The Wretched Tale of Ricky Rayder

Criminal Activity

A relatively ordinary, sleazy car salesman becomes a horrifying villain while a technological savant warns of an impending doom.

Although Ricky Rayder was relatively unknown to the greater world of Apollo City, it wasn't until a home invasion in the city suburbs that a target was placed on his back. Ban, Charlie, Gwen and Shaina investigated a break-in involving several individuals dressed in black who targeted a mother and her young child. Upon arrival, however, the metas were shocked that, not only did one of the invaders snap their own neck in an attempt to frame the metas for being violent, but the remaining intruders took pictures of the metahumans at the scene in an attempt to incriminate them for the break-in. When the APD arrived, the intruders vanished into the shadows with the help of Void Ore.   Within the same week of the strange incident, Red Shield Detective Gherri Singh honed in on a vehement conspirator on an Anti-Meta forum on the Archnet. He eventually got the conspirator to meet up with him on Poseidon's Crest that evening with Gwen and Shaina accompanying them for an impromptu interrogation once the man admitted to knowing something about the attempted break-in. Using the conspirator's underage desires as bait, as well as a relatively young-looking Sun Cadet to lure him to the beach, Detective Singh was able to apprehend the scrawny criminal. After several bouts of interrogation, both at the beach and back at the station, Detective Singh learned that he had been hired through a dark web forum to take pictures of metahumans in compromising, incriminating situations. The conspirator also said that, if they were to spill any pertinent information as he was doing in the interrogation, that there would be severe consequences. Just minutes after giving out this information, the APD received word that the young conspirator's house had been set ablaze.   Gwen and Detective Singh arrived at the house only to discover that most of the house was destroyed by the fire but that the conspirator's mother, whom he was living with, had died from separate causes. Her body had been found ground up in chunks in a mound on the kitchen floor with only a single finger and a diamond ring left to identify her. Before they could investigate proper, anti-meta civilians began to crowd around and pre-emptively blamed Gwen, believing that she was somehow involved, bringing up her criminal past. It was in that same crowd that Gwen spotted one of the black-clothed intruders from just days earlier, giving chase into the house just across the street. Climbing through the window, Gwen apprehended them and found out that they had been ordered to either take the pictures or risk never seeing their baby again. Gwen released her but discovered that the front door of the house she had been lured to was rigged with a shotgun, set to kill anyone who stepped through it. Detective Gherri cut through the crowd and opened the door, believing Gwen to be in trouble from the scuffle heard from outside. As a result, Detective Singh was severely injured, saved only by his bulletproof vest and taken away by a Lifeline Ambulance.   Returning to the APD with the dead woman's finger, Gwen was able to have the small piece of evidence analyzed in the forensics lab. But in the midst of discovering the results, the entire precinct was shaken by the ANN News report which showed several metahumans, including Gwen, Ban and Shaina, committing crimes across Apollo City in clear view of surveillance cameras. Reluctant to believe the outlandish report, Lieutenant Keith Marshall orders Gwen to lay low at her apartment while they investigate and subpoena the video footage from the news network. While at her apartment, Gwen received a call from salesman Ricky Rayder and was informed that she could improve her public image by taking part in one of his commercials, stating that he has good influence over the people of Apollo City. When Gwen rejected, Ricky's associate salesman, known only as Rawlings, urged Gwen to reconsider. After a second rejection, Rawlings induced a sleep state with a binaural beats frequency. Gwen awoke that night adhered inside a car in such a way that she appeared to be driving it. A mysterious voice came over the radio, claiming that Gwen has been fighting the wrong battle. The voice goes on about a strange phenomena called The Complex which will drive various powerful and influential people to accelerate the destruction of the Archipelago and the planet. The voice also echoes a warning given months earlier by Private Detective Hidalgo that people will seek to weaponize the otherworldly elements of the archipelago and open neighboring dimensions to untold horror. The voice speaks of how the flesh will ultimately destroy itself and others and that, if Gwen helps them, they can not only bring peace to the world but also stop Sinister Maharana and his cult once and for all. The alternative, the voice described, was remote controlling the car she was stuck in and forcing her to vicariously perform vehicular homicide, tarnishing her image and reputation forever. Gwen agreed and set out, reluctantly, to kill the leaders of Apollo City.   Just a week later, the APD started to receive small reports about mysterious tremors and lights coming from the Masters Dojo. Although initially ignoring it, Lieutenant Marshall did deem that it would take a serious investigation to even touch the dangerous island. Separately, a group of individuals including Emeric, Ban and several others, investigated the happenings of the island only to discover that the dojo itself had been taken over by a sorority and a fraternity, Theta Phi Alpha and Phi Delta Theta, respectively. Led by cocky quarterback Brad Sievawictz and volleyball champion Rochelle Smith, they informed the metahuman investigative party that they were simply there for a college retreat and that any disturbances they sensed were merely a result of their partying. Unconvinced, they inquired further until Brad directed them to a woman named Jesse who was being forced to do their coursework in the upstairs dorms. However, through careful questioning, they discovered that both Jesse, and her stoner boyfriend Tommy, had been coerced to travel there from the United States. Brad and Rochelle were secretly serial killers who used their power and influence to mask their crimes, as well as find new victims. They also informed the metas that the party was a lie and that Brad and Rochelle had entered into a deal with strange people with Greek symbols and dark robes to watch over the place. Once the truth had been discovered, the group of metas were cornered by the two murderous college leaders and their respective groups. Fueled by the Stars drug, a vicious battle ensued between the fraternity and sorority leaders and the metas. Ultimately, it ended in the college students' deaths while Jesse and Tommy were taken to safety. The final piece of information given was that the disturbances seemed to originate from the basement cellar but access to the cellar was almost immediately blocked by a thick, iron set of doors, inaccessible to even the most determined individual.   In the following weeks, Gwen had tried to accomplish her goal of assassinating leaders in Apollo City by faking their deaths, something that the strange dark web criminal took note of. they sent Gwen an email expressing their disappointment while explaining that she had a chance to redeem herself by taking a cybernetic enhancement left on her windowsill and heading to the Apollo Magnet Academy, a former black site for the APD. Gwen, June, Ban, Ykkar, Nash and several other metas convened on the school once ANN broadcasted that Lieutenant Marshall had been missing for the past forty-eight hours. Upon arrival, Gwen discovered that someone, who sounded exactly like her, was talking over the loudspeaker. The Gwen doppelganger told her that she was still following the path of the flesh, trusting in her instincts instead of the logic she should have been trusting. Giving a warning for Gwen not to head to the principal's office and, instead to go home and pass her 'test', the voice eventually convinced Gwen to give up her rescue mission. However, the werewolf Ykkar burst into the principal's office regardless and triggered a trap which not only summoned nearby APD units with a radio broadcast of Detective Singh's horrid screams but also revealed the detective's body, ground up and slumped in the principal's office chair. The APD surrounded the school as the metas scrambled to escape the strange scene.   During this time, Ricky Rayder's health started to fail. Hearing of his son, Brad's, death and suffering from the side effects of prolonged Void Ore usage left him unable to continue business as usual. Although he tried to buy as many cures and potions to help with his rapidly failing eyesight and dropping body temperature, he started to relent going into business with the dark web criminal at all. Rawlings, revealing that he could shapeshift into different people he observed, was worried that Ricky wouldn't last to the end of his contract only to hear Ricky's catchphrase: "Ain't nobody greater than Ricky Rayder." On one of these days at his dealership, Ricky's Rides, APD Agent Orochimaru visited after sensing Lieutenant Marshall's energy nearby. Rawlings explained that he had no idea where the lieutenant was and that Ricky was too under the weather to take any inquiries at the moment. Though Orochimaru disguised himself as Nurse Emma, trying to buy a vehicle, Rawlings, revealed to be a cybernetic organism, saw through the Sannin's disguise. This resulted in a brutal clash between the two, ending with Ricky racing off to the dealership garage to drive off with Lieutenant Marshall trapped in the trunk and Rawlings initiating his self-destruct sequence in an attempt to destroy any evidence. Orochimaru luckily survived and tailed Ricky as he drove erratically through Apollo City. In a fit of rage about potentially being caught, Ricky and the car vanished into a shadow induced by his Void Ore corruption, leaving Lieutenant Marshall rattled but saved in the arms of Orochimaru.   Another group of Metas, including Nash and June, had decided to storm the ANN building to find out exactly where the incriminating footage came from regarding their supposed illicit activities. While Nash and several metas ended up fighting with the Lightblood general manager, Pavel, and the APD, June managed to have a brief sit-down with investigative journalist Becca Lee, who gave her a brief rundown of the archipelago. After a skirmish and the literal siren call of the APD in response to the metas, Becca told June to meet her in Old Town at the Blue Moon Bar. A few nights later, Becca and June met up for a drink, where they discussed leads concerning the strange ANN footage, the attempt on Mayor Masters life by Gwen and the odd events surrounding Ricky Rayder. After a few beers, the two decide to follow a lead concerning Ricky's optometrist, Dr. Leitfeld. Upon arrival at the doctor's office, they found that the building was extremely dark and similarly cold, void or heat and light. Further into the building, Becca and June discovered that Ricky Rayder had killed Dr. Leitfeld and had become completely corrupted by the Void Ore, calling himself Siphon. Following a brief skirmish, Becca managed to burn Ricky's eyes with some mace and gave chase once he started off down the road in an attempt to escape. During the chase, both Becca and June tried to stop him with magical and conventional means, speeding along on a motorcycle while evading new, deadly developments in Siphon's powers. Eventually, they managed to corner Siphon in an alleyway only to watch him literally escape into the shadows. Luckily, Becca had recorded Ricky's tirade about murdering the doctor, his involvement with a dark web criminal in order to fund his success in Apollo City and his transformation into an evil meta.   Just one week later, Becca's apartment was attacked by a monstrous Siphon, who had become utterly devoured by the Netherized Void Ore. He stated that he would kill her for trying to report the story on what was revealed the night of the murder and that he would be the one taking the spotlight from now on. Maria, Nash, Emeric, June and Gwen (under a new identity), were all summoned by Becca's gunfire and screams. The metas discovered that Siphon was becoming symbiotic with the darkness and had become nothing more than disgusting black skin, called void flesh, and bulbous Nether pustules that allowed him to see as if he had eyes. Nash sacrificed his life to ensure that the tenants and several of the metas got out safe while the others worked together to fight back Siphon's attempt to suck all heat and light from the city of Apollo. With the last of his pustules destroyed, Siphon lost control of his already rapidly expanding body, eventually leading to its collapse into a great void, a rippling pocket in space that exhibited properties similar to a black hole. Working together to save Apollo before it was sucked into nothingness, Gwen, June and Maria hurled Siphon's massive body out of Apollo and toward the Enclave of Dusk, where Siphon's collapsing body was disintegrated by a disgusted Sinister Maharana. Though, even with Ricky Rayder's assumed destruction, it was obvious that someone knew a lot more than the heroes of Apollo did and was determined to make sure that the "flesh" would be punished, at any cost. Ricky may well have been the first of many.