Disclaimers: I own nothing except my ideas, most of this belongs to DC and it's writers.
The Silver Age of Heroes: The rise of the new JSA
A Golden Age of Heroes protected the world for decades. Ten years ago that Golden Age ended.
I see this beautiful blonde girl I've never meet before. I then see Cindy and Jenny. "Hey, new girl," Cindy says to her.
"Hi," the blonde girl says.
"I'm Cindy and this is-," Cindy says.
"Jenny," Jenny finishes.
"Courtney," the blonde girl says.
"We know," Cindy says.
"Heard you're from California," Jenny says.
"We should all hang out," Cindy says.
"Uh… yeah," Courtney says.
"I'll text you," Cindy says.
"My number is…," Courtney says.
"Oh, I have it," Cindy says.
"How do you have my…," Courtney says.
"Oh, don't worry about it. You should try out for cheerleading. I'm team captain and I'm looking for a new second," Cindy says.
"I thought I was your second," Jenny says.
"I need someone who can do the splits," Cindy replies.
"I'm practicing but my family suffers from short tendons," Jenny says.
"Thanks but cheerleading's not really my thing," Courtney says.
"Wait you don't want to hang out?" Cindy asks.
"Wait… no, that's not what I meant," Courtney stutters.
"Then I'll text you or not, bye," Cindy says.
I can see the with look on Courtney's face. "Sorry about her, she's a stereotypical queen bee cheerleading bitch who needs everyone to be her mindless sheep who do whatever she says or she'll throw a temper tantrum," I say.
"Wow, you have a very low opinion of her," Courtney says.
"She's given me a low opinion of her," I say. "Uh, sorry, uh, I'm Jimmy," I say.
"Courtney," she replies.
"I know. I-I mean, I overheard, not that I was stalking you. N-No, I wasn't… I… ah… I'm gonna stop talking," I stutter, blushing really hard, turning around to walk away.
"Oh… ah…," Courtney stutters. The bell rings. It startles me. "Would you like to hang out at lunch time?" Courtney asks.
I turn to look her in the eyes to try and tell if she's serious. "Y-y-yeah, I'd-I'd like that," I stutter.
Time skip.
I see Courtney wondering around the school lunch hall and I walk over to her. "Hey, Courtney," I say.
"Hey, Jimmy," Courtney replies.
"You want to sit with me?" I ask.
"Yes, I would," Courtney says.
"Ok," I say as I lead her to the table I sit at with Yolanda.
"Hi, I'm Courtney," Courtney says to the people at the table.
"I'm Beth," Beth says. Rick and Yolanda don't give a sign that they even heard or saw her.
"So what do you do for fun around here," Courtney asks us all.
"Oh…oh we're not friends. This is the table for the singles," Beth says.
"The singles?" Courtney asks.
"The losers," Beth whispers. Yolanda gives Beth a look.
"Speak for yourself," Rick says, leaving the table.
"Not losers. We're social outcasts," I politely correct.
"Same thing," Beth says.
"It's not," I say a little more harshly.
"So, what do you do for fun?" Courtney asks.
"Uh, drawing. I love to draw. Me and my friend Cameron, we even started our own art club," I say.
"Really, isn't this table for the social outcasts, and you have friends, so why are you still here?" Courtney asks.
"It's… uh… complicated," I say, giving Yolanda a look.
It takes Courtney a second to think she figured it out. "…Oh," Courtney says.
"Oh, no… it's not lie… we never… we didn't do what you think we did… me and Yolanda, just friend," I stutter.
"Oh… that's good… I-I mean that's alright… I understand," Courtney says.
"Find a room and kiss already," Yolanda states annoyed.
"We don't…," I say.
"We're not," Courtney says.
"We're not…," I say.
"We don't," Courtney says. We look at each other blushing, causing Yolanda to roll her eyes and sigh.
"Do you guys smell something. Do you smell that. It smells like slut. Yeah, take any new picture's you'd like to share with us," Henry says as he walks over to Yolanda.
"Leave her alone," Courtney shouts.
"Oh new girl. Oh, she got a new friend," Henry says, taking Courtney's phone.
"Hey, give that back," Courtney says punching the jock into a cafeteria lady and causing her knock the food she was carrying onto herself.
"Nice," Henry says, walking away freely.
"Come with me," Principle Bowen says, as she drags Courtney away. What was she doing in the cafeteria, shouldn't she be doing principle things and shouldn't she take away Henry too.
"That's my boyfriend, bitch," Cindy says.
"Yeah," Jenny adds.
"Cindy, language," Principle Bowen says.
"Sorry, principle Bowen," Cindy says.
Time skip.
I run as fast as I can through the halls. I see the bus is already leaving as I get there. "Not again," I say, nearly out of breath.
"Jimmy, are yo okay?" Courtney asks.
"A little out of breath is all," I say. After I've caught my breath. "So, Courtney… could I walk you home?" I ask.
"Yeah, I'd like that," Courtney says.
"Great… I'm mean… uh… that's good… uh…," II start stammering only to notice that she's already walking off. "Hey, wait for me," I say running after her.
As we walk home, we talk, about her and her friends back home and I talk about me and Cameron. We also talk about our hobbies, her gymnastics and her not wanting to do cheerleading. I agree with her, saying that, "Gymnastics and cheerleading's, like drawing and painting, they seem similar but are completely different." She asks me if I hate painting and I say that I prefer drawing, but my friend Cameron he's actually the opposite and prefers painting. She asks me about my drawings, and I promise to show her them sometime. She then asks me about what happened between me and Yolanda. I tell her that something horrible happened to Yolanda and everyone betrayed her and I can't tell her anymore without betraying her, which Courtney respects. As we talk we get so caught up we almost walked past Courtney's house. "Courtney," her mom says.
"Hey, mom," Courtney replies.
"What are you doing back so late?" Ms. Whitmore says.
"I was late to the bus and so was Jimmy so he offered to walk me home," Courtney says.
"Well thank you Jimmy. Would you like to come in? I'd like to get to know Courtney's friend better," Ms. Whitmore says.
"Thanks, Ms. Whitmore but I-I don't know," I stutter.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," Courtney says.
"No, no, I'd like to… I have to call and ask my dad though," I say.
"Of course," Ms. Whitmore says.
They go inside. I call my dad. "Hey, dad, can I stay at a friend's house?" I ask.
"Who?" My dad, Crusher Crock asks.
"Courtney, she's new in school," I say.
"A girl, way to go," Dad says.
"It's not like that, Dad me and Courtney are just friends," I say.
"You said the same thing with Yolanda and then she started dating that asshat Henry," Dad says.
"I never felt anything for Yolanda," I say.
"Stop that boy, go in there and impress her," Dad says.
"Dad, I-," I say.
"Don't be a wimp, boy, be a man!" Dad says.
"Y-yes sir," I say. My dad ends the call.
I knock on the door. This person who I think is Courtney's dad opens the door. "Hey, kid," the person says.
"Ah, hey sir, um, I'm Courtney's friend, and, ah, Ms. Whitmore invited me in, ah, I'm ah, I'm Jimmy, sir," I stutter.
"Well, come inside, Jimmy," the person says. "Ah, we have company, a guy named Jimmy," he says. We walk into the main room.
"Hey, Jimmy," Courtney says.
"Uh…, hey Courtney," I say, avoiding eye contact.
"Are you okay," she asks.
"Y…," I say, I look up and I gulp. "Y-Yeah, I'll, I'll be fine," I say.
Time skip.
"It was the best day of school ever! I meet these really cool kids at computer design class. It's were you team up and make you own video games," Mike, Courtney's stepbrother says.
"That's great, Mike. Way to dive in. You know, I'm proud of you," Pat, the man who was at the door and Courtney's stepdad.
"Yeah, and we started designing this shooter. It's called "Blood Pizza Party"," Mike says.
"It's called blood pizza party?" Pat repeats.
"yeah," Mike says.
"So that name's been okayed with your teachers and everything?" Pat asks.
"Well, yeah. Pretty much," Mike says. "but this place is awesome, Dad, really. There's like nothing to do here so kids play way more video games," Mike says.
"How was your day, Court? You join the gymnastics team?" Barbra asks.
I hear a phone chime which interrupts Courtney's reply. "Oh, wait, Dad, can I go over to Johnny's house. We're going to play Fortnite for research. It's learning," Mike says.
"Sure. Just be back by 9:00," Part says.
"Wait, 9:00? It's Friday," Mike says.
"Oh, yeah. Okay, 9:01," Pat says.
"Why are dad jokes always the opposite of funny?" Mike asks, gabbing his otherwise untouched dinner to the kitchen.
"Hey, finish your dinner," Pat says.
"I'm getting dessert," Mike replies.
"Do you two have anything planned tonight?" Barbra asks.
Courtney shakes her head.
"Hey, we could hit the old drive-in," Pat says.
"Stop pretending you're my dad, okay?" Courtney says. Courtney grabs her plate and walks off.
"Courtney!" Barbra shouts.
"No, i-it's okay," Pat says. "I think that, you know, sometimes, I try too hard. It just doesn't-," Pat says.
"No," Barbra interrupts him. "Your trying just fine," Barbra says.
"I'll go talk to Courtney, see how she's doing," I say, and they nod at me. "Mr. Dugan, just… uh, don't give up trying to be there for her," I say.
I look for her but can't find her. "Hey, Mike, you know were Courtney went?" I ask.
"Down the basement," he says pointing at a door. I go down there to see her kick a box of moving stuff.
"Want to talk about it?" I ask.
"No," Courtney says.
"Look I don't know what's going on with you and Pat and why you don't like him. But what I do know is, that family is more than blood, it's about a person who's there for you and cares about you. Pat, I don't know, he seems like he's trying," I say.
Courtney stands there silently for a couple of seconds before picking up a picture of Pat. "So lame," Courtney says. She then walks over to the lamp and turns it on, before taking out the picture. "What the heck?" Courtney says. I come over to look to see this picture with a team of superheroes in it.
"That's the justice society of America," I say.
"Who?" Courtney asks.
"A superhero team I read about when I was a kid, and they disappeared ten years ago without a trace," I say.
"Why'd Pat have a picture of superheroes?" Courtney asks.
"I have absolutely no clue," I say.
Courtney grabs something else out of the box. This framed newspaper article called, "The star-spangled kid and stripesy defeat "Doctor Weerd." "Stripsey? Pat?" Courtney asks. I have to admit that the guy stripsey looks a lot like Pat. Courtney goes over to another box. She gets out a picture of Stripsey and Starman. "Dear Stripsey, my friend and partner. Starman," Courtney read the writing on the picture. The guy in the picture is definitely Pat. "Starman," Courtney repeats. She puts it down and picks up Starman's suit. Wow that's a cool suit. We then hear rattling and turn around to see a glowing box moving. The lamp the sparks and shuts down. We look at the lamp, then at the box, then at the lamp again, and then at the box. Courtney steps forward.
I grab her arm. "What the hell are you doing?" I whisper yell.
"Opening it," Courtney says.
"Why would you do that. We don't know what's inside. Whatever inside, it could kill us," I whisper.
"That's why I have to look inside," Courtney replies. Courtney walks towards the box while I hide behind the stars. I peek and watch her as she opens the box but I can't see inside. She lifts out a staff which glows in her hand and she drops it in the box. She then picks it up and again and it starts glowing again. It then glows really brightly and Courtney and me close our eyes and she lets go but this time the staffs floating. I get up from behind the stairs. "No way," Courtney and me say, Courtney more calm but shocked whereas I'm stunned beyond belief. She waves her hand above it and it only glows were Courtney's hand is. She puts her hands on it and it starts glowing completely, and she tries to pull it but it doesn't want to. She grunts as she pulls, and it then starts moving. "What are you?" Courtney asks. She starts spinning it. I stand their mouth shut unable to think of anything that wouldn't be completely stupid to say. It then starts pulling Courtney. "Whoa! Hey, what?" Courtney says as she's pushed up the stairs. I run after her.
"Mike, the dog's throwing up marshmallows all over the bed. Geez!" I hear Pat say from the upper floor. I follow her as the staff leads her to the park. "Whoa, hold still," Courtney says and the staff stops. She then throws the staff in the air and it just floats there. Courtney then starts doing gymnastics with the staff in the air. I let out a cheer as she does. Once she finishes she asks the staff a question, "Are you alive?" It then starts dragging Courtney again but this time upwards. I try to grab Courtney to anchor her to the ground but the staff takes me too and we both scream for dear life as it flies off with us and I hug Courtney as tight as I can, closing my eyes. "Go down! Go down!" Courtney screams. I feel us go down and Courtney screams. I mistakenly open my eyes to see us about to crash land. I scream as we fall to the ground. We hit the ground. I groan in pain as I get up. "You ok?" Courtney asks.
"Crushed rib aside, yes. Are you?" I ask.
Courtney nods. "What the hell was that?" she asks the staff.
"I know what it was. That staff just tried to kill us," I say.
"I'm not sure it tried to do that," Courtney argues.
"It just dropped us from the sky. It could've killed us," I say.
"It wasn't trying to do anything to you. You could've just let it take me here. You didn't have to grab onto me," Courtney replies.
"And let you face whatever this is all on your own? Not a chance," I say.
"Thank you for having my back," Courtney says.
"Courtney I get that you're not going to stop till you find answers but let's please be careful," I say.
"Alright, I'll be more careful," Courtney says.
We get up and see a movie in a car thingy. We then see Henry and his throwing stuff at another person's car. "We're trying to watch the movie, Assholes! It's a classic," a person behind them says. Henry and his buds abandon their car to harass the poor dude. Courtney grabs a scarf out and uses it to cover her face and pulls her hoodie to cover her face. I watch her sneak to their car and deflate their tires.
"Hey somebody's messing with your car," Travis, one of Henry's buds says. The staff pulls Courtney towards him and hits him in the stomach.
"What the hell…," Courtney mumbles.
"Dad's car," Henry shouts, checking on his car before his friend but another one of his buddies does.
"Get out of there," I tell Courtney. Henry and his pal run at Courtney and the staff just sinks its feet into the ground. It the glows brightly and Henry's pal runs right into it knocking him to the floor.
"I'm gonna kill you," Henry says as he charges at Courtney but the staff flips her over Henry and hit him in the back. Henry and his friends get back up. The staff then flies, with Courtney holding it into Henry and then his friend.
"You're dead, kid," Travis says. The staff then fires a laser which Travis dodges and it blows up Henry's dad's car.
"Oh, my God, what did you do?" Courtney says. The staff spins in the air excitedly. "No, bad stick. Bad!" Courtney says. Courtney runs and I run with her. Once we reached a far enough distance we stop and catch our breathes.
"That staff is insane and awesome at the same time, and I'm ten percent less mad now," I say. The staff glows happily.
"Don't encourage it," Courtney says. We sneak into Courtney's run and into the basement, went the lights are flicked on and scream a little and we turn to see Pat.
"What are you doing?" Pat asks.
"Me?" Courtney asks.
"Yes," Pat says.
"Nothing. I didn't do anything. Oh, but you, you don't get to ask questions, Pat, if that's your real name," Courtney says.
"It's Patrick," Pat replies.
"You mean Stripesy," Courtney says.
"All right, give me that," Pat says. Pat reaches for it but Courtney steps back. "That's incredibly dangerous," Pat says.
"I know. It blew up a car," Courtney says.
"You blew up a car?" Pat asks.
"I didn't. It did," Courtney says. It glows at the top. "I was only going to let the air out of their tires," Courtney says.
"Okay. Look, are you two okay? And was anyone hurt?" Pat asks.
"Everyone's fine," Courtney says. "The car lost a little resale value, though," Courtney jokes.
Pat scoffs. "That's good. That's funny," Pat says, sarcastically.
"What is this thing, anyway?" Courtney asks.
"It's called the cosmic staff," Pat says.
"Okay," Courtney says.
"It' extremely temperamental," Pat adds. Courtney hands Pat the staff and it shuts down. "And it should be back in its crate where it belongs, not vandalizing automobiles and endangering people's lives. The staff's not supposed to work for anyone but Starman," Pat says.
"Starman?" Courtney asks.
"Of the Justice Society of America. It was before your time," Pat says.
"I know who they are, a bunch of superheroes from the old days. They quit when I was a kid," Courtney says.
"Well, they didn't exactly quit. Starman and the JSA died saving the world ten years ago. It was Christmas Eve," Pat says.
"Ten years ago on Christmas Eve?" Courtney asks.
"What?" Pat asks.
"Does my mom know any of this?" Courtney asks.
"Uh, no, I didn't tell her. And it isn't right to be honest, but people have died because they got too close to the JSA. The two of you know the truth and you're both at risk even now," Pat explains.
"Right," Courtney says as she pulls out a picture locket.
Pat clears his throat. "Look, I don't mean to get upset. It's just the staff was missing and I was concerned," Pat explains. Courtney picks up the picture of the justice society and compare it to the one in the locket. "Are you alright? Court?" Pat asks.
"Why would the staff work for me if it only worked for Starman?" Courtney asks.
"I don't know," Pat says.
"There must be a reason," Courtney says. She puts down the photo and turns to Pat. "What if Starman was my father?" Courtney asks.
"If what?" Pat and me both ask.
"Starman died the exact night my father vanished," Courtney says.
"Okay, that would be the coincidence to end all coincidences, if Starman was your father," Pat says.
"Okay. What about fate, Pat?" Courtney asks.
"It's beyond the realm of possibilities," Pat says.
"Destiny? I mean, maybe the star aligned," Courtney says. "Star… Starman. It would make so much sense. My father never showed up that night because he died saving the world," Courtney says.
"Sit down. Okay, come here," Pat says. Courtney sits down. "What was your father's name?" Pat asks.
"Sam Kurtis. That's him," Courtney says showing him a blurry picture of a guy.
"Well, Starman's name was Sylvester Pemberton," Pat says.
"Okay," Courtney says.
"Yeah," Pat replies.
"Well, maybe Sam Kurtis was an alias. I mean I've looked for him online and never found anything. Not a single picture.," Courtney says.
"Starman is not your dad, okay? The staff works for you for some reason, I don't know why but that's not it," Pat says.
"I've got to ask mom," Courtney says. She runs out of the basement.
Time skip.
Pat is sitting on the bench outside and I'm sitting next to him. Courtney comes out. "So… your name was Stripesy?" Courtney asks.
"Cause of all the stripes," Pat says.
"yeah. I got that. Someone really should have helped you brainstorm a better code name," Courtney says.
"What's wrong with it?" Pat asks.
"Everything," I say.
"But for starters, I highly doubt it intimidated the bad guys. I mean, "Look out! Here come Stripsey."," Courtney says. I chuckle.
"Well, see, Stripsey made more sense when Sylvester went by the Star-spangled Kid," Pat says.
"The Star-spangled Kid?" Courtney asks.
"Yeah, you see, Sylvester was 1 when we met. I was 20. I was his family's driver and their mechanic. He put on a mask to stop some criminals that were threatening his parents. And I helped him. Anyways, later, he… he got the staff, and he became Starman. And he joined the JSA, and he brought me along," Pat explains.
"Okay. What were you, like, the Star-spangled Kid's assistant?" Courtney asks.
"I was Starman's sidekick. I looked after his car. I kept his suit clean," Pat says.
"Sounds like an assistant to me," Courtney says.
"Being a sidekick was an honor. They made me a really important part of the JSA," Pat says.
"Well, why aren't you in the picture then?" Courtney asks.
"Because I took it," Pat replies.
Courtney sighs. "Look. I don't like that you kept this from my mom," Courtney says. "But you make her happy… happier than I've ever seen her and… I don't want to take that away. I can't. So I'll keep your secret… as long as you stay out of my way," Courtney explains.
"Stay out of your way? I mean, hey… You don't even have a driver's license yet, all right? This isn't just about keeping my secret. This is about keeping your mother and you safe. Mike, too. You understand that?" Pat says.
"Okay," Courtney says.
"Okay," Pat says.
"So do we have a deal Stripesy?" Courtney asks.
Pat chuckles softly. "I guess when you call me Stripesy, I see your point," Pat says.
"Yeah, it's bad," Courtney and me say.
"Jimmy, you better go home," Courtney says.
"Yeah, your right. I'll see you tomorrow," I say.
"Jimmy, you can't tell anyone about this, okay?" Pat says.
"I promise, I won't. Look, we can talk more about this tomorrow," I say.
"Good night," Courtney and Pat say.
"Good night," I reply as I walk off.
Okay, what do you think about this story. Do you guys want me to continue?
Also, which superhero should Jimmy become. I'm thinking Green Lantern but I'm not sure.
Please give me advice or constructive criticism.
Please review, favorite, and/or follow, and until next time, Ant boy out.