It had been a bright and pleasant day in the city. People had been walking the streets, enjoying themselves. Then came the darkness, and smiles became expressions of fear. Standing in the middle of one street was the Shade, spreading shadows from his magical cane.
“Cower in fear at my power!” declared the Shade. “Never again will you see the light!”
High above the Shade, a shaft of brilliance pierced the shadow. He looked up and glowered at the sight of a glowing staff. “Curses, that knight of the sky has come to spoil my fun!”
“You’re done ruining beautiful days, Shade!”
The wielder of the Cosmic Staff was Stargirl. The young woman was dressed in a red costume with green cape, trunks and boots, and a large yellow star on her chest. At her direction, more light erupted from the Cosmic Staff toward the Shade. “It’s time you slithered back from whence you came!”
“Ha, you foolish girl!” Solid darkness crept from the Shade’s cane to disrupt the blast of light. “Where there is light, there is shadow! And where there is shadow, I am God!”
In response, Stargirl raised the Cosmic Staff over her head with both hands. “In that case, I’ll remove all the light.”
A whirlwind of colors swirled about the street as illumination from all directions converged upon Stargirl. Soon, the area was enveloped in darkness, the Shade lost in the black sea.
“Noooo,” screamed Shade as his form was spread uncontrollably.
“Okay, Willie, I’m gonna have to stop you right there.”
Without glancing up from his work, the young man raised a hand with index finger raised. “First, ‘knight of the sky’, really?”
The teenaged girl lowered the notebook she was reading from, an annoyed expression on her face. “Well, that is our name, Kyle.”
Kyle Theodore Knight ignored the response. A raised middle finger accompanied the index finger. “Second, that isn’t how Uncle Shade’s powers work, but that’s the least of what you got wrong about him. Aside from the name and the cane, you described a completely different person.”
Wilhelmina Maisie Knight rolled her eyes. “Obviously he’s been possessed again by…I forget his name. The dwarf.”
“Ludlow. And third.” Kyle extended his ring finger last. “Grandpa’s device doesn’t work that way. It passively collects stellar energy. Actively absorbing all light is…it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe not now, but you can modify it.” Willie sat down on the bench beside her big brother. “You’ve been working on this stuff for as long as I can remember. You could probably build me a Cosmic Staff with your eyes closed.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Kyle fought off the flattery. “And you know that’s not what I’m working on. Powering spaceships and weapons is one thing, but if stellar energy could be harnessed for basic energy needs-”
“Zzzzz,” Willie feigned sleep. “All I know is you almost blew up dad’s shop. The world was sending you a message: focus on the cool stuff.”
Kyle rolled his eyes to look up at the blue sky. “You know I choose to work up here on the roof. And powering homes using only stellar energy is cool.”
“Solar power is already a thing.” Before Kyle could launch into another monologue about the inefficiencies of solar power, Willie continued. “But okay, it doesn’t have to be a super-duper Cosmic Staff like she has.”
“No.”
“I’ll be fine with a low-grade version, that only levitates me or stuns people.”
“No.”
“It can even be a belt, so you won’t have to worry about me losing my grip.”
Willie sighed. “Fine. I’ll just steal an old one Dad has lying around.”
“Good luck with that,” Kyle laughed. “I doubt even he remembers which box of junk he has it buried in the bottom of.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Two steps into the storage room, and Willie’s heart sank. One thing that everybody could say about Jack Knight, the retired hero formerly known as Starman, was that he loved old things. Boxes lined rows of shelves that went to the ceiling, and more boxes were piled up between those shelves. To get anywhere, Willie would have to climb and balance, exerting more strength and skill than she used in school gymnastics.
As she stepped over a box, Willie gave thanks for another thing to be said about her father. He preferred his old things in pristine condition. The room was dry and kept at ideal temperature. Until Willie had opened the door, it had been sealed so that no rodents could get in.
One thing Jack Knight wasn’t, though, was organized. At least not in the label-making sort of way. Maybe he knew the contents of each box, in his head, but Willie had no idea. Determined, she stepped onto a box and started to climb the shelves. Best to start at the top and work her way-
A box shifted under Willie’s weight, her grip slipped and down she went. So did a box, crashing all its contents over her. Luckily, the box had contained stuff bears, of all different colors with symbols on their tummies. The next box over, filled with lawn darts, remained secure.
“Ow,” muttered Willie in annoyance. Pushing the stuffed bears away, she tried to rise back to her feet, but her hand pressed against the center of a box. The top of the box collapsed, plunging her elbow deep into more stuffed dolls. It took several minutes for Willie to situate herself, finally rolling off the box to free her arm.
Attached to Willie’s arm, it’s limbs bizarrely twisted around her wrist, as an odd little raggedy man. Fed up, she shook her vigorously in an attempt to detach it. The ragged doll flew off, landing on a partly open box several feet away. A glint of golden metal beneath the doll caught Willie’s eye.
“Is that…” Crawling along the boxes and dolls, Willie reached for the glint. Instead of a rod, her fingers closed over a disc. “No, better! The Cosmic Belt!”
# # # # # # # # # #
They were running away from the alarm, still loud from five blocks away. They were running away from the getaway car, a burning wreck they were lucky to get out of in one piece. They were attempting to outrun their pursuer, but Starwoman was airborne and so easily kept pace.
“Get her off us!” one shouted. The other two fired their guns without really looking.
Starwoman was in no real danger, but indiscriminate gunfire was dangerous in a city. The bullets were already traveling in her general direction, and the Cosmic Staff was able to slow their velocity with a weak magnetic field. They fell harmlessly, and Starwoman kept count, hoping the criminals would exhaust their ammunition before she made her move.
Light in the shape of stars burst out of an alleyway as the robbers ran past. Momentarily blinded, the three men paused as a brunette pixie jumped into view. Her costume was red and green, with a large yellow star on her masked head, and a wide golden belt from which the aura around her emanated.
“We’ve got them now, Starwoman! With Stargirl at your side, evil beware!”
Unfortunately, the time it took Willie to make her exclamation used up her element of surprise. One of the criminals rushed forward, smashing his gun against the side of her head. While the aura afforded Willie some protection, she was too disoriented to do anything as he grabbed her to him and pressed the gun’s barrel to her temple.
“It’s you that better beware, Starwoman. Back off now, or your teen sidekick gets it!”
Hovering in place, Starwoman raised her hands and moved the Cosmic Staff to her side, point up. Willie, however, acted as soon as she regained her bearings. With all the strength the Cosmic Belt afforded her, she spread her arms out, sending the man flying.
“I’m okay Starwoman. Together we can - oh!”
When the attempted hostage-taker crashed against a wall, the gun in his hand went off. The wild shot struck Willie, on her Cosmic Belt. The device shielded her from harm, but shorted out in the process.
“No!” Her options exhausted, Starwoman had no choice but to attack the other two criminals. Two blasts from the Cosmic Staff disarmed them. A flying kick to the face knocked one down, while a swipe of the Cosmic Staff dealt with the other. Both had managed to get off shots, but miraculously those failed to strike anybody.
Standing over the beaten men, her heart racing, Starwoman turned her attention to the young costumed woman. She lowered the Cosmic Staff so that the point was aimed at the quite defenseless Wilhelmina Maisie Knight.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
With a nervous wave, Willie started to answer. “Um, hi C-”
“Don’t!” With her other hand, Starwoman gestured at the men. It was as though to say, “could still hear, and remember”. There was no patience in her voice. “Now, answer me.”
“I know the costume isn’t exactly right. But I figured why draw attention to…” Willie gestured to her chest. “What I don’t have. But I…I did help out, right? The belt might need to get fixed, but we stopped them.”
Starwoman sighed. “Young lady, you had better hope you’re not who I think you are. Because your parents are going to be pissed when I bring you home.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Kyle could still hear them arguing. If anything, time had only made their voices louder. He was glad not to have been home when Courtney arrived with Willie in tow. Though from past experience, Kyle had an idea of the quiet rage that Dad and Sadie would have directed at her. Not that he’d done anything nearly as bad. That explosion had been an accident, done in the name of science.
“And why do you still have it?” Kyle heard Sadie shout. “Your brother’s killer used it!”
“Not to kill him!” was Dad’s immediate response.
Kyle had to laugh to himself, because he’s sure those words were immediately regretted. He was right though, from what Kyle had read. David Knight had been shot, and the belt stolen from Dad soon after. By Kyle’s uncle, his other uncle, who he was named after.
Sometimes, when Kyle wanted a break from the tedium of quantum physics, he’d mentally summarize his family tree. His grandfather had been the original Starman. His other grandfather had been the original Mist, Starman’s arch-nemesis. Both went on to have two children. The Mist had a boy named Kyle and a daughter named Nash, raised on his hatred of Starman.
Shortly after David inherited the identity of Starman, he was killed as the beginning of the Mist’s grand plan of vengeance. The original Starman, Theodore Knight, was injured when Nash blew up his observatory, meant to survive and suffer. Dad was attacked but escaped, his first shop destroyed and the Cosmic Belt taken by his brother’s killer. Nash had had a chance to kill him, but Dad convinced her not to, that their father’s feud wasn’t there.
Dad could have left the city, but he chose to stay at fight. Cosmic Staff overcame Cosmic Belt and the Mist’s son was killed. The Mist wasn’t even aware of that when was he taken into custody, his mind already taken by Alzheimer’s. But Nash took it hard, and underwent the same process to gain her father’s powers, also calling herself the Mist.
The new Mist vowed to make the new Starman suffer. And that included his child.
“Kyle.”
Lounged in his chair, deep in thought, Kyle hadn’t heard his dad open the door. He shifted his head to look at his dad, not seeing a super-hero. Jack Knight was still in decent shape, and apparently he always had the tattoos and hair. Maybe it was because he’d given up the identity when Kyle was too young to have a memory of it. For most of his life, this was just Dad.
“My turn?”
Jack Knight walked in, emotionally exhausted. “Sadie and I are no more angry with you than we are with ourselves. Willie is responsible for her actions. But we would like you to tell us whenever she’s thinking about this kind of thing.”
“But maybe next time she won’t, and I won’t have the feeble chance to talk her out of it.”
“That’s the risk of our choice.” Jack sat down on the edge of Kyle’s bed, to talk eye-level with his son. “How much of that did you hear?”
Kyle smiled. “I zoned out after your mistake.”
Jack smiled too, knowing what he meant. “Yeah, I did that with Davey all the time, and your Grandpa too. I never seem to learn. Courtney offered to take the belt back.” When Kyle started at that, Jack quickly added, “I told her I’d think about it.”
“What is there to think about?” Kyle asked weakly.
“I thought you might want it. Not to wear. You’ve made it clear you don’t want that, and I’m eternally grateful. But for your work, it could be useful.”
The possibilities were racing through Kyle’s head. Tone down most of the functions, maybe enhance the protective aura, it could be useful to law enforcement. A few features could even be added, such as a radio and camera. But all Kyle said was, “Okay, thanks.”
“Right.” Jack got up and started toward the door. “And…we won’t talk about it now, but we’ll need to soon. About your gap year.”
“All right.” Before his dad disappeared Kyle added, “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, son.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Willie lay her room, face down on a pillow wet with tears. All the electronic devices were gone. She was told they’d be returned in a week, with programmed restrictions and probably surveillance. It wasn’t fair. Courtney had been about her age when she found the Cosmic Belt and did the exact same things. Her parents had supported her, and so had Willie’s Dad.
“Hypocritical bitch.” Willie muttered under her breath. She moved her face off the pillow, to look at the one other thing she’d taken from that storeroom. “But I’ll show her.”
The ragged doll seemed to staring right back at her.
“I’ll show them all.”
END
“Cower in fear at my power!” declared the Shade. “Never again will you see the light!”
High above the Shade, a shaft of brilliance pierced the shadow. He looked up and glowered at the sight of a glowing staff. “Curses, that knight of the sky has come to spoil my fun!”
“You’re done ruining beautiful days, Shade!”
The wielder of the Cosmic Staff was Stargirl. The young woman was dressed in a red costume with green cape, trunks and boots, and a large yellow star on her chest. At her direction, more light erupted from the Cosmic Staff toward the Shade. “It’s time you slithered back from whence you came!”
“Ha, you foolish girl!” Solid darkness crept from the Shade’s cane to disrupt the blast of light. “Where there is light, there is shadow! And where there is shadow, I am God!”
In response, Stargirl raised the Cosmic Staff over her head with both hands. “In that case, I’ll remove all the light.”
A whirlwind of colors swirled about the street as illumination from all directions converged upon Stargirl. Soon, the area was enveloped in darkness, the Shade lost in the black sea.
“Noooo,” screamed Shade as his form was spread uncontrollably.
“Okay, Willie, I’m gonna have to stop you right there.”
Without glancing up from his work, the young man raised a hand with index finger raised. “First, ‘knight of the sky’, really?”
The teenaged girl lowered the notebook she was reading from, an annoyed expression on her face. “Well, that is our name, Kyle.”
Kyle Theodore Knight ignored the response. A raised middle finger accompanied the index finger. “Second, that isn’t how Uncle Shade’s powers work, but that’s the least of what you got wrong about him. Aside from the name and the cane, you described a completely different person.”
Wilhelmina Maisie Knight rolled her eyes. “Obviously he’s been possessed again by…I forget his name. The dwarf.”
“Ludlow. And third.” Kyle extended his ring finger last. “Grandpa’s device doesn’t work that way. It passively collects stellar energy. Actively absorbing all light is…it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe not now, but you can modify it.” Willie sat down on the bench beside her big brother. “You’ve been working on this stuff for as long as I can remember. You could probably build me a Cosmic Staff with your eyes closed.”
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far.” Kyle fought off the flattery. “And you know that’s not what I’m working on. Powering spaceships and weapons is one thing, but if stellar energy could be harnessed for basic energy needs-”
“Zzzzz,” Willie feigned sleep. “All I know is you almost blew up dad’s shop. The world was sending you a message: focus on the cool stuff.”
Kyle rolled his eyes to look up at the blue sky. “You know I choose to work up here on the roof. And powering homes using only stellar energy is cool.”
“Solar power is already a thing.” Before Kyle could launch into another monologue about the inefficiencies of solar power, Willie continued. “But okay, it doesn’t have to be a super-duper Cosmic Staff like she has.”
“No.”
“I’ll be fine with a low-grade version, that only levitates me or stuns people.”
“No.”
“It can even be a belt, so you won’t have to worry about me losing my grip.”
Willie sighed. “Fine. I’ll just steal an old one Dad has lying around.”
“Good luck with that,” Kyle laughed. “I doubt even he remembers which box of junk he has it buried in the bottom of.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Two steps into the storage room, and Willie’s heart sank. One thing that everybody could say about Jack Knight, the retired hero formerly known as Starman, was that he loved old things. Boxes lined rows of shelves that went to the ceiling, and more boxes were piled up between those shelves. To get anywhere, Willie would have to climb and balance, exerting more strength and skill than she used in school gymnastics.
As she stepped over a box, Willie gave thanks for another thing to be said about her father. He preferred his old things in pristine condition. The room was dry and kept at ideal temperature. Until Willie had opened the door, it had been sealed so that no rodents could get in.
One thing Jack Knight wasn’t, though, was organized. At least not in the label-making sort of way. Maybe he knew the contents of each box, in his head, but Willie had no idea. Determined, she stepped onto a box and started to climb the shelves. Best to start at the top and work her way-
A box shifted under Willie’s weight, her grip slipped and down she went. So did a box, crashing all its contents over her. Luckily, the box had contained stuff bears, of all different colors with symbols on their tummies. The next box over, filled with lawn darts, remained secure.
“Ow,” muttered Willie in annoyance. Pushing the stuffed bears away, she tried to rise back to her feet, but her hand pressed against the center of a box. The top of the box collapsed, plunging her elbow deep into more stuffed dolls. It took several minutes for Willie to situate herself, finally rolling off the box to free her arm.
Attached to Willie’s arm, it’s limbs bizarrely twisted around her wrist, as an odd little raggedy man. Fed up, she shook her vigorously in an attempt to detach it. The ragged doll flew off, landing on a partly open box several feet away. A glint of golden metal beneath the doll caught Willie’s eye.
“Is that…” Crawling along the boxes and dolls, Willie reached for the glint. Instead of a rod, her fingers closed over a disc. “No, better! The Cosmic Belt!”
# # # # # # # # # #
They were running away from the alarm, still loud from five blocks away. They were running away from the getaway car, a burning wreck they were lucky to get out of in one piece. They were attempting to outrun their pursuer, but Starwoman was airborne and so easily kept pace.
“Get her off us!” one shouted. The other two fired their guns without really looking.
Starwoman was in no real danger, but indiscriminate gunfire was dangerous in a city. The bullets were already traveling in her general direction, and the Cosmic Staff was able to slow their velocity with a weak magnetic field. They fell harmlessly, and Starwoman kept count, hoping the criminals would exhaust their ammunition before she made her move.
Light in the shape of stars burst out of an alleyway as the robbers ran past. Momentarily blinded, the three men paused as a brunette pixie jumped into view. Her costume was red and green, with a large yellow star on her masked head, and a wide golden belt from which the aura around her emanated.
“We’ve got them now, Starwoman! With Stargirl at your side, evil beware!”
Unfortunately, the time it took Willie to make her exclamation used up her element of surprise. One of the criminals rushed forward, smashing his gun against the side of her head. While the aura afforded Willie some protection, she was too disoriented to do anything as he grabbed her to him and pressed the gun’s barrel to her temple.
“It’s you that better beware, Starwoman. Back off now, or your teen sidekick gets it!”
Hovering in place, Starwoman raised her hands and moved the Cosmic Staff to her side, point up. Willie, however, acted as soon as she regained her bearings. With all the strength the Cosmic Belt afforded her, she spread her arms out, sending the man flying.
“I’m okay Starwoman. Together we can - oh!”
When the attempted hostage-taker crashed against a wall, the gun in his hand went off. The wild shot struck Willie, on her Cosmic Belt. The device shielded her from harm, but shorted out in the process.
“No!” Her options exhausted, Starwoman had no choice but to attack the other two criminals. Two blasts from the Cosmic Staff disarmed them. A flying kick to the face knocked one down, while a swipe of the Cosmic Staff dealt with the other. Both had managed to get off shots, but miraculously those failed to strike anybody.
Standing over the beaten men, her heart racing, Starwoman turned her attention to the young costumed woman. She lowered the Cosmic Staff so that the point was aimed at the quite defenseless Wilhelmina Maisie Knight.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
With a nervous wave, Willie started to answer. “Um, hi C-”
“Don’t!” With her other hand, Starwoman gestured at the men. It was as though to say, “could still hear, and remember”. There was no patience in her voice. “Now, answer me.”
“I know the costume isn’t exactly right. But I figured why draw attention to…” Willie gestured to her chest. “What I don’t have. But I…I did help out, right? The belt might need to get fixed, but we stopped them.”
Starwoman sighed. “Young lady, you had better hope you’re not who I think you are. Because your parents are going to be pissed when I bring you home.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Kyle could still hear them arguing. If anything, time had only made their voices louder. He was glad not to have been home when Courtney arrived with Willie in tow. Though from past experience, Kyle had an idea of the quiet rage that Dad and Sadie would have directed at her. Not that he’d done anything nearly as bad. That explosion had been an accident, done in the name of science.
“And why do you still have it?” Kyle heard Sadie shout. “Your brother’s killer used it!”
“Not to kill him!” was Dad’s immediate response.
Kyle had to laugh to himself, because he’s sure those words were immediately regretted. He was right though, from what Kyle had read. David Knight had been shot, and the belt stolen from Dad soon after. By Kyle’s uncle, his other uncle, who he was named after.
Sometimes, when Kyle wanted a break from the tedium of quantum physics, he’d mentally summarize his family tree. His grandfather had been the original Starman. His other grandfather had been the original Mist, Starman’s arch-nemesis. Both went on to have two children. The Mist had a boy named Kyle and a daughter named Nash, raised on his hatred of Starman.
Shortly after David inherited the identity of Starman, he was killed as the beginning of the Mist’s grand plan of vengeance. The original Starman, Theodore Knight, was injured when Nash blew up his observatory, meant to survive and suffer. Dad was attacked but escaped, his first shop destroyed and the Cosmic Belt taken by his brother’s killer. Nash had had a chance to kill him, but Dad convinced her not to, that their father’s feud wasn’t there.
Dad could have left the city, but he chose to stay at fight. Cosmic Staff overcame Cosmic Belt and the Mist’s son was killed. The Mist wasn’t even aware of that when was he taken into custody, his mind already taken by Alzheimer’s. But Nash took it hard, and underwent the same process to gain her father’s powers, also calling herself the Mist.
The new Mist vowed to make the new Starman suffer. And that included his child.
“Kyle.”
Lounged in his chair, deep in thought, Kyle hadn’t heard his dad open the door. He shifted his head to look at his dad, not seeing a super-hero. Jack Knight was still in decent shape, and apparently he always had the tattoos and hair. Maybe it was because he’d given up the identity when Kyle was too young to have a memory of it. For most of his life, this was just Dad.
“My turn?”
Jack Knight walked in, emotionally exhausted. “Sadie and I are no more angry with you than we are with ourselves. Willie is responsible for her actions. But we would like you to tell us whenever she’s thinking about this kind of thing.”
“But maybe next time she won’t, and I won’t have the feeble chance to talk her out of it.”
“That’s the risk of our choice.” Jack sat down on the edge of Kyle’s bed, to talk eye-level with his son. “How much of that did you hear?”
Kyle smiled. “I zoned out after your mistake.”
Jack smiled too, knowing what he meant. “Yeah, I did that with Davey all the time, and your Grandpa too. I never seem to learn. Courtney offered to take the belt back.” When Kyle started at that, Jack quickly added, “I told her I’d think about it.”
“What is there to think about?” Kyle asked weakly.
“I thought you might want it. Not to wear. You’ve made it clear you don’t want that, and I’m eternally grateful. But for your work, it could be useful.”
The possibilities were racing through Kyle’s head. Tone down most of the functions, maybe enhance the protective aura, it could be useful to law enforcement. A few features could even be added, such as a radio and camera. But all Kyle said was, “Okay, thanks.”
“Right.” Jack got up and started toward the door. “And…we won’t talk about it now, but we’ll need to soon. About your gap year.”
“All right.” Before his dad disappeared Kyle added, “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, son.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Willie lay her room, face down on a pillow wet with tears. All the electronic devices were gone. She was told they’d be returned in a week, with programmed restrictions and probably surveillance. It wasn’t fair. Courtney had been about her age when she found the Cosmic Belt and did the exact same things. Her parents had supported her, and so had Willie’s Dad.
“Hypocritical bitch.” Willie muttered under her breath. She moved her face off the pillow, to look at the one other thing she’d taken from that storeroom. “But I’ll show her.”
The ragged doll seemed to staring right back at her.
“I’ll show them all.”
END