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"

A Monologue by Rick Sledge (THE CHALLENGER)

     My names Rick Sledge… I was recruited to fight in the Iraq war in 2003. I was a green beret. I risked my life for the sake of others. Lucas Wolf was a mercenary in the war, and he held a crate that contained a weapon with no serial number on it. It was untackable. Wolf is a killer and I couldn’t let him keep the crate. I kept thinking to myself, “Imagine what would happen after the war if Wolf had this gun. Many people would die because I gave it up.” I didn’t want that kind of blood on my hands. When I made it back to LA in 2005, I had a hard time adjusting to life behind the warzone. That’s when the Captain of the LAPD approached me with a job. He wanted me to become a detective and work alongside Tom McCoy. I hesitated at first, but thanks to the help of my girlfriend, Brooklyn, I decided to take the job.

     For years I worked with McCoy, until one day when Lucas Wolf came after me. He wanted the crate back so he could do the crime without doing the time. Wolf then kidnapped both my girlfriend and my trusty partner and threatened to murder them. I was a man who always followed the law by the book. Until that day. I managed to reach Wolf and take down his men. But then…Then… He killed them. He crossed the line and I was angry. So I grabbed him by the throat and held him over the building. He begged for his life, saying that I couldn’t kill him because I was a cop. I didn’t care about the law at that moment, all I cared about was justice and revenge. So I threw him off the building. I though he was dead. But his body was never found. That moment was the day that I became “THE CHALLENGER.”

I now followed my own rules… “If you’re Bad… You’re Dead.” I didn’t let any criminals get in my way. I gave criminals a chance to go to prison. But if they challenged me… I fired back. I don’t believe in warrants… I believe that “Proof is overrated.” If you know where the criminal is and what he’s done, why do you need warrants? Because a book says so? I don’t think so. I still am a man of the law, but in a different way. Justice can be defined in many ways. The criminal doesn’t have to be alive for justice to be served. Most of the time they are better off dead. The Challenger has no rules, no limitations. That’s why the criminals fear me. They don’t know what I will do next.

- Rick Sledge (The Challenger) Monologue was written by Andrew Di Pardo

PS: This monologue does not connect to "The Challenger 3:Urban Outlaw (Which premiers on December 6th)"