of Elsewhere. The project is to create an army of clones of Rat-Man to act as a powerful force of good, but the plan goes awry when Number Six, one of the clones, mutates and gains too much conscience. He frees the original Rat-Man, who stops the program. Hindered, Kalissa and the other scientists contact Janus to seek his help with the project, but they are unaware of how much he has changed. Valker has fully embraced the Shadow and wallows in the complete knowledge it offered to him. However, the Shadow still conceals some information to him, and Janus, who craves omniscience, is forced to seek Rat-Man on its request in order to gain it. When the other scientists find him and reveal that they have the mental track, he takes it away from them and murders them brutally. After making sure that Rat-Man is completely unaware of their shared past, he deletes that information from his brain as well. Demise and Rebirth Rat-Man, in 2003, enters a coma which he comes out of in 2005. In the meantime, the city has forgotten him and replaced him with many new superheroes, and he struggles to fit in again. All the new superheroes, however, flee when the Guardian, sensing activity of the Light, returns to the No Name City. Rat-Man realizes that the existence of a supervillain is inextricably tied to the presence of a superhero, and, being the last one, he stops donning a mask to save the city. Without a purpose, he retires to private life. This is in fact a ploy orchestrated by Valker, who is slowly destroying him. After robbing him of his secret identity, he drives the Fuffa Corporation to bankruptcy and undermines the faith of the nation in superheroes. Rat-Man tries to return with an animated series but it is shallow and it worsens his conditions. He becomes a hobo, ready to be devoured by the Shadow, but with the help of Krik, Brakko, Cinzia and his fan club, he overcomes it. Janus is further stopped by the last lingering memory of being Deboroh's father, his last sliver of humanity which prevents him to take the life of his adopted son. Though he has defeated the Shadow, Rat-Man still struggles to return to his golden years and travels to New York to seek counsel from its superheroes, the comic book adventures of which inspired