The Freedom Defenders

Episode 2 Here comes the Freedom Defenders

The aftermath of the attack on Zed Doom's castle had almost been just as bad as the attack itself, if not worse. Sam Carter and his robot friend D-27 Maxie were placed in one of the dormitories of Commander Rex's base of operations. The human child was sitting in a corner with his hands wrapped around his legs and crying. He was very sad about the loss of his parents.

What's going to happen now?

Will I ever see them again?

This can't be real. Just a nightmare...

Sam's mind raced around a track full of such thoughts until he heard the door to his dormitory open and saw Scorch Flamehog, still in his alternate attire (that would be his superhero outfit and superpowers in play), walk in the room. In a bright white flash of light he switched his attire and went back to being his regular self. Hayden Winston.

"Scorch?" Sam asked.

"It's Hayden, actually. And I wanted to show you around the base." Hayden said.

Sam didn't say a word, but agreed to it by holding his hand out so Hayden could pick him up and the three of them, Hayden, Sam, and Maxie walked around the base.

Hayden explained to Sam the many things that showed up around the base and what they did, day in and day out. Sam was starting to feel better already, Hayden had saw thanks to the expression on his face. It seemed like he could forget the pain of loss pretty easily.

"Don't get too far away now!" Hayden warned as Sam had started tinkering with some of the machinery and other equipment that was lying around the base. Sam had actually made some of the broken or malfunctioning equipment working again! Hayden had smiled to himself.

"Just like his parents..." He said, allowing himself a small laugh.

Then, a soldier from the base had told Hayden that Commander Rex wanted to see him and Sam in his quarters. Hayden told Sam to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked Hayden.

"To visit my father." Hayden said as the three of them made their way to Commander Rex's quarters.

The door to Commander Rex's room opened and he let the three of them in.

"So good to see you again, Hayden." The figure obscured by the light of the window had said. He turned around and made the external light fade by closing the curtains and Hayden turned on a light in the room itself. Sam noticed that it took longer for him to close the curtains than any normal being. Was he extremely lazy or something? But when he turned around, Sam knew why.

Commander Rex's left arm was gone. And Sam couldn't stop staring at it.

Hayden noticed it and nudged Sam a little. "Didn't your parents tell you that staring is wrong?"

"I....I'm sorry..." Sam apologized.

"It's fine. I've gotten used to people staring at my odd appearance." Commander Rex said. He explained how Hayden was orphaned by Zed Doom killing his parents and raising him. (Hayden always blushes at this story, there were a few embarrassing moments in it. But Rex didn't say them this time.) Becoming his father and teacher in fighting villans like Zed Doom.

"And then in a fight with him, I lost my arm." Rex finished.

"Was life difficult for you?" Sam asked.

"At first, yes. But I've found ways to get by with only one arm instead of two." Commander Rex answered.

Commander Rex talked about how just like Hayden, he wanted to take Sam and Maxie under his care. Not just to protect him, but to help the human child learn to protect himself from the evils of the world.

But before anything else could be done about the loss of Sam's parents and his future, a soldier came in and told them that Emerald City was under attack!

Hayden left without delay and changed back into Scorch Flamehog as he landed into the decimated city. Emerald City was under attack by four different giant monsters. One was a flier, a Mountain Roc, a Hydra, a two-headed Dragon named Twintania, and then a giant three-headed dog named Cerberus. (Fun fact: Apparently Cerberus in Greek means Spot.)

"What is it with Zed Doom and pet monsters?" Scorch asked himself and went after the nearest one. Twintania.

Scorch didn't notice it, he was too busy fighting off the two-headed dragon, but there were three others that were fighting with him. They noticed that he came to help them.

"Hey look! Someone's come to help us!" The husky said as she froze Cerberus' legs, giving her the opportunity to talk.

The Duck had left the sight of the Mountain Roc. "Great! Just when I thought that this was the end of the world."

The Beetle had his say next. "Hmph. Who needs him?"

The four monsters combined their attacks into one and knocked the four of them backwards into one another.

"We can't separate our group and hope to beat them like that." The husky said.

"I guess we'll have to combine our strengths on one of them." Scorch said.

"Hmph. Time for some sweet revenge!" The beetle declared.

They chose to go after the Mountain Roc first. "Aerial targets are a priority in battle." The husky said.

"I know, I know, that's my job!" The duck said. And he was doing it pretty well, too. He flew close to the giant avian creature and started to make an ear-splitting scream.

"You're grounded!" The duck said before unleashing Sonic Scream. The duck's screaming had made the giant bird unable to fly and it had to land on the ground. Then Scorch started to burn the bird, and the husky froze it in a giant block of ice and then the beetle broke the bird apart with his Megahorn!

The other three had been taken out in a similar manner, each time it was someone different who pulled off the final blow for each of them. When the fighting had ended the four had reverted back to their regular outfits personas.

The group of four had looked at each other and thanked each other, namely Hayden for showing up and helping out.

"Whew, I didn't think we could pull that off." Hayden said.

The other three had introduced themselves.

"My name is Julie Frost." She changed into her super heroine persona. "Wintera!" The husky with dominion over Ice said and reverted to normal.

"Call me Ben Marsh." He did the same as Julie. "And now I'm the Buzz Beetle!" Lightning was crackling in his hands.

"Name's Johnny Duck." And finally for him. "The Omega Duck!" His voice was ridiculously loud now.

"We're the Freedom Defenders!" Ben said.

"And you..." Johnny said.

"You are our leader, Hayden Winston." Julie stated.

At first, Hayden didn't know what to say, it was just a little overwhelming. But in the end he said, "Let me lead on, then!"

As the four of them had started becoming friends almost instantly, a Dragon Ninja had observed them from one of the buildings that were left standing.

"So they're the Freedom Defenders." He said. "Hmph. Finally things are getting interesting." He looked at them for a few minutes longer and started to leave the rooftop.