Chapter 1:
A Ghostly Attack
Sundown, night had fallen and the stars were twinkling in the sky, the heavens blessing the world with their enchanting lights. A chill wind swept through the desert as a tumbleweed rolled by, rattle snakes slithered around and scorpions hunted for food in the bushes.
Bright and vibrant searchlights danced across the sky and swept the ground while uniformed soldiers stood at ease, their rifles and machine guns ready. Area Eighty-Seven was one of the most fortified military bases the United States ever had, it nearly overshadowed the importance of the legendary Area Fifty-One or even Area Ninety-Nine.
Out here in Sand-Dune Valley, one of the many deserts on the planet, Area Eighty-Seven was where the military safeguarded many secrets and kept many dangerous prisoners here. Ever since the 1950s, Area Eighty-Seven had been active and showed no signs of ever shutting down.
In the years since Area Eighty-Seven was established, no one, not even a dangerous enemy, had ever raided or successfully infiltrated this facility. But tonight, history was about to change.
Long-time military General Col O'Penning, who'd been in service for thirty years, was the man in charge of Area Eighty-Seven, acting as the base's commander. Even at age sixty-eight, O'Penning was still a prime military leader and had no plans to retire, for now.
The general stood atop the watch tower with one of the guards, observing the perimeter surrounding the base, remaining on alert and keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.
And General O'Penning had every right to be on alert, he had heard many rumors over the years, rumors of alien invaders and dangerous supernatural beings on the loose as well as tales of a 'ghostly motorcycle-riding maniac'. While he had doubts, the general had his concerns and was always making sure to be prepared for anything that came his way.
Not far from the base's gates, a band of soldiers patrolled the hillside road leading towards Area Eighty-Seven, machine guns ready and grenades upon their belts.
Usually, all was supposed to be calm at night, but a few nights earlier, it had been reported on the radio that Tor'nado Town had been attacked by a creepy-looking individual riding a motorcycle. And since Tor'nado wasn't far from Area Eighty-Seven, this put the local military garrison on alert on a wait and watch basis, preparing for an inevitable attack.
For now, the night was very calm and peaceful, even the soldiers were remaining calm despite knowing the dangers that may as well be coming soon.
Just then, rumbling motorcycle engines caught the patrolling soldiers' ears and they noticed a moving bright light that shone out of the corner of their eyes. Every soldier along the road snapped to attention and prepared their guns, ready for an inevitable attack. The engines got louder and louder, a motorcycle was approaching at high speed and someone was laughing.
Private Kerinson squinted his eyes as he spotted the motorcycle, trying to see who was riding the bike, until he and the rest of his squad quickly realized the biker was riding towards them at high speed like a maniac. Hell, the biker WAS a speeding hooligan!
The speeding motorcyclist raced closer, not even bothering to hit the brakes. The soldiers raised their guns, pulled the trigger and a flurry of bullets exploded out of the barrels.
Cackling ominously, the biker swerved to avoid the gunshots and a gloved hand drew a lengthy chain. As the soldiers caught a glimpse of the lunatic's face, his attire and most of his appearance, the biker twirled and threw the chain like a lasso. The chain entangled a soldier, who cried out in pained shock and fell over as steam rose into the air.
Every soldier in the vicinity tried to shoot the bike and its rider down, only to miss as that dark leather-clad lunatic of a biker was too fast to be hit and his face was hard to look at.
Out in the desert beyond the hillside, the soldiers guarding Area Eighty-Seven heard the sounds of gunfire, screaming and maniacal cackling carrying across the air. They looked at one another, knowing that the situation sounded bad if an attack was happening right now.
A fiery explosion shook the hillside, indicating that either the soldiers were trying to take down the attacker with grenades or it was the attacker throwing explosives at the soldiers.
Motorcycle engines echoed across the countryside and Area Eighty-Seven's searchlights pointed towards the edge of the perimeter, all eyes were on the direction of the chaos. General O'Penning nodded to his men, knowing they had a base to defend at all costs.
Guns clicked, alarms began wailing and every available soldier mobilized. Soldiers raised their guns, their foreheads sweated and goose-bumps crawled upon their arms.
As if everything had been planned out, a bright light emerged from behind the hillside and raced towards Area Eighty-Seven, motorcycle engines thrumming with intensity as someone let out one of the most terrifying evil laughs the universe had ever heard. Lights swept over the area, shining down upon a motorcycle driven by a black-clad figure with a fiery head.
One soldier handed the observing General O'Penning a pair of binoculars to look through, the seasoned military leader looked through them and focused on the base's incoming guest.
No sooner than he'd taken a good glimpse at the motorcyclist, O'Penning's mouth opened with shock and the general lowered the binoculars. He could not believe his eyes; it was beyond unthinkable. The stories were true, O'Penning should've never doubted them...
"OPEN FIRE, MEN!" A higher-rank soldier yelled, "DON'T LET HIM NEAR OUR BASE!"
With the command given, every soldier on site did as they were told. Gunfire rang out and bullets fired from all directions, aimed at the intimidating motorcycle-riding deviant, who ducked and swerved to evade the guns.
The fiery-headed biker grabbed a pair of chain lassos and roped in several soldiers while dragging one around in one chain despite the man's protests, then the Biker threw several grenades into the vicinity. Explosions shook Area Eighty-Seven, damaging the base's walls and taking out a few spotlights as soldiers scattered and some ended up getting killed or badly hurt.
General O'Penning descended from the watchtower he was on and took cover before the attacker threw a grenade again and the following explosion decimated the watchtower, causing rubble and pieces of the searchlight to fall upon the ground.
Luckily for the general, he managed to survive getting stuck under the falling debris. Soldiers continued firing on the biker, despite it being apparent that the battle was lost.
The unrelenting villain rode past the resistant guards, drove through the ruined gates and made his way through the open entrance of the base with grenades flying, chains twirling and soldiers scattering, getting badly hurt or dying of mortal wounds.
Without a sense of pity, the almost ghostly motorcyclist chain-lassoed a soldier and sent him flying into a wall, knocking him unconscious near a pile of oil canisters. The rider threw a grenade and it struck the canisters before detonating, igniting the oil inside and sparking an explosion that engulfed most of the base along with various soldiers.
Chaos reigned and no soldier stood a chance, the villain was unstoppable. Alarms wailed and a lockdown sequence engaged, more explosions shook Area Eighty-Seven and personnel scattered in fear or confusion.
A guard raced to a phone and barely had time to call for help when a steel chain wrapped around his throat very tightly, his heart pulsed quickly and the biker tightened his grasp.
Then he retracted the chain and the man fell to the ground unconscious as the invader rode onwards, wreaking havoc and proceeding towards the vault, hoping to get his hands on one of Area Eighty-Seven's most treasured possessions.
Outside, O'Penning observed the damage that had been done, knowing that he would soon be reporting the events of tonight to his superiors.
'We can all agree on one thing,' The general thought, 'The media is going to have a field day.'
Just then, motorcycle engines made O'Penning turn around to finally find himself face to face with the skull-faced motorcyclist who'd just attacked Area Eighty-Seven. The general drew his gun, only for it to be tossed aside by a dark-gloved hand. The rider came closer and O'Penning stepped aside to avoid being run over, the villain looked at him and parked his bike for the moment.
"Get on with it already." O'Penning said with a gulp, "Whatever you're about to do, just do it already and be done, you menacing maniac."
The biker's eyes seemed to gleam with darkness and a glowing red ghostly aura surrounded him, he didn't cast his chain or throw a grenade at the general, the entity made no killing moves. Instead, he raised a hand and moved it in a beckoning gesture.
As if hypnotized, O'Penning approached the dark-clad villain even as his heart pounded with terror. He moved closer towards The Biker, dreading what was probably about to happen.
When the general was close enough, the biker grabbed him by the sides of his head and pulled him a bit closer. The flaming-headed motorcyclist's eyes glowed a swirling red color as his aura glowed brighter, then the biker opened his mouth and spoke the words in a chilling voice that O'Penning would never forget for all eternity; "Look into my eyes..."
O'Penning felt his body and his now-swirling brown-grey eyes become heavy as The Biker's hypnotizing stare took hold, a sense of dizziness overcame him and the general passed out.
Having lost consciousness, but not his life, O'Penning fell to the ground and lay there for a while. It took some time, but when he finally regained consciousness, the creep was gone. The general rose to his feet and dusted off his uniform, he could remember the events that had happened, but the last few minutes before he fainted felt a bit blurry and faint.
A horn beeped and a military van arrived, soldiers filed out and began to secure the area, weapons fully loaded. One soldier ran up and asked the general if he was ok, another was asking intense questions about the situation that had just happened.
"For years, we thought it was just a legend." The general said, "We were wrong."
"Wrong about what, sir?" A medic asked.
O'Penning hesitated. But after much consideration, he declared, "There's no beating around the bush, our visitor was The Ghost Biker." Soldiers looked at each other with dread and confusion, clouds gathered in the sky above and thunder rumbled ominously as wolves howled in the distance while many listened to the distant sound of the Ghost Biker's cackle...
Sonic the Hedgehog & Scooby Doo: The Case of The Terrifying Ghost Biker
