rider?”

“I have some questions for you.”  He told Superior as he slammed him against the wall and then placed metal clamps over his wrists that he had picked up along the way of trying to find him.  “Where are our parents?”  He asked and punched Superior in the stomach.

“They’re dead.”  Superior answered gasping for air, “What else would you like to know?”

“My other questions were based on the first, but since you gave me an answer it’s only fair that I let you live.”

“Not going to kill me like the last one did?”

“I’m not him, and he is not me.  But I assure you of this; we will bring you and all your minions to justice, and expose The Society one way or another.”  And he began to walk away, and there in front of him was Dark Clone.

“Going somewhere?”  Dark Clone asked.

“What do you know?  The test tube baby is ready for a Second Round.”  Dark-Rider taunted.

“Says the one who lost last time.”  Dark Clone countered.

“Speaking of which, I don’t have time to waste on you so…Two-Hammed Hammer!”  Dark-Rider called out and the laser blast shot out of his hands and it slammed against Dark Clone and it pushed him into the wall so hard he broke through it into an open space of air above the water and he dropped into the ocean.  “Now to see how the others are doing.”

He approached the Throne Room and he saw the others were just finishing off the last of the Cyber-Drones.  “And that’s the last one!”  Frezor said as he froze the last one to an icicle.  “Sorry Dark-Rider, we tried to save some for you but, you know how it is.”

“No worries Frezor let’s check on Sparks and the others,” Dark-Rider told him and they left the room to the science lab.

In the science lab The Beta Squad was battling their enemies as Sparks worked his fastest on the computer, and by the time the others were nearly there he turned and told them, “I just need another few more seconds…there!  It’s done, in thirty seconds the bomb will go off and no one will remember who we are.”

“Follow me!”  Dark-Rider motioned and the others followed him to where he had entered, there before them was Rocko and Noga-Head, “Sorry guys we don’t have time for you!”  Dark-Rider told them as he stun blasted them and they went down.  “Jacob, deactivate Stealth Mode and open up the hatch.”  Seconds later The Alpha Jet appeared out of thin air and the back hatch opened up and the all jumped in and left took off.  And they say the glimpse of the blue glow of the bomb going off.

Shieldra hugged her Uncle as he got up and handed the controls over to Frezor, and then she looked at her boyfriend, who now was The New Dark-Rider.  “You look good in black babe.”  And they embraced each other as they flew back to The Big House.

　

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Epilogue

　

　

 

The Society met up in the council chamber the next day. Superior looked at all of them, “Not only have we lost Dark-Clone, but also the knowledge of who our enemies really are.  And Ruther’s niece has no idea either since she was never informed of their true identities.”

“I told you we should’ve shared that information with her,” Ruthers argued.  “But no matter at least we know that they are our enemies and they are still in the town of Silverton.”

“Then we shall devise another plan, and this time we…”  Cyber-Queen started to say until he was interrupted by a demonic voice within the council chamber, and when it spoke the whole place went dark and a red form appeared in the middle of the table.

“You will do no such things, humans.”  The voice commanded.

“My Master.”  Superior bowed, “How shall we serve you.”

“You shall serve me face to face.  For soon my other followers shall set me free, and I will be the ruler of this world!”

“We shall do as you command…Master Xorrnak.”