Let's begin this story of Cyborgs, X-Cons, Cloneblades, and the Witchblade by following the events that led to what would later become known as the Great Quake. What exactly transpired the fateful night the Witchblade was stolen?

Night hung over the city of Tokyo as the only lights were from the streets and buildings. Office workers were riding home on the subway, young adults were enjoying the night life, all seemed peaceful. However in one particular office building was a science research center. This research center was used for study through the collaboration of the Douji Group and the government run NswF. Armed guards sat in a break room, in military grade armor and carried assault rifles. One guard could be seen patrolling the halls of the research center, flashlight in hand to light his way. The guard gently cradled his rifle against his chest as he lazily surveyed the empty halls of the building. A shadowy figure swiftly dashed past the guard from behind, not even alerting him.

The guard rounded the corner as he entered and open room with a large steel door with an electronic lock sealing it shut. The guard let out a yawn as he was about to continue on his way. A figure dropped down and landed on the ground behind the guard, startling the man as he whipped around and aimed his rifle at the figure. Two large compound eyes lit up on the figure's helmet before he lunged towards the guard.

The guard wildly fired his gun, but the figure quickly grabbed the barrel before snapping it off like it was a twig. The guard fell to the ground in his back in fear as he slowly backed away from the figure. Now getting a better look at the infiltrator, the guard noticed that he was dressed like a biker with a red muffler around his neck. However the strangest thing was the helmet that looked like the face of a grasshopper of all things that adorned the Infiltrator's head. Hopper slowly walked past the downed guard, turning his attention towards the electronically locked steel door.

The guard quickly scurried across the ground before standing up and pressing a button on the wall that sounded an alarm throughout the building. Hopper turned to look at the guard, who shakily tried to make his way to corner that leads to the hallway. Hopper lunged towards the guard before delivering an uppercut to the gut. This punch sent the guard flying upwards and slamming into the ceiling before falling to the ground as a few sickening cracks could be heard. Hopper then heard the thundering of footsteps as he turned to look at the corner as a platoon of twenty guards round the corner. All of the guards spread out into the room and aim their rifles at Hopper, who just stands there completely unfazed.

"Don't move! You are trespassing on private property! Surrender now and we will not use lethal force!" The leader barked at Hopper, who looked at him as the eyes on his helmet lit up once again. Hopper lunged forward before punching the lead guard so hard he was sent flying back into a wall. When his body impacted the wall, cracks spiderwebbed out from the impact. The other guards opened fire on Hopper, but the bullets harmlessly bounced off the infiltrator's body. "Rifles are having zero effect!" One guard shouted before he was grabbed by his throat and thrown into three other guards with such force it knocked them off their feet. Hopper charged at five more guards the unloaded their entire magazines into the infiltrator, which harmlessly bounced off him as if they were foam rather then bullets.

Hopper kicked one guard, sending them flying into the air, before yanking the rifle out of the hands of another guard. Hopper then cracked three of the guards across the head with such force it shattered the rifle's stock. The guards collapsed as Hopper turned on his heel and delivered a roundhouse kick to a guard that sent him crashing into four other guards. The guard that Hopper had kicked into the air then fell back down to the ground, unconscious. Hopper then turned on his heel and walked up to the giant metal door with the electronic lock. Hopper then punched through the touchpad and ripped out all the sensitive circuitry as the door automatically opened, it's systems fried.

          Hopper walked into the room as it was revealed to be a laboratory, however aside from the assortment of science equipment there was nothing of interest. Hopper walked into the center of the room as he scanned the entire surrounding area. Hopper then looked down at the floor beneath his feet as he tightly clenched his fist. Hopper punched through the floor with such force it gave out underneath him as he dropped into a secret room underneath the laboratory.

Hopper stands up as he walked through the secret room scanning every surface in search of something. Hopper then rounds a corner and finds a strange ornate gauntlet locked in a case made of blast proof glass.

Hopper walked up to the case before rearing back his and punching the glass, shattering it completely. An alarm wailed when the glass shattered as Hopper grabbed the gauntlet before walking over to a large generator also present in the room. Hopper clenched his fist before punching it as it began to spark.

Outside the Building
All was quiet outside the building until a billow of flames shattered all the glass on the floor Hopper was located. The generator had exploded, rocking the entire building with the force of it. Hopper dove out the shattered windows as he fell towards the ground. Hopper twisted around in the air before landing feet first on the ground as he bounced slightly. Hopper firmly planted his feet on the ground as the shards of glass fell to the ground around him.

Hopper then looked down at the strange gauntlet still clutched in his hand before the sounds of sirens reached his ears. Hopper quickly broke into a sprint as he tried to get as much distance as possible from the building before the authorities arrived on the scene. What Hopper didn't realize was someone had been watching him from her car. The woman started her car before driving after the figure in strange armor that had attacked the research center.

Docks
Hopper ran to Tokyo's docks as he looked out over the ocean, waiting for his transport to arrive to collect him. Hopper was then illuminated by a set of headlights as he turned around to see a car had pulled up behind him. A woman stepped out of the car, she appeared to be in her mid twenties. She had well kept long blue hair, brown eyes, and a rather emotionless expression on her face. The woman wore a red dress and was brandishing a five round revolver at the cyborg.

"I am Reina Soho, a scientist that works at the research center you just attacked. How does a terrorist like you know about the Witchblade?" Reina demands as she aims the revolver at Hopper's head. Hopper doesn't respond as he turned on his heel and looked back towards the ocean, ignoring Reina completely. A gunshot rings out as the bullet harmlessly bounces of Hopper's helmet.

           Reina lowers the gun in shock, how could a bullet bounce off of a person that harmlessly armor or no armor that should be impossible. Hopper turns around and stares down Reina before slowly walking towards her. Reina realized what was happening as she took aim and fired another round into Hopper's shoulder, again doing nothing. She then shoots Hopper in the knee, once again there was no effects, she aims for his throat and fires. Once again the bullet harmlessly bounces off the cyborg's body. "What in the world? No ordinary human should be capable of taking this many gunshots with no effect to them!" Reina thought to herself as she aimed for Hopper's forehead and fired her last bullet, once again it bounced off harmlessly as the cyborg continued to approach the scientist rather slowly.

           Reina was about to reload her gun when she noticed the red gemstone in the Witchblade was shining red, it was reacting to this man for some reason. "How in the world is that possible." Reina mumbled to herself before Hopper grabbed her by her throat and effortlessly lifted her off the ground. Hopper started to slowly crush Reina's windpipe as the woman gasped and struggled to breathe. Reina slapped Hopper's arm in an attempt to get the cyborg to release her, but it was no use. Hopper was about to snap Reina's neck when he heard a chirping, and looked up. Hopper spotted a mother bird feeding her chicks. Reina felt Hopper's grip loosen only a slight bit as she noticed the cyborg was completely frozen in place.

Hopper felt something, which was strange considering he hadn't felt much of anything in months. He felt nostalgic for some reason as images of a little boy with his mother building birdhouses flashed through his mind. The eyes on shopper's helmet lit up as he dropped Reina who fell to the ground and gasped for air like a beached fish.

Reina studied Hopper closely as he also let the Witchblade clatter to the ground from his other hand. "Has something triggered a reaction in him? He was completely unresponsive earlier." Reina thought to herself as she closely studied the cyborg, intrigued by him to say the least. "Why did you stop?" Reina asked as she was lost as to why someone so determined to kill her mere moments ago simply gave up for no reason. Hopper turned to look at her it was strange but Reina could've sworn from his body language he seemed scared almost. "I-I need to go!" Hopper managed to force out before he ran off as fast as he could manage.

          Reina shakily stood up before walking over to the Witchblade and picking it up. "What exactly was he? He certainly wasn't human, he sounded young, maybe twenty years at the oldest?" Reina mumbled to herself as this whole night had been rather strange. Reina then looked down at the Witchblade as another thought occurred to her. "Why would the Witchblade react to him? It can only have a female as it's host." Reina mumbled to herself as she had more questions then answers at this points in regards to the strange man and now the artifact she had been studying for months at this point. Reina shook those thoughts out of her head for the time being, she had to get the Witchblade somewhere no one could use it, that strange man helped her in that regard.

One Week Later
In a diner within the countryside a man in a jacket with the hood up obscuring his face sat drinking a cup of coffee. The man would glance around himself in an anxious manner, as if he was expecting someone or something to sneak up on him. The man took another sip from his coffee as he tried to relax. "Oh my god!" One of the waitresses gasped as the hooded man turned to look in her direction. There one the television was Tokyo, or what remained of it at the very least. The city was in ruins as if some kind of bomb had went off in the center of it. "Today, Tokyo was suddenly hit by a large quake that complete demolished the city." The news anchor said as the hooded man paled he had been in Tokyo a week ago.

            "Rescue efforts are currently being made to try and locate any potential survivors of this catastrophe. We will keep you updated as the rescue efforts are carried out." The News Anchor said as the Hooded man was already out the door of the diner, forgetting to pay in the process. The hooded man got on his motorcycle before revving the engine and taking off down the street. At this very moment the man's mind was a complete mess. "It can't be a coincidence, what I did, what they made me do as their puppet. It must be connected to that quake that destroyed Tokyo!" The man thought to himself as he increased the speed of his motorcycle as if he were trying to run away from the knowledge he had just received. The man felt fear, but at the same time he felt another emotion, anger.

           The hooded man continued to ride down the street. "Shocker, they kidnapped me, turned me into this thing, and made me do something that resulted in the deaths of thousands." The Hooded Man Thought to himself as he increased the speed of his motorcycle again. "Shocker, if you want to turn all of humanity into your cybernetic slaves, your going to have to go through me first! I won't let you ruin the lives of other people like you ruined mine!" The Hooded Man swore as he raced down the road. If Shocker wanted to take over the earth, they would have to kill him first. He stood alone, but he wouldn't give up or run away, he would fight for humanity's sake. However little did the man know his fate was intertwined with the strange gauntlet he stole that day, his life would only get stranger from here in his fight against Shocker.

So we got to see how Shocker used Rider 1 to steal the Witchblade! However he broke free of his mind control and is now in hiding. However with the Great Quake occurring he has promised to wage a one man war against Shocker to protect humanity! As always please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments! What awaits our hero as he prepares to fight against those who took away his humanity? How will the world change after the Great Quake? Who's fate is intertwined with his through the Witchblade? Find out in the first chapter of Witchblade: The First Rider!