"How did you not know that you had a secret elevator in your house?" Yolanda asked Courtney as they rode the elevator downwards, though they didn't know how far down they were going.
"Why would I know there was a secret elevator in my house if I didn't even know that my dad was a superhero until now?" Courtney snapped.
"Court, are you okay?" Yolanda asked her.
"Yeah sorry Yolanda, it's just a lot to process. After all, I've spent my whole life basically hating my dad for abandoning me and now I find out that everything I thought I knew about him was a lie. And then there's my mom. There's no way she didn't know about it, since I'm positive my aunt Eliza did, since she's the one who told me to look in my dad's study. So why didn't my mom tell me about this sooner? Why did she let me think my dad was just a deadbeat who abandoned me?" Courtney asked her.
"I don't know Courtney, but I still think she's a better mom than mine is." Yolanda said.
"Maybe, but I still think I'm owed an explanation, which I will get once we find out where the hell we're going." Courtney said, right as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal some kind of underground tunnel.
"Where are we?" Yolanda asked.
"You're asking the wrong person. Come on, let's see what we can find." Courtney said as she and Yolanda stepped off the elevator and suddenly, there was a bright flash of light going over them, like something was scanning them, then they heard a digital female voice.
"DNA match confirmed, Courtney Whitmore." the voice said.
"Who said that?" Courtney asked.
"My apologies, allow me to introduce to myself Ms. Whitmore. I am Gemma, an artificial intelligence program created by Dr. Charles McNider and Sylvester Pemberton to maintain this base and answer any questions you may have." the voice, Gemma said.
"Wait, why me?" Courtney asked.
"Your father had me created in the event that he was not around to explain things to you himself. Would you like me to play the message he created for you?" Gemma asked.
"Message?" Courtney asked.
"The message he recorded the night of December 24th, 2000." Gemma said.
"That's the night he disappeared." Courtney realized as Yolanda gripped Courtney's hand before either of them realized what had happened.
"Yes, he created it in case he did not come back." Gemma said.
"Play it." Courtney said, since she needed to hear these words.
"As you wish." Gemma said as suddenly, a hologram of Sylvester Pemberton, fully dressed in his Starman suit and holding the same staff that she'd seen in her dreams.
"Hello Courtney. I created this message in the hopes that you would never see it, because if you are, that means that I'm dead and you had to grow up without me and I'm so sorry for that. But if you're seeing this message, it also means one of two things. One, that your mother decided to tell you the truth about me and explained everything to you, though I find that option highly unlikely, since she was always against me going out there, let alone telling you the truth." the hologram said and Courtney couldn't help but chuckle at that.
"The second and more likely option is that you finally snuck into my study and found the entrance to the Citadel on your own. The Citadel is a fortress I had secretly built underneath our home to serve several purposes. The first one being to serve as a base of operations for my activities as Starman should I ever need to come out of a retirement as a solo hero again. The second reason was to serve as a backup base of operations in case the original JSA base was ever compromised. The third reason was to serve as a bunker to protect you and your mother if any of my enemies ever found you. And the final reason is the one that likely brought you down here now, since if you're seeing this, it means that you've been chosen like I was." Sylvester said.
"What do you mean chosen?" Courtney asked.
"The staff you see me holding right now is a weapon called the cosmic staff and it was created by your grandfather, Ted Knight, who passed it on to me after it judged me worthy of the staff and you've been having dreams of this staff, that means you've been chosen as well. If I die in the battle I'm about to leave for, then the staff is most likely with my old friend and sidekick, Pat Dugan." the hologram said, making both Courtney and Yolanda do a double take.
"Wait, did he just say that your stepfather was his sidekick? That means that Pat knew about this too." Yolanda said and now Courtney was pissed.
"If Pat isn't with you at this time, find him and bring him down here so I can tell him to give you the staff. And tell him that I expect him to teach you how to use the staff since I can't be there to teach you myself." Sylvester said and Courtney chuckled before the hologram of her father turned serious.
"Courtney, I'm sorry that this is how you most likely had to find out the truth about me. I should've been there to tell you all this myself. Hell, I should still be the one using this staff, not you. I never wanted you to have to live this life, but I can't say I'm surprised. And make no mistake, no matter what I've done, all the lives I've saved, the thing I am most proud of is you. I hope that I made sure you know that. You and your mother are the most important things in the world to me. Always have been and always will be. You're the reason I picked this staff up again. I just wish I was still there now, since while I always knew that you'd pick up the cosmic staff, just not until you were all grown up and I was too old to continue on. And that I was there to teach you about this legacy. I'm not asking you to forgive me for leaving you and passing this responsibility onto you, but I want you to know how proud I am of you and that I know you can handle this. But you can't do this alone. You're going to need help. Pat is a good start, but you'll need other people you trust to have your back, not only in the field, in your life. And most important of all, stay true to your heart and never let your light diminish and never doubt for one minute that you are my daughter. And it's time for you to shine bright, my little stargirl." Sylvester said, right as the hologram shut off and Courtney had to wipe tears from her eyes at hearing her father say all that.
"You okay?" Yolanda asked her.
"Yeah, it's just I've been holding onto this anger towards him for so long and now it feels like I can finally let it go. I can finally love my father again, something I never thought I'd be able to do. And I feel so much better now that I've finally let go of that anger." Courtney said and Yolanda smiled as she pulled her friend into a hug, because she knew better than most how long Courtney had spent being angry at the father who abandoned her and she was happy that she could finally let that go. And she also promised herself then and there that she'd be one of the people Courtney's father had mentioned in his message. Someone Courtney could trust with everything. Since she already knew that she could do that for Courtney and she wanted to help her, but for now, she just comforted Courtney as her friend processed everything they'd just heard.
YOU ARE READING
Second Chances: Stargirl
FanfictionPart Two of new version of Second Chances. Courtney Whitmore was living a relatively normal life until her mother married Pat Dugan. That was when she found the Cosmic staff and learned the truth about her father's disappearance and his legacy. Afte...
