Blue Valley.
"I like Blue Valley's old radio station; the DJ is great, and the songs have a lot of character," Pat Dugan said to his daughter, Courtney.
Pat was the Justice Society of America's old hero, Star-Spangled Kid. After the Justice Society's demise decades ago, he returned to his family to be a husband and father.
The only thing that gave him a headache was his lack of authority over Courtney as her stepfather.
Of course, more troubling than his lack of authority was Courtney's accidental discovery and successful activation of the deceased superhero Starman's Cosmic Staff.
Now, Courtney was obsessed with inheriting Starman's legacy and re-establishing the Justice Society to punish evil and promote good.
"Pat, I think our tastes are vastly different. They only play ten songs, repeating them until they turn into fossilized garbage," Courtney complained to her stepfather.
"You know what? If you want to listen to public radio, no problem, you can get it outside of Lincoln City."
Pat turned up the radio volume and walked towards Courtney, "Also, as a friendly reminder, family dinner is at 6:30 tonight. I'm thinking of cooking fish, salmon or tilapia are both options."
"I think fish sticks would be better," Courtney said, sitting down at the dining table. "You know why, Pat? Because with fish sticks, you can't even taste the fish."
Facing Courtney's teasing, Pat clicked his tongue, unsure how to retort to his unpredictable daughter.
"I think we have a very important mission right now," Courtney said, seeing her mother and brother upstairs, she leaned closer to her stepfather and whispered, "And that is to find those villains from the Injustice Society."
"Uh…" Pat pondered for a moment and asked, "Didn't I tell you that the Justice Society was destroyed by the Injustice Society? Courtney, aren't you scared? If you get involved, we might get killed."
"But we're not dead yet, are we?" Courtney said to Pat. "And although it sounds a bit crazy, this is the first time I've felt like I made the right choice since moving to Blue Valley. I finally know who I am: I am Starman's successor, Stargirl."
"Listen, Courtney," Pat interrupted his daughter's superhero dream. "If you want to go against the Injustice Society, you must act discreetly, cautiously, and then make a plan. You don't know how crazy those villains are. The Justice Society heroes were wiped out by them; I witnessed that scene myself."
"Of course, I have a plan," Courtney said confidently. "I have a three-step plan: find them, scare them, and beat them up! We're superheroes, aren't we?"
"OK," Pat finally said helplessly, "Superheroes are also ordinary people most of the time. Right now, I need you to go to school and act like a normal teenage girl."
"That's boring!" Courtney declared it wasn't cool at all.
"But that's safe."
Eventually, Courtney went to school.
As soon as she walked into the corridor, she saw a familiar face.
Jessica opened her locker and put her clothes inside.
"Hey, Jessica," Courtney, feeling a bit uncomfortable in the unfamiliar corridor, immediately approached Jessica, who was also a transfer student.
"You left a bit early yesterday; I was going to wait for you to go back together. Did you join the school's extracurricular activities, cheerleading? I think your figure is very suitable for dancing."
Once Courtney started talking, it was hard to stop her.
"What about you? Why don't you join the cheerleading squad?" Jessica closed her locker door and asked casually.
"I like gymnastics, but I don't know why Blue Valley High's gymnastics team was canceled this year. If I had transferred to this school a year earlier, maybe I could have joined the gymnastics team, but then I might have missed meeting you, who knows!"
"Hey!" Jessica interrupted Courtney's endless chatter, "I know you're eager to make friends right now, but trust me, you and I are not the same kind of people."
"Maybe, but I think I still have to try. After all, it's only your second day of transfer, it's still early, isn't it?" Courtney shrugged and replied, seemingly not hearing the rejection in Jessica's words.
"Oh, right, I heard you say before that you met a very powerful guy in Smallville. Can you describe him in detail for me?"
Courtney's mind was currently filled with the idea of tracking down the Injustice Society members.
Upon hearing Jessica mention a powerful guy in the town she used to live in, she immediately suspected the person was an Injustice Society member.
As for why it wasn't one of the Justice Society superheroes, it was because those superheroes were already dead, so that possibility was automatically ruled out.
Blue Valley and Smallville are both located in Kansas, very close to the former headquarters of the Injustice Society, Metropolis, so Courtney had ample reason to suspect the person was an Injustice Society member.
"Believe me, you definitely don't want to provoke them," Jessica shook her head. "I've heard you describe Stargirl's powers. Maybe you think that's cool, but I think it's more like rhythmic gymnastics, jumping back and forth on a horizontal bar. I don't think it would have any effect on enemies."
"The two guys I know, I couldn't even clearly see their movements in battle. And one guy could fly without external aid. If they were villains, they would probably unify the United States very quickly."
"Oh, right!" Jessica suddenly remembered something and looked at Courtney with suspicious eyes. "Stargirl's fighting style is very similar to rhythmic gymnastics, and you just said you like gymnastics. You wouldn't happen to be Stargirl, would you?!"
Facing Jessica's sharp questioning, Courtney's heart skipped a beat.
Just as she was thinking about how to brush it off, Jessica turned around. "Whatever, I'm not interested in this kind of thing anyway, and whether you are or not is none of my business."
After locking her locker, she ignored Courtney and walked forward.
But after only two steps, she saw someone unexpected enter her sight.
Her body suddenly froze, and she stood still as if petrified.
Her heart felt gripped by an invisible hand, filled with fear.
Why was that person here?
Had he come to silence her?
What should she do?
Call for help or run away?
No, with that person's power, he could easily kill her. Running away would be useless!
Courtney saw Jessica suddenly stop, her body trembling slightly, and she followed her gaze with curiosity.
She saw a tall, handsome high school student with an unclear demeanor standing at the other end of the corridor.
Thump! Thump!
Eric, his footsteps echoing on the floor, walked towards Jessica and Courtney.
The rhythmic footsteps made Jessica's heart beat faster and faster.