Starman: David Knight: Legacy

[DocQuantum]

Prologue

by Doc Quantum

From the Shade's journal:

By March, 1989, David Knight had been the new Starman for over three years. He had also shared the title of Starman with his father Ted Knight for more than half of that time since the elder Knight's return in the summer of 1987.

The tension that had arisen between the father and son, where there had been none before, was resolved that summer when the two agreed to divide their time as Starman. Since they still had secret identities to protect, they decided to let the public think that there had only ever been one Starman protecting Opal City, except for the brief time when young Jack Knight had taken on the role. Starman's time with Infinity Inc. was easily explained away as an adviser from the Justice Society assisting the California-based team with its transition after the Crisis; this was believable, since the elder Knight's contemporaries, Johnny Quick and Liberty Belle, had likewise acted as advisers during the same period.

Still, though the two men had agreed to divide their time as Starman, there were times when one man was playing the role and the other was needed. This caused problems only occasionally. Jack had taken a more reasoned approach; as the new Star-Spangled Kid, he had taken David's old membership in Infinity, Inc., and he had made that role his own. No one could mistake him for Sylvester Pemberton.

But David Knight would turn thirty years of age in a year's time, and he had begun to wonder if he would ever be able to step out of his father's immense shadow. He had sacrificed his own career in order to take over Knight Industries in his father's absence, he had taken up the role of Starman, and he had even filled his father's membership in the Justice Society of America. With Ted Knight back in all three roles, David began to feel useless.

Still, he loved being Starman, and he had no desire to give that up. Was there a way for him to continue doing what he'd been born to do while also becoming his own man? That was the question that had increasingly plagued his mind as of late.

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 1

by Dave Barnowski

0936H Sunday March 5th 1989. Opal City Maryland

He lay in his bed, trying desperately to remain asleep, but he could only reach the threshold of consciousness. He tried desperately to dive deeper back into the arms of Morpheus, but the pain in his body kept him awake. With a groan, David Knight opened his eyes -- actually only one of them, as his right eye was swollen shut.

Rolling out of bed, David painfully went to the bathroom. As his mind began to stir, he went over last night's patrol. The Barracudas, Opal City's most violent street gang, had been growing exponentially over the last several years, absorbing several other gangs, and was now the largest in the city. Starman had been Opal's resident hero since the early 1940s, but Ted Knight had drifted into semi-retirement in the 1970s and even completely disappeared for a time after the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

David's father was a scientific genius who created a magnificent device in the 1940s called the gravity rod, which gave him all sorts of abilities. Ted could fly, attract or repel objects, and fire energy bursts from his rod, though he was largely limited to using it at night when it was empowered by the stars and was most powerful. But Starman had retired shortly after World War II. David had heard vague rumors that his father suffered from depression back then, but never saw it firsthand, and his father never confided in him about his personal life.

Ted Knight might have retired as Starman, but he continued to tinker with the gravity rod over the next couple of decades, and by the 1960s he had replaced it with the far more powerful cosmic rod. David's younger brother Jack was on the west Coast as the Star-Spangled Kid, a member of Infinity Inc using the prototype of the Cosmic Rod code name while David took his father's code-name and the latest model of the Cosmic Rod during his father's disappearance.

David Knight neglected the city and its crime problem as he chased the glory of fighting the costumed villain. He was even invited to join the JSA. He found he enjoyed being Starman and remained in that role when his father returned was now somewhat active as Starman. David was grateful his father was back. He briefly thought about putting down the Cosmic Rod and going back designing computer hardware but he enjoyed helping people as well as the spotlight of being a hero. His father tried to slip back into semi-retirement but for one reason or another Ted Knight kept putting on the Starman costume.

David and his father had even fought the Glisten Gang and new Prairie Witch together, all the while maintaining the illusion of a single Starman. This was not always easy to accomplish, given the fact that his dad's mastery of the Cosmic Rod was amazing, while David was still learning how to use the weapon most effectively. Occasionally Ted would make solitary sojourns out into space and be gone for months at a time. It was during one of these times that the Barracudas came to the notice of David Knight.

It was a Sunday morning a month ago when he read an exposé in the Sunday newspaper. There the editorial board excoriated Opal City's Starman for not fighting the street gang that had been plaguing Opal's inner city for decades. David decided then to take down the Barracudas as an answer to paper's public rebuke to him and his father.

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 2

by Dave Barnowski

1107H Sunday March 5th 1989. Opal City Maryland

The hot shower felt wonderful. David knew he needed several ice packs even more than he needed the cleansing of the shower but he wanted to clean off the dirt and blood that caked his face and body. He was grateful the mirrors were all steamed when he stepped out of the shower. He wasn't quite ready to deal with his multiple wounds, cuts, and bruises the barracudas had inflicted on him last night.

David had been waging an almost daily battle with the Barracudas for the last month. He had smashed several of their drug running operations. Closed down half a dozen of the book making operations and squeezed them out of their protection rackets in three fifths of the city. He man he was really after was Ramon march.

Ramon March was head of the Barracudas. He was thirty–two years old with ruggedly handsome looks. He had a warm smile that totally hid a totally ruthless nature. He rose to the top of the Barracudas five years earlier when he killed the previous leader of the Barracudas, along with all of his lieutenants. Ramon put his own people in to the Barracuda leadership and then three years ago started to wage war on the other gangs in Opal. Now even the mob deferred to him. All this happened while the heroes were concerned with red skies and events on a planet wide – universal – scale if one believed the papers.

Ramon scoffed at the idea Starman; he never came down into the Barrio. He never helped the poorer people of the city. He helped the rich white folks. That's what his Granma always told him Starman and all the other costumed do-gooders. So Ramon march kept the Barracudas out of the richer sections of Opal City. If Starman didn't bother him he wouldn't kill Starman.

But then Starman started attacking his business every night and most days as well. He was losing millions. Worse the Razors were starting to creep into his territory. He had to put a stop to that. But first he had to kill Starman.

His chief advisor Louis advised against it. Louis had come from Gotham City. Once you get in the sights of the masks it is best to lie low until they get distracted by some other fool that like to play dress up. And if you kill one mask they'll all come down on you. The Barracudas didn't need Superman coming after them.

But Ramon had made up his mind the second week of Starman's one-man war against his organization. Louis continued to advise a cutback in operations until Starman was distracted. It always happened he said. That was how come there were still gangs in Metropolis. Ramon didn't listen to Louis's caution; instead he planned a trap for Starman. He was tempted to kill Louis because the man was so vehement in his disagreement with Ramon.

It took a week but the Barracudas were finally ready for the showdown with Starman. Actually it was an ambush but Ramon always called it a showdown. For it he called in a specialist from Las Vegas called the Roper.

The Roper was supposed to be the nephew of some super villain from the 1940's who fought somebody called the Star Spangled Kid. Maybe the guy's fought Starman too. Starman was supposed to be an old man. Ramon planned on him being a dead man soon.

The plan was simple, him men were going back to the street corners were they had been selling dope for years; street corners which Starman had recently chased them from. The Roper didn't wear any funky costume. But he did wear a black Stetson hat and matching cowboy boots with nice custom made black suit with a white shirt and red Bolo tie. He sat in a nearby car with riata next to him.

Ramon was actually on the street waiting for tonight's action. He usually stayed out of fights but he planned on personally killing Starman tonight.

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 3

by Doc Quantum

David Knight exited the shower and saw himself in the steamed mirror. He'd forgotten to turn on the ceiling fan again. As he looked at his blurred image in the mirror, he realized for the thousandth time that he really did look a lot like his dad. He was the same build and the same height; the only real differences were David's hair color and his age. While Ted Knight's hair was black with some gray at the sides, David's hair was chestnut brown, like his mother's; Doris Lee Knight had been a real beauty in her day. His father looked a few decades younger than his true age, with some small wrinkles on his face to indicate his age, but from far away they were nearly identical in their Starman costumes. The public never saw Starman up close, anyway; Starman traditionally operated at night, since the cosmic rod was slightly weakened by direct sunlight. Unlike Superman, Starman never really did many public events or interviews with the media, either. In Opal City, only Starman's allies, Police Commissioner O'Dare, and a few cops were even aware that Starman was actually two Starmen, and their relationship as father and son was known to even fewer.

Thanks to his nightly activities as of late, David had another physical difference from his father, as he saw when he looked at his back in the mirror. It was one big bruise of a blue-gray color, which was much larger than any of the other bruises and cuts he had over his body from the last few weeks of work. He winced as he remembered how he'd gotten it, thanks to accidentally letting go of the cosmic rod at a bad time.

David didn't know how his father kept that cosmic rod in his hands at all times. He'd had a few close calls over the last three years while using it, and he could understand why Sylvester Pemberton had eagerly used the cosmic rod in a belt form as the cosmic converter belt. There was little chance of a belt slipping off at the worst possible moment. But that blasted cosmic rod had a tendency to drop from his hands during battle.

Oh, it was built in with safeguards. There was a magnetic lock that kept it at wrist level at all times, or at least that's what it was supposed to do. In reality, the magnet could be interfered with by any number of things.

In his spare time, David had been tinkering around with a new design for the cosmic rod technology. He'd miniaturized it a bit more, just as his father had done over the years, and was toying around with creating not a cosmic converter belt like the one Patriot used, but cosmic gauntlets that he wore around his arms.

The only problem, of course, was that changing the technology he used would break the illusion that he and his father had created that there was only one Starman. After all, it would look suspicious if, one night Starman was using his traditional cosmic rod, his new cosmic gauntlets the second night, and the cosmic rod again on the third night.

A phone call interrupted his reverie.

Quickly pulling on a towel, David Knight left the bathroom and picked up the nearest receiver.

"Hello?"

"Hello, tiger. I just flew into town, and you're going to take me dancing tonight."

"I'm sorry, miss, you must have the wrong number."

"Oh? You mean this isn't the male escort agency? I must have gotten my numbers mixed up. My boyfriend will be so angry when he finds out..."

"I'll bet he will, miss." David chuckled.

"Seriously, though, tiger -- we're going out tonight," said his girlfriend. "I won't take no for an answer."

David sighed and said, "Sorry, babe. I can't do anything tonight. I'm on a case right now, and I've got a few leads I really need to pursue."

"Oh, was that you I saw falling from a third-story apartment on the news last night? I thought that was your dad."

"Ha-ha. Very funny. You know how much I hate it when my friends get us mixed up. It's bad enough that we have to maintain this charade of one Starman for the public."

"Y'know, tiger, you could always... skip it tonight. Or maybe let your dad take over."

"Can't. He's out of town at the moment."

"What about the Kid? Doesn't he still split his time between here and L.A.?"

"Yeah, but he just got back to California after staying out here for two weeks. Sly had to threaten to dock his pay to get him to go back to Stellar Studios."

"That guy is such a stiff."

"Hey, don't talk that way about Sylvester," David said, almost defensively. "He's like an older brother to me."

His girlfriend sighed. "You know the only costumed do-gooder I can even tolerate being in the same room with is you, tiger. Well, maybe your dad, too. But the rest of them just make my skin crawl, even now that I'm on the side of the angels."

"Well, considering that most of my friends tend to be costumed do-gooders, and most of your friends tend to be bad guys and gals, you and I would have the most awkward wedding ever."

She laughed. "Tiger, that almost sounded like a proposal."

"Almost," laughed David. "But not quite. Don't worry, I know you want to take this slow."

"And you know why," she said, a bit more seriously. "It could lead to a lot of complications between our families. Can you imagine my dad and your dad shaking hands at the reception? What kind of conversation would that be like?"

"Oh, you mean ol' 'Crusher' Crock isn't my biggest fan?" said David. "I'm shocked."

"Seriously, though, you know we could never have a big wedding. I'm thinking we elope."

"Elope? That sounds better than the inevitable superhero/super-villain fight that would erupt at the reception."

"If that time ever comes, of course," his girlfriend amended.

"Oh, of course, of course," said David, wearing a big smile on his face.

"Well, I gotta go, tiger, but if you change your mind, give me a call at the usual place."

"Will do."

"Or maybe I should just tag along?" she said. "Wouldn't it raise a few eyebrows to see Starman teaming up with the infamous Artemis Crock, daughter of the Sportsmaster and the Tigress?"

"That would surprise a few people -- but anyone who knows me well enough knows how I feel about you."

"Awww... tiger, you know I hate that sappy stuff. It's sweet that you keep trying to get away with it, though."

"I'll wear you down eventually," David said with a grin.

"Well, on that note, I'll see you later?"

"Definitely," said David. "Let's get together for lunch tomorrow."

"It's a date. Ciao, tiger."

"Talk to you soon. 'Bye."

David hung up the phone and went to his room to dress, all the painful cuts and bruises completely swept from his mind.

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 4

by Doc Quantum

A frail-looking, white-haired, middle-aged man with a tightly trimmed mustache peered over his spectacles at a folder full of business papers. He wore a finely tailored business suit, and over that a heavy winter coat. It was a sunny day and unusually warm for that time of year, but it was still too chilly for the thin man.

"I don't understand why David always insists on meeting me outdoors," he muttered to himself.

"It's because I know this is the only way I can get you to leave your stuffy little office and go outside, Jules," said a voice.

Jules Black looked up to see David Knight approaching him with a smile. The young man was dressed in a casual blue golf shirt and black slacks. But there was something different about him today. "My word!" Jules cried. "David, what have you been doing to yourself? You're covered with bruises and cuts!"

"Oh, this?" said David nonchalantly. "I hadn't really noticed. Must've been a bit too rambunctious during my workout last night."

"Uh-huh," said Jules with disbelief. "And would this 'workout' happened to have involved a street gang by the name of the Barracudas, perchance?" he added with a whisper.

David's only reply was a sly smile. Jules Black had been the Knight family attorney and business adviser for decades and was a longtime friend of his father's who knew the family secret. Jules had been an invaluable resource to David during his father's absence, when he took charge of Knight Industries and the companies under its umbrella, including KnightTech.

"Hmm. Yes, well, let's go over this new business, shall we?" said Jules, returning to the folder.

"I hope this is important, Jules," said David. "You know I like to keep my weekends free from work."

"Yes, though I see that doesn't preclude you from your nightly work, does it?" said Jules, raising one eyebrow. "Anyway, yes, this is important, since it concerns KnightTech. Patrick Morse's wife called me last night; I'm afraid he's just suffered from a massive coronary."

"Really?" said David with concern. "That's horrible! Will he be all right?"

"It was touch and go for a moment, there, but he'll live," said Jules. "But he'll have to step down as president of KnightTech."

David thought back a few years to when he'd first met Patrick. In the early 1980s, just after he graduated from college, he'd been bumming around Europe as a last-ditch attempt to retain his youth before he buckled down into a steady career. While visiting the United Kingdom, David's father had asked him to meet him in London. Ted Knight was planning to buy out a U.K.-based company called Nebula Technologies, which had been founded by Patrick Morse, an old friend of Ted's. The company had suffered some setbacks, and Patrick knew he would have to lay off a lot of people if he was going to keep it from going completely bankrupt. With the creditors knocking on the doors of Nebula Technologies, Ted Knight swooped in as a white knight and offered to buy out the company, which would become the main branch of KnightTech, which until then had been a tiny company that Ted had dabbled with over the years. Patrick agreed to remain on as president, and he was given a large shareholding of the company to sweeten the deal. David liked Patrick, and he was impressed by the way that Patrick and his father had managed to make the new KnightTech into what it was today: a world-leading technology company to rival STAR Labs.

Patrick Morse himself was a good man. David remembered him as a balding gentleman with a keen sense of humor and a quick smile, but who liked working in the lab more than heading up the board room. He was a lot like Ted Knight in that way. David had worked with Patrick in the year and a half that Ted had been missing. Patrick would be missed.

"I wanted to tell you about this before the Monday meeting," continued Jules after the news had sunk in. "We'll have to search for a replacement, of course. But I wanted to let you know first."

"Thank you, Jules. I appreciate that."

"You know, David, I hate to impose, but would you ever consider heading up KnightTech in London?"

"Me?" said David, astonished at the idea. "Leave Opal for London?"

"It could be temporary, of course," Jules quickly added, "if you didn't want to stay. It's just that, well, you seem to be floundering these days, David. You really came into your own during that first year when your father was missing. You gave Knight Industries a new vitality. I think you might be able to do the same with KnightTech. And perhaps, if you decide to relocate to London -- temporarily or not -- we might be able to convince your father not to leave Opal for such long periods of time."

"I don't know, Jules," said David. "Opal is my home. Except for university and my backpacking days in Europe, I've never wanted to live anywhere else."

"Please tell me you'll at least consider it," said Jules.

"That I'll do," said David. "But I don't want you to mention anything to the board of directors just yet. Even if it was temporary, it's still a major step that I'll have to think about."

"Of course, David," said Jules. "Now, about these TPS reports; we've had a few anomalies, and quite frankly, I--"

"Those TPS reports will have to wait until Monday as well, Jules," said David, rising from his seat.

"Where are you going?" asked Jules. "I ordered lunch just before you got here: red pepper and goat cheese frittata!"

David shrugged his shoulders. "Have them pack it up, and bring it home to your wife. It's Sunday, Jules! Let's continue our discussion -- on Monday."

"Very well," said Jules. "But I hope you'll have come up with a better explanation for those cuts and bruises by then."

As David left, Jules shook his head and muttered to himself. "Those Starmen. They'll be the death of me someday..."

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 5

by Doc Quantum

The man now known as the Roper grinned as he anticipated outwitting a famous superhero for the first time in several years. He looked like a young man no older than twenty-five, and thanks to that he had been able to pass himself off as his own nephew. In fact, he was seventy-two years old.

Back in 1948, the man then known as the Rope had just been a former circus performer who decided to use his acrobatic skills and specialized rope tricks to become a thief. He had worn a very plain, skintight green costume with orange shorts, boots, and gloves, and he wore an orange helmet with goggles over his head of brown hair. He had been very successful until he encountered the Star-Spangled Kid, Stripesy, and Merry, the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks. It was the girl, in fact, who had outwitted him and handed him over to the police. And she defeated him again not long after, this time acting solo. Because of that fact, the Rope knew that his reputation was as good as mud.

Getting out of prison five years later, the Rope abandoned his ridiculous-looking costume and decided to relocate to Las Vegas, where he used his famous rope tricks to wow audiences. Meanwhile, he began to cozy up to the Mafia figures he'd met there, and eventually he was approached to commit a theft for one of them. It was a small job, but it led to greater ones, and he slowly began to build a new reputation for himself.

In 1961, during a robbery, he was forced to strangle a guard with his rope to avoid getting caught. His friends in the Mafia made sure that he wasn't tied to the crimes, but that also meant that he owed them. Soon, his jobs began to shift from simple thefts to assisting with kidnappings and extortion. By the time he assisted with a brutal interrogation, torture, and murder of a snitch, the Rope had long since become indifferent toward his victims. He even grew to enjoy it. Certainly the constant flow of money and women made his choice of vocation worthwhile.

But by the 1980s, the Rope had become old, and he had also picked up a gambling problem even as he got less and less work from the Mafia. Thankfully, he had been smart enough not to get in debt with his bosses, but his fortune was dwindling fast.

Then, in late 1985, he heard about a very interesting scheme through the underworld grapevine. A group of super-villains planned to restore the youth of any and all criminals willing to pay a steep fee for it. Most criminals who heard about the scheme scoffed at it and thought it to be just a scam, but the Rope was willing to bet that it was legit. Pooling together all his money, he barely had enough to pay the required fee. But he soon found himself in the middle of a crowded group of criminals, most of them costumed super-villains, who had all paid the fee to restore their misbegotten youth.

The Rope recognized some of them. The Gorilla Boss of Gotham City stood out, as did the Joker, as well as Tweedledee and Tweedledum. There were many more there that he didn't recognize, most of them rather obscure. He was surprised at how few plainclothes criminals had arrived at all, given the stakes involved, but he knew that super-villains and regular criminals rarely mixed.

Then it happened. The villains were all bathed in light, and when the smoke cleared, the years had fallen from them like leaves from a tree. The Rope looked down at his body and found himself a slender young man again, just as fit as he'd been in his prime. He saw himself in the mirrors provided to them and confirmed that he was young again. It was incredible.

But when he returned to Las Vegas, he was a nobody. None of his old friends in the Mafia recognized him as the same man, and after a confusing conversation, he decided not to even try. Instead, he passed himself off as his own nephew and explained that his uncle had decided to retire to the South Seas. Taking this opportunity to redefine himself, he abandoned the name of the Rope and now called himself the Roper. Instead of using any kind of costume, the Roper wore a stylish Western-inspired suit and a black Stetson hat. He also adopted a slight drawl that unnerved his victims.

That was back in 1986. In the three years since then, the Roper had slowly built a reputation as a ruthless specialist in Mafia circles whose lethal rope tricks were handy in a lot of ways. The Roper had even been called in to scare off a minor superhero calling herself La Castiga, granddaughter of a mystery-man called the Whip. The Roper had found that satisfying, since he hadn't ever had a chance to get his revenge on the Girl of a Thousand Gimmicks. That had led to more jobs, some against other superheroes -- none of them famous -- and finally to this one. He would take down Starman.

The Roper wasn't intimidated by the fact that Starman was a member of the Justice Society of America. There were rumors in the underworld that the original Starman had died or retired, and that there was a new Starman now. But the Roper knew from personal experience that it was very possible that the original Starman had either remained young or had regained his youth somehow. None of that mattered, though, because the Roper was essentially acting as a red herring, a distraction to keep Starman busy until Ramon March could get the drop on him.

The young-again villain smiled in anticipation for the events that would unfold tonight. The Roper was on the way up, and not even a Starman could stop him.

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 6

by Dave Barnowski

David Knight finished reading the papers Jules had brought him earlier in the day when he heard a low droning beep coming from his bed room. He sighed because he knew where the sound was coming from. It was an alarm his father had built into the Cosmic Rod to tell him when the rod's battery was running low.

The Cosmic Rod drew its power from the very stars themselves and at night it had an inexhaustible power source in the sky. For some reason the Cosmic Rod was unable to gain any power from Earth's closest star; furthermore the sunlight that emanated from Sol during the day also interfered with the Cosmic Rod's ability to absorb the stellar power. That was main reason that Starman was mainly seen at night.

Back when his father originally became Starman he wielded the Gravity Rod. A marvelous invention in its own right it was only truly effective at night with its power source as the Gravity Rod's power dissipated quickly in sunlight. The Cosmic Rod held its power during the day thanks to a unique battery that Ted Knight developed during the 1950s. This allowed Starman to be active during the day much more often.

Unfortunately the expensive battery had a limited thirty day life before it could no longer recharge each night. David had taken a yearlong supply of from his father's lab when he first took up the Starman mantle. He replenished his supply every year since but had neglected getting this year's supply. Well he thought to himself I better go over to dad's lab and get another cache of batteries.

David drove his Maserati to his father's home. Ted Knight wasn't there but David still had a key. He didn't stop at the mansion where he grew up, but instead went to the place where his fathered went to escape from the troubles of the world. He went to his father's Laboratory.

The lab was the entire down stairs of Ted Knight's personal observatory. David remembered where the batteries were kept. His father was a neat and orderly man everything was in its place. David grabbed his yearly supply of batteries. He turned to leave when he spotted an opened envelope and several papers on his father's desk with one actually on the floor. David was not the type of man who nosed into his father's business but it was so unlike Ted Knight to leave any clutter on his desk. Intrigued David went over to the desk. He picked up the paper on the floor and casually saw that the document was titled the "Last Will and Testament of Brother Arturo Lampera."

Resisting his natural curiosity, David put the document onto the desk and left the observatory with his batteries. He'd read enough papers that day.

[DocQuantum]

Chapter 7

by Doc Quantum

David Knight stared at his face in the mirror as he placed the ice-pack back on the counter, realizing that no amount of makeup in the world could conceal that huge bruise on his face that he'd sustained from his three-story fall and that had become even more swollen over that Sunday afternoon. Only time could heal that bruise, and time was one thing he didn't have.

If he had been simply an ordinary young socialite who'd skied into a tree while on vacation in Aspen, the bruises wouldn't be that big a deal. They would have been merely embarrassing, but he could have laughed them off, as he once had several years ago when that happened to him. Now, however, he was a man of two identities, and both of those identities wore the same face.

As the second Starman, he wore his father's mask-less costume and relied on a combination of light, shadows, and sheer dumb luck to keep from being recognized as David Knight, scion of Opal City's most eminent family. After all, despite trying to play the role of a wealthy playboy, David was still well known for his athleticism in high school and university, and he possessed the same slim but muscular build as Starman, as well as sharing the same height. If David and Starman both appeared in public with huge bruises on their faces at the same time, it would only be a matter of time before the public and the underworld alike put two and two together and exposed the Knight family's little secret, endangering not only David but also his father and his brother Jack.

But David couldn't simply stop being Starman, not now when he was in the middle of taking down Opal City's worst street gang. The Barracudas were planning something big, and whatever it was, it was going to play out very soon. This was the worst time for Starman to go into hiding, even temporarily. And his father was off on some kind of astronomical wild goose chase in space, so Ted Knight was unable to take over his duties.

If things had been different, David might have taken the risk. But he was seriously considering moving across the pond to London and accept Jules Black's offer to make David the president of KnightTech. That would inevitably involve a great deal of publicity, and perhaps even a press conference arranged by Jules. David would be forced to step in front of an array of cameras, and the glare of a spotlight would reveal the bruises on his face to the world. He could explain those bruises in any number of ways, but he wouldn't be able to explain why Starman had the exact same pattern of bruises on his face at the same time.

No, David had to come up with an alternative plan, and fast. If only his father had thought to put on a damned mask when he created his original Starman costume.

A crooked smile played on David's bruised face as a full-formed idea came into his mind. Yes, that could work after all, and it would solve so many other problems.

***

That night, a mysterious flying man was spotted over Opal City. Dressed in a new but still familiar-looking costume of yellow and red, this figure strongly resembled Starman but with reversed colors, and no green. Another difference was that this figure wore a full-face mask that completely obscured his features.

The brightly clad figure flew through no known method of propulsion, since he carried no cosmic rod, and those who saw him speculated that he might be wearing a cosmic converter belt like Patriot of Infinity, Inc. In reality, this figure was flying thanks to a set of powerful gauntlets concealed beneath red gloves.

David Knight had contacted Dick Grayson in Gotham City earlier that day after thinking of this idea, and Red Robin had agreed to lend the younger Starman a costume that the Batman had once worn back in the 1950s, when Professor Milo caused Bruce Wayne to have a powerful fear of bats that made him afraid even of his own alter ego. That had forced Wayne to create the new identity of Starman, patterned after the semi-retired Ted Knight, along with a new costume and star-shaped flying craft called the Star-Plane. The Starman of 1957 did not have a very career, since Wayne resumed his Batman identity shortly thereafter and only reappeared as Starman one more time, but David had been enamored by the idea ever since he'd heard of it as a child, even when it was a mystery to him who the Gotham City Starman really was. (*)

[(*) Editor's note: See "The Man Who Ended Batman's Career," Detective Comics #247 (September, 1957) and Showcase: Team Justice: Times Past, 1959: Justice in the Making.]

Of course, he knew that donning this classic but admittedly gaudy-looking costume was only a temporary measure, and that he'd have to come up with something more permanent later, but for now there was a new Starman in town.

Let Ramon March and the Barracudas think that the original Starman was licking his wounds after their battle. They didn't know about David's bruised face, and there was no reason to think that the Gotham City Starman of 1957 couldn't have come out of retirement to help out a fellow Starman, and now possessing the ability to fly without the aid of a Star-Plane. Perhaps it was time for Opal City to be reminded that Starman, like the Batman and his so-called Batman Family, had a legacy of his own.

[DocQuantum]

Opal City was a strange city. While most cities typically had an urban downtown surrounded by suburbs, Opal had no suburbs at all. Rather, the urban landscape simply dropped off into farmland on one side of the city and waterways on the other. Thanks to the intricacies of property law, city planners had been forced to build upward rather than outward. Thus most citizens lived in apartment buildings, while only the wealthier citizens could afford houses or mansions.

Thus Opal was an urban city of steep canyons through which the newest Starman now flew. People on the streets below gasped in surprise as they raised their hands to point up at the brightly colored figure in yellow and red, who shone like a beacon under the dark night sky. Onlookers puzzled over the strange-but-familiar costume, which reminded them of their own longtime protector, but with certain changes. The costume was anachronistic, with strange design choices more befitting the 1950s than the year 1989. The figure's face could not be seen at all, as beneath the lower half of the half-mask was a full-face mask of red, giving him an eerie, determined look.

But just as quickly as the flying figure could be seen, he disappeared down another city canyon. It was as if he was trying to make himself seen by as many people as possible, while keeping his movements from being predictable. In fact, that was exactly the case. The new Starman was on the hunt and was using himself as bait.

After a patrol around the city, Starman finally landed on the narrow, cobble-stoned streets of Oldtown, nicknamed the Alleys. The shadows seemed to flicker and move as figures darted out of sight lest their criminal activities be seen by this strange, glimmering figure who was either a defender of the law or a lunatic. Watching eyes could be seen glowing in the darkness, observing the walking figure keenly.

Everyone in the Alleys knew that Ramon March had put out a hit on Starman, but this was a different Starman altogether.

David Knight began to sweat under his mask, remembering how close he had come to be killed only two years ago. Everyone had thought him dead then, and he very well could have been had it not been for his friends. Now he was completely alone, surrounded by enemies on all sides. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea after all.

"So now you've made yourself a walking target?"

David nearly jumped at the voice, which seemed to come from right behind him. "Oh," he said as he finally recognized the voice, "it's you."

"And that is you beneath that gaudy mask," replied the Shade, lowering his smoked spectacles as he beckoned for Starman to follow him. "Branching out on our own, are we? Gotten tired of following in the old man's footsteps?"

"Something like that," replied David, glancing around nervously as he followed the Shade into the alleyway. "Anyway, what is it that you want? I'm kind of in the middle of something right now."

"Oh, I'm all too aware of that," said the Shade. "You've decided to take on Ramon March and his attack dogs head on, isn't that right?" David nodded. "Then beware, because rumor has it that you won't be facing a group of mere armed thugs. He's brought in some hired help."

"Is there anything else you can tell me?" Starman asked.

"I truly wish I could," said the Shade. "That's the risk you'll have to take." And at that, the Shade backed away and disappeared into the shadows.

David sighed; he'd never liked the Shade, though he could be useful sometimes. Starman knew enough to take the warning to heart.

[starskyhutch76]

I'm really curious to see what will happen as David Knight starts to make his own way.