Brave New World: Stargirl

Chapter 19

Courtney and Pat were walking out towards the car to meet the rest of their family to go home when suddenly, Pat noticed a very bright object coming their way very quickly.

"Courtney, is that what I think it is?" Pat asked.

"It's my staff." Courtney said as the Cosmic staff landed in front of her and they were surprised to find that it had a bag on it.

"What's in the bag?" Pat asked as Courtney checked.

"It's my suit." Courtney said.

"Okay, that can't be good." Pat said.

"Why would the staff be bringing me my suit?" Courtney asked.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing that a member of the ISA is on the move and the staff somehow wind of it. Get changed and check it out, I'll tell your mom and then head to the shop to get the robot." Pat said.

"You need to come up with a better name for it." Courtney said.

"We'll discuss this after you're no longer in danger. I'm only giving this the green light because I know the staff would not have come to you like this if it wasn't urgent." Pat said and Courtney nodded as she took the bag from the staff and moved to find a private place to change into her suit.

When she came back, she handed Pat the bag, which was still full, even though she was now wearing what she'd dubbed her Stargirl costume.

"Your regular clothes are in here?" Pat asked.

"Can't risk anyone finding and stealing them, especially if they think it'll give them a chance to see a girl walk home in her underwear." Courtney pointed out.

"And it will also make sure that you know where they are so you can change back into them after this is over. Now go." Pat said.

"Do me one favor." Courtney said.

"What is it?" Pat asked.

"Don't let Yolanda follow me. She doesn't have a costume yet, if she goes out, she'll risk putting herself, her family and everyone else she cares about in danger." Courtney said.

"Agreed." Pat said, since Courtney was right. While he wasn't comfortable with her doing this, at least she had a costume with a mask to protect her identity, he never knew why Sylvester got rid of the mask when he transitioned from the Star Spangled Kid to Starman, but Yolanda didn't have anything like that. One look at her face and they were all made.

"Go. Just be careful." Pat said.

"No promises." Courtney said as she let her staff fly her away.

However, Stargirl was very surprised when she saw the staff landing her at her own house.

"What are we doing here?" Stargirl asked.

"Well, it looks like this won't be as dull as I thought it would be." a new voice said and Stargirl turned to see a red haired man wearing a vibrant green undershirt and a matching leather green trench coat. The coat begins at his neck with a collar, which has black buttons on the side. A black leather stripe goes around the top of the collar and carries on from the second black button and down his torso. The jacket itself intersects and forks at his midsection. The sides continue to just about his kneecap. Black leather strips define the bends and corners of the jacket. Around his waist is a shiny leather black belt. He wears solid black pants that tuck into knee-high black leather boots, along with black leather gloves.

"And you would be?" Stargirl asked.

"You mean your stepfather Stripesy never told you about me? I thought he'd tell you about your enemies. Courtney." Brainwave said with a grin.

"Why do you think that's my name?" Stargirl asked.

"I can read your mind like an open book. I know everything about you. Courtney Whitmore. I know how your stepfather is Stripesy and even more importantly, I know that you are a legacy of my hated enemy Starman. Not only are you his successor, but you're his daughter. I have to admit, I do find some solace in knowing that when I'm done, you'll finally get to meet him." Brainwave said.

"Who are you?" Stargirl asked again as she held up her staff, preparing to blast him.

"For the short time you have left to live, you can call me, Brainwave." Brainwave said with a grin.

"Don't be so sure." Stargirl said as she fired a blast from her staff, only for Brainwave to summon some random debris from around him to use as a shield.

"Pathetic. At least your father put up more of a fight." Brainwave said.

"Give me a break, I'm still learning." Stargirl complained.

"A pity you won't live to complete your education." Brainwave said as he used his powers to levitate Stargirl off the ground.

"What do you want?" Stargirl asked as she struggled to find a way to break free.

"Finally, you ask a semi intelligent question. I'll make it easy. You give me that staff and I'll wipe your and family's memories of all this and let you go about your lives." Brainwave said.

"And if I say no." Stargirl asked as she began to control the direction her staff was pointing.

"Then, if it's really necessary for me to tell you, I'll kill you and everyone else you're associated with. Though I may make a certain girl suffer a bit first." Brainwave said as Stargirl felt her mind become overwhelmed by anger and while she wasn't sure if Brainwave's powers allowed him to control her emotions, but she knew that this anger was all hers since she knew exactly who Brainwave was talking about.

"You stay away from her." Stargirl said as she could feel her staff itching to blast, but she wasn't going to do that yet. She wanted to let it charge up a bit first as she could feel it's power growing with every second she was forcing it not to fire and it also seemed to be responding to her mood.

"That is entirely up to you, Stargirl. This offer won't last long. You have till I decide to put you down and I'm getting tired of doing this." Brainwave said, only to be surprised when Stargirl grinned.

"I just want to say thank you." Stargirl said.

"For what?" Brainwave asked.

"For being such a talker. It really helped kill some time." Stargirl said as she finally let her staff unleash a huge blast of energy that tore right through Brainwave's defenses and sent him flying to the ground, allowing her to land safely on it.

"I'll admit, that was well played." Brainwave admitted as he managed to get to his feet.

"You must be rusty. I thought a bad guy like you would know better than to fall for a trick like that. Now, let's do this." Stargirl said as she blasted Brainwave again and this time he was still dazed from the first blast he took, so she was easily able to hit him, but this time he was able to stay on his feet.

"Lucky shot." Brainwave said as he blasted her with his psychic waves, only for Stargirl to power through them as her staff glowed as she approached him.

"This is for my dad." Stargirl said as she finally got close enough to smack Brainwave's head with her staff, but she was not prepared for the reaction that she got, it seemed to cause some kind meltdown in her opponent that caused him to lose control and cause everything around them that was lighter than them to levitate.

"What is going on?" Stargirl asked, as the effect finally ceased and Brainwave collapsed to the ground.

"What did I do?" Stargirl asked as she quickly made sure that he was still alive, which he was, which was a bit of a relief, but she still didn't know how she'd done what she did. Or even what she'd done. All she knew was that she needed to get lost before someone came out to see what happened, so she used her staff to fly off and have Pat hopefully explain what had happened.