Disclaimer: All characters belong to DC Comics and are being used for nonprofit entertainment only. The story belongs to Carlos.

by: Carlos J. Moreno

Part One:

The woman walked into the shop alone. Charity stood up to welcome her.

"Hi there. Welcome to Fortunes and Forbidden Tales"

"Umm...thanks. It's the first time I come to a place like this."

"That's fine. What can we do for you today? You want me to read your cards or look in the crystal ball and tell you your future?"

"My future, yes."

The two women sat down by the crystal ball.

"I'm Charity, what is your name?"

"My name is Sue Ellen. I live out in Turk County."

"Turk County, huh?"

"Yes. I came in to see if you could tell me about...my baby. "

"What happened to your baby, Sue Ellen?"

"Well, eight years ago, I was sleeping one night, when I saw some strange lights in the sky outside my window. The lights came down and landed right by our big tree. Then, two strange looking figures came into my room, and everything went black. I am told that my family started looking for me, but after a few months they figured I had been kidnapped or killed. The next thing I remember is waking up in an abandoned barn. I had been gone for nine months, and I had no recollection whatsoever of what happened during that time. When the doctor gave me a full physical examination, he determined that I had been pregnant, and had recently given birth. Apparently, the...aliens...had abducted me, impregnated me and took my baby..." The woman started sobbing quietly. Charity was too busy looking into the ball to notice.

"Those were no aliens, Sue Ellen. It was something else. And yes, they took your baby...your son. But it is your destiny to see him again. And when you do, you will know."

"Push, push!"

The young girl pushed as hard as she could. It was her first baby. She was glad that they were able to make it all the way to Meskin Medical from Turk County. She had felt like she would give birth right there in the car.

"I can see the head! Give me one more good push!" The doctor said. The delivery room was frantic with excitement. One more hard push and the head came out. And then there was silence. Time stood still for a moment.

"What? What's wrong with my baby!?" the young girl said, but there was no answer.

The phone rang in Ted Knight's house. He walked slowly towards the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Knight?"

"Yes."

"This is John Woo. Can you come to Meskin Medical as soon as possible? It's an emergency. We are gathering as many of the city's scientific minds as we can."

"What for, commissioner?"

"It's an emergency. You'll have to come to see it for yourself."

It was late at night in Turk County. Sue Ellen sat in her rocking chair, looking outside at the starry sky. She was still thinking about what the fortune-teller had told her. She would see her son. But how would she know him when she saw him? Then, she heard the horses neighing.

"Something has startled the horses" she thought. She stood up, and walked down the porch towards the horse ranch. The two horses were kicking and neighing madly.

"What's going on, boys?"

A rustling sound came from above a tree. She looked up in time to see a figure drop down from the tree and land in front of her with ease. The moonlight shyly revealed the figure in front of her. It was a human of medium built. Well, it looked like a human, except for his skin. It was a reptile-like skin, like a thick crocodile skin. The legs and feet were also bigger than a human's . Sue Ellen stood in horror, unable to move. Then, she looked into the creature's eyes. There were small, sad eyes, with an innocent look to them. The creature was looking at her like a little kid. The horror melted away, and a strange sense of familiarity came over her.

The creature seemed to smile at her, and then it took off running, faster than anything Sue Ellen had seen before. She stood frozen, with two words hanging from her mouth.

"My son..."

Ted Knight walked into the conference room. Opal's biggest brains were all talking to each other about what they had seen. Ted saw Mr. Woo talking to one of the doctors.

"Ted, over here." Ted walked over to the two men. "What do you think?"

"I don't know. I've never seen anything like it. The fetus looks like a cross between a human and an animal."

"A human and a wolf. Nice to meet you, Mr. Knight, my name is Dr. Alan Turner."

"What is your field, doctor?"

"I'm a genetics expert."

"Have you seen anything like this before?"

"No. The closest I've seen to something like this is some cases in South America of wolf-children, but it was nothing like this."

"What causes something like this?"

"The theory about the South American cases is pollution. One theory is that certain contaminants can affect the normal development of fetuses. This is probably the case in circumstances where the mother lives in poverty and does not eat properly. The absence of certain minerals and vitamins in the mother, coupled with the contaminated water that she drinks, could in theory lead to abnormalities in the baby. But this case seems different. The abnormalities were so many, that the baby had no chance. I understand he only survived for a few hours."

"We have to keep this a secret. We do not want to create a panic. Also, there might be some violence in Turk County if this is known."

"Why is that, commissioner?"

"There is a petrochemical complex in Turk County. For years, people in that county have alleged that the plant has caused illnesses and cancer to the nearby residents. They say the plant has contaminated the groundwater that they drink. Then there's also the people who live on Freak Town (Starman 9). Some of them were born in Turk County, and have gross deformities or animal features. Nothing has ever been proven, and the Company denies any wrongdoing whatsoever. I fear that this might lead to attacks against the plant, or its employees. An attack in that plant could have disastrous results if one of the pressure vessels are ruptured."

"We have ourselves a very delicate situation then. However, I don't know what an astronomer like me can do to help."

"We don't know what we are dealing with here, Ted. Your knowledge might prove to be important later. Come, let's see if the forensics team has any new findings."

Jack Knight sat in his chair with the phone in hand.

"Can you repeat that to me one more time, Clarence?"

"I know it sounds weird, Jack , but it's all true. We have received several calls of people that have seen this creature. They describe it as having reptile skin, and able to leap at least twenty feet."

"And fast too, you said."

"Yes, they say it can run very fast. Apparently not fast like The Flash, but faster than any human or animal known."

"Is it one of the people from Bliss's old circus?" (Starman 7)

"No. We contacted them. They are all accounted for, and none of them know anybody that fits the description."

"Has it attacked anyone?"

"Yes. A man was severely mauled by it. The creature apparently has very long claws, based on the man's injuries. However, from the onlooker's descriptions, the creature might just have been protecting itself. In another sighting, the creature stormed into a home, but all it took was some food from the refrigerator."

"When you're hungry, you're hungry. Well, I've dealt with friendly monsters before. All I have to do is bring some frogs."

"What?"

"Nothing, just thinking out loud. Anyway, where was the last place this thing was seen?"

"In the Oldtown."

"Figures. Where do you think it is now?"

"We are guessing that it's hiding in the sewers."

"Oh, don't tell me I have to go down to the sewers again to roll around in...you know what. This is great. When dad said the weirdness finds you, he was right. Alright, Starman is on the case, so call off the National Guard, and call in Mulder and Scully."

"Anything new, Dr. Martinez?"

The short woman turned around to face the three men.

"Yes. The fetus's blood has a high concentration of a radioactive chemical. This chemical is like nothing we have seen before. We cannot identify what it is. By all indications, it is a man-made isotope."

"Nothing that might be found in a petrochemical complex?"

"Definitively not. Like I said, it is like nothing we have seen before."

"Can it be from an alien origin?" Ted asked.

"Like extra-terrestrial? Maybe."

"Is there any way to know if there is any more of it out there? We need to do anything possible to protect the citizen's health."

"I might be able to find out." Ted said. "If it is radioactive, I think I could use one of my inventions to detect its particular wavelength. That should show us where there is any more of it."

"When can you do that?"

"Well, I have to come by my observatory to get some things, and make some modifications, but I should be able to have something ready by tomorrow afternoon."

It was dark, and Jack Knight flew over the Oldtown with the help of his cosmic staff. His father's invention enabled him to fly, and do other things by harnessing the cosmic energy of the stars.

"It's late, cold and dark, and I'm flying over Oldtown looking for the Creature from the Black Lagoon." thought Jack. "Yeah, just another day in the life of Starman. I guess after battling demons and zombies, this is just the next logical step."

Then, he saw a dark figure emerge from one of the tunnels. It looked around, then leaped effortlessly to the top of a three story building.

"I bet that's my creature. Either that, or it's the world record holder for the high jump. Think, Jack. What's the best way to approach it."

Jack flew towards the roof of the building. The creature looked on as Starman landed softly on the roof.

"Peace." Jack said. The creature looked at him puzzled.

"Well, that was a stupid idea, Jackie. He does not speak English."

Two buildings down the road. Two men leaned on the ledge, long distance rifles in hand.

"Sir, we have the target on sight."

"Shoot it." the voice in the headset said.

"Sir, he is not alone. Starman is trying to make contact with him."

"We cannot jeopardize the operation. Kill the target and capture Starman."

"Yes, sir." the man said.

Jack tried to think what to say. He spoke slowly, with lots of gestures.

"Hi. I'm Starman. I don't want to harm you. I just want to talk."

Then, shots were fired. A bullet grazed the creature, and it let out a big howl. It looked at Starman, angry.

"Oh great! Now it thinks I set him up!" The creature lunged towards Starman. Jack was able to fire a shot from his cosmic staff, just enough to stun him for a second. But then, the creature jumped, and landed on top of Jack. With its claws, it shredded Jack's jacket, and drew some blood from his chest. Jack quickly used his staff to push the creature back, and kicked it off of him. The creature turned around and leaped to another building. Starman fired his staff, but missed him. He took off into the air, following the creature, who was leaping from roof to roof. The creature jumped down to the street, and Starman lost it for a minute. Then, shots were heard again. By the time Starman descended to the alley, the creature was on the floor, bellowing in pain, and blood oozing from its hide. A tall, white man dressed in a blue suit appeared from the shadows.

"Hey, why did you do that for?" Jack said.

"Starman, this is official US government business. We appreciate your help, but we will handle it from here."

"You killed it in cold blood!"

Jack felt someone behind, and ducked just before a dart was fired from behind by a black man hiding in the alley. The dart missed him by a few inches.

"What the hell!"

" Oh, damn, just kill him! It's easier." The white man said.

"Easier for who?!" Jack said, as shots were fired from both sides. Starman went up in the air and shot the white man with his staff. He screamed and dropped his weapon. The black man fired and hit Starman in his arm. Jack fell to the ground below. Then, police sirens were heard nearby.

"Shit, they're coming this way! We have to get out now!"

The stunned man struggled to his feet.

"What about the creature and Starman?"

"We'll have to deal with them later. Let's go!"

Starman stood up in pain and looked around, but the two men had disappeared into the night.

He walked towards the fallen creature. It lay in a pool of blood, dead. The police car arrived and Mason O'Dare ran towards Jack.

"Starman. Are you Okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing serious. I'll be fine."

Mason looked at the creature on the street.

"If you are asking what in the world is that, I don't know." Jack said.

Part Two:

The helicopter went around for the third time over the grass plains of Turk County. One of its passengers pointed a strange-looking instrument towards the ground below. The operator of the instrument looked at the machine's display seemingly without blinking. His demeanor was calm, so calm that you wondered if he was still alive.

"Have you found anything, Mr. Knight?" The pilot asked curiously.

Ted Knight looked up, adjusted his glasses and thought for a minute.

"No." He said, and went back to looking into the multicolored display.

Jack Knight walked into his father's observatory.

"Dad, I need to talk to you."

"Interestingly enough, I also needed to talk to you."

"Huh. You go first."

"Well, I was asked to help investigate a case of a baby from Turk County that was born with some deformities. Baby X, I think they are calling him..."

"Oh, I know. I talked to Dr. Martinez. She told me you were going to look for the origin of the radioactive residues found on the baby."

"Yes, I did."

"Well? She said they had not heard from you yet."

"I found what appears to be an area with high concentrations of the radioactive chemicals. Right beside that area, there is a groundwater stream flowing towards a few drinking water wells."

"So why didn't you tell Dr. Martinez?"

"Because the high concentration area is in the old air force base."

"But I thought that base had been abandoned years ago."

"Yes, but the complex is being leased to Aeronautics Supply, a company that builds parts for military airplanes. And I found out that they do not hire local people, all their employees are brought in from other cities."

"Ohh, so you think it's a cover-up for some military operation still going on in the base, which is contaminating the water..."

"That is why I did not tell anybody. I have a feeling that whoever knows about this could be in danger."

"Well, you just further confirmed my theory."

"What theory?"

"I told you that I was looking for a human-like creature with reptile skin, right? Well, I found it, we fought, but then somebody claiming to be from the government shot it and fled. Mason and I took the dead creature to Dr. Martinez. She was going to run some tests on it. However, last night, there was a power outage in the hospital. They lost primary power for 30 minutes. When they got power back on, the dead creature's corpse had been stolen from the lab. Fortunately, the doctor was able to recover a blood sample from the clothes that the creature was wearing. Anyway, she found high amounts of the same radioactive chemical found on Baby X. That's when she mentioned that you were looking at where in Turk County was the chemical coming from. And now, with what you found in the air force base, we know where this military project is taking place."

"What made you suspect the military were involved in the first place?"

"Well, let's see, the two government agents that killed the creature, the creature itself had a thick hide that was almost bullet-proof..."

"Wait, I thought you said the creature was shot."

"Yes, ballistics found that the bullets used were very rare, especially designed for some new high-powered military guns used only by the US government. Oh, and there's also the clothes that the creature was wearing. The tag on them said "Property of US Army.""

"I'd say those are some pretty clear clues. I'm surprised that they were so sloppy"

"Probably the budget cuts are getting to them. And they probably just kill whoever finds out about their secret stuff anyway. Or maybe that's being too paranoid."

"No, it's not." said Ted.

"So what do we do?"

"We investigate personally. We cannot tell anybody else, because there's no telling with who we are dealing with and what they are capable of. We have to be sure this is the cause of the abnormalities and sickness in Turk County. And if it is, we have to find a way to stop it."

"So, any ideas?"

"Actually, a few come to mind..."

Inside the control room, the two men tried to stay awake. They hated the night shift. Nothing was on TV, not that they were allowed to watch it anyway. All they did was look at computer screens, monitor outside cameras and make sure the cages were locked. However, this night, something took them out of their boredom abruptly; all the screens went blank at the same time.

"I just lost power! Engage pneumatic backup power for the cages!"

"Done! I'm trying to bring the rest back on auxiliary, but it's not working!"

"What the hell is happenning?"

"I don't know...it's like...a magnetic field effect. Nothing electronic will function!"

"Wake up the Colonel!"

"It worked!" thought Jack. "Why am I surprised? My father is a genius."

He activated the anti-magnetic device his father had attached to the cosmic staff, and took flight towards the now dark air force base. When he was approaching the old base, he flew close to the ground. Starman descended inside the base, behind one of the old hangars. A security camera looked lifeless at him.

"All right, let's do some investigating."

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Colonel, we are experiencing some sort of magnetic field effect that is killing all the electrical equipment. The cages are secured with pneumatic, though."

"What's the status of the XY-21?"

"The cage is secure,sir. The monitoring systems are also on-line."

The colonel walked in circles, thinking.

"Who has the technology to do this?"

"The Russians, maybe. Or it could be one of ours."

"Or somebody else. Send the men outside the base and rake every inch. However is doing this can't be far away."

"Yes, sir."

"And wake up every available soldier. Make sure we don't have an intruder."

Starman walked quietly inside one of the abandoned buildings. The place was empty with no indications of recent use at all. Then, he heard a loud clanging noise. He hid in the dark, and saw how a hidden door in a wall was opened up from inside. Five men ran out of what appeared to be a hidden elevator with guns in hand and headed outside. After they were gone, Jack walked towards the elevator. The lights inside were out, but he could see that a button had been pressed that said "pneumatic" on it. He pressed the button again, and closed the elevator door.

The elevator started going down to apparently a subterranean floor. When it stopped, Jack opened the door. It opened into a hallway. Starman looked around and saw corridors and doors. It was obvious that this area had been built after the building that was on top of it. The hallways were dark, with the only lights being some emergency lights on the wall every thirty feet. Quickly, Starman set out through the metal corridors, taking advantage of the fact that all the security cameras were dead. The hallways were empty, so he figured everybody was outside looking for the cause of the blackout. The metal hallways had big, metal doors every twenty feet with a computer pad on it. He tried opening some of the doors, but so far the ones he tried were impossible to open. He figured they must be pneumatically locked, since the computer pads were beeping and bleeping and said "malfunction" on the screen. Finally, he saw a big metal door that did not have a computer pad on it. It was locked with a good old lock. Starman picked the lock in less than a minute, a skill he learned in his misspent teenage years, and walked inside the dark room. He fired his staff to provide some light. He was in what looked like a file room, with two dozen file cabinets set against the wall.

"Talk about luck!" Jack said, as he started digging into the files.

He saw big folders with the words "Highly Confidential" stamped on top of them. He quickly glanced at the contents inside, just looking at a random page for a second and focusing on key words and phrases.

"genetic experiment"... "ultimate soldier XY-21"... "selected animal genes"... "limited success"... "human and animal mutations"... "early embryo intervention"... "subject died after a few days"... "ultimate secrecy"

Then, he heard something. He looked towards the door and was suddenly looking at a gun being pointed to his face. A woman dressed in military clothing stood on the doorway pointing at Starman with a machine gun.

"Don't move or I'll blow your brains off!"

Inside the control room, the Colonel was angrily giving out orders to the pair.

"What the hell is the problem? Why have we not heard from anyone?"

"Well, sir, all the airborne communications are down because of the electromagnetic disturbance."

"I know that, you moron! They are supposed to fire a flare when they find where it's coming from, and we have not seen any yet! Whatever is causing it cannot be that far!"

The Colonel paced around the room, with two hands behind his back. Then, he stopped.

"Call our backup helicopter unit in Savage Field and tell them to check the airspace above us. This pulse may be coming from above, a helicopter maybe."

"But sir, the radios are not working, I cannot call them through the radio."

"Are you the dumbest man on earth? Use the damn telephone land line!"

Starman pleaded with the woman in a soft voice.

"Okay. I'm coming out. Don't shoot."

"Put your weapon on the floor!"

Starman put his staff on the floor.

"Get out into the hallway!"

Starman walked out of the file room. He walked slowly, without making sudden movements. Once in the hallway, he kept on talking and turned to where the soldier was facing him, her back towards the file room.

"Don't shoot, please."

"Shut up! Who are you and what at are you doing here?"

"I...well..."

"You look familiar."

"Are you coming on to me?"

The woman pushed the gun hard against Starman's head.

"I hate funny guys." she said.

Meanwhile, through the corner of his eye Starman was looking at his staff inside the room. Using the mental connection that his father had devised, he lifted the rod from the floor, and aimed it towards the woman's back.

"My ex-boyfriend was a funny guy." she said

"I'm sorry" Jack said. Then, he mentally instructed the staff to fire a stun ray. The woman fell instantly to the floor.

"Sorry to shoot you in the back, but you should wake up in a few hours with just a headache." Jack said. He ran back in the file room and started taking files, but he heard voices closing in. Activating his staff, he took flight, looking for an exit. Starman took a right turn in a corner, and stared straight into the eyes of five men with big machine guns.

"What the ...?"One of the soldiers said after seeing a flying man with a glowing staff.

Starman quickly did a 180 and headed back the way he came, with a rain of bullets behind.

"This is not good!" Jack thought. "Think, Jackie!"

A quick thought popped into his mind, and he quickly acted on it. With his staff, he blew up the metal doors in front of him, hoping that whatever was inside them could create enough of a diversion. Soon enough, he started hearing growling, shouts and gunfire.

Starman turned his attention to finding an exit, when from out of a corner, a wooden stick was swung and hit him in the head. Jack fell on the floor, his staff landing a few feet away. Raising his eyes, he saw a huge, muscular man walking towards him.

"You're the one causing all the commotion? Ha! I can break you with one hand!" The tall soldier said.

Before Jack could react, the soldier kicked Jack brutally. Starman was able to grab the giant's leg and throw him off balance. Starman sprang up and kicked the soldier in the jaw. The man looked more surprised than hurt, as he received a right hand to the stomach. Now visibly angry, the man grabbed Starman as if he was a ragdoll, and threw him against the wall.

"Now you've really made me mad!" The tall man shouted.

"Oh yeah? Well, come on, I'm just getting warmed up, you big ape!" Starman shouted back.

The big soldier came at him with punches flying. Starman stepped back, blocking and ducking each blow. Then, Jack crouched down and did a sweeping kick that knocked the giant to the floor. Quickly, Jack jumped on top of the man, and delivered a special hand chop to the man's neck. Immediately, the soldier passed out.

"Thank you, Batman." Jack thought. Without wasting time, he got up and took his staff. The sounds of soldiers were now closer, and he needed to get out of here fast! He saw that the last door he had blasted open was only a few feet away. Nothing or no one had come out of that room, so he figured it was empty. There were voices closing in from both ends of the hallway, so Starman had no choice than to investigate the room, and hope for an exit. He stepped inside the dark room and was not able to see anything.

However, in the darkness, he could hear animal sounds. He turned on the light from the staff, and saw what looked like trees inside a big auditorium.

"Ohh, this is weird."Jack thought.

Just then, he heard more noises, and what seemed to be the flapping of wings.

Ted Knight hovered over the old air force base in his cosmic-powered vehicle. He was using the cloud cover to hide and transmit an electromagnetic wave that would render the base's electrical power inoperative. Then, he saw them coming. Two helicopters were headed in his direction. They had not seen him yet, but it would not be long before they did. He knew his vehicle was no match for two combat helicopters.

"You're on your own now, son." He said, as he started flying back towards Opal City.

The control room operators quickly saw the change.

"Sir, we have power back on!"

"Get updates from the field!"

"Err...they say there appears to be an intruder inside the complex, sir."

"Well, find him!"

It did not take long for the operator to find the figure in a jacket and goggles with a big glowing staff.

"We found him. It's Starman, sir."

"Where is he?"

"He is in the OZ cell."

"Get somebody there immediately!"

"Sir, they seem to be busy trying to get some specimens back to their cells. Apparently, Starman blew open some of the cell doors."

The Colonel banged his fist against the console.

"Well, at least we know where he is, and he'll have his hands full in a second anyway."

A few seconds before, the lights came back on in the room where Starman stood. He could now see clearly that he was in a room as big as a basketball court, with what seemed to be a small jungle of trees in the middle of the room. He looked for exits, but was unable to find any. Then, sitting on the tree branches, he saw half a dozen animals looking at him. There were monkeys, although they looked bigger than normal ones.

"Monkeys? Whew! I was scared of what I was going to run into." Jack thought.

One of the monkeys hissed menacingly and opened his mouth, showing big, sharp teeth.

"Whoa, some pretty scary teeth you got there, buddy."

Then, the monkey stood up and spread out what looked like bat wings growing from its back.

"Oh man, something tells me I'm not in Kansas anymore!" Jack said, as the big monkey took flight towards him, with big claws coming out of its fingers.

Part Three:

The giant monkey was heading straight towards Starman. He took up flight himself, and maneuvered out of the monkey's path. But then, he heard the flapping of more wings. The sound of bat wings was almost deafening. He tried to head for the door, but it was too late. A monkey bit down on his right leg while the others swiped their claws at him.

"Damn, this thing's got sharp teeth!"

With his staff, Starman hit the monkey-bat away from his leg. Then, another monkey grabbed him from behind. It put its two hands in Starman's face, blinding him. Starman tried in vain to shake it off. A second later, he felt teeth in his neck, and the hot oozing sensation of blood. He panicked for a second while he was grabbed, bitten and cut by razor-sharp claws all over his body.

Blindly, he swung his staff, hitting a few monkeys. With the sharp edge of the staff, he hit the monkey on his head repeatedly, which finally retreated with a shriek.

Able to see again, Starman fired his staff at the flying primates, sending them all back to regroup.

Frantically, Starman started working the controls of the staff.

"I hope this works! I've never done this before!" He thought to himself. He aimed the staff at the mass of flying monkeys now coming his way with a vengeance. Punching a few buttons and codes, he fired. The staff instantly created a forcefield that trapped the monkeys inside it. They gnawed and clawed at the energy walls, unable to get out.

Starman smiled, and started to back away towards the door. As he was about to exit the room, he felt a sting in his neck. His eyelids became very heavy, and he started feeling drowsy. Then, everything went black.

With difficulty, Jack Knight opened his eyes. The lights in this place were hurting him, so he tried to shield himself with his hands. However, he was unable to. That is when he realized that he was sitting in a chair, with arms and legs tied to it.

"Damn, not again! I don't believe this!" Jack thought

He started to twist, trying to get out of his bonds, but the ropes were tightly secured. He looked around trying to find his cosmic staff. He saw it on a far corner of the room. He tried to make it respond to his mental instructions, but Jack could not concentrate enough to do it.

"He's awake, sir." A voice said.

A tall man dressed in military clothes walked towards Jack.

"I'm sure you are trying to activate your weapon with your mind, but it will not work. We have injected you with a drug that will prevent you from triggering it mentally. That drug is also the reason why you are probably feeling a little disoriented."

"Yeah, feels like a bad hangover" thought Jack

"We wouldn't want you to leave without us having a chance to talk." The man said.

"You must be the bad guy." Jack said.

"If that's how you prefer to call me, yes. I think of myself more like a proud servant of this country and a protector of its well-being."

"Yeah, right."

"You are in no position to talk like that, Starman. In fact, if you had been someone else, you would be dead by now."

"So why am I still alive?"

"Your father. He was a superhero, and still has many superhero friends who would come investigating if you were to die. That is a kind of attention that we do not want."

"So what are you going to do then?"

"I don't know, yet."

"Well, why don't you humor me in the meantime and tell me what the hell is going on in this place?"

"I think you already have a good idea. Why don't you tell me?"

"Oh I know hardly anything, really. All I know is that I was just attacked by monkeys with bat wings."

"Flying Monkeys, yes. I personally appealled for that project. I'll be honest with you, there were some valid reasons to try it, but I wanted to do it because I loved The Wizard of OZ when I was a kid."

"Yeah, well, most people would have been satisfied with renting the movie."

The tall man looked at Jack silently.

"Let's get serious, though." Starman said.

"Yes, why don't we?"

"What do you have to do with the creature that was killed in Oldtown last night?"

"That was a failed experiment that got away from us, part of our XY program. It was one of the first ones, so we expected mixed results. We had used a local girl to bring the fetus to term, while we injected the necessary chemicals into the mother's bloodstream. The growth after it was born was amazing. All the desired characteristics were accomplished too. But the creature was too docile, too human. It was obvious it would not be a killing machine as expected. So it was abandoned and neglected, and a few days ago, it managed to escape."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Isn't it obvious? National Security. The development of a new arsenal in our country's defense: genetically altered soldiers and creatures."

"Our tax money at work, huh?"

"Sort of. This program is of the highest secrecy. Extremely few people in the Pentagon know about it. Not even the President knows about it. But yes, we manage to get funds, some of it from the taxpayers."

"And what about the cases of child deformities and sickness in Turk County?"

"That are just unfortunate accidents. Our storage tanks sometimes leak, or partially rupture. We believe that some of the leaked chemicals have ended in the area's water supply, creating the so-called "freak cases" and some incidences of cancer. Fortunately, we have been able to fuel speculation that those cases were due to the nearby petrochemical plant, so it all worked out in the end."

"It all worked out? What about the children that have died? Or the people that have been denied a normal life?"

"Don't be so dramatic, Starman. That is just part of the price we have to pay for ensuring our country's position as the primary military power in the world. It's all for the common good."

"You really believe that, don't you? You are a ..."

"I'd be careful what I say, if I were you. You wouldn't want to get on my bad side."

"You have a good side?"

"OK, enough of this shit. You know too much, Starman, and we just can't let you go out there with all that knowledge. It's been nice knowing you. Good-bye."

"Wait!"

The tall man started walking away. Two soldiers walked towards Starman with rifles in hand. They aimed their weapons at Starman.

"This is it." Jack thought. Then, he felt a sharp blow to his head, and everything went black again.

Two soldiers stood inside the observation room. In front of them, a reinforced glass wall separated the room from another larger room.

"So where is it?" The young soldier said.

"It's hiding behind the trees" the other soldier responded.

Inside the larger room there was an "indoor jungle". The large room was dark, so the young soldier could see barely anything. The only sign of life inside the large room was the animal sounds that permeated the darkness inside.

"Is it as bad as they say?"

"The XY-21? Worst. Do you know why they assigned you with me?"

"No."

"The guy that worked with me had been guarding the XY-21 for years, and a few days ago, got too comfortable. When they were going to feed the thing, he got too close and..."

The conversation was interrupted by the opening of a door behind them.

"I'll tell you later." The soldier whispered.

Into the observation room walked the colonel along with an older man also dressed in military uniform.

"What's the status again, Colonel?"

"We are in phase red, sir. The intruder has been dealt with, and we are cleaning up here and getting ready to transport everything to the primary facility."

"When will the facility be cleared?"

"We are looking at four more hours. By then, all the underground areas will be completely empty and elevators will be dismantled. If somebody ever finds the underground structure, we will tell them that it is an old nuclear shelter built during the cold war. We are also emptying the storage tanks of all chemicals, and any chemical residues in the area will be cleaned. No one will be able to tie the chemicals found in the groundwater to us. The cases of deformities and sickness in the area will stop, but everybody will think that it's because the petrochemical plant finally cleaned up its act."

"Good. What is the condition of our friend here?"The older man looked through the glass searching for it.

"The creature is in perfect shape. All the recent tests indicate enormous potential for it in both covert military operations and in warlike settings."

"I don't care about all your other freak show creatures, colonel. I only care about the XY-21. We have spent a lot of money on it, and we are expecting to get back all that you promised. So make sure that it gets safely to its new home, colonel."

"Will do, sir. And we expect that in a few weeks we will be able to try the first cloning trial with it."

"Fine, just don't fail me again, Colonel, or it's your ass."

"Yes, sir." The colonel seemed uneasy.

"Is there anything else you need to tell me, colonel?"

"Well, yes." The colonel said almost stuttering. "When we had the incident with Starman, he released some of the creatures from its cages. We managed to capture most of the creatures, but...one of the smaller creatures was able to escape. My team is looking for it right now and we are confident that it will be caught very soon, before it makes any contact with humans. We have people all around Turk County looking for it, sir, and it is just a matter of time before we catch it."

The older man sighed, then laughed.

"You've had a rough week, haven't you, colonel?"

"Err, yes, I guess you could say that."

"First, the XY-3 escapes and you have to kill it right in the middle of Opal City. Then, Starman infiltrates your base and creates havoc, and now, you lose another creature. It's almost funny. Almost."

"I apologize,sir. It will not happen again."

"Give me your gun, colonel."

"My gun?"

The older man laughed. "Yes. With your recent bad luck, you might injure yourself with it!"

The colonel chuckled. He took his gun out and handed it over to the older man. The older man took the gun. A shot was heard. The colonel, feeling something wet, looked down to his stomach, where a red spot was growing. He looked up at the older man, and then collapsed.

"You're fired, colonel." The older man said and started to walk away. One of the soldiers raised a hand, as if asking for permission, and asked timidly.

"Sir, what do we do with him? Err, he does not appear to be dead yet."

The older man looked at the soldier. Then he looked through the glass wall. A low growl was heard. Two yellow eyes were floating inside the darkness.

"I think that our friend, the XY-21, is hungry."

Jack Knight opened his eyes with difficulty. The bright white lights blinded him for a second, but his eyes adjusted quickly. Standing in front of him was his father, with a concerned look on his face. Jack realized he was in a hospital bed. The room was empty, except for Ted Knight, who walked over to his side.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. My head hurts a little. How did I get here?"

"You tell me, son."

"Well,...I don't know." Jack thought for a minute. "The last thing I remember is landing on the air force base. I don't remember anything else after that."

"Hmm."

"What happenned, dad?"

"I don't know, son. I got a call saying you were in the hospital. When I got here a few minutes ago, the man that had brought you here had left already. He told the nurses that you were found inside the base with a head injury and gave them a dubious explanation."

"What did he say?"

" He said you were roaming around the base. They thought you were an intruder, so they tried to stop you. During the subsequent fight, you hit your head and lost consciousness. Before they could get to you, the security dogs bit you in several places. They then held you in an office until their chief supervisor came to see who the intruder was. He recognized you, and ordered an employee to bring you here to Meskin Medical. They want to know what you were doing in their property, but will not press charges of trespass."

"And you do not believe any of that."

"No. Just the fact that you do not remember anything is highly suspicious. The doctors say there are cases of temporary amnesia, but I don't think that's the case here."

"Well, let's go to the base with the police and find out what they are doing there."

"Ahh, whatever was there is probably gone by now. They probably cleaned the whole place up, and are heading somewhere else to set shop. You being involved probably turned the heat on too much for them."

"Err, why did they not kill me?"

"I'm guessing because of the Starman name. You know, you being a public figure and a superhero..."

"So that's it? We cannot prove anything?"

Ted Knight sighed and looked at his son.

"Probably not."

"That sucks..."

Jack lay back on his bed, looking at his cosmic staff that leaned against a wall.

At that same time, Sue Ellen sat in her rocking chair looking at the night sky. Then, a carnival of trucks started passing in front of her house. Truck after truck hugged the road, each one said "Aeronautics Supply" on their side.

"That's weird" she thought "I wonder what's goin' on."

Then she heard the flapping of wings.

"Now what is that? Sounds like another damn bat." She said. Sue Ellen stood up and walked down the porch steps. The only things she saw were the stars in the sky. Then, she heard a shriek behind her. She turned and saw a monkey with big bat wings coming towards her, with shrieks of death and claws shining in the moonlight!