PROLOGUE
A cage door is unlocked. A young boy stares into the bright sunlight that fills the room. "C'mon son. We're here to help you."
The boy was blinded by the sunlight enough that he couldn't see the mysterious figure talking to him. "Who are you?" he asks, his voice not yet going through the affects of puberty.
"I'm a friend," said the figure again. "I came to rescue you. Well, assuming you accept the generous offer I have."
"What offer?"
"I'll tell you, after you tell the story of how you got in the state you're in right now. But make it brief, time is critical."
The man listened as the boy began his story.
DOOM PATROL
CHAPTER ONE:
THE MONKEY BITE
Garfield is now ten years old. His parents had stayed in Africa, still trying to accomplish their goal: studying a legendary green monkey, that had been proven to be alive. The only problem was that the monkey was hard to catch. At least until Garfield decided to go outside to play one day.
He was playing with his Tonka toys, digging up the soft, African soil, dumping it in his dump truck, and hauling it off to another spot. After a half hour of this, he decided he wanted to use his crane. But he needed stuff to pick up.
He started looking around, and finally looked up into a banana tree. At the top, a nice, ripe bundle of bananas, as yellow lines on a highway.
He walked over and started climbing the tree. He made it to the top, where the tree started to wobble a little, and kicked at the bananas. It took him three tries, but he finally kicked down the hole bundle. But a strange green monkey jumped off of it, and into the tree. And then it attacked Garfield!
It lodged its teeth into Garfield's arm, making him loose his grip on the tree and fell to the ground, screaming in pain along the way. His parents heard the cry for help, and ran out there, his dad holding the shotgun he used when he was out exploring, just incase a wart hog or a lion decided he'd make a good lunch.
They saw the monkey biting Garfield, and his mother ran over there, grabbed the monkey, and threw it into a burlap sack she was carrying.
The dad picked up Garfield, who was crying his eyes out, and they ran back to the house. They diagnosed the wound, and found a nasty saliva seeping into Garfield's blood.
"Holy crap," said his dad. "We'll have to take a blood sample and send it to the States. Immediately.
His mom used a small dropper, sucked up some blood, and put it in a vile. The next day, they shipped it off for a hospital in New York City. And one week later, they got the medicine back.
They needed to give it to him through a shot. But when they did, the strangest thing happened. He started turning green!
"James," said his mom, "what's happening to him!?"
James turned the box around and read off the side affects. "'May include: itchy or runny nose, unknown rashes, diarrhea, stomach ache, skin turning green, fever, bladder control issues, and women giving birth to pigs. If any of these or other side affects occur, seek medical attention immediately.'"
"Oh my god," said his mom.
"I know, our son's going to look like a frog for the rest of his life," said James.
"Not that, but women can give birth to pigs?"
James looked back at the package with a confused look.
"Oh god, what are we going to do?"
"C'mon, we'll boat over to Madagascar, find a close city, and take a plane to the States."
They all ran to the boat, James carrying his son, got in, started the engine, and darted off toward Madagascar.
Garfield slept most of the way. He was in the middle of a dream when they were half way to the island.
He was walking through the jungle, looking for his parents. No matter how hard he screamed, he couldn't get their attention. "MOM! DAD!" Over and over he would cry for them. He needed them more than ever. For he was being chased by an ape. A very large ape. And all of a sudden, he could no longer scream. The ape got closer, and the muscles in his throat got stiffer, keeping him from crying out for help as the ape's teeth clamped shut on his face!
All of a sudden, Garfield woke up, thanks to the sounds of a storm that picked up in the pitch black darkness of the night. He started crawling toward the back of the boat as hi mom tried to calm him down. But an odd animal instinct was taking over his brain, telling him that his parents were danger, to get away.
He struggled so much that he accidentally kicked the boat engine sideways, making the boat skid sideways, into a giant rock! He fell overboard. He struggled to the surface, being immediately covered by water as waves flew overtop of him. And then, instinct took over, telling him to swim.
He kicked and pumped with his arms, not worrying about his oxygen level, which seemed to stay constant. Kicking and pumping for three hours, without the need to go up for a breath, paid off. For he passed out on the beaches of Madagascar.