Kang struggled to break free from the webbing that had restrained him. After a few desperate attempts, he managed to free himself and made a run towards the Cosmic Cube. However, his attempt was thwarted by Peter, who leaped in his way and kicked him out of the way. Peter, being a skilled web-slinger, webbed the Cosmic Cube and tossed it away from Kang's reach.

But Kang was not one to give up easily. He grabbed the web and pulled the Cube back towards him, overpowering Peter's strength. In a swift move, Kang kicked Peter, sending him stumbling and falling over.

As the ground beneath them grew increasingly unstable, Kang smirked at Peter and taunted him, "You truly thought that you could win? I will just go back and ensure that this victory never happened!"

Peter struggled to stand up, his body aching, and his mind urging him to surrender. 'Kang has to die.' Peter began to think to himself. 'But I am Kang. As long as I am alive, Kang will always have a way to come back... I have to do something. If I don't stop him now, he is just going to come back stronger. He will become a cancer to my family. I have to stop him. I am sorry, Courtney..."

But he knew that he couldn't give up. Kang was a threat to all of time, and to everyone he ever loved. He was determined to see this through, no matter the cost.

"I don't have to win," Peter declared, stamping his foot on the ground with such force that it trembled beneath them. He dashed toward Kang and knocked the Cosmic Cube from his grasp while he was preoccupied. As Kang fought to regain his footing, Peter encircled the Time Criminal with his arms, resolute in his intent to hold him in place. "We both just have to lose!"

Peter lay on the bed, his gaze fixed on the intricate patterns of the ceiling in Cindy's father's bedroom. Cindy had refused to let the resurrected boy stay in her room, despite her remarkable regenerative abilities. Peter's memories were fragmented, mere fleeting glimpses of his final moments.

It felt as though his body had been resurrected before the rest of him had caught up. As his memories began to resurface, he grappled with conflicting emotions. He recalled the sacrifice he had made, the realization that bringing Kang back was the only way to find his own way back.

"Good, you are awake," Cindy said as she opened the door and saw him. "Okay, look, I gotta get to school to keep up appearances. And I have to see if any of the JSA have a lead on you."

"What?" Peter asks.

"They might still think you killed Trickshot," Cindy explained. "I am not entirely convinced you didn't. But for now, I will be the bigger woman, and give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Thanks?" Peter questioned.

"Look, if you don't want your friends to kill you, I suggest you stay here," Cindy warned him. "Look through those yearbooks. See if any of those people trigger any memories. I'll see if I can get any help from your friends. Who all think I murdered Trickshot."

"I am confused," Peter said.

"I know. So am I." Cindy sighed as she got ready to leave. "But before I leave, I gotta send them some files I found on Trickshot's laptop that might help. Looked like he was blackmailing someone. Stay here. Don't die. Stay out of the tunnels. I mean it. I don't need you getting lost down there and maybe running into Soloman Grundy. No idea where he is..."

Peter nodded and watched her leave. "Wait, you have tunnels?"

Cindy made it to school and walked past Scott who was talking to Riri as she was placing her gauntlet in the locker. Luckily the students here weren't exactly bright enough to put two and two together to figure out that she was building a new Iron armor. She walked over to Courtney's locker and tried to cloud her mind so as to not give away to any telepaths that she knew where Peter was.

Courtney walked over still sulking that they didn't find anything to do with Peter while getting a message from Beth. Turned out that Cindy was indeed looking for information on who could have killed Trickshot and seemed he was getting money off of this person.

"Hey, Cindy." Courtney greeted her.

"Hey, new girl." Cindy greeted her back, watching Courtney open her locker and place some of her books into the locker. "Any updates?"

"Yes, actually," Courtney replied. "Apparently Trickshot has been blackmailing someone."

"Huh," Cindy replied, trying to act surprised.

Courtney seemed to recognize it. "You don't seem surprised."

"Birds fly. Fish swim. Blackmailers blackmail." Cindy proclaimed.

Courtney sighed and nodded, putting more books away. "Yeah."

"What?" Cindy asks.

Courtney shrugged. "I just thought that Trickshot was trying to be a better person."

"Look, a lot of bad people talk the talk," Cindy informed her. "Doesn't mean anything unless they actually follow through." She had flashes back to what happened with her father. Then she shook it off. "What about your resurrected boyfriend? Anything on him?"

Courtney then noticed Cameron Mahkent passing towards his locker. "He... we don't have any news." Cindy looked and noticed she was looking over at Cameron. "We don't even know if he is back, or if someone just stole his corpse."

"What about Starman?" Cindy asks, wondering if Courtney already moved on.

"He is taking the day off," Courtney said, still eyeing Cameron.

"What?" Cindy asks. "Starman took the day off?"

"Yeah, he needed to find balance," Courtney explained.

"Okay, and what about you?" Cindy asks, wondering if maybe Cameron could be used as a distraction to allow her to get time to fix Peter.

"What about me?" Courtney asks.

"Are you finding balance?" Cindy asks.

Courtney scoffed. "I am balanced."

"Right. spending your summer trying to resurrect your boyfriend, followed by his grave being robbed... perfectly balanced." Cindy scoffed.

"I made breakfast this morning. Waffles." Courtney informed her.

"Waffles? Wow. How far you've come finding a life outside of Stargirl." Cindy scoffed.

"Beth's tracking the accounts. We are hopefully gonna have an update soon." Courtney said as she closed her locker. "See you at lunch."

Cindy nodded as she was relieved to hear they didn't have any leads on Peter. And from the sounds of it, they didn't even know whether or not he was even alive.

At lunch, everyone came together to figure out their next move and to see if they figured out any other information on the documents. "So what'd you find out about those documents?" Yolanda asked.

"That the deposits made to Trickshot came via wire transfer from an Irwin Hasen," Beth answered.

"Irwin Hasen? Who the hell is that?" Rick wonders.

"It took a little digging, but we learned it's an alias for Lawrence Crock," Riri answered.

"Wait. What? Like, the Crocks?" Scott asked, gesturing over to Artemis. "Sportsmaster?"

"Are you serious?" Mayday felt disappointed. "That's who Trickshot's been blackmailing?"

"So what do we do now?" Chavez asked.

"We can't tell Sylvester." Courtney sighed.

"Why not?" Phoebe asks.

"Because he'll want to rush right in, like-"

"Like you." Beth finished.

Courtney felt a little offended by that and moved on as Cindy jumped in. "If the Crocks are guilty, Court, we should all rush in."

"We have to wait," Courtney stated.

"Wait for what, dear leader?" Cindy sighed. "Beth has solid evidence for a motive for murder."

"Just because Trickshot was blackmailing the Crocks doesn't mean they killed him."

"Yo, man, what's up?" They heard someone cry and looked over to Artemis, knowing that if they learned they killed Trickshot, things could get worse.

"If we're going to take Artemis's parents away from her again, we've got to be sure," Courtney explained her hesitation. "We'll regroup with Pat and Cliht, come up with a plan. Until then, nobody says a word to Sylvester. Agreed?"

"Yeah." Scott agreed as everyone else silently agreed.

"Mr. Mahkent, do you have a moment?" Ms. Woods asked as the school day ended. "I spoke with Mr. Deisinger this morning, and he said that you haven't been painting. And you didn't turn in your assignment to me today. That's not like you. Is everything all right?"

"Yeah. Everything's fine." Cameron said. "I've just been a little bit preoccupied. Can I do the assignment tonight?"

"Don't worry about this one. I know I'm considered the strictest teacher at Blue Valley. Even my coworkers avoid me at the lounge at lunch. But I only put up a wall because
I dealt with things, too, in school that I've carried." Ms. Woods explained. "So if there's anything you'd like to talk about, I'm happy to listen."

"I said I'm fine, so leave me alone," Cameron demanded her.

"Hey." Rick showed up in the doorway. "Don't be a jerk. She's only trying to help."

Cameron nodded and looked at the teacher. "Sorry, Ms. Woods."

"That's quite all right."

Rick didn't like Cameron's attitude and approached her. "Just because you are a spoiled rich kid doesn't mean you can talk to people however you want."

"I said I was sorry," Cameron stated, still irritated.

"Boys." Ms. Woods calmed them down.

Rick looked over to Cameron as they were leaving. "Talk to her like that again and you will be. Cool?"

"Yeah." Cameron sighed as he left. "Cool."

"I know your heart's in the right place, Rick, but calling Cameron names isn't going to help," Woods tells him.

Rick nodded and saw he might have gone a bit far. "Okay."

Sylvester returned to the household with the Cosmic Staff, seeing he would need to return it to Courtney pretty soon since his turn with the Staff was almost over. He walked inside and was still trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life now he was no longer Starman.

"Sub Shack. Sandwich artist wanted. Oof, that takes years of training and dedication." Sylvester said to the Cosmic Staff. "What the hell else am I gonna be besides Starman?"

Then there was a ring at the door, getting Sylvester to place the Cosmic Staff down and head over to see who it was. He opened the door and saw it was Cindy, who was there to try and drive a lot of the attention off of her and the laptop. She couldn't risk the others finding Peter and the laptop as both of those things would make her look too guilty. And there was also the fact she still didn't trust Starman which drove her to do this.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Pemberton." Cindy greeted him with false joy. "Is Courtney here?"

"She's not back from school yet," Sylvester answered.

"Really? 'Cause I thought we were supposed to meet here for a JSA meeting." Cindy said.

"A JSA meeting? About what?" Sylvester asks.

"About how Trickshot's blackmailing the Crocks," Cindy answered. "Didn't they tell you?"

Sylvester shrugged. "Didn't tell me."

"Don't take it personally." Cindy shrugged. "They leave me out of stuff too." She then knew how to draw a wedge into his side. "I have a good idea, Sylvester. How about we go get the Crocks right now, you and me?"

"Hey, that sounds... terrible." Sylvester proclaimed. "Work with Dragon King's demon spawn? I don't trust you any more than I trust the Crocks, or I did Trickshot. In fact, I trust you less."

Cindy sighed, wishing others really did trust her as Peter did. "I'm a member of the Justice Society of America now."

"Why don't you go find someone who's impressed by a dime-in-a-dozen cheerleader in green Spandex with daddy issues?" Sylvester asked her in annoyance. "I'm not your run-of-the-mill Blue Valley idiot. I'm Starman. Be careful on the stairs with those shoes. If you fall, it'd be like falling off an overpass." He then slammed the door in her face.

Cindy did however hear his words, but knew that was nothing compared to what she had been called her entire life. She just walked off, making her way home, making sure she wasn't spotted or followed by anyone.

"So, the Crocks," Sylvester said as he grabbed the Cosmic Staff. "Let's go get them."

While he was leaving using the back door, Mike was there and happened to witness everything.

"Well, it seems like your little girlfriend might have actually moved on." Cindy scoffed as she walked in and saw no sign of Peter. "Peter?" She then started to walk around the house when she saw he wasn't there, she might have panicked. "Hey. You here?"

Cindy wandered around the house and saw there was no sign of the windows being opened. There were no doors that were unlocked, and he didn't have a key to lock them from the outside. Then there was only one other place he could be. The tunnels. She ran over to see the door was broken off its hinge and she ran downward to see where he was.

"Peter?!" Cindy cried, not needing him to turn up somewhere halfway across the town.

Then she heard what sounded like a video playing, getting her to walk downward, and saw he was on Trickshot's computer. She walked over and saw that he had somehow gotten into the security footage that was on the AIM server.

Peter shot out a canister of his webbing into the gears, which immediately exploded and jammed up the gears. MODOK cried in fear as his chair began to malfunction, dropping Courtney and catching herself with the staff. Peter however wasn't given the same courtesy as he didn't have any more webbing on his person.

Working fast, Peter ripped himself free of the claw and ran to the one holding the arrow. Crawling around MODOK's form, he tried his best to get the chair under control and didn't even notice what Peter was doing.

Once he crawled up to the top of his head, Peter took the arrow and slammed it into the gem, entering MODOK, and every other system that he was connected to. Including the thrusters holding up this city. Once he pierced the gem with the arrow, MODOK grabbed Peter and tossed him aside.

MODOK then ripped the arrow out of his head, not knowing that the damage was already done. As he started to look around for the heroes, his gem was now fractured and started to flash green and its natural red color.

"What?" MODOK asked as he looked around. "Who said that? This body is occupied! Who...what are you? What is your objective?"

MODOK tried to fight back against the encrypted analog algorithm, but it ended with all of the Adaptoids shutting down all across town, as well as the thrusters to the city. The entire A.I.M. base started to fall from the sky, causing the camera to start glitching and shut down.

"How did you get into that?" Cindy asked as she slammed the computer closed.

"Easy." Peter shrugged. "Why do you have this?"

"It's complicated," Cindy replied, not wanting to tell him.

"I am supposed to be smart," Peter replied.

Cindy sighed as she decided to tell him since he wasn't going to be telling anyone. "Let's say that something happened ever since our little encounter with the multiverse." She then pulled on her sleeve to show that her arm had turned into dragon skin like her father. "I worry I might turn like my father, and I am trying to find a cure."

"The others can't help you?" Peter asks.

"Didn't think to ask them. None of them are exactly potion masters." Cindy scoffed at her reference. Then she got an idea and looked at Peter. "You know... there has been something I have been having difficulty with."

"What?" Peter asks.

Cindy brought up some files that she couldn't access. "I think there might be a cure in here, but I can't guess the password."

"I don't know if I can, but I can try," Peter promised, getting to work. But when he started to get to work, something happened, it was like his body was getting electrocuted with no source, getting him to scream and fall to the ground. "No! No!"

Cindy ran over to his side, wondering what was going on. "Peter?"

"No... don't let her take me back!" Peter cried as he curled up. "Don't take me back!"

Cindy tried to touch him to move him over, but she shrieked when his skin burned her at the touch. She looked down and saw her fingers had already begun to heal from the wounds, but they didn't answer any questions when she saw his body was boiling to the point he couldn't survive.

"Don't take me back!" Peter cried in pain.

"Peter?" Cindy tried to get his attention. "Peter! Wake up!" She then got a crazy idea as she grabbed some water off the table and tossed it on top of him. The water quickly evaporated and left only steam. "Peter!"

Peter gasped and scurried back, seeing where he was, and saw Cindy. "Who... what? Why...?"

Cindy kneeled down, trying to calm him down. "Peter. Look. It's me. Cindy. Burman. Your friend." She reached her hand for him to take and he only scurried in the corner. "Hey, I am not going to hurt you." She sounded annoyed but saw that only scared him more. "Okay, I am sorry..." She tried to be more sympathetic. "I'm your friend, Peter. Don't you remember? AIM? The Fearamid?"

Peter calmed down a little but still looked afraid.

"That's it, it's me," Cindy said, reaching out slowly. "Come on, I am not going to hurt you."

Peter reached out and took her hand, feeling like she was actually being sincere. She was curious if he was going to explain what happened.

"He hurt me..." Peter whispered.

"Who?" Cindy wonders.

"Kang..." Peter was beginning to remember. "I had to do something... I... I knew if I killed him, he would just come back. So... I found a loophole. A paradox." He remembered why he sacrificed himself. "Kang can't survive without me, and I couldn't let Kang live. If I killed Kang, then that would mean Kang needs to exist for me to sacrifice myself."

"You thought of all of that in a few seconds to sacrifice yourself?" Cindy asks.

"That's what I thought," Peter whispered. "Then she came for me..."

"Who came?" Cindy asks.

Peter shuttered as he remembered what happened, who took him. "I don't remember..."

Cindy was now getting a little curious as to what happened to Peter. "How did you come back?"

Peter thought of how he returned to the realm of the living after dying, trying to remember. "I ran... I don't remember from what. But... I ran."

"You were dead... and you ran?" Cindy asks in confusion.

The Crocks were currently shopping at Bell's getting their groceries. As they were walking around, there was an announcement made by the speakers.

"Attention, shoppers. Good evening. Please make your way to the cashier. The store will be closing in five minutes. Oink, oink."

Larry was walking down the aisle with his wife when he spotted some steak sauce and sneaked it into his jacket when his wife wasn't looking. Except it seems like she has eyes at the back of her head, and knew exactly what he did.

"Put it back," Paula tells him.

Larry scoffed with a laugh as he took it out and put it back. "Sorry. Habit."

"Plus, the sodium content of that steak sauce alone will put you back in prison," Paula stated as she picked a few other groceries off the shelf.

"Hey, everyone gets a cheat day, babe." Larry reminded her.

"Is that what you call it?" Sylvester called as he approached them while wielding the Cosmic Staff. "Did you kill Trickshot on a cheat day? A day like "The Purge"? I haven't seen it, but I read a summary online. It's a day where there's no laws."

"We know what it is. We've seen 'em." Larry stated. "They're hilarious. What are you doing bringing that Staff in here, Pemberton? In public? Are you out of your mind?"

"I know Trickshot was blackmailing you, and I know you're the ones that killed him," Sylvester stated.

"You don't know your ass from your elbow. We're shopping." Larry replied.

"Store is closing." The announcer warned everyone. "Please bring your items to the cashier, thank you."

Sylvester didn't keep his eyes off of the Crocks. "The store is closing."

"Yeah, we heard," Larry replied.

"We don't want to fight," Paula stated.

"This is your last chance, guys," Sylvester warned them.

Why don't you go back to your basement and polish your little Staff?" Larry asked, getting himself and his wife to laugh.

"Confess," Sylvester demanded them.

"Final call."

Sylvester then sent a blast of Cosmic Staff energy towards the Crocks.

Pat was cleaning and closing up the shop where everyone was meeting up when Rick finally showed up. "Late, Rick."

"Had a flat." Rick defended.

"So what's the plan?" Jane asked Courtney now everyone had shown up. "We going after the Crocks?"

"Pat and I are going to talk to them, give them a chance to explain," Courtney stated. "As soon as Cindy gets here, we can..." Her phone began to buzz. "One sec. Mike, what's up?"

The entire store ran to try to evacuate due to the chaos caused by Starman shooting cosmic energy around the place. Everyone ran off as fast as they could while the Crocks tried to avoid Starman.

"I was getting bored anyway," Larry admitted.

"Me too." Paula agreed.

Sylvester shot out a beam from the Staff, but Larry dodged it and leaped over to the next aisle. Sylvester followed as he ran to the aisle and aimed at the Staff. Larry stood as Paula ran over and slid over. Sylvester spun the staff while Paula leaped into the air, trying to find the weak spots between the Staff. She got a few hits that were blocked when Larry jumped in.

Larry managed to push Sylvester back while he held a grip on the Staff, but was then flung by Larry who threw him through the air. Sylvester landed on his feet while Larry charged at him once again, only for Sylvester to strike him again with the Staff. Paula came over to help him, dodging a strike from the Staff. She went in to strike but was blocked once again with her foot kicking the Staff instead. Sylvester then smacked Larry when he tried to attack again, ending with Sylvester spinning the Staff and knocking Paula across the store again.

Larry scooped up a handful of dirt and hurled it in an attack, sending clods scattering just as Sylvester struck him, catapulting him into the sports gear. Paula rose to her feet and dodged as Sylvester launched the Staff towards her, leaning back just in time for it to whizz overhead and return to its master. She dashed up the aisle, dodging blasts of Cosmic energy from Sylvester. Vaulting to the adjacent aisle, Paula closed in on Sylvester, entwining herself around him, restraining his movements, and dislodging the Staff from his grasp.

Larry got back up and found a baseball bat near where he landed. He picked it up and chuckled. "Hello, friend."

"Let go!" Sylvester demanded Paula.

"Come on!" Paula cried out, wanting to end this.

"Batter up!" Larry got up and went to bash Sylvester's head in.

That was when the Cosmic Staff came back and tripped him up, causing the Staff to come back to Sylvester. Then it ended with Sylvester smacking Paula off of him and getting back up, preparing to get back into the fight.

"You done?" Larry asked.

"No." Sylvester stated.

Just then, a flurry of arrows descended, disarming the combatants and dousing the flames with foam. It was at this moment that Hawkeye made his entrance, descending from an opening in the ceiling. His attire was a fresh take on his classic look, signaling his return to the fray. The suit featured a sleek black shirt accented with purple sleeves and a distinctive purple arrow design emblazoned across his chest.

"That's enough!" Clint demanded them. "Fight's over." He watched as the Crocks stopped and began to calm down. Sylvester however still looked like he was preparing to pounce the second got a chance. "Walk away, Sylvester." He demanded Starman. "Put the Staff down... now."

Sylvester then seemed to finally snap out of it as he released the Cosmic Staff.

The Crocks were taken to talk to Pat and Courtney with Clint while Phoebe was going around town, trying to wipe the memories of the experience of what just happened. She was trying to make it seem like a freak fire attacked the store and caused the damage rather than a fight between a dead man and two reformed criminals.

"Trickshot was blackmailing us," Larry confessed while Paula was putting his arm back into place. "That part is true. Ah! But we didn't kill him."

"We wanted to, but we stayed strong," Paula admitted.

"All right, so what was he blackmailing you with?" Pat wonders.

"ISA crimes we didn't commit," Larry admitted. "Stuff other members did without us. They're dead now, and we wouldn't have had a chance in hell of proving our innocence."

"In all defense, it's not like you're all that innocent." Clint reminded them.

"Look, yes, I mean, we're guilty of plenty of things," Larry admitted with a chuckle. "Some of it, we even went to prison for, and truth be told, we wouldn't even be sitting here with our freedom if it wasn't for a legal loophole."

"Well, some, like Sylvester, they might call that just a little bit unfair," Pat commented.

"Who cares what he said?" Larry asks. "That guy is a freaking lunatic."

"Regardless, we couldn't risk going back to prison, so we paid Sharpe," Paula explained.

"But the payments stopped two months ago," Courtney commented. "How come?"

"That circus freak stopped blackmailing us," Larry admitted. "No offense, Clint."

"Some taken," Clint replied.

"Didn't say why, and we thought he was playing a new angle," Larry explained.

"Then he paid us back right before he died," Paula admitted. "Every cent."

"Here you go." Barbra brought over some ice packs for the Crocks.

"Thank you."

"Thanks."

"Trickshot really was trying to be better," Courtney said in shock.

"Now, we didn't realize that until after he was killed," Larry said. "And... Well, as long as we're getting everything on the table, I'll admit I did go pay him a visit on the day he was murdered."

Clint asked. "What?"

"Look, he shows up in Blue Valley, spouting off his, "I've turned over a new leaf", jambalaya jive talk. Well, I wasn't buying it." Larry proclaimed. "Figured he had come back to start blackmailing us again, so I drove out to his trailer to have a little chat with him. But I got too worked up, and I left before I did something stupid.

"So why didn't you tell us this before?" Barbra asks.

"I was just trying to protect us from any unnecessary heat." Larry defended.

"I'm sorry, Barbara," Paula said. "We should have been honest with you. The last time we went to prison, it nearly destroyed our family. Not to mention the food. So many carbs."

"Please believe me," Larry said. "We would never make the same mistake twice. Whoever killed Barton, it wasn't us."

That was when Sylvester finally showed up. Everyone looked over at him as he marched down to the basement. "I'll be right back," Pat said as he went to talk to Sylvester.

"Okay, I talked to the Crocks-"

"How could you step in front of me like that, huh?" Sylvester asked him. "You chose to protect them over me."

"Sylvester..."

"You're my sidekick, not theirs. You got that?"

"I'm nobody's sidekick."

"Oh, is that so?"

"I'm your friend, Sylvester, and I always have been. The Crocks, they didn't do it. And even if they had, this isn't the way to deal with things."

Oh, and you know how to deal with things? You let half the villains that killed our friends move in next door! Is that how you deal with things?"

"You don't destroy everything around them. It sends the wrong message."

"To who?"

"To Courtney. When the staff first lit up for Courtney, she thought it was because you were her father."

"What? Me? Why would she think that?"

"Courtney's real father disappeared the same Christmas Eve that the JSA died. And for her to think that her father's a superhero who sacrificed his life saving the world... that was a hell of a lot easier than knowing that it was just some guy that didn't love her and hit the road. Right?"

"Jeez." Sylvester sighed. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know. I mean, he showed up in Blue Valley last year. He wanted to get this locket. This locket that he'd given to her when she was a little girl, 'cause it was worth some money. Also happened to be the thing that she cared the most about. So she gave it to him. He took it, and he left."

"What did you do?"

"I knocked him on his ass."

"Good."

"And I'm not proud of it. But that pain? It'll never leave her, and that's why you and I that's why we gotta be there for her. Sylvester, you can't just be a friend to Courtney. You have to be like a father. All right? She puts you on a pedestal, and she has since she first picked up the Staff. And whether you like it or not, you have a responsibility to set an example to Courtney and to all these kids not just to be a better man but to be the Starman that you set out to be."

"I don't know who I set out to be. I just feel like a crazy person now who blows up grocery stores. I don't even have my costume anymore."

"Costume doesn't make the man."

"Well, it's a start."

"Yeah." Pat agreed. "It's a start."

"So the Crocks didn't kill Trickshot?" Yolanda asks.

"No. They said they paid him blackmail money, but that was it." Courtney said.

"And you believe them?"

"They seemed pretty sincere." Courtney shrugged.

"And if you really think about it, the way Trickshot's trailer was left ripped apart, that isn't really their style," Mayday commented.

"If they didn't do it, who did?" Scott asks.

"Well, we know it wasn't Grundy or MODOK," Rick said.

"What about Cindy?" Yolanda asks. "She did exactly what you said not to do, Courtney. She went straight to Sylvester."

"Yes, because I didn't want to just sit around and do nothing," Cindy stated as she defended herself. "Look, the Crocks looked guilty, and I wanted to take them down, and
I wanted to prove myself. And I thought that if the great Sylvester Pemberton gave me his seal of approval, you would all too. And by the way, it turns out, he's kind of an ass." She informed them all.

"Well if you do something like that again, you're off the team," Courtney warned her.

Cindy sighed and saw that was deserved. "Okay. Got it."

Sylvester was in the basement looking over the crime scene where he saw all of the data they collected.

"Well, we've turned up empty again, huh, Cosmo?" Sylvester said to the Staff. "I just keep thinking There must be something at the crime scene that we all overlooked, right? We should go back." He went to take the Staff but stopped himself. "No. Nope. It's not my turn with you. I gotta respect the rules, and be a better Starman. I have to go. I'm sorry. That's okay. Wish me luck, buddy."

Sylvester made his way out and headed to the crime scene to see what it was possible that they missed.

Cindy was still trying to hack her way or at least guess the password into these files that Trickshot had locked. She heard scribbling and looked over in confusion, seeing that Peter was doing something. He was scribbling with a piece of chalk he had somehow found somewhere on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Cindy asked, but it was like he was in a trance. "Peter?"

Cindy came to a halt, her eyes widening at the sight before her: Peter had sketched a chilling figure, its face a grim skull, cloaked in a hood and brandishing what appeared to be a blade.

"What is that?" Cindy asks.

"Who I am running from," Peter whispered. "But I don't know who she is... or what she wants from me."

Sylvester approached the crime scene, surveying the shattered remains. As he examined the area, a shadowy figure soared across the sky, momentarily obscuring the moon. Catching sight of the silhouette against the lunar surface, Sylvester spun around just in time to see it disappear. In that instant, the figure vanished, leaving Pat to scan the surroundings in a mix of shock and concern. Suddenly, the figure plummeted onto the dilapidated RV, prompting Sylvester to whip around and illuminate the bizarre creature with his flashlight, which then emitted a piercing screech.

The creature was adorned with dark green feathers, and its eyes had widened, turning a deep red with tiny black pupils. Its hair and body armor were also green, though a lighter hue, with feathers that extended from the neck area to form a collar-like ruffle of plumage. The neck was elongated, marked with distinct striations. The skin appeared leathery, the nose had transformed into a curved beak with a red tip, and small, sharp teeth were now visible. The hands had become three-fingered talons with red tips, and the feet had evolved into talons, also red-tipped, with two at the front and one at the back of the heel.

The creature unfurled its wings, prompting Sylvester to drop his flashlight in a panic and flee. However, the creature swiftly took to the air and snatched him up as a vulture would. Instead of carrying him away, the creature fumbled its hold on Sylvester, causing him to be hurled through the air and slam into the RV.