91. The Ballad of Ryker

Zachlor16: So quick thing. There is no Society of Defenders nor will there be. Maria does not know her kids are Armor and Surge. Roberto Sr. was not a meta human. The meta gene is a recessive gene in people's DNA that can possibly be passed down. It activates when there is extreme stress. Also Ronnie Anne and Bobby got their powers from the side-effects of the potions Lisa made to turn them back from Berserker and Ronzilla. That is all.

Several cars were lined up behind a police barricade as many people gathered around to hear several explosions coming from the distance. Several civilians pulled out their phones to try to take pictures of the explosions in the distance. "Everyone please stay back!" Haggar ordered. "Don't go over the barricade." Another explosion is heard causing the cops to look back. "Sounds like the L-Crew have their hands full at the shipyard."

"Are you sure we shouldn't help them?" A cop asked and Haggar shook his head.

"Speed Queen said that they'd handle it." Haggar said. "She just wants up to keep the civilians safe." Nearby leaning against a building stood a man dressed in cowboy garb with a cigar in hand. He heard the explosions in the distance and sighed. He took one last puff of his cigar before putting it out. Then then proceeded to walk past the barricade ignoring the cops calling him back.

At the shipyard it was utter chaos as the place was crawling with Jestorbots with the L-Crew barely holding them off. Speed Queen ran around the perimeter slamming the Jestorbots into each other before grabbing another and smashing it to the ground. Armor coated on steel punched his fist through a bot before ripping another in half. Petty smashed several of the Jestorbots with his fist while several hung onto his shoulders.

Crystal Princess is shooting down Jesterbots with crystal shards, when Jestorbots open fire on Crystal Princess, but she creates a Crystal shield blocking the shots. Surge flies through the air and shoots energy blasts at the Jesterbots. "I really hate Jesterbots!" Surge said.

"Yeah I know!" Amplifier said as she gave a Jesterbot a round house kick.

"Anyone feel like Jestor might have too much time on his hands?" Ms. Appear asked as she threw forcefield darts at three of the Jestorbots.

"Well he's a robot so it's not like he has anything else to do." Wildgirl points out before going rhino and plowing through several Jestorbots. Tongri then jumps off of a crate and slashed at a Jestorbot before running off to help Petty.

"That's true." Firecracker said as blasted a Jestorbot out of the sky. "But he has that sidekick. Leonard Miller."

"Even the machines near a sidekick." Parkour said as she ripped a Jestorbot in half.

Ms. Appear forms a forcefield around herself as Jestorbots are shooting at her. Black Ice shot an ice beam at the Jestorbots shooting at Ms. Appear. "That was Ice of you!" Ms. Appear laughed.

"Must you make puns?" Black Ice asked.

"I thought it was funny." Multiple Girl said as she and her clones destroyed several Jestorbots. Genarocker slashes two Jestorbots in half with her saw.

"I thought it could use work." She said.

"Put that aside for later!" Prodigy shouted as she threw two Jestorbots at a wall with her telekinesis.

Greenthumb summoned two stalks and they slam two Jestorbots into the ground.

"Guys focus!" Speed Queen commands. "I still can't believe we walked into a trap!"

"Well it was Firecracker and Parkour's fault!" Crystal Princess shouted as she slashed a Jestorbot with her crystal sword. "If they had been paying attention when they walked in we wouldn't have been ambushed!"

"Ain't our fault!" Parkour retorted as she punched a bot.

"Yeah you and Wildgirl were arguing the whole way here!" Firecracker argued.

"Don't blame the twins!" Wildgirl shouted in panther form as she slashed slashed a Jestorbot in the air.

"Yeah!" Crystal Princess shouted as she shot down three bots with crystal shards.

"Guys knock it off!" Speed Queen ordered. However a Jestorbot blasts Speed Queen while she was distracted by the arguing which knocked her off her feet. "Literally?" She sees the Jestorbot floating above her ready to finish her when suddenly the Jestorbot is then suddenly shot by several bullets. "What?" She looks around and sees a man standing several feet away in a cowboy outfit holding a revolver up which she saw was smoking at the end. The rest of the L-Crew stopped fighting and saw the stranger new person.

"Who the hell is that guy?" Surge asked.

"No idea." Genarocker replied.

The Jestorbots began to fly over to the cowboy. The cowboy began to shoot down the Jestorbots and dodges the crash landing towards him. Then he runs away from the incoming Jestorbots. Then the cowboy shoots a bullet which bounces off some containers and hits a crane switch which drops a huge metal crate on the Jestorbots.

Then the cowboy begins to reload his revolvers until six more Jestorbots fly over the metal crate and begin to shoot at the cowboy. The cowboy dodged the shots and sees that he only reloaded one of his guns.

"Six bullets will do." He sighed and aimed his gun at the six Jestorbots and shot them all down with six bullets.

Once the Jestorbots were defeated the L-Crew's jaws dropped. The cowboy then approached Speed Queen and held out a hand. Speed Queen hesitates but accepted it, allowing him to help her to her feet.

"Thanks." Speed Queen said as she was joined by the rest of her team.

"Don't mention it ma'am." The man said with a tip of his hat before turning around and walking away.

"Wait hold on!" Speed Queen shouted before speeding in front of him. "Where are you going?"

"Anywhere but here." The man said as he again tried to walk away again. However this time he's stopped by Firecracker who flew around and landed in front of him.

"After what you just did you're just gonna walk away like it's no big deal?" Firecracker questions.

"Pretty much." The man said as he again tries to walk around him only this time he's stopped by Black Ice who just appeared in front of him.

"Who are you?" Black Ice asked. "I don't think I've seen you before." The rest of the team walk up to join her.

"My name is Ryker. I'm sort of new around this town. Now if you excuse me, I have to make my leave." The man said as he continued to walk away.

Suddenly, Amplifier teleported in front of him. "C'mon dude really?" She said. "You're just gonna walk away from us after all that?"

"Trying to." Ryker said with an annoyed tone as he once again tried to walk away only for the twins to grab his legs.

"Why don't you stick around mister?" Wildgirl said.

"Yeah don't you want to know who we are?" Crystal Princess added. Ryker let's out a sigh.

"I honestly don't but you kids aren't gonna let me walk away are you?" Ryker said with irritation in his voice.

"Not likely cowboy." Ms. Appear replied.

"Look here metal mouth. I have better things to do other than learning your names and chatting you. Now I'm gonna leave!" Ryker said and began to make his leave.

"Oh yeah sure." Parkour said with roll of her eyes. "What's so important that you don't want to hang out with us?"

"Finding my way home to my time." Ryker called back.

"Wait you're actually a cowboy?" Armor asked excitedly.

"That's right. I was minding my own business, the next thing I know, A bright light brought me here in this time!" Ryker said.

"Maybe we can help you find your way back home?" Surge suggested.

"Forget it little lady. This is my problem and I'm gonna fix it!" Ryker said.

Prodigy then levitates in front of him to where she's looking Ryker in the eye. "Excuse me Mr. Ryker. I happen to be a genius with several PhDs." She told him. "I might be able to help you."

"Ph-what?" Ryker questions. "That supposed to mean something?"

"It should." Surge said. "We're offering to help you pal! You sometimes need to accept help from other people!"

"Well I'm not gonna let a freak show help me. You kids run along, and go back to your parents and stay out of my problem!" Ryker said he then proceeded to push Prodigy out of the way and continued to walk away until a crystal wall pops up in front of him. "You don't take no for an answer do you?"

"Sorry but no." Multiple Girl said. "Please just hear us out." Ryker thinks about it and sighs.

"Since I don't seem to be getting anywhere because you won't let me leave, I guess I have no choice." Ryker said. The L-Crew exchanged victory smirks before turning back to Ryker.

"Good. Let's head back to base." Speed Queen said.

When the L-Crew and Ryker got back to base they were immediately greeted by Soothsayer.

"Ah welcome back children." The wizard greeted. He then noticed Ryker. "A new friend I see. Greetings friend."

"Howdy old timer." Ryker greeted with a tip of his hat. They all head inside where they saw Clyde at the computer and the pets and Mr. Cuddles going through another pile of metal.

"You guys find anything good?" Mr. Cuddles asked.

"Nope." Charles replied. "This metal sucks!"

"Alright everyone look alive!" Lori ordered before turning to Ryker. "Time for a proper introduction. I'm Lori. These are my sisters Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lana, Lola, Lisa and Lily and that's my little brother Lincoln." Ryker blinked in shock but quickly recovered.

"Eleven kids?" Ryker said. "Your parents never heard of protection?"

"Hey you're from the Wild West times where 'protection' wasn't even invented yet." Lincoln pointed out.

"Good point kid." Ryker said.

"My name is Bobby Santiago and this is my little sister Ronnie Anne." Bobby introduced himself and Ronnie Anne.

"And I'm Sam Sharp." Sam introduced.

"I have a question. Has a part of your hair been blue or something?" Ryker asked.

"I dyed it." Sam said. However Ryker still seemed confused. "It's where you turn your hair into a different color."

"Gotcha." Ryker said even though he still didn't understand.

"We're the Loud pets." Charles said. "I'm Charles. The cat is Cliff, the bird is Walt, the hamster is Geo, the frog is Hops, and the bat is Fangs."

"How can you talk?" Ryker asked.

"Long story." Cliff replied.

"I'm Clyde." Clyde said. "I'm the computer guy."

"I am Soothsayer." Soothsayer said. "Like yourself I'm also from a different time."

"Name's Mr. Cuddles." Mr. Cuddles greeted. "The big guy is Luna's son Petty and the tiger is Tongri." Ryker looked from Petty to Luna then back again before looking at Mr. Cuddles and Tongri.

"I have questions." Ryker said.

"Our great grandma Harriet brought to life with magic, he turned evil, but he came back and became good. As for Petty, he was created from a sample of another monster named Rubbor. Tongri was a servant of a dark wizard that was Soothsayer's student." Lincoln explained.

"Got it." Ryker said.

"I'm also a lawyer and inventor of the L-Crew." Mr. Cuddles explained.

"Alright." Ryker said irritabily. "Now you dragged me here to talk so let's talk or am I wasting my time?"

"We just need some answers." Lisa said.

"Like what?" Ryker asked.

"For starters how did you get to our present?" Lisa asked.

"Saw a blue light, went up to it, walked through it and ended up here." Ryker said.

"Hmm interesting." Lisa replied.

"So he time traveled through a portal?" Lynn asked.

"Most likely a rift in time." Soothsayer said. "Most likely created because an influx in time when Lyle came here from the future. When he left it caused a small rift in time to open in a random time period. Most likely the time that Ryker is from."

"In simplified terms, we broke time." Lisa said.

"Ok now it makes sense." said Lincoln.

Lori let's out a sigh and pulls out a notebook. She then scribbled something on it. "What's that you got there?" Leni asked.

"A list of stuff that I thought we couldn't break." Lori said. "I just crossed time off. Can't believe we actually broke time. Well future us did but you get the point. Anyways, Ryker how long have you been here?"

"Few days." Ryker said as he sat on the couch. Ronnie and Bobby then gasp.

"A few days?" Ronnie exclaimed. "Uncle Carlos was almost robbed a few days ago but some dude dressed as a cowboy saved him. You saved our uncle!"

"That guy was your uncle?" Ryker scoffed.

"Yeah and you saved him so we owe you one." Bobby said. Ryker scoffed.

"Not interested." He said.

"But you saved a member of my family." Ronnie Anne said.

"I'm not your helper. I'm not gonna help you move a piano or something." Ryker said.

"Ryker why won't you let us help you?" Lori asked. "You can't do this by yourself."

"I don't need a bunch of kids, their pets, and other freaks helping me to get back to my own time. This is my problem and I intend on fixing it." Ryker said as he begins to exit the base.

Lori quickly follows him and places a hand on his shoulder stopping him in his tracks. "Look i know you don't want our help but if you change your mind, we'll be here." She tells him. Ryker doesn't respond but starts walking again. Lori let's out a sigh as she's joined by Soothsayer.

"Stubborn one isn't he?" Soothsayer said with amusement.

"Yeah." Lori said. "Do you think he'll come back?"

"I honestly don't know Lori." Soothsayer said. "But I know for sure he'll come around."

"I sure as hell hope so." Lori said.

Ryker is walking through the city. "What do those kids know to send me back. I doubt they even know anything about the past." Ryker said.

He then hears an alarm go off. Ryker looks to see seven masked men run out of a bank and into a van that immediately drives off. Only moments later, four police cars drive by. "It's probably nothing." Ryker said. "Those cops can handle it."

At Royal Woods mall, Carlota is looking around at a clothing store. She picks up a blue dress and inspects it. "Hm, I don't know. Blue isn't really my colour." Carlota said as she placed the dress down.

"Can I help you." Fiona asked as she walked up to Carlota.

"Yeah I'm trying to find a new dress that matches my new boots." Carlota said as she held up a pair of black boots.

"Well I think I can help you." Fiona said. Outside the mall, the van from the bank pulls up in front of the entrance. Inside the van the seven men from the bank and their driver look out to see the cops not far behind.

"Everyone get in the mall!" The leader said as he grabbed a duffel bag of money and his shotgun.

"Right boss!" The other seven said as they grabbed the other duffel bags and weapons including assault weapons and shotguns.

The robbers enter the mall and one of them fired his assault rifle in the air getting the attention of the shoppers near by. "Everyone on the ground right now!" The leader shouted.

"Make a move and you're dead!" One of the robbers shouted.

Everyone inside quickly gets down on the ground. The robbers all go into the stores and start forcing people out and forcing them to the ground. Meanwhile, outside the cops were pulling into the parking lot when they saw the robbers go into the mall.

"Oh no." One of the cops said before pulling out his radio. "This is Officer Moore. Robbery suspects ran into the Royal Woods. No doubt multiple hostages. Suspects are armed and dangerous. Requesting backup. I repeat requesting backup."

"Copy that." The dispatch said.

"We're gonna need SWAT here possibly." One of the cops said."

"Most definitely." Moore said. "For now let's start sealing off the entrance."

"We'll get started on that right away." The other cop replied.

Within the next twenty minutes, several cop cars arrived on the scene one of which contained Police Chief Haggar who wore a bulletproof vest. He then approached Moore. "What's the status?" Haggar asked.

"Eight suspects all armed." Moore said. "Not sure how many hostages."

"Hostage negotiator?" Haggar asked.

"Hasn't shown up yet." Moore said.

"Who's the leader?" Haggar asked.

"Norman Stevv." Moore said. "Multiple counts of robbery, assault and murder. The murder was never proven though. No witnesses, no evidence. He's dangerous and he's in there with a lot of possible victims. Where's SWAT?"

"Most of them haven't shown up yet." Haggar said.

"Damn it. I don't think the L-Crew would be any help?" Moore asked.

"Their base is on the other side of town." Haggar said. "We can't wait for them. We need to formulate a plan." As this was happening, Ryker stood in the parking lot smoking his cigar. In a way he blamed himself for this. He saw the criminals run out of the bank but he ignored them. Now innocent people were in danger. He then knew what he had to do. He took one last drawl on his cigar before putting it out. He then began to walk towards the entrance. As he walked past the cops, Haggar quickly walked up to him. "Hold it right there. Where are you going?"

"To save the hostages." Ryker said shocking Haggar.

"Look I can't let you go in there." Haggar said. "There are eight armed and dangerous men in there."

"I know. They should've brought more." Ryker said. "Don't worry about it. I'll handle this. See you in ten minutes." He then walked through the entrance where he saw several people huddled in the middle of the mall terrified. On the walkway on the second floor, Ryker saw the person who was no doubt the leader of this little band of crooks, Norman Stevv who immediately noticed him.

"Well well look what we have here." Norman said. "A man trying to play hero. You a negotiator or something?"

"Do I look like a damn negotiator?" Ryker growled as he prepared his hands to grab his revolvers. "Now let the people go and we can all walk away without a fight."

"You're outnumbered cowboy! You won't live to tell the tale of you survive this ordeal and neither will those hostages." Norman said.

"All I see are a bunch of men with bullet wounds." Ryker said.

"Yeah sure." Norman said. "And are you gonna be the one go cause those bullet wounds?" He then motioned for two of his men to head towards Ryker.

AN: Warning: the following sequence is gonna get a little violent. If this bothers you, scroll down till you reach the next Author's note. Thank you.

Without warning, Ryker quickly pulls his revolvers out and shoots the two men in the chest surprising everyone. "That answers your question?" Ryker said.

"Kill him!" Norman ordered.

The remaining four robbers opened fire on Ryker, but he runs away and takes cover from behind a column. One robber armed with a shotgun walks up to the column, only to have Ryker shoot the robber with the shotgun in the head. Ryker then jumped forward and open fired on the remaining robbers, just hitting one of them in the shin and he takes cover from behind a table.

"Damn it. My leg!" One robber armed with an assault rifle cried in pain.

"Who gives a damn about your leg?" Another robber said. "Just kill this guy!" However he's then shot in the shoulder. "Damn it!" Behind the table, Ryker was reloading his revolvers as the robbers opened fired on him.

"Time to make a break for it!" Ryker said. He gets to his feet and makes a mad dash towards a kiosk while firing his revolvers at the robbers hitting the two he had successfully shot earlier in the chest leaving only two left before ducking behind the kiosk. Norman let out a growl and grabbed his shot gun before heading towards the stairs. The other two robbers slowly approached the kiosk guns raised. One motioned for his partner to go to the other side. The two go around the kiosk but Ryker wasn't there.

"Where did he go?" One asked.

Then a bullet is shot through one of the two robbers' head. "Oh crap." The other robber panicked.

"Where did that shot come from?" The other robber exclaimed.

"He's just one man!" Norman shouted.

He feels a tap on his shoulder and when he turns around he's immediately shot in the head by Ryker. After he drops, Ryker surveys the carnage as he counted seven bodies. "One more to go." He says. He then hears several terrified shouts from the hostages. He turns around and sees that Norman had Carlota pulled in front of him with his arm across her neck and his shotgun pointed at her head.

"Not another move cowboy." Norman said.

"You leave that teenage girl alone!" Ryker said.

"You make another move and her brain will be scatter on the floor." Norman said. "Now put those guns of yours down."

"Alright alright let's calm down." Ryker said as he placed his revolvers onto the ground. "Now let the girl go." Norman however laughs.

"Not yet." Norman said. "I still need her to get out of here and then I'll decide what happens to her. Maybe just get rid of her."

"Yeah no." Carlota said before slamming her heel right onto Norman's foot forcing him to release her.

"Why you little." Norman growled. He aims his shotgun at Carlota but Ryker tackles him to the ground.

Carlota looked back and sees Ryker beating the crap out of Norman, until Norman pushes Ryker off of him. Then she looks at Ryker's revolvers, she grabs one of them and slides it towards Ryker's hand. Ryker looked at his right hand and sees that his gun is next to him. Ryker grabs his revolver and shots Norman in the chest. Norman groans in pain and falls to the ground.

Ryker slowly gets up and surveyed the scene before heading towards Carlota only to suddenly be grabbed from behind. "You think you could kill me that easily?" His attacker growled in his ear. Ryker immediately knew it was Norman. "You missed my heart so I'm still alive." He started pressing down on Ryker's throat trying to choke him. "You're done cowboy. You're gonna die and you can't stop me." Ryker let out a growl until he got a risky idea. He brought his revolver up and pressed it against his own shoulder.

"You sure about that?" Ryker choked out before pulling the trigger which fired the revolver causing the bullet to go through his shoulder and right into Norman's chest. Norman let out a choking sound and collapsed to the ground dead. Ryker let's our pained groan before grabbing his shoulder. He got back to his but stumbled a bit before collapsing on a bench. Carlota immediately runs to his side.

AN: And the sequence is over. It's safe here.

"Are you alright?" Carlota asked. Ryker let's out a groan.

"I'm fine kid." Ryker said. "I'll live."

"Let me see." Carlota ordered. Ryker sighed and moved his hand from his shoulder which was bleeding. "Oh my God. You need medical help now! Wait here." Carlota quickly runs to her bag and pulls out a scarf. "I was gonna use this for a new outfit but I have a better use for it." She quickly wraps the scarf around his shoulder in an effort to stop the bleeding. "There. That should make sure you live long enough to get medical attention." Ryker looks at the scarf before looking at the teenager.

"I didn't ask for help." Ryker told her. "I would've been fine."

"No you wouldn't. Even if you did survive this, you would have bleed out to death." Carlota said.

"I've been through a lot worse. I would have been fine even without help." Ryker said.

"Sure you managed to kill off these robbers all by yourself. But even heroes need help too." Carlota explained. "I have three little brothers. My little brother Carl always act like a tough guy back in Great Lakes City. But he's just a little kid who needs like how to deal with bullies and some life lessons. Heck I need to give my cousin about middle school since she could be going there someday. Getting help from other people doesn't make you weak. But makes you stronger."

Ryker looked at her surprised as the words sunk in. Thinking back to his encounter with the L-Crew, he realized his pride got the better of him when they offered to help him get home. He hated to admit it but this girl had a point. He sighed before looking back at her. "Maybe you got a point there kid." He said but remembered something. "How long been in here?" Carlota looked at her phone.

"About eight minutes." Carlota replied. Ryker smirked before getting to his feet.

"Well I told your police chief I'd have this cleaned up on ten minutes." Ryker said. "Let's get out of this place. Go get the other hostages."

"You got it." Carlota said as she ran back to the other hostages.

The police are on stand by at the mall's entrance and they see Ryker coming out with the hostages. "The hostages are out! I repeat the hostages are out." Haggar shouted,

"Sir he actually did it ten minutes." Moore said.

"That he did." Haggar said. "Have the medics check on the hostages." He then noticed the wound on Ryker's shoulder. "Get one on the cowboy as well." The medics rush to the hostages with one heading to Ryker who sat on a police car. "How many dead?"

"Eight." Ryker said. Haggar's face turns grim.

"Damn. That's not gonna be easy to tell to the families." Haggar said.

"No the hostages are all alive." Ryker said. "The robbers on the other hand not so much."

"They're dead. Even Norman Stevv?" Haggar asked.

"He's dead too." Ryker said.

"Who shot your shoulder?" Haggar asked as he gestured to the shoulder.

"I did. It's how I killed Norman." Ryker said. Haggar looks at him shocked before chuckling.

"Man you're one crazy SOB aren't ya?" Haggar said before walking off.

"I suppose I should take that as a compliment?" Ryker called after him.

"You should." A voice said from behind. He turns to see Speed Queen. "Especially since you went in there with just two revolvers and killed eight guys with superior fire power."

"For someone so fast, you sure show up late for the party." Ryker comments.

"I was busy was other stuff." Speed Queen said. "I see that you got hurt?"

"Yeah this girl gave me her scarf to stop the bleeding." Ryker said.

"That was probably Carlota." Speed Queen said as she sat next to Ryker on the car. "You know, you saved her dad. His name is Carlos. The same uncle that Ronnie Anne and Bobby mentioned. " Ryker sighs and then chuckled.

"Everyone related to that guy?" Ryker joked before his face got serious. "You kids really think you can figure out how to get me home?"

"We'll certainly try." Speed Queen replied. "It won't be easy but we'll give it a shot."

"I'll take your word for it." Ryker said.

"What made you give us a chance?" Speed Queen asked.

"Let's just say someone convinced me to suck up my pride and accept help when offered." Ryker said. "But here's the thing kid. I ain't joining your team. I'm gonna do my own thing. I'll pop by once in a while to see how y'all are progressing but that's it. I'll do me, you do you and if our paths cross then so be it."

Ryker then begins to walk away right into the sunset. "We'll meet again Ryker. Some day." Speed Queen said as she watched continued to walk into the sunset.

In another part of the city in a old security store Jestor sat at a desk watching monitors while Leonard Miller stood beside him. The two were currently watching the video of Ryker walking away from Speed Queen. "So he's the one who saved the L-Crew?" Jestor asked.

"Yes." Miller responded. "He was surprisingly more formidable than anticipated. If you want i could go destroy him." However Jestor shook his head.

"Not yet Mr. Miller." Jestor said. "This Ryker fascinates me. He could be useful. For now just watch him."

"Yes sir." Miller responded.

Meanwhile at Tetherby industries, Tetherby is watching the footage of Ryker shooting down the Jestorbots at the docks along with footage at the mall that was on the news via cellphone footage. While Jenny is sitting on the sofa looking at wedding gowns. "This man was able to take down Jestor's robots and armed men with advanced firepower with just two revolvers." Tetherby said. "Where did he come from?"

"Who knows?" Jenny said. "The real question is if he's a threat?"

"I guess time will only tell." Tetherby said. "For now I'll keep an eye on him. But now I have bigger fish to fry." He soon hears a knocking on his office door. "Enter." The door opens to reveal Stuart, Xander, Mercer and Helios. "Well what is it?"

"Mr. Tetherby, I might have a new plan that could rid us of the L-Crew." Stuart said. This caught Tetherby's attention and he motioned for him to continue. "I was going through some of Dr. X's notes and I found some of his research on the Multiverse."

"A multiverse?" Tetherby asked.

"It's a theory about other universes with different possibilities. But you need to see for yourself." Stuart said as he placed the folder onto Tetherby's desk.

Tetherby picks up the folder and begins looking through the notes. As he flips through each paper his face changed from annoyance to intrigued. "You think we could do something with the Multiverse?" Tetherby asked. "Tap into other universes?"

"Yes sir." Stuart said. "Dr. X's universe isn't the only universe out there. We know there is that universe that hold the opposite genders of the L-Crew. But think of the possibilities we could have with more universes."

"Yes, technology from other worlds, magical powers, and powerful beings who are able to defeat the L-Crew." Tetherby said. "We need to build a portal to the multiverse. But keep this from the public!"

"Possibly even more mate." Xander said. "The possibilities are endless."

"Agreed." Tetherby said. "Stuart i want you to get to work right away. Xander i want you and Helios to give Stuart any assistance he requires."

"I'll get started on it right away." Stuart said.

"I'm a hunter, not some assistant." said Xander.

"Plus I have homework and such." Helios pointed out.

"Really? Because I don't remember giving you an option." Tetherby said. "Xander I can assure you that I'll make it worth your while. Both you and your niece."

"Fine. We'll help Stuart out with his portal." Xander sighed.

"Oh joy." Helios rolled her eyes.

"Good. Get to work now!" Tetherby ordered before turning to Mercer. "Did you find me any metas?"

"Well I found some meta humans. I have three of their files." Mercer said.

"Good." Tetherby said. "I've heard of a meta called Cheat. What use is he?" Mercer immediately frowns.

"Sir I would definitely not consider Cheat." Mercer said seriously. "Cheat is a very dangerous and untrustworthy man. He sees everything as a game and he the only way he'll do anything for anyone is if you win his game."

"Interesting. I'll keep him in mind." Tetherby said. "Find me one of these metas. We have work to do."

Deep in the Canadian wilderness, a government facility stood. Inside it several men and women were gathered around computers as one man stood on a platform overlooking everyone. He was a tall well built man with a military buzzcut and wore a military outfit as well as military boots. He was soon joined by another man. He was slightly shorter than the other man and was leaner. He wore a black leather full-body suit and combat boots.

"Colonel Mavor." The lean man greeted.

"Vaccine." Colonel Mavor said curtly. "What's the status of the Louds?"

"Well we're gathering as much information as we can, Colonel Mavor." Vaccine said. "Not to mention we're preparing for their visit here."

"Good." Mavor said. "Have my agents in Royal Woods keep an eye on them. When the time is right, we'll bring them to us."

"Yes, Colonel." Vaccine replied as he watched the colonel walk away.

"They're gonna be apart of this. Like it or not." Mavor said.

Smoke: Hey guys Smoke here. I'm hope you enjoyed the chapter. First up what's gonna happen between within the last few minutes. Well you have to wait to find out. Plus Cheat will return but not in the next chapter we have someone else in mind. Oh and to the guest review who came up with the redemption squad, zachlor16 and I have no interest of doing that, and no we're not gonna use that Organization you've mentioned. Oh and Dr. Moreau is character by H.G Wells, not Stephen king. I doubt he would work on animal hybrids. Also that mall scene. Originally the mall was suppose to be the hospital and Maria would be a hostage. But due to the Coronavirus pandemic, it would have caused us a huge backlash so we replaced the hospital scene with the mall. Anyway you guys stay safe out there. You're up bro.

Zachlor16: Yeah so Ryker will return again just not right away. He'll pop up here and there. Anyways please don't leave any requests until AFTER chapter 100. Any requests put before then will be ignored and deleted. Anyways I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and stay safe out there.