Freya's POV:

"So, you think you're all superheroes, huh?" Rick sarcastically chuckled with his arms crossed. "So you're Stargirl," Courtney waved then he looked over to Yolanda. "You're...?"

"Wildcat." Yolanda answered for him.

He looks to me next. "Doctor Fate." He questioned and I nod before he looks to Beth next. "And she's--"

"Just borrowing those for the night." Yolanda interrupted before Beth could answer.

"Right. So, what can this 'magic' hourglass do?" He asked as he held up the hourglass in his hands.

"It's science. Your dad invented it." Beth excitedly answered. "The hourglass gave your dad super strength for one hour a day."

"One hour?" He raised a brow. "So the other twenty-three hours he was what, just some dude?"

"He was a brilliant chemist! Y'know that hourglass only worked for your dad. It was tied to his DNA." She emphasized with a grin.

"How do you turn it on?"

"How do you use any hourglass? You turn it over." She motioned with her fingers to spin.

He pulls over the necklace around his neck and flips the hourglass which instantly glowed at the action. The sand inside begins to drop and a wave of gold energy spreads across his chest until it reached his fists.

"So super strength, huh?" Rick said as he walked over to one of the filled beer containers. He picks it up at ease and pushes his hands closer, crushing the beer container under his grip which caused my eyes to widen.

"Uh..." I awkwardly cough, worriedly glancing behind to make sure no one was looking but he drops the can with a chuckle.

"You really shouldn't test out your powers in public." Courtney warned. "Our identities--"

"Protecting them is Superhero 101." Beth interrupted with a confident smile. "And you need a costume. Technically we all do. Since it's Halloween--"

"I'm not wearing a stupid costume." Rick harshly remarked. "You guys, do whatever you want. I'm doing my own thing."

He tries to walk away but I quickly stand in his way with a glare. "You can't just take the hourglass like--"

"Yes, I can!" He raised his voice. "It was my Dad's right? Now it's mine. Later." He scoffed and shoulder-checks me before he headed towards the exit.

I huff but move to chase after him but Courtney grabs my arm. "Stop it, not here." She scolded.

"Congrats. You just made the biggest delinquent in school an unstoppable beast." Yolanda emphasized but Courtney shook her head.

"I'm not giving up, yet. We can still get through to him." She tried to assure.

"He doesn't seem like the type to listen. We need to force him." I say as I crossed my arms. "With power like that, who knows if we can stop him."

"We can't when we're dressed like this." Courtney gestured to our casual clothes.

"Then let's go suit up!" Beth piped up but Yolanda raises a brow.

"Thanks, Beth, but we'll take it from here." Courtney offers a small smile. "Things could get really dangerous."

Yolanda and I follow after Courtney, quickly running back to the same direction we came from as we left Beth behind.

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. *✭˚·ﾟ✧*·ﾟ*✭˚·ﾟ✧*·

"Do you really think he's there?" I shouted to Courtney as I flew behind her, holding Yolanda up to be next to me.

"Has to be. It's where his parents died, right?" Courtney raised her voice as well since the wind somewhat affected our hearing. "He didn't even continue down that road after we stopped by that tree. He went back."

"Either way, I see someone walking in the dirt path. I think it's him." Yolanda added.

I carefully lower us down and Courtney walks ahead first with Yolanda and I following behind.

"Rick." Courtney called out as he stared at the scraped tree. "We just want to talk."

He shakes his head with disbelief before he turned to us with a look of annoyance. "Look, I'm not playing fairy princess tea time with you three."

"We understand--"

"What do you understand?" He harshly interrupted me. "My parents hit a tree and they died. What grand plan of God's was that?"

"It wasn't God's plan. It was an accident." Yolanda tried to softly explain.

"Then who do I blame, huh?" He angrily shouted. "Do you know what it's like to be so filled up with anger that you feel like you're poisoning yourself? Do you?"

I share a look with Yolanda, remembering our conversation in the gym.

"I want to hit something, anything, all of the time. Every second." His voice lowered, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "You think I like that? I hate feeling this way."

Courtney took a step closer. "My dad was a member of the Justice Society too. He was Starman." She stated and the staff in her hand hums. "And...even though I only met him a few times, I feel cheated. He was killed before I even got to know him." The staff glows a bit brighter in her hands at her words which caused her to look. "But now I get to keep his legacy alive. And you can too. You can be a hero like your dad. Hourman. It's your choice."

"My choice?" Rick rasped and Courtney nods.

He turns around with a cry, driving his fist into the tree which caused the three of us to flinch at the sound. The tree creaks in its place before it slowly tipped over and crashed to the ground.

He turns towards us with a glare. "When have I ever had a choice? Be a hero like my dad? My dad's dead." He spoke as he took a step closer to us.

"Sorry Court, we tried your way but now I'm doing my way." I mutter as I held up my fists. "We can't let you keep that hourglass, Rick. Not when you're like this."

"Yeah? Try and take it." He challenged.

"Freya, Courtney, let's go." Yolanda tried to pull my arm but I shake it out of her grip as the staff aimed towards Rick.

I throw a punch towards his face but he evades the strike and hits my ribcage. I grunt as I take a step back but spin in my heel, slamming the back of my foot against his cheek.

He stumbles back a bit but shakes his head a bit, despite the blood that trickled down his lip. "Was that supposed to be a hit?"

I huff then lunge towards him again and he tries to move his arm to block the punch once more but I swiftly grab a hold of his throat.

His eyes slightly widen and mustering every bit of strength, I slam his body to the ground and strike a punch across his cheek.

"Stop it!" Courtney shouted.

Before I could do land punch, I glance behind me and see her and Yolanda watching in shock which caused the pit of my stomach to stir.

As much as I didn't like this guy, I needed to keep up with the 'still-in-training' act. I have to lose.

I loosen my grip and reach to rip off the chain that held the hourglass. However, he instantly grabs ahold of my hand and crushes it under his grip which causes me to let out a cry of pain as I felt some of the bones snap.

I roll off of him and quickly push myself up, attempting to lift my leg to kick but he catches it and chucks me away from him. My back harshly slams against the tree and I let out a groan, not even bothering to stand up from the ground.

"Freya!" I hear Courtney or Yolanda call but it was too hard to tell. "Are you okay?"

I blink a few times and was met with Yolanda barely taking off my helmet as she patted my face a few times.

"Who's next?" I hear Rick challenge again, wiping the blood off of his mouth.

"Rick, wait!" I turn and see Beth barely run in from the dirt path. "It wasn't an accident."

"What?" He questioned as he took a deep breath.

"Your parents were murdered." She nervously answered.

"They crashed right here." He emphasized, pointing to the broken tree behind him. "They hit this tree and--"

"No." She cleared her throat. "Dr. McNider says it wasn't the tree that killed them. He says he can...show us?" She questioned as her goggles began to lit up green. She looks behind her and almost as if it was a projector, shaped into a car that was heading towards our way. "They were here...but so was someone else. Or something?"

A large figure jumps in front of the car with a deep growl and my eyes widen slightly in realization. Grundy.

"What the hell..." Yolanda whispered as she carefully helped me up from the ground.

"Chuck calls it Solomon Grundy." Beth nervously added.

Grundy slams its hand on the hood of the car, causing the truck to flip over in slow motion towards where Rick stood, the projection passing right through him as he shakily lifted his hand.

Once it fully phased through him, the vehicle slams into the tree but the projection instantly cuts out once Beth ripped off the goggles with a shaky breath.

"Beth? Are you okay?" Courtney worriedly asked as the girl placed her hands on her knees.

She nods. "Yeah. It's just so scary." She whispered as Courtney comfortingly rubbed circles around her back.

I clutch onto my hand but took a step towards Rick, ignoring the pain from the side of my stomach. "Your parents were killed by the same people who killed Courtney's father." I say and he looks away from the tree to face me.

"Who?"

"We don't know yet. Whoever they are, they're in Blue Valley. They're the reason I'm putting together this new team." Courtney stated as she gestured to Yolanda and I. "To get justice. For my dad, for yours, for all of the JSA."

"I'll do it." Rick swallowed. "But I don't want justice, Courtney. I want revenge."

.·。.·゜✭·.·✫·゜·。. *✭˚·ﾟ✧*·ﾟ*✭˚·ﾟ✧*·

"So what are you gonna tell your parents?"

I let out a sigh as I lifted my hand that was tied with a wrap. "I'll say that I punched the bag too hard I guess." I answer before I furrow my brows in confusion. "Wait, how are you talking on the phone right now? I thought you said your parents took it away."

"Perks of having a cousin that still likes to me. He stole my phone back from my parents when I told him about us and Courtney." Yolanda chuckled. "Are you sure you're doing okay? Rick basically shattered your hand."

"Don't worry about me. I'm pretty sure it's a sprain" I whisper, carefully looking over the bus aisles to make sure Principal Bowin and Steven Sharpe weren't inside. "Rick didn't crush it too bad."

"Why are you whispering? I thought your parents aren't home?"

"Uh..." I trail off, trying to come up with a lie. "I thought I heard Artemis by my door. Obviously can't expose my secrets to my family."

"Ah, so does that make me one of the special ones? I mean, we know each other's secrets." She teasingly spoke which caused me to roll my eyes. "Especially the deep dark ones."

"You don't know all my secrets, Miss Montez. I keep them all in a journal."

"You mean a diary?" She snorted.

"It's a journal." I corrected. "There's a difference."

"And would I eventually see this journal?"

"Depends if I like you enough." I chuckle, adjusting my posture.

"Wow, so now we're not best friends? I'm offended." She teased before she let out a yawn. "How come you're not tired after tonight?"

"The world's asleep so...it gives room for more thoughts."

She snorts. "Thoughts like what?"

I start to smile. "Thoughts that I write down in my journal that you'll never get to read." I say as I glance outside the window, seeing Steven and Principal Bowin were conversing to themselves.

"Normally, I'd argue about this," She lets out another yawn. "but I think I'm gonna head to bed since I don't want my parents to walk in and see that I have my phone."

Principal Bowin and Steven turn their heads to me, giving me a stern expression which meant that the delivery truck was coming.

"Yeah, I gotta go too. I have...homework." I cringe at the awkward pause before I shook my head. "Goodnight, Grandma."

She scoffs in the background. "You're lucky I'm too tired to argue. Goodnight."

"Night." I hang up the call and shove my phone in my pocket, quickly getting up from my spot and stepped out of the bus. "How far is it?" I immediately ask as Principal Bowin took out her violin from the case.

"Not too far." Steven answered, tossing the coin in the air before he caught it in his hands with a smirk.

As if on cue, the tires screech from the other side of the bus which indicated that they were here. The sounds of a door opening and slamming shut, cause Principal Bowen to step out from her hiding spot.

She starts to play the hypnotic song, taking a step closer to the delivery men as one of their faces turned dull while the other furrowed his brows in confusion.

The one that held a dull expression walks closer to the bus, leaving his partner worriedly glance between Principal Bowin and his co-worker. "Gary?" He worriedly calls out but as the music intensifies, he clutches onto his ear with a pained grunt.

Steven and I step out of our spots, seeing that he was trying to fight the hypnotism by clutching onto his ears tighter as we approached him.

"Seems like you got a stronger will than your friend. It's too bad." Steven chuckled at the man's pained expression before it dropped. "For you."

I swiftly dig my heels into the side of his knees with a snap, sending him instantly to the ground.

I was about to check the back of the truck until Steven held his arm out, blocking me from my path. "What are you doing?"

"You didn't think you came just to knock him to the ground, now did you?" He chuckled. "Jordan invited you to come with us for a reason." He pulled out his pistol from his coat, reloading the weapon before he held it out for me to grab.

I glance at the man on the ground as he continued to groan in pain. "I'm not feeling it tonight."

"Well, it's the only way we won't have any witnesses." He harshly stated. "Jordan says you're acting a bit of a tough guy so he wants to see if you are."

"You can't be serious." I remark.

"What's the problem? Worried about whether those special friends of yours would find out? You've gone soft."

I scoff. "I've only been getting them to trust me, that's it."

"Then prove it." He held out his gun to me. "If you're one of us, this small thing shouldn't stop you."

I snatch the gun from his hand and take a step closer to the man, seeing a droplet of blood trickle down the side of his ears.

My finger hovers over the trigger as I internally battled my thoughts.

Memories from the past few days flashed in my head, the deep conversations with Courtney, test-running my abilities and laughing about it with the girls. With her.

Yolanda.

I've never vented that much to someone in my whole life and somehow, she made it easier to just let it all out. Even when she said she trusted me, it was nice to hear but at the same time...I felt awful.

But then I remembered why I was lying in the first place. The real reason why I joined the JSA.

The project.

The sound of a single gunshot that echoed in the sky, earned a smirk to form on the Gambler's expression as the delivery man now laid still.

"Excellent."