NOTE: With the news of a 'Silverhawks' cartoon reboot announced a few months ago, this short piece of fanfiction was created. As a long time fan of the series, this is just a fun exercise in creative writing in order to speculate how a rebooted 'Silverhawks' would handle MonStar meeting Yesman for the first time. Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!

Silverhawks - The Unwelcome Guest by Pamela Scarangello (edited by Bobby Torres)

Penal Planet 10 - MonStar, Limbo's self-proclaimed "Planet Master" and ruler of the criminal underworld, is in solitary confinement...again. It's happened many times before, typically after another bloody fistfight with inmates in the mess hall or any half-baked attempt to throttle a guard and escape with the keys. MonStar has no problem with being in isolation. In fact, he enjoys it; no looking over one's shoulder and no surveillance cameras glaring with contempt at his every move. But after nearly a decade served in this overcrowded hellhole (just a small amount of the years he is condemned to waste after being delivered a punishing sentence by Bedlama's justice system), he is exhausted, despondent, nearly gaunt and worn with age. He can almost feel the burning life and hope draining away from his very core, collapsing into itself like a dying sun. Wearing a grey convict's uniform, he sits alone on a frayed cot with a single barred window to his right. His red and black beard and mane are overgrown, tangled and streaked with silver. Sporting a patch over his mangled left eye socket, MonStar barely notices the faint noises coming from above him. He realizes, however, that he is not alone as a weird, bone-chilling giggle echoes from within the air vent. Something is hiding in the dark, obsessively observing him through a pair of serpent eyes.

A few seconds after all the lights in the jail are shut off, the covering grid flips downward. 2 pale, bony arms emerge and the 3 long fingers on each mutated hand grip the wall beyond the vent's rectangular opening. Pushing its way through and effortlessly hanging upside-down in mid-air, the intruder descends slowly, gradually exposing an elongated snake torso with a chain of gold ovals patterned on its slimy green back. As MonStar struggles to make out what he's seeing (with what little vision he still has), the unwelcome guest drops on the stone floor, writhing and excitedly shaking the death rattle on its tail. Its pulsating body forming a perfect inverted S, the reptile thing points its head to the stones, as if hesitating on whether or not to face the notorious intergalactic mob boss in person. MonStar isn't as shocked as one might assume.

MonStar - "You look... strangely familiar. But you're NOT The Rattler."

Yesman - "No, I'm not. Father is dead."

MonStar - "My condolences.... Have you come to kill me?"

Nearly taken aback by this question, the viper finally looks up at him through its lustrous topaz eyes, its diamond-shaped pupils narrowing. Crawling onto the opposite end of the cot, the serpent man flashes a disturbing, almost childish grin and two sharp fangs jutted from its grotesque gums.

Yesman - "Certainly not. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time, Planet Master. And, what a pleasure it is to finally do so!"

MonStar instantly recoiled.

MonStar - "Get your filthy carrion breath out of my face!"

In a rage, he grabs the reptile thing by the throat and pins it against the steel-plated wall. The snakeman involuntarily trembles in response to the spontaneous chokehold.

MonStar - "LISTEN UP, YOU PATHETIC WORM! You got exactly 10 Limbo seconds to explain why you're here before I twist you into an Ouroboros!"

But it turns out the visitor isn't a helpless punching bag. Digging a triptych of claws into MonStar's wrist and upper arm, the reptile ferociously hisses and bares its fangs; its open mouth dripping with poison.

Yesman - "I am MORE than a worm. I can help you gain the two things you've wanted for the last ten years..."

MonStar then looks down and notices that the reptile's tail was wrapping around his left leg and tightening itself, and it is obvious that the serpent will do further damage by attacking his blind side if it absolutely has to.

MonStar - "And what might that be?" he asks, cautiously intrigued.

YesMan - "Escape, and of course... Vengeance. I only bring salvation, should you choose to accept it."

The black star on MonStar's eyepatch briefly flickers red as he releases the creature's neck and backs away. With new painful scars on his wrist, he crosses his arms and leers at the sycophantic snake as it feverishly licks fresh blood off its pointy digits.

MonStar - "I'm listening..."

With a soft click, the viper opens the locket buckle on its sternum and pulls out a miniature glass bottle. Ghoulishly slinking around the room, adhering to the walls with its sticky underbelly, it hands him the dangerous key to his freedom.

Yesman - "Within this vial, I placed 3 drops of powerful venom...tapped from my fangs. All you have to do is swallow it. In 5 Limbo minutes, it will slow down and nearly paralyze your cardiac muscles, but your heart won't stop beating. You will then lose consciousness and, to the naked eye, give off the appearance of clinical death. Your blood will run cold for the next 24 hours. When the guards return and they examine you, you'll be pronounced dead and your corpse will be transported with all the others far into deep space."

MonStar - "But I heard dead prisoners are tossed directly in the path of the Artificial Sun and reduced to ashes. If I wind up in the same rotting pile, what happens then?"

Yesman - "Oh fear not, MonStar! We won't let that happen."

MonStar - "We?"

Yesman - "Do you remember Mol-E-Cular?"

Mol-E-Cular. Now that's a name MonStar hasn't heard in years, and almost immediately his eyepatch glows lively. As a crafty spy, shape-shifter and master of disguise, Mol-E-Cular has proven to be the most reliable accomplice he's ever had. Thanks to his unique abilities, he was never apprehended, so his real face hasn't yet appeared on any news coverage. The mutant reptile smiles gleefully.

Yesman - "He will be there to guard you...to watch over you, and to administer a serum that will revitalize you, once it's safe to do so."

Still wary of the visitor's bizarre infatuation, MonStar keeps his one eye on the viper and sits down on the cot, still holding the glass bottle. The two fiends now face one another.

MonStar - "That does sound like an enticing offer. I'll give you that. Suppose I accept this little plan of yours and that you are the Rattler's offspring. What do you want in return?"

Yesman - "I only wish to serve you!"

MonStar - "Why?"

Yesman - "Because you are not like other crime bosses Father told me about. Most of them seek to amass money and power, buy why stop there? What tickles me about you is your desire to lead a renaissance of vice, destruction and mayhem. And where vice, destruction and mayhem reign supreme, we can do ANYTHING WE PLEASE! In a sense, you're an artist, MonStar. If you accept me as your apprentice, I'm ready to relieve the fears lurking in your mind."

MonStar - "I fear nothing."

Yesman - "Except being forgotten. Without you around, Limbo would remain the same dull canvas with the same dull planets and orbits. This universe is banal...indifferent...And meanwhile what is Stargazer doing? Lounging under Earth's sun, sipping an alcoholic Limbo cooler? I can open a new door for you and we can ruin that old man's paradise!"

Although MonStar can clearly tell that the sycophantic snake was mad, he knows from years of experience that there's a difference between insanity and insincerity, and the coiling mutant kneeling at his feet was no liar.

MonStar - "If I were to die in this cell, no doubt billions all over Earth and Bedlama will revel in celebration. Yet none of them, not even Stargazer, will know of my resurrection."

Yesman - "Yesss! Surely no revenge can taste sweeter than that. So what will it be? Are you willing to risk everything and be reborn? Or remain here...behind bars...sleeping with one eye open?"

The serpent thing curls its scaly lips back in a crazed smile and giggles at the joke it made, nervously interlocking its bony fingers. Focusing his fury on the law-abiding adversary who locked him away, MonStar turns to stare defiantly through the barred window.

MonStar - "Enjoy peace while you can, Stargazer. Soon I will rise again like the legendary Phoenix foretold on your precious Earth. Limbo will tremble once more at the name of MonStar...the Planet Master!"

At that moment, he removes the lid from the vial and swallows the poisoned bitter liquid. 5 Limbo minutes of silence tick by. Nothing...and then the stabbing pains begin. It's undoubtedly the worst agony MonStar has felt since he partially lost his vision. His chest, ribcage, lungs and heart feel like they are being crushed to jelly in a merciless primordial grip. Of course, MonStar was no stranger to pain, either inflicting it or receiving it. Even as he felt his pulse begin to slow, MonStar couldn't help but smile at the insane absurdity of it all. Saliva trickles from one corner of his mouth as he gasps harder for air, coughing and laughing deliriously. As his head reels, the creature that would be named Yesman caresses the criminal's face in his pronged hands and gently leads him to the pillow. The snake man can clearly see the conviction to face death itself mixed with panic and uncertainty in MonStar's singular eye,

Yesman - "Shhhhhh. It's okay Boss, rest easy. Your deliverance is at hand... I promise."

Staring at the ceiling and convulsing on the mattress with Yesman hovering over him, MonStar lets out a final breath and expires. Yesman then solemnly pulls the blanket over his future employer.

Yesman - "Sleep well, Planet Master. Till we meet again."

Just before the 2 armed guards return to complete their routine cell check, Yesman quickly slithers his way back into the air vent, shuts the metal grid cover behind him and disappears.

Happy 35th anniversary to SilverHawks!

https://preview.redd.it/9epdtrcv1tm71.png?width=1418&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf1c4d87a8e0a71eb98ae464dd67b6a09ff86e3d

Courtesy of Dustin Regec on Instagram, this is a 1986 promo by WPGH-TV that promoted its cartoon lineup at the time, which included the then-new SilverHawks. ;)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRHMCYrg46E/?hl=en

Just out of curiosity, does anyone here know if a complete collection of all the background music and sound effects from "SilverHawks" has ever been assembled in one place? I know that some classic 1980s cartoons such as "The Transformers" have had such archives created by fans, but I'm not sure about this series.

Thanks in advance for any help or information. :)

A company called PinRaiders is selling pins based on classic properties. Anyone up for this Quicksilver/Tally-Hawk pin packaging? :)

https://preview.redd.it/xtm17mrhqr771.png?width=650&format=png&auto=webp&s=a43f978021b72c15ba219c77bbb973fdb66a0629

Ham_Done, a TeePublic user, created a sticker using the classic SilverHawks logo. Pretty neat, huh?

https://preview.redd.it/vg5m0rbljei61.png?width=630&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b336fbe3f56a2b8a3c5ed7cc045de705006d4ff