This is the first edition of Season 2 of Red Ryder, I hope you enjoy
Disclaimer: I do not own DC Comics
Red Ryder was in the museum, he was searching for Bombshell.
"Come on out Lloyd, don't make this any harder than it needs to be" said Ryder
Ryder heard footsteps, he pulled out one of his Shurikens and threw it in the direction of the footsteps, he heard it hit someone and heard them groan in pain for a second, Ryder leaped at them and tackled the person he heard, it was Bombshell.
"Lloyd Chester, you're under arrest, again" said Ryder
Later, police had arrived at the museum and had taken away Bombshell, Ryder hopped in the Ryder Wing and flew home. It had been over a year since David became Red Ryder, he was now 21 years old. He received a communication from Angelo.
"Excuse me sir, did you capture Mr Chester?" asked Angelo
"Yes, he's heading back to Rollins Asylum and I'm heading home" said Ryder
A small alarm in the Wing went off.
"Wait, actually, scratch that, I might be a little late" said Ryder
Ryder activated the wing's radar and saw where the crime was taking place, Ryder headed to it and he wound up in an alleyway, he looked in the alley and saw a mugging, the mugger was wearing a navy trench coat, he had a man and a woman at gunpoint, when the man tried to fight back, the mugger shot him and the woman, Ryder stepped in and quickly tackled the mugger before pressing his foot on his face.
"Do you realise what you just did?" asked Ryder, clearly mad
Ryder quickly knocked the mugger out and turned his attention to the man and the woman, he then realised there was a third person, a teenage boy, about 15 years of age, he was dressed in a hoodie and a pair of baggy pants.
"Are you okay?" asked Ryder
The boy didn't respond. Ryder placed a pair of handcuffs on the mugger. Later on, the police arrived to take in the mugger, Ryder was talking to Francis.
"The man planned to mug the 3 people, when the man tried to fight back, the man shot him dead and then the woman, he left the boy alive, but if I hadn't have interfered, that might have been a different story" said Ryder
Ryder looked at the boy sitting on the ground.
"What do we do about the boy?" asked Ryder
"We could leave him in police custody for the time being, but soon we might need to find a safe house, he's a witness in this, but if we leave him in a safe house for too long, then the man might come after him" said Francis
Ryder thought for a minute.
"Did the mugger say anything?" asked Ryder
"Yes, he kept saying he was just following orders" said Francis
The police took the boy with them to the station and left, Ryder hopped back in the wing and flew home.
==The Next Day==
David arrived at the police station, he saw the boy in the station. David went to talk to Francis.
"Morning Francis" said David
"Morning David, what are you doing here?" asked Francis
"I heard something about a mugging last night that turned into a double homicide" said David
"Yeah, the boy out there lost his parents because of that" said Francis
"How is the boy?" asked David
"Not too well, he won't eat, he won't sleep and he won't speak, he won't even tell us his name" said Francis
"Any plans?" asked David
"Well, like I told Red Ryder last night, we plan to keep him here for now for protection, but eventually we'll need to transfer him to a safe house" said Francis
David thought for a minute, the boy reminded of him of himself, losing both his parents at a young age.
"Francis, may I make a suggestion?" asked David
"What is it?" asked Francis
"What if I take care of the boy, my home has plenty of room and a top of the range security system incase anyone comes after him" said David
"Are you saying that you would like to take care of the boy?" asked Francis
"I don't see why not" said David
"I don't either, as long as the boy doesn't mind" said Francis
Francis and David got up out of their seats and went to leave, but David had one more question.
"Hey Francis, the mugger who killed the boys parents, did he say anything?" asked David
"Only that he was following orders" said Francis
"He didn't give a name?" asked David
"No" said Francis
The 2 walked over to the boy, who was sitting reading.
"Hey kid, this is David, he'll be taking care of you until this mess is taken care of" said Francis
The boy didn't respond, he only nodded.
Later, David drove the boy to Young Mansion. Shortly after turning 20, David received his drivers licence, he was working on a new vehicle for Red Ryder.
"Here we are" said David
The boy didn't respond, he only walked into the mansion, when David walked in, he went to talk to Angelo.
"Welcome back sir, how did things go at the station?" asked Angelo
"The mugger hasn't given a name yet, also, you might want to set out an extra plate for dinner tonight" said David
David walked over to his old grandfather clock, he pressed a secret button and the clock opened up, David stepped in and was transferred to the lab, before Angelo closed the clock. Soon Angelo arrived in the lab and David was in the Red Ryder suit. The suit had been altered over the year that David had been Red Ryder, the only change made was that it wasn't sleeveless anymore.
"Where are you going?" asked Angelo
"Back to the station, that mugger doesn't want to talk, but I'll make him" said Ryder
Ryder hopped on the Ryder cycle and rode to the station. When he arrived, he snuck into the interrogation room where the mugger was.
"Hello there" said Ryder
The mugger looked to see Red Ryder.
"You" said the mugger
"Listen, you say you were only following orders, but who's orders were you following?" asked Ryder
"I don't need to tell you anything" said the mugger
"Very well, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this but..." said Ryder
Ryder pulled out a revolver, he sat on the table opposite the mugger and emptied out the bullets, before placing one back in the cylinder.
"Are you familiar with Russian Roulette?" asked Ryder
Ryder spun the cylinder and pointed it at his own head, before pulling the trigger, but nothing happened.
"Five left, care to talk?" asked Ryder
"No" said the mugger
Ryder pointed the gun at the mugger and pulled the trigger, again, nothing.
"Four to go, if you want to stop then speak up" said Ryder
Ryder repeated the process until there were 2 chambers left, and it was Ryder's turn, he pointed the gun at his own head.
"Only 2 chambers left, if this one is empty then you're out of luck, unless you have anything to say" said Ryder
"Screw you" said the mugger
Ryder pulled the trigger, nothing.
"Last one left" said Ryder
Ryder pointed the gun at the mugger.
"Anything on your mind?" asked Ryder
The mugger got nervous now, Ryder was getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger.
"ALRIGHT, I'LL TALK, the man who hired me, his name was Don Marcella" said the mugger
Ryder dropped the gun and walked away, he returned to the lab.
"Sir, I heard what you did at the station, that was completely unorthodox, you could have killed him" said Angelo
"Like I've said before Angelo, I never kill, I tricked him" said Ryder
"What do you mean?" asked Angelo
Ryder reached into his sleeve and pulled out a bullet, Ryder had slipped the bullet into his sleeve when the mugger didn't realise it.
"How's the boy?" asked Ryder
"He's upstairs watching detective shows" said Angelo
David got changed out of the Ryder suit and went upstairs and saw the boy.
"Hey there" said David
The boy looked to see David.
"You know, I realised you never gave me your name" said David
The boy didn't respond.
"I know what it's like, losing both your parents, trust me when I say that you start to fell better, even though you always miss them" said David
"Eric" said the boy
"Excuse me?" asked David
"My name is Eric. Eric Skipper" said the boy
"Well Eric, I hope you enjoy staying here for now" said David
==Later==
Eric was searching the house, trying to familiarise himself with it, he heard something in a room upstairs, he followed the sound and found David fighting a training dummy.
"What are you doing?" asked Eric
"Oh, hey there Eric, I'm just doing some martial arts training" said David
"Can I try?" asked Eric
"I don't see why not" said David
Eric walked up to the training dummy and started, he showed some impressive martial arts skills.
"Not bad for a 14 year old" said David
"I'm 15" said Eric
"Sorry" said David
Over the next few days, Eric and David started to develop a friendship, however, Eric was constantly annoyed by David's absences.
"Hey Angelo, where does David actually go, he keeps saying he has business meetings, but the other day, he left at 11 and didn't come back until 3 in the morning" said Eric
"Sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know" lied Angelo
Meanwhile, Red Ryder was fighting some mobsters, they knew where Don Marcella was. Ryder was able to defeat all of them, he knocked out 2 mobsters, leaving only one left, he stepped on the man's face.
"Where is Don Marcella?" asked Ryder
"He's at his uncle's place in the south part of the city, big white place, you can't miss it" said the mobster
Ryder knocked the man out and went to find Don Marcella. Back at the mansion, Eric noticed a room that was the only room in the entire mansion that was locked.
"Hey Angelo, why is this the only place in the mansion with a locked door? What's in here?" asked Eric
"That's just the silver closet" said Angelo
Meanwhile, Ryder had arrived at the place the mobster told him, he went in and saw Don Marcella's uncle watching a boxing match, Ryder snuck up behind him.
"Who's winning?" asked Ryder
The man got a fright from that.
"What are you doing here?" asked the man
"Where is your nephew? Don Marcella?" asked Ryder
"He was here earlier, but he left" said the man
"Very well" said Ryder, before leaving
What the man didn't know is that Ryder placed a mini microphone on the man's chair before leaving. When Ryder left, a skinny man in a navy blue suit entered the room.
"Hey Uncle, you okay?" asked the man
"Don, what did you do? Now because of you, Red Ryder is after us" said the uncle
"What?" asked Don Marcella
Unknown to them, Ryder was listening to everything.
"I have had enough of your screw ups, get out now, you are no longer a part of this family" said Don's uncle
Don Marcella left, he stepped in a car, but when he tried to start the engine, Ryder jumped onto the hood of the car and scared Don Marcella.
"Boo!" said Ryder
Marcella started driving recklessly trying to throw off Ryder. Ryder started punching the windscreen, however, Marcella was able to throw him off, drive away, and escape.
"NO! He got away!" said Ryder
Ryder returned to the lab, Angelo was waiting.
"Welcome back sir" said Angelo
"I was so close, I could smell his sweat, from now on, Don Marcella gets my undivided attention" said Ryder
"How fortunate for Marcella, because there's a 15 year old upstairs who's just aching for some of that attention" said Angelo
"I'm doing this for him" said Ryder
"I'm sure revenge can be sweet, but at the moment, what he needs is a friend, after all, isn't that what you needed?" asked Angelo
David went upstairs, he found Eric in the gym, Eric was doing some impressive acrobatic skills.
"Where did you learn to do that?" asked David
"Me and my parents used to perform in the circus as acrobats, but the circus went out of business and we had to find something new" said Eric
"Really?" asked David
"Yeah" said Eric
==The Next Day==
The Next Day, David and Eric were sparring.
"Remember to keep your guard up" said David
Eric quickly got behind David and swept his leg, tripping him up.
"Nice one, but that's enough for today" said David
"Alright David" said Eric
Eric walked off and Angelo stood at the door.
"Excuse me sir, but the commissioner is here to see you" said Angelo
"Alright" said David
David and Francis spoke in David's study, what they didn't know was that Eric was listening behind the door.
"I just wanted to let you know that the kid might not have to stay here much longer" said Francis
"Oh?" asked David
"We put some wanted posters up around the city and we already have a few bites, Marcella's been spotted on the lower east side" said Francis
"Why?" asked David
"We hear he's trying to skip town" said Francis
"How soon?" asked David
"Could be tonight, Red Ryder's got Marcella spooked, his friends too, no one will even go near the guy" said Francis
Eric walked away. That night, Eric snuck out of the mansion and made a run for it. He took a bus to the lower east side of Ambrose City. He took one of the wanted posters of Marcella with him and started showing it to people, asking if they had seen him, but no one had. While searching, he found someone trying to rob a woman in an alley, using the martial arts training David taught him, he was able to stop the man and return the woman's money.
"Thanks kid" said the woman
"No problem, hey..." said Eric
Eric showed her the poster of Marcella
"...Have you seen this guy anywhere?" asked Eric
"Oh my, yeah, I know this deadbeat" said the woman
"You do?" asked Eric
"Yeah, he comes from the motel a couple blocks away" said the woman
"Thanks" said Eric
Eric went to find Marcella. He arrived at the motel, but the place looked condemned, Eric heard something, he looked in a window and saw Don Marcella inside packing a suitcase.
"There you are" thought Eric
Eric looked around and saw a payphone, he went to it to call the police, but before he could dial anything, Marcella caught him.
"Let go of me" said Eric
"What are you doing here?" asked Marcella
Eric punched Marcella in the gut, causing Marcella to release his grip, Eric tried to make a run for it, but Marcella caught up to him.
"Listen punk, I don't know what you're doing here, but I'm gonna make sure you don't tell anyone where I am" said Marcella
Suddenly, someone punched Marcella in the face, and it wasn't Eric. When Eric looked to see who it was, he saw Red Ryder.
"Hope you enjoy prison, you scum" said Ryder
"It's your fault my parents are dead, time for me to return the favour" said Eric
Eric started beating down Marcella, until Marcella pushed him away. Eric grabbed a railing to pull himself up, but the railing was old and rusted and broke when Eric got to his feet. Eric lost his balance and fell into the spillway, Ryder threw Marcella to the ground and ran to save Eric.
"So much for the Ryder and the Runt" said Marcella
Eric was getting closer and closer to a waterfall, but Ryder was able to get to him in time, Ryder took out his grappling launcher, when the 2 fell off the waterfall, Ryder launched the grapple at a street light and pulled himself and Eric to safety.
"I can't believe he got away! You had him, you let him get away" said Eric
Ryder called for the Ryder-Wing, when it arrived, he hopped in.
"Get in" said Ryder
"Why?" asked Eric
"I'm taking you home" said Ryder
Eric hopped in the Ryder-Wing and Ryder started to pilot it back to Young Mansion.
"Hey, where did you get this?" asked Eric
"It was originally a military jet" said Ryder
The wing arrived at Young Mansion and Eric got out of the Wing, before Ryder flew off.
"Hey wait, how did he know this is where I'm staying?" asked Eric
The next day, Eric noticed David heading to the mansion's cellar and not coming out for hours, curiosity got the best of him, when David went to work, Eric went to the cellar, the door to the cellar was locked, luckily, Eric had some lock picking skills and was able to get in, when he got in, all he found was a collection of rare drinks from around the world, Eric noticed one bottle that seemed to have been used more times than any other, but had never had a single sip taken from it.
"What's this?" asked Eric
Eric grabbed the bottle, but couldn't pick it up, while trying to pick it up, he pulled it towards him like a lever and a secret door opened up, Eric went through the secret door and found himself in some sort of tunnel, he kept searching until he found the other end of the tunnel, and found himself in some sort of lab.
"Whoa, this is cool" said Eric
Eric searched through the lab, when Angelo came in, he found Eric snooping.
"What are you doing Eric?" asked Angelo
"What is this place?" asked Eric
"Well, I guess there's no point keeping it a secret any longer, Eric...I'm Red Ryder" said Angelo
Eric only laughed at what Angelo said.
Later, David returned from work, he entered the lab.
"Angelo, any news on Marcella?" asked David
"Nothing, but there is some news on Eric" said Angelo
"What is it?" asked David
"I'm right here" said Eric
David looked to see Eric in the lab near the Ryder Cycle.
"Eric what are you doing here?" asked David
"What is going on here?" asked Eric
"Fine, you might as well know, since you found this place, I'm Red Ryder, the reason I've been absent a lot is because I've been searching for Marcella" said David
"That is so cool" said Eric
"But Eric, you can't tell anyone" said David
"I promise" said Eric
"Thanks" said David
"I take it that Mr Skipper's stay with us will now be indefinite?" asked Angelo
"Yes it is" said David
"You know, if you had a partner in this, you might be able to find Marcella a lot faster" said Eric
"I work alone" said David
"But I can help you" said Eric
"I'm sorry Eric, I can't let you get hurt, last time, you nearly got yourself killed" said David
==Next Week==
David still couldn't find Marcella, during dinner, David noticed Eric drawing something.
"What are you drawing?" asked David
Eric showed David what he was drawing, it was a design for a sidekick costume.
"Look, I'm sorry I said we can't work together, but I can't put you in harm's way" said David
Eric left. Angelo called David into the lab.
"What is it?" asked David
"It's Marcella, the computer was able to find him" said Angelo
"That's great, where?" asked David
"The abandoned theme park near the docks" said Angelo
David got changed into the Ryder suit and hopped in the Ryder-Wing and flew off. What he didn't see was Eric hiding in the lab, when Ryder left, Eric hopped on the Ryder-Cycle and rode off. Within minutes, Ryder arrived at the Theme Park. Ryder snuck near an old building, inside the phone started ringing, Marcella answered it.
"Hello?...Hello?...Who's There?...Ah, forget it" said Marcella
Don Marcella hung up the phone.
"I don't like this, are you guys sure Red Ryder didn't follow you?" asked Marcella
"Nah, you've got nothing to worry about" said one of Marcella's men
Marcella quickly grabbed the man's shirt.
"Don't tell me what I've got to worry about, I'm not back in town 5 minutes and he's already on my tail, you don't know Ryder, he's relentless, he doesn't give up, he's a dark angel of death and he wants ME" said Marcella
"Why you boss?" asked another of Marcella's men
"HOW SHOULD I KNOW?" asked Marcella
Marcella started hearing creaking upstairs.
"What was that?" asked Marcella
"Sounded like rats" said one of Marcella's men
"Yeah, rats" said Marcella
Marcella grabbed a machine gun and rapidly fired it at the ceiling, eventually, he stopped.
"Boss, calm down, you're starting to worry us" said one of Marcella's men
Suddenly, the ceiling crashed and Ryder fell though it.
"Momma" said Marcella, worried
Ryder tried to get up, but he tweaked his knee upon landing.
"What's the matter Red, twist your knee? Looks like you could use some protection right about now" said Marcella
Marcella aimed the gun at Ryder, but couldn't shoot him since he used up all the ammo shooting the ceiling.
"NOOO!" screamed Marcella
Ryder threw a smoke bomb and used it to make his escape. Soon, the smoke cleared.
"What are you deadbeats standing around for? GET HIM!" screamed Marcella
Ryder hid in one of the amusement park's booths, he grabbed a plank of wood and some fabric and used the fabric to tie the plank to his leg to treat the wound.
"Where is he?" asked one of Marcella's men
"Not far, you saw how he was limping...Spread Out" said Marcella
Marcella's men started spreading out, one of them walked past the booth Ryder was hiding in, but when the goon searched it, Ryder was gone, Ryder used his stealth skills to knock the thug out. The second thug searched for Ryder near the merry-go-round, however, using his glue bomb, incapacitated the thug, but not before he called over the third and final goon.
"GET HIM!" screamed the goon.
The third thug started swinging at Ryder with a metal pipe, but Ryder caught the pipe, the 2 started struggling for possession of the pipe, causing the thug to push Ryder into the lever to start the Merry-Go-Round, the music the merry-go-round made alerted Marcella about Ryder's location. Ryder was able to fight off the thug and knock him out.
"Round and round we go, aye Ryder? Ride's over" said Marcella
"NO BOSS! DON'T YOU'LL HIT US" screamed one of Marcella's goons
"Sorry boys" said Marcella
Marcella aimed the machine gun, until he heard a motorcycle, he looked at a poster where the sound was coming from, he saw a motorcycle crash through the poster, he started shooting at the motorcycle, but he missed every shot. The rider rode in Marcella's direction, grabbing him by the collar of his suit, he rode halfway down the docks before letting go of Marcella's suit, before stopping the motorcycle and getting off, revealing the rider, a guy average in height, wearing a tight, dark red T-Shirt, black tights with red streaks down the sides, grey gauntlets, a grey utility belt, black boots, a black Zorro mask and a black hooded cape.
"You're done" said the motorcycle rider
"Eric?" thought Ryder
Marcella reached for the machine gun, but the motorcycle rider kicked it away.
"I don't believe this" said Marcella
"You're through Marcella, forever" said the motorcycle rider
"Is that so?" asked Marcella
Marcella tried to throw a punch, but the motorcycle rider caught it and grabbed Marcella's collar.
"I'm gonna enjoy this" said the motorcycle rider
"Who are you?" asked Marcella
"You can call me 'Copper'" said the motorcycle rider
Copper threw Marcella into a set of crates, before picking him up and throwing him into another set of crates.
"Please stop" said Marcella
"Why? I'm just getting started" said Copper
Copper grabbed Marcella and threw him into the wooden barricade on the docks. Marcella tried to get away, but Copper pulled something out of his back pocket, it was a metal rod, 6 inches in length, Copper pressed a button on it and the rod expanded into a metal Bo staff, 20 inches in length. Copper hit Marcella in the back of the head with the staff, before picking him up and threatening to throw him off the docks.
"Please, don't do it" said Marcella
"I'm gonna end you" said Copper
"STOP! That's enough" said Ryder
"Ryder, call off Copper, he's trying to kill me" said Marcella
"Copper, you can't let your emotions get the better of you" said Ryder
"Stuff your advice Ryder, you and your code of ethics, you don't know how I feel, how could you?" asked Copper
Just then Copper realised that Ryder actually did know how he felt, he remembered that like him, Ryder lost his parents at a young age.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that...I'm sorry" said Copper
Copper looked into Marcella's eyes, but rather than letting him fall, he threw him back onto the docks.
"You're under arrest" said Copper
Later, police arrived to take away Marcella. Ryder and Copper stood near the Ryder-Wing.
"You were right not to bring me, I let my emotions get the better of me" said Copper
"It wasn't that, like I said, I didn't want you to get hurt, actually, how did you even find out this was where he was?" asked Ryder
"I found one of his henchmen's apartments and used a phone tracer to trace the last call he received, it lead me here" said Copper
"So that phone call that Marcella received, it was you?" asked Ryder
"Yeah" said Copper
"Where did you get the suit?" asked Ryder
"I made it by modifying my old acrobat uniform" said Copper
"You did good here" said Ryder
"Thanks" said Copper
"And I bet next time that you'll do better" said Ryder
"Next time?" asked Copper
Ryder extended his hand out for a handshake.
"Partners?" asked Ryder
Copper shook Ryder's hand.
"Partners!" said Copper
That's that, how do like Ryder's new sidekick? Hey, every superhero needs one.
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