- Pat Dugan: A kid died today. A child. That's why we can't go on.
- Courtney Whitmore: A kid died today. And that's exactly why we have to, Pat.
- Jordan Mahkent: You seem to think that power comes from other people's perception of you. From recognition, or applause, but that's not your power. William, true power doesn't need to be seen.
- Courtney Whitmore: Is this thing real?
- Pat Dugan: Yeah. It's Dr. Mid-Nite's owl. There's something special about him. I don't know what, but every time we'd come here, that owl, he'd fly right to Dr. Mid-Nite and land on his arm. He doesn't know Dr. Mid-Nite's dead. He's been waiting for him for years. Dr. Mid-Nite's not coming back, Court. None of them are. Icicle and the Injustice Society killed them all. And the truth is, you and I don't stand a chance against him.
- Courtney Whitmore: What if we had help? I'm the new Starman, so why couldn't there be a new Hourman, or a new Dr. Mid-Nite?
- Pat Dugan: No. No one can take their place.
- Courtney Whitmore: That's what you said about Starman, but then the staff picked me.
- Pat Dugan: Court, these guys, I mean, they were the best in the world.
- Courtney Whitmore: Did they start out like that?
- Pat Dugan: No. But still, with years of experience, they couldn't defeat the Injustice Society, do you understand that?
- Courtney Whitmore: This stuff shouldn't be sitting here collecting dust. It should be in the hands of possible heroes.
- Pat Dugan: Don't touch the Thunderbolt! That's the most dangerous thing in here.
- Courtney Whitmore: A pink pen?
- Courtney Whitmore: This is our destiny, Pat.
- Pat Dugan: You know, that's exactly what Starman said to me the night he died. Come on, we're leaving. And until I say so, no more Stargirl and S.T.R.I.P.E.
- Courtney Whitmore: You were the one that painted Yolanda's locker.
- Cameron Mahkent: Maybe.
- Courtney Whitmore: I'm Courtney.
- Cameron Mahkent: Cameron.
- Courtney Whitmore: I know. Uh, I mean, I'm new here, so... so, I'm trying to learn everyone's name, and since ours both started with a "C", it... it was easy to remember.
- Cameron Mahkent: Welcome to Blue Valley, Courtney.
- Mr. Levine: This is algebra, not "The Dating Game."
- Jenny Williams: What's "The Dating Game"?
- Pat Dugan: Oh, hey, a friendly reminder. Family dinner is at 6:30 tonight. I'm thinking I'll make fish, maybe some salmon or a nice tilapia.
- Mike Dugan: How about some fish sticks?
- Pat Dugan: No, Mike, because fish sticks...
- Mike Dugan: Are awesome. You can't even taste the fish.
- Joey Zarick: You're new, right? What was your name again?
- Courtney Whitmore: Uh, I'm Courtney Whitmore.
- Joey Zarick: Joey Zarick, but my stage name is Zarick the Great.
- [offering his deck of cards]
- Joey Zarick: Go ahead and, uh, pick a card, any card.
- Courtney Whitmore: [drawing the 3 of Clubs] Okay. Uh...
- Joey Zarick: All right... yeah. All right, take a look at it. Don't let me see it. Remember it, though. Okay? You got it?
- Courtney Whitmore: Got it.
- Joey Zarick: All right, put it anywhere back in the deck.
- [she returns it to the deck]
- Joey Zarick: Boom. All right. Thanks for letting me practice on you, by the way. Today is the regional talent competition. Cindy and Jenny always win, though. It's Nebraska, so twerking still packs a punch.
- [shuffling the deck]
- Joey Zarick: Anyway, uh, now for the aforementioned mind-blowing. Courtney from California...
- [raising the 7 of Hearts]
- Joey Zarick: Is this your card?
- Courtney Whitmore: [feigning surprise to spare his feelings] Yes. The seven of hearts. Oh, my gosh. How'd you do that?
- Pat Dugan: We can't go after Icicle, all right? If it is him, then he clearly wants to be found. This is a trap, Courtney.
- Courtney Whitmore: For him.
- Pat Dugan: No.
- Courtney Whitmore: Pat, we're talking about the man who killed my father.
- [the Cosmic Staff warbles]
- Courtney Whitmore: See? The staff wants justice, too. We're going with or without you.
- Dr. Bridget Chapel: Can I help you?
- Pat Dugan: Oh, hi. Uh, yeah, I'm just an old friend of Dr. King's. Henry and I... yeah, well, I heard about what happened.
- Dr. Bridget Chapel: Seizure. It's horrible. Henry's the cornerstone of this institution.
- Pat Dugan: I'm sure that he is. Well, where'd they find him?
- Dr. Bridget Chapel: Just outside the emergency entrance.
- Pat Dugan: Right. So, what did he have on?
- Dr. Bridget Chapel: [a little confused] His lab coat.
- Pat Dugan: Right. 'Course. Yeah. Well... here's hoping he gets well soon.
- Dr. Bridget Chapel: [pulled aside by a colleague] Excuse me.
- Pat Dugan: [looking at the comatose Brainwave] He's not alone.
- Pat Dugan: Being a superhero is not being one most of the time. I need to find out if Brainwave was alone or not, and I need for you to go to school and just... act like a normal teenager.
- Courtney Whitmore: That's boring.
- Pat Dugan: It's safe. Text, tweet, do your homework, whatever. Just... will you do that?
- Courtney Whitmore: Okay. Fine.
- Pat Dugan: Thank you. Thanks.
- Courtney Whitmore: Keep working on S.T.R.I.P.E., and if Brainwave wakes up, come get me from class.
- Pat Dugan: Do you ever listen to anything that I say to you? Ever?
- Courtney Whitmore: Everything. Keep your eyes open. Remember, they could be anywhere or anyone.
- Joey Zarick: Dad, check out my rising card trick.
- William Zarick: Let's see it.
- [chuckling as Joey demonstrates]
- William Zarick: Very good, Joey.
- Joey Zarick: I'm thinking I can close my act with it.
- William Zarick: Yeah, yeah. Mind if I give you a pointer for your show?
- Joey Zarick: Yeah, sure.
- William Zarick: [taking the deck] You see, a magician's greatest tool isn't just his hands. It's distraction. Keep smiling, keep them talking, always look 'em in the eye. You do that...
- [snapping, he performs the card trick himself]
- William Zarick: ...they won't see what's right in front of 'em.
- Courtney Whitmore: What is this place?
- Pat Dugan: It's the headquarters of the Justice Society of America.
- Courtney Whitmore: [looking around] What is all of this?
- Pat Dugan: Each of the JSA members had abilities, powers, tools, like your Cosmic Staff, and they used them to protect the world against people like Icicle.
- Courtney Whitmore: Who's that?
- Pat Dugan: Wildcat. His real name was Ted Grant. He was a heavyweight champion. He gave me my Big Boy keychain. It's the closest thing he could find to a Stripesy action figure. Said it was good luck. I don't know.
- Courtney Whitmore: Hourman...
- Pat Dugan: The Flash, Dr. Fate. They were my friends. My family, really.
- Barbara Whitmore: Hi, I'm home. Just in time for family dinner.
- [seeing the kitchen empty]
- Barbara Whitmore: Hello?
- [finding Mike at the dinner table]
- Barbara Whitmore: Mike, where is everyone?
- Mike Dugan: [playing on his phone] No idea.
- Barbara Whitmore: Did you eat dinner?
- [he holds up an empty bag of Cheetos]
- Barbara Whitmore: Okay, well, did anyone feed the dog?
- [he holds the bag up again]
- Mr. Levine: You might be asking yourself, "When am I ever gonna use proper and improper fractions?". Well... the answer is, a fraction of every day.
- [his students groan]
- Mr. Levine: Tough crowd.
- Mike Dugan: What am I supposed to do in my room without my games?
- Pat Dugan: You know, I was in the middle of real important work, Mike, and when I was your age, we weren't playing games in class.
- Mike Dugan: Yeah, back in your day, you didn't have any video...
- Pat Dugan: [taking his controller away] You see, that's where you're wrong. It was actually the golden age of video games, and I was down at the arcade playing Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Dig Dug, Defender, Spy Hunter, you name it. But my personal favorite was made by the Rolls-Royce of video game manufacturers. Atari.
- Mike Dugan: A what?
- Pat Dugan: The game was called "Paperboy", Mike, and I used to play it all day, every day, until one afternoon my father came to me and he said...
- Mike Dugan: You were adopted.
- Pat Dugan: [sarcastic chuckle] No. He said, "Son, you need to stop feeding quarters into that machine and go make some money of your own. You like this game "Paperboy", how 'bout you try the real thing?". So he got me a paper route.
- Mike Dugan: Does this story ever end or does it just keep going on forever?
- Pat Dugan: It continues. It doesn't have an ending because you, Mike Dugan, are gonna take up that great family tradition. You're getting a paper route.
- Courtney Whitmore: I was walking home through Blue Valley Park and you'll never guess what I saw.
- Pat Dugan: What?
- Courtney Whitmore: I found a frozen field.
- Pat Dugan: A what?
- Courtney Whitmore: An iced-over field, and it was in the shape of a star. It's a message. I know it. It's Icicle. It has to be.
- Pat Dugan: Hold on, just tell me exactly...
- Courtney Whitmore: He killed my dad.
- Pat Dugan: He killed Starman.
- Courtney Whitmore: We have to go and find him.
- Pat Dugan: And do what? Arrest him?
- Courtney Whitmore: That's a start. There are more of them here. I was right.
- Pat Dugan: You have no idea how dangerous he is, all right? The only thing I've ever seen hurt Icicle is the staff.
- Courtney Whitmore: That's great!
- Pat Dugan: That's terrible.
- Courtney Whitmore: [collecting various items from the JSA headquarters] Let's go do some recruiting.
- William Zarick: Tell me it was an accident.
- Jordan Mahkent: A what?
- William Zarick: [grabbing him] Tell me you didn't mean to kill my son.
- [letting him go and taking out his magic wand]
- William Zarick: Tell me!
- Jordan Mahkent: William, wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I am so sorry. Okay? I truly am. I know you loved your boy...
- [freezing the wand and, by extension, William]
- Jordan Mahkent: ...but I wish you understood what I was doing was also for him.
- [setting him gently on the floor as he dies]
- Jordan Mahkent: [conversing in Norwegian] It's too bad you had to see that.
- Lily Mahkent: We will clean it up.
- Sofus Mahkent: You have work to do.
- Courtney Whitmore: Don't drive me to school.
- Pat Dugan: What? Why not?
- Courtney Whitmore: Because we have to find the rest of the Injustice Society. They've probably assumed new identities in Blue Valley like Brainwave did.
- Pat Dugan: Okay, aren't you even a little scared of Brainwave? I mean, we both could've been killed.
- Courtney Whitmore: But we weren't, and as crazy and insane as it was, it was the first time since we moved to Blue Valley that I... felt like I was in the right place. Like, I finally know who I really am. Starman's daughter. Stargirl.
- Pat Dugan: Okay, Court... even if there are other members of the ISA here, we need to proceed carefully. Lay low, make a plan.
- Courtney Whitmore: I have a three-point plan. Find them, surprise them, kick their asses.
- Jordan Mahkent: I'm gonna make the world pay for what it's done to you. I swear it.
- Christine Mahkent: No, Jordan. You continue your mission. Fix this country. Make it safe for our boy. Promise me.
- Jordan Mahkent: I promise. I promise.
- [seeing something in her face]
- Jordan Mahkent: What is it?
- Christine Mahkent: [whispering in his ear] If anyone tries to stop you... destroy them.
- Pat Dugan: I'm loving this Blue Valley oldies station, right?
- Mike Dugan: Please, God, make it stop.
- Pat Dugan: Yeah, it's pretty good. This DJ is a hoot, huh?
- Mike Dugan: Can you change the radio station? They play the same ten songs over and over, and they're all fossilized garbage.
- Pat Dugan: You know what? You want a little public radio, you got it. Straight outta Lincoln.
- Jordan Mahkent: I've traveled across this country. I've hunted down everybody who played a part in Christine's death. Everybody who exposed her to a toxin that led her to get sick. And I did this because I, too, made a promise, William, to my wife as she lay dying in my bed that I would combat injustice for our son, for everyone's children.
- William Zarick: There's nothing more important to me than mine.
- Jordan Mahkent: Good. Good. It's the way it should be. Project: New America is my destiny. I want it to be yours, too. But I'm back in charge now... and I'll take care of this Stargirl.
- Pat Dugan: What are you doing down here? I told you to wait in your room until dinner.
- Mike Dugan: [taking a bag of Cheetos out of the pantry] Yeah, well, my stomach says it's dinner.
- Pat Dugan: Okay, well, I-I'm working on this vegan casserole.
- Mike Dugan: Vegan casserole? Big pass. Did I interrupt something important?
- Pat Dugan: No. I'm just giving Court a couple of cooking tips.
- Courtney Whitmore: Yep, I need 'em. Mmm.
- Pat Dugan: [giving Mike some money and taking the Cheetos back] You know what, buddy, why don't you take this, ride your bike up to the store, I'm gonna take these, you get yourself whatever you want, okay?
- Mike Dugan: Twenty bucks. Awesome. Anything?
- Pat Dugan: You got it. Anything you want. That's an advance on the paper route, okay?
- Jordan Mahkent: What did Brainwave tell you about this new Starman?
- William Zarick: It was a girl. That he'd take care of her.
- Jordan Mahkent: You were the one who was supposed to handle things in my absence.
- William Zarick: Well, he was insistent.
- Jordan Mahkent: And you were hesitant. You always have been.
- William Zarick: Brainwave has never been a team player like me. I was the one who cleaned everything up. Got him to the hospital, took care of the costume, came up with a story.
- Jordan Mahkent: William... you stumbled into your powers... you killed your master before his lessons were complete, and it shows. That wand of yours, it's capable of so much more, but instead of thinking big, you just continue to think small. Even now, you're still performing the same old tired show. You've just changed one stage for another. You spend your days making promises to people, but much like every politician, you don't keep them, in the same way you didn't keep your promise to me.
- Jordan Mahkent: Brainwave is in a coma.
- William Zarick: He came to see me. His son was attacked by someone using Starman's staff. He told me he called you.
- Jordan Mahkent: He did. Why didn't you?
- William Zarick: I didn't see the need.
- Mike Dugan: Wait, where's Barbara? I thought this was family dinner and we all had to be home for it.
- Pat Dugan: Mike, not tonight, okay?