- As Pat teaches Courtney, Yolanda, Beth and Rick the importance of teamwork, the ISA converge to figure out who is trying to take them down. Elsewhere, as the school prepares for homecoming, Cindy lashes out against her father's strict rules, while Barbara accepts an offer from Jordan.—brahamdali
- Courtney runs down to the basement and gets the Staff out of the crate. The Staff hovers out to greet her.
Rick carves an hourglass into the spot where his parents' truck hit the tree.
At the school exercise room, Yolanda punches an exercise bag and then takes the Wildcat cowl out of her bag.
At home in her bedroom, Beth sings along with Chuck. Her parents come in, and Beth quickly hides the goggles before she sees them. They wonder why she didn't make them lunch, and Beth says that she got busy and quickly leaves.
Mike returns home from delivering papers, and goes to the kitchen as Pat and Courtney come up from the basement. Pat says that training begins after school, and Mike figures that he's talking about his new job and that Pat is making Courtney take a job. Courtney and Pat contradict each other with their explanations, and they settle on Pat teaching Courtney how to drive. They argue about whether Courtney is ready to go without learning some fundamental rules, and Barbara comes in behind them.
Pat assures his wife that he's not going to let Courtney drive yet. Barbara takes him aside and says that while she appreciates him teaching Courtney how to drive, she wishes he would have talked to him first. Pat apologizes and says that he should tell her everything, and Barbara wonders what he means. He changes the subject and says that Barbara is beautiful, and takes Courtney and Mike to their schools.
At the hospital, Henry waits at his comatose father's bedside and takes painkillers. Cindy watches from the door, and finally comes over and gives Henry the flowers she brought. She says that she's worried about him, and he's crazy for thinking he can somehow wake Henry Sr. up. Cindy offers to help plan Homecoming, and Henry says that he doesn't care about a dumb dance. When he points out Henry Sr., Cindy agrees but says that she thought Henry would want to have fun. Henry apologizes but says that he can't leave his father. Cindy sympathizes and agrees to stay with Henry for a while. He hugs her and Cindy looks exasperated but Henry doesn't see her.
At the high school, Rick is walking down the hall and Courtney sees him. She goes over to him and as they walk down the hallway, Yolanda and Beth join them. Cindy walks the other direction and bumps into Courtney, tells her to watch where she's going, and continues on. Courtney wonders why Cindy is so mean, and Beth notes that Cindy was nicer in elementary school but then Cindy's mother died and her father remarried, and then Cindy became a scary person. Rick says that losing a mother isn't an excuse, and the bell rings. Beth says that they have a few hours until JSA time, and the others shush her and agree to meet later.
At American Dream, Barbara bumps into Jordan. He asks her to go with him to a sewing machine factory that is up for sale, and approve the buyer for Blue Valley. Barbara says that she'll need to check with Pat first, then thanks Jordan for thinking of her. Jordan says that she and her family should be proud of the great job she's done.
Jenny joins Cindy in the hallway and tells her that a boy, Travis, asked her to Homecoming. She suggests that they double date, and Cindy irritably says that she might not even go to the dance and it's ground zero for losers like Jenny and Travis. Jenny asks why she's such a bitch, and says that she's glad Cindy isn't going to the dance because she needs a break from Cindy. After Jenny storms off, Cindy turns and bumps into Justin the Janitor, dropping her books. As Courtney comes out of her class, she hears Cindy berating Justin, and he picks up her books and sniffs them. Cindy yanks them away and storms off, and Courtney comes over and helps Justin pick up his broom. He calls her "milady" and bows to her, and Courtney leaves.
Cindy finds Henry at his locker and tells him that they have to go to the dance. When he demurs, Cindy tells him that he's taking her. Henry irritably tells her to go with someone else and walks off, and Cindy mutters to herself that she wishes she could.
Justin goes to his office where there's a calendar with a white horse on it, and a golden cup on the table. He looks at himself in the mirror, and goes past a medieval sword leaning up against the wall.
Courtney is in science class, and she partners up with Cindy when she realizes that Cindy is alone. Cindy refuses Courtney's overture of friendship at first, but finally gives in.
In geometry class, Henry continues hearing voices in his head. The teacher notices that Henry is distracted and asks if he's all right, Henry says that he is and works on his test, but continues to hear the voices in his head, of the students around him. He gets the test answers from one girl and writes them down.
Courtney notices that Cindy isn't following the directions but performing the experiment perfectly. Cindy said that she did it as a child, and that her father was a chemist and they did science experiments for fun. They talk about Courtney's father, and Courtney says she heard he was a great guy. The teacher congratulates them on their great work, and Cindy asks Courtney if she's going to the Homecoming dance. Courtney tells her that she wasn't planning on it, and says that she isn't going because it's lame. Cindy invites Courtney to hang the night of the dance, and a surprised Courtney agrees.
Cindy drives home and goes inside. Her stepmother Bobbie greets her with a plate of cookies. Cindy knocks the plate out off and says that her day is none of her stepmother's business and it was horrible. When Bobbie tries to go to her room, Cindy tells her that she wants an afterschool snack and demands wine. Bobbie says that she can't give Cindy wine, Cindy questions her disobedience. The older woman says that Cindy's father has given her strict instructions and she's following them. Cindy threatens to tell him how awful Bobbie has been to her, and Bobbie begs her not to do it and offers to get the wine.
Cindy goes to her father's lab, and Bobbie warns that her father doesn't like it when Cindy visits unannounced. The girl isn't impressed and goes into the basement lab, and she goes through a maze of tunnels and a cell with a growling creature. Cindy irritably tells it to stop growling at her.
At Pat's garage, Pat greets Courtney and her team as they arrive. He says that they have to lay low until they're ready, and they shouldn't suit up. He takes them inside and Pat says that they have to learn teamwork and it took time for them to become great. Pat points out that even with all their talent, they couldn't survive, and he wants the teenagers to understand the danger they're going into. He shows them mock statues he's made up of the various ISA members.
Crusher and Paula tell the other ISA members about the new JSA that they fought, and Crusher figures they were all just kids. Paula wants to bring their kids into it, and Anya points out that they agreed to keep their sons and daughters in the dark. Jordan tells the ISA to keep looking for the new JSA while he's gone. Cindy is watching from the shadows, and someone yanks her back before Jordan and the others can notice.
Pat tells the team about the ISA. When Courtney says that she'll handle him, her stepfather says that she still has a lot to learn and tells them about Sportsmaster. Courtney is bored, and Pat ignores her and continues. When Courtney keeps interrupting him, Pat notes that she agreed to let him do the training. Courtney suggests that they speed it up, and Pat tells her that they have to learn to fight as a team or they'll get hurt. Courtney disagrees and destroys the statues, then says that she's ready. Pat tells her the exercise was for everyone, and the JSAers agree with him. They leave, glaring at Courtney, and Courtney tries to apologize but they ignore her.
Dragon King asks Cindy if there's a problem with Bobbie, and Cindy says that Bobbie is her glorified babysitter. They enter Dragon King's own chamber, and Cindy says that she can't take being a teenage. Her father points out that she is a teenager, and Cindy produces a blade from her sleeve and kills one of Dragon King's hooded henchmen. She says that she wants to be part of the ISA, and Dragon King points out that it takes two weeks to condition a henchmen and Cindy just wasted two weeks of his work. He says that Cindy has learned nothing from her mother's death, and Cindy tells him that she was young and it was a mistake.
Cindy takes a dragon staff mounted on the wall near a suit of green armor, despite Dragon King's objections. He grabs it and tells her to put it down, then takes it and orders her to stop. As he puts the staff back, Cindy tells him that she could be helping him for real instead of wasting her time in high school. She says that the students do anything she says, and Dragon King tells her to only concern herself with Henry. Cindy dismisses Henry as boring since Henry Sr. went into a coma, but Dragon King says that if Brainwave doesn't wake up, they need Henry's powers for his machine. His daughter insists that Henry has no powers and asks if she can dump him. Dragon King tells her no, and if the others knew who their parents were, at least she'd have someone to talk to.
Dragon King tells Cindy to buy some clothes or throw another party if she's unhappy, and Cindy asks him who Stargirl is. She wants a seat the ISA table, and Dragon King tells her that she's not ready.
When Pat tells Courtney she's not ready, Courtney insists that she's not a novice anymore. Her stepfather says that it's also about the other JSA members, and Courtney wants to prove Anaya is one of the ISA.
Dragon King tells Cindy that there are more important things than her selfish needs, and tells her to go home. He orders her not to take out her anger on Bobbie, saying that he doesn't have time to prepare another stepmother. Dragon King strokes Cindy's face and says that she is his great experiment, and Cindy says that he's awful and storms out.
At the Dugan house, Barbara prepares to leave, and Mike, Courtney, and Pat assure her they can handle themselves with her gone. Mike says that Pat is taking them to the Homecoming game, and he gives Barbara lots of candy to keep her from getting bored on her trip.
Cameron comes home and Jordan notices that he's depressed. His son finally tells him that the dance is the next day and he doesn't know how to ask a particular glow to go with him. Jordan talks about how he had trouble asking his future wife, and jokingly says that he killed the man she was originally with. He talks about how he finally got the courage to talk to his wife, and discovered that she liked him and was waiting for him to approach her. Jordan suggests that the girl is waiting for Cameron to approach her, and tells him to not let anything stop him from finding love. Cameron asks about Jordan, saying his dead wife would want him to be happy, and Jordan says that he is happy. Once Cameron leaves, Jordan continues packing for his trip with Barbara.
At the game, Courtney sits in the stands with Pat and Mike. She's bored, and as night falls the game begins. Pat notices Courtney watching Yolanda, and he tells her to leave her alone. As Pat goes to get snacks, Mike tells Courtney that Pat is his dad, not hers. He complains about how they're hanging out all the time, and says that he and Pat have been thorough a lot before walking off.
Cameron comes over and sits down with Courtney, then asks her if she wants to go to the dance with him. Courtney immediately says she would but she's made plans to hang out with Cindy. However, she offers to tell Cindy they won't be hanging out so she can go with Cameron. Cindy is overseeing the cheerleaders, and Courtney approaches her and says that Cameron asked her to the dance. The other girl tells her to forget hanging out together forever and turns away, and Courtney walks away.
Crusher approaches Pat and critique how his snacks aren't on his conditioning plan.
Courtney sees Anaya walking away and follows her. Anaya goes into the school, talking to someone on her cell phone saying that she can't raise Ito and will try again. The principal goes into the school, and Courtney follows her inside. She peers through Anaya's office window, and sees the principal pick up a violin on display and open a secret door.
Pat returns to the seats and discovers that Courtney is gone. Mike says that he doesn't know or care where his stepsister is.
Courtney gets her costume from her locker and the Staff floats up next to her. She walks off, while down the hallway Justin notices her. Meanwhile, Courtney dons her costume and sneaks into Anaya's office. The Staff opens the hidden door for Stargirl, and the heroine enters the tunnel beyond. The door closes behind her, and she goes down a flight of stairs unaware that she's set off an alarm.
Cindy goes to Dragon King's chamber but he's not there. She can't enter the side chamber where her father is working, and sees Stargirl on the monitor, then grabs the armor and the staff.
Stargirl finds another hidden door leading to a school hallway, and Cindy--Shiv--attacks her from behind. She avoids the Staff's energy blast, and fires a blast of fire from the staff. Stargirl dodges it.
Pat tells Mike to hold his popcorn and goes to look for Courtney.
Stargirl and Shiv continue fighting, and find themselves in the gym. An energy blasts to Shiv's face reveal scales, but she quickly heals and regains her normal features. Shiv then grabs Stargirl and throws her across the gym, draws her knives, and continues her attack. She finally disarms Stargirl, knocks the Staff across the gym, and Justin arrives and parries Shiv's attack with his sword as she tries to finish off Stargirl. Stargirl, watching, passes out from shock.
The Staff flies off, finds Pat, and leads him to the gym.
Shiv wakes up and hears Pat calling Courtney's name. She leaves before Pat can arrive, and Justin watches from the shadows and recognizes Pat as Stripesy, then leaves. Meanwhile, Pat holds Stargirl in his arms.
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