Second Chances: Stargirl - Rough Draft

Chapter 6

Henry King Sr. was growing concerned for his son, since his son had become rather depressed over the summer and Henry was growing sick of it.

"Junior." Henry said as his son Henry King Jr. entered his study.

"Yeah dad, what's up? I was gonna go meet some of my friends so we could enjoy our last day of summer vacation." Henry said as Henry Senior rolled his eyes.

"Really, because you haven't seemed very interested in spending time with your friends this summer. The only time you have is when that no good girlfriend of yours dragged you out of the house." Senior said, since he honestly wished they'd been able to have someone besides Cynthia Burman keep an eye on his son, but she was the only one who fit the criteria.

That didn't mean Henry Senior liked her. Oh no, he hated her and thought that she was nothing more than a spoiled brat that in his opinion, the world would be better off without. After all, all she really was is one of her father's failed experiments. He still didn't know why they were considering her for membership in the Injustice Society of America.

"Look dad, there was just a lot of teenage drama going on that I don't think you want to hear about." Henry Jr. said, since he didn't want to talk about this with his father.

"You still miss that Yolanda girl don't you?" Henry Sr. asked.

"Yeah, I do. But I blew my shot with her and she'll never give me another one. Not after what she thinks I did." Henry said.

"You mean leaking those photos of her being topless to every person at your school. I know all about that. And while I can understand wanting her to send you pictures like that, I thought I at least raised you to keep photos like that to yourself. Not show them off to your friends." Henry Sr. said, since he was genuinely angry about that, since while he knew he hadn't been the best father to his son, he thought he'd raised him with manners. But it turns out he was wrong.

"You really think that you raised me at all. You were barely there before mom died and then after, well, I barely see you." Henry Jr. said.

"Enough. Look son, I wish that I could tell you something different, but i don't think that Ms. Montez will ever forgive you for that. I recommend you move on with your life instead of thinking about the past." Henry Sr. said.

"I'm trying to do that dad, I really am. But it's not just her I lost. I lost all my oldest friends because of this incident. Courtney, Rick and Beth, I've known them all for years, hell, their tutoring is the only reason I made it this far in school, and yet now none of them want anything to do with me." Henry Jr. said.

"If they chose Yolanda's side over yours, then they're not worth keeping as friends. But before I let you go, can you tell me what I am thinking?" Henry Sr. asked, once again testing his son to see if his powers were developing.

"That I should get out of your study before you change your mind about letting me leave the house?" Henry said and Senior sighed.

"Go." Senior said, since he was once again disappointed by his son's lack of powers as he watched his son walk out of the room.

Cindy Burman had just finished her morning workout as she heard the familiar footsteps of the one person she hated more than anyone else in her life. Her father.

"I see you've failed again Cynthia." her father, Dr. Shiro Ito, more accurately known as Dragon King, said as he approached her and looked around the room to see his henchmen were dead and that Cindy's blades were extended.

"But I beat them. Again." Cindy argued, even though they went through this every morning.

"You were supposed to defeat them without killing them or using your blades. It's clear that you require further refinement. You keep saying you want a seat at the Injustice Society's table, and yet, you clearly do not possess the self control needed for it. You're running out of chances Cynthia. Should you fail at the task you've been assigned, I doubt you'll ever get your seat." her father said.

"Then maybe you should give the job of babysitting Brainwave's son to someone who actually wants it instead of pushing it off on me." Cindy complained.

"You still do not realize why it is so important to keep tabs on Henry King Jr. He is our insurance policy, since if something, unfortunate were to befall Dr. King, we'd need his son to be able to continue our mission." Ito said.

"But why do I have to be the one to watch him? Last time I checked, Sportsmaster and Tigress's daughter is one of his actual friends and actually likes being around him for some reason. Why can't we tell her the truth and make her Henry's babysitter." Cindy said.

"You'd get along well with her parents. However, for reasons that are beyond my comprehension, the rest of the ISA have chosen to leave their children blissfully ignorant of their true natures. You should consider yourself lucky you know anything about us." Ito reminded her.

"Yeah, lucky." Cindy said, since the only reason she knew about the ISA was because she already knew about her father's true nature when he joined their cause.

"Now, I suggest you go home and act like a normal girl and do your job. No complications. We'll run this test again tomorrow. And we will continue to do so until you learn it's lesson." Ito said as his daughter glared at him before heading out of the room.

"Teenagers." Ito said to himself.

"I see today's test went well." Jordan Mahkent, aka Icicle, the ISA's leader, said as he entered the room.

"Jordan, what brings you here? I thought that the ISA was discomforted by my presence." Ito asked.

"The others are, but not me. I'm more concerned with the fact that you allow that girl who clearly detests you to come and go as she pleases. If she were to turn on us." Jordan said.

"I've already ensured she wouldn't dare. She may not show it, but I know how to keep her in line." Ito assured him.

"You better be right. Because she knows too much and I'd hate to have to do something that would put me on your hate list." Jordan said.

"You wouldn't. Because you seem to be under the impression that I care about my daughter more than I do our mission." Ito said.

"And if she becomes a problem, will I need to handle it?" Jordan asked.

"No, because should she make the unwise choice of betraying us, I will kill her myself." Ito promised.

"I'll hold you to that." Jordan said, though inwardly, he was repulsed by this man, and he used that term very loosely. Himself and the other ISA members, for all their disagreements, did agree on one thing. They loved their children dearly and were doing this to create a better world for them.

With that in mind, he left the Dragon King alone to do his work while he returned to the above world.