Chapter 2: The Call to Arms

"Alrighty, my new friends. What kind of secrets are you hiding?" Wrench said as he plugged a couple of cables into the hard drives that he had "borrowed without permission" into his computer. He cracked his fingers, ready for the challenges that came his way in his grand task of decrypting. A screen then popped up asking for a password.

"A password, huh?" Wrench questioned. "Well, don't you worry your pretty little casings off. Uncle Wrench will have this down in just a couple of minutes." He remarked as he began type into his program that will help decrypt any kind of software. But in a manner of seconds, the program had found what the password was…And Wrench's eyes were just dots to convey the disbelief that he had when he saw what the password was. "…Just 'Password'? Seriously?" He asked in doubt. He shrugged as he plugged the password in, and now he was free to see the contents of the hard drives.

The first thing that he saw was designs for some kinds of weapons with the Nugent Technologies logo on them. Wrench then kept digging deeper and deeper into the contents of the hard drives. And with everything that he saw, he became more and more shocked at what he was seeing. And once he was finished, he was utterly horrified.

"…Oh, holy shit." Wrench muttered to himself. He then reached for his phone as he realized that he needed to make some calls.

(X)

"Hello?" Jake asked in a groggy voice.

"What's your favorite scary movie?" The voice on the other end of the phone asked. Jake almost recognized it immediately.

"Wrench?" Jake questioned. "What kind of opening line is that?" Jake could hear Wrench groan on the other end.

"Scream? 1996? Wes Craven? That ring a bell for you." Wrench inquired. The moment that the masked man said the movie title, Jake immediately remembered the line in the movie.

"Right, sorry. Just still trying to wake up." Jake explained. That's when he had a sudden realization. "Wait, how do you have my phone number? I never gave it to you."

"I found one of your flyers." Wrench quickly blurted out. "Also, DJ Jumpy Jake? That's-"

"I know, it's a shit name. Blame Kerry, not me."

"Right."

"What's up? Why are you calling me so early?" Jake asked.

"It's about last night, you know how I took those hard-"

"Wait…So, you're telling me that wasn't a crazy dream that I had last night?" Jake had asked.

"Sorry to have to tell you this, but no." Wrench had replied. Jake took a second to process that thought.

"So you are telling me that I did transform into some kind of biker superhero that is bulletproof and I also defeated a Cobra Man with a kick that made him explode?"

"Yup."

"…Oh god." Jake muttered as he looked around his room and saw the belt that caused him to transform lying on his desk. "Okay, I need a quick second to process that."

"Should we talk in person, that gives you some time to figure it out." Wrench asked. Jake let out a sigh.

"Sure, why not?" He remarked. "Where should we meet? Something tells me that you don't want to meet in a coffee shop."

"I'll text you an address. And I'll text the others as well."

"How did you get their numbers?" Jake asked.

"Oh, I hacked their phones." Wrench said in a relaxed tone.

"That's coo-…Wait, what?" Jake quickly questioned.

"See you soon! Bye! And bring that belt thingy!" Wrench hastily said as he hung up the phone. Jake looked at his phone and couldn't help but have a confused look on his face at the previous two minutes. As Jake put his phone down, he closed his eyes and was ready to fall back asleep…Only for his alarm clock to start ringing. Annoyed, he quickly slammed his hand down on the top of it. The ringing stopped immediately, due to the reason that he had accidently destroyed it thanks to the slap. That was his sign that he should get out of his bed.

After he took a quick shower and brushed his teeth, he began digging through his closet trying to find a good-looking outfit to wear. He took a quick glance over at his mirror and was shocked by what he was say staring back at him. It was him but…He was jacked. Nowhere near Captain America or Thor jacked by he had clearly defined muscles, which shocked him as just yesterday he always considered himself on the side of having an average body.

"Whoa." He remarked as the image hit him. That's when he realized that his mom or his brother can't see him, otherwise they would get suspicious. He quickly threw on a large t-shirt with a Captain America logo on it, a black hoodie, and a pair of blue jeans. That quickly was able to hide his musculature, which made his feel a wave of relief. He put the belt-like device into his backpack, then he put on some high-tops and made sure his short black hair was well kept and he made his way downstairs. He was about to head out the door, but he was stopped when a voice suddenly called out to him.

"You're up early." Naomi remarked as she was walking towards the living room with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Yeah, I had plans to meet up with some friends today." Jake commented.

"This early?" Naomi asked as she sat down and turned on the tv.

"Doc Samson said that it's good for me to get out there and talk to people. Are you really going to question the orders of my psychiatrist?"

"No, I just-…What the hell?" She said as she paid attention to the news story that was playing. Jake looked at the tv screen as well and his eyebrows raised as he recognized the place where the news story took place. It was the construction site from last night. Naomi turned up the volume to better hear what was going on.

"-I'm here at the site where police were called to investigate a scene where people called to inform them that multiple vans were set ablaze. Arson Investigators are trying their hardest to determine what went down, but police also received reports that gunshots and explosion occurred before the fires. We comment more as the story occurs. I'm Dakota North for WHiH 7 News."

"What is going on out there?" Naomi asked to herself as she turned to look at her son. "Be careful out there, will you?" She asked. Jake turned to her and gave her a small nod. Without exchanging another word, he exited the house and began walking down the front steps.

"I made the news…" Jake whispered to himself. He went to go grab his bike...Until he remembered that it got destroyed yesterday. He looked at the address that Wrench texted him and punched it into his gps app. 45-minute walk. "Ah shit." Seeing no better choice, he put in his earphones, started playing Gone by Chiiild and began walking.

(X)

45 minutes later and Jake had finally reached his destination. And surprisingly enough, he was tired in the slightest. He wasn't even sweating or winded. He chalked it up to his new physicality.

"Look who finally showed up." Kerry commented as her, Sarah, and Marcus were already waiting for him in front of a garage door. Jake raised his hands to try and stop her from going on.

"Hey, my bike got wrecked yesterday and I had to walk 45 minutes. So keep it gentle with me, okay?"

"'Keep it gentle.' Says the guy who caused a Cobra man to explode with a kick." Kerry joked, much to Jake's chagrin.

"You may want to keep your tone down. We don't want people hearing about this." Sarah suggested.

"I'm assuming that you all say the news report?" Jake asked.

"Yeah. But I don't remember us setting fire to any vans." Marcus said. "Maybe a clean-up crew by whoever sent to those guys?"

"I don't like the sound of that." Jake commented.

"Why not? Afraid they might come after you?" Kerry joked as she tried to act menacing. But she could see that Jake really wasn't having as much fun as her and she quickly stopped. There was a couple of tense seconds between the four before the garage door suddenly opened and Wrench spread his arms wide open to show his welcoming side as his mask showed that his eyes were closed.

"Welcome to Casa de Wrench! Please keep your shoes, don't take anything that doesn't belong to you, refrain from taking any videos or photos as I don't want the NSA finding out where I live/work/relax/do some not so legal stuff. But do not tell anyone that I said that last part, okay? Okay." He then proceeded to walk back his workplace with the gang hesitantly followed after him. Once inside, they got a better look at the place.

It was a former garage with a second story composed mainly of cat walks and an office. It is clear that the ground floor is were Wrench spent most of his time. In one corner of the former garage is desk with a couple of computers. Next to it was a rather old looking couch sitting in front of a bunch of televisions, a good portion of the older looking ones were displaying digital skulls in different colors. Wrench's van was parked in the back of the garage, next to a variety of different toolboxes full of tools. There was a workbench filled with broken parts and half-finished experiments that looked more than capable of blowing something up. It was also next to large piece of machinery that Marcus instantly recognized.

"Is that an industrial 3D printer?" Marcus asked. Wrench gladly strolled over and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"The very wonders of technology my friend." He remarked.

"How can you afford such a thing?" Marcus questioned. Wrench's mask showed that he was currently looked away, almost as if he was trying to avoid answering the question. Marcus gave him a look and crossed his arms. "Did you steal this?" Wrench looked back at him with a rather shocked look on his mask.

"What? No!" He quickly rebutted. But he could tell that Marcus was not buying that. "Okay, so maybe the previous owners were blipped when I came across it. But that doesn't mean I stole it, I'm just…borrowing the shit out of it."

"Really?" Kerry asked. "That's what you're calling it? Also, how did you get our numbers? What's going on and why did you call us?" Wrench shook his head and quickly rushed over to his computer station.

"Okay, the first two questions are not important right now. What's important is what happened last night. So, you remember how we got ambushed by guys with guns?"

"I remember that very clearly. Had much trouble sleeping last night." Sarah admitted with a rate sheepish look on her face and what looked like tears beginning to pool in her eyes. "I thought we were going to die last night."

"We were. Until Jake saved us." Wrench said as he pointed to Jake. "Last night, he became a hero. And he's going to have to do it again." Everyone suddenly perked their ears as Wrench finished his statement.

"Wait, what?" Jake asked.

"Alright. So last night, those vans were not just carrying men. They were carrying hard drives. I figured they were there to dump those drives to get rid of what was contained in them."

"What was on them?" Marcus questioned.

"Pandora's Box." Wrench quickly answered. "You know that new start-up tech company? Nugent. They have a whole list of dirty little secrets. On those drives were a bunch of blueprints for weapons. And when I'm talking about weapons, I'm talking about the kind that could very well destroy this city. Or hell, even take over the country."

"You can't be serious." Jake commented. "I mean, I've seen their commercials. They're all about trying to bring jobs to America, the CEO is kissing babies, and all the other kinds of stuff that makes them seem like a happy company."

"Congratulations, you just got your first experience with propaganda." Wrench jokingly said, while his mask eyes' gave Jake a side eye look. "I usually tend to joke around, but I'm not joking here. And making more than just weapons. They're making more of those monsters like that Cobra Guy we met last night." Hearing that, Kerry stood up and raise her hands.

"That's it. I'm done listening to this clown." She said. "I mean, ever since we got here, you have done nothing but messed with us. Talking about Monster People, you are out of your mind!" Saying nothing, Wrench turned one of his computers around and on it was a blueprint of a Wolf/Man hybrid with a chainsaw arm. He then scrolled down to another blueprint of a what looked like a Hippopotamus/Man hybrid. Then there was another one of a Butterfly/Woman hybrid and so on and so on.

"Do you believe me now?" Wrench asked. The group was quiet, but they knew that what the masked mechanic was saying did actually make sense. "Thanks."

"What's Shocker?" Jake questioned. The group turned to him in confusion. He pointed to the bottom right corner of the screen where there was a logo of an eagle grabbing onto the world. "Shocker. It says right there."

"How did I miss that?" Wrench asked himself. Kerry quickly pulled out her phone and tried finding what she could on the internet.

"Alright, there was a guy who went by that name and was taken down by Spider-Man, it's apparently a sex move, and…a terrorist group that originated in Japan that also had ties to the Third Reich…" She read out very slowly.

"…Yeah, I'm going to take these guys down." Jake suddenly said, much to the surprise of the group. He then reached into his bag and took out the belt.

"Just like that?" Marcus asked. Jake looked back at him.

"If these guys really have ties to Nazis, then I have no qualms taking them down and burning their reputation to the ground." Jake responded. "Besides, the world needs more heroes." Marcus was about to retort, but then Wrench suddenly jumped in with exclamation points for eyes.

"Hell yeah, man! The barbarians are at the gate and ready to bust some Roman heads." He excitedly said.

"That's the spirit. Okay, let's get the appropriate attire on." Jake commented as he put the belt on his waist again. "And…Transform!" Jake shouted to try and activate it…But nothing happened. Jake shifted his position and once again mentally hyped himself up. "Transform!" He shouted again, and again, nothing happened. The group stared at him waiting for something to happen.

"Maybe you're saying it wrong?" Marcus suggested. Jake looked at him with a confused expression on his face.

"I don't know, how would I go about saying it a different way?" He asked. Kerry shrugged her shoulders.

"Try it in a different language maybe? Maybe German or Russian?" She proposed. That's when Jake remember something about the previous night. A detail that he overlooked with all the excitement and danger that happened. Something that the Cobra Man called him.

"…Kamen Rider…" He muttered under his breath. "Kamen…" Jake then took a deep breath focused his concentration as the group once again looked at him. "…Henshin!" Jake shouted. And with that, the device started humming to life and once again changed Jake's appearance to what it was last night, and he was fully suited up. The group took a step back as they were shocked by what they just saw. Except for one.

"Hell yeah man!" Wrench shouted, his masks' eyes now exclamation points, as he walked up to Jake. "That's some shit out an anime, dude! And you look sick!" The group then started to try and match his excitement. Jake chuckled a small bit.

"You really think so?" He asked. Wrench shook his head.

"Yeah! Though, I think the suit could use an upgrade. It's retro, but I don't think that it will hold up in a fight." Wrench commented. Sarah looked at him with a confused look on her face.

"You think that you are able to do such a thing?" She asked. He turned to look at her, with a look on his mask that could only be described as 'You seriously just asked that question?'

"Oh yeah, I can certainly do it. And come up for if you need any gadgets or weapons that you could think of." The masked mechanic commented, which got Jakes' attention.

"Seriously?"

"Yup! But that is a conversation for another day. Now, we have to come up with your superhero name as it is a vital part of any soon to be hero. I propose that your superhero name should be…The Masked Hero of Justice!"

"That's the best you could up with?" Kerry asked. Wrench looked at her with a rather annoyed looked.

"Okay, it wasn't the best thing that I could have come up with. But I mean, look at the costume. What would you suggest, Grasshopper-Man?" He question. Kerry shrugged her shoulders.

"There is a Spider-Man. And an Ant-Man and a Wasp, right?" She pointed out. "I think it could-"

"Kamen Rider." Jake suddenly said. The group gave him a skeptical look. "Last night, that Cobra guy, can't believe that I actually said that out loud, called me the Kamen Rider. I think that could be a pretty cool superhero name."

"What does Kamen even mean?" Sarah asked. Jake was about to answer, but Wrench quickly stepped in.

"It means Masked in Japanese. Sailor Moon taught me that one." As Wrench was explaining that, he had a sudden realization. "Hold on. He said that they had intel saying that you died. You aren't like a ghost or something?"

"Oh yeah, I'm actually been a ghost the entire time. Boo." Jake jokingly remarked.

"Haha, very funny." Wrench replied in a dry tone.

"So there was another guy that had that name before you?" Marcus questioned. Jake was a bit speechless when that question was asked. He shrugged his shoulders in response.

"I guess? But, I've never heard of him before." Jake then looked to Kerry. "Can you try to find something about him?" She nodded.

"I can try to. On one condition." Kerry added. "If we really are going to do this, then we need to let the public know that we're on their side. I say the best way to do that, is with social media."

"Are you seriously suggesting that we create an Instagram page for Jake?" Sarah asked. Kerry smirked in response.

"Totally. And I will be in charge of the entire thing." She commented. "In fact, I can see the headlines now. 'Meet the newest hero who is also a social media star.' Something along those lines to try and get views." Sarah was about to object, but Jake quickly cut in.

"That's not a bad idea." He commented. "And maybe we can use that to help get evidence on who Nugent Technologies really is." He then looked to Marcus and Sarah. "Are you guys in? You can say no if you want to. I would understand." The two looked at each other with a sense of determination. They both nodded and turned back to look at Jake.

"Last night, I was terrified." Sarah remarked. "I thought we were all going to die. That our families wouldn't see us ever again and we would be buried in unmarked graves. Then you showed up. And when you did, I was filled with a mixture of shock, confusion, and hope. If we're able to give everyone that same feeling as well, then I would know that we are doing the right thing. So count me in. Plus, you probably are going to get hurt a couple of times. Luck for you, I'm a med student." She then smirked.

"And you've been my bro since we were kids. You know I got your back." Marcus responded. Jake nodded in response.

"Thanks man."

"No problem. And you know how you said something about your bike getting smashed? I'm sure I can get you a new one to you soon if you want."

"Seriously?" Jake questioned.

"Yeah. And luck for you, I do work on bikes as a side job. So, you're in safe hands." Marcus said. Kerry then looked to Wrench.

"And what will you be doing?" She asked. Wrench then scoffed at her.

"Pretty much everything concerning tech. I know computers, have a 3-D printer that can make anything I want, can make upgrades to the suit, I'm also an excellent hacker, and you can also consider me the demolitions expert on the team." He remarked. "Unless, anybody else wants the role." Wrench said with question marks for eyes. Jake let out a small chuckle.

"Nah, man. That's all you." He said as he patted Wrench on the back.

"Alrighty, so we're officially a team now! So, when exactly do you we get a cute cuddly mascot that kids will want plush toys of for Christmas? My best guess is when we get a sequel movie for when we sell our film rights." Wrench jokingly asked.

"What are you talking about?" Jake asked Wrench. The eyes of the mechanic switched to question marks, then to those that looked rather sad. "Obviously we have to add the cute cuddly mascot for when we get a Saturday morning cartoon that not only depicts the wacky adventures we get up to not only in our superhero lives, but also in our regular lives as well."

"Good point." Wrench said. "I forgot about the Saturday morning cartoon. We also need to figure out our toy line. Think we are able to get electronics into the toys?"

"I'm not too sure, but we also need to make multiple variants of suits. You know, so that way we can drive up toys sales as well as create a sense of collectability." Jake commented.

"Oh yeah, that will certainly get our name out there in a big way. But the only way that we'll know that we truly made it to the big leagues…We need to get you on a commemorative lunch box." The group let out a small laugh at that comment. "Wh-…Why's everyone laughing?" Wrench asked.

(X)

Nugent Technologies Staten Island Headquarters

Jason Quantrell, former CEO of Cortex Inc., and now CEO of Nugent Technologies looked at the approval ratings for their newest project. While pretty recent, many people seemed to be approving of their newest group, which should be great news for his board of directors…And his other bosses. As he was reading the data, he got a knocked on his door. He set down his datapad as he slicked his brown hair back.

"Come in." He said as he put on his iconic, charming smile as a lab technician came in.

"Is now a bad time, sir?" The technician had asked.

"Not at all, just going over some figures. I assume that this is about our next manufactured crisis?" Quantrell questioned. The technician nodded in response.

"Yes, we do have a prototype and a backstory that we believe that a good majority of the populace will believe in." The technician began to explain. Quantrell had an eager smile on his face. He could already see the potential this would do for the project.

"Can I see it?" He questioned. The technician responded by talking into an ear piece.

"Send up project J3-F7." He said. As if on cue, the hidden elevator opened as Quantrell could hear the platform slowly moving upwards. Spotlights on the sides of the platform showed the outline of the creature's body. A dorsal fin was on its back, a tail swung back and forth in anticipation, and Quantrell could hear a low grumbling coming from the creature. To say that he could see dollar signs would be a complete understatement.

"So what exactly is the back story?" Quantrell asked. The technician looked at his datapad and read what the team had come up with.

"Due to humanity's heavy pollution, some nuclear waste spilled out into the seas." He began to read aloud as the creature was nearly in the office. "When a school of Great White Sharks came into contact with this waste, it heavily mutated them into something even more dangerous. Whether in the sea or on land, no creature is safe form these deadly creatures. They are no longer sharks as they are now, noticeable pause for dramatic effect, The Landsharks." As if on cue, the elevator finally reached its destination and the Landshark prototype was in full view of Quantrell and he…was confused.

"Is…Is this some kind of joke?" As he looked at the creature. The spotlights made the creature seem more feral but seeing it in person was a completely different experience. The Landshark couldn't have been more than 15 inches tall with a length of 22 inches. And it almost looked like the Landshark was smiling, not a devious smile but a genuine smile as if it was happy to see the two of them. The technician quickly tried to explain himself.

"We tried our best to combine shark DNA with the DNA of canine breeds. The majority of them were unsuccessful, except for this one which was based on the Boston Terrier." He explained as J3-F7 walked over to Quantrell and started to smell him.

"And how much did this cost?" Quantrell asked as he pinched the bridge of his nose. The technician was about to answer, but his boss stopped him. "Actually, I don't want to know. Can we do robots or something like that instead? Or what about the Combatmen? We have plenty of them going around." The technician just nodded along with every word his supervisor said, not wanting to be fired and/or killed.

"I will let the team know, but what should we do with the Landshark?" He had asked as Quantrell looked to the creature, who looked back at him with no clue on what is going on.

"Put it with the other rejects in Warehouse AV-69, no one will miss it." He demanded. The technician nodded solemnly and picked up J3-F7. J3-F7 made a sound that indicated it wanted to be put down, but its multiple pleas went unheard as the technician stepped onto the platform and the elevator descended downwards. The cries of J3-F7 could be heard as the hatch closed. Quantrell let out a sigh as he sat back down into his seat, wondering how he could even explain where the money went for this failure of a project.

"How terrible it must be to be you." A new voice remarked. Quantrell didn't even need to turn around to know who exactly spoke up.

"Not now Richmond." He said as Nighthawk walked to the front of Quantrell's desk to face him, and in doing so removing his mask. Gray hairs could be seen amongst his natural black hair, his blue eyes told a story of hardship and pain, which matches up with the scar running down his right eyebrow all the way down to his cheek.

"I received some troubling new, and I thought you should hear it." Kyle Richmond said as he took a set opposite of Quantrell. The Executive shook his head at that statement.

"I swear if this somehow turns into a story about how you and Zarda hooked up, I will-"

"We lost contact with Kobra last night." Nighthawk quickly stated. Quantrell face shifted into one of disbelief.

"You're kidding right?" He asked. Nighthawk shook his head in response.

"He didn't make contact with this morning. And you know how he always informs us of what he has accomplish. And you know how I'm a pessimist when it comes to these kinds of situations, but I wanted to run this by you before I reported it to the overseers." Nighthawk explained. Quantrell scoffed in disbelief by what he heard. Then a sudden thought came to his mind.

"You don't think it was -"

"The Rider? Is that seriously where your mind went?" Nighthawk asked. It was his turn to scoff at the idea. "You know that he hasn't been seen since the 80's. It's been 40 years. He's more than likely dead."

"Then what do you think happened to Kobra then?" Quantrell questioned.

"My best guess is that he probably kidnapped. The Squadron has been tracking a new group that has tech we never seen before. The most advanced shit you have ever seen. We beat a couple of their lackeys and gave them to the police, but all we got out of them was just the name of the group. And given the fact that it's an acronym, our best theory is that it's a rogue S.H.I.E.L.D. cell." Nighthawk explained. Quantrell raised an eyebrow at that idea.

"Really? What's it called?" He asked.

"W.H.I.S.P.E.R. No idea what it means, but I'll keep chasing leads to see if anything comes up."

"And if it is the Rider? What then?"

"If it is that ridiculous idea, I'll convince the rest of the Squadron that he's our enemy and we should take him down." That's when Nighthawk stood up and put his mask back on. "Then when he's beaten and bloodied, lying on the floor wishing for some kind of help or some kind of last-minute energy…That's when I'll slit his throat and watch the life drain from his eyes." He began to walk to the window to exit the building.

"I would hate to be him." Quantrell remarked as he stood up. "I'll get in touch with the overseers and let them know about this development. And I'll also let the rest of our agents know about this as well and help hunt down whoever did this. If they fail, hopefully you and the Squadron can find the son of a bitch that did this and put him down before anymore chaos comes our way." And it was with that remark, that Quantrell gave a salute. "Glory to Shocker." Nighthawk turned to look at him before he leapt out the window, and he did the same salute.

"Glory to Shocker."

Hello and welcome back to the story! Sorry that I haven't updated this story in a long time. But that is not without a good reason. The main reason why I haven't uploaded anything in a long time is because... I just graduated college. That's right I somehow managed to do it! When I began writing, I was a sophomore. Now, I'm now moving on to a new part of my life in trying to find a job. And while that is something that has taken a good portion of my time since I graduated. But I have been doing some writing when I had some free time. And trust me when I say that I have some big things planned for this story. And in some future chapters, expect some big tier characters showing up. So thank you for being patient and I promise to have new chapters uploaded sooner, rather than later. With that out of the way...

Next Time: It's time for Jake to test out his new abilities in a training montage. But will he be ready for when he has to face his first true challenge and he has to prove he's there to help the public. How will the Squadron Supreme react to some new competition? How will a grumpy host of a web show react to the new hero on the scene? And what kind of upgrades will Wrench make to the suit? Find out next time!