The Story of Rick Sledge AKA "The Challenger" by Andrew Di Pardo

      Richard Sledge was born in Los Angeles California on December 7^th 1976. He was raised by his parents, Jason & Amanda Sledge. His father Jason, was a detective. His mother Amanda, was a stay at home mom. Since Richard was a boy he always was interested in helping people. He would see posters of soldiers and tell his father that, “One day, that will be me.” One day when Richard was twenty years of age, Antonio Ricci hired a hitman named Lucas Wolf to kill Jason Sledge. Rick’s father was murdered in cold blood because he put the mafia behind bars. That’s when Rick decided to fight for his country… Before he went off to join the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course (SFAS), he met a girl by the name of Brooklyn. She convinced him not to go. But one day, Rick told her that this was something that he had to do.

Before he went to join the SFAS, he proposed to her and told her that when he makes it back, he will marry her. But what he didn’t tell her was that he was joining the army because the man who killed his father was there and he wanted revenge. The next day he enlisted in the Army and was trained as a Green Beret Special forces operative. By the year 2003, he was fighting in Iraq and he ran into exactly who he wanted to run into, Lucas Wolf. Sledge stole a crate that Wolf had in his possession. This crate was very valuable, it had million dollars’ worth of melted down gold and it had a black gun that had no serial number on it. It was the gun that Wolf used to kill Jason Sledge. Wolf was determined to get it back. Sledge didn’t budge. Wolf tracked down where Sledge had the crate and they fought over it. Sledge would eventually knock Wolf unctuous and escape with the crate. He moved to another location.

Wolf was unable to track him since. By 2007, Rick Sledge was called out of Iraq and back to LA. Sledge didn’t know what to do with his career… But one day, the caption of the LAPD contacted him with a job opportunity as a detective. The captain’s name was Mora. Sledge didn’t want the job because he found that it was too limited when it came to the law. But his fiancé, Brooklyn convinced him to take the job. Mora assigned him with a partner named Tom McCoy. There assignment was to find a way to bring Antonio Ricci and the Italian Mafia down. Sledge and McCoy followed the rules of the law by the book. Until one day in 2009, there loyalty was put to the test. Sledge’s partner and his Fiancée were kidnapped by Lucas Wolf. Sledge tracked them down with the help of Mora and his new partner, who was nameless. Sledge and his new partner enter the building, they take down all 8 of the men and then they find out that Wolf has the hostages on the building.

Sledge wants to do this alone. He tells his partner to call for backup. When Sledge makes it to the top of the building, Wolf has two men holding both his loved ones at the edge. Wolf wants the crate, Sledge doesn’t give it to him and because of that Wolf kills the two hostages. Sledge then grabs Wolf by the throat. “You can’t kill me… You’re a cop,” Wolf says. Sledge reply’s in anger:” Not anymore.” Sledge throws him off the roof. Rick has now become something different, he’s become a “Challenger.” The partner Sledge worked with on the case is now his full time partner with the death of McCoy, his name is Ronny Gunnerson. Sledge no longer believes in the law, he believes justice can be served in other ways. When he’s off duty, he’s “The Challenger.” He takes down criminals who break the law. “If you’re bad. You’re dead,” is The Challengers policy. Gunnerson remains in the dark about this. In 2012, The Challenger is known to the cops as a criminal who breaks the law and that he must be stopped. Captain Mora and Ronny Gunnerson are keen on stopping him. Gunnerson and Sledge have to work together to catch this vigilante. It could be tough since Sledge is The Challenger.

The Challenger has now become something that is a nuisance to people like Antonio Ricci Junior and Walker. Antonio Ricci JR believes that “The Challenger” killed his father, so he hired a hitman known as Walker to take him out. The Challenger could care less. The Challengers motto is “Never Challenge a Challenger or you’ll end up in a body bag.” But at the heart of it all, The Challenger just wants justice to be served. The Challenger believes that “Proof is overrated.” 

- Andrew Di Pardo

PS: This does not connect to "The Challenger 3"