CHAPTER SIX

OH SHE'S CUTE

While Melaina made her way to Richies for dinner with her friends as if she didn't acknowledge, no scratch that. Know that she had any other plans the rest of her team were making their way to the former Zarick household which was currently a Memorial landmark.

After confirming with Pat that Barbara was okay with the plan they all walked over to Josie's old home.

As they walked up the stairs Josie paused for a moment when memories of her family flashed in her mind.

Her fathers smile, brothers smile. The memories she made in this house.

"Okay, so what's the deal?" Yolanda asked the girl with the goggles.

"Blue Valley declared this a historic home after the Zaricks...departed." Beth told the group making Josie frown slightly. "Sorry Jo." The girl added.

"It'll be historic once I get my hands of The Shade." Rick promised as the group snuck up to the house.

"What does that even mean?" Josie asked the boy beside her.

"I don't know. I'm amped." Rick huffed. "Where the hell is Melaina?"

"Yeah we haven't seen her since yesterday." Yolanda added.

"She said she'd be here." Josie fibbed to the group.

"Hey quiet. Very quiet." Pat hushed the group before Josie pulled out her old house key and unlocked the door.

The group began to slowly creep through the house. Josie's eyes landed on the railing of the stairs where she heard the very things that changed her life.

She took a few deep breaths as Courtney walked beside her.

Courtney peered through the last sheet of plastic before walking straight through it and standing defensively a tight grip on her staff, Josie standing to her left and Yolanda with her claws to the blondes left. Pat, Rick and Beth joining the three.

"Oh my. Quite the assembly. Although it seems like you are missing a member. I hope I have enough biscuits." The english man started as the Josie's fists began to be surrounded by red magic. "Come, come. Do sit down. The tea is nicely steeped. It's perfect, in fact, if I say so myself."

"We're not here for teatime, Shade. What are you doing in Blue Valley?" Pat asked the old enemy.

"Pat Dugan. It took me a moment to place the name in the diner." The fancy dressed man said before Pat went on to talk about a car he saw outside Richies when he first talked to him. "Well of course I do Stripsey. Oh I see. Same sidekick, different Star-Spangled Kid."

"Stargirl." Courtney corrected.

"Oh absolutely. Now, please sit." Swift insisted making the staff pulse. "We could do it the other way, I suppose, all bother and perspiration, or we could try the more genteel approach." Richard suggested again before Beth spoke up.

"You murdered Dr Mid-Nite. You don't deserve the genteel approach!" Rick pulled Beth back as she tried to approach the villain.

"My dear young lady... and I mean this in the nicest possible way...you don't know what you're talking about." The children all glared at him while Courtney and Josie looked at Pat, slightly confused. "Now, sit. I implore you."

Pat looked at the man before giving in to his suggestion the children sat down. Josie looked around at what used to be her dining room.

Pat asked the fancy dressed man what he was doing in Blue Valley again.

"We won't let you hurt our town." Josie told the man as she clenched her jaw.

"Josephine dear, whyever would I do that?" The man responded making everyone's stares at him sharpen while Josie's eyes began to softly glow red. "When you're as old as I am you encounter many Zarick magic folk. Besides last time I saw you was a decade ago. You haven't even scratched the surface of your abilities especially in a Zarick domain such as this town."

"You were a member of the Injustice Society." Josie answered ignoring what he had just said despite the sudden worry she was feeling. Did he know?

Richard went on to explain how he and the ISA had similar but different interests. How they weren't as much of a team as the children thought they were. How he felt about Icicle. How he knew that a man who wanted to rule the world was not as dangerous as a man who wanted to save it. He then went on to state how their generation was bound to make the planet implode at some point.

"Okay just because you gave up and only looked out for yourself doesn't mean we're ever going to. We're never gonna stop fighting to protect the world from people like you." Courtney affirmed.

"Just to reassure you, I have no dark design on Blue Valley. Stay out of my way, and I'll be gone before you know it."

Courtney proceeded to ask why he was here again and he responded, no assured that it was best none of them knew. He told them to try the tea but before anyone could do anything Mike burst into the room holding the thunderbolt.

He asked the Thunderbolt to zap The Shade but as the pink being tried to hit for the bad the Shade used his powers to fight against him and to attack him forcing The Thunderbolt back into the pen, knocking Mike out on impact.

That caused the JSA to stand up from their seats and get ready attack.

But before they could do anything, the shade did it first. His powers pinned Josie and Courtney to the wall, slammed Rick on the floor then pinned him on the wall too, Yolanda tried to fight but was tied down to a chair, Pat and Mike were pinned on the floor and Beth was tied to a chair, dragged back to the table.

The shadows formed hands and tried to take the staff but Courtney's grip was far to tight for them. The staff glowed brighter making them hiss and fade away.

Josie's eyes and fists began to glow red as she grow the flames of the candles that were lit behind him. She tried to bring them closer to him but the shadows fought back.

"I'll say it for the last time. Stay out of my way!" He warned again before a wave of shadows surrounded him and disappeared.

The moment he was gone the ties that held the JSA released them and faded away and the candles were blown out.

✦✧✦✧

After her dinner at Richies with her friends, Melaina went home to work on the project she started for Bruce. She actually had a break through as she sat on her bed with a portable keyboard in her hands and a small tablet with the codes on it.

After reading a lot of books and Bruce's notes she finally managed to make the small, million dollar pieces of technology form anything she coded it to.

As she typed on the keyboard she heard a ding from her phone. She picked it up and saw a message from the group chat.

queen elizabeth 👸🏾
GUYS I THINK I FOUND SOMETHING
PIT STOP ASAP!!!!

Melaina put on a random pair of shoes, got her jacket and phone and went downstairs.

"Melaina honey where are you going?" Atlanna asked from the bar stool in the kitchen.

"Uhhh the team needs me at the Pit Stop." She answered.

"Okay I'll drive you because your parents will throw a hissy fit if I let you leave a lone this late at night." The queen insisted before grabbing her coat and her sons car keys.

The curly haired girl gave in and let her grandmother drive her to the pit stop. As they drove there Melaina stared out the window at the street lights and buildings with the aching feeling in her stomach that she missed something important.

When they got there Atlanna parked on the side of the street and Melaina got out the car and walked towards the high garage door. She ducked under it and walked to the Employees Only door.

She could hear the sound of her teammates voices discuss something that seemed to struck some sort of nerve.

As she opened the door she felt the stares of her teammates on her as she stepped into the room. All of which were rather angry ones.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rick yelled as he charged over to her before being stopped by Beth.

"Rick let her explain herself." Beth told the boy before he stomped back to his place.

"Why do I need to answer myself exactly?"

"Because we just got our asses handed to us by The Shade and now there's this new bad guy in Blue Valley!" Josie told the girl.

"We've been calling you all day." Courtney added as she folded her arms.

"No you haven't! I've had my phone the entire day and I haven't gotten anything from any of you! Beths text was the first text I've gotten from any of you today." She barked back at them.

"Check your phone." Josie insisted before her eyes glowed a soft red colour, not being noticed by anyone as everyone's eyes were on Melaina who was getting her phone from her jacket pocket.

The girls eyes widened as she saw all the missed calls from Josie, Courtney, Rick, Beth, Pat, Barbara and Yolanda. "The hell? These weren't there before. I swear."

None of them were buying it. "So we're supposed to believe that? Melaina we aren't idiots." Rick said again. "Josie did say that you've been distant lately but we didn't think you'd flake out on us."

"So you're gonna believe her over me?"

"Yes! Because she's actually been here!" Yolanda finally spoke up.

"Fine let me ask you all this, when the hell were you guys going to tell me that Cameron was back?" Their eyes softened before they looked at their feet. "So you lied about not knowing who Icicle was and now you all lied again after I asked you all if you've see him at all."

"We we're afraid that-" Beth started.

"You'd go spill your hearts content to Icicle Junior." Rick interrupted bluntly.

"Jesus fucking Christ Rick. Do you all really believe I'd do that to you?"

"You've just been out of character lately." Yolanda explained.

"Oh I'm sorry that my so called friends lied to me right before I watched a father figure of mine die right in front of my goddamn eyes who actually ended up being evil and my best and closest friend, someone who was actually like my brother die. Just like that." By now the tears the girl had been holding in for the past 6 months came out and she didn't care anymore. "None of you have actually asked me since Henry, how I've been. At all and now I'm risking my relationship and friendship for this team who are way in over their heads. It took Cam coming back for you all to start giving a shit and not for the right fucking reasons."

The sounds of thunder in the sky and pressure of water running through the pipes increasing could be heard as Melaina wiped away her tears. "Melaina-" Beth said as she approached her but the curly haired girl stepped back.

"No. This I'm done." She said as she pointed around the room. "I'm leaving."

The girl began to approach the door. "Can we please talk about this tomorrow. Beth has something to tell us-" Courtney started.

"There's no tomorrow Court. I'm leaving the team." She interrupted before she walked out the door with her shocked teammates following close behind.

"Melaina wait! Please we need you." Beth pleaded.

"No you don't. Besides I'm not going to be on a team with people who I don't truth or don't trust me." Melaina told the group bluntly as she spun around to face them, looking at Josie in the first part.

They all just stood there in shock as they watched her duck under the door and walk to her grandmother who was standing by the car trying to act as if she didn't hear anything.

"Come hear honey." She said with wide open arms before the girl practically ran into her arms and cried into her chest.

✦✧✦✧

Even though it was about 2AM Melaina lied in a pair of her favorite sweat pants and Cameron's blue tie dye hoodie on her bed tinkering around with the pieces of technology she had been playing around with for the past couple months.

She was programming the tech to form a cube when she heard scratches on her window.

She put the keyboard down and walked over to her window seat and opened the curtains to see a fluffy ginger cat clawing against the cat.

She opened the window and the cat jumped into her lap. Then suddenly blue and purple smoke began to form in her room before two figures came out of it.

"Well that's new." Melaina mumbled as the cat purred in her lap.

"Is this her? Oh she's cute" The tanned boy asked with a smirk to Martina who stood beside him who nudged him with her elbow in his stomach before speaking.

"Yep."

"Dude it's 2AM, what are you doing here with a random stranger in my bedroom?"

"I would love to ask why you're up at 2AM but we have something far more important to discuss." Martina responded before the boy beside her spoke.

"There's a darkness that has come to your home and I'm afraid that he's been let out of his cage."

AUTHORS NOTE!!!
sooo uh yeah that happened

Also more comedic relief from Kai
Also here's the cat :)

Courtesy of the Golly Gee Society ( Stargirl discord server )

Sooo yeah Melaina's officially off the team hehe 😜

TIME FOR THE SIRENS TO RISE

Things will just be getting worse <3

Anywhoo hope you enjoy